"Spirits, that have o'er water gouvernement,
  Are to mankind alike malevolent;
  They trouble seas, flouds, rivers, brookes, and wels,
  Meres, lakes, and love to enhabit watry cells;
  Hence noisome and pestiferous vapours raise;
  Besides, they men encounter divers ways.
  At wreckes some present are; another sort,
  Ready to cramp their joints that swim for sport:
  One kind of these, the Italians _fatae_ name,
  _Fee_ the French, we _sybils_, and the same;
  Others _white nymphs_, and those that have them seen,
  _Night ladies_ some, of which Habundia queen.
     _Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels,_ p. 507.

[Footnote A: Indeed, many of the vulgar account it extremely dangerous
to touch any thing, which they may happen to find, without _saining_
(blessing) it, the snares of the enemy being notorious and well
attested. A poor woman of Tiviotdale, having been fortunate enough, as
she thought herself, to find a wooden beetle, at the very time when
she needed such an implement, seized it without pronouncing the proper
blessing, and, carrying it home, laid it above her bed, to be ready
for employment in the morning. At midnight, the window of her cottage
opened, and a loud voice was heard, calling upon some one within, by a
strange and uncouth name, which I have forgotten. The terrified cottager
ejaculated a prayer, which, we may suppose, insured her personal
safety; while the enchanted implement of housewifery, tumbling from the
bed-stead, departed by the window with no small noise and precipitation.
In a humorous fugitive tract, the late Dr Johnson is introduced as
disputing the authenticity of an apparition, merely because the spirit
assumed the shape of a tea-pot, and of a shoulder of mutton. No doubt,
a case so much in point, as that we have now quoted, would have removed
his incredulity.]

The following Frisian superstition, related by Schott, in his _Physica
Curiosa_, p. 362, on the authority of Cornelius a Kempen, coincides more
accurately with the popular opinions concerning the Fairies, than even
the _dracae_ of Gervase, or the water-spirits of Thomas Heywood.--"In
the time of the emperor Lotharius, in 830," says he, "many spectres
infested Frieseland, particularly the white nymphs of the ancients,
which the moderns denominate _witte wiven_, who inhabited a
subterraneous cavern, formed in a wonderful manner, without human art,
on the top of a lofty mountain. These were accustomed to surprise
benighted travellers, shepherds watching their herds and flocks, and
women newly delivered, with their children; and convey them into their
caverns, from which subterranean murmurs, the cries of children, the
groans and lamentations of men, and sometimes imperfect words, and all
kinds of musical sounds, were heard to proceed." The same superstition
is detailed by Bekker, in his _World Bewitch'd_, p. 196, of the English
translation. As the different classes of spirits were gradually
confounded, the abstraction of children seems to have been chiefly
ascribed to the elves, or Fairies; yet not so entirely, as to exclude
hags and witches from the occasional exertion of their ancient
privilege.--In Germany, the same confusion of classes has not taken
place. In the beautiful ballads of the _Erl King_, the _Water King_, and
the _Mer-Maid_, we still recognize the ancient traditions of the Goths,
concerning the _wald-elven_, and the _dracae_.

A similar superstition, concerning abstraction by daemons, seems, in
the time of Gervase of Tilbury, to have pervaded the greatest part of
Europe. "In Catalonia," says that author, "there is a lofty mountain,
named Cavagum, at the foot of which runs a river with golden sands, in
the vicinity of which there are likewise mines of silver. This mountain
is steep, and almost inaccessible. On its top, which is always covered
with ice and snow, is a black and bottomless lake, into which if a
stone be thrown, a tempest suddenly rises; and near this lake, though
invisible to men, is the porch of the palace of daemons. In a town
adjacent to this mountain, named Junchera, lived one Peter de Cabinam.
Being one day teazed with the fretfulness of his young daughter, he, in
his impatience, suddenly wished that the devil might take her; when she
was immediately borne away by the spirits. About seven years afterwards,
an inhabitant of the same city, passing by the mountain, met a man, who
complained bitterly of the burthen he was constantly forced to bear.
Upon enquiring the cause of his complaining, as he did not seem to carry
any load, the man related, that he had been unwarily devoted to the
spirits by an execration, and that they now employed him constantly as
a vehicle of burthen. As a proof of his assertion, he added, that the
daughter of his fellow-citizen was detained by the spirits, but that
they were willing to restore her, if her father would come and demand
her on the mountain. Peter de Cabinam, on being informed of this,
ascended the mountain to the lake, and, in the name of God, demanded his
daughter; when, a tall, thin, withered figure, with wandering eyes, and
almost bereft of understanding, was wafted to him in a blast of wind.
After some time, the person, who had been employed as the vehicle of the
spirits, also returned, when he related where the palace of the spirits
was situated; but added, that none were permitted to enter but those who
devoted themselves entirely to the spirits; those, who had been rashly
committed to the devil by others, being only permitted, during their
probation, to enter the porch." It may be proper to observe, that the
superstitious idea, concerning the lake on the top of the mountain, is
common to almost every high hill in Scotland. Wells, or pits, on the
top of high hills, were likewise supposed to lead to the subterranean
habitations of the Fairies. Thus, Gervase relates, (p. 975), "that he
was informed the swine-herd of William Peverell, an English baron,
having lost a brood-sow, descended through a deep abyss, in the middle
of an ancient ruinous castle, situated on the top of a hill, called
Bech, in search of it. Though a violent wind commonly issued from
this pit, he found it calm; and pursued his way, till he arrived at a
subterraneous region, pleasant and cultivated, with reapers cutting down
corn, though the snow remained on the surface of the ground above. Among
the ears of corn he discovered his sow, and was permitted to ascend with
her, and the pigs which she had farrowed." Though the author seems to
think that the inhabitants of this cave might be Antipodes, yet, as
many such stories are related of the Fairies, it is probable that this
narration is of the same kind. Of a similar nature seems to be another
superstition, mentioned by the same author, concerning the ringing of
invisible bells, at the hour of one, in a field in the vicinity of
Carleol, which, as he relates, was denominated _Laikibraine_, or _Lai ki
brait_. From all these tales, we may perhaps be justified in supposing,
that the faculties and habits ascribed to the Fairies, by the
superstition of latter days, comprehended several, originally attributed
to other classes of inferior spirits.

