THE HISTORY OF FAIRIES

The term fairy nowadays, for the most

part has positive connotations and from

the media we consume you'd be forgiven

for thinking fairies such as tinkerbell,

or the fairy godmother or the textbook

definition although they do technically

fall under the definition of what a

fairy can be. I think it's best if we

take this very disney-esque depiction

and ignore it for now which then begs

the question, what is a fairy?

Terms such as fey, fairfolk, or fairy have

been used across many european cultures

and they refer to physical beings or

spirits with supernatural qualities. so,

given that very broad definition, a fairy

can essentially be any mythical creature.

it's not a specific type of creature but

more so a term used to categorize a

whole bunch of creatures hence why fairy

tales contain all manner of magical

creatures from dragons, elves, goblins,

dwarves and of course fairies.

sometimes they have a close connection

to humans and are fairly benevolent, and

other times their stories are much

darker than the fairy tales you may find

today. In order to understand these

origins and why they may not have always

been so bright and cheery, we need to

examine the different types of fairy.

In Scotland, fairies are commonly associated with the spring and summer as they prefer to be out in the light.

The unseelie court are their much darker

counterparts. They are hideous and have

no interest in being friendly, they are

most active in the autumn and winter as

they prefer to travel in the dark.

They dabble in dark magic and will harm

humans, merely to entertain themselves.

They also routinely steal human children

as they themselves are unable to

reproduce.

Fairies can also be categorized as

trooping, solitary and domesticated.

trooping refers to organized groups of

fairies, fairies that have formed their

own society and have their own rules and

laws to govern by.

Solitary fairies prefer to be alone and

are almost always tricksters or sinister

creatures. Domesticated fairies are

normally part of a household in exchange

for their labor and service they are

given food and a place to stay.

Fairies in general are normally

described as very small human-like

creatures with wings. However, their size

can vary as many of them can imitate

humans in form. We also have many fairies

who do not have wings so there is no

one-size-fits-all description for

fairies.

The changeling is a type of fairy common

in all sorts of european folklore. They

were left behind by fairies when a human

had been stolen, commonly a child.

The changeling would mimic the missing

person's appearance, although this

disguise was never perfect. A superior

intellect to a child of the same age

could be hidden, but, facial hair, long

teeth, and abnormally large beady eyes,

may make you question if this was really

your child.

The changeling story is quite sad with

some rather dark undertones. it's common

for them to be referred to as oaths

because, they were the deformed offspring

of fairies and elves, they were shunned

and never accepted. when the fairies

found a child they wanted to take in as

their own they would kidnap the child

and leave the changeling in their place.

These children were taken for a

multitude of reasons. Some were taken as

servants, some to punish the parents who

had wronged the fairies, and others were

loved and raised as the replacement for

the changeling.

If the changeling was discovered, there

are a number of ways one could attempt

to have their child returned. Causing the

changeling to laugh was one way and then

we have the not so subtle approach of

torturing the changeling. This was used

as a common excuse and explanation for

child abuse especially amongst children

who were born with some kind of

deformity.

It also ties into the idea that taking

the changeling into the wilderness to be

reclaimed by the fairies may also work.

At a time where providing enough food

for a household was a struggle for many,

every member of that household would

have to contribute.

Changelings were seen as having a

voracious appetite as well as several

deformities which resulted in a lack of

contribution and so they threatened the

family's ability to sustain itself. Thus

the close links to child abuse,

abandonment, and infant mortality rates.

There are also stories of fairies

kidnapping adults to marry into their

families, and mothers to help raise their

fairy children. In these cases, an

enchanted log was left behind which

assumed the appearance of the person who

had been stolen.

Shortly after, this log replacement would

become sick and die, forcing the family

to bury their lost loved one, one the

wiser of the swap that has just occurred.

The case of bridget cleary is probably

the most famous involving a changeling

related murder. The events took place in

ireland where bridget had been killed by

her husband in 1895,

who had then set her body on fire

claiming that she had been taken by the

fairies. Bridget had been diagnosed with

bronchitis,

her condition was severe enough that she

had a priest administer her last rights.

Given her sudden illness, bridget's

husband and father accused her of being

a fairy sent to replace the real bridget.

In order to cast out the fairy, bridget

was carried into the fireplace.

This was done because, in ireland it was

believed that placing a changeling into

a fireplace would cause them to jump up

the chimney and return the missing

person.

