THE FAIRY-FAITH IN CELTIC COUNTRIES
BY W. Y. EVANS WENTZ
M.A. STANFORD UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA U.S.A. DOCTEUR-ÈS-LETTRES UNIVERSITY OF RENNES BRITTANY B.SC. JESUS COLLEGE OXON.
HENRY FROWDE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON, NEW YORK, TORONTO AND MELBOURNE 1911
OXFORD: HORACE HART PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
THIS BOOK DEPENDS CHIEFLY UPON THE ORAL AND WRITTEN TESTIMONY SO FREELY CONTRIBUTED BY ITS MANY CELTIC AUTHORS,-- THE PEASANT AND THE SCHOLAR, THE PRIEST AND THE SCIENTIST, THE POET AND THE BUSINESS MAN, THE SEER AND THE NON-SEER,-- AND IN HONOUR OF THEM I DEDICATE IT TO TWO OF THEIR BRETHREN IN IRELAND:
A. E., WHOSE UNWAVERING LOYALTY TO THE FAIRY-FAITH HAS INSPIRED MUCH THAT I HAVE HEREIN WRITTEN, WHOSE FRIENDLY GUIDANCE IN MY STUDY OF IRISH MYSTICISM I MOST GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE;
AND
WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, WHO BROUGHT TO ME AT MY OWN ALMA MATER IN CALIFORNIA THE FIRST MESSAGE FROM FAIRYLAND, AND WHO AFTERWARDS IN HIS OWN COUNTRY LED ME THROUGH THE HAUNTS OF FAIRY KINGS AND QUEENS.
OXFORD November 1911.
'It remains for ever true that the proper study of mankind is man; and even early man is not beneath contempt, especially when he proves to have had within him the makings of a great race, with its highest notions of duty and right, and all else that is noblest in the human soul.'
The Right Hon. SIR JOHN RHYS.
CONTENTS
PAGES
PREFACE xi-xiii
INTRODUCTION xv-xxviii
SECTION I
THE LIVING FAIRY-FAITH
CHAPTER I
ENVIRONMENT 1-16
Psychical Interpretation--The Mysticism of Erin and Armorica--In Ireland--In Scotland--In the Isle of Man--In Wales--In Cornwall--In Brittany.