ad been shaken out of the cup, and wherever on the horse it
had fallen the hair had been burnt away. Glad of escaping this danger,
the boy thanked God and handed the vessel over to the church at Biestow.
In none of these instances, however, do I find any description of the
goblet.[118]

Fortunately there is one, and that the most celebrated of all the cups
to which a fairy origin has been ascribed, which has been often and
accurately delineated both with pen and pencil. I refer to the Luck of
Edenhall. It belongs to Sir George Musgrave of Edenhall in Cumberland,
in the possession of whose family it has been for many generations. The
tradition is that a butler, going to fetch water from a well in the
garden, called St. Cuthbert's Well, came upon a company of fairies at
their revels, and snatched it from them. As the little, ill-used folk
disappeared, after an ineffectual attempt to recover it, they cried:

"If this glass do break or fall,
Farewell the luck of Edenhall!"

The most recent account of it was written in the year 1880, by the Rev.
Dr. Fitch, for "The Scarborough Gazette," from which it has been
reprinted for private circulation in the shape of a dainty pamphlet. He
speaks of it, from a personal examination, as "a glass stoup, a drinking
vessel, about six inches in height, having a circular base, perfectly
flat, two inches in diameter, gradually expanding upwards till it ends
in a mouth four inches across. The material is by no means fine in
quality, presenting, as it does on close inspection, several small
cavities or air-bubbles. The general hue is a warm green, resembling the
tone known by artists as _brown pink_. Upon the transparent glass is
traced a geometric pattern in white and blue enamel, somewhat raised,
aided by gold and a little crimson. It will, of course, stand on its
base, but it would be far from wise to entrust it, when filled, to this
support." Dr. Fitch is in accord with the common opinion of antiquaries
in pronouncing it to be of Venetian origin, though Mr. Franks thought it
Saracenic. He describes the case in which it is kept as evidently made
for it, being of the same shape. "The lid of this case," he says,
"rather unevenly fits the body by overlapping it. There is no hinge; the
fastenings are certain hooks or catches, not in good condition; the
security and better apposition of the lid is maintained by a piece of
leather, not unlike a modern boot-lace, or thin thong. The case d