THE SOUTH DEVON 



MONTHLY MUSEUM 



PLYMOUTH, JANUARY 1st, 1836. 



No. 37.] Price Sixpence. [Vol. VII. 



LOCAL SKETCHES, No. IL 



QUEEN INA, 



OR 



THE LAST OF THE FAIRIES. 



It happened, in days gone by, that a company of 

 fairies fixed their haunts within the precincts of a 

 shady dell. No rude sunshine intruded on the 

 gleaming beauty of that leafy spot. No rough wind 

 disturbed the quiet which reigned around. The per- 

 fection of repose dwelt there, until a light laugh from 

 the elfin sprites awoke its sylvan echoes, and then 

 died with unearthly sweetness down the moonlight 

 glade. Flowers of pallid hues, primroses, and snow- 

 drops, and violets dim, all that lov^e the shade, sprang 

 into loveliness beneath the protecting influence of 

 the overhanging trees. A clear brook, after rippling 

 and dancing through the mountain-land, here gather- 

 ed together its waters, and formed a deep pool, 

 reflecting every surrounding object of beauty. How 

 the fairies discovered so pleasing a spot it is impos- 

 sible to tell, but certain it is that tradition reports 

 their dwelling there "a merrie companie," witti Ina, 

 a fairy of high degree, as their queen and head. She 

 had fixed her court beneath the fantastic roots of an 

 old oak, which for ages, with fostering care, had 

 shaded the territory of her elfin race. Her palace, 

 carpeted with delicate feather moss, and lit up with 

 the shadowy light of a hundred glow-worms, excited 



VOL, VII. — 1836. . A 



