WELSH FAIRY-TALES

AND

OTHER STORIES. 

COLLECTED AND EDITED BY P. H. EMERSON. 

TO

LEONARD, SYBIL, GLADYS, AND ZOE. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE. 

These tales were collected by me whilst living in Anglesea duringthe winter 1891-2. 

With the exception of the French story, they were told me and I tookthem down at the time. 

Particulars respecting the narratives will be found in the Notes. 

In most cases I have done but little "editing", preferring to givethe stories as told. 

The old book referred to in the Notes I bought from a countrybookseller, who knew neither its author, title, or date, but I havesince been informed the book is Williams' _Observations on theSnowdon Mountains_, published in 1802, a book well known tostudents of Celtic literature. 

P. H. E. 

CLARINGBOLD, BROADSTAIRS. _April 1894_. 

CONTENTS. 

THE FAIRIES OF CARAGONAN WelshTHE CRAIG-Y-DON BLACKSMITH WelshOLD GWILYM WelshTHE BABY-FARMER WelshTHE OLD MAN AND THE FAIRIES WelshTOMMY PRITCHARD WelshKADDY'S LUCK WelshTHE STORY OF GELERT WelshORIGIN OF THE WELSH WelshTHE CROWS WelshROBERTS AND THE FAIRIES WelshTHE FAIRY OF THE DELL WelshELLEN'S LUCK WelshTHE FAIRIES' MINT WelshTHE PELLINGS WelshTHE LONG-LIVED ANCESTORS WelshTHE GIANTESS'S APRON-FULL WelshA FABLE WelshTHE STORY OF THE PIG-TROUGH IrishBILLY DUFFY AND THE DEVIL IrishJOHN O' GROATS ScotchEVA'S LUCK JerseyTHE FISHERMEN OF SHETLAND ShetlandTHE PASTOR'S NURSE FrenchNOTES

THE FAIRIES OF CARAGONAN. 

Once upon a time a lot of fairies lived in Mona. 

One day the queen fairy's daughter, who was now fifteen years ofage, told her mother she wished to go out and see the world. 

The queen consented, allowing her to go for a day, and to changefrom a fairy to a bird, or from a bird to a fairy, as she wished. 

When she returned one night she said:

"I've been to a gentleman's house, and as I stood listening, I heardthe gentleman was witched: he was very ill, and crying out withpain. "

"Oh, I must look into that, " said the queen. 

So the next day she went through her process and found that he wasbewitched by an old witch. So the following day she set out with sixother fairies, and when they came to the gentleman's house she foundhe was very ill. 

Going into the room, bearing a small blue pot they had brought withthem, the queen asked him:

"Would you like to be cured?"

"Oh, bless you; yes, indeed. "

Whereupon the queen put the little blue pot of perfume on the centreof the table, and lit it, when the room was instantly filled withthe most delicious odour. 

Whilst the perfume was burning, the six fairies formed in linebehind her, and she leading, they walked round the table threetimes, chanting in chorus:

 "Round and round three times three, We have come to cure thee. "

At the end of the third round she touched the burning perfume withher wand, and then touched the gentleman on the head, saying:

"Be thou made whole. "

No sooner had she said the words than he jumped up hale and hearty, and said:

"Oh, dear queen, what shall I do for you? I'll do anything youwish. "

"Money I do not wish for, " said the queen, "but there's a littleplot of ground on the sea-cliff I want you to lend me, for I wish tomake a ring there, and the grass will die when I make the ring. Then I want you to build three walls round the ring, but leave thesea-side open, so that we may be able to come and go easily. "

"With the greatest of pleasure, " said the gentleman; and he builtthe three stone walls at once, at the spot indicated. 

II. 

Near the gentleman lived the old witch, and she had the power ofturning at will into a hare. The gentleman was a great hare hunter, but the hounds could never catch this hare; it always disappeared ina mill, running between the wings and jumping in at an open window, though they stationed two men and a dog at the spot, when itimmediately turned into the old witch. And the old miller neversuspected, for the old woman used to take him a peck of corn togrind a few days before any hunt, telling him she would call for iton the afternoon of the day of the hunt. So that when she arrivedshe was expected. 

One day she had been taunting the gentleman as he returned from ahunt, that he could never catch the hare, and he struck her with hiswhip, saying "Get away, you witchcraft!"

Whereupon she witched him, and he fell ill, and was cured as we haveseen. 

When he got well he watched the old witch, and saw she often visitedthe house of an old miser who lived near by with his beautifulniece. Now all the people in the village touched their hats mostrespectfully to this old miser, for they knew he had dealings withthe witch, and they were as much afraid of him as of her; buteveryone loved the miser's kind and beautiful niece. 

III. 

When the fairies got home the queen told her daughter:

"I have no power over the old witch for twelve months from to-day, and then I have no power over her life. She must lose that by thearm of a man. "

So the next day the daughter was sent out again to see whether shecould find a person suited to that purpose. 

In the village lived a small crofter, who was afraid of nothing; hewas the boldest man thereabouts; and one day he passed the miserwithout saluting him. The old fellow went off at once and told thewitch. 

"Oh, I'll settle his cows to-night!" said she, and they were takensick, and gave no milk that night. 

The fairy's daughter arrived at his croft-yard after the cows weretaken ill, and she heard him say to his son, a bright lad:

"It must be the old witch!"

When she heard this, she sent him to the queen. 

So next day the fairy queen took six fairies and went to the croft, taking her blue pot of perfume. When she got there she asked thecrofter if he would like his cows cured?

"God bless you, yes!" he said. 

The queen made him bring a round table into the yard, whereon sheplaced the blue pot of perfume, and having lit it, as before, theyformed in line and walked round thrice, chanting the words:

 "Round and round three times three, We have come to cure thee. "

Then she dipped the end of her wand into the perfume, and touchedthe cows on the forehead, saying to each one:

"Be thou whole. "

Whereupon they jumped up cured. 

The little farmer was overjoyed, and cried:

"Oh, what can I do for you? What can I do for you?"

"Money I care not for, " said the queen, "all I want is your son toavenge you and me. "

The lad jumped up and said:

"What I can do I'll do it for you, my lady fairy. "

She told him to be at the walled plot the following day at noon, andleft. 

IV. 

The next day at noon, the queen and her daughter and three hundredother fairies came up the cliff to the green grass plot, and theycarried a pole, and a tape, and a mirror. When they reached the plotthey planted the pole in the ground, and hung the mirror on thepole. The queen took the tape, which measured ten yards and wasfastened to the top of the pole, and walked round in a circle, andwherever she set her feet the grass withered and died. Then thefairies followed up behind the queen, and each fairy carried aharebell in her left-hand, and a little blue cup of burning perfumein her right. When they had formed up the queen called the lad toher side, and told him to walk by her throughout. They then startedoff, all singing in chorus:

 "Round and round three times three, Tell me what you see. "

When they finished the first round, the queen and lad stopped beforethe mirror, and she asked the lad what he saw?

 "I see, I see, the mirror tells me, It is the witch that I see, "

said the lad. So they marched round again, singing the same words asbefore, and when they stopped a second time before the mirror thequeen again asked him what he saw?

 "I see, I see, the mirror tells me, It is a hare that I see, "

said the lad. 

A third time the ceremony and question were repeated. 

 "I see, I see, the mirror tells me, The hares run up the hill to the mill. "

"Now", said the queen, "there is to be a hare-hunting this day week;be at the mill at noon, and I will meet you there. "

And then the fairies, pole, mirror, and all, vanished and only theempty ring on the green was left. 

V. 

Upon the appointed day the lad went to his tryst, and at noon theFairy Queen appeared, and gave him a sling, and a smooth pebble fromthe beach, saying:

"I have blessed your arms, and I have blessed the sling and thestone. 

 "Now as the clock strikes three, Go up the hill near the mill, And in the ring stand still Till you hear the click of the mill. Then with thy arm, with power and might, You shall strike and smite The devil of a witch called Jezabel light, And you shall see an awful sight. "

The lad did as he was bidden, and presently he heard the huntsman'shorn and the hue and cry, and saw the hare running down the oppositehill-side, where the hounds seemed to gain on her, but as shebreasted the hill on which he stood she gained on them. As she cametowards the mill he threw his stone, and it lodged in her skull, andwhen he ran up he found he had killed the old witch. As the huntsmencame up they crowded round him, and praised him; and then theyfastened the witch's body to a horse by ropes, and dragged her tothe bottom of the valley, where they buried her in a ditch. Thatnight, when the miser heard of her death, he dropped down dead onthe spot. 

As the lad was going home the queen appeared to him, and told him tobe at the ring the following day at noon. 

VI. 

Next day all the fairies came with the pole and mirror, eachcarrying a harebell in her left-hand, and a blue cup of burningperfume in her right, and they formed up as before, the lad walkingbeside the queen. They marched round and repeated the old words, when the queen stopped before the mirror, and said:

"What do you see?"

 "I see, I see, the mirror tells me, It is an old plate-cupboard that I see. "

A second time they went round, and the question, was repeated. 

 "I see, I see, the mirror tells me, The back is turned to me. "

A third time was the ceremony fulfilled, and the lad answered

 "I see, I see, the mirror tells me, A spring-door is open to me. "

"Buy that plate-cupboard at the miser's sale, " said the queen, andshe and her companions disappeared as before. 

VII. 

Upon the day of the sale all the things were brought out in theroad, and the plate-cupboard was put up, the lad recognising it andbidding up for it till it was sold to him. When he had paid for ithe took it home in a cart, and when he got in and examined it, hefound the secret drawer behind was full of gold. The following weekthe house and land, thirty acres, was put up for sale, and the ladbought both, and married the miser's niece, and they lived happilytill they died. 

THE CRAIG-Y-DON BLACKSMITH. 

Once upon a time an old blacksmith lived in an old forge atCraig-y-don, and he used to drink a great deal too much beer. 

One night he was coming home from an alehouse very tipsy, and as hegot near a small stream a lot of little men suddenly sprang up fromthe rocks, and one of them, who seemed to be older than the rest, came up to him, and said, "If you don't alter your ways of living you'll die soon; but if youbehave better and become a better man you'll find it will be to yourbenefit, " and they all disappeared as quickly as they had come. 

The old blacksmith thought a good deal about what the fairies hadtold him, and he left off drinking, and became a sober, steady man. 

One day, a few months after meeting the little people, a strange manbrought a horse to be shod. Nobody knew either the horse or the man. 

The old blacksmith tied the horse to a hole in the lip of a cauldron(used for the purpose of cooling his hot iron) that he had built insome masonry. 

