,illustration3 ,from ,photograph by the ,author ,,the ,,mystic ,,centre ,,of ,,the ,,celtic ,,world ,,carnac ,,in ,a4 ,d4 #aiji ,,looking ,,toward ,,the ,,sunrise1 ,,from ,,within ,,the ,,cromlech1 ,,les ,,alignements ,,du ,m,,nec ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,,in ,,celtic ,,countries ,,by ,w4 ,y4 ,,evans ,,wentz ,m4,a4 ,,stanford ,,university ,,california ,u4,s4,a4 ,,docteur-,s-,,lettres ,,university ,,of ,,rennes ,,brittany ,b4,,sc4 ,,jesus ,,college ,,oxon4 ,,henry ,,frowde ,,oxford ,,university ,,press ,,london1 ,,new ,,york1 ,,toronto ,,and ,,melbourne #aiaa ,,oxford3 ,,horace ,,hart ,,printer ,,to ,,the ,,university ,,this ,,book ,,depends ,,chiefly ,,upon ,,the ,,oral ,,and ,,written ,,testimony ,,so ,,freely ,,contributed ,,by ,,its ,,many ,,celtic ,,authors1-- ,,the ,,peasant ,,and ,,the ,,scholar1 ,,the ,,priest ,,and ,,the ,,scientist1 ,,the ,,poet ,,and ,,the ,,business ,,man1 ,,the ,,seer ,,and ,,the ,,non-,,seer1-- ,,and ,,in ,,honour ,,of ,,them ,i ,,dedicate ,,it ,,to ,,two ,,of ,,their ,,brethren ,,in ,,ireland3 ,a4 ,e41 ,,whose ,,unwavering ,,loyalty ,,to ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,,has ,,inspired ,,much ,,that ,i ,,have ,,herein ,,written1 ,,whose ,,friendly ,,guidance ,,in ,,my ,,study ,,of ,,irish ,,mysticism ,i ,,most ,,gratefully ,,acknowledge2 ,,and ,,william ,,butler ,,yeats1 ,,who ,,brought ,,to ,,me ,,at ,,my ,,own ,,alma ,,mater ,,in ,,california ,,the ,,first ,,message ,,from ,,fairyland1 ,,and ,,who ,,afterwards ,,in ,,his ,,own ,,country ,,led ,,me ,,through ,,the ,,haunts ,,of ,,fairy ,,kings ,,and ,,queens4 ,,oxford ,november #aiaa4 ',it remains for ever true that the proper study of mankind is man2 and even early man is not beneath contempt1 especially when he proves to have had within him the makings of a great race1 with its highest notions of duty and right1 and all else that is noblest in the human soul4' ,the ,right ,hon4 ,,sir ,,john ,,rhys4 ,,contents ,,pages ,,preface xi-xiii ,,introduction xv-xxviii ,,section ,i ,,the ,,living ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,i ,,environment #a-af ,psychical ,interpretation--,the ,mysticism of ,erin and ,armorica--,in ,ireland--,in ,scotland--,in the ,isle of ,man--,in ,wales--,in ,cornwall--,in ,brittany4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,taking ,,of ,,evidence #ag-bbe ,method of ,presentation--,the ,logical ,verdict--,trustworthiness of ,legends--,the ,fairy-,faith held by the highly educated ,celt as well as by the ,celtic ,peasant--,the ,evidence is complete and adequate--,its ,analysis--,the ,fairy ,tribes dealt with-- ,witnesses and their ,testimony3 from ,ireland1 with ,introduction by ,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde2 from ,scotland1 with ,introduction by ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael2 from the ,isle of ,man1 with ,introduction by ,miss ,sophia ,morrison2 from ,wales1 with ,introduction by the ,right ,hon4 ,sir ,john ,rhys2 from ,cornwall1 with ,introduction by ,mr4 ,henry ,jenner2 and from ,brittany1 with ,introduction by ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,an ,,anthropological ,,examination ,,of ,,the ,,evidence #bbf-hb ,the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith as ,part of a ,world-wide ,animism-- ,shaping ,influence of ,social ,psychology--,smallness of ,elvish ,spirits and ,fairies1 according to ,ethnology1 ,animism1 and ,occult ,sciences--,the ,changeling1 ,belief and its ,explanation according to the ,kidnap1 ,human-,sacrifice1 ,soul-,wandering1 and ,demon-,possession ,theory--,ancient and ,modern ,magic and ,witchcraft shown to be based on definite psychological laws--,exorcisms--,taboos1 of ,name1 ,food1 ,iron1 ,place--,taboos among ,ancient ,celts--,food-,sacrifice--,legend of the ,dead-- ,conclusion3 the ,background of the ,modern ,belief in ,fairies is ,animistic4 ,,section ,,ii ,,the ,,recorded ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,people ,,of ,,the ,,goddess ,,dana ,,or ,,the ,,sidhe #bhc-cjg ,the ,goddess ,dana and the ,modern ,cult of ,st4 ,brigit--,the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,sidhe conquered by the ,sons of ,mil-- ,but ,irish ,seers still see the ,sidhe--,old ,irish ,manuscripts faithfully represent the ,tuatha ,de ,danann--,the ,sidhe as a ,spirit ,race--,sidhe ,palaces--,the ',taking' of ,mortals--,hill ,visions of ,sidhe ,women--,sidhe ,minstrels and ,musicians-- ,social ,organization and ,warfare among the ,sidhe--,the ,sidhe ,war-,goddesses1 the ,badb--,the ,sidhe at the ,battle of ,clontarf1 ,a4 ,d4 #ajad--;,conclusion4 ,,chapter ,v ,,brythonic ,,divinities ,,and ,,the ,,brythonic ,,fairy-,,faith #cjh-ca ,the ,god ,arthur and the ,hero ,arthur--,sevenfold ,evidence to show ,arthur as an ,incarnate ,fairy ,king--,lancelot the ,foster-son of a ,fairy ,woman--,galahad1 the ,offspring of ,lancelot and the ,fairy ,woman ,elayne--,arthur as a ,fairy ,king in ,kulhwch and ,olwen--,gwynn ab ,nudd--,arthur like ,dagda1 and like ,osiris--,brythonic ,fairy ,romances3 their ,evolution and ,antiquity--,arthur in ,nennius1 ,geoffrey1 ,wace1 and in ,layamon--,cambrensis' ,otherworld ,tale--,norman-,french writers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries--,romans d',aventure and ,romans ,bretons--,origins of the ',matter of ,britain'-- ,fairy ,romance ,episodes in ,welsh ,literature--,brythonic ,origins4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,celtic ,,otherworld #ccb-eg ,general ,ideas of the ,otherworld2 its ,location2 its ,subjectivity2 its ,names2 its ,extent2 ,tethra one of its kings--,the ,silver ,branch and the ,golden ,bough2 and ,initiations--,the ,otherworld the ,heaven-,world of all ,religions--,voyage of ,bran--,cormac in the ,land of ,promise-- ,magic ,wands--,cuchulainn's ,sick-,bed--,ossian's ,return from ,fairyland--,lanval's going to ,avalon--,voyage of ,mael-,duin-- ,voyage of ,teigue--,adventures of ,art--,cuchulainn's and ,arthur's ,otherworld ,quests--,literary ,evolution of idea of ,happy ,otherworld4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,celtic ,,doctrine ,,of ,,re-,,birth #ceh-if ,re-birth and ,otherworld--,as a ,christian ,doctrine--,general ,historical ,survey--,according to the ,barddas ,,mss42 according to ,ancient and ,modern ,authorities--,re-incarnation of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann--,king ,mongan's ,re-birth--,etain's ,birth-- ,dermot's ,pre-existence--,tuan's ,re-birth--,re-birth among ,brythons--,arthur as a ,re-incarnate ,hero--,non-,celtic ,parallels--,re-birth among ,modern ,celts3 in ,ireland2 in ,scotland2 in the ,isle of ,man2 in ,wales2 in ,cornwall2 in ,brittany--,origin and ,evolution of ,celtic ,re-birth ,doctrine4 ,,section ,,iii ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,gods1 ,,spirits1 ,,fairies1 ,,and ,,the ,,dead ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,archaeology #cig-dbf ,inadequacy of ,pygmy ,theory--,according to the ,theories concerning ,divine ,images and ,fetishes1 ,gods1 ,daemons1 and ,ancestral ,spirits haunt ,megaliths--,megaliths are religious and funereal1 as shown chiefly by ,cenn ,cruaich1 ,stonehenge1 ,guernsey menhirs1 ,monuments in ,brittany1 by the ,circular ,fairy-,dance as an ,ancient ,initiatory ,sun-,dance1 by ,breton ,earthworks1 ,archaeological ,excavations generally1 and by present-day ,worship at ,indian ,dolmens--,new ,grange and ,celtic ,mysteries3 ,evidence of manuscripts2 ,evidence of ,tradition--,the ,aengus ,cult--,new ,grange compared with ,great ,pyramid3 both have ,astronomical ,arrangement and same ,internal ,plan--,why they open to the ,sunrise--,initiations in both--,great ,pyramid as ,model for ,celtic ,tumuli--,gavrinis and ,new ,grange as ,spirit ,temples4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,paganism #dbg-da ,edicts against ,pagan ,cults--,cult of ,sacred ,waters and its ,absorption by ,christianity--,celtic ,water ,divinities--,druidic ,influence on ,fairy-,faith--,cult of ,sacred ,trees--,cult of ,fairies1 ,spirits1 and the ,dead--,feasts of the ,dead-- ,conclusion4 ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,christianity #ddb-ee ,lough ,derg a ,sacred ,lake originally--,purgatorial ,rites as ,christianized ,survivals of ,ancient ,celtic ,rites--,purgatory as ,fairyland--,purgatorial ,rites parallel to ,pagan ,initiation ,ceremonies--,the ,death and ,resurrection ,rite--,breton ,pardons compared--,relation to ,aengus ,cult and ,celtic ,cave-,temples-- ,origin of ,purgatorial ,doctrine pre-,christian--,celtic and ,roman ,feasts of dead shaped ,christian ones--,fundamental ,unity of ,mythologies1 ,religions1 and the ,fairy-,faith4 ,,section ,,iv ,,modern ,,science ,,and ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith2 ,,and ,,conclusions ,,chapter ,,xi ,,science ,,and ,,fairies #def-ia ,method of ,examination3 ,exoteric and ,esoteric aspects--,the ,x-quantity--,scientific attitudes toward the ,animistic ,hypothesis3 ,materialistic ,theory2 ,pathological ,theory2 ,delusion and ,imposture ,theory2 ,problems of ,consciousness3 ,dreams2 ,supernormal ,lapse of ,time--,psychical ,research and ,fairies3 ,myers's researches--,present ,position of ,psychical ,research--,psychical ,research and ,anthropology in ,relation to the ,fairy-,faith1 according to a special contribution from ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang--,final ,testing of the ,x-quantity--,conclusion3 the ,celtic ,belief in ,fairies and in ,fairyland is scientific4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,celtic ,,doctrine ,,of ,,re-,,birth ,,and ,,otherworld ,,scientifically ,,examined #dib-eae ,the ,extension of the ,terms ,fairy and ,fairyland--,the ,real ,man as an ,invisible ,force acting through a ,body-,conductor-- ,a ,psychical ,organ essential for ,memory--,pre-existence a ,scientific ,necessity--,the ,vitalistic ,view of ,evolution--,old ,theory of ,heredity disproved--,embryology supports ,re-birth ,doctrine--,psycho-physical ,evolution--,memory of previous ,existences in ,subconsciousness--,examples--,dream ,psychology furnishes clearest ,illustrations--,no ,post-existence without ,pre-existence--,resurrection as ,re-birth--,the ,circle of ,life--,the ,mystical ,corollary--,conclusion3 the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth and ,otherworld is essentially scientific4 ,,index #eaf-bd ,,preface ,during the years #aijg-i this study first took shape1 being then based mainly on literary sources2 and during the latter year it was successfully presented to the ,faculty of ,letters of the ,university of ,rennes1 ,brittany1 for the ,degree of ,docteur-s-,lettres4 ,since then ,i have re-investigated the whole problem of the ,celtic belief in ,fairies1 and have collected very much fresh material4 ,two years ago the scope of my original research was limited to the four chief ,celtic countries1 but now it includes all of the ,celtic countries4 ,in the present study1 which has profited greatly by criticisms of the first passed by scholars in ,britain and in ,france1 the original literary point of view is combined with the broader point of view of anthropology4 ,this study1 the final and more comprehensive form of my views about the ',fairy-,faith'1 would never have been possible had ,i not enjoyed during many months the kindly advice and constant encouragement of ,mr4 ,r4 ,r4 ,marett1 ,reader in ,social ,anthropology in the ,university of ,oxford1 and ,fellow of ,exeter ,college4 ,during ,may #aiaj the substance of this essay in its pan-,celtic form was submitted to the ,board of the ,faculty of ,natural ,science of ,oxford ,university for the ,research ,degree of ,bachelor of ,science1 which was duly granted4 ,but the present work contains considerable material not contained in the essay presented to the ,oxford examiners1 the ,right ,hon4 ,sir ,john ,rhys and ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang2 and1 therefore1 ,i alone assume entire responsibility for all its possible shortcomings1 and in particular for some of its more speculative theories1 which to some minds may appear to be in conflict with orthodox views1 whether of the theologian or of the man of science4 ,these theories1 however venturesome they may appear1 are put forth in almost every case with the full approval of some reliable1 scholarly ,celt2 and as such they are chiefly intended to make the exposition of the belief in fairies as completely and as truly ,celtic as possible1 without much regard for non-,celtic opinion1 whether this be in harmony with ,celtic opinion or not4 ,as the new manuscript of the ',fairy-,faith' lies before me revised and finished1 ,i realize even more fully than ,i did two years ago with respect to the original study1 how little right ,i have to call it mine4 ,those to whom the credit for it really belongs are my many kind friends and helpers in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,wales1 ,cornwall1 and ,brittany1 and many others who are not ,celts1 in the three great nations--happily so intimately united now by unbreakable bonds of goodwill and international brotherhood--,britain1 ,france1 and the ,united ,states of ,america2 for without the aid of all these ,celtic and non-,celtic friends the work could never have been accomplished4 ,they have given me their best and rarest thoughts as so many golden threads2 ,i have only furnished the mental loom1 and woven these golden threads together in my own way according to what ,i take to be the psychological pattern of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,i am under a special obligation to the following six distinguished ,celtic scholars who have contributed1 for my second chapter1 the six introductions to the fairy-lore collected by me in their respective countries3--,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde 7,ireland72 ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael 7,scotland72 ,miss ,sophia ,morrison 7,isle of ,man72 the ,right ,hon4 ,sir ,john ,rhys 7,wales72 ,mr4 ,henry ,jenner 7,cornwall72 ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz 7,brittany74 ,i am also greatly indebted to the ,rev4 ,j4 ,estlin ,carpenter1 ,principal of ,manchester ,college1 for having aided me with the parts of this book touching ,christian theology2 to ,mr4 ,r4 ,i4 ,best1 ,m4,r4,i4,a41 ,assistant ,librarian1 ,national ,library1 ,dublin1 for having aided me with the parts devoted to ,irish mythology and literature2 and to ,mr4 ,william ,mc,dougall1 ,wilde ,reader in ,mental ,philosophy in the ,university of ,oxford1 for a similar service with respect to ,section ,,iv1 entitled ',science and ,fairies'4 ,and to these and to all the other scholars whose names appear in this preface1 my heartiest thanks are due for the assistance which they have so kindly rendered in reading different parts of the ,fairy-,faith when in proof4 ,with the deep spirit of reverence which a student feels towards his preceptors1 ,i acknowledge a still greater debt to those among my friends and helpers who have been my ,celtic guides and teachers4 ,here in ,oxford ,university ,i have run up a long account with the ,right ,hon4 ,sir ,john ,rhys1 the ,professor of ,celtic1 who has introduced me to the study of ,modern ,irish1 and of ,arthurian romance and mythology1 and has guided me both during the year #aijg-h and ever since in ,celtic folk-lore generally4 ,to ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang1 ,i am likewise a debtor1 more especially in view of the important suggestions which he has given me during the past two years with respect to anthropology and to psychical research4 ,in my relation to the ,faculty of ,letters of the ,university of ,rennes1 ,i shall always remember the friendly individual assistance offered to me there during the year #aijh-i by ,professor ,joseph ,loth1 then ,dean in that ,university1 but now of the ,college of ,france1 in ,paris1 particularly with respect to ,brythonic mythology1 philology1 and archaeology2 by ,professor ,georges ,dottin1 particularly with respect to ,gaelic matters2 and by ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz1 whose continual good wishes towards my work have been a constant source of inspiration since our first meeting during ,march #aijh1 especially in my investigation of ,la ,lgende de la ,mort1 and of the related traditions and living folk-beliefs in ,brittany--,brittany with its haunted ground of ,carnac1 home of the ancient ,brythonic ,mysteries4 ,w4 ,y4 ,e4 ,w4 ,,jesus ,,college1 ,,oxford4 ,all ,saints' ,day1 #aiaa4 ',there1 neither turmoil nor silence4444 ',though fair the sight of ,erin's plains1 hardly will they seem so after you have known the ,great ,plain4444 ',a wonder of a land the land of which ,i speak2 no youth there grows to old age4444 ',we behold and are not beheld4'--,the ,god ,midir1 in ,tochmarc ,etaine4 ,,introduction ',i have told what ,i have seen1 what ,i have thought1 and what ,i have learned by inquiry4'--,,herodotus4 ,i4 ,,the ,,religious ,,nature ,,of ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,there is probably no other place in ,celtic lands more congenial1 or more inspiring for the writing down of one's deeper intuitions about the ,fairy-,faith1 than ,carnac1 under the shadow of the pagan tumulus and mount of the sacred fire1 now dedicated by triumphant ,christianity to the ,archangel ,michael4 ,the very name of ,carnac is significant2#a and in two continents1 ,africa and ,europe--to follow the certain evidence of archaeology alone#b--there seem to have been no greater centres for ancient religion than ,karnak in ,egypt and ,carnac in ,brittany4 ,on the banks of the ,nile the ,children of ,isis and ,osiris erected temples as perfect as human art can make them2 on the shores of the ,morbihan the mighty men who were1 as it seems1 the teachers of our own ,celtic forefathers1 erected temples of unhewn stone4 ,the wonderful temples in ,yucatan1 the temple-caves of prehistoric ,india1 ,stonehenge in ,england1 the ,parthenon1 the ,acropolis1 ,st4 ,peter's at ,rome1 ,westminster ,abbey1 or ,notre-,dame1 and the ,pyramids and temples of ,egypt1 equally with the ,alignements of ,carnac1 each in their own way record more or less perfectly man's attempt to express materially what he feels spiritually4 ,perfected art can beautify and make more attractive to the eye and mind1 but it cannot enhance in any degree the innate spiritual ideals which men in all ages have held2 and thus it is that we read amid the rough stone menhirs and dolmens in ,brittany1 as amid the polished granite monoliths and magnificent temples in ,egypt1 the same silent message from the past to the present1 from the dead to the living4 ,this message1 we think1 is fundamentally important in understanding the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith2 for in our opinion the belief in fairies has the same origin as all religions and mythologies4 ,and there seems never to have been an uncivilized tribe1 a race1 or nation of civilized men who have not had some form of belief in an unseen world1 peopled by unseen beings4 ,in religions1 mythologies1 and the ,fairy-,faith1 too1 we behold the attempts which have been made by different peoples in different ages to explain in terms of human experience this unseen world1 its inhabitants1 its laws1 and man's relation to it4 ,the ,ancients called its inhabitants gods1 genii1 daemons1 and shades2 ,christianity knows them as angels1 saints1 demons1 and souls of the dead2 to uncivilized tribes they are gods1 demons1 and spirits of ancestors2 and the ,celts think of them as gods1 and as fairies of many kinds4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,interpretation ,,of ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,by the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith we mean that specialized form of belief in a spiritual realm inhabited by spiritual beings which has existed from prehistoric times until now in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,wales1 ,cornwall1 ,brittany1 or other parts of the ancient empire of the ,celts4 ,in studying this belief1 we are concerned directly with living ,celtic folk-traditions1 and with past ,celtic folk-traditions as recorded in literature4 ,and if fairies actually exist as invisible beings or intelligences1 and our investigations lead us to the tentative hypothesis that they do1 they are natural and not supernatural1 for nothing which exists can be supernatural2 and1 therefore1 it is our duty to examine the ,celtic ,fairy ,races just as we examine any fact in the visible realm wherein we now live1 whether it be a fact of chemistry1 of physics1 or of biology4 ,however1 as we proceed to make such an examination1 we shall have to remember constantly that there is a new set of ideas to work with1 entirely different from what we find in natural sciences1 and often no adequate vocabulary based on common human experiences4 ,an ,american who has travelled in ,asia and an ,englishman who has travelled in ,australia may meet in ,paris and exchange travelling experiences with mutual understanding1 because both of them have experienced travel2 and they will have an adequate vocabulary to describe each experience1 because most men have also experienced travel4 ,but a saint who has known the spiritual condition called ecstasy cannot explain ecstasy to a man who has never known it1 and if he should try to do so would discover at once that no modern language is suitable for the purpose4 ,his experience is rare and not universal1 and men have developed no complete vocabulary to describe experiences not common to the majority of mankind1 and this is especially true of psychical experiences4 ,it is the same in dealing with fairies1 as these are hypothetically conceived1 for only a few men and women can assert that they have seen fairies1 and hence there is no adequate vocabulary to describe fairies4 ,among the ,ancients1 who dealt so largely with psychical sciences1 there seems to have been a common language which could be used to explain the invisible world and its inhabitants2 but we of this age have not yet developed such a language4 ,consequently1 men who deny human immortality1 as well as men with religious faith who have not through personal psychical experiences transformed that faith into a fact1 nowadays when they happen to read what ,plato1 ,iamblichus1 or any of the ,neo-,platonists have written1 or even what moderns have written in attempting to explain psychic facts1 call it all mysticism4 ,and to the great majority of ,europeans and ,americans1 mysticism is a most convenient noun1 applicable to anything which may seem reasonable yet wholly untranslatable in terms of their own individual experience2 and mysticism usually means something quite the reverse of scientific simply because we have by usage unwisely limited the meaning of the word science to a knowledge of things material and visible1 whereas it really means a knowing or a knowledge of everything which exists4 ,we have tried to deal with the rare psychical experiences of ,irish1 ,scotch1 ,manx1 ,welsh1 or ,breton seers1 and psychics generally1 in the clearest language possible2 but if now and then we are charged with being mystical1 this is our defence4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,method ,,of ,,studying ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,in this study1 which is first of all a folk-lore study1 we pursue principally an anthropo-psychological method of interpreting the ,celtic belief in fairies1 though we do not hesitate now and then to call in the aid of philology2 and we make good use of the evidence offered by mythologies1 religions1 metaphysics1 and physical sciences4 ,folk-lore1 a century ago was considered beneath the serious consideration of scholars2 but there has come about a complete reversal of scholarly opinion1 for now it is seen that the beliefs of the people1 their legends1 and their songs are the source of nearly all literatures1 and that their institutions and customs are the origin of those of modern times4 ,and1 to-day1 to the new science of folk-lore1--which1 as ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang says1 must be taken to include psychical research or psychical sciences1--archaeology1 anthropology1 and comparative mythology and religion are indispensable4 ,thus folk-lore offers the scientific means of studying man in the sense meant by the poet who declared that the proper study of mankind is man4 ,,iv4 ,,divisions ,,of ,,the ,,study ,this study is divided into four sections or parts4 ,the first one deals with the living ,fairy-,faith among the ,celts themselves2 the second1 with the recorded and ancient ,fairy-,faith as we find it in ,celtic literature and mythology2 the third1 with the ,fairy-,faith in its religious aspects2 and in the fourth section an attempt has been made to suggest how the theories of our newest science1 psychical research1 explain the belief in fairies4 ,i have set forth in the first section in detail and as clearly as possible the testimony communicated to me by living ,celts who either believe in fairies1 or else say that they have seen fairies2 and throughout other sections ,i have preferred to draw as much as possible of the material from men and women rather than from books4 ,books too often are written out of other books1 and too seldom from the life of man2 and in a scientific study of the ,fairy-,faith1 such as we have undertaken1 the ,celt himself is by far the best1 in fact the only authority4 ,for us it is much less important to know what scholars think of fairies than to know what the ,celtic people think of fairies4 ,this is especially true in considering the ,fairy-,faith as it exists now4 ,v4 ,,the ,,collecting ,,of ,,material ,in ,june1 #aijh1 after a year's preparatory work in things ,celtic under the direction of the ,oxford ,professor of ,celtic1 ,sir ,john ,rhys1 ,i began to travel in ,wales1 ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,brittany1 and to collect material there at first hand from the people who have shaped and who still keep alive the ,fairy-,faith2 and during the year #aiji-aj fresh folk-lore expeditions were made into ,brittany1 ,ireland1 and ,wales1 and then1 finally1 the study of the ,fairy-,faith was made pan-,celtic by similar expeditions throughout the ,isle of ,man1 and into ,cornwall4 ,many of the most remote parts of these lands were visited2 and often there was no other plan to adopt1 or any method better1 or more natural1 than to walk day after day from one straw-thatched cottage to another1 living on the simple wholesome food of the peasants4 ,sometimes there was the picturesque mountain-road to climb1 sometimes the route lay through marshy peat-lands1 or across a rolling grass-covered country2 and with each change of landscape came some new thought and some new impression of the ,celtic life1 or perhaps some new description of a fairy4 ,this immersion in the most striking natural and social environment of the ,celtic race1 gave me an insight into the mind1 the religion1 the mysticism1 and the very heart of the ,celt himself1 such as no mere study in libraries ever could do4 ,i tried to see the world as he does2 ,i participated in his innermost thoughts about the great problem of life and death1 with which he of all peoples is most deeply concerned2 and thus he revealed to me the source of his highest ideals and inspirations4 ,i daily felt the deep and innate seriousness of his ancestral nature2 and1 living as he lives1 ,i tried in all ways to be like him4 ,i was particularly qualified for such an undertaking3 partly ,celtic myself by blood and perhaps largely so by temperament1 ,i found it easy to sympathize with the ,celt and with his environments4 ,further1 being by birth an ,american1 ,i was in many places privileged to enter where an ,englishman1 or a non-,celt of ,europe would not be2 and my education under the free ideals of a new-world democracy always made it possible for me to view economic1 political1 religious1 and racial questions in ,celtic lands apart from the ,european point of view1 and without the ,european prejudices which are so numerous and so greatly to be regretted4 ,but without any doubt1 during my sojourn1 extending over three years1 among the ,celts1 these various environments shaped my thoughts about fairies and ,fairyland--as they ought to have done if truth is ever to be reached by research4 ,these experiences of mine lead me to believe that the natural aspects of ,celtic countries1 much more than those of most non-,celtic countries1 impress man and awaken in him some unfamiliar part of himself--call it the ,subconscious ,self1 the ,subliminal ,self1 the ,ego1 or what you will--which gives him an unusual power to know and to feel invisible1 or psychical1 influences4 ,what is there1 for example1 in ,london1 or ,paris1 or ,berlin1 or ,new ,york to awaken the intuitive power of man1 that subconsciousness deep-hidden in him1 equal to the solitude of those magical environments of ,nature which the ,celts enjoy and love8 ,in my travels1 when the weather was too wild to venture out by day1 or when the more favourable hours of the night had arrived1 with fires and candles lit1 or even during a road-side chat amid the day's journey1 there was gathered together little by little1 from one country and another1 the mass of testimony which chapter ii contains4 ,and with all this my opinions began to take shape2 for when ,i set out from ,oxford in ,june1 ,i had no certain or clear ideas as to what fairies are1 nor why there should be belief in them4 ,in less than a year afterwards ,i found myself committed to the ,psychological ,theory1 which ,i am herein setting forth4 ,,vi4 ,,theories ,,of ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,we make continual reference throughout our study to this ,psychological ,theory of the ,nature and ,origin of the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith1 and it is one of our purposes to demonstrate that this is the root theory which includes or absorbs the four theories already advanced to account for the belief in fairies4 ,to guide the reader in his own conclusions1 we shall here briefly outline these four theories4 ,the first of them may be called the ,naturalistic ,theory1 which is1 that in ancient and in modern times man's belief in gods1 spirits1 or fairies has been the direct result of his attempts to explain or to rationalize natural phenomena4 ,of this theory we accept as true that the belief in fairies often anthropomorphically reflects the natural environment as well as the social condition of the people who hold the belief4 ,for example1 amid the beautiful low-lying green hills and gentle dells of ,connemara 7,ireland71 the 'good people' are just as beautiful1 just as gentle1 and just as happy as their environment2 while amid the dark-rising mountains and in the mysterious cloud-shadowed lakes of the ,scotch ,highlands there are fiercer kinds of fairies and terrible water-kelpies1 and in the ,western ,hebrides there is the much-dreaded 'spirit-host' moving through the air at night4 ,the ,naturalistic ,theory shows accurately enough that natural phenomena and environment have given direction to the anthropomorphosing of gods1 spirits1 or fairies1 but after explaining this external aspect of the ,fairy-,faith it cannot logically go any further4 ,or if illogically it does attempt to explain the belief in gods1 spirits1 or fairies as due entirely to material causes1 it becomes1 in our opinion1 like the psychology of fifty years ago1 obsolete2 for now the new psychology or psychical research has been forced to admit--if only as a working hypothesis--the possibility of invisible intelligences or entities able to influence man and nature4 ,we seem even to be approaching a scientific proof of the doctrines of such ancient philosophical scientists as ,pythagoras and ,plato1--that all external nature1 animated throughout and controlled in its phenomena by daemons acting by the will of gods1 is to men nothing more than the visible effects of an unseen world of causes4 ,in the internal aspects of the ,fairy-,faith the fundamental fact seems clearly to be that there must have been in the minds of prehistoric men1 as there is now in the minds of modern men1 a germ idea of a fairy for environment to act upon and shape4 ,without an object to act upon1 environment can accomplish nothing4 ,this is evident4 ,the ,naturalistic ,theory examines only the environment and its effects1 and forgets altogether the germ idea of a fairy to be acted upon2 but the ,psychological ,theory remembers and attempts to explain the germ idea of a fairy and the effect of nature upon it4 ,the second theory may be called the ,pygmy ,theory1 which ,mr4 ,david ,mac,ritchie1 who is definitely committed to it1 has so clearly set forth in his well-known work1 entitled ,the ,testimony of ,tradition4 ,this theory is that the whole fairy-belief has grown up out of a folk-memory of an actual ,pygmy race4 ,this race is supposed to have been a very early1 prehistoric1 probably ,mongolian race1 which inhabited the ,british ,islands and many parts of ,continental ,europe4 ,when the ,celtic nations appeared1 these pygmies were driven into mountain fastnesses and into the most inaccessible places1 where a few of them may have survived until comparatively historical times4 ,over against the champions of the ,pygmy ,theory may be set two of its opponents1 ,dr4 ,bertram ,c4 ,a4 ,windle and ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang4#c ,dr4 ,windle1 in his ,introduction to ,tyson's ,philological ,essay concerning the ,pygmies of the ,ancients1 makes these six most destructive criticisms or points against the theory3 7#a7 ,so far as our present knowledge teaches us1 there never was a really ,pygmy race inhabiting the northern parts of ,scotland2 7#b7 the mounds with which the tales of little people are associated have not1 in many cases1 been habitations1 but were natural or sepulchral in their nature2 7#c7 little people are not by any means associated entirely with mounds2 7#d7 the association of giants and dwarfs in traditions confuses the theory2 7#e7 there are fairies where no pygmies ever were1 as1 for example1 in ,north ,america2 7#f7 even ,eskimos and ,lapps have fairy beliefs1 and could not have been the original fairies of more modern fairy-lore4 ,altogether1 as we think our study will show1 the evidence of the ,fairy-,faith itself gives only a slender and superficial support to the ,pygmy ,theory4 ,we maintain that the theory1 so far as it is provable1 and this is evidently not very far1 is only one strand1 contributed by ethnology and social psychology1 in the complex fabric of the ,fairy-,faith1 and is1 as such1 woven round a psychical central pattern--the fundamental pattern of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,therefore1 from our point of view1 the ,pygmy ,theory is altogether inadequate1 because it overlooks or misinterprets the most essential and prominent elements in the belief which the ,celtic peoples hold concerning fairies and ,fairyland4 ,the ,druid ,theory to account for fairies is less widespread4 ,it is that the folk-memory of the ,druids and their magical practices is alone responsible for the ,fairy-,faith4 ,the first suggestion of this theory seems to have been made by the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,cririe1 in his ,scottish ,scenery1 published in #ahjc4d ,three years later1 the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,graham published an identical hypothesis in his ,sketches ,descriptive of ,picturesque ,scenery on the ,southern ,confines of ,perthshire4 ,mr4 ,mac,ritchie suggests1 with all reason1 that the two writers probably had discussed together the theory1 and hence both put it forth4 ,alfred ,maury1 in ,les ,fes du ,moyen-,age1 published in #ahdc at ,paris1 appears to have made liberal use of ,patrick ,graham's suggestions in propounding his theory that the fes or fairy women of the ,middle ,ages are due to a folk-memory of ,druidesses4 ,maury seems to have forgotten that throughout pagan ,britain and ,ireland1 both much more important for the study of fairies than ,celtic ,europe during the ,middle ,ages1 ,druids rather than ,druidesses had the chief influence on the people1 and that yet1 despite this fact1 ,irish and ,welsh mythology is full of stories about fairy women coming from the ,otherworld2 nor is there any proof1 or even good ground for argument1 that the ,irish fairy women are a folk-memory of ,druidesses1 for if there ever were ,druidesses in ,ireland they played a subordinate and very insignificant rle4 ,as in the case of the ,pygmy ,theory1 we maintain that the ,druid ,theory1 also1 is inadequate4 ,it discovers a real anthropomorphic influence at work on the outward aspects of the ,fairy-,faith1 and illogically takes that to be the origin of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,the fourth theory1 the ,mythological ,theory1 is of very great importance4 ,it is that fairies are the diminished figures of the old pagan divinities of the early ,celts2 and many modern authorities on ,celtic mythology and folk-lore hold it4 ,to us the theory is acceptable so far as it goes4 ,but it is not adequate in itself nor is it the root theory1 because a belief in gods and goddesses must in turn be explained2 and in making this explanation we arrive at the ,psychological ,theory1 which this study--perhaps the first one of its kind--attempts to set forth4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,importance ,,of ,,studying ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,i have made a very careful personal investigation of the surviving ,celtic ,fairy-,faith by living for many months with and among the people who preserve it2 ,i have compared fairy phenomena and the phenomena said to be caused by gods1 genii1 daemons1 or spirits of different kinds and recorded in the writings of ancient1 mediaeval1 and modern metaphysical philosophers1 ,christian and pagan saints1 mystics1 and seers1 and now more or less clearly substantiated by from thirty to forty years of experimentation in psychical sciences by eminent scientists of our own times1 such as ,sir ,william ,crookes and ,sir ,oliver ,lodge in ,england1 and ,m4 ,camille ,flammarion in ,france4 ,as a result1 ,i am convinced of the very great value of a serious study of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,the ,fairy-,faith as the folk-religion of the ,celts ought1 like all religions1 to be studied sympathetically as well as scientifically4 ,to those who take a materialistic view of life1 and consequently deny the existence of spirits or invisible intelligences such as fairies are said to be1 we should say as my honoured ,american teacher in psychology1 the late ,dr4 ,william ,james1 of ,harvard1 used to say in his lectures at ,stanford ,university1 ',materialism considered as a system of philosophy never tries to explain the ,why of things4' ,but in our study of the ,fairy-,faith we shall attempt to deal with this ,why of things2 and1 then1 perhaps the value of studying fairies and ,fairyland will be more apparent1 even to materialists4 ,the great majority of men in cities are apt to pride themselves on their own exemption from 'superstition'1 and to smile pityingly at the poor countrymen and countrywomen who believe in fairies4 ,but when they do so they forget that1 with all their own admirable progress in material invention1 with all the far-reaching data of their acquired science1 with all the vast extent of their commercial and economic conquests1 they themselves have ceased to be natural4 ,wherever under modern conditions great multitudes of men and women are herded together there is bound to be an unhealthy psychical atmosphere never found in the country--an atmosphere which inevitably tends to develop in the average man who is not psychically strong enough to resist it1 lower at the expense of higher forces or qualities1 and thus to inhibit any normal attempts of the ,subliminal ,self 7a well-accredited psychological entity7 to manifest itself in consciousness4 ,in this connexion it is highly significant to note that1 as far as can be determined1 almost all professed materialists of the uncritical type1 and even most of those who are thinking and philosophizing sceptics about the existence of a supersensuous realm or state of conscious being1 are or have been city-dwellers--usually so by birth and breeding4 ,and even where we find materialists of either type dwelling in the country1 we generally find them so completely under the hypnotic sway of city influences and mould of thought in matters of education and culture1 and in matters touching religion1 that they have lost all sympathetic and responsive contact with ,nature1 because unconsciously they have thus permitted conventionality and unnaturalness to insulate them from it4 ,the ,celtic peasant1 who may be their tenant or neighbour1 is--if still uncorrupted by them--in direct contrast unconventional and natural4 ,he is normally always responsive to psychical influences--as much so as an ,australian ,arunta or an ,american ,red ,man1 who also1 like him1 are fortunate enough to have escaped being corrupted by what we egotistically1 to distinguish ourselves from them1 call 'civilization'4 ,if our ,celtic peasant has psychical experiences1 or if he sees an apparition which he calls one of the 'good people'1 that is to say a fairy1 it is useless to try to persuade him that he is under a delusion3 unlike his materialistically-minded lord1 he would not attempt nor even desire to make himself believe that what he has seen he has not seen4 ,not only has he the will to believe1 but he has the right to believe2 because his belief is not a matter of being educated and reasoning logically1 nor a matter of faith and theology--it is a fact of his own individual experiences1 as he will tell you4 ,such peasant seers have frequently argued with me to the effect that ',one does not have to be educated in order to see fairies'4 ,unlike the natural mind of the uncorrupted ,celt1 ,arunta1 or ,american ,red ,man1 which is ever open to unusual psychical impressions1 the mind of the business man in our great cities tends to be obsessed with business affairs both during his waking and during his dream states1 the politician's with politics similarly1 the society-leader's with society2 and the unwholesome excitement felt by day in the city is apt to be heightened at night through a satisfying of the feeling which it morbidly creates for relaxation and change of stimuli4 ,in the slums1 humanity is divorced from ,nature under even worse conditions1 and becomes wholly decadent4 ,but in slum and in palace alike there is continually a feverish nerve-tension induced by unrest and worry2 there is impure and smoke-impregnated air1 a lack of sunshine1 a substitution of artificial objects for natural objects1 and in place of solitude the eternal din of traffic4 ,instead of ,nature1 men in cities 7and paradoxically some conventionalized men in the country7 have 'civilization'--and 'culture'4 ,are city-dwellers like these1 ,nature's unnatural children1 who grind out their lives in an unceasing struggle for wealth and power1 social position1 and even for bread1 fit to judge ,nature's natural children who believe in fairies8 ,are they right in not believing in an invisible world which they cannot conceive1 which1 if it exists1 they--even though they be scientists--are through environment and temperament alike incapable of knowing8 ,or is the country-dwelling1 the sometimes 'unpractical' and 'unsuccessful'1 the dreaming1 and 'uncivilized' peasant right8 ,these questions ought to arouse in the minds of anthropologists very serious reflection1 world-wide in its scope4 ,at all events1 and equally for the unbeliever and for the believer1 the study of the ,fairy-,faith is of vast importance historically1 philosophically1 religiously1 and scientifically4 ,in it lie the germs of much of our ,european religions and philosophies1 customs1 and institutions4 ,and it is one of the chief keys to unlock the mysteries of ,celtic mythology4 ,we believe that a greater age is coming soon1 when all the ancient mythologies will be carefully studied and interpreted1 and when the mythology of the ,celts will be held in very high esteem4 ,but already an age has come when things purely ,celtic have begun to be studied2 and the close observer can see the awakening genius of the modern ,celt manifesting itself in the realm of scholarship1 of literature1 and even of art--throughout ,continental ,europe1 especially ,france and ,germany1 throughout ,great ,britain and ,ireland1 and throughout the new ,celtic world of ,america1 as far west as ,san ,francisco on the great calm ocean of the future facing ,japan and ,china4 ,in truth the ,celtic empire is greater than it ever was before ,caesar destroyed its political unity2 and its citizens have not forgotten the ancient faith of their ancestors in a world invisible4 ,w4 ,y4 ,e4 ,w4 ,,section ,i ,,the ,,living ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,i ,,environment ',in the ,beauty of the ,world lies the ultimate redemption of our mortality4 ,when we shall become at one with nature in a sense profounder even than the poetic imaginings of most of us1 we shall understand what now we fail to discern4'--,,fiona ,,macleod4 ,psychical interpretation--,the mysticism of ,erin and ,armorica--,in ,ireland--,in ,scotland--,in the ,isle of ,man--,in ,wales--,in ,cornwall--,in ,brittany4 ,as a preliminary to our study it is important1 as we shall see later1 to give some attention to the influences and purely natural environment under which the ,fairy-,faith has grown up4 ,and in doing so it will be apparent to what extent there is truth in the ,naturalistic ,theory2 though from the first our interpretation of ,environment is fundamentally psychical4 ,in this first chapter1 then1 in so far as they can be recorded1 we shall record a few impressions1 which will1 in a way1 serve as introductory to the more definite and detailed consideration of the ,fairy-,faith itself4 ,ireland and ,brittany1 the two extremes of the modern ,celtic world1 are for us the most important points from which to take our initial bearings4 ,both washed by the waters of the ,ocean of ,atlantis1 the one an island1 the other a peninsula1 they have best preserved their old racial life in its simplicity and beauty1 with its high ideals1 its mystical traditions1 and its strong spirituality4 ,and1 curious though the statement may appear to some1 this preservation of older manners and traditions does not seem to be due so much to geographical isolation as to subtle forces so strange and mysterious that to know them they must be felt2 and their nature can only be suggested1 for it cannot be described4 ,over ,erin and ,armorica1 as over ,egypt1 there hovers a halo of romance1 of strangeness1 of mysticism real and positive2 and1 if we mistake not the language of others1 these phrases of ours but echo opinions common to many ,celts native of the two countries--they who have the first right to testify2 and not only are there poets and seers among them1 but men of the practical world as well1 and men of high rank in scholarship1 in literature1 in art1 and even in science4 ,,in ,,ireland ,if anyone would know ,ireland and test these influences--influences which have been so fundamental in giving to the ,fairy-,faith of the past something more than mere beauty of romance and attractive form1 and something which even to-day1 as in the heroic ages1 is ever-living and ever-present in the centres where men of the second-sight say that they see fairies in that strange state of subjectivity which the peasant calls ,fairyland--let him stand on the ,hill of ,tara silently and alone at sunset1 in the noonday1 in the mist of a dark day4 ,let him likewise silently and alone follow the course of the ,boyne4 ,let him enter the silence of ,new ,grange and of ,dowth4 ,let him muse over the hieroglyphics of ,lough ,crew4 ,let him feel the mystic beauty of ,killarney1 the peacefulness of ,glendalough1 of ,monasterboise1 of ,clonmacnois1 and the isolation of ,aranmore4 ,let him dare to enter the rings of fairies1 to tempt the 'good folk' at their raths and forts4 ,let him rest on the ancient cairn above the mountain-palace of ,finvara and look out across the battlefields of ,moytura4 ,let him wander amid the fairy dells of gentle ,connemara4 ,let him behold the ,irish ,sea from the ,heights of ,howth1 as ,fionn ,mac ,cumhail used to do4 ,let him listen to the ocean-winds amid ,dun ,aengus4 ,let him view the stronghold of ,cuchulainn and the ,red ,branch ,knights4 ,let him linger beside that mysterious lake which lies embosomed between two prehistoric cairns on the summit of enchanted ,slieve ,gullion1 where yet dwells invisible the mountain's ,guardian1 a fairy woman4 ,let him then try to interpret the mysticism of an ancient ,irish myth1 in order to understand why men have been told that in the plain beneath this magic mountain of ,ireland mighty warfare was once waged on account of a ,bull1 by the hosts of ,queen ,meave against those of ,cuchulainn the hero of ,ulster4 ,let him be lost in the mists on the top of ,ben ,bulbin4 ,let him know the haunts of fairy kings and queens in ,roscommon4 ,let him follow in the footsteps of ,patrick and ,bridgit and ,columba4 ,when there are dark days and stormy nights1 let him sit beside a blazing fire of fragrant peat in a peasant's straw-thatched cottage listening to tales of ,ireland's golden age--tales of gods1 of heroes1 of ghosts1 and of fairy-folk4 ,if he will do these things1 he will know ,ireland1 and why its people believe in fairies4 ,as yet1 little has been said concerning the effects of clouds1 of natural scenery1 of weird and sudden transformations in earth and sky and air1 which play their part in shaping the complete ,fairy-,faith of the ,irish2 but what we are about to say concerning ,scotland will suggest the same things for ,ireland1 because the nature of the landscape and the atmospheric changes are much the same in the two countries1 both inland and on their rock-bound and storm-swept shores4 ,,in ,,scotland ,in the moorlands between ,trossachs and ,aberfoyle1 a region made famous by ,scott's ,rob ,roy1 ,i have seen atmospheric changes so sudden and so contrasted as to appear marvellous4 ,what shifting of vapours and clouds1 what flashes of bright sun-gleams1 then twilight at midday6 ,across the landscape1 shadows of black dense fog-banks rush like shadows of flocks of great birds which darken all the earth4 ,palpitating fog-banks wrap themselves around the mountain-tops and then come down like living things to move across the valleys1 sometimes only a few yards above the traveller's head4 ,and in that country live terrible water-kelpies4 ,when black clouds discharge their watery burden it is in wind-driven vertical water-sheets through which the world appears as through an ice-filmed window-pane4 ,perhaps in a single day there may be the bluest of heavens and the clearest air1 the densest clouds and the darkest shadows1 the calm of the morning and the wind of the tempest4 ,at night in ,aberfoyle after such a day1 ,i witnessed a clear sunset and a fair evening sky2 in the morning when ,i arose1 the lowlands along the river were inundated and a thousand cascades1 large and small1 were leaping down the mountain-highlands1 and rain was falling in heavy masses4 ,within an hour afterwards1 as ,i travelled on towards ,stirling1 the rain and wind ceased1 and there settled down over all the land cloud-masses so inky-black that they seemed like the fancies of some horrible dream4 ,then like massed armies they began to move to their mountain-strongholds1 and stood there2 while from the east came perfect weather and a flood of brilliant sunshine4 ,and in the ,highlands from ,stirling to ,inverness what magic1 what changing colours and shadows there were on the age-worn treeless hills1 and in the valleys with their clear1 pure streams receiving tribute from unnumbered little rills and springs1 some dropping water drop by drop as though it were fairy-distilled2 and everywhere the heather giving to the mountain-landscape a hue of rich purplish-brown1 and to the air an odour of aromatic fragrance4 ,on to the north-west beyond ,inverness there is the same kind of a treeless highland country2 and then after a few hours of travel one looks out across the water from ,kyle and beholds ,skye1 where ,cuchulainn is by some believed to have passed his young manhood learning feats of arms from fairy women1--,skye1 dark1 mountainous1 majestic1 with its waterfalls turning to white spray as they tumble from cliff to cliff into the sound1 from out the clouds that hide their mountain-summit sources4 ,in the ,outer ,hebrides1 as in the ,aranmore ,islands off ,west ,ireland1 influences are at work on the ,celtic imagination quite different from those in ,skye and its neighbouring islands4 ,mountainous billows which have travelled from afar out of the mysterious watery waste find their first impediment on the west of these isolated ,hebridean isles1 and they fling themselves like mad things in full fury against the wild rocky islets fringing the coast4 ,white spray flashes in unearthly forms over the highest cliff1 and the unrestrained hurricane whirls it far inland4 ,ocean's eternally murmuring sounds set up a responsive vibration in the soul of the peasant1 as he in solitude drives home his flocks amid the weird gloaming at the end of a ,december day2 and1 later1 when he sits brooding in his humble cottage at night1 in the fitful flickering of a peat fire1 he has a mystic consciousness that deep down in his being there is a more divine music compared with which that of external nature is but a symbol and an echo2 and1 as he stirs the glowing peat-embers1 phantoms from an irretrievable past seem to be sitting with him on the edge of the half-circle of dying light4 ,maybe there are skin-clad huntsmen of the sea and land1 with spears and knives of bone and flint and shaggy sleeping dogs1 or fearless sea-rovers resting wearily on shields of brilliant bronze1 or maybe ,celtic warriors fierce and bold2 and then he understands that his past and his present are one4 ,commonly there is the thickest day-darkness when the driving storms come in from the ,atlantic1 or when dense fog covers sea and land2 and1 again1 there are melancholy sea-winds moaning across from shore to shore1 bending the bushes of the purple heather4 ,at other times there is a sparkle of the brightest sunshine on the ocean waves1 a fierceness foreign to the more peaceful ,highlands2 and then again a dead silence prevails at sunrise and at sunset if one be on the mountains1 or1 if on the shore1 no sound is heard save the rhythmical beat of the waves1 and now and then the hoarse cry of a sea-bird4 ,all these contrasted conditions may be seen in one day1 or each may endure for a day2 and the dark days last nearly all the winter4 ,and then it is1 during the long winter1 that the crofters and fisher-folk congregate night after night in a different neighbour's house to tell about fairies and ghosts1 and to repeat all those old legends so dear to the heart of the ,celt4 ,perhaps every one present has heard the same story or legend a hundred times1 yet it is always listened to and told as though it were the latest bulletin of some great world-stirring event4 ,over those little islands1 so far away to the north1 out on the edge of the world1 in winter-time darkness settles down at four o'clock or even earlier2 and the islanders hurry through with their dinner of fish and oat-bread so as not to miss hearing the first story4 ,when the company has gathered from far and near1 pipes are re-filled and lit and the peat is heaped up1 for the story-telling is not likely to end before midnight4 ',the house is roomy and clean1 if homely1 with its bright peat fire in the middle of the floor4 ,there are many present--men and women1 boys and girls4 ,all the women are seated1 and most of the men4 ,girls are crouched between the knees of fathers or brothers or friends1 while boys are perched wherever--boy-like--they can climb4 ,the houseman is twisting twigs of heather into ropes to hold down thatch1 a neighbour crofter is twining quicken root into cords to tie cows1 while another is plaiting bent grass into baskets to hold meal4 ,the housewife is spinning1 a daughter is carding1 another daughter is teazing1 while a third daughter1 supposed to be working1 is away in the background conversing in low whispers with the son of a neighbouring crofter4 ,neighbour wives and neighbour daughters are knitting1 sewing1 or embroidering4'#e ,then when the bad weather for fishing has been fully discussed by the men1 and the latest gossip by the women1 and the foolish talk of the youths and maidens in the corners is finished1 the one who occupies the chair of honour in the midst of the ceilidh#f looks around to be sure that everybody is comfortable and ready2 and1 as his first story begins1 even the babes by instinct cease their noise and crying1 and young and old bend forward eagerly to hear every word4 ,it does not matter if some of the boys and girls do topple over asleep1 or even some of the older folk as the hour gets late2 the tales meet no interruption in their even1 unbroken flow4 ,and here we have the most ,celtic and the most natural environments which the ,fairy-,faith enjoys in ,scotland4 ,there are still the ,southern ,highlands in the country around ,oban1 and the islands near them2 and of all these isles none is so picturesque in history as the one ,columba loved so well4 ,though ,iona enjoys less of the wildness of the ,hebrides furthest west1 it has their storm-winds and fogs and dark days1 and their strangeness of isolation4 ,on it1 as ,adamnan tells us1 the holy man fought with black demons who came to invade his monastery1 and saw angelic hosts2 and when the angels took his soul at midnight in that little chapel by the sea-shore there was a mystic light which illuminated all the altar like the brightest sunshine4 ,but nowadays1 where the saint saw demons and angels the ,islanders see ghosts and 'good people'1 and when one of these islanders is taken in death it is not by angels--it is by fairies4 ,,in ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,man ,in the midst of the ,irish ,sea1 almost equidistant from ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,wales1 and concentrating in itself the psychical and magnetic influences from these three ,celtic lands1 and from ,celto-,saxon ,england too1 lies the beautiful kingdom of the great ,tuatha ,de ,danann god1 ,manannan ,mac ,lir1 or1 as his loyal ,manx subjects prefer to call him1 ,mannanan-,beg-,mac-y-,leir4 ,in no other land of the ,celt does ,nature show so many moods and contrasts1 such perfect repose at one time and at another time the mightiness of its unloosed powers1 when the baffled sea throws itself angrily against a high rock-bound coast1 as wild and almost as weather-worn as the western coasts of ,ireland and the ,hebrides4 ,but it is ,nature's calmer moods which have greater effect upon the ,manx people3 on the summit of his ancient stronghold1 ,south ,barrule ,mountain1 the god ,manannan yet dwells invisible to mortal eyes1 and whenever on a warm day he throws off his magic mist-blanket with which he is wont to cover the whole island1 the golden gorse or purple heather blossoms become musical with the hum of bees1 and sway gently on breezes made balmy by the tropical warmth of an ocean stream flowing from the far distant ,mexican shores of a ,new ,world4 ,then in many a moist and sweet-smelling glen1 pure and verdant1 land-birds in rejoicing bands add to the harmony of sound1 as they gather on the newly-ploughed field or dip themselves in the clear water of the tinkling brook2 and from the cliffs and rocky islets on the coast comes the echo of the multitudinous chorus of sea-birds4 ,at sunset1 on such a day1 as evening calmness settles down1 weird mountain shadows begin to move across the dimly-lighted glens2 and when darkness has fallen1 there is a mystic stillness1 broken only by the ceaseless throbbing of the sea-waves1 the flow of brooks1 and the voices of the night4 ,in the moorland solitudes1 even by day1 there sometimes broods a deeper silence1 which is yet more potent and full of meaning for the peasant1 as under its spell he beholds the peaceful vision1 happy and sunlit1 of sea and land1 of gentle mountains falling away in land-waves into well-tilled plains and fertile valleys2 and he comes to feel instinctively the old ,druidic ,fires relit within his heart1 and perhaps unconsciously he worships there in ,nature's ,temple4 ,the natural beauty without awakens the divine beauty within1 and for a second of time he1 out of his subconsciousness1 is conscious that in ,nature there are beings and inaudible voices which have no existence for the flippant pleasure-seeking crowds who come and go4 ,to the multitude1 his ancestral beliefs are foolishness1 his fairies but the creatures of a fervid ,celtic imagination which readily responds to unusual phenomena and environments4 ,they will not believe with him that all beauty and harmony in the world are but symbolic1 and that behind these stand unseen sustaining forces and powers which are conscious and eternal2 and though by instinct they willingly personify ,nature they do not know the secret of why they do so3 for them the outer is reality1 the inner non-existent4 ,from the ,age of ,stone to the civilized era of to-day1 the ,isle of ,man has been1 in succession1 the home of every known race and people who have flourished in ,western ,europe2 and though subject1 in turn1 to the ,irish ,gael and to the ,welsh ,brython1 to ,northmen and to ,danes1 to ,scots and to ,english1 and the scene of sweeping transformations in religion1 as pagan cults succeeded one another1 to give way to the teaching of ,st4 ,patrick and his disciples ,st4 ,german and ,st4 ,maughold1 and this finally to the ,protestant form of ,christianity1 the island alone of ,celtic lands has been strangely empowered to maintain in almost primitive purity its ancient constitution and freedom1 and though geographically at the very centre of the ,united ,kingdom1 is not a part of it4 ,the archaeologist may still read in mysterious symbols of stone and earth1 as they lie strewn over the island's surface1 the history of this age-long panoramic procession of human evolution2 while through these same symbols the ,manx seer reads a deeper meaning2 and sometimes in the superhuman realm of radiant light1 to which since long ago they have oft come and oft returned1 he meets face to face the gods and heroes whose early tombs stand solitary on the wind-swept mountain-top and moorland1 or hidden away in the embrace of wild flowers and verdure amid valleys2 and in the darker mid-world he sees innumerable ghosts of many of these races which have perished4 ,,in ,,wales ,less can be said of ,wales than of ,ireland1 or of ,scotland as a whole4 ,it has1 it is true1 its own peculiar psychic atmosphere1 different1 no doubt1 because its people are ,brythonic ,celts rather than ,gaelic ,celts4 ,but ,wales1 with conditions more modernized than is the case in ,ireland or in the ,western ,hebrides of ,scotland1 does not now exhibit in a vigorous or flourishing state those ,celtic influences which1 when they were active1 did so much to create the precious ,romances of ,arthur and his ,brotherhood1 and to lay the foundations for the ,welsh belief in the ,tylwyth ,teg1 a fairy race still surviving in a few favoured localities4 ,wales1 like all ,celtic countries1 is a land of long sea-coasts1 though there seems to be1 save in the mountains of the north1 less of mist and darkness and cloud effects than in ,ireland and ,scotland4 ,in the south1 perhaps the most curious influences are to be felt at ,st4 ,david's ,head1 and in ,st4 ,david's itself--once the goal for thousands of pilgrims from many countries of mediaeval ,europe1 and1 probably1 in pagan times the seat of an oracle4 ,and a place of like character is the peninsula of ,gower1 south of ,swansea4 ,caerphilly ,castle1 where the ,green ,lady reigns now amid its ruined acres1 is a strange place2 and so is the hill near ,carmarthen1 where ,merlin is asleep in a cave with the fairy-woman ,vivian4 ,but in none of these places to-day is there a strong living faith in fairies as there is1 for example1 in ,west ,ireland4 ,the one region where ,i found a real ,celtic atmosphere--and it is a region where everybody speaks ,welsh--is a mountainous country rarely visited by travellers1 save archaeologists1 a few miles from ,newport2 and its centre is the ,pentre ,evan ,cromlech1 the finest cromlech in ,wales if not in ,britain4 ,by this prehistoric monument and in the country round the old ,nevern ,church1 three miles away1 there is an active belief in the 'fair-folk'1 in ghosts1 in death-warnings1 in death-candles and phantom-funerals1 and in witchcraft and black magic4 ,thence on to ,newcastle-,emlyn and its valley1 where many of the ,mabinogion stories took form1 or at least from where they drew rich material in the way of folk-lore1#g are environments purely ,welsh and as yet little disturbed by the commercial materialism of the age4 ,there remain now to be mentioned three other places in ,wales to me very impressive psychically4 ,these are3 ancient ,harlech1 so famous in recorded ,welsh fairy-romance--,harlech with its strange stone-circles1 and old castle from which the ,snowdon ,range is seen to loom majestically and clear1 and with its sun-kissed bay2 ,mount ,snowdon1 with its memories of ,arthur and ,welsh heroes2 and sacred ,anglesey or ,mona1 strewn with tumuli1 and dolmens1 and pillar-stones--,mona1 where the ,druids made their last stand against the ,roman eagles--and its little island called ,holyhead1 facing ,ireland4 ,however1 when all is said1 modern ,wales is poorer in its fairy atmosphere than modern ,ireland or modern ,brittany4 ,certainly there is a good deal of this fairy atmosphere yet1 though it has become less vital than the similar fairy atmosphere in the great centres of ,erin and ,armorica4 ,but the purely social environment under which the ,fairy-,faith of ,wales survives is a potent force which promises to preserve underneath the surface of ,welsh national life1 where the commercialism of the age has compelled it to retire in a state of temporary latency1 the ancestral idealism of the ancient ,brythonic race4 ,in ,wales1 as in ,lower ,brittany and in parts of ,ireland and the ,hebrides1 one may still hear in common daily use a language which has been continuously spoken since unknown centuries before the rise of the ,roman empire4 ,and the strong hold which the ,druidic ,eisteddfod 7an annual national congress of bards and literati7 continues to have upon the ,welsh people1 in spite of their commercialism1 is1 again1 a sign that their hearts remain uncorrupted1 that when the more favourable hour strikes they will sweep aside the deadening influences which now hold them in spiritual bondage1 and become1 as they were in the past1 true children of ,arthur4 ,,in ,,cornwall ,strikingly like ,brittany in physical aspects1 ,southern and ,western ,cornwall is a land of the sea1 of rolling plains and moorlands rather than of high hills and mountains1 a land of golden-yellow furze-bloom1 where noisy crowds of black crows and white sea-gulls mingle together over the freshly-turned or new-sown fields1 and where in the spring-time the call of the cuckoo is heard with the song of the skylark4 ,like the ,isle of ,man1 from the earliest ages ,cornwall has been a meeting-place and a battle-ground for contending races4 ,the primitive dark ,iberian peoples gave way before ,aryan-,celtic invaders1 and these to ,roman and then to ,germanic invaders4 ,nature has been kind to the whole of ,cornwall1 but chiefly upon the peninsula whose ancient capital is ,penzance 7which possibly means 'the ,holy ,headland'71 and upon the land immediately eastward and northward of it1 she has bestowed her rarest gifts4 ,holding this territory embosomed in the pure waters of ,ocean1 and breathing over it the pure air of the ,atlantic in spring and in summer calm1 when the warm vapours from the ,gulf ,stream sweep over it freely1 and make it a land of flowers and of singing-birds1 ,nature preserves eternally its beauty and its sanctity4 ,there are there ruined ,british villages whose builders are long forgotten1 strange prehistoric circular sun-temples like fortresses crowning the hill-tops1 mysterious underground passage-ways1 and crosses probably pre-,christian4 ,everywhere are the records of the mighty past of this thrice-holy ,druid land of sunset4 ,there are weird legends of the lost kingdom of ,fair ,lyonesse1 which seers sometimes see beneath the clear salt waves1 with all its ancient towns and flowery fields2 legends of ,phoenicians and ,oriental merchants who came for tin2 legends of gods and of giants1 of pixies and of fairies1 of ,king ,arthur in his castle at ,tintagel1 of angels and of saints1 of witches and of wizards4 ,on ,dinsul1 ',hill dedicated to the ,sun1' pagan priests and priestesses kept kindled the ,eternal ,fire1 and daily watched eastward for the rising of the ,god of ,light and ,life1 to greet his coming with paeans of thanksgiving and praise4 ,then after the sixth century the new religion had come proclaiming a more mystic ,light of the ,world in the ,son of ,god1 and to the pious half-pagan monks who succeeded the ,druids the ,archangel ,st4 ,michael appeared in vision on the ,sacred ,mount4#h ,and before ,st4 ,augustine came to ,britain the ,celts of ,cornwall had already combined in their own mystical way the spiritual message of primitive ,christianity with the pure nature-worship of their ancestors2 and their land was then1 as it most likely had been in pagan days1 a centre of pilgrimages for their ,celtic kinsmen from ,ireland1 from ,wales1 from ,england1 and from ,brittany4 ,when in later times new theological doctrines were superimposed on this mysticism of ,celtic ,christianity1 the ,sacred ,fires were buried in ashes1 and the ,light and ,beauty of the pagan world obscured with sackcloth4 ,but there in that most southern and western corner of the ,isle of ,britain1 the ,sacred ,fires themselves still burn on the divine hill-tops1 though smothered in the hearts of its children4 ,the ,cornishman's vision is no longer clear4 ,he looks upon cromlech and dolmen1 upon ancient caves of initiation1 and upon the graves of his prehistoric ancestors1 and vaguely feels1 but does not know1 why his land is so holy1 is so permeated by an indefinable magic2 for he has lost his ancestral mystic touch with the unseen--he is 'educated' and 'civilized'4 ,the hand of the conqueror has fallen more heavily upon the people of ,cornwall than upon any other ,celtic people1 and now for a time1 but let us hope happily only for this dark period of transition1 they sleep--until ,arthur comes to break the spell and set them free4 ,,in ,,brittany ,as was pointed out at the beginning of this chapter1 ,ireland and ,brittany are to be regarded as the two poles of the modern ,celtic world1 but it is believed by ,celtic mystics that they are much more than this1 that they are two of its psychic centres1 with ,tara and ,carnac as two respective points of focus from which the ,celtic influence of each country radiates4#i ,with such a psychical point of view1 it makes no difference at all whether one scholar argues ,carnac to be ,celtic and another pre-,celtic1 for if pre-,celtic1 as it most likely is1 it has certainly been bequeathed to the people who were and are ,celtic1 and its influence has been an unbroken thing from times altogether beyond the horizon of history4 ,according to this theory 7and in following it we are merely trying to put on record unique material transmitted to us by the most learned of contemporary ,celtic mystics and seers7 there seem to be certain favoured places on the earth where its magnetic and even more subtle forces are most powerful and most easily felt by persons susceptible to such things2 and ,carnac appears to be one of the greatest of such places in ,europe1 and for this reason1 as has been thought1 was probably selected by its ancient priest-builders as the great centre for religious practices1 for the celebration of pagan mysteries1 for tribal assemblies1 for astronomical observations1 and very likely for establishing schools in which to educate neophytes for the priesthood4 ,tara1 with its tributary ,boyne valley1 is a similar place in ,ireland1 so selected and so used1 as1 in our study of the cult of fairies and the cult of the dead1 manuscript evidence will later indicate4 ,and thus to such psychical and magnetic1 or1 according perhaps to others1 religious or traditional influences as focus themselves at ,tara and ,carnac1 though in other parts of the two countries as well1 may be due in a great1 even in an essential measure1 the vigorous and ever-living ,fairy-,faith of ,ireland1 and the innate and ever-conscious belief of the ,breton people in the ,legend of the ,dead and in a world invisible4 ,for fairies and souls of the dead1 though1 strictly speaking1 not confused1 are believed to be beings of the subjective world existing to-day1 and influencing mortals1 as they have always existed and influenced them according to ancient and modern traditions1 and as they appear now in the eyes even of science through the work of a few pioneer scientists in psychical research4 ,and it seems probable that subjective beings of this kind1 granting their existence1 were made use of by the ancient ,druids1 and even by ,patrick when the old and new religions met to do battle on the ,hill of ,tara4 ,the control of ,tara1 as a psychical centre1 meant the psychical control of all ,ireland4 ,to-day on the ,hill of ,tara the statue of ,st4 ,patrick dwarfs the ,liath ,stone beside it2 at ,carnac the ,christian ,cross overshadows dolmens and menhirs4 ,a learned priest of the ,roman ,church told me1 when ,i met him in ,galway1 that in his opinion those places in ,ireland where ancient sacrifices were performed to pagan or ,druid gods are still1 unless they have been regularly exorcized1 under the control of demons 7daemons74 ,and what the ,druids were at ,tara and throughout ,erin and most probably at ,carnac as well1 the priests were in ,egypt1 and the pythonesses in ,greece4 ,that is to say1 ,druids1 ,egyptian priests1 priestesses in charge of ,greek oracles1 are said to have foretold the future1 interpreted omens1 worked all miracles and wonders of magic by the aid of daemons1 who were regarded as an order of invisible beings1 intermediary between gods and men1 and as sometimes including the shades from ,hades4 ,i should say as before1 if he who knowing ,ireland1 the ,land of ,faerie1 would know in the same manner ,brittany1 the ,land of the ,dead1 let him silently and alone walk many times--in sun1 in wind1 in storm1 in thick mist--through the long1 broad avenues of stone of the ,alignements at ,carnac4 ,let him watch from among them the course of the sun from east to west4 ,let him stand on ,st4 ,michael's ,mount on the day of the winter solstice1 or on the day of the summer solstice4 ,let him enter the silence of its ancient underground chamber1 so dark and so mysterious4 ,let him sit for hours musing amid cromlechs and dolmens1 and beside menhirs1 and at holy wells4 ,let him marvel at the mightiest of menhirs now broken and prostrate at ,locmariaquer1 and then let him ponder over the subterranean places near it4 ,let him try to read the symbolic inscriptions on the rocks in ,gavrinis4 ,let him stand on the le de ,sein at sunrise and at sunset4 ,let him penetrate the solitudes of the ,forest of ,brocliande1 and walk through the ,val-,sans-,retour 7,vale-,without-,return74 ,and then let him wander in footpaths with the ,breton peasant through fields where good dames sit on the sunny side of a bush or wall1 knitting stockings1 where there are long hedges of furze1 golden-yellow with bloom--even in ,january--and listen to stories about corrigans1 and about the dead who mingle here with the living4 ,let him enter the peasant's cottage when there is fog over the land and the sea-winds are blowing across the shifting sand-dunes1 and hear what he can tell him4 ,let him1 even as he enjoys the picturesque customs and dress of the ,breton folk and looks on at their joyous ronde 7perhaps the relic of a long-forgotten sun-dance71 observe the depth of their nature1 their almost ever-present sense of the seriousness of human life and effort1 their beautiful characters as their mystic land has shaped them without the artificiality of books and schools1 their dreaminess as they look out across the ocean1 their often perfect physique and fine profiles and rosy cheeks1 and yet withal their brooding innate melancholy4 ,and let him know that there is with them always an overshadowing consciousness of an invisible world1 not in some distant realm of space1 but here and now1 blending itself with this world2 its inhabitants1 their dead ancestors and friends1 mingling with them daily1 and awaiting the hour when the ,ankou 7a ,king of the ,dead7 shall call each to join their invisible company4 ,,section ,i ,,the ,,living ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,taking ,,of ,,evidence ',during all these centuries the ,celt has kept in his heart some affinity with the mighty beings ruling in the ,unseen1 once so evident to the heroic races who preceded him4 ,his legends and faery tales have connected his soul with the inner lives of air and water and earth1 and they in turn have kept his heart sweet with hidden influence4'--,a4 ,e4 ,method of presentation--,the logical verdict--,trustworthiness of legends--,the ,fairy-,faith held by the highly educated ,celt as well as by the ,celtic peasant--,the evidence is complete and adequate--,its analysis--,the ,fairy-,tribes dealt with--,witnesses and their testimony3 from ,ireland1 with introduction by ,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde2 from ,scotland1 with introduction by ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael2 from the ,isle of ,man1 with introduction by ,miss ,sophia ,morrison2 from ,wales1 with introduction by the ,right ,hon4 ,sir ,john ,rhys2 from ,cornwall1 with introduction by ,mr4 ,henry ,jenner2 and from ,brittany1 with introduction by ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz4 ,i4 ,,general ,,introduction ,various possible plans have presented themselves for setting forth the living ,fairy-,faith as ,i have found it during my travels in the six ,celtic countries among the people who hold it4 ,to take a bit here and a bit there from a miscellaneous group of psychological experiences1 fairy legends and stories which are linked together almost inseparably in the mind of the one who tells them1 does not seem at all satisfactory1 nor even just1 in trying to arrive at a correct result4 ,classification under various headings1 such1 for example1 as ,fairy ,abductions1 ,changelings1 or ,appearances of ,fairies1 seems equally unsatisfactory2 for as soon as the details of folk-lore such as ,i am presenting are isolated from one another--even though brought together in related groups--they must be rudely torn out of their true and natural environment1 and divorced from the psychological atmosphere amidst which they were first presented by the narrator4 ,the same objection applies to any plan of dividing the evidence into 7#a7 that which is purely legendary2 7#b7 that which is second-hand or third-hand evidence from people who claim to have seen fairies1 or to have been in ,fairyland or under fairy influences2 and 7#c7 that which is first-hand evidence from actual percipients3 these three classes of evidence are so self-evident that every reader will be able to distinguish each class for himself as it occurs1 and a mechanical classification by us is unnecessary4 ,so no plan seems so good as the plan ,i have adopted of permitting all witnesses to give their own testimony in their own way and in its native setting1 and then of classifying and weighing such testimony according to the methods of comparative religion and the anthropological sciences4 ,in most cases1 as examination will show1 the evidence is so clear that little or no comment is necessary4 ,most of the evidence also points so much in one direction that the only verdict which seems reasonable is that the ,fairy-,faith belongs to a doctrine of souls2 that is to say1 that ,fairyland is a state or condition1 realm or place1 very much like1 if not the same as1 that wherein civilized and uncivilized men alike place the souls of the dead1 in company with other invisible beings such as gods1 daemons1 and all sorts of good and bad spirits4 ,not only do both educated and uneducated ,celtic seers so conceive ,fairyland1 but they go much further1 and say that ,fairyland actually exists as an invisible world within which the visible world is immersed like an island in an unexplored ocean1 and that it is peopled by more species of living beings than this world1 because incomparably more vast and varied in its possibilities4 ,we should be prepared in hearing the evidence to meet with some contradictions and a good deal of confusion1 for many of the people who believe in such a strange world as we have just described1 and who think they sometimes have entered it or have seen some of its inhabitants1 have often had no training at all in schools or colleges4 ,but when we hear legendary tales which have never been recorded save in the minds of unnumbered generations of men1 we ought not on that account to undervalue them2 for often they are better authorities and more trustworthy than many an ancient and carefully inscribed manuscript in the ,british ,museum2 and they are probably far older than the oldest book in the world4 ,let us1 then1 for a time1 forget that there are such things as libraries and universities1 and betake ourselves to the ,celtic peasant for instruction1 living close to nature as he lives1 and thinking the things which he thinks4 ,but the peasant will not be our only teacher1 for we shall also hear much of first importance from city folk of the highest intellectual training4 ,it has become1 perhaps always has been in modern times1 a widespread opinion1 even among some scholars1 that the belief in fairies is the property solely of simple1 uneducated country-folk1 and that people who have had 'a touch of education and a little common sense knocked into their heads'1 to use the ordinary language1 'wouldn't be caught believing in such nonsense4' ,this same class of critics used to make similar remarks about people who said there were ghosts1 until the truth of another 'stupid superstition' was discovered by psychical research4 ,so in this chapter we hope to correct this erroneous opinion about the ,fairy-,faith1 an opinion chiefly entertained by scholars and others who know not the first real fact about fairies1 because they have never lived amongst the people who believe in fairies1 but derive all their information from books and hearsay4 ,in due order the proper sort of witnesses will substantiate this position1 but before coming to their testimony we may now say that there are men and women in ,dublin1 in other parts of ,ireland1 in ,scotland1 in the ,isle of ,man1 and in ,brythonic lands too1 whom all the world knows as educated leaders in their respective fields of activity1 who not only declare their belief that fairies were1 but that fairies are2 and some of these men and women say that they have the power to see fairies as real spiritual beings4 ,in the evidence about to be presented there has been no selecting in favour of any one theory2 it is presented as discovered4 ,the only liberty taken with some of the evidence has been to put it into better grammatical form1 and sometimes to recast an ambiguous statement when ,i1 as collector1 had in my own mind no doubt as to its meaning4 ,translations have been made as literal as possible2 though sometimes it has been found better to offer the meaning rather than what in ,english would be an obscure colloquialism or idiomatic expression4 ,the method pursued in seeking the evidence has been to penetrate as deeply and in as natural a way as possible the thoughts of the people who believe in fairies and like beings1 by living among them and observing their customs and ways of thought1 and recording what seemed relevant to the subject under investigation--chance expressions1 and legends told under various ordinary conditions--rather than to collect long legends or literary fairy-stories4 ,for these last the reader is referred to the many excellent works on ,celtic folk-lore4 ,we have sought to bring together1 as perhaps has not been done before1 the philosophy of the belief in fairies1 rather than the mere fairy-lore itself1 though the two cannot be separated4 ,in giving the evidence concerning fairies1 we sometimes give evidence which1 though akin to it and thus worthy of record1 is not strictly fairy-lore4 ,all that we have omitted from the materials in the form first taken down are stories and accounts of things not sufficiently related to the world of ,faerie to be of value here4 ,in no case has testimony been admitted from a person who was known to be unreliable1 nor even from a person who was thought to be unreliable4 ,accordingly1 the evidence we are to examine ought to be considered good evidence so far as it goes2 and since it represents almost all known elements of the ,fairy-,faith and contains almost all the essential elements upon which the advocates of the ,naturalistic ,theory1 of the ,pygmy ,theory1 of the ,druid ,theory1 of the ,mythological ,theory1 as well as of our own ,psychological ,theory1 must base their arguments1 we consider it very adequate evidence4 ,nearly every witness is a ,celt who has been made acquainted with the belief in fairies through direct contact with people who believe in them1 or through having heard fairy-traditions among his own kindred1 or through personal psychological experiences4 ,and it is exceedingly fortunate for us that an unusually large proportion of these ,celtic witnesses are actual percipients and natural seers1 because the eliminations from the ,fairy-,faith to be brought about in chapter iii by means of an anthropological analysis of evidence will be so extensive that1 scientifically and strictly speaking1 there will remain as a residual or unknown quantity1 upon which our final conclusion must depend1 solely the testimony of reliable seer-witnesses4 ,that is to say1 no method of anthropological dissection of the evidence can force aside consideration of the ultimate truth which may or may not reside in the testimony of sane and thoroughly reliable seer-witnesses4 ,old and young1 educated and uneducated1 peasant and city-bred1 testify to the actual existence of the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith2 and the evidence from ,roman ,catholics stands beside that from ,protestants1 the evidence of priests supports that of scholars and scientists1 peasant seers have testified to the same kind of visions as highly educated seers2 and what poets have said agrees with what is told by business men1 engineers1 and lawyers4 ,but the best of witnesses1 like ourselves1 are only human1 and subject to the shortcomings of the ordinary man1 and therefore no claim can be made in any case to infallibility of evidence3 all the world over men interpret visions pragmatically and sociologically1 or hold beliefs in accord with their own personal experiences2 and are for ever unconsciously immersed in a sea of psychological influences which sometimes may be explainable through the methods of sociological inquiry1 sometimes may be supernormal in origin and nature1 and hence to be explained most adequately1 if at all1 through psychical research4 ,our study is a study of human nature itself1 and1 moreover1 often of human nature in its most subtle aspects1 which are called psychical2 and the most difficult problem of all is for human nature to interpret and understand its own ultimate essence and psychological instincts4 ,our whole aim is to discover what reasonableness may or may not stand behind a belief so vast1 so ancient1 so common 7contrary to popular non-,celtic opinion7 to all classes of ,celts1 and so fundamental a shaping force in ,european history1 religion1 and social institutions4 ,when we state our conviction that the ,fairy-,faith is common to all classes of ,celts1 we do not state that it is common to all ,celts4 ,the materialization of the age has affected the ,fairy-,faith as it has affected all religious beliefs the world over4 ,this has been pointed out by ,dr4 ,hyde1 by ,dr4 ,carmichael1 and by ,mr4 ,jenner in their respective introductions for ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,cornwall4 ,nevertheless1 the ,fairy-,faith as the folk-religion of the ,celtic peoples is still able to count its adherents by hundreds of thousands4 ,even in many cases where ,christian theology has been partially or wholly discarded by educated ,celts1 in the country or in the city1 as being to them in too many details out of harmony with accepted scientific truths1 the belief in fairies has been jealously retained1 and will1 so it would seem1 be retained in the future4 ,we are now prepared to hear about the ,daoine ,maithe1 the ',good ,people'1 as the ,irish call their ,sidhe race2 about the ',people of ,peace'1 the ',still-,folk' or the ',silent ,moving ,folk'1 as the ,scotch call their ,sth who live in green knolls and in the mountain fastnesses of the ,highlands2 about various ,manx fairies2 about the ,tylwyth ,teg1 the ',fair-,family' or ',fair-,folk'1 as the ,welsh people call their fairies2 about ,cornish ,pixies2 and about ,fes 7fairies71 ,corrigans1 and the ,phantoms of the ,dead in ,brittany4 ,and along with these1 for they are very much akin1 let us hear about ghosts--sometimes about ghosts who discover hidden treasure1 as in our story of the ,golden ,image--about goblins1 about various sorts of death-warnings generally coming from apparitions of the dead1 or from banshees1 about death-candles and phantom-funerals1 about leprechauns1 about hosts of the air1 and all kinds of elementals and spirits--in short1 about all the orders of beings who mingle together in that invisible realm called ,fairyland4 ,,ii4 ,,in ,,ireland ,introduction by ,,douglas ,,hyde1 ,,ll4,d41 ,d4 ,litt41 ,m4,r4,i4,a4 7,an ,craoibhn ,aoibhinn71 ,president of the ,gaelic ,league2 author of ,a ,literary ,history of ,ireland1 c4 ,whatever may be thought of the conclusions drawn by ,mr4 ,wentz from his explorations into the ,irish spirit-world1 there can be no doubt as to the accuracy of the data from which he draws them4 ,i have myself been for nearly a quarter of a century collecting1 off and on1 the folk-lore of ,western ,ireland1 not indeed in the shape in which ,mr4 ,wentz has collected it1 but rather with an eye 7partly for linguistic and literary purposes7 to its songs1 sayings1 ballads1 proverbs1 and sgalta1 which last are generally the equivalent of the ,german ,mrchen1 but sometimes have a touch of the saga nature about them4 ,in making a collection of these things ,i have naturally come across a very large amount of folk-belief conversationally expressed1 with regard to the 'good people' and other supernatural manifestations1 so that ,i can bear witness to the fidelity with which ,mr4 ,wentz has done his work on ,irish soil1 for to a great number of the beliefs which he records ,i have myself heard parallels1 sometimes ,i have heard near variants of the stories1 sometimes the identical stories4 ,so we may1 ,i think1 unhesitatingly accept his subject-matter1 whatever1 as ,i said1 be the conclusions we may deduce from them4 ,the folk-tale 7sean-sgal7 or ,mrchen1 which ,i have spent so much time in collecting1 must not be confounded with the folk-belief which forms the basis of ,mr4 ,wentz's studies4 ,the sgal or story is something much more intricate1 complicated1 and thought-out than the belief4 ,one can quite easily distinguish between the two4 ,one 7the belief7 is short1 conversational1 chiefly relating to real people1 and contains no great sequence of incidents1 while the other 7the folk-tale7 is long1 complicated1 more or less conventional1 and above all has its interest grouped around a single central figure1 that of the hero or heroine4 ,i may make this plainer by an example4 ,let us go into a cottage on the mountain-side1 as ,mr4 ,wentz and ,i have done so often1 and ask the old man of the house if he ever heard of such things as fairies1 and he will tell you that 'there is fairies in it surely4 ,didn't his own father see the forth#aj beyond full of them1 and he passing by of a moonlight night and a little piper among them1 and he playing music that mortal man never heard the like8' or he'll tell you that 'he himself wouldn't say agin fairies for it's often he heard their music at the old bush behind the house'4 ,ask what the fairies are like1 and he will tell you--well1 pretty much what ,mr4 ,wentz tells us4 ,from this and the like accounts we form our ideas of fairies and fairy music1 of ghosts1 mermaids1 pcas1 and so on1 but there is no sequence of incidents1 no hero1 no heroine1 no story4 ,again1 ask the old man if he knows e'er a sean-sgal 7story or ,mrchen71 and he will ask you at once1 ',did you ever hear the ,speckled ,bull2 did you ever hear the ,well at the end of the world2 did you ever hear the ,tailor and the ,three ,beasts2 did you ever hear the ,hornless ,cow8' ,ask him to relate one of these1 and if you get him in the right vein1 which may be perhaps one time in ten1 or if you induce the right vein1 which you may do perhaps nine times out of ten1 you will find him begin with a certain gravity and solemnity at the very beginning1 thus1 ',there was once1 in old times and in old times it was1 a king in ,ireland'2 or perhaps 'a man who married a second wife'2 or perhaps 'a widow woman with only one son'3 and the tale proceeds to recount the life and adventures of the heroes or heroines1 whose biographies told in ,irish in a sort of stereotyped form may take from ten minutes to half an hour to get through4 ,some stories would burn out a dip candle in the telling1 or even last the whole night4 ,but these stories have little or nothing to say to the questions raised in this book4 ,the problem we have to deal with is a startling one1 as thus put before us by ,mr4 ,wentz4 ,are these beings of the spirit world real beings1 having a veritable existence of their own1 in a world of their own1 or are they only the creation of the imagination of his informants1 and the tradition of bygone centuries8 ,the newspaper1 the ',national' ,school1 and the ,zeitgeist have answered to their own entire satisfaction that these things are imagination pure and simple4 ,yet this off-hand condemnation does not always carry with it a perfect conviction4 ,we do not doubt the existence of tree-martins or kingfishers1 although nine hundred and ninety-nine people out of every thousand pass their entire lives without being vouchsafed a glimpse of them in their live state2 and may it not be the same with the creatures of the spirit world1 may not they also exist1 though to only one in a thousand it be vouchsafed to behold them8 ,the spirit creatures cannot be stuffed and put into museums1 like rare animals and birds1 whose existence we might doubt of if we had not seen them there2 yet they may exist just as such animals and birds do1 though we cannot see them4 ,i1 at least1 have often been tempted to think so4 ,but the following considerations1 partly drawn from comparative folk-lore1 have made me hesitate about definitely accepting any theory4 ,in the first place1 then1 viewing the ,irish spirit-world as a whole1 we find that it contains1 even on ,mr4 ,wentz's showing1 quite a number of different orders of beings1 of varying shapes1 appearances1 size1 and functions4 ,are we to believe that all those beings equally exist1 and1 on the principle that there can be no smoke without a fire1 are we to hold that there would be no popular conception of the banshee1 the leprechaun1 or the ,maighdean-mhara 7sea-maiden1 mermaid71 and consequently no tales told about them1 if such beings did not exist1 and from time to time allow themselves to be seen like the wood-martin and the kingfisher8 ,this question is1 moreover1 further complicated by the belief in the appearance of things that are or appear to be inanimate objects1 not living beings1 such as the deaf coach or the phantom ship in full sail1 the appearance of which ,mr4 ,yeats has immortalized in one of his earliest and finest poems4 ,again1 although the bean-sidhe 7banshee71 leprechaun1 pca1 and the like are the most commonly known and usually seen creatures of the spirit world1 yet great quantities of other appearances are believed to have been also sporadically met with4 ,i very well remember sitting one night some four or five years ago in an hotel in ,indianapolis1 ,u4,s4,a41 and talking to four ,irishmen1 one or two of them very wealthy1 and all prosperous citizens of the ,united ,states4 ,the talk happened to turn upon spirits--the only time during my entire ,american experiences in which such a thing happened--and each man of the four had a story of his own to tell1 in which he was a convinced believer1 of ghostly manifestations seen by him in ,ireland4 ,two of these manifestations were of beings that would fall into no known category2 a monstrous rabbit as big as an ass1 which plunged into the sea 7rabbits can swim71 and a white heifer which ascended to heaven1 were two of them4 ,i myself1 when a boy of ten or eleven1 was perfectly convinced that on a fine early dewy morning in summer when people were still in bed1 ,i saw a strange horse run round a seven-acre field of ours and change into a woman1 who ran even swifter than the horse1 and after a couple of courses round the field disappeared into our haggard4 ,i am sure1 whatever ,i may believe to-day1 no earthly persuasion would1 at the time1 have convinced me that ,i did not see this4 ,yet ,i never saw it again1 and never heard of any one else seeing the same4 ,my object in mentioning these things is to show that if we concede the real objective existence of1 let us say1 the apparently well-authenticated banshee 7,bean-sidhe1 'woman-fairy'71 where are we to stop8 for any number of beings1 more or less well authenticated1 come crowding on her heels1 so many indeed that they would point to a far more extensive world of different shapes than is usually suspected1 not to speak of inanimate objects like the coach and the ship4 ,of course there is nothing inherently impossible in all these shapes existing any more than in one of them existing1 but they all seem to me to rest upon the same kind of testimony1 stronger in the case of some1 less strong in the case of others1 and it is as well to point out this clearly4 ,my own experience is that beliefs in the ,sidhe 7pronounced ,shee7 folk1 and in other denizens of the invisible world is1 in many places1 rapidly dying4 ,in reading folk-lore collections like those of ,mr4 ,wentz and others1 one is naturally inclined to exaggerate the extent and depth of these traditions4 ,they certainly still exist1 and can be found if you go to search for them2 but they often exist almost as it were by sufferance1 only in spots1 and are ceasing to be any longer a power4 ,near my home in a western county 7,county ,roscommon7 rises gently a slope1 which1 owing to the flatness of the surrounding regions1 almost becomes a hill1 and is a conspicuous object for many miles upon every side4 ,the old people called it in ,irish ,mullach na ,sidhe4 ,this name is now practically lost1 and it is called ,fairymount4 ,so extinct have the traditions of the ,sidhe-folk1 who lived within the hill1 become1 that a high ecclesiastic recently driving by asked his driver was there an ,irish name for the hill1 and what was it1 and his driver did not know4 ,there took place a few years ago a much talked of bog-slide in the neighbouring townland of ,cloon-,sheever 7,sidhbhair or ,siabhra71 'the ,meadow of the ,fairies1' and many newspaper correspondents came to view it4 ,one of the natives told a sympathetic newspaper reporter1 ',sure we always knew it was going to move1 that's why the place is named ,cloon-,sheever1 the bog was always in a shiver6' ,i have never been able to hear of any legends attached to what must have at one time been held to be the head-quarters of the ,sidhe for a score of miles round it4 ,of all the beings in the ,irish mythological world the ,sidhe are1 however1 apparently the oldest and the most distinctive4 ,beside them in literature and general renown all other beings sink into insignificance4 ,a belief in them formerly dominated the whole of ,irish life4 ,the ,sidhe or ,tuatha ,de ,danann were a people like ourselves who inhabited the hills--not as a rule the highest and most salient eminences1 but ,i think more usually the pleasant undulating slopes or gentle hill-sides--and who lived there a life of their own1 marrying or giving in marriage1 banqueting or making war1 and leading there just as real a life as is our own4 ,all ,irish literature1 particularly perhaps the ',colloquy of the ,ancients' 7,agallamh na ,senrach7 abounds with reference to them4 ,to inquire how the ,irish originally came by their belief in these beings1 the ,sidhe or ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 is to raise a question which cannot be answered1 any more than one can answer the question1 ,where did the ,romans obtain their belief in ,bacchus and the fauns1 or the ,greeks their own belief in the beings of ,olympus8 ,but granting such belief to have been indigenous to the ,irish1 as it certainly seems to have been1 then the tall1 handsome fairies of ,ben ,bulbin and the ,sligo district1 about whom ,mr4 ,wentz tells us so much interesting matter1 might be accounted for as being a continuation of the tradition of the ancient ,gaels1 or a piece of heredity inherent in the folk-imagination4 ,i mean1 in other words1 that the tradition about these handsome dwellers within the hill-sides having been handed down for ages1 and having been perhaps exceptionally well preserved in those districts1 people saw just what they had always been told existed1 or1 if ,i may so put it1 they saw what they expected to see4 ,fin ,bheara1 the ,king of the ,connacht ,fairies in ,cnoc ,meadha 7or ,castlehacket7 in the ,county ,galway1 his ,queen ,nuala1 and all the beautiful forms seen by ,mr4 ,wentz's seer-witness 7pp4 #fj ff471 all the banshees and all the human figures1 white women1 and so forth1 who are seen in raths and moats and on hill-sides1 are the direct descendants1 so to speak1 of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or the ,sidhe4 ,of this1 ,i think1 there can be no doubt whatever4 ,but then how are we to account for the little red-dressed men and women and the leprechauns8 ,yet1 are they any more wonderful than the pygmies of classic tradition8 ,is not the ,mermaid to be found in ,greece1 and is not the ,lorelei as ,germanic as the ,kelpy is ,caledonian4 ,if we grant that all these are creatures of primitive folk-belief1 then how they come to be so ceases to be a ,celtic problem1 it becomes a world problem4 ,but granted1 as ,i say1 that they were all creatures of primitive folk-belief1 then their occasional appearances1 or the belief in such1 may be accounted for in exactly the same way as ,i have suggested to be possible in the case of the ,ben ,bulbin fairies4 ,as for the belief in ghosts or revenants 7in ,irish tais or taidhbhse71 it seems to me that this may possibly rest to some extent upon a different footing altogether4 ,here we are not confronted by a different order of beings of different shapes and attributes from our own1 but only with the appearances1 amongst the living1 of men who were believed or known to be dead or far away from the scene of their appearances4 ,even those who may be most sceptical about the ,sidhe-folk and the leprechauns are likely to be convinced 7on the mere evidence7 that the existence of 'astral bodies' or 'doubles'1 or whatever we may call them1 and the appearances of people1 especially in the hour of their death1 to other people who were perhaps hundreds of miles away at the time1 is amply proven4 ,yet whatever may have been the case originally when man was young1 ,i do not think that this had in later times any more direct bearing upon the belief in the ,sidhe1 the leprechauns1 the mermaid1 and similar beings than upon the belief in the ,greek ,pantheon1 the naiads1 the dryads1 or the fauns2 all of which beliefs1 probably arising originally from an animistic source1 must have differentiated themselves at a very early period4 ,of course every real apparition1 every 'ghost' apparition1 tends now1 and must have tended at all times1 to strengthen every spirit belief4 ,for do not ghost apparitions belong1 in a way1 to the same realm as all the others we have spoken of1 that is1 to a realm equally outside our normal experience8 ,another very interesting point1 and one hitherto generally overlooked1 is this1 that different parts of the ,irish soil cherish different bodies of supernatural beings4 ,the ,north of ,ireland believes in beings unknown in the ,south1 and ,north-,east ,leinster has spirits unknown to the ,west4 ,some places seem to be almost given up to special beliefs4 ,any outsider1 for instance1 who may have read that powerful and grisly book1 ,la ,lgende de la ,mort1 by ,m4 ,anatole ,le ,braz1 in two large volumes1 all about the awful appearances of ,ankou 7,death71 who simply dominates the folk-lore of ,brittany1 will probably be very much astonished to know that1 though ,i have been collecting ,irish folk-lore all my life1 ,i have never met ,death figuring as a personality in more than two or three tales1 and these mostly of a trivial or humorous description1 though the ,deaf ,coach 7,ciste ,bodhar71 the belief in which is pretty general1 does seem a kind of parallel to the creaking cart in which ,ankou rides4 ,i would suggest1 then1 that the restriction of certain forms of spirits1 if ,i may so call them1 to certain localities1 may be due to race intermixture4 ,i would imagine that where the people of a primitive tribe settled down most strongly1 they also most strongly preserved the memory of those supernatural beings who were peculiarly their own4 ,the ,sidhe-folk appear to be pre-eminently and distinctively ,milesian1 but the geancanach 7name of some little spirit in ,meath and portion of ,ulster7 may have been believed in by a race entirely different from that which believed in the clracaun 7a ,munster sprite74 ,some of these beliefs may be ,aryan1 but many are probably pre-,celtic4 ,is it not strange that while the names and exploits of the great semi-mythological heroes of the various ,saga cycles of ,ireland1 ,cuchulainn1 ,conor mac ,nessa1 ,finn1 ,osgar1 ,oisin1 and the rest1 are at present the inheritance of all ,ireland1 and are known in every part of it1 there should still be1 as ,i have said1 supernatural beings believed in which are unknown outside of their own districts1 and of which the rest of ,ireland has never heard8 ,if the inhabitants of the limited districts in which these are seen still think they see them1 my suggestion is that the earlier race handed down an account of the primitive beings believed in by their own tribe1 and later generations1 if they saw anything1 saw just what they were told existed4 ,whilst far from questioning the actual existence of certain spiritual forms and apparitions1 ,i venture to throw out these considerations for what they may be worth1 and ,i desire again to thank ,mr4 ,wentz for all the valuable data he has collected for throwing light upon so interesting a question4 ,,ratra1 ,,frenchpark1 ,,county ,,roscommon1 ,,ireland1 ,september #aiaj4 ,,the ,,fairy ,,folk ,,of ,,tara ,on the ancient ,hill of ,tara1 from whose heights the ,high ,kings once ruled all ,ireland1 from where the sacred fires in pagan days announced the annual resurrection of the sun1 the ,easter ,tide1 where the magic of ,patrick prevailed over the magic of the ,druids1 and where the hosts of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann were wont to appear at the great ,feast of ,samain1 to-day the fairy-folk of modern times hold undisputed sovereignty4 ,and from no point better than ,tara1 which thus was once the magical and political centre of the ,sacred ,island1 could we begin our study of the ,irish ,fairy-,faith4 ,though the ,hill has lain unploughed and deserted since the curses of ,christian priests fell upon it1 on the calm air of summer evenings1 at the twilight hour1 wondrous music still sounds over its slopes1 and at night long1 weird processions of silent spirits march round its grass-grown raths and forts4#aa ,it is only men who fear the curse of the ,christians2 the fairy-folk regard it not4 ,the ,rev4 ,father ,peter ,kenney1 of ,kilmessan1 had directed me to ,john ,graham1 an old man over seventy years of age1 who has lived near ,tara most of his life2 and after ,i had found ,john1 and he had led me from rath to rath and then right through the length of the site where once stood the banquet hall of kings and heroes and ,druids1 as he earnestly described the past glories of ,tara to which these ancient monuments bear silent testimony1 we sat down in the thick sweet grass on the ,sacred ,hill and began talking of the olden times in ,ireland1 and then of the 'good people'3-- ,the ',good ,people's' ,music4--',as sure as you are sitting down ,i heard the pipes there in that wood 7pointing to a wood on the north-west slope of the ,hill1 and west of the banquet hall74 ,i heard the music another time on a hot summer evening at the ,rath of ,ringlestown1 in a field where all the grass had been burned off2 and ,i often heard it in the wood of ,tara4 ,whenever the good people play1 you hear their music all through the field as plain as can be2 and it is the grandest kind of music4 ,it may last half the night1 but once day comes1 it ends4' ,who the ',good ,people' are4--,i now asked ,john what sort of a race the 'good people' are1 and where they came from1 and this is his reply3--',people killed and murdered in war stay on earth till their time is up1 and they are among the good people4 ,the souls on this earth are as thick as the grass 7running his walking-stick through a thick clump71 and you can't see them2 and evil spirits are just as thick1 too1 and people don't know it4 ,because there are so many spirits knocking 7going7 about they must appear to some people4 ,the old folk saw the good people here on the ,hill a hundred times1 and they'd always be talking about them4 ,the good people can see everything1 and you dare not meddle with them4 ,they live in raths1 and their houses are in them4 ,the opinion always was that they are a race of spirits1 for they can go into different forms1 and can appear big as well as little4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,kilmessan1 ,,near ,,tara ,john ,boylin1 born in ,county ,meath about sixty years ago1 will be our witness from ,kilmessan1 a village about two miles from ,tara2 and he1 being one of the men of the vicinity best informed about its folk-lore1 is able to offer testimony of very great value3-- ,the ,fairy ,tribes4--',there is said to be a whole tribe of little red men living in ,glen ,odder1 between ,ringlestown and ,tara2 and on long evenings in ,june they have been heard4 ,there are other breeds or castes of fairies2 and it seems to me1 when ,i recall our ancient traditions1 that some of these fairies are of the ,fir ,bolgs1 some of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 and some of the ,milesians4 ,all of them have been seen serenading round the western slope of ,tara1 dressed in ancient ,irish costumes4 ,unlike the little red men1 these fairy races are warlike and given to making invasions4 ,long processions of them have been seen going round the ,king's ,chair 7an earthwork on which the ,kings of ,tara are said to have been crowned72 and they then would appear like soldiers of ancient ,ireland in review4' ,the ,fairy ,procession4--',we were told as children1 that1 as soon as night fell1 the fairies from ,rath ,ringlestown would form in a procession1 across ,tara road1 pass round certain bushes which have not been disturbed for ages1 and join the gangkena 787 or host of industrious folk1 the red fairies4 ,we were afraid1 and our nurses always brought us home before the advent of the fairy procession4 ,one of the passes used by this procession happened to be between two mud-wall houses2 and it is said that a man went out of one of these houses at the wrong time1 for when found he was dead3 the fairies had taken him because he interfered with their procession4'#ab ,death through ,cutting ,fairy-,bushes4--',a man named ,caffney cut as fuel to boil his pot of potatoes some of these undisturbed bushes round which the fairies pass4 ,when he put the wood under the pot1 though it spat fire1 and fire-sparkles would come out of it1 it would not burn4 ,the man pined away gradually4 ,in six months after cutting the fairy-bushes1 he was dead4 ,just before he died1 he told his experiences with the wood to his brother1 and his brother told me4' ,the ,fairies are the ,dead4--',according to the local belief1 fairies are the spirits of the departed4 ,tradition says that ,hugh ,o',neil in the sixteenth century1 after his march to the south1 encamped his army on the ,rath or ,fort of ,ringlestown1 to be assisted by the spirits of the mighty dead who dwelt within this rath4 ,and it is believed that ,gerald ,fitzgerald has been seen coming out of the ,hill of ,mollyellen1 down in ,county ,louth1 leading his horse and dressed in the old ,irish costume1 with breastplate1 spear1 and war outfit4' ,fairy ,possession4--',rose ,carroll was possessed by a fairy-spirit4 ,it is known that her father held communion with evil spirits1 and it appears that they often assisted him4 ,the ,carrolls' house was built at the end of a fairy fort1 and part of it was scooped out of this fort4 ,rose grew so peculiar that her folks locked her up4 ,after two years she was able to shake off the fairy possession by being taken to ,father ,robinson's sisters1 and then to an old witch-woman in ,drogheda4' ,,in ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,the ,,boyne ,in walking along the ,river ,boyne1 from ,slane to ,knowth and ,new ,grange1 ,i stopped at the cottage of ,owen ,morgan1 at ,ross-na-,righ1 or 'the ,wood of the ,kings'1 though the ancient wood has long since disappeared2 and as we sat looking out over the sunlit beauty of ,ireland's classic river1 and in full view of the first of the famous moats1 this is what ,owen ,morgan told me3-- ,how the ,shoemaker's ,daughter became the ,queen of ,tara4--',in olden times there lived a shoemaker and his wife up there near ,moat ,knowth1 and their first child was taken by the queen of the fairies who lived inside the moat1 and a little leprechaun left in its place4 ,the same exchange was made when the second child was born4 ,at the birth of the third child the fairy queen came again and ordered one of her three servants to take the child2 but the child could not be moved because of a great beam of iron1 too heavy to lift1 which lay across the baby's breast4 ,the second servant and then the third failed like the first1 and the queen herself could not move the child4 ,the mother being short of pins had used a needle to fasten the child's clothes1 and that was what appeared to the fairies as a beam of iron1 for there was virtue in steel in those days4 ',so the fairy queen decided to bestow gifts upon the child2 and advised each of the three servants to give1 in turn1 a different gift4 ,the first one said1 ,may she be the grandest lady in the world2 the second one said1 ,may she be the greatest singer in the world2 and the third one said1 ,may she be the best mantle-maker in the world4 ,then the fairy queen said1 ,your gifts are all very good1 but ,i will give a gift of my own better than any of them3 the first time she happens to go out of the house let her come back into it under the form of a rat4 ,the mother heard all that the fairy women said1 and so she never permitted her daughter to leave the house4 ',when the girl reached the age of eighteen1 it happened that the young prince of ,tara1 in riding by on a hunt1 heard her singing1 and so entranced was he with the music that he stopped to listen2 and1 the song ended1 he entered the house1 and upon seeing the wonderful beauty of the singer asked her to marry him4 ,the mother said that could not be1 and taking the daughter out of the house for the first time brought her back into it in an apron under the form of a rat1 that the prince might understand the refusal4 ',this enchantment1 however1 did not change the prince's love for the beautiful singer2 and he explained how there was a day mentioned with his father1 the king1 for all the great ladies of ,ireland to assemble in the ,halls of ,tara1 and that the grandest lady and the greatest singer and the best mantle-maker would be chosen as his wife4 ,when he added that each lady must come in a chariot1 the rat spoke to him and said that he must send to her home1 on the day named1 four piebald cats and a pack of cards1 and that she would make her appearance1 provided that at the time her chariot came to the ,halls of ,tara no one save the prince should be allowed near it2 and1 she finally said to the prince1 ,until the day mentioned with your father1 you must carry me as a rat in your pocket4 ',but before the great day arrived1 the rat had made everything known to one of the fairy women1 and so when the four piebald cats and the pack of cards reached the girl's home1 the fairies at once turned the cats into the four most splendid horses in the world1 and the pack of cards into the most wonderful chariot in the world2 and1 as the chariot was setting out from the ,moat for ,tara1 the fairy queen clapped her hands and laughed1 and the enchantment over the girl was broken1 so that she became1 as before1 the prettiest lady in the world1 and she sitting in the chariot4 ',when the prince saw the wonderful chariot coming1 he knew whose it was1 and went out alone to meet it2 but he could not believe his eyes on seeing the lady inside4 ,and then she told him about the witches and fairies1 and explained everything4 ',hundreds of ladies had come to the ,halls of ,tara from all ,ireland1 and every one as grand as could be4 ,the contest began with the singing1 and ended with the mantle-making1 and the young girl was the last to appear2 but to the amazement of all the company the king had to give in 7admit7 that the strange woman was the grandest lady1 the greatest singer1 and the best mantle-maker in ,ireland2 and when the old king died she became the ,queen of ,tara4' ,after this ancient legend1 which ,owen ,morgan heard from the old folks when he was a boy1 he told me many anecdotes about the 'good people' of the ,boyne1 who are little men usually dressed in red4 ,the ',good ,people' at ,new ,grange4--,between ,knowth and ,new ,grange ,i met ,maggie ,timmons carrying a pail of butter-milk to her calves2 and when we stopped on the road to talk1 ,i asked her1 in due time1 if any of the 'good people' ever appeared in the region1 or about ,new ,grange1 which we could see in the field1 and she replied1 in reference to ,new ,grange3--',i am sure the neighbours used to see the good people come out of it at night and in the morning4 ,the good people inherited the fort4' ,then ,i asked her what the 'good people' are1 and she said3--',when they disappear they go like fog2 they must be something like spirits1 or how could they disappear in that way8 ,i knew of people1' she added1 'who would milk in the fields about here and spill milk on the ground for the good people2 and pots of potatoes would be put out for the good people at night4' 7,see chap4 viii for additional ,new ,grange folk-lore47 ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,an ,,irish ,,priest ,we now pass directly to ,west ,ireland1 in many ways our most important field1 and where of all places in the ,celtic world the ,fairy-,faith is vigorously alive2 and it seems very fitting to offer the first opportunity to testify in behalf of that district to a scholarly priest of the ,roman ,church1 for what he tells us is almost wholly the result of his own memories and experiences as an ,irish boy in ,connemara1 supplemented in a valuable way by his wider and more mature knowledge of the fairy-belief as he sees it now among his own parishioners3-- ,knock ,ma ,fairies4--',knock ,ma1 which you see over there1 is said to contain excavated passages and a palace where the fairies live1 and with them the people they have taken4 ,and from the inside of the hill there is believed to be an entrance to an underground world4 ,it is a common opinion that after consumptives die they are there with the fairies in good health4 ,the wasted body is not taken into the hill1 for it is usually regarded as not the body of the deceased but rather as that of a changeling1 the general belief being that the real body and the soul are carried off together1 and those of an old person from ,fairyland substituted4 ,the old person left soon declines and dies4' ,safeguards against ,fairies4--',it was proper when having finished milking a cow to put one's thumb in the pail of milk1 and with the wet thumb to make the sign of the cross on the thigh of the cow on the side milked1 to be safe against fairies4 ,and ,i have seen them when churning put a live coal about an inch square under the churn1 because it was an old custom connected with fairies4' ,milk and ,butter for ,fairies4--',whatever milk falls on the ground in milking a cow is taken by the fairies1 for fairies need a little milk4 ,also1 after churning1 the knife which is run through the butter in drying it must not be scraped clean1 for what sticks to it belongs to the fairies4 ,out of three pounds of butter1 for example1 an ounce or two would be left for the fairies4 ,i have seen this several times4' ,crossing a ,stream1 and ,fairies4--',when out on a dark night1 if pursued by fairies or ghosts one is considered quite safe if one can get over some stream4 ,i remember coming home on a dark night with a boy companion and hearing a noise1 and then after we had run to a stream and crossed it feeling quite safe4' ,fairy ,preserves4--',a heap of stones in a field should not be disturbed1 though needed for building--especially if they are part of an ancient tumulus4 ,the fairies are said to live inside the pile1 and to move the stones would be most unfortunate4 ,if a house happens to be built on a fairy preserve1 or in a fairy track1 the occupants will have no luck4 ,everything will go wrong4 ,their animals will die1 their children fall sick1 and no end of trouble will come on them4 ,when the house happens to have been built in a fairy track1 the doors on the front and back1 or the windows if they are in the line of the track1 cannot be kept closed at night1 for the fairies must march through4 ,near ,ballinrobe there is an old fort which is still the preserve of the fairies1 and the land round it4 ,the soil is very fine1 and yet no one would dare to till it4 ,some time ago in laying out a new road the engineers determined to run it through the fort1 but the people rose almost in rebellion1 and the course had to be changed4 ,the farmers wouldn't cut down a tree or bush growing on the hill or preserve for anything4' ,fairy ,control over ,crops4--',fairies are believed to control crops and their ripening4 ,a field of turnips may promise well1 and its owner will count on so many tons to the acre1 but if when the crop is gathered it is found to be far short of the estimate1 the explanation is that the fairies have extracted so much substance from it4 ,the same thing is the case with corn4' ,november ,eve and ,fairies4--',on ,november ,eve it is not right to gather or eat blackberries or sloes1 nor after that time as long as they last4 ,on ,november ,eve the fairies pass over all such things and make them unfit to eat4 ,if one dares to eat them afterwards one will have serious illness4 ,we firmly believed this as boys1 and ,i laugh now when ,i think how we used to gorge ourselves with berries on the last day of ,october1 and then for weeks after pass by bushes full of the most luscious fruit1 and with mouths watering for it couldn't eat it4' ,fairies as ,flies4--',there is an old abbey on the river1 in ,county ,mayo1 and people say the fairies had a great battle near it1 and that the slaughter was tremendous4 ,at the time1 the fairies appeared as swarms of flies coming from every direction to that spot4 ,some came from ,knock ,ma1 and some from ,south ,ireland1 the opinion being that fairies can assume any form they like4 ,the battle lasted a day and a night1 and when it was over one could have filled baskets with the dead flies which floated down the river4' ,those who ,return from ,faerie4--',persons in a short trance-state of two or three days' duration are said to be away with the fairies enjoying a festival4 ,the festival may be very material in its nature1 or it may be purely spiritual4 ,sometimes one may thus go to ,faerie for an hour or two2 or one may remain there for seven1 fourteen1 or twenty-one years4 ,the mind of a person coming out of ,fairyland is usually a blank as to what has been seen and done there4 ,another idea is that the person knows well enough all about ,fairyland1 but is prevented from communicating the knowledge4 ,a certain woman of whom ,i knew said she had forgotten all about her experiences in ,faerie1 but a friend who heard her objected1 and said she did remember1 and wouldn't tell4 ,a man may remain awake at night to watch one who has been to ,fairyland to see if that one holds communication with the fairies4 ,others say in such a case that the fairies know you are on the alert1 and will not be discovered4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,galway ,,piper ,fairies,sidhega4--,according to our next witness1 ,steven ,ruan1 a piper of ,galway1 with whom ,i have often talked1 there is one class of fairies 'who are nobody else than the spirits of men and women who once lived on earth'2 and the banshee is a dead friend1 relative1 or ancestor who appears to give a warning4 ',the fairies'1 he says1 'never care about old folks4 ,they only take babies1 and young men and young women4 ,if a young wife dies1 she is said to have been taken by them1 and ever afterwards to live in ,fairyland4 ,the same things are said about a young man or a child who dies4 ,fairyland is a place of delights1 where music1 and singing1 and dancing1 and feasting are continually enjoyed2 and its inhabitants are all about us1 as numerous as the blades of grass4' ,a ,fairy ,dog4--,in the course of another conversation1 ,steven pointed to a rocky knoll in a field not far from his home1 and said3--',i saw a dog with a white ring around his neck by that hill there1 and the oldest men round ,galway have seen him1 too1 for he has been here for one hundred years or more4 ,he is a dog of the good people1 and only appears at certain hours of the night4' ,an ,old ,piper in ,fairyland4--,and before we had done talking1 the subject of fairy-music came up1 and the following little story coming from one of the last of the old ,irish pipers himself1 about a brother piper1 is of more than ordinary value3--',there used to be an old piper called ,flannery who lived in ,oranmore1 ,county ,galway4 ,i imagine he was one of the old generation4 ,and one time the good people took him to ,fairyland to learn his profession4 ,he studied music with them for a long time1 and when he returned he was as great a piper as any in ,ireland4 ,but he died young1 for the good people wanted him to play for them4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ',,old ,,patsy' ,,of ,,aranmore ,our next witness is an old man1 familiarly called ',old ,patsy'1 who is a native of the ,island of ,aranmore1 off the coast from ,galway1 and he lives on the island amid a little group of straw-thatched fishermen's homes called ,oak ,quarter4 ,as ',old ,patsy' stood beside a rude stone cross near ,oak ,quarter1 in one of those curious places on ,aranmore1 where each passing funeral stops long enough to erect a little memorial pile of stones on the smooth rocky surface of the roadside enclosure1 he told me many anecdotes about the mysteries of his native island4 ,aranmore ,fairies4--,twenty years or so ago round the ,bedd of ,dermot and ,grania1 just above us on the hill1 there were seen many fairies1 'crowds of them1' said ',old ,patsy'1 and a single deer4 ,they began to chase the deer1 and followed it right over the island4 ,at another time similar little people chased a horse4 ',the rocks were full of them1 and they were small fellows4' ,a ,fairy ,beating--in a ,dream4--',in the ,south ,island1' he continued1 'as night was coming on1 a man was giving his cow water at a well1 and1 as he looked on the other side of a wall1 he saw many strange people playing hurley4 ,when they noticed him looking at them1 one came up and struck the cow a hard blow1 and turning on the man cut his face and body very badly4 ,the man might not have been so badly off1 but he returned to the well after the first encounter and got five times as bad a beating2 and when he reached home he couldn't speak at all1 until the cock crew4 ,then he told about his adventures1 and slept a little4 ,when he woke up in the daylight he was none the worse for his beating1 for the fairies had rubbed something on his face4' ,patsy says he knew the man1 who if still alive is now in ,america1 where he went several years ago4 ,where ,fairies ,live4--,when ,i asked ,patsy where the fairies live1 he turned half around1 and pointing in the direction of ,dun ,aengus1 which was in full view on the sharp sky-line of ,aranmore1 said that there1 in a large tumulus on the hill-side below it1 they had one of their favourite abodes4 ,but1 he added1 ',the rocks are full of them1 and they are small fellows4' ,just across the road from where we were standing1 in a spot near ,oak ,quarter1 another place was pointed out where the fairies are often seen dancing4 ,the name of it is ,moneen an ,damhsa1 'the ,little ,bog of the ,dance4' ,other sorts of fairies live in the sea2 and some of them who live on ,aranmore 7probably in conjunction with those in the sea7 go out over the water and cause storms and wind4 ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,roman ,,catholic ,,theologian ,the following evidence1 by the ,rev4 ,father ----1 came out during a discussion concerning spirits and fairies as regarded by ,roman ,catholic theology1 which he and ,i enjoyed when we met as fellow travellers in ,galway ,town3-- ,of ,magic and ,place-spirits4--',magic1 according to ,catholic theology1 is nothing else than the solicitation of spiritual powers to help us4 ,if evil spirits are evoked by certain irrational practices it is unholy magic1 and this is altogether forbidden by our ,church4 ,all charms1 spells1 divination1 necromancy1 or geomancy are unholy magic4 ,holy magic is practised by carrying the ,cross in ,christ4 ,now evil magic has been practised here in ,ireland3 butter has been taken so that none came from the churning2 cows have been made to die of maladies2 and fields made unproductive4 ,a cow was bought from an old woman in ,connemara1 and no butter was ever had from the cow until exorcism with holy water was performed4 ,this is reported to me as a fact4' ,and in another relation the ,rev4 ,father ---- said what for us is highly significant3--',my private opinion is that in certain places here in ,ireland where pagan sacrifices were practised1 evil spirits through receiving homage gained control1 and still hold control1 unless driven out by exorcisms4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,the ,,town ,,clerk ,,of ,,tuam ,to the town clerk of ,tuam1 ,mr4 ,john ,glynn1 who since his boyhood has taken a keen interest in the traditions of his native county1 ,i am indebted for the following valuable summary of the fairy creed in that part of ,north ,galway where ,finvara rules3-- ,fairies of the ,tuam ,country4--',the whole of ,knock ,ma 7,cnoc ,meadha#ac71 which probably means ,hill of the ,plain1 is said to be the palace of ,finvara1 king of the ,connaught fairies4 ,there are a good many legends about ,finvara1 but very few about ,queen ,meave in this region4' ,famine of #ahdf-g caused by ,fairies4--',during #ahdf-g the potato crop in ,ireland was a failure1 and very much suffering resulted4 ,at the time1 the country people in these parts attributed the famine to disturbed conditions in the fairy world4 ,old ,thady ,steed once told me about the conditions then prevailing1 ,sure1 we couldn't be any other way2 and ,i saw the good people and hundreds besides me saw them fighting in the sky over ,knock ,ma and on towards ,galway4 ,and ,i heard others say they saw the fighting also4' ,fairyland2 and the ,seeress4--',fairies are said to be immortal1 and the fairy world is always described as an immaterial place1 though ,i do not think it is the same as the world of the dead4 ,sick persons1 however1 are often said to be with the fairies1 and when cured1 to have come back4 ,a woman who died here about thirty years ago was commonly believed to have been with the fairies during her seven years' sickness when she was a maiden4 ,she married after coming back1 and had children2 and she was always able to see the good people and to talk with them1 for she had the second-sight4 ,and it is said that she used to travel with the fairies at night4 ,after her marriage she lived in ,tuam1 and though her people were six or seven miles out from ,tuam in the country1 she could always tell all that was taking place with them there1 and she at her own home at the time4' ,fairies on ,may ,day4--',on ,may ,day the good people can steal butter if the chance is given them4 ,if a person enters a house then1 and churning is going on1 he must take a hand in it1 or else there will be no butter4 ,and if fire is given away on ,may ,day nothing will go right for the whole year4' ,the ,three ,fairy ,drops4--',even yet certain things are due the fairies2 for example1 two years ago1 in the ,court ,room here in ,tuam1 a woman was on trial for watering milk1 and to the surprise of us all who were conducting the proceedings1 and1 it can be added1 to the great amusement of the onlookers1 she swore that she had only added the three fairy drops4' ,food of ,fairies4--',food1 after it has been put out at night for the fairies1 is not allowed to be eaten afterwards by man or beast1 not even by pigs4 ,such food is said to have no real substance left in it1 and to let anything eat it wouldn't be thought of4 ,the underlying idea seems to be that the fairies extract the spiritual essence from food offered to them1 leaving behind the grosser elements4' ,fairy ,warfare4--',when the fairy tribes under the various kings and queens have a battle1 one side manages to have a living man among them1 and he by knocking the fairies about turns the battle in case the side he is on is losing4 ,it is always usual for the ,munster fairy king to challenge ,finvara1 the ,connaught fairy king4' ,,county ,,sligo1 ,,and ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,peasant ,,seer#ad ,the ,ben ,bulbin country in ,county ,sligo is one of those rare places in ,ireland where fairies are thought to be visible1 and our first witness from there claims to be able to see the fairies or 'gentry' and to talk with them4 ,this mortal so favoured lives in the same townland where his fathers have lived during four hundred years1 directly beneath the shadows of ,ben ,bulbin1 on whose sides ,dermot is said to have been killed while hunting the wild-boar4 ,and this famous old mountain1 honeycombed with curious grottoes ages ago when the sea beat against its perpendicular flanks1 is the very place where the 'gentry' have their chief abode4 ,even on its broad level summit1 for it is a high square tableland like a mighty cube of rock set down upon the earth by some antediluvian god1 there are treacherous holes1 wherein more than one hunter may have been lost for ever1 penetrating to unknown depths2 and by listening one can hear the tides from the ocean three or four miles away surging in and out through ancient subterranean channels1 connected with these holes4 ,in the neighbouring mountains there are long caverns which no man has dared to penetrate to the end1 and even dogs1 it is said1 have been put in them never to emerge1 or else to come out miles away4 ,one day when the heavy white fog-banks hung over ,ben ,bulbin and its neighbours1 and there was a weird almost-twilight at midday over the purple heather bog-lands at their base1 and the rain was falling1 ,i sat with my friend before a comfortable fire of fragrant turf in his cottage and heard about the 'gentry'3-- ,encounters with the ',gentry'4--',when ,i was a young man ,i often used to go out in the mountains over there 7pointing out of the window in their direction7 to fish for trout1 or to hunt2 and it was in ,january on a cold1 dry day while carrying my gun that ,i and a friend with me1 as we were walking around ,ben ,bulbin1 saw one of the gentry for the first time4 ,i knew who it was1 for ,i had heard the gentry described ever since ,i could remember2 and this one was dressed in blue with a head-dress adorned with what seemed to be frills4#ae ,when he came up to us1 he said to me in a sweet and silvery voice1 ,the seldomer you come to this mountain the better4 ,a young lady here wants to take you away4 ,then he told us not to fire off our guns1 because the gentry dislike being disturbed by the noise4 ,and he seemed to be like a soldier of the gentry on guard4 ,as we were leaving the mountains1 he told us not to look back1 and we didn't4 ,another time ,i was alone trout-fishing in nearly the same region when ,i heard a voice say1 ,it is ---- barefooted and fishing4 ,then there came a whistle like music and a noise like the beating of a drum1 and soon one of the gentry came and talked with me for half an hour4 ,he said1 ,your mother will die in eleven months1 and do not let her die unanointed4 ,and she did die within eleven months4 ,as he was going away he warned me1 ,you must be in the house before sunset4 ,do not delay6 ,do not delay6 ,they can do nothing to you until ,i get back in the castle4 ,as ,i found out afterwards1 he was going to take me1 but hesitated because he did not want to leave my mother alone4 ,after these warnings ,i was always afraid to go to the mountains1 but lately ,i have been told ,i could go if ,i took a friend with me4' ',gentry' ,protection4--',the gentry have always befriended and protected me4 ,i was drowned twice but for them4 ,once ,i was going to ,durnish ,island1 a mile off the coast4 ,the channel is very deep1 and at the time there was a rough sea1 with the tide running out1 and ,i was almost lost4 ,i shrieked and shouted1 and finally got safe to the mainland4 ,the day ,i talked with one of the gentry at the foot of the mountain when he was for taking me1 he mentioned this1 and said they were the ones who saved me from drowning then4' ',gentry' ,stations4--',especially in ,ireland1 the gentry live inside the mountains in beautiful castles2 and there are a good many branches of them in other countries4 ,like armies1 they have various stations and move from one to another4 ,some live in the ,wicklow ,mountains near ,dublin4' ',gentry' ,control ,over ,human ,affairs4--',the gentry take a great interest in the affairs of men1 and they always stand for justice and right4 ,any side they favour in our wars1 that side wins4 ,they favoured the ,boers1 and the ,boers did get their rights4 ,they told me they favoured the ,japanese and not the ,russians1 because the ,russians are tyrants4 ,sometimes they fight among themselves4 ,one of them once said1 ,i'd fight for a friend1 or ,i'd fight for ,ireland4' ,the ',gentry' ,described4--,in response to my wish1 this description of the 'gentry' was given3--',the folk are the grandest ,i have ever seen4 ,they are far superior to us1 and that is why they are called the gentry4 ,they are not a working class1 but a military-aristocratic class1 tall and noble-appearing4 ,they are a distinct race between our own and that of spirits1 as they have told me4 ,their qualifications are tremendous4 ,we could cut off half the human race1 but would not1 they said1 for we are expecting salvation4 ,and ,i knew a man three or four years ago whom they struck down with paralysis4 ,their sight is so penetrating that ,i think they could see through the earth4 ,they have a silvery voice1 quick and sweet4 ,the music they play is most beautiful4 ,they take the whole body and soul of young and intellectual people who are interesting1 transmuting the body to a body like their own4 ,i asked them once if they ever died1 and they said1 ,no2 we are always kept young4 ,once they take you and you taste food in their palace you cannot come back4 ,you are changed to one of them1 and live with them for ever4 ,they are able to appear in different forms4 ,one once appeared to me1 and seemed only four feet high1 and stoutly built4 ,he said1 ,i am bigger than ,i appear to you now4 ,we can make the old young1 the big small1 the small big4 ,one of their women told all the secrets of my family4 ,she said that my brother in ,australia would travel much and suffer hardships1 all of which came true2 and foretold that my nephew1 then about two years old1 would become a great clergyman in ,america1 and that is what he is now4 ,besides the gentry1 who are a distinct class1 there are bad spirits and ghosts1 which are nothing like them4 ,my mother once saw a leprechaun beside a bush hammering4 ,he disappeared before she could get to him1 but he also was unlike one of the gentry4'#af ,,evidence ,,from ,,grange ,our next witness1 who lives about three miles from our last witness1 is ,hugh ,currid1 the oldest man in ,grange2 and so old is he that now he does little more than sit in the chimney-corner smoking1 and1 as he looks at the red glow of the peat1 dreaming of the olden times4 ,hugh knows ,english very imperfectly1 and so what he narrated was in the ancient ,gaelic which his fathers spoke4 ,when ,father ,hines took me to ,hugh's cottage1 ,hugh was in his usual silent pose before the fire4 ,at first he rather resented having his thoughts disturbed1 but in a few minutes he was as talkative as could be1 for there is nothing like the mention of ,ireland to get him started4 ,the ,father left us then2 and with the help of ,hugh's sister as an interpreter ,i took down what he said3-- ,the ,flax-,seller's ,return from ,faerie4--',an old woman near ,lough ,more1 where ,father ,patrick was drowned1#ag who used to make her living by selling flax at the market1 was taken by the gentry1 and often came back afterwards to her three children to comb their hair4 ,one time she told a neighbour that the money she saved from her dealings in flax would be found near a big rock on the lake-shore1 which she indicated1 and that she wanted the three children to have it4' ,a ,wife ,recovered from the ',gentry'4--',a man's young wife died in confinement while he was absent on some business at ,ballingshaun1 and one of the gentry came to him and said she had been taken4 ,the husband hurried home1 and that night he sat with the body of his wife all alone4 ,he left the door open a little1 and it wasn't long before his wife's spirit came in and went to the cradle where her child was sleeping4 ,as she did so1 the husband threw at her a charm of hen's dung which he had ready1 and this held her until he could call the neighbours4 ,and while they were coming1 she went back into her body1 and lived a long time afterwards4 ,the body was stiff and cold when the husband arrived home1 though it hadn't been washed or dressed4' ,a ,,tailor',s ,,testimony ,our next witness is ,patrick ,waters1 by trade a tailor1 living in ,cloontipruckilish1 a cross-road hamlet less than two miles from ,hugh ,currid's home4 ,his first story is a parallel to one told about the minister of ,aberfoyle who was taken by the 'good people' 7pp4 #hi ff473-- ,the ,lost ,bride4--',a girl in this region died on her wedding-night while dancing4 ,soon after her death she appeared to her husband1 and said to him1 ,i'm not dead at all1 but ,i am put from you now for a time4 ,it may be a long time1 or a short time1 ,i cannot tell4 ,i am not badly off4 ,if you want to get me back you must stand at the gap near the house and catch me as ,i go by1 for ,i live near there1 and see you1 and you do not see me4 ,he was anxious enough to get her back1 and didn't waste any time in getting to the gap4 ,when he came to the place1 a party of strangers were just coming out1 and his wife soon appeared as plain as could be1 but he couldn't stir a hand or foot to save her4 ,then there was a scream and she was gone4 ,the man firmly believed this1 and would not marry again4' ,the ,invisible ,island4--',there is an enchanted island which is an invisible island between ,innishmurray and the mainland opposite4 ,it is only seen once in seven years4 ,i saw it myself1 and so did four or five others with me4 ,a boatman from ,sligo named ,carr took two strange men with him towards ,innishmurray1 and they disappeared at the spot where the island is1 and he thought they had fallen overboard and been drowned4 ,carr saw one of the same men in ,connelly 7,county ,donegal71 some six months or so after1 and with great surprise said to him1 ,will you tell me the wonders of the world8 ,is it you ,i saw drowned near ,innishmurray8 ,yes1 he said2 and then asked1 ,do you see me8 ,yes1 answered ,carr4 ,but1 said the man again1 you do not see me with both eyes8 ,then ,carr closed one eye to be sure1 and found that he saw him with one eye only4 ,and he told the man which one it was4 ,at this information the fairy man blew on ,carr's face1 and ,carr never saw him again4' ,a ,dream4--',my father dreamt he saw two armies coming in from the sea1 walking on the water4 ,reaching the strand1 they lined up and commenced a battle1 and my father was in great terror4 ,the fighting was long and bloody1 and when it was over every fighter vanished1 the wounded and dead as well as the survivors4 ,the next morning an old woman who had the reputation of talking with the fairies came in the house to my father1 who1 though greatly disturbed over the dream1 had told us nothing of it1 and asked him1 ,have you anything to tell8 ,i couldn't but laugh at you1 she added1 and before my father could reply1 continued1 ,well1 ,jimmy1 you won't tell the news1 so ,i will4 ,and then she began to tell about the battle4 ,ketty6 exclaimed my father at this1 can it be true8 ,and who were the men beside me8 ,when ,ketty told him1 they turned out to be some of his dead friends4 ,she received her information from a drowned man whom she met on the spot where the gentry armies had come ashore2 and1 in the place where they fought1 the sand was all burnt red1 as from fire4' ,as the narrator reflected on this dream story1 he remarked about dreams generally3--',the reason our dreams appear different from what they are is because while in them we can't touch the body and transform it4 ,people believe themselves to be with the dead in dreams4' ,during ,september #aiji1 when ,i had several fresh interviews with ,patrick ,waters1 ,i verified all of his #aijh testimony such as it appears above2 and among unimportant anecdotes ,i have omitted from the matter taken down in #aijh one anecdote about our seer-witness from ,county ,sligo1 because it proved to be capable of opposite interpretations4 ,patrick ,waters1 however1 like many of his neighbours1 thoroughly supports ,hugh ,currid's opinion that our seer-witness 'surely sees something1 and it must be the gentry'2 and of ,hugh ,currid himself1 ,patrick ,waters said1 ',hugh ,currid did surely see the gentry2 he saw them passing this way like a blast of wind4' ,patrick's fresh testimony now follows1 the story about ,father ,patrick and ,father ,dominick coming first3-- ,father ,patrick and ,father ,dominick4--',father ,patrick ,noan while bathing in the harbour at ,carns 7about three miles north-west of ,grange7 was drowned4 ,his body was soon brought ashore1 and his brother1 ,father ,dominick ,noan1 was sent for4 ,when ,father ,dominick arrived1 one of the men who had collected around the body said to him1 ,why don't you do something for your brother ,patrick8 ,why don't somebody ask me8 he replied1 for ,i must be asked in the name of ,god4 ,so ,jimmy ,mc,gowan went on his knees and asked for the honour of ,god that ,father ,dominick should bring ,father ,patrick back to life2 and1 at this1 ,father ,dominick took out his breviary and began to read4 ,after a time he whistled1 and began to read again4 ,he whistled a second time1 and returned to the reading4 ,upon his whistling the third time1 ,father ,patrick's spirit appeared in the doorway4 ',where were you when ,i whistled the first time8 ,father ,dominick asked4 ,i was at a hurling match with the gentry on ,mulloughmore strand4 ,and where were you at the second whistle8 ,i was coming over ,corrick ,fadda2 and when you whistled the third time ,i was here at the door4 ,father ,patrick's spirit had gone back into the body1 and ,father ,patrick lived round here as a priest for a long time afterwards4 ',there was no such thing as artificial respiration known hereabouts when this happened some fifty or sixty years ago4 ,i heard this story1 which ,i know is true1 from many persons who saw ,father ,dominick restore his brother to life4' ,a ,druid ,enchantment4--,after this strange psychical narrative1 there followed the most weird legend ,i have heard in ,celtic lands about ,druids and magic4 ,one afternoon ,patrick ,waters pointed out to me the field1 near the sea-coast opposite ,innishmurray1 in which the ancient menhir containing the 'enchantment' used to stand2 and1 at another time1 he said that a bronze wand covered with curious marks 7or else interlaced designs7 was found not far from the ruined dolmen and alle couverte on the farm of ,patrick ,bruan1 about two miles southward4 ,this last statement1 like the story itself1 ,i have been unable to verify in any way4 ',in times before ,christ there were ,druids here who enchanted one another with ,druid rods made of brass1 and metamorphosed one another into stone and lumps of oak4 ,the question is1 ,where are the spirits of these ,druids now8 ,their spirits are wafted through the air1 and the man or beast they meet is smitten1 while their own bodies are still under enchantment4 ,i had such a ,druid enchantment in my hand2 it wasn't stone1 nor marble1 nor flint1 and had human shape4 ,it was found in the centre of a big rock on ,innis-na-,gore2 and round this rock light used to appear at night4 ,the man who owned the stone decided to blast it up1 and he found at its centre the enchantment--just like a man1 with head and legs and arms4#ah ,father ,healy took the enchantment away1 when he was here on a visit1 and said that it was a ,druid enchanted1 and that to get out of the rock was one part of the releasement1 and that there would be a second and complete releasement of the ,druid4' ,the ,fairy ,tribes ,classified4--,finally ,i asked ,patrick to classify1 as far as he could1 all the fairy tribes he had ever heard about1 and he said3--',the leprechaun is a red-capped fellow who stays round pure springs1 generally shoemaking for the rest of the fairy tribes4 ,the lunantishees are the tribes that guard the blackthorn trees or sloes2 they let you cut no stick on the eleventh of ,november 7the original ,november ,day71 or on the eleventh of ,may 7the original ,may ,day74 ,if at such a time you cut a blackthorn1 some misfortune will come to you4 ,pookas are black-featured fellows mounted on good horses2 and are horse-dealers4 ,they visit racecourses1 but usually are invisible4 ,the gentry are the most noble tribe of all2 and they are a big race who came from the planets--according to my idea2 they usually appear white4 ,the ,daoine ,maithe 7though there is some doubt1 the same or almost the same as the gentry7 were next to ,heaven at the ,fall1 but did not fall2 they are a people expecting salvation4' ,,bridget ,o',,conner',s ,,testimony ,our next witness is ,bridget ,o',conner1 a near neighbour to ,patrick ,waters1 in ,cloontipruckilish4 ,when ,i approached her neat little cottage she was cutting sweet-pea blossoms with a pair of scissors1 and as ,i stopped to tell her how pretty a garden she had1 she searched out the finest white bloom she could find and gave it to me4 ,after we had talked a little while about ,america and ,ireland1 she said ,i must come in and rest a few minutes1 and so ,i did2 and it was not long before we were talking about fairies3-- ,the ,irish ,legend of the ,dead4--',old ,peggy ,gillin1 dead these thirty years1 who lived a mile beyond ,grange1 used to cure people with a secret herb shown to her by her brother1 dead of a fairy-stroke4 ,he was drowned and taken by the fairies1 in the big drowning here during the herring season4 ,she would pull the herb herself and prepare it by mixing spring water with it4 ,peggy could always talk with her dead relatives and friends1 and continually with her brother1 and she would tell everybody that they were with the fairies4 ,her daughter1 ,mary ,short1 who inherited some of her mother's power1 died here about three or four years ago4 ',i remember1 too1 about ,mary ,leonard and her daughter1 ,nancy ,waters4 ,both of them are dead now4 ,the daughter was the first to die1 as it happened1 and in child-birth4 ,when she was gone1 her mother used to wail and cry in an awful manner2 and one day the daughter appeared to her in the garden1 and said1 ,the more you wail for me1 the more ,i am in torment4 ,pray for me1 but do not wail4' ,a ,midwife ,story4--',a country nurse was requested by a strange man on horseback to go with him to exercise her profession2 and she went with him to a castle she didn't know4 ,when the baby was born1 every woman in the place where the event happened put her finger in a basin of water and rubbed her eyes1 and so the nurse put her finger in and rubbed it on one of her eyes4 ,she went home and thought no more about it4 ,but one day she was at the fair in ,grange and saw some of the same women who were in the castle when the baby was born2 though1 as she noticed1 she only could see them with the one eye she had wet with the water from the basin4 ,the nurse spoke to the women1 and they wanted to know how she recognized them2 and she1 in reply1 said it was with the one eye1 and asked1 ,how is the baby8 ,well1 said one of the fairy women2 and what eye do you see us with8 ,with the left eye1 answered the nurse4 ,then the fairy woman blew her breath against the nurse's