Now the old witch who had worked all these evils lived near the well
in a cottage. She had first learned witchcraft from a book called _The
Black Art_, which a gentleman farmer had lent her when a girl. She
progressed rapidly with her studies, and being eager to learn more, sold
herself to the devil, who made compact with her that she should have
full power for seven years, after which she was to become his. He gave
her a wand that had the magic power of drawing people to her, and she
had a ring on the grass by her house just like the fairy’s ring. As the
seven years were drawing to a close, and her heart was savage against
the farmer who first led her into the paths of evil knowledge, she
determined to be revenged. One day, soon after the Fairy of the Dell
came to live by the spring, she drew the farmer to her with her wand,
and, standing in her ring, she lured him into it. When he crossed the
line, she said:
“Cursed be he or she
That crosses my circle to see me,”
and, touching him on the head and back, a horn and a tail grew from
the spots touched. He went off in a terrible rage, but she only laughed
maliciously. Then, as she heard of the Queen of the Dell’s good deeds,
she repented of her evil deeds, and begged her neighbour to go to the
queen fairy and ask her if she might come and visit her. The queen
consented, and the old witch went down and told her everything--of the
book, of the magic wand, of the ring, and of all the wicked deeds she
had done.
“O, you have been a bad witch,” said the queen, “but I will see what I
can do; but you must bring me the book and the wand;” and she told the
old witch to come on the following day a little before noon. When the
witch came the next day with her wand and book, she found the fairies
had built a fire in the middle ring. The queen then took her and stood
her by the fire, for she could not trust her on the outer circle.
“Now I must have more power,” said the queen to the fairies, and she
went and sat on the throne, leaving the witch by the fire in the middle
ring. After thinking a little, the queen said, “Now I have it,” and
coming down from her throne muttering, she began walking round the outer
circle, waiting for the hour of one o’clock, when all the fairies got
into the middle circle and marched round, singing:
“At the hour of one
The cock shall crow one,
Goo! Goo! Goo!
I am here to tell
Of the sacred well
That lies in the dell,
And will conquer hell.”
On the second round, they sang:
“At the hour of two
The cock crows two,
Goo! Goo! Goo!
I am here to tell
Of the sacred well
That lies in the dell;
We will conquer hell.”
At the last round, they sang:
“At the hour of three
The cock crows three,
Goo! Goo! Goo!
I am here to tell
Of the sacred well
That lies in the dell;
Now I have conquered hell.”
Then the queen cast the book and wand into the fire, and immediately
the vale was rent by a thundering noise, and numbers of devils came from
everywhere, and encircled the outer ring, but they could not pass the
ring. Then the fairies began walking round and round, singing their
song. When they had finished the song they heard a loud screech from
the devils that frightened all the fairies except the queen. She was
unmoved, and going to the fire, stirred the ashes with her wand, and saw
that the book and wand were burnt, and then she walked thrice round the
outer ring by herself, when she turned to the devils, and said:
“I command you to be gone from our earthly home, get to your own abode.
I take the power of casting you all from here. Begone! begone! begone!”
And all the devils flew up, and there was a mighty clap as of thunder,
and the earth trembled, and the sky became overcast, and all the devils
burst, and the sky cleared again.
After this the queen put three fairies by the old witch’s side, and
they constantly dipped their wands in the sacred spring, and touched her
head, and she was sorely troubled and converted.
“Bring the mirror,” said the queen.
And the fairies brought the mirror and laid it in the middle circle, and
they all walked round three times, chanting again the song beginning
“At the hour of one.” When they had done this the queen stood still, and
said:
“Stand and watch to see what you can see.”
And as she looked she said:
“The mirror shines unto me
That the witch we can see
Has three devils inside of she.”
Immediately the witch had a fit, and the three fairies had a hard job to
keep the three devils quiet; indeed, they could not do so, and the queen
had to go herself with her wand, for fear the devils should burst the
witch asunder, and she said, “Come out three evil spirits, out of thee.”
And they came gnashing their teeth, and would have killed all the
fairies, but the queen said:
“Begone, begone, begone! you evil spirits, to the place of your abode,”
and suddenly the sky turned bright as fire, for the evil spirits were
trying their spleen against the fairies, but the queen said, “Collect,
collect, collect, into one fierce ball,” and the fiery sky collected
into one ball of fire more dazzling than the sun, so that none could
look at it except the queen, who wore a black silk mask to protect
her eyes. Suddenly the ball burst with a terrific noise, and the earth
trembled.
“Enter into your abode, and never come down to our abode on earth any
more,” said the queen.
And the witch was herself again, and she and the queen fairy were
immediately great friends. The witch, when she came out of the ring,
dropped on her knee and asked the queen if she might call her the Lady
of the Dell, and how she could serve her.
“We will see about that,” said the queen.
“Well, how do you live?” asked the woman who had been a witch.
“Well, I’ll tell you,” said the queen. “We go at midnight and milk the
cows, and we keep the milk, and it never grows less so long as we leave
some in the bottom of the vessel; we must not use it all. After milking
the cow, we rub the cow’s purse and bless it, and she gives double the
amount of milk.”
“Well, how do you get corn?”
“Well, we were at the mill playing one day, and the miller came in and
saw us, and spoke kindly to us, and offered us some flour. ‘We never
take nothing for nothing,’ I said, so I blessed the bin: so in a few
minutes the bin was full to the brim with flour, and I said to the
miller, ‘Now don’t you empty the bin, but always leave a peck in it, and
for twelve months, no matter how much you use the bin, it will always
be full in the morning.’ Now I have told you this much, and I will tell
further, ‘You must love your neighbour, you must love all mankind.’ Now
here is a purse of gold, go and buy what you want, eggs, bacon, cheese,
and get a flagon of wine and use these things freely, giving freely to
the aged poor, and if you never finish these things, there will always
be as much the next morning as you started with. And I shall make a
salve for you, and you must use the water from the sacred well. That
will be as a medicine, and people shall come from far and wide to be
cured by you, and you shall be loved by all, and you shall be known to
the poorest of the poor as Madame Dorothy.”
And the woman did as she was told, and she became renowned for her
medical skill, especially in childbirth, for her salve eased the pains,
and her waters brought milk. By-and-by, she got known all over the
island, and rich people came to her from afar, and she always made the
rich pay, and the poor were treated free.
Madame Dorothy used to see the queen fairy at times, and one day she
asked her, “Shall we meet again?”
“We cannot tell,” said the queen, “but I will give you a ring--let me
place it on your finger--it is a magic ring worked by fairies. Whenever
you seek to know of me, make a ring of your own, and walk round three
times and rub the ring; if it turns bright I am alive, but if you see
blood I am dead.”
“But how can that be? You are much younger than I am.”
“Oh, no! we fairies look young to the day of our death; we live to a
great age, but die naturally of old age, for we never have any ailments,
but still our power fades. Men fade in the flesh and power, but we fade
only in power. I am over seventy now.”
“But you look to be thirty.”
“Well, we will shake hands and part, for I must go elsewhere; as I have
no king, I do not stop in one place.”
And they shook hands and parted.