One fine summer's day, Earl Mar's daughter went into the castle garden, dancing and tripping along. As she played, she would stop to listen to the birds. Sitting under a green oak tree, she spied a sprightly dove high on a branch.
"Coo-my-dove, my dear," she said, "come down to me and I will give you a golden cage. I'll take you home and pet you well."
Scarcely had she spoken when the dove flew down, settled on her shoulder, and nestled against her neck. She took it to her room.
That night, as she prepared for sleep, she found a handsome young man beside her. Startled, for the door was locked, she asked, "What are you doing here? How did you come in?"
"Hush!" he whispered. "I was the cooing dove you coaxed from the tree."
"But who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Florentine. My mother, a queen skilled in magic, turned me into a dove by day because I defied her. At night, I become a man again. Today, I crossed the sea and saw you for the first time. Unless you love me, I shall never be happy."
"But if I love you, will you not fly away one day?"
"Never," said the prince. "Be my wife, and I will be yours forever. By day a bird, by night a prince, I will always be by your side."
They married in secret and lived happily. No one knew that Coo-my-dove became Prince Florentine each night. Every year, a bonny son was born to them. Each time, Florentine carried the child over the sea to his mother, the queen.
Seven years passed. Then, Earl Mar decided to marry his daughter to a nobleman. He pressed her, but she refused, saying, "I am happy with Coo-my-dove."
Enraged, her father swore, "Tomorrow, I'll twist that bird's neck!"
"It's time I was away," said Coo-my-dove. He flew out the window, over the deep sea, to his mother's castle.
The queen saw the dove alight. "Dancers, pipe well!" she called. "My Florentine has returned, though without a bonny boy this time."
"No dancers for me, mother," said Florentine. "My wife, mother of my seven sons, is to be wed tomorrow. It is a sad day for me."
"What can I do?" asked the queen. "If my magic has power, it shall be done."
"Then," said Florentine, "turn your twenty-four dancers and pipers into twenty-four grey herons. Let my seven sons become seven white swans. And let me be a goshawk, their leader."
"Alas, my son," she said, "my magic is not that strong. But perhaps my teacher, the spaewife of Ostree, may know."
The queen hurried to Ostree's cave. She returned, muttering over burning herbs. Suddenly, Coo-my-dove changed into a goshawk. Around him flew twenty-four grey herons, and above them flew seven cygnets.
Without a word, they flew over the tossing sea. They swooped down on Earl Mar's castle just as the wedding party set out for the church.
The procession moved slowly to stately music. As they passed the trees where the birds had settled, Prince Florentine, the goshawk, gave a signal. They all rose into the air: herons below, cygnets above, and the goshawk circling above all.
The wedding guests wondered at the sight. Then, swoop! The herons scattered the men-at-arms. The young swans took charge of the bride while the goshawk tied the bridegroom to a tree.
The herons gathered into a feather bed. The cygnets placed their mother upon it, and they all rose into the air, bearing the bride safely away.
The wedding party was utterly disturbed. They could only watch as their bride was carried away until she and all the birds disappeared.
That very day, Prince Florentine brought Earl Mar's daughter to his mother's castle. The queen lifted the spell from him, and they lived happily ever after.