Elfhame

The Court of Elfhame is the fairy otherworld of Scottish tradition — a parallel realm whose queen and courtiers could be encountered by those with supernatural gifts. Bessie Dunlop of Lynn near Dalry was tried for witchcraft in 1576 after claiming her healing powers came from Thomas Reid, a man dead since Pinkie, who now walked with the fairy court. Eight women and four men from Elfhame visited her home — called 'good wights' by Reid — and the Queen herself had once come to her door seeking a drink. Andro Man of Aberdeen (tried 1597) claimed a lifelong relationship with the Queen of Elphame. James VI drew on such confessions when writing Daemonologie, making Elfhame the distinctly Scottish name for the fairy kingdom as it appeared in witch-trial testimony and popular belief.