1889.] 411 [Mooncy. 



On this night it is dangerous to be abroad, and no one would think of 

 telling a fairy story, because the fairies ar tlien going in troops from one 

 green fort to another, making merry with their elfin comrades and danc- 

 ing to the sound until the first gray streak of day appears in the east. la 

 Connemara, they carry about with them a golden halter, with which they 

 ar able to seiz and dragoflf incautious mortals to their underground abodes, 

 but he who is so fortunate as to get possession of this rope wil thence- 

 forward know the hiding-place of all the fairy treasures. Should any one 

 meet a company of fairies on their travels and hav the presence of mind 

 to throw at them a handful of dust from under his feet, they wil be com- 

 peld to release any mortal prisoner tlM3y may hav with them. 



On this night it behoves one to be on his guard against the puca, a hate- 

 ful goblin monster, assuming by turn the form of a horse, a bull, a goat, 

 or a dwarfish imp, with all the intelligence of a man and all the malice of 

 a demon. From this Keltic name — alike in Gaelic and Welsh — is derived 

 the English Puck. A favorit trick of the puca is to present himself in the 

 guise of a gentle horse to some belated foot traveler, who is easily induced 

 to mount in order the sooner to reach his journey's end. The puca some- 

 times facilitates the operation by approaching stealthily from behind and 

 deftly inserting his head between the legs of the victim. Then begins a 

 wild ride over hil and dale, through fields and across meadows, until at 

 last the puca halts on the edge of a lofty clif and with a sudden toss hurls 

 his victim down upon the rocks below. On this night, also, it is said that 

 he spoils the sloes and the blackberries, so that they ar no longer fit to be 

 eaten. The same belief, transferd to the eve of Michaelmas, September 

 29, is found also in Cornwall.* 



While the fairies, the witches and the puca are thus abroad, the dead 

 also leav their graves to revisit once more their former haunts and min- 

 gle unseen with the living. In order that tliey may be comfortable and 

 know they ar not forgotten on this one night in the year, their pitying 

 friends sweep clean around the hearth and build up a good fire so that the 

 ghosts may warm themselvs after leaving their chilly graves, while food 

 and milk in abundance ar set out for their refreshment. At the same time 

 the souls of the departed ar especially rememberd in the prayers of the 

 living. Those, also, who ar not dead, but in captivity with the fairies, 

 ar now permitted to return again to their old homes for a few short hours, 

 and it is even said that the spirits of the dead join in the fairy revels on 

 this one night of the year. Lady Wilde also states that "on November 

 eve, by certain incantations, the dead can be made to appear and answer 

 questions ; but for this purpose blood must be sprinkled on the dead body 

 when it rises ; for it is said the spirits love blood. The color excites them 

 and gives them for the time the power and the semblance of life."f 



From one of Wakeman's charming Irish letters in the Washington 

 Evening Star, we extract the following account of a recent November eve 



* W. S. Lach-Szyrma, iu Folk-lore Journal, i, 365, London, 1883. 

 t Lady Wilde, 1, 207. 



