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Title: The Testimony of Tradition
Author: MacRitchie, David, 1851-1925
Language: English
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THE TESTIMONY OF TRADITION.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
ANCIENT AND MODERN BRITONS: a Retrospect.
2 vols., demy 8vo, 24s.
ACCOUNTS OF THE GYPSIES OF INDIA. Collected
and Edited. With Map and 2 Illustrations.
Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.
London : Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd.
[Illustration: THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE, NEW GRANGE, COUNTY MEATH.
(_From the South._)]
THE
TESTIMONY OF TRADITION
BY
DAVID MACRITCHIE
AUTHOR OF "ANCIENT AND MODERN BRITONS"
_WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS_
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., LIMITED
1890
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WOODFALL AND KINDER,
70 TO 76, LONG ACRE, W.C.
PREFACE.
A large portion of this work has already appeared in the form of a
series of articles contributed to the _Archæological Review_
(Aug.-Oct., 1889, and Jan., 1890), but these have here undergone
some alteration and have been supplemented to a considerable extent.
With regard to the correctness of the deductions drawn in the
following pages from the facts and traditions there stated, there
may easily be a difference of opinion. And indeed one writer, Mr.
Alfred Nutt, in the course of a very learned dissertation on the
Development of the Fenian or Ossianic Saga,[1] has expressed his
dissent from the theories advanced in the articles referred to. It
would be out of place to enter here into a consideration of the
grounds of Mr. Nutt's objections, even if that did not demand an
undue amount of space; but it may be pointed out that the articles
upon which his criticism is based only state very partially the case
which even the following more enlarged version is far from
presenting fully. But what is of much greater importance is, that
the theory which I have here endeavoured to set forth has the
peculiar advantage of possessing a tangible test of its worth. What
that test is will be readily seen by every reader. If the result of
future archæological excavations should be to confirm tradition (as
it is needless to say the writer of these pages believes will be the
case), the question then will be one, not of interpreting tradition
so that it may square with current beliefs, but of modifying or
altering these beliefs, where they are distinctly in disagreement
with tradition.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Appended to the collection of "Folk and Hero Tales from
Argyllshire" which forms the second volume of the series entitled
"Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition" (London, 1890; published by
the Folk-Lore Society).
CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE v
CHAPTER I.
Shetland Finns--Orkney Finnmen--Finn Localities--Kayaks
and Kayak-men--An Orkney Kayak of 1696 1-11
CHAPTER II.
"Zee-Woners"--Piratical Mer-folk--Landsmen and Mermen--
Iberian Skin-boats--Boats made by Norway Finns--"Marine
People" of the Hebrides--Probable Finns in Galloway 12-25
CHAPTER III.
"Inhabitants of the Isles of this Kingdom"--The Isles in
the Seventeenth Century--"Barbarous Men" 26-32
CHAPTER IV.
Homes of the Finns--Norwegian Suzerainty 33-38
CHAPTER V.
Finnish Influence in Norway 39-42
CHAPTER VI.
The Feinne--The Battle of Gawra--The Feenic Confederacy 43-50
CHAPTER VII.
Feens or Cruithné--Fin in the Kingdom of the Big
Men--Dwarfish Tyrants 51-57
CHAPTER VIII.
Pechts or Dwarfs--Pechts' Houses--Earth-Houses in
Greenland--"Interlude of the Droichs" 58-65
CHAPTER IX.
How the Pechts Built--Pecht-lands--The Builders of
Corstorphine Church--"Unco wee bodies, but terrible
strang" 66-74
CHAPTER X.
Strongholds of the Feens--The _Broch_ and the
_Sith-Bhrog_ 75-79
CHAPTER XI.
Fians and Fairies--Tenth-Century Fairies--Continental
Fians and Fairies--Finn and his Dwarf in Sylt 80-88
CHAPTER XII.
Witchcraft of the Trollmen--The King of the Sidhtir of
Munster--The "Great-Beamed Deer" of the Feens--Reindeer in
Scotland in the Twelfth Century--Pechts and Fairies 89-100
CHAPTER XIII.
Hollow Hillocks--The Settler and the Mound-Dwellers--
"Hog-Boys"--Maes-How--Interior of the Chambered
Mound--A Dwarf's House in Sylt--The Little People in
Scotland--Fairy Mounds 101-118
CHAPTER XIV.
The Brugh of the Boyne--The Brugh as Described in
1724--Gaels _versus_ Dananns--Dananns, Fir Sidhe, or
Fairies--Cruithne=Feinne--Inmates of the Brugh--Plunder
of the Boyne Hillocks in 861--_Sith Eamhna_--Tales of
Adventures in "Weems"--The Dowth Mound 119-140
CHAPTER XV.
Goblin Halls--The Castle Hill of Clunie--Tomnahurich,
Inverness--The Palace of the King of the Pechts--Pecht
Localities--The Fairy Knowe of Aberfoyle--Chambered
Mounds 141-155
CHAPTER XVI.
Scott's "Rob Roy"--Shaggy Men--Red Fairies of Wales--
Brownies and Forest-Men--The Ainos--A Hairy Race--Modern
"Pechts"--Cave-Men--Dwarf-Tribes and Reindeer--_Pÿgmei
Vulgo Screlinger Dicti_ 156-175
CHAPTER XVII.
Platycnemic Men--_Ur-uisg_=_Mailleachan_ 176-180
Appendix A.--_The Brugh of the Boyne_ 181-189
Appendix B.--_The Skrælings_ 190-193
Index 195-205
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE, NEW GRANGE, COUNTY MEATH _Frontispiece._
KAYAKKER IN HIGH SEA _To face page_ 12
WIGWAMS OF THE JURA ISLANDERS IN 1772 " 24
MAES-HOW, ORKNEY " " 108
SECTIONAL VIEW AND GROUND PLAN OF MAES-HOW " 108
THE INTERIOR OF THE "HOW" " 109
SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE " " 120
DOORWAY OF THE BRUGH " 121
ENLARGED SECTIONAL VIEW OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER,
BRUGH OF THE BOYNE " " 122
GROUND PLANS OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER, BRUGH OF
THE BOYNE (From Drawings of 1724 and 1889) " " 124
EASTERN RECESS OF CENTRAL CHAMBER, BRUGH OF THE BOYNE " " 126
DOWTH (_Uaimh Feirt Bodan os Dubath_), COUNTY MEATH " " 136
PLAN OF DOWTH " 137
PLAN OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER AT DOWTH " 138
BEE-HIVE CHAMBER, DOWTH " 139
KNOWTH (_Uaimh Cnoghbhai_), COUNTY MEATH " " 140
THE DWARFS OF GERMAN FOLK-LORE " " 164
AN AINO PATRIARCH " 168
AINO OF 1804 " 170
A "GOOD FAIRY" OF TRADITION " 173
THE
TESTIMONY OF TRADITION.
CHAPTER I.
In one of an interesting series of papers on "Scottish, Shetlandic,
and Germanic Water Tales,"[2] Dr. Karl Blind remarks as follows:--
It is in the Shetland Tales that we hear a great deal of
creatures partly more than human, partly less so, which
appear in the interchangeable shape of men and seals. They
are said to have often married ordinary mortals, so that
there are, even now, some alleged descendants of them, who
look upon themselves as superior to common people.
In Shetland, and elsewhere in the North, the sometimes
animal-shaped creatures of this myth, but who in reality
are human in a higher sense, are called _Finns_. Their
transfiguration into seals seems to be more a kind of
deception they practise. For the males are described as
most daring boatmen, with powerful sweep of the oar, who
chase foreign vessels on the sea. At the same time they are
held to be deeply versed in magic spells and in the healing
art, as well as in soothsaying. By means of a "skin" which
they possess, the men and the women among them are able to
change themselves into seals. But on shore, after having
taken off their wrappage, they are, and behave like, real
human beings. Anyone who gets hold of their protecting
garment has the Finns in his power. Only by means of the
skin can they go back to the water. Many a Finn woman has
got into the power of a Shetlander and borne children to
him; but if a Finn woman succeeded in reobtaining her
sea-skin, or seal-skin, she escaped across the water. Among
the older generation in the Northern isles persons are
still sometimes heard of who boast of hailing from Finns;
and they attribute to themselves a peculiar luckiness on
account of that higher descent.
* * * * *
Tales of the descent of certain families from water beings
of a magic character are very frequent in the ... North. In
Ireland such myths also occur sporadically. In Wales ...
the origin from mermen or mermaids is often charged as a
reproach upon unhappy people; and rows originate from such
assertions. In Shetland the reverse is, or was, the case.
There the descendants of Finns have been wont to boast of
their origin; regarding themselves as favourites of
Fortune....
* * * * *
But who are the Finns of the Shetlandic story? Are they
simply a poetical transfiguration of finny forms of the
flood? Or can the Ugrian race of the Finns, which dwells in
Finland, in the high north of Norway, and in parts of
Russia, have something to do with those tales in which a
Viking-like character is unmistakable?
* * * * *
Repeated investigations have gradually brought me to the
conviction that the Finn or Seal stories contain a
combination of the mermaid myth with a strong historical
element--that the Finns are nothing else than a fabulous
transmogrification of those Norse "sea-dogs," who from eld
have penetrated into the islands round Scotland, into
Scotland itself, as well as into Ireland. "Old sea-dog" is
even now a favourite expression for a weather-beaten,
storm-tossed skipper--a perfect seal among the wild waves.
The assertion of a "higher" origin of still living persons
from Finns ... would thus explain itself as a wildly
legendary remembrance of the descent from the blood of
Germanic conquerors. The "skin" wherewith the Finns change
themselves magically into sea-beings I hold to be their
armour, or coat of mail. Perhaps that coat itself was often
made of seal-skin, and then covered with metal rings, or
scales, as we see it in Norman pictures; for instance, on
the Bayeux tapestry. The designation of Norwegian and
Danish conquerors, in Old Irish history, as "scaly
monsters," certainly fits in with this hypothesis.
* * * * *
But however the Finn name may be explained etymologically,
at all events Norway appears in the Shetland tales, and in
the recollection of the people there, as the home of the
"Finns." And this home--as I see from an interesting bit of
folk-lore before me--is evidently in the south of
Norway....
"Before coming to this important point, I may mention a
Shetlandic spell-song ... [which] refers to the cure of the
toothache; the Finn appearing therein as a magic
medicine-man:--
A Finn came ow'r fa Norraway,
Fir ta pit töth-ache away--
Oot o' da flesh an' oot o' da bane;
Oot o' da sinew an' oot o' da skane;
Oot o' da skane an' into da stane;
An dare may do remain!
An dare may do remain!
An dare may do remain!
In this, though not strictly and correctly, alliterative
song, the Finn is not an animal-shaped creature of the
deep, but a man, a charm-working doctor from Norway....
Presently we will, however, see that the Finns of the
Shetlandic stories are martial pursuers of ships, to whom
ransom must be paid in order to get free from them. This
cannot apply ... to a mere marine animal or sea monster:
for what should such a creature do with ransom money?... As
to their animal form, Mr. George Sinclair writes:--
"Sea monsters are for most part called 'Finns' in Shetland.
They have the power to take any shape of any marine animal,
as also that of human beings. They were wont to _pursue
boats at sea_, and it was dangerous in the extreme to say
_anything against them_. I have heard that _silver money
was thrown overboard to them_ to prevent their doing any
damage to the boat. In the seal-form they came ashore every
ninth night to dance on the sands. They would then cast off
their skins, and act _just like men and women_. They could
not, however, return to the sea without their skins--they
were _simply human beings_, as an old song says:
"'I am a man upo' da land;
I am a selkie i' da sea.
An' whin I'm far fa every strand,
My dwelling is in Shöol Skerry.'"
* * * * *
There are many such folk-tales in the northern Thule. A
man, we learn, always gets possession of the Finn woman by
seizing the skin she has put off. One of these stories says
that the captured Finn woman would often leave her husband
to enjoy his slumber alone, and go down amongst the rocks
to converse with her Finn one: but the inquisitive people
who listened could not understand a single word of the
conversation. She would, it is said, return after such
interviews with briny and swollen eyes.
The human family of this Finn were human in all points
except in hands, which resembled web feet. Had the foolish
man who was her husband burnt or destroyed the skin, the
Finn woman could never have escaped. But the man had the
skin hidden, and it was found by one of the bairns, who
gave it to his mother. Thereupon she fled; and it is said
that she cried at parting with her family very bitterly.
The little ones were the only human beings she cared for.
When the father came home, he found the children in tears,
and on learning what had happened, bounded through the
standing corn to the shore, where he only arrived in time
to see, to his grief, his good wife shaking flippers and
embracing an ugly brute of a seal. She cried:--
"Blissins' be wi' de,
Baith de and da bairns!
Bit do kens, da first love
Is aye da best!"
whereupon she disappeared with her Finn husband and lover.
* * * * *
... I here give what Mr. Robert Sinclair says of the
capture of Finn brides by Shetlanders:
"Each district, almost, has its own version of a case where
a young Shetlander had married a female Finn. They were
generally caught at their toilet in the tide-mark, having
doffed the charmed covering, and being engaged in dressing
their flowing locks while the enamoured youth, by some
lucky stroke, secured the skin, rendering the owner a
captive victim of his passion. Thus it was that whole
families of a mongrel race sprang up, according to
tradition. The Finn women were said to _make good
housewives_. Yet there was generally a longing after some
previous attachment; if ever a chance occurred of
recovering the essential dress, no newly formed ties of
kindred could prevent escape and return to former
pleasures. This was assiduously guarded against on the one
side, and watched on the other; but, as the story goes,
female curiosity and cunning were always more than a match
for male care and caution; and the Finn woman always got
the slip. One or two of these female Finns were said to
have the power to conjure up from the deep a superior breed
of horned cattle; and these always throve well. I have seen
some pointed out to me as the offspring of these
'sea-kye.'"
In answer to my question, the Shetland friend lays great
stress on the fact of the Finn woman being wholly distinct
from the Mermaid....
* * * * *
Of the Finn man my informant says:--
"Stories of the Norway Finns were rife in my younger days.
These were said to be a race of creatures of _human origin_
no doubt, but possessed of some power of enchantment by
which they could, with the use of a charmed seal-skin,
become in every way, to all appearance, a veritable seal;
only _retaining their human intelligence_. It seems that
any seal-skin could not do; each _must have their specially
prepared skin_ before they could assume the aquatic life.
But then they could live for years in the sea. Yet they
were not reckoned as belonging to the natural class of
'amphibia.' As man or seal they were simply Finns, and
could play their part well in either element. Their feats
were marvellous. It was told me as sheer truth that they
could _pull across to Bergen_--nearly 300 miles--in a few
hours, and that, while ordinary mortals were asleep, they
could make the return voyage. Nine miles for every warp
(stroke of the oar) was the traditional speed...."
Here, then, the Finns are men of human origin; remaining
intelligent men in their sea-dog raiment; coming from
Norway; not swimming like marine animals, but rowing
between Shetland and Norway--namely, to the town of Bergen,
which lies in the southern ... part of Norway. As strong
men at sea, they row with magic quickness.... Each one of
them ... must have his specially prepared skin.... There is
nothing here of the swimming and dipping down of a seal.
We have followed Dr. Karl Blind so far. But, while recognizing the
value of his statements and comments up to this point, it is
necessary to give only a modified assent to some of his subsequent
deductions, and to flatly deny the correctness of others; because
his researches in "Shetlandic folk-lore" have clearly been too
limited in their extent, or rather, he has omitted to check those
traditions by any possible contemporary records. Some of those tales
were received from a Shetland woman "who strongly believed in the
Finns, and declared herself to be a descendant of them.... She was,
she said, the 'fifth from the Finns,' and she attributed great
luckiness to herself, although she was as poor as poor could be."
One of her stories is of her father's great-grandfather; and as this
ancestor of the woman's is not spoken of as a "Finn," it would seem
that she was "fifth from the Finns" through another branch of her
lineage. But, at any rate, this progenitor in the fourth degree
cannot have belonged to a much later period than the middle of the
eighteenth century. However, we shall see these Shetland Finns more
plainly described if we turn to the latter part of the seventeenth
century.
In "A Description of the Isles of Orkney," written by the Rev. James
Wallace, A.M., Minister of Kirkwall, about the year 1688, one reads
as follows:--
Sometime about this Country [Orkney] are seen these Men
which are called _Finnmen_; In the year 1682 one was seen
sometime sailing, sometime Rowing up and down in his little
Boat at the south end of the Isle of _Eda_, most of the
people of the Isle flocked to see him, and when they
adventured to put out a Boat with men to see if they could
apprehend him, he presently fled away most swiftly: And in
the Year 1684, another was seen from _Westra_, and for a
while after they got few or no Fishes, for they have this
Remark here, that these _Finnmen_ drive away the fishes
from the place to which they come.
Again, in Brand's "Brief Description of Orkney, Zetland, etc."
(1701), it is stated:--
There are frequently _Fin-men_ seen here upon the Coasts,
as one about a year ago on _Stronsa_, and another within
these few Months on _Westra_, a gentleman with many others
in the Isle looking on him nigh to the shore, but when any
endeavour to apprehend them they flee away most swiftly;
Which is very strange, that one man sitting in his little
Boat, should come some hundred of Leagues, from their own
Coasts, as they reckon _Finland_ to be from _Orkney_; It
may be thought wonderfull how they live all that time, and
are able to keep the Sea so long. His Boat is made of
Seal-skins, or some kind of leather, he also hath a Coat of
Leather upon him, and he sitteth in the middle of his Boat,
with a little Oar in his hand, Fishing with his Lines: And
when in a storm he seeth the high surge of a wave
approaching, he hath a way of sinking his Boat, till the
wave pass over, lest thereby he should be overturned. The
Fishers here observe that these _Finmen_ or _Finland-men_,
by their coming drive away the Fishes from the Coasts. One
of their Boats is kept as a Rarity in the _Physicians Hall
at Edinburgh_.
This last fact was first stated by Wallace (1688; previously
quoted), who remarks:
One of their Boats sent from Orkney to Edinburgh is to be
seen in the Physitians hall with the Oar and the Dart he
makes use of for killing Fish, [and it is stated by Mr.
John Small, M.A., &c., in his edition[3] of this book that
the boat spoken of was "afterwards presented to the
University Museum, now incorporated with the Museum of
Science and Art, Edinburgh"; and a note appended to the
second edition also states that "there is another of their
boats in the Church of Burra in Orkney."]
Wallace's book has also a note ascribed to the author's son, to the
following effect:
I must acknowledge it seems a little unaccountable how
these _Finn-men_ should come on this coast, but they must
probably be driven by storms from home, and cannot tell,
when they are any way at sea, how to make their way home
again; they have this advantage, that be the Seas never so
boisterous, their boats being made of Fish Skins, are so
contrived that he can never sink, but is like a Sea-gull
swimming on the top of the watter. His shirt he has is so
fastned to the Boat, that no water can come into his Boat
to do him damage, except when he pleases to untye it....
There is, it will be seen, some difference of opinion as to the
place whence these Finn-men came. The Shetlandic folk-lore indicates
Bergen, on the south-western coast of Norway; Brand regards Finland
as their home; while Wallace takes a still wider range. This last
writer (who is the first in point of time) says this of
them:--"These _Finn-men_ seem to be some of these people that dwell
about the _Fretum Davis_ [Davis Straits], a full account of whom may
be seen in the natural and moral History of the _Antilles_, Chap.
18." At first sight, and according to modern nomenclature, the
connection between the Antilles and Davis Straits seems very remote.
But it must be remembered that the traditional country of "Antilla,"
or the "Antilles," probably included the modern Atlantic seaboard of
North America; and that, when that territory was invaded by the
Norsemen of the tenth century, it was found to contain a population
of exactly the same description as those "Finn" races--people of
dwarfish stature, who traversed their bays and seas in skin-covered
skiffs.[4] However, Wallace's theory is obviously untenable. It is
most improbable that any Eskimo of Davis Straits would attempt the
trans-Atlantic passage in his tiny _kayak_, supporting life on the
voyage by eating raw such fish as he might catch. Indeed, the feat
is almost an impossibility. Moreover, it is quite clear that those
Finn-men were voluntary and frequent visitors to the Orkneys, and
(more especially) to the Shetlands; and the "Fin-land" from which
they came is stated by the Shetlanders to have been no further off
than Bergen, on the Norwegian coast.[5]
It is quite evident that "the Finns of the Shetlandic story"
formed a branch of the "Ugrian race of the Finns"; and that some of
them "came ow'r fa Norraway"--whether as "wizards," or as fishermen,
or as pirates (for they figure in all these characters). The
description of their skin-covered canoes is of itself quite
sufficient to show that those "Finns" of Orkney and Shetland were of
the Eskimo races. So that those "sea-skins," without which the
captive Finn women could not make their escape, were simply their
canoes. And the exaggerated stories of the speed with which the
Finns could cross from Shetland to Bergen have their foundation in
the fact that those little skiffs can be propelled through the water
at such a rate that the hunted Finn was enabled to "flee away most
swiftly" from the clumsier boats of his pursuers. The speed of the
kayak is very clearly illustrated in an account of the doings of one
of "these people that dwell about the _Fretum Davis_," who was
brought to this country in 1816, and who, in that year, showed the
great superiority of his skiff in a contest with a six-oared
whale-boat at Leith. "He paddled his canoe from the inner harbour,"
says the _Scots Magazine_ of that year (p. 656), "round the Martello
Tower and back in sixteen minutes, against a whale-boat with six
stout rowers, and evidently shewed his ability to outsail his
opponents by the advantages he frequently gave them, and which he
redeemed as often as he chose." This, it will be seen, was simply a
repetition of the scenes described a hundred and twenty years
earlier, in the Orkney and Shetland groups; the chief difference
being that those earlier Eskimos had their home in Europe, and not
in any part of the western hemisphere. Of course, the Shetland
belief that the Finns could "pull across to Bergen in a few hours,"
and that "nine miles for every warp (stroke of the oar) was the
traditional speed," is obviously an exaggeration. But the distance
(which is nearer 200 than "300" miles) might almost be traversed in
the course of the long midsummer day of those northern latitudes--by
such seafarers, and in such craft.[6]
But, while the "seal-skin" of the traditional Finn was primarily his
skin kayak, it is likely enough that he is also remembered as the
wearer of a seal-skin garment; and that from this has arisen the
confusion of ideas regarding this magic "skin." "His boat is made of
seal-skins, or some kind of leather," says Brand, in describing the
Finn-man; but he adds that "_he_ also hath a coat of leather upon
him." And Dr. Wallace tells us that the Finns "have this advantage,
that be the seas never so boisterous, their boats being made of fish
skins, are so contrived that he can never sink, but is like a
sea-gull swimming on the top of the water." And he continues: "His
shirt he has is so fastened to the boat that no water can come into
his boat to do him damage, except when he pleases to untie it." Dr.
Rink, in referring to the kayaks of those "Finn-men" who inhabit the
regions surrounding the Fretum Davis, uses similar terms: "The deck
alone was not sufficient; the sea washing over it would soon fill
the kayak through the hole, in which its occupant is sitting, if his
clothing did not at the same time close the opening around him. This
adaptation of the clothing is tried by degrees in various ways
throughout the Eskimo countries, but it does not attain its
perfection except in Greenland, where it forms in connection with
the kayak itself a water-tight cover for the whole body excepting
the face."[7] But, in making this last statement, Dr. Rink is
speaking of the nineteenth-century representatives of this race; and
in ignorance of the fact that the "Eskimos" of the North Sea had
long ago realized the necessity for this waterproof covering.[8]
This waterproof "shirt" is also specially mentioned in connection
with the Finn kayak that the two Scotch writers of the seventeenth
century refer to. Wallace, it will be remembered, says of the Orkney
Finn-men that "one of their boats sent from Orkney to Edinburgh is
to be seen in the Physicians' Hall, with the oar and the dart he
makes use of for killing fish." At the time when Wallace wrote, in
or about the year 1688, there is no doubt that the boat was so
deposited. But, although the second writer, Brand, makes the same
statement, it is evident that he only did so on the authority of his
predecessor. Because, four or five years before Brand's book
appeared, the Finnman's kayak had been presented by the Royal
College of Physicians to the University of Edinburgh. The way in
which the Physicians' College had obtained the boat was through the
president of the college, Sir Andrew Balfour, eminent as a
physician, botanist and naturalist, and a great collector of all
sorts of curiosities. At his death in 1694, his collection passed to
the University of Edinburgh, by bequest. But, for one reason or
another, the Finnman's boat still remained in the Physicians'
College. This will be seen from the following extract from the
Minute Book of that College, which records the transfer of the boat
to the University of Edinburgh, two years after Sir Andrew Balfour's
death. The date of the Minute is 24th September, 1696.[9] "The qlk
[whilk] day y^e colledge considering y^t dr Balfour's curiositys are
all in y^e Colledge of Edr & amongst them y^e oars of y^e boat & y^e
Shirt of y^e barbarous man y^t was in y^e boat belonging to y^e
Colledge of physitians & y^t the same boat is likly to be lost they
having noe convenient place to keep it in doe give the s^d boat to
y^e colledge of Edr ther to be preserved & y^t it be insert there
y^t its gifted by y^e royall Colledge."
From this extract we gain the additional information that the
"Shirt" or "Coat of Leather" of the "barbarous man" himself had also
found its way to the University Museum of Edinburgh; presumably
through Sir Andrew Balfour also, or perhaps through his friend and
colleague, Sir Robert Sibbald (known as the author,[10] _inter
alia_, of a "Description" of the Orkney and Shetland Isles).[11]
FOOTNOTES:
[2] Contributed to _The Contemporary Review_ of 1881, and _The
Gentleman's Magazine_ of 1882.
[3] A reprint of 1883: William Brown, Edinburgh.
[4] _Antiquitates Americanæ._ _See_ Appendix B.
[5] It may be from them that an inlet at Bergen is called "_Fens_
Fiord." Bergen is so much associated with the "Finns" of Shetlandic
tradition that it is at least worthy of notice that a special caste,
known as _Strils_ (pronounced "Streels"), who are very primitive in
character, and who are regarded by the neighbouring Norwegians as of
a different stock from their own, still inhabit the numerous islands
that protect Bergen from the ocean. "They speak Norwegian after a
fashion of their own, but it is very difficult to understand them,
and there is reason to suppose that their idioms have a Samoyede
root." ("Bergen," by Lieut. G. T. Temple, R.N., in _Good Words_,
1880, p. 767 _et seq._)
[6] A recent visitor to the Greenland branch of that family states
that "a skilled Eskimo can, in his kayak, go even eighty miles in
one day." The length of the day is, of course, an important matter.
Dr. Nansen, the traveller referred to (who made the above statement
in his paper read before the Scottish Geographical Society at
Edinburgh on 1st July, 1889) gained his experience of kayaks during
winter, when the Greenland day is very short. If the eighty miles
were done _then_, the speed is marvellous. It is so, indeed, in any
case. When Dr. Nansen reached Godthaab in October, the nearest
Europe-bound ship was lying at a place 240 miles to the south, and a
"kayaker" was despatched thither to try and detain the vessel, which
was to sail in the middle of the month. Though unsuccessful in his
mission, he reached the vessel in plenty of time. The dates of his
journey are not given. But the mere fact of the man being thus sent
as an express messenger argues that a very high rate of speed was
relied upon.
[7] "The Eskimo Tribes," Copenhagen, 1887, p. 6.
[8] It may be mentioned that the variety worn by the Alaskan Eskimo
is not of seal-_skin_. It is described as a "peculiar waterproof
coat called a camalinkie, made from the entrails of the seal, and is
nearly as fine as tissue paper, almost every inch of it being
quilted, to strengthen it. The Aleut wears this curious garment when
seated in his canoe." ("Seal Hunting in Behring Sea"; contributed to
the _Scotsman_ of Sep. 20, 1889, by Edward C. Richards.)
[9] For this extract I am indebted to the courtesy of the President
and Council of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
[10] More correctly, the editor and publisher of a previous MS.
[11] It is an unfortunate circumstance that, owing to the lamentable
indifference of the custodiers of the Finnman's canoe subsequent to
the year 1696, it seems impossible to say whether or not that vessel
is still preserved. In 1865 the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art
became possessed of the collection of the University, and in that
collection were two kayaks, with regard to which nothing definite
was known at the time of transference. If the University "preserved"
the Finnman's kayak, as the College of Physicians expected, then it
must be one of these two, as these were the only kayaks in the
University Museum in 1865. (In the hope of obtaining a definite
solution of this question, I have given a description of that kayak
which appears to be the most likely to be the Finnman's, in a paper
read before the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland on 10th February,
1890.)
CHAPTER II.
Anyone familiar with the shape of the long, narrow, skin-covered
skiff of the Eskimo (which, as has just been pointed out, is
completely "decked," with the exception of the round aperture in the
middle, where the rower sits--his legs being thrust in front of him,
underneath the "deck,") will see that when the Finn had fastened his
seal-skin garment to the sides of the aperture, he and his boat were
one. Thus not only could "no water come into his Boat to do him
damage," but he appeared (to people unacquainted with his anatomy)
as some amphibious seal-man--"a selkie i' da sea," as the Shetland
rhyme goes. This resemblance is even further borne out by the
ability of the kayaker to overset himself and his kayak, and then to
re-appear on the surface of the water, without either himself or his
skiff suffering any injury, as both were impervious to water. This
feat is evidently a delight to the kayaker, and the Eskimo already
referred to as having displayed his skill at Leith in the year 1816,
performed this manoeuvre many times, to the great astonishment of
the onlookers. Thus the Finnman of the North Sea, who presumably
indulged in this amusement, like his representatives in Greenland
to-day, was thereby rendered still more like a creature of the deep,
"a perfect seal among the wild waves," as Dr. Karl Blind
remarks.[12]
[Illustration: KAYAKKER IN HIGH SEA.]
It is to the apparently amphibious nature of this peculiar people,
that one may trace much--if not all--that has been recorded of
mermen and mermaids; who, in other words, were seamen and seamaids.
The conventional mer-man is portrayed as visible above water from
the waist upward. And that the kayaker presents a similar appearance
may be seen from a description given of an Eskimo flotilla by one
who has had personal experience of the Hudson's Bay regions,[13]
wherein it is stated that, at some distance from the land, "the low
kayaks" of the Eskimos, being almost quite flush with the water, "it
seemed as if their occupants were actually seated on the water." The
accompanying spirited sketch by Mr. A. R. Carstensen of a modern
Eskimo, as he appears "when the waves come upon him with all their
fury," helps much to make one realize the appearance of the Orkney
Finnman, whether in storm or in calm.[14] It is easy to see how a
race of "_zee-woners_" such as these could gradually become
remembered as an actually amphibious people.
Those legendary mermaids who are described as using combs and
mirrors were plainly allied to these Finn-women. It is manifest that
no amphibious woman (the possibility of whose existence is not here
denied) would carry a mirror and a comb about with her; or that
she--whose chief element was the water--would be for ever engaged in
the mad task of arranging hair which every plunge in the sea would
disarrange most effectually. But those female Finns, whom the
amorous Shetlanders captured before they could regain their
skin-canoes are described as "engaged in dressing their flowing
locks" at the eventful moment: a most natural proceeding on the part
of any woman who has just landed from a sea-voyage (whether these
particular women had come all the way from Bergen, or which is
likely--from some outlying island of the Northern groups). The
_reality_ of those merwomen of Shetland is manifest throughout the
tales relating to them. They bear children to their Shetland lovers;
they "were said to make good housewives;" and their descendants in
the Shetland Islands to-day are, presumably, as "real" and human as
any of Her Majesty's subjects. That most of those unwillingly-wedded
Finn-women tried to regain their liberty at the first opportunity is
seen from the repeated statement that the Shetland husband was
always careful to hide the "sea-skin" of his Finn wife. But, in many
cases the Finn-woman appears to have decided to throw in her lot
with her Shetland husband and people.
Although Bergen was latterly the home of those Finns who came to
Shetland, it is most probable that many of the stories regarding
them related to a time when they still retained possession of
certain districts in the Shetland islands. When they were
"frequently" seen off the Orkney coast, quietly fishing, it is most
improbable that their homes were among the Fiords of Norway--more
than two hundred miles away. It seems clear that they retained their
hold upon Shetland longer than Orkney; but even in some parts of the
latter archipelago they were apparently pretty much at home in the
year 1700. This was the date of the Rev. Mr. Brand's tour, and a
remark of his leads one to such a conclusion. It must be remembered
that those Finns were regarded as wizards and witches by the more
ignorant classes: "the belief that witches and wizards came from the
coast of Norway disguised as seals was entertained by many of the
Shetland peasantry even so late as the beginning of the present
century." And they were regarded as, in some sense, supernatural
beings. Now Dr. Blind, in suggesting that the "skins" of the Finns
may have been (as in one aspect they actually were) their outward
garments, "made of seal-skins, and then covered with metal rings or
scales"--in assuming this, Dr. Blind is quite in agreement with a
statement made by Brand in 1700; which is to this effect, that
"supernatural" beings were, at the date of his visit, "frequently
seen in several of the Isles (the Orkneys) dancing and making merry
_and sometimes seen in Armour_." It ought not to be forgotten that
although the Finn fisherman "fled away most swiftly," when chased by
a considerable party of his foes, yet "it is worthy of note that the
supposed object of [the Finn invaders] ... was _plunder_;"[15] that
"they were wont to pursue boats at sea;" that "_silver money was
thrown to them_ to prevent their doing any damage to the boat;" and
that "it was dangerous in the extreme _to say anything against
them_."[16] Whether such attacks were made in their small
skin-canoes, or whether they used larger vessels, it is evident that
they were formidable marauders; and that, as Dr. Blind suggests, and
as the Rev. Mr. Brand records, those Finn pirates were "sometimes
seen in Armour."
But neither the belief in Mer-men, nor the existence of
traditionary pedigrees deduced from such people, forms a distinctive
characteristic of the Shetland Islands. Just as there are
Shetlanders who trace their lineage to one or more ancestors of Finn
blood, so are there similiar family traditions in many parts of the
British Islands. "It is believed that there are several old Welsh
families who are the descendants" of Mer-folk; and similar examples
are found "in the traditions of the O'Flaherty, O'Sullivan, and
Macnamara families."[17] "The inhabitants of the Isle of Man have a
number of such stories, which may be found in Waldron;"[18] and the
tale of Macphail of Colonsay and "The Mermaid of Corryvreckan" is
not the only Hebridean illustration of this feature. The references
that are made to mermaids in the prefatory remarks to Leyden's
version of the Corryvreckan story are quite in keeping with the
Shetland traditions. That is, there are certain attributes ascribed
to those mer-women which, on the surface, are incredible; but which
the knowledge that is given to us by Brand and Wallace renders quite
intelligible. The "train" or "tail" of the mermaid has only to be
translated "canoe" or "kayak," and what was formerly nonsense
becomes sense. For example, the statement that "the mermaid of
Corrivrekin possessed the power of occasionally resigning her scaly
train," is only a jumbled reminiscence of the fact referred to by
Dr. Wallace who, when speaking of the mer-men, says: "His
[seal-skin] shirt has been so fastened to the Boat, that no water
can come into his Boat to do him damage, except when he pleases to
untye it, which he does ... when he comes ashore." In the other
phraseology, he "possessed the power of occasionally resigning his
scaly train."
In the remarks prefacing Leyden's "Mermaid" (in The Minstrelsy) it
is stated that "mermaids were sometimes supposed to be possessed of
supernatural power." The Shetland peasantry, also, believe (or did
believe) that "_witches_ ... came from the coast of Norway disguised
as seals." And "Ranulph Higden says 'that the _witches_ in the Isle
of Man anciently sold winds to mariners, and delivered them in
knots, tied upon a thread, _exactly as the Laplanders did_.'"[19] At
one time--if not now, Lapland was regarded as a stronghold of
"magic." Butler in referring to one of the things "in which the
Lapland Magi deal" makes selection of this practice of "selling
winds" to sailors;[20] the "Magi" being (in this detail) feminine.
But the British Islanders have practised many "Lapp" mysteries: and
there is a distinct "Ugrian" element among the British people;
neither of which facts are at all at variance with the traditions
that derive the descent of many modern Britons from sea-faring
tribes of "Finns" and other Mer-folk.
One account[21] states, with regard to the mer-woman, that "the
sailors pretend to guess what chance they had of saving their lives
in the tempests, which always followed her appearance." Apparently,
this refers more particularly to Norway. In the Channel Islands a
similar belief exists regarding the mer-man, who is styled "the King
of the _Auxcriniers_." "_Il est le baladin lugubre de la tempête_,"
says M. Victor Hugo, in describing this mer-man of the Channel.[22]
The probable explanation of this belief is that, when a tempest was
threatening, those solitary rovers--knowing that their fragile
"sea-skins" could never outride a heavy storm--made hastily for the
nearest coast. Indeed, when one looks at those delicate little
vessels, wholly dependent upon the thoroughness of the stitching
that unites the various pieces of skin together, one can only wonder
at the daring of the people who ventured in them a hundred miles and
more from any land. "Nothing but a plank between one and Eternity"
is not so dangerous as it sounds; for planks can float one when the
worst happens. But what is to be made of half-a-dozen bits of
whalebone or wood, with one thin covering of seal-skin stretched
over them? The giving of a stitch, or the smallest fracture in the
skin--and both skiff and skiff-man are under the water.
To point out the various characteristics of the traditional mer-men
and mer-women, and to suggest an explanation of each, is more than
need be attempted here. But it is enough to remark that the mere
fact that marriages between "men" and the mer-folk were possible and
frequent, is quite sufficient to prove that there was no radical
difference between the two races. When one reads of mer-women
bearing children to land-men, and "making good house-wives" to them;
or, when one learns that the mer-men were given to "deceiving
women," then one may feel pretty certain of their humanity.
It has been noticed that one of their skin-boats, or kayaks, was
"kept as a Rarity" in the Museum at Edinburgh, and that another was
preserved "in the Church of Burra in Orkney."[23] There are many
British traditions of such boats in connection with such people;
although the names by which those skiffs are popularly remembered
are as unreasonable as the "scaly train" of the Finn-woman of
Corryvreckan. In Sutherland it is said that those people used to
cross the Dornoch Firth in "cockle-shells;"[24] while one man
records having seen them quitting the coasts of the Isle of Man "in
empty rum puncheons," in which vessels he "saw them scudding away as
far as the eye could reach."[25] It is very likely that those
traditional "witches" who went to sea in "sieves" were also
identical with those who came from the coast of Norway "disguised as
seals;" and that the _sieve_ was nothing else than the _kayak_.
That the Finns of Orkney and Shetland used the long, narrow _kayaks_
of the modern Esquimaux and Samoyeds is unmistakable: and the same
shape of skiff has probably been employed by British and other
European "mer-men" for an immemorial period. But other varieties of
this kind of boat have been used. For example, the natives of those
islands and promontories which form "the Rosses" of Donegal are
described (in the years 1753 and 1754) as using seal-skin boats; but
their shape does not seem to have been identical with that of the
kayak. "Their boats" (says a visitor to the "Rosses" at that
date[26]), "called curraghs, were oval baskets, covered with
seal-skins; and in such weak and tottering vessels they ventured so
far out as was necessary to get fish enough for their families."
These _curraghs_, it would seem, were nearer those still used in
Wales (and also by the Mandans of the Upper Missouri) than the long,
covered-in skiff of the Arctic tribes. Or, perhaps, they resemble
those _curraghs_ now used in Ireland, which differ chiefly from
ordinary "boats" in their frames being covered with skins in place
of planks. In his Gaelic dictionary, Armstrong states that "the
_curach_, or boat of leather and wicker," was "much in use in the
Western Isles (Hebrides), even long after the art of building boats
of wood was introduced." As he says that Islemen "fearlessly
committed themselves, in these slight pinnaces, to the mercy of the
most violent weather," it seems most likely that the "decked" kayak
is the kind of which he is speaking, and when he gives a diminutive
form of _curach_ (_curachan_), and defines it "a little skiff; a
canoe," it is almost certain that he has in view the "kayak" of the
Finn-man.
Whichever of these two terms may be assumed to indicate the kayak,
it is scarcely conceivable that the Hebrideans would "fearlessly
commit themselves to the mercy of the most violent weather," in an
_open_ skin-boat. But this is what the _kayakers_ do. "They do not
fear venturing out to sea in these boats in the greatest storms,"
says Hans Egede, referring to the Eskimos of the eighteenth century,
"because they can swim as light upon the largest waves as a bird can
fly; and when the waves come upon them with all their fury, they
only turn the side of the boat towards them to let them pass,
without the least danger of being sunk."[27] Referring to the same
usage of the Orkney Finnman, Brand says that he does this, "when _in
a storm_ he seeth the high surge of a wave approaching." And
Wallace's annotator has the same remark: "They [the Finnmen] have
this advantage, that _be the Seas never so boisterous_, their boats
being made of Fish Skins, are so contrived that he can never sink,
but is like a Sea-gull swimming on the top of the watter."
It appears impossible to ascertain a time when skin-boats were _not_
used in Europe. In speaking of the Oestrymnic Isles and their
inhabitants, Dr. Skene quotes the following account of their
vessels, as given by Rufus Festus Avienus, a writer of the fourth
century:--
"They know not to fit with pine
Their keels, nor with fir, as use is,
They shape their boats; but, strange to say,
They fit their vessels with united skins,
And often traverse the deep in a hide."
As Dr. Skene points out, these Oestrymnic Isles were identical with
the _Cassiterides_, (_i.e._, "Tin Islands,") and, under either name,
were famous for their tin mines. But, in identifying them with the
Scilly Isles, Dr. Skene is manifestly in error; as all evidence on
this point tends to show that the Oestrymnides, or Cassiterides,
formed a group of islands lying off the Spanish coast, which, at
some period during the Christian era, became submerged. The
fourth-century writer quoted "says that the northern promontory of
Spain was called Oestrymnis, and adds, 'Below the summit of this
promontory the Oestrymnic bay spreads out before the inhabitants, in
which the Oestrymnic Isles show themselves.'" The testimony of
Diodorus is to the same effect: "Above the country of the
Lusitanians, there are many mines of tin in the little islands
called Cassiterides from this circumstance, lying off Iberia, in the
ocean." So also Strabo, who states that "the Cassiterides are ten in
number, and lie near each other in the ocean, towards the north from
the haven of the Artabri."[28] All this is consistently borne out by
the map of Spain ("from the Latin Ptolemy, 1478") which Mr. Elton,
who calls Dr. Skene's deduction in question, appends to his "Origins
of English History."[29] In that map, it will be seen that,
according to Ptolemy, the Cassiterides--ten in number--lay off the
Spanish coast, north-west of Cape Finisterre, and that that portion
of the mainland was inhabited by the Artabri. Among all these
writers and geographers, therefore, there is entire agreement; and
none of their statements have any reference to the neighbourhood of
the English coast.[30] That these islanders did not know the art of
building vessels of wood, and were accustomed to cross the sea in
skin-boats, is regarded by Dr. Skene as corroborative of his belief
that they were British and not Iberian islanders. "But the Iberian
coracles were as well known as those of the Britons," says Mr.
Elton;[31] and of this we ought perhaps to see a survival in the
"_curo_, a small boat used on the Garonne," which Armstrong compares
with the Gaelic _curach_.
Of the presence of the skin-boat in British waters there is ample
evidence, and it would be superfluous to enlarge upon this. There
is, moreover, evidence that certain "trans-marine nations" came _to_
Britain in such craft, in early times. And, half-way between the
opening centuries of the Christian era and the period of the Orkney
Finnmen, there is a reference which suggests the skin-boat among the
Finns of Norway, although it does nothing more than suggest. In the
_Heimskringla_ (Saga xiv) it is stated that Sigurd Slembe and his
followers passed the winter of 1139 in a cave at Tialdasund, the
sound which separates the Lofoten Isles from the Norwegian mainland,
and that on that occasion the Finns (or Lapps, as they are
indifferently called) constructed two large boats for them. These
boats were of fir, but the peculiarity about them was that not a
nail was used in their construction. Like the framework of the
modern kayak, the various parts of these boats were fastened
together by _sinews_,[32] a method which, as the saga shows, was
certainly not that of Sigurd and his people, who remark upon the
absence of nails. Thus, although this incident shows that those
Finns of the twelfth century were able to build boats of wood, yet
their method of joining the timbers suggests the affinity which they
otherwise bear to the Eskimos. But, while their own boats may have
differed from those they built for their visitors, there is nothing
in the passage to support this assumption.[33]
That the round _curach_ or _coracle_, covered with skin, and
similar to that still seen in Wales, was in use in the north of
Scotland in the early part of the last century, is testified to by a
letter quoted in the _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland_, 1880-81, p. 179-80, from which it will be seen that the
tradition already referred to--that the dwellers on the shores of
the Dornoch Firth used to employ "cockle-shells" as ferry-boats--is
nothing but a fanciful and imperfect resemblance of this particular
kind of _curach_. The _curachs_, however, in which the Western
Islanders "fearlessly committed themselves ... to the mercy of the
most violent weather" cannot have been of this shape. But either
variety of skin-boat was undoubtedly the property of the one race of
people. Among the Eskimos, also, there is considerable variety. We
are told, for example, in a description of the Aleutian Islanders
during last century, that "their vessels consist of two sorts," of
which one is the _kayak_, propelled by the double-bladed paddle,
while the other is large enough to hold thirty or forty people, and
has "oars on both sides." But both kinds are skin-covered. The
Eskimo tribes have also the smaller open skin-boat, capable of
holding eight or ten people. And this, like the similar skin-boat of
the British Isles, has sometimes sails. These facts are therefore
quite consistent with the belief that the European tribes using this
variety of Eskimo boat used also the slender, decked canoe or
"kayak."
Enough, then, has been said to indicate the presence of those
skiff-people in various parts of the British Islands, and in various
parts of Europe. It may be that the latest _authentic_ records of
British Esquimaux are those given by Brand and Wallace, in the end
of the seventeenth century.[34] True, the Shetlandic (and perhaps
other) traditions bring us down to later dates. But traditions are
necessarily uncertain. However, we do know that the waters
surrounding the Orcadian and Shetland groups were fished in by
Esquimaux tribes so recently as the year 1700[35]; and we also know
from tradition, that these same "Finns" or "Finn-men" "were wont to
pursue boats at sea," and to demand a money-tribute from the
fishermen whom they chased. (In turn, they themselves were pursued
by the islanders, when they made their appearance singly, near their
coasts.) That they were feared by the islanders is evident from the
Shetlandic legends; and it will be noticed that those Shetlanders
who are understood to have Finn blood in their veins "look upon
themselves as superior to common people." All this suggests that
those straggling "Finn-men" of the year 1700 were really the
representatives of a decayed caste of conquerors. The fact that they
are remembered as wearing armour places them before us as a
distinctly military race; and "the Darts they make use of for
killing Fish" were probably the least important of their weapons.
The non-Finnish Shetlanders who overheard the captive woman talking
with her friends "could not understand a single word of the
conversation." It is not necessary to assume that this denoted more
than a mere dialectic difference; accent being a wonderfully
important consideration in cases of this sort. That Finn settlements
were often conterminous with districts occupied by those who
regarded the Finns as enemies is suggested by the existence of a
"Finns' Town" in Orkney, and a "Finn Town" in Donegal.[36]
Of course, those Finns must have one or many historical names.
It is probable that they constituted a large proportion of
the population of the Outer Hebrides. One of the stories
relating to such people is of a mer-woman who "fell in love with
a young shepherd, who kept his flocks beside a creek _much
frequented by these marine people_"--the locality being somewhere
on the Manx coast. "She frequently caressed him" (the account
continues--somewhat superfluously), "and brought him presents of
coral, fine pearls, and every valuable production of the ocean."[37]
Now, this woman may easily have been one of those "marine people"
who inhabited various parts of the Hebrides, and who used the
skin-skiff of the Esquimaux "even long after the art of building
boats of wood was introduced." The coral and "fine pearls" which
this mer-woman brought to her Manx lover may have come from no
greater distance than the Island of Skye: since Martin tells us that
the people of that island used to adorn their garments with "fine
stones" and "pieces of red coral"--the latter article being found in
"great quantity" on the shores of the Lewis. At that time the
islanders of Jura dwelt in turf-covered wigwams identical with those
used by modern Lapps; as may be seen from the illustration here
copied from Pennant's second "Tour." And the people of Harris were
described in the following terms, in the early part of this
century[38]:--"In general the natives are of small stature,...
Scarcely any attain the height of 6 feet, and many of the males are
not higher than 5 feet 3 or 4 inches." "The Harrisian physiognomy"
is thus detailed: "The cheek bones are rather prominent, and the
nose is invariably short, the space between it and the chin being
disproportionately long. The complexion is of all tints. Many
individuals are as dark as mulattoes...." The population thus
described was greatly mingled at the period when these latter
observations were made; but there is nevertheless strong evidence of
the possession of Ugrian blood in the people thus portrayed. And
their boats and dwellings do nothing to contradict this theoretical
connection with the races we now know by such names as Lapp, Finn,
Samoyed, and Eskimo.
[Illustration: WIGWAMS OF THE JURA ISLANDERS IN 1772.
(_From Pennant's Second Tour._)]
The author of the "Gallovidian Encyclopædia" gives also a hint of
the existence of such a population in Galloway: when (under the name
"cutty glies") he refers to "a class of females," whom he describes
as "little" and "squat-made," and to whom he assigns (without
exception) the amorous nature of the Manx mer-woman just spoken of.
And, as the Gallovidian chronicler lived near the inlet known as
"the Manxman's Lake," it is not improbable that this also was "a
creek much frequented by these marine people"; and that, in short,
Mactaggart's "little, squat-made females" were of the same stock as
the Mer-women of the Isle of Man and the Hebrides, and the
Finn-women of the Northern Isles.
NOTE.--For additional information on the subject of
skin-boats, and the races connected with them, see pp. 174,
178-9, _post_, and Appendix B.
FOOTNOTES:
[12] This peculiar feat is mentioned by Drs. Rink and Nansen, as
well as in connection with the Greenlander of 1816. Another "kayak"
custom may here be noticed. Brand stated of the Orkney Finn-man,
that "when in a storm he seeth the high surge of a wave approaching,
he hath a way of sinking his Boat, till the wave pass over, least
thereby he should be overturned." This manifestly does not refer to
the deliberate overturning for amusement, in calm weather. But Hans
Egede, in describing the Eskimo kayakers of Greenland, during the
eighteenth century, is evidently speaking of the usage referred to
by Brand, when he says: "They do not fear venturing out to sea in
these boats in the greatest storms; because they can swim as light
upon the largest waves as a bird can fly: and when the waves come
upon them with all their fury, they only turn the side of the boat
towards them, to let them pass, without the least danger of being
sunk." (Quoted in the _Scots Magazine_ of 1816, p. 654.)
[13] Mr. R. M. Ballantyne; "Ungava," chap. xx.
[14] This illustration appears in Mr. Carstensen's "Two Summers in
Greenland." London, Chapman & Hall, 1890.
[15] _Gentleman's Magazine_, March 1, 1882.
[16] _Contemporary Review_, September, 1881.
[17] _Contemporary Review_, August, 1881. In the _Archæological
Review_ (June, 1889, pp. 219-220) Mr. G. L. Gomme gives various
references of this kind, Irish and Shetlandic. One instance
describes the "Merrow" ancestress as "half fish and half woman,"
which corresponds with the Shetlandic "sêlkie-wife," or seal-woman.
More extreme still is the tradition that the Irish clan of Coneely,
like the natives of Burra Firth, in Unst, are actually descended
from "seals."
[18] Preface to Leyden's "Mermaid," in "The Minstrelsy of the
Scottish Border."
[19] "Letters from the Isle of Man." London 1847; p. 59.
[20] The allusion in "Hudibras" bears more specially on the custom
of selling the winds in bags or "bottled;" which is a variation of
the Manx practice.
[21] The preface to Leyden's "Mermaid."
[22] "Les Travailleurs de la Mer."
[23] This boat, and all memory of it, seems quite to have vanished
from Burra. (See "The Orkneys and Shetland," by J. R. Tudor, London,
1883, p. 341.)
[24] Mr. J. F. Campbell's "West Highland Tales," vol. ii. p. 64.
[25] "Letters from the Isle of Man." London, 1847, p. 63.
[26] Quoted in the "Annual Register" of 1788; "Manners of Nations"
pp. 77-80.
[27] See foot-note, pp. 12-13, _ante_. The expressions of Egede and
Armstrong, however, are obviously exaggerated, as no kayak could
weather a really violent gale.
