The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1881-05-21
The Jsa1Iet In Fairies.

1t Is significant fucL that the belief in
fairies is most rife in the most thoroughly
Celtic portions of our lslands-Walcs,
Devon and Cornwall, Derbyshire, tho
Highlands Of Scotland, and Ireland. These
are also the parts where the Euskarian or
lbeIian population has most largely sur
vlvcd, and it Is in these districts that the
fairies most retain their primitive cliarac.
teristic as mischievous people, injurlnG
cattle and causing sickness among chill.
dren. Here, too, the use Of fairy charms
to countcract such mischief, the boarding
of olfin shots and thunderbolts, and the
employment of cuphemistc or conciliatory
language about tho "good people," is gen
cral. In TeutoDic England, on the other
hand, the fairies have dwindled into mere
pretty poetic fancies cnshrincd in children g
tales, arc made beautiful by the genius of
Shakespeare; their mischief has become
mere playful trickincss. Yet even in Teu-
tonic England, especially in early times,
many traces Of fairy worship and propltia-
ton still fingered on. in which it is difficult
to disentanglc the element of anccs' or
worship from tho element of propitlatory
sacrifices to hostile ghosts. There was au
early English family of Filings. or desccn-
dants of the elves, and they have left their
traces at Alphington in Devon, Arlington
in Gloucester, Somerset, and Devon, and
Alvlngham in Lincoln. But all these
counties arc noticeable for the large pro-
portion of Euskarian blood which they still
fctaln, aud 81 these SONS OF the elves may
really be Angliciscd clans Of primitive cltish
descent. The word ,rIf aud elf occurs con-
stantly in Anglo-Saxon names, and it may
have reference, either to the ancestral
spirits or to the notion that the fairies
must be propitiatcd by being invited to the
birth Of a child. Thus we have the name
-1ilfgifu CASUALLY modcrnizcd into Elglva),
meaning ''thc gift of the elves" just as
Godgifu (simiarly tortured into Godiva)
means ''lhH gift of God" Alfred, origin
ally HIlf-rcd, means "the rcdc Tor cOun-
soD of the elves" .Elfric Is clf-riclI; and
4Elfstan, very significant name, is the
elfstonc. IElgar, HGlthcah, (St. Hilphcgo,)
-Elfhcrc, IElfmtpr, 4Eltnoth, -'Eifwcard,
and -Elfwirc are formed in the same man
ner; the last three mean respectively, elf
victory, elf protection, and friend of the
elvcs-all OF them names pregnant with
meaning. We sec their full significance
when we rut them side by side with other
names compounded with stan, a stone,
such as .Ethclslan, noble stone; Wulfstan,
wolf stone; Dunstan, Ealhstnn, and Frithe-
stan. All show the long survival of tho an
cicnl elf and stone worship, whose relics
are to be found in our midst to the present
day. In the Isle Of Skye, monoliths exist
in almost every parish, and libations of
milk are still poured out upon them, doubt
less to prevent the drying up Of the cows
uddcr; and in ireland, TO very late
period, the fairies were formally invited on
the occasion of BIRTH, lest they might in
jnrc the child through spite at the neglect
shown TO their dignity by not informing
them Of the event. On the other hauIl il
is worth notice that mention is made in
Anglo-SaXon works of hostile spirits which
harm men and beasts, though, of course,
not under the hcuthcn name OF elves:
''Thc neat they sling rs it wcnds through
the field; the kline they destroy; the horse
they bow, they hcw him with horns.".
And we have Ill Anglo-SaXon spell which
directs that, if wltchcratt has spoiled IL
farm, the farmer should build al altar, lay
on it milk from each COW and leaf from
each herb, sprinkle the whole with holy
water, and pronounce Christian form of
prayer. Here, surely, We may see Chris
tianity used as defense against the power
of the Gives