[111] This I am informed by the writer of the lines quoted.

[112] "The tradition that certain buildings were erected by men who stood in a row and handed the stones from one to the other is quite familiar to me with regard to buildings in Ireland," writes a correspondent (the Rev. J. Ffrench, of Clonegal, Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland); and he furnishes one example:—"Brash, in his 'Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland,' when describing the Round Tower of Ardmore, tells us: 'I have before stated that the materials of which this tower was built were brought from the Mountain of Slieve-Grian, some four or five miles distant. The local legend is that the stones were brought to the spot without "horse or wheel," and laid without the noise of a hammer, the meaning of which is that the stones were all dressed in the quarry, and a line of men being stationed along from the quarry to the tower, the stones were handed from one to the other.'"

While this Irish tradition does not identify these builders with any special race of men, it is noteworthy that their method of building is that which Scottish tradition regards as peculiarly characteristic of the Picts, or "Pechts." Moreover, the building referred to by Brash is of precisely the same order as the Round Tower of Abernethy, said to have been built after the same fashion. And the builders of the Round Tower of Abernethy, as also the builders of the Round Tower of Brechin, are alleged by local tradition to have been "Pechts."

[113] In the "Dissertation on the Origin of the Scottish Language," prefixed to his Scottish Dictionary.

[114] Knox's "Topography of the Tay," Edinburgh, 1831, pp. 108-9.

[115] "History of Brechin," by David D. Black. Edinburgh and Brechin, 1867, 2nd edition, p. 247.

[116] Knox's "Topography," pp. 92-94.

[117] For these references to Oisin and the Feens see Skene's "Book of the Dean of Lismore," pp. 12-14 (English version), and 10-11 (Gaelic). Also Mr. J. F. Campbell's "Leabhar na Feinne," pp. xiii, 47 and 49.

[118] Chambers's "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," 1870, pp. 254-55.

[119] Although the Pechts made use of stone lamps similar to those of the northern Eskimos, it is perhaps too much to assume that the dwellings of the former admitted nothing of the light of day. Mr. Petrie states that the walls of the Pechts' houses "converge towards the top, where they approach so closely that the aperture can be spanned by a stone a couple of feet in length." If this aperture remained open during the day, which seems quite likely, then the above reference as to the ever-burning lamp is only applicable to the dwellings of the northern Greenlanders. For the sake of safety, while their lands were over-run by hostile forces, it is probable that the Pechts did cover the two-foot hole in the roof with a large stone, which itself would need to be hidden by earth and turf. But the fact that such an aperture was left in the building indicates that it was frequently uncovered; perhaps always at night, and also, during times of safety, in the day. In the latter case, the interior of this underground dwelling would thus receive, through the hole overhead, enough light to fill the central chamber with a sort of twilight, although the smaller cells might have been quite in darkness.

[120] See the dictionaries of Armstrong, McLeod and Dewar, and McAlpine. McAlpine also defines the word digh as a "conical mound," "an abode of fairies"; and that more uncommon term is thus employed in an Islay story of Mr. J. F. Campbell's (West Highland Tales, ii, 48).

[121] "Rambles in Northumberland," by S. Oliver, London, 1835, p. 104.

[122] "The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," edited by J. H. Todd, D.D. London, 1867, p. 115. In the above quotation, the word translated "bronze" is finndruine. This is referred to as "a metal, the constituents of which are not well known. O'Clery describes it as prÁs go n-airgead buailte, 'brass, with silver hammered on to it.'" It is also referred to as "white silver," "silver or white bronze," "brass," and "copper." It was employed to furnish such various articles as "leg armour," the rim of a shield, a royal chessboard, and, further, a bedstead—which surely ought to have been royal also. (Op. cit., pp. ciii-civ. note, and 50 and 94; also Skene's "Celtic Scotland," ii. 507.) The passage relating to buffalo-horns is given in the Gaelic version ("War of the Gaedhil," p. 114), "ocus do chornaibh buabaill." The word corn, of which chornaibh is an inflection, is substantially the Latin cornu. The Scotch-Gaelic dictionaries give it chiefly the signification of "drinking-horn," and "sounding-horn or trumpet." Armstrong states that the drinking-cups of the northern nations were made from the horns of the "urus or European buffalo," referred to by Latin writers: He adds—"One of these immense horns, at least an ox-horn of prodigious size, is still preserved in the Castle of Dunvegan, Isle of Sky." Buabhall itself has the secondary meaning of "trumpet," or "cornet"; but its true meaning is "buffalo." Armstrong subjoins these comparisons—Armorican bual, French bufle, Latin bubulus, Greek boubalos. Also Cornish buaval, with the meaning of "trumpet." And also buabhull-chorn, "a bugle-horn," with which he compares the Welsh bual-gorn. Halliwell has bougil, "a bugle-horn," and bugle, "a buffalo"; and with reference to the latter spelling he says, "hence bugle-horn, a drinking-vessel made of horn; also a hunting-horn." Professor Skeat, who cites Halliwell also, defines "bugle" as "a wild ox." It is clear that these are all merely variants of one word, or rather of two words. The u in "bugle" has originally been broad. The hard c of "corn" has become a guttural in "chorn," and a mere aspirate in "horn," although it is still found as "corn" both in English and Gaelic dictionaries (with a very restricted meaning in the former instance).

[123] Dr. Todd (op. cit., p. 40, note), in referring to another instance in which these terms occur, says:—"The words here used, DÚn, Daingen, Dingna, all signify a fort or fortress. It is not easy to define the precise difference between them. DÚn ... seems to signify a fortified hill or mound. Daingen (dungeon) is a walled fort or strong tower; hence daingnigim, I fortify. Dingna [which he translates 'mound' in the above instance] is apparently only another form of the same word. Cf. 'Zeuss,' p. 30n.

[124] Op. cit., p. 115, note.

