Note 193 — Chapter XIII

The Wigtownshire tale perhaps relates rather to an example of the rude underground Fairy Ha', or Pecht's house, described in the beginning of this chapter. While the word "how" signifies in Orkney a haug, or mound; the "howe" of other parts of Scotland means a "hollow." In fact, the story says that the foul water ran down to the entrance of the dwarf's house, which was therefore either an underground gallery of the kind referred to, or else a chambered mound placed on a lower level than the shepherd's cottage.