Experience the whimsy, charm and magic of the Celtic imagination in this captivating collection of timeless stories that have enchanted generations of youngsters and adults.

Among the eight popular tales included here are "The Fate of the Children of Lir," a haunting narrative of four children turned into swans by a wicked stepmother; "The Shepherd of Myddvai," in which a beautiful woman, risen from the sea, orders her husband-to-be to observe certain rules; and "Beth Gellert," a touching tale of a brave dog that dies after saving a child’s life.Five additional stories include "’The Tale of Ivan," "Morraha,""The Story of Deirdre," "The Llanfabon Changeling" and "The Sea-Maiden."

Reset in large, easy-to-read type, these engaging stories are enhanced by six new illustrations.

When noted folklorist Joseph Jacobs (1854-1916) set about to present a collection of Celtic fairy tales adapted for English children, he confessed that his main trouble was "one of selection." From a rich folklore tradition in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall, Jacobs collected material for not only one,but two, volumes of Celtic tales, Celtic Fairy Tales (1891) and More Celtic Fairy Tales (1894). The eight tales here reflect Jacobs’s efforts to include at least one tale traced to each of the four Celtic nations in the British Isles and reflecting the oral traditions of those countries.

By Jacobs’s account, four of the tales ("The SeaMaiden,""Morraha,""The Story of Deirdre"and "The Fate of the Children of Lit") are common to both Erin (Ireland) and Alba (Scotland); the two latter tales traditionally are included among the "Three Sorrowful Tales of Erin."" The Tale of Ivan" is from Cornwall,a nineteenth-century translation of a Cornish version transcribed in 1707. There are three Welsh tales: "The Shepherd of Myddvai,""The Llanfabon Changeling"and "Beth Gellert."

The last, a fable of a loyal dog killed by its masteris perhaps the best example of legend’s influence on actual history. While the literal route of the cautionary story--a warning against rash action--can be traced from sources in India, through England via the Crusades and then to Wales, Welsh tradition has given the anonymous dog the name of Gellert, Prince Llewelyn’s famous greyhound. The legend became so deeply embedded in Welsh culture that in a fifteenthcentury heraldry roll, the national crest of Wales was described as having the figure of a greyhound in a cradle resting on a coronet. In 1794, the story of Llewelyn and his dog was told in a collection of Welsh ballads, with a note describing the story as "traditionary in a village at the foot of Snowdon where Llewelyn the Great had a house. The Greyhound named Gelert was given to him by his fatherin-law, King John, in 1205, and the place to this day is called Beth-Gelert, or the grave of Gelert."The village of Bedd Gelert was actually named for an Augustinian abbey there, Beth Kellarth. But by the end of the eighteenth century, the public had so embraced this now localized legend that an innkeeper, beset by tourists looking for the dog’s grave, provided one by laying the cairn!

The Fate of the Children of Lir

The Tale of Ivan

The Shepherd of Myddvai

Morraha

The Story of Deirdre

The Llanfabon Changeling

Beth Gellert

The Sea-Maiden