cially such as, in an unlucky hour, were devoted to the devil by the
execration of parents, and of masters;[A] or those who were found asleep
under a rock, or on a green hill, belonging to the Fairies, after
sun-set; or, finally, to those who unwarily joined their orgies. A
tradition existed, during the seventeenth century, concerning an
ancestor of the noble family of Duffus, who, "walking abroad in the
fields, near to his own house, was suddenly carried away, and found the
next day at Paris, in the French king's cellar, with a silver cup in his
hand. Being brought into the king's presence, and questioned by him who
he was, and how he came thither, he told his name, his country, and the
place of his residence; and that, on such a day of the month, which
proved to be the day immediately preceding, being in the fields, he
heard the noise of a whirlwind, and of voices, crying, _'Horse and
Hattock!'_ (this is the word which the Fairies are said to use when they
remove from any place), whereupon he cried, _'Horse and Hattock'_ also,
and was immediately caught up, and transported through the air, by the
Fairies, to that place, where, after he had drunk heartily, he fell
asleep, and, before he woke, the rest of the company were gone, and had
left him in the posture wherein he was found. It is said the king gave
him the cup, which was found in his hand, and dismissed him." The
narrator affirms, "that the cup was still preserved, and known by the
name of the _Fairy cup_." He adds, that Mr Steward, tutor to the then
Lord Duffus, had informed him, "that, when a boy, at the school of
Forres, he, and his school-fellows, were upon a time whipping their tops
in the church-yard, before the door of the church, when, though the day
was calm, they heard a noise of a wind, and at some distance saw
the small dust begin to rise and turn round, which motion continued
advancing till it came to the place where they were, whereupon they
began to bless themselves; but one of their number being, it seems, a
little more bold and confident than his companions, said, _'Horse and
Hattock, with my top,'_ and immediately they all saw the top lifted up
from the ground, but could not see which way it was carried, by reason
of a cloud of dust which was raised at the same time. They sought for
the top all about the place where it was taken up, but in vain; and
it was found afterwards in the church-yard, on the other side of the
church."--This puerile legend