An Account of an Alarming and Wondrous Incident

An Account of an Alarming and Wondrous Incident

Postby Niabh » Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:52 am

From the journal of Jonathan Rebeck, Esq.:

A remarkable case we have heard from the town of T-------- is that of six persons, three men and three women, who over the course of some four days did together torment an infant child, and did ultimately place this child still living into an iron kettle and did light a fire under said kettle so that the poor child within was slowly roasted to death; and that one of those who participated in this dreadful scene was the child’s own mother.

When brought before the magistrate all these six swore the same tale, that some six months after the child’s birth the mother became convinced that her child was a Changeling (that is to say, a wicked spirit in the guise of a natural child, left there by the Faerie, who stole away the true child for their own purposes) and that by degrees she likewise convinced her husband that this was so.

The evidence they gave for this belief went thus:

+ that the child, born in the very pink of health, within very few weeks soon withered, refusing all manner of wholesome nourishment;
+ that when offered to suck, it turned up its nose at the teat and struggled to free itself from its mother’s arms;
+ that it wailed and screamed all the night long, though there was no natural reason for it to do so, so that they thought this was a means for the changeling child to torment them;
+ that the mother swore that her own child was born with a birthmark like a brown bean upon its arm, which she would know anywhere, and that the changeling child bore the very same mark, which proved its fiendish nature, that it would know every mark upon the true child’s body;
+ that there was the strange matter of a half-crown that the man had set aside against their taxes, and which he feared stolen, only that it was later found hid beneath the child’s cradle-mat, when neither of them put it there;
+ that many was the time that they would hear from the child’s cradle strange chortling and mutterings, that struck the ear as unnatural and ill, yet when they went to see, the child would always be sleeping, though they swore that the child only feigned sleep.

After some weeks of this the man went unto his own mother, who was known all around as a conjure-wife. This woman declared that the child was indeed a Changeling, and that there was nothing for it but to threaten the Changeling until it wailed all aloud for its own kind to come and save it, whereupon the faerie-folk would return the true child. The man enlisted his neighbor, his neighbor’s goodwife, and their hired man, as well as his own mother, to confront the Changeling, and for all the first two days, they swore that all they ever did was watch it night and day, in hopes that it would reveal its true nature; then they devised to creep up upon the child as it slept, and shout, or make a din with drums, that it might spring up startled or cry out in its own language; but by then they had begun to confront it directly, and each would take turns lifting the child by the legs and shaking it, saying we know what thou art; where is our child? But it remained stubborn, until at last they had no choice but to torment it by thrusting lighted tapers in its face and laying heated coins and scissors upon its belly, demanding that it give itself up.

After four days of this, they were all weary, and the two goodwives in despair wept and begged let us leave off, for perhaps this Changeling is but a child itself, and we would do wrong to harm it though it be no mortal blood (for they feared that the Faerie would do them mischief as revenge).

The conjure-wife declared that their weak wills and doubt was due to the Changeling child altering their wits with magick, so as to spare itself. The conjure-wife then made the plan to put the child into the kettle (iron being proof against faerie-magicks) and to hang the kettle over the fire until the Changeling relented. This they did in the very front of their cot, facing the road, making no effort to conceal their dreadful sport in any way. Their neighbors soon heard the child's sorrowful cries and rushed to see what the matter was, only to be told we have got a fairy in the pot. The neighbors rescued the child, which by then beyond all hope and soon expired. The six were taken at once to the magistrate, where they delivered all these statements above.

Most curious yet is that after deliberation, the magistrate determined that none were guilty in this most heinous crime, for there could be no charge of Murder laid upon them without intent, and none of them had intended to kill a child but rather to drive away a faerie. Each of them admitted true remorse, but none more than the woman whose child it was, who still believed that it had been a Changeling they laid upon the fire, and that now that it was dead, there was no way of getting her own child back again.

