FAIRIES AND FAMILIAR SPIRITS
OF THE ISLE OF MAN.
THE belief in Fairies or Elves was formerly very prevalent in the
Isle of Man, and cannot be said to have altogether died out even at
the present day. The Manx conception of a Fairy seems to be very
much the same as that in other Celtic lands, with, perhaps, a tinge
of the somewhat more sombre Scandinavian superstition. They are
supposed to be like human beings in form and feature, though very
much smaller and more delicately constructed. At a distance they seem
to be handsome, but on closer inspection they are often found to be
decrepit and withered. They are usually represented as being clad in
blue or green, with red peaked caps. They live in green hill sides,
more especially affecting the ancient tumuli. Any one straying near
these on a fine summer’s evening would probably hear delightful music;
but he must take care, especially if he is a musician, not to linger
lest he should be entrapped. Sometimes, too, they may be seen playing
like children, or dancing, the rings seen on the grass being caused
by this; at other times feasting. They hunt, being for the most part
very furious riders. They are partly human and partly spiritual in
their nature, and are visible to men only when they choose. Some of
them are benevolent, curing men of diseases and delivering them from
misfortune. Others are malevolent, stealing children, even abducting
grown people, and bringing misfortune. The flint arrow heads which are
occasionally picked up, are the weapons with which the Fairies avenge
themselves upon human beings who had wronged them. Their impact is not
felt, and does not break the skin, but a blue mark is found on the body
of the victim after death. The good Fairies are, fortunately, more
powerful than the bad, and will enable those who are considerate in
their behaviour to them to prevail over the latter. It is, therefore,
very desirable to keep on good terms with them, and to propitiate them
by taking care not to wound their feelings; with this view, they are
called “the little people”, or “the good people”, the word Fairy being
never mentioned, as they are supposed not to like it. Indeed, the Manx
word _Ferrish_ is merely a recent corruption of the English word, there
being no such word in the Manx language 150 years ago. It was an old
custom to keep a fire burning in the house during the night, so that
the Fairies might come in and enjoy it. If any one was rash enough not
to do this, or to abuse them in any way, he would be sure to suffer for
it. It was also customary to leave some bread out for the Fairies, and
to fill the water crocks with clean water for them before going to bed.
This water was never used for any other purpose, but was thrown out
in the morning. The Manx women, formerly, would not spin on Saturday
evenings, as this was deemed displeasing to the _Mooinjer-Veggey_
(Fairies), and at every baking and churning a small bit of dough and
butter was stuck on the wall for their consumption. Besides keeping on
good terms with the benevolent Fairies, there are various other methods
of defeating the machinations of the malevolent ones. Among these are
the incantations and herbs got from men and women who had acquired the
reputation of being Fairy Doctors, or Charmers, though their nostrums
were usually applied to the cure of cattle. One of the most renowned
of these practitioners, Teare of Ballawhane, told Train, in 1833, that
the malevolence of the Fairies had caused the seed potatoes to become
tainted in the ground, and, in order to convince him that this was
the case, he said that all the potatoes which he had taken under his
protection had vegetated vigorously.
But there are methods for protecting human beings and animals against
Fairies, which are so well known that there is no need to apply to a
Charmer before applying them. Thus, salt is very efficacious, and so
is iron, as will be seen from stories which follow. It was necessary
to take great care of children, especially before baptism, as one of
the commonest actions of the malevolent Fairies is to steal children.
If a child were taken away, a decrepit and emaciated Fairy would be
found in its place, and the prettier the child, the greater the risk of
this. One way of preventing this catastrophe was to lay an iron poker,
or other iron implement, on the child when left alone, another was to
tie a red thread round the child’s neck, and when taking her child to
be christened, a woman would take a piece of bread and cheese with
her, which she gave to the first person she met for the same purpose.
Another protective measure, both for human beings and animals, is to
have the _cuirn_, or Mountain-Ash, in the form of a cross, made without
a knife, put over the threshold of their dwellings. Flowers growing in
a hedge, especially if yellow, are also useful in this respect, and
ploughmen were wont to throw chamber lee over their ploughs to protect
them. On Midsummer Eve, when their power is at its height, flowers
and herbs are the only barriers to their incursions, and these are
regularly spread at the doors of the houses to protect the inmates.
They are also supposed to be always abroad during the harvest moon; and
many stories are related of their excursions through the Island, and
particularly of their merry-makings in Glentrammon. The interior of
Fairy Hill, in Rushen, is supposed to be the palace of the Fairy King,
and many a tale was told of the midnight revels of the fairy court of
Mona.
