Seasons of Festivity

Faeries are renowned for celebrating the seasons of festivity. There are stated seasons of festivity which are observed with much splendour in the larger dwellings. They are held are the last night of every quarter (h-uile latha ceann raidhe), particularly the nights before Beltane, the first of summer, and Hallowmas, the first of winter. The brugh is illuminated, the tables glitter with gold and silver vessels, and the door is thrown open to all comers. Any of the human race entering on these occasions are hospitably and heartily welcomed; food and drink are offered them, and their health is pledged. Everything in the dwelling seems magnificent beyond description, and mortals are so enraptured they forget everything but the enjoyment of the moment. Joining in the festivities, they lose all thought as to the passage of time. The food is the most sumptuous, the clothing the most gorgeous ever seen, the music the sweetest ever heard, the dance the sprightliest ever trod. But all this magnificence and abondance is nothing but illusions of senses. Those who partake of Fairy food are as hungry after their repast as before it. In appearance it is most sumptuous and inviting, but on grace being said turns out to be horse-dung. A mortal who talks or taste or drink Fairy food the first time he is admitted takes the risk of losing his will, power and mind to return to the society of men. He becomes insensible to the passage of time, and may stay, without knowing it, for years, and even ages, in the brugh. Many, who thus forget themselves, are among the Fairies to this day.

Other circumstances

Fairies are usually invisible to man but there seems to be some special circumstances under which the Fairies are to be seen.

A person whose eye has been touched with Fairy water can see them whenever they are present; the seer, possessed of second sight, often saw them when others did not . On nights on which the shi-en is open, passer-by sees can see them rejoicing in their underground dwellings. During the dusk and wild stormy nights of mist and driving rain, when the streams are swollen and `the roar of the torrent is heard on the hill'.

When wind and rain come from opposite directions (which may for an instant be possible in a sudden shift of wind), by throwing some horse-dung against the wind, the Fairies are brought down in a shower.

When spoken of and when a desire is expressed for their assistance· When they feel they are threatened or something has been changed, destroyed, removed in their environment. Faeries are tricksters before all and they prefer to appear and surprise mortals in places the most unexpected.

Faeries and humans

Those who have taken Elfin women for wives have found a sad termination to their mesalliance. The defect or peculiarity of the fair enchantress, which her lover at first had treated as of no consequence, proves his ruin. Her voracity thins his herds, he gets tired of her or angry with her, and in an unguarded moment reproaches her with her origin. The fea eventually disappears, taking with her the children and the fortune she brought him. The gorgeous palace, fit for the entertainment of kings, vanishes, and he finds himself again in his old black dilapidated hut, with a pool of rain-drippings in the middle of the floor.