left eye1 and said1 ,you'll never see me again4 ,and the nurse was always blind in the left eye after that4' ,,the ,,spirit ,,world ,,at ,,carns ,the ,carns or ,mount ,temple country1 about three miles from ,grange1 ,county ,sligo1 has already been mentioned by witnesses as a 'gentry' haunt1 and so now we shall hear what one of its oldest and most intelligent native inhabitants says of it4 ,john ,mc,cann had been referred to1 by ,patrick ,waters1 as one who knows much about the 'gentry' at first hand1 and we can be sure that what he offers us is thoroughly reliable evidence4 ,for many years1 ,john ,mc,cann1 born in #ahcj1 by profession a carpenter and boat-builder1 has been official mail-carrier to ,innishmurray2 and he knows quite as much about the strange little island and the mainland opposite it as any man living4 ,his neat little cottage is on the shore of the bay opposite the beautiful fairy-haunted ,darnish ,island2 and1 as we sat within it beside a brilliant peat fire1 and surrounded by all the family1 this is what was told me3-- ,a ',gentry' ,medium4--',ketty ,rourk 7or ,queenan7 could tell all that would happen--funerals1 weddings1 and so forth4 ,sure some spirits were coming to her4 ,she said they were the gentry2 that the gentry are everywhere2 and that my drowned uncles and grandfather and other dead are among them4 ,a drowned man named ,pat ,nicholson was her adviser4 ,he used to live just a mile from here2 and she knew him before he was drowned4' ,here we have1 clearly enough1 a case of 'mediumship'1 or of communication with the dead1 as in modern ,spiritualism4 ,and the following story1 which like this last has numerous ,irish parallels1 illustrates an ancient and world-wide animistic belief1 that in sickness--as in dreams--the soul goes out of the body as at death1 and meets the dead in their own fairy world4 ,the ,clairvoyance of ,mike ,farrell4--',mike ,farrell1 too1 could tell all about the gentry1 as he lay sick a long time4 ,and he told about ,father ,brannan's youth1 and even the house in ,roscommon in which the ,father was born2 and ,father ,brannan never said anything more against ,mike after that4 ,mike surely saw the gentry2 and he was with them during his illness for twelve months4 ,he said they live in forts and at ,alt ,darby 7the ,big ,rock74 ,after he got well1 he went to ,america1 at the time of the famine4' ,the ',gentry' ,army4--',the gentry were believed to live up on this hill 7,hill of the ,brocket ,stones1 ,cluach-a-brac71 and from it they would come out like an army and march along the road to the strand4 ,very few persons could see them4 ,they were thought to be like living people1 but in different dress4 ,they seemed like soldiers1 yet it was known they were not living beings such as we are4' ,the ,seership of ,dan ,quinn4--',on ,connor's ,island 7about two miles southward from ,carns by the mainland7 my uncle1 ,dan ,quinn1 often used to see big crowds of the gentry come into his house and play music and dance4 ,the house would be full of them1 but they caused him no fear4 ,once on such an occasion1 one of them came up to him as he lay in bed1 and giving him a green leaf told him to put it in his mouth4 ,when he did this1 instantly he could not see the gentry1 but could still hear their music4 ,uncle ,dan always believed he recognized in some of the gentry his drowned friends4 ,only when he was alone would the gentry visit him4 ,he was a silent old man1 and so never talked much2 but ,i know that this story is as true as can be1 and that the gentry always took an interest in him4' ,,under ,,the ,,shadow ,,of ,,ben ,,bulbin ,,and ,,ben ,,waskin ,i was driving along the ,ben ,bulbin road1 on the ocean side1 with ,michael ,oates1 who was on his way from his mountain-side home to the lowlands to cut hay2 and as we looked up at the ancient mountain1 so mysterious and silent in the shadows and fog of a calm early morning of summer1 he told me about its invisible inhabitants3-- ,the ',gentry' ,huntsmen4--',i knew a man who saw the gentry hunting on the other side of the mountain4 ,he saw hounds and horsemen cross the road and jump the hedge in front of him1 and it was one o'clock at night4 ,the next day he passed the place again1 and looked for the tracks of the huntsmen1 but saw not a trace of tracks at all4' ,the ',taking' of the ,turf-,cutter4--,after ,i had heard about two boys who were drowned opposite ,innishmurray1 and who afterwards appeared as apparitions1 for the gentry had them1 this curious story was related3--',a man was cutting turf out on the side of ,ben ,bulbin when a strange man came to him and said1 ,you have cut enough turf for to-day4 ,you had better stop and go home4 ,the turf-cutter looked around in surprise1 and in two seconds the strange man had disappeared2 but he decided to go home4 ,and as soon as he was home1 such a feeling came over him that he could not tell whether he was alive or dead4 ,then he took to his bed and never rose again4' ,hearing the ',gentry' ,music4--,at this ,michael said to his companion in the cart with us1 ,william ,barber1 ',you tell how you heard the music'2 and this followed3--',one dark night1 about one o'clock1 myself and another young man were passing along the road up there round ,ben ,bulbin1 when we heard the finest kind of music4 ,all sorts of music seemed to be playing4 ,we could see nothing at all1 though we thought we heard voices like children's4 ,it was the music of the gentry we heard4' ,my next friend to testify is ,pat ,ruddy1 eighty years old1 one of the most intelligent and prosperous farmers living beside ,ben ,bulbin4 ,he greeted me in the true ,irish way1 but before we could come to talk about fairies his good wife induced me to enter another room where she had secretly prepared a great feast spread out on a fresh white cloth1 while ,pat and myself had been exchanging opinions about ,america and ,ireland4 ,when ,i returned to the kitchen the whole family were assembled round the blazing turf fire1 and ,pat was soon talking about the 'gentry'3-- ,seeing the ',gentry' ,army4--',old people used to say the gentry were in the mountains2 that is certain1 but ,i never could be quite sure of it myself4 ,one night1 however1 near midnight1 ,i did have a sight3 ,i set out from ,bantrillick to come home1 and near ,ben ,bulbin there was the greatest army you ever saw1 five or six thousand of them in armour shining in the moonlight4 ,a strange man rose out of the hedge and stopped me1 for a minute1 in the middle of the road4 ,he looked into my face1 and then let me go4' ,an ,ossianic ,fragment4--',a man went away with the good people 7or gentry71 and returned to find the townland all in ruins4 ,as he came back riding on a horse of the good people1 he saw some men in a quarry trying to move a big stone4 ,he helped them with it1 but his saddle-girth broke1 and he fell to the ground4 ,the horse ran away1 and he was left there1 an old man'#ai 7cf4 pp4 #cdf-g74 ,a ,,schoolmaster',s ,,testimony ,a schoolmaster1 who is a native of the ,ben ,bulbin country1 offers this testimony3--',there is implicit belief here in the gentry1 especially among the old people4 ,they consider them the spirits of their departed relations and friends1 who visit them in joy and in sorrow4 ,on the death of a member of a family1 they believe the spirits of their near relatives are present2 they do not see them1 but feel their presence4 ,they even have a strong belief that the spirits show them the future in dreams2 and say that cases of affliction are always foreshown in a dream4 ',the belief in changelings is not now generally prevalent2 but in olden times a mother used to place a pair of iron tongs over the cradle before leaving the child alone1 in order that the fairies should not change the child for a weakly one of their own4 ,it was another custom to take a wisp of straw1 and1 lighting one end of it1 make a fiery sign of the cross over a cradle before a babe could be placed in it4' ,,with ,,the ,,irish ,,mystics ,,in ,,the ,,sidhe ,,world ,let us now turn to the ,rosses ,point country1 which1 as we have already said1 is one of the very famous places for seeing the 'gentry'1 or1 as educated ,irish seers who make pilgrimages thither call them1 the ,sidhe4 ,i have been told by more than one such seer that there on the hills and ,greenlands 7a great stretch of open country1 treeless and grass-grown71 and on the strand at ,lower ,rosses ,point--called ,wren ,point by the country-folk--these beings can be seen and their wonderful music heard2 and a well-known ,irish artist has shown me many drawings1 and paintings in oil1 of these ,sidhe people as he has often beheld them at those places and elsewhere in ,ireland4 ,they are described as a race of majestic appearance and marvellous beauty1 in form human1 yet in nature divine4 ,the highest order of them seems to be a race of beings evolved to a superhuman plane of existence1 such as the ancients called gods2 and with this opinion1 strange as it may seem in this age1 all the educated ,irish seers with whom ,i have been privileged to talk agree1 though they go further1 and say that these highest ,sidhe races still inhabiting ,ireland are the ever-young1 immortal divine race known to the ancient men of ,erin as the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,of all ,european lands ,i venture to say that ,ireland is the most mystical1 and1 in the eyes of true ,irishmen1 as much the ,magic ,island of ,gods and ,initiates now as it was when the ,sacred ,fires flashed from its purple1 heather-covered mountain-tops and mysterious round towers1 and the ,greater ,mysteries drew to its hallowed shrines neophytes from the ,west as well as from the ,east1 from ,india and ,egypt as well as from ,atlantis2#bj and ,erin's mystic-seeing sons still watch and wait for the relighting of the ,fires and the restoration of the old ,druidic ,mysteries4 ,herein ,i but imperfectly echo the mystic message ,ireland's seers gave me1 a pilgrim to their ,sacred ,isle4 ,and until this mystic message is interpreted1 men cannot discover the secret of ,gaelic myth and song in olden or in modern times1 they cannot drink at the ever-flowing fountain of ,gaelic genius1 the perennial source of inspiration which lies behind the new revival of literature and art in ,ireland1 nor understand the seeming reality of the fairy races4 ,,an ,,irish ,,mystic',s ,,testimony ,through the kindness of an ,irish mystic1 who is a seer1 ,i am enabled to present here1 in the form of a dialogue1 very rare and very important evidence1 which will serve to illustrate and to confirm what has just been said above about the mysticism of ,ireland4 ,to anthropologists this evidence may be of more than ordinary value when they know that it comes from one who is not only a cultured seer but who is also a man conspicuously successful in the practical life of a great city3-- ,visions4-- ,q4--,are all visions which you have had of the same character8 ,a4--',i have always made a distinction between pictures seen in the memory of nature and visions of actual beings now existing in the inner world4 ,we can make the same distinction in our world3 ,i may close my eyes and see you as a vivid picture in memory1 or ,i may look at you with my physical eyes and see your actual image4 ,in seeing these beings of which ,i speak1 the physical eyes may be open or closed3 mystical beings in their own world and nature are never seen with the physical eyes4' ,otherworlds4-- ,q4--,by the inner world do you mean the ,celtic ,otherworld8 ,a4--',yes2 though there are many ,otherworlds4 ,the ,tr-na-nog of the ancient ,irish1 in which the races of the ,sidhe exist1 may be described as a radiant archetype of this world1 though this definition does not at all express its psychic nature4 ,in ,tr-na-nog one sees nothing save harmony and beautiful forms4 ,there are other worlds in which we can see horrible shapes4' ,classification of the ',sidhe'4-- ,q4--,do you in any way classify the ,sidhe races to which you refer8 ,a4--',the beings whom ,i call the ,sidhe1 ,i divide1 as ,i have seen them1 into two great classes3 those which are shining1 and those which are opalescent and seem lit up by a light within themselves4 ,the shining beings appear to be lower in the hierarchies2 the opalescent beings are more rarely seen1 and appear to hold the positions of great chiefs or princes among the tribes of ,dana4' ,conditions of ,seership4-- ,q4--,under what state or condition and where have you seen such beings8 ,a4--',i have seen them most frequently after being away from a city or town for a few days4 ,the whole west coast of ,ireland from ,donegal to ,kerry seems charged with a magical power1 and ,i find it easiest to see while ,i am there4 ,i have always found it comparatively easy to see visions while at ancient monuments like ,new ,grange and ,dowth1 because ,i think such places are naturally charged with psychical forces1 and were for that reason made use of long ago as sacred places4 ,i usually find it possible to throw myself into the mood of seeing2 but sometimes visions have forced themselves upon me4' ,the ,shining ,beings4-- ,q4--,can you describe the shining beings8 ,a4--',it is very difficult to give any intelligible description of them4 ,the first time ,i saw them with great vividness ,i was lying on a hill-side alone in the west of ,ireland1 in ,county ,sligo3 ,i had been listening to music in the air1 and to what seemed to be the sound of bells1 and was trying to understand these aerial clashings in which wind seemed to break upon wind in an ever-changing musical silvery sound4 ,then the space before me grew luminous1 and ,i began to see one beautiful being after another4' ,the ,opalescent ,beings4-- ,q4--,can you describe one of the opalescent beings8 ,a4--',the first of these ,i saw ,i remember very clearly1 and the manner of its appearance3 there was at first a dazzle of light1 and then ,i saw that this came from the heart of a tall figure with a body apparently shaped out of half-transparent or opalescent air1 and throughout the body ran a radiant1 electrical fire1 to which the heart seemed the centre4 ,around the head of this being and through its waving luminous hair1 which was blown all about the body like living strands of gold1 there appeared flaming wing-like auras4 ,from the being itself light seemed to stream outwards in every direction2 and the effect left on me after the vision was one of extraordinary lightness1 joyousness1 or ecstasy4 ',at about this same period of my life ,i saw many of these great beings1 and ,i then thought that ,i had visions of ,aengus1 ,manannan1 ,lug1 and other famous kings or princes among the ,tuatha ,de ,danann2 but since then ,i have seen so many beings of a similar character that ,i now no longer would attribute to any one of them personal identity with particular beings of legend2 though ,i believe that they correspond in a general way to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ancient ,irish gods4' ,stature of the ',sidhe'4-- ,q4--,you speak of the opalescent beings as great beings2 what stature do you assign to them1 and to the shining beings8 ,a4--',the opalescent beings seem to be about fourteen feet in stature1 though ,i do not know why ,i attribute to them such definite height1 since ,i had nothing to compare them with2 but ,i have always considered them as much taller than our race4 ,the shining beings seem to be about our own stature or just a little taller4 ,peasant and other ,irish seers do not usually speak of the ,sidhe as being little1 but as being tall3 an old schoolmaster in the ,west of ,ireland described them to me from his own visions as tall beautiful people1 and he used some ,gaelic words1 which ,i took as meaning that they were shining with every colour4' ,the worlds of the ',sidhe4'-- ,q4--,do the two orders of ,sidhe beings inhabit the same world8 ,a4--',the shining beings belong to the mid-world2 while the opalescent beings belong to the heaven-world4 ,there are three great worlds which we can see while we are still in the body3 the earth-world1 mid-world1 and heaven-world4' ,nature of the ',sidhe4'-- ,q4--,do you consider the life and state of these ,sidhe beings superior to the life and state of men8 ,a4--',i could never decide4 ,one can say that they themselves are certainly more beautiful than men are1 and that their worlds seem more beautiful than our world4 ',among the shining orders there does not seem to be any individualized life3 thus if one of them raises his hands all raise their hands1 and if one drinks from a fire-fountain all do2 they seem to move and to have their real existence in a being higher than themselves1 to which they are a kind of body4 ,theirs is1 ,i think1 a collective life1 so unindividualized and so calm that ,i might have more varied thoughts in five hours than they would have in five years2 and yet one feels an extraordinary purity and exaltation about their life4 ,beauty of form with them has never been broken up by the passions which arise in the developed egotism of human beings4 ,a hive of bees has been described as a single organism with disconnected cells2 and some of these tribes of shining beings seem to be little more than one being manifesting itself in many beautiful forms4 ,i speak this with reference to the shining beings only3 ,i think that among the opalescent or ,sidhe beings1 in the heaven-world1 there is an even closer spiritual unity1 but also a greater individuality4' ,influence of the ',sidhe' on ,men4-- ,q4--,do you consider any of these ,sidhe beings inimical to humanity8 ,a4--',certain kinds of the shining beings1 whom ,i call wood beings1 have never affected me with any evil influences ,i could recognize4 ,but the water beings1 also of the shining tribes1 ,i always dread1 because ,i felt whenever ,i came into contact with them a great drowsiness of mind and1 ,i often thought1 an actual drawing away of vitality4' ,water ,beings ,described4-- ,q4--,can you describe one of these water beings8 ,a4--',in the world under the waters--under a lake in the ,west of ,ireland in this case--,i saw a blue and orange coloured king seated on a throne2 and there seemed to be some fountain of mystical fire rising from under his throne1 and he breathed this fire into himself as though it were his life4 ,as ,i looked1 ,i saw groups of pale beings1 almost grey in colour1 coming down one side of the throne by the fire-fountain4 ,they placed their head and lips near the heart of the elemental king1 and1 then1 as they touched him1 they shot upwards1 plumed and radiant1 and passed on the other side1 as though they had received a new life from this chief of their world4' ,wood ,beings ,described4-- ,q4--,can you describe one of the wood beings8 ,a4--',the wood beings ,i have seen most often are of a shining silvery colour with a tinge of blue or pale violet1 and with dark purple-coloured hair4' ,reproduction and ,immortality of the ',sidhe'4-- ,q4--,do you consider the races of the ,sidhe able to reproduce their kind2 and are they immortal8 ,a4--',the higher kinds seem capable of breathing forth beings out of themselves1 but ,i do not understand how they do so4 ,i have seen some of them who contain elemental beings within themselves1 and these they could send out and receive back within themselves again4 ',the immortality ascribed to them by the ancient ,irish is only a relative immortality1 their space of life being much greater than ours4 ,in time1 however1 ,i believe that they grow old and then pass into new bodies just as men do1 but whether by birth or by the growth of a new body ,i cannot say1 since ,i have no certain knowledge about this4' ,sex among the ',sidhe'4-- ,q4--,does sexual differentiation seem to prevail among the ,sidhe races8 ,a4--',i have seen forms both male and female1 and forms which did not suggest sex at all4' ',sidhe' and ,human ,life4-- ,q4--7#a7 ,is it possible1 as the ancient ,irish thought1 that certain of the higher ,sidhe beings have entered or could enter our plane of life by submitting to human birth8 7#b7 ,on the other hand1 do you consider it possible for men in trance or at death to enter the ,sidhe world8 ,a4--7#a7 ',i cannot say4' 7#b7 ',yes2 both in trance and after death4 ,i think any one who thought much of the ,sidhe during his life and who saw them frequently and brooded on them would likely go to their world after death4' ,social ,organization of the ',sidhe'4-- ,q4--,you refer to chieftain-like or prince-like beings1 and to a king among water beings2 is there therefore definite social organization among the various ,sidhe orders and races1 and if so1 what is its nature8 ,a4--',i cannot say about a definite social organization4 ,i have seen beings who seemed to command others1 and who were held in reverence4 ,this implies an organization1 but whether it is instinctive like that of a hive of bees1 or consciously organized like human society1 ,i cannot say4' ,lower ',sidhe' as ,nature ,elementals4-- ,q4--,you speak of the water-being king as an elemental king2 do you suggest thereby a resemblance between lower ,sidhe orders and what mediaeval mystics called elementals8 ,a4--',the lower orders of the ,sidhe are1 ,i think1 the nature elementals of the mediaeval mystics4' ,nourishment of the ,higher ',sidhe'4-- ,q4--,the water beings as you have described them seem to be nourished and kept alive by something akin to electrical fluids2 do the higher orders of the ,sidhe seem to be similarly nourished8 ,a4--',they seemed to me to draw their life out of the ,soul of the ,world4' ,collective ,visions of ',sidhe' ,beings4-- ,q4--,have you had visions of the various ,sidhe beings in company with other persons8 ,a4--',i have had such visions on several occasions4' ,and this statement has been confirmed to me by three participants in such collective visions1 who separately at different times have seen in company with our witness the same vision at the same moment4 ,on another occasion1 on the ,greenlands at ,rosses ,point1 ,county ,sligo1 the same ,sidhe being was seen by our present witness and a friend with him1 also possessing the faculty of seership1 at a time when the two percipients were some little distance apart1 and they hurried to each other to describe the being1 not knowing that the explanation was mutually unnecessary4 ,i have talked with both percipients so much1 and know them so intimately that ,i am fully able to state that as percipients they fulfil all necessary pathological conditions required by psychologists in order to make their evidence acceptable4 ,,parallel ,,evidence ,,as ,,to ,,the ,,sidhe ,,races ,in general1 the rare evidence above recorded from the ,irish seer could be paralleled by similar evidence from at least two other reliable ,irish people1 with whom also ,i have been privileged to discuss the ,fairy-,faith4 ,one is a member of the ,royal ,irish ,academy1 the other is the wife of a well-known ,irish historian2 and both of them testify to having likewise had collective visions of ,sidhe beings in ,ireland4 ,this is what ,mr4 ,william ,b4 ,yeats wrote to me1 while this study was in progress1 concerning the ,celtic ,fairy ,kingdom3--',i am certain that it exists1 and will some day be studied as it was studied by ,kirk4'#ba ,,independent ,,evidence ,,from ,,the ,,sidhe ,,world ,one of the most remarkable discoveries of our ,celtic researches has been that the native population of the ,rosses ,point country1 or1 as we have called it1 the ,sidhe world1 in most essentials1 and1 what is most important1 by independent folk-testimony1 substantiate the opinions and statements of the educated ,irish mystics to whom we have just referred1 as follows3-- ,john ,conway's ,vision of the ',gentry'4--,in ,upper ,rosses ,point1 ,mrs4 ,j4 ,conway told me this about the 'gentry'3--',john ,conway1 my husband1 who was a pilot by profession1 in watching for in-coming ships used to go up on the high hill among the ,fairy ,hills2 and there he often saw the gentry going down the hill to the strand4 ,one night in particular he recognized them as men and women of the gentry2 and they were as big as any living people4 ,it was late at night about forty years ago4' ,ghosts and ,fairies4--,when first ,i introduced myself to ,owen ,conway1 in his bachelor quarters1 a cosy cottage at ,upper ,rosses ,point1 he said that ,mr4 ,w4 ,b4 ,yeats and other men famous in ,irish literature had visited him to hear about the fairies1 and that though he knew very little about the fairies he nevertheless always likes to talk of them4 ,then ,owen began to tell me about a man's ghost which both he and ,bran ,reggan had seen at different times on the road to ,sligo1 then about a woman's ghost which he and other people had often seen near where we were1 and then about the exorcizing of a haunted house in ,sligo some sixty years ago by ,father ,mc,gowan1 who as a result died soon afterwards1 apparently having been killed by the exorcized spirits4 ,finally1 ,i heard from him the following anecdotes about the fairies3-- ,a ,stone ,wall overthrown by ',fairy' ,agency4--',nothing is more certain than that there are fairies4 ,the old folks always thought them the fallen angels4 ,at the back of this house the fairies had their pass4 ,my neighbour started to build a cow-shed1 and one wall abutting on the pass was thrown down twice1 and nothing but the fairies ever did it4 ,the third time the wall was built it stood4' ,fairies passing through ,stone ,walls4--',where ,mac,ewen's house stands was a noted fairy place4 ,men in building the house saw fairies on horses coming across the spot1 and the stone walls did not stop them at all4' ,seeing the ',gentry'4--',a cousin of mine1 who was a pilot1 once went to the watch-house up there on the ,point to take his brother's place2 and he saw ladies coming towards him as he crossed the ,greenlands4 ,at first he thought they were coming from a dance1 but there was no dance going then1 and1 if there had been1 no human beings dressed like them and moving as they were could have come from any part of the globe1 and in so great a party1 at that hour of the night4 ,then when they passed him and he saw how beautiful they were1 he knew them for the gentry women4' ',michael ,reddy 7our next witness7 saw the gentry down on the ,greenlands in regimentals like an army1 and in daylight4 ,he was a young man at the time1 and had been sent out to see if any cattle were astray4' ,and this is what ,michael ,reddy1 of ,rosses ,point1 now a sailor on the ship ,tartar1 sailing from ,sligo to neighbouring ports on the ,irish coast1 asserts in confirmation of ,owen ,conway's statement about him3--',i saw the gentry on the strand 7at ,lower ,rosses ,point7 about forty years ago4 ,it was afternoon4 ,i first saw one of them like an officer pointing at me what seemed a sword2 and when ,i got on the ,greenlands ,i saw a great company of gentry1 like soldiers1 in red1 laughing and shouting4 ,their leader was a big man1 and they were ordinary human size4 ,as a result of this vision ,i took to my bed and lay there for weeks4 ,upon another occasion1 late at night1 ,i was with my mother milking cows1 and we heard the gentry all round us talking1 but could not see them4' ,going to the ',gentry' through ,death1 ,dreams1 or ,trance4--,john ,o',conway1 one of the most reliable citizens of ,upper ,rosses ,point1 offers the following testimony concerning the 'gentry'3--',in olden times the gentry were very numerous about forts and here on the ,greenlands1 but rarely seen4 ,they appeared to be the same as any living men4 ,when people died it was said the gentry took them1 for they would afterwards appear among the gentry4' ',we had a ploughman of good habits who came in one day too late for his morning's work1 and he in excuse very seriously said1 ,may be if you had travelled all night as much as ,i have you wouldn't talk4 ,i was away with the gentry1 and save for a lady ,i couldn't have been back now4 ,i saw a long hall full of many people4 ,some of them ,i knew and some ,i did not know4 ,the lady saved me by telling me to eat no food there1 however enticing it might be4' ',a young man at ,drumcliffe was taken in a trance state1 and was with the ,daoine ,maithe some time1 and then got back4 ,another man1 whom ,i knew well1 was haunted by the gentry for a long time1 and he often went off with them' 7apparently in a dream or trance state74 ',sidhe' ,music4--,the story which now follows substantiates the testimony of cultured ,irish seers that at ,lower ,rosses ,point the music of the ,sidhe can be heard3--',three women were gathering shell-fish1 in the month of ,march1 on the lowest point of the strand 7,lower ,rosses or ,wren ,point7 when they heard the most beautiful music4 ,they set to work to dance with it1 and danced themselves sick4 ,they then thanked the invisible musician and went home4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,college ,,professor ,our next witness is the ,rev4 ,father ----1 a professor in a ,catholic college in ,west ,ireland1 and most of his statements are based on events which happened among his own acquaintances and relatives1 and his deductions are the result of careful investigation3-- ,apparitions from ,fairyland4--',some twenty to thirty years ago1 on the borders of ,county ,roscommon near ,county ,sligo1 according to the firm belief of one of my own relatives1 a sister of his was taken by the fairies on her wedding-night1 and she appeared to her mother afterwards as an apparition4 ,she seemed to want to speak1 but her mother1 who was in bed at the time1 was thoroughly frightened1 and turned her face to the wall4 ,the mother is convinced that she saw this apparition of her daughter1 and my relative thinks she might have saved her4 ',this same relative who gives it as his opinion that his sister was taken by the fairies1 at a different time saw the apparition of another relative of mine who also1 according to similar belief1 had been taken by the fairies when only five years old4 ,the child-apparition appeared beside its living sister one day while the sister was going from the yard into the house1 and it followed her in4 ,it is said the child was taken because she was such a good girl4' ,nature of the ,belief in ,fairies4--',as children we were always afraid of fairies1 and were taught to say ,god bless them6 ,god bless them6 whenever we heard them mentioned4 ',in our family we always made it a point to have clean water in the house at night for the fairies4 ',if anything like dirty water was thrown out of doors after dark it was necessary to say ,hugga1 hugga salach6 as a warning to the fairies not to get their clothes wet4 ',untasted food1 like milk1 used to be left on the table at night for the fairies4 ,if you were eating and food fell from you1 it was not right to take it back1 for the fairies wanted it4 ,many families are very serious about this even now4 ,the luckiest thing to do in such cases is to pick up the food and eat just a speck of it and then throw the rest away to the fairies4 ',ghosts and apparitions are commonly said to live in isolated thorn-bushes1 or thorn-trees4 ,many lonely bushes of this kind have their ghosts4 ,for example1 there is ,fanny's ,bush1 ,sally's ,bush1 and another ,i know of in ,county ,sligo near ,boyle4' ,personal ,opinions4--',the fairies of any one race are the people of the preceding race--the ,fomors for the ,fir ,bolgs1 the ,fir ,bolgs for the ,dananns1 and the ,dananns for us4 ,the old races died4 ,where did they go8 ,they became spirits--and fairies4 ,second-sight gave our race power to see the inner world4 ,when ,christianity came to ,ireland the people had no definite heaven4 ,before1 their ideas about the other world were vague4 ,but the older ideas of a spirit world remained side by side with the ,christian ones1 and being preserved in a subconscious way gave rise to the fairy world4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,county ,,roscommon ,our next place for investigation will be the ancient province of the great fairy-queen ,meave1 who made herself famous by leading against ,cuchulainn the united armies of four of the five provinces of ,ireland1 and all on account of a bull which she coveted4 ,and there could be no better part of it to visit than ,roscommon1 which ,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde has made popular in ,irish folk-lore4 ,dr4 ,hyde and the ,leprechaun4--,one day while ,i was privileged to be at ,ratra1 ,dr4 ,hyde invited me to walk with him in the country4 ,after we had visited an old fort which belongs to the 'good people'1 and had noticed some other of their haunts in that part of ,queen ,meave's realm1 we entered a straw-thatched cottage on the roadside and found the good house-wife and her fine-looking daughter both at home4 ,in response to ,dr4 ,hyde's inquiries1 the mother stated that one day1 in her girlhood1 near a hedge from which she was gathering wild berries1 she saw a leprechaun in a hole under a stone3--',he wasn't much larger than a doll1 and he was most perfectly formed1 with a little mouth and eyes4' ,nothing was told about the little fellow having a money-bag1 although the woman said people told her afterwards that she would have been rich if she had only had sense enough to catch him when she had so good a chance4#bb ,the ,death ,coach4--,the next tale the mother told was about the death coach which used to pass by the very house we were in4 ,every night until after her daughter was born she used to rise up on her elbow in bed to listen to the death coach passing by4 ,it passed about midnight1 and she could hear the rushing1 the tramping of the horses1 and most beautiful singing1 just like fairy music1 but she could not understand the words4 ,once or twice she was brave enough to open the door and look out as the coach passed1 but she could never see a thing1 though there was the noise and singing4 ,one time a man had to wait on the roadside to let the fairy horses go by1 and he could hear their passing very clearly1 and couldn't see one of them4 ,when we got home1 ,dr4 ,hyde told me that the fairies of the region are rarely seen4 ,the people usually say that they hear or feel them only4 ,the ',good ,people' and ,mr4 ,gilleran4--,after the mother had testified1 the daughter1 who is quite of the younger generation1 gave her own opinion4 ,she said that the 'good people' live in the forts and often take men and women or youths who pass by the forts after sunset2 that ,mr4 ,gilleran1 who died not long ago1 once saw certain dead friends and recognized among them those who were believed to have been taken and those who died naturally1 and that he saw them again when he was on his death-bed4 ,we have here1 as in so many other accounts1 a clear connexion between the realm of the dead and ,fairyland4 ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,lough ,,derg ,,seer ,neil ,colton1 seventy-three years old1 who lives in ,tamlach ,townland1 on the shores of ,lough ,derg1 ,county ,donegal1 has a local reputation for having seen the 'gentle folk'1 and so ,i called upon him4 ,as we sat round his blazing turf fire1 and in the midst of his family of three sturdy boys--for he married late in life--this is what he related3-- ,a ,girl ,recovered from ,faerie4--',one day1 just before sunset in midsummer1 and ,i a boy then1 my brother and cousin and myself were gathering bilberries 7whortleberries7 up by the rocks at the back of here1 when all at once we heard music4 ,we hurried round the rocks1 and there we were within a few hundred feet of six or eight of the gentle folk1 and they dancing4 ,when they saw us1 a little woman dressed all in red came running out from them towards us1 and she struck my cousin across the face with what seemed to be a green rush4 ,we ran for home as hard as we could1 and when my cousin reached the house she fell dead4 ,father saddled a horse and went for ,father ,ryan4 ,when ,father ,ryan arrived1 he put a stole about his neck and began praying over my cousin and reading psalms and striking her with the stole2 and in that way brought her back4 ,he said if she had not caught hold of my brother1 she would have been taken for ever4' ,the ',gentle ,folk'4--',the gentle folk are not earthly people2 they are a people with a nature of their own4 ,even in the water there are men and women of the same character4 ,others have caves in the rocks1 and in them rooms and apartments4 ,these races were terribly plentiful a hundred years ago1 and they'll come back again4 ,my father lived two miles from here1 where there were plenty of the gentle folk4 ,in olden times they used to take young folks and keep them and draw all the life out of their bodies4 ,nobody could ever tell their nature exactly4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,county ,,fermanagh ,from ,james ,summerville1 eighty-eight years old1 who lives in the country near ,irvinestown1 ,i heard much about the 'wee people' and about banshees1 and then the following remarkable story concerning the 'good people'3-- ,travelling ,clairvoyance through ',fairy' ,agency4--',from near ,ederney1 ,county ,fermanagh1 about seventy years ago1 a man whom ,i knew well was taken to ,america on ,hallow ,eve ,night2 and they 7the good people7 made him look down a chimney to see his own daughter cooking at a kitchen fire4 ,then they took him to another place in ,america1 where he saw a friend he knew4 ,the next morning he was at his own home here in ,ireland4 ',this man wrote a letter to his daughter to know if she was at the place and at the work on ,hallow ,eve ,night1 and she wrote back that she was4 ,he was sure that it was the good people who had taken him to ,america and back in one night4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,county ,,antrim ,at the request of ,major ,r4 ,g4 ,berry1 ,m4,r4,i4,a41 of ,richill ,castle1 ,armagh1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,higginson1 of ,glenavy1 ,county ,antrim1 collected all the material he could find concerning the fairy-tradition in his part of ,county ,antrim1 and sent to me the results1 from which ,i have selected the very interesting1 and1 in some respects1 unique tales which follow3-- ,the ,fairies and the ,weaver4--',ned ,judge1 of ,sophys ,bridge1 was a weaver4 ,every night after he went to bed the weaving started of itself1 and when he arose in the morning he would find the dressing which had been made ready for weaving so broken and entangled that it took him hours to put it right4 ,yet with all this drawback he got no poorer1 because the fairies left him plenty of household necessaries1 and whenever he sold a web of cloth he always received treble the amount bargained for4' ,meeting ,two ,regiments of ',them'4--',william ,megarry1 of ,ballinderry1 as his daughter who is married to ,james ,megarry1 ,j4,p41 told me1 was one night going to ,crumlin on horseback for a doctor1 when after passing through ,glenavy he met just opposite the ,vicarage two regiments of them 7the fairies7 coming along the road towards ,glenavy4 ,one regiment was dressed in red and one in blue or green uniform4 ,they were playing music1 but when they opened out to let him pass through the middle of them the music ceased until he had passed by4' ,,in ,,cuchulainn',s ,,country3 ,a ,,civil ,,engineer',s ,,testimony ,in the heroic days of pagan ,ireland1 as tradition tells1 the ancient earthworks1 now called the ,navan ,rings1 just outside ,armagh1 were the stronghold of ,cuchulainn and the ,red ,branch ,knights2 and1 later1 under ,patrick1 ,armagh itself1 one of the old mystic centres of ,erin1 became the ecclesiastical capital of the ,gaels4 ,and from this romantic country1 one of its best informed native sons1 a graduate civil engineer of ,dublin ,university1 offers the following important evidence3-- ,the ,fairies are the ,dead4--',when ,i was a youngster near ,armagh1 ,i was kept good by being told that the fairies could take bad boys away4 ,the sane belief about the fairies1 however1 is different1 as ,i discovered when ,i grew up4 ,the old people in ,county ,armagh seriously believe that the fairies are the spirits of the dead2 and they say that if you have many friends deceased you have many friendly fairies1 or if you have many enemies deceased you have many fairies looking out to do you harm4' ,food-,offerings to ,place-,fairies4--',it was very usual formerly1 and the practice is not yet given up1 to place a bed1 some other furniture1 and plenty of food in a newly-constructed dwelling the night before the time fixed for moving into it2 and if the food is not consumed1 and the crumbs swept up by the door in the morning1 the house cannot safely be occupied4 ,i know of two houses now that have never been occupied1 because the fairies did not show their willingness and goodwill by taking food so offered to them4' ,,on ,,the ,,slopes ,,of ,,slieve ,,gullion ,in climbing to the summit of ,cuchulainn's mountain1 which overlooks parts of the territory made famous by the ',cattle ,raid of ,cooley'1 ,i met ,john ,o',hare1 sixty-eight years old1 of ,longfield ,townland1 leading his horse to pasture1 and ,i stopped to talk with him about the 'good people'4 ',the good people in this mountain1' he said1 'are the people who have died and been taken2 the mountain is enchanted4' ,the ',fairy' ,overflowing of the ,meal-,chest4--',an old woman came to the wife of ,steven ,callaghan and told her not to let ,steven cut a certain hedge4 ,it is where we shelter at night1 the old woman added2 and ,mrs4 ,callaghan recognized the old woman as one who had been taken in confinement4 ,a few nights later the same old woman appeared to ,mrs4 ,callaghan and asked for charity2 and she was offered some meal1 which she did not take4 ,then she asked for lodgings1 but did not stop4 ,when ,mrs4 ,callaghan saw the meal-chest next morning it was overflowing with meal3 it was the old woman's gift for the hedge4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,two ,,dromintee ,,percipients ,after my friend1 the ,rev4 ,father ,l4 ,donnellan1 ,c4,c41 of ,dromintee1 ,county ,armagh1 had introduced me to ,alice ,cunningham1 of his parish1 and she had told much about the 'gentle folk'1 she emphatically declared that they do exist--and this in the presence of ,father ,donnellan--because she has often seen them on ,carrickbroad ,mountain1 near where she lives4 ,and she then reported as follows concerning enchanted ,slieve ,gullion3-- ,the ',sidhe' ,guardian of ,slieve ,gullion4--',the top of ,slieve ,gullion is a very gentle place4 ,a fairy has her house there by the lake1 but she is invisible4 ,she interferes with nobody4 ,i hear of no gentler places about here than ,carrickbroad and ,slieve ,gullion4' ,father ,donnellan and ,i called next upon ,thomas ,mc,crink and his wife at ,carrifamayan1 because ,mrs4 ,mc,crink claims to have seen some of the 'good people'1 and this is her testimony3-- ,nature of the ',good ,people'4--',i've heard and felt the good people coming on the wind2 and ,i once saw them down in the middle field on my father's place playing football4 ,they are still on earth4 ,among them are the spirits of our ancestors2 and these rejoice whenever good fortune comes our way1 for ,i saw them before my mother won her land after a long legal contest in the field rejoicing4 ',some of the good people ,i have thought were fallen angels1 though these may be dead people whose time is not up4 ,we are only like shadows in this world3 my mother died in ,england1 and she came to me in the spirit4 ,i saw her plainly4 ,i ran to catch her1 but my hands ran through her form as if it were mere mist4 ,then there was a crack1 and she was gone4' ,and1 finally1 after a moment1 our percipient said3--',the fairies once passed down this lane here on a ,christmas morning2 and ,i took them to be suffering souls out of ,purgatory1 going to mass4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,dromintee ,,seeress ,father ,donnellan1 the following day1 took me to talk with almost the oldest woman in his parish1 ,mrs4 ,biddy ,grant1 eighty-six years old1 of ,upper ,toughal1 beside ,slieve ,gullion4 ,mrs4 ,grant is a fine specimen of an ,irishwoman1 with white hair1 clear complexion1 and an expression of great natural intelligence1 though now somewhat feeble from age4 ,her mind is yet clear1 however2 and her testimony is substantiated by this statement from her own daughter1 who lives with her3--',my mother has the power of seeing things4 ,it is a fact with her that spirits exist4 ,she has seen much1 even in her old age2 and what she is always telling me scares me half to death4' ,the following is ,mrs4 ,grant's direct testimony given at her own home1 on ,september #bj1 #aiji1 in answer to our question if she knew anything about the 'good people'3-- ,seeing the ',good ,people' as the ,dead4--',i saw them once as plain as can be--big1 little1 old1 and young4 ,i was in bed at the time1 and a boy whom ,i had reared since he was born was lying ill beside me4 ,two of them came and looked at him2 then came in three of them4 ,one of them seemed to have something like a book1 and he put his hand to the boy's mouth2 then he went away1 while others appeared1 opening the back window to make an avenue through the house2 and through this avenue came great crowds4 ,at this ,i shook the boy1 and said to him1 ,do you see anything8 ,no1 he said2 but as ,i made him look a second time he said1 ,i do4 ,after that he got well4 ',these good people were the spirits of our dead friends1 but ,i could not recognize them4 ,i have often seen them that way while in my bed4 ,many women are among them4 ,i once touched a boy of theirs1 and he was just like feathers in my hand2 there was no substance in him1 and ,i knew he wasn't a living being4 ,i don't know where they live2 ,i've heard they live in the ,carrige 7rocks74 ,many a time ,i've heard of their taking people or leading them astray4 ,they can't live far away when they come to me in such a rush4 ,they are as big as we are4 ,i think these fairy people are all through this country and in the mountains4' ,an ,apparition of a ',sidhe' ,woman8--',at a wake ,i went out of doors at midnight and saw a woman running up and down the field with a strange light in her hand4 ,i called out my daughter1 but she saw nothing1 though all the time the woman dressed in white was in the field1 shaking the light and running back and forth as fast as you could wink4 ,i thought the woman might be the spirit of ,nancy ,frink1 but ,i was not sure4' 7,cf4 pp4 #fj ff41 #hc1 #aee1 #bae47 ,,evidence ,,from ,,lough ,,gur1 ,,county ,,limerick ,one of the most interesting parts of ,ireland for the archaeologist and for the folk-lorist alike is the territory immediately surrounding ,lough ,gur1 ,county ,limerick4 ,shut in for the most part from the outer world by a circle of low-lying hills on whose summits fairy goddesses yet dwell invisibly1 this region1 famous for its numerous and well-preserved cromlechs1 dolmens1 menhirs1 and tumuli1 and for the rare folk-traditions current among its peasantry1 has long been popularly regarded as a sort of ,otherworld preserve haunted by fairy beings1 who dwell both in its waters and on its land4 ,there seems to be no reasonable doubt that in pre-,christian times the ,lough ,gur country was a very sacred spot1 a mystic centre for pilgrimages and for the celebration of ,celtic religious rites1 including those of initiation4 ,the ,lough is still enchanted1 but once in seven years the spell passes off it1 and it then appears like dry land to any one that is fortunate enough to behold it4 ,at such a time of disenchantment a ,tree is seen growing up through the lake-bottom--a ,tree like the strange ,world-,tree of ,scandinavian myth4 ,the ,tree is covered with a ,green ,cloth1 and under it sits the lake's guardian1 a woman knitting4#bc ,the peasantry about ,lough ,gur still believe that beneath its waters there is one of the chief entrances in ,ireland to ,tr-na-nog1 the ',land of ,youth'1 the ,fairy ,realm4 ,and when a child is stolen by the ,munster fairies1 ',lough ,gur is conjectured to be the place of its unearthly transmutation from the human to the fairy state4'#bc ,to my friend1 ,count ,john de ,salis1 of ,balliol ,college1 ,i am indebted for the following legendary material1 collected by him on the fairy-haunted ,lough ,gur estate1 his ancestral home1 and annotated by the ,rev4 ,j4 ,f4 ,lynch1 one of the best-informed antiquarians living in that part of ,south ,ireland3-- ,the ,fairy ,goddesses1 ,aine and ,fennel 7or ,finnen74--',there are two hills near ,lough ,gur upon whose summits sacrifices and sacred rites used to be celebrated according to living tradition4 ,one1 about three miles south-west of the lake1 is called ,knock ,aine1 ,aine or ,ane being the name of an ancient ,irish goddess1 derived from an1 bright4 ,the other1 the highest hill on the lake-shores1 is called ,knock ,fennel or ,hill of the ,goddess ,fennel1 from ,finnen or ,finnine or ,fininne1 a form of fin1 white4 ,the peasantry of the region call ,aine one of the ,good ,people2#bd and they say that ,fennel 7apparently her sister goddess or a variant of herself7 lived on the top of ,knock ,fennel' 7termed ,finnen in a ,state ,paper dated #abjj74 ,the ,fairy ,boat-,race4--',different old peasants have told me that on clear calm moonlight nights in summer1 fairy boats appear racing across ,lough ,gur4 ,the boats come from the eastern side of the lake1 and when they have arrived at ,garrod ,island1 where the ,desmond ,castle lies in ruins1 they vanish behind ,knock ,adoon4 ,there are four of these phantom boats1 and in each there are two men rowing and a woman steering4 ,no sound is heard1 though the seer can see the weird silvery splash of the oars and the churning of the water at the bows of the boats as they shoot along4 ,it is evident that they are racing1 because one boat gets ahead of the others1 and all the rowers can be seen straining at the oars4 ,boats and occupants seem to be transparent1 and you cannot see exactly what their nature is4 ,one old peasant told me that it is the shining brightness of the clothes on the phantom rowers and on the women who steer which makes them visible4 ',another man1 who is about forty years of age1 and as far as ,i know of good habits1 assures me that he also has seen this fairy boat-race1 and that it can still be seen at the proper season4' ,the ,bean-,tighe4#be--',the ,bean-tighe1 the fairy housekeeper of the enchanted submerged castle of the ,earl of ,desmond1 is supposed to appear sitting on an ancient earthen monument shaped like a great chair and hence called ,suidheachan1 the ,housekeeper's ,little ,seat1 on ,knock ,adoon 7,hill of the ,fort71 which juts out into the ,lough4 ,the ,bean-tighe1 as ,i have heard an old peasant tell the tale1 was once asleep on her ,seat1 when the ,buachailleen#bf or ,little ,herd ,boy stole her golden comb4 ,when the ,bean-tighe awoke and saw what had happened1 she cast a curse upon the cattle of the ,buachailleen1 and soon all of them were dead1 and then the ,little ,herd ,boy himself died1 but before his death he ordered the golden comb to be cast into the ,lough4'#bg ,lough ,gur ,fairies in ,general4--',the peasantry in the ,lough ,gur region commonly speak of the ,good ,people or of the ,kind ,people or of the ,little ,people1 their names for the fairies4 ,the leprechaun indicates the place where hidden treasure is to be found4 ,if the person to whom he reveals such a secret makes it known to a second person1 the first person dies1 or else no money is found3 in some cases the money is changed into ivy leaves or into furze blossoms4 ',i am convinced that some of the older peasants still believe in fairies4 ,i used to go out on the lake occasionally on moonlight nights1 and an old woman supposed to be a wise woman 7a seeress71 hearing about my doing this1 told me that under no circumstances should ,i continue the practice1 for fear of ,them ,people 7the fairies74 ,one evening in particular ,i was warned by her not to venture on the lake4 ,she solemnly asserted that the ,powers of ,darkness were then abroad1 and that it would be misfortune for me to be in their path4#bh ',under ordinary circumstances1 as a very close observer of the ,lough ,gur peasantry informs me1 the old people will pray to the ,saints1 but if by any chance such prayers remain unanswered they then invoke other powers1 the fairies1 the goddesses ,aine and ,fennel1 or other pagan deities1 whom they seem to remember in a vague subconscious manner through tradition4' ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,county ,,kerry ,,seer ,to another of my fellow students in ,oxford1 a native ,irishman of ,county ,kerry1 ,i am indebted for the following evidence3-- ,a ,collective ,vision of ,spiritual ,beings4--',some few weeks before ,christmas1 #aiaj1 at midnight on a very dark night1 ,i and another young man 7who like myself was then about twenty-three years of age7 were on horseback on our way home from ,limerick4 ,when near ,listowel1 we noticed a light about half a mile ahead4 ,at first it seemed to be no more than a light in some house2 but as we came nearer to it and it was passing out of our direct line of vision we saw that it was moving up and down1 to and fro1 diminishing to a spark1 then expanding into a yellow luminous flame4 ,before we came to ,listowel we noticed two lights1 about one hundred yards to our right1 resembling the light seen first4 ,suddenly each of these lights expanded into the same sort of yellow luminous flame1 about six feet high by four feet broad4 ,in the midst of each flame we saw a radiant being having human form4 ,presently the lights moved toward one another and made contact1 whereupon the two beings in them were seen to be walking side by side4 ,the beings' bodies were formed of a pure dazzling radiance1 white like the radiance of the sun1 and much brighter than the yellow light or aura surrounding them4 ,so dazzling was the radiance1 like a halo1 round their heads that we could not distinguish the countenances of the beings2 we could only distinguish the general shape of their bodies2 though their heads were very clearly outlined because this halo-like radiance1 which was the brightest light about them1 seemed to radiate from or rest upon the head of each being4 ,as we travelled on1 a house intervened between us and the lights1 and we saw no more of them4 ,it was the first time we had ever seen such phenomena1 and in our hurry to get home we were not wise enough to stop and make further examination4 ,but ever since that night ,i have frequently seen1 both in ,ireland and in ,england1 similar lights with spiritual beings in them4' 7,cf4 pp4 #fj ff41 #gg1 #acc1 #aee1 #bae1 #dhc47 ,reality of the ,spiritual ,world4--',like my companion1 who saw all that ,i saw of the first three lights1 ,i formerly had always been a sceptic as to the existence of spirits2 now ,i know that there is a spiritual world4 ,my brother1 a physician1 had been equally sceptical until he saw1 near our home at ,listowel1 similar lights containing spiritual beings and was obliged to admit the genuineness of the phenomena4 ',in whatever country we may be1 ,i believe that we are for ever immersed in the spiritual world2 but most of us cannot perceive it on account of the unrefined nature of our physical bodies4 ,through meditation and psychical training one can come to see the spiritual world and its beings4 ,we pass into the spirit realm at death and come back into the human world at birth2 and we continue to reincarnate until we have overcome all earthly desires and mortal appetites4 ,then the higher life is open to our consciousness and we cease to be human2 we become divine beings4' 7,recorded in ,oxford1 ,england1 ,august #ab1 #aiaa47 ,,iii4 ,,in ,,scotland ,introduction by ,,alexander ,,carmichael1 ,hon4 ,,ll4,d4 of the ,university of ,edinburgh2 author of ,carmina ,gadelica4 ,the belief in fairies was once common throughout ,scotland--,highland and ,lowland4 ,it is now much less prevalent even in the ,highlands and ,islands1 where such beliefs linger longer than they do in the ,lowlands4 ,but it still lives among the old people1 and is privately entertained here and there even among younger people2 and some who hold the belief declare that they themselves have seen fairies4 ,various theories have been advanced as to the origin of fairies and as to the belief in them4 ,the most concrete form in which the belief has been urged has been by the ,rev4 ,robert ,kirk1 minister of ,aberfoyle1 in ,perthshire4#bi ,another theory of the origin of fairies ,i took down in the island of ,miunghlaidh 7,minglay72 and1 though ,i have given it in ,carmina ,gadelica1 it is sufficiently interesting to be quoted here4 ,during ,october #ahga1 ,roderick ,macneill1 known as ',ruaraidh mac ,dhomhuil1' then ninety-two years of age1 told it in ,gaelic to the late ,j4 ,f4 ,campbell of ,islay and the writer1 when they were storm-stayed in the precipitous island of ,miunghlaidh1 ,barra3-- ',the ,proud ,angel fomented a rebellion among the angels of heaven1 where he had been a leading light4 ,he declared that he would go and found a kingdom for himself4 ,when going out at the door of heaven the ,proud ,angel brought prickly lightning and biting lightning out of the doorstep with his heels4 ,many angels followed him--so many that at last the ,son called out1 ,father6 ,father6 the city is being emptied6 whereupon the ,father ordered that the gates of heaven and the gates of hell should be closed4 ,this was instantly done4 ,and those who were in were in1 and those who were out were out2 while the hosts who had left heaven and had not reached hell flew into the holes of the earth1 like the stormy petrels4 ,these are the ,fairy ,folk--ever since doomed to live under the ground1 and only allowed to emerge where and when the ,king permits4 ,they are never allowed abroad on ,thursday1 that being ,columba's ,day2 nor on ,friday1 that being the ,son's ,day2 nor on ,saturday1 that being ,mary's ,day2 nor on ,sunday1 that being the ,lord's ,day4 ,god be between me and every fairy1 ,every ill wish and every druidry2 ,to-day is ,thursday on sea and land1 ,i trust in the ,king that they do not hear me4 ,on certain nights when their bruthain 7bowers7 are open and their lamps are lit1 and the song and the dance are moving merrily1 the fairies may be heard singing lightheartedly3-- ,not of the seed of ,adam are we1 ,nor is ,abraham our father2 ,but of the seed of the ,proud ,angel1 ,driven forth from ,heaven4' ,the fairies entered largely into the lives and into the folk-lore of the ,highland people1 and the following examples of things named after the fairies indicate the manner in which the fairies dominated the minds of the people of ,gaeldom3--teine sith1 'fairy fire' 7ignis fatuus72 breaca sith1 'fairy marks1' livid spots appearing on the faces of the dead or dying2 marcachd shith1 'fairy riding1' paralysis of the spine in animals1 alleged to be brought on by the fairy mouse riding across the backs of animals while they are lying down2 piob shith1 'fairy pipe' or 'elfin pipe'1 generally found in ancient underground houses2 miaran na mna sithe1 'the thimble of the fairy woman1' the fox-glove2 lion na mna sithe1 'lint of the fairy woman1' fairy flax1 said to be beneficial in certain illnesses2 and curachan na mna sithe1 'coracle of the fairy woman1' the shell of the blue valilla4 ,in place-names sith1 'fairy1' is common4 ,glenshee1 in ,perthshire1 is said to have been full of fairies1 but the screech of the steam-whistle frightened them underground4 ,there is scarcely a district of the ,highlands without its fairy knoll1 generally the greenest hillock in the place4 ',the black chanter of ,clan ,chattan' is said to have been given to a famous ,macpherson piper by a fairy woman who loved him2 and the ,mackays have a flag said to have been given to a ,mackay by a fairy sweetheart4 ,the well-known fairy flag of ,dunvegan is said to have been given to a ,macleod of ,macleod by a fairy woman2 and the ,macrimmons of ,bororaig1 pipers to the ,macleods of ,macleod1 had a chanter called ',sionnsair airgid na mna sithe'1 'the silver chanter of the fairy woman4' ,a family in ,north ,uist is known as ,dubh-sith1 ',black fairy1' from a tradition that the family had been familiar with the fairies in their secret flights and nightly migrations4 ,donald ,macalastair1 seventy-nine years of age1 crofter1 ,druim-a-ghinnir1 ,arran1 told me1 in the year #ahie1 the following story in ,gaelic3--',the fairies were dwelling in the knoll1 and they had a near neighbour who used to visit them in their home4 ,the man used to observe the ways of the fairies and to do as they did4 ,the fairies took a journey upon them to go to ,ireland1 and the man took upon him to go with them4 ,every single fairy of them caught a ragwort and went astride it1 and they were pell-mell1 every knee of them across the ,irish ,ocean in an instant1 and across the ,irish ,ocean was the man after them1 astride a ragwort like one of themselves4 ,a little wee tiny fairy shouted and asked were they all ready1 and all the others replied that they were1 and the little fairy called out3-- ,my king at my head1 ,going across in my haste1 ,on the crests of the waves1 ,to ,ireland4 ,follow me1 said the king of the fairies1 and away they went across the ,irish ,ocean1 every mother's son of them astride his ragwort4 ,macuga 7,cook7 did not know on earth how he would return to his native land1 but he leapt upon the ragwort as he saw the fairies do1 and he called as he heard them call1 and in an instant he was back in ,arran4 ,but he had got enough of the fairies on this trip itself1 and he never went with them again4' ,the fairies were wont to take away infants and their mothers1 and many precautions were taken to safeguard them till purification and baptism took place1 when the fairy power became ineffective4 ,placing iron about the bed1 burning leather in the room1 giving mother and child the milk of a cow which had eaten of the mothan1 pearl-wort 7,pinguicula vulgaris71 a plant of virtue1 and similar means were taken to ensure their safety4 ,if the watching-women neglected these precautions1 the mother or child or both were spirited away to the fairy bower4 ,many stories are current on this subject4 ,sometimes the fairies helped human beings with their work1 coming in at night to finish the spinning or the house-work1 or to thresh the farmer's corn or fan his grain4 ,on such occasions they must not be molested nor interfered with1 even in gratitude4 ,if presented with a garment they will go away and work no more4 ,this method of getting rid of them is often resorted to1 as it is not easy always to find work for them to do4 ,bean chaol a chot uaine 's na gruaige buidhe1 'the slender woman of the green kirtle and of the yellow hair1' is wise of head and deft of hand4 ,she can convert the white water of the rill into rich red wine and the threads of the spiders into a tartan plaid4 ,from the stalk of the fairy reed she can bring the music of the lull of the peace and of the repose1 however active the brain and lithe the limb2 and she can rouse to mirth and merriment1 and to the dance1 men and women1 however dolorous their condition4 ,from the bower could be heard the pipe and the song and the voice of laughter as the fairies 'sett' and reeled in the mazes of the dance4 ,sometimes a man hearing the merry music and seeing the wonderful light within would be tempted to go in and join them1 but woe to him if he omitted to leave a piece of iron at the door of the bower on entering1 for the cunning fairies would close the door and the man would find no egress4 ,there he would dance for years--but to him the years were as one day--while his wife and family mourned him as dead4 ,the flint arrow-heads so much prized by antiquarians are called in the ,highlands ,saighead sith1 fairy arrows4 ,they are said to have been thrown by the fairies at the sons and daughters of men4 ,the writer possesses one which was thrown at his own maid-servant one night when she went to the peatstack for peats4 ,she was aware of something whizzing through the silent air1 passing through her hair1 grazing her ear and falling at her feet4 ,stooping in the bright moonlight the girl picked up a fairy arrow6 ',but faith is dead--such things do not happen now1' said a courteous informant4 ,if not quite dead it is almost dead1 hastened by the shifting of population1 the establishment of means of communication1 the influx of tourists1 and the scorn of the more materialistic of the incomers and of the people themselves4 ,,edinburgh1 ,october #aiaj4 ,,aberfoyle1 ,,the ,,country ,,of ,,robert ,,kirk ,my first hunt for fairies in ,scotland began at ,aberfoyle1 where the ,highlands and the ,lowlands meet1 and in the very place where ,robert ,kirk1 the minister of ,aberfoyle1 was taken by them1 in the year #afib4 ,the minister spent a large part of his time studying the ways of the 'good people'1 and he must have been able to see them1 for he was a seventh son4 ,mrs4 ,j4 ,mac,gregor1 who keeps the key to the old churchyard where there is a tomb to ,kirk1 though many say there is nothing in it but a coffin filled with stones1 told me that ,kirk was taken into the ,fairy ,knoll1 which she pointed to just across a little valley in front of us1 and is there yet1 for the hill is full of caverns1 and in them the 'good people' have their homes4 ,and she added that ,kirk appeared to a relative of his after he was taken1 and said that he was in the power of the 'good people'1 and couldn't get away4 ',but1' says he1 ',i can be set free if you will have my cousin do what ,i tell him when ,i appear again at the christening of my child in the parsonage4' ,according to ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang1 who reports the same tradition in more detail in his admirable ,introduction to ,the ,secret ,commonwealth1 the cousin was ,grahame of ,duchray1 and the thing he was to do was to throw a dagger over ,kirk's head4 ,grahame was at hand at the christening of the posthumous child1 but was so astonished to see ,kirk appear as ,kirk said he would1 that he did not throw the dagger1 and so ,kirk became a perpetual prisoner of the 'good people'4 ,after having visited ,kirk's tomb1 ,i called on the ,rev4 ,william ,m4 ,taylor1 the present successor of ,kirk1 and1 as we sat together in the very room where ,kirk must have written his ,secret ,commonwealth1 he told me that tradition reports ,kirk as having been taken by the fairies while he was walking on their hill1 which is but a short way from the parsonage4 ',at the time of his disappearance1 people said he was taken because the fairies were displeased with him for prying into their secrets4 ,at all events1 it seems likely that ,kirk was taken ill very suddenly with something like apoplexy while on the ,fairy ,knoll1 and died there4 ,i have searched the presbytery books1 and find no record of how ,kirk's death really took place2 but of course there is not the least doubt of his body being in the grave4' ,so thus1 according to ,mr4 ,taylor1 we are to conclude that if the fairies carried off anything1 it must have been the spirit or soul of ,kirk4 ,i talked with others round ,aberfoyle about ,kirk1 and some would have it that his body and soul were both taken1 and that what was buried was no corpse at all4 ,mrs4 ,margaret ,mac,gregor1 one of the few ,gaelic speakers of the old school left in ,aberfoyle1 holds another opinion1 for she said to me1 ',nothing could be surer than that the good people took ,kirk's spirit only4' ,in the ,aberfoyle country1 the ,fairy-,faith1 save for the stories about ,kirk1 which will probably persist for a long time yet1 is rapidly passing4 ,in fact it is almost forgotten now4 ,up to thirty years ago1 as ,mr4 ,taylor explained1 before the railway reached ,aberfoyle1 belief in fairies was much more common4 ,nowadays1 he says1 there is no real fairy-lore among the peasants2 fifty to sixty years ago there was4 ,and in his opinion1 'the fairy people of three hundred years ago in ,scotland were a distinct race by themselves4 ,they had never been human beings4 ,the belief in them was a survival of paganism1 and not at all an outgrowth of ,christian belief in angelic hosts4' ,a ,,scotch ,,minister',s ,,testimony ,a ,protestant minister of ,scotland will be our next witness4 ,he is a native of ,ross-shire1 though he draws many of his stories from the ,western ,hebrides1 where his calling has placed him4 ,because he speaks from personal knowledge of the living ,fairy-,faith as it was in his boyhood and is now1 and chiefly because he has had the rare privilege of conscious contact with the fairy world1 his testimony is of the highest value4 ,reality of ,fairies4--',when ,i was a boy ,i was a firm believer in fairies2 and now as a ,christian minister ,i believe in the possibility and also the reality of these spiritual orders1 but ,i wish only to know those orders which belong to the realm of grace4 ,it is very certain that they exist4 ,i have been in a state of ecstasy1 and have seen spiritual beings which form these orders4#cj ',i believe in the actuality of evil spirits2 but people in the ,highlands having put aside paganism1 evil spirits are not seen now4' ,this explanation was offered of how fairies may exist and yet be invisible3--',our ,saviour became invisible though in the body2 and1 as the ,scriptures suggest1 ,i suppose we are obliged to concede a similar power of invisibility to spirits as well1 good and evil ones alike4' ,precautions against ,fairies4--',i remember how an old woman pulled me out of a fairy ring to save me from being taken4 ',if a mother takes some bindweed and places it burnt at the ends over her babe's cradle1 the fairies have no power over the child4 ,the bindweed is a common roadside convolvulus4 ',as a boy1 ,i saw two old women passing a babe over red-hot coals1 and then drop some of the cinders in a cup of water and give the water to the babe to drink1 in order to cure it of a fairy stroke4' ,fairy ,fights on ,halloween4--',it is a common belief now that on ,halloween the fairies1 or the fairy hosts1 have fights4 ,lichens on rocks after there has been a frost get yellowish-red1 and then when they thaw and the moisture spreads out from them the rocks are a bright red2 and this bright red is said to be the blood of the fairies after one of their battles4' ,fairies and the ,hump-back4--,the following story by the present witness is curious1 for it is the same story of a hump-back which is so widespread4 ,the fact that in ,scotland the hump is removed or added by fairies as it is in ,ireland1 in ,cornwall by pixies1 and in ,brittany by corrigans1 goes far to prove the essential identity of these three orders of beings4 ,the story comes from one of the remote ,western ,hebrides1 ,benbecula3--',a man who was a hump-back once met the fairies dancing1 and danced with their queen2 and he sang with them1 ,monday1 ,tuesday1 ,wednesday1 so well that they took off his hump1 and he returned home a straight-bodied man4 ,then a tailor went past the same place1 and was also admitted by the fairies to their dance4 ,he caught the fairy queen by the waist1 and she resented his familiarity4 ,and in singing he added ,thursday to their song and spoilt it4 ,to pay the tailor for his rudeness and ill manners1 the dancers took up the hump they had just removed from the first man and clapped it on his back1 and the conceited fellow went home a hump-back4' ,libations to ,fairies4--',an elder in my church knew a woman who was accustomed1 in milking her cows1 to offer libations to the fairies4#ca ,the woman was later converted to ,christ and gave up the practice1 and as a result one of her cows was taken by the fairies4 ,then she revived the practice4 ',the fairy queen who watches over cows is called ,gruagach in the ,islands1 and she is often seen4 ,in pouring libations to her and her fairies various kinds of stones1 usually with hollows in them1 are used4#cb ',in ,lewis libations are poured to the goddess or god of the sea1 called ,shoney1#cc in order to bring in seaweed4 ,until modern times in ,iona similar libations were poured to a god corresponding to ,neptune4' ,,in ,,the ,,highlands ,i had the pleasure as well as the great privilege of setting out from ,inverness on a bright crisp ,september morning in company with ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael1 the well-known folk-lorist of ,scotland1 to study the ,fairy-,faith as it exists now in the ,highlands round ,tomatin1 a small country village about twenty miles distant4 ,we departed by an early train2 and soon reaching the ,tomatin country began our search--,dr4 ,carmichael for evidence regarding rare and curious ,scotch beliefs connected with folk-magic1 such as blood-stopping at a distance and removing motes in the eye at a distance1 and ,i for ,highland ghosts and fairies4 ,our first experience was with an old man whom we met on the road between the railway station and the post office1 who could speak only ,gaelic4 ,dr4 ,carmichael talked with him awhile1 and then asked him about fairies1 and he said there were some living in a cave some way off1 but as the distance was rather too far we decided not to call on them4 ,then we went on to see the postmaster1 ,mr4 ,john ,mac,dougall1 and he told us that in his boyhood the country-folk round ,tomatin believed thoroughly in fairies4 ,he said they thought of them as a race of spirits capable of making themselves visible to mortals1 as living in underground places1 as taking fine healthy babes and leaving changelings in their place4 ,these changelings would waste away and die in a short time after being left4 ,so firmly did the old people believe in fairies then that they would ridicule a person for not believing4 ,and now quite the reverse state has come about4#cd ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,john ,,dunbar ,,of ,,invereen ,we talked with other ,highlanders in the country round ,tomatin1 and heard only echoes1 mostly fragmentary1 of what their forefathers used to believe about fairies4 ,but at ,invereen we discovered ,john ,dunbar1 a ,highlander1 who really knows the ,fairy-,faith and is not ashamed to explain it4 ,speaking partly from experience and partly from what he has heard his parents relate concerning the 'good people'1 he said3-- ,the ,sheep and the ,fairy-,hunting4--',i believe people saw fairies1 but ,i think one reason no one sees them now is because every place in this parish where they used to appear has been put into sheep1 and deer1 and grouse1 and shooting4 ,according to tradition1 ,coig na ,fearn is the place where the last fairy was seen in this country4 ,before the big sheep came1 the fairies are supposed to have had a premonition that their domains were to be violated by them4 ,a story is told of a fight between the sheep and fairies1 or else of the fairies hunting the sheep3--,james ,mac,queen1 who could traffic with the fairies1 whom he regarded as ghosts or spirits1 one night on his old place1 which now is in sheep1 was lying down all alone and heard a small and big barking of dogs1 and a small and big bleating of sheep1 though no sheep were there then4 ,it was the fairy-hunting he heard4 ,i put an axe under my head and ,i had no fear therefore1 he always repeated when telling the story4 ,i believe the man saw and heard something4 ,and ,mac,queen used to aid the fairies1 and on that account1 as he was in the habit of saying1 he always found more meal in his chest than he thought he had4' ,fairies4--',my grandmother believed firmly in fairies1 and ,i have heard her tell a good many stories about them4 ,they were a small people dressed in green1 and had dwellings underground in dry spots4 ,fairies were often heard in the hills over there 7pointing71 and ,i believe something was there4 ,they were awful for music1 and used to be heard very often playing the bagpipes4 ,a woman wouldn't go out in the dark after giving birth to a child before the child was christened1 so as not to give the fairies power over her or the child4 ,and ,i have heard people say that if fairies were refused milk and meat they would take a horse or a cow2 and that if well treated they would repay all gifts4' ,time in ,fairyland4--',people would be twenty years in ,fairyland and it wouldn't seem more than a night4 ,a bridegroom who was taken on his wedding-day was in ,fairyland for many generations1 and1 coming back1 thought it was next morning4 ,he asked where all the wedding-guests were1 and found only one old woman who remembered the wedding4' ,highland ,legend of the ,dead4--,as ,i have found to be the case in all ,celtic countries equally1 fairy stories nearly always1 in accordance with the law of psychology known as 'the association of ideas'1 give place to or are blended with legends of the dead4 ,this is an important factor for the ,psychological ,theory4 ,and what follows proves the same ideas to be present to the mind of ,mr4 ,dunbar3--',some people after death are seen in their old haunts2 no mistake about it4 ,a bailiff had false corn and meal measures1 and so after he died he came back to his daughter and told her he could have no peace until the measures were burned4 ,she complied with her father's wish1 and his spirit was never seen again4 ,i have known also of phantom funerals of people who died soon afterwards being seen on the road at night4' ,,to ,,the ,,western ,,hebrides ,from ,inverness ,i began my journey to the ,western ,hebrides4 ,while ,i waited for the steamer to take me from ,kyle to the ,isle of ,skye1 an old man with whom ,i talked on the docks said this about ,neill ,mackintosh1 of ,black ,island3--',you can't argue with the old man that he hasn't seen fairies4 ,he can tell you all about them4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,skye ,miss ,frances ,tolmie1 who was born at ,uignish1 ,isle of ,skye1 and has lived many years in the isle in close touch with some of its oldest folk1 contributes1 from ,edinburgh1 the evidence which follows4 ,the first two tales were told in the parish of ,minginish a number of years ago by ,mary ,macdonald1 a goat-herd1 and have their setting in the region of the ,koolian#ce range of mountains on the west side of ,skye4 ,the ,fatal ,peat ,ember4--',an aged nurse who had fallen fast asleep as she sat by the fire1 was holding on her knees a newly-born babe4 ,the mother1 who lay in bed gazing dreamily1 was astonished to see three strange little women enter the dwelling4 ,they approached the unconscious child1 and she who seemed to be their leader was on the point of lifting it off the nurse's lap1 when the third exclaimed3--,oh6 let us leave this one with her as we have already taken so many6 ,so be it1 replied the senior of the party in a tone of displeasure1 but when that peat now burning on the hearth shall be consumed1 her life will surely come to an end4 ,then the three little figures passed out4 ,the good wife1 recognizing them to be fairies1 sprang from her bed and poured over the fire all the water she could find1 and extinguished the half-burnt ember4 ,this she wrapped carefully in a piece of cloth and deposited at the very bottom of a large chest1 which afterwards she always kept locked4 ',years passed1 and the babe grew into a beautiful young woman4 ,in the course of time she was betrothed2 and1 according to custom1 not appearing in public at church on the ,sunday preceding the day appointed for her marriage1 remained at home alone4 ,to amuse herself1 she began to search the contents of all the keeping-places in the house1 and came at last to the chest containing the peat ember4 ,in her haste1 the good mother had that day forgotten the key of the chest1 which was now in the lock4 ,at the bottom of the chest the girl found a curious packet containing nothing but a morsel of peat1 and this apparently useless thing she tossed away into the fire4 ,when the peat was well kindled the young girl began to feel very ill1 and when her mother returned was dying4 ,the open chest and the blazing peat explained the cause of the calamity4 ,the fairy's prediction was fulfilled4' ,results of ,refusing ,fairy ,hospitality4--',two women were walking toward the ,point when one of them1 hearing churning going on under a hillock1 expressed aloud a wish for some butter-milk4 ,no sooner had she spoken than a very small figure of a woman came out with a bowlful and offered it to her1 but the thirsty woman1 ignorant of fairy customs and the penalty attending their infringement1 declined the kind offer of refreshment1 and immediately found herself a prisoner in the hillock4 ,she was led to an apartment containing a chest full of meal and a great bag of wool1 and was told by the fairy that when she had eaten all the meal and spun all the wool she would be free to return to her home4 ,the prisoner at once set herself to eating and spinning assiduously1 but without apparent result1 and despairing of completing the task consulted an old man of very sad countenance who had long been a captive in the hillock4 ,he willingly gave her his advice1 which was to wet her left eye with saliva each morning before she settled down to her task4 ,she followed this advice1 and gradually the wool and the meal were exhausted4 ,then the fairy granted her freedom1 but in doing so cursed the old man1 and said that she had it in her power to keep him in the hillock for ever4' ,the ,fairies' ',waulking' 7,fulling74--',at ,ebost1 in ,bracadale1 an old woman was living in a little hut1 with no companion save a wise cat4 ,as we talked1 she expressed her wonder that no fairies are ever seen or heard nowadays4 ,she could remember hearing her father tell how he1 when a herd-boy1 had heard the fairies singing a waulking song in ,dun-,osdale1 an ancient and ruined round tower in the parish of ,dirinish1 and not far from ,helval mhor 7great7 and ,helval bheag 7less7--two hills occasionally alluded to as ,macleod's ,tables4 ,the youth was lying on the grass-grown summit of the ruin1 and heard them distinctly4 ,as if with exultation1 one voice took the verse and then the whole company joined in the following chorus3 ,ho6 fir-e6 fair-e1 foirm6 ,ho6 ,fair-eag-an an cl6 7,ho6 well done6 ,grand6 ,ho6 bravo the web of homespun67' ,crodh ,chailean4--',this tale was related by ,mr4 ,neil ,macleod1 the bard of ,skye3--,colin was a gentleman of ,clan ,campbell in ,perthshire1 who was married to a beautiful maiden whom the fairies carried off on her marriage-day1 and on whom they cast a spell which rendered her invisible for a day and a year4 ,she came regularly every day to milk the cows of her sorrowing husband1 and sang sweetly to them while she milked1 but he never once had the pleasure of beholding her1 though he could hear perfectly what she sang4 ,at the expiry of the year she was1 to his great joy1 restored to him4'#cf ,fairy ,legend of the ,macleod ,family4--',there is a legend told of the ,macleod family3--,soon after the heir of the ,macleods was born1 a beautiful woman in wonderful raiment1 who was a fairy woman or banshee 7there were joyous as well as mourning banshees7 appeared at the castle1 and went directly to the babe's cradle4 ,she took up the babe and chanted over it a series of verses1 and each verse had its own melody4 ,the verses foretold the future manhood of the young child1 and acted as a protective charm over its life4 ,then she put the babe back into its cradle1 and1 going out1 disappeared across the moorlands4 ',for many generations it was a custom in the ,macleod family that whoever was the nurse of the heir must sing those verses as the fairy woman had sung them4 ,after a time the song was forgotten1 but at a later period it was partially recovered1 and to-day it is one of the proud folk-lore heritages of the ,macleod family4'#cg ,origin and ,nature of the ,fairy-,faith4--,finally1 with respect to the origin and nature of the ,scotch ,fairy-,faith1 ,miss ,tolmie states3--',as a child ,i was not permitted to hear about fairies4 ,at twenty ,i was seeking and trying to understand the beliefs of my fathers in the light of modern ideas4 ,i was very determined not to lose the past4 ',the fairy-lore originated in a cultured class in very ancient times4 ,the peasants inherited it2 they did not invent it4 ,with the loss of ,gaelic in our times came the loss of folk-ideals4 ,the classical and ,english influences combined had a killing effect2 so that the instinctive religious feeling which used to be among our people when they kept alive the fairy-traditions is dead4 ,we have intellectually-constructed creeds and doctrines which take its place4 ',we always thought of fairies as mysterious little beings living in hills4 ,they were capricious and irritable1 but not wicked4 ,they could do a good turn as well as a bad one4 ,they were not aerial1 but had bodies which they could make invisible2 and they could make human bodies invisible in the same way4 ,besides their hollow knolls and mounds there seemed to be a subterranean world in which they also lived1 where things are like what they are in this world4' ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,barra1#ch ,,western ,,hebrides ,we pass from ,cuchulainn's beautiful island to what is now the most ,celtic part of ,scotland--the ,western ,hebrides1 where the ancient life is lived yet1 and where the people have more than a faith in spirits and fairies4 ,and no one of the ,western ,hebrides1 perhaps excepting the tiny island of ,erisgey1 has changed less during the last five hundred years than ,barra4 ,our ,barra guide and interpreter1 ,michael ,buchanan1 a native and a life-long resident of ,barra1 is seventy years old1 yet as strong and active as a city man at fifty4 ,he knows intimately every old man on the island1 and as he was able to draw them out on the subject of the 'good people' as no stranger could do1 ,i was quite willing1 as well as obliged on account of the ,scotch ,gaelic1 to let him act on my behalf in all my collecting on ,barra4 ,mr4 ,buchanan is the author of a little book called ,the ,mac,neils of ,barra ,genealogy1 published in the year #aijb4 ,he was the official interpreter before the ,commission of ,inquiry which was appointed by the ,british ,parliament in #ahhc to search into the oppression of landlordism in the ,highlands and ,islands1 and he acted in the same capacity before the ,crofters' ,commission and the ,deer-,forest ,commission4 ,we therefore feel perfectly safe in allowing him to present1 before our jury trying the ,fairy-,faith1 the evidence of the ,gaelic-speaking witnesses from ,barra4 ,,john ,,macneil',s ,,testimony ,we met the first of the ,barra witnesses on the top of a rocky hill1 where the road from ,castlebay passes4 ,he was carrying on his back a sack of sand heavy enough for a college athlete1 and he an old man between seventy and eighty years of age4 ,michael ,buchanan has known ,john ,mac,neil all his life1 for they were boys together on the island2 and there is not much difference between them in age1 our interpreter being the younger4 ,then the three of us sat down on a grassy knoll1 all the world like a fairy knoll1 though it was not2 and when pipes were lit and the weather had been discussed1 there was introduced the subject of the 'good people'--all in ,gaelic1 for our witness now about to testify knows no ,english--and what ,john ,mac,neil said is thus interpreted by ,michael ,buchanan3-- ,a ,fairy's ,visit4--',yes1 ,i have' 7in answer to a question if he had heard of people being taken by the 'good people' or fairies74 ',a fairy woman visited the house of a young wife here in ,barra1 and the young wife had her baby on her breast at the time4 ,the first words uttered by the fairy woman were1 ,heavy is your child2 and the wife answered1 ,light is everybody who lives the longest4 ,were it not that you have answered my question1 said the fairy woman1 and understood my meaning1 you should have been less your child4 ,and then the fairy woman departed4' ,fairy-,singing4--',my mother1 and two other women well known here in ,barra1 went to a hill one day to look after their sheep1 and1 a thick fog coming on1 they had to rest awhile4 ,they then sat down upon a knoll and began to sing a walking 7cloth-working7 song1 as follows3--,it is early to-day that ,i have risen2 and1 as they sang1 a fairy woman in the rocks responded to their song with one of her own4' ,nature of ,fairies4--,then the question was asked if fairies were men or spirits1 and this is the reply3--',i never saw any myself1 and so cannot tell1 but they must be spirits from all that the old people tell about them1 or else how could they appear and disappear so suddenly8 ,the old people said they didn't know if fairies were flesh and blood1 or spirits4 ,they saw them as men of more diminutive stature than our race4 ,i heard my father say that fairies used to come and speak to natural people1 and then vanish while one was looking at them4 ,fairy women used to go into houses and talk and then vanish4 ,the general belief was that the fairies were spirits who could make themselves seen or not seen at will4 ,and when they took people they took body and soul together4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,john ,,campbell1 ,,ninety-,,four ,,years ,,old ,our next witness from ,barra is ,john ,campbell1 who is ninety-four years old1 yet clear-headed4 ,he was born on ,barra at ,sgalary1 and lives near there now at ,breuvaig4 ,we were on our way to call at his home1 when we met him coming on the road1 with a cane in each hand and a small sack hanging from one of them4 ,michael saluted him as an old acquaintance1 and then we all sat down on a big boulder in the warm sunshine beside the road to talk4 ,the first thing ,john wanted was tobacco1 and when this was supplied we gradually led from one subject to another until he was talking about fairies4 ,and this is what he said about them3-- ,the ,fairy and the ,fountain4--',i had a companion by the name of ,james ,galbraith1 who was drowned about forty years ago1 and one time he was crossing from the west side of the island to the east side1 to the township called ,sgalary1 and feeling thirsty took a drink out of a spring well on the mountain-side4 ,after he had taken a drink1 he looked about him and saw a woman clad in green1 and imagined that no woman would be clad in such a colour except a fairy woman4 ,he went on his way1 and when he hadn't gone far1 looked back1 and1 as he looked1 saw the woman vanish out of his sight4 ,he afterwards reported the incident at his father's house in ,sgalary1 and his father said he also had seen a woman clad in clothes of green at the same place some nights before4' ,a ,step-son ,pitied by the ,fairies4--',i heard my father say that a neighbour of his father1 that is of my grandfather1 was married twice1 and had three children from the first marriage1 and when married for the second time1 a son and daughter4 ,his second wife did not seem to be kind enough to the children of the first wife1 neglecting their food and clothing and keeping them constantly at hard work in the fields and at herding4 ',one morning when the man and his second wife were returning from mass they passed the pasture where their cows were grazing and heard the enjoyable skirrels of the bagpipes4 ,the father said1 ,what may this be8 and going off the road found the eldest son of the first wife playing the bagpipes to his heart's pleasure2 and asked him earnestly1 ,how did you come to play the bagpipes so suddenly1 or where did you get this splendid pair of bagpipes8 ,the boy replied1 ,an old man came to me while ,i was in the action of roasting pots in a pit-fire and said1 ',your step-mother is bad to you and in ill-will towards you4' ,i told the old man ,i was sensible that that was the case1 and then he said to me1 ',if ,i give you a trade will you be inclined to follow it8' ,i said yes1 and the old man then continued1 ',how would you like to be a piper by trade8' ',i would gladly become a piper1' says ,i1 'but what am ,i to do without the bagpipes and the tunes to play8' ',i'll supply the bagpipes1' he said1 'and as long as you have them you'll never want for the most delightful tunes4' ,the male descendants of the boy in question were all famous pipers thereafter1 and the last of them was a piper to the late ,cluny ,mac,pherson of ,cluny4' ,nature of ,fairies4--,at this point1 ,michael turned the trend of ,john's thoughts to the nature of fairies1 with the following result3--',the general belief of the people here during my father's lifetime was that the fairies were more of the nature of spirits than of men made of flesh and blood1 but that they so appeared to the naked eye that no difference could be marked in their forms from that of any human being1 except that they were more diminutive4 ,i have heard my father say it was the case that fairy women used to take away children from their cradles and leave different children in their places1 and that these children who were left would turn out to be old men4 ',at ,barra ,head1 a fairy woman used to come to a man's window almost every night as though looking to see if the family was home4 ,the man grew suspicious1 and decided the fairy woman was watching her chance to steal his wife1 so he proposed a plan4 ,it was then and still is the custom after thatching a house to rope it across with heather-spun ropes1 and1 at the time1 the man was busy spinning some of them2 and he told his wife to take his place that night to spin the heather-rope1 and said he would take her spinning-wheel4 ,they were thus placed when the fairy woman made the usual look in at the window1 and she seeing that her intention was understood1 said to the man1 ,you are yourself at the spinning-wheel and your wife is spinning the heather-rope4 ',i have heard it said that the fairies live in knolls on a higher level than that of the ground in general1 and that fairy songs are heard from the faces of high rocks4 ,the fairies of the air 7the fairy or spirit hosts7 are different from those in the rocks4 ,a man whom ,i've seen1 ,roderick ,mac,neil1 was lifted by the hosts and left three miles from where he was taken up4 ,the hosts went at about midnight4 ,a man awake at midnight is in danger4 ,cows and horses are sometimes shot in place of men' 7and why1 will be explained by later witnesses74 ,father ,mac,donald's ,opinions4--,we then asked about the late ,rev4 ,donald ,mac,donald1 who had the reputation of knowing all about fairies and spirits when he lived here in these islands1 and ,john said3--',i have heard my wife say that she questioned ,father ,mac,donald1 who was then a parish priest here in ,barra1 and for whom she was a housekeeper1 if it was possible that such beings or spirits as fairies were in existence4 ,he said ,yes1 and that they were those who left ,heaven after the fallen angels2 and that those going out after the fallen angels had gone out were so numerous and kept going so long that ,st4 ,michael notified ,christ that the throne was fast emptying1 and when ,christ saw the state of affairs he ordered the doors of ,heaven to be closed at once1 saying as he gave the order1 ,who is out is out and who is in is in4 ,and the fairies are as numerous now as ever they were before the beginning of the world4' 7,cf4 pp4 #dg1 #ec1 #fg1 #gf1 #he1 #aji1 #aac1 #aaf1 #abi1 #aed1 #bje1 #bab47 ,here we left ,john1 and he1 continuing on his way up the mountain road in an opposite direction from us and round a turn1 disappeared almost as a fairy might4 ,,an ,,aged ,,piper',s ,,testimony ,we introduce now as a witness ,donald ,mc,kinnon1 ninety-six years old1 a piper by profession2 and not only is he the oldest man on ,barra1 but also the oldest man among all our witnesses4 ,he was born on the ,island of ,south ,uist1 one of the ,western ,hebrides north of ,barra1 and came to ,barra in #ahcf1 where he has lived ever since4 ,in spite of being four years less than a hundred in age1 he greeted us very heartily1 and as he did not wish us to sit inside1 for his chimney happened not to be drawing very well1 and was filling the straw-thatched cottage with peat smoke1 we sat down outside on the grass and began talking2 and as we came to fairies this is what he said3-- ,nature of ,fairies4--',i believe that fairies exist as a tribe of spirits1 and appear to us in the form of men and women4 ,people who saw fairies can yet describe them as they appeared dressed in green4 ,no doubt there are fairies in other countries as well as here4 ',in my experience there was always a good deal of difference between the fairies and the hosts4 ,the fairies were supposed to be living without material food1 whereas the hosts were supposed to be living upon their own booty4 ,generally1 the hosts were evil and the fairies good1 though ,i have heard that the fairies used to take cattle and leave their old men rolled up in the hides4 ,one night an old witch was heard to say to the fairies outside the fold1 ,we cannot get anything to-night4 ,the old men who were left behind in the hides of the animals taken1 usually disappeared very suddenly4 ,i saw two men who used to be lifted by the hosts4 ,they would be carried from ,south ,uist as far south as ,barra ,head1 and as far north as ,harris4 ,sometimes when these men were ordered by the hosts to kill men on the road they would kill instead either a horse or a cow2 for in that way1 so long as an animal was killed1 the injunction of the hosts was fulfilled4' ,to illustrate at this point the idea of fairies1 ,donald repeated the same legend told by our former witness1 ,john ,campbell1 about the emptying of ,heaven and the doors being closed to keep the remainder of its population in4 ,then he told the following story about fairies3-- ,the ,fairy-,belt4--',i heard of an apprentice to carpentry who was working with his master at the building of a boat1 a little distance from his house1 and near the sea4 ,he went to work one morning and forgot a certain tool which he needed in the boat-building4 ,he returned to his carpenter-shed to get it1 and found the shed filled with fairy men and women4 ,on seeing him they ran away so greatly confused that one of the women forgot her gird 7belt71 and he picked it up4 ,in a little while she came back for the gird1 and asked him to give it her1 but he refused to do so4 ,thereupon she promised him that he should be made master of his trade wherever his lot should fall without serving further apprenticeship4 ,on that condition he gave her the gird2 and rising early next morning he went to the yard where the boat was a-building and put in two planks so perfectly that when the master arrived and saw them1 he said to him1 ,are you aware of anybody being in the building-yard last night1 for ,i see by the work done that ,i am more likely to be an apprentice than the person who put in those two planks1 whoever he is4 ,was it you that did it8 ,the reply was in the affirmative1 and the apprentice told his master the circumstances under which he gained the rapid mastership of his trade4' ,,across ,,the ,,mountains ,it was nearing sunset now1 and a long mountain-climb was ahead of us1 and one more visit that evening1 before we should begin our return to ,castlebay1 and so after this story we said a hearty good-bye to ,donald1 with regret at leaving him4 ,when we reached the mountain-side1 one of the rarest of ,barra's sights greeted us4 ,to the north and south in the golden glow of a ,september twilight we saw the long line of the ,outer ,hebrides like the rocky backbone of some submerged continent4 ,the scene and colours on the land and ocean and in the sky seemed more like some magic vision1 reflected from ,faerie by the 'good people' for our delight1 than a thing of our own world4 ,never was air clearer or sea calmer1 nor could there be air sweeter than that in the mystic mountain-stillness holding the perfume of millions of tiny blossoms of purple and white heather2 and as the last honey-bees were leaving the beautiful blossoms their humming came to our ears like low1 strange music from ,fairyland4 ,,marian ,,maclean ,,of ,,barra1 ,,and ,,her ,,testimony ,our next witness to testify is a direct descendant of the ancient ,mac,neils of ,barra4 ,her name now is ,marian ,mac,lean2 and she lives in the mountainous centre of ,barra at ,upper ,borve4 ,she is many years younger than the men who have testified1 and one of the most industrious women on the island4 ,it was already dark and past dinner-time when we entered her cottage1 and so1 as we sat down before a blazing peat-fire1 she at once offered us some hot milk and biscuits1 which we were only too glad to accept4 ,and1 as we ate1 we talked first about our hard climb in the darkness across the mountains1 and through the thick heather-bushes1 and then about the big rock which has a key-hole in it1 for it contains a secret entrance to a fairy palace4 ,we had examined it in the twilight as we came through the mountain pass which it guards1 and my guide ,michael had assured me that more than one islander1 crossing at the hour we were1 had seen some of the fairies near it4 ,we waited in front of the big rock in hopes one might appear for our benefit1 but1 in spite of our strong belief that there are fairies there1 not a single one would come out4 ,perhaps they came and we couldn't see them2 who knows8 ,fairies and ,fairy ,hosts 7',sluagh'74#ci--',o yes1' ,marian said1 as she heard ,michael and myself talking over our hot milk1 'there are fairies there1 for ,i was told that the ,pass was a notable fairy haunt4' ,then ,i said through ,michael1 ',can you tell us something about what these fairies are8' ,and from that time1 save for a few interruptions natural in conversation1 we listened and ,marian talked1 and told stories as follows3-- ',generally1 the fairies are to be seen after or about sunset1 and walk on the ground as we do1 whereas the hosts travel in the air above places inhabited by people4 ,the hosts used to go after the fall of night1 and more particularly about midnight4 ,you'd hear them going in fine weather against a wind like a covey of birds4 ,and they were in the habit of lifting men in ,south ,uist1 for the hosts need men to help in shooting their javelins from their bows against women in the action of milking cows1 or against any person working at night in a house over which they pass4 ,and ,i have heard of good sensible men whom the hosts took1 shooting a horse or cow in place of the person ordered to be shot4 ',there was a man who had only one cow and one daughter4 ,the daughter was milking the cow at night when the hosts were passing1 and that human being whom the hosts had lifted with them was her father's neighbour4 ,and this neighbour was ordered by the hosts to shoot the daughter as she was milking1 but1 knowing the father and daughter1 he shot the cow instead4 ,the next morning he went where the father was and said to him1 ,you are missing the cow4 ,yes1 said the father1 ,i am4 ,and the man who had shot the cow said1 ,are you not glad your cow and not your daughter was taken8 ,for ,i was ordered to shoot your daughter and ,i shot your cow1 in order to show blood on my arrow4 ,i am very glad of what you have done if that was the case1 the father replied4 ,it was the case1 the neighbour said4 ',my father and grandfather knew a man who was carried by the hosts from ,south ,uist here to ,barra4 ,i understand when the hosts take away earthly men they require another man to help them4 ,but the hosts must be spirits4 ,my opinion is that they are both spirits of the dead and other spirits not the dead4 ,a child was taken by the hosts and returned after one night and one day1 and found at the back of the house with the palms of its hands in the holes in the wall1 and with no life in its body4 ,it was dead in the spirit4 ,it is believed that when people are dropped from a great height by the hosts they are killed by the fall4 ,as to fairies1 my firm opinion is that they are spirits who appear in the shape of human beings4' ,the question was now asked whether the fairies were anything like the dead1 and ,marian hesitated about answering4 ,she thought they were like the dead1 but not to be identified with them4 ,the fallen-angel idea concerning fairies was an obstacle she could not pass1 for she said1 ',when the fallen angels were cast out of ,heaven ,god commanded them thus3--,you will go to take up your abodes in crevices1 under the earth1 in mounds1 or soil1 or rocks4 ,and according to this command they have been condemned to inhabit the places named for a certain period of time1 and when it is expired before the consummation of the world1 they will be seen as numerous as ever4' ,now we heard two good stories1 the first about fairy women spinning for a mortal1 the second about a wonderful changeling who was a magic musician3-- ,fairy-,women ,spinners4--',i have heard my father1 ,alexander ,mac,neil1 who was well known to ,mr4 ,alexander ,carmichael and to ,mr4 ,j4 ,f4 ,campbell of ,islay1 say that his father knew a woman in the neighbourhood who was in a hurry to have her stock of wool spun and made into cloth1 and one night this woman secretly wished to have some women to help her4 ,so the following morning there appeared at her house six or seven fairy women in long green robes1 all alike chanting1 ,a wool-card1 and a spinning-wheel4 ,and when they were supplied with the instruments they were so very desirous to get1 they all set to work1 and by midday of that morning the cloth was going through the process of the hand-loom4 ,but they were not satisfied with finishing the work the woman had set before them1 but asked for new employment4 ,the woman had no more spinning or weaving to be done1 and began to wonder how she was to get the women out of the house4 ,so she went into her neighbour's house and informed him of her position in regard to the fairy women4 ,the old man asked what they were saying4 ,they are earnestly petitioning for some work to do1 and ,i have no more to give them1 the woman replied4 ,go you in1 he said to her1 and tell them to spin the sand1 and if then they do not move from your house1 go out again and yell in at the door that ,dun ,borve is in fire6 ,the first plan had no effect1 but immediately on hearing the cry1 ,dun ,borve is in fire6 the fairy women disappeared invisibly4 ,and as they went1 the woman heard the melancholy wail1 ,dun ,borve is in fire6 ,dun ,borve is in fire6 ,and what will become of our hammers and anvil8--for there was a smithy in the fairy-dwelling4' ,the ,tailor and the ,changeling4--',there was a young wife of a young man who lived in the township of ,allasdale1 and the pair had just had their first child4 ,one day the mother left her baby in its cradle to go out and do some shearing1 and when she returned the child was crying in a most unusual fashion4 ,she fed him as usual on porridge and milk1 but he wasn't satisfied with what seemed to her enough for any one of his age1 yet every suspicion escaped her attention4 ,as it happened1 at the time there was a web of home-made cloth in the house waiting for the tailor4 ,the tailor came and began to work up the cloth4 ,as the woman was going out to her customary shearing operation1 she warned the tailor if he heard the child continually crying not to pay much attention to it1 adding she would attend to it when she came home1 for she feared the child would delay him in his work4 ',all went well till about noon1 when the tailor observed the child rising up on its elbow and stretching its hand to a sort of shelf above the cradle and taking down from it a yellow chanter of a bagpipe4 ,and then the child began to play4 ,immediately after the child began to play the chanter1 the house filled with young fairy women all clad in long green robes1 who began to dance1 and the tailor had to dance with them4 ,about two o'clock that same afternoon the women disappeared unknown to the tailor1 and the chanter disappeared from the hands of the child also unknown to the tailor2 and the child was in the cradle crying as usual4 ',the wife came home to make the dinner1 and observed that the tailor was not so far advanced with his work as he ought to be in that space of time4 ,however1 when the fairy women disappeared1 the child had enjoined upon the tailor never to tell what he had seen4 ,the tailor promised to be faithful to the child's injunctions1 and so he said nothing to the mother4 ',the second day the wife left for her occupation as usual1 and told the tailor to be more attentive to his work than the day before4 ,a second time at the same hour of the day the child in the cradle1 appearing more like an old man than a child1 took the chanter and began to play4 ,the same fairy women filled the house again1 and repeated their dance1 and the tailor had to join them4 ',naturally the tailor was as far behind with his work the second day as the first day1 and it was very noticeable to the woman of the house when she returned4 ,she thereupon requested him to tell her what the matter might be4 ,then he said to her1 ,i urge upon you after going to bed to-night not to fondle that child1 because he is not your child1 nor is he a child3 he is an old fairy man4 ,and to-morrow1 at dead tide1 go down to the shore and wrap him in your plaid and put him upon a rock and begin to pick that shell-fish which is called limpet1 and for your life do not leave the shore until such a time as the tide will flow so high that you will scarcely be able to wade in to the main shore4 ,the woman complied with the tailor's advice1 and when she had waded to the main shore and stood there looking at the child on the rock1 it cried to her1 ,you had a great need to do what you have done4 ,otherwise you'd have seen another ending of your turn2 but blessing be to you and curses on your adviser4 ,when the wife arrived home her own natural child was in the cradle4' ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,murdoch ,,maclean ,the husband of ,marian ,mac,lean had entered while the last stories were being told1 and when they were ended the spirit was on him1 and wishing to give his testimony he began3-- ,lachlann's ,fairy ,mistress4--',my grandmother1 ,catherine ,mac,innis1 used to tell about a man named ,lachlann1 whom she knew1 being in love with a fairy woman4 ,the fairy woman made it a point to see ,lachlann every night1 and he being worn out with her began to fear her4 ,things got so bad at last that he decided to go to ,america to escape the fairy woman4 ,as soon as the plan was fixed1 and he was about to emigrate1 women who were milking at sunset out in the meadows heard very audibly the fairy woman singing this song3-- ,what will the brown-haired woman do ,when ,lachlann is on the billows8 ',lachlann emigrated to ,cape ,breton1 landing in ,nova ,scotia2 and in his first letter home to his friends he stated that the same fairy woman was haunting him there in ,america4'#dj ,abduction of a ,bridegroom4--',i have heard it from old people that a couple1 newly married1 were on their way to the home of the bride's father1 and for some unknown reason the groom fell behind the procession1 and seeing a fairy-dwelling open along the road was taken into it4 ,no one could ever find the least trace of where he went1 and all hope of seeing him again was given up4 ,the man remained with the fairies so long that when he returned two generations had disappeared during the lapse of time4 ,the township in which his bride's house used to be was depopulated and in ruins for upwards of twenty years1 but to him the time had seemed only a few hours2 and he was just as fresh and youthful as when he went in the fairy-dwelling4' ,nature of ,fairies4--,previous to his story-telling ,murdoch had heard us discussing the nature and powers of fairies1 and at the end of this account he volunteered1 without our asking for it1 an opinion of his own3--',this 7the story just told by him7 leads me to believe that the spirit and body of a mortal are somehow mystically combined by fairy enchantment1 for the fairies had a mighty power of enchanting natural people1 and could transform the physical body in some way4 ,it cannot be but that the fairies are spirits4 ,according to my thinking and belief they cannot be anything but spirits4 ,my firm belief1 however1 is that they are not the spirits of dead men1 but are the fallen angels4' ,then his wife ,marian had one more story to add1 and she at once1 when she could1 began3-- ,the ,messenger and the ,fairies4--',yes1 ,i have heard the following incident took place here on the ,island of ,barra about one hundred years ago3--,a young woman taken ill suddenly sent a messenger in all haste to the doctor for medicine4 ,on his return1 the day being hot and there being five miles to walk1 he sat down at the foot of a knoll and fell asleep2 and was awakened by hearing a song to the following air3 ,ho1 ho1 ho1 hi1 ho1 ho4 ,ill it becomes a messenger on an important message to sleep on the ground in the open air4' ,and with this1 for the hour was late and dark1 and we were several miles from ,castlebay1 we bade our good friends adieu1 and began to hunt for a road out of the little mountain valley where ,murdoch and ,marian guard their cows and sheep4 ,and all the way to the hotel ,michael and ,i discussed the nature of fairies4 ,just before midnight we saw the welcome lights in ,castlebay across the heather-covered hills1 and we both entered the hotel to talk4 ,there was a blazing fire ready for us and something to eat4 ,before ,i took my final leave of my friend and guide1 ,i asked him to dictate for me his private opinions about fairies1 what they are and how they appear to men1 and he was glad to meet my request4 ,here is what he said about the famous folk-lorist1 the late ,mr4 ,j4 ,f4 ,campbell1 with whom he often worked in ,barra1 and for himself3-- ,,michael ,,buchanan',s ,,deposition ,,concerning ,,fairies ',i was with the late ,mr4 ,j4 ,f4 ,campbell during his first and second tour of the ,island of ,barra in search of legendary lore strictly connected with fairies1 and ,i know from daily conversing with him about fairies that he held them to be spirits appearing to the naked eye of the spectator as any of the present or former generations of men and women1 except that they were smaller in stature4 ,and ,i know equally that he1 holding them to be spirits1 thought they could appear or disappear at will4 ,my own firm belief is that the fairies were or are only spirits which were or are seen in the shape of human beings1 but smaller as regards stature4 ,i also firmly believe in the existence of fairies as such2 and accept the modern and ancient traditions respecting the ways and customs of various fairy tribes1 such as ,john ,mackinnon1 the old piper1 and ,john ,campbell1 and the ,mac,leans told us4 ,and ,i therefore have no hesitation in agreeing with the views held by the late ,mr4 ,j4 ,f4 ,campbell regarding fairies4' ,,the ,,reciters' ,,lament1 ,,and ,,their ,,story ,the following material1 so truly ,celtic in its word-colour and in the profound note of sadness and lamentation dominating it1 may very appropriately conclude our examination of the ,fairy-,faith of ,scotland1 by giving us some insight into the mind of the ,scotch peasants of two generations ago1 and into the then prevailing happy social environment under which their belief in fairies flourished4 ,for our special use ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael has rendered it out of the original ,gaelic1 as this was taken down by him in various versions in the ,western ,hebrides4 ,one version was recited by ,ann ,macneill1 of ,barra1 in the year #ahfe1 another by ,angus ,macleod1 of ,harris1 in #ahgg4 ,in relation to their belief in fairies the anti-clerical bias of the reciters is worth noting as a curious phenomenon3-- ',that is as ,i heard when a hairy little fellow upon the knee of my mother4 ,my mother was full of stories and songs of music and chanting4 ,my two ears never heard musical fingers more preferable for me to hear than the chanting of my mother4 ,if there were quarrels among children1 as there were1 and as there will be1 my beloved mother would set us to dance there and then4 ,she herself or one of the other crofter women of the townland would sing to us the mouth-music4 ,we would dance there till we were seven times tired4 ,a stream of sweat would be falling from us before we stopped--hairful little lassies and stumpy little fellows4 ,these are scattered to-day6 scattered to-day over the wide world6 ,the people of those times were full of music and dancing stories and traditions4 ,the clerics have extinguished these4 ,may ill befall them6 ,and what have the clerics put in their place8 ,beliefs about creeds1 and disputations about denominations and churches6 ,may lateness be their lot6 ,it is they who have put the cross round the heads and the entanglements round the feet of the people4 ,the people of the ,gaeldom of to-day are anear perishing for lack of the famous feats of their fathers4 ,the black clerics have suppressed every noble custom among the people of the ,gaeldom--precious customs that will never return1 no never again return4' 7,now follows what the ,reciters heard upon the knee of their mother73-- ',i have never seen a man fairy nor a woman fairy1 but my mother saw a troop of them4 ,she herself and the other maidens of the townland were once out upon the summer sheiling 7grazing74 ,they were milking the cows1 in the evening gloaming1 when they observed a flock of fairies reeling and setting upon the green plain in front of the knoll4 ,and1 oh ,king6 but it was they the fairies themselves that had the right to the dancing1 and not the children of men6 ,bell-helmets of blue silk covered their heads1 and garments of green satin covered their bodies1 and sandals of yellow membrane covered their feet4 ,their heavy brown hair was streaming down their waist1 and its lustre was of the fair golden sun of summer4 ,their skin was as white as the swan of the wave1 and their voice was as melodious as the mavis of the wood1 and they themselves were as beauteous of feature and as lithe of form as a picture1 while their step was as light and stately and their minds as sportive as the little red hind of the hill4 ,the damsel children of the sheiling-fold never saw sight but them1 no never sight but them1 never aught so beautiful4 ',there is not a wave of prosperity upon the fairies of the knoll1 no1 not a wave4 ,there is no growth nor increase1 no death nor withering upon the fairies4 ,seed unfortunate they6 ,they went away from the ,paradise with the ,one of the ,great ,pride4 ,when the ,father commanded the doors closed down and up1 the intermediate fairies had no alternative but to leap into the holes of the earth1 where they are1 and where they will be4 ',this is what ,i heard upon the knee of my beloved mother4 ,blessings be with her ever evermore6' ,,iv4 ,,in ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,man ,introduction by ,,sophia ,,morrison1 ,hon4 ,secretary of the ,manx ,language ,society4 ,the ,manx hierarchy of fairy beings people hills and glens1 caves and rivers1 mounds and roads2 and their name is legion4 ,apparently there is not a place in the island but has its fairy legend4 ,sir ,walter ,scott said that the ',isle of ,man1 beyond all other places in ,britain1 was a peculiar depository of the fairy-traditions1 which1 on the ,island being conquered by the ,norse1 became in all probability chequered with those of ,scandinavia1 from a source peculiar and more direct than that by which they reached ,scotland and ,ireland'4 ,a good ,manxman1 however1 does not speak of fairies--the word ferish1 a corruption of the ,english1 did not exist in the island one hundred and fifty years ago4 ,he talks of ',the ,little ,people' 7,mooinjer veggey71 or1 in a more familiar mood1 of ',themselves'1 and of ',little ,boys' 7,guillyn veggey71 or ',little ,fellas'4 ,in contradistinction to mortals he calls them ',middle ,world ,men'1 for they are believed to dwell in a world of their own1 being neither good enough for ,heaven nor bad enough for ,hell4 ,at the present moment almost all the older ,manx peasants hold to this belief in fairies quite firmly1 but with a certain dread of them2 and1 to my knowledge1 two old ladies of the better class yet leave out cakes and water for the fairies every night4 ,the following story1 illustrative of the belief1 was told to me by ,bill ,clarke3-- ',once while ,i was fishing from a ledge of rocks that runs out into the sea at ,lag-ny-,keilley1 a dense grey mist began to approach the land1 and ,i thought ,i had best make for home while the footpath above the rocks was visible4 ,when getting my things together ,i heard what sounded like a lot of children coming out of school4 ,i lifted my head1 and behold ye1 there was a fleet of fairy boats each side of the rock4 ,their riding-lights were shining like little stars1 and ,i heard one of the ,little ,fellas shout1 ,hraaghyn boght as earish broigh1 skeddan dy liooar ec yn mooinjer seihll shoh1 cha nel veg ain 7,poor times and dirty weather1 and herring enough at the people of this world1 nothing at us74 ,then they dropped off and went agate o' the flitters4' ',willy-the-,fairy1' as he is called1 who lives at ,rhenass1 says he often hears the fairies singing and playing up the ,glen o' nights4 ,i have heard him sing airs which he said he had thus learned from the ,little ,people4#da ,again1 there is a belief that at ,keeill ,moirrey 7,mary's ,church71 near ,glen ,meay1 a little old woman in a red cloak is sometimes seen coming over the mountain towards the keeill1 ringing a bell1 just about the hour when church service begins4 ,keeill ,moirrey is one of the early little ,celtic cells1 probably of the sixth century1 of which nothing remains but the foundations4 ,and the following prayer1 surviving to our own epoch1 is most interesting4 ,it shows1 in fact1 pure paganism2 and we may judge from it that the ancient ,manx people regarded ,manannan1 the great ,tuatha ,de ,danann god1 in his true nature1 as a spiritual being1 a ,lord of the ,sea1 and as belonging to the complex fairy hierarchy4 ,this prayer was given to me by a ,manxwoman nearly one hundred years old1 who is still living4 ,she said it had been used by her grandfather1 and that her father prayed the same prayer--substituting ,st4 ,patrick's name for ,manannan's3-- ,manannan beg mac y ,leirr1 fer vannee yn ,ellan1 ,bannee shin as nyn maatey1 mie goll magh ,as cheet stiagh ny share lesh bio as marroo sy vaatey4 7,little ,manannan son of ,leirr1 who blest our ,island1 ,bless us and our boat1 well going out ,and better coming in with living and dead fish in the boat74 99 99 99 99 99 ,it seems to me that no one of the various theories so far advanced accounts in itself for the ,fairy-,faith4 ,there is always a missing factor1 an unknown quantity which has yet to be discovered4 ,no doubt the ,pygmy ,theory explains a good deal4 ,in some countries a tradition has been handed down of the times when there were races of diminutive men in existence--beings so small that their tiny hands could have used the flint arrow-heads and scrapers which are like toys to us4 ,no such tradition exists at the present day in the ,isle of ,man1 but one might have filtered down from the far-off ages and become innate in the folk-memory1 and now1 unknown to the ,manx peasant1 may possibly suggest to his mind the troops of ,little ,people in the shadowy glen or on the lonely mountain-side4 ,again1 the rustling of the leaves or the sough of the wind may be heard by the peasant as strange and mysterious voices1 or the trembling shadow of a bush may appear to him as an unearthly being4 ,natural facts1 explainable by modern science1 may easily remain dark mysteries to those who live quiet lives close to ,nature1 far from sophisticated towns1 and whose few years of schooling have left the depths of their being undisturbed1 only1 as it were1 ruffling the shallows4 ,but this is not enough4 ,even let it be granted that nine out of every ten cases of experiences with fairies can be analysed and explained away--there remains the tenth4 ,in this tenth case one is obliged to admit that there is something at work which we do not understand1 some force in play which1 as yet1 we know not4 ,in spite of ourselves we feel ',there's ,powers that's in'4 ,these ,powers are not necessarily what the superstitious call 'supernatural'4 ,we realize now that there is nothing supernatural--that what used to be so called is simply something that we do not understand at present4 ,our forefathers would have thought the telephone1 the ,x-rays1 and wireless telegraphy things 'supernatural'4 ,it is more than possible that our descendants may make discoveries equally marvellous in the realms both of mind and matter1 and that many things1 which nowadays seem to the materialistically-minded the creations of credulous fancy1 may in the future be understood and recognized as part of the one great scheme of things4 ,some persons are certainly more susceptible than others to these unknown forces4 ,most people know reliable instances of telepathy and presentiment amongst their acquaintances4 ,it seems not at all contrary to reason that both matter and mind1 in knowledge of which we have not gone so very far after all1 may exist in forms as yet entirely unknown to us4 ,after all1 beings with bodies and personalities different from our own may well inhabit the unseen world around us3 the ,fairy ,hound1 white as driven snow1 may show himself at times among his mundane companions2 ,fenodyree may do the farm-work for those whom he favours2 the ,little ,people may sing and dance o' nights in ,colby ,glen4 ,let us not say it is 'impossible'4 ,,peel1 ,,isle ,,of ,,man1 ,september #aiaj4 ,,on ,,the ,,slopes ,,of ,,south ,,barrule ,i was introduced to the ways and nature of ,manx fairies in what is probably the most fairy-haunted part of the isle--the southern slopes of ,south ,barrule1 the mountain on whose summit ,manannan is said to have had his stronghold1 and whence he worked his magic1 hiding the kingdom in dense fog whenever he beheld in the distance the coming of an enemy's ship or fleet4 ,and from a representative of the older generation1 ,mrs4 ,samuel ,leece1 who lives at ,ballamodda1 a pleasant village under the shadow of ,south ,barrule1 ,i heard the first story3-- ,baby and ,table ,moved by ,fairies4--',i have been told of their 7the fairies'7 taking babies1 though ,i can't be sure it is true4 ,but this did happen to my own mother in this parish of ,kirk ,patrick about eighty years since3 ,she was in bed with her baby1 but wide awake1 when she felt the baby pulled off her arm and heard the rush of them4 ,then she mentioned the ,almighty's name1 and1 as they were hurrying away1 a little table alongside the bed went round about the floor twenty times4 ,nobody was in the room with my mother1 and she always allowed it was the little fellows4' ,,manx ,,tales ,,in ,a ,,snow-,,bound ,,farm-,,house ,when our interesting conversation was over1 ,mrs4 ,leece directed me to her son's farm-house1 where her husband1 ,mr4 ,samuel ,leece1 then happened to be2 and going there through the snow-drifts1 ,i found him with his son and the family within4 ,the day was just the right sort to stir ,manx memories1 and it was not long before the best of stories about the 'little people' were being told in the most natural way1 and to the great delight of the children4 ,the grandfather1 who is eighty-six years of age1 sat by the open fire smoking2 and he prepared the way for the stories 7three of which we record7 by telling about a ghost seen by himself and his father1 and by the announcement that 'the fairies are thought to be spirits'4 ,under ',fairy' ,control4--',about fifty years ago1' said ,mr4 ,t4 ,leece1 the son1 ',paul ,taggart1 my wife's uncle1 a tailor by trade1 had for an apprentice1 ,humphrey ,keggan1 a young man eighteen or nineteen years of age2 and it often happened that while the two of them would be returning home at nightfall1 the apprentice would suddenly disappear from the side of the tailor1 and even in the midst of a conversation1 as soon as they had crossed the burn in the field down there 7indicating an adjoining field74 ,and ,taggart could not see nor hear ,humphrey go4 ,the next morning ,humphrey would come back1 but so worn out that he could not work1 and he always declared that little men had come to him in crowds1 and used him as a horse1 and that with them he had travelled all night across fields and over hedges4' ,the wife of the narrator substantiated this strange psychological story by adding3--',this is true1 because ,i know my ,uncle ,paul too well to doubt what he says4' ,and she then related the two following stories3-- ,heifer ,killed by ,fairy ,woman's ,touch4--',aunt ,jane was coming down the road on the other side of ,south ,barrule when she saw a strange woman' 7who ,mr4 ,t4 ,leece suggested was a witch7 'appear in the middle of the gorse and walk right over the gorse and heather in a place where no person could walk4 ,then she observed the woman go up to a heifer and put her hand on it2 and within a few days that heifer was dead4' ,the ,fairy ,dog4--',this used to happen about one hundred years ago1 as my mother has told me3--,where my grandfather ,john ,watterson was reared1 just over near ,kerroo ,kiel 7,narrow ,quarter71 all the family were sometimes sitting in the house of a cold winter night1 and my great grandmother and her daughters at their wheels spinning1 when a little white dog would suddenly appear in the room4 ,then every one there would have to drop their work and prepare for the company to come in3 they would put down a fire and leave fresh water for them1 and hurry off upstairs to bed4 ,they could hear them come1 but could never see them1 only the dog4 ,the dog was a fairy dog1 and a sure sign of their coming4' ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,herb-,,doctor ,,and ,,seer ,at ,ballasalla ,i was fortunate enough to meet one of the most interesting of its older inhabitants1 ,john ,davies1 a ,celtic medicine-man1 who can cure most obstinate maladies in men or animals with secret herbs1 and who knows very much about witchcraft and the charms against it4 ',witches are as common as ducks walking barefooted1' he said1 using the duck simile1 which is a popular ,manx one2 and he cited two particular instances from his own experience4 ,but for us it is more important to know that ,john ,davies is also an able seer4 ,the son of a weaver1 he was born in ,county ,down1 ,ireland1 seventy-eight years ago2 but in earliest boyhood he came with his people to the ,isle of ,man1 and grew up in the country near ,ramsay1 and so thoroughly has he identified himself with the island and its lore1 and even with its ancient language1 that for our purposes he may well be considered a ,manxman4 ,his testimony about ,manx fairies is as follows3-- ,actual ,fairies ,described4--',i am only a poor ignorant man2 when ,i was married ,i couldn't say the word matrimony in the right way4 ,but one does not have to be educated to see fairies1 and ,i have seen them many a time4 ,i have seen them with the naked eye as numerous as ,i have seen scholars coming out of ,ballasalla school2 and ,i have been seeing them since ,i was eighteen to twenty years of age4 ,the last one ,i saw was in ,kirk ,michael4 ,before education came into the island more people could see the fairies2 now very few people can see them4 ,but they 7the fairies7 are as thick on the ,isle of ,man as ever they were4 ,they throng the air1 and darken ,heaven1 and rule this lower world4 ,it is only twenty-one miles from this world up to the first heaven4#db ,there are as many kinds of fairies as populations in our world4 ,i have seen some who were about two and a half feet high2 and some who were as big as we are4 ,i think very many such fairies as these last are the lost souls of the people who died before the ,flood4 ,at the ,flood all the world was drowned2 but the ,spirit which ,god breathed into ,adam will never be drowned1 or burned1 and it is as much in the sea as on the land4 ,others of the fairies are evil spirits3 our ,saviour drove a legion of devils into a herd of swine2 the swine were choked1 but not the devils4 ,you can't drown devils2 it is spirits they are1 and just like a shadow on the wall4' ,i here asked about the personal aspects of most fairies of human size1 and my friend said3--',they appear to me in the same dress as in the days when they lived here on earth2 the spirit itself is only what ,god blew into ,adam as the breath of life4' ,it seems to me that1 on the whole1 ,john ,davies has had genuine visions1 but that whatever he may have seen has been very much coloured in interpretation by his devout knowledge of the ,christian ,bible1 and by his social environment1 as is self-evident4 ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,ballasalla ,,manxwoman ,a well-informed ,manxwoman1 of ,ballasalla1 who lives in the ancient stone house wherein she was born1 and in which before her lived her grandparents1 offers this testimony3-- ,concerning ,fairies4--',i've heard a good deal of talk about fairies1 but never believed in them myself2 the old people thought them the ghosts of the dead or some such things4 ,they were like people who had gone before 7that is1 dead74 ,if there came a strange sudden knock or noises1 or if a tree took a sudden shaking when there was no wind1 people used to make out it was caused by the fairies4 ,on the #aath of ,may#dc we used to gather mountain-ash 7,cuirn7 with red berries on it1 and make crosses out of its sprigs1 and put them over the doors1 so that the fairies would not come in4 ,my father always saw that this was done2 he said we could have no luck during the year if we forgot to do it4' ,,testimony ,,given ,,in ,a ,,joiner',s ,,shop ,george ,gelling1 of ,ballasalla1 a joiner1 has a local reputation for knowing much about the fairies1 and so ,i called on him at his workshop4 ,this is what he told me3-- ,seeing the ,fairies4--',i was making a coffin here in the shop1 and1 after tea1 my apprentice was late returning2 he was out by the hedge just over there looking at a crowd of little people kicking and dancing4 ,one of them came up and asked him what he was looking at2 and this made him run back to the shop4 ,when he described what he had seen1 ,i told him they were nothing but fairies4' ,hearing ,fairy ,music4--',up by the abbey on two different occasions ,i have heard the fairies4 ,they were playing tunes not of this world1 and on each occasion ,i listened for nearly an hour4' ,mickleby and the ,fairy ,woman4--',a man named ,mickleby was coming from ,derbyhaven at night1 when by a certain stream he met two ladies4 ,he saluted them1 and then walked along with them to ,ballahick ,farm4 ,there he saw a house lit up1 and they took him into it to a dance4 ,as he danced1 he happened to wipe away his sweat with a part of the dress of one of the two strange women who was his partner4 ,after this adventure1 whenever ,mickleby was lying abed at night1 the woman with whom he danced would appear standing beside his bed4 ,and the only way to drive her away was to throw over her head and ,mickleby a linen sheet which had never been bleached4' ,nature of ,fairies4--',the fairies are spirits4 ,i think they are in this country yet3 ,a man below here forgot his cow1 and at a late hour went to look for her1 and saw that crowds of fairies like little boys were with him4 ,st4 ,paul said that spirits are thick in the air1 if only we could see them2 and we call spirits fairies4 ,i think the old people here in the island thought of fairies in the same way4' ,the ,fairies' ,revenge4--,william ,oates now happened to come into the workshop1 and being as much interested in the subject under discussion as ourselves1 offered various stories1 of which the following is a type3--',a man named ,watterson1 who used often to see the fairies in his house at ,colby playing in the moonlight1 on one occasion heard them coming just as he was going to bed4 ,so he went out to the spring to get fresh water for them2 and coming into the house put the can down on the floor1 saying1 ,now1 little beggars1 drink away4 ,and at that 7an insult to the fairies7 the water was suddenly thrown upon him4' ,a ,,vicar',s ,,testimony ,when ,i called on the ,rev4 ,j4 ,m4 ,spicer1 vicar of ,malew parish1 at his home near ,castletown1 he told me this very curious story3-- ,the ,taking of ,mrs4 ,k----4--',the belief in fairies is quite a living thing here yet4 ,for example1 old ,mrs4 ,k----1 about a year ago1 told me that on one occasion1 when her daughter had been in ,castletown during the day1 she went out to the road at nightfall to see if her daughter was yet in sight1 whereupon a whole crowd of fairies suddenly surrounded her1 and began taking her off toward ,south ,barrule ,mountain2 and1 she added1 ,i couldn't get away from them until ,i had called my son4' ,a ,,canon',s ,,testimony ,i am greatly indebted to the ,rev4 ,canon ,kewley1 of ,arbory1 for the valuable testimony which follows1 and especially for his kindness in allowing me to record what is one of the clearest examples of a collective hallucination ,i have heard about as occurring in the fairy-haunted regions of ,celtic countries3-- ,a ,collective ,hallucination4--',a good many things can be explained as natural phenomena1 but there are some things which ,i think cannot be4 ,for example1 my sister and myself and our coachman1 and apparently the horse1 saw the same phenomenon at the same moment3 one evening we were driving along an avenue in this parish when the avenue seemed to be blocked by a great crowd of people1 like a funeral procession2 and the crowd was so dense that we could not see through it4 ,the throng was about thirty to forty yards away4 ,when we approached1 it melted away1 and no person was anywhere in sight4' ,the ,manx ,fairy-,faith4--',among the old people of this parish there is still a belief in fairies4 ,about eighteen years ago1 ,i buried a man1 a staunch ,methodist1 who said he once saw the road full of fairies in the form of little black pigs1 and that when he addressed them1 ,in the name of ,god what are ye8 they immediately vanished4 ,he was certain they were the fairies4 ,other old people speak of the fairies as the little folk4 ,the tradition is that the fairies once inhabited this island1 but were banished for evil-doing4 ,the elder-tree1 in ,manx tramman1 is supposed to be inhabited by fairies4 ,through accident1 one night a woman ran into such a tree1 and was immediately stricken with a terrible swelling which her neighbours declared came from disturbing the fairies in the tree4 ,this was on the borders of ,arbory parish4' ,the ,canon favours the hypothesis that in much of the folk-belief concerning fairies and ,fairyland there is present an instinct1 as seen among all peoples1 for communion with the other world1 and that this instinct shows itself in another form in the ,christian doctrine of the ,communion of ,saints4 ,,fairy ,,tales ,,on ,,christmas ,,day ,the next morning1 ,christmas morning1 ,i called at the picturesque roadside home of ,mrs4 ,dinah ,moore a ,manxwoman living near ,glen ,meay2 and she contributed the best single collection of ,manx folk-legends ,i discovered on the island4 ,the day was bright and frosty1 and much snow still remained in the shaded nooks and hollows1 so that a seat before the cheerful fire in ,mrs4 ,moore's cottage was very comfortable2 and with most work suspended for the ancient day of festivities in honour of the ,sun1 re-born after its death at the hands of the ,powers of ,darkness1 all conditions were favourable for hearing about fairies1 and this may explain why such important results were obtained4 ,fairy ,deceit4--',i heard of a man and wife who had no children4 ,one night the man was out on horseback and heard a little baby crying beside the road4 ,he got off his horse to get the baby1 and1 taking it home1 went to give it to his wife1 and it was only a block of wood4 ,and then the old fairies were outside yelling at the man3 ,eash un oie1 s'cheap t'ou mollit6 7,age one night1 how easily thou art deceived674' ,a ,midwife's ,strange ,experience4--',a strange man took a nurse to a place where a baby boy was born4 ,after the birth1 the man set out on a table two cakes1 one of them broken and the other one whole1 and said to the nurse3 ,eat1 eat2 but don't eat of the cake which is broken nor of the cake which is whole4 ,and the nurse said3 ,what in the name of the ,lord am ,i going to eat8 ,at that all the fairies in the house disappeared2 and the nurse was left out on a mountain-side alone4' ,a ,fairy-,baking4--',at night the fairies came into a house in ,glen ,rushen to bake4 ,the family had put no water out for them2 and a beggar-man who had been left lodging on the sofa downstairs heard the fairies say1 ,we have no water1 so we'll take blood out of the toe of the servant who forgot our water4 ,and from the girl's blood they mixed their dough4 ,then they baked their cakes1 ate most of them1 and poked pieces up under the thatched roof4 ,the next day the servant-girl fell ill1 and was ill until the old beggar-man returned to the house and cured her with a bit of the cake which he took from under the thatch4' ,a ,changeling ,musician4--',a family at ,dalby had a poor idiot baby1 and when it was twenty years old it still sat by the fire just like a child4 ,a tailor came to the house to work on a day when all the folks were out cutting corn1 and the idiot was left with him4 ,the tailor began to whistle as he sat on the table sewing1 and the little idiot sitting by the fire said to him3 ,if you'll not tell anybody when they come in1 ,i'll dance that tune for you4 ,so the little fellow began to dance1 and he could step it out splendidly4 ,then he said to the tailor3 ,if you'll not tell anybody when they come in1 ,i'll play the fiddle for you4 ,and the tailor and the idiot spent a very enjoyable afternoon together4 ,but before the family came in from the fields1 the poor idiot1 as usual1 was sitting in a chair by the fire1 a big baby who couldn't hardly talk4 ,when the mother came in she happened to say to the tailor1 ,you've a fine chap here1 referring to the idiot4 ,yes1 indeed1 said the tailor1 we've had a very fine afternoon together2 but ,i think we had better make a good fire and put him on it4 ,oh6 cried the mother1 the poor child could never even walk4 ,ah1 but he can dance and play the fiddle1 too1 replied the tailor4 ,and the fire was made2 but when the idiot saw that they were for putting him on it he pulled from his pocket a ball1 and this ball went rolling on ahead of him1 and he1 going after it1 was never seen again4' ,after this strange story was finished ,i asked ,mrs4 ,moore where she had heard it1 and she said3--',i have heard this story ever since ,i was a girl4 ,i knew the house and family1 and so did my mother4 ,the family's name was ,cubbon4' ,the ,fenodyree's 7or ',phynnodderee's'7 ,disgust4--',during snowy weather1 like this1 the ,fenodyree would gather in the sheep at night2 and during the harvest season would do the threshing when all the family were abed4 ,one time1 however1 just over here at ,gordon ,farm1 the farmer saw him1 and he was naked2 and so the farmer put out a new suit of clothes for him4 ,the ,fenodyree came at night1 and looking at the clothes with great disgust at the idea of wearing such things1 said3-- ,bayrn da'n chione1 doogh da'n chione1 ,cooat da'n dreeym1 doogh da'n dreeym1 ,breechyn da'n toin1 doogh da'n toin1 ,agh my she lhiat ,gordon mooar1 ,cha nee lhiat ,glion reagh ,rushen4 7,cap for the head1 alas6 poor head1 ,coat for the back1 alas6 poor back1 ,breeches for the breech1 alas6 poor breech1 ,but if big ,gordon farm is thine1 ,thine is not the merry ,glen of ,rushen47#dd ,and off he went to ,glen ,rushen for good4' ,,testimony ,,from ,,the ,,keeper ,,of ,,peel ,,castle ,from ,mrs4 ,moore's house ,i walked on to ,peel1 where ,i was fortunate in meeting1 in his own home1 ,mr4 ,william ,cashen1 the well-known keeper of the famous old ,peel ,castle1 within whose yet solid battlements stands the one true round tower outside of ,ireland4 ,i heard first of all about the fairy dog--the ,moddey ,doo 7,manx for ,black ,dog7--which haunts the castle2 and then ,mr4 ,cashen related to me the following anecdotes and tales about ,manx fairies3-- ,prayer against the ,fairies4--',my father's and grandfather's idea was that the fairies tumbled out of the battlements of ,heaven1 falling earthward for three days and three nights as thick as hail2 and that one third of them fell into the sea1 one third on the land1 and one third remained in the air1 in which places they will remain till the ,day of ,judgement4 ,the old ,manx people always believed that this fall of the fairies was due to the first sin1 pride2 and here is their prayer against the fairies3--,jee saue mee voish cloan ny moyrn 7,god preserve me from the children of pride or ambition74' ,a ,man's ,two ,wives4--',a ,ballaleece woman was captured by the fairies2 and1 soon afterwards1 her husband took a new wife1 thinking the first one gone for ever4 ,but not long after the marriage1 one night the first wife appeared to her former husband and said to him1 and the second wife overheard her3 ,you'll sweep the barn clean1 and mind there is not one straw left on the floor4 ,then stand by the door1 and at a certain hour a company of people on horseback will ride in1 and you lay hold of that bridle of the horse ,i am on1 and don't let it go4 ,he followed the directions carefully1 but was unable to hold the horse3 the second wife had put some straw on the barn floor under a bushel4' ,sounds of ,infinity4--',on ,dalby ,mountain1 this side of ,cronk-yn-,irree-,laa the old ,manx people used to put their ears to the earth to hear the ,sounds of ,infinity 7,sheean-ny-,feaynid71 which were sounds like murmurs4 ,they thought these sounds came from beings in space2 for in their belief all space is filled with invisible beings4'#de ,,to ,,the ,,memory ,,of ,a ,,manx ,,scholar ,since the following testimony was written down1 its author1 the late ,mr4 ,john ,nelson1 of ,ramsey1 has passed out of our realm of life into the realm invisible4 ,he was one of the few ,manxmen who knew the ,manx language really well1 and the ancient traditions which it has preserved both orally and in books4 ,in his kindly manner and with fervent loyalty toward all things ,celtic1 he gave me leave1 during ,december #aiji1 to publish for the first time the interesting matter which follows2 and1 with reverence1 we here place it on record to his memory3-- ,a ,blinding by ,fairies4--',my grandfather1 ,william ,nelson1 was coming home from the herring fishing late at night1 on the road near ,jurby1 when he saw in a pea-field1 across a hedge1 a great crowd of little fellows in red coats dancing and making music4 ,and as he looked1 an old woman from among them came up to him and spat in his eyes1 saying3 ,you'll never see us again2 and ,i am told that he was blind afterwards till the day of his death4 ,he was certainly blind for fourteen years before his death1 for ,i often had to lead him around2 but1 of course1 ,i am unable to say of my own knowledge that he became blind immediately after his strange experience1 or if not until later in life2 but as a young man he certainly had good sight1 and it was believed that the fairies destroyed it4' ,the ,fairy ,tune4--',william ,cain1 of ,glen ,helen 7formerly ,rhenass71 was going home in the evening across the mountains near ,brook's ,park1 when he heard music down below in a glen1 and saw there a great glass house like a palace1 all lit up4 ,he stopped to listen1 and when he had the new tune he went home to practise it on his fiddle2 and recently he played the same fairy tune at ,miss ,sophia ,morrison's ,manx entertainment in ,peel4' ,manannan the ,magician4--,mr4 ,nelson told a story about a ,buggane or ,fenodyree1 such as we already have1 and explained the ,glashtin as a water-bull1 supposed to be a goblin half cow and half horse1 and then offered this tradition about ,manannan3--',it is said that ,manannan was a great magician1 and that he used to place on the sea pea-shells1 held open with sticks and with sticks for masts standing up in them1 and then so magnify them that enemies beheld them as a strong fleet1 and would not approach the island4 ,another tradition is that ,manannan on his three legs 7the ,manx coat of arms7 could travel from one end to the other of his isle with wonderful swiftness1 moving like a wheel4'#df ,,testimony ,,of ,a ,,farmer ,,and ,,fisherman ,from the north of the island ,i returned to ,peel1 where ,i had arranged to meet new witnesses1 and the first one of these is ,james ,caugherty1 a farmer and fisherman1 born in ,kirk ,patrick fifty-eight years ago1 who testified 7in part7 as follows3-- ,churn ,worked by ,fairies4--',close by ,glen ,cam 7,winding ,glen71 when ,i was a boy1 our family often used to hear the empty churn working in the churn-house1 when no person was near it1 and they would say1 ,oh1 it's the little fellows4' ,a ,remarkable ,changeling ,story4--',forty to fifty years ago1 between ,st4 ,john's and ,foxdale1 a boy1 with whom ,i often played1 came to our house at nightfall to borrow some candles1 and while he was on his way home across the hills he suddenly saw a little boy and a little woman coming after him4 ,if he ran1 they ran1 and all the time they gained on him4 ,upon reaching home he was speechless1 his hands were altered 7turned awry71 and his feet also1 and his fingernails had grown long in a minute4 ,he remained that way a week4 ,my father went to the boy's mother and told her it wasn't ,robby at all that she saw2 and when my father was for taking the tongs and burning the boy with a piece of glowing turf as a changeling test1 the boy screamed awfully4 ,then my father persuaded the mother to send a messenger to a doctor in the north near ,ramsey doing charms1 to see if she couldn't get ,robby back4 ,as the messenger was returning1 the mother stepped out of the house to relieve him1 and when she went into the house again her own ,robby was there4 ,as soon as ,robby came to himself all right1 he said a little woman and a little boy had followed him1 and that just as he got home he was conscious of being taken away by them1 but he didn't know where they came from nor where they took him4 ,he was unable to tell more than this4 ,robby is alive yet1 so far as ,i know2 he is ,robert ,christian1 of ,douglas4' ,,evidence ,,from ,a ,,member ,,of ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,keys ,mr4 ,t4 ,c4 ,kermode1 of ,peel1 member of the ,house of ,keys1 the ,lower ,house of the ,manx ,parliament1 very kindly dictated for my use the following statement concerning fairies which he himself has seen3-- ,reality of ,fairies4--',there is much belief here in the island that there actually are fairies2 and ,i consider such belief based on an actual fact in nature1 because of my own strange experience4 ,about forty years ago1 one ,october night1 ,i and another young man were going to a kind of ,manx harvest-home at ,cronk-a-,voddy4 ,on the ,glen ,helen road1 just at the ,beary ,farm1 as we walked along talking1 my friend happened to look across the river 7a small brook71 and said3 ,oh look1 there are the fairies4 ,did you ever see them8 ,i looked across the river and saw a circle of supernatural light1 which ,i have now come to regard as the astral light or the light of ,nature1 as it is called by mystics1 and in which spirits become visible4 ,the spot where the light appeared was a flat space surrounded on the sides away from the river by banks formed by low hills2 and into this space and the circle of light1 from the surrounding sides apparently1 ,i saw come in twos and threes a great crowd of little beings smaller than ,tom ,thumb and his wife4 ,all of them1 who appeared like soldiers1 were dressed in red4 ,they moved back and forth amid the circle of light1 as they formed into order like troops drilling4 ,i advised getting nearer to them1 but my friend said1 ,no1 ,i'm going to the party4 ,then after we had looked at them a few minutes my friend struck the roadside wall with a stick and shouted1 and we lost the vision and the light vanished4' ,the ,manx ,fairy-,faith4--',i have much evidence from old ,manx people1 who are entirely reliable and ,god-fearing1 that they have seen the fairies hunting with hounds and horses1 and on the sea in ships1 and under other conditions1 and that they have heard their music4 ,they consider the fairies a complete nation or world in themselves1 distinct from our world1 but having habits and instincts like ours4 ,social organization among them is said to be similar to that among men1 and they have their soldiers and commanders4 ,where the fairies actually exist the old people cannot tell1 but they certainly believe that they can be seen here on earth4' ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,past ,,provincial ,,grand ,,master ,mr4 ,j4 ,h4 ,kelly1 ,past ,provincial ,grand ,master of the ,isle of ,man ,district of ,oddfellows1 a resident of ,douglas1 offers the following account of a curious psychical experience of his own1 and attributes it to fairies3-- ,a ,strange ,experience with ,fairies4--',twelve to thirteen years ago1 on a clear moonlight night1 about twelve o'clock1 ,i left ,laxey2 and when about five miles from ,douglas1 at ,ballagawne ,school1 ,i heard talking1 and was suddenly conscious of being in the midst of an invisible throng4 ,as this strange feeling came over me1 ,i saw coming up the road four figures as real to look upon as human beings1 and of medium size1 though ,i am certain they were not human4 ,when these four1 who seemed to be connected with the invisible throng1 came out of the ,garwick road into the main road1 ,i passed into a by-road leading down to a very peaceful glen called ,garwick ,glen2 and ,i still had the same feeling that invisible beings were with me1 and this continued for a mile4 ,there was no fear or emotion or excitement1 but perfect calm on my part4 ,i followed the by-road2 and when ,i began to mount a hill there was a sudden and strange quietness1 and a sense of isolation came over me1 as though the joy and peace of my life had departed with the invisible throng4 ,from different personal experiences like this one1 ,i am firmly of the opinion and belief that the fairies exist4 ,one cannot say that they are wholly physical or wholly spiritual1 but the impression left upon my mind is that they are an absolutely real order of beings not human4' ,invoking ,little ,manannan1 son of ,leirr1 to give us safe passage across his watery domain1 we now go southward to the nearest ,brythonic country1 the ,land of ,arthur1 ,,wales4 ,v4 ,,in ,,wales ,introduction by ,the ,right ,hon4 ,,sir ,,john ,,rhys1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,litt41 ,f4,b4,a41 ,hon4 ,,ll4,d4 of the ,university of ,edinburgh2 ,professor of ,celtic in the ,university of ,oxford2 ,principal of ,jesus ,college2 author of ,celtic ,folklore1 ,welsh and ,manx1 c4 ,the folk-lore of ,wales in as far as it concerns the ,fairies consists of a very few typical tales1 such as3-- 7#a7 ,the ,fairy ,dance and the usual entrapping of a youth1 who dances