The Secret Commonwealth: Of Elves, Fauns, and FairiesNew York Review of Books, 2019 M05 14 - 144 pages A classic, enchanting document of Scottish folklore about fairies, elves, and other supernatural creatures. Late in the seventeenth century, Robert Kirk, an Episcopalian minister in the Scottish Highlands, set out to collect his parishioners’ many striking stories about elves, fairies, fauns, doppelgängers, wraiths, and other beings of, in Kirk’s words, “a middle nature betwixt man and angel.” For Kirk these stories constituted strong evidence for the reality of a supernatural world, existing parallel to ours, which, he passionately believed, demanded exploration as much as the New World across the seas. Kirk defended these views in The Secret Commonwealth, an essay that was left in manuscript when he died in 1692. It is a rare and fascinating work, an extraordinary amalgam of science, religion, and folklore, suffused with the spirit of active curiosity and bemused wonder that fills Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy and the works of Sir Thomas Browne. The Secret Commonwealth is not only a remarkable document in the history of ideas but a study of enchantment that enchants in its own right. First published in 1815 by Sir Walter Scott, then reedited in 1893 by Andrew Lang, with a dedication to Robert Louis Stevenson, The Secret Commonwealth has long been difficult to obtain—available, if at all, only in scholarly editions. This new edition modernizes the spelling and punctuation of Kirk’s little book and features a wide-ranging and illuminating introduction by the critic and historian Marina Warner, who brings out the originality of Kirk’s contribution and reflects on the ongoing life of fairies in the modern mind. |
From inside the book
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Page xix
... lively curiosity in people and their ways of being, as well as unusual mild-mannered tolerance. Far from denouncing belief in fairies and stories about them as contrary to Christianity, Kirk considers them xix INTRODUCTION.
... lively curiosity in people and their ways of being, as well as unusual mild-mannered tolerance. Far from denouncing belief in fairies and stories about them as contrary to Christianity, Kirk considers them xix INTRODUCTION.
Page xx
Of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies Robert Kirk. stories about them as contrary to Christianity, Kirk considers them compatible, and even welcome; never does he call down the wrath of heaven on his flock or on the seers whose weird experiences ...
Of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies Robert Kirk. stories about them as contrary to Christianity, Kirk considers them compatible, and even welcome; never does he call down the wrath of heaven on his flock or on the seers whose weird experiences ...
Page xxvii
... story began to be told how the minister went out walking one evening in his night-gown upon a Dun-shi, or fairy mount [such as still exists in St. Fillan's] in the vicinity of the manse or parsonage, behold!hee sunk down in what seemed ...
... story began to be told how the minister went out walking one evening in his night-gown upon a Dun-shi, or fairy mount [such as still exists in St. Fillan's] in the vicinity of the manse or parsonage, behold!hee sunk down in what seemed ...
Page xxviii
... story from Kirk's successor as minister in Aberfoyle"; but Scott made it famous by retelling it in his Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1830). He relates how at the time of Kirk's sudden death, his wife was carrying a baby ...
... story from Kirk's successor as minister in Aberfoyle"; but Scott made it famous by retelling it in his Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft (1830). He relates how at the time of Kirk's sudden death, his wife was carrying a baby ...
Page xxix
... central to this enterprise, and remains a singularly potent element in Scotland's culture, much stimulated by the Romantics interest in local traditions, stories, and ballads. It is easy to see this concern as a reaction xxix INTRODUCTION.
... central to this enterprise, and remains a singularly potent element in Scotland's culture, much stimulated by the Romantics interest in local traditions, stories, and ballads. It is easy to see this concern as a reaction xxix INTRODUCTION.
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Common terms and phrases
Aberfoyle aerial Andrew Lang angels apparitions appear Barrie beast believe in fairies betwixt Bible body called Cardano Celtic charm conjecture conveyed creatures cure curious daemons dead devils doth earth EILEEN CHANG Elisha ELIZABETH HARDwick EMMANUEL BOVE enchanted essay evil fairyland Gaelic ghost habit hand hath haunt HENRY GREEN Highlands hill inhabitants invisible Irish isle J. M. Barrie J.G. FARRELL James Jesus John King KINGSLEY AMIS Kirk's glossary knew L.P. HARTLEY living London Lord lore magic Memoirs ment minister nature night occult ond sight PATRICKLEIGH FERMOR perceived person Peter powers Robert Boyle Robert Kirk Scotland Scots Scottish Scottish-Irish second sight Secret Commonwealth seen seer seventh Sir Norman sith sluagh souls species spell spirits Stories strange subterranean supernatural Tarbat terrestrial things tion told tradition Twilight uncanny VASILY GROSSMAN vision W. B. Yeats waters whereof wights Witchcraft witches words