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Scotlands Culture\|Scotlands Stories
Rashiecoats
Rashiecoats is a very Scottish Cinderella but there are no glass slippers, no pumpkin coaches and no fairy godmothers.
Rashiecoats was the daughter of a king. She was doomed to marry a cruel, ugly man she did not love. What would you do? Marry the horrible prince and live unhappily ever after? Rashiecoats escaped the castle and set out to find herself a husband that she loved.
As Donald Smith once wrote, 'Rashiecoats has to dress in rushes, but she gets her man through a streak of dogged independence, typical of girls and women in old Scottish stories.'
The story, made famous as Cinderella, is an international wonder tale. There are many different versions told with different names in countries around the world.
The French fairy story writer Charles Perrault published a version in the 17th century called Donkey Skin. England has Tattercoats, Catskin, Cap O' Rushes and Mossycoat. Ireland has The Princess in the Catskins.
The Brothers Grimm collected the story in Germany as All-Kinds-of-Fur. The story travelled to America, where it appears as The Princess Who Wore a Rabbit-skin Dress.
Jean Edmiston tells the story of Rashiecoats
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Title
Senga Munro - Rashiecoats - Scots Cinderella (Scots)
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