with the ,little ,people for a long time1 while he supposes it only a few minutes1 and who if not rescued is taken by them4 7#b7 ,there are other ways in which recruits may be led into ,fairyland and induced to marry fairy maidens1 and any one so led away is practically lost to his kith and kin1 for even if he be allowed to visit them1 the visit is mostly cut short in one way or another4 7#c7 ,a man catches a fairy woman and marries her4 ,she proves to be an excellent housewife1 but usually she has had put into the marriage-contract certain conditions which1 if broken1 inevitably release her from the union1 and when so released she hurries away instantly1 never to return1 unless it be now and then to visit her children4 ,one of the conditions1 especially in ,north ,wales1 is that the husband should never touch her with iron4 ,but in the story of the ,lady of ,llyn y ,fan ,fach1 in ,carmarthenshire1 the condition is that he must not strike the wife without a cause three times1 the striking being interpreted to include any slight tapping1 say1 on the shoulder4 ,this story is one of the most remarkable on record in ,wales1 and it recalls the famous tale of ,undine1 published in ,german many years ago by ,de ,la ,motte ,fouqu4 ,it is not known where he found it1 or whether the people among whom it was current were pure ,germans or of ,celtic extraction4 7#d7 ,the ,fairies were fond of stealing nice healthy babies and of leaving in their place their own sallow offspring4 ,the stories of how the right child might be recovered take numerous forms2 and some of these stories suggest how weak and sickly children became the objects of systematic cruelty at the hands of even their own parents4 ,the changeling was usually an old man1 and many were the efforts made to get him to betray his identity4 7#e7 ,there is a widespread story of the fairy husband procuring for his wife the attendance of a human midwife4 ,the latter was given a certain ointment to apply to the baby's eyes when she dressed it4 ,she was not to touch either of her own eyes with it1 but owing to an unfailing accident she does1 and with the eye so touched she is enabled to see the fairies in their proper shape and form4 ,this has consequences3 ,the fairy husband pays the midwife well1 and discharges her4 ,she goes to a fair or market one day and observes her old master stealing goods from a stall1 and makes herself known to him4 ,he asks her with which eye she sees him4 ,she tells him1 and the eye to which he objects he instantly blinds4 7#f7 ,many are the stories about the fairies coming into houses at night to wash and dress their children after everybody is gone to bed4 ,a servant-maid who knows her business leaves a vessel full of water for them1 and takes care that the house is neat and tidy1 and she then probably finds in the morning some fairy gift left her1 whereas if the house be untidy and the water dirty1 they will pinch her in her sleep1 and leave her black and blue4 7#g7 ,the fairies were not strong in their household arrangements1 so it was not at all unusual for them to come to the farm-houses to borrow what was wanting to them4 ,in the neighbourhood of ,snowdon the fairies were believed to live beneath the lakes1 from which they sometimes came forth1 especially on misty days1 and children used to be warned not to stray away from their homes in that sort of weather1 lest they should be kidnapped by them4 ,these fairies were not ,christians1 and they were great thieves4 ,they were fond of bright colours4 ,they were sharp of hearing1 and no word that reached the wind would escape them4 ,if a fairy's proper name was discovered1 the fairy to whom it belonged felt baffled4#dg ,some characteristics of the fairies seem to argue an ancient race1 while other characteristics betray their origin in the workshop of the imagination2 but generally speaking1 the fairies are heterogeneous1 consisting partly of the divinities of glens and forests and mountains1 and partly of an early race of men more or less caricatured and equipped by fable with impossible attributes4#dh ,,jesus ,,college1 ,,oxford1 ,october #aiaj4 ,our field of research in the ,land of ,arthur includes all the coast counties save ,cardiganshire1 from ,anglesey on the north to ,glamorganshire on the south4 ,at the very beginning of our investigation of the belief in the ,tylwyth ,teg1 or ',fair ,folk' in the ,isle of ,anglesey or ,mona1 the ancient stronghold of the ,druids1 we shall see clearly that the testimony offered by thoroughly reliable and prominent native witnesses is surprisingly uniform1 and essentially animistic in its nature2 and in passing southward to the end of ,wales we shall find the ,welsh ,fairy-,faith with this same uniformity and exhibiting the same animistic background everywhere we go4 ,,testimony ,,of ,,an ,,anglesey ,,bard ,mr4 ,john ,louis ,jones1 of ,gaerwen1 ,anglesey1 a native bard who has taken prizes in various ,eisteddfods1 testifies as follows3-- ,tylwyth ,teg's ,visits4--',when ,i was a boy here on the island1 the ,tylwyth ,teg were described as a race of little beings no larger than children six or seven years old1 who visited farm-houses at night after all the family were abed4 ,no matter how securely closed a house might be1 the ,tylwyth ,teg had no trouble to get in4 ,i remember how the old folk used to make the house comfortable and put fresh coals on the fire1 saying1 ,perhaps the ,tylwyth ,teg will come to-night4 ,then the ,tylwyth ,teg1 when they did come1 would look round the room and say1 ,what a clean beautiful place this is6 ,and all the while the old folk in bed were listening4 ,before departing from such a clean house the ,tylwyth ,teg always left a valuable present for the family4' ,fairy ,wife and ,iron ,taboo4--',a young man once caught one of the ,tylwyth ,teg women1 and she agreed to live with him on condition that he should never touch her with iron4 ,one day she went to a field with him to catch a horse1 but in catching the horse he threw the bridle in such a way that the bit touched the ,tylwyth ,teg woman1 and all at once she was gone4 ,as this story indicates1 the ,tylwyth ,teg could make themselves invisible4 ,i think they could be seen by some people and not by other people4 ,the old folk thought them a kind of spirit race from a spirit world4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,central ,,anglesey ,owing to the very kindly assistance of ,mr4 ,e4 ,h4 ,thomas1 of ,llangefni1 who introduced me to the oldest inhabitants of his town1 in their own homes and elsewhere1 and then acted as interpreter whenever ,welsh alone was spoken1 ,i gleaned very clear evidence from that part of ,central ,anglesey4 ,seven witnesses1 two of whom were women1 ranging in age from seventy-two to eighty-nine years1 were thus interviewed1 and each of them stated that in their childhood the belief in the ,tylwyth ,teg as a non-human race of good little people--by one witness compared to singing angels--was general4 ,mr4 ,john ,jones1 the oldest of the seven1 among much else1 said in ,welsh3--',i believe personally that the ,tylwyth ,teg are still existing2 but people can't see them4 ,i have heard of two or three persons being together and one only having been able to see the ,tylwyth ,teg4' ,,testimony ,,from ,,two ,,anglesey ,,centenarians ,perhaps nowhere else in ,celtic lands could there be found as witnesses two sisters equal in age to ,miss ,mary ,owen and ,mrs4 ,betsy ,thomas1 in their hundred and third and hundredth year respectively 7in #aiji74 ,they live a quiet life on their mountain-side farm overlooking the sea1 in the beautiful country near ,pentraeth1 quite away from the rush and noise of the great world of commercial activity2 and they speak only the tongue which their prehistoric ,kimric ancestors spoke before ,roman1 or ,saxon1 or ,norman came to ,britain4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,jones1 of ,plas ,tinon1 their neighbour1 who knows ,english and ,welsh well1 acted as interpreter4 ,the elder sister testified first3-- ',tylwyth ,teg's' ,nature4--',there were many of the ,tylwyth ,teg on the ,llwydiarth ,mountain above here1 and round the ,llwydiarth ,lake where they used to dance2 and whenever the prices at the ,llangefni market were to be high they would chatter very much at night4 ,they appeared only after dark2 and all the good they ever did was singing and dancing4 ,ann ,jones1 whom ,i knew very well1 used often to see the ,tylwyth ,teg dancing and singing1 but if she then went up to them they would disappear4 ,she told me they are an invisible people1 and very small4 ,many others besides ,ann ,jones have seen the ,tylwyth ,teg in these mountains1 and have heard their music and song4 ,the ordinary opinion was that the ,tylwyth ,teg are a race of spirits4 ,i believe in them as an invisible race of good little people4' ,fairy ,midwife and ,magic ,oil4--',the ,tylwyth ,teg had a kind of magic oil1 and ,i remember this story about it3--,a farmer went to ,llangefni to fetch a woman to nurse his wife about to become a mother1 and he found one of the ,tylwyth ,teg1 who came with him on the back of his horse4 ,arrived at the farm-house1 the fairy woman looked at the wife1 and giving the farmer some oil told him to wash the baby in it as soon as it was born4 ,then the fairy woman disappeared4 ,the farmer followed the advice1 and what did he do in washing the baby but get some oil on one of his own eyes4 ,suddenly he could see the ,tylwyth ,teg1 for the oil had given him the second-sight4 ,some time later the farmer was in ,llangefni again1 and saw the same fairy woman who had given him the oil4 ,how is your wife getting on8 she asked him4 ,she is getting on very well1 he replied4 ,then the fairy woman added1 ,tell me with which eye you see me best4 ,with this one1 he said1 pointing to the eye he had rubbed with the oil4 ,and the fairy woman put her stick in that eye1 and the farmer never saw with it again4'#di ,seeing ',tylwyth ,teg'4--,the younger sister's testimony is as follows3--',i saw one of the ,tylwyth ,teg about sixty years ago1 near the ,tynymyndd ,farm1 as ,i was passing by at night4 ,he was like a little man4 ,when ,i approached him he disappeared suddenly4 ,i have heard about the dancing and singing of the ,tylwyth ,teg1 but never have heard the music myself4 ,the old people said the ,tylwyth ,teg could appear and disappear when they liked2 and ,i think as the old people did1 that they are some sort of spirits4' ,,testimony ,,from ,,an ,,anglesey ,,seeress ,at ,pentraeth1 ,mr4 ,gwilyn ,jones said to me3--',it always was and still is the opinion that the ,tylwyth ,teg are a race of spirits4 ,some people think them small in size1 but the one my mother saw was ordinary human size4' ,at this1 ,i immediately asked ,mr4 ,jones if his mother was still living1 and he replying that she was1 gave me her address in ,llanfair4 ,so ,i went directly to interview ,mr4 ,jones's mother1 ,mrs4 ,catherine ,jones1 and this is the story about the one of the ,tylwyth ,teg she saw3-- ',tylwyth ,teg' ,apparition4--',i was coming home at about half-past ten at night from ,cemaes1 on the path to ,simdda ,wen1 where ,i was in service1 when there appeared just before me a very pretty young lady of ordinary size4 ,i had no fear1 and when ,i came up to her put out my hand to touch her1 but my hand and arm went right through her form4 ,i could not understand this1 and so tried to touch her repeatedly with the same result2 there was no solid substance in the body1 yet it remained beside me1 and was as beautiful a young lady as ,i ever saw4 ,when ,i reached the door of the house where ,i was to stop1 she was still with me4 ,then ,i said ,good night to her4 ,no response being made1 ,i asked1 ,why do you not speak8 ,and at this she disappeared4 ,nothing happened afterwards1 and ,i always put this beautiful young lady down as one of the ,tylwyth ,teg4 ,there was much talk about my experience when ,i reported it1 and the neighbours1 like myself1 thought ,i had seen one of the ,tylwyth ,teg4 ,i was about twenty-four years old at the time of this incident4'#ej ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,professor ,,of ,,welsh ,just before crossing the ,menai ,straits ,i had the good fortune to meet1 at his home in ,llanfair1 ,mr4 ,j4 ,morris ,jones1 ,m4,a4 7,oxon471 ,professor of ,welsh in the ,university ,college at ,bangor1 and he1 speaking of the fairy-belief in ,anglesey as he remembers it from boyhood days1 said3-- ',tylwyth ,teg4'--',in most of the tales ,i heard repeated when ,i was a boy1 ,i am quite certain the implication was that the ,tylwyth ,teg were a kind of spirit race having human characteristics1 who could at will suddenly appear and suddenly disappear4 ,they were generally supposed to live underground1 and to come forth on moonlight nights1 dressed in gaudy colours 7chiefly in red71 to dance in circles in grassy fields4 ,i cannot remember having heard changeling stories here in the ,island3 ,i think the ,tylwyth ,teg were generally looked upon as kind and good-natured1 though revengeful if not well treated4 ,and they were believed to have plenty of money at their command1 which they could bestow on people whom they liked4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,north ,,carnarvonshire ,upon leaving ,anglesey ,i undertook some investigation of the ,welsh fairy-belief in the country between ,bangor and ,carnarvon4 ,from the oldest ,welsh people of ,treborth ,i heard the same sort of folk-lore as we have recorded from ,anglesey1 except that prominence was given to a flourishing belief in ,bwganod1 goblins or bogies4 ,but from ,mr4 ,t4 ,t4 ,davis ,evans1 of ,port ,dinorwic1 ,i heard the following very unusual story based on facts1 as he recalled it first hand3-- ,jones's ,vision4--',william ,jones1 who some sixty years ago declared he had seen the ,tylwyth ,teg in the ,aberglaslyn ,pass near ,beddgelert1 was publicly questioned about them in ,bethel ,chapel by ,mr4 ,griffiths1 the minister2 and he explained before the congregation that the ,lord had given him a special vision which enabled him to see the ,tylwyth ,teg1 and that1 therefore1 he had seen them time after time as little men playing along the river in the ,pass4 ,the minister induced ,jones to repeat the story many times1 because it seemed to please the congregation very much2 and the folks present looked upon ,jones's vision as a most wonderful thing4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,south ,,carnarvonshire ,to ,mr4 ,e4 ,d4 ,rowlands1 head master of the schools at ,afonwen1 ,i am indebted for a summary of the fairy-belief in ,south ,carnarvonshire3-- ',tylwyth ,teg4'--',according to the belief in ,south ,carnarvonshire1 the ,tylwyth ,teg were a small1 very pretty people always dressed in white1 and much given to dancing and singing in rings where grass grew4 ,as a rule1 they were visible only at night2 though in the day-time1 if a mother while hay-making was so unwise as to leave her babe alone in the field1 the ,tylwyth ,teg might take it and leave in its place a hunchback1 or some deformed object like a child4 ,at night1 the ,tylwyth ,teg would entice travellers to join their dance and then play all sorts of tricks on them4'#ea ,fairy ,cows and ,fairy ,lake-,women4--',some of the ,tylwyth ,teg lived in caves2 others of them lived in lake-bottoms4 ,there is a lake called ,llyn y ,morwynion1 or ,lake of the ,maidens1 near ,festiniog1 where1 as the story goes1 a farmer one morning found in his field a number of very fine cows such as he had never seen before4 ,not knowing where they came from1 he kept them a long time1 when1 as it happened1 he committed some dishonest act and1 as a result1 women of the ,tylwyth ,teg made their appearance in the pasture and1 calling the cows by name1 led the whole herd into the lake1 and with them disappeared beneath its waters4 ,the old people never could explain the nature of the ,tylwyth ,teg1 but they always regarded them as a very mysterious race1 and1 according to this story of the cattle1 as a supernatural race4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,merionethshire ,mr4 ,louis ,foster ,edwards1 of ,harlech1 recalling the memories of many years ago1 offers the following evidence3-- ,scythe-,blades and ,fairies4--',in an old inn on the other side of ,harlech there was to be an entertainment1 and1 as usual on such occasions1 the dancing would not cease until morning4 ,i noticed1 before the guests had all arrived1 that the landlady was putting scythe-blades edge upwards up into the large chimney1 and1 wondering why it was1 asked her4 ,she told me that the fairies might come before the entertainment was over1 and that if the blades were turned edge upwards it would prevent the fairies from troubling the party1 for they would be unable to pass the blades without being cut4' ',tylwyth ,teg' and their ,world4--',there was an idea that the ,tylwyth ,teg lived by plundering at night4 ,it was thought1 too1 that if anything went wrong with cows or horses the ,tylwyth ,teg were to blame4 ,as a race1 the ,tylwyth ,teg were described as having the power of invisibility2 and it was believed they could disappear like a spirit while one happened to be observing them4 ,the world in which they lived was a world quite unlike ours1 and mortals taken to it by them were changed in nature4 ,the way a mortal might be taken by the ,tylwyth ,teg was by being attracted into their dance4 ,if they thus took you away1 it would be according to our time for twelve months1 though to you the time would seem no more than a night4' ,,fairy ,,tribes ,,in ,,montgomeryshire ,from ,mr4 ,d4 ,davies-,williams1 who outlined for me the ,montgomeryshire belief in the ,tylwyth ,teg as he has known it intimately1 ,i learned that this is essentially the same as elsewhere in ,north and ,central ,wales4 ,he summed up the matter by saying3-- ,belief in ,tylwyth ,teg4--',it was the opinion that the ,tylwyth ,teg were a real race of invisible or spiritual beings living in an invisible world of their own4 ,the belief in the ,tylwyth ,teg was quite general fifty or sixty years ago1 and as sincere as any religious belief is now4' ,our next witness is the ,rev4 ,josiah ,jones1 minister of the ,congregational ,church of ,machynlleth2 and1 after a lifetime's experience in ,montgomeryshire1 he gives this testimony3-- ,a ,deacon's ,vision4--',a deacon in my church1 ,john ,evans1 declared that he had seen the ,tylwyth ,teg dancing in the day-time1 within two miles from here1 and he pointed out the very spot where they appeared4 ,this was some twenty years ago4 ,i think1 however1 that he saw only certain reflections and shadows1 because it was a hot and brilliant day4' ,folk-,beliefs in ,general4--',as ,i recall the belief1 the old people considered the ,tylwyth ,teg as living beings halfway between something material and spiritual1 who were rarely seen4 ,when ,i was a boy there was very much said1 too1 about corpse-candles and phantom funerals1 and especially about the ,bwganod1 plural of ,bwgan1 meaning a sprite1 ghost1 hobgoblin1 or spectre4 ,the ,bwganod were supposed to appear at dusk1 in various forms1 animal and human2 and grown-up people as well as children had great fear of them4' ,a ,minister's ,opinion4--',ultimately there is a substance of truth in the fairy-belief1 but it is wrongly accounted for in the folk-lore3 ,i once asked ,samuel ,roberts1 of ,llanbrynmair1 who was quite a noted ,welsh scholar1 what he thought of the ,tylwyth ,teg1 of hobgoblins1 spirits1 and so forth2 and he said that he believed such things existed1 and that ,god allowed them to appear in times of great ignorance to convince people of the existence of an invisible world4' ,,in ,,cardiganshire2 ,,and ,a ,,folk-,,lorist',s ,,testimony ,no one of our witnesses from ,central ,wales is more intimately acquainted with the living folk-beliefs than ,mr4 ,j4 ,ceredig ,davies1 of ,llanilar1 a village about six miles from ,aberystwyth2 for ,mr4 ,davies has spent many years in collecting folk-lore in ,central and ,south ,wales4 ,he has interviewed the oldest and most intelligent of the old people1 and while ,i write this he has in the press a work entitled ,the ,folk-,lore of ,mid and ,west ,wales4 ,mr4 ,davies very kindly gave me the following outline of the most prominent traits in the ,welsh fairy-belief according to his own investigations3-- ',tylwyth ,teg4'--',the ,tylwyth ,teg were considered a very small people1 fond of dancing1 especially on moonlight nights4 ,they often came to houses after the family were abed2 and if milk was left for them1 they would leave money in return2 but if not treated kindly they were revengeful4 ,the changeling idea was common3 the mother coming home would find an ugly changeling in the cradle4 ,sometimes the mother would consult the ,dynion ,hysbys1 or ,wise ,men as to how to get her babe back4 ,as a rule1 treating the fairy babe roughly and then throwing it into a river would cause the fairy who made the change to appear and restore the real child in return for the changeling4' ',tylwyth ,teg' ,marriage ,contracts4--',occasionally a young man would see the ,tylwyth ,teg dancing1 and1 being drawn into the dance1 would be taken by them and married to one of their women4 ,there is usually some condition in the marriage contract which becomes broken1 and1 as a result1 the fairy wife disappears--usually into a lake4 ,the marriage contract specifies either that the husband must never touch his fairy wife with iron1 or else never beat or strike her three times4 ,sometimes when fairy wives thus disappear1 they take with them into the lake their fairy cattle and all their household property4' ',tylwyth ,teg' ,habitations4--',the ,tylwyth ,teg were generally looked upon as an immortal race4 ,in ,cardiganshire they lived underground2 in ,carmarthenshire in lakes2 and in ,pembrokeshire along the sea-coast on enchanted islands amid the ,irish ,sea4 ,i have heard of sailors upon seeing such islands trying to reach them2 but when approached1 the islands always disappeared4 ,from a certain spot in ,pembrokeshire1 it is said that by standing on a turf taken from the yard of ,st4 ,david's ,cathedral1 one may see the enchanted islands4'#eb ',tylwyth ,teg' as ,spirits of ,druids4--',by many of the old people the ,tylwyth ,teg were classed with spirits4 ,they were not looked upon as mortal at all4 ,many of the ,welsh looked upon the ,tylwyth ,teg or fairies as the spirits of ,druids dead before the time of ,christ1 who being too good to be cast into ,hell were allowed to wander freely about on earth4' ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,welshman ,,ninety-,,four ,,years ,,old ,at ,pontrhydfendigaid1 a village about two miles from the railway-station called ,strata ,florida1 ,i had the good fortune to meet ,mr4 ,john ,jones1 ninety-four years old1 yet of strong physique1 and able to write his name without eye-glasses4 ,both ,mr4 ,j4 ,h4 ,davies1 ,registrar of the ,university ,college of ,aberystwyth1 and ,mr4 ,j4 ,ceredig ,davies1 the eminent folk-lorist of ,llanilar1 referred me to ,mr4 ,john ,jones as one of the most remarkable of living ,welshmen who could tell about the olden times from first-hand knowledge4 ,mr4 ,john ,jones speaks very little ,english1 and ,mr4 ,john ,rees1 of the ,council ,school1 acted as our interpreter4 ,this is the testimony3-- ,pygmy-sized ',tylwyth ,teg'4--',i was born and bred where there was tradition that the ,tylwyth ,teg lived in holes in the hills1 and that none of these ,tylwyth ,teg was taller than three to four feet4 ,it was a common idea that many of the ,tylwyth ,teg1 forming in a ring1 would dance and sing out on the mountain-sides1 or on the plain1 and that if children should meet with them at such a time they would lose their way and never get out of the ring4 ,if the ,tylwyth ,teg fancied any particular child they would always keep that child1 taking off its clothes and putting them on one of their own children1 which was then left in its place4 ,they took only boys1 never girls4' ,human-sized ',tylwyth ,teg'4--',a special sort of ,tylwyth ,teg used to come out of lakes and dance1 and their fine looks enticed young men to follow them back into the lakes1 and there marry one of them4 ,if the husband wished to leave the lake he had to go without his fairy wife4 ,this sort of ,tylwyth ,teg were as big as ordinary people2 and they were often seen riding out of the lakes and back again on horses4' ',tylwyth ,teg' as ,spirits of ,prehistoric ,race4--',my grandfather told me that he was once in a certain field and heard singing in the air1 and thought it spirits singing4 ,soon afterwards he and his brother in digging dikes in that field dug into a big hole1 which they entered and followed to the end4 ,there they found a place full of human bones and urns1 and naturally decided on account of the singing that the bones and urns were of the ,tylwyth ,teg4'#ec ,a ,boy's ,visit to the ',tylwyth ,teg's' ,king4--',about eighty years ago1 at ,tynylone1 my grandfather told me this story3 ,a boy ten years old was often whipped and cruelly treated by his schoolmaster because he could not say his lessons very well4 ,so one day he ran away from school and went to a river-side1 where some little folk came to him and asked why he was crying4 ,he told them the master had punished him2 and on hearing this they said1 ',oh6 if you will stay with us it will not be necessary for you to go to school4 ,we will keep you as long as you like4' ,then they took him under the water and over the water into a cave underground1 which opened into a great palace where the ,tylwyth ,teg were playing games with golden balls1 in rings like those in which they dance and sing4 ,the boy had been taken to the king's family1 and he began to play with the king's sons4 ,after he had been there in the palace in the full enjoyment of all its pleasures he wished very much to return to his mother and show her the golden ball which the ,tylwyth ,teg gave him4 ,and so he took the ball in his pocket and hurried through the cave the way he had come2 but at the end of it and by the river two of the ,tylwyth ,teg met him1 and taking the ball away from him they pushed him into the water1 and through the water he found his way home4 ,he told his mother how he had been away for a fortnight1 as he thought1 but she told him it had been for two years4 ,though the boy often tried to find the way back to the ,tylwyth ,teg he never could4 ,finally1 he went back to school1 and became a most wonderful scholar and parson4'#ed ,,in ,,merlin',s ,,country2 ,,and ,a ,,vicar',s ,,testimony ,the ,rev4 ,t4 ,m4 ,morgan1 vicar of ,newchurch parish1 two miles from ,carmarthen1 has made a very careful study of the folk-traditions in his own parish and in other regions of ,carmarthenshire1 and is able to offer us evidence of the highest value1 as follows3--#ee ',tylwyth ,teg' ,power over ,children4--',the ,tylwyth ,teg were thought to be able to take children4 ,you mind1 or the ,tylwyth ,teg will take you away1 parents would say to keep their children in the house after dark4 ,it was an opinion1 too1 that the ,tylwyth ,teg could transform good children into kings and queens1 and bad children into wicked spirits1 after such children had been taken--perhaps in death4 ,the ,tylwyth ,teg were believed to live in some invisible world to which children on dying might go to be rewarded or punished1 according to their behaviour on this earth4 ,even in this life the ,tylwyth ,teg had power over children for good or evil4 ,the belief1 as these ideas show1 was that the ,tylwyth ,teg were spirits4' ',tylwyth ,teg' as ,evil ,spirits4--,a few days after my return to ,oxford1 the ,rev4 ,t4 ,m4 ,morgan1 through his son1 ,mr4 ,basil ,i4 ,morgan1 of ,jesus ,college1 placed in my hands additional folk-lore evidence from his own parish1 as follows3--',after ,mr4 ,wentz visited me on ,thursday1 ,september #cj1 #aiji1 ,i went to see ,mr4 ,shem ,morgan1 the occupier of ,cwmcastellfach farm1 an old man about seventy years old4 ,he told me that in his childhood days a great dread of the fairies occupied the heart of every child4 ,they were considered to be evil spirits who visited our world at night1 and dangerous to come in contact with2 there were no good spirits among them4 ,he related to me three narratives touching the fairies'3-- ',tylwyth ,teg's' ,path4--,the first narrative illustrates that the ,tylwyth ,teg have paths 7precisely like those reserved for the ,irish good people or for the ,breton dead71 and that it is death to a mortal while walking in one of these paths to meet the ,tylwyth ,teg4 ',tylwyth ,teg' ,divination4--,the second narrative ,i quote3--',a farmer of this neighbourhood having lost his cattle1 went to consult y dyn hysbys 7a diviner71 in ,cardiganshire1 who was friendly with the fairies4 ,whenever the fairies visited the diviner they foretold future events1 secrets1 and the whereabouts of lost property4 ,after the farmer reached the diviner's house the diviner showed him the fairies1 and then when the diviner had consulted them he told the farmer to go home as soon as he could and that he would find the cattle in such and such a place4 ,the farmer did as he was directed1 and found the cattle in the very place where the dyn hysbys told him they would be4' ,and the third narrative asserts that a man in the parish of ,trelech who was fraudulently excluded by means of a false will from inheriting the estate of his deceased father1 discovered the defrauder and recovered the estate1 solely through having followed the advice given by the ,tylwyth ,teg1 when 7again as in the above account7 they were called up as spirits by a dyn hysbys1 a ,mr4 ,harries1 of ,cwrt y ,cadno1 a place near ,aberystwyth4#ef ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,justice ,,of ,,the ,,peace ,mr4 ,david ,williams1 ,j4,p41 who is a member of the ,cymmrodorion ,society of ,carmarthen1 and who has sat on the judicial bench for ten years1 offers us the very valuable evidence which follows3-- ',tylwyth ,teg' and their ,king and ,queen4--',the general idea1 as ,i remember it1 was that the ,tylwyth ,teg were only visitors to this world1 and had no terrestrial habitations4 ,they were as small in stature as dwarfs1 and always appeared in white4 ,often at night they danced in rings amid green fields4 ,most of them were females1 though they had a king2 and1 as their name suggests1 they were very beautiful in appearance4 ,the king of the ,tylwyth ,teg was called ,gwydion ab ,don1 ,gwyd referring to a temperament in man's nature4 ,his residence was among the stars1 and called ,caer ,gwydion4 ,his queen was ,gwenhidw4 ,i have heard my mother call the small fleece-like clouds which appear in fine weather the ,sheep of ,gwenhidw4'#eg ',tylwyth ,teg' as ,aerial ,beings4--,mr4 ,williams's testimony continues1 and leads us directly to the ,psychological or ,psychical ,theory3--',as aerial beings the ,tylwyth ,teg could fly and move about in the air at will4 ,they were a special order of creation4 ,i never heard that they grew old2 and whether they multiplied or not ,i cannot tell4 ,in character they were almost always good4' ,ghosts and ,apparitions4--,our conversation finally drifted towards ghosts and apparitions1 as usual1 and to ,druids4 ,in the chapter dealing with ,re-birth 7pp4 #cij-a7 we shall record what ,mr4 ,williams said about ,druids1 and here what he said about ghosts and apparitions3--',sixty years ago there was hardly an individual who did not believe in apparitions2 and in olden times ,welsh families would collect round the fire at night and each in turn give a story about the ,tylwyth ,teg and ghosts4' ,conferring ,vision of a ,phantom ,funeral4--',there used to be an old man at ,newchurch named ,david ,davis 7who lived about #aghj-ahdj71 of ,abernant1 noted for seeing phantom funerals4 ,one appeared to him once when he was with a friend4 ,do you see it8 ,do you see it8 the old man excitedly asked4 ,no1 said his friend4 ,then the old man placed his foot on his friend's foot1 and said1 ,do you see it now8 ,and the friend replied that he did4'#eh ,magic and ,witchcraft4--,finally1 we shall hear from ,mr4 ,williams about ,welsh magic and witchcraft1 which cannot scientifically be divorced from the belief in fairies and apparitions3--',there used to be much witchcraft in this country2 and it was fully believed that some men1 if advanced scholars1 had the power to injure or to bewitch their neighbours by magic4 ,the more advanced the scholar the better he could carry on his craft4' ,,additional ,,evidence ,,from ,,carmarthenshire ,my friend1 and fellow student at ,jesus ,college1 ,mr4 ,percival ,v4 ,davies1 of ,carmarthen1 contributes1 as supplementary to what has been recorded above1 the following evidence1 from his great-aunt1 ,mrs4 ,spurrell1 also of ,carmarthen1 a native ,welshwoman who has seen a canwyll gorff 7corpse-candle73-- ,bendith y ,mamau4--',in the ,carmarthenshire country1 fairies 7,tylwyth ,teg7 are often called ,bendith y ,mamau1 the ,mothers' ,blessing4' ,how ,ten ,children ,became ,fairies4--',our ,lord1 in the days when ,he walked the earth1 chanced one day to approach a cottage in which lived a woman with twenty children4 ,feeling ashamed of the size of her family1 she hid half of them from the sight of her divine visitor4 ,on ,his departure she sought for the hidden children in vain2 they had become fairies and had disappeared4' ,,in ,,pembrokeshire2 ,,at ,,the ,,pentre ,,evan ,,cromlech ,our ,pembrokeshire witness is a maiden ,welshwoman1 sixty years old1 who speaks no ,english1 but a university graduate1 her nephew1 will act as our interpreter4 ,she was born and has lived all her life within sight of the famous ,pentre ,evan ,cromlech1 in the home of her ancestors1 which is so ancient that after six centuries of its known existence further record of it is lost4 ,in spite of her sixty years1 our witness is as active as many a city woman of forty or forty-five4 ,since her girlhood she has heard curious legends and stories1 and1 with a more than ordinary interest in the lore of her native country1 has treasured them all in her clear and well-trained memory4 ,the first night1 while this well-stored memory of hers gave forth some of its treasures1 we sat in her own home1 ,i and my friend1 her nephew1 on one side in a chimney-seat1 and she and her niece on the other side in another1 exposed to the cheerful glow and warmth of the fire4 ,when we had finished that first night it was two o'clock1 and there had been no interruption to the even flow of marvels and pretty legends4 ,a second night we spent likewise4 ,what follows now is the result1 so far as we are concerned with it3-- ,fairies and ,spirits4--',spirits and fairies exist all round us1 invisible4 ,fairies have no solid bodily substance4 ,their forms are of matter like ghostly bodies1 and on this account they cannot be caught4 ,in the twilight they are often seen1 and on moonlight nights in summer4 ,only certain people can see fairies1 and such people hold communication with them and have dealings with them1 but it is difficult to get them to talk about fairies4 ,i think the spirits about us are the fallen angels1 for when old ,doctor ,harris died his books on witchcraft had to be burned in order to free the place where he lived from evil spirits4 ,the fairies1 too1 are sometimes called the fallen angels4 ,they will do good to those who befriend them1 and harm to others4 ,i think there must be an intermediate state between life on earth and heavenly life1 and it may be in this that spirits and fairies live4 ,there are two distinct types of spirits3 one is good and the other is bad4 ,i have heard of people going to the fairies and finding that years passed as days1 but ,i do not believe in changelings1 though there are stories enough about them4 ,that there are fairies and other spirits like them1 both good and bad1 ,i firmly believe4 ,my mother used to tell about seeing the fair-folk dancing in the fields near ,cardigan2 and other people have seen them round the cromlech up there on the hill 7the ,pentre ,evan ,cromlech74 ,they appeared as little children in clothes like soldiers' clothes1 and with red caps1 according to some accounts4' ,death-,candles ,described4--',i have seen more than one death-candle4 ,i saw one death-candle right here in this room where we are sitting and talking4' ,i was told by the nephew and niece of our present witness that this particular death-candle took an untrodden course from the house across the fields to the grave-yard1 and that when the death of one of the family occurred soon afterwards1 their aunt insisted that the corpse should be carried by exactly the same route2 so the road was abandoned and the funeral went through the ploughed fields4 ,here is the description of the death-candle as the aunt gave it in response to our request3--',the death-candle appears like a patch of bright light2 and no matter how dark the room or place is1 everything in it is as clear as day4 ,the candle is not a flame1 but a luminous mass1 lightish blue in colour1 which dances as though borne by an invisible agency1 and sometimes it rolls over and over4 ,if you go up to the light it is nothing1 for it is a spirit4 ,near here a light as big as a pot was seen1 and rays shot out from it in all directions4 ,the man you saw here in the house to-day1 one night as he was going along the road near ,nevern1 saw the death-light of old ,dr4 ,harris1 and says it was lightish green4' ,gors ,goch ,fairies4--,now we began to hear more about fairies3--',one night there came a strange rapping at the door of the ancient manor on the ,gors ,goch farm over in ,cardiganshire1 and the father of the family asked what was wanted4 ,thin1 silvery voices said they wanted a warm place in which to dress their children and to tidy them up4 ,the door opened then1 and in came a dozen or more little beings1 who at once set themselves to hunting for a basin and water1 and to cleaning themselves4 ,at daybreak they departed1 leaving a pretty gift in return for the kindness4 ,in this same house at another time1 whether by the same party of little beings or by another could not be told1 a healthy child of the family was changed because he was unbaptized1 and a frightful-looking child left in his place4 ,the mother finally died of grief1 and the other children died because of the loss of their mother1 and the father was left alone4 ,then some time after this1 the same little folks who came the first time returned to clean up1 and when they departed1 in place of their former gifts of silver1 left a gift of gold4 ,it was not long before the father became heir to a rich farm in ,north ,wales1 and going to live on it became a magician1 for the little people1 still befriending him1 revealed themselves in their true nature and taught him all their secrets4' ,levi ,salmon's ,control of ,spirits4--',levi ,salmon1 who lived about thirty years ago1 between here and ,newport1 was a magician1 and could call up good and bad spirits2 but was afraid to call up the bad ones unless another person was with him1 for it was a dangerous and terrible ordeal4 ,after consulting certain books which he had1 he would draw a circle on the floor1 and in a little while spirits like bulls and serpents and other animals would appear in it1 and all sorts of spirits would speak4 ,it was not safe to go near them2 and to control them ,levi held a whip in his hand4 ,he would never let them cross the circle4 ,and when he wanted them to go away he always had to throw something to the chief spirit4' ,the ,haunted ,manor and the ,golden ,image4--,i offer now1 in my own language1 the following remarkable story3--,the ancient manor-house on the ,trewern ,farm 7less than a mile from the ,pentre ,evan ,cromlech7 had been haunted as long as anybody could remember4 ,strange noises were often heard in it1 dishes would dance about of their own accord1 and sometimes a lady dressed in silk appeared4 ,many attempts were made to lay the ghosts1 but none succeeded4 ,finally things got so bad that nobody wanted to live there4 ,about eighty years ago the sole occupants of the haunted house were ,mr4 ---- and his two servants4 ,at the time1 it was well known in the neighbourhood that all at once ,mr4 ---- became very wealthy1 and his servants seemed able to buy whatever they wanted4 ,everybody wondered1 but no one could tell where the money came from2 for at first he was a poor man1 and he couldn't have made much off the farm4 ,the secret only leaked out through one of the servants after ,mr4 ---- was dead4 ,the servant declared to certain friends that one of the ghosts1 or1 as he thought1 the ,devil1 appeared to ,mr4 ---- and told him there was an image of great value walled up in the room over the main entrance to the manor4 ,a search was made1 and1 sure enough1 a large image of solid gold was found in the very place indicated1 built into a recess in the wall4 ,mr4 ---- bound the servants to secrecy1 and began to turn the image into money4 ,he would cut off small pieces of the image1 one at a time1 and take them to ,london and sell them4 ,in this way he sold the whole image1 and nobody was the wiser4 ,after the image was found and disposed of1 ghosts were no longer seen in the house1 nor were unusual noises heard in it at night4 ,the one thing which beyond all doubt is true is that when ,mr4 ---- died he left his son an estate worth about #ej1jjj 7an amount probably greatly in excess of the true one72 and people have always wondered ever since where it came from1 if not in part from the golden image4#ei ,hundreds of parallel stories in which1 instead of ghosts1 fairies and demons are said to have revealed hidden treasure could be cited4 ,,in ,,the ,,gower ,,peninsula1 ,,glamorganshire ,our investigations in ,glamorganshire cover the most interesting part1 the peninsula of ,gower1 where there are peculiar folk-lore conditions1 due to its present population being by ancestry ,english and ,flemish as well as ,cornish and ,welsh4 ,despite this race admixture1 ,brythonic beliefs have generally survived in ,gower even among the non-,celts2 and because of the ,cornish element there are pixies1 as shown by the following story related to me in ,swansea by ,mr4 ----1 a well-known mining engineer3-- ,pixies4--',at ,newton1 near the ,mumbles 7in ,gower71 an old woman1 some twenty years ago1 assured me that she had seen the pixies4 ,her father's grey mare was standing in the trap before the house ready to take some produce to the ,swansea market1 and when the time for departure arrived the pixies had come1 but no one save the old woman could see them4 ,she described them to me as like tiny men dancing on the mare's back and climbing up along the mare's mane4 ,she thought the pixies some kind of spirits who made their appearance in early morning2 and all mishaps to cows she attributed to them4' ,,testimony ,,from ,,an ,,archaeologist ,the ,rev4 ,john ,david ,davis1 rector of ,llanmadoc and ,cheriton parishes1 and a member of the ,cambrian ,archaeological ,society1 has passed many years in studying the antiquities and folk-lore of ,gower1 being the author of various antiquarian works2 and he is without doubt the oldest and best living authority to aid us4 ,the ,rector very willingly offers this testimony3-- ,pixies and ',verry ,volk'4--',in this part of ,gower1 the name ,tylwyth ,teg is never used to describe fairies2 ,verry ,volk is used instead4 ,some sixty years ago1 as ,i can remember1 there was belief in such fairies here in ,gower1 but now there is almost none4 ,belief in apparitions still exists to some extent4 ,one may also hear of a person being pixy-led2 the pixies may cause a traveller to lose his way at night if he crosses a field where they happen to be4 ,to take your coat off and turn it inside out will break the pixy spell4#fj ,the ,verry ,volk were always little people dressed in scarlet and green2 and they generally showed themselves dancing on moonlight nights4 ,i never heard of their making changelings1 though they had the power of doing good or evil acts1 and it was a very risky thing to offend them4 ,by nature they were benevolent4' ,a ',verry ,volk' ,feast4--',i heard the following story many years ago3--,the tenant on the ,eynonsford ,farm here in ,gower had a dream one night1 and in it thought he heard soft sweet music and the patter of dancing feet4 ,waking up1 he beheld his cow-shed1 which opened off his bedroom1 filled with a multitude of little beings1 about one foot high1 swarming all over his fat ox1 and they were preparing to slaughter the ox4 ,he was so surprised that he could not move4 ,in a short time the ,verry ,volk had killed1 dressed1 and eaten the animal4 ,the feast being over1 they collected the hide and bones1 except one very small leg-bone which they could not find1 placed them in position1 then stretched the hide over them2 and1 as the farmer looked1 the ox appeared as sound and fat as ever1 but when he let it out to pasture in the morning he observed that it had a slight lameness in the leg lacking the missing bone4'#fa ,,fairies ,,among ,,gower ,,english ,,folk ,the population of the ,llanmadoc region of ,gower are generally ,english by ancestry and speech2 and not until reaching ,llanmorlais1 beyond ,llanridian1 did ,i find anything like an original ,celtic and ,welsh-speaking people1 and these may have come into that part within comparatively recent times2 and yet1 as the above place-names tend to prove1 in early days all these regions must have been ,welsh4 ,it may be argued1 however1 that this ,english-speaking population may be more ,celtic than ,saxon1 even though emigrants from ,england4 ,in any case1 we can see with interest how this so-called ,english population now echo ,brythonic beliefs which they appear to have adopted in ,gower1 possibly sympathetically through race kinship2 and the following testimony offered by ,miss ,sarah ,jenkins1 postmistress of ,llanmadoc1 will enable us to do so3-- ,dancing with ,fairies4--',a man1 whose ,christian name was ,william1 was enticed by the fairy folk to enter their dance1 as he was on his way to the ,swansea market in the early morning4 ,they kept him dancing some time1 and then said to him before they let him go1 ,will dance well2 the last going to market and the first that shall sell4 ,and though he arrived at the market very late1 he was the first to sell anything4' ,fairy ,money4--',an old woman1 whom ,i knew1 used to find money left by the fairies every time they visited her house4 ,for a long time she observed their request1 and told no one about the money2 but at last she told1 and so never found money afterwards4' ,nature of ,fairies4--',the fairies 7verry volk7 were believed to have plenty of music and dancing4 ,sometimes they appeared dressed in bright red4 ,they could appear and disappear suddenly1 and no one could tell how or where4' ,,conclusion ,much more might easily be said about ,welsh goblins1 about ,welsh fairies who live in caves1 or about ,welsh fairy women who come out of lakes and rivers1 or who are the presiding spirits of sacred wells and fountains1#fb but these will have some consideration later1 in ,section ,,iii4 ,for the purposes of the present inquiry enough evidence has been offered to show the fundamental character of ,brythonic fairy-folk as we have found them4 ,and we can very appropriately close this inquiry by allowing our ,welsh-speaking witness from the ,pentre ,evan country1 ,pembrokeshire1 to tell us one of the prettiest and most interesting fairy-tales in all ,wales4 ,the name of ,taliessin appearing in it leads us to suspect that it may be the remnant of an ancient bardic tale which has been handed down orally for centuries4 ,it will serve to illustrate the marked difference between the short conversational stories of the living ,fairy-,faith and the longer1 more polished ones of the traditional ,fairy-,faith2 and we shall see in it how a literary effect is gained at the expense of the real character of the fairies themselves1 for it transforms them into mortals3-- ,einion and ,olwen4--',my mother told the story as she used to sit by the fire in the twilight knitting stockings3--,one day when it was cloudy and misty1 a shepherd boy going to the mountains lost his way and walked about for hours4 ,at last he came to a hollow place surrounded by rushes where he saw a number of round rings4 ,he recognized the place as one he had often heard of as dangerous for shepherds1 because of the rings4 ,he tried to get away from there1 but he could not4 ,then an old1 merry1 blue-eyed man appeared4 ,the boy1 thinking to find his way home1 followed the old man1 and the old man said to him1 ',do not speak a word till ,i tell you4' ,in a little while they came to a menhir 7long stone74 ,the old man tapped it three times1 and then lifted it up4 ,a narrow path with steps descending was revealed1 and from it emerged a bluish-white light4 ',follow me1' said the old man1 'no harm will come to you4' ,the boy did so1 and it was not long before he saw a fine1 wooded1 fertile country with a beautiful palace1 and rivers and mountains4 ,he reached the palace and was enchanted by the singing of birds4 ,music of all sorts was in the palace1 but he saw no people4 ,at meals dishes came and disappeared of their own accord4 ,he could hear voices all about him1 but saw no person except the old man--who said that now he could speak4 ,when he tried to speak he found that he could not move his tongue4 ,soon an old lady with smiles came to him leading three beautiful maidens1 and when the maidens saw the shepherd boy they smiled and spoke1 but he could not reply4 ,then one of the girls kissed him2 and all at once he began to converse freely and most wittily4 ,in the full enjoyment of the marvellous country he lived with the maidens in the palace a day and a year1 not thinking it more than a day1 for there was no reckoning of time in that land4 ,when the day and the year were up1 a longing to see his old acquaintances came on him2 and thanking the old man for his kindness1 he asked if he could return home4 ,the old man said to him1 ',wait a little while'2 and so he waited4 ,the maiden who had kissed him was unwilling to have him go2 but when he promised her to return1 she sent him off loaded with riches4 ',at home not one of his people or old friends knew him4 ,everybody believed that he had been killed by another shepherd4 ,and this shepherd had been accused of the murder and had fled to ,america4 ',on the first day of the new moon the boy remembered his promise1 and returned to the other country2 and there was great rejoicing in the beautiful palace when he arrived4 ,einion1 for that was the boy's name1 and ,olwen1 for that was the girl's name1 now wanted to marry2 but they had to go about it quietly and half secretly1 for the fair-folk dislike ceremony and noise4 ,when the marriage was over1 ,einion wished to go back with ,olwen to the upper world4 ,so two snow-white ponies were given them1 and they were allowed to depart4 ',they reached the upper world safely2 and1 being possessed of unlimited wealth1 lived most handsomely on a great estate which came into their possession4 ,a son was born to them1 and he was called ,taliessin4 ,people soon began to ask for ,olwen's pedigree1 and as none was given it was taken for granted that she was one of the fair-folk4 ',yes1 indeed1' said ,einion1 'there is no doubt that she is one of the fair-folk1 there is no doubt that she is one of the very fair-folk1 for she has two sisters as pretty as she is1 and if you saw them all together you would admit that the name is a suitable one4' ,and this is the origin of the term fair-folk 7,tylwyth ,teg74' ,from ,wales we go to the nearest ,brythonic country1 ,cornwall1 to study the fairy-folk there4 ,,vi4 ,,in ,,cornwall ,introduction by ,,henry ,,jenner1 ,member of the ,gorsedd of the ,bards of ,brittany2 ,fellow and ,local ,secretary for ,cornwall of the ,society of ,antiquaries2 author of ,a ,handbook of the ,cornish ,language1 c4 ,in ,cornwall the legends of giants1 of saints1 or of ,arthur and his knights1 the observances and superstitions connected with the prehistoric stone monuments1 holy wells1 mines1 and the like1 the stories of submerged or buried cities1 and the fragments of what would seem to be pre-,christian faiths1 have no doubt occasional points of contact with ,cornish fairy legends1 but they do not help to explain the fairies very much4 ,yet certain it is that not only in ,cornwall and other ,celtic lands1 but throughout most of the world1 a belief in fairies exists or has existed1 and so widespread a belief must have a reason for it1 though not necessarily a good one4 ,that which with unconscious humour men generally call 'education' has in these days caused those lower classes1 to whom the deposit of this faith was entrusted1 to be ashamed of it1 and to despise and endeavour to forget it4 ,and so now in ,cornwall1 as elsewhere at that earlier outbreak of ,philistinism1 the ,reformation1 ,from haunted spring and grassy ring ,troop goblin1 elf and fairy1 ,and the kelpie must flit from the black bog-pit1 ,and the brownie must not tarry4 ,but1 in spite of ,protestantism1 school-boards1 and education committees1 'pisky-pows' are still placed on the ridge-tiles of ,west ,cornish cottages1 to propitiate the piskies and give them a dancing-place1 lest they should turn the milk sour1 and ,st4 ,just and ,morvah folk are still 'pisky-led' on the ,gump 7an n ,gumpas1 the ,level ,down1 between ,chn ,castle and ,carn ,kenidjack71 and more rarely ,st4 ,columb and ,roche folk on ,goss ,moor4 ,it will not do to say that it is only another form of 'whisky-led'4 ,that is an evidently modern explanation1 invented since the substitution of strange ,scottish and ,irish drinks for the good ',nantes' and wholesome ',plymouth' of old time1 and it does not fit in with the phenomena4 ,it was only last winter1 in a cottage not a hundred yards from where ,i am writing1 that milk was set at night for piskies1 who had been knocking on walls and generally making nuisances of themselves4 ,apparently the piskies only drank the 'astral' part of the milk 7whatever that may be7 and then the neighbouring cats drank what was left1 and it disagreed with them4 ,i cannot vouch for the truth of the part about the piskies and the 'astral' milk--,i give it as it was told to me by the occupant of the cottage1 who was not unacquainted with 'occult' terminology--but ,i do know that the milk was consumed1 and that the cats1 one of which was my own1 were with one accord unwell all over the place4 ,but for the present purpose it does not matter whether these things really happened or not4 ,the point is that people thought they happened4 ,robert ,hunt1 in his ,popular ,romances of the ,west of ,england1 divided the fairies of ,cornish folk-lore into five classes3 7#a7 the ,small ,people2 7#b7 the ,spriggans2 7#c7 the ,piskies2 7#d7 the ,buccas1 ,bockles1 or ,knockers2 7#e7 the ,brownies4 ,this is an incorrect classification4 ,the ,pobel ,vean or ,small ,people1 the ,spriggans1 and the ,piskies are not really distinguishable from one another4 ,bucca1 who properly is but one1 is a deity not a fairy1 and it is said that at ,newlyn1 the great seat of his worship1 offerings of fish are still left on the beach for him4 ,his name is the ,welsh pwca1 which is probably ',puck'1 though ,shakespeare's ,puck was just a pisky1 and it may be connected with the general ,slavonic word ,bog1 ,god2 so that if1 as some say1 buccaboo is really meant for ,bucca-du1 ,black ,bucca1 this may be an equivalent of ,czernobog1 the ,black ,god1 who was the ,ahriman of ,slavonic dualism1 and ,bucca-widn 7,white ,bucca71 which is rarer1 though the expression does come into a ,st4 ,levan story1 may be the corresponding ,bielobog4 ,bockle1 which personally ,i have never heard used1 suggests the ,scottish bogle1 and both may be diminutives of bucca1 bog1 bogie1 or bug1 the last in the sense in which one ,english version translates the timor nocturnus of ,psalm ,,xc4 #e1 not in that of cimex lectularius4 ,but bockle and brownie are probably both foreign importations borrowed from books1 though a 'brownie' eo nomine has been reported from ,sennen within the last twenty years4 ,the ,knockers or ,knackers are mine-spirits1 quite unconnected with ,bucca or bogles4 ,the story1 as ,i have always heard it1 is that they are the spirits of ,jews who were sent by the ,romans to work in the tin mines1 some say for being concerned in the ,crucifixion of our ,lord1 which sounds improbable4 ,they are benevolent spirits1 and warn miners of danger4 ,but the only true ,cornish fairy is the ,pisky1 of the race which is the ,pobel ,vean or ,little ,people1 and the ,spriggan is only one of his aspects4 ,the ,pisky would seem to be the ',brownie' of the ,lowland ,scot1 the ,duine ,sith of the ,highlander1 and1 if we may judge from an interesting note in ,scott's ,the ,pirate1 the ',peght' of the ,orkneys4 ,if ,daoine ,sith really means ',the ,folk of the ,mounds' 7barrows71 not ',the ,people of ,peace'1 it is possible that there is something in the theory that ,brownie1 ,duine ,sith1 and ',peght'1 which is ,pict1 are only in their origin ways of expressing the little dark-complexioned aboriginal folk who were supposed to inhabit the barrows1 cromlechs1 and alles couvertes1 and whose cunning1 their only effective weapon against the mere strength of the ,aryan invader1 earned them a reputation for magical powers4 ,now ,pisky or ,pisgy is really ,pixy4 ,though as a patriotic ,cornishman ,i ought not to admit it1 ,i cannot deny1 especially as it suits my argument better1 that the ,devon form is the correct one4 ,but after all there has been always a strong ,cornish element in ,devon1 even since the time when ,athelstan drove the ,britons out of ,exeter and set the ,tamar for their boundary1 and ,i think the original word is really ,cornish4 ,the transposition of consonants1 especially when s is one of them1 is not uncommon in modern ,cornish ,english4 ,hosged for hogshead1 and haps for hasp are well-known instances4 ,if we take the root of ,pixy1 ,pix1 and divide the double letter x into its component parts1 we get ,piks or ,pics1 and if we remember that a final s or z in ,cornish almost always represents a t or d of ,welsh and ,breton 7cf4 tas for tad1 nans for nant1 bos for bod71 we may not unreasonably1 though without absolute certainty1 conjecture that ,pixy is ,picty in a ,cornish form4#fc ,without begging any question concerning the origin1 ethnology1 or homogeneity of those who are called ',picts' in history1 from the times of ,ammianus ,marcellinus and ,claudian until ,kenneth ,mac,alpine united the ,pictish kingdom with the ,scottish1 we can nevertheless accept the fact that the name ',pict' has been popularly applied to some pre-,celtic race or races1 to whom certain ancient structures1 such as 'vitrified forts' and ',picts' houses' have been attributed4 ,in ,cornwall there are instances of prehistoric structures being called ',piskies' ,halls' 7there is an alle couverte so called at ,bosahan in ,constantine71 and ',piskies' ,crows' 7,crow or ,craw1 ,breton ,krao1 is a shed or hovel2 'pegs' craw' is still used for 'pig-sty'72 and there are three genuine examples of what would in ,scotland be called ',picts' ,houses' just outside ,st4 ,ives in the direction of ,zennor1 though only modern antiquaries have applied that name to them4 ,in the district in which they are1 the fringe of coast from ,st4 ,ives round by ,zennor1 ,morvah1 ,pendeen1 and ,st4 ,just nearly to ,sennen1 are found to this day a strange and separate people of ,mongol type1 like the ,bigaudens of ,pont l',abb and ,penmarc'h in the ,breton ,cornouailles1 one of those 'fragments of forgotten peoples' of the 'sunset bound of ,lyonesse' of whom ,tennyson tells4 ,they are a little 'stuggy' dark folk1 and until comparatively modern times were recognized as different from their ,celtic neighbours1 and were commonly believed to be largely wizards and witches4 ,one of ,mr4 ,wentz's informants seems to attribute to ,zennor a particularly virulent brand of pisky1 and ,zennor is the most primitive part of that district4 ,possibly the more completely unmixed ancestors of this race were 'more so' than the present representatives2 but1 be this as it may1 if ,pixy is really ,picty1 it would seem that1 like the inhabitants of the extreme north of the ,british ,isles1 the south-western ,britons eventually applied the fairly general popular name of the mysterious1 half dreaded1 half despised aboriginal to a race of preternatural beings in whose existence they believed1 and1 with the name1 transferred some of the qualities1 attributes1 and legends1 thus producing a mixed mental conception now known as 'pisky' or 'pixy'4 ,there seems to have been always and everywhere 7or nearly so7 a belief in a race1 neither divine nor human1 but very like to human beings1 who existed on a 'plane' different from that of humans1 though occupying the same space4 ,this has been called the 'astral' or the 'fourth-dimensional' plane4 ,why 'astral'8 why 'fourth-dimensional'8 why 'plane'8 are questions the answers to which do not matter1 and ,i do not attempt to defend the terms1 but you must call it something4 ,this is the belief to which ,scott refers in the introduction to ,the ,monastery1 as the 'beautiful but almost forgotten theory of astral spirits or creatures of the elements1 surpassing human beings in knowledge and power1 but inferior to them as being subject1 after a certain space of years1 to a death which is to them annihilation'4 ,the subdivisions and elaborations of the subject by ,paracelsus1 the ,rosicrucians1 and the modern theosophists are no doubt amplifications of that popular belief1 which1 though rather undefined1 resembles the theory of these mystics in its main outlines1 and was probably what suggested it to them4 ,these beings are held to be normally imperceptible to human senses1 but conditions may arise in which the 'astral plane' of the elementals and that part of the 'physical plane' in which1 if one may so express it1 some human being happens to be1 may be in such a relation to one another that these and other spirits may be seen and heard4 ,some such condition is perhaps described in the story of ,balaam the soothsayer1 in that incident when 'the ,lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw1 and behold1 the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about ,elisha'1 and possibly also in the mysterious 'sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees' which ,david heard2 but no doubt in these cases it was angels and not elementals4 ,it may also be allowable to suggest1 without irreverence1 that the ,gospel stories of the ,transfiguration and ,ascension are connected with the same idea1 though the latter is expressed in the form of the geocentric theory of the universe4 ,the ,cornish pisky stories are largely made up of instances of contact between the two 'planes'1 sometimes accidental1 sometimes deliberately induced by incantations or magic eye-salve1 yet with these stories are often mingled incidents that are not preternatural at all4 ,how1 when1 and why this belief arose1 ,i do not pretend even to conjecture2 but there it is1 and though of course the holders of it do not talk about 'planes'1 that is very much the notion which they appear to have4 ,i do not think that the piskies were ever definitely held to be the spirits of the dead1 and while a certain confusion has arisen1 as some of ,mr4 ,wentz's informants show1 ,i think it belongs to the confused eschatology of modern ,protestants4 ,to a pre-,reformation ,cornishman1 or indeed to any other ,catholic1 the idea was unthinkable4 ',justorum animae in manu ,dei sunt1 et non tanget illos tormentum malitiae3 visi sunt oculis insipientium mori3 illi autem sunt in pace1' and the transmigration of the souls of the faithful departed into another order of beings1 not disembodied because never embodied1 was to them impossible4 ,such a notion is on a par with the quaint but very usual hope of the modern ',evangelical' ,christian1 so beautifully expressed in one of ,hans ,andersen's stories1 that his departed friends are promoted to be 'angels'4 ,there may be1 perhaps1 an idea1 as there certainly is in the ,breton ,death-,faith1 that the spirits of the faithful dead are all round us1 and are not rapt away into a distant ,paradise or ,purgatory4 ,this may be of pre-,christian origin1 but does not contradict any article of the ,christian faith4 ,the warnings1 apparitions1 and hauntings1 the 'calling of the dead' at sea1 and other details of ,cornish ,death-,legends1 seem to point to a conception of a 'plane' of the dead1 similar to but not necessarily identical with that of the elementals4 ,under some quite undefined conditions contact may occur with the 'physical plane'1 whence the alleged incidents2 but this ,cornish ,death-,faith1 though sometimes1 as commonly in ,brittany1 presenting similar phenomena1 has in itself nothing to do with piskies1 and as for the unfaithful departed1 their destination was also well understood1 and it was not ,fairyland4 ,there are possible connecting links in the not very common idea that piskies are the souls of unbaptized children1 and in the more common notion that the ,pobel ,vean are1 not the disembodied spirits1 but the living souls and bodies of the old ,pagans1 who1 refusing ,christianity1 are miraculously preserved alive1 but are condemned to decrease in size until they vanish altogether4 ,some authorities hold that it is the race and not the individual which dwindles from generation to generation4 ,this last idea1 as well as the name 'pixy'1 gives some probability to the conclusion that1 as applied to ,cornwall1 ,mr4 ,mac,ritchie's theory represents a part of the truth1 and that on to an already existing belief in elementals have been grafted exaggerated traditions of a dark pre-,celtic people4 ,these were not necessarily pygmies1 but smaller than ,celts1 and may have survived for a long time in forests and hill countries1 sometimes friendly to the taller race1 whence come the stories of piskies working for farmers1 sometimes hostile1 which may account for the legends of changelings and other mischievous tricks4 ,this is how it appears to one who knows his ,cornwall in all its aspects fairly well1 but does not profess to be an expert in folk-lore4 ,,bospowes1 ,,hayle1 ,,cornwall1 ,july #aiaj4 ,our investigation of the ,fairy-,faith in ,cornwall covers the region between ,falmouth and the ,land's ,end1 which is now the most ,celtic2 and the ,tintagel country on the north coast4 ,it is generally believed that ancient ,cornish legends1 like the ,cornish language1 are things of the past only1 but ,i am now no longer of that opinion4 ,undoubtedly ,cornwall is the most anglicized of all ,celtic lands we are studying1 and its folk-lore is therefore far from being as virile as the ,irish folk-lore2 nevertheless1 through its people1 racially mixed though they are1 there still flows the blood and the inspiration of a prehistoric native ancestry1 and among the oldest ,cornish men and women of many an isolated village1 or farm1 there yet remains some belief in fairies and pixies4 ,moreover1 throughout all of ,old ,cornwall there is a very living faith in the ,legend of the ,dead2 and that this ,cornish ,legend of the ,dead1 with its peculiar ,brythonic character1 should be parallel as it is to the ,breton ,legend of the ,dead1 has heretofore1 so far as ,i am aware1 not been pointed out4 ,i am giving1 however1 only a very few of the ,cornish death-legends collected1 because in essence most of them are alike4 ,a ,,cornish ,,historian',s ,,testimony ,i was privileged to make my first call in rural ,cornwall at the pretty country home of ,miss ,susan ,e4 ,gay1 of ,crill1 about three miles from ,falmouth2 and ,miss ,gay1 who has written a well-known history of ,falmouth 7,old ,falmouth1 ,london1 #aijc71 very willingly accorded me an interview on the subject of my inquiry1 and finally dictated for my use the following matter3-- ,pixies as ',astral ,plane' ,beings4--',the pixies and fairies are little beings in the human form existing on the 'astral plane'1 who may be in the process of evolution2 and1 as such1 ,i believe people have seen them4 ,the 'astral plane' is not known to us now because our psychic faculty of perception has faded out by non-use1 and this condition has been brought about by an almost exclusive development of the physical brain2 but it is likely that the psychic faculty will develop again in its turn4' ,psychical ,interpretation of ,folk-,lore4--',it is my point of view that there is a basis of truth in the folk-lore4 ,with its remnants of occult learning1 magic1 charms1 and the like1 folk-lore seems to be the remains of forgotten psychical facts1 rather than history1 as it is often called4' ,,peasant ,,evidence ,,from ,,the ,,crill ,,country ,miss ,gay kindly gave me the names of certain peasants in the ,crill region1 and from one of them1 ,mrs4 ,harriett ,christopher1 ,i gleaned the following material3-- ,a ,pisky ,changeling4--',a woman who lived near ,breage ,church had a fine girl baby1 and she thought the piskies came and took it and put a withered child in its place4 ,the withered child lived to be twenty years old1 and was no larger when it died than when the piskies brought it4 ,it was fretful and peevish and frightfully shrivelled4 ,the parents believed that the piskies often used to come and look over a certain wall by the house to see the child4 ,and ,i heard my grandmother say that the family once put the child out of doors at night to see if the piskies would take it back again4' ,nature of ,piskies4--',the piskies are said to be very small4 ,you could never see them by day4 ,i used to hear my grandmother1 who has been dead fifty years1 say that the piskies used to hold a fair in the fields near ,breage1 and that people saw them there dancing4 ,i also remember her saying that it was customary to set out food for the piskies at night4 ,my grandmother's great belief was in piskies and in spirits2 and she considered piskies spirits4 ,she used to tell so many stories about spirits of the dead coming back and such things that ,i would be afraid to go to bed4' ,,evidence ,,from ,,constantine ,our witnesses from the ancient and picturesque village of ,constantine are ,john ,wilmet1 seventy-eight years old1 and his good wife1 two most excellent and well-preserved types of the passing generation of true ,cornish stock4 ,john began by telling me the following tale about an alle couverte--a tale which in one version or another is apt to be told of most ,cornish megaliths3-- ,a ,pisky-,house4--',william ,murphy1 who married my sister1 once went to the pisky-house at ,bosahan with a surveyor1 and the two of them heard such unearthly noises in it that they came running home in great excitement1 saying they had heard the piskies4' ,the ,pisky ,thrasher4--',on a farm near here1 a pisky used to come at night to thrash the farmer's corn4 ,the farmer in payment once put down a new suit for him4 ,when the pisky came and saw it1 he put it on1 and said3-- ,pisky fine and pisky gay1 ,pisky now will fly away4 ,and they say he never returned4' ,nature of ,piskies4--',i always understood the piskies to be little people4 ,a great deal was said about ghosts in this place4 ,whether or not piskies are the same as ghosts ,i cannot tell1 but ,i fancy the old folks thought they were4' ,exorcism4--',a farmer who lived two miles from here1 near the ,gweek ,river1 called ,parson ,jago to his house to have him quiet the ghosts or spirits regularly haunting it1 for ,parson ,jago could always put such things to rest4 ,the clergyman went to the farmer's house1 and with his whip formed a circle on the floor and then commanded the spirit1 which made its appearance on the table1 to come down into the circle4 ,while on the table the spirit had been visible to all the family1 but as soon as it got into the ring it disappeared2 and the house was never haunted afterwards4' ,,at ,,st4 ,,michael',s ,,mount1 ,,marazion ,our next place for an investigation of the surviving ,cornish ,fairy-,faith is ,marazion1 the very ancient ,british town opposite the isle called ,st4 ,michael's ,mount4 7,from ,constantine ,i walked through the country to this point1 talking with as many old people as possible1 but none of them knew very much about ancient ,cornish beliefs47 ,it is believed1 though the matter is very doubtful1 that ,marazion was the chief mart for the tin trade of ,celtic ,britain1 and that the ,mount--sacred to the ,sun and to the ,pagan ,mysteries long before ,caesar crossed the ,channel from ,gaul--sheltered the brilliantly-coloured sailing-ships of the ,phoenicians4#fd ,in such a romantic town1 where ,oriental merchants and ,celtic pilgrims probably once mingled together1 one might expect some survival of olden beliefs and customs4 ,piskies4--,to ,mr4 ,thomas ,g4 ,jago1 of ,marazion1 with a memory extending backwards more than seventy years1 he being eighty years old1 ,i am indebted for this statement about the pisky creed in that locality3--',i imagine that one hundred and fifty years ago the belief in piskies and spirits was general4 ,in my boyhood days1 piskies were often called the mites 7little people73 they were regarded as little spirits4 ,the word piskies is the old ,cornish brogue for pixies4 ,in certain grass fields1 mushrooms growing in a circle might be seen of a morning1 and the old folks pointing to the mushrooms would say to the children1 ,oh1 the piskies have been dancing there last night4' ,two more of the oldest natives of ,marazion1 among others with whom ,i talked1 are ,william ,rowe1 eighty-two years old1 and his married sister seventy-eight years old4 ,about the piskies ,mr4 ,rowe said this3--',people would go out at night and lose their way and then declare that they had been pisky-led4 ,i think they meant by this that they fell under some spiritual influence--that some spirit led them astray4 ,the piskies were said to be small1 and they were thought of as spirits4'#fe ,mr4 ,rowe's sister added3--',if we as children did anything wrong1 the old folks would say to us1 ,the piskies will carry you away if you do that again4' ,witch-,doctors4--,i heard the following witch-story from a lawyer1 a native of the district1 who lives in the country just beyond ,marazion3--',jimmy ,thomas1 of ,wendron parish1 who died within the last twenty-five years1 was the last witch-doctor ,i know about in ,west ,cornwall4 ,he was supposed to have great power over evil spirits4 ,his immediate predecessor was a woman1 called the ,witch of ,wendron1 and she did a big business4 ,my father once visited her in company with a friend whose father had lost some horses4 ,this was about seventy to eighty years ago4 ,the witch when consulted on this occasion turned her back to my father's companion1 and began talking to herself in ,cornish4 ,then she gave him some herbs4 ,his father used the herbs1 and no more horses died3 the herbs were supposed to have driven all evil spirits out of the stable4' ,,in ,,penzance3 ,,an ,,architect',s ,,testimony ,penzance from earliest times has undoubtedly been1 as it is now1 the capital of the ,land's ,end district1 the ,sacred ,land of ,britain4 ,and in ,penzance ,i had the good fortune to meet those among its leading citizens who still cherish and keep alive the poetry and the mystic lore of ,old ,cornwall2 and to no one of them am ,i more indebted than to ,mr4 ,henry ,maddern1 ,f4,i4,a4,s4 ,mr4 ,maddern tells me that he was initiated into the mysteries of the ,cornish folk-lore of this region when a boy in ,newlyn1 where he was born1 by his old nurse ,betty ,grancan1 a native ,zennor woman1 of stock probably the most primitive and pure in the ,british ,islands4 ,at his home in ,penzance1 ,mr4 ,maddern dictated to me the very valuable evidence which follows3-- ,two ,kinds of ,pixies4--',in this region there are two kinds of pixies1 one purely a land-dwelling pixy and the other a pixy which dwells on the sea-strand between high and low water mark4#ff ,the land-dwelling pixy was usually thought to be full of mischievous fun1 but it did no harm4 ,there was a very prevalent belief1 when ,i was a boy1 that this sea-strand pixy1 called ,bucca1#fg had to be propitiated by a cast 7three7 of fish1 to ensure the fishermen having a good shot 7catch7 of fish4 ,the land pixy was supposed to be able to render its devotees invisible1 if they only anointed their eyes with a certain green salve made of secret herbs gathered from ,kerris-moor4#fh ,in the invisible condition thus induced1 people were able to join the pixy revels1 during which1 according to the old tradition1 time slipped away very1 very rapidly1 though people returned from the pixies no older than when they went with them4' ,the ,nurse and the ,ointment4--',i used to hear about a ,zennor girl who came to ,newlyn as nurse to the child of a gentleman living at ,zimmerman-,cot4 ,the gentleman warned her never to touch a box of ointment which he guarded in a special room1 nor even to enter that room2 but one day in his absence she entered the room and took some of the ointment4 ,suspecting the qualities of the ointment1 she put it on her eyes with the wish that she might see where her master was4 ,she immediately found herself in the higher part of the orchard amongst the pixies1 where they were having much junketing 7festivity and dancing72 and there saw the gentleman whose child she had nursed4 ,for a time she managed to evade him1 but before the junketing was at an end he discovered her and requested her to go home2 and then1 to her intense astonishment1 she learned that she had been away twenty years1 though she was unchanged4 ,the gentleman scolded her for having touched the ointment1 paid her wages in full1 and sent her back to her people4 ,she always had the one regret1 that she had not gone into the forbidden room at first4' ,the ,tolcarne ,troll4--',the fairy of the ,newlyn ,tolcarne#fi was in some ways like the ,puck of the ,english ,midlands4 ,but this fairy1 or troll1 was supposed to date back to the time of the ,phoenicians4 ,he was described as a little old pleasant-faced man dressed in a tight-fitting leathern jerkin1 with a hood on his head1 who lived invisible in the rock4 ,whenever he chose to do so he could make himself visible4 ,when ,i was a boy it was said that he spent his time voyaging from here to ,tyre on the galleys which carried the tin2 and1 also1 that he assisted in the building of ,solomon's ,temple4 ,sometimes he was called the ,wandering ,one1 or ,odin the ,wanderer4 ,my old nurse1 ,betty ,grancan1 used to say that you could call up the troll at the ,tolcarne if while there you held in your hand three dried leaves1 one of the ash1 one of the oak1 and one of the thorn1 and pronounced an incantation or charm4 ,betty would never tell me the words of the charm1 because she said ,i was too much of a sceptic4 ,the words of such a ,cornish charm had to pass from one believer to another1 through a woman to a man1 and from a man to a woman1 and thus alternately4'#gj ,nature of ,pixies4--',pixies were often supposed to be the souls of the prehistoric dwellers of this country4 ,as such1 pixies were supposed to be getting smaller and smaller1 until finally they are to vanish entirely4 ,the country pixies inhabiting the highlands from above ,newlyn on to ,st4 ,just were considered a wicked sort4 ,their great ambition was to change their own offspring for human children2 and the true child could only be got back by laying a four-leaf clover on the changeling4 ,a winickey child--one which was weak1 frail1 and peevish--was of the nature of a changeling4 ,miner pixies1 called knockers1 would accept a portion of a miner's croust 7lunch7 on good faith1 and by knocking lead him to a rich mother-lode1 or warn him by knocking if there was danger ahead or a cavern full of water2 but if the miner begrudged them the croust1 he would be left to his own resources to find the lode1 and1 moreover1 the knockers would do all they could to lead him away from a good lode4 ,these mine pixies1 too1 were supposed to be spirits1 sometimes spirits of the miners of ancient times4'#ga ,fairies and ,pixies4--',in general appearance the fairies were much the same as pixies4 ,they were small men and women1 much smaller than dwarfs4 ,the men were swarthy in complexion1 and the women had a clear complexion of a peach-like bloom4 ,none ever appeared to be more than five-and-twenty to thirty years old4 ,i have heard my nurse say that she could see scores of them whenever she picked a four-leaf clover and put it in the wisp of straw which she carried on her head as a cushion for the bucket of milk4 ,her theory was that the richness of the milk was what attracted them4 ,pixies1 like fairies1 very much enjoyed milk1 and people of miserly nature used to put salt around a cow to keep the pixies away2 and then the pixies would lead such mean people astray the very first opportunity that came4 ,according to some country-people1 the pixies have been seen in the day-time1 but usually they are only seen at night4' ,a ,,cornish ,,editor',s ,,opinion ,mr4 ,herbert ,thomas1 editor of four ,cornish papers1 ,the ,cornishman1 ,the ,cornish ,telegraph1 ,post1 and ,evening ,times1 and a true ,celt himself1 has been deeply interested in the folk-lore of ,cornwall1 and has made excellent use of it in his poetry and other literary productions2 so that his personal opinions1 which follow1 as to the probable origin of the fairy-belief1 are for our study a very important contribution3-- ,animistic ,origin of ,belief in ,pixies4--',i should say that the modern belief in pixies1 or in fairies1 arose from a very ancient ,celtic or pre-,celtic belief in spirits4 ,just as among some savage tribes there is belief in gods and totems1 here there was belief in little spirits good and bad1 who were able to help or to hinder man4 ,belief in the supernatural1 in my opinion1 is the root of it all4' ,a ,,cornish ,,folk-,,lorist',s ,,testimony ,in ,penzance ,i had the privilege of also meeting ,miss ,m4 ,a4 ,courtney1 the well-known folk-lorist1 who quite agrees with me in believing that there is in ,cornwall a widespread ,legend of the ,dead2 and she cited a few special instances in illustration1 as follows3-- ,cornish ,legend of the ,dead4--',here amongst the fishermen and sailors there is a belief that the dead in the sea will be heard calling if a drowning is about to occur4 ,i know of a woman who went to a clergyman to have him exorcize her of the spirit of her dead sister1 which she said appeared in the form of a bee4 ,and ,i have heard of miners believing that white moths are spirits4'#gb ,,evidence ,,from ,,newlyn ,in ,newlyn1 ,mrs4 ,jane ,tregurtha gave the following important testimony3-- ,the ',little ,folk'4--',the old people thoroughly believed in the little folk1 and that they gambolled all over the moors on moonlight nights4 ,some pixies would rain down blessings and others curses2 and to remove the curses people would go to the wells blessed by the saints4 ,whenever anything went wrong in the kitchen at night the pixies were blamed4 ,after the #cast of ,october or after ,halloween the blackberries are not fit to eat1 for the pixies have then been over them' 7cf4 the parallel ,irish belief1 p4 #ch74 ,fairy ,guardian of the ,men-an-,tol4#gc--';,at the ,men-an-,tol there is supposed to be a guardian fairy or pixy who can make miraculous cures4 ,and my mother knew of an actual case in which a changeling was put through the stone in order to get the real child back4 ,it seems that evil pixies changed children1 and that the pixy at the ,men-an-,tol being good1 could1 in opposition1 undo their work4' ,exorcism4--',a spirit was put to rest on the ,green here in ,newlyn4 ,the parson prayed and fasted1 and then commanded the spirit to teeme 7dip dry7 the sea with a limpet shell containing no bottom2 and the spirit is supposed to be still busy at this task4' ,piskies as ,apparitions4--,when ,i talked with her in her neat cottage at ,newlyn1 ,miss ,mary ,ann ,chirgwin 7who was born on ,st4 ,michael's ,mount in #ahbe7 told me this3--',the old people used to say the piskies were apparitions of the dead come back in the form of little people1 but ,i can't remember anything more than this about them4' ,,an ,,artist',s ,,testimony ,one of the members of the ,newlyn ,art ,school was able to offer a few of his own impressions concerning the pixies of ,devonshire1 where he has frequently made sketches of pixies from descriptions given to him by peasants3-- ,devonshire ,pixies4--',throughout all the west of ,devonshire1 anywhere near the moorlands1 the country people are much given to belief in pixies and ghosts4 ,i think they expect to see them about the twilight hour2 though ,i have not found anybody who has actually seen a pixy--the belief now is largely based on hearsay4' ,,testimony ,,from ,,the ,,historian ,,of ,,mousehole ,to ,mr4 ,richard ,harry1 the historian of ,mousehole1 ,i am indebted for these remarks about the nature and present state of the belief in pixies as he observes it in that region3-- ,the ,pixy ,belief4--',the piskies1 thought of as little people who appear on moonlight nights1 are still somewhat believed in here4 ,if interfered with too much they are said to exhibit almost fiendish powers4 ,in a certain sense they are considered spiritual1 but in another sense they are much materialized in the conceptions of the people4 ,generally speaking1 the belief in them has almost died out within the last fifty years4' ,a ,,seaman',s ,,testimony ',uncle ,billy ,pender1' as our present witness is familiarly called1 is one of the oldest natives of ,mousehole1 being eighty-five years old2 and most of his life has been passed on the ocean1 as a fisherman1 seaman1 and pilot4 ,after having told me the usual things about piskies1 fairies1 spirits1 ghosts1 and the devil1 ,uncle ,billy ,pender was very soon talking about the dead3-- ,cornish ,legend of the ,dead4--',i was up in bed1 and ,i suppose asleep1 and ,i dreamt that the boy ,james came to my bedside and woke me up by saying1 ,how many lights does ,death put up8 ,and in the dream there appeared such light as ,i never saw in my life2 and when ,i woke up another light like it was in the room4 ,within three months afterwards we buried two grand-daughters out of this house4 ,this was four years ago4' ,when this strange tale was finished1 ,uncle ,billy ,pender's daughter1 who had been listening1 added3--',for three mornings1 one after another1 there was a robin at our cellar door before the deaths1 and my husband said he didn't like that4' ,then ,uncle ,billy told this weird ,breton-like tale3--',granny told about a boat named ,blcher1 going from ,newlyn to ,bristol with six thousand mackerel1 which put in at ,arbor ,cove1 close to ,padstow1 on account of bad weather4 ,the boat dragged her anchors and was lost4 ,granny afterwards declared that he saw the crew going up over the ,newlyn ,slip2 and the whole of ,newlyn and ,mousehole believed him4' ,,testimony ,,by ,,two ,,land',s ,,end ,,farmers ,in the ,sennen country1 within a mile of the end of ,britain1 ,i talked with two farmers who knew something about piskies4 ,the first one1 ,charles ,hutchen1 of ,trevescan1 told me this legend3-- ,a ,st4 ,just ,pisky4--',near ,st4 ,just1 on ,christmas ,day1 a pisky carried away in his cloak a boy1 but the boy got home4 ,then the pisky took him a second time1 and again the boy got home4 ,each time the boy was away for only an hour' 7probably in a dream or trance state74 ,seeing the ,pisky-,dance4--,frank ,ellis1 seventy-eight years old1 of the same village of ,trevescan1 then gave the following evidence3--',up on ,sea-,view ,green there are two rings where the piskies used to dance and play music on a moonlight night4 ,i've heard that they would come there from the moors4 ,little people they are called4 ,if you keep quiet when they are dancing you'll see them1 but if you make any noise they'll disappear4' ,frank ,ellis's wife1 who is a very aged woman1 was in the house listening to the conversation1 and added at this point3--',my grandmother1 ,nancy ,maddern1 was down on ,sea-,view ,green by moonlight and saw the piskies dancing1 and passed near them4 ,she said they were like little children1 and had red cloaks4' ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,sennen ,,cove ,,fisherman ,john ,gilbert ,guy1 seventy-eight years old1 a retired fisherman of ,sennen ,cove1 offers very valuable testimony1 as follows3-- ',small ,people'4--',many say they have seen the small people here by the hundreds4 ,in ,ireland they call the small people the fairies4 ,my mother believes there were such things1 and so did the old folks in these parts4 ,my grandmother used to put down a good furze fire for them on stormy nights1 because1 as she said1 ,they are a sort of people wandering about the world with no home or habitation1 and ought to be given a little comfort4 ,the most fear of them was that they might come at night and change a baby for one that was no good4 ,my mother said that ,joan ,nicholas believed the fairies had changed her baby1 because it was very small and cross-tempered4 ,up on the hill you'll see a round ring with grass greener than anywhere else1 and that is where the small people used to dance4' ,danger of ,seeing the ',little ,people'4--',i heard that a woman set out water to wash her baby in1 and that before she had used the water the small people came and washed their babies in it4 ,she didn't know about this1 and so in washing her baby got some of the water in her eyes1 and then all at once she could see crowds of little people about her4 ,one of them came to her and asked if she was able to see their crowd1 and when she said ,yes1 the little people wanted to take her eyes out1 and she had to clear away from them as fast as she could4' ,,testimony ,,from ,a ,,cornish ,,miner ,william ,shepherd1 a retired miner of ,pendeen1 near ,st4 ,just1 where he has passed all his life1 offers us from his own experiences under the earth the evidence which follows3-- ,mine ,piskies4--',there are mine-piskies which are not the knockers4 ,i've heard old men in the mines say that they have seen them1 and they call them the small people4 ,it appears that they don't like company1 for they are always seen singly4 ,the knockers are spirits1 too1 as one might say4 ,they are said to bring bad luck1 while the small people may bring good luck4' ,,testimony ,,from ,,king ,,arthur',s ,,country ,leaving the ,land's ,end district and ,south ,cornwall1 we now pass northward to ,king ,arthur's country4 ,our chief researches there are to be made outside the beaten track of tourists as far as possible1 in the country between ,camelford and ,tintagel4 ,at ,delabole1 the centre of this district1 we find our first witness1 ,henry ,spragg1 a retired slate-quarryman1 seventy years old4 ,mr4 ,spragg has had excellent opportunities of hearing any folk-lore that might have been living during his lifetime2 and what he offers first is about ,king ,arthur3-- ,king ,arthur4--',we always thought of ,king ,arthur as a great warrior4 ,and many a time ,i've heard old people say that he used to appear in this country in the form of a nath4'#gd ,this was all that could be told of ,king ,arthur2 and the conversation finally was directed toward piskies1 with the following results3-- ,piskies4--',a man named ,bottrell1 who lived near ,st4 ,teath1 was pisky-led at ,west ,down1 and when he turned his pockets inside out he heard the piskies going away laughing4#ge ,often my grandmother used to say when ,i got home after dark1 ,you had better mind1 or the piskies will carry you away4 ,and ,i can remember hearing the old people say that the piskies are the spirits of dead-born children4' ,from pixies the conversation drifted to the spirit-hounds 'often heard at night near certain haunted downs in ,st4 ,teath parish'1 and then1 finally1 to ordinary ,cornish legends about the dead4 ,our next witnesses from ,delabole are ,john ,male1 eighty-two years old1 one of the very oldest men in ,king ,arthur's country1 and his wife2 and all of ,mr4 ,male's ancestors as far back as he can trace them have lived in the same parish4 ,piskies in ,general4--,mr4 ,male remarked3--',i have heard a good deal about the piskies1 but ,i can't remember any of the old women's tales4 ,i have heard1 too1 of people saying that they had seen the piskies4 ,it was thought that when the piskies have misled you they show themselves jumping about in front of you2 they are a race of little people who live out in the fields4' ,mrs4 ,male had now joined us at the open fire1 and added3--',piskies always come at night1 and in marshy ground there are round places called pisky beds where they play4 ,when ,i was little1 my mother and grandmother would be sitting round the fire of an evening telling fireside stories1 and ,i can remember hearing about a pisky of this part who stole a new coat1 and how the family heard him talking to himself about it1 and then finally say3-- ,pisky fine and pisky gay1 ,pisky's got a bright new coat1 ,pisky now will run away4 ,and ,i can just remember one bit of another story3 ,a pisky looked into a house and said3-- ,all alone1 fair maid8 ,no1 here am ,i with a dog and cat1 ,and apples to eat and nuts to crack4' ,tintagel ,folk-,beliefs4--,a retired rural policeman of the ,tintagel country1 where he was born and reared1 and now keeper of the ,passmore ,edwards ,art ,gallery at ,newlyn1 offered this testimony from ,tintagel3--',in ,tintagel ,i used to sit round the fire at night and hear old women tell so much about piskies and ghosts that ,i was then afraid to go out of doors after darkness had fallen4 ,they religiously believed in such things1 and when ,i expressed my doubts ,i was driven away as a rude boy4 ,they thought if you went to a certain place at a certain hour of the night that you could there see the piskies as little spirits4 ,it was held that the piskies could lead you astray and play tricks on you1 but that they never did you any serious injury4' ,of the ,arthurian folk-legend at ,tintagel he said3--',the spirit of ,king ,arthur is supposed to be in the ,cornish chough--a beautiful black bird with red legs and red beak4' ,we now leave ,great ,britain and cross the ,english ,channel to ,little ,britain1 the third of the ,brythonic countries4 ,,vii4 ,,in ,,brittany ,introduction by ,,anatole ,,le ,,braz1 ,professor of ,french ,literature1 ,university of ,rennes1 ,brittany2 author of ,la ,lgende de la ,mort1 ,au ,pays des ,pardons1 c4 ,,mon ,,cher ,,monsieur ,,wentz1 ,il me souvient que1 lors de votre soutenance de thse devant la ,facult des ,lettres de l',universit de ,rennes1 un de mes collgues1 mon ami1 le professeur ,dottin1 vous demanda3 ',vous croyez1 dites-vous1 l'existence des fes8 ,en avez-vous vu8' ,vous rpondtes1 avec autant de phlegme que de sincrit3 ',non4 ,j'ai tout fait pour en voir1 et je n'en ai jamais vu4 ,mais il y a beaucoup de choses que vous n'avez pas vues1 monsieur le professeur1 et dont vous ne songeriez cependant pas nier l'existence4 ,ainsi fais-je l'gard des fes4' ,je suis comme vous1 mon cher monsieur ,wentz3 je n'ai jamais vu de fes4 ,j'ai bien une amie trs chre que nous avons baptise de ce nom1 mais1 malgr tous ses beaux dons magiques1 elle n'est qu'une humble mortelle4 ,en revanche1 j'ai vcu1 tout enfant1 parmi des personnes qui avaient avec les fes vritables un commerce quasi journalier4 ,c'tait dans une petite bourgade de ,basse-,bretagne1 peuple de paysans moiti marins1 et de marins moiti paysans4 ,il y avait1 non loin du village1 une ancienne gentilhommire que ses propritaires avaient depuis longtemps abandonne pour on ne savait au juste quel motif4 ,on continuait de l'appeler le 'chteau' de ,lanascol1 quoiqu'elle ne ft plus gure qu'une ruine4 ,il est vrai que les avenues par lesquelles on y accdait avaient conserv leur aspect seigneurial1 avec leurs quadruples ranges de vieux htres dont les vastes frondaisons se miraient dans de magnifiques tangs4 ,les gens d'alentour se risquaient peu1 le soir1 dans ces avenues4 ,elles passaient pour tre1 partir du coucher du soleil1 le lieu de promenade favori d'une 'dame' que l'on dsignait sous le nom de ,groac'h ,lanascol1--la ',fe de ,lanascol'4 ,beaucoup disaient l'avoir rencontre1 et la dpeignaient sous les couleurs1 du reste1 les plus diverses4 ,ceux-ci faisaient d'elle une vieille femme1 marchant toute courbe1 les deux mains appuyes sur un tronon de bquille avec lequel1 de temps en temps1 elle remuait1 l'automne1 les feuilles mortes4 ,les feuilles mortes qu'elle retournait ainsi devenaient soudain brillantes comme de l'or et s'entrechoquaient avec un bruit clair de mtal4 ,selon d'autres1 c'tait une jeune princesse1 merveilleusement pare1 sur les pas de qui s'empressaient d'tranges petits hommes noirs et silencieux4 ,elle s'avanait d'une majestueuse allure de reine4 ,parfois elle s'arrtait devant un arbre1 et l'arbre aussitt s'inclinait comme pour recevoir ses ordres4 ,ou bien1 elle jetait un regard sur l'eau d'un tang1 et l'tang frissonnait jusqu'en ses profondeurs1 comme agit d'un mouvement de crainte sous la puissance de son regard4 ,on racontait sur elle cette curieuse histoire3-- ,les propritaires de ,lanascol ayant voulu se dfaire d'un domaine qu'ils n'habitaient plus1 le manoir et les terres qui en dpendaient furent mis en adjudication chez un notaire de ,plouaret4 ,au jour fix pour les enchres nombre d'acheteurs accoururent4 ,les prix taient dj monts trs haut1 et le domaine allait tre adjug1 quand1 un dernier appel du crieur1 une voix fminine1 trs douce et trs imprieuse tout ensemble1 s'leva et dit3 ',mille francs de plus6' ,il y eut grande rumeur dans la salle4 ,tout le monde chercha des yeux la personne qui avait lanc cette surenchre1 et qui ne pouvait tre qu'une femme4 ,mais il ne se trouva pas une seule femme dans l'assistance4 ,le notaire demanda3 ',qui a parl8' ,de nouveau1 la mme voix se fit entendre4 ',groac'h ,lanascol6' rpondit-elle4 ,ce fut une dbandade gnrale4 ,depuis lors1 il ne s'tait jamais prsent d'acqureur1 et voil pourquoi1 rptait-on couramment1 ,lanascol tait toujours vendre4 ,si je vous ai entretenu plaisir de la ,fe de ,lanascol1 mon cher monsieur ,wentz1 c'est qu'elle est la premire qui ait fait impression sur moi1 dans mon enfance4 ,combien d'autres n'en ai-je pas connu1 par la suite1 travers les rcits de mes compatriotes des grves1 des champs ou des bois6 ,la ,bretagne est reste un royaume de ferie4 ,on n'y peut voyager l'espace d'une lieue sans ctoyer la demeure de quelque fe mle ou femelle4 ,ces jours derniers1 comme j'accomplissais un plerinage d'automne l'hallucinante fort de ,paimpont1 toute hante encore des grands souvenirs de la lgende celtique1 je croisai1 sous les opulents ombrages du ,pas-du-,houx1 une ramasseuse de bois mort1 avec qui je ne manquai pas1 vous pensez bien1 de lier conversation4 ,un des premiers noms que je prononai fut naturellement celui de ,viviane4 ',viviane6' se rcria la vieille pauvresse4 ',ah6 bnie soit-elle1 la bonne ,dame6 car elle est aussi bonne que belle4444 ,sans sa protection1 mon homme1 qui travaille dans les coupes1 serait tomb1 comme un loup1 sous les fusils des gardes4444' ,et elle se mit me conter comme quoi son mari1 un tantinet braconnier comme tous les bcherons de ces parages1 s'tant port1 une nuit1 l'afft du chevreuil1 dans les environs de la ,butte-aux-,plaintes1 avait t surpris en flagrant dlit par une tourne de gardes4 ,il voulut fuir3 les gardes tirrent4 ,une balle l'atteignit la cuisse3 il tomba1 et il s'apprtait se faire tuer sur place1 plutt que de se rendre1 lorsque1 entre ses agresseurs et lui1 s'interposa subitement une espce de brouillard trs dense qui voila tout1--le sol1 les arbres1 les gardes et le bless lui-mme4 ,et il entendit une voix sortie du brouillard1 une voix lgre comme un bruit de feuilles1 murmurer son oreille3 ',sauve-toi1 mon fils3 l'esprit de ,viviane veillera sur toi jusqu' ce que tu aies ramp hors de la fort4' ',telles furent les propres paroles de la fe1' conclut la ramasseuse de bois mort4 ,et1 dvotement1 elle se signa1 car la religieuse ,bretagne--vous le savez--vnre les fes l'gal des saintes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,j'ignore s'il faut rattacher les lutins au monde des fes1 mais1 ce qui est sr1 c'est que cette charmante et malicieuse engeance a toujours pullul dans notre pays4 ,je me suis laiss dire qu'autrefois chaque maison avait le sien4 ,c'tait quelque chose comme le petit dieu pnate4 ,tantt visible1 tantt invisible1 il prsidait tous les actes de la vie domestique4 ,mieux encore3 il y participait1 et de la faon la plus efficace4 ,a l'intrieur du logis1 il aidait les servantes1 soufflait le feu dans l'tre1 surveillait la cuisson de la nourriture pour les hommes ou pour les btes1 apaisait les cris de l'enfant couch dans le bas de l'armoire1 empchait les vers de se mettre dans les pices de lard suspendues aux solives4 ,il avait pareillement dans son lot le gouvernement des tables et des curies3 grce lui1 les vaches donnaient un lait abondant en beurre1 et les chevaux avaient la croupe ronde1 le poil luisant4 ,il tait1 en un mot1 le bon gnie de la famille1 mais c'tait la condition que chacun et pour lui les gards auxquels il avait droit4 ,si peu qu'on lui manqut1 sa bont se changeait en malice et il n'tait point de mauvais tours dont il ne ft capable envers les gens qui l'avaient offens1 comme de renverser le contenu des marmites sur le foyer1 d'embrouiller la laine autour des quenouilles1 de rendre infumable le tabac des pipes1 d'emmler inextricablement les crins des chevaux1 de desscher le pis des vaches ou de faire peler le dos des brebis4 ,aussi s'efforait-on de ne le point mcontenter4 ,on respectait soigneusement toutes ses habitudes1 toutes ses manies4 ,c'est ainsi que1 chez mes parents1 notre vieille bonne ,filie n'enlevait jamais le trpied du feu sans avoir la prcaution de l'asperger d'eau pour le refroidir1 avant de le ranger au coin de l'tre4 ,si vous lui demandiez pourquoi ce rite1 elle vous rpondait3 ',pour que le lutin ne s'y brle pas1 si1 tout l'heure1 il s'asseyait dessus4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,il appartient encore1 je suppose1 la catgorie des hommes-fes1 ce ,bugul-,noz1 ce mystrieux ',berger de la nuit' dont les ,bretons des campagnes voient se dresser1 au crpuscule1 la haute et troublante silhouette1 si1 d'aventure1 il leur arrive de rentrer tard du labour4 ,on n'a jamais pu me renseigner exactement sur le genre de troupeau qu'il faisait patre1 ni sur ce que prsageait sa rencontre4 ,le plus souvent1 on la redoute4 ,mais1 comme l'observait avec raison une de mes conteuses1 ,lise ,bellec1 s'il est prfrable d'viter le ,bugul-,noz1 il ne s'ensuit pas1 pour cela1 que ce soit un mchant ,esprit4 ,d'aprs elle1 il remplirait plutt une fonction salutaire1 en signifiant aux humains1 par sa venue1 que la nuit n'est pas faite pour s'attarder aux champs ou sur les chemins1 mais pour s'enfermer derrire les portes closes et pour dormir4 ,ce berger des ombres serait donc1 somme toute1 une manire de bon pasteur4 ,c'est pour assurer notre repos et notre scurit1 c'est pour nous soustraire aux excs du travail et aux embches de la nuit qu'il nous force1 brebis imprudentes1 regagner promptement le bercail4 ,sans doute est-ce un rle tutlaire peu prs semblable qui1 dans la croyance populaire1 est dvolu un autre homme-fe1 plus spcialement affect au rivage de la mer1 comme l'indique son nom de ,yann-,an-d4 ,il n'y a pas1 sur tout le littoral maritime de la ,bretagne ou1 comme on dit1 dans tout l'armor1 une seule rgion ou l'existence de ce ',jean des ,grves' ne soit tenue pour un fait certain1 dment constat1 indniable4 ,on lui prte des formes variables et des aspects diffrents4 ,c'est tantt un gant1 tantt un nain4 ,il porte tantt un 'suroit' de toile huile1 tantt un large chapeau de feutre noir4 ,parfois1 il s'appuie sur une rame et fait penser au personnage nigmatique1 arm du mme attribut1 qu',ulysse doit suivre1 dans l',odysse4 ,mais1 toujours1 c'est un hros marin dont la mission est de parcourir les plages1 en poussant par intervalles de longs cris stridents1 propres effrayer les pcheurs qui se seraient laiss surprendre dehors par les tnbres de la nuit4 ,il ne fait de mal qu' ceux qui rcalcitrent2 encore ne les frappe-t-il que dans leur intrt1 pour les contraindre se mettre l'abri4 ,il est1 avant tout1 un 'avertisseur'4 ,ses cris ne rappellent pas seulement au logis les gens attards sur les grves2 ils signalent aussi le dangereux voisinage de la cte aux marins qui sont en mer et1 par l1 supplent l'insuffisance du mugissement des sirnes ou de la lumire des phares4 ,remarquons1 ce propos1 qu'on relve un trait analogue dans la lgende des vieux saints armoricains1 pour la plupart migrs d',irlande4 ,un de leurs exercices coutumiers consistait dambuler de nuit le long des ctes o ils avaient tabli leurs oratoires1 en agitant des clochettes de fer battu dont les tintements taient destins1 comme les cris de ,yann-,an-d1 prvenir les navigateurs que la terre tait proche4 ,je suis persuad que le culte des saints1 qui est la premire et la plus fervente des dvotions bretonnes1 conserve bien des traits d'une religion plus ancienne o la croyance aux fes jouait le principal rle4 ,et il en va de mme1 j'en suis convaincu1 pour ces mythes funraires que j'ai recueillis sous le titre de ,la ,lgende de la ,mort chez les ,bretons armoricains4 ,a vrai dire1 dans la conception bretonne1 les morts ne sont pas morts2 ils vivent d'une vie mystrieuse en marge de la vie relle1 mais leur monde reste1 en dfinitive1 tout ml au ntre et1 sitt que la nuit tombe1 sitt que les vivants proprement dits s'abandonnent la mort momentane du sommeil1 les soi-disant morts redeviennent les habitants de la terre qu'ils n'ont jamais quitte4 ,ils reprennent leur place leur foyer d'autrefois1 ils vaquent leurs anciens travaux1 ils s'intressent au logis1 aux champs1 la barque2 ils se comportent1 en un mot1 comme ce peuple des hommes et des femmes-fes qui formait jadis une espce d'humanit plus fine et plus dlicate au milieu de la vritable humanit4 99 99 99 99 99 ,j'aurais encore1 mon cher monsieur ,wentz1 bien d'autres types voquer1 dans cet intermonde de la ferie bretonne qui1 chez mes compatriotes1 ne se confond ni avec ce monde-ci1 ni avec l'autre1 mais participe la fois de tous les deux1 par un singulier mlange de naturel et de surnaturel4 ,je n'ai voulu1 en ces lignes rapides1 que montrer la richesse de la matire laquelle vous avez1 avec tant de conscience et de ferveur1 appliqu votre effort4 ,et maintenant1 que les fes vous soient douces1 mon cher ami6 ,elles ne seront que justes en favorisant de toute leur tendresse le jeune et brillant crivain qui vient de restaurer leur culte en rnovant leur gloire4 ,,rennes1 ce #a;er novembre #aiaj4 ,my dear ,mr4 ,wentz1 ,i recollect that1 at the time of your examination on your thesis before the ,faculty of ,letters of the ,university of ,rennes1 one of my colleagues1 my friend ,professor ,dottin1 put to you this question3-- ',you believe1 you assert1 in the existence of fairies8 ,have you seen any8' ,you answered1 with equal coolness and candour3 ',no4 ,i have made every effort to do so1 and ,i have never seen any4 ,but there are many things which you1 sir1 have not seen1 and of which1 nevertheless1 you would not think of denying the existence4 ,that is my attitude toward fairies4' ,i am like you1 my dear ,mr4 ,wentz3 ,i have never seen fairies4 ,it is true that ,i have a very dear lady friend whom we have christened by that name fairy1 but1 in spite of all her fair supernatural gifts1 she is only a humble mortal4 ,on the other hand1 ,i lived1 when a mere child1 among people who had almost daily intercourse with real fairies4 ,that was in a little township in ,lower ,brittany1 inhabited by peasants who were half sailors1 and by sailors who were half peasants4 ,there was1 not far from the village1 an ancient manor-house long abandoned by its owners1 for what reason was not known exactly4 ,it continued to be called the ',chteau' of ,lanascol1 though it was hardly more than a ruin4 ,it is true that the avenues by which one approached it had retained their feudal aspect1 with their fourfold rows of ancient beeches whose huge masses of foliage were reflected in splendid pools4 ,the people of the neighbourhood seldom ventured into these avenues in the evening4 ,they were supposed to be1 from sunset onwards1 the favourite walking-ground of a 'lady' who went by the name of ,groac'h ,lanascol1 the ',fairy of ,lanascol'4 ,many claimed to have met her1 and described her in colours which were1 however1 the most varied4 ,some represented her as an old woman who walked all bent1 her two hands leaning on a stump of a crutch with which1 in autumn1 from time to time she stirred the dead leaves4 ,the dead leaves which she thus stirred became suddenly shining like gold1 and clinked against one another with the clear sound of metal4 ,according to others1 it was a young princess1 marvellously adorned1 after whom there hurried curious little black silent men4 ,she advanced with a majestic and queenly bearing4 ,sometimes she stopped in front of a tree1 and the tree at once bent down as if to receive her commands4 ,or again1 she would cast a look on the water of a pool1 and the pool trembled to its very depths1 as though stirred by an access of fear beneath the potency of her look4 ,the following strange story was told about her3-- ,the owners of ,lanascol having desired to get rid of an estate which they no longer occupied1 the manor and lands attached to it were put up to auction by a notary of ,plouaret4 ,on the day fixed for the bidding a number of purchasers presented themselves4 ,the price had already reached a large sum1 and the estate was on the point of being knocked down1 when1 on a last appeal from the auctioneer1 a female voice1 very gentle and at the same time very imperious1 was raised and said3 ',a thousand francs more6' ,a great commotion arose in the hall4 ,every one's eyes sought for the person who had made this advance1 and who could only be a woman4 ,but there was not a single woman among those present4 ,the notary asked3 ',who spoke8' ,again the same voice made itself heard4 ',the ,fairy of ,lanascol6' it replied4 ,a general break-up followed4 ,from that time forward no purchaser has ever appeared1 and1 as the current report ran1 that was the reason why ,lanascol continued to be for sale4 ,i have designedly quoted to you the story of the ,fairy of ,lanascol1 my dear ,mr4 ,wentz1 because she was the first to make an impression on me in my childhood4 ,how many others have ,i come to know later on in the course of narratives from those who lived with me on the sandy beaches1 in the fields or the woods6 ,brittany has always been a kingdom of ,faerie4 ,one cannot there travel even a league without brushing past the dwelling of some male or female fairy4 ,quite lately1 in the course of an autumn pilgrimage to the hallucinatory forest of ,paimpont 7or ,brocliande71 still haunted throughout by the great memories of ,celtic legend1 ,i encountered beneath the thick foliage of the ,pas-du-,houx1 a woman gathering faggots1 with whom ,i did not fail1 as you may well imagine1 to enter into conversation4 ,one of the first names ,i uttered was naturally that of ,vivian4 ',vivian6' cried out the poor old woman4 ',ah6 a blessing on her1 the good ,lady6 for she is as good as she is beautiful4444 ,without her protection my good man1 who works at woodcutting1 would have fallen1 like a wolf1 beneath the keepers' guns4444' ,and she began to narrate to me 'as how' her husband1 something of a poacher like all the woodcutters of these districts1 had one night gone to watch for a roebuck in the neighbourhood of the ,butte-aux-,plaintes1 and had been caught red-handed by a party of keepers4 ,he sought to fly3 the keepers fired4 ,a bullet hit him in the thigh3 he fell1 and was making ready to let himself be killed on the spot1 rather than surrender1 when there suddenly interposed between him and his assailants a kind of very thick mist which covered everything--the ground1 the trees1 the keepers1 and the wounded man himself4 ,and he heard a voice coming out of the mist1 a voice gentle like the rustling of leaves1 and murmuring in his ear3 ',save thyself1 my son3 the spirit of ,vivian will watch over thee till thou hast crawled out of the forest4' ',such were the actual words of the fairy1' concluded the faggot-gatherer4 ,and she crossed herself devoutly1 for pious ,brittany1 as you know1 reveres fairies as much as saints4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i do not know if lutins 7mischievous spirits7 should be included in the fairy world1 but what is certain is that this charming and roguish tribe has always abounded in our country4 ,i have been told that formerly every house had its own4 ,it 7the lutin7 was something like the little ,roman household god4 ,now visible1 now invisible1 it presided over all the acts of domestic life4 ,nay more2 it shared in them1 and in the most effective manner4 ,inside the house it helped the servants1 blew up the fire on the hearth1 supervised the cooking of the food for men or beasts1 quieted the crying of the babe lying in the bottom of the cupboard1 and prevented worms from settling in the pieces of bacon hanging from the beams4 ,similarly there fell within its sphere the management of the byres and stables3 thanks to it the cows gave milk abounding in butter1 and the horses had round croups and shining coats4 ,it was1 in a word1 the good genius of the house1 but conditionally on every one paying to it the respect to which it had the right4 ,if neglected1 ever so little1 its kindness changed into spite1 and there was no unkind trick of which it was not capable towards people who had offended it1 such as upsetting the contents of the pots on the hearth1 entangling wool round distaffs1 making tobacco unsmokeable1 mixing a horse's mane in inextricable confusion1 drying up the udders of cows1 or stripping the backs of sheep4 ,therefore care was taken not to annoy it4 ,careful attention was paid to all its habits and humours4 ,thus1 in my parents' house1 our old maid ,filie never lifted the trivet from the fire without taking the precaution of sprinkling it with water to cool it1 before putting it away at the corner of the hearth4 ,if you asked her the reason for this ceremony1 she would reply to you3 ',to prevent the lutin burning himself there1 if1 presently1 he sat on it4' 99 99 99 99 99 ,further1 ,i suppose there should be included in the class of male fairies that ,bugul-,noz1 that mysterious ,night ,shepherd1 whose tall and alarming outline the rural ,bretons see rising in the twilight1 if1 by chance1 they happen to return late from field-work4 ,i have never been able to obtain exact information about the kind of herd which he fed1 nor about what was foreboded by the meeting with him4 ,most often such a meeting is dreaded4 ,yet1 as one of my female informants1 ,lise ,bellec1 reasonably pointed out1 if it is preferable to avoid the ,bugul-,noz it does not from that follow that he is a harmful spirit4 ,according to her1 he would rather fulfil a beneficial office1 in warning human beings1 by his coming1 that night is not made for lingering in the fields or on the roads1 but for shutting oneself in behind closed doors and going to sleep4 ,this shepherd of the shades would then be1 take it altogether1 a kind of good shepherd4 ,it is to ensure our rest and safety1 to withdraw us from excesses of toil and the snares of night1 that he compels us1 thoughtless sheep1 to return quickly to the fold4 ,no doubt it is an almost similar protecting office which1 in popular belief1 has fallen to another male fairy1 more particularly attached to the seashore1 as his name1 ,yann-,an-d1 indicates4 ,there is not1 along all the coast of ,brittany or1 as it is called1 in all the ,armor1 a single district where the existence of this ',john of the ,dunes' is not looked on as a real fact1 fully proved and undeniable4 ,changing forms and different aspects are attributed to him4 ,sometimes he is a giant1 sometimes a dwarf4 ,sometimes he wears a seaman's hat of oiled cloth1 sometimes a broad black felt hat4 ,at times he leans on an oar and recalls the enigmatic personage1 possessed of the same attribute1 whom ,ulysses has to follow1 in the ,odyssey4 ,but he is always a marine hero whose office it is to traverse the shores1 uttering at intervals long piercing cries1 calculated to frighten away fishermen who may have allowed themselves to be surprised outside by the darkness of night4 ,he only hurts those who resist2 and even then would only strike them in their own interest1 to force them to seek shelter4 ,he is1 before all1 one who warns4 ,his cries not only call back home people out late on the sands2 they also inform sailors at sea of the dangerous proximity of the shore1 and1 thereby1 make up for the insufficiency of the hooting of sirens or of the light of lighthouses4 ,we may remark1 in this connexion1 that a parallel feature is observed in the legend of the old ,armorican saints1 who were mostly emigrants from ,ireland4 ,one of their usual exercises consisted in parading throughout the night the coasts where they had set up their oratories1 shaking little bells of wrought iron1 the ringing of which1 like the cries of ,yann-,an-d1 was intended to warn voyagers that land was near4 ,i am persuaded that the worship of saints1 which is the first and most fervent of ,breton religious observances1 preserves many of the features of a more ancient religion in which a belief in fairies held the chief place4 ,the same1 ,i feel sure1 applies to those death-myths which ,i have collected under the name of the ,legend of the ,dead among the ,armorican ,bretons4 ,in truth1 in the ,breton mind1 the dead are not dead2 they live a mysterious life on the edge of real life1 but their world remains fully mingled with ours1 and as soon as night falls1 as soon as the living1 properly so called1 give themselves up to the temporary sleep of death1 the so-called dead again become the inhabitants of the earth which they have never left4 ,they resume their place at their former hearth1 devote themselves to their old work1 take an interest in the home1 the fields1 the boat2 they behave1 in a word1 like the race of male and female fairies which once formed a more refined and delicate species of humanity in the midst of ordinary humanity4 99 99 99 99 99 ,i might1 my dear ,mr4 ,wentz1 evoke many other types from this intermediate world of ,breton ,faerie1 which1 in my countrymen's mind1 is not identical with this world nor with the other1 but shares at once in both1 through a curious mixture of the natural and supernatural4 ,i have only intended in these hasty lines to show the wealth of material to which you have with so much conscientiousness and ardour devoted your efforts4 ,and now may the fairies be propitious to you1 my dear friend6 ,they will do nothing but justice in favouring with all their goodwill the young and brilliant writer who has but now revived their cult by renewing their glory4 ,,rennes1 ,november #a1 #aiaj4 ,,breton ,,fairies ,,or ,f,,es ,in ,lower ,brittany1 which is the genuinely ,celtic part of ,armorica1 instead of finding a widespread folk-belief in fairies of the kind existing in ,wales1 ,ireland1 and ,scotland1 we find a widespread folk-belief in the existence of the dead1 and to a less extent in that of the corrigan tribes4 ,for our ,psychological ,theory this is very significant4 ,it seems to indicate that among the ,bretons--who are one of the most conservative ,celtic peoples--the ,fairy-,faith finds its chief expression in a belief that men live after death in an invisible world1 just as in ,ireland the dead and fairies live in ,fairyland4 ,this opinion was first suggested to me by ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz1 author of ,la ,lgende de la ,mort1 and by ,professor ,georges ,dottin1 both of the ,university of ,rennes4 ,but before evidence to sustain and to illustrate this opinion is offered1 it will be well to consider the less important ,breton fes or beings like them1 and then corrigans and nains 7dwarfs74 ,the ',grac'hed ,coz'4--,f4 ,m4 ,luzel1 who collected so many of the popular stories in ,brittany1 found that what few fes or fairies there are almost always appear in folk-lore as little old women1 or as the ,breton story-teller usually calls them1 ,grac'hed coz4 ,i have selected and abridged the following legendary tale from his works to illustrate the nature of these ,breton fairy-folk3-- ,in ancient times1 as we read in ,la ,princesse ,blondine1 a rich nobleman had three sons2 the oldest was called ,cado1 the second1 ,mliau1 and the youngest1 ,yvon4 ,one day1 as they were together in a forest with their bows and arrows1 they met a little old woman whom they had never seen before1 and she was carrying on her head a jar of water4 ',are you able1 lads1' ,cado asked his two brothers1 'to break with an arrow the jar of the little old woman without touching her8' ',we do not wish to try it1' they said1 fearing to injure the good woman4 ',all right1 ,i'll do it then1 watch me4' ,and ,cado took his bow and let fly an arrow4 ,the arrow went straight to its mark and split the jar without touching the little old woman2 but the water wet her to the skin1 and1 in anger1 she said to the skilful archer3 ',you have failed1 ,cado1 and ,i will be revenged on you for this4 ,from now until you have found the ,princess ,blondine all the members of your body will tremble as leaves on a tree tremble when the north wind blows4' ,and instantly ,cado was seized by a trembling malady in all his body4 ,the three brothers returned home and told their father what had happened2 and the father1 turning to ,cado1 said3 ',alas1 my unfortunate son1 you have failed4 ,it is now necessary for you to travel until you find the ,princess ,blondine1 as the fe said1 for that little old woman was a fe1 and no doctor in the world can cure the malady she has put upon you4'#gf ',fes' of ,lower ,brittany4--,throughout the ,morbihan and ,finistre1 ,i found that stories about fes are much less common than about corrigans1 and in some localities extremely rare2 but the ones ,i have been fortunate enough to collect are much the same in character as those gathered in the ,ctes-du-,nord by ,luzel1 and elsewhere by other collectors4 ,those ,i here record were told to me at ,carnac during the summer of #aiji2 the first one by ,m4 ,yvonne ,daniel1 a native of the le de ,croix 7off the coast north-west of ,carnac72 and the others by ,m4 ,goulven ,le ,scour4#gg ',the little le de ,croix was especially famous for its old fes2 and the following legend is still believed by its oldest inhabitants3--,an aged man who had suffered long from leprosy was certain to die within a short time1 when a woman bent double with age entered his house4 ,she asked from what malady he suffered1 and on being informed began to say prayers4 ,then she breathed upon the sores of the leper1 and almost suddenly disappeared3 the fe had cured him4' ',it is certain that about fifty years ago the people in ,finistre still believed in fes4 ,it was thought that the fes were spirits who came to predict some unexpected event in the family4 ,they came especially to console orphans who had very unkind step-mothers4 ,in their youth1 ,tanguy du ,chatel and his sister ,eudes were protected by a fe against the misfortune which pursued them2 the history of ,brittany says so4 ,in ,lon it is said that the fes served to guide unfortunate people1 consoling them with the promise of a happy and victorious future4 ,in the ,cornouailles1 on the contrary1 it is said that the fes were very evilly disposed1 that they were demons4 ',my grandmother1 ,marie ,le ,bras1 had related to me that one evening an old fe arrived in my village1 ,kerouledic 7,finistre71 and asked for hospitality4 ,it was about the year #ahcj4 ,the fe was received2 and before going to bed she predicted that the little daughter whom the mother was dressing in night-clothes would be found dead in the cradle the next day4 ,this prediction was only laughed at2 but in the morning the little one was dead in her cradle1 her eyes raised toward ,heaven4 ,the fe1 who had slept in the stable1 was gone4' ,in these last three accounts1 by ,m4 ,le ,scour1 we observe three quite different ideas concerning the ,breton fairies or fes3 in ,finistre and in ,lon the fes are regarded as good protecting spirits1 almost like ancestral spirits1 which originally they may have been2 in the ,cornouailles they are evil spirits2 while in the third account1 about the old fe--and in the legend of the leper cured by a fe--the fes are rationalized1 as in ,luzel's tale quoted above1 into sorceresses or ,grac'hed ,coz4 ,children ,changed by ',fes'4--,m4 ,goulven ,le ,scour1 at my request1 wrote down in ,french the following account of actual changelings in ,finistre3--',i remember very well that there was a woman of the village of ,kergoff1 in ,plouneventer1 who was called ----1#gh the mother of a family4 ,when she had her first child1 a very strong and very pretty boy1 she noticed one morning that he had been changed during the night2 there was no longer the fine baby she had put to bed in the evening2 there was1 instead1 an infant hideous to look at1 greatly deformed1 hunchbacked1 and crooked1 and of a black colour4 ,the poor woman knew that a fe had entered the house during the night and had changed her child4 ',this changed infant still lives1 and to-day he is about seventy years old4 ,he has all the possible vices2 and he has tried many times to kill his mother4 ,he is a veritable demon2 he often predicts the future1 and has a habit of running abroad during the night4 ,they call him the ,little ,corrigan1 and everybody flees from him4 ,being poor and infirm now1 he has been obliged to beg1 and people give him alms because they have great fear of him4 ,his nick-name is ,olier4 ',this woman had a second1 then a third child1 both of whom were seen by everybody to have been born with no infirmity2 and1 in turn1 each of these two was stolen by a fe and replaced by a little hunchback4 ,the second child was a most beautiful daughter4 ,she was taken during the night and replaced by a little girl babe1 so deformed that it resembled a ball4 ,if her brother ,olier was bad1 she was even worse2 she was the terror of the village1 and they called her ,anniac4 ,the third child met the same luck1 but was not so bad as the first and second4 ',the poor mother1 greatly worried at seeing what had happened1 related her troubles to another woman4 ,this woman said to her1 ,if you have another child1 place with it in the cradle a little sprig of box-wood which has been blessed 7by a priest71 and the fe will no longer have the power of stealing your children4 ,and when a fourth child was born to the unfortunate woman it was not stolen1 for she placed in the cradle a sprig of box-wood which had been blessed on ,palm ,sunday 7,dimanche des ,rameaux74#gi ',the first three children ,i knew very well1 and they were certainly hunchbacked3 it is pretended in the country that the fes who come at night to make changelings always leave in exchange hunchbacked infants4 ,it is equally pretended that a mother who has had her child so changed need do nothing more than leave the little hunchback out of doors crying during entire hours1 and that the fe hearing it will come and put the true child in its place4 ,unfortunately1 ,yvonna ---- did not know what she should have done in order to have her own children again4' ,transformation ,power of ',fes'4--,at ,kerallan1 near ,carnac1 this is what ,madame ,louise ,le ,rouzic said about the transformation power of fes3--',it is said that the fes of the region when insulted sometimes changed men into beasts or into stones4'#hj ,other ,breton ,fairies4--,besides the various types of fes already described1 we find in ,luzel's collected stories a few other types of fairy-like beings3 in ,les ,compagnons 7,the ,companions71#ha the fe is a magpie in a forest near ,rennes--just as in other ,celtic lands1 fairies likewise often appear as birds 7see our study1 pp4 #cjb ff472 in ,la ,princesse de l'toile ,brillante 7,the ,princess of the ,brilliant ,star71#ha a princess under the form of a duck plays the part of a fairy 7cf4 how fairy women took the form of water-fowls in the tale entitled the ,sick ,bed of ,cuchulainn 7see our study1 p4 #cde72 in ,pipi ,menou et les ,femmes ,volantes 7,pipi ,menou and the ,flying ,women71#ha there are fairy women as swan-maidens2 and then there are yet to be mentioned ,les ,morgans de l'le d',ouessant 7,the ,morgans of the ,isle of ,ushant71 who live under the sea in rare palaces where mortals whom they love and marry are able to exist with them4 ,in some legends of the ,morgans1 like one recorded by ,luzel1 the men and women of this water-fairy race1 or the ,morgans and ,morganezed1 seem like anthropomorphosed survivals of ancient sea-divinities1 such1 for example1 as the sea-god called ,shony1 to whom the people of ,lewis1 ,western ,hebrides1 still pour libations that he may send in sea-weed1 and the sea-god to whom anciently the people of ,iona poured libations4#hb ,the ',morgan'4--,to ,m4 ,j4 ,cuillandre 7,glanmor71 ,president of the ,fdration des tudiants ,bretons1 ,i am indebted for the following weird legend of the ,morgan1 as it is told among the ,breton fisher-folk on the le ,molne1 ,finistre3--',following a legend which ,i have collected on the le ,molne1 the ,morgan is a fairy eternally young1 a virgin seductress whose passion1 never satisfied1 drives her to despair4 ,her place of abode is beneath the sea2 there she possesses marvellous palaces where gold and diamonds glimmer4 ,accompanied by other fairies1 of whom she is in some respects the queen1 she rises to the surface of the waters in the splendour of her unveiled beauty4 ,by day she slumbers amid the coolness of grottoes1 and woe to him who troubles her sleep4 ,by night she lets herself be lulled by the waves in the neighbourhood of the rocks4 ,the sea-foam crystallizes at her touch into precious stones1 of whiteness as dazzling as that of her body4 ,by moonlight she moans as she combs her fair hair with a comb of fine gold1 and she sings in a harmonious voice a plaintive melody whose charm is irresistible4 ,the sailor who listens to it feels himself drawn toward her1 without power to break the charm which drags him onward to his destruction2 the bark is broken upon the reefs3 the man is in the sea1 and the ,morgan utters a cry of joy4 ,but the arms of the fairy clasp only a corpse2 for at her touch men die1 and it is this which causes the despair of the amorous and inviolate ,morgan4 ,she being pagan1 it suffices to have been touched by her in order to suffer the saddest fate which can be reserved to a ,christian4 ,the unfortunate one whom she had clasped is condemned to wander for ever in the trough of the waters1 his eyes wide open1 the mark of baptism effaced from his forehead4 ,never will his poor remains know the sweetness of reposing in holy ground1 never will he have a tomb where his kindred might come to pray and to weep4' ,origin of the ',morgan'4--,the following legendary origin is attributed to the ,morgan by ,m4 ,goulven ,le ,scour1 our ,carnac witness3--',following the old people and the ,breton legends1 the ,morgan 7,mari ,morgan in ,breton7 was ,dahut1 the daughter of ,king ,gradlon1 who was ruler of the city of ,is4 ,legend records that when ,dahut had entered at night the bedchamber of her father and had cut from around his neck the cord which held the key of the sea-dike flood-gates1 and had given this key to the ,black ,prince1 under whose evil love she had fallen1 and who1 according to belief1 was no other than the ,devil1 ,st4 ,guenol soon afterwards began to cry aloud1 ,great ,king1 arise6 ,the flood-gates are open1 and the sea is no longer restrained6#hc ,suddenly the old ,king ,gradlon arose1 and1 leaping on his horse1 was fleeing from the city with ,st4 ,guenol1 when he encountered his own daughter amid the waves4 ,she piteously begged aid of her father1 and he took her up behind him on the horse2 but ,st4 ,guenol1 seeing that the waters were gaining on them1 said to the king1 ,throw into the sea the demon you have behind you1 and we shall be saved6 ,thereupon ,gradlon flung his daughter into the abyss1 and he and ,st4 ,guenol were saved4 ,since that time1 the fishermen declare that they have seen1 in times of rough sea and clear moonlight1 ,dahut1 daughter of ,king ,gradlon1 sitting on the rocks combing her fair hair and singing1 in the place where her father flung her4 ,and to-day there is recognized under the ,breton name ,marie ,morgan1 the daughter who sings amid the sea4' ,breton ,fairyland ,legends4--,in a legend concerning ,mona and the king of the ,morgans1 much like the ,christabel story of ,english poets1 we have a picture of a fairyland not under ground1 but under sea2 and this legend of ,mona and her ,morgan lover is one of the most beautiful of all the fairy-tales of ,brittany4#hd ,another one of ,luzel's legends1 concerning a maiden who married a dead man1 shows us ,fairyland as a world of the dead4 ,it is a very strange legend1 and one directly bearing on the ,psychological ,theory2 for this dead man1 who is a dead priest1 has a palace in a realm of enchantment1 and to enter his country one must have a white fairy-wand with which to strike 'in the form of a cross' two blows upon the rock concealing the entrance4#hd ,m4 ,paul ,sbillot records from ,upper ,brittany a tradition that beneath the sea-waves there one can see a subterranean world containing fields and villages and beautiful castles2 and it is so pleasant a world that mortals going there find years no longer than days4#he ,fairies of ,upper ,brittany4#hf--,principally in ,upper ,brittany1 ,m4 ,sbillot found rich folk-lore concerning fes1 though some of his material is drawn from peasants and fishermen who are not so purely ,celtic as those in ,lower ,brittany2 and he very concisely summarizes the various names there given to the fairy-folk as follows3--',they are generally called ,fes 7,fairies71 sometimes ,ftes 7,fates71 a name nearer than fes to the ,latin ,fata2 ,fte 7fem47 and ,fte 7mas47 are both used1 and from ,fte is probably derived ,faito or ,faitaud1 which is the name borne by the fathers1 the husbands1 or the children of the fes 7,saint-,cast74 ,near ,saint-,briac 7,ille-et-,vilaine7 they are sometimes called ,fions2 this term1 which is applied to both sexes1 seems also to designate the mischievous lutins 7sprites74 ,round the ,men1 in the cantons of ,colline and of ,moncontour1 they are called ,margot la ,fe1 or ma ,commre 7my ,godmother7 ,margot1 or even the ,bonne ,femme 7,good ,woman7 ,margot4 ,on the coast they are often enough called by the name of ,bonnes ,dames 7,good ,ladies71 or of nos ,bonnes ,mres les ,fes 7our ,good ,mothers the ,fairies72 usually they are spoken of with a certain respect4'#hg ,as the same authority suggests1 probably the most characteristic ,fes in ,upper ,brittany are the ,fes des ,houles 7,fairies of the ,billows72 and traditions say that they lived in natural caverns or grottoes in the sea-cliffs4 ,they form a distinct class of sea-fairies unknown elsewhere in ,france or ,europe4#hh ,m4 ,sbillot regards them as sea-divinities greatly rationalized4 ,associated with them are the fions1 a race of dwarfs having swords no bigger than pins4#hh ,a pretty legend about magic buckwheat cakes1 which in different forms is widespread throughout all ,brittany1 is told of these little cave-dwelling fairies3-- ,like the larger fes the fions kept cattle2 and one day a black cow belonging to the fions of ,pont-aux-,hommes-,nes ate the buckwheat in the field of a woman of that neighbourhood4 ,the woman went to the fions to complain1 and in reply to her a voice said3 ',hold your tongue2 you will be paid for your buckwheat6' ,thereupon the fions gave the woman a cupful of buckwheat1 and promised her that it would never diminish so long as none should be given away4 ,that year buckwheat was very scarce1 but no matter how many buckwheat cakes the woman and her family ate there was never diminution in the amount of the fairy buckwheat4 ,at last1 however1 the unfortunate hour came4 ,a rag-gatherer arrived and asked for food4 ,thoughtlessly the woman gave him one of her buckwheat cakes1 and suddenly1 as though by magic1 all the rest of the buckwheat disappeared for ever4 ,along the ,rance the inhabitants tell about fes who appear during storms4 ,these storm-fairies are dressed in the colours of the rainbow1 and pass along following a most beautiful fe who is mounted in a boat made from a nautilus of the southern seas4 ,and the boat is drawn by two sea-crabs4 ,in no other place in ,brittany are similar fes said to exist4#hi ,in ,upper ,brittany1 as in ,lower ,brittany1 the fes generally had their abodes in tumuli1 in dolmens1 in forests1 in waste lands where there are great rocks1 or about menhirs2 and many other kinds of spirits lived in the sea and troubled sailors and fisher-folk4 ,like all fairy-folk of ,celtic countries1 those of ,upper ,brittany were given to stealing children4 ,thus at ,dinard not long ago there was a woman more than thirty years old who was no bigger than a girl of ten1 and it was said she was a fairy changeling4#ij ,in ,lower ,brittany the taking of children was often attributed to dwarfs rather than to fes1 though the method of making the changeling speak is the same as in ,upper ,brittany1 namely1 to place in such a manner before an open fire a number of eggshells filled with water that they appear to the changeling--who is placed where he can well observe all the proceedings--like so many small pots of cooking food2 whereupon1 being greatly astonished at the unusual sight1 he forgets himself and speaks for the first time1 thus betraying his demon nature4 ,the following midwife story1 as told by ,j4 ,m4 ,comault1 of ,gouray1 in #ahha1 is quite a parallel to the one we have recorded 7on p4 #ed7 as coming from ,grange1 ,ireland3--,a midwife who delivered a ,margot la fe carelessly allowed some of the fairy ointment to get on one of her own eyes4 ,the eye at once became clairvoyant1 so that she beheld the fes in their true nature4 ,and1 quite like a midwife in a similar story about the fes des houles1 this midwife happened to see a fe in the act of stealing1 and spoke to her4 ,thereupon the fe asked the midwife with which eye she beheld her1 and when the midwife indicated which one it was1 the fe pulled it out4#ia ,generally1 like their relatives in insular ,celtdom1 the fairies of ,upper ,brittany could assume various forms1 and could even transform the human body2 and they were given to playing tricks on mortals1 and always to taking revenge on them if ill-treated4 ,in most ways they were like other races of fairies1 ,celtic and non-,celtic1 though very much anthropomorphosed in their nature by the peasant and mariner4 ,as a rule1 the fes of ,upper ,brittany are described in legend as young and very beautiful4 ,some1 however1 appear to be centuries old1 with teeth as long as a human hand1 and with backs covered with seaweeds1 and mussels1 or other marine growths1 as an indication of their great age4#ib ,at ,saint-,cast they are said to be dressed 7like the corrigans at ,carnac1 see p4 #bjh7 in toile1 a kind of heavy linen cloth4#ib ,on the sea-coast of ,upper ,brittany the popular opinion is that the fes are a fallen race condemned to an earthly exile for a certain period4 ,in the region of the ,men1 canton of ,colline1 the old folk say that1 after the angels revolted1 those left in paradise were divided into two parts3 those who fought on the side of ,god and those who remained neutral4 ,these last1 already half-fallen1 were sent to the earth for a time1 and became the fes4#ib ,the general belief in the interior of ,brittany is that the fes once existed1 but that they disappeared as their country was changed by modern conditions4 ,in the region of the ,men and of ,erc 7,ille-et-,vilaine7 it is said that for more than a century there have been no fes2 and on the sea-coast1 where it is still firmly believed that the fes used to live in the billows or amid certain grottoes in the cliffs against which the billows broke1 the opinion is that they disappeared at the beginning of the last century4 ,the oldest ,bretons say that their parents or grandparents often spoke about having seen fes1 but very rarely do they say that they themselves have seen fes4 ,m4 ,sbillot found only two who had4 ,one was an old needle-woman of ,saint-,cast1 who had such fear of fes that if she was on her way to do some sewing in the country1 and it was night1 she always took a long circuitous route to avoid passing near a field known as the ,couvent des ,fes4 ,the other was ,marie ,chhu1 a woman eighty-eight years old4#ic ,,the ,,corrigan ,,race#id ,it is the corrigan race1 however1 which1 more than fes or fairies1 forms a large part of the invisible inhabitants of ,brittany2 and this race of corrigans and nains 7dwarfs7 may be made to include many kinds of lutins1 or as they are often called by the peasant1 follets or esprits follets 7playful elves74 ,though the peasants both in ,upper and in ,lower ,brittany may have no strong faith in fes1 most of them say that corrigans1 or nains1 and mischievous house-haunting spirits still exist4 ,but in a few localities1 as ,m4 ,sbillot discovered1 there is an opinion that the lutins departed with the fes1 and with them will return in this century1 because during each century with an odd number like #aijj1 the fairy tribes of all kinds are said to be visible or to reappear among men1 and to become invisible or to disappear during each century with an even number like #ahjj4 ,so this is the visible century4 ,corrigans and follets only show themselves at night1 or in the twilight4 ,no one knows where they pass the day-time4 ,some lutins or follets1 after the manner of ,scotch kelpies1 live solitary lives in lakes or ponds 7whereas corrigans are socially united in groups or families71 and amuse themselves by playing tricks on travellers passing by after dark4 ,souvestre records a story showing how the lutins can assume any animal form1 but that their natural form is that of a little man dressed in green2 and that the corrigans have declared war on them for being too friendly to men4#ie ,from what follows about lutins1 by ,m4 ,goulven ,le ,scour1 they show affinity with ,pucks and such shape-shifting hobgoblins as are found in ,wales3--',the lutins were little dwarfs who generally appeared at cross-roads to attack belated travellers4 ,and it is related in ,breton legends that these lutins sometimes transformed themselves into black horses or into goats2 and whoever then had the misfortune to encounter them sometimes found his life in danger1 and was always seized with great terror4' ,but generally1 what the ,breton peasant tells about corrigans he is apt to tell at another time about lutins4 ,and both tribes of beings1 so far as they can be distinguished1 are the same as the elfish peoples--pixies in ,cornwall1 ,robin ,good-fellows in ,england1 goblins in ,wales1 or brownies in ,scotland4 ,both corrigans and lutins are supposed to guard hidden treasure2 some trouble horses at night2 some1 like their ,english cousins1 may help in the house-work after all the family are asleep2 some cause nightmare2 some carry a torch like a ,welsh death-candle2 some trouble men and women like obsessing spirits2 and nearly all of them are mischievous4 ,in an article in the ,revue des ,traditions ,populaires 7v4 #aja71 ,m4 ,sbillot has classified more than fifty names given to lutins and corrigans in ,lower ,brittany1 according to the form under which these spirits appear1 their peculiar traits1 dwelling-places1 and the country they inhabit4 ,like the fairies in ,britain and ,ireland1 the corrigans and the ,cornish pixies find their favourite amusement in the circular dance4 ,when the moon is clear and bright they gather for their frolic near menhirs1 and dolmens1 and tumuli1 and at cross-roads1 or even in the open country2 and they never miss an opportunity of enticing a mortal passing by to join them4 ,if he happens to be a good-natured man and enters their sport heartily1 they treat him quite as a companion1 and may even do him some good turn2 but if he is not agreeable they will make him dance until he falls down exhausted1 and should he commit some act thoroughly displeasing to them he will meet their certain revenge4 ,according to a story reported from ,lorient 7,morbihan7#if it is taboo for the corrigans to make a complete enumeration of the days of the week3-- ,the ',corrigan' ,taboo4--',at night1 the corrigans dance1 singing1 ,monday1 ,tuesday1 ,wednesday1 ,thursday1 ,friday2 they are prohibited from completing the enumeration of the days of the week4 ,a corrigan having had the misfortune to permit himself to be tempted to add ,saturday1 immediately became hunchbacked4 ,his comrades1 stupefied and distressed1 attempted in vain to knock in his hump with blows of their fists4' ',corrigans' at ,carnac4--,how the tradition of the dancing corrigans and their weekday song still lives1 appears from the following accounts which ,i found at and near ,carnac1 the first account having been given during ,january #aiji by ,madame ,marie ,ezanno1 of ,carnac1 then sixty-six years old3--',the corrigans are little dwarfs who formerly1 by moonlight1 used to dance in a circle on the prairies4 ,they sang a song the couplet of which was not understood1 but only the refrain1 translated in ,breton3 ,di ,lun 7,monday71 ,di ,merh 7,tuesday71 ,di ,merhier 7,wednesday74 ',they whistled in order to assemble4 ,where they danced mushrooms grew2 and it was necessary to maintain silence so as not to interrupt them in their dance4 ,they were often very brutal towards a man who fell under their power1 and if they had a grudge against him they would make him submit to the greatest tortures4 ,the peasants believed strongly in the corrigans1 because they thus saw them and heard them4 ,the corrigans dressed in very coarse white linen cloth4 ,they were mischievous spirits 7esprits follets71 who lived under dolmens4' ,one morning1 ,m4 ,lemort and myself called upon ,madame ,louise ,le ,rouzic in her neat home at ,kerallan1 a little group of thatched cottages about a mile from ,carnac4 ,as we entered1 ,madame ,le ,rouzic herself was sitting on a long wooden bench by the window knitting1 and her daughter was watching the savoury-smelling dinner as it boiled in great iron pots hanging from chains over a brilliant fire on the hearth4 ,large gleaming brass basins were ranged on a shelf above the broad open chimney-place wherein the fire burned1 and massive bedsteads carved after the ,breton style stood on the stone floor4 ,when many things had been talked about1 our conversation turned to corrigans1 and then the good woman of the house told us these tales3-- ',corrigans' at ,church4--',in former times a young girl having taken the keys of the church 7presumably at ,carnac7 and having entered it1 found the corrigans about to dance2 and the corrigans were singing1 ,lundi1 ,mardi 7,monday1 ,tuesday74 ,on seeing the young girl1 they stopped1 surrounded her1 and invited her to dance with them4 ,she accepted1 and1 in singing1 added to their song ,mercredi 7,wednesday74 ,in amazement1 the corrigans cried joyfully1 ,she has added something to our song2 what shall we give her as recompense8 ,and they gave her a bracelet4 ,a friend of hers meeting her1 asked where the fine bracelet came from2 and the young girl told what had happened4 ,the second girl hurried to the church1 and found the corrigans still dancing the rond4 ,she joined their dance1 and1 in singing1 added ,jeudi 7,thursday7 to their song2 but that broke the cadence2 and the corrigans in fury1 instead of recompensing her wished to punish her4 ,what shall we do to her8 one of them cried4 ,let the day be as night to her6 the others replied4 ,and by day1 wherever she went1 she saw only the night4' ,the ',corrigans'' ,sabbath4--',where my grandfather lived1' continued ,madame ,le ,rouzic1 'there was a young girl who went to the sabbath of the corrigans2 and when she returned and was asked where she had been1 said1 ,i have travelled over water1 wood1 and hedges4 ,and she related all she had seen and heard4 ,then one night1 afterwards1 the corrigans came into the house1 beat her1 and dragged her from bed4 ,upon hearing the uproar1 my grandfather arose and found the girl lying flat on the stone floor4 ,never question me again1 she said to him1 or they will kill me4'#ig ',corrigans' as ,fairies4--,some ,breton legends give corrigans the chief characteristics of fairies in ,celtic ,britain and ,ireland2 and ,villemarqu in his ,barzaz ,breiz 7pp4 #be-cj7 makes the ,breton word corrigan synonymous with fe or fairy1 thus3--',le ,seigneur ,nann et la ,fe 7,aotrou ,nann hag ar ,corrigan74' ,in this legend the corrigan seems clearly enough to be a water-fairy3 ',the ,korrigan was seated at the edge of her fountain1 and she was combing her long fair hair4' ,but unlike most water-fairies1 the ,fe lives in a grotto1 which1 according to ,villemarqu1 is one of those ancient monuments called in ,breton dolmen1 or ti ar corrigan2 in ,french1 ,table de pierres1 or ,grotte aux ,fes--like the famous one near ,rennes4 ,the fountain where the ,fe was seated seems to be one of those sacred fountains1 which1 as ,villemarqu says1 are often found near a ,grotte aux ,fes1 and called ,fontaine de la ,fe1 or in ,breton1 ,feunteun ar corrigan4 ,in another of ,villemarqu's legends1 ,l',enfant ,suppos1 after the egg-shell test has been used and the little corrigan-changeling is replaced by the real child1 the latter as though all the while it had been in an unconscious trance-state--which has a curious bearing on our ,psychological ,theory--stretches forth its arms and awakening exclaims1 ',ah6 mother1 what a long time ,i have been asleep4'#ih ,and in ,les ,nains we see the little ,duz or dwarfs inhabiting a cave and guarding treasures4#ih ,in his introduction to the ,barzaz ,breiz1 ,villemarqu describes les korrigan1 whom he equates with les fes1 as very similar to ordinary fairies4 ,they can foretell the future1 they know the art of war--quite like the ,irish 'gentry' or ,tuatha ,de ,danann--they can assume any animal form1 and are able to travel from one end of the world to another in the twinkling of an eye4 ,they love feasting and music--like all ,celtic fairy-folk2 and dance in a circle holding hands1 but at the least noise disappear4 ,their favourite haunts are near fountains and dolmens4 ,they are little beings not more than two feet high1 and beautifully proportioned1 with bodies as aerial and transparent as those of wasps4 ,and like all fairy1 or elvish races1 and like the ,breton ,morgans or water-spirits1 they are given to stealing the children of mortals4 ,professor ,j4 ,loth has called my attention to an unpublished ,breton legend of his collection1 in which there are fairy-like beings comparable to these described by ,villemarqu2 and he tells me1 too1 that throughout ,brittany one finds to-day the counterpart of the ,welsh ,tylwyth ,teg or ',fair ,family'1 and that both in ,wales and ,brittany the ,tylwyth ,teg are popularly described as little women1 or maidens1 like fairies no larger than children4 ,fairies and ,dwarfs4--,where ,villemarqu draws a clear distinction is between these korrigan and fes on the one hand1 and the nains or dwarfs on the other4 ,these last are what we have found associated or identified with corrigans in the ,morbihan4 ,villemarqu describes the nains as a hideous race of beings with dark or even black hairy bodies1 with voices like old men1 and with little sparkling black eyes4 ,they are fond of playing tricks on mortals who fall into their power2 and are given to singing in a circular dance the weekday song4 ,very often corrigans regarded as nains1 equally with all kinds of lutins1 are believed to be evil spirits or demons condemned to live here on earth in a penitential state for an indefinite time2 and sometimes they seem not much different from what ,irish ,celts1 when talking of fairies1 call fallen angels4 ,le ,nain de ,kerhuiton1 translated from ,breton by ,professor ,j4 ,loth1 in part illustrates this3--,upon seeing water boiling in a number of egg-shells ranged before an open fire1 a polpegan-changeling is so greatly astonished that he unwittingly speaks for the first time1 and says1 ',here ,i am almost one hundred years old1 and never such a thing have ,i yet seen6' ',ah6 son of ,satan6' then cries out the mother1 as she comes from her place of hiding and beats the polpegan--who thus by means of the egg-shell test has been tricked into revealing his demon nature4#ii ,in a parallel story1 reported by ,villemarqu in his ,barzaz ,breiz 7p4 #cc n471 a nain-changeling is equally astonished to see a similar row of egg-shells boiling before an open fire like so many pots of food1 and gives himself away through the following remark3--',i have seen the acorn before the oak2 ,i have seen the egg before the white chicken3 ,i have never seen the equal to this4' ,nature of the ',corrigans'4--,as to the general ideas about the corrigans1 ,m4 ,le ,scour says3--',formerly the corrigans were the terror of the country-folk1 especially in ,finistre1 in the ,morbihan1 and throughout the ,ctes-du-,nord4 ,they were believed to be souls in pain condemned to wander at night in waste lands and marshes4 ,sometimes they were seen as dwarfs2 and often they were not seen at all1 but were heard in houses making an infernal noise4 ,unlike the lavandires de nuits 7phantom washerwomen of the night71 they were heard only in summer1 never in winter4' ,,the ,,breton ,,legend ,,of ,,the ,,dead ,we come now to the ,breton ,legend of the ,dead1 common generally to all parts of ,armorica1 though probably even more widespread in ,lower ,brittany than in ,upper ,brittany2 and this we call the ,armorican ,fairy-,faith4 ,even where the peasants have no faith in fes or fairies1 and where their faith in corrigans is weak or almost gone1 there is a strong conviction among them that the souls of the dead can show themselves to the living1 a vigorous belief in apparitions1 phantom-funerals1 and various death-warnings4 ,as ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz has so well said in his introduction to ,la ,lgende de la ,mort1 'the whole conscience of these people is fundamentally directed toward that which concerns death4 ,and the ideas which they form of it1 in spite of the strong ,christian imprint which they have received1 do not seem much different from those which we have pointed out among their pagan ancestors4 ,for them1 as for the primitive ,celts1 death is less a change of condition than a journey1 a departure for another world4' ,and thus it seems that this most popular of the ,breton folk-beliefs is genuinely ,celtic and extremely ancient4 ,as ,renan has said1 the ,celtic people are 'a race mysterious1 having knowledge of the