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[Illustration: _From Photograph by the Author_
THE MYSTIC CENTRE OF THE CELTIC WORLD
CARNAC IN A. D. 1909
LOOKING TOWARD THE SUNRISE, FROM WITHIN THE CROMLECH,
_LES ALIGNEMENTS DU MÉNEC_]
THE FAIRY-FAITH IN
CELTIC COUNTRIES
BY W. Y. EVANS WENTZ
M.A. STANFORD UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA U.S.A.
DOCTEUR-ÈS-LETTRES UNIVERSITY OF RENNES BRITTANY
B.SC. JESUS COLLEGE OXON.
HENRY FROWDE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
1911
OXFORD: HORACE HART
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
THIS BOOK DEPENDS CHIEFLY UPON THE ORAL AND WRITTEN TESTIMONY
SO FREELY CONTRIBUTED BY ITS MANY CELTIC AUTHORS,--
THE PEASANT AND THE SCHOLAR, THE PRIEST AND THE SCIENTIST,
THE POET AND THE BUSINESS MAN, THE SEER AND THE NON-SEER,--
AND IN HONOUR OF THEM I DEDICATE IT TO
TWO OF THEIR BRETHREN IN IRELAND:
A. E.,
WHOSE UNWAVERING LOYALTY TO THE FAIRY-FAITH
HAS INSPIRED MUCH THAT I HAVE HEREIN WRITTEN,
WHOSE FRIENDLY GUIDANCE IN MY STUDY OF IRISH MYSTICISM
I MOST GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE;
AND
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS,
WHO BROUGHT TO ME AT MY OWN ALMA MATER IN CALIFORNIA
THE FIRST MESSAGE FROM FAIRYLAND,
AND WHO AFTERWARDS IN HIS OWN COUNTRY
LED ME THROUGH THE HAUNTS OF FAIRY KINGS AND QUEENS.
OXFORD
_November_ 1911.
'It remains for ever true that the proper study of mankind is man; and
even early man is not beneath contempt, especially when he proves to
have had within him the makings of a great race, with its highest
notions of duty and right, and all else that is noblest in the human
soul.'
The Right Hon. SIR JOHN RHYS.
CONTENTS
PAGES
PREFACE xi-xiii
INTRODUCTION xv-xxviii
SECTION I
THE LIVING FAIRY-FAITH
CHAPTER I
ENVIRONMENT 1-16
Psychical Interpretation--The Mysticism of Erin and
Armorica--In Ireland--In Scotland--In the Isle of Man--In
Wales--In Cornwall--In Brittany.
CHAPTER II
THE TAKING OF EVIDENCE 17-225
Method of Presentation--The Logical Verdict--Trustworthiness
of Legends--The Fairy-Faith held by the highly educated Celt
as well as by the Celtic Peasant--The Evidence is complete
and adequate--Its Analysis--The Fairy Tribes dealt with--
Witnesses and their Testimony: from Ireland, with
Introduction by Dr. Douglas Hyde; from Scotland, with
Introduction by Dr. Alexander Carmichael; from the Isle of
Man, with Introduction by Miss Sophia Morrison; from Wales,
with Introduction by the Right Hon. Sir John Rhys; from
Cornwall, with Introduction by Mr. Henry Jenner; and from
Brittany, with Introduction by Professor Anatole Le Braz.
CHAPTER III
AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE EVIDENCE 226-82
The Celtic Fairy-Faith as Part of a World-wide Animism--
Shaping Influence of Social Psychology--Smallness of Elvish
Spirits and Fairies, according to Ethnology, Animism, and
Occult Sciences--The Changeling, Belief and its Explanation
according to the Kidnap, Human-Sacrifice, Soul-Wandering,
and Demon-Possession Theory--Ancient and Modern Magic and
Witchcraft shown to be based on definite psychological
laws--Exorcisms--Taboos, of Name, Food, Iron, Place--Taboos
among Ancient Celts--Food-Sacrifice--Legend of the Dead--
Conclusion: the Background of the Modern Belief in Fairies
is Animistic.
SECTION II
THE RECORDED FAIRY-FAITH