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The reader will not have failed to notice the similarity of Assipattle with Cinderella. In both stories the circumstances are the same, only the Ash-lad has been replaced by the Cinder-girl. There is no doubt which version is the older: the one is the maternal form, the other the patriarchal. In this connection, see K. Pearson in the essay already quoted, p. 85 et seq.
Assipattle executes the deed, when his brothers and all others have failed; he frees the land or rescues the king’s daughter, and is covered with honour. He marries the princess and inherits the kingdom. Assipattle always begins in the deepest degradation, and ends on the highest summit of glory. There is a special interest in this story.
The Scottish and Irish legends are particularly rich in examples of these hero lovers. Assipattle, the dirty ash-lad, who wins the fair Gemdelovely and then reigns with her as queen and king, is one of the most interesting. Similar stories may be found in the folk-lore of every country. Ash-lad figures in many of the Norwegian tales.
Again, Dick Whittington, the poor country lad, who faithfully serves his master in London, marries his employer’s daughter. This theme is very frequently found in ballads, romances, and dramas; in all cases the way to fortune for the lover is through marriage the daughter carries the inheritance. Let us take Assipattle of the Scottish legend as a type of these hero wooers.
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