future and the secret of death'4#ajj ,and whereas in ,ireland unusual happenings or strange accidents and death are attributed to fairy interference1 in ,brittany they are attributed to the influence of the dead4 ,the ,breton ,celt makes no distinction between the living and the dead4 ,all alike inhabit this world1 the one being visible1 the other invisible4 ,though seers can at all times behold the dead1 on ,november ,eve 7,la ,toussaint7 and on ,christmas ,eve they are most numerous and most easily seen2 and no peasant would think of questioning their existence4 ,in ,ireland and ,scotland the country-folk fear to speak of fairies save through an euphemism1 and the ,bretons speak of the dead indirectly1 and even then with fear and trembling4 ,the following legend1 which ,i found at ,carnac1 will serve to illustrate both the profundity of the belief in the power of the dead over the living in ,lower ,brittany1 and how deeply the people can be stirred by the predictions of one who can see the dead2 and the legend is quite typical of those so common in ,armorica3-- ,foretelling ,deaths4--',formerly there was a woman whom spirits impelled to rise from her bed1 it made no difference at what hour of the night1 in order to behold funerals in the future4 ,she predicted who should die1 who should carry the corpse1 who the cross1 and who should follow the cortge4 ,her predictions frightened every one1 and made her such a terror to the country that the mayor had threatened to take legal proceedings against her if she continued her practice2 but she was compelled to tell the things which the spirits showed her4 ,it is about ten years since this woman died in the hospital at ,auray4' ,testimony of a ,breton ,seeress4--,there lives in the little hamlet of ,kerlois1 less than a mile from ,carnac1 a ,breton seeress1 a woman who since eight years of age has been privileged to behold the world invisible and its inhabitants1 quite like the woman who died at ,auray4 ,she is ,madame ,eugnie ,le ,port1 now forty-two years old1 and what she tells of things seen in this invisible world which surrounds her1 might easily be taken for ,irish legends about fairies4 ,knowing very little ,french1 because she is thoroughly ,breton1 ,madame ,le ,port described her visions in her own native tongue1 and her eldest daughter acted as interpreter4 ,i had known the good woman since the previous winter1 and so we were able to converse familiarly2 and as ,i sat in her own little cottage1 in company with her husband and daughters1 and with ,m4 ,lemort1 who acted as recording secretary1 this is what she said in her clear earnest manner in answer to my questions3-- ',we believe that the spirits of our ancestors surround us and live with us4 ,one day on a road from ,carnac ,i encountered a woman of ,kergoellec who had been dead eight days4 ,i asked her to move to one side so that ,i could pass1 and she vanished4 ,this was eleven o'clock in the morning4 ,i saw her at another time in the ,marsh of ,breno2 ,i spoke1 but she did not reply4 ,on the route from ,plouharnel 7near ,carnac7 ,i saw in the day-time the funeral of a woman who did not die until fifteen days afterwards4 ,i recognized perfectly all the people who took part in it2 but the person with me saw nothing4 ,another time1 near three o'clock in the afternoon1 and eight days before her death1 ,i saw upon the same route the funeral of a woman who was drowned4 ,and ,i have seen a phantom horse going to the sabbath1 and as if forced along against its will1 for it reared and pawed the earth4 ,when ,pierre ,rouzic of ,kerlois died1 ,i saw a light of all colours between heaven and earth1 the very night of his death4 ,i have seen a woman asleep whose spirit must have been free1 for ,i saw it hovering outside her body4 ,she was not awakened at the time for fear that the spirit would not find its body again4' ,in answer to my question as to how long these various visions usually lasted1 ,madame ,le ,port said3--',they lasted about a quarter of an hour1 or less1 and all of them disappeared instantaneously4' ,as ,madame ,le ,port now seemed unable to recall more of her visions1 ,i finally asked her what she thought about corrigans1 and she replied3--',i believe they exist as some special kind of spirits1 though ,i have never seen any4' ,proof that the ,dead ,exist4--,this is what ,m4 ,jean ,couton1 an old ,breton1 told me at ,carnac3--',i am only an old peasant1 without instruction1 without any education1 but let me tell you what ,i think concerning the dead4 ,following my own idea1 ,i believe that after death the soul always exists and travels among us4 ,i repeat to you that ,i have belief that the dead are seen2 ,i am now going to prove this to you in the following story3-- ',one winter evening ,i was returning home from a funeral4 ,i had as companion a kinswoman of the man just buried4 ,we took the train and soon alighted in the station of ,plouharnel4 ,we still had three kilometres to go before reaching home1 and as it was winter1 and at that epoch there was no stage-coach1 we were obliged to travel afoot4 ,as we were going along1 suddenly there appeared to my companion her dead relative whom we had buried that day4 ,she asked me if ,i saw anything1 and since ,i replied to her negatively she said to me1 ,touch me1 and you will see without doubt4 ,i touched her1 and ,i saw the same as she did1 the person just dead1 whom ,i clearly recognized4'#aja ,phantom ,washerwomen4--,concerning a very popular ,breton belief in phantom washerwomen 7les lavandires de nuits2 or in ,breton1 cannered noz71 ,m4 ,goulven ,le ,scour offers the following summary3--',the lavandires de nuits were heard less often than the corrigans1 but were much more feared4 ,it was usually towards midnight that they were heard beating their linen in front of different washing-places1 always some way from the villages4 ,according to the old folk of the past generation1 when the phantom washerwomen would ask a certain passer-by to help them to wring sheets1 he could not refuse1 under pain of being stopped and wrung like a sheet himself4 ,and it was necessary for those who aided in wringing the sheets to turn in the same direction as the washerwomen2 for if by misfortune the assistant turned in an opposite direction1 he had his arms wrung in an instant4 ,it is believed that these phantom washerwomen are women condemned to wash their mortuary sheets during whole centuries2 but that when they find some mortal to wring in an opposite direction1 they are delivered4'#ajb ,breton ,animistic ,beliefs4--,m4 ,z4 ,le ,rouzic1 a ,breton ,celt who has spent most of his life studying the archaeology and folk-lore of the ,morbihan1 and who is at present ,keeper of the ,miln ,museum at ,carnac1 summarizes for us the state of popular beliefs as he finds them existing in the ,carnac country now3--',there are few traditions concerning the fes in the region of ,carnac2 but the belief in spirits1 good and bad--which seems to me to be the same as the belief in fes--is general and profound1 as well as the belief in the incarnation of spirits4 ,and ,i am convinced that these beliefs are the reminiscences of ancient ,celtic beliefs held by the ,druids and conserved by ,christianity4' ,in ,finistre1 as purely ,breton as the ,morbihan1 ,i found the ,legend of the ,dead just as widespread1 and the belief in spirits and the apparitional return of the dead quite as profound2 but nothing worth recording concerning fairies4 ,the stories which follow were told to me by ,m4 ,pierre ,vichon1 a pure ,breton ,celt1 born at ,lescoff1 near the ,pointe du ,raz1 ,finistre1 in #ahdb4 ,peter is a genuine old 'sea-dog'1 having made the tour of the globe1 and yet he has not lost the innate faith of his ancient ancestors in a world invisible2 for though he says he cannot believe all that the people in his part of ,finistre tell about spirits and ghosts1 he must have a belief that the dead as spirits exist and influence the living1 because of his own personal experience--one of the most remarkable of its kind4 ,peter speaks ,breton1 ,french1 and ,english fluently1 and since he had an opportunity for the first time in seventeen months of using ,english1 he told me the stories in my own native language3-- ,pierre ,vichon's ,strange ,experience4--',some forty years ago a strange thing happened in my life4 ,a relative of mine had taken service in the ,austrian army1 for by profession he was a soldier1 though at first he had begun to study for the priesthood4 ,during the progress of the war ,i had no news from him2 and1 then one day while ,i was on the deck of a ,norwegian ship just off ,dover 7,england71 my fellow sailors heard a noise as though of a gun being discharged1 and the whirr of a shot4 ,at the same moment ,i fell down on the deck as though mortally wounded1 and lay in an unconscious state for two hours4 ,when the news came1 it was ascertained that at the very moment ,i fell and the gun-report was heard1 my relative in ,austria had been shot in the head and fell down dead4 ,and he had been seen to throw his hands up to his head to grasp it just as ,i did4' ,an ,apparition of the ,dead4--',i had another relative who died in a hospital near ,christiania1 ,norway2 and on the day he died a sister of mine1 then a little girl1 saw his spirit appear here in ,lescoff1 and she easily recognized it2 but none of her girl companions with her at the time saw the spirit4 ,after a few days we had the news of the death1 and the time of it and the time of my sister's seeing the spirit coincided exactly4' ,in all the peninsula of which the famous and dangerous ,pointe du ,raz is the terminus1 similar stories are current4 ,and among the fisher-folk with whom ,i lived on the strange and historic le de ,sein1 the ,legend of the ,dead is even more common4 ,the ,dead and ,fairies ,compared4--,without setting down here in detail numerous other death-legends which we have collected1 we may now note how much the same are the powers and nature of the dead and spirits in ,brittany1 and the power and nature of the fairy races in ,celtic ,britain and ,ireland4 ,thus the ,breton dead strike down the living just as fairies are said to do2 the ,ankou1#ajc who is a king of the dead1 and his subjects1 like a fairy king and fairies1 have their own particular paths or roads over which they travel in great sacred processions2#ajd and exactly as fairies1 the hosts of the dead are in possession of the earth on ,november ,eve1 and the living are expected to prepare a feast and entertainment for them of curded-milk1 hot pancakes1 and cider1 served on the family table covered with a fresh white table-cloth1 and to supply music4 ,the ,breton dead come to enjoy this hospitality of their friends2 and as they take their places at the table the stools are heard to move1 and sometimes the plates2 and the musicians who help to entertain them think that at times they feel the cold breath of the invisible visitors4 ,concerning this same feast of the dead 7,la ,toussaint7 ,villemarqu in his ,barzaz ,breiz 7p4 #ejg7 records that in many parts of ,brittany libations of milk are poured over or near ancestral tombs--just as in ,ireland and ,scotland libations of milk are poured to fairies4 ,and the people of ,armorica at other times than ,november ,eve remember the dead very appropriately1 as in ,ireland the ,irish remember fairies4 ,the ,breton peasant thinks of the dead as frequently as the ,irishman thinks of fairies4 ,one day while ,i was walking toward ,carnac there was told to me in the most ordinary manner a story about a dead man who used to be seen going along the very road ,i was on4 ,he quite often went to the church in ,carnac seeking prayers for his soul4 ,and almost every man or woman one meets in rural ,lower ,brittany can tell many similar stories4 ,if a mortal should happen to meet one of the dead in ,brittany and be induced to eat food which the dead sometimes offer1 he will never be able to return among the living1#aje for the effect would be the same as eating fairy-food4 ,like ghosts and fairies in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,wales1 in ,brittany the dead guard hidden treasure4 ,it is after sunset that the dead have most power to strike down the living1#aje and to take them just as fairies do4 ,a natural phenomenon1 a malady1 a death1 or a tempest may be the work of a spirit in ,brittany1#aje and in ,ireland the work of a fairy4 ,the ,breton dead1 like the ,scotch fairies described in ,kirk's ,secret ,commonwealth1 are capable of making themselves visible or invisible to mortals1 at will4#aje ,their bodies--for they have bodies--are material1#aje being composed of matter in a state unknown to us2 and the bodies of daemons as described by the ,ancients are made of congealed air4 ,the dead in ,brittany have forms more slender and smaller in stature than those of the living2#aje and herein we find one of the factors which supporters of the ,pygmy ,theory would emphasize1 but it is thoroughly psychical4 ,old ,breton farmers after death return to their farms1 as though come from ,fairyland2 and sometimes they even take a turn at the ploughing4#aje ,as in ,ireland1 so in ,brittany1 the day belongs to the living1 and the night1 when a mortal is safer indoors than out1 to spirits and the dead4#aje ,the ,bretons take great care not to counterfeit the dead nor to speak slightingly of them1#ajf for1 like fairies1 they know all that is done by mortals1 and can hear all that is said about them1 and can take revenge4 ,just as in the case of all fairies and goblins1 the dead disappear at first cock-crow4#ajg ,the world of the dead1 like the land of ,faerie or the ,otherworld1 may be underground1 in the air1 in a hill or mountain like a fairy palace1 under a river or sea1 and even on an island out amid the ocean4#ajg ,as other ,celts do against evil spirits and fairies1 the ,breton peasants use magic against evil souls of the dead1#ajh and the priests use exorcisms4 ,the ,breton realm of the dead equally with the ,irish ,fairyland is an invisible world peopled by other kinds of spirits besides disembodied mortals and fairies4#aji ,the dead haunt houses just as ,robin ,good-fellows and brownies1 or pixies and goblins1 generally do4 ,the dead are fond of frequenting cross-roads1 and so are all sorts of fairies4 ,in ,brittany one must always guard against the evil dead1 in ,cornwall against pixies1 in other ,celtic lands against different kinds of fairies4 ,in ,ireland and ,scotland there is the banshee1 in ,wales the death-candle1 in ,brittany the ,ankou or king of the dead1 to foretell a death4 ,and as the banshee wails before the ancestral mansion1 so the ,ankou sounds its doleful cry before the door of the one it calls4#aji ,there seems not to be a family in the ,carnac region of the ,morbihan without some tradition of a warning coming before the death of one of its members4 ,in ,ireland only certain families have a banshee1 but in ,brittany all families4 ,professor ,le ,braz has devoted a large part of his work on ,la ,lgende de la ,mort to these ,breton death-warnings or intersignes4 ,they may be shades of the dead under many aspects--ghostly hands1 or ghosts of inanimate objects4 ,they may come by the fall of objects without known cause2 by a magpie resting on a roof--just as in ,ireland2 by the crowing of cocks1 and the howling of dogs at night4 ,they may be death-candles or torches1 dreams1 peculiar bodily sensations1 images in water1 phantom funerals1 and death-chariots or death-coaches as in ,wales4 ,the ,bretons may be said to have a ,death-,faith1 whereas the other ,celts have a ,fairy-,faith1 and both are a real folk-religion innate in the ,celtic nature1 and thus quite as influential as ,christianity4 ,should ,christianity in some way suddenly be swept away from the ,celt he would still be religious1 for it is his nature to be so4 ,and as ,professor ,le ,braz has suggested to me1 ,carnac with its strange monuments of an unknown people and time1 and wrapped in its air of mystery and silence1 is a veritable ,land of the ,dead4 ,i1 too1 have felt that there are strange1 vague1 indefinable influences at work at ,carnac at all times of the day and night1 very similar to those which ,i have felt in the most fairy-haunted regions of ,ireland4 ,we might say that all of ,brittany is a ,land of the ,dead1 and ancient ,carnac its ,centre1 just as ,ireland is ,fairyland1 with its ,centre at ancient ,tara4 ,,conclusion ,we can very appropriately conclude our inquiry about ,brittany with a very beautiful description of a ,veille in ,lower ,brittany1 written down in ,french for our special use by the ,breton poet1 ,m4 ,le ,scour1 of ,carnac1 and here translated4 ,m4 ,le ,scour draws the whole picture from life1 and from his own intimate experience4 ,it will serve to give us some insight into the natural literary ability of the ,breton ,celts1 to illustrate their love of tales dealing with the marvellous and the supernormal1 and is especially valuable for showing the social environment amidst which the ,fairy-,faith of ,lower ,brittany lives and flourishes1 isolated from foreign interference3-- ,a ',veille'#aaj in ,lower ,brittany4--',the wind was blowing from the east1 and in the intermittent moonlight the roof of the thatched cottage already gleamed with a thin covering of snow which had fallen since sunset4 ,each comer reached on the run the comfortable bakehouse1 wherein ,alain ,corre was at work kneading his batch of barley bread2 and the father ,le ,scour was never the last to arrive1 because he liked to get the best seat in front of the bake-oven4 ',victor had promised us for that night a pretty story which no person had ever heard before4 ,i was not more than fourteen years old then1 but like all the neighbours ,i hurried to get a place in order to hear ,victor4 ,my mother was already there1 making her distaff whirr between her two fingers as she sat in the light of a rosin candle1 and my brother ,yvon was finishing a wooden butter-spoon4 ,every few minutes ,i and my little cousin went out to see if it was still snowing1 and if ,victor had arrived4 ',at last ,victor entered1 and everybody applauded1 the young girls lengthening out their distaffs to do him reverence4 ,then when silence was restored1 after some of the older men had several times shouted out1 ,let us commence2 hold your tongues1 ,victor began his story as follows3-- ',formerly1 in the village of ,kastel-,laer1 ,plouneventer 7,finistre71 there were two neighbours2 the one was ,paol al ,ludu and the other ,yon ,rustik4 ,paol al ,ludu was a good-for-nothing sort of fellow2 he gained his living easily1 by cheating everybody and by robbing his neighbours2 and being always well dressed he was much envied by his poorer acquaintances4 ,yon ,rustik1 on the contrary1 was a poor1 infirm1 and honest man1 always seeking to do good1 but not being able to work1 had to beg4 ',one evening our two men were disputing4 ,paol al ,ludu treated ,yon shamefully1 telling him that it would be absurd to think an old lame man such as he was could ever get to ,paris2 ',but ,i1' added ,paol1 'am going to see the capital and amuse myself like a rich bourgeois4' ,at this1 ,yon offered to bet with ,paol that in spite of infirmities he would also go to ,paris2 and being an honest man he placed his trust in ,god4 ,the wager was mutually agreed to1 and our two men set out for ,paris by different routes4 ',paol al ,ludu1 who had no infirmities1 arrived at ,paris within three weeks4 ,he followed the career of a thief1 and deceived everybody2 and as he was well dressed1 people had confidence in him4 ,the poor ,yon ,rustik1 on the contrary1 did not travel rapidly4 ,he was obliged to beg his way1 and being meanly dressed was compelled to sleep outdoors when he could not find a stable4 ,at the end of a month he arrived in a big forest in the region of ,versailles1 and having no other shelter for the night chose a great oak tree which was hollowed by the centuries and lined with fungi within4 ,in front of this ancient oak there was a fountain which must have been miraculous1 for it flowed from east to west1 and ,yon had closely observed it4 ',towards midnight ,yon was awakened by a terrible uproar2 there were a hundred corrigans dancing round the fountain4 ,he overheard one of them say to the others3 ',i have news to report to you2 ,i have cast an evil spell upon the daughter of the ,king1 and no mortal will ever be able to cure her1 and yet in order to cure her nothing more would be needed than a drop of water from this fountain4' ,the corrigan who thus spoke was upon two sticks#aaa 7crippled71 and commanded all the others4 ,the beggar having understood the conversation1 awaited impatiently the departure of the corrigans4 ,when they were gone1 he took a little water from the fountain in a bottle1 and hurried on to ,paris1 where he arrived one fine morning4 ',in the house where ,yon stopped to eat his crust of dry bread he heard it reported that the daughter of the ,king was very ill1 and that the wisest doctors in ,france had been sent for4 ,three days later1 ,yon ,rustik presented himself at the palace1 and asked audience with the ,king1 but as he was so shabbily dressed the attendants did not wish to let him enter4 ,when he strongly insisted1 they finally prevailed upon the ,king to receive him2 and then ,yon told the ,king that he had come to cure the princess4 ,thereupon the ,king caused ,yon to be fittingly dressed and presented before the sick-bed2 and ,yon drew forth his bottle of water1 and1 at his request1 the princess drank it to the last drop4 ,suddenly she began to laugh with joy1 and throwing her arms about the neck of the beggar thanked him3 she was radically cured4 ,at once the ,king gave orders that his golden coach of state be made ready2 and placing the princess and the beggar on one seat1 made a tour throughout all the most beautiful streets of ,paris4 ,never before were such crowds seen in ,paris1 for the proclamation had gone forth that the one who had made the miraculous cure was a beggar4 ',paol al ,ludu1 who was still in ,paris1 pressed forward to see the royal coach pass1 and when he saw who sat next to the princess he was beside himself with rage4 ,but before the day was over he discovered ,yon in the great hotel of the city1 and asked him how it was that he had been able to effect the cure2 and ,yon replied to his old rival that it was with the water of a miraculous fountain1 and relating everything which had passed1 explained to him in what place the hollow oak and the fountain were to be found4 ',paol did not wait even that night1 but set off at once to find the miraculous fountain4 ,when he finally found it the hour was almost midnight1 and so he hid himself in the hollow of the oak1 hoping to overhear some mysterious revelation4 ,midnight had hardly come when a frightful uproar commenced3 this time the crippled corrigan chief was swearing like a demon1 and he cried to the others1 ',the daughter of the ,king has been cured by a beggar6 ,he must have overheard us by hiding in the hollow of that d----d old oak4 ,quick6 let fire be put in it1 for it has brought us misfortune4' ',in less than a minute1 the trunk of the oak was in flames2 and there were heard the cries of anguish of ,paol al ,ludu and the gnashing of his teeth1 as he fought against death4 ,thus the evil and dishonest man ended his life1 while ,yon ,rustik received a pension of twenty thousand francs1 and was able to live happy for many years1 and to give alms to the poor4' ,here ,m4 ,le ,scour ends his narrative1 leaving the reader to imagine the enthusiastic applause and fond embraces bestowed upon ,victor for this most marvellous story1 by the happy gathering of country-folk in that cosy warm bakehouse in ,lower ,brittany1 while without the cold east wind of winter was whirling into every nook and corner the falling flakes of snow4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the evidence from ,ireland1 ,scotland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,wales1 ,cornwall1 and ,brittany1 which the living ,celtic ,fairy-,faith offers1 has now been heard2 and1 as was stated at the beginning of the inquiry1 apparently most of it can only be interpreted as belonging to a world-wide doctrine of souls4 ,but before this decision can be arrived at safely1 all the evidence should be carefully estimated according to anthropological and psychological methods2 and this we shall proceed to do in the following chapter1 before passing to ,section ,,ii of our study4 ,,section ,i ,,the ,,living ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,,iii ,,an ,,anthropological ,,examination ,,of ,,the ,,evidence ,anthropology is concerned with man and what is in man--humani nihil a se alienum putat4--,,andrew ,,lang4 ,the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith as part of a ,world-wide ,animism--,shaping ,influence of ,social ,psychology--,smallness of ,elvish ,spirits and ,fairies1 according to ,ethnology1 ,animism1 and ,occult ,sciences--,the ,changeling ,belief and its explanation according to the ,kidnap1 ,human-,sacrifice1 ,soul-,wandering1 and ,demon-,possession ,theory--,ancient and ,modern ,magic and ,witchcraft shown to be based on definite psychological laws--,exorcisms--,taboos1 of ,name1 ,food1 ,iron1 ,place--,taboos among ,ancient ,celts--,food-,sacrifice--,legend of the ,dead--,conclusion3 ,the background of the modern belief in ,fairies is animistic4 ,,the ,,celtic ,,fairy-,,faith ,,as ,,part ,,of ,a ,,world-,,wide ,,animism ,the modern belief in fairies1 with which until now we have been specifically concerned1 is ,celtic only in so far as it reflects ,celtic traditions and customs1 ,celtic myth and religion1 and ,celtic social and environmental conditions4 ,otherwise1 as will be shown throughout this and succeeding chapters1 it is in essence a part of a world-wide animism1 which forms the background of all religions in whatever stage of culture religions exist or to which they have attained by evolution1 from the barbarism of the ,congo black man to the civilization of the ,archbishop of ,canterbury2 and as far back as we can go into human origins there is some corresponding belief in a fairy or spirit realm1 as there is to-day among contemporary civilized and uncivilized races of all countries4 ,we may therefore very profitably begin our examination of the living ,fairy-,faith of the ,celts by comparing it with a few examples1 taken almost at random1 from the animistic beliefs current among non-,celtic peoples4 ,to the ,arunta tribes of ,central ,australia1 furthest removed in space from the ,celts and hence least likely to have been influenced by them1 let us go first1 in order to examine their doctrine of ancestral ,alcheringa beings and of the ,iruntarinia1 which offers an almost complete parallel to the ,celtic belief in fairies4 ,these ,alcheringa beings and ,iruntarinia--to ignore the secondary differences between the two--are a spirit race inhabiting an invisible or fairy world4 ,only certain persons1 medicine-men and seers1 can see them2 and these describe them as thin and shadowy1 and1 like the ,irish ,sidhe1 as always youthful in appearance4 ,precisely like their ,celtic counterparts in general1 these ,australian spirits are believed to haunt inanimate objects such as stones and trees2 or to frequent totem centres1 as in ,ireland demons 7daemons7 are believed to frequent certain places known to have been anciently dedicated to the religious rites of the pre-,christian ,celts2 and1 quite after the manner of the ,breton dead and of most fairies1 they are said to control human affairs and natural phenomena4 ,all the ,arunta invariably regard themselves as incarnations or reincarnations of these ancestral spirit-beings2 and1 in accordance with evidence to be set forth in our seventh chapter1 ancient and modern ,celts have likewise regarded themselves as incarnations or reincarnations of ancestors and of fairy beings4 ,also the ,arunta think of the ,alcheringa beings exactly as ,celts think of fairies3 as real invisible entities who must be propitiated if men wish to secure their goodwill2 and as beneficent and protecting beings when not offended1 who may attach themselves to individuals as guardian spirits4#aab ,among the ,melanesian peoples there is an equally firm faith in spiritual beings1 which they call ,vui and ,wui1 and these beings have very many of the chief attributes of the ,alcheringa beings4#aac ,in ,africa1 the ,amatongo1 or ,abapansi of ,amazulu belief1 have essentially the same motives for action toward men and women1 and exhibit the same powers1 as the ,scotch and ,irish peasants assign to the 'good people'4 ,they take the living through death2 and people so taken appear afterwards as apparitions1 having become ,amatongo4#aad ,in the ,new ,world1 we find in the ,north ,american ,red ,men a race as much given as the ,celts are to a belief in various spirits like fairies4 ,they believe that there are spirits in lakes1 in rivers and in waterfalls1 in rocks and trees1 in the earth and in the air2 and that these beings produce storms1 droughts1 good and bad harvests1 abundance and scarcity of game1 disease1 and the varying fortunes of men4 ,mr4 ,leland1 who has carefully studied these ,american beliefs1 says that the ,un games-suk1 or little spirits inhabiting rocks and streams1 play a much more influential part in the social and religious life of the ,north ,american ,red ,men than elves or fairies ever did among the ,aryans4#aae ,in ,asia there is the well-known and elaborate animistic creed of the ,chinese and of the ,japanese1 to be in part illustrated in subsequent sections4 ,in popular ,indian belief1 as found in the ,panjab1 there is no essential difference between various orders of beings endowed with immortality1 such as ghosts and spirits on the one hand1 and gods1 demi-gods1 and warriors on the other2 for whether in bodies in this world or out of bodies in the invisible world1 they equally live and act--quite as fairies do4#aaf ,throughout the ,malay ,peninsula1 belief in many orders of good and bad spirits1 in demon-possession1 in exorcism1 and in the power of black magicians is very common4#aag ,but in the ,phi races of ,siam we discover what is probably the most important and complete parallel to the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith existing in ,asia4 ,according to the ,siamese folk-belief1 all the stars and various planets1 as well as the ethereal spaces1 are the dwelling-places of the ,thvadas1 gods and goddesses of the old pre-,buddhist mythology1 who correspond pretty closely to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann of ,irish mythology2 and this world itself is peopled by legions of minor deities called ,phi1 who include all the various orders of good and bad spirits continually influencing mankind4 ,some of these ,phi live in forests1 in trees1 in open spaces2 and watercourses are full of them4 ,others inhabit mountains and high places4 ,a particular order who haunt the sacred trees surrounding the ,buddhist temples are known as ,phi nang mai2 and since nang is the word for female1 and mai for tree1 they are comparable to tree-dwelling fairies1 or ,greek wood-nymphs4 ,still another order called ,chao phum phi 7gods of the earth7 are like house-frequenting brownies1 fairies1 and pixies1 or like certain orders of corrigans who haunt barns1 stables1 and dwellings2 and in many curious details these ,chao phum phi correspond to the ,penates of ancient ,rome4 ,not only is the worship of this order of ,phi widespread in ,siam1 but to every other order of ,phi altars are erected and propitiatory offerings made by all classes of the ,siamese people4#aah ,before passing westwards to ,europe1 in completion of our rapid folk-lore tour of the world1 we may observe that the ,persians1 even those who are well educated1 have a firm belief in jinns and afreets1 different orders of good and bad spirits with all the chief characteristics of fairies4#aai ,and modern ,arabs and ,egyptians and ,egyptian ,turks hold similar animistic beliefs4#abj ,in ,europe1 the ,greek peasant as firmly believes in nymphs or nereids as the ,celtic peasant believes in fairies2 and nymphs1 nereids1 and fairies alike are often the survivals of an ancient mythology4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,c4 ,lawson1 who has very carefully investigated the folk-lore of modern ,greece1 says3 ',the nereids are conceived as women half-divine yet not immortal1 always young1 always beautiful1 capricious at best1 and at their worst cruel4 ,their presence is suspected everywhere4 ,i myself had a nereid pointed out to me by my guide1 and there certainly was the semblance of a female figure draped in white1 and tall beyond human stature1 flitting in the dusk between the gnarled and twisted boles of an old olive-yard4 ,what the apparition was1 ,i had no leisure to investigate2 for my guide with many signs of the cross and muttered invocations of the ,virgin urged my mule to perilous haste along the rough mountain path4' ,like ,celtic fairies1 these ,greek nereids have their queens2 they dance all night1 disappearing at cock-crow2 they can cast spells on animals or maladies on men and women2 they can shift their shape2 they take children in death and make changelings2 and they fall in love with young men4#aba ,among the ,roumain peoples the widespread belief in the ,iele shows in other ways equally marked parallels with the ,fairy-,faith of the ,celts4 ,these ,iele wait at cross-roads and near dwellings1 or at village fountains or in fields and woods1 where they can best cast on men and women various maladies4 ,sometimes they fall in love with beautiful young men and women1 and have on such occasions even been controlled by their mortal lovers4 ,they are extremely fond of music and dancing1 and many a shepherd with his pipes has been favoured by them1 though they have their own music and songs too4 ,the ,albanian peoples have evil fairies1 no taller than children twelve years old1 called in ,modern ,greek ,greek3 ta extika1 'those without1' who correspond to the ,iele4 ,young people who have been enticed to enter their round dance afterwards waste away and die1 apparently becoming one of 'those without'4 ,these ,albanian spirits1 like the 'good people' and the ,breton dead1 have their own particular paths and retreats1 and whoever violates these is struck and falls ill4#abb ,these parallels from ,roumain lands are probably due to the close ,aryan relationship between the ,roumains1 the ,greeks1 and the ,celts4 ,the ,iele seem nothing more than the nymphs and nereids of classical antiquity transformed under ,christian influence into beings who contradict their original good character1 as in ,celtic lands the fairy-folk have likewise come to be fallen angels and evil spirits4 ,there is an even closer relationship between the ,italian and ,celtic fairies4 ,for example1 among the ,etruscan-,roman people there are now flourishing animistic beliefs almost identical in all details with the ,fairy-,faith of the ,celts4#abc ,in a very valuable study on the ,neo-,latin ,fay1 ,mr4 ,h4 ,c4 ,coote writes3--',who were the ,fays--the fate of later ,italy1 the fes of mediaeval ,france8 ,for it is perfectly clear that the fatua1 fata1 and fe are all one and the same word4' ,and he proceeds to show that the race of immortal damsels whom the old natives of ,italy called ,fatuae gave origin to all the family of fes as these appear in ,latin countries1 and that the ,italians recognized in the ,greek nymphs their own ,fatuae4#abd ,it is quite evident that we have here discovered in ,italy1 as we discovered in ,greece and ,roumain lands1 fairies very ,celtic in character2 and should further examination be made of modern ,european folk-lore yet other similar fairies would be found1 such1 for example1 as the elves of ,germany and of ,scandinavia1 or as the servans of the ,swiss peasant4 ,and in all cases1 whether the beliefs examined be ,celtic or non-,celtic1 ,aryan or non-,aryan1 from ,australia1 ,polynesia1 ,africa1 ,america1 ,asia1 or ,europe1 they are in essence animistically the same1 as later sections in this chapter will make clear4 ,but while the parallelism of these beliefs is indicated it is1 of course1 not meant for a moment that in all of the cases or in any one of the cases the specific differences are not considerable4 ,the ground of comparison consists simply in those generic characteristics which these fairy-faiths1 as they may be called1 invariably display--characteristics which we have good precedent for summing up in the single adjective animistic4 ,,shaping ,,influence ,,of ,,social ,,psychology ,for the term animism we have to thank ,dr4 ,e4 ,b4 ,tylor1 whose ,primitive ,culture1 in which the animistic theory is developed1 may almost be said to mark the beginning of scientific anthropology4 ,in this work1 however1 there is a decided tendency 7which indeed displays itself in most of the leading anthropological works1 as1 for example1 in those by ,dr4 ,frazer7 to regard men1 or at any rate primitive men1 as having a mind absolutely homogeneous1 and therefore as thinking1 feeling1 and acting in the same way under all conditions alike4 ,but a decided change is beginning to manifest itself in the interpretation of the customs and beliefs of the ruder races4 ,it is assumed as a working principle that each ethnic group has or tends to have an individuality of its own1 and1 moreover1 that the members of such a group think1 feel1 and act primarily as the representatives1 so to speak1 of that ethnic individuality in which they live1 move1 and have their being4 ,that is to say1 a social as contrasted with an individual psychology must1 it is held1 pronounce both the first and last word regarding all matters of mythology1 religion1 and art in its numerous forms4 ,the reason is that these are social products1 and as such are to be understood only in the light of the laws governing the workings of the collective mind of any particular ethnic group4 ,such a method is1 for instance1 employed in ,mr4 ,william ,mc,dougall's ,social ,psychology1 in ,mr4 ,r4 ,r4 ,marett's ,threshold of ,religion1 and in many anthropological articles to be found in ,l',anne ,sociologique4 ,if1 therefore1 we hold by this new and fruitful method of social psychology we must be prepared to treat the ,fairy-,faith of the ,celtic peoples also in and for itself1 as expressive of an individuality more or less unique4 ,it might1 indeed1 be objected that these peoples are not a single social group1 but rather a number of such groups1 and this is1 in a way1 true4 ,nevertheless their folk-lore displays such remarkable homogeneity1 from whatever quarter of the ,celtic world it be derived1 that it seems the soundest method to treat them as one people for all the purposes of the student of sociology1 mythology1 and religion4 ,granting1 then1 such a unity in the beliefs of the pan-,celtic race1 we are finally obliged to distinguish as it were two aspects thereof4 ,on the one hand there is shown1 even in the mere handful of non-,celtic parallels1 which for reasons of space we have been content to cite1 as well as in their ,celtic equivalents1 a generic element common to all peoples living under primitive conditions of society4 ,it is emphatically a social element1 but at the same time one which any primitive society is bound to display4 ,on the other hand1 in a second aspect1 the ,celtic beliefs show of themselves a character which is wholly ,celtic3 in the ,fairy-,faith1 which is generically animistic1 we find reflected all sorts of specific characteristics of the ,celtic peoples--their patriotism1 their peculiar type of imagination1 their costumes1 amusements1 household life1 and social and religious customs generally4 ,with this fact in mind1 we may proceed to examine certain of the more specialized aspects of the ,fairy-,faith1 as manifested both among ,celts and elsewhere4 ,,the ,,smallness ,,of ,,elvish ,,spirits ,,and ,,fairies ,ethnological or ,pygmy ,theory ,in any anthropological estimate of the ,fairy-,faith1 the pygmy stature so commonly attributed to various orders of ,celtic and of non-,celtic fairies should be considered4 ,various scholarly champions of the ,pygmy ,theory have attempted to explain this smallness of fairies by means of the hypothesis that the belief in such fairies is due wholly to a folk-memory of small-statured pre-,celtic races2#abe and they add that these races1 having dwelt in caverns like the prehistoric ,cave ,men1 and in underground houses like those of ,lapps or ,eskimos1 gave rise to the belief in a fairy world existing in caverns and under hills or mountains4 ,when analysed1 our evidence shows that in the majority of cases witnesses have regarded fairies either as non-human nature-spirits or else as spirits of the dead2 that in a comparatively limited number of cases they have regarded them as the souls of prehistoric races2 and that occasionally they have regarded the belief in them as due to a folk-memory of such races4 ,it follows1 then1 from such an analysis of evidence1 that the ,pygmy ,theory probably does explain some ethnological elements which have come to be almost inseparably interwoven with the essentially animistic fabric of the primitive ,fairy-,faith4 ,but though the theory may so account for such ethnological elements1 it disregards the animism that has made such interweaving possible2 and1 on the whole1 we are inclined to accept ,mr4 ,jenner's view of the theory 7see p4 #afi74 ,since the ,pygmy ,theory thus fails entirely to provide a basis for what is by far the most important part of the ,fairy-,faith1 a more adequate theory is required4 ,animistic ,theory ,the testimony of ,celtic literature goes to show that leprechauns and similar dwarfish beings are not due to a folk-memory of a real pygmy race1 that they are spirits like elves1 and that the folk-memory of a ,lappish-like people 7who may have been ,picts7 evidently was confused with them1 so as to result in their being anthropomorphosed4 ,thus1 in ,fionn's ,ransom1 there is reference to an under-sized apparently ,lappish-like man1 who may be a ,pict2 and as ,campbell1 who records the ancient tale1 has observed1 there are many similar traditional ,highland tales about little men or even about true dwarfs who are good bowmen2#abf but it is very certain that such tales have often blended with other tales1 in which supernatural figures like fairies play a rle2 and1 apparently1 the former kind of tales are much more historical and modern in their origin1 while the latter are more mythological and extremely archaic4 ,this blending of the natural or ethnological and the supernatural--in quite the same manner as in the modern ,fairy-,faith--is clearly seen in another of ,campbell's collected tales1 ,the ,lad with the ,skin ,coverings1#abg which in essence is an otherworld tale3 'a little thickset man in a russet coat1' who is a magician1 but who otherwise seems to be a genuine ,lapp dressed in furs1 is introduced into a story where real fairy-like beings play the chief parts4 ,again1 in ,irish literature1 we read of a loch luchra or 'lake of the pygmies'4#abh ,light is thrown upon this reference by what is recorded about the leprechauns and ,fergus3--,while asleep on the seashore one day1 ,fergus was about to be carried off by the luchorpin2 'whereat he awoke and caught three of them1 to wit1 one in each of his two hands1 and one on his breast4 ,life for life 7i4 e4 protection71 say they4 ,let my three wishes 7i4 e4 choices7 be given1 says ,fergus4 ,thou shalt have1 says the dwarf1 save that which is impossible for us4 ,fergus requested of him knowledge of passing under loughs and linns and seas4 ,thou shalt have1 says the dwarf1 save one which ,i forbid to thee3 thou shalt not go under ,lough ,rudraide which is in thine own country4 ,thereafter the luchuirp 7little bodies7 put herbs into his ears1 and he used to go with them under seas4 ,others say the dwarf gave his cloak to him1 and that ,fergus used to put it on his head and thus go under seas4'#abi ,in an etymological comment on this passage1 ,sir ,john ,rhys says3--',the words luchuirp and luchorpin ,anglo-,irish leprechaun appear to mean literally small bodies1 and the word here rendered dwarf is in the ,irish abac1 the etymological equivalent of the ,welsh avanc1 the name by which certain water inhabitants of a mythic nature went in ,welsh4444'#acj ,besides what we find in the recorded ,fairy-,faith1 there are very many parallel traditions1 both ,celtic and non-,celtic1 about various classes of spirits1 like leprechauns or other small elvish beings1 which ,dr4 ,tylor has called nature-spirits2#aca and apparently all of these can best be accounted for by means of the animistic hypothesis4 ,for example1 in ,north ,america 7as in ,celtic lands7 there is no proof of there ever having been an actual dwarf race1 but ,lewis and ,clark1 in their ,travels to the ,source of the ,missouri ,river1 found among the ,sioux a tradition that a hill near the ,whitestone ,river1 which the ,red ,men called the ',mountain of ,little ,people' or ',little ,spirits'1 was inhabited by pygmy demons in human form1 about eighteen inches tall1 armed with sharp arrows1 and ever on the alert to kill mortals who should dare to invade their domain4 ,so afraid were all the tribes of ,red ,men who lived near the mountain of these little spirits that no one of them could be induced to visit it4#acb ,and we may compare this ,american spirit-haunted hill with similar natural hills in ,scotland said to be fairy knolls3 one near the turning of a road from ,reay ,wick to ,safester1 ,isle of ,unst2#acc one the well-known fairy-haunted ,tomnahurich1 near ,inverness2#acc and a third1 the hill at ,aberfoyle on which the 'people of peace' took the ,rev4 ,robert ,kirk when he profaned it by walking on it2 or we may equate the ,american hill with the fairy-haunted ,slieve ,gullion and ,ben ,bulbin in ,ireland4 ,the ,iroquois had a belief that they could summon dwarfs1 who were similar nature-spirits1 by knocking on a certain large stone4#acd ,likewise the ,polong1 a ,malay familiar spirit1 is 'an exceedingly diminutive female figure or mannikin'4#ace ,east ,indian nature-spirits1 too1 are pygmies in stature4#acf ,in ,polynesia1 entirely independent of the common legends about wild races of pygmy stature1 are myths about the spirits called wui or vui1 who correspond to ,european dwarfs and trolls4 ,these little spirits seem to occupy the same position toward the ,melanesian gods or culture heroes1 ,qat of the ,banks ,islands and ,tagaro of the ,new ,hebrides1 as daemons toward ,greek gods1 or as good angels toward the ,christian ,trinity1 or as fairy tribes toward the ,brythonic ,arthur and toward the ,gaelic hero ,cuchulainn4#acg ,similarly in ,hindu mythology pygmies hold an important place1 being sculptured on most temples in company with the gods2 e4 g4 ,siva is accompanied by a bodyguard of dwarfs1 and one of them1 the three-legged ,bhringi1 is a good dancer#ach--like all corrigans1 pixies1 and most fairies4 ,beyond the borders of ,celtic lands--in ,southern ,asia with its islands1 in ,melanesia with ,new ,guinea1 and in ,central ,africa--pygmy races1 generally called ,negritos1 exist at the present day2 but they themselves have a fairy-faith1 just as their normal-sized primitive neighbours have1 and it would hardly be reasonable to argue that either of the two fairy-faiths is due to a folk-memory of small-statured peoples4 ,ancient and thoroughly reliable manuscript records testify to the existence of pygmies in ,china during the twenty-third century ,b4 ,c42#aci yet no one has ever tried to explain the well-known animistic beliefs of modern ,chinamen in ghosts1 demons1 and in little nature-spirits like fairies1 by saying that these are a folk-memory of this ancient pygmy race4 ,in ,yezo and the ,kurile ,islands of ,japan still survive a few of the hairy ,ainu1 a ,caucasian-like1 under-sized race2 and their immediate predecessors1 whom they exterminated1 were a ,negrito race1 who1 according to some traditions1 were two to three feet in stature1 and1 according to other traditions1 only one inch in stature4#adj ,both pygmy races1 the surviving and the exterminated race1 seem independently to have evolved a belief in ghosts and spirits1 so that here again it need not be argued that the present pre-,buddhist animism of the ,japanese is due to a folk-memory of either ,ainus or ,negritos4 ,further examination of the animistic hypothesis designed to explain the smallness of elvish spirits leads away from mere mythology into psychology1 and sets us the task of finding out if1 after all1 primitive ideas about the disembodied human soul may not have originated or at least have helped to shape the ,celtic folk conception of fairies as small-statured beings4 ,mr4 ,a4 ,e4 ,crawley1 in his ,idea of the ,soul 7pp4 #bjj-a1 #bjf71 shows by carefully selected evidence from ancient and modern psychologies that 'first among the attributes of the soul in its primary form may be placed its size'1 and that 'in the majority of cases it is a miniature replica of the person1 described often as a mannikin1 or homunculus1 of a few inches in height'4 ,sometimes the soul is described as only about three inches in stature4 ,dr4 ,frazer shows1 likewise1 that by practically all contemporary primitive peoples the soul is commonly regarded as a dwarf4#ada ,the same opinions regarding the human soul prevailed among ancient peoples highly civilized1 i4 e4 the ,egyptians and ,greeks1 and may have thence directly influenced ,celtic tradition4 ,thus1 in bas-relief on the ,egyptian temple of ,dr el ,bahri1 ,queen ,hatsheps ,ramaka is making offerings of perfume to the gods1 while just behind her stands her ,ka 7soul7 as a pygmy so little that the crown of its head is just on a level with her waist4#adb ,the ,ka is usually represented as about half the size of an ordinary man4 ,in the ,book of the ,dead1 the ,ba1 which like the ,ka is one of the many separable parts of the soul1 is represented as a very little man with wings and bird-like body4 ,on ,greek vases the human soul is depicted as a pygmy issuing from the body through the mouth2 and this conception existed among ,romans and ,teutons4#adc ,like their predecessors the ,egyptians1 the ,greeks also often represented the soul as a small winged human figure1 and ,romans1 in turn1 imagined the soul as a pygmy with butterfly wings4 ,these ideas reappear in mediaeval reliefs and pictures wherein the soul is shown as a child or little naked man going out of the dying person's mouth2#add and1 according to ,cdmon1 who was educated by ,celtic teachers1 angels are small and beautiful#ade--quite like good fairies4 ,alchemical and ,mystical ,theory ,in the positive doctrines of mediaeval alchemists and mystics1 e4 g4 ,paracelsus and the ,rosicrucians1 as well as their modern followers1 the ancient metaphysical ideas of ,egypt1 ,greece1 and ,rome find a new expression2 and these doctrines raise the final problem--if there are any scientific grounds for believing in such pygmy nature-spirits as these remarkable thinkers of the ,middle ,ages claim to have studied as beings actually existing in nature4 ,to some extent this interesting problem will be examined in our chapter entitled ,science and ,fairies2 here we shall simply outline the metaphysical theory1 adding the testimony of some of its living advocates to explain the smallness of elvish spirits and fairies4 ,these mediaeval metaphysicians1 inheritors of pre-,platonic1 ,platonic1 and neo-,platonic teachings1 purposely obscured their doctrines under a covering of alchemical terms1 so as to safeguard themselves against persecution1 open discussion of occultism not being safe during the ,middle ,ages1 as it was among the ancients and happily is now again in our own generation4 ,but they were quite scientific in their methods1 for they divided all invisible beings into four distinct classes3 the ,angels1 who in character and function are parallel to the gods of the ancients1 and equal to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann of the ,irish1 are the highest2 below them are the ,devils or ,demons1 who correspond to the fallen angels of ,christianity2 the third class includes all ,elementals1 sub-human ,nature-,spirits1 who are generally regarded as having pygmy stature1 like the ,greek daemons2 and the fourth division comprises the ,souls of the ,dead1 and the shades or ghosts of the dead4 ,for us1 the third class1 which includes spirits of pygmy-like form1 is the most important in this present discussion4 ,all its members are of four kinds1 according as they inhabit one of the four chief elements of nature4#adf ,those inhabiting the earth are called ,gnomes4 ,they are definitely of pygmy stature1 and friendly to man1 and in fairy-lore ordinarily correspond to mine-haunting fairies or goblins1 to pixies1 corrigans1 leprechauns1 and to such elves as live in rocks1 caverns1 or earth--an important consideration entirely overlooked by champions of the ,pygmy ,theory4 ,those inhabiting the air are called ,sylphs4 ,these ,sylphs1 commonly described as little spirits like pygmies in form1 correspond to most of the fairies who are not of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or 'gentry' type1 and who as a race are beautiful and graceful4 ,they are quite like the fairies in ,shakespeare's ,midsummer-,night's ,dream2 and especially like the aerials in ,the ,tempest1 which1 according to ,mr4 ,morton ,luce1 a commentator on the drama1 seem to have been shaped by ,shakespeare from his knowledge of ,rosicrucian occultism1 in which such spirits hold an important place4 ,those inhabiting the water are called ,undines1 and correspond exactly to the fairies who live in sacred fountains1 lakes1 or rivers4 ,and the fourth kind1 those inhabiting the fire1 are called ,salamanders1 and seldom appear in the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith3 they are supreme in the elementary hierarchies4 ,all these ,elementals1 who procreate after the manner of men1 are said to have bodies of an elastic half-material essence1 which is sufficiently ethereal not to be visible to the physical sight1 and probably comparable to matter in the form of invisible gases4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,b4 ,yeats has given this explanation3--',many poets1 and all mystic and occult writers1 in all ages and countries1 have declared that behind the visible are chains on chains of conscious beings1 who are not of heaven but of the earth1 who have no inherent form1 but change according to their whim1 or the mind that sees them4 ,you cannot lift your hand without influencing and being influenced by hordes4 ,the visible world is merely their skin4 ,in dreams we go amongst them1 and play with them1 and combat with them4 ,they are1 perhaps1 human souls in the crucible--these creatures of whim4'#adg ,and bringing this into relation with ordinary fairies1 he says3--',do not think the fairies are always little4 ,everything is capricious about them1 even their size4 ,they seem to take what size or shape pleases them4'#adg ,in ,the ,celtic ,twilight ,mr4 ,yeats makes the statement that the 'fairies in ,ireland are sometimes as big as we are1 sometimes bigger1 and sometimes1 as ,i have been told1 about three feet high4'#adh ,mrs4 ,x1 a cultured ,irishwoman now living in ,county ,dublin1 who as a percipient fulfils all the exacting requirements which psychologists and pathologists would demand1 tells me that very frequently she has had visions of fairy beings in ,ireland1 and her own classification and description of these fairy beings1 chiefly according to their stature1 are as follows3--',among the usually invisible races which ,i have seen in ,ireland1 ,i distinguish five classes4 7#a7 ,there are the ,gnomes1 who are earth-spirits1 and who seem to be a sorrowful race4 ,i once saw some of them distinctly on the side of ,ben ,bulbin4 ,they had rather round heads and dark thick-set bodies1 and in stature were about two and one-half feet4 7#b7 ,the ,leprechauns are different1 being full of mischief1 though they1 too1 are small4 ,i followed a leprechaun from the town of ,wicklow out to the ,carraig ,sidhe1 ,rock of the ,fairies1 a distance of half a mile or more1 where he disappeared4 ,he had a very merry face1 and beckoned to me with his finger4 7#c7 ,a third class are the ,little ,people1 who1 unlike the ,gnomes and ,leprechauns1 are quite good-looking2 and they are very small4 7#d7 ,the ,good ,people are tall beautiful beings1 as tall as ourselves1 to judge by those ,i saw at the rath in ,rosses ,point4 ,they direct the magnetic currents of the earth4 7#e7 ,the ,gods are really the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 and they are much taller than our race4 ,there may be many other classes of invisible beings which ,i do not know4' 7,recorded on ,october #af1 #aiaj47 ,and independently of the ,celtic peoples there is available very much testimony of the most reliable character from modern disciples of the mediaeval occultists1 e4 g4 the ,rosicrucians1 and the ,theosophists1 that there exist in nature invisible spiritual beings of pygmy stature and of various forms and characters1 comparable in all respects to the little people of ,celtic folk-lore4 ,how all this is parallel to the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith is perfectly evident1 and no comment of ours is necessary4#adi ,this point of view1 presented by mediaeval and modern occult sciences and confirmed by ,celtic and non-,celtic percipients1 when considered in relation to its non-,celtic sources and then at once contrasted with ancient and modern ,celtic beliefs of the same character which constitute it--to be seen in the above ,gaelic and ,brythonic manuscript and other evidence1 and in ,cdmon's theory that angels are small beings--plunges us into the very complex and extremely difficult problem how far fairies as pygmy spirits may be purely ,celtic1 and how far they may reflect beliefs not ,celtic4 ,the problem1 however1 is far too complicated to be discussed here2 and one may briefly say that there seems to have been a time in the evolution of animism when the ancient ,celts of ,britain1 of ,ireland1 and of ,continental ,europe too1 held1 in common with the ancient ,greeks1 ,romans1 and ,teutons1 an original ,aryan doctrine4 ,this doctrine1 after these four stocks separated in possession of it1 began to evolve its four specialized aspects which we now can study2 and in the ,irish ,universities of the early ,christian centuries1 when ,ireland was the centre of ,european learning1 the classical and ,celtic aspects of it met for the first time since their prehistoric divorcement4 ,there1 as is clearly seen later among the mediaeval alchemists and occultists1 a new influence--from ,christian theology--was superadded to the ancient animistic beliefs of ,europe as they had evolved up to that time4 ,conclusion ,the ethnological argument1 after allowing for all its shortcomings1 suggests that small-statured races like ,lapps and ,eskimos 7though not necessarily true pygmy races1 of whose existence in ,europe there is no proof available7 did once inhabit lands where there are ,celts1 and that a ,celtic folk-memory of these could conceivably have originated a belief in certain kinds of fairies1 and thus have been a shaping influence in the animistic traditions about other fairies4 ,the animistic argument shows that pygmies described in ,celtic literature and in ,celtic and non-,celtic mythologies are nearly always to be thought of as non-human spirits2 and that there is now and was in past ages a world-wide belief that the human soul is in stature a pygmy4 ,the philosophical argument of alchemists and mystics1 in a way1 draws to itself the animistic argument1 and sets up the hypothesis that the smallness of elves and fairies is due to their own nature1 because they actually exist as invisible tribes of non-human beings of pygmy size and form4 ,,the ,,changeling ,,belief ,the smallness of fairies1 which has just been considered1 and the belief in changelings are the two most prominent characteristics of the ,fairy-,faith1 according to our evidence in chapter ii2 and we are now to consider the second4 ,the prevalent and apparently the only important theories which are current to explain this belief in changelings may be designated as the ,kidnap ,theory and the ,human-,sacrifice ,theory4 ,these we shall proceed to estimate1 after which there will be introduced newer and seemingly more adequate theories4 ,kidnap ,theory ,some writers have argued that the changeling belief merely reflects a time when the aboriginal pre-,celtic peoples held in subjection by the ,celts1 and forced to live in mountain caverns and in secret retreats underground1 occasionally kidnapped the children of their conquerors1 and that such kidnapped children sometimes escaped and told to their ,celtic kinsmen highly romantic tales about having been in an underground fairy-world with fairies4 ,frequently this argument has taken a slightly different form3 that instead of unfriendly pre-,celtic peoples it was magic-working ,druids who--either through their own choice or else1 having been driven to bay by the spread of ,christianity1 through force of circumstances--dwelt in secret in chambered mounds or souterrains1 or in dense forests1 and then stole young people for recruits1 sometimes permitting them1 years afterwards1 when too old to be of further use1 to return home under an inviolable vow of secrecy4#aej ,and ,mr4 ,david ,mac,ritchie in supporting his own ,pygmy ,theory has made interesting modern elaborations of these two slightly different theories concerning changelings4#aea ,as already pointed out1 there are definite ethnological elements blended in the other parts of the complex ,fairy-,faith2 and so in this part of it1 the changeling belief1 there are conceivably more of such elements which lend some support to the ,kidnap ,theory4 ,in itself1 however1 as we hope to show conclusively1 the ,theory1 failing to grasp the essential and underlying character of this belief1 does not adequately explain it4 ,human-,sacrifice ,theory ,alfred ,nutt advanced a theory1 which anticipated one part of our own1 that 'the changeling story is found to be connected with the antique conception of life and sacrifice'4 ,and he wrote3--',it is at least possible that the sickly and ailing would be rejected when the time came for each family to supply its quota of victims1 and this might easily translate itself in the folk-memory into the statement that the fairies had carried off the healthy' 7alone acceptable as sacrifice7 'and left in exchange the sickly4'#aeb ,though our evidence will not permit us to accept the theory 7why it will not will be clear as we proceed7 that some such sacrificial customs among the ancient ,celts entirely account for the changeling story1 yet we consider it highly probable that the theory helps to explain particular aspects of the complex tradition1 and that the underlying philosophy of sacrifice extended in an animistic way1 as we shall try to extend it1 probably offers more complete explanation4 ,thus1 the ,mexicans believed that the souls of all sacrificed children went to live with the god ,tlaloc in his heaven-world4#aec ,among the ,greeks1 a sacrificed victim appears to have been sent as a messenger1 bearing a message repeated to him before death to some god4#aed ,on the funeral pile of ,patroclus were laid ,trojan captives1 together with horses and hounds1 a practice corresponding to that of ,american ,red ,men2 the idea being that the sacrificed ,trojans and the horses and hounds as well1 were thus sent to serve the slain warriors in the otherworld4 ,among ourselves in ,europe and in ,america it is not uncommon to read in the daily newspaper about a suicide as resulting from the belief that death alone can bring union with a deceased sweetheart or loved one4 ,these examples1 and very many parallel ones to be found the world over1 seem to furnish the key to the theory of sacrifice3 namely1 that by extinguishing life in this world it is transmitted to the world of the gods1 spirits1 and the dead4 ,both ,sir ,john ,rhys and ,d',arbois de ,jubainville have shown that the ,irish were wont to sacrifice the first-born of children and of flocks4#aee ,o',curry points out a clear case of human sacrifice at an ancient ,irish funeral#aef3--';,fiachra then brought fifty hostages with him from ,munster'2 and1 when he died1 'the hostages which he brought from the south were buried alive around the ,fert 7burial mound7 of ,fiachra4' ,more commonly the ancient ,celts seem to have made sacrifices to appease place-spirits before the erection of a new building1 by sending to them through death the soul of a youth 7see p4 #dcf74 ,it is in such animistic beliefs as these1 which underlie sacrifice1 that we find a partial solution of the problem of changeling belief4 ,but the sacrifice theory is also inadequate2 for1 though changelings may in some cases in ancient times have conceivably been the sickly children discarded by priests as unfit for sending to the gods or fairies1 how can we explain actual changelings to be met with to-day in all ,celtic lands8 ,some other hypothesis is evidently necessary4 ,soul-,wandering ,theory ,comparative study shows that non-,celtic changeling beliefs parallel to those of the ,celts exist almost everywhere1 that they centre round the primitive idea that the human soul can be abstracted from the body by disembodied spirits and by magicians1 and that they do not depend upon the sacrifice theory1 though animistically closely related to it4 ,for example1 according to the ,lepers' ,islanders1 ghosts steal men--as fairies do--'to add them to their company2 and if a man has left children when he died1 one of whom sickens afterwards1 it is said that the dead father takes it4'#aeg ,in ,banks ,island1 ,polynesia1 the ghost of a woman who has died in childbirth is greatly dreaded3 as long as her child is on earth she cannot proceed to ,panoi1 the otherworld2 and the relatives take her child to another house1 'because they know that the mother will come back to take its soul4'#aeh ,when a ,motlav child sneezes1 the mother will cry1 ',let him come back into the world6 let him remain4' ,under similar circumstances in ,mota1 the cry is1 ',live2 roll back to us6' ',the notion is that a ghost is drawing a child's soul away4' ,if the child falls ill the attempt has succeeded1 and a wizard throws himself into a trance and goes to the ghost-world to bring the child's soul back4#aei ,in the islands of ,kei and ,kisar a belief prevails that the spirits of the dead can take to themselves the souls of the living who go near the graves4#afj ,sometimes a ,polynesian mother insists on being buried with her dead child2 or a surviving wife with her dead husband1 so that there will be no separation4#afa ,these last practices help to illustrate the ,celtic theory behind the belief that fairies can abduct adults4 ,throughout ,melanesia sickness is generally attributed to the soul's absence from the body1 and this state of disembodiment is believed to be due to some ghost's or spirit's interference1#afb just as among ,celts sickness is often thought to be due to fairies having taken the soul to ,fairyland4 ,an old ,irish piper who came up to ,lady ,gregory's home at ,coole ,park told us that a certain relative of his1 a woman1 had lain in a semi-conscious state of illness for months1 and that when she recovered full consciousness she declared she had been with the 'good people'4 ,folk-beliefs like all the above1 which more adequately explain the changeling idea than the ,human-,sacrifice ,theory1 are world-wide1 being at once ,celtic and non-,celtic4#afc ,demon-,possession ,theory ,there has been among many peoples1 primitive and civilized1 a complementary belief to the one that evil spirits or ghosts may steal a soul and so cause in the vacated body illness if the abduction is temporary1 and death if it is permanent3 namely1 a belief that demons1 who sometimes may be souls of the dead1 can possess a human body while the soul is out of it during sleep1 or else can expel the soul and occupy its place4#afd ,when complete possession of this character takes place there is--as in 'mediumship'--a change of personality1 and the manner1 thoughts1 actions1 language1 and the whole nature of the possessed person are radically changed4 ,sometimes a foreign tongue1 of which the subject is ignorant1 is fluently spoken4 ,when the possession is an evil one1 as ,dr4 ,nevius has observed in ,china1 where the phenomena are common1 the change of character is in the direction of immorality1 frequently in strong contrast with the character of the subject under normal conditions1 and is often accompanied by paroxysms and contortions of the body1 as ,i have often been solemnly assured by ,celts is the case in a changeling4 7,see ,m4 ,le ,scour's account on page #aih1 of three changelings that he saw in one family in ,finistre2 and compare what is said about fairy changelings in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,wales1 and ,cornwall47 ,a conception like that among the ,chinese1 of how an evil spirit may dispossess the soul inhabiting a child's or adult's body1 seems to be the basis and original conception behind the fairy-changeling belief in all ,celtic and other countries4 ,when a child has been changed by fairies1 and an old fairy left in its place1 the child has been1 according to this theory1 dispossessed of its body by an evil fairy1 which a ,chinaman calls a demon1 while the leaving behind of the old fairy accounts for the changed personality and changed facial expression of the demon-possessed infant4 ,the ,chinese demon enters into and takes complete possession of the child's body while the child's soul is out of it during sleep--and all fairies make changelings when a babe is asleep in its cradle at night1 or during the day when it is left alone for a short time4 ,the ,chinese child-soul is then unable to return into its body until some kind of magical ceremony or exorcism expels the possessing demon2 and through precisely similar methods1 often aided by ,christian priests1 ,celts cure changelings made by fairies1 pixies1 and corrigans4 ,in the following account1 therefore1 apparently lies the root explanation of the puzzling beliefs concerning fairy changelings so commonly met with in the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith3--',to avert the calamity of nursing a demon1 dried banana-skin is burnt to ashes1 which are then mixed with water4 ,into this the mother dips her finger and paints a cross upon the sleeping babe's forehead4 ,in a short time the demon soul returns--for the soul wanders from the body during sleep and is free--but1 failing to recognize the body thus disguised1 flies off4 ,the true soul1 which has been waiting for an opportunity1 now approaches the dormant body1 and1 if the mark has been washed off in time1 takes possession of it2 but if not1 it1 like the demon1 failing to recognize the body1 departs1 and the child dies in its sleep4'#afe ,in relation to this ,demon-,possession ,theory1 the writer has had the opportunity of observing carefully some living changelings among the ,celts1 and is convinced that in many such cases there is an undoubted belief expressed by the parents and friends that fairy-possession has taken place4 ,this belief often translates itself naturally into the folk-theory that the body of the child has also been changed1 when examination proves only a change of personality as recognized by psychologists2 or1 in a distinct type of changelings1 those who exhibit great precocity in childhood combined with an old and wizened countenance1 there is neither a changed personality nor demon-possession1 but simply some abnormal physical or mental condition1 in the nature of cretinism1 atrophy1 marasmus1 or arrested development4 ,one of the most striking examples of a changeling exists at ,plouharnel-,carnac1 ,brittany1 where there is now living a dwarf ,breton whom ,i have photographed and talked with1 and who may possibly combine in himself both the abnormal psychical and the abnormal pathological conditions4 ,he is no taller than a normal child ten years old1 but being over thirty years old he is thick-set1 though not deformed4 ,all the peasants who know him call him 'the ,little ,corrigan'1 and his own mother declares that he is not the child she gave birth to4 ,he once said to me with a kind of pathetic protest1 ',did ,m4 ---- tell you that ,i am a demon8' ,conclusion ,the ,kidnap ,theory1 resting entirely upon the ethnological and social or psychological elements which we have elsewhere pointed out as existing in the superficial aspects of the essentially animistic ,fairy-,faith as a whole1 is accordingly limited in its explanation of this specialized part of the ,fairy-,faith1 the changeling belief1 to these same elements which may exist in the changeling belief4 ,and1 on the showing of anthropology1 the other theories undoubtedly offer a more adequate explanation4 ,by means of sacrifice1 according to its underlying philosophy1 man is able to transmit souls from this world to the world where dwell the gods and fairy-folk both good and evil4 ,thus1 had ,abraham sacrificed ,isaac1 the soul of ,isaac would have been taken to heaven by ,jehovah as fairies take souls to ,fairyland through death4 ,but the difference is that in human sacrifice men do voluntarily and for specific religious ends what various kinds of fairies or spirits would do without human intervention and often maliciously1 as our review of ancient and modern theories of sacrifice has shown4 ,gods and fairies are spiritual beings2 hence only the spiritual part of man can be delivered over to them4 ,melanesians and other peoples whose changeling beliefs have now been examined1 regard all illness and death as the result of spirit interference2 while ,celts regard strange maladies in children and in adults as the result of fairy interference4 ,and to no ,celt is death in early life a natural thing3 if it comes to a child or to a beautiful youth in any way whatsoever1 the fairies have taken what they coveted4 ,in all mythologies gods have always enjoyed the companionship of beautiful maidens1 and goddesses the love of heroic youths2 and they have often taken them to their world as the ,tuatha ,de ,danann took the great heroes of the ancient ,celts to the ,otherworld or ,avalon1 and as they still in the character of modern fairies abduct brides and young mothers1 and bridegrooms or other attractive young men whom they wish to have with them in ,fairyland 7see our chapters iv-vi74 ,where sacrifice or death has not brought about such complete transfer or abduction of the soul to the fairy world1 there is only a temporary absence from human society2 and1 meanwhile1 the vacated body is under a fairy spell and lies ill1 or unconscious if there is a trance state4 ,if the body is an infant's1 a fairy may possess it1 as in the ,chinese theory of demon-possession4 ,in such cases the ,celts often think that the living body is that of another child once taken but since grown too old for ,fairyland2 though the rational explanation frequently is purely pathological4 ,looked at philosophically1 a fairy exchange of this kind is fair and evenly balanced1 and there has been no true robbery4 ,and in this aspect of the changeling creed--an aspect of it purely ,celtic--there seems to be still another influence apart from human sacrifice1 soul-abductions1 demon or fairy-possession1 and disease2 namely1 a greatly corrupted folk-memory of an ancient re-birth doctrine3 the living are taken to the dead or the fairies and then sent back again1 after the manner of ,socrates' argument that the living come from the dead and the dead from the living 7cf4 our chapter vii74 ,in all such exchanges1 the economy of ,nature demands that the balance between the two worlds be maintained3 hence there arose the theories of human sacrifice1 of soul abduction1 of demon or fairy-possession2 and in all these collectively is to be found the complete psychological explanation of the fairy-changeling and fairy-abduction beliefs among ancient and modern ,celts as these show themselves in the ,fairy-,faith4 ,all remaining classes of changelings1 which fall outside the scope of this clearly defined psychological theory1 are to be explained pathologically4 ,,magic ,,and ,,witchcraft ,the evidence from each ,celtic country shows very clearly that magic and witchcraft are inseparably blended in the ,fairy-,faith1 and that human beings1 i4 e4 'charmers1' dynion hysbys1 and other magicians1 and sorceresses1 are often enabled through the aid of fairies to perform the same magical acts as fairies2 or1 again1 like ,christian priests who use exorcisms1 they are able1 acting independently1 to counteract fairy power1 thereby preventing changelings or curing them1 saving churnings1 healing man or beast of 'fairy-strokes'1 and1 in short1 nullifying all undesirable influences emanating from the fairy world4 ,a correct interpretation of these magical elements so prominent in the ,fairy-,faith is of fundamental importance1 because if made it will set us on one of the main psychical highways which traverse the vast territory of our anthropological inquiry4 ,let us1 then1 undertake such an interpretation1 first setting up1 as we must1 some sort of working hypothesis as to what magic is1 witchcraft being assumed to be a part of magic4 ,theories of ,modern ,anthropologists ,we may define magic1 as understood by ancients and moderns1 civilized or non-civilized1 apart from conjuring1 which is mere jugglery and deception of the senses1 as the art of controlling for particular ends various kinds of invisible forces1 often1 and1 as we hold1 generally thought of as intelligent spirits4 ,this is somewhat opposed to ,mr4 ,marett's point of view1 which emphasizes 'pre-animistic influences'1 i4 e4 'powers to which the animistic form is very vaguely attributed if at all4' ,and1 in dealing with the anthropological aspects of spell-casting in magical operations1 ,mr4 ,marett conceives such a magical act to be in relation to the magician 'generically1 a projection of imperative will1 and specifically one that moves on a supernormal plane'1 and the victim's position towards this invisible projected force to be 'a position compatible with rapport'4#aff ,he also thinks it probable that the essence of the magician's supernormal power lies in what ,melanesians call mana4#aff ,in our opinion mana may be equated with what ,william ,james1 writing of his attitude toward psychical phenomena1 called a universally diffused 'soul-stuff' leaking through1 so to speak1 and expressing itself in the human individual4#afg ,on this view1 ,mr4 ,marett's theory would amount to saying that magicians are able to produce magical effects because they are able to control this 'soul-stuff'2 and our evidence would regard all spirits and fairies as portions of such universally diffused mana1 'soul-stuff'1 or1 as ,fechner might call it1 the ',soul of the ,world'4 ,moreover1 in essence1 such an idea of magic coincides1 when carefully examined1 with what ancient thinkers like ,plato1 ,iamblichus1 the ,neo-,platonists generally1 and mediaeval magicians like ,paracelsus and ,eliphas ,levi1 called magic2 and agrees with ancient ,celtic magic--judging from what ,roman historians have recorded concerning it1 and from ,celtic manuscripts themselves4 ,other modern anthropologists have set up far less satisfactory definitions of magic4 ,according to ,dr4 ,frazer1 for example1 magic assumes1 as natural science does1 that 'one event follows another necessarily and invariably without the intervention of any spiritual or personal agency'4#afh ,such a theory is not supported by the facts of anthropology2 and does not even apply to those specialized and often superficial kinds of magic classed under it by ,dr4 ,frazer as 'sympathetic and imitative magic'1 i4 e4 that through which like produces like1 or part produces whole4 ,to our mind1 sympathetic and imitative magic 7to leave out of account many fallacious and irrational ritualistic practices1 which ,dr4 ,frazer includes under these loose terms71 when genuine1 in their varied aspects are directly dependent upon hypnotic states1 upon telepathy1 mind-reading1 mental suggestion1 association of ideas1 and similar processes2 in short1 are due to the operation of mind on mind and will on will1 and1 moreover1 are recognized by primitive races to have this fundamental character4 ,or1 according to the ,fairy-,faith1 they are caused by a fairy or disembodied spirit acting upon an embodied one1 a man or woman2 and not1 as ,dr4 ,frazer holds1 through 'mistaken applications of one or other of two great fundamental laws of thought1 namely1 the association of ideas by similarity and the association of ideas by contiguity in space or time'4#afi ,the mechanical causation theory of magic1 as thus set forth in ,the ,golden ,bough1 does not imply mana or will-power1 as ,mr4 ,marett's more adequate theory does in part3 ,dr4 ,frazer wishes us to regard animistic religious practices as distinct from magic4#agj ,nevertheless1 in direct opposition to ,dr4 ,frazer's view1 the weight of the evidence from the past and from the present1 which we are about to offer1 is decidedly favourable to our regarding magic and religion as complementary to one another and1 for all ordinary purposes of the anthropologist1 as in principle the same4 ,the testimony touching magicians in all ages1 ,celtic magic and witchcraft as well1 besides that resulting from modern psychical research1 tends to establish an almost exclusively animistic hypothesis to account for fairy magical phenomena and like phenomena among human beings2 and with these phenomena we are solely concerned4 ,among the ,ancients#aga ,among the more cultured ,greeks and ,romans--and the same can be said of most great nations of antiquity--it was an unquestioned belief that innumerable gods1 placed in hierarchies1 form part of an unbroken spiritual chain at the lowest end of which stands man1 and at the highest the incomprehensible ,supreme ,deity4 ,these gods1 having their abodes throughout the ,universe1 act as the agents of the ,unknown ,god1 directing the operation of ,his cosmic laws and animating every star and planet4 ,inferior to these gods1 and to man also1 the ancients believed there to be innumerable hosts of invisible beings1 called by them daemons1 who1 acting as the servants of the gods1 control1 and thus in a secondary sense create1 all the minor phenomena of inanimate and animate nature1 such as tempests1 atmospheric disturbances generally1 the failure of crops or their abundance1 maladies and their cure1 good and evil passions in men1 wars and peace1 and all the blessings and curses which affect the purely human life4 ,man1 being of the god-race and thus superior to these lower1 servile entities1 could1 like the gods1 control them if adept in the magical sciences2 for ancient ,magic1 about which so much has been written and about which so little has been understood by most people in ancient1 mediaeval1 and modern times1 is according to the wisest ancients nothing more than the controlling of daemons1 shades1 and all sorts of secondary spirits or elementals by men specially trained for that purpose4 ,sufficient records are extant to make it evident that the fundamental training of ,egyptian1 ,indian1 ,assyrian1 ,greek1 ,roman1 and ,druid priests was in the magical or occult sciences4 ,pliny1 in his ,natural ,history1 says3--',and to-day ,britain practises the art of magic with religious awe and with so many ceremonies that it might seem to have made the art known to the ,persians4'#agb ,herein1 then1 is direct evidence that the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith1 considered in its true psychic nature1 has been immediately shaped by the ancient ,celtic religion2 and1 as our witness from the ,isle of ,skye so clearly set forth1 that it originated among a cultured class of the ,celts more than among the peasants4 ,and1 in accordance with this evidence1 ,professor ,georges ,dottin1 who has made a special study of the historical records concerning ,druidism1 writes3--',the ,druids of ,ireland appear to us above all as magicians and prophets4 ,they foretell the future1 they interpret the secret will of the fes 7fairies71 they cast lots4'#agc ,thus1 in spite of the popular and ,christian reshaping which the belief in fairies has had to endure1 its origin is easily enough discerned even in its modern form1 covered over though this is with accretions foreign to its primal character4 ,magic was the supreme science because it raised its adepts out of the ordinary levels of humanity to a close relationship with the gods and creative powers4 ,nor was it a science to be had for the asking1 'for many were the wand-bearers and few the chosen4' ,roman writers tell us that neophytes for the druidic priesthood often spent twenty years in severe study and training before being deemed fit to be called ,druids4 ,we need not1 however1 in this study enter into an exposition of the ordeals and trials of candidates seeking magical training1 or else initiation into the ,mysteries4 ,there were always two schools to which they could apply1 directly opposed in their government and policy--the school of white magic and the school of black magic2 the former being a school in which magical powers were used in religious rites and always for good ends1 the latter a school in which all magical powers were used for wholly selfish and evil ends4 ,in both schools the preliminary training was the same2 that is to say1 the first thing taught to the neophyte was self-control4 ,when he proved himself absolutely his own master1 when his teachers were certain that he could not be dominated by another will or by any outside or psychic influence1 then for the first time he was permitted to exercise his own iron will in controlling daemons1 ghosts1 and all the elemental hosts of the air--either as a white magician or as a black magician4#agd ,the magical sciences taught 7an idea which still holds its ground1 as one can discover in modern ,india7 that by formulas of invocation1 by chants1 by magic sounds1 by music1 these invisible beings can be made to obey the will of the magician even as they obey the will of the gods4 ,the calling up of the dead and talking with them is called necromancy2 the foretelling through spiritual agency and otherwise of coming events or things hidden1 like the outcome of a battle1 is called divination2 the employment of charms against children so as to prevent their growing is known as fascination2 to cause any ill fortune or death to fall upon another person by magic is sorcery2 to excite the sexual passions of man or woman1 magical mixtures called philtres are used4 ,almost all these definitions apply to the practices of black magic4 ,but the great schools known as the ,mysteries were of white magic1 in so far as they practised the art2 and such men as ,pythagoras1 ,plato1 and ,aeschylus1 who are supposed to have been initiated into them1 always held them in the highest reverence1 though prohibited from directly communicating anything of their esoteric teachings concerning the origin and destiny of man1 the nature of the gods1 and the constitution of the universe and its laws4 ,in ,plato's ,banquet the power or function of the daemonic element in nature is explained4 ,socrates asks of the prophetess ,diotima what is the power of the daemonic element 7personified as ,love for the purposes of the argument71 and she replies3--',he interprets between gods and men1 conveying and taking across to the gods the prayers and sacrifices of men1 and to men the commands and replies of the gods2 he is the mediator who spans the chasm which divides them1 and therefore in him all is bound together1 and through him the arts of the prophets and priests1 their sacrifices and mysteries and charms1 and all prophecy and incantation find their way4 ,for ,god mingles not with man2 but through the daemonic element 7or ,love7 all the intercourse and converse of ,god with man1 whether awake or asleep1 is carried on4 ,the wisdom which understands this is spiritual4'#age ,among the ,ancient ,celts ,if we turn now directly to ,celtic magic in ancient times1 we discover that the testimony of ,pliny is curiously confirmed by ,celtic manuscripts1 chiefly ,irish ones1 and that then1 as now1 witchcraft and fairy powers over men and women are indistinguishable in their general character4 ,thus1 in the ,echtra ,condla1 'the ,adventures of ,connla1' the fairy woman says of ,druidism and magic3--',druidism is not loved1 little has it progressed to honour on the ,great ,strand4 ,when his law shall come it will scatter the charms of ,druids from journeying on the lips of black1 lying demons'--so characterized by the ,christian transcribers4#agf ,in ,how ,fionn ,found his ,missing ,men1 an ancient tale preserved by oral tradition until recorded by ,campbell1 it is said that ',fionn then went out with ,bran 7his fairy dog74 ,there were millions of people 7apparitions7 out before him1 called up by some sleight of hand'4#agg ,in the ,leabhar na h-,uidre1 or ',book of the ,dun ,cow' 7p4 #dc a71 compiled from older manuscripts about ,a4 ,d4 #aajj1 there is a clear example of ,irish fetishism based on belief in the power of demons3--'444 for their swords used to turn against them 7the ,ulstermen7 when they made a false trophy4 ,reasonable was this2 for demons used to speak to them from their arms1 so that hence their arms were safeguards4'#agh ,shape-shifting quite after the fairy fashion is very frequently met with in old ,celtic literature4 ,thus1 in the ,rennes ,dinnshenchas there is this passage showing that spirits or fairies were regarded as necessary for the employment of magic3--',folks were envious of them 7,faifne the poet and his sister ,aige73 so they loosed elves at them who transformed ,aige into a fawn' 7the form assumed by the fairy mother of ,oisin1 see p4 #bii n471 'and sent her on a circuit all round ,ireland1 and the fians of ,meilge son of ,cobthach1 king of ,ireland1 killed her4'#agi ,a fact which ought to be noted in this connexion is that kings or great heroes1 rather than ordinary men and women1 are very commonly described as being able to shift their own shape1 or that of other people2 e4 g4 ',mongan took on himself the shape of ,tibraide1 and gave ,mac an ,daimh the shape of the cleric1 with a large tonsure on his head4'#ahj ,and when this fact is coupled with another1 namely the ancient belief that such kings and great heroes were incarnations and reincarnations of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 who form the supreme fairy hierarchy1 we realize that1 having such an origin1 they were simply exercising in human bodies powers which their divine race exercise over men from the fairy world 7see our chapter iv74 ,in ,brythonic literature and mythology1 magic and witchcraft with the same animistic character play as great or even a greater rle than in ,gaelic literature and mythology4 ,this is especially true with respect to the ,arthurian ,legend1 and to the ,mabinogion1 some of which tales are regarded by scholars as versions of ,irish ones4 ,sir ,john ,rhys and ,professor ,j4 ,loth1 who have been the chief translators of the ,mabinogion1 consider their chief literary machinery to be magic 7see our chapter v74 ,so far it ought to be clear that ,celtic magic contains much animism in its composition1 and that these few illustrations of it1 selected from numerous illustrations in the ancient ,fairy-,faith1 confirm ,pliny's independent testimony that in his age the ,britons seemed capable of instructing even the ,persians themselves in the magical arts4 ,european and ,american ,witchcraft ,in a general way1 the history of witchcraft in ,europe and in the ,american colonies is supplementary to what has already been said1 seeing that it is an offshoot of mediaeval magic1 which in turn is an offshoot of ancient magic4 ,witchcraft in the ,west1 in probably a majority of cases1 is a mere fabric of absurd superstitions and practices--as it is shown to be by the evidence brought out in so many of the horrible legal and ecclesiastical processes conducted against helpless and eccentric old people1 and other men and women1 including the young1 often for the sake of private revenge1 and generally on no better foundation than hearsay and false accusations4 ,in the remaining instances it undoubtedly arose1 as ancient witchcraft 7black magic7 seems to have arisen1 through the infiltration of occult knowledge into uneducated and often criminally inclined minds1 so that what had formerly been secretly guarded among the learned1 and generally used for legitimate ends1 degenerated in the hands of the unfit into black magic4 ,in our own age1 a parallel development1 which adequately illustrates our subject of inquiry1 has taken place in the ,united ,states3 fragments of magical lore bequeathed by ,mesmer and his immediate predecessors1 the alchemists1 were practically and honestly applied to the practice of magnetic healing and healing through mental suggestion by a small group of practitioners in ,massachusetts1 and then with much ingenuity and real genius were applied by ,mary ,baker ,eddy to the interpretation of miraculous healing by ,jesus ,christ4 ,hence arose a new religion called ,christian ,science4 ,but this religious movement did not stop at mental healing3 according to published reports1 during the years #aijh-i the leader of the ,new ,york ,first ,church of ,christ1 ,scientist1 was deposed1 and1 with certain of her close associates1 was charged with having projected daily against the late ,mrs4 ,eddy's adjutant a current of 'malicious animal magnetism' from ,new ,york to ,boston1 in order to bring about his death4 ,the process is said to have been for the deposed leader and her friends to sit together in a darkened room with their eyes closed4 ',then one of them would say3 ,you all know ,mr4 ----4 ,you all know that his place is in the darkness whence he came4 ,if his place is six feet under ground1 that is where he should be4 ,then all present would concentrate their minds on the one thought--,mr4 ---- and six feet under ground4' ,and this practice is supposed to have been kept up for days4 ,mrs4 ----1 who gives this testimony1 is a friend of the victim1 and she asserts that these evil thought-waves slowly but surely began his effacement1 and that had the black magicians down in ,new ,york not been discovered in time1 ,mr4 ---- could not have withstood the forces4#aha ,perhaps so enlightened a country as the ,united ,states may in time see history repeat itself1 and add a new chapter to witchcraft2 for the true witches were not the kind who are popularly supposed to ride on broomsticks and to keep a house full of black cats1 and the sooner this is recognized the better4 ,according to this aspect of ,christian ,science1 'malicious animal magnetism' 7or black magic71 an embodied spirit1 i4 e4 a man or woman1 possesses and can employ the same magical powers as a disembodied spirit--or1 as the ,celts would say1 the same magical powers as a fairy--casting spells1 and producing disease and death in the victim4 ,and this view coincides with ordinary witchcraft theories2 for witches have been variously defined as embodied spirits who have ability to act in conjunction with disembodied spirits through the employment of various occult forces1 e4 g4 forces comparable to ,mesmer's odic forces1 to the ,melanesian mana1 or to the 'soul-stuff' postulated by ,william ,james1 or1 as ,celts think1 to forces focused in fairies themselves4 ,so1 also1 according to ,mr4 ,marett's view1 there is a state of rapport between the victim and the magician or witch2 and where such a state of rapport exists there is some mana-like force passing between the two poles of the magical circuit1 whether it be only unconscious mental or electrical force emanating from the operator1 or an extraneous force brought under control and concentrated in some such conscious unit as we designate by the term 'spirit'1 'devil'1 or 'fairy'4 ,in conformity with this psychical or animistic view of witchcraft1 in the ,capital ,code of ,connecticut 7,a4 ,d4 #afdb7 a witch is defined as one who 'hath or consorteth with a familiar spirit'4#ahb ,european codes1 as illustrated by the sixth chapter of ,lord ,coke's ,third ,institute1 have parallels to this definition3--',a witch is a person which hath conference with the devil2 to consult with him to do some act4'#ahb ,and upon these theories1 not upon the broomstick and black-cat conception1 were based the trials for witchcraft during the seventeenth century4 ,the ,bible1 then so frequently the last court of appeal in such matters1 was found to sustain such theories about witches in the classical example of the ,witch of ,endor and ,saul2 and the idea of witchcraft in ,europe and ,america came to be based--as it probably always had been in pagan times--on the theory that living persons could control or be controlled by disembodied spirits for evil ends4 ,hence all black magicians1 and what are now known as 'spirit mediums'1 were made liable by law to the death penalty4#ahc ,in mediaeval ,europe the great difficulty always was1 as is shown in the trials of ,jeanne d',arc1 to decide whether the invisible agent in magical processes1 such as was imputed to the accused1 was an angel or a demon4 ,if an angel1 then the accused was a saint1 and might become a candidate for canonization2 but if a demon1 the accused was a witch1 and liable to a death-sentence4 ,the wisest old doctors of the ,university of ,paris1 who sat in judgement 7or were consulted7 in one of ,jeanne's trials1 could not fully decide this knotty problem1 nor1 apparently1 the learned churchmen who also tried her2 but evidently they all agreed that it was better to waive the question4 ,and1 finally1 an innocent peasant girl who had heard ,divine ,voices1 and who had thereby miraculously saved her king and her country1 was burned at the stake1 under the joint direction of ,english civil and ecclesiastical authorities1 and1 if not technically1 at least practically1 with the full approval of the corresponding ,french authorities1 at ,rouen1 ,france1 ,may #cj1 ,a4 ,d4 #adca4ahd ,in ,april1 ,a4 ,d4 #aiji1 almost five centuries afterwards1 it has been decided with tardy justice that ,jeanne's ,voices were those of angels and not of demons1 and she has been made a saint4 ,how the case of ,jeanne d',arc bears directly upon the ,fairy-,faith is self-evident3 ,one of the first questions asked by ,jeanne's inquisitors was 'if she had any knowledge of those who went to the ,sabbath with the fairies8 or if she had not assisted at the assemblies held at the fountain of the fairies1 near ,domremy1 around which dance malignant spirits8' ,and another question exactly as recorded was this3--',interrogue s'elle croiet point au devant de aujourduy1 que les fes feussent maulvais esperis3 respond qu'elle n'en savoit rien4'#ahe ,conclusion ,finally1 we may say that what medicine-men are to ,american ,indians1 to ,polynesians1 ,australians1 ,africans1 ,eskimos1 and many other contemporary races1 or what the mightier magicians of modern ,india are to their people1 the 'fairy-doctors' and 'charmers' of ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and ,man are to the ,gaels1 and the ',dynion ,hysbys' or ',wise ,men' of ,wales1 the witches of ,cornwall1 and the seers1 sorceresses1 and exorcists of ,brittany are to the ,brythons4 ,these ,gaelic and ,brythonic magicians and witches1 and 'fairy mediums'1 almost invariably claim to derive their power from their ability to see and to communicate with fairies1 spirits1 and the dead2 and they generally say that they are enabled through such spiritual agencies to reveal the past1 to foretell the future1 to locate lost property1 to cast spells upon human beings and upon animals1 to remove such spells1 to cure fairy strokes and changelings1 to perform exorcisms1 and to bring people back from ,fairyland4 ,we arrive at the following conclusion3--,if1 as eminent psychical researchers now postulate 7and as many of them believe71 there are active and intelligent disembodied beings able to act psychically upon embodied men in much the same way that embodied men are known ordinarily to act psychically upon one another1 then there is every logical and common-sense reason for extending this psychical hypothesis so as to include the ancient1 mediaeval1 and modern theory of magic and witchcraft1 namely1 that what embodied men and women can do in magical ways1 as for example in hypnotism1 disembodied men and women can do4 ,further1 if fairies1 in accord with reliable testimony from educated and critical percipients1 hypothetically exist 7whatever their nature may be71 they may be possessed of magical powers of the same sort1 and so can cast spells upon or possess living human beings as ,celts believe and assert4 ,and this hypothesis coincides in most essentials with the one we used as a basis for this discussion1 that1 in accordance with the ,melanesian doctrine of control of ghosts and spirits with their inherent mana1 magical acts are possible4#ahf ,this in turn applied to the ,celts amounts to a hypothetical confirmation of the ancient druidical doctrine that through control of fairies or demons 7daemons7 ,druids or magicians could control the weather and natural phenomena connected with vegetable and animal processes1 could cast spells1 could divine the future1 could execute all magical acts4 ,,exorcisms ,according to the testimony of anthropology1 exorcism as a religious practice has always flourished wherever animistic beliefs have furnished it with the necessary environment2 and not only has exorcism been a fundamental part of religious practices in past ages1 but it is so at the present day4 ,among ,christians1 ,celtic and non-,celtic1 among followers of all the great historical religions1 and especially among ,east ,indians1 ,chinese1 ,american ,red ,men1 ,polynesians1 and most ,africans1 the expelling of demons from men and women1 from animals1 from inanimate objects1 and from places1 is sanctioned by well-established rituals4 ,exorcism as applied to the human race is thus defined in the ,dictionnaire de ,thologie 7,roman ,catholic7 by ,l',abb ,bergier3--',exorcism--conjuration1 prayer to ,god1 and command given to the demon to depart from the body of persons possessed4' ,the same authority thus logically defends its practice by the ,church3--',far from condemning the opinion of the ,jews1 who attributed to the demon certain maladies1 that divine ,master confirmed it4'#ahg ,and whenever exorcism of this character has been or is now generally practised1 the professional exorcist appears as a personage just as necessary to society as the modern doctor1 since nearly all diseases were and to some extent are still1 both among ,christians and non-,christians1 very often thought to be the result of demon-possession4 ,when we come to the dawn of the ,christian period in ,ireland and in ,scotland1 we see ,patrick and ,columba1 the first and greatest of the ,gaelic missionaries1 very extensively practising exorcism2 and there is every reason to believe 7though the data available on this point are somewhat unsatisfactory7 that their wide practice of exorcism was quite as much a ,christian adaptation of pre-,christian ,celtic exorcism1 such as the ,druids practised1 as it was a continuation of ,new ,testament tradition4 ,we may now present certain of the data which tend to verify this supposition1 and by means of them we shall be led to realize how fundamentally such an animistic practice as exorcism must have shaped the ,fairy-,faith of the ,celts1 both before and after the coming of ,christianity4 ',once upon a time1' so the tale runs about ,patrick1 'his foster-mother went to milk the cow4 ,he also went with her to drink a draught of new milk4 ,then the cow goes mad in the byre and killed five other kine3 a demon1 namely1 entered her4 ,there was great sadness on his foster-mother1 and she told him to bring the kine back to life4 ,then he brought the kine to life1 so that they were whole1 and he cured the mad one4 ,so ,god's name and ,patrick's were magnified thereby4'#ahh ,on another occasion1 when demons came to ,ireland in the form of black birds1 quite after the manner of the ,irish belief that fairies assume the form of crows 7see pp4 #cjb-e71 the ,celtic ire of ,patrick was so aroused in trying to exorcize them out of the country that he threw his bell at them with such violence that it was cracked1 and then he wept3--',now at the end of those forty days and forty nights' of ,patrick's long fast on the summit of ,cruachan ,aigle or ,croagh ,patrick1 ,ireland's ,holy ,mountain 'the mountain was filled with black birds1 so that he knew not heaven or earth4 ,he sang maledictive psalms at them4 ,they left him not because of this4 ,then his anger grew against them4 ,he strikes his bell at them1 so that the men of ,ireland heard its voice1 and he flung it at them1 so that a gap broke out of it1 and that bell is ,brigit's ,gapling4 ,then ,patrick weeps till his face and his chasuble in front of him were wet4 ,no demon came to the land of ,erin after that till the end of seven years and seven months and seven days and seven nights4 ,then the angel went to console ,patrick and cleansed the chasuble1 and brought white birds round the ,rick1 and they used to sing sweet melodies for him4'#ahh ,in ,adamnan's ,life of ,s4 ,columba it is said that 'according to custom'1 which in all probability was established in pagan times by the ,druids and then maintained by their ,christian descendants1 it was usual to exorcize even a milk vessel before milking1 and the milk in it afterwards4#ahi ,thus ,adamnan tells us that one day a youth1 ,columban by name1 when he had finished milking1 went to the door of ,st4 ,columba's cell carrying the pail full of new milk that1 according to custom1 the saint might exorcize it4 ,when the holy man had made the sign of the cross in the air1 the air 'was greatly agitated1 and the bar of the lid1 driven through its two holes1 was shot away to some distance2 the lid fell to the ground1 and most of the milk was spilled on the soil4' ,then the saint chided the youth1 saying3--',thou hast done carelessly in thy work to-day2 for thou hast not cast out the demon that was lurking in the bottom of the empty pail1 by tracing on it1 before pouring in the milk1 the sign of the ,lord's cross2 and now not enduring1 thou seest1 the virtue of the sign1 he has quickly fled away in terror1 while at the same time the whole of the vessel has been violently shaken1 and the milk spilled4 ,bring then the pail nearer to me1 that ,i may bless it4' ,when the half-empty pail was blessed1 in the same moment it was refilled with milk4 ,at another time1 the saint1 to destroy the practice of sorcery1 commanded ,silnan1 a peasant sorcerer1 to draw a vessel full of milk from a bull2 and by his diabolical art ,silnan drew the milk4 ,then ,columba took it and said3--',now it shall be proved that this1 which is supposed to be true milk1 is not so1 but is blood deprived of its colour by the fraud of demons to deceive men2 and straightway the milky colour was turned into its own proper quality1 that is1 into blood4' ,and it is added that ',the bull also1 which for the space of one hour was at death's door1 wasting and worn by a horrible emaciation1 in being sprinkled with water blessed by the ,saint1 was cured with wonderful rapidity4'#aij ,and to-day1 as in the times of ,patrick and ,columba1 exorcism is practised in ,ireland and in the ,western ,hebrides of ,scotland by the clergy of the ,roman ,church against fairies1 demons1 or evil spirits1 when a person is possessed by them--that is to say1 'fairy-struck1' or when they have entered into some house or place2 and on the ,scotch mainland individual ,protestants have been known to practise it4 ,a haunted house at ,balechan1 ,perthshire1 in which certain members of the ,psychical ,research ,society had taken up summer quarters to 'investigate'1 was exorcized by the late ,archbishop of ,edinburgh1 assisted by a priest from the ,outer ,isles4#aia ,among the nine orders of the ,irish ecclesiastical organization of ,patrick's time1 one was composed of exorcists4#aib ,the official ceremony for the ordination of an exorcist in the ,latin ,church was established by the ,fourth ,council of ,carthage1 and is indicated in nearly all the ancient rituals4 ,it consists in the bishop giving to the candidate the book of exorcisms and saying as he does so3--',receive and understand this book1 and have the power of laying hands upon demoniacs1 whether they be baptized1 or whether they be catechumens4'#aic ,by a decree of the ,church ,council of ,orange1 making men possessed of a demon ineligible to enter the priesthood1 it would seem that the number of demoniacs must have been very great4#aic ,as to the efficacy of exorcisms1 the church ,fathers during the first four centuries1 when the ,platonic philosophy was most influential in ,christianity1 are agreed4#aic ,in estimating the shaping influences1 designated by us as fundamental1 which undoubtedly were exerted upon the ,fairy-,faith through the practice of exorcism1 it is necessary to realize that this animistic practice holds a very important position in the ,christian religion which for centuries the ,celtic peoples have professed4 ,one of the two chief sacraments of ,christianity1 that of ,baptism1 is preceded by a definitely recognized exorcism1 as shown in the ,roman ,ritual1 where we can best study it4 ,in the ,exhortation preceding the rite the infant is called a slave of the demon1 and by baptism is to be set free4 ,the salt which is placed in the mouth of the infant by the priest during the ceremony has first been exorcized by special rites4 ,then there follows before the entrance to the baptismal font a regular exorcism pronounced over the child3 the priest taking some of his own saliva on the thumb of his right hand1 touches the child's ears and nostrils1 and commands the demon to depart out of the child4 ,after this part of the ceremony is finished1 the priest makes on the child's forehead a sign of the cross with holy oil4 ,finally1 in due order1 comes the actual baptism4#aid ,and even after baptismal rites have expelled all possessing demons1 precautions are necessary against a repossession3 ,st4 ,augustine has said that exorcisms of precaution ought to be performed over every ,christian daily2 and it appears that faithful ,roman ,catholics who each day employ holy water in making the sign of the cross1 and all ,protestants who pray 'lead us not into temptation1 but deliver us from evil'1 are employing such exorcisms3#aie ,st4 ,gregory of ,nazianzus writes1 ',arm yourself with the sign of the cross which the demons fear1 and before which they take their flight'#aif2 and by the same sign1 said ,st4 ,athanasius1 ',all the illusions of the demon are dissipated and all his snares destroyed4'#aig ,an eminent ,catholic theologian asserts that saints who1 since the time of ,jesus ,christ1 have been endowed with the power of working miracles1 have always made use of the sign of the cross in driving out demons1 in curing maladies1 and in raising the dead4 ,in the ,instruction sur le ,rituel1#aih it is said that water which has been blessed is particularly designed to be used against demons2 in the ,apostolic ,constitutions1 formulated near the end of the fourth century1 holy water is designated as a means of purification from sin and of putting the demon to flight4#aii ,and nowadays when the priest passes through his congregation casting over them holy water1 it is as an exorcism of precaution2 or when as in ,france each mourner at a grave casts holy water over the corpse1 it is undoubtedly--whether done consciously as such or not--to protect the soul of the deceased from demons who are held to have as great power over the dead as over the living4 ,other forms of exorcism1 too1 are employed4 ,for example1 in the ,lebar ,brecc1 it is said of the ,holy ,scripture that ',by it the snares of devils and vices are expelled from every faithful one in the ,church'4#bjj ,and from all this direct testimony it seems to be clear that many of the chief practices of ,christians are exorcisms1 so that1 like the religion of ,zoroaster1 the religion founded by ,jesus has come to rest1 at least in part1 upon the basic recognition of an eternal warfare between good and bad spirits for the control of ,man4 ,the curing of diseases through ,christian exorcism is by no means rare now1 and it was common a few centuries ago4 ,thus in the eighteenth century1 beginning with #ageb and till his death1 ,gassner1 a ,roman priest of ,closterle1 diocese of ,coire1 ,switzerland1 devoted his life to curing people of possessions1 declaring that one third of all maladies are so caused1 and fixed his head-quarters at ,elwangen1 and later at ,ratisbon4 ,his fame spread over many countries of ,europe1 and he is said to have made ten thousand cures solely by exorcism4#bja ,and not only are human ills overcome by exorcism1 but also the maladies of beasts3 at ,carnac1 on ,september #ac1 there continues to be celebrated an annual fte in honour of ,st4 ,cornely1 the patron saint of the country and the saint who 7as his name seems to suggest7 presides over domestic horned animals2 and if there is a cow1 or even a sheep suffering from some ailment which will not yield to medicine1 its owner leads it to the church door beneath the saint's statue1 and the priest blesses it1 and1 as he does so1 casts over it the exorcizing holy water4 ,the ,church ,ritual designates two forms of ,benediction for such animals1 one form for those who are ordinarily diseased1 and another for those suffering from some contagious malady4 ,in each ceremony there comes first the sprinkling of the animal with holy water as it stands before the priest at the church door2 and then there follows in ,latin a direct invocation to ,god to bless the animal1 'to extinguish in it all diabolical powers1' to defend its life1 and to restore it to health4#bjb ,in #ahfh1 according to ,dr4 ,evans1 an old cow-house in ,north ,wales was torn down1 and in its walls was found a tin box containing an exorcist's formula4 ,the box and its enclosed manuscript had been hidden there some years previously to ward off all evil spirits and witchcraft1 for evidently the cattle had been dying of some strange malady which no doctors could cure4 ,because of its unique nature1 and as an illustration of what ,welsh exorcisms must have been like1 we quote the contents of the manuscripts both as to spelling and punctuation as checked by ,sir ,john ,rhys with the original1 except the undecipherable symbols which come after the archangels' names3-- ',c ,lignum sanctae crusis defendat me a malis presentibus preateritus futuris2 interioribus exterioribus ,c ,c ,daniel ,evans ,c ,c ,omnes spiritus laudet ,dominum3 ,mosen habent prophetas4 ,exergat ,deus disipenture inimiciessus ,c ,c ,o ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,i beseech thee to preserve me ,daniel ,evans2 and all that ,i possess from the power of all evil men1 women2 spirits1 or wizards1 or hardness of heart1 and this ,i will trust thou will do by the same power as thou didst cause the blind to see the lame to walk and they that were possesed with unclean spirits to be in their own minds ,amen ,amen ,c ,c ,c ,c pater pater pater ,noster ,noster ,noster aia aia aia ,jesus ,c ,christus ,c ,messyas ,c ,emmanuel ,c ,soter ,c ,sabaoth ,c ,elohim ,c on ,c ,adonay ,c ,tetragrammaton ,c ,ag 3 3 ,c ,panthon ,c 444 reaton ,c ,agios ,c ,jasper ,c ,melchor ,c ,balthasar ,amen ,c,c,c 99,j99,v99,m,t,s,t,j,t,mo4,o99,j99,mo,c, c ,and by the power of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ and ,his ,hevenly ,angels being our ,redeemer and ,saviour from ,gabriel symbols all witchcraft and from assaults of the ,michail symbols ,devil ,amen ,c ,o ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,i beseech thee to preserve me and all that ,i possess from the power of all evil men2 women2 spirits2 or wizards past1 present1 or to come inward and outward ,amen ,c ,c4'#bjc ,from ,india ,mr4 ,w4 ,crooke reports similar exorcisms and charms to cure and to protect cattle4#bjd ,thus there is employed in ,northern ,india the ,ajaypl jantra1 i4 e4 'the charm of the ,invincible ,protector1' one of ,vishnu's titles1 in his character as the earth-god ,bhmiya--in ,scotland it would be the charm of the ,invincible ,fairy who presides over the flocks and to whom libations are poured--in order to exorcize diseased cattle or else to prevent cattle from becoming diseased4 ,this ,ajaypl jantra is a rope of twisted straw1 in which chips of wood are inserted4 ',in the centre of the rope is suspended an earthen platter1 inside which an incantation is inscribed with charcoal1 and beside it is hung a bag containing seven kinds of grain4' ,the rope is stretched between two poles at the entrance of a village1 and under it the cattle pass to and fro from pasture4 ,the following is the incantation found on one of the earthen saucers3--',o ,lord of the ,earth on which this cattle-pen stands1 protect the cattle from death and disease6 ,i know of none1 save thee1 who can deliver them4' ,in the ,morbihan1 ,lower ,brittany1 we seem to see the same folk-custom1 somewhat changed to be sure2 for on ,st4 ,john's ,day1 the christianized pagan sun-festival in honour of the summer solstice1 in which fairies and spirits play so prominent a part in all ,celtic countries1 just outside a country village a great fire is lit in the centre of the main road and covered over with green branches1 in order to produce plenty of smoke1 and then on either side of this fire and through the exorcizing smoke are made to pass all the domestic animals in the district as a protection against disease and evil spirits1 to secure their fruitful increase1 and1 in the case of cows1 abundant milk supply4 ,mr4 ,milne1 while making excavations in the ,carnac country1 discovered the image of a small bronze cow1 now in the ,carnac ,museum1 and this would seem to indicate that before ,christian times there was in the ,morbihan a cult of cattle1 preserved even until now1 no doubt1 in the ,christian fte of ,st4 ,cornely1 just as in ,st4 ,cornely's ,fountain there is preserved a pagan holy well4 ,it ought now to be clear that both pre-,christian and ,christian exorcisms among ,celts have shaped the ,fairy-,faith in a very fundamental manner4 ,and anthropologically the whole subject of exorcism falls in line with the ,psychological ,theory of the nature and origin of the belief in fairies in ,celtic countries4 ,,taboos ,we find that taboos1 or prohibitions of a religious and social character1 are as common in the living ,fairy-,faith as exorcisms4 ,the chief one is the taboo against naming the fairies1 which inevitably results in the use of euphemisms1 such as 'good people'1 'gentry'1 'people of peace'1 ,tylwyth ,teg 7',fair ,folk'71 or bonnes dames 7'good ladies'74 ,a like sort of taboo1 with its accompanying use of euphemisms1 existed among the ,ancients1 e4 g4 among the ,egyptians and ,babylonians1 and early ,celts as well1 in a highly developed form2 and it exists now among the native peoples of ,australia1 ,polynesia1 ,central ,africa1 ,america1 in ,indian systems of ,yoga1 among modern ,greeks1 and1 in fact1 almost everywhere where there are vestiges of a primitive culture4#bje ,and almost always such a taboo is bound up with animistic and magical elements1 which seem to form its background1 just as it is in our own evidence4 ,to discuss name taboo in all its aspects would lead us more deeply into magic and comparative folk-lore than we have yet gone1 and such discussion is unnecessary here4 ,we may therefore briefly state that the root of the matter would seem to be that the name and the dread power named are so closely associated in the very concrete thought of the primitive culture that the one virtually is the other3 just as one inevitably calls up the other for the modern thinker1 so it is that1 in the world of objective fact1 for the primitive philosopher the one is equivalent to the other4 ,the primitive man1 in short1 has projected his subjective associations into reality4 ,as regards euphemisms1 the process of development possibly is that first you employ any substitute name1 and that secondly you go on to employ such a substitute name as will at the same time be conciliatory4 ,in the latter case1 a certain anthropomorphosing of the power behind the taboo would seem to be involved4#bjf ,next in prominence comes the food taboo2 and to this1 also1 there are non-,celtic parallels all the world over1 now and in ancient times4 ,we may take notice of three very striking modern parallels3--,a woman visited her dead brother in ,panoi1 the ,polynesian ,otherworld1 and 'he cautioned her to eat nothing there1 and she returned'4#bjg ,a ,red ,man1 ,ahak-tah1 after an apparent death of two days' duration1 revived1 and declared that he had been to a beautiful land of tall trees and singing-birds1 where he met the spirits of his forefathers and uncle4 ,while there1 he felt hunger1 and seeing in a bark dish some wild rice1 wished to eat of it1 but his uncle would allow him none4 ,in telling about this psychical adventure1 ,ahak-tah said3--',had ,i eaten of the food of spirits1 ,i never should have returned to earth4'#bjh ,also a ,new ,zealand woman visited the ,otherworld in a trance1 and her dead father whom she met there ordered her to eat no food in that land1 so that she could return to this world to take care of her child4#bji ,all such parallels1 like their equivalents in ,celtic belief1 seem to rest on this psychological and physiological conception in the folk-mind4 ,human food is what keeps life going in a human body2 fairy food is what keeps life going in a fairy body2 and since what a man eats makes him what he is physically1 so eating the food of ,fairyland or of the land of the dead will make the eater partake of the bodily nature of the beings it nourishes4 ,hence when a man or woman has once entered into such relation or communion with the ,otherworld of the dead1 or of fairies1 by eating their food1 his or her physical body#baj by a subtle transformation adjusts itself to the new kind of nourishment1 and becomes spiritual like a spirit's or fairy's body1 so that the eater cannot re-enter the world of the living4 ,a study of food taboos confirms this conclusion4#baa ,a third prominent taboo1 the iron taboo1 has been explained by exponents of the ,pygmy ,theory as pointing to a prehistoric race in ,celtic lands who did not know iron familiarly1 and hence venerated it so that in time it came to be religiously regarded as very efficacious against spirits and fairies4 ,undoubtedly there may be much reason in this explanation1 which gives some ethnological support to the ,pygmy ,theory4 ,apparently1 however1 it is only a partial explanation of iron taboo in general1 because1 in many cases1 iron in ancient religious rites certainly had magical properties attributed to it1 which to us are quite unexplainable from this ethnological point of view2#bab and in ,melanesia and in ,africa1 where iron is venerated now1 the same explanation through ethnology seems far-fetched4 ,but at present there seem to be no available data to explain adequately this iron taboo1 though we have strong reasons for thinking that the philosophy underlying it is based on mystical conceptions of virtues attributed--reasonably or unreasonably--to various metals and precious stones1 and that a careful examination of alchemical sciences would probably arrive at an explanation wholly psychological4 ,besides many other miscellaneous taboos noticeable in the evidence1 there is a place taboo which is prominent4 ,thus1 if an ,irishman cuts a thorn tree growing on a spot sacred to the fairies1 or if he violates a fairy preserve of any sort1 such as a fairy path1 or by accident interferes with a fairy procession1 illness and possibly death will come to his cattle or even to himself4 ,in the same way1 in ,melanesia1 violations of sacred spots bring like penalties3 ',a man planted in the bush near ,olevuga some coco-nut and almond trees1 and not long after died1' the place being a spirit preserve2#bac and a man in the ,lepers' ,island lost his senses1 because1 as the natives believed1 he had unwittingly trodden on ground sacred to ,tagaro1 and 'the ghost of the man who lately sacrificed there was angry with him'4#bac ,in this case the wizards were called in and cured the man by exorcisms1#bac as ,irishmen1 or their cows1 are cured by the exorcisms of 'fairy-doctors' when 'fairy-struck' for some similar violation4 ,the animistic background of place taboos in the ,fairy-,faith is in these cases apparent4 ,among ,ancient ,celts ,in the evidence soon to be examined from the recorded ,fairy-,faith1 we shall find taboos of various kinds often more prominent than in the living ,fairy-,faith4#bad ,so essential are they to the character of much of the literary and mythological matter with which we shall have to deal in the following chapters1 that at this point some suggestions ought to be made concerning their correct anthropological interpretation4 ,almost every ancient ,irish taboo is connected with a king or with a great hero like ,cuchulainn2 and1 in ,ireland especially1 all such kings and heroes were considered of divine origin1 and as direct incarnations1 or reincarnations of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 the true ,fairies1 originally inhabitants of the ,otherworld4 7,see our chapter vii47 ,as ,dr4 ,frazer points out to have been the case among non-,celts1 with whom the same theory of incarnated divinities has prevailed1 royal taboos are to isolate the king from all sources of danger1 especially from all magic and witchcraft1 and they act in many cases 'so to say1 as electrical insulators' to preserve him or heroes who are equally divine4#bae ,the early ,celts recognized an intimate relationship between man and nature3 unperceived by man1 unseen forces--not dissimilar to what ,melanesians call ,mana--7looked on as animate and intelligent and frequently individual entities7 guided every act of human life4 ,it was the special duty of ,druids to act as intermediaries between the world of men and the world of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann2 and1 as old ,irish literature indicates clearly1 it was through the exercise of powers of divination on the part of ,druids that these declared what was taboo or what was unfavourable1 and also what it was favourable for the divine king or hero to perform4 ,as long as man kept himself in harmony with this unseen fairy-world in the background of nature1 all was well2 but as soon as a taboo was broken1 disharmony in the relationship--which was focused in a king or hero--was set up2 and when1 as in the case of ,cuchulainn1 many taboos were violated1 death was inevitable and not even the ,tuatha ,de ,danann could intercede4 ,breaking of a royal or hero taboo not only affects the violator1 but his subjects or followers as well3 in some cases the king seems to suffer vicariously for his people4 ,almost every great ,gaelic hero--a god or ,great ,fairy ,being incarnate--is overshadowed with an impending fate1 which only the strictest observance of taboo can avoid4#baf ,irish taboo1 and inferentially all ,celtic taboo1 dates back to an unknown pagan antiquity4 ,it is imposed at or before birth1 or again during life1 usually at some critical period1 and when broken brings disaster and death to the breaker4 ,its whole background appears to rest on a supernatural relationship between divine men and the ,otherworld of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann2 and it is very certain that this ancient relationship survives in the living ,fairy-,faith as one between ordinary men and the fairy-world4 ,therefore1 almost all taboos surviving among ,celts ought to be interpreted psychologically or even psychically1 and not as ordinary social regulations4 ,,food-,,sacrifice ,food-sacrifice plays a very important rle in the modern ,fairy-,faith1 being still practised1 as our evidence shows1 in each one of the ,celtic countries4 ,without any doubt it is a survival from pagan times1 when1 as we shall observe later 7in chapter iv4 #bia1 and elsewhere71 propitiatory offerings were regularly made to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann as gods of the earth1 and1 apparently1 to other orders of spiritual beings4 ,the anthropological significance of such food-sacrifice is unmistakable4 ,with the same propitiatory ends in view as modern ,celts now have in offering food to fairies1 ancient peoples1 e4 g4 the ,greeks and ,romans1 maintained a state ritual of sacrifices to the gods1 genii1 daemons1 and to the dead4 ,and such sacrifices1 so essential a part of most ancient religions1 were based on the belief1 as stated by ,porphyry in his ,treatise ,concerning ,abstinence1 that all the various orders of gods1 genii or daemons1 enjoy as nourishment the odour of burnt offerings4 ,and like the ,fairy-,folk1 the daemons of the air live not on the gross substance of food1 but on its finer invisible essences1 conveyed to them most easily on the altar-fire4#bag ,socrates1 ,plato1 ,xenophon1 and other leading ,greeks1 as well as the ,romans of a like metaphysical school1 unite in declaring the fundamental importance to the welfare of the ,state of regular sacrifices to the gods and to the daemons who control all natural phenomena1 since they caused1 if not neglected1 abundant harvests and national prosperity4 ,for unto the gods is due by right a part of all things which they give to man for his happiness4 ,the relation which the worship of ancestors held to that of the gods above1 who are the ,olympian ,gods1 the great ,gods1 and to the ,gods below1 who are the ,gods of the ,dead1 and also to the daemons1 and heroes or divine ancestors1 is thus set forth by ,plato in his ,laws3--',in the first place1 we affirm that next after the ,olympian ,gods1 and the ,gods of the ,state1 honour should be given to the ,gods below4444 ,next to these ,gods1 a wise man will do service to the daemons or spirits1 and then to the heroes1 and after them will follow the sacred places of private and ancestral ,gods1 having their ritual according to law4 ,next comes the honour of living parents4'#bah ,it is evident from this direct testimony that the same sort of philosophy underlies food-sacrifice among the ,celts and other peoples as we discovered underlying human-sacrifice1 in our study of the ,changeling ,belief2 and that the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in their true mythological nature1 and fairies1 their modern counterpart1 correspond in all essentials to ,greek and ,roman gods1 genii1 and daemons1 and are often confused with the dead4 ,,the ,,celtic ,,legend ,,of ,,the ,,dead ,the animistic character of the ,celtic ,legend of the ,dead is apparent2 and the striking likenesses constantly appearing in our evidence between the ordinary apparitional fairies and the ghosts of the dead show that there is often no essential and sometimes no distinguishable difference between these two orders of beings1 nor between the world of the dead and fairyland4 ,we reserve for our chapter on ,science and ,fairies the scientific consideration of the psychology of this relationship1 and of the probability that fairies as souls of the dead and as ghosts of the dead actually exist and influence the living4 ,,general ,,conclusion ,the chief anthropological problems connected with the modern ,fairy-,faith1 as our evidence presents it1 have now been examined1 at sufficient length1 we trust1 to explain their essential significance2 and problems1 to some extent parallel1 connected with the ancient ,fairy-,faith have likewise been examined4 ,there remain1 however1 very many minor anthropological problems not yet touched upon2 but several of the most important of these1 e4 g4 various cults of gods1 spirits1 fairies1 and the dead1 and folk-festivals thereto related 7see ,section ,,iii72 the circular fairy-dance 7see pp4 #dje-f72 or the fairy world as the ,otherworld 7see chap4 vi71 or as ,purgatory 7see chap4 x71 will receive consideration in following chapters1 and so will certain very definite psychological problems connected with dreams1 and trance-like states1 with supernormal lapse of time1 and with seership4 ,we may now sum up the results so far attained4 ,whether we examine the ,fairy-,faith as a whole or whether we examine specialized parts of it like those relating to the smallness of fairies1 to changelings1 to witchcraft and magic1 to exorcisms1 to taboos1 and to food-sacrifice1 in all cases comparative folk-lore shows that the beliefs composing it find their parallels the world over1 and that fairy-like beings are objects of belief now not only in ,celtic countries1 but in ,central ,australia1 throughout ,polynesia1 in ,africa1 among ,american ,red ,men1 in ,asia generally1 in ,southern1 ,western1 and ,northern ,europe1 and1 in fact1 wherever civilized and primitive men hold religious beliefs4 ,from a rationalist point of view anthropologists would be inclined to regard the bulk of this widespread belief in spiritual beings as being purely mythical1 but for us to do so and stop there would lead to no satisfactory solution3 the origin of myth itself needs to be explained1 and one of the chief objects of our study throughout the remainder of this book is to make an attempt at such an explanation1 especially of ,celtic myth4 ,again1 if we examine all fairy-like beings from a certain superficial point of view1 or even from the mythological point of view1 it is easy to discern that they are universally credited with precisely the same characters1 attributes1 actions1 or powers as the particular peoples possess who have faith in them2 and then the further fact emerges that this anthropomorphosing is due directly to the more immediate social environment3 we see merely an anthropomorphically coloured picture of the whole of an age-long social evolution of the tribe1 race1 or nation who have fostered the particular aspect of this one world-wide folk-religion4 ,but if we look still deeper1 we discover as background to the myths and the social psychology a profound animism4 ,this animism appears in its own environment in the shading away of the different fairy-like beings into spirits and ghosts of the departed4 ,going deeper yet1 we find that such animistic beliefs as concern themselves exclusively with the realm of the dead are in many cases apparently so well founded on definite provable psychical experiences on the part of living men and women that the aid of science itself must be called in to explain them1 and this will be done in our chapter entitled ,science and ,fairies4 ,so far it ought to be clear that already our evidence points to a very respectable residue in the experiences of percipients1 which cannot be explained away--as can the larger mass of the evidence--as due to ethnological1 anthropomorphic1 naturalistic1 or sociological influences on the ,celtic mind2 and for the present this must be designated as the x or unknown quantity in the ,fairy-,faith4 ,in chapter xi this x quantity1 augmented by whatever else is to be elicited from further evidence1 will be specifically discussed4 ,these points of view derived from our anthropological examination of the chief parts of the evidence presented by the living ,fairy-,faith will be kept constantly before us as we proceed further2 and what has been demonstrated anthropologically in this chapter will serve to interpret what is to follow until chapter xi is reached4 ,with this tentative position we pass to ,section ,,ii of this study1 and shall there begin to examine1 as we have just done with their modern ,fairy-,faith1 the ancient ,fairy-,faith of the ,celts4 ,,section ,,ii ,,the ,,recorded ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,people ,,of ,,the ,,goddess ,,dana 7,,tuatha ,d ,,danann7 ,,or ,,the ,,sidhe 7,,pronounced ,,shee7#bai ',so firm was the hold which the ethnic gods of ,ireland had taken upon the imagination and spiritual sensibilities of our ancestors that even the monks and christianized bards never thought of denying them4 ,they doubtless forbade the people to worship them1 but to root out the belief in their existence was so impossible that they could not even dispossess their own minds of the conviction that the gods were real supernatural beings4'--,,standish ,o',,grady4 ,the ,goddess ,dana and the modern cult of ,st4 ,brigit--,the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,sidhe conquered by the ,sons of ,mil--,but ,irish seers still see the ,sidhe--,old ,irish ,,mss4 faithfully represent the ,tuatha ,de ,danann--,the ,sidhe as a spirit race--,sidhe palaces--,the ',taking' of mortals--,hill visions of ,sidhe women--,sidhe minstrels and musicians--,social organization and warfare among the ,sidhe--,the ,sidhe war-goddesses1 the ,badb--,the ,sidhe at the ,battle of ,clontarf1 ,a4 ,d4 #ajad--;,conclusion4 ,the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana1 or1 according to ,d',arbois de ,jubainville1 the ,people of the god whose mother was called ,dana1#bbj are the ,tuatha ,de ,danann of the ancient mythology of ,ireland4 ,the ,goddess ,dana1 called in the genitive ,danand1 in middle ,irish times was named ,brigit4#bbj ,and this goddess ,brigit of the pagan ,celts has been supplanted by the ,christian ,st4 ,brigit#bbj2 and1 in exactly the same way as the pagan cult once bestowed on the spirits in wells and fountains has been transferred to ,christian saints1 to whom the wells and fountains have been re-dedicated1 so to ,st4 ,brigit as a national saint has been transferred the pagan cult rendered to her predecessor4 ,thus even yet1 as in the case of the minor divinities of their sacred fountains1 the ,irish people through their veneration for the good ,st4 ,brigit1 render homage to the divine mother of the ,people who bear her name ,dana1--who are the ever-living invisible ,fairy-,people of modern ,ireland4 ,for when the ,sons of ,mil1 the ancestors of the ,irish people1 came to ,ireland they found the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in full possession of the country4 ,the ,tuatha ,de ,danann then retired before the invaders1 without1 however1 giving up their sacred ,island4 ,assuming invisibility1 with the power of at any time reappearing in a human-like form before the children of the ,sons of ,mil1 the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana became and are the ,fairy-,folk1 the ,sidhe of ,irish mythology and romance4#bba ,therefore it is that to-day ,ireland contains two races1--a race visible which we call ,celts1 and a race invisible which we call ,fairies4 ,between these two races there is constant intercourse even now2 for ,irish seers say that they can behold the majestic1 beautiful ,sidhe1 and according to them the ,sidhe are a race quite distinct from our own1 just as living and possibly more powerful4 ,these ,sidhe 7who are the 'gentry' of the ,ben ,bulbin country and have kindred elsewhere in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 and probably in most other countries as well1 such as the invisible races of the ,yosemite ,valley7 have been described more or less accurately by our peasant seer-witnesses from ,county ,sligo and from ,north and ,east ,ireland4 ,but there are other and probably more reliable seers in ,ireland1 men of greater education and greater psychical experience1 who know and describe the ,sidhe races as they really are1 and who even sketch their likenesses4 ,and to such seer ,celts as these1 ,death is a passport to the world of the ,sidhe1 a world where there is eternal youth and never-ending joy1 as we shall learn when we study it as the ,celtic ,otherworld4 ,the recorded mythology and literature of ancient ,ireland have1 very faithfully for the most part1 preserved to us clear pictures of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann2 so that disregarding some ,christian influence in the texts of certain manuscripts1 much rationalization1 and a good deal of poetical colouring and romantic imagination in the pictures1 we can easily describe the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana as they appeared in pagan days1 when they were more frequently seen by mortals than now4 ,perhaps the ,irish folk of the olden times were even more clairvoyant and spiritual-minded than the ,irish folk of to-day4 ,so by drawing upon these written records let us try to understand what sort of beings the ,sidhe were and are4 ,,nature ,,of ,,the ,,sidhe ,in the ,book of ,leinster#bbb the poem of ,eochaid records that the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 the conquerors of the ,fir-,bolgs1 were hosts of siabra2 and siabra is an ,old ,irish word meaning fairies1 sprites1 or ghosts4 ,the word fairies is appropriate if restricted to mean fairies like the modern 'gentry'2 but the word ghosts is inappropriate1 because our evidence shows that the only relation the ,sidhe or real ,fairies hold to ghosts is a superficial one1 the ,sidhe and ghosts being alike only in respect to invisibility4 ,in the two chief ,irish ,,mss41 the ,book of the ,dun ,cow and the ,book of ,leinster1 the ,tuatha ,de ,danann are described as 'gods and not-gods'2 and ,sir ,john ,rhys considers this an ancient formula comparable with the ,sanskrit deva and adeva1 but not with 'poets 7de7 and husbandmen 7an de7' as the author of ,cir ,anmann learnedly guessed4#bbc ,it is also said1 in the ,book of the ,dun ,cow1 that wise men do not know the origin of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 but that 'it seems likely to them that they came from heaven1 on account of their intelligence and for the excellence of their knowledge'4#bbd ,the hold of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann on the ,irish mind and spirit was so strong that even ,christian transcribers of texts could not deny their existence as a non-human race of intelligent beings inhabiting ,ireland1 even though they frequently misrepresented them by placing them on the level of evil demons1#bbe as the ending of the story of the ,sick-,bed of ,cuchulainn illustrates3--',so that this was a vision to ,cuchulainn of being stricken by the people of the ,sid3 for the demoniac power was great before the faith2 and such was its greatness that the demons used to fight bodily against mortals1 and they used to show them delights and secrets of how they would be in immortality4 ,it was thus they used to be believed in4 ,so it is to such phantoms the ignorant apply the names of ,side and ,aes ,side4'#bbf ,a passage in the ,silva ,gadelica 7ii4 #bjb-c7 not only tends to confirm this last statement1 but it also shows that the ,irish people made a clear distinction between the god-race and our own3--,in ,the ,colloquy with the ,ancients1 as ,st4 ,patrick and ,caeilte are talking with one another1 'a lone woman robed in mantle of green1 a smock of soft silk being next her skin1 and on her forehead a glittering plate of yellow gold1' came to them2 and when ,patrick asked from whence she came1 she replied3 ',out of uaimh ,chruachna1 or the cave of ,cruachan4' ,caeilte then asked3 ',woman1 my soul1 who art thou8' ',i am ,scothniamh or ,flower-lustre1 daughter of the ,daghda's son ,bodhb derg4' ,caeilte proceeded3 ',and what started thee hither8' ',to require of thee my marriage-gift1 because once upon a time thou promisedst me such4' ,and as they parleyed ,patrick broke in with3 ',it is a wonder to us how we see you two3 the girl young and invested with all comeliness2 but thou ,caeilte1 a withered ancient1 bent in the back and dingily grown grey4' ',which is no wonder at all1' said ,caeilte1 'for no people of one generation or of one time are we3 she is of the ,tuatha ,d ,danann1 who are unfading and whose duration is perennial2 ,i am of the sons of ,milesius1 that are perishable and fade away4' ,the exact distinction is between ,caeilte1 a withered old ancient--in most ways to be regarded as a ghost called up that ,patrick may question him about the past history of ,ireland--and a fairy-woman who is one of the ,sidhe or ,tuatha ,de ,danann4#bbg ,in two of the more ancient ,irish texts1 the ,echtra ,nerai#bbh or ',expedition of ,nera'1 a preliminary tale in the introduction to the ,tin b ,cuailnge or ',theft of the ,cattle of ,cuailnge'2 and a passage from the ,togail ,bruidne d ,derga1 or ',destruction of ,da ,derga's ,hostel'1#bbi there seems no reasonable doubt whatever about the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,sidhe being a race like what we call spirits4 ,the first text describes how ,ailill and ,medb in their palace of ,cruachan celebrated the feast of ,samain 7,november ,eve1 a feast of the dead even in pre-,christian times74 ,two culprits had been executed on the day before1 and their bodies1 according to the ancient ,irish custom1 were left hanging from a tree until the night of ,samain should have passed2 for on that night it was dangerous to touch the bodies of the dead while demons and the people of the ,sidhe were at large throughout all ,ireland1 and mortals found near dead bodies at such a time were in great danger of being taken by these spirit hosts of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,and so on this very night1 when thick darkness had settled down1 ,ailill desired to test the courage of his warriors1 and offered his own gold-hilted sword to any young man who would go out and tie a coil of twisted twigs around the leg of one of the bodies suspended from the tree4 ,after many had made the attempt and failed1 because unable to brave the legions of demons and fairies1 ,nera alone succeeded2 but his success cost him dear1 for he finally fell under the power both of the dead man1 round whose legs he had tied the coil1 and of an elfin host3 with the dead man's body on his back1 ,nera was obliged to go to a strange house that the thirst of the dead man might be assuaged therein2 and the dead man in drinking scattered 'the last sip from his lips at the faces of the people that were in the house1 so that they all died'4 ,nera carried back the body2 and on returning to ,cruachan he saw the fairy hosts going into the cave1 'for the fairy-mounds of ,erinn are always opened about ,halloween4' ,nera followed after them until he came to their king in a palace of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 seemingly in the cavern or elsewhere underground2 where he remained and was married to one of the fairy women4 ,she it was who revealed to ,nera the secret hiding-place1 in a mysterious well1 of the king's golden crown1 and then betrayed her whole people by reporting to ,nera the plan they had for attacking ,ailill's court on the ,halloween to come4 ,moreover1 ,nera was permitted by his fairy wife to depart from the sd2 and he in taking leave of her asked3 ',how will it be believed of me that ,i have gone into the sd8' ',take fruits of summer with thee1' said the woman4 ',then he took wild garlic with him and primrose and golden fern4' ,and on the following ,november ,eve when the sd of ,cruachan was again open1 'the men of ,connaught and the black hosts of exile' under ,ailill and ,medb plundered it1 taking away from it the crown of ,briun out of the well4 ,but ',nera was left with his people in the sd1 and has not come out until now1 nor will he come till ,doom4' ,all of this matter is definitely enough in line with the living ,fairy-,faith3 there is the same belief expressed as now about ,november ,eve being the time of all times when ghosts1 demons1 spirits1 and fairies are free1 and when fairies take mortals and marry them to fairy women2 also the beliefs that fairies are living in secret places in hills1 in caverns1 or under ground--palaces full of treasure and open only on ,november ,eve4 ,in so far as the real fairies1 the ,sidhe1 are concerned1 they appear as the rulers of the ,feast of the ,dead or ,samain1 as the controllers of all spirits who are then at large2 and1 allowing for some poetical imagination and much social psychology and anthropomorphism1 elements as common in this as in most literary descriptions concerning the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 they are faithfully enough presented4 ,the second text describes how ,king ,conaire1 in riding along a road toward ,tara1 saw in front of him three strange horsemen1 three men of the ,sidhe3--',three red frocks had they1 and three red mantles3 three red steeds they bestrode1 and three red heads of hair were on them4 ,red were they all1 both body and hair and raiment1 both steeds and men4' ',who is it that fares before us8' asked ,conaire4 ',it was a taboo of mine for those ,three to go before me--the three ,reds to the house of ,red4 ,who will follow them and tell them to come towards me in my track8' ',i will follow them1' says ,l fri flaith1 ,conaire's son4 ',he goes after them1 lashing his horse1 and overtook them not4 ,there was the length of a spearcast between them3 but they did not gain upon him and he did not gain upon them4' ,all attempts to come up with the red horsemen failed4 ,but at last1 before they disappeared1 one of the ,three said to the king's son riding so furiously behind them1 ',lo1 my son1 great the news4 ,weary are the steeds we ride4 ,we ride the steeds of ,donn ,tetscorach 787 from the elfmounds4 ,though we are alive we are dead4 ,great are the signs3 destruction of life3 sating of ravens3 feeding of crows1 strife of slaughter3 wetting of sword-edge1 shields with broken bosses in hours after sundown4 ,lo1 my son6' ,then they disappear4 ,when ,conaire and his followers heard the message1 fear fell upon them1 and the king said3 ',all my taboos have seized me to-night1 since those ,three ,reds are the banished folks 7874' ,in this passage we behold three horsemen of the ,sidhe banished from their elfmound because guilty of falsehood4 ,visible for a time1 they precede the king and so violate one of his taboos2 and then delivering their fearful prophecy they vanish4 ,these three of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 majestic and powerful and weird in their mystic red1 are like the warriors of the 'gentry' seen by contemporary seers in ,west ,ireland4 ,though dead1 that is in an invisible world like the dead1 yet they are living4 ,it seems that in all three of the textual examples already cited1 the scribe has emphasized a different element in the unique nature of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,in the ,colloquy it is their eternal youth and beauty1 in the ,echtra ,nerai it is their supremacy over ghosts and demons on ,samain and their power to steal mortals away at such a time1 and in this last their respect for honesty4 ,and in each case their portrayal corresponds to that of the 'gentry' and ,sidhe by modern ,irishmen2 so that the old ,fairy-,faith and the new combine to prove the ,people of the ,god whose mother was ,dana to have been and to be a race of beings who are like mortals1 but not mortals1 who to the objective world are as though dead1 yet to the subjective world are fully living and conscious4 ,o',curry says3--',the term 7sdh1 pron4 shee71 as far as we know it1 is always applied in old writings to the palaces1 courts1 halls1 or residences of those beings which in ancient ,gaedhelic mythology held the place which ghosts1 phantoms1 and fairies hold in the superstitions of the present day4'#bcj ,in modern ,irish tradition1 'the ,people of the ,sidhe1' or simply the ,sidhe1 refer to the beings themselves rather than to their places of habitation4 ,partly perhaps on account of this popular opinion that the ,sidhe are a subterranean race1 they are sometimes described as gods of the earth or dei terreni1 as in the ,book of ,armagh2 and since it was believed that they1 like the modern fairies1 control the ripening of crops and the milk-giving of cows1 the ancient ,irish rendered to them regular worship and sacrifice1 just as the ,irish of to-day do by setting out food at night for the fairy-folk to eat4 ,thus after their conquest1 these ,sidhe or ,tuatha ,de ,danann in retaliation1 and perhaps to show their power as agricultural gods1 destroyed the wheat and milk of their conquerors1 the ,sons of ,mil1 as fairies to-day can do2 and the ,sons of ,mil were constrained to make a treaty with their supreme king1 ,dagda1 who1 in ,cir ,anmann 7 #aej71 is himself called an earth-god4 ,then when the treaty was made the ,sons of ,mil were once more able to gather wheat in their fields and to drink the milk of their cows2#bca and we can suppose that ever since that time their descendants1 who are the people of ,ireland1 remembering that treaty1 have continued to reverence the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana by pouring libations of milk to them and by making them offerings of the fruits of the earth4 ,,the ,,palaces ,,of ,,the ,,sidhe ,the marvellous palaces to which the ,tuatha ,de ,danann retired when conquered by the race of ,mil were hidden in the depths of the earth1 in hills1 or under ridges more or less elevated4#bcb ,at the time of their conquest1 ,dagda their high king made a distribution of all such palaces in his kingdom4 ,he gave one sd to ,lug1 son of ,ethne1 another to ,ogme2 and for himself retained two--one called ,brug na ,boinne1 or ,castle of the ,boyne1 because it was situated on or near the ,river ,boyne near ,tara1 and the other called ,sd or ,brug ,maic ind ,oc1 which means ,enchanted ,palace or ,castle of the ,son of the ,young4 ,and this ,mac ind ,oc was ,dagda's own son by the queen ,boann1 according to some accounts1 so that as the name 7,son of the ,young7 signifies1 ,dagda and ,boann1 both immortals1 both ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 were necessarily always young1 never knowing the touch of disease1 or decay1 or old age4 ,not until ,christianity gained its psychic triumph at ,tara1 through the magic of ,patrick prevailing against the magic of the ,druids--who seem to have stood at that time as mediators between the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana and the pagan ,irish--did the ,tuatha ,de ,danann lose their immortal youthfulness in the eyes of mortals and become subject to death4 ,in the most ancient manuscripts of ,ireland the pre-,christian doctrine of the immortality of the divine race 'persisted intact and without restraint'2#bcc but in the ,senchus na relec or ',history of the ,cemeteries'1 from the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre1 and in the ,lebar gabala or ',book of the ,conquests'1 from the ,book of ,leinster1 it was completely changed by the ,christian scribes4#bcc ,when ,dagda thus distributed the underground palaces1 ,mac ind ,oc1 or as he was otherwise called ,oengus1 was absent and hence forgotten4 ,so when he returned1 naturally he complained to his father1 and the ,brug na ,boinne1 