Waldron,[40] to whom we owe most of our stories about Fairies, after
referring to the ignorance of the Manx people as being the cause of
their excessive superstition, writes:—“I know not, idolizers as they
are of the clergy, whether they would even be refractory to them,
were they to preach against the existence of fairies, or even against
their being commonly seen.... They confidently assert that the first
inhabitants of their Island were fairies, so do they maintain that
these little people have still their residence among them. They call
them the good people, and say they live in wilds and forests, and
on mountains, and shun great cities because of the wickedness acted
therein; all the houses are blessed where they visit, for they fly
vice. A person would be thought impudently profane who should suffer
his family to go to bed without having first set a tub, or pail full
of clean water, for these guests to bathe themselves in, which the
natives aver they constantly do, as soon as ever the eyes of the family
are closed, wherever they vouchsafe to come. If anything happens to
be mislaid, and found again, in some place where it was not expected,
they presently tell you a fairy took it and returned it; if you chance
to get a fall and hurt yourself, a fairy laid something in your way to
throw you down, as a punishment for some sin you have committed.”
Cumming, writing in 1849, says, “It is not often now-a-days that we
can meet with persons not ashamed to own their belief in the existence
of the good people, and still more seldom is it that we can extract
affirmative testimony of eye-witnesses to their tiny pranks upon the
green sward. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the minds
of the Manx peasantry are uninfluenced by a superstitious feeling of
reverence for the Fairy Elves, and for places which tradition has
rendered sacred to their revels. The superstition has with them its
use, it causes them to keep good hours; and in some parts of the Island
it would be difficult to prevail on a native to stir out after dark.
Yea, it is said, that on dark, dismal and stormy nights, up in the
mountain parts of parishes, the tender-hearted peasants retire earlier
to rest, in order to allow to the weather-beaten Fairies the unmolested
and unwatched enjoyment of the smouldering embers of their turf fire.”
Campbell, in writing of the Fairies in the Highlands and the Western
Isles, says “Men do believe in fairies, though they will not readily
confess the fact. And, although I do not myself believe that fairies
_are_, in spite of the strong evidence offered, I believe there once
was a small race of people in these Islands, who are remembered as
fairies.... They are always represented as living in green mounds.
They pop up their heads when disturbed by people treading upon their
houses. They steal children. They seem to live on familiar terms
with the people about them, who treat them well, and to punish them
when they ill-treat them.” He then proceeds to compare these fairy
structures with the abodes of the modern Laplanders, and to state, with
a considerable show of probability, that many of the stories about
Fairies have originated from tradition about these curious little
people.
Further on in his book, after giving a number of Gaelic fairy tales,
he continues: “The Manks fairy creed is again the same. Similar beings
are supposed to exist, and are known by the name of _Ferish_, which
a Mankman assured me was a genuine Manks word.[41] If so, fairy may
be old Celtic, and derived from the same root as Peri, instead of
being derived from it. The fairies in the Isle of Man are believed to
be spirits. They are not supposed to throw arrows as they are said
still to do in the Highlands. None of the old peasants seemed to take
the least interest in ‘elf shots,’ the flint arrows, which generally
lead to a story when shown elsewhere. One old man said, ‘the _ferish_
have no body, no bones,’ and scorned the arrow heads. It is stated in
Train’s History that there are no flint arrow heads in the Isle of Man;
but as there are numerous barrons, flint weapons may yet be discovered
when some one looks for them.[42] Still these Manks fairies are much
the same as their neighbours on the main land. They go into mills at
night and grind stolen corn; they steal milk from the cattle; they live
in green mounds; in short, they are like little mortals invested with
supernatural power.”
It will be seen from the first two stories that follow that the Fairies
are supposed to have been the earliest inhabitants of the Island.
In addition to the Fairies proper, there are familiar or household
Spirits, who are implacable in their resentment, but unchanging in
their friendship. There are two of these in the Isle of Man, viz., the
_Lhiannan-Shee_, or “spirit friend”, a guardian spirit, identical with
the Irish _Lianhannshee_ and the _Dooiney-oie_, or “night-man”, who
seems peculiar to the Island, though he bears a faint resemblance to
the Irish _Banshee_.
ORIGIN OF THE ARMS OF THE ISLAND.
“Quocunque Jeceris Stabit.”—_Motto._
The natives say that many centuries before the Christian era the Island
was inhabited by Fairies, and that all business was carried on in a
supernatural manner. They affirm that a blue mist continually hung
over the land, and prevented mariners, who passed in ships that way,
from even suspecting that there was an Island so near at hand, till a
few fishermen, by stress of weather, were stranded on the shore. As
they were preparing to kindle a fire on the beach, they were astounded
by a fearful noise issuing from the dark cloud which concealed the
Island from their view. When the first spark of fire fell into their
tinder box, the fog began to move up the side of the mountain,
closely followed by a revolving object, closely resembling three legs
of men joined together at the upper part of the thighs, and spread
out so as to resemble the spokes of a wheel. Hence the Arms of the
Island.—_Train._
THE DISCOVERY OF THE ISLAND.
“Mona, once hid from those who search the main,
Where thousand elfin shapes abide.”—COLLINS.
Some hundred years before the coming of our Saviour, the Isle of Man
was inhabited by a certain species called Fairies, and everything was
carried on in a supernatural manner; a blue mist hanging continually
over the land, prevented the ships that passed by from having any
suspicion there was an island. This mist, contrary to nature, was
preserved by keeping a perpetual fire, which happening once to be
extinguished, the shore discovered itself to some fishermen, who were
there in a boat on their vocation, and by them notice was given to the
people of some country, who sent ships in order to make a further
discovery. On their landing, they had a fierce encounter with the
little people, and having got the better over them possessed themselves
of Castle Rushen, and by degrees, as they received reinforcements, of
the whole Island. These new conquerors maintained their ground some
time, but were at length beaten out by a race of giants, who were not
extirpated, as I said before, till the reign of Prince Arthur, by
Merlin, the famous British enchanter. They pretend, also, that this
Island afterward became an Asylum to all the distressed princes and
great men in Europe, and that those uncommon fortifications made about
Peel Castle were added for their better security.—_Waldron._
THE FAIRY HORN.
A young sailor, coming off a long voyage, though it was late at night,
chose to land rather than lie another night in the vessel; being
permitted to do so, he was set on shore at Douglas. It happened to
be a fine, moonlight night, and very dry, being a small frost; he,
therefore, forbore going into any house to refresh himself; but made
the best of his way to the house of a sister he had at Kirk Malew.
As he was going over a pretty high mountain, he heard the noise of
horses, the halloo of a huntsman, and the finest horn in the world.
He was a little surprised that anybody pursued those kind of sports
in the night; but he had not time for much reflection before they all
passed by him, so near that he was able to count what number there was
of them, which, he said, was thirteen, and that they were all dressed
in green, and gallantly mounted. He was so well pleased with the sight
that he would gladly have followed, could he have kept pace with them.
He crossed the footway, however, that he might see them again, which he
did more than once, and lost not the sound of the horn for some miles.
At length, being arrived at his sister’s, he tells her the story, who
presently clapped her hands for joy, that he was come home safe. “For”,
said she, “those you saw were fairies; and ’tis well they did not take
you away with them.”—_Waldron._
Manx Fairies seem to have been especially fond of the chase. If a horse
were found in his stall wet with perspiration, for which no particular
reason could be given, it would be said that he must have been ridden
by them. Of this superstition, the following story is an instance:—
THE FAIRY SADDLE.
Once upon a time an old Vicar of Braddan was very much troubled by
having his horse taken out of the field during the night, and finding
him in the morning sweating all over, and as much exhausted as if
he had been furiously ridden many miles. In spite of all enquiries,
he could never learn who had done this. But one morning, just at
day-break, as he was returning home from the bedside of one of his
sick parishioners, to whom he had been administering the Sacrament, he
observed, just as he was passing his field, a little man in a green
jacket, and carrying a riding whip in his hand, in the act of turning
his horse loose into the field. On this little individual turning
round, he saw the Vicar standing by the gate, on which he immediately
vanished, and the saddle, which he had placed at the side of the fence
was turned into stone in the shape of a saddle. It has remained there
ever since, and so the road which passes this point is called “The
Saddle-road” to this day. It is almost needless to state that the old
Vicar’s horse was never molested again.—_Oral._
THE FAIRY HORSE DEALER.
A Manxman, who had the reputation of the utmost integrity, being
desirous of disposing of a horse he had at that time no great occasion
for, and riding him to market for that purpose, was accosted, in
passing over the mountains, by a little man in a plain dress, who
asked him if he would sell his horse. “’Tis the design I am going on”,
replied the person who told the story. On which the other desired to
know the price. “Eight pounds”, said he. “No”, resumed the purchaser,
“I will give no more than seven; which, if you will take, here is your
money.” The owner thinking he had bid pretty fair, agreed with him,
and the money being told out, the one dismounted and the other got on
the back of the horse, which he had no sooner done than both beast
and rider sunk into the earth immediately, leaving the person who had
made the bargain in the utmost terror and consternation. As soon as
he had a little recovered himself, he went directly to the parson of
the parish, and related what had passed, desiring he would give his
opinion whether he ought to make use of the money he had received or
not. To which he replied that, as he had made a fair bargain, and in
no way circumvented, nor endeavoured to circumvent, the buyer, he saw
no reason to believe, in case it was an evil spirit, it could have any
power over him. On this assurance, he went home well satisfied, and
nothing afterwards happened to give him any disquiet concerning this
affair.—_Waldron._
FAIRY MUSIC.
