Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 3 1885.djvu/152

144 At midnight, the appointed hour; And for the Queen a fitting bow'r, (Quoth he) is that fair cowslip flow'r, On Hipcut-hill that groweth. In all your train there's not a Fay That ever went to gather May, But she hath made it in her way, The tallest there that groweth!"

This missive he entrusted to a fairy page Tom Thumb, promising him "a mighty wage" for its safe delivery. This nursery hero we may remember was carried into Faerie by his godmother after death; he spent two centuries there (during which the Pigwiggen episode must have occurred), and then returned to earth to go through more adventures. On due receipt of the note, Mab called her maids and bade them prepare to go with her to her summer-hall: