William Henry Frost

Fairies and Folk of Ireland William Henry Frost

William Butler Yeats (see quote below) declares that old women in Ireland "will not so readily be got to talk" of the fairies and the various other mysterious beings who inhabit the Emerald Isle. Mrs. O'Brian, however, is no such woman. She admonishes her son John and his wife Kitty not to despair nor flee to "the States" - as others have done - for those very beings will see them through. And so, she begins her series of tales that John and Kitty must keep in their heart and pass on to their children. ---------------------The old women are most learned, but will not so readily be got to talk, for the fairies are very secretive, and much resent being talked of . . . -Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, by William Butler YeatsUp the airy mountain, Down the rushy glen, We daren't go a-hunting For fear of little men; Wee folk, good folk, Trooping all together; Green jacket, red cap, And white owl's feather! -from "The Fairies" by William Allingham