Such a soft floating witchery of sound,
As twilight elfins make, when they at eve
Voyage on gentle gales from Fairy-land.—_Coleridge._
An English gentleman, the particular friend of our author, to whom he
told the story, was about passing over Douglas Bridge before it was
broken down, but the tide being high he was obliged to take the river,
having an excellent horse under him and one accustomed to swim. As he
was in the middle of it he heard, or imagined he heard, the finest
symphony, he would not say in the world, for nothing human ever came up
to it. The horse was no less sensible of the harmony than himself, and
kept in an immovable posture all the time it lasted; which, he said,
could not be less than three-quarters of an hour, according to the
most exact calculation he could make when he arrived at the end of his
little journey and found how long he had been coming. He, who before
laughed at all the stories told of fairies, now became a convert, and
believed as much as ever a Manxman of them all.—_Waldron._
THE FAIRY LAKE.
What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
To cross my obsequies.
—_Shakspeare._
A little beyond the “Devil’s Den”, is a small lake, in the midst of
which is a huge stone, on which formerly stood a cross; round this
lake the fairies are said to celebrate the obsequies of any good
person. I have heard many people, and those of a considerable share
of understanding, protest that, in passing that way, they have been
saluted with the sound of such music as could proceed from no earthly
instruments.—_Waldron._
THE UNFORTUNATE FIDDLER.
Then let them all encircle him about,
And, fairy like, to pinch the unclean knight,
And ask him why that hour of fairy revel
In their so sacred paths he dares to tread
In shape profane.—_Shakespeare._
A fiddler, having agreed with a person, who was a stranger, for so much
money, to play to some company he should bring him to, all the twelve
days of Christmas, and received earnest for it, saw his new master
vanish into the earth the moment he had made the bargain. Nothing could
be more terrified than was the poor fiddler; he found he had entered
himself into the Devil’s service, and looked upon himself as already
damned; but having recourse to a clergyman, he received some hope. He
ordered him, however, as he had taken earnest, to go when he should
be called; but that whatever tunes should be called for, to play none
but Psalms. On the day appointed, the same person appeared, with whom
he went, though with what inward reluctance ’tis easy to guess; but,
punctually obeying the minister’s directions, the company to whom he
played were so angry that they all vanished at once, leaving him at the
top of a high hill, and so bruised and hurt, though he was not sensible
when, or from what hand he received the blows, that he got not home
without the utmost difficulty.—_Waldron._
There are many stories of fairy music, of even later date than this.
The most definite of these is to the effect that the music of the
famous song called _The Bollan Bane_, or “The White Herb”, a plant
known to the Fairy Doctors, and of great healing virtues, was taken
from a tune sung by the Fairies one evening on the mountains, which was
heard by a belated wanderer, some fifty years ago.—_Oral._
OBJECTION OF FAIRIES TO NOISE.
It is well known that all Fairies and their like have a great
objection to noise, especially to the ringing of church bells. This is
illustrated by the following story:—About seventy years ago, a man,
very early one spring morning, heard a low murmuring, wailing noise.
On going to the door to see what occasioned it, he beheld “multitudes
of the good people passing over the stepping stones in the river, and
wending their way up the side of the hill, until they were lost in
the mist that then enveloped the top of Bearey Mountain. They were
dressed chiefly in _Loaghtyn_, with little pointed red caps, and most
of them were employed in bearing upon their shoulders various articles
of domestic use, such as kettles, pots, pans, the spinning wheel, and
such like, evidently seeking fresh and more quiet quarters, having
been disturbed, as was supposed, by the noise of a fulling mill lately
erected in their neighbourhood.”—_W. Harrison._
THE FAIRY CUP OF KIRK MALEW.
I have heard many Manxmen protest they have been carried insensibly
great distances from home, and without knowing how they came there,
found themselves on the top of a mountain. One man had been led by
invisible musicians for several miles together, and not being able
to resist the harmony, followed, till it conducted him into a large
common, where were a great number of little people sitting round a
table, and eating and drinking in a very jovial manner. Among them were
some faces whom he thought he had formerly seen, but forbore taking
any notice, or they of him, till the little people offered him drink;
one of them, whose features seemed not unknown to him, plucked him by
the coat, and forbade him, whatever he did, to taste anything he saw
before him; “for if you do”, added he, “you will be as I am, and return
no more to your family.” The poor man was much affrighted, but resolved
to obey the injunction. Accordingly a large silver cup filled with some
sort of liquor, being put into his hand, he found an opportunity to
throw what it contained on the ground. Soon after, the music ceasing,
all the company disappeared, leaving the cup in his hand; and he
returned home, though much wearied and fatigued. He went the next day
and communicated to the minister of the parish all that had happened,
and asked his advice how he should dispose of the cup; to which the
parson replied, he could not do better than to devote it to the service
of the Church; and this very cup, they tell me, is that which is now
used for the consecrated wine in Kirk Malew.—_Waldron._
A similar tale is told of the “Altar Cup in Aagerup”, a village in
Zeland:—One Christmas Eve a farmer’s servant in the village borrowed
his master’s horse and rode down to see the “troll meeting”, and while
he was wondering to see how well and gaily the little dwarfs danced,
up came a troll to him and invited him to dismount and take a share in
their merriment. Another troll held his horse, while he went down and
danced with them all night long. As it was drawing near day he mounted
his horse to return home, when a maiden, who held a gold cup in her
hand, invited him to drink the stirrup cup. He took it, but having some
suspicion, while he made as if he was raising the cup to his mouth,
threw the contents over his shoulder. He then clapped spurs into his
horse’s sides and rode away with the cup in his hands as fast as the
horse could gallop. The trolls set off in full pursuit, and gained
on him every minute. In his distress he prayed to God, and he made a
vow that, if he should be delivered, he would bestow the cup on the
Church. As he rode along by the wall of the Churchyard he hastily flung
the cup over it, that it at least might be secure; and pushing on at
full speed, and just as they were on the point of catching hold of the
horse, he sprang in through the farmer’s gate and closed the wicket
after him. Thus was he saved, and the cup was presented to the Church.
