THE ELIZABETHAN FAIRIES

THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE ELIZABETHAN
FAIRIES l
Although the 16th century witnessed the most as-
tounding use and glorification of the fairies in literature,
and the creation of a literary conception of fairyland,
it was understood by poet and scholar that the fairies,
with certain notable exception^,^ were not figures of
The term " Elizabethan" in this essay is not confined to the reign
of Elizabeth, but is used to cover the years from 1558 to ;603 and
those of the first quarter of the 17th century which should more
properly be termed Jacobean. The 16th century believed in the
fairies and wrote about them. The 17th century continued to be-
lieve in the fairies of the 16th century and discussed them. There is
no sharp line of demarcation between the two periods in regard to
fairy lore and fairy mythology.
A Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and the Faerie
Queene. In these works also the fairies represented possessed a num-
ber of ,traits of the folk fairies. The inconsistency of both Shake-
speare and Spenser in the treatment of the literary race of fairies
which each created, is very marked. In the case of the former, note
the description of Mab, of infinitesimal dimensions and poetic and
fanciful occupation, yet
" . . . . . . . . . . . . . that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night;
And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs,
Which, once untangled, much misfortune bodes."
In the case of the latter, as both Scott and Keightley note, the steal-
ing of changelings in Book I, Canto X and Book 111, Canto I11 of
the Faerie Queene, and the designation of the progeny of the fairies
as "base Elfin brood" were injudicious and incongruous inconsis-
tencies, utterly at variance with the conception of the fairies pre-
sented in the Fuerie Qucene, and with the personality, character and
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