Note 193 — PART III.[181]

Frequent reference has been made to the supposed power of fairies over unchristened children and their mothers. ‘Changelings’ were greatly feared. If a child developed a strong and uncontrollable temper there arose a suspicion that it was a ‘changeling,’ the meaning being that the fairies had slipped away the mother’s own child and substituted a little fiend in human form in its stead. It was believed that the best way to set the suspicion at rest was to submit the little unfortunate to the test of the fire. We have not, however, noticed any case where the test was actually carried out.