Curiously, there is a common thread of belief in several different cultures that sprites, fairies, gnomes, dwarves, and goblins are the descendants of early inhabitants of an area who were displaced by bigger, tougher invaders.
In Britain, the term "sprite" covers many legendary and magical beings, such as fairies, elves, and dwarves. Even though the word "sprite" is from the Latin spiritus, meaning "spirit," it is rarely used to mean the soul or spirit of the dead.
Descriptions of sprites differ from country to country, but they tend to have similar customs or characteristics. Sprite related superstitions are usually meant to protect people from the magic and mischief making of sprites believed to dislike humans, or hoping to keep sprites happy.
Purely to cause mischief, elves might tangle your hair into snarled elflocks, or elfin locks, while you sleep- giving you a very bad hair day.
If you wanted to catch a trouble some sprite, the easiest way was to weave red thread to form a net at the top of a forked stick of ash or rowan, and place the sticks at the front and back of a house or building.
A more complex trap required a stick of blackthorn and a copper wire that had never carried electricity. The wire had to be bound to the stick with red thread, then positioned where teh sprite had been observed.
A lit candle placed in front of the trap would attract the sprite overnight. In the morninr, the trap holding the captured sprite was taken away, and the red thread was cut with a knife and put into a bottle. With the accompaniment of a magic spell, the bottle would be sealed with a cork and red wax, then buried.
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