Dec. 28. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



509 



A MYTH OF MIDKIDGE ; 



Or, A Story anient a witless WighVs Adventures 

 with the Midridge Fairies in the Bishoprich of 

 Durham ; now more than two Centuries ago. 



Talking about fairies the other day to a nearly 

 octoj^enarian female neighbour, I asked, had she 

 ever seen one in her youthful days. Her answer 

 was in the negative; "but," quoth she, "I've 

 heard my grandmother tell a story, that Midridge 

 (near Auckland) was a great place for fairies 

 when she was a child, and for many long years 

 after that." A rather lofty hill, only a short dis- 

 tance from the village, was their chief place of re- 

 sort, and around it they used to dance, not by 

 dozens, but by hundreds, when the gloaming began 

 to show itself of the summer nights. Occasionally 

 a villager used to visit the scene of their gambols 

 in order to catch if it were but a passing glance of 

 the tiny folks, dressed in their Testments of green, 

 as delicate as the thread of the gossamer : for well 

 knew the lass so favoured, that ere the current 

 year had disappeared, she would have become the 

 ha])py wife of the object of her only love; and 

 also, as well ken'd the lucky lad that he too would 

 get a weel tochered lassie, long afore his brow 

 became wrinkled with age, or the snow-white 

 blossoms had begun to bud forth upon his pate. 

 Woe to those, however, who dared to come by 

 twos or by threes, with inquisitive and curious 

 eye, within the bounds of their domain ; for if 

 caught, or only the eye of a fairy fell upon them, 

 ill was sure to betide them through life. Still 

 more awful, however, was the result if any were 

 so ra.sh as to address them, either in plain prose 

 or rustic rhyme. The last instance of their being 

 S|)oken to, is thus still handed down by tradition : — 

 'Twas on a beautifully clear evening in the month 

 of August, when the last sheaf had crowned the 

 last stack in their master's hagyard, and after call- 

 ing the " harvest home," the daytale-meu and 

 household servants were enjoying themselves over 

 massive pewter quarts foaming over with strong 

 beer, that the subject of the evening's conversation 

 at last turned upon the fairies of the neighbour- 

 ing hill, and each related his oft-told tale which 

 he had learned by rote from the lips of some parish 

 grandame. At last the senior of the mirthful 

 party proposed to a youthful mate of his, who had 

 dared to doubt even the existence of such crea- 

 tures, that lie dur.st not go to the hill, mounted on 

 his master's best ]>alfrey, and call aloud, at the full 

 extent of his voice, the following rhymes: 

 " Rise little Lads, 

 Wi' your iron gads, 

 And set the I^ad o' Midridge hame." 



Tarn o' Shanter-like, elated with the contents of 

 the pewter vessels, he nothing either feared or 

 doubted, and off went the lad to the titiiry hill ; so, 

 being arrived at the base, he was nothing loth to 



extend his voice to its utmost powers in giving 

 utterance to the above invitatory verses. Scarcely 

 had the last words escaped his lips ere he was 

 nearly surrounded by many hundreds of the little 

 folks, who are ever ready to revenge, with the in- 

 fliction of the most dreadful punishment, every 

 attempt at insult. The most robust of the fairies, 

 who I take to have been Oberon, their king, 

 wielding an enormous javelin, thus, also in rhymes 

 ecpially rough, rude, and rustic, addressed the 

 witless wight : 



" Sillie Willy, mount thy filly ; 

 And if it isn't weel corn'd and fed, 

 I'll ha' thee afore thou gets hame to thy Midridge bed." 



Well was it for Willy that his home was not far 

 distant, and that part light was still remaining in 

 the sky. Horrified beyond measure, he struck his 

 spurs into the sides of his beast, who, equally 

 alarmed, darted otf as quick as lightning towards 

 the mansion of its owner. Luckily it was one of 

 those houses of olden time, which would admit of 

 an equestrian and his horse within its portals 

 without danger ; lucky, also, was it that at the 

 moment they arrived the door was standing wide 

 open : so, considering the house a safer sanctuary 

 from the belligerous fairies than the stable, he 

 galloped direct into the hall, to the no small amaze- 

 ment of all beholders, when the door was instantly 

 closed upon his pursuing foes ! As soon as AVilly 

 was able to draw his breath, and had in part over- 

 come the effects of his fear, he related to his com- 

 rades a full and particular account of his adven- 

 tures with the fairies; but from that time forward, 

 never more could any one, either for love or money, 

 prevail upon Willy to give the fairies of the hill 

 an invitation to take an evening walk with him as 

 far as the villasje of Midridsje ! 



To conclude, when the fairies had departed, and 

 it was considered safe to unbar the door, to give 

 egress to Willy and his filly, it was found, to the 

 amazement of all beholders, that the identical iron 

 javelin of the fairy king had pierced through the 

 thick oaken door, which for service as well as 

 safety was strcjiigly plated with iron, where it still 

 stuck, and actually required the strength of the 

 stoutest fellow in the company, with the aid of a 

 smith's great fore-hammer, to drive it forth. This 

 singular relic of fairy-land was preserved for many 

 generations, till passing eventually into the hands 

 of one who cared for none of those things, it was 

 lost, to the no small regret of all lovers of legend- 

 ary lore ! M. A. D. 



rOLK LORE. 



St. Thomas's Day. — A Guernsey charm ponr 

 ve hi he sera sou umant — 



" Into a golden pipi)in stick eighteen new jiins, nine 

 in tlie eye, and nine in the stem, tie round it the left 



