"Bot sen my spreit mon from my bodye go,I recommend it to the Quene of Fary,Eternally into her court to tarryIn wilderness amang the holtis hair;"[319:B]
"Bot sen my spreit mon from my bodye go,I recommend it to the Quene of Fary,Eternally into her court to tarryIn wilderness amang the holtis hair;"[319:B]
"Bot sen my spreit mon from my bodye go,
I recommend it to the Quene of Fary,
Eternally into her court to tarry
In wilderness amang the holtis hair;"[319:B]
and the latter, in hisFlyting against Polwart, speaking of Hallow'een, tells us, that
"The king of Pharie and his court, with the elf queen,With many elfish incubus was ridand that night."[319:C]
"The king of Pharie and his court, with the elf queen,With many elfish incubus was ridand that night."[319:C]
"The king of Pharie and his court, with the elf queen,
With many elfish incubus was ridand that night."[319:C]
According to theTale of the Young Tamlane, a poem in its original state coeval with theComplaynt of Scotland, and on the authority of theBallad of Thomas the Rhymer, said also to be of considerable antiquity[319:D], Elf-land is represented as a terrestrial paradise, the opening of the road to which was in the desert
"Where living land was left behind;"
"Where living land was left behind;"
"Where living land was left behind;"
it is described as a "bonny road" "that winds about the fernie brae,"but the roaring of the sea is heard in the descent, and at length the traveller wades knee-deep through rivers of blood,
"For a' the blude that's shed on earth,Rins thro' the springs o' that countrie;"[320:A]
"For a' the blude that's shed on earth,Rins thro' the springs o' that countrie;"[320:A]
"For a' the blude that's shed on earth,
Rins thro' the springs o' that countrie;"[320:A]
yet, when arrived, the land is full of pleasantness, a garden of the loveliest green, self-illumined, and whose halls have roofs of beaten gold, and floors of purest chrystal.[320:B]
In conformity to these Scottish traditionary features of Fairy-land, and in reference to the popular tale of Thomas the Rhymer, who, daring to salute the Fairy Queen, was carried off in early life to this region of enchantment, and there broke the vow of silence enjoined on all who entered its precincts[320:C], Dr. Leyden has executed the following glowing picture:—
"The fairy ring-dance now, round Eildon-tree,Moves to wild strains of elfin minstrelsy:On glancing step appears the fairy queen;—Or, graceful mounted on her palfrey gray,In robes, that glister like the sun in May,With hawk and hounds she leads the moon-light ranks,Of knights and dames, to Huntly's ferny banks,Where Rymour, long of yore, the nymph embraced,The first of men unearthly lips to taste.Rash was the vow, and fatal was the hour,Which gave a mortal to a fairy's power!A lingering leave he took of sun and moon;—Dire to the minstrel was the fairy's boon!—A sad farewell of grass and green-leaved tree,The haunts of childhood doomed no more to see.Through winding paths, that never saw the sun,Where Eildon hides his roots in caverns dun,They pass,—the hollow pavement, as they go,Rocks to remurmuring waves, that boil below;Silent they wade, where sounding torrents laveThe banks, and red the tinge of every wave;For all the blood, that dyes the warrior's hand,Runs through the thirsty springs of Fairy land.Level and green the downward region lies,And low the cieling of the fairy skies;Self-kindled gems a richer light displayThan gilds the earth, but not a purer day.Resplendent crystal forms the palace wall;The diamonds trembling lustre lights the hall:But where soft emeralds shed an umber'd light,Beside each coal-black courser sleeps a knight;A raven plume waves o'er each helmed crest,And black the mail, which binds each manly breast,Girt with broad faulchion, and with bugle green—Ah! could a mortal trust the fairy queen!From mortal lips an earthly accent fell,And Rymour's tongue confess'd the numbing spell:In iron sleep the minstrel lies forlorn,Who breathed a sound before he blew the horn."[321:A]
"The fairy ring-dance now, round Eildon-tree,Moves to wild strains of elfin minstrelsy:On glancing step appears the fairy queen;—Or, graceful mounted on her palfrey gray,In robes, that glister like the sun in May,With hawk and hounds she leads the moon-light ranks,Of knights and dames, to Huntly's ferny banks,Where Rymour, long of yore, the nymph embraced,The first of men unearthly lips to taste.Rash was the vow, and fatal was the hour,Which gave a mortal to a fairy's power!A lingering leave he took of sun and moon;—Dire to the minstrel was the fairy's boon!—A sad farewell of grass and green-leaved tree,The haunts of childhood doomed no more to see.Through winding paths, that never saw the sun,Where Eildon hides his roots in caverns dun,They pass,—the hollow pavement, as they go,Rocks to remurmuring waves, that boil below;Silent they wade, where sounding torrents laveThe banks, and red the tinge of every wave;For all the blood, that dyes the warrior's hand,Runs through the thirsty springs of Fairy land.Level and green the downward region lies,And low the cieling of the fairy skies;Self-kindled gems a richer light displayThan gilds the earth, but not a purer day.Resplendent crystal forms the palace wall;The diamonds trembling lustre lights the hall:But where soft emeralds shed an umber'd light,Beside each coal-black courser sleeps a knight;A raven plume waves o'er each helmed crest,And black the mail, which binds each manly breast,Girt with broad faulchion, and with bugle green—Ah! could a mortal trust the fairy queen!From mortal lips an earthly accent fell,And Rymour's tongue confess'd the numbing spell:In iron sleep the minstrel lies forlorn,Who breathed a sound before he blew the horn."[321:A]
"The fairy ring-dance now, round Eildon-tree,
Moves to wild strains of elfin minstrelsy:
On glancing step appears the fairy queen;—
Or, graceful mounted on her palfrey gray,
In robes, that glister like the sun in May,
With hawk and hounds she leads the moon-light ranks,
Of knights and dames, to Huntly's ferny banks,
Where Rymour, long of yore, the nymph embraced,
The first of men unearthly lips to taste.