[125] Even the expression "fo thalmain" may be held to denote the "conical hill" of the fairies. Talmhainn is certainly the genitive of talamh, "the ground"; and so "fo thalmain" signifies "under the ground." But tolman particularly denotes "a mound." And it, or the variant tulman, is used in a fairy tale of the island of Barra (Campbell's "West Highland Tales," ii. 39) with special reference to one of those abodes of the "little people." It may be added that the word translated the "solitudes" of the Feens, etc., might also be rendered the "secret places" or "concealed places."

[126] "Leabhar na Feinne," pp. 94-95.

[127] The "fairy mound" was also known as a "how" or "haug," and its people as "how-folk." To "break," or break into a "how," in the hope of obtaining treasure (an early form of burglary), was a well-known custom of the Danes.

[128] "The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," pp. clxxviii-clxxix, note 5, and pp. 172-173.

[129] Dr. Todd, in mentioning this and the other relative circumstances, refers the reader to "Mr. O'Kearney's Introd. to the 'Feis Tighe Chonain' (Ossianic Soc.) p. 98 sq."—and to O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," iii. c. 22, p. 200.

[130] See Sir W. R. Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne," Dublin, 1849, p. 202. The same work refers (p. 24) to "sidh Nectain, the fairy hill of Nechtain," where the river Boyne rises, but does not state whether early Dane or modern archÆologist has ever investigated it. (It is now known as the Hill of Carbury.)

[131] "Scottish Dictionary," s. v. Fane.

[132] See the "Revue des Traditions populaires," Nov. 1889, p. 613. The reader is there referred to M. Paul SÉbillot's "Contes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne" for those Fions; and also to BÉzier's "Inventaire des monuments mÉgalithiques de l'Ille-et-Vilaine," (p. 26) for certain Feins, who seem very likely to be the same people.

[133] "Revue des Traditions populaires," Oct. 1889, pp. 515-519.

[134] These "Christian" fairies appear to be remembered as women; like the banshee or fairy woman of Ireland and Gaelic-Scotland.

[135] Another illustration of these special features is afforded by the church at Eckwadt, in Denmark, which is said to have been built by a "hill-man," or dwarf. In this case, also, the last stone was not put on. Of this builder, too, it is stated that "he worked only during the night."—(Thorpe's Northern Mythology, III. 38-39).

[136] In this mysterious method of working,—first preparing the stones in a quarry at some distance off, and then conveying them to the chosen site, and erecting them according to a pre-arranged method, and all in the course of a single night (as the nature and dimensions of the buildings rendered quite possible)—one seems to discern one of the methods by which those dwarf tribes asserted and maintained the "supernatural" qualities ascribed to them.

[137] For these latter references, see pp. 99-100 post. Of course, the "aprons" of the traditional dwarfs, it need hardly be added, were leather aprons.

[138] Volkskunde: "Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Folklore," 2^e Jaargang, 9e Aflevering, p. 182.

[139] Op. cit., 2^e Jaar. 5^e Afl., p. 89.

[140] Op. cit., 2^e Jaar. 5^e Afl., p. 89.

[141] Heligoland; by William George Black, Blackwood & Sons, 1888, Chapter IV.

[142] Mr. Charles de Kay, in The Century of July 1889, p. 437.

[143] See Mr. Ralston's review in The Academy of May 11, 1889.

[144] These trials and executions for "witchcraft" were the precursors of those which were carried down almost into our own times; and the above allusions to the "wickedness" of those rites only serve to strengthen the growing belief that the relentless persecution of "witches" was based upon most reasonable grounds, and that the motives actuating the "persecutors" were far higher and more sensible than a mere fanatical and narrow-minded hatred of paganism.

[145] For these extracts, see Thorpe's Northern Mythology, I., 14, 212, 213, 214, and 238.

[146] The flat stone, supported on three or four posts, or pillars (as Thorpe calls them), upon which the seid-woman stood, is very suggestive of the cromleac or dolmen. (Cf. the grottes aux fÉes of Brittany.)

[147] The magical power of the Finns is still recognized by the Swedish peasantry of to-day. An illustration of this appears in an anecdote related in the London Standard of 26 January, 1877, with regard to a Swedish lady "who had been so ill-advised as to insult a Finn, whose magical powers exceed those of the gipsies."

[148] It is no doubt owing to the infusion of Spanish blood in Southern Ireland, still visible in the complexion, as well as in the surnames (such as Costello and Jago, i.e., Diego) of people in that neighbourhood, that this Fierna receives the most un-British title of "Don" prefixed to his name.

[149] Compare this tradition, recorded by Thorpe (Northern Mythology, III., 39):—"In very old times the dwarfs had long wars with men, and also with one another."

[150] "The Death of Diarmaid," by Allan MacRuaridh. See the "Dean of Lismore's Book," p. 30 (Eng. version), and p. 21 (Gaelic).

[151] "Dean of Lismore's Book," pp. 141-43 (Eng.) and 108-11 (Gaelic version).

[152] "History of Ireland"; Reign of Cormac Ulfada.

[153] "West Highland Tales," I. xiii.

[154] The Lay of Osgar: "West Highland Tales," III. 304-5.

[155] He adds:—"Some of these horns, which are of an amazing size, are in the custody of the Duke of Athole, and of Mr. Farquharson of Invercauld."

[156] "Tales," II. 107. The story referred to is on pp. 102-6.

[157] See "Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot.": First Series, VIII. p. 186, et seq. (with a special reference to pp. 205-6).

[158] For Mr. Campbell's references, see "West Highland Tales," I., ci.-cix., and II., 46. This parallel has also been drawn by Miss Gordon Cumming ("From the Hebrides to the Himalayas," Vol. I., p. 183).

[159] Scots Magazine, Vol. III., 1818, p. 154.

[160] One of Mrs. Ewing's "Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales": The Laird and the Man of Peace.

[161] George Sinclair, in "Satan's Invisible World Discovered."

[162] See Ritson's "Annals," Vol. I. p. 12 (quoted from Dion Cassius, L. 76, c. 12).

[163] Which appears in the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," 1885-86, pp. 76-90.