the king's own residence1 was ceded to him for a night and a day1 but ,oengus maintained that it was for ever4 ,this palace was a most marvellous one3 it contained three trees which always bore fruit1 a vessel full of excellent drink1 and two pigs--one alive and the other nicely cooked ready to eat at any time2 and in this palace no one ever died4#bcd ,in the ,colloquy1 ,caeilte tells of a mountain containing a fairy palace which no man save ,finn and six companions1 ,caeilte being one of these1 ever entered4 ,the ,fenians1 while hunting1 were led thither by a fairy woman who had changed her shape to that of a fawn in order to allure them2 and the night being wild and snowy they were glad to take shelter therein4 ,beautiful damsels and their lovers were the inhabitants of the palace2 in it there was music and abundance of food and drink2 and on its floor stood a chair of crystal4#bce ,in another fairy palace1 the enchanted cave of ,keshcorran1 ,conaran1 son of ,imidel1 a chief of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 had sway2 'and so soon as he perceived that the hounds' cry now sounded deviously1 he bade his three daughters 7that were full of sorcery7 to go and take vengeance on ,finn for his hunting'#bcf--;just as nowadays the 'good people' take vengeance on one of our race if a fairy domain is violated4 ,frequently the fairy palace is under a lake1 as in the christianized story of the ,disappearance of ,caenchomrac3--,once when 'the cleric chanted his psalms1 he saw come towards him a tall man that emerged out of the loch3 from the bottom of the water that is to say4' ,this tall man informed the cleric that he came from an under-water monastery1 and explained 'that there should be subaqueous inhabiting by men is with ,god no harder than that they should dwell in any other place'4#bcg ,in all these ancient literary accounts of the ,sidhe-palaces we easily recognize the same sort of palaces as those described to-day by ,gaelic peasants as the habitations of the 'gentry'1 or 'good people'1 or 'people of peace4' ,such habitations are in mountain caverns like those of ,ben ,bulbin or ,knock ,ma1 or in fairy hills or knolls like the ,fairy-,hill at ,aberfoyle on which ,robert ,kirk is believed to have been taken1 or beneath lakes4 ,this brings us directly to the way in which the ,sidhe or ,tuatha ,de ,danann of the olden times took fine-looking young men and maidens4 ,,how ,,the ,,sidhe ',,took' ,,mortals ,perhaps one of the earliest and most famous literary accounts of such a taking is that concerning ,aedh1 son of ,eochaid ,lethderg son of the ,king of ,leinster1 who is represented as contemporary with ,patrick4#bch ,while ,aedh was enjoying a game of hurley with his boy companions near the sdh of ,liamhain ,softsmock1 two of the sdh-women1 who loved the young prince1 very suddenly appeared1 and as suddenly took him away with them into a fairy palace and kept him there three years4 ,it happened1 however1 that he escaped at the end of that time1 and1 knowing the magical powers of ,patrick1 went to where the holy man was1 and thus explained himself3--',against the youths my opponents ,i 7i4 e4 my side7 took seven goals2 but at the last one that ,i took1 here come up to me two women clad in green mantles3 two daughters of ,bodhb derg mac an ,daghda1 and their names ,slad and ,mumain4 ,either of them took me by a hand1 and they led me off to a garish brugh2 whereby for now three years my people mourn after me1 the sdh-folk caring for me ever since1 and until last night ,i got a chance opening to escape from the brugh1 when to the number of fifty lads we emerged out of the sdh and forth upon the green4 ,then it was that ,i considered the magnitude of that strait in which they of the sdh had had me1 and away from the brugh ,i came running to seek thee1 holy ,patrick4' ',that1' said the saint1 'shall be to thee a safeguard1 so that neither their power nor their dominion shall any more prevail against thee4' ,and so when ,patrick had thus made ,aedh proof against the power of the fairy-folk1 he kept him with him under the disguise of a travelling minstrel until1 arriving in ,leinster1 he restored him to his father the king and to his inheritance3 ,aedh enters the palace in his minstrel disguise2 and in the presence of the royal assembly ,patrick commands him3 ',doff now once for all thy dark capacious hood1 and well mayest thou wear thy father's spear6' ,when the lad removed his hood1 and none there but recognized him1 great was the surprise4 ,he seemed like one come back from the dead1 for long had his heirless father and people mourned for him4 ',by our word1' exclaimed the assembly in their joyous excitement1 'it is a good cleric's gift6' ,and the king said3 ',holy ,patrick1 seeing that till this day thou hast nourished him and nurtured1 let not the ,tuatha ,de ,danann's power any more prevail against the lad4' ,and ,patrick answered3 ',that death which the ,king of ,heaven and ,earth hath ordained is the one that he will have4' ,this ancient legend shows clearly that the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 or ,sidhe1 in the time when the scribe wrote the ,colloquy were thought of in the same way as now1 as able to take beautiful mortals whom they loved1 and able to confer upon them fairy immortality which prevented 'that death which the ,king of ,heaven and ,earth hath ordained'4 ,mortals1 did they will it1 could live in the world of the ,sidhe for ever1 and we shall see this more fully in our study of the ,otherworld4 ,but here it will be interesting to learn that1 unlike ,aedh1 whom some perhaps would call a foolish youth1 ,laeghaire1 also a prince1 for he was the son of the king of ,connaught1 entered a dn of the ,sidhe1 taking fifty other warriors with him2 and he and his followers found life in ,fairyland so pleasant that they all decided to enjoy it eternally4 ,accordingly1 when they had been there a year1 they planned to return to ,connaught in order to bid the king and his people a final farewell4 ,they announced their plan1 and ,fiachna of the ,sidhe told them how to accomplish it safely3--',if ye would come back take with you horses1 but by no means dismount from off them'2 ',so it was done3 they went their way and came upon a general assembly in which ,connaught1 as at the year expired1 mourned for the aforesaid warrior-band1 whom now all at once they perceived above them 7i4 e4 on higher ground74 ,connaught sprang to meet them1 but ,laeghaire cried3 ,approach us not to touch us3 'tis to bid you farewell that we are here6 ,leave me not6 ,crimthann1 his father1 said3 ,connaught's royal power be thine2 their silver and their gold1 their horses with their bridles1 and their noble women be at thy discretion1 only leave me not6 ,but ,laeghaire turned from them and so entered again into the sdh1 where with ,fiachna he exercises joint kingly rule2 nor is he as yet come out of it4'#bci ,,hill ,,visions ,,of ,,sidhe ,,women ,there are many recorded traditions which represent certain hills as mystical places whereon men are favoured with visions of fairy women4 ,thus1 one day ,king ,muirchertach came forth to hunt on the border of the ,brugh 7near ,stackallan ,bridge1 ,county ,meath71 and his companions left him alone on his hunting-mound4 ',he had not been there long when he saw a solitary damsel beautifully formed1 fair-haired1 bright-skinned1 with a green mantle about her sitting near him on the turfen mound2 and it seemed to him that of womankind he had never beheld her equal in beauty and refinement4'#bdj ,in the ,mabinogion of ,pwyll1 ,prince of ,dyvet1 which seems to be only a ,brythonic treatment of an original ,gaelic tale1 ,pwyll seating himself on a mound where any mortal sitting might see a prodigy1 saw a fairy woman ride past on a white horse1 and she clad in a garment of shining gold4 ,though he tried to have his servitor on the swiftest horse capture her1 ',there was some magic about the lady that kept her always the same distance ahead1 though she appeared to be riding slowly4' ,when on the second day ,pwyll returned to the mound the fairy woman came riding by as before1 and the servitor again gave unsuccessful chase4 ,pwyll saw her in the same manner on the third day4 ,he thereupon gave chase himself1 and when he exclaimed to her1 ',for the sake of the man whom you love1 wait for me6' she stopped2 and by mutual arrangement the two agreed to meet and to marry at the end of a year4#bda ,,the ,,minstrels ,,or ,,musicians ,,of ,,the ,,sidhe ,not only did the fairy-folk of more ancient times enjoy wonderful palaces full of beauty and riches1 and a life of eternal youth1 but they also had1 even as now1 minstrelsy and rare music--music to which that of our own world could not be compared at all2 for even ,patrick himself said that it would equal the very music of heaven if it were not for 'a twang of the fairy spell that infests it'4#bdb ,and this is how it was that ,patrick heard the fairy music3--,as he was travelling through ,ireland he once sat down on a grassy knoll1 as he often did in the good old ,irish way1 with ,ulidia's king and nobles and ,caeilte also3 ',nor were they long there before they saw draw near them a scolg or non-warrior that wore a fair green mantle having in it a fibula of silver2 a shirt of yellow silk next his skin1 over and outside that again a tunic of soft satin1 and with a timpn 7a sort of harp7 of the best slung on his back4 ,whence comest thou1 scolg8 asked the king4 ,out of the sdh of the ,daghda's son ,bodhb ,derg1 out of ,ireland's southern part4 ,what moved thee out of the south1 and who art thou thyself8 ,i am ,cascorach1 son of ,cainchinn that is ollave to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 and am myself the makings of an ollave 7i4 e4 an aspirant to the grade74 ,what started me was the design to acquire knowledge1 and information1 and lore for recital1 and the ,fianna's mighty deeds of valour1 from ,caeilte son of ,ronan4 ,then he took his timpn and made for them music and minstrelsy1 so that he sent them slumbering off to sleep4' ,and ,cascorach's music was pleasing to ,patrick1 who said of it3 ',good indeed it were1 but for a twang of the fairy spell that infests it2 barring which nothing could more nearly than it resemble ,heaven's harmony4'#bdc ,and that very night which followed the day on which the ollave to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann came to them was the ,eve of ,samain4 ,there was also another of these fairy timpn-players called 'the wondrous elfin man'1 ',ailln mac ,midhna of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 that out of sdh ,finnachaidh to the northward used to come to ,tara3 the manner of his coming being with a musical timpn in his hand1 the which whenever any heard he would at once sleep4 ,then1 all being lulled thus1 out of his mouth ,ailln would emit a blast of fire4 ,it was on the solemn ,samain-,day 7,november ,day7 he came in every year1 played his timpn1 and to the fairy music that he made all hands would fall asleep4 ,with his breath he used to blow up the flame and so1 during a three-and-twenty years' spell1 yearly burnt up ,tara with all her gear4' ,and it is said that ,finn1 finally overcoming the magic of ,ailln1 slew him4#bdc ,perhaps in the first musician1 ,cascorach1 though he is described as the son of a ,tuatha ,de ,danann minstrel1 we behold a mortal like one of the many ,irish pipers and musicians who used to go1 or even go yet1 to the fairy-folk to be educated in the musical profession1 and then come back as the most marvellous players that ever were in ,ireland2 though if ,cascorach were once a mortal it seems that he has been quite transformed in bodily nature so as to be really one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann himself4 ,but ,ailln mac ,midhna is undoubtedly one of the mighty 'gentry' who could--as we heard from ,county ,sligo--destroy half the human race if they wished4 ,ailln visits ,tara1 the old psychic centre both for ,ireland's high-kings and its ,druids4 ,he comes as it were against the conquerors of his race1 who in their neglectfulness no longer render due worship and sacrifice on the ,feast of ,samain to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 the gods of the dead1 at that time supreme2 and then it is that he works his magic against the royal palaces of the kings and ,druids on the ancient ,hill4 ,and to overcome the magic of ,ailln and slay him1 that is1 make it impossible for him to repeat his annual visits to ,tara1 it required the might of the great hero ,finn1 who himself was related to the same ,sidhe race1 for by a woman of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann he had his famous son ,ossian 7,oisin74#bdd ,in ,gilla d1 who is ,manannan mac ,lir1 the greatest magician of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 disguised as a being who can disappear in the twinkling of an eye whenever he wishes1 and reappear unexpectedly as a 'kern that wore garb of yellow stripes'1 we meet with another fairy musician4 ,and to him ,o',donnell says3--',by ,heaven's grace again1 since first ,i heard the fame of them that within the hills and under the earth beneath us make the fairy music1 444 music sweeter than thy strains ,i have never heard2 thou art in sooth a most melodious rogue6'#bde ,and again it is said of him3--',then the gilla decair taking a harp played music so sweet 444 and the king after a momentary glance at his own musicians never knew which way he went from him4'#bdf ,,social ,,organization ,,and ,,warfare ,,among ,,the ,,sidhe ,so far1 we have seen only the happy side of the life of the ,sidhe-folk--their palaces and pleasures and music2 but there was a more human 7or anthropomorphic7 side to their nature in which they wage war on one another1 and have their matrimonial troubles even as we moderns4 ,and we turn now to examine this other side of their life1 to behold the ,sidhe as a warlike race2 and as we do so let us remember that the 'gentry' in the ,ben ,bulbin country and in all ,ireland1 and the people of ,finvara in ,knock ,ma1 and also the invisible races of ,california1 are likewise described as given to war and mighty feats of arms4 ,the invisible ,irish races have always had a very distinct social organization1 so distinct in fact that ,ireland can be divided according to its fairy kings and fairy queens and their territories even now2#bdg and no doubt we see in this how the ancient ,irish anthropomorphically projected into an animistic belief their own social conditions and racial characteristics4 ,and this social organization and territorial division ought to be understood before we discuss the social troubles and consequent wars of the ,sidhe-folk4 ,for example in ,munster ,bodb was king and his enchanted palace was called the ,sd of the ,men of ,femen2#bdh and we already know about the over-king ,dagda and his ,boyne palace near ,tara4 ,in more modern times1 especially in popular fairy-traditions1 ,eevil or ,eevinn 7,aoibhill or ,aoibhinn7 of the ,craig ,liath or ,grey ,rock is a queen of the ,munster fairies2#bdi and ,finvara is king of the ,connaught fairies 7see p4 #db74 ,there are also the ,irish fairy-queens ,cleeona 7,cliodhna1 or in an earlier form ,clidna cf4 p4 #cef7 and ,aine 7see p4 #gi above74 ,we are now prepared to see the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in their domestic troubles and wars2 and the following story is as interesting as any1 for in it ,dagda himself is the chief actor4 ,once when his own son ,oengus fell sick of a love malady1 ,king ,dagda1 who ruled all the ,sidhe-folk in ,ireland1 joined forces with ,ailill and ,medb in order to compel ,ethal ,anbual to deliver up his beautiful daughter ,caer whom ,oengus loved4 ,when ,ethal ,anbual's palace had been stormed and ,ethal ,anbual reduced to submission1 he declared he had no power over his daughter ,caer1 for on the first of ,november each year1 he said1 she changed to a swan1 or from a swan to a maiden again4 ',the first of ,november next1' he added1 'my daughter will be under the form of a swan1 near the ,loch bel ,draccon4 ,marvellous birds will be seen there3 my daughter will be surrounded by a hundred and fifty other swans4' ,when the ,november ,day arrived1 ,oengus went to the lake1 and1 seeing the swans and recognizing ,caer1 plunged into the water and instantly became a swan with her4 ,while under the form of swans1 ,oengus and ,caer went together to the ,boyne palace of the king ,dagda1 his father1 and remained there2 and their singing was so sweet that all who heard it slept three days and three nights4#bej ,in this story1 new elements in the nature of the ,sidhe appear1 though like modern ones3 the ,sidhe are able to assume other forms than their own1 are subject to enchantments like mortals2 and when under the form of swans are in some perhaps superficial aspects like the swan-maidens in stories which are world-wide1 and their swan-song has the same sweetness and magical effect as in other countries4#bea ,in the ,rennes ,dinnshenchas there is a tale about a war among the 'men of the ,elfmounds' over 'two lovable maidens who dwelt in the elfmound'1 and when they delivered the battle 'they all shaped themselves into the shapes of deer'4#beb ,midir's sons under ,donn mac ,midir1 in rebellion against the ,daghda's son ,bodh ,derg1 fled away to an obscure sdh1 where in yearly battle they met the hosts of the other ,tuatha ,de ,danann under ,bodh ,derg2 and it was into this sdh or fairy palace on the very eve before the annual contest that ,finn and his six companions were enticed by the fairy woman in the form of a fawn1 to secure their aid4#bec ,and in another tale1 ,laeghaire1 son of the king of ,connaught1 with fifty warriors1 plunged into a lake to the fairy world beneath it1 in order to assist the fairy man1 who came thence to them1 to recover his wife stolen by a rival4#bec ,,the ,,sidhe ,,as ,,war-,,goddesses ,,or ,,the ,,badb ,it is in the form of birds that certain of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann appear as war-goddesses and directors of battle1#bed--;and we learn from one of our witnesses 7p4 #df7 that the 'gentry' or modern ,sidhe-folk take sides even now in a great war1 like that between ,japan and ,russia4 ,it is in their relation to the hero ,cuchulainn that one can best study the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana in their rle as controllers of human war4 ,in the greatest of the ,irish epics1 the ,tan ,b ,cuailnge1 where ,cuchulainn is under their influence1 these war-goddesses are called ,badb#bee 7or ,bodb7 which here seems to be a collective term for ,neman1 ,macha1 and ,morrigu 7or ,morrigan7#bef--;each of whom exercises a particular supernatural power4 ,neman appears as the confounder of armies1 so that friendly bands1 bereft of their senses by her1 slaughter one another2 ,macha is a fury that riots and revels among the slain2 while ,morrigu1 the greatest of the three1 by her presence infuses superhuman valour into ,cuchulainn1 nerves him for the cast1 and guides the course of his unerring spear4 ,and the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in infusing this valour into the great hero show themselves--as we already know them to be on ,samain ,eve--the rulers of all sorts of demons of the air and awful spirits3--,in the ,book of ,leinster 7fol4 #eg1 ,b #b7 it is recorded that 'the satyrs1 and sprites1 and maniacs of the valleys1 and demons of the air1 shouted about him1 for the ,tuatha ,de ,danann were wont to impart their valour to him1 in order that he might be more feared1 more dreaded1 more terrible1 in every battle and battle-field1 in every combat and conflict1 into which he went4' ,the ,battles of ,moytura seem in most ways to be nothing more than the traditional record of a long warfare to determine the future spiritual control of ,ireland1 carried on between two diametrically opposed orders of invisible beings1 the ,tuatha ,de ,danann representing the gods of light and good and the ,fomorians representing the gods of darkness and evil4 ,it is said that after the second of these battles ',the ,morrigu1 daughter of ,ernmas 7the ,irish war-goddess71 proceeded to proclaim that battle and the mighty victory which had taken place1 to the royal heights of ,ireland and to its fairy host and its chief waters and its river-mouths'4#beg ,for good had prevailed over evil1 and it was settled that all ,ireland should for ever afterwards be a sacred country ruled over by the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana and the ,sons of ,mil jointly4 ,so that here we see the ,tuatha ,de ,danann with their war-goddess fighting their own battles in which human beings play no part4 ,it is interesting to observe that this ,irish war-goddess1 the bodb or badb1 considered of old to be one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 has survived to our own day in the fairy-lore of the chief ,celtic countries4 ,in ,ireland the survival is best seen in the popular and still almost general belief among the peasantry that the fairies often exercise their magical powers under the form of royston-crows2 and for this reason these birds are always greatly dreaded and avoided4 ,the resting of one of them on a peasant's cottage may signify many things1 but often it means the death of one of the family or some great misfortune1 the bird in such a case playing the part of a bean-sidhe 7banshee74 ,and this folk-belief finds its echo in the recorded tales of ,wales1 ,scotland1 and ,brittany4 ,in the ,mabinogi1 ',dream of ,rhonabwy1' ,owain1 prince of ,rheged and a contemporary of ,arthur1 has a wonderful crow which always secures him victory in battle by the aid of three hundred other crows under its leadership4 ,in ,campbell's ,popular ,tales of the ,west ,highlands the fairies very often exercise their power in the form of the common hoody crow2 and in ,brittany there is a folk-tale entitled ',les ,compagnons'#beh in which the chief actor is a fairy under the form of a magpie who lives in a royal forest just outside ,rennes4#bei ,w4 ,m4 ,hennessy has shown that the word bodb or badb1 aspirated bodhbh or badhbh 7pronounced bov or bav71 originally signified rage1 fury1 or violence1 and ultimately implied a witch1 fairy1 or goddess2 and that as the memory of this ,irish goddess of war survives in folk-lore1 her emblem is the well-known scald-crow1 or royston-crow4#bfj ,by referring to ,peter ,o',connell's ,irish ,dictionary we are able to confirm this popular belief which identifies the battle-fairies with the royston-crow1 and to discover that there is a definite relationship or even identification between the ,badb and the ,bean-sidhe or banshee1 as there is in modern ,irish folk-lore between the royston-crow and the fairy who announces a death4 ,badb-catha is made to equal ',fionog1 a royston-crow1 a squall crow'2 ,badb is defined as a 'bean-sidhe1 a female fairy1 phantom1 or spectre1 supposed to be attached to certain families1 and to appear sometimes in the form of squall-crows1 or royston-crows'2 and the ,badb in the three-fold aspect is thus explained3 ',macha1 i4 e4 a royston-crow2 ,morrighain1 i4 e4 the great fairy2 ,neamhan1 i4 e4 ,badb catha n feanng2 a badb catha1 or royston-crow4' ,similar explanations are given by other glossarists1 and thus the evidence of etymological scholarship as well as that of folk-lore support the ,psychological ,theory4 ,,the ,,sidhe ,,in ,,the ,,battle ,,of ,,clontarf1 ,a4 ,d4 #ajad ,the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana played an important part in human warfare even so late as the ,battle of ,clontarf1 fought near ,dublin1 ,april #bc1 #ajad2 and at that time fairy women and phantom-hosts were to the ,irish unquestionable existences1 as real as ordinary men and women4 ,it is recorded in the manuscript story of the battle1 of which numerous copies exist1 that the fairy woman ,aoibheall#bfa came to ,dunlang ,o',hartigan before the battle and begged him not to fight1 promising him life and happiness for two hundred years if he would put off fighting for a single day2 but the patriotic ,irishman expressed his decision to fight for ,ireland1 and then the fairy woman foretold how he and his friend ,murrough1 and ,brian and ,conaing and all the nobles of ,erin and even his own son ,turlough1 were fated to fall in the conflict4 ,on the eve of the battle1 ,dunlang comes to his friend ,murrough directly from the fairy woman2 and ,murrough upon seeing him reproaches him for his absence in these words3--',great must be the love and attachment of some woman for thee which has induced thee to abandon me4' ',alas ,o ,king1' answered ,dunlang1 'the delight which ,i have abandoned for thee is greater1 if thou didst but know it1 namely1 life without death1 without cold1 without thirst1 without hunger1 without decay1 beyond any delight of the delights of the earth to me1 until the judgement1 and heaven after the judgement2 and if ,i had not pledged my word to thee ,i would not have come here2 and1 moreover1 it is fated for me to die on the day that thou shalt die4' ,when ,murrough has heard this terrible message1 the prophecy of his own death in the battle1 despondency seizes him2 and then it is that he declares that he for ,ireland like ,dunlang for honour has also sacrificed the opportunity of entering and living in that wonderful ,land of ,eternal ,youth3--',often was ,i offered in hills1 and in fairy mansions1 this world 7the fairy world7 and these gifts1 but ,i never abandoned for one night my country nor mine inheritance for them4'#bfb ,and thus is described the meeting of the two armies at ,clontarf1 and the demons of the air and the phantoms1 and all the hosts of the invisible world who were assembled to scatter confusion and to revel in the bloodshed1 and how above them in supremacy rose the ,badb3--',it will be one of the wonders of the day of judgement to relate the description of this tremendous onset4 ,there arose a wild1 impetuous1 precipitate1 mad1 inexorable1 furious1 dark1 lacerating1 merciless1 combative1 contentious badb1 which was shrieking and fluttering over their heads4 ,and there arose also the satyrs1 and sprites1 and the maniacs of the valleys1 and the witches1 and goblins1 and owls1 and destroying demons of the air and firmament1 and the demoniac phantom host2 and they were inciting and sustaining valour and battle with them4'#bfc ,it is said of ,murrough 7,murchadh7 as he entered the thick of the fight and prepared to assail the foreign invaders1 the ,danes1 when they had repulsed the ,dal-,cais1 that 'he was seized with a boiling terrible anger1 an excessive elevation and greatness of spirit and mind4 ,a bird of valour and championship rose in him1 and fluttered over his head and on his breath'4#bfd ,,conclusion ,the recorded or manuscript ,fairy-,faith of the ,gaels corresponds in all essentials with the living ,gaelic ,fairy-,faith3 the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,sidhe1 the ',gentry'1 the ',good ,people'1 and the ',people of ,peace' are described as a race of invisible divine beings eternally young and unfading4 ,they inhabit fairy palaces1 enjoy rare feasts and love-making1 and have their own music and minstrelsy4 ,they are essentially majestic in their nature2 they wage war in their own invisible realm against other of its inhabitants like the ancient ,fomorians2 they frequently direct human warfare or nerve the arm of a great hero like ,cuchulainn2 and demons of the air1 spirit hosts1 and awful unseen creatures obey them4 ,mythologically they are gods of light and good1 able to control natural phenomena so as to make harvests come forth abundantly or not at all4 ,but they are not such mythological beings as we read about in scholarly dissertations on mythology1 dissertations so learned in their curious and unreasonable and often unintelligible hypotheses about the workings of the mind among primitive men4 ,the way in which social psychology has deeply affected all such animistic beliefs was pointed out above in chapter iii4 ,in chapter xi1 entitled ,science and ,fairies1 our position with respect to the essential nature of the fairy races will be made clear4 ,,section ,,ii ,,the ,,recorded ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,v ,,brythonic ,,divinities ,,and ,,the ,,brythonic ,,fairy-,,faith#bfe ',on the one hand we have the man ,arthur1 whose position we have tried to define1 and on the other a greater ,arthur1 a more colossal figure1 of which we have1 so to speak1 but a torso rescued from the wreck of the ,celtic pantheon4'--,the ,right ,hon4 ,sir ,,john ,,rhys4 ,the god ,arthur and the hero ,arthur--,sevenfold evidence to show ,arthur as an incarnate fairy king--,lancelot the foster-son of a fairy woman--,galahad the offspring of ,lancelot and the fairy woman ,elayne--,arthur as a fairy king in ,kulhwch and ,olwen--,gwynn ab ,nudd--,arthur like ,dagda1 and like ,osiris--,brythonic fairy-romances3 their evolution and antiquity--,arthur in ,nennius1 ,geoffrey1 ,wace1 and in ,layamon--,cambrensis' ,otherworld tale--,norman-,french writers of twelfth and thirteenth centuries--,romans d',aventure and ,romans ,bretons--,origins of the ',matter of ,britain'--,fairy-romance episodes in ,welsh literature--,brythonic origins4 ,,arthur ,,and ,,arthurian ,,mythology ,as we have just considered the ,gaelic ,divinities in their character as the ,fairy-,folk of popular ,gaelic tradition1 so now we proceed to consider the ,brythonic ,divinities in the same way1 beginning with the greatest of them all1 ,arthur4 ,even a superficial acquaintance with the ,arthurian ,legend shows how impossible it is to place upon it any one interpretation to the exclusion of other interpretations1 for in one aspect ,arthur is a ,brythonic divinity and in another a sixth-century ,brythonic chieftain4 ,but the explanation of this double aspect seems easy enough when we regard the historical ,arthur as a great hero1 who1 exactly as in so many parallel cases of national hero-worship1 came--within a comparatively short time--to be enshrined in the imagination of the patriotic ,brythons with all the attributes anciently belonging to a great ,celtic god called ,arthur4#bff ,the hero and the god were first confused1 and then identified1#bfg and hence arose that wonderful body of romance which we call ,arthurian1 and which has become the glory of ,english literature4 ,arthur in the character of a culture hero1#bfh with god-like powers to instruct mortals in wisdom1 and1 also1 as a being in some way related to the sun--as a sun-god perhaps--can well be considered the human-divine institutor of the mystic brotherhood known as the ,round ,table4 ,we ought1 probably1 to consider ,arthur1 like ,cuchulainn1 as a god incarnate in a human body for the purpose of educating the race of men2 and thus1 while living as a man1 related definitely and1 apparently1 consciously to the invisible gods or fairy-folk4 ,among the ,aztecs and ,peruvians in the ,new ,world1 there was a widespread belief that great heroes who had once been men have now their celestial abode in the sun1 and from time to time reincarnate to become teachers of their less developed brethren of our own race2 and a belief of the same character existed among the ,egyptians and other peoples of the ,old ,world1 including the ,celts4 ,it will be further shown1 in our study of the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 that anciently among the ,gaels and ,brythons such heroes as ,cuchulainn and ,arthur were also considered reincarnate sun-divinities4 ,as a being related to the sun1 as a sun-god1 ,arthur is like ,osiris1 the ,great ,being1 who with his brotherhood of great heroes and god-companions enters daily the underworld or ,hades to battle against the demons and forces of evil1#bfi even as the ,tuatha ,de ,danann battled against the ,fomors4 ,and the most important things in the traditions of the great ,brythonic hero connect him directly with this strange world of subjectivity4 ,first of all1 his own father1 ,uthr ,bendragon1#bgj was a king of ,hades1 so that ,arthur himself1 being his child1 is a direct descendant of this ,otherworld4 ,second1 the ,arthurian ,legend traces the origin of the ,round ,table back to ,arthur's father1 ,hades being 'the realm whence all culture was fabled to have been derived'4#bga ,third1 the name of ,arthur's wife1 ,gwenhwyvar1 resolves itself into ,white ,phantom or ,white ,apparition1 in harmony with ,arthur's line of descent from the region of phantoms and apparitions and fairy-folk4 ,thus3--,gwenhwyvar or ,gwenhwyfar equals ,gwen or ,gwenn1 a ,brythonic word meaning white1 and hwyvar1 a word not found in the ,brythonic dialects1 but undoubtedly cognate with the ,irish word siabhradh1 a fairy1 equal to siabhra1 siabrae1 siabur1 a fairy1 or ghost1 the ,welsh and the ,irish word going back to the form 99seibaro4#bgb ,hence the name of ,arthur's wife means the white ghost or white phantom1 quite in keeping with the nature of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann and that of the fairy-folk of ,wales or ,tylwyth ,teg--the ',fair ,family'4 ,fourth1 as a link in the chain of evidence connecting ,arthur with the invisible world where the ,fairy-,people live1 his own sister is called ,morgan le ,fay in the romances1#bgc and is thus definitely one of the fairy women who1 according to tradition1 are inhabitants of the ,celtic ,otherworld sometimes known as ,avalon4 ,fifth1 in the ,welsh ,triads1#bgd ,llacheu1 the son of ,arthur and ,gwenhwyvar1 is credited with clairvoyant vision1 like the fairy-folk1 so that he understands the secret nature of all solid and material things2 and 'the story of his death as given in the second part of the ,welsh version of the ,grail1 makes him hardly human at all4'#bge ,sixth1 the name of ,melwas1 the abductor of ,arthur's wife1 is shown by ,sir ,john ,rhys to mean a prince-youth or a princely youth1 and the same authority considers it probable that1 as such1 ,melwas or ,maelwas was a being endowed with eternal youth1--even as ,midir1 the ,king of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 who though a thousand years old appeared handsome and youthful4 ,so it seems that the abduction of ,gwenhwyfar was really a fairy abduction1 such as we read about in the domestic troubles of the ,irish fairy-folk1 on a level with the abduction of ,etain by her ,otherworld husband ,midir4#bgf ,and in keeping with this superhuman character of the abductor of the ,white ,phantom or ,fairy1 ,chrtien de ,troyes1 in his metrical romance ,le ,conte de la ,charrette1 describes the realm of which ,melwas was lord as a place whence no traveller returns4#bgg ,as further proof that the realm of ,melwas was meant by ,chrtien to be the subjective world1 where the god-like ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 the ,tylwyth ,teg1 and the shades of the dead equally exist1 it is said that access to it was by two narrow bridges2 'one called li ,ponz ,evages or the ,water ,bridge1 because it was a narrow passage a foot and a half wide and as much in height1 with water above and below it as well as on both sides'2 the other li ,ponz de l',espe or the ,sword ,bridge1 because it consisted of the edge of a sword two lances in length4#bgh ,the first bridge1 considered less perilous than the other1 was chosen by ,gauvain 7,gwalchmei71 when with ,lancelot he was seeking to rescue ,gwenhwyfar2 but he failed to cross it4 ,lancelot with great trouble crossed the second4 ,in many mythologies and in world-wide folk-tales there is a narrow bridge or bridges leading to the realm of the dead4 ,even ,mohammed in the ,koran declares it necessary to cross a bridge as thin as a hair1 if one would enter ,paradise4 ,and in living folk-lore in ,celtic countries1 as we found among the ,irish peasantry1 the crossing of a bridge or stream of water when pursued by fairies or phantoms is a guarantee of protection4 ,there is always the mystic water between the realm of the living and the realm of subjectivity4#bgi ,in ancient ,egypt there was always the last voyage begun on the sacred ,nile2 and in all classical literature ,pluto's realm is entered by crossing a dark1 deep river1--the river of forgetfulness between physical consciousness and spiritual consciousness4 ,burns has expressed this belief in its popular form in his ,tam ,o',shanter4 ,and in our ,arthurian parallel there is a clear enough relation between the beings inhabiting the invisible realm and the ,brythonic heroes and gods4 ,how striking1 too1 as ,gaston ,paris has pointed out1 is the similarity between ,melwas' capturing ,gwenhwyvar as she was in the woods a-maying1 and the rape of ,proserpine by ,pluto1 the god of ,hades1 while she was collecting flowers in the fields4#bhj ,a curious matter in connexion with this episode of ,gwenhwyvar's abduction should claim our attention4 ,malory relates#bha that when ,queen ,guenever advised her knights of the ,table ,round that on the morrow 7,may ,day1 when fairies have special powers7 she would go on maying1 she warned them all to be well-horsed and dressed in green4 ,this was the colour that nearly all the fairy-folk of ,britain and ,ireland wear4 ,it symbolizes1 as many ancient mystical writings declare1 eternal youth1 and resurrection or re-birth1 as in nature during the springtime1 when all vegetation after its death-sleep of winter springs into new life4#bhb ,in the ,myvyrian ,archaiology1#bhc ,arthur when he has reached the realm of ,melwas speaks with ,gwenhwyvar1#bhd he being on a black horse and she on a green one3--',green is my steed of the tint of the leaves4' ,arthur's black horse--black perhaps signifying the dead to whose realm he has gone--being proof against all water1 may have been1 therefore1 proof against the inhabitants of the world of shades and against fairies3-- ,black is my steed and brave beneath me1 ,no water will make him fear1 ,and no man will make him swerve4 ,the fairy colour1 in different works and among different authors differing both in time and country1 continues to attach itself to the abduction episode4 ,thus1 in the fourteenth century the poet ,d4 ab ,gwilym alludes to ,melwas himself as having a cloak of green3--',the sleep of ,melwas beneath 7or in7 the green cloak4' ,sir ,john ,rhys1 who makes this translation1 observes that another reading still of y glas glog resolves it into a green bower to which ,melwas took ,gwenhwyvar4#bhe ,in any case1 the reference is significant1 and goes far1 in combination with the other references1 to represent the ,white ,phantom or ,fairy and her lover ,melwas as beings of a race like the ,irish ,sidhe or ,people of the ,goddess ,dana4 ,and though by no means exhausting all examples tending to prove this point1 we pass on to the seventh and most important of our links in the sequence of evidence1 the carrying of ,arthur to ,avalon in a fairy ship by fairy women4 ,from the first1 ,arthur was under superhuman guidance and protection4 ,merlin the magician1 born of a spirit or daemon1 claimed ,arthur before birth and became his teacher afterwards4 ,from the mysterious ,lady of the ,lake1 ,arthur received his magic sword ,excalibur1#bhf and to her returned it1 through ,sir ,bedivere4 ,during all his time on earth the 'lady of the lake that was always friendly to ,king ,arthur'#bhg watched over him2 and once when she saw him in great danger1 like the ,irish ,morrigu who presided over the career of ,cuchulainn1 she sought to save him1 and with the help of ,sir ,tristram succeeded4#bhg ,the passing of ,arthur to ,avalon or ,faerie seems to be a return to his own native realm of subjectivity4 ,his own sister was with him in the ship1 for she was of the invisible country too4#bhh ,and another of his companions on his voyage from the visible to the invisible was his life-guardian ,nimue1 the lady of the lake4 ,merlin could not be of the company1 for he was already in ,faerie with the ,fay ,vivian4 ,behold the passing of ,arthur as ,malory describes it3--'444 thus was he led away in a ship wherein were three queens2 that one was ,king ,arthur's sister1 ,queen ,morgan le ,fay2 the other was the ,queen of ,northgalis2 the third was the ,queen of the ,waste ,lands4 ,also there was ,nimue1 the chief lady of the lake1 that had wedded ,pelleas the good knight2 and this lady had done much for ,king ,arthur1 for she would never suffer ,sir ,pelleas to be in no place where he should be in danger of his life4'#bhi ,concerning the great ,arthur's return from ,avalon we shall speak in the chapter dealing with ,re-birth4 ,and we pass now from ,arthur and his ,brotherhood of gods and fairy-folk to ,lancelot and his son ,galahad--the two chief knights in the ,arthurian ,romance4 ,according to one of the earliest accounts we have of ,lancelot1 the ,german poem by ,ulrich von ,zatzikhoven1 as analysed by ,gaston ,paris1 he was the son of ,king ,pant and ,queen ,clarine of ,genewis4#bij ,in consequence of the hatred of their subjects the royal pair were forced to flee when ,lancelot was only a year old4 ,during the flight1 the king1 mortally wounded1 died2 and just as the queen was about to be taken captive1 a fairy rising in a cloud of mist carried away the infant ,lancelot from where his parents had placed him under a tree4 ,the fairy took him to her abode on an island in the midst of the sea1 from whence she derived her title of ,lady of the ,lake1 and he1 as her adopted son1 the name of ,lancelot du ,lac2 and her island-world was called the ,land of ,maidens4 ,having lived in that world of ,faerie so long1 it was only natural that ,lancelot should have grown up more like one of its fair-folk than like a mortal4 ,no doubt it was on account of his half-supernatural nature that he fell in love with the ,white ,phantom1 ,gwenhwyvar1 the wife of the king who had power to enter ,hades and return again to the land of the living4 ,who better than ,lancelot could have rescued ,arthur's queen8 ,no one else in the court was so well fitted for the task4 ,and it was he who was able to cross one of the magic bridges into the realm of ,melwas1 the ,otherworld1 while ,gauvain 7in the ,english form1 ,gawayne7 failed4 ,malory's narrative records how ,lancelot1 while suffering from the malady of madness caused by ,gwenhwyvar's jealous expulsion of ,elayne his fairy-sweetheart1--quite a parallel case to that of ,cuchulainn when his wife ,emer expelled his fairy-mistress ,fand1--fought against a wild boar and was terribly wounded1 and how afterwards he was nursed by his own ,elayne in ,fairyland1 and healed and restored to his right mind by the ,sangreal4 ,then ,sir ,ector and ,sir ,perceval found him there in the ,joyous ,isle enjoying the companionship of ,elayne1 where he had been many years1 and from that world of ,faerie induced him to return to ,arthur's court4 ,and1 finally1 comes the most important element of all to show how closely related ,lancelot is with the fairy world and its people1 and how inseparable from that invisible realm another of the fundamental elements in the life of ,arthur is--the ,quest of the ,holy ,grail1 and the story of ,galahad1 who of all the knights was pure and good enough to behold the ,sacred ,vessel1 and who was the offspring of the foster-son of the ,lady of the ,lake and the fairy woman ,elayne4#bia ,in the strange old ,welsh tale of ,kulhwch and ,olwen we find ,arthur and his knights even more closely identified with the fairy realm than in ,malory and the ,norman-,french writers2 and this is important1 because the ancient tale is1 as scholars think1 probably much freer from foreign influences and re-working than the better-known romances of ,arthur1 and therefore more in accord with genuine ,celtic beliefs and folk-lore1 as we shall quickly see4 ,the court of ,king ,arthur to which the youth ,kulhwch goes seeking aid in his enterprise seems in some ways--though the parallel is not complete enough to be emphasized--to be a more artistic1 because literary1 picture of that fairy court which the ,celtic peasant locates under mountains1 in caverns1 in hills1 and in knolls1 a court quite comparable to that of the ,irish ,sidhe-folk or ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,arthur is represented in the midst of a brilliant life where1 as in the fairy palaces1 there is much feasting2 and ,kulhwch being invited to the feasting says1 ',i came not here to consume meat and drink4' ,and behold what sort of personages from that court ,kulhwch has pledged to him1 so that by their supernatural assistance he may obtain ,olwen1 herself perhaps a fairy held under fairy enchantment#bib3 the sons of ,gwawrddur ,kyrvach1 whom ,arthur had power to call from the confines of hell2 ,morvran the son of ,tegid1 who1 because of his ugliness1 was thought to be a demon2 ,sandde ,bryd ,angel1 who was so beautiful that mortals thought him a ministering angel2 ,henbedestyr1 with whom no one could keep pace 'either on horseback1 or on foot'1 and who therefore seems to be a spirit of the air2 ,henwas ,adeinawg1 with whom 'no four-footed beast could run the distance of an acre1 much less go beyond it'2 ,sgilti ,yscawndroed1 who must have been another spirit or fairy1 for 'when he intended to go on a message for his ,lord 7,arthur1 who is like a ,tuatha ,de ,danann king71 he never sought to find a path1 but knowing whither he was to go1 if his way lay through a wood he went along the tops of the trees'1 and 'during his whole life1 a blade of reed-grass bent not beneath his feet1 much less did one ever break1 so lightly did he tread'2 ,gwallgoyc1 who 'when he came to a town1 though there were three hundred houses in it1 if he wanted anything1 he would not let sleep come to the eyes of any whilst he remained there'2 ,osla ,gyllellvawr1 who bore a short broad dagger1 and 'when ,arthur and his hosts came before a torrent1 they would seek for a narrow place where they might pass the water1 and would lay the sheathed dagger across the torrent1 and it would form a bridge sufficient for the armies of the three ,islands of ,britain1 and of the three islands adjacent1 with their spoil4' ,it seems very evident that this is the magic bridge1 so often typified by a sword or dagger1 which connects the world invisible with our own1 and over which all shades and spirits pass freely to and fro4 ,in this case we think ,arthur is very clearly a ruler of the spirit realm1 for1 like the great ,tuatha ,de ,danann king ,dagda1 he can command its fairy-like inhabitants1 and his army is an army of spirits or fairies4 ,the unknown author of ,kulhwch1 like ,spenser in modern times in his ,faerie ,queene1 seems to have made the ,island of ,britain the realm of ,faerie--the ,celtic ,otherworld--and ,arthur its king4 ,but let us take a look at more of the men pledged to ,kulhwch from among ,arthur's followers3 ,clust the son of ,clustveinad1 who possessed clairaudient faculties of so extraordinary a kind that 'though he were buried seven cubits beneath the earth1 he would hear the ant fifty miles off rise from her nest in the morning'2 and the wonderful ,kai1 who could live nine days and nine nights under water1 for his breath lasted this long1 and he could exist the same length of time without sleep4 ',a wound from ,kai's sword no physician could heal4' ,and at will he was as tall as the highest tree in the forest4 ',and he had another peculiarity3 so great was the heat of his nature1 that1 when it rained hardest1 whatever he carried remained dry for a handbreadth above and a handbreadth below his hand2 and when his companions were coldest1 it was to them as fuel with which to light their fire4' ,yet besides all these strange knights1 ,arthur commanded a being who is without any reasonable doubt a god or ruler of the subjective realm--',gwynn ab ,nudd1 whom ,god has placed over the brood of devils in ,annwn1 lest they should destroy the present race4 ,he will never be spared thence4' ,whatever each one of us may think of this wonderful assembly of warriors and heroes who recognized in ,arthur their chief1 they are certainly not beings of the ordinary type1--in fact they seem not of this world1 but of that hidden land to which we all shall one day journey4#bic ,but to avoid too much conjecture and to speak with a degree of scientific exactness as to how ,arthur and these companions of his are to be considered1 let us undertake a brief investigation into the mythological character and nature of the chief one of them next to the great hero--,gwynn ab ,nudd4 ,professor ,j4 ,loth has said that 'nothing shows better the evolution of mythological personages than the history of ,gwynn'2#bid and in ,irish we have the equivalent form of ,nudd in the name ,nuada--famous for having had a hand of silver2 and ,nuada of the ,silver ,hand was a king of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,the same authority thus describes ,gwynn1 the son of ,nudd3--',gwynn1 like his father ,nudd1 is an ancient god of the ,britons and of the ,gaels4 ,christian priests have made of him a demon4 ,the people persisted in regarding him as a powerful and rich king1 the sovereign of supernatural beings4'#bie ,and referring to ,gwynn1 ,professor ,loth in his early edition of ,kulhwch says3--',our author has had an original idea3 he has left him in hell1 to which place ,christianity had made him descend1 but for a motive which does him the greatest honour3 ,god has given him the strength of demons to control them and to prevent them from destroying the present race of men3 he is indispensable down there4'#bie ,lady ,guest calls ,gwynn the ,king of ,faerie1#bif the ruler of the ,tylwyth ,teg or ',family of ,beauty'1 who are always joyful and well-disposed toward mortals2 and also the ruler of the ,elves 7,welsh ,ellyllon71 a goblin race who take special delight in misleading travellers and in playing mischievous tricks on men4 ,it is even said that ,gwynn himself is given to indulging in the same mischievous amusements as his elvish subjects4 ,the evidence now set forth seems to suggest clearly and even definitely that ,arthur in his true nature is a god of the subjective world1 a ruler of ghosts1 demons1 and demon rulers1 and fairies2 that the people of his court are more like the ,irish ,sidhe-folk than like mortals2 and that as a great king he is comparable to ,dagda the over-king of all the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,arthur and ,osiris1 two culture heroes and sun-gods1 as we suggested at first1 are strikingly parallel4 ,osiris came from the ,otherworld to this one1 became the first ,divine ,ruler and ,culture ,hero of ,egypt1 and then returned to the ,otherworld1 where he is now a king4 ,arthur's father was a ruler in the ,otherworld1 and ,arthur evidently came from there to be the ,supreme ,champion of the ,brythons1 and then returned to that realm whence he took his origin1 a realm which poets called ,avalon4 ,the passing of ,arthur seems mystically to represent the sunset over the ,western ,ocean3 ,arthur disappears beneath the horizon into the ,lower ,world which is also the ,halls of ,osiris1 wherein ,osiris journeys between sunset and sunrise1 between death and re-birth4 ,merlin found the infant ,arthur floating on the waves3 the sun rising across the waters is this birth of ,arthur1 the birth of ,osiris4 ,in the chapter on ,re-birth1 evidence will be offered to show that as a culture hero ,arthur is to be regarded as a sun-god incarnate in a human body to teach the ,brythons arts and sciences and hidden things--even as ,prometheus and ,zeus are said to have come to earth to teach the ,greeks2 and that as a sixth-century warrior1 ,arthur1 in accordance with the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 is an ancient ,brythonic hero reincarnate4 ,,the ,,literary ,,evolution ,,and ,,the ,,antiquity ,,of ,,the ,,brythonic ,,fairy-,,romances ,after the ,norman ,conquest of ,england in #ajff1 the ancient fairy-romances of the ,brythons began to exercise their remarkable literary influence as we see it now in the evolution of the ,arthurian ,legend4 ,and in this evolution of the ,arthurian ,legend we find the proof of the antiquity of the ,brythonic ,fairy-,faith1 just as we find in the old ,irish manuscripts the proof of the antiquity of the ,gaelic ,fairy-,faith4 ,long before #ajff1 ,gildas gives the first recorded germs of the ,arthurian story in his ,de ,excidio et ,conquestu ,britanniae1 though they are hardly distinguishable as such4 ,his failure to mention the name of ,arthur1 though treating of the whole period when ,arthur is supposed to have lived1 he himself being contemporary with the period1 raises the very difficult question which we have already mentioned1 ,did the mighty ,brythonic hero ever have an actual historical existence8 ,almost three hundred years later--a period sufficiently removed from ,gildas to have made ,arthur the supreme champion of the falling ,brythons1 granting that he did exist during the sixth century as a ,brythonic chieftain--in the ,historia ,britonum1 completed about the year #hjj1 and attributed to ,nennius1 ,arthur1 for the first time in a known manuscript1 is mentioned as a character of ,british history4#big ,all that can be definitely said of the narrative of ,nennius 'is that it represents more or less inconsistent ,british traditions of uncertain age'4#big ,that it is not always historical1 many scholars are agreed4 ,dr4 ,r4 ,h4 ,fletcher says1 ',there is always the possibility that ,arthur never existed at all1 and that even ,nennius's comparatively modest eulogy has no firmer foundation than the persistent stories of ancient ,celtic myth or the patriotic figments of the ardent ,celtic imagination4'#bih ,sir ,john ,rhys also propounds a similar view4#bii ,thus1 for example1 ,nennius states that ,arthur in one battle slew single handed more than nine hundred men2 and1 again1 that the number of ,arthur's always-successful battles was twelve1 as though ,arthur were the sun or a sun-god1 and his battles the twelve months of the solar year4#bih ,between ,nennius and ,geoffrey of ,monmouth there is an intermediate stage in the development of the ,arthurian ,legend1 during which the character of ,arthur tends to become more romantic2 but for our purpose this period is of slight importance4 ,thereafter1 by means of ,geoffrey's famous ,historia ,regum ,britanniae1 written about #aacf1 the ,arthurian ,legend gained popularity throughout ,western ,europe4 ,in this work ,arthur ceases to be purely historical1 and appears as a great king enveloped in the mythical atmosphere of a ,celtic hero1 and with him ,merlin and ,lear are for the first time definitely enshrined in the literature of ,britain4#cjj ,arthur's career is completely sketched in the ,historia1 from birth to his mysterious departure for the ,isle of ,avalon after the last fight with ,modred1 when fairy women take him to cure him of his wounds 7,book ,,xi1 #a-b74 ,geoffrey1 thus the father of the ,arthurian ,legend in ,english and ,european literature1 was undoubtedly a ,welshman who probably had natural opportunities of knowing the true character of ,arthur from genuine ,brythonic sources1 though we know little about his life4 ,his ,historia1 as the researches of scholars have shown1 was the sum total in his time of all ,arthurian history and myth1 whether written or orally transmitted1 which he could collect2 just as ,malory's ,le ,morte d',arthur was a compendium of ,arthurian material in the time of ,edward ,,iv4 ,there followed many imitations and translations of the ,historia4 ,the most important of these appeared in #aaee1 ,le ,roman de ,brut or ',the ,story of ,brutus'1 by the ,norman poet ,wace4 ,the ,brut1 though fundamentally a rimed version of the ,historia1 is much more than a mere translation3 ,wace has improved on it2 and he gives a convincing impression that he had access to ,celtic ,arthurian stories not drawn upon by ,geoffrey1 for he gives new touches about ,gawain1 mentions the ,britons' expectation of ,arthur's return from ,faerie1 and the institution of the ,round ,table4#cja ,somewhere about the year #abjj1 ,layamon1 a simple-hearted ,saxon priest1 wrote another ,brut1 based upon the metrical one by ,wace2 and in the literature of ,england1 ,layamon's work is the most valuable single production between the ,conquest and ,chaucer4 ,the life of ,layamon is very obscure1 but it seems reasonably certain that for a long time he lived on the ,welsh marches in ,north ,worcestershire1 in the midst of living ,brythonic traditions1 which he used at first hand2 and1 as a result1 we find in his ,brut legends not recorded in ,geoffrey1 or ,wace1 or in any earlier or contemporary literature4 ,for our purposes the most interesting of many interesting additions made by ,layamon are the curious passages about the fairy elves at ,arthur's birth1 and about the way in which ,arthur was taken by them to their queen ,argante in ,avalon to be cured of his wounds3--',the time came that was chosen1 then was ,arthur born4 ,so soon as he came on earth elves took him2 they enchanted the child into magic most strong2 they gave him might to be the best of all knights2 they gave him another thing1 that he should be a rich king2 they gave him the third1 that he should live long2 they gave to him the prince virtues most good1 so that he was most generous of all men alive4 ,this the elves gave him1 and thus the child thrived4'#cjb ,in the last fatal battle ,modred is slain and ,arthur is grievously wounded4 ,as ,arthur lies wounded1 ,constantine1 ,cador's son1 the earl of ,cornwall1 and a relative of ,arthur1 comes to him4 ,arthur greets him with these words3--',constantine1 thou art welcome2 thou wert ,cador's son4 ,i give thee here my kingdom4444 ,and ,i will fare to ,avalun1 to the fairest of all maidens1 to ,argante the queen1 and elf most fair1 and she shall make my wounds all sound2 make me all whole with healing draughts4 ,and afterwards ,i will come again to my kingdom1 and dwell with the ,britons with mickle joy4 ,even with the words1 there approached from the sea that was1 a short boat1 floating with the waves2 and two women therein1 wondrously formed2 and they took ,arthur anon1 and bare him quickly1 and laid him softly down1 and forth gan depart4 ,then it was accomplished that ,merlin whilom said1 that mickle care 7sorrow7 should be of ,arthur's departure4 ,the ,britons believe that he is alive1 and dwelleth in ,avalun with the fairest of all elves2 and the ,britons even yet expect when ,arthur shall return4'#cjc ,during this same period1 ,giraldus ,cambrensis 7#aadg-abbc7 in his ,itinerarium ,cambriae 7,book ,i1 c4 #h7 collected a popular ,otherworld tale4 ,it is about a priest named ,elidorus1 who when a boy in ,gower1 the western district of ,glamorganshire1 had free passage between this world of ours and an underground country inhabited by a race of little people who spoke a language like ,greek4 ,this tends to prove that the ,fairy-,faith was then flourishing among the people of ,wales4 ,it was chiefly during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that the ,arthurian ,legend as a thing of literature began to take definite shape4 ,the old romances of the ,brythons were cultivated and revised1 and written down by men and women of literary genius4 ,chrtien de ,troyes1 who recorded a large number of legendary stories in verse1 ,marie de ,france1 famous for her ,lais1 ,thomas1 the author of the chief version of the ,tristan legend1#cjd ,broul1 who recorded a less important version of this legend1#cje and ,robert de ,boron1 who did much to develop the legend of the ,holy ,grail1 were among the greatest workers in the ,french ,celtic ,revival of this time4 ,professor ,brown has shown that 'almost every incident in ,chrtien's ,iwain was suggested by an ancient ,celtic tale1 dealing with the familiar theme of a journey to win a fairy mistress in the ,otherworld4'#cjf ,the fay whom ,iwain marries is called ,laudine2 and1 like one of the fairies who live in sacred waters1 she has her favourite fountain which the knight guards1 as though he were the ,black ,knight in the old ,welsh tale of ,the ,lady of the ,fountain4 ,both ,gaston ,paris and ,alfred ,nutt have also recognized the tale of ,iwain as a fairy romance4#cjg ,professor ,loth observes that1 ',it is not impossible that ,chrtien had known1 among fairy legends1 ,armorican legends1 concerning the fairies of waters1 whose rle is identical with that of the ,welsh ,tylwyth ,teg4'#cjh ,in ,lanval1 one of the ,lais#cji by ,marie de ,france1 written during the twelfth century1 probably while its author was living in ,england1 we have direct proof that there was then flourishing in ,brittany--well known to ,marie de ,france1 who was ,french by birth and training--a popular belief in fairy women who lived in the ,otherworld1 and who could take mortals on whom their love fell4 ,it is probable that the older lay1 to which ,marie de ,france refers in the beginning of her ,lanval1 may have been the anonymous one of ,graelent1 sometimes improperly attributed to her4 ,zimmer and ,foerster place the origin of ,graelent in ,brittany#caj2 and the similarity of the heroes in the two poems seems to be due to a very ancient ,brythonic ,fairy-,faith4 ,dr4 ,schofield sees in ,graelent an older form of the more polished ,lanval2 and remarks that the chief difference in the two lais is found in the way the hero meets the fairy women4 ,in the case of ,lanval1 when he leaves the court1 he goes to rest beside a river where two beautiful maidens come to him2 ,graelent is alone in the woods when he sees a hind whiter than snow1 and following it comes to a place where fairy damsels are bathing in a fountain4 ,there seems to be no doubt that in both poems the maidens and damsels are fairies quite like the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 with power to cast their spell over beautiful young men whom they wish to have for husbands4 ,in ,guingemor1 another of the old ,breton lays1 ascribed by ,gaston ,paris to ,marie de ,france1 we find again fairy-romance episodes similar to those in ,lanval and ,graelent4#caa ,the ,lais of ,marie de ,france had many imitators in ,england4 ,chaucer1 too1 has made it clear that he knew a good deal about the old ,breton lais and their subjects or 'matter'1 for in the ,prologue to the ,frankeleyn's ,tale he writes3-- ,thise olde gentil ,britons in hir dayes ,of diverse aventures maden layes1 ,rymeyed in hir firste ,briton tonge4 ,we may now briefly examine1 in a general way1 some of the most noteworthy of the more obscure1 but for us important ,old ,french fairy-romances of a kindred ,brythonic or ,arthurian character1 called ,romans d',aventure and ,romans ,bretons1 wherein fes appear or are mentioned3 i4 e4 ,le ,bel ,inconnu1 ,blancadin1 ,brun de la ,montaigne1 ,claris et ,laris1 ,dolopathos1 ,escanor1 ,floriant et ,florete1 ,partonopeus1 ,la ,vengeance ,raguidel1 ,joufrois1 and ,amada et ,ydoine4#cab ,in these romances1 fairies commonly appear as most beautiful supernormal women who love mortal heroes4 ,they are seen chiefly at night1 frequenting forests and fountains1 and like all fairies disappear at or before cock-crow4 ,they are skilled in magic and astrology2 like the ,greek ,fates1 some of them spin and weave and have great influence over the lives of mankind4 ,they are represented as relatively immortal1 so long is their span of life compared to ours2 but1 ultimately1 they seem to be subject to a change such as we call death4 ,this indeed is never specifically mentioned1 only implied by the statements that they enjoy childhood and then womanhood1 being thus created and not eternal beings4 ,some are very prominent figures1 like ,morgain la ,fe1 ,arthur's sister4 ,in most cases they are beneficent1 and frequently act as guardian spirits for their special hero1 just as the ,lake ,lady for ,arthur and the ,morrigu for ,cuchulainn4 ,so strong is the faith in these fes that a man meeting unusual success is often described as fed--that is endowed with fairy power or under fairy protection1 as ,perceval's adversary1 the ,knight of the ,dragon1 states4#cac ,in ,joufrois1 too1 the power of the fairies1 or else the special protection of ,god1 is considered the cause of success in arms4#cad ,in ,brun de la ,montaigne1 ,morgain la ,fe is represented as the cousin of ,arthur2 and ,butor1 the father of ,brun1 mentions several localities in different lands1 which1 like the ,forest of ,brocliande in ,brittany1 the chief theatre of this romance1 are fairy haunts2 and he names them as being under the dominion of ,arthur1 who is described as a great fairy king4#cae ,such fairy romances as the above 7and they are but a few examples selected from among a vast number7 often localized in ,brittany1 raise the perplexing and far-reaching problem concerning the origin of the ',matter of ,britain'4 ,the most reasonable position to take with respect to this problem would seem to be that ,celtic traditions flourished wherever there were ,gaels and ,brythons1 that there was much interchange of these traditions between one ,celtic country and another--especially between ,wales and ,ireland and across the channel between ,brittany and ,south ,england1 including ,cornwall and ,wales1 both before and after the ,christian era4 ,further1 the ,arthurian fairy-romances1 based upon such interchanged ,celtic traditions1 grew up with a ,brythonic background1 chiefly after the ,norman ,conquest1 both in ,armorica and in ,britain1 and became in the later ,middle ,ages one of the chief glories of ,english and of ,european literature4 ,in concluding this slight examination of ,brythonic fairy-romances1 we may very briefly suggest by means of a few selected examples what fairies are like in the ,mabinogion stories and in the ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales4 ,kulhwch and ,olwen1 the chief literary treasure-house of ancient magical and mystical ,otherworld and fairy traditions of the ,brythons1 which we have already considered in relation to ,arthur1 'appears to be built upon ,arthurian and other legends of native growth4'#caf ,unmistakable ,welsh parallels to the ,irish fairy-belief appear in the ,mabinogi of ,pwyll1 ,prince of ,dyfed1 where the two chief incidents are ,pwyll's journey to the ,otherworld after he and ,arawn its ruler have exchanged shapes and kingdoms for a year1 and the marriage of ,pwyll to a fairy damsel2 in the ,mabinogi of ,manawyddan1 which contains much magic and shape-shifting1 and the description of a fairy castle belonging to ,llwyd2 and in the ,mabinogi of ,branwen1 the ,daughter of ,llyr1 where there is the episode of the seven-year feast at ,harlech over the ,head of ,bran1 during which the ,birds of ,rhiannon's realm sing so sweetly that time passes abnormally fast4 ,the subject-matter of the four true ,mabinogion 7composed before the eleventh century7 is1 as ,sir ,john ,rhys has pointed out1 the fortunes of three clans of superhuman beings comparable to the ,irish ,tuatha ,de ,danann3 7#a7 the ,children of ,llyr1 7#b7 the ,children of ,don1 7#c7 and the ,family of ,pwyll4#cag ,herein1 then1 the ancient ,gaelic and ,brythonic ,fairy-,faiths coincide1 and show the unity of the ,celtic race which evolved them4 ,in the ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales1 which are poetical compositions1 whereas the ,mabinogion tales are prose with extremely little verse1 there are certain interesting passages to illustrate the ancient ,fairy-,faith of the ,brythons from some of its purest sources4 ,the first selected example comes from the ,black ,book of ,caermarthen4 ,it is a poem1 sometimes called the ,avallenau1 from among the poems relating to the ,battle of ,arderydd2 and it represents ,myrddin or ,merlin1 the famous magician of ,arthur1 quite at the mercy of sprites4 ,the passage is an interesting one as showing that in the region where ,merlin is supposed to be under the enchantment of the fairy woman ,vivian he was regarded as no longer able to exercise his wonted control over spirits like fairies4 ,as in ancient non-,celtic belief1 where the loss of chastity in a magician1 that is to say in one able to command certain orders of invisible beings1 always leads to his falling under their lawless power1 so was it with ,merlin when overcome by ,vivian4 ,and this is ,merlin's lamentation3-- ,ten years and forty1 as the toy of lawless ones1 ,have ,i been wandering in gloom among sprites4 ,after wealth in abundance and entertaining minstrels1 ,i have been here so long that it is useless for gloom and sprites to lead me astray4#cah ,in a dialogue between ,myrddin and his sister ,gwenddydd1 contained in the ,red ,book of ,hergest ,i1#cai there is a curious reference to ghosts of the mountain who1 just like fairies that live in the mountains1 steal away men's reason when they strike them1--in death which may appear natural1 in sickness1 or in accident4 ,and after his death--after he has been taken by these ghosts of the mountain--,myrddin returns as a ghost and speaks from the grave a prophecy which 'the ghost of the mountain in ,aber ,carav'#cbj told him4 ,not only do these passages prove the ,celtic belief in ghosts like fairies to have existed anciently in ,wales2 but they show also that the recorded ,fairy-,faith of the ,brythons1 like that of the ,gaels of ,ireland and ,scotland1 directly attests and confirms our ,psychological ,theory4 ,like a record from the official proceedings of the ,psychical ,research ,society itself1 they form one of the strongest proofs that fairies1 ghosts1 and shades were confused1 all alike1 in the mind of the ,welsh poet1 mingling together in that realm where mortals see with a new vision1 and exist with a body invisible to us4 ,our study of the literary evolution of the ,brythonic fairy-romances shows that as early as about the year #hjj ,arthurian traditions were known1 though possibly ,arthur himself never had historical existence4 ,by about #aacf1 when ,geoffrey's famous ,historia appeared1 these traditions were already highly developed in ,britain1 and ,arthur had become a great ,brythonic hero enveloped in a halo of romance and myth1 and1 as an ,otherworld being1 was definitely related to ,avalon and its fairy inhabitants4 ,this new literary material of ,celtic origin opened up to ,europe by ,geoffrey rapidly began to influence profoundly the form of continental as well as ,english poetry and prose1 chiefly through the writers of the ,norman-,french period of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries4 ,in itself it was in no wise essentially different from what we find as fairy romances in the old ,irish manuscripts written during the same and earlier periods4 ,welsh literature1 however it may be related to ,irish1 shows a common origin with it4 ,the four true ,mabinogion as stories are earlier than #aajj2 ,kulhwch and ,olwen in its present form most probably dates from the latter half of the twelfth century2 the ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales date from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries as manuscripts4 ,in both ancient and modern times there was much interchange of material between ,irish ,gaels and ,brythons2 and ,brittany as well as ,britain and ,ireland undoubtedly contributed to the evolution of the complex fairy romances which formed the germ of the ,arthurian ,legend4 ,when we stop to consider how long it may have taken the ,brythonic ,fairy-,faith1 as well as that of the ,gaels1 to become so widespread and popular among the ,celtic peoples that it could take such definite shape as it now shows in all the oldest manuscripts in different languages1 we can easily wander backward into periods of enlightenment and civilization beyond the horizon of our little fragments of recorded history4 ,who can tell how many ages ago the ,fairy-,faith began its first evolution1 or who can say that there was ever a ,celt who did not believe in1 or know about fairies8 ,,section ,,ii ,,the ,,recorded ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,celtic ,,otherworld#cba ',in ,ireland this world and the world we go to after death are not far apart4'--,w4 ,b4 ,,yeats4 ',many go to the ,tir-na-nog in sleep1 and some are said to have remained there1 and only a vacant form is left behind without the light in the eyes which marks the presence of a soul4'--,a4 ,e4 ,general ideas of the ,otherworld3 its location2 its subjectivity2 its names2 its extent2 ,tethra one of its kings--,the ,silver ,branch and the ,golden ,bough2 and ,initiations--,the ,otherworld the ,heaven-,world of all religions--,voyage of ,bran--,cormac in the ,land of ,promise--,magic ,wands--,cuchulainn's ,sick-,bed--,ossian's return from ,fairyland--,lanval's going to ,avalon--,voyage of ,mael-,duin--,voyage of ,teigue--,adventures of ,art--,cuchulainn's and ,arthur's ,otherworld ,quests--,literary ,evolution of idea of ,happy ,otherworld4 ,,general ,,description ,the ,heaven-,world of the ancient ,celts1 unlike that of the ,christians1 was not situated in some distant1 unknown region of planetary space1 but here on our own earth4 ,as it was necessarily a subjective world1 poets could only describe it in terms more or less vague2 and its exact geographical location1 accordingly1 differed widely in the minds of scribes from century to century4 ,sometimes1 as is usual to-day in fairy-lore1 it was a subterranean world entered through caverns1 or hills1 or mountains1 and inhabited by many races and orders of invisible beings1 such as demons1 shades1 fairies1 or even gods4 ,and the underground world of the ,sidhe-folk1 which cannot be separated from it1 was divided into districts or kingdoms under different fairy kings and queens1 just as the upper world of mortals4 ,we already know how the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,sidhe-folk1 after their defeat by the ,sons of ,mil at the ,battle of ,tailte1 retired to this underground world and took possession of its palaces beneath the green hills and vales of ,ireland2 and how from there1 as gods of the harvest1 they still continued to exercise authority over their conquerors1 or marshalled their own invisible spirit-hosts in fairy warfare1 and sometimes interfered in the wars of men4 ,more frequently1 in the old ,irish manuscripts1 the ,celtic ,otherworld was located in the midst of the ,western ,ocean1 as though it were the 'double' of the lost ,atlantis2#cbb and ,manannan ,mac ,lir1 the ,son of the ,sea--perhaps himself the 'double' of an ancient ,atlantean king--was one of the divine rulers of its fairy inhabitants1 and his palace1 for he was one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 was there rather than in ,ireland2 and when he travelled between the two countries it was in a magic chariot drawn by horses who moved over the sea-waves as on land4 ,and fairy women came from that mid-,atlantic world in magic boats like spirit boats1 to charm away such mortal men as in their love they chose1 or else to take great ,arthur wounded unto death4 ,and in that island world there was neither death nor pain nor scandal1 nought save immortal and unfading youth1 and endless joy and feasting4 ,even yet at rare intervals1 like a phantom1 ,hy ,brasil appears far out on the ,atlantic4 ,no later than the summer of #aijh it is said to have been seen from ,west ,ireland1 just as that strange invisible island near ,innishmurray1 inhabited by the invisible 'gentry'1 is seen--once in seven years4 ,and too many men of intelligence testify to having seen ,hy ,brasil at the same moment1 when they have been together1 or separated1 as during the summer of #aijh1 for it to be explained away as an ordinary illusion of the senses4 ,nor can it be due to a mirage such as we know1 because neither its shape nor position seems to conform to any known island or land mass4 ,the ,celtic ,otherworld is like that hidden realm of subjectivity lying just beyond the horizon of mortal existence1 which we cannot behold when we would1 save with the mystic vision of the ,irish seer4 ,thus in the legend of ,bran's friends1 who sat over dinner at ,harlech with the ,head of ,bran for seven years1 three curious birds acted as musicians1 the ,three ,birds of ,rhiannon1 which were said to sing the dead back to life and the living into death2--but the birds were not in ,harlech1 they were out over the sea in the atmosphere of ,rhiannon's realm in the bosom of ,cardigan ,bay4#cbc ,and though we might say of that ,otherworld1 as we learn from these ,three ,birds of ,rhiannon1 and as ,socrates would say1 that its inhabitants are come from the living and the living in our world from the dead there1 yet1 as has already been set forth in chapter iv1 we ought not to think of the ,sidhe-folk1 nor of such great heroes and gods as ,arthur and ,cuchulainn and ,finn1 who are also of its invisible company1 as in any sense half-conscious shades2 for they are always represented as being in the full enjoyment of an existence and consciousness greater than our own4 ,in ,irish manuscripts1 the ,otherworld beyond the ,ocean bears many names4 ,it is ,tr-na-nog1 ',the ,land of ,youth'2 ,tr-,innambo1 ',the ,land of the ,living'2 ,tr ,tairngire1 ',the ,land of ,promise'2 ,tr ,n-aill1 ',the ,other ,land 7or ,world7'2 ,mag ,mr1 ',the ,great ,plain'2 and also ,mag ,mell1 ',the ,plain ,agreeable 7or ,happy74' ,but this western ,otherworld1 if it is what we believe it to be--a poetical picture of the great subjective world--cannot be the realm of any one race of invisible beings to the exclusion of another4 ,in it all alike--gods1 ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 fairies1 demons1 shades1 and every sort of disembodied spirits--find their appropriate abode2 for though it seems to surround and interpenetrate this planet even as the ,x-rays interpenetrate matter1 it can have no other limits than those of the ,universe itself4 ,and that it is not an exclusive realm is certain from what our old ,irish manuscripts record concerning the ,fomorian races4#cbd ,these1 when they met defeat on the battle-field of ,moytura at the hands of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 retired altogether from ,ireland1 their overthrow being final1 and returned to their own invisible country--a mysterious land beyond the ,ocean1 where the dead find a new existence1 and where their god-king ,tethra ruled1 as he formerly ruled in this world4 ,and the fairy women of ,tethra's kingdom1 even like those who came from the ,tuatha ,de ,danann of ,erin1 or those of ,manannan's ocean-world1 enticed mortals to go with them to be heroes under their king1 and to behold there the assemblies of ancestors4 ,it was one of them who came to ,connla1 son of ,conn1 supreme king of ,ireland2 and this was her message to him3--',the immortals invite you4 ,you are going to be one of the heroes of the people of ,tethra4 ,you will always be seen there1 in the assemblies of your ancestors1 in the midst of those who know and love you4' ,and with the fairy spell upon him the young prince entered the glass boat of the fairy woman1 and his father the king1 in great tribulation and wonder1 beheld them disappear across the waters never to return4#cbd ,,the ,,silver ,,branch#cbe ,,and ,,the ,,golden ,,bough ,to enter the ,otherworld before the appointed hour marked by death1 a passport was often necessary1 and this was usually a silver branch of the sacred apple-tree bearing blossoms1 or fruit1 which the queen of the ,land of the ,ever-,living and ,ever-,young gives to those mortals whom she wishes for as companions2 though sometimes1 as we shall see1 it was a single apple without its branch4 ,the queen's gifts serve not only as passports1 but also as food and drink for mortals who go with her4 ,often the apple-branch produces music so soothing that mortals who hear it forget all troubles and even cease to grieve for those whom the fairy women take4 ,for us there are no episodes more important than those in the ancient epics concerning these apple-tree talismans1 because in them we find a certain key which unlocks the secret of that world from which such talismans are brought1 and proves it to be the same sort of a place as the ,otherworld of the ,greeks and ,romans4 ,let us then use the key and make a few comparisons between the ,silver ,branch of the ,celts and the ,golden ,bough of the ,ancients1 expecting the two symbols naturally to differ in their functions1 though not fundamentally4 ,it is evident at the outset that the ,golden ,bough was as much the property of the queen of that underworld called ,hades as the ,silver ,branch was the gift of the ,celtic fairy queen1 and like the ,silver ,bough it seems to have been the symbolic bond between that world and this1 offered as a tribute to ,proserpine by all initiates1 who made the mystic voyage in full human consciousness4 ,and1 as we suspect1 there may be even in the ancient ,celtic legends of mortals who make that strange voyage to the ,western ,otherworld and return to this world again1 an echo of initiatory rites--perhaps druidic--similar to those of ,proserpine as shown in the journey of ,aeneas1 which1 as ,virgil records it1 is undoubtedly a poetical rendering of an actual psychic experience of a great initiate4 ,in ,virgil's classic poem the ,sibyl commanded the plucking of the sacred bough to be carried by ,aeneas when he entered the underworld2 for without such a bough plucked near the entrance to ,avernus from the wondrous tree sacred to ,infernal ,juno 7i4 e4 ,proserpine7 none could enter ,pluto's realm4#cbf ,and when ,charon refused to ferry ,aeneas across the ,stygian lake until the ,sibyl-woman drew forth the ,golden ,bough from her bosom1 where she had hidden it1 it becomes clearly enough a passport to ,hades1 just as the ,silver ,branch borne by the fairy woman is a passport to ,tr ,n-aill2 and the ,sibyl-woman who guided ,aeneas to the ,greek and ,roman ,otherworld takes the place of the fairy woman who leads mortals like ,bran to the ,celtic ,otherworld4#cbg ,,the ,,otherworld ,,idea ,,literally ,,interpreted ,with this parallel between the ,otherworld of the ,celts and that of the ,ancients seemingly established1 we may leave poetical images and seek a literal interpretation for the animistic idea about those realms4 ,the ,rites of ,proserpine as conducted in the ,mysteries of ,antiquity furnish us with the means2 and in what ,servius has written we have the material ready4#cbh ,taking the letter ,y1 which ,pythagoras said is like life with its dividing ways of good and evil1 as the mystic symbol of the branch which all initiates like ,aeneas offered to ,proserpine in the subjective world while there out of the physical body1 he says of the initiatory rites3--',he 7the poet7 could not join the ,rites of ,proserpine without having the branch to hold up4 ,and by going to the shades he 7the poet7 means celebrating the ,rites of ,proserpine4'#cbh ,this passage is certainly capable of but one meaning2 and we may perhaps assume that the invisible realm of the ,ancients1 which is called ,hades1 is like the ,celtic ,otherworld located in the ,western ,ocean1 and is also like1 or has its mythological counterpart in1 the ,elysian ,fields to the ,west1 reserved by the ,greeks and ,romans for their gods and heroes1 and in the ,happy ,otherworld of ,scandinavian1 ,iranian1 and ,indian mythologies4 ,it must then follow that all these realms--though placed in different localities by various nations1 epochs1 traditions1 scribes1 and poets 7even as the under-ground world of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in ,ireland differs from that ruled over by one of their own race1 ,manannan the ,son of the ,sea7--are simply various ways which different ,aryan peoples have had of looking at that one great invisible realm of which we have just spoken1 and which forms the ,heavenworld of every religion1 ,aryan and non-,aryan1 known to man4 ,and if this conclusion is accepted1 and it seems that it must be1 merely on the evidence of the literary or recorded ,celtic ,fairy-,faith1 our ,psychological ,theory stands proven4 ,the ,rites of ,proserpine had many counterparts4 ,thus1 to pass on to another parallel1 in the ,mysteries of ,eleusis the disappearance of the ,maiden into the under-world1 into ,hades1 the land of the dead1 was continually re-enacted in a sacred drama1 and it no doubt was one of the principal rites attending initiation4 ,in our study of the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 we shall return to this subject of ,celtic ,initiation4 ,,the ,,voyage ,,of ,,bran1 ,,son ,,of ,,febal ,we are well prepared now to enjoy the best known voyages which men1 heroes1 and god-men1 are said to have made to ,avalon1 or the ,land of the ,living1 through the invitation of a fairy woman or else of the god ,manannan himself2 and probably the most famous is that of the ,voyage of ,bran1 ,son of ,febal1 as so admirably translated from the original old ,irish saga by ,dr4 ,kuno ,meyer4#cbi ,perhaps in all ,celtic literature no poem surpasses this in natural and simple beauty4 ,one day ,bran heard strange music behind him as he was alone in the neighbourhood of his stronghold2 and as he listened1 so sweet was the sound that it lulled him to sleep4 ,when he awoke1 there lay beside him a branch of silver so white with blossoms that it was not easy to distinguish the blossoms from the branch4 ,bran took up the branch and carried it to the royal house1 and1 when the hosts were assembled therein1 they saw a woman in strange raiment standing on the floor4 ,whence she came and how1 no one could tell4 ,and as they all beheld her1 she sang fifty quatrains to ,bran3-- ,a branch of the apple-tree from ,emain ,i bring1 like those one knows2 ,twigs of white silver are on it1 ,crystal brows with blossoms4 ,there is a distant isle1 ,around which sea-horses glisten3 ,a fair course against the white-swelling surge1-- ,four feet uphold it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,when the song was finished1 'the woman went from them while they knew not whither she went4 ,and she took her branch with her4 ,the branch sprang from ,bran's hand into the hand of the woman1 nor was there strength in ,bran's hand to hold the branch4' ,the next day1 with the fairy spell upon him1 ,bran begins the voyage towards the setting sun4 ,on the ocean he meets ,manannan riding in his magic chariot over the sea-waves2 and the king tells ,bran that he is returning to ,ireland after long ages4 ,parting from the ,son of the ,sea1 ,bran goes on1 and the first island he and his companions reach is the ',island of ,joy'1 where one of the party is set ashore2 the second isle is the ',land of ,women'1 where the queen draws ,bran and his followers to her realm with a magic clew1 and then entertains them for what seems no more than a year1 though 'it chanced to be many years'4 ,after a while1 home-sickness seizes the adventurers and they come to a unanimous decision to return to ,ireland2 but they depart under a taboo not to set foot on earth1 or at least not till holy water has been sprinkled on them4 ,in their coracle they arrive before a gathering at ,srub ,brain1 probably in ,west ,kerry1 and ,bran 7who may now possibly be regarded as an apparition temporarily returned from the ,otherworld to bid his people farewell7 announces himself1 and this reply is made to him3--',we do not know such a one1 though the ,voyage of ,bran is in our ancient stories4' ,then one of ,bran's party1 in his eagerness to land1 broke the taboo2 he 'leaps from them out of the coracle4 ,as soon as he touched the earth of ,ireland1 forthwith he was a heap of ashes1 as though he had been in the earth for many hundred years4444 ,thereupon1 to the people of the gathering1 ,bran told all his wanderings from the beginning until that time4 ,and he wrote these quatrains in ,ogam1 and then bade them farewell4 ,and from that hour his wanderings are not known4' ,,cormac',s ,,adventure ,,in ,,the ,,land ,,of ,,promise#ccj ,in ,cormac's ,adventure in the ,land of ,promise1 there is again a magic silver branch with three golden apples on it3--',one day1 at dawn in ,may-time1 ,cormac1 grandson of ,conn1 was alone on ,mr ,tea in ,tara4 ,he saw coming towards him a sedate7871 grey-headed warrior4444 ,a branch of silver with three golden apples on his shoulder4 ,delight and amusement to the full was it to listen to the music of that branch1 for men sore wounded1 or women in child-bed1 or folk in sickness1 would fall asleep at the melody when that branch was shaken4' ,and the warrior tells ,cormac that he has come from a land where only truth is known1 where there is 'neither age nor decay nor gloom nor sadness nor envy nor jealousy nor hatred nor haughtiness'4 ,on his promising the unknown warrior any three boons that he shall ask1 ,cormac is given the magic branch4 ,the grey-headed warrior disappears suddenly2 'and ,cormac knew not whither he had gone4' ',cormac turned into the palace4 ,the household marvelled at the branch4 ,cormac shook it at them1 and cast them into slumber from that hour to the same time on the following day4 ,at the end of a year the warrior comes into his meeting and asked of ,cormac the consideration for his branch4 ,it shall be given1 says ,cormac4 ,i will take thy daughter ,ailbe to-day1 says the warrior4 ,so he took the girl with him4 ,the women of ,tara utter three loud cries after the daughter of the king of ,erin4 ,but ,cormac shook the branch at them1 so that he banished grief from them all and cast them into sleep4 ,that day month comes the warrior and takes with him ,carpre ,lifechair 7the son of ,cormac74 ,weeping and sorrow ceased not in ,tara after the boy1 and on that night no one therein ate or slept1 and they were in grief and in exceeding gloom4 ,but ,cormac shook the branch at them1 and they parted from their sorrow4 ,the same warrior comes again4 ,what askest thou to-day8 says ,cormac4 ,thy wife1 saith he1 even ,ethne the ,longsided1 daughter of ,dunlang king of ,leinster4 ,then he takes away the woman with him4' ,thereupon ,cormac follows the messenger1 and all his people go with him4 ,but 'a great mist was brought upon them in the midst of the plain of the wall4 ,cormac found himself on a great plain alone'4 ,it is the ',land of ,promise'4 ,palaces of bronze1 and houses of white silver thatched with white birds' wings are there4 ',then he sees in the garth a shining fountain1 with five streams flowing out of it1 and the hosts in turn a-drinking its water4 ,nine hazels of ,buan grow over the well4 ,the purple hazels drop their nuts into the fountain1 and the five salmon which are in the fountain sever them1 and send their husks floating down the streams4 ,now the sound of the falling of those streams is more melodious than any music that men sing4'#cca ,cormac having entered the fairy palace at the fountain beholds 'the loveliest of the world's women'4 ,after she has been magically bathed1 he bathes1 and this1 apparently1 is symbolical of his purification in the ,otherworld4 ,finally1 at a feast1 the warrior-messenger sings ,cormac to sleep2 and when ,cormac awakes he sees beside him his wife and children1 who had preceded him thither to the ,land of ,promise4 ,the warrior-messenger who took them all is none other than the great god ,manannan ,mac ,lir of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,there in the ,otherworld1 ,cormac gains a magic cup of gold richly and wondrously wrought1 which would break into three pieces if 'three words of falsehood be spoken under it'1 and the magic silver branch2 and ,manannan1 as the god-initiator1 says to ,ireland's high king3--',take thy family then1 and take the ,cup that thou mayest have it for discerning between truth and falsehood4 ,and thou shalt have the ,branch for music and delight4 ,and on the day that thou shalt die they all will be taken from thee4 ,i am ,manannan1 son of ,ler1 king of the ,land of ,promise2 and to see the ,land of ,promise was the reason ,i brought thee hither4444 ,the fountain which thou sawest1 with the five streams out of it1 is the ,fountain of ,knowledge1 and the streams are the five senses through which knowledge is obtained 7874 ,and no one will have knowledge who drinketh not a draught out of the fountain itself and out of the streams4 ,the folk of many arts are those who drink of them both4' ',now on the morrow morning1 when ,cormac arose1 he found himself on the green of ,tara1 with his wife and his son and daughter1 and having his ,branch and his ,cup4 ,now that was afterwards called ,cormac's ,cup1 and it used to distinguish between truth and falsehood with the ,gael4 ,howbeit1 as had been promised him by ,manannan1 it remained not after ,cormac's death4'#ccb ,this beautiful tale evidently echoes in an extremely poetical and symbolical manner a very ancient ,celtic initiation of a king and his family into the mystic cult of the mighty god ,manannan1 ,son of the ,sea4 ,they enter the ,otherworld in a trance state1 and on waking are in ,erin again1 spiritually enriched4 ,the ,cup of ,truth is probably the symbol of having gained knowledge of the ,mystery of ,life and ,death1 and the ,branch1 that of the ,peace and ,joy which comes to all who are truly ,initiated2 for to have passed from the realm of mortal existence to the ,realm of the ,dead1 of the ,fairy-,folk1 of the ,gods1 and back again1 with full human consciousness all the while1 was equivalent to having gained the ,philosopher's ,stone1 the ,elixir of ,life1 the ,cup of ,truth1 and to having bathed in the ,fountain of ,eternal ,youth which confers triumph over ,death and unending happiness4 ,thus we may have here a ,celtic poetical parallel to the initiatory journey of ,aeneas to the ,land of the ,dead or ,hades4 ,,the ,,magic ,,wand ,,of ,,gods1 ,,fairies1 ,,and ,,druids ,manannan of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 as a god-messenger from the invisible realm bearing the apple-branch of silver1 is in externals1 though not in other ways1 like ,hermes1 the god-messenger from the realm of the gods bearing his wand of two intertwined serpents4#ccc ,in modern fairy-lore this divine branch or wand is the magic wand of fairies2 or where messengers like old men guide mortals to an underworld it is a staff or cane with which they strike the rock hiding the secret entrance4 ,the ,irish ,druids made their wands of divination from the yew-tree2 and1 like the ancient priests of ,egypt1 ,greece1 and ,rome1 are believed to have controlled spirits1 fairies1 daemons1 elementals1 and ghosts while making such divinations4 ,it will help us to understand how closely the ancient symbols have affected our own life and age--though we have forgotten their relation with the ,otherworld--by offering a few examples1 beginning with the ancient ,irish bards who were associated with the ,druids4 ,a wand in the form of a symbolic branch1 like a little spike or crescent with gently tinkling bells upon it1 was borne by them2 and in the piece called ,mesca ,ulad or ',inebriety of the ,ultonians'#ccd it is said of the chief bard of ,ulster1 ,sencha1 that in the midst of a bloody fray he 'waved the peaceful branch of ,sencha1 and all the men of ,ulster were silent1 quiet'4 ,in ,agallamh an d ,shuadh or the ',dialogue of the two ,sages'1#cce the mystic symbol used by gods1 fairies1 magicians1 and by all initiates who know the mystery of life and death1 is thus described as a ,druid symbol3--',neidhe' 7a young bard who aspired to succeed his father as chief poet of ,ulster71 'made his journey with a silver branch over him4 ,the ,anradhs1 or poets of the second order1 carried a silver branch1 but the ,ollamhs1 or chief poets1 carried a branch of gold2 all other poets bore a branch of bronze4'#ccf ,modern and ancient parallels are world-wide1 among the most civilized as among the least civilized peoples1 and in civil or religious life among ourselves4 ,thus1 it was with a magic rod that ,moses struck the rock and pure water gushed forth1 and he raised the same rod and the ,red ,sea opened2 kings hold their sceptres no less than ,neptune his trident2 popes and bishops have their croziers2 in the ,roman ,church there are little wand-like objects used to perform benedictions2 high civil officials have their mace of office2 and all the world over there are the wands of magicians and of medicine-men4 ,,the ,,sick-,,bed ,,of ,,cuchulainn ,we turn now to the story of the ,sick-,bed of ,cuchulainn4#ccg ,and this is how the great hero of ,ulster was fairy-struck4 ,manannan ,mac ,lir1 tiring of his wife ,fand1 had deserted her1 and so she1 wishing to marry ,cuchulainn1 went to ,ireland with her sister ,liban4 ,taking the form of two birds bound together by a chain of red gold1 ,fand and ,liban rested on a lake in ,ulster where ,cuchulainn should see them as he was hunting4 ,to capture the two birds1 ,cuchulainn cast a javelin at them1 but they escaped1 though injured4 ,disappointed at a failure like this1 which for him was most unusual1 ,cuchulainn went away to a menhir where he sat down and fell asleep4 ,then he saw two women1 one in a green and one in a crimson cloak2 and the woman in green coming up to him laughed and struck him with a whip-like object4 ,the woman in crimson did likewise1 and alternately the two women kept striking him till they left him almost dead4 ,and straightway the mighty hero of the ,red ,branch ,knights took to his bed with a strange malady1 which no ,druid or doctor in all ,ireland could cure4 ,till the end of a year ,cuchulainn lay on his sick-bed at ,emain-,macha without speaking to any one4 ,then--the day before ,samain 7,november ,eve7--there came to him an unknown messenger who sang to him a wonderful song1 promising to cure him of his malady if he would only accept the invitation of the daughters of ,aed ,abrat to visit them in the ,otherworld4 ,when the song was ended1 the messenger departed1 'and they knew not whence he came nor whither he went4' ,thereupon ,cuchulainn went to the place where the malady had been put on him1 and there appeared to him again the woman in the green cloak4 ,she let it be known to ,cuchulainn that she was ,liban1 and that she was longing for him to go with her to the ,plain of ,delight to fight against ,labraid's enemies4 ,and she promised ,cuchulainn as a reward that he would get ,fand to wife4 ,but ,cuchulainn would not accept the invitation without knowing to what country he was called4 ,so he sent his charioteer ,laeg to bring back from there a report4 ,laeg went with the fairy woman in a boat of bronze1 and returned2 and when ,cuchulainn heard from him the wonderful glories of that ,otherworld of the ,sidhe he willingly set out for it4 ,after ,cuchulainn had overthrown ,labraid's enemies and had been in the ,otherworld a month with the fairy woman ,fand1 he returned to ,ireland alone2 though afterwards in a place agreed upon1 ,fand joined him4 ,emer1 the wife of ,cuchulainn1 was overcome with jealousy and schemed to kill ,fand1 so that ,fand returned to her husband the god ,manannan and he received her back again4 ,when she was gone ,cuchulainn could not be consoled2 but ,emer obtained from the ,druids a magic drink for ,cuchulainn1 which made him forget all about the ,otherworld and the fairy woman ,fand4 ,and another drink the ,druids gave to ,emer so that she forgot all her jealousy2 and then ,manannan ,mac ,lir himself came and shook his mantle between ,cuchulainn and ,fand to prevent the two ever meeting again4 ,and thus it was that the ,sidhe-women failed to steal away the great ,cuchulainn4 ,the magic of the ,druids and the power of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann king triumphed2 and the ,champion of ,ulster did not go to the ,otherworld until he met a natural death in that last great fight4#cch ,,ossian',s ,,return ,,from ,,fairyland#cci ,ossian too1 like ,cuchulainn1 was enticed into ,fairyland by a fairy woman3--,she carries him away on a white horse1 across the ,western ,ocean2 and as they are moving over the sea-waves they behold a fair maid on a brown horse1 and she holding in her right hand a golden apple4 ,after the hero had married his fairy abductress and lived in the ,otherworld for three hundred years1 an overpowering desire to return to ,ireland and join again in the councils of his dearly beloved ,fenian ,brotherhood took possession of him1 and he set out on the same white horse on which he travelled thence with the fairy princess1 for such was his wife4 ,and she1 as he went1 thrice warned him not to lay his 'foot on level ground'1 and he heard from her the startling announcement that the ,fenians were all gone and ,ireland quite changed4 ,safe in ,ireland1 ,ossian seeks the ,brotherhood1 and though he goes from one place to another where his old companions were wont to meet1 not one of them can he find4 ,and how changed is all the land6 ,he realizes at last how long he must have been away4 ,the words of his fairy wife are too sadly true4 ,while ,ossian wanders disconsolately over ,ireland1 he comes to a multitude of men trying to move an enormous slab of marble1 under which some other men are lying4 ',ossian's assistance is asked1 and he generously gives it4 ,but in leaning over his horse1 to take up the stone with one hand1 the girth breaks1 and he falls4 ,straightway the white horse fled away on his way home1 and ,ossian became aged1 decrepit1 and blind4'#cdj ,,the ,,going ,,of ,,lanval ,,to ,,avalon ,the fairy romances which were recorded during the mediaeval period in continental ,europe report a surprisingly large number of heroes who1 like ,cuchulainn and ,ossian1 fell under the power of fairy women or fes1 and followed one of them to the ,apple-,land or ,avalon4 ,besides ,arthur1 they include ,sir ,lancelot1 ,sir ,gawayne1 ,ogier1 ,guingemor and ,lanval 7see pp4 #cbe-f74 ,the story of ,lanval is told by ,marie de ,france in one of her ,lais1 and is so famous a one that we shall briefly outline it3-- ,lanval was a mediaeval knight who lived during the time of ,king ,arthur in ,brittany4 ,he was young and very beautiful1 so that one of the fairy damsels fell in love with him2 and in the true ,irish fashion--himself and his fairy sweetheart mounted on the same fairy horse--the two went riding off to ,fairyland3-- ,on the horse behind her ,with full rush ,lanval jumped4 ,with her he goes away into ,avalon1 ,according to what the ,briton tells us1 ,into an isle1 which is very beautiful4#cda ,,the ,,voyage ,,of ,,teigue1 ,,son ,,of ,,cian ,there is another type of imram in which through adventure rather than through invitation from one of the fairy beings1 men enter the ,otherworld2 as illustrated by the ,voyage of ,mael-,duin1#cdb and by the still more beautiful ,voyage of ,teigue1 ,son of ,cian4 ,this last old ,irish story summarizes many of the ,otherworld elements we have so far considered1 and 7though it shows ,christian influences7 gives us a very clear picture of the ,land of ,youth amid the ,western ,ocean--a land such as ,ponce ,de ,leon and so many brave navigators sought in ,america3-- ,teigue1 son of ,cian1 and heir to the kingship of ,west ,munster1 with his followers set out from ,ireland to recover his wife and brethren who had been stolen by ,cathmann and his band of sea-rovers from ,fresen1 a land near ,spain4 ,it was the time of the spring tide1 when the sea was rough1 and storms coming on the voyagers they lost their way4 ,after about nine weeks they came to a land fairer than any land they had ever beheld--it was the ,happy ,otherworld4 ,in it were many 'red-laden apple-trees1 with leafy oaks too in it1 and hazels yellow with nuts in their clusters'2 and 'a wide smooth plain clad in flowering clover all bedewed with honey'4 ,in the midst of this plain ,teigue and his companions descried three hills1 and on each of them an impregnable place of strength4 ,at the first stronghold1 which had a rampart of white marble1 ,teigue was welcomed by 'a white-bodied lady1 fairest of the whole world's women'2 and she told him that the stronghold is the abode 'of ,ireland's kings3 from ,heremon son of ,milesius to ,conn of the ,hundred ,battles1 who was the last to pass into it'4 ,teigue with his people moved on till they gained the middle dn1 the dn with a rampart of gold4 ,there also 'they found a queen of gracious form1 and she draped in vesture of a golden fabric'1 who tells them that they are in the ,earth's fourth paradise4 ,at the third dn1 the dn with a silver rampart1 ,teigue and his party met ,connla1 the son of ,conn of the ,hundred ,battles4 ',in his hand he held a fragrant apple having the hue of gold2 a third part of it he would eat1 and still1 for all he consumed1 never a whit would it be diminished4' ,and at his side sat a young woman of many charms1 who spake thus to ,teigue3--',i had bestowed on him 7i4 e4 felt for him7 true affection's love1 and therefore wrought to have him come to me in this land2 where our delight1 both of us1 is to continue in looking at and in perpetual contemplation of one another3 above and beyond which we pass not1 to commit impurity or fleshly sin whatsoever4' ,both ,connla and his friend were clad in vestments of green--like the fairy-folk2 and their step was so light that hardly did the beautiful clover-heads bend beneath it4 ,and the apple 'it was that supported the pair of them and1 when once they had partaken of it1 nor age nor dimness could affect them'4 ,when ,teigue asked who occupied the dn with the silver rampart the maiden with ,connla made this reply3--',in that one there is not any one4 ,for behoof of the righteous kings that after acceptance of the ,faith shall rule ,ireland it is that yonder dn stands ready2 and we are they who1 until such those virtuous princes shall enter into it1 keep the same3 in the which1 ,teigue my soul1 thou too shalt have an appointed place4' ',obliquely across the most capacious palace ,teigue looked away' 7as he was observing the beauty of the yet uninhabited dn71 'and marked a thickly furnished wide-spreading apple-tree that bare blossoms and ripe fruit both4 ,what is that apple-tree beyond8 he asked of the maiden1 and she made answer3--,that apple-tree's fruit it is that for meat shall serve the congregation which is to be in this mansion1 and a single apple of the same it was that brought 7coaxed away7 ,connla to me4' ,then the party rested1 and there came towards them a whole array of feminine beauty1 among which was a lovely damsel of refined form who foretold to ,teigue the manner and time of his death1 and as a token she gave him 'a fair cup of emerald hue1 in which are inherent many virtues3 for among other things though it were but water poured into it1 incontinently it would be wine'4 ,and this was her farewell message to ,teigue3--',from that 7the cup71 let not thine hand part2 but have it for a token3 when it shall escape from thee1 then in a short time after shalt thou die2 and where thou shalt meet thy death is in the glen that is on ,boyne's side3 there the earth shall grow into a great hill1 and the name that it shall bear will be croidhe eisse2 there too 7when thou shalt first have been wounded by a roving wild hart1 after which ,allmarachs will slay thee7 ,i will bury thy body2 but thy soul shall come with me hither1 where till the ,judgement's ,day thou shalt assume a body light and ethereal4' ,as the party led by ,teigue were going down to the seashore to depart1 the girl who had been escorting them asked 'how long they had been in the country'4 ',in our estimation1' they replied1 'we are in it but one single day4' ,she1 however1 said3 ',for an entire twelvemonth ye are in it2 during which time ye have had neither meat nor drink1 nor1 how long soever ye should be here1 would cold or thirst or hunger assail you4' ,and when ,teigue and his party had entered their currach they looked astern1 but 'they saw not the land from which they came1 for incontinently an obscuring magic veil was drawn over it'4#cdc ,,the ,,adventures ,,of ,,art1 ,,son ,,of ,,conn ,this interesting imram combines1 in a way1 the type of tale wherein a fairy woman comes from the ,otherworld to our world--though in this tale she is banished from there--and the type of tale wherein the ,otherworld is found through adventure3-- ,bcuma ,cneisgel1 a woman of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 because of a transgression she had committed in the ,otherworld with ,gaidiar1 ,manannan's son1 was banished thence4 ,she came to ,conn1 high king of ,ireland1 and she bound him to do her will2 and her judgement was that ,art1 the son of ,conn1 should not come to ,tara until a year was past4 ,during the year1 ,conn and ,bcuma were together in ,tara1 'and there was neither corn nor milk in ,ireland during that time4' ,the ,tuatha ,de ,danann sent this dreadful famine2 for they1 as agricultural gods1 thus showed their displeasure at the unholy life of ,ireland's high king with the evil woman whom they had banished4 ,the ,druids of all ,ireland being called together1 declared that to appease the ,tuatha ,de ,danann 'the son of a sinless couple should be brought to ,ireland and slain before ,tara1 and his blood mingled with the soil of ,tara' 7cf4 p4 #dcf74 ,it was ,conn himself who set out for the ,otherworld and found there the sinless boy1 the son of the queen of that world1 and he brought him back to ,tara4 ,a strange event saves the youth3--',just then they 7the assembly of people and ,druids1 with ,conn1 ,art1 and ,finn7 heard the lowing of a cow1 and a woman wailing continually behind it4 ,and they saw the cow and the woman making for the assembly4' ,the woman had come from the ,otherworld to save ,segda2 and the cow was accepted as a sacrifice in place of ,segda1 owing to the wonders it disclosed2 for its two bags when opened contained two birds--one with one leg and one with twelve legs1 and 'the one-legged bird prevailed over the bird with twelve legs'4 ,then rising up and calling ,conn aside1 the woman declared to him that until he put aside the evil woman ,bcuma 'a third of its corn1 and its milk1 and its mast' should be lacking to ,ireland4 ',and she took leave of them then and went off with her son1 even ,segda4 ,and jewels and treasures were offered to them1 but they refused them4' ,in the second part of this complex tale1 ,bcuma and ,art are together playing a game4 ,art finally loses1 because the men of the sidh 7like invisible spirits7 began to steal the pieces with which he and the woman play2 and1 as a result1 ,bcuma put on him this taboo3--',thou shalt not eat food in ,ireland until thou bring with thee ,delbchaem1 the daughter of ,morgan4' ',where is she8' asked ,art4 ',in an isle amid the sea1 and that is all the information that thou wilt get4' ',and he put forth the coracle1 and travelled the sea from one isle to another until he came to a fair1 strange island1' the ,otherworld4 ,the blooming women of that land entertain the prince of ,ireland during six weeks1 and instruct him in all the dangers he must face and the conquests he must make4 ,having successfully met all the ordeals1 ,art secures ,delbchaem1 daughter of ,morgan the king of the ',land of ,wonders'1 and returns to ,ireland4 ',she had a green cloak of one hue about her1 with a gold pin in it over her breast1 and long1 fair1 very golden hair4 ,she had dark-black eye-brows1 and flashing grey eyes in her head1 and a snowy-white body4' ,and upon seeing the chaste and noble ,delbchaem with ,art1 ,bcuma1 the banished woman of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 lamenting1 departs from ,tara for ever4#cdd ,,otherworld ,,quests ,,of ,,cuchulainn ,,and ,,of ,,arthur ,there is yet the distinct class of tales about journeys to a fairy world which is a ,hades world beneath the earth1 or in some land of death1 rather than amid the waves of the ,western ,ocean4 ,thus there is a curious poem in the ,book of the ,dun ,cow describing an expedition led by ,cuchulainn to the stronghold of ,scth in the land of ,scth1 or1 as the name means1 land of ,shades1 where the hero gains the king's cauldron4#cde ,and the poem suggests why so few who invaded that ,hades world ever returned--perhaps why1 mystically speaking1 so few men could escape either through initiation or re-birth the natural confusion and forgetfulness arising out of death4 ,in the ,book of ,taliessin a weird poem1 ,preiddeu ,annwfn1 or the ',spoils of ,annwn'1 describes1 in language not always clear1 how the ,brythonic ,arthur made a similar journey to the ,welsh ,hades world named ,annwn1 where he1 like ,cuchulainn in ,scth1 gained possession of a magic cauldron--a pagan ,celtic type of the ,holy ,grail--which furnishes inexhaustible food though 'it will not boil the food of a coward'4 ,but in stanzas iii and iv of ,preiddeu ,annwfn1 ,annwn1 or ,uffern as it is otherwise called1 is not an underground realm1 but some world to be reached like the ,gaelic ,land of ,promise by sea4 ,annwn is also called ,caer ,sidi1 which in another poem of the ,book of ,taliessin 7,no4 ,,xiv7 is thought of as an island of immortal youth amid 'the streams of the ocean' where there is a food-giving fountain4#cdf ,,literary ,,evolution ,,of ,,the ,,happy ,,otherworld ,,idea ,we have now noticed two chief classes of ,otherworld legends4 ,in one there is the beautiful and peaceful ,tr ,innambo or ',land of the ,living' under ,manannan's rule across the seas1 and its fairy inhabitants are principally women who lure away noble men and youths through love for them2 in the other there is a ,hades world--often confused with the former--in which great heroes go on some mysterious quest4 ,sometimes this ,hades world is inseparable from the underground palaces or world of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,again1 it may be an underlake fairy-realm like that entered by ,laeghaire and his fifty companions 7see p4 #cjb72 or1 as in ,gilla ,decair1#cdg of late composition1 it is an under-well land wherein ,dermot has adventures4 ,and1 in a similar tale1 ,murough1 on the invitation of a mysterious stranger who comes out of a lake and then disappears 'like the mist of a winter fog or the whiff of a ,march wind'1 dives beneath the lake's waters1 and is escorted to the palace of ,king ,under-,wave1 wherein he sees the stranger as the water-king himself sitting on a golden throne 7cf4 pp4 #fc-d74 ,in continual feasting there ,murough passes a day and a year1 thinking the time only a few days4#cdh ,as a rule the ,hades world1 or underground and under-wave world1 is unlike ,manannan's peaceful ocean realm1 being often described as a place of much strife2 and mortals are usually induced to enter it to aid in settling the troubles of its fairy inhabitants4 ,all the numerous variations of ,otherworld tales now extant in ,celtic literature show a common pre-,christian origin1 though almost all of them have been coloured by ,christian ideas about heaven1 hell1 and purgatory4 ,from the earliest tales of the over-sea ,otherworld type1 like those of ,bran1 ,maelduin1 and ,connla1 all of which may go back to the early eighth century as compositions1 the christianizing influence is already clearly begun2 and in the ,voyage of ,snedgus and of ,mac ,riagla1 of the late ninth century1 this influence predominates4#cdi ,purely ,christian texts of about the same period or later describe the ,christian heaven as though it were the pagan ,otherworld4 ,some of these1 like the ,latin version of the tale of ,st4 ,brandan's ,voyage1 greatly influenced ,european literature1 and probably contributed to the discovery of the ,new ,world4#cdi ,the combination of ,christian and pagan ,celtic ideas is well shown in the ,voyage of the ,hi ,corra#cej3--',thereafter a wondrous island was shown to them4 ,a psalm-singing venerable old man1 with fair1 builded churches and beautiful bright altars4 ,beautiful green grass therein4 ,a dew of honey on its grass4 ,little ever-lovely bees and fair1 purple-headed birds a-chanting music therein1 so that merely to listen to them was enough of delight4' ,but in another passage the ,christian scribe describes ,otherworld birds as souls1 some of them in hell3--',of the land of ,erin am ,i1 quoth the bird1 and ,i am the soul of a woman1 and ,i am a monkess unto thee1 she saith to the elder4444 ,come ye to another place1 saith the bird1 to hearken to yon birds4 ,the birds that ye see are the souls that come on ,sunday out of hell4' ,still other islands are definitely made into ,christian hells full of fire1 wherein wailing and shrieking men are being mangled by the beaks and talons of birds4 ,but sometimes1 like the legends about the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 the legends about the ,otherworld were taken literally and most seriously by some early ,irish-,christian saints4 ,professor ,j4 ,loth records a very interesting episode1 how ,st4 ,malo and his teacher ,brandan actually set out on an ocean voyage to find the ,heaven-world of the pagan ,celts3--',saint ,malo1 when a youth1 embarks with his teacher ,brandan in a boat1 in search of that mysterious country2 after some days1 the waves drive him back rebuffed and discouraged upon the seashore4 ,an angel opens his eyes3 the land of eternal peace and of eternal youth is that which ,christianity promises to its elect4'#cea ,not only was the ,celtic ,otherworld gradually changed into a ,christian ,heaven1 or ,hell1 from the eighth century onward1 but its divine inhabitants soon came to suffer the rationalization commonly applied to their race2 and the transcribers began to set them down as actual personages of ,irish history4 ,as we have already observed1 the ,tuatha ,de ,danann were shorn of their immortality1 and were given in exchange all the passions and shortcomings of men1 and made subject to disease and death4 ,this perhaps was a natural anthropomorphic process such as is met with in all mythologies4 ,celtic myth and mysticism1 wherein may yet be read the deepest secrets of life and death1 supplied names and legends to fill out a christianized scheme of ,irish chronology1 which was made to begin some six thousand years ago with ,adam4 ,a few of the pagan legends1 however1 met very fair treatment at the hands of poetical and patriotic ,christian transcribers4 ,thus in ,adamnan's ,vision1#ceb though the ,celtic ,otherworld has become 'the ,land of the ,saints'1 its primal character is clearly discernible3 to reach it a sea voyage is necessary2 and it is a land where there is no pride1 falsehood1 envy1 disease or death1 'wherein is delight of every goodness4' ,in it there are singing birds1 and for sustenance while there the voyagers need only to hear its music and 'sate themselves with the odour which is in the ,land'4 ,again1 in the ,book of ,leinster1 and in later ,,mss41 there is a dinnshenchas of almost primal pagan purity4 ,it alludes to ,clidna's ,wave1 that of ,tuag ,inbir3--,to ,tuag1 daughter of ,conall1 ,manannan the sea-god sent a messenger1 a ,druid of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in the shape of a woman4 ,the ,druid chanted a sleep spell over the girl1 and while he left her on the seashore to look for a boat in which to embark for the ',land of ,everliving ,women'1 a wave of the flood tide came and drowned her4 ,but the ,oxford version of the same tale doubts whether the maiden was drowned1 for it suggests1 ',or maybe it 7the wave7 was ,manannan himself that was carrying her off4'#cec ,thus the scribe understood that to go to ,manannan's world literally meant entering a sleep or trance state1 or1 what is equivalent in the case of the maiden whom ,manannan summoned1 the passage through death from the physical body4 ,and still1 to-day1 the ,irish peasant believes that the 'good people' take to their invisible world all young men or maidens who meet death2 or that one under a fairy spell may go to their world for a short time1 and come back to our world again4 ,we have frequently emphasized how truly the modern ,celtic peasant in certain non-commercialized localities has kept to the faith of his pagan ancestors1 while the learned ,christian scribes have often departed widely from it4 ,the story of the voyage of ,fionn to the ,otherworld1#ced which ,campbell found living among ,scotch peasants as late as the last century1 adds a striking proof of this assertion4 ,so does ,michael ,comyn's peasant version of ,ossian in the ',land of ,youth' 7as outlined above1 p4 #cdf71 which1 though dating from about #agdi1 has all the natural character of the best ancient tales1 like those about ,bran and ,cormac4 ,we are inclined1 therefore1 to attach a value even higher than we have already done to the testimony of the living ,fairy-,faith which confirms in so many parallel ways1 as has been shown1 the ,fairy-,faith of the remote past4 ,mr4 ,w4 ,b4 ,yeats1 the ,irish poet1 adequately sums up this matter by saying1 ',but the ,irish peasant believes that the utmost he can dream was once or still is a reality by his own door4 ,he will point to some mountain and tell you that some famous hero or beauty lived and sorrowed there1 or he will tell you that ,tir-na-nog1 the ,country of the ,young1 the old ,celtic paradise--the ,land of the ,living ,heart1 as it used to be called--is all about him4'#cee ,at the end of his long and careful study of the ,celtic ,otherworld1 ,alfred ,nutt arrived at the tentative conclusion which coincides with our own1 that ',the vision of a ,happy ,otherworld found in ,irish mythic romances of the eighth and following centuries is substantially pre-,christian'1 that its closest analogues are in ,hellenic myth1 and that with these 'it forms the most archaic ,aryan presentation of the divine and happy land we possess'4#cef ,,section ,,ii ,,the ,,recorded ,,fairy-,,faith ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,celtic ,,doctrine ,,of ,,re-,,birth#ceg ',it seems as if ,ossian's was a premature return4 ,to-day he might find comrades come back from ,tir-na-nog for the uplifting of their race4 ,perhaps to many a young spirit standing up among us ,cailte might speak as to ,mongan1 saying3 ,i was with thee1 with ,finn4'--,a4 ,e4 ,re-birth and ,otherworld--,as a ,christian doctrine--,general historical survey--,according to the ,barddas ,,mss42 according to ancient and modern authorities--,reincarnation of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann--,king ,mongan's re-birth--,etain's birth--,dermot's pre-existence--,tuan's re-birth--,re-birth among ,brythons--,arthur as a reincarnate hero--,non-,celtic parallels--,re-birth among modern ,celts3 in ,ireland2 in ,scotland2 in the ,isle of ,man2 in ,wales2 in ,cornwall2 in ,brittany--,origin and evolution of ,celtic ,re-birth ,doctrine4 ,,relation ,,with ,,the ,,otherworld ,however much the conception of the ,otherworld among the ancient ,greeks may have differed from that among the ,celts1 it was to both peoples alike inseparably connected with their belief in re-birth4 ,alfred ,nutt1 who studied this intimate relation more carefully perhaps than any other ,celtic folk-lorist1 has said of it3--',in ,greek mythology as in ,irish1 the conception of re-birth proves to be a dominant factor of the same religious system in which ,elysium is likewise an essential feature4' ,death1 as many initiates have proclaimed in their mystical writings1 is but a going to that ,otherworld from this world1 and ,birth a coming back again2#ceh and ,buddha announced it as his mission to teach men the way to be delivered out of this eternal ,circle of ,existence4 ,,historical ,,survey ,,of ,,the ,,re-,,birth ,,doctrine ,among ourselves the doctrine may seem a strange one1 though among the great nations of antiquity--the ,egyptians1 ,indians1 ,greeks1 and ,celts--it was taught in the ,mysteries and ,priest-,schools1 and formed the corner-stone of the most important philosophical systems like those of ,buddha1 ,pythagoras1 ,plato1 the ,neo-,platonists1 and the ,druids4 ,the ,alexandrian ,jews1 also1 were familiar with the doctrine1 as implied in the ,wisdom of ,solomon 7viii4 #ai1 #bj71 and in the writings of ,philo4 ,it was one of the teachings in the ,schools of ,alexandria1 and thus directly shaped the thoughts of some of the early ,church ,fathers--for example1 ,tertullian of ,carthage 7circa ,a4 ,d4 #afj-bdj71 and ,origen of ,alexandria 7circa ,a4 ,d4 #ahe-bed74 ,it is of considerable historical importance for us at this point to consider at some length if ,christians in the first centuries held or were greatly influenced by the re-birth doctrine1 because1 as we shall presently observe1 the probable influence of ,christian on pagan ,celtic beliefs may have been at a certain period very deep and even the most important reshaping influence4 ,as an examination of ,origen's ,de ,principiis proves1 ,origen himself believed in the doctrine4#cei ,but the theologians who created the ,greek canons of the ,fifth ,council disagreed with ,origen's views1 and condemned ,origen for believing1 among other things called by them heresies1 that ,jesus ,christ will be reincarnated and suffer on earth a second time to save the daemons1#cfj an order of spiritual beings regarded by some ancient philosophers as destined to evolve into human souls4 ,tertullian1 contemporary with ,origen1 in his ,de ,anima considers whether or not the doctrine of re-birth can be regarded as ,christian in view of the declaration by ,jesus ,christ that ,john the ,baptist was ,elias 7or ,elijah71 the old ,jewish prophet1 come again3--',and if ye are willing to receive it 7or him71 this 7,john the ,baptist7 is ,elijah1 which is to come4 ,he that hath ears to hear1 let him hear4'#cfa ,tertullian concludes1 and modern ,christian theologians frequently echo him 7upon comparing ,malachi iv4 #e71 that all the ,new ,testament writers mean to convey is that ,john the ,baptist possessed or acted in 'the spirit and power' of ,elias1 but was not actually a reincarnation of ,elias1 since he did not possess 'the soul and body' of ,elias4#cfb ,had ,tertullian been a mystic and not merely a theologian with a personal bias against the mystery teachings1 which bias he shows throughout his ,de ,anima1 it is quite evident that he would have been on this doctrinal matter in agreement with ,origen1 who was both a mystic and a theologian1#cfc and1 then1 probably with such an agreement of these two eminent ,church ,fathers on record before the time when ,christian councils met to determine canonical and orthodox beliefs1 the doctrine of re-birth would never have been expurgated from ,christianity4#cfd ,in the ,pistis ,sophia1#cfe an ancient ,gnostic-,christian work1 which contains what are alleged to be some of ,jesus ,christ's esoteric teachings to his disciples1 it is clearly stated 7contrary to ,tertullian's argument1 but in accord with what we may assume ,origen's view would have been7 that ,john the ,baptist was the reincarnation of ,elias4#cff ,the same work further expounds the doctrine of re-birth as a teaching of ,jesus ,christ which applies not to particular personages only1 like ,elias1 but as a universal law governing the lives of all mankind4#cfg ,as our discussion has made evident1 during the first centuries the re-birth doctrine was undoubtedly well known to ,alexandrian ,christians4 ,among other early ,christian theologians and philosophers who held some form of a re-birth doctrine1 were ,synesius1 ,bishop of ,ptolemais 7circa #cge-dad71 ,boethius1 a ,roman 7circa #dge-ebe71 and ,psellus1 a native of ,andros 7second half of ninth century74 ,in addition to the many ,gnostic-,christian sects1 the ,manichaeans1 who comprised more than seventy sects connected with the primitive ,church1 also promulgated the re-birth doctrine4#cfh ,along with the condemnation of the ,gnostics and ,manichaeans as heretical1 the doctrine of re-birth was likewise condemned by various ecclesiastical bodies and councils4 ,this was the declaration by the ,council of ,constantinople in #eec3--',whosoever shall support the mythical doctrine of the pre-existence of the ,soul1 and the consequent wonderful opinion of its return1 let him be anathema4' ,and so1 after centuries of controversy1 the ancient doctrine ceased to be regarded as ,christian4#cfi ,it is very likely1 however1 as will be shown in due order1 that a few of the early ,celtic missionaries1 always famous for their ,celtic independence even in questions touching ,christian theology and government1 did not feel themselves bound by the decisions of continental ,church ,councils with respect to this particular doctrine4 ,during the mediaeval period in ,europe1 the re-birth doctrine continued to live on in secret among many of the alchemists and mystical philosophers1 and among such ,druids as survived religious persecution2 and it has come down from that period to this through ,orders like the ,rosicrucian ,order--an ,order which seems to have had an unbroken existence from the ,middle ,ages or earlier--and likewise through the unbroken traditions of modern ,druidism4 ,in our own times there is what may be called a renaissance of the ancient doctrine in ,europe and ,america--especially in ,england1 ,germany1 ,france1 and the ,united ,states--through various philosophical or religious societies2 some of them founding their teachings and literature on the ancient and mediaeval mystical philosophers1 while others stand as the representatives in the ,west of the mystical schools of modern ,india1 which1 like modern ,druidism1 claim to have existed from what we call prehistoric times4#cgj ,to-day in the ,roman ,church eminent theologians have called the doctrine of ,purgatory the ,christian counterpart of the philosophical doctrine of re-birth2#cga and the real significance of this opinion will appear in our later study of ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory which1 as we hold1 is connected more or less definitely with the pagan-,irish doctrines of the underworld of the ,sidhe-folk and spirits1 as well as shades of the dead1 and with the ,celtic-,druidic ,doctrine of ,reincarnation4 ,scientifically speaking1 as shown in the ,welsh ,triads of ,bardism1 the ancient ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth represented for the priestly and bardic initiates an exposition of the complete cycle of human evolution2 that is to say1 it included what we now call ,darwinism--which explains only the purely physical evolution of the body which man inhabits as an inheritance from the brute kingdom--and also besides ,darwinism1 a comprehensive theory of man's own evolution as a spiritual being both apart from and in a physical body1 on his road to the perfection which comes from knowing completely the earth-plane of existence4 ,and in time1 judging from the rapid advance of the present age1 our own science through psychical research may work back to the old mystery teachings and declare them scientific4 7,see chap4 xii47 ,,according ,,to ,,the ,,barddas ,,mss4 ,with this preliminary survey of the subject we may now proceed to show how in the ,celtic scheme of evolution the ,otherworld with all its gods1 fairies1 and invisible beings1 and this world with all its visible beings1 form the two poles of life or conscious existence4 ,let us begin with purely philosophical conceptions1 going first to the ,welsh ,barddas1#cgb where it is said ',there are three circles of existence3 the circle of ,ceugant 7the circle of ,infinity71 where there is neither animate nor inanimate save ,god1 and ,god only can traverse it2 the circle of ,abred 7the circle of ,re-birth71 where the dead is stronger than the living1 and where every principal existence is derived from the dead1 and man has traversed it2 and the circle of ,gwynvyd 7the circle of the white1 i4 e4 the circle of ,perfection71 where the living is stronger than the dead1 and where every principal existence is derived from the living and life1 that is1 from ,god1 and man shall traverse it2 nor will man attain to perfect knowledge1 until he shall have fully traversed the circle of ,gwynvyd1 for no absolute knowledge can be obtained but by the experience of the senses1 from having borne and suffered every condition and incident'4#cgc 444 ',the three stabilities of knowledge3 to have traversed every state of life2 to remember every state and its incidents2 and to be able to traverse every state1 as one would wish1 for the sake of experience and judgement2 and this will be obtained in the circle of ,gwynvyd4'#cgd ,thus ,barddas expounds the complete ,bardic scheme of evolution as one in which the monad or soul1 as a knowledge of physical existence is gradually unfolded to it1 passes through every phase of material embodiment before it enters the human kingdom1 where1 for the first time exercising freewill in a physical body1 it becomes responsible for all its acts4 ,the ,bardic doctrine as otherwise stated is 'that the soul commenced its course in the lowest water-animalcule1 and passed at death to other bodies of a superior order1 successively1 and in regular gradation1 until it entered that of man4 ,humanity is a state of liberty1 where man can attach himself to either good or evil1 as he pleases'4#cge ,once in the human kingdom the soul begins a second period of growth altogether different from that preceding--a period of growth toward divinity2 and with this1 in our study1 we are chiefly concerned4 ,it seems clear that the circle of ,gwynvyd finds its parallel in the ,nirvana of ,buddhism1 being1 like it1 a state of absolute knowledge and felicity in which man becomes a divine being1 a veritable god4#cgf ,we see in all this the intimate relation which there was thought to be between what we call the state of life and the state of death1 between the world of men and the world of gods1 fairies1 demons1 spirits1 and shades4 ,our next step must be to show1 first1 what some other authorities have had to say about this relation1 and then1 second1 and fundamentally1 that gods or fairy-folk like the ,sidhe or ,tuatha ,de ,danann could come to this world not only as we have been seeing them come as fairy women1 fairy men1 and gods1 at will visible or invisible to mortals1 but also through submitting to human birth4 ,,according ,,to ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,,authorities ,first1 therefore1 for opinions2 and we may go to the ancients and then to the moderns4 ,here are a few from ,julius ,caesar3--',in particular they 7the ,druids7 wish to inculcate this idea1 that souls do not die1 but pass from one body to another4'#cgg ',the ,gauls declare that they have all sprung from their father ,dis 7or ,pluto71 and this they say was delivered to them by the ,druids4'#cgg ,and the testimony of ,caesar is confirmed by ,diodorus ,siculus1#cgh and by ,pomponius ,mela4#cgi ,lucan1 in the ,pharsalia1#chj addressing the ,druids on their doctrine of re-birth says3--',if you know what you sing1 death is the centre of a long life4' ,and again in the same passage he observes3--',happy the folk upon whom the ,bear looks down1 happy in this error1 whom of fears the greatest moves not1 the dread of death4 ,hence their warrior's heart hurls them against the steel1 hence their ready welcome of death1 and the thought that it were a coward's part to grudge a life sure of its return4'#cha ,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde1 in his ,literary ,history of ,ireland 7p4 #ie71 speaking for the ,irish people1 says of the re-birth doctrine3--'444 the idea of re-birth which forms part of half a dozen existing ,irish sagas1 was perfectly familiar to the ,irish ,gael4444' ,according to another modern ,celtic authority1 ,d',arbois de ,jubainville1 two chief ,celtic doctrines or beliefs were the return of the ghosts of the dead and the re-birth of the same individuality in a new human body here on this planet4#chb ,,reincarnation ,,of ,,the ,,tuatha ,,de ,,danann ,we proceed now directly to show that there was also a belief1 probably widespread1 among the ancient ,irish that divine personages1 national heroes who are members of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,sidhe race1 and great men1 can be reincarnated1 that is to say1 can descend to this plane of existence and be as mortals more than once4 ,this aspect of the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth has been clearly set forth by the publications of such eminent ,celtic folk-lorists as ,alfred ,nutt and ,miss ,eleanor ,hull4 ,miss ,hull1 in her study of ,old ,irish ,tabus1 or ,gesa1#chc referring to the ,cuchulainn ,cycle of ,irish literature and mythology1 writes thus3--',there is no doubt that all the chief personages of this cycle were regarded as the direct descendants1 or it would be more correct to say1 as avatars or reincarnations of the early gods4 ,not only are their pedigrees traced up to the ,tuatha ,d ,danann1 but there are indications in the birth-stories of nearly all the principal personages that they are looked upon simply as divine beings reborn on the human plane of life4 ,these indications are mysterious1 and most of the tales which deal with them show signs of having been altered1 perhaps intentionally1 by the ,christian transcribers4 ,the doctrine of re-birth was naturally not one acceptable to them4444 ,the goddess ,etain becomes the mortal wife of a king of ,ireland4444 ,conchobhar1 moreover1 is spoken of as a terrestrial god2#chd and ,dechtire1 his sister1 and the mother of ,cchulainn1 is called a goddess4#che ,in the case of ,cchulainn himself1 it is distinctly noted that he is the avatar of ,lugh lamhfada 7long-hand71 the sun-deity#chf of the earliest cycle4 ,lugh appears to ,dechtire1 the mother of ,cchulainn1 and tells her that he himself is her little child1 i4 e4 that the child is a reincarnation of himself2 and ,cchulainn1 when inquired of as to his birth1 points proudly to his descent from ,lugh4 ,when1 too1 it is proposed to find a wife for the hero1 the reason assigned is1 that they knew that his re-birth would be of himself 7i4 e4 that only from himself could another such as he have origin74'#chg ,we have in this last a clue to the popular ,irish belief regarding the re-birth of beings of a god-like nature4 ,d',arbois de ,jubainville has shown1#chh also1 that the grandfather of ,cuchulainn1 son of ,sualtaim1 was from the country of the ,sidhe1 and so was ,ethn ,ingub1 the sister of ,sualtaim4 ,and ,dechtire1 the mother of ,cuchulainn1 was the daughter of the ,druid ,cathba and the brother of ,king ,conchobhar4 ,thus the ancestry of the great hero of the ,red ,branch ,knights of ,ulster is both royal and divine4 ,and ,conall ,cernach1 ,cuchulainn's comrade and avenger1 apparently from a tale in the ,cir ,anmann 7,fitness of ,names71 composed probably during the twelfth century1 was also a reincarnated ,tuatha ,de ,danann hero4#chi ,practically all the extant manuscripts dealing with the ancient literature and mythology of the ,gaels were written by ,christian scribes or else copied by them from older manuscripts1 so that1 as ,miss ,hull points out1 what few ,irish re-birth stories have come down to us--and they are probably but remnants of an extensive re-birth literature like that of ,india--have been more or less altered4 ,yet to these scholarly scribes of the early monastic schools1 who kept alive the sacred fire of learning while their own country was being plundered by foreign invaders and the rest of mediaeval ,europe plunged in warfare1 the world owes a debt of gratitude2 for to their efforts alone1 in spite of a reshaping of matter naturally to be expected1 is due almost everything recorded on parchments concerning pagan ,ireland4 ,,the ,,re-,,birth ,,story ,,concerning ,,king ,,mongan ,we have preserved to us a remarkable re-birth story in which the characters are known to be historical4#cij ,it concerns a quarrel between the king of ,ulster1 ,mongan1 son of ,fiachna--who1 according to the ,annals of ,ireland by the ,four ,masters 7i4 #bde71 was killed in ,a4 ,d4 #fbj by ,arthur1 son of ,bicor--and ,forgoll1 the poet of ,mongan4#cia ,the dispute between them was as to the place of the death of ,fothad ,airgdech1 a king of ,ireland who was killed by ,cailte1 one of the warriors of ,find1 in a battle whose date is fixed by the ,four ,masters in ,a4 ,d4 #bhe4cib ,forgoll pretended that ,fothad had been killed at ,duffry1 in ,leinster1 and ,mongan asserted that it was on the river ,larne 7anciently ,ollarba7 in ,county ,antrim4 ,enraged at being contradicted1 even though it were by the king1 ,forgoll threatened ,mongan with terrible incantations2 and it was agreed that unless ,mongan proved his assertion within three days1 his queen should pass under the control of ,forgoll4 ,mongan1 however1 had spoken truly and with certain secret knowledge1 and felt sure of winning4 ,when the third day was almost expired and ,forgoll had presented himself ready to claim the wager1 there was heard coming in the distance the one whom ,mongan awaited4 ,it was ,cailte himself1 come from the ,otherworld to bear testimony to the truthfulness of the king and to confound the audacious presumptions of the poet ,forgoll4 ,it was evening when he reached the palace4 ,the king ,mongan was seated on his throne1 and the queen at his right full of fear about the outcome1 and in front stood the poet ,forgoll claiming the wager4 ,no one knew the strange warrior as he entered the court1 save the king4 ,cailte1 when fully informed of the quarrel and the wager1 quickly announced so that all heard him distinctly1 ',the poet has lied6' ',you will regret those words1' replied the poet4 ',what you say does not well become you1' responded ,cailte in turn1 'for ,i will prove what ,i say4' ,and straightway ,cailte revealed this strange secret3 that he had been one of the companions in arms under the great warrior ,find1 who was also his teacher1 and that ,mongan1 the king before whom he spoke1 was the reincarnation of ,find3-- ',we were with thee1' said ,cailte1 addressing the king4 ',we were with ,find4' ',know1 however1' replied ,mongan1 'that you do wrong in revealing a secret4' ,but the warrior continued3 ',we were therefore with ,find4 ,we came from ,scotland4 ,we encountered ,fothad ,airgdech near here1 on the shores of the ,ollarba4 ,we gave him furious battle4 ,i cast my spear at him in such a manner that it passed through his body1 and the iron point1 detaching itself from the staff1 became fixed in the earth on the other side of ,fothad4 ,behold here in my hand the shaft of that spear4 ,there will be found the bare rock from the top of which ,i let fly my weapon4 ,there will be found a little further to the east the iron point sunken in the earth4 ,there will be found again a little further1 always to the east1 the tomb of ,fothad ,airgdech4 ,a coffin of stone covers his body2 his two bracelets of silver1 his two arm-rings1 and his neck-torque of silver are in the coffin4 ,above the tomb rises a pillar-stone1 and on the upper extremity of that stone which is planted in the earth one may read an inscription in ogam3 ,here reposes ,fothad ,airgdech2 he was fighting against ,find when ,cailte slew him4' ,and to the consternation of ,forgoll1 what this warrior who came from the ,otherworld declared was true1 for there were found the place indicated by him1 the rock1 the spear-head1 the pillar-stone1 the inscription1 the coffin of stone1 the body in it1 and the jewellery4 ,thus ,mongan gained the wager2 and the secret of his life which he alone had known was revealed--he was ,find re-born#cic2 and ,cailte1 his old pupil and warrior-companion1 had come from the land of the dead to aid him#cic3--';,it was ,cailte1 ,find's foster-son1 that had come to them4 ,mongan1 however1 was ,find1 though he would not let it be told4'#cic ,but not only was ,mongan an ,irish king1 he was also a god1 the son of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann ,manannan ,mac ,lir3 'this ,mongan is a son of ,manannan ,mac ,lir1 though he is called ,mongan1 son of ,fiachna4'#cid ,and so it is that long after their conquest the ,people of the ,goddess ,dana ruled their conquerors1 for they took upon themselves human bodies1 being born as the children of the kings of ,mil's ,sons4 ,there are other episodes which show very clearly the relationship between ,mongan incarnated in a human body and his divine father ,manannan4 ,thus1 ',when ,mongan was three nights old1 ,manannan came for him and took him with him to bring up in the ,land of ,promise1 and vowed that he would not let him back into ,ireland before he were twelve years of age4' ,and after ,mongan has become ,ulster's high king1 ,manannan comes to him to rouse him out of human slothfulness to a consciousness of his divine nature and mission1 and of the need of action3 ,mongan and his wife were frittering away their time playing a game1 when they beheld a dark black-tufted little cleric standing at the door-post1 who said3--',this inactivity in which thou art1 ,o ,mongan1 is not an inactivity becoming a king of ,ulster1 not to go to avenge thy father on ,fiachna the ,black1 son of ,deman1 though ,dubh-,lacha may think it wrong to tell thee so4444 ,mongan seized the kingship of ,ulster1 and the little cleric who had done the reason was ,manannan the great and mighty4'#cie ,in the ancient tale of the ,voyage of ,bran--probably composed in its present form during the eighth1 possibly the seventh1 century ,a4 ,d4--there is another version of the ,mongan ,re-birth ,story1 which1 being later in origin and composition than the ,voyage itself1 was undoubtedly clumsily inserted into the manuscript1 as scholars think4#cif ,therein1 ,mongan as the offspring of ,manannan by the woman of ,line-mag--quite after the theory of the ,christian ,incarnation--is described as 'a fair man in a body of white clay'4 ,this and what follows in the introductory quatrain show how early ,celtic doctrines correspond to or else were originated by those of the ,christians4 ,and the transcriber seeing the parallels1 glossed and altered the text which he copied by introducing ,christian phraseology so as to fit it in with his own idea--altogether improbable--that the references are to the coming of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the references are to ,manannan and to the woman of ,line-mag1 who by him was to be the mother of ,mongan--as ,mary the wife of ,joseph was the mother of ,jesus ,christ by ,god the ,father3-- ,a noble salvation will come ,from the ,king who has created us1 ,a white law will come over seas1 ,besides being ,god1 ,he will be man4 ,this shape1 he on whom thou lookest1 ,will come to thy parts2 ',tis mine to journey to her house1 ,to the woman in ,line-mag4 ,for it is ,moninnan1 the son of ,ler1 ,from the chariot in the shape of a man1 99 99 99 99 99 ,he will delight the company of every fairy-knoll1 ,he will be the darling of every goodly land1 ,he will make known secrets--a course of wisdom-- ,in the world1 without being feared4 ,to him is attributed the power of shape-shifting1 which is not transmigration into animal forms1 but a magical power exercised by him in a human body4 ,he will be throughout long ages ,an hundred years in fair kingship 99 99 99 99 ,moninnan1 the son of ,ler ,will be his father1 his tutor4 ,at his death ,the white host 7the angels or fairies7 will take him under a wheel 7chariot7 of clouds ,to the gathering where there is no sorrow4#cig ,,the ,,birth ,,of ,,etain ,,of ,,the ,,tuatha ,,de ,,danann#cih ,another clear example of one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann being born as a mortal is recorded in the famous saga of the ,wooing of ,etain4 ,three fragments of this story exist in the ,book of the ,dun ,cow4 ,the first tells how ,etain ,echraide1 daughter of ,ailill and wife of ,midir 7a great king among the ,sidhe people7 was driven out of ,fairyland by the jealousy of her husband's other wife1 and how after being wafted about on the winds of this world she fell invisibly into the drinking-cup of the wife of ,etar of ,inber ,cichmaine1 who was an ,ulster chieftain4 ,the chieftain's wife swallowed her2 and1 in due time1 gave birth to a girl3--',it was one thousand and twelve years from the first begetting of ,etain by ,ailill to the last begetting by ,etar4' ,etain1 retaining her own name1 grew up thence as an ,irish princess4#cii ,one day an unknown man of very stately aspect suddenly appeared to ,etain the princess2 and as suddenly disappeared1 after he had sung to her a wonderful song designed to arouse in her the subconscious memories of her past existence among the ,sidhe3-- ,so is ,etain here to-day4444 ,among little children is her lot4444 ,it is she was gulped in the drink ,by ,etar's wife in a heavy draught4 ,the scribe ends this part of the story by letting it be known that ,midir has struck off the head of his other wife1 ,fuamnach1 the cause of all ,etain's trouble4 ,the second section of the tale introduces ,etain as queen of ,eochaid ,airem1 high king of ,ireland1 and the most curious and important part of it shows how she was loved by ,ailill ,aenguba4 ,ailill1 so far as blood kinship went1 was the brother of ,eochaid1 though apparently either an incarnation of ,midir or else possessed by him3 ,etain acceded to his love1 but he was under a strange love-weakness2 and on two occasions when he attempted to advance his desires an overpowering sleep fell on him1 and each time ,etain met a man in ,ailill's shape--as though it were his 'double'--bemoaning his weakness4 ,on a third occasion she asked who the man was1 and he declared himself to be ,midir1 and besought her to return with him to the ,otherworld4 ,but her worldly or human memory clouded her subconscious memory1 and she did not recognize ,midir1 yet promised to go with him on gaining ,eochaid's permission4 ,after this event1 curiously enough1 ,ailill was healed of his strange love-malady4 ,in the third part of the story1 ,midir and ,eochaid are playing games4 ,midir loses the first two and with them great riches1 but winning the third claims the right to place his arms about ,etain and kiss her4 ,eochaid asked a month's delay4 ,the last day of the month had passed4 ,it was night4 ,eochaid in his palace at ,tara awaited the coming of his rival1 ,midir2 and though all the doors of the palace had been firmly closed for the occasion1 and armed soldiers surrounded the queen1 ,midir like a spirit suddenly stood in the centre of the court and claimed the wager4 ,then1 grasping and kissing ,etain1 he mounted in the air with her and very quickly passed out through the opening of the great chimney4 ,in consternation1 ,king ,eochaid and his warriors hurried without the palace2 and there1 on looking up1 they saw two white swans flying over ,tara1 bound together by a golden chain4#djj ,,the ,,pre-,,existence ,,of ,,dermot ,with a difficult task before him1 ,dermot--as was the case with ,mongan--is reminded of his pre-existence as a hero in the ,otherworld with ,manannan ,mac ,lir and ,angus ,oge3--',now spoke ,fergus ,truelips1 ,finn's ollave1 and said3 ,cowardly and punily thou shrinkest1 ,dermot2 for with most potent ,manannan1 son of ,lir1 thou studiedst and wast brought up1 in the ,land of ,promise and in the bay-indented coasts2 with ,angus ,oge1 too1 the ,daghda's son1 wast most accurately taught2 and it is not just that now thou lackest even a moderate portion of their skill and daring1 such as might serve to convey ,finn and his party up this rock or bastion4 ,at these words ,dermot's face grew red2 he laid hold on ,manannan's magic staves that he had1 and1 as once again he redly blushed1 by dint of skill in martial feats he with a leap rose on his javelin's shafts and so gained his two soles' breadth of the solid glebe that overhung the water's edge4'#dja ,,re-,,birth ,,of ,,tuan ,tuan1 as the son of ,starn1 lived one hundred years as the brother of ,partholon1 the first man to reach ,ireland2 and then1 after two hundred and twenty years1 was re-born as the son of ,cairell4 ,this story in its oldest form is preserved in the ,book of the ,dun ,cow1 and seems to have been composed during the late ninth or early tenth century4#djb ,,re-,,birth ,,among ,,the ,,brythons ,such then are the re-birth stories of the ,gaels4 ,among the ,brythons the same ancient doctrine prevailed1 though we have fewer clear records of it4 ,of the ,brythonic ,re-birth ,doctrine as philosophically expounded in ,barddas1 mention has already been made4 ,in the ancient ,welsh story about ,taliessin1 ,gwion after many transformations1 magical in their nature1 is re-born as that great poet of ,wales1 his mother being a goddess1 ,caridwen1 who dwells beneath the waters of ,lake ,tegid4 ,in its present mystical form this tale cannot be traced further than the end of the sixteenth century1 though the transformation incidents are presupposed in the ,book of ,taliessin1 a thirteenth-century manuscript4#djc ,besides being the re-birth of ,gwion1 ,taliessin may be regarded as a bardic initiate high in degree1 who is possessed of all magical and druidical powers4#djc ,he made a voyage to the ,otherworld1 ,caer ,sidi2 and this seems to indicate some close connexion between ancient rites of initiation and his occult knowledge of all things4#djd ,like the ,irish re-birth and ,otherworld tales1 it also suggests the relation between the world of death or ,faerie and the world of human embodiment4 ,from his harrying of ,hades1 the ,brythonic ,gwydion secured the ,head of ,hades' ,cauldron of ,regeneration or ,re-birth2 and when corpses of slain warriors are thrown into it they arise next day as excellent as ever1 except that they are unable to speak2 which circumstance may be equal to saying that the ordinary uninitiated man when re-born is unable to speak of his previous incarnation1 because he has no memory of it4 ,this ,cauldron of ,re-birth1 like so many objects mentioned in the ancient bardic literature1 is evidently a mystic symbol3 it suggests the same correspondences1 as propounded in the modern ,barddas1 between the dead and the living1 between death and re-birth2 and ,gwydion having been a great culture hero of ,wales probably promulgated a doctrine of re-birth1 and hence is described as being able to resuscitate the dead4#dje ,,king ,,arthur ,,as ,a ,,reincarnated ,,hero ,judging from substantial evidence set forth above in chapter ,v1 the most famous of all ,welsh heroes1 ,arthur1 equally with ,cuchulainn his ,irish counterpart1 can safely be considered both as a god apart from the human plane of existence1 and thus like the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,fairy-,folk1 and also like a great national hero and king 7such as ,mongan was7 incarnated in a physical body4 ,the taking of ,arthur to ,avalon by his life-guardian1 the ,lady of the ,lake1 and by his own sister1 and by two other fairy women who live in that ,otherworld of ,sacred ,apple-,groves1 is sufficient in itself1 we believe1 to prove him of a descent more divine than that of ordinary men4 ,and the belief in his return from that ,otherworld--a return so confidently looked for by the ,brythonic peoples--seems to be a belief 7whether recognized as such or not7 that the ,great ,hero will be reincarnated as a ,messiah destined to set them free4 ,in ,avalon1 ,arthur lives now1 and ',it is from there that the ,britons of ,england and of ,france have for a long time awaited his coming'4#djf ,and ,malory expressing the sentiment in his age writes#djg3--',yet some men say in many parts of ,england that ,king ,arthur is not dead1 but had by the will of our ,lord ,jesu into another