Propiating the Faires on Man

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Having some years since, on a Sunday afternoon, had occasion to ride on horseback between two towns in the eastern part of Cornwall, I met a christening party, also on horseback,headed by the nurse with a baby in her arms. Making a halt as I approached her, she stopped me, and producing a cake, presented it to me, and insisted on my taking it. Several years after, when in the Isle of Man, I had the opportunity of hearing an elderly person relate several pieces of folk lore respecting the witches and fairies in that island. It had been customary, within his recollection, for a woman, when carrying a child to be christened, to take with her a piece of bread and cheese, to give to the first person she met, for the purpose of saving the child from witchcraft or the fairies. Another custom was that of the ‘Queeltah,’ or salt put under the churn to keep off bad people. Stale water was thrown on the plough ‘to keep it from the little folks’. A cross was tied in the tail of a cow ‘to keep her from bad bodies’. On May morning it was deemed of the greatest importance to avoid going to a neighbour’s house for fire; a turf was therefore kept burning all night at home. Flowers growing in a hedge, especially green or yellow ones, were good to keep off the fairies. And finally, the last cake was left ‘behind the turf-flag for the little people.’ J. W. THOMAS. Dewsbury. Notes and Queries

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