[164] Mr. A. Jervise, "The Land of the Lindsays," Edinburgh, 1853, p. 265.

[165]Page 67.

[166] The Latin term Picti, though pointing to another characteristic of the dwarfs, is not here taken into account, as it misinterprets the original word.

[167] John Stuart, LL.D., "Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scot.," 1st Series, viii. 23 et seq.

[168] Examples of those "burrows," or underground galleries, in Ulster are given by Mr. S. F. Milligan, M.R.I.A. (Jour. of Roy. Hist. and Arch. Assn. of Ireland, No. 80, Vol. IX., Fourth Series, pp. 245-246), who remarks:—"These souterraines are good examples of the dwelling-places of a very early race of settlers in this country."

[169] "Memoirs of Anthropological Society of London," vol. ii. 1865-6, p. 343.

[170] Knox's "Topography," etc., Edin., 1831, p. 211, note.

[171] Regarding the original home of the Picts, there is considerable difference of opinion among ancient writers; but the above traditional belief receives support from the statement that "by Bede, by the 'Historia Britonum,' and by the Welsh traditions, they appear as a people coming from Scythia, and acquiring first Orkney, and afterwards Caithness, and then spreading over Scotland from the north."—(Skene's Chronicles of the Picts and Scots, p. xcvi.)

[172] Dwelt (cf. Dutch wonen, Germ. wohnen).

[173] This feature does not accord with the appearance of modern Orkney or the Hebrides, but both groups were once thickly wooded. Buchanan refers to various Hebridean islands as being "darkened with wood" in the sixteenth century.

[174] Couples.

[175] Balks (cross-beams).

[176] From Jamieson's Scotch version, as given by Scott.

[177] Well-chosen.

[178] The dwarf is here addressing the settler by the name of his new possession.

[179] Build.

[180] It ought to be added that he is only an "elf" by adoption; but this does not affect the general situation. He bears all the outward characteristics of the dwarfs.

[181] Mrs. Jessie E. Saxby, "Folklore from Unst, Shetland" (Leisure Hour, 1880).

[182] Dr. Joseph Anderson, in his Introduction to the "Orkneyinga Saga," p. ci.

[183] In an article ("From the Heart of the Wolds") contributed to the Cornhill Magazine of August 1882, the following is stated with regard to the traditions of this part of Lincolnshire:—"Ghosts, bogies, and the supernatural generally have utterly vanished from this commonplace district before schools and newspapers. Even an old lady more than ninety years old said to us, 'Fairies and shag-boys! lasses are often skeart at them, but I never saw none, though I have passed many a time after dark a most terrible spot for them on the road at Thorpe.'" The identity of "shag-boy" with "hog-boy" (as used in Orkney) is asserted by the writer of the Cornhill article; who also states:—"In an adjoining field [near Beelsby] lingers one of the few legends of this prosaic district. A treasure is supposed to be hidden in it, and at times two little men, wearing red caps, something like the Irish leprechauns, may be seen intently digging for it." These little "red-caps" are not identified with the "shag-boys," but popular tradition generally would pronounce them to be the same people.

[184] One is apt to talk of this introductory passage as though it had actually penetrated a previously existing mound. But the construction of all those chambered mounds shows plainly that the original stone structure, not only the central building but the long passage of approach, was originally reared upon the surface of the level ground, in the open air. And that the "fairy hillock" had no existence at all until the builders of the stone structure had heaped above it all—chamber and gallery—the mass of earth and stones that afterwards transformed the whole exterior into a "green hillock," and thus completely disguised its real nature from all but the initiated.

[185] For these details see Colonel Forbes Leslie's "Early Races of Scotland," vol. ii. pp. 338-40.

[186] Even with this roof-light the interior of the dwelling can only have received a limited supply of daylight. And this explains the statement made by a Scotch peasant who was taken by a "fairy" woman into her abode. "Being asked by the judge [before whom he was tried for 'witchcraft'] whether the place within the hill, which he called a hall, were light or dark, he said 'Indifferent, as it is with us in the twilight.'"

At night, when the abode of the "hillmen" was lit up with the glow of the fire, the cavity above the building, and the atmosphere overhead, must have also received some share of the firelight. This would account for the statement made by Wallace (who wrote at the period when "Evil Spirits also called Fairies" were "frequently seen in several of the [Orkney] Isles dancing and making merry,") to the effect that, "in the Parish of Evie, near the Sea, are some small Hillocks, which frequently, in the Night time, appear all in a fire." And when Mrs. Ewing, in her "Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales," says that shian is "a Gaelic name for fairy towers, which by day are not to be told from mountain crags," she evidently alludes to the same feature.

[187] See the description in an Appendix to Pennant's Tour, written by the then minister of the parish of Reay, Sutherlandshire.

[188] "Popular Tales of the West Highlands," vol. ii. pp. 97-101. In the Book of Clanranald, a portion of which is translated by Dr. Skene, a certain "Huisdinn," whose paternal grandfather was Donald of the Isles, is stated to have been also the grandson (through his mother) of "Giolla Phadraig." This "Huisdinn" appears to have lived in the fifteenth century. (See Celtic Scotland, III., 408-409.)

[189] "Heligoland," 1888, pp. 84-85.

[190] For fuller information as to Maes-how, and references to more detailed accounts, see Dr. Anderson's "Orkneyinga Sage," Introduction, pp. ci-cviii.

It may be added that one feature in the first of the Maes-how diagrams conveys a wrong impression of the probable appearance of the mound, when inhabited; because the "well or pit" ("or crater") is represented as being as solid as the rest of the outer covering. That it gradually became filled up with drift and rubbish, after the dwelling ceased to be occupied, is evident. But when the edifice was newly reared, and as long as people continued to inhabit it, the upper part of the mound was probably a hollow shaft; admitting light and air into the dwelling below; "carrying off the smoke of their fire;" and occasionally serving as a way of ingress and egress.

[191] "West Highland Tales," ii. 39.

[192] Which will be found at pp. 30-32 of "Legends of Scottish Superstition," Edinburgh, 1848.

