THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

4 INTRODUCTION
of the existence, in the 16th century, of two conceptions
of fairyland, that of folk tradition and that created by
Shakespeare.
The view advanced by Scott was elaborated by Nathan
Drake in his " Dissertation on the Fairy Mythology, and
on the Modifications which it received from the Genius
of Shakespeare published in I 8 I 7. He pointed out the
existence in England of the fairies of popular tradition
and the recurring characteristics of the " Fairy Mythol-
ogy of England " from Gervase of Tilbury to William
Warner.'" He made a study of the fairy mythology of
Shakespeare, basing his work upon four plays, A Mid-
summer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Merry Wives
of Windsor, and The Tempest, and emphasized the origi-
nality of Shakespeare in the " delineation of this tribe of
spirits." l5 He augmented the history of Robin Good-
fellow with many new references, and called attention to
the changes wrought upon him by Shakespeare.16 He
noted the influence of the fairy mythology of Shakespeare
upon the subsequent poets of the 16th and 17th century.17
l3 Shakespeare and His Times, Paris, 1838, pp. 488-511.
l4 Ibid., p. 502.
lvbid., pp. 502-508. Cf. p. 503:
" Of the originality of Shakespeare in the delineation of this tribe
of spirits, or Fairies, nothing more is required in proof, than a com-
bination or grouping of the principal features; a picture which, when
contrasted with the Scandick system and that which had been built
upon it in England and Scotland previous to his own time, will suffi-
ciently show with what grace, amenity, and beauty, and with what an
exuberant store of novel imagery, he has decorated these phantoms of
the Gothic mythology."
la Ibid., pp. 508-51 I.
Ibid., p. 511: " It is, in short, to his picture of the fairy world,
that we are indebted for the 'Nymphidia' of Drayton; the 'Robin
Goodfellow ' of Jonson; the miniatures of Fletcher and Browne; the
full-length portraits of Herrick; the sly allusions of Corbet, and the
spirited and picturesque sketches of Milton."