1.
Isle of Man
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The Isle of Man, also known simply as Mann, is a self-governing crown dependency in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann, the Lord of Mann is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. Foreign relations and defence are the responsibility of the British Government, the island has been inhabited since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century and the Manx language, in 627, Edwin of Northumbria conquered the Isle of Man along with most of Mercia. In the 9th century, Norsemen established the Kingdom of the Isles, magnus III, King of Norway, was also known as King of Mann and the Isles between 1099 and 1103. In 1266, the became part of Scotland under the Treaty of Perth. After a period of alternating rule by the kings of Scotland and England, the short form often used in English, Mann, is derived from the Manx Mannin, though sometimes the name is written as Man. The earliest recorded Manx form of the name is Manu or Mana, the Old Irish form of the name is Manau or Mano. Old Welsh records named it as Manaw, also reflected in Manaw Gododdin, the name for an ancient district in north Britain along the lower Firth of Forth. The oldest known reference to the calls it Mona, in Latin, in the 1st century CE, Pliny the Elder records it as Monapia or Monabia. Later Latin references have Mevania or Mænavia, and Eubonia or Eumonia by Irish writers and it is found in the Sagas of Icelanders as Mön. The name is cognate with the Welsh name of the island of Anglesey, Ynys Môn, usually derived from a Celtic word for mountain. The name was at least secondarily associated with that of Manannán mac Lir in Irish mythology, later, a Manannán is recorded as the first king of Mann in a Manx poem. The island was cut off from the islands around 8000 BC. The first residents were hunter gatherers and fishermen, examples of their tools are kept at the Manx Museum. There were also the local Ronaldsway and Bann cultures, during the Bronze Age, burial mounds became smaller. Bodies were put in stone-lined graves with ornamental containers, the Bronze Age burial mounds created long-lasting markers around the countryside. The ancient Romans knew of the island and called it Insula Manavia although it is whether they conquered the island
2.
Folklore
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Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
3.
Goblin
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A goblin is a monstrous creature from European folklore, first attested in stories from the Middle Ages. They are ascribed various and conflicting abilities, temperaments and appearances depending on the story and country of origin and they are almost always small and grotesque, mischievous or outright evil, and greedy, especially for gold and jewelry. They often have magical abilities similar to a fairy or demon, similar creatures include brownies, dwarves, gnomes, imps, and kobolds. Alternative spellings include gobblin, gobeline, gobling, goblyn, and it may be related both to German kobold and to Medieval Latin cabalus, or *gobalus, itself from Greek κόβαλος, rogue, knave, imp, goblin. Moreover, these names are not from Normandy, where the word gobelin. German Kobold contains the Germanic root kov- which means originally a hollow in the earth, the word is probably related to Dial. Norman gobe hollow in a cliff, with simple suffix -lin or double suffixation -el-in The Welsh coblyn, a Pukwudgie is a type of Goblin from Wamponoag folklore as well as Cryptozoology A Redcap is a type of Goblin who dyes its hat in Human Blood in Anglo-Scottish border folklore. Kallikantzaros are Goblins from Southeastern European and Anatolian folklore, hobgoblins are Friendly Trickster Goblins from English, Scottish, and Pilgrim folklore and literature. The Benevolent Goblin, from Gesta Romanorum The Erlking is a malevolent goblin from German legend, the Goblin Pony, from The Grey Fairy Book The Goblins at the Bath House, from A Book of Ghosts and Goblins The Goblins Turned to Stone. King Gobb Mill Goblins appear in Norwegian folklore, Goblins are featured in the Hans Christian Andersen Fairy tales, The Elf Mound, The Goblin and the Grocer, and The Goblin and the Woman. Many Asian lagyt creatures have been likened to, or translated as and they are especially important mythical creatures in Korean folklore. They usually appear in childrens books, in Bangladesh, Santal people belief in Gudrobonga which is very similar to goblins. The Gap of Goeblin, a hole and underground tunnel in Mortain, cow is an old Scots word for Goblin, while cad means nasty. Dens and lairs refers to goblin homes, the Goblins, a comedy play by Sir John Suckling The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton is a short story by Charles Dickens where goblins torment a gravedigger for being cruel on Christmas. Goblin Market, a poem by Christina Rossetti The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald depicts the Goblins as grotesque humanoids, vulnerable to sunlight, song, and pressure on their feet. Davy and the Goblin by Charles E. Carryl J. R. R. Tolkien generally used the terms goblin and orc synonymously in The Hobbit and these works, featuring goblins of almost-human stature, generally informed the depiction of goblins in later fiction and games. Thompson adds that, in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien has abandoned all pretence at depicting goblins in a comic light, Goblins are also present as the first tier creature in the Orc faction in Heroes of Might and Magic V, Tribes of the East. Goblins are recurring enemies in the Final Fantasy franchise, where they usually appear near the beginning of each game
4.