[193] The Wigtownshire tale perhaps relates rather to an example of the rude underground Fairy Ha', or Pecht's house, described in the beginning of this chapter. While the word "how" signifies in Orkney a haug, or mound; the "howe" of other parts of Scotland means a "hollow." In fact, the story says that the foul water ran down to the entrance of the dwarf's house, which was therefore either an underground gallery of the kind referred to, or else a chambered mound placed on a lower level than the shepherd's cottage.

[194] Cf. tulman in the Barra anecdote quoted above. See also p. 82 ante, note 2.

[195] From "Grantown-on-Spey," by the Rev. A. Gordon (in a "Budget of Holiday Letters," Edinburgh, 1889).

[196] "Lay of the Last Minstrel," Note M.

[197] Chambers, in his "Popular Rhymes" (241-2), has a story corresponding in one feature to that of "Taptillery." This is of a certain Laird of Craufurdland, who had dammed up a stream in order to get at a treasure believed to be hidden in its bed, "when a brownie called out of a bush:

"Pow, pow!
Craufurdland's tower's a' in a low!" [i.e., on fire]

which sent the laird home to save his tower; and when he returned from his fool's errand the dam had been destroyed, and the stream was flowing as before.

[198] Mr. J. H. Dixon, F.S.A.Scot. See "Gairloch," Edin.' 1886, pp. 159-61.

[199] See the modern Scots Magazine, Vol. I., No. 1, Dec., 1887 ("Damh BlÀr Bheinn Chrulaist," a sporting story).

[200] This "fairy knowe" is described in the "ArchÆologia Scotica," vol. v. and the "Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scot.," 1st Series, ix. 37-38.

[201] Judging from memory, and also from the repellent smallness of the hole into which one was expected to plunge, it seems to the present writer that the human figure seated at the doorway has been drawn too small. If one compares him with the standing figures in the general view, and with the aperture there seen, this criticism will be borne out.

[202] A. de Capell Brooke; A Winter in Lapland, London, 1827, p. 320.

[203] Jeffrey's "Roxburghshire"; 1859, I., 54-5. (Quoted from Leyden.)

[204] "Journal of Roy. Hist. and Archl. Assocn. of Ireland," No. 81, Vol. IX., Fourth Series, p. 327.

[205] See the "Jour, of Roy. Hist. and Archl. Assocn. of Ireland," No. 81, Vol. IX., Fourth Series, p. 266.

[206] See Appendix A.

[207] Celtic Scotland, I., 220.

[208] The Fir-Bolgs themselves, well known to all readers of Irish tradition, have many points in common with the people under discussion. Compare, for example, Lady Ferguson's reference to "a fierce tribe of Firbolgic origin, the Gowanree, who were compelled to labour unremittingly at the earthworks [the Rath of Cruachan], and are said to have completed the dyke in one day." "The Story of the Irish before the Conquest," London, 1868, p. 32.

[209] The Dananns themselves were notably "professors of musical and entertaining performances"; and indeed the term druidh, applied to them also, seems to have indicated the possessor of many accomplishments, in art and in a pseudo-science.

[210] Brugh barragheal na Boinne is the phrase given in "The Glenbard Collection of Gaelic Poetry" (Haszard, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, 1888, p. 78) where the above story is told. The term "white-topped" is somewhat vague. Had the word been barrachaol, "pyramidal," the meaning would have been quite clear.

[211] 'Skene's Celt. Scot., III., 106-107. See also p. 93 of the same volume, and pp. 178 and 220 of Vol. I.

[212] The words translated "earth-house," as used by the druidh, are "brugh" and "bruighin." These, as already mentioned, signify "fairy hill" or "underground dwelling of the fairies." But the alternative rendering of "earth-house" has been preferred, as being rather less of an anachronism than the assumption that such dwellings were styled fairy hills before ever they had been assigned to the "fairies."

[213] Page 93, ante.

[215] Dean of Lismore's Book: Introduction, pp. lxiv, lxxvi-lxxviii. (As in former quotations, I have slightly modernized such terms as "Erin," according to Dr. Skene's own rendering of these terms.)

[216] Page 51, ante.

[217] Page 82, ante.

[218] The custom of the "earth-man" to bury his treasures is known all over Europe. A special instance has been cited in these pages (p. 107, ante, note², when "two little men, wearing red caps" are remembered as "intently digging" for their lost treasure, in a certain field in Lincolnshire. Mr. J. F. Campbell, in drawing his Fairy-Lapp parallel, says (Tales, Introd. cviii.): "Fairies had hoards of treasure—so have Lapps. A man died shortly before one of my Tana trips, and the whole country side had been out searching for his buried wealth in vain. Some years ago the old silver shops of Bergen and Trondhjem overflowed with queer cups and spoons, and rings, silver plates for waist belts, old plate that had been hidden amongst the mountains, black old silver coins that had not seen the light for years. I saw the plate and bought some, and was told that, in consequence of a religious movement, the Lapps had dug up and sold their hoards." Another writer (A. de C. Brooke: A Winter in Lapland, London, 1827, pp. 109-111), in referring to this practice, says that sometimes the Lapp "forgets himself where he has hidden it, and his hoard of silver remains so effectually concealed, after he has been absent some time, that he is unable to discover the place, and it is consequently lost to him for ever." And this writer refers to a Lapp of his acquaintance who had concealed his treasure "so securely that, notwithstanding the regular searches he had made for it," he could not recover it. This feature offers an explanation of the traditions of dwarfs seeking for treasures which they themselves had hidden. It may be added that the custom of burying money was still so prevalent in Shetland, in the beginning of last century, that it was held to be illegal, and the offenders were duly fined.

[219] Dublin, 1861.

[220] Op. cit., p. 505.

[221] This parenthesis appears to be Mr. O'Curry's.

[222] Pp. 596-7; the first version being at pp. 308-9.

[223] Op. cit., p. 478.

[224] Celt. Scot., II., 108.