place2 and men say that he shall come again1 and he shall win the holy cross4 ,i will not say it shall be so1 but rather ,i will say1 here in this world he changed his life4' ,if we consider ,arthur's passing and expected return1 as many do1 in a purely mythological aspect1 we must think of him for the time as a sun-god1 and yet even then cannot escape altogether from the re-birth idea2 for1 as a study of ancient ,egyptian mythology shows1 there is still the same set of relations4#djh ,there are the sun-symbols always made use of to set forth the doctrine of re-birth1 be it ,egyptian1 ,indian1 ,mexican1 or ,celtic3--the death of a mortal like the passing of ,arthur is represented by the sun-set on the horizon between the visible world here and the invisible world beyond the ,western ,ocean1 and the re-birth is the sunrise of a new day4 ,,non-,,celtic ,,parallels ,as a non-,celtic parallel to what has preceded concerning the ,otherworld of the ,celts and their ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 we offer the second of the ,stories of the ,high-priests of ,memphis1 as published by ,mr4 ,f4 ,l4 ,griffith from ancient manuscripts4#dji ,it is a history of ,si-,osiri 7the son of ,osiris71 whose father was ,setme ,khamuas4 ,this wonderful divine son when still a child took his human father on a journey to see ,amenti1 the ,otherworld of the ,dead2 and when twelve years of age he was wiser than the wisest of the scribes and unequalled in magic4 ,at this period in his life there arrived in ,egypt an ,ethiopian magician who came with the object of humbling the kingdom2 but ,si-,osiri read what was in the unopened letter of the stranger1 and knew that its bearer was the reincarnation of ',hor the son of the ,negress'1 the most formidable of the three ,ethiopian magicians who fifteen hundred years before had waged war with the magicians of ,egypt4 ,at that time the ,egyptian ,hor1 the son of ,pa-neshe1 had defeated the great magician of ,ethiopia in the final struggle between ,white and ,black ,magic which took place in the presence of the ,pharaoh4#daj ,and ',hor the son of the ,negress' had agreed not to return to ,egypt again for fifteen hundred years4 ,but now the time was elapsed1 and1 unmasking the character of the messenger1 ,si-,osiri destroyed him with magical fire4 ,after this1 ,si-,osiri revealed himself as the reincarnation of ,hor the son of ,pa-neshe1 and declared that ,osiris had permitted him to return to earth to destroy the powerful hereditary enemy of ,egypt4 ,when the revelation was made1 ,si-,osiri 'passed away as a shade'1 going back again1 even as the ,celtic ,arthur1 into the realm invisible from which he came4 ,as in ancient ,ireland1 where many kings or great heroes were regarded as direct incarnations or reincarnations of gods or divine beings from the ,otherworld1 so in ,egypt the ,pharaohs were thought to be gods in human bodies1 sent by ,osiris to rule the ,children of the ,sun4#daa ,in ,mexico and ,peru there was a similar belief4#dab ,in the ,indian ,mahbhrata1 ,rma and ,krishna are at once gods and men4#dac ,the celebrated philosophical poem known as the ,bhagavadgt also asserts ,krishna's descent from the gods2 and the same view is again enforced and extended in the ,hari-vansa and especially in the ,bhgavata ,purna4#dac ,the ,indian ,laws of ,manu say that 'even an infant king must not be despised from an idea that he is a mere mortal2 for he is a great deity in human form'4#dad ,in ancient ,greece it was a common opinion that ,zeus was reincarnated from age to age in the great national heroes4 ',alexander the ,great was regarded not merely as the son of ,zeus1 but as ,zeus himself4' ,and other great ,greeks were regarded as gods while living on earth1 like ,lycurgus the ,spartan law-giver1 who after his death was worshipped as one of the divine ones4#dae ,among the great philosophers1 the ancient doctrine of re-birth was a personal conviction3 ,buddha related very many of his previous reincarnations1 according to the ,gtakaml2 ,pythagoras is said to have gone to the temple of ,here and recognized there an ancient shield which he had carried in a previous life when he was ,euphorbus1 a ,homeric hero4#daf ,from what ,plato1 in his ,meno1 quoted from an old poet1 it seems very probable that there may be some sort of relationship between legends mentioning the ,rites of ,proserpine1 like the legend of ,aeneas in ,virgil1 and certain of the ,irish ,otherworld and ,re-birth legends among the ,gaels1 as we have already suggested3--',for from whomsoever ,persephone hath accepted the atonement of ancient woe1 their souls she sendeth up once more to the upper sun in the ninth year4 ,from these grow up glorious kings and men of swift strength1 and men surpassing in poetical skill2 and for all future time they are called holy heroes among men4' ,among modern philosophers and poets in ,europe and ,america the same ideas find their echo3 ,wordsworth in his ,ode to ,immortality definitely inculcates pre-existence2 ,emerson in his ,threnody1 and ,tennyson in his ,de ,profundis1 seem committed to the re-birth doctrine1 and ,walt ,whitman in his ,leaves of ,grass without doubt accepted it as true4 ,certain ,german philosophers1 too1 appear to hold views in harmony with what is also the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 e4 g4 ,schopenhauer1 in ,the ,world as ,will and ,idea1 ,j4 ,g4 ,fichte1 in ,the ,destiny of ,man1 and ,herder1 in ,dialogues on ,metempsychosis4 ,the ,emperor of ,japan is still the ,divine ,child of the ,sun1 the head of the ,order of the ,rising ,sun1 and is always regarded by his subjects as the incarnation of a great being4 ,the ,great ,lama of ,thibet is believed to reincarnate immediately after death4#dag ,william ,,ii of ,germany seems to echo1 perhaps unconsciously1 the same doctrine when he claims to be ruling by divine right4#dah ,that the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth is a direct and complete confirmation of the ,psychological ,theory of the nature and origin of the belief in fairies is self-evident4 ,could it be shown to be scientifically plausible in itself1 as well-educated ,celts consider it to be--and much evidence to be derived from a study of states of consciousness1 e4 g4 dreams1 somnambulism1 trance1 crystal-gazing1 changed personality1 subconsciousness1 and so forth1 indicates that it might be shown to be so--it would effectively prove the theory4 ,fairies would then be beings of the ,otherworld who can enter the human plane of life by submitting to the natural process of birth in a physical body1 and would correspond to the ,alcheringa ancestors of the ,arunta4 ,in chapter xii following1 such a proof of the theory is attempted4 ,,re-,,birth ,,among ,,modern ,,celts ,one of the chief objects of this chapter is to show that the ,re-birth ,doctrine of the ,celts1 like most beliefs bound up with the ,fairy-,faith1 still survives2 thus further proving that ,celtic tradition is an unbroken thing from times prehistoric until to-day4 ,we shall therefore proceed to bring forward the following original material1 collected by ourselves1 as evidence on this point3-- ,in ,ireland ,in ,ireland ,i found two districts where the ,re-birth ,doctrine has not been wholly forgotten4 ,the first one is in the country round ,knock ,ma1 near ,tuam4 ,after ,mrs4 ---- had told me about fairies1 ,i led up to the subject of re-birth1 and the most valuable of all my ,irish finds concerning the belief was the result4 ,for this woman of ,belclare told me that it was believed by many of the old people1 when she was a girl living a few miles west of ,knock ,ma1 that they had lived on this earth before as men and women2 but1 she added1 ',you could hardly get them to talk about their belief4 ,it was a sort of secret which they who held it discussed freely only among themselves4' ,they believed1 too1 that disease and misfortune in old age come as a penalty for sins committed in a former life4#dai ,this expiatory or purgatorial aspect of the ,re-birth ,doctrine seems to have been more widespread than the doctrine in its bare outlines2 for the ,belclare woman in speaking of it was able to recall from memories of forty-five or fifty years ago what was then a popular story about a disease-worn man and an eel-fisherman3-- ,the diseased man as he watches the eel-fisherman taking up his baskets1 contrasts his own wretched physical condition with the vigour and good health of the latter1 and attributes the misfortune which is upon himself to bad actions in a life prior to the one he is then living4 ,and here is the unhappy man's lamentation3-- ,fliuch1 fuar at mo leabaidh2 ,at fearthinn agus geur-ghaoith2 ,atim ag oc na h-uaille1 ,a's tusa ag faire do chliaibhn4 7,wet1 cold is my bed2 ,there is rain and sharp wind2 ,i am paying for pride1 ,and you watching your eel-basket47 ,the teller of the story insisted on giving me these verses in ,irish1 for she said they have much less meaning in ,english1 and ,i took them down2 and to verify them and the story in which they find a place1 ,i went to the cottage a second time4 ,there is no doubt1 therefore1 that the legend is a genuine echo of the religion of pre-,christian ,ireland1 in which reincarnation appears to have been clearly inculcated and was probably the common belief4 ,i once asked ,steven ,ruan1 the ,galway piper1 if he had ever heard of such a thing as people being born more than once here on this earth1 seeing that ,i was seeking for traces of the old ,irish ,doctrine of ,re-birth4 ,the answer he gave me was this3--',i have often heard it said that people born and dead come into this world again4 ,i have heard the old people say that we have lived on this earth before2 and ,i have often met old men and women who believed they had lived before4 ,the idea passed from one old person to another1 and was a common belief1 though you do not hear much about it now4' ,a highly educated ,irishman now living in ,california tells me of his own knowledge that there was a popular and sincere belief among many of the ,irish people throughout ,ireland that ,charles ,parnell1 their great champion in modern times1 was the reincarnation of one of the old ,gaelic heroes4 ,this shows how the ancient doctrine is still practically applied4 ,there is also an opinion held by certain very prominent ,irishmen now living in ,ireland1 with whom ,i have been privileged to discuss the re-birth doctrine1 that both ,patrick and ,columba are likewise to be regarded as ancient ,gaelic heroes1 who were reincarnated to work for the uplifting of the ,gael4#dbj ,a legend concerning ,lough ,gur1 ,county ,limerick1 indicates that the sleeping-hero type of tale is a curious aspect of an ancient re-birth doctrine4 ,in such tales1 heroes and their warrior companions are held under enchantment1 awaiting the mystic hour to strike for them to issue forth and free their native land from the rule of the ,saxon4 ,usually they are so held within a mysterious cavern1 as is the case of ,arthur and his men1 according to differently localized ,welsh stories2 or they are in the depths of magic hills and mountains like most ,irish heroes4 ,the heroes under enchantment with their companions are to be considered as resident in the ,otherworld1 and their return to human action as a return to the human plane of life4 ,the ,lough ,gur legend is about ,garret ,fitzgerald1 the ,earl of ,desmond1 who rebelled against ,queen ,elizabeth4 ,modern folk-tradition regards him as the guardian deity of the ,lough1 and as dwelling in an enchanted palace situated beneath its waters4 ,as ,count ,john de ,salis1 whose ancestral home is the ,lough ,gur estate1 assures me1 the peasants of the region declare themselves convinced that the earl once in seven years appears riding across the lake surface on a phantom white horse shod with shoes of silver2 and they believe that when the horse's silver shoes are worn out the enchantment will end4 ,then1 like ,arthur when his stay in ,avalon ends1 ,garret ,fitzgerald will return to the world of human life again to lead the ,irish hosts to victory4#dba ,in ,scotland ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael1 author of ,carmina ,gadelica1 who as a folk-lorist has examined modern peasant beliefs throughout the ,highlands and ,islands more thoroughly than any other living ,scotsman1 informs me that apparently there was at one time in the ,highlands a definite belief in the ancient ,celtic ,re-birth ,doctrine1 because he has found traces of it there1 though these traces were only in the vaguest and barest outline4 ,in the ,isle of ,man ,mr4 ,william ,cashen1 keeper of ,peel ,castle1 reported as follows with respect to a re-birth doctrine in the ,isle of ,man3--',here in the ,island among old ,manx people ,i have heard it said1 but only in a joking way1 that we will come back to this earth again after some thousands of years4 ,the idea wasn't very popular nor often discussed1 and there is no belief in it now to my knowledge4 ,it seems to have come down from the ,druids4' ,this is ,mr4 ,william ,oates' testimony1 given at ,ballasalla3--',some held a belief in the coming back 7re-birth7 of spirits4 ,i can't explain it4 ,a certain ,manxman ,i knew used to talk about the transmigration of spirits2 but ,i shall not give his name1 since many of his family still live here on the ,island4' ,mr4 ,thomas ,kelley1 of ,glen ,meay1 had no clear idea about the ancient ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 though he said3--',my grandfather had a notion that he would be back here again at the ,resurrection to claim his land4' ,this undoubtedly shows how the ,christian doctrine of the ,resurrection and the ,celtic one of ,re-birth may have blended1 both being based on the common idea of a physical post-existence4 ,in ,wales ,in the ,pentre ,evan country where ,i discovered such rich folk-lore1 ,i found my chief witness from there not unfamiliar with the ancient ,celtic belief in ,re-birth4 ,one day ,i asked her if she had ever heard the old folk say that they had lived before on this earth as men and women4 ,somewhat surprised at the question1 for to answer it would reveal half-secret thoughts of which1 as it proved1 not even her own nephew or niece had knowledge1 she hesitated a moment1 and1 then1 looking at me intently1 said with great earnestness1 ',yes2 and ,i often believe myself that ,i have lived before4' ,and because of the unusual question1 which seemed to reveal on my part familiarity with the belief1 she added1 ',and ,i think you must be of the same opinion as to yourself4' ,she explained then that the belief was a rare one now1 and held by only a few of the oldest of her old acquaintances in that region1 and they seldom talk about it to their children for fear of being laughed at4 ,mr4 ,j4 ,ceredig ,davies1 the well-known folk-lorist of ,llanilar1 near ,aberystwyth1 speaking of the ,welsh ,re-birth ,doctrine1 said he remembers1 while in ,patagonia1 having discussed ,druidism with a friend there1 the late ,john ,jones1 originally of ,bala1 ,north ,wales1 and hearing him remark1 ',indeed1 ,i have a half-belief that ,i have been in this world before4' ,mr4 ,jones1 our witness from ,pontrhydfendigaid1 offers testimony of the highest value concerning ,druidism and the doctrine of re-birth in ,central ,wales1 as follows3--',taliessin believed in re-birth1 and he was the first to interpret the ,druidic laws4 ,he believed that from age to age he had been in many human bodies4 ,he believed that he possessed the same soul as ,enoch and ,eli1 that he had been a judge sitting on the case of ,jesus ,christ--,i was a judge at the ,crucifixion1 he is reported as saying--and that he had been a prisoner in bonds at the ,court of ,cynfelyn1 not far from ,aberystwyth1 for a year and a day4 ,two hundred years ago1 belief in re-birth was common4 ,many still held it when ,i was a boy4 ,and even yet here in this region some people are imbued with the ancient faith of the ,druids1 and firmly believe that the spirit migrates from one body to another4 ,it is said1 too1 that a pregnant woman is able to determine what kind of a child she will give birth to4'#dbb ,mr4 ,jones's use of the phrase 'migrate from one body to another' led us to suspect that it might refer to transmigration1 i4 e4 re-birth into animal bodies1 which ,dr4 ,tylor in ,primitive ,culture#d 7ii4 #f-aa1 #ag1 c47 shows is a distorted or corrupted interpretation of what he calls the reasonable and straightforward doctrine of re-birth into human bodies only4 ,but when we questioned ,mr4 ,jones further about the matter he said3--',the belief ,i refer to is re-birth into human bodies4 ,i have heard of witches being able to change their own body into the body of an animal or demon1 but ,i never heard of men transmigrating into the bodies of animals4 ,some people have said that the ,druids taught transmigration of this sort1 but ,i do not think they did--though ,welsh poets seem to have made use of such a doctrine for the sake of poetry4' ,in order to gain evidence concerning the ,re-birth ,doctrine as concrete as possible from so important a witness as ,mr4 ,jones1 we asked him further if he could recall the names of one or two of his old acquaintances who believed in it2 and he said3--',one old character named ,thomas ,williams1 a dyer by trade1 nearly believed in it1 and ,shn ,evan ,rolant firmly believed in it4 ,rolant was the owner of ,old ,abbey ,farm on the ,cross-,wood ,estate1 and originally was a well-to-do and respectable farmer1 but in consequence of mortgages on the estate he lost his property4 ,after being dispossessed and badly treated1 he used to recite the one hundred and ninth ,psalm1 to bring curses upon those who worked against him in the dispossession process2 and it was thought that he succeeded in bringing curses upon them4' ,the ,rev4 ,t4 ,m4 ,morgan1 ,vicar of ,newchurch parish1 near ,carmarthen1 who has already offered valuable evidence concerning the ,tylwyth ,teg 7see pp4 #adi-ea71 contributes additional material about the ,doctrine of ,re-birth in ,south ,wales3--',my father said there used to be expressed in ,cardiganshire before his time1 a belief in re-birth4 ,this was in accord with ,druidism1 namely1 that all human beings formerly existed on the moon1 the world of middle light1 and the queen of heaven2 that those who there lived a righteous life were thence born on the sun1 and thence onward to the highest heaven2 and that those whose moon life had been unrighteous were born on this earth of suffering and sin4 ,through right-living on earth souls are able to return to the moon1 and then evolve to the sun and highest heaven2 or1 through wrong living on earth1 souls are born in the third condition1 which is one of utter darkness and of still greater suffering and sin than our world offers4 ,but even from this lowest condition souls can work upwards to the highest glory if they strive successfully against evil4 ,the ,goddess of ,heaven or ,mother of all human beings was known as ,brenhines-y-nef4 ,i am unable to tell if she is the moon itself or lived in the moon4 ,on the other hand1 the sun was considered the father of all human beings4 ,according to the old belief1 every new moon brings the souls who were unfit to be born on the sun1 to deposit them here on our earth4 ,sometimes there are more souls seeking embodiment on earth than there are infant bodies to contain them4 ,hence souls fight among themselves to occupy a body4 ,occasionally one soul tries to drive out from a body the soul already in possession of it1 in order to possess it for itself4 ,in consequence of such struggling of soul against soul1 men in this world manifest madness and tear themselves4 ,whenever such a condition showed itself1 the person exhibiting it was called a ,lloerig or one who is moon-torn--,lloer meaning moon1 and rhigo to notch or tear2 and in the ,english word lunatic1 meaning moon-struck1 we have a similar idea4'#dbc ,mr4 ,david ,williams1 ,j4,p41 of ,carmarthen1 who has already told us much about ,welsh fairies 7see pp4 #aea-c71 offers equally valuable information about the ',three ,circles of ,existence' and the ,druidic scheme of soul-evolution1 as follows3--',according to the ,druids1 there are three ,circles through which souls must pass4 ,the first is ,cylch y ,ceugant1 the second ,cylch ,abred1 the third ,cylch y ,gwynfyd4 ,the name of each circle refers to a special kind of spiritual training1 and if in reaching the second circle you do not gain its perfection by completing all its provisions probably in due order and time1 you must begin again in ,circle ,one2 but if you reach the perfection of ,circle ,two you go on to ,circle ,three4 ,in ,circle ,one1 which is unlocated1 the soul has no condition of bodily existence as in ,circle ,two4 ,the second ,circle appears to be a state something like the one we are in now--a mixture of good and evil4 ,the third ,circle is a state of perfection and blessedness4 ,in it the soul's environments correspond to all its wishes and desires1 and there is contact with ,god4' ,at this point ,i asked if there was loss of individuality in ,circle ,three1 and ,mr4 ,williams replied3--',no1 there is not loss of individuality4' ,hence1 as we suggest1 ,cylch y ,gwynfyd is the ,druidic parallel to the ,nirvana of ,indian metaphysics--being like it1 a state of perfect and unlimited self-consciousness which man never knows in earth-life4 ,and1 finally1 ,mr4 ,williams said in relation to re-birth3--',about the years #aghj-ahbj there lived an old bard in ,glamorganshire who was actually a ,druid1 though he professed to be a ,christian as well1 and he believed fully in re-birth4 ,his common name was ,edward ,williams 7,iolo ,morganwg72 and he with ,owen ,jones and ,william ,o4 ,pughe edited the famous ,archaiology of ,wales4' ,in ,cornwall ,mr4 ,henry ,maddern1 ,f4,i4,a4,s41 our very important witness from ,penzance1 testifies as follows concerning a re-birth doctrine in ,cornwall3--',belief in reincarnation was very common among the old ,cornish peoples4 ,for example1 it was believed when an incantation had been pronounced in the proper way at the ,newlyn ,tolcarne1 that the ,troll who inhabited it could embody the person who called him up in any state in which that person had existed during a former age4 ,you had only to name the age or period1 and you could live your past life therein over again4 ,my nurse1 ,betty ,grancan1 and an old miner named ,william ,edwards1 both believed in re-birth1 and told me about it4 ,i have heard them relate stories to one another to the effect that a person can go back into the memory of past lives4 ,they said that the sex always remains the same from life to life4 ,i have never heard of any belief in transmigration of humans into animals1 but in human re-birth only4'#dbd ,in ,brittany ,in chapter ii1 p4 #baf1 ,m4 ,z4 ,le ,rouzic1 keeper of the ,miln ,museum at ,carnac1 says that there is now among his ,breton countrymen round ,carnac a general and profound belief that spirits incarnate as men and women2 and he has told me that this belief exists also in other regions of the ,morbihan4 ,and ,i myself found there in this ,carnac country of which ,m4 ,le ,rouzic speaks1 that the doctrine of the reincarnation of ancestors1 which1 as he agrees1 is the same thing as the incarnation of spirits1 is quite common1 though as a rule only talked about among the ,bretons themselves4 ,m4 ,le ,rouzic restated the belief as he knows it round ,carnac1 as follows3--',it is incontestable that the belief in the reincarnation of spirits is general in our country2 and it is believed that the spirits embodied now are the spirits of the people of former times4' ,after ,louis ,guzel1 of the village of ,st4 ,columban1 a mile from ,carnac1 had related to me certain legends of the dead1 ,i asked him if he had ever heard that the dead may be born again as men and women here on this earth4 ,contrary to my expectations1 the question caused no surprise whatever2 and ,i was at once given the impression that the ancient ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth is a thoroughly familiar one to him and to many ,bretons about the ,carnac district4 ,as we conversed about the doctrine1 he said emphatically1 ',c'est la vrit' 7,it is the truth72 and in illustration told the following anecdotes3--',a woman in a cemetery one evening saw the spirits of many dead children begging of her life1 and reincarnation4 ,a son of my son resembles my grandfather1 especially in his mental traits and general character1 and the family believe that this son is my grandfather reincarnated4' 7,recorded at ,st4 ,columban1 ,brittany1 ,august #aiji47 ,professor ,anatole ,le ,braz1 in a letter-preface to ,carnac1 ,lgendes1 ,traditions1 ,coutumes et ,contes du ,pays 7,nantes1 #aiji71 by ,m4 ,z4 ,le ,rouzic1 makes this poetical reference to his friend1 its author1 and thereby admirably echoes the ancient ,breton ,doctrine of ,re-birth3--',you1 your eyes1 your ears are elsewhere3 you are a seer and a hearer of the lower regions2 you perceive the floating images and you discern the hollow sounds of the people of the manes2 you live1 literally1 among them4 ,what am ,i saying8 ,under the form and appearance of a man of to-day1 you are in reality one of them1 ascended to the day and reincarnated4' ,again1 speaking of the ,alignements of ,menec1 ,professor ,le ,braz adds concerning his friend3--',you have been one of the priest-builders who worked at its erection2 you have officiated among its myriads of columns1 presided amid the pomp of great funerals in its cyclopean caverns1 sprinkled its sepulchral mounds1 shaped like tents1 with the blood of oxen and of heifers now dear to ,st4 ,cornely4 ,and this also you confess to me yourself3 these unfathomable epochs remain for you actual and present4' ,,origin ,,and ,,evolution ,,of ,,the ,,celtic ,,doctrine ,,of ,,re-,,birth ,in considering briefly what non-,celtic doctrines could conceivably have shaped the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 two chief streams of influence are open to examination4 ,one stream has its source in re-birth doctrines like those set forth by ,orphic1 ,pythagorean1 ,platonic1 and similar orientally-derived philosophies2 while the other arises out of primitive ,christianity1 wherein1 as literary and historical evidence suggests1 re-birth may have been an equally important doctrine2 or1 at all events1 there was a decided tendency1 later condemned as heretical1 to synthesize the ,alexandrian philosophy and the ,jewish 7which to some extent influenced the ,alexandrian7 with early ,church doctrines4 ,this tendency is clearly shown by ,origen1 and by ,clemens ,alexandrinus1 another eminent ,father4 ,we have a better check on the second stream than on the first1 because ,christianity has a later and more definite origin than any of the orientally-derived philosophies4 ,some of the ,druids1 chiefly of ,scotland and ,wales1 who are known to have held the re-birth doctrine before conversion1 and probably after conversion1 as was the case with a modern ,druid1 an editor of the ,archaiology of ,wales 7see p4 #cia1 above71 accepted the ,new ,faith as a purer form of ,druidism and ,jesus ,christ as the ,greatest of ,druids4 ,this ready and full acceptance would most likely not have been possible had their cardinal re-birth doctrine been thereby condemned4 ,it would seem1 therefore1 that a primitive ,christian re-birth doctrine may have been openly held by certain of the early ,celtic missionaries4 ,these latter1 during the centuries when ,ireland was the university for all ,europe1 had good opportunities for knowing much about the earliest traditions of ,christianity1 and they1 with their own half-pagan instincts1 would have given approval to such a doctrine without consulting ,rome1 just as ,church ,fathers like ,tertullian condemned it on their own personal authority and ,origen believed it4 ,further1 if we hold in mind that the doctrine of the ,incarnation even now inculcates that the ,son pre-existed and united ,himself with a human soul in the act of conception1 and that it may originally and by some ,irish saints have been thought of as applying to all mankind in a more humble and less divine way1 we seem to see in the ,mongan re-birth story1 which ,christian transcribers have glossed1 evidently with such ideas in mind1 a proof that on this doctrinal point ,christian and ,celtic beliefs coalesced4#dbe ,but the ,christian beliefs did not originate the ,celtic1 for scholars have shown that the germ of the ,mongan re-birth story1 as well as that of the ,cuchulainn re-birth episode1 is pre-,christian1 and that the ,etain birth-story dates from a time when ,irish myth and history were entirely free from ,christian influence4#dbf ,the same original pagan character is shown in the re-birth episodes existing in ,brythonic literature4#dbg ,and1 finally1 from the testimony of several ancient authorities1 e4 g4 ,julius ,caesar1 ,diodorus ,siculus1 ,pomponius ,mela1 and ,lucan1 who wrote1 respectively1 about #ej ,b4 ,c41 #dj ,b4 ,c41 ,a4 ,d4 #dd1 and ,a4 ,d4 #fj to #fe1 that the ,celts already held the re-birth doctrine1 it is certain that any possible influence from the ,christian stream instead of originating the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth could merely have modified it4 ,the question remaining1 ,would the classical or oriental doctrines of re-birth have originated or fundamentally shaped the ,celtic re-birth doctrine8 is a very difficult one4 ,at present it cannot be answered with certainty either negatively or positively4 ,we may suppose1 however1 as we did in the case of the parallel ,christian re-birth doctrine1 a possible contact and amalgamation1 brought about in various ways1 e4 g4 through ,oriental merchants like the ,phoenicians1 and travellers who visited ,britain in pre-,christian times1 but chiefly through the continental ,celts1 who had direct knowledge of ,greek and ,roman culture1 meeting their insular brethren beyond the ,channel and ,irish ,sea4 ,all such ancient contacts push the problem further and further back in time2 and our easiest and safest course is to state--as we may of the similar problem of the origin of the ,celtic ,otherworld belief--that available facts of comparative religion1 philosophy1 and myth1 indicate clearly a prehistoric epoch when there was a common ancestral stock for the ,mediterranean and pan-,celtic cultures4 ,this may have had its beginnings in the ,danube country1 or in ,north ,europe1 as many authorities in ethnology now hold1 or1 as others are beginning to hold1 in the lost ,atlantis--the most probable home of the dark pre-,celtic peoples of ,ireland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,scotland1 ,britain1 ,southern and ,western ,europe1 and ,north ,africa1 who with the ,aryans are the joint ancestors of the modern ,celts4 ,both branches of this common ,celtic ancestral stock held the re-birth doctrine4 ,and at least from their ,aryan ancestors it seems to have been inherited by the ,celts of history4 ,to attempt a hypothetical proof that this race or that race1 ,egyptian1 ,phoenician1 ,greek1 or ,celtic1 as the case may be1 is alone the originator of this or any other particular belief is as useless and as absurd as to attempt proof that the ,gael has no racial affinity with the ,brython4 ,one of the greatest services now being performed by scientific inquiry into human problems is the demonstration of the unreasonableness of assuming artificial social barriers separating race from race1 religion from religion1 and institution from institution1 and the declaration that the unity and the brotherhood of man is a fact inherent in man's own nature1 and not a sentimental ideal4 ,but there is specialization and differentiation everywhere in nature2 and while ,celtic traditions and beliefs are not fundamentally unlike those found in every age1 race1 and cultural stage1 the treatment of this common stock of prehistoric lore and mystical religion is in some respects unique1 and hence ,celtic4 ,beyond this statement we cannot go4 ,,section ,,iii ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,gods1 ,,spirits1 ,,fairies1 ,,and ,,the ,,dead ,,chapter ,,viii ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,archaeology#dbh ',as he spoke1 he paused before a great mound grown over with trees1 and around it silver clear in the moonlight were immense stones piled1 the remains of an original circle1 and there was a dark1 low1 narrow entrance leading therein4 ,this was my palace4 ,in days past many a one plucked here the purple flower of magic and the fruit of the tree of life4444 ,and even as he spoke1 a light began to glow and to pervade the cave1 and to obliterate the stone walls and the antique hieroglyphics engraven thereon1 and to melt the earthen floor into itself like a fiery sun suddenly uprisen within the world1 and there was everywhere a wandering ecstasy of sound3 light and sound were one2 light had a voice1 and the music hung glittering in the air4444 ,i am ,aengus2 men call me the ,young4 ,i am the sunlight in the heart1 the moonlight in the mind2 ,i am the light at the end of every dream1 the voice for ever calling to come away2 ,i am desire beyond joy or tears4 ,come with me1 come with me3 ,i will make you immortal2 for my palace opens into the ,gardens of the ,sun1 and there are the fire-fountains which quench the heart's desire in rapture4'--,a4 ,e4 ,inadequacy of ,pygmy ,theory--,according to the theories concerning divine images and fetishes1 gods1 daemons1 and ancestral spirits haunt megaliths--,megaliths are religious and funereal1 as shown chiefly by ,cenn ,cruaich1 ,stonehenge1 ,guernsey menhirs1 monuments in ,brittany1 by the circular fairy dance as an ancient initiatory sun-dance1 by ,breton earthworks1 archaeological excavations generally1 and by present-day worship at ,indian dolmens--,new ,grange and ,celtic ,mysteries3 evidence of manuscripts2 evidence of tradition--,the ,aengus ,cult--,new ,grange compared with ,great ,pyramid3 both have astronomical arrangement and same internal plan--,why they open to the sunrise--,initiations in both--,great ,pyramid as model for ,celtic tumuli--,gavrinis and ,new ,grange as spirit-temples4 ,in this chapter we propose to deal with the popular belief among ,celtic peoples that tumuli1 dolmens1 menhirs1 and in fact most megalithic monuments1 prehistoric or historic1 are either the abodes or else the favourite haunts of various orders of fairies--of pixies in ,cornwall1 of corrigans in ,brittany1 of little spirits like pygmies1 of spirits like mortals in stature1 of goblins1 of demons1 and of ghosts4 ,interesting attempts have been made to explain this folk-belief by means of the ,pygmy ,theory of ,fairies2 and this folk-belief appears to be almost the chief one upon which the theory depends4#dbi ,as was pointed out in the ,introduction 7p4 xxiii71 possibly one of the many threads interwoven into the complex fabric of the ,fairy-,faith round an original psychical pattern may have been bequeathed by a folk-memory of some unknown1 perhaps pygmy1 races1 who may have inhabited underground places like those in certain tumuli4 ,but even though the ,pygmy ,theory were altogether accepted by us the problem we are to consider would still be an unsolved one2 for how explain by the ,pygmy ,theory why the folk-memory should always run in psychical channels1 and not alone in ,celtic lands1 but throughout ,europe1 and even in ,australia1 ,america1 ,africa1 and ,india4 ,archaeological researches have now made it clear that many of the great tumuli covering dolmens or subterranean chambers1 like that of ,mont ,st4 ,michel 7at ,carnac7 for example1 were religious and funereal in their purposes from the first2 and therefore the ,pygmy ,theory is far from a satisfactory or adequate explanation4 ,to us the inquiry is similar to an investigation into the reasons why ghosts should haunt a house1 whereas the supporters of the ,pygmy ,theory forget the ghosts and tell all about the people who may or who may never have lived in the haunted house1 and who built it4 ,the megaliths1 in the plain language of the folk-belief1 are haunted by fairies1 pixies1 corrigans1 ghosts1 and various sorts of invisible beings4 ,like the ,psychical ,research ,society1 we believe there may be1 or actually are1 invisible beings like ghosts1 and so propose to conduct our investigations from that point of view4#dcj ,,menhirs1 ,,dolmens1 ,,cromlechs1 ,,and ,,tumuli ,to begin with1 we shall concern ourselves with menhirs1 dolmens1 cromlechs1 and certain kinds of tumuli--such as are found at ,carnac1 round which corrigans hold their nightly revels1 and where ghost-like forms are sometimes seen in the moonlight1 or even when there is no moon4 ,m4 ,paul ,sbillot in ,le ,folk-lore de ,france#dca has very adequately described the numerous folk-traditions and customs connected with all such monuments1 and it remains for us to deal especially with the psychical aspects of these traditions and customs4 ,the learned ,canon ,mah in his ,essai sur les antiquits du dpartement du ,morbihan 7p4 #beh71 a work of rare merit1 published at ,vannes in #ahbe1 holds that not only were the majestic ,alignements of ,carnac used as temples for religious rites1 but that the stones themselves of which the ,alignements are formed were venerated as the abodes of gods4#dcb ,and quoting ,porphyry1 ,iamblichus1 ,proclus1 ,hermes1 and others1 he shows that the ancients believed that gods and daemons1 attracted by sacrifice and worship to stone images and other inanimate objects1 overshadowed them or even took up their abode in them4 ,this position of ,canon ,mah is confirmed by a comparative study of ,celtic and non-,celtic traditions respecting the theory of what has been erroneously called 'idol-worship'4 ,all evidence goes to show that idols so called1 are simply images used as media for the manifestation of ghosts1 spirits1 and gods3 the ancients1 like contemporary primitive races1 do not seem ever to have actually worshipped such images1 but simply to have supplicated by prayer and sacrifice the indwelling deity4#dcc ,the ancient ,egyptians1 for example1 conceived the ,ka or personality as a thing separable from the person or body1 and hence 'the statue of a human being represented and embodied a human ,ka'4 ,likewise a statue of a god was the dwelling-place of a divine ,ka1 attracted to it by certain mystical formulae at the time of dedication4#dcd ,though there might be many statues of the same god no two were alike2 each was animated by an independent 'double' which the rites of consecration had elicited from the god4 ,these statues1 being thus animated by a 'double'1 manifested their will--as ,greek and ,roman statues are reported to have done--either by speaking1 or by rhythmic movements4 ,the divine virtue residing in the images of the gods was thought to be a sort of fluid1 analogous to what we call the magnetic fluid1 the aura1 c4 ,it could be transmitted by the imposition of hands and by magic passes1 on the nape of the neck or along the dorsal spine of a patient2#dce and no doubt extraordinary curative properties were attributed to it4 ,dr4 ,tylor has brought together examples from all parts of the globe of so-called fetishism1 which is veneration paid to natural living objects such as trees1 fish1 animals1 as well as to inanimate objects of almost every conceivable description1 including stones1 because of the spirit believed to be inherent or resident in the particular object2 and he shows that idols originally were fetishes1 which in time came to be shaped according to the form of the spirit or god supposed to possess them4#dcf ,mr4 ,r4 ,r4 ,marett1 the originator of the pre-animistic theory1 believes that originally fetishes were regarded as gods themselves1 and that gradually they came to be regarded as the dwellings of gods4#dcg ,certain well-defined ,celtic traditions entirely fit in with this theory3--e4 g4 ,canon ,mah writes1 ',in accordance with this strange theory they 7the ,celts7 could believe that rocks1 set in motion by spirits which animated them1 sometimes went to drink at rivers1 as is said of the ,peulvan at ,noyal-,pontivy' 7,morbihan72#dch and ,i have found a parallel belief at ,rollright1 ,oxfordshire1 ,england1 where it is said of the ,king ,stone1 an ancient menhir1 and1 according to some folk-traditions1 a human being transformed1 that it goes down the hill on ,christmas ,eve to drink at the river4 ,in the famous menhir or pillar-stone on ,tara to this day1 we have another curious example like the moving statues in ,egypt and the ,celtic stones which move2 for in the ,book of ,lismore the wonderful properties of the ,lia ,fil1 the ',stone of ,destiny'1 are enumerated1 and it is said that ever when ,ireland's monarch stepped upon it the stone would cry out under him1 but that if any other person stepped upon it1 there was only silence4#dci ,in the ,tripartite ,life of ,st4 ,patrick it is said that ,ireland's chief idol was at ,mag ,slecht1 and by name ',cenn ,cruaich1 covered with gold and silver1 and twelve other idols#ddj were about it1 covered with brass'4 ,when ,patrick tried to place his crosier on the top of ,cenn ,cruaich1 the idol 'bowed westward to turn on its right side1 for its face was from the ,south1 to wit1 ,tara4444 ,and the earth swallowed the twelve other images as far as their heads1 and they are thus in sign of the miracle1 and he cursed the demon1 and banished him to hell'4#dda ,sir ,john ,rhys points out that ,cenn ,cruaich means ',head or ,chief of the ,mound'1 and that the story of its inclined position suggests to us an ancient and gradually falling menhir planted on the summit of a tumulus or hill surrounded by twelve lesser pillar stones1 all thirteen--itself a sacred number--regarded as the abodes of gods or else as gods themselves2 and these gods are referred to as the demon exorcized from the place by ,patrick4 ,the central menhir or ,cenn ,cruaich probably represents the ,solar ,god1 and the twelve menhirs surrounding this probably represent the twelve months of the year4#ddb ,in the ,colloquy it is said that ,patrick went his way 'to sow faith and piety1 to banish devils and wizards out of ,ireland2 to raise up saints and righteous1 to erect crosses1 station-stones1 and altars2 also to overthrow idols and goblin images1 and the whole art of sorcery'4#ddc ,welsh tradition says that ,st4 ,david split the capstone of the ,maen ,ketti ,cromlech 7dolmen7#ddd in ,gower1 in order to prove to the people that there was nothing divine in it4#dde ,according to ,geoffrey of ,monmouth1 ,merlin constructed ,stonehenge by magically transporting from ,ireland the ',choir of the ,giants'1 apparently an ancient ,irish circle of stones4#ddf ,the rational explanation of this myth seems to be that the stones of ,stonehenge1 not belonging to the native rocks of ,south ,england1 as geologists well know1 were probably transported from some distant part of ,britain and set up on ,salisbury ,plain1 because of some magical properties supposed to have been possessed by them2 and most likely 'the stones were regarded as divine or as seats of divine power'4#ddg ,and further 7thereby admitting the sacred purpose of the group71 ,sir ,john ,rhys sees no objection to identifying ,stonehenge with the famous temple of ,apollo in the island of the ,hyperboreans1 referred to in the journal of ,pytheas' travels4#ddh ,according to ,sir ,john ,rhys's interpretation of this journal1 'the kings of the city containing the temple and the overseers of the latter were the ,boreads1 who took up the government in succession1 according to their tribes4 ,the citizens gave themselves up to music1 harping and chanting in honour of the ,sun-god1 who was every nineteenth year wont himself to appear about the time of the vernal equinox1 and to go on harping and dancing in the sky until the rising of the ,pleiades4'#ddh ,two menhirs1 roughly hewn to simulate the human form1 are yet to be found in ,guernsey1 ,channel ,islands1 and formerly there was a similar menhir in the ,breton village of ,baud1 ,morbihan4 ,one of the ,guernsey figures was dug up in #ahgh under the chancel of the ,ctel ,church1 and then placed in the churchyard1 so that in this instance it seems highly probable that the ,christian ,church was built on the site of a sacred pagan shrine where a cult of stones once existed4 ,the second stone figure 7a female71 now standing as a gate-post in the churchyard of ,st4 ,martin's parish1 seems also to mark a spot where a pre-,christian sanctuary was christianized4 ,the country-people of the district1 up to the middle of the last century1 considered it lucky to make floral and even food offerings to this stone2 but in #ahfj the churchwarden to destroy its sanctity had it broken in two1 though now it has been restored4#ddi ,a like stone image was the famous ',vnus de ,quinipilly'1 near ,baud1 ,morbihan4 ,at its base was a stone trough1 wherein until late into the seventeenth century the sick were cured by contact with the image1 and young men and maidens were wont to bathe to secure love and long life4#ddi ,canon ,mah recorded in #ahbe that the folk-belief located ghosts and spirits of the dead round megalithic monuments1 more especially those known to have been used for tombs1 because the ,celts thought them haunted by ancestral spirits2#dej and what was true in #ahbe is true now1 for there is still in ,brittany the association of ancestral spirits1 corrigans1 and other spirit-like tribes with tumuli1 dolmens1 menhirs1 and cromlechs1 and1 as we have shown in chapter ii1 a very living faith in the ,lgende de la ,mort4 ,in describing some curious dolmens and cromlechs 7stone circles7 on the summit of a mountain called the ,clech or ,man er kloch1 ',mountain of the bell1' at ,mendon1 ,arrondissement de ,lorient1 ,morbihan1 the same author gives it as his opinion1 based on folk-traditions1 that the cromlechs1 like others in ,brittany1 were places in which the ancient ,bretons practised necromancy and invoked the spirits of their ancestors1 to whom they attributed great power4 ,he then records a very valuable and interesting tradition concerning these monuments1 which seems to indicate clearly a close relationship between the ,poulpiquets 7another name for corrigans71 thought of as spirits by the peasants1 and the magical rites conducted in the circles to invoke spirits or daemons3--',the people call the stones which are found there the rocks of the ,hosguannets or ,guerrionets 7who are the same as the ,poulpiquets72 and they declare that at fixed seasons they are in the habit of coming there to celebrate their mysteries1 which would prove that the race of these dwarfs is not yet extinct1 as ,i believed4'#dea ,when we hear how corrigans dance the national ,breton ronde or ride1 at or in such cromlechs 7themselves1 like the dance1 circular in form71 which with other ancient stone monuments and earthworks are still believed to be the favourite haunts of these and kindred spirit-tribes1 we seem to see1 in the light of what ,canon ,mah records1 a psychical folk-memory about a goblin race who are now thought of as frequenting the very places where anciently such spirits are said to have been invoked by pagan priests for the purposes of divination4 ,further1 it appears that at these sacred centres1 as the quoted tradition indicates1 in prehistoric times ,brythonic initiations took place1 like those still flourishing among a few surviving ,american ,indian tribes 7who also dance the circular initiation dance71 and among other primitive peoples1 as we shall more adequately show in the chapter on ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory4 ,the ,breton dance is1 therefore1 most likely the memorial of an ancient initiation dance1 religious in character1 and1 probably1 in honour of the sun1 being circular in the same way that cromlechs dedicated to a sun-cult are circular4 ,stonehenge1 the most highly developed type of the cromlech1 was undoubtedly a sun-temple2 and the dance anciently held in it1 as described by ,pytheas1 in honour of the god ,apollo1 was no doubt circular like the ,breton national dance1 and1 presumably1 initiatory4#deb ,through a natural anthropomorphic process1 this circular initiation dance has come to be attributed to corrigans in ,brittany1 to pixies in ,cornwall and in ,england1 and to fairies in these and other ,celtic countries4 ,the idea of fairy tribes in such a special relation may result from a folk-memory of the actual initiators who1 as masked men1 represented spirits2 and1 if this be a plausible view1 then fairies may be compared to the initiators of contemporary initiation ceremonies among primitive peoples and1 following ,dr4 ,gilbert ,murray's theory1 to the ,greek satyrs also4#dec ,a circular dance like the ,breton one still survives among the peasantry in the ,channel ,islands1 at least in ,guernsey1 ,alderney1 and ,sark1 being celebrated at weddings1 but the revolution is now around a person instead of a stone1 and to this person obeisance is paid4 ,this tends to confirm our opinion that the dance is the survival of an ancient sun-dance1 the central figure being typical of the sun deity himself1 or ,apollo2 and if we design this dance thus ,symbol3 sun1 we have the astronomical emblem still used in all our calendars to represent the sun1 one which in itself preserves a vast mass of forgotten lore4 ,formerly in ,guernsey1 the sites of principal dolmens 7or cromlechs7 and pillar-stones were visited in sacred procession1 and round certain of them the whole body of pilgrims 'solemnly revolved three times from east to west'--as the sun moves4#ded ,again1 according to ,canon ,mah1#dee the bases and lower parts of the sides of four singular barrows at ,cot-bihan blend in such a way as to form an enclosed court1 and one of the barrows has been pierced as though for a passage-way into this court4 ,and he holds that it is more than probable that these ancient earthworks when first they were raised1 and others like them in various ,celtic lands1 witnessed many mystic and religious rites and sacred tribal assemblies4 ,the supposition that the ,cot-bihan earthworks were originally dedicated to pagan religious usages is very much strengthened by the fact that in very early times a ,christian chapel was erected near them4#def ,mont ,st4 ,michel at ,carnac is another example of a pagan tumulus dedicated to a ,christian saint2 and1 as ,sir ,john ,rhys says1 the ,archangel ,michael appears in more places than one in ,celtic lands as the supplanter of the dark powers4#deg ,not only were tumuli thus transferred by re-dedication from pagan gods to ,christian saints1 but dolmens and menhirs as well4 ,thus1 for example1 at ,plouharnel-,carnac 7,morbihan7 there is a menhir surmounted by a ,christian cross1 just as at ,dol 7,ille-et-,vilaine7 a wooden crucifix surmounts the great menhir1 and at ,carnac there is a dolmen likewise christianized by a stone cross-mounted on the table-stone4 ,again1 ,m4 ,j4 ,dchelette in his ,manuel d',archologie ,prhistorique1 ,celtique et ,gallo-,romaine 7p4 #chj7 describes a dolmen at ,plouaret 7,ctes-du-,nord7 converted into a chapel dedicated to the ,seven ,saints1 and another dolmen at ,saint-,germain-de-,confolens 7,charente7 likewise transformed into a place of worship4 ,miss ,edith ,f4 ,carey thus explains the dolmens in the ,channel ,islands3--',all our old traditions prove our dolmens to have been the general rendezvous of our insular sorcerers4 ,in sixteenth and seventeenth century manuscripts ,i have found these dolmens described as altars of the gods of the sea4444 ,one of our ancient dolmens retains its ancient name of ,de ,hus1 and a fifteenth-century ,perchage of ,fief de ,lree tells us that a now destroyed dolmen on our western coast was dedicated to the same god1 for ,heus or ,hesus was the ,war-,god of ancient ,gaul4'#deh ,the same writer describes excavations made at ,de ,hus by ,mr4 ,lukis1 and that he found in a side chamber there two kneeling skeletons1 one facing the north1 the other the south4 ,he considered them to have been of young persons probably interred alive as a funeral or propitiatory sacrifice to some tribal chief1 or else to a presiding deity of the dolmen4 ,beside a tomb of the early bronze age at the bottom of a large tumulus near ,mammarlf1 in ,skne1 ,dr4 ,oscar ,montelius1 the famous archaeologist of ,sweden1 discovered a circular stone altar on which reposed charcoal and the remains of a burnt animal offering1 which undoubtedly was made to the dead4#dei ,schliemann made a parallel discovery in an ancient tomb at ,mycenae1 ,greece4#dfj ,curiously1 in ,india to-day the ,dravidian tribes1 a pygmy-like aboriginal race1 worship at the ancient dolmens in their forests and mountains1 whether as at tombs and hence to ancestral spirits or to gods is not always clear2 but the latter form of worship is probably more common1 since ,mr4 ,walhouse once observed one of their medicine-men performing a propitiatory service to the agricultural or earth deities4 ,the medicine-man passed the night in solitude sitting 'on the capstone of a dolmen with heels and hams drawn together and chin on knee'--evidently thus to await the advent of the ,sun-god4#dfa ,all the above illustrations1 mostly ,celtic ones1 tend to prove that menhirs1 certain tumuli and earthworks1 cromlechs1 and dolmens were originally connected with religious usages1 chiefly with a cult of gods and fairy-like beings1 and1 though less commonly1 with the dead4 ,we pass now to a special consideration of chambered tumuli1 to show that the same apparently holds true of them4 ,,new ,,grange ,,and ,,celtic ,,mysteries ,though1 as ,professor ,j4 ,loth and other eminent archaeologists hold1 all tumuli containing chambers1 and all alles couvertes of dolmens1 should be considered as designedly funereal in their purposes1 nevertheless certain of the greater ones1 like ,new ,grange and ,gavrinis may also properly be considered as places for rendering worship or even sacrifice to the dead1 and1 perhaps1 as places for religious pilgrimages and sacred rites4 ,this1 too1 seems to be the opinion of ,m4 ,j4 ,dchelette in his work on ,celtic and ,gallo-,roman archaeology1 as he traces from the earliest prehistoric times in ,europe the evolution of the cult of the dead according to the evidence furnished by the ancient megalithic monuments4#dfb ,to begin with1 let us take as a type for our study the most famous of all so-called ,celtic tumuli1 that of ,new ,grange1 on the ,river ,boyne in ,ireland4#dfc ,in ,irish literature ,new ,grange is constantly associated with the ,tuatha ,de ,danann as one of their palaces1 as our fourth chapter points out4 ,throughout our second section generally1 the testimony indicates that the essential nature of these fairy-folk is subjective or spiritual4 ,these two facts at the outset are very important and fundamental1 because we expect to show even more clearly than we have just done in the case of menhirs1 dolmens1 cromlechs1 and smaller tumuli1 that the folk-belief under consideration is at bottom a psychical one1 which has grown up out of a folk-memory of the time when1 as has just been said1 ,celtic or pre-,celtic tumuli were used for interments1 and probably certain ones among them as places for the celebration of pagan mysteries4 ,mr4 ,george ,coffey1 the eminent archaeologist in charge of the archaeological collections of the ,royal ,irish ,academy1 quotes from ancient ,irish records in the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre and other manuscripts to show that the early traditions refer to the ,boyne country as the burial-place of the kings of ,tara1 and that sometimes they seem to associate ,brugh-na-,boyne with the tumuli on the ,boyne1#dfd but1 no exact identification being possible1 it cannot be said with certainty whether any one of the three great ,boyne tumuli is meant4 ,even though it could be shown conclusively that some mighty hero or king had actually been entombed in ,new ,grange1 as is likely1 in the earth behind the chamber1 under the chamber's floor1 or even within the chamber1 still1 as we have already pointed out1 most of the great ,irish heroes and kings were in popular belief literally gods incarnate1 and1 therefore 7as commonly among all ancient peoples1 civilized and non-civilized1 who held the same doctrine71 the tomb of such a divine personage came to be regarded as the actual dwelling of the once incarnate god1 even though his bones were long turned to dust4 ,the ,book of ,ballymote strengthens this suggestion3 in one of its ancient ,irish poems1 by ,mac,nia1 son of ,oenna1 preceded by this mystical dedication1 ',ye ,poets of ,bregia1 of truth1 not false1' the wonders of the ,palace of the ,boyne1 the ,hall of the great god ,daghda1 supreme king and oracle of the ,tuatha de ,danann1 are thus celebrated3-- ,behold the ,sidh before your eyes1 ,it is manifest to you that it is a king's mansion1 ,which was built by the firm ,daghda2 ,it was a wonder1 a court1 an admirable hill4#dfe ,it seems clear enough1 from the old ,irish manuscripts referred to by ,mr4 ,coffey1#dff that the ,boyne country near ,tara was the sacred and religious centre of ancient ,ireland1 and was used by the ,irish in very much the same way as ,memphis and other places on the sacred ,nile were used by the ancient ,egyptians1 both as a royal cemetery and as a place for the celebration of pagan mysteries4 ,it is known that most of the ,mysteries of ,antiquity were psychic in their nature1 having to do with the neophyte's entrance into ,hades or the invisible world while out of the physical body1 or else with direct communication with gods1 spirits1 and shades of the dead1 while in the physical body2 and such mysteries were performed in darkened chambers from which all light was excluded4 ,these chambers were often carved out of solid rock1 as can be seen in the ,rock ,temples of ,india2 and when mountain caves or natural caverns were not available1 artificial ones were used 7see chapter x74 ,the places1 like ,tara and ,memphis1 where the great men and kings of the nations of antiquity were entombed1 being the most sacred1 were very often1 on that account1 also the places dedicated to the most magnificent temples and to the ,mysteries1 or among less advanced nations to the worship of the dead4 ,on every side of sacred ,stonehenge1 ,salisbury ,plain is dotted with the burial mounds of unknown heroes and chieftains of ancient ,britain2 while in modern times1 even though the ,mysteries are long forgotten1 ,westminster ,abbey1 at the centre of the planet's capital1 has1 in turn1 become the hallowed ,hall of the ,mighty ,dead for the vast ,british ,empire4 ,in view of all these facts1 after a careful examination of the famous ,new ,grange tumulus itself1 and a study of the references to it in old ,irish literature1 we are firmly of the opinion that one cannot be far wrong in describing it as a spirit-temple in which were celebrated ancient ,celtic or pre-,celtic ,mysteries at the time when neophytes1 including those of royal blood1 were initiated2 and as such it is directly related to a cult of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,fairy-,folk1 of spirits1 and of the dead4 ,nor are we alone in this opinion4 ,mr4 ,coffey himself1 we believe1 is inclined to favour it2 and ,mr4 ,w4 ,c4 ,borlase1 author of ,the ,dolmens of ,ireland1 who is quite committed to it1 says that it is not necessary1 as some do1 to consider ,new ,grange as an ancient abode of mortal men1 for 'the spirits of the dead1 the fairies1 the ,sidhe1 might have had their brugh1 or palace1 as well'4#dfg ,and he points out that in the old ,irish manuscripts we have proof that it was supposed to be thus used4 ,this proof is found in the ,agallamh na ,senrach or ',colloquy with the ,ancients' by ,st4 ,patrick1 from the ,book of ,lismore1 a fifteenth-century manuscript copied from older manuscripts and now translated by ,standish ,h4 ,o',grady3--,the three sons of the ,king of ,ireland1 by name ,ruidhe1 ,fiacha1 and ,eochaid1 leaving their nurse's and guardian's house1 went to fert na ndruadh1 i4 e4 'grave of the wizards'1 north-west of ,tara1 to ask of their father a country1 a domain2 but he refused their request1 and then they formed a project to gain lands and riches by fasting on the tuatha d ,danann at the brugh upon the ,boyne3 ',lands therefore ,i will not bestow on you1 but win lands for yourself4 ,thereupon they with the ready rising of one man rose and took their way to the green of the brugh upon the ,boyne where1 none other being in their company1 they sat them down4 ,ruidhe said3 ,what is your plan to-night8 ,his brothers rejoined3 ,our project is to fast on the tuatha d ,danann1 aiming thus to win from them good fortune in the shape of a country1 of a domain1 of lands1 and to have vast riches4 ,nor had they been long there when they marked a cheery-looking young man of a pacific demeanour that came towards them4 ,he salutes the king of ,ireland's sons2 they answer him after the same manner4 ,young man1 whence art thou8 whence comest thou8 ,out of yonder brugh chequered with the many lights hard by you here4 ,what name wearest thou8 ,i am the ,daghda's son ,bodhb ,derg2 and to the tuatha d ,danann it was revealed that ye would come to fast here to-night1 for lands and for great fortune4' ,then with ,bodhb ,derg1 the three sons of ,ireland's king entered into the brugh1 and the tuatha d ,danann went into council1 and ,midhir ,yellow-mane son of the ,daghda who presided said3 ',those yonder accommodate now with three wives1 since from wives it is that either fortune or misfortune is derived4' ,and from their marriages with the three daughters of ,midhir they derived all their wishes--territories and wealth in the greatest abundance4 ',for three days with their nights they abode in the sdh4' ',angus told them to carry away out of fidh omna1 i4 e4 ,oakwood1 three apple-trees3 one in full bloom1 another shedding the blossom1 and another covered with ripe fruit4 ,then they repaired to the dn1 where they abode for three times fifty years1 and until those kings disappeared2 for in virtue of marriage alliance they returned again to the tuatha d ,danann1 and from that time forth have remained there4'#dfh ,mr4 ,borlase1 commenting on this passage1 suggests its importance in proving to us that during the ,middle ,ages there existed a tradition1 thus committed to writing from older manuscripts or from oral sources1 regarding 'the nature of the rites performed in pagan times at those places1 which were held sacred to the heathen mysteries'4#dfi ,the passage evidently describes a cult of royal or famous ancestral spirits identified with the god-race of ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 who1 as we know1 being reborn as mortals1 ruled ,ireland4 ,these ancestral spirits were to be approached by a pilgrimage made to their abode1 the spirit-haunted tumulus1 and a residence in it of three days and three nights during which period there was to be an unbroken fast4 ,sacrifices were doubtless offered to the gods1 or spirit-ancestors2 and while they were 'fasted upon'1 they were expected to appear and grant the pilgrim's prayer and to speak with him4 ,all this indicates that the existence of invisible beings was taken for granted1 probably through the knowledge gained by initiation4 ,the ,echtra ,nerai or the ',adventures of ,nera' 7see this study1 p4 #bhg71 contains a description like the one above1 of how a mortal named ,nera went into the ,sidhe-palace at ,cruachan2 and it is said that he went not only into the cave 7uamh7 but into the sd of the cave4 ,the term uamh or cave1 according to ,mr4 ,borlase1 indicates the whole of the interior vaulted chamber1 while the sd of that vaulted chamber or uamh is intended to refer to 'the sanctum sanctorum1 or penetralia of the spirit-temple1 upon entering into which the mortal came face to face with the royal occupants1 and there doubtless he lay fasting1 or offering his sacrifices1 at the periods prescribed'4#dgj ,the word brugh refers simply to the appearance of a tumulus1 or souterrain beneath a fort or rath1 and means1 therefore1 mansion or dwelling-place4#dga ,and ,mr4 ,borlase adds3--',i feel but little doubt that in the inner chamber at ,new ,grange1 with its three recesses and its basin1 we have this sd of the cave1 and the place where the pilgrims fasted--a situation and a practice precisely similar to those which1 under ,christian auspices1 were continued at such places as the ,leaba ,mologa in ,cork1 the original ,patrick's ,purgatory in ,lough ,derg1 and elsewhere4 ,the practice of lying in stone troughs was a feature of the ,christian pilgrimages in ,ireland4 ,sometimes such troughs had served the previous purpose of stone coffins4 ,it is just possible that the shallow basins in the cells at ,lough ,crew1 ,new ,grange1 and ,dowth may1 like the stone beds or troughs of the saints1#dgb have been occupied by the pilgrims engaged in their devotions4 ,if so1 however1 they must have sat in them in ,eastern fashion4'#dga ,again1 in the popular tale called ,the ,pursuit of ,diarmuid and ,grainn1#dgc ,aengus1 the son of the ,dagda1 one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 is called ,aengus-an-,bhrogha1 and connected with the ,brugh-na-,boinne4 ,in the tale ,finn says1 ',let us leave this tulach1 for fear that ,aengus-an-,bhrogha and the ,tuatha-,de-,danann might catch us2 and though we have no part in the slaying of ,diarmuid1 he would none the more readily believe us4' ,aengus is evidently an invisible being with great power over mortals4 ,this is clear in what follows3 he transports ,diarmuid's body to the ,brugh-na-,boinne1 saying1 ',since ,i cannot restore him to life1 ,i will send a soul into him1 so that he may talk to me each day4' ,thus1 as the presiding deity of the brugh1 ,aengus the ,tuatha ,de ,danann could reanimate dead bodies 'and cause them to speak to devotees1 we may suppose oracularly4'#dgd ,in the ,bruighion ,chaorthainn or ',fort of the ,rowan ,tree'1 a ,fenian tale1 a poet put ,finn under taboo to understand these verses3-- ,i saw a house in the country ,out of which no hostages are given to a king1 ,fire burns it not1 harrying spoils it not4 ,and ,finn made reply3--',i understand that verse1 for that is the ,brugh of the ,boyne that you have seen 7perhaps1 as we suggest1 during an initiation71 namely1 the house of ,aengus ,og of the ,brugh1 and it cannot be burned or harried as long as ,aengus 7a god7 shall live4' ,as ,mr4 ,borlase observes1 to say that 'no hostages are given to a king' out of the ,brugh is probably another way of saying that the dead pay no taxes1 or that being a holy place1 the ,brugh was exempt4#dge ,this last evidence is from oral tradition1 and rather late in being placed on record2 but it is not on that account less trustworthy1 and may be much more so than the older manuscripts4 ,until quite modern times the folk-lore of the ,boyne country still echoed similar traditions about unknown mystic rites1 following what ,o',donovan has recorded2 for he has said that ,aenghus-an-,bhrogha was considered the presiding fairy of the ,boyne till quite within recent times1 and that his name was still familiar to the old inhabitants of ,meath who were then fast forgetting their traditions with the ,irish language4#dgf ,and this tradition brings us to consider what was apparently an ,aengus ,cult among the ancient ,celtic peoples4 ,,the ,,aengus ,,cult ,euhemeristic tradition came to represent the ,great ,god ,dagda and his sons as buried in a tumulus1 probably ,new ,grange1 and then called it1 as ,i found it called to-day1 a fairy mound1 a name given also to ,gavrinis1 its ,breton parallel4 ,the older and clearer tradition relates how ,aengus gained possession of the ,brugh of the ,boyne1 and says nothing about it as a cemetery1 but rather describes it as 'an admirable place1 more accurately speaking1 as an admirable land1 a term which betrays the usual identification of the fairy mound with the nether world to which it formed the entrance'4#dgg ,the myth placing ,dagda at the head of the departed makes him 'a ,goidelic ,cronus ruling over an ,elysium with which a sepulchral mound was associated'4#dgg ,the displacement of ,dagda by his son makes ',mac ,oc 7,aengus71 who should have been the youthful ,zeus of the ,goidelic world1 rejoicing in the translucent expanse of the heavens as his crystal bower'1 a king of the dead4#dgg ,in ,dun ,aengus1 the strange cyclopean circular structure1 and hence most likely sun-temple1 on ,aranmore1 we have another example of the localization of the ,aengus myth4 ,this fact leads us to believe1 after due archaeological examination1 that amid the stronghold of ,dun ,aengus1 with its tiers of amphitheatre-like seats and the native rock at its centre1 apparently squared to form a platform or stage1 were anciently celebrated pagan mysteries comparable to those of the ,greeks and less cultured peoples1 and initiations into an ,aengus ,cult such as seems to have once flourished at ,new ,grange4 ,at ,dun ,aengus1 however1 the mystic assemblies and rites1 conducted in such a sun-temple1 so secure and so strongly fortified against intrusion1 no doubt represented a somewhat different mystical school1 and probably one very much older than at ,new ,grange4 ,in the same manner1 each of the other circular but less important cyclopean structures on ,aranmore and elsewhere in west ,ireland may have been structures for closely related sun-cults4 ,to our mind1 and we have carefully and at leisure examined most of these cyclopean structures on ,aranmore1 it seems altogether fanciful to consider them as having been originally and primarily intended as places of refuge--dns or forts4 ,yet1 because the ancient ,celts never separated civil and religious functions1 such probable sun-temples could have been as frequently used for non-religious tribal assemblies as for initiation ceremonies2 and nothing makes it impossible for them to have been in times of need also places for refuge against enemies4 ,we are led to this view with respect to ,dun ,aengus in particular1 because the ,aengus of ,aranmore is known as ,aengus1 son of ,umr1 and is associated with the mystic people called the ,fir ,bolg2 and1 yet1 as ,sir ,john ,rhys thinks1 this ,aengus1 son of ,umr1 and ,aengus1 son of ,dagda1 are two aspects of a single god1 a ,celtic ,zeus4#dgh ,o',curry's statements about ,dun ,aengus seem to confirm all this2 and there seems to have been a tale1 now lost1 about the ',destruction of ,dn ,oengusa' 7in modern ,irish ,dn ,aonghuis71 the ,fortress of ,aengus4#dgh ,this sun-cult1 represented in ,ireland by the ,aengus ,cult1 can be traced further3 ,sir ,john ,rhys regards ,stonehenge--a sun-temple also circular like the ,irish dns and ,breton cromlechs--as a temple to the ,celtic ,zeus1 in ,irish mythology typified by ,aengus1 and in ,welsh by ,merlin3--',what sort of a temple could have been more appropriate for the primary god of light and of the luminous heavens than a spacious1 open-air enclosure of a circular form like ,stonehenge8'#dgi ,in ,welsh myth1 ,math ab ,mathonwy1 called also ',math the ,ancient'1 was the greatest magician of ancient ,wales1 and his relation as teacher to ,gwydion ab ,dn1 the great ,welsh ,culture ,hero1 leads ,sir ,john ,rhys to consider him the ,brythonic ,zeus1 though ,merlin shares with him in this distinction2#dhj and since the ,gaelic counterpart of ,math is ,aengus1 a close study of ,math might finally show a cult in his honour in ,wales as we have found in ,ireland an ,aengus ,cult4#dha ,we may1 therefore1 with more or less exactness1 equate the ,aengus ,cult as we see it in ,irish myth connected chiefly with ,dun ,aengus and ,new ,grange1 with the unknown cult practised at ,stonehenge1 and this in turn with other ,brythonic or pre-,brythonic sun-cults and initiations practised at ,carnac1 the great ,celtic ,jerusalem in ,brittany1 and at ,gavrinis4 ,all this will be more clearly seen after we have set forth what seems a definite and most striking parallel to ,new ,grange1 both as a monument erected by man and1 as we maintain1 as a place for religious mysteries--the greatest structure ever raised by human effort1 the ,great ,pyramid4 ,,new ,,grange ,,and ,,the ,,great ,,pyramid ,,compared ,caliph ,al ,mamoun in ,a4 ,d4 #hbj1 by a forced passage1 was the first in modern times to enter the ,great ,pyramid1 and he found nowhere a mummy or any indications that the structure had ever been used as a tomb for the dead4 ,the ,king's ,chamber1 so named by us moderns1 proved to be a keen disappointment for its first violator1 for in it there was neither gold nor silver nor anything at all worth carrying away4 ,the magnificent chamber contained nothing save an empty stone chest without a lid4 ,archaeologists in ,egypt and archaeologists in ,ireland face the same unsolved problem1 namely1 the purpose of the empty stone chest without inscriptions and quite unlike a mummy tomb1 and of the stone basin in ,new ,grange4#dhb ,certain ,egyptologists have supposed that some royal personage must have been buried in the curious granite coffer1 though there can be only their supposition to support them1 for they have absolutely no proof that such is true1 while there is strong circumstantial evidence to show that such is not true4 ,sir ,gardner ,wilkinson in his well-known publications has already suggested that the stone chest as well as the ,great ,pyramid itself were never intended to hold a corpse2 and it is generally admitted by ,egyptologists that no sarcophagus intended for a mummy has ever been found so high up in the body of a pyramid as this empty stone chest1 except in the ,second ,pyramid4 ,incontestable evidence in support of the highly probable theory that the ,great ,pyramid was not intended for an actual tomb can be drawn from two important facts3--7#a7 'the coffer has certain remarkable cubic proportions which show a care and design beyond what could be expected in any burial-coffer'--according to the high authority of ,dr4 ,flinders ,petrie2 7#b7 the chamber containing the coffer and the upper passage-ways have ventilating channels not known in any other ,pyramid1 so that apparently there must have been need of frequent entrance into the chamber by living men1 as would be the case if used1 as we hold1 for initiation ceremonies4#dhc ,it is well known that very many of the megalithic monuments of the ,new ,grange type scattered over ,europe1 especially from the ,carnac centre of ,brittany to the ,tara-,boyne centre of ,ireland1 have one thing in common1 an astronomical arrangement like the ,great ,pyramid1 and an entrance facing one of the points of the solstices1 usually either the winter solstice1 which is common1 or the summer solstice4#dhd ,the puzzle has always been to discover the exact arrangement of the ,great ,pyramid by locating its main entrance4 ,a ,californian1 ,mr4 ,louis ,p4 ,mc,carty1 in his recent 7#aijg7 work entitled ,the ,great ,pyramid ,jeezeh1 suggests with the most logical and reasonable arguments that the builders of the ,pyramid have placed its main entrance in an undiscovered passage-way beneath the ,great ,sphinx1 now half-buried in the shifting desert sands4 ,if it can be shown that the ,sphinx is the real portal1 and many things tend to indicate that it is1 the ,great ,pyramid is built on the same plan as ,new ,grange1 that is to say1 it opens to the south-east1 and like ,new ,grange contains a narrow passage-way leading to a central chamber4 ,south-easterly from the centre of the ,pyramid lies the ,sphinx1 #e1chj feet away1 a distance equal to 'just five times the distance of the diagonal socket length of the ,great ,pyramid from the centre of the ,subterranean ,chamber1 under the ,pyramid1 to the supposed entrance under the ,sphinx'#dhe--;a distance quite in keeping with the mighty proportions of the wonderful structure4 ,and what is important1 several eminent archaeologists have worked out the same conclusion1 and have been seeking to connect the two monuments by making excavations in the ,queen's ,chamber1 where it is supposed there exists a tunnel to the ,sphinx4 ,in all this we should bear in mind that the present entrance to the ,pyramid is the forced one made by the treasure-seeking ,caliph4 ,this very probable astronomical parallelism between the great ,egyptian monument and the ,irish one would establish their common religious1 or1 in a mystic sense1 their funereal significance4 ,in the preceding chapter we have set forth what symbolical relation the sun1 its rising and setting1 and its death at the winter equinox1 were anciently supposed to hold to the doctrines of human death and re-birth4 ,jubainville1 regarding the sun among the ,celts in its symbolical relation to death1 wrote1 ',in ,celtic belief1 the dead go to live beyond the ,ocean1 to the south-west1 there where the sun sets during the greater part of the year4'#dhf ,this1 too1 as ,m4 ,maspero shows1 was an ,egyptian belief2#dhg while1 as equally among the ,celts1 the east1 especially the south-east1 where1 after the winter solstice1 the sun seems to be re-born or to rise out of the underworld of ,hades into which it goes when it dies1 is symbolical of the reverse--,life1 ,resurrection1 and ,re-birth4 ,in this last ,celtic-,egyptian belief1 we maintain1 may be found the reason why the chief megalithic monuments 7dolmens1 tumuli1 and alignements71 in ,celtic countries and elsewhere1 have their directions east and west1 and why those like ,new ,grange and ,gavrinis open to the sunrise4 ,greek temples also opened to the sunrise1 and on the divine image within fell the first rays of the beautiful god ,apollo4#dhh ,in the great ,peruvian sun-temple at ,cuzco1 a splendid disk of pure gold faced the east1 and1 reflecting the first rays of the rising sun1 illuminated the whole sanctuary4#dhi ,the cave-temple of the ,florida ,red ,men opened eastward1 and within its entrance on festival days stood the priest at dawn watching for the first ray of the sun1 as a sign to begin the chant and offering4#dij ,the ,east ,indian performs the ablution at dawn in the sacred ,ganges1 and stands facing the east meditating1 as ,brahma appears in all the wondrous glory of a tropical sunrise4#dia ,and in the same ,aryan land there is an opposite worship3 the dreaded ,thugs1 worshippers of devils and of ,kali the death-goddess1 in their most diabolical rites face the west and the sunset1 symbols of death4#dib ,how ,christianity was shaped by paganism is nowhere clearer than in the orientation of great cathedral churches 7almost without exception in ,england71 for all of the more famous ones have their altars eastward2 and ,roman ,catholics in prayer in their church services1 and ,anglicans in repeating the ,creed1 turn to the east1 as the ,hindu does4 ,st4 ,augustine says3--',when we stand at prayer1 we turn to the east1 where the heaven arises1 not as though ,god were only there1 and had forsaken all other parts of the world1 but to admonish our mind to turn to a more excellent nature1 that is1 to the ,lord4'#dic ,though the ,jews came to be utterly opposed to sun-worship in their later history1 they were sun-worshippers at first1 as their temples opening eastward testify4 ,this was the vision of ,ezekiel3--',and1 behold1 at the door of the temple of ,jehovah1 between the porch and the ,altar1 were about five and twenty men1 with their backs toward the temple of ,jehovah1 and their faces toward the east1 and they worshipped the sun toward the east4'#did ,all this illustrates the once world-wide religion of our race2 and shows that sun-cults and sun-symbols are derived from a universal doctrine regarding the two states of existence--the one in ,hades or the invisible lower world where the ,sun-god goes at night1 and the other in what we call the visible realm which the ,sun-god visits daily4#die ,the relation between life and death--symbolically figured in this fundamental conception forming the background of every sun-cult--is the foundation of all ancient mysteries4 ,thus we should expect the correspondences which we believe do exist between ,new ,grange and the ,great ,pyramid4 ,both alike1 in our opinion1 were the greatest places in the respective countries for the celebration of the ,mysteries4 ,high up in the body of the ,great ,pyramid1 after he had performed the long underground journey1 typical of the journey of ,osiris or the ,sun to the ,otherworld or the ,world of the ,dead1 we may suppose 7knowing what we do of the ,ancient ,mysteries and their shadows in modern ,masonic initiations#dif7 that the royal or priestly neophyte laid himself in that strange stone coffin without a lid1 for a certain period of time--probably for three days and three nights4 ,then1 the initiation being complete1 he arose from the mystic death to a real resurrection1 a true child of ,osiris4 ,in ,new ,grange we may suppose that the royal or priestly neophyte1 while he 'fasted on the ,tuatha ,de ,danann for three days with their nights'1 sat in that strange stone basin after the manner of the ,orient4#dig ,the ,great ,pyramid seems to be the most ancient of the ,egyptian pyramids1 and undoubtedly was the model for all the smaller ones1 which 'always betray profound ignorance of their noble model's chiefest internal features1 as well as of all its niceties of angle and cosmic harmonies of linear measurement'4#dih ,dr4 ,flinders ,petrie says3--',the ,great ,pyramid at ,gizeh 7of ,khufu1 fourth dynasty7 unquestionably takes the lead1 in accuracy and in beauty of work1 as well as in size4 ,not only is the fine work of it in the pavement1 casing1 ,king's and ,queen's chambers quite unexcelled2 but the general character of the core masonry is better than that of any other pyramid in its solidity and regularity4'#dii ,and of the stone coffers he says3--',taking most of its dimensions at their maximum1 they agree closely with the same theory as that which is applicable to the chambers2 for when squared they are all even multiples of a square fifth of a cubit4444 ,there is no other theory applicable to every lineal dimension of the coffer2 but having found the ,greek3 pi proportion in the form of the ,pyramid1 and in the ,king's ,chamber1 there is some ground for supposing that it was intended also in the coffer1 on just one-fifth the scale of the chamber4'#dii ,and here is apparent the important fact we wish to emphasize2 the ,great ,pyramid does not seem to have been intended primarily1 if at all1 for the entombment of dead bodies or mummies while 'the numerous quasi-copies' were 'for sepulchral purposes'#ejj without doubt4 ,there appears to have been at first a clear understanding of the esoteric usage of the ,great ,pyramid as a place for the mystic burial of ,initiates1 and then in the course of national decadence the exoteric interpretation of this usage1 the interpretation now popular with ,egyptologists1 led to the erection of smaller pyramids for purposes of actual burial4 ,and may we not see in such pyramid-like tumuli as those of ,mont ,st4 ,michel1 ,gavrinis1 and ,new ,grange copies of these smaller funeral pyramids2#eja or1 if not direct copies1 at least the result of a similar religious decadence from the unknown centuries since the ,great ,pyramid was erected by the ,divine ,kings of prehistoric ,egypt as a silent witness for all ages that ,great ,men1 ,initiates1 have understood ,universal ,law1 and have solved the greatest of all human problems1 the problem of ,life and ,death8 ,,gavrinis ,,and ,,new ,,grange ,,compared ,in conclusion1 and in support of the arguments already advanced1 ,i offer a few observations of my own1 made at ,gavrinis itself1 the most famous tumulus in ,continental ,europe4 ,after a very careful examination of the interior and exterior of the tumulus1 an examination extending over more than twelve hours1 ,i am convinced that its curious rock-carvings and those in ,new ,grange are by the same race of people1 whoever that race may have been2 and that there is sufficient evidence in its construction to show that1 like ,new ,grange1 it was quite as religious as funereal in its nature and use4 ,the facts which bear out this view are the following4 ,first1 there are three strange cavities cut into the body of the stone on the south side of the inner chamber1 communicating interiorly with one another1 and large enough to admit human hands2 if used as places in which to offer sacrifice to the dead or fairies1 small objects could have been placed in them4 ,in the oldest extant authentic records of them which ,i have found it is said of their probable purpose3--',some people look on them as a double noose intended to strangle the animal victims which the priest sacrificed2 for others they are two rings behind which the hands of the betrothed met each other to be married4'#ejb ,their purpose is certainly difficult enough to decipher1 perhaps is undecipherable2 but one thing about them is certain1 namely1 that a close examination round their exterior edges and within them also shows the rock-surface worn smooth as though by ages of handling and touching2 and it is incontestable that this wearing of the rock-surface by human hands could not have taken place had the inner chamber been sealed up and used solely as a tomb4 ,we suggest here1 as ,sir ,james ,fergusson in his ,rude ,stone ,monuments 7p4 #cff7 has suggested1 that the inner chamber of ,gavrinis was probably a place for the celebration of religious rites3 he advances the opinion that the strange cavities were used to contain holy oil or holy water4 ,there is this second curious fact connected with the tumulus of ,gavrinis4 ,on entering it--and it opens like ,new ,grange to the sunrise1 being oriented #dc #fj to the south-east#ejc--one finds placed across the floor of the narrow passage-way as slightly inclined steps rising to the inner chamber three or four stones4 ,two of them1 now very prominent1 form veritable stumbling-blocks1 and the one at the threshold of the inner chamber is carved quite like the lintel stone above the entrance at ,new ,grange4#ejd ,from what we know of ancient mystic cults1 there was a darkened chamber approached by a narrow passage-way so low that the neophyte must stoop in traversing it to show symbolically his humility2 and as symbolic of his progress to the ,chamber of ,death1 the ,sanctum ,sanctorum of the spirit-temple1 there were steps1 often purposely placed as stumbling-blocks4 ,the ,great ,pyramid1 evidently1 conforms to this mystical plan2 and strikes one1 therefore1 all the more forcibly as the most remarkable structure for initiatory ceremonies ever constructed on our planet4 ,thus1 ,dr4 ,flinders ,petrie says3--',but we are met then by an extraordinary idea1 that all access to the ,king's chamber after its completion must have been by climbing over the plug-blocks1 as they lay in the gallery1 or by walking up the ramps on either side of them4 ,yet1 as the blocks cannot physically have been lying in any other place before they were let down we are shut up to this view4'#eje ,and as ,egyptian tombs represented the mansions of the dead1#ejf just so ,celtic or pre-,celtic spirit-temples and place for initiations were always connected with the ,underworld of the ,dead2 and save for such symbolical arrangements as we see in ,gavrinis1 and ,new ,grange also1 they were undistinguishable from tombs used for interments only4 ,it seems to us most reasonable to suppose that if1 as the old ,irish manuscripts show1 there were spirit-temples or places for pagan funeral rites1 or rites of initiation1 in ,ireland1 constructed like other tumuli which were used only as tombs for the dead 7because the ancient cult was one of ancestor worship and worship of gods like the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 and spirits71 then there must have been others in ,brittany also1 where we find the same system of rock-inscriptions4 ,further1 in view of all the definite provable relations between ,gavrinis and ,new ,grange1 we are strongly inclined to regard them both as having the same origin and purpose1 ,gavrinis being for ,armorica what ,new ,grange was for ,ireland1 the royal or principal spirit-temple4 ,,section ,,iii ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,gods1 ,,spirits1 ,,fairies1 ,,and ,,the ,,dead ,,chapter ,,ix ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,paganism ',the cult of forests1 of fountains1 and of stones is to be explained by that primitive naturalism which all the ,church ,councils held in ,brittany united to proscribe4'--,,ernest ,,renan4 ,edicts against pagan cults--,cult of ,sacred ,waters and its absorption by ,christianity--,celtic ,water ,divinities--,druidic influence on ,fairy-,faith--,cult of ,sacred ,trees--,cult of ,fairies1 ,spirits1 and the ,dead--,feasts of the ,dead--,conclusion4 ,the evidence of paganism in support of our ,psychological ,theory concerning the ,fairy-,faith is so vast that we cannot do more than point to portions of it--especially such portions as are most ,celtic in their nature4 ,perhaps most of us will think first of all about the ancient cults rendered to fountains1 rivers1 lakes1 trees1 and1 as we have seen 7pp4 #cii ff471 to stones4 ,there can be no reasonable doubt that these cults were very flourishing when ,christianity came to ,europe1 for kings1 popes1 and church councils issued edict after edict condemning them4#ejg ,the second ,council of ,arles1 held about #deb1 issued the following canon3--',if in the territory of a bishop1 infidels light torches1 or venerate trees1 fountains1 or stones1 and he neglects to abolish this usage1 he must know that he is guilty of sacrilege4 ,if the director of the act itself1 on being admonished1 refuses to correct it1 he is to be excluded from communion4'#ejg ,the ,council of ,tours1 in #efg1 thus expressed itself3--',we implore the pastors to expel from the ,church all those whom they may see performing before certain stones things which have no relation with the ceremonies of the ,church1 and also those who observe the customs of the ,gentiles4'#ejh ,king ,canute in ,england and ,charlemagne in ,europe conducted a most vigorous campaign against all these pagan worships4 ,this is ,charlemagne's edict3--',with respect to trees1 stones1 and fountains1 where certain foolish people light torches or practise other superstitions1 we earnestly ordain that that most evil custom detestable to ,god1 wherever it be found1 should be removed and destroyed4'#eji ,the result of these edicts was a curious one4 ,it was too much to expect the eradication of the old cults after their age-long existence1 and so one by one they were absorbed by the new religion4 ,in a sacred tree or grove1 over a holy well or fountain1 on the shore of a lake or river1 there was placed an image of the ,virgin or of some saint1 and unconsciously the transformation was made1 as the simple-hearted country-folk beheld in the brilliant images new and more glorious dwelling-places for the spirits they and their fathers had so long venerated4 ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,sacred ,,waters ,in ,brittany1 perhaps better than in other ,celtic countries to-day1 one can readily discern this evolution from paganism to ,christianity4 ,thus1 for example1 in the ,morbihan there is the fountain of ,st4 ,anne d',auray1 round which centres ,brittany's most important ,pardon2 a fountain near ,vannes is dedicated to ,st4 ,peter2 at ,carnac there is the far-famed fountain of ,st4 ,cornely with its niche containing an image of ,carnac's patron saint1 and not far from it1 on the roadside leading to ,carnac ,plage1 an enclosed well dedicated to the ,holy ,virgin2 and1 less than a mile away1 the beautiful fountain of ,st4 ,columba4 ,near ,ploermel1 ,canton of ,ploermel 7,morbihan71 there is the fountain of ,recourrance or ,st4 ,laurent1 in which sailors perform divinations to know the future state of the weather by casting on its waters a morsel of bread4 ,if the bread floats1 it is a sure sign of fair weather1 but if it sinks1 of weather so bad that no one should take risks by going out in the fishing-boats4 ,in some wells1 pins are dropped by lovers4 ,if the pins float1 the water-spirits show favourable auspices1 but if the pins sink1 the maiden is unhappy1 and will hesitate in accepting the proposal of marriage4 ,long after their conversion1 the inhabitants of ,concoret 7,arrondissement de ,ploermel1 ,morbihan7 paid divine honours to the fountain of ,baranton in the druidical forest of ,brocliande1 so famous in the ,breton legends of ,arthur and ,merlin3--',for a long time the inhabitants of ,concoret 444 in place of addressing themselves to ,god or to his ,saints in their maladies1 sought the remedy in the fountain of ,baranton1 either by praying to it1 after the manner of the ,gauls1 or by drinking of its waters4'#eaj ,in the month of ,august #ahce1 when there was an unusual drought in the land1 all the inhabitants of ,concoret formed in a great procession with banners and crucifix at their head1 and with chants and ringing of church bells marched to this same fountain of ,baranton and prayed for rain4#eaa ,this curious bit of history was also reported to me in ,july #aiji by a peasant who lives near the fountain1 and who heard it from his parents2 and he added that the foot of the crucifix was planted in the water to aid the rain-making4 ,we have here an interesting combination of paganism and ,christianity4 ,gregory of ,tours says that the country-folk of ,gvaudan rendered divine honours to a certain lake1 and as offerings cast on its waters linen1 wool1 cheese1 bees'-wax1 bread1 and other things2#eab and ,mah adds that gold was sometimes offered1#eab quite after the manner of the ancient ,peruvians1 who cast gold and silver of great value into the waters of sacred ,lake ,titicaca1 high up in the ,andes4 ,to absorb into ,christianity the worship paid to the lake near ,gvaudan1 the bishop ordered a church to be built on its shore1 and to the people he said3--',my children1 there is nothing divine in this lake3 defile not your souls by these vain ceremonies2 but recognize rather the true ,god4'#eac ,the offerings to the lake-spirits then ceased1 and were made instead on the altar of the church4 ,as ,canon ,mah so consistently sets forth1 other similar means were used to absorb the pagan cults of sacred waters3--',other pastors employed a similar device to absorb the cult of fountains into ,christianity2 they consecrated them to ,god under the invocation of certain saints2 giving the saints' names to them and placing in them the saints' images1 so that the weak and simple-hearted ,christians who might come to them1 struck by these names and by these images1 should grow accustomed to addressing their prayers to ,god and to his saints1 in place of honouring the fountains themselves1 as they had been accustomed to do4 ,this is the reason why there are seen in the stonework of so many fountains1 niches and little statues of saints who have given their names to these springs4'#ead ,procopius reports that the ,franks1 even after having accepted ,christianity1 remained attached to their ancient cults1 sacrificing to the ,river ,po women and children of the ,goths1 and casting the bodies into its waters to the spirits of the waters4#ead ,well-worship in the ,isle of ,man1 not yet quite extinct1 was no doubt once very general4 ,as ,a4 ,w4 ,moore has shown1 the sacred wells in the ,isle of ,man were visited and offerings made to them to secure immunity from witches and fairies1 to cure maladies1 to raise a wind1 and for various kinds of divination4#eae ,and no doubt the offerings of rags on bushes over sacred wells1 and the casting of pins1 coins1 buttons1 pebbles1 and other small objects into their waters1 a common practice yet in ,ireland and ,wales1 as in non-,celtic countries1 are to be referred to as survivals of a time when regular sacrifices were offered in divination1 or in seeking cures from maladies1 and equally from obsessing demons who were thought to cause the maladies4 ,in the prologue to ,chrtien's ,conte du ,graal there is an account1 seemingly very ancient1 of how dishonour to the divinities of wells and springs brought destruction on the rich land of ,logres4 ,the damsels who abode in these watery places fed travellers with nourishing food until ,king ,amangons wronged one of them by carrying off her golden cup4 ,his men followed his evil example1 so that the springs dried up1 the grass withered1 and the land became waste4#eaf ,according to ,mr4 ,borlase1 'it was by passing under the waters of a well that the ,sidh1 that is1 the abode of the spirits called ,sidhe1 in the tumulus or natural hill1 as the case might be1 was reached4'#eag ,and it is evident from this that the well-spirits were even identified in ,ireland with the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,fairy-,folk4 ,i am reminded of a walk ,i was privileged to take with ,mr4 ,william ,b4 ,yeats on ,lady ,gregory's estate at ,coole ,park1 near ,gort 7,county ,galway72 for ,mr4 ,yeats led me to the haunts of the water-spirits of the region1 along a strange river which flows underground for some distance and then comes out to the light again in its weird course1 and to a dark1 deep pool hidden in the forest4 ,according to tradition1 the river is the abode of water-fairies2 and in the shaded forest-pool1 whose depth is very great1 live a spirit-race like the ,greek nymphs4 ,more than one mortal while looking into this pool has felt a sudden and powerful impulse to plunge in1 for the fairies were then casting their magic spell over him that they might take him to live in their under-water palace for ever4 ,one of the most beautiful passages in ,the ,tripartite ,life of ,patrick describes the holy man at the holy well called ,cliabach3--',thereafter ,patrick went at sunrise to the well1 namely ,cliabach on the sides of ,cruachan4 ,the clerics sat down by the well4 ,two daughters of ,loegaire son of ,niall went early to the well to wash their hands1 as was a custom of theirs1 namely1 ,ethne the ,fair1 and ,fedelm the ,ruddy4 ,the maidens found beside the well the assembly of the clerics in white garments1 with their books before them4 ,and they wondered at the shape of the clerics1 and thought that they were men of the elves or apparitions4 ,they asked tidings of ,patrick3 ,whence are ye1 and whence have ye come8 ,are ye of the elves or of the gods8 ,and ,patrick said to them3 ,it were better for you to believe in ,god than to inquire about our race4 ,said the girl who was elder3 ,who is your god8 and where is he8 ,is he in heaven1 or in earth1 or under earth1 or on earth8 ,is he in seas or in streams1 or in mountains or in glens8 ,hath he sons and daughters8 ,is there gold and silver1 is there abundance of every good thing in his kingdom8 ,tell us about him1 how he is seen1 how he is loved1 how he is found8 if he is in youth1 or if he is in age8 if he is ever-living2 if he is beautiful8 if many have fostered his son8 if his daughters are dear and beautiful to the men of the world8'#eah ,and in another place it is recorded that ',patrick went to the well of ,findmag4 ,sln is its name4 ,they told ,patrick that the heathen honoured the well as if it were a god4'#eai ,and of the same well it is said1 'that the magi1 i4 e4 wizards or ,druids1 used to reverence the well ,sln and offer gifts to it as if it were a god4'#eai ,as ,whitley ,stokes pointed out1 this is the only passage connecting the ,druids with well-worship2 and it is very important1 because it establishes the relation between the ,druids as magicians and their control of spirits like fairies4#eai ,as shown here1 and as seems evident in ,columba's relation with ,druids and exorcism in ,adamnan's ,life of ,st4 ,columba1#ebj the early ,celtic peoples undoubtedly drew many of their fairy-traditions from a memory of druidic rites of divination4 ,perhaps the most beautiful description of a holy well and a description illustrative of such divination is that of ,ireland's most mystical well1 ,connla's ,well3--',sinend1 daughter of ,lodan ,lucharglan1 son of ,ler1 out of ,tr ,tairngire 7,land of ,promise1 ,fairyland71 went to ,connla's ,well which is under sea1 to behold it4 ,that is a well at which are the hazels and inspirations 787 of wisdom1 that is1 the hazels of the science of poetry1 and in the same hour their fruit1 and their blossom and their foliage break forth1 and these fall on the well in the same shower1 which raises on the water a royal surge of purple4 ,then the sacred salmon chew the fruit1 and the juice of the nuts is apparent on their purple bellies4 ,and seven streams of wisdom spring forth and turn there again4'#eba ,to these cults of sacred waters numerous non-,celtic parallels could easily be offered1 but they seem unnecessary with ,celtic evidence so clear4 ,and this evidence which is already set forth shows that the origin of worship paid to sacred wells1 fountains1 lakes1 or rivers1 is to be found in the religious practices of the ,celts before they became christianized4 ,they believed that certain orders of spirits1 often called fairies1 and to be identified with them1 inhabited1 or as was the case with ,sinend1 who came from the ,otherworld1 visited these places1 and must be appeased or approached through sacrifice by mortals seeking their favours4 ,canon ,mah puts the matter thus3--',the ,celts recognized a supreme ,god1 the principle of all things2 but they rendered religious worship to the genii or secondary deities who1 according to them1 united themselves to different objects in nature and made them divine by such union4 ,among the objects were rivers1 the sea1 lakes and fountains4'#ebb ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,sacred ,,trees ,the things said of sacred waters can also be said of sacred trees among the ,celts2 and1 in the case of sacred trees1 more may be added about the ,druids and their relation to the ,fairy-,faith1 for it is well known that the ,druids held the oak and its mistletoe in great religious veneration1 and it is generally thought that most of the famous ,druid schools were in the midst of sacred oak-groves or forests4 ,pliny has recorded that 'the ,druids1 for so they call their magicians1 have nothing which they hold more sacred than the mistletoe#ebc and the tree on which it grows1 provided only it be an oak 7robur74 ,but apart from that1 they select groves of oak1 and they perform no sacred rite without leaves from that tree1 so that the ,druids may be regarded as even deriving from it their name interpreted as ,greek'#ebd 7a disputed point among modern philologists74 ,likewise of the ,druids1 ,maximus ,tyrius states that the image of their chief god1 considered by him to correspond to ,zeus1 was a lofty oak tree2#ebe and ,strabo says that the principal place of assembly for the ,galatians1 a ,celtic people of ,asia ,minor1 was the ,sacred ,oak-grove4#ebf ,just as the cult of fountains was absorbed by ,christianity1 so was the cult of trees4 ,concerning this1 ,canon ,mah writes3--',one sees sometimes1 in the country and in gardens1 trees wherein1 by trimming and bending together the branches1 have been formed niches of verdure1 in which have been placed crosses or images of certain saints4 ,this usage is not confined to the ,morbihan4 ,our ,lady of the ,oak1 in ,anjou1 and ,our ,lady of the ,oak1 near ,orthe1 in ,maine1 are places famous for pilgrimage4 ,in this last province1 says a historian1 ,one sees at various cross-roads the most beautiful rustic oaks decorated with figures of saints4 ,there are seen there1 in five or six villages1 chapels of oaks1 with whole trunks of that tree enshrined in the wall1 beside the altar4 ,such among others is that famous chapel of ,our ,lady of the ,oak1 near the forge of ,orthe1 whose celebrity attracts daily1 from five to six leagues about1 a very great gathering of people4'#ebg ,saint ,martin1 according to ,canon ,mah1 tried to destroy a sacred pine-tree in the diocese of ,tours by telling the people there was nothing divine in it4 ,the people agreed to let it be cut down on condition that the saint should receive its great trunk on his head as it fell2 and the tree was not cut down4#ebg ,saint ,germain caused a great scandal at ,auxerre by hanging from the limbs of a sacred tree the heads of wild animals which he had killed while hunting4#ebg ,saint ,gregory the ,great wrote to ,brunehaut exhorting him to abolish among his subjects the offering of animals' heads to certain trees4#ebh ,in ,ireland fairy trees are common yet2 though throughout ,celtdom sacred trees1 naturally of short duration1 are almost forgotten4 ,in ,brittany1 the ,forest of ,brocliande still enjoys something of the old veneration1 but more out of sentiment than by actual worship4 ,a curious survival of an ancient ,celtic tree-cult exists in ,carmarthen1 ,wales1 where there is still carefully preserved and held upright in a firm casing of cement the decaying trunk of an old oak-tree called ,merlin's ,oak2 and local prophecy declares on ,merlin's authority that when the tree falls ,carmarthen will fall with it4 ,perhaps through an unconscious desire on the part of some patriotic citizens of averting the calamity by inducing the tree-spirit to transfer its abode1 or else by otherwise hoodwinking the tree-spirit into forgetting that ,merlin's ,oak is dead1 a vigorous and now flourishing young oak has been planted so directly beside it that its foliage embraces it4 ,and in many parts of modern ,england1 the ,jack-in-the-,green1 a man entirely hidden in a covering of green foliage who dances through the streets on ,may ,day1 may be another example of a very ancient tree 7or else agricultural7 cult of ,celtic origin4 ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,fairies1 ,,spirits1 ,,and ,,the ,,dead ,there was also1 as we already know1 more or less of direct worship offered to fairies like the ,tuatha ,de ,danann2 and sacrifice was made to them even as now1 when the ,irish or ,scotch peasant pours a libation of milk to the 'good people' or to the fairy queen who presides over the flocks4 ,in ,fiacc's ,hymn#ebi it is said1 ',on ,ireland's folk lay darkness3 the tribes worshipped elves3 ,they believed not the true godhead of the true ,trinity4' ,and there is a reliable legend concerning ,columbkille which shows that this old cult of elves was not forgotten among the early ,irish ,christians1 though they changed the original good reputation of these invisible beings to one of evil4 ,it is said that ,columbkille's first attempts to erect a church or monastery on ,iona were rendered vain by the influence of some evil spirit or else of demons2 for as fast as a wall was raised it fell down4 ,then it was revealed to the saint that the walls could not stand until a human victim should be buried alive under the foundations4 ,and the lot fell on ,oran1 ,columbkille's companion1 who accordingly became a sacrifice to appease the evil spirit1 fairies1 or demons of the place where the building was to be raised4#ecj ,as an illustration of what the ancient practice of such sacrifice to place-spirits1 or to gods1 must have been like in ,wales1 we offer the following curious legend concerning the conception of ,myrddin 7,merlin71 as told by our witness from ,pontrhydfendigaid1 ,mr4 ,john ,jones 7see p4 #adg73--',when building the ,castle of ,gwrtheyrn1 near ,carmarthen1 as much as was built by day fell down at night4 ,so a council of the ,dynion ,hysbys or ,wise ,men was called1 and they decided that the blood of a fatherless boy had to be used in mixing the mortar if the wall was to stand4 ,search was thereupon made for a fatherless boy 7cf4 p4 #cea71 and throughout all the kingdom no such boy could be found4 ,but one day two boys were quarrelling1 and one of them in defying the other wanted to know what a fatherless boy like him had to say to him4 ,an officer of the king1 overhearing the quarrel1 seized the boy thus tauntingly addressed as the one so long looked for4 ,the circumstances were made known to the king1 and the boy was taken to him4 ,who is your father8 asked the king4 ,my mother never told me1 the boy replied4 ,then the boy's mother was sent for1 and the king asked her who the father of the boy was1 and she replied3 ,i do not know2 for ,i have never known a man4 ,yet1 one night1 it seemed to me that a man noble and majestic in appearance slept with me1 and ,i awoke to find that ,i had been in a dream4 ,but when ,i grew pregnant afterwards1 and this wonderful boy whom you now see was delivered1 ,i considered that a divine being or an angel had visited me in that dream1 and therefore ,i called his child ,myrddin the ,magician1 for such ,i believe my son to be4 ,when the mother had thus spoken1 the king announced to the court and wise men1 ,here is the fatherless boy4 ,take his blood and use it in mixing the mortar4 ,the walling will not hold without it4 ,at this1 ,myrddin taunted the king and wise men1 and said they were no better than a pack of idiots4 ,the reason the walling falls down1 ,myrddin went on to say1 is because you have tried to raise it on a rock which covers two large sea-serpents4 ,whenever the wall is raised over them its weight presses on their backs and makes them uneasy4 ,then during the night they upheave their backs to relieve themselves of the pressure1 and thus shake the walling to a fall4' ,the story ends here1 but presumably ,merlin's statements were found to be true2 and ,merlin was not sacrificed1 for1 as we know1 he became the great magician of ,arthur's court4 ,there are two hills in the ,highlands of ,aberdeenshire where travellers had to propitiate the banshee by placing barley-meal cakes near a well on each hill2 and if the traveller neglected the offering1 death or some dire calamity was sure to follow4#eca ,it is quite certain that the banshee is almost always thought of as the spirit of a dead ancestor presiding over a family1 though here it appears more like the tutelary deity of the hills4 ,but sacrifice being thus made1 according to the folk-belief1 to a banshee1 shows1 like so many other examples where there is a confusion between divinities or fairies and the souls of the dead1 that ancestral worship must be held to play a very important part in the complex ,fairy-,faith as a whole4 ,a few non-,celtic parallels determine this at once4 ,thus1 exactly as to fairies here1 milk is offered to the souls of saints in the ,panjab1 ,india1 as a means of propitiating them4#ecb ,m4 ,a4 ,lefvre shows that the ,roman ,lares1 so frequently compared to house-haunting fairies1 are in reality quite like the ,gaelic banshee2 that originally they were nothing more than the unattached souls of the dead1 akin to ,manes2 that time and custom made distinctions between them2 that in the common language ,lares and ,manes had synonymous dwellings2 and that1 finally1 the idea of death was little by little divorced from the worship of the ,lares1 so that they became guardians of the family and protectors of life4#ecc ,on all the tombs of their dead the ,romans inscribed these names3 ,manes1 inferi1 silentes1#ecd the last of which1 meaning the silent ones1 is equivalent to the term ',people of ,peace' given to the fairy-folk of ,scotland4#ece ,nor were the ,roman ,lares always thought of as inhabiting dwellings4 ,many were supposed to live in the fields1 in the streets of cities1 at cross-roads1 quite like certain orders of fairies and demons2 and in each place these ancestral spirits had their chapels and received offerings of fruit1 flowers1 and of foliage4 ,if neglected they became spiteful1 and were then known as ,lemures4 ,all these examples tend to show what the reviewer of ,curtin's ,tales of the ,fairies and of the ,ghost ,world states1 that ',the attributes of a ghost--that is to say1 the spirit of a dead man--are indistinguishable from those of a fairy4 ,and it is well known how world-wide is the worship of the dead and the offering of food to them1 among uncivilized tribes like those of ,africa1 ,australia1 and ,america1 as well as among such great nations as ,china1 ,corea1 ,india1 and ,japan2 and in ancient times it was universal among the masses of the people in ,egypt1 ,greece1 and ,rome4 ,,celtic ,,and ,,non-,,celtic ,,feasts ,,of ,,the ,,dead ,samain1 as we already know1 was the great ,celtic feast of the dead when offerings or sacrifice of various kinds were made to ancestral spirits1 and to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann and the spirit-hosts under their control2 and ,beltene1 or the first of ,may1 was another day anciently dedicated to ftes in honour of the dead and fairies4 ,chapter ii has shown us how ,november ,eve1 the modern ,samain1 and like it1 ,all ,saints ,eve or ,la ,toussaint1 are regarded among the ,celtic peoples now2 and the history of ,la ,toussaint seems to indicate that ,christianity1 as in the case of the cult of trees and fountains1 absorbed certain ,celtic cults of the dead which centred around the pagan ,samain feast of the dead1 and even adopted the date of ,samain 7see p4 #dec74 ,among the ancient ,egyptians1 so much like the ancient ,celts in their innate spirituality and clear conceptions of the invisible world1 we find a parallel feast which fell on the seventeenth ,athyr of the year4 ,this day was directly dependent upon the progress of the sun2 and1 as we have throughout emphasized1 the ancient symbolism connected with the yearly movements of the ,great ,god of ,light and ,life cannot be divorced from the ancient doctrines of life and death4 ,to the pre-,christian ,celts1 the ,first of ,november1 or the ,festival of ,samain1 which marked the end of summer and the commencement of winter1 was symbolical of death4#ecf ,samain thus corresponds with the ,egyptian fte of the dead1 for the seventeenth ,athyr of the year marks the day on which ,stou 7the god of darkness7 killed in the midst of a banquet his brother ,osiris 7the god of light1 the sun71 and which was therefore thought of as the season when the old sun was dying of his wounds4 ,it was a time when the power of good was on the decline1 so that all nature1 turning against man1 was abandoned to the divinities of darkness1 the inhabitants of the ,realms of the ,dead4 ,on this anniversary of the death of ,osiris1 an ,egyptian would undertake no new enterprise3 should he go down to the ,nile1 a crocodile would attack him as the crocodile sent by ,stou had attacked ,osiris1 and even as the ,darkness was attacking the ,light to devour it2#ecg should he set out on a journey1 he would part from his home and family never to return4 ,his only course was to remain locked in his house1 and there await in fear and inaction the passing of the night1 until ,osiris1 returning from death1 and reborn to a new existence1 should rise triumphant over the forces of ,darkness and ,evil4#ech ,it is clear that this last part of the ,egyptian belief is quite like the ,celtic conception of ,samain as we have seen ,ailill and ,medb celebrating that festival in their palace at ,cruachan4 ,there is a great resemblance between the christianized ,feast of ,samain1 when the dead return to visit their friends and to be entertained1 for example as in ,brittany1 and the beautiful festivals formerly held in the ,snto temples of ,japan4 ,thus at ,nikko thousands of lanterns were lighted1 'each one representing the spirit of an ancestor1' and there was masquerading and revelry for the entertainment of the visiting spirits4#eci ,it shows how much religions are alike4 ,each year the ,roman peoples dedicated two days 7,february #ba-b7 to the honouring of the ,dead4 ,on the first day1 called the ,feralia1 all ,romans were supposed to remain within their own homes4 ,the sanctuaries of all the gods were closed and all ceremony suspended4 ,the only sacrifices made at such a time were to the dead1 and to the gods of the dead in the underworld2 and all manes were appeased by food-offerings of meats and cakes4 ,the second day was called ,cara ,cognatio and was a time of family reunions and feasting4 ,of it ,ovid has said 7,fasti1 ii4 #fai71 ',after the visit to the tombs and to the ancestors who are no longer among us1 it is pleasant to turn towards the living2 after the loss of so many1 it is pleasant to behold those who remain of our blood and to reckon up the generations of our descendants4' ,and the ,greeks also had their feasts for the dead4#edj ,,conclusion ,the fact of ancient ,celtic cults of stones1 waters1 trees1 and fairies still existing under cover of ,christianity directly sustains the ,psychological ,theory2 and the persistence of the ancient ,celtic cult of the dead1 as illustrated in the survival of ,samain in its modern forms1 and perhaps best seen now among the ,bretons1 goes far to sustain the opinion of ,ernest ,renan1 who declared in his admirable ,essais that of all peoples the ,celts1 as the ,romans also recorded1 have most precise ideas about death4 ,thus it is that the ,celts at this moment are the most spiritually conscious of western nations4 ,to think of them as materialists is impossible4 ,since the time of ,patrick and ,columba the ,gaels have been the missionaries of ,europe2 and1 as ,caesar asserts1 the ,druids were the ancient teachers of the ,gauls1 no less than of all ,britain4 ,and the mysteries of life and death are the key-note of all things really ,celtic1 even of the great literature of ,arthur1 ,cuchulainn1 and ,finn1 now stirring the intellectual world4 ,,section ,,iii ,,the ,,cult ,,of ,,gods1 ,,spirits1 ,,fairies1 ,,and ,,the ,,dead ,,chapter ,x ,,the ,,testimony ,,of ,,christianity ',the ,purgatory of ,st4 ,patrick became the framework of another series of tales1 embodying the ,celtic ideas concerning the other life and its different states4 ,perhaps the profoundest instinct of the ,celtic peoples is their desire to penetrate the unknown4 ,with the sea before them1 they wish to know what is to be found beyond it2 they dream of the ,promised ,land4 ,in the face of the unknown that lies beyond the tomb1 they dream of that great journey which the pen of ,dante has celebrated4'--,,ernest ,,renan4 ,lough ,derg a sacred lake originally--,purgatorial rites as christianized survivals of ancient ,celtic rites--,purgatory as ,fairyland--,purgatorial rites parallel to pagan initiation ceremonies--,the ,death and ,resurrection ,rite--,breton ,pardons compared--,relation to ,aengus ,cult and ,celtic cave-temples--,origin of ,purgatorial doctrine pre-,christian--,celtic and ,roman feasts of dead shaped ,christian ones--,fundamental unity of ,mythologies1 ,religions1 and the ,fairy-,faith4 ,the best evidence offered by ,christianity with direct bearing on the ,fairy-,faith comes from what may be designated survivals of transformed paganism within the ,church itself4 ,various pagan cults1 which also came to be more or less christianized1 have been considered under ,paganism2 and in this chapter we propose to examine the famous ,purgatory of ,st4 ,patrick and the ,christian rites in honour of the dead4 ,,st4 ,,patrick',s ,,purgatory ,in the south of ,county ,donegal1 in ,ireland1 amid treeless mountains and moorlands1 lies ,lough ,derg or the ,red ,lake1 containing an island which has long been famous throughout ,christendom as the site of ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory4 ,even to-day more than in the ,middle ,ages it is the goal of thousands of pious pilgrims who repair thither to be purified of the accumulated sins of a lifetime4 ,in this age of commercialism the picture is an interesting and a happy one1 no matter what the changing voices of the many may have to say about it4 ,the following weird legends1 which during the autumn of #aiji ,i found surviving among the ,lough ,derg peasantry1 explain how the lough received its present name1 and seem to indicate that long before ,patrick's time the lough was already considered a strange and mysterious place1 apparently an ,otherworld preserve4 ,the first legend1 based on two complementary versions1 one from ,james ,ryan1 of ,tamlach ,townland1 who is seventy-five years old1 the other from ,arthur ,monaghan1 a younger man1 who lives about three miles from ,james ,ryan1 is as follows3--',in his flight from ,county ,armagh1 ,finn ,mac ,coul took his mother on his shoulder1 holding her by the legs1 but so rapidly did he travel that on reaching the shores of the lake nothing remained of his mother save the two legs1 and these he threw down there4 ,some time later1 the ,fenians1 while searching for ,finn1 passed the same spot on the lake-shore1 and ,cinen ,moul7871 who was of their number1 upon seeing the shin-bones of ,finn's mother and a worm in one1 said3 ,if that worm could get water enough it would come to something great4 ,i'll give it water enough1 said another of the followers1 and at that he flung it into the lake 7later called ,finn ,mac ,coul's lake74#eda ,immediately the worm turned into an enormous water-monster4 ,this water-monster it was that ,st4 ,patrick had to fight and kill2 and1 as the struggle went on1 the lake ran red with the blood of the water-monster1 and so the lake came to be called ,loch ,derg 7,red ,lake74' ,the second legend1 composed of folk-opinions1 was related by ,patrick ,monaghan1 the caretaker of the ,purgatory1 as he was rowing me to ,saints' ,island--the site of the original purgatorial cave2 and this legend is even more important for us than the preceding one3--',i have always been hearing it said that into this lough ,st4 ,patrick drove all the serpents from ,ireland1 and that with them he had here his final battle1 gaining complete victory4 ,the old men and women in this neighbourhood used to believe that ,lough ,derg was the last stronghold of the ,druids in ,ireland2 and from what ,i have heard them say1 ,i think the old legend means that this is where ,st4 ,patrick ended his fight with the ,druids1 and that the serpents represent the ,druids or paganism4' ,these and similar legends1 together with what we know about the purgatorial rites1 lead us to believe that in pre-,christian times ,finn ,mac ,coul's ,lake1 later called ,lough ,derg1 was venerated as sacred1 and that the cave which then undoubtedly existed on ,saints' ,island was used as a centre for the celebration of pagan mysteries similar in character to those supposed to have been celebrated in ,new ,grange4 ,evidently1 in the ordeals and ceremonies of the modern ,christian ,purgatory of ,st4 ,patrick1 we see the survivals of such pagan initiatory rites4 ,just as the cults of stones1 trees1 fountains1 lakes1 and waters were absorbed by the new religion1 so1 it would seem1 were all cults rendered in prehistoric times to ,finn ,mac ,coul's ,lake and within the island cave4 ,though the present location of the ,purgatory is not the original place of the old ,celtic cults1 there having been a transfer from ,saints' ,island to ,station ,island1 the present place of pilgrimage1 where instead of the cave there is the ',prison ,chapel'1 the practices1 though naturally much modified and corrupted1 retain their primitive outlines4 ,patrick in his time ordered the observance of the following ceremonies by all penitents before their entrance into the original cave on ,saints' ,island2#edb and for a long time they were strictly carried out3--',the visitor must first go to the bishop of the diocese1 declare to him that he came of his own free will1 and request of him permission to make the pilgrimage4 ,the bishop warned him against venturing any further in his design1 and represented to him the perils of his undertaking2 but if the pilgrim still remained steadfast in his purpose1 he gave him a recommendatory letter to the prior of the island4 ,the prior again tried to dissuade him from his design by the same arguments that had been previously urged by the bishop4 ,if1 however1 the pilgrim still remained steadfast1 he was taken into the church to spend there fifteen days in fasting and praying4 ,after this the mass was celebrated1 the holy communion administered to him and holy water sprinkled over him1 and he was led in procession with reading of litanies to the entrance of the purgatory1 where a third attempt was made to dissuade him from entering4 ,if he still persisted1 the prior allowed him to enter the cave1 after he had received the benediction of the priests1 and1 in entering1 he commended himself to their prayers1 and made the sign of the cross on his forehead with his own hand4 ,the prior then made fast the door1 and opened it not again till the next morning1 when1 if the penitent were there1 he was taken out and led with great joy to the church1 and1 after fifteen days' watching and praying1 was dismissed4 ,if he was not found when the door was opened1 it was understood that he had perished in his pilgrimage through purgatory2 the door was closed again1 and he was never afterwards mentioned'4 ,an enormous mass of literary and historical material was recorded during the mediaeval period1 in various ,european vernaculars and in ,latin1 concerning ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory2 and all of it testifies to the widespread influence of the rites which already then as now attracted thousands of pilgrims from all parts of ,christendom4 ,in the poem of ,owayne ,miles1#edc which forms part of this material1 we find a poetical description of the purgatorial initiatory rites quite comparable to ,virgil's account of ,aeneas on his initiatory journey to ,hades4 ,the poem records how ,sir ,owain was locked in the cave1 and how1 after a short time1 he began to penetrate its depths4 ,he had but little light1 and this by degrees disappeared1 leaving him in total darkness4 ,then a strange twilight appeared4 ,he went on to a hall and there met fifteen men clad in white and with heads shaven after the manner of ecclesiastics4 ,one of them told ,owain what things he would have to suffer in his pilgrimage1 how unclean spirits would attack him1 and by what means he could withstand them4 ,then the fifteen men left the knight alone1 and soon all sorts of demons and ghosts and spirits surrounded him1 and he was led on from one torture and trial to another by different companies of fiends4 7,in the original ,latin legend there were four fields of punishment47 ,finally ,owain came to a magic bridge which appeared safe and wide1 but when he reached the middle of it all the fiends and demons and unclean spirits raised so horrible a yell that he almost fell into the chasm below4 ,he1 however1 reached the other shore1 and the power of the devils ceased4 ,before him was a celestial city1 and the perfumed air which was wafted from it was so ravishing that he forgot all his pains and sorrows4 ,a procession came to ,owain and1 welcoming him1 led him into the paradise where ,adam and ,eve dwelt before they had eaten the apple4 ,food was offered to the knight1 and when he had eaten of it he had no desire to return to earth1 but he was told that it was necessary to live out his natural life in the world and to leave his flesh and bones behind him before beginning the heavenly existence4 ,so he began his return journey to the cave's entrance by a short and pleasant way4 ,he again passed the fifteen men clad in white1 who revealed what things the future had in store for him2 and reaching the door safely1 waited there till morning4 ,then he was taken out1 congratulated1 and invited to remain with the priests for fifteen days4#edd ,here we have clearly enough many of the essential features of the underworld3 there is the mystic bridge which when crossed guarantees the traveller against evil spirits1 just as in ,ireland a peasant believes himself safe when fairies are pursuing him if he can only cross a bridge or stream4 ,the celestial city is both like the ,christian ,heaven and the ,sidhe world4 ,the eating of angel food by ,owain has an effect quite like that of eating food in ,fairyland2 but ,owain1 by ,christian influence1 is sent back on earth to die 'that death which the ,king of ,heaven and ,earth hath ordained1' as ,patrick said of the prince whom he saved from the ,sidhe-folk4#ede ,a curious story1 in which ,king ,arthur himself is made to visit ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory1 published during the sixteenth century by a learned ,frenchman1 ,stephanus ,forcatulus1 shows how real a relation there is between ,purgatory and the ,greek or ,roman ,hades4 ,arthur1 it is said1 leaving the light behind him1 descended into the cave by a rough and steep road4 ',for they say that this cave is an entrance to the shades1 or at least to purgatory1 where poor sinners may get their offences washed out1 and return again rejoicing to the light of day4' ,but ,forcatulus adds that ',i have learnt from certain serious commentaries of ,merlin1 that ,gawain1 his master of horse1 called ,arthur back1 and dissuaded him from examining further the horrid cave in which was heard the sound of falling water which emitted a sulphureous smell1 and of voices lamenting as it were for the loss of their bodies'4#edf ,,purgatorial ,,and ,,initiatory ,,rites ,judging from the above data and from the great mass of similar data available1 the religious rites connected with ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory are to be anthropologically interpreted in the light of what is known about ancient and modern initiatory ceremonies1 similarly conducted4 ,as has already been stated1 the original ,purgatory which was in a cave on ,saints' ,island is to-day typified by ',prison ,chapel' on ,station ,island2 and in this ',prison ,chapel'1 as formerly in the cave1 pilgrims1 after having fasted and performed the necessary preparatory penances1 are required to pass the night4 ,among the ,greeks1 neophytes seeking initiation1 after similar preparation1 entered the cave-shrine recently discovered at ,eleusis1 the site of the ,great ,mysteries1 and therein1 in the sanctum sanctorum1 entered into communion with the god and goddess of the lower world2#edg whereas in the original ,purgatory ,sir ,owain and ,arthur are described as having come into contact with the ,hades-world and its beings4 ,in the state cult at ,acharaca1 ,greece1 there was another cavern-temple in which initiations were conducted4#edg ,the oracle of ,zeus ,trophonius was situated in a subterranean chamber1 into which1 after various preparatory rites1 including the invocation of ,agamedes1 neophytes descended to receive in a very mysterious manner the divine revelations which were afterwards interpreted for them4 ,so awe-inspiring were the descent into the cave and the sights therein seen that it was popularly believed that no one who visited the cave ever smiled again2 and persons of grave and serious aspect were proverbially said to have been in the cave of ,trophonius4#edh ,the worship of ,mithras1 the ,persian god of created light and all earthly wisdom1 who in time became identified with the sun1 was conducted in natural and artificial caves found in every part of the ,roman ,empire where his cult flourished until superseded by ,christianity2 and in these caves very elaborate initiations of seven degrees were carried out4 ,the cave itself signified the lower world1 into which during the ordeals of initiation the neophyte was supposed to enter while out of the physical body1 that the soul might be purged by many trials4#edi ,in ,mexico the cavern of ,chalchatongo led to the plains of paradise1 evidently through initiations2 and ,mictlan1 a subterranean temple1 similarly led to the ,aztec land of the dead4#eej ,among the most widespread and characteristic features of contemporary primitive races we find highly developed mysteries 7puberty institutions7 of the same essential character as these ancient mysteries4 ,they are to uncivilized youth what the ,greek ,mysteries were to ,greek youth1 and what colleges and universities are to the youth of ,europe and ,america1 though perhaps more successful than these last as places of moral and religious instruction4 ,these mysteries vary from tribe to tribe1 though in almost all of them there is what corresponds to the ,death ,rite in ,freemasonry2 that is to say1 there is either a symbolical presentation of death in a sacred drama--as there was among the ,greeks in their complete initiatory rites--or a state of actual trance imposed upon each neophyte by the priestly initiators4 ,the sanctum sanctorum of these primitive mysteries is sometimes in a natural or artificial cavern 7as was the rule with respect to the ,ancient ,mysteries and ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory on ,saints' ,island72 sometimes in a structure specially prepared to exclude the light2 or else the neophytes are symbolically or literally buried in an underground place to be resurrected greatly purified and strengthened4#eea ,and the mystic purification at the sea-shore and spiritual re-birth sought in the cave at ,eleusis by the highly cultured ,athenians and their fellow ,greeks1 or among other cultured and uncultured ancient and modern peoples through some corresponding initiation ceremony1 find their parallel in the purification and spiritual re-birth still sought in the ,christian ,purgatory1 now ',prison ,chapel'1 and in the lake waters1 amid the solitude of sacred ,lough ,derg1 ,ireland1 by thousands of earnest pilgrims from all parts of the world4#eeb ,there is a correspondence between this conclusion and what was said about the initiatory aspects of the ,aengus ,cult2 and should we try to connect the ,purgatory with some particular sun-cult of a character parallel to that of the ,aengus ,cult we should probably have to name ,lug1 the great ,irish sun-god1 because of the significant fact that the purgatorial rites on ,station ,island come to an end on the ,festival of the ,assumption of the ,blessed ,virgin1 the #aeth of ,august1 a date which apparently coincides sufficiently to represent1 as it probably does1 the ancient ,august ,lugnasadh1 the #ast of ,august1 a day sacred to the sun-god ,lug1 as the name indicates4#eec ,if we are to class together the original ,purgatory1 ,new ,grange1 ,gavrinis1 and other ,celtic underground places1 as centres of the highest religious practices in the past1 we should expect to discover that many similar structures or natural caverns existed in pagan ,ireland1 as indeed we find they did4 ,thus in different ,irish manuscripts various caves are mentioned1#eed and most of them1 so far as they can be localized1 are traditionally places of supernatural marvels1 and often 7as in the case of the last one enumerated1 the ,cave of ,cruachan7 are directly related to the under-world4#eee ,another of these caves is described as being under a church1 which circumstance suggests that the church was dedicated over an underground place originally sacred to pagan worship1 and1 as we may safely assume1 to pagan mysteries4 ,the curious custom among early ,irish ,christians1 of retiring for a time to a cave1 seems to show the lasting into historical times of the pagan cave-ritual now surviving at ,lough ,derg only4 ,the custom seems to have been common among the saints of ,britain and of ,scotland2#eef and in ,stokes's ,tripartite ,life of ,patrick 7p4 #bdb7 there is a very significant reference to it4 ,in the ,mabinogion story of ,kulhwch and ,olwen there seems to be another traditional echo of the times when caves were used for religious rites or worship1 in the author's reference to the cave of the witch ,orddu as being 'on the confines of ,hell'4 ,a cave was thus popularly supposed to lead to ,hades or an underworld of fairies1 demons1 and spirits2 again just as in ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory4 ,purely ,celtic instances of this kind might be greatly multiplied4 ,,pagan ,,origin ,,of ,,purgatorial ,,doctrine ,the metrical romance of ,orfeo and ,herodys in ,ritson's ,collection of ,metrical ,romances#eeg illustrates how in ,britain 7and ,britain--even ,england--is more ,celtic than ,saxon7 the ,grecian ,hell or ,hades was looked on as identical with the ,celtic ,fairyland4 ,this is quite unusual2 and for us is highly significant4 ,it shows that in ,britain1 at the time the romance was written1 there was no essential difference between the underworld of fairies and the underworld of shades4 ,pluto's realm and the realm where fairy kings and fairy queens held high revelry were the same4 ,the difference is this3 ,hades was an ,egyptian and in turn a ,greek conception1 while ,fairyland was a ,celtic conception2 they differ as the imagination at work on a philosophical doctrine differs among the three peoples1 and not otherwise4 ,and1 as ,wright has shown1 the origin of ,purgatory in the ,roman ,church is very obscure4 ,as to the location of ,purgatory1 ,roman theology confesses it has nothing certain to say4#eeh ,the natural conclusion1 as we suggested in our study of ,re-birth1 would seem to be that the ,irish doctrine of the ,otherworld in all its aspects1 but especially as the underground world of the ,sidhe or fairy-folk1 was combined with the pagan ,graeco-,roman doctrine of ,hades in ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory1 and hence gave rise to the modern ,christian doctrine of ,purgatory4 ,,christian ,,rites ,,in ,,honour ,,of ,,the ,,departed ,we may now readily pass from an examination of world-wide rites concerned with death and re-birth1 which are based on an ancient sun-cult1 to an examination of their shadows in the theology of ,christianity1 where they are commonly known as the rites in honour of the departed4 ,it seems to be clear at the outset that the ,christian ,fte in ,commemoration of the ,dead1 according to its history1 is an adaptation from paganism2 and with so many ,irish ecclesiastics1 or else their disciples1 educated in the ,celtic monasteries of ,britain and ,ireland1 having influence in the ,church during the early centuries1 there is a strong probability that the ,feast of ,samain had something to do with shaping the modern feast1 as we have suggested in the preceding chapter2 for both feasts originally fell on the first of ,november4 ,roman ,catholic writers record that it was ,st4 ,odilon1 ,abbot of ,cluny1 who instituted in #iih in all his congregations the ,fte in ,commemoration of the ,dead1 and fixed its anniversary on the first of ,november2 and that this fte was quickly adopted by all the churches of the ,east4#eei ,to-day in the ,roman ,church both the first and second of ,november are holy days devoted to those who have passed out of this life4 ,the first day1 the ,fte of ,all the ,saints 7,la ,toussaint71 is said to have originated thus3 the ,roman ,pantheon--,pantheon meaning the residence of all the gods--was dedicated to ,jupiter the ,avenger1 and when ,christianity triumphed the pagan images were overthrown1 and there was thereupon originally established1 in place of the cult of all the gods1 the ,fte of all the ,saints4#efj ,why ,la ,toussaint should have become a feast of the dead would be difficult to say unless we admit the ancient ,celtic feast of the dead as having amalgamated with it4 ,this we believe is what took place2 for if the ,fte in ,commemoration of the ,dead was1 as some authorities hold1 established by ,st4 ,odilon to fall on the first of ,november1 in direct accord with ,samain or ,halloween1 then at some later period it was displaced by ,la ,toussaint1 for now it is celebrated on the second of ,november4 ,likewise prayers and masses for the dead1 which annually receive emphasis on the first two days of ,november1 seem to have had their origin in pre-,christian cults4 ,according to ,mosheim1 in his ,histoire ecclsiastique1#efa the usage of celebrating the ,sacrament at the tombs of martyrs and at funerals was introduced during the fourth century2 and from this usage the masses for the saints and for the dead originated in the eighth century4 ,prior to the fourth century we find the newly converted ,christians in all parts of ,celtic ,europe1 and in many countries non-,celtic1 still rendering a cult to ancestral spirits1 making food offerings at the tombs of heroes1 and strictly observing the very ancient ,november feast1 or its equivalent1 in honour of the dead and fairies4 ,then1 very gradually1 in the course of four centuries1 the character of the ,christian cults and feasts of the saints and of the dead seems to have been determined4 ,the following citation will serve to illustrate the nature of ,irish ,christian rites in honour of the dead3--,in the ,lebar ,brecc#efb we read3 ',there is nothing which one does on behalf of the soul of him who has died that doth not help it1 both prayer on knees1 and abstinence1 and singing requiems1 and frequent blessings4 ,sons are bound to do penance for their deceased parents4 ,a full year1 now1 was ,maedc of ,ferns1 with his whole community1 on water and bread1 after loosing from hell the soul of ,brandub son of ,echaid4' ,according to ,st4 ,augustine1 the souls of the dead are solaced by the piety of their living friends when this expresses itself through sacrifice made by the ,church2#efc ,st4 ,ephrem commanded his friends not to forget him after death1 but to give proofs of their charity in offering for the repose of his soul alms1 prayers1 and sacrifices1 especially on the thirtieth day2#efc ,constantine the ,great wished to be interred under the ,church of the ,apostles in order that his soul might be benefited by the prayers offered to the saints1 by the mystic sacrifice1 and by the holy communion4#efc ,such prayers and sacrifices for the dead were offered by the ,church sometimes during thirty and even forty days1 those offered on the third1 the seventh1 and the thirtieth days being the most solemn4#efd ,the history of the venerable ,bede1 the letters of ,st4 ,boniface1 and of ,st4 ,lul prove that even in the ancient ,anglican church prayers were offered up for the souls of the dead2#efe and a council of bishops held at ,canterbury in #haf ordered that immediately after the death of a bishop there shall be made for him prayers and alms4#efe ,at ,oxford1 in #adcg1 ,all ,souls ,college was founded1 chiefly as a place in which to offer prayers on behalf of the souls of all those who were killed in the ,french wars of the fifteenth century4 ,,conclusion ,as seems to be evident from this and the two preceding chapters1 all these ftes1 rites1 or observances of ,christianity have a relation more or less direct to paganism1 and thus to ancient ,celtic cults and sacrifice offered to the dead1 to spirits1 and to the ,tuatha ,de ,danann or ,fairies4 ,and the same set of ideas which operated among the ,celts to create their ,fairy-,mythology--ideas arising out of a belief in or knowledge of the one universal ,realm of ,spirit and its various orders of invisible inhabitants--gave the ,egyptians1 the ,indians1 the ,greeks1 the ,romans1 the ,teutons1 the ,mexicans1 the ,peruvians1 and all nations their respective mythologies and religions2 and we moderns are literally 'the heirs of all the ages'4 ,,section ,,iv ,,modern ,,science ,,and ,,the ,,fairy ,,faith2 ,,and ,,conclusions#eff ,,chapter ,,xi ,,science ,,and ,,fairies ',puzzling and weird occurrences have been vouched for among all nations and in every age4 ,it is possible to relegate a good many asserted occurrences to the domain of superstition1 but it is not possible thus to eliminate all4'--,,sir ,,oliver ,,lodge4 ,method of ,examination3 ,exoteric and ,esoteric ,aspects--,the ,x-quantity--,scientific ,attitudes toward the ,animistic ,hypothesis3 ,materialistic ,theory2 ,pathological ,theory2 ,delusion and ,imposture ,theory--,problems of ,consciousness3 ,dreams2 ,supernormal ,lapse of ,time--,psychical ,research and ,fairies3 ,myers's ,researches--,present ,position of ,psychical ,research--,psychical ,research and ,anthropology in relation to ,fairy-,faith1 according to a special contribution from ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang--,final ,testing of the ,x-quantity--,conclusion3 the ,celtic belief in ,fairies and in ,fairyland is scientific4 ,,method ,,of ,,examination ,the promise made in the ,introduction to examine the ,why of the belief in fairies must now be fulfilled by calling in the aid of modern science4 ,to adduce parallels when studying a religion or a mythology is worth doing1 in order to show the fundamental bond which unites all systems of belief in things called spiritual2 but it is more important to try to understand why there should be such parallels and such a unifying principle behind them4 ,perhaps there has been too much of a tendency among students of folk-lore1 and of anthropology as a whole1 to be content to do no more than to discover that the ,eskimos in ,greenland hold a belief in spirits parallel to a belief in spirits held in ,central ,africa1 or that the ,greek ,pantheon 7and possibly the ,celtic one as well7 consists of goddesses which are apparently pre-,aryan and of gods which are apparently ,aryan4 ,we1 too1 have drawn many parallels between the ,celtic ,fairy-,faith and the various fairy-faiths throughout the world2 but now we should attempt to find out why there are animistic beliefs at all4 ,this chapter1 then1 will confine itself to a scientific examination of the more popular or1 as it may be called1 the exoteric aspect of the ,fairy-,faith1 which has come to us directly from the masses of the ,celtic peoples4 ,the following chapter1 which is corollary to the present one1 will deal especially with the mystical aspect or1 as this may be called by contrast1 the esoteric aspect of the same belief1 which1 in turn1 has come to us from learned mystics and seers1 who form1 in proportion1 but a very small minority of the modern ,celts4 ,each of these complementary aspects of the ,celtic religion undoubtedly has its origin in the remotest antiquity4 ,this is probably more readily seen with respect to the former than to the latter4 ,the latter has been esoteric always1 and in our opinion shows an unbroken tradition 7if only a very incomplete one7 from druidic times2 and it depends less upon written records1 because the ,druids had none1 than upon oral transmission from age to age4 ,both aspects of the ,fairy-,faith have in modern times absorbed many ideas from non-,celtic systems of religion and mystical thought4 ,as ,mr4 ,jenner has suggested in his ,introduction for ,cornwall1 and as certain details in chapter ii clearly indicate1 systems of modern theosophy have had a marked influence in this respect2 but it is impossible for us to-day to say what parts of the ,fairy-,faith are purely ,celtic and what are not so1 because comparative studies prove that mysticism is fundamentally the same in all ages and among all peoples4 ,it is psychologically true1 also1 that there must always exist some sort of affinity between two sets of thought in order for them to coalesce4 ,hence1 if modern mysticism 7derived from ,oriental or other sources7 has1 as we believe1 affected ,celtic mysticism as handed down from the dim druidic ages1 it is merely because the two occupy a common psychical territory4 ,we must therefore be content to examine scientifically the ,fairy-,faith as it now presents itself4 ,the analysis of evidence in chapter iii indicates clearly that there is in the exoteric part of the modern ,celtic belief in fairies considerable degeneration from what must have been in pagan times a widespread and highly developed animistic creed4 ,in the esoteric part of it there will be observed1 instead of such degeneracy1 a surprisingly elaborate system of the most subtle speculation1 which parallels that of ,east ,indian systems of metaphysics4 ,if the belief be looked at in this comprehensive manner1 it seems to be clear that to some extent at least1 as has been pointed out already 7pp4 #ii1 #beg71 the ,fairy-,faith in its purest form originated amongst the most highly educated and scientific ,celts of ancient times rather than among their unlearned fellows4 ,the two aspects of the belief form an harmonious whole as they will be presented in this ,section ,,iv4 ,chapter xi depends mostly upon the evidence set forth in chapter ii4 ,chapter xii depends mostly upon the evidence set forth in chapter vii4 ,in chapter iii we examined anthropologically the modern2 and 7both there and in parts of chapters following7 the historical and ancient belief in fairies in ,celtic countries1 and found it to be in essence animistic4 ,folk-imagination1 social psychology1 anthropomorphism generally1 adequately explained by far the greater mass of the evidence presented2 but the animistic background of the belief in question presented problems which the strictly anthropological sciences are unable to solve4 ,the point has now been reached when these problems must be presented to physiology and to psychology for solution4 ,if they can be completely solved by purely rational and physical data1 then the ,fairy-,faith as a whole will have to be cast aside as worthless in the eyes of science4 ,in our generation1 however1 such a casting aside is not to be the fate of the folk-religion of the ,celts3 the following phenomena recorded in chapter ii and elsewhere throughout our study1 and designated as the x- or unknown quantity of the ,fairy-,faith1 cannot at the present time be satisfactorily explained by science3 7#a7 ,collective hallucinations and veridical hallucinations2 7#b7 objects moving without contact2 7#c7 raps and noises called 'supernatural'2 7#d7 telepathy2 7#e7 seership and visions2 7#f7 dream and trance states manifesting supernormal knowledge2 7#g7 'mediumship' or 'spirit-possession'4 ,independently of our own ,celtic data in their support1 the first class of phenomena are supported by an enormous mass of good data scientifically collected2 the second and third class are less well supported2 telepathy is almost generally accepted as now being established2 the last three classes are hypothetically accepted by many authorities in pathology1 psychology1 and psychical research4 ,,scientific ,,attitudes ,,towards ,,the ,,animistic ,,hypothesis ,assertions similar to ours1 that phenomena like these are incapable of being explained away by any known laws of orthodox science1 have helped to bring about a marked division in the ranks of scientific workers4 ,on one hand there are those scientists who deny the existence of anything not capable of being mathematically tested1 weighed1 dissected1 or otherwise analysed in laboratories2 on the other hand1 there are their colleagues who1 often in spite of previous bias toward materialism1 have arrived at a personal conviction that an animistic view of man is more in harmony with their scientific experience than any other4 ,both schools include men eminent in all branches of biological sciences4 ,midway between these contending schools are the psycho-physicists who maintain that man is a twofold being composed of a psychical and physical part4 ,some of them are inclined to favour animism1 others are unwilling to regard the psychical part of man as separable from the physical part4 ,so the world of science is divided4 ,under such chaotic conditions of science it is our right to accept one view or another1 or to reject all views and use scientific data independently4 ,there can be no final court of appeal in matters where opinion is thus divided1 save the experience of coming generations4 ,we are therefore content to state our own position and leave it to the future for rejection or acceptance1 as the case may be4 ,to attempt a critical examination of the thousand and one theories occupying the modern arena of scientific controversy about the essential nature of man is altogether beyond the scope of this work4 ,we must1 nevertheless1 blaze a rough footpath through the jungle of scientific theories1 and1 at the outset1 put on record our opposition to that school of scientific workers who deny to man a supersensuous constitution4 ,their theory1 if carried out to its logical conclusion1 is now essentially no different from ,feuerbach's theory at a time when science was far less developed than it is to-day4 ,he held that 'the object of sense1 or the sensuous1 alone is really true1 and therefore truth1 reality1 and the sensible are one'4#efg ,to say that we know reality through sensual perception is an error1 as all schools of scientists must nowadays admit4 ,nature is for ever illuding the senses2 she masquerades in disguise until science tears away her mask4 ,we must always adjust the senses to the world itself3 where there are only vibrations in ether1 man sees light2 and in atmospheric vibrations he hears sound4 ,we only know things through the way in which our senses react upon them4 ,we sum up the world-problem by saying3 'consciousness does not exhaust its object1 the world4'#efg ,perceptibility and reality thus not being coincident1 man and the universe remain an unsolved problem1 despite the noisy shoutings of the materialist in his hermetically sealed and light-excluding case called sensual perceptions4 ,science admits that all her explanations of the universe are mere products of human understanding and perceptions by the physical senses3 the universe of science is wholly a universe of phenomena1 and behind phenomena1 as no scientist would dare deny1 there must be the noumena1 the ultimate causes of all things1 as to which science as yet offers no comprehensive hypothesis1 much less an answer4 ,to consider the materialistic hypothesis as adequate to account for the residuum or x-quantity of the ,fairy-,faith would not even be reasonable1 and1 incontestably1 would not be scientific4 ,when scientists holding to the non-animistic view of life are driven from their now for the most part abandoned fortress built by ,german scientists of the last century1 of whom ,feuerbach was a type1 they1 in opposing the animists1 occupy a more modernly equipped fortress called the ,pathological ,theory4 ,this theory is that 'mediumship'1 telepathy1 hallucinations1 or the voluntary and involuntary exercise of any so-called 'psychical' faculties on the part of men and women1 with the resulting phenomena1 can be explained as due to abnormal and hence--according to its point of view--diseased states of the human organism1 or to some derangement of bodily functions1 leading to delusions resembling those of insanity1 which by a sort of hypnosis telepathically induced may even affect researchers and lead them into erroneous conclusions4 ,all scientists are in agreement with the ,pathological ,theory in so far as it rejects as unworthy of serious consideration all apparitions and abnormal phenomena save those observed by sane and healthy percipients under ordinary conditions4 ,and1 accordingly1 whenever there can be shown in our percipients a diseased mental or psychical state1 we must eliminate their testimony without argument4 ,but since we have endeavoured to present no testimony from ,celtic percipients who are not physically and psychically normal1 the ,pathological ,theory at best can affect the x-quantity merely hypothetically4 ,the following admission in regard to visual and auditory hallucinations is here worth noting as coming from so thorough an exponent of materialistic psychology as ,m4 ,thodule ,ribot3--',there must exist anatomical and physiological causes which would solve the problem1 but unfortunately they are hidden from us4' ,of these hidden