This was sometimes taken to be a fairy curse, probably called down by the unfortunate positioning of a house. Sometimes stock only were affected, and sometimes the wife as well as the stock would be cursed by barrenness. It was, however, more commonly attributed to witchcraft. The ballad 'Willie's Mother', in which the mother-in-law was a rank witch and help was given by a domestic fairy, Billy Blind, gives almost a recipe for inhibiting birth. See Blights and illnesses attributed to Fairies.

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