The Fairies Of Merlin's Crag

: The Scottish Fairy Book

About two hundred years ago there was a poor man working as a labourer

on a farm in Lanarkshire. He was what is known as an "Orra Man"; that

is, he had no special work mapped out for him to do, but he was expected

to undertake odd jobs of any kind that happened to turn up.



One day his master sent him out to cast peats on a piece of moorland

that lay on a certain part of the farm. Now this strip of moorland ran
< r /> up at one end to a curiously shaped crag, known as Merlin's Crag,

because, so the country folk said, that famous Enchanter had once taken

up his abode there.



The man obeyed, and, being a willing fellow, when he arrived at the moor

he set to work with all his might and main. He had lifted quite a

quantity of peat from near the Crag, when he was startled by the

appearance of the very smallest woman that he had ever seen in his life.

She was only about two feet high, and she was dressed in a green gown

and red stockings, and her long yellow hair was not bound by any

ribbon, but hung loosely round her shoulders.



She was such a dainty little creature that the astonished countryman

stopped working, stuck his spade into the ground, and gazed at her in

wonder.



His wonder increased when she held up one of her tiny fingers and

addressed him in these words: "What wouldst thou think if I were to send

my husband to uncover thy house? You mortals think that you can do aught

that pleaseth you."



Then, stamping her tiny foot, she added in a voice of command, "Put back

that turf instantly, or thou shalt rue this day."



Now the poor man had often heard of the Fairy Folk and of the harm that

they could work to unthinking mortals who offended them, so in fear and

trembling he set to work to undo all his labour, and to place every

divot in the exact spot from which he had taken it.



When he was finished he looked round for his strange visitor, but she

had vanished completely; he could not tell how, nor where. Putting up

his spade, he wended his way homewards, and going straight to his

master, he told him the whole story, and suggested that in future the

peats should be taken from the other end of the moor.






But the master only laughed. He was a strong, hearty man, and had no

belief in Ghosts, or Elves, or Fairies, or any other creature that he

could not see; but although he laughed, he was vexed that his servant

should believe in such things, so to cure him, as he thought, of his

superstition, he ordered him to take a horse and cart and go back at

once, and lift all the peats and bring them to dry in the farm steading.



The poor man obeyed with much reluctance; and was greatly relieved, as

weeks went on, to find that, in spite of his having done so, no harm

befell him.



In fact, he began to think that his master was right, and that the whole

thing must have been a dream.



So matters went smoothly on. Winter passed, and spring, and summer,

until autumn came round once more, and the very day arrived on which the

peats had been lifted the year before.



That day, as the sun went down, the orra man left the farm to go home to

his cottage, and as his master was pleased with him because he had been

working very hard lately, he had given him a little can of milk as a

present to carry home to his wife.



So he was feeling very happy, and as he walked along he was humming a

tune to himself. His road took him by the foot of Merlin's Crag, and as

he approached it he was astonished to find himself growing strangely

tired. His eyelids dropped over his eyes as if he were going to sleep,

and his feet grew as heavy as lead.



"I will sit down and take a rest for a few minutes," he said to

himself; "the road home never seemed so long as it does to-day."



So he sat down on a tuft of grass right under the shadow of the Crag,

and before he knew where he was he had fallen into a deep and heavy

slumber.



When he awoke it was near midnight, and the moon had risen on the Crag.

And he rubbed his eyes, when by its soft light he became aware of a

large band of Fairies who were dancing round and round him, singing and

laughing, pointing their tiny fingers at him, and shaking their wee

fists in his face.



The bewildered man rose and tried to walk away from them, but turn in

whichever direction he would the Fairies accompanied him, encircling him

in a magic ring, out of which he could in no wise go.



At last they stopped, and, with shrieks of elfin laughter, led the

prettiest and daintiest of their companions up to him, and cried, "Tread

a measure, tread a measure, Oh, Man! Then wilt thou not be so eager to

escape from our company."



Now the poor labourer was but a clumsy dancer, and he held back with a

shamefaced air; but the Fairy who had been chosen to be his partner

reached up and seized his hands, and lo! some strange magic seemed to

enter into his veins, for in a moment he found himself waltzing and

whirling, sliding and bowing, as if he had done nothing else but dance

all his life.



And, strangest thing of all! he forgot about his home and his children;

and he felt so happy that he had no longer the slightest desire to leave

the Fairies' company.



All night long the merriment went on. The Little Folk danced and danced

as if they were mad, and the farm man danced with them, until at last a

shrill sound came over the moor. It was the cock from the farmyard

crowing its loudest to welcome the dawn.



In an instant the revelry ceased, and the Fairies, with cries of alarm,

crowded together and rushed towards the Crag, dragging the countryman

along in their midst. As they reached the rock, a mysterious door, which

he never remembered having seen before, opened in it of its own accord,

and shut again with a crash as soon as the Fairy Host had all trooped

through.



The door led into a large, dimly lighted hall full of tiny couches, and

here the Little Folk sank to rest, tired out with their exertions, while

the good man sat down on a piece of rock in the corner, wondering what

would happen next.



But there seemed to be some kind of spell thrown over his senses, for

even when the Fairies awoke and began to go about their household

occupations, and to carry out certain curious practices which he had

never seen before, and which, as you will hear, he was forbidden to

speak of afterwards, he was content to sit and watch them, without in

any way attempting to escape.



As it drew toward evening someone touched his elbow, and he turned round

with a start to see the little woman with the green dress and scarlet

stockings, who had remonstrated with him for lifting the turf the year

before, standing by his side.



"The divots which thou took'st from the roof of my house have grown once

more," she said, "and once more it is covered with grass; so thou canst

go home again, for justice is satisfied--thy punishment hath lasted long

enough. But first must thou take thy solemn oath never to tell to mortal

ears what thou hast seen whilst thou hast dwelt among us."



The countryman promised gladly, and took the oath with all due

solemnity. Then the door was opened, and he was at liberty to depart.



His can of milk was standing on the green, just where he had laid it

down when he went to sleep; and it seemed to him as if it were only

yesternight that the farmer had given it to him.



But when he reached his home he was speedily undeceived. For his wife

looked at him as if he were a ghost, and the children whom he had left

wee, toddling things were now well-grown boys and girls, who stared at

him as if he had been an utter stranger.



"Where hast thou been these long, long years?" cried his wife when she

had gathered her wits and seen that it was really he, and not a spirit.

"And how couldst thou find it in thy heart to leave the bairns and me

alone?"



And then he knew that the one day he had passed in Fairy-land had lasted

seven whole years, and he realised how heavy the punishment had been

which the Wee Folk had laid upon him.