![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeThe Laird of Duffus was walking out in his fields one day, when a cloud of dust whirled past him, and from the midst of it he heard a shrill cry of "Horse and Hattock". Being a bold man, he repeated the cry, and immediately found himself whirled away in the air with a troop of fairies to the King of France's cellar. There they caroused all night so merrily that the Laird fell asleep and was left behind. The royal butler found him the next day, still fast asleep, with a cup of curious workmanship in his hand. He was taken before the King, and told him all that had happened. The King pardoned him, and he returned home with the fairy cup, which was kept in his family for several generations.
A selection of tales from her four-volume dictionary of British folk-tales and legends, with interesting introductions to each section. "Horse and Hattock" is one of the shortest stories in the book, and Duffus is a real place, near Elgin in northern Scotland. The Lairds of Duffus did own a fairy cup, a silver cup with their arms engraved on it, but there was nothing about it that would make you think that it actually came from fairyland.
A selection of tales from her four-volume dictionary of British folk-tales and legends, with interesting introductions to each section. "Horse and Hattock" is one of the shortest stories in the book, and Duffus is a real place, near Elgin in northern Scotland. The Lairds of Duffus did own a fairy cup, a silver cup with their arms engraved on it, but there was nothing about it that would make you think that it actually came from fairyland.