[225] Celt. Scot., III., 413. The above translation is by Mr. W. M. Hennessy, from the following:—

Tusa (tussa) mac Sadhbha saoire,
As (is) tu an slat (intshlat) abhla as (ar) aille,
Ca dia do bhru na boinne
Do roine ria thu a taidhe.

[226] "The Irish before the Conquest," p. 237.

[227] More correctly, Gobban Saor ("Free or Noble Smith"). From the description given by Mr. Elton (Origins, p. 131) of "Wayland's Smithy" at Ashbury, Berkshire, it is evident that it also belongs to the same class as the Boyne mounds.

[228] The symbol for the Gaelic agus—"and."

[229] Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores veteres, 1824, III., 363-364.

[230] "Bad translation and wretchedly erroneous topography," says the former; "by no means accurate," says the latter.

[231] Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill, lxxii, 23.

[232] Properly, of one-half only of Meath. (Wars of the Gaedhill, lxx, n³.)

[233] Op. cit., lxxxviii, xci, notes.

[234] For references to Scotch "weems" (specially so called), see Col. Forbes Leslie's "Early Races of Scotland," 1866, Vol. II., pp. 351-354. Also ante, p. 101.

[235] ? The "black ford."

[236] Wars of the Gaedhill, xci, n².

[237] Dublin, 1847, p. 22.

[238] "Book of Rights," pp. 11-12, note.

[239] Dean of Lismore's Book, Introd., p. xxiii.

[240] "Uatha, plural of Uath, a word not easily translated. Uath is evidently "These are tales formed from Uaimh, a cave, or cellar; and signifies some deed connected with, as the attack or plunder of, a cave." (O'Curry, op. cit., p. 586, note.)

[241] "The Irish before the Conquest," p. 32.

[242] For Mr. O'Curry's various statements, see his Lectures, pp. 257-8, 283, 586-7 and 589.

[243] A more particular description of the Brugh of the Boyne will be found in Appendix A. The three mounds are also described in "A Hand Book of Irish Antiquities," by William F. Wakeman, Dublin, 1848; in Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne," Dublin, 1849, and two of them (Knowth and Dowth) by T. N. Deane, in the "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," December, 1888.

[244] For such details see Scott's introduction to "The Monastery," etc., etc.; Brand's "Description of Zetland;" and Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. "Uruisg."

[245] "Legends of Scottish Superstition," Edinburgh, 1848; "Maclachlan's Brownie."

[246] "West Highland Tales," I., xlvii.

[247] Although the dwarfs of central England may not rightly be considered under the name of Picts or Pechts, a chain connecting them with the people thus called is discernible. Scott says that, "according to romantic tradition," Kenilworth "had been first tenanted" by "those primitive Britons" who were "the soldiers of King Arthur" ("Kenilworth," ch. xxvi). Thus, the early inhabitants of Kenilworth are equally "fairies" and "primitive Britons." Again, in Glamorganshire (according to Mr. Wirt Sikes, "British Goblins," pp. 6 and 392), there is "a certain steep and rugged crag" which bears "a distinctly awful reputation as a stronghold of the fairy tribe," and, in a secret cavern underneath this crag, "Arthur and his warriors" are believed to be sleeping. While an Edinburgh tradition, given by Dr. Daniel Wilson ("Memorials," vol. ii. ch. xix.), states that "King Arthur and the Pechts" have also withdrawn to a subterranean retreat in the hill which is still known as Arthur's Seat. Obviously, Arthur, if he ever lived, cannot have retired into all of these places, but there is, nevertheless, a vague agreement in these three traditions; and Kenilworth, Arthur's Seat, and Craig y Ddinas all testify to an identification of Arthur and his "primitive Britons," with the underground "fairies" and "Pechts." It may be objected that the tradition of Barbarossa, as in RÜckert's ballad, asleep in his underground castle, with his dwarf beside him, is evidently of the same origin as those just referred to. This is manifest. But, before attempting to reconcile Continental with British tradition, it is important to first demonstrate, if that may be done, that the British traditions here spoken of are historical and not mythological. (The story of the Kenilworth fairies will be found at p. 218 of "The Dialect of the English Gypsies," by B. C. Smart and H. T. Crofton, London, 1875.)

[248] It is impossible to refer here to the many terms used to denote what is really one class of people; as these terms themselves show when analyzed. But this term "goblin," although in recent centuries it has been surrounded with much that is unreal and fictitious, appears to have been once used in the most ordinary matter-of-fact way. This will be seen from the following reference quoted by Dr. Henry Rink ("Danish Greenland," 1877, p. 16), in the narrative of a Norse visit to Greenland in the eleventh century:—"One morning Thorgils went out by himself on the ice, and discovered the carcase of a whale in an opening, and beside two 'witches' (or 'goblins,' evidently Eskimo women), who were tying large bundles of flesh together. Thorgils instantly rushed upon one of them with his sword and cut off one of her hands, whereupon both of them took to their heels." In other words, the eleventh-century natives of Greenland, whom Dr. Rink believes were Eskimos, were at once classed by a Norwegian of that period in the same category as those whom he had been accustomed to call "goblins" in Europe.

[249] Miss C. MacLagan, "Proc. of Soc. of Ant. of Scot." (1st series), ix. 39.

[250] A. Mackintosh Shaw, "History of the Mackintoshes," 1880, vol. i. p. 24, note. This writer also points out that the word "Rothimurcus" itself indicates a "fortified mound" or Rath.

[251] Appendix to "The Lady of the Lake," Note 2 H.

[252] See also "West Highland Tales," II., 66, for a reference to this personage.

[253] "West Highland Tales," II., 67.

[254] Rev. Alex. Stewart, F.S.A. Scot., in "Nether Lochaber," Edin., 1883, p. 20.

He adds: "There is, besides, a Glacan-t' Shithein, the Fairy Knoll Glade, Tobaran-t' Shithein, the Fairy Knoll Well; and a deep chasm, through which a mountain torrent plunges darkling, called Leum-an-t' Shithiche, the Fairy Leap."

