68 pPant bore, he^erpf, cmi bijpic/. 



" They come from the beds of the Lichen green, 

 They creep from the Mullein's velvet screen, 

 Some on the backs of beetles fly 



From the silver tops of moon-touched trees, 

 "Where they swing in their cobweb hammocks high, 



And rocked about in the evening breeze ; » 



. Some from the hum-bird's downy nest, 



Had driven him out by Elfin power, 

 And pillowed on plumes of his rainbow crest. 



Had slumbered there till the charmed hour ; 

 Some had lain in a scarp of the rock, 



By glittering ising-stars inlaid, 

 And some had opened the ' Four-o'-Clock,' 



And stolen within its purple shade ; 

 And now they throng the moonlight glade, 



Above, below, — on every side, 

 Their little minim forms arrayed, 



In the tricksy pomp of Fairy pride." — Dr. Drakis ' Culprit Fay.^ 



Like the Witches, Fairies dearly love to ride to the trysting- 

 place on an aerial steed. A straw, a blade of Grass, a Fern, a 

 Rush, or a Cabbage-stalk, alike serve the purpose of the little 

 people. Mounted on such simple steeds, each joyous Elf sings — 



" Now I go, now I fly, 

 Malkin, my sweet spirit, and I. 

 O what a dainty pleasure 'tis 

 To ride in the air, 

 When the morn shines fair, 

 And sing and dance, and toy and kiss ! " 



Arrived at the spot selected for the Fairy revels — mayhap, 

 " a bank whereon the wild Thyine blows, where Oxlips and the 

 nodding Violet grows "—the gay throng wend their way to a grassy 

 link or neighbouring pasture, and there the merry Elves trip and 

 pace the dewy green sward with their printless feet, causing those 

 dark green circles that are known to mortals as " Fairy Rings." 



The Fays that haunt the moonlight dell. 

 The Elves that sleep in the Cowslip's bell, 

 The tricksy Sprites that come and go. 



Swifter than a gleam of light ; 

 Where the murmuring waters flow. 



And the zephyrs of the night. 

 Bending to the flowers that grow, 



Basking in the silver sheen, 

 With their voices soft and low. 



Sing about the rings of green 

 Which the Fairies' twinkling feet, 



In their nightly revels, beat. 



Old William Browne depicfts a Fairy trysting-place as being in 

 proximity to one of their sylvan haunts, and moreover gives us an 

 insight into the proceedings of the Fays and their queen at one of 

 their meetings. He says : — 



" Near to this wood there lay a pleasant meade 

 Where Fairies often did their measures treade, 

 Which in the meadows made such circles greene, 

 As if with garlands it had crowned beene, 



