Tiddy Mun

Long ago, in Lincolnshire, there was a wide, wet marsh full of pools and reeds. Frogs sang there, ducks swam there, and the people fished and cut reeds to make their roofs. And in the deepest pool lived a tiny old man called Tiddy Mun. He had long white hair and a long white beard, and he wore a cloak as gray as the mist. He leaned on a little crooked stick, and when he laughed, he sounded like a peewit bird.

Tiddy Mun looked after the water of the marsh. When the rain fell too hard and the water crept up to the cottage doors, the people went outside at night. “Tiddy Mun without a name, please take the water away!” they called into the dark. Then they heard a soft cry like a peewit, and by morning the water had gone down.

But one year, some strangers came with spades and carts. “This marsh is too wet,” they said. “Let us drain it and make it into fields.” So they dug long ditches, and the water ran out of the pools and away to the sea. The reeds dried up, the frogs went quiet, and the ducks flew away.

Then strange things began to happen in the villages. The cows gave no milk, and the little pigs would not eat. The children grew pale and tired, and they did not want to play. “Tiddy Mun is angry,” said the oldest grandmother. “We let them take his water, and now his home is dry.”

So the people decided to make it right. On the evening of the new moon, they all walked out to the edge of the ditch. Every family carried a bucket of fresh water. They poured the water into the ditch, one bucket after another. “Tiddy Mun without a name, here is water for you!” they called. “We are very sorry. Please be our friend again!”

For a long time, everything was quiet. Then, from far away across the marsh, they heard a happy cry like a peewit. After that, the rain came back, and the pools filled up again. The cows gave plenty of milk, the little pigs ate their dinner, and the children ran and played in the sunshine. And every new moon, the people poured out a little water for Tiddy Mun, to say thank you.