The name SHEFRO (variously written Sia bhrugh, Sithbhrog, Sithbhrogh,
Sioghbhrogh, Sioghbhrugh, &c.) by which the foregoing Section is dis-
tinguished, literally signifies a fairy house or mansion, and is adopted as
a general name for the Elves who are supposed to live in troops or com-
munities, and were popularly supposed to have castles or mansions of
their own. - See Stewart's Popular Superstitions of the Highlands, 1823.
pp.90, 91, &c.
Sia, sigh, sighe, sigheann, siebhra, sirchaire, siogidh, are Irish words,
evidently springing from a common Celtic root, used to express a fairy
or goblin, and even a hag or witch. Thus we have the compounds
leannan-sighe, a familiar, from Leannan, a pet, and Siogh-dhraoidheachd,
enchantment with or by spirits.
Sigh ga'oithe or siahean-ga'oithe, a whirlwind, is so termed because it
is said to be raised by the fairies. The close of day is called Sia, be-
cause twilight,
"That sweet hour, when day is almost closing,"
is the time when the fairies are most frequently seen. Again, Sigh is a
hill or hillock, because the fairies are believed to dwell within. Sidhe,
sidheadh, and sigh, are names for a blast or blight, because it is supposed
to proceed from the fairies.
The term Shoges, i.e. Sigh oges (young or little Spirits), Fairies, is
used in a curious poem printed under the name of "The Irish Hudi-
bras," 1689. pp.25. and 81. ; a copy of which, entitled "The Fingallian
Travesty," is among the Sloane MSS., No.900. In the Third Part of
O'Flaherty's Ogygia, it is related that St. Patrick and some of his fol-
lowers, who were chanting matins beside a fountain, were taken for
"Sidhe, or fairies," by some pagan ladies.
"The Irish," according to the Rev. James Holy's translation of
O'Flaherty, "call these Sidhe, aerial spirits or phantoms, because they
are seen to come out of pleasant hills, where the common people ima-
gine they reside, which fictitious habitations are called by us Sidhe or
Siodha."
For a similar extended use of the German word Alp, Elf, &c. see
Introductory Essay to the Grimms' Irische Elfenmarchen, pp. 55-62.