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Summer nights in the
highlands of Scotland are short. The sun goes to bed very late, sets, and
rises again just a few hours later. The longer days allow the flowers to
grow bigger, brighter, and more beautiful. Such was Friday night.
DING DONG! The doorbell
rang. Mungo opened it, expecting the children who came to listen to his
weekly storytelling. "Mrs. McAllister?" he said, quite surprised. "May I
help you?"
She was carrying a tray.
Small flowers were growing from the many soil-filled boxes inside. "I
thought you might like some of these peonies to plant in your garden. I’ve
got so many flowers already," she told him.
"Why, I’d be delighted to
take them from you. Thank you, Mrs. McAllister. I’d invite you in but the
bairns will be here shortly," Mungo said.
"That’s all right, Mungo.
I’ll be going now. Enjoy the peonies," she said, waving goodbye as she
walked down the lane towards her home.
Mungo put the tray of
flowers down in the back garden. He stopped and smiled. "I’ve the perfect
idea for tonight’s story," he said. He walked back into the front garden
just as the bairns began to arrive. "Hello and welcome, Morag," he called,
"and to you too, wee Hamish," who was right behind her. "Go inside and
help yourself to the snacks. I’ll be in shortly," he said.
Morag took wee Hamish by
the hand and went inside. Ginger, Mungo’s cat, purred near his legs. "Och,
I forgot to put you away before the bairns arrived. Come on, then," he
said, scooping the cat into his arms. He went in the back door so the
bairns wouldn’t see him with Ginger and put her on the bed, shutting the
door behind him.
DING DONG! Mungo opened the
door. It was Gavin and wee Fiona. "Come in. Come in. We’re only waiting on
Gregor and Andy and then we can begin." They didn’t have to wait long.
Gregor showed up a moment later and right behind him was Andy, smiling at
Mungo. "Good evening, Andy and Gregor. Come inside." They went into the
living room. Morag and wee Hamish, Gavin and wee Fiona, were already
stuffing their faces with golden brown bannocks, cut in half, spread with
mayonnaise and a dab of mustard, and filled with sliced ham and cheeses,
potato crisps and huge, plump dill pickles. "When you’re done, bairns,
we’re going to do something different for tonight’s story."
"What are we going to do?"
asked wee Fiona. She bit a piece off a crisp pickle.
"Are we going to watch a
video?" asked Gregor.
"No, bairns. Tonight we’re
going to go outside into my back garden. Mrs. McAllister just brought me
over some peonies and we’re going to plant them while I tell you my story.
Is that all right with you?" he asked them.
"I’ll get my dress dirty,"
said Morag.
Gavin shook his head.
"Morag, just have your mum wash it afterwards. It’s only a dress!"
"It’s not only a dress,
Gavin. I wore it just for….well, never mind," Morag replied. She was going
to say that she’d worn it just for him, but thought better of it. "I
suppose I can have my mum wash it."
"Good. Let’s go out to the
flower garden. You can finish your snacks later," Mungo said. The bairns
jumped up and ran outside. "Come and sit over here," Mungo said, walking
over to the rose garden. Morag sat right next to Gavin.
"Those are beautiful
flowers," Andy said, sniffing one. "They smell good."
"I love roses," said wee
Fiona. "They smell so lovely."
"How did you grow yellow
roses? Our roses are all red. I didn’t know they had yellow ones too. What
other colors are there?" Gavin asked.
"If you’ll look in my rose
garden, you’ll see all kinds of colors. Why don’t you walk around for a
little while and see what colors you can find. In fact, all of you walk
around my garden and come back in a while. You can tell me about the
different kinds of flowers you see in my garden," Mungo said. "We’ll talk
about them when you’re finished." Mungo’s flower garden was very large. It
took up half his back garden. The sun was still up, casting shadows behind
the trees and bushes. The colors seemed more vivid at this time of evening
than any other time. Soon the bairns were back, sitting near Mungo’s feet.
"Let’s start with Gavin. How many colors of roses did you find in my
garden?" he asked.
"I saw pink ones, red ones,
yellow, white and even purple ones. They all smelled good," Gavin said.
"What about you, Andy? What
kind of flowers did you see?" Mungo asked.
"I saw some yellow
buttercups," Andy said.
"Why do they call them
buttercups?" asked wee Hamish.
"They are the same color as
butter, silly," replied Morag.
"What other kinds of
flowers did you see, Andy?" asked Mungo.
"I saw some poppies. They
were red. I saw a bee inside one gathering pollen," Andy answered.
"Very good. Yes, those were
poppies. Now it’s your turn, Gregor. What did you find?"
"I saw some lilacs. They
were purple. Some were dark purple and some were light. They smell almost
as nice as the roses," Gregor said.
"They are lovely. Morag,
what kind of flowers did you find?" Mungo asked.
"Well, I saw a lot of
different kinds. I saw some primrose. I know they are primrose because we
have them at our house. Yours are a much lovelier pink than ours. I also
saw some hawthorn bushes with white flowers, some pink daisies and
azaleas. My grandma has azaleas growing everywhere in her garden. Yours
are orange. They’re pretty," Morag said.
"Well, Morag. You did see a
lot of flowers, didn’t you? Good lass. Now, wee Hamish, did you see any
flowers?"