[28] These citations from Avienus, Diodorus, and Strabo are taken
from Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, I., 165-168.
[29] London, 1882 (Plate I.)
[30] In assuming the Oestrymnides, or Cassiterides, to be the same
as the Hesperides, Dr. Skene again shows that the locality referred
to is the Iberian coast. For the writers of the second and sixth
century whom he quotes state that the Hesperides are inhabited by
Iberians, and are situated "near the sacred promontory where they
say is the end of Europe." Now, in Ptolemy's map, above referred to,
"the sacred promontory" (_Sacrum Prom[=o]tori[=u]_) is Cape St.
Vincent; which would place the Hesperides at even a greater distance
from England than the Oestrymnic Isles. The islands called
_Londobries_ and _Deorum Insulæ_ on Ptolemy's map may be those
referred to. Neither they nor the Oestrymnic Isles exist at the
present day; but in questions of ancient history the fact ought
never to be overlooked that the surface of the earth is constantly
undergoing changes,--at one place the sea encroaching upon the land,
at another retiring from it.
[31] _Op. cit._, p. 20, _note_.
[32] Dr. Rasmus B. Anderson says "deer sinews," while Dr. Joseph
Anderson states that the original word may either denote "sinew," or
"sen-grass."
[33] Misled in some measure by Mr. Laing's too free translation,
wherein the expression "skin-sewed Fin-boats" is used, I had
assumed that these two vessels were really large open skin-boats,
like those of the British Islanders and the Eskimos. But I am
indebted to Dr. Joseph Anderson for pointing out that the passage
distinctly states that the boats were of wood, and that the allusion
is to the "sewing" alone. As an article contributed by me to the
_Archæological Review_ (Vol. IV., Aug. 1889) contains this erroneous
assumption, I take this opportunity of stating that my inference is
contradicted by the original passage, with which I was not then
acquainted. Additional references, however, supporting the belief
that skin-boats were then and subsequently used in Norway, will be
found in Appendix B.
[34] I am informed by Professor Kaarle Krohn of Helsingfors that the
modern Lapps employ light skiffs, which they propel with a
double-bladed paddle. But this vessel, which is so light that one
man can carry it on his head, is made of wood, not _skin_, and is,
moreover, open--not decked, like the kayak.
[35] Brand.
[36] And perhaps by many other names of like nature--such as
_Finsbury_, _Findon_, _Finhaven_, _Fincastle_, etc.
[37] This is quoted from "Waldron's Works," p. 176.
[38] This description is given at p. 550 of Dawson's "Statistical
History of Scotland."
CHAPTER III.
It is clear that those popular traditions and records, as well as
the indisputable statements of Brand and Wallace, indicate two very
different kinds of people, who, sometimes fighting, sometimes
inter-marrying, occupied territories that were, in many cases,
conterminous. That they were often enemies is evident. The Finn-man,
when alone, was hunted from the non-Finnish islands by the natives:
and, on the other hand, he was "wont to pursue boats at sea," and to
demand tribute from the fishermen--when his superior arms, or the
number of his comrades, warranted him to do so.
Now, there is documentary evidence of this state of things during
the seventeenth century; though the localities therein referred to
are the Northern Hebrides, rather than the Orkney and Shetland
Isles. But the description corresponds, in everything else, with
that given by the Islesmen of the North-East. We are told[39] that,
in the year 1635, certain sections of the Hebridean Islanders "comes
in troupes and companeis out of the Yles where they dwell to the
Yles and Loches where the fishes ar tane and there violentlie
spoyles his Majesteis subjects of their fisches and sometimes of
their victualls and other furniture and persewes thame of their
lyffes, breakes the schooles of thair herring and comitts manie moe
insolenceis upoun thame to the great hinder and disappointing of the
fishing, hurt of his Majesteis subjects, to the contempt of his
Majesteis auctoritte and lawes," etc. This--even to the detail that
they "by their coming drive away the Fishes from the Coasts"--is an
exactly similar account to that given, in the same century, to Brand
and Wallace, and in the present century (but relating to about the
same period) to Dr. Karl Blind. In the one case, the scene is the
North-Western coasts of Scotland: in the other it is the
North-Eastern. But the kind of people described are pretty evidently
alike.
In either case, too, the Mer-folk or Finn-men are not spoken of as
subjects of the Modern-British kingdom. The Proclamation of 1635,
quoted above, does not regard "some of the inhabitants of the Yles
of this kingdome," as being "his Majesteis subjects." The phrase,
"Yles _of this kingdome_" does, indeed, imply something of a common
nationality; but, as a matter of fact, certain portions of
North-Western Scotland were not strictly under the rule of Charles
the First, at that period. That this was so may be seen (if nowhere
else) in the papers relating to those territories, of dates ranging
from 1574 to 1635, which are quoted in the _Collectanea de Rebus
Albanicis_ (pp. 100-121). One of these is a letter written by
Charles I. "to the Privy Council of Scotland directing an inquiry
into the exactions by the Heritors of the [Hebridean] Isles from
those engaged in the Fisheries; and the bringing in of Foreigners by
the Heritors." And this letter runs as follows: "Whereas it is not
unknown to you with what care we have intendit the good of the
Association of the Fischings within thess our Kingdomes _for the use
of our subjects_[40] and that we will be provident to protect _them_
from the exaction of the _heritours in the Yles_, who as we are
informed without warrant exact sundrie dewteis from them to their
great prejudice, bringing in strangers and loading the vessells with
fisches and other native commoditeis contrair to our lawis," etc.
The letter then commands the Scotch Privy Council to learn "upon
what warrant they ["the landislordis of the Yles wher the fisching
is"] tak thess dewteis." In the Report made, six months later, by
the Commissioners appointed by the Privy Council, regarding "the
duteis exacted be the Ylanders frome his Majesteis subjects of the
associatioun resorting in these parts," it is stated: "_that it was
the ancient custome_[2] ... to everie ane of thame in whose boundis
the herring fishing fell oute, _to exact of_[41] everie barke and
ship resorting thereto" such-and-such a tribute, in money and in
kind: "Being demandit by what warrand they uplift the saids
exactions and dewteis foresaids, they answer that they ar heretours
of the ground and so may lawfully take up satisfactioun for ground
leave and ankerage; it being ane ancient custome and in use to be
done past memorie of man."
Through all these documents of this period there runs a feeling (not
distinctly formulated) that "his Majesteis subjects"--"his Majesteis
frie liegis"--"the haill inhabitantis of The Burrowis of this
Realme"--were terms that did not strictly apply to "the heritours in
the Yles." And that these latter--though nominally the subjects of
the British monarch--still exercised a kind of semi-sovereignty in
their own territories; enforcing tribute from "his Majesty's free
lieges," and carrying on commercial relations with "foreigners,"
contrary to the wishes of Charles himself. That these independent
rights were to some extent recognized by Charles may be gathered
from his own expressions in the documents referred to. And the
existence of this antagonism to British law was quite distinctly
acknowledged by Charles' father (James) when, in the year 1608, he
issued his instructions to a Commission "appointed for the
Improvement of the Isles;" wherein he states his "desire to remove
all suche scandalous reproches aganis that state, in suffering a
pairt of it to be possessed with suche wild savageis voide of Godis
feare and our obedience."[42]
Nor was this independence confined to the mere exacting of a
tribute, according to "ancient custom," from those fishermen who,
themselves coming under the denomination of "his Majesty's
subjects," resorted occasionally to the coasts of the North-Western
Isles. The Report of 1634 showed that this tax was rigorously levied
by those Island kings when the alien fishermen arrived within the
"bounds" of certain islands. But they did not content themselves
with this. The Proclamation of the Scotch Privy Council of the
following year (1635) begins by stating that "the Lords of Privy
Council ar informed that of lait ther hes been manie great
insolenceis committit be some of the inhabitants of the Yles of this
kingdome not onlie upoun his Majesteis subjects hanting the trade of
fisching in the Yles but upon the Lords and others of the
Association[43] of the Royall Fishing of Great Britane and Ireland;
whiche Ylanders comes in troupes and companeis _out of the Yles
where they dwell_ to the Yles and Loches where the fishes ar tane
and there violentlie spoyles his Majesteis subjects of their fisches
and sometimes of their victualls and other furniture and persewes
thame of their lyffes," etc. This statement reveals quite plainly a
condition of enmity between "his Majesty's subjects," and certain
sections of the Hebridean population. And the traveller, Pennant,
furnishes additional proof of this state of things, in describing
the condition of society in the Island of Skye (or its vicinity) at
about the period under consideration. "Each chieftain (he tells
us--and the "chieftains" of whom he speaks were presumably "his
Majesty's subjects")--each chieftain had his armour-bearer, who
preceded his master in time of war, and, by my author's account in
time of peace; for they went armed even to church, in the manner the
North-Americans [the colonists] do at present in the frontier
settlement, and for the same reason, _the dread of savages_." Of
which "savages" there are many traditions still extant in the
legendary lore of the West Highlands.
Of more historical nature is the evidence of Buchanan, who, in
describing the Inner Hebrides, during the seventeenth century,
states that the island of Pabbay, close to the Skye coast, was
then "infamous for robberies, where the thieves, from their
lurking-places in the woods, with which it is covered, intercept the
unwary travellers." Of the island of Rona, lying a little to the
northward of Pabbay, and, at that time, "covered with wood and
heath," he says: "In a deep bay it has a harbour, dangerous for
voyagers, as it affords a covert for pirates, whence to surprise the
passengers." To the west of Skye, and in the Outer Hebrides, there
was the island of Uist, containing "numerous caves covered with
heath, the lurking-places of robbers." Off the mainland coast to the
north-east of Skye, lay "the island Eu, almost wholly covered with
wood, and of service only to the robbers, who lurk there to surprise
travellers;" while "more to the north lies Gruinort (says the same
writer), also darkened with wood, and infested with robbers." That
is to say, all of these districts _belonged_ to certain races who
waged war against other populations in that archipelago; and who, in
all probability, were the "savages" referred to by the traveller
Pennant.
It is not only this latter writer and James VI. of Scotland who
refer to certain North British populations in the seventeenth
century as "savages." Nor are such people only visible in the
Hebrides at that date. "In a curious old book called 'Northern
Memoirs; calculated for the Meridian of Scotland,' written in the
year 1658,"[44] the following short description occurs with
reference to the district of Strath Navar, in the north of the
county of Sutherland:--
"The next curiosity to entertain you with, is the county of
Southerland, which we enter by crossing a small arm of the
ocean from Tain to Dornoch. So from thence we travel into
Cathness and the county of Stranavar, where a rude sort of
inhabitants dwell (almost as barbarous as Cannibals), who,
when they kill a beast, boil him in his hide, make a
caldron of his skin, browis of his bowels, drink of his
blood, and bread and meat of his carcase. Since few or none
amongst them hitherto have as yet understood any better
rules or methods of eating."
Here, then, is a community of people, "almost as barbarous as
Cannibals," in the estimation of a civilized writer of 1658. But
none of the expressions of this kind, used by writers of the
seventeenth century, will strike modern men more strongly than that
applied to the Finn-men of Orkney in the Minute Book of the
Edinburgh College of Physicians. To the civilized Scotch of two
centuries ago those Finn-men were simply savages,--"barbarous men."
The term "savage" is always a relative one; and what one
civilization regards as savagery is really the fag-end of an earlier
civilization. Nevertheless, the seventeenth-century Finn-man
represented what must necessarily appear to us as a "savage" state
of society, if that word is to have any meaning at all. And the
predominant castes of Orkney and Shetland and the mainland of
Scotland were quite in unison upon this point. The Edinburgh
physicians, as a matter of course, regarded those kayakers as
"barbarous men," just as we regard their Arctic kindred to-day. The
same view was taken by the predominant castes in the Inner Hebrides,
at the same period, and apparently with regard to the same race of
people. At that period, therefore, the seventeenth century, we see
the higher castes of Scotland asserting themselves against an
"Eskimo" race that threatened the safety of the more civilized
populations all along the northern and western fringe of the
country.
Even last century, something that modern nomenclature calls "savage"
was visible in these north-western localities. On one occasion, when
Dr. Johnson and his irrepressible biographer were exploring those
north-western islands, the natives who rowed their boat seemed, to
Boswell, "so like wild Indians that a very little imagination was
necessary to give one an impression of being upon an American
river." One of them, he tells us, was "a robust, black-haired
fellow, half-naked, and bare-headed, something between a wild Indian
and an English tar" (of the eighteenth century). And some of the
McRaas of the mainland he describes as being "as black and wild in
their appearance as any American savages whatever."[45]
Other tokens of "savage" customs might easily be adduced. For
example, decaying specimens of the rude "dug-out," the most
primitive of all canoes--a mere hollowed log--are now and then found
in the depths of some Highland loch, or peat-bog; and are rashly
pronounced to be "pre-historic;" whereas these very canoes were in
common use in the north and west of Scotland less than two centuries
ago.[46] However, neither this species of canoe, nor the vague
references of Boswell, point unmistakably to the Ugrian or Mongoloid
castes whom we are here considering; although it is not unlikely
that these latter were one and the same as the "wild Indians" and
the owners of the "dug-outs."
What is certain is that, when, in the October of 1599, one of the
ships belonging to the Fifeshire colonists of the Lewis was about to
start on its homeward trip, it was surrounded by "a fleet of small
vessels peculiar to those islands," and the natives, swarming on
board, put to death all except the captain.[47] Now (although the
act was simply a legitimate incident in the warfare of the time and
locality), these islanders were the people whom King James spoke of
as "wild savages." And it is tolerably certain that their "small
vessels" were those "slight pinnaces" of skin that Armstrong says
were "much in use in the Western Isles"--in other words, the
_kayaks_ of the Eskimos or Finn-men. It is not unlikely that the
resemblance to the modern Eskimo was very close in many details. For
example, the West Highland traditions tell of "savages" who played
the game of chess; which fact in itself argues decidedly a form of
civilization. Now, although the art of carving chessmen is extinct
among modern Hebrideans, the traditional accounts were quite borne
out by the discovery, in this century, of the now famous Lewis
chessmen, "in all fifty-eight pieces, ingeniously and elaborately
carved from the walrus tooth."[48] Consequently, it would appear
that the Finn-man occasionally hunted the walrus, in which pursuit
he no doubt employed "the Dart he makes use of for killing Fish:"
exactly like a modern Eskimo.
FOOTNOTES:
[39] In a "Proclamation by the Privy Council of Scotland regarding
the Fishing in the Isles"; given at p. 111 of "Collectanea de Rebus
Albanicis."
[40] Not italicized in the original.
[41] In this instance the italics occur in the original.
[42] "Collectanea de Rebus Albanicis," p. 115.
[43] In a letter to the Privy Council of Scotland, of 15th July,
1632, Charles refers to this Association as "of new erected by us."
[44] See _Blackwood's Magazine_, 1818, p. 674, whence the above
paragraph is taken.
[45] Others of the same tribe were "as comely as Sappho;" and the
inference is that, ethnologically regarded, these were totally
different from the others. It must be remembered that the mere
surname, borne by all the members of a Highland clan, did not imply
kinship. The word "clan" was originally used to denote only the
blood-relations of the chief; but latterly it was applied to the
whole community. And that the commonalty was frequently composed of
men of a wholly different stock from their chiefs may be seen from
the fact that the former are specially distinguished as "the native
men" (_i.e._, aborigines) in several clan documents.
[46] See Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. _Biorlinn_; also
"Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," 1880-81,
pp. 179-80.
[47] Anderson's "Scottish Nation," vol. iii. p. 49.
[48] Dr. Daniel Wilson's "Old Edinburgh," vol. i. p. 29.
CHAPTER IV.
But, admitting the existence, at so recent a date, of a visibly
"Eskimo" caste in some parts of the Hebrides, what evidence is there
that any of these people found their way to Shetland? One writer, we
have seen, brings the Shetland Finns all the way from Davis Straits,
another draws them from Finland, and the Shetlanders themselves say
that they "came ow'r fa Norraway," especially from the neighbourhood
of Bergen. The correctness of this last belief need not be
questioned, as regards some of that caste. But it has been suggested
in the foregoing pages that many of those "Finns" who persecuted the
Shetland fishermen were those kayak-using Hebrideans who avowed
their ancient right to despoil and to exact tribute from others, not
only when fishing among "the Isles where they dwell," but in other
waters.
We read[49] of raids made in the Orkneys and Shetland, during the
latter part of the fifteenth century, by "bands of Islemen" (_i.e._,
Hebrideans), "Irish, and Scots, from the woods"; which last term
strongly suggests the "robber" denizens of the thickly-wooded
islands spoken of by Buchanan two centuries later. The raiders were,
no doubt, heterogeneous. But the piratical kayak-men were surely
among them. There are many traditions extant in some parts of the
north-eastern archipelagos regarding these raids--in the island
of Westray, in Orkney, for instance, where, at a certain "Fitty
Hill," there was once a great fight between the Westray people
and the invading Lewismen, all of whom were slain. Now, this Fitty
Hill is associated strongly with the people recognizable as "Finns,"
or at least was so in the year 1701, according to a writer
previously quoted (Brand, p. 57), and both he and Wallace (who wrote
in 1688) mention the frequent visits of Finn-men to the Westray
fishing-grounds. Indeed, the _kayak_ preserved in Edinburgh seems,
according to the latter writer, to have been one of those secured by
the Orkneymen; who probably made sure that the Finn himself should
have no further use for it.
Thus, it is a simple historical fact that certain castes of the
Hebrideans, whose practice of despoiling and exacting tribute from
others was a thing beyond question, were very frequent visitors to
the Orkney and Shetland groups, whose natives they did their utmost
to overawe. And, as the skin skiffs of the Hebrideans were of such a
description that the skiffmen "fearlessly committed themselves in
these slight pinnaces to the mercy of the most violent weather,"
they were well qualified to sing the song of the Finn-man:
I am a man upo' da land,
I am a selkie i da sea.
Indeed, the concluding lines of that verse are peculiarly
appropriate to the Hebridean. For the "shöol skerry," which is the
rocky islet of _Sule_ or _Sula_, lying about forty miles N.N.E. of
Cape Wrath, formed a very convenient refuge for him when "far from
every strand," during his voyages between Shetland or Orkney and the
Hebrides.[50]
And it is in this aspect, as tyrannical sea-rovers, that the "Finns"
are often remembered in Shetlandic tradition. It was their custom to
pursue the boats of the Shetland fishermen, and to exact from them a
tribute in "silver money." So much were they dreaded that "it was
dangerous in the extreme to say anything against them." The original
feeling of respect must have been very strong, since it has survived
into the present century.
This, of course, relates to the Finns considered as men and as
fighters. The other side of the question shows us the Finn-women,
and also the Finn-men in peaceful guise. And here, too, it is
evident that those people were by no means regarded as an _inferior_
race by the non-Finnish section of the Shetlanders (whatever that
non-Finnish element may have been composed of), for those who claim
a "Finn descent" at the present day regard this line of their
ancestry as wholly superior to that which, for want of a better
word, may be called "Shetlandic."
The Finn-women, we are told, very frequently became the wives of the
islanders: and, consequently, they became the mothers of
"half-breed" families--that is, in those cases where the husband
himself was of a wholly different stock. In some instances, owing to
a Finn connection in the previous generation, such children may have
been more Finnish than anything else. Many of the Finn wives seem to
have cast in their lot altogether with their Shetland husbands, to
whom they brought dowries of cattle which--according to the peasant
tradition--they "conjured up from the deep," of which the probable
interpretation is that they caused them to be sent across from
Bergen. Peaceful memories of the Finn-men may also be traced in such
things as the rhyme of the medicine-man who "came ow'r fa Norraway"
to conjure the toothache out of some unhappy Shetlander.
But these references, and apparently all the more recent of the
Shetlandic traditions, point to Norway, and not to the Hebrides, as
the home of the Finns; and it seems quite clear that the Bergen
neighbourhood was a stronghold of this Mongoloid people within
recent times.
Mr. H. Howorth,[51] in discussing these Mongoloid, or Ugrian
people, remarks: "The Finns and Laps have been pushed back in
Scandinavia to a very small portion of their ancient holding. In
Livonia, in Esthonia, and in three-fourths of European Russia the
Ugrians were, even in the eleventh century, the preponderating
population"; that is, Esthonia and Livonia then formed a part of
"Finland," and the Gulf of Riga was a Finnish sea. We are not given
a date as to their "preponderance" in Scandinavia; but, if they were
so numerous in the east Baltic districts during the eleventh
century, it may be assumed that they were also of considerable
importance in the Scandinavian peninsula at the same time, and even
much later.
There is, at any rate, a very interesting reference to Finns of
Swedish nationality, made in connection with these Finns of Orkney.
A last-century reader of Wallace's "Description of Orkney" (whose
occasional comments upon that book are included in the reprint of
1883) gives, as his opinion, that the "Finnmen" of Orkney, in the
years 1682-4, belonged to "the Finns, or inhabitants of Finland,
part of the kingdom of Sweden." Whether this writer meant the Finns
of Esthonia and Livonia, or of Finland proper--for all these
provinces were under Swedish rule in the seventeenth century--it is
evident that he went too far afield for his "Finnmen." But what
really is important is the statement which he goes on to make,
incidentally, with regard to the Finns of Sweden. "They had," he
says, "a settlement in Pennsylvania, near the freshes of the river
Delaware, in the neighbourhood of the Dutch, who were the first
planters here" (and he gives as his authority "The British Empire in
America," vol. i. p. 309).
Now, this colony of Swedish _Finns_ is clearly that which is
otherwise spoken of as a colony of _Swedes_. When William Penn took
possession, in the year 1682, of the territory which has ever since
been associated with his memory, those "Swedes" were already settled
there. "'He was hailed there with acclamation by the Swedes and
Dutch,' says one authority, who informs us that the Swedes were
living in log cabins and clay huts. The men dressed in 'leather
breeches, jerkins, and match coats,' the women in 'skin jackets and
linsey petticoats.'"[52] Those _Swedes_, then, of 1682, are
identified by an eighteenth-century writer with the Swedish _Finns_
of that period, and at the same time with the contemporary Finns of
Orkney: who, also, according to Brand, wore "coats of leather." And
their "log cabins and clay huts" were probably very much like the
sod-covered dwellings of modern Lapps.
It is an interesting picture. Because this is plainly an infusion
of unadulterated "Eskimo" blood, among the Pennsylvanians of that
date, which is quite independent of the representatives of that
family at present occupying Greenland and the northern parts of
British North America. It is "Eskimo" blood that was "European" only
two or three centuries ago. And it is quite likely that many modern
Americans whose descent is drawn from those seventeenth-century
colonists of Pennsylvania, referred to as "Swedes," have some of
this blood in their veins. That they may have inherited a further
share of it through other channels--"British," and perhaps also
"Dutch"--is quite probable.
There is something very suggestive in the Shetland accounts that,
several generations ago, Shetland fishermen were frequently
terrorized into paying "silver money" as tribute to people who are
said to have come across from Bergen. Many portions of the
north-eastern corner of Scotland appear to have been within the
diocese of Bergen, and to have owned the authority of that province
up to very modern times. Of this there is ample evidence in
title-deeds and other documents. This, of course, was a survival of
the Scandinavian suzerainty over the extreme north and west of
Scotland, which in the fifteenth century was actual sovereignty, as
regards Orkney and Shetland; while, for the Hebrides, the Scottish
monarchs had to pay a yearly tribute known as "The Annual of
Norway." And at an earlier period still, the Sudereys, or South
Hebrides, and the Isle of Man, were included in this tributary
kingdom. It is certainly worth considering whether the withdrawal of
the legendary "marine people" from the Isle of Man, and their
gradual disappearance (as "marine people") from the whole western
and northern extremities of Scotland, which seems to coincide very
closely, in time, with the decay of Scandinavian authority in these
localities, ought not to be regarded as signifying that that
authority was rooted in Mongoloid supremacy.
However, our present purpose is not to guess at the name or names
by which these people must be known to history, but to emphasize
their existence as a Mongoloid race. That the present British people
show traces of such a line of ancestry is the opinion of many modern
ethnologists. In his "Origins of English History" Mr. Elton
recognizes a type "not unlike the modern Eskimo," as existent in
certain parts of England. Mr. J. F. Campbell, in his "Popular Tales
of the West Highlands," contends strongly for the past existence in
that locality of a race akin to modern Lapps. And the Iberian
theorists discern a similar type in "the small, swarthy Welshman,"
"the small, dark Highlander," and the "Black Celts to the west of
the Shannon." The question of complexion is, of course, but of minor
importance, since it is anatomical structure that determines
affinity. The modern Eskimo races themselves show this, for they
include all shades, from dark or olive to actual red and white;
although plainly of one general stock.
They exhibited an American-Eskimo chief, "as a Rarity," at some of
the eastern seaports of Scotland, a few years ago. But it is
probable that a considerable number of the spectators were looking
at a man who almost exactly resembled one or more of their own
ancestors, not many generations back; not only in the style of his
dress and in his general appearance, as he shot his slender kayak
across their waters, but also, to a very great extent, in his
physical features. And it is much the same with many millions of
Europeans (and their offshoots), who, chiefly through intermixture,
and partly on account of altered conditions of life, are no longer
recognizable, to a superficial observer, as in any degree connected
with this "Eskimo" stock.
FOOTNOTES:
[49] _See_ pp. 59, 378, and 485 of "The Orkneys and Shetland," by J.
R. Tudor; London, 1883.
[50] The ballad of "The Great Silkie [_i.e._, Seal] of Sule Skerry"
is given by the late Captain Thomas, on pp. 88-89 of the
"Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland," vol. i.
(First series). This "great seal" figures in the song as the father
of a Shetland woman's child. It may be added that this islet lies
about thirty-five miles in a northerly direction from the Strath
Navar referred to on a previous page.
[51] In the Ethnological Society's _Journal_, vol. ii. No. 4.
[52] This is taken from an article on the Founding of Philadelphia;
contributed by the Rev. Dr. Stoughton to _The Sunday at Home_, 1882.
CHAPTER V.
When the twelfth-century Norseman, Sigurd Slembe, with his twenty
followers, spent a whole winter with the Lapps or Finns, as stated
in the "Heimskringla" (Saga XIV), it is evident that the two sets of
men were in intimate association. Their life at that time is thus
described in Sigurd's song:
"In the Lapland tent
Brave days we spent,
Under the grey birch tree;
In bed or on bank
We knew no rank,
And a merry crew were we.
"Good ale went round
As we sat on the ground,
Under the grey birch tree;
And up with the smoke
Flew laugh and joke,
And a merry crew were we."
It was at that time, also, that the Lapps made for Sigurd those
"sinew-fastened boats," in which he and his party voyaged southward
in spring. In these accounts there is no mention made of the Lapp or
Finn women, but their presence there must certainly be taken for
granted. And there is no reason for supposing that they were less
friendly to their guests than the Finn men were. There are
evidences, indeed, that the Ugrians and the non-Ugrians of
Scandinavia, of either sex, were on a friendly footing two centuries
before Sigurd Slembe's day. When Eric, the son of Harald Haarfager,
was in Lapland on one occasion, he there found his future wife,
Gunhild, living in a hut with "two of the most knowing Laplanders in
all Finmark." She had come there, she said, "to learn Lapland-art,"
in which these two Lapps were deeply versed. The way in which she
entrapped her hosts, and went off with Eric, is described in the
Saga (Harald Haarfager's, chap. xxxiv), and it argues something for
Eric's magnanimity or indifference that he chose this lady to be his
bride. However, the point is that in Gunhild we have a presumably
non-Ugrian woman, living in the most friendly way with a couple of
Lapp "magicians."
Again, we find Harald Haarfager himself actually marrying a Finn
woman. We are told (chap. xxv of his _Saga_) how, one winter, when
Harald was moving about Upland "in guest-quarters," he was induced
by "the Fin Svase," who announced himself to the king's followers as
"the Fin[53] whose hut the King had promised to visit," to not only
fulfil the said promise, but then and there to marry Snaefrid, the
daughter of the Finn. Whether he took this step by reason of the
beauty of the Finn girl, or of the strength of the mead which she
poured out to him, or of the "magic" which she and her father
exercised upon him, is a matter of little moment. The fact remains
that she became his queen, and in course of time bore to him four
sons: Sigurd Hrise, Halfdan Haleg, Gudrod Liome, and Rognvald
Rettilbeine: who, consequently, were half-bred Finns--that is,
assuming that Harald himself was of pure non-Ugrian blood.
These four sons of Harald's Finn wife are subsequently to be met
with in this Saga; which tells how "they grew up to be very clever
men, very expert in all exercises." When Harald was fifty years of
age, he gave to three of them, as to his other sons, "the kingly
title and dignity," assigning to them, as their portion of his
kingdom, the territories of "Ringerike, Hadeland, Thoten, and the
lands thereto belonging." But one of the four, Halfdan, did not live
to attain this dignity. Several years before, he, like Harald's many
other sons, had resented his exclusion from place and dignity, and
the advancement of mere "earls" instead; "for they [Harald's sons]
thought earls were of inferior birth to them." Consequently, Halfdan
and his brother Gudrod "set off one spring with a great force, and
came suddenly upon Earl Rognvald, Earl of Möre, and surrounded the
house in which he was, and burnt him and sixty men in it." Then,
leaving his brother in temporary possession of that earldom,
"Halfdan took three long-ships, and fitted them out, and sailed into
the West Sea." The Earl of Orkney at that time was Einar ("Turf"
Einar), and on Halfdan's unexpected appearance he fled. For six
months the Finn woman's son ruled over Orkney. But in the autumn,
Einar returned, and "after a short battle," totally defeated and put
to flight Halfdan and his followers. "Einar and his men lay all
night without tents, and when it was light in the morning they
searched the whole island, and killed every man they could lay hold
of. Then Einar said: 'What is that I see upon the Isle of
Ronaldsha?[54] Is it a man or a bird? Sometimes it raises itself up,
and sometimes lies down again.' They went to it, and found it was
Halfdan Haaleg, and took him prisoner." Einar thereupon killed
Halfdan, and he and his men raised a mound of stones and gravel over
the corpse; which mound, if not yet opened, will no doubt disclose
to some modern craniologist the exact ethnological status of this
semi-Finn.[55]
With regard to another brother of Halfdan's, Rognvald Rettilbeine,
it is stated that he ruled over Hadeland, and became famous for his
skill in witchcraft, in which he was no doubt instructed by his Lapp
relatives. This, indeed, was the cause of his death. For, at the
instigation of their common father, his half-brother Eric
(Bloody-axe) "burned his brother Rognvald in a house along with
eighty other warlocks," on account of these same alleged
malpractices.
These are only a few recorded instances, which reveal the Finns
and the non-Finns as sometimes closely allied not only by
association, but by blood. But from them it may be inferred that
many other intermarriages between the two races took place, and that
the Finns, although eventually conquered as a distinct people, were
frequently men of rank and importance among the Scandinavians of
eight or nine centuries ago. As an instance of a Finn occupying
an official position (certainly much inferior to that of the
semi-Finnish kings of Ringerike, Hadeland, and Thoten), we have the
"Finn Sauda-Ulfsson," who appears as "engaged in drawing in King
Inge's rents and duties" at Viken, Norway, in the twelfth century
("Heimskringla," Saga XIV, chap. vii). And a certain notable Ketill
flat-nose,[56] or Ketill Finn, whose memory is doubtless embalmed in
Ketill's-sæter (now Kettlester), in the island of Yell, Shetland,
was clearly of Finn blood. When he, and such as he--the semi-Ugrian
sons of Harald, for example--held sway in Shetland and Orkney, and
when men and women of either race occasionally, perhaps frequently,
lived together, a state of things existed that closely resembled
that described in Mr. Karl Blind's Shetlandic traditions--when
"Finns came ow'r fa Norraway" and practised magic and witchcraft,
and domineered over the people of the northern islands.
Of course, it is impossible to say what proportion the Finn blood
bore to the other. Yet it is quite evident that the Finns, while
often at war with the race that overcame them, were also frequently
their allies, and that the two peoples became to some extent blended
in blood. Consequently, when one discovers among modern British
people physical traces of a race "not unlike the modern Eskimo," in
localities famed as the scene of many a Scandinavian raid, these
traces may reasonably be attributed to those very inroads.
FOOTNOTES:
[53] In the edition of 1844, the word "Laplander" is used instead of
"Fin" in these two instances, as also in the following chapter,
where "the cunning of the Fin woman" is referred to. But the
admirable edition of 1889 employs "Fin" in each case. Whatever may
have been the original distinction between "Fin" or "Finn" and
"Lapp," it is evident that these two terms have very often been used
indiscriminately, from an early period.
[54] It is stated of Einar that, although "he was ugly, and blind of
an eye," he was "yet very sharp-sighted withal."
[55] Mr. John R. Tudor, in his very interesting book on "The Orkneys
and Shetland" (London, 1883), indicates (p. 364) a certain district
in the island of North Ronaldshay as the scene of Halfdan's death;
and suggests that one of "three curious ridges, or mounds" is
probably that raised over Halfdan's body. The saga certainly says
that his death took place on that island. But, of course, there is
plenty of room for conjecture in the whole story.
[56] Mentioned, for example, in Skene's "Celtic Scotland," i,
311-312. It is not out of place to refer here to a Mongoloid race of
"Flat-noses" of whom Mr. Howorth speaks. These are the Nogais, who
are known as "Manguts"; the word _Mangut_, or _Mangutah_, being
"merely an appellative, meaning flat-nosed." "Dr. Clark says of
them: 'They are a very different people from the Tartars of the
Crimea, and may be instantly distinguished by their diminutive form,
and the dark copper colour of their complexion, sometimes almost
black. They have a remarkable resemblance to the Laplanders,
although their dress and manner has a more savage character.' Pallas
enlarges also upon their specially Mongolian features. Klaproth
says: 'Of all the Tartar tribes that I have seen, the Nogais bear by
far the strongest resemblance in features and figure to the
Mongols'" (Howorth's "History of the Mongols," part ii, p. 2, and
part iii, p. 71).
CHAPTER VI.
The references made in the two preceding chapters bear specially
upon those Finns who "came ow'r fa Norraway" to the islands of
Shetland and Orkney. But if the assumption be correct that many of
the Finns who landed in Shetland and fished in Shetlandic waters
came thither direct from the Hebrides, it is to be presumed that
Gaelic as well as English tradition has something to say regarding
them. And as there are several words in use in Shetland which are
also in use among West Highlanders,[57] it is not unlikely that
these people may be known in the West Highlands by the same name as
in Shetland.
It is quite clear that Highland tradition does bear testimony to
the former existence of a special race or caste of people known by a
name which resembles that of the Finns so closely that it may
reasonably be regarded as only a variant of "Finn." In a certain
charter of Alexander II. of Scotland (A.D. 1214-49), reference is
made to a well which is known in Gaelic as _Tuber na Feinn_,
_Feinne_ or _Feyne_; and an old gloss (date unknown) explains that
this term signifies "the Well of the grett or kempis men callit
Fenis."[58] Or, in more modern English, "The Well of the great men
or champions called _Feens_, _Fenns_, _Feenies_, or _Fennies_."[59]
Here, then, we have record of a certain race of "kempies" or
fighters, who were known in English as _Feens_, etc., and in Gaelic
as the _Feinne_. One does not require to know much of Gaelic
tradition--one need not know anything of it--to be well aware of the
fact that that legendary lore is fairly alive with stories of the
"Feinne," whatever may have been the ethnological position of the
caste thus named. And, just as in modern Shetland we have people
proclaiming with pride their descent from the _Finns_, so have we
West Highlanders and Hebrideans boasting that the _Feinne_ were
among their forefathers. Just as Mr. Karl Blind met with a modern
Shetland woman who asserted that she was "fifth from da Finns," so
did the late Mr. J. F. Campbell, in 1871, converse with a Skyeman,
"Donald MacDonald, styled Na Feinne"[60]--that is, "of the Feens."
If the "Feinne" of Gaelic story are really the same people as the
"Finns" of Shetlandic tradition, it will not be for lack of
statements made regarding them if we do not learn a great deal more
about these people through Gaelic channels.
Without either hastily accepting or condemning this hypothetical
identification, let us look a little further into the circumstances
of the Gaelic _Feinne_. And it may be as well first to decide upon
an English equivalent of this Gaelic plural. Mr. J. F. Campbell
states that the singular is _Fiann_; but, even when writing in
English, he prefers to adhere to the Gaelic form of the
plural--thus, "the Feinn" or "the Feinne." However, both Dr. Skene
and another writer (the late Rev. J. G. Campbell, Tiree), have
Englished this into "the Fians." This approaches so closely to the
marginal "Fenis" of the old charter of Alexander II., that we may
take "the Feens" as a good enough modern English equivalent for the
Gaelic plural. (For the vowels in _Fians_ and _Feinne_ receive the
old or Continental pronunciation, these words having the sound of
"Feeans" and "Fane," or "Fayny," according to modern English
spelling.) In order, therefore, to avoid the confusion that might
arise from Englishing "the Feinne" into "the Finns" (although we are
tacitly assuming, in the meantime, that the latter really expresses
the ethnological position of the former), let us refer to "the
Feinne" of Gaelic story as "the Feens."[61]
So lately as the latter part of the seventeenth century, certain
districts of Scotland were recognized as specially "the land of the
Feinne." Dr. Skene, on the page which tells us of the _Tobar na
Feinne_, or Well of the Feens, states that Kirke (the Rev. Robert
Kirke, minister of Balquhidder, in Perthshire), in his Psalter,
which was published in 1684, refers to the territory stretching from
Loch Linnhe north-west to, and inclusive of, the Outer Hebrides[62]
as "the generous land of the Feinne."
"The land of the Feens," therefore, according to this Scotch writer
of the seventeenth century, embraced the Outer Hebrides and a
certain portion of the opposite mainland, known in the Highlands as
"the rough bounds." It is thus evident at the outset that we do not
obviously make a false start in assuming that the _Feens_ of Gaelic
tradition ought to be regarded as forming a section of the _Finns_
who visited Shetland in the seventeenth century. In 1684 Kirke
regarded the Hebrides as the land of the Feens; in 1688 Wallace
records the occasional arrival of Finns or Finnmen on the coasts of
Orkney and Shetland. And we have already seen that skin kayaks, such
as those which bore the Finn visitors to the islands of the
north-east were employed at about the same period by inhabitants of
the Hebrides. Certain sections of the Hebrideans are recorded in
history as making warlike descents upon the fisheries of Orkney and
Shetland. And these Hebrideans dwelt in "the land of the Feens."
But the seventeenth century is much too recent a date for studying
the Gaelic accounts of the Feens. These accounts go back to the
period when Gaelic was peculiarly associated with what seems to have
been its earliest home in the British Islands--Ireland. That they
also relate to the more recent period of the Irish or Gaelic
settlements in Scotland is manifest. But they are substantially
Gaelic (_i.e._, Irish), and they deal with events which cannot be
limited to the time of the Irish invasions of Scotland; and they
relate to localities which are not merely British, but European.
"Who were the _Feens_ of tradition, and to what country and period
are they to be assigned?" is the question asked by one of the most
learned of the authorities from whom these statements are
obtained.[63] And his answer, after due consideration, is, that "we
may fairly infer that they were of the population who immediately
preceded the Scots [Gaels] in Erin [Ireland] and in Alban [Scotland,
north of the Forth and Clyde], and that they belong to that period
in the history of both countries before a political separation had
taken place between them, when they were viewed as parts of one
territory, though physically separated, and when a free and
unrestrained intercourse took place between them; when race, and not
territory, was the great bond of association, and the movements of
their respective populations from one country to the other were not
restrained by any feeling of national separation."[64]
Distinct and important as this announcement is, it requires still
further consideration. Our guide in this question has shown us that
in such modern times as the seventeenth century, the Feens of
Scotland were restricted to a small corner of the West Highlands and
to the Hebrides; which territory was so far associated with them
that an intelligent writer of that century spoke of it as the land
of the Feens. But Dr. Skene points also to a much earlier period,
when the Feens inhabited, if they did not possess and exclusively
occupy, the whole of Ireland and Irish-Scotland. And he indicates
further that they had dwelt in these districts before the advent of
the Milesians (or Gaels). More than that, he shows us that the lands
in which they lived included a portion of the continent of Europe.
In opposition to the theory manufactured by the Irish historians,
that the Feens were "a standing body of Milesian militia, having
peculiar privileges and strange customs," Dr. Skene holds the
conviction that, "when looked at a little more closely," they
"assume the features of a distinct race."[65] As a proof of this, he
quotes three verses from an old poem on the Battle of Gabhra (or
_Gawra_, as the more softened pronunciation has it). This battle of
Gawra is said to have been fought in Ireland, on the border of the
counties of Meath and Dublin, and it is placed by some in the third
century A.D. It appears to have been the outcome of the resolution
made by the High King of Ireland, Cormac Mac Art, to renounce for
ever the tributary position which he and other kings occupied
towards their over-lords, the Feens. The Irish monarch is said to
have aimed at the complete extermination of the race in one district
at least; to have "Great Alvin [apparently the modern Allen, near
Dublin] cleared of the Feens."[66] At any rate, whatever its
position in time and place, this battle clearly marks a crisis in
the history of that latter race. For to them the battle of Gawra was
a complete and crushing defeat; and thereafter their suzerainty was
ended. "The kings did all own our sway till the battle of Gaura was
fought," sings the bard of the Feens, "but since that horrid
slaughter no tribute nor tax we've raised." The chroniclers state
that the leader and an immense number of his warriors were killed,
and only two thousand of the Feens of Ireland were left alive when
the battle was over. And their bard sings thus:
"Fiercely and bravely we fought,
That fight, the fight of Gaura;
Then did fall our noble Feinn,
Sole to sole with Ireland's kings."[67]
But the Feenian army here engaged did not only consist of the Feens
of Ireland; and this, indeed, is the reason why attention is now
drawn to this battle. It is in regarding the battle of Gawra that we
recognize the force of Dr. Skene's contention, that however the
Feens may in later times have become restricted to this or that
locality, they at one time formed a very widely spread _race_, the
various divisions of which were ready to hasten to the aid of any
portion of this great confederacy in time of danger. Whether Dr.
Skene is precisely correct in stating that "race, and not territory,
was the great bond of association," is a mere question of words.
Because the Gaelic traditions emphatically show that although
Ireland and other neighbouring lands were occupied by people of
non-Feenic race, who were governed by their own kings, yet, as these
kings were _themselves_ subject to the Feens, who drew tribute from
them, the real owners of these various territories were the powerful
though scattered overlords, and not the races that were under their
sway.[68] Mr. J. F. Campbell also states that the Feenic king was
not distinguished by any _territorial_ title: "always 'Rìgh na Fînne
or F[=e]inne'" ("West Highland Tales," I, xiii). And in the pedigree
which he gives on page 34 of his "Leabhar na Feinne," and which was
compiled by a good archæologist, the title given to three successive
generations of the "royal family" of the Irish Feens is "General of
the Feens" of Ireland; not "King of Ireland" itself.
This battle of Gawra, then, which seems to mark the period when the
great Feenic confederacy was on the point of breaking up, was
brought about by the evident resolve of the non-Feenic population of
Ireland to throw off for ever this intolerable yoke. And the three
verses which Dr. Skene extracts from the poem descriptive of the
battle disclose to us that other sections of the Feenic confederacy
had come to the help of that division which was resident in Ireland.
The poem is supposed to be sung by a Feen of Ireland; and he states
that
"The bands of the Feens of Alban,
And the supreme King of Britain,
Belonging to the order of the Feens of Alban,
Joined us in that battle.
"The Feens of Lochlin were powerful,
From the chief to the leader of nine men,
They mustered along with us
To share in the struggle.
* * * * *
"Boinne, the son of Breacal exclaimed,
With quickness, fierceness, and valour,--
'I and the Feens of Britain
Will be with Oscar of Emhain.'"
"There was thus in this battle," says Dr. Skene, "besides Feens of
Ireland, Feens of Alban, Britain, and Lochlan."[69] Alban, he
explains, denoted the whole of Scotland lying to the north of the
Forth and Clyde. Britain, he states in this place, was South-Western
Scotland. But elsewhere[70] he tells us that "Britain" signified
"either Wales, or England and Wales together"; and again,[71] that
that term included "England, Scotland, and Wales." At the very
least, then, it denoted a part of Great Britain, then inhabited--not
necessarily to the exclusion of other races--by Feens.
These two names, "Alban" and "Britain," do not, however, take us
outside of the British Isles. But the third term, "Lochlan," does.
"Lochlan," says our guide, "was the north of Germany, extending from
the Rhine to the Elbe." And the Feens of that territory, the poem
tells us, "from the chief to the leader of nine men," "mustered
along with us [the Feens of Ireland] to share in the struggle," on
this fateful day of Gawra.
Why Dr. Skene should limit "Lochlan" to these dimensions is not
made quite clear. For Norway, Sweden, and Denmark constituted the
"Lochlan" chiefly known to Gaelic writers. However, he seems to be
of opinion that the term was "transferred" to Scandinavia in the
ninth century, and that previously (as, for example, when the battle
of Gawra was fought) it peculiarly denoted the more southern
territory. If he is right in this, we cannot assume the Lochlan
contingent as including the Feens of Norway. On the other hand,
there does not seem to be any strong reason for believing that, at
the date of Gawra, "Lochlan" did not take in the whole of
Scandinavia, as in the ninth century and afterwards. It is at least
noteworthy, in this connection, that in the pedigree previously
referred to,[72] the ruler of the Feens of Ireland, when the battle
of Gawra was fought, is stated to have been the grandson of a
_Finland_ woman. Quite apart from the assumed identity of _Feen_ and
_Finn_, this indicates a kinship that was not limited even by the
river Elbe.[73]
But really the identity of _Feen_ and _Finn_ seems tolerably clear.
Indeed, a contemporary writer,[74] who has studied ancient Ireland
and its "Feinne" from his own point of view, appears to regard this
identity as a thing perfectly manifest. And when, as tending to
confirm this opinion, he embellishes his pages with several
illustrations from scientific authorities in modern Finland, in
which the ancient forms of art and dress are seen, it is plain that
these designs are the same as those which are strongly associated
with those portions of Scotland which were once known as The Land of
the Feens.
Therefore, it appears probable that the "Feinne" of Lochlan, that
is, of the country lying between the Rhine and the Elbe, who
assisted their kindred in Ireland at the battle of Gawra, were
simply the Finns of that territory. And that, consequently, that
battle belongs to a period when the Mongoloid people, instead of
being cut up, as now, into small detachments here and there, or
amalgamated with other races, held a very distinct and important
position throughout a considerable area of Europe.
However, this identity of "Feen" with "Finn" may not appear to some
people as even a probability, without a fuller investigation into
the circumstances of the people known to Gaelic tradition as the
_Feinne_. It may therefore be desirable to continue to refer to the
"Finns" of Gaelic folk-lore by the name of "Feens."
FOOTNOTES:
[57] Such as _roo_ and _mûl_ (each used to denote a headland);
_skerry_, a reef; _couthe_, the "cuddy" or coal-fish, and _broch_;
all of which are found in Gaelic as _ru_ (_rudha_), _maol_, _sgeir_,
_cudan_, and _brog_.
[58] _See_ p. lxxx of Dr. Skene's Introduction to "The Dean of
Lismore's Book," Edinburgh, 1862.
[59] Perhaps the old Scotch termination "is" ought not to be
modernized into a separate syllable, as, whatever the force once
given to it, that termination represents the modern plural and
possessive "s." But if the "Fenis" of the gloss was dissyllabic, it
has an equivalent in Shetland in the alternative "Finny," sometimes
used instead of "Finn."
[60] _See_ "Leabhar na Feinne," London, 1872, p. iv.
[61] It may be added, that while Dr. Skene frequently speaks of "the
Fians," and at other times of "the Feinne," he occasionally refers
to "the Fenians." But, as this term has been recently usurped by a
quasi-political faction, and as it is, moreover, less accurate than
the other, we may at once reject it. The compound "Fingalian" has
also little to recommend it.
[62] "The Rough-bounds (_Garbhcrioch_) and the Western Isles" is the
expression used. The former term denoted that portion of the
mainland between Loch Linnhe and Glenelg. Whether the Island of Skye
ought to be included as one of the "Western Isles" is not quite
clear.
[63] Dr. Skene, p. lxiv of his Introduction to "The Dean of
Lismore's Book." (Here, as elsewhere, I take the liberty of
substituting _Feens_ for the Gaelic plural _Feinne_.)
[64] _Op. cit._, Introduction, p. lxxviii.
[65] _Op. cit._, Intro., pp. lxxiii-lxxiv.
[66] _Op. cit._, p. 36.
[67] For the above references, _see_ pp. 36, 37, and 40 of "The Dean
of Lismore's Book."
[68] Just as modern India is _British_ India, although it is almost
exclusively occupied by native races. (In this instance, of course,
the position of _native_ and _alien_ is precisely the reverse from
that which this "Feen" empire seems to denote.)
[69] "Dean of Lismore's Book," p. lxxv. The spelling is here
slightly modified.
[70] _Op. cit._, p. 8, note 1.
[71] _Op. cit._, p. 49, note.
[72] "Leabhar na Feinne," p. 34.
[73] The Gaelic traditions have a good deal to say regarding a race
of sea-rovers, styled _Fomorians_; which word is by some believed to
be a latinized form of a Gaelic term denoting a seafaring people. As
it is not improbable that this may be simply another name for the
people now under consideration, the following is worth citing here:
"That those adventurers whom our writers call Fomorians, have
arrived hither in multitudes from that country whence the Danes,
Swedes, and Norwegians came, is a circumstance that may be collected
from this account, that the father-in-law of Tuathal is said, in the
genealogy of the kings of Ireland, to have been king of the
Fomorians of Finland." (O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," Hely's translation,
Dublin, 1793, vol. i, p. 19.)
[74] Mr. Charles de Kay, in the course of several learned articles
on early life in Ireland, contributed to _The Century Magazine_
during the year 1889.
CHAPTER VII.
"The Feens, then, belonged to the pre-Milesian races, and were
connected, not only with Ireland, but likewise with Northern and
Central Scotland, England and Wales, and the territory lying between
the Rhine and the Elbe.[75] Now, there are just two people mentioned
in the Irish records who had settlements in Ireland, and who yet
were connected with Great Britain and the region between the Rhine
and the Elbe. These were the people termed the Tuatha De Danann, and
the Cruithné." So says the learned annotator of "The Dean of
Lismore's Book."[76]
These two last-named races, we are told, are both traditionally
brought from the Elbe and Rhine districts to Ireland and Scotland,
and both are eventually subdued by the later-arriving Milesian
Scots. The period given for the Milesian conquest of the Cruithné of
Scotland, is the ninth century of the Christian era.
Leaving the "Tuatha De Danann" out of the question in the meantime,
let us look at the contemporary and probably kindred "Cruithné." The
Cruithné, Cruithneach, or Cruithnigh, are unquestionably deserving
of study, for Dr. Skene has shown us[77] that this is merely another
name for those people whom history chiefly knows as "the Picts." The
traditional "Feens," therefore, are to be identified with the
historical "Picts."
Now, although these people are, as we have just seen, believed to
have come from the Continental country of "Lochlan" (Scandinavia, in
the largest acceptation of that term, or, in its most restricted
sense, the region lying between the Rhine and the Elbe), and
although there is every reason to believe that they spread
themselves all over the British Isles, yet they seem--regarded as
"Picts"--to be chiefly associated with North Britain. Their memory
is still preserved, topographically, by the name of _Pentland_
(formerly _Petland_ or _Pehtland_, and _Pictland_), which is borne
by the stormy firth separating the Orkneys from Caithness, and also
by the range of hills lying to the south of Edinburgh. Both of these
names are unquestionably derived from the time when there was a
"land of the Picts" in either of these neighbourhoods. But the
Picts, as such, are remembered all over Scotland, in history and in
tradition. It is chiefly in connection with Ireland that they are
spoken of as Cruithné.
If the "Feens" of tradition were _Cruithné_, or _Picts_, it is
evident that whatever is known with regard to the history, customs,
appearance, and language of the Picts will help us to decide as to
whether the _Feens_ were really one with the _Finns_ of history,
ethnology, and tradition. This, as already remarked, on general
grounds, seems very probable. But, when a very able historian
assures us that the historical Cruithné or Picts must certainly be
at least classed with the Feens of tradition, if these three terms
do not actually include one people, we are enabled, by proceeding
upon this assumption, to obtain further proofs in corroboration of
this belief.