III. The notions, arising from the spirit of chivalry, combined to add
to the Fairies certain qualities, less atrocious, indeed, but equally
formidable, with those which they derived from the last mentioned
source, and alike inconsistent with the powers of the _duergar_, whom
we may term their primitive prototype. From an early period, the daring
temper of the northern tribes urged them to defy even the supernatural
powers. In the days of Caesar, the Suevi were described, by their
countrymen, as a people, with whom the immortal gods dared not venture
to contend. At a later period, the historians of Scandinavia paint their
heroes and champions, not as bending at the altar of their deities, but
wandering into remote forests and caverns, descending into the recesses
of the tomb, and extorting boons, alike from gods and daemons, by dint
of the sword, and battle-axe. I will not detain the reader by quoting
instances, in which heaven is thus described as having been literally
attempted by storm. He may consult Saxo, Olaus Wormius, Olaus Magnus,
Torfaeus, Bartholin, and other northern antiquaries. With such ideas of
superior beings, the Normans, Saxons, and other Gothic tribes, brought
their ardent courage to ferment yet more highly in the genial climes of
the south, and under the blaze of romantic chivalry. Hence, during the
dark ages, the invisible world was modelled after the material; and the
saints, to the protection of whom the knights-errant were accustomed to
recommend themselves, were accoutered like _preux chevaliers_, by the
ardent imaginations of their votaries. With such ideas concerning the
inhabitants of the celestial regions, we ought not to be surprised to
find the inferior spirits, of a more dubious nature and origin, equipped
in the same disguise. Gervase of Tilbury (_Otia Imperial, ap. Script,
rer. Brunsvic,_ Vol. I. p. 797.) relates the following popular story
concerning a Fairy Knight. "Osbert, a bold and powerful baron, visited
a noble family in the vicinity of Wandlebury, in the bishopric of Ely.
Among other stories related in the social circle of his friends, who,
according to custom, amused each other by repeating ancient tales and
traditions, he was informed, that if any knight, unattended, entered an
adjacent plain by moon-light, and challenged an adversary to appear, he
would be immediately encountered by a spirit in the form of a knight.
Osbert resolved to make the experiment, and set out, attended by a
single squire, whom he ordered to remain without the limits of the
plain, which was surrounded by an ancient entrenchment. On repeating the
challenge, he was instantly assailed by an adversary, whom he quickly
unhorsed, and seized the reins of his steed. During this operation, his
ghostly opponent sprung up, and, darting his spear, like a javelin, at
Osbert, wounded him in the thigh. Osbert returned in triumph with the
horse, which he committed to the care of his servants. The horse was of
a sable colour, as well as his whole accoutrements, and apparently of
great beauty and vigour. He remained with his keeper till cock-crowing,
when, with eyes flashing fire, he reared, spurned the ground, and
vanished. On disarming himself, Osbert perceived that he was wounded,
and that one of his steel boots was full of blood. Gervase adds,
that, as long as he lived, the scar of his wound opened afresh on the
anniversary of the eve on which he encountered the spirit."[A] Less
fortunate was the gallant Bohemian knight, who, travelling by night,
with a single companion, came in sight of a fairy host, arrayed under
displayed banners. Despising the remonstrances of his friend, the knight
pricked forward to break a lance with a champion who advanced from
the ranks, apparently in defiance. His companion beheld the Bohemian
over-thrown horse and man, by his aГ«rial adversary; and, returning to
the spot next morning, he found the mangled, corpse of the knight and
steed.--_Hierarchie of Blessed Angels,_ p. 554.

[Footnote A: The unfortunate Chatterton was not, probably, acquainted
with Gervase of Tilbury; yet he seems to allude, in the _Battle of
Hastings_, to some modification of Sir Osbert's adventure:

  So who they be that ouphant fairies strike,
  Their souls shall wander to King Offa's dike.

The entrenchment, which served as lists for the combatants, is said by
Gervase to have been the work of the pagan invaders of Britain. In the
metrical romance of _Arthour and Merlin_, we have also an account of
Wandlesbury being occupied by the Sarasins, i.e. the Saxons; for all
pagans were Saracens with the romancers. I presume the place to have
been Wodnesbury, in Wiltshire, situated on the remarkable mound,
called Wansdike, which is obviously a Saxon work.--GOUGH'S _Cambden's
Britannia,_ pp. 87--95.]

To the same current of warlike ideas, we may safely attribute the
long train of military processions which the Fairies are supposed
occasionally to exhibit. The elves, indeed, seem in this point to be
identified with the aГ«rial host, termed, during the middle ages, the
_Milites Herlikini_, or _Herleurini_, celebrated by Pet. Blesensis,
and termed, in the life of St Thomas of Canterbury, the _Familia
Helliquinii_. The chief of this band was originally a gallant knight and
warrior; but, having spent his whole possessions in the service of the
emperor, and being rewarded with scorn, and abandoned to subordinate
oppression, he became desperate, and, with his sons and followers,
formed a band of robbers. After committing many ravages, and defeating
all the forces sent against him, Hellequin, with his whole troop, fell
in a bloody engagement with the Imperial host. His former good life was
supposed to save him from utter reprobation; but he and his followers
were condemned, after death, to a state of wandering, which should
endure till the last day. Retaining their military habits, they were
usually seen in the act of justing together, or in similar warlike
employments. See the ancient French romance of _Richard sans Peur_.
Similar to this was the _Nacht Lager_, or midnight camp, which seemed
nightly to beleaguer the walls of Prague,

  "With ghastly faces thronged, and fiery arms,"

but which disappeared upon recitation of the magical words, _VezelГ©,
VezelГ©, ho! ho! ho!_--For similar delusions, see DELRIUS, pp. 294, 295.