Rash was the vow, and fatal was the hour,
Which gave a mortal to a fairy's power!
A lingering leave he took of sun and moon;
—Dire to the minstrel was the fairy's boon!—
A sad farewell of grass and green-leaved tree,
The haunts of childhood doomed no more to see.
Through winding paths, that never saw the sun,
Where Eildon hides his roots in caverns dun,
They pass,—the hollow pavement, as they go,
Rocks to remurmuring waves, that boil below;
Silent they wade, where sounding torrents lave
The banks, and red the tinge of every wave;
For all the blood, that dyes the warrior's hand,
Runs through the thirsty springs of Fairy land.
Level and green the downward region lies,
And low the cieling of the fairy skies;
Self-kindled gems a richer light display
Than gilds the earth, but not a purer day.
Resplendent crystal forms the palace wall;
The diamonds trembling lustre lights the hall:
But where soft emeralds shed an umber'd light,
Beside each coal-black courser sleeps a knight;
A raven plume waves o'er each helmed crest,
And black the mail, which binds each manly breast,
Girt with broad faulchion, and with bugle green—
Ah! could a mortal trust the fairy queen!
From mortal lips an earthly accent fell,
And Rymour's tongue confess'd the numbing spell:
In iron sleep the minstrel lies forlorn,
Who breathed a sound before he blew the horn."[321:A]
No spell, however, could bind the Fairies themselves to their own domain; an eternal restlessness seems to have been their doom; "they remove," says Kirk, in a passage singularly curious, "to other Lodgings at the Beginning of each Quarter of the Year, so traversing till Doomsday, being imputent and (impotent of?) staying in one Place, and finding some Ease by so purning (journeying) and changing Habitations. Their chamœlion-lyke Bodies swim in the Air near the Earth with Bag and Bagadge; and at such revolution of Time,Seers, orMen of the Second Sight, (Fœmales being seldome so qualified) have very terrifying Encounters with them, even on High Ways; who therefoir uswally shune to travell abroad at these four Seasons of the Year, and thereby have made it a Custome to this day among the Scottish-Irish to keep Church duely evry first Sunday of the Quarter to sene or hallow themselves, their Corns and Cattell, from the Shots and Stealth of these wandering Tribes; and many of these superstitious People will not be seen in Church againe till the nixt Quarter begin, as if no Duty were to be learned or done by them, but all the use of Worship and Sermons were to save them from these Arrows that fly in the dark."[322:A]
Beside these quarterly migrations, an annual procession of the Fairy Court was supposed to take place on Hallowe'en, to which we have alluded in a former part of this work (vol. i. p. 342.), when describing the superstitions peculiar to certain periods of the year. A similar ceremony, though not upon so large a scale, was also believed, among the peasantry of Nithsdale, to occur at[322:B]Roodsmass;but the most common appearance of the Fairy in Scotland, as elsewhere, was conceived to be by moon-light, dancing in a circle, and leaving behind either a scorched, or a deep green, ringlet; nor was the period of noon-day scarcely deemed less dangerous than the noon of night; for, during both, the Fairies were imagined to exert a baneful power; in sleep, producing the oppression termed theNight-mare[323:A], and, even at mid-day, weaving their pernicious spells, and subjecting to their power all who were tempted to repose on the rock, bank, hillock, or near the tree which they frequented.
Persons thus unfortunately situated, who had ventured within the fairy-circle after sunset, who had slept at noon upon a fairy-hill, or who, in an evil hour, had been devoted to the infernal powers, by the curses of a parent, were liable to be borne away to Elf-land for a period of seven years:—
"Woe to the upland swain, who, wandering far,The circle treads, beneath the evening star!His feet the witch-grass green impels to run,Full on the dark descent, he strives to shun;Till, on the giddy brink, o'erpower'd by charms,The Fairies clasp him, in unhallow'd arms,Doom'd, with the crew of restless foot, to strayThe earth by night, the nether realms by day;Till seven long years their dangerous circuit run,And call the wretch to view this upper sun."[324:A]
"Woe to the upland swain, who, wandering far,The circle treads, beneath the evening star!His feet the witch-grass green impels to run,Full on the dark descent, he strives to shun;Till, on the giddy brink, o'erpower'd by charms,The Fairies clasp him, in unhallow'd arms,Doom'd, with the crew of restless foot, to strayThe earth by night, the nether realms by day;Till seven long years their dangerous circuit run,And call the wretch to view this upper sun."[324:A]
"Woe to the upland swain, who, wandering far,
The circle treads, beneath the evening star!
