"Efforts to Prove Fairies, 'Little People", Continue"

From The Tribune-Review (not sure where - if anyone knows, let me know!) of October 31st, 1967…

"CENTURIES-OLD BELIEFS - 

"Efforts To Prove Fairies, 'Little People', Continue

"NEW YORK (UPI) - The spirit of Halloween is centuries old but the efforts to prove existence of the 'little people' come right up to the 20th century.

"In England and Scotland, it is still believed that the hobgoblin (goblin of the hob or hearth) lives in the house and sweeps the floor, scours the pots and tidies the kitchen. But if his supper is not left for him on Halloween, he will scatter the ashes all over and upset the cooking.

"In Scandinavia, common tradition has it that if the elves mysteries, compiled evidence that elves and hobgoblins haven't been allowed to take grain and milk, they'll exchange an elf baby for a human one.

"Fairy Tale

"The story goes that a farm couple who refused supplies to the tiny spirits woke one dawn to a great outburst of noise in the barn. They rushed there to discover a changeling in the cradle. The farmers wife found the elfin child so unmanageable and disagreeable that she popped him in the oven.

"Whereupon the elf mother appeared, restored the human child and snatched up her own saying, 'I have cared for your babe better than you have for mine.'

"These and other legends of the elves and goblins of Halloween come from the Crayola people, whose crayons help make some of the modern 'scare' costumes children create.

"The company, looking into legend, says that in the 17th century, the Rev. Robert Kirk, a Presbyterian minister, wrote his observations of 'The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies.' Sir Walter Scott was also said to believe in them and held that Kirk did not die in 1691 as his tombstone showed, but swooned on a fairy hill and was abducted.

"Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the Sherlock Holmes inhabit the earth. And in 1921, says the company, the "Strand" magazine published 'photographs' of the winged figures no larger than butterflies.

"Tales of elf and goblin riches also have become legend. It's said in Ireland that the mortal who catches a leprechaun has his fortune made.

"In Africa, elves wear combs in their hair that bring wealth to the men who can catch them. However, mischievous elves often try to trick their captors. The gold and treasures these mortals receive turns into dead leaves and rubbish at daylight." 

Interesting, if nothing else.