The small thing -- he was no taller than Dan 's shoulder -- stepped quietly into the Ring . ` I 'm rather out of practice , ' said he ; ` but that 's the way my part ought to be played . ' Still the children stared at him -- from his dark-blue cap , like a big columbine flower , to his bare , hairy feet . At last he laughed . ` Please do n't look like that . It is n't my fault . What else could you expect ? ' he said . ` We did n't expect any one , ' Dan answered , slowly . ` This is our field . ' ` Is it ? ' said their visitor , sitting down . ` Then what on Human Earth made you act Midsummer Night 's Dream three times over , on Midsummer Eve , in the middle of a Ring , and under -- right under one of my oldest hills in Old England ? Pook 's Hill -- Puck 's Hill -- Puck 's Hill -- Pook 's Hill ! It 's as plain as the nose on my face . ' He pointed to the bare , fern-covered slope of Pook 's Hill that runs up from the far side of the mill-stream to a dark wood . Beyond that wood the ground rises and rises for five hundred feet , till at last you climb out on the bare top of Beacon Hill , to look over the Pevensey Levels and the Channel and half the naked South Downs . ` By Oak , Ash , and Thorn ! ' he cried , still laughing . ` If this had happened a few hundred years ago you 'd have had all the People of the Hills out like bees in June ! '
` We did n't know it was wrong , ' said XXXXX .
Ash Dan Earth England Eve Night Pevensey Puck Thorn columbine