Fairway

The mid pa age in a short channel; the navigable part of a river. Fair weather, in Alaska , a mountain about 35 m. N.E. of Cape Fair weather. It is an important land-mark on the British and American frontier, and is said to be nearly 15,000 feet high. Fair Weather, in Illinois , a post-office of Adams co. Fair weather Island, in Connecticut , at the entrance of Black Rock Harbor. It has a light-house, Lat. 41° 8 24" N., Lon. 73° 13′ 30′′ W., 45 ft. above the sea-level. Fair'y, n. [Fr. fée; Ger. fee; Sp. fad a ; It. fúta ; probably from Lat. fatum , a prophetic declaration, from fa , root of obsolete for , fat us , to speak. In O. Fr., par féerie signifies fatally. Pers. par i , a fairy.] A fay; an imaginary being or spirit, supposed to a ume a human form, dance in meadows, steal infants, and play a variety of pranks; an enchantre . The (Myth.) In the traditional mythology of the nations of Western Europe, fairies (the elves of the Anglo-Saxons; see ELF) were generally believed to be a kind of intermediate beings, partaking both of the nature of men and spirits, having material bodies, and yet po e ed of the power of making themselves invisible, and of pa ing through any sort of enclosure. They were remarkably small in stature, with fair complexions. and generally clothed in green. Their haunts were believed to be groves, verdant meadows, and the slopes of hills, and their great diversion dancing hand-in-hand in a circle, as mentioned in Midsummer Night's Dream. The traces of their tiny feet are supposed to remain visible in the gra long afterwards, and are called Fairy Rings or Circles , (q. v.) They were regarded as being sometimes benevolent, and sometimes mischievous. diseases of cattle were frequently attributed to their mischievous operations; and cattle that died suddenly, witllout any apparent cause, were commonly said to be elf-shot. They were said to be very fond of young children, and were in the habit of carrying away such as they could lay hold of, and leave vixens of their own in their room. In Poole's Parna us are given the names of the fairy court: " Oberon , the emperor: Mab , the empre ; Perriwiggin , Perriwinkle , l'uck , Hobgob lin , Tomalin , Tom Thumb , courtiers; Hop , Mop. Drop, Pip , Drip , Skip , Tub , Tib , Tick , Pink , Pin , Quick , Gill, Ion , Tit , Wap , Wim , Nit , the maids of honor: Nymphidia , the mother of the maids." Croker, in his Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland , describes them as beings "a few inches high, airy, and almost transparent in body; so delicate in their form, that a dewdrop, when they chance to dance on it, trembles, indeed, but never breaks. Both sexes are of extraordinary beauty, and mortal beings cannot be compared to them." They live in large societies, and are governed by a queen; and the peasantry never speak of them but with caution and respect, as the good people and friends , believing them to be present, and to hear what is said. They have their dwellings in clefts of rocks, caves, and ancient tumuli, and every part of them is decorated in the most splendid and gorgeous manner. The popular belief in fairies may be said to have generally died out; but to it we are indebted for a cla of literature which, to the young at least, has its ceasele charms. - The fairy superstition belongs to modern Europe. We find nothing like it among the idolatries of the heathen referred to in Scripture. In cla ical mythology, there is nothing nearer to it than the nymph of the fountain or grove among the Greeks. The true fairy tales first became popular in the latter part of the 17th century, and the Italians appear to have been the first to take the lead. They afterward became very popular in France; and, at the present, they are more extensive and popular in Germany than in any other country. Fair'y, a. Belonging to fairies; given by fairies. Fair'y-land, n. ( Myth.) The imaginary land of the fairies.