“The English writers of romances feign the fairies to be of a smaller
size than even the fabled pigmies; the Welsh people ever supposed them
to be of the same stature with mankind. Shakespeare describes his fairy
as less than a mite, riding through people’s brains to make the chase.
This has not been my experience. I have had them described to me of all
sizes, varying from a woman to little people two feet high. They have
been described, when large, as dressed like ordinary ladies, when small,
with short dresses; no hats, and hair in a plaited pigtail down the
back.”
Finally, the writer says:
“What other interpretation can be given to this tale I know not. This,
and such other tales, the material of which one might collect a volume,
must, it may reasonably be supposed, have something of reality for their
origin and foundation, before they were dressed out in the familiar garb
given them by their authors.”
So our author is a “realist” as regards the origin of fairies.
(15) THE LONG-LIVED ANCESTORS.
Source: Taken _verbatim_ from the book quoted. This fable refers to the
place, _Cwm Caw Lwyd_, regarding which the writer says:
“With regard to the _Cwm Caw Lwyd_, there is a still extant fable
entitled _Creaduriaid Hir Hoedlog_ (i.e., the long-lived ancestors),
which seems to be a composition of no modern date. At present the moral
of it cannot be elucidated; but it seems that, in one respect, it was
intended to represent the solitariness of this place, inhabited only
by the weeping owl from remote antiquity; and certainly it is the most
solitary and romantic retreat that the mind of man could imagine.” The
writer says his is a “literal translation of the story, according to the
Welsh phraseology”.
(16) THE GIANTESS’S APRON-FULL.
Source: _Verbatim_ from the same book. Referring to the heaps of stone
found on the hill-tops, he gives the fable of the heap found
upon _Bwlchy Ddeufaen_, which he says is called _Ban Clodidd y
Gawres_--literally, the giantess’s apron-full.
“The writer regards such tales as originally intended as hyperboles, to
magnify the prowess and magnanimity of renowned persons.”
(17) A FABLE.
Source: Taken _verbatim_ from the same book. The writer quotes it
apropos of the Roman custom of bribing the Britons on the mountain tops.
We are told the fable was delivered by one of the Britons, named _Gwrgan
Farfdrwch_, who spoke to this effect, and then follows the fable.
(18) THE STORY OF THE PIG-TROUGH.
Source: Told by Hugh’s daughter. Genuine.
(19) BILLY DUFFY AND THE DEVIL.
Source: Told me by the old man who told me of the origin of the Welsh.
Vague.
(20) JOHN O’ GROATS.
Same source. Vague.
(21) EVA’S LUCK.
Source: A Jersey fisherman. Reliable. He also informed me that large
stones, supported on others, were called “Fairy Stones” in Jersey.
(22) THE FISHERMEN OF SHETLAND.
Source: Told me by a yachting hand, who heard it from a Shetlander named
Abernethy who was serving in the same yacht with him. Not many years
ago, some volunteers at Beaumaris swore they saw a mermaid there,
and fired several shots at it. I think this story to be genuine and
beautiful.
(23) THE PASTOR’S NURSE.
Source: Reliable. Written for me by the Pastor’s mother in French. Given
_verbatim_.