[218] The custom of the "earth-man" to bury his treasures is known all over Europe. A special instance has been cited in these pages (p. 107, ante, note2, when "two little men, wearing red caps" are remembered as "intently digging" for their lost treasure, in a certain field in Lincolnshire. Mr. J. F. Campbell, in drawing his Fairy-Lapp parallel, says (Tales, Introd. cviii.): "Fairies had hoards of treasure—so have Lapps. A man died shortly before one of my Tana trips, and the whole country side had been out searching for his buried wealth in vain. Some years ago the old silver shops of Bergen and Trondhjem overflowed with queer cups and spoons, and rings, silver plates for waist belts, old plate that had been hidden amongst the mountains, black old silver coins that had not seen the light for years. I saw the plate and bought some, and was told that, in consequence of a religious movement, the Lapps had dug up and sold their hoards." Another writer (A. de C. Brooke: A Winter in Lapland, London, 1827, pp. 109-111), in referring to this practice, says that sometimes the Lapp "forgets himself where he has hidden it, and his hoard of silver remains so effectually concealed, after he has been absent some time, that he is unable to discover the place, and it is consequently lost to him for ever." And this writer refers to a Lapp of his acquaintance who had concealed his treasure "so securely that, notwithstanding the regular searches he had made for it," he could not recover it. This feature offers an explanation of the traditions of dwarfs seeking for treasures which they themselves had hidden. It may be added that the custom of burying money was still so prevalent in Shetland, in the beginning of last century, that it was held to be illegal, and the offenders were duly fined.
[219] Dublin, 1861.
[220] Op. cit., p. 505.
[221] This parenthesis appears to be Mr. O'Curry's.
[222] Pp. 596-7; the first version being at pp. 308-9.
[223] Op. cit., p. 478.
[224] Celt. Scot., II., 108.
[225] Celt. Scot., III., 413. The above translation is by Mr. W. M. Hennessy, from the following:—
Tusa (tussa) mac Sadhbha saoire,
As (is) tu an slat (intshlat) abhla as (ar) aille,
Ca dia do bhru na boinne
Do roine ria thu a taidhe.
[226] "The Irish before the Conquest," p. 237.
[227] More correctly, Gobban Saor ("Free or Noble Smith"). From the description given by Mr. Elton (Origins, p. 131) of "Wayland's Smithy" at Ashbury, Berkshire, it is evident that it also belongs to the same class as the Boyne mounds.
[228] The symbol for the Gaelic agus—"and."
[229] Dr. O'Conor's Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores veteres, 1824, III., 363-364.
[230] "Bad translation and wretchedly erroneous topography," says the former; "by no means accurate," says the latter.
[231] Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill, lxxii, 23.
[232] Properly, of one-half only of Meath. (Wars of the Gaedhill, lxx, n3.)
[233] Op. cit., lxxxviii, xci, notes.
[234] For references to Scotch "weems" (specially so called), see Col. Forbes Leslie's "Early Races of Scotland," 1866, Vol. II., pp. 351-354. Also ante, p. 101.
[235] ? The "black ford."
[236] Wars of the Gaedhill, xci, n2.
[237] Dublin, 1847, p. 22.
[238] "Book of Rights," pp. 11-12, note.
[239] Dean of Lismore's Book, Introd., p. xxiii.
[240] "Uatha, plural of Uath, a word not easily translated. Uath is evidently "These are tales formed from Uaimh, a cave, or cellar; and signifies some deed connected with, as the attack or plunder of, a cave." (O'Curry, op. cit., p. 586, note.)
[241] "The Irish before the Conquest," p. 32.
[242] For Mr. O'Curry's various statements, see his Lectures, pp. 257-8, 283, 586-7 and 589.
[243] A more particular description of the Brugh of the Boyne will be found in Appendix A. The three mounds are also described in "A Hand Book of Irish Antiquities," by William F. Wakeman, Dublin, 1848; in Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne," Dublin, 1849, and two of them (Knowth and Dowth) by T. N. Deane, in the "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," December, 1888.
[244] For such details see Scott's introduction to "The Monastery," etc., etc.; Brand's "Description of Zetland;" and Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. "Uruisg."
[245] "Legends of Scottish Superstition," Edinburgh, 1848; "Maclachlan's Brownie."
[246] "West Highland Tales," I., xlvii.
