THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

INTRODUCTION 5
His conclusions upon the subject of the fairy mythology
of England and of Shakespeare can best be expressed in
his own words :
Upon the whole we may be allowed, from the preceding disserta-
tion, to consider the following series of circumstances as entitled to
the appellation of facts: namely, that the patria of our popular sys-
tem of fairy mythology, was the Scandinavian Peninsula; that, on
its admission into this country, it gradually underwent various
modifications through the influence of Christianity, the introduc-
tion of classical associations, and the prevalence of feudal manners;
but that ultimately two systems became established; one in Scot-
land, founded on the wild and more terrific parts of the Gothic my-
thology, and the other in England, built, indeed, on the same sys-
tem, but from a selection of its milder features, and converted by
the genius of Shakespeare into one of the most lovely creations of a
sportive imagination. Such, in fact, has been the success of our
bard in expanding and colouring the germs of Gothic fairyism; in
assigning to its tiny agents new attributes and powers; and in cloth-
ing their ministration with the most light and exquisite imagery,
that his portraits, in all their essential parts, have descended to us
as indissolubly connected with, and indeed nearly, if not altogether,
forming our ideas of the fairy tribe.18
To Drake, as may be noticed in the statement quoted
above, the popular fairies of 16th century England were
diminutive in stature. For the rest, they possessed " the
same infernal origin, . . . the same mischievous and
terrific character, and occasionally the same frolic and
capricious wantonness," as the fairies of the " Scottish
System" which " received and fostered that wilder and
more gloomy portion of the creed which develops the
agency and disposition of the Swart or Malignant
tribe."
Thomas Keightley in The Fairy Mythology; illustra-
Ibid., p.,511.
l9 Drake, Shak. and His Times, pp. 502 and 493.
2