Chancellor Gervase, of Tilbury, writing in the thirteenth century,
makes mention of a knight who on being presented with a large horn by
the “ancient people”, rode off with it, instead of returning. For this
he is said to have been condemned to death. A cup with some mysterious
drink is common in Celtic traditions. There was the Cup of Fionn which
healed diseases, and the Saint Graal, of mediæval romance. In more
recent times there was the well-known cup called “The Luck of Eden
Hall”, and the “Ballafletcher Drinking Glass.” (see pp. 49, 50.)
THE FAIRY ELF.
Yee fairies, who,
Into their beds did foist your babes,
And theirs exchanged to be.—
Albion’s England, 1612.
The story of infants being exchanged in their cradles is here in such
credit that mothers are in continual terror at the thought of it. I
was prevailed upon to go and see a child, who, they told me, was of
these changelings, and indeed must own I was not a little surprised,
as well as shocked, at the sight; nothing under heaven could have
a more beautiful face; but, though between five and six years old,
and seemingly healthy, he was so far from being able to walk, or
stand, that he could not so much as move any one joint—his limbs were
vastly long for his age, but smaller than infant’s of six months; his
complexion was perfectly delicate, and he had the finest hair in the
world; he never spoke or cried, eat scarce anything, and very seldom
seen to smile, but if anyone called him a _Fairy Elf_ he would frown,
and fix his eyes so earnestly on those who said it, as if he would
look them through. His mother, at least his supposed mother, being
very poor, frequently went out a charing, and left him a whole day
together; the neighbours, out of curiosity, have often looked down
at the window to see how he behaved when alone, which, whenever they
did, they were sure to find him laughing, and in the utmost delight.
This made them judge that he was not without company more pleasing to
him than any mortals could be, and what made this conjecture seem the
more reasonable was that if he were left ever so dirty, the woman, at
her return, saw him with a clean face, his hair combed with the utmost
exactness and nicety.—_Waldron._
THE KIDNAPPERS.
From fairies, and the tempters of the night,
Guard me, beseech you.—_Shakespeare._
An account of this nature I had from a woman, to whose offspring the
fairies seemed to have a particular fancy. The fourth or fifth night
after she was delivered of her first child, the family were alarmed by
a most terrible cry of fire, on which everybody ran out of the house
to see whence it proceeded, not excepting the nurse, who, being as
much frighted as the others, made one of the number. The poor woman lay
trembling in her bed alone, unable to help herself, and her back being
turned to the infant, saw not that it was taken away by an invisible
hand. Those who had left her having enquired about the neighbourhood,
and finding there was no cause for the outcry they had heard, laughed
at each other for the mistake; but as they were going to re-enter the
house, the poor babe lay on the threshold, and by its cries preserved
itself from being trod upon. This exceedingly amazed all that saw it,
and the mother being still in bed, they could ascribe no reason for
finding it there, but having been removed by fairies, who by their
sudden return, had been prevented from carrying it any further.
About a year after the same woman was brought to bed of a second child,
which had not been born many nights before, a great noise was heard in
the house where they kept their cattle. Everybody that was stirring
ran to see what was the matter, believing that the cows had got loose;
the nurse was as ready as the rest, but finding all safe, and the
barn-door close, immediately returned, but not so suddenly but that the
new-born babe was taken out of the bed, as the former had been, and
dropped on their coming in the middle of the entry. This was enough to
prove the fairies had made a second attempt; and the parents sending
for a minister, joined with him in thanksgiving to God who had twice
delivered their children from being taken from them.
But in the time of her third lying-in everybody seemed to have forgot
what had happened in the first and second, and on a noise in the cattle
house ran out to know what had occasioned it. The nurse was the only
person, excepting the woman in the straw, who stayed in the house, nor
was she detained through care or want of curiosity but by the bonds of
sleep, having drunk a little too plentifully the preceding day. The
mother, who was broad awake, saw her child lifted out of the bed and
carried out of the chamber, though she could not see any person touch
it, on which she cried out as loud as she could, “Nurse, nurse! my
child! my child is taken away”; but the old woman was too fast to be
awakened by the noise she made, and the infant was irretrievably gone.
