"Of fairy elves by moonlight shadows seen,
The silver token, and the circled green"--
has, for unknown ages, and in all countries, been an article of the
popular creed. It is impossible to trace the origin of the belief. Some
imagine it has been conveyed to us by the tradition of the Lamiae, who
took away young children to slay them, and that this, mixed up with the
tales of Fauns and Gods of the woods, originated the notion of Fairies.
Others, that the belief was imported into Europe by the Crusaders from
the East, as Fairies somewhat resemble the Oriental Genii. It is
certainly true that the Arabs and Persians, whose religion and history
abound with similar tales, have assigned the Genii a peculiar country.
Again, Homer is supposed to have been among authors the originator of
the idea, as, in his third Iliad, he compares the Trojans to cranes when
they descend to fight against pigmies or fairies. Pliny, Aristotle, and
others give countenance to the belief in a race of fairies; Herodotus
described a nation of dwarfs living on the head waters of the Nile;
Strabo thought that certain men of Ethiopia were the original dwarfs;
while Pomponius Mela placed them far south. But nobody believed these
stories, which were taken to be either poetical licences or chapters in
romance. It is, however, strange that a race called Obongos, about
thirty-six inches high, are mentioned as existing near the Ashango
country by Paul de Chaillu (the discoverer of the gorilla), in his late
work "From the Country of the Dwarfs."
Whatever conjecture may be adopted, it is certain our Saxon ancestors,
long ere they left their German forests, believed in the existence of a
kind of diminutive demons, or middle species between men and spirits, to
whom they attributed performances far exceeding human art. Although we
are now a great literary people, yet, in this description of legendary
lore, we are far behind the Germans; for this is a peculiar style of
writing not exactly fitted for English cultivation, but in which the
Germans seem to possess the faculty of invention and contrivance,
together with originality of conception and power of execution, in such
an eminent degree as to leave the legendary writers of our own and other
countries at an immeasurable distance. In fact, we may search the whole
range of English, French, Spanish, and Italian literature, and there
will not be found one author "who dips so deep into the dark profound,"
or one who is possessed of that magic wand that can give the same
vitality to the beings of a shadowy world as the Germans, or one who,
can conjure up before the mind's eye, in such enchanting colours, the
magical representations of beings and forms of no mark or likelihood,
and with whose names even we were previously totally unacquainted.
The Fairies of our own land were, on the whole, a genial, frolicsome,
happy race--occasionally given to mischievous tricks--benefiting those
who were kindly disposed to them and paid them due honour, but
revengeful and doing harm to those who were differently inclined. They
were a kind of intermediate beings, partaking of the nature of both men
and spirits: they had material bodies and the power of making them
invisible, and of passing through any opening. They were generally, in
their natural state, small in stature, of fair complexion--hence their
name in England; while, for their kind dispositions, in Scotland they
were called "the good people." Says Dr Rogers, in his work "Scotland
Social and Domestic," in which will be found much of interest regarding
"Folk Lore":--"The forms of the Scottish fairies were beautiful. The
female was a being of seraphic loveliness: ringlets of yellow hair
descended upon her shoulders, and were bound upon her brow with gems of
gold. She wore a mantle of green silk, inlaid with eider-down, and zoned
round her waist with garlands of wild flowers. The male fairy was clad
in green _trows_ and a flowing tunic. His feet were protected with
sandals of silver, from his left arm hung a golden bow, and a quiver of
adder-skin was suspended on his left side. His arrows were tipped in
flame. The fairies feasted luxuriously. The richest viands adorned their
boards. They frequented human banquets, and conveyed a portion of the
richest dishes into their palaces. They were present at funerals, and
extracted the liquor and meats which were presented to the company. Some
Highlanders refused to eat or drink at funeral assemblages in
apprehension of elfin interference. Their habits were joyous. They
constructed harps and pipes which emitted delicious sounds. They held
musical processions and conducted concerts in remote glens and on
unfrequented heaths. In their processions, they rode on horses fleeter
than the wind. Their coursers were decked with gorgeous trappings: from
their manes were suspended silver bells which rang with the zephyr, and
produced music of enchanting harmony. The feet of their steeds fell so
gently that they dashed not the dew from the ring-cup, nor bent the
stalk of the wild rose." Their haunts on the surface of the earth were
groves, mountains, wooded dells, by springs, the southern sides of
hills, and verdant meadows, where their diversions were dancing in
circles, hand in hand. The traces left by their tiny feet were supposed
to remain visible on the grass, and were called fairy rings, but are now
discovered to be the production of an agaric or mushroom.
Science, alas! sadly interferes with these fanciful old legends, but not
always without leaving some doubtful explanation of her own.
The unfortunate wight who turned up a fairy ring with the ploughshare
became the victim of a wasting sickness--
"He wha tills the fairy green
Nae luck again sall hae,
And he wha spoils the fairy ring
Betide him want and wae,
For weirdless days and weary nichts
Are his till his deeing day."