causes1 which he thinks create all psychical states of mind or consciousness called by him 'disease of personality'1 ,m4 ,ribot says3--',our ignorance of the causes stops us short4 ,the psychologist is here like the physician who has to deal with a disease in which he can make out only the symptoms4 ,what physiological influences are they which thus alter the general tone of the organism1 consequently of the coenaesthesis1 consequently too of the memory8 ,is it some condition of the vascular system8 ,or some inhibitory action1 some arrest of function8 ,we cannot say4'#efh ,and after six years of most careful experimentation1 ,m4 ,charles ,richet1 ,professor of ,physiology in the ,faculty of ,medicine in ,paris1 reached this conclusion3--',there exists in certain persons at certain moments a faculty of acquiring knowledge which has no rapport with our normal faculties of that kind4'#efi ,we seem to have here the last words of science touching the ,pathological ,theory4 ,when driven from their pathological stronghold1 and they maintain that they have not been driven from it1 the non-animists always find a safe way to cover their retreat by setting up the charge that all psychical phenomena are fraudulent or else due to delusion on the part of observers4 ,in reply1 psychical researchers readily admit that there is a large percentage of mere trickery1 delusion1 and imposture in observed 'spirit' phenomena2 some of which is deliberate on the part of the 'medium' and some of which is apparently not consciously induced4 ,nevertheless1 such investigators are not at all willing to say that there is nothing more than this4 ,the ,delusion and ,imposture ,theory will account for a very respectable proportion of these phenomena1 but not for all of them1 and theoretically we shall admit its application to the parallel phenomena attributed to fairies2 though it must be acknowledged that 'fairy' phenomena are for the most part spontaneously exhibited rather than as in ',spiritualism' set up through holding sances4 ,further1 there are comparatively few 'charmers' or 'wise men'--the fairy 'mediums' among the ,celts--who ever make money out of their ability to deal with the 'good people'1 or ,tylwyth ,teg2 whence the margin of encouragement for fraudulent production of 'fairy' phenomena is extremely limited when compared with ',spiritualism'4 ,after twenty-five years of experimentation1 more or less continuous1 with 'mediums'1 during which every conceivable test for the detection of fraud on their part was applied1 ,william ,james put his conclusions on record in these words3--',when imposture has been checked off as far as possible1 when chance coincidence has been allowed for1 when opportunities for normal knowledge on the part of the subject have been noted1 and skill in fishing and following clues unwittingly furnished by the voice or face of bystanders have been counted in1 those who have the fullest acquaintance with the phenomena admit that in good mediums there is a residuum of knowledge displayed italics are ,james's own that can only be called supernormal3 the medium taps some source of information not open to ordinary people4'#egj ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang1 one of the bravest of psychical researchers in ,england1 not only would agree with ,william ,james in this1 but1 having carefully examined the ,delusion and ,imposture ,theory from the more commanding point of view of an anthropologist1 would go further and include classical spiritualistic phenomena as well as those existing among contemporary uncultured races4 ,he says3--',meanwhile1 the extraordinary similarity of savage and classical spiritualistic rites1 with the corresponding similarity of alleged modern phenomena1 raises problems which it is more easy to state than to solve4 ,for example1 such occurrences as rappings1 as the movement of untouched objects1 as the lights of the sance room1 are all easily feigned4 ,but that ignorant modern knaves should feign precisely the same raps1 lights1 and movements as the most remote and unsophisticated barbarians1 and as the educated ,platonists of the fourth century after ,christ1 and that many of the other phenomena should be identical in each case1 is certainly noteworthy4'#ega ,evidently1 then1 there is a large proportion of psychical and 'fairy' phenomena which remain unexplained even after the ,delusion and ,imposture ,theory has been applied to such phenomena1 and in all such cases we must look further for a scientific explanation4 ,,problems ,,of ,,consciousness ,our chief investigations will at first be directed more especially to the problems common both to psychology and to psychical research1 namely1 dream and trance states1 hallucinations1 and possessions1 in order to show what bearings1 if any1 they have in the eyes of science upon parallel phenomena said to be due to fairies1 and set forth in chapter ii and anthropologically examined in chapter iii4 ,dreams ,the popular opinion that dreams are nonsense is quite overthrown by definite psychological facts4 ,when during sleep our sensory organs are exposed to external irritants the impressions physically produced are transmitted to the brain by the nervous system and react in dreams as they would in the waking state1 except that the reactions in the two states of consciousness--the dream state and the waking state--differ in proportion as the two states differ2 but in both the ,ego is the real percipient4#egb ,such stimuli as arise from after-theatre dinners1 wine-parties1 and so forth1 produce a well-known type of dreams2 and the same stimuli at the same period of time would produce an equal effect1 though an altered one1 to suit the altered psycho-physical conditions1 if the waking state were active rather than the dream state1 just as would all dreams which arise from pathological disturbances in disease1 or abnormal physiological functions4 ,this is evident from dreams of a morbid and sensual type1 which directly affect the physical organism and its functions as parallel waking-states would4 ,in all such dreams of the lower order1 animal and purely physical tendencies1 which are directly due to the state of the body1 act very freely3 an imperfectly balanced1 temporarily deranged1 or diseased organism must correspondingly respond to its driving forces4 ,and it is clear from comparative study of phenomena that these lower kinds of dream states express only the lower or animal consciousness1 which in most individuals is the predominant or only consciousness even in the waking life2 and not the higher consciousness of the ,ego or subconsciousness which may be expressed in somnambulism1 for 'in somnambulism there awakes an inner1 second ,ego'1#egc which is the ,subliminal ,self of ,myers4 ,dr4 ,g4 ,f4 ,stout urges against ,myers's theory of the ,subliminal ,self that 'the usual incoherence of dreams is an objection to regarding them as manifestations of a stream of thought equal or superior in systematic complexity and continuity to that of the waking self'1#egd which objection ,myers also observed4 ,but if we regard all dreams which are of the lower order as being due to the imperfect response of the body to its driving forces because of various bad physical conditions in the body1 and recognize that these driving forces depend ultimately on the subconsciousness1 the difficulty seems to be met by observing that under such conditions there is no real mergence of the normal consciousness into the subconsciousness4 ,hence ordinary dreams are within the ordinary spectrum of consciousness2 but extra-ordinary dreams pass beyond the ordinary spectrum into the truly supernormal state of consciousness4 ,as all this indicates1 dreams are of many classes3 those of the lowest type1 which we have explained as due to bad physiological conditions in the animal-man2 those which are readily explainable as distorted reflections of waking actions1 often based on some stray thought or suggestion of the day and then comparable to post-hypnotic suggestions4 ,other dreams are demonstrably entirely outside the range of ordinary mental or physical disturbances1 actions1 reflections1 or suggestions of the waking life1 and seem thus 'to have a wider purview1 and to indicate that the record of external events which is kept within us is far fuller than we know'4#ege ,in some dreams there is reasoning as well as memory1 and mathematicians have been known to solve problems in sleep3 an ,american inventor known to the writer's mother asserted that he had dreamt out the details of a certain ice-manufacturing process which proved successful when tested2 through self-suggestion set up in the waking state1 ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson1 upon entering the dream state1 secured details for his imaginary romances4#egf ,dr4 ,stout himself1 in criticizing ,myers's ',subliminal ,self'1 admits that 'in some very rare instances1 a man has achieved1 while dreaming1 intellectual performances equalling or perhaps surpassing the best of which he was capable in waking life'2#egg and there are many authentic cases of dream experiences which cannot possibly be explained as revivals of facts fallen out of the range of the ordinary memory or consciousness4 ,we seem to be led to some hypothesis like this3 in dreaming there is mental activity which in the waking state is either functionless or else below the psycho-physical threshold of sensibility2 because much that is subconscious in the non-dream state is in the dream state fully conscious4 ,and we probably do not remember one quarter of our dreams3 they belong to a mainly different order of consciousness4 ,professor ,freud's view of dreams coincides pretty generally with this view4 ,he holds that the subconsciousness is the storehouse out of which dream contents are drawn and acted upon by the dream mind4 ,very much distortion of the subconscious material takes place in the process1 due to what he calls the 'endopsychic censor'4 ,in the waking state this censor is always on the alert to keep out of consciousness all subconscious processes or deposits1 but in sleep the censor is less alert1 and allows some subconscious content to escape over into the ordinary consciousness4 ,the result is a dream distorted out of all recognition of its origin4 ,such a dream seems to occupy a position midway between what we have classed as the lowest or animal-mind dream and the highest or subliminal dream4 ,it possibly shows an harmonious psycho-physical condition of the dream life1 whereas the lowest type of dream shows the preponderance of the physical or animal1 and the highest type of dream shows the preponderance of the psychical elements in man4 ,further1 it may be designated as the normal dream1 and the other two types respectively as the physically abnormal and the psychically abnormal4 ,professor ,freud detects other marked processes in the dream state1 all of which help to illustrate the part of the ,fairy-,faith dependent upon dreaming experiences4 7#a7 ,there is condensation of details frequently in a proportion so great as one for ten and one for twenty2 7#b7 displacement of details1 or 'a transvaluation of all values'2 7#c7 much dramatization2 7#d7 regression1 a retrograde movement of abstract mental processes toward their primary conceptions2 and 7#e7 secondary elaboration1 an attempt to rationalize all dream-material4#egh ,also1 ,professor ,freud discovered from his analysis of thousands of dreams that the subconsciousness makes use of a sort of symbolism3--',this symbolism in part varies with the individual1 but in part is of a typical nature1 and seems to be identical with the symbolism which we suppose to lie behind our myths and legends4 ,it is not impossible that these latter creations of the people may find their explanation from the study of dreams4'#egi ,such processes1 taken as a whole1 show that man possesses a twofold consciousness1 the ordinary consciousness and the subconsciousness4 ,and we have every reason to believe that subconscious activities go on continually1 in waking and in sleeping4 ,by experiments on his own perfectly healthy children1 ,wienholt proved that there are natural forces existing whose stimulations are never perceived in waking life3 he made passes over the face and neck of his son with an iron key at the distance of half an inch without touching him1 whereupon the boy began to rub those parts and manifested uneasiness4 ,wienholt likewise experimented on his other children with lead1 zinc1 gold1 and other metals1 and in most cases the children 'averted the parts so treated1 rubbed them1 or drew the clothes over them'4#ehj ,therefore1 in sleep the consciousness perceives objects without physical contact2 and this not inconceivably might suggest1 inversely1 that in sleep the human consciousness can affect objects without physical contact1 as it is said fairies and the dead can1 and in the way psychical researchers know that objects can be affected4 ,we have on record an account of a most remarkable dream quite the same in character as dreams wherein certain ,celts believe they have met the dead or fairies4 ,professor ,hilprecht had a broken ,assyrian cylinder in cuneiform which he could not decipher2 but in a dream an ,assyrian priest in ancient garb appeared to him and deciphered the inscription4 ,of this dream ,myers observed3--',we seem to have reached the utmost intensity of sleep faculty within the limits of our ordinary spectrum4'#eha ,we may sum up the results of our examination of dreams by saying that scientific analysis of the dream life in its higher ranges proves that our ,ego is not wholly embraced in self-consciousness1 that the ,ego exceeds the self-consciousness4 ,instead of a continuity of consciousness which constitutes self-consciousness we have parallel states of consciousness for the one subject1 the ,ego4 ,our study of the ,celtic theory of re-birth1 in the following chapter1 will further explain this subtle aspect of the dream psychology4 ,when such a conclusion is applied to the ,fairy-,faith1 the various dream-like or trance-like states during which ancient and contemporary ,celts testify to having been in ,fairyland are seen to be scientifically plausible4 ,in this aspect then1 ,fairyland1 stripped of all its literary and imaginative glamour and of its social psychology1 in the eyes of science resolves itself into a reality1 because it is one of the states of consciousness co-ordinate with the ordinary consciousness4 ,this statement will be confirmed by a brief examination of what is called 'supernatural lapse of time'1 and which is invariably connected with ,fairyland4 ',supernatural' ,lapse of ,time ,it has already been made clear that in the dream or somnambulic state there are invariably modifications of time and space relations2 and these give rise to what has been termed the 'supernatural lapse of time'4 ,two conditions are possible3 either a few minutes of waking-state time equal long periods in the non-waking state2 or else1 as is usually the case in the ,fairy-,faith1 the reverse is true4 ,the first condition1 which we shall examine first1 occasionally appears in the ,fairy-,faith through such a statement as this3--',sometimes one may thus go to ,faerie for an hour or two' 7p4 #ci74 ,similarly1 as physicians well know1 patients under narcotics will experience events extending over long periods of time within a few minutes of normal time4 ,de ,quincey1 the famous opium-eater1 records dreams of ten to sixty years' supernatural duration1 and some quite beyond all limits of the waking experience4 ,fechner records a case of a woman who was nearly drowned and then resuscitated after two minutes of unconsciousness1 and who in that time lived over again all her past life4#ehb ,another even more remarkable case than this last concerns ,admiral ,beaufort1 who1 having fallen into the water1 was unconscious also for two minutes1 and yet he says that not only during that short space of time did he travel over every incident of his life with the details of 'every minute and collateral feature'1 but that there crowded into his imagination 'many trifling events which had long been forgotten'4#ehc ,we shall now present examples to illustrate the second condition4 ,hhne was in an unbroken magnetic sleep from the first of ,january to the tenth of ,may1 and when he came out of it he was overcome with surprise to see that spring had arrived1 he having lain down--as he believed--only the day before4#ehd ,had ,hhne been an ,irishman1 he might very reasonably have explained the situation by saying that he had been with the fairies for what seemed only a night4 ,the ,seeress of ,prevorst1 in a similar sleep1 passed through a period of six years and five months1 and then awoke as from a one-night sleep with no memory of what she did during that time2 but some time afterwards memory of the period came to her so completely that she recalled all its details4#ehe ,old people1 and some young people too1 among the ,celts1 who go to ,fairyland for varying periods of time1 sometimes extending over weeks 7as in a case ,i knew in ,west ,ireland71 have just such dreams or trance-states as this4 ,another example follows3--,chardel1 in fleeing from the ,revolution1 took ship from ,brittany and was obliged to induce somnambulism on his wife in order to overcome her horror of the sea4 ,when the couple landed in ,america and ,chardel awakened his wife1 she had no recollection whatever of the ,atlantic voyage1 and believed herself still in ,brittany4#ehf ,both ,helmholtz and ,fechner show#ehg that the functions of the nervous system are associated with a definite time-measure1 so it follows that consciousness in an organic body like man's depends upon the nervous system2 but1 as these examples and similar ones in the ,fairy-,faith show1 certain conscious states exist independently of the human nerves1 and they therefore set up a strong presumption that complete consciousness can exist independently of the physical nerve-apparatus4 ,and in proceeding to submit this presumption of a supersensuous consciousness to the further test of science we shall at the same time be testing the statements made by wholly reliable seer-witnesses1 like the ,irish mystic and seer 7p4 #fe71 that not only can men and women enter ,fairyland during trance-states for a brief period1 but that at death they can enter it for an unlimited period4 ,further1 what is for our study the most important of all statements will likewise be tested1 namely1 that in ,fairyland there are conscious non-human entities like the ,sidhe races4 ,,psychical ,,research ,,and ,,fairies ,our present task1 then1 is to extend the examination beyond incarnate consciousness into the realm of the new psychology or physical research1 where1 as a working hypothesis1 it is assumed that there is discarnate consciousness1 which by the ,celtic peoples is believed to exist and to exhibit itself in various individual aspects as fairies4 ,as to what science demands as proof of the survival of human consciousness after death1 there has been no clear consensus of opinion4 ,to prove merely the existence of 'ghosts' would not do2 it is necessary to show by a series of proofs 7#a7 that discarnate intelligences exist1 7#b7 that they possess complete and persistent personal energy wholly within themselves1 7#c7 that they are the actual unit of consciousness and memory known to have manifested itself on this plane of existence through particular incarnate personalities now deceased4 ,various psychical researchers assert that they have already reached these proofs and are convinced1 often in spite of their initial scientific attitude of antagonism toward all psychic phenomena1 of the survival of the human consciousness after the death of the human body2 and we shall proceed to present the testimony of some of them4 ,in chapter vii1 concerning ,phantasms of the ,dead1 forming part of ,frederick ,w4 ,h4 ,myers's ,human ,personality and its ,survival of ,bodily ,death1 and in the two chapters which follow1 on ,motor ,automatism1 and on ,trance1 ,possession1 and ,ecstasy1 all the necessary proofs above noted have been adduced2 and the author was thereby one of the very first psychical researchers to have recorded before the world his conversion from the non-animistic hypothesis to the ancient belief that ,man is immortal2 for he admits his conviction that the human consciousness does incontestably survive the decay of the physical body4 ,types of some of these well-attested and proved cases offered as evidence by ,myers may be briefly summarized as follows3--,repeated apparitions indicating intimate acquaintance with some post-mortem fact like the place of burial2 single apparitions with knowledge of the affairs of surviving friends1 or of the impending death of a survivor1 or of spirits of persons dead after the apparition's decease2 cases where professed spirits manifest knowledge of their earth-life1 as of some secret compact made with survivors2 cases of apparitional appearances near a corpse or a grave2 occasional cases of the appearance of the dead to several persons collectively4#ehh ,under motor automatism1 some of the most striking phenomena tending toward proof are cases where automatic writing has announced a death unknown to the persons present2 knowledge communicated in a sance1 not known to any person present1 but afterwards proved to have been possessed by the deceased2 automatic writing by a child in language unknown to her4 ,in chapter ix trance or possession is defined by ,myers1 in the same list of proofs1 as 'a development of ,motor ,automatism resulting at last in a substitution of personality'2 and this harmonizes with the theory of the control of a living organism by discarnate spirits1 and is supported by an overwhelming mass of scientific experiment4 ,telepathy suggests the possibility of communication between the living and the living and between the living and the dead1 and1 we may add1 between the dead and the dead--as in ,fairyland--without the consideration of space or time as known in the lower ranges of mental action2 and that the communication does not depend upon vibrations from a material brain-mass4 ,telepathy in these first two aspects has been likewise accepted as a scientific fact by workers in psychical research like ,sir ,william ,crookes1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,william ,james1 and by many others4 ,all such phenomena as these1 now being so carefully investigated and weighed by men thoroughly trained in science1 are1 so to speak1 the protoplasmic background of all religions1 philosophies1 or systems of mystical thought yet evolved on this planet2 and in all essentials they confirm the x-quantity presented in the evidence of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,dr4 ,g4 ,f4 ,stout1 an able representative of the school of non-converts to the theories in psychology propounded by ,myers and by psychical research1 states his position thus3--',but1 at least1 my doubt is not dogmatic denial1 and ,i agree with ,mr4 ,myers that there is no sufficient reason for being peculiarly sceptical concerning communications from departed spirits4 ,i also agree with him that the alleged cases of such communication cannot be with any approach to probability explained away as mere instances of telepathy4'#ehi ,in addition1 ,dr4 ,stout says3--',the conception which has been really useful to him is that of telepathy4 ,given that communication takes place between individual minds unmediated by ordinary physical conditions1 we may regard intercourse with departed spirits as a special case of the same kind of process4 ,and clairvoyance1 precognition1 c41 may perhaps be referred to telepathic communication either with departed spirits or with other intelligences superior to the human4'#ehi ,in this last phrase1 'intelligences superior to the human'1 ,dr4 ,stout assumes our own position1 that hypothetically there is good reason for thinking that discarnate non-human intelligences--such as the ,irish call the ,sidhe--may exist and communicate with1 or influence in some unknown way1 the living1 as during 'mediumship' and in 'seership'4 ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang points out1 in his reply to ,dr4 ,stout's criticism1 that the only legitimate scientific resource for overthrowing ,myers's position1 since the evidence is 'mathematically incapable of explanation by chance coincidence'1 is to say that several people are deliberate forgers and liars4 ,and he adds3--',to myself 7but only to myself and a small circle7 the evidence is irrefragable1 from our lifetime knowledge of the percipient4'#eij ,but the animistic position does not by any means depend upon the evidence presented by ,myers1 no matter how incontestably reliable it is4 ,we have only to examine the voluminous publications of the ,society for ,psychical ,research 7,london7 to realize this1 and especially the ,report on the ,census of ,hallucinations of ,modern ,spiritualism1 by ,professor ,sidgwick's ,committee 7,p4 ,s4 ,p4 ,r41 ,london74 ,,psychical ,,research ,,and ,,anthropology ,,in ,,relation ,,to ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith ,according to a special contribution from ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang4 ,mr4 ,andrew ,lang1 who has done a special service to science by showing that psychical research is inseparably related to anthropology1 has favoured us with a statement of his own position toward this relationship and has made it directly applicable to the ,fairy-,faith4 ,in a general way1 but not in some important details 7as indicated in our annotations7 we agree with ,mr4 ,lang's position1 which he states as follows3-- ,mr4 ,evans ,wentz has asked me to define my position towards psychical research in relation to anthropology4 ,i have done so in my book1 ,the ,making of ,religion4 ,the alleged abnormal or supernormal occurrences which psychical research examines are1 for the most part1 'universally human1' and1 whether they happen or do not happen1 whether they are the results of malobservation1 or of fraud1 or are merely mythical1 as human they cannot be wisely neglected by anthropology4 ,the fairy-folk1 under many names1 in many tongues1 are everywhere objects of human belief1 in ,central ,australia1 in ,new ,zealand1 in the isles of the ,pacific1 as in the ,british ,isles1 ,lowland or ,highland1 ,celtic in the main1 or ,english in the main1 ,i conceive the various beings1 fairies1 brownies1 ,iruntarinia1 ,djinns1 or what you will1 to be purely mythical4 ,i am incapable of believing that they are actual entities1 who carry off men and women2 steal and hide objects 7especially as the ,iruntarinia do72 love or hate1 persecute or kiss human beings2 practise music1 vocal and instrumental2 and in short 'play the pliskies' with which they are universally credited by the identical workings of the human fancy4 ,they tend to shade away1 on one side1 into the denizens of the ,house of ,hades--phantasms of the dead4 ,the belief in such phantasms may be partially based on experience1 whether hallucinatory or otherwise and inexplicably produced4#eia ,as far as psychical research studies report of these phantasms it approaches the realm of 'the ,fairy ,queen ,proserpine'4 ,as far as such research examines the historical or contemporary stories of the ,poltergeist1 it touches on fairies3 because the ,irish1 for example1 attribute to the agency of fairies the modern ,poltergeist phenomena1 whether these1 in each case1 be fraudulent or1 up to now1 be unexplained4 ,there are not more than two or three alleged visions of the traditional fairies in the annals of psychical research2 and ,i have met with but few sane and educated persons who profess to have seen phantoms at all resembling the traditional fairy2 while phantasms supposed to be of the dead1 the dying1 and the absent are frequently reported4 ,on the whole1 psychical research has very little concern with the fairy-belief in its typical forms1 and if the researcher did find modern cases of fairy visions alleged by sane and educated percipients1 he would be apt to explain them by suggestion acting on the subconscious self4#eib #a ,,marloes ,,road1 ,,london1 ,w4 ,september #bf1 #aiaj4 ,concerning phantasms of the dead into which1 as above pointed out1 the fairy-folk tend to shade away1 ,mr4 ,lang has elsewhere said3--',on the whole1 if the evidence is worth anything1 there are real objective ghosts1 and there are also telepathic hallucinations3 so that the scientific attitude is to believe in both1 if in either4'#eic ,and he shows that while anthropologists have explained all animistic beliefs as the results of primitive men's philosophizing 'on life1 death1 sleep1 dreams1 trances1 shadows1 the phenomena of epilepsy1 and the illusions of starvation'1 'normal phenomena1 psychological and psychical1 might suggest most of the animistic beliefs4'#eic ,in ,the ,making of ,religion1 ,mr4 ,lang has expanded this anthropological argument so as to make it even more fully embrace psychical research4 ,if we apply the brilliant results of ,mr4 ,lang's investigations to our own1 it is apparent that the background of the ,fairy-,faith1 like that of all religions1 is animistic1 as we have argued in chapter iii2 that it must have grown up in ancient times into its traditional form out of a pre-,celtic followed by a pre-,christian ,celtic religion2 these latter due1 in turn1 to actual psychical experiences1 such as hallucinations1 visions of different sorts1 clairvoyance1 'mediumship'1 and magical knowledge on the part of ,druid priests and1 probably1 to some extent1 on the part of the common people as well2 and1 finally1 that the living ,fairy-,faith depends not so much upon ancient traditions1 oral and recorded1 as upon recent and contemporary psychical experiences1 vouched for by many 'seers' and other percipients among our witnesses1 and now placed on record by us in chapter ii and elsewhere throughout this study4 ,,the ,,present ,,position ,,of ,,psychical ,,research ,sir ,william ,crookes1 the well-known ,english authority in physical science1 was almost the first scientist to become seriously interested in psychics1 and in ,part ,,iii of ,notes of an ,enquiry into the ,phenomena called ,spiritual1 during the ,years #ahgj-ahgc 7,london71 boldly affirms3--',it will be seen that the facts are of the most astounding character1 and seem utterly irreconcilable with all known theories of modern science4 ,having satisfied myself of their truth1 it would be moral cowardice to withhold my testimony because my previous publications were ridiculed by critics and others4' ,and this conclusion reached forty years ago has not been reversed1 but has been confirmed by one after another of learned scientists on both sides of the ,atlantic4 ,in #aijh1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,principal of the ,university of ,birmingham1 and at present one of the best known of scientists concerned with the study of spiritual phenomena1 stated his position thus3--',on the whole1 ,i am of those who1 though they would like to see further and still stronger and more continued proofs1 are of opinion that a good case has been made out1 and that as the best working hypothesis at the present time it is legitimate to grant that lucid moments of intercourse with deceased persons may in the best cases supervene4444 ,the boundary between the two states--the known and the unknown--is still substantial1 but it is wearing thin in places2 and like excavators engaged in boring a tunnel from opposite ends1 amid the roar of water and other noises1 we are beginning to hear now and again the strokes of the pickaxes of our comrades on the other side4'#eid ,in #aiji1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge published ,the ,survival of ,man1 in which1 after a careful exposition1 covering over three hundred pages1 of the definite results of much scientific experimentation by the best scientists of ,europe and ,america1 in such psychical phenomena as ,telepathy or ,thought ,transference1 ,telepathy and ,clairvoyance1 ,automatism and ,lucidity1 the following tentative conclusion is reached3--',the first thing we learn1 perhaps the only thing we clearly learn in the first instance1 is continuity4 ,there is no such sudden break in the conditions of existence as may have been anticipated2 and no break at all in the continuous and conscious identity of genuine character and personality4'#eid ,and his personal conviction is that ',intelligent co-operation between other than embodied human minds than our own 444 has become possible'4#eie ,william ,james1 who was one of the chief psychical researchers in the ,united ,states1 published his conclusions in ,october #aiji2 and of psychical phenomena he wrote3--',as to there being such real natural types of phenomena ignored by orthodox science1 ,i am not baffled at all1 for ,i am fully convinced of it4' ,of 'mediumship'1 he postulated the very interesting theory of a universally diffused 'soul-stuff'1 which elsewhere 7p4 #bed7 we have referred to as the scientific equivalent to the ,polynesian ,mana3 ',my own dramatic sense tends instinctively to picture the situation as an interaction between slumbering faculties in the automatist's mind and a cosmic environment of other consciousness of some sort which is able to work upon them4 ,if there were in the universe a lot of diffuse soul-stuff1 unable of itself to get into consistent personal form1 or to take permanent possession of an organism1 yet always craving to do so1 it might get its head into the air1 parasitically1 so to speak1 by profiting by weak spots in the armour of human minds1 and slipping in and stirring up there the sleeping tendencies to personate4' ,expanding this theory into a 'pan-psychic' view of the universe and assuming a 'mother-sea' of consciousness1 a bank upon which we all draw1 ,james asked these questions about it1 which educated ,celtic seers ask themselves about the ,sidhe or ,fairy-,world and its also collective consciousness or life3 ',what is its own structure8 ,what is its inner topography8444 ,what are the conditions of individuation or insulation in this mother-sea8 ,to what tracts1 to what active systems functioning separately in it1 do personalities correspond8 ,are individual spirits constituted there8 ,how numerous1 and of how many hierarchic orders may these then be8 ,how permanent8 ,how transient8 ,and how confluent with one another may they become8'#eif ,we should ask the reader to compare this scientific attitude with the almost identical attitude taken up with respect to the ,sidhe ,races and the constitution of their world and life by the ,irish mystic and seer 7pp4 #fj ff474 ,m4 ,camille ,flammarion1 the well-known ,french astronomer1 is another of the pioneer psychical researchers2 and in his psychic studies1 entitled1 as translated in an ,english edition1 ,the ,unknown1 recently announced these definite conclusions3--'7#a7 ,the soul exists as a real entity independent of the body4 7#b7 ,it is endowed with faculties still unknown to science4 7#c7 ,it is able to act at a distance1 without the intervention of the senses4' ,and in his ,mysterious ,psychic ,forces 7,boston1 #aijg1 pp4 #deb-c71 he says3--',the conclusions of the present work concord with those of the former 7,the ,unknown74444 ,i may sum up the whole matter with the single statement that there exists in nature1 in myriad activity1 a psychic element the essential nature of which is still hidden from us4' ,,the ,,final ,,testing ,,of ,,the ,x-,,quantity ,this chapter can now be brought to its logical conclusion by directly applying the results so far attained to our still vigorous x-quantity or residuum gathered out of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,we have1 although hurriedly1 blazed a rough pathway through the necessary parts of the jungle of scientific theories1 and have arrived at a very considerable clearing made by the pioneers1 the psychical researchers4 ,we seem1 in fact1 to have arrived at a point in our long investigations where we can postulate scientifically1 on the showing of the data of psychical research1 the existence of such invisible intelligences as gods1 genii1 daemons1 all kinds of true fairies1 and disembodied men4 ,it is not necessary to produce here1 in addition to what already has been set forth1 the very voluminous detailed evidence of psychical research as to the existence of such intelligences4 ,the general statement may be made that there are hundreds of carefully proven cases of phenomena or apparitions precisely like many of those which the ,celtic peoples attribute to fairies4#eig ,various explanations or theories are offered by our men of science as to what these invisible intelligences are1 for none of our scientists would say that the dead alone are responsible1 even in a majority of cases1 for the observed phenomena and apparitions1 but rather such beings as we call daemons1 fairies1 and elementals4 ,m4 ,camille ,flammarion says3--',the greater part of the phenomena observed--noises1 movement of tables1 confusions1 disturbances1 raps1 replies to questions asked--are really childish1 puerile1 vulgar1 often ridiculous1 and rather resemble the pranks of mischievous boys than serious bona-fide actions4 ,it is impossible not to notice this4 ,why should the souls of the dead amuse themselves in this way8 ,the supposition seems almost absurd4'#eih ,there could be no better description of the pranks which house-haunting fairies like brownies and ,robin ,goodfellows and elementals enjoy than this2 and to suppose that the dead perform such mischievous and playful acts is1 in truth1 absurd4 ,m4 ,flammarion also says3--',two inescapable hypotheses present themselves4 ,either it is we who produce these phenomena' 7and this is not reasonable7 'or it is spirits4 ,but mark this well3 these spirits are not necessarily the souls of the dead2 for other kinds of spiritual beings may exist1 and space may be full of them without our ever knowing anything about it1 except under unusual circumstances4 ,do we not find in the different ancient literatures1 demons1 angels1 gnomes1 goblins1 sprites1 spectres1 elementals1 c48 ,perhaps these legends are not without some foundation in fact4'#eih ,on 'the phenomena of percussive and allied sound'--such as fairies and the dead are said to produce--,sir ,william ,crookes made this report3--',the intelligence governing the phenomena is sometimes manifestly below that of the medium4 ,it is frequently in direct opposition to the wishes of the medium4444 ,the intelligence is sometimes of such a character as to lead to the belief that it does not emanate from any person present4'#eii ,in the case of the 'medium' ,mr4 ,home1 ,sir ,william ,crookes used mechanical tests and proved to his own satisfaction that physical objects moved without ,mr4 ,home or any other person being in contact with them1#fjj in the way that fairies are believed to move objects4 ,these phenomena parallel remarkable ancient and modern examples of the same nature3 e4 g4 in the affair at ,cideville1 ,france1 brought before a magistrate1 there is sworn evidence by reputable witnesses that pillows and coverlets floated away from a bed in which two children were asleep1 and that furniture in the house moved without contact4#fja ,mrs4 ,margaret ,quinn1 originally of ,mullingar1 but now of ,howth1 gave this remarkable testimony3--',when ,i was a little girl1 ,i lived with my mother in ,west ,meath1 near ,mullingar4 ,a fort was at the back of our house1 and mother used to hear music playing round our house all night1 and she has seen them 7the good people74 ,it often happened there at home that we would have clothes out on the line and they would float off like a balloon at a time when there would not be a bit of wind and in daylight4 ,my mother would come out and say1 ,god bless them 7the good people74 ,they will bring them back4 ,and then the clothes would slowly come floating back to the line4' ,and in our chapter ii there is other testimony concerning objects moved without contact with human beings1 either through the agency of fairies or of the dead4 ,after due investigation of such and various other phenomena1 ,sir ,william ,crookes1 among other theories to explain them1 gives this theory3--',the actions of a separate order of beings1 living on this earth1 but invisible and immaterial to us4 ,able1 however1 occasionally to manifest their presence4 ,known in almost all countries and ages as demons 7not necessarily bad71 gnomes1 fairies1 kobolds1 elves1 goblins1 ,puck1 c4'#fjb ,here we seem to have what ought to be1 by this stage of our study1 proof of the ,psychological ,theory of the nature and origin of the ,fairy-,faith4 ,let us now draw a few of the direct parallels thus suggested4 ,consider first how a fairy is said to appear1 how it is described1 and how it vanishes1 and then compare the facts stated in the following case of a phantom reported by ,sir ,william ,crookes#fjc3--';,in the dusk of the evening' 7just the time when fairies are most easily seen7 'during a sance with ,mr4 ,home at my house1 the curtains of a window about eight feet from ,mr4 ,home were seen to move4 ,a dark1 shadowy1 semi-transparent form1 like that of a man1 was then seen by all present standing near the window1 waving the curtain with his hand4 ,as we looked1 the form faded away and the curtain ceased to move4' ,the following--,mr4 ,home as in the former case being the 'medium'--is a still more striking instance3--',a phantom form came from a corner of the room1 took an accordion in its hand1 and then glided about the room playing the instrument4 ,the form was visible to all present for many minutes1 ,mr4 ,home also being seen at the same time4 ,on its coming rather close to a lady who was sitting apart from the rest of the company1 she gave a slight cry1 upon which it vanished4' ,compare the following types of observed phenomena by the same authority with what our ,welsh witness from the ,pentre ,evan country said about death-candles 7p4 #aee73--';,i have seen a luminous cloud floating upwards to a picture4' ,or1 ',i have more than once had a solid self-luminous body placed in my hand by a hand which did not belong to any person in the room4 ,in the light ,i have seen a luminous cloud hover over a heliotrope on a side-table1 break a sprig off1 and carry the sprig to a lady2 and on some occasions ,i have seen a similar luminous cloud visibly condense to the form of a hand and carry small objects about4' ,similar lights1 parallel to the death lights or death tokens observed by ,celtic percipients in ,wales and in ,brittany1 and to what in ,ireland are called the 'lights' of the 'good people' or 'gentry'--all of which phenomena are traceable to no material causes as yet discovered--are reported by ,iamblichus and others of his school4#fjd ,and such lights are among phenomena best attested by modern psychical researchers4 ,supernormally produced music1 said to have been produced by daemons1 which is parallel to that called by several of our own percipients 'fairy' music1 was also known to the ,neo-,platonists2#fjd and in the scientific investigations to which ,mr4 ,home was subjected1 musical sounds were heard which could not be attributed to any known agency4 ,in haunted houses1 as psychical research discovers1 the rustling of dresses1 movements of objects1 and sounds1 often occur spontaneously without and with the occurrence of apparitions2#fjd and these phenomena are parallel to certain ones which we have had cited by ,celtic percipients as due to fairies4 ,mr4 ,lang1 too1 has set forth clearly the probability of real 'haunts' or spirits possessing particular places--just as fairies are said to possess particular localities or buildings in ,celtic lands4 ,the ,report on the ,census of ,hallucination by ,professor ,sidgwick's ,committee has furnished data sufficiently good to convince many scientists that phantoms 7comparable in a way with ,irish banshees and the ,breton ,ankou7 do appear to the living directly before a death as though announcing it4#fje ,according to other equally reliable data1 sometimes a phantasmal voice--like certain 'fairy' voices--has given news of a death4#fjf ,myers and others have studied and recorded many cases of the dead appearing1 as the ,celtic dead appear when they have been taken to ,fairyland4#fjf ,in ,phantasms of the ,living1 by ,gurney1 ,myers1 and ,podmore1 the explanation of apparitions which are coincident with a death as being generated by a telepathic influence exerted upon the percipient by the dying friend1 suggests the most rational interpretation of certain parallel kinds of apparitions1 of the dead or of fairies1 who1 as in these last examples1 appear dressed in garments4 ,it is that all such apparitional appearances1 coincident with a death or not1 are equally due to a telepathic force exerted by an agency independent of the percipient4 ,this outside force acts as a stimulus upon the nervous apparatus of the person to whom it is thus transmitted1 and causes him to project out of some part of his own consciousness 7which part may have passed over into the subconsciousness7 a visualized image already impressed there4 ,the image has natural affinity or correspondence with the outside stimulus which arouses it4 ,such an hypothesis curiously agrees in part with the one put forth by our seer-witness1 the ,irish mystic 7p4 #fj ff474 ,he would probably agree as to the visualization process in most types of ordinary apparitions4 ,in addition1 he holds that ,nature herself has a memory3 there is some indefinable psychic element in the earth's atmosphere upon which all human and physical actions or phenomena are photographed or impressed4 ,these records in ,nature's mind correspond to mental impressions in us4 ,under certain inexplicable conditions1 normal persons who are not seers may observe ,nature's mental records like pictures cast upon a screen--often like moving pictures4 ,seers can always see them if they wish2 and uncritical seers frequently mistake these phantom records or pictures existing on the psychical envelope of the planet for actual events now occurring1 and for actual beings--fairies of various kinds and the dead4 ,a recent book entitled ,an ,adventure1 by ,elizabeth ,morison and ,frances ,lamont 7pseudonyms71 adequately illustrates what we mean by such phantom pictures4 ,during the year #aija these two cultured ladies saw at le petit ,trianon of ,marie ,antoinette records in the mind of ,nature of past historical events dating from about #aghi4 ,of this there seems not to be the slightest doubt4 ,the fairy boat-race on ,lough ,gur1 as described by ,count ,john de ,salis 7p4 #hj71 and the procession seen on ,tara ,hill of fairies 'like soldiers of ancient ,ireland in review' 7p4 #cc71 probably illustrate the same kind of phenomena 7cf4 pp4 #ee-g1 #fh1 #gd1 #abc1 #abf1 c474 ,but in visions by natural seers1 following again the theory of our ,irish seer-witness1 there is present not only an outside force 7as seems to be the case when ordinary apparitions are seen7 but also a veridical being with a form and life of its own in a world of its own4 ,such a real entity is as distinct from a picture in the memory of ,nature as a living person is distinct from the mental picture which his friend holds and projects as a visualized image when responding to a telepathic stimulus sent by him4 ,the natural seer1 not being obliged to see with his normal sense of vision1 need not use the normal method 7namely1 visualization7 of responding to the outside telepathic stimulus1 and so does not see the ordinary apparitional ghost or fairy4 ,he exercises 'second-sight' or ecstatic vision1 and while so doing is in the same plane of consciousness and under the same conditions of perception as the intelligence which projects upon him the stimulus inducing automatically such 'second-sight' or ecstatic vision4 ,therefore1 if the intelligence has a form and nature of its own1 the seer and not the non-seer will perceive them in their own world while his consciousness is temporarily functioning there and out of the normal plane of mental action4 ,in other words1 in the normal plane the non-seer reacts normally upon the same stimulus upon which the seer reacts abnormally4 ,the former percipient sees a non-real apparition1 a visualized image out of his own experience2 the latter claims to see a real being4 ,the real being exists normally under conditions which are abnormal to the non-seer1 but which to the seer become normal4 ,the visualization of the non-seer is a makeshift1 a psycho-physical reaction to a purely psychical stimulus4 ,it is mathematically possible to conceive fourth-dimensional beings1 and if they exist it would be impossible in a third-dimensional plane to see them as they really are4 ,hence the ordinary apparition is non-real as a form1 whereas the beings1 which wholly sane and reliable seers claim to see when exercising seership of the highest kind1 may be as real to themselves and to the seers as human beings are to us here in this third-dimensional world when we exercise normal vision4 ,concerning actual demon-possession1 which among spiritualists and psychical researchers would be called spirit phenomena through 'mediums'1 and which1 as we have elsewhere pointed out 7pp4 #bdi ff471 offers the most rational explanation for the changeling belief and related ,celtic beliefs about fairies1 ,dr4 ,j4 ,l4 ,nevius1 in his ,demon ,possession1 offers very important scientific data relating to ,china4 ,dr4 ,f4 ,f4 ,ellinwood1 who like that authority studied strange psychical phenomena in the interior districts of the ,shantung ,province 7,china7 for many years1 says in an introductory note to that work3--',antecedently to any knowledge of the ,new ,testament' 7so full of cases of demon-possession7 'the people of ,north ,china believed fully in the possession of the minds and bodies of men by evil spirits4444 ,it has always been understood that the personality of the evil spirit usurped1 or for the time being supplanted1 that of the unwilling victim1 and acted through his organs and faculties4 ,physical suffering and sometimes violent paroxysms attended the presence and active influence of the spirit4' ,in the face of so many cases of such phenomena observed in ,china by the same authorities1 ,dr4 ,ellinwood adds1 as ,dr4 ,nevius's conclusion1 that 'no theory has been advanced which so well accords with the facts as the simple and unquestioning conclusion so universally held by the ,christians of ,shantung1 viz4 that evil spirits do in many instances possess or control the mind and will of human beings'4 ,hypnotism shows how one strong and magnetic human will can control the mind and will of its subject2 the scientific results attained by the ,society for ,psychical ,research in its study of spiritualism show a disembodied will or intelligence controlling and using the body of a living human being2 and ,dr4 ,nevius writes3--',now may not demon-possession be only a different1 a more advanced form of hypnotism8' ,criminal records of ,europe and ,america show many examples of condemned criminals who confessed in all sincerity that some invisible or outside influence led them against their better judgement to commit crime2 and very often in such examples the past lives of the condemned are so good as to set up a strong probability in favour of their belief in possession4 ,and altogether in accord with the evidence of modern mediumship1 as well as that of mediumship among the ancients1 ,dr4 ,nevius says of ,chinese demon-possession3--',when normal consciousness is restored after one of these attacks1 the subject is entirely ignorant of everything which has passed during that state4 ,the most striking characteristic of those cases is that the subject evidences another personality1 and the normal personality for the time being is partially or wholly dormant4 ,the new personality presents traits of character utterly different from those which really belong to the subject in his normal state1 and this change of character is1 with rare exceptions1 in the direction of moral obliquity and impurity4 ,many persons while demon-possessed give evidence of knowledge which cannot be accounted for in ordinary ways4444 ,they sometimes converse in foreign languages of which in their normal states they are entirely ignorant4 ,there are often heard1 in connexion with demon possessions1 rappings and noises in places where no physical cause for them can be found2 and tables1 chairs1 crockery1 and the like are moved about without1 so far as can be discerned1 any application of physical force1 exactly as we are told is the case among spiritualists4'#fjg ,,conclusion ,our investigations 7and far more exhaustive ones than ours touching similar psychical phenomena7 show1 when applied to the residuum or x-quantity1 these chief results3 7#a7 ,the ,materialistic and the ,delusion and ,imposture ,theories can be dismissed as not affecting it4 7#b7 ,authorities do not agree in their opinions as to the pathological and psychological processes with which we are directly concerned2 they are quite uncertain how to explain the human brain in all its more subtle functions1 or the sympathetic nervous system and nervous states generally1 in relation especially to human consciousness under various abnormal but not diseased conditions of the organism2 and they do not propose any conclusions as final1 but only as very weakly tentative1 though some of these are in favour of a psycho-physical view of man in which there is a close approach to the present more advanced position of psychical research4 7#c7 ,psychical research has furnished proof sufficient to convince such first-class scientists as ,sir ,william ,crookes1 ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,william ,james1 ,m4 ,camille ,flammarion1 and others1 that states of consciousness exist in nature outside of1 though probably connected with1 the consciousness of incarnate human beings1 and that these intelligences can produce effects on matter and on the psychical constitution of man2 and some of these scientists consider certain of such intelligences to be discarnate men and women4 7#d7 ,scientific proof has been adduced that there are genuine hallucinations--like those relating to fairies--of human-like forms1 seen by single percipients1 or collectively2 and such collective hallucinations are incapable of being explained away1 which is equally true of apparitions seen by a single percipient to move physical objects4 7#e7 ,many of the foremost psychical researchers1 including those named above1 accept 'mediumship' or spirit-possession as the best working hypothesis to explain automatism4 7#f7 ,in the accepted theory of telepathy we have support for assuming that1 like hypnosis1 it is a psychical process1 and can be carried on either by two embodied spirits or human beings1 or by a disembodied spirit and one still incarnate4 ,myers's theories1 including that of the ,subliminal ,self1 embody all the preceding ones and agree in details with them4 7#g7 ,the results taken together harmonize with those attained in our study of psychical phenomena attributed by the ,celtic peoples to fairies2 and1 if they be accepted1 older psychological and pathological theories must be thoroughly revised in many cases1 or else cast aside as worthless4 ,finally1 since we have demonstrated that the background of the ,fairy-,faith1 and hence the residuum or x-quantity of it1 is like the background of all religious and mystical beliefs1 being animistic1 and like them has grown up in ancient times out of definite psychical phenomena identical in character with those now studied by science1 and is kept alive by an unbroken succession of 'seers' and percipients1 we have a clear right to set up under scientific authority these tentative conclusions3 7#a7 ,fairyland exists as a supernormal state of consciousness into which men and women may enter temporarily in dreams1 trances1 or in various ecstatic conditions2 or for an indefinite period at death4 7#b7 ,fairies exist1 because in all essentials they appear to be the same as the intelligent forces now recognized by psychical researchers1 be they thus collective units of consciousness like what ,william ,james has called 'soul-stuff'1 or more individual units1 like veridical apparitions4 7#c7 ,our examination of living children said to have been changed by fairies shows 7see pp4 #bej-a7 7a7 that many changelings are so called merely because of some bodily deformity or because of some abnormal mental or pathological characteristics capable of an ordinary rational explanation1 7b7 but that other changelings who exhibit a change of personality1 such as is recognized by psychologists1 are in many cases best explained on the ,demon-,possession ,theory1 which is a well-established scientific hypothesis4 ,therefore1 since the residuum or x-quantity of the ,fairy-,faith1 the folk-religion of the ,celtic peoples1 cannot be explained away by any known scientific laws1 it must for the present stand1 and the ,psychological ,theory of the ,nature and ,origin of the ,belief in ,fairies in ,celtic ,countries is to be considered as hypothetically established in the eyes of ,science4 ,hence we must cease to look upon the term fairy as being always a synonym for something fanciful1 non-real1 absurd4 ,we must also cease to think of the ,fairy-,faith as being no more than a fabric of groundless beliefs4 ,in short1 the ordinary non-,celtic mind must readjust itself to a new set of phenomena which through ignorance on its part it has been content to disregard1 and to treat with ridicule and contempt as so much outworn 'superstition'4 ,,section ,,iv ,,modern ,,science ,,and ,,the ,,fairy-,,faith2 ,,and ,,conclusions ,,chapter ,,xii ,,the ,,celtic ,,doctrine ,,of ,,re-,,birth ,,and ,,otherworld ,,scientifically ,,examined ',if all things which partook of life were to die1 and after they were dead remained in the form of death1 and did not come to life again1 all would at last die1 and nothing would be alive--what other result could there be8'--,,socrates1 as reported by ,plato4 ',the soul1 if immortal1 existed before our birth4 ,what is incorruptible must be ungenerable4'--,,hume4 ',if there be no reasons to suppose that we have existed before that period at which our existence apparently commences1 then there are no grounds for supposing that we shall continue to exist after our existence has apparently ceased4'--,,shelley4 ,the extension of the terms ,fairy and ,fairyland--,the real man as an invisible force acting through a body-conductor--,a psychical organ essential for memory--,pre-existence a scientific necessity--,the vitalistic view of evolution--,old theory of heredity disproved--,embryology supports re-birth doctrine--,psycho-physical evolution--,memory of previous existences in subconsciousness--,examples--,dream psychology furnishes clearest illustrations--,no post-existence without pre-existence--,resurrection as re-birth--,the ,circle of ,life--,the mystical corollary--,conclusion3 the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth and ,otherworld is essentially scientific4 ,in the esoteric ,fairy-,faith1 the terms ,fairy and ,fairyland attain their broadest meaning4 ,to the ,celtic mystic1 the universe is divisible into two interpenetrating parts or aspects3 the visible in which we are now1 and the invisible which is ,fairyland or the ,otherworld2 and a fairy is an intelligent being1 either embodied as a member of the human race or else resident in the ,otherworld4 ,the latter class includes many distinct hierarchies and lower orders4 ,some1 like the highest of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 who are the same in character as the gods of the ,greeks and ,hindoos1 are superhuman2 others are the souls of the dead2 while many are subhuman and have never been embodied in gross physical bodies4 ,these last include daemons 7incorrectly regarded by ,christian and other theologies as being in all cases evil1 and called demons72 and other like spirits1 such as those which ,dr4 ,tylor1 in ,primitive ,culture1 has designated nature spirits 7leprechauns1 pixies1 knockers1 corrigans1 lutins1 little folk1 elves generally1 and their counterparts in all non-,celtic ,fairy-,faiths71 which are the elementals of mediaeval mystics4 ,in the preceding chapter chiefly the lower species of fairies were under consideration1 but now the higher orders 7including human souls embodied and disembodied71 in their relation toward one another1 are to be considered independently4 ,it becomes necessary1 then1 to present here a view of life and death not yet scientifically orthodox4 ,the ,celt in all ages of his long history1 like the ancient ,greek thinkers with whom his ancestors were contemporary1 has always been inclined1 unlike modern scientists1 to seek an explanation for the phenomena of evolutionary life by postulating a noumenal world of causes as the background of the phenomenal world of effects4 ,to-day1 the rapid march of scientific pioneers1 chiefly those in psychical research1 is bringing our own cold and exact science very close to that indefinable boundary which separates the two worlds2 and for that reason alone a presentation of the ,celtic theory of the causes operating to produce death and birth will be1 at least by way of suggestion1 of some value4 ,facts of common everyday knowledge are apt to lose their significance through too great familiarity4 ,a fact of this character is that when each child is born it must awaken into life4 ,often it is not known whether the newly-born babe is dead or alive until it stretches forth its arms and breathes or cries4 ,and this phenomenon of our first awakening and entry upon the visible plane of life and conscious action seems to corroborate what the early ,celt who thoughtfully observed it held to be true1 and what the ,celt of to-day holds to be true3 that the material substance composing the body of man is merely a means of expression for life1 a conductor for an unknown force which exhibits volition and individual consciousness2 just as material substance in a condition called inanimate is a conductor for another unknown force called electricity1 which does not exhibit any volition or consciousness4 ,destroy the human body1 and there is no manifestation of its life force2 destroy a wire1 and there is no manifestation of electric light3 the human body seems to be merely incidental in the history of the individual consciousness1 as a wire is incidental to electric light4 ,but is this consciousness of man which we call life simply a phenomenon of matter non-existent without a physical means of expression1 or does it--like electricity after the wire is destroyed--continue to exist in an unmanifested state when the human body is cold and motionless in death8 ,and in the case of a child born dead has this consciousness found some organic imperfection in the newly-constructed infant body which made its manifestation impossible8 ,a few thoughts to aid in answering these questions will probably suggest themselves if we briefly consider the great difference between a human body in life and a human body in death4 ,in life1 there is the highly organized1 delicately adjusted1 perfectly balanced human body responding to the will of an invisible power2 and it is admitted by all schools of philosophers1 moralists1 and scientists that this invisible power--whatever it may be--is the real man4 ,this invisible power1 beginning its manifestation through a microscopic bit of germ-plasm1 gradually builds for itself a more and more complex physical habitation1 until1 after the short space of nine months1 it claims membership among the ranks of men4 ,during the many years of its sojourn on our planet1 it renews its habitation many times4 ,every atom it began with in childhood is discarded and replaced by a new one long before the age of manhood is reached1 and yet upon reaching manhood the invisible power remembers what it did in a child's frame4 ,this indicates that memory or consciousness as a psychical process does not depend essentially upon a material brain nor upon a certain grouping of ever-changing brain-substance2 for if it did1 apparently it would slowly and imperceptibly undergo change as completely as the whole physical body and brain4 ,this physiological process furnishes sufficient data to allow us to postulate that there is a psychical organ of memory behind the physical sense-consciousness1 and that such an organ in itself is1 at least during a human-life period1 unchanging in its composition4 ,without such an organ1 the process of memory when more fully analysed 7in a way we cannot here attempt7 is inexplicable4#fjh ,the simplest hypothesis is to conceive that organ as the one connected with the subconsciousness or super-sense-consciousness1 by means of which the invisible power or rememberer is able to remember and to impress its memory upon the temporary and continually unstable physical brain4 ,in the process of memory there must be first of all a thing to be remembered2 second1 a record of that thing to be remembered2 and third1 something to remember that thing4 ,the thing remembered is the result of a conscious experience1 the record of it the result of its impress at the time it was experienced1 but the rememberer is neither4 ,that invisible power1 which we have called the real man1 animates the body1 it places food in it as fuel to produce animal heat1 animal vitality and force1 and tries to keep it in good working order as long as possible4 ,if the body is imperfect at birth or becomes so later1 that invisible power is forced to act through it imperfectly2 if the brain is diseased1 there is insanity1 if undeveloped1 idiocy2 and when the body ceases to respond either perfectly or imperfectly1 the invisible power must surrender it entirely1 and there is what we call death4 ,now what is this invisible power or force which has entirely vanished1 leaving the physical body and brain cold and motionless8 ,let us see if there is an answer4 ,chemical analysis proves that the visible parts of the body of man are merely transformed gases2 but in a complete analysis of a living body such as man's there are certain elements to be considered which are always invisible4#fji ,thus at death there is instantly a cessation of all bodily consciousness--of all willing1 thinking1 movement4 ,the power which has made the body conscious1 and which cannot be compared to any known form of matter1 is entirely gone4 ,but there is left in the body a moment after its departure everything which we know to be material--the animal heat1 the animal magnetism1 the animal vitality4 ,when these are gone1 the body is cold and stiff1 and in no essential way unlike any other mass of inert matter4 ,if heat be applied to the body1 or magnetism1 or vital forces1 there is nothing in it to retain them any more than there would be in a stone4 ,the real man is gone4 ,then the body begins to disintegrate4 ,the law of the conservation of energy and the indestructibility of matter makes it certain that in the process of death nothing has been lost1 certainly nothing material4 ,the animal heat has gone off somewhere in the atmosphere or in some other matter2 the animal magnetism and vitality are momentarily lost sight of1 but soon they will be attached to other organic beings such as plants or animals to begin a new cycle of embodiment4 ,the physical constituents of the body will go to their appropriate places1 into the air as gases1 into the water as fluids1 into the earth as salts and minerals1 and in a short time may form the parts of a flower1 or fruit1 or animal4 ,but where or what is the willing1 the thinking1 the remembering1 the directing force which once controlled all these and held them together in unity8 ,ultra-violet rays are invisible1 but they show their existence through their chemical action2 similarly a soul or ,ego may exist invisibly and show its existence through the vital and physical unity manifested by a living human being4 ,as we have already seen in the preceding chapter1 there are a number of the first men of science who feel that when all the data of the latest scientific discoveries in the realm of psychology and of psychical research are impartially examined there is no escape from some such hypothesis as the ancient hypothesis of a soul4 ,if we accept the soul hypothesis1 as it seems we must1 and regard a soul as an indestructible unit of invisible power possessing consciousness and volition1 and normally able to exist independently of a human body1 then it becomes a logical and a scientific necessity to postulate its pre-existence1 because as such a unit it is indestructible1 in accordance with the law of the conservation of energy and indestructibility of matter4 ,we speak here not of the ordinary soul or human personal consciousness1 but of that ,ego which ,celtic mystics conceive as the permanent principle 7though probably itself relative to some still higher power7 behind the personality--which1 in turn1 they believe is a temporary combination wholly dependent upon the ,ego4 ,accordingly1 it is scientifically possible for such a soul as a homogeneous unit of force or conscious energy to pass from one mass of matter or physical body to another without disintegration1 diminution1 or loss of its own identity4 ,it is scientifically certain1 also1 from experiments performed to test the power of resistance to decomposition exhibited by the force which we call life in an organic body1 that such a force is capable of outwearing many physical embodiments4#faj ,recent demonstrations tend to show that the heredity hypothesis cannot be held to account fully for such widely varied character or soul individuality as may be exhibited by members of one family4 ,we must therefore account for mental1 moral1 and certainly psychical inequalities among our race by some other hypothesis2 and no hypothesis is more scientific1 more in line with known physiological and psychical processes1 or more in accord with the law of evolution1 than that of re-birth4 ,the theory of the mechanical transmission of acquired characteristics in a purely physical manner through the germ-plasm is no longer tenable when all the data of physiology and psychology are admitted4 ,a vitalistic view of evolution is rapidly developing in the scientific world1 and the weight of evidence is decidedly in favour of regarding all evolutionary processes1 reaching from the lowest to the highest organisms1 as illustrating a gradual unfolding in the sensuous world of a pre-existing psychical power through an ever-increasing complexity of specialized structures1 this complexity being brought about by natural selection4 ,such a view is also strongly supported if not confirmed by the general scientific belief that spontaneous generation of life is and always has been impossible on our planet or on any planet3 there must have been life before its physical manifestation or its physical evolution began4 ,we may regard this psychical power as like a vast reservoir of consciousness ever trying to force itself through matter1 the walls of the reservoir4 ,through the microscopic body of an amoeba there has percolated a very minute drop from the reservoir4 ,as evolution advances1 the walls of the reservoir become more and more porous1 and little by little the drop increases to a tiny rivulet4 ,through the higher animals1 the tiny rivulet flows as a brook4 ,through man as he is1 the brook flows as a deep and broad river4 ,throughout the completely evolved man of the far distant future1 the deep and broad river will have overflowed all its banks1 it will have inundated and completely overwhelmed the animal-human nature of the individual through whom it flows1 as the whole volume of the vast reservoir pours itself out4 ,the ordinary consciousness of man will then have been transmuted into the subconsciousness1 of which it had always been a pale reflection4 ,in other words1 if the theory of the mechanical transmission of acquired characteristics has failed1 as seems to be the case1 then we must assume that there is1 as the bearer of all gains made from generation to generation1 some sort of psychical or vitalistic principle4 ,this1 making use of the germ-plasm merely as a physical basis for its manifestation1 begins to build up a body suited to its further evolutionary needs4 ,the brilliant discoveries of ,dr4 ,jacques ,loeb and of ,m4 ,yves ,delage have demolished absolutely the old idea that each organ and each tissue contained in embryo in the normal egg-germ must develop in a particular and co-ordinate way into a normal organism and after the parental type3 it is possible to make a head grow where there ought to be feet2 and at ,zrich1 ,standfuss1 solely through changing the temperature of his laboratory1 was able to obtain from the same species of butterfly forms which were tropical and forms which were arctic4#faa ,all this helps to establish the hypothesis1 which amounts to certainty1 that the conformation of a physical body1 or even the kind of species to be born1 is directly determined by physical environment and not by heredity1 and that the chief factor to consider in organisms is the life animating the body4 ,physical environment affects only the physical organism2 it does not affect the invisible and unknown life-principle resident within the physical organism4 ,the process of fertilization is a physical process4 ,as such it is simply initiatory to embryonic evolution which also is physical4 ,once the proper physical conditions are set up by the parents1 life pursues its marvellous progress in the womb of the human mother1 from the amoeba-like initial embryo to man4 ,that is to say1 parents set in motion the laws governing the reproduction of physical bodies4 ,they create such conditions as enable the invisible life-force to begin its physical manifestation4#fab ,in the two fused germs from the parents resides the physical inheritance of the offspring1 to be outwardly shaped by environment2 but the physical inheritance is a thing distinct from the psychical part of the living being1 just as much as the dead human body is a thing apart from the life which has left it4 ,though the old heredity theory is overthrown by late discoveries1 the question as to what life is in human bodies under all possible environmental conditions remains unsolved2 and so do the questions why there should be sports in nature1 which among man are called geniuses1 and why every human being has a distinct and highly developed individual character1 essentially unlike that of his immediate ancestors4 ,embryology proves conclusively that the human embryo retraces in its growth the evolution of lower life-forms4 ,at first consisting of two single cells fused into one1 it is like the amoeba4 ,by cell-division it grows and progresses step by step through each lower realm of being until it comes to be a water-creature with gills2 and science teaches that all organic life on this planet once dwelt in the seas4 ,it grows progressively out of the water-world stage of organic life into the world of air-breathing creatures4 ,nature at last achieves her highest product1 and a human being is born out of the ,womb of ,time4 ,the initial microscopic bit of germ-plasm is endowed with power of motion1 thought1 and human consciousness1 with dominion over all the lower kingdoms through which by right of ancient conquests it passed in the brief period of nine months4 ,on every side the problem of life is full of poetry and wonder2 it is the greatest mystery4 ,not only can we thus study the age-long evolution of the physical man1 but we have recently acquired sufficient scientific data to lay foundations for a study of the evolution of the psychical man4 ,thus1 for example1 instincts seem to be nothing more than habits which through unknown periods of time have become so ingrained in the constitution of man1 and of all animals1 that now they have become second nature and usually are exercised without the need of reasoning processes4 ,the influence from innate sensuous experiences rises into consciousness as the life of every normal child and youth unfolds itself2 and these experiences in their full expansion1 when the age of maturity has been reached1 constitute in their unity what we call character1 which1 in one sense1 may be defined as the sum total of instincts of every kind4 ,from such a point of view1 the psychical or invisible power in man is merely a bundle of acquired habits which make use of the bodily organism in order to express themselves--in the same way1 as we have pointed out1 that electrical forces manifest their presence through a conductor4 ,if these habits be good1 we call their possessor a good man2 if evil1 we call him an evil man4 ,the theory of ,charles ,darwin suggests that all evolutionary progress is directed to the acquirement of newer and ever higher instincts4 ,and if this process be the true one1 that is to say1 if all instincts1 which in their finer distinctions mark off species from species in all animal kingdoms1 be as ,darwin thought--and as is to-day more clearly evident--the result of a long and gradual evolution through experience in a sensuous realm of existence1 then it would seem to follow that there must be some kind of a monad 7probably a non-sensuous one7 to which such acquired instincts can attach themselves4 ,such a monad1 too1 must have been a percipient and hence a recorder of such ever-accumulating experiences throughout an inconceivably long chain of lives1 and it of itself must1 while so perceiving and recording1 not be subject to the transitoriness of the sensuous realm wherein it gathers together these instincts1 which in their unified expression form its personality or human character4 ,in harmony with the vitalistic view of evolution1 which implies a pre-existent psychical power continually striving to express itself completely through matter1 yet normally able to exist independently of a physical means of expression1 we should regard such high mental processes as judgement1 reasoning1 analysis and synthesis1 and spatial perception1 along with memory1 as resultants of very great experience in a sensuous world1 on which in our present psycho-physical constitution such processes appear to have direct bearing4 ,in other words1 for man to be able to exercise such high mental processes there is need to postulate incalculable ages of specialization in the nervous apparatus1 and in psycho-physical adjustment1 of a kind which has thus enabled the psychical power to express itself to such a supreme degree in the realm of mind and matter4 ,the same vitalistic argument is applicable to the lower mental processes and to the instinctual powers in man1 because we cannot at any time1 in viewing the complete evolution of man as a twofold being composed of a physical and a psychical part1 force aside ,fechner's conviction that the problem is a psycho-physical one4 ,a study of sexual instincts in children seems to confirm this4#fac ,such a psychical and vitalistic hypothesis is1 as we have seen1 strongly supported by embryology2 and embryology proves conclusively the need of long ages of physical evolution for the development of each tissue and highly specialized organ in the human body4 ,certain ,french and ,german and other scientists of the vitalistic school have demonstrated physiologically the need of a pre-existent power as the unifying principle which attracts and compels material atoms to group themselves into the pattern of the human body#fad--or1 as we may add1 of any organic body4 ,psychical researchers at the outset of their science seem apparently to have demonstrated psychologically the post-existence of the personal consciousness-unity2 and it is very likely when further progress has been made in psychics that there will arise a logical need to postulate1 in addition to the personal consciousness-unity1 a hypothetical pre-existent soul-monad as the unifying principle which attracts and compels psychical atoms of experience 7if such an expression may be used7 to group themselves into the personal consciousness-unity which appears to survive the death of the gross physical body--for a long or short time1 as future research may show4#fae ,such a soul-monad1 to follow the view held by ,celtic mystics1 led by acquired instincts which were transmitted to it through the personality 7held by the ,celtic esoteric doctrine to be a temporary combination71 apparently weaves out of matter the body-unit adapted to its further evolution1 in a way analogous to that in which a silkworm is led by acquired instincts to weave a cocoon4 ,this body-unit is twofold3 7#a7 the visible body derived from the visible elements of matter2 and 7#b7 the invisible or ghost-body derived from the invisible or ethereal elements of matter4 ,strictly speaking1 for the ,celtic mystic this soul-monad is something upon which the personal consciousness depends for its psychical unity in precisely the same way as the physical body depends upon the personal consciousness for its physical unity4 ,the ,celtic mystic holds that just as the body-unity falls back again into its primal elements of matter1 so the personal consciousness-unity 7apparently able to survive in the ghost-body for a long period after its separation from the grosser physical envelope or human body7 also in due time is discarded by the soul-monad or individuality1 and then falls back into its primal psychical constituents4 ,in other words1 the ,celtic ,esoteric ,doctrine of ,re-birth correctly interpreted does not conceive personal immortality1 but it conceives a greater kind of immortality--the immortality of the unknown principle which gives unity to each temporary personality it makes use of1 and which we prefer to designate as the individuality1 the impersonator4 ,and this individuality is the bearer of all evolutionary gains made in each temporary personality through which it reflects itself3 it is the permanent evolving principle4 ,perhaps an analogy drawn from nature will make the ,celtic position clearer3 we may say that the personality occupies a position between the human body and the soul-monad1 just as the moon occupies a position between the earth and the sun4 ,personal consciousness is to the human body what the moonlight is to the earth1 merely a pale reflection from a third thing1 the soul-monad or individuality1 which is the ultimate source of both sets of unities1 the material or body-unity in its twofold aspect and the psychical or personal consciousness-unity4 ,each personality is temporary1 while the individuality1 like the sun in relation to the earth and moon1 is capable of at least a relative immortality3 the sun's light1 as science holds1 existed before there was any moon to reflect it on to the earth1 and may continue to exist when both the moon and earth are disintegrated4 ,the essential nature of the sun's energy or life remains unknown to science2 so does the essential nature of the energy or life manifesting itself as the individuality4 ,though all such analogies are more or less weak1 this one adequately fits in with the theories concerning the ,celtic ,esoteric ,doctrine of ,re-birth which the most learned of contemporary ,celts1 chiefly mystics1 have favoured us with2 and it is our rare privilege to put these theories on record for whatever they may be worth4 ,the best hypothesis is always the one which best explains all available data1 and1 to our mind1 when very minutely examined1 in a way which 7chiefly for reasons of space7 cannot be attempted here1 this ,celtic hypothesis concerning the nature and destiny of man is the best hitherto adduced4#faf ,objectors to the ,re-birth ,doctrine as held by the ,celts and other peoples anciently and now1 naturally ask why1 if we have lived before here on earth in physical bodies1 we do not remember it4 ,but the shallowness and unscientific nature of this question is at once apparent to psychologists who know that there exists in man a subconscious mind which in the great mass of people is almost totally dormant4 ',the subconscious self1' wrote ,william ,james1 'is nowadays a well-accredited psychological entity4444 ,apart from all religious considerations1 there is actually and literally more life in our total soul than we are at any time aware of4' ,and he added3--',it thus is scientific to interpret all otherwise unaccountable invasive alternations of consciousness as results of the tension of subliminal memories reaching a bursting point4'#fag ,intuition1 which all men have experienced1 would seem to be the result of a momentary contact by the physical brain with its psychical counterpart--the subconscious self1 the individuality as distinguished from the personality4 ,certain observed psychological processes in ordinary men and women1 who never really know that they have a subconsciousness or ,transcendental ,self1 prove that it exists even for them1 and any part of man which exists and functions of itself can be developed so as to be consciously perceived4 ,this is incontestable4 ,let us point out a few of these observed and recorded psychological processes4 ,there may be an unsolved problem in the mind1 or inability to recall a certain name or fact1 and then a sudden1 unexpected intuitional solving of the problem and an instantaneous recollecting of the desired facts1 at a time when the ordinary mind may be entirely absorbed in altogether foreign thoughts4 ,again1 many persons through accident or disease have lost their memory to such an extent as to require complete re-education1 and then in time1 gradually or instantaneously1 as the case may be1 have completely recovered it4#fah ,and we noticed in our study of supernatural lapse of time 7p4 #dfi7 that at the moment of accidental loss of consciousness1 as in drowning for example1 all forgotten details of life are instantaneously reproduced in a complete panorama4 ,these psychological processes support what we have said above with respect to a psychical organ being behind the sense-consciousness1 and seem thus to prove that the subconscious mind is the place for recording permanently all experiences4#fai ,under hypnosis1 a subject may be requested to perform a certain act1 let us say #aa1iii minutes after the moment of making the request4 ,when the hypnotic condition is removed1 the subject has no personal consciousness of the suggestion1 but1 as different experiments have proved conclusively1 he invariably performs the act exactly at the expiration of the #aa1iii minutes without knowing why he does so4 ,this proves that there is a subconsciousness in man which can take full cognizance of such a suggestion1 which can keep count of the passing of time and then cause the unconscious personality to act in response to its will4#fbj ,again1 in extreme old age people who have come to have an imperfect memory or none at all in their normal consciousness1 under abnormal conditions 7which seemingly are due to a temporary influx of a latent psychical power into the physical body and brain1 or else to an awakening of a dormant force within the physical body and brain themselves7 often regain1 for a time1 complete and clear memory of their childhood4 ,this proves that the memory is somewhere still perfect1 and that it does not reside in the consciousness of the age-exhausted physical brain and memory4 ,albert ,moll1 in his treatise on hypnotism1 says that events in the normal life which have dropped out of memory can be remembered in hypnosis3--',an ,english officer in ,africa was hypnotized by ,hansen1 and suddenly began to speak a strange language4 ,this turned out to be ,welsh1 which he had learnt as a child1 but had forgotten4'#fba ,and even memory of acts done in hypnotic somnambulism can be awakened in the normal state4#fbb ,furthermore1 through psycho-analysis1 as ,professor ,freud has shown1 forgotten dreams and dreams which were never complete in the ordinary consciousness can be recovered in their entirety out of the subconsciousness4#fbc ,how many of us can recall without some mental stimulus certain acts performed ten years ago8 ,a good deal of our present life is no longer vivid1 much of it is forgotten1 and in old age many of the memories of youth and of mature life will be subconscious4 ,if this brain1 whose total existence is comprised between birth and death1 cannot remember in a normal way all its own experiences1 how could it be expected to know anything at all of hypothetical past lives where there were various physical brains long ago disintegrated--unless the hypothetically ever-existing transcendental individuality1 whose consciousness is the subconsciousness1 be made by some unusual psychical stimuli to transmit its memory of the past lives to each new brain it creates8 ,in other words1 to have memory of pre-existent conditions there must be continuity of association with present conditions4 ,if such continuity exists1 it exists in the subconsciousness4 ,and if it exists therein1 then in order to recall in the present personal or ordinary consciousness1 which began at birth1 memory of an anterior state of consciousness1 it would be necessary to hold impressed upon the present physical brain and body a clear and unremittent consciousness of the subconsciousness4 ,in relation to our personal consciousness1 apparently our greatest powers lie in the subconsciousness which is sleeping and in embryo1 awaiting to be born into the consciousness of this world through the slow process of evolutionary gestation4 ,in the case of a ,buddha1 who on good historical authority is said to have been able to recall all past existences from the lowest to the highest1 this evolutionary process seems to have reached completion4#fbd ,under ordinary conditions1 individuals have been known to see a place which they have never seen before1 or to do a thing which they have never done before in this life nor in any conscious dream-state1 and yet feel that they have seen the place before and done the thing before4 ,m4 ,th4 ,ribot1 in his ,diseases of ,memory 7chapter iv71 has brought together many cases of this kind4 ,some are undoubtedly explicable as forgotten experiences of the present life4 ,others1 to our mind1 strongly support the theory of pre-existent experiences preserved in memory in the subconsciousness4 ,under chloroform1 or other anaesthetics1 patients often recover for the time being forgotten facts of experience1 and sometimes appear to make momentary contact with their subconsciousness and to exhibit therein another personality4 ,in certain well-defined types of double personality1 which are not the kind due to demon-possession nor to spirit-possession as in 'mediumship'1 there are two memories1 'each complete and absolutely independent of the other4'#fbe ,and in similar cases1 where the subject exhibits alternately numerous personalities1 we see the individuality1 that is to say the subconscious man1 exhibiting1 as a dramatist might1 various characters or personalities of probable past existences according as each is most active at the moment4 ,similarly1 crystal-gazing sometimes seems not only to revive lost memories of this life1 but also to call up subconscious memories of some unknown state of consciousness which may be from a previous life4#fbf ,m4 ,ribot has made it clear from his careful study of numerous cases of amnesia 7loss of memory7 that 'recollections return in an inverse order to that in which they disappear'4 ,for example1 a celebrated ,russian astronomer lost all memory save that of his childhood1 and in recovering it there appeared first the recollections of youth1 then those of middle age1 then the experiences of later years1 and1 finally1 the most recent events4 ,many even more marked examples of the law of regression in amnesia are given by ,m4 ,ribot4 ,we conclude from them that all strange and apparently long-forgotten facts of experience arising in consciousness out of the subconsciousness1 as in the different cases which have been cited above1 would necessarily be those which have been the longest lost to memory2 and hence if they cannot be attached to this present life then they can only be derived from a former life1 because every primary detail of memory must always originate from an experience at some past period of time4 ,m4 ,ribot himself1 in his conclusion to ,the ,diseases of ,memory1 makes this significant observation with respect to the law of regression in amnesia3--',this law of regression provides us with an explanation for extraordinary revivification of certain recollections when the mind turns backward to conditions of existence that had apparently disappeared for ever4' ,in dreams there is a great wealth of latent memory2 sometimes memory of the present waking life1 but often not capable1 apparently1 of being attached to it1 nor explicable as due to the soul wandering from the body during sleep3 the hypothesis of re-birth seems to be the only adequate one here4 ,certain dreams suggest that man possesses innate memories extending backwards to prehistoric times 7cf4 p4 #e above74 ,this fits in with ,professor ,freud's theory in his ,die ,traumdeutung1 that 'the dream is nothing else than the concealed fulfilment of a repressed wish4' ,some dreams are 'in the form of frightful1 cruel1 horrible scenes1 which seem frightful to us1 but in a certain depth of the unconscious satisfy wishes which1 in the prehistoric ages of our own mental development1 were actually recognized as desires4'#fbg ,this also supports our vitalistic view of the evolution of human instincts4 ,again1 in somnambulism there is a much more exalted memory1 and clear cases are on record of facts being then consciously present which cannot be accounted for save through the same hypothesis4#fbh ,if we keep in mind the psychology of the dream state1 we shall probably get the clearest intellectual theory as to why1 if pre-existence be true1 we do not remember various previous states of existence4 ,in our present state of consciousness we may enter a dream state1 in that dream state by dreaming we enter a second dream state1 and theoretically1 though not by common experience1 there may be no limit to superimposed dream states1 each one in itself a state of consciousness distinct from the waking consciousness4 ,accordingly1 if1 as ,wordsworth put it1 'our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting' of another state of consciousness1 and death the abrupt ending of that sleep of dreams and a waking up1 or if the direct opposite be true1 and death is the entrance to a sleep and dream state of consciousness1 it becomes very clear how difficult it would be for us here now either to recall what we may have dreamt or have actually done in another state of conscious existence corresponding to our present one4 ,the subtle thinkers of modern ,india1 who completely accept the doctrine of re-birth as a universal law1 have summed up this abstruse aspect of the dream psychology as follows3--',the first or spiritual state was ecstasy2 from ecstasy it 7the ,ego7 forgot itself into deep sleep2 from deep sleep it awoke out of unconsciousness1 but still within itself1 into the internal world of dreams2 from dreaming it passed finally into the thoroughly waking state1 and the outer world of sense4'#fbi ,but our own psychologists are not yet far enough advanced to accept this2 much more work in psychical research must first be done before it will be possible for them to announce to the ,west that pre-existence is a necessary condition for post-existence which they now hypothetically accept4 ,if for the present our standpoint be that of our own psychologists1 we may then think of the human consciousness as a spectrum whose central parts alone are visible to us4 ,beyond at either end lies an unseen and to us unknown region1 awaiting its explorer from the ,west4 ',each one of us is in reality an abiding psychical entity far more extensive than he knows--an individuality which can never express itself completely through any corporeal manifestation4 ,the ,self manifests through the organism2 but there is always some part of the ,self unmanifested2 and always1 as it seems1 some power of organic expression in abeyance or reserve4'#fcj ,william ,james stated the position thus3--',the ,b4 region' 7another name for the region of subconsciousness71 'then1 is obviously the larger part of each of us1 for it is the abode of everything that is latent1 and the reservoir of everything that passes unrecorded and unobserved4'#fca ,men of science see no way of accepting the doctrine of the resurrection of the physical body as at present interpreted by ,christian theology2 but the late ,professor ,th4 ,henri ,martin1 ,dean of the ,faculty of ,letters of the ,university of ,rennes1 has suggested in his ,la ,vie future that the doctrine may be the exoteric interpretation of a long-forgotten esoteric truth2 namely1 that the soul may be resurrected in a new physical body1 and this is scientifically possible4#fcb ,the ancient scientists called ,life a ,circle4 ,in the upper half of this ,circle1 or here on the visible plane1 we know that in the physiological history of man and of all living things there is first the embryonic or prenatal state1 then birth2 and as life1 like a sun1 rises in its new-born power toward the zenith1 there is childhood1 youth1 and maturity2 and then1 as it passes the zenith on its way to the horizon1 there is decline1 old age1 and1 finally1 death2 and as a scientific possibility we have in the lower half of the ,circle1 in ,hades or the ,otherworld of the ,celts and of all peoples1 corresponding processes between death and a hypothetical but logically necessary re-birth4#fcc ,the logical corollary to the re-birth doctrine1 and an integral part of the ,celtic esoteric theory of evolution1 is that there have been human races like the present human race who in past aeons of time have evolved completely out of the human plane of conscious existence into the divine plane of conscious existence4 ,hence the gods are beings which once were men1 and the actual race of men will in time become gods4 ,man now stands related to the divine and invisible world in precisely the same manner that the brute stands related to the human race4 ,to the gods1 man is a being in a lower kingdom of evolution4 ,according to the complete ,celtic belief1 the gods can and do enter the human world for the specific purposes of teaching men how to advance most rapidly toward the higher kingdom4 ,in other words1 all the ,great ,teachers1 e4 g4 ,jesus1 ,buddha1 ,zoroaster1 and many others1 in different ages and among various races1 whose teachings are extant1 are1 according to a belief yet held by educated and mystical ,celts1 divine beings who in inconceivably past ages were men but who are now gods1 able at will to incarnate into our world1 in order to emphasize the need which exists in nature1 by virtue of the working of evolutionary laws 7to which they themselves are still subject71 for man to look forward1 and so strive to reach divinity rather than to look backward in evolution and thereby fall into mere animalism4 ,the stating of this mystical corollary makes the exposition of the ,fairy-,faith complete1 at least in outline4 ,as shown by the ,barddas ,,mss4 in our chapter vii1 the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth is the scientific extension of ,darwin's law as corrected1#fcd that alone through traversing the ,circle of ,life man reaches that destined perfection which natural analogies1 life's processes as exhibited by living things1 and evolution1 suggest1 and from which at present man is so far removed4 ,there seems to emerge this postulate3 the world is the object of normal consciousness1 the ,ego or ,soul-,monad the object of subconsciousness2 and the subconsciousness cannot be realized in the world until through the normal consciousness of man the ,ego is able to function completely1 and so endow man with full self-consciousness in matter1 which endowment seems to be the goal of all planetary evolution4 ,we conclude that the ,otherworld of the ,celts and their ,doctrine of ,re-birth accord thoroughly in their essentials with modern science2 and1 accordingly1 with other essential elements in the complete ,celtic ,fairy-,faith which we have in the preceding chapter found to be equally scientific1 establish our ,psychological ,theory of the ,nature and ,origin of that ,fairy-,faith upon a logical and solid foundation2 and we now submit this study to the judgement of our readers4 ,with more complete evidence in the future1 both from folk-lore and from science1 there will be1 we trust1 a better vindication of the ,theory1 and perhaps finally there will come about its transformation into what it but seems to us to be now--a ,fact4 ,some beliefs which a century ago were regarded as absurdities are now regarded as fundamentally scientific4 ,in the same way1 what in this generation is heretical alike to the ,christian theologian and to the man of science may in coming generations be accepted as orthodox4 ,,index ,adamnan's ,vision1 #cef4 ,aeneas1 ,journey of1 #ccf-g1 #cdc1 #chb1 #dde4 ,aengus1 #fb1 #bib1 #cja1 #cgf1 #cig1 #dac-d4 ---- ,cult of1 #dae ff41 #dej4 ---- ,dun1 #b1 #da1 #daf-h4 ,agallamh1 #bh1 #bhc n41 #bhf1 #bij1 #bib1 #bie1 #djb1 #dab4 ---- an d ,shuadh1 #cdd4 ,ailill1 #bhh-i1 #cja1 #cgd-e1 #ddj4 ,aine1 #gi1 #hj n41 #hc1 #cja4 ,alchemists1 #bdj1 #bdd1 #bfa1 #bgf1 #bif n4 ,alignements1 xv1 #aii n41 #cic1 #cii1 #dai ff43 see ,archaeology4 ,all ,saints 7,la ,toussaint71 #dci1 #dec3 see ,samain1 and ,november ,day4 ,angel1 #g1 #ab1 #he1 #bch1 #bdj-a1 #bfc-d1 #bfg1 #bgb1 #cgd3 see ,fallen ,angels1 and ,st4 ,michael4 ,angels and ,science1 #dha4 ,anglesey1 #aj1 #ach-i1 #ada-b4 ,animism1 #ee1 #bbf ff41 #bhb1 #deg ff43 see ,dead1 and ,death4 ---- ,pre-1 #bec1 #dja4 ---- ,science and1 #dei ff4 ,ankou1 #af1 #bi1 #bah1 #bbj4 ---- ,science and1 #dhd4 ,annwn1 #cai1 #cec4 ,anthropology1 #bbf-hb4 ,antrim1 #gc1 #cga4 ,apollo1 #djc1 #dje-f1 #dba4 ,apparitions1 ,science and1 #dhj1 #dhd ff4 ,aranmore1 #b1 #d1 #dj1 #daf4 ,archaeology1 xv1 #b1 #i1 #aj1 #ab-e1 #ca1 #eb1 #gh1 #ha1 #aah-i1 #acg n41 #adh1 #aed1 #aeg n41 #afc1 #afe ff41 #agb1 #agi1 #baj1 #bba1 #bcd n41 #cic1 #cig-dbf1 #dej n4 ,armagh1 #gd-e1 #ddc4 ---- ,book of1 #bhc n41 #bia4 ,art1 ,voyage of1 #cea-b4 ,arthur1 #i1 #aj1 #ab-c1 #hb n41 #afc1 #ahc1 #bch1 #cjd1 #cjh ff41 #ccc-d1 #cec1 #cha1 #dbi1 #dcg1 #dda1 #ddg3 see ,re-birth4 ,arthur1 ,bird1 as1 #ahc1 #ahe4 ,arthurian ,legend1 #i1 #bfj1 #cjh ff43 see ,arthur4 ,astral ,body1 #bi4 ---- ,light1 #acc4 ---- ,milk1 #afd4 ---- ,plane1 #afg1 #aga4 ---- ,spirits1 #afg1 #aga4 ,avalon1 #beb1 #caa1 #cad-e1 #cba-d1 #ccj1 #cdg-h1 #cgi1 #chf4 ,bacchus1 #bh1 #hj n4 ,badb1 #cjb-g1 #cji n4 ,ballymote1 ,book of1 #cdj n41 #daj4 ,banshee1 #be-f1 #ha1 #ii1 #bbj1 #cjd-e1 #dcg-h4 ---- ,science and1 #dhd4 ,baranton1 ,fountain of1 #dbi4 ,bard1 #aa1 #ih1 #ach1 #afc1 #bhc1 #cag n41 #cfe-f1 #cgh4 ---- ,irish1 #cdd4 ,barddas1 #cfe-g1 #cgh-i1 #eae4 ,barra1 #he1 #ajj ff4 ,beltene 7,baaltine71 #ajj n41 #dci3 see ,may ,day4 ,ben ,bulbin1 #c1 #dd1 #ef1 #eh1 #bcg1 #bdb1 #bhd1 #bic1 #cjj4 ,broul1 #cbe4 ,boron1 ,robt4 de1 #cbe4 ,boyne1 #b1 #cd1 #bib1 #daj1 #dab1 #dae4 ,bran1 #bei1 #ccd4 ---- ,voyage of1 #cbi1 #cch-dj1 #cgc4 ,brocliande1 #ae1 #ahh1 #cbg1 #dce4 ,brownie1 #afd-e1 #bjg1 #bbj1 #bbi4 ,bucca1 #afd1 #age3 see ,puck4 ,cdmon1 #bdj1 #bdc4 ,cambrensis1 ,giraldus1 #adi n41 #cbd4 ,cardigan1 #adf1 #aee1 #ccd1 #chi4 ,ca7e7ridwen1 #aeg n41 #cgh4 ,carmarthen1 #adg1 #adi ff41 #cij4 ---- ,black ,book of1 #cbi4 ---- ,fall of1 #dce4 ,carnac1 xiii1 #aii n41 #bga1 #cih-i1 #djg1 #dah-i1 #dbh4 ---- ,etymology of1 xv4 ---- ,mystic ,centre1 as1 #ac-e1 #bba4 ,carnarvon1 #adc-d4 ,ceilidh1 ,description of1 #f4 ,changelings1 #cd1 #gh1 #hg1 #ia1 #if1 #ih1 #aja1 #ajd1 #aaj1 #abh1 #acb1 #acf-g1 #adc1 #adf1 #adh1 #aej1 #aed1 #aef1 #agj-a1 #agg1 #agi1 #ahb1 #aih1 #bjd1 #baj-b1 #bcj1 #bfe1 #bhj-a3 see ,charms1 ,fairy4 ---- ,anthropology and1 #bdd-ec4 ---- ,explanation of1 #dia4 ---- ,science and1 #dhg4 ,channel ,islands1 #djc1 #djf-g4 ,charms1 #db1 #di1 #aga1 #agf1 #beh-i3 see ,exorcism4 ---- ,fairy1 against1 #cg-h1 #di1 #eh1 #hg1 #ia1 #ie1 #ig1 #aab1 #abd-e1 #acb1 #adf1 #agg1 #agi1 #aii1 #bjd1 #baj1 #bab1 #bej1 #bec1 #bfe1 #bfh1 #cad4 ---- ,witchcraft1 against1 #abb4 ,chaucer1 #cbf4 ,chrtien1 #caa1 #cbe1 #dcj4 ,christabel1 #bjb4 ,christian ,science and ,witchcraft1 #bfa-b4 ,christianity1 ,esoteric1 #cfj n41 #cfa-b4 ---- ,fairies and1 xvi1 #db1 #gj1 #ia1 #aae1 #aeb n41 #aec1 #afh-i1 #bja1 #baf1 #bde1 #bec1 #beg1 #bei1 #bff-gd1 #bfh1 #bhd-e1 #bic1 #bif n41 #cbj1 #cdi-ej1 #ced-g1 #cgj1 #cgc1 #djg1 #daj n41 #dbg ff41 #dcd ff41 #dci1 #dda1 #ddd ff41 #deb ff43 see ,changelings1 ,cult1 ,exorcism1 ,fairy-,faith1 and ,purgatory4 ,clairvoyance1 #ee1 #gc1 #adj n41 #age1 #ahb1 #bje1 #bhe1 #caa3 see ,second-sight1 ,seers1 and ,vision4 ---- ,science and1 #dgc1 #dgh4 ,clontarf1 #cje ff4 ,cir ,anmann1 #bhf1 #bia1 #cfi4 ,colloquy3 see ,agallamh4 ,connaught1 #db1 #bhi1 #bie1 #cjj4 ,connemara1 xxi1 #b4 ,connla1 #bei1 #cce1 #cdi-ej4 ,coracle 7currach71 #cej1 #ceb4 ,cormac's ,voyage1 #cdj-c4 ,corrigan1 #ae1 #ib1 #aei n41 #aie1 #aih1 #bjf ff41 #bae1 #bbc-d1 #bbi1 #bch1 #bda1 #bej-a1 #cih1 #djd-f1 #dic4 ---- ,etymology of1 #bjf n4 ,cromlech3 see ,archaeology4 ---- ,etymology of1 #djb n4 ,cruachan1 #bhf1 #bhh-i1 #dca1 #ddj1 #dea4 ,crystal-gazing1 #eaj4 ,cuchulainn1 #b1 #c-d1 #gj1 #gd-e1 #if n41 #bch1 #bgg-h1 #cjb-c1 #cjg1 #cji1 #caf1 #ccd1 #cec1 #dda3 see ,re-birth4 ---- ,sick-,bed of1 #bhf1 #cde-f4 ---- ,sun-god1 as1 #caj4 ,cult1 #ajj n41 #afc1 #bha1 #ddb3 see ,arthur1 ,cuchulainn1 ,sidhe1 and ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ---- ,agricultural1 #hj n41 #bgi1 #bia1 #cea1 #djh1 #dce4 ---- ,cattle1 of1 #aii n41 #bgc4 ---- ,dead1 of1 #bha1 #bii1 #djh-i ff41 #dcf ff42 ,christian1 #deb-e4 ---- ,fairies1 of1 #aij1 #dcf ff4 ---- ,gods1 of1 #aah1 #afd1 #age n41 #bjj1 #bci1 #bdf1 #bgi1 #bha1 #bhc1 #bia1 #bii1 #cdb1 #cii ff41 #djg ff41 #dcc ff41 #ddj1 #ddh4 ---- ,saints1 of1 #hc1 #aij1 #aic1 #bhd4 ---- ,spirits1 of1 #abd n41 #afd1 #age1 #bbg1 #bbi1 #bha1 #bhd1 #daa ff41 #dbh-i1 #dcf ff4 ---- ,stones1 of1 #cii ff41 #dbg-h3 see ,archaeology4 ---- ,sun1 of1 #ab1 #ajj n41 #abg1 #acb n41 #agc1 #agf n41 #agi n41 #cji1 #cba1 #cfi1 #chj1 #chi-ij1 #djb-c1 #dje-f1 #djh1 #daf ff41 #dej-a2 ,christianity and1 #deb ff42 ,significance of1 #dbj ff41 #dci4 ---- ,trees1 of1 #agf1 #bbi1 #dbg-h1 #dcc ff4 ---- ,waters1 of1 #gh1 #afc1 #agi1 #bbc-d1 #bhd1 #dbg ff41 #dej n4 ,culture ,hero1 #bch1 #cji1 #cbj-a1 #chj-b1 #dag4 ,da ,derga's ,hostel1 #bhg4 ,daemons 7,demons71 #g1 #ae1 #aeh1 #aig1 #bjb1 #bjd1 #bab1 #bcg-h1 #bda1 #bdi-eb1 #bef-i1 #bfc-ga1 #bgi-hj1 #bhf1 #bhg n41 #bhh1 #cjc1 #cjf1 #caj1 #cad1 #cfj1 #dcj1 #dcf1 #ddf4 ---- ,nature of1 #dic4 ---- ,science and1 #dhj-a1 #dhc4 ,dagda1 #bhf1 #bia-b1 #bid1 #bih1 #cjj-a1 #cah1 #cbj1 #daj1 #daf4 ,daoine ,maithe1 #ec1 #fi4 ,dead1 ,legend of1 #bhj4 ---- ,breton1 #ad1 #bi1 #afi1 #aid-e1 #bab ff41 #cib1 #djd4 ---- ,cornish1 #afi-gj1 #agh1 #ahj-a1 #ahc4 ---- ,irish1 #cc1 #dh1 #ec1 #ee1 #fh1 #ga-b1 #gd-g4 ---- ,scotch1 #ie4 ---- ,welsh1 #adb n41 #aeb4 ,death-candle 7or ,corpse-candle71 #aj1 #ade1 #aec1 #aee1 #bjg1 #bbj-a4 ,death-coach1 #ga1 #bba4 ,death-warning1 #aj1 #afi1 #ahj1 #bac1 #bbj1 #cjd-e4 ,demon-,possession1 #bbh3 see ,exorcism and ,possession4 ---- ,science and1 #dhg ff4 ---- ,theory of1 #bdi ff4 ,dermot1 #da1 #dd1 #eg n41 #ced4 ---- ,pre-existence of1 #cgf4 ,devil1 #abc1 #aeg1 #ahj1 #bja1 #bda1 #bfc1 #bga1 #cai1 #ddf4 ---- ,worship1 #beh n41 #dba4 ,devonshire ,pixies1 #agi4 ,diana1 as ,moon-,goddess1 #hj n4 ,dinnshenchas1 #gh n41 #ha n41 #bfj1 #cja4 ,divination1 #aej1 #agf n41 #beh1 #bfd1 #bgh1 #cdc1 #dje1 #dbh1 #dcb4 ,dolmen3 see ,archaeology4 ---- ,etymology of1 #djb n4 ,donegal1 #fa1 #gb1 #ddb4 ,dowth1 #b1 #fa4 ,dream1 #da1 #ej1 #ee1 #eh1 #fh1 #aei1 #ahj-a1 #bha4 ---- ,fairyland and1 #dij4 ---- ,re-birth and1 #chc1 #eaa ff4 ---- ,science and1 #dei1 #dfd ff41 #ejh1 #eaa ff4 ,druids1 #aj1 #ab1 #ad1 #ca1 #eb1 #hb n41 #he1 #ach1 #adg1 #aeb1 #aeg n41 #baf1 #bef-g1 #bei1 #bfe-g1 #bgh1 #bib1 #bii1 #cde-f1 #cea1 #cef1 #dda1 #ddd1 #deg3 see ,exorcism1 ,magic1 and ,magicians4 ,druids1 ,irish1 #cdc4 ---- ,magic and1 #dhi n4 ---- ,oak and1 #dcc ff4 ---- ,re-birth and1 #cei1 #cfd1 #cfg1 #cfi1 #cgh n41 #chg-ia1 #cid4 ---- ,well-worship and1 #dcb4 ,dun ,cow1 ,book of3 see ,leabhar na h-,uidhre4 ,dwarfs1 #ha n41 #aib1 #aie1 #bjc-d1 #bjf ff41 #bce1 #bcg-h1 #dje3 see ,pygmy4 ,dynion ,hysbys1 #adf1 #aea1 #bec1 #bfd1 #dcf3 see ,magicians4 ,echtra ,nerai1 #bhg1 #bij1 #dac4 ,ecstasy1 #fa1 #ia1 #eab4 ---- ,fairyland and1 #dij4 ---- ,science and1 #dgb1 #dhf4 ,ego1 ,existence of1 #dif4 ---- ,idea of1 #dig4 ---- ,nature of1 #ejd n41 #eae4 ,eisteddfod1 #aa1 #dje n4 ,elementals1 #fe1 #afg1 #bda-b1 #bef-g4 ---- ,science and1 #dha4 ,ellyllon 7,elves7 and ,fairies1 #bcc ff41 #dcb1 #dic4 ---- ,science and1 #dhc4 ---- ,worship of1 #dcf4 ,elysian ,fields1 #cch1 #ceh1 #daf4 ,enchantment1 #ce-f1 #eb1 #aac3 see ,magic4 ---- ,fairy1 #ce1 #ge1 #gh1 #aac1 #aii1 #cja1 #chf4 ,environment1 xvii1 xx1 xxii1 #a ff41 #ajg1 #aae1 #abc1 #agc1 #bji1 #bba1 #bbf1 #bhb4 ---- ,science and1 #dii4 ,erisgey1 #ia n41 #ajj4 ,etain1 #cfi4 ---- ,birth of1 #cgd-f1 #cie4 ,exorcism1 #bbh1 #bec1 #bfe-gd1 #bgg1 #bha3 see ,changelings1 and ,magic4 ---- ,baptism1 as1 #bfi-gj4 ---- ,dead1 of1 #agh4 ---- defined1 #bff4 ---- ,spirits1 of1 #db1 #fg1 #abc1 #abe1 #agb1 #agi1 #bej1 #bhg n41 #djb4 ---- ,welsh1 #bgb4 ,exorcists1 #bfd1 #bfi3 see ,magicians4 ,faerie ,queen1 #cah4 ,fairy3 see ,apparitions1 ,angel1 ,astral ,spirits1 ,banshee1 ,brownie1 ,bucca1 ,changelings1 ,corrigan1 ,cult1 ,dead1 ,death1 ,devil1 ,dwarfs1 ,elementals1 ,ellyllon 7,elves71 ,fates1 ,fes1 ,fenodyree1 ,fir ,bolgs1 ,fomors1 ,ghost1 ,gnomes1 ,goblin1 ,goddesses1 ,grac'hed coz1 ,kelpy1 ,lapps1 ,lares1 ,lemures1 ,leprechaun1 ,lutins1 ,manes1 ,mermaid1 ,morgan1 ,nereids1 ,penates1 ,phantom1 ,pict1 ,pixies1 ,proserpine1 ,puck1 ,salamanders1 ,satyrs1 ,shape-shifting1 ,siabra1 ,sidhe1 ,soul1 ,spirits1 ,succubi1 ,swan-,maidens1 ,sylph1 ,troll1 ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 ,undines1 ,vivian1 ,white ,lady1 ,witch4 ,fairy ,abduction of animals1 #ic n41 #ie1 #ajf1 #aji4 ---- ,abduction of ,people1 #g1 #cc1 #cg1 #dj1 #de-h1 #ea1 #ec1 #ef1 #fh-i1 #gb1 #ge1 #hb n41 #hi1 #ih1 #aja-b1 #ajd1 #aji1 #aac1 #abj-a1 #abe1 #acj1 #ace1 #ade1 #aff n41 #agd1 #aha1 #bai1 #bde1 #bdh1 #bea-b1 #bhi-ij1 #bid ff41 #caf1 #cbf1 #cdb1 #cdg1 #cec1 #cef1 #dca3 see ,changeling1 ,otherworld1 and ,re-birth4 ---- ,army1 #cc1 #ej1 #ee1 #eg1 #fh1 #gd1 #acc4 ---- ,arrow1 #hh1 #aai4 ---- ,astrology1 #cbg4 ---- ,baking1 #abg4 ---- ,bathing1 #acf1 #aee1 #ahb1 #cbf1 #cdb4 ---- ,beating1 #da1 #gb4 ---- ,belt1 #ajf4 ---- ,birds1 #bjj1 #bbj1 #bfg1 #cjb-g1 #cbi1 #ccd1 #cde1 #cee1 #cgf3 see ,badb4 ---- ,blinding1 #ed1 #aca1 #acf1 #adj1 #ahb1 #bje1 #bji4 ---- ,boat-,race1 #hj4 ---- ,borrowing1 #acf4 ---- ,bush3 see ,fairy ,tree1 and ,cult of ,trees4 ---- ,cattle1 #adc1 #adg1 #bjc4 ---- ,churning and1 #dc1 #ig1 #acb1 #bec4 ---- ,cock-crow and1 #bbj1 #cbg4 ---- ,colour1 ,green1 #aj1 #ajc1 #ajf1 #aaj-a1 #bjg1 #bid1 #bih1 #cab-d1 #cde1 #cdi1 #ceb2 ,red1 #cb1 #gb1 #aca1 #acc1 #adb1 #aeb-fj1 #aha1 #bhi-ij1 #cde4 ---- ,crops and1 #ch1 #dc1 #bia3 see ,cult of ,agriculture4 ---- ,curse1 #hb1 #ig1 #agh1 #cgf n4 ---- ,dance1 #da1 #ef1 #gb1 #hf1 #hh1 #ib1 #aaa1 #aaf1 #abd-e1 #aca1 #ace1 #aci1 #adb-c1 #adf1 #adh1 #aee1 #aei-fj1 #aga1 #agc1 #age1 #aha-b1 #bjg-i1 #baa2 explanation of1 #bha2 origin of1 #dje-f4 ---- ,deceit1 #abg4 ---- ,description of1 #df1 #fj1 #fh1 #gg1 #aaf1 #abb1 #acc1 #ada1 #agg1 #ahg1 #bjj1 #bje1 #baa1 #bdb-c1 #big1 #cdi-ej1 #ceb3 see ,fairy ,dress4 ---- ,dog1 #dj1 #abj1 #abb1 #abi1 #acd1 #bei4 ---- ,dress1 #de1 #ee1 #fg1 #gd1 #ie1 #ajc1 #aaf1 #abc1 #aca1 #acc1 #adc1 #aee1 #afj1 #aha1 #aib1 #bjd-e1 #bjh1 #bhi1 #bid1 #big-h1 #cci1 #cde1 #cdi-ej1 #ceb4 ---- ,drops1 #dd4 ---- ,dwelling1 #cb1 #cg1 #da1 #df1 #gc1 #gf-h1 #hf-h1 #ic1 #ie1 #ig1 #ii n41 #ajd1 #ajh1 #aaj1 #aab-c1 #abf1 #aca1 #acf1 #adb1 #add1 #adg-i1 #aea1 #agb1 #ahh1 #bjj1 #bjc-d1 #bjf1 #bji1 #baa1 #bbj1 #bce1 #bhi1 #bid1 #cjf1 #caf-g1 #cbg1 #daf3 see ,otherworld4 ---- ,festivals1 #ci4 ---- ,fights1 #dc1 #ia4 ---- ,flies1 #ci4 ---- ,food1 #dd1 #dg1 #fh1 #bai1 #bge1 #bgi1 #bib-c1 #cdi1 #cec1 #cef1 #ddg3 see ,sacrifice1 ,food4 ---- ,fort 7,dn71 #b1 #bd1 #ca-b1 #cf1 #ch1 #ee1 #gb1 #cdi-ej1 #dac3 see ,fairy ,dwelling4 ---- ,fountain and1 #aja1 #baj1 #bbc1 #bfd1 #cda-c1 #cec3 see ,cult of ,waters4 ---- ,fulling1 #ih4 ---- ,games1 #da1 #ea1 #gf1 #adi4 ---- ,guardian1 #df1 #gf1 #gh1 #agi1 #ahi-ij1 #aib-c1 #aig1 #bjg1 #baa1 #bai1 #bgc1 #cbg1 #dae1 #dch4 ---- ,herb1 #ec1 #hg1 #age4 ---- ,hill 7,knoll1 and ,mound71 #gi-hj1 #hi1 #ig1 #bbj1 #bcg1 #bdc1 #bhh1 #bij1 #bic1 #bif1 #bii1 #cja1 #cjf1 #cdi1 #cgd1 #dca1 #dcg4 ---- ,hosts 7,sluagh71 xxi1 #ia1 #ajd1 #ajf1 #ajh4 ---- ,hunchback and1 #ib1 #adc1 #aih-i1 #bjh4 ---- ,hunting1 #da1 #ef1 #id1 #acd4 ---- ,iron and1 #cd1 #hg-h1 #ie1 #ih n41 #abd n41 #ach1 #add1 #adg3 see ,taboo1 ,iron4 ---- ,island1 #di1 #adg1 #bbj1 #caf1 #ccd1 #cci3 see ,avalon1 and ,otherworld4 ---- ,kings and ,queens1 #bh1 #cd1 #dd1 #fc1 #ib1 #adi-ea1 #bjj1 #bjb1 #bah1 #bib1 #cjj-a1 #ccf1 #ced4 ---- ,mr4 ,lang and1 #dge4 ---- ,love1 #aab4 ---- ,mid-wife 7or ,nurse7 and1 #ed1 #abg1 #acf1 #adj1 #age1 #bje4 ---- ,mine and1 #afe1 #ahb1 #bda4 ---- ,money 7,riches1 c471 #ga1 #hb1 #adb1 #adf1 #aef1 #aeh1 #afj1 #afb1 #bjj1 #bhi1 #big4 ---- ,music1 #bd1 #ca1 #dj1 #dg1 #ef-g1 #fa1 #fi1 #ga-b1 #gd1 #ha n41 #hf1 #ie1 #ajc1 #aaa1 #aah1 #abd1 #aca1 #ada1 #aei1 #afb1 #aha1 #baa1 #big ff41 #ccf1 #cci1 #cdj-b1 #cee-f1 #dhb2 ,mr4 ,lang and1 #dge2 ,science and1 #dhd4 ---- ,names1 #bb1 #cj1 #eb1 #gb1 #hb1 #aag1 #aec1 #afd1 #ahb1 #bjc1 #bjg1 #bca1 #bgd1 #bic1 #cjg2 objects and1 #hf4 ---- ,natural ,phenomena and1 xxii1 #da1 #ib1 #bjd1 #bai1 #bbg1 #bef1 #bfe1 #bgi1 #cjg3 see ,fairy1 ,crops2 and ,sacrifice1 ,food4 ---- ,nature of1 #bd1 #cb1 #cf1 #da1 #df1 #fc ff41 #gc1 #gf-g1 #hj1 #id1 #ii1 #ajb1 #ajd-e1 #aji1 #aac-d1 #aag1 #abj1 #abc1 #abe-f1 #acc-d1 #acg-i1 #adb1 #adc n41 #add-e1 #adg-h1 #aej1 #aeb1 #aga-c1 #agf-g1 #ahj1 #ahb1 #bjg1 #baa1 #bah ff41 #bce ff41 #bdc1 #bed1 #bgi1 #cjg1 #cbg1 #dji1 #dif4 ---- ,path 7or ,pass71 #cc1 #ch1 #fg1 #gg1 #aej1 #bah1 #bca1 #bgg4 ---- ,pig1 as1 #abf4 ---- ,power1 #dg1 #fg1 #gb1 #hb1 #hh1 #ie1 #aac1 #aba1 #aej1 #ahc1 #bai1 #bec1 #bfb1 #bfe4 ---- ,prayer1 #aah1 #abi4 ---- ,preserves1 #ch1 #gh1 #bgg1 #bic4 ---- ,procession1 #cc1 #eg1 #fg1 #gd1 #gi n41 #hj n41 #abf1 #acd1 #bah1 #bgg1 #bhh4 ---- ,prophet1 #dg1 #id1 #aci1 #afj1 #aig1 #baa1 #bij1 #cjb n41 #cje4 ---- ,reality of1 #dij1 #dib ff4 ---- ,revenge1 #ib1 #ie1 #ig1 #abe1 #adb1 #adf1 #agg1 #ahj1 #aia1 #aif1 #aii1 #bje1 #bjh-aj1 #bbj1 #bic3 see ,fairy1 ,hunchback4 ---- ,ring1 #b1 #ia1 #adb-c1 #adh-i1 #aea1 #afa1 #aha-b1 #ahd1 #bjh4 ---- ,science and1 #bdj1 #bha-b1 #cjg1 #def-eae4 ---- ,smallness of1 #cb1 #da1 #dg1 #gb1 #ii1 #ajb1 #ajd1 #abc1 #abe1 #acc1 #adj1 #adc1 #adf1 #adh1 #aea1 #aee1 #aei1 #aga1 #agc1 #agf-g1 #agi-ha1 #ahd1 #bjg1 #baa1 #bai1 #bcc-dd1 #bha4 ---- ,song1 #dj1 #ga1 #hf1 #ib1 #ih-i1 #aja1 #ajd1 #aab1 #aad1 #aah1 #aci1 #adc1 #adh1 #bja-b1 #bjh-i1 #cja1 #cci1 #cdb1 #cde1 #cge4 ---- ,spell 7and ,stroke71 #ec1 #ia1 #abf1 #acf1 #aei1 #afd1 #agc1 #bah1 #bai1 #bcj-a1 #beb-c1 #bfe1 #bfh1 #bhf1 #big1 #cbf1 #ccj1 #cde1 #cef1 #dca3 see ,exorcism2 ,fairy1 ,hunchback2 ,magic2 and ,magicians4 ---- ,spinning1 #hh1 #aaj4 ---- ,stations1 #df4 ---- ,stature1 #dg1 #fb1 #fg-h1 #gg1 #if1 #aad1 #abc1 #ada1 #adh1 #bcc ff41 #bdb3 see ,fairy1 ,smallness of4 ---- ,tree 7or ,bush71 #cc1 #gj1 #gh1 #abf1 #bgg1 #bib1 #dce3 see ,cult of ,trees4 ---- ,tribes1 #cb1 #eb4 ---- ,tricks1 #abg1 #adc1 #agg1 #ahc-d1 #aia1 #bje1 #bjg1 #baa1 #cbj4 ---- ,visits1 #abb1 #acf1 #ach1 #adf1 #aee1 #afj3 see ,otherworld4 ---- ,voice 7or ,talking71 #dg1 #fh1 #acd1 #aci1 #aee1 #afb1 #ahg-i1 #bjc2 ,science and1 #dhe4 ---- ,wand3 see ,wands4 ---- ,war1 #dd1 #df1 #ej1 #bjg1 #baa3 see ,sidhe4 ---- ,water1 and1 #ch1 #bgj1 #caa-b1 #cah1 #ddf3 see ,cult of ,waters4 ---- ,weaving1 #gd4 ---- ,whistle1 #df1 #bjh4 ---- ,wife1 #ace1 #ach1 #adf1 #adh1 #afb1 #bjj1 #bhi1 #big1 #cah n41 #cbe1 #cbh1 #cdf-g1 #dab4 ---- ,woman1 xxiv1 #b1 #d1 #ed1 #gf-h1 #ii1 #ajc-d1 #aaj-a1 #aba1 #ace1 #ach1 #adc1 #ahf1 #ahi1 #bjj-b1 #bhf-g1 #bic1 #bif-g1 #cje1 #caa1 #cad1 #cbf1 #ccc1 #cce1 #ccg-i1 #cdb1 #cde-g1 #cea-b3 see ,sidhe and ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ,fairy-,faith1 ,african1 #bbh1 #bha4 ---- ,albanian1 #bcj4 ---- ,american1 #bbh1 #bcg1 #bdf1 #bha4 ---- ,animism of1 #bhb1 #deh1 #dgg4 ---- ,antiquity of1 #ii1 #afc1 #agh1 #aid1 #bac1 #baf1 #bba1 #bca1 #bdd1 #bef1 #bff1 #bfi1 #bgh1 #cjg1 #cba1 #cbe1 #cca1 #ced1 #ceg1 #cie1 #djh1 #dbg1 #dcb1 #dci1 #dda1 #deg1 #dgg4 ---- ,arabian1 #bbi4 ---- ,australian1 #bbg1 #bha4 ---- ,breton1 #ahe1 #bbe4 ---- ,chinese1 #bbh1 #bej4 ---- ,collecting ,evidence of1 xix4 ---- ,comparative1 #bbf ff41 #bha1 #cjg1 #deg1 #dge4 ---- ,cornish1 #afc-he4 ---- ,degeneration of1 #deh4 ---- ,egyptian1 #bbi4 ---- ,esoteric1 #deg-h1 #dib ff4 ---- ,etruscan1 #bca4 ---- ,exoteric1 #deg-h4 ---- ,german1 #bca4 ---- ,greek1 #bcj1 #bdf4 ---- ,importance of ,studying1 xxv1 #bb4 ---- ,indian1 #bbh1 #bch4 ---- ,interpretation of1 xvi1 #ah1 #be1 #bh-cj1 #ei1 #aga1 #bbe1 #bgg1 #bha1 #chc1 #dga1 #dhi1 #eae4 ---- ,irish1 #bc-hd4 ---- ,italian1 #bca4 ---- ,japanese1 #bbh1 #ddj4 ---- ,malay1 #bbh1 #bch4 ---- ,manx1 #aag-ce4 ---- ,melanesian1 #bbg1 #bfe1 #bgg4 ---- ,metaphysics of1 #deh4 ---- ,methods of studying1 xviii4 ---- ,mexican1 #bdf4 ---- ,nature of1 #ah1 #gj1 #ij1 #id1 #aje1 #aji1 #aag-h1 #abf1 #acc1 #ade-f1 #bbe1 #bcc1 #bce-f1 #bef1 #bha1 #bif n41 #cjg1 #dcc1 #dch1 #deh1 #dgg4 ---- ,origin of1 xvi1 #ah1 #gj1 #ij1 #ii1 #acg1 #afh1 #agh1 #bbf1 #bdd-e1 #beg1 #cih1 #dcb-c1 #deb1 #dee1 #deg-h1 #dgg4 ---- ,persian1 #bbi4 ---- ,philosophy of1 #ah-bj4 ---- ,polynesian1 #bch1 #bdh1 #bha4 ---- ,psychical ,phenomena and1 #dei3 see ,science and ,fairies4 ---- ,religion and1 xvi1 #bb1 #gj1 #gh1 #hc1 #ij1 #ii1 #ajj n41 #aah1 #abc1 #abe1 #aeb n41 #afc1 #afh1 #aid1 #bba1 #bde1 #bef-g1 #bff1 #bfi1 #bga1 #bgd1 #bif n41 #cdd1 #ced1 #cfd1 #chh1 #djd1 #djf-h1 #dba1 #dbg ff41 #dci1 #dda1 #ddb ff41 #dej n41 #deb ff41 #deg-h1 #dgg3 see ,cult1 and ,christianity4 ---- ,roumain1 #bcj4 ---- ,scandinavian1 #bca4 ---- ,science and1 #aai1 #def ff4 ---- ,scotch1 #hd-aaf4 ---- ,siamese1 #bbi4 ---- ,state of1 in ,brittany1 #bje2 in ,cornwall1 #agj1 #ahj2 in ,highlands1 #hd1 #hh1 #ij1 #ia1 #id1 #ii4 ---- ,swiss1 #bca4 ---- ,theology and1 #db1 #ia1 #ii1 #abg1 #adf1 #afh1 #bdd1 #cfj-c1 #cfe n41 #cfi1 #cgj1 #cgc1 #dic4 ---- ,theories of1 xxi1 #bj1 #hd1 #aah2 ,delusion and ,imposture1 #dfb-d1 #dhi2 ,druid1 xxiii2 ,materialistic1 xxv1 #dfa1 #dhi2 ,mythological1 xxiv2 ,naturalistic1 xxi1 #a1 #h1 #aeb n42 ,pathological1 #dfa-b1 #dhi2 ,psychical1 #a1 #g1 #i1 #aj1 #ac1 #ad1 #fa1 #aga1 #bfe1 #dje1 #dji1 #dgg1 #dhi ff42 ,psychological1 xxii1 #bj1 #ie1 #bjb1 #baa1 #bec1 #bgd1 #cje1 #ccj1 #cch1 #chc1 #dbg1 #dda1 #eae2 ,psycho-,physical1 #dei-fj1 #dhi2 ,pygmy1 xxii1 #aai1 #adh n41 #afi1 #bai1 #bcd-e1 #bda1 #bde1 #bgf1 #cih4 ---- ,turkish1 #bbi4 ---- ,unity of1 #bcc1 #cbi1 #cca1 #ceg1 #cif4 ---- ,welsh1 #ace-fc4 ---- ,x-quantity of1 #bhb2 ,outlined1 #dei2 ,testing of1 #dhj ff41 #dij-a4 ,fairyland3 see ,avalon1 ,hades1 ,otherworld1 and ,purgatory4 ---- ,dead and1 #dj1 #dc1 #ef1 #fh-i1 #gb1 #abc1 #aid-e1 #bjb1 #bad1 #bag1 #bai-bj1 #bea1 #bhj1 #cej1 #dij3 see ,dead1 ,legend of1 and under ,death4 ---- ,going to1 #dj1 #dc1 #ee1 #fe1 #fh-i1 #adh1 #aed1 #afa1 #age1 #bdh1 #bea-b1 #bie1 #bii1 #cjb1 #cjf1 #cdh1 #dac1 #dfi ff41 #dij3 see ,abduction of ,people1 under ,fairy2 and ,changelings4 ---- ,nature of1 #ah1 #ci1 #dc1 #fj ff41 #gj1 #hd1 #abj1 #abc1 #acg n41 #add1 #adi n41 #aej-a1 #aed1 #afg1 #aga1 #aid-e1 #bjb1 #bai1 #bha1 #bif n41 #caj1 #cab1 #cag1 #cce1 #cej1 #chc1 #daf1 #deb1 #dic3 see ,otherworld4 ---- ,origin of belief in1 #bce1 #bde1 #bha1 #deb4 ---- ,reality of1 #ah1 #hd1 #aed1 #dfi1 #dij1 #dic1 #eae4 ---- ,return from1 #ci1 #dh-i1 #ea1 #ih1 #acj1 #adi1 #afb1 #beb1 #bfe1 #bie1 #bif n41 #bii1 #caf1 #cdg3 see ,changelings4 ---- ,science and1 #dij4 ---- ,time in1 #hh1 #ie1 #aac1 #ace1 #ade1 #adi1 #aed1 #afb1 #age-f1 #bif n41 #cbi1 #cci1 #cej1 #ced1 #dfi ff41 #dgc4 ,fallen ,angels as ,fairies1 #fg1 #gf1 #he1 #aje-f1 #aji1 #aac1 #aaf1 #abi1 #aed1 #bje1 #bab1 #bca1 #bda4 ,fand1 #caf1 #cde-f4 ,fascination1 #beh4 ,fasting1 #agi1 #bfg1 #dab-d1 #dbb1 #dde1 #ddg n4 ,fate1 ,irish ,idea of1 #bgh4 ,fates1 #bjc1 #bca1 #cbg4 ,feast of ,dead1 #bah1 #bhh-i1 #bii1 #dci ff41 #deb ff43 see ,dead1 ,legend of2 and ,november ,day4 ,fes1 xxiv1 #aie ff41 #baf1 #bca1 #beg1 #cbg1 #cdg4 ,fennel1 #gi1 #hc4 ,fenodyree1 #abj1 #abi1 #aca4 ,fermanagh1 #gc4 ,fetishism1 #bei1 #dja1 #djb n4 ,fiacc's ,hymn1 #dcf4 ,fianna1 #bhg n41 #bic1 #bih1 #cdg1 #ddc4 ,find1 ,re-birth of1 #cgj-d4 ,finvara1 #b1 #bh1 #db1 #dd1 #cjj4 ,fionn 7or ,finn71 #b1 #eh n41 #bei1 #bhg n41 #bib1 #bih-i1 #cjb1 #ccd1 #cgf1 #dad-e1 #dda1 #ddc4 ,fir ,bolgs1 #cb1 #gj1 #bhe1 #dag4 ,fomors1 #gj1 #cjc1 #cjg1 #caj1 #cce4 ,food-,sacrifice3 see ,sacrifice4 ,fountain1 ,lady of1 #cbe4 ---- ,cult of3 see ,cult4 ,fourth ,dimension1 #afg4 ---- ,science and1 #dhg4 ,freemasonry1 #cac n41 #dbb1 #ddi4 ,galahad1 #cae-f1 #cag n4 ,galway1 #ci1 #db4 ,gauvain1 #cab1 #caf1 #cdh1 #ddg4 ,gavrinis1 #ae1 #dji ff41 #dae1 #dah1 #dbc-d ff41 #dea4 ',gentry'3 see ,fairy ,names4 ,geoffrey1 #cjh n41 #cbb-c1 #ccj1 #djc4 ,ghost1 #c1 #g1 #aj1 #bf1 #bi1 #dg1 #fg1 #gj1 #aah1 #aba1 #abd1 #ade1 #aeb1 #aef1 #agb1 #ahj1 #ahd1 #aia-b1 #bag1 #bai-bj1 #bbh1 #bch1 #bdg-i1 #beg1 #bfe1 #bgg1 #bhj1 #bhb1 #bhe1 #bhi1 #bia1 #ccj1 #cfh1 #cih-i1 #ddf3 see ,dead1 and ,death4 ---- ,fairy and1 #dch4 ---- ,science and1 #ai1 #dgg4 ,giant1 xxiii1 #afc1 #aib4 ,gildas1 #cba4 ,glamorgan1 #aeh4 ,glashtin1 #aca4 ,gnomes1 #bda-c4 ---- ,science and1 #dha1 #dhc4 ,gnosticism1 #cfa-b4 ,goblin1 #adc1 #ade1 #bjg1 #bbj1 #bda1 #cjf4 ,goddess1 #gh-i1 #hc1 #bbi1 #cfi1 #cgh1 #cij1 #deg4 ,goddess ,dana1 #bhc-cjg4 ---- ,mother1 #bhc1 #bhd n41 #bij1 #cij4 ,gods3 see ,cult4 ---- ,science and1 #dhj4 ',good ,people'3 see ,fairy ,names4 ,gospel ,stories and ,fairy-,faith1 #afh4 ,gower1 #aj1 #aeh ff4 ,grac'hed coz1 #aie ff4 ,graelent1 #cbf4 ,grail1 ,holy1 #caa1 #caf1 #cbe1 #cec4 ---- ,holy1 ,cup1 as1 #cdb1 #cej4 ,grania1 #da1 #eg n4 ,gruagach1 #ib4 ,guingemor1 #cbf1 #cdh4 ,gwenhwyvar1 #aeb n41 #caj-d1 #caf4 ,gwion1 ,re-birth of1 #cgh4 ,gwydion1 #aea-b n41 #cgi1 #dag4 ,gwynn ,ab ,nudd1 #aeb n41 #cai-bj4 ,hades1 #bif n41 #caj1 #cab1 #ccf-h1 #ceb-c1 #daa1 #dde4 ---- ,origin of belief in1 #deb4 ---- ,purgatory1 as1 #ddg4 ---- ,science and1 #ead4 ---- ,sun-cult and1 #dbb4 ,halloween1 #ch1 #ia1 #ic n41 #agi3 see ,november ,day1 and ,samain4 ,hallucinations3 see ,apparitions4 ---- ,science and1 #dei1 #dfa1 #dfd1 #dij4 ,harlech1 #aj1 #add1 #ccd4 ,hebrides1 #d1 #g1 #i1 #ij1 #ajj ff4 ,hergest1 ,red ,book of1 #cjh n41 #ccj4 ,highlands1 #e1 #g1 #ic ff4 ,hi ,corra1 ,voyage of1 #ced4 ,hy ,brasil1 #ccd4 ,hypnotism1 #bee1 #bfe1 #dff1 #dhh1 #ejg-h4 ,iamblichus1 #bed1 #beg n41 #djj1 #dhd4 ,immortality1 ,non-personal1 #ejc ff41 #eji n4 ,incantation1 #agf1 #bei3 see ,charms4 ,initiates1 #ei1 #cac n41 #ccf-g1 #ceh1 #cgh1 #dbc-d4 ,initiations1 #ac1 #gh1 #aeg n41 #agi n41 #beg1 #cac n41 #ccf-h1 #cdb1 #cec1 #cgh-i1 #dje-f1 #daa-b1 #dae-f1 #dai1 #dbb1 #dbe1 #ddd ff41 #ddg ff4 ,initiations1 ,celtic1 #cdb-c1 #dji ff4 ---- ,nature of1 #ddg n4 ,innishmurray1 #di1 #ed1 #ccd4 ,inverness1 #d1 #ic4 ,iolo ,,ms41 #cjh n4 ,iona1 #g1 #ic1 #dcf4 ,jack-in-the-,green1 #dce4 ,jeanne d',arc1 #bfc-d4 ,jews1 ,re-birth and1 #cei4 ---- ,sun-cult1 and1 #dba4 ,karnak and ,carnac1 xv4 ,kelpy1 xxi1 #c1 #bh1 #bjg4 ,kerry1 #fa1 #hc1 #cdj4 ,kirk1 ,robt41 #ff1 #he1 #hi1 #ia n41 #bcg1 #bgi n41 #bic4 ,knowth1 #cd4 ,kulhwch and ,olwen1 #cag-bj1 #cbh1 #dea4 ---- ,date of1 #cca4 ,lake1 ,lady of1 #gh1 #gi n41 #cad-g1 #cbg1 #cgi4 ,lancelot1 #cab1 #cae-f1 #cdh4 ,land's ,end1 #aha4 ,lanval1 #cbe1 #cbf4 ,lanval's ,voyage1 #cdg-h4 ,lapps1 xxiii1 #bcd n4-#e1 #bdd4 ,lares1 #dch4 ,layamon1 #cjh n41 #cbc4 ,leaba ,mologa1 #dad4 ,leabhar na h-,uidhre 7,book of the ,dun ,cow71 #bei1 #bhe1 #bib1 #cec1 #cgd1 #cgg1 #dji4 ---- ,age of1 #bhc n4 ,lear1 #g1 #aah1 #ace1 #cbb3 see ,manannan4 ,lebar ,brecc1 #bga1 #cac n41 #ded4 ,lebar ,gabala1 #bib4 ,lecan1 ,y4 ,b4 of1 ,age of1 #bhc n4 ,leinster1 #bid1 #cga4 ---- ,book of1 #bhe1 #bib1 #cjc1 #cef2 age of1 #bhc n4 ,lemures1 #dch4 ,leprechaun1 #be1 #bh1 #dg1 #eb1 #ga1 #hb1 #bce-f1 #bda1 #bdc1 #dic4 ---- ,etymology of1 #bcf4 ,lia ,fil1 #ad1 #dja4 ,libations to ,fairies1 #cf1 #ib-c1 #bjj1 #bah1 #bgc1 #bia4 ,lights1 #g1 #fa1 #gg1 #hc1 #acc1 #ade1 #aee1 #ahj1 #bjg1 #bae4 ---- ,science and1 #dfc1 #dhc-d4 ,limerick1 #gh1 #chf4 ,lismore1 ,book of1 #dja1 #dab2 age of1 #bhc n4 ,lough ,derg1 #gb1 #ddb ff4 ,lough ,gur1 #gh1 #chf4 ,lug1 #fb1 #bib1 #cfi1 #dej4 ,lugnasadh1 #dea4 ,lutins1 #aei n41 #aij-a1 #bjf ff41 #dic4 ,lyonesse1 #ab1 #afg4 ,mabinogion1 #aj1 #bfj1 #big1 #cjd1 #cag1 #cbh-i1 #dea4 ---- ,age of1 #cjh n41 #cca4 ---- ,editions of1 #cjh n4 ,mael-,duin's ,voyage1 #cdh4 ,magic1 #aj1 #ic1 #abj1 #aca1 #aec1 #aef1 #afh1 #aga1 #bjd1 #bde1 #bej1 #bec-fe1 #bha1 #bib1 #bii1 #cbd1 #cbh1 #cci1 #cdf1 #chj-a3 see ,charms1 ,divination1 ,magicians1 ,necromancy1 ,fairy ,spell1 ,witches1 and ,witchcraft4 ---- ,ancient1 #bee-fj4 ---- ,celtic1 #bef-g1 #bei-fj4 ---- ,fairy1 #db1 #aii1 #bjc1 #bfe1 #cbg4 ---- ,frazer1 ,dr41 and1 #bed-e4 ---- ,indian1 #beh1 #dhi n4 ---- ,religion and1 #db1 #bee1 #bhg n41 #bib1 #cha1 #djd-e3 see ,exorcism1 and ,taboo4 ---- ,roman ,church and1 #db1 #bcg n4 ---- ,study of1 #beg1 #dhi n4 ---- ,taboo and1 #bgd ff4 ---- ,theories of1 #bec4 ,magicians1 #aca1 #aef1 #bbg-h1 #bdg1 #bec-e1 #beg1 #bfb-e1 #bfh1 #bii1 #cbi1 #cdd1 #chj-a1 #dag1 #dcc1 #dcg1 #dhi n43 see ,manannan1 and ,merlin4 ,magnetism1 ,animal1 #bfb4 ,malory1 #cjh n41 #cab1 #cae1 #cbc1 #chj4 ,mana1 #bed-e1 #bfb1 #bfe1 #bgh1 #dgi4 ,manannan1 #g1 #fb1 #hj n41 #aah1 #abj1 #aca-b n41 #ace1 #bii1 #ccc1 #cce1 #cci1 #cdb-c1 #cde-f1 #cef1 #cgb-d1 #cgf4 ---- ,hermes1 like1 #cdc n4 ,manes1 #dch1 #dda4 ,marazion1 #agc4 ,mrchen1 #bc4 ,marie de ,france1 #cjh n41 #cbe-f1 #cdh4 ,math1 #dag4 ,matter of ,britain1 #cbh1 #cca4 ,may ,day1 #cab1 #dce4 ---- ,fairies and1 #dc1 #ec1 #ajj n41 #abd4 ,meath1 #big1 #dae4 ,meave 7,medb71 #c1 #dc1 #gj1 #bhh-i1 #cja1 #ddj4 ,megaliths1 ,alignement of1 #dai ff43 see ,archaeology4 ,melwas1 #caa1 #cac-d1 #caf4 ,menhir3 see ,archaeology4 ,merionethshire1 #add4 ,merlin1 #aj1 #adi1 #cad-e1 #cba-b1 #cbi-cj1 #djc1 #dag1 #dbi1 #dce-g1 #ddg4 ,mermaid1 #be1 #bh4 ,mesca ,ulad1 #cdd4 ,midir1 #cjb1 #caa1 #cgd-f1 #dac4 ,mil1 #bhd1 #bia3 see ,milesians4 ,milesians1 #cb1 #bhg1 #cjc1 #cdi1 #cgb1 #cgg n4 ,mithras1 #ddh4 ,modred1 #cbb1 #cbd4 ,mongan1 #bfj4 ---- ,re-birth of1 #cgj ff41 #cid-e4 ,montgomeryshire1 #ade4 ,morbihan1 xv1 #aii n41 #bgc1 #cii1 #dja1 #djc-d1 #dbh4 ,morgan1 #bjj-a1 #ceb4 ---- le ,fay1 #caa1 #cae1 #cbg4 ,morrigu1 #cjb-c1 #cje1 #cae3 see ,badb4 ,moytura1 #b1 #cjc1 #cce4 ,munster1 #cjj1 #cdh4 ,mysteries1 xiii1 #ad1 #ei1 #agc1 #beg-i1 #cac n41 #ccg-h1 #cdc1 #cei1 #cfe1 #cgg n41 #dje ff41 #dji ff4 ---- ,celtic1 #dji ff41 #ddd ff4 ---- ,nature of1 #daa1 #dbb1 #ddh ff4 ---- ,puberty1 #ddi ff4 ,mysticism1 xvii1 #a1 #b1 #e1 #h1 #i1 #ac-d1 #eh-i1 #gh1 #cac1 #cda n41 #cef1 #cfj n41 #cfd1 #cgg n4 ---- ,comparative1 #deg-h4 ,mythology1 ,interpretation of ,irish1 #cjg4 ---- ,origin of1 #bha1 #dee4 ,necromancy1 #aea n41 #beh1 #djd1 #dhi n4 ,nennius1 #cjh n41 #cbb4 ,nereids1 #bcj-a4 ,new ,grange1 #b1 #cf1 #fa1 #dji ff41 #dea4 ,newlyn1 #agh ff4 ,nirvana1 ,meaning of1 #cff1 #cia4 ,november ,day 7or ,eve71 ,origin of1 #dci1 #dec4 ---- ,fairies and1 #ch1 #ec1 #gc1 #ia1 #ic n41 #ajj n41 #agi1 #bac1 #bah1 #bhh-i1 #cja3 see ,samain4 ,nuada1 #cai4 ,nymphs1 #bbi-ca4 ,obsession3 see ,possession4 ,occultism1 ,discussion of1 #bdj4 ,ogam1 #cdj1 #cgb4 ,ogier1 #cdh4 ,oracles1 #aj1 #ae1 #daj1 #ddh4 ,osiris1 xv1 #cji n41 #caj1 #cbj-a1 #cha1 #dbb1 #dci-dj4 ,ossian 7,oisin71 #eg1 #bfj1 #bii4 ,ossian's ,voyage1 #cdf-g1 #ceg4 ,otherworld1 #fj1 #fb1 #gh1 #abc1 #aid1 #bbj1 #bdf-g1 #beb1 #bgg-h1 #bha1 #bie1 #caa1 #caf1 #cah1 #cba1 #cga-c1 #ddc4 ---- ,atlantis and1 #cc n41 #ei4 ---- ,classical1 #ccf-g4 ---- ,description of1 #ccb-h1 #cdj-c1 #cdi ff4 ---- ,egyptian1 #chj-a1 #dbb4 ---- ,evolution of idea of1 #ccc n41 #cec-g4 ---- ,heaven1 as1 #ced-e1 #ddf4 ---- ,hell1 as1 #cee4 ---- ,interpreted1 #gj1 #bhe1 #ccg-h1 #cef1 #dib4 ---- ,location of1 #ccb-d4 ---- ,names of1 #ccd-e4 ---- ,nature of1 #ccb-h1 #cdj-c1 #cef-g4 ---- ,new ,zealand1 #bge4 ---- ,passport to1 #ccf-g4 ---- ,polynesian1 #bge4 ---- ,purgatory1 as1 #bha1 #ced1 #cfd3 see ,purgatory4 ---- ,re-birth and1 #ccd1 #cfe3 see ,re-birth4 ---- ,science and1 #ead-e4 ---- ,virgil on1 #ccf-g1 #chb1 #dde4 ---- ,voyages1 #cbh1 #cce1 #cch-eg1 #cgh-hj4 ,paimpont1 #ahh3 see ,brocliande4 ,pantheism1 ,celtic1 #cgg n4 ,paracelsus1 #afg1 #bdj1 #bed4 ,pardon1 ,breton1 #dbh1 #dej n4 ,peel1 #abi1 #acb1 #chg4 ,pembrokeshire1 #adg1 #aec1 #afa4 ,penates1 #aij1 #bbi4 ,penzance1 #ab1 #agd ff41 #cia4 ',people of ,peace1' ,origin of name1 #dch n43 see ,fairy ,names4 ,phallicism1 #djb n4 ,phantom3 see ,apparition1 ,dead1 ,death1 ,fairy1 ,ghost1 and ,science and ,fairies4 ---- ,coach1 #be4 ---- ,funeral1 #aj1 #abf1 #ade1 #aeb1 #bac-e1 #bba4 ---- ,horse1 #gi n41 #bae4 ---- ,ship1 #be4 ---- ,washerwomen1 #bab1 #baf4 ,philtres1 #beh4 ,phoenicians1 #ab1 #agc1 #agf1 #cie-f4 ,pict1 #afe-f1 #bcd n4-#e4 ,pin-,wells1 #dcj4 ,pixies1 #aeh-i1 #afd ff41 #bjg1 #bbj1 #bbi1 #bch1 #bda1 #bej1 #cih1 #djf1 #dic4 ---- ,etymology of1 #afe4 ,pliny on ,druids1 #bef1 #bei1 #bfj1 #dcc4 ,pluto1 #cab1 #ccg1 #cfg1 #deb4 ,poltergeist ,phenomena1 #fg1 #gd1 #hh1 #abj1 #abd-e1 #acb1 #aef1 #afb1 #afd1 #bah1 #bbj1 #dhh4 ---- ,fairies and1 #dge-f1 #dhb1 #dhd4 ---- ,science and1 #dei1 #dfc1 #dha1 #dij4 ,possession1 #cd1 #fi1 #aab1 #bjg1 #bfe1 #bfh ff41 #cge3 see ,demon-,possession1 and ,exorcism4 ---- ,science and1 #dgb4 ,proserpine1 #cab1 #ccf-h1 #chb1 #dej n41 #dge4 ,psychical ,research1 #ad1 #bee1 #bfe1 #cfe1 #dei1 #dfa ff41 #dga ff41 #dic1 #dig1 #ejb ff4 ---- ,society1 #bfh1 #ccj1 #cih1 #ddg n41 #dhh4 ,psychic ,centres1 #ad1 #gd1 #bba1 #bii1 #daj-a3 see ,mysteries4 ,psychological ,theory3 see ,fairy-,faith1 ,theories of4 ,psychology1 ,social1 #bcb1 #bea1 #bhb1 #bhi1 #cjg1 #deh1 #dfi1 #dge n41 #dgf n4 ,puck 7,puca71 #be1 #ec1 #afd1 #bjg4 ---- ,science and1 #dhc4 ,purgatory1 #afi1 #cfd1 #dje1 #dad1 #ddb ff4 ---- ,fairies and1 #gf4 ---- ,origin of doctrine of1 #deb4 ,pygmy1 xxii-xxiii1 #bh1 #bcd n41 #bcf-i1 #bde1 #cih3 see ,fairy-,faith1 ,theories of1 ,pygmy4 ,pyramid1 xv4 ---- ,celtic tumuli and1 #dah ff4 ---- ,purpose of1 #dbc ff4 ,rag-,bushes1 #dcj4 ,rappings and ,science1 #dei1 #dfc1 #dge n41 #dha1 #dhh4 ,re-birth1 #e1 #i1 #fd1 #hd1 #bbg1 #beb1 #cac n41 #cec1 #ceh-if4 ---- ,arthur and1 #caj1 #cae1 #cba1 #cbc-d1 #cgi-ha1 #chf1 #eji n4 ---- ,australian1 #bbg4 ---- ,barddas ,,mss4 on1 #cfe-g1 #cgh1 #eae4 ---- ,brython1 #baf1 #cgh-hj1 #cib-c4 ---- ,buddha and1 #cei1 #chb1 #eji1 #ead4 ---- ,christian1 #cei-fc1 #chg1 #cia1 #cic-e1 #eac4 ---- ,classical ,writers on1 #cfg1 #cie4 ---- ,darwinism and1 #cfe1 #eja1 #eae4 ---- ,dermot's1 #cgf4 ---- ,emerson and1 #chb4 ---- ,esoteric ,doctrine of1 #cgg n41 #ejc-d1 #eac n41 #ead4 ---- ,fichte and1 #chb4 ---- ,gnostics and1 #cfa-b4 ---- ,greek1 #chb4 ---- ,herder and1 #chb4 ---- ,historical ,survey of1 #cei-fe4 ---- ,dr4 ,hyde on1 #cfh4 ---- ,japanese1 #chc4 ---- ,jewish1 #cei1 #chd n4 ---- ,jubainville on1 #cfh4 ---- ,lama and1 #chc4 ---- ,manichaean1 #cfb4 ---- ,modern1 #cfd4 ---- ,modern ,celtic1 #chc-ic2 non-,celtic1 #cfd1 #chj-c4 ---- ,mongan's1 #cgj4 ---- ,origen on1 #cei-fa1 #cid4 ---- ,origin and ,evolution of ,doctrine1 #cic-f4 ---- ,otherworld and1 #cch1 #ceh1 #deb4 ---- ,parnell's1 #che4 ---- ,philo and1 #cei4 ---- ,purgatory and1 #cfd1 #chd1 #deb4 ---- ,roman ,church and1 #cfd4 ---- ,rosicrucians and1 #cfd4 ---- ,schopenhauer and1 #chb4 ---- ,science and1 #dfi1 #dib-eac4 ---- ,sex in1 #cge n41 #cia4 ---- ,spiritual1 #ddi4 ---- ,sun and1 #caj1 #cba1 #chj1 #dbj4 ---- ,tennyson and1 #chb4 ---- ,tertullian on1 #cei-fa1 #cid4 ---- ,tuan's1 #cgg4 ---- ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 of1 #cfg-gf4 ---- ,whitman and1 #chb4 ---- ,william ,,ii and1 #chc4 ---- ,wordsworth and1 #chb4 ,religions1 ,origin of1 #bbf1 #dee4 ,robin ,good-fellow1 #bjg1 #bbj4 ---- ,science and1 #dha4 ,roman ,catholic ,theology and ,fairies1 #db1 #afh1 #bgj1 #cfd1 #deb4 ,romans ,bretons1 #cbf-h4 ,roscommon1 #c1 #bg1 #fi1 #gj4 ,rosicrucians1 #afg1 #bdj-a1 #bdc1 #cfd4 ,rosses ,point1 #eh1 #ff1 #bdc4 ,ross-shire1 #ij4 ,round ,table1 #cji-aj1 #cab1 #cbc4 ,round ,tower1 #ei1 #ih1 #abi4 ,sabbath1 #bae1 #bfd4 ---- ,corrigan1 #bji-aj n4 ,sacrifice1 #beh-i1 #dac1 #dbi-cj1 #dcd n41 #dcf ff41 #dee4 ---- ,animal1 #dbd1 #dce4 ---- ,food1 #bha1 #djd1 #djh1 #dcg-h1 #dda1 #ded2 ,anthropology and1 #bgi-hj2 ,fairy1 to1 #cf-g1 #dd1 #gj1 #ge1 #aag1 #afd1 #aga1 #age1 #bah1 #bgi-hj1 #bia1 #dcg3 see ,libations4 ---- ,human1 #bdf-g1 #bea-b1 #bhj1 #cea1 #djg1 #dcj1 #dcf4 ,sagas1 #cj1 #cfh1 #cgd4 ,saints1 ,communion of1 #abg4 ,salamanders1 #bdb4 ,salmon1 ,sacred1 #cda n41 #dcc4 ,samain1 #ca1 #bhh-ij1 #bih-i1 #cde1 #dci-dj1 #dec3 see ,november ,day4 ,satyrs1 #cjc1 #cjf1 #djf4 ,science and ,fairies1 #def-eae4 ,second-sight1 #dc1 #ia n41 #adj3 see ,clairvoyance4 ---- ,science and1 #dhf4 ,seers and ,seeresses1 xviii1 #b1 #c1 #ah1 #dc-d1 #ee1 #fj ff41 #gb1 #gf1 #hj1 #hb-c1 #ia1 #id1 #if1 #abb1 #abd1 #ada1 #aeb1 #aee1 #aeh1 #agg1 #ahb1 #bjf1 #bac-d1 #bag1 #bbg1 #bdb1 #bfd1 #bhd-e1 #bij1 #ccd1 #cib-c1 #deg1 #dei1 #dgj1 #dgg4 ,sein1 le de1 #ae1 #bah4 ,senchus na relec1 #bib4 ,serpents1 #cdc4 ---- ,st4 ,patrick and1 #ddd4 ,sgalta1 #bc4 ,shakespeare1 #afd1 #bda4 ,shape-shifting1 #cd-e1 #dg1 #gi n41 #ha n41 #aib1 #bje1 #bjg1 #baa1 #bcj1 #bei1 #bic1 #cja-b1 #cbh1 #cde1 #cef1 #cgd1 #chi4 ,shoney1 #ic1 #bjj4 ,siabra 7,ghosts71 #bhe1 #caj4 ,sidh1 ,definition of1 #bia4 ,sidhe1 #bg-h1 #eh-ff1 #gg1 #hf1 #aac1 #bbg1 #bhc-cjg1 #cad1 #ccd1 #ceb1 #dca3 see ,tuatha ,de ,danann4 ---- ,abductions by1 #bid-f4 ---- ,clontarf1 at1 #cje-g4 ---- ,minstrels and ,musicians1 #fi1 #big-cjj4 ---- ,nature of1 #fb-d1 #bhe-ia1 #cjg4 ---- ,palaces1 #bia-c1 #cjj-b1 #dca4 ---- ,science and1 #dgc1 #dgi4 ---- ,society and ,warfare1 #fj1 #fc1 #fe1 #bia1 #cjj-g1 #cce4 ---- ,visions of1 #fj ff41 #bif-g4 ---- ,war-,goddesses1 #cjb4 ---- ,world1 #fj1 #fb-e1 #bie4 ,skye1 #d1 #if1 #ih1 #beg4 ,slieve ,gullion1 #b1 #ge-f1 #bcg4 ,sligo1 #dd1 #ed1 #bhe1 #bii4 ,sluagh1 #ajh3 see ,fairy ,hosts4 ,snedgus1 ,voyage of1 #ced4 ,snowdon1 #aj1 #acf-g n4 ,sociology of ,celts1 #bcc4 ,sorcery1 #beh1 #djb4 ,soul1 ,bee1 as1 #agh4 ---- ,bird1 as1 #ahc1 #ahe1 #bdj1 #cjd n41 #cee4 ---- ,existence of1 #dif-g4 ---- ,fairy1 as1 #adg1 #afi1 #agf1 #agi1 #ahc1 #bce1 #dic3 see ,dead4 ---- ,idea of1 #agh1 #bae1 #bci-da1 #bdd1 #bdg-eb1 #cjd n41 #cee1 #cfj1 #cij4 ---- ,moth1 as1 #agh1 #bdj1 #cjd n4 ---- ,seen ,disembodied1 #bae4 ---- ,science and1 #dhj4 ---- ,world1 of1 #fe1 #bed4 ,spenser1 #cah4 ,sphynx1 #dai-bj4 ,spirits1 ,nature1 #bcg-h1 #bdj-d1 #dic4 ,spiritualism1 #ee1 #aea n41 #bdi1 #bfc1 #dei ff4 ,st4 ,anne1 #dbh1 #dej n4 ,st4 ,brandan's ,voyage1 #ced4 ,st4 ,brigit1 #c1 #bhd4 ,st4 ,columba1 #c1 #g1 #he1 #bff-h1 #dda1 #dbh4 ---- ,human sacrifice and1 #dcf4 ---- ,re-birth and1 #che4 ,st4 ,cornely1 #aii n41 #bga1 #bgd1 #cic1 #dbh4 ,st4 ,david1 #djb4 ,st4 ,david's1 #aj1 #adg4 ,st4 ,guenol1 #bja4 ,st4 ,john's ,day1 #hj n41 #bgc4 ,st4 ,malo's ,voyage1 #cee4 ,st4 ,michael1 #ab1 #djg4 ,st4 ,michael's ,mount1 xv1 #ab1 #ae1 #agc1 #cih1 #djg1 #dbc4 ,stonehenge1 xv1 #djc1 #dje1 #daa1 #dag-h4 ,story-telling1 #c1 #e-g1 #bc-d1 #aae1 #aba1 #adi1 #aeb1 #aed1 #afa1 #ahd1 #bba4 ,st4 ,patrick1 #c1 #i1 #ad1 #gd1 #aah1 #bff-h1 #bhf-g1 #bib1 #bid1 #big-h1 #dca-b1 #dda ff4 ---- ,re-birth and1 #che4 ---- ,serpents and1 #ddd4 ,st4 ,patrick's ,tripartite ,life1 #djb1 #dca1 #dea4 ,succubi1 #aac n4 ,sun-dance and ,fairy-dance1 #dje-f4 ,swan-maidens1 #bjj1 #cja4 ,sylph1 #bda4 ,taboo1 #gi n41 #acj1 #acf1 #afa1 #age1 #bjd1 #bha1 #cdj1 #cdg1 #dae4 ---- ,anthropology and1 #bgd-i4 ---- ,celtic1 #bgg-i1 #bhi-ij1 #bie-f n41 #cdj1 #cdg1 #ceb1 #cfh1 #dae4 ---- ,food1 #dg1 #fh1 #abg1 #bai1 #bge-f1 #ceb4 ---- ,iron1 #cd1 #hg-h1 #ie1 #abd n41 #ace1 #ach1 #add1 #adg1 #bgf4 ---- ,name1 #gj1 #ib1 #bjh-aj1 #bac1 #bgd-e4 ---- ,place1 #cc1 #ce1 #hb1 #aej1 #bca1 #bcg1 #bdh1 #bgg1 #bic4 ,tin1 #bhg1 #cjb4 ,taliessin1 #afa-b1 #ccg n41 #chh4 ---- ,book of1 #cec1 #cgh4 ---- ,re-birth of1 #cgh4 ,tara1 #b1 #ac-e1 #ca-b1 #ce1 #bba1 #bhi1 #bib1 #bih-i1 #cdj ff41 #cea-b1 #cgf1 #cha n41 #dja-b1 #daj1 #dai4 ,teigue's ,voyage1 #cdh-ea4 ,telepathy1 #abj1 #bag1 #bee4 ---- ,science and1 #dei1 #dgb-c1 #dgg-h1 #dij4 ,tethra1 #cce4 ,theology3 see ,fairy-,faith1 and ,christianity and ,fairies4 ,theosophy1 #afg1 #bdc1 #deg4 ,thomas's ,tristan1 #cbe4 ,tintagel1 #ab1 #ahc-d4 ,togail1 #bhg4 ,totem1 #agh1 #bbg1 #bii n41 #cjd n4 ,trance1 #fe1 #fh-i1 #aha1 #baj1 #bdh1 #bge1 #bha1 #cdc1 #cef1 #chc1 #dgb4 ---- ,fairyland and1 #dfi ff41 #dij4 ---- ,science and1 #dei4 ,transmigration1 #cgg n41 #chg-i1 #cib3 see ,re-birth4 ,tree1 ,sacred3 see ,cult4 ,triads1 #caa1 #cac n41 #cfe4 ,trinity1 ,the1 #bch1 #dcf4 ,tristan1 #cbe4 ,troll1 #agf1 #bch1 #cia4 ,tuam1 #db1 #chd4 ,tuan's ,re-birth1 #cgg4 ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 #bh1 #ca-b1 #ei1 #fb1 #gj1 #baa1 #bbi1 #bda1 #bdc1 #beb1 #bfj1 #bgg-hj1 #bhc-cjg3 see ,sidhe1 and ,re-birth of4 ---- ,cult of1 #dab ff4 ---- ,nature of1 #bhe ff41 #bif n41 #caj1 #cac n4-#d1 #cce1 #cea1 #cee1 #cgf1 #cgi1 #daa1 #dib4 ---- ,welsh parallels to1 #cbi4 ,tylwyth ,teg3 see ,fairy1 ,names4 ---- ,breton parallel to1 #baa4 ---- ,origin of1 #afc4 ,ulster1 #c1 #cdd-e1 #cgj1 #cgc1 #cgd4 ,undine1 ,tale of1 #ace4 ,undines1 #bda4 ,uthr ,bendragon1 #caj4 ,vielle1 #f n41 #bba4 ,virgin1 ,holy1 the1 #cid n41 #dbh1 #dea4 ,vision1 #fj-b1 #fe-g1 #hj1 #hc1 #ia1 #aag1 #abb1 #abd-f1 #acc-d1 #aci1 #adj-a1 #adc1 #ade1 #aeb1 #aee1 #aeh1 #ahb1 #bad-e1 #bcj1 #bdb1 #bhf1 #bif1 #ccd1 #cef3 see ,clairvoyance1 and ,seers4 ---- ,conferring of1 #gg1 #aeb1 #bae4 ---- ,explanation of1 #dhe ff4 ---- ,science and1 #dei1 #dgf4 ,vitalism1 #dic ff4 ,vivian1 #aj1 #ahi1 #cae1 #cbi4 ,wace1 #cjh n41 #cbc4 ,wales1 ,archaiology of1 #cid4 ---- ,four ,ancient ,books of1 #cjh n41 #cbh-ca2 age of1 #cca4 ,wands1 #eb1 #bjb1 #cdc-d4 ,white ,lady1 #bh1 #hb n41 #aeb n41 #caj4 ,witch1 #cd1 #cf1 #aba-b1 #abd n41 #agd1 #bdh1 #bfd1 #bgb1 #cjd1 #cjf1 #chi1 #dcj4 ---- ,definition of1 #bfc4 ,witchcraft1 #aj1 #ab1 #cd1 #cf1 #abb1 #aec-d1 #aei n41 #afg1 #bdh1 #bec-fe1 #bgb1 #bha4 ---- ,theory of1 #bfc4 ,footnotes3 #a ,quite appropriately it means place of cairns or tumuli--those prehistoric monuments religious and funereal in their purposes4 ,carnac seems to be a ,gallo-,roman form4 ,according to ,professor ,j4 ,loth1 the ,breton 7,celtic7 forms would be3 old ,celtic1 ,carnaco-s2 old ,breton 7ninth-eleventh century71 ,carnoc2 ,middle ,breton 7eleventh-sixteenth century71 ,carneuc2 ,modern ,breton1 ,carnec4 #b ,for we cannot offer any proof of what at first sight appears like a philological relation or identity between ,carnac and ,karnak4 #c ,andrew ,lang1 ,kirk's ,secret ,commonwealth 7,london1 #ahic71 p4 xviii2 and ,history of ,scotland 7,edinburgh1 #aijj-jg74 #d ,cf4 ,david ,mac,ritchie's published criticisms of our ,psychological ,theory in ,the ,celtic ,review 7,january #aiaj71 entitled ,druids and ,mound-,dwellers2 also his first part of these criticisms1 ib4 7,october #aiji71 entitled ,a ,new ,solution of the ,fairy ,problem4 #e ,alexander ,carmichael1 ,carmina ,gadelica 7,edinburgh1 #aijj71 i1 p4 xix4 #f ,the ceilidh of the ,western ,hebrides corresponds to the veille of ,lower ,brittany 7see pp4 #bba ff471 and to similar story-telling festivals which formerly flourished among all the ,celtic peoples4 ',the ceilidh is a literary entertainment where stories and tales1 poems1 and ballads1 are rehearsed and recited1 and songs are sung1 conundrums are put1 proverbs are quoted1 and many other literary matters are related and discussed4'--,alexander ,carmichael1 ,carmina ,gadelica1 i1 p4 xviii4 #g ,i am indebted for this information to the late ,mr4 ,davies1 the competent scholar and antiquarian of ,newcastle-,emlyn1 where for many years he has been vicar4 #h ,in the ,gnosis1 ,st4 ,michael symbolizes the sun1 and thus very appropriately at ,st4 ,michael's ,mount1 ,cornwall1 at ,mont ,st4 ,michel1 ,carnac1 and also at ,mont ,st4 ,michel on the coast of ,normandy1 replaced the ,great ,god of ,light and ,life1 held in supreme honour among the ancient ,celts4 #i ,in this connexion we may think of the ,north and ,south ,magnetic ,poles of the earth as centres of definite yet invisible forces which can be detected1 and to some extent measured scientifically4 #aj ,anglo-,irish for rath1 a circular earthen fort4 #aa ,throughout ,ireland there are many ancient1 often prehistoric1 earthworks or tumuli1 which are popularly called forts1 raths1 or dns1 and in folk-belief these are considered fairy hills or the abodes of various orders of fairies4 ,in this belief we see at work a definite anthropomorphism which attributes dwellings here on earth to an invisible spirit-race1 as though this race were actually the spirits of the ancient ,irish who built the forts4 ,as we proceed1 we shall see how important and varied a part these earthworks play in the ,irish ,fairy-,faith 7cf4 chapter viii1 on ,archaeology74 #ab ,an ,irish mystic1 and seer of great power1 with whom ,i have often discussed the ,fairy-,faith in its details1 regards 'fairy paths' or 'fairy passes' as actual magnetic arteries1 so to speak1 through which circulates the earth's magnetism4 #ac ',irish scholars differ as to the signification of ,meadha4 ,some say that it is the genitive case of ,meadh1 the name of some ancient chieftain who was buried in the hill4 ,knock ,magh is the spelling often used by writers who hold that the name means ,hill of the ,plain4'--,,john ,,glynn4 #ad ,on ,september #h1 #aiji1 about a year after this testimony was given1 ,mr4 ----1 our seer-witness1 at his own home near ,grange1 told to me again the same essential facts concerning his psychical experiences as during my first interview with him1 and even repeated word for word the expressions the 'gentry' used in communicating with him4 ,therefore ,i feel that he is thoroughly sincere in his beliefs and descriptions1 whatever various readers may think of them4 ,as his neighbours said to me about him--and ,i interviewed a good many of them--',some give in to him and some do not'2 but they always spoke of him with respect1 though a few naturally consider him eccentric4 ,at the time of our second meeting 7which gave me a chance to revise the evidence as first taken down7 ,mr4 ---- made this additional statement3--',the gentry do not tell all their secrets1 and ,i do not understand many things about them1 nor can ,i be sure that everything ,i tell concerning them is exact4' #ae ,a learned and more careful ,irish seer thinks this head-dress should really be described as an aura4 #af ,i have been told by a friend in ,california1 who is a student of psychical sciences1 that there exist in certain parts of that state1 notably in the ,yosemite ,valley1 as the ,red ,men seem to have known1 according to their traditions1 invisible races exactly comparable to the 'gentry' of this ,ben ,bulbin country such as our seer-witness describes them and as other seers in ,ireland have described them1 and quite like the 'people of peace' as described by ,kirk1 the seventh son1 in his ,secret ,commonwealth 7see this study1 p4 #he n474 ,these ,california races are said to exist now1 as the ,irish and ,scotch invisible races are said to exist now1 by seers who can behold them2 and1 like the latter races1 are described as a distinct order of beings who have never been in physical embodiments4 ,if we follow the traditions of the ,red ,men1 the ,yosemite invisible tribes are probably but a few of many such tribes scattered throughout the ,north ,american continent2 and equally with their ,celtic relatives they are described as a warlike race with more than human powers over physical nature1 and as able to subject or destroy men4 #ag ,this refers to a tale told by ,hugh ,currid1 in ,august1 #aijh1 about ,father ,patrick and ,father ,dominick1 which is here omitted because re-investigation during my second visit to ,grange1 in ,september1 #aiji1 showed the tale to have been incorrectly reported4 ,the same story1 however1 based upon facts1 according to several reliable witnesses1 was more accurately told by ,patrick ,waters at the time of my re-investigation1 and appears on page #ea4 #ah ,it happened that ,i had in my pocket a fossil1 picked out of the neighbouring sea-cliff rocks1 which are very rich in fossils4 ,i showed this to ,pat to ascertain if what he had had in his hand looked anything like it1 and he at once said ',no'4 #ai ,after this ,ossianic fragment1 which has been handed down orally1 ,i asked ,pat if he had ever heard the old people talk about ,dermot and ,grania1 and he replied3--',to be sure ,i have4 ,dermot and ,grania used to live in these parts4 ,dermot stole ,finn ,mac,coul's sister1 and had to flee away4 ,he took with him a bag of sand and a bunch of heather2 and when he was in the mountains he would put the bag of sand under his head at night1 and then tell everybody he met that he had slept on the sand 7the sea-shore72 and when on the sand he would use the bunch of heather for a pillow1 and say he had slept on the heather 7the mountains74 ,and so nobody ever caught him at all4' #bj ,as to probable proof that there was an ,atlantis1 see p4 #ccc n4 #ba ,this refers to ,robert ,kirk1 minister of ,aberfoyle1 who wrote ,the ,secret ,commonwealth 7see this study1 p4 #he n474 #bb ,in going from ,east ,ireland to ,galway1 during the summer of #aijh1 ,i passed through the country near ,mullingar1 where there was then great excitement over a leprechaun which had been appearing to school-children and to many of the country-folk4 ,i talked with some of the people as ,i walked through part of ,county ,meath about this leprechaun1 and most of them were certain that there could be such a creature showing itself2 and ,i noticed1 too1 that they were all quite anxious to have a chance at the money-bag1 if they could only see the little fellow with it4 ,i told one good-natured old ,irishman at ,ballywillan--where ,i stopped over night--as we sat round his peat fire and pot of boiling potatoes1 that the leprechaun was reported as captured by the police in ,mullingar4 ',now that couldn't be1 at all1' he said instantly1 'for everybody knows the leprechaun is a spirit and can't be caught by any blessed policeman1 though it is likely one might get his gold if they got him cornered so he had no chance to run away4 ,but the minute you wink or take your eyes off the little devil1 sure enough he is gone4' #bc ,cf4 ,david ,fitzgerald1 ,popular ,tales of ,ireland1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 iv4 #ahe-ib2 and ,all the ,year ,round1 ,new ,series1 iii4 ',this woman guardian of the lake is called ,toice ,bhrean1 untidy or lazy wench4 ,according to a local legend1 she is said to have been originally the guardian of the sacred well1 from which1 owing to her neglect1 ,lough ,gur issued2 and in this rle she corresponds to ,liban1 daughter of ,eochaidh ,finn1 the guardian of the sacred well from which issued ,lough ,neagh1 according to the ,dinnshenchas and the tale of ,eochaidh ,mac,mairido4'--,j4 ,f4 ,,lynch4 #bd ,it was on the bank of the little river ,camg1 which flows near ,lough ,gur1 that the ,earl of ,desmond one day saw ,aine as she sat there combing her hair4 ,overcome with love for the fairy-goddess1 he gained control over her through seizing her cloak1 and made her his wife4 ,from this union was born the enchanted son ,gerid ,iarla1 even as ,galahad was born to ,lancelot by the ,lady of the ,lake4 ,when ,gerid had grown into young manhood1 in order to surpass a woman he leaped right into a bottle and right out again1 and this happened in the midst of a banquet in his father's castle4 ,his father1 the earl1 had been put under taboo by ,aine never to show surprise at anything her magician son might do1 but now the taboo was forgotten1 and hence broken1 amid so unusual a performance2 and immediately ,gerid left the feasting and went to the lake4 ,as soon as its water touched him he assumed the form of a goose1 and he went swimming over the surface of the ,lough1 and disappeared on ,garrod ,island4 ,according to one legend1 ,aine1 like the ,breton ,morgan1 may sometimes be seen combing her hair1 only half her body appearing above the lake4 ,and in times of calmness and clear water1 according to another legend1 one may behold beneath ,aine's lake the lost enchanted castle of her son ,gerid1 close to ,garrod ,island--so named from ,gerid or ',gerald'4 ,gerid lives there in the under-lake world to this day1 awaiting the time of his normal return to the world of men 7see our chapter on re-birth1 p4 #chf74 ,but once in every seven years1 on clear moonlight nights1 he emerges temporarily1 when the ,lough ,gur peasantry see him as a phantom mounted on a phantom white horse1 leading a phantom or fairy cavalcade across the lake and land4 ,a well-attested case of such an apparitional appearance of the earl has been recorded by ,miss ,anne ,baily1 the percipient having been ,teigue ,o',neill1 an old blacksmith whom she knew 7see ,all the ,year ,round1 ,new ,series1 iii4 #die-f1 ,london1 #ahgj74 ,and ,moll ,riall1 a young woman also known to ,miss ,baily1 saw the phantom earl by himself1 under very weird circumstances1 by day1 as she stood at the margin of the lake washing clothes 7ib41 p4 #dif74 ,some say that ,aine's true dwelling-place is in her hill2 upon which on every ,st4 ,john's ,night the peasantry used to gather from all the immediate neighbourhood to view the moon 7for ,aine seems to have been a moon goddess1 like ,diana71 and then with torches 7cliars7 made of bunches of straw and hay tied on poles used to march in procession from the hill and afterwards run through cultivated fields and amongst the cattle4 ,the underlying purpose of this latter ceremony probably was--as is the case in the ,isle of ,man and in ,brittany 7see pp4 #abd n41 #bgc71 where corresponding fire-ceremonies surviving from an ancient agricultural cult are still celebrated--to exorcise the land from all evil spirits and witches in order that there may be good harvests and rich increase of flocks4 ,sometimes on such occasions the goddess herself has been seen leading the sacred procession 7cf4 the ,bacchus cult among the ancient ,greeks1 who believed that the god himself led his worshippers in their sacred torch-light procession at night1 he being like ,aine in this respect1 more or less connected with fertility in nature74 ,one night some girls staying on the hill late were made to look through a magic ring by ,aine1 and lo the hill was crowded with the folk of the fairy goddess who before had been invisible4 ,the peasants always said that ,aine is 'the best-hearted woman that ever lived' 7cf4 ,david ,fitzgerald1 ,popular ,tales of ,ireland1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 iv4 #ahe-ib74 ,in ,silva ,gadelica 7ii4 #cdg-h71 ,aine is a daughter of ,eogabal1 a king of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 and her abode is within the sidh1 named on her account ',aine cliach1 now ,cnoc ,aine1 or ,knockany'4 ,in another passage we read that ,manannan took ,aine as his wife 7ib41 ii4 #aig74 ,also see in ,silva ,gadelica1 ii1 pp4 #bbe1 #egf4 #be ',in some local tales the ,bean-tighe1 or ,bean a'tighe is termed ,bean-sidhe 7,banshee71 and ,bean ,chaointe1 or wailing woman1 and is identified with ,aine4 ,in an elegy by ,ferriter on one of the ,fitzgeralds1 we read3-- ,aine from her closely hid nest did awake1 ,the woman of wailing from ,gur's voicy lake4 ',thomas ,o',connellan1 the great minstrel bard1 some of whose compositions are given by ,hardiman1 died at ,lough ,gur ,castle about #agjj1 and was buried at ,new ,church beside the lake4 ,it is locally believed that ,aine stood on a rock of ,knock ,adoon and keened ,o',connellan whilst the funeral procession was passing from the castle to the place of burial4'--,j4 ,f4 ,,lynch4 ,a ,banshee was traditionally attached to the ,baily family of ,lough ,gur2 and one night at dead of night1 when ,miss ,kitty ,baily was dying of consumption1 her two sisters1 ,miss ,anne ,baily and ,miss ,susan ,baily1 who were sitting in the death chamber1 'heard such sweet and melancholy music as they had never heard before4 ,it seemed to them like distant cathedral music4444 ,the music was not in the house4444 ,it seemed to come through the windows of the old castle1 high in the air4' ,but when ,miss ,anne1 who went downstairs with a lighted candle to investigate the weird phenomenon1 had approached the ruined castle she thought the music came from above the house2 'and thus perplexed1 and at last frightened1 she returned4' ,both sisters are on record as having distinctly heard the fairy music1 and for a long time 7,all the ,year ,round1 ,new ,series1 iii4 #dif-g2 ,london1 #ahgj74 #bf ',the ,buachailleen is most likely one of the many forms assumed by the shape-shifting ,fer ,fi1 the ,lough ,gur ,dwarf1 who at ,tara1 according to the ,dinnshenchas of ,tuag ,inbir 7see ,folk-,lore1 iii2 and ,a4 ,nutt1 ,voyage of ,bran1 i4 #aie ff471 took the shape of a woman2 and we may trace the tales of ,gerid ,iarla to ,fer ,fi1 who1 and not ,gerid1 is believed by the oldest of the ,lough ,gur peasantry to be the owner of the lake4 ,fer ,fi is the son of ,eogabal of ,sdh ,eogabail1 and hence brother to ,aine4 ,he is also foster-son of ,manannan ,mac ,lir1 and a ,druid of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann 7cf4 ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #bbe2 also ,dinnshenchas of ,tuag ,inbir74 ,at ,lough ,gur various tales are told by the peasants concerning the ,dwarf1 and he is still stated by them to be the brother of ,aine4 ,for the sake of experiment ,i once spoke very disrespectfully of the ,dwarf to ,john ,punch1 an old man1 and he said to me in a frightened whisper3 ,whisht6 he'll hear you4 ,edward ,fitzgerald and other old men were very much afraid of the ,dwarf4'--,j4 ,f4 ,,lynch4 #bg ',compare the tale of ,excalibur1 the ,sword of ,king ,arthur1 which ,king ,arthur before his death ordered ,sir ,bedivere to cast into the lake whence it had come4'--,j4 ,f4 ,,lynch4 #bh ',it is commonly believed by young and old at ,lough ,gur that a human being is drowned in the ,lake once every seven years1 and that it is the ,bean ,fhionn1 or ,white ,lady who thus takes the person4'--,j4 ,f4 ,,lynch4 #bi ,it was the belief of the ,rev4 ,robert ,kirk1 as expressed by him in his ,secret ,commonwealth of ,elves1 ,fauns1 and ,fairies1 that the fairy tribes are a distinct order of created beings possessing human-like intelligence and supernormal powers1 who live and move about in this world invisible to all save men and women of the second-sight 7see this study1 pp4 #hi1 #ia n474 #cj ,the ,rev4 ,robert ,kirk1 in his ,secret ,commonwealth1 defines the second-sight1 which enabled him to see the 'good people'1 as 'a rapture1 transport1 