The martial spirit of our ancestors led them to defy these aГ«rial
warriors; and it is still currently believed, that he, who has courage
to rush upon a fairy festival, and snatch from them their drinking cup,
or horn, shall find it prove to him a cornucopia of good fortune, if he
can bear it in safety across a running stream. Such a horn is said to
have been presented to Henry I. by a lord of Colchester.--GERVAS TILB.
p. 980. A goblet is still carefully preserved in Edenhall, Cumberland,
which is supposed to have been seized at a banquet of the elves, by one
of the ancient family of Musgrave; or, as others say, by one of their
domestics, in the manner above described. The Fairy train vanished,
crying aloud,

  If this glass do break or fall,
  Farewell the luck of Edenhall!

The goblet took a name from the prophecy, under which it is mentioned,
in the burlesque ballad, commonly attributed to the duke of Wharton, but
in reality composed by Lloyd, one of his jovial companions. The duke,
after taking a draught, had nearly terminated the "luck of Edenhall,"
had not the butler caught the cup in a napkin, as it dropped from his
grace's hands. I understand it is not now subjected to such risques, but
the lees of wine are still apparent at the bottom.

  God prosper long, from being broke,
   The luck of Edenhall.--_Parody on Chevy Chace._

Some faint traces yet remain, on the borders, of a conflict of a
mysterious and terrible nature, between mortals and the spirits of the
wilds. This superstition is incidentally alluded to by Jackson, at the
beginning of the 17th century. The fern seed, which is supposed to
become visible only on St John's Eve,[A] and at the very moment when
the Baptist was born, is held by the vulgar to be under the special
protection of the queen of FaГ«ry. But, as the seed was supposed to have
the quality of rendering the possessor invisible at pleasure,[B] and to
be also of sovereign use in charms and incantations, persons of courage,
addicted to these mysterious arts, were wont to watch in solitude, to
gather it at the moment when it should become visible. The particular
charms, by which they fenced themselves during this vigil, are now
unknown; but it was reckoned a feat of no small danger, as the person
undertaking it was exposed to the most dreadful assaults from spirits,
who dreaded the effect of this powerful herb in the hands of a cabalist.
Such were the shades, which the original superstition, concerning the.
Fairies, received from the chivalrous sentiments of the middle ages.

[Footnote A:

  Ne'er be I found by thee unawed,
  On that thrice hallowed eve abroad,
  When goblins haunt, from fire and fen.
  And wood and lake, the steps of men.
      COLLINS'S _Ode to Fear._

The whole history of St John the Baptist was, by our ancestors,
accounted mysterious, and connected with their own superstitions.
The fairy queen was sometimes identified with Herodias.--DELRII
_Disquisitiones Magicae,_ pp. 168. 807. It is amusing to observe with
what gravity the learned Jesuit contends, that it is heresy to believe
that this celebrated figurante (_saltatricula_) still leads choral
dances upon earth!]

[Footnote B: This is alluded to by Shakespeare, and other authors of his
time:

  "We have the receipt of _fern-seed_; we walk invisible."
      _Henry IV. Part 1st, Act 2d, Sc. 3_.]

IV. An absurd belief in the fables of classical antiquity lent an
additional feature to the character of the woodland spirits of whom we
treat. Greece and Rome had not only assigned tutelary deities to each
province and city, but had peopled, with peculiar spirits, the Seas, the
Rivers, the Woods, and the Mountains. The memory of the pagan creed was
not speedily eradicated, in the extensive provinces through which it was
once universally received; and, in many particulars, it continued long
to mingle with, and influence, the original superstitions of the Gothic
nations. Hence, we find the elves occasionally arrayed in the costume of
Greece and Rome, and the Fairy Queen and her attendants transformed into
Diana and her nymphs, and invested with their attributes and appropriate
insignia.--DELRIUS, pp. 168, 807. According to the same author, the
Fairy Queen was also called _Habundia_. Like Diana, who, in one
capacity, was denominated _Hecate_, the goddess of enchantment, the
Fairy Queen is identified in popular tradition, with the _Gyre-Carline,
Gay Carline_, or mother witch, of the Scottish peasantry. Of this
personage, as an individual, we have but few notices. She is sometimes
termed _Nicneven_, and is mentioned in the _Complaynt of Scotland_, by
Lindsay in his _Dreme_, p. 225, edit. 1590, and in his _Interludes_,
apud PINKERTON'S _Scottish Poems_, Vol. II. p. 18. But the traditionary
accounts regarding her are too obscure to admit of explanation. In the
burlesque fragment subjoined, which is copied from the Bannatyne MS. the
Gyre Carline is termed the _Queen of Jowis_ (Jovis, or perhaps Jews),
and is, with great consistency, married to Mohammed.[A]


[Footnote A:

  In Tyberius tyme, the trew imperatour,
  Quhen Tynto hills fra skraipiug of toun-henis was keipit,
  Thair dwelt are grit Gyre Carling in awld Betokis bour,
  That levit upoun Christiane menis flesche, and rewheids unleipit;
  Thair wynit ane hir by, on the west syde, callit Blasour,
  For luve of hir lanchane lippis, he walit and he weipit;
  He gadderit are menzie of modwartis to warp doun the tour:
  The Carling with are yren club, quhen yat Blasour sleipit,
     Behind the heil scho hat him sic ane blaw,
     Quhil Blasour bled ane quart
     Off milk pottage inwart,
     The Carling luche, and lut fart
       North Berwik Law.

  The king of fary than come, with elfis many ane,
  And sett are sege, and are salt, with grit pensallis of pryd;
  And all the doggis fra Dunbar wes thair to Dumblane,
  With all the tykis of Tervey, come to thame that tyd;
  Thay quelle doune with thair gonnes mony grit stane,
  The Carling schup hir on ane sow, and is her gaitis gane,
  Grunting our the Greik sie, and durst na langer byd,
  For bruklyng of bargane, and breikhig of browis:
     The Carling now for dispyte
     Is maieit with Mahomyte,
     And will the doggis interdyte,
       For scho is queue of Jowis.

  Sensyne the cockis of Crawmound crew nevir at day,
  For dule of that devillisch deme wes with Mahoun mareit,
  And the henis of Hadingtoun sensyne wald not lay,
  For this wild wibroun wich thame widlit sa and wareit;
  And the same North Berwik Law, as I heir wyvis say,
  This Carling, with a fals east, wald away careit;
  For to luck on quha sa lykis, na langer scho tareit:
  All this languor for love before tymes fell,
     Lang or Betok was born,
     Scho bred of ane accorne;
     The laif of the story to morne,
       To you I sall telle.]

But chiefly in Italy were traced many dim characters of ancient
mythology, in the creed of tradition. Thus, so lately as 1536, Vulcan,
with twenty of his Cyclops, is stated to have presented himself suddenly
to a Spanish merchant, travelling in the night, through the forests of
Sicily; an apparition, which was followed by a dreadful eruption of
Mount Aetna.--_Hierarchie of the Blessed Angels,_ p. 504 Of this
singular mixture, the reader will find a curious specimen in the
following tale, wherein the Venus of antiquity assumes the manners of
one of the Fays, or Fatae, of romance. "In the year 1058, a young man
of noble birth had been married at Rome, and, during the period of his
nuptial feast, having gone with his companions to play at ball, he put
his marriage ring on the finger of a broken statue of Venus in the area,
to remain, while he was engaged in the recreation. Desisting from the
exercise, he found the finger, on which he had put his ring, contracted
firmly against the palm, and attempted in vain either to break it, or to
disengage his ring. He concealed the circumstance from his companions,
and returned at night with a servant, when he found the finger extended,
and his ring gone. He dissembled the loss, and returned to his wife;
but, whenever he attempted to embrace her, he found himself prevented
by something dark and dense, which was tangible, though not visible,
interposing between them; and he heard a voice saying, 'Embrace me! for
I am Venus, whom this day you wedded, and I will not restore your ring.'
As this was constantly repeated, he consulted his relations, who had
recourse to Palumbus, a priest, skilled in necromancy. He directed the
young man to go, at a certain hour of night, to a spot among the ruins
of ancient Rome, where four roads met, and wait silently till he saw a
company pass by, and then, without uttering a word, to deliver a letter,
which he gave him, to a majestic being, who rode in a chariot, after the
rest of the company. The young man did as he was directed; and saw a
company of all ages, sexes, and ranks, on horse and on foot, some joyful
and others sad, pass along; among whom he distinguished a woman in a
meretricious dress, who, from the tenuity of her garments, seemed
almost naked. She rode on a mule; her long hair, which flowed over her
shoulders, was bound with a golden fillet; and in her hand was a golden
rod, with which she directed her mule. In the close of the procession,
a tall majestic figure appeared in a chariot, adorned with emeralds
and pearls, who fiercely asked the young man, 'What he did there?' He
presented the letter in silence, which the daemon dared not refuse.
As soon as he had read, lifting up his hands to heaven, he exclaimed,
'Almighty God! how long wilt thou endure the iniquities of the sorcerer
Palumbus!' and immediately dispatched some of his attendants, who, with
much difficulty, extorted the ring from Venus, and restored it to
its owner, whose infernal banns were thus dissolved."--FORDUNI
_Scotichronicon,_ Vol. I. p. 407, _cura_ GOODALL.

But it is rather in the classical character of an infernal deity, that
the elfin queen may be considered, than as _Hecate_, the patroness of
magic; for not only in the romance writers, but even in Chaucer, are the
Fairies identified with the ancient inhabitants of the classical hell.
Thus Chaucer, in his _Marchand's Tale_, mentions

  Pluto that is king of fayrie--and
  Proserpine and all her fayrie.

In the _Golden Terge_ of Dunbar, the same phraseology is adopted: Thus,

  Thair was Pluto that elricke incubus
  In cloke of grene, his court usit in sable.

Even so late as 1602, in Harsenet's _Declaration of Popish Imposture,_
p. 57, Mercury is called _Prince of the Fairies._

But Chaucer, and those poets who have adopted his phraseology, have only
followed the romance writers; for the same substitution occurs in the
romance of _Orfeo and Heurodis_, in which the story of Orpheus and
Eurydice is transformed into a beautiful romantic tale of faГ«ry, and
the Gothic mythology engrafted on the fables of Greece. _Heurodis_ is
represented as wife of _Orfeo_, and queen of Winchester, the ancient
name of which city the romancer, with unparalleled ingenuity, discovers
to have been Traciens, or Thrace. The monarch, her husband, had a
singular genealogy:

  His fader was comen of King Pluto,
  And his moder of King Juno;
  That sum time were as godes y-holde,
  For aventours that thai dede and tolde.

Reposing, unwarily, at noon, under the shade of an ymp tree,[A]
_Heurodis_ dreams that she is accosted by the King of Fairies,

  With an hundred knights and mo,
  And damisels an hundred also,
  Al on snowe white stedes;
  As white as milke were her wedes;
  Y no seigh never yete bifore,
  So fair creatours y-core:
  The kinge hadde a croun on hed,
  It nas of silver, no of golde red,
  Ac it was of a precious ston:
  As bright as the sonne it schon.

[Footnote A: _Ymp tree_--According to the general acceptation, this only
signifies a grafted tree; whether it should he here understood to mean a
tree consecrated to the imps, or fairies, is left with the reader.]

The King of Fairies, who had obtained power over the queen, perhaps from
her sleeping at noon in his domain, orders her, under the penalty of
being torn to pieces, to await him to-morrow under the ymp tree, and
accompany him to Fairy-Land. She relates her dream to her husband, who
resolves to accompany her, and attempt her rescue:

  A morwe the under tide is come,
  And Orfeo hath his armes y-nome,
  And wele ten hundred knights with him,
  Ich y-armed stout and grim;
  And with the quen wenten he,
  Right upon that ympe tre.
  Thai made scheltrom in iche aside,
  And sayd thai wold there abide,
  And dye ther everichon,
  Er the qeun schuld fram hem gon:
  Ac yete amiddes hem ful right,
  The quen was oway y-twight,
  With Fairi forth y-nome,
  Men wizt never wher sche was become.

After this fatal catastrophe, _Orfeo_, distracted for the loss of
his queen, abandons his throne, and, with his harp, retires into a
wilderness, where he subjects himself to every kind of austerity, and
attracts the wild beasts by the pathetic melody of his harp. His state
of desolation is poetically described:

  He that werd the fowe and griis,
  And on bed the purpur biis,
  Now on bard hethe he lith.
  With leves and gresse he him writh:
  He that had castells and tours,
  Rivers, forests, frith with flowrs.
  Now thei it commence to snewe and freze,
  This king mot make his bed in mese:
  He that had y-had knightes of priis,
  Bifore him kneland and leuedis,
  Now seth he no thing that him liketh,
  Bot wild wormes bi him striketh:
  He that had y-had plente
  Of mete and drinke, of ich deynte,
  Now may he al daye digge and wrote,
  Er he find his fille of rote.
  In sorner he liveth bi wild fruit,
  And verien hot gode lite.
  In winter may he no thing find,
  Bot rotes, grases, and the rinde.

         *       *       *       *       *

  His here of his herd blac and rowe,
  To his girdel stede was growe;
  His harp, whereon was al his gle,
  He hidde in are holwe tre:
  And, when the weder was clere and bright,
  He toke his harpe to him wel right,
  And harped at his owen will,
  Into al the wode the soun gan shill,
  That al the wild bestes that ther beth
  For joie abouten him thai teth;
  And al the foules that ther wer,
  Come and sete on ich a brere,
  To here his harping a fine,
  So miche melody was therein.

At last he discovers, that he is not the sole inhabitant of this desart;
for

  He might se him besides
  Oft in hot undertides,
  The king of Fairi, with his route,
  Come to hunt him al about,
  With dim cri and bloweing,
  And houndes also with him berking;
  Ac no best thai no nome,
  No never he nist whider thai bi come.
  And other while he might hem se
  As a gret ost bi him te,
  Well atourued ten hundred knightes,
  Ich y-armed to his rightes,
  Of cuntenance stout and fers,
  With mani desplaid baners;
  And ich his sword y-drawe hold,
  Ac never he nist whider thai wold.
  And otherwhile he seighe other thing;
  Knightis and lenedis com daunceing,
  In queynt atire gisely,
  Queyete pas and softlie:
  Tabours and trumpes gede hem bi,
  And al mauer menstraci.--
  And on a day he seighe him biside,
  Sexti leuedis on hors ride,
  Gentil and jolif as brid on ris;
  Nought o man amonges hem ther nis;
  And ich a faucoun on bond bere,
  And riden on hauken bi o river.
  Of game thai found wel gode haunt,
  Maulardes, hayroun, and cormoraunt;
  The foules of the water ariseth,
  Ich faucoun hem wele deviseth,
  Ich fancoun his pray slough,
  That seize Orfeo and lough.
  "Par fay," quoth he, "there is fair game,
  "Hider Ichil bi Godes name,
  "Ich was y won swich work to se:"
  He aros, and thider gan te;
  To a leuedie hi was y-come,
  Bihelde, and hath wel under nome,
  And seth, bi al thing, that is
  His owen quen, dam Heurodis;
  Gern hi biheld her, and sche him eke,
  Ac nouther to other a word no speke:
  For messais that sche on him seighe,
  That had ben so riche and so heighe,
  The teres fel out of her eighe;
  The other leuedis this y seighe,
  And maked hir oway to ride,
  Sche most with him no longer obide.
  "Allas!" quoth he, "nowe is mi woe,
  "Whi nil deth now me slo;
  "Allas! to long last mi liif,
  "When y no dare nought with mi wif,
  "Nor hye to me o word speke;
  "Allas whi nil miin hert breke!
  "Par fay," quoth he, "tide what betide,
  "Whider so this leuedis ride,
  "The selve way Ichil streche;
  "Of liif, no dethe, me no reche.

In consequence, therefore, of this discovery _Orfeo_ pursues the hawking
damsels, among whom he has descried his lost queen. They enter a rock,
the king continues the pursuit, and arrives at Fairy-Land, of which the
following very poetical description is given:

  In at roche the leuedis rideth,
  And he after and nought abideth;
  When he was in the roche y-go,
  Wele thre mile other mo,
  He com into a fair cuntray,
  As bright soonne somers day,
  Smothe and plain and al grene,
  Hill no dale nas none ysene,
  Amiddle the loud a castel he seighe,
  Rich and reale and wonder heighe;
  Al the utmast wal
  Was cler and schine of cristal;
  An hundred tours ther were about,
  Degiselich and bataild stout;
  The butrass come out of the diche,
  Of rede gold y-arched riche;
  The bousour was anowed al,
  Of ich maner deuers animal;
  Within ther wer wide wones
  Al of precious stones,
  The werss piler onto biholde,
  Was al of burnist gold:
  Al that loud was ever light,
  For when it schuld be therk and night,
  The riche stonnes light gonne,
  Bright as doth at nonne the sonne
  No man may tel, no thenke in thought.
  The riche werk that ther was rought.

         *       *       *       *       *

    Than he gan biholde about al,
  And seighe ful liggeand with in the wal,
  Of folk that wer thidder y-brought,
  And thought dede and nere nought;
  Sum stode with outen hadde;
  And some none armes nade;
  And sum thurch the bodi hadde wounde;
  And sum lay wode y-bounde;
  And sum armed on hors sete;
  And sum astrangled as thai ete;
  And sum war in water adreynt;
  And sum with fire al for schreynt;
  Wives ther lay on childe bedde;
  Sum dede, and sum awedde;
  And wonder fere ther lay besides,
  Right as thai slepe her undertides;
  Eche was thus in this warld y-nome,
  With fairi thider y-come.[A]
  There he seize his owhen wiif,
  Dame Heurodis, his liif liif,
  Slepe under an ympe tree:
  Bi her clothes he knewe that it was he,
    And when he had bihold this mervalis alle,
  He went into the kinges halle;
  Then seigh he there a semly sight,
  A tabernacle blisseful and bright;
  Ther in her maister king sete,
  And her quen fair and swete;
  Her crounes, her clothes schine so bright,
  That unnethe bihold he hem might.
      _Orfeo and Heurodis, MS._

[Footnote A: It was perhaps from such a description that Ariosto adopted
his idea of the Lunar Paradise, containing every thing that on earth was
stolen or lost.]

_Orfeo_, as a minstrel, so charms the Fairy King with the music of
his harp, that he promises to grant him whatever he should ask. He
immediately demands his lost _Heurodis_; and, returning safely with
her to Winchester, resumes his authority; a catastrophe, less pathetic
indeed, but more pleasing, than that of the classical story. The
circumstances, mentioned in this romantic legend, correspond very
exactly with popular tradition. Almost all the writers on daemonology
mention, as a received opinion that the power of the daemons is most
predominant at noon and midnight. The entrance to the Land of FaГ«ry is
placed in the wilderness; a circumstance, which coincides with a passage
in Lindsay's _Complaint of the Papingo:_

  Bot sen my spreit mon from my bodye go,
  I recommend it to the queue of Fary,
  Eternally into her court to tarry
  In _wilderness_ amang the holtis hair.
      LINDSAY'S _Works_, 1592, p. 222.

Chaucer also agrees, in this particular, with our romancer:

  In his sadel he clombe anon,
  And priked over stile and ston,
   An elf quene for to espie;
  Til he so long had riden and gone
  That he fond in a privie wone
   The countree of FaГ«rie.

  Wherein he soughte north and south,
  And often spired with his mouth,
   In many a foreste wilde;
  For in that countree nas ther non,
  That to him dorst ride or gon,
   Neither wif ne childe.
      _Rime of Sir Thopas._

V. Other two causes, deeply affecting the superstition of which we
treat, remain yet to be noticed. The first is derived from the Christian
religion, which admits only of two classes of spirits, exclusive of the
souls of men--Angels, namely, and Devils. This doctrine had a necessary
tendency to abolish the distinction among subordinate spirits, which had
been introduced by the superstitions of the Scandinavians. The existence
of the Fairies was readily admitted; but, as they had no pretensions to
the angelic character, they were deemed to be of infernal origin. The
union, also, which had been formed betwixt the elves and the Pagan
deities, was probably of disservice to the former; since every one
knows, that the whole synod of Olympus were accounted daemons.

The fulminations of the church were, therefore, early directed against
those, who consulted or consorted with the Fairies; and, according to
the inquisitorial logic, the innocuous choristers of Oberon and Titania
were, without remorse, confounded with the sable inhabitants of the
orthodox Gehennim; while the rings, which marked their revels, were
assimilated to the blasted sward on which the witches held their
infernal sabbath.--_Delrii Disq. Mag._ p. 179. This transformation early
took place; for, among the many crimes for which the famous Joan of Arc
was called upon to answer, it was not the least heinous, that she
had frequented the Tree and Fountain, near DomprГ©, which formed the
rendezvous of the Fairies, and bore their name; that she had joined in
the festive dance with the elves, who haunted this charmed spot; had
accepted of their magical bouquets, and availed herself of their
talismans, for the delivery of her country.--_Vide Acta Judiciaria
contra Johannam D'Arceam, vulgo vocutam Johanne la Pucelle._

The Reformation swept away many of the corruptions of the church of
Rome; but the purifying torrent remained itself somewhat tinctured by
the superstitious impurities of the soil over which it had passed. The
trials of sorcerers and witches, which disgrace our criminal records,
become even more frequent after the Reformation of the church; as if
human credulity, no longer amused by the miracles of Rome, had sought
for food in the traditionary records of popular superstition. A Judaical
observation of the precepts of the Old Testament also characterized the
Presbyterian reformers. _"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,"_ was
a text, which at once (as they conceived) authorized their belief in
sorcery, and sanctioned the penalty which they denounced against it. The
Fairies were, therefore, in no better credit after the Reformation than
before, being still regarded as actual daemons, or something very little
better. A famous divine, Doctor Jasper Brokeman, teaches us, in his
system of divinity, "that they inhabit in those places that are polluted
with any crying sin, as effusion of blood, or where unbelief or
superstitione have gotten the upper hand."--_Description of Feroe._ The
Fairies being on such bad terms with the divines, those, who pretended
to intercourse with them, were, without scruple, punished as sorcerers;
and such absurd charges are frequently stated as exaggerations of
crimes, in themselves sufficiently heinous.

