Page:Fairy tales, now first collected by Joseph Ritson.djvu/21

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DISSERTATION II.

ON FAIRIES.

The earliest mention of Fairies is made by Homer, if, that is, his English translator have, in this instance, done him justice:

"Where round the bed, whence Achelöus springs,The wat'ry Fairies dance in mazy rings."^[1]

These nymphs he supposes to frequent or reside in woods, hills, the sea, fountains, grottos, &c.; whence they are peculiarly called Naiads, Dryads, and Nereids:

↑ Iliad, B. 24, V. 776. The word Fairy, as used in our own language, is a mere blunder; the proper name of the French Fairy is Faée or Fée, or in English Fay; Faërie, or Féerie, which we apply to the person, being, in fact, the country, or kingdom, of the Fays, or what we call Fairyland. We have committed a similar mistake in the word barley; which signifies, in fact, the ley, or land upon which the bear grows (bene, hordeum, leag, a ley).

[1] Iliad, B. 24, V. 776. The word Fairy, as used in our own language, is a mere blunder; the proper name of the French Fairy is Faée or Fée, or in English Fay; Faërie, or Féerie, which we apply to the person, being, in fact, the country, or kingdom, of the Fays, or what we call Fairyland. We have committed a similar mistake in the word barley; which signifies, in fact, the ley, or land upon which the bear grows (bene, hordeum, leag, a ley).

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