Whether regarded as Feens or as Picts, these people, we are
informed, had settlements throughout the British Isles during the
earlier centuries of the Christian era, and the country of their
origin was Northern Germany (or, more vaguely, Scandinavia); in
which country large sections of their kindred continued to dwell,
and to maintain a system of confederacy with the Western or British
section long after the latter had settled in their new home. This,
at any rate, when viewed as Feens.
On the other hand, such a writer as Mr. H. Howorth demonstrates
that, during the same period, the Mongoloid races formed a most
important, and in some places a preponderating, portion of the
inhabitants of the countries of Northern Europe. But, during that
period, these Mongolian races have--he points out--been subjected to
an unceasing process of expulsion from their neighbours on the south
and south-east. If any race, therefore, arrived in the British
Islands from the neighbourhood of the Baltic in the centuries
immediately preceding or following the birth of Christ, the
probability is that that race belonged to one division or another of
these dispossessed Ugrian people.
If this were so--if the Cruithné or Picts, who came to Britain from
the Baltic lands, were one with, or closely akin to, the Finns and
Lapps--their characteristics must have been those of such people.
For example, their religious beliefs. Now, one cannot read Dr.
Skene's references to the heathen religion of the Cruithné without
seeing that it strongly resembles that of the Lapps and Finns.[78]
Without quoting these references in detail, it may be pointed out
that the power of bringing on a snowstorm and darkness, and
unfavourable winds, was among the mysteries of the Pictish priests.
And this gift of commanding the elements was peculiarly associated
with the Finns and Lapps, as it still is with the Eskimo "sorcerers"
of Greenland. "In the Middle Ages," says a writer on sorcery,[79]
"the name of _Finn_ was equivalent to sorcerer." And as the same
writer observes that "the old authors often confounded the Finns
with the Lapps, and when they speak of Finns, it is very difficult
to know which of these two peoples they refer to" (a confusion of
terms which we have already had occasion to remark), we may here use
the term _Finn_ to denote both divisions. Tentatively, at any rate.
The actual Lapps appear to have been the most powerful magicians of
all that caste. "It is proved by numerous documents," continues M.
Tuchmann, "that the Finns called the Lapps sorcerers, although they
themselves were reputed to be great magicians; but they regarded
themselves as inferior to their neighbours, for they habitually
said, when speaking of their most famous sorcerers: 'He is a
veritable Lapp.'"[80] However, since "Finn" has so frequently been
used to denote the whole group, and since the most recent examples
of these people in the British Isles, namely, the magic-working
Finns of Shetland, have borne that title, we may adhere to the
practice of referring to both divisions as "Finns."
The Picts or Cruithné, therefore, practised the magic of the Finns.
That is, the _Feens_ practised the magic of the _Finns_.[81]
Again, when we look at certain weapons used by the _Feens_, a
similar resemblance is visible. According to a tradition, taken down
from the recital of an old Hebridean, the spears or darts of the
Feens, which were known in Gaelic as "_tunnachan_," were of this
description: "They were sticks with sharp ends made on them, and
these ends burned and hardened in the fire. They [the Feens] used to
throw them from them, and they could aim exceedingly with them, and
they could drive them through a man. They used to have a bundle with
them on their shoulders, and a bundle in their oxters [under their
arm-pits]. I myself have seen one of them that was found in a moss,
that was as though it had been hardened in the fire."[82] "This,
then," justly remarks Mr. Campbell, "gives the popular notion of the
heroes [the Feens], and throws them back beyond the iron period."
While the fashion of referring to "periods" of iron, bronze, etc.,
is very apt to mislead (since contiguous peoples have been, and are,
in different "periods" of this nature, at the same moment of time),
it is at least clear from the above tradition that the most
primitive form of dart was associated with the Feens. But, although
this species of weapon is of great antiquity, it does not follow
that a tradition which relates to people who employed it, is
necessarily of great antiquity also. Or that those javelin-men were
at all "prehistoric." We have already seen that a race of people
employed darts in exactly the same way when fishing--or, perhaps,
more correctly, when seal-hunting--within British waters, only two
hundred years ago. And the people who in this respect resembled the
_Feens_ of Gaelic folk-lore are themselves remembered as _Finns_.
But perhaps the readiest and surest way of obtaining something like
a true conception of these legendary Feens, is to regard them from
the ethnological point of view, as well, that is, as our imperfect
information will allow. We shall therefore look at them in this
aspect, whether considered as _Picts_ or _Cruithné_ or as _Feens_.
The great hero of the Feenic legends, and the "King" or "General" of
the Feens of Ireland, was the famous "Finn" or "Fionn." If the
battle of Gawra was really fought in the third century, as is
alleged, and if this "Fionn" was a real man, and not the type or
"eponymus" of his race, then he ought to be assigned to the third
century. For he is said to have been present at that battle, where
his grandson was slain and the supremacy of his race destroyed. At
any rate, whether he lived at that date or not, and whether he was
an individual or merely a personification of his race, Fionn figures
throughout the tales of these people as a very Feen of the Feens.
Now, among the many stories told of him, there is one, entitled
"How Fin[83] went to the Kingdom of the Big Men." It is unnecessary
to give all the particulars of this tale. But Fin is pictured as
starting from Dublin Bay in his little coracle (_curachan_) on his
voyage to the country of the Big Men. Although he is described as
"hoisting the spotted, towering sails," they cannot have been very
large, or very many, for the coracle was so small that "Fin was
guide in her prow, helm in her stern, and tackle in her middle," and
when he landed on the coast of the Big Men's country, he drew his
tiny vessel, unaided, up into the dry grass, above the tide-mark. It
ought to be added, however, that this coracle was an open boat,
capable of holding at least four persons; as is shown on the return
voyage.
After landing, Fin encountered a "big wayfarer" (_tais-dealach
mòr_), who informed him that his king had long been in want of a
dwarf (_troich_), and that Fin would suit him capitally. "He took
with him Fin; but another big man (_fear mòr_) came, and was going
to take Fin from him. The two fought; but when they had torn each
other's clothes, they left it to Fin to judge. He chose the first
one. He took Fin with him to the palace of the king, whose worthies
and high nobles assembled to see the little man (_an duine bhig_").
And then and there Fin was installed as the royal dwarf.[84]
In this story, then, we have the tacit admission that, not far from
Fin's home at the hill of Allen, Kildare, there was a country whose
inhabitants were so much taller than the race of Fin, that the
latter were mere dwarfs beside them. Now, this is precisely _the
most striking_ characteristic of the kayak-using Finns of Shetlandic
tradition.
The _Finns_ of Shetland folk-lore are, says Mr. Karl Blind,
"reckoned among the _Trows_." The king of the _Feens_ was hailed in
the country of the big men as a _Troich_. And these are simply two
forms of the same word. _Troich_ or _droich_, among Gaelic-speaking
people, is softened into _trow_ or _drow_ among the English-speaking
Shetlanders.[85] In both cases it signifies "dwarf."
And, just as the Shetlanders have memories of a race of small men,
who, in spite of their mean stature, were a terror to the taller
people, whom they oppressed and took tribute from, so have the
Gaelic-speaking people a mass of legends which also tell of similar
dwarfish but dreaded tyrants. The former designate their dwarfs
"Finns": if the Gaelic traditions are not equally definite, they at
least suggest that a caste of "Feens," who levied a tax upon the
Gaelic-speaking people, were themselves dwarfs in stature. And the
Highland tales abound in stories of fierce and tyrannical dwarfs.
FOOTNOTES:
[75] It is to be remembered that "Lochlan," the term used to denote
the territory last named, was ultimately applied to the whole of
Scandinavia, and _may_ have been used in its widest sense at the
period here referred to.
[76] Introduction, p. lxxvi. In the above, I have again taken the
liberty of modifying the various designations.
[77] "Celtic Scotland," vol. i, p. 131; vol. iii, chap, iii, etc.
_See_ also his "Chronicles of the Picts and Scots."
[78] "Celtic Scotland," vol. ii, pp. 108-16.
[79] M. J. Tuchmann, in "Mélusine," t. iv, no. 16.
[80] Mr. Charles de Kay, in one of the valuable articles already
referred to, remarks ("Woman in Early Ireland," _Century Magazine_,
July 1889, p. 439): "Although in the Kalewala the tribes of Pohjola,
or the Lapps, are considered foul magicians, and ever the foe of the
heroes of Kaleva, or the Finns, yet it is from Pohjola that
Waïnamoïnen and his comrades always take their brides by force or by
purchase." This quotation not only confirms the above account of M.
Tuchmann, but it also illustrates the fact that even the most
antagonistic races do not refrain from mixing their blood. Thus it
may be seen how Lapps and Finns could eventually become almost
identified. And the "Heimskringla" shows us how, in turn, this
composite Finno-Lapp race could later on become blended with that of
the Haralds and Sigurds of the Sagas.
[81] This has already been propounded by the late Mr. J. F. Campbell
("West Highland Tales," iv, 29-30).
[82] "West Highland Tales," iii, 394-5.
[83] So spelt in the English translation given by the Rev. John G.
Campbell, minister of Tiree, in _The Scottish Celtic Review_,
Glasgow, 1885, pp. 184-90.
[84] Referring to the component parts of Fin's army on a certain
occasion, Mr. Charles de Kay remarks ("Early Heroes of Ireland,"
_Century Magazine_, June 1889, p, 200): "The battalion of
'middle-sized men' and that of 'small men' we may understand as
recruited from the true hunter and fisher tribes, who gave the name
Fenian to the army itself, and Fion to the folk-hero."
[85] _Trow_ is the favourite form among the Shetlanders; but other
forms are given by Edmondston in his "Glossary," such as _drow_,
_troll_, _troil_, _troilya_, and _trolld_. The Shetland terms are,
therefore, also variants of the Scandinavian _troll_, following a
common Scotch tendency, which modifies _boll_, _knoll_, _poll_,
_roll_, etc., into _bow_, _know_, _pow_, _row_, etc. (the vowel
sound being as in _now_). But whichever form may be the oldest, it
is manifest that _trow_ or _drow_, and _troich_ or _droich_, are
radically one.
CHAPTER VIII.
But, if the legendary "Feens" are identical with, or closely akin
to, the Picts of history, then the historical Picts must also belong
to this stunted Eskimo-like race. Let us look at the people called
"Picts."
And, first of all, since the word "Pict" is admittedly the result of
a pun or a misapprehension on the part of Latin-speaking people, it
may be as well to discard that special spelling. The forms which the
word appears to have most commonly taken in the mouths of the
country-people of Scotland are _Pik_, _Pech_, _Pecht_, and _Peht_
(the _ch_ being of course pronounced as in German). Doubtless, other
forms might be adduced; but perhaps the best compromise is _Pecht_.
What, then, are the accounts given with regard to the stature of the
Pechts?
The question is practically answered at once in considering the
nature of the dwellings that the traditions of Scotland unanimously
assign to these people.
"The only tradition which I heard current on the subject of the
former inhabitants of the country," says a writer on Shetland,[86]
"was, that the remains of old dwellings were Pechts' houses, and
that those who lived in them were little men." And, in reporting to
the Anthropological Society of London the result of an archæological
tour in Shetland, Dr. James Hunt[87] remarks of such "old
dwellings"--"These remains are called 'Pights' or Picts' houses.'
Mr. Umfray [a local archæologist] surmises that they were originally
'pights' or dwarfs' houses.' Dwarfs, in this locality, are still
called _pechts_."[88] And the present writer, when visiting a
"Pict's house" three or four miles north of the place just spoken
of, and which had also been inspected by Dr. Hunt, obtained similar
testimony. The place is known as Saffester, or Seffister, and its
antiquarian features consist of the remains of a chambered tumulus
and a separate subterranean gallery. The latter is referred to by
one writer as a "Pict's house," although it is only a passage. As,
however, local tradition alleges that it leads to the chambered
mound, the name may be correct enough. Now, this tumulus was opened
fifty or more years ago by the parish minister.[89] And an old man,
who was then a boy, informed the writer that the entrance was
effected by what he and his boy companions had always called "the
_trow's_ door." Another similar experience of the writer's yields a
like result. Near Hamna Voe, at the south end of the island of Yell,
there is a small loch and islet, with the remains of a "broch," the
loch being known as "the loch of Kettlester." The "broch" that once
stood there (for the ruins no longer retain their original shape)
was built by "the Pechts," said the intelligent lad (a native of the
district) who was the writer's guide, and these Pechts he described
as very small people.[90]
The popular Shetland notions regarding the Pechts are again
repeated by a lady writer, who has the advantage of being herself a
Shetlander[91]: "The first folks that ever were in our isles were
the Picts.... They had no ships, only small boats.... They were very
small [people]." Indeed, so much has their small stature been
impressed upon the popular memory, that, as we have seen, "dwarfs,
in this locality, are still called _pechts_." Nor is it only in
Shetland that this word has such a meaning. In Aberdeenshire _picht_
denotes a dwarfish person, and Dr. Jamieson, in recording the
fact,[92] suggests its connection with "the _pichts_ or _pechts_,
whom the vulgar view as a race of pigmies." In the south of Scotland
also, this signification appears to prevail; for the Ettrick
Shepherd, in the "Noctes Ambrosianæ," employs "pegh" as an everyday
synonym for "dwarf." In point of fact, although it has just been
stated that dwarfs "are still called _pechts_" in Shetland, because
of the small size of the race so known to history, it is really a
question whether the historical people did not so become
historically remembered _because_ a pre-existing word fitly
described their dwarfish stature. But this etymological point is of
little importance here.
Although Shetland has been chiefly considered in these recent
remarks, it will be seen that the popular belief regarding the
stature of the Pechts is apparently common to the whole of Scotland.
Dr. Jamieson evidently thought so when he referred to "the Pichts,
or Pechts, whom the vulgar view as a race of pigmies." And he does
not stand alone. "Throughout Scotland," says another writer, "the
vulgar account is 'that the _Pechs_ were unco wee bodies, but
terrible strang'; that is, that they were of very small stature, but
of prodigious strength."[93] "Long ago," quotes the late Robert
Chambers,[94] and his quotation also applies to the whole of
Scotland, "there were people in this country called the Pechs;
short, wee men they were,"--and so on.
Enough has been said to show that the ideas held by the "vulgar"
(whose traditions, once contemptuously rejected by scholars, are
nowadays being rated at their true value), throughout Scotland, with
respect to the Pechts, agree in describing those people as decidedly
dwarfish in stature. And this belief is most convincingly borne out
by the dwellings which the Pechts are believed to have inhabited;
the "Pechts' houses" which we glanced at a few paragraphs back, and
which speedily led us to consider the Pechts themselves. No man of
the average height of modern British people, who has personally
inspected these "Pechts' houses," can arrive at any other conclusion
than that they were built and inhabited by people of a stature very
much less than his own. This is a point so manifest that it need not
be emphasized to those who have stooped, squeezed, and crept among
the chambers and passages of a "Pictish broch." A few particulars of
measurement would quickly convince others; but such details need not
be entered into here. However, something may be said with regard to
the appearance of the dwelling which may best be regarded as the
typical "Pecht's house."
In a "Notice of the Brochs and the so-called Picts' Houses of
Orkney," submitted to the Anthropological Society of London,[95] Mr.
George Petrie points out that "the name Pict's house is applied
indiscriminately, in the northern counties of Scotland, to every
sort of ancient structure." And as there is certainly a great
difference, in degree, between the various structures referred to,
we may here accept Mr. Petrie's guidance as to what constitutes the
typical "Pict's house." "The class of buildings to which I have for
many years restricted the appellation of _Picts' house_ have been,"
says Mr. Petrie, "very different from the brochs,[96] both in
external appearance and general structure and arrangements. The
_Pict's house_ is generally of a conical form, and externally
closely resembles a large bowl-shaped barrow. It consists of a solid
mass of masonry, covered with a layer of turf, a foot or more in
thickness, and has a central chamber surrounded by several smaller
cells. The entrance to the central chamber from the outside is by a
long, low, narrow passage; while the cells are connected with the
chamber by short passages of similar dimensions to the long one. The
walls of the chambers and cells converge towards the top, where they
approach so closely that the aperture can be spanned by a stone a
couple of feet in length."
Another writer[97] describes a Pict's house--that on Wideford Hill,
near Kirkwall--in these terms: "All that meets the eye at first is a
green, conical mound, with an indescribable aspect of something
_eerie_ and weird about it, resting silently amid the moorland
solitude. On closer inspection we discover an entrance passage,
about eighteen inches high and two feet broad, leading from the
lower side into the interior of the prehistoric dwelling,"--and so
on.
The resemblance between this kind of dwelling, or its more modern
representative, the "bee-hive" hut of the Hebrides and Western
Ireland, to the dwellings of modern Eskimos has long been
recognized. But it may be permitted to quote here from the accounts
given by two Arctic voyagers of the early part of this century,
especially as these accounts, both relating to the most northern
tribes of Greenland, appear to describe with peculiar exactness the
"Pict's house" of Mr. Petrie.
Captain Scoresby, in the account of his explorations in the year
1822, thus describes the deserted dwellings of some of those
northern Eskimos:
"The roofs of all the huts had either been removed or had
fallen in; what remained, consisted of an excavation in the
ground at the brow of the bank, about 4 feet in depth, 15
in length, and 6 to 9 in width. The sides of each hut were
sustained by a wall of rough stones, and the bottom
appeared to be gravel, clay, and moss. The access to these
huts, after the manner of the Esquimaux, was a horizontal
tunnel perforating the ground, about 15 feet in length,
opening at one extremity on the side of the bank, into the
external air, and, at the other, communicating with the
interior of the hut. This tunnel was so low, that a person
must creep on his hands and knees to get into the dwelling:
it was roofed with slabs of stone and sods. This kind of
hut being deeply sunk in the earth, and being accessible
only by a subterranean passage, is generally considered as
formed altogether under ground. As, indeed, it rises very
little above the surface, and as the roof, when entire, is
generally covered with sods, and clothed with moss or
grass, it partakes so much of the appearance of the rest of
the ground, that it can scarcely be distinguished from it.
I was much struck by its admirable adaptation to the nature
of the climate and the circumstances of the inhabitants.
The uncivilized Esquimaux, using no fire in these
habitations, but only lamps, which serve both for light and
for warming their victuals, require, in the severities of
winter, to economise, with the greatest care, such
artificial warmth as they are able to produce in their
huts. For this purpose, an under-ground dwelling, defended
from the penetration of the frost by a roof of moss and
earth, with an additional coating of a bed of snow, and
preserved from the entrance of the piercing wind by a long
subterranean tunnel, without the possibility of being
annoyed by any draught of air, but what is voluntarily
admitted--forms one of the best contrivances which,
considering the limited resources, and the unenlightened
state of these people, could possibly have been
adopted."[98]
Scoresby's description fully corroborates that given by Captain Ross
a few years earlier, when relating his visit to the Eskimos living
about the north-eastern corner of Baffin's Bay. These people he
describes as "short in stature, seldom exceeding five feet," and he
mentions that their sorcerers alleged that it was in their power to
raise a storm or make a calm, and to drive off seals and birds."
With regard to their dwellings, he says:
"None of their houses were seen, but they described them as
built entirely of stone, the walls being sunk about three
feet into the earth, and raised about as much above it.
They have no windows, and the entrance is by a long, narrow
passage, nearly under ground. Several families live in one
house, and each has a lamp made of hollowed stone, hung
from the roof, in which they burn the blubber of the seal,
etc., using dried moss for a wick, which is kindled by
means of iron and stone. This lamp, which is never
extinguished, serves at once for light, warmth, and
cooking."[99]
It is not out of place to refer here also to an instructive article
on "The Archæology of Lighting Appliances," read before the Society
of Antiquaries of Scotland by Mr. J. Romilly Allen, F.S.A.Scot., in
the course of which he describes the stone lamps found in the
habitations known as "brochs" (and popularly assigned to the Picts),
with regard to which lamps he states that although not quite
identical in shape with those used by modern Eskimos, they are
substantially identical, and must have been used in precisely the
same way. Comparing this with Baron Nordenskiöld's accounts, Mr.
Romilly Allen observes: "The picture here given of the domestic life
of the Eskimos at the present time enables us to form a tolerably
correct idea of the way in which the inhabitants of the Scottish
brochs lighted their dwellings during the long winter nights two
thousand years ago." ("Proceedings of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot."
1887-88, p. 84.)
From all these remarks, then, it will be seen that the dwelling of
the dwarfish Eskimo and the "house" assigned by Scottish tradition
to the Pechts, or dwarfs, are substantially one. And a consideration
of the statements also demonstrates clearly that, whatever the age
of the word "pecht," none but a race of dwarfish stature would have
built such places of abode. Indeed, the stature of the dwellers in
the Pecht's house is doubly impressed upon the memory of the
Northern Islanders. When Mr. Gorrie describes its outward
appearance, he tells us (in similar terms to the Arctic voyagers),
that "all that meets the eye at first is a green, conical mound ...
resting silently amid the moorland solitude." But he really repeats
himself, although he is not aware of it, when he refers on another
page[100] to "the simple superstition (?) long prevalent among the
inhabitants of Orkney and Zetland, that the strange green mounds
rising by the sea-side and on solitary moors, were the abodes of
supernatural beings known by the name of Trows." Of the
"supernatural" attributes assigned to those people, or claimed by
them--in early Scotland, in Lapland, and in Greenland--much remains
to be said. But the people just referred to under two different, but
synonymous, names, are undoubtedly one and the same.
The Pechts of history, then, were a race of dwarfs. Thus, when Dr.
Skene identifies the Feens of Gaelic folk-lore with the historic
Pechts, he reveals them to us as a race of dwarfs. Therefore, the
traditional story of the Feen chiefs visit to the "country of the
big men," where he was regarded by that latter race as a "droich,"
is entirely in accordance with Dr. Skene's belief that the Feens
were of the same race as the historic Pechts. It is not at all
unlikely that this identity was taken for granted long before the
nineteenth century, and in Scotland. In Allan Ramsay's _Evergreen_,
a collection of Scottish poems written before the year 1600, there
is a certain "Interlude of the Droichs," also referred to as "The
Droichs' Part of a Play." Now, the spokesman of these droichs (or
trows, or dwarfs) announces himself as a grandson of Fin, the great
chief of the Feens of Ireland. And he makes a statement which is
identical with one contained in a Feenic poem on the battle of
Gawra. This statement need not be particularized here, but it tells
us unmistakably that these "droichs" were regarded as the
representatives of Fin and his Feens.[101] Therefore, it would
appear from this poem that Fin and his Feens were regarded by the
ruling class in Scotland, prior to 1600, as dwarfs. That is, as
_pechts_.
So far, then, all that has here been said tends to show that the
_Feinne_ of Gaelic folk-lore, and the Finns of Northern history and
tradition, ought to be regarded as one and the same people. And that
one section, at any rate, of such people ought to be identified with
the Pechts, or Picts, of history.
FOOTNOTES:
[86] Rev. J. Russell, "Three Years in Shetland." Paisley and London,
1887, pp. 135-6.
[87] _See_ the Society's "Memoirs," 1865-6, vol. ii, pp. 294-338.
[88] The spelling _pight_, which Dr. Hunt uses above, must clearly
represent the guttural and vowel sound of _licht_, _micht_, _dight_,
etc., in "broad Scotch." Without this caution, the reader would
naturally infer the sound of _pite_.
[89] Rev. J. Bryden: _see_ "Anthrop. Soc. Mem." _ut supra_.
[90] Close to Kettlester there is a noted haunt of the "trows,"
which bears the name of _Houlland_. With this may be compared
_Troil-Houlland_, which adjoins Seffister, of "trow" memory. This
very common Shetland termination "ster" or "setter" is the Icelandic
_setr_, a dwelling; and these two names resolve themselves
respectively into dwellings of _Kettle_ and _Seffi_. The former name
at once recalls the ninth century _Ketil Flat-nose_ of the Sagas,
and this "setr," still associated with dwarfs (otherwise _trows_ or
_pechts_), may have been one of his dwellings.
[91] Mrs. Saxby, in "Folk-lore from Unst, Shetland" (part v),
contributed to _The Leisure Hour_, 1880. (For another reference to
the boats of the Picts, _see_ pp. 178-9, _post_.)
[92] "Scottish Dictionary" (Supplement), _s. v._ "Picht."
[93] "The Topography of the Basin of the Tay," by James Knox,
Edinburgh, 1831, p. 108. This writer adds that "they are said to
have been about three or four feet in height"; and it may be
mentioned that when I asked my young guide at Kettlester the exact
height of the small Pechts he had just been speaking of, he said,
"About that height," indicating at the same time a stature of three
feet or so. Whatever their height really was, this young
Shetlander's ideas were in agreement with those held "throughout
Scotland."
[94] "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," 1870, p. 80.
[95] _See_ the Society's "Memoirs," 1865-6, vol. ii, pp. 216-225.
[96] The term "broch" has hitherto been used in a general sense in
these pages. This its etymology permits: for it is the same word as
_borough_, _burgh_, _burg_, _barrow_, etc. But the students of these
ancient structures have recently restricted "broch" to the more
elaborate and superior building of the round or "martello" tower
order. This definition is very convenient, and saves much confusion.
In spite, however, of the great difference that Mr. Petrie speaks of
as between the so-called "Pictish" broch and the humbler dwelling
that alone is recognized by him as a "Pict's house," it is yet
evident that the "broch" is to a very great extent evolved from the
more primitive and rudimentary "Pict's house."
[97] Mr. Daniel Gorrie, in "Summers and Winters in the Orkneys,"
London, 1869, p. 117.
[98] This extract is quoted from the review in the _Scots Magazine_
of 1823 (pp. 457-8) of Captain Scoresby's "Journal" (published
1823).
[99] From an extract contained in the review (_Scots Magazine_,
1819, vol. iv, pp. 332-3) of Capt. Ross's account (published by John
Murray, London, 1819).
[100] _Op. cit._, p. 119.
[101] The fact that the "Interlude" is allegorical does not at all
affect the question.
CHAPTER IX.
While the Picts, or Pechts, are remembered to a great extent as the
builders of the subterranean and half-subterranean dwellings with
which they are associated, these are far from being the only
structures which popular tradition has stamped as the work of their
hands. The architectural skill, of a kind, which they displayed in
the construction of their own "Pechts' houses" may be seen from such
a casual reference as this, gleaned from among certain specimens of
Clydesdale folk-lore: "Our milkhouse," says a Clydesdale peasant,
"whilk stude on the side of a dentie burn, and was ane o' thae auld
vowts [vaults] whilk the Pechs biggit langsyne, had wa's sae doons
strang that ane waud hae thocht it micht hae stude to the last day;
but its found had been onnerminit by the last Lammas-spait."[102] If
the "Pechts' houses" lacked, as they certainly did, evidences of
high culture in the designers, or outward beauty of design in
themselves, they were at least remarkable for their great strength
and durability; so that, were it not for such accidents as a
Lammas-flood, they might well have stood "to the last day." But the
great bodily strength of this race, and their turn for masonry, were
made use of in other ways than in the construction of the dwellings
referred to; that is, if there is any truth in the popular ideas
upon this subject.
The late Robert Chambers, in putting together the popular Scotch
beliefs regarding these people,[103] not only states that they were
"short, wee men," but he adds, still speaking as a Scottish peasant:
"The Pechs were great builders; they built a' the auld castles in
the kintry; and do ye ken the way they built them? I'll tell ye.
They stood all in a row from the quarry to the place where they were
building, and ilk ane handed forward the stanes to his neebor, till
the hale was biggit." A special example of one of the buildings so
reared is the Round Tower of Abernethy in Perthshire, well known as
one of the two towers of this class still to be found in Scotland.
"The story goes," says the Rev. Andrew Small, in his "Antiquities of
Fife,"[104] "that it was built by the Pechts,... and that, while the
work was going on, they stood in a row all the way from the Lomond
Hill to the building, handing the stones from one to another....
That it has been built of freestone from the Lomond Hill is clear to
a demonstration, as the grist or nature of the stone points out the
very spot where it has been taken from, namely, a little west, and
up from the ancient wood of Drumdriell, about a mile straight south
from Meralsford." That Abernethy was long a seat of Pictish power is
what no historian would deny, and the tower referred to is always
denominated "Pictish." Of the way in which it was built we have just
seen the local account.
Similar ideas are current in Northumberland. "The erection of
several of these old castles [_e.g._, Dunstanborough Castle] is, by
popular tradition, ascribed to the Picts.... The building of the
Roman wall, which is by country people commonly called the Picts'
wall, is also ascribed to them; and they are said to have formed the
Catrail on the Scottish border, which is frequently called the
Picts-work ditch. The Picts are described as men of low stature, but
of superhuman strength; and on the moors of Northumberland the heaps
of stone, which are supposed by antiquaries to mark the spot where
'bones of mighty chiefs lie hid,' are sometimes pointed out to the
inquiring stranger as places where a Pict's apron-string had broken
as he was carrying a load of stones to his work."[105]
Although the tower at Abernethy, and the "Pechts' houses" already
spoken of, may be classed together as having been built for the use
of the builders themselves, it is quite evident that if these people
actually reared the many other structures attributed to them, in
Scotland and in Northumberland, they did so in the character of
serfs, working for people of other races. If Dunstanborough Castle,
the Wall of Hadrian, and (perhaps also) the Catrail, not to speak of
"a' the auld castles in the kintry," were built by the Pechts, the
builders were evidently not working on their own behalf. This
clearly must have been the case in the instance of the "Roman Wall,"
which was raised for the very purpose of checking the southward
inroads of these fierce warriors. That it actually was a "Roman
wall" is of course beyond question. But that fact does not interfere
with the supposition that the drudgery was performed by captive
Pechts, whose immense strength, and intimate acquaintance with the
art of building such structures, would render them of the greatest
use to their conquerors. That they, and not the Romans, were the
actual _builders_ of the wall, as Northumbrian tradition asserts, is
therefore far from improbable. Indeed, there are one or two
indications that the more northern "Wall of Antoninus" may also have
been reared by kindred hands. And as with these early examples, so
may the later buildings referred to have actually been unwillingly
built by Pechts, at the command of other people.[106]
Not only walls and castles, or towers, but churches and cathedrals
are also said to have been reared by the same dwarfish but powerful
builders, as may be seen from the following instances.
One part of Scotland that continued to be a "reservation" of the
Pechts, after that people had ceased to hold sway, is the hilly
country lying to the south of Edinburgh, and known as "the
Pentlands." Like the "Pentland Firth" on the north-east of Scotland,
this district was so called because it was associated with the
Pechts. We need not here concern ourselves as to the causes which
made the name, in both instances, assume the modern form of
"Pentland." But, in each case, the name was formerly "Pehtland," and
it signified "the land of the Pehts, or Pechts." According to Dr.
Skene, the Angles of Northumbria had, as early as the seventh
century, established themselves pretty securely as the ruling caste
throughout the south-east of what is now Scotland, then a part of
"Northumbria." This territory seems to have reached as far on the
north-west as the modern county of Linlithgow, and one of the chief
Northumbrian strongholds in that neighbourhood has ever since been
known by the name of the Northumbrian king, Edwin. Edinburgh,
therefore, in the seventh century, appears as a seat of the Anglian
race, which ruled from the Forth to the Humber. Three or four
centuries later, the steadily growing power of "Scotia" annexed the
whole of Northumbria lying north of the Borders. But the population,
no doubt, remained little affected by this political change, and its
speech and traditions continued the same.[107]
But, although those Angles were the rulers of south-eastern
Scotland (in modern topography), there still remained a remnant of
the Pechts in at least one part of that northern Northumbria.[108]
And it was because of their residence there that the Angles spoke of
the hilly region lying to the south and south-west of Edinburgh as
"the Peht or Pecht land." How long the Pechts maintained some kind
of individuality in that neighbourhood it is impossible to say. It
is said that, after Kenneth's great victory over the Pechts at
Forteviot or at Scone, in the middle of the ninth century, many of
the fugitives sought refuge in England. And, as the Pentland Hills
were then in "England," it is likely that they found shelter among
their kindred there. In other parts of Scotland the Pechts are
historically visible long after the seventh and ninth centuries. At
the battle of the Standard, in 1138, the Galloway section formed one
division of the Scottish army.[109] A popular tradition, to be
presently referred to, also speaks of them as a distinct people in
the Clyde valley, during the same century. It is therefore quite
permissible to suppose that, once the people of the Midlothian
"Pecht-lands" had realized that they were a conquered remnant, with
no hope of ultimately recovering their lost power, they may have
continued to live, if merely as serfs, not only to the twelfth
century, but for several centuries longer.
That they did so is to be inferred from the following bit of
"folk-lore," which relates to a locality that, though not strictly
included in the district of the "Pecht-lands," is quite near enough
to agree with this hypothesis.
The hill of Corstorphine, situated a little to the west of
Edinburgh, is only about three miles north of the nearest point of
the "Pecht-lands." Now, the village church of Corstorphine is one of
the few churches in Scotland which are of interest to the antiquary.
"Ancient it most unquestionably is," says a modern writer in the
course of a description of the village and its church, and the
foundation of the latter is placed in the year 1429. The fifteenth
century is not very "ancient," as these things go, but perhaps the
site has been occupied by a church from a much earlier period. At
any rate, the writer just referred to, in visiting Corstorphine for
the purpose of inspecting both church and village, obtained this
piece of local tradition, believed to relate to the church of 1429.
"Of this [church], in November 1881, an intelligent native assured
the writer that it was 'wonderfully ancient, built by the
Hottentots, who stood in a row and handed the stones on one to
another from Ravelston quarry'"--on the adjacent hill of
Corstorphine.[110]
Now, if one compares this account with the traditional description
of the _modus operandi_ of the Pechts, already instanced in the case
of Abernethy, and generally accepted throughout Scotland, one hardly
requires the historical testimony of the "Pecht-lands" to recognize
in these "Hottentots" the Pechts of tradition. It is not necessary
to take the expression here used by the Corstorphine villager as
absolutely correct. His statement, it may be remarked, succeeded a
conversation in which our various wars in South Africa had been
discussed,[111] and it is not unlikely that this had suggested to
the speaker the term "Hottentot" as aptly enough describing a race
that to his ancestors, whose ideas he inherited, had seemed savage
and inferior. That he absolutely believed the labourers who reared
the walls of the church to be of a different race from his own is
unquestionably indicated by the whole tenor of his remarks.[112]
This Corstorphine tradition points to a body of Pechts still
surviving as a distinct type, in the Midlothian of 1429; and then
regarded by the general population as a caste of drudges. This, too,
is the position accorded to that race in one phase of Highland
tradition. "I am informed," says Dr. Jamieson,[113] "that in
Inverness-shire, the foundations of various houses have been
discovered, of a round form,... and that when the Highlanders are
asked to whom they belonged, they say that they were the houses of
the _Drinnich_ or _Trinnich_, _i.e._, of the _labourers_, a name
which they give to the Picts." They may be seen in the Clyde valley,
in the same position as those of Corstorphine, but three centuries
earlier, on the testimony of tradition. "Throughout Scotland," says
an antiquary previously quoted, "the vulgar account is, 'that the
_Pechs_ were unco wee bodies, but terrible strang'; that is, that
they were of very small stature, but of prodigious strength. It is
commonly added [he goes on] 'that the meal (oatmeal) was a penny the
peck when they built the _Hie_ Kirk [the Cathedral] of Glasgow;' for
the building of all the cathedrals, and in general everything very
ancient, is ascribed by the common people to the _Pechs_."[114] Now,
the present Cathedral of Glasgow is said to have been built in the
twelfth century, at which date the Pechts of Galloway formed a
distinct and separate population in south-western Scotland.
According to Reginald of Durham, as we have already seen, the town
of Kirkcudbright was situated in the "Pecht-lands" (_terra
Pictorum_), and the _sermo Pictorum_ was still spoken there. In the
same century the Galloway Pechts formed the van of the Scottish army
at the battle of the Standard; and the Pechts of this period are
remembered in the popular memory, assisted by a homely enough
detail, as having been employed in the building of the "High Church"
of Glasgow. Of course, the Clyde valley is not situated in Galloway;
but the presence of Pechts in twelfth-century Glasgow may easily be
explained by assuming that they belonged to another detachment of
the race, or that it was worth while sending to Galloway for such
famous builders. Belonging to a period less easily defined are the
Pecht masons of the famous Round Tower at Brechin. Regarding this
tower a local writer states: "Tradition, in Brechin, as well as at
Abernethy, ascribes the erection to the _Peghts_," and he adds, that
"it has stated they were only allowed a trifle for this work, and
were cheated out of part of this trifle."[115] In this instance,
also, the Pechts are remembered as working for people of another
race; which is somewhat remarkable, as the tower itself is one of
those which seem to have been built by the Pechts for _their own_
purposes.
Without going much out of the way, it may be as well to point out
that the popular idea of the Pechts being "men of low stature, _but
of superhuman strength_," "unco wee bodies, _but terrible strang_,"
is not only supported by tradition on every side, but it is borne
out by a consideration of the mementos they have left behind them.
Much could be said on this subject; but it will perhaps be enough
here to point to a hill-fortress in Forfarshire, which history and
tradition agree in ascribing to these people. This is the stronghold
known as the White Cater Thun, situated a few miles north-west of
Brechin (which possesses the Pictish round-tower just referred to,
and which was once a seat of Pictish monarchy). The fort crowns a
hill which rises about 300 feet above the general level of the great
valley of Strathmore, and is thus referred to:
"This is, perhaps, the strongest Pictish fortification
extant. It is surrounded by a double rampart of an
elliptical figure, being 436 feet long by about 200 broad,
and containing about two imperial acres.... But the most
wonderful thing that occurs in this Pictish fort is the
extraordinary dimensions of the ramparts, composed entirely
of large, loose stones, being 26 feet thick at the top, and
upwards of 100 at the bottom, reckoning quite to the ditch,
which, indeed, seems to be much filled up with the tumbling
down of the walls. The vast labour that it must have cost
to amass so enormous a quantity of large stones, and convey
them to such a height, is astonishing.... In conveying the
enormous quantity of large stones to the summit of White
Cater Thun, the natives must doubtless have expended great
labour, and much time. They seem, however, to have been
familiar with a method of removing immense masses from
considerable distances, and it is supposed they made use of
hurdles on such occasions; it is not improbable they might
have some kind of rude windlass for raising the larger
stones from the bottom to the top of the hill."[116]
Whatever the method employed by the builders of this stronghold,
the description just given will show the reader, what he cannot fail
to be impressed with on a study of the Pechts, that these people and
their buildings belonged to what is known as the "Cyclopean" type,
and that they--the people--represented a race now quite extinct, in
its purity, but which must undoubtedly have been remarkable for a
prodigious strength of body, a strength that may well be spoken of
as "superhuman," if it is to be compared with that of any existing
race of men. It is this point that must always be borne in mind when
one considers the traditions regarding the buildings of the Pechts,
and this it is that justifies the very parts of those traditions
which would otherwise appear utterly wild and incredible. Beyond
question, there is much that demands criticism and inquiry in the
traditional description of the way in which such edifices as
Abernethy Tower and Corstorphine Church were reared. But two
important points must not be overlooked. The one is that an immense
number of people may have been simultaneously at work; the other is
that the workers were of vast muscular strength.
FOOTNOTES:
[102] _Scots Magazine_, vol. iii. 1818, p. 503.
[103] "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," 1870, pp. 80-82.
[104] Edinburgh, 1823, pp. 152-3.
[105] "Rambles in Northumberland," by S. Oliver. London, 1835, p.
104.
[106] The earliest instance which has come under my notice of such
work performed in the British Islands by a subject people, who
correspond in many ways with the Pechts, is that given by Lady
Ferguson ("The Story of the Irish before the Conquest," London,
1868, p. 32), with reference to the rebuilding of the fort of
Cruachan, in Connaught.
[107] For Dr. Skene's accounts, on which these statements are based,
see "Celtic Scotland," vol. i. pp. 236-241; and p. cvii of his
Preface to the "Chronicles of the Picts and Scots."
[108] It is not meant to be implied that Angles and Pechts were
exclusively the inhabitants of this territory at that time. But it
seems clear that the former predominated, and gave to the district
the impression of speech and custom which it yet retains.
[109] "Celtic Scotland," vol. i. pp. 203 and 467. "Reginald of
Durham, writing in the last half of the twelfth century, mentions,
in 1164, Kirkcudbright as being in 'terra Pictorum,' and calls their
language 'sermo Pictorum.'" (_Op. cit._, p. 203, _note_.) Dr. Skene,
quoting various authorities, gives us an interesting description of
the Scottish army at the Battle of the Standard. It was composed, we
learn, of Normans, Germans, English, Northumbrians, Cumbrians, men
of Teviotdale and the Lothians, Picts (commonly called Galloways or
Galloway-men), and Scots. This is the statement made by Richard of
Hexham, a contemporary writer, and it seems to agree on the whole
with the other accounts. His "Cumbrians" are identified with the
"Welsh" of Strathclyde. No doubt his "Northumbrians" were those who,
living on the north of the Border, belonged to that part of
Northumbria which had then been Scottish for more than a century.
The Galloway Picts, it may be added, were in the front of the
battle, and "claimed to lead the van as their right."
[110] _See_ the _Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland_, Edinburgh, 1882,
vol. i. p. 287.
[111] This I am informed by the writer of the lines quoted.
[112] "The tradition that certain buildings were erected by men who
stood in a row and handed the stones from one to the other is quite
familiar to me with regard to buildings in Ireland," writes a
correspondent (the Rev. J. Ffrench, of Clonegal, Fellow of the Royal
Society of Antiquaries of Ireland); and he furnishes one
example:--"Brash, in his 'Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland,'
when describing the Round Tower of _Ardmore_, tells us: 'I have
before stated that the materials of which this tower was built were
brought from the Mountain of Slieve-Grian, some four or five miles
distant. The local legend is that the stones were brought to the
spot without "horse or wheel," and laid without the noise of a
hammer, the meaning of which is that the stones were all dressed in
the quarry, and a line of men being stationed along from the quarry
to the tower, the stones were handed from one to the other.'"
While this Irish tradition does not identify these builders with
any special race of men, it is noteworthy that their method of
building is that which Scottish tradition regards as peculiarly
characteristic of the Picts, or "Pechts." Moreover, the building
referred to by Brash is of precisely the same order as the Round
Tower of Abernethy, said to have been built after the same fashion.
And the builders of the Round Tower of Abernethy, as also the
builders of the Round Tower of Brechin, are alleged by local
tradition to have been "Pechts."
[113] In the "Dissertation on the Origin of the Scottish Language,"
prefixed to his Scottish Dictionary.
[114] Knox's "Topography of the Tay," Edinburgh, 1831, pp. 108-9.
[115] "History of Brechin," by David D. Black. Edinburgh and
Brechin, 1867, 2nd edition, p. 247.
[116] Knox's "Topography," pp. 92-94.
CHAPTER X.
In the immediately preceding pages we have been considering the
people known as "Pechts." But it is contended that the "Feens" of
Gaelic story ought to be identified with the "Pechts." When the
leader of the "Feens" landed in "the country of the big men," he was
at once seized upon as eminently fitted to be the court dwarf, into
which office he was duly installed; from which it was reasonably
inferred that he was a "pegh," or dwarf. Now, in one of the many
songs ascribed to the son of this "pegh," Oisin, who is ever
bemoaning the departed glories of his race, he laments the fact that
he finds himself in his old age "wearily dragging stones along to
the church on the hill of the priest." "Here, where he is a drudge,
he has seen the Feinne in their glory.... Were they alive,
shavelings would not hold this mound." Thus laments Oisin, the
representative of the old heathen Feens, bitter in his denunciations
of Patrick the priest, and the new order which he represents, and
ever bewailing the vanished "glory of the Feinn."
We find Oisin, therefore, accepted universally as the type of his
race, unwillingly occupied in "dragging stones for priests to build
churches," in his old age and after the downfall of his people. Nor
was it only as the serf of another race that he had so worked;
because, he explains to Patrick that this old age of drudgery had
been foretold to him by his leader, Fin, on a previous occasion,
before the coming of Patrick, and on that occasion not only Oisin,
but a great number of the Feens of Ireland, were engaged in a
similar task. The great difference was that then they were not
working as the drudges of another people, but for themselves, and at
the command of their leader. And it was not a church, but a
hill-fortress, that they were building, "on Cuailgne's bare and
rounded hill." Oisin speaks of it as Fin's "famous fort," and the
hill on which it was built is "said to be in the county of Armagh,"
or, as another writer states, in County Louth. According to Oisin,
two-thirds of the materials for the fort were brought thither by the
Feens of Connaught and the west of Ireland, and the remainder by the
Feens of Leinster and the east of Ulster, to which section both
Oisin and Fin belonged. Assuming these traditional accounts to be
correct, we thus see the Feens, in the day of their independence,
"dragging stones" to the top of a hill, in order to build a
fortress; and later on we see them, personified by Oisin, occupied
in a similar manner, but as the drudges of Christian priests and the
builders of Christian churches. The one account applies to Scotland
and the other to Ireland; but the Pechts of the White Cater Thun
have their counterparts in the Feens who reared the "famous fort"
"on Cuailgne's bare and rounded hill;" and the Pechts who built the
churches of Glasgow and Corstorphine are also duplicated in the
conquered Feens, "weary dragging stones for priests to build
churches," in Ireland. Consequently, the traditional fame of the
Pechts of Scotland, as a great race of builders, is not at all at
variance with the belief that they and the Feens were of one
nation.[117]
But, if Fin and his Feens were builders of the hill-forts of the
"Pechts," and were themselves veritable Pechts, it is evident that
the Feens built and inhabited the dwellings known as "Pechts'
houses." This is quite borne out when we regard that class of
building which, although an archæologist already quoted (Mr. Petrie)
does not hold it to be strictly entitled to the designation of
"Pecht's house," is nevertheless a variety of the same species, and
often receives the same title. The variety referred to differs from
what has been accepted as the true "Pecht's house," in that it has
no superimposed covering of earth or turf. But the two varieties
undoubtedly belong to the same general class. Now, with regard to
this second order of "Pecht's house," we have such a statement as
the following: "Glenlyon, in Perthshire, is remarkable for the great
number of remains of aboriginal works scattered through it, in the
shape of circular castles built entirely of dry stones. The common
people believe these structures to have belonged to their mythic
hero, Fion,... and have a verse to that effect:
'Bha da chaisteal dheug aig Fionn
Ann an Crom-ghleann-nan-clach.'
That is, _Fion had twelve castles in the Crooked Glen of Stones_
(such being an old name for Glenlyon)."[118] And a like belief
prevails in other Perthshire glens, such as Glenshee and Glenalmond,
beside the latter of which, as every reader of Wordsworth knows,
Oisin himself is said to be buried.
The true "Pecht's house," however, is not this dry-stone circular
"castle," open to air and sun. These "castles" are, indeed,
popularly included among "Pechts' houses," but such an archæologist
as the one recently referred to prefers to speak of them as
"brochs." This word "broch" (akin to _burgh_, etc.) has been adopted
by Dr. Joseph Anderson and other eminent students of such buildings,
to distinguish this special structure; and although, etymologically
regarded, the distinction is arbitrary, it is very convenient. But
the "broch," standing visibly exposed like any other ruin, its stone
walls uncovered to the sun, is by no means the same thing as the
"Pecht's house" described by Mr. Petrie and others. This, it may be
remembered, is almost or altogether identical with the dwellings of
the North-Greenland Eskimos, as portrayed by the explorers of
seventy years ago. It is approached through a long, dark tunnel,
entered from the face of a bank or brae, so low that one has to
crawl along it, its sides and roofs composed of large stone slabs,
and the roof itself flush with, or even underneath, the surface of
the ground. At the end of this long, dark, narrow passage one enters
the central chamber of the dwelling of the North-Greenlander and the
ancient Pecht. It, too, would be in darkness, were it not for the
rude stone lamp, fed with the oil of seal or whale, soaking through
moss or the pith of rushes, which hangs from the roof and is always
burning. Here and there at the side of this central chamber are
openings in the wall which lead into small cavities used as
sleeping-places. Briefly and imperfectly, that is the interior of
the Pecht's house.[119]
Viewed from the outside, what does it resemble? The underground
passage of approach is invisible. The "house" itself "is generally
of a conical form, and externally closely resembles a large
bowl-shaped barrow. It consists of a solid mass of masonry, covered
with a layer of turf a foot or more in thickness, and has a central
chamber surrounded by several smaller cells." Or, as another writer
describes it, "all that meets the eye at first is a green, conical
mound ... resting silently amid the moorland solitude." The entrance
to this seeming hillock, situated sometimes at its base, more
frequently, perhaps, at the extremity of a narrow, underground
tunnel, was never very conspicuous, since it was only about a couple
of feet high. In the days when the Pechts were actually inhabiting
these "green hillocks," it is likely they took the precaution to
conceal this outer orifice, small though it was, as well as
possible. Thus, the adventurer or colonist of another race, arriving
at a settlement of Pechts' houses, saw nothing but one or more
grassy, conical hillocks rising out of the surrounding moor.
Since the Gaelic term _broch_ (for it is Gaelic, though not
exclusively so) is used to denote the one variety of these "Pictish"
dwellings, let us employ, if only temporarily, the Gaelic term which
denotes the other. That kind of _broch_, then, which is covered over
with earth and turf so as to resemble a conical green mound, is
known in Gaelic by the name of _sith-bhrog_, or _sith-bhrugh_; that
is to say, the broch of the _sith_. Still more commonly, it is
styled a _sithean_, or _sith_-place. When rendered in our modern
English spelling, according to its pronunciation, this distinctive
_sith_ becomes spelt _shee_; as in the case of _Gleann-sith_, which
is written "Glenshee." And, similarly, _sithean_ becomes _sheean_.
It is the "sheean," then, and not the "broch" proper, that is
regarded by such archæologists as Mr. Petrie as peculiarly the
dwelling of the Pechts.
Now, if any Highlander were asked his opinion as to the former
inhabitants of the "sheeans," he would have but one answer to give.
And the nature of that answer is very clearly shown by those
Highlanders who have compiled the leading Scottish-Gaelic
dictionaries. _Brog_ (_i.e._, "broch") is itself defined as an
obsolete term for "a house"; but _bruth_ and other variants connect,
if they do not identify, the "broch" with the "sheean." The various
definitions are these: _Bruth_, "a house half under the surface,"
"the dwelling of fairies in a hill"; _sith-bruth_, _sith-bhrugh_, "a
fairy hill or mansion"; _sith-bhrog_, _sith-bhruach_, _sith-bhruth_,
"a fairy hill," "a fairy residence," "fairyland"; _sithean_, "a
little hill or knoll," "a fairy hill"; _sithain_, "a green knoll or
hillock, tenanted, according to superstitious belief, by
fairies."[120]
Thus, the houses of the Pechts or dwarfs were inhabited by the
people known as "fairies." As the fairies were "little people,"
there is here no contradiction in terms. We have, moreover, seen
that the same "conical, green mounds" are remembered in Orkney and
Shetland as the homes of the "trows." "Trow," however, is itself
equivalent to _droich_, or dwarf. Therefore, the belief that those
outward-seeming "green hillocks" were the abodes of Pechts is quite
in agreement with the traditions that refer to those mound-dwellers
as _trows_ and _fairies_ (otherwise "the little people"). Because
_pecht_ (or _pech_), _trow_, and _fairy_ are all synonyms for
"dwarf."
FOOTNOTES:
[117] For these references to Oisin and the Feens see Skene's "Book
of the Dean of Lismore," pp. 12-14 (English version), and 10-11
(Gaelic). Also Mr. J. F. Campbell's "Leabhar na Feinne," pp. xiii,
47 and 49.
[118] Chambers's "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," 1870, pp. 254-55.
[119] Although the Pechts made use of stone lamps similar to those
of the northern Eskimos, it is perhaps too much to assume that the
dwellings of the former admitted nothing of the light of day. Mr.
Petrie states that the walls of the Pechts' houses "converge towards
the top, where they approach so closely that the aperture can be
spanned by a stone a couple of feet in length." If this aperture
remained open during the day, which seems quite likely, then the
above reference as to the ever-burning lamp is only applicable to
the dwellings of the northern Greenlanders. For the sake of safety,
while their lands were over-run by hostile forces, it is probable
that the Pechts did cover the two-foot hole in the roof with a large
stone, which itself would need to be hidden by earth and turf. But
the fact that such an aperture was left in the building indicates
that it was frequently uncovered; perhaps always at night, and also,
during times of safety, in the day. In the latter case, the interior
of this underground dwelling would thus receive, through the hole
overhead, enough light to fill the central chamber with a sort of
twilight, although the smaller cells might have been quite in
darkness.