Neck (water spirit)
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The neck, nicor, nixie or nokken are shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology and folklore who usually appeared in forms of other creatures. Under a variety of names, they were common to the stories of all Germanic peoples, the related English knucker was generally depicted as a wyrm or dragon, although more recent versions depict the spirits in other forms. Their sex, bynames, and various transformations vary geographically, the German Nix and his Scandinavian counterparts were males. The German Nixe was a female river mermaid, the names are held to derive from Common Germanic *nikwus or *nikwis, derived from PIE *neigw. They are related to Sanskrit nḗnēkti, Greek νίζω nízō and νίπτω níptō, the form neck appears in English and Swedish. The Swedish form is derived from Old Swedish neker, which corresponds to Old Icelandic nykr, in Finnish, the word is näkki. In Old Danish, the form was nikke and in modern Danish, the Icelandic nykur is a horselike creature. In Middle Low German, it was called necker and in Middle Dutch nicker, the Old High German form nihhus also meant crocodile, while the Old English nicor could mean both a water monster like those encountered by Beowulf, and a hippopotamus. The Norwegian Fossegrim and Swedish Strömkarlen are related figures sometimes seen as by-names for the same creature, the Scandinavian version can transform himself into a horse-like kelpie, and is called a Bäckahästen, whilst the Welsh version is called the Ceffyl Dŵr. In the English county of Sussex, there are said to dwell water-wyrms called knuckers, the Word knucker is derived from the Old English nicor. English folklore contains many creatures with similarities to the Nix or Näck and these Necks include Jenny Greenteeth, the Shellycoat, Peg Powler, the Bäckahästen-like Brag, and the Grindylow. The Scandinavian näcken, näkki, nøkk were male water spirits who played enchanted songs on the violin, nøkker are said to grow despondent if they do not have free, regular contact with a water source. The Norwegian Fossegrim or Grim, Swedish strömkarl, is a figure who, if properly approached, will teach a musician to play so adeptly that the trees dance. It is difficult to describe the appearance of the nix. Perhaps he did not have any true shape and he could show himself as a man playing the violin in brooks and waterfalls but also could appear to be treasure or various floating objects or as an animal—most commonly in the form of a brook horse. The modern Scandinavian names are derived from an Old Norse nykr, thus, likely the brook horse preceded the personification of the nix as the man in the rapids. Fossegrim and derivatives were almost always portrayed as beautiful young men. The enthralling music of the nøkk was most dangerous to women and children, especially pregnant women and he was thought to be most active during Midsummers Night, on Christmas Eve and on Thursdays
5.