When he had tied the horse up he went to shoe the off hind-leg, butdirectly he touched the horse the spirited animal started back witha bound, and dragged the cauldron from the masonry, and then itbroke the halter and ran away out of the forge, and was never seenagain: neither the horse nor its master. 

When the old blacksmith came to pull down the masonry to rebuild it, he found three brass kettles full of money. 

OLD GWILYM. 

Old Gwilym Evans started off one fine morning to walk across theEagle Hills to a distant town, bent upon buying some cheese. On hisway, in a lonely part of the hills, he found a golden guinea, whichhe quickly put into his pocket. 

When he got to the town, instead of buying his provisions, he wentinto an alehouse, and sat drinking and singing with some sweet-voiced quarrymen until dark, when he thought it was time to go home. Whilst he was drinking, an old woman with a basket came in, and satbeside him, but she left before him. After the parting glass he gotup and reeled through the town, quite forgetting to buy his cheese;and as he got amongst the hills they seemed to dance up and downbefore him, and he seemed to be walking on air. When he got near thelonely spot where he had found the money he heard some sweet music, and a number of fairies crossed his path and began dancing all roundhim, and then as he looked up he saw some brightly-lighted housesbefore him on the hill; and he scratched his head, for he neverremembered having seen houses thereabouts before. And as he wasthinking, and watching the fairies, one came and begged him to comeinto the house and sit down. 

So he followed her in, and found the house was all gold inside it, and brightly lighted, and the fairies were dancing and singing, andthey brought him anything he wanted for supper, and then they puthim to bed. 

Gwilym slept heavily, and when he awoke turned round, for he feltvery cold, and his body seemed covered with prickles; so he sat upand rubbed his eyes, and found that he was quite naked and lying ina bunch of gorse. 

When he found himself in this plight he hurried home, and told hiswife, and she was very angry with him for spending all the money andbringing no cheese home, and then he told her his adventures. 

"Oh, you bad man!" she said, "the fairies gave you money and youspent it wrongly, so they were sure to take their revenge. "

THE BABY-FARMER. 

Old Kaddy was a baby-farmer, and one day she went to the woods togather sticks for her fire, and whilst she was gathering the sticksshe found a piece of gold, and took it home; but she never toldanyone she had found the money, for she always pretended to be verypoor. 

But though she was so poor, she used to dress two of her children infine clothes; but the others, whom she did not like, she kept in thefilthiest rags. 

One day a man knocked at her door, and asked to see the children. 

He sat down in her little room, and she went and brought theragged little boy and girl, saying she was very poor, and couldn'tafford to dress them better; for she had been careful to hide thewell-dressed little boy and girl in a cockloft. 

After the stranger had gone she went to the cockloft to look for herwell-dressed favourites, but they had disappeared, and they werenever seen afterwards, for they were turned into fairies. 

THE OLD MAN AND THE FAIRIES. 

Many years ago the Welsh mountains were full of fairies. People usedto go by moonlight to see them dancing, for they knew where theywould dance by seeing green rings in the grass. 

There was an old man living in those days who used to frequent thefairs that were held across the mountains. One day he was crossingthe mountains to a fair, and when he got to a lonely valley he satdown, for he was tired, and he dropped off to sleep, and his bagfell down by his side. When he was sound asleep the fairies came andcarried him off, bag and all, and took him under the earth, and whenhe awoke he found himself in a great palace of gold, full of fairiesdancing and singing. And they took him and showed him everything, the splendid gold room and gardens, and they kept dancing round himuntil he fell asleep. 

When he was asleep they carried him back to the same spot where theyhad found him, and when he awoke he thought he had been dreaming, sohe looked for his bag, and got hold of it, but he could hardly liftit. When he opened it he found it was nearly filled with gold. 

He managed to pick it up, and turning round, he went home. 

When he got home, his wife Kaddy said: "What's to do, why haven'tyou been to the fair?" "I've got something here, " he said, andshowed his wife the gold. 

"Why, where did you get that?"

But he wouldn't tell her. Since she was curious, like all women, shekept worrying him all night--for he'd put the money in a box underthe bed--so he told her about the fairies. 

Next morning, when he awoke, he thought he'd go to the fair and buya lot of things, and he went to the box to get some of the gold, butfound it full of cockle-shells. 

TOMMY PRITCHARD. 

Tommy Pritchard was going to school one day, and on his way hethought he heard somebody singing on the other side of a stone wallby the road, so he climbed up and looked over, and there underneatha stone he saw a sixpence, so he took it. 

Every morning after that, when he went to school, he used to look inthe same place, and he always found a sixpence. 

His father noticed he was always spending money in the sweet-shop, so he began to think Tommy was stealing from somebody, and one dayhe asked him where he got the money. Tommy wouldn't tell at first, but his father threatened to beat him, so he told him where he gothis sixpences. 

Next morning he went to look in the same place for his sixpence, andhe found nothing but a cockle-shell. And he never saw anything but acockle-shell there afterwards. 

KADDY'S LUCK. 

There was a tall young woman whom the fairies used to visit, comingthrough the keyhole at night. She could hear them dancing andsinging in her room, but in the morning they used to go the way theyhad come, only they always left her some money. 

When she got married she chose a tall husband like herself, and theyhad a fine big child. 

One night they went to a fair, and they got to one side to hear thefairies; for some people could tell when the fairies were coming, for they made a noise like the wind. Whilst they were waiting shetold her husband how the fairies used to leave her money at night. 

When they got home they found their baby all right, and went to bed. But next morning the young mother found her child had been changedin the night, and there was a very little baby in the cradle. Andthe child never grew big, for the fairies had changed her child forspite. 

THE STORY OF GELERT. 

(AS CURRENT IN ANGLESEA)

It was somewhere about 1200, Prince Llewellyn had a castle at Aber, just abreast of us here; indeed, parts of the towers remain to thisday. His consort was the Princess Joan; she was King John'sdaughter. Her coffin remains with us to this day. Llewellyn was agreat hunter of wolves and foxes, for the hills of Carnarvonshirewere infested with wolves in those days, after the young lambs. 

Now the prince had several hunting-houses--sorts of farm houses, oneof them was at the place now called Beth-Gelert, for the wolves werevery thick there at this time. Now the prince used to travel fromfarm-house to farm-house with his family and friends, when going onthese hunting parties. 

One season they went hunting from Aber, and stopped at the housewhere Beth-Gelert is now--it's about fourteen miles away. The princehad all his hounds with him, but his favourite was Gelert, a houndwho had never let off a wolf for six years. 

The prince loved the dog like a child, and at the sound of his hornGelert was always the first to come bounding up. There was companyat the house, and one day they went hunting, leaving his wife andthe child, in a big wooden cradle, behind him at the farm-house. 

The hunting party killed three or four wolves, and about two hoursbefore the word passed for returning home, Llewellyn missed Gelert, and he asked his huntsmen:

"Where's Gelert? I don't see him. "

"Well, indeed, master, I've missed him this half-hour. "

And Llewellyn blew his horn, but no Gelert came at the sound. 

Indeed, Gelert had got on to a wolves' track which led to the house. 

The prince sounded the return, and they went home, the princelamenting Gelert. "He's sure to have been slain--he's sure to havebeen slain! since he did not answer the horn. Oh, my Gelert!" Andthey approached the house, and the prince went into the house, andsaw Gelert lying by the overturned cradle, and blood all about theroom. 

"What! hast thou slain my child?" said the prince, and ran his swordthrough the dog. 

After that he lifted up the cradle to look for his child, and foundthe body of a big wolf underneath that Gelert had slain, and hischild was safe. Gelert had capsized the cradle in the scuffle. 

"Oh, Gelert! Oh, Gelert!" said the prince, "my favourite hound, myfavourite hound! Thou hast been slain by thy master's hand, and indeath thou hast licked thy master's hand!" He patted the dog, but itwas too late, and poor Gelert died licking his master's hand. 

Next day they made a coffin, and had a regular funeral, the same asif it were a human being; all the servants in deep mourning, andeverybody. They made him a grave, and the village was called afterthe dog, Beth-Gelert--Gelert's Grave; and the prince planted a tree, and put a gravestone of slate, though it was before the days ofquarries. And they are to be seen to this day. 

ORIGIN OF THE WELSH. 

Many years ago there lived several wild tribes round the King ofPersia's city, and the king's men were always annoying and harassingthem, exacting yearly a heavy tribute. Now these tribes, though verybrave in warfare, could not hold their own before the Persian armywhen sent out against them, so that they paid their yearly tributegrudgingly, but took revenge, whenever they could, upon travellersto or from the city, robbing and killing them. 

At last one of the tribesmen, a clever old chieftain, thought of acunning plan whereby to defeat the Persians, and free themselvesfrom the yearly tribute. And this was his scheme:

The wild wastes where these tribes lived were infested with largebirds called "Rohs", [Footnote: Pronounced softly. ] which were verydestructive to human beings--devouring men, women, and childrengreedily whenever they could catch them. Such a terror were theythat the tribes had to protect their village with high walls, [Footnote: Can this have anything to do with the idea of walling-inthe cuckoo?] and then they slept securely, for the Roh hunted bynight. This old chieftain determined to watch the birds, and findout their nesting-places; so he had a series of towers built, inwhich the watchmen could sleep securely by night. These towers wereadvanced in whatever direction the birds were seen to congregate bynight. The observers reported that the Roh could not fly, but ranvery swiftly, being fleeter than any horse. 

At length, by watching, their nesting-places were found in a sandyplain, and it was discovered that those monstrous birds stole sheepand cattle in great numbers. 

The chieftain then gave orders for the watchmen to keep on guarduntil the young birds were hatched, when they were commanded tosecure fifty, and bring them into the walled town. The order wascarried out, and one night they secured fifty young birds just outof the egg, and brought them to the town. 

The old chieftain then told off fifty skilful warriors, a man toeach bird, to his son being allotted the largest bird. Thesewarriors were ordered to feed the birds on flesh, and to train themfor battle. The birds grew up as tame as horses. Saddles and bridleswere made for them, and they were trained and exercised just likechargers. 

When the next tribute day came round, the King of Persia sent hisemissaries to collect the tax, but the chieftains of the tribesinsulted and defied them, so that they returned to the king, who atonce sent forward his army. 

The chieftain then marshalled his men, and forty-six of the Rohswere drawn up in front of the army, the chief getting on thestrongest bird. The remaining four were placed on the right flank, and ordered at a signal to advance and cut off the army, should theyretreat. 

