Fairies, they tell you, have frequently been heard and seen, nay that there are some living who were stolen away by them, and confined seven years. According to the description they give who pretend to have seen them, they are in the shape of men, exceeding little. They are always clad in green, and frequent the woods and fields; when they make cakes (which is a work they have been often heard at) they are very noisy; and when they have done, they are full of mirth and pastime. But generally they dance in moonlight when mortals are asleep, and not capable of seeing them, as may be observed on the following morn; their dancing places being very distinguishable. For as they dance hand in hand, and so make a circle in their dance, so next day there will be seen rings and circles on the grass.[1]
These circles are thus described by Browne, the author of Britannias pastorals:
- ↑ Bournes Antiquitates vulgares, Newcastle, 1725, 8vo. p. 82.