His feet the witch-grass green impels to run,
Full on the dark descent, he strives to shun;
Till, on the giddy brink, o'erpower'd by charms,
The Fairies clasp him, in unhallow'd arms,
Doom'd, with the crew of restless foot, to stray
The earth by night, the nether realms by day;
Till seven long years their dangerous circuit run,
And call the wretch to view this upper sun."[324:A]
Pregnant and child-bed women were considered, as in Germany, peculiarly in danger of being stolen by the Fairies at noon-day, and various preventive charms were adopted against this abstraction. "The Tramontains to this day," says Kirk, speaking of "Women yet alive, who tell they were taken away when in Child-bed to nurse Fairie Children," "put bread, the Bible, or a piece of Iron, in Women's Bed when travelling, to save them from being thus stolen."[324:B]
Of the capture and subjection of those who had been devoted by execration, several instances are related both by Scotch and English writers[324:C]; but the most general mode of abstraction practised by the Elvish race, was that of stealing or exchanging children, and so commonly was this species of theft apprehended in the Highlands of Scotland, that it was customary to watch children until the christening was over[324:D], under the idea, that the power of the Fairies, owing to the original corruption of human nature, was chiefly to be dreadedin the interval between birth and baptism. The Beings substituted for the healthy offspring of man were apparently idiots, monstrous and decrepid in their form, and defective in speech; and when the Fairies failed to purloin or exchange the infant, in consequence of the vigilance of its parents, it was usually foundbreath-blasted, "their unearthly breath making it wither away in every limb and lineament, like a blighted ear of corn, saving the countenance, which unchangeably retains the sacred stamp of divinity."[325:A]
The cause assigned for this evil propensity on the part of the Fairies, was the dreadful obligation they were under, of sacrificing the tenth individual to the Devil every, or every seventh year; "the teind of them," says the indictment of Alison Pearson, "are tane to hell everie year[325:B]," while the hero of the Ballad entitled The Young Tamlane, exclaims:—
"And pleasant is the Fairy land;But, an eiry tale to tell!Ay, at the end o' seven years,We pay the teind to hell."[325:C]
"And pleasant is the Fairy land;But, an eiry tale to tell!Ay, at the end o' seven years,We pay the teind to hell."[325:C]
"And pleasant is the Fairy land;
But, an eiry tale to tell!
Ay, at the end o' seven years,
We pay the teind to hell."[325:C]
For the recovery of the unfortunate substitutes thus selected for the payment of their infernal tribute, various charms and contrivances were adopted, of which one of the most effectual, though the most horrible, was the assignment to the flames of the supposed changeling, which it was firmly believed would, in consequence of this treatment, disappear, and the real child return to the lap of its mother. "A beautiful child, of Caerlaveroc, in Nithsdale," relates Mr. Cromek from tradition, "on the second day of its birth, and before its baptism, was changed, none knew how, for an antiquated elf of hideous aspect. It kept the family awake with its nightly yells; biting the mother's breasts, and would neither be cradled ornursed. The mother, obliged to be from home, left it in charge to the servant girl. The poor lass was sitting bemoaning herself,—'Wer't nae for thy girning face I would knock the big, winnow the corn, and grun the meal!'—'Lowse the cradle band,' quoth the Elf, 'and tent the neighbours, an' Ill work yere wark.' Up started the elf, the wind arose, the corn was chaffed, the outlyers were foddered, the hand mill moved around, as by instinct, and theknocking melldid its work with amazing rapidity. The lass, and her elfin servant, rested and diverted themselves, till, on the mistress's approach, it was restored to the cradle, and began to yell anew. The girl took the first opportunity of slyly telling her mistress the adventure. 'What'll we do wi' the wee diel?' said she. 'I'll wirk it a pirn,' replied the lass. At the middle hour of night the chimney-top was covered up, and every inlet barred and closed. The embers were blown up until glowing hot, and the maid, undressing the elf, tossed it on the fire. It uttered the wildest and most piercing yells, and, in a moment, the Fairies were heard moaning at every wonted avenue, and rattling at the window boards, at the chimney head, and at the door. 'In the name o'God bring back the bairn,' cried the lass. The window flew up; the earthly child was laid unharmed on the mother's lap, while its grisly substitute flew up the chimney with a loud laugh."[326:A]
Another efficacious mode of re-possessing either children or adults who had been borne away by the Fairies, depended upon watching their great annual procession orradeon Hallowe'en, within a year and a day of the supposed abstraction, and there seizing by force the hapless victim of their charms. This enterprise, however, which forms the chief incident in theTale of the Young Tamlane, and has been mentioned in the first volume, required much courage and resolution for its successful performance, as the adventurer, regardless of all the terrors of the scene, and of all the appalling shapes whichthe lost person was compelled to assume, had to hold him fast, under every transformation, and until the resources of fairy magic were exhausted. ThusTamlaneexclaims:—
"They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,An adder and a snake;But had me fast, let me not pass,Gin ye wad be my maik.They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,An adder and an ask;They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,A bale[327:A]that burns fast.They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,A red hot gad o' iron;But had me fast, let me not pass,For I'll do you no harm.—And next they'll shape me in your arms,A toad, but and an eel;But had me fast, nor let me gang,As you do love me weel.They'll shape me in your arms, Janet,A dove, but and a swan;And last they'll shape me in your arms,A mother-naked man:Cast your green mantle over me—I'll be myself again."—[327:B]
"They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,An adder and a snake;But had me fast, let me not pass,Gin ye wad be my maik.
