A Picture-book of Merry Tales

In Short

A Picture-Book of Merry Tales is an anonymous nineteenth-century English anthology of traditional folk stories, trickster yarns, and nonsense fables for children. Opening with a lengthy cycle of adventures featuring the legendary German rogue Till Owlglass (Till Eulenspiegel), the volume broadens into widespread European and British folklore, including tales of Irish highwaymen, foolish villagers, grateful animals, and domestic sprites. Across its varied selections, the book celebrates lower-class cleverness, exposes human vanity and greed, and offers brisk, lighthearted entertainment. It has endured as an accessible treasury of classic folk humor that treats young readers to unpunished mischievous triumphs.

The Story

The volume opens with the life and exploits of Owlglass, an incorrigible trickster whose career begins at infancy when he is accidentally baptized three times in a single day. As he grows, his antics infuriate his neighbors and draw the wrath of territorial rulers. Forbidden from entering the Duchy of Luneburgh under pain of hanging, Owlglass evades execution when confronted by the Duke by killing his own horse, gutting it, and standing inside the carcass—claiming with cheeky logic that he is merely standing on his own property.

Throughout his travels, Owlglass makes his living by preying on the hypocrisies, anxieties, and greed of authority figures. In Schomberg, he poses as a master physician and extracts fifty pounds from a desperate hospital master by secretly threatening each patient that he will burn the sickest among them to powder to forge a cure; predictable panic ensues, and every patient flees the hospital on foot, miraculously "cured." He outwits pompous priests by turning their own religious solemnity against them: he uses a rambling, fake confession to send a sleepy clergyman to sleep, steals his silver snuff-box, and then secures absolute absolution by offering the stolen item back as a gift, knowing the drowsy priest will refuse it. He dupes greedy artisans, tailors, and horse-dealers alike, such as when he glues a fake tail onto a worthless horse with blood and gum, baiting a horse-dealer into pulling it off and forcing the man to pay compensation for "ruining" the animal.

As the anthology moves past the Owlglass cycle, it branches into standalone folk narratives across Britain and Europe. A wandering, penniless traveler buys the freedom of a tortured mouse, a donkey, and a bear; when the man is later framed and cast into a river inside a locked wooden chest, the three grateful animals gnaw open the lock and rescue him using a magic floating white stone. In Ireland, a seeker named Tim travels all the way to London Bridge following a dream of hidden treasure, only to be told by a mysterious stranger that the gold lies buried right in his neighbor's stony field back home.

Other tales turn on magical bargains and surreal rustic absurdities. The poor Woman of Kittleroopit bargains away her infant child to an enigmatic green-clad lady in exchange for curing her dying sow, only to be saved when the child's true name—Fittletetot—is discovered. Simple-minded Jock rides a cow to court, makes a melancholy princess laugh, and wins her hand, only to accidentally drown himself in a sack of stolen bees after mistaking a sleeping priest's white wig for a stone hearth. Cobblers trick greedy butchers into buying the same calf twice, Irish villagers flee terrifying encounters with dead cows and ghost pipers, and the foolish Twelve Men of Gotham go fishing, lose their tackle to rats and waterwheels, and proudly return with a single dead floating fish. The book concludes in a cozy rustic household where a family attempts to move away to escape a mischievous household brownie, only to turn back when the tub in their cart speaks up, revealing the sprite is moving with them.

How It Unfolds

The rogue escapes the gallows Confronted by the Duke of Luneburgh in defiance of an exile order, Owlglass slays his horse, steps inside its hollowed carcass, and successfully argues that he cannot be executed while standing on his own land.

The hospital cure Posing as a famous doctor, Owlglass promises to empty a crowded hospital in exchange for fifty pounds, achieving his goal by privately threatening to burn the sickest patient alive to make medicine for the rest.

The sleepy priest's absolution Owlglass lulls a priest to sleep during a fake confession, pockets the cleric's silver snuff-box, and uses clever verbal traps to gain full absolution for the theft before the victim realizes what he has lost.

The artificial horse tail At the Wismar market, Owlglass attaches a fake tail to a horse with gum and blood, tricking a prospective buyer into pulling it off and extracting ten pounds in damages from the embarrassed man.

The animals repay their debt A destitute wanderer spends his last coins saving a mouse, a donkey, and a bear from cruel village boys, and the beasts later rescue him from a river-bound wooden box using a magical wishing stone.

The journey to London Bridge Tim travels to London following a vision of treasure, only for a stranger on the bridge to direct him back to Ireland to dig under a stone heap in his neighbor's field.

