The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies

Furthermore, Mr. Kirk is not like Glanvill or Henry More Joseph Glanvill and Henry More were 17th-century philosophers who used ghost stories to prove the existence of the soul against atheism.. He does not—except on his title page and in one brief passage—turn superstitious beliefs or psychic phenomena into arguments and evidence against modern "Sadducees" original: "Sadducees"; a term used in the 17th century for those who denied the existence of spirits or the resurrection..

Firm in his own belief, he treats his subject in a scientific spirit, as if he were dealing with generally recognized physical phenomena.

Our study of Mr. Kirk’s short treatise must have two aspects. First, it must be an essay on folklore—concerning popular beliefs, their relationship to similar beliefs elsewhere in the world, and the grain of factual truth preserved by tradition that they may contain. Secondly, because it deals with mental phenomena—things such as premonitions, hallucinations, and abnormal or unusual experiences in general—a critique of Mr. Kirk must border on "psychical research." The Society organized for that difficult subject The Society for Psychical Research, founded in 1882. certainly takes great pains with all sorts of strange reports and visions. It "transfers" thoughts of little value at a great expense of time and serious, hard work. But, as far as the author has read the Proceedings of that Society, it "does not concern itself," as Malory says, with these matters in their historical aspect. Everything that hallucination, illusion, imposture, or the "subliminal self" can do today has always been done among people at every level of civilization.

A historical study of the subject is just as necessary for the psychologist as it is for the folklorist. This includes evidence found in:

• Witchcraft trials
• Reports from travelers and missionaries
• The works of 17th-century Platonists like More, Glanvill, Sinclair, and others
• Rare treatises such as The Devil in Glen Luce and The Just Devil of Woodstock
• The writings of Lavater, Wierus, Thyræus, Reginald Scott, etc. 1

If there is an element of truth in modern hypnotic experiments (a matter on which I really have no opinion), it is evident that ancient magic and witchcraft are not mere illusions—or at least, not common ones. The "subliminal self" An early psychological term for the subconscious mind. plays its part in these matters. Without a doubt, psychologists should have a historical department. The evidence they would find is, of course, corrupted in many obvious ways, but it contains much that matches modern accounts. This coincidence can hardly be intentional; that is, the ancient seers of the Scottish Highlands had no intention of influencing modern research. However, it may be that their methods and ideas have been passed down by tradition to modern "sensitives" and "mediums." In any case, this is a historical chapter, even if it is only a chapter of "The History of Human Error." These broad and many-sided topics can only be touched upon superficially in this essay; the author will be satisfied if he directs the attention of

1. The Psychical Society, as far as the author knows, has not officially examined the ancient accounts of the phenomena it currently investigates. However, the catalog of the Society’s library proves that it does not lack material.

students with more free time and a better library of "diablerie" original: "diablerie"; lore concerning devils or sorcery. toward the subject. But first, let us look at The Secret Commonwealth as folklorists.

3. "THE SUBTERRANEAN INHABITANTS"

Mr. Kirk’s first chapter, "Of the Subterranean Inhabitants," naturally brings to mind the recent speculations of Mr. MacRitchie. The essence of Mr. MacRitchie’s testimony regarding tradition is that there was once a race of earth-dwellers on this island, that their artificial caves still exist, and that these people survive in popular memory as the "legendary Feens" and as the "Pechs" original: "Pechs"; a traditional Scots name for the Picts, often depicted as supernatural builders. of folk tales, in which they are considered dwarfs. "The Pechs had very small bodies, but were terribly strong." Here, then, one might think we have the origin of fairy beliefs. According to this theory, there really was a race of dwarfs who lived in "fairy hills" or howes original: "howes"; hollows or burial mounds., which are now commonly regarded as ancient burial monuments.

There is much in Mr. MacRitchie’s theory that does not convince me. The modern legends of the Pechs as the builders of Glasgow Cathedral, for example, do not seem to prove that a race known as the Picts survived until such a late date. Instead, these stories are on the same level as the ancient Greek belief that the Cyclopes built...