The Rohs had small scales, like those of a fish, on their necks andbodies, the scales being hidden under a soft hair, except on theupper half of the neck. They had no feathers except on their wings. So they were invulnerable except as to the eyes--for in those daysthe Persians only had bows and arrows, and light javelins. When thePersian army advanced, the Rohs advanced at lightning speed, andmade fearful havoc, the birds murdering and trampling the soldiersunder foot, and beating them down with their powerful wings. In lessthan two hours half the Persian army was slain, and the rest hadescaped. The tribes returned to their walled towns, delighted withtheir victory. 

When the news of his defeat reached the King of Persia he was wrothbeyond expression, and could not sleep for rage. So the next morninghe called for his magician. 

"What are you going to do with the birds?" asked the king. 

"Well, I've been thinking the matter over, " replied the magician. 

"Cannot you destroy all of them?"

"No, your majesty; I cannot destroy them, for I have not the power;but I can get rid of them in one way; for though I cannot put outlife, I have the power of turning one life into some other livingcreature. "

"Well, what will you turn them into?" asked the king. 

"I'll consider to-night, your majesty, " replied the magician. 

"Well, mind and be sure to do it. "

"Yes, I'll be sure to do it, your majesty. "

 * * * * *

The next day, at ten, the magician appeared before the king, whoasked:

"Have you considered well?"

"Yes, your majesty. "

"Well, how are you going to act?"

"Your majesty, I've thought and thought during the night, and thebest thing we can do is to turn all the birds into fairies. "

"What are fairies?" asked the king. 

"I've planned it all out, and I hope your majesty will agree. "

"Oh! I'll agree, as long as they never molest us more. "

"Well, your majesty, I'm going to turn them to fairies--small livingcreatures to live in caves in the bowels of the earth, and theyshall only visit people living on the earth once a year. They shallbe harmless, and hurt nothing; they shall be fairies, and do nothingbut dance and sing, and I shall allow them to go about on earth fortwenty-four hours once a year and play their antics, but they shalldo no mischief. "

"How long are the birds to remain in that state?" asked the king. 

"I'll give them 2, 000 years, your majesty; and at the end of thattime they are to go back into birds, as they were before. And afterthe birds change from the fairy state back into birds, they shallnever breed more, but die a natural death. "

So the tribes lost their birds, and the King of Persia made suchfearful havoc amongst them that they decided to leave the country. 

They travelled, supporting themselves by robbery; until they came toa place where they built a city, and called it Troy, where they werebesieged for a long time. 

At length the besiegers built a large caravan, with a large man'shead in front; the head was all gilded with gold. When the caravanwas finished they put 150 of the best warriors inside, provided withfood, and one of them had a trumpet. Then they pulled the caravan, which ran upon eight broad wheels, up to the gates of the city, andleft it there, their army being drawn up in a valley near by. Itwas, agreed that when the caravan got inside the gates the buglershould blow three loud blasts to warn, the army, who wouldimmediately advance into the city. 

The men on the ramparts saw this curious caravan, and they beganwondering what it was, and for two or three days they left it alone. 

At last an old chieftain said, "It must be their food. "

On the third day they opened the gates, and attaching ropes, beganto haul it into the city; then the warriors leaped out, and the hornblew, and the army hurried up, and the town was taken after greatslaughter; but a number escaped with their wives and children, andfled on to the Crimea, whence they were driven by the Russians, sothey marched away along the sea to Spain, and bearing up throughFrance, they stopped. Some wanted to go across the sea, and somestayed in the heart of France: they were the Bretoons. [Footnote:Bretons. ] The others came on over in boats, and landed in England, and they were the first people settled in Great Britain: they werethe Welsh. 

CROWS. 

 One black crow, bad luck for me. Two black crows, good luck for me. Three black crows, a son shall be born in the family. Four black crows, a daughter shall be born in the family. Five black crows shall be a funeral in the family. Six black crows, if they fly head on, a sudden death. Seven black crows with their tails towards you, death within seven years. 

There was a young man, not so very long ago, who had been to sea foryears. He was married, but had no children. He was one of the mostspirited men you ever saw. He used to complain of his dreams. Hesaid, "All at once last Sunday I was up in the air, and I saw thevessel I was in going at great speed, making for a mountain, and Itried as hard as I could to keep her from the mountain. I don'tbelieve I was asleep at all, I could see it so plainly. I went alongin the air, looking at seven black crows all the time. I got dizzy, and the vessel seemed to lower on to the earth. The vessel loweredwithin a few hundred feet of the earth, and I saw what I thoughtwere fairies. I thought I had been there for days; in truth, itseemed to me I had been up there for three days, and that I couldhear the fairies with mournful sounds drawing a coffin. I watchedand watched, and saw seven crows on the coffin. It seemed as if theywere going to bury someone. Whilst the coffin was going the sevencrows flew up and bursted, and the heavens were illuminated morestrongly than by the sun. Then I lost sight of the fairies, but sawsome big giants in white walking about, and there was a big thronewith a roof to it. And all at once I was in total darkness, but Icould hear things flapping about, flying through the air. Then I sawthe moon rising and all the stars, and all sorts of objects flyingthrough the air. And one came to me, and put his hand upon myshoulder, saying: _'Prepare to meet us to-morrow. '_ After thateverything went dark again. The first thing I knew I was in a shipsteering, and the seven black crows were in front of me. I had agreat trouble to steer my vessel. And as I went on the vessel strucka steeple, and exploded, and I awoke. Whereupon I jumped out of bed, looking very pale. "

I left him on the beach at 11. 30, after he told me this, when hewent home. When he got home he could see seven black crows on thehouse. Other people could see the crows, but could not count them. He saw them all perched head on. He went into the house, and said, "There is something in these crows, Jane; see them on the roof. "

She cried out and ran out and looked, but could not see the seven. After that he didn't seem to be himself, though there was nothingthe matter with him. A week afterwards, I went out on the Sundaymorning after breakfast, and there was a seat on the beach, and onit sat this man, Johnny, and another man. 

"Why, Johnny, you look very pale, " I said. 

"Do I?" he said. 

"Yes! indeed you do, " I replied. 

"Well, I don't know, I have had such dreams. "

"What will they have been, then?" I asked. 

"That I was in a full-rigged ship, with all sails set; I was allalone, but could see nothing, only seven black crows. I countedthem, but my wife could see nothing, but she could hear something. "

That same day, when he went home, he said to his wife:

"Ah, Jane, there is something coming over me, " and he fell downdead. 

ROBERT ROBERTS AND THE FAIRIES. 

Robert Roberts was a carpenter who worked hard and well; but hecould never keep his tongue still. One day, as he was crossing abrook, a little man came up to him and said:

"Robert Roberts, go up to the holly tree that leans over the road onthe Red-hill, and dig below it, and you shall be rewarded. "

The very next morning, at daybreak, Robert Roberts set out for thespot, and dug a great hole, before anyone was up, when he found abox of gold. He went to the same place twice afterwards, and dug, and found gold each time. But as he grew rich, he began to boast andhint that he had mysterious friends. One day, when the talk turnedon the fairies, he said that he knew them right well, and that theygave him money. Robert Roberts thought no more of the matter untilhe went to the spot a week afterwards, one evening at dusk. When hegot to the tree, and began to dig as usual, big stones came rollingdown the bank, just missing him, so that he ran for his life, andnever went near the place again. 

THE FAIRY OF THE DELL. 

In olden times fairies were sent to oppose the evil-doings ofwitches, and to destroy their power. About three hundred years ago aband of fairies, sixty in number, with their queen, called Queen ofthe Dell, came to Mona to oppose the evil works of a celebratedwitch. The fairies settled by a spring, in a valley. After havingblessed the spring, or "well", as they called it, they built a bowerjust above the spring for the queen, placing a throne therein. Nearby they built a large bower for themselves to live in. 

After that, the queen drew three circles, one within the other, on anice flat grassy place by the well. When they were comfortablysettled, the queen sent the fairies about the country to gathertidings of the people. They went from house to house, and everywhereheard great complaints against an old witch; how she had made someblind, others lame, and deformed others by causing a horn to growout of their foreheads. When they got back to the well and told thequeen, she said:

"I must do something for these old people, and though the witch isvery powerful, we must break her power. " So the next day the queenfairy sent word to all the bewitched to congregate upon a fixed dayat the sacred well, just before noon. 

When the day came, several ailing people collected at the well. Thequeen then placed the patients in pairs in the inner ring, and thesixty fairies in pairs in the middle ring. Each little fairy wasthree feet and a half high, and carried a small wand in her righthand, and a bunch of fairy flowers--cuckoo's boots, baby's bells, and day's-eyes--in her left hand. Then the queen, who was four feetand a half in height, took the outside ring. On her head was a crownof wild flowers, in her right hand she carried a wand, and in herleft a posy of fairy flowers. At a signal from the queen they beganmarching round the rings, singing in chorus:

 "We march round by two and two The circles of the sacred well That lies in the dell. "

When they had walked twice round the ring singing, the queen tookher seat upon the throne, and calling each patient to her, shetouched him with her wand and bade him go down to the sacred welland dip his body into the water three times, promising that all hisills should be cured. As each one came forth from the spring heknelt before the queen, and she blessed him, and told him to hurryhome and put on dry clothes. So that all were cured of their ills. 

II. 

Now the old witch who had worked all these evils lived near the wellin a cottage. She had first learned witchcraft from a book called_The Black Art_, which a gentleman farmer had lent her when agirl. She progressed rapidly with her studies, and being eager tolearn more, sold herself to the devil, who made compact with herthat she should have full power for seven years, after which she wasto become his. He gave her a wand that had the magic power ofdrawing people to her, and she had a ring on the grass by her housejust like the fairy's ring. As the seven years were drawing to aclose, and her heart was savage against the farmer who first led herinto the paths of evil knowledge, she determined to be revenged. Oneday, soon after the Fairy of the Dell came to live by the spring, she drew the farmer to her with her wand, and, standing in her ring, she lured him into it. When he crossed the line, she said:

 "Cursed be he or she That crosses my circle to see me, "

and, touching him on the head and back, a horn and a tail grew fromthe spots touched. He went off in a terrible rage, but she onlylaughed maliciously. Then, as she heard of the Queen of the Dell'sgood deeds, she repented of her evil deeds, and begged her neighbourto go to the queen fairy and ask her if she might come and visither. The queen consented, and the old witch went down and told hereverything--of the book, of the magic wand, of the ring, and of allthe wicked deeds she had done. 

