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Their wee green cloaks were folded close about them, and each carried a rush candle. Teig was filled with a great wonderment, entirely, when he saw the fairies, but when they saw him they laughed. "We are takin' the loan o' your cabin this night, Teig," said they. "Ye are the only man hereabout with an empty hearth, an' we're needin' one."
At last the fairies straightened their caps and cried, "Now for the great hall in the King of England's palace!" Whist and away they went, and Teig after them; and the first thing he knew he was in London, not an arm's length from the King's throne. It was a grander sight than he had seen in any other country.
I have not got the pay for the spriggin' this month, an' the childher are needin' food." But Teig put the leash on his tongue, and never stirred till he heard the tramp of her feet going on to the next cabin. Then he saw to it that the door was tight-barred.
Others took their place small feet, running. It was the miller's wee Cassie, and she called out as she ran by. "Old Barney's watchin' for ye. Ye'll not be forgettin' him, will ye, Teig?" And then the child broke into a song, sweet and clear, as she passed down the road: "Listen all ye, 'tis the Feast o' St. Stephen, Mind that ye keep it, this holy even.
Teig stopped a moment on the threshold until the tramp of her feet had died away; then he made a hollow of his two hands and called across the road: "Hey there, Barney, will ye come over for a sup?" Reprinted here by arrangement with the author. A German legend for Christmas Eve as told by
Without saying more, they bustled about the room making ready. They lengthened out the table and spread and set it; more of the Good People trooped in, bringing stools and food and drink. The pipers came last, and they sat themselves around the chimney-piece a-blowing their chanters and trying the drones. The feasting began and the pipers played and never had Teig seen such a sight in his life.
The next moment they were about him, catching at his coat and crying: "Where is he from, what does he here? Bring him before the King!" And Teig was dragged along by a hundred hands to the throne where the King sat. "He was stealing food," cried one. "He was robbing the King's jewels," cried another. "He looks evil," cried a third. "Kill him!"
It might be a bit of music played on a harp or a pipe, or it might be a dance or a song; but more often it was a wish, just, for good luck and safekeeping. Teig was so taken up with the watching that he never heard the fairies when they wished themselves off; moreover, he never saw the wee girl that was fed, and went laughing away.
And then another and another until the room was empty and Teig sat alone again. "By my soul," said Teig, "I'd like to thravel that way myself! It's a grand savin' of tickets an' baggage; an' ye get to a place before ye've had time to change your mind. Faith there is no harm done if I thry it." So he sang the fairies' rhyme and out of the air dropped a wee cap for him.
I cannot be telling you a half of the adventures Teig had that night, nor half the sights that he saw. But he passed by fields that held sheaves of grain for the birds and doorsteps that held bowls of porridge for the wee creatures. He saw lighted trees, sparkling and heavy with gifts; and he stood outside the churches and watched the crowds pass in, bearing gifts to the Holy Mother and Child.
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