midnight
I do not know a more fascinating race of beings than these little fabled people , that haunted the southern sides of hills and mountains , lurked in flowers and about fountain-heads , glided through key-holes into ancient halls , watched over farm-houses and dairies , danced on the green by summer moonlight , and on the kitchen-hearth in winter . They seem to accord with the nature of English housekeeping and English scenery . I always have them in mind , when I see a fine old English mansion , with its wide hall and spacious kitchen ; or a venerable farm-house , in which there is so much fireside comfort and good housewifery . There was something of national character in their love of order and cleanliness ; in the vigilance with which they watched over the economy of the kitchen , and the functions of the servants ; munificently rewarding , with silver sixpence in shoe , the tidy housemaid , but venting their direful wrath , in midnight bobs and pinches , upon the sluttish dairymaid . I think I can trace the good effects of this ancient fairy sway over household concerns , in the care that prevails to the present day among English housemaids , to put their kitchens in order before they go to bed . I have said , too , that these fairy superstitions seemed to me to accord with the nature of English scenery . They suit these small landscapes , which are divided by honeysuckled hedges into sheltered fields and meadows , where the grass is mingled with daisies , buttercups , and harebells .