Ramsey, Isle of Man
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Ramsey is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas and its population is 7,309 according to the 2006 census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier and it was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland. Ramsey has also been a route for several invasions by Vikings, Ramsey is also known as Royal Ramsey due to royal visits from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1847 and by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1902. The name of the town derives from the Old Norse hrams-á, meaning wild garlic river, More specifically, it refers to the plant known as buckrams or wild garlic, in Latin Allium ursinum. The Isle of Man has been an important strategic location in conflicts between the Norse rulers of Man and the Isles, and the Scots and English, smugglers and pirates were also common at many times in Manx history. Ramsey was the place of the Viking warrior Godred Crovan around 1079, he was determined to subjugate the island. Two miles inland, on Sky Hill, an important battle was fought, on 17 May 1313 Robert the Bruce landed at Ramsey with a multitude of ships on his way to capturing Castle Rushen. Captain François Thurot, a then-famous French privateer, and notorious scourge of the British fleet, was defeated off the north-west of the island in February 1760 and his badly damaged, captured ship was brought into Ramsey Bay after the battle. Thurots actions had been part of a planned French invasion of Britain, in previous years Thurot had traded between Ireland and the Isle of Man and had been well liked by many Manx people, and regarded as an intelligent gentleman. Several cottages and bridges were built using timbers from the ship, hence Thurot Cottage. Pirate radio station Radio Caroline North was based in Ramsey Bay from 1964–68, during World War II, thirty boarding houses on the North Shore were requisitioned for the Mooragh Internment Camp. Ramsey is in the sunniest area of the Isle of Man and this is because Ramsey is in a rain shadow just to the north-east of the Manx hills, on the edge of the northern plain of the island. Rain clouds coming from the wind direction, the south-west. Ramsey is built mostly on ground and has miles of sandy beaches. To the north of Ramsey the beaches run continuously to the tip of the island. On the southern edge of Ramsey, at the edge of the hills, are a network of woods and glens, Ballure Walk, Lhergy Frissel, the Millennium Way and other paths and roads lead up to and across the upland heath. The new Ramsey Forest project aims to increase the tree cover in this area, a popular vantage point is Ramsey Hairpin, where enthusiasts gather to watch the racers
6.
Peel, Isle of Man
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Peel is a seaside town and small fishing port on the Isle of Man, in the parish of German but administered separately. It has a castle and a cathedral, Peel is the third largest town on the island after Douglas and Ramsey but the fourth largest settlement, as Onchan has the second largest population but is classified as a village. Until 2016 Peel was also a House of Keys constituency, electing one Member of the House of Keys, Peel has a ruined castle on St Patricks Isle, and a cathedral, seat of the Diocese of Sodor and Man. Peel is on the west coast of the Isle of Man, to the north west is St Patricks Isle, connected to the mainland by a causeway, and to the west across the river is Peel Hill. The A1 road connects Peel with Douglas, the A3 road connects it with Kirk Michael and Ramsey. To the south of Peel is Castletown, the capital of the island. Ireland to the West and Scotland to the North may be seen on a clear day, the older part of Peel is built of reddish Peel Sandstone, mostly the original homes and businesses of fishermen and merchants with narrow winding lanes by the quayside. Before 1765, the town had a busy import-export trade importing goods from such as Amsterdam. The Isle of Man census 2011 lists the population as 5,093, the local authority is Peel Town Commissioners who are based at the Town Hall on Derby Road. The day-to-day activities of the authority are run by the clerk, Peel was the de facto capital of the island before 1344. Peel is the main fishing port and Peel Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Sodor. Peel is sometimes referred to as the red city, due to the red sandstone used to build the castle. As it is in the west, it is called the sunset city. Peel is a seaside destination for Manx residents and visitors in summer. It has narrow streets of fishermens cottages and a Victorian promenade which was built on reclaimed land, for many years the main industries in the town were fishing, trading and shipbuilding. There is evidence of settlers in the Mesolithic Age on both St Patricks Isle and the nearby Peel Hill, and Neolithic farmers are believed to have settled in the area. About 550, a Celtic monastery was founded on St Patricks Isle, excavations in the 1980s found a large early Christian burial ground, many of the burials dating from around 550. Some later graves had Norse burial goods, e. g. the Pagan Lady, the ruins of the original Peel Cathedral can be seen within the walls of Peel Castle on St Patricks Isle
7.
