Fairy Tales in Prose and Verse Author:William James Rolfe Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CALDON-LOW. THE FAIRIES OF CALDON-LOW. By Mary Howitt. " And where have you been, my Mary, And where have you been from me ?" " I Ve been to the... more » top of the Caldon-Low,1 The midsummer night to see." 1 A low is a small hill. " And what did you see, my Mary, s All up on the Caldon-Low ?" " I saw the glad sunshine come down, And I saw the merry winds blow." " And what did you hear, my Mary, All up on the Caldon-Hill ?"- "I heard the drops of the water form, And the ears of the green corn1 fill." " O, tell me all, my Mary, All, all that ever you know ; For you must have seen the fairies 15 Last night on the Caldon-Low." " Then take me on your knee, mother, And listen, mother of mine : A hundred fairies danced last night, And the harpers they were nine. 3 " And the harp-strings rang right merrily, To their dancing feet so small; But O, the sound of their talking Was merrier far than all!" " And what were the words, my Mary, 25 That you heard the fairies say ?" " I '11 tell you all, my mother, But let me have my way. " And some they played with the water, And rolled it down the hill: 30 ' And this,' they said,' shall speedily turn The poor old miller's mill; 1 Wheat. " ' For there has been no water Ever since the first of May, And a busy man shall the miller be v By the dawning of the day. "' O, the miHer, how he will laugh When he sees the mill-dam rise! The jolly old miller, how he will laugh, Till the tears fill both of his eyes!' v " And some they seized the little winds That sounded over the hill, And each put a horn unto his mouth And blew it sharp and shrill: "'And there,' they said, ' the merry winds go, 45 Away from every horn, And they shall clear the mildew dank1 F...« less