[255] See "Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot." 1880-81, 113 et seq.

[256] See vol. ii. pp. 48 and 52. The latter page mentions a Ruadh na Sirach, "the Fairies' Point," in the island of Kerrera, near Oban.

[257] Similarly, a "Fairy Loch" in Argyleshire is spelt Loch na Hurich, and a like example is that of Glennahuirich, in Nether Lochaber.

[258] See Skene's "Celtic Scotland," i. 232; ii. 105-6; and iii. 10.

[259] This discrepancy is pointed out by Dr. Skene, who suggests "a gravelly ridge called Torvean," and also "the eminence east of Inverness, called the Crown," as more probable sites. ("Celtic Scotland," ii. 106, note.)

[260] Hugh Miller, although he confesses himself puzzled as to their origin, undoubtedly regarded those "tomhans" as entirely natural. And if it should appear that he was mistaken, there would, in that event, be a new question opened up; because of the peculiar characteristics of what he knew as "tomhans."

It is an unfortunate circumstance that any practical attempt at testing the accuracy of the local tradition regarding Tomnahurich itself is out of the question, owing to the fact that for many years its exterior has been used as a burying ground—as more than one "hollow hill" is known to have been. But "the houses of the country people" would afford a sufficient test.

[261] A kettle of gold is specially mentioned, and in the "hidden places" of the fairies of White Cater Thun, near Brechin, a kettle of gold is also believed to be concealed.

[262] Dr. Marshall, "Historic Scenes in Perthshire," Edinburgh, 1880, p. 263.

[263] Owing, I believe, to the fact that it is on a different estate. The following remarks by M. T. N. Deane, in his paper on the "hollow hills" of Knowth and Dowth, in the Boyne valley ("Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Dec. 1888, p. 164), may be aptly quoted here:—"For many years it has been the desire of antiquaries to explore Knowth, but I regret to say the owner is unwilling to permit a search being made. I am in great hopes that when it is fully understood that the vesting of a monument does not involve an infringement of territorial rights the difficulty will be overcome, and monuments now neglected will be placed under supervision."

[264] Marshall's "Historic Scenes in Perthshire," pp. 383-84. Mr. Grant Stewart, in his "Popular Superstitions" (as quoted in the Scots Magazine, 1823, vol. 13, p. 40), states that "the workmen of the great Michael Scott were all Fairies; and it is only in that way that it could be accounted for, that some stupendous bridges in the north country were built by him in the course of a single night." With this compare the above statement as to the Earl of Menteith's workmen, and all the foregoing references to "Pechts" and "Fairies" in similar circumstances; as also the "fierce tribe of Firbolgic origin, the Gowanree," who are said to have built the earthworks of the Rath of Cruachan in a single day, working as the unwilling serfs of an apparently Gaelic lord.

[265] Dr. Graham, "Sketches of the Picturesque Scenery of Perthshire," Edinburgh, 1806, p. 19.

[266] A slip of Scott's for "Bailie Nicol Jarvie."

[267] See "Rob Roy," chap. xxviii., and Note G.

[268] This spelling is only tentative. On hearing it thus pronounced, a resident in that district corrected the pronunciation to Doo'n, or Doo'an, which may signify a quite different meaning from DÙn.

[269] One would like to regard tradition as infallible in this respect. But, unfortunately, the age of the "sheeans" is so far back, that the term may now be used to denote any "conical hill," by Gaelic-speaking persons. However, a strong and persistent local tradition would far outweigh this modern misuse of the term sithean, in its general application, if such misuse (of which the dictionaries give a hint) is really common.

[270] The Continental examples are, of course, very numerous. In Denmark alone, according to J. M. Thiele, tradition points out as chambered mounds "two hills, Mangelbierg and Gillesbierg, in the environs of Hirschholm, on HÖsterkiÖb Mark": "a hill called Wheel-hill, at Gudmandstrup, in the Lordship of Odd": "a large knoll called Steensbierg, at OurÖe, near Joegerspriis": "the high ridge on which the church stands, at Kundebye, in the Bailiewick of Holbeck"; and, in the same bailiewick, at a place between the towns of Mamp and Aagerup, "near the Strand": Gultebierg also supplies another to the list: while "between JerslÖse and SÖbierg, lies SÖbierg bank, which is the richest knoll in the land." (For similar references in this neighbourhood, see also Mr. W. G. Black's "Heligoland.") And Thorpe's "Northern Mythology" specifies many such mounds. M. Pol de Mont (in his Flemish "Volkskunde," ii. 5, pp. 89-90) points out an "Aschberg," at CasterlÉ, in the province of Antwerp, which is said to have held fifty bergmannetjes, or hill-dwarfs. (With this may fitly be compared three Eskimo "mounds" at Hopedale, Labrador, which, though they are now deserted, "more than one hundred persons of both sexes and all ages are said to have inhabited.") But every Continental "Venusberg," into which men of the taller race were tempted by the attractions of the dwarf women, and every "berg" that is affirmed to have been the residence of a "berg-fee," comes under the same denomination as the special examples already cited.

[271] There is a Rob Roy's Town in Lanarkshire, celebrated as the scene of Wallace's capture, and even if the name is no older than Harry the Minstrel (who uses it), it indicates a "Rob Roy" ante-dating Sir Walter Scott's by a couple of centuries.

[272] Scott, who gives this definition ("Lady of the Lake," Note 2 Q), says it is the literal one. This, however, is not the literal meaning of "Uruisgean." But it is enough to know that the people so named were believed to be wild, "shaggy" men.

[273] Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. Uruisg.

