"[A] This feature is met with in several of the
stories collected by Keightley, and is made use of in Cruikshank's
picture, which forms the frontispiece to that volume. Lastly, in a number
of cases there is not merely a habitation, but a vast country underneath
the mound. An instance of this occurs in the tale of John Dietrich from
the Isle of Ruegen. Under the Nine-hills he found "that there were in that
place the most beautiful walks, in which he might ramble along for miles
in all directions, without ever finding an end of them, so immensely large
was the hill that the little people lived in, and yet outwardly it seemed
but a little hill, with a few bushes and trees growing on it."[B]
[Footnote A: Quoted by Keightley (p. 9), from Thiele, i. 118.]
[Footnote B: Keightley, 178.]
2. The haunts of the fairies may be in caves, and examples of this form of
dwelling-place are to be met with in different parts of the world. The
Scandinavian hill people live in caves or small hills, and the Elves or
dwarfs of La Romagna "dwell in lonely places, far away in the mountains,
deep in them, in caves or among old ruins and rocks," as Mr.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71