CUSTOMS & FOLKLORE - FAIRIES & FAERIES

By Brian Childs 

Thomas Keightley (1789 to 1872), an Irish writer well known for his works on folklore and mythology (particularly fairy mythology), tells us that the word fairy is derived from the Latin word fata, and comes from the Old French faerie. Fairie originally meant enchanted, as in fairie knight or fairie queene, but was also used to describe enchanted creatures from as early as the late middle ages (1250 - 1500 AD). 

In European folklore, a fairy is a mythical, metaphysical or supernatural creature, including such beings as goblins or gnomes. In English folklore the term fairy usually has a narrower meaning - a small ethereal creature or sprite with a sometimes waspish nature. 

One Christian belief held that fairies were a class of demoted angels. A popular story described how, when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates of heaven to be shut. Angels still in heaven remained angels, those in Hell became demons, and those caught in between became fairies. Others suggested that the fairies were not evil enough for hell, but were not good enough for heaven either, and were thus thrown out of heaven.

In popular folklore, flint arrowheads from the Stone Age were attributed to fairies as elf-shot. The green clothing and underground homes of fairies were accredited to their need to hide and camouflage themselves from hostile humans. Their use of magic was considered to be a necessary skill for combating those with superior weaponry.

Much folklore about fairies revolves around our protection from their malice by such means as charms of rowan and herbs, or by shunning places inhabited by fairies so as to avoid offending them in any way. Some pranks ascribed to fairies (such as tangling the hair of sleepers into Elf-locks, stealing small items, tripping people up, or leading a traveller astray) are generally harmless. But far more dangerous behaviours were also attributed to fairies. Any form of sudden death might stem from a fairy kidnapping, with the apparent corpse being a wooden stand-in with the appearance of the kidnapped person. Consumption (tuberculosis) was sometimes blamed on the fairies forcing young men and women to dance at revels every night, causing them to waste away from lack of rest.

Protective charms included things like church bells, Saint John's wort, four-leaf clovers, or wearing your clothing inside out. In Newfoundland folklore the most popular type of fairy protection is bread, varying from stale bread to a slice of fresh home-made bread. Bread is associated with the home and the hearth, and is disliked by some types of fairies. “Before going out into a fairy-haunted place, put a piece of dry bread into your pocket.” 

In County Wexford it was said that, if an infant was to be carried out after dark, a piece of bread should be wrapped in its bib or dress to protect it from any witchcraft or evil. In much Celtic folklore, baked goods are a traditional offering to the fairy folk, as they are made of cream and butter. 

Bells have an ambiguous role. They protect us against fairies, but fairies riding on horseback (such as the fairy queen) also often have bells on their harnesses. This may be a distinguishing factor between the ‘Seelie Court’ and the ‘Unseelie Court’. Seelie Court fairies are known to seek help from humans, to warn those who have accidentally offended them, and to return human kindness with favours of their own. However, a fairy belonging to this court will still avenge insults and could be prone to mischief. The most common time to see Seelie Court fairies is twilight. Fairies of the Unseelie Court are more darkly-inclined and no offence is needed to provoke their assaults. Seelie Court fairies would take measures to protect themselves from the more wicked Unseelie members of their own race - hence the bells.

Certain locations known to be haunts of fairies should be avoided. C. S. Lewis reported hearing of a cottage more feared for its reported fairies than for its reported ghost. Digging in fairy hills was considered to be unwise. Paths that the fairies traveled were also best avoided. Home-owners have in the past knocked corners off their houses because the corner blocked a fairy path. Cottages have been built with the front and back doors in line with each other, so that the owners could leave both doors open at night to let the fairies troop straight through unhindered.

Fairies sometimes assume the guise of an animal. In Scotland the fairy women might take the shape of deer. Witches might become mice, hares, cats, gulls, or black sheep. In The Legend of Knocksheogowna, in order to frighten a farmer who pastured his herd on fairy ground, a fairy queen takes on the appearance of a great horse with the wings of an eagle and a tail like a dragon, hissing loud and spitting fire. Then she changes into a dwarf with a lame leg and a bull's head surrounded by a ring of soft flickering flames.

The Child Ballad Tam Lin reveals that the title character (though living among the fairies and having fairy powers) was in fact an ‘earthly knight’.  Although his life is pleasant now, he fears that the fairies might take him to pay their tithe (teind) to Hell. Thomas the Rhymer shows Thomas escaping with less difficulty, but he still spends seven years in Elfland. However, Oisín suffers more cruelly. He is not harmed by his stay in Faerie but, when he dismounts on his return, the three centuries that have passed catch up with him reducing him to an aged man.

A common feature among fairies is their use of magic. They can disguise their appearance. Fairy gold is notoriously unreliable, appearing as gold when paid, but soon thereafter revealing itself to be leaves, gorse blossoms, gingerbread cakes, or a variety of other worthless things.

