Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1880-08-16
WELSH FAIRY LORE.
The Ways Of the Little People
Who Haunt the Wales and
Woodlands.

Z
obstinate as ever, and in Scotland and
Ireland the majority OF old superstitions
are nowadays held in honor and respect.
But il is perhaps in Wales, the cradle oil
an much British fairy lore, the land OF
mystery and wonderment until quite re-
cent wears, that the fairies and spirits
/ hold now their chief court. MIR. Writ
! skies. the United States consul Tor
/ Wales at Cardiff, has recently publish
ed a delightful volume on British COB
\ Inns. showi ing that the traditions oil, the
mythic Arthur and OF Merlin-them-
selves the prototypes OF the historic
| king and enchanter OF whom the "M0rte
I D'Arthur tells-are still IN vigorous lie.
I Elves vet haunt the wales and wood
/ lands; goblin dwarfs work in the mines,
and household fairies visit the clean
Kent hearths as of old. In the green
meadows. AZ the bottom OF the lakes and
/ streams live little race who sometimes
visit our earth, and on the mountain
I IONS the gnomes OF the peak are still to
! be met. As fairies have always been,
the Cymric sprites are capricious IN
mood. but, on the whole, they are the
friends oi man, and scores OF stories hofd
their ground from personal remem.
braDce OF the individuals benefited, oil
the presents in enchanted stalls and
caskets, or in current coin and bread
and cheese, made by the modern
"Ellyllon.". The fairies themselves eat
only toadstools and FAIRY butter, out
for mortals who visit them they provide
feasts such as rival the entertainments
OF eastern legends. In other ways, also,
they treat their bold visitors well; for,
provided the stranger obeys their dlrec-
lions on certain points, and, above all
things, avoids curiosity, he is made free
OF the stables and gardens, and all the
otherpleasures oft palaces OF enchant-
ment which spring up at the fairies bid
ding. for the little folk, when mortals
are with them, ride and dance and en-
iov themselves much as men and wo-
men do. OF children the Ellyllon, are
specially fond; and mothers there I'VE
who have successfully wrestled with the
elves when trying TO steal their infants,
and yrOyn-up-people are still to be
found who in their childhood stopped
ON their way to school to play with the
dwaris on the hillside. Grateful ior
Kindness shown, and vindicat've Tor ln-
suits offered, nearly all the little spirit
folk alike may he made friends or toes,
inst as mortais choose to have them, and
the exception is an eli given up wholly
To mischief and wrong lOin:. Oi such,
however, there are. unfortunately, still
a few: and the Welsh peasant, there
iore has 10 take to-day all the old pre-
can,ions against changeling children
and misleading anterns, Tor want OF
which 50 MANY a worthy
. TaHv has come 10 sad grief
i'm The past. On the other hand, fairies
are not of cunning sort, and can be
easily circumvented or Imposed upon;
Sometimes, indeed, they are caught anu
kept rs pets. the general good temper
of the fairies, and the facility win
which their small mischieis may be
connteracted, have thus, in way, ac-
cus,omei the Welsh mind to think leni-
emily of fairies existence, while the
very convenient forms IN which fuck
and his comrades sometimes do their
spiriting make them good excuse iOr
occasional lapses from scbrlety anu DE
corum. Fathers OF families returning
home from market are now and then
SADLY overcome by spirits on the way,
and are found in the early morning ~
I ing in the road all splashed with mud'
/ hatless, and with clothes torn, anu,
/ when questioned as to the cause, are so
I incoherent that ii is evident 10 everyone
/ that the fairies have has. a hand In the
matter. Thus, too, when servants are
| LONGER on their errands than they
! should be, when pretty girls stay out too
/ latp ON summer evenings, and money or
other property comes unaccountaoiy
b into peoples possession, q story oil ewes
or COLLINS pat for the purpose Is ways
ready, and presidents Tor such accidents
are at once charitably recalled TO mem
ory. The Welsh fairies, therefore, have
certain claims on Tally which, TO do him
credit, he never attempts even at this
day to repudiate.
one moral, however, is TO be drawn
from all the thousand delightful stories
o: elm folk, and that Is that, good or
bad, il is as well on the whole, to have
no more to do with the fairies than can
possibly be helped. They may give a
iayorite for time all the luck that he
can wish for, but there is invariably
some tritling condition attached To his
prosperity which, being violated, brings
dreadful penalties in Its tram. Ii Is
well, therefore, TO keep clear OF goblin
people of all kinds, and above all TO es-
chew the company of witches. Vt Dun
NOW, the other day, two gentle rustics,
finding themselves disturbed by shad-
ows, and the cattle afflicted with all
ments, were gravely proceeding TO
throw a neighbOr into pond 10 see II
she was witch. Ii she tioated she
was, and il she drowned she was not.
The ordeal is simple enough, but the
woman's husband objected, and very
fortunately, too, for the rustics concern
ed; rs il happened, the witch" in ques-
ton was unable to swim, and though
her innocence would thus have been in
controvertiblv established by her death,
the result to her murderers would have
been awkward. Last week also 4 miner
found himself in court on a charge oil
having fastened the death OF a client,
and he was lucky TO escape with only
ACCOMPLISHMENT, for, whatever share IN
the event his crystal and potion may
have had. the deceased certainly left
this world convinced that she had been
"bewitched." In both instances, there
fore. serious trouble ensued from med
ding with the black art, and, however
devoutly the rural population may be-
Iicvc in il, on the whole, il does not
coincide with modern sentiment to act
up one belief.
Tx the use of FELLOWS Compound
Syrup of Hyphosphites the blood Is
speedily vitalised and purified, and so
made capable of producing a sound
mind and sound body.