154 NETHER LOCHABER. 



" O how they skipped it, 

 Capered and tripped it, 

 Under the greenwood tree ! " 



The popular belief in the origin of these bright green circles, that 

 they were caused by fairy feet in many a midnight merry-go-round, 

 is frequently alluded to in the poetry alike of Celt and Saxon. 

 Thus a fairy song of the time of Charles the First begins 



" We dance on hills above the wind, 

 And leave our footsteps there behind, 

 Which shall to after ages last, 

 When all our dancing days are past. " 



The reader will probably remember Queen Mab's very quaint and 

 beautiful song in Percy's Reliques of English Poetry : 



" Come, follow, follow me, 



You fairy elves that be : 



Which circle on the green, 



Come follow Mab your queen. 

 Hand in hand let's dance around, 

 For this place is fairy ground. 



" Upon a mushroom's head 



Our table-cloth we spread ; 



A grain of rye or wheat, 



Is manchet which we eat : 

 Pearly drops of dew we drink, 

 In acorn cups fill'd to the brink. 



" The grasshopper, gnat, and fly, 



Serve for our minstrelsy : 



Grace said, we dance a while, 



And so the time beguile ; 

 And if the moon doth hide her head, 

 The glow-worm lights us home to bed. 



" On tops of dewy grass 



So nimbly do we pass, 



The young and tender stalk 



Ne'er bends when we do walk ; 

 Yet in the morning may be seen 

 Where we the night before have been." 



