The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various CountriesKeightley, Thomas
General
The Fairy Mythology: Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries
Keightley, Thomas
Fairies; Fairy tales; Folk literature; Folklore
Colonies of Gothic Fairies, it would appear, early established
themselves in the Highlands, and almost every Lowland, German, and
Scandinavian Fairy or Dwarf-tale will there find its fellow. The
Gaelic Fairies are very handsome in their persons; their usual attire
is green. They dance and sing, lend and borrow, and they make cloth
and shoes in an amazingly short space of time. They make their _raids_
upon the low country, and carry off women and children; they fetch
midwives to assist at the birth of their children, and mortals have
spent a night at the fairy revels, and next morning found that the
night had extended a hundred years. Highland fairies also take the
diversion of the chase. "One Highlander," says Mc.Culloch,[447] "in
passing a mountain, hears the tramp of horses, the music of the horn,
and the cheering of the huntsmen; when suddenly a gallant crew of
thirteen fairy hunters, dressed in green, sweep by him, the silver
bosses of their bridles jingling in the night breeze."
The Gael call the Fairies Daoine Shi',[448] (_Dheenè Shee_) and their
habitations Shians, or Tomhans. These are a sort of turrets, resembling
masses of rock or hillocks. By day they are indistinguishable, but at
night they are frequently lit up with great splendour.
Brownie, too, 'shows his honest face' in the Highlands; and the
mischievous water-Kelpie also appears in his equine form, and seeks to
decoy unwary persons to mount him, that he may plunge with his rider
into the neighbouring loch or river.
The Highlanders have nearly the same ideas as their Shetland
neighbours, respecting the seals.
The following legends will illustrate what we have stated.[449]
_The Fairy's Inquiry._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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