[274] See Note 2 H to "The Lady of the Lake." This May Mollach is well known in the legendary history of the Grants. Scott again refers to her in his Introduction to "The Monastery," where he asserts that she "condescended to mingle in ordinary sports, and even to direct the Chief how to play at draughts." With this may be compared Thorpe's statement ("Northern Mythology," I., 145) that the Scandinavian dwarfs, who were also hairy, used to "play at tables." There is also a story in the Island of Skye of a "brownie" who watched over and instructed one of the players in a game of "tables." (See Defoe's "Duncan Campbell," London, 1856, p. 106.) "Tables" seems to have been a comprehensive name for draughts, chess, and other games played on a chess-board; and these remarks recall the set of chessmen, carved out of walrus tusk, already referred to as having been found in the Hebrides in 1826, and of which eleven are in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. "Chess-playing was one of the favourite amusements of the Irish chieftains," says O'Donovan ("Book of Rights," Dublin, 1847, p. lxi), and he gives illustrations of an Irish chess-man, which he states is exactly similar, "as well in style as in material," to the Hebridean specimens just mentioned.

[275] It may be seen again in the name given in former times to a section of the Clan Mac-Ra, "Clann ic Rath Mholach" or "Hairy Mac Raas." The surname Malloch also represents the same word.

[276] Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. Mailleachan.

[277] Ibid. s.v. Uruisg.

[278] Scott says ("Letters on Demonology," London, John Murray, 1830, p. 115) that Rob Roy once gained a victory by disguising a part of his men, by means of goat-skins, as "ourisks," and so terrifying their opponents. But if that Rob Roy, or any section of his followers, presented the appearance which Scott himself portrays, or if any remnant of the ancient "Pechts" survived in that neighbourhood, it does not seem that any disguise was necessary to give them the appearance of "wild, or shaggy men."

[279] "West Highland Tales," II., 386.

[280] "West Highland Tales," II., 189-192. For further references to the fuath, or duine fuathasach, see pp. 97-101 of the same volume. It may be added that Armstrong simply defines brollachan as "a ragged person." Similarly, McAlpine states that in the West Highlands uruisg signifies "a savage, ugly-looking fellow." Both of these definitions point to the real and matter-of-fact aspect of the traditional uruisg or brollachan.

[281] Gaelic glaisean, from glas, grey. Cf. the Shetland allusion to the dwarfs as "the grey women-stealers."

[282] "West Highland Tales," Introduction, pp. liv, lv.

[283] With the above use of "rough," as also in relation to the brollachan, compare the statement in Defoe's "Duncan Campbell" (London, 1856, p. 129) that the brownie "appeared like a rough man."

[284] The ArchÆological Review, Jan. 1890, pp. 433, 434.

[285] See Vol. 13, pp. 424-6 (NugÆ Cambrica).

[286] It is to be noted that this writer renders "Gwylliaid" by "Banditti," and never refers to them as "goblins" or "fairies," though this is the usual meaning given to the word. There is no good reason for objecting to the less usual translation, except that, while it denotes one recognized characteristic of the dwarfs, after they had been cut up into small confederacies, it loses sight of other notable features of such "banditti."

[287] The difference between these people and the intangible "fairies" created by the imagination (but originating in reality) is nowhere brought out more strongly than in this passage. A hanged fairy would be quite a novelty in poetry.

[288] In her "Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy" (London, 1879, Vol. I., Letter xiv.), Mrs. Bray speaks of these "gubbins," referring to the account given by Camden as well as Fuller. Halliwell also cites "Milles' MS." As for the derivation of the word itself, it seems clearly to be connected with Welsh coblyn, English goblin and gub, and Italian gobbo—pigmy. Compare also gobban (ante, p. 134); and note the etymology quoted by Fuller (op. cit.) "that such who did 'inhabitare montes gibberosos' were called Gubbings."

[289] See Mrs. Bray's work just cited, Vol. I., Letter x.: also a reference to the goblin or "bucka" as hairy, in Mr. Whitley Stokes' "Gwreans an Bys," pp. 124, 125.

In Mr. Hunt's "Popular Romances of the West of England" (London, J. C. Hotten, 2nd edit., pp. 217, 218), there is a weird story of a wrestling-match by night, at a certain cairn near Penzance. The wrestlers were believed by the two onlookers to be supernatural beings:—"They were men of great size and strength, with savage faces, rendered more terrible by the masses of uncombed hair which hung about them, and the colours with which they had painted their cheeks." They had appeared to issue out of the rocks of the cairn. Although the term "great size," if it denotes stature, does not include these men among dwarfs, yet they are represented as Picti; and as "supernatural," hirsute cave-dwellers.

[290] "West Highland Tales," II., 64. (For a general reference to the nudity of those drudges see Ritson's "Fairies," London, 1831, p. 46.)

[291] Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," I., 244.

[292] Thorpe: op. cit. I., 252.

[293] In Edinburgh, for the firm of Messrs. Schenck and McFarlane, lithographers.

[294] There is at least one detail overlooked in this picture by the artist. And another detail, which he has introduced, has not been referred to in these pages, viz., the miner's lamp worn by the dwarfs. In Cornwall, the earliest miners are understood to have been those "little people," whose subterranean habits would undoubtedly render them early acquainted with the use of metals. And the miner's lamp may reasonably be regarded as an inheritance from the dwarf races. It is noteworthy that the typical miner's dress, in seventeenth-century England, appears to have been "canvas breeches, red waistcoats and red caps," a garb closely in agreement with some versions of the dwarf attire. (See Hone's "Ancient Mysteries," p. 259.)

[295] Introduction to "Aino Folk Tales," by Basil Hall Chamberlain, Professor of Philology at the Tokyo University. (Privately printed for the Folk-Lore Society, 1888.)

[296] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," by Miss Isabella L. Bird. London, 1880, II., p. 103.

[297] Introduction to "Aino Folk Tales," vi.-vii.

[298] Ibid., v.

[299] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 9, 107. (Also p. 75.)

[300] The writer here refers to a less pure type of Aino.

[301] See "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 9, 75-6, 106, 118, 136-7, and 143-4.

[302] For the use of this block I am indebted to Mr. John Murray, Albemarle Street.

[303] This adjective can be otherwise accounted for.

