A wrong to sweeten - Joy Martin (First edition)

One way to ward off fairy thieves was to place a clay imprint of a cow’s foot over the door of the byre. There were several such imprints in the clay in front of him, a warning that a cow had strayed out of its regular pasture and was in danger of falling into the river.

He bent down and picked up one of the imprints, muddied by rain, and held it in his hand. Despite the superstition, it was Crag Liah soil all right and as such, had a magic of its own, for it was part of the land handed on by kings.

Handed on to himself. The massive advantage of his inheritance came home to him: the power he would wield; the speed with which he could wed; the money he would have.