The Cauld Lad of Hilton

Long ago, in the north of England, there stood a big stone castle called Hilton Castle. Many servants lived there, and they cooked and cleaned all day long. But the castle also had a helper whom nobody ever saw. They called him the Cauld Lad, because “cauld” means cold, and at night they could hear him shivering by the fire.

When everyone had gone to bed, the Cauld Lad came out to work in the kitchen. But he did everything backward! If the servants left the kitchen messy, he made it neat. He washed the plates, stacked the pots, and swept the floor until it shone. But if the servants left the kitchen neat, he made it messy! He threw the spoons on the floor, mixed the salt with the sugar, and hung the pans upside down.

“This is too silly,” said the cook one morning. “We tidy up, and he makes a mess. We leave a mess, and he tidies up.” “We never know what we will find,” said the kitchen maid with a sigh.

So the servants talked about it for a long time. At last the oldest servant had an idea. “Little helpers like him never stay once you give them clothes,” she said. “And the poor lad is always cold, so let us give him something warm.”

That evening, the servants sewed a beautiful cloak of soft green cloth, with a hood to match. They laid it by the kitchen fire and hid behind the door to watch. At midnight, the Cauld Lad crept out of the shadows. He saw the green cloak and the green hood, and his eyes grew wide. He put on the cloak, he pulled up the hood, and he spun around and around. Then he sang, “Here’s a cloak, and here’s a hood! The Cauld Lad o’ Hilton will do no more good!” And with a happy skip, he ran out of the kitchen and away into the night.

After that, the Cauld Lad never came back to Hilton Castle. The servants had to tidy the kitchen all by themselves, and they always did it well. And on cold nights, they liked to think of the little lad, warm and snug at last in his cozy green cloak.