[120] See the dictionaries of Armstrong, McLeod and Dewar, and
McAlpine. McAlpine also defines the word _digh_ as a "conical
mound," "an abode of fairies"; and that more uncommon term is thus
employed in an Islay story of Mr. J. F. Campbell's (_West Highland
Tales_, ii, 48).
CHAPTER XI.
In a reference to the popular traditions of Northumberland, the
Picts are spoken of as "a race of people who are represented, in
such legends, as endowed with supernatural power, and holding, in
the scale of beings, an intermediate rank between men and
fairies."[121] Sir Walter Scott also corroborates this belief as
existent in Northumberland ("Rob Roy," ch. xxiii). And the writer
previously quoted, in describing the local tradition with regard to
the building of the tower at Abernethy by the Pechts, explains that
"the people always, when they speak of these Peghs, associate that
idea with a notion that they were a preternatural sort of beings,
such as fairies and brownies." Therefore, without entering into any
discussion as to what is or was meant by "supernatural power," we
have ascertained from these extracts that the Pechts were regarded,
in Northumberland and in Scotland, as a race of people possessing or
claiming "supernatural" attributes. And that they were akin to
"fairies and brownies," if they were not identical with them. This
also is the position of the "Feens" of Gaelic folk-lore, as the
following references will show.
When the celebrated Irish king, Brian Borumha, defeated the Danes
of Dublin and their allies, in the year 1000 A.D., it is stated that
he appropriated all the vast treasures that the Danes had gathered
together:--"gold and silver, and bronze, and precious stones, and
carbuncle-gems, and buffalo-horns, and beautiful goblets," as well
as "various vestures of all colours."[122] And the chronicler
explains that "never was there a fortress, or a fastness, or a
mound, or a church, or a sacred place, or a sanctuary," which the
Danes had not plundered when it fell to their arms. The first three
terms, which in the Gaelic are _dún_, _daingean_, and _diongna_, are
closely allied, and each designates something akin to the "hollow
mounds" of which we have been speaking.[123] But the succeeding
sentence is quite explicit: "Neither was there in concealment under
ground in Erinn, _nor in the various solitudes belonging to Fians or
to fairies_, anything that was not discovered by these foreign,
wonderful Denmarkians, through paganism and idol worship." With
regard to which last allusion, Dr. Todd says: "The meaning is, that
notwithstanding the potent spells employed by the Fians and fairies
of old for the concealment of their hidden treasures, the Danes, by
their pagan magic and the diabolical power of their idols, were
enabled to find them out."[124] (The Gaelic from which Dr. Todd
translates the above sentences is as follows:--"Ni raibh imorro
_dún_ no _daingean_, no _diongna_, no ceall, no cadhas, no neimedh
do gabhadh ris an ngláim nglifidhigh, nglonnmair, ngnuismhir do bhí
ag teaglaim, ocus ag teaccar na hédala sin, óir ni raibhe ifolach
_fo thalmain_ in Erinn ina fá dhiamhraibh díchealta ag _fianaibh_ no
ag _síthcuiraibh_ ní na fuaratar na Danmargaigh allmardha ingantacha
sin, tre geintlidhecht, ocus tre iodhaladhradh.")[125]
Like the Pechts in Northumbrian tradition, the Feens are here not
absolutely _identified_ with the fairies, although the two are so
closely associated that it is difficult to distinguish between the
one and the other. The traditions of the Feens themselves testify to
a distinction between the two. Thus, in the "Dan an Fhir Shicair,"
or Ballad of the Fairy Man,[126] Fin and his six nobles, while
walking out one evening, see a fairy-man coming towards them, who
announces that he comes from the neighbouring Golden Doon (_Dún an
oir_), and that his purpose is to cause those Feens to come, by
enchantment, to dine that day with him and his people in their
"hill." Here, then, we have the Feens associating, to some extent
(though not, as it appears, on a very friendly footing) with
fairies, and yet not themselves regarded as identical with that
people.
From the foregoing reference to the plunder of the Danes at Dublin,
in the year 1000, it is evident that "the Feens and Fairies" were
understood, in the traditional history of the Gaels, to be then
actually inhabiting those underground and half-underground
dwellings known as "Pechts' houses." There is another reference,
in the same history, that corroborates this belief. The date when
Brian Borumha became possessor of those "fairy-hoards," which the
Danes had previously obtained by their well-known process of
"how-breaking,"[127] was the close of the tenth century. Now, a son
of this same Brian, and also one of his father's chief warriors, are
both described as asserting (on a certain occasion, in the reign of
the same Brian)[128] that they had been tempted by the fairies to
forsake their ancestral cause. "Often," says Murchadh, "was I
offered, in hills and in fairy mansions [_i sithaib ocus i
sithbrugaib_], this world and these gifts; but I never abandoned for
one night my country nor my inheritance for them." As Murchadh's
response was evoked by a similar statement on the part of Dunlang,
it thus appears that, in rifling the abodes of the "how-folk," the
Danes were robbing a race _then alive_, and were not merely
appropriating unclaimed treasure. And, indeed, the Scandinavian
accounts of "how-breaking" distinctly point out that this pastime
involved a struggle of life and death with the armed inmate of the
"how."
The evidence of Murchadh and Dunlang, then, shows that intercourse
with "the fairies" was not a matter for wonder; and, moreover, that,
for one reason or another, the latter desired to seduce the
Gaelic-speaking people from their allegiance. That they were
eventually successful with Dunlang seems pointed out by the
statement, made elsewhere, that this Dunlang was himself a fairy
(_sioguidhe_).[129] And it is well known that "Fairies," as well as
"Feens," while possessing distinct innate attributes, were not
averse to obtaining adherents from other races, who thus became
"Feens" and "Fairies" by adoption.
In the instance of Murchadh and Dunlang, however, the _Feens_ are
not named; and it is a matter for conjecture whether they ought to
be included among the Fairies there spoken of. But, at any rate, the
incident shows that the Fairies (if not the Feens) formed an active,
existent caste or race, subsequent to the date of Brian's famous
victory over the Danes; and that the Danish inroads on their doons,
brochs, hows, etc., in the neighbourhood of Dublin had not by any
means annihilated them as a people.
Of this robbery of the "how-folk" by the Danes in the Dublin
district, something further may be said in passing. The date of
these raids is stated to have been 861 or 862 A.D., when the Danes
overran the whole district of the Boyne and Blackwater (co. Meath),
and broke into the "fairy hills" of that region; one of which, that
of New Grange, is probably the most interesting example of its class
that is at present known to archæologists.[130] Therefore, the booty
which the Danes thus obtained in 862 must have formed a portion of
that captured by King Brian, after his victory, in the year 1000.
And it is clear enough that it was this special treasure that the
chronicler referred to when he spoke of the hoards which the Danes
sought out and discovered "in concealment under ground" and "in the
various solitudes (or secret places) belonging to Feens or to
Fairies."
Ought "Fairies," then, to be identified with the "Feens" and
"Pechts" of history and tradition? We have already seen that, both
in Scotland and in Northumberland, the Pechts are classed with the
Fairies in the popular memory. And from the brief references just
made, one would be disposed at the first glance to say that the two
names applied to one people. But all the people who form the subject
of consideration in these pages belong, even in their most modern
and most modified phases, to the past; and in looking down that long
vista one is often deceived by the "foreshortening" effects of
distance, which seems to unite what is really distinct and separate.
Still, it is evident that "Fairies" have so many points in common
with "Feens" and "Pechts" that they must all, at least, be classed
together.
The Ayrshire term _Fane_, which, according to Dr. Jamieson,[131]
signifies "a fairy," offers itself as very probably a variant of the
Gaelic _Fian_ (pl. _Feinne_). But Brittany affords even a better
instance. There, we are told, the peasantry have memories of a race
of _Fions_, who were dwarfs in stature, and are described as "living
with the fairies."[132] And although we have endeavoured, as far as
possible, to restrict these remarks to the British Islands, and even
to a few special districts, yet the folk-lore of Brittany coincides
so closely with that of the districts just referred to, and is so
corroborative of the theories here stated, that it may be
permissible to quote a few of the Breton beliefs bearing upon this
subject.
Of those whom he states are called the _Christian_ fairies of
Brittany, M. Paul Sébillot gives several particulars.[133] These
so-called "Christian" fairies were, he says, "neither wholly
Christian nor wholly pagan," and in the traditions relating to them
he dimly recognizes their possible identification with the heathen
priestesses[134] of Brittany, at the time when they were gradually
becoming converted to Christianity. They are celebrated, like the
Pechts of Scotland, as the builders of churches. And just as local
tradition states that the Pechts who built the Round Tower of
Abernethy, in the manner already described, accomplished their work
in the course of a single night, so a certain chapel in the
Côtes-du-Nord is said to have been built in one night by the
"fairies." Moreover, in two of the instances referred to by M.
Sébillot, the top stone of the building is or was lacking, for the
reason that the daylight had surprised the builders at their
work.[135] Now, this is precisely what is stated of the Pictish
builders of the Round Tower at Abernethy, who are said to have been
much irritated because an early riser in the village discovered them
at work, and thus deprived the building and its builders of their
claim to a "supernatural" origin.[136] Further, these Breton
"fairies" are spoken of as carrying the stones in their aprons, like
the Picts of Northumberland, the castle-building "genii" of
Yorkshire, and the "witch" who helped to build the Forfarshire fort
of Cater Thun.[137] And, as in the two latter instances, as well as
in several of the others referred to, the stones were carried from
"a great distance" by the Breton fairies, on at least one occasion.
To this Breton comparison one is tempted to add that of the
Netherlands. In referring to the dwarfs who once inhabited the
neighbourhood of Tienen, M. Pol de Mont states that "they were
uncommonly small of stature, but of extraordinarily great
strength"[138]; a statement which is paralleled by "the vulgar
account" in Scotland, "that the Pechs were unco wee bodies, but
terrible strang." And, in the Journal of Folk-lore just quoted from,
the same kind of people are again suggested by the _Gypnissen_;
"queer little women," who lived in a "castle" which had been reared
in a single night, and who, like the Scotch "brownies" (with whom
the Pechts are classed by the Scotch), were content to perform such
everyday drudgery as washing the clothes of the taller race living
near them, for no higher remuneration than their daily food.[139]
The "castle" in which they dwelt is not spoken of as visible at the
present day, but the probability is that it was of the same nature
as the _Aschberg_, near Casterlé, which M. Pol de Mont states[140]
is declared by tradition to be a chambered mound, capable of housing
as many as fifty _bergmannetjes_, or mound-dwarfs (the Dutch term
being equivalent to the Scotch "how-folk" or the English
"hill-men").
Nor can one omit the following testimony from the island of Sylt,
off the Schleswig coast, supplied by Mr. William George Black.
Referring to a story of "Finn, the king of the dwarfs," Mr. Black
explains as follows:--"These were an odd, small, tricky, people whom
the Frisians found in Sylt when they took possession. They lived
underground, wore red caps, and lived on berries and mussels, fish
and birds, and wild eggs. They had stone axes and knives, and made
pots of clay. They sang and danced by moonlight on the mounds of the
plain which were their homes, worked little, were deceitful, and
loved to steal children and pretty women: the children they
exchanged for their own, the women they kept. Those who lived in the
bushes, and later in the Frieslanders' own houses, like our own
brownies, were called 'Pucks,' and a sandy dell near Braderup is
still known as the Pukthal.... They had a language of their own,
which lingers yet in proverbs and children's games. The story of
King Finn's subjects is evidently one of those valuable legends
which illuminate dark pages of history. It clearly bears testimony
to the same small race having inhabited Friesland in times which we
trace in the caves of the Neolithic age, and of which the Esquimaux
are the only survivors." Mr. Black has himself visited one of those
"green mounds" which are said to have been inhabited by this Sylt
"Finn," and he states that when it was first scientifically
examined, in 1868, it was found to contain "remains of a fireplace,
bones of a small man, some clay urns, and stone weapons."[141]
These Continental instances may be regarded as relating rather to
the "Feens of Lochlin" than to those of Ireland and Great Britain.
But one thing quite evident from the foregoing references is that
the "Fians and Fairies" of Ireland, the "Fions, or Feins, and
Fairies" of Brittany, and the similar people in the Netherlands and
in Friesland, were all nearly identical, if they were not quite
identical, with the "preternatural sort of beings" known to Scotch
folk-lore as Pechs, or Pechts, or Piks, and to history in general as
Picts.
FOOTNOTES:
[121] "Rambles in Northumberland," by S. Oliver, London, 1835, p.
104.
[122] "The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," edited by J. H. Todd,
D.D. London, 1867, p. 115. In the above quotation, the word
translated "bronze" is _finndruine_. This is referred to as "a
metal, the constituents of which are not well known. O'Clery
describes it as _prás go n-airgead buailte_, 'brass, with silver
hammered on to it.'" It is also referred to as "white silver,"
"silver or white bronze," "brass," and "copper." It was employed to
furnish such various articles as "leg armour," the rim of a shield,
a royal chessboard, and, further, a bedstead--which surely ought to
have been royal also. (_Op. cit._, pp. ciii-civ. _note_, and 50 and
94; also Skene's "Celtic Scotland," ii. 507.) The passage relating
to buffalo-horns is given in the Gaelic version ("War of the
Gaedhil," p. 114), "_ocus do chornaibh buabaill_." The word _corn_,
of which _chornaibh_ is an inflection, is substantially the Latin
_cornu_. The Scotch-Gaelic dictionaries give it chiefly the
signification of "drinking-horn," and "sounding-horn or trumpet."
Armstrong states that the drinking-cups of the northern nations were
made from the horns of the "urus or European buffalo," referred to
by Latin writers: He adds--"One of these immense horns, at least an
ox-horn of prodigious size, is still preserved in the Castle of
Dunvegan, Isle of Sky." _Buabhall_ itself has the secondary meaning
of "trumpet," or "cornet"; but its true meaning is "buffalo."
Armstrong subjoins these comparisons--Armorican _bual_, French
_bufle_, Latin _bubulus_, Greek _boubalos_. Also Cornish _buaval_,
with the meaning of "trumpet." And also _buabhull-chorn_, "a
bugle-horn," with which he compares the Welsh _bual-gorn_. Halliwell
has _bougil_, "a bugle-horn," and _bugle_, "a buffalo"; and with
reference to the latter spelling he says, "hence bugle-horn, a
drinking-vessel made of horn; also a hunting-horn." Professor Skeat,
who cites Halliwell also, defines "bugle" as "a wild ox." It is
clear that these are all merely variants of one word, or rather of
two words. The _u_ in "bugle" has originally been broad. The hard
_c_ of "corn" has become a guttural in "chorn," and a mere aspirate
in "horn," although it is still found as "corn" both in English and
Gaelic dictionaries (with a very restricted meaning in the former
instance).
[123] Dr. Todd (_op. cit._, p. 40, _note_), in referring to another
instance in which these terms occur, says:--"The words here used,
_Dún_, _Daingen_, _Dingna_, all signify a fort or fortress. It is
not easy to define the precise difference between them. _Dún_ ...
seems to signify a fortified hill or mound. _Daingen_ (dungeon) is a
walled fort or strong tower; hence _daingnigim_, I fortify. _Dingna_
[which he translates 'mound' in the above instance] is apparently
only another form of the same word. Cf. 'Zeuss,' p. 30 n."
[124] _Op. cit._, p. 115, _note_.
[125] Even the expression "_fo thalmain_" may be held to denote the
"conical hill" of the fairies. _Talmhainn_ is certainly the genitive
of _talamh_, "the ground"; and so "_fo thalmain_" signifies "under
the ground." But _tolman_ particularly denotes "a mound." And it, or
the variant _tulman_, is used in a fairy tale of the island of Barra
(Campbell's "West Highland Tales," ii. 39) with special reference to
one of those abodes of the "little people." It may be added that the
word translated the "solitudes" of the Feens, etc., might also be
rendered the "secret places" or "concealed places."
[126] "Leabhar na Feinne," pp. 94-95.
[127] The "fairy mound" was also known as a "how" or "haug," and its
people as "how-folk." To "break," or break into a "how," in the hope
of obtaining treasure (an early form of burglary), was a well-known
custom of the Danes.
[128] "The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill," pp. clxxviii-clxxix,
note 5, and pp. 172-173.
[129] Dr. Todd, in mentioning this and the other relative
circumstances, refers the reader to "Mr. O'Kearney's Introd. to the
'Feis Tighe Chonain' (Ossianic Soc.) p. 98 _sq._"--and to
O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," iii. c. 22, p. 200.
[130] _See_ Sir W. R. Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne," Dublin, 1849,
p. 202. The same work refers (p. 24) to "sidh Nectain, the fairy
hill of Nechtain," where the river Boyne rises, but does not state
whether early Dane or modern archæologist has ever investigated it.
(It is now known as the Hill of Carbury.)
[131] "Scottish Dictionary," s. v. _Fane_.
[132] _See_ the "Revue des Traditions populaires," Nov. 1889,
p. 613. The reader is there referred to M. Paul Sébillot's
"Contes populaires de la Haute-Bretagne" for those _Fions_; and
also to Bézier's "Inventaire des monuments mégalithiques de
l'Ille-et-Vilaine," (p. 26) for certain _Feins_, who seem very
likely to be the same people.
[133] "Revue des Traditions populaires," Oct. 1889, pp. 515-519.
[134] These "Christian" fairies appear to be remembered as women;
like the _banshee_ or fairy woman of Ireland and Gaelic-Scotland.
[135] Another illustration of these special features is afforded by
the church at Eckwadt, in Denmark, which is said to have been built
by a "hill-man," or dwarf. In this case, also, the last stone was
not put on. Of this builder, too, it is stated that "he worked only
during the night."--(Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, III. 38-39).
[136] In this mysterious method of working,--first preparing the
stones in a quarry at some distance off, and then conveying them to
the chosen site, and erecting them according to a pre-arranged
method, and all in the course of a single night (as the nature and
dimensions of the buildings rendered quite possible)--one seems to
discern one of the methods by which those dwarf tribes asserted and
maintained the "supernatural" qualities ascribed to them.
[137] For these latter references, see pp. 99-100 _post_. Of course,
the "aprons" of the traditional dwarfs, it need hardly be added,
were _leather_ aprons.
[138] _Volkskunde_: "Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche Folklore," 2^e
Jaargang, 9e Aflevering, p. 182.
[139] _Op. cit._, 2^e Jaar. 5^e Afl., p. 89.
[140] _Op. cit._, 2^e Jaar. 5^e Afl., p. 89.
[141] _Heligoland_; by William George Black, Blackwood & Sons, 1888,
Chapter IV.
CHAPTER XII.
The Gaelic accounts do not, of course, refer to the "Fairies" under
that name. It is therefore unnecessary to add anything here to the
many attempted solutions of the etymology of "Fairy." But the Gaelic
records speak of these people as the _Fir Sithe_, or _Daoine
Sithe_--the _Sithe_-folk. As already pointed out, this word is
pronounced as if spelt _Shee_ or _Sheey[)e]_]. It is also written
_Sidhe_, and this brings us to the older spelling before the dental
had been aspirated out of existence. The older form of the word is
_Side_, presumably pronounced as _Sheed[)e]_. What are the
conclusions arrived at with regard to these _Fir Sidhe_?
"We know now," says a recent writer, already quoted, "that the
Sidhe were early peoples and their gods, incorporated into the
following races.... We find under the Arctic Circle, and among the
Finns and other 'Altaic' or Turanian tribes of Russia, the same
belief in 'Tshuds' or vanished supernatural inhabitants of the land,
pointing to the same mixture of ideas we find in Ireland concerning
dispossessed peoples of a different tongue but high civilisation,
whose record remains only in legend. The 'Shee' of Ireland is the
same word we find in Asia, but softened down in pronunciation. Among
the early Russians and Irish we can safely infer the Turanian
underfolk with its myths and manners of life, its subterranean
dwellings and repute as magicians; in both we perceive remarkably
clever members of the Finno-Ugrian women-folk gaining a power over
chiefs of the conquering hordes, and going down into legend as
supernatural Sidhes or Tshuds."[142] According to this writer, then,
the "Fairies," whose treasures were seized by the Danes of Dublin in
the ninth century, belonged to the Turanian or Finno-Ugrian race of
the Tshuds. And the traditions current in Ireland and Scotland
regarding the _Fir Sidhe_, are counterparts of those current in the
north of Europe with regard to the _Tshuds_. It does not certainly
tend to the simplification of a very complex question to discover
that the North Europeans, who remember so much about those _Tshuds_,
are the very people who, of all modern Europeans, seem to have most
resemblance to the _Fir Sidhe_. In reviewing a recent collection of
Lapp folk-tales, Mr. Ralston states that "the traditions relating to
the constant struggle maintained between the Lapp aborigines and
their foreign enemies" forms an important portion of the collection.
"The first nine stories all refer to the foes known as _Tsjuderne_,
the _Tsjuder_--the Chudic Finns of the Baltic and other coasts. When
these dreaded enemies appeared, the Lapps would take refuge in their
underground retreats."[143] Thus, in accepting Tshud as identical
with _Side_ or _Sidhe_, we have to recognize that the people so
_named_ were the bitter foes of the very race that most resembles
them--the "underground" folk of Lapland. Perhaps the explanation of
this apparent contradiction is, that the fact of antagonism existing
between two nations is no proof of any great racial difference
between them.
Whether the word "Tshud" is, or is not, a variant of _Sidhe_, there
seems good reason for believing that such a variant ought to be
recognized in the _seid_ of the Sagas. We are told by Thorpe that
witchcraft was _seidhr_, which word some derive from _siodha_
(modern _seethe_), to boil. "Boiling 'seid,' or the witches' broth,
was the chief art in witchcraft," says Mr. Du Chaillu; who adds that
"the witchcraft songs which were used for the seid" were called
_Vard-lokur_,--"weird or fate songs." The "seid" platform and the
rites performed on and around it are described at the same place
(_Viking Age_, ii., 394-398):--"_Seid_ was to be performed. A
_Seid-hjall_, or platform consisting of a flat stone, was laid upon
three or four posts, and women were to be found who knew how to
recite or sing the so-called Vardlokur. When all this was ready, and
the _Volva_ [sibyl] on the platform, the women formed in a circle
round it, and the effective song was chanted while the seeress, with
the strangest gesticulations, made her conjurations and received her
revelations." "Once at a feast, according to ancient custom, Ingjald
prepared incantation (_seid_), that men might know their fates.
There was a Finn woman skilled in witchcraft.... The Finn woman was
placed high, and splendid preparations made for her; each of the men
went from his seat to inquire of her about their fates."
Similar accounts are given by Thorpe, who states that it, _seid_,
"was regarded as unseemly for men, and was usually practised by
women only: we nevertheless meet with seid-men." And again:--"On
account of its wickedness, it was held unworthy of a man to practise
seid, and the seid-man was prosecuted and burned as an atrocious
trollman.[144] The seid-women received money to make men hard, so
that iron could not wound them." "The most remarkable class of
seid-women were the so-called Valas, or Völvas. We find them present
at the birth of children, when they seem to represent the Norns."
"That the Norns, who appeared at the birth of children, were of the
race of the dwarfs," is elsewhere suggested by Mr. Thorpe.[145]
Scott, also (_The Pirate_, Note R), quotes from Kaspar Bartholin a
long account of one of those "Valas," as given in the _Saga of Eric
Rauda_. From which it is seen that, according to the custom
described by Thorpe and Du Chaillu, she stood "on a sort of elevated
stage," when delivering her prophecy.[146] Scott adds that Bartholin
"mentions similar instances" to that of "the little Vala" (as this
one was called), "particularly of one Heida, celebrated for her
predictions," who attended festivals for the purpose of telling
fortunes, accompanied by "thirty male and fifteen female
attendants."
In all these accounts we see the fairies of tradition, notably the
"fairy godmother" who came to the birth or christening of children.
The man who practised _seid_ rendered himself liable to be
prosecuted and burned as a _trow_, "an atrocious trollman;" or, in
the Gaelic, a _fear-side_. If the words "seid" and "side" are not
practically one, it is at least evident that they relate to the very
same people. And the _bean-side_ (banshee) of Gaelic tradition is
simply the seid-woman, remembered chiefly in her less pleasing
aspect, as the foreboder of death or misfortune.
Thus, whether _side_ ought to be held as primarily denoting the
incantations, or the enchanters themselves, it is this worship that
is indicated in the metrical life of St. Patrick, which says of him
(Skene's "Celt. Scot.," II. 108):--
"He preached threescore years
The Cross of Christ to the _Tuatha_ [people] of Feni.
On the _Tuatha_ of Erin there was darkness.
The _Tuatha_ adored the _Side_."
Nor is there anything inconsistent with these deductions in the
appearance of a _Finn_ woman as a celebrated _seid_-woman. For, in
Shetland, the Finns are even yet "reckoned among the Trows."[147]
To return, however, to the _Sidhe_ people of the British Islands.
The Blackwater valley of Leinster, whose "fairy" strongholds and
abodes were entered and plundered by the ninth-century Danes,
reminds one by its name that the Blackwater valley of Munster is
also famous for its fairy associations. In one of Mr. William
Black's novels ("Shandon Bells") there are frequent references to a
chief of the Fir Sidhe named _Fierna_,[148] who is remembered as the
leader of the "little people" of the south-west. His chief residence
appears to have been a certain _Knockfierin_, or Fierna's Hillock,
which has perhaps been investigated by local archæologists. Several
of the Limerick traditions relating to Fierna have been contributed
by Mr. David Fitzgerald to the "Revue des Traditions populaires"
(April 1889), and one of these tells how a mysterious stranger one
night aroused a poor cripple and gave him a letter to take to
Fierna. The messenger entered the fairy "hill," where he saw the
chief--an old, white-bearded man. On reading the letter, Fierna
declared it to be a challenge of battle on the part of the "King of
the Sidhfir of the North"; a challenge which Fierna was loath to
accept, because, as he explains, "my people of Munster are the
weaker party."
This legend, then, shows the Fir Sidhe (or Sidhfir) as a people not
always friendly to each other, although of kindred race. Moreover,
it suggests that those of Ireland were divided into at least two
sections--the Sidhfir of Munster and those of "the North." When we
remember that in the ninth century "Feens and Fairies" were equally
regarded as owners of the "underground" dwellings which were then
plundered (and which still remain), it is noteworthy that in this
very detail we have another parallel between the two castes--if they
were two. For the Feens of Ireland were also divided into sections,
and it may be remembered that two of these--"the Feens of Leinster
and the east of Ulster," and those of "Connaught and the west of
Ireland," were referred to on a previous page as engaged in building
a famous hill-fort for their great leader, Fin. If the "Sidhfir of
the North" were not the same as the Feens of Leinster and the east
of Ulster, they occupied much of the same ground, and had so many
points in common, that it is difficult to say wherein they differed.
Nor is this deduction at variance with the belief that the people
just named were one with the Pechts of history. For the _Cruithné_
of Ulster formed a distinct division of the Pechts; and, indeed, to
be still more specific, were latterly associated with the _eastern_
part of that province. And, as for internecine warfare, that forms
no obstacle to the identification of the historical Pechts, in their
later stages, with the _Sidhfir_ of popular legend.[149]
Like the rivers of the same name in Leinster and Munster, there is a
Blackwater in Perthshire which has fairy traditions, and, in
consequence, the valley through which it flows is known as Glenshee
(_Gleann-sith_). It is also remembered as a favourite hunting-ground
of the Feens. Here they used to come, says an ancient poem,[150] to
chase the deer and elk. The stories of Fin and his Feens are full of
references to their hunting exploits. And an old poem[151] recites
how, even while Ireland was chiefly peopled and ruled by another
race, the ancient rights of the Feens, in this as in other respects,
were still duly acknowledged. Fin, we are told,
"possessed the old rights
Which previously were his.
From Hallowmass on to Beltin,
His _Feens_ had all the rights.
The hunting without molestation,
Was theirs in all the forests."
The "rights" possessed by these people between All Hallow-tide and
Beltin, or from the first of November to the first of May, were,
according to Keating,[152] that they were quartered upon the
country-people, who had to support them during all that period. But
from the first of May on to the first of November, the Feens were
obliged to support themselves, which they did by hunting and
fishing. It was during this latter period, therefore, that "the
hunting without molestation was theirs in all the forests." Perhaps
the expression "_all_ the forests" is too comprehensive. Mr. J. F.
Campbell, in referring to the Feens,[153] speaks of their
"maintaining themselves by hunting deer, extensive tracts of land
being allotted to them for that purpose." Perhaps, also, the word
"forest" ought to be understood much in the way that "deer forest"
now is.
"It was said at that time," says a West Highland tale,[154] "that
Ireland was a better hunting-ground than the Scotch Highlands; that
there were many great beamed deer in it, rather than in the
Highlands. It was this which used to cause the Feens to be so often
in Ireland." Nevertheless, the poem by Allan MacRuaridh, already
referred to, states that the Perthshire Glenshee (or rather, the
more important of the two Perthshire glens so named) was famous as a
hunting-ground of the Feens, for the reason that it abounded in
"deer and elk." Whether the "elk" of the one writer, and the "great
antlered deer" of the other represent the same animal, or two
separate species now extinct in these islands, is uncertain. In the
account contributed to the (Old) Statistical Account of Scotland,
the minister of the parish of Clunie, Perthshire, which is not very
far from Glenshee, remarks (ix. 256-7, _note_): "The head of the
urus has been dug up in this neighbourhood, as also the palmated
horns of the elk, together with the horns and skeletons of large
deer, supposed to be the moose-deer."[155] One of the tales of the
Feens, which is common from County Mayo to Sutherlandshire, says Mr.
J. F. Campbell, has reference to the hunting of an animal called the
_lon-dubh_, which word Mr. Campbell, on the suggestion of his
collector (Mr. MacLean), believes ought to be translated "black
elk." This "black elk," then, which the Feens used to hunt, was an
animal of much greater size than the deer, on the testimony of these
tales, told in the degenerate days when the "black elk" and its
hunters had become only a memory. "These [tales] _may_ date from the
days when men hunted elks in Erin, as they now do in Scandinavia,"
says Mr. Campbell.[156] It is to be remembered, however, that at the
battle of Gawra, and, indeed, long after that date, the Feens of
Scandinavia were in association with those of Ireland and of
Scotland; and traditions relating to animals long extinct in Britain
might really refer to incidents in Scandinavia, within comparatively
modern times. But, on the other hand, there is the visible testimony
of the "palmated horns of the elk, together with the horns and
skeletons of large deer, supposed to be the moose-deer," dug up in
the very neighbourhood which is famous as a favourite hunting-ground
of the Feens, where they came "to chase the deer and elk." The
inference is, then, that either the tales which relate to that time
are very old, or else that the animals referred to did not become
extinct in these localities at a very remote date.
And the latter inference is, in point of fact, the right one; if we
do not restrict _lon-dubh_ to the precise meaning of "black elk."
Mr. J. F. Campbell not only tells us that certain "great antlered
deer" were formerly hunted by the Feens, but he also points out
Sutherlandshire traditions which tell how witches and fairies used
to _milk_ the female deer. And this statement forms one of the
reasons which lead him to believe that Fairies, Picts, and Lapps
were practically one people; for his deduction therefrom is
this:--"Fairies, then, milked deer, as Lapps do." Now, the point of
this is that the deer milked by the Lapps is the _reindeer_, and not
any variety of deer now existing in the British Islands. Mr.
Campbell's further reference to "a story published by Grant Stewart,
in which a ghost uses a herd of deer to carry her furniture," quite
bears out his belief that the reindeer was domesticated, as well as
hunted, by the little people. And it is an actual historical fact
that the reindeer was hunted in Caithness so recently as the twelfth
century. In a very full and exhaustive "Notice of Remains of the
Rein-Deer, _Cervus tarandus_, found in Ross-shire, Sutherland, and
Caithness,"[157] the late Dr. John A. Smith, Sec. S. A., Scot., has
pointed out that the seventeenth-century historian, Torfæus,
mentions that it was the custom of two earls of Orkney, during the
twelfth century, to cross over to Caithness from the Orkneys, for
the purpose of hunting the roe-deer _and the reindeer_. Dr. Smith
adds that the correctness of Torfæus' statement having been at one
time called in question, the matter was placed beyond all doubt by a
reference to the work of a learned annotator and editor of Torfæus
(of the year 1780), who shows that the original manuscript whence
Torfæus derived his information uses the words "rauddýri edr
_hreína_" to denote those roes and reindeer of Caithness. Indeed,
Dr. Smith's paper affords plenty of confirmation of this historical
statement, since it is chiefly devoted to a consideration of the
reindeer's horns found in various parts of the north of Scotland;
some of them in those very "brochs" which are so associated with
"the little people." And as, even at the present day, the higher
mountains of Scotland abound in reindeer-lichen, there is nothing in
the natural condition of the place to contradict the assertion of
the historian. Therefore, Mr. Campbell's hypothesis that the fairy
"herds of Glen Odhar" were herds of reindeer, receives every
confirmation from history, tradition, and fact. And, thus, the
figure of the reindeer incised on the monumental stone near
Grantown, in the same quarter of Scotland (of which a representation
is given on page 122 of Dr. Anderson's "Scotland in Early Christian
Times"), may have been "drawn from life" at that very place, and
need not be any older than the twelfth century.[158]
"Hunting appears all along to have been a favourite amusement
of the _Seelie Court_," says a writer on the fairies of
Clydesdale,[159] "and innumerable are the stories which are told
concerning the magnificence and splendour of the royal retinue."
There is also a Highland tale[160] which describes how the dwarfs
used to be seen "hunting on the sides of Ben Muich Dhui, dressed in
green, and with silver-mounted bridles to their horses which jingled
as they rode." And a writer of the seventeenth century[161] tells
"how there was a King and Queen of Pharie, of such a Court, and
train, as they had, and how they had the teind [tithe] and dutie, as
it were, of all corn, flesh, and meale, how they rode and went
alongs the sides of hills, all in Green apparel." That green was the
special colour of the fairies, everybody knows. And that it was also
the colour of the Feens is what certain sections of the people of
modern Ireland do not allow one to forget.
Thus, in regarding these people as hunters, any distinction between
"Feens and Fairies" seems to vanish altogether. Although it does not
appear to be stated in so many words that the Feens "had the tithe
and dutie, as it were, of all corns, flesh, and meale," yet the same
fact is practically stated when we are told that, during the six
months of autumn and winter, the Feens were kept in idleness by the
people of the country ("billeted upon the country," as Keating has
it), and this as a matter of right. The very dates upon which this
period began and ended--Hallow-E'en and Walpurgis-night--are
pregnant with "fairy" associations. And when the green-clad Feens,
typified by their dwarf chief, had the exclusive right of hunting,
during the spring and summer months, up till the end of October,
over "extensive tracts of land allotted to them for that purpose,"
they could not have greatly differed from those little people who
are even yet remembered as "hunting on the sides of Ben Muich Dhui,
dressed in green." And it was distinctly understood that this right
was theirs "without molestation." There is a real matter-of-fact
meaning in the ballad, placed in the mouths of people of a taller
race, and relating to that period and those privileged hunters--
"Up the airy mountain,
Down the rocky glen,
We daren't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men."
Of which the historical interpretation, as applied to Scotland,
apparently is, that these popular traditions relate to the time when
the Pechts, conquered by the Scots, who subsequently were reinforced
by various later immigrant races, still retained a certain amount of
independence, with special rights in certain districts, reserved to
them as "Pecht lands." Their dwarfish stature is seen from the very
word by which they are known, as well as from the dwellings they
inhabited. Their small horses are spoken of in the earliest accounts
of them,[162] and indeed still survive, though no doubt in blended
forms, as the small breeds of Galloway, Shetland, and various parts
of England. Their favourite colour gave them, in their earliest
days, the title of Green Men or _Virides_; although then the
colouring was applied in a more primitive fashion.
Apart from all the resemblances specially referred to, there is a
general association in the popular mind between Pechts and Fairies.
Both are regarded as extinct races, and the date of their
disappearance, though vague, points to the one period; and
localities known as the abodes of Pechts are also known as the
abodes of Fairies. For example, an antiquary of that neighbourhood
(Sir Herbert Maxwell) states that "the fortified promontory of the
Mull [of Galloway] is locally believed to have been the last
stronghold to which the Picts of Galloway retired before an
overwhelming force of Scotic (?) invaders." In the same paper,[163]
and referring to the same promontory, the writer specifies "a small
fortification called the 'Dunnan,' credited with having been a
favourite haunt of the fairies." Again, the famous Pictish hill-fort
in Forfarshire, known as the "White Cater Thun," is equally famous
as a fairy stronghold. This celebrated fortress has been described
on a previous page. It crowns a hill in the neighbourhood of the
ancient city of Brechin, the centre of a district which was
indisputably a territory of the Pechts. Even yet one may discern in
the ruins of this fort the traces of the dwellings which so closely
characterize the architecture of the Pechts, the chambers made
within the thickness of the wall. Within the long elliptical
enclosure of the White Cater Thun there are, indeed, faint traces of
other buildings; but the great majority of its garrison must have
been housed, after the fashion of the race, in the chambers that are
traceable all along the actual rampart itself. And of this chambered
fortress local tradition states that it was "the abode of fairies,
and that a brawny witch carried the whole [of the stones] one
morning from the channel of the West Water [a neighbouring river] to
the summit of the hill, and would have increased the quantity ...
but for the ominous circumstance of her apron-string breaking, while
carrying one of the largest! This stone was allowed to lie where it
fell, and is pointed out to this day on the north-east slope of the
mountain! This tradition, it may be remarked," continues our
authority,[164] "however _outré_, is curious from its analogy to
that concerning the castles of Mulgrave and Pickering in Yorkshire,
the extensive causeways of which are said to have been paved by
genii named Wada and his wife Bell, the latter, like the Amazonian
builder of Caterthun, having carried the stones from a great
distance in her apron!" Among all the exaggeration and confusion of
these statements two things are quite discernible--the identity of
Pechts with fairies or other "supernaturals" in general--and (in
particular) the identity of the descriptions given of people so
denominated, in the region of Caterthun and of Yorkshire, and the
descriptions of the Northumbrian Pechts as quoted on a previous
page.[165] Indeed, the accounts given of the Pechts in the locality
last-named, as well as some features of the traditional builders of
Abernethy Round Tower, render it impossible to distinguish, in these
two cases, between "Pechts" and "Fairies," or "Witches." And this,
indeed, as we have seen, was the popular belief.
The conclusion, therefore, to be drawn from what has been said upon
this subject is that, although the term _Pict_ or _Pecht_ has been
chosen by History as that by which a certain race of people, once
found in Scotland, ought to be remembered, yet that term indicates
nothing more[166] than _Trow_ or _Dwarf_, either of which names
might as reasonably have been chosen as their synonym _Pecht_. And
that when one speaks of _Pechts_, _Trows_, or _Dwarfs_, one is
speaking of the same kind of people--the mound-dwellers, or
"underground" races of the past. Further, that the people
traditionally remembered in Shetland as _Finns_ belonged to that
group; as also those whom Gaelic folk-lore styles the _Feinne_. And
that, along with many other popular terms not here enumerated, one
of the names by which such people have been widely known is that of
"the Fairies."
FOOTNOTES:
[142] Mr. Charles de Kay, in _The Century_ of July 1889, p. 437.
[143] See Mr. Ralston's review in _The Academy_ of May 11, 1889.
[144] These trials and executions for "witchcraft" were the
precursors of those which were carried down almost into our own
times; and the above allusions to the "wickedness" of those rites
only serve to strengthen the growing belief that the relentless
persecution of "witches" was based upon most reasonable grounds, and
that the motives actuating the "persecutors" were far higher and
more sensible than a mere fanatical and narrow-minded hatred of
paganism.
[145] For these extracts, see Thorpe's _Northern Mythology_, I., 14,
212, 213, 214, and 238.
[146] The flat stone, supported on three or four posts, or pillars
(as Thorpe calls them), upon which the seid-woman stood, is very
suggestive of the _cromleac_ or _dolmen_. (Cf. the _grottes aux
fées_ of Brittany.)
[147] The magical power of the Finns is still recognized by the
Swedish peasantry of to-day. An illustration of this appears in an
anecdote related in the London _Standard_ of 26 January, 1877, with
regard to a Swedish lady "who had been so ill-advised as to insult a
Finn, whose magical powers exceed those of the gipsies."
[148] It is no doubt owing to the infusion of Spanish blood in
Southern Ireland, still visible in the complexion, as well as in the
surnames (such as Costello and Jago, _i.e._, Diego) of people in
that neighbourhood, that this Fierna receives the most un-British
title of "Don" prefixed to his name.
[149] Compare this tradition, recorded by Thorpe (_Northern
Mythology_, III., 39):--"In very old times the dwarfs had long wars
with men, and also with one another."
[150] "The Death of Diarmaid," by Allan MacRuaridh. _See_ the "Dean
of Lismore's Book," p. 30 (Eng. version), and p. 21 (Gaelic).
[151] "Dean of Lismore's Book," pp. 141-43 (Eng.) and 108-11 (Gaelic
version).
[152] "History of Ireland"; Reign of Cormac Ulfada.
[153] "West Highland Tales," I. xiii.
[154] The Lay of Osgar: "West Highland Tales," III. 304-5.
[155] He adds:--"Some of these horns, which are of an amazing size,
are in the custody of the Duke of Athole, and of Mr. Farquharson of
Invercauld."
[156] "Tales," II. 107. The story referred to is on pp. 102-6.
[157] _See_ "Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot.": First Series, VIII.
p. 186, _et seq._ (with a special reference to pp. 205-6).
[158] For Mr. Campbell's references, _see_ "West Highland Tales,"
I., ci.-cix., and II., 46. This parallel has also been drawn by Miss
Gordon Cumming ("From the Hebrides to the Himalayas," Vol. I., p.
183).
[159] _Scots Magazine_, Vol. III., 1818, p. 154.
[160] One of Mrs. Ewing's "Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales": The Laird and
the Man of Peace.
[161] George Sinclair, in "Satan's Invisible World Discovered."
[162] _See_ Ritson's "Annals," Vol. I. p. 12 (quoted from Dion
Cassius, L. 76, c. 12).
[163] Which appears in the "Proceedings of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland," 1885-86, pp. 76-90.
[164] Mr. A. Jervise, "The Land of the Lindsays," Edinburgh, 1853,
p. 265.
[165] Page 67.
[166] The Latin term _Picti_, though pointing to another
characteristic of the dwarfs, is not here taken into account, as it
misinterprets the original word.
CHAPTER XIII.
There is one variety of the underground dwellings which, in the
northern counties of Scotland if not elsewhere, is more specially
indicated by the term "Earth House," or "Eirde House." With regard
to this class of structure, an experienced archæologist[167] makes
the following remarks:--
"The whole of these have been formed after one idea, viz.
to secure an unobserved entrance, and to preserve a curved
shape. From the entrance the first part of these structures
is generally a low and narrow passage, growing in width and
height from the point where the direction is changed, and
terminating in a rounded extremity.
"The part of them last referred to is generally from five
to nine feet in width, with a height barely sufficient to
permit a man to stand erect. In some cases, however, they
have been found to be of much more contracted dimensions
throughout. The Eirde House at Migvie, in Cromar, only
admits a single person to pass along; while that at
Torrich, in Strathdonan, Sutherlandshire, is barely three
feet in width.
"Dr. Mitchell has described another at Erribol, in that
county, which is more like a large drain than anything
else.
* * * * *
"These underground houses have occasionally smaller
chambers, as offshoots from the main one, which are entered
by openings of small size.
"They occur at times singly, and at others in groups. On a
moor near Kildrummy, in Aberdeenshire, a group of nearly
fifty were discovered.
* * * * *
"It has been doubted if these houses were ever really used
as places of abode, a purpose for which they seem in no
degree to be suited.
"But as to this there can be no real doubt. The substances
found in many of them have been the accumulated _débris_ of
food used by man, and indicate his presence as surely as
the kindred kitchen-middens which have recently attracted
so much attention, while their occurrence in groups marks
the gregarious habits of the early people. The bones of the
ox, deer, and other like creatures have been found, as well
as the shells of fish, mixed with fatty earth and charred
wood. Ornaments of bronze have been found in a few of them,
and beads of streaked glass. In some cases the articles
found would indicate that the occupation of these houses
had come down to comparatively recent times, as in the case
of the Irish crannogs, where objects of the rudest times
are found alongside of those of the seventeenth century."
These underground passages or galleries are also known as Pechts' or
Picts' houses; and they unquestionably belong to the same family as
the other structures so denominated. But they are the rudest and
most primitive of all. Between them and a chambered mound such as
Maes-how, in Orkney, the difference is great; and still greater is
the difference between them and a non-subterranean "broch," such as
that of Mousa, in Shetland. Yet all these are so united by
intermediate forms that it is difficult to say exactly where the one
passes into the other. The nature of the difference may be expressed
etymologically by saying that they are _burrows_, _barrows_, and
_brochs_, or _burgs_; the "drain"-like Eirde House belonging to the
first class, the chambered mound to the second, and the above-ground
structure, such as that of Mousa, to the third. The three terms just
used are radically one, as the buildings themselves are. But they
represent different phases of one idea; and the last phase is very
much in advance of the first. Whether the superiority of the one
class of building over the other has been caused by the gradual
advancement of one homogeneous race, during a long stretch of time,
or by the blending of a higher race with a lower, within a limited
period, must be regarded as an open question.[168]
But, although that crude form of earth-house which we have
described as a burrow, is included among the Pechts' houses of
Scotland, it differs in several respects from that variety which has
been regarded as the typical "Pecht's house," namely, the chambered
mound, or "hollow hillock." One of the salient features of the
burrow, the "unobserved entrance," is equally a feature of the
hollow mound; and the latter has also the same narrow, low,
subterranean passage of approach, formed of huge stone slabs. In
each, too, as in the more advanced and elaborate "broch," it is seen
that the builders knew of no other kind of arch than that formed by
the gradual convergence of the walls, by means of each course
overlapping the course immediately below it, until only a single
slab was required to crown the whole by way of "keystone." The
better kind of "burrow," with its "smaller chambers, as offshoots
from the main one," is also closely akin, in that respect, to the
so-called "hollow hill." But, while having all these points of
resemblance, the latter differs from the former in that its passage
dispenses altogether with the curve which distinguishes the
"burrow;" and, greater difference still, in that it is not merely an
underground dwelling, but that the earth over it is heaped so high
above the level of the adjoining ground that it presents exactly the
appearance of a conical or rounded green hillock, when looked at
from the outside. Moreover, it is only rendered an "underground"
dwelling by the earth-heap imposed upon the original structure,
which itself was built upon what was then the surface of the ground.
Whereas the long, curved gallery, which has more specially been
styled an "earth-house," is below the surface of the surrounding
land, and is generally discovered by some ploughman whose plough
happens to break or disarrange the stone slabs forming its roof.
There is no special reason for limiting the term "earth-house" to
the underground gallery just spoken of, because the chambered mound
is also as much an "earth-house." In either case, the structure
itself is of stone. Therefore, we need not here restrict the term
"earth-house" to one of these two varieties, but apply it equally to
both. Each variety is popularly known as a "Pecht's house," and the
one is as much an "earth-house" as the other.
The "hollow hill," however, will be the variety of earth-dwelling
chiefly considered in this place. But, before leaving the ruder
structure, reference may be made to a Shetland specimen, examined in
1865. It is described as "of a semicircular form, two feet or so
beneath the arable land, about thirty feet in length, three feet in
breadth and height, widening out at the western extremity to the
form of a chamber of five feet square; ponderous slabs of mica-slate
form the lintels. These stones have been transported from Norwick,
which is the nearest depôt for such, and distant two miles." Like
other similar structures this was locally known as a "Fairy
Ha'."[169]
Thus, the two varieties of earth-house, each known popularly as a
"Pecht's house," are also both remembered as the dwelling-place of
fairies. For the chambered mound is equally a "Fairy Knowe"; in
Gaelic, a "sheean" (_sithean_), or abode of fairies.
And as the "little people" of Scotland have been chiefly chronicled
as "Pechts," or "Picts," we may further consider them in that
twofold character; continuing also to regard them in the territories
which have already been most frequently named. Of these, none are
more worthy of examination than the districts--insulated or
otherwise--in the neighbourhood of the Pecht-land Firth.
"By an authentic record of Thomas, Bishop of the Orkneys, dated
1443, and published in Wallace's "Orkneys," edit. 1700; when the
Norwegians conquered these islands they found them possessed 'by two
nations, the Pets [Pehts, or Pechts] and Papas'"[170] (_i.e._, popes
or priests). The "popes" referred to are understood to have been the
Irish missionaries from Iona, and of them there seems to be no
distinct tradition surviving. But the other "nation" is well
remembered in both of the Northern groups. "The first folks that
ever were in our isles were the Picts," says Shetlandic folk-lore;
"they were very small [people]."[171]
What appears to be a popular tradition relating to the time when
the territory of the mound-dwelling Pechts was beginning to be
invaded and settled by colonists of another race, is furnished us by
Sir Walter Scott. The ballad of "Alice Brand," in "The Lady of the
Lake," speaks of a "moody Elfin King, who won'd[172] within the
hill." And we are told in the _Appendix_ that this legend "is
founded upon a very curious Danish Ballad, which occurs in the
'Kæmpe Viser,' a collection of heroic songs first published in
1591." It begins "_Der ligger en vold i Vester Haf_," which is
rendered in English, "There lies a wold in Wester Haf." Scott
says:--"As _Wester Haf_ ... means the _West Sea_, in opposition to
the Baltic or _East Sea_, Mr. Jamieson inclines to be of opinion
that the scene ... is laid in one of the Orkney, or Hebride
Islands." Both in this old ballad, and in Scott's adaptation, there
is an element of the magical, or impossible, or, at least,
unexplainable kind; but some of the leading facts are these:--A
"husband," or yeoman, goes to this "wold in Wester Haf," taking his
wife and all his belongings with him, and there he proceeds to
settle down as a colonist. Like many other "backwoodsmen," he begins
by felling the trees of the forest[173] for his new home, much to
the indignation of the dwarfs who inhabit a certain "knock" (Gael.
_cnoc_), or chambered mound, in that district, and who, indeed, are
the owners of the soil.
"He hew'd him kipples,[174] he hew'd him bawks,[175]
Wi' mickle moil and haste,
Syne speer'd the Elf i' the knock that bade,
'Wha's hacking here sae fast?'"[176]
The dwarfs are discomfited in their attempt to enter the "husband's"
house, but finally one of them succeeds:--
"The huswife she was a canny wife,
She set the Elf at the board;
She set before him baith ale and meat,
Wi' mony a weel-waled[177] word.
"'Hear thou, Gudeman o' Villenshaw,[178]
What now I say to thee;
Wha bade thee bigg[179] within our bounds,
Without the leave o' me?
"'But, an' thou in our bounds will bigg,
And bide, as well as may be,
Then thou thy dearest huswife maun
To me for a lemman gie.'"
However, the husband is not even temporarily bereft of his wife;
and, indeed, after all the threatenings of the "how-folk," the
settlers are allowed to remain quietly in possession of their
homestead, and their daughter is afterwards married to the dwarf
visitor.[180]
Though this song is from a Danish collection, there is another of
very similar nature in Unst, Shetland. It begins "Der lived a king
into da aste," and it recounts how a certain "wedded wife" was
carried off by "the King o' Ferrie." Her husband afterwards goes in
search of her; and "one day, in his wandering quest, he sees a
company passing along a hillside, and he recognizes among them his
lost lady." They go into "a great 'ha'-house,' or castle," which is
said to be _on_ the hillside; but as nothing is visible but "a grey
stane," after they have entered, it would seem that _the hill
itself_ was the castle, and the grey stone the entrance door, as in
the case of the Orcadian Maes-how, or many another residence of the
"how-folk." This assumption is quite borne out by the song itself.
The same writer[181] indicates that such abductions were quite
common in Shetland, when she states that a "witch" who married a
dwarf returned once to her mother's house, and, while imparting to
her various other counsels and warnings, "gave many instructions how
to provide against the enchantments used by Trows for the purpose of
decoying unsuspecting girls into their unhallowed domain." And her
parting injunction was to be sure and have the maidens "weel cöst
about" (? protected by charms) "when the grey women-stealers are
wandering." But instances of such intercourse between the dwarf
races and others, the abduction being by no means confined to one
side, could be quoted almost interminably.