"They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
An adder and a snake;
But had me fast, let me not pass,
Gin ye wad be my maik.
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,An adder and an ask;They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,A bale[327:A]that burns fast.
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
An adder and an ask;
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
A bale[327:A]that burns fast.
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,A red hot gad o' iron;But had me fast, let me not pass,For I'll do you no harm.—
They'll turn me in your arms, Janet,
A red hot gad o' iron;
But had me fast, let me not pass,
For I'll do you no harm.—
And next they'll shape me in your arms,A toad, but and an eel;But had me fast, nor let me gang,As you do love me weel.
And next they'll shape me in your arms,
A toad, but and an eel;
But had me fast, nor let me gang,
As you do love me weel.
They'll shape me in your arms, Janet,A dove, but and a swan;And last they'll shape me in your arms,A mother-naked man:Cast your green mantle over me—I'll be myself again."—[327:B]
They'll shape me in your arms, Janet,
A dove, but and a swan;
And last they'll shape me in your arms,
A mother-naked man:
Cast your green mantle over me—
I'll be myself again."—[327:B]
That part of the Scottish fairy system which relates exclusively to the abstraction of children, has been beautifully applied by Mr. Erskine, in one of his supplemental stanzas to Collins'sOde on the Popular Superstitions of the Highlands of Scotland, where, continuing the Address of Collins to his friend Home, he thus proceeds:—
"Then wake (for well thou can'st) that wond'rous lay,How, while around the thoughtless matrons sleep,Soft o'er the floor the treacherous fairies creep,And bear the smiling infant far away:How starts the nurse, when, for her lovely child,She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare!O snatch the innocent from demons vilde,And save the parents fond from fell despair!In a deep cave the trusty menials wait,When from their hilly dens, at midnight's hour,Forth rush the airy elves in mimic state,And o'er the moon-light heath with swiftness scour:In glittering arms the little horsemen shine;Last, on a milk-white steed, with targe of gold,A fay of might appears, whose arms entwineThe lost, lamented child! the shepherds boldThe unconscious infant tear from his unhallow'd hold."[328:A]
"Then wake (for well thou can'st) that wond'rous lay,How, while around the thoughtless matrons sleep,Soft o'er the floor the treacherous fairies creep,And bear the smiling infant far away:How starts the nurse, when, for her lovely child,She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare!O snatch the innocent from demons vilde,And save the parents fond from fell despair!In a deep cave the trusty menials wait,When from their hilly dens, at midnight's hour,Forth rush the airy elves in mimic state,And o'er the moon-light heath with swiftness scour:In glittering arms the little horsemen shine;Last, on a milk-white steed, with targe of gold,A fay of might appears, whose arms entwineThe lost, lamented child! the shepherds boldThe unconscious infant tear from his unhallow'd hold."[328:A]
"Then wake (for well thou can'st) that wond'rous lay,
How, while around the thoughtless matrons sleep,
Soft o'er the floor the treacherous fairies creep,
And bear the smiling infant far away:
How starts the nurse, when, for her lovely child,
She sees at dawn a gaping idiot stare!
O snatch the innocent from demons vilde,
And save the parents fond from fell despair!
In a deep cave the trusty menials wait,
When from their hilly dens, at midnight's hour,
Forth rush the airy elves in mimic state,
And o'er the moon-light heath with swiftness scour:
In glittering arms the little horsemen shine;
Last, on a milk-white steed, with targe of gold,
A fay of might appears, whose arms entwine
The lost, lamented child! the shepherds bold
The unconscious infant tear from his unhallow'd hold."[328:A]
Like theDwergarorSwart-Elvesof Scandinavia, the Scottish Fairies were also endowed with great mechanical powers; were often mischievously, though sometimes beneficially, active in mines, and were believed to be the guardians of hidden treasure. "The Swart Fairy of the Mine," says the Scotch Encyclopedia, "has scarce yet quitted our subterraneous works[328:B]," and Kirk speaks of "Treasure hid in a Hill calledSith-bhruaich, or Fayrie-hill."[328:C]It is amusing, indeed, to read the minute account which this worthy minister gives of the habits and occupations of hisSithsor Fairies: thus, with regard to theirspeech,food, andwork, he informs us that "they speak by way of whistling, clear, not rough"—"some are fed by only sucking into some fine spirituous Liquors, that peirce lyke pure Air and Oyl: others feid more gross on the Foyson or Substance of Corns and Liquors, or Corne itselfe that grows on the Surface of the Earth, which those Fairies steall away, partly invisible, partly preying on the Grain, as do Crowes and Mice:—their Food being exactly clean, and served up by pleasant children, lyke inchanted Puppets." "They are sometimes heard to bake Bread, strike Hammers, and to do such lyke Services within the litle Hillocks they most haunt.—Ther Women are said to Spine very fine, to Dy, to Tossue andEmbroyder: but whither it be as manuall Operation of substantiall refined Stuffs, with apt and solid Instruments, or only curious Cobwebs, impalpable Rain-bows, and a phantastic Imitation of the actions of more terrestricall Mortalls, since it transcended all the Senses of the Seere to discern whither, I leave to conjecture as I found it."[329:A]
