Fairies notoriously possess great fondness for music. They may be seen
in meadows dancing at night by moonlight; and people often find in the
morning the traces in the dew, called Fairy Rings. In European countries
their favourite musical instruments evidently are the harp and the
fiddle. They also often excel as vocalists, and we find them reputed as
enchanting singers in almost every part of the world.
Their music resembles, as might be expected, the old tunes of the
country-people in the district which they inhabit. The following air of
the Irish fairies is copied from T. Crofton Croker's 'Fairy Legends and
Traditions of the South of Ireland:'--
[Music]
This air, which, of course, is said to be of high antiquity, is commonly
sung by every skilful narrator of a certain Irish fairy tale to which it
belongs, to enhance the effect of the story.