Note 125 — Chapter XI

Even the expression "fo thalmain" may be held to denote the "conical hill" of the fairies. Talmhainn is certainly the genitive of talamh, "the ground"; and so "fo thalmain" signifies "under the ground." But tolman particularly denotes "a mound." And it, or the variant tulman, is used in a fairy tale of the island of Barra (Campbell's "West Highland Tales," ii. 39) with special reference to one of those abodes of the "little people." It may be added that the word translated the "solitudes" of the Feens, etc., might also be rendered the "secret places" or "concealed places."