As soon as I read your letter of May 24, I called to mind, a story
which I heard long ago, concerning one of the Lord Duffus, (in the
shire of Murray) his predicessors of whom it is reported, that upon a
time, when he was walking abroad in the fields near to his own house,
he was suddenly carried away, and found the next day at Paris in the
French King's cellar, with a silver cup in his hand; that being
brought into the King's presence and questioned by him, who he was ?
and how he came thither ? he told his name, his country, and the place
of his residence, and that on such a day of the month (which proved to
be the day immediately preceding) being in the fields, he heard the
noise of a whirl-wind, and of voices crying Horse and Hattock, (this
is the word which the fairies are said to use when they remove from
any place) whereupon he cried (Horse and Hattock) also, and was
immediately caught up, and transported through the air, by the fairies
to that place, where after he had drank heartily he fell asleep, and
before he awoke, the rest of the company were gone, and had left him
in posture wherein he was found. It is said, the King gave him the cup
which was found in his hand, and dismissed him.
This story (if it could be sufficiently attested) would be a noble
instance for your purpose, for which cause I was at some pains to
enquire into the truth of it, and found the means to get the present
Lord Duffus's opinion thereof; which shortly is, that there has been,
and is such a tradition, but that he thinks it fabulous; this account
of it, his Lordship had from his father, who told him that he had it
from his father, the present Lord's grandfather; there is yet an old
silver cup in his Lordship's possession still, which is called the
Fairy Cup; but has nothing engraven upon it, except the arms of the
family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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