_Milites Herlikini_, or _Herleurini_, celebrated by Pet. Blesensis,
and termed, in the life of St Thomas of Canterbury, the _Familia
Helliquinii_. The chief of this band was originally a gallant knight and
warrior; but, having spent his whole possessions in the service of the
emperor, and being rewarded with scorn, and abandoned to subordinate
oppression, he became desperate, and, with his sons and followers,
formed a band of robbers. After committing many ravages, and defeating
all the forces sent against him, Hellequin, with his whole troop, fell
in a bloody engagement with the Imperial host. His former good life was
supposed to save him from utter reprobation; but he and his followers
were condemned, after death, to a state of wandering, which should
endure till the last day. Retaining their military habits, they were
usually seen in the act of justing together, or in similar warlike
employments. See the ancient French romance of _Richard sans Peur_.
Similar to this was the _Nacht Lager_, or midnight camp, which seemed
nightly to beleaguer the walls of Prague,

"With ghastly faces thronged, and fiery arms,"

but which disappeared upon recitation of the magical words, _Vezelé,
Vezelé, ho! ho! ho!_--For similar delusions, see DELRIUS, pp. 294, 295.

The martial spirit of our ancestors led them to defy these aërial
warriors; and it is still currently believed, that he, who has courage
to rush upon a fairy festival, and snatch from them their drinking cup,
or horn, shall find it prove to him a cornucopia of good fortune, if he
can bear it in safety across a running stream. Such a horn is said to
have been presented to Henry I. by a lord of Colchester.--GERVAS TILB.
p. 980. A goblet is still carefully preserved in Edenhall, Cumberland,
which is supposed to have been seized at a banquet of the elves, by one