The six unfortunates were found instead guilty of Manslaughter and subsequently branded with S, as the law requires, with a charge of infanticide set against the child’s father, who confessed he was the one that laid the child in the kettle. He was transported here to the city of O------, where he was gibbeted, while the neighbor and his man were remanded to a year’s service in our prison, whereby we learned of it. Each of the woman was given to the local stocks at T--------. As for the conjure-wife, she was deemed too aged to survive much punishment, but was branded and allowed to return to her home.

The child's body was interred within a clearing in the forest, where the village people believed the faerie-folks were wont to gather, for they would not have it rest in consecrated ground, saying that the faerie lack souls.

We relate these strange events to show how pagan these folk of our far-flung villages still may be, and how such ignorance and superstition may corrupt even the rule and reason of Law.
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The Fairy Queen's Gold Basket

Postby Niabh » Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:53 am

From Tales And Lore From Common Folks: A Collection

Old Isobel Dundrie of our village oft told the merry tale of when she was a young wife and took the linens to the river to wash. In those days, she said, there was a stone ford which had stood so long that no one remembered who built it, and it was called (in jest) the Fairies’ Ford, where all the village women did of their washing.

One day Isobel was at the Fairies’ Ford “a-doing of the liniments” (as they say in that part of the country) with her little son playing along the bank beside her, when much to her surprise a fairy lady dressed in the finest scarlet appeared on the other bank, bearing with her a reed basket woven of purest gold which was full of such raiment as would suit a king’s daughter (and here Old Isobel would name all the pieces in every color of the rainbow). Much to Isobel’s astonishment, the fairy lady kilted up her fine scarlet skirts, wound her silken sleeves above her elbow, and, thrusting her arms in the cold clear water much as if she were any common wife, called out, “Good day, Isobel,” as though they had been neighbors all their lives.

Right pertly Isobel called back, “And a very fine day to you, my lady.”

“It is a right lovely day for a washing,” said the fairy lady.

“That it is,” replied Isobel.

“Though there might be rain of it soon,” said the fairy lady.

“That there might be,” agreed Isobel. And the two of them fell to work, each staying to her own side of the Fairies’ Ford.

After some time, the fairy lady called again to Isobel, “Here now, I don’t suppose you would trade your basket for mine? For mine has got a hole in the bottom.”

Clever Isobel looked quick to her own basket and saw that her little son had gotten into it to play, and replied, “I don’t think I will, my lady, if it’s all the same.”

“Bad luck for me,” says the fairy lady, and the two of them carried on with their washing, until at last they stood together, each with her own basket.

“See you tomorrow, Isobel,” said the fairy lady, and disappeared.

“See you tomorrow, good lady,” Isobel replied all in eagerness, for she had a wish to look on the fairy’s beauty again. She resolved in her mind that the next day she would come to the Fairies’ Ford, this time without her little son, but that she would have her husband hide himself in the grass so that he could see the fairy lady too.

Yet when she came back next morning with her husband, the rain the fairy had spoken of had come in the night and broken down the Fairies’ Ford, and nothing remained of the place where they had met but a broad pond.

Isobel always swore this tale was true and that it was proof that not all fairies meant wickedness, and her son (now well-grown) said that whenever he was naughty as a child, his mother used to jape as how she might have traded him to the queen of the fairies and had a golden basket instead.
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The Castle in the Grange

Postby Niabh » Mon Aug 20, 2018 6:54 am

…it is curious that you mention the fairies, in particular fairy queens, for I have just this last week returned from visiting with my father, who was one of His Majesty’s royal engineers in the expansion of the King’s Road through the Grange in ’67. During construction, while they were down about Cullingmore way, they were ordered to tear down an old earthen mound people called the Fairy Castle. All the usual legends were ascribed to the place: that children had gone up on the mound and disappeared; that strange music came out of it at night; that if you walked widdershins around it with a silver spoon up your nose on St. So-and-So’s Eve, a door to the Other World would open, etc. Overall it was considered a place of ill fortune and no decent person would be seen near it, but strange to say, officials from several nearby towns objected to it being meddled with on the grounds that it was a landmark. The engineers took this as the typical Grange grumbling against royal imposition and assumed the farmers were trying to frighten them off, but the objections became serious enough that the ducal seat became involved.

Only after work finally began was it discovered that there might have been some truth to the old legend after all. Near the bottom of the mound, the workers broke into a hollow chamber containing a skeleton arrayed head to foot in gold jewelry. The remains were taken to be a woman as she had been buried with an infant, which one hopes was the manner of her death (that she died in childbirth) rather than that the infant was killed and laid in the grave with her. There were as well in the chamber about five or six other remains likewise dressed in gold, each with a hammered brass or bronze disc under the skull.

The treasure was confiscated in the name of the Crown and the whole work force sworn to secrecy about the chamber, which was useless, since many of the laborers were local men who took the story home. Given the reputation of the place and the strangeness of the incident, the popular story became that the bodies were those of the fairy queen and her court, though I should like to hear how they reconciled the leaving of mortal remains with the notion of immortal fairies. The bodies were disposed of, the work completed, and the gold sent to the treasury in Razasan, where for all I know, it may remain. If you are curious, you could do worse than to write there and see if there are any records.

I wish I could tell you more, but it was a very short conversation altogether, more anecdote than anything. Will you tell me what on earth provoked you to ask such a strange question? You can’t expect me not to wonder. In any case I hope to prick your conscience enough to write back and tell me how you have been doing all this time.

Ever your dear friend,
Marlow
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The Testament of Lord Thomas Ercledoune, Prophet

Postby Niabh » Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:10 am

Here is Writ the Testament of Lord Thomas Ercledoune, called Thomas the Seer and True Tom, who was spirited away to those realms men call Fairie, where he dwelt full Seven Yrs as Consort to the Fairie Quene, who laid upon him a Geis, or Curƒe, that he micht Sing for the Pleaƒure of Her Court, but forbade him to speak to any Creature save Herƒelf, leƒt his Immortal Soul be forfeit. In that Tyme he bore Witness to all the court and pageantrie of these Peoples, their straunge Magicks, their Pagan gods, and all manner of Deviltrie that no Man born of this Worlde ever before did see. At the Concluƒion of this Term was he granted the devine ƒecrets of Prophecie, and thereafter did served 18 yrs under His Majestie King Albarech as His Chief Counsellor and Soothsayer, foreseeing all Manner of Calamities, Including the Fall of Lothaine and the Blight that did follow, as well as many other Dreadful Prophecies that are Recorded, but not yet come to Pass. This Teƒtament describes his time spent amongst these Creatures, in Order to Reveal their ways and their Weaknesses, that other men may avoid Beguilement and Enƒlavement.


Since the Daie my Lady released me from Her service I have been burden’d that any thing I ƒpeak will come to pass, never knowing yf my speaking makes so or yf it would come to pass yf I spake it not. With this Fairie Gift have I ganed Fortune and Renoun, and have been the Adviƒor to men of Power; but I swear that I have had not one Hour’s Peace, without that my Mynd’s Eye dwells on the Horrors it has foreƒeen, that I would fain pluck out my two eyen and live in Darkness, would it but cast off these Viƒions. I have foreƒeen the Death of all I love, my two good Wyves, my own deare Daughther, and my Leige and King. Of late the hour of myne owne death has come to me, that no man should ever know, so that bread turns to ashe in my Mouth, and wine to gall, and I durst not sleep, for each sleep measures nerer to the Last. For these reasons I will speak no further Prophecie, lest I unwitting birth more Sorrows.

These Fairies (or as they call themƒelves, the DU-HA) are of a midle Nature betuixt Man and Spirit, as were Dæmons thought to be of old. Chief of their Nature is their changable Bodies, somewhat of the Nature of a condensed Cloud, and best seen by Twilight. Thes Bodies be so plyable through the Subtilty of their Spirit, that they can make them appear or disappear att their Pleaƒure. Their Bodies of congealled Air are some tymes lent to step into Shadow, where they are conƒumed by Darkness, but do reveal themƒelves from outten ƒome other place. This sport they oft do in deep foreƒt, delighting in slipping apace from tree to tree, that they may ever be one step before; or I have seen them att their Daunces, wherein a Woman wearying of her partner, wheels him round the far side of the fyre, onlie to reappear in the arms of another.