When her husband and those who had accompanied him returned they found
her wringing her hands and uttering the most piteous lamentations for
the loss of her child, on which, said the husband, looking into the
bed, “The woman is mad, do not you see the child lies by you?” On which
she turned and saw indeed something like a child, but far different
from her own who was a very beautiful, fat, well-featured babe,
whereas, what was now in the room of it was a poor, lean, withered,
deformed creature. It lay quite naked, but the clothes belonging to the
child that was exchanged for it lay wrapt up all together on the bed.
This creature lived with them near the space of nine years, in all
which time it eat nothing except a few herbs, nor was ever seen to
void any other excrement than water. It neither spoke nor could stand
or go, but seemed enervate in every joint, like the changeling I
mentioned before, and in all its actions showed itself to be of the
same nature.—_Waldron._
A FAIRY DETECTED IN CHANGING AN INFANT.
The wife of a fisherman had to go into the harvest to help with the
reaping, as there were very few hands, in consequence of so many being
away at the fishing. She took her young child with her, which up to
that time had not been christened, because of the absence of her
husband, and placed it between two sheaves on the headland, taking
the precaution to place an open pair of scissors across it, for fear
the fairies should take the _boght millish_ (poor, sweet thing), and
leave one of their own bantlings in its place. She was engaged at the
other end of the field, when, hearing great wailings, and thinking that
something had happened to the child, she hastened to the spot where she
had placed it; but found that it was not there. Being half distracted
with the fear of losing her infant, she ran towards the entrance of the
field, from whence she saw two little people engaged in dragging the
child between them. She at once rushed after them, seized the child,
and carried it home. It was supposed that the scissors had slipped off,
and thus left the child unprotected.—_W. Harrison._
The following story is very similar:—A woman during harvest was in a
field helping her husband to stook the corn, when she heard her child
crying. She had previously placed it behind one of the stooks, and when
she arrived at the spot it was missing, and another child in its place,
it having been exchanged by the Fairies. Soon afterwards, hearing this
child cry, she began to run to it; but her husband knowing it was not
the voice of their own child, held the woman back, and would not let
her go till the cry had ceased. She then went back and found her own
child. The Fairies having heard their child in distress, and seeing it
uncared for, had taken it away, and left the woman her own.—_Jenkinson._
Nor were the misdeeds of Fairies confined to children, as will be seen
from the next two stories: Many years ago, the Fairies stole away the
fair wife of the owner of Ballaleece. After some time, the man took
to himself a second partner, and then the first paid him a visit in
company with a troop of sister Fairies, riding on small horses. She
arranged with her husband that they should come again at a stated time,
when she would be on the second horse, and he was, therefore, to seize
hold of the bridle and detain her; but it was stipulated that he should
not succeed in doing so, unless he swept the barn floor so clear, that
there was not left a single bit of straw. He made everything ready for
the meeting, but in the meantime told the secret to his second wife,
and she, through jealousy, and in order to circumvent her rival, placed
a single straw secretly under a bushel on the barn floor. The result
was, that when the Fairies came, the farmer seized hold of the second
horse by the bridle, as pre-arranged, but could not detain it, and away
went all the troop.—_Jenkinson._
ABDUCTION OF A BOY BY FAIRIES.
Not so many years ago a farmer’s son, in the parish of Andreas, was
taken away by the Fairies, and was lost for four years. One day, as his
two brothers were passing by a thorn bush not far from their house,
they heard a crack that startled them, so that they ran back home.
Not long afterwards their mother heard a footstep near the house,
upon which she remarked that if John (the lost boy) had been at home,
she would have said that it was his footstep. At the expiration of
the four years, the boy returned, and told them his adventures. He
asked his brothers if they remembered the crack from the bush, and, on
receiving a reply in the affirmative, he explained that it was one of
the Fairies, with whom he had been galloping about all the time, who
was shooting an arrow at them, and that he had lifted up a plate to
intercept the arrow; hence the crack that they had heard. As to the
footstep his mother had heard, he said that was his, and he told them
that he was near them all the time, but could not get to them; in fact
he saw all they were doing, and, as an instance of this, he mentioned
the day on which they had taken corn to Ramsey. He could give no
account of how he had been let loose by the Fairies, merely remarking
that he seemed as if he had been unconscious, and then waked up in this
world, and at once came to his people.—_Rhys._
THE CHRISTENING.
