Fairy Beliefs in Galloway. 241 



who offended them !) The Doone Hill, just near the Whit- 

 horn Road, only about a hundred yards nearer the Isle than 

 the old mill, was also counted a " fairy hill," and " as auld 

 John Brodie was comin' hame frae Whithorn ae nicht he saw 

 the fairies dancin' on the tap o' the hill." 



Lang"hill, or Long-hill as it is now called, had its fairy. 

 The old man also told of " an auld body doon the raw " 

 (King's Road now) "who was in the habit o' throwin' her slops 

 oot o' the back door, an' they ran doon intae a thorn bush 

 in her gairden. Weel, ae morning a wee body in a green 

 dress cam' intae the hoose an' said tae the auld woman, ' Ye 

 micht throw your slops oot o' the front door efter this, as it 

 rins doon intae my hoose.' " No doubt the " auld body " 

 obliged the fairy, as I did not gather that any harm befell her 

 afterwards. A woman of great age, but who is still a believer 

 in fairies, living at Whithorn, will sometimes deign to tell a 

 few reminiscences of her earlier days if she is in the mood, 

 and this is one : — " Ae mornin' a wee body cam' tae the door 

 an' asked me if I could give her a wee drap o' milk for a 

 back-gane wean. I said I wad look and see if I had ony if 

 she wad juist baud my wean a meenit. ' Na, na,' quo' she, 

 ' I'll no baud yer wean, but if ye pit her in the cradle I'll look 

 efter her till ye cam' back. Sae I gaed an' got her the milk. 

 She thanked me a lot, and then said, ' Ye're a nice sonsy body, 

 an' as lang as ye leeve ye'U never ken want.' " Another 

 woman told my friend at the Isle that there were fairies at 

 Slateheugh, in the parish of Glasserton, and " they had their 

 wee hooses among the rocks an' caves, an' the folk used tae 

 see their wee fires reeking in the mornin'." She said " there 

 were fairies at Balfern, but when the new house was built it 

 was built on the fairies' knowe, an' they disappeared efter 

 that." Another story of a country woman is in the Glasser- 

 ton district. " She was weshing puddin' skins at the burn 

 efter the killing o' the pig, when a fairy cam' tae her an' 

 asked for a wee pickle meal, sae I went and got it tae her 

 (as it wasna lucky to refuse). The fairy said, ' Ye '11 wesh 

 puddin' skins here the next twenty years,' " and the woman 

 says this came quite true ! 



Her idea why fairies have disappeared altogether " is 



