1887.] 14d [Mooney. 



resulted in a cure. The bottle -was paid for with a basket of eggs, each 

 one of which was marked with a black cross made with the burned end 

 of a stick, probably of furze. Tlie woman explained that he had been 

 kicked by the fairies, who were passing that way when he jumped into 

 their midst. This woman went every night with the fairies, who sum- 

 moned her with a peculiar whistle, which was heard by other persons as 

 well as herself. She was once called away from a wake in this manner, 

 but no one had the courage to follow her. The story is given as told by 

 the man who made the leap, an old soldier who has spent the last tliirty 

 years fighting Indians and border outlaws on the frontier, and is now laid 

 up for repairs at the soldiers' home near Washington. When a boy he 

 often watched all day at the entrance to a fairy fort to catch a glimpse of 

 the fairy shoemaker, but he says he no longer believes in such things. 



Another of these women kept a bottle of water, and by holding it up to 

 the light could tell whether or not a sick person would recover. A man 

 once came to her to inquire about his brother, who was sick. She looked 

 at the bottle of water and said, " You have come three minutes too late." 

 The man went home and his brother died. 



When any one sneezes, it is in consequence of a blast from the fairies, 

 who are then endeavoring to carry him off. At the third sneeze they will 

 accomplish their object, and leave a corpse or an invalid changeling in 

 his place, unless some one present exclaims, "God bless us!" On hear- 

 ing the name of God the fairies take flight, and it is hardly too much to 

 say that this ejaculation is never omitted on such occasions. A similar 

 custom prevails throughout Europe and has been traced back as far at 

 least as the time of Homer. 



The prehistoric stone arrow head, or saige'ad* occasionally found in the 

 country, is a fairy dart which has been shot at some man or animal, and 

 thus lost. The fortunate finder can counteract the designs of the fairies, 

 and the old woman who possesses one is regarded with much veneration, and 

 in the expressive language of the people, "she will get good nursing." 

 When an illness is supposed to be due to the influence of the fairies, the 

 saig'ead is put into a tumbler and covered with water, which the patient 

 then drinks, and if the fairies are responsible for his sickness he at once 

 recovers. The saig'ead is preserved in some iron receptacle to prevent 

 the fairies stealing it. 



As so many physical evils are due to the fairies, it is natural that some 

 means should be used to ward oft their influence. For this purpose a 

 horse shoe is nailed over the door, while garlic is planted in the thatch 

 above it. As newly made brides and young mothers are in most danger 

 from this source, a great many measures — which come more properly 

 under the head of marriage customs — are taken to prevent the abduction 

 of either the wife or the child. It may be in order here to state that no 

 fire must be taken out of a house while a woman is sick within it, and 



* Pronounced siedh, equivalent to the Latin sagitta. 



