THE POWER OF THE ENCHANTEMENT
THE FAIRY RING
DARE YOU HAUNT OUR HALLOW’d GREEN?
NONE BUT FAIRIES HERE ARE SEEN.
DOWN AND SLEEP, WAKE AND WEEP,
PINCH HIM BACK, AND PINCH HIM BLUE,
THAT SEEKS TO STEAL A LOVER TRUE!
WHEN YOU COME TO HEAR US SING,
OR TO TREAD OUR FAIRY RINGS,
PINCH HIM BACK, AND PINCH HIM BLUE!
O THUS OUR NAILS SHALL HANDLE YOU!
BY THOMAS RAVENSCROFT
THE LURE OF THE DANCE
THE RING OF DANCE HAUNTS MANY A FAIRY TALE,
A MEANS OF DRAWING MORTALS INTO THE WARPED TIME AND
SPACE OF FAIRYLAND. FAERIES AND ELVES CAVORT AT NIGHT
OR BEFORE
DAWN ON MISTY MORNING. JOIN THE CIRCLING
DANCERS AT YOUR OWN PERIL; FOR ONCE
YOU ENTER A FEW MAKE IT HOME.
BUT BECAUSE A RING HAS NEITHER BEGINNING NOR END.
IT IS ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO BREAK AWAY FOR IT. NOT
ONLY IS THE
RING DANCE MAGICK, SO ARE THE MARKS IT LEAVES ON THE
GRASSY
GROUNDS.
THE TIRELESS TRIPPING OF TINY FEET ETCHES A CIRCLE OF
MOTIF
INTO THE GROUND, WHICH WILL APPEAR AS DEEP AS GREEN
TUFTS OR EVEN AS SCORCHED GRASS.
THE GRASS WITHIN MAY LOOK AS BEAUTIFUL AND LUSH OR CAN
BE DRY AS THATCH, OR EVEN REDDISH IN HUE.
IN ORKNEY IT SHOWS AS A RING OF GREEN OF BARE
HEATHLANDS AND AT CERTAINS TIMES OF THE YEAR, A RING
OF MUSHROOMS WILL SPROUT FROM THESE RINGS.
THE SIZE OF THE FAERIE RINGS VARIES, FROM A FEW INCHES
TO ALMOST 200 FEET [60METERS]OR MORE IN DIAMETER.
FAIRY RINGS ARE EXTREMELY SLOW GROWING. IT IS THOUGHT
THAT
SOME LARGER EXAMPLES ARE HUNDEREDS OF YEARS OLD!!!
NOT ONLY IS THE RING PERILOUS FOR HUMANS
TO STEP WITHIN THESE GRASSY FAIRY RINGS THAT ARE
SO ANCIENT, ITS GRASS IS UNPALATABLE FOR GRAZING
ANIMALS WHO MIGHT BE BY TO EAT THE GRASS, WHO ARE
INTUITIVE
TO ITS DANGER SIGNS.
EXCEPT THE WELSH SHEEP,
WHO ARE SUPERIOR SUPERIOR QUALITY OF WELSH MUTTON IS
CREDITED TO THOSE RECKLESS SHEEP GREEDILY MUCHING ON THE GRASS OF THESE
FAIRY RINGS.
ONE MIGHT BE DRAWN TO THE RING
BY THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC OF THE FAIRY INSTRUMENTS, BUT
IT IS
A FATAL CHARM FOR THE HUMAN EARS, IT WILL WAVES DREAMS
AND ACTS AS A SLEEPING DRAFT OF LOVE POTION IN YOUR
MIND.
YOU WILL NEVER HAVE A BETTER TIME IN YOUR LIFE!
THE TALES TELL, AND NEVER WEARY, BUT WHEN YOU STOP
DANCING
OR ARE PULLED AWAY…
BY A LOVED ONE WHO REMAINED BRAVELY WITH ONLY ONE FOOT
INSIDE
THE FAIRY RING.
YOU MAY FIND A YEAR AND A DAY HAS GONE BY—OR EVEN A
LIFETIME HAS PASSED. WHEN YOU FEEL THE TUG OF YOUR LOVE ONE.
IT MIGHT BE TO LATE FOR YOU.
AND YOU WILL FIND ALL IS LOST, FAMILY,FRIENDS—THERE HAVE
BEEN
SOME THAT HAVE DIED FROM EXHAUSTION TOO.
TO ENTER THEIR MAGICK WORLD IS TO DO IT COMELELY,
THERE IS NO TURNING BACK! BUT WHAT A WORLD IF YOU
THINK ABOUT IT!
THOSE WHO DO RETURN ARE DESCRIBED AS DULLED OR
BEFUDDIED, MOVING IN A TRANCE FOR THE REMANDING OF
THEIR DAYS.
THEY ARE UNABLE TO RECALL THE MUSICAL TUNE, TE DANCE
OR
EVEN THEIR PARTNER,BUT ALSO UNABLE TO
FORGET!
ONE DAY A GENTLEMAN ENTERED A CABIN IN THE COUNTY
CLARE, AND SAW A YOUNG GIRL ABOUT TWENTY SEATED BY THE FIRE, CHANTING A
MELANCHOLY SONG,WITHOUT SETTLED WORDS OR MUSIC. ON
INQUIRY HE WAS TOLD SHE HAD ONCE HEARD THE FAIRY HARP AND THOSE WHO HEAR IT
LOSE ALL MEMORY OF LOVE OR HATE. They forget all things and never more have any
other sound in their ears, but the soft music of the fairy harp. And when the
spell is broken they will die.
