The rings of taller, darker grass found in meadows were said to be the traces of fairies dancing hand in hand by moonlight, and were called fairy rings. Shakespeare, Drayton and Browne all used the belief, and in a pastoral by George Smith of Chichester a shepherd will not let his sheep tread inside one. It was still a common notion that whoever lived in a house built on fairy ground would wonderfully prosper. Dr Wollaston showed in 1807 that the rings were caused by a fungus spreading through the soil.
Fairy rings
Printed under 27 December
Lore and belief
It is still a vulgar notion that if a house be built upon the ground where the fairy rings are, whoever becomes the inhabitant will wonderfully prosper.
From Hone's Year Book, cols. 1535-1537. Read the original
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