The celebrated "how" known as Maes-how, in Orkney, has just been
referred to. It is so admirable a specimen of the "Pecht's house"
proper that no better selection can be made for a more particular
description of such a dwelling. "It stands about a mile to the
north-east of the great stone ring of Stennis. Its external
appearance is that of a truncated conical mound of earth, about 300
feet in circumference at the base and thirty-six feet high,
surrounded by a trench forty feet wide. Nothing was known of its
internal structure till the year 1861, when it was opened by Mr.
Farrer, M.P., but the common tradition of the country represented it
as the abode of a goblin, who was named 'the Hogboy,' though no one
knew why."[182] In Lincolnshire, this term "hog-boy" is pronounced
as "shag-boy."[183] The word pronounced _shag_ in one place and
_hog_ in another, is understood to be the same as _haug_ or _how_;
and the term is therefore a variant of the plural "how-folk." It was
one of those "shag-boys" or "hog-boys," then, that local tradition
remembered as the inhabitant of Maes-how. And nowhere is the
tenacity of the popular memory more strongly illustrated than in
this instance. For, during many centuries prior to 1861, this had
been nothing more, to the passing stranger, than a grassy hillock,
utterly void of any indication that its interior was "hollow," and
that the whole structure--stone-built dwelling, and super-imposed
earth--was entirely artificial,--the work of a vanished race. And
yet, so full of vitality is tradition, that the descendants of those
who had seen its inmate or inmates, knew, in spite of the lapse of a
thousand years, that this was no ordinary grassy mound, but that
once upon a time it had been the habitation of people of a certain
race, whose characteristics are even yet remembered, if only in a
confused and imperfect manner.
However important and necessary a written description may be, it is
very incomplete without a personal inspection of the place
described, or in lieu of that, the "counterfeit presentment," which
is almost as serviceable. From the view here given of Maes-how, as
it appears from the outside, and also from the following diagrams,
one obtains an admirable idea of the exterior and interior of a
_sheean_, Fairy Hillock, or Fairy Ha'.
[Illustration: SECTIONAL VIEW AND GROUND-PLAN OF MAES-HOW.]
After examining these pictures of this famous "how," one is able
to fully understand the traditional accounts of the "hollow
hillocks" of the dwarfs. One can fit any of the many stories that
tell of visits paid to such "hills" into this particular scene.
There is the small, concealed entrance at the base of the hill (at
which, or beside which, the visitor used to knock until "the hill
opened"--revealing a low, narrow, dark passage).
[Illustration: MAES-HOW, ORKNEY.
(The _Orka-haug_ of the Norsemen.)]
In this instance the aperture is two feet four inches in height, and
of exactly the same breadth; and its dimensions continue the same
for the first twenty-two and a half feet into the hill (for it will
be seen that the mound of stone and earth that surrounded and
covered the actual building gave the habitation a fictitious base,
which had to be penetrated by this passage until the walls of the
main building were reached--in the centre of the "hill.")[184]
[Illustration: THE INTERIOR OF THE "HOW."]
In Maes-how the passage of approach is fully fifty-three feet long.
Its height, as already stated, is only two feet four inches, during
the first twenty-two feet of length; so that no one, unless an
actual dwarf, could walk erect along this portion. After this the
roof of the passage rises to four feet four inches; and it retains
this height during the next twenty-eight feet of length. The
remaining distance--scarcely three feet--is four inches higher; and
then the passage "enters the middle of one of the four sides of a
chamber which is fifteen feet square, and has, when complete, been
about twenty feet high in the centre. The walls of this chamber are
perpendicular for about six feet, after which the slabs, which
generally extend the whole length of a side, project beyond the
courses on which they rest, until in this way the roof has been
completed in the shape of an inverted pyramid formed of successive
steps."[185] In the three sides of this central hall (excluding the
side at which the long passage emerges) there are respective
entrances into three small chambers. The largest of these is less
than seven feet long, less than five feet broad, and its roof is
only three and a half feet from the floor.
In assuming that the roof of this building, now open to the sky,
was "completed in the shape of an inverted pyramid formed of
successive steps," Colonel Leslie is at variance with the
description given by an eighteenth-century writer (in connection
with similar buildings), and at variance also with tradition. The
difference is a slight one, but it ought to be referred to. The roof
was not precisely _completed_ in such buildings, according to the
writer referred to; it "was carried on round about with long stones
[each successive course projecting, and thus gradually narrowing the
orifice], till it ended in an opening at the top, which served both
for light and a vent to carry off the smoke of their fire." Without
this opening the dwelling had very little light or air; for little
of either could have straggled in from the mouth of the narrow,
underground passage, which reached the open air at a distance of
fifty-three feet from the dwelling, and whose entrance (besides) was
nearly always closed during the day.[186]
While tradition seems clearly to indicate that the roof of the
dwelling communicated with the open air above, there is necessarily
some uncertainty on this point. The writer who speaks of the roof of
such a building being "carried on round about with long stones, till
it ended in an opening at the top," may have had in view a structure
more resembling the open air "broch" than the _sith-bhrog_; although
he mentions that the kind of building he describes often "looks
outwardly like a heap without any design."[187] It is undoubted that
many such mounds, for example, those of New Grange and Dowth, in the
Boyne district, have their rude, "Pelasgian arch," crowned with one
large stone as keystone; and that, therefore, any upward exit from
the chamber must have led off in a slant from some portion of the
wall. On the other hand, there are several indications that when one
ascended the outside of a _sheean_, in the days when it was
inhabited, one found oneself at the edge of a hollow or crater, at
the foot of which was the narrow orifice that gave light and air to
the chamber below. More than one fairy-hill of the present day, not
yet explored, has a small hole on its summit, and when a stone is
dropped therein, it is heard to rumble and fall into some unknown
cavern below. And the existence of such "craters" was well known (we
are told by Scott, in his Introduction to the _Tale of Tamlane_) to
the people of Scotland. "Wells, or pits, on the top of hills were
supposed to lead to the subterranean habitations of the Fairies."
Legendary stories in connection with these there are many--of men
descending such "pits," sometimes well knowing what to expect, and
of having hand-to-hand fights with the natives of these abodes. At
other times the attack was made by those "hillmen" themselves; who
seem to have emerged by this entrance as often as by the other. "A
savage issuing from a mount" was once a well-known bearing in
Scottish heraldry. Mr. J. F. Campbell records a Ross-shire tradition
of a dwarf who inhabited _Tombuidhe Ghearrloch_, "The Tawny Hillock
of Gairloch," and who was the terror of the neighbourhood (whose
chief inhabitants, in his day, belonged to another race). Before he
was himself slain, this formidable dwarf had killed many of the
latter race; none of whom (with one exception) dared to venture near
his "hillock" after dusk. He was at length killed by a local
champion, still remembered as "Big Hugh" (Uistean Mor, MacGhille
Phadrig;) who was celebrated as a slayer of dwarfs; and who appears
to have devoted himself to their extermination in that particular
district. And in the story of the killing of this noted dwarf, it is
stated that Uistean climbed to the top of the hillock (_Tom-buidhe_)
and attacked its inhabitant, who emerged from the foot of its
"crater" or "pit"; in other words, from the roof of his
dwelling.[188]
Such a "_sheean_" is the Denghoog in the Danish island of Sylt, one
of the mounds believed to have been the residence of Finn, the dwarf
king. Mr. W. G. Black, who has visited this "how," describes it
thus:[189]--
"Externally merely a swelling green mound, like so many others in
Sylt, entrance is gained by a trap-door in the roof, and descending
a steep ladder, one finds himself in a subterranean chamber some
seventeen by ten feet in size, the walls of which are twelve huge
blocks of Swedish granite; the height of the roof varies from five
feet to six feet. The original entrance appears to have been a long
narrow passage seventeen feet long and about two feet wide and high.
This mound was examined by a Hamburg professor in 1868, who found
remains of a fire-place, bones of a small man, some clay urns, and
stone weapons."
This example, then, of the abode of one of the "Feens of Lochlan,"
corresponds exactly with Maes-how and all similar "_sheeans_." And,
like them, it is locally remembered as the residence of a dwarf.
This, of course, is tradition. But the northern sagas (though
"tradition" also) are accepted as "history," in some degree. And the
sagas bear a like record. Their heroes break into those dwellings,
make their entrance by the hole at the bottom of the "crater," and
attack the inhabitants, who, seizing their weapons, defend their
lives and (in many cases) their treasures. And before leaving the
"hollow hill" of Maes-how, it may be stated that this particular
_broch_, or _sheean_, is believed to have been invaded about a
thousand years ago. It was entered in the twelfth century by some of
those North-men who were on their way to the Holy Land; and these
have incised various inscriptions on its inner walls. But at that
date it was empty--and had been rifled many centuries before. One
legendary tale places the date of its original despoliation as far
back as the year 920; and states that "Olaf the Norseman" was its
invader; and that he encountered its possessor, whom he
overcame--after a deadly struggle. And, since "the common tradition
of the country [up to the year 1861, when it was reopened]
represented it as the abode of a goblin, who was named 'the
Hog-boy'," it would seem that the prevailing blood of the
country-people in that district is akin to that of this "Olaf the
Norseman;" and that, therefore, in this instance, the popular memory
reaches back for nearly a thousand years, with the most perfect
precision.[190]
The Ross-shire _Tombuidhe_, the Sylt _Denghoog_; and this Orcadian
_broch_ are all specimens of the one class; and, both as regards the
character of the dwellers and the dwellings, they have many
counterparts. How many we do not yet know. It is probable that, in
the British Islands alone, they may be numbered by thousands (and we
need not here speculate as to the continent of Europe, and other
parts of the globe). Colonel Forbes Leslie, referring only to
Scotland, says that "even in the present day many a green mound ...
is shunned by sturdy peasants who would not fear the hostility of
any mortal"--and this because that mound once contained one or more
people of a race of whom that peasant's ancestors stood greatly in
awe. That the valleys of the Forth and Teith alone contain a great
number of those "green hillocks," as yet unexamined, has been stated
by an eminent investigator of the Scotch _brochs_, Dr. Joseph
Anderson. How many other districts can tell a similar story is a
problem that will some day be solved.
The collector (who is, to a great extent, the exponent also) of the
"Popular Tales of the West Highlands," appends several very
interesting remarks to one of these stories: that of "The Smith and
the Fairies" (vol. ii. pp. 46-55). Among other things he says: "The
belief that the 'hill' opened on a certain night, and that a light
shone from the inside, where little people might be seen dancing,
was too deeply grounded some years ago to be lightly spoken of; ...
'In the glebe of Kilbrandon in Lorn is a hill called Crocan Corr ...
where the fairies ... were often seen dancing around their fire.'"
And reference is also made to "a certain hill in Muckairn, known to
be the residence of the fairies." The incident connected with it is
capped with a similar one "told of a hill called Ben-cnock in
Islay;" and "another hill, called Cnock-doun" (presumably in Islay),
has a like history. But such "hills" are too numerous to mention in
detail.
Owing to the great mass of earth which was heaped over the
dwelling--the actual "kernel" of the mound--it will be seen that
new-comers of another race from the mound-dwellers might build
houses, or bury their dead, above the homes of the "little people,"
without being aware that the hill they were so utilizing was
entirely of artificial origin. Nor are there wanting illustrations
of this in fact and in tradition. Legendary lore, indeed, is
full of incidents arising from the contact, often unexpected on
the one side, of the two races; and many such tales reveal the
mound-dwellers in a very homely light. The following story from the
Hebridean island of Barra, for example:
"There was a woman in Baile Thangasdail, and she was out
seeking a couple of calves; and the night and lateness
caught her, and there came rain and tempest, and she was
seeking shelter. She went to a knoll with the couple of
calves, and she was striking the tether-peg into it. The
knoll opened. She heard a gleegashing as if a pot-hook were
clashing beside a pot. She took wonder, and she stopped
striking the tether-peg. A woman put out her head and all
above her middle, and she said, 'What business hast thou to
be troubling this tulman in which I make my dwelling?' 'I
am taking care of this couple of calves, and I am but weak.
Where shall I go with them?' 'Thou shalt go with them to
that breast down yonder. Thou wilt see a tuft of grass. If
thy couple of calves eat that tuft of grass, thou wilt not
be a day without a milk cow as long as thou art alive,
because thou hast taken my counsel.'"[191]
This story exemplifies the well-known prophetic or "supernatural"
powers of the dwarf races, while at the same time it presents the
"fairy abode" to us in a very matter-of-fact light. Equally homely
and matter-of-fact is this story from Wigtownshire:--
"A shepherd's family had just taken possession of a
newly-erected onstead, in a very secluded spot among 'the
hills o' Gallowa,' when the goodwife was, one day,
surprised by the entrance of a little woman, who hurriedly
asked for the loan of a 'pickle saut.' This, of course, was
readily granted; but the goodwife was so flurried by the
appearance of 'a neibor' in such a lonely place, and at
such a very great distance from all known habitations, that
she did not observe when the little woman withdrew or which
way she went. Next day, however, the same little woman
re-entered the cottage, and duly paid the borrowed 'saut.'
This time the goodwife was more alert, and as she turned to
replace 'the saut in the sautkit' she observed 'wi' the
tail o' her e'e' that the little woman moved off towards
the door, and then made a sudden 'bolt out.' Following
quickly, the goodwife saw her unceremonious visitor run
down a small declivity towards a tree, which stood at 'the
house en'.' [She passed behind the tree, but did not emerge
on the other side, and the "goodwife," seeing no place of
concealment, assumed she was a fairy.] In a few days her
little 'neibor' again returned, and continued from time to
time to make similar visits--borrowing and lending small
articles, evidently with a view to produce an intimacy; and
it was uniformly remarked that, on retiring, she proceeded
straight to the tree, and then suddenly 'ga'ed out o'
sight.' One day, while the goodwife was at the door,
emptying some dirty water into the _jaw-hole_ [sink, or
cess-pool], her now familiar acquaintance came to her and
said: 'Goodwife, ye're really a very obliging bodie! Wad ye
be sae good as turn the lade o' your jaw-hole anither way,
as a' your foul water rins directly in at my door? It
stands in the howe there, on the aff side o' that tree, at
the corner o' your house en'.' The mystery was now fully
cleared up--the little woman was indeed a fairy; and the
door of her invisible habitation, being situated 'on the
aff side o' the tree at the house en',' it could easily be
conceived how she must there necessarily 'gae out o' sight'
as she entered her sight-eluding portal."
This story[192] relates to a district that is noted as being one of
the very latest to retain a population that was distinctively
Pictish, and it unquestionably offers a parallel to that of the
"Gudeman o' Villenshaw," and the "elves i' the knock that bade." In
either case, we have the arrival of a new-comer of another race, all
unconscious that the place is already inhabited by an earlier,
mound-dwelling[193] people.
Of houses built upon the summit or the slope of a fairy hill a
modern instance is furnished by Hugh Miller, in his reminiscences of
Sutherlandshire ("My Schools and Schoolmasters," 1881 ed., p. 108),
wherein he mentions that a cousin of his had built his house
"half-way up the slope of a beautiful tomhan,"[194] which was
regarded as a fairy residence. This "tomhan" appears to have been
near Lairg, and in "the Barony of Gruids." The neighbouring
countryfolk had expected that "the little people" inside the hill
would resent this intrusion on their privacy, but, of course,
nothing of this kind happened--as this occurred in the present
century, when the mound-dwelling Pechts lived only in the memory of
those by whose forefathers they had once been greatly dreaded. But
there are various traditional accounts which point to a time when
members of the intruding race, unaware that the hillock on which
they began to build was itself a building, were obliged to desist by
reason of the opposition of the dwarfs. Thus, a former Grant of
Ballindalloch, in Strathspey, who attempted to build his castle upon
a mound, found every morning that the previous day's work had been
undone, and the stones removed from the site. One night, while he
watched for these disturbers, he heard a voice bid him to "build on
the Cow Haugh," or meadow, which he accordingly did, without further
interruption.[195] A similar account is given in connection with a
hill in Aberdeenshire. "When the workmen were engaged in erecting
the ancient church of Old Deer, in Aberdeenshire, upon a small hill
called Bissau, they were surprised to find that the work was impeded
by supernatural obstacles. At length the Spirit of the River (says
Sir Walter Scott, who tells the story[196]) was heard to say,--
"It is not here, it is not here,
That ye shall build the church of Deer;
But on Taptillery,
Where many a corpse shall lie."
The site of the edifice was accordingly transferred to Taptillery,
an eminence at some distance from the place where the building had
been commenced." In this case the interruption merely took the shape
of a warning, but the midnight work in the former instance is
entirely in keeping with all that tradition says of the Pechts.[197]
Hugh Miller again points out a fairy locality, when referring to a
boating excursion on Loch Maree, in 1823, on which occasion he
learned from the boatman that one of the islands, _Eilean Suthainn_,
was the annual rendezvous of the fairies, where they paid to their
queen the yearly "kain" or tribute, due to "the Evil One." This
reference is quoted by the author of "Gairloch,"[198] who also
states:
"In Gairloch we have Cathair Mhor and Cathair Bheag, names
applied to several places; and the Sitheanan Dubha on Isle
Ewe and on the North Point. There is Cathair Mhor at the
head of Loch Maree, and Cathair Bheag (the Gaelic name of
the place) at Kerrysdale. These names mean respectively the
big and little seats of the fairies....
"The name Sitheanan Dubha signifies the black knowes or
hillocks of the fairies. It is applied to two places in
Gairloch, viz., to the highest hill-tops at the north end
of Isle Ewe, and to a low hill and small round loch a full
mile due north of Carn Dearg house."
Further south than Loch Maree, and situated in the deer-forest of
Mamore, in the Nether Lochaber district, there is an alleged "hollow
hill" which is also exceptionally famous. It is thus described by a
local gillie:--
"Coming up the Ulnach, sir, you saw a corrie away to the
left? Well, that's Corrie-Vinnean; and the round hillock in
the centre, which you must also have noticed, is a Shiän or
fairy-knowe; and in all the _garbh-chnochan_ (rough-bounds)
around us, from Kinloch Leven to Ardverikie, there is no
other shiän so famous as this shiän, and it is the chief
palace of the fairies of all these upland wilds, and it is
always occupied by a company of them. It is never
altogether deserted even for a day, though many other
shiäns are sometimes unoccupied for weeks together."[199]
FOOTNOTES:
[167] John Stuart, LL.D., "Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scot.,"
1st Series, viii. 23 _et seq._
[168] Examples of those "burrows," or underground galleries, in
Ulster are given by Mr. S. F. Milligan, M.R.I.A. (_Jour. of Roy.
Hist. and Arch. Assn. of Ireland_, No. 80, Vol. IX., Fourth Series,
pp. 245-246), who remarks:--"These souterraines are good examples of
the dwelling-places of a very early race of settlers in this
country."
[169] "Memoirs of Anthropological Society of London," vol. ii.
1865-6, p. 343.
[170] Knox's "Topography," etc., Edin., 1831, p. 211, _note_.
[171] Regarding the original home of the Picts, there is
considerable difference of opinion among ancient writers; but the
above traditional belief receives support from the statement that
"by Bede, by the 'Historia Britonum,' and by the Welsh traditions,
they appear as a people coming from Scythia, and acquiring first
Orkney, and afterwards Caithness, and then spreading over Scotland
from the north."--(Skene's _Chronicles of the Picts and Scots_, p.
xcvi.)
[172] Dwelt (cf. Dutch _wonen_, Germ. _wohnen_).
[173] This feature does not accord with the appearance of modern
Orkney or the Hebrides, but both groups were once thickly wooded.
Buchanan refers to various Hebridean islands as being "_darkened_
with wood" in the sixteenth century.
[174] Couples.
[175] Balks (cross-beams).
[176] From Jamieson's Scotch version, as given by Scott.
[177] Well-chosen.
[178] The dwarf is here addressing the settler by the name of his
new possession.
[179] Build.
[180] It ought to be added that he is only an "elf" by adoption; but
this does not affect the general situation. He bears all the outward
characteristics of the dwarfs.
[181] Mrs. Jessie E. Saxby, "Folklore from Unst, Shetland" (_Leisure
Hour_, 1880).
[182] Dr. Joseph Anderson, in his Introduction to the "Orkneyinga
Saga," p. ci.
[183] In an article ("From the Heart of the Wolds") contributed to
the _Cornhill Magazine_ of August 1882, the following is stated with
regard to the traditions of this part of Lincolnshire:--"Ghosts,
bogies, and the supernatural generally have utterly vanished from
this commonplace district before schools and newspapers. Even an old
lady more than ninety years old said to us, 'Fairies and shag-boys!
lasses are often skeart at them, but I never saw none, though I have
passed many a time after dark a most terrible spot for them on the
road at Thorpe.'" The identity of "shag-boy" with "hog-boy" (as used
in Orkney) is asserted by the writer of the _Cornhill_ article; who
also states:--"In an adjoining field [near Beelsby] lingers one of
the few legends of this prosaic district. A treasure is supposed to
be hidden in it, and at times two little men, wearing red caps,
something like the Irish _leprechauns_, may be seen intently digging
for it." These little "red-caps" are not identified with the
"shag-boys," but popular tradition generally would pronounce them to
be the same people.
[184] One is apt to talk of this introductory passage as though it
had actually _penetrated_ a previously existing mound. But the
construction of all those chambered mounds shows plainly that the
original stone structure, not only the central building but the long
passage of approach, was originally reared upon the surface of the
level ground, in the open air. And that the "fairy hillock" had no
existence at all until the builders of the stone structure had
heaped above it all--chamber and gallery--the mass of earth and
stones that afterwards transformed the whole exterior into a "green
hillock," and thus completely disguised its real nature from all but
the initiated.
[185] For these details see Colonel Forbes Leslie's "Early Races of
Scotland," vol. ii. pp. 338-40.
[186] Even with this roof-light the interior of the dwelling can
only have received a limited supply of daylight. And this explains
the statement made by a Scotch peasant who was taken by a "fairy"
woman into her abode. "Being asked by the judge [before whom he was
tried for 'witchcraft'] whether the place within the hill, which he
called a hall, were light or dark, he said '_Indifferent, as it is
with us in the twilight_.'"
At night, when the abode of the "hillmen" was lit up with the glow
of the fire, the cavity above the building, and the atmosphere
overhead, must have also received some share of the firelight. This
would account for the statement made by Wallace (who wrote at the
period when "Evil Spirits also called Fairies" were "frequently seen
in several of the [Orkney] Isles dancing and making merry,") to the
effect that, "in the Parish of Evie, near the Sea, are some small
_Hillocks_, which frequently, in the Night time, appear all in a
fire." And when Mrs. Ewing, in her "Old-Fashioned Fairy Tales," says
that _shian_ is "a Gaelic name for fairy towers, which _by day_ are
not to be told from mountain crags," she evidently alludes to the
same feature.
[187] See the description in an Appendix to Pennant's Tour, written
by the then minister of the parish of Reay, Sutherlandshire.
[188] "Popular Tales of the West Highlands," vol. ii. pp. 97-101. In
the _Book of Clanranald_, a portion of which is translated by Dr.
Skene, a certain "Huisdinn," whose paternal grandfather was Donald
of the Isles, is stated to have been also the grandson (through his
mother) of "Giolla Phadraig." This "Huisdinn" appears to have lived
in the fifteenth century. (See _Celtic Scotland_, III., 408-409.)
[189] "Heligoland," 1888, pp. 84-85.
[190] For fuller information as to Maes-how, and references to more
detailed accounts, see Dr. Anderson's "Orkneyinga Sage,"
Introduction, pp. ci-cviii.
It may be added that one feature in the first of the Maes-how
diagrams conveys a wrong impression of the probable appearance of
the mound, when inhabited; because the "well or pit" ("or crater")
is represented as being as solid as the rest of the outer covering.
That it gradually became filled up with drift and rubbish, after the
dwelling ceased to be occupied, is evident. But when the edifice was
newly reared, and as long as people continued to inhabit it, the
upper part of the mound was probably a hollow shaft; admitting light
and air into the dwelling below; "carrying off the smoke of their
fire;" and occasionally serving as a way of ingress and egress.
[191] "West Highland Tales," ii. 39.
[192] Which will be found at pp. 30-32 of "Legends of Scottish
Superstition," Edinburgh, 1848.
[193] The Wigtownshire tale perhaps relates rather to an example of
the rude underground Fairy Ha', or Pecht's house, described in the
beginning of this chapter. While the word "how" signifies in Orkney
a _haug_, or mound; the "howe" of other parts of Scotland means a
"hollow." In fact, the story says that the foul water ran _down_ to
the entrance of the dwarf's house, which was therefore either an
underground gallery of the kind referred to, or else a chambered
mound placed on a lower level than the shepherd's cottage.
[194] Cf. _tulman_ in the Barra anecdote quoted above. See also p.
82 _ante_, note 2.
[195] From "Grantown-on-Spey," by the Rev. A. Gordon (in a "Budget
of Holiday Letters," Edinburgh, 1889).
[196] "Lay of the Last Minstrel," Note M.
[197] Chambers, in his "Popular Rhymes" (241-2), has a story
corresponding in one feature to that of "Taptillery." This is of a
certain Laird of Craufurdland, who had dammed up a stream in order
to get at a treasure believed to be hidden in its bed, "when a
brownie called out of a bush:
"Pow, pow!
Craufurdland's tower's a' in a low!" [_i.e._, on fire]
which sent the laird home to save his tower; and when he returned
from his fool's errand the dam had been destroyed, and the stream
was flowing as before.
[198] Mr. J. H. Dixon, F.S.A.Scot. See "Gairloch," Edin.' 1886, pp.
159-61.
[199] See the modern _Scots Magazine_, Vol. I., No. 1, Dec., 1887
("Damh Blàr Bheinn Chrulaist," a sporting story).
CHAPTER XIV.
So numerous are the mounds that, owing to the traditions attaching
to them, invite their own destruction at the hands of the
archæologist, that only a limited number of them can be specified in
these pages. Among these were, until recent years, two "fairy
knowes," long known by that term in the adjoining countryside. They
lie between the rivers Forth and Teith, about four miles to the
south of Doune. One of them was broken into a good many years ago,
and it is now known to antiquaries as the "Broch of Coldoch" (from
the estate on which it is situated).[200] It appears to be one of
those structures which form a connecting link between the open-air
broch, such as that of Mousa, and the more visible "hill," such as
Maes-how. It is circular in form, has the central chamber and three
small chambers in the thickness of the wall; and the lower portion
of a winding-stair, also in the wall, which shows it to be the
remains of an inferior "Mousa." Its dimensions are like those of
other "brochs," and these are such that, in this case, they evoked
the remark from the writer's guide (a native of the district) that
"it had never been built for men like him." This, indeed, is the
remark that naturally falls from any visitor to such buildings; as
the writer has noticed on several such occasions (nor can he forget
that one, at any rate, of his companions, in a recent visit to "the
hidden places of the Fians and fairies" in the valley of the Boyne,
was debarred from inspecting these interesting works for the simple
reason that the underground passage of entrance was so strait, in
every way, that for him to worm himself along it, as all visitors
must do, was a physical impossibility). The popular belief that such
mounds were tenanted by dwarfs has no stronger testimony than the
obvious fact that none but dwarfs would have thought of raising such
structures; or could have properly utilized them when erected. And
although the most famous of the Boyne mounds just referred to has
been styled "the firm mansion of the 'Dagda'" in ancient records,
and, by a modern singer,
"The Royal Brugh,
By the dark-rolling waters of the Boyne,
Where Angus Og magnificently dwells,"
yet such a "mansion" would be a most impracticable kind of abode for
men of the ordinary height of modern Europeans, if any such felt
disposed to imitate the "magnificence" of Angus Og.
Of this "Royal Brugh" the outward appearance is well delineated in
the engraving which constitutes the _Frontispiece_. All that has
been said as to the adaptability of Maes-how to any of the
well-known fairy stories is equally applicable to this Irish "how."
The Boyne mound, however, as will be seen from its measurements, is
much larger than the Orkney one; though the stone structure in its
interior is of much the same dimensions as the other. The interior
of the "Broch of the Boyne," however, represents a much ruder and
more primitive stage in such architecture, and compared with it, the
Orkney "how" is a most finished and elaborate work.
This, then, is what a fairy hill, of the larger class, looks like to
the outsider. And it is clear that, when its entrance is concealed,
as it once was, no stranger, ignorant of such a thing as a
mound-dwelling, would ever think that this innocent-looking hill was
artificially made, and that the chambers within it were the
residence of a family or families. One might well begin to build,
and even to fell trees, upon the outer "walls" of such a "house,"
without knowing that such a proceeding might be resented by "the
moody elfin king that won'd within the hill."
The entrance to this underground hall, which has been rediscovered
for about two centuries, may be discerned almost at the base of the
hill, slightly to the left of the figures of the man and boy in the
foreground.
[Illustration: SECTIONAL VIEW OF THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE.
(_From the West._)]
This entrance or doorway is represented below, and, like the
others of this series, it is the work of an artist who is also an
eminent Irish archæologist, than whom no one possesses a more
intimate acquaintance with the interior and exterior of the Boyne
mounds. This, then, is an Irish illustration of what the Shetland
boys used to call a "trow's door!"[201]
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF THE BRUGH.]
The (not too portly) explorer who enters this doorway and creeps,
sometimes laterally, along the passage, at one point very low and
narrow, works his way at length into the comparatively large chamber
that forms the main part of the structure. The relation which this
passage and chamber bear to the mound which was heaped over them
will be seen from the transverse sectional view of the "hill," which
is represented in the accompanying plate. The dimensions and general
appearance of this underground gallery and "hall" will also be fully
understood by an examination of this and the other designs. And one
point will be noticed, namely, that no access to the top of the
mound, as in such a case as Finn's dwelling in Sylt, or the Orkney
Maes-how, is here visible. But it must be borne in mind that, over
those portions of the mound which are represented as solid, the word
"Unexplored" might fitly be written. If this is like some of the
"fairy hills" of tradition, it ought to have a channel, or passage,
leading upward to the summit, and, indeed, the lower end of such a
passage, though at present choked up, is suggested at one side of
the inner chamber (on the right hand of the explorer), as may be
seen in the plan of the year 1889.
It is necessary, however, to discriminate between one kind of
"fairy hill" and another. Maeshow and the Sylt Denghoog appear to
closely resemble the modern Lapp _gamme_, as regards the upper
portion of the structure, for access to both of these may be gained
from the roof. The "trap-door" to which Mr. Black refers in the Sylt
instance appears to have always existed in one shape or another; and
its original use may be guessed from the following notice of the
same portion of a Lapp _gamme_. The gamme "is generally circular, or
oblong, having the appearance of a large, rounded hillock, which
indeed it may be termed," says a Lapland traveller of sixty years
ago.[202] And he further states that "an opening in the roof, nearly
over the fire-place, served to let out the smoke; and might be
covered at times with a kind of trap-door, to retain the internal
warmth, when the fire is burnt out. This is always let down at
night." That this was the usage in the dwelling of Finn, or whatever
may have been the name of the Sylt dwarf whose bones were found in
the Denghoog, seems very probable. But to such chambered mounds as
the Broch of the Boyne, another traditionary egress, whether for the
dwellers or for the smoke, seems more applicable. It has already
been noticed that "pits on the top of hills were supposed to lead to
the subterranean habitations of the Fairies."
[Illustration: ENLARGED SECTIONAL VIEW OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER, BRUGH
OF THE BOYNE. (_From the West._)]
But another version says that "pits on the tops of mountains are
regarded in the border [_i.e._, the Anglo-Scottish Borders] with a
degree of superstitious horror, as the porches or entrances of the
subterraneous habitations of the fairies; from which confused
murmurs, the cries of children, moaning voices, the ringing of
bells, and the sounds of musical instruments are often supposed to
be heard. Round these hills the green fairy circles are believed to
wind in a spiral direction, till they reach the descent to the
central cavern."[203] Assuming that "mountains" ought to read
"hillocks," and that the spiral passages are akin to those which
wind down the interior of the walls of such a "broch" as that of
Mousa, this tradition would lead one to believe that the Broch of
the Boyne has a winding passage to the upper air. A recent visitor
has observed that "on the exterior top of the mound there appears to
be a small crater-like depression,"[204] which he attributes to a
subsidence of the structure, but which, on the other hand, may have
always been there. The suggestion of an upward passage in the
interior has just been referred to. This latter is not indicated at
all in the plan of the year 1724; but as a matter of fact, this
detail was not known until quite recently, when the displacement of
a slab revealed this cavity (as well as some additional spiral
incisions on the slab).
It will be observed that the plans of 1724 and 1889 differ
considerably as to the dimensions and outline of the central
chamber. Although the earlier one was "delineated with care and
accuracy, upon the place," by "Mr. Samuel Molyneux, a young
gentleman of the college of Dublin," one must rather accept the
testimony of so experienced and careful an archæologist as Mr.
Wakeman. But the plan of 1724 has this great merit, that it was
executed only twenty-nine years after the re-opening of the "brugh";
and, consequently, it shows (marked with the letter H) "a pyramid
stone now fallen, but formerly set up erect in the middle of the
cave." Moreover, Mr. Molyneux was able to give a sketch of the
carvings above the right hand, or eastern recess, when these were
much fresher than at any period during this century. A fac-simile of
this picture is here given; and if the artistic style of the
draughtsman is not very admirable it will at least be admitted that
his work possesses a high archæological value. But before quitting
the subject of the drawing of 1724, it must be pointed out that
although Mr. Molyneux shows, in the northern recess of his
ground-plan, a rude basin similar to those still occupying the
eastern and western recesses, yet the account of Mr. Edward Llhwyd,
stated to have been written in 1699,[205] distinctly says that that
recess was _then_ vacant. If Mr. Llhwyd's statement is correct the
plan of 1724 is obviously misleading in this respect.
The statements of those early writers are deserving of full
consideration, for they wrote before the effects of the outside air
and the unscientific tourist could have appreciably altered the
appearance of the chamber, since it was entered in 1695. Their
accounts, therefore, are quoted afterwards at greater length.[206]
But, from what has been said, and from an inspection of these
illustrations, a good idea may be gained of the exterior and
interior appearance of the habitation in which tradition states that
Angus Og "magnificently dwelt."
Something may here be said regarding this personage, and the race to
which he belonged. He is said to have been the King of the Tuatha De
Danann, a race traditionally believed to have been the immediate
precursors of the Gaels in Ireland. They are sometimes spoken of as
"the Dananns" or "Danaans"; sometimes also as "the Tuatha De, or
Dea." _Tuatha_ merely signifies "people"; but the two other names do
not seem to have received any definite interpretation. It is said
that they migrated from "Lochlin" (Scandinavia, or perhaps also
Northern Germany) to the north-eastern Lowlands of Scotland; and Dr.
Skene notes that the topography of that district supports the theory
in several details.[207]
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER, BRUGH OF THE
BOYNE. (_From a drawing by Mr. W. F. Wakeman_, 1889.)]
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER, BRUGH OF THE
BOYNE. (_From a drawing by Mr. Samuel Molyneux_, 1724.)]
After living there for several generations, they are understood to
have crossed to Ireland, then inhabited by the race of the
"Fir-Bolgs," whom they subdued.[208] Two centuries later the Gaels
(or Milesians) came to Ireland--from Spain, it is said. It was at
this period that "Aonghus Mac an Daogha," otherwise Angus, son of
"the Dagda," was king of the Tuatha De Danann. The story goes that
the Dananns, recognizing that the Gaels came as powerful and warlike
invaders, and as colonizers, told them on their first arrival that
if they could effect a landing in open day, and in spite of the
Dananns, then one-half of Ireland would be ceded to the new-comers.
The Gaels were successful; but the two parties could not agree as to
the division of Ireland,--apparently because the Tuatha De Danann,
while willing to surrender one-half of the island, wished to retain
the sovereignty of the whole. Then, after the simple fashion of the
heroes of ancient chronicles, the rival forces came to the agreement
that the matter should be laid before the first person whom a party
of deputies from either side should happen to encounter at the
outskirts of a certain town, on an appointed day, and this man's
decision should be held as final. Now, although the Dananns are
remembered as "adepts in all Druidical and magical arts," the Gaels
also had a _druidh_ (_i.e._, wizard or _magus_) among their number;
who proved more than a match for the Dananns. For, between him and
the leaders of his party it was arranged that the man whom the
deputies should accidentally meet at the appointed place should be
no other than this _druidh_ of the Gaels, whose person was unknown
to their opponents. The unsuspecting Dananns walked into the trap.
The first man that the delegates met was a strolling harper. "It is
a great thing thou hast to do to-day, good master of the sciences!"
was the greeting of Angus Mac Dagda, who was one of the company.
"What have I to be doing to-day?" quoth the wise man, "except to go
about with my harp, and learn who shall best reward me for my
music."[209] "Thy task is far greater than that," answered Angus,
"thou hast to divide Ireland into two equal portions." Thereupon the
_druidh_, having obtained the promise of either side that they would
abide by his decision, pronounced as follows:--"This, then, is my
decision. As ye, O magical Dananns, have for a long period possessed
that half of Ireland which is above ground, henceforth the half
which is underneath the surface shall be yours, and the half above
ground shall belong to the Sons of Miledh (the Milesians, or Gaels).
To thee, O Angus, son of the Dagda, as thou art the king of the
Tuatha De Danann, I assign the best earth-house in Ireland, the
white-topped _brugh_ of the Boyne.[210] As for the rest, each one
can select an earth-house for himself." Against this grotesque
decision there was, obviously, no appeal, and the Dananns
surrendered the surface of Ireland to the Gaels; "and retaining only
the green mounds, known by the name of Sidh, and then being made
invisible by their enchantments, became the Fir Sidhe, or Fairies,
of Ireland."[211]
In this legend of the "halving" of Ireland, Dr. Skene recognizes the
memory of a historical fact,--the conquest of Ireland by the Gaels,
and the terms meted out by them to the natives. The tradition has of
course its defects, like most traditions. The "earth-houses"
referred to[212] must have already been in existence before they
could be spoken of, and particularized, by the magician of the
Gaels.
[Illustration: EASTERN RECESS OF CENTRAL CHAMBER, AS DRAWN BY MR.
MOLYNEUX IN 1724. (_Fac-simile._)]
The inference to be drawn from the story is that the Tuatha De
Danann were themselves mound-dwellers, and that the terms imposed
upon them by the Gaels restricted the conquered people to their own
habitations, presumably with the reservation of a small portion of
the adjoining territory. That, in short, the Gaelic conquest denoted
a state of things analogous to the European conquest and settlement
of North America, where the native races, having once submitted,
were allowed to live on "reservations," scattered here and there
throughout the country. Thus, as in America, the two races would
live side by side, though perhaps, as in America, presenting the
most opposite characteristics.
The above story states that the Fir Sidhe, or Dananns, were confined
to those "hollow hills" by the Gaels, through the instrumentality of
their _druidh_. The version which Mr. William Black indicates as
current in Southern Ireland, ascribes this act to _the saints_. In
his novel of _Shandon Bells_, he introduces the hero and heroine as
standing in "the very headquarters of the elves and the pixies"; and
the girl asks "'Is this where you said the saints shut up Don Fierna
and the pixies?' 'No,' he said, 'that was away over there in the
mountains. But they say the little people can get out into this
valley; and you won't catch many of the Inisheen natives about here
after dark!'" Here, then, it is a Gaelic _saint_ and not a Gaelic
_druidh_ who was instrumental in confining "the little people" to
their homes; but, after all, there is perhaps not much difference
between _saint_ and _druidh_. The Fierna here referred to, it may be
remarked, is that King of the Sidhfir of Munster, who has been
spoken of on a previous page,[213] and whose dwelling, according to
tradition, was the hill of _Knockfierin_, in the neighbourhood of
Limerick.
The Tuatha De Danann, therefore, are the Sidhfir, or Fairies, of
Irish tradition. But the Tuatha De Danann have been already referred
to in these pages.[214] "Who were the Feinne of tradition, and to
what country and period are they to be assigned?" This is the
question put by Dr. Skene. And after considering the various Irish
traditions relating to "the Feinne," his conclusion is this: "The
Feinne, then, belonged to the pre-Milesian races, and were
connected, not only with Ireland, but likewise with Northern and
Central Scotland, England and Wales, and the territory lying between
the Rhine and the Elbe. [This last-named territory, being "Lochlin,"
ought perhaps to be held as including the whole of Scandinavia.]
Now, there are just two people mentioned in the Irish records
who had settlements in Ireland, and who yet were connected with
Great Britain and 'Lochlin.' These were the people termed the
Tuatha De Danann, and the Cruithne.... These two tribes were thus
the prior race in each country [Ireland and North and Central
Scotland]. Both must have been prior to the Low German population
of Lochlan. The Cruithne were the race prior to the Scots [Gaels]
in North and Central Scotland, and the Tuatha De Danann the prior
colony to the Milesian Scots in Ireland. The Feinne are brought
by all the old historic tales into close contact with the Tuatha
De Danann; a portion of them were avowedly Cruithne; and if they
were, as we have seen, in Ireland, not of the Milesian race, but
of the prior population, and likewise connected with Great Britain
and the region lying between the Rhine and the Elbe, the inference
is obvious, that, whether a denomination for an entire people
or for a body of warriors, they belonged to the previous population
which preceded the Germans in Lochlan and the Gaels in Ireland and
North and Central Scotland. This view is corroborated by the fact,
that in the old poems and tales the Feinne appear, as we have
said, in close connection with the Tuatha De Danann. They are
likewise connected with the Cruithne.... In answering, then, the
preliminary questions of who were the Feinne? and to what period do
they belong? we may fairly infer that they were of the population
who immediately preceded the Gaels in Ireland and in North and
Central Scotland."[215]
The Feinne, then, belonged to the population which comprised the
Cruithne and the Tuatha De Danann, or Sidhfir, or Fairies. But the
Cruithne, as we have seen,[216] were the Picts of history, and the
"Pechts" of Scottish folk-lore. Thus, the Feinne were of the
population of "Pechts and Fairies." It has already been shown that
to draw a hard and fast line between these two divisions is
impossible. Nevertheless, there seems to have been once some kind of
distinction between the two. And if the Feinne must necessarily have
been "Pechts _or_ Fairies" (as the above conclusions of Dr. Skene's
seem to warrant), then they appear to have belonged to the former
division. Or, in other words, they were _Cruithne_ rather than
_Tuatha De Danann_. It may be remembered that in such a Fenian
ballad as the _Dan an Fhir Shicair_, or Song of the Fairy Man,[217]
the Feinne are represented as associating with the Sidhfir (say
Tuatha De Danann), but yet not as _identical_ with them. Again, the
same dubiety was seen in the references to the hoards of treasure
obtained by the ninth-century Danes from "the hidden places
belonging to Fians _or_ to Fairies,"[218] in the valley of the
Boyne.
The Brugh of the Boyne is several times spoken of by Professor
Eugene O'Curry in his "Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of
Ancient Irish History."[219] For example, as an illustration of the
use of the word _sidh_ to denote "a hall or residence" of the
_sidh_-folk Mr. O'Curry cites a stanza "taken from an ancient poem
by Mac Nia, son of Oenna (in the Book of Ballymote, fol. 190, b.) on
the wonders of _Brugh_ (or _Brog_) _na Boinne_ (the Palace of the
Boyne), the celebrated Hall of the Daghda Mór, who was the great
king and oracle of the _Tuata Dé Danann_. This poem," continues Mr.
O'Curry, "begins: '_A Chaemu Bregh Brig nad Breg_' ('Ye Poets of
Bregia, of truth, not false,') and this is the second stanza of that
poem:
'_Fegaid in sid ar for súil
Is foderc dib is treb rig,
Ro guíd laisin Dagda ndúir,
Ba dinn, ba dun, amra bríg._'
'Behold the _Sidh_ before your eyes,
It is manifest to you that it is a king's mansion,
Which was built by the firm _Daghda_;
It was a wonder, a court, an admirable hill.'"[220]
In the same work we read of an incident, placed in the time of St.
Patrick and subsequent to the Battle of Gawra, when the conquered
"Fianns" were only represented by a few straggling survivors, one of
whom was the well-known _Caeilté_ (as the name is here spelt).
"Saint Patrick, with his travelling missionary retinue, including
Caeilté we are told, was one day sitting on the hill which is now
well known as Ard-Patrick, in the county of Limerick." Questioning
Caeilté as to the former name of this hill, St. Patrick learned that
it had been called _Tulach-na-Feiné_, and obtained also an anecdote
suggested by it. "One day that we were on this hill," says Caeilté,
speaking of himself and his brother "Fianns," "Finn observed a
favourite warrior of his company, named Cael O'Neamhain, coming
towards him, and when he had come to Finn's presence, he asked him
where he had come from. Cael answered that he had come from _Brugh_
in the north (that is the fairy mansion of _Brugh_, on the
Boyne).[221] 'What was your business there?' said Finn. 'To speak to
my nurse, Muirn, the daughter of Derg,' said Cael. 'About what?'
said Finn. 'Concerning Credé, the daughter of Cairbré, King of Kerry
(_Ciarraighe Luachra_),' said Cael?" And so on. At another
place[222] the dialogue goes thus:--"'Where hast thou come from,
Cael?' said Finn. 'From the teeming _Brugh_, from the North,' said
Cael. ('_As in Brug Braenach atuaid,' ar Cael_)." And so on, to the
same purpose as in the other version. In this story, then, we see
the "Fians and Fairies" associated with each other, as in _The
Ballad of the Fairy Man_; and the nurse of one of the Fians is
described as living in the "brugh" which was built by the celebrated
chief of the Tuatha De Danann, and was afterwards tenanted by his
son, Angus Og.
Among Mr. O'Curry's notes there is this reference to Angus Og:[223]
"In the _Dinnsenchus_ it is stated that '_Eóin Bailé_' were Four
Kisses of Aengus of _Brugh na Boinné_ (son of the _Daghda Mor_, the
great necromancer and king of the _Tuatha Dé Danann_), which were
converted by him into 'birds which haunted the youths of Erinn.'
This allusion," remarks Mr. O'Curry, "requires more investigation
than I have yet been able to bestow on the passage." Whatever the
"_Eóin Bailé_" may have been, or have been assumed to be, this
passage brings into prominence the fact that the people known as
Tuatha De Danann, or Fir-Sidhe, were regarded by other races as
possessed of supernatural power, and were indeed actually revered as
gods at one era. As the biographer of St. Patrick says of him:--
"He preached threescore years
The Cross of Christ to the _Tuatha_ [people] of Feni.
On the _Tuatha_ of Erin there was darkness.
The _Tuatha_ adored the _Side_."[224]
(Here, of course, the _Fir_ Sidhe, or people of the "sidhs" are
denoted; the word being sometimes used to indicate the dwellers,
sometimes the dwellings.) And the exalted character of the inmates
of the Brugh of the Boyne is indicated also in a verse of a Gaelic
poem entitled _Baile Suthain Sith Eamhna_, which dates back to the
year 1457 at least. The subject of the verse referred to is thus
apostrophized:--
"Thou, the son of noble Sabia,
Thou the most beauteous apple rod;
_What god from Bru of the Boyne_
Created thee with her in secret?"[225]
This exalted position "the little people" seem to have retained in
some measure long after their subjugation, and even the household
drudge or "brownie" was feared for his alleged "supernatural" power.
The fact that the common people of Ireland at the present day speak
of the inhabitants of the "brughs" or "sheeans" as "the gentry," may
also be regarded as a witness to the superior rank once held by that
caste whose mound-dwellings are exemplified by this "Brugh of the
Boyne" and others in its neighbourhood.
Of the undoubtedly historic spoliation of those Boyne "hillocks" in
the ninth century, something more may be said here. "We have on
record," says Lady Ferguson,[226] "both in the Irish chronicles and
the Norse _Sagas_, that in the year 861 the three earls, Olaf,
Sitric, and Ivar, opened, for purposes of plunder, the sepulchral
mounds of New Grange, Dowth, and Knowth on the Boyne, and the mound
of the wife of the Gobaun Saer,[227] the mythic builder, or Wayland
Smith of the Irish Celts, still a conspicuous object at Drogheda."
One of the Irish chronicles referred to by Lady Ferguson is that
known as the "Annals of Ulster" ("compiled in the year 1498," says
Dr. Skene), and the passage is as follows: "Aois Cr. ocht cced
seascca a haon, ... Amlaoibh, Iomhair, 7[228] h Uailsi, tri toisigh
Gall. 7 Lorcain me Cathail tigerna Midhe, do ionnradh ferainn Floinn
me Conaing. Uaimh Ach Alda hi Mugdhornaibh Maighen, Uaimh Cnoghbhai,
Uaimh Feirt Bodan os Dubath, 7 Uaimh mna an Gobhand ag Drochat atha
do croth 7 d orggain las na Gall cedna."[229]
This is rendered into Latin by Dr. O'Conor thus: "Ætas Christi
DCCCLXI..... Amlafus, Imarus et Magnates trium Ducum Alienigenarum,
et Lorcanus filius Cathaldi Princeps Midiæ, vastant terras Flanni
filii Conangi. Crypta subterranea campi Alda in regione Mugdornorum
planitiei, Crypta Cnovæ, Cryptæ miraculorum Bodani supra Dubath, et
Crypta foeminæ fabri apud Droghedam, vastatæ et destructæ ab
Alienigenis iisdem."
Neither Dr. Todd nor Dr. Skene, however, have a high opinion of
O'Conor's translation.[230] And his rendering of "Uailsi" by
"Magnates" is palpably a blunder based upon the acceptance of that
word as _uaillse_ or _uaisle_, a nobleman; whereas, Uailsi, Oisli,
Oisill, &c., was the name of a comrade (some accounts say a brother)
of the Olaf and Ivor referred to.[231] Thus, the Annals state that
in 861, Olaf (or Anlaf, or Aulay), Ivor and Uailsi (or Oisli), three
chiefs of the Foreigners, and Lorcan, son of Cathal, lord of
Meath,[232] devastated the lands of Flann, son of Conang; in other
words, the territory of "Bregia,--a district including the counties
of Meath, Westmeath, Dublin (north of the Liffey), and part of
Louth."[233] And these same "foreigners" pillaged and destroyed
certain underground chambers, which O'Conor refers to as "crypts."
The term is correct enough, signifying, as it does, an underground
place of concealment. But the Gaelic term is more suitable, if the
quickened pronunciation which in many parts of Scotland has
occasioned the spelling "weem" (_i.e._, _uaim_) be adopted. For by
"weem" is understood the subterranean gallery previously described,
if it is not at any time applied to the actual "hollow hill."[234]
Of the "weems" in the territory of Flann, which the _Annals_ state
were plundered, three are easily recognized;--viz., that of
"Cnoghbha," the modern "Knowth" (which is portrayed in the
accompanying plate), the still more celebrated "Uaimh Feirt Bodan,"
described as "above Dubath,"[235] now known as Dowth, which is also
here represented, and thirdly, the "weem" of the wife of the _Gobban
Saor_, or "noble smith," at Drogheda. The first-named of all is said
to be that of the "Brugh of the Boyne," at New Grange; and no doubt
there is evidence for this identification, although the term
"Mugdhornaibh Maighen" would otherwise lead one to place this "weem"
at "Mugornn or Mugdhorn, now Cremorne,"[236] in the county of
Monaghan.
Two of these "weems" are mentioned in the Gaelic poem of _Sith
Eamhna_, wherein, as has been seen, "the son of noble Sabia" was
assumed to be equally the son of some god "from Bru of the Boyne."
In this poem, whose meaning is somewhat obscure, there are several
references to the Boyne and to various "broghs," of which one is
"the cave of Ferna, the fair cave of Knowth (_uaim fhearna_, _uaim
chaomh cnodhbha_, or _chnoghdha_)." This _Sith Eamhna_ itself
appears to have been of the same order, and not improbably was that
Eamhain which was "the ancient palace of the kings of Ulster." "The
ruins of Eamhain, or, as it is now corruptly called, the Navan Fort,
are to be seen about two miles to the west of Armagh," says Mr.
O'Donovan, in a note to his "Book of Rights."[237] This is certainly
farther north than the territory of Flann Mc Conang, ravaged by the
"foreigners" in 861, as defined on a previous page; but one writer
states that that territory of "Bregia" (or _Breagh_) extended into
Ulster, in the eighth century;[238] and if the plundered "weem"
first-named in the _Annals_ was really in county Monaghan, that
would show that a portion of "Breagh" was situated in Ulster in 861.