[304] One might multiply special instances without end. But it is appropriate to notice that the "Arabian Nights" tales are, in this respect, in keeping with those of the West. For example, Schaibar, the brother of the fairy Pari-Banou, is a powerful dwarf, possessing a tremendous beard and moustache (his strength, the smallness of his stature, and his beard are all vastly exaggerated, but they are all distinguishing features). And again, in the Third Voyage of Sindbad, his vessel approaches an island of which he says:—"The captain told us that this island was inhabited by hairy savages, who would come to attack us; and although they were only dwarfs, we must not attempt to make any resistance; for, as their number was inconceivable, if we should happen to kill one, they would pour upon us like locusts, and destroy us. No sooner had he said this than we saw coming towards us an innumerable multitude of hideous savages, entirely covered with red hair, and about two feet high. They threw themselves into the sea, and swam to the ship, which they soon completely encompassed. They spoke to us as they approached, but we could not understand their language. They began to climb the sides and ropes of the vessel with so much swiftness and agility, that their feet scarcely seemed to touch them, and soon reached the deck."

[305] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 143.

[306] xxvii. and xxxiii. The harpoon tip is said, in one tale, to have been "made half of iron and half of bone."

[307] Miss Bird met with some Ainos of whom she says (II., 37):—"I thought that they approached more nearly to the Eskimo type than to any other." This, of course, was exceptional; but the remark is noteworthy.

[308] March, 1885, "A Very Old Master."

[309] Fortnightly Review, September, 1882, p. 312.

[310] Opinions still more antagonistic to those of Professor Dawkins were expressed by Professor Flower, in commenting upon a paper read by Dr. John Rae at the Anthropological Institute, July 7th, 1886, wherein Dr. Rae had referred to this subject.

[311] A reprint of which is appended to Mr. Elton's "Origins" (Plate IV).

[312] Brooke's "Travels in Lapland," London, 1827, p. 3.

[313] For these references see Appendix B and the "Antiquitates AmericanÆ" (Copenhagen, 1837), conveniently condensed in W. C. Bryant and S. H. Gay's "History of the United States," Chap. III.

[314] Such as NordenskiÖld, Carstensen, Joest, &c.

[315] Ante, p. 144, note.

[316] Further statements upon this point will be found in Appendix B.

[318] This statement, made by Professor Tylor in his Introduction to the "Aino Folk-Tales," is based upon the accounts of others; for a reference to one of which (Von Siebold's) I am indebted to Mr. Tylor.

[319] Berlin, 1881.

[320] Jour. Ethnol. Soc. of London, Jan. 1871.

[321] Paris, 1888.

[322] See General Pitt-Rivers' "Excavations in Cranborne Chase," 1887. (Privately Printed.) II., 206-7.

[323] Page 99. See specially pp. 87-8 of the volume quoted (1885-86) of the Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scotland.

[324] Elton's "Origins," p. 169; quoted from Dion Cassius.

[325] Fuller, as quoted by Kingsley.

[326] Scots Magazine, 1823, Vol. 13, pp. 424-6.

[327] Page 16.

[328] This is variously spelt "Aticam," "Styticam," and "Tithicam" (Petrie's Monumenta historica Britannica); and the solutions are as various as the spellings. If by "Tithicam vallem" is denoted the valley of the River Teith, this variant appears preferable to any; and the district referred to would be the whole of the Teith or Forth basin, which at that period was probably a mixture of land and water,—a northern Bedford Level, or fen-country.

[329] Gildas' "De Excidio BritanniÆ," Stevenson's edition, London, 1838, pp. 24-25.

[330] Elton's "Origins," p. 169. The first sentence is from Herodian.

[331] This paper forms the last of "A Collection of such Papers as were communicated to the Royal Society, Referring to some Curiosities in Ireland. Dublin: Printed by and for George Grierson, at the Two Bibles in Essex-Street, M, DCC, XXVI." (The "Collection" forms Part II. of "A Natural History of Ireland," issued from the same press.)

[332] Either this describes a slab which was subsequently destroyed or carried away, or it relates to the carved slab fixed in the ground below the doorway (as portrayed by Mr. Wakeman, at p. 121, ante).

[333] In the volume already referred to as containing Llhwyd's description, and other papers.

[334] A slip for "south."

[335] The writer has evidently overlooked his previously expressed belief that the whole "mount" was artificial; or else he has assumed that the builders first raised a solid "pyramid" of stones, and then burrowed into it; which is obviously absurd.

[336] This tract was published in 1725. The "young gentleman's" illustrations have been re-produced in the present volume, in the plates facing pp. 124 and 126.

[337] Dr. Molyneux assumes throughout that such "mounts" were erected by the Danes; and this origin is very often ascribed to them by Irish and Hebridean tradition. But Lady Ferguson's observation that the "Danes" and the "Dananns" or "Tuatha De Danann," are evidently confounded in the popular memory, is worth considering here. It is clear, at any rate, that the "Danes" of the year 861 who plundered those Boyne mounds cannot have been the people who reared them.

[338] Of all these terms the "shallow tray" (or "saucer," if a new one may be added) is the most appropriate. From the plan of the Dowth mound (ante, p. 138) it will be seen that the central chamber there also has one of those large stone "trays." No satisfactory solution has yet been offered of the purposes for which these "trays" were made.

[339] Described in the Edinburgh Courant of January 6, 1886.

[340] Antiq. Amer. p. 182n.

[341] P. 43, note a.

[342] Pages 180-1. It ought to be added that the version which is given on p. 149 has svartir ("swarthy" or "black") instead of smÁir. But whichever of these versions has the correct word, the small stature of the SkrÆlings is beyond dispute.

[343] Page 162, note a. The account above referred to is given at pp. 161-2, and again at pp. 182-3.

[344] According to the version on p. 162. That of p. 182 makes both names feminine, and indicates that the boys were not sons of one mother. A footnote on p. 162 gives many variants of these names, e.g., Ægi, OvÆgi, etc., Weihilldi, Veinhildi, etc.

[345] That, at any rate, is the locality agreed upon by those who have tracked the routes of the Northmen.

[346] Op. cit., p. 43.

[347] See p. 144n., ante.