...arithmetic of the Scottish mind. The Scottish Muse has, however, another mood. Though she has loved reality, sometimes to maudlin affection for the commonplace,...horns of elfland and the voices of the mountains. It is a strange union of opposites, alien as Hotspur and Glendower ; not to be explained as if this...

...vice. But the Scottish Muse combines with this sense of pure realism " the airier pleasure to be found in the fun of things thrown topsy-turvy, in the horns of elfland and the voices of the mountains." Mr. Gregory Smith plainly doubts the view held by " Renan's and Matthew Arnold's generation " that...

...for the commonplace, she has , loved not lessjhe^ airier pleasure to be found in the confusion ofthe senses, in the fun of things thrown topsyturvy, in the horns of ^Ifland^and J:he voices of the mountains. It is a strange union of 6]pposites7~alien lis Hotspur and...

...suggestion." The second mood is one of " delight in the grotesque and uncanny; a whimsical delight in the confusion of the senses, in the fun of things...horns of Elfland and the voices of the mountains." These two moods are contraries, but fortunately the Scottish Muse has the power to pass freely from...

...Traditions of Belief, 167. CHAPTER FIVE Writing the Fairies Though the Scottish Muse has loved reality, sometimes to maudlin affection for the commonplace,...horns of elfland and the voices of the mountains. Gregory Smith1 Scottish fairies are first found in medieval poetry. They were fictionalised from the...

...sometimes borders on "a maudlin affection for the commonplace" and a "whimsical delight" in the fantastic, "the airier pleasure to be found in the confusion of the senses [and] in the fun of things thrown topsy-turvy" (4, 5, 19). Smith introduces the neologism with playful...