Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry gathers Irish tales and legends concerning fairies, changelings, merrows, banshees, pookas and leprechauns. Edited and selected by W. B. Yeats, it arranges the material by folkloric subjects, beginning with the Trooping Fairies and continuing through Changelings, the Merrow and the Solitary Fairies.

The collection includes “The Fairy Well of Lagnanay”, “Teig O’Kane and the Corpse”, “The Brewery of Egg-shells” and “The Soul Cages”. Its later sections turn to saints and priests, the Devil, giants, and tales of kings, queens and princesses, creating a broad portrait of Irish storytelling traditions and beliefs as recorded in the 19th century.