Eamhain, or Emania (in the Latinized form), appears to have given
its name to all Ulster, but in its proper application the term
refers to the stronghold itself. Dr. Skene speaks of "the fall of
the great seat of the Cruithnian kingdom called Emania, before an
expedition, led by a scion of the Scottish (_i.e._, Gaelic) royal
race, who established the kingdom of Orgialla on its ruins."[239] It
is this place that is associated with Oscar, the hero of the
"Fians," at the time of the Battle of Gawra; and it may be
remembered that, in a poem describing that battle, a chief of one
section of the "Fian" confederacy is made to exclaim:--
"I and the Fians of Breatan
Will be with Oscar of _Eamhain_."
And as Oscar is stated to have been slain at the Battle of Gawra,
and the power of the "Fians" destroyed, one is tempted to believe
that the legendary battle of Gawra coincides with the historical
capture of Oscar's stronghold of Emhain, and the downfall of the
historical Cruithné of Ulster. However, _Sith Eamhna_ has been
mentioned here not for its own sake, but for the casual references
in that poem to the "Brugh of the Boyne" and "the cave of Ferna, the
fair cave of Knowth."
The Gaelic records as well as the Scandinavian have many tales of
"how-breaking" exploits. For, although the accounts of the Feenic
"heroes" have been preserved to us in the Gaelic language, as those
of the Longobards have been preserved in Latin, it does not follow
in the one case more than in the other, that the language of the
chronicle was the language of the chronicled. Whatever may have been
wrought eventually, by time and intercourse, the Gaelic-speaking
people appear originally as the plunderers of "the hidden places of
the Fians and Fairies." Professor O'Curry states that among the
Historic Tales in the _Book of Leinster_, there are many which deal
specially with adventures in "caves" or, otherwise, "weems." Tales
of this class are called _Uatha_.[240] "These are tales respecting
various occurrences in caves; sometimes the taking of a cave, when
the place has been used as a place of refuge or habitation,--and
such a taking would be, in fact, a sort of _Toghail_ [the _Toghail_
having been previously defined as a history 'which details the
taking of a fort or fortified palace or habitation by force ... the
term always implies the destruction of the buildings taken.'];
sometimes the narrative of some adventure in a cave; sometimes of a
plunder of a cave." Mr. O'Curry gives a list of the _uatha_ in the
"Book of Leinster"; and of these the most noteworthy is the _Uath
Uama Cruachan_, or the Plundering of the Weem of Cruachan. This is
referred to as "a very curious story," and the ravagers are said to
have been "the men of Connacht, in the time of Ailill and Meadhbh,
as told in the old tale of _Táin Bo Aingen_." This Meadhbh, or Maev,
of Cruachan, "the Semiramis of Irish history," as Lady Ferguson
calls her, has herself been identified with the "Queen Mab" of fairy
tradition. She appears to have occupied this "Uama Cruachan" after
it had been plundered; for it is stated that her husband "re-edified
the Rath of Cruachan, employing for the purpose a fierce tribe of
Firbolgic origin, the _Gowanree_, who were compelled to labour
unremittingly at the earthworks, and are said to have completed the
dyke in one day."[241] Mr. O'Curry has another reference to this
place. "I have in my possession," he says, "a poem in the Ossianic
style, which gives an account of a foot race between Cailté, the
celebrated champion of Finn Mac Cumhaill, and an unknown knight who
had challenged him. The race terminated by the stranger running into
the Cave of Cruachain, followed by Cailté, where he found a party of
smiths at work, etc. No copy of the full Tale has come down to us."
This incident is remarkable for its association of one of the
"Fians" with the underground smiths of tradition. Another _uath_
mentioned by Mr. O'Curry is the _Uath Dercce Ferna_, regarding which
he says:--"There is an allusion to the trampling to death of some
sort of monster, in the mouth of this cave, by a Leinsterwoman, in a
poem on the Graves of Heroes who were killed by Leinstermen,
preserved in the Book of Leinster (H. 2. 18, fol. 27, Trin. Coll.
Dubl.)."
[Illustration: DOWTH (_Uaimh Feirt Bodan os Dubath_), COUNTY MEATH.
(_From the West._)]
The same place is the scene of the tale _Echtra Find an
Deircfearna_, "The Adventures of Finn in Derc Fearna"; but
unfortunately Mr. O'Curry has to add "This tale is now lost." It is
not clear why he should identify "Derc Fearna" with the "Cave of
Dunmore in the county Kilkenny." One would naturally, considering
its association with Finn and "Heroes who were killed by
Leinstermen," assume that this was the same as "the cave of Ferna,
the fair cave of Knowth."[242]
[Illustration: PLAN OF DOWTH.]
Of the plans and sectional views of these chambered mounds of the
Boyne valley which are here given, it is not necessary to say much
in these pages. "Dowth" has been explored and described by others,
although the accompanying pictures, being new, and the work of the
experienced archæologist referred to, add very considerably to the
knowledge of the subject. The main gallery and chamber of Dowth
resembles generally that of the "Brugh of the Boyne" at New Grange;
but the central chamber is not nearly so spacious.
[Illustration: PLAN OF PASSAGE AND CHAMBER AT DOWTH, AND TRANSVERSE
SECTION OF CHAMBER (SAME SCALE).]
The "bee-hive" chamber which the Dowth mound also contains has no
duplicate at New Grange, but it is quite possible that each of these
mounds has yet something to disclose. Dowth also reminds the
explorer and excavator, by the deep hollow made in the upper
portion, in the course of a fruitless and abandoned search, some
years ago, that to attack these mounds at random is to run the risk
of much useless and disappointing labour. It moreover shows that any
upward exit from the central chamber did not in this instance ascend
perpendicularly as in the Denghoog at Sylt, or the Orcadian
Maes-how. In trying to find the entrances to such "hollow hills," we
moderns have no light to guide us as the Danes had in the ninth
century. It will be remembered that there never was, "in concealment
under ground in Erinn, nor in the various secret places belonging to
Fians or to fairies, anything that was not discovered by these
foreign, wonderful Denmarkians, through paganism and idol worship."
[Illustration: BEE-HIVE CHAMBER, DOWTH.]
This is otherwise explained by Dr. Todd, "that, notwithstanding
the potent spells employed by the Fians and fairies for the
concealment of their hidden treasures, the Danes, by their pagan
magic and the diabolical power of their idols, were enabled to find
them out." What was the "magic" of those ninth-century Danes, or of
the order generally known as _Magi_, we only imperfectly know. But
what is tolerably evident is that if those ninth-century Danes did
not themselves rear similar structures (and Irish and Hebridean
tradition says they did), they had among them those to whom such
mound-dwellings were not "hidden" places; whether the entrances were
uniformly made at one side of the mound, or were otherwise indicated
to the initiated. In the case of "Knowth" there is less dubiety; as
what appears to be the entrance to its interior is known to Irish
archæologists. But local difficulties have hitherto stood in the
way, and the mound is said never to have been entered since the
ninth century; which, however, may be doubted. Dr. Molyneux, at any
rate, in the tract quoted in Appendix A, states that he had then in
his possession a stone urn which "was twelve years since [_i.e._ in
1713] discovered in a mount at _Knowth_, a place in the county of
_Meath_, within four miles of _Drogheda_." He does not actually say
that this urn, and the "square stone box, about five foot long and
four foot broad" which contained it, were situated in an interior
chamber of the mound. But very probably this is what he meant.[243]
[Illustration: KNOWTH (_Uaimh Cnoghbhai_), COUNTY MEATH.
(_From the South._)]
FOOTNOTES:
[200] This "fairy knowe" is described in the "Archæologia Scotica,"
vol. v. and the "Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scot.," 1st Series,
ix. 37-38.
[201] Judging from memory, and also from the repellent smallness of
the hole into which one was expected to plunge, it seems to the
present writer that the human figure seated at the doorway has been
drawn too small. If one compares him with the standing figures in
the general view, and with the aperture there seen, this criticism
will be borne out.
[202] A. de Capell Brooke; _A Winter in Lapland_, London, 1827, p.
320.
[203] Jeffrey's "Roxburghshire"; 1859, I., 54-5. (Quoted from
Leyden.)
[204] "Journal of Roy. Hist. and Archl. Assocn. of Ireland," No. 81,
Vol. IX., Fourth Series, p. 327.
[205] See the "Jour, of Roy. Hist. and Archl. Assocn. of Ireland,"
No. 81, Vol. IX., Fourth Series, p. 266.
[206] See Appendix A.
[207] _Celtic Scotland_, I., 220.
[208] The Fir-Bolgs themselves, well known to all readers of Irish
tradition, have many points in common with the people under
discussion. Compare, for example, Lady Ferguson's reference to "a
fierce tribe of Firbolgic origin, the _Gowanree_, who were compelled
to labour unremittingly at the earthworks [the Rath of Cruachan],
and are said to have completed the dyke _in one day_." "The Story of
the Irish before the Conquest," London, 1868, p. 32.
[209] The Dananns themselves were notably "professors of musical and
entertaining performances"; and indeed the term _druidh_, applied to
them also, seems to have indicated the possessor of many
accomplishments, in art and in a pseudo-science.
[210] _Brugh barragheal na Boinne_ is the phrase given in "The
Glenbard Collection of Gaelic Poetry" (Haszard, Charlottetown,
Prince Edward Island, 1888, p. 78) where the above story is told.
The term "white-topped" is somewhat vague. Had the word been
_barrachaol_, "pyramidal," the meaning would have been quite clear.
[211] 'Skene's _Celt. Scot._, III., 106-107. See also p. 93 of the
same volume, and pp. 178 and 220 of Vol. I.
[212] The words translated "earth-house," as used by the _druidh_,
are "brugh" and "bruighin." These, as already mentioned, signify
"fairy hill" or "underground dwelling of the fairies." But the
alternative rendering of "earth-house" has been preferred, as being
rather less of an anachronism than the assumption that such
dwellings were styled _fairy_ hills before ever they had been
assigned to the "fairies."
[213] Page 93, _ante_.
[214] Page 51, _ante_.
[215] _Dean of Lismore's Book_: Introduction, pp. lxiv,
lxxvi-lxxviii. (As in former quotations, I have slightly modernized
such terms as "Erin," according to Dr. Skene's own rendering of
these terms.)
[216] Page 51, _ante_.
[217] Page 82, _ante_.
[218] The custom of the "earth-man" to bury his treasures is known
all over Europe. A special instance has been cited in these pages
(p. 107, _ante_, note^2), when "two little men, wearing red caps"
are remembered as "intently digging" for their lost treasure, in a
certain field in Lincolnshire. Mr. J. F. Campbell, in drawing his
Fairy-Lapp parallel, says (_Tales_, Introd. cviii.): "Fairies had
hoards of treasure--so have Lapps. A man died shortly before one of
my Tana trips, and the whole country side had been out searching for
his buried wealth in vain. Some years ago the old silver shops of
Bergen and Trondhjem overflowed with queer cups and spoons, and
rings, silver plates for waist belts, old plate that had been hidden
amongst the mountains, black old silver coins that had not seen the
light for years. I saw the plate and bought some, and was told that,
in consequence of a religious movement, the Lapps had dug up and
sold their hoards." Another writer (A. de C. Brooke: _A Winter in
Lapland_, London, 1827, pp. 109-111), in referring to this practice,
says that sometimes the Lapp "forgets himself where he has hidden
it, and his hoard of silver remains so effectually concealed, after
he has been absent some time, that he is unable to discover the
place, and it is consequently lost to him for ever." And this writer
refers to a Lapp of his acquaintance who had concealed his treasure
"so securely that, notwithstanding the regular searches he had made
for it," he could not recover it. This feature offers an explanation
of the traditions of dwarfs _seeking_ for treasures which they
themselves had hidden. It may be added that the custom of burying
money was still so prevalent in Shetland, in the beginning of last
century, that it was held to be illegal, and the offenders were duly
fined.
[219] Dublin, 1861.
[220] _Op. cit._, p. 505.
[221] This parenthesis appears to be Mr. O'Curry's.
[222] Pp. 596-7; the first version being at pp. 308-9.
[223] _Op. cit._, p. 478.
[224] _Celt. Scot._, II., 108.
[225] _Celt. Scot._, III., 413. The above translation is by Mr. W.
M. Hennessy, from the following:--
Tusa (tussa) mac Sadhbha saoire,
As (is) tu an slat (intshlat) abhla as (ar) aille,
Ca dia do bhru na boinne
Do roine ria thu a taidhe.
[226] "The Irish before the Conquest," p. 237.
[227] More correctly, _Gobban Saor_ ("Free or Noble Smith"). From
the description given by Mr. Elton (_Origins_, p. 131) of "Wayland's
Smithy" at Ashbury, Berkshire, it is evident that it also belongs to
the same class as the Boyne mounds.
[228] The symbol for the Gaelic _agus_--"and."
[229] Dr. O'Conor's _Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores veteres_, 1824,
III., 363-364.
[230] "Bad translation and wretchedly erroneous topography," says
the former; "by no means accurate," says the latter.
[231] _Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill_, lxxii, 23.
[232] Properly, of one-half only of Meath. (_Wars of the Gaedhill_,
lxx, n^3.)
[233] _Op. cit._, lxxxviii, xci, _notes_.
[234] For references to Scotch "weems" (specially so called), see
Col. Forbes Leslie's "Early Races of Scotland," 1866, Vol. II., pp.
351-354. Also _ante_, p. 101.
[235] ? The "black ford."
[236] _Wars of the Gaedhill_, xci, n^2.
[237] Dublin, 1847, p. 22.
[238] "Book of Rights," pp. 11-12, note.
[239] _Dean of Lismore's Book_, Introd., p. xxiii.
[240] "_Uatha_, plural of _Uath_, a word not easily translated.
_Uath_ is evidently "These are tales formed from _Uaimh_, a cave, or
cellar; and signifies some deed connected with, as the attack or
plunder of, a cave." (O'Curry, _op. cit._, p. 586, note.)
[241] "The Irish before the Conquest," p. 32.
[242] For Mr. O'Curry's various statements, see his _Lectures_, pp.
257-8, 283, 586-7 and 589.
[243] A more particular description of the Brugh of the Boyne will
be found in Appendix A. The three mounds are also described in "A
Hand Book of Irish Antiquities," by William F. Wakeman, Dublin,
1848; in Wilde's "Beauties of the Boyne," Dublin, 1849, and two of
them (Knowth and Dowth) by T. N. Deane, in the "Proceedings of the
Royal Irish Academy," December, 1888.
CHAPTER XV.
Such barrows as these of the Boyne district belong to the largest
class of these structures at present revealed to us. What may be
taken as the average "fairy knowe" is very much smaller; therefore,
when it is said that houses have, in all likelihood, been frequently
built upon such artificial eminences, without the more modern
builders being aware of their real nature, it is to be understood
that the tumuli of the larger class are indicated. But, while it is
probable that newer races very often built thus unconsciously upon
the outer crust of the habitations of the mound-dwellers, it is
still more likely that, in course of time, the central chamber of
the mound became by slow degrees the dungeon of a fort or castle
that had evolved itself from it. When a "how" of the larger class
had been "broken" by invaders, and its inmates despoiled and killed
or enslaved, their conquerors would quickly realize that this
artificial mound, rising out of a level plain, formed an admirable
site for a stronghold; and, indeed, that the only thing immediately
necessary was to throw up a rampart round the top of the hill. To
races who had no fancy for the subterranean manner of living, the
strongholds of their predecessors would not suffice, although they
would still prove very serviceable as cellars, or dungeons, or as
forming a secret way of access to the castle which would eventually
tower above them. Where the subject race was not exterminated, the
former lord of the "broch" would still live on as the serf of his
conqueror, and, on account of his physical peculiarities, he would
be remembered as his master's "dwarf," or "brownie," while the women
of his race, still claiming their inherited "supernatural" power,
would be represented by the prophetic half-dreaded "banshee"
(_ban-sithe_, or fairy-woman) that foretold the destinies of the
house of her over-lord. It is a significant fact that the possession
of a family "banshee" in Ireland is restricted to these families who
trace their descent from the Milesians (Scots), the conquerers of
the Cruithné or Pechts. And we are told that, at one time, in
Shetland, where the Pechts became the subject race, "almost every
family had a _brownie_ ... which served them."[244] Innumerable
references of this kind might be given. There is, for instance, the
case of the "brownie" who was the attendant of Maclachlan of
Stralachlan, in Argyllshire, and who is said to have "inhabited a
vault in the dungeons of the castle" (Castle Lachlan), but who, like
other "brownies," was accredited with prophetic powers![245] Then
there is the "little chap with a red cap on his head," referred to
in a story told to the late J. F. Campbell;[246] and this "little
chap" is understood to occupy the cellar of a "haunted house";
which, as it was inhabited by "ladies and gentlemen," and must be
assigned to the period when such "red caps" existed, was not
unlikely a "house" of the same order as the castles just spoken of.
Such an example of a mediæval castle, the flower of a plant rooted
in the interior of such a mound, may be recognized in Kenilworth.
According to local tradition, the hill upon which Kenilworth Castle
is built was once inhabited by fairies, who are remembered by the
same characteristics as their kindred elsewhere. But the
consideration of a Warwickshire mound might lead us too far away
from the dwarfs more specially known as Picts or Pechts, and
therefore it is better to continue as much as possible within the
area already examined. It is enough to note that the Kenilworth
dwarfs, in the days when their mound was merely a subterranean vault
of the great castle overhead, and themselves nothing more than the
"Redcaps" of the cellar, formed a marked contrast to the once
dreaded "shag-boys" or mound-dwellers, as these are remembered in
Lincolnshire tradition.[247]
However, if Kenilworth is too far south to be recognized as a home
of the historical Pechts, Ancient Northumbria has not the same
objection against it. And in East Lothian, which is a portion of
that province, a certain Castle of Yester was once famous for its
"Goblin Hall," which is thus described in the Appendix to "Marmion"
(note 2 P):--
"_The Goblin Hall._--A vaulted hall under the ancient
castle of Gifford or Yester (for it bears either name
indifferently), the construction of which has from a very
remote period been ascribed to magic.... 'Upon a peninsula,
formed by the water of Hopes on the east, and a large
rivulet on the west, stands the ancient castle of Yester.
Sir David Dalrymple, in his annals, relates that "Hugh
Gifford de Yester died in 1267; that in his castle there
was a capacious cavern, formed by magical art, and called
in the country Bo-Hall, _i.e._, Hobgoblin Hall." A stair of
twenty-four steps led down to this apartment, which is a
large and spacious hall, with an arched roof.... From the
floor of this hall another stair of thirty-six steps leads
down to a pit which hath a communication with
Hopeswater....'"
In this instance, the "pit" which communicated with the
neighbouring stream was probably the original underground dwelling;
and if the arch of the "vaulted hall" above it is not of the
"Pelasgic" order, it is to be presumed that the "goblins"[248] who
built it had received fresh ideas from a race possessed of a more
advanced civilization.
The castle of Doune, in Perthshire, is another probable instance of
the mediæval castle evolved from the primitive mound. What is
nowadays known as the castle of "Doune," was formerly spoken of as
"The Dùn (or Doon) of Menteith." "Doune (Dun, no doubt) had once,
where its castle now stands, an ancient fortress; but the name is
all that now remains to bespeak it," says a lady-writer on this
subject.[249] It is very probable, therefore, that the original
"Doon of Menteith" was the mound upon which the present building now
stands; and that this was at one time the chief stronghold of the
district of Menteith. One _doon_, which has apparently never
advanced from its earliest stage, is that of Rothiemurchus, in the
district of Badenoch (Inverness-shire). "A mound which has every
appearance of having been used in ancient times for purposes of
defence stands at the Doun of Rothiemurchus, and is properly the
_Doun_ or _Dun_," says a modern historian of that district.[250]
Such a structure as this seems to combine the dwelling and the
fort; the "hollow hill" having presumably been so constructed as
to render the "crater" on its summit a place of defence. That this
Doon of Rothiemurchus was once inhabited seems clearly indicated.
In speaking of the _ban-sithe_, or fairy woman, already referred
to as the appanage of old Milesian families, Sir Walter Scott
states that "most great families in the Highlands" were thus
distinguished, and that "Grant of Rothiemurcus had an attendant
called _Bodach-an-dùn_";[251] in other words, "The Goblin of the
Doon." And when Scott states, in the _note_ immediately preceding
that just quoted, that "a goblin, dressed in antique armour, and
having one hand covered with blood, called from that circumstance
_Lamh-dearg_, or Red-hand, is a tenant of the forests of Glenmore
and Rothiemurcus," he indicates a tradition that seems to be
connected with the "goblins" of the Doon of Rothiemurchus.[252]
However, although referred to in passing, the Rothiemurchus mound is
not one of those on which a stone castle has been subsequently
reared. But of the latter class an example is furnished by the
"Castle Hill" of Clunie, in Perthshire. It is thus described in Sir
John Sinclair's "Statistical Account":--
"On the western shore of the loch of Clunie stands the old
castle-hill, a large, green mound, partly natural and
partly artificial, on the top of which are the ruins of a
very old building. Some aged persons still alive [in the
end of last century] remember to have seen a small
aperture, now invisible, at the edge of one of the
fragments of the ruins, where, if a stone was thrown in, it
was heard for some time, as if rolling down a staircase.
From this it seems probable that were a section of the hill
to be made, some curious discoveries might be the
consequence."
Resembling Fierna's Hillock, near Limerick, in its having this
"small aperture," communicating with an unexplored vault below, this
Perthshire mound is also celebrated, like Knock-Fierna, for its
association with the "fairies." The castle which once crowned its
summit has more historical memories.
Of this castle, in which, it is said, King Edward I. of England
passed a night, in the course of his triumphant progress through
Scotland in 1296, almost nothing now remains. But a tradition
relating to an earlier period asserts that this place was once a
hunting-seat of Kenneth McAlpin, the ninth-century conqueror of the
Picts (whose king he subsequently became). Although Kenneth, and his
son after him, bore the title of "King of the Picts," it is
tolerably clear that he was a Scot or Milesian by race, and it is
certain that he broke up the power of the Pechts in Central
Scotland. As he was not one of this latter race himself, it is
probable that any "hunting-seat" possessed by him at this place took
the shape of an above-ground building, and that therefore the
memories of the "supernatural" inhabitants of this mound date back
to the time when it was still an unconquered stronghold of the
Pechts. As, however, the suggested "section of the hill" has never
yet been made, nothing definite is at present known regarding the
interior of this mound.
One of the incidents relating to the "goblin" of Rothiemurchus is
included by Mr. J. F. Campbell among the traditions obtained by him
from the district of Badenoch, in Inverness-shire. "The Badenoch
account of the fairies" is stated to be "much the same" as those
from other parts of the Highlands, and they show "that according to
popular belief, fairies commonly carried off men, women and
children, who seemed to die, but really lived underground." A tale
of this kind, "now commonly believed in Badenoch," is to this
effect:--A man who, returning home after a short absence, found that
his wife had disappeared and that another woman had taken her place,
demanded from the latter, on pain of death, to tell him where his
wife had been conveyed to. "She told him that his wife had been
carried to Cnoc Fraing, a mountain on the borders of Badenoch and
Strathdearn." "The man went to Cnoc Fraing. He was suspected before
of having something supernatural about him; and he soon found the
fairies, who told him his wife had been taken to Shiathan Mor, a
neighbouring mountain. He went there and was sent to Tom na Shirich,
near Inverness. There he went, and at the 'Fairy Knoll' found his
wife and brought her back."[253]
Mr. Campbell adds that "the person who related this story pretended
to have seen people who knew distant descendants of the woman"--but
beyond indicating that the tradition is very old, this does not
place these events in any particular century. The localities named,
however, are full of suggestiveness. Of _Cnoc Fraing_, nothing is
known to the present writer. But "Shiathan Mor," to which the woman
is said to have been first taken, signifies "The Great Hill of the
Fairies." Such a name is of very frequent occurrence in the
Highlands. One who is well versed in these matters says: "There is
perhaps not a hamlet or township in the Highlands or Hebrides
without its _shian_ or green fairy knoll so-called. Within half a
mile of our own residence, for example, there is a _Sithean Beag_
and a _Sithean Mor_, a Lesser and Greater Fairy Knoll."[254] In the
Hebridean island of Colonsay, where Martin, the eighteenth-century
traveller, found that "the natives have a tradition among them of a
very little generation of people that lived once here, called
Lusbirdan, the same with pigmies," one finds a "Sheean Mor" and a
"Sheean Beg," along with many other traces of those people.[255] But
it is unnecessary to multiply special instances. It was to a Great
Knoll of the Fairies, then, that the woman was taken, and thereafter
to "Tom na Shirich, near Inverness." This name also signifies "Hill
of the Fairies." _Shirich_, more correctly _Sibhreach_, is
apparently a less common form, equivalent to Sidhfear, Duine Sith,
etc., but it occurs more than once in the "West Highland
Tales,"[256] both as a singular and a plural. When the initial "s"
of _sibhreach_ or _sithreach_, becomes aspirated, after the common
Gaelic fashion, the sibilant is no longer heard; and this is
exemplified in the case of "Tom na Shirich," which is nowadays spelt
as it is pronounced--_Tomnahurich_ (or _Tomnaheurich_, etc.)[257] Of
this Inverness hill much has been written.
It is sometimes called _Tomman-heurich_, and spoken of as a
_tomman_, which connects it with the word _tulman_ or _tolman_,
already referred to. Hugh Miller, in speaking of "that Queen of
Scottish tomhans, the picturesque Tomnahuirich," employs both forms
at the same time, which is contradictory. Pennant, who visited it
last century, refers to it also as a _tomman_. In his _Tour_ he thus
describes "the strange-shaped hill of Tomman heurich:"--
"The Tomman is of an oblong form, broad at the base, and
sloping on all sides towards the top; so that it looks like
a ship with its keel upwards.... It is perfectly detached
from any other hill; and if it was not for its great size,
might pass for a work of art." "Its length at top [is]
about 300 yards; I neglected measuring the base or the
height, which are both considerable; the breadth of the top
[is] only twenty yards."
Captain Burt, in his "Letters from a Gentleman in the North of
Scotland" (Letter XII.) speaks of it as follows:--
"About a mile westward from the town [Inverness] there
rises, out of a perfect flat, a very regular hill; whether
natural or artificial, I could never find by any tradition;
the natives call it _tommanheurach_. It is almost in the
shape of a Thames wherry, turned keel upwards, for which
reason they sometimes call it Noah's Ark. The length of it
is about four hundred yards, and the breadth at bottom
about one hundred and fifty. From below, at every point of
view, it seems to end at top in a narrow ridge; but when
you are there, you find a plain large enough to draw up two
or three battalions of men. Hither we sometimes retire on a
summer's evening.... But this is not the only reason why I
speak of this hill; it is the weak credulity with which it
is attended, that led me to this detail; for as anything
ever so little extraordinary, may serve as a foundation (to
such as are ignorant, heedless, or interested) for
ridiculous stories and imaginations, so the fairies within
it are innumerable, and witches find it the most convenient
place for their frolics and gambols in the night time."
Now, if this large hill, which "might pass for a work of art," was
really, as tradition states, the residence of the little people
known as dwarfs or Pechts, it was clearly an important seat of those
people. And, on regarding them from the historian's point of view,
one finds that this district was specially so distinguished. "When
we can first venture to regard the list of the Pictish Kings
preserved in the _Pictish Chronicle_ as having some claim to a
historical character, we find the king having his seat apparently in
Forfarshire; but when the works of Adamnan and Bede place us upon
firm ground, the monarch belonged to the race of the Northern Picts,
and had his fortified residence near the mouth of the river Ness"
[Inver-Ness]. And the same historian again observes:--"Adamnan,
writing in the seventh century, tells us of the fortified residence
of the king of the Picts on the banks of the river Ness, with its
royal house and gates, of a village on the banks of a lake, and of
the houses of the country people."[258]
Hitherto, the place which has been regarded as most likely the site
of this seventh-century stronghold, is the vitrified fort which
crowns the summit of Craig Patrick (or _Creag Phadruig_), a hill not
far from Inverness. But the top of a hill more than four hundred
feet high can scarcely be referred to as a situation "on the banks
of the river Ness," from which river it is, moreover, two miles
distant.[259] The situation of Tomnahurich, on the other hand, does
exactly answer to the description given. And this "hill," whose
peculiar appearance has attracted the attention of several
travellers, is locally remembered as a celebrated home of the
"Pechts." Nor is it necessary to confine oneself to the
consideration of this hill alone. Adamnan speaks not only of a royal
residence, but also of "the houses of the country people." "The
country people" of whom he speaks were Pechts, and their "houses,"
of course, were "Pechts' houses"; "houses" such as the Fairy Knowe
unearthed at Coldoch, near Doune, already referred to. In other
words _sheeans_. Now, when Hugh Miller speaks of "that Queen of
Scottish tomhans, the picturesque Tomnahuirich," he states that it
belongs to "a wonderful group" of similar mounds "in the immediate
neighbourhood of Inverness." The "houses" of the mound-dwelling
Pechts had one admirable characteristic; they were almost
indestructible. If the King of the Dwarfs had his residence at
Inverness during the seventh century, with "the houses of the
country people," of the same race, scattered all through the
immediate neighbourhood, their dwellings must be there still: and
any one who wanted to localize them would naturally turn to such
mounds as the "wonderful groups" of "tomhans" of which Hugh Miller
speaks.[260]
Inverness, however, was not the only important centre of Pictish
power. Among others, there was Abernethy, a few miles south-east of
Perth. And at this place, says Small, in his "Roman Antiquities of
Fife," the spot wherein the treasures of the Pictish king are
believed to be hidden[261] was guarded by a _droughy_ (_droich_ or
_trow_) who fiercely assailed any invader. Of the Pechts in that
neighbourhood there are many traditions.
A few miles to the west of Abernethy is Forteviot, where Kenneth
MacAlpin, the conqueror and ruler of the Pechts, died in the latter
part of the ninth century. Prior to the successful invasion of
Kenneth's race, this district--like that of Abernethy and all the
country north to Inverness--had been inhabited by Pechts: and
Forteviot is stated to have been a seat of Pictish royalty. Some
miles to the south-west of Forteviot there is a hill called
Ternavie, which has characteristics similar to those of
Tomnahuirich. "Ternavie has been pronounced 'the most remarkable
spot in this parish or neighbourhood.' It is a hill or mound of
earth of a very curious form, occupying, when the Old Statistical
Account was written, 'many acres of ground, covered with a fine
sward of grass, and striking the eye at a distance of several miles.
It resembles in shape the keel of a ship inverted.'" And local
tradition asserts, says the writer quoted from,[262] that once upon
a time, a countryman attempting to obtain turf on the side of this
hill, was suddenly confronted by an old man who emerged from the
hill, "and with an angry countenance and tone of voice asked the
countryman why he was tirring (uncovering) his house over his head?"
This story does not say that the mound-dweller was a dwarf, but here
we have a hill whose appearance suggests that it is at least partly
artificial, and local tradition alleges that it was once inhabited.
And this in the heart of Pictavia, or the country of the Pechts.
In the same county, but farther to the west, there is a locality
which is remembered, like the island on the Ross-shire loch, as a
gathering-place or rendezvous of the little people. It is situated
in the valley of the Forth. The "Fairy Knowes" of Coldoch have
already been spoken of. One of them, it was stated, has been opened,
and its interior shows to the most sceptical that the tradition
which told that it was a home of the dwarfs was absolutely correct.
The other "knowe," some hundreds of yards distant, has not as yet
been touched.[263] But that it, too, was a dwelling of the same
"little people" is almost as certain as if the spade of the
excavator had already done its work.
But the gathering-place referred to lies nearer the sources of the
Forth than the "Fairy Knowe" of Coldoch and the Doune of Menteith.
Like these places, it is situated in the district of Menteith, and
beside the lake of that name, on its south-eastern shore. This
hillock is known as _Cnoc nam Bocan_, or the Knowe of the Goblins,
and we are told that it used to be "the headquarters of the fairies
of the whole district of Menteith." These fairies, it is said, were
employed as the drudges of a former Earl of Menteith, in making the
small peninsula known as Arnmauk, which juts out from the southern
shore of the lake towards the small island of Inchmahome. The earl,
we are told, "in grateful acknowledgment of the work they had done
in forming the peninsula, and wishing to be on good terms with them,
made a grant to them of the north shoulder of Ben Venue; which is to
this day called Coir-n'an-Uriskin, that is, the Cove of the Urisks
or Fairies."[264] At this latter place, says another writer,[265]
"the solemn stated meetings of the order were regularly held";
presumably at a later date.
However, "the north shoulder of Ben Venue" ought probably to be
regarded as the latest "reservation" accorded to these little
people. For, among the many "knowes" in the district of Menteith
which are claimed as their homes, there is one pre-eminently
distinguished. Some miles to the west of the Lake of Menteith is the
village of Aberfoyle, celebrated by Sir Walter Scott, who says of
this locality: "The lakes and precipices amidst which the Avon Dhu
[_Abhainn Dubh_; _i.e._, Black-Water], or River Forth, has its
birth, are still, according to popular tradition, haunted by the
Elfin people.... An eminently beautiful little conical hill, near
the eastern extremity of the valley of Aberfoil, is supposed to be
one of their peculiar haunts, and is the scene which awakens in
Andrew Fairservice[266] the terror of their power." The passage in
"Rob Roy" to which Scott here refers is as follows:--
"A beautiful eminence of the most regular round shape, and
clothed with copsewood of hazels, mountain-ash, and
dwarf-oak, intermixed with a few magnificent old trees,
which, rising above the underwood, exposed their forked and
bared branches to the silver moonshine, seemed to protect
the sources from which the river sprung. If I could trust
the tale of my companion, which, while professing to
disbelieve every word of it, he told under his breath, and
with an air of something like intimidation, this hill, so
regularly formed, so richly verdant, and garlanded with
such a beautiful variety of ancient trees and thriving
copsewood, was held by the neighbourhood to contain, within
its unseen caverns, the palaces of the fairies--a race of
airy beings, who formed an intermediate class between men
and demons, and who, if not positively malignant to
humanity, were yet to be avoided and feared, on account of
their capricious, vindictive, and irritable disposition.
"'They ca' them,' said Mr. Jarvie, in a whisper, '_Daoine
Schie_--whilk signifies, as I understand, men of peace;
meaning thereby to make their gudewill. And we may e'en as
well ca' them that too, Mr. Osbaldistone, for there's nae
gude in speaking ill o' the laird within his ain bounds.'
But he added presently after, on seeing one or two lights
which twinkled before us, 'It's deceits o' Satan, after a',
and I fearna to say it--for we are near the manse now, and
yonder are the lights in the clachan of Aberfoil.'"[267]
To describe this as a "_little, conical_ hill," as Scott does, is
misleading. When viewed transversely, from the opposite bank of the
Blackwater, it has a conical appearance, certainly, as the gable of
a roof has. But when its true length is seen, as when viewed from
the west, this Fairy Knowe of Aberfoyle reveals itself as of the
"hog-back" order, or as was said of Tomnaheurich, like a "Thames
wherry, turned keel upwards." And as for its height, neither Scott's
"little" nor its local name of "Fairy _Knowe_" gives anything like a
true idea of its dimensions. How much of this "knowe" is artificial,
or whether _any_ of it is, remains to be discovered. But if it and
Tomnaheurich have truly had the origin that tradition assigns to
them, then they belong to a class of "hollow hills" which are as
much greater than New Grange ("The Brugh of the Boyne") as New
Grange is greater than Maes-how, or Maes-how than the Broch of
Coldoch. Such a mound as Maes-how may be held to represent the
ordinary Pecht's House or Fairy Hillock; a structure which, though
of artificial origin, may be correctly styled a hillock. But the
Brugh of the Boyne is a "hill," rather than a "hillock." What limits
the mound-builders set themselves is not known. But the people who
were capable of the ideas and the labour implied in such a structure
as "the Brugh of the Boyne" might as well have reared mounds that
were two or three times its size.
This Fairy Knowe is not only known locally by that name, but also
as the Doon,[268] or Doon Hill. If that implies that it was a
fortification, the site was perfect. Protected on its north-eastern
side by the river, and on the south-west by its own almost
precipitous rampart, the Doon of Aberfoyle stands like a sentinel at
what is there called "The Gate of the Highlands." The little valley
which it protects teems with traditions of the dwarfs who are said
to have once dwelt there, and whose dwellings are yet pointed out.
Even yet the old people have many a tale of how the ruling family of
Graham won their possessions there; and one such tale is that which
has just been spoken of, wherein a Graham (Earl of Menteith) appears
as the overlord of the dwarfs. That this family, properly _de_
Graeme, traces its origin to those Anglo-Normans, such as Bruce and
his chief nobles, who were the founders of the Neo-Scottish kingdom,
is quite compatible with the idea that De Graeme's dwarfish
labourers were, historically, Picts; a race distinguished as the
allies of the English and the enemies of Bruce.
Enough has now been said to illustrate what is really the test of
the "realistic" theory of the fairy tales. Tradition has truly
stated, during many generations, that such apparently-natural
hillocks as Maes-how and Coldoch were inhabited by little people.
All archæologists are agreed that many artificial hillocks are at
present standing with their secrets unrevealed. But if, by following
the lead of tradition, we find it a reasonably safe[269] guide to
those primitive habitations, then its statements must deserve a much
fuller and more serious consideration than they have ever yet
received. Either the "realistic theory" is a vain imagination (as it
is believed to be by those who take the "mythological" view of such
traditions), or else it is something of the very greatest
importance; as others, of whom the present writer is one, believe it
to be. Should this method of interpreting the past be proved a true
one, the results which would flow from its acceptance would be
far-reaching indeed. But tradition has yet to establish its right to
be unquestionably regarded as a guide. It may be that every
chambered mound already opened had long had its real nature foretold
by the voice of local tradition. But the surest test of the
authenticity of tradition lies in its future application. It is
known to all archæologists in Western Europe that it is not
necessary to go so far east as Mycenæ to find the chambered mound,
with its dry-stone walls and "Pelasgic" arch. And tradition points
to many a seeming "hillock,"[270] and says that it, too, is a
"treasure-house of Atreus." The question to be decided is, How far
is tradition to be trusted? And the answer can be very easily
obtained.
FOOTNOTES:
[244] For such details see Scott's introduction to "The Monastery,"
etc., etc.; Brand's "Description of Zetland;" and Armstrong's
"Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. "Uruisg."
[245] "Legends of Scottish Superstition," Edinburgh, 1848;
"Maclachlan's Brownie."
[246] "West Highland Tales," I., xlvii.
[247] Although the dwarfs of central England may not rightly be
considered under the name of Picts or Pechts, a chain connecting
them with the people thus called is discernible. Scott says that,
"according to romantic tradition," Kenilworth "had been first
tenanted" by "those primitive Britons" who were "the soldiers of
King Arthur" ("Kenilworth," ch. xxvi). Thus, the early inhabitants
of Kenilworth are equally "fairies" and "primitive Britons." Again,
in Glamorganshire (according to Mr. Wirt Sikes, "British Goblins,"
pp. 6 and 392), there is "a certain steep and rugged crag" which
bears "a distinctly awful reputation as a stronghold of the fairy
tribe," and, in a secret cavern underneath this crag, "Arthur and
his warriors" are believed to be sleeping. While an Edinburgh
tradition, given by Dr. Daniel Wilson ("Memorials," vol. ii. ch.
xix.), states that "King Arthur and the Pechts" have also withdrawn
to a subterranean retreat in the hill which is still known as
Arthur's Seat. Obviously, Arthur, if he ever lived, cannot have
retired into all of these places, but there is, nevertheless, a
vague agreement in these three traditions; and Kenilworth, Arthur's
Seat, and Craig y Ddinas all testify to an identification of Arthur
and his "primitive Britons," with the underground "fairies" and
"Pechts." It may be objected that the tradition of Barbarossa, as in
Rückert's ballad, asleep in his underground castle, with his dwarf
beside him, is evidently of the same origin as those just referred
to. This is manifest. But, before attempting to reconcile
Continental with British tradition, it is important to first
demonstrate, if that may be done, that the British traditions here
spoken of are _historical_ and not _mythological_. (The story of the
Kenilworth fairies will be found at p. 218 of "The Dialect of the
English Gypsies," by B. C. Smart and H. T. Crofton, London, 1875.)
[248] It is impossible to refer here to the many terms used to
denote what is really one class of people; as these terms themselves
show when analyzed. But this term "goblin," although in recent
centuries it has been surrounded with much that is unreal and
fictitious, appears to have been once used in the most ordinary
matter-of-fact way. This will be seen from the following reference
quoted by Dr. Henry Rink ("Danish Greenland," 1877, p. 16), in the
narrative of a Norse visit to Greenland in the eleventh
century:--"One morning Thorgils went out by himself on the ice, and
discovered the carcase of a whale in an opening, and beside two
'witches' (or 'goblins,' evidently Eskimo women), who were tying
large bundles of flesh together. Thorgils instantly rushed upon one
of them with his sword and cut off one of her hands, whereupon both
of them took to their heels." In other words, the eleventh-century
natives of Greenland, whom Dr. Rink believes were Eskimos, were at
once classed by a Norwegian of that period in the same category as
those whom he had been accustomed to call "goblins" in Europe.
[249] Miss C. MacLagan, "Proc. of Soc. of Ant. of Scot." (1st
series), ix. 39.
[250] A. Mackintosh Shaw, "History of the Mackintoshes," 1880, vol.
i. p. 24, _note_. This writer also points out that the word
"Rothimurcus" itself indicates a "fortified mound" or _Rath_.
[251] Appendix to "The Lady of the Lake," Note 2 H.
[252] See also "West Highland Tales," II., 66, for a reference to
this personage.
[253] "West Highland Tales," II., 67.
[254] Rev. Alex. Stewart, F.S.A. Scot., in "Nether Lochaber," Edin.,
1883, p. 20.
He adds: "There is, besides, a _Glacan-t' Shithein_, the Fairy Knoll
Glade, _Tobaran-t' Shithein_, the Fairy Knoll Well; and a deep
chasm, through which a mountain torrent plunges darkling, called
_Leum-an-t' Shithiche_, the Fairy Leap."
[255] See "Proc. of Soc. of Antiq. of Scot." 1880-81, 113 _et seq._
[256] See vol. ii. pp. 48 and 52. The latter page mentions a _Ruadh
na Sirach_, "the Fairies' Point," in the island of Kerrera, near
Oban.
[257] Similarly, a "Fairy Loch" in Argyleshire is spelt _Loch na
Hurich_, and a like example is that of _Glennahuirich_, in Nether
Lochaber.
[258] _See_ Skene's "Celtic Scotland," i. 232; ii. 105-6; and iii.
10.
[259] This discrepancy is pointed out by Dr. Skene, who suggests "a
gravelly ridge called Torvean," and also "the eminence east of
Inverness, called the Crown," as more probable sites. ("Celtic
Scotland," ii. 106, note.)
[260] Hugh Miller, although he confesses himself puzzled as to their
origin, undoubtedly regarded those "tomhans" as entirely natural.
And if it should appear that he was mistaken, there would, in that
event, be a new question opened up; because of the peculiar
characteristics of what he knew as "tomhans."
It is an unfortunate circumstance that any practical attempt at
testing the accuracy of the local tradition regarding Tomnahurich
itself is out of the question, owing to the fact that for many years
its exterior has been used as a burying ground--as more than one
"hollow hill" is known to have been. But "the houses of the country
people" would afford a sufficient test.
[261] A kettle of gold is specially mentioned, and in the "hidden
places" of the fairies of White Cater Thun, near Brechin, a kettle
of gold is also believed to be concealed.
[262] Dr. Marshall, "Historic Scenes in Perthshire," Edinburgh,
1880, p. 263.
[263] Owing, I believe, to the fact that it is on a different
estate. The following remarks by M. T. N. Deane, in his paper on the
"hollow hills" of Knowth and Dowth, in the Boyne valley
("Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy," Dec. 1888, p. 164), may
be aptly quoted here:--"For many years it has been the desire of
antiquaries to explore Knowth, but I regret to say the owner is
unwilling to permit a search being made. I am in great hopes that
when it is fully understood that the vesting of a monument does not
involve an infringement of territorial rights the difficulty will be
overcome, and monuments now neglected will be placed under
supervision."
[264] Marshall's "Historic Scenes in Perthshire," pp. 383-84. Mr.
Grant Stewart, in his "Popular Superstitions" (as quoted in the
_Scots Magazine_, 1823, vol. 13, p. 40), states that "the workmen of
the great Michael Scott were all Fairies; and it is only in that way
that it could be accounted for, that some stupendous bridges in the
north country were built by him in the course of a single night."
With this compare the above statement as to the Earl of Menteith's
workmen, and all the foregoing references to "Pechts" and "Fairies"
in similar circumstances; as also the "fierce tribe of Firbolgic
origin, the _Gowanree_," who are said to have built the earthworks
of the Rath of Cruachan in a single day, working as the unwilling
serfs of an apparently Gaelic lord.
[265] Dr. Graham, "Sketches of the Picturesque Scenery of
Perthshire," Edinburgh, 1806, p. 19.
[266] A slip of Scott's for "Bailie Nicol Jarvie."
[267] See "Rob Roy," chap. xxviii., and Note G.
[268] This spelling is only tentative. On hearing it thus
pronounced, a resident in that district corrected the pronunciation
to _Doo'n_, or _Doo'an_, which may signify a quite different meaning
from _Dùn_.
[269] One would like to regard tradition as infallible in this
respect. But, unfortunately, the age of the "sheeans" is so far
back, that the term may now be used to denote any "conical hill," by
Gaelic-speaking persons. However, a strong and persistent local
tradition would far outweigh this modern misuse of the term
_sithean_, in its general application, if such misuse (of which the
dictionaries give a hint) is really common.
[270] The Continental examples are, of course, very numerous. In
Denmark alone, according to J. M. Thiele, tradition points out as
chambered mounds "two hills, Mangelbierg and Gillesbierg, in the
environs of Hirschholm, on Hösterkiöb Mark": "a hill called
Wheel-hill, at Gudmandstrup, in the Lordship of Odd": "a large knoll
called Steensbierg, at Ouröe, near Joegerspriis": "the high ridge on
which the church stands, at Kundebye, in the Bailiewick of Holbeck";
and, in the same bailiewick, at a place between the towns of Mamp
and Aagerup, "near the Strand": Gultebierg also supplies another to
the list: while "between Jerslöse and Söbierg, lies Söbierg bank,
which is the richest knoll in the land." (For similar references in
this neighbourhood, see also Mr. W. G. Black's "Heligoland.") And
Thorpe's "Northern Mythology" specifies many such mounds. M. Pol de
Mont (in his Flemish "Volkskunde," ii. 5, pp. 89-90) points out an
"Aschberg," at Casterlé, in the province of Antwerp, which is said
to have held fifty _bergmannetjes_, or hill-dwarfs. (With this may
fitly be compared three Eskimo "mounds" at Hopedale, Labrador,
which, though they are now deserted, "more than one hundred persons
of both sexes and all ages are said to have inhabited.") But every
Continental "Venusberg," into which men of the taller race were
tempted by the attractions of the dwarf women, and every "berg" that
is affirmed to have been the residence of a "berg-fee," comes under
the same denomination as the special examples already cited.
CHAPTER XVI.
It is manifest that the traditions relating to "the little people"
contain many statements which at the first sight seem to be
irreconcilable with one another. In one aspect, the dwarf races
appear as possessed of a higher culture than the race or races who
were physically their superiors. They forge swords of "magic"
temper, and armour of proof; beautifully-wrought goblets of gold and
silver, silver-mounted bridles, garments of silk, and personal
ornaments of precious metals and precious stones, are all associated
with them. They are deeply versed in "magic" (a term generally held
to denote the science of the Chaldæan Magi), and this renders them
the teachers of the taller race, in religion, and in many forms of
knowledge. In short, it is only in physical stature that they are
below the latter people: in everything else they are above them. In
another aspect, the positions are reversed. The dwarfs are the serfs
and drudges of the taller race, to whom they are distinctly inferior
in intellectual capacity. The articles associated with them, such as
the primitive arrow-heads of flint, still spoken of as "elf-shot,"
are all indicative of the rudest savagery. They themselves are
accustomed to go without clothes, which, when offered to them by
their masters, they reject indignantly. As great a contrast is
presented by their physique. In some tales, they are fair, and
beautiful in feature, and yellow-haired; in others they are swarthy
in complexion and hair; and again they are described as red-, or
russet-haired. From such conflicting evidence what is one to infer?
Two or three solutions of this question may be offered. One that,
as the Icelander Gudmund said of these people, they were "subject to
poverty and wealth," like the members of any modern nation, which
contains in itself the most violent contrasts. Or, again, that the
fairy tales belong to various epochs, during a long stretch of time,
in the course of which those tribes, like any others, underwent
marked modifications. But what is probably the best solution is that
the dwarf races of the past, like those of the present, were of
various types. That as the South African Bushmen, the dwarfs of the
Congo region, and the Ainos of Japan, though all included among the
dwarf races, are really different from each other in many respects,
so the dwarf races of the past were not one but many. That then,
as now, there were black, yellow and white dwarfs; dissimilar in
their history and characteristics; but all alike in one important
respect. This last explanation, although the two others deserve
consideration, is the one that to the present writer seems the most
important.
To state even a few of the inferences to be drawn from the
acceptance of these explanations, is more than can be attempted
here. It is enough to continue as far as possible to confine these
remarks within the limits already observed; and to keep specially in
view that race which is known to British history as that of the
"Picts." What, then, is the traditional idea of the outward
appearance of these people, apart from their stature?
Scott's "Rob Roy," as he is described in the Glasgow prison, is said
to have greatly resembled the Picts, as they are remembered in
Northumbrian tradition. And when his appearance is again referred to
in a later chapter (ch. xxxii.), one point of this resemblance is
brought out; where it is stated that his legs were "covered with a
fell of thick, short, red hair, especially around his knees, which
resembled in this respect, as well as from their sinewy appearance
of extreme strength, the limbs of a red-coloured Highland bull."
It matters little whether the historical "Robert MacGregor or
Campbell," really answered to Scott's various descriptions of him.
_Rob Ruadh_, or "Red Rob," may no doubt have been fitly applied to
many a native of the British Islands, descended from the race of the
Picts.[271] But this excessive hairiness of skin was one of the most
marked characteristics of the Pechts, and forms indeed one of the
most distinct clues to their ethnological position.
Whatever the man was like himself, however, "Rob Roy's country"
contains, among its other features, that "shoulder of Ben Venue"
which we have seen a former Earl of Menteith is said to have
assigned to the dwarfs, and which is remembered in local tradition
as a great resort of theirs. And a spot specially known as their
gathering-place is called the Coire-nan-Uruisgean, which is rendered
"the Corri, or Den, of the Wild or _Shaggy_ men."[272] Now the same
word here held to represent a "shaggy" man is also a synonym for a
"brownie,"[273] and when we regard such a specimen of that class as
the particular "brownie" that was an attendant of the chief of the
Grants, we find her (for this was a _ban_-sithe, or fairy-_woman_)
known as "May _Mollach_," which signifies "hairy May"; it being
asserted by tradition that this May was distinguished for the
hairiness of her arms.[274] The adjective _molach_ signifies
"hairy,"[275] and, among other uses, it is appropriately given, as a
name, to many a shaggy little "Scotch terrier." But in that part of
Armstrong's "Dictionary"
where this adjective is spelt _maildheach_ and _mailgheach_ (of
which the pronunciation is still _mâl'yach_), its meaning is
defined as "having large shaggy eyebrows." And this, it will be
seen, is specially a characteristic not only of the traditional
dwarfs, but of a race known to ethnology. But it is probable that
the general meaning of "hirsute" is signified when the derivative
noun _mailleachan_ is used as an equivalent of _brownie_ or
_uruisg_;[276] and that a _mailleachan_ was a "hairy one."