It appears, also, from the same author, that the operations of the Fairies were considered as predictive of future events, and that those who were gifted with the privilege of beholding the process, formed their inferences accordingly. Of this he gives us the following singularly terrific instance:—"Thus a Man of the Second Sight, perceaving the Operations of these forecasting invisible People among us, (indulged thorow a stupendious Providence to give Warnings of some remarkable Events, either in the Air, Earth, or Waters) told he saw a Winding-shroud creeping on a walking healthful Persons Legs till it come to the Knee, and afterwards it come up to the Midle, then to the Shoulders, and at last over the Head, which was visible to no other Persone. And by observing the spaces of Time betwixt the severall Stages, he easily guess'd how long the Man was to live who wore the Shroud; for when it approached his Head, he told that such a Person was ripe for the Grave."[329:B]
Among the Scottish Fairies we must not forget to enumerate theWee Brown Man of the Muirs, "a fairy," says Dr. Leyden, "of the most malignant order, the genuineduergar[329:C]," who dwelt beneath the heather bell, and whose favourite amusement it was to extract the brains from the skulls of those who slept within the verge of his power.[329:D]
It is evident from the account now given of the Scottish Fairies, that they assimilate, in a very striking degree, in manners, disposition, and origin, with theDuergarorSwarttribe of the Scandick Elves; but that a peculiarly wild, and even terrific malignancy forms and distinguishes their character and agency, ascribable, in a great measure, to the intermixture of a severe Christian theology, which attributes to these poetical little beings a species of demoniacal nature. It is also not less remarkable, that the only friendly and benignant Elf in the fairy annals of North Britain, though founded, in some respects, on the domestic fairy of Germany, and still more nearly assimilated to thePortunus, and the spiritGrantof Gervase of Tilbury, possesses some features altogether peculiar to the country of its birth. Kirk, among his "fyve Curiosities in Scotland, not much observed elsewhere[330:A]," reckons, in the first place, "theBrounies, who in some Families are Drudges, clean the Houses and Dishes after all go to Bed, taking with him his Portion of Food, and removing befor Day-break."[330:B]
Of this singular race there appears to have been two kinds, a diminutive and a gigantic species. King James, in his Dæmonology, published in 1597, tells us, that "the spirit calledBrownie, appeared like arough man, and haunted divers houses without doing any evill, but doing as it were necessarie turnes up and downe the house; yet some were so blinded as to beleeve that their house was all the sonsier, as they called it, that such spirits resorted there[330:C];" andMartin, speaking of the Isles of Shetland, remarks, that "a spirit by the country people calledBrowny, was frequently seen in all the most considerable Families in these Isles and North of Scotland, in the shape of atall Man."[331:A]To this description of Brownie, Milton seems to have been indebted for his "drudging Goblin:"—
——————————— "the lubbar-fiend,'Who'stretch'd out all the Chimney's length,Basks at the fire hishairy strength."
——————————— "the lubbar-fiend,'Who'stretch'd out all the Chimney's length,Basks at the fire hishairy strength."
——————————— "the lubbar-fiend,
'Who'stretch'd out all the Chimney's length,
Basks at the fire hishairy strength."
But the most common tradition with regard to theBrownieis, that, in point of size, he was similar to theFairy, though in his habits, temper, and equipment, widely different. He possessed neither the weapons, nor the hostile inclinations of his brother Elves; he despised their gay attire, but was notorious for an attachment to dainty food, being the guardian of the Dairy, the avowed protector of the Bee, and a constant sharer in the product of its industry. He loved to lurk in hollow trees during the day, or in the recesses of some old mansion, to the family of which he would attach himself for centuries, and perform, for the menials, during the night, the most laborious offices.
The most ample and interesting account of this kind-hearted elf has been given to us, from tradition, by Mr. Cromek, who describes the Scotch Brownie as "small of stature, covered with short curly hair, with brown matted locks, and a brown mantle which reached to the knee, with a hood of the same colour." After having finished his nightly work, which was usually done by the crowing of the first cock, he would then, relates Mr. Cromek, "come into the farm-hall, and stretch itself out by the chimney, sweaty, dusty, and fatigued. It would take up thepluff, (a piece of bored bour-tree for blowing up the fire) and, stirring out the red embers, turn itself till it was rested and dried. A choice bowl of sweet cream, with combs of honey, was set in an accessible place: this was given as its hire; and it waswilling to be bribed, though none durst avow the intention of the gift. When offered meat or drink, the Brownie instantly departed, bewailing and lamenting itself, as if unwilling to leave a place so long its habitation, from which nothing but the superior power of fate could sever it. A thrifty good wife, having made a web of linsey-woolsey, sewed a well-lined mantle, and a comfortable hood, for her trusty Brownie. She laid it down in one of his favourite haunts, and cried to him to array himself. Being commissioned by the gods to relieve mankind under the drudgery of original sin, he was forbidden to accept of wages or bribes. He instantly departed, bemoaning himself in a rhyme, which tradition has faithfully preserved:—
"A new mantle, and a new hood!—Poor Brownie! ye'll ne'er do mair gude!"
