Another mode in which the wild and erratic imagination of our
ancestors manifested itself, was in the creation of a world of
visionary beings of a less terrific character, but which did not fail
to annoy their thoughts, and perplex their determinations, known by
the name of Fairies.
There are few things more worthy of contemplation, and that at the
same time tend to place the dispositions of our ancestors in a more
amiable point of view, than the creation of this airy and fantastic
race. They were so diminutive as almost to elude the organs of human
sight. They were at large, even though confined to the smallest
dimensions. They "could be bounded in a nutshell, and count themselves
kings of infinite space."
Their midnight revels, by a forest-side
Or fountain, the belated peasant saw,
Or dreamed he saw, while overhead the moon
Sat arbitress, and nearer to the earth
Wheeled her pale course--they, on their mirth and dance
Intent, with jocund music charmed his ear;
At once with joy and fear his heart rebounds.
Small circles marked the grass in solitary places, the trace of their
little feet, which, though narrow, were ample enough to afford every
accommodation to their pastime.
The fairy tribes appear to have been every where distinguished for
their patronage of truth, simplicity and industry, and their
abhorrence of sensuality and prevarication. They left little rewards
in secret, as tokens of their approbation of the virtues they loved,
and by their supernatural power afforded a supplement to pure and
excellent intentions, when the corporeal powers of the virtuous sank
under the pressure of human infirmity. Where they conceived
displeasure, the punishments they inflicted were for the most part
such as served moderately to vex and harass the offending party,
rather than to inflict upon him permanent and irremediable evils.
Their airy tongues would syllable men's names
On sands, and shores, and desert wildernesses.
They were supposed to guide the wandering lights, that in the
obscurity of the night beguiled the weary traveller "through bog,
through bush, through brake, through briar." But their power of evil
only extended, or was only employed, to vex those who by a certain
obliquity of conduct gave occasion for their reproofs. They besides
pinched and otherwise tormented the objects of their displeasure; and,
though the mischiefs they executed were not of the most vital kind,
yet, coming from a supernatural enemy, and being inflicted by
invisible hands, they could not fail greatly to disturb and disorder
those who suffered from them.
There is at first sight a great inconsistency in the representations
of these imaginary people. For the most part they are described to us
as of a stature and appearance, almost too slight to be marked by our
grosser human organs. At other times however, and especially in the
extremely popular tales digested by M. Perrault, they shew themselves
in indiscriminate assemblies, brought together for some solemn
festivity or otherwise, and join the human frequenters of the scene,
without occasioning enquiry or surprise. They are particularly
concerned in the business of summarily and without appeal bestowing
miraculous gifts, sometimes as a mark of special friendship and
favour, and sometimes with a malicious and hostile intention.--But we
are to consider that spirits
Can every form assume; so soft
And uncompounded is their essence pure;
Not tied or manacled with joint or limb,
Like cumbrous flesh; but, in what shape they choose,
Dilated or condensed, bright or obscure,
Can execute their airy purposes,
And works of love or enmity fulfil.
And then again, as their bounties were shadowy, so were they specially
apt to disappear in a moment, the most splendid palaces and
magnificent exhibitions vanishing away, and leaving their disconcerted
dupe with his robes converted into the poorest rags, and, instead of
glittering state, finding himself suddenly in the midst of desolation,
and removed no man knew whither.
One of the mischiefs that were most frequently imputed to them, was
the changing the beautiful child of some doating parents, for a babe
marked with ugliness and deformity. But this idea seems fraught with
inconsistency. The natural stature of the fairy is of the smallest
dimensions; and, though they could occasionally dilate their figure so
as to imitate humanity, yet it is to be presumed that this was only
for a special purpose, and, that purpose obtained, that they shrank
again habitually into their characteristic littleness. The change
therefore can only be supposed to have been of one human child for
another.