### I. W.B. Yeats's Perspective on Irish Folklore W.B. Yeats, as a prominent collector and editor, approached Irish folklore not merely as a scientific study but as a profound expression of the Irish spirit, emphasizing its literary and spiritual dimensions. He notably stated that "the Celt is a visionary without scratching," suggesting an inherent, deep-seated connection to the supernatural and imaginative among the Irish people. Yeats expressed concern that previous collectors, like Croker and Lover, tended to "humorize" everything, creating a "stage Irishman" and missing the "passion, its gloom, its tragedy" of the populace. In contrast, Lady Wilde's _Ancient Legends_ captured "the innermost heart of the Celt in the moments he has grown to love through years of persecution, when, cushioning himself about with dreams, and hearing fairy-songs in the twilight, he ponders on the soul and on the dead". Yeats aimed to present a representative collection of Irish folk-faith, deliberately choosing not to "rationalize a single hobgoblin". ### II. The Enduring Nature of Irish Folklore Unlike English fairies, which Dr. Corbett lamented had departed by the time of James I, Irish fairies are "still extant," described as giving gifts to the kindly and plaguing the surly. This enduring presence suggests a resistance to the "Spirit of the Age" and its associated skepticism, which Yeats observed had "in no manner made his voice heard down there" in rural Ireland. **Preservation and Transmission:** - **Oral Tradition:** Storytelling was a primary form of winter entertainment, told to both adults and children, and considered an "essential, spiritual occupation" in agricultural communities. Storytellers would gather, share their versions, and even vote on the most accurate rendition, ensuring remarkable fidelity to ancient manuscripts, sometimes even correcting perceived errors in written texts. - **Local Adaptation:** While folk and bardic tales were handed down with great accuracy, fairy legends "vary widely, being usually adapted to some neighboring village or local fairy-seeing celebrity". - **Storyteller Profiles:** Yeats describes individuals like Paddy Flynn, a "little, bright-eyed, old man" from County Sligo, known for his pious yet melancholy and apocalyptic cheerfulness, embodying a "visionary melancholy of purely instinctive natures". - **Chapbooks:** Popular fairy literature also existed in the form of chapbooks like "The Royal Fairy Tales," "The Hibernian Tales," and "The Legends of the Fairies," found on cottage shelves "brown with turf smoke". - **Times and Places for Tales:** Stories were commonly heard on Holy-eve night and at wakes, though priests later set their faces against wakes. At sea, fishermen would become loquacious, sharing histories to the tune of creaking boats. ### III. The World of Fairies ("The Good People") The Irish word for fairy is _sheehogue_ (_sidheóg_), a diminutive of "shee" from _banshee_. Fairies are also known as _deenee shee_ (_daoine sidhe_), or "fairy people". **Origins of Fairies:** - **Fallen Angels:** Some peasants believe them to be "fallen angels who were not good enough to be saved, nor bad enough to be lost". - **Gods of the Earth:** The "Book of Armagh" refers to them as "the gods of the earth". - **Tuatha De Danān:** Irish antiquarians identify them with the _Tuatha De Danān_, the pagan gods of Ireland who "dwindled away in the popular imagination" when no longer worshipped. This suggests a process of myth decaying into folklore, where elements of grand narratives survive in simpler forms. **Characteristics and Interactions:** - **Secrecy and Resentment:** Fairies are very secretive and "much resent being talked of." Stories exist of old women "nearly pinched into their graves" for discussing them. - **Powers and Perils:** They can paralyze men and cattle with "fairy darts". Their singing can cause girls to pine away and die. Many "old beautiful tunes" are said to be their music, caught by eavesdroppers. Fire is considered their "greatest of enemies". - **Changelings:** Fairies sometimes "fancy mortals" and carry them away, leaving a sickly fairy child or a bewitched log in their place. Overlooking a child with envy can give fairies power over it. An "infallible" way to identify a changeling is to lay it on fire, as a changeling will rush up the chimney with a cry. - **Dwelling Places:** Fairies are believed to dwell in Tir-na-n-Og, the "Country of the Young," a realm without age or death, sometimes seen in lake depths or from western cliffs. They also inhabit "fairy hills" that are invisible and inaccessible. This concept of an "otherworld" represents a passage into the "realm of the unconscious where the tick of time is not heard". **Types of Fairies (as categorized by Yeats):** - **Trooping Fairies:** Described poetically as "wee folk, good folk, trooping all together," wearing "Green jacket, red cap, And white owl’s feather". These are often associated with communal, social