"A new mantle, and a new hood!—Poor Brownie! ye'll ne'er do mair gude!"
"A new mantle, and a new hood!—
Poor Brownie! ye'll ne'er do mair gude!"
"The prosperity of the family seemed to depend on them, and was at their disposal.—A place, called Liethin Hall, in Dumfriesshire, was the hereditary dwelling of a noted Brownie. He had lived there, as he once communicated, in confidence, to an old woman, for three hundred years. He appeared only once to every new master, and, indeed, seldom showed more than his hand to any one. On the decease of a beloved master, he was heard to make moan, and would not partake of his wonted delicacies for many days. The heir of the land arrived from foreign parts, and took possession of his father's inheritance. The faithful Brownie showed himself, and proffered homage. The spruce Laird was offended to see such a famine-faced, wrinkled domestic, and ordered him meat and drink, with a new suit of clean livery. The Brownie departed, repeating aloud and frequently these ruin-boding lines:—
"Ca, cuttie, ca!A' the luck o' Liethin Ha'Gangs wi' me to Bodsbeck Ha'."
"Ca, cuttie, ca!A' the luck o' Liethin Ha'Gangs wi' me to Bodsbeck Ha'."
"Ca, cuttie, ca!
A' the luck o' Liethin Ha'
Gangs wi' me to Bodsbeck Ha'."
"Liethin Ha' was, in a few years, in ruins, and 'bonnie Bodsbeck' flourished under the luck-bringing patronage of the Brownie.—
"One of them, in the olden times, lived with Maxwell, Laird of Dalswinton, doing ten men's work, and keeping the servants awake at nights with the noisy dirling of its elfin flail. The Laird's daughter, says tradition, was the comeliest dame in all the holms of Nithsdale. To her the Brownie was much attached: he assisted her in love-intrigue, conveying her from her high-tower chamber to the trysting-thorn in the woods, and back again, with such light-heeled celerity, that neither bird, dog, nor servant awoke.
"He undressed her for the matrimonial bed, and served her so handmaiden-like, that her female attendant had nothing to do, not daring even to finger her mistress's apparel, lest she should provoke the Brownie's resentment. When the pangs of the mother seized his beloved lady, a servant was ordered to fetch the 'cannie wife,' who lived across the Nith. The night was dark as a December night could be; and the wind was heavy among the groves of oak. The Brownie, enraged at the loitering serving-man, wrapped himself in his lady's fur-cloak; and, though the Nith was foaming high-flood, his steed, impelled by supernatural spur and whip, passed it like an arrow. Mounting the dame behind him, he took the deep water back again, to the amazement of the worthy woman, who beheld the red waves tumbling around her, yet the steed's foot-locks were dry. 'Ride nae by the auld pool,' quo' she, 'lest we should meet wi' Brownie.'—He replied, 'Fear nae, dame, ye've met a' the Brownies ye will meet.'—Placing her down at the hall gate, he hastened to the stable, where the servant-lad was just pulling on his boots; he unbuckled the bridle from his steed, and gave him a most afflicting drubbing.—
"The Brownie, though of a docile disposition, was not without its pranks and merriment. The Abbey-lands, in the parish of New Abbey, were the residence of a very sportive one. He loved to be, betimes, somewhat mischievous.—Two lasses, having made a fine bowlful of buttered brose, had taken it into the byre to sup, while it was yet dark. In the haste of concealment, they had brought but one spoon; so they placed the bowl between them, and took a spoonfulby turns. 'I hae got but three sups,' cried the one, 'an it's a' done!' 'It's a' done, indeed,' cried the other. 'Ha, ha!' laughed a third voice, 'Brownie has gotten the maist o't.' He had judiciously placed himself between them, and got the spoon twice for their once."[336:A]
The character and leading features of this benevolent Fairy, have been concentrated in the following beautiful stanza by Mr. Erskine, who, in supplying the omissions of Collins, thus supposes himself addressing the friend of that exquisite poet:—
"—— See! recall'd by thy resistless lay,Once more theBrownieshews his honest face.Hail, from thy wanderings long, my much lov'd sprite,Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail!Tell in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,Trail'st thy long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail,Where dost thou deck the much-disordered hall,While the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps,With early voice to drowsy workman call,Or lull the dame while mirth his vigils keeps?'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said,Thou ply'dst the kindly task in years of yore:At last, in luckless hour, some erring maidSpread in thy nightly cell of viands store:Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more."[336:B]
"—— See! recall'd by thy resistless lay,Once more theBrownieshews his honest face.Hail, from thy wanderings long, my much lov'd sprite,Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail!Tell in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,Trail'st thy long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail,Where dost thou deck the much-disordered hall,While the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps,With early voice to drowsy workman call,Or lull the dame while mirth his vigils keeps?'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said,Thou ply'dst the kindly task in years of yore:At last, in luckless hour, some erring maidSpread in thy nightly cell of viands store:Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more."[336:B]
"—— See! recall'd by thy resistless lay,
Once more theBrownieshews his honest face.
