WHO WERE THE FAIRIES ? 275 



have done with men ; comporting themselves, in 

 a word, after the manners of non-magical fairies, 

 may have got mixed up with the earlier tradition 

 until they became inseparably blended with it. 

 There are probably other strands in the tangled 

 skein of fairy legend : perhaps those indicated in 

 these pages may be two of them. 



Before concluding it may not be amiss to say a 

 few words on an exceedingly interesting point to 

 which that very distinguished scholar Professor 

 R. A. S. Macalister has recently called attention. 



If there is one part of the world which is " ful- 

 filled of faery," it is Ireland. Sir William Wilde 

 said that every green rath (i.e., earthen fortress) 

 was consecrated to the good people. There I think 

 he spoke too largely, for the people now at any 

 rate distinguish between " faery-raths " and what 

 are sometimes at least called " Danish-raths," 

 though I have never been able to find out on what 

 the distinction is based. Still the fact remains that 

 an immense number of these raths were and even 

 still are, though the belief seems to be dying out, 

 associated with fairy legends. To some these fairies 

 are the genuine descendants of the Sidhe or Aes 

 Sidhe, i.e., " the hill-dwellers," an ancient Irish 

 name for the gods. Those who wish to know some- 

 thing about them and something about Celtic 

 Mythology in general may be advised to spend 

 one penny on Professor McNeile's most admirable 

 pamphlet.* Space will not permit of this matter 

 being touched upon here, but the interesting 



* Published by the Catholic Truth Society in their series on the 

 History of Religions. 



