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~About Faeries~

A wild and daring spirit of adventure, a love of legendary romance, a deep-rooted belief in the supernatural, an unconquerable reverence for ancient customs, and an extensive superstitious creed has, from the earliest times, belonged to the Celtic race.

So where do faeries come from? Lady Wilde, in "The Ancient Legends of Ireland" had this to say in explanation of this belief in Ireland:

"The islanders, like all the Irish, believe that the faeries are the fallen angels who were cast down by the Lord God ot of heaven for their sinful pride. And some fell into the sea, and some on the dry land, and some fell deep into hell, and the devil gives to these knowledge and power, and sends them on earth where they work much evil. But the faeries of the earth and the sea are mostly gentle and beautiful creatures, who will do no harm if they are let alone, and allowed to dance on the faery raths in the moonlight to their own sweet music, undisturbed by the presence of mortals" [Wilde:169]


~Faeries are Mischievous~


Hogul: "Well, what did you expect fairies to do?"

Sarah: "I thought they did nice things like...like granting wishes!"

Hogul: "Shows what you know, don't it?..."



* The Irish have always had a great belief in the faeries, and referred to them as the "good folk" or the "good neighbours", not because they are good, but for fear of their anger!

* Many illnesses were blamed on the faerie folke. A stroke, for instance, has it's roots in faerie superstition. The word 'stroke' has been shortened from "elf-stroke", as it was believed that an elf would strike a human, then invisibly carry them off, leaving a stock in their place.

~Changelings~


Faerie births are difficult & faerie babies often do not thrive. Unbaptised human babies are sometimes stolen, and in their place are left faerie babies, known as Changelings. These are often wizened or sickly, which is perhaps why faeries prefer human children. Occasionally, faeries can be tricked into restoring the original child.

~The Changeling~

A young woman named Mary Scannell, lived with her husband at Castle Martyr. One day at harvest time, she went with several more to help in binging up the whear, and left the child, which she was nursing, in a corner of the field, quite safe as she thought, wrapped up in her cloak. When her work was finished, she returned to where the child was, but in place of her own, she fhound a thing in the cloak that was not half the size, and the kept up such a crying, you might have heard it a mile off. So Mary Scannell guessed what had happened, and without stop or sway, she took it in her arms to a wise woman, all the while pretending to be fond of it. The wise woman told her in a whisper not to give it enough to eat, and to beat & pinch it without mercy.

Mary Scannell did this, and when she awoke in the morning, one week later to the day, she found her own child lying by her side in the bed! The faery that had been put in its place had not liked how it was treated by Mary Scannell, who had understood how to deal with it, and it went away after a week's trial and sent her own child back to her.


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