“A keeper, intricate and entertaining . . . I read it straight through in one sitting!”?—Robert Jordan
“What a great, galloping wonder of a book?—deep and wide and witty and wise. And absolutely impossible to put down.”?—Jane Yolen
When folk musician Janey Little finds a mysterious manuscript in an old trunk in her grandfather’s cottage, she is swept into a dangerous realm both strange and familiar. But true magic lurks within the pages ofThe Little Country , drawing genuine danger from across the oceans into Janey’s life, impelling her?—armed only with her music?—toward a terrifying confrontation.
Come walk the mist-draped hills of Cornwall, come walk the ancient standing stones. Listen to the fiddles, and the wind, and the sea. Come step with Janey Little into the pages of. . .The Little Country.
the LITTLE COUNTRY
“A must for all connoisseurs of high imagination.”?—Greg Bear
“A masterful blend of the sinister and the fantastic.”?—Julian May
“An intricately structured novel, full of a wealth of detail about music, Cornwall, and things magical and arcane. I think it is one of de Lint’s best.”?—Patricia McKillip
Visit Charles de Lint athttp://www.cyberus.ca/~cdl
[website is now athttp://www.sfsite.com/charlesdelint/ ]
0-312-87649-1 / $15.95 ($21.95 CAN)
An Orb Book / Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
www.tor.com/ Printed in the USA
[multimap.com'smaps forDuck St ,Mousehole ,Men-an-Tol ,Penzance ,Penwith Peninsula andMount’s Bay .Men-an-Tol pictures .]
Appendix I: A Selection of Janey Little’s Tunes
{Page533}The following tunes were written on the fiddle, but have proved admirably suitable for a wide variety of instruments. All tunes are copyright © 1991 by Charles de Lint; all rights reserved.
ABSURD GOOD NEWS
ALL OF A MONDAY NIGHT
{Page534}BILLY’S OWN JIG
FELIXGAVIN’S REEL
THE GAFFER’S MOUZEL
THE GIRLS OF EDMONTON
HER TWO CHAIRS
{Page535}JOHN WOOD’S MAZURKA
THE MEIKLEJOHN JIG
THE MEN-AN-TOL WALTZ
THE NEW TASSELED SHOES
THE NINE BLIND HARPERS
{Page536}SHE’S TOO FAST FOR ME
STARGAZY PIE
THE STONESS BARN
THE TINKER’S BLACK KETTLE
Appendix II: A Brief Glossary of Unfamiliar Terms
{Page539}I’m indebted to conversations with Phil and Audrey Wallis, as well as Douglas Tregenza’sDeparted Days: Mousehole Remembered (Dyllanstow Truran, 1984) and Ben Batten’sOld Newlyn Speech (self-published, 1984) for the following terms:
agro?—short for aggravation
ansum?—handsome
bagle?—a troublemaker
brill?—short for brilliant
caboleen?—rounded stone used as an anchor
carker?—little cork boat with a slate or iron keel
come ‘pon that?—so far as that goes
dog in a tayser?—square peg in a round hole
emperent?—cheeky, pert
fore and after?—clergyman
garm?—expression of surprise, wonder
kitey?—a bit loony
la Ley!?—exclamation
making some crant?—creating a fuss
oh raw we?—exclamation
sparking?—courting
tatchy?—irritable
tee-ta-taw?—a vaguely critical or mocking comment
that do belong?—that’s unusual
{Page540}three scats behind?—too slow, late
tuck-net?—small net used to lift up pilchard in a seine
two-deckers?—any four-footed animal; sailors call them this rather than by their common names to ward against bad luck
up country?—the rest of England
wam?—very finicky person
well, I go to sea?—surprise, astonishment
white choker?—clergyman
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
PART ONE – The Hidden People
The Quarrelsome Piper
Life Is All Chequered
The Sailor’s Return
The Creeping Mouse
The Hunt
What the Devil Ails You?
Off She Goes!
Pull the Knife and Stick It Again
The Dogs Among the Bushes
The Unfortunate Cup of Tea
The Wheels of the World
The Pipers Despair
The Moving Bog
Four Bare Legs Together
Silly Old Man
The Conundrum
PART TWO – The Lost Music
When Sick Is It Tea You Want?
Touch Me If You Dare
Border Spirit
The Bargain Is Over
Leppadumdowledum
Constant Billy
The Man Who Died and Rose Again
So There I Was
Tottering Hame
Fortune My Foe
Kick the World Before You
The Eagle’s Whistle
The Touchstone
Some Say the Devil Is Dead
Coda
Absurd Good News
Contentment Is Wealth
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
THE LITTLE COUNTRY
Copyright © 1991 by Charles de Lint
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
An Orb Edition
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
De Lint, Charles.
The little country / Charles de Lint.?—1st Orb ed.
p. cm.
“A Tom Doherty Associates book.”
ISBN 0-312-87649-1
1. Cornwall (England : County)?—Fiction. 2. Fairies?—fiction. I.
Title.
PR9199.3.D357 L58 2001
813’.54?—dc21
2001016388
First Tor Edition: March 1993
First Orb Edition: April 2001
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