Mooney.] XtlU [April 15, 



the field, he saw his wife standing in the Jmggart* Going up to her, he 

 asked her, in the name of the Trinity, who had her in their power, and 

 what he must do to rescue her. She told him that she was with the fairies 

 and that there was one way by which he could recover her, if he had 

 suflicient courage to try it. On a certain night and at a certain hour, a 

 company of mounted fairies, with her in their midst, would enter a fairy 

 fortt near his house. He must be ready with some urine and some chicken 

 dung, which he must throw upon her and then seize her. He promised 

 to do as directed, and at the appointed time he was in waiting near the 

 fort. Soon he heard the fairies approaching, and when the noise came in 

 front of him he threw the dung and urine in the direction of the sound, 

 and saw his wife fall from her horse. He seized her, and although the 

 fairies crowded around and strove to tear her away from him, he defied 

 them and held on to her until they gave up the attempt and retired into 

 the fort, when he brought her home with him. At the instant he seized 

 her there came such a blast that "you'd think the wind would sweep the 

 roof from the house," and in the midst of it all the withered hag disap- 

 peared and was not seen afterward. The woman lived to a good age and 

 had several children after her return. 



The method adopted in this case to break the power of the enchantment 

 is especially to be noted, as it is a cardinal principle in Irish mythology 

 that fairies, being pure spirits, cannot endure defilement. Even a hand- 

 ful of dust thrown into their midst will sometimes cause them to release 

 their hold on a prisoner. The same ingredients enter into most of the 

 charms and amulets used as a protection against the fairies. The chicken, 

 also, is regarded as peculiarly sacred, and some wonderful virtue is con- 

 nected with everything belonging to it. According to popular belief, the 

 fairies can take anything but a chicken or an egg. 



Unusually promising young children — especially infants not yet bap- 

 tized^-are frequently carried off by the fairies, who leave instead what are 

 known to be changelings by their pinched and withered features, their 

 hollow voice, their constant crying and inordinate appetite, and their 

 unnaturally shrewd remarks and actions. In other words, the uninformed 

 observer might think them precocious children in delicate health. In such 

 cases, when there is no longer any doubt in the matter — for mothers are 

 always slow to be convinced of the real truth — the fairy woman is called 

 in to bring back the stolen child. Her usual method is to heat the shovel 

 in the fire, place the changeling upon it and put it out upon the dunghill. 

 She then returns to the house and recites certain words, after which the 

 family go out to the dunghill and find there the real child, in place of the 

 other, which has been taken away again by the fairies. The child seldom 



* An outdoor inclosurc for storing grain and hay. 



t Prehistoric circular earthworks, with underground passages, very numerous 

 tliroughout tlie south and west, and popularly believed to be the abode of the 

 fairies. Antiquariaus generally regard them as ancient communal village iuclosures. 