"O, you have been a bad witch, " said the queen, "but I will see whatI can do; but you must bring me the book and the wand;" and she toldthe old witch to come on the following day a little before noon. When the witch came the next day with her wand and book, she foundthe fairies had built a fire in the middle ring. The queen then tookher and stood her by the fire, for she could not trust her on theouter circle. 

"Now I must have more power, " said the queen to the fairies, and shewent and sat on the throne, leaving the witch by the fire in themiddle ring. After thinking a little, the queen said, "Now I haveit, " and coming down from her throne muttering, she began walkinground the outer circle, waiting for the hour of one o'clock, whenall the fairies got into the middle circle and marched round, singing:

 "At the hour of one The cock shall crow one, Goo! Goo! Goo! I am here to tell Of the sacred well That lies in the dell, And will conquer hell. "

On the second round, they sang:

 "At the hour of two The cock crows two, Goo! Goo! Goo! I am here to tell Of the sacred well That lies in the dell; We will conquer hell. "

At the last round, they sang:

 "At the hour of three The cock crows three, Goo! Goo! Goo! I am here to tell Of the sacred well That lies in the dell; Now I have conquered hell. "

Then the queen cast the book and wand into the fire, and immediatelythe vale was rent by a thundering noise, and numbers of devils camefrom everywhere, and encircled the outer ring, but they could notpass the ring. Then the fairies began walking round and round, singing their song. When they had finished the song they heard aloud screech from the devils that frightened all the fairies exceptthe queen. She was unmoved, and going to the fire, stirred the asheswith her wand, and saw that the book and wand were burnt, and thenshe walked thrice round the outer ring by herself, when she turnedto the devils, and said:

"I command you to be gone from our earthly home, get to your ownabode. I take the power of casting you all from here. Begone!begone! begone!" And all the devils flew up, and there was a mightyclap as of thunder, and the earth trembled, and the sky becameovercast, and all the devils burst, and the sky cleared again. 

After this the queen put three fairies by the old witch's side, andthey constantly dipped their wands in the sacred spring, and touchedher head, and she was sorely troubled and converted. 

"Bring the mirror, " said the queen. 

And the fairies brought the mirror and laid it in the middle circle, and they all walked round three times, chanting again the songbeginning "At the hour of one. " When they had done this the queenstood still, and said:

"Stand and watch to see what you can see. "

And as she looked she said:

 "The mirror shines unto me That the witch we can see Has three devils inside of she. "

Immediately the witch had a fit, and the three fairies had a hardjob to keep the three devils quiet; indeed, they could not do so, and the queen had to go herself with her wand, for fear the devilsshould burst the witch asunder, and she said, "Come out three evilspirits, out of thee. "

And they came gnashing their teeth, and would have killed all thefairies, but the queen said:

"Begone, begone, begone! you evil spirits, to the place of yourabode, " and suddenly the sky turned bright as fire, for the evilspirits were trying their spleen against the fairies, but the queensaid, "Collect, collect, collect, into one fierce ball, " and thefiery sky collected into one ball of fire more dazzling than thesun, so that none could look at it except the queen, who wore ablack silk mask to protect her eyes. Suddenly the ball burst with aterrific noise, and the earth trembled. 

"Enter into your abode, and never come down to our abode on earthany more, " said the queen. 

And the witch was herself again, and she and the queen fairy wereimmediately great friends. The witch, when she came out of the ring, dropped on her knee and asked the queen if she might call her theLady of the Dell, and how she could serve her. 

"We will see about that, " said the queen. 

"Well, how do you live?" asked the woman who had been a witch. 

"Well, I'll tell you, " said the queen. "We go at midnight and milkthe cows, and we keep the milk, and it never grows less so long aswe leave some in the bottom of the vessel; we must not use it all. After milking the cow, we rub the cow's purse and bless it, and shegives double the amount of milk. "

"Well, how do you get corn?"

"Well, we were at the mill playing one day, and the miller came inand saw us, and spoke kindly to us, and offered us some flour. 'Wenever take nothing for nothing, ' I said, so I blessed the bin: so ina few minutes the bin was full to the brim with flour, and I said tothe miller, 'Now don't you empty the bin, but always leave a peck init, and for twelve months, no matter how much you use the bin, itwill always be full in the morning. ' Now I have told you this much, and I will tell further, 'You must love your neighbour, you mustlove all mankind. ' Now here is a purse of gold, go and buy what youwant, eggs, bacon, cheese, and get a flagon of wine and use thesethings freely, giving freely to the aged poor, and if you neverfinish these things, there will always be as much the next morningas you started with. And I shall make a salve for you, and you mustuse the water from the sacred well. That will be as a medicine, andpeople shall come from far and wide to be cured by you, and youshall be loved by all, and you shall be known to the poorest of thepoor as Madame Dorothy. "

And the woman did as she was told, and she became renowned for hermedical skill, especially in childbirth, for her salve eased thepains, and her waters brought milk. By-and-by, she got known allover the island, and rich people came to her from afar, and shealways made the rich pay, and the poor were treated free. 

Madame Dorothy used to see the queen fairy at times, and one day sheasked her, "Shall we meet again?"

"We cannot tell, " said the queen, "but I will give you a ring--letme place it on your finger--it is a magic ring worked by fairies. Whenever you seek to know of me, make a ring of your own, and walkround three times and rub the ring; if it turns bright I am alive, but if you see blood I am dead. "

"But how can that be? You are much younger than I am. "

"Oh, no! we fairies look young to the day of our death; we live to agreat age, but die naturally of old age, for we never have anyailments, but still our power fades. Men fade in the flesh andpower, but we fade only in power. I am over seventy now. "

"But you look to be thirty. "

"Well, we will shake hands and part, for I must go elsewhere; as Ihave no king, I do not stop in one place. "

And they shook hands and parted. 

ELLEN'S LUCK. 

Ellen was a good girl, and beautiful to look upon. One Sunday shewas walking by an open gutter in a town in North Wales when shefound a copper. After that day Ellen walked every Sunday afternoonby the same drain, and always found a copper. She was a carefulgirl, and used to hoard her money. 

One day her old mother found her pile of pennies, and wished to knowwhere she got them. 

Ellen told her, but though she walked by the gutter for many aSunday after, she never found another copper. 

THE FAIRIES' MINT. 

Once upon a time there was a miller, who lived in Anglesey. One dayhe noticed that some of his sacks had been moved during the night. The following day he felt sure that some of his grain had beendisturbed, and, lastly, he was sure someone had been working hismill in the night during his absence. He confided his suspicions toa friend, and they determined to go the next night and watch themill. The following night, at about midnight, as they approached themill, that stood on a bare stony hill, they were surprised to findthe mill all lit up and at work, the great sails turning in theblack night. Creeping up softly to a small window, the miller lookedin, and saw a crowd of little men carrying small bags, and emptyingthem into the millstones. He could not see, however, what was in thebags, so he crept to another window, when he saw golden coins comingfrom the mill, from the place where the flour usually ran out. 

Immediately the miller went to the mill door, and, putting his keyinto the lock, he unlocked the door; and as he did so the lightswent out suddenly, and the mill stopped working. As he and hisfriend went into the dark mill they could hear sounds of peoplerunning about, but by the time they lit up the mill again there wasnobody to be seen, but scattered all about the millstones and on thefloor were cockle-shells. 

After that, many persons who passed the mill at midnight said theysaw the mill lit up and working; but the old miller left the fairiesalone to coin their money. 

THE PELLINGS. 

In a meadow belonging to Ystrad, bounded by the river which fallsfrom Cwellyn Lake, they say the fairies used to assemble, and dancein fair moonlight nights. One evening a young man, who was the heirand occupier of this farm, hid himself in a thicket close to thespot where they used to gambol. Presently they appeared, and when intheir merry mood, out he bounced from his covert, and seized one oftheir females; the rest of the company dispersed themselves, anddisappeared in an instant. Disregarding her struggles and screams, he hauled her to his home, where he treated her so very kindly thatshe became contented to live with him as his maid-servant, but hecould not prevail upon her to tell him her name. Some time after, happening again to see the fairies upon the same spot, he heard oneof them saying, "The last time we met here our sister Penelope wassnatched away from us by one of the mortals. " Rejoiced at knowing thename of his incognita, he returned home; and as she was verybeautiful and extremely active, he proposed to marry her, which shewould not for a long time consent to; at last, however, shecomplied, but on this condition, "That if ever he should strike herwith iron, she would leave him, and never return to him again. " Theylived happy for many years together, and he had by her a son and adaughter; and by her industry and prudent management as a housewifehe became one of the richest men in the country. He farmed, besideshis own freehold, all the lands on the north side of Nant y Bettwsto the top of Snowdon, and all Cwm brwynog in Llanberis, an extentof about five thousand acres or upwards. 

Unfortunately, one day Penelope followed her husband into the fieldto catch a horse, and he, being in a rage at the animal as he ranaway from him, threw at him the bridle that was in his hand, whichunluckily fell on poor Penelope. She disappeared in an instant, andhe never saw her afterwards, but heard her voice in the window ofhis room one night after, requesting him to take care of thechildren, in these words:--

 "Rhag bod anwyd ar fy mâb, Yn rhodd rhowch arno gôb ei dâd: Rhag bod anwyd ar liw'r cann, Rhoddwch arni bais ei mam. "

That is, "Oh! lest my son should suffer cold, Him in his father's coat infold: Lest cold should seize my darling fair, For her, her mother's robe prepare. "

These children and their descendants they say were called Pellings[1], a word corrupted from their mother's name Penelope. 

[1] In England we frequently meet with the surname Pilling andBilling; it might have happened, that a man had met with an Englishwoman of that name, and had married her, and, as is usual in brides, she might have been, though married, called by her maiden name, andthe appellation might have been continued to her posterity. --_Authors Note_. 

The name Billing and Belling is the family name of one of the oldestCornish (Keltic) families--a fact that suggests other possibilities. --P. H. E. 

THE LONG-LIVED ANCESTORS. 

The Eagle of Gwernabwy had been long married to his female, and hadby her many children; she died, and he continued a long time awidower; but at length be proposed a marriage with the Owl of CwmCwmlwyd; but afraid of her being young, so as to have children byher, and thereby degrade his own family, he first of all went toinquire about her age amongst the aged of the world. Accordingly heapplied to the Stag of Rhedynfre, whom he found lying close to thetrunk of an old oak, and requested to know the Owl's age. 