[247] Although the dwarfs of central England may not rightly be considered under the name of Picts or Pechts, a chain connecting them with the people thus called is discernible. Scott says that, "according to romantic tradition," Kenilworth "had been first tenanted" by "those primitive Britons" who were "the soldiers of King Arthur" ("Kenilworth," ch. xxvi). Thus, the early inhabitants of Kenilworth are equally "fairies" and "primitive Britons." Again, in Glamorganshire (according to Mr. Wirt Sikes, "British Goblins," pp. 6 and 392), there is "a certain steep and rugged crag" which bears "a distinctly awful reputation as a stronghold of the fairy tribe," and, in a secret cavern underneath this crag, "Arthur and his warriors" are believed to be sleeping. While an Edinburgh tradition, given by Dr. Daniel Wilson ("Memorials," vol. ii. ch. xix.), states that "King Arthur and the Pechts" have also withdrawn to a subterranean retreat in the hill which is still known as Arthur's Seat. Obviously, Arthur, if he ever lived, cannot have retired into all of these places, but there is, nevertheless, a vague agreement in these three traditions; and Kenilworth, Arthur's Seat, and Craig y Ddinas all testify to an identification of Arthur and his "primitive Britons," with the underground "fairies" and "Pechts." It may be objected that the tradition of Barbarossa, as in Rückert's ballad, asleep in his underground castle, with his dwarf beside him, is evidently of the same origin as those just referred to. This is manifest. But, before attempting to reconcile Continental with British tradition, it is important to first demonstrate, if that may be done, that the British traditions here spoken of are historical and not mythological. (The story of the Kenilworth fairies will be found at p. 218 of "The Dialect of the English Gypsies," by B. C. Smart and H. T. Crofton, London, 1875.)
[248] It is impossible to refer here to the many terms used to denote what is really one class of people; as these terms themselves show when analyzed. But this term "goblin," although in recent centuries it has been surrounded with much that is unreal and fictitious, appears to have been once used in the most ordinary matter-of-fact way. This will be seen from the following reference quoted by Dr. Henry Rink ("Danish Greenland," 1877, p. 16), in the narrative of a Norse visit to Greenland in the eleventh century:—"One morning Thorgils went out by himself on the ice, and discovered the carcase of a whale in an opening, and beside two 'witches' (or 'goblins,' evidently Eskimo women), who were tying large bundles of flesh together. Thorgils instantly rushed upon one of them with his sword and cut off one of her hands, whereupon both of them took to their heels." In other words, the eleventh-century natives of Greenland, whom Dr. Rink believes were Eskimos, were at once classed by a Norwegian of that period in the same category as those whom he had been accustomed to call "goblins" in Europe.
[249] Miss C. MacLagan, "Proc. of Soc. of Ant. of Scot." (1st series), ix. 39.
[250] A. Mackintosh Shaw, "History of the Mackintoshes," 1880, vol. i. p. 24, note. This writer also points out that the word "Rothimurcus" itself indicates a "fortified mound" or Rath.
[251] Appendix to "The Lady of the Lake," Note 2 H.
[252] See also "West Highland Tales," II., 66, for a reference to this personage.
[253] "West Highland Tales," II., 67.
[254] Rev. Alex. Stewart, F.S.A. Scot., in "Nether Lochaber," Edin., 1883, p. 20.
He adds: "There is, besides, a Glacan-t' Shithein, the Fairy Knoll Glade, Tobaran-t' Shithein, the Fairy Knoll Well; and a deep chasm, through which a mountain torrent plunges darkling, called Leum-an-t' Shithiche, the Fairy Leap."
[255] See "Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot." 1880-81, 113 et seq.
[256] See vol. ii. pp. 48 and 52. The latter page mentions a Ruadh na Sirach, "the Fairies' Point," in the island of Kerrera, near Oban.
[257] Similarly, a "Fairy Loch" in Argyleshire is spelt Loch na Hurich, and a like example is that of Glennahuirich, in Nether Lochaber.
[258] See Skene's "Celtic Scotland," i. 232; ii. 105-6; and iii. 10.
[259] This discrepancy is pointed out by Dr. Skene, who suggests "a gravelly ridge called Torvean," and also "the eminence east of Inverness, called the Crown," as more probable sites. ("Celtic Scotland," ii. 106, note.)
[260] Hugh Miller, although he confesses himself puzzled as to their origin, undoubtedly regarded those "tomhans" as entirely natural. And if it should appear that he was mistaken, there would, in that event, be a new question opened up; because of the peculiar characteristics of what he knew as "tomhans."
