Then he went to
Thomas the shoemaker's, and bade him to make a fine little pair of
shoes. So they all did as he told them, and after these things were
made he took them home with him. He laid them on a warm spot on the
hearth where the boggart used to come to sleep at night. Then he and his
dame hid in the closet to see what would follow.
Presently came the boggart, whisking here and dancing there, though
neither the farmer nor the dame could see him any more than though he
had been a puff of wind.
"Heigh-ho!" cried the boggart, "these be fine things for sure." So
saying, he tried the hat upon his head, and it fitted exactly. Then he
tried the coat on his shoulders, and it fitted like wax. Then he tried
the breeches on his legs, and they fitted as though they grew there.
Then he tried the shoes on his feet, and there never was such a fit. So
he was clad in all his new clothes from top to toe, whereupon he began
dancing until he made the ashes on the hearth spin around with him as
though they had gone mad, and, as he danced, he sang:
"Cap for the head, alas poor head!
Coat for the back, alas poor back!
Breeks for the legs, alas poor legs!
Shoen for the feet, alas poor feet!
If these be mine, mine cannot be
The house of honest man, Georgie!"
So he went singing and dancing, and skipping and leaping, out of the
house and away. As for Georgie Griggs and his dame, they never heard a
squeak from him afterwards.
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