to
sing, _Bothwel bank thou blumest fair_. The gentleman hereat wondered,
and forthwith, in English, saluted the woman, who joyfully answered him;
and said, she was right glad there to see a gentleman of our isle: and
told him, that she was a Scottish woman, and came first from Scotland to
Venice, and from Venice thither, where her fortune was to be the wife of
an officer under the Turk; who being at that instant absent, and very
soon to return, she entreated the gentleman to stay there until his
return. The which he did; and she, for country sake, to shew herself the
more kind and bountiful unto him, told her husband, at his home-coming,
that the gentleman was her kinsman; whereupon her husband entertained
him very kindly; and, at his departure gave him divers things of good
value."--_Verstigan's Restitution of Decayed Intelligence._ Chap. _Of
the Sirnames of our Antient Families._ Antwerp, 1605.

INTRODUCTION TO THE TALE OF TAMLANE.

ON THE FAIRIES OF POPULAR SUPERSTITION.

_"Of airy elves, by moon-light shadows seen,
The silver token, and the circled green._--POPE.

In a work, avowedly dedicated to the preservation of the poetry and
tradition of the "olden time," it would be unpardonable to omit this
opportunity of making some observations upon so interesting an article
of the popular creed, as that concerning the Elves, or Fairies. The
general idea of spirits, of a limited power, and subordinate nature,
dwelling among the woods and mountains, is, perhaps common to all
nations. But the intermixture of tribes, of languages, and religion,
which has occurred in Europe, renders it difficult to trace the origin
of the names which have been bestowed upon such spirits, and the primary
ideas which were entertained concerning their manners and habits.

The word _elf_, which seems to have been the original name of the
beings, afterwards denominated fairies, is of Gothic origin, and
probably signified, simply, a spirit of a lower order. Thus, the Saxons
had not only _dun-elfen_, _berg-elfen_, and _munt-elfen_, spirits of
the downs, hills, and mountains; but also _feld-elfen_, _wudu-elfen_,
_sae-elfen_, and _water-elfen_; spirits of the fields, of the woods,
of the sea, and of the waters. In low German, the same latitude of
expression occurs; for night hags are termed _aluinnen_, and _aluen_,
which is sometimes Latinized _eluoe_. But the prototype of the English
elf, is to be sought chiefly in the _berg-elfen_,