But more Subtle by far is their Glaumorie, by which means they Decieve the Eye and Mynd, and which hangeth like a Veil of Smoke allways about them. I do not believe I ever once beheld the true Face of my Lady, though in that time I saw Her change into a multitude of Schapes, for Her pleaƒure and myne. As a certain Favor to me, She once tranƒformed Herself into the very likeness of myne old love Maragrete, which was a Horror to me, as that woman had been Dead ƒome years, but the Fairies have no underƒtanding of ƒuch things, but thought only that I would be pleaƒed to lay with her again. But never had I told Herself of this Maragrete, nor had She ever laid eye on her in lyfe. I preƒume the trick was not that She Herself changed, but that she diƒtorted myne own viƒion, that I would perseive whatever I deƒired most.

So do the Fairies mislede men by distorting themselves to the eye that sees them, so that they may seem passing fair and wise, or possessing secret knowledge, but in truth they serve as a Reflexion of our own Desires, and by means of trickerie use the knowledge so gleaned against Us. Our owne mynds make perfect their Decepƒion, in that so long as men may Dream other than what is, so too may Fairies rob them of their viƒions and cast them back as seeming truths. Full often did it seem they stole even the music from my head, so as to weave it into their own Illusions, they who can create nothing of their own, but must steal or barter it from us.

Amongst them it is a great Shame to force a Fairie to cast off her glaumorie, no less than it would be amongst us to be stripped before the court, but the Quene Herself hath no power to strip the glaumerie of another yf they wish it Naught. By means of Coerƒion it may be done, or that the Fairie be bound in Iron so that the Pain perƒuades her to relent (Iron being a moƒt potent Charm against them, of which I will speak more anon). It is as well taken as Insult to dictate of them any particular Glaumorie, for No Thing is held more dere to Them, and they will accept no Authoritie save their owne in this. A Large Portion of their Law seems devoted to this Autonomie, as much as men make Laws to defend Propertie, as well as many Rules forbidding even Remark upon a change in another’s Schape, though it seemed to me impossible to avoid.

With their Skill they do distort Tyme itself, that their Merrie Reveles may seem to pass in the courƒe of one Nicht, but in truth this single Nicht may lengthen over many Daies, till all are sated with Pleaƒure. And yet in the same manner they may play out a mere Instance to an agony of Houres, out of spite, and to my Sorrow I was plaied this cruel gest many a tyme, till I knewe not how long I had been bound up in Their compangye, and dreaded allways that I would be returned to a World passed on many Yeres, and noone left that knewe me, as they say in the fables. I believe that this Distortion may be root of our Superstition against the eating of Fairie Fruits, that it is not the Fruits themselves that may be deadlie, but that a man believes himself to have been in Fairie but few houres, when in Truth he has been snared there for monye daies unwary and perishes of Hunger. This dread Fate is not beyond Their skill. I was myself alarmed when my Lady would ply me with foods daie and nicht, fearing She meant me ill (that there was poison or Magick upon it) ere She assured that it was all because I had not supped since yestereven, though I knewe it nowt.

Yet I do believe upon my Witness that they have no true Power over Tyme, but as with their Glaumorie instead diƒtort Perseptyon, and this they do for Joie as much as miƒchief. For none of their Glaumours have any bearing upon Truth, as they cannot alter Solid Matter (themself being all aery nothing) but work their will upon the Mynd’s Eye to cause one to Believe that a thing has changed. This they do amongst themselfs as well, with this Difference: that they can at will cast off Belief, and Perceive true Nature.


[Here the lower half of the page was cut out, though it is not known if Thomas has removed it or if it was done by a later hand.]

