FAIRIES AND THEIR FLOWER LORE 121 



" Where the bee sucks, there lurk I; 

 In a Cowslip's bell I lie; 

 There I couch when owls do cry." 



The tiny crimson drops in the cowsHp's chaHce 

 are said to possess the virtue of preserving, or even 

 restoring, youthful bloom and beauty; for these 

 ruddy drops are fairy favours, and therefore have 

 enchanted value. 



To quote Shakespeare again on this flower of the 

 Fays: 



" And I serve the Fairy queen, 

 To dew her orbs upon the green: 

 The Cowslips tall her pensioners be; 

 In their gold coats spots you see; 

 Those be rubies, fairy favours: 

 In those freckles live their savours." 



The tiny people love to nestle in the drooping 

 bells vi^ith their crimson drops. Do you not hear 

 soft music pealing from them when the moon 

 shines bright and dew ghtters on the grass: sweet 

 voices too, singing the praises of that sheltering 

 flower, wherein they can await the passing by of 

 showers ? 



The hurrying of fairy crowds when rain-drops 

 patter and begin to fall; their gossamer robes, now 

 light, now dark, as leaf-shadows fall upon them, and 

 their anxious, tiny faces looking wistfully through 

 the blades of grass for some friendly cowslip. In a 

 moment they are seen clambering up the stalks, 

 rushing each one into the nearest bell, and then 

 a symphony of soft, sweet voices, and he who 

 listens may hear, perchance, a melody of fairyland. 



Jhe Foxglove is the special delight of the fairy 

 tribe, and in some parts it is known by the name of 



