The little bagpiper
The little bagpiper is a fairy tale . It is contained in the Irish fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm at number 5, which they translated from Fairy legends and traditions of the South of Ireland by Thomas Crofton Croker in 1825 .
content
Michael Flanigan and Judy Muldun at the borders of Tipperary have three beautiful sons and a sick one who eats and screeches. He is thought to be a changeling . When visiting the bagpiper Tim Carrol, he shows extreme musical talent. Everything has to dance to his song, so he plays ever worse tricks with it. Therefore the family has to move to a new estate. When they come to a bridge, he scolds and, hit by his father's whip, jumps into the river. There he plays on a wave, then it pulls him away. It is believed he went to the elves.
annotation
Grimm's comment reports on the suggestions in the text to reverse a child swap by elves, similar things from different countries, also to protect the as yet unbaptized child. You compare KHM 108 Hans mein Igel , Deutsche Sagen No. 82 The Changeling and No. 83 The Changeling in the Water , a Low German poem by Zeno ( Bruns collection p. 26 ff. ) And Faroic song collection p. 294 . That the cat, as in the text, is not allowed to go with you when moving, especially not over water, is another superstition.
Cf. No. 6 The Brewery of Egg Shells , No. 7 The Changeling , No. 8 The Two Godmothers ; KHM 39 The Gnome Men .
literature
- Irish fairy tales. In the broadcast by the Brothers Grimm. Frankfurt am Main and Leipzig, first edition 1987. pp. 121-129, 253-254. (Insel Verlag; ISBN 978-3-458-32688-5 ; The text follows the edition: Irische Elfenmärchen. Translated by the Brothers Grimm. Friedrich Fleischer, Leipzig 1826. Orthography and punctuation were slightly normalized.)