aspects of fairy life. - **Solitary Fairies:** These are generally "withered, old, and solitary," often mischievous, and dress without "fairy homeliness". - **Lepracaun:** From Irish _leith brog_ ("one-shoemaker"), continuously makes shoes and is rich from buried treasure. - **Cluricaun:** Supposedly the Lepracaun "on a spree, getting drunk in cellars". - **Far Darrig (Red Man):** Wears a red cap and coat, and engages solely in "gruesome joking". - **Fear-Gorta (Man of Hunger):** An "emaciated phantom" appearing during famine, bringing good luck to those who give alms. - **Merrow:** Sea-folk, not uncommon on wilder coasts. Male Merrows are described with "green teeth, green hair, pig’s eyes, and red noses," while females are beautiful, despite their fish tails and webbed fingers. They wear a red cap called a _cohullen druith_, which, if stolen, prevents them from returning to the sea. - **Pooka:** The _Púca_ is essentially an "animal spirit," possibly derived from _poc_ ("he-goat"), associated with Shakespeare's "Puck." It lives on solitary mountains and old ruins and is sacred on November-day. - **Banshee:** An attendant fairy that follows "old families" and wails before a death. This wailing is often accompanied by the _coach-a-bower_ (an immense black coach mounted by a coffin and drawn by headless horses). ### IV. Ghosts, Witches, and Other Supernatural Beings **Ghosts:** - Known as _Thevshi_ or _Tash_ (_taidhbhse, tais_), ghosts are believed to exist in an intermediary state, "held there by some earthly longing or affection, or some duty unfulfilled, or anger against the living". - Those who die suddenly are more prone to become haunting ghosts, moving furniture to attract attention. - Sorrowing greatly after a dead friend is believed to keep the deceased from their rest. **Witches and Fairy Doctors:** - These figures draw their powers from "opposite dynasties." Witches from "evil spirits and her own malignant will," while fairy doctors from the fairies themselves or an inherent "temperament". - Witch spells may involve "the dead hand" or the ability to transform into animals like a hare, cat, or wolf. - Some "fairy doctors" are believed to have been loved and carried away by fairies for seven years, returning with a "temperament" that makes them great poets, musicians, or fairy doctors. This contrasts with the _Lianhaun shee_ (_leannán-sidhe_), a "dreadful solitary" fairy that lives upon its chosen's vitals, causing them to waste away and die. The greatest Irish poets, from Oisin, are said to have belonged to a _Lianhaun shee_. **Giants:** - Yeats notes that as the pagan gods of Ireland (_Tuatha De Danān_) diminished in popular imagination to become fairies, the pagan heroes grew larger and became giants, such as Fin M'Coul. **Other Creatures and Beliefs:** - **White Trout:** Many holy wells in Ireland are haunted by "blessed trout," sometimes bearing marks from past desecrations. - **Serpent Myths:** Despite Ireland having no native serpents, a myth was invented attributing their expulsion to Saint Patrick. The serpent in occult lore is often associated with wisdom and potent power. ### V. Storytelling and its Cultural Significance Storytelling is portrayed as a crucial element of Irish cultural identity, deeply intertwined with the landscape and local history. It serves not only for entertainment but also for transmitting cultural values, spiritual instruction, and a connection to the collective memory. - **Enchantment of Landscape:** Storytelling can "enchant" landscapes, rooting human communities in the land. Features of the landscape are associated with local myths and legends, forming a "vibrant mythscape" that coexists with and informs the perception of the physical landscape. - **Universal Themes:** The universality of many mythological images, themes, and story patterns has long been recognized, with scholars offering explanations ranging from diffusion (e.g., pig domestication leading to shared pig-god myths) to shared human psychology (similar responses to fundamental experiences leading to similar myths). Fairy tales, in particular, are considered to mirror the simple, basic structure of the psyche, transcending cultural and racial differences, making them a "language in which each understand the other". - **Myth as Truth:** Joseph Campbell distinguished folk tales as being for entertainment from myths as being for "spiritual instruction," leading back to the self. Similarly, the persistence of certain ancient motifs in fairy tales, unchanged for thousands of years, suggests a mirroring of basic psychic structures. Myths are seen as "a mixture of truth and poetic fancy," where invisibles lie behind their strength. Overall, Yeats's work highlights the profound and living nature of Irish folklore, seeing it as more than mere quaint tales, but as a window into the unique visionary spirit of the Celt and a testament to the enduring power of myth in shaping cultural identity and understanding of the world.