An Old Welsh Tradition

Heidlebeere's kids were here recently and I was talking to her oldest at one point.  I'm not sure how we got there, but at one point the conversation turned to fairies.  That reminded me of something my parents used to do when I was a preschooler. 

So we got to talking and I explained how when I was a little kid we lived in a big, old house that had a basement with a dirt floor and rough cut stairs down to the basement.  The top step was a little taller than all the rest and was a bit of a challenge for us little kids.  But it was a great place to leave a bowl of milk at night for the fairies.  And so we did now and then.

And, sure enough, every night we left milk it was gone in the morning.  Leaving milk out is an old Welsh tradition that apparently made its way down through the generations on my Mom's side of the family, where there are a number of ancestors who come from Wales.  A way to seek favor from the fairies, who can bless farms or bring mischief, depending on their mood.  Never, hurts, right?