Lacking Souls, they are bereft of all Conƒcience and the natural Qualities of Temperance, Humility and Chaƒtity. They are the most shreud of Theives, that nothing that may be graƒped in the Hand is safe from them, but do nowt reckon theft among Themselfs (that they call Borrowing), but are bound by their curious Laws as what may or may not be stolen. To Steal outright they frown upon, but yf a thing may be won by means of clever trickerie and deceit, it is nowt reckoned theft. Yf they possess any Vertue whatever, it is that of Generositie. There is not a thing that can be ask’d that they will not grant yf it be in their Power, but this is less vertue than that they have nowt any notion of Propertie, but keep all their possesƒions in common, even unto their owne Children, who wander free between houses so that yt micht be thought they do not know their owne Mothers.

This Society is so contrarie that the natural hierarchy is subverted, so that women rule over the men and men are seen as no more than Unrulie Children themselves, and are set such Lowlie tasks as cookerie and such weaving with wool and flax as they are given to. In Court they are subject to any false Grievance a Woman may devise against them, not being allowed to Speak on their own, but requiring some number of Witnesses to vouch for them, nor are they allowed to make claim in Court themself lest a female relation (or often yet one of their Bard) make plaint on their part. Anyone would laugh to see these Trials, for they are like Children playing at how they think a true Trial must be, with Ladies pronouncing Judgement and the men ordered to silence. Yet I trowe that a man of Fairie may be better off than one of our young Wyves, for they are not oft beaten or ill-treated, and much unlike our Wyves these men seem content in their lot and are not given to be Quarrelsome or Disagreeable.


[Here is the other side of the page which was removed, with the text resuming at the top of the page following.]

Yet my Lady made plain that I was Her eƒpecial possesƒion, and took pains that I should come to no Miƒchief at Her peoples hands, nor that any other Woman shold take me for her owne, for in Her Court were all manner of jealous wychts who would have seduced me from her for the sake of raising their own Status. This Status is given through Childbirth, and passed through Legacies, and women may speak of a Child yet Unborn as though it lay sleeping in a cradle in the next room. My Lady made no secret that the reason in part She had chose to bear me away was hope that my Human Blood micht comingle with Her own to secure the right of Her line to rule, and I will say that never was a man so Pleƒauntlie employed in a Lady’s service to that end, though nothing came of the Union.

In this Court there was a man who had no name but Lawnan, meaning Beloved, and who was what our people call a Changeling. By degrees Lawnan revealed that he was born a mortal man, having been stolen away in his tenderst yeres, with no memory of any Lyfe before he came to the Courts, and gretely curieus of the Worlde wherein we both had been borne. Alas, being unable to speak, I could not answer his questions to any degree of Satisfaction, but instead gave him my songs in hope that he could gather some truth of things. In exchange he told me how he had come hence:

These Fairies will take up mortal Children, a lingering voracious Image of them being left in their place, (like their Reflexion in a Mirrour,) which soon turns stiff and cold as yf it expired by a naturall and common Death. The true Child would be removed to a Fairie Nurƒe, and bid to ƒuckle at her own breaƒt, or yf the Child came to her wained, the Nurƒe makes of it a ƒop. Soon after the Child is taken and given an Unholie baptism, in one of the Secrete Wells devoted to their Gods (which I was never able to learn the place of) and given a new Name, and by these means the mortal part of the Child is purged, and it is tranƒlated into a Fairie. By these menes do they Encrease and Strengthen their lines, for their owne Blood runs thin. But yf the Child is conveyed back to its naturall Place, it soon pines and dies. The Fairie beleve they do these Children a great ƒervice to remove their Immortal Souls and grant them Long Lyfe and Fairie gifts, though I fear yet what Fate awaits these unnatural beings yf they be barred for ever from the Eternal Bliss of Paradiƒe.