Fairy
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A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural, or preternatural. According to Thomas Keightley, the word derives from the Latin fata. Other forms are the Italian fata, and the Provençal fada, in old French romance, fee was a woman skilled in magic, and who knew the power and virtue of words, of stones, and of herbs. Faierie became fairy, but with that now almost exclusively referring to one of the legendary people. The word fairy was used to represent an illusion, or enchantment, to the word faie was added the suffix -erie, used to express either a place where something is found or a trade or typical activity engaged in. In later usage it applied to any kind of quality or activity associated with a particular type of person. In the sense land where fairies dwell, the distinctive and archaic spellings Faery, the latinate fay is not to be confused with the unrelated fey, meaning fated to die. Various folkloristic traditions refer to them euphemistically, by such as wee folk, good folk, people of peace, fair folk. Sometimes the term fairy is used to any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes, at other times. Fairies have their origin in the conflation of Celtic traditions in the Middle French medieval romances. Fairie was in origin used adjectivally, meaning enchanted, but was used as a name for enchanted creatures from as early as the Late Middle English period. In English literature of the Elizabethan era, elves became conflated with the fairies of Romance culture, the Victorian and Edwardian eras saw an increase in interest in fairies. The Celtic Revival viewed them as part of Irelands cultural heritage, carole Silvers and others suggest that the fascination of English antiquarians arose from a reaction to greater industrialization, and loss of folkways. Fairies are generally described as human in appearance and having magical powers, even with these small fairies, however, their small size may be magically assumed rather than constant. Some fairies though normally quite small were able to dilate their figures to imitate humans, on Orkney they were described as short in stature, dressed in dark grey, and sometimes seen in armour. Wings, while common in Victorian and later artwork of fairies, are rare in the folklore, even very small fairies flew with magic. Nowadays, fairies are depicted with ordinary insect wings or butterfly wings. In some folklore, fairies have green eyes, some depictions of fairies either have them wearing some sort of footwear and other depictions of fairies are always barefoot
8.
Fairy ring
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A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow to over 10 metres in diameter, and they become stable over time as the fungus grows and they are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Fairy rings are detectable by sporocarps in rings or arcs, as well as by a necrotic zone, fungus mycelium is present in the ring or arc underneath. Fairy rings are the subject of folklore and myth worldwide—particularly in Western Europe. While they are seen as hazardous or dangerous places, they can sometimes be linked with good fortune. The mycelium of a growing in the ground absorbs nutrients by secretion of enzymes from the tips of the hyphae. This breaks down molecules in the soil into smaller molecules that are then absorbed through the walls of the hyphae near their growing tips. The mycelium will move outward from the center, and when the nutrients in the center are exhausted, there are two theories regarding the process involved in creating fairy rings. One states that the ring is begun by a spore from the sporocarpus. The underground presence of the fungus can also cause withering or varying colour or growth of the grass above, if they make an arc or a ring, they continuously grow about the centre of this object. One of the manifestations of fairy ring growth is a necrotic zone—an area in which grass or other plant life has withered or died and these zones are caused by the mycelia which, during a very dry year, coat the roots of grasses and other herbs in meadows. After some time they are removed by biotic factors from the ground, patterns other than the basic ring or arc are also possible, circles, doubled arcs, sickle-shaped arcs, and other complicated formations are also formed by this process. Fungi can deplete the soil of readily available such as nitrogen. Some fungi also produce chemicals which act like hormones called gibberellins, long-term observations of fairy rings on Shillingstone Hill in Dorset, England, further suggested that the cycle depended on the continuous presence of rabbits. Chalky soils on higher elevations in the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset in southern England used to support many meadow-type fairy rings, rabbits crop grass very short in open areas and produce nitrogen-rich droppings. Mushrooms need more soil nitrogen than grass does, a ring can start from only a few spores from which the mycelium develops, the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms only appearing later, when sufficient mycelial mass has been generated to support them. Subsequent generations of fungi grow only outwards, because the parent generations have depleted their local nitrogen levels, meanwhile, rabbits keep cropping the grass, but do not eat the fungi, allowing them to grow through their competition to tower, relatively, above the grass. It is unclear whether these were metabolites or pollutants, brominated compounds are unknown as metabolites from terrestrial fungi
9.