Similarly, a special brownie, known as _Pcallaidh an spùit_, or
"Peallaidh of the waterfall," once well known "at those congresses"
"in a certain district of the Highlands,"[277] may be Englished into
"The Shaggy One of the waterfall." Thus, although _uruisg_ does not
literally mean "a shaggy man" (as Scott says), yet there is nothing
wrong in saying that _Coir-nan-Uruisgean_, on Loch Katrine, was "the
Den of the Wild or Shaggy Men"; because various terms and
descriptions applying to those _uruisgean_ show that they were
actually "shaggy men."[278]
No one had a better opportunity of imbibing the traditional idea of
a brownie than the late Mr. J. F. Campbell; whose birth and
upbringing, combined with his great studies in later life, gave him
every chance of learning the various Highland traditions regarding
the appearance of those people. And when, during his stay in
Lapland, he saw a certain Lapp "of the old school," he speaks of him
thus:--"He was an old fellow with long, tangled elf-locks and a
scanty beard, dressed in a deerskin shirt full of holes, and
exceedingly mangy, for the hair had been worn off in patches all
over. He realized my idea of a seedy Brownie, a grua-gach [another
synonym] with long hair on his head; an old wrinkled face, and his
body covered with hair."[279] Of course,
it is not to be understood that the _Lapp_'s body was "covered
with hair." But the deerskin shirt, worn with the hair outwards, was
one of the things that helped out the "brownie" appearance of the
man; for Mr. Campbell's traditional brownie had _his_ body covered
with hair, like the other "shaggy men" we have just been speaking
of. Again, the traditional _brollachan_ or _fuath_ of Sutherland is
described as "rough and hairy."[280] Mr. Campbell also points out
that the _glashan_ of the Isle of Man[281] was the same as those
"shaggy men" of the Scotch Highlands. "He wore no clothes, and was
hairy; and, according to Train's history, Phynoddepee, which means
something hairy, was frightened away by a gift of clothes,--exactly
as the Skipness long-haired Grua-gach was frightened away by the
offer of a coat and a cap. The Manks brownie and the Argyllshire one
each repeated a rhyme over the clothes; but the rhymes are not the
same, though they amount to the same thing."[282] In a certain story
of South-Western Scotland, a brownie is described as a naked, hairy
man; and in a Scotch "chap-book" of the eighteenth century, an old
woman is made to state that the brownies are "a' rough but the
mouth," and that they "seek nae claes" (do not wish any
clothes).[283] The dwarfs of Northumbrian tradition, whether spoken
of by that name or as "Picts," are hairy; and, as just mentioned,
the Isle of Man contains similar evidence. The same thing is
recorded in Wales. In his "British Goblins," Mr. Wirt Sikes not only
describes the _coblynau_ as hairy of skin, but he cites the
well-known account of a sixteenth-century race of "Red Fairies" who
"lived in dens in the ground," and bore several other resemblances
to the Picts of Scotland. These "Red Fairies" have also been
recently cited by Mr. G. L. Gomme, in the course of an article which
points out the survival of savage customs and savage people, within
the British Islands, during recent centuries.[284] The "Red Fairies"
inhabited a certain part of Merionethshire, where it is said that
people inheriting some of their blood are still pointed out. They
are remembered as a race of much-dreaded marauders, their
depredations being carried on in the night time, "and scythes were
fixed in the chimneys of the nearest houses, to prevent the
nocturnal descent of these plundering ruffians." The writer whose
words have just been quoted, contributed an account of these people
to the _Scots Magazine_ of 1823,[285] and he states in this
connection, that "scythes were to be seen in the chimney of a
neighbouring farm-house about thirty years ago, but they have been
since removed." After referring to their various characteristics,
the same writer goes on:--"It appears that the enormities of the
Gwylliaid Cochion Mowddwy [the Red Fairies, or Banditti,[286] of
Mowddwy] had arrived at such a pitch as to render necessary the
interposition of the most prompt and vigorous measures. To this end,
a commission was granted to John Wynne ab Meredith, of Gwedir, and
Lewis Owen, one of the Barons of the Welsh Exchequer, and
Vice-Chamberlain of North Wales. These gentlemen raised a body of
men, and, on Christmas Eve, 1554, succeeded in securing, after
considerable resistance, nearly a hundred of the robbers, on whom
they inflicted chastisement the most summary and effectual, hanging
them on the spot, and, as their commission authorized, without any
previous trial."[287]
A similar race to these "fairies" of Merionethshire seems to be
suggested by the "gubbings" or "gubbins" of Dartmoor. Those people
are described by Fuller, in his "Worthies of England," published in
1662. Readers of Kingsley's "Westward Ho!" will remember "how
Salvation Yeo slew the King of the Gubbings," and the description
given at that place. Mr. R. D. Blackmore seems also to have had the
same race in view in his "Maid of Sker"; although that novel is
placed in the eighteenth century. "Cannibal Jack," or "Jack
Wildman," the most civilized of those Devon savages, is made to
state:--"I was one of a race of naked people, living in holes of the
earth at a place we did not know the name of. I now know that it was
Nympton in Devonshire." As to the origin of the term "gubbing,"
Fuller confesses himself ignorant.[288] But those Devonshire
gubbings were, like the Red Fairies of Wales and the Picts of
Scotland, underground people, or earth-dwellers. It does not seem to
be stated anywhere that the "gubbings" were hairy of skin; but both
in Devon and in Cornwall the underground people otherwise designated
are so described.[289] Altogether the savage "gubbins" of Dartmoor,
as described by Kingsley and others, seem to be practically the same
people as the cave-dwelling "pixies" of Dartmoor, whose occasional
raids into the town of Tavistock are still remembered in local
folk-lore.
This nakedness of the brownie is referred to again and again in the
folk-lore of Scotland. The general belief seems to be that when he
was offered clothes in return for his labour he left the place where
he had been working, in high dudgeon. Other accounts indicate that
he accepted the clothes without demur. But the indications that the
"shaggy men" were naked men, are numerous. And when Mr. Campbell
says that "the Highlanders distinguish between the water and land or
_dressed_ fairies,"[290] he clearly infers that one section of the
little people was remarkable for the entire absence of dress.
Indeed, it was this peculiarity that, as the various stories show,
offended the delicacy of the womenfolk at those farms where
"brownies" worked, and so led to the offer of clothing, by way of
wages. And, of course, the reason why their special hairiness of
skin is so well remembered is because their own shaggy coats formed
all their clothing; and probably answered the purpose very well.
Outside the British Islands there are plenty of similar traditional
accounts. The Scandinavian trolls, or dwarfs, of the Eddas were
hairy; and so was the German dwarf. The latter has one name, that of
_Bilwiz_, said to be derived from a word denoting matted hair; and
we are told that "the Bilwiz shoots like the elf, and has shaggy or
matted hair."[291] And he, there can be little doubt, is the same as
the "little forest-man." For the same authority[292] states that
"little forest-men, who have long worked in a mill, have been scared
away by the miller's men leaving clothes and shoes for them." And if
these nude and hairy "little people" were not of the same race as
the hirsute brownies of Scotland, they were remarkably like them in
several striking characteristics. With them also may be compared the
shaggy dwarfs remembered in Brittany under the name of _viltansou_,
who are doubtless the same as the long-bearded _barbao_ of the same
province. (_See_ M. Sébillot's list of such names in the "Revue des
Traditions Populaires," Feb. 1890, pp. 101-104.)
The German traditional idea of the mound-dwelling, metal-working
dwarf people, is nowhere more perfectly given than in the etching
which is here reproduced, and which is the work of a German
engraver. It forms the base of a title-page, executed about thirty
years ago,[293] consecrated to the memory of the great Barbarossa,
whose figure occupies the centre of the title-page, and whose
achievements are otherwise symbolically indicated. It is understood
to be a facsimile of the base of Barbarossa's statue. The little
gnomes, then, underneath him, are clearly meant to represent his
companions in the "berg" where he and they are popularly believed to
be still living--whether that be the Thuringian Kyffhäuser, or the
Untersberg, near Salzburg. And the hairiness of skin, so
characteristic of the Scottish _brownie_ or _pecht_, is equally
marked in this case. The term "shaggy men" could be applied to them
with very great appropriateness. And if the artist has not made them
as destitute of clothing as the "brownies" and "forest-men" are said
to have been, yet what they do wear only serves to remind one of the
red-cap of the traditional Lincolnshire dwarfs, and others of the
same class, and of the "apron" so often mentioned in connection with
the dwarfish builders of England and Scotland. It is not to be
supposed that this picture represents in every detail the dwarfs of
German or other traditions, nor is it to be supposed that any single
account gives an absolutely correct idea of the appearance of those
primitive races, but this will be generally recognized as being, on
the whole,[294] a wonderfully good representation of the dwarfs of
German folk-lore.
But this characteristic of the dwarfs of Scottish tradition and of
the "Picts" of history does not tend to show that such people were
_identical_ with the modern Lapps. Nor, indeed, is this to be looked
for.
[Illustration: THE DWARFS OF GERMAN FOLK LORE.]
A race which was in its prime two thousand years ago may have
many points in common with one or another of the modern races
(presumably its own descendants, in some measure); but absolute
identity of type can hardly be expected, if one considers the
crossing, re-crossing, and in some cases almost the extermination of
the various races of Europe during that period. At any rate, this
marked hairiness of skin, attributed to the Pict, or Pecht, or
dwarf, is not a Mongoloid characteristic. It is certainly not
_Mongolian_; and although some divisions of the Mongoloid
group--such as the Eskimos of Labrador--are described as wearing
moustaches and beards, this fact, even if it be not exceptional,
goes a very little way towards suggesting an actually hirsute
ancestor. Had there been less doubt about the matter, one might have
supposed that the hairy skin-garments of those Northern races had
been erroneously assumed in the traditional tales to be the natural
skin of their owners; and, indeed, the pictures of the modern
Eskimos in their winter dress of skins with the hair outside, gives
quite the appearance of a race of hairy little men. But the nudity
of the historical Picts, and certain sections of the traditional
dwarfs, or brownies, is beyond all doubt. To the Latin writers, as
to the housewives of legendary history, this was equally an
unmistakable and objectionable fact.
There is, however, an existing race that offers itself as akin to
those traditional dwarfs in this respect, as well as in some others;
although the modern Lapps, in several of their characteristics, also
suggest that a not insignificant line of their ancestry is traceable
to the same origin. The race referred to is that of the "hairy
Kuriles," or Ainos of Japan; included by ethnologists among the
modern dwarf races.
"Twelve hundred years ago," says Mr. E. B. Tylor, "a Chinese
historian stated that 'on the eastern frontiers of the land of Japan
there is a barrier of great mountains, beyond which is the land of
the Hairy Men.' These were the Aino, so named from the word in their
own language signifying 'man.' Over most of the country of these
rude and helpless indigenes the Japanese have long since spread,
only a dwindling remnant of them still inhabiting the island of
Yezo. Since the early days when a couple of them were sent as
curiosities to the Emperor of China, their uncouth looks and habits
have made them objects of interest to more civilized nations."[295]
Of their own traditions, another writer states:--"To them the past
is dead, yet, like other conquered and despised races, they cling to
the idea that in some far-off age they were a great nation. They
have no traditions of internecine strife, and the art of war seems
to have been lost long ago. I asked Benri [a chief] about this
matter, and he says that formerly Ainos fought with spears and
knives, as well as with bows and arrows, but that Yoshitsuné, their
hero god, forbade war for ever, and since then the two-edged spear,
with a shaft nine feet long, has only been used in hunting
bears."[296] Yoshitsuné, it may be explained, is stated (_op. cit.
infra_, II. 94, _note_) to have been the brother of a Japanese
general of the twelfth century, famous for his victories over
"barbarians." This tradition, therefore, if accepted without
reserve, would place the conquest of the Ainos by the Japanese, with
the consequent disarming of the former, somewhere about the twelfth
century. And the scene of this struggle may be placed south and west
of their present home. "The inference from records and local names,
worked out with great care by Professor Chamberlain, is 'that the
Ainos were truly the predecessors of the Japanese all over the
Archipelago. The dawn of history shows them to us living far to the
south and west of their present haunts; and ever since then, century
by century, we see them retreating eastwards and northwards, as
steadily as the American Indian has retreated westwards under the
pressure of the colonists from Europe.'"[297]
"As is well known, the hairiness of the Ainos marks them sharply
off from the smooth-faced Japanese. No one can look at photographs
of Ainos without admitting that the often-repeated comparison of
them to bearded Russian peasants is much to the purpose. The
likeness is much strengthened by the bold quasi-European features of
the Aino contrasting extremely with the Japanese type of face."[298]
"The expression of the face and the manner of showing courtesy are
European rather than Asiatic," says Miss Bird, who has lived among
these people; and she again remarks, on a later page, "I am more and
more convinced that the expression of their faces is European."[299]
"The men are about the middle height,[300] broad-chested,
broad-shouldered, 'thick-set,' very strongly built, the arms and
legs short, thick, and muscular, the hands and feet large. The
bodies, and specially the limbs, of many are covered with short
bristly hair. I have seen two boys whose backs are covered with fur
as fine and soft as that of a cat." "The 'ferocious savagery' of the
appearance of the men is produced by a profusion of thick, soft,
black hair, divided in the middle, and falling in heavy masses
nearly to the shoulders. Out of doors it is kept from falling over
the face by a fillet round the brow. The beards are equally profuse,
quite magnificent, and generally wavy, and in the case of the old
men they give a truly patriarchal and venerable aspect, in spite of
the yellow tinge produced by smoke and want of cleanliness." "The
beard, moustache, and eyebrows are very thick and full." "At a deep
river called the Nopkobets," says the same writer, "we were ferried
by an Aino completely covered with hair, which on his shoulders was
wavy like that of a retriever, and rendered clothing quite needless
either for covering or warmth. A wavy, black beard rippled nearly to
his waist over his furry chest, and, with his black locks hanging in
masses over his shoulders, he would have looked a thorough savage
had it not been for the exceeding sweetness of his smile and eyes.
The Volcano Bay Ainos are far more hairy than the mountain Ainos."
Again--"These Lebungé Ainos differ considerably from those of the
eastern villages, and I have again to notice the decided sound or
_click_ of the _ts_ at the beginning of many words. Their skins are
as swarthy as those of Bedaween, their foreheads comparatively low
[the Aino forehead being in general remarkably high], their eyes far
more deeply set, their stature lower, their hair yet more abundant,
the look of wistful melancholy more marked, and two, who were
unclothed for hard work in fashioning a canoe, were almost entirely
covered with short, black hair, specially thick on the shoulders and
back, and so completely concealing the skin as to reconcile one to
the lack of clothing. I noticed an enormous breadth of chest, and a
great development of the muscles of the arms and legs. All these
Ainos shave their hair off for two inches above their brows, only
allowing it there to attain the length of an inch." "Their voices
were the lowest and most musical that I have heard, incongruous
sounds to proceed from such hairy, powerful-looking men.... These,
like other Ainos, utter a short, screeching sound when they are not
pleased, and then one recognizes the savage."[301]
[Illustration: AN AINO PATRIARCH.]
The picture of "An Aino Patriarch," which is here reproduced from
Miss Bird's book,[302] does not enable one to fully
realize the purest type of Aino; partly owing to the fact that the
figure is clothed, and partly because this man appears to have
belonged to one of the more modified sections of the race. However,
as he is, he is not a very bad representative of the bearded dwarf,
with disproportionately large head, so familiar in tradition; and
that he is one of the race of "shaggy men," we know without fuller
evidence. His beard does not fall down to his waist, like that of
his kinsman who figures as a ferryman in the foregoing quotation;
but the heavy moustache and beard, and the shaggy eyebrows, strongly
characterize this living race as well as the legendary dwarfs. The
latter are again and again referred to as "little old[303] men, with
long beards"; and, indeed, in one of Grimm's tales ("Snow-White and
Rosy-Red"), a dwarf has a beard so long that it gets caught in the
trunk of a tree that has been felled. The artist who drew the
picture of Barbarossa's dwarfs has not forgotten this marked
traditional feature.[304] Such dwarfs are all remembered as
possessed of supernatural powers, enchanters, magicians, etc.; and,
conversely, the magicians (Gaelic _druidhean_) of early Britain are
famous for their flowing beards.
An earlier Aino than those pictured by Miss Bird is that which
Baron Nordenskiöld gives in his "Voyage of the Vega." With regard to
it he says:--"The drawing is taken from a Japanese work, whose
title, when translated, runs thus--'A Journey to the North Part of
Japan (Yezo), 1804.'"
[Illustration: AINO OF 1804.]
In this picture, which is here annexed, there are several notable
features. Not only has this Aino of 1804 the short, thick-set
figure, heavy beard, and "bull-necked" appearance of the traditional
dwarf, but he is represented as driving a reindeer. Now, this seems
at once to connect the Aino with the Samoyed and the Lapp. For,
although the reindeer is hunted by the Eskimos of North America,
these people have never domesticated it. Moreover, the Aino is
standing on runners, which appear to be very similar to the "skies"
of the Lapps. Both of these details are distinctive of the Aino and
the Lapp (for although the "skies" are used to the south of Finmark,
they are peculiarly associated with the Lapps, who excel all other
Norwegians in this accomplishment). "The deer-hide moccasins which
they wear for winter hunting"[305] form another link of custom
uniting the Aino to the Lapp and the Eskimo. So also does the
harpoon and line which the Ainos use, or used, in seal-hunting, as
is evidenced by two of Professor Chamberlain's tales.[306] Thus,
although the Aino differs very much, in some respects, from the
Eskimo type of man, he cannot be regarded as wholly different from
him.[307] As regards stature, the two are
much alike; and several usages have just been cited that distinctly
unite the two. If one might discriminate, it might be said that the
relationship extends westward from the Kurile Islands, rather than
eastward into North America. That the Aino should remind travellers
so strongly of certain European types, is very suggestive of a line
of ancestry which is shared by Europeans. Indeed, those hirsute
qualities which distinguish the Aino exist, though in much more
modified forms (even in the instance of Russian peasants) among the
people of Europe; sufficiently to mark off the average European from
the races of other continents. That one line of European ancestry
should lead back to a race strongly resembling the modern Ainos is
therefore a belief that the outward appearance of the modern
European rather tends to strengthen.
In speculating upon the appearance of the European "cave-man" of
the past, a writer in the "Cornhill"[308] (? Mr. Grant Allen) states
as his opinion that "at any rate, he was distinctly hairy, like the
Ainos, or aborigines of Japan, in our own day, of whom Miss Isabella
Bird has drawn so startling and sensational a picture." Again, after
remarking that those cave-men "seem to have been in most essential
particulars almost as advanced as the modern Eskimo, with whom
Professor Dawkins conjecturally identifies them," Mr. Grant Allen
goes on to say[309]--"But if Professor Dawkins means us to
understand that the cave-men were physically developed to the same
extent as the Eskimo, it is necessary to accept his conclusion with
great caution. It does not follow because the Eskimo are the nearest
modern parallels of the cave-men, that the cave-men therefore
resembled them closely in appearance. Several of the sketches of
cave-men, cut by themselves on horn and bone, certainly show (it
seems to me) that they were covered with hair over the whole body:
and the hunter in the antler from the Duruthy cave has a long
pointed beard and high crest of hair on the poll utterly unlike the
Eskimo type." And although Mr. Allen admits, on a later page, that
"it is possible enough that the cave-man was the direct ancestor of
the Eskimo," yet he qualifies this admission by observing that "it
does not at all follow that in physical appearance the earlier
cave-men were the equals of the Eskimo, or, indeed, that the Eskimo
are any more nearly related to them than ourselves."[310]
Of course, it is understood by the writer of these lines that the
remarks upon "cave-men" just quoted, were made in the belief that
all those cave-men lived at a period immensely removed from the
present time. But the classification of man's history into so many
"periods" and "ages" is admittedly vague. And the recognition of a
visible relationship between certain races of living men, and those
others who are called "pre-historic," is practically a recognition
of the possibility that the not very remote ancestors of such races
may be remembered with comparative clearness in the popular memory
of those who are mainly descended from races of a higher type.
That this is really the case is what all the evidence adduced in
these pages tends to show. And, indeed, the actual picture of a
living Aino of about ninety years ago, reproduced above, is by no
means remarkably different from the traditional figure given below,
which represents the magician, or "good fairy," as he appears in the
popular memory, when arriving from the far North, on Yule Eve, laden
with gifts for his vassals. The annexed woodcut gives the idea of
"Santa Claus," as he figures in the American fancy, and that, as the
title given to him indicates, is really the German idea. The German
idea, then, of this good magician is that he is a thick-set,
bearded, little man, whose heavy furs denote that his home lies in
the North, and whose reindeer team, harnessed to the sledge in which
he has travelled, indicates that, like the Lapp and the Aino, he not
only lives in a country where reindeer abound, but he has learned to
tame them and make them serve his purposes. In this traditional
figure one seems to see the type of a race that was even more like
the Aino than the Lapp, or the Eskimo, although closely connected in
various ways with all of these. Neither this figure, nor those of
Barbarossa's dwarfs, need be regarded as absolutely correct; but in
both we see that the popular memory is wonderfully faithful to what
appears to be the actual truth.
[Illustration: A "GOOD FAIRY" OF TRADITION.]
The existence in Europe of such a race, neither Lapp nor Aino,
though akin to both, seems indicated by as recent a geographer as
Olaus Magnus. In his map of Northern Europe,[311] the extreme north
of Norway is neither "Lappia" nor "Finmarchia" (although both of
these are shown), but a country which borders them on the north, and
which he calls "Scricfinnia." This name appears to have been
otherwise spelt "Scritfinnia" or "Scridfinnia," and one writer
states that its people, the "Scridfinni," "derived their name from
the word _skrida_, which in the Danish and Swedish languages means
to slide."[312] This refers to the snow-skates, or "skies," which
they are described as using, but as Olaus Magnus pictures the people
of "Lappia" as also using "skies," it does not seem that that usage
was distinctive of the "Scridfinni." But what appears to be of much
more importance than this etymological point is the fact that the
gloss which Olaus Magnus places opposite "Scricfinnia" is to this
effect:--"_Hic habitant Pÿgmei Vulgo Screlinger dicti_." The
earliest cited mention of the _Screlinger_, or _Skrælings_, occurs
in the accounts of the Norse visits to North America, at the end of
the tenth century; and the people thus referred to are generally
identified with the Esquimaux. "The Northmen were used to call the
Esquimaux Skrælings, a term of contempt, meaning, says Crantz,
'chips, parings, _i.e._, dwarfs.'" And the North American Skrælings
of the tenth century, who are described as paddling about in
skin-canoes, "skimming the surface of the water in their swift
flight," are quite obviously either of the same race as the modern
Eskimos, or else closely allied to them.[313] In the course of eight
or nine centuries, the "Skrælings" may have become modified to some
extent; and, indeed, modern travellers[314] are wonderfully
unanimous in remarking upon the effect that nineteenth-century
intermixture has had upon Asiatic and Greenland Eskimos, and upon
the Ainos. But whatever the exact appearance of the tenth-century
"Skræling," the map of Olaus Magnus denotes that, five or six
centuries later, the extreme north of Norway was inhabited by a race
of "Skrælings"; and that these people were the same as the "pygmies"
of classical writers. It has already been pointed out[315] that the
Greenland "Skrælings" were also spoken of as "goblins," and this
again shows that that American type, whether most akin to the modern
Eskimo or to the Aino, was not a _new_ type to those European
explorers,--whose legendary history was already teeming with stories
of encounters with "goblins."[316]
Whatever may have been the ethnical position of the tenth-century
"Skræling" of America, this sixteenth-century map of North Europe
certainly signifies that the "pigmies," "Screlings," or
"Scric-Finns" of the extreme north of Scandinavia were neither
"Finns" nor "Lapps," but a race that ultimately yielded place to
these. There are similar indications in the extreme north of Asia.
The Chukches of Siberia undoubtedly connect the Lapp in the west
with the Eskimo in the east. But these Chukches have traditions of a
race called _Onkilon_, _i.e._, "sea-folk," whom the Chukches, moving
northward, displaced or annihilated. "Tradition relates that upwards
of two hundred years ago these Onkilon occupied the whole of the
Chukch coast, from Cape Chelagskoj to Behring's Straits; and indeed
we still find along the whole of this stretch remains of their
earth-huts, which must have been very unlike the present dwellings
of the Chukches; they have the form of small mounds, are half sunk
in the ground and closed above with whale ribs, which are covered
with a thick layer of earth." Baron Nordenskiöld, who is here
quoting Wrangel's "Reise" (1825), gives himself a representation of
one of those Onkilon earth-dwellings, seen by him at Cape
North.[317] In these now-extinct "Onkilon," then, we have a race of
people who, like the Finns and sea-trows of Shetland, were famed as
"sea-folk," and who at the same time were underground-people or
mound-dwellers.
FOOTNOTES:
[271] There is a Rob Roy's Town in Lanarkshire, celebrated as the
scene of Wallace's capture, and even if the name is no older than
Harry the Minstrel (who uses it), it indicates a "Rob Roy"
ante-dating Sir Walter Scott's by a couple of centuries.
[272] Scott, who gives this definition ("Lady of the Lake," Note 2
Q), says it is the _literal_ one. This, however, is not the
_literal_ meaning of "Uruisgean." But it is enough to know that the
people so named were believed to be wild, "shaggy" men.
[273] Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. _Uruisg_.
[274] _See_ Note 2 H to "The Lady of the Lake." This May Mollach is
well known in the legendary history of the Grants. Scott again
refers to her in his Introduction to "The Monastery," where he
asserts that she "condescended to mingle in ordinary sports, and
even to direct the Chief how to play at draughts." With this may be
compared Thorpe's statement ("Northern Mythology," I., 145) that the
Scandinavian dwarfs, who were also hairy, used to "play at tables."
There is also a story in the Island of Skye of a "brownie" who
watched over and instructed one of the players in a game of
"tables." (_See_ Defoe's "Duncan Campbell," London, 1856, p. 106.)
"Tables" seems to have been a comprehensive name for draughts,
chess, and other games played on a chess-board; and these remarks
recall the set of chessmen, carved out of walrus tusk, already
referred to as having been found in the Hebrides in 1826, and of
which eleven are in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland. "Chess-playing was one of the favourite amusements of the
Irish chieftains," says O'Donovan ("Book of Rights," Dublin, 1847,
p. lxi), and he gives illustrations of an Irish chess-man, which he
states is exactly similar, "as well in style as in material," to the
Hebridean specimens just mentioned.
[275] It may be seen again in the name given in former times to a
section of the Clan Mac-Ra, "Clann ic Rath _Mholach_" or "Hairy Mac
Raas." The surname _Malloch_ also represents the same word.
[276] Armstrong's "Gaelic Dictionary," s.v. _Mailleachan_.
[277] _Ibid._ s.v. _Uruisg_.
[278] Scott says ("Letters on Demonology," London, John Murray,
1830, p. 115) that Rob Roy once gained a victory by disguising a
part of his men, by means of goat-skins, as "ourisks," and so
terrifying their opponents. But if that Rob Roy, or any section of
his followers, presented the appearance which Scott himself
portrays, or if any remnant of the ancient "Pechts" survived in that
neighbourhood, it does not seem that any disguise was necessary to
give them the appearance of "wild, or shaggy men."
[279] "West Highland Tales," II., 386.
[280] "West Highland Tales," II., 189-192. For further references to
the _fuath_, or _duine fuathasach_, see pp. 97-101 of the same
volume. It may be added that Armstrong simply defines _brollachan_
as "a ragged person." Similarly, McAlpine states that in the West
Highlands _uruisg_ signifies "a savage, ugly-looking fellow." Both
of these definitions point to the _real_ and matter-of-fact aspect
of the traditional _uruisg_ or _brollachan_.
[281] Gaelic _glaisean_, from _glas_, grey. Cf. the Shetland
allusion to the dwarfs as "the _grey_ women-stealers."
[282] "West Highland Tales," Introduction, pp. liv, lv.
[283] With the above use of "rough," as also in relation to the
_brollachan_, compare the statement in Defoe's "Duncan Campbell"
(London, 1856, p. 129) that the brownie "appeared like a rough man."
[284] _The Archæological Review_, Jan. 1890, pp. 433, 434.
[285] _See_ Vol. 13, pp. 424-6 (_Nugæ Cambrica_).
[286] It is to be noted that this writer renders "Gwylliaid" by
"Banditti," and never refers to them as "goblins" or "fairies,"
though this is the usual meaning given to the word. There is no good
reason for objecting to the less usual translation, except that,
while it denotes one recognized characteristic of the dwarfs, after
they had been cut up into small confederacies, it loses sight of
other notable features of such "banditti."
[287] The difference between these people and the intangible
"fairies" created by the imagination (but originating in reality) is
nowhere brought out more strongly than in this passage. A hanged
fairy would be quite a novelty in poetry.
[288] In her "Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy" (London, 1879, Vol.
I., Letter xiv.), Mrs. Bray speaks of these "gubbins," referring to
the account given by Camden as well as Fuller. Halliwell also cites
"Milles' MS." As for the derivation of the word itself, it seems
clearly to be connected with Welsh _coblyn_, English _goblin_ and
_gub_, and Italian _gobbo_--pigmy. Compare also _gobban_ (_ante_, p.
134); and note the etymology quoted by Fuller (_op. cit._) "that
such who did 'inhabitare montes gibberosos' were called Gubbings."
[289] _See_ Mrs. Bray's work just cited, Vol. I., Letter x.: also a
reference to the goblin or "bucka" as hairy, in Mr. Whitley Stokes'
"Gwreans an Bys," pp. 124, 125.
In Mr. Hunt's "Popular Romances of the West of England" (London, J.
C. Hotten, 2nd edit., pp. 217, 218), there is a weird story of a
wrestling-match by night, at a certain cairn near Penzance. The
wrestlers were believed by the two onlookers to be supernatural
beings:--"They were men of great size and strength, with savage
faces, rendered more terrible by the masses of uncombed hair which
hung about them, and the colours with which they had painted their
cheeks." They had appeared to issue out of the rocks of the cairn.
Although the term "great size," if it denotes _stature_, does not
include these men among dwarfs, yet they are represented as _Picti_;
and as "supernatural," hirsute cave-dwellers.
[290] "West Highland Tales," II., 64. (For a general reference to
the nudity of those drudges _see_ Ritson's "Fairies," London, 1831,
p. 46.)
[291] Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," I., 244.
[292] Thorpe: _op. cit._ I., 252.
[293] In Edinburgh, for the firm of Messrs. Schenck and McFarlane,
lithographers.
[294] There is at least one detail overlooked in this picture by the
artist. And another detail, which he has introduced, has not been
referred to in these pages, viz., the miner's lamp worn by the
dwarfs. In Cornwall, the earliest miners are understood to have been
those "little people," whose subterranean habits would undoubtedly
render them early acquainted with the use of metals. And the miner's
lamp may reasonably be regarded as an inheritance from the dwarf
races. It is noteworthy that the typical miner's dress, in
seventeenth-century England, appears to have been "canvas breeches,
red waistcoats and red caps," a garb closely in agreement with some
versions of the dwarf attire. (See Hone's "Ancient Mysteries," p.
259.)
[295] Introduction to "Aino Folk Tales," by Basil Hall Chamberlain,
Professor of Philology at the T[=o]ky[=o] University. (Privately
printed for the Folk-Lore Society, 1888.)
[296] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," by Miss Isabella L. Bird. London,
1880, II., p. 103.
[297] Introduction to "Aino Folk Tales," vi.-vii.
[298] _Ibid._, v.
[299] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 9, 107. (Also p. 75.)
[300] The writer here refers to a less pure type of Aino.
[301] See "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 9, 75-6, 106, 118, 136-7,
and 143-4.
[302] For the use of this block I am indebted to Mr. John Murray,
Albemarle Street.
[303] This adjective can be otherwise accounted for.
[304] One might multiply special instances without end. But it is
appropriate to notice that the "Arabian Nights" tales are, in this
respect, in keeping with those of the West. For example, Schaibar,
the brother of the fairy Pari-Banou, is a powerful dwarf, possessing
a tremendous beard and moustache (his strength, the smallness of his
stature, and his beard are all vastly exaggerated, but they are all
distinguishing features). And again, in the Third Voyage of Sindbad,
his vessel approaches an island of which he says:--"The captain told
us that this island was inhabited by hairy savages, who would come
to attack us; and although they were only dwarfs, we must not
attempt to make any resistance; for, as their number was
inconceivable, if we should happen to kill one, they would pour upon
us like locusts, and destroy us. No sooner had he said this than we
saw coming towards us an innumerable multitude of hideous savages,
entirely covered with red hair, and about two feet high. They threw
themselves into the sea, and swam to the ship, which they soon
completely encompassed. They spoke to us as they approached, but we
could not understand their language. They began to climb the sides
and ropes of the vessel with so much swiftness and agility, that
their feet scarcely seemed to touch them, and soon reached the
deck."
[305] "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," II., 143.
[306] xxvii. and xxxiii. The harpoon tip is said, in one tale, to
have been "made half of iron and half of bone."
[307] Miss Bird met with some Ainos of whom she says (II., 37):--"I
thought that they approached more nearly to the Eskimo type than to
any other." This, of course, was exceptional; but the remark is
noteworthy.
[308] March, 1885, "A Very Old Master."
[309] _Fortnightly Review_, September, 1882, p. 312.
[310] Opinions still more antagonistic to those of Professor Dawkins
were expressed by Professor Flower, in commenting upon a paper read
by Dr. John Rae at the Anthropological Institute, July 7th, 1886,
wherein Dr. Rae had referred to this subject.
[311] A reprint of which is appended to Mr. Elton's "Origins" (Plate
IV).
[312] Brooke's "Travels in Lapland," London, 1827, p. 3.
[313] For these references see Appendix B and the "Antiquitates
Americanæ" (Copenhagen, 1837), conveniently condensed in W. C.
Bryant and S. H. Gay's "History of the United States," Chap. III.
[314] Such as Nordenskiöld, Carstensen, Joest, &c.
[315] _Ante_, p. 144, _note_.
[316] Further statements upon this point will be found in Appendix
B.
[317] "Voyage of the Vega," I. 443.
CHAPTER XVII.
There is yet another characteristic of the modern Aino which
suggests the dwarf of the British Isles. "Mention must also be made
of an anatomical peculiarity of the Aino skeleton, consisting of a
remarkable flattening of the arm-and leg-bones."[318] This
peculiarity, which is known scientifically as "platycnemism," forms
a part of Herr von Siebold's "Ethnologische Studien über die Aino,
auf der Insel Yesso."[319] Much may be learned with regard to
platycnemism in a paper "On the Discovery of Platycnemic Men in
Denbighshire,"[320] by Professors Busk and Boyd Dawkins; and the
subject of platycnemism generally has been very fully discussed in
Dr. L. Manouvrier's "Mémoire sur la Platycnémie."[321] The question
is full of interest; but what we are here concerned with is the fact
that, characterizing the dwarfish, hairy Ainos of the nineteenth
century, this flattening of the leg-bones is also associated with
the dwarfs of Britain. Those cave-dwelling, "platycnemic men" of
Denbighshire, though not actually dwarfs, were of no greater height
on an average than five feet, or a trifle over. Again, the skeletons
found in the underground dwellings of Wiltshire, which have been so
closely studied by General Pitt-Rivers, exhibit marked platycnemism
in several instances, and of these the average height was 5 ft.,
1^.3 (among eleven males), and (among three females) 4 ft., 10.[322]
In Wigtownshire, also, the bones of certain cave-men have yielded at
least one tibia which has been pronounced to be "highly
platycnemic." The locality where these remains were found has been
spoken of on a previous page,[323] as a locality famed as the last
refuge of the "Pechts," and, at the same time, as a home of the
"fairies." These are a few special instances; but if once we
recognize the probability that platycnemism was specially a
characteristic of "the little people," then there will be small
difficulty in accepting as true the forecast with which Mr. Boyd
Dawkins concludes his remarks in the paper above mentioned:--"I have
not the slightest doubt that platycnemism will be recognized in
remains from chambered tombs in many parts of Britain, and that
eventually the men found in Denbighshire will be proved to belong to
a race that spread over Britain and Ireland, and a large area on the
Continent."
The effect of this flattened tibia or leg-bone is to give to the
"platycnemic man" an unusual degree of agility. Thus one reads that
the Ainos who drew Miss Bird's _kuruma_ raced "for a considerable
distance" with some mounted Japanese, drawing the _kuruma_, of
course, at the same time. Similarly, the mountain-ponies of the
Picts "could hardly excel the speed of the troops on foot."[324] The
traditional accounts of the "Fians" have much to say of their
marvellous swiftness of foot. The same thing is noted of the
Dartmoor _gubbins_ of the sixteenth century: "Such their fleetness,
they will outrun many horses."[325] And the earth-dwelling "Red
Fairies" of Merionethshire "were also remarkable for their swiftness
and agility."[326] There is a Scotch story of a brownie who
successfully "herded" a hare; and the lightness of foot of the fairy
in general is proverbial. From all these references, then, there is
every reason for believing that the little people were "platycnemic
men."
This identification of the traditional dwarfs with the Ainos on the
one hand and the Eskimos on the other, amounts to an assumption that
the dwarfs were not only hirsute like the first of these, and
mound-dwellers like the second, but also that, like the extinct
_Onkilon_ of Siberia, they were in a distinct sense "sea-folk." In
other words, that, while showing a strong _affinity_ with the two
modern types chiefly referred to in these pages, they were
nevertheless not _identical_ with either. That they were the
ancestors of both seems probable, bequeathing to each division some
of the qualities and customs of the original stock; which might be
described as Aino-Eskimo.
So far as tradition goes, there is every indication that the hairy
dwarf was of a sea-faring race. The Gaelic _ur-uisg_ was rightly
called a "wild or _shaggy_ man" by Sir Walter Scott, but literally
he was a "_water_-man"; which term has many equivalents, such as
wasser-man, mer-man, and others. The Guernsey "King of the
_Auxcriniers_" previously mentioned,[327] may also denote this
identification of the _zee-woner_ with the "shaggy man"; unless the
name _auxcriniers_ bears a less obvious meaning than it appears to
do. But no better illustration of this union can be found than the
historical Picts. Tradition has told us of their shaggy skins, and
the "small boats" which they used. And both of these are indicated
by the sixth-century Gildas, in his account of the inroads of the
Picts and Scots, after the withdrawal of the Romans, where he
says:--"Itaque illis ad sua revertentibus, emergunt certatim de
curicis, quibus sunt trans Cichicam[328] vallem vecti, quasi in alto
Titane incalescenteque caumate de arctissimis foraminum cavernulis
fusci vermiculorum cunei, tetri Scotorum Pictorumque greges, moribus
ex parte dissidentes, sed una eademque sanguinis fundendi aviditate
concordes, furci-ferosque magis vultus pilis, quam corporum pudenda,
pudendisque proxima, vestibus tegentes."[329]
There is complete agreement among the commentators of Gildas that
the word "curicis" is a Latinized form of the Celtic _curach_, a
skin-boat. And the expression "de arctissimis foraminum cavernulis"
is singularly confirmative of the assumption that the variety of
skin-boat denoted was the narrow kayak with its small round
man-hole, and covered "hold," out of which the invading Pict
"eagerly emerged" in his haste to attack the Romanized and civilized
people in the neighbourhood of the Wall. The reference to their
appearance generally is, moreover, very much like the terms used by
the Norse writers in speaking of the tenth-century "Skrælings."
That the historical Picts were as "amphibious" as any other
"sea-folk" of the kind here discussed, is further testified by such
a statement as this:--"They passed their days in the water, swimming
in the northern estuaries, or wading with the stream as high as the
waist. Dion Cassius adds, with his characteristic vivacity, that
they would hide in the mud for days together, with nothing but their
heads out of the water."[330] Although the custom of hiding from an
enemy in the fashion just described was practised quite recently by
the "bog-trotters" in Ireland (see _Rokeby_, Note 2 R), it is
doubtful how far these statements ought to be accepted literally.
But at least they point to the Picts as a race as much at home on
sea as on land; and the reference to their "wading" in the water
waist-high is again suggestive of the traditional mer-man or Triton,
and the actual Eskimo (as he appears at a distance).
Thus, although the dwarfs of Shetland tradition are separately
remembered as "sea-trows" and "hill-trows" (otherwise "hill-people,"
or "högfolk"), it seems quite evident that these two names simply
refer to two different aspects of one race. The memory of them, in
connection with their homes in chambered mounds ("hows," "högs," or
"pechts' houses"), has gradually become dissociated from the memory
of them in their character of sea-rovers, when in their swift
"sea-skins" they darted after and easily overtook the heavy wooden
boats used by the rival race. Nevertheless, although popular
tradition, in thus remembering them, has almost transformed them
into an actually amphibious race, it yet asserts that these
seafaring "Finns" "are reckoned among the Trows."
* * * * *
Such are some of the deductions to be drawn from a comparison of
traditional accounts with those of history, taken in connection with
the ethnical features and the customs of certain races of people.
There are many more inferences which could be made, but these may
reasonably be deferred until the true value of tradition has been
tested. The way in which this can be done has been pointed out in
the foregoing pages. Should tradition prove itself reliable as a
guide to the dwellings of "the little people," then _all_ its
statements regarding them will merit the closest consideration.
FOOTNOTES:
[318] This statement, made by Professor Tylor in his Introduction to
the "Aino Folk-Tales," is based upon the accounts of others; for a
reference to one of which (Von Siebold's) I am indebted to Mr.
Tylor.
[319] Berlin, 1881.
[320] Jour. Ethnol. Soc. of London, Jan. 1871.
[321] Paris, 1888.
[322] See General Pitt-Rivers' "Excavations in Cranborne Chase,"
1887. (Privately Printed.) II., 206-7.
[323] Page 99. See specially pp. 87-8 of the volume quoted (1885-86)
of the Proc. of the Soc. of Antiq. of Scotland.
[324] Elton's "Origins," p. 169; quoted from Dion Cassius.
[325] Fuller, as quoted by Kingsley.
[326] _Scots Magazine_, 1823, Vol. 13, pp. 424-6.
[327] Page 16.
[328] This is variously spelt "Aticam," "Styticam," and "Tithicam"
(Petrie's _Monumenta historica Britannica_); and the solutions are
as various as the spellings. If by "Tithicam vallem" is denoted the
valley of the River Teith, this variant appears preferable to any;
and the district referred to would be the whole of the Teith or
Forth basin, which at that period was probably a mixture of land and
water,--a northern Bedford Level, or fen-country.
[329] Gildas' "De Excidio Britanniæ," Stevenson's edition, London,
1838, pp. 24-25.
[330] Elton's "Origins," p. 169. The first sentence is from
Herodian.
APPENDIX A.
THE BRUGH OF THE BOYNE, NEW GRANGE.
The descriptions of the New Grange mound given by Llhwyd and
Molyneux are of much importance, since they both belong to about the
beginning of the eighteenth century; and as they are not very
accessible to the general reader they may suitably be quoted here.
The two writers do not altogether agree in their account of the
appearance of the chamber, and their theories as to its origin are
certainly different; but whatever may be the value of the latter,
there can be no doubt that descriptions which were made at a time
when the interior of this mound was fresher by two centuries than it
now is have a value that is lacking in the descriptions of modern
writers, however accurate. The following is
"_An Account of a large Cave nigh_ Drogheda, _by Mr._ Edward
Llhwyd."[331]
"The most remarkable curiosity we saw by the way, was a stately
mount at a place called _New Grange_ near _Drogheda_; having a
number of huge stones pitch'd on end round about it, and a single
one on the top. The gentleman of the village (one Mr. _Charles
Campbel_) observing that under the green turf this mount was wholly
composed of stones, and having occasion for some, employ'd his
servants to carry off a considerable parcel of them; till they came
at last to a very broad flat stone, rudely carv'd, and placed
edgewise at the bottom of the mount. This they discovered to be the
door of the cave,[332] which had a long entry leading into it. At
the first entering, we were forced to creep; but still as we went
on, the pillars on each side of us were higher and higher; and
coming into the cave, we found it about twenty foot high. In this
cave, on each hand of us, was a cell or apartment, and another went
on straight forward opposite to the entry. In those on each hand was
a very broad, shallow bason of stone, situated at the edge. The
bason in the right hand apartment stood in another; that on the left
hand was single; and in the apartment straight forward there was
none at all. We observed that water dropt into the right hand bason,
tho' it had rain'd but little in many days; and suspected that the
lower bason was intended to preserve the superfluous liquor of the
upper, (whether this water were sacred, or whether it was for blood
in sacrifice) that none might come to the ground. The great pillars
round this cave, supporting the mount, were not at all hewn or
wrought; but were such rude stones as those of _Abury_ in
_Wiltshire_, and rather more rude than those of _Stonehenge_: but
those about the basons, and some elsewhere, had such barbarous
sculpture (_viz._, spiral like a snake, but without distinction of
head and tail) as the forementioned stone at the entry of the cave.
There was no flagging nor floor to this entry nor cave; but any sort
of loose stones everywhere under feet. They found several bones in
the cave, and part of a stag's (or else elk's) head, and some other
things, which I omit, because the labourers differed in their
account of them. A gold coin of the emperor _Valentinian_, being
found near the top of this mount, might bespeak it _Roman_; but that
the rude carving at the entry and in the cave seems to denote it a
barbarous monument. So, the coin proving it ancienter than any
invasion of the _Ostmens_ (_sic_) or _Danes_, and the carving and
rude sculpture, barbarous; it should follow, that it was some place
of sacrifice or burial of the ancient _Irish_."
From the account given by Dr. Thomas Molyneux,[333] the following
extracts may be taken:--
"'Tis situated in the county of _Meath_ and barony of _Slaine_,
within four miles of the town of _Drogheda_; from its largeness and
make, from the time and labour it must needs have cost to erect so
great a pile, we may easily gather 'twas raised in honour of some
mighty prince, or person of the greatest power and dignity in his
time. I have not heard of any thing of this kind that equals it in
_Ireland_: 'tis a thousand foot in the circumference at the bottom,
and round the flat surface at the top measures three hundred foot,
it rises in the perpendicular about a hundred and fifty foot; and is
seated so advantageously upon a rising ground, that it is seen from
all parts round at a vast distance, and from its top yields a
delightful prospect of all the adjacent country.
Round the bottom of the mount, at some distance from it, are raised
in a circular order, huge unwrought stones, rudely expressing
pyramids, fixt with their basis in the ground, now at unequal
distances, because some I suppose have been removed in length of
time, and others faln down; neither do they answer one another in
height, some being eleven, others not four foot high;...
The mount it self is composed of small round paving stones, heapt
together so as to form a pyramid, within whose center lies a cave
that's somewhat round in figure: to this you can only pass through a
narrow hole placed on the north[334] side of the mount, so strait,
it does allow an entrance but to one man, and that when on his hands
and feet: it seems they industriously contrived this hole should lye
concealed, for 'twas but lately discovered, and that by accident in
removing part of the stones to make a pavement in the neighbourhood.
This strait entrance leads into a narrow gallery of 80 foot in
length, 3 foot wide, gradually rising in height, still the further
it advances from the narrow passage where you enter, there 'tis
about 4 foot high, and from thence rises slowly till it is 10 foot
in height: the differing heights in this gallery at several
distances from the first entrance, must be occasioned by the passage
suiting its figure to the outward conical shape of the mount, which
obliged the contriver to make the gallery lower as it was nearer the
outside of the pyramid, but the farther it advanced from thence
allowed him still to raise its height more, and most of all about
the middle of the mount.[335] The walls or sides of this strait
gallery are made of large flag stones set broad-ways with their
edges close to one another, not hewn or shaped by any tool, but rude
and natural, as when they were at first dug from the quarry; they
differ in their sizes as the several heights of the gallery require,
the top of which is covered over with the same flag stones laid
along; some of those in the covering measure full nineteen foot in
length.
The furthest end of this long narrow passage lets you into the dark
hollow cave, of an irregular figure, nineteen or twenty foot high,
and in the middle about ten foot broad. As you enter the vault, on
each hand you have a hollow cell or nich, taken out of the sides of
the cave, and a third straight before you, these three cells each
are about five foot every way, and ten in height: the walls round
the circumference of the cave, and of these side apartments are
composed like those of the long gallery, of huge, mighty flag stones
set end-ways in the ground, of seven or eight foot high; these
upright stones support other broad stones that lay along or
horizontally, jetting their ends beyond the upright stones; and over
these again are placed another order of flat stones in the same
level posture, advancing still their edges towards the center of the
cave, further than those they rest upon, and so one course above
another approaching nearer towards the middle, form all together a
rude kind of arch, by way of roof, over the vault below; this arch
is closed at top by one large stone that covers the center, and
keeps all fixt and compact together: for through the whole work
appears no sign of morter, clay, or other cement, to join or make
its parts lye firm and close, but where a crevise happens, or an
interstice, they are filled up with thin flat stones, split and
wedged in, on purpose with that design.
The bottom of the cave and entry is a rude sort of pavement, made of
the same stones of which the mount is composed, not beaten or joined
together, but loosely cast upon the ground only to cover it. Along
the middle of the cave, a slender quarrey-stone, five or six foot
long, lies on the floor, shaped like a pyramid, that once, as I
imagine, stood upright, perhaps a central stone to those placed
round the outside of the mount; but now 'tis fallen down....
When first the cave was opened, the bones of two dead bodies entire,
not burnt, were found upon the floor....
In each of the three cells was placed upon the ground a broad and
shallow cistern, somewhat round, but rudely formed out of a kind of
free-stone; they all were rounded a little at the bottom so as to be
convex, and at the top were slightly hollowed, but their cavities
contained but little; some of their brims or edges were sinuated or
scolopt, the diameter of these cisterns was more than two foot wide,
and in their height they measured about eighteen inches from the
floor.
The cell that lay upon the right hand was larger, and seemed more
regular and finish'd than the rest; for rude as it was, it shewed
the workman had spent more of his wild art and pains upon it, than
the other two: the cistern it contained was better shaped, and in
the middle of it was placed another smaller cistern, better wrought,
and of a more curious make; and still, for greater ornament, the
stone that lay along as lintal, o'er the entrance of this cell, was
cut with many spiral, circular, and waved lines, that with their
rude and shallow traces, covered the surface of the stone. This
barbarous kind of carving I observed in many other places of this
cave, promiscuously disposed of here and there, without the least
rule or order; but it was exprest no where with so much industry and
profuseness, as on the stones belonging to this cell: yet tho' they
were so lavish of their art, not the least footsteps of writing, or
any thing like characters were found in the whole work....
* * * * *
But the true genuine figure of the cave, and the description of the
niches in its sides, and the long entry leading to it, will be far
better understood by a plan which Mr. _Samuel Molyneux_, a young
gentleman of the college of _Dublin_, delineated with care and
accuracy, upon the place, last summer.[336]
_A_ is the entrance, from _A_ to _B_ the long narrow gallery or
passage, eighty foot in length, leading to the cave _C_. _D D D D D_
the great flag-stones that make the sides or wall both of the cave
and entrance. _E E E_ the three cells or apartments let into the
sides of the cave, for the convenient reception of the three altars
or shallow cisterns, _F F F_. _G_ a second altar, raised upon the
lower altar in the right hand cell. _H_ a pyramid stone now fallen,
but formerly set up erect in the middle of the cave. The situation
of the cave, as to its length, stands north and south, its entrance
lies directly south; but whether this position may be observed in
laying out the caves, and passages that lead to them, in other
_Danish_[337] mounts, and so may be some mark or direction to find
out the hidden entrance, to other sepulchres of this kind, further
enquiry may inform us.
Figure the 7th [reproduced p. 126, _ante_] shows more particularly
the manner and contrivance of the altar in the right hand cell, ...
expressing all the rudeness of its work, _a a a a_ the upright
flag-stones that compose the side-walls. _b b b_ the lintal-stone
that's laid a-cross over the entrance of the cell; upon the surface
of this stone, the artist has exprest abundance of rude barbarous
sort of sculpture, _c c_ a lower altar serving as a basis to _d_,
another lesser altar raised upon it."
Dr. Molyneux also describes "two _Roman_ golden coins" (Llhwyd only
mentions _one_) which "about ten or twelve years since" were found
"near the surface," on the exterior of the mound; but these have
practically as little to do with the structure itself as if they had
been found in the neighbouring meadow.
In comparing these two eighteenth-century accounts, one observes a
few points calling for observation. But, before referring
particularly to these, it may be convenient to add some of the
statements made by Col. Forbes-Leslie with regard to the same mound.
This writer, in his "Early Races of Scotland" (Edin., 1866, Vol.
II., pp. 331-341), makes several interesting remarks upon the mound
of New Grange, and others of a similar nature, and among his
illustrations are two of New Grange, drawn by himself. These,
however, do not supply any additional information. On the subject of
this and similar mounds, Colonel Leslie remarks thus:--
"Neither historical evidence, nor that derived from an examination
of these monuments, appears sufficient warrant for the decision that
all these chambers were exclusively intended for places of
sepulture. Certainly in some of these chambers the massive materials
used in their construction have apparently been designed and
employed for other purposes. The following questions are suggested
by peculiarities in these specimens of chambered tumuli--Were they
intended to be occupied by the living, or as sepulchres for the
dead? Were they originally used as temples, and afterwards turned
into tombs? Or, on the contrary, although raised for tombs, were
they afterwards used as habitations?...
