we are told:

"A rich mantle did he wear,
Made of tinsel gossamer,
Bestarred over with a few
Diamond drops of morning dew."


Tulips are the cradles in which the fairy tribe have lulled their
offspring to rest, while the _Pyrus japonica_ serves them for a fire.[2]
Their hat is supplied by the _Peziza coccinea_; and in Lincolnshire,
writes Mr. Friend,[3] "A kind of fungus like a cup or old-fashioned
purse, with small objects inside, is called a fairy-purse." When mending
their clothes, the foxglove gives them thimbles; and many other flowers
might be added which are equally in request for their various needs. It
should be mentioned, however, that fairies, like witches, have a strange
antipathy to yellow flowers, and rarely frequent localities where they
grow.

In olden times, we read how in Scandinavia and Germany the rose was
under the special protection of dwarfs and elves, who were ruled by the
mighty King Laurin, the lord of the rose-garden:

"Four portals to the garden lead, and when the gates are
closed,
No living might dare touch a rose, 'gainst his strict command
opposed;
Whoe'er would break the golden gates, or cut the silken
thread,
Or who would dare to crush the flowers down beneath his