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Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Volume 2 - Consisting of Historical and Romantic Ballads, Collected in The - Southern Counties of Scotland; with a Few of Modern Date, Founded - Upon Local Tradition by Sir Walter Scott
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obnoxious to the blows of a human foe. From the malignancy of their
nature, they not only wage war with mankind, but persecute the Peris
with unremitting ferocity. Such are the brilliant and fanciful colours
in which the imaginations of the Persian poets have depicted the
charming race of the Peris; and, if we consider the romantic gallantry
of the knights of chivalry, and of the crusaders, it will not appear
improbable, that their charms might occasionally fascinate the fervid
imagination of an amorous troubadour. But, further; the intercourse of
France and Italy with the Moors of Spain, and the prevalence of the
Arabic, as the language of science in the dark ages, facilitated the
introduction of their mythology amongst the nations of the west. Hence,
the romances of France, of Spain, and of Italy, unite in describing the
Fairy as an inferior spirit, in a beautiful female form, possessing many
of the amiable qualities of the eastern Peri. Nay, it seems sufficiently
clear, that the romancers borrowed from the Arabs, not merely the
general idea concerning those spirits, but even the names of individuals
amongst them. The Peri, _Mergian Banou_ (see _Herbelot, ap. Peri_),
celebrated in the ancient Persian poetry, figures in the European
romances, under the various names of _Mourgue La Faye_, sister to _King
Arthur; Urgande La Deconnue_, protectress of _Amadis de Gaul_; and the
_Fata Morgana_ of Boiardo and Ariosto. The description of these nymphs,
by the troubadours and minstrels, is in no respect inferior to those of
the Peris. In the tale of _Sir Launfal_, in Way's _Fabliaux_, as well as
in that of _Sir Gruelan_, in the same interesting collection, the reader
will find the fairy of Normandy, or Bretagne, adorned with all the
splendour of eastern description. The fairy _Melusina_, also, who
married Guy de Lusignan, count of Poictou, under condition that he
should never attempt to intrude upon her privacy, was of this latter
class. She bore the count many children, and erected for him a
magnificent castle by her magical art. Their harmony was uninterrupted,
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