For this reason above others I believe that these Fairies live alongside us and prey upon us, like as an ivy upon an oak, suckling its sap to lengthen its own life, and yet in the same breath they deƒpise mortal men and reƒent their Dependence. In that Court I never ceased to fear my Lyfe, for all their Doting belyed Reƒentment. Even my faire Quene might ply with sweet caresses in one moment and the next with ferce blowes. Above all they hate mortal men for overrunning their own kind, yet know our grete numbers prolong their own Exiƒtence, so that they deƒpise us alle the more.


[Here some two or three pages are likewise excised.]

They have a multitude of Quenes, of which my Miƒtress was chief, and at the Quarters of the Year these Quenes hold their Counsels. They remove to other Lodgings at the Beginning of each Quarter of the Year, being imputent ƒtaying in one Place, and finding ƒome Eaƒe by ƒo Journeying and changing Habitations. At ƒuch revolution of Time, which they reckon by the Moon, they move in grete bands (that they call rades) and it is sworen amongst the Queenes that no one should meddle with a Rade, or attack it, and I have seen two women of rival Clans, that would have other whiles fallen to war, that will but hail each other whenn they cross rading pathes with all their Kin, meting in Peace while each is on her Path. But no sooner than the Rading is over then these ƒame two will be at one another’s Throats.

The Lady was Herƒelf possessed of ferce temprament, and I was not spared Her wrathe. When in Her Eye I lingered too oft with a maiden of the Court, She blewe Her breath in my Eyen, that I was robbed of all sight till I begged Her pardon. Yet my Lady was ever ready to remind me of Her affectyon, and made much of me before her Band, and she could in Her humour be so fond that one micht wonder which of us was Servant and which Master. This I soon well learned was all in sport, for the Fairie Quene would have no Master.

A Tyme there was when my Lady undertook a Journie during which I could not accompanie Her, but was left in the Safeguard of Her Court. She set upon my smallest finger a ring of Iron, and made me vowe never to remove it; but I later learnt that this Ring had not the least power of itself, but served as Warning of what Herself would do to any who did me mischief. Later I was to learn that this Ring was near sacred to them, so that alle who saw it on my hand made Mervel of it, saying that truly was I the Lady’s Favourite.

And this is of a grete contradiction: that common Iron is valued more than alle their Jewells, being more rare amongst them than Gold and Silver, but so hated they shy from it, and will spit upon the Ground, or touch their thumbs to their lip, yf the name of Iron is spake (for they believe that to name a thing gives it power). Though indifferent to all other Pain, if Iron touches them, they will writhe on the ground with foam upon their lips, and will soon be Agreeable to any Demand, for They can know no greter Torment than to be without their Magicks. Their Weapons are moƒt what ƒolid earthly Bodies, nothing of Iron, but much of Stone, like to Flint, or of caƒt Bronze. With the Longbow and Arrow they are gretely skill’d, and with the Barbed Pike, and the fletched Dart. These they favor much above Swords that they may kill from afar in ƒecrete, for their eye is like unto a Hawk in cunning, but Iron is reserved for the Quene alone, and She hoards it Jealously.

There are no poor among them, for the meanest possess gold and silver that would make him a Lord in some other countrie, and the grete Ladys do fair grone benethe their treasoir; these they despense with a free hand, as one throws a copper to a beggar. No sooner I was in my Lady’s possession than She dreƒsed me in gold bracers that I trow were hundredweight together, and pressed upon me Rings and Circlets so that noone could say I did reflect ill upon Her retinew. But chief of their jewells is the Torc, being a collar of twiƒted gold turned like a Crescent Moon and oft set with Jewells of grete worth, and blessed with Magic that they can not be unclasp’d but by She who wears it. By this Torc do the Quenes swere their oaths, and no one will break a vow that is set upon her Torc, or by her owne true Name.

Yet in spite of these riches they knowe nothing of monie or trade, or of occupation, each working with a will at their labours, and the goods thereby produced being shared amongst the clan, while the Gold is valued for its Beautie only. When I endeavored to tell the Quene of Her own wealth, and what this would make of Her in our owne country, She claimed offenƒe at the notion, saying that to trade with jewellery would be no different than to trade a child for a loaf of bread. But they do not shirk to trade their gold for their owne lyfe, for each Quene keeps her weight in ransom-gold, which is traded whenever She is captured. So it is that these treaƒoirs pass from hand to hand between them.