In many works of fiction, fairies are freely mixed with the nymphs and satyrs. The oldest fairies on record in England were described by the historian Gervase of Tilbury in the 13th century. In Le Morte d'Arthur, Morgan le Fay (whose connection to the Faerie realm is implied by her name) is a woman whose magic powers stem from a study of the occult. 

Fairies, while somewhat diminished with time, never completely vanish. The 15th-century poet and monk John Lydgate wrote that King Arthur was crowned in the land of the fairy and taken in his death by four fairy queens, to Avalon, where he lies under a fairy hill, “until he is needed again”. 

Fairies also appear as significant characters in William Shakespeare's A Midsummer's Night Dream which is set simultaneously in the Woodland and in the realm of Fairyland, under the light of the moon. A disturbance of nature caused by a fairydispute creates the tension underlying the plot and informs the actions of the characters. According to Maurice Hunt (Chair of the English Department at Baylor University, Texas) the blurring of fantasy and reality makes possible “that pleasing, narcotic dreaminess associated with the fairies of the play”

The Tooth Fairy is a fantasy figure of early childhood in Western cultures. Folklore states that when children lose one of their baby teeth, they should place it underneath their pillow. The Tooth Fairy will visit them while they are asleep and replace the lost tooth with a small reward. 

In fairy tales, a fairy godmother (French: fée marraine) is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. Fairy godmothers are actually quite rare in fairy tales, but became familiar because of the fairy tales of Madame d'Aulnoy and Charles Perrault. The best-known fairy godmother is probably in Charles Perrault's Cinderella. Eight fairy godmothers also appear in Charles Perrault's Sleeping Beauty.

Fairy Rings, where “of old, the merry elves were seen pacing with printless feet the dewy green”, are common in our grassy links and pastures. They are grassy circles where, in Spring, the grass inside the circle is much more luxuriant than the grass outside the circle. However, fairy rings actually have nothing to do with fairies. This feature is now ascribed to the peculiarities of certain types of mushrooms. 

Each mushroom circle seems to exhaust the soil of some particular nourishment needed for the growth of the fungus, and renders that soil incapable of growing a second crop. The lack of nutriment inside the circle would necessarily cause new roots to extend themselves solely in the opposite direction (outwards), causing the circle to enlarge. Also, as a natural consequence, the soil inside the circle would be enriched by the decaying roots of the previous year’s growth of fungi, thus giving rise to a luxuriance of grass inside the circle.

And finally, we have a fairy tale ending. This expression implies that all fairy tales have a happy ending … which, of course, is not always true!

KING OF THE FAIRIES                                                   (traditional) 

SILVERY RIVER  (a ‘Fairy Tale’)                               Brian Childs

1   ‘Twas the fore part of the Summer, when the air is sweet and clear

      Mary Jane went out a-walking, for to take the morning air

                                                                                       To take the morning air

2   Through the fields and woods she wandered, through the lanes both short and long

      Down to the banks of the Silvery River, and she wandered all alone

                                                                                       She wandered all alone

3   Down by the banks of the Silvery River, sitting on a tree trunk for a seat

      Who should she meet but a little beggar lady - she had no shoes on her feet

                                                                                       No shoes upon her feet

4   "What will you give?" said the little beggar lady "for you are rich and I am poor

      "What will you give to a little beggar lady, for I am weary, sad and sore

                                                                                       "I'm weary and so sore"

5   Mary Jane thought just for a moment, then, taking the new shoes off her feet

      "Take this gift that I have from my true love, whom I hope this day to meet

                                                                                       "I hope him for to meet"

6   The little beggar lady was gone in an instant, putting on the shoes as she danced away

      "Thank you, pretty maiden, for your kindness. May you find some joy today

                                                                                       "May you find joy today"

7   Mary Jane sat down by the river - there she waited the live long day

      Till at last she could stay no longer - sadly homeward made her way

                                                                                       So sadly made her way

8   Mary Jane made her way homeward as the evening sun went down

      Who should she meet but her own true lover, sitting on the river bank all alone

                                                                                       On the river bank alone

9   "Mary Jane, 'tis a joy for to see you, but oh, my love, it might not have been

      "For I've nearly drowned in the Silvery River, and I am wet, love, to my skin

                                                                                       "I'm wet unto the skin"

10 "Fast as I could, I was coming for to meet you, when my horse - he tumbled down

      "Threw me to the deep, dark water, and I fear that I might drown 

                                                                                       "I'm sure that I must drown"

11 "But I was saved by a little beggar lady - threw me a rope from the river side

      "Had no shoes upon her feet, so I gave her my horse that she might ride

                                                                                       "My horse that she might ride"

12 'Twas the fore part of the Summer, when the air is clear and sweet

      Queen of the Fairies, riding a stallion - she has new shoes on her feet

                                                                                       New shoes upon her feet

                                                                                                      New shoes upon her feet