and sort of death'4 ,he and our present witness came into the world with this abnormal faculty2 but there is the remarkable case to record of the late ,father ,allen ,macdonald1 who during a residence of twenty years on the tiny and isolated ,isle of ,erisgey1 ,western ,hebrides1 acquired the second-sight1 and was able some years before he died there 7in #aije7 to exercise it as freely as though he had been a natural-born seer4 #ca ,in his note to ,le ,chant des ,trpasss 7,barzaz ,breiz1 p4 #ejg71 ,villemarqu reports that in some localities in ,lower ,brittany on ,all ,saints ,night libations of milk are poured over the tombs of the dead4 ,this is proof that the nature of fairies in ,scotland and of the dead in ,brittany is thought to be the same4 #cb ',in many parts of the ,highlands1 where the same deity is known1 the stone into which women poured the libation of milk is called ,leac na ,gruagaich1 ,flag-stone of the ,gruagach4 ,if the libation was omitted in the evening1 the best cow in the fold would be found dead in the morning4'--,,alexander ,,carmichael4 #cc ,dr4 ,george ,henderson1 in ,the ,norse ,influence on ,celtic ,scotland 7,glasgow1 #aija71 p4 #aja1 says3--',shony was a sea-god in ,lewis1 where ale was sacrificed to him at ,hallowtide4 ,after coming to the church of ,st4 ,mulvay at night a man was sent to wade into the sea1 saying3 ,shony1 ,i give you this cup of ale hoping that you will be so kind as to give us plenty of sea-ware for enriching our ground the ensuing year4 ,as o from ,norse would become o1 and fn becomes nn1 one thinks of ,sjfn1 one of the goddesses in the ,edda4 ,in any case the word is ,norse4' ,it seems1 therefore1 that the ,celtic stock in ,lewis have adopted the name ,shony or ,shoney1 and possibly also the god it designates1 through contact with ,norsemen2 but1 at all events1 they have assimilated him to their own fairy pantheon1 as we can see in their celebrating special libations to him on the ancient ,celtic feast of the dead and fairies1 ,halloween4 #cd ,this1 as ,dr4 ,carmichael told me1 ,i believe very justly represents the present state of folk-lore in many parts of the ,highlands4 ,there are1 it is true1 old men and women here and there who know much about fairies1 but they1 fearing the ridicule of a younger and 'educated' generation1 are generally unwilling to admit any belief in fairies4 #ce ,the following note by ,miss ,tolmie is of great interest and value1 especially when one bears in mind ,cuchulainn's traditional relation with ,skye 7see p4 #d73--',the ,koolian range should never be written ,cu-chullin4 ,the name is written here with a ,k1 to ensure its being correctly uttered and written4 ,it is probably a ,norse word2 but1 as yet1 a satisfactory explanation of its origin and meaning has not been published4 ,in ,gaelic the range is always alluded to 7in the masculine singular7 as the ,koolian4' #cf ,dr4 ,alexander ,carmichael found that the scene of this widespread tale is variously laid1 in ,argyll1 in ,perth1 in ,inverness1 and in other counties of the ,highlands4 ,from his own collection of folk-songs he contributes the following verses to illustrate the song 7existing in numerous versions71 which the maiden while invisible used to sing to the cows of ,colin3-- ,crodh ,chailean6 crodh ,chailean6 ,crodh ,chailean mo ghaoil1 ,crodh ,chailean mo chridhe1 ,air lighe cheare fraoish4 7,cows of ,colin6 cows of ,colin6 ,cows of ,colin of my love1 ,cows of ,colin of my heart1 ,in colour of the heather-hen47 ,in one of ,dr4 ,carmichael's versions1 ',colin's wife and her infant child had been lifted away by the fairies to a fairy bower in the glen between the hills4' ,there she was kept nursing the babes which the fairies had stolen1 until 'upon ,hallow ,eve1 when all the bowers were open'1 ,colin by placing a steel tinder above the lintel of the door to the fairy bower was enabled to enter the bower and in safety lead forth his wife and child4 #cg ,in this beautiful fairy legend we recognize the fairy woman as one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann-like fairies--one of the women of the ,sidhe1 as ,irish seers call them4 #ch ,it is interesting to know that the present inhabitants of ,barra1 or at least most of them1 are the descendants of ,irish colonists who belonged to the clan ,eoichidh of ,county ,cork1 and who emigrated from there to ,barra in ,a4 ,d4 #iag4 ,they brought with them their old customs and beliefs1 and in their isolation their children have kept these things alive in almost their primitive ,celtic purity4 ,for example1 besides their belief in fairies1 ,may ,day1 ,baaltine1 and ,november ,eve are still rigorously observed in the pagan way1 and so is ,easter--for it1 too1 before being claimed by ,christianity1 was a sun festival4 ,and how beautiful it is in this age to see the youths and maidens and some of the elders of these simple-hearted ,christian fisher-folk climb to the rocky heights of their little island-home on ,easter morn to salute the sun as it rises out of the mountains to the east1 and to hear them say that the sun dances with joy that morning because the ,christ is risen4 ,in a similar way they salute the new moon1 making as they do so the sign of the cross4 ,finn ,barr is said to have been a ,county ,cork man of great sanctity2 and he probably came to ,barra with the colony1 for he is the patron saint of the island1 and hence its name4 7,to my friend1 ,mr4 ,michael ,buchanan1 of ,barra1 ,i am indebted for this history and these traditions of his native isle47 #ci ',sluagh1 hosts1 the spirit-world4 ,the hosts are the spirits of mortals who have died4444 ,according to one informant1 the spirits fly about in great clouds1 up and down the face of the world like the starlings1 and come back to the scenes of their earthly transgressions4 ,no soul of them is without the clouds of earth1 dimming the brightness of the works of ,god1 nor can any win heaven till satisfaction is made for the sins of earth4'--,,alexander ,,carmichael1 ,carmina ,gadelica1 ii4 #ccj4 #dj ,this curious tale suggests that certain of the fairy women who entice mortals to their love in modern times are much the same1 if not the same1 as the succubi of ,middle-,age mystics4 ,but it is not intended by this observation to confuse the higher orders of the ,sidhe and all the fairy folk like the fays who come from ,avalon with succubi2 though succubi and fairy women in general were often confused and improperly identified the one with the other4 ,it need not be urged in this example of a 'fairy woman' that we have to do not with a being of flesh and blood1 whatever various readers may think of her4 #da ',willy-the-,fairy1 otherwise known as ,william ,cain1 is the musician referred to by the late ,mr4 ,john ,nelson 7p4 #aca74 ,the latter's statement that ,william ,cain played one of these fairy tunes at one of our ,manx entertainments in ,peel is perfectly correct4'--,,sophia ,,morrison4 #db ,this is the ,mid-world of ,irish seers1 who would be inclined to follow the ,manx custom and call the fairies 'the ,people of the ,middle ,world'4 #dc ',may #aa in ,manx ,oie ,voaldyn1 ,may-day ,eve4 ,on this evening the fairies were supposed to be peculiarly active4 ,to propitiate them and to ward off the influence of evil spirits1 and witches1 who were also active at this time1 green leaves or boughs and sumark or primrose flowers were strewn on the threshold1 and branches of the cuirn or mountain ash made into small crosses without the aid of a knife1 which was on no account to be used 7steel or iron in any form being taboo to fairies and spirits71 and stuck over the doors of the dwelling-houses and cow-houses4 ,cows were further protected from the same influences by having the ,bollan-feaill-,eoin 7,john's feast wort7 placed in their stalls4 ,this was also one of the occasions on which no one would give fire away1 and on which fires were and are still lit on the hills to drive away the fairies4'--,,sophia ,,morrison4 #dd ,i am wholly indebted to ,miss ,morrison for these ,manx verses and their translation1 which ,i have substituted for ,mrs4 ,moore's ,english rendering4 ,miss ,morrison1 after my return to ,oxford1 saw ,mrs4 ,moore and took them down from her1 a task ,i was not well fitted to do when the tale was told4 #de ,it has been suggested1 and no doubt correctly1 that these murmuring sounds heard on ,dalby ,mountain are due to the action of sea-waves1 close at hand1 washing over shifting masses of pebbles on the rock-bound shore4 ,though this be the true explanation of the phenomenon itself1 it only proves the attribution of cause to be wrong1 and not the underlying animistic conception of spiritual beings4 #df ,in this mythological role1 ,manannan is apparently a sun god or else the sun itself2 and the ,manx coat of arms1 which is connected with him1 being a sun symbol1 suggests to us now ages long prior to history1 when the ,isle of ,man was a ,sacred ,isle dedicated to the cult of the ,supreme ,god of ,light and ,life1 and when all who dwelt thereon were regarded as the ,children of the ,sun4 #dg ,sir ,john ,rhys tells me that this ,snowdon fairy-lore was contributed by the late ,lady ,rhys1 who as a girl lived in the neighbourhood of ,snowdon and heard very much from the old people there1 most of whom believed in the fairies2 and she herself then used to be warned1 in the manner mentioned1 against being carried away into the under-lake ,fairyland4 #dh ,cf4 ,celtic ,folklore1 ,welsh and ,manx1 pp4 #fhc-d n41 where ,sir ,john ,rhys says of his friend1 ,professor ,a4 ,c4 ,haddon3--',i find also that he1 among others1 has anticipated me in my theory as to the origins of the fairies3 witness the following extract from the syllabus of a lecture delivered by him at ,cardiff in #ahid on ,fairy ,tales3--,what are the fairies8--,legendary origin of the fairies4 ,it is evident from fairy literature that there is a mixture of the possible and the impossible1 of fact and fancy4 ,part of fairydom refers to 7#a7 spirits that never were embodied3 other fairies are 7#b7 spirits of environment1 nature or local spirits1 and household or domestic spirits2 7#c7 spirits of the organic world1 spirits of plants1 and spirits of animals2 7#d7 spirits of men1 or ghosts2 and 7#e7 witches and wizards1 or men possessed with other spirits4 ,all these1 and possibly other elements1 enter into the fanciful aspects of ,fairyland1 but there is a large residuum of real occurrences2 these point to a clash of races1 and we may regard many of these fairy sagas as stories told by men of the ,iron ,age of events which happened to men of the ,bronze ,age in their conflicts with men of the ,neolithic ,age1 and possibly these1 too1 handed on traditions of the ,paleolithic ,age4' #di ,this is the one tale ,i have found in ,north ,wales about a midwife and fairies--a type of tale common to ,west ,ireland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,cornwall1 and ,brittany1 but in a reverse version1 the midwife there being 7as she is sometimes in ,welsh versions7 one of the human race called in by fairies4 ,if evidence of the oneness of the ,celtic mind were needed we should find it here 7cf4 pp4 #ej1 #ed1 #abg1 #age1 #ahb1 #bje74 ,there are in this type of fairy-tale1 as the advocates of the ,pygmy ,theory may well hold1 certain elements most likely traceable to a folk-memory of some early race1 or special class of some early race1 who knew the secrets of midwifery and the use of medicines when such knowledge was considered magical4 ,but in each example of this midwife story there is the germ idea--no matter what other ideas cluster round it--that fairies1 like spirits1 are only to be seen by an extra-human vision1 or1 as psychical researchers might say1 by clairvoyance4 #ej ,after this remarkable story1 ,mrs4 ,jones told me about another very rare psychical experience of her own1 which is here recorded because it illustrates the working of the psychological law of the association of ideas3--',my husband1 ,price ,jones1 was drowned some forty years ago1 within four miles of ,arms ,head1 near ,bangor1 on ,friday at midday2 and that night at about one o'clock he appeared to me in our bedroom and laid his head on my breast4 ,i tried to ask him where he came from1 but before ,i could get my breath he was gone4 ,i believed at the time that he was out at sea perfectly safe and well4 ,but next day1 ,saturday1 at about noon1 a message came announcing his death4 ,i was as fully awake as one can be when ,i thus saw the spirit of my husband4 ,he returned to me a second time about six months later4' ,had this happened in ,west ,ireland1 it is almost certain that public opinion would have declared that ,price ,jones had been taken by the 'gentry' or 'good people'4 #ea ,here we find the ,tylwyth ,teg showing quite the same characteristics as ,welsh elves in general1 as ,cornish pixies1 and as ,breton corrigans1 or lutins2 that is1 given to dancing at night1 to stealing children1 and to deceiving travellers4 #eb ,this folk-belief partially sustains the view put forth in our chapter on ,environment1 that ,st4 ,david's during pagan times was already a sacred spot and perhaps then the seat of a druidic oracle4 #ec ,here we have an example of the ,tylwyth ,teg being identified with a prehistoric race1 quite in accordance with the argument of the ,pygmy ,theory4 ,we have1 however1 as the essential idea1 that the ,tylwyth ,teg heard singing were the spirits of this prehistoric race4 ,thus our contention that ancestral spirits play a leading part in the fairy-belief is sustained1 and the ,pygmy ,theory appears quite at its true relative value--as able to explain one subordinate ethnological strand in the complex fabric of the belief4 #ed ,this story is much like the one recorded by ,giraldus ,cambrensis about a boy going to ,fairyland and returning to his mother 7see this study1 p4 #cbd74 ,the possibility that it may be an independent version of the folk-tale told to ,cambrensis which has continued to live on among the people makes it highly interesting4 ,mr4 ,jones gives further evidence on the re-birth doctrine in ,wales 7pp4 #chh-i71 and concerning ,merlin and sacrifice to appease place-spirits 7pp4 #dcf-g74 #ee ,as a result of his researches1 the ,rev4 ,t4 ,m4 ,morgan has just published a new work1 entitled ,the ,history and ,antiquities of the ,parish of ,newchurch 7,carmarthen1 #aiaj74 #ef ,in these last two anecdotes1 as in modern ',spiritualism'1 we observe a popular practice of necromancy or the calling up of spirits1 so-called 'materialization' of spirits1 and spirit communication through a human 'medium'1 who is the dyn hysbys1 as well as divination1 the revealing of things hidden and the foretelling of future events4 ,this is direct evidence that ,welsh fairies or the ,tylwyth ,teg were formerly the same to ,welshmen as spirits are to ,spiritualists now4 ,we seem1 therefore1 to have proof of our ,psychological ,theory 7see chap4 xi74 #eg ,here we have a combination of many distinct elements and influences4 ,as among mortals1 so among the ,tylwyth ,teg there is a king2 and this conception may have arisen directly from anthropomorphic influences on the ancient ,brythonic religion1 or it may have come directly from druidic teachings4 ,the locating of ,gwydion ab ,don1 like a god1 in a heaven-world1 rather than like his counterpart1 ,gwynn ab ,nudd1 in a hades-world1 is probably due to a peculiar admixture of ,druidism and ,christianity3 at first1 both gods were probably druidic or pagan1 and the same1 but ,gwynn ab ,nudd became a demon or evil god under ,christian influences1 while ,gwydion ab ,don seems to have curiously retained his original good reputation in spite of ,christianity 7cf4 p4 #cbj74 ,the name ,gwenhidw reminds us at once of ,arthur's queen ,gwenhwyvar or ',white ,apparition'2 and the sheep of ,gwenhidw can properly be explained by the ,naturalistic ,theory4 ,it seems1 however1 that analogy was imaginatively suggested between the ,queen ,gwenhidw as resembling the ,welsh ,white ,lady or a ghost-like being1 and her sheep1 the clouds1 also of a necessarily ghost-like character4 ,all this is an admirable illustration of the great complexity of the ,fairy-,faith4 #eh ,the parallel between this ,welsh method of conferring vision and the ,breton method is very striking 7cf4 p4 #bae74 #ei ,this is the substance of the story as it was told to me by a gentleman who lives within sight of the farm where the image is said to have been found4 ,and one day he took me to the house and showed me the room and the place in the wall where the find was made4 ,the old manor is one of the solidest and most picturesque of its kind in ,wales1 and1 in spite of its extreme age1 well preserved4 ,he1 being as a native ,welshman of the locality well acquainted with its archaeology1 thinks it safe to place an age of six to eight hundred years on the manor4 ,what is interesting about this matter of age arises from the query1 ,was the image one of the ,virgin or of some ,christian saint1 or was it a ,druid idol8 ,both opinions are current in the neighbourhood1 but there is a good deal in favour of the second4 ,the region1 the little valley on whose side stands the ,pentre ,evan ,cromlech1 the finest in ,britain1 is believed to have been a favourite place with the ancient ,druids2 and in the oak groves which still exist there tradition says there was once a flourishing pagan school for neophytes1 and that the cromlech instead of being a place for interments or for sacrifices was in those days completely enclosed1 forming like other cromlechs a darkened chamber in which novices when initiated were placed for a certain number of days--the interior being called the ',womb or ,court of ,ceridwen'4 #fj ,the same remedy is prescribed in ,brittany when mischievous lutins or corrigans lead a traveller astray1 in ,ireland when the good people lead a traveller astray2 and at ,rollright1 ,oxfordshire1 ,england1 an old woman told me that it is efficacious against being led astray through witchcraft4 ,obviously the fairy and witch spell are alike4 #fa ,the same sort of a story as this is told in ,lower ,brittany1 where the corrigans or lutins slaughter a farmer's fat cow or ox and invite the farmer to partake of the feast it provides4 ,if he does so with good grace and humour1 he finds his cow or ox perfectly whole in the morning1 but if he refuses to join the feast or joins it unwillingly1 in the morning he is likely to find his cow or ox actually dead and eaten4 #fb ,see ,sir ,john ,rhys1 ,celtic ,folk-,lore3 ,welsh and ,manx 7,oxford1 #aija71 passim4 #fc ,the ,new ,english ,dictionary1 s4v4 ,pixy1 gives rather vaguely a ,swedish dialect word1 pysg1 a small fairy4 ,it also mentions pix as a ,devon imprecation1 'a pix take him4' ,i suspect the last is only an umlaut form of a common ,shakespearean imprecation4 ,if not1 it is interesting1 and reminds one of the fate of ,margery ,dawe1 ',piskies came and carr'd her away4' #fd ',some say that the ,phoenicians never came to ,cornwall at all1 and that their ,ictis was ,vectis 7the ,isle of ,wight7 or even ,thanet4'--,,henry ,,jenner4 #fe ',this is1 ,i think1 the usual ,cornish belief4'--,,henry ,,jenner4 #ff ',about ,porth ,curnow and the ,logan ,rock there are little spots of earth in the face of the granite cliffs where sea-daisies 7thrift7 and other wild flowers grow4 ,these are referred to the sea pisky1 and are known as piskies' gardens4'--,,henry ,,jenner4 #fg ,i was told by another ,cornishman that1 in a spirit of municipal rivalry and fun1 the ,penzance people like to taunt the people of ,newlyn 7now almost a suburb of ,penzance7 by calling them ,buccas1 and that the ,newlyn townsmen very much resent being so designated4 ,thus what no doubt was originally an ancient cult to some local sea-divinity called ,bucca1 has survived as folk-humour4 7,see ,mr4 ,jenner's ,introduction1 p4 #afd47 #fh ',another version1 which is more usual1 is that the pisky anointed the person's eyes and so rendered itself visible4'--,,henry ,,jenner4 #fi ,this is a natural outcropping of greenstone on a commanding hill just above the vicarage in ,newlyn1 and concerning it many weird legends survive4 ,in pre-,christian times it was probably one of the ,cornish sacred spots for the celebration of ancient rites--probably in honour of the ,sun--and for divination4 #gj ,for more about the ,tolcarne ,troll see chapter on ,celtic ,re-birth p4 #cia4 #ga ,mr4 ,john ,b4 ,cornish1 solicitor1 of ,penzance1 told me that when he once suggested to an old miner who fully believed in the 'knockers'1 that the noises they were supposed to make were due to material causes1 the old miner became quite annoyed1 and said1 ',well1 ,i guess ,i have ears to hear4' #gb ,for the ,cornish folk-lore already published by ,miss ,m4 ,a4 ,courtney1 the reader is referred to her work1 ,cornish ,feasts and ,folk-,lore 7,penzance1 #ahij74 #gc ,a curious holed stone standing between two low menhirs on the moors beyond the ,lanyon ,dolmen1 near ,madron2 but in ,borlase's time 7cf4 his ,antiquities of ,cornwall1 ed4 #agfi1 p4 #agg7 the three stones were not as now in a direct line4 ,the ,men-an-,tol has aroused much speculation among archaeologists as to its probable use or meaning4 ,no doubt it was astronomical and religious in its significance2 and it may have been a calendar stone with which ancient priests took sun observations 7cf4 ,sir ,norman ,lockyer1 ,stonehenge and ,other ,stone ,monuments72 or it may have been otherwise related to a sun cult1 or to some pagan initiatory rites4 #gd ,i asked what a nath is1 and ,mr4 ,spragg explained3--',a nath is a bird with a beak like that of a parrot1 and with black and grey feathers4 ,the naths live on sea-islands in holes like rabbits1 and before they start to fly they first run4' ,the nath1 as ,mr4 ,henry ,jenner informs me1 is the same as the puffin 7,fratercula arctica71 called also in ,cornwall a 'sea parrot'4 #ge ,sometimes it is necessary to turn your coat inside out4 ,a ,zennor man said that to do the same thing with your socks or stockings is as good4 ,in ,ireland this strange psychological state of going astray comes from walking over a fairy domain1 over a confusing-sod1 or getting into a fairy pass4 #gf ,cf4 ,f4 ,m4 ,luzel1 ,contes populaires de ,basse-,bretagne 7,paris1 #ahhg71 i4 #agg-ig2 following the account of ,ann ,drann1 a servant at ,coat-,fual1 ,plouguernevel 7,ctes-du-,nord71 ,november #ahee4 #gg ,my ,breton friend1 ,m4 ,goulven ,le ,scour1 was born ,november #bj1 #ahea1 at ,kerouledic in ,plouneventer1 ,finistre4 ,he is an antiquarian1 a poet1 and1 as we shall see1 a folk-lorist of no mean ability4 ,in #aijb1 at the ,congrs d',auray of ,breton poets and singers1 he won two prizes for poetry1 and1 in #aija1 a prize at the ,congrs de ,quimperl or ,concours de ,recueils potiques4 #gh ,this story concerns persons still living1 and1 at ,m4 ,le ,scour's suggestion1 ,i have omitted their names4 #gi ,by a ,carnac family ,i was afterwards given a sprig of such blessed box-wood1 and was assured that its exorcizing power is still recognized by all old ,breton families1 most of whom seem to possess branches of it4 #hj ,this idea seems related to the one in the popular ,morbihan legend of how ,st4 ,cornely1 the patron saint of the country and the saint who presides over the ,alignements and domestic horned animals1 changed into upright stones the pagan forces opposing him when he arrived near ,carnac2 and these stones are now the famous ,alignements of ,carnac4 #ha ,luzel1 op4 cit41 iii4 #bbf-caa2 i4 #abh-bah2 ii4 #cdi-ed4 #hb ,ib41 ii4 #bfi2 cf4 our study1 p4 #ic4 #hc ,according to the annotations to a legend recorded by ,villemarqu1 in his ,barzaz ,breiz1 pp4 #ci-dd1 and entitled the ,submersion de la ,ville d',is1 ,st4 ,guenol was traditionally the founder of the first monastery raised in ,armorica2 and ,dahut the princess stole the key from her sleeping father in order fittingly to crown a banquet and midnight debaucheries which were being held in honour of her lover1 the ,black ,prince4 #hd ,luzel1 op4 cit41 ii4 #beg-fh2 i4 #c-ac4 #he ,p4 ,sbillot1 ,traditions et superstitions de la ,haute-,bretagne 7,paris1 #ahhb71 i4 #ajj4 #hf ,general references3 ,sbillot1 ib42 and his ,folk-,lore de ,france 7,paris1 #aije74 #hg ,sbillot1 ,traditions et superstitions de la ,haute-,bretagne1 i4 #gc-d4 #hh ,ib41 i4 #ajb1 #ajc-d4 #hi ,sbillot1 ,traditions et superstitions de la ,haute-,bretagne1 i4 #hc4 #ij ,ib41 i4 #ij-a4 #ia ,cf4 ib41 i4 #aji4 #ib ,cf4 ib41 i4 #gd-e1 c4 #ic ,cf4 ,sbillot1 ,traditions et superstitions de la ,haute-,bretagne1 i4 #gd-e1 c4 #id ,in ,lower ,brittany the corrigan tribes collectively are commonly called ,corrikt1 masculine plural of ,corrik1 diminutive of ,corr1 meaning ',dwarf'2 or ,corriganed1 feminine plural of ,corrigan1 meaning ',little ,dwarf'4 ,many other forms are in use4 7,cf4 ,r4 ,f4 ,le ,men1 ,trad4 et supers4 de la ,basse-,bretagne1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #bbf-g47 #ie ,cf4 ,foyer breton1 i4 #aii4 #if ,by ',e4 ,r4'1 in ,mlusine 7,paris71 i4 #aad4 #ig ,this account about corrigans1 more rational than any preceding it1 may possibly refer to a dream or trance-like state of mind on the part of the young girl2 and if it does1 we can then compare the presence of a mortal at this corrigan sabbath1 or even at the ordinary witches' sabbath1 to the presence of a mortal in ,fairyland4 ,and according to popular ,breton belief1 as reliable peasants assure me1 during dreams1 trance1 or ecstasy1 the soul is supposed to depart from the body and actually see spirits of all kinds in another world1 and to be then under their influence4 ,while many details in the more conventional corrigan stories appear to reflect a folk-memory of religious dances and songs1 and racial1 social1 and traditional usages of the ancient ,bretons1 the animistic background of them could conceivably have originated from psychical experiences such as this girl is supposed to have had4 #ih ,villemarqu1 ,barzaz ,breiz 7,paris1 #ahfg71 pp4 #cc1 #ce4 #ii ,j4 ,loth1 in ,annales de ,bretagne 7,rennes71 x4 #gh-ha4 #ajj ,e4 ,renan1 ,essais de morale et de critique 7,paris1 #ahei71 p4 #dea4 #aja ,in ,ireland it is commonly held that a seer beholding a fairy can make a non-seer see it also by coming into bodily rapport with the non-seer 7cf4 p4 #aeb74 #ajb ,it is sometimes believed that phantom washerwomen are undergoing penance for having wilfully brought on an abortion by their work1 or else for having strangled their babe4 #ajc ,every parish in the uncorrupted parts of ,brittany has its own ,ankou1 who is the last man to die in the parish during the year4 ,each ,king of the ,dead1 therefore1 never holds office for more than twelve months1 since during that period he is certain to have a successor4 ,sometimes the ,ankou is ,death itself personified4 ,in the ,morbihan1 the ,ankou occasionally may be seen as an apparition entering a house where a death is about to occur2 though more commonly he is never seen1 his knocking only is heard1 which is the rule in ,finistre4 ,in ,welsh mythology1 ,gwynn ab ,nudd1 king of the world of the dead1 is represented as playing a rle parallel to that of the ,breton ,ankou1 when he goes forth with his fierce hades-hounds hunting the souls of the dying4 7,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #aee47 #ajd ,cf4 ,a4 ,le ,braz1 ,la ,lgende de la ,mort2 ,introduction by ,l4 ,marillier 7,paris1 #ahic71 pp4 #ca1 #dj4 #aje ,cf4 ,le ,braz1 ,la ,lgende de la ,mort2 ,introduction by ,marillier1 pp4 #dg1 #df1 #g-h1 #dj1 #de1 #df4 #ajf ,cf4 ,le ,braz1 ,la ,lgende de la ,mort2 ,introduction by ,marillier1 p4 #dc4 #ajg ,ib42 ,notes by ,g4 ,dottin 7,paris1 #aijb71 p4 #dd4 #ajh ,ib42 ,introduction by ,marillier1 pp4 #ai1 #bc1 #fh4 #aji ,cf4 ib42 ,introduction by ,marillier1 pp4 #ec ff41 #fh4 #aaj ,a ,breton night's entertainment held in a peasant's cottage1 stable1 or other warm outhouse4 ,in parts of the ,morbihan and of ,finistre where the old ,celtic life has escaped modern influences1 almost every winter night the ,breton ,celts1 like their cousins in very isolated parts of ,west ,ireland and in the ,western ,hebrides1 find their chief enjoyment in story-telling festivals1 some of which ,i have been privileged to attend4 #aaa ,the word in the ,,ms4 is boiteux1 and in relation to a devil or demon this seems to be the proper rendering4 #aab ,b4 ,spencer and ,f4 ,t4 ,gillen1 ,nat4 ,tribes of ,cent4 ,aust4 7,london1 #ahii71 chapters xi1 xv4 #aac ,r4 ,h4 ,codrington1 ,journ4 ,anthrop4 ,inst4 x4 #bfa2 ,the ,melanesians 7,oxford1 #ahia71 pp4 #abc1 #aea1 c42 also cf4 ,f4 ,w4 ,christian1 ,the ,caroline ,islands 7,london1 #ahii71 pp4 #bha ff41 c4 #aad ,h4 ,callaway1 ,the ,religious ,system of the ,amazulu 7,london1 #ahfh71 pp4 #bbf-g4 #aae ,c4 ,g4 ,leland1 ,memoirs 7,london1 #ahic71 i4 #cd4 #aaf ,r4 ,c4 ,temple1 ,legends of the ,panjab1 in ,folk-,lore1 x4 #cie4 #aag ,w4 ,w4 ,skeat1 ,malay ,magic 7,london1 #aijj71 passim4 #aah ,hardouin1 ,traditions et superstitions siamoises1 in ,rev4 ,trad4 ,pop41 v4 #beg-fg4 #aai ,ella ,g4 ,sykes1 ,persian ,folklore1 in ,folk-,lore1 xii4 #bfc4 #abj ,i am directly indebted for this information to a friend who is a member of ,lincoln ,college1 ,oxford1 ,mr4 ,mohammed ,said ,loutfy1 of ,barkein1 ,lower ,egypt4 ,mr4 ,loutfy has come into frequent and very intimate contact with these animistic beliefs in his country1 and he tells me that they are common to all classes of almost all races in modern ,egypt4 ,the common ,egyptian spellings are afreet1 in the singular1 and afaareet in the plural1 for spiritual beings1 who are usually described by percipients as of pygmy stature1 but as being able to assume various sizes and shapes4 ,the djinns1 on the contrary1 are described as tall spiritual beings possessing great power4 #aba ,j4 ,c4 ,lawson1 ,modern ,greek ,folk-,lore 7,cambridge1 #aiaj71 pp4 #aca-g1 #aci-df1 #afc4 #abb ,l4 ,sainan1 ,les ,fes mchantes d'aprs les croyances du peuple roumain1 in ,mlusine1 x4 #bag-bf1 #bdc-ed4 #abc ,cf4 ,c4 ,g4 ,leland1 ,etruscan ,roman ,remains in ,pop4 ,trad4 7,london1 #ahib71 pp4 #afb1 #afe1 #bbc1 c4 #abd ,h4 ,c4 ,coote1 ,the ,neo-,latin ,fay1 in ,folk-,lore ,record1 ii4 #a-ah4 #abe ,we cannot here attempt to present1 even in outline1 all the complex ethnological arguments for and against the existence in prehistoric times of ,european pygmy races4 ,attention ought1 however1 to be called to the remarkable finds recently made in the ,grotte des ,enfants1 at ,mentone1 ,france4 ,a certain number of well-preserved skeletons of probably the earliest men who dwelt on the present land surface of ,europe1 which were found there1 suggest that different racial stocks1 possibly in succession1 have preceded the ,aryan stock4 ,the first race1 as indicated by two small negroid-looking skeletons of a woman1 #a1ehj mm4 7#fbba inches71 and of a boy #a1edj mm4 7#fjfc inches7 in height1 found in the lowest part of the ,grotte1 was probably ,ethiopian4 ,the succeeding race was probably ,mongolian1 judging from other remains found in another part of the same ,grotte1 and especially from the ,chancelade skeleton with its distinctly ,eskimo appearance1 only #a1ejj mm4 7#eijf inches7 high1 discovered near ,perigneux1 ,france4 ,the race succeeding this one was possibly the one out of which our own ,aryan race evolved4 ,in relation to the ,pygmy ,theory these recent finds are of the utmost significance4 ,they confirm ,dr4 ,windle's earlier conclusion1 that1 contrary to the argument advanced to support the ,pygmy ,theory1 the neolithic races of ,central ,europe were not true pygmies--a people whose average stature does not exceed four feet nine inches 7cf4 ,b4 ,c4 ,a4 ,windle1 ,tyson's ,pygmies of the ,ancients1 ,london1 #ahid1 ,introduction74 ,and1 furthermore1 these finds show1 as far as any available ethnological data can1 that there are no good reasons for believing that ,european and1 therefore1 ,celtic lands were once dominated by pygmies even in epochs so remote that we can only calculate them in tens of thousands of years4 ,nevertheless1 it is very highly probable that a folk-memory of ,lappish1 ,pictish1 or other small but not true pygmy races1 has superficially coloured the modern fairy traditions of ,northern ,scotland1 of the ,western ,hebrides 7where what may prove to have been ,lapps' or ,picts' houses undoubtedly remain71 of ,northern ,ireland1 of the ,isle of ,man1 and slightly1 if indeed at all1 the fairy traditions of other parts of the ,celtic world 7cf4 ,david ,mac,ritchie1 ,the ,testimony of ,tradition1 ,london1 #ahij2 and his criticism of our own ,psychological ,theory1 in the ,celtic ,review1 ,october #aiji and ,january #aiaj1 entitled respectively1 ,a ,new ,solution of the ,fairy ,problem1 and ,druids and ,mound-,dwellers74 ,again1 the very small flint implements frequently found in ,celtic lands and elsewhere have perhaps very reasonably been attributed to a long-forgotten pygmy race2 though we must bear in mind in this connexion that it would be very unwise to conclude definitely that no race save a small-statured race could have made and used such implements3 ,american ,red ,men were1 when discovered by ,europeans1 and still are1 making and using the tiniest of arrow-heads1 precisely the same in size and design as those found in ,celtic lands and attributed to pygmies4 ,the use of small flint implements for special purposes1 e4 g4 arrows for shooting small game like birds1 for spearing fish1 and for use in warfare as poisoned arrows1 seems to have been common to most primitive peoples of normal stature4 ,contemporary pygmy races1 far removed from ,celtic lands1 are also using them1 and no doubt their prehistoric ancestors used them likewise4 #abf ,j4 ,g4 ,campbell1 ,the ,fians 7,london1 #ahia71 p4 #bci4 ,an ,irish dwarf is minutely described in ,silva ,gadelica 7ii4 #aaf71 ,o',grady's translation4 ,again1 in ,malory's ,morte ,d',arthur 7,b4 ,,xii4 cc4 i-ii7 a dwarf is mentioned4 #abg ,campbell1 ,the ,fians1 p4 #bfe4 #abh ,s4 ,h4 ,o',grady1 ,silva ,gadelica 7,london1 #ahib71 ii4 #aii4 #abi ,commentary on the ,senchas ,mr1 i4 #gj-a1 ,stokes's translation1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #bef-g4 #acj ,sir ,john ,rhys1 ,hibbert ,lectures 7,london1 #ahhh71 p4 #eib4 ,dwarfs supernatural in character also appear in the ,mabinogion1 and one of them is an attendant on ,king ,arthur4 ,in ,broul's ,tristan1 ,frocin1 a dwarf1 is skilled in astrology and magic1 and in the version by ,thomas we find a similar reference4 #aca ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d i4 #che4 #acb ,cf4 ,windle1 op4 cit41 ,intro41 p4 #eg4 #acc ,hunt1 ,anthrop4 ,mems41 ii4 #bid2 cf4 ,windle1 op4 cit41 ,intro41 p4 #eg4 #acd ,smith1 ,myths of the ,iroquois1 in ,amer4 ,bur4 ,eth41 ii4 #fe4 #ace ,skeat1 ,malay ,magic1 p4 #cbi4 #acf ,monier-,williams1 ,brahminism and ,hinduism 7,london1 #ahhg71 p4 #bcf4 #acg ,codrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 p4 #aeb4 #ach ,dwarfs in the ,east1 in ,folk-,lore1 iv4 #dja-b4 #aci ,lacouperie1 ,babylonian and ,oriental ,record1 v2 cf4 ,windle1 op4 cit41 ,intro41 pp4 #ba-b4 #adj ,a4 ,h4 ,s4 ,landor1 ,alone with the ,hairy ,ainu 7,london1 #ahic71 p4 #bea2 also ,windle1 op4 cit41 ,intro41 pp4 #bb-d4 #ada ,j4 ,g4 ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough#b 7,london1 #aijj71 i4 #bdh ff4 #adb ,cf4 ,a4 ,wiedemann1 ,ancient ,egyptian ,doctrine ,immortality 7,london1 #ahie71 p4 #ab4 #adc ,cf4 ,a4 ,e4 ,crawley1 ,idea of the ,soul 7,london1 #aiji71 p4 #ahf4 #add ,examples are in ,orcagna's fresco of ',the ,triumph of ,death'1 in the ,campo ,santo of ,pisa 7cf4 ,a4 ,wiedemann1 ,anc4 ,egy4 ,doct4 ,immort41 p4 #cd ff472 and over the porch of the ,cathedral ,church of ,st4 ,trophimus1 at ,arles4 #ade ,cf4 ,crawley1 op4 cit41 p4 #ahg4 #adf ,general references3 ,eliphas ,levi1 ,dogme et ,rituel de la ,haute ,magie 7,paris72 ,paracelsus2 ,a4 ,e4 ,waite1 ,the ,occult ,sciences 7,london1 #ahia74 #adg ,w4 ,b4 ,yeats1 ,irish ,fairy and ,folk-,tales 7,london71 p4 #b4 #adh ,w4 ,b4 ,yeats1 ,the ,celtic ,twilight 7,london1 #aijb71 p4 #ib n4 #adi ,in this connexion should be read ,mr4 ,jenner's ,introduction1 pp4 #afg ff4 #aej ,cf4 ,cririe1 ,scottish ,scenery 7,london1 #ahjc71 pp4 #cdg-h2 ,p4 ,graham1 ,sketches ,descriptive of ,picturesque ,scenery on the ,southern ,confines of ,perthshire 7,edinburgh1 #ahab71 pp4 #bdh-ej1 #bec2 ,mah1 ,essai sur les ,antiquits du ,dpart4 du ,morbihan 7,vannes1 #ahbe72 ,maury1 ,les ,fes du ,moyen-,age 7,paris1 #ahdc74 #aea ,david ,mac,ritchie1 ,druids and ,mound ,dwellers1 in ,celtic ,review 7,january #aiaj72 and his ,testimony of ,tradition4 #aeb ,k4 ,meyer and ,a4 ,nutt1 ,voyage of ,bran 7,london1 #ahie-g71 ii #bca-b4 #aec ,cf4 ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #fa4 #aed ,lawson1 ,modern ,greek ,folklore1 pp4 #cef1 #cei4 #aee ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #bja2 ,jubainville1 ,cyc4 ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #ajf-h4 #aef ,e4 ,o',curry1 ,manners and ,customs 7,dublin1 #ahgc71 ,i4 cccxx2 from ,book of ,ballymote1 fol4 #ade1 b4 b4 #aeg ,codrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 p4 #bhf4 #aeh ,ib41 p4 #bge4 #aei ,ib41 pp4 #bbf1 #bjh-i4 #afj ,crawley1 ,idea of the ,soul1 p4 #aad4 #afa ,codrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 p4 #bhi4 #afb ,ib41 p4 #aid4 #afc ,cf4 ,crawley1 ,idea of the ,soul1 chap4 iv4 #afd ,for a thorough and scientific discussion of this matter1 see ,j4 ,l4 ,nevius1 ,demon ,possession 7,london1 #ahig74 #afe ,n4 ,g4 ,mitchell-,innes1 ,birth1 ,marriage1 and ,death ,rites of the ,chinese1 in ,folk-,lore ,journ41 v4 #bbe4 ,very curiously1 the pagan ,chinese mother uses the sign of the cross against the demon as ,celtic mothers use it against fairies2 and no exorcism by ,catholic or ,protestant to cure a fairy changeling or to drive out possessing demons is ever performed without this world-wide and pre-,christian sign of the cross 7see pp4 #bgj-a74 #aff ,r4 ,r4 ,marett1 ,the ,threshold of ,religion 7,london1 #aiji71 p4 #eh1 c42 p4 #fg4 #afg ,w4 ,james1 ,confidences of a ',psychical ,researcher'1 in ,american ,magazine 7,october #aiji74 #afh ,frazer1 ,the ,golden ,bough#c 7,london1 #aiaa71 i4 #bbj4 #afi ,frazer1 ,the ,golden ,bough1#c i4 #bba-b4 #agj ,ib41 chap4 iv4 #aga ,see ,apuleius1 ,de ,deo ,socratis2 ,cicero1 ,de ,natura ,deorum 7lib4 i72 ,iamblichus1 ,de ,mysteriis ,aegypt41 ,chaldaeor41 ,assyrior42 ,plato1 ,timaeus1 ,symposium1 ,politicus1 ,republic1 ii4 iii4 x2 ,plutarch1 ,de ,defectu ,oraculorum1 ,the ,daemon of ,socrates1 ,isis and ,osiris2 ,proclus1 ,commmentarius in ,platonis ,alcibiadem4 #agb ,pliny1 ,natural ,history1 xxx4 #ad4 #agc ,cf4 ,g4 ,dottin1 ,la ,religion des ,celtes 7,paris1 #aijd71 p4 #dd4 #agd ,the neo-,platonists generally1 including ,porphyry1 ,julian1 ,iamblichus1 and ,maximus1 being persuaded of man's power to call up and control spirits1 called white magic theurgy1 or the invoking of good spirits1 and the reverse goty1 or the calling up and controlling of evil spirits for criminal purposes4 ,cf4 ,f4 ,llut1 ,du ,dmon de ,socrate 7,paris1 #ahcf74 ,if white magic be correlated with religion as religion is popularly conceived1 namely the cult of supernatural powers friendly to man1 and black magic be correlated with magic as magic tends to be popularly conceived1 namely witchcraft and devil-worship1 we have a satisfactory historical and logical basis for making a distinction between religion and magic2 religion 7including white magic7 is a social good1 magic 7black magic7 is a social evil4 ,such a distinction as ,dr4 ,frazer makes is untenable within the field of true magic4 #age ,cf4 ,b4 ,jowett1 ,dialogues of ,plato 7,oxford1 #ahib71 i4 #egc4 #agf ,cf4 ,meyer and ,nutt1 ,voyage of ,bran 7,london1 #ahie-g71 i4 #adf4 #agg ,campbell1 ,the ,fians1 p4 #aie4 #agh ,cf4 ,stokes's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #bfa4 #agi ,cf4 ,stokes's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xv4 #cjg4 #ahj ,from the ,conception of ,mongn1 cf4 ,meyer1 ,voyage of ,bran1 i4 #gg4 #aha ,quoted and summarized from ,projectors of ',malicious ,animal ,magnetism'1 in ,literary ,digest1 xxxix4 ,no4 #ag1 pp4 #fgf-g 7,new ,york and ,london1 ,october #bc1 #aiji74 #ahb ,cf4 ,nevius1 ,demon ,possession1 pp4 #cjj-a4 #ahc ,for a fuller discussion of the history of witchcraft see ,the ,superstitions of ,witchcraft1 by ,howard ,williams1 ,london1 #ahfe4 #ahd ,cf4 ,j4 ,quicherat1 ,procs 7,paris1 #ahde71 passim4 #ahe ,ib41 i4 #agh4 #ahf ,codrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 pp4 #abg1 #bjj1 #bjb-c ff4 #ahg ,bergier1 ,dict4 de ,thol4 7,paris1 #ahdh71 ii4 #eda-b1 c4 #ahh ,w4 ,stokes1 ,tripartite ,life 7,london1 #ahhg71 pp4 #ac1 #aae4 #ahi ,i am personally indebted to ,dr4 ,w4 ,j4 ,watson1 of ,edinburgh1 for having directed my attention to this curious passage1 and for having pointed out its probable significance in relation to druidical practices4 #aij ,adamnan1 ,life of ,s4 ,columba1 ,b4 ,,ii1 cc4 xvi1 xvii4 #aia ,for this fact ,i am personally indebted to ,mrs4 ,w4 ,j4 ,watson1 of ,edinburgh4 #aib ,stokes1 ,tripartite ,life1 pp4 clxxx1 #cjc1 #cje2 from ,book of ,armagh1 fo4 #i1 ,a #b1 and fo4 #i1 ,b #b4 #aic ,bergier1 ,dict4 de ,thol41 ii4 #ede1 #dca1 #bcc4 #aid ,see ,instruction sur le ,rituel1 par l'vque de ,toulon1 iii4 #a-af4 ',in the ,greek rite 7of baptism71 the priest breathes thrice on the catechumen's mouth1 forehead1 and breast1 praying that every unclean spirit may be expelled4'--,w4 ,bright1 ,canons of ,first ,four ,general ,councils 7,oxford1 #ahib71 p4 #abb4 #aie ,cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints 7,paris1 #ahce71 xiii4 #bed-ff4 #aif ,de ,incarnatione ,verbi 7ed4 ,ben471 i4 #hh2 cf4 ,godescard1 op4 cit41 xiii4 #bed-ff4 #aig ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xiii4 #bfc-d4 #aih ,par ,joly de ,choin1 vque de ,toulon1 i4 #fci4 #aii ,bergier1 ,dict4 de ,thol41 ii4 #cce4 #bjj ,stokes1 ,tripartite ,life1 ,intro41 p4 #afb4 #bja ,j4 ,e4 ,mirville1 ,des ,esprits 7,paris1 #ahec71 i4 #dge4 #bjb ,instructions sur le ,rituel1 par ,joly de ,choin1 iii4 #bgf-g4 #bjc ,g4 ,evans1 ,exorcism in ,wales1 in ,folk-,lore1 iii4 #bgd-g4 #bjd ,w4 ,crooke1 in ,folk-,lore1 xiii4 #ahi-ij4 #bje ,for ancient usages see ,f4 ,lenormant1 ,chaldean ,magic 7,london1 #ahgg71 pp4 #ajc-d2 ,iamblichus and other ,neo-,platonists2 and for modern usages see ,marett1 ,threshold of ,religion1 chap4 iii4 #bjf ,cf4 ,marett1 ,is ,taboo a ,negative ,magic8 in ,the ,threshold of ,religion1 pp4 #he-aad4 #bjg ,codrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 p4 #bgg4 #bjh ,eastman1 ,dacotah1 p4 #agg2 cf4 ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #eb n4 #bji ,shortland1 ,trad4 of ,new ,zeal41 p4 #aej2 cf4 ,tylor1 op4 cit41 ii4 #ea-b4 #baj ,precisely like ,celtic peasants1 primitive peoples often fail to take into account the fact that the physical body is in reality left behind upon entering the trance state of consciousness known to them as the world of the departed and of fairies1 because there they seem still to have a body1 the ghost body1 which to their minds1 in such a state1 is undistinguishable from the physical body4 ,therefore they ordinarily believe that the body and soul both are taken4 #baa ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough1#b passim4 #bab ,cf4 ib41 i4 #cdd ff41 #cdh2 iii4 #cij4 #bac ,codrington1 ,the ,melanesians1 pp4 #agg1 #bah-i4 #bad ,cf4 ,eleanor ,hull1 ,old ,irish ,tabus or ,geasa1 in ,folk-,lore1 xii4 #da ff4 #bae ,cf4 ,frazer1 ,golden ,bough1#b i4 #bcc ff41 #cdc4 #baf ,cf4 ,e4 ,j4 ,gwynn1 ,on the ,idea of ,fate in ,irish ,literature1 in ,journ4 ,ivernian ,society 7,cork71 ,april #aiaj4 #bag ,cf4 our evidence1 pp4 #ch1 #dd2 also ,kirk's ,secret ,commonwealth 7c4 i71 where it is said of the 'good people' or fairies that their bodies are so 'plyable thorough the ,subtilty of the ,spirits that agitate them1 that they can make them appear or disappear att ,pleasure4 ,some have ,bodies or ,vehicles so spungious1 thin1 and delecat1 that they are fed by only sucking into some fine spirituous ,liquors1 that pierce lyke pure ,air and ,oyl'4 #bah ,laws1 iv2 cf4 ,jowett1 ,dialogues of ,plato1 v4 #bhb-ij4 #bai ,chief general references3 ,le ,cycle ,mythologique ,irlandais 7,paris1 #ahhd7 and ,l'pope celtique en ,irlande 7,paris1 #ahib7--;both by ,h4 ,d',arbois de ,jubainville4 ,chief sources3 ,the ,book of ,armagh1 a collection of ecclesiastical ,,mss4 probably written at ,armagh1 and finished in ,a4 ,d4 #hjg by the learned scribe ,ferdomnach of ,armagh2 the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre or ',book of the ,dun ,cow'1 the most ancient of the great collections of ,,mss4 containing the old ,irish romances1 compiled about ,a4 ,d4 #aajj in the monastery of ,clonmacnoise2 the ,book of ,leinster1 a twelfth-century ,,ms4 compiled by ,finn ,mac ,gorman1 ,bishop of ,kildare2 the ,yellow ,book of ,lecan 7fifteenth century72 and the ,book of ,lismore1 an old ,irish ,,ms4 found in #ahad by workmen while making repairs in the castle of ,lismore1 and thought to be of the fifteenth century4 ,the ,book of ,lismore contains the ,agallamh na senrach or ',colloquy of the ,ancients'1 which has been edited by ,s4 ,h4 ,o',grady in his ,silva ,gadelica 7,london1 #ahib71 and by ,whitley ,stokes1 ,ir4 ,texte1 iv4 #a4 ,for additional texts and editions of texts see ,notes by ,r4 ,i4 ,best to his translations of ,le ,cycle ,mythologique ,irlandais 7,dublin1 #aijc74 #bbj ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #add-e4 #bba ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #bff-g4 ,from the way they are described in many of the old ,irish manuscripts1 we may possibly regard the ,tuatha ,de ,danann as reflecting to some extent the characteristics of an early human population in ,ireland4 ,in other words1 on an already flourishing belief in spiritual beings1 known as the ,sidhe1 was superimposed1 through anthropomorphism1 an ,irish folk-memory about a conquered pre-,celtic race of men who claimed descent from a mother goddess called ,dana4 #bbb ,page #aj1 col4 #b1 ll4 #f-h2 cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 p4 #adc4 #bbc ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #eha n42 and ,cir ,anmann1 in ,ir4 ,texte1 ,,iii1 ii4 #cee4 #bbd ,kuno ,meyer's trans4 in ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #cjj4 #bbe ,cf4 ,standish ,o',grady1 ,early ,bardic ,literature 7,london1 #ahgi71 pp4 #fe-f4 #bbf ,l4 ,u42 cf4 ,a4 ,nutt1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #aeg-h4 #bbg ,before ,caeilte appears1 ,patrick is chanting ,mass and pronouncing benediction 'on the rath in which ,finn ,mac ,cumall 7the slain leader of the ,fianna7 has been3 the rath of ,drumderg'4 ,this chanting and benediction act magically as a means of calling up the ghosts of the other ,fianna1 for1 as the text continues1 thereupon 'the clerics saw ,caeilte and his band draw near them2 and fear fell on them before the tall men with their huge wolf-dogs that accompanied them1 for they were not people of one epoch or of one time with the clergy4 ,then ,heaven's distinguished one1 that pillar of dignity and angel on earth1 ,calpurn's son ,patrick1 apostle of the ,gael1 rose and took the aspergillum to sprinkle holy water on the great men2 floating over whom until that day there had been and were now a thousand legions of demons4 ,into the hills and skalps1 into the outer borders of the region and of the country1 the demons forthwith departed in all directions2 after which the enormous men sat down' 7,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #ajc74 ,here1 undoubtedly1 we observe a literary method of rationalizing the ghosts of the ,fianna2 and their sudden and mysterious coming and personal aspects can be compared with the sudden and mysterious coming and personal aspects of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann as recorded in certain ,irish manuscripts4 #bbh ,kuno ,meyer's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 x4 #bad-bg4 ,this tale is probably as old as the ninth or tenth century1 so far as its present form is concerned1 though representing very ancient traditions 7,nutt1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #bji74 #bbi ,stokes's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xxii4 #cf-dj4 ,this text is one of the earliest with references to fairy beings1 and may go back to the eighth or ninth century as a literary composition1 though it too represents much older traditions4 #bcj ,e4 ,o',curry1 ,lectures on ,manuscript ,materials 7,dublin1 #ahfa71 p4 #ejd4 #bca ,in the ,book of ,leinster1 pp4 #bde-f2 cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 p4 #bfi4 #bcb ,cf4 ,mesca ,ulad1 ,hennessy's ed41 in ,todd ,lectures1 ,ser4 #a 7,dublin1 #ahhi71 p4 #b4 #bcc ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #bgc-f4 #bcd ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #bgc-f4 #bce ,cf4 ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #bbb-c4 #bcf ,ib41 ii4 #cdc-g4 #bcg ,ib41 ii4 #id-f4 #bch ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #bjd-bj4 #bci ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #bij-a4 ,in many old texts mortals are not forcibly taken2 but go to the fairy world through love for a fairy woman2 or else to accomplish there some mission4 ,no doubt the most curious elements in this text are those which represent the prince and his warrior companions1 fresh come from ,fairyland1 as in some mysterious way so changed that they must neither dismount from their horses and thus come in contact with the earth1 nor allow any mortal to touch them2 for to his father the king who came forward in joy to embrace him after having mourned him as dead1 ,laeghaire cried1 ',approach us not to touch us6' ,some unknown magical bodily transmutation seems to have come about from their sojourn among the ,tuatha ,de ,danann1 who are eternally young and unfading--a transmutation apparently quite the same as that which the 'gentry' are said to bring about now when one of our race is taken to live with them4 ,and in all fairy stories no mortal ever returns from ,fairyland a day older than on entering it1 no matter how many years may have elapsed4 ,the idea reminds us of the dreams of mediaeval alchemists who thought there exists1 if one could only discover it1 some magic potion which will so transmute every atom of the human body that death can never affect it4 ,probably the ,christian scribe in writing down these strange words had in mind what ,jesus said to ,mary ,magdalene when she beheld him after the ,resurrection3--',touch me not2 for ,i am not yet ascended unto the ,father4' ,the parallel would be a striking and exact one in any case1 for it is recorded that ,jesus after he had arisen from the dead--had come out of ,hades or the invisible realm of subjectivity which1 too1 is ,fairyland--appeared to some and not to others--some being able to recognize him and others not2 and concerning the nature of ,jesus's body at the ,ascension not all theologians are agreed4 ,some believe it to have been a physical body so purified and transmuted as to be like1 or the same as1 a spiritual body1 and thus capable of invisibility and of entrance into the ,realm of ,spirit4 ,the ,scotch minister and seer used this same parallel in describing the nature and power of fairies and spirits 7p4 #ia72 hence it would seem to follow1 if we admit the influence in the ,irish text to be ,christian1 that early1 like modern ,christians1 have1 in accordance with ,christianity1 described the nature of the ,sidhe so as to correspond with what we know it to be in the ,fairy-,faith itself1 both anciently and at the present day4 #bdj ,death of ,muirchertach1 ,stokes's trans41 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xxiii4 #cig4 #bda ,cf4 ,j4 ,loth1 ,les ,mabinogion 7,paris1 #ahhi71 i4 #ch-eb4 #bdb ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #ahg-ib4 #bdc ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #adb-d4 #bdd ,campbell1 ,the ,fians1 pp4 #gi-hj4 ,in ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #ebb1 it is stated that the mother of ,ossian bore him whilst in the shape of a doe4 ,the mother of ,ossian in animal shape may be an example of an ancient ,celtic totemistic survival4 #bde ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #caa-bd4 #bdf ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #caa-bd4 #bdg ,for an enumeration of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann chieftains and their respective territories see ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #bbe4 #bdh ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 p4 #bhe4 #bdi ,i am personally indebted for these names to ,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde4 #bej ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #bhd-i2 cf4 ,rev4 ,celt41 iii4 #cdg4 #bea ,cf4 ,e4 ,s4 ,hartland1 ,science of ,fairy ,tales 7,london1 #ahia71 cc4 x-xi4 #beb ,stokes's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xvi4 #bgd-e4 #bec ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #bbb ff42 ii4 #bij4 ,in another version of the second tale1 referred to above 7on page #bie71 ,laeghaire and his fifty companions enter the fairy world through a dn4 #bed ,sometimes1 as in ,da ,choca's ,hostel 7,rev4 ,celt41 xxi4 #aeg1 #cae71 the ,badb appears as a weird woman uttering prophecies4 ,in this case the ,badb watches over ,cormac as his doom comes4 ,she is described as standing on one foot1 and with one eye closed 7apparently in a bird's posture71 as she chanted to ,cormac this prophecy3--',i wash the harness of a king who will perish4' #bee ,synonymous names are ,badb-catha1 ,fea1 ,ana4 ,cf4 ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #ce-g4 #bef ,cf4 ,hennessy1 ,ancient ,irish ,goddess of ,war1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #cb-ee4 #beg ,stokes1 ,second ,battle of ,moytura1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xii4 #aji-aa4 #beh ,luzel1 ,contes populaires de ,basse ,bretagne1 iii4 #bif-caa4 #bei ,the ,celtic examples recall non-,celtic ones3 the raven was sacred among the ancient ,scandinavians and ,germans1 being looked upon as the emblem of ,odin2 in ancient ,egypt and ,rome commonly1 and to a less extent in ancient ,greece1 gods often declared their will through birds or even took the form of birds2 in ,christian scriptures the ,spirit of ,god or the ,holy ,ghost descended upon ,jesus at his baptism in the semblance of a dove2 and it is almost a world-wide custom to symbolize the human soul under the form of a bird or butterfly4 ,possibly such beliefs as these are relics of a totemistic creed which in times long previous to history was as definitely held by the ancestors of the nations of antiquity1 including the ancient ,celts1 as any totemistic creed to be found now among native ,australians or ,north ,american ,red ,men4 ,at all events1 in the story of a bird ancestry of ,conaire we seem to have a perfectly clear example of a ,celtic totemistic survival--even though ,dr4 ,frazer may not admit it as such 7cf4 ,rev4 ,celt41 xxii4 #bj1 #bd2 xii4 #bdb-c74 #bfj ,hennessy1 ,the ,ancient ,irish ,goddess of ,war1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #cb-eg4 #bfa ,aoibheall1 who came to tell ,brian ,borumha of his death at ,clontarf1 was the family banshee of the royal house of ,munster4 ,cf4 ,j4 ,h4 ,todd1 ,war of the ,gaedhil with the ,gaill 7,london1 #ahfg71 p4 #bja4 #bfb ,hyde1 ,literary ,history of ,ireland1 p4 #ddj4 #bfc ,cf4 ,hennessy1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #ci-dj4 ,in place of badb1 ,dr4 ,hyde 7,lit4 ,hist4 ,irl41 p4 #ddj7 uses the word vulture4 #bfd ,hennessy1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #eb4 #bfe ,chief general reference3 ,sir ,john ,rhys1 ,arthurian ,legend 7,oxford1 #ahia74 ,chief sources3 ,nennius1 ,historia ,britonum 7circa #hjj72 ,geoffrey of ,monmouth1 ,historia ,regum ,britanniae 7circa #aacf72 ,wace1 ,le ,roman de ,brut 7circa #aaee72 ,layamon's ,brut 7circa #abjj72 ,marie de ,france1 ,lais 7twelfth-thirteenth century72 ,the ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales 7twelfth-fifteenth century71 edited by ,w4 ,f4 ,skene2 ,the ,mabinogion 7based on the ,red ,book of ,hergest1 a fourteenth-century manuscript71 edited by ,lady ,charlotte ,guest1 ,sir ,john ,rhys and ,j4 ,g4 ,evans1 and ,professor ,j4 ,loth2 ,malory1 ,le ,morte ,d',arthur 7#adgj72 ,the ,myvyrian ,archaiology of ,wales1 collected out of ancient manuscripts 7,denbigh1 #ahgj72 ,iolo ,manuscripts1 a selection of ancient ,welsh manuscripts 7,llandovery1 #ahdh74 #bff ,in a ,welsh poem of the twelfth century 7see ,w4 ,f4 ,skene1 ,four ,ancient ,books1 ,edinburgh1 #ahfh1 ii4 #cg1 #ch7 wherein the war feats of ,prince ,geraint are described1 his men1 who lived and fought a long time after the period assigned to ,arthur1 are called the men of ,arthur2 and1 as ,sir ,john ,rhys thinks1 this is good evidence that the genuine ,arthur was a mythical figure1 one might almost be permitted to say a god1 who overshadows and directs his warrior votaries1 but who1 never descending into the battle1 is in this respect comparable with the ,irish war-goddess the ,badb 7cf4 ,rhys1 ,celtic ,britain1 ,london1 #aijd1 p4 #bcf74 #bfg ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 chap4 #a4 #bfh ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 pp4 #bd1 #dh4 ,sir ,john ,rhys sees good reasons for regarding ,arthur as a culture hero1 because of ,arthur's traditional relation with agriculture1 which most culture heroes1 like ,osiris1 have taught their people 7ib41 pp4 #da-c74 #bfi ,cf4 ,g4 ,maspero1 ,contes populaires de l'gypte ,ancienne#c 7,paris1 #aijf71 ,intro41 p4 #eg4 #bgj ,sommer's ,malory's ,morte ,d',arthur1 iii4 #a4 #bga ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #i4 #bgb ,i am indebted to ,professor ,j4 ,loth for help with this etymology4 #bgc ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #bb4 #bgd i4 #aj2 ii4 #ba;b2 iii4 #gj2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #fj4 #bge ,see ,williams' ,seint ,greal1 pp4 #bgh1 #cjd1 #cda1 #fag1 #fcd1 #feh1 #fga2 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #fa4 #bgf ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 pp4 #ea1 #ce2 and see our study1 pp4 #cgd-f4 #bgg ,chevalier de la ,charrette 7ed4 by ,tarb71 p4 #bb2 ,romania1 xii4 #dfg1 #eae2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #ed4 #bgh ,romania1 xii4 #dfg-h1 #dgc-d2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #ee4 #bgi ,cf4 ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #ic-d4 #bhj ,romania1 xii4 #ejh2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #ed4 #bha ,book ,,xix1 c4 i4 #bhb ,in the ,lebar ,brecc there is a tract describing eight ,eucharistic ,colours and their mystical or hidden meaning2 and green is so described that we recognize in its ,celtic-,christian symbolism the same essential significance as in the writings of both pagan and non-,celtic ,christian mystics1 thus3--',this is what the ,green denotes1 when he 7the priest7 looks at it3 that his heart and his mind be filled with great faintness and exceeding sorrow3 for what is understood by it is his burial at the end of life under mould of earth2 for green is the original colour of every earth1 and therefore the colour of the robe of ,offering is likened unto green' 7,stokes1 ,tripartite ,life1 ,intro41 p4 #ahi74 ,during the ceremonies of initiation into the ,ancient ,mysteries1 it is supposed that the neophyte left the physical body in a trance state1 and in full consciousness1 which he retained afterwards1 entered the subjective world and beheld all its wonders and inhabitants2 and that coming out of that world he was clothed in a robe of sacred green to symbolize his own spiritual resurrection and re-birth into real life--for he had penetrated the ,mystery of ,death and was now an initiate4 ,even yet there seems to be an echo of the ancient ,egyptian ,mysteries in the ,festival of ,al-,khidr celebrated in the middle of the wheat harvest in ,lower ,egypt4 ,al-,khidr is a holy personage who1 according to the belief of the people1 was the ,vizier of ,dhu'l-,karnen1 a contemporary of ,abraham1 and who1 never having died1 is still living and will continue to live until the ,day of ,judgement4 ,and he is always represented 'clad in green garments1 whence probably the name' he bears4 ,green is thus associated with a hero or god who is immortal and unchanging1 like the ,tuatha ,de ,danann and fairy races 7see ,sir ,norman ,lockyer's ,stonehenge and ,other ,stone ,monuments1 ,london1 #aiji1 p4 #bi74 ,in modern ,masonry1 which preserves many of the ancient mystic rites1 and to some extent those of initiation as anciently performed1 green is the symbol of life1 immutable nature1 of truth1 and victory4 ,in the evergreen the ,master ,mason finds the emblem of hope and immortality4 ,and the masonic authority who gives this information suggests that in all the ,ancient ,mysteries this symbolism was carried out--green symbolizing the birth of the world and the moral creation or resurrection of the initiate 7,general ,history1 ,cyclopedia1 and ,dictionary of ,freemasonry1 by ,robert ,macoy1 #cco1 ,new ,york1 #ahfi74 #bhc ,myv4 ,arch41 i4 #age4 ,the text itself in this work is said to be copied from the ,green ,book--now unknown4 ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg4 p4 #ef n4 #bhd ,in this text1 the ,gwenhwyvar who is in the power of ,melwas is referred to as ,arthur's second wife ,gwenhwyvar1 for according to the ,welsh ,triads 7i4 #ei2 ii4 #af2 iii4 #aji7 there are three wives of ,arthur all named ,gwenhwyvar4 ,as ,sir ,john ,rhys observes1 no poet has ever availed himself of all three1 for the evident reason that they would have spoilt his plot 7,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #ce74 #bhe ,d4 ab ,gwilym's ,poetry 7,london1 #aghi71 poem cxi1 line #dd4 ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #ff4 #bhf ,malory1 ,book ,i1 c4 xxv4 ,one account of ,arthur's sword ,caledvwlch or ,caleburn describes it as having been made in the ,isle of ,avalon 7,lady ,ch4 ,guest's ,mabinogion1 ii4 #cbb n42 also ,myv4 ,arch41 ii4 #cjf74 #bhg ,malory1 ,book ,,ix1 c4 xv2 ,sir ,john ,rhys takes the ,lady of the ,lake who sends ,arthur the sword and the one who aids him afterwards 7though1 apparently by error1 two characters in ,malory7 as different aspects of the one lake-lady ,morgen 7,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #cdh74 #bhh ,merlin explained to ,arthur that ,king ,loth's wife was ,arthur's own sister 7,sommer's ,malory1 i4 #fd-e72 and ,king ,loth is one of the rulers of the ,otherworld4 #bhi ,book ,,xxi1 c4 vi4 #bij ,this poem1 according to ,gaston ,paris1 was translated during the late twelfth century from a ,french original now lost 7,romania1 x4 #dga74 ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #abg4 #bia ,malory1 ,book ,,xii1 cc4 iii-x2 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 pp4 #ade1 #afd4 ,galahad1 however1 does not belong to the more ancient ,arthurian romances at all1 so far as scholars can determine2 and1 therefore1 too much emphasis ought not to be placed on this episode in connexion with the character of ,arthur4 #bib ,we should like to direct the reader's attention to the interesting similarity shown between this old story of ,kulhwch and ,olwen and the fairy legend which we found living in ,south ,wales1 and now recorded by us on page #afa1 under the title of ,einion and ,olwen4 ,as we have there suggested1 the legend seems to be the remnant of a very ancient bardic tale preserved in the oral traditions of the people2 and the prevalence of such bardic traditions in a part of ,wales where some of the ,mabinogion stories either took shape1 or from where they drew folk-lore material1 would make it probable that there may even be some close relationship between the ,olwen of the story and the ,olwen of our folk-tale4 ,if it could be shown that there is1 we should be able at once to regard both ,olwens as ',fair-,folk' or of the ,tylwyth ,teg1 and the quest of ,kulhwch as really a journey to the ,otherworld to gain a fairy wife4 #bic ,we may even have in the story of ,kulhwch and ,olwen a symbolical or mystical account of ancient ,brythonic rites of initiation1 which have also directly to do with the spiritual world and its invisible inhabitants4 #bid ,cf4 ,j4 ,loth1 ,les ,mabinogion 7,paris1 #ahhi71 p4 #beb n4 #bie ,cf4 ,j4 ,loth1 ,le ,mabinogi de ,kulhwch et ,olwen 7,saint-,brieuc1 #ahhh71 ,intro41 p4 #g4 #bif ,lady ,ch4 ,guest's ,mabinogion 7,london1 #ahdi71 ii4 #cbc n4 #big ,cf4 ,r4 ,h4 ,fletcher1 ,arthurian ,material in the ,chronicles1 in ,harv4 ,stud4 and ,notes in ,phil4 and ,lit41 x4 #bj-a4 #bih ,fletcher1 ib41 x4 #bi2 #bf4 #bii ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #g2 and ,rhys1 ,the ,welsh ,people#c 7,london1 #aijb71 p4 #aje4 #cjj ,cf4 ,fletcher1 op4 cit41 x4 #dc-aae2 from ed4 by ,san-,marte 7,a4 ,schulz71 ,gottfried's von ,monmouth ,hist4 ,reg4 ,brit4 7,halle1 #ahed71 ,eng4 trans4 by ,a4 ,thompson1 ,the ,british ,history1 c4 7#agah74 #cja ,cf4 ,fletcher1 op4 cit41 pp4 #aag-dd4 #cjb ,sir ,frederic ,madden1 ,layamon's ,brut 7,london1 #ahdg71 ii4 #chd4 ,here the ,germanic elves are by ,layamon made the same in character and nature as ,brythonic elves or fairies4 #cjc ,madden1 ,layamon's ,brut1 ii4 #add4 #cjd ,j4 ,bdier's ed41 ,socit des anciens textes franais 7,paris1 #aijb74 #cje ,e4 ,muret's ed41 ,socit des anciens textes franais 7,paris1 #aijc74 #cjf ,a4 ,c4 ,l4 ,brown1 ,the ,knight and the ,lion2 also1 by same author1 ,iwain1 in ,harv4 ,stud4 and ,notes in ,phil4 and ,lit41 vii4 #adf1 c4 #cjg ,celtic ,mag41 xii4 #eee2 ,romania 7#ahhh72 cf4 ,brown1 ib4 #cjh ,j4 ,loth1 ,les ,romans arthuriens1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xiii4 #dig4 #cji ,bibliotheca ,normannica1 iii1 ,die ,lais der ,marie de ,france1 pp4 #hf-aab4 #caj ,cf4 ,w4 ,h4 ,schofield1 ,the ,lays of ,graelent and ,lanval1 and the ,story of ,wayland1 in ,pub4 ,mod4 ,lang4 ,ass4 of ,america1 xv4 #agf4 #caa ,cf4 ,schofield1 ,the ,lay of ,guingamor1 in ,harv4 ,stud4 and ,notes in ,phil4 and ,lit41 v4 #bba-b4 #cab ,for editions1 and fuller details of the fairy elements1 see ,de ,la ,warr ,b4 ,easter1 ,a ,study of the ,magic ,elements in the ,,romans ,d',,aventure and the ,,romans ,,bretons 7,johns ,hopkins ,univ41 ,baltimore1 #aijf74 ,see also ,lucy ,a4 ,paton1 ,studies in the ,fairy ,mythology of the ,arthurian ,romance1 ,radcliffe ,college ,monograph ,,xiii 7,new ,york1 #aijc74 #cac ,perc41 vi4 #bce2 cf4 ,easter's ,dissertation1 p4 #db n4 #cad ,joufrois1 #cagi ff42 ed4 ,hofmann und ,muncker 7,halle1 #ahhj72 cf4 ,easter's ,diss41 pp4 #dj-b n4 #cae ,brun1 #efb ff41 #cbcg1 #cbea1 #ccif1 #ceii ff42 ed4 ,paul ,meyer 7,paris1 #ahge72 cf4 ib41 pp4 #db n41 #dd n4 #caf ,e4 ,anwyl1 ,the ,four ,branches of the ,mabinogi1 in ,zeit4 fr ,celt4 ,phil4 7,london1 ,paris1 #ahig71 i4 #bgh4 #cag ,cf4 ,nutt1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #ai1 #ba4 #cah ,black ,book of ,caermarthen1 xvii1 stanza #g1 ll4 #e-h4 ,this book dates from #aaed to #aahi as a manuscript2 cf4 ,skene1 ,four ,anc4 ,books1 i4 #c1 #cgb4 #cai ,stanzas #ai-bj4 ,this book took shape as a manuscript from the fourteenth to fifteenth century1 according to ,skene4 ,cf4 ,skene1 ,four ,anc4 ,books1 i4 #c1 #dfd4 #cbj ,see ,a ,fugitive ,poem of ,myrddin in his ,grave4 ,red ,book of ,hergest1 ii4 ,skene1 ib41 i4 #dgh-ha1 stanza #bg4 #cba ,chief general references3 ,h4 ,d',arbois de ,jubainville1 ,l'pope celtique en ,irlande1 ,le ,cycle ,mythologique ,irlandais2 ,kuno ,meyer and ,alfred ,nutt1 ,the ,happy ,otherworld and the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth4 ,chief sources3 the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre 7,a4 ,d4 #aajj72 the ,book of ,leinster 7twelfth century72 the ,lais of ,marie de ,france 7twelfth to thirteenth century72 the ,white ,book of ,rhyderch1 ,hengwrt ,coll4 7thirteenth to fourteenth century72 the ,yellow ,book of ,lecan 7fifteenth century72 the ,book of ,lismore 7fifteenth century72 the ,book of ,fermoy 7fifteenth century72 the ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales 7twelfth to fifteenth century74 #cbb ,one of the commonest legends among all ,celtic peoples is about some lost city like the ,breton ,is1 or some lost land or island 7cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 c4 xv1 and ,celtic ,folk-,lore1 c4 vii72 and we can be quite sure that if1 as some scientists now begin to think 7cf4 ,batella1 ,pruebas geolgicas de la existencia de la ,atlntida1 in ,congreso internacional de ,americanistas1 iv41 ,madrid1 #ahhb2 also ,meyers1 ,grosses ,konversations-,lexikon1 ii4 #dd1 ,leipzig und ,wien1 #aijc7 ,atlantis once existed1 its disappearance must have left from a prehistoric epoch a deep impress on folk-memory4 ,but the ,otherworld idea being in essence animistic is not to be regarded1 save from a superficial point of view1 as conceivably having had its origin in a lost ,atlantis4 ,the real evolutionary process1 granting the disappearance of this island continent1 would seem rather to have been one of localizing and anthropomorphosing very primitive ,aryan and pre-,aryan beliefs about a heaven-world1 such as have been current among almost all races of mankind in all stages of culture1 throughout the two ,americas and ,polynesia as well as throughout ,europe1 ,asia1 and ,africa4 7,cf4 ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #fb1 #dh1 c47 #cbc ,white ,book of ,rhyderch1 folio #bia;a2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 pp4 #bfh-i4 #cbd ,from ,echtra ,condla1 in the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre4 ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #aib-c4 #cbe ,cf4 ,eleanor ,hull1 ,the ,silver ,bough in ,irish ,legend1 in ,folk-,lore1 xii4 #cbf ,cf4 ,eleanor ,hull1 op4 cit41 p4 #dca4 #cbg ,classical parallels to the ,celtic ,otherworld journeys exist in the descent of ,dionysus to bring back ,semele1 of ,orpheus to recover his beloved ,eurydike1 of ,herakles at the command of his master ,eurystheus to fetch up the three-headed ,kerberos--as mentioned first in ,homer's ,iliad 7cf4 ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #dh72 and chiefly in the voyage of ,odysseus across the deep-flowing ,ocean to the land of the departed 7,homer1 ,odyss4 xi74 #cbh ,servius1 ad ,aen41 vi4 #acf ff4 #cbi ,voy4 of ,bran1 i1 pp4 #b ff4 ,the tale is based on seven manuscripts ranging in age from the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre of about ,a4 ,d4 #aajj to six others belonging to the fourteenth1 fifteenth1 and sixteenth centuries 7cf4 ib41 p4 xvi74 #ccj ,this tale exists in several manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries2 i4 e4 ,book of ,ballymote1 and ,yellow ,book of ,lecan1 as edited and translated by ,stokes1 in ,irische ,texte1 ,,iii4 i4 #ahc-bbi2 cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #aij ff42 cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #cbf-cc4 #cca ,the fountain is a sacred fountain containing the sacred salmon2 and the nine hazels are the sacred hazels of inspiration and poetry4 ,these passages are among the most mystical in ,irish literature4 ,cf4 pp4 #dcb-c4 #ccb ,cf4 ,stokes's trans4 in ,irische ,texte 7,leipzig1 #ahia71 ,,iii4 i4 #baa-af4 #ccc ,the ,greeks saw in ,hermes the symbol of the ,logos4 ,like ,manannan1 he conducted the souls of men to the ,otherworld of the gods1 and then brought them back to the human world4 ,hermes 'holds a rod in his hands1 beautiful1 golden1 wherewith he spellbinds the eyes of men whomsoever he would1 and wakes them again from sleep'--in initiations2 while ,manannan and the fairy beings lure mortals to the fairy world through sleep produced by the music of the ,silver ,branch4--,hippolytus on the ,naasenes 7from the ,hebrew ,nachash1 meaning a ',serpent'71 a ,gnostic school2 cf4 ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead1 ,fragments of a ,faith ,forgotten1 pp4 #aih1 #bja4 ,or again1 'the ,caduceus1 or ,rod of ,mercury 7,hermes71 and the ,thyrsus in the ,greek ,mysteries1 which conducted the soul from life to death1 and from death to life1 figured forth the serpentine power in man1 and the path whereby it would carry the man aloft to the height1 if he would but cause the ,waters of the ,jordan to flow upwards4'--,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead4 ib41 p4 #ahe4 #ccd ,cf4 ,hennessy's ed4 in ,todd ,lectures1 ser4 ,i4 i4 #i4 #cce ,among the early ecclesiastical manuscripts of the so-called ,prophecies4 ,see ,e4 ,o',curry1 ,lectures1 p4 #chc4 #ccf ,cf4 ,eleanor ,hull1 op4 cit41 pp4 #dci-dj4 #ccg ,now in three versions based on the ,l4 ,u4 ,,ms4 ,our version is collated from ,o',curry's translation in ,atlantis1 i4 #cfb-ib1 ii4 #ih-abd1 as revised by ,kuno ,meyer1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #aeb ff42 and from ,jubainville's translation in ,l'p4 celt4 en ,irl41 pp4 #agj-baf4 #cch ,as ,alfred ,nutt pointed out1 ',there is no parallel to the position or to the sentiments of ,fand in the post-classic literature of ,western ,europe until we come to ,guinevere and ,isolt1 ,ninian and ,orgueilleuse' 7,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #aef n474 #cci ,see poem ,tir na nog 7,land of ,youth71 by ,michael ,comyn1 composed or collected about the year #agdi4 ,ed4 by ,bryan ,o',looney1 in ,trans4 ,ossianic ,soc41 iv4 #bcd-gj4 #cdj ,laeghaire1 who also came back from ,fairyland on a fairy horse1 and fifty warriors with him each likewise mounted1 to say good-bye for ever to the king and people of ,connaught1 were warned as they set out for this world not to dismount if they wished to return to their fairy wives4 ,the warning was strictly observed1 and thus they were able to go back to the ,sidhe-world 7see p4 #bie74 #cda ,cf4 ,bibliotheca ,normannica1 iii1 ,die ,lais der ,marie de ,france1 pp4 #hf-aab4 #cdb ,cf4 ,stokes's trans41 in ,rev4 ,celt41 ix4 #dec-ie1 x4 #ej-ie4 ,most of the tale comes from the ,l4 ,u4 ,,ms42 cf4 ,l'p4 celt4 en ,irl41 pp4 #ddi-ejj4 #cdc ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #che-dja4 ,the ,,ms4 text1 ,echira ,thaidg mheic ,chin1 or ',the ,adventure of ,cian's son ,teigue'1 is found in the ,book of ,lismore4 #cdd ,summarized and quoted from translation by ,r4 ,i4 ,best1 in riu1 iii4 #aej-gc4 ,the text is found in the ,book of ,fermoy 7pp4 #aci-de71 a fifteenth-century codex in the ,royal ,irish ,academy4 #cde ,folios #aac-ae1 trans4 ,o',beirne ,crow1 ,journ4 ,kilkenny ,archae4 ,soc4 7#ahgj-a71 pp4 #cga-ddh2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #bfj-a4 #cdf ,cf4 ,skene1 ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales1 i4 #bfd-f1 #bgf1 c4 #cdg ,cf4 ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #cja ff41 from ,additional ,,ms4 #cdaai1 dating from #agfe1 in ,british ,museum4 #cdh ,giolla an ,fhiugha1 or ',the ,lad of the ,ferrule'1 trans4 by ,douglas ,hyde1 in ,irish ,texts ,society1 ,london1 #ahii4 #cdi ,cf4 ,meyer and ,nutt1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #adg1 #bbh1 #bcj1 #bce2 #afa4 #cej ,the bulk of the text comes from the ,book of ,fermoy4 ,cf4 ,stokes's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xiv4 #ei1 #di1 #ec1 c4 #cea ,j4 ,loth1 ,l'migration bretonne en ,armorique 7,paris1 #ahhc71 pp4 #aci-dj4 #ceb ,ed4 and trans4 by ,w4 ,stokes1 ,calcutta1 #ahff4 ,this ,vision has been erroneously ascribed to the celebrated ,abbot of ,iona1 who died in #gjc2 but ,professor ,zimmer has regarded it as a ninth-century composition2 cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #bai ff4 #cec ,cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #aie ff4 #ced ,see ,j4 ,g4 ,campbell1 ,the ,fians1 pp4 #bfj-g4 #cee ,the ,literary ,movement in ,ireland1 in ,ideals in ,ireland1 ed4 by ,lady ,gregory 7,london1 #aija71 p4 #ie4 #cef ,cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #cca4 #ceg ,general reference3 ,essay upon the ,irish ,vision of the happy ,otherworld and the ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth1 by ,alfred ,nutt in ,kuno ,meyer's ,voyage of ,bran4 ,chief sources3 ,leabhar na h-,uidhre2 ,book of ,leinster2 ,four ,ancient ,books of ,wales2 ,mabinogion2 ,silva ,gadelica2 ,barddas1 a collection of ,welsh manuscripts made about #aefj2 and the ,annals of the ,four ,masters1 compiled in the first half of the seventeenth century4 #ceh ,cf4 ,plato1 ,republic1 x2 ,phaedo2 ,phaedrus1 c42 ,iamblichus1 ,concerning the ,mysteries of ,egypt1 ,chaldaea1 ,assyria2 ,plutarch1 ,mysteries of ,isis 7,de ,iside et ,osiride74 #cei ,he says3--',i1 for my part1 suspect that the spirit was implanted in them 7rational creatures1 men7 from without' 7,de ,principiis1 ,book ,i1 c4 vii4 #d72444 'the cause of each one's actions is a pre-existing one2 and then every one1 according to his deserts1 is made by ,god either a vessel unto honour or dishonour' 7ib41 ,book ,,iii1 c4 i4 #bj74 ',whence we are of opinion that1 seeing the soul1 as we have frequently said1 is immortal and eternal1 it is possible that1 in the many and endless periods of duration in the immeasurable and different worlds1 it may descend from the highest good to the lowest evil1 or be restored from the lowest evil to the highest good' 7ib41 ,book ,,iii1 c4 i1 #ba72444 'every one has the reason in himself1 why he has been placed in this or that rank in life' 7ib41 ,book ,,iii1 c4 v1 #d74 #cfj ,cf4 ,bergier1 ,origne1 in ,dict4 de ,thologie1 v4 #fi4 #cfa ,holy ,bible1 ,revised ,version1 ,st4 ,matt4 xi4 #ad-ae2 cf4 ,st4 ,matt4 xvii4 #aj-ac1 ,st4 ,mark ix4 #ac1 ,st4 ,luke vii4 #bg1 ,st4 ,john i4 #ba4 #cfb ,tertullian's conclusion is as follows3--',these substances 7soul and body7 are1 in fact1 the natural property of each individual2 whilst the spirit and power 7cf4 ,mal4 iv4 #e7 are bestowed as external gifts by the grace of ,god1 and so may be transferred to another person according to the purpose and will of the ,almighty1 as was anciently the case with respect to the spirit of ,moses' 7cf4 ,num4 xii4 #b74--;,de ,anima c4 xxxv2 cf4 trans1 in ,ante-,nicene ,christian ,library 7,edinburgh1 #ahgj71 xv4 #dif-g4 #cfc ,origen says3--',but that there should be certain doctrines not made known to the multitude1 which are revealed after the exoteric ones have been taught1 is not a peculiarity of ,christianity alone1 but also of philosophic systems1 in which certain truths are exoteric and others esoteric' 7,origen against ,celsus1 ,book ,i1 c4 vii74 #cfd ,how ,tertullian almost literally accepted the re-birth doctrine is shown in his ,apology1 chapter xlviii1 concerning the resurrection of the body4 ,it is the corrupted form of the doctrine1 viz4 transmigration of human souls into animal bodies1 which he therein1 as well as in his ,de ,anima and elsewhere1 chiefly and logically combats1 as ,origen also combated it4 ,he first shows why a human soul must return into a human body in accordance with natural analogy1 every creature being after its own kind always2 and then1 because the purpose of the ,resurrection is the judgement1 that the soul must return into its own body4 ,and he concludes3--',it is surely more worthy of belief that a man will be restored from a man1 any given person from any given person1 but still a man2 so that the same kind of soul may be reinstated in the same mode of existence1 even if not into the same outward form' 7,the ,apology of ,tertullian for the ,christians2 cf4 trans4 by ,t4 ,h4 ,bindley1 ,oxford1 #ahij1 pp4 #acg-i74 #cfe ,british ,museum ,,ms4 ,add4 #eaad1 vellum--a ,coptic manuscript in the dialect of ,upper ,egypt4 ,its undetermined date is placed by ,woide at latest about the end of the fourth century4 ,it was evidently copied by one scribe from an older manuscript1 the original probably having been the ,apocalypse of ,sophia1 by ,valentius1 the learned ,gnostic who lived in ,egypt for thirty years during the second century4 ,see the translation of the ,schwartze's parallel ,latin version of ,pistis ,sophia and its introduction1 both by ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead 7,london1 #ahif74 #cff ,the chief passages are as follows1 ,jesus being the speaker3--',moreover1 in the region of the soul of the rulers1 destined to receive it1 ,i found the soul of the prophet ,elias1 in the aeons of the sphere1 and ,i took him1 and receiving his soul also1 ,i brought it to the virgin of light1 and she gave it to her receivers2 they brought it to the sphere of the rulers1 and cast it into the womb of ,elizabeth4 ,wherefore the power of the little ,ia1 who is in the midst1 and the soul of ,elias the prophet1 are united with the body of ,john the ,baptist4 ,for this cause have ye been in doubt aforetime1 when ,i said unto you1 ,john said1 ,i am not the ,christ2 and ye said unto me1 ,it is written in the ,scripture1 that when the ,christ shall come1 ,elias will come before him1 and prepare his way4 ,and ,i1 when ye had said this unto me1 replied unto you1 ,elias verily is come1 and hath prepared all things1 according as it is written2 and they have done unto him whatsoever they would4 ,and when ,i perceived that ye did not understand that ,i had spoken concerning the soul of ,elias united with ,john the ,baptist1 ,i answered you openly and face to face with the words1 ,if ye will receive it1 ,john the ,baptist is ,elias who1 ,i said1 was for to come' 7,pistis ,sophia1 ,book ,i1 #ab-ac1 ,mead's translation74 #cfg ',the ,saviour answered and said unto his disciples3--,preach ye unto the whole world1 saying unto men1 ',strive together that ye may receive the mysteries of light in this time of stress1 and enter into the kingdom of light4 ,put not off from day to day1 and from cycle to cycle1 in the belief that ye will succeed in obtaining the mysteries when ye return to the world in another cycle'' 7,pistis ,sophia1 ,book ,,ii1 #cag1 ,mead's translation74 #cfh ,cf4 ,bergier1 ,manichisme1 in ,dict4 de ,thol41 iv4 #baa-ac4 #cfi ,the ,refutation of ,irenaeus1 until quite recently1 has been the chief source of much of our knowledge concerning ,gnosticism4 ,it was written during the second century at ,lyons1 by ,irenaeus1 a bishop of ,gaul1 far from any direct contact with the still flourishing ,gnosticism4 ,but now with the discovery of genuine manuscripts of ,gnostic works3 7#a7 the ,askew ,codex1 vellum1 ,british ,museum1 ,london1 containing the ,pistis ,sophia 7see above1 p4 #cfa n47 and extracts from the ,books of the ,saviour2 7#b7 the ,bruce ,codex 7two ,,mss471 papyrus1 ,bodleian ,library1 ,oxford1 containing the fragmentary ,book of the ,great ,logos1 an unknown treatise1 and fragments2 and 7#c7 the ,akhmim ,codex 7discovered in #ahif71 papyrus1 ,egyptian ,museum1 ,berlin1 containing ,the ,gospel of ,mary 7or ,apocryphon of ,john71 ,the ,wisdom of ,jesus ,christ1 and ,the ,acts of ,peter1 we are able to check from original sources the ,fathers in many of their writings and canons concerning ,gnostic 'heresies'2 and find that ,irenaeus1 the last refuge of ,christian haeresiologists1 has so condensed and paraphrased his sources that we cannot depend upon him at all for a consistent exposition of ,gnostic doctrines1 which with more or less prejudice he is trying to refute4 ,it is true that the age of these manuscripts has not been satisfactorily determined2 in fact most of them have not yet been carefully studied4 ,very probably1 however1 as appears to be the case with the ,pistis ,sophia1 they have been copied from manuscripts which were contemporary with or earlier than the time of ,irenaeus1 and hence may be regarded as good authority in determining ,gnostic teachings4 7,cf4 all of above note with ,g4 ,r4 ,s4 ,mead1 ,fragments of a ,faith ,forgotten1 ,london1 #aijj1 pp4 #adg1 #aea-c47 ,many unprejudiced scholars are now unwilling to admit the rulings of the ,church ,councils which determined what was orthodox and what heretical doctrines among the ,gnostic-,christians1 because many of their dogmatic decisions were based upon the unscholarly ,refutation of ,irenaeus and upon other equally unreliable evidence4 ,the data which have accumulated in the hands of scholars about early ,christian thought and ,gnosticism are now much more complete and trustworthy than the similar data were upon which the ,council of ,constantinople in #eec based its decision with respect to the doctrine of re-birth2 and the truth coming to be recognized seems to be that the ,gnostics rather than the ,church ,fathers1 who adopted from them what doctrines they liked1 condemning those they did not like1 should henceforth be regarded as the first ,christian theologians1 and mystics4 ,if this view of the very difficult and complex matter be accepted1 then modern ,christianity itself ought to be allowed to resume what thus appears to have been its original position--so long obscured by the well-meaning1 but1 nevertheless1 ill-advised ecclesiastical councils--as the synthesizer of pagan religions and philosophies4 ,some such view has been accepted by many eminent ,christian theologians since ,origen3 i4 e4 the ,cambridge ,platonist1 ,henry ,more1 openly advocated the re-birth doctrine in the seventeenth century2 and in later times it has been preached from ,christian pulpits by such men as ,henry ,ward ,beecher and ,phillips ,brooks4 #cgj ,see ,a4 ,bertrand1 ,la ,religion des ,gaulois1 les ,druides et le ,druidisme 7,paris1 #ahig72 ,h4 ,jennings1 ,the ,rosicrucians 7,london1 #ahhg72 the ,work of ,paracelsus2 ,h4 ,cornelius ,agrippa1 ,de ,occulta ,philosophia 7,paris1 #aefg72 ,h4 ,p4 ,blavatsky's ,isis ,unveiled1 and the ,secret ,doctrine 7,london1 #ahhh72 and ,hermetic ,works1 by ,anna ,kingsford and ,e4 ,maitland 7,london1 #ahhe74 #cga ,cf4 ,bergier1 ,purgatoire1 in ,dict4 de ,thol41 v4 #dji4 ,a ,celt1 a professed faithful and fervent adherent of the ,church of ,rome1 whom ,i met in the ,morbihan where he now lives1 told me that he believes thoroughly in the doctrine of re-birth1 and that it is according to his opinion the proper and logical interpretation of the doctrine of ,purgatory2 and he added that there are priests in his ,church who have told him that their personal interpretation of the purgatorial doctrine is the same4 ,thus some ,roman ,catholics do not deny the re-birth doctrine4 ,and such conversations as this with ,catholic ,celts in ,ireland and ,brittany lead me to believe that to a larger extent than has been suspected the old ,celtic ,doctrine of ,re-birth may have been one of the chief foundations for the modern ,roman ,catholic ,doctrine of ,purgatory1 whose origin is not clearly indicated in any theological works4 ,for us this probability is important as well as interesting1 and especially so when we remember the profound influence which the ,celtic ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory certainly exerted on the ,church during the ,middle ,ages when the doctrine of ,purgatory was taking definite shape 7see our chapter x74 #cgb ,barddas 7,llandovery1 #ahfb7 is 'a collection 7by ,iolo ,morganwg1 a ,bard7 of original documents1 illustrative of the theology1 wisdom1 and usage of the ,bardo-,druidic ,system of the ,isle of ,britain'4 ,the original manuscripts are said to have been in the possession of ,llywelyn ,sion1 a ,bard of ,glamorgan1 about #aefj4 ,barddas shows considerable ,christian influence1 yet in its essential teachings is sufficiently distinct4 ,though of late composition1 ,barddas seems to represent the traditional bardic doctrines as they had been handed down orally for an unknown period of time1 it having been forbidden in earlier times to commit such doctrines to writing4 ,we are well aware also of the adverse criticisms passed upon these documents2 but since no one questions their ,celtic origin--whether it be ancient or more modern--we are content to use them4 #cgc ,barddas1 i1 #ahi-ia4 #cgd ,barddas1 i1 #agg4 #cge ,preface to ,barddas1 xlii4 #cgf ,one of the greatest errors formerly made by ,european ,sanskrit scholars and published broadcast throughout the ,west1 so that now it is popularly accepted there as true1 is that ,nirvana1 the goal of ,indian philosophy and religion1 means annihilation4 ,it does mean annihilation 7evolutionary transmutation of lower into higher71 but only of all those forces or elements which constitute man as an animal4 ,the error arose from interpreting exoterically instead of esoterically1 and was a natural result of that system of western scholarship which sees and often cares only to examine external aspects4 ,native ,indian scholars who have advised us in this difficult problem prefer to translate ,nirvana as ',self-realization'1 i4 e4 a state of supernormal consciousness 7to be acquired through the evolution of the individual71 as much superior to the normal human consciousness as the normal human consciousness is superior to the consciousness existing in the brute kingdom4 #cgg ,de ,bel4 ,gal41 lib4 vi4 #ad4 #e2 vi4 #ah4 #a4 #cgh ,book ,v1 #ca4 #d4 #cgi ,de ,situ ,orbis1 iii4 c4 #b3 ',one point alone of the ,druids' teaching has become generally known among the common people 7in order that they should be braver in war71 that souls are eternal and there is a second life among the shades4' #chj i4 #ddi-fb4 #cha ,lucan1 i4 #deg-h2 i4 #deh-fb4 #chb ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #cde1 #cdg ff4 #chc ,folk-,lore1 xii4 #fd1 c42 also cf4 ,eleanor ,hull1 ,the ,cuchullin ,saga in ,irish ,literature 7,london1 #ahih71 ,intro41 p4 #bc1 c4 #chd ,what is probably the oldest form of a tale concerning ,conchobhar's birth makes ,conchobhar 'the son of a god who incarnated himself in the same way as did ,lug and ,etain' 7cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #gc74 #che ,see ,leabhar na h-,uidhre1 #aja;b2 and ,book of ,leinster1 #abc;b3--',cchulainn mc dea dechtiri4' #chf ,we have already mentioned the belief that gods having their abode in the sun could leave it to assume bodies here on earth and become culture heroes and great teachers 7see p4 #cji74 #chg ,from ,wooing of ,emer in ,leabhar na h-,uidhre2 cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #ig4 #chh ,l'pope celt4 en ,irl41 p4 #aa4 #chi ,cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 p4 #gd ff4 #cij ,in the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre1 #acc;a-#acd;b2 cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #ccf-dc2 cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #di-eb2 cf4 ,o',curry1 ,manners and ,customs1 iii4 #age4 #cia ,cf4 ,stokes's ed4 ,annals of ,tigernach1 ,third ,frag4 in ,rev4 ,celt4 xvii4 #agh4 ,in the piece called ,tucait baile ,mongin in the ,leabhar na h-,uidhre1 p4 #acd1 col4 #b1 ',mongan is seen living with his wife the year of the death of ,ciaran mac int ,shair1 and of ,tuathal ,mael-,garb1 that is to say in #edd1' following the ,chronicum ,scotorum1 ,hennessy's ed41 pp4 #dh-i4 ,as ,d',arbois de ,jubainville adds1 the ,irish chronicles of this epoch are only approximate in their dates4 ,thus1 while the ,four ,masters 7i4 #bdc7 makes the death of ,mongan ,a4 ,d4 #fbj1 the ,annals of ,ulster makes it ,a4 ,d4 #fbe1 the ,chronicum ,scotorum ,a4 ,d4 #fbe1 the ,annals of ,clonmacnoise1 ,a4 ,d4 #fbd1 and ,egerton ,,ms4 #aghb ,a4 ,d4 #fae 7cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #acg-i74 #cib ,j4 ,o',donovan1 ,annals of ,ireland by the ,four ,masters 7,dublin1 #ahef71 i4 #aba4 #cic ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #ccf-dc2 ,o',curry1 ,manners and ,customs iii4 #age2 ,l4 ,u41 #acc;a-#acd;b2 and ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #eb4 #cid ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #dd-e2 from ,the ,conception of ,mongan4 #cie ,meyer's version1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #gc-d4 #cif ,cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #acg4 #cig ,voy4 of ,bran1 i4 #bb-h1 quatrains #dh-ei1 c4 #cih ,in ,l4 ,u42 cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 pp4 #caa-bb2 and ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #dg-ec4 #cii ,in the ,irish conception of re-birth there is no change of sex3 ,lug is re-born as a boy1 in ,cuchulainn2 ,finn as ,mongan2 ,etain as a girl4 ,but it seems that ,etain as a mortal had no consciousness of her previous divine existence1 while ,cuchulainn and ,mongan knew their non-human origin and pre-existence4 #djj ,some time after this1 according to one part of the tale1 ,eochaid stormed ,midir's fairy palace--for the purpose localized in ,ireland--and won ,etain back1 but the fairies cast a curse on his race for this1 and ,conaire1 his grandson1 fell a victim to it4 ,such a recovering of ,etain by ,eochaid may vaguely suggest a re-birth of ,etain1 through the power exerted by ,eochaid1 who1 being a king1 is to be regarded in his non-human nature as one of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann himself1 like ,midir his rival4 #dja ,cf4 ,the ,gilla decair1 in ,silva ,gadelica1 pp4 #cjj-c4 #djb ,cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #gf ff4 ,the ,christian scribe's version fills up the space between ,tuan's death and re-birth by making him pass eighty years as a stag1 twenty as a wild boar1 one hundred as an eagle1 and twenty as a salmon 7ib41 p4 #gi74 ,in this particular example1 the uninitiated scribe 7evidently having failed to grasp an important aspect of the re-birth doctrine as this was esoterically explained in the ,mysteries1 namely1 that between death and re-birth1 while the conscious ,ego is resident in the ,otherworld1 the physical atoms of the discarded human body may transmigrate through various plant and animal bodies7 appears to set forth as ,celtic an erroneous doctrine of the transmigration of the conscious ,ego itself 7see p4 #eac n474 ,in other texts1 for example in the song which ,amairgen 7considered the ,gaelic equivalent or even original of the ,brythonic ,taliessin7 sang as he1 with the conquering ,sons of ,mil1 set foot on ,ireland1 there are similar transformations1 attributed to certain heroes like ,taliessin 7see the ,mabinogion7 and ,tuan mac ,cairill during their disembodied states after death and until re-birth4 ,but these transformations seem to echo poetically1 and often rationally1 a very mystical ,celtic pantheism1 in which ,man1 regarded as having evolved upwards through all forms and conditions of existence1 is at one with all creation3-- ,i am the wind which blows o'er the sea2 ,i am the wave of the deep2 ,i am the bull of seven battles2 ,i am the eagle on the rock2 ,i am a tear of the sun2 ,i am the fairest of plants2 ,i am a boar for courage2 ,i am a salmon in the water2 ,i am a lake in the plain2 ,i am the world of knowledge2 ,i am the head of the battle-dealing spear2 ,i am the god who fashions fire in the head2 ,who spreads light in the gathering on the mountain8 ,who foretells the ages of the moon8 ,who teaches the spot where the sun rests8 ,and ,amairgen also says3--',i am1' ,taliessin ',i have been' 7,book of ,invasions2 cf4 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #ia-b2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #edi2 cf4 ,skene1 ,four ,ancient ,books1 i4 #bgf ff474 ,in later times1 especially among non-bardic poets1 there has been a similar tendency to misinterpret this primitive mystical ,celtic pantheism into the corrupt form of the re-birth doctrine1 namely transmigration of the human soul into animal bodies4 ,dr4 ,douglas ,hyde has sent to me the following evidence3--',i have a poem1 consisting of nearly one hundred stanzas1 about a pig who ate an ,irish manuscript1 and who by eating it recovered human speech for twenty-four hours and gave his master an account of his previous embodiments4 ,he had been a right-hand man of ,cromwell1 a weaver in ,france1 a subject of the ,grand ,signor1 c4 ,the poem might be about one hundred or one hundred and fifty years old4' ,it is probable that the poet who composed this poem intended to add a touch of modern ,irish humour by making use of the pig4 ,we should1 nevertheless1 bear in mind that the pig 7or1 as is more commonly the rule1 the wild boar7 holds a very curious and prominent position in the ancient mythology of ,ireland1 and of ,wales as well4 ,it was regarded as a magical animal 7cf4 p4 #dea n472 and1 apparently1 was also a ,druid symbol1 whose meaning we have lost4 ,possibly the poet may have been aware of this4 ,if so1 he does not necessarily imply transmigration of the human soul into animal bodies2 but is merely employing symbolism4 #djc ,see ,taliessin in the ,mabinogion1 and the ,book of ,taliessin in ,skene's ,four ,ancient ,books1 i4 #ebc ff42 cf4 ,nutt1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #hd1 and ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #edh1 #eea4 #djd ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #edh-ej4 #dje ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #bei2 and ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #beb4 #djf ,loth1 ,les ,mabinogion1 ,kulhwch et ,olwen1 p4 #ahg n4 #djg ,le ,morte ,d',arthur1 ,book ,,xxi1 c4 vii4 #djh ,see works on ,egyptian mythology and religion1 by ,maspero2 also ,lenormant1 ,chaldean ,magic1 p4 #hd1 c4 #dji ,f4 ,l4 ,griffith1 ,stories of the ,high-priests of ,memphis 7,oxford1 #aijj71 c4 iii4 ,the text of this story is written on the back of two ,greek documents1 bearing the date of the seventh year of the ,emperor ,claudius 7,a4 ,d4 #df-g71 not before published4 #daj ,it is interesting to compare with this episode the episodes of how the magic of ,st4 ,patrick prevailed over the magic of the ,druids when the old and the new religions met in warfare on the ,hill of ,tara1 in the presence of the high king of ,ireland and his court4 #daa ,e4 ,a4 ,wallis ,budge1 ,the ,gods of the ,egyptians 7,london1 #aijd71 p4 #c4 #dab ,prescott1 ,conquest of ,mexico and ,conquest of ,peru4 #dac ,w4 ,crooke1 ,the ,legends of ,krishna1 in ,folk-,lore1 xi4 #b-c ff4 #dad ,laws of ,manu1 vii4 #h1 trans1 by ,g4 ,bhler4 #dae ,a4 ,b4 ,cook1 ,european ,sky-,god1 in ,folk-,lore1 xv4 #cja-d4 #daf ,cf4 ,lucian1 ,somn41 #ag1 c4 ,see ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #ac2 also ,tertullian1 ,de ,anima1 c4 xxviii1 where ,pythagoras is described as having previously been ,aethalides1 and ,euphorbus1 and the fisherman ,pyrrhus4 #dag ,cf4 ,huc1 ,souvenirs d'un voyage dans la ,tartarie et le ,thibet1 i4 #bgi ff4 #dah ,the doctrine of kingly rule by divine right was substituted after the conversion of the ,roman ,empire for the very ancient belief that the emperor was a god incarnate 7not necessarily reincarnate72 and the same christianized aspect of a pre-,christian doctrine stands behind the ,english kingship at the present day4 #dai ,a curious parallel to this ,irish doctrine that through re-birth one suffers for the sins committed in a previous earth-life is found in the ,christian scriptures1 where in asking ,jesus about a man born blind1 ',rabbi1 who did sin1 this man1 or his parents1 that he should be born blind8' the disciple exhibits what must have been a popular ,jewish belief in re-birth quite like the ,celtic one4 ,see ,st4 ,john ix4 #a-b4 ,though the ,rabbis admitted the possibility of ante-natal sin in thought1 this passage seems to point unmistakably to a ,jewish re-birth doctrine4 #dbj ,it is interesting to note in connexion with these two complementary ideas what has been written by ,mr4 ,standish ,o',grady concerning strange phenomena witnessed at the time of ,charles ,parnell's funeral3--',while his followers were committing ,charles ,parnell's remains to the earth1 the sky was bright with strange lights and flames4 ,only a coincidence possibly2 and yet persons not superstitious have maintained that there is some mysterious sympathy between the human soul and the elements4444 ,those strange flames recalled to my memory what is told of similar phenomena said to have been witnessed when tidings of the death of the great ,christian ,saint1 ,columba1 overran the north-west of ,europe1 as perhaps truer than ,i had imagined4'--,ireland3 ,her ,story1 pp4 #baa-ab4 #dba ,cf4 ,m4 ,lenihan1 ,limerick2 its ,history and ,antiquities 7,dublin1 #ahff71 p4 #gbe4 #dbb ,i take this to mean1 somewhat as in the similar case of ,dechtire1 the mother of ,cuchulainn 7see p4 #cfi1 above71 that the kind of soul or character which will be reincarnated in the child is determined by the psychic prenatal conditions which a mother consciously or unconsciously may set up4 ,if this interpretation1 as it seems to be1 is correct1 we have in this ,welsh belief a surprising comprehension of scientific laws on the part of the ancient ,welsh ,druids--from whom the doctrine comes--which equals1 and surpasses in its subtlety1 the latest discoveries of our own psychological embryology1 criminology1 and so-called laws of heredity4 #dbc ,the reader is referred to the ,rev4 ,t4 ,m4 ,morgan's latest publication1 ,the ,history and ,antiquities of the ,parish of ,newchurch1 ,carmarthenshire 7,carmarthen1 #aiaj71 pp4 #aee-f4 #dbd ,i found1 however1 that the original re-birth doctrine has been either misinterpreted or else corrupted--after ,dr4 ,tylor's theory--into transmigration into animal bodies among certain ,cornish miners in the ,st4 ,just region4 #dbe ,the primitive character of the ,incarnation doctrine is clear3 ,origen1 in refuting a ,jewish accusation against ,christians1 apparently the natural outgrowth of deep-seated hatred and religious prejudice on the part of the ,jews1 that ,jesus ,christ was born through the adultery of the ,virgin with a certain soldier named ,panthera1 argues 'that every soul1 for certain mysterious reasons 7,i speak now according to the opinions of ,pythagoras1 and ,plato1 and ,empedocles1 whom ,celsus frequently names71 is introduced into a body1 and introduced according to its deserts and former actions'4 ,and1 according to ,origen's argument1 to assign to ,jesus ,christ a birth more disgraceful than any other is absurd1 because ',he who sends souls down into the bodies of men' would not have thus 'degraded ,him who was to dare such mighty acts1 and to teach so many men1 and to reform so many from the mass of wickedness in the world'4 ,and ,origen adds3--',it is probable1 therefore1 that this soul also which conferred more benefit by its residence in the flesh than that of many men 7to avoid prejudice1 ,i do not say all71 stood in need of a body not only superior to others1 but invested with all excellence' 7,origen against ,celsus1 ,book ,i1 c4 xxxii74 ,it is interesting to compare with ,origen's theology the following passage from the ,pistis ,sophia1 wherein ,jesus in the alleged esoteric discourse to his disciples refers to the pre-existence of their souls3--',i took them from the hands of the twelve saviours of the treasure of light1 according to the command of the first mystery4 ,these powers1 therefore1 ,i cast into the wombs of your mothers1 when ,i came into the world1 and they are those which are in your bodies this day' 7,pistis ,sophia1 i4 ,,ii1 ,mead's translation74 #dbf ,cf4 ,nutt1 ,voy4 of ,bran1 ii4 #bg ff41 #de ff41 #ed ff41 #ih-ajb4 #dbg ,cf4 ib41 p4 #aje4 #dbh ,in this chapter1 largely the result of my own special research and observations in ,celtic archaeology1 ,i wish to acknowledge the very valuable suggestions offered to me by ,professor ,j4 ,loth1 both in his lectures and personally4 #dbi ,see ,david ,mac,ritchie1 ,fians1 ,fairies1 and ,picts2 also his ,testimony of ,tradition4 #dcj ,myers1 in the ,survival of the ,human ,personality 7ii4 #ee-f71 shows that 'the departed spirit1 long after death1 seems pre-occupied with the spot where his bones are laid'4 ,among contemporary uncultured races there exists a theory parallel to this one arrived at through careful scientific research1 namely1 that ghosts haunt graves and monuments connected with the dead3 according to the ,australian ,arunta the 'double' hovers near its body until the body is reduced to dust1 the spirit or soul of the deceased having separated from this 'double' or ghost at the time of death or soon afterwards 7,spenser and ,gillen1 ,nat4 ,tribes of ,cent4 ,aust474 #dca ,see ,les ,grottes1 t4 i2 ,les ,menhirs1 ,les ,dolmens1 ,les ,tumulus1 and ,cultes et observances mgalithiques1 t4 iv4 #dcb ,on ,april #ag1 #aiji1 at ,carnac1 in a natural fissure in the body of the finest menhir at the head of the ,alignement of ,kermario1 ,i found quite by chance1 while making a very careful examination of the geological structure of the menhir1 a ,roman ,catholic coin 7or medal7 of ,st4 ,peter4 ,the place in the menhir where this coin was discovered is on the south side about fifteen inches above the surface of the ground4 ,the menhir is very tall and smoothly rounded1 and there is no possible way for the coin to have fallen into the fissure by accident4 ,nor is there any probability that the coin was placed there without a serious purpose2 and it is an object such as only an adult would possess4 ,an examination of the link remaining on the coin1 which no doubt formerly connected it with a necklace or string of prayer-beads1 shows that it has been purposely opened so as to free it at the time it was deposited in the stone4 ,had the coin been accidentally torn away from a chain or string of prayer-beads the link would have presented a different sort of opening4 ,but it would be altogether unreasonable to suppose that by any sort of chance the coin could have reached the place where ,i found it4 ,i showed the coin to ,m4 ,z4 ,le ,rouzic1 of the ,carnac ,museum1 and he considers it1 as ,i do1 as evidence or proof of a cult rendered to stones here in ,brittany4 ,the coin must have been secretly placed in the menhir by some pious peasant as a direct ex voto for some favour received or demanded4 ,the coin is somewhat discoloured1 and has probably been some years in the stone1 though it cannot be very old4 ,and the offering of a coin to the spirit residing in a menhir is parallel to throwing coins1 pins1 or other objects into sacred fountains1 which1 as we know1 is an undisputed practice4 #dcc ,cf4 ,a4 ,c4 ,kruijt1 ,het ,animisme in den ,indischen ,archipel2 quoted in ,crawley's ,idea of the ,soul1 p4 #acc4 #dcd ,cf4 ,weidemann1 ,ancient ,egyptian ,doct4 ,immortality1 p4 #ba4 #dce ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai4 #dcf ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #adc ff41 #afi1 #agb4 #dcg ,marett1 ,the ,threshold of ,religion1 c4 i4 #dch ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #bcj4 #dci ,a famous controversy exists as to whether the ,coronation ,stone now in ,westminster ,abbey is the ,lia ,fil1 or whether the pillar-stone still at ,tara is the ,lia ,fil4 ,see article by ,e4 ,s4 ,hartland in ,folk-,lore1 xiv4 #bh-fj4 #ddj ,these 'idols' probably were not true images1 but simply unshaped stone pillars planted on end in the earth2 and ought1 therefore1 more properly to be designated fetishes4 #dda ,stokes1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 i4 #bfj2 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #bjj-a4 #ddb ,very much first-class evidence suggests that the menhir was regarded by the primitive ,celts both as an abode of a god or as a seat of divine power1 and as a phallic symbol 7cf4 ,jubainville1 ,le culte des menhirs dans le monde celtique1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xxvii4 #cac74 ,as a phallic symbol1 the menhir must have been inseparably related to a ,celtic sun-cult2 because among all ancient peoples where phallic worship has prevailed1 the sun has been venerated as the supreme masculine force in external nature from which all life proceeds1 while the phallus has been venerated as the corresponding force in human nature4 #ddc ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #acg4 #ddd ,professor ,j4 ,loth says3--'tymologiquement1 le mot est compos de ,,crom1 courbe1 arque1 formant creux1 convexe1 et de ,,llech1 pierre plate' 7,rev4 ,celt41 xv4 #bbc1 ,dolmen1 ,leach-,derch1 ,peulvan1 ,menhir1 ,cromlech74 ,in ,cornwall1 ,wales1 and ,ireland1 instead of the peculiarly ,breton word dolmen 7composed of dol for tol tavl1 meaning table1 and of men ,middle ,breton maen1 meaning stone7 the word cromlech is used4 ,cromlech is the ,welsh equivalent for the ,breton dolmen1 but ,breton archaeologists use cromlech to describe a circle formed by menhirs4 #dde ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #aic-d4 #ddf ,ib41 p4 #aib2 from ,sans-,marte's edition1 pp4 #ajh-i1 #cfa4 #ddg ,ib41 p4 #aic4 #ddh ,ib41 pp4 #aid-e2 cf4 ,bibliotheca of ,diodorus ,siculus1 ii4 c4 #dg4 #ddi ,edith ,f4 ,carey1 ,channel ,island ,folklore 7,guernsey1 #aiji74 #dej ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #aih4 #dea ,mah1 ,essai1 pp4 #bhg-i4 #deb ,the place for holding a gorsedd for modern ,welsh initiations1 under the authority of which the ,eisteddfod is conducted1 must also be within a circle of stones1 'face to face with the sun and the eye of light1 as there is no power to hold a gorsedd under cover or at night1 but only where and as long as the sun is visible in the heavens' 7,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #bjh-i2 from ,iolo ,,mss41 p4 #ej74 #dec ,recently before the ,oxford ,anthropological ,society1 ,dr4 ,murray argued that the satyrs of ,greek drama may originally have been masked initiators in ,greek initiations4 7,cf4 ,the ,oxford ,magazine1 ,february #c1 #aiaj1 p4 #agc47 #ded ,edith ,f4 ,carey1 op4 cit4 #dee ,mah1 ,essai1 pp4 #abf-i4 #def ,mah1 ,essai1 pp4 #abf-i4 #deg ,rhys1 ,arth4 ,leg41 p4 #cci4 #deh ,edith ,f4 ,carey1 op4 cit4 #dei ,montelius' ,les ,temps prhistoriques en ,sude1 par ,s4 ,reinach1 p4 #abf4 7,paris1 #ahie74 #dfj ,h4 ,schliemann1 ,mycenae 7,london1 #ahgh71 p4 #bac4 #dfa ,walhouse1 in ,journ4 ,anthrop4 ,inst41 vii4 #ba4 ,these ,dravidians are slightly taller than the pure ,negritos1 their probable ancestors2 and ,indian tradition considers them to be the builders of the ,indian dolmens1 just as ,celtic tradition considers fairies and corrigans 7often described as dark or even black-skinned dwarfs7 to be the builders of dolmens and megaliths among the ,celts4 ,apparently1 in such folk-traditions1 which correctly or incorrectly regard fairies1 corrigans1 or ,dravidians as the builders of ancient stone monuments1 there has been preserved a folk-memory of early races of men who may have been ,negritos 7pygmy blacks74 ,these races1 through a natural anthropomorphic process1 came to be identified with the spirits of the dead and with other spiritual beings to whom the monuments were dedicated and at which they were worshipped4 ,here1 again1 the ,pygmy ,theory is seen at its true relative value3 it is subordinate to the fundamental animism of the ,fairy-,faith4 #dfb ,j4 ,dchelette1 ,manuel d',archologie prhistorique 7,paris1 #aijh71 i4 #dfh1 #cjb1 #cjh1 #caa1 #egf1 #faj1 c4 #dfc ,this famous chambered tumulus 'measures nearly #gjj feet in circumference1 or about #bbe feet in diameter1 and between #dj and #ej feet in height' 7,g4 ,coffey1 in ,rl4 ,ir4 ,acad4 ,trans4 ,dublin1 #ahib1 xxx4 #fh74 #dfd ,g4 ,coffey1 in ,rl4 ,ir4 ,acad4 ,trans41 xxx4 #gc-ib4 #dfe ,fol4 #aij b2 trans4 ,o',curry1 ,lectures1 p4 #eje4 #dff ,mr4 ,coffey quotes from the ,senchus-na-,relec1 in ,l4 ,u41 this significant passage3--',the nobles of the ,tuatha ,de ,danann were used to bury at ,brugh 7i4 e4 the ,dagda with his three sons2 also ,lugaidh1 and ,oe1 and ,ollam1 and ,ogma1 and ,etan the ,poetess1 and ,corpre1 the son of ,etan7' 7,g4 ,coffey1 op4 cit41 xxx4 #gg74 ,the manuscript1 however1 being late and directly under ,christian influence1 echoes but imperfectly very ancient ,celtic tradition3 the immortal god-race are therein rationalized by the transcribers1 and made subject to death4 #dfg ,w4 ,c4 ,borlase1 ,dolmens of ,ireland 7,london1 #ahig71 ii4 #cdf n4 #dfh ,as translated in the ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #aji-aa4 #dfi ,borlase1 op4 cit41 ii4 #cdf-g n4 #dgj ,borlase1 op4 cit41 ii4 #cdf-g n4 #dga ,ib41 ii4 #cdg n4 #dgb ,a good example of a saint's stone bed can be seen now at ,glendalough1 the stone bed of ,st4 ,kevin1 high above a rocky shore of the lake4 #dgc ,coffey1 op4 cit41 xxx4 #gc-d1 from ,r4 ,i4 ,a4 ,,ms41 by ,michael ,o',longan1 dated #ahaj1 p4 #aj1 and translated by ,douglas ,hyde4 #dgd ,coffey1 op4 cit41 xxv4 #gc-d1 from ,r4 ,i4 ,a4 ,,ms4 by ,michael ,o',longan1 dated #ahaj1 p4 #aj1 and trans4 by ,douglas ,hyde4 #dge ,borlase1 op4 cit41 ii4 #cdg n4 #dgf ,o',donovan1 ,four ,masters1 i4 #bb n4 #dgg ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #adh-ej4 #dgh ,cf4 ,o',curry1 ,manners and ,customs1 ii4 #abb2 iii4 #e1 #gd1 #abb2 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 pp4 #aej1 #aej n42 ,jubainville1 ,essai d'un ,catalogue1 p4 #bdd4 #dgi ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #aid4 #dhj ,math ab ,mathonwy's ,irish counterpart is ,math mac ,umir1 the magician 7,book of ,leinster1 f4 #i;b2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,trans4 ,third ,inter4 ,cong4 ,hist4 ,religions1 ,oxford1 #aijh1 ii4 #baa74 #dha ,rhys1 ib41 pp4 #bbe-f2 cf4 ,r4 ,b4 ,mabinogion1 p4 #fj2 ,triads1 i4 #cb1 ii4 #bj1 iii4 #ij4 ,a fortified hill-top now known as ,pen y ,gaer1 or ',hill of the ,fortress'1 on the western side of the ,conway1 on a mountain within sight of the railway station of ,tal y ,cafn1 ,carnarvonshire1 is regarded by ,sir ,john ,rhys as the site of a long-forgotten cult of ,math the ,ancient4 7,rhys1 ib41 p4 #bbe74 #dhb ,this stone basin1 now in the centre of the inner chamber1 seems originally to have stood in the east recess1 the largest and most richly inscribed4 ,it is #d feet long1 #c feet #f inches across1 and #a foot thick4 7,coffey1 op4 cit41 xxx4 #ad1 #ba74 #dhc ,cf4 ,w4 ,m4 ,flinders ,petrie1 ,the ,pyramids and ,temples of ,gizeh 7,london1 #ahhc71 p4 #bja4 #dhd ,all of the chief megaliths of this type1 together with the chief alignements1 which ,i have personally inspected--with the aid of a compass--in ,ireland1 ,scotland1 ,isle of ,man1 ,wales1 ,cornwall1 and ,brittany1 are definitely aligned east and west4 ,it cannot be said1 however1 that all megalithic monuments throughout ,celtic countries show definite orientation 7see ,dchelette's ,manuel d',archologie74 #dhe ,l4 ,p4 ,mc,carty1 ,the ,great ,pyramid ,jeezeh 7,san ,francisco1 #aijg71 p4 #djb4 #dhf ,jubainville1 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 p4 #bh4 #dhg ,maspero1 ,les ,contes populaires de l'gypte ,ancienne1#c p4 #gd n4 #dhh ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #dbf4 #dhi ,w4 ,h4 ,prescott1 ,conquest of ,peru1 i1 c4 #c4 #dij ,rochefort1 ,iles ,antilles1 p4 #cfe2 cf4 ,tylor1 ,p4 ,c41#d ii4 #dbd4 #dia ,colebrooke1 ,essays1 vols4 i1 iv1 v2 cf4 ,tylor1 ,p4 ,c41#d #dbe4 #dib ,illus4 ,hist4 and ,pract4 of ,thugs 7,london1 #ahcg71 p4 #df2 cf4 ,tylor1 ,p4 ,c41#d ii4 #dbe4 #dic ,augustin1 de ,serm4 ,dom4 in ,monte1 ii4 #e2 cf4 ,tylor1 ,p4 ,c41#d ii4 #dbg-h4 #did ,ezek4 viii4 #af4 ,the popular opinion that ,christians face the east in prayer1 or have altars eastward because ,jerusalem is eastward1 does not fit in with facts4 #die ,cf4 ,lenormant1 ,chaldean ,magic1 p4 #hh2 also ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #dh-i4 #dif ,though not a ,mason1 the writer draws his knowledge from ,masons of the highest rank1 and from published works by ,masons like ,mr4 ,carty's ,the ,great ,pyramid ,jeezeh4 #dig ,cf4 ,borlase1 ,dolmens of ,ireland1 ii4 #cdg n4 #dih ,c4 ,piazzi ,smyth1 ,our ,inheritance in the ,great ,pyramid 7,london1 #ahij74 #dii ,flinders ,petrie1 ,the ,pyramids and ,temples of ,gizeh1 pp4 #afi1 #bbb4 #ejj ,c4 ,piazzi ,smyth1 op4 cit4 #eja ,in #aggj1 when ,new ,grange apparently was not covered with a growth of trees as now1 ,governor ,pownall visited it and described it as like a pyramid in general outline3 ',the pyramid in its present state' is 'but a ruin of what it was' 7,coffey1 op4 cit41 xxx4 #ac74 #ejb ,le ,dr4 ,g4 de ,c41 ,locmariaquer et ,gavr'inis 7,vannes1 #ahgf71 p4 #ah4 #ejc ,according to ,le ,dr4 ,g4 de ,c41 op4 cit41 p4 #ah4 #ejd ,mr4 ,coffey says of similar details in ,irish tumuli3--',in the construction of such chambers it is usual to find a sort of sill or low stone placed across the entrance into the main chamber1 and at the openings into the smaller chambers or recesses2 such stones also occur laid at intervals across the bottom of the passages4 ,this forms a marked feature in the construction at ,dowth1 and in the cairns on the ,loughcrew ,hills1 but is wholly absent at ,new ,grange' 7op4 cit41 xxx4 #ae74 ,new ,grange1 however1 has suffered more or less from vandalism1 and originally may have contained similar stone sills4 #eje ,flinders ,petrie1 ,the ,pyramids and ,temples of ,gizeh1 p4 #baf4 #ejf ,maspero1 op4 cit41 p4 #fi n41 c4 ,the world-wide anthropomorphic tendency to construct tombs for the gods and for the dead after the plan of earthly dwellings is as evident in the excavations at ,mycenae as in ancient ,egypt and in ,celtic lands4 #ejg ,cf4 ,bruns1 ,canones apostolorum et conciliorum saeculorum1 ii4 #acc4 #ejh ,cf4 ,f4 ,maassen1 ,concilia aevi merovingici1 p4 #acc4 #eji ,cf4 ,boretius1 ,capitularia regum ,francorum1 i4 #ei2 for each of the above references cf4 ,jubainville1 ,le culte des menhirs dans le monde celtique1 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xxvii4 #cag4 #eaj ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #dbg4 #eaa ,see ,villemarqu sur ,bretagne4 #eab ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #cbf2 quoted from ,de ,glor4 ,conf41 c4 #b4 #eac ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #cbf2 quoted from ,de ,glor4 ,conf41 c4 #b4 #ead ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #cbf2 quoted from ,goth41 lib4 ii4 #eae ,a4 ,w4 ,moore1 in ,folk-,lore1 v4 #bab-bi4 #eaf ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,arthurian ,legend1 p4 #bdg4 #eag ,borlase1 ,dolmens of ,ireland1 iii4 #gbi4 #eah ,stokes1 ,tripartite ,life of ,patrick1 pp4 #ii-aja4 #eai ,ib41 text1 pp4 #abc1 #cbc1 and ,intro41 p4 #aei4 #ebj ,book ,,ii1 #fi-gj2 see our study1 p4 #bfg4 #eba ,rennes ,dinnshenchas1 ,stokes's trans4 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xv4 #deg4 #ebb ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #cbc4 #ebc ,the ,celts may have viewed the mistletoe on the sacred oak as the seat of the tree's life1 because in the winter sleep of the leafless oak the mistletoe still maintains its own foliage and fruit1 and like the heart of a sleeper continues pulsing with vitality4 ,the mistletoe thus being regarded as the heart-centre of the divine spirit in the oak-tree was cut with a golden sickle by the arch-druid clad in pure white robes1 amid great religious solemnity1 and became a vicarious sacrifice or atonement for the worshippers of the tree god4 7,cf4 ,frazer1 ,g4 ,b41#b iii4 #ddg ff47 #ebd ,pliny1 ,nat4 ,hist41 xvi4 #ie2 cf4 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #bah4 #ebe ,dissert41 viii2 cf4 ,rhys1 ib41 p4 #bai4 #ebf ,meineke's ed41 xii4 #e1 #a2 cf4 ,rhys1 ib41 p4 #bai4 ,the oak-tree is pre-eminently the holy tree of ,europe4 ,not only ,celts1 but ,slavs1 worshipped amid its groves4 ,to the ,germans it was their chief god2 the ancient ,italians honoured it above all other trees2 the original image of ,jupiter on the ,capitol at ,rome seems to have been a natural oak-tree4 ,so at ,dodona1 ,zeus was worshipped as immanent in a sacred oak4 ,cf4 ,frazer1 ,g4 ,b41#b iii4 #cdf ff4 #ebg ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 pp4 #ccc-d2 quotation from ,hist4 du ,maine1 i4 #ag4 #ebh ,cf4 ,mah1 ,essai1 p4 #ccd2 quoted from ,lib4 ,,vii1 indict4 i1 epist4 #e4 #ebi ,stokes1 ,tripartite ,life1 p4 #dji4 #ecj ,cf4 ,wood-,martin1 ,traces of the ,older ,faiths in ,ireland1 i4 #cje4 #eca ,w4 ,gregor1 ,notes on ,beltene ,cakes1 in ,folk-,lore1 vi4 #e4 #ecb ,temple1 ,legends of the ,panjab1 in ,folk-,lore1 x4 #djf4 #ecc ,lefvre1 ,le ,culte des ,morts chez les ,latins1 in ,rev4 ,trad4 ,pop41 ix4 #aie-bji4 #ecd ,see ,folk-,lore1 vi4 #aib4 #ece ,the term ',people of ,peace' seems1 however1 to have originated from confounding sid1 'fairy abode1' and sd1 'peace4' #ecf ,cf4 ,le ,cycle ,myth4 ,irl41 p4 #ajb4 #ecg ,the crocodile as the mystic symbol of ,stou provides one key to unlock the mysteries of what eminent ,egyptologists have erroneously called animal worship1 erroneously because they have interpreted literally what can only be interpreted symbolically4 ,the crocodile is called the 'son of ,stou' in the ,papyrus magique1 ,harris1 pl4 vi1 ll4 #h-i 7cf4 ,maspero1 ,les ,contes populaires de l'gypte ,ancienne1#eci ,intro41 p4 #ef72 and as the waters seem to swallow the sun as it sinks below the horizon1 so the crocodile1 as ,stou representing the waters1 swallows the ,children of ,osiris1 as the ,egyptians called themselves4 ,on the other hand1 ,osiris is typified by the white bull1 in many nations the sun emblem1 white being the emblem of purity and light1 while the powers of the bull represent the masculinity of the sun1 which impregnates all nature1 always thought of as feminine1 with life germs4 #ech ,cf4 ,maspero1 op4 cit41 ,intro41 p4 #di4 #eci ,cf4 ,borlase1 ,dolmens of ,ireland1 iii4 #hed4 #edj ,cf4 ,lefvre1 ,rev4 ,trad4 ,pop41 ix4 #aie-bji4 #eda ,j4 ,g4 ,campbell collected in ,scotland two versions of a parallel episode1 but concerning ,loch ,lurgan4 ,in both versions the flight begins by ,fionn's foster-mother carrying ,fionn1 and in both1 when she is tired1 ,fionn carries her and runs so fast that when the loch is reached only her shanks are left4 ,these he throws out on the loch1 and hence its name ,loch ,lurgan1 ',lake of the ,shanks4' 7,the ,fians1 pp4 #ah-ai74 #edb ,during the seventeenth century1 the ,english government1 acting through its ,dublin representatives1 ordered this original ,cave or ,purgatory to be demolished2 and with the temporary suppression of the ceremonies which resulted and the consequent abandonment of the island1 the ,cave1 which may have been filled up1 has been lost4 #edc ,thomas ,wright1 ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory 7,london1 #ahdd71 pp4 #fg-h4 #edd ,wright1 op4 cit41 p4 #fi4 #ede ,in the face of all the legends told of pilgrims who have been in ,patrick's ,purgatory1 it seems that either through religious frenzy like that produced in ,protestant revivals1 or else through some strange influence due to the cave itself after the preliminary disciplines1 some of the pilgrims have had most unusual psychic experiences4 ,those who have experienced fasting and a rigorous life for a prescribed period affirm that there results a changed condition1 physical1 mental1 and spiritual1 so that it is very probable that the ,christian pilgrims to the ,purgatory1 like the pagan pilgrims who 'fasted on' the ,tuatha ,de ,danann in ,new ,grange1 were in good condition to receive impressions of a psychical nature such as the ,society for ,psychical ,research is beginning to believe are by no means rare to people susceptible to them4 ,neophytes seeking initiation among the ancients had to undergo even more rigorous preparations than these2 for they were expected while entranced to leave their physical bodies and in reality enter the purgatorial state1 as we shall presently have occasion to point out4 #edf ,wright1 ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory1 pp4 #fb ff4 #edg ,l4 ,r4 ,farnell1 ,cults of the ,greek ,states 7,oxford1 #aijg71 iii4 #abf-ih1 c4 #edh ,cf4 ,athenaeus1 #fad ,a2 ,aristoph41 ,nubes1 #ejh2 and ,harper's ,dict4 ,class4 ,lit4 and ,antiq41 p4 #afae4 #edi ,cf4 ,o4 ,seyffert1 ,dict4 ,class4 ,antiquities1 trans4 7,london1 #ahie71 ,mithras4 #eej ,brasseur1 ,mexique1 iii4 #bj1 c42 ,tylor1 ,p4 ,c41#d ii4 #de4 #eea ,cf4 ,hutton ,webster1 ,primitive ,secret ,societies 7,new ,york1 #aijh71 p4 #ch1 and passim4 #eeb ,in the ancient ,greek world the annual celebration of the ,mysteries drew great concourses of people from all regions round the ,mediterranean2 to the modern ,breton world the chief religious ,pardons are annual events of such supreme importance that1 after preparing plenty of food for the pilgrimage1 the whole family of a pious peasant of ,lower ,brittany will desert farm and work dressed in their beautiful and best costumes for one of these ,pardons1 the most picturesque1 the most inspiring1 and the highest folk-festivals still preserved by the ,roman ,church2 while to ,roman ,catholics in all countries a pilgrimage to ,lough ,derg is the sacred event of a lifetime4 ,in the ,breton ,pardons1 as in the purgatorial rites1 we seem to see the survivals of very ancient ,celtic ,mysteries strikingly like the ,mysteries of ,eleusis4 ,the greatest of the ,pardons1 the ,pardon of ,st4 ,anne d',auray1 will serve as a basis for comparison2 and while in some respects it has had a recent and definitely historical origin 7or revival71 this origin seems on the evidence of archaeology to have been a restoration1 an expansion1 and chiefly a ,christianization of prehistoric rites then already partly fallen into decay4 ,such rites remained latent in the folk-memory1 and were originally celebrated in honour of the sacred fountain1 and probably also of ,isis and the child1 whose terra-cotta image was ploughed up in a neighbouring field by the famous peasant ,nicolas1 and naturally regarded by him and all who saw it as of ,st4 ,anne and the ,holy ,child4 ,thus1 in the ,pardon of ,st4 ,anne d',auray1 which extends over three days1 there is a torch-light procession at night under ecclesiastical sanction2 as in the ,ceres ,mysteries1 wherein the neophytes with torches kindled sought all night long for ,proserpine4 ,there are purification rites1 not especially under ecclesiastical sanction1 at the holy fountain now dedicated to ,st4 ,anne1 like the purification rites of the ,eleusinian worshippers at the sea-shore and their visit to a holy well4 ,there are mystery plays1 recently instituted1 as in ,greek initiation ceremonies2 sacred processions1 led by priests1 bearing the image of ,st4 ,anne and other images1 comparable to ,greek sacred processions in which the god ,iacchos was borne on the way to ,eleusis4 ,the all-night services in the dimly-lighted church of ,st4 ,anne1 with the special masses in honour of the ,christian saints and for the dead1 are parallel to the midnight ceremonies of the ,greeks in their caves of initiation and to the libations to the gods and to the spirits of the departed at ,greek initiations4 ,finally1 in the ,greek mysteries there seems to have been some sort of expository sermon or exhortation to the assembled neophytes quite comparable to the special appeal made to the faithful ,catholics assembled in the magnificent church of ,st4 ,anne d',auray by the bishops and high ecclesiastics of ,brittany4 7,for these ,classical parallels compare ,farnell1 ,cults of the ,greek ,states1 iii1 passim47 #eec ,cf4 ,rhys1 ,hib4 ,lect41 p4 #daa1 c4 #eed ,o',curry1 ,lectures1 pp4 #ehf-g4 #eee ,there is this very significant legend on record about the ,cave of ,cruachan3--',magh ,mucrime1 now1 pigs of magic came out of the cave of ,cruachain1 and that is ,ireland's gate of ,hell4' ,and ',out of it1 also1 came the ,red ,birds that withered up everything in ,erin that their breath would touch1 till the ,ulstermen slew them with their slings4' 7,b4 of ,leinster1 p4 #bhh;a2 ,stokes's trans41 in ,rev4 ,celt41 xiii4 #ddi2 cf4 ,silva ,gadelica1 ii4 #cec47 #eef ,forbes1 ,lives of ,s4 ,ninian and ,s4 ,kentigern 7,edinburgh1 #ahgd71 pp4 #bhe1 #cde4 #eeg ,cf4 ,wright1 ,st4 ,patrick's ,purgatory1 pp4 #ha-b4 #eeh ,cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xi4 #bd2 also ,bergier1 ,dict4 de ,thol41 v4 #dje4 #eei ,cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xi4 #cb4 ,but there is some disagreement in this matter of dates3 ,petrus ,damianus1 ,vita ,s4 ,odilonis1 in the ,bollandist ,acta ,sanctorum1 ,january #a1 records a legend of how the ,abbot ,odilon decreed that ,november #b1 the day after ,all ,saints' ,day1 should be set apart for services for the departed 7cf4 ,tylor1 ,prim4 ,cult41#d ii4 #cg n474 #efj ,cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xi4 #a n4 #efa ,part ,,ii1 sec4 #d2 c4 #d1 par4 #h2 cf4 ,bergier1 ,dict4 de ,thol41 iv4 #cbb4 #efb ,p4 #aa;a1 l4 #ai2 in ,stokes's ,tripartite ,life1 ,intro41 p4 #aid4 #efc ,enchiridion1 chap4 cx2 ,testament of ,st4 ,ephrem 7ed4 ,vatican71 ii4 #bcj1 #bcf2 ,euseb41 de ,vita ,constant41 liv4 iv1 c4 lx4 #eef1 c4 lxx4 #efb2 cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xi4 #cj-a4 #efd ,st4 ,ambroise1 de ,obitu ,theodosii1 ii4 #aaig2 cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xi4 #ca n4 #efe ,cf4 ,godescard1 ,vies des ,saints1 xi4 #ca-b4 #eff ,i am indebted to ,mr4 ,william ,mc,dougall1 ,m4,a41 ,wilde ,reader in ,mental ,philosophy in the ,university of ,oxford1 for having read through and criticized the first draft of this section2 and while he is in no way responsible for the views set forth herein1 nevertheless his suggestions for the improvement of their scientific framework have been of very great value4 ,i must also express my obligation to him for having suggested through his ,oxford lectures a good share of the important material interwoven into chapter xii touching the vitalistic view of evolution4 #efg ,cf4 ,c4 ,du ,prel1 ,philosophy of ,mysticism 7,london1 #ahhi71 i4 #g1 #aa4 #efh ,t4 ,ribot1 ,the ,diseases of ,personality2 cf4 ,j4 ,l4 ,nevius1 ,demon ,possession 7,london1 #ahig71 pp4 #bcd-e4 #efi ,proc4 ,s4 ,p4 ,r4 7,london71 v4 #afg2 cf4 ,a4 ,lang1 ,making of ,religion1 p4 #fd4 #egj ,w4 ,james1 ,confidences of a ',psychical ,researcher'1 in ,american ,magazine 7,october #aiji74 #ega ,a4 ,lang1 ,cock ,lane and ,common ,sense 7,london1 #ahif71 p4 #ce4 #egb ,according to ,professor ,freud1 the well-known neurologist of ,vienna1 external stimuli are not admitted to the dream-consciousness in the same manner that they would be admitted to the waking-consciousness1 but they are disguised and altered in particular ways 7cf4 ,s4 ,freud1 ,die ,traumdeutung1 #bnd ed41 ,vienna1 #aiji2 and ,s4 ,ferenczi1 ,the ,psychological ,analysis of ,dreams1 in ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych41 ,april #aiaj1 ,no4 #b1 xxi4 #cah1 c474 #egc ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 i4 #ace4 #egd ,g4 ,f4 ,stout1 ,mr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,myers on ',human ,personality and its ,survival of ,bodily ,death'1 in ,hibbert ,journal1 ii1 ,no4 #a 7,london1 ,october #aijc71 p4 #ef4 #ege ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers1 ,human ,personality and its ,survival of ,bodily ,death 7,london1 #aijc71 i4 #aca4 #egf ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson1 ,across the ,plains1 chapter on ,dreams4 #egg ,stout1 op4 cit41 p4 #ed4 #egh ,freud1 op4 cit42 ,ferenczi1 op4 cit42 ,e4 ,jones1 ,freud's ,theory of ,dreams1 in ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych41 ,april #aiaj1 ,no4 #b1 xxi4 #bhc-cjh4 #egi ,freud1 ,the ,origin and ,development of ,psychoanalysis1 in ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych41 ,april #aiaj1 ,no4 #b1 xxi4 #bjc4 #ehj ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 i4 #cc4 #eha ,myers1 op4 cit41 i4 #acd4 #ehb ,fechner1 ,zentralblatt fr ,anthropologie1 p4 #ggd2 cf4 ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 i4 #ib4 #ehc ,haddock1 ,somnolism and ,psychism1 p4 #bac2 cf4 ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 i4 #ic4 #ehd ,perty1 ,mystische ,erscheinungen1 i4 #cje2 cf4 ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 ii4 #fc4 #ehe ,kerner1 ,seherin v4 ,prevorst1 p4 #aif2 cf4 ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 ii4 #fe4 #ehf ,chardel1 ,essai de ,psychologie1 p4 #cdd2 cf4 ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 ii4 #fd4 #ehg ,cf4 ,du ,prel1 op4 cit41 i4 #hh-i4 #ehh ,myers1 op4 cit41 chapter vi4 #ehi ,stout1 op4 cit41 pp4 #fd1 #fa-b4 #eij ,lang1 ,mr4 ,myers's ,theory of ',the ,subliminal ,self'1 in ,hibbert ,journal1 ii1 ,no4 #c 7,april #aijd71 p4 #ecj4 #eia ,the peculiar and often unique characteristics of the fairy-folk of any given fairy-faith1 as we have pointed out in chapter iii 7pp4 #bcc1 #bhb71 are to be regarded as being merely anthropomorphically coloured reflections of the social life or environment of the particular ethnic group who hold the particular fairy-faith2 and1 as ,mr4 ,lang here suggests1 when they are stripped of these superficial characteristics1 which are due to such social psychology1 they become ghosts of the dead or other spiritual beings4 ,our own researches lead us to the conviction that behind the purely mythical aspect of these fairy-faiths there exists a substantial substratum of real phenomena not yet satisfactorily explained by science2 that such phenomena have been in the past and are at the present time the chief source of the belief in fairies1 that they are the foundation underlying all fairy mythologies4 ,we need only refer to the following phenomena observed among ,celtic and other peoples1 and attributed by them to 'fairy' or 'spirit' agency3 7#a7 music which competent percipients believe to be of non-human origin1 and hence by the ,celts called 'fairy' music1 whether this be vocal or instrumental in sound2 7#b7 the movement of objects without known cause2 7#c7 rappings and other noises called 'supernatural' 7cf4 pp4 #ha n41 #dha-d1 #dhh2 also pp4 #dg1 #eg1 #fa1 #fg1 #ga1 #gb1 #gd1 #hh1 #id1 #ih1 #aja1 #abj1 #abd1 #abe1 #aca1 #acb1 #acd1 #aci1 #adh1 #aef1 #agb1 #aha1 #ahg1 #bac1 #bah1 #bbj1 c474 #eib ,it is our hope that this book will help to lessen the marked deficiency of recorded testimony concerning 'fairy' beings and 'fairy' phenomena observed by reliable percipients4 ,we have endeavoured to demonstrate that genuine 'fairy' phenomena and genuine 'spirit' phenomena are in most cases identical4 ,hence we believe that if 'spirit' phenomena are worthy of the attention of science1 equally so are 'fairy' phenomena4 ,the fairy-belief in its typical or conventional aspects 7apart from the animism which we discovered at the base of the belief7 is1 as was pointed out in our anthropological examination of the evidence 7pp4 #bha-b71 due to a very complex social psychology4 ,in this chapter we have eliminated all social psychology1 as not being the essential factor in the ,fairy-,faith4 ,therefore1 from our point of view1 ,mr4 ,lang's implied explanation of the typical fairy-visions1 that they are due to 'suggestion acting on the subconscious self'1 does not apply to the rarer kind of fairy visions which form part of our x-quantity 7see pp4 #fj-f1 #hc-d1 c474 ,if it does1 then it also applies to all non-,celtic visions of spirits1 in ancient and in modern times2 and the animistic hypothesis now accepted by most psychical researchers1 namely1 that discarnate intelligences exist independent of the percipient1 must be set aside in favour of the non-animistic hypothesis4 ,if1 on the other hand1 it be admitted that 'fairy' phenomena are1 as we maintain1 essentially the same as 'spirit' phenomena1 then the belief in fairies ceases to be purely mythical1 and 'fairy' visions by a ,celtic seer who is physically and psychically sound do not seem to arise from that seer's suggestion acting on his own subconsciousness2 but certain types of 'fairy' visions undoubtedly do arise from suggestion1 coming from a 'fairy' or other intelligence1 acting on the conscious or subconscious content of the percipient's mind 7cf4 pp4 #dhd-g74 #eic ,lang1 ,cock ,lane and ,common ,sense1 pp4 #bjh1 #ce4 #eid ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,psychical ,research1 in ,harper's ,mag41 ,august #aijh 7,new ,york and ,london74 #eie ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,the ,survival of ,man 7,london1 #aiji71 p4 #cci4 #eif ,james1 op4 cit41 pp4 #ehg-i4 #eig ,readers are referred to such authoritative works as the ,phantasms of the ,living 7,london1 #ahhf71 by ,gurney1 ,myers1 and ,podmore2 to the ,report on the ,census of ,hallucinations of ,modern ,spiritualism1 by ,professor ,sidgwick's ,committee2 to the ,naturalisation of the ,supernatural 7,new ,york and ,london1 #aijh71 by ,f4 ,podmore2 to the ,survival of the ,human ,personality1 by ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers2 and other like works1 all of which originate from the ,proceedings of the ,society for ,psychical ,research 7,london74 #eih ,c4 ,flammarion1 ,mysterious ,psychic ,forces1 pp4 #dda1 #dca4 #eii ,sir ,wm4 ,crookes1 ,notes of an ,enquiry into ,phenomena called ,spiritual1 during the years #ahgj-gc 7,london71 ,part ,,iii1 p4 #hg4 #fjj ,see ,quart4 ,journ4 ,science 7,july #ahga74 #fja ,cf4 ,lang1 ,cock ,lane and ,common ,sense1 p4 #bha2 and for other cases of objects moved without contact see ib41 pp4 #ej1 #eb1 #ec1 #eh1 #abb ff4 ,see also ,f4 ,podmore's article on ,poltergeists1 in ,proceedings ,s4 ,p4 ,r41 xii4 #de-aae2 and his ,naturalisation of the ,supernatural1 chapter vii4 #fjb ,sir ,wm4 ,crookes1 op4 cit41 ,part ,,iii1 p4 #ajj4 #fjc ,ib41 p4 #id4 #fjd ,lang1 ,cock ,lane and ,common ,sense1 pp4 #fj1 #ha1 #aci1 c4 #fje ,using as a basis the data of ,professor ,sidgwick's ,committee and the results earlier obtained by ,gurney1 ,myers1 and ,podmore 7see ,phantasms of the ,living71 ,mr4 ,william ,mc,dougall shows concisely the probability of an apparition appearing within twelve hours of the death of the individual whom it represents4 ,he says3--'444 of all recognized apparitions of living persons1 only one in #ai1jjj may be expected to be a death-coincidence of this sort4 ,but the census shows that of #a1cjj recognized apparitions of living persons #cj are death-coincidences1 and that is equivalent to #ddj in #ai1jjj4 ,hence1 of recognized hallucinations1 those coincident with death are #ddj times more numerous than we should expect1 if no causal relation obtained4' ,and ,mr4 ,mc,dougall concludes3 '444 since good evidence of telepathic communication has been experimentally obtained1 the least improbable explanation of these death-apparitions is that the dying person exerts upon his distant friend some telepathic influence which generates an hallucinatory perception of himself' 7,hallucinations1 in ,ency4 ,brit41 #aath ed41 xii4 #hfc74 #fjf ,myers1 op4 cit41 ii4 #fe1 #de ff41 #di ff41 c4 #fjg ,nevius1 ,demon ,possession1 ,introduction1 pp4 iv1 vii2 pp4 #bdj-b1 #add-e4 ,in accordance with all such phenomena1 psychical researchers have logically called spirits manifesting themselves through the body of a living person possessing spirits4 ,and as in the case of ,chinese demon-possession1 the phenomena of mediumship often result in the moral derangement1 insanity1 or even suicide on the part of 'mediums' who so unwisely exhibit it without special preparation or no preparation at all1 and too often in complete ignorance of a possible gradual undermining of their psychic life1 will-power1 and even physical health4 ,all of this seems to offer direct and certain evidence to sustain ,christians and non-,christians in their condemnation of all forms of necromancy or calling up of spirits4 ,the following statement will make our position towards mediumship of the most common kind clear3 ,in ,druidism1 for one example1 disciples for training in magical sciences are said to have spent twenty years in severe study and special psychical training before deemed fit to be called ,druids and thus to control daemons1 ghosts1 or all invisible entities capable of possessing living men and women4 ,and even now in ,india and elsewhere there is reported to be still the same ancient course of severe disciplinary training for candidates seeking magical powers4 ,but in modern ,spiritualism conditions are altogether different in most cases1 and 'mediums' instead of controlling with an iron will1 as a magician does1 spirits which become manifest in sances1 surrender entirely their will-power and whole personality to them4 #fjh ,cf4 ,sigmund ,freud1 ,the ,origin and ,development of ,psychoanalysis1 in ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych41 xxi1 ,no4 #b 7,april #aiaj74 #fji ,the fact that all matter is capable of assuming a gaseous or invisible state furnishes good scientific reasons for postulating the actual existence of intelligent beings possessed of an invisible yet physical body4 ,there may well be on and about our planet many distinct invisible organic life-forms undiscovered by zoologists4 ,to deny such a possibility would be unscientific4 #faj ,cf4 ,communication adresse au ,dr ,j4 ,dupr1 p4 #chb of an essay on ,la ,mtempsycose base sur les ,principes de la ,biologie et du ,magntisme physiologique1 in ,le ,hasard 7,paris1 #aiji71 by ,p4 ,c4 ,revel4 ,cases of regeneration among the aged are known1 and these show how the subliminal life-forces try to renew the physical body when it is worn out 7cf4 ,revel1 ib41 p4 #cgb74 #faa ,cf4 ,revel1 op4 cit41 p4 #bie ff4 #fab ,if scientists discover1 as they probably will in time1 what they call the secret of life1 they will not have discovered the secret of life at all4 ,what they will have discovered will be the physical conditions under which life manifests itself4 ,in other words1 science will most likely soon be able to set up artificially in a laboratory such physical conditions as exist in nature naturally1 and by means of which life is able to manifest itself through matter4 ,life will still be as great a mystery as it is to-day2 though short-sighted materialists are certain to announce to an eager world that the final problem of the universe has been solved and that life is merely the resultant of a subtle chemical compound4 #fac ,professor ,freud1 after long and careful study1 arrived at the following conclusion3--',the child has his sexual impulse and activities from the beginning1 he brings them with him into the world1 and from these the so-called normal sexuality of adults emerges by a significant development through manifold stages4' ,and ,dr4 ,sanford ,bell1 in an earlier writing entitled ,a ,preliminary ,study of the ,emotions of ,love between the ,sexes 7see ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych41 #aijb71 came to a similar conclusion 7cf4 ,freud1 op4 cit41 pp4 #bjg-h74 #fad ,cf4 ,hans ,driesch1 ,the ,science and ,philosophy of the ,organism 7,london1 #aijh72 and ,henri ,bergson1 ,l'volution cratrice 7,paris1 #aijh74 #fae ,this ,celtic view of non-personal immortality completely fits in with all the voluminous data of psychical research3 after forty years of scientific research into psychics there are no proofs yet adduced that the human personality as a self-sufficient unit of consciousness survives indefinitely the death of its body4 ,granted that it does survive as a ghost for an undetermined period1 generally to be counted in years1 during which time it seems to be gradually fading out or disintegrating1 there is no reliable evidence anywhere to show that a personality as such has manifested through a 'medium' or otherwise after an interval of one thousand years1 or even of five hundred years4 ,we have1 in fact1 no knowledge of the survival of a human personality one hundred years after1 and probably there are no good examples of such a survival twenty-five years after the death of the body4 ,such an eminent psychical researcher as ,william ,james recognized this drift of the data of psychics1 and when he died he held the conviction that there is no personal immortality 7see p4 #eje n4 following74 #faf ,though not inclined toward the vitalistic view of human evolution1 ,m4 ,th4 ,ribot very closely approaches the ,celtic view of the ,ego 7or individuality7 as being the principle which gives unity to different personalities1 but he does not have in mind personalities in the sense implied by the ,celtic ,esoteric ,doctrine of ,re-birth3--',the ,ego subjectively considered consists of a sum of conscious states' 7comparable to personalities74444 ',in brief1 the ,ego may be considered in two ways3 either in its actual form1 and then it is the sum of existing conscious states2 or1 in its continuity with the past1 and then it is formed by the memory according to the process outlined above4 ,it would seem1 according to this view1 that the identity of the ,ego depended entirely upon the memory4 ,but such a conception is only partial4 ,beneath the unstable compound phenomenon in all its protean phases of growth1 degeneration1 and reproduction1 there is a something that remains3 and this something is the undefined consciousness1 the product of all the vital processes1 constituting bodily perception and what is expressed in one word--the coensthesis4' 7,the ,diseases of ,memory1 pp4 #ajg-h74 ,william ,james1 the greatest psychologist of our epoch1 after a long and faithful life consecrated to the search after a true understanding of human consciousness1 finally arrived at substantially the same conviction as ,fechner did1 that there is no personal immortality1 but that the personality 'is but a temporary and partial separation and circumscription of a part of a larger whole1 into which it is reabsorbed at death' 7,w4 ,mc,dougall1 ,in ,memory of ,william ,james1 in ,proc4 ,s4 ,p4 ,r41 ,part ,,lxii1 vol4 xxv1 p4 #bh74 ,he thus virtually accepted the mystic's view that the personality after the death of the body is absorbed into a higher power1 which1 to our mind1 is comparable with the ,ego conceived as the unifying principle behind personalities4 ,in one of his last writings1 ,james explained his belief in such a manner as to make it coincide at certain points with the view held by modern ,celtic mystics which has been presented above2 the difference being that1 unlike these mystics1 ,james was not prepared to say 7though he raised the question7 whether or not behind the 'mother-sea' of consciousness there is1 as ,fechner believed1 a hierarchy of consciousnesses 7themselves subordinate to still higher consciousnesses1 and comparable with so many ,egos or ,individualities7 which send out emanations as temporary human personalities4 ,the organic psychical forms 7if we may use such an expression7 of such temporary human personalities would have to be regarded from ,james's point of view as being built up out of the psychical elements constituting the 'mother-sea' of consciousness1 just as the human body is built up out of the physical elements in the realm of matter3--',out of my experience1 such as it is 7and it is limited enough7 one fixed conclusion dogmatically emerges1 and that is this1 that we with our lives are like islands in the sea1 or like trees in the forest4 ,the maple and the pine may whisper to each other with their leaves1 and ,conanicut and ,newport hear each other's foghorns4 ,but the trees also commingle their roots in the darkness underground1 and the islands also hang together through the ocean's bottom4 ,just so there is a continuum of cosmic consciousness1 against which our individuality' 7used as synonymous with personality and not in our distinct sense7 'builds but accidental fences1 and into which our several minds plunge as into a mother-sea or reservoir4 ,our normal consciousness' 7the personality as we distinguish it from the ,ego or individuality7 'is circumscribed for adaptation to our external earthly environment1 but the fence is weak in spots1 and fitful influences from beyond break in1 showing the otherwise unverifiable common connexion4 ,not only psychic research1 but metaphysical philosophy and speculative biology are led in their own ways to look with favour on some such pan-psychic view of the universe as this4' 7,w4 ,james1 ,the ,confidences of a ,psychical ,researcher1 in ,the ,american ,magazine1 ,october #aiji74 ,again1 ,james wrote3--',the drift of all the evidence we have seems to me to sweep us very strongly towards the belief in some form of superhuman life with which we may1 unknown to ourselves1 be co-conscious4' 7,a ,pluralistic ,universe1 ,new ,york1 #aiji1 p4 #cji47 #fag ,w4 ,james1 ,varieties of ,religious ,experience 7,london1 #aijb71 pp4 #eaa1 #bcf n4 #fah ,m4 ,th4 ,ribot1 in ,diseases of ,memory 7,london1 #ahhb71 pp4 #hb-ih ff41 gives numerous examples of such loss and recovery of memory4 #fai ,cf4 ,freud1 op4 cit41 pp4 #aib1 #bjd-e1 c4 #fbj ,cf4 ,a4 ,moll1 ,hypnotism 7,london1 #ahij71 pp4 #ada ff41 #abf4 #fba ,cf4 ,a4 ,moll1 ,hypnotism 7,london1 #ahij71 pp4 #ada ff41 #abf4 #fbb ,cf4 ,freud1 op4 cit41 p4 #aib4 #fbc ,freud1 ,die ,traumdeutung1 #bnd ed4 7,vienna1 #aijf72 cf4 ,s4 ,ferenczi1 ,the ,psychological ,analysis of ,dreams1 in ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych4 7,april #aiaj71 xxi1 ,no4 #b1 p4 #cbf4 #fbd ,a similar state of high development is to be assumed for a great ,celtic hero like ,arthur1 who were he to be re-born would 7as is said to have been the case with ,king ,mongan1 the reincarnation of ,finn7 bring with him memory of his past3 unlike the consciousness of the normal man1 the consciousness of one of the ,divine ,ones is normally the subconsciousness1 the consciousness of the individuality2 and not the personal consciousness1 which1 like the personality1 is non-permanent in itself4 ,this further illustrates the ,celtic theory of non-personal immortality4 #fbe ,ribot1 op4 cit41 p4 #ajj ff4 #fbf ,cf4 ,lang1 ,cock ,lane and ,common ,sense1 pp4 #bag ff4 ,blackwood's ,magazine1 cxxix 7,january #ahha71 contains a remarkable account of a child who remembered previous lives4 ,lord ,lindsay1 in his ,letters 7ed4 of #ahdg1 p4 #cea71 refers to a feeling when he beheld the river ,kadisha descending from ,lebanon1 of having in a previous life seen the same scene4 ,dickens in his ,pictures from ,italy testifies to a parallel experience4 ,e4 ,d4 ,walker1 in his interesting work on ,reincarnation 7pp4 #db-e7 has brought together many other well-attested cases of people who likewise have thought they could remember fragments of a former state of conscious existence4 ,in his diary1 under date of ,february #ag1 #ahbh1 ,sir ,walter ,scott wrote as follows3--',i cannot1 ,i am sure1 tell if it is worth marking down1 that yesterday1 at dinner-time1 ,i was strangely haunted by what ,i would call the sense of pre-existence1 viz4 a confused idea that nothing that passed was said for the first time4' ,lockhart1 ,life of ,scott 7first ed471 vii4 #aad4 ,bulwer ,lytton in ,godolphin 7chapter xv71 and ,edgar ,allen ,poe in ,eureka1 record similar experiences4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,fielding ,hall1 in ,the ,soul of a ,people#d 7,london1 #aijb71 pp4 #bij-cjh1 reports several very remarkable cases of responsible natives of ,burma who stated that they could recall former lives passed by them as men and women4 ,mr4 ,hall has carefully investigated these cases1 and gives us the impression that they are worthy of scientific consideration4 #fbg ,cf4 ,ferenczi1 op4 cit41 p4 #caf1 c4 ,professor ,freud's theory of dreams supports entirely1 but does not imply our hypothesis that some 7and probably many7 abnormal dreams of a rare kind1 whether good or bad in tendency1 may be due to the latent content of subconsciousness1 out of which they undoubtedly arise1 having been collected and carried over from a previous state of consciousness parallel to our present one4 ,in respect to our present life ,professor ,freud holds1 as a result of psycho-analysis of thousands of dream subjects1 that the latent content of every dream in the adult is directly dependent upon mental processes which frequently reach back to the earliest childhood2 and he gives detailed cases in illustration4 ,in other words1 there is always a latent dream-material behind the conscious dream-content1 and probably a part of it was innate in the child at birth1 and hence1 according to our view1 was pre-existent4 7,cf4 ,ernest ,jones1 ,freud's ,theory of ,dreams1 in ,amer4 ,journ4 ,psych41 ,april #aiaj1 xxi1 ,no4 #b1 pp4 #cja ff47 #fbh ,cf4 ,du ,prel1 ,philosophy of ,mysticism1 ii4 #be ff41 #cd ff4 #fbi ,the ,dream of ,ravan1 in ,dublin ,univ4 ,mag41 xliii4 #dfh4 #fcj ,myers1 in ,proc4 ,s4 ,p4 ,r41 vii4 #cje4 #fca ,james1 ,varieties of ,religious ,experience1 p4 #dhc4 #fcb ,the esoteric teaching in many of the mystic schools of antiquity was that the atoms of each human body transmigrate through all lower forms of life during the long period supposed to intervene between death and re-birth of the individuality4 ,this doctrine seems to be one of the main sources of the corruption which crept into the ancient re-birth doctrines and transformed many of them into doctrines of transmigration of the human soul into animal and plant bodies2 and some unscrupulous priesthoods openly taught such corrupted doctrines as a means of making the ignorant populace submissive to ecclesiastical rule1 the theological theory expounded by such priesthoods being that the evil-doer1 but not the keeper of the letter of the canonical law1 is condemned to expiate his sins through birth in brute bodies4 ,the pure form of the mystic doctrine was that after the lapse of the long period of disembodiment the individuality reconstructs its human body anew by drawing to itself the identical atoms which constituted its previous human body--these atoms1 and not the individuality1 having transmigrated through all the lower kingdoms4 ,such an esoteric doctrine probably lies behind the exoteric ,egyptian teaching that the human soul after the death of its body passes through all plant and animal bodies during a period of three thousand years1 after which it returns to human embodiment4 ,some scholars have held that the exoteric interpretation of this theory and its consequent literal interpretation as a transmigration doctrine led the ,egyptians to mummify the bodies of their dead4 ,cf4 ,lucretius1 ,de ,rerum ,natura1 ,book ,,iii1 ll4 #hdc-fa2 and ,herodotus1 ,book ,,ii1 on ,egypt4 #fcc ,cf4 ,dr4 ,l4 ,s4 ,fugairon's ,la ,survivance de l'me1 ou la ,mort et la ,renaissance chez les tres vivants2 tudes de physiologie et d'embryologie philosophiques 7,paris1 #aijg72 cf4 ,revel1 ,le ,hasard1 p4 #deg4 #fcd ,darwin never considered or attempted to suggest what it is that of itself really evolves1 for it cannot be the physical body which only grows from immaturity to maturity and then dissolves4 ,darwin thus overlooked the essential factor in his whole doctrine2 while the ,druids and other ancients1 wiser than we have been willing to admit1 seem not only to have anticipated ,darwin by thousands of years1 but also to have quite surpassed him in setting up their doctrine of re-birth1 which explains both the physical and psychical evolution of man4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,passages in italics are indicated by italics4 ,superscripted letters are indicated by superscript4 ,the original text includes ,greek characters4 ,for this text version these letters have been replaced with transliterations4 ,some quotes are opened with marks but are not closed4 ,obvious errors have been silently closed while those requiring interpretation have been left open4 ,other punctuation has been corrected without note4 ,the following misprints have been corrected3 ,fortelling standardized to foretelling 7page #bac7 fom corrected to from 7footnote #cdb7 ,name corrected to ,names 7,index7 ,other than the corrections listed above1 inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original4 ,the following symbols were substituted for images on pages #bgb and #bgc3 ,maltese cross ,c ,triangle ,t ,jupiter ,j ,mercury ,m ,venus ,v ,saturn ,s ,moon ,mo ,sun ,o ,large ,asterisk 99