"I have seen, " said the Stag, "this oak an acorn, which is nowfallen to the ground through age, without either bark or leaves, andnever suffered any hurt or strain except from my rubbing myselfagainst it once a day, after getting up on my legs; but I neverremember to have seen the Owl you mention younger or older than sheseems to be at this day. But there is one older than I am, and thatis the Salmon of Glynllifon. "

The Eagle then applied to the Salmon for the age of the Owl. TheSalmon answered, "I am as many years old as there are scales upon myskin, and particles of spawn within my belly; yet never saw I theOwl you mention but the same in appearance. But there is one olderthan I am, and that is the Blackbird of Cilgwri. "

The Eagle next repaired to the Blackbird of Cilgwri, whom he foundperched upon a small stone, and enquired of him the Owl's age. 

"Dost thou see this stone upon which I sit, " said the Blackbird, "which is now no bigger than what a man can carry in his hand? Ihave seen this very stone of such weight as to be a sufficient loadfor a hundred oxen to draw, which has suffered neither rubbing norwearing, save that I rub my bill on it once every evening, and touchthe tips of my wings on it every morning, when I expand them to fly;yet I have not seen the Owl either older or younger than she appearsto be at this day. But there is one older than I am, and that is theFrog of Mochno Bog, and if he does not know her age, there is not acreature living that does know it. "

The Eagle went last of all to the Frog and desired to know the Owl'sage. He answered, "I never ate anything but the dust from the spotwhich I inhabit, and that very sparingly, and dost thou see thesegreat hills that surround and overawe this bog where I lie? They areformed only of the excrements from my body since I have inhabitedthis place, yet I never remember to have seen the Owl but an oldhag, making that hideous noise, Too, hoo, hoo! always frighteningthe children in the neighbourhood. "

So the Eagle of Gwernabwy, the Stag of Rhedynfre, the Salmon ofGlynllifon, the Blackbird of Cilgwri, the Frog of Mochno Bog, andthe Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd are the oldest creatures in the whole world!

THE GIANTESS'S APRON-FULL. 

A huge giant, in company with his wife, travelling towards theisland of Mona, with an intention of settling amongst the firstinhabitants that had removed there, and having been informed thatthere was but a narrow channel which divided it from the continent, took up two large stones, one under each arm, to carry with him as apreparatory for making a bridge over this channel, and his lady hadher apron filled with small stones for the same purpose; but, meeting a man on this spot with a large parcel of old shoes on hisshoulders, the giant asked him how far it was to Mona. The manreplied, that it was so far, that he had worn out those shoes intravelling from Mona to that place. The giant on hearing thisdropped down the stones, one on each side of him, where they nowstand upright, about a hundred yards or more distant from eachother; the space between them was occupied by this Goliah's body. His mistress at the same time opened her apron, and dropped down thecontents of it, which formed this heap. 

GWRGAN FARFDRWCH'S FABLE. 

Hear me, O ye Britons! On the top of a high rock in Arvon therestood a goat, which a lion perceiving from the valley below, addressed her in this manner:--

"My dearest neighbour, why preferrest thou that dry barren rock tofeed on? Come down to this charming valley, where thou mayest feedluxuriously upon all sorts of dainties, amongst flowers in shadygroves, made fruitful by meandering brooks. "

"I am much obliged to you, master, " replied the goat; "perhaps youmean well, and tell me the truth, but you have very bad neighbours, whom I do not like to trust, and those are your teeth, so, with yourleave, I prefer staying where I am. "

THE STORY OF THE PIG-TROUGH. 

In the beginning of the century, Hughes went as military substitutefor a farmer's son. He got £80, a watch, and a suit of clothes. Hismother was loath to let him go, and when he joined his regiment, shefollowed him from Amlych to Pwlheli to try and buy him off. He wouldnot hear of it. "Mother, " he said, "the whole of Anglesey would notkeep me, I want to be off, and see the world. "

The regiment was quartered in Edinboro', and Hughes married thedaughter of the burgess with whom he was billeted. Thence, leaving asmall son, as hostage to the grandparents, they went to Ireland, andHughes and his wife were billeted on a pork-butcher's family inDublin. One day, the mother of the pork-butcher, an old granny, toldthem she had seen the fairies. 

"Last night, as I was abed, I saw a bright, bright light come in, and afterwards a troop of little angels. They danced all over mybed, and they played and sang music--oh! the sweetest music ever Iheard. I lay and watched them and listened. By-and-bye the lightwent out and the music stopped, and I saw them no more. I regrettedthe music very much. But directly after another smaller lightappeared, and a tall dark man came up to my bed, and with somethingin his hand he tapped me on the temple; it felt like some onedrawing a sharp pin across my temple then he went too. In themorning my pillow was covered with blood. I thought and thought, andthen I knew I had moved the pig's trough and must have put it in thefairies' path and the fairies were angered, and the king of thefairies had punished me for it. " She moved the trough back to itsold place the next day, and received no more visits from the weefolk. 

BILLY DUFFY AND THE DEVIL. 

Billy Duffy was an Irishman, a blacksmith, and a drunkard. He hadthe Keltic aversion from steady work, and stuck to his forge onlylong enough to get money for drink; when that was spent, he returnedto work. 

Billy was coming home one day after one of these drinking-bouts, soberer than usual, when he exclaimed to himself, for the thirst wasupon him, "By God! I would sell myself to the devil if I could getsome more drink. "

At that moment a tall gentleman in black stepped up to him, andsaid, "What did you say?"

"I said I would sell myself to the devil if I could get a drink. "

"Well, how much do you want for seven years, and the devil to getyou then?"

"Well, I can't tell exactly, when it comes to the push. "

"Will £700 do you?"

"Yes; I'd take £700. "

"And the devil to get you then?"

"Oh, yes; I don't care about that. "

When Billy got home he found the money in his smithy. He at onceshut the smithy, and began squandering the money, keeping openhouse. 

Amongst the people who flocked to get what they could out of Billycame an old hermit, who said, "I am very hungry, and nearly starved. Will you give me something to eat and drink?"

"Oh, yes; come in and get what you like. "

The hermit disappeared, after eating and drinking, and did notreappear for several months, when he received the same kindlywelcome, again disappearing. A few months afterwards he againappeared. 

"Come in, come in!" said Billy. 

After he had eaten and drunk his full, the hermit said to Billy:"Well, three times have you been good and kind to me. I'll give youthree wishes, and whatever you wish will be sure to come true. "

"I must have time to consider, " said Billy. 

"Oh, you shall have plenty of time to consider, and mind they aregood wishes. "

Next morning Billy told the hermit he was ready. "Well, go on; besure they're good wishes, " said the hermit. 

"Well, I've got a big sledge-hammer in the smithy, and I wishwhoever gets hold of that hammer shall go on striking the anvil, andnever break it, till I tell him to stop. "

"Oh, that's a bad wish, Billy. "

"Oh, no; you'll see it's good. Next thing I wish for is a purse sothat no one can take out whatever I put into it. "

"Oh, Billy, Billy! that's a bad wish. Be careful now about the thirdwish, " said the hermit. 

"Well, I have got an armchair upstairs, and I wish that whoever maysit in that armchair will never be able to get up till I let them. "

"Well, well, indeed; they are not very good wishes. "

"Oh, yes; I've got my senses about me. I think I'll make them goodwishes, after all. "

The seven years, all but three days, had passed, and Billy was backworking at his forge, for all his money was gone, when the darkgentleman stepped in and said:

"Now, Billy, during these last three days you may have as much moneyas you like, " and he disappeared. 

On the last day of his seven years Billy was penniless, and he wentto the taproom of his favourite inn, which was full. 

"Well, boys, " said Billy, "we must have some money to-night. I'lltreat you, and give you a pound each, " and rising, he placed histumbler in the middle of the table, and wished for twenty pounds. Nosooner had he wished than a ball of fire came through the ceiling, and the twenty sovereigns fell into the tumbler. Everyone was takenaback, and there was a noise as if a bomb had burst, and thefireball disappeared, and rolled down the garden path, the landlordfollowing it. After this they each drank what they liked, and Billygave them a sovereign apiece before he went home. 

The next morning he was in his smithy making a pair of horseshoes, when the devil came in and said:

"Well, Billy, I'll want you this morning. "

"Yes; all right. Take hold of this sledge-hammer, and give me a fewhammers till I finish this job before I go. "

So the devil seized the hammer and began striking the anvil, but hecouldn't stop. 

So Billy laughed, and locked him in, and was away three days. Duringthis time the people collected round the smithy, and peeped throughthe cracks in the shutter, for they could hear the hammer goingnight and day. 

At the end of three days Billy returned and opened the door, and thedevil said, "Oh, Billy, you've played a fine trick to me; let mego. "

"What are you going to give me if I let you go?"

"Seven years more, twice the money, and two days' grace for wishingfor what you like. "

The devil paid his money and disappeared, and Billy shut the smithyand took to gambling and drinking, so that at the end of seven yearshe was without a penny, and working again in his smithy. 

On the last night of the seven years he went to his favouritepublic-house again, and wished for five pounds. 

After he wished, a little man entered and spat the sovereigns intothe tumbler, and they all drank all night. 

Next morning Billy went back to his smithy. The devil, who had grownsuspicious, turned himself into a sovereign and appeared on thefloor. Billy seized the sovereign and clapped it into his purse. Then he took his purse and lay it upon the anvil, and began to beatit with his sledge-hammer, when the devil began to call out, "Sparemy poor limbs, spare my poor limbs!"

"How much now if I let you go?" asked Billy

"Seven more years, three times the money, and one day in which towish for what you like. "

Billy took the sovereign out of his purse and threw it away, when hefound his money in the smithy. 

Billy carried on worse than ever; gambled and drank and raced, squandering it all before his seven years was gone. On the last dayof his term he went to his favourite inn as usual and wished for atumbler full of sovereigns. A little man with a big head, a bignose, and big mouth, a little body, and little legs, with clubbedfeet and a forked tail, brought them in and put them in the tumbler. The drunkards in the room got scared when they saw the little man, for he looked all glowing with fire as he danced on the table. Whenhe finished, he said, "Billy, to-morrow morning our compact is up. "

"I know it, old boy, I know it, old boy!" said Billy. Then the devilran out and disappeared, and the people began to question Billy:

"What is that? I think it is you, Mister Duffy, he is after. "

"Oh, it is nothing at all, " said Billy. 

"I should think there was something, " said the man. 

"I am afraid my house will get a bad name, " croaked the landlord. 

"Not in the least! You are only a coward, " said Billy. 

"But in the name of God, what is it all about?" asked an old man. 

