“Rashin-Coatie”

(From http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0510a.html)
I chose to discuss “Rashin-Coatie”, the Scottish version of Cinderella because it not only contained some aspects of the Grimm version and the Perrault version discussed, but was also unique in itself. For starters the Scottish version has a (biological) mother, father, and two (biological) daughters, one of whom is the Cinderella character in the story. One thing that I found interesting was that the “bonnie lassie “ (the Cinderella character) does not receive her nickname until after she escaped from her evil family, and it is not given to her by her evil family as a means of degradation, but rather receives the nickname as she makes herself a “coatie” out of rashes with her magical, talking calf friend.

In a way, the magical aspect in “Rashin-Coatie“ combines that of the Grimm version and the Perrault version. For instance, the Perrault version includes the fairy grandmother who creates clothes for Cinderella. The red calf serves a similar purpose in that he says that “he would give her clothes” to go to the kirk. Both, the Grimm and Scottish, versions also contain a magical bird. The bird in “Rashin-Coatie” is the character which tells the prince where he can find his true love, the true fit, Rashin-Coatie, and ultimately stops him from marrying the henwife.

There is a lack of suspense in the Scottish version in that Rashin-Coatie is not in a time crunch to get back (she chooses to so she can “look after the dinner”), yet regains that suspense aspect when the prince almost marries the wrong girl.

Another similiarity between the Grimm version and “Rashin-Coatie” is that the prince recognizes the Cinderella-character’s face, as well as seeing that the shoe fits.

Lastly, one moral or message portrayed in this version that was not portrayed in either the Grimim or Perrault versions was the value of one’s word or keeping a promise. For instance, “He[the prince] knew it was not the lady that he wanted; but, because he had promised to marry whoever the shoe fitted, he had to keep his promise.”