Empire unusual suggested

s PASSPORT TO MAGONIA THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH 59
Can we establish with certainty that the two beliefs are indeed
identical? I believe we can. In earlier chapters, I have already
given several examples of the means of transportation used by the
sylphs. The ability of the fairies to cross the continents cannot
have escaped the reader's attention. In later chapters, I have several
rather striking tales to tell about Indian beliefs in flying races
and the aerial ships used by the Gentry taking part in medieval
wars. But I have not yet drawn from popular folklore the stories
that support most directly the idea that strange flying objects have
been seen throughout history in connection with the Little
People. But let us clear up this point now.
AERIAL RACES: FARFADETS AND SLEAGH MAITH
As late as 1850, one race of lutins survived in France, in the
region of Poitou, which has been in recent years a favorite landing
area for flying saucers. The lutins of Poitou were known as farfadets,
and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris contains several
delightful accounts of their mischievous deeds.
What were the main characteristics of the fadets or farfadets? 4
They were little men, very black and hairy. All day long they lived
in caves, and at night they liked to get close to the farms. Usually
their favorite pastime was to play tricks on terrified women. Their
dwellings were located with some precision. C. Puichaud, for
instance, has reported in a lecture that farfadets lived for a long
time at La Boulardierc near Tcrves, Deux-Sevres, in underground
tunnels they had dug themselves. 5 At La Boissiere, the inhabitants
describe the fadets as hairy dwarfs who played all sorts of pranks.*
One night in the 1850's, near the shore of the Egray River, a
group of women talked outside until about midnight. As they
were returning to the village—they had just crossed a bridge—
they heard a terrible noise and saw something that froze their
* The verb "lutincr," which means "to behave like a lutin," has survived
in the French language. It is used to describe childish pranks or harmless
tricks played on the girls. Indeed, the fadets were known to bother pretty
girls by pulling their hats, hiding their needles, etc. 1 would not claim that
the lutins deserved all the credits for such actions.
blood. Some object—which, for lack of a better term, they called a
chariot with whining wheels—was speeding up the hill with a
marvelous velocity. Naturally, it was pulled by the farfadets. The
terrified women hung together as they saw the apparition. One
of them, although half-dead with fear, made the sign of the cross.
The strange chariot leaped up over the vineyard and was lost in
the night.
The women hurried home and told the story to their husbands,
who decided to investigate. They wisely awaited dawn, however,
and then bravely went to the spot as soon as the sun was up. Of
course, there was nothing left to be seen.
We have already been told of the traveling habits of the Good
People. What has not yet been mentioned is the belief, especially
in Ireland, that conditions among humans arc related to the
travels of the fairies. Wentz says that, according to John Glynn,
town clerk of Tuam:
During 1846-47 the potato crop in Ireland was a failure and very
much suffering resulted. At the time, the country people in these
parts attributed the famine to disturbed conditions in the fairyworld.
Old Tedhy Stead once told me about the conditions then
prevailing, "Sure, we couldn't be any other way; and I saw the Good
People and hundreds besides me saw them fighting in the sky over
Knock Magh and on towards Galway." And I heard others say they
saw the fighting too.
According to another popular Irish belief, the elves have two
great feasts each year. The first one takes place at the beginning
of spring, when the hero O'Donoglme, who used to reign over the
earth, rises through the sky on a white horse, surrounded by the
brilliant company of the elves. Lucky is he, indeed, the Irishman
who sees him rise from the depths of the Lake of Killarney!
In January, 1537, the people of Franconia, between Pabcnberp
and the forest of Thuringia, saw a star of marvelous size. It came
lower and lower and appeared as a large white circle from which
whirlwinds and patches of fire came forth. Falling to earth, the
pieces of fire melted spear heads and ironwork, without causing
harm to human beings or their houses.
The favorite abode of the Gentry, however, was not always an
aerial one. In many talcs related by the students of folklore, as in