THERE is a story I’ve heard told in different ways called the Three Dolls, most recently by acclaimed storyteller Claire McNicol.

The dolls all look the same on the outside, yet the challenge is to discover their difference. The difference is not to be seen but is discovered when a thread is placed through the ears of the dolls.

When this is done with the first doll, the thread goes in one ear and immediately comes out the other. This doll is the foolish one, who takes no notice and doesn’t think or listen to life’s stories. They go in one ear and straight out the other.

When the thread is put through the ear of the second doll, it does not come out but stays in the head. This doll is the wise one, who notices and listens and thinks about life’s stories.

When the thread is put through the ear of the third doll, it eventually reappears through the mouth, but is curled up instead of straight. This doll is the storytelling one, as it will notice, listen and think about life’s stories just like the wise doll, but then retell them.

And the reason the thread comes out curled is because every storyteller will add their own twist to a tale.

And so for this week, as we approach Christmas, I want to re-tell a favourite old tale.

It is for children and based on the story ‘The Marriage of Robin Redbreast and the Wren’, which was a tale told by Isabella, the sister of Robert Burns, and written down by Robert Chambers in the 19th century.

Isabella moved to Ormiston and then later Tranent with her family, of which I have written about earlier. Her memory was that this was a story told by Burns himself when she was a child, to entertain his siblings.

I hope traditionalists will forgive me for adapting the tale, to hopefully suit a young audience of today. The original tale is in Chamber’s Popular Rhymes Of Scotland and of course it refers to Yuletide rather than Christmas, and no Christmas tree appears, and has much more Scots vocabulary, some of which I have used in a different context.

Times change and traditions change with them, and stories can evolve new versions to reflect that. Indeed, Burns himself adapted and changed many ballads and stories into his style.

But new versions of old tales can also motivate us to seek out the original, or at least the earliest one we know of, which is so much easier to do these days. I believe it’s also important to keep the Scots language alive and introduce Scots words to young children in a way that is accessible and recognisable for them as spoken speech. The repetition (in bold) which they can say out loud, can help reinforce this.

So in the spirit of that third doll, here is the tale with my own twist. I have titled it ‘The Robin’s Christmas Gift’ and hope that it may be a story suited to telling younger members of your family, or indeed for older ones too!

‘One snowy Christmas Eve, a long time ago, there was a robin perched on a pine tree.

The robin was singing and his beautiful song was heard by the king, who happened to be passing in his royal coach.

He asked the coachman to stop, and he listened to the robin’s song.

“How lovely,” said the king.

When the robin had finished the song, the king said: “Such a shame my wife, the queen, is not with me. She would have loved your singing. Perhaps you could come and sing for us both tomorrow on Christmas Day. We have a large Christmas tree outside our window which you could perch on.”

Then the king’s coach continued on its journey to the royal palace.

Well next day was Christmas Day and the robin decided he would fly to the palace to sing to the king and queen, perched on their Christmas tree.

He flew and flew, then flew some more. His small wings got tired, so he landed on a bush to rest.

Pussy Baudrons, a gallus cat, saw the robin.

“Hey wee robin, where are you going?” asked Pussy Baudrons.

I’m gaun tae the palace, tae sing ma song,” replied the robin.

The cat grinned: “Why don’t you come closer and I’ll show you the bell around my neck?”

But the robin was too wise to be tricked by the cat: “Naw, naw, naw ye cannae fool me, I’m off tae sing; tae the king and queen, while I’m perched on their Christmas tree.”

The robin flew and flew, then flew some more. His small wings got tired again, so he landed on a wall to rest.

A gled, a muckle bird of prey, saw the robin.

“Hey wee robin, where are you going?” asked the gled.

I’m gaun tae the palace tae sing ma song," replied the robin.

The bird grinned: “Why don’t you come closer and I’ll show you a bonny feather from my wing?”

But the robin was too wise to be tricked by the bird: “Naw, naw, naw ye cannae fool me, I’m off tae sing; tae the king and queen, while I’m perched on their Christmas tree.”

The robin flew and flew, then flew some more. But once again his small wings got tired, so he landed on a rock to rest.

Tod Lowrie, a sleekit fox, saw the robin.

“Hey wee robin, where are you going?” asked Tod Lowrie.

I’m gaun tae the palace tae sing ma song,” replied the robin.

The fox grinned: “Why don’t you come closer and I’ll show you what’s under my nose?”

But the robin was too wise to be tricked by the fox: “Naw, naw, naw ye cannae fool me, I’m off tae sing; tae the king and queen, while I’m perched on their Christmas tree.”

The robin flew and flew, then flew some more. And finally he reached the palace and perched on the royal Christmas tree.

The king and queen saw the robin and opened their window. The robin sang and sang, then sang some more. The king and queen clapped and cheered and said thank you.

“What a wonderful Christmas gift this robin has given,” said the king, “what can we give him in return?”

Then some singing came from inside the palace. It was the little wren, a pet bird the king and queen kept in a cage. They had never heard the wren sing so happily.

“Perhaps the robin would like a friend?” said the king. The robin sang with joy at hearing this, and so did the wren.

“But the robin cannot live in a cage,” said the queen. “Then we must free the wren,” said the king.

The queen opened the cage door and out flew the wren. She perched with the robin on the tree and they became instant friends.

Then together, they flew and flew, then flew some more. From that Christmas Day, they stayed friends for evermore.’

Merry Christmas!