Fairy Help.— John Chalmers was a thresher at Peathill, Pitsligo. There was always a good deal more straw threshed than his labour would have led one to look for. Often and again have the flails been heard in the barn after he had finished his threshing, and left the barn. It was the fairies giving their kind offices.[1]—Told by W. Clark, aged 77, Peathill.
Changlings.— When a child was to be taken away by the fairies, a "stock" was some times substituted. It was an image of the child, and was made of wood. A man's child was carried off, and a "stock" left. On discovering what had been done, the father hung it in the "crook" over the fire. In a moment it flew out by the "lum." He rushed out to look after it, and found his own child lying under the gable of the house.[2]
Protection against Fairies.—"Willie, a'm gaain t' the wall; dinna ley the hoose till I cum back." "Foo that, mither," said Willie. "Oh, it wid be better gehn ye bed in; ye dinna ken faht may tack place." "Faht cud tack place, mither?" "Ye widna ken: onywye gehn ye gan oot, pit the Bible in aneth yir wife's head." "Oh aye, a'll dee that." Willie's wife had been brought to bed a short time before, and her child, as well as herself, was in danger of being carried off by the fairies. When Willie's mother returned, she found he had left the house. Going up to the bed side, she anxiously asked if Willie had put anything below the pillow. "A dinna ken. A fan him workin aboot ma head, bit a didna sae faht he wiz aboot." The grandmother put her hand under the pillow, and drew out a peat, for "Willie was a wanton wag," and had placed a peat instead of the Bible under his wife's pillow. His mother remonstrated most solemnly with him on his entering the house again. The remonstrance only called forth a laugh. "It's nae lauchin maitter, an gehn ye dinna tack care, ye may seen get something ye're nae seekin."—Told by W. Clark, Peathill.
"Sowans," or in northern pronunciation "sones," is a dish in Scotland. It is made from "pron" i.e. siftings of oatmeal. The "pron"