It is an unfortunate circumstance that any practical attempt at testing the accuracy of the local tradition regarding Tomnahurich itself is out of the question, owing to the fact that for many years its exterior has been used as a burying ground—as more than one "hollow hill" is known to have been. But "the houses of the country people" would afford a sufficient test.
[261] A kettle of gold is specially mentioned, and in the "hidden places" of the fairies of White Cater Thun, near Brechin, a kettle of gold is also believed to be concealed.
[262] Dr. Marshall, "Historic Scenes in Perthshire," Edinburgh, 1880, p. 263.
[263] Owing, I believe, to the fact that it is on a different estate. The following remarks by M. T. N. Deane, in his paper on the "hollow hills" of Knowth and Dowth, in the Boyne valley ("Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Dec. 1888, p. 164), may be aptly quoted here:—"For many years it has been the desire of antiquaries to explore Knowth, but I regret to say the owner is unwilling to permit a search being made. I am in great hopes that when it is fully understood that the vesting of a monument does not involve an infringement of territorial rights the difficulty will be overcome, and monuments now neglected will be placed under supervision."
[264] Marshall's "Historic Scenes in Perthshire," pp. 383-84. Mr. Grant Stewart, in his "Popular Superstitions" (as quoted in the Scots Magazine, 1823, vol. 13, p. 40), states that "the workmen of the great Michael Scott were all Fairies; and it is only in that way that it could be accounted for, that some stupendous bridges in the north country were built by him in the course of a single night." With this compare the above statement as to the Earl of Menteith's workmen, and all the foregoing references to "Pechts" and "Fairies" in similar circumstances; as also the "fierce tribe of Firbolgic origin, the Gowanree," who are said to have built the earthworks of the Rath of Cruachan in a single day, working as the unwilling serfs of an apparently Gaelic lord.
[265] Dr. Graham, "Sketches of the Picturesque Scenery of Perthshire," Edinburgh, 1806, p. 19.
[266] A slip of Scott's for "Bailie Nicol Jarvie."
[267] See "Rob Roy," chap. xxviii., and Note G.
[268] This spelling is only tentative. On hearing it thus pronounced, a resident in that district corrected the pronunciation to Doo'n, or Doo'an, which may signify a quite different meaning from Dùn.
[269] One would like to regard tradition as infallible in this respect. But, unfortunately, the age of the "sheeans" is so far back, that the term may now be used to denote any "conical hill," by Gaelic-speaking persons. However, a strong and persistent local tradition would far outweigh this modern misuse of the term sithean, in its general application, if such misuse (of which the dictionaries give a hint) is really common.
[270] The Continental examples are, of course, very numerous. In Denmark alone, according to J. M. Thiele, tradition points out as chambered mounds "two hills, Mangelbierg and Gillesbierg, in the environs of Hirschholm, on Hösterkiöb Mark": "a hill called Wheel-hill, at Gudmandstrup, in the Lordship of Odd": "a large knoll called Steensbierg, at Ouröe, near Joegerspriis": "the high ridge on which the church stands, at Kundebye, in the Bailiewick of Holbeck"; and, in the same bailiewick, at a place between the towns of Mamp and Aagerup, "near the Strand": Gultebierg also supplies another to the list: while "between Jerslöse and Söbierg, lies Söbierg bank, which is the richest knoll in the land." (For similar references in this neighbourhood, see also Mr. W. G. Black's "Heligoland.") And Thorpe's "Northern Mythology" specifies many such mounds. M. Pol de Mont (in his Flemish "Volkskunde," ii. 5, pp. 89-90) points out an "Aschberg," at Casterlé, in the province of Antwerp, which is said to have held fifty bergmannetjes, or hill-dwarfs. (With this may fitly be compared three Eskimo "mounds" at Hopedale, Labrador, which, though they are now deserted, "more than one hundred persons of both sexes and all ages are said to have inhabited.") But every Continental "Venusberg," into which men of the taller race were tempted by the attractions of the dwarf women, and every "berg" that is affirmed to have been the residence of a "berg-fee," comes under the same denomination as the special examples already cited.
[271] There is a Rob Roy's Town in Lanarkshire, celebrated as the scene of Wallace's capture, and even if the name is no older than Harry the Minstrel (who uses it), it indicates a "Rob Roy" ante-dating Sir Walter Scott's by a couple of centuries.
[272] Scott, who gives this definition ("Lady of the Lake," Note 2 Q), says it is the literal one. This, however, is not the literal meaning of "Uruisgean." But it is enough to know that the people so named were believed to be wild, "shaggy" men.
[273] Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. Uruisg.