"An examination of the remarkable tumuli above mentioned gives rise
to the above questions, and they are not answered by any theories or
explanations regarding these monuments which have yet been offered
to the public. It may be admitted, although it cannot be proved,
that all or most of these monuments have at some period been used as
sepulchres, and that the mound of stones or earth in which they are
enveloped is sepulchral." But, in a foot-note, Col. Leslie adds:
"There is no authentic record of human remains having been
discovered either in New Grange, in the tumulus of Gavr-Innis
[Brittany], or in that of Maeshow."
* * * * *
"What are usually called sarcophagi in the chamber at New Grange may
more correctly be designated as very shallow trays of a circular or
rather oval form. In the eastern recess there are two--one placed
above another of somewhat larger dimensions, the uppermost being 3
feet long. The position and appearance of all of them are very
unlike anything intended for the reception of sepulchral deposits."
... "New Grange cairn is about 70 feet in height, and is said to
cover an area nearly two acres in extent. Composed of loose stones,
slightly covered with earth and partly overgrown with trees, this
mound formerly had little appearance of being artificial, except
that at a few yards' distance it was encircled by a line of single
stones of great size fixed upright in the ground. The entrance to
the chamber in this mound was accidentally discovered in 1699 by
labourers who were removing stones to repair a neighbouring
road."...
"In each of the three recesses of the chamber were the shallow trays
already mentioned, which by different writers have been variously
designated as 'basins,' 'rude bowls,' 'urns,' 'typical urns,'
'sarcophagi.'[338] There was one in the northern and one in the
western recess, but the most remarkable are two in the eastern
recess. The uppermost of these is somewhat oval in shape, slightly
concave on its surface, and 3 feet in length: in it are two small
artificial cavities. This tray lies on another, which is rather
larger and less concave than that which rests on it. The tray in the
western recess, although but slightly hollowed, has a well-defined
rim on the edge of the upper surface....
"New Grange was first described by Edward Llhuyd the antiquary,
who, writing in 1699, makes no mention of any human remains being
found in it, but notes 'a great many bones of beasts and some pieces
of deers' horns' lying under foot."
It will be seen that these accounts vary in several respects. One
curious discrepancy is that relating to the shallow stone "trays" in
the recesses of the central chamber. Dr. Molyneux states that the
northern recess contained one of these, and his young namesake shows
such a "tray" in his plan; and yet Llhwyd, writing twenty-five years
earlier, distinctly says that "in the apartment straight forward
there was none at all." That this is the case at the present day
will be seen from the plan by Mr. W. F. Wakeman. It is noteworthy
that Colonel Leslie also gives the number as three; but he speaks in
the past tense when referring to the north recess, and he probably
only echoes Molyneux. But Llhwyd's statement is so distinct that,
considering his priority of date, his version must be accepted as
the true one, in spite of the fact that young Molyneux (who,
although he is stated to have drawn his plan "on the place," may
have supplemented it from memory) represents the inner "apartment"
as occupied by one of those "trays."
As for the theories of the two earlier writers, on the subject of
the origin and purpose of this "mount," it will be observed they
differ widely. Molyneux has no doubt about its being the work of the
ninth-century Danes, while Llhwyd, arguing from the discovery of
Roman coins on the outer crust, infers that it was erected by "the
ancient Irish." Although the coins cannot be held to constitute a
strong reason for accepting Llhwyd's conclusions, other good grounds
for doing so are obvious to every reader of the foregoing pages.
Again, while Molyneux states very definitely that "when first the
cave was opened, the bones of two dead bodies entire, not burnt,
were found upon the floor," Llhwyd merely remarks that "they found
several bones in the cave, and part of a stag's (or else elk's)
head, and some other things," and Forbes-Leslie asserts that "there
is no authentic record of human remains having been discovered" in
this chambered mound.
All of the writers quoted differ also as to the uses to which this
structure was put. It was "some place of sacrifice or burial,"
according to Llhwyd; Molyneux is sure that it was a "sepulchre"; and
Forbes-Leslie regards the whole matter as undecided. But, although
the last-named writer is of opinion that this, and similar mounds,
may have been dwellings, he nevertheless admits that undoubtedly
many of them, if not all, have also been used as places of burial.
And these two beliefs are quite reconcilable, if one accepts what
Professor Boyd Dawkins refers to as "the hypothesis of the origin of
chambered tombs invented by Prof. Nilsson." "Chambered tombs,
according to that great authority, were originally the subterranean
houses in which the deceased lived, and there the dead were laid
literally each 'in his own house.'" Whether human skeletons were
really found in "the Brugh of the Boyne" or not, it seems clear that
the mound at Dowth was ultimately, at any rate, a place of
sepulture. "The most remarkable difference" between it and its more
famous neighbour was, says Colonel Leslie, "that in Dowth fragments
of burned human bones were discovered." And it is to be noted that
tradition speaks of this place as "the cave (or 'weem') of the
_grave_ of Bodan, above Dowth:" (_Uaimh Feirt Bodan os Dubath_).
Dowth, or Dubath, may have denoted the mound itself; in which case
the word signifying "above" or "upon" might refer to an exterior
burial, in the "crust" of the mound, of which there are many
examples. For instance, although tradition speaks of the Inverness
_Tomnahurich_ as an inhabited "brugh," yet its exterior was used as
a place of burial at a very early date, as is testified by the
discovery, a few years ago, of a stone "kist," containing a human
skeleton, buried some feet below the surface of the mound.[339]
However, the word _Dubath_ (conjectured on a previous page to have
signified _dubh-ath_, "the black ford") probably did not originally
denote the mound itself, and _it_ therefore was "above Dubath," and
the central chamber of the mound constituted "the weem of the grave
of Bodan," who was presumably the owner of the "burned human bones"
referred to by Colonel Leslie.
But, while a description of the "Brugh of the Boyne" would be very
imperfect without a reference to the subject of burial in chambered
mounds, the various traditions which have been collected in these
pages (themselves a minute fraction of the whole) show that such
mounds, whatever their secondary use, are pre-eminently
distinguished in the memory of the people as the _dwelling-places_
of a certain peculiar "underground" race.
FOOTNOTES:
[331] This paper forms the last of "A Collection of such Papers as
were communicated to the _Royal Society_, Referring to some
_Curiosities_ in Ireland. _Dublin_: Printed by and for George
Grierson, at the Two Bibles in Essex-Street, M, DCC, XXVI." (The
"Collection" forms Part II. of "A Natural History of Ireland,"
issued from the same press.)
[332] Either this describes a slab which was subsequently destroyed
or carried away, or it relates to the carved slab fixed in the
ground below the doorway (as portrayed by Mr. Wakeman, at p. 121,
_ante_).
[333] In the volume already referred to as containing Llhwyd's
description, and other papers.
[334] A slip for "south."
[335] The writer has evidently overlooked his previously expressed
belief that the whole "mount" was artificial; or else he has assumed
that the builders _first_ raised a solid "pyramid" of stones, and
then burrowed into it; which is obviously absurd.
[336] This tract was published in 1725. The "young gentleman's"
illustrations have been re-produced in the present volume, in the
plates facing pp. 124 and 126.
[337] Dr. Molyneux assumes throughout that such "mounts" were
erected by the Danes; and this origin is very often ascribed to them
by Irish and Hebridean tradition. But Lady Ferguson's observation
that the "Danes" and the "Dananns" or "Tuatha De Danann," are
evidently confounded in the popular memory, is worth considering
here. It is clear, at any rate, that the "Danes" of the year 861 who
plundered those Boyne mounds cannot have been the people who reared
them.
[338] Of all these terms the "shallow tray" (or "saucer," if a new
one may be added) is the most appropriate. From the plan of the
Dowth mound (_ante_, p. 138) it will be seen that the central
chamber there also has one of those large stone "trays." No
satisfactory solution has yet been offered of the purposes for which
these "trays" were made.
[339] Described in the Edinburgh _Courant_ of January 6, 1886.
APPENDIX B.
THE SKRÆLINGS.
There are many references to the North American Skrælings in Rafn's
great work entitled "Antiquitates Americanæ: sive Scriptores
Septentrionales Rerum Ante-Columbianarum in America," published
under the auspices of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries
(Copenhagen, 1837). This is a collection of the accounts in the old
Northern chronicles, relating to the Northmen's (_gamle Nordboers_)
voyages of discovery to America, between the tenth and fourteenth
centuries. And from these accounts it is seen that the tribes then
inhabiting the territories on either side of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and as far south as Massachusetts, were the Skrælings;
with whom the Northmen occasionally fought, and at other times
traded, giving them pieces of red cloth in exchange for furs.
That the term by which they are chiefly known to modern writers was
not the only one given to them by the Northmen is seen from a remark
made by one of the chroniclers of Thorfinn Karlsefne, who states
that "these people are called Lapps in some books (_thær thjódhir
kalla sumir bækr Lappa_)."[340] On the other hand, the map of Olaus
Magnus, referred to in the foregoing pages, shows that the northern
corner of Norway was then inhabited by a race of _Scric-Finni_,
"commonly called 'Screlings,'" who at least were the neighbours of
Lapps.
In connection with the North American "Lapps" or "Skrælings," the
editor of _Antiquitates Americanæ_ supplies the following note (p.
45):--"Skrælingos appellatos autumat Bussæus ob humilem staturam;
quam ob rem et interdum ab Islandis _Smælíngjar_ (homunculi)
audiunt. Hæc vero communis appellationis ratio vix esse potest.
Arnas Magnæus in collectaneis ad novam editionem Schedarum Arii
polyhistoris, vocem _Skrælíngjar_ interpretatur errones, incertum
qua ratione, cum ipse nullam attulerit. Suhmius (_Kjöbenhavnske
Selskabs Skrifter_, VIII., pag. 81) eos ita propter vilem armaturam
appellatos putat. Nonne potius nomen istud ob ora macilenta adepti
sunt, ab _at skræla_, arefacere? Nota, Petrum Clausenium Undalinum,
in descriptione Norvegiæ, ed. Hafn. 1632, pag. 375-6, hoc nomen
scribere _Skregklinge_ et _Skreglinge_, qs. a _skrækja_, clamare,
ejulare, cfr. Partic. de Karlsefnio, cap. 10 infra."
Whatever may be the etymology of this word (which in some of its
forms approaches the "_Scric_-Finni" of Norway), it is quite clear
from the _Antiquitates Americanæ_ that those tenth-century natives
of what is now New England and New Brunswick strongly resembled the
modern Eskimos. "Hæc descriptio Skrælingorum accurate quadrat in
hodiernos Grænlandos sive Eskimoos," is the observation made by the
editor (p. 149, _n_.) on a description of some of those people
encountered by the Northmen. And, similarly, the note relative to
their skin-canoes, or kayaks, is as follows:[341]--"_húdhkeipr_,
species navigii, acatium coriaceum vel corio contextum, quo usi sunt
indigenæ, ut etiamnunc Grænlandi ex genere Eskimoorum; itaque per
carabum redditum, qui secundum Isidorum Hispal. in Orig. Libr. 19,
cap. 1. est 'parva scapha ex vimine facta, qui contexta crudo corio
genus navigii præbet.'--Vocem illustrat vir doctissimus Gunnar
Pauli, f. in annotationibus, insertis indici vocum _Orkneyinga sagæ:
'Húdhkeipr_, navis sutilis, vel, si mavis, corio obducta vel
circumdata. Nam phocarum ad hunc usum pelles adhibere Grænlandos
notum est, quorum naves _húdhkeipar_ nostratibus olim sunt
appellatæ.'"
In these references there is much that is suggestive. One would like
to know the occasions on which the Latin term "acatium" was used;
and also the circumstances which induced an editor of the
_Orkneyinga Saga_ to enlarge upon the appearance of the _húdhkeipr_.
Taken in connection with the existence of kayak-using Finnmen, in
the Orkney Isles, less than two centuries ago, this latter allusion
is very striking. Similarly, an explanation of the term
"Skregklinge" or "Skreglinge," occurring in a description of
_Norway_, of the year 1632 (above referred to), arouses equal
interest in that work.
That the Skrælings, wherever situated, were "pigmies," is evident
from the testimony of Olaus Magnus,--and the accounts of the
eleventh-century Northmen fully corroborate this. One of their
references is as follows: "They were small, ugly men, with horrible
heads of hair, great eyes, and broad cheek-bones: (_Their voru smáir
menn ok illiligir, ok íllt höfdhu their hár á höfdhi, eygdhir voru
their mjök ok breidhir í kinnunum_)."[342] Another description
occurs in the _Saga of Thorfinn Karlsefne_ which relates how,
in the year 1011 A.D. (three years after his first encounter
with the American Skrælings), he and his people arrived at
Markland,--a country identified with the modern New Brunswick and
other lands lying round the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here they
encountered five Skrælings, one man, two women and two boys:
("... _ok funnu thar Skrælingja 5, ok var einn skeggiadhr; konur
voru 2, ok börn tvö_;" in which passage it may be noted that the man
was distinguished by the term "bearded,"--_skeggjadhr_). They
captured the two boys, "but the others escaped, and sank beneath the
ground:" ("_Verosimile est, Skrælingos in cavernas subterraneas se
abdidisse_," is the explanation given by the commentator in
_Antiquitates Americanæ_).[343] Karlsefne's people took the boys
away with them, had them baptized, and taught them Icelandic. These
stated that their father and mother (no doubt, the "bearded one" and
one of the two women, then lamenting them in their underground
dwelling) were respectively named Uvæge and Vethillde;[344] and that
their people had no houses, but lived in dens and caves: ("_í hellum
edha holum_"). The country of the Skrælings, they said, was governed
by two kings or chiefs, one named Avalldamon (or Avalldumon) and the
other Valldidida."
It will be seen from these references that although those Skrælings
of nine centuries ago are rightly regarded as probable progenitors
of modern Eskimos, there were some differences between the two. The
term "shaggy" or "bearded," used to distinguish the man from his two
female companions, certainly does not indicate that the latter were
themselves hirsute. But the previous reference to the "ugly" or
"horrible" heads of hair, and the description of their eyes as very
large, are two points that seem to denote a race not wholly
identical with modern Eskimos.
Moreover, the rapid disappearance of the adults underground, on the
occasion when the two boys were captured, is more suggestive of the
dwarfs of tradition (such as those who similarly escaped from
Suafurlami when he attempted to smite them with his magic sword)
than of the Greenlanders of to-day.
Although the accounts of the two boy prisoners might be held to
denote that the manners they described were new to the Northmen,
yet an incident of earlier date shows clearly that the latter
quite understood the subterranean ideas of those North American
"Lapps." The incident referred to is this: In the year 1004,
Thorwald Ericson and his followers had surprised a small party of
nine Skrælings at the entrance to Plymouth Harbour, on the coast of
Massachusetts,[345] and of these they killed eight. The ninth sped
away in his skin-canoe to the inner end of the bay, out of which
there presently emerged an infuriated swarm of kayakkers. But before
they appeared, the Northmen had had time to note a group of
"hillocks" on the beach (apparently on the interior curve of the
promontory terminating in the modern "Gurnet Point,") and these
"hillocks" they assumed to be the abodes of the Skrælings.[346] This
was seven years before the capture of the boys by Karlsefne's party,
and the inference clearly is that they were accustomed to regard
kayak-using dwarfs as mound-dwellers. Indeed, the very fact that
they styled the natives "Lapps" and "goblins,"[347] as well as
Skrælings, shows that they regarded them as belonging to the same
race as similar people well known to them in Europe.
FOOTNOTES:
[340] _Antiq. Amer._ p. 182_n_.
[341] P. 43, note _a_.
[342] Pages 180-1. It ought to be added that the version which is
given on p. 149 has _svartir_ ("swarthy" or "black") instead of
_smáir_. But whichever of these versions has the correct word, the
small stature of the Skrælings is beyond dispute.
[343] Page 162, note _a_. The account above referred to is given at
pp. 161-2, and again at pp. 182-3.
[344] According to the version on p. 162. That of p. 182 makes both
names feminine, and indicates that the boys were not sons of one
mother. A footnote on p. 162 gives many variants of these names,
_e.g._, Ægi, Ovægi, etc., Weihilldi, Veinhildi, etc.
[345] That, at any rate, is the locality agreed upon by those who
have tracked the routes of the Northmen.
[346] _Op. cit._, p. 43.
[347] See p. 144_n._, _ante_.
INDEX.
Aagerup, Denmark:
reputed chambered mound near, 155.
Aberfoyle, Perthshire:
reputed chambered hill at, 152-3.
Abernethy, Perthshire:
Round Tower of, said to have been built by Pechts, 67, 86.
A. district a former territory of the Pechts, 150.
Ainos:
A dwarfish race, 165;
their past history, 165-6;
their characteristic hairiness, 166-172;
their platycnemism, 176;
their speed, 177;
their "short, screeching" cry, 168;
A's. make use of reindeer, moccasins, "skies," and harpoons,
all of which show affinity of custom, if not of blood,
with Eskimo families, 169-171.
Alaskan, or Aleutian Eskimos, 9_n_, 22.
All-Hallows. (_See_ Hallowmas.)
_Almhain_ or Allen, Hill of, Kildare:
Fin's dwelling at, 56.
_Almhain_ or Almond, Glen, West Perthshire:
resort of Fians, 77.
Ardmore, Waterford:
Round Tower of, said to have been built in the manner ascribed
to the Pechts, 71_n_.
Argyleshire. (_See under_ Mounds.)
Arthur, and "primitive Britons" or "Pechts," 142-3_n_.
Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, 143_n_.
Aschberg, Casterlé, province of Antwerp.
A reputed chambered mound, 86-7, 155.
Ashbury, Berkshire. A chambered mound, 132_n_.
_Auxcriniers_ of Guernsey tradition, 16, 178.
_Baile Thangasdail_, Island of Barra:
story of a chambered mound near, 82_n_, 115.
Ballindalloch (near), Banffshire:
reputed chambered mound, 117.
Beelsby, Lincolnshire:
tradition of dwarfs wearing red caps, 107_n_.
Beltin.
A Fian date, 94.
A Fairy date, 98.
Ben-cnock, Islay:
reputed chambered mound, 114.
Ben Muich Dhui, Aberdeenshire:
Dwarfs of, 97.
Bergen, Norway:
a celebrated resort of the Shetland Finns, 5, 13:
suzerainty of B. over N.E. Scotland, 37.
The _Strils_ of B., 7_n_.
Bissau, Aberdeenshire:
reputed chambered mound, 117.
Blackwater, Leinster, 92.
Blackwater, Munster, 92, 127.
Blackwater, East Perthshire, 94-5.
Blackwater, West Perthshire, 152.
Bolg. (_See_ Fir-Bolg.)
Braderup, Sylt:
the _Pukthal_ at, 87.
Brechin, Forfarshire:
Round Tower at B. said to have been built by the Pechts, 72.
Brittany:
church in B. said to have been built by Fairies, 85-6;
_Feins_ or _Fions_ of B., 85.
_Broch_, _Brog_, etc., 43_n_, 61, 77-79.
Broch of Coldoch, Perthshire:
a chambered mound, 119, 149-151, 153.
Brownies, 80, 141-2, 158-164. (_See_ also Fairies, etc.)
Brugh of the Boyne, County Meath, 84, 111, 119-133, 153.
Bugle, Buffalo, or Urus, 80-81_n_, 95.
Buildings said to have been reared in a single night:
Abernethy Tower, 85-6;
Chapels in Brittany, 85;
Castle of the _Gypnissen_, 86.
Burray, Orkney. Finnman's boat once preserved there, 6.
All trace of it now lost, 17_n_.
Canoe. (_See_ Skin-Boat.)
"Dug-out," 31.
Cassiterides. (_See_ Oestrymnic Isles.)
Cater Thun, Forfarshire:
said to be Pictish, 73, 76, 86, 99;
alleged to have been built by a witch, and inhabited by
Fairies, 99-100:
a kettle of gold believed to be hidden there, 150_n_.
Cathair Mhor } Gairloch, Ross-shire: fairy residences, 118.
Cathair Bheag }
"Catrail" in S. of Scotland, said to have been built by
Pechts, 67.
Cave-Men:
in Uist, Hebrides, during 17th century, 29.
"Cavern" at Yester, or Gifford, East Lothian, 143.
Chambered Mounds. (_See_ Mounds.)
Chessmen of Walrus Ivory, found in Hebrides, 32, 158_n_.
Clunie, Perthshire, Castle Hill of:
reputed chambered mound, 145-146.
Clydesdale.
Pecht's house in C., 66;
Glasgow cathedral said to have been built by Pechts, 72;
traditional description of dwarfs of C., 97.
Cnock-doun, Islay:
reputed chambered mound, 114.
Cnoc Fraing, Inverness-shire:
a home of fairies, 146.
_Coir-nan-Uruisgean_, Perthshire, 151-152.
Coldoch _broch_, Perthshire, 119, 149-151, 153.
Colonsay, island of:
Macphail of C. and his (?) Finn lover, 15-16;
tradition of dwarfs living in C., 147;
_Sithean Mor_ and _Sithean Beag_, 147.
Connaught, Fians of, 76, 93.
Corryvreckan, Argyleshire:
The (?) Finn woman of C. and her Colonsay lover, 15-16.
Corstorphine Church, near Edinburgh;
said to have been built by the "Hottentots," 70-71.
Craig Patrick, Inverness-shire, 149.
Craig y Ddinas, Glamorganshire, 143_n_.
Crocan Corr, Kilbrandon, Argyleshire:
reputed chambered mound, 114.
Cromar, Aberdeenshire;
underground gallery at, 101.
Crown, Inverness, 149_n_.
Cruachan _rath_:
re-built by a servile race, 68_n_, 125_n_, 136, 152_n_;
"a party of smiths at work" in its interior, 136.
Cruithne. (_See_ also Picts, etc.)
Were pre-Milesian, 51.
Were connected with the "Lochlin" territory, 51.
Their connection with Feens and Fairies, 128-9.
Cuailgne: Fin's fort on, 75-76.
"Cyclopean" character of Pictish buildings, 73.
Dananns (_Tuatha De Danann_):
classed with the Cruithne as of Continental origin, and
"pre-Milesian" in settling in British Isles; and
consequently to be classed with the Fians, 51.
Known also as the _Fir Sidhe_ or Fairies, 126;
account of their rivalry with the Milesians, 124-127;
description of the dwelling assigned to the King of the
Dananns, 120-130 and Appendix A.
Danes;
their ravages in the Boyne Valley in 861, when they plundered
the underground chambers of the "Fians and Fairies," 81-84.
Danish ballad of dwarfs and colonists, 105-6.
Dartmoor;
its gubbins and pixies, 161-2.
Davis Straits.
Conjectured by some to be the home of the Orkney Finnmen, 7.
Eskimo of D. S. at Leith in 1816, 8, 12.
Deer. (_See_ also Reindeer and Elk.)
Hunted in Glenshee, East Perthshire, by the Fians, 94-5;
"great-beamed" D., 95;
D. milked and used as beasts of burthen, 96.
Denghoog:
chambered mound in Sylt, 87, 112-113, 122.
Denmark. (_See_ also Lochlin.)
Eckwadt church said to have been built by a "hill-man,"
85-86_n_.
(_See_ also "Mounds reputed to be chambered.")
Devonshire, 161-2.
_Digh_;
an equivalent for _sithean_, 79_n_.
Donegal.
Skin-boats used by natives of "The Rosses," 18;
Finn Town, D., 23.
Doon, or Doo'n, of Aberfoyle, 152-154.
Doon of Menteith, 144.
Doon of Rothiemurchus, 144-145.
Dornoch Firth:
Fairies ferried themselves across D. F. in
"cockle-shells," 17, 22.
Dowth, or Dubath; chambered mound, 84, 111, 119, 132-3, 137.
_Drinnich_, or _Trinnich_, a Gaelic term applied to the Picts,
signifying "labourers," 71-72.
Drudges.
Cruachan _rath_ re-built by an enslaved race, 68_n_,
125_n_, 136, 152_n_.
Similar references, 68-74, 151-2.
_Gypnissen_, 86.
Druids, 125-127.
Dunnan, in Galloway;
a fairy fort, 99.
Dunstanborough Castle, Northumberland, said to have been built by
the Picts, 67.
Dwarfs. (_See_ also Pechts or Picts.)
D's of Shetland tradition, otherwise Finns, 56; also 59.
D's of Scottish tradition generally, otherwise Pechts, 58-60;
D's of Highland tradition, 57, 97;
D's of Clydesdale, 97.
D's of Northumberland, 67, 80, 86, 99.
D's of Yorkshire, 100.
D's of Lincolnshire, 107_n_.
D's of Wales, 160-2.
D's of Cornwall, 162.
D's of Devon, 161-2.
Fin of the Fians a D., 55-56.
D's of Brittany (_Fions_, etc.), 85.
D's of Antwerp, 86-87.
D's of the Netherlands, 86.
D's of Denmark and Danish tradition, 85-86_n_, 105-106.
D's of Sylt, 87, 112-113.
D's of Scandinavia, 91.
D's of Germany, 163-4, 172-3.
D's of Greenland and North America, 63.
D's of Japan, 157, 165 _et seq._
D's of Africa, 157.
Great bodily strength ascribed to the Scotch Pechts, 72-73;
to the Northumbrian Picts, 67, 73-4;
to the dwarfs of Tienen, in the Netherlands, 86.
D's at war with each other, and with men, 94_n_.
Green the colour of the D's, 97.
Tribute exacted by the D's, 97.
Magic of the D's, 106.
Hidden treasures of the D's, 107_n_, 129_n_, 150_n_.
D's as serfs or drudges, 151-2.
D's in one aspect civilized, in another savage, 156-7.
Hairiness of skin of D's, 157-164, 169_n_.
Eamhain, or Eamhna, 49, 133-4.
Eckwadt, Denmark;
residence of a "hill-man" near, 85_n_.
Eday, Orkney:
Finnman seen there in 1682, 5.
Edinburgh.
Finnman's skiff preserved there 6;
Corstorphine church said to have been built by the
"Hottentots," 70-71;
Pecht lands near E., 68-71;
King Arthur and the Pechts believed to have entered a
subterranean chamber at Arthur's Seat, 143_n_.
Eilean Suthainn, Loch Maree;
a fairy resort, 118.
Elk.
Hunted in East Perthshire by the Fians, 94-95;
horns of E. found there, 95;
_lon-dubh_="black elk," 95.
Erribol, Sutherlandshire:
Weem, Pecht's House, or Fairy Hall at, 101.
Eskimos.
Compared with Shetland Finns, 7-8;
with Pechts, 53, 77-78;
with Finns and Lapps, 53;
with "Skraelings," Appendix B;
with Ainos, 169-171.
E. or Skraeling chambered mounds in Greenland, Labrador, and
Massachusetts, 62-4, 77-78, 155, and Appendix B.
Kayaks:
their speed, 8;
feat of oversetting kayak, 12.
Kayakker, at some distance, resembles triton or mer-man, 13.
Open skin-boats of E., 22.
Dwarfish stature of E., 63.
E's of Alaska, 9_n_, of Greenland, 12-13_n_, 53, 62-4, 142_n_.
E. magicians believe they can control the winds, 53, 63.
An E. type in modern Britain, 37-8.
Eu, island, Ross-shire;
a haunt of 17th c. "pirates," 29.
Evie, Orkney:
reputed chambered mounds at, 111_n_.
Fairies. (_See_ Dananns, Fians, Pechts, Dwarfs, &c.)
F's inhabited the _bruth_, _sith-bhrugh_ or _sheean_,
otherwise the "Pecht's house," 79.
F's associated with Pechts, 80;
with Fians, 81-84;
with Fions, 85.
As Dananns (_q. v._), F's associated with Cruithne, 51,
127-129.
Builders of a church in Brittany in circumstances suggestive
of the Pechts, 85.
Inhabitants of the White Cater Thun, an alleged stronghold of
the Pechts, 99-100.
"Dancing and making merry" in the Orkneys, c. 1700 (cf.
Shetland Finns, 3), 14, 111_n_.
Frequently seen at Fitty Hill, Westray, at same period, 33.
"Fairy Ha'" in Shetland, 104.
"In armour" in Orkney, 14;
at war with each other in Ireland, 93.
Tithes due to F., 97.
"Good" F's of christenings, etc., 91-2;
"Christian" F's, 85.
F's of Clydesdale, 97.
F's as serfs or drudges, 151-2.
Fairy Knowe of Aberfoyle, 152-4.
Fairy Knowe beside Broch of Coldoch (itself a _çi-devant_ Fairy
Knowe), 119, 149, 151.
Fearna, Weem of, 136-7.
Fens Fiord, Bergen, 7_n_.
Fians, or Feens, or Feinne of Gaelic lore:
The Land of the F's, 45.
The Well of the F's, 43.
The Hillock of the F's, 130.
Other F. localities, 46, 49, 51, 52.
Dr. Skene's belief as to the historical position of the F's, 46.
F's preceded the Milesians in Ireland, 46, 51.
F. Confederacy not restricted to Ireland, but included the
following divisions:--
F's of England and Wales;
of Northern and Central Scotland;
and of Lochlin, understood to be the Rhine-Elbe region, 47-51.
Irish F's divisible into:--
F's of Connaught and West;
F's of Leinster;
and F's of Eastern Ulster, 76, 93.
F's referred to in Scotland in Perthshire (Glenlyon,
Glenal-main-with-Glenshee, and Glenshee or Blackwater) 77,
94-95.
Outer Hebrides and part of West Highlands specially the Land
of the F., 45.
(?) Referred to in Ayrshire, 85.
F's exacted tribute from Irish kings, 47.
Their ancient rights of hunting and of free-quarters, 94.
Overthrow of F's at Battle of Gawra, 47.
Vanished glory of the F's, 75-76, 130.
Fin, their chief, court dwarf to the king of the "big men," 56.
F's as the drudges and serfs of another race, 75.
F's inhabited "Pechts' houses," 76-77.
F's as builders of stone forts, 75-76.
F's regarded as dwarfs, 65.
F's associated with Dananns, Fir Sidhe, or Fairies, 51, 81-84.
F's regarded as Cruithne or Picts, 51-2, 54.
Their assumed identity with historical and traditional Finns,
44-50, 54-5, 65.
Their magic identified with that of the Finns, 54.
Their "great-antlered deer," 95.
Their darts, 54-5.
Their swiftness of foot, 177.
A descendant of the F., 44.
Fierna, or Fierin, King of the Sidhfir of Munster, 93, 127.
His "hillock" near Limerick, 93, 145.
Fin, Finn, or Fionn, a chief of the Feens of Gaelic tradition:
Grandson of a Finland woman, 49-50.
Described as going in his skin-boat to the Kingdom of the Big
Men, where he became the court dwarf, 55-6.
A dwarf in a Scotch poem of _ante_ 1600, styled a grandson
of F., 65.
His stone fort on Cuailgne, 75-6, 93.
His "castles" in Glenlyon, Perthshire, 77.
Finland.
Alleged to be the home of the Orkney Finnmen (6),
of the grandmother of "Fin" (49-50),
of the Fomorians (50_n_).
Finn, a chief of the dwarfs of Sylt tradition, 87, 112-113.
Chambered mound of Denghoog said to have been his dwelling,
87, 112-113.
Finnmen of Orkney:
Used to fish in Orkney waters in 17th century, 5-6.
Their seal-skin boats described, 6.
The great speed of these skin-boats, 5-6.
Specimens of their boats at Burray and Edinburgh, 6, 10,
11_n_, 17_n_.
F's said to have come from Finland, 6.
Regarded as "barbarous men" by Edinburgh physicians of 1696,
10, 30-31.
"The Dart he makes use of for killing fish," 6.
Finns of Shetland tradition:
Their "sea-skins or seal-skins," 1.
The great speed of these "skins," 4-5.
F's said to have come from Norway, and also from "Shool
Skerry," 2-4.
Sea-rovers or pirates, 3, 34-35
Magicians, soothsayers, and doctors, 1-5.
Inter-married with Shetlanders, 1-4, 34-35.
Descendants of such marriages "lucky," and proud of their
descent, 1, 2, 5.
Cattle of the F's, 4.
F's regarded as dwarfs, 56, 92.
Dancing on the sands "every ninth night," 3 (cf. Fairies,
14, 111_n_.)
Identified with Feens, 43-44, 54, 65.
Finns and Lapps:
Their territory formerly greater than now, 35.
Inter-marriages with non-Finnish races, 39-42.
A semi-Finn lord of Orkney, 40-41.
F. or L. type in modern Britain, 37-38.
F's of Lofoten neighbourhood in 12th century, 21, 39.
Boats made by them, 21.
Skiffs of modern L's, 22_n_.
Swedish-F. settlement in Pennsylvania, U.S. in 17th
century, 36-37.
"Lapp" natives of North America in 10th century, Appendix B.
F's or L's as magicians, "selling winds," etc., 16, 41, 53,
91-92.
Identified with Fairies, 96-97;
with Feens, 50;
with Dwarfs, 129_n_ and Appendix B.
Fions, etc. on the Continent:
Fions of Brittany (dwarfs who lived with the fairies), 85.
Feins, 85_n_.
Fir-Bolg, or Firbolgs.
Cruachan _rath_ re-built by a race of F., 68_n_, 125_n_,
136, 152_n_.
Fitty Hill, Westray. (_See_ Westray.)
Forteviot, Perthshire, 69.
Forth, River.
Chambered mounds of Forth valley, ascertained and reputed, 114,
119, 151-154.
Gabhra, or Gawra, Battle of, 47-50.
Gaels. (_See_ Milesians.)
Gairloch, Ross-shire.
_Tombuidhe Ghearrloch_, 112;
Big and Little "Cathairs" of G., 118;
_Sitheanan Dubha_, 118.
Galloway:
probable Finns in G., 25;
Picts commonly called "Galloway-men," 69-70_n_;
last stronghold of Picts in G., 99;
stronghold of Fairies in G., 99.
_Garbhcrioch_:
translated as "the rough bounds," and defined as the country
between Loch Linnhe and the Hebrides, formed a portion of
the "Land of the Feens," 45.
Called also _Garbh-chnochan_, 118.
Germany. (_See_ under Lochlin.)
Gillesbierg, Denmark: reputed chambered mound, 155_n_.
Glac-an-t-Shithein, Nether Lochaber, 147_n_.
Glasgow Cathedral, said to have been built by the Pechts, 72.
Glenlyon, Perthshire, a home of the Feens, 77.
Glen Odhar, Sutherlandshire:
its fairy herds believed to have been reindeer, 97.
Glenshee and Glen Almain, West Perthshire, a home of the
Feens, 77.
Glenshee, East Perthshire, a favourite hunting-ground of the
Feens, 94.
Glen-na-Shirich, Nether Lochaber, a glen of the Fairies, 147_n_.
Gobban, Goblin, Gubbin, etc., 113, 144_n_, 162_n_.
Gobban Saor (The Noble Smith), 84, 132-3;
his chambered mound, 132.
Goblin Hall, East Lothian, 143.
Goblin Knowe (_Cnoc nam Bocan_), Perthshire, 151-152.
Goblins of Greenland, 144_n_.
Gowanree.
An enslaved tribe of Firbolgic origin, 68_n_, 125_n_, 136,
152_n_.
Green, the colour of the Fairies or Dwarfs, 97;
of the Feens, 97-8;
of the Pechts, 99.
Gruids, near Lairg, Sutherlandshire;
reputed chambered mound at, 116-117.
Gruinard, Ross-shire:
resort of 17th-century pirates, 30.
Gubbins of Dartmoor, 161-2;
their swiftness of foot, 177.
Gultebierg, Denmark:
a reputed chambered mound, 155_n_.
Gurnett Point, Massachusetts:
reputed chambered mound near, Appendix B.
_Gwylliaid Cochion Mowddwy_, an underground race in
Wales, 160-1;
"their swiftness and agility," 177.
Gypnissen, or Dwarf-women of the Netherlands, 86.
Hadeland, Norway, ruled by a semi-Finn, 40-42.
Hadrian's Wall said to have been built by the Picts, 67.
Hairy Men. (_See_ Shaggy Men, Ainos, etc.)
Halfdan Haleg, a semi-Finn noble:
was lord of Orkney for some months: slain at North
Ronaldshay, 40-41.
Hallowmas.
A Feen date, 94.
A Fairy date, 98.
Hebrides:
Outer H. regarded as part of the "Land of the Feens," 45.
Some parts of H. thickly wooded in 16th century, 105_n_.
Raids made by Lewismen on Orkney and Shetland in 15th
century, 33-35.
Certain Hebrideans not properly subjects of British monarch
in 1608, 26-32.
Some of the Hebrideans styled "savages" by James I. (28),
and by Skyemen (29);
and these, or others, referred to as "robbers" or
"pirates" by a 17th-century writer (29-30).
Chessmen of walrus ivory found in H., 32, 158_n_.
Wigwams of Jura islanders in 1772, 24.
"The Harrisian physiognomy" and stature, 24.
Hill-men, how-folk, _bergmannetjes_, hog-boys, shag-boys,
etc., 85_n_, 107, 111-113.
"Hottentot," builders of Corstorphine church, 70.
Iberians:
used skin-boats, 19-20;
Iberian type in modern Britain, 38.
Inverness, 146-149.
Jura, island of; wigwams of islanders, 24.
Kaempe Viser, 105.
Kayaks. (_See_ Skin-boats.)
Kempies or Champions, 43.
Kenilworth, Warwickshire;
underground dwarfs of, 142-3.
Kettlester, Shetland;
remembered as a dwarf abode, 59.
Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire;
group of Weems, Pechts' Houses, or Fairy Halls at K., 101.
Kirkcudbright:
"_in terra Pictorum_," 69_n_.
(_See_ also Galloway.)
Knowth (_Cnoghbha_), County Meath;
chambered mound, 84, 132-4, 137, 140, 151_n_.
Kundebye, Denmark;
reputed chambered mound at, 155_n_.
Lapps. (_See_ Finns and Lapps.)
Leinster:
Feens of, 81-2;
Fairies of, 81-2, 92.
_Leum-an-t'-Shithiche_, 147_n_.
Limerick:
Knockfierin, 93, 145.
Lincolnshire;
shag-boys, fairies and red-caps in, 107_n_.
Lochlin or Lochlan;
believed to denote the territory between the Rhine and the Elbe,
but also applied to Scandinavia, 49.
Lofoten;
Finns or Lapps of L. neighbourhood in 12th century, 21, 39.
Maes-how, Orkney. (_See_ Mounds.)
Magic:
of the Shetland Finns, 1-5, 14;
of the Norwegian Finns or Lapps, 16, 41, 53;
of Manx women, 16;
of Picts, 53;
of Eskimos, 53, 63;
of traditional dwarfs, 91, 106.
Man, Isle of:
Inter-marriages of land-folk and sea-folk, 15;
witches selling winds to sailors, 16;
traditional description of departure of fairies, 17.
Mandans of Upper Missouri;
skin-boats of, 18.
Mangelbierg, Denmark. (_See_ Mounds.)
Mer-men and Mer-women. (_See_ Sea-Folk.)
Migvie, Aberdeenshire;
Weem, Pecht's House, or Fairy Hall at, 101.
Milesians:
A name given to the Gaelic-speaking race, 46, 51;
conquered the "Cruithne" or "Pechts" of Scotland in the
ninth century, 51;
conquered the "Dananns" of Ireland at an earlier period, as
described in tradition, 125-126;
the possession of a dwarf restricted in Ireland and
Gaelic-Scotland to families of Milesian descent,
141-142, 144.
Mounds.
Chambered M's of the Pechts described, 61-2, 64;
of the Eskimos, 62-3;
of both, 77-8.
The _sithean_, _sithbhrog_, etc., 78-79.
The "Pelasgic arch" of the chambered mound, 62, 78_n_.
Mounds ascertained to be chambered:
Brugh of the Boyne, county Meath, 84, 111, 119-133, 153.
Dowth mound, County Meath, 84, 111, 119, 132-3, 137.
Maes-how, Orkney, 106-110, 113, 114, 121, 153.
Mound on Wideford Hill, Orkney, 62.
Coldoch "broch," Perthshire, 119, 149-151, 153.
Ashbury, Berkshire, 132_n_.
Denghoog, Sylt, 87, 112-113, 122.
Eskimo Mounds in Labrador and Greenland, 62-4, 155.
Mycenæ "treasure house," 153.
Mounds reputed to be chambered:
In the British Isles:--
"Some small hillocks" in Evie, Orkney, 111_n_.
"Tomhan" near Lairg, Sutherlandshire, 116-117.
_Tombuidhe Ghearrloch_, Ross-shire, 112, 114.
_Sitheanan Dubha_, Gairloch, Ross-shire, 118.
Specimens of the "Cathair Mhor" and the "Cathair Bheag"
in the district of Gairloch, Ross-shire, 118.
_Tomnahurich_, Inverness-shire, 146-149, 153.
_Cnoc Fraing_, Inverness-shire, (? "mountain"), 146.
_Shiathan Mor_, Inverness-shire, (? "mountain"), 146.
Doon of Rothiemurchus, Inverness-shire, 144-5.
_Sithean_ in Corrie-Vinnean, Nether Lochaber,
Inverness-shire, 118.
_Sithean Mor_ and _Sithean Beag_, in Nether
Lochaber, Inverness-shire, 147.
"Tulman" near Baile Thangasdail, Barra, Inverness-shire, 115.
At Ballindalloch, Banffshire, 117.
Bissau, Aberdeenshire, 117.
_Sithean Mor_ and _Sithean Beag_, in island of Colonsay,
Argyleshire, 147.
"Digh" at Borra-cheill, in island of Islay, Argyleshire
(? the "_Digh mhòr Thallanta_" of McAlpine's Dictionary),
79_n_.
_Ben-cnock_, island of Islay, Argyleshire, 114.
_Cnock-doun_, (?) island of Islay, Argyleshire, 114.
_Crocan Corr_, Kilbrandon, Lorn, Argyleshire, 114.
"Hill" at Muckairn, Argyleshire, 114.
"Fairy Knowe" or "Doon" of Aberfoyle, Perthshire, 152-154.
"Goblin Knowe" (_Cnoc nam Bocan_), Menteith, Perthshire,
151.
"Fairy Knowe" beside Broch of Coldoch, Perthshire, 119,
149, 151.
Ternavie, Perthshire, 150-151.
"Castle Hill" at Clunie, Perthshire, 145-146.
Kenilworth, Warwickshire, 142-143.
Knowth (_Cnoghbha_), County Meath, 132-140, 151_n_.
_Sidh Nectain_, or Hill of Carbury, (? its summit), W.
Meath, 84_n_.
Knockfierin, County Limerick, 93, 145.
In Denmark:--
Mangelbierg, Hirschholm, Hösterkiöb Mark, 155_n_.
Gillesbierg, Hirschholm, Hösterkiöb Mark, 155_n_.
Wheel-hill, Gudmandstrup, Lordship of Odd, 155_n_.
Steensbierg, Ouröe, Joegerspriis, 155_n_.
Kundebye, Holbeck, 155_n_.
Gultebierg, 155_n_.
Söbierg, 155_n_.
Mound (or underground gallery) between Aagerup and Mamp,
155_n_.
The residence of a certain "hill-man" near Eckwadt, 85_n_.
In Belgium:--
Aschberg, Casterlé, province of Antwerp, 86-7, 155_n_.
In North America:--
Group of "hillocks" situated, it is believed, on the
northern side of Plymouth Harbour, assumed to be the
residences of tenth-century "Skraelings" or "Lapps" of
America, Appendix B.
Mounds, and other localities, referred to as homes or resorts
of dwarfs, fairies, Feens, gubbins, etc.:--
Norwick, Shetland, 103-4.
Unst, Shetland, 106.
Villenshaw, (?) Orkney, 105, 116.
_Eilean Suthainn_, Loch Maree, 118.
_Tobar na Feinne_, 43.
_Tobar an t' Shithein_, Nether Lochaber, 147_n_.
_Glac an t' Shithein_, Nether Lochaber, 147_n_.
_Leum an t' Shithiche_, Nether Lochaber, 147_n_.
_Glen-na-Shirich_, Nether Lochaber, 147_n_.
_Ruadh na Sirach_, Kerrera, 147_n_.
White Cater Thun, Forfarshire, 99, 150_n_.
Abernethy, Perthshire, 150.
Glenshee (2) and Glen Almond, Perthshire, 77, 94-5.
_Coir-nan-Uruisgean_, Perthshire, 151-2.
"Cavern" at Yester, 143.
Hill-country of Galloway, 115-6.
Thorpe, Lincolnshire, 107_n_.
Beelsby, Lincolnshire, 107_n_.
Mowddwy, Merionethshire, 160-1.
_Craig y Ddinas_, Glamorganshire, 143_n_.
Nympton, Devonshire, 162.
Dartmore, Devonshire, 162.
Penzance, Cornwall, 162_n_.
_Sith Eamhna_, Armagh, 133-4.
Cruachan _rath_, Connaught, 68_n_, 125_n_, 136, 152_n_.
Tienen, The Netherlands, 86.
(_See_ also "Underground Galleries.")
Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire, 86, 100.
Munster. Fairies of M., 93.
Netherlands. Resemblance of Tienen dwarfs to Scotch and
Northumbrian Picts, 86.
Nine.
Shetland Finns held festival every ninth night, 3.
"Nine men" apparently the smallest division of a Feenian
army, 48.
Norns identified with dwarfs, 91.
Northumberland.
Traditional ideas regarding the Picts, 67, 157.
Norway.
Finns from N., 2-5;
Annual of N., 37;
Lofoten Finns, 21, 39;
Ringerike, Hadeland, and Thoten governed by semi-Finns, 40-42.
Oestrymnic Isles; skin-boats used by natives of, 19-20.
Oisin, 75-77.
Orkney.
Picts were early inhabitants of O., 104;
O. governed by a semi-Finn in tenth century, 41.
(_See_ also Burray, Eday, Evie, Finnmen, Maes-how,
Ronaldshay, Stronsay, Westray.)
Oscar of Emhain, 49.
Pabbay, Hebrides, a haunt of 17th-century pirates, 29.
"Pelasgic arch" of chambered mound, 62, 78_n_, 103, 110-111.
Pickering Castle, Yorkshire, 86, 100.
Picts, Piks, Pechs, Pechts, etc. (_See_ also Cruithne.)
P's said to have been first settlers in Orkney and Shetland,
59, 104.
Their small boats, 59, 178-179.
Their dwarfish stature, 58-60, 65.
Their great strength, 60, 66-7, 74.
Their mounds or underground houses, 58-66, 77-78.
Their method of building, 67.
White Cater Thun, Brechin Tower, Abernethy Tower, Glasgow
Cathedral, Dunstanborough Castle, the Catrail, the Wall
of Hadrian, and many old castles, popularly believed to
have been built by P's, 67-74, 99-100.
Their last stronghold in Galloway, 99.
P's, or Gallowaymen, at the Battle of the Standard, 69-70_n_.
P's popularly regarded as magicians and supernatural beings, 53,
79-80, 99.
P's associated with Feens, 51, 64-5;
with Fions, Feins, and Fairies of Brittany, 85;
and with a Danish "hill-man," 85-6_n_.
P's as serfs or drudges, 67-74, 76.
P's identified by J. F. Campbell with Lapps and Fairies, 96.
P's and King Arthur, 143_n_.
Hairiness of P's, 157-8.
Their swiftness of foot, 177.
Pict or Pecht-land, 52, 68-73.
Pixies of Cornwall and Devon, 162.
"Pucks" of Sylt, 87.
Red-caps.
In Sylt, 87.
In Lincolnshire 107_n_.
(_See_ also 129_n_ and 142.)
Reindeer in Scotland, 96-97.
Ringerike, Norway, 40-2.
Rona, Hebrides, and its "pirates," 29.
Ronaldshay (North), 41.
Ross-shire;
in 17th century, 29-30, 45;
a legendary mound in, 112.
Samoyeds.
Bergen _Strils_ conjectured to have linguistic affinity with
S., 7_n_.
Skin-boats of S., 18.
Savages:
Orkney Finnmen spoken of as S., 10, 30-31.
Certain Hebrideans referred to as S., 28, 29, 31.
Strathnaver people in 1658 "barbarous," 30.
Term "Hottentot" applied to traditional builders in
Mid-Lothian, 71.
Sea-Folk.
Their inter-marriages with land-folk:--
In Shetland, 1-5, 15;
in Hebrides, 15;
in Ireland, 2, 15;
in Isle of Man, 15;
in Wales, 2, 15.
Mer-women as wives and mothers of land-folk, 1-5, 13, 15.
Seal-men and Selkie-wives, 1-5, 12, 13, 15_n_, 34_n_.
Seelie court, The, 97.
Seffister, Shetland, and its "trow's door," 59.
Shag-boys, hog-boys, or how-folk, 107.
Shaggy Men.
Pechts, 157-8;
Traditional dwarfs generally, 158-164;
Ainos of Japan, 166 _et seq._
Sheeans or _Sitheanan_. (_See_ Mounds.)
Shetland.
Dwarf abodes in S., 59, 102-3, 106.
Picts early inhabitants of S., 104.
(_See_ also Finns of S.)
Shool Skerry, or Sule Skerry, 3, 34_n_.
Sithe-folk. (_See_ also Fairies.)
_Sidhe_ and _Tshud_, 89-90.
Seid-men, 90-91.
Worship of S., 92.
S. of North of Ireland and Munster, 93.
Identified with Dananns, 126.
Associated with Feens, 128-9.
Former high rank, 132.
Skin-boats:
"Sea-skin or seal-skin" of Shetland Finns, 1-5, 8.
Kayaks of Orkney Finnmen, 5-11, 18-19.
Skin-boats of Iberians, Hebrideans, Irish, Welsh, Scotch,
Samoyeds, Skraelings, Eskimos, Mandans, 8, 12-13, 18-22.
Fin's skin-boat, 55-6.
Skin-boat of Picts, 178-9.
Skin-boat of North American "Lapps" or "Skraelings," 7,
Appendix B.
Skraelings, 7, Appendix B.
Smiths, Underground:
The "Noble Smith" and his chambered mound, 132-4;
Wayland Smith's chambered mound, 132_n_;
Smiths working in "cave" of Cruachan, 136;
German traditional idea of such people, 163-4.
Stronsay, Orkney.
Finnman seen there about year 1700, 6.
Teith valley.
Mounds of, 114.
Assumed to be the "vallis" referred to by Gildas, as
traversed by the Picts, 178_n_.
Thorpe, Lincolnshire; shag-boys at, 107_n_.
Thoten, Norway, 40-2.
Tialdasund, Norway, 21.
Tienen, Netherlands; dwarfs of, 86.
_Tombuidhe Ghearrloch_;
a reputed chambered mound, 112.
Trows, Trolls, or Trollmen. (_See_ Dwarfs.)
Tshuds, 89-90.
Ugrians. (_See_ Finns, Lapps, Skraelings, etc.)
Uist, Hebrides 29.
Ulster.
Feens of, 76, 93;
Cruithne or Picts of, 93;
skin-boats of, 18.
(_See_ also Eamhain.)
Underground Chambers. (_See_ also Mounds.)
Indications, apart from those of tradition, that these were
dwelling-places, 101-2, 113 (fire-place).
Underground galleries, not having mounds over them, 101-4.
Unst, Shetland, 106.
_Ur-uisg_, or Water-man, 142_n_, 158-164, 178-9.
Urus. (_See_ Bugle.)
Valas, or Völvas, 90-2.
Villenshaw: (?) a locality in Orkney, 105.
Walpurgis Night. (_See_ Beltin.)
Weems. (_See_ Mounds and Underground galleries.)
Westray, Orkney.
Finnman seen near W. _circa_ 1700, 5, 6, 33-4;
Fairies said to be seen at Fitty Hill _circa_ 1700, 33;
defeat of Hebrideans at Fitty Hill, 33.
Wideford Hill, Orkney; chambered mound at, 62.
Witchcraft. (_See_ Magic.)
Yorkshire tradition as to "supernatural" labourers at Mulgrave
and Pickering Castles, 86, 100.
Zee-Woners. (_See_ Sea-Folk.)
Woodfall & Kinder, Printers, 70 to 76, Long Acre, London, W.C.
....
Transcriber's Note:
Many words in this text have alternate spellings due to language
differences or variations within languages.
Original spelling has been preserved, as have any inconsistencies.
Minor punctuation errors have been repaired.
In this etext a superscript character is represented by ^
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