
A humble farmer’s routine ride to market takes an unexpected turn when he meets a weather‑worn Scotch shepherd who claims to know a secret way to summon a horse from a simple ragwort stem. After a reluctant bargain, the farmer learns the chant “Up! Horsie!” and, under a full moon, watches the plant spring to life and whisk him away to a realm of towering castles and rolling hills. The journey lands him in an enchanted countryside where music drifts on the wind.
There he discovers a striking lady at the foot of a hill, coaxing her flock with an ivory fiddle whose strings seem spun of gold. Enchanted by both the melody and her invitation, he is offered a humble but magical task: to tend the wandering sheep, guiding them with the fiddle’s song while returning to the castle before nightfall. The tale blends folk wisdom, whimsical magic, and a gentle call to responsibility, inviting listeners to follow a simple man’s extraordinary adventure.
Full title
Up! Horsie! An Original Fairy Tale
Language
en
Duration
~22 minutes (21K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The University of Florida, The Internet Archive/Children's Library)
Release date
2007-11-15
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
Subjects
1807–1876
A French-born writer who built a literary life in Britain, she was known for poetry, songs, children's books, and translations that helped carry European stories across languages. Her work moved easily between the home, the stage, and the printed page.
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