[274] See Note 2 H to "The Lady of the Lake." This May Mollach is well known in the legendary history of the Grants. Scott again refers to her in his Introduction to "The Monastery," where he asserts that she "condescended to mingle in ordinary sports, and even to direct the Chief how to play at draughts." With this may be compared Thorpe's statement ("Northern Mythology," I., 145) that the Scandinavian dwarfs, who were also hairy, used to "play at tables." There is also a story in the Island of Skye of a "brownie" who watched over and instructed one of the players in a game of "tables." (See Defoe's "Duncan Campbell," London, 1856, p. 106.) "Tables" seems to have been a comprehensive name for draughts, chess, and other games played on a chess-board; and these remarks recall the set of chessmen, carved out of walrus tusk, already referred to as having been found in the Hebrides in 1826, and of which eleven are in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. "Chess-playing was one of the favourite amusements of the Irish chieftains," says O'Donovan ("Book of Rights," Dublin, 1847, p. lxi), and he gives illustrations of an Irish chess-man, which he states is exactly similar, "as well in style as in material," to the Hebridean specimens just mentioned.
[275] It may be seen again in the name given in former times to a section of the Clan Mac-Ra, "Clann ic Rath Mholach" or "Hairy Mac Raas." The surname Malloch also represents the same word.
[276] Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. Mailleachan.
[277] Ibid. s.v. Uruisg.
[278] Scott says ("Letters on Demonology," London, John Murray, 1830, p. 115) that Rob Roy once gained a victory by disguising a part of his men, by means of goat-skins, as "ourisks," and so terrifying their opponents. But if that Rob Roy, or any section of his followers, presented the appearance which Scott himself portrays, or if any remnant of the ancient "Pechts" survived in that neighbourhood, it does not seem that any disguise was necessary to give them the appearance of "wild, or shaggy men."
[279] "West Highland Tales," II., 386.
[280] "West Highland Tales," II., 189-192. For further references to the fuath, or duine fuathasach, see pp. 97-101 of the same volume. It may be added that Armstrong simply defines brollachan as "a ragged person." Similarly, McAlpine states that in the West Highlands uruisg signifies "a savage, ugly-looking fellow." Both of these definitions point to the real and matter-of-fact aspect of the traditional uruisg or brollachan.
[281] Gaelic glaisean, from glas, grey. Cf. the Shetland allusion to the dwarfs as "the grey women-stealers."
[282] "West Highland Tales," Introduction, pp. liv, lv.
[283] With the above use of "rough," as also in relation to the brollachan, compare the statement in Defoe's "Duncan Campbell" (London, 1856, p. 129) that the brownie "appeared like a rough man."
[284] The Archæological Review, Jan. 1890, pp. 433, 434.
[285] See Vol. 13, pp. 424-6 (Nugæ Cambrica).
[286] It is to be noted that this writer renders "Gwylliaid" by "Banditti," and never refers to them as "goblins" or "fairies," though this is the usual meaning given to the word. There is no good reason for objecting to the less usual translation, except that, while it denotes one recognized characteristic of the dwarfs, after they had been cut up into small confederacies, it loses sight of other notable features of such "banditti."
[287] The difference between these people and the intangible "fairies" created by the imagination (but originating in reality) is nowhere brought out more strongly than in this passage. A hanged fairy would be quite a novelty in poetry.
[288] In her "Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy" (London, 1879, Vol. I., Letter xiv.), Mrs. Bray speaks of these "gubbins," referring to the account given by Camden as well as Fuller. Halliwell also cites "Milles' MS." As for the derivation of the word itself, it seems clearly to be connected with Welsh coblyn, English goblin and gub, and Italian gobbo—pigmy. Compare also gobban (ante, p. 134); and note the etymology quoted by Fuller (op. cit.) "that such who did 'inhabitare montes gibberosos' were called Gubbings."
[289] See Mrs. Bray's work just cited, Vol. I., Letter x.: also a reference to the goblin or "bucka" as hairy, in Mr. Whitley Stokes' "Gwreans an Bys," pp. 124, 125.
In Mr. Hunt's "Popular Romances of the West of England" (London, J. C. Hotten, 2nd edit., pp. 217, 218), there is a weird story of a wrestling-match by night, at a certain cairn near Penzance. The wrestlers were believed by the two onlookers to be supernatural beings:—"They were men of great size and strength, with savage faces, rendered more terrible by the masses of uncombed hair which hung about them, and the colours with which they had painted their cheeks." They had appeared to issue out of the rocks of the cairn. Although the term "great size," if it denotes stature, does not include these men among dwarfs, yet they are represented as Picti; and as "supernatural," hirsute cave-dwellers.