They oft dreƒs in no more than soft hides (as woven cloth of all kinds is dere to them) in skins to the knee, or in leathern trows, all painted in gaie hue, and hung with coloured beads. All alike wear the Brad, or cloak, of fine felted wool, well warm and proof againƒt rain, which they use as bedding. These cloaks are much priz’d, so that they say that to steal a cloak is no better than to cut a throat. After the Midƒummer they are not shamed to go bare above the waiƒt, men and women alike, their children running naked as they were born, nor is it uncommon to see them in the morning-time come out of their homes and raise their arms to the Sun without a stitch of clothes, for it is so often Rain that they make Obeisance to the Sun (which they reckon a god) when it shows its face.

THEY have a multitude of pagan Gods that they worƒhip in the form of Hills and Wells and Groves, and that come to them in the Seemings of Animals. Chief to my Lady was the Goddess EPONINA, that was said to appear in the Schape of a White Mare. When She comes the youths all gather round Her and pay Court to Her as though she was a beauteous Maiden, till that She chooƒes one to be her Bridegroom. Then there is held a wedding for the pair, this beast being adorned in Blossoms, as a Veil, which upon my witnessing I did take for a mock Marriage, but my Lady asƒured that the youth would surely play the Mare’s stallion. And there were many such Rites that I was not a witneƒs to, but learned of them after. In Battle they lay aside the ƒevered Heads of their foes in heaps high as to the Waist (for the Fairies believe that there is Power that reƒides within the Head) to do Honour to their goddess MORIGAINE. This aweful preƒence comes upon the Battlefield in the form of a Cloud of Crows, and this I have seen with myne own eyes. A question I did put to my Lady was yf they made Blood offerings to their Gods (for I feared myself such a one), at which notion She was much diƒmayed, and seemed curious yf myne own people did so. It seems this cuƒtom is unknown to Them though they shy nowt from every other form of Cruelty.

In addition to these Gods there are amongst them Wild Beasts or Spirits they revere, that are allowed to stalk their borders in full wantonness. In my tyme there was a child who was lost to such a Spirit that they call Grawnya Doo, or the Old Black Witch, that was said to take the form of a black rock by nicht, and wander by Daie. By my Oath I swear and attest that when this child was found, he was bound up within this very rock, not unlike an Owls-Pellet in which there are mony small Bones, so that none could pull the body forth, and they were forced to leave it there till it rot or the rock let it loose. And there were so many Spirits of this ƒort I can not name them all nor write of each one of their natures


[Here the text ends. It is believed that Thomas recorded some small prophecy in these final pages, which were removed much later for political reasons.]
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Re: An Account of an Alarming and Wondrous Incident

Postby Glenn » Wed Jan 02, 2019 6:08 am

From the journal of Glenn Burnie:

On Changelings:

The word that comes to mind is parasite. This is not to be looked at, in this moment, as a value judgement. In nature, such creatures exist only through siphoning the resources and toil of others, including their blood and sweat (sometimes the literal salt in the sweat).While this could be due to some cruel joke of a god, more likely, it is simply how these creatures are. They are animals. They do not think about what they are doing to survive. Their victims generally cannot give this much great thought either, unless the victims are human.

It is different with the Tuatha (which as I understand it, is not a particularly useful term for them, more people as opposed to "people" than fairy as opposed to human, but it will suffice for this specific purpose of classification. I refuse to use fairy/fairie/fae). They can reason. My encounters have been obviously limited but there is the sense of superiority you get out of those with great power. great isolation, and great longevity. They do not see it as a necessary prolonging of their species at the expense of our own. Instead they see it as a gift, the greatest gift imaginable, to take something that is lesser and unpure and refine it to make it pure.

