The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-30
SCIENCE AND THE FAIRIES:
WE'RE REALLY PEOPLE or row
CIVILIZATION, PROF. RHfS SAYS.

nv W.T.
short. stumpy. swarthy Race Who Lived I'm
foreground and Hunted aud fished WhN
strangers Never Heard Them FAX Were
Unfortunately Fond Of Music and Dancing
LONDON. Sept. 20 -Among tho interesting
papers read az the meeting Of the Bnti'h Asso'
citation was one by Prof, John Rhys, principa
Of Jesus College, oxford. on the early ethnolorN
uf the British isles. Prof Rhys approached
his subject along what he called the precari'
oIS paths OF folklore and philology In putting
together his recent vOlum on Welsh olklore ne
tried to cla>Sir, aud analy2e the stories which
hHve been current in Wales about the fairies.
The mass Of fairy folklore ha- various origins
with the fairies have been more or less inseI ar
ably COMPOUNDED certain divinities or demons,
and especially certain kinds OF beings aSso-
cinted with the rivers and lakes Of the country
These, he says. are creations Introduced from
the workshop OF the Imagination. The dead
ancestor also contributes a share to the sum
total of our notions about the Little People.
But in far the greater number Of eases Prof.
Rhy- thinks that We seem TO have something
! historical. or, az any rate, something which may
be contemplated ~ historical.
The KEY to he fairy idea. said the Professor,
is that there was once a real race OF people To
whom all kinds Of attributes. possible and i'm
possible, have been given in the course Of UNI
counted centuries Of story telling by races en-
dowed with a lively imagination.
Fairy women are pretty generally repre-
scented as I fascinating to the last degree and gor-
geously dressed that is how they appear through
the glamour In which they move and have their
being on the other hand, not only are some
tribes OF some fairies described a. ugly. but
fairy children when left As changelings are In
A.t.I Lt.t4..J a.. 80, ,1-I.s, tFr,lfnA. ~ "a Zul-
low complexion and mostly deformrd about the
feet and legs. there We have the real fairy with
the glamour taken on and a certain amount Of
depreciatory eN aggeration put on.
Now when one approaches the fairy question
In this kind Of way, one Is forced 10 conclude
that the fairies, as a real people, consisted OF
a short, stumpy, Swarthy race, which made its
habitatioEs underground or otherwise cum
ningly concealed They were hunters. probably.
and fishermen, at any rate they we're not tillers
of the ground or eaters of bread. Most likely
they had some of the domestic animals and
lived mainly on milk and the produce Of the
chase together with what they got by stealing
They seem to have practised the art Of spinning,
though they do not ape ear TO have thought
much Of clothing They had no tools or I'M
plements made Of metal They appear to have
had a language Of their own. which would imply
"A time when they understood no other and
explain why. when they came TO a town TO do
their marketing, they laid down tho exact money
without uttering "A syllable To anybody by way
Of bargaining for their purchases. They counted
by fves and only dealt in the simplest OF num-
ber~ They we're inordinately fond Of music
and dancing They had a marvellously quick
sense Of hearing, and they were
thieves. but their thievery was not systematic
ally resented. as their visits we're held to bring
luck and prosperity.
-More powerful races generally feared them
az formidable maeicians who knew the future
and could cause or cure disease as they pleased
The fairies took pains 10 conceal their names
no less than their abodeS, and when the name
happened TO be discovered by strangers the
bearer Of II usually lost heart and considered
himself beaten. Their family relations were
Of the lowest order, they not only r%eckoned no
father, but II may be that like certain Australian
savages recently described by Spencer and
Gillen, they had no notion Of paternity at all.
IN reasoning backward from the stories about
the Little People to a race in some respects on
a level with Australian savages, We come prob
ably in contact with ono Of the very earliest
populations Of these islands. With what race
outside Wales may one compare or Identify the
ancient stock caricatured in welsh fairy tales?
In ireland and the Highlands Of Scotland
the fairies derive their more usual appellltiOns
from a word sd or sith, which may perhaps
be akin to the Latin sedes and have meant a
seat, settlement. or station. but. whatever
its exact meaning may have originally been
il came 10 he applied to the hillocks or mounds
within which the Little People made their
abodes. The Mound Folk I should regard "a
isolated and wretChed remnants Of a widely
spread race possessing no political Significance
Whatsoever. But, with the inconsistency char
acteri-tic of everything connected with the
fairies. one has, on the other hand, TO admit
that this strange people seems 10 have eXer-
cised on the Celts probably on other races
as well-a sort Of permanent spell Of mvs-
teriousness and awe stretching 10 the verge Of
alteration. Lastly the Celt's faculty Of ex-
aggeratiOn, combined with his incapacity
10 comprehend the weird and uncanny popu-
lation Of the mounds and caves Of his country,
has enabled him, In one way or another. Ia
bequeath to the great literatures OF Western
Europe a motley train Of dwarfs and little
people, a whole world Of wizardry, and a vast
wealth OF UtOplanism. II YOU subtracted
from English literature, for example. all that
has been contributed TO its vast stores from
this native source. you would find that you left
a wide and unwelcome void.
But the question must present itself sooner
of later, with what race outside these islands
we are to compare or identify our mound
jewellers. | am not prepared TO answer. and !
am disposed TO ask our psychologists what they
think. In the meantime, however, | may say
that there are several considerations which
impel me TO think Of the Iapps Of The north 81
Europe"