Such is the case in the trial of the noted Major Weir, and his sister;
where the following mummery interlards a criminal indictment, too
infamously flagitious to be farther detailed: "9th April, 1670. Jean
Weir, indicted of sorceries, committed by her when she lived and kept a
school at Dalkeith: that she took employment from a woman, to speak in
her behalf to the _Queen of Fairii, meaning the Devil_; and that another
woman gave her a piece of a tree, or root, the next day, and did tell
her, that as long as she kept the same, she should be able to do what
she pleased; and that same woman, from whom she got the tree, caused her
spread a cloth before her door, and set her foot upon it, and to repeat
thrice, in the posture foresaid, these words, _'All her losses and
crosses go alongst to the doors,'_ which was truly a consulting with the
devil, and an act of sorcery, &c. That after the spirit, in the shape of
a woman, who gave her the piece of tree, had removed, she, addressing
herself to spinning, and having spun but a short time, found more
yarn upon the pirn than could possibly have come there by good
means."[A]--_Books of Adjournal._

[Footnote A: It is observed in the record, that Major Weir, a man of
the most vicious character, was at the same time ambitious of appearing
eminently godly; and used to frequent the beds of sick persons, to
assist them with his prayers. On such occasions, he put to his mouth
a long staff, which he usually carried, and expressed himself with
uncommon energy and fluency, of which he was utterly incapable when the
inspiring rod was withdrawn. This circumstance, the result, probably, of
a trick or habit, appearing suspicious to the judges, the staff of the
sorcerer was burned along with his person. One hundred and thirty years
have elapsed since his execution, yet no one has, during that space,
ventured to inhabit the house of this celebrated criminal.]

Neither was the judgment of the criminal court of Scotland less severe
against another familiar of the Fairies, whose supposed correspondence
with the court of Elfland seems to have constituted the sole crime, for
which she was burned alive. Her name was Alison Pearson, and she seems
to have been a very noted person. In a bitter satire against Adamson,
Bishop of St Andrews, he is accused of consulting with sorcerers,
particularly with this very woman; and an account is given of her
travelling through Breadalbane, in the company of the Queen of FaГ«ry,
and of her descrying, in the court of Elfland, many persons, who had
been supposed at rest in the peaceful grave.[A] Among these we find two
remarkable personages; the secretary, young Maitland of Lethington, and
one of the old lairds of Buccleuch. The cause of their being stationed
in Elfland probably arose from the manner of their decease; which, being
uncommon and violent, caused the vulgar to suppose that they had been
abstracted by the Fairies. Lethington, as is generally supposed, died a
Roman death during his imprisonment in Leith; and the Buccleuch, whom I
believe to be here meant, was slain in a nocturnal scuffle by the Kerrs,
his hereditary enemies. Besides, they were both attached to the cause
of Queen Mary, and to the ancient religion; and were thence, probably,
considered as more immediately obnoxious to the assaults of the powers
of darkness.[B] The indictment of Alison Pearson notices her intercourse
with the Archbishop of St Andrews, and contains some particulars, worthy
of notice, regarding the court of Elfland. It runs thus: "28th May,
1586. Alison Pearson, in Byrehill, convicted of witchcraft, and of
consulting with evil spirits, in the form of one Mr William Simpsone,
her cosin, who she affirmed was a gritt schollar, and doctor of
medicine, that healed her of her diseases when she was twelve years of
age; having lost the power of her syde, and having a familiaritie with
him for divers years, dealing with charms, and abuseing the common
people by her arts of witchcraft, thir divers years by-past.

[Footnote A:

  For oght the kirk culd him forbid,
  He sped him sone, and gat the thrid;
  Ane carling of the quene of Phareis,
  That ewill win geir to elpliyne careis;
  Through all Brade Abane scho has bene,
  On horsbak on Hallow ewin;
  And ay in seiking certayne nightis,
  As scho sayis with sur silly wychirs:
  And names out nybours sex or sewin,
  That we belevit had bene in heawin;
  Scho said scho saw theme weill aneugh,
  And speciallie gude auld Balcleuch,
  The secretar, and sundrie uther:
  Ane William Symsone, her mother brother,
  Whom fra scho has resavit a buike
  For ony herb scho likes to luke;
  It will instruct her how to tak it,
  In saws and sillubs how to mak it;
  With stones that meikle mair can doe,
  In leich craft, where scho lays them toe:
  A thousand maladeis scho hes mendit;
  Now being tane, and apprehendit,
  Scho being in the bischopis cure,
  And keipit in his castle sure,
  Without respect of worldlie glamer,
  He past into the witches chalmer.
      _Scottish Poems of XVI. Century,_ Edin. 1801,
      Vol. II, p. 320.]

[Footnote B: Buccleuch was a violent enemy to the English, by whom his
lands had been repeatedly plundered (See _Introduction,_ p. xxvi), and
a great advocate for the marriage betwixt Mary and the dauphin, 1549.
According to John Knox, he had recourse even to threats, in urging the
parliament to agree to the French match. "The laird of Buccleuch," says
the Reformer, "a bloody man, with many Gods wounds, swore, they that
would not consent should do worse."]

"_Item,_ For banting and repairing with the gude neighbours, and queene
of Elfland, thir divers years by-past, as she had confest; and that she
had friends in that court, which were of her own blude, who had gude
acquaintance of the queene of Elfland, which might have helped her; but
she was whiles well, and whiles ill, sometimes with them, a'nd other
times away frae them; and that she would be in her bed haille and feire,
and would not wytt where she would be the morn; and that she saw not the
queene this seven years, and that she was seven years ill handled in the
court of Elfland; that, however, she kad gude friends there, and that
it was the gude neighbours that healed her, under God; and that she was
comeing and going to St Andrews to haile folkes thir many years past.