Hail, from thy wanderings long, my much lov'd sprite,
Thou friend, thou lover of the lowly, hail!
Tell in what realms thou sport'st thy merry night,
Trail'st thy long mop, or whirl'st the mimic flail,
Where dost thou deck the much-disordered hall,
While the tired damsel in Elysium sleeps,
With early voice to drowsy workman call,
Or lull the dame while mirth his vigils keeps?
'Twas thus in Caledonia's domes, 'tis said,
Thou ply'dst the kindly task in years of yore:
At last, in luckless hour, some erring maid
Spread in thy nightly cell of viands store:
Ne'er was thy form beheld among their mountains more."[336:B]
From the thirteenth to the close of the sixteenth century, theFairy Mythology of England, being derived from the same sources, and through the same medium as theScottish System, which we have just delineated, the outlines of both will be found very similar. Thus inGervaseofTilbury, inChaucer,Lydgate, &c., even, with the exception of Spenser, down to R. Scot andWarner, whose "Albion's England" was printed, though not published, in 1586, the same ideas of fairy-land, the same infernal origin, and variety of species, the same mischievous and terrific character, and occasionally the same frolic andcapricious wantonness, as the property of one particulargenus, may be readily detected.[337a:A]But in 1593, when theMidsummer-Night's Dreamwas presented to the public, nearly the whole of this Mythology which, as founded on the Scandick superstitions, had been, though with a few modifications, so long prevalent both in England and Scotland, seems to have received such vast additions from the plastic imagination of our bard, as, though rebuilt on the traditions of the "olden time," justly to merit, by their novelty and poetic beauty, the title of theEnglish System, in contradistinction to that which still lingers in the wilds of Scotland.
The Fairies of Shakspeare have been truly denominatedthe favourite children of his romantic fancy, and, perhaps, in no part of his works has he exhibited a more creative and visionary pencil, or a finer tone of enthusiasm, than in bodying forth "these airy nothings," and in giving them, in brighter and ever-durable tints, once more
"A local habitation and a name."
"A local habitation and a name."
"A local habitation and a name."
Of his unlimited sway over this delightful world of ideal forms, no stronger proof can be given, than that he has imparted an entire new cast of character to the beings whom he has evoked from its bosom, purposely omitting the darker shades of their character, and, whilst throwing round them a flood of light, playful, yet exquisitely soft and tender, endowing them with the moral attributes of purity and benevolence. In fact, he not only dismisses altogether thefairies of a malignant nature, but clothes the milder yet mixed tribe of his predecessors with a more fascinating sportiveness, and with a much larger share of unalloyed goodness.
The distinction between the two species he has accurately marked wherePuck, under some apprehension, observes toOberon, that the night is waning fast, that Aurora's harbinger appears, and that the "damned spirits all" are flitting to their beds, adding, that
"For fear lest day should look their shames upon,They wilfully themselves exile from light,And must for aye consort with black-brow'd night:"
"For fear lest day should look their shames upon,They wilfully themselves exile from light,And must for aye consort with black-brow'd night:"
"For fear lest day should look their shames upon,
They wilfully themselves exile from light,
And must for aye consort with black-brow'd night:"
to which Oberon immediately replies,—
"But we are spirits of another sort:I with the morning's love have oft made sportAnd, like a forester, the groves may tread,Even till the eastern gate, all fiery red,Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,Turns into yellow gold his salt-green streams."[338a:A]
"But we are spirits of another sort:I with the morning's love have oft made sportAnd, like a forester, the groves may tread,Even till the eastern gate, all fiery red,Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,Turns into yellow gold his salt-green streams."[338a:A]
"But we are spirits of another sort:
I with the morning's love have oft made sport
And, like a forester, the groves may tread,
Even till the eastern gate, all fiery red,
Opening on Neptune with fair blessed beams,
Turns into yellow gold his salt-green streams."[338a:A]
Of the originality of Shakspeare in the delineation of this tribe of spirits, or Fairies, nothing more is required in proof, than a combination or grouping of the principal features; a picture which, when contrasted with the Scandick system and that which had been built upon it in England and Scotland previous to his own time, will sufficiently show with what grace, amenity, and beauty, and with what an exuberant store of novel imagery, he has decorated these phantoms of the Gothic mythology.
