The Old Father Williams Storytelling Podcast

Things are not always what they seem...

A story about a mist unusual cat...

The story of how King Arthur & Queen Guinevere met...

Please forgive the late posting of this episode.  Real life occasionally gets in the way... I'll try not to let it happen again.  Today's take is a somewhat lesser known of story of a somewhat letter known Knight of King Arthur's Round Table, Sir Gareth  was the youngest son of King Lot & Queen Morgause, Arthur's half-sister. making Sir Gareth Arthur's nephew & brother to Sirs Gawain, Agravain, & Gaharis,  Queen Morgause, King Arthur's half-sister, thus making him Arthur's nephew, as well as brother to Gawain, Agravain, & Gaheris, & either a brother or half-brother of Mordred. Talk about complicated relationships!

A boy is kidnapped & two men set out to rescue him...

The Devil's always a bad guy, right? Or is he?

Weel, being the cat lover than I am, telling "Puss In Boots" was inevitable - I just wonder what took me so long! (So does my cat, Miss Tabby...)

This is th first original story I ever told in public. It was so well received that I decided to keep telling. I hope you like it. It's called "Saint Michael & The Devil's Castle."

Gerald is a little boy who never seems to do anything right... & he's the one who will save the village from Green Haired Goblins? Really? What could possibly go wrong? Well...

An American classic about an American Political Giant & the time he argued a case against the Devil.  If he wins, he saves a man from a horrible fate ... but if he loses, well, he shares that fate for Eternity.  Based on the classic story by Steven Vincent Benet.

The French Fairy Tale of "Beauty & the Beast" first appeared 1740 & has been a favorite on stage, big screen, television, ice, & print for 281 years.  (My personal favorite adaptation is the 1976 television presentation starring George C. Scott as the Beast & Trish Van Devere as Beauty.) It is, indeed, timeless. I hope you enjoy this telling.

To me, & I'm sure most cat lovers would agree, the cat's purr is one of Nature's [erfect sounds. But where did it come from? This story answer that question...

A  father tells his three sons, Kai, Gunnar, & Veko, that it is time for them to marry. Because they have no idea where to look  for a bride, the father has them chop down a tree & follow where the fallen tree points. Veko's tree points to the forest, & he doubts he will find a bride among the trees... 

The Sheriff of Nottingham, subscribing to the "set a thief to catch a their" line of thought,  hires a ruthless killer to kill Robin Hood.  The Sherwood archer & his right hand man, Little John, have other plans, of course...

This episode has one of the first stories I ever wrote as an adult - "The Elvenwoods." I had completely forgotten about it until I went through some old SD cards.  My mother, a professional writer with several publications to her credit, read it & said it "rang the bell of truth a little."  This was, for her, very high praise indeed. I hope you enjoy it.

A grand & fantastic tale from one of Storytelling's most prolific researcher & teller, Andrew Lang.

An Irish take, cautionary & endearing, about a young man who accepts a drink of whiskey from one of the "wee folk" & finds himself an expected servant...

This is the original "Busted Flush, Oklahoma" story. Yep, the one that started it all.  It introduces Attorney Homer Schump, farmer Herman Ray Calhoun, & brothers Milo & Nehi Sternbeak, & a really big - I mean REALLY BIG cucumber fertilized by Busted Flush Double D (Distinctly Different) Fertilizer.

The classic "Arabian Nights" story! There's a lot more to this story than I remember, & I think it's because as a child I must have read a "sanitized" versions. This one is far from sanitizedI You may want to preview it before playing it for any young ones around the house. If they are anything like I was as a child, though, they'll love it! Shivers & all!

What could be better for a young boy like Toboe Wolfgass, of Busted Flush, Oklahoma, a little town about 100 years SouthEast of the Capital, that finding out he had an Aunt he'd never met? Why, finding out the Aunt he's never met was part of THE CIRCUS!!