She, forced out of that isolation, has had to take things even further. These are not just any humans she thinks to take, but malnurished ones, ones that may be orphans, or otherwise uncared for. This is very different than the tales, where they'd take any child they pleased or that they could get their hands on. Rarely am I disgusted by any notion at all, but I admit a certain difficulty with this one. I rationalize as well. In my case, it is because of humanity's inherent vulnerability against all things mystical and powerful, and because if I felt no pride for what I was, I would have a hard time moving forward in this world. I look for the strength then, the value in our mortality. I think here my disgust is partially irrational, having to do with the transformation of human children, even those who would have otherwise suffered, into something else, and partially to do with my own experiences. I went through a very similar ritual as the one discussed. It changed me. Were it's intention to change me into a being of another race, as opposed to assuming I was already of that race, it would have done so. I have no doubt of that.

This is one point where we (I and my correspondents) struggle, where we have constantly struggled. No one's answer satisfies. Are the Tuatha different than us because they have had different experiences, including their longevity, or is there something in their nature which drives them to think and act differently than us. Different hungers. The Glamourie (see below) as a primary means of communication. How much is cultural and how much is instinctual? For a human to become a Tuatha, would instinctual changes happen instantly? I think not. They only pick children for this, but I think that is a matter of ease, not necessity. Children are malleable. What is a few years at most in the span of thousands? They are young enough to be culturally transformed. An adult could be changed, but it would be much more difficult for this adult to be a functioning member of their society. Given the power that came along with this, without conforming to their rules, this adult could be an outright danger.

That digression doesn't change the overall question however. If it is abhorrent for unwanted children, or those in need, to be taken by the Tuatha and transformed, why? In absence of firm religious beliefs, I struggle with this on rational grounds. Obviously, this is only in a more perfect system where there is oversight on which children are taken and there's not trickery and stealing and enchantment. A mutually beneficial system.

Yet it feels wrong.

Yet I cannot explain why.

On Glamourie:

Perception. Obviously they have blood magic, some ability to alter reality, perhaps through gifts of their gods (a brief bit on gods later). These are no small things. I want you to look at glamourie as a sense, like sight or touch, but in truth, it's the sum of all senses. The world as we know it is not the world that exists in truth. It is simply how we can understand it. This is why we gather as much information as possible, record it, classify it, synthesize it. They have the ability not to manipulate the world as it is, but to manipulate the world as it is experienced. We can do the same through other means. We can paint a wall. We can play music. We can use spices to change taste. They need none of these tools, not paint or instruments or spices. They can manipulate each other's senses, our senses, just with their mind and magic alone, their imagination, their gifts.

Obviously, this is a problem for us and our understanding of the world. All we have is what we can perceive. You would think it would be a problem for them as well. For one, they do not try to understand the world around them in the same way. They take many things for granted. They also have some protections against one another. Some things are just not done. Lying happens more infrequently because there is far less need when the perception of the truth is more fluid. It benefits all if people can freely share their feelings and impressions. She's spoken of losing one's self in a glamour and forgetting what the truth is, but I think that is an overstatement. There are a thousand little changes they are in the midst of all the time and their understanding of the truth is constantly fluid. What's striking is the potential permanence of the veil they can weave. You hear of fairy gold lasting simply until morning, but a person may be changed for the entirety of his life, not just his own perception, but that of everyone around him. This might be an attribute of their longevity. What is a human lifespan to them? For us to exert ourselves for just a few minutes is possible. Maybe this is the relative equivalent.

Presumably they can pool their power. What could ten of them do together? What could a hundred? How many would it take to change the perception of a human army for instance? Or would iron simply prevent that? Is that all that keeps us safe on a wide scale?

What of their gods? Gods are fueled by belief. I wonder if those are the one thing that they do not waver on, poles that they can always return to if they forget who they are? If they take the gods for granted and never shift perceptions around them (perhaps they can't, a holy form of iron?) They do not doubt or question them. I wonder if they would fear themselves lost if they did? Asking her would do no good. She can meet me half way but that is far more than half. It is almost all the way.
Glenn
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