The King and Queen of Faiery, who, in Chaucer, are identified with the Pluto and Proserpina of hell[338a:B], are, under the appellations ofOberon and Titania[337b:A], drawn by Shakspeare in a very amiable and pleasing light; for, though jealous of each other, they are represented as usually employed in alleviating the distresses of the worthy and unfortunate. Their benign influence, indeed, seems to have extended over the physical powers of nature; for Titania tells her Lord, that, in consequence of their jealous brawls, a strange distemperature had seized the elements:—
"The seasons alter; hoary-headed frostsFall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose;And on old Hyem's chin, and icy crown,An odorous chaplet of sweet summer budsIs, as in mockery, set: The spring, the summer,The chiding autumn, angry winter, changeTheir wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world,By their increase, now knows not which is which:And this same progeny of evils comes,From our debate, from our dissention;We are their parents and original."[337b:B]
"The seasons alter; hoary-headed frostsFall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose;And on old Hyem's chin, and icy crown,An odorous chaplet of sweet summer budsIs, as in mockery, set: The spring, the summer,The chiding autumn, angry winter, changeTheir wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world,By their increase, now knows not which is which:And this same progeny of evils comes,From our debate, from our dissention;We are their parents and original."[337b:B]
"The seasons alter; hoary-headed frosts
Fall in the fresh lap of the crimson rose;
And on old Hyem's chin, and icy crown,
An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds
Is, as in mockery, set: The spring, the summer,
The chiding autumn, angry winter, change
Their wonted liveries; and the 'mazed world,
By their increase, now knows not which is which:
And this same progeny of evils comes,
From our debate, from our dissention;
We are their parents and original."[337b:B]
It appears even that the fairy-practice of purloining children, which, in every previous system of this mythology, had been carried on from malignant or self-interested motives, was in Titania the result of humanity and compassion: thus, when Oberon begs her "little changeling boy" to be his henchman, she answers—
"———— ——— ——— Set your heart at rest,The fairy land buys not the child of me.His mother was a vot'ress of my order:And, in the spiced Indian air, by night,Full often hath she gossip'd by my side;And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands,Marking the embarked traders on the flood;When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive,And grow big-bellied, with the wanton wind:Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait,(Following her womb, then rich with my young squire)Would imitate; and sail upon the land,To fetch me trifles, and return again,As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.But she,being mortal, of that boy did die:And, for her sake, I do rear up her boy:And, for her sake, I will not part with him."[338b:A]
"———— ——— ——— Set your heart at rest,The fairy land buys not the child of me.His mother was a vot'ress of my order:And, in the spiced Indian air, by night,Full often hath she gossip'd by my side;And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands,Marking the embarked traders on the flood;When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive,And grow big-bellied, with the wanton wind:Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait,(Following her womb, then rich with my young squire)Would imitate; and sail upon the land,To fetch me trifles, and return again,As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.But she,being mortal, of that boy did die:And, for her sake, I do rear up her boy:And, for her sake, I will not part with him."[338b:A]
"———— ——— ——— Set your heart at rest,
The fairy land buys not the child of me.
His mother was a vot'ress of my order:
And, in the spiced Indian air, by night,
Full often hath she gossip'd by my side;
And sat with me on Neptune's yellow sands,
Marking the embarked traders on the flood;
When we have laugh'd to see the sails conceive,
And grow big-bellied, with the wanton wind:
Which she, with pretty and with swimming gait,
(Following her womb, then rich with my young squire)
Would imitate; and sail upon the land,
To fetch me trifles, and return again,
As from a voyage, rich with merchandize.
But she,being mortal, of that boy did die:
And, for her sake, I do rear up her boy:
And, for her sake, I will not part with him."[338b:A]
The expression in this passage "being mortal," as applied to the changeling's mother, in contradistinction to the unchangeable state of the Fairies, may be added to Mr. Ritson's instances[338b:B]as anotherdecisive proof of the immortality of Shakspeare's elves; but when that commentator asserts, that the Fairies of thecommon people"were never esteemed otherwise," he has gone too far, at least if he meant to include the people of Scotland; for Kirk expressly tells us, that the Scottish Fairies are mortal: "they are not subject," he remarks, "to sore Sicknesses, but dwindle and decay at a certain Period, all about ane Age;" and still more decidedly has he remarked their destiny, in answer to the question, "at what Period of Time do they die?"—"They are," he replies, "of more refyn'd Bodies and Intellectualls then wee, and of far less heavy and corruptive Humours, (which cause a Dissolution) yet many of their Lives being dissonant to right Reason and their own Laws, and their Vehicles not being wholly frie of Lust and Passion, especially of the more spirituall and hautie Sins, they pass (after a long healthy Lyfe) into ane Orb and Receptacle fitted for their Degree, till they come under the general Cognizance of the last Day."[338b:C]
Like theLiös-alfarorBright Elvesof the Goths, the Fairies of Shakspeare delighted in conferring blessings, in prospering the household, and in rendering the offspring of virtuous love, fortunate, fair, and free from blemish: thus the first fruit of the re-union of Oberon and Titania, is a benediction on the house of Theseus:—
"Now thou and I are new in amity;And will to-morrow midnight, solemnly,Dance in duke Theseus' house triumphantly,And bless it to all fair posterity;"[339:A]
"Now thou and I are new in amity;And will to-morrow midnight, solemnly,Dance in duke Theseus' house triumphantly,And bless it to all fair posterity;"[339:A]
"Now thou and I are new in amity;
And will to-morrow midnight, solemnly,
Dance in duke Theseus' house triumphantly,
And bless it to all fair posterity;"[339:A]
an intention which is carried into execution at the close of the play, where this kind and gentle race, entering the mansion at midnight—
"Hand in hand, with fairy grace,"—
"Hand in hand, with fairy grace,"—
"Hand in hand, with fairy grace,"—
receive the following directions from their benevolent monarch:—