"Simple foolish men imagine, I know not howe, that there be certayne elves or fairies of the earth, and tell many straunge and marvellous tales of them, which they have heard of their grandmothers and mothers, howe they have appeared unto those of the house, have done service, have rocked the cradell, and (which is a signe of good lucke) do continually tary in the house."[1]
Mallet, though without citing any authority, says "After all, the notion is not every where exploded that there are in the bowels of the earth fairies, or a kind of dwarfish and tiny beings, of human shape, and remarkable for their riches, their activity, and malevolence. In many countries of the north, the people are still firmly persuaded of their existence. In Ireland, at this day, the good folks shew the very rocks and hills, in which they maintain that there are swarms of these small subterraneous men, of the most tiny size, but the most delicate figures."[2]
Sheringham, having mentioned the gods of the Germans, adds, "Among us, truly, this superstition, and foolish credulity, among the vulgar, is not yet left off; for I know not what fables old women suggest to boys and girls about elves (with us by
- ↑ Of ghostes, &c. p. 49.
- ↑ Northern Antiquities, &c. ii, 47.