"Oh, you'll see by-and-bye, " said Billy; "it is nothing at all. "

Next morning Billy went to his smithy, but the devil would not comenear it. 

So he went to his house, and began to quarrel with his wife, andwhilst he was quarrelling the devil walked in and said:

"Well, Mr. Duffy, I am ready for you. "

"Ah, yes; just sit down and wait a minute or two. I have some papersI want to put to rights before I go. "

So the devil sat down in the arm-chair, and Billy went to the smithyand heated a pair of tongs red-hot, and coming back, he got thedevil by the nose, and pulled it out as though it had been softiron. And the devil began yelling, but he could not move, and Billykept drawing the nose out till it was long enough to reach over thewindow, when he put an old bell-topper on the end of it. And thedevil yelled, and snorted fire from his nose. 

The whole of the village crowded round Billy's, house--at a safedistance--calling out, "Billy and the devil! The devil and BillyDuffy!"

The devil got awful savage, and blackguarded Billy Duffy terribly;but it was useless. Billy kept him there for days, till he got civiland said:

"Mr. Duffy, what will you let me go for?"

"Only one thing: I am to live the rest of my life without you, andhave as much gold as I like. "

The devil agreed, so Billy let him go; and immediately he grew rich. He lived to a good old age squandering money all the time, but atlast he died and when he got to the gates of hell the clerk said"Who are you?" "Billy Duffy, " said he. And when the devil, who wasstanding near, heard, he said:

"Good God! bar the gates and double-lock them for if this BillyDuffy the blacksmith gets in he will ruin us all. "

Old Billy saw a pair of red-hot tongs, which he picked up, andseized the devil by the nose. When the devil pulled back his head heleft a red-hot bit of his nose in the tongs. 

Then Billy Duffy went up to the gates of heaven and St. Peter askedhim who he was. 

"Billy Duffy the blacksmith, " he answered. 

"No admittance! You are a bold, bad man, " said St. Peter. 

"Good God! what will I do?" said Billy, and he went back to theearth, where he and the piece of the devil's nose melted into a ballof fire, and he roves the earth till this day as a will-o'-the-wisp. 

THE STORY OF JOHN 0' GROATS. 

He was an old seaman, with weather-beaten face and black eyes, thathad looked upon many lands and many sights. 

"Well, indeed, I'll tell you about Johnny Groats as it was told tome one night in the trades, " he said, blowing a whiff of smoke fromhis wheezy pipe. 

"Well, in olden times there was a rich lord, who owned all theproperty looking on to the Pentlands--an awful place in bad weather;indeed, in any weather. 

"He was a lone man, for his wife was dead, and his son had turnedout to be a rake and a spendthrift, spending all his substance uponharlots and entertainments. 

"Now this lord had a factor, by name John o' Scales, a stingy, cunning man, who robbed his master all he could during the week, andprayed hard for forgiveness on the Sabbath. 

"The lord, who was getting very old, was much grieved on account ofhis son's behaviour. 'He'll spend everything when I am gone, and theestates will go into other hands, ' the old man said to himself. "

 * * * * *

"One fine morning in summer the factor received orders to build ahut by the sea, and plant bushes and trees round about it. 'Butdon't make the door to fit close; leave the space of a foot at thebottom, so the leaves can blow in, for I want the hut to shootsea-fowl as they flight, and it is cold standing on the bare ground, 'said the old man. 

"The factor carried out his master's instructions, but not withoutsuspicion of ulterior motives on his master's part. However, when hesaw my lord shooting the birds and stuffing many of them hissuspicions were allayed, and the factor thought that, after all, though his master wanted the hut for flight-shooting, still he mustbe getting softening of the brain, for it was very eccentric that heshould take up this new hobby in his old age. 

"So the old lord was never disturbed in his hut by curious andill-timed visits. 

"After a time the lord died, and was laid with his fathers, theprodigal inheriting the property. 

"The old castle was then the scene of perpetual feastings and cardparties, so that in a few years the property was heavily mortgaged, the old factor advancing the money. 

"Things went apace, until one day the factor informed the youngspendthrift that he had spent everything, and the estates were nolonger his, so he gave him a few pounds, and turned him out. 

"When the news spread round the countryside his old friends began todrop off, until at last the spendthrift found every door closedagainst him. 

"When he had spent his last penny, the prodigal thought of the keywhich his father had given him, saying, 'When you have spenteverything, take this key, and go to the hut. '

"But he had lost the key long before. 

"Nevertheless, he went to the hut. It had a deserted appearance, being overgrown with moss and lichens. 

"He managed to squeeze himself under the door, and when he stood uphe saw a rope, with a noose hanging from the centre of the roof. Pursuing his investigations, he found a parchment nailed to the backof the door, and in one corner stood an old three-legged stool. There was nothing else in the damp, mouldy room, so he began to readthe parchment. 

"'Thou art come to beggary; end thy miserable existence, for it isthy father's wish, ' he read. 

"He was dazed, and looked from the parchment to the rope, and fromthe rope to the parchment, saying to himself: 'Well, I have come tothat, I must follow my father's wish. '

"So he got the stool and put it under the noose, and standing uponit, adjusted the rope with trembling fingers round his neck, when hesaid, hoarsely: 'Father, I do thy bidding, ' and he kicked the stoolfrom under him. 

"Immediately he heard a crash, and found himself lying upon theleaves, with a feeling that his neck had been jerked off. However, he soon recovered, and, taking the noose from his neck, he lookedup and saw an open trap-door in the ceiling. Placing the stoolbeneath the opening, he got on to it, and lifted himself through thetrap-door, when he found himself in a loft, a parchment nailed to thewall facing him, and on the parchment was written, 'This has beenprepared, for your end was foreseen, and your foolish father buriedthree chests of gold one foot below the surface of the floor of thehut. Go and take it and buy back your estate: marry, and beget anheir. '

"'Good God! is this a ghastly joke?' said the prodigal. But thewords looked truthful; so he tore down the parchment, droppedthrough the trap-door, shut it, and readjusted the rope. He left thehut and borrowed a pick and shovel, and returning to the hut, hebegan to dig, and found one chest full of gold. When he made thisdiscovery he closed the chest, filled in the hole, and spread leavesover the spot. He then ran off to his father's best friend, and toldhim of his good luck. They then called in two other friends, andconsulted together how the old lord's wish was best to be carriedout. 'I'll tell you, ' said his father's oldest friend. 'Mr. John o'Scales gives a great dinner party once a month, and three of us hereare invited as usual. You must come in in the middle of dinner inyour ordinary beggar clothes and beg humbly for some food, when hewill give orders to have you turned out. Then you must begin to callhim a liar and a thief, and accuse him of robbing your father andyourself of your inheritance. You'll see he'll get angry, and offerto let you have it back. '

"So the prodigal dug up the chests, and carted the money away incanvas bags, storing it at his friend's house. "

 * * * * *

"When the night of the dinner party came, the prodigal drove up tothe castle in a cart filled with canvas bags. Jumping off his seatby the driver, he went into the feast in his beggar's clothes, andgoing up to the host, he begged humbly for some food. 

"'Go from this house! What business have you here?' asked the host. 

"Most of the gentlemen and ladies began to frown upon him, andmurmur against him, as he walked to the lady of the house and beggedher to give him some food, but she replied:

"'Oh, thou spendthrift! thou fool of fools! if all fools werehanged, as they ought to be, you'd be the first. '

"Then the beggar's countenance changed, a deep flush of angeroverspread his features, and drawing himself up to his full height, he said, with solemn voice, addressing the host:

"'Thou hast robbed my father all the days of his life, and thou hastrobbed the orphan. May the curse of God be upon you!'

"The host grew furious; then he looked ashamed, and shouted angrily:

"'Bring me £40, 000, and you shall have your estate back. I neverrobbed you, but you lost your inheritance by your own follies. '

"'Gentlemen, ' said the beggar, 'I take you all to witness that thisthief says I can have my estate back for £40, 000. '

"The people murmured, and the three friends said: 'We arewitnesses. '

"The beggar ran out into the night, and returned with a man ladenwith sacks, and they began to count out £40, 000 upon a side-table, where a haunch of venison still smoked. 

"When they had counted out the money, the beggar said:

"'There is your £40, 000; sign this receipt. '

"The amazed factor drew back, when the three friends said:

"'You must sign; you are a gentleman of your word, of course. '

"Mechanically John o' Scales signed the paper. 

"'And now, ' said the former beggar, 'leave my house at once, withyour wife--you coward! you cur! You robbed my father, and thencheated me when I was a spendthrift. Begone, and may your name beaccursed in the land!'

"And the son turned all out except his three friends. 

"In a few months he married the daughter of one of his friends; buthe never gambled again, only entertaining his three friends andtheir families, who came and went as they liked. 

"And from that day John o' Scales was called John o' Groats. "

EVA'S LUCK. 

As black-eyed, black-haired Eva Sauvet was walking one day in Jerseyshe saw a lozenge-marked snake, whereupon she ran away frightened. 

When she got home and told her mother, the old woman said:

"Well, child, next time you see the snake give it yourhandkerchief. "

The next day Eva went out with beating heart, and ere long she sawthe snake come gliding out from the bushes, so she threw down herhandkerchief, for she was too frightened to hand it to the snake. 

The snake's eyes gleamed and twinkled, and taking the handkerchiefinto his fangs, he made off to an old ruin, whither Eva followed. 

But when they got to the ruin the snake disappeared, and Eva ranhome to tell her mother. 

Next day, Père Sauvet and some men went to the ruin, where Evashowed the hole where the snake had disappeared. 

Old Père Sauvet lit a fire, and smoked the snake out, killing itwith a stick as it glided over the stones. 

After that they dug out the hole, when they found the handkerchief. Digging still further along, they came upon a hollow place, at thebottom of which they found a lot of gold. 

THE FISHERMEN OF SHETLAND. 

There was a snug little cove in one of the Shetland Islands. At thehead of the cove stood a fishing hamlet, containing some twentyhuts. In these huts lived the fisher-folk, ruled by one man--thechief--who was the father of two beautiful daughters. 

Now these fishermen for some years had been very lucky, for a fairyqueen and her fairies had settled there, and she had given her powerover to a merman, who was the chief of a large family of mermaids. The fairy queen had made the merman a belt of sea-weed, which healways wore round his body. The merman used to turn the water red, green, and white, at noon each day, so that the fishermen knew thatif they cast their nets into the coloured waters they would makegood hauls. 

Amongst these fishermen were two brave brothers, who courted thechief's daughters, but the old man would not let them get marrieduntil they became rich men. 