The fiddle of irresistible dance A countryman sentenced to the gallows for duping a miserly Jew asks to play his violin one last time, forcing the judge, hangman, and accuser into a frantic, uncontrollable dance that secures his freedom.

The foolish men of Gotham Twelve rustic fishermen embark on a disastrous day at the river, losing their rods and lines to rats and mill wheels before celebrating their grand success over a single dead fish.

The brownie moves along A farmer tries to flee his haunted home to escape a tormenting house spirit, only to turn right back around when the brownie speaks up from inside a moving tub on their getaway cart.

The People

• Owlglass (Till Eulenspiegel) wants to live by his wits without performing manual labor, hindered only by local authorities, suspicious nobles, and rival craftsmen. He ends up a wandering trickster who consistently turns his victims' greed and pride against them.
• The Duke of Luneburgh wants strict law and order maintained throughout his territory, hindered by Owlglass's brazen defiance of his banishment orders. He ends up amused and outsmarted, forced to spare the rogue's life on a technicality.
• The Hospital Master of Schomberg wants to clear out his overcrowded infirmary to save money, hindered by the genuine illnesses of his patients. He ends up paying fifty pounds to Owlglass after watching every single patient flee the building in terror.
• Tim wants to strike it rich and lift his family out of poverty, hindered by his own impatience, harsh rocky soil, and scary supernatural voices under the earth. He ends up returning home from London to buy up waste land and dig for hidden gold.
• The Countryman wants fair pay for his work and protection from a bitter accuser, hindered by a severe court judge and a vengeful victim. He ends up escaping the executioner's noose by using his magical fiddle to dance the entire court into submission.
• Jackey (Fiddling Jackey) wants to master music and make his fortune in the world, hindered by his poverty and initial ignorance. Guided by the forest birds and his talking violin, he ends up an educated, well-loved musician welcomed by royalty and townspeople.
• The Cobbler wants to punish a dishonest butcher who cheated a local farmer, hindered by the butcher's slipperiness and greed. He ends up engineering elaborate tricks with calf bleats and shoes to force the butcher to pay double for his dishonesty.

In Its Own Voice

When trapped by the Duke of Luneburgh after hiding within his slain mount, Owlglass defends his presence on forbidden territory through sheer technicality:

"I sorely feared your Grace's displeasure, and thought I had better be found in my own property, where I ought to be safe."

In the Irish treasure tale, Tim's high-stakes nocturnal digging takes a terrifying turn when voices echo up through the dark soil:

"When night came, after he had all ready, Tim went to his new property, and, hard as the work was, did not rest till the first grey of morning began to appear."

After a disastrous day of gear-destroying mishaps on the water, one of the foolish men of Gotham tries to convince his damp companions of their brilliant success:

"I am sure, my Friends, that at that spot there will be plenty of sport for the whole twelve of us together; and had it not been for that unlucky accident of losing my rod, I should have brought fish enough for all our suppers."

What It's Really About

At its core, A Picture-Book of Merry Tales is an celebration of subversion and resourcefulness. The anthology explores how lower-class figures, marginalized wanderers, and small animals navigate a world governed by rigid hierarchies, wealthy misers, and oppressive authority figures. Rather than rewarding conventional piety or hard manual labor, these stories argue that sharp instincts, linguistic trickery, and wit are the ultimate survival tools. The narrative world operates on a moral economy where pomposity, greed, and cruelty are unfailingly punished by humiliation. By transforming lawbreakers into heroes and grand judges into dancing fools, the collection questions who truly deserves authority, celebrating the chaotic, liberating power of laughter over social order.

Why Read It Today

Modern readers looking for historical folk humor will find A Picture-Book of Merry Tales a delightfully brisk and unfiltered slice of nineteenth-century popular storytelling. Unlike sanitized modern fairy tales, this volume retains the earthy, irreverent edge of traditional European folklore, where heroes kill their own horses to hide in the ribs, tricksters rob sleepy priests, and simpletons meet absurdly abrupt ends in sacks of bees.

The prose moves at a rapid pace, prioritizing situational comedy and crisp narrative turns over lengthy descriptions. Readers interested in regional folklore will appreciate the rich variety of forms, from extended picaresque episodes to dialect-heavy Irish yarns and classic British nonsense fables.

The reading experience does come with minor period hurdles. Readers must navigate historical spelling variants, antique hyphenations, and occasional regional phonetics ("murther", "darlint", "caulder"). Additionally, modern audiences may find the casual violence and unpunished dishonesty of the trickster tales surprisingly blunt. Yet for those who appreciate folk history, satire, and classic rustic comedy, the book remains a joyful reminder that foolishness and cleverness are timeless human traits.