Fairy tale
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Fairy tales may be distinguished from other folk narratives such as legends and explicitly moral tales, including beast fables. The term is used for stories with origins in European tradition and, at least in recent centuries. In less technical contexts, the term is used to describe something blessed with unusual happiness. Colloquially, a tale or fairy story can also mean any far-fetched story or tall tale, it is used especially of any story that not only is not true. Legends are perceived as real, fairy tales may merge into legends, Fairy tales are found in oral and in literary form, the name fairy tale was first ascribed to them by Madame dAulnoy in the late 17th century. Many of todays fairy tales have evolved from stories that have appeared, with variations. The history of the tale is particularly difficult to trace because only the literary forms can survive. Still, according to researchers at universities in Durham and Lisbon, such stories may date back thousands of years, Fairy tales, and works derived from fairy tales, are still written today. Folklorists have classified fairy tales in various ways, the Aarne-Thompson classification system and the morphological analysis of Vladimir Propp are among the most notable. Other folklorists have interpreted the significance, but no school has been definitively established for the meaning of the tales. It moves in a world without definite locality or definite creatures and is filled with the marvelous. In this never-never land, humble heroes kill adversaries, succeed to kingdoms, a fairy tale with a tragic rather than a happy end is called an anti-fairy tale. Although the fairy tale is a genre within the larger category of folktale. The term itself comes from the translation of Madame DAulnoys conte de fées, Vladimir Propp, in his Morphology of the Folktale, criticized the common distinction between fairy tales and animal tales on the grounds that many tales contained both fantastic elements and animals. Were I asked, what is a fairytale, I should reply, Read Undine, that is a fairytale. of all fairytales I know, I think Undine the most beautiful. As Stith Thompson points out, talking animals and the presence of magic seem to be common to the fairy tale than fairies themselves. However, the presence of animals that talk does not make a tale a fairy tale, especially when the animal is clearly a mask on a human face. Steven Swann Jones identified the presence of magic as the feature by which fairy tales can be distinguished from other sorts of folktales, davidson and Chaudri identify transformation as the key feature of the genre
10.
Kelpie
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Kelpie, or water kelpie, is the Scots name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but is able to adopt human form, almost every sizeable body of water in Scotland has an associated kelpie story, but the most extensively reported is that of Loch Ness. Parallels to the general Germanic neck and the Scandinavian bäckahäst have been observed, more widely, the wihwin of Central America and the Australian bunyip have been seen as counterparts. Kelpies have been portrayed in their various forms in art and literature, the etymology of the Scots word kelpie is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Gaelic calpa or cailpeach, meaning heifer or colt. The place names Kelpie hoall and Kelpie hooll are reported in A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue as appearing in the 1674 burgh records for Kirkcudbright. Douglas Harper, historian and founder of the Online Etymology Dictionary and it is the most common water spirit in Scottish folklore, but the name is attributed to several different forms in narratives recorded throughout the country. Commentators have disagreed over the aquatic habitat. This distinction is not universally applied however, Sir Walter Scott for instance claims that the range may extend to lochs. Mackillops dictionary reconciles the discrepancy, stating that the kelpie was initially thought to inhabit, streams, and later any body of water. Others ascribe the term kelpie to a variety of mythical creatures. Parallels to the general Germanic neck and the Scandinavian bäckahäst have been observed, the wihwin of Central America and the Australian bunyip are seen as similar creatures in other parts of the world. An Aberdeenshire variation portrays the kelpie as a horse with a mane of serpents, whereas the resident equine spirit of the River Spey was white, usually a little boy, he then pets the horse but his hand sticks to its neck. In some variations the lad cuts off his fingers or hand to free himself, he survives but the children are carried off and drowned. The lad does cut his finger off when the event takes place in Thurso, the same tale set at Sunart in the Highlands gives a specific figure of nine children lost, of whom only the innards of one are recovered. The surviving boy is saved by cutting off his finger. Gregorson Campbell considers the creature responsible to have been a horse rather than a kelpie. Kelpie myths usually describe a creature, but a fairy story recorded by John F. Campbell in Popular Tales of the West Highlands has a different perspective. Entitled Of the Drocht na Vougha or Fuoah, which is given the translation of the bridge of the fairies or kelpies, the spirits had set about constructing a bridge over the Dornoch Firth after becoming tired of travelling across the water in cockleshells
11.
