The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1891-07-18

perennial the lowlandgrowth ofsCottish
folklore and superstition.
In tracing the Gaelic mythology there
will be found two Glasses OF immortals.
One OF these consisted OF imps and de-
mons having tho power Of taking upon
themselves the body OF man or woman,
at will, and By wooirg human men or
women, and particularly In holding out
ravishing promises OF immortality, thus
leading them into fatal unions through
which the souls OF the mortals so delud-
ed were endlcssly banishcd from heav-
Gu. The second class comprised semi
inmortals and magicinns, wholly devot-
cd 70 Druidism and the Black Art.
Whether tho latter had existence or
Thcthcr they were creatures OF the im-
agiaation solely, centred behind them
come sort OF folk really existed in an
Gent Caledonia. Their wonderful skill
in the erection Of sepulchral mounds,
stone circles and menhirs, and in the
making Of metal ornaments and deli
cately-t0rined spcar-hesds, was such Us
to compel on the part OF less skillful
and more warlike people the gradual
deifcation OF the mysterious race, and
their eventual Identification with the
local phantoms and gods OF the earliest
historically known people Of Scotland.
EVOLUTION OF FAIRIES.
In the gradual evolution OF tho fair
les of Scotland, whose real origin were
in the Finnish sylyans, satyrs and fauns,
but who became more propitious to
humanity through natural moditica-
ton by the SUMMER natures of the Gel
tic people, that portion Of its demonol-
ogy providing malevolent spirits Of an
impish nature has been largely extir-
pated. The "man OF the hills" the
Identical fellow found in early Irish
falry-loro, was very wicked gnome in
deed. He was up to all manner OF
wizard harm, and made no distinction
whatever between good and bad people
in his depredations. The olden Scottish
ban-shee, like the Irish tban-shee when
first known, was a most hurtfnl and
vindictive female demon. The former
has been replaced in Ireland by q
throng OF pleasant-mannered imps,
chief among whom is that imp Of inhn-
lite humor, the leprNChaun. The ban.
shee has faded out OF Scotland entirely.
but is retained in Ireland as the tender
mother OF an endless brood OF kindly
fairies which under no circumstances
annoy any humans save those OF evil
heart and sordid nature, and who are
full of rewards to the generous, the
sacrilcial and tho good.
In Scotland all these descendants OF
the original bad man and bad woman OF
"tho hills" have within tho last two or
three centuries come under tho general
appeHation OF "The Brownies" These
are possessed OF every good and evil
characteristic, qualification and power,
ocCasicn may require in their elish re.
lations with men. They are variously
known also as "those restless folk, "
''men Of peace and "guid neibors."
The name "falry" and "elf," though
certainly sweet in sound, is extremely
distasteful to the Scottish "woe folk"
as we have it on the authority Of q
rhyme one OF their own number Is said
to have provided for settling the mat
ter:
Gin 70 ca me imp or eli
1rede ye look weel to yourself;
Gin ye ca me fairy,
I'll work ye muckle targle (trO
Gin guild neIbor ye ca me,
Then guild neihOr Twill be;
But gin We ca me SeeliG WIGHT (merryman),
I'll be yOnr ireend bath day and nieht
But brownies" they remain, despite
these express commands. This term is
generic and covers all sprites and fairy
powers OF good or evil. Still they seem
in the popular mind tocomprise several
divisions. There is certainly an inter-
mediate class OF spirits residing in the
air to whose agency, floods storms and
tempests are Gscribed by the Scottish
lowly, though they possess no distinct
i've title. Then there are mermaids,
the kelpies OF tho South, and the water
bulls and horses of the North, OF the
lochs and streams, as stoutly believed
by the peasantry who now live beside
them as they were centuries ago. And
the brownies, as a body, seem to be di-
vided into those whose engagements
are of general nature, and those whose
duties are strictly confined to affairs OF
the household.
Those nameless ellis and spirits OF the
air which control the vagerics of the
Scottish weather have much to attend to
and account for. They are not only
constantly employed in dispensing fogs,
mists and tempests, but unless their
wishes have been invoked and direc-
tions followed, all structures, especially
churches and, dwellings, are liable to
obstruction. 1t was not so very long
ago that the sites Of many historic
structures in Scotland had their origin
in this sort of interference. Work
upon the ancient church OF Old Deer,
in AberdeGnshire, was constantly inter
ferred with by the RESTLESS folk" until
its site was changed from the hill OF
Bissau to Taptillery, at the express
command Of "the Spirit OF the River
there. Every time was begun on the
walls Of Mauldslie Castle in Lanark-
shire, what was completed by day was
RACED by the fairies ut night, until
voice from the debris repeating,
mig Il on Maul's Lee
WIS needed, when the fairies themselves
aided in tho completion OF the castle, A
precisely similar action OF the fairies &C.
counts for the building OF tho castle Of
Melgund, in Forfdrshire, on low ground,
verbally in bog, rather than on a
neighboring hill. The castle OF Cowth-
ally, Lanarkshire, remains where it
stands to-day, because the fairies, DEFY
ing the first Somerville, who had taken
1t by storm, in his efforts to destroy the
old castle and build. more imposing
ono on new site, actually dung
down at nichtn every stone his work
men laid during the day, until the
ed the oastle on lite original foundations