FAIRY KINGS. 



In dayb of old, when Arthur filled the throne, 

 Whose acts and fame to foreign lands were blown, 

 The King of Elfs, and little Fairy Queen 

 Gambolled on heaths, and danced on every green : 

 And where the jolly troop had led the round, 

 The grass, unbidden, rose and marked the ground. 



As the autumn green takes possession of the meadows, and the hope 

 of another spring cheers the labour of the husbandman, a thousand 

 curious things may be seen in hedgerows, on commons, in copses, 

 and by the stony wayside. Not the least interesting of these strange 

 sights and autumn wonders are those rings of rich green grass which 

 appear on lawns and old pastures, familiarly known as " Fairy Rings, " 

 — subjects of inquiry to the curious, and of poetic interest to the 

 imaginative. These rings are of all sizes, ranging from the circum- 

 ference of a common cart-wheel, to wide sweeps of fifteen or twenty 

 feet diameter, and distinctly marked in outline by the rich greenness 

 of the grass which forms the exterior circumference. There are not 

 a few of those who love to ramble in green and shady places, and 

 who know somewhat of the economy of the fields, who consider fairy 

 rings mere pleasant fictions, whereas they are genuine realities, and 

 may be seen by every observer who chooses to exercise patience and 

 diligence. On the flats at "Wanstead, towards the gate which opens 

 on the road to the " Thatched House ; " on the smooth lawn of 

 Cheshunt Park, and especially in front of Cheshunt House ; in tbe 

 rich meadows between Highgate and Finchley ; and on the " Rye," 

 at Peckham ; we have always succeeded in finding fairy rings : and 

 in no meadowy district will a diligent search go long unrewarded. 



In common with all appearances of a mysterious character, these 

 rings have been long associated with the superstitions of the country, 

 and time out of mind consecrated to the service of the fairies. They 

 are, indeed, the impressions left by fairy feet upon the grass : where 

 they have trodden in the giddy dance at midnight, rings of luxxiriant 