"I only saw three kinds. I
saw heather, just like the kind that grows on the hills. I saw some little
bluebells. I shook them and they wiggled like a bell. I saw thistles too.
I like thistles. Our sheep, Bonniebell eats thistles," wee Hamish said.
"Thistles aren’t flowers.
They’re weeds," Morag corrected.
"No they aren’t. They have
purple flowers on them, don’t they Mr. McGee?" Gavin said, happy to
correct Morag.
"You’re both right.
Thistles are weeds, but they have beautiful purple blooms and thistles are
Scotland’s national flower. Did any of you know that?" Mungo asked. The
bairns all shook their heads back and forth. "Oh, look. There’s a robin,"
he said, pointing to a red-breasted bird that was running about on the
grass.
The bairns turned and
watched as the robin pulled a worm out of the ground. "It caught a worm,"
shouted wee Fiona. She started to giggle.
"Yes, robins like worms,"
Mungo said. They sat and watched the robin for a few minutes as it hopped
around. "Who’d like to hear a story about the thistle?" he asked.
"I would," shouted wee
Hamish.
"Me too," said Andy.
The rest of them raised
their hands. "All right then. I’ll tell you. A long time ago, way before
the days of the Highlanders and way back before the days of King Robert
the Bruce, the people who lived in Scotland were often attacked by
Vikings."
"I know what a Viking is,"
squealed Gregor. "They wear pointed hats and have long boats and blond
hair."
"That’s right. The Vikings
were also called Danes, because they came from Scandinavia. That’s a big
word and hard to say," Mungo said.
"I can say it," boasted
Morag. "Scandinavia," she said.
"That’s right, Morag. Very
good," Mungo congratulated.
"I can say it too," said
wee Fiona. "Scanava," she said.
"Good try, wee Fiona. We’ll
call them Vikings. That’s much easier to say. The Vikings used to come to
Scotland and attack the villages, just like the one we live in. They used
to rob things from the churches, taking all the gold and jewels and
putting them in their longships. They killed a lot of men and women too,
and even some children. Some of the Scottish men were very angry with the
Vikings and went off to battle them with their swords," Mungo said
proudly.
"I hope they don’t come and
kill the people in our village," said Gregor.
"They won’t. There aren’t
any Vikings any more," said Morag.
"She’s right. The Vikings
lived a long, long, long time ago. Now, one night, after a long walk, the
Scottish men rested in a field that was near the sea. They caught some
fish, gathered some delicious clams, crabs, and mussels. They probably
killed a couple of grouse too. They built a fire and roasted them. They
had a good feast and they needed it. Tomorrow they’d be battling with the
Vikings. After they’d eaten, they sprawled out in the grass and fell
asleep," Mungo said."The moon was bright and there were millions of stars
twinkling in the sky. Some of the Scots stayed away for a while watching
shooting stars and talk about the man in the moon."
"My dad always fall asleep
after he eats too," wee Fiona said. "Is there really a man in the moon?"
she asked after thinking about what Mungo had said.
"A lot of people fall
asleep after eating and no, there isn’t really a man in the moon. When it
comes out tonight, look at it. If the moon is full, it looks like a man’s
face," Mungo responded. "Back to the Viking story. The Vikings sailed up
the coast in their longships and spotted the Scotsmen’s fire burning. They
pulled their longships onto the sand. Seagulls squawked above them as
their longships disturbed them while they were roosting on the rocks. They
talked and decided to wait until the Scots were asleep and they would
attack and kill them. When they heard the Scots snoring and knew they were
asleep, the chief of the Vikings told his men to take off their shoes.
They wore leather ones and the seawater had made of them squeak when they
walked. The Vikings crept through the tall grasses towards them with their
long silver swords out."
"Oh no," said wee Fiona.
"Just as they were about to
reach the camp, the Viking men reached a patch of thistle. They stepped on
the prickly plants with their bare feet. They started screaming and
crying, hopping around holding onto their feet," Mungo said.
Wee Hamish laughed. So did
the others. "I can imagine the Vikings doing that," laughed Morag.
"The Scottish men woke up
from all the screaming, grabbed their swords and fought the Vikings. The
ones that didn’t die, ran back to their longships and rowed away. It was
such a great battle that they won, that the Scots made the thistle the
national flower so they’d always remember their victory that night," Mungo
concluded.
"Thistles are prickly. I
stepped on one once, but stingy nettle is even worse," said Gregor.
"Stingy nettle hurts," Andy
chimed in.
Mungo started laughing. He
gave each of the bairns three plants to put in the ground. "Time to plant
my peonies," he said. "Dig a hole with the shovel, put the plant in and
fill the hole back up with dirt, then pat it down with your hands," he
instructed.
They spent the next hour
planting the peonies. Wee Hamish and wee Fiona were too little. They tried
to help, but ended up breaking some of the stems so Mungo sent them off to
chase butterflies. When they were finished, they went back into the house
and washed their hands. Morag hadn’t gotten any dirt on her dress and she
was happy about that. They polished off their snacks and sweeties just as
their parents came to pick them up. After saying goodbye to them all,
Mungo let Ginger out of the bedroom. Since it was still semi-light
outside, he took the cat out to see the new peonies. Mungo sat in a
lawn-chair and watched the sunset as Ginger chased a squirrel around the
garden. What a wonderful summer night it was. |
