The White Ring

by Enys Tregarthen, Nora S. Unwin (Illustrator), Elizabeth Yates (Editor)

A Cornish fairy-tale of an orphan baby girl raised by the old fisherman who finds her among the sea holly. Many black and white line drawings and full page pictures.

63 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

(1851–1923). The British author and folklorist Enys Tregarthen wrote children’s stories based upon legends of her native Cornwall. She collected and recorded many stories about the Piskey folk, fairies of Cornish myth and legend.

Born Nellie Sloggett on Dec. 29, 1851, in Padstow, Cornwall, England, she suffered a devastating spinal illness at age 17 and was paralyzed for the rest of her life. She began to keep diaries about flowers, the changing seasons, and birds and other creatures, all observed from her bedside window. This practice eventually led to the writing and publication of her first book, Daddy Longlegs, and His White Heath Flower, in 1885 under the pseudonym Nellie Cornwall. In time she came to devote much of her attention to Cornish folklore and legend. She published most of her works in this category under the pen name Enys Tregarthen.

Tregarthen died in October 1923. After her death, the writer Elizabeth Yates edited her extensive unpublished materials for publication. The resulting volumes included Piskey Folk: A Book of Cornish Legends (1940), The Doll Who Came Alive (1942), and The White Ring (1949).


Works

As Nellie Cornwall

* "Daddy Longlegs and His White Heath Flower (1885)
* "Joyces Little Maid" (1900)
* "The Maid of the Storm" (1900)
* "The Hill Of Fire " (1901)
* "The Little Don Of Oxford" (1902)
* "Little Gladwise: The Story Of A Waif " (1909)
* "Tamsin Rosewarne and her burdens" (1910)
* "Twice Rescued"
* "Halvard Halworsen"
* "Granny Tresawna's Story"

As Enys Tregarthen

* "The Doll Who Came Alive" (1973) ISBN 0-381-99683-2
* "Pixie Folklore & Legends " (reprinted 1995) ISBN 0-517-14903-6
* "Padstow's Faery Folk" (Paperback)
* "North Cornwall Fairies and Legends" (1906)
*" The house of the sleeping winds and Other Stories" (1911)
* "The White Ring" (1949)

Reviews

[Saffron Moon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful Fairy Tale! An old fisherman finds a tiny girl child abandoned on the sandy hills near the sea. Since the fisherman was a kind old man who loved to to care for helpless things, he picked up the strange child and took her back to his cottage to raise her as his own. As the years went by Nan (as that was the little girl's name) learned kindness, compassion and love from the old fisherman, whom she soon began to call, Granfer. After years went by and Nan had grown, she began to long to be with the fairies, whom she believed were her own kind, and as she washed in morning dew every morning, she steadily began to shrink in size.
I loved the description of the landscape in the story which I imagined was near Cornwall, which is where the author Enys Tregarthen lived. The illustrations by Nora S. Unwin are utterly charming and fit the narration perfectly. Overall, I loved the book and felt as if I had been transported to these remote magical cliffs along the English sea.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved as a child but lost. (Probably was one of the library books that I just checked out over and over again.) Found by chance, grabbed, reread, found as enchanting, bewitching, as ever.
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A couple of years later, rereading children's books that I've finally decided to pass on to a certain young family that I know will appreciate them. This, however, I'm not giving them. This time I was not impressed and will offer on paperbackswap or otherwise to an LFL.

The art is beguiling. The diminishment is fascinating, esp. to a child. (Think of The Littles, The Borrowers, Ralph S. Mouse, etc.) It's very wordy. The ending spoils everything, imo. I loved Uter as he was, this time, and didn't want the change.

[JKR · Rating 4 out of 5]

A low four star book, or possibly three stars.

[Mallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A childhood fav ♡♡