Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/73

 FAIKIES FAKIR 65 headed with flint, and thus to bewitch them ; these small arrowheads are known to the country people and antiquaries as elf arrows. The elf fire was the ignis fatuus, and other luminous points on moors and heaths were called fairy sparks. A mole or defect on a person was a fairy nip or an elvish mark, and a matted lock of hair in the neck an elf lock. The Gaelic fairies are very handsome, are usu- ally attired in green, and dance, lend and bor- row, and make shoes very rapidly. The Gaels call them daoine sJii or men of peace, and their habitations shians or tomhams, which are like turrets, and consist of masses of stone. Some mortals have been among them, and after banqueting with them they fell asleep and awoke after a hundred years. The brownie and kelpie of the Highlands seek to decoy unwary people to ride on them when they appear in the form of horses, and plunge with them into the neighboring loch or river. The fairies of England correspond with those of the Scan- dinavians and Germans, but the fairies of the English people are somewhat different from those of the poets. The popular fairies were either rural elves, inhabiting woods, fields, mountains, and caverns ; or house spirits, usu- ally called hobgoblins or Robin Goodfellows. The fairies of the " Faerie Queen " of Spen- ser and those of the "Midsummer Night's Drearn " are not the same. The former are stately beings, typical of the moral virtues, with traits borrowed from the Italian fairy mythology, dwelling in enchanted castles, sur- rounded by courts of knights and ladies, and ruling over extensive kingdoms. Shakespeare adopted the elves and pixies of popular super- stition, with their diminutive stature, fondness for dancing, love of cleanliness, and child- stealing propensities, formed them into a com- munity ruled over by Oberon and Titania or Queen Mab, and gave immortality to "that merry wanderer of the night," Puck, alias Robin Goodfellow, alias Hobgoblin. The "Mad Pranks and Merry Jests of Robin Good- fellow " (printed by the Percy society, 1841) was originally published in the age of Shake- speare, and furnishes the first records of this mischievous son of a fairy, who "from hag- bred Merlin's time " had been famous for his pranks. Corresponding to him are the Ril- bezahl or Number Nip of German fairy lore, the Cluricaune of Ireland, the Eulenspiegel of Germany, and the Howleglass or Owlespiegle of Scotland. The North American Indians have many quaint fairy legends, which have been collected and narrated by Schoolcraft ; and it appears from Mitford's "Tales of Old Japan" that the Japanese have numerous books of fairy stories, in which the fox plays an impor- tant part. These stories are mostly for children. The earliest collection of European fairy stories in prose was the Italian Notti piacevoli of Straparola (Venice, 1550). The best Ital- ian collection is the Pentamerone of Giambat- tista Basile (Naples, 1637 ; translated from the Neapolitan by W. E. Taylor, London, 1856) ; it is full of learned allusions and keen satire, and designed for the amusement only of grown persons. Near the end of the 17th century the Contes des fees of Perrault and Madame d'Auluoy, and their successors, gave vogue to fairy stories throughout Europe, writ- ten chiefly for the instruction and amusement of children. The " Arabian Nights' Entertain- ments," introduced into Europe by Galland about the beginning of the 18th century, con- tributed much to their popularity, and was quickly followed by various imitations of the Arabian, Persian, Turkish, and Mongol tales. The " Tales of the Genii " by James Ridley, the Fables et contes indiens of Langles, and the later Contes chinois of Remusat, are ex- amples. The best later imitations are some of the tales of Tieck, Musaus, and Novalis, and especially of La Motte Fouque, and the ro- mance of the caliph " Vathek," by Beckford. Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales hold a high rank in this species of literature. The best works on the subject are Keightley's " Fairy Mythology " (enlarged ed., 1850) ; Scott's "Essay on the Fairy Superstition," in the "Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border;" Croker's "Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland " (1825) ; Dalyell's " Dark- er Superstitions of Scotland" (1838); "Rus- sian Popular Tales," translated from the Ger- man of Dietrich, with an introduction by Grimm (London, 1857); Dasent's "Popular Tales from the Norse " (1859) ; Strahlheim's SagenscJiatz aller VolJcer der alien Welt (Frank- fort, 1862) ; Braun's NaturgescMcJite der Sage (2 vols., Munich, 1864-'5); and Kremer's Ueber die sudarabiscJte Sage (Leipsic, 1866). FAIR OARS, Battle of. See CHICKAHOMINT. FAITHORNE. I. William, an English engraver, born in London about 1625, died there in May, 1691. He was a pupil of Sir Robert Peake, served under him in the royal army, was cap- tured at Basinghouse and confined in Alders- gate, and engraved several plates while in prison. He was at length released and went to France, where he received instruction from Robert Nanteuil. In 1650 he was permitted to return, and set up a shop near Temple Bar, where he did a large business in Italian, Dutch, and English prints, and also continued his professional work. He is most famous for his portraits, of which he produced a large number, including Cromwell, Prince Rupert, Milton, Sir Thomas Fairfax, Thomas Hobbes, and Robert Boyle. In 1662 he published a treatise on engraving and etching. II. William, son of the preceding, born in 1656, died in 1686. Like his father, his best works were portraits ; but he confined himself mainly to the mezzotint process. He became dissipated, and died early. Among his portraits are those of Mary, princess of Orange, Queen Anne when princess of Denmark, and Dryden. FAKIR (an Arabic word meaning a poor man), the name of a mendicant order in the