The wife which is of Fairie,
Of suche a childe delivered is.—_Gower._
A woman told me that, being great with child, and expecting every
moment the good hour, as she lay awake one night in bed, she saw seven
or eight little women come into her chamber, one of whom had an
infant in her arms; they were followed by a man of the same size with
themselves, but in the habit of a minister. One of them went to the
pail, and finding no water in it, cried out to the others, “What must
they do to christen the child?” On which they replied it should be done
in beer. With that the seeming parson took the child in his arms, and
performed the ceremony of baptism, dipping his hand into a great tub
of strong beer, which the woman had brewed the day before, to be ready
for her lying-in. She told me that they baptised the infant by the name
of Joan, which made her know she was pregnant of a girl, as it proved
a few days after, when she was delivered. She added, also, that it was
common for the fairies to make a mock christening when any person was
near her time, and that according to what child (male or female) they
brought, such should the woman bring into the world.—_Waldron._
THE SCHOOL BOYS.
A gentleman, my near neighbour, who affirmed with the most solemn
asseverations that, being entirely averse to the belief in fairies, or
that any such beings were permitted to wander for the purposes related
of them, had been at last convinced by the appearance of several little
figures, playing and leaping over some stones in a field, whom, a few
yards distance, he imagined were school boys, and intended, when he
came near enough, to reprimand, for being absent from their exercises
at that time of the day, it being then, he said, between three and
four of the clock. But when he approached, as near he could guess,
within twenty paces, they all immediately disappeared, though he had
never taken his eye off them from the first moment he beheld them; nor
was there any place where they could so suddenly retreat, it being
an open field, without hedge or bush, and, as is said before, broad
day.—_Waldron._
FAIRY PUNISHMENT.
As an instance that fairies will not suffer any abuse without resorting
to some mode of punishment, the following occurred some six years ago,
and was notorious. A man of Laxey, somewhat intoxicated, met a party of
them, and began forthwith to abuse and curse them as the devil’s imps;
they wreaked their vengeance on him by piercing his skin with a shower
of gravel. My guide, perhaps recollecting that the fairies were within
hearing, took their part, and expressed his assurance that they would
not have molested him had he not provoked them by his insults. The
catastrophe did not terminate here. The offender sickened that night,
his favourite horse died next morning, his cows died also, and in six
weeks he himself was a corpse!—_Lord Teignmouth’s Sketches_, 1836.
THE WHIPPING OF THE LITTLE GIRL.
A girl about ten years old, daughter of a woman who lived about two
miles from Ballasalla, being sent over the fields to the town for a
pennyworth of tobacco for her father, was, on the top of a mountain,
surrounded by a great number of little men, who would not suffer her
to pass any farther. Some of them said she should go with them, and
accordingly laid hold of her; but one seeming more pitiful, desired
they would let her alone; which they refusing, there ensued a quarrel,
and the person who took her part, fought bravely in her defence. This
so incensed the others, that to be revenged on her for being the cause,
two or three of them seized her, and whipped her heartily; after
which, it seems, they had no further power over her, and she ran home
directly, telling what had befallen her, and showing her back on which
were the prints of several small hands. Several of the townspeople went
with her to the mountain, and, she conducting them to the spot, the
little antagonists were gone, but had left behind them proofs, that
what the little girl had informed them was true; for there was a great
deal of blood to be seen on the stones.—_Waldron._
MISCHIEF DONE BY FAIRIES.
The following item of news was communicated to the _Mona’s Herald_
newspaper, by a correspondent, in 1847:—“We are sorry to state that
the same disgraceful conduct has again been manifested in breaking
the windows of the house of Mr. Quayle, Maughold. Several panes have
again been broken, and all efforts to trace the depredators have been
abortive. Every precaution has been taken—the door has been thrown
open, but when the neighbours rushed after those who did it, all was
as still as if nothing had been there. A number of the most active and
stout-hearted young men in the parish assisted in the search; three
fierce dogs were brought from neighbouring farms, but they shrunk
affrighted, and refused to follow the instinct of their nature. No
means were resorted to, but it remains as great a mystery as ever, and
nothing will convince the people but that it is the mischievous tricks
of the fairies or ghosts! They say that Mr. Quayle ploughed lately a
small plot of ground that was never ploughed before, and that he turned
over some bones in an old grave-yard, which was the sole cause!”
FAIRY DOGS.
A man, with some fresh fish, was once followed home by a lot of Fairy
Dogs. When he arrived at his own door he picked up a stone and threw
it among them, whereupon they disappeared, but not without his being
struck or stung. He was consequently ill for six months afterwards. My
informant told me that this man would have been left alone if he had
put a pinch of salt in the fish, as the Fairies could not stand salt or
baptism, and baptised children were safe from being changed by them.
He also told me that when he was engaged in the fishing and had a fish
given him to take home, they would never let him start, if it was in
the evening, without putting a pinch of salt in the mouth of the fish
to prevent the Fairies setting on him.—_Rhys._
Another story about Fairy Dogs was related by an old man in 1874, who
said that when a lad, he and a companion were travelling one fine
moonlight night in the East Baldwin Valley, and hearing something in
a _gill_ (small glen) they stopped, and on looking about saw little
creatures, like small dogs with red caps, running away.
