Folk Lore

David MacRitchie, a Scottish folklorist (1851-1925), argued that fairies were based on a real diminutive or pygmy-statured population that lived in Scotland during the late Stone Age:

"Postulations based on the premise that fairies constitute a folk memory of former races, conquered peoples who were pushed out beyond the periphery of settled areas, have fuelled the imagination of many scholars on this subject. Of particular significance was a theory advanced by David MacRitchie that fairies were an actual race of small or 'little' people, the original Pictish peoples of Scotland."

David MacRitchie, a Scottish folklorist (1851-1925), argued that fairies were based on a real diminutive or pygmy-statured population that lived in Scotland during the late Stone Age:

"Postulations based on the premise that fairies constitute a folk memory of former races, conquered peoples who were pushed out beyond the periphery of settled areas, have fuelled the imagination of many scholars on this subject. Of particular significance was a theory advanced by David MacRitchie that fairies were an actual race of small or 'little' people, the original Pictish peoples of Scotland."