A most peculiar tale of "the little people" from Ireland!?

My friend Eli had a very strange experience...he was on a camping trip in the village of Haffcutt in Western Ireland. He got chatting to some locals in the village pub and when he told them where he had pitched his tent, they began to laugh and told him that he wouldn't get much sleep tonight, when Eli asked why ,they told him he was camping on a Fairy Road(a route used by the little people). Later that night Eli was awoken by a strange noise,he stiffened as he felt a foreign hand on his knapsack.Eli lay paralysed with fear as he listened to a strange glugging sound.Finally he sat bolt upright and swiftly flicked on his lamp...there was no-one to be seen.The next morn whilst checking his knapsack Eli noticed that a small flask of brandy he carries(strictly for medicinal purposes) was completely empty despite it having been full up the day before!!!Needless to say, my friend never returned to Haffcutt or Ireland again. How on earth could you explain Eli's terrifying episode?