act ii. sc. 1.

[341:B] Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 154, 155. Tempest, act v. sc. 1.

[341:C] Ibid. vol. v. p. 202. Merry Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 5.

[341:D] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 381. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 3.

[341:E] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 379. Act ii. sc. 2.

[341:F] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 344. Act ii. sc. 1.

[341:G] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 402. Act iii. sc. 1.

[341:H] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 403. Act iii. sc. 1.

[342:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. xx. pp. 51-56. Romeo and Juliet, act i. sc. 4.

[342:B] Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 356, 357. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 2.

[342:C] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 151. Tempest, act v. sc. 1.—Thus Milton, in conformity with these passages, describes his fairy night-scene:—

————————————— "Faery elves, Whose midnight revels, by a forest side, Or fountain, some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while over-head the moon Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth Wheels her pale course; they, on their mirth and dance Intent, with jocund musick charm his ear." Todd's Milton, 2d edit. vol. ii. pp. 368, 369.

The music here alluded to is beautifully described, as an accompaniment of the Scottish Fairies, in Sir John Sinclair's Statistical Account of Scotland:—"Notwithstanding the progressive increase of knowledge, and proportional decay of superstition in the Highlands, these genii are still supposed by many of the people to exist in the woods and sequestered valleys of the mountains, where they frequently appear to the lonely traveller, clothed in green, with dishevelled hair floating over their shoulders, and with faces more blooming than the vermil blush of a summer morning. At night in particular, when fancy assimilates to its own preconceived ideas, every appearance, and every sound, the wandering enthusiast is frequently entertained by their musick, more melodious than he ever before heard." Vol. xii. p. 462. note.

[343:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. pp. 206, 207. Merry Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 5.

[343:B] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 343. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 1.

[344:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. pp. 150, 151. Tempest, act v. sc. 1.

[344:B] Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 344, 345. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 1.

[344:C] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 379. Act ii. sc. 2.

[345:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. pp. 380-383. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 3.

[346:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. pp. 402, 403. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act iii. sc. 1.

[346:B] Ibid. p. 493. Act v. sc. 2.

[347:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. v. pp. 205, 206. Merry Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 5.

[347:B] Ibid. vol. xx. p. 59. Romeo and Juliet, act i. sc. 4.

[347:C] Ibid. vol. v. p. 203. Merry Wives of Windsor, act v. sc. 5.

[348:A] Burton's account of the Fairies, first published in 1617, is given with his usual erudition, and the part alluded to in the text, proceeds thus:—"A bigger kind there is of them (fairies), called with us _Hobgoblins_, and _Robin Good fellows_, that would in those superstitious times, grind corn for a mess of milk, cut wood, or do any manner of drudgery work. They would mend old Irons in those Æolian Isles of Lypara, in former ages, and have been often seen and heard. _Tholosanus_ calls them _Trullos_ and _Getulos_, and saith, that in his dayes they were common in many places of France. _Dithmarus Bleskenius_, in his description of Island, reports for a certainty, that almost in every family they have yet some such familiar spirits; and _Fælix Malleolus_ in his book de crudel. dæmon., affirms as much, that these _Trolli_ or _Telchines_, are very common in Norway, _and seen to do drudgery_ work, to draw water, saith _Wierus_, lib. i. cap. 32, dress meat or any such thing."

Anatomy of Melancholy, fol. 7th edit., 1676, p. 29, col. 1.

[348:B] The Discoverie of Witchcraft, 4to., 1584, pp. 152, 153.

[349:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. pp. 347, 348. Midsummer-Night's Dream, act ii. sc. 1.

[349:B] Ibid. vol. iv. pp. 350-352.

[350:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 398.

[350:B] Vide De Otiis Imperialibus, dec. iii. cap. 61, 62.

[350:C] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, 4to. 1572, p. 49.

[351:A] Of Ghostes and Spirites walking by nyght, 4to. 1572, p. 75.

[351:B] Discoverie of Witchcraft, 4to. 1581, p. 521.

[351:C] Discoverie, p. 85.

[351:D] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 409.

[351:E] "Cut off the head of a horsse or an asse (before they be dead), otherwise the vertue or strength thereof will be the lesse effectuall, and make an earthen vessell of fit capacitie to conteine the same, and let it be filled with the oile and fat thereof; cover it close, and dawbe it over with lome: let it boile over a soft fier three daies continuallie, that the flesh boiled may run into oile, so as the bare bones may be seene: beate the haire into powder, and mingle the same with the oile; and annoint the heads of the standers by, and they shall seeme to have horsses or asses heads."—Discoverie of Witchcraft, 1584, p. 315.

[352:A] Reed's Shakspeare, vol. iv. p. 434. Midsummer-Night's Dream,