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20 The first leet night, quhan the new moon set,

Quhan all was douff and mirk,

We saddled our naigies wi’ the moon-fern leif,

And rode fra Kilmerrin kirk.

Some horses ware of the brume-cow framit,

And some of the greine bay tree ;

But mine was made of an humieke schaw,

And a stout stallion was he.

This ballad of Mr Hogg’s appears to be founded on the traditional anecdote recorded of one of the Duffus family, who by means of the phrase, ‘Horse and Hattock,’ equivalent in effect to the words ‘Borram, Borram, Borram,’ joined company with the fairies on a trip to examine the king of France’s winee-cellar, where, having drunk too freely, he fell asleep and was so found the next day, with a silver cup in his hand. The sequal informs us, that on being brought before the, king, his majesty not only most graciously pardoned the offender, but dismissed him with the wine-cup as a present, which is said to be still preserved in the family.

A similar tradition is very common in Ireland, particularly in the county Galway, and is evidently the basis on which Billy MacDaniel's adventure has been constructed.

In every tiny dingle there was a hundred of wry-mouthed goblins.—So says D. ab Gwilym, in his address to the Mist, 1340.

These fairies are often’ inclined to play tricks with the less pure inhabitants of the mountains, who hazard to ramble in misty weather; they will seize hold of any forlorn traveller they meet with, and propose to give him a lift through the air, and they offer the choice of one out of three courses; that is he may be carried below wind, above wind,