Whenever the fishermen went off in the boats the merman was used tosit on a rock, and watch them fishing. 

Close by the hamlet was a great wood, in which lived a wicked oldwitch and a dwarf. 

Now this witch wished to get possession of the merman's belt, and sogain the fairy's power. Telling her scheme to the dwarf, she said tohim:

"Now you must trap the merman when he is sitting on the rockswatching the fishing fleet. But I must change you into a bee, whenyou must suck of the juice in this magic basin, then fly off andalight on the merman's head, when he will fall asleep. "

So the dwarf agreed, and it happened as she had said; and the mermanfell asleep, and the dwarf stole the belt and brought it to thewitch. 

"Now you must wear the belt, " said the witch to the dwarf, "and youwill have the power and the fairy will lose her power. "

They then translated the sleeping merman to the forest and laid himbefore the hut, when the witch got a copper vessel, saying:

"We must bury him in this. "

Then she got the magic pot, and told the dwarf to take a ladleful ofthe fluid in the pot, and pour it over the merman, which he did, andimmediately the merman turned into smoke, that settled in the coppervessel. Then they sealed the copper vessel tightly. 

"Now take this vessel, and heave it into the sea fifty miles fromthe land, " said the witch, and the dwarf did as he was bid. 

"Now we'll starve those old fishermen out this winter, " said thewitch; and it happened as she had said--they could catch nothing. 

In the spring the queen fairy came to one of the young fishermen whowas courting one of the chief's daughters, and said:

"You must venture for the sake of your love, and for the lives ofthe fishermen, or you will all starve--but I will be with you. Willyou run the risk?"

"I will, " said the brave fisherman. 

"Well, the dwarf has got my belt, he stole it from the merman, andso I have lost power over the world for twelve months and a day; butif you get back the belt I can settle the witch; if not, you willall starve and catch no fish. "

So the bold fisherman agreed to try. 

"Now I must transform you into a bear, and you'll have to watch thewitch and the dwarf, and take your chance of getting the belt; andyou must watch where he hides his treasure, for he is using the beltas a means to get gold, which he hides in a cave. "

And so the sailor was turned into a bear, and he went to the woodand watched the dwarf, and saw that he hid his treasure in a cave insome crags. 

The bear had been given the power of making himself invisible, bysitting on his haunches and rubbing his ears with his paws. 

One night, when it was very boisterous, the bear felt like going tosee his sweetheart. So he went, and knocked at the door. The girlopened the door, and shrieked when she saw the bear. 

"Oh, let him in, " said her old mother. 

So the bear came in and asked for shelter from the storm, for hecould speak. 

And he went and sat by the fire, and asked his sweetheart to brushthe snow from his coat, which she did. 

"I won't do you any harm, " he said; "let me sleep by the fire. "

He came again the next night, and they gave him some gruel, andplayed with him; for he was just like a dog. 

So he came every night until the springtime, when, one morning, ashe was going away, he said:

"You mustn't expect me any more. Spring has come, and the snows havemelted. I can't come again till the summer is over. "

So he returned to the wood and watched the dwarf, but he could nevercatch him without his belt, until one day he saw him fishing forsalmon without the belt, and at the same time his sweetheart and hersister came by picking flowers. 

So the bear went up to the dwarf, and the dwarf, when he saw himcoming, said:

"Ah! good bear! good bear! let me go. These two girls will be a moredainty morsel for you. "

But the bear smote him with his paw and killed him, and immediatelythe bear was turned into his former self, and the girls ran up andkissed him, and talked. 

Then he took the two girls to the dwarf's cave, and gave each ofthem a bag of treasure, keeping one for himself. And taking thebelt, he put it on, and they all walked back to the hamlet, when hetold the fishermen that their troubles would soon be over--but thathe must kill the witch first. 

Then he turned the belt three times, and said:

"I wish for the queen fairy. "

And she came, and was delighted, and said: "Now you must come andslay the witch, " and she handed him a bow and arrow, telling him touse it right and tight when he got to the hut. 

So he went off to the wood, and found the witch in her hut, and shebegged for mercy. 

"Oh no, you have done too much mischief, " he said, and he shot her. 

Then the queen fairy appeared, and sent him to gather dry wood tomake a fire. When the fire was made she sent him to fetch thewitch's wand, which she cast into the flames, saying:

"Now, mark my word, all the devils of hell will be here. "

And when the wand began to burn all the devils came and tried tosnatch it from the fire, but the queen raised her wand, saying:

 "Through this powerful wand that I hold in my hand, Through this bow and arrow I have caused her to be slain, That she may leave our domain. Now take her up high into the sky, And let her burst asunder as a clap of thunder. Then take her to hell and there let her dwell, To all eternity. "

And the wand was burnt, and the devils carried the witch off in anoise like thunder. 

The twelve months were up on that day, and the fairy said to thefisherman:

"Take your chief and your brother, and put out to sea half-a-mile, where you'll see a red spot, bright as the sun on the water; cast inyour net on the sea-side of the spot, and pull to the shore. "

They did as the queen commanded, and when they pulled the net on theshore they found the copper vessel. 

"Now open it, " said the queen to the fisherman with the belt, "butcover your belt with your coat first. "

And he did so, and when he opened the copper a ball of smoke roseinto the air, and suddenly the merman stood before them, and said:

 "The first four months that I was in prison, I swore I'd make the man as rich as a king, The man who released me. But there was no release, no release, no release. 

 The second four months that I was in prison, I swore I'd make the water run red, But there was no release, no release, no release. 

 The last four months that I was in prison, I swore in my wrath I'd take my deliverer's life, Whoever he might be. "

Whereupon the fisherman opened his coat and showed him the belt. Then the merman immediately cooled down, and said:

"Oh, that's how I came into this trouble. "

Then he asked the fisherman with the belt what had happened, and hetold him the whole story. 

Then the queen told the fisherman to take the girdle off and put itback on the merman, and he did so; and suddenly the merman took tothe sea, and began to sing from a rock:

 _"As I sit upon the rock, I am like a statue block, And I straighten my hair, That is so long and fair. And now my eyes look bright, For I am in great delight, Because I am free in glee, To roam over the sea. "_

After that the hamlet was joyful again, for the fishermen began tocatch plenty of fish; for the merman showed them where to cast theirnets, by colouring the water as of old. 

And the two brothers married the chief's two beautiful daughters, and they lived happily ever afterwards. 

THE PASTOR'S NURSE. 

Mon père était très jeune encore quand il est entré au saintministère et qu'il fut nommé pasteur à Hambach, village de laLorraine. L'endroit était assez grand, mais de peu de ressources, etil était heureux de trouver quelqu'un qui, dans son inexpérience etloin de sa famille, fut capable de lui aider à fonder sa maison, selon les usages et les traditions d'un bon presbytère. 

C'est Madame Catherine Reeb, personne d'un âge mûr, dont le mariavait été instituteur, mais qui d'une nature mécontente etorgueilleuse, se croyait au-dessus de sa sphère, et faisait sentir àsa pauvre femme, qui l'aimait d'un dévouement admirable, toutes lestortures que l'égoïsme peut inventer. Elle se donna à peine lenécessaire pour procurer à son seigneur et mâitre tous les soins quesa supériorité imaginaire pouvait exiger, et pourtant il ne futjamais content, et un beau jour disparut, sans qu'on pût retrouverses traces. La pauvre Catherine fut inconsolable, mais ne perdit pasl'espoir qu'un jour son mari ne revînt, chargé de tous les honneurs, qu'elle aussi, bonne âme crédule, lui croyait dûs. 

C'est dans ces conditions qu'elle vint tenir le ménage de mon père, elle le fit avec beaucoup de tact et de douceur, mais tout en ellerespirait la tristesse, l'abandon. Quand, après quelques années, monpère se maria, Catherine continua son activité dans la maison, maisavec son bon sens naturel, en référa la responsabilité à sa jeunemaîtresse, qu'elle aimait beaucoup. 

Ma mère chercha par bien des moyens à la distraire de son chagrin. Elle devint plus gaie, quand elle nous raconta des histoires et fitdes jeux avec nous. Nos parents se faisaient un plaisir del'observer parfois quand elle ne s'endouta pas, se disant: "Voilà cequ'il fallait à notre vieille Catherine, ce sont les enfants qui luiont porté l'oubli. "

Mais cela ne devait pas durer bien longtemps. Elle redevint peu àpeu silencieuse, et ses profonds soupirs ne prouvèrent que trop quel'oubli du triste passé n'était qu'à la surfaçe; ses manièrestaciturnes et les manifestations d'une secrète inquiétudecommençaient même à troubler mes parents, et mon père essaya parbeaucoup de bonté à la persuader d'accepter les épreuves de sa viecomme venant de Dieu. Elle pleura beaucoup et s'efforça de se gagnerun peu de calme, mais sans fruit. 

Un beau jour elle vint trouver mon père et lui dit: "Mon chermaître, aidez-moi a exécuter mon projet, et surtout n'essayez pas dem'en dissuader. Je suis décidée à aller à la recherche de mon mari;je sais qu'il a besoin de moi, il m'appelle, et je vais partir. Procurez-moi les papiers et certificats nècessaires à cetteentreprise, afin que je ne sois pas inquiétée par le police. J'iraioù mes pieds me conduiront, je ne sais où je le retrouverai, mais jesais que je le reverrai. Je marcherai de jour, et de nuit je melogerai dans une auberge ou une ferme, et je vous donnerai de mesnouvelles. "

Mon père voyait qu'il ne pouvait ébranler sa résolution, fit cequ'elle lui demanda, pourvoyant tant que possible aux besoins de laroute, et c'est le coeur gros de sinistres présages que mes parentsvirent partir leur bonne et fidèle servante. Quand je lui dis: "Tune nous aimes donc plus, puisque tu pars?" elle m'embrassa enpleurant, et dit, "Je reviendrai!" Il y avait alors vingt ans depuisla disparition de son mari, pendant lesquel elle avait soigneusemententretenu son ménage dans une petite maison qui lui, appartenait. 

Elle partit donc, ainsi qu'elle l'avait dit; marchant de jour et sereposant de nuit, se dirigeant vers la Prusse. 

