In the i6th and 17th centuries most ofthe poets made Queen Mab the queen of the Fairies, and particularly ofthe diminutive fairies of Drayton's Nimphidia. Shakespeare's Queen Mab as mentioned in Romeo and Juliet the fairies' midwife, who gives birth to dreams, is of the same sort, with a coach drawn by insects — a very much less dignified person than his Titania in a Midsummer Night's Dream. This minute Queen Mab, however, probably comes from a Celtic strain and was once much more formidable, the Mabb of Wales, with possibly some connection with the warlike Queen Maeve of Ireland.
In Ben Jonson's Entertainment at Althorpe she is a pixy type of fairy, described as an 'Elfe' with no royalty about her:
In Crofton Croker'sFairy Legends of the South of Ireland, Shefro is the name given to the small trooping Fairies of Ireland. They are supposed to wear caps like foxglove bells on their heads. Stories of changelings, of the carrying off of young girls and of the usual fairy activities are told of them. In the 'Legend of Knocksheogowna' the queen of the clan inhabiting that hill plays as many shape-shifting pranks as a brag or hedley kow could do. Like the Highland fairies, the Shefro show anxiety about their possible salvation.
Almost the only trait that giants have in common is their enormous size and strength.
Some of them, such as Bran the Blessed, have obviously once been gods. Bran was so large that no house could contain him, so large indeed that he looked like an approaching mountain as he waded the channel between Wales and Ireland. His strength was tremendous, but he was essentially benevolent and his decapitated head brought a blessing wherever it was carried, and protected Britain from invaders so long as it was safely lodged in London.
The two great hill figures that still remain in England, the Cerne Abbas Giant and the Long Man of Wilmington, represent god-like figures of the same kind. The Cerne Abbas giant is plainly a fertility god as well as a protective figure.
Some kind and protective giants continue down to comparatively modern times. An example is the Giant of Grabbist, whose character and exploits are described by Ruth Tongue in County Folklore (Vol.VIII). He was one of the stone-throwing giants, of which many are reported, good and bad, and spent a good deal of his time in contests with the Devil. He was full, too, of active benevolence, and once lifted a fishingboat that was in difficulties and set it down safely in harbour.
There is a touch of comedy, even farce, in the tales about the Giant of Grabbist, and it is noticeable that as time went on the giants became gradually more foolish. The kind old Cornish giant of Carn Galva, whose sad story is told by Bottrell in Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (Vol.I, p.47-48), is an example:
Том-тит-тот Оркадских островов с элементами Габетротом. Младшая из трех принцесс, похищенных великаном, делится кашей с беловолосыми человечками-веретёнчиками, которые заходят в их дом, и после этого маленький мальчик-веретёнчик приходит прясть за нее. Бродяжка заглядывает через дыру в эльфийскую нору — как девушка в «Габетроте», и видит, как там Веретенчик ходит между ткачами и приговаривает: «Дразни, загадка, дразни; шлепайте, карты, шлепайте; прядите, ткачи, прядите; потому что зовут меня Веретёнчик». Бродяжка рассказывает это принцессе за ночлег, и так принцесса узнает нужное ей имя, которое, таким образом, является одним из тайных имен эльфов.
The Yorkshire name for a wraith or double; in other words, it is a kind of co-walker. It is believed to be a death token and may be seen either by the doomed man or by a friend. William Henderson gives several instances in Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties (p.46). If a man sees his own waff, he can avert his fate by speaking to it severely. Henderson gives an example of a native of Guisborough who, on going into a shop at Whitby, saw his own waff. He addressed it boldly: 'What's thou doin' here? What's thou doin' here? Thou's after no good, I'll go bail! Get thy ways yom with thee ! Get thy ways yom!' The waff slunk off, quite ashamed of itself, and he had no further trouble with it.
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