Folk Tales Retold for Today

Maisie McKenzie was the best baker in Scotland. She baked her cakes and scones in her stone fireplace which was probably the only thing holding up her simple thatched cottage at the end of a country lane.  Not only was she known for being a fantastic baker, Maisie was also known for being very smart, a clever woman. Being an expert baker got her in more than a wee bit of trouble, but it was her cleverness that got her out of it. If you know about fairies, you might not be surprised to hear that the fairies had something to do with it, too. In this little village, the fairies were crazy about Maisie's little cakes . The problem was that the people in the village loved Maisie's cakes, too, so there was hardly ever a crumb left for a fairy to find. So, the fairies made their plan to capture Maisie and keep her always so that she would bake cakes JUST for them. So, this is what happened. That night, the fairies hid in the grass. Maisie was out for her evening stroll. She swatted...

The Irish, and all those who love a good tale, know about Finn McCool, the gentle giant and hero who had many adventures. Finn McCool was a one-of-a-kind hero in Ireland, and just a mere 13 miles, across the sea to Scotland, Finn had a challenge in another giant named Benandonner. Finn McCool and Benandonner shouted at each other across the sea, challenging each other to a test of strength. The noise from this yelling back and forth across the sea was deafening! Both these giants took a great deal of pride in their strength and neither of them could resist a contest. The two giants both liked to brag and both wanted to show off their strength to everyone for miles around. Finn McCool challenged Benandonner to come to Finn's home turf in Ireland. He said he would build a causeway of basalt rock between Scotland and Ireland. This causeway, a path, really, would stretch from County Antrim on the north coast of Ireland to where Benandonner was, in Fingal's cave on Staf...