Elle fut absente sans que nous eussions de ses nouvelles pendantau-delà d'un mois quand un jour le facteur apporte une lettre à monpère de la part d'un collègue inconnu d'un village de la Prusse, quilui dit: "Une femme de respectable apparence, munie de certificatsidentifiant ses dires, est venue me prier de procéder à l'humationde son mari qu'elle a trouvé mort dans un bois du village voisin. L'autorité municipale a comparé les papiers trouvés dans les pochesde l'inconnu et a constaté qu'ils sont en rapport avec ceux que lafemme Reeb porte sur elle, et sur ce fait, et voyant que l'hommeétait mort sans violence, a laissé ses restes à elle qui se dit saveuve et qui lui a rendu les derniers honneurs au cimetière de notrevillage. "

Inutile de décrire la surprise de mes parents à la reception decette lettre, qui fut bientôt suivie par le retour de Catherine. Elle compléta le récit du pasteur en disant qu'un matin en sortantde ce village, elle alla trouver un petit bois, quand elle vit aubord du chemin un homme étendu mort, mais qui venait seulement decesser de vivre. Elle le regarda, l'examina et reconnut son mari; illui parut évident qu'il faisait son retour vers la patrie et elle, mais que la mort l'avait surpris en route. Catherine fut bien pluscalme après ces événements, mais ses forces déclinèrent et dans lamême année on creusa pour elle une tombe au cimetière de Hambach. Elle n'avait plus de famille que celle qu'elle avait si fidèlementservie, et les larmes de deux jeunes enfants prouvèrent que quoiqueabandonnée elle avait été aimée. 

NOTES. 

(1) THE FAIRIES OF CARAGONAN. 

Source: This story came from a Welsh pedlar--a woman. Itsgenuineness may be relied upon. I find it a common belief thatfairies have power over witches, and the witch-hare is commonlybelieved in; also a witch-fox. I have heard of no evil fairies inWales; all the mischief seems to be the work of witches. I haveheard several variants of the witch-hare. 

(2) THE CRAIG-Y-DON BLACKSMITH. 

This story I have heard from four different persons. 

(3) OLD GWILYM. 

Source: This story came from an old Welshman who says he knewGwilym, and heard the story from his lips. The narrator may berelied upon. 

(4) THE BABY-FARMER. 

Same source. 

(5) THE OLD MAN AND THE FAIRIES. 

Same source as 2. In Wales, so far as I have heard, the disappointedalways find _cockle-shells_. 

(6) TOMMY PRITCHARD. 

Same source as 2. 

(7) KADDY'S LUCK. 

Same source as 2. 

(8) STORY OF GELERT. 

As told by an old fisherman. The variant of this well-known storymay prove useful. Borrow's "tent" theory is, I think, an inventionof his own. I was fortunate enough to get possession of an old book(without title-page, title, or author's name), in which thefollowing remarks on this story occur:--

"Some say this should be written Bedd Gelert, or Gilert, signifyingGelert's, or Gilert's Grave. To this name is annexed a traditionalstory, which it is hardly worth while to mention. However, thesubstance of the tradition is, that Prince Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, ina fit of passion, killed a favourite greyhound in this place, namedGelert, or Gilert, and that, repenting of the deed, he caused a tombto be erected over his grave, where afterwards the parish church wasbuilt. See the story at large in Mr. Edw. Jones's _WelshMusic_. But we may reasonably conclude that this is all a fable, both when we consider the impiety of building a church for divineworship over the grave of a dog, an impiety not consistent with thegenius of that age; and when we consider, also, that theestablishment of parochial cures, and the building of our countrychurches in Wales, began soon after the dispersion of the Britishclergy, which happened at the time of the massacre at Bangor Iscoed, A. D. 603, at the instigation of Augustine the Monk, employed forthat purpose by the See of Rome. Llewelyn ap Iorwerth governed Walesfrom A. D. 1194 to 1240, when he died; so that parish churches werebuilt between five and six hundred years before the time of thisprince. 

"This Gelert, or Gilert, must, in all probability, have been someold monk or saint of that name, who was interred here, and waseither the first founder of this church, or one to whose memory itwas dedicated, if built after his time. Bethgelert, before theReformation, was a priory. Lewis Dwnn, a bard of the fifteenthcentury, in a poem (the purport of which is to solicit David, thePrior of Bethgelert, to bestow on John Wynne, of Gwydwr, Esq. , afine bay horse which he possessed) extols the Prior for hisliberality and learning. Hence we are led to suppose that this monkwas very opulent, and a popular character in his time. "

The stories of a hunter killing his favourite greyhound (always agreyhound) are common to many districts. The book quoted is said tobe written by a Mr. Williams, in 1800. 

(9) ORIGIN OF THE WELSH. 

Source: An old seaman, who avers he heard it on a ship, on the wayhome from Calcutta. I look with suspicion on the story. However, theWelsh always believed they were descended from the Trojans, and theauthor of the book cited says on this point:--

"Elen was a very common name among the ancient British ladies, andit seems to have been often bestowed out of compliment upon genteeland beautiful women; as we sometimes hear at this day _Ei Elen O--his Elen_ when a man has a young and beautiful wife; and there ishardly a love-song but the woman is called or compared in it to theTrojan Helena, or Elen, as the Welsh write and pronounce the word. The Welsh have had amongst them, time out of mind, a tradition thatthe first colony of Bretons came to these islands from Troy afterthe destruction of that city. "

(10) THE STORY OF THE CROWS. 

Source: Told me by an old man, who knew the defunct. 

(11) ROBERTS AND THE FAIRIES. 

Source: Told me by another old man, and I believe it to be genuine. 

There is another story of the same kind, of a man who was searchingfor treasure in Beaumaris Castle, and after he had told of his lucka stone fell on him, so that he had to go away. 

(12) THE QUEEN OF THE DELL. 

Came from the same old pedlar as No. 1. A genuine story. Thenarrator says you seldom hear a fairy story in Anglesea unless thereis a witch in it. 

(13) ELLEN'S LUCK. 

Source: Told me by the same old man as No. 11. I believe it to begenuine, and the narrator trustworthy. 

(14) THE PELLINGS. 

Source: Taken _verbatim_ from the old book referred to. In thecontext the author says these people inhabited the districts aboutthe foot of Snowdon, and were known by the nickname of Pellings, which is not yet extinct; and he says they tell the tale as given. After telling the story, which he entitles a fairy story, he makesthe following suggestive comments:--

"Before the Reformation, when the Christian world was enveloped inPopish darkness and superstition, when the existence of fairies andother spectres was not questioned, and when such a swarm of idlepeople, under the names of minstrels, poets, begging friars, etc. , were permitted to ramble about, it may be supposed that thesevagrants had amongst themselves some kind of rule or government, ifI may so term it, as we are assured those that now-a-days go underthe name of gypsies have. Such people might, at appointed times onfine moonlight nights, assemble in some sequestered spot, toregulate their dark affairs and divide the spoil; and then performtheir nightly _orgies_, so as to terrify people from comingnear them, lest their tricks and cheats should be discovered. It ispossible the men of Ystrad might have less superstition, andsomewhat more courage, than their neighbours, and supposing such aone to come suddenly on these nightly revellers, he would of coursecause great consternation amongst them; and, on finding a comelyfemale in the group, it is not unnatural to imagine that he might, as the heroes of old have done before him, seize on a beauteousHelen, carry her home, and in process of time marry her--for manyvalorous knights have done the latter; but she, on account of somedomestic jars, might afterwards have eloped from him, and returnedto her former companions and occupation. "

The author makes the following remarks in a foot-note:--

"The English writers of romances feign the fairies to be of asmaller size than even the fabled pigmies; the Welsh people eversupposed them to be of the same stature with mankind. Shakespearedescribes his fairy as less than a mite, riding through people'sbrains to make the chase. This has not been my experience. I havehad them described to me of all sizes, varying from a woman tolittle people two feet high. They have been described, when large, as dressed like ordinary ladies, when small, with short dresses; nohats, and hair in a plaited pigtail down the back. "

Finally, the writer says:

"What other interpretation can be given to this tale I know not. This, and such other tales, the material of which one might collecta volume, must, it may reasonably be supposed, have something ofreality for their origin and foundation, before they were dressedout in the familiar garb given them by their authors. "

So our author is a "realist" as regards the origin of fairies. 

(15) THE LONG-LIVED ANCESTORS. 

Source: Taken _verbatim_ from the book quoted. This fablerefers to the place, _Cwm Caw Lwyd_, regarding which the writersays:

"With regard to the _Cwm Caw Lwyd_, there is a still extantfable entitled _Creaduriaid Hir Hoedlog_ (i. E. , the long-livedancestors), which seems to be a composition of no modern date. Atpresent the moral of it cannot be elucidated; but it seems that, inone respect, it was intended to represent the solitariness of thisplace, inhabited only by the weeping owl from remote antiquity; andcertainly it is the most solitary and romantic retreat that the mindof man could imagine. " The writer says his is a "literal translationof the story, according to the Welsh phraseology". 

(16) THE GIANTESS'S APRON-FULL. 

Source: _Verbatim_ from the same book. Referring to the heapsof stone found on the hill-tops, he gives the fable of the heapfound upon _Bwlchy Ddeufaen_, which he says is called _BanClodidd y Gawres_--literally, the giantess's apron-full. 

"The writer regards such tales as originally intended as hyperboles, to magnify the prowess and magnanimity of renowned persons. "

(17) A FABLE. 

Source: Taken _verbatim_ from the same book. The writer quotesit apropos of the Roman custom of bribing the Britons on themountain tops. We are told the fable was delivered by one of theBritons, named _Gwrgan Farfdrwch_, who spoke to this effect, and then follows the fable. 

(18) THE STORY OF THE PIG-TROUGH. 

Source: Told by Hugh's daughter. Genuine. 

(19) BILLY DUFFY AND THE DEVIL. 

Source: Told me by the old man who told me of the origin of theWelsh. Vague. 

(20) JOHN O' GROATS. 

Same source. Vague. 

(21) EVA'S LUCK. 

Source: A Jersey fisherman. Reliable. He also informed me that largestones, supported on others, were called "Fairy Stones" in Jersey. 

(22) THE FISHERMEN OF SHETLAND. 

Source: Told me by a yachting hand, who heard it from a Shetlandernamed Abernethy who was serving in the same yacht with him. Not manyyears ago, some volunteers at Beaumaris swore they saw a mermaidthere, and fired several shots at it. I think this story to begenuine and beautiful. 

(23) THE PASTOR'S NURSE. 

Source: Reliable. Written for me by the Pastor's mother in French. Given _verbatim_. 

FINAL. 

The book I have quoted is in my possession, and was written, I amtold, by a Mr. Williams, a Welshman, of Llandegai in Anglesea. Thathe was shrewd, reasonable, and knew the people of North Walesthoroughly, is evident from the context. The book has no date, butappears to have been written in 1800.