will disappear. Ladies who now smile on the man of spirit, who has bullied a magistrate, and paid five pounds, will turn coldly from him who has had his hair cropped, and worn the livery of the house of correction. "A fine, harum-scarum fellow,"-" a youth of mettle,"—" a delightful, high-spirited young man," will be terms no more applied to such as he, but he will be designated even by the fair, who now affect to admire him, as nothing better than a blackguard after all.

368

A LEGEND OF PUCKASTER,

ISLE OF WIGHT.

BY ABRAHAM ELDER, ESQ.

JOHN KANN was a labouring man, living in the parish of Whitewell; and, in the good old times, when fairies danced, was said to have been particularly favoured by them. This was a matter of considerable importance at the time, for he lived in a neighbourhood where they were most numerous and active.*

Mr. Puck himself, as it was very well known at the time, used frequently to hold his court, and lead his midnight revels on a spot by the sea-side not above a mile from his house. It was a wild uncultivated place, covered with rocks, and bogs, and holes, and briers. It was generally known when he was at home by a small light being seen dancing about at midnight over the rough ground. This the neighbours used to call "Friar Rush's lantern," or "Puck's little star: " the latter name, however, was the most common.

Amidst all this wilderness of rocks, bogs, and briers, there was, however, one place where the turf was extremely smooth and level; and persons passing that way by daylight used to observe those circular marks in the grass, which are every where known by the name of fairy rings.

One day a neighbour of John Kann's said to him, "John, I am going to build myself a house. Come, and I will show you where. It is the prettiest loveliest spot that ever was seen?"

Where do you think he took him to? To the very place where the grass was so smooth and soft, and where the fairy rings were always seen.

"Gracious me!" said John Kann.

here!

"You are not going to build Are you not afraid of Puck's little star? By St. Radegund+ you are making a fool of me!"

"I'm not making a fool of you at all," said he; "but, the fact is, now that I am going to be married, I must get a house of my own to live in; besides, this would be a nice healthy place for the children when they come."

* Burton, in his Anatomy of Melancholy, tells us that "terrestrial devils are those lares, genii, fauns, satyrs, wood-nymphs, foliots, fairies, Robin Goodfellows, trulli, &c. which, as they are most conversant with men, so they do them much harm. These are they that dance on heaths and greens, as Lavater thinks with Trithemius, and as Olaus Magnus adds, leave that green circle which we commonly find in plain fields. They are sometimes seen by old women and children. Hieron. Pauli, in his description of the city of Bercino, in Spain, relates how they have been familiarly seen near that town, about fountains and hills. "Sometimes," saith Trithemius, "they lead simple people into the recesses of the mountains, and shew them wonderful sights, &c." Giraldus Cambrensis gives instance of a monk of Wales that was so deluded. Paracelsus reckons up many places in Germany where they do usually walk about in little coats, some two feet long.-See Anatomy of Melancholy, 15th ed. p. 124.

+ St. Radegund appears to have been the patroness saint of Whitewell. There was anciently a chapel dedicated to her there.

"But ain't you afraid of Puck?" "Not at all," he answered. 66 Puck never hurts an honest industrious fellow like me. We have always been very good friends, and I have no doubt but that we shall continue so."

"And whom do you suppose the land belongs to?" asked John Kann.

Why, it's just waste land, and is of no use to anybody; and the manor belongs to the Lisle family. They would never grudge a poor man's building a cottage there."

"That spot," said John Kann, "no more belongs to the Lisles than it belongs to me. It belongs to Mr. Puck; and, you think it would be a nice place for your children, do you? Do you know what happens to children that are born on fairy ground?"

"No."

"Why, then, I will just tell you. The fairies give them gin to prevent them growing any bigger, and then carry them off, and put an old wizen fairy in their place. I have known the thing happen often and often before. That child of Sukey Grundle's, you know, that was always crying and squealing, that was never her child at all, but just an old fairy. Her own little darling is no doubt at this moment doing the dirty work for some of the queer creatures in Fairy-land, scrubbing, and dusting, and slaving, and feeding their pigs, and, no doubt, getting a whop on the head every now and then with a broomstick; and, I will tell you what; it's of no use your settling here, just for the purpose of providing for your family by getting your children apprenticed out to the fairies. It's no saving at all, for they always leave one of their own sort, that eats twice as much, and is, besides, very mischievous, in its place. You had better not interfere with Puck's little star."

Well, John Kann's neighbour took his advice; and, moreover, asked John to his wedding-feast, which took place a day or two afterwards. John passed a very merry evening; and it was late and very dark before he started to return home. There were no roads in this part of the island in those days; so finding one's way home at night was not always an easy matter. Luckily, however, for John, a friend of his, who lived near, had started just before with a lantern, and John followed the light, which was some way on before him, singing to himself as he went along.

Up-hill and down-hill, over rough and smooth, John Kann followed the light: but, somehow or other he did not recognise any part of the road as he went along. "Maybe the ale was strong, and I am a little fuddled like, though I do not feel so," thought he to himself. 66 Maybe, all this time I have been following a wrong person with a lantern." However, it was of no use stopping then, as he did not at all know where he was; so he followed on, and on, and The ground grew rougher, sometimes up-hill, sometimes downhill, amongst brambles, and rocks, and holes, but there was a firm good path under his feet all the while. When, all of a sudden a new idea flashed across his mind. Maybe it's Puck's little star that I have been walking after all this while. What fun!" thought he to himself.

on.

At length the light seemed to stand still, and John Kann walked up to it. However, as he came nearer, the light seemed to grow paler and smaller; and, when he got close to it, it was no bigger or

brighter than a glow-worm's tail, so he was left all in the dark; but just then the moon glided out from behind a cloud, and showed him that he was on the very spot where the grass was smooth, and the fairy rings were, and where his neighbour wanted to have built his house.

As he stood still he thought he heard the sound of music, and a multitude of tiny voices singing together in chorus. He held his breath, and listened. He could clearly distinguish the following words,

"John Kann-John Kann
Is a very nice man :
He's a very nice man,

John Kann."

He looked about for some time to see whence the voices came. At length he saw down on the ground just before him a great number of very small little people dancing hand in hand round a ring, with red and purple caps upon their heads, and little petticoats and cloaks, that looked as if they were made of gossamer. They all looked so faint in the moonlight that he thought at first it had only been the moon shining upon the stalks of grass as they waved in the wind. How lucky it was that he had heard them singing, or he might have walked on, and trod upon half a dozen of them.

While he stood there, looking at the dance, there came up to him one that looked like a very wee child of about five years of age, but his face seemed full of fun and mischief. As he came up to John all the fairies left off dancing, and stood hand in hand in a halfcircle round, bowing and courtesying to him, saying,

"Mr. Puck-Mr. Puck,

Give John good luck.
He's come to see

The revelry

On the fairy lea,

And to dance on his toe,

As round we go,

As round we go."

"I don't see how I can manage to dance with you," said John, without treading upon a good many of you, and crushing you to pieces; for you see I am at least twice as big as all of you put toge

ther."

Here little Master Puck put in his word.

"John Kann-John Kann,
You great big man,

Though broad and tall,
We'll make you small,
If you'll dance with me
On the fairy lea.

There's dust on the fern-
The lady's fern,

That waves o'er the burn.

Brown stripes are seen
On its leaves of green.
Go.

Fetch."