They were equally fond of dancing, and we are told how they meet "To dance their ringlets to the whistling wind;" and in the "Maydes' Metamorphosis" of Lyly, the fairies, as they dance, sing: "Round about, round about, in a fine ring a, Thus we dance, thus we dance, and thus we sing a, All about, in and out, for our brave queen a," etc. As Mr. Thoms says, in his "Three Notelets on Shakespeare” (1865, pp. 40, 41), “the writings of Shakespeare abound in graphic notices of these fairy revels, couched in the highest strains of poetry; and a comparison of these with some of the popular legends which the industry of Continental antiquaries has preserved will show us clearly that these delightful sketches of elfin enjoyment have been drawn by a hand as faithful as it is masterly." It would seem that the fairies disliked irreligious people; and so, in "Merry Wives of Windsor” (v. 5), the mock fairies are said to chastise unchaste persons, and those who do not say their prayers. This coincides with what Lilly, in his "Life and Times," says: "Fairies love a strict diet and upright life; fervent prayers unto God conduce much to the assistance of those who are curious hereways,” i. e., who wish to cultivate an acquaintance with them. Again, fairies are generally represented as great lovers and patrons of cleanliness and propriety, for the observance of which they were frequently said to reward good servants, by dropping money into their shoes in the night; and, on the other hand, they were reported to punish most severely the sluts and slovenly, by pinching them black and blue.' Thus, in "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" (v. 1), Puck says: "I am sent, with broom, before, To sweep the dust behind the door." 'Brand's "Pop. Antiq.," 1849, vol. ii. p. 483. In "Merry Wives of Windsor" (v. 5), Pistol, speaking of the mock fairy queen, says: 66 Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery;" and the fairies who haunt the towers of Windsor are en joined: "About, about, Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out: Strew good luck, ouphes, on every sacred room : The several chairs of order look you scour In Ben Jonson's ballad of "Robin Goodfellow "When house or hearth doth sluttish lie, I pinch the maidens black and blue, The bed clothes from the bed pull I, 'Twixt sleep and wake I do them take, And on the key-cold floor them throw; Then forth I fly, And loudly laugh I, ho, ho, ho!" we have a In "Round About our Coal Fire," we find the following passage bearing on the subject: "When the master and mistress were laid on the pillows, the men and maids, if they had a game at romps, and blundered up stairs, or jumbled a chair, the next morning every one would swear 'twas the fairies, and that they heard them stamping up and down stairs all night, crying, 'Waters lock'd, waters lock'd!' when there was no water in every pail in the kitchen." Herrick, too, in his "Hesperides," speaks of this superstition : "If ye will with Mab find grace, Water in, ere sun be set, 'Halliwell-Phillipps's "Illustrations of Fairy Mythology," p. 167; see Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare," pp. 122, 123. Wash your palės and cleanse your dairies, Sweep your house; who doth not so, While the belief in the power of fairies existed, they were supposed to perform much good service to mankind. Thus, in "A Midsummer-Night's Dream " (v. 1), Oberon says: the object of their blessing being to bring peace upon the house of Theseus. Mr. Douce' remarks that the great influence which the belief in fairies had on the popular mind "gave so much offence to the holy monks and friars, that they determined to exert all their power to expel these imaginary beings from the minds of the people, by taking the office of the fairies' benedictions entirely into their own hands;" a proof of which we have in Chaucer's "Wife of Bath:" "I speke of many hundred yeres ago; But now can no man see non elves mo, For ther as wont to walken was an elf Ther walketh now the limitour himself." Macbeth, too (v. 8), in his encounter with Macduff, says: “I bear a charmed life, which must not yield To one of woman born." In the days of chivalry, the champion's arms were ceremoniously blessed, each taking an oath that he used no charmed weapon. In Spenser's "Fairy Queen" (book i. canto 4) we read: "he bears a charmed shield, And eke enchanted arms, that none can pierce." Fairies were amazingly expeditious in their journeys. Thus, Puck goes "swifter than arrow from the Tartar's bow," and in "A Midsummer-Night's Dream" he answers Oberon, who was about to send him on a secret expedition: Again, the same fairy addresses him : "Fairy king, attend, and mark: I do hear the morning lark. Oberon. Then, my queen, in silence sad, Once more, Puck says: "My fairy lord, this must be done with haste, For night's swift dragons cut the clouds full fast, And yonder shines Aurora's harbinger," etc. It was fatal, if we may believe Falstaff in "Merry Wives of Windsor" (v. 5), to speak to a fairy: "They are fairies; he that speaks to them shall die." Fairies are accustomed to enrich their favorites; and in "A Winter's Tale" (iii. 3) the shepherd says: "It was told me I should be rich by the fairies;"1 and in "Cymbeline” (v. 4), Posthumus, on waking and finding the mysterious paper, exclaims: 66 "What fairies haunt this ground? A book? O rare one! Be not, as is our fangled world, a garment Nobler than that it covers," etc. 'See Croker's "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland, p. 316. At the same time, however, it was unlucky to reveal their acts of generosity, as the shepherd further tells us: "This is fairy gold, boy; and 'twill prove so; up with't, keep it close, home, home, the next way. We are lucky, boy; and to be so still requires nothing but secrecy." The necessity of secrecy in fairy transactions of this kind is illustrated in Massinger and Field's play of "The Fatal Dowry," 1632 (iv. 1),' where Romont says: 'But not a word o' it; 'tis fairies' treasure, Which, but reveal'd, brings on the blabber's ruin." Among the many other good qualities belonging to the fairy tribe, we are told that they were humanely attentive to the youthful dead. Thus Guiderius, in "Cymbeline," thinking that Imogen is dead (iv. 2), says: "With female fairies will his tomb be haunted, And worms will not come to thee" 3 there having been a popular notion that where fairies resorted no noxious creature could be found. In the pathetic dirge of Collins a similar allusion is made: 66 "No wither'd witch shall here be seen, No goblin lead their nightly crew; And dress thy grave with pearly dew." It seems, however, that they were also supposed to be malignant; but this, " it may be," says Mr. Ritson," was merely calumny, as being utterly inconsistent with their general character, which was singularly innocent and amiable." Thus, when Imogen, in "Cymbeline" (ii. 2), prays on going to sleep, "From fairies and the tempters of the night, Guard me, beseech ye," 1 See Brand's "Pop. Antiq., vol. ii. p. 493. 2 Ritson's "Fairy Mythology of Shakespeare," 1875, p. 29. * We may compare Banquo's words in "Macbeth" (ii. 1): 66 'Restrain in me the cursed thoughts that nature |