the secret commonwealth of elves fauns and fairies robert kirk

Till some printed text of 1691 is discovered, we may doubt, then, whether the hundred copies published in 1815, and now somewhat rare, be not the original printed edition.

If the son had his father's book only in manuscript, it seems very probable that it was not printed in 1691 that the title-page is only the title-page of a manuscript. The reprint, of one hundred copies, was made, as it states, from no printed text, but from 'a manuscript copy preserved in the Advocates' Library.' On page 45 of the edition of 1815,Īt the end of the comments on Lord Tarbott's Letters, there is a 'Note by the Transcriber'-that is, the person who wrote out the manuscript in the Advocates' Library: 'See the rest in a little manuscript belonging to Coline Kirk.' Now Coline or Colin Kirk, Writer to the Signet, was the son of the Rev. Research in our great libraries has discovered none, and there is none save that of 1815 at Abbotsford. 163, note), 'It was printed with the author's name in 1691, and reprinted, in 1815, for Longman & Co.' But was there really a printed edition of 1691? Scott says that he never met with an example. Sir Walter Scott says in his Demonology and Witchcraft, (1830, p. The title-page of the edition of 1815, which we reproduce, gives the date as 1691. THE bibliography of the following little tract is extremely obscure. Sacred Texts Legends & Sagas Celtic Index Previous Next

Many of our modern depictions of fairies can find their origins in this fascinating and historically important work that continues to entertain and inspire readers the world over.The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies: Introduction: 1.

While Kirk died before his collection of otherworldly encounters was published, it is widely regarded by scholars as one of the most important and significant works on fairy folklore and the Scottish belief in second sight. He believed that these tales of fairies, witches, and ghosts, as well as stories claiming that many Scots were gifted with second sight, or extrasensory perception, were proof that the stories in the Bible were in fact true and supernatural phenomenon in fact existed. Most famous during his own lifetime for publishing one of the first translations of the Bible into Gaelic, Kirk spent much of his professional life collecting the many folklore tales native to Scotland. Written before he died in 1692, the work was not published until 1815 after many legends had grown around Kirk’s death, which imagined that he was secreted away by the fairies themselves for revealing their secrets. “The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns, and Fairies” is the famous and mysterious treatise on fairy folklore, witchcraft, second sight, and ghosts by Gaelic scholar and minister, Robert Kirk.

The secret commonwealth of elves fauns and fairies robert kirk