Grampian Club > Scotland, social and domestic

236 Scotland, Social and Domestic.
of the little sufferers. Youths denounced by parents or
employers were apt to be laid hold on by the elf-folks.
Herds who fell asleep on the pasture, especially after
sunset, were liable to transportation to Fairyland ; those
who were, under such circumstances, removed, were
seven years excluded from human converse. In pul-
monary complaints, the soul of the patient was
supposed to be stolen away, and that of a fairy sub-
stituted.
Beautiful maidens and handsome wives were stolen
by the wicked fairies. The miller of Menstrie, who
possessed a charming spouse, had given offence to the
" unseelie court," and was, in consequence, deprived of
his fair helpmate. His distress was aggravated by
hearing his wife singing in the air : —
" Oh, Alva woods are bonny,
Tillicoultry hills are fair,
But when I think o' the bonny braes o' Menstrie,
It makes my heart aye sair."
After many fruitless attempts to procure her restora-
tion, the miller chanced one day, in riddling some stuff
at the mill-door, to use a posture of enchantment, when
the spell was dissolved, and the matron fell into his
arms. The wife of the blacksmith of Tullibody was
carried up the chimney, the abductors, as they bore her
off, singing : —
" DeidleTinkum dodie !
We've gotten drucken Davie's wife,
The smith o' Tullibody."
Those snatched to Fairyland might be recovered
within a year and a day, but the spell for their recovery
was potent only when the fairies made a procession on
Hallow-eve : —