According to one story, “The King of the Fairies” serves as a summoning tune: if played three times in succession at a festivity, the Fairy King must appear. Once summoned, he assesses the gathering—if it pleases him, he may join in, but if not, he can create havoc. The tune itself is believed to stem from a Jacobite melody called “Bonny Charlie,” which was published in several 18th-century Scots and Northern English collections, including Aird (1783).