|
CULTURE UK
DO
YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES?
 Most of us think of fairies as
tiny creatures, flitting about on gossamer wings, waving a magic wand, but
history and folklore tell a different tale.
When belief in
fairies was common most people didn't like to mention them by name and so
referred to them by other names: the Little People or the Hidden People.
Many
explanations have been given for a belief in fairies. Some say that they
are like ghosts, spirits of the dead, or were fallen angels, neither bad
enough for Hell nor good enough for Heaven.
There are
hundreds of different kinds of fairies - some are minute creatures, others
grotesque - some can fly, and all can appear and disappear at will.
 The oldest
fairies on record in England were first described by the historian Gervase
of Tilbury in the 13th century.
Brownies and
other hobgoblins are guardian fairies. They are useful ones and do
housework and odd jobs around the house. In Aberdeenshire, Scotland
they are hideous to look at, they have no separate toes or fingers and in
the Scottish Lowlands they have a hole instead of a nose!
Banshees are
less common and more sinister, they usually only appear to foretell a
tragedy. In Highland tradition the Washer-by-the-Ford, a web footed, one
nostrilled, buck toothed hag is only seen washing blood-stained clothes
when men are about to meet a violent death!
Goblins and
Bug-a-boos are always malignant - avoid them if possible!
Most of the
nature fairies are perhaps descendents of pre-Christian gods and goddesses
or are the spirits of trees and streams.
 Black Annis, a
blue-faced hag, haunts the Dane Hills in Leicestershire and Gentle Annie
who governs storms in the Scottish lowlands, are perhaps descended from
the Celtic goddess Danu, mother of Ireland's cave fairies. Mermaids
and mermen, river spirits and spirits of pools, are the most common nature
fairies.
Marsh gas makes
the flickering flames that hover over marshy ground and gives rise to the
belief in Jack-o-Lantern. Jack-o-Lantern, or Will-o-the-Wisp,
is a highly dangerous fairy that haunts marshy ground, luring unwary
travellers to their death in the bogs!
Belief in
fairies has not completely died out. As recently as 1962 a Somerset
farmer's wife told how she had lost her way on the Berkshire Downs and was
put on the right track by a small man in green who appeared suddenly at
her elbow and then disappeared!
A woman on
holiday in Cornwall with her daughter came across a small green man with
pointed hood and ears. They were so alarmed they ran for the ferry, cold
with terror. Another eye-witness account in the 20th century - so do
we believe in fairies? I wonder!
©
E.P.C
Back
|