[290] "West Highland Tales," II., 64. (For a general reference to the nudity of those drudges see Ritson's "Fairies," London, 1831, p. 46.)
[291] Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," I., 244.
[292] Thorpe: op. cit. I., 252.
[293] In Edinburgh, for the firm of Messrs. Schenck and McFarlane, lithographers.
[294] There is at least one detail overlooked in this picture by the artist. And another detail, which he has introduced, has not been referred to in these pages, viz., the miner's lamp worn by the dwarfs. In Cornwall, the earliest miners are understood to have been those "little people," whose subterranean habits would undoubtedly render them early acquainted with the use of metals. And the miner's lamp may reasonably be regarded as an inheritance from the dwarf races. It is noteworthy that the typical miner's dress, in seventeenth-century England, appears to have been "canvas breeches, red waistcoats and red caps," a garb closely in agreement with some versions of the dwarf attire. (See Hone's "Ancient Mysteries," p. 259.)
[295] Introduction to "Aino Folk Tales," by Basil Hall Chamberlain, Professor of Philology at the Tōkyō University. (Privately printed for the Folk-Lore Society, 1888.)
[296] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," by Miss Isabella L. Bird. London, 1880, II., p. 103.
[297] Introduction to "Aino Folk Tales," vi.-vii.
[298] Ibid., v.
[299] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 9, 107. (Also p. 75.)
[300] The writer here refers to a less pure type of Aino.
[301] See "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 9, 75-6, 106, 118, 136-7, and 143-4.
[302] For the use of this block I am indebted to Mr. John Murray, Albemarle Street.
[303] This adjective can be otherwise accounted for.
[304] One might multiply special instances without end. But it is appropriate to notice that the "Arabian Nights" tales are, in this respect, in keeping with those of the West. For example, Schaibar, the brother of the fairy Pari-Banou, is a powerful dwarf, possessing a tremendous beard and moustache (his strength, the smallness of his stature, and his beard are all vastly exaggerated, but they are all distinguishing features). And again, in the Third Voyage of Sindbad, his vessel approaches an island of which he says:—"The captain told us that this island was inhabited by hairy savages, who would come to attack us; and although they were only dwarfs, we must not attempt to make any resistance; for, as their number was inconceivable, if we should happen to kill one, they would pour upon us like locusts, and destroy us. No sooner had he said this than we saw coming towards us an innumerable multitude of hideous savages, entirely covered with red hair, and about two feet high. They threw themselves into the sea, and swam to the ship, which they soon completely encompassed. They spoke to us as they approached, but we could not understand their language. They began to climb the sides and ropes of the vessel with so much swiftness and agility, that their feet scarcely seemed to touch them, and soon reached the deck."
[305] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 143.
[306] xxvii. and xxxiii. The harpoon tip is said, in one tale, to have been "made half of iron and half of bone."
[307] Miss Bird met with some Ainos of whom she says (II., 37):—"I thought that they approached more nearly to the Eskimo type than to any other." This, of course, was exceptional; but the remark is noteworthy.
[308] March, 1885, "A Very Old Master."
[309] Fortnightly Review, September, 1882, p. 312.
[310] Opinions still more antagonistic to those of Professor Dawkins were expressed by Professor Flower, in commenting upon a paper read by Dr. John Rae at the Anthropological Institute, July 7th, 1886, wherein Dr. Rae had referred to this subject.
[311] A reprint of which is appended to Mr. Elton's "Origins" (Plate IV).
[312] Brooke's "Travels in Lapland," London, 1827, p. 3.
[313] For these references see Appendix B and the "Antiquitates Americanæ" (Copenhagen, 1837), conveniently condensed in W. C. Bryant and S. H. Gay's "History of the United States," Chap. III.
[314] Such as Nordenskiöld, Carstensen, Joest, &c.
[316] Further statements upon this point will be found in Appendix B.
[317] "Voyage of the Vega," I. 443.
[318] This statement, made by Professor Tylor in his Introduction to the "Aino Folk-Tales," is based upon the accounts of others; for a reference to one of which (Von Siebold's) I am indebted to Mr. Tylor.
[319] Berlin, 1881.
[320] Jour. Ethnol. Soc. of London, Jan. 1871.
[321] Paris, 1888.
[322] See General Pitt-Rivers' "Excavations in Cranborne Chase," 1887. (Privately Printed.) II., 206-7.