"_Item,_ Convict of the said act of witchcraft, in as far as she confest
that the said Mr William Sympsoune, who was her guidsir sone, born in
Stirleing, who was the king's smith, who, when about eight years of age,
was taken away by ane Egyptian to Egypt; which Egyptian was a gyant,
where he remained twelve years, "and then came home.

"_Item,_ That she being in Grange Muir, with some other folke, she,
being sick, lay downe; and, when alone, there came a man to her, clad in
green, who said to her, if she would be faithful, he would do her good;
but she, being feared, cried out, but naebodye came to her; so she said,
if he came in God's name, and for the gude of her saule, it was well;
but he gaid away: that he appeared to her another tyme like a lustie
man, and many men and women with him; that, at seeing him, she signed
herself and prayed, and past with them, and saw them making merrie with
pypes, and gude cheir and wine, and that she was carried with them; and
that when she telled any of these things, she was sairlie tormentit by
them; and that the first time she gaed with them, she gat a sair straike
frae one of them, which took all the _poustie_[A] of her syde frae her,
and left ane ill-far'd mark on her syde.

"_Item,_ That she saw the gude neighbours make their sawes[B] with panns
and fyres, and that they gathered the herbs before the sun was up, and
they came verie fearful sometimes to her, and flaide[C] her very sair,
which made her cry, and threatened they would use her worse than before;
and, at last, they took away the power of her haile syde frae her, which
made her lye many weeks. Sometimes they would come and sitt by her, and
promise all that she should never want if she would be faithful, but if
she would speak and telle of them, they should murther her; and that Mr
William Sympsoune is with them, who healed her, and telt her all things;
that he is a young man not six years older than herself, and that he
will appear to her before the court comes; that he told her he was taken
away by them, and he bidd her sign herself that she be not taken away,
for the teind of them are tane to hell everie year.

[Footnote A: _Poustie_--Power.]

[Footnote B: _Sawes_--Salves.]

[Footnote C: _Flaide_--Scared.]

"_Item,_ That the said Mr William told her what herbs were fit to cure
every disease, and how to use them; and particularlie tauld, that the
Bishop of St Andrews laboured under sindrie diseases, sic as the riples,
trembling, feaver, flux, &c. and bade her make a sawe, and anoint
several parts of his body therewith, and gave directions for making a
posset, which she made and gave him."

For this idle story the poor woman actually suffered death. Yet,
notwithstanding the fervent arguments thus liberally used by the
orthodox, the common people, though they dreaded even to think or speak
about the Fairies, by no means unanimously acquiesced in the doctrine,
which consigned them to eternal perdition. The inhabitants of the Isle
of Man 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 prophane who
should suffer his family to go to bed, without having first set a tub,
or pail, full of clean water, for those 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."--WALDREN's
_Works_, p. 126. There are some curious, and perhaps anomalous facts,
concerning the history of Fairies, in a sort of Cock-lane narrative,
contained in a letter from Moses Pitt, to Dr Edward Fowler, Lord Bishop
of Gloucester, printed at London in 1696, and preserved in Morgan's
_Phoenix Britannicus,_ 4to, London 1732.

Anne Jefferies was born in the parish of St Teath, in the county of
Cornwall, in 1626. Being the daughter of a poor man, she resided as
servant in the house of the narrator's father, and waited upon the
narrator himself, in his childhood. As she was knitting stockings in an
arbour of the garden, "six small people, all in green clothes," came
suddenly over the garden wall; at the sight of whom, being much
frightened, she was seized with convulsions, and continued so long sick,
that she became as a changeling, and was unable to walk. During her
sickness, she frequently exclaimed, "They are just gone out of the
window! they are just gone out of the window! do you not see them?"
These expressions, as she afterwards declared, related to their
disappearing. During the harvest, when every one was employed, her
mistress walked out; and dreading that Anne, who was extremely weak
and silly, might injure herself, or the house, by the fire, with some
difficulty persuaded her to walk in the orchard till her return. She
accidentally hurt her leg, and, at her return, Anne cured it, by
stroking it with her hand. She appeared to be informed of every
particular, and asserted, that she had this information from the
Fairies, who had caused the misfortune. After this, she performed
numerous cures, but would never receive money for them. From harvest
time to Christmas, she was fed by the Fairies, and eat no other victuals
but theirs. The narrator affirms, that, looking one day through the
key-hole of the door of her chamber, he saw her eating; and that she
gave him a piece of bread, which was the most delicious he ever tasted.
The Fairies always appeared to her in even numbers; never less than two,
nor more than eight, at a time. She had always a sufficient stock of
salves and medicines, and yet neither made, nor purchased any; nor did
she ever appear to be in want of money. She, one day, gave a silver cup,
containing about a quart, to the daughter of her mistress, a girl about
four years old, to carry to her mother, who refused to receive it. The
narrator adds, that he had seen her dancing in the orchard among the
trees, and that she informed him she was then dancing with the Fairies.
The report of the strange cures which she performed, soon attracted the
attention of both ministers and magistrates. The ministers endeavoured
to persuade her, that the Fairies by which she was haunted, were evil
spirits, and that she was under the delusion of the devil. After they
had left her, she was visited by the Fairies, while in great perplexity;
who desired her to cause those, who termed them evil spirits, to
read that place of scripture, _First Epistle of John,_, chap. iv. v.
1,--_Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits,
whether they are of God,_ &c. Though Anne Jefferies could not read, she
produced a Bible folded down at this passage. By the magistrates she was
confined three months, without food, in Bodmin jail, and afterwards
for some time in the house of Justice Tregeagle. Before the constable
appeared to apprehend her, she was visited by the Fairies, who informed
her what was intended, and advised her to go with him. When this account
was given, on May 1, 1696, she was still alive; but refused to relate
any particulars of her connection with the Fairies, or the occasion on
which they deserted her, lest she should again fall under the cognizance
of the magistrates.