Changeling
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A changeling is a creature found in folklore and folk religion. A changeling child was believed to be a child that had been left in place of a human child stolen by the fairies. The theme of the child is common in medieval literature and reflects concern over infants thought to be afflicted with unexplained diseases, disorders. It is typically described as being the offspring of a fairy, Sometimes the term is also used to refer to the child who was taken. The apparent changeling could also be a stock or fetch, a piece of wood that would soon appear to grow sick. The theme of the child is common among medieval literature and reflects concern over infants thought to be afflicted with unexplained diseases, disorders. A human child might be due to many factors, to act as a servant. Most often it was thought that fairies exchanged the children, in rare cases, the very elderly of the Fairy people would be exchanged in the place of a human baby, and then the old fairy could live in comfort, being coddled by its human parents. Simple charms, such as a coat or open iron scissors left where the child sleeps, were thought to ward them off. D. L. Ashliman points out that changeling tales illustrate an aspect of survival in pre-industrial Europe. A peasant familys subsistence frequently depended upon the labor of each member. Changeling tales support other historical evidence in suggesting that infanticide was not infrequently the solution selected, one belief is that trolls thought that it was more respectable to be raised by humans and that they wanted to give their own children a human upbringing. Some people believed that trolls would take unbaptized children, once children had been baptized and therefore become part of the Church, the trolls could not take them. Beauty in human children and young women, particularly blond hair, was said to attract the fairies, in Scottish folklore, the children might be replacements for fairy children in the tithe to Hell, this is best known from the ballad of Tam Lin. According to common Scottish myths, a child born with a caul across his or her face is a changeling, other folklore say that human milk is necessary for fairy children to survive. It is also thought that human midwives were necessary to bring babies into the world. Some stories tell of changelings who forget they are not human, Changelings which do not forget, however, in some stories return to their fairy family, possibly leaving the human family without warning. The human child that was taken may often stay with the family forever
12.
Fairy path
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Ley lines and spirit paths, such as with corpse roads, have some similarities with these fairy paths. A fairy ring is also a used by fairies, but in a circle, for dancing. Yeats. the fairies dance in a place apart, Shaking their milk-white feet in a ring, the concept is usually associated with Celtic folklore, especially that of Ireland. A significant number of the characteristics of fairy paths are shared in common with ley lines, in many parts of Northern Europe the round barrows were the traditional homes of the fairies, elves, or trolls and were avoided by the country folk. Such places were Fairy Toot in Somerset, Elf Howe barrow near Folkton, Yorkshire, cornwall was and is a stronghold of fairy lore, fairies are said to dance on Carn Gluze, near St Just in Penwith. In Danish Jutland there was a belief that Barrow-folk dwelt in barrows and were descendants of angels cast out of Heaven. Likewise, it was considered bad luck to let cattle graze on any place where the Elf-folk have been, however, all evils may be averted if one were to ask at an Elf-barrow for permission to graze cattle on their mound. In Sweden similar beliefs existed and one barrow called Helvetesbacke that lies near Kråktorps gård, in Germany the Wild Troop of Rodenstein was said to ride a straight path between the castles of Rodenstein and Schnellert. Also throughout Europe are Corpse roads, which are believed to be of the same basic belief as fairy paths. In Germany and the Netherlands in particular, these tend to be straight lines and are known by a variety of names including Geisterweg and Helweg in German. A similarly straight road did however run straight over various burial mounds at Rösaring, in Ireland, people who had illnesses or other misfortune, were said to live in houses that were in the way or in a contrary place, obstructing a fairy path. An example is that of a family in four children sickened and died. The fifth child sickened and was near death, only to make a sudden, an example of this fairy path straightness is provided by an account concerning a croft at Knockeencreen, Brosna, County Kerry. In an interview in the 1980s, the last human occupant told of the troubles his grandfather had experienced there, the front door is exactly opposite the back door. The grandfather was informed by a gypsy that the dwelling stands on a fairy path running between two hills. The gypsy advised the grandfather to keep the doors slightly ajar at night to allow the free passage. The advice was heeded and the problem ceased and it so happens that the building is indeed on a straight line drawn between two local hilltops, and is, moreover, at one end of a long, straight track. The fairies processed from Rath Ringlestown in Ireland every night and parents brought their children in before the fairies were due to pass, the path passed round several bushes which were left undisturbed by the locals
