New-York tribune., 1922-04-30

In this ancient imprecation:
eve accept their protection, and we rs-
fuse their removal; their backs TO us, their
faces from us, through the death and passion
Of our Saviour, Jesus Christ"
The Banshee, long associated with woa
and death. is described IS tragic figure that
walls and skeens" for pcople Of the old Celtic
race. Too frequently she ia claimed By a
family that could not possibly own Banshes,
Mr.. Colum says, as she only follows descend
ants Of the high Miesian ,acs. The story
goes that she draws q comb through her hair
as she walls.
Tho Leprechaun Is an artisan Of the fairies.
He Is busy little fellow, stunted and mis-
shapen, who is supposed 70 spend all his time
making shoes. The sound Of his hammerins
can be heard near castle and fort, it is said
Wandering along the roads in Ireland ons
day Mr.. Colum encountered g blind tramp
and put tha question to hims what are the
faries7"
"rhe fairies7" said the old man, n Win
tell you what the fairies ara:
"God moved from His seat, and when Hs
turned round Lucifer was In It. Then hall
was made In a minute God moved HIS hand
and swept away thousands Of angels, and IL
was In His mind to sweep away thousands
more.
40, God Almighty, stop!" the angel Gabrss1
cried. Heaven Will be swept clean.'
"T1l stop said God. Them that sre In
heaven, let them remain In heaven, and them
that between heaven and hell let then,
remain in the air. And these are the
fair1es!"
This, at any rate, Is the legend they tell
in Ireland Of the coming Of the fairies.
They are supposed to dwell in fort or
"rath," generally crowned by some old trees.
1t is believed that these forts were built by
the Danes, but Mr.. Colum Is Of the opinion
that "Danes" IN this connection mean the DE
Danaan," the gods Of the Irish Cells Their
home is in palaces, where they work and play.
Celtic authorities claim that they are an or
ganized people, often called "the army" and
that their life corresponds TO human life tn
all particulars Whirls Of dust are caused
by the fairy marching army.
In 1907 in the north Of ireland stones were
supposed to be flying around a farmers
house. The neighbors said that the fairies
caused the phenomenon, as the man had
swept his chimney with g bough OF holly,
and the holly Is "a gentle tree" dear to the
fairies.
In Ireland and the West Highlands OF Scot
land neolithic arrowheads and flint chips are
still fairy weapons. They are dipped in water
which is given to ailing cattle and human
beings sovereign remedy for disease. In
Glencoe is hill where fairy music, voca,
and instrumental, is alleged to be heard in
still weather. In the highlands Of Scotland
more interest is taken in second sight than
in fairies, while in ireland the reverse is the
case.
There Is a theory that the fairies survive In
legend from prehistoric memories Of pign1y
people dwelling in the subterranean earth
houses, but historians claim that the contents
Of these do not indicate an age prior to the
close Of the Roman occupation Of Britain.
nor pigmy bones common in neolithtc
sepuchres.
The belief in a species Of feminine fairfes.
deadly to their human lovers, runs through
the folklore Of most countries. The Greek
sirens of Homer are form of these deadly
fairies, just the Nereids breads and
naiads are fairies Of wells, mountains and
the sea. The fairies who attend the births OF
children and bestow gifts on them are akin
to the human "spae women or soothsayers of
Scotland, who claim they get omens Of the
chlld's future from various signs.
The revcls Of the fairies are supposed to be
conducted within the fairy ring" an open
patch of grass where the moonlight can play.
Sir Arthur's fairies are not true TO type by
letting themselves be photographed in broad
daylight Traditional fairies are night owls
Midnight must have struck before they enter
the charmed ring!
George Russell, the Irish poet who writes
under the initials "a. e. not only believes
In fairies, but declares he has seen them
"On that many colored earth which is su-
peror TO this we know, yet related to US az
soul to body, live divine folk, and / wish
to convey SO far as words may how some ap-
partitions of that ancient beauty came to me
in wood or on hillside or bv +Ia sbores oF