THE CUP OF THE LHIANNAN-SHEE.
The estate of Ballafletcher, on which stands the Parish Church of
Braddan, now called Kirby, was long in the possession of a family
named Fletcher. Colonel Wilks, the late proprietor of this estate,
had in his possession an antique crystal goblet, resembling those
old-fashioned wine glasses still to be met with in the store of the
curious housewife. This goblet was presented to him by an old lady,
a connection of the family of Fletcher, the former proprietor of
the estate. It is larger than a common bell-shaped tumbler, and is
ornamented with carved sprigs and white lines. It is supposed to
have been dedicated to the _Lhiannan-Shee_, or “peaceful spirit” of
Ballafletcher, by the former owners of the estate, and to have been
held in great esteem, being only used once a year, at Christmas, when
the Lord of the Manor drank a bumper from it to the _Lhiannan-Shee_ of
his hearth and domain. To break this fragile memorial would have been
deemed a great misfortune to the family, and displeasing to the spirit
of peace. Colonel Wilks, honouring and respecting the fancies of the
olden times, caused it to be encased in a strong oaken box, mounted
with silver; and, in all probability, the old lady donor was glad at
having got it safe out of her hands.—_Train._
William Harrison, in his notes to Waldron, written about twenty years
later than Train’s history, gives the following account of this cup,
which he calls “The Ballafletcher Drinking Glass.”: “This drinking cup,
now in the possession of Major Bacon, of Seafield House, upwards of two
hundred years ago adorned the beaufet of Ballafletcher House. It was
purchased at the sale of the effects of the last of the Fletchers, in
1778, by Robert Cæsar, who gave it to his niece for safe keeping, in
consequence of an ancient tradition ‘that whosoever had the misfortune
to break the glass would surely be haunted by the _Lhiannan-Shee_ of
Ballafletcher’. The cup is a crystal cyathus engraved with floral
scrolls, having between the designs, on two sides, upright columellæ of
five pillars.... The following is the legend:—In ancient times there
stood in the parish of Braddan a mansion called Kirkby. It was so named
because it was the place of entertainment for the Bishops of Sodor, in
their progresses to and from the Isle. Of this building nothing remains
except its site, near an ancient encampment, and the picturesque
Churchyard of Braddan with its numerous runes and runic crosses. More
than two centuries ago, when Kirkby merged into the Fletcher family,
its ancient name was changed, and the place took the designation of
the new owner. To the first of this family was given the cup, with the
injunction ‘that as long as he preserved it peace and plenty would
follow; but woe to him who broke it, as he would surely be haunted by
the _Lhiannan-Shee_.’ The glass stood in a recess, and was never taken
from its place or used except on Christmas and Easter days. It was then
filled with wine and quaffed off at a breath by the head of the house
only, as a libation to the spirit for her protection. The cup belonged,
it is said, to Magnus, the Norwegian King of Man, who took it from the
shrine of St. Olave when he violated the saint’s oratory.”
THE FAIRY SWEETHEART.
There was a man who lived not long ago near Port Erin who had a
_Lhiannan-Shee_. “He was like other people, but he had a fairy
sweetheart; but he noticed her, and they do not like being noticed, the
fairies, and so he lost his mind. Well, he was quite quiet like other
people, but at night he slept in the barn, and they used to hear him
talking to his sweetheart, and scolding her sometimes; but if anyone
made a noise he would be quiet at once.” Now, the truth of this story
is clear enough. The man went mad, but this madness took the form
of the popular belief, and that again attributed his madness to the
fairy mistress. I am convinced that this was believed to be a case
of genuine fairy intercourse, and it shows that the fairy creed still
survives in the Isle of Man.—_Campbell._
THE DOOINEY-OIE.
The _Dooiney-oie_, or night-man of the Manx peasantry, is reverenced
as the tutelar demon of certain families, as it appeared only to
give monitions of future events to particular persons. His voice was
sometimes very dismal, when heard at night on the mountains, something
like H-o-w-l-a-a, or H-o-w-a-a. When his lamentation in winter
was heard on the coast, being a sure prediction of an approaching
tempest, it was so awful that even the brute creation trembled at the
sound.—_Train._
Of late years there has been a disposition to confound the
characteristics of the _Dooiney-oie_ with those of the _Phynnodderee_
and _Glashtin_, as he is supposed to do work, such as threshing corn,
for those with whom he is connected.
[Footnote 40: See Preface.]
[Footnote 41: Here we think Campbell’s informant was mistaken. (see p.
34)]
[Footnote 42: Train was certainly wrong, as numerous flint arrow heads
have been discovered both before and after his time. Campbell’s
informant was also in error, as these flint weapons are certainly
supposed by the Manks to have been used by the Fairies.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]