iend of mine, the belief in fairies
existed in many parts of Wales; and, when a "schoolboy, with his
satchel," unwillingly trudging to school, he has often observed, in a
meadow near Conwil, Carmarthenshire, three small circles of grass, which
appeared to have been weaved round the edges. Wondering much for what
purpose they were ordained, he once asked his mother the use of them,
when she gave him a severe injunction not to _approach_ on any
account, much less _enter_ the rings, for, said she, they belong to
the Bendith eu mammau (a species of fairies), and whoever enters them
can never get out, it being enchanted ground.

These rings have not only been noticed by the illiterate, but by
philosophers and learned characters, who have advanced two opinions
respecting them. Some, among whom are Dr. Priestly and Mr. Jessop, upon
practical and scientific observations, attributed them to lightning, but
their experiments did not prove altogether satisfactory. Drs. Wollaston,
Withering, and others, who had _duly_ examined these spots,
ascribed them to the growth of fungi, which opinion seems undoubtedly
the best.--The rings vary in size and shape, some having seven yards of
_bare_, with a patch of _green_ grass a foot broad in the
middle; others, of various sizes, are encompassed with grass much
greener than that in the interior. It is rather remarkable that no
beasts will eat of them, although some persons suppose that _sheep_
will greedily devour the _grass_. Shakspeare thus speaks in his
Tempest:

"Ye elves of hills, brooks, stagnant lakes, and groves,
And ye that on the sands with printless foot,
Do chase the ebbing Neptune, and do fly him
When he comes back; you demi puppets that
By moonshine do the _green sour_ ringlets make,
Whereof the _ewe not bites_, and you whose pastime
Is to make midnight mushrooms----."

The following story is well known in Carmarthenshire:--A farmer going
out one morning very early to fetch his horses from pasture, heard
some delicious music, far sweeter he thought (no doubt) than ever bard
produced from his _telyn_ (harp); and being allured by it, as we
read of men being allured of old by the enchanting voices of Sirens,
he proceeded to the place whence the strains seemed to issue, and in a
sequestered retreat beheld the elves footing it merrily. Wishing perhaps
to obtain more extensive knowledge of these "dear little creatures," he
had the magnanimity to enter the ring, wit