THE

GUIDMAN O' INGLISMILL.

LEGENDS OF THE NORTH.

THE

GUIDMAN O' INGLISMILL,

AND

THE FAIRY BRIDE.

WITH GLOSSARY AND INTRODUCTIONS, HISTORICAL
AND LEGENDARY.

EDINBURGH:
EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS.
PETERHEAD: DAVID SCOTT.

1873.

PRINTED AT THE "SENTINEL" OFFICE, PETERHEAD,

FOR

EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS,

EDINBURGH.

TO THE VERY REV.

DEAN RAMSAY, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.E.,

THE GENIAL AUTHOR OF

REMINISCENCES OF SCOTTISH LIFE AND CHARACTER,

THIS LITTLE WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

PREFACE.

The Guidman o' Inglismill was written, not to fill up "hours of idleness," but as a relaxation from the cares of a more important and arduous occupation.

Its object is the encouragement of temperate habits, and the enjoyment of "ane's ain fireside."

It is hoped it will be no less acceptable to the reader as another attempt to assist in preserving the pure Doric of "auld langsyne," which is fast being superseded by a language less pithy, less expressive, though more fashionable.

Every "toon's laddie"—or he is no true son of the "bruch"—however old, however placed as regards wealth or poverty, or wherever he may be on this habitable globe, can sympathise with the lines to the spot "where we were born." There is a charm in the true Buchan dialect to a child of the district, which neither time, age, nor distance can destroy. When "far awa," it falls on the ear like the breathings of some holy melody, and calls up in the imagination a fleeting panoramic picture of early days, and homes, and play-mates,—swelling the heart and dimming the eyes as they try to gaze down the vista of the past,—dotted, it may be, with the resting-places of those who have gone "to the land o' the leal."

INTRODUCTION.

The superstition with which the tale is interwoven—

has, for unknown ages, and in all countries, been an article of the popular creed. It is impossible to trace the origin of the belief. Some imagine it has been conveyed to us by the tradition of the Lamiæ, who took away young children to slay them, and that this, mixed up with the tales of Fauns and Gods of the woods, originated the notion of Fairies. Others, that the belief was imported into Europe by the Crusaders from the East, as Fairies somewhat resemble the Oriental Genii. It is certainly true that the Arabs and Persians, whose religion and history abound with similar tales, have assigned the Genii a peculiar country. Again, Homer is supposed to have been among authors the originator of the idea, as, in his third Iliad, he compares the Trojans to cranes when they descend to fight against pigmies or fairies. Pliny, Aristotle, and others give countenance to the belief in a race of fairies; Herodotus described a nation of dwarfs living on the head waters of the Nile; Strabo thought that certain men of Ethiopia were the original dwarfs; while Pomponius Mela placed them far south. But nobody believed these stories, which were taken to be either poetical licences or chapters in romance. It is, however, strange that a race called Obongos, about thirty-six inches high, are mentioned as existing near the Ashango country by Paul de Chaillu (the discoverer of the gorilla), in his late work "From the Country of the Dwarfs."

Whatever conjecture may be adopted, it is certain our Saxon ancestors, long ere they left their German forests, believed in the existence of a kind of diminutive demons, or middle species between men and spirits, to whom they attributed performances far exceeding human art. Although we are now a great literary people, yet, in this description of legendary lore, we are far behind the Germans; for this is a peculiar style of writing not exactly fitted for English cultivation, but in which the Germans seem to possess the faculty of invention and contrivance, together with originality of conception and power of execution, in such an eminent degree as to leave the legendary writers of our own and other countries at an immeasurable distance. In fact, we may search the whole range of English, French, Spanish, and Italian literature, and there will not be found one author "who dips so deep into the dark profound," or one who is possessed of that magic wand that can give the same vitality to the beings of a shadowy world as the Germans, or one who, can conjure up before the mind's eye, in such enchanting colours, the magical representations of beings and forms of no mark or likelihood, and with whose names even we were previously totally unacquainted.

The Fairies of our own land were, on the whole, a genial, frolicsome, happy race—occasionally given to mischievous tricks—benefiting those who were kindly disposed to them and paid them due honour, but revengeful and doing harm to those who were differently inclined. They were a kind of intermediate beings, partaking of the nature of both men and spirits: they had material bodies and the power of making them invisible, and of passing through any opening. They were generally, in their natural state, small in stature, of fair complexion—hence their name in England; while, for their kind dispositions, in Scotland they were called "the good people." Says Dr Rogers, in his work "Scotland Social and Domestic," in which will be found much of interest regarding "Folk Lore":—"The forms of the Scottish fairies were beautiful. The female was a being of seraphic loveliness: ringlets of yellow hair descended upon her shoulders, and were bound upon her brow with gems of gold. She wore a mantle of green silk, inlaid with eider-down, and zoned round her waist with garlands of wild flowers. The male fairy was clad in green trows and a flowing tunic. His feet were protected with sandals of silver, from his left arm hung a golden bow, and a quiver of adder-skin was suspended on his left side. His arrows were tipped in flame. The fairies feasted luxuriously. The richest viands adorned their boards. They frequented human banquets, and conveyed a portion of the richest dishes into their palaces. They were present at funerals, and extracted the liquor and meats which were presented to the company. Some