boomed Puck , with a voice like a great church organ . ` Of theirs which yet remain , Were footed in Queen Mary 's days On many a grassy plain , But since of late Elizabeth , And , later , James came in , Are never seen on any heath As when the time hath been . ' ` It 's some time since I heard that sung , but there 's no good beating about the bush : it 's true . The People of the Hills have all left . I saw them come into Old England and I saw them go . Giants , trolls , kelpies , brownies , goblins , imps ; wood , tree , mound , and water spirits ; heath-people , hill-watchers , treasure-guards , good people , little people , pishogues , leprechauns , night-riders , pixies , nixies , gnomes , and the rest -- gone , all gone ! I came into England with Oak , Ash and Thorn , and when Oak , Ash and Thorn are gone I shall go too . ' Dan looked round the meadow -- at Una 's Oak by the lower gate ; at the line of ash trees that overhang Otter Pool where the mill-stream spills over when the Mill does not need it , and at the gnarled old white-thorn where Three Cows scratched their necks . ` It 's all right , ' he said ; and added , ` I 'm planting a lot of acorns this autumn too . ' ` Then are n't you most awfully old ? ' said Una . ` Not old -- fairly long-lived , as folk say hereabouts . Let me see -- my friends used to set my dish of cream for me o ' nights when Stonehenge was new . Yes , before the Flint Men made the Dewpond under Chanctonbury Ring . ' Una clasped her hands , cried ` Oh ! ' and nodded her head . ` She 's thought a plan , ' Dan explained . ` She always does like that when she thinks a plan . ' ' I was thinking -- suppose we saved some of our porridge and put it in the attic for you ? They 'd notice if we left it in the nursery . '
` Schoolroom , ' said Dan quickly , and XXXXX flushed , because they had made a solemn treaty that summer not to call the schoolroom the nursery any more .
Elizabeth Hills Puck Thorn Una days heath-people night-riders right white-thorn