The changeling story is a sad one of

abandonment and neglect.

Leprechauns are most likely a type of

fairy you've heard of before. They were

seen as mischievous creatures but, they

also preferred to act alone. Much of

their time was spent making shoes as

most of them were cobblers by trade.

Today's leprechauns are fairly close in

appearance with just one major

difference, the colours worn. The iconic

green was actually never a thing prior

to the 20th century. Before leprechauns

would wear red jackets. David russell mccannelly wrote a book

titled “irish wonders” which details all

sorts of fairies, ghosts and creatures

found in irish folklore. It was his

belief that every mythology had good and

evil spirits. To him, the leprechaun was a

relic of ireland's pagan mythology. It

was neither holy good nor entirely evil.

His take on the leprechaun is by far one

of the most detailed i've come across.

By birth the leprechaun is of low

descent, his father being an evil spirit

and his mother a degenerate fairy.

By nature he is a mischief maker, the

puck of the Emerald Isle.

He is of diminutive size, about three

feet high and distressed in a little red

jacket with red breeches buckled at the

knee, grey or black stockings, and a hat

in the style of a century ago over a

little old withered face.

He also goes on to say that fairies who

live in large groups wear the color

green, whereas solitary fairies such as

leprechauns prefer red.

If you were able to physically catch a

leprechaun, they were compelled to show

you the location of their gold which was

buried in mounds of dirt. However, they

had plenty of tricks along the way. In

one story, a farmer caught a leprechaun

and demanded he take him to his gold. The

leprechaun did so that night, however,

when the farmer ordered him to start

digging he pleaded to let him go because

he had no spade, he was no use to the

farmer at this point as he already knew

where the gold was. The leprechaun took a

stick and placed it into the mud and

then threw his hat on top, the spot has

been marked you can come back with a

spade and take all of the gold for

yourself, now please let me go.

Satisfied, the farmer let the leprechaun

go and return the next morning with a

spade ready to dig up the gold. However,

the farmer returned to a bog full of

sticks and hats placed on top of them.

Finding the gold now would take forever.

He had been well and truly outsmarted.

Mcconnelly also mentions that

leprechauns avoid friendships with other

fairies and have no interest in marriage,

or family. Some stories point to this

being because they were exiled and

others merely believe that leprechauns

just prefer to be alone.

Remaining on the topic of solitary house

fairies ,we have the boggarts and

brownies. when everybody in the house is

asleep the brownie will come out and

perform various tasks and chores. In

return for their service they ask for an

offering of some kind, this was normally

food and drink, with brownies having a

particular taste for cake milk and cream.

Similar to the brownie, you have the

hobgoblin which was also seen as a

helpful house spirit.

Brownies were seen as a sign of

prosperity for the household they

inhabit but, they were also notorious for

their unpredictable temperament. They

were extremely easy to upset,

something as harmless as moving the

broom or changing their surroundings can

leave them in a fit of rage.

If they are not calmed down or appeased,

they will leave the house and look for

another. This is actually the best

scenario because the alternative is, the

brownie becomes a boggart , essentially an

evil brownie. They cause chaos around the

house, they steal and move things around,

they mess with pets and cause milk to

sour, they even jump into your bed to

pull on your ears, and just behave like

creepy weirdos.

Boggarts will follow families wherever

they go, so moving house doesn't solve

the problem. Placing a pile of salt

outside the door to a room, and leaving a

horseshoe on the door handle of your

front door is said to keep boggarts from

entering.

Pixies are a type of fairy common in the

United Kingdom, particularly in devon and

cornwall. Some of you may remember the

cornish pixies in Harry Potter. Most

pixies were believed to live underground

in large mounds and stone circles. For

the most part, they were considered

harmless and benign, childlike in both

stature and demeanor, they were playful

and mischievous.

A singular pixie was a rare sight as

they often gathered in very large groups

dancing, singing and playing pranks on

nearby humans.

There are stories of pixies kidnapping

children and punishing humans. However,

there are far more that describe them as

being fond of humans, especially children

and those who meant them no harm. This

stretched as far as playing with

children, giving them blessings and even

granting them wishes. In some fairy tales,

the modern depiction of a pixie is a

small creature with pointed ears and

wings somewhat elf-like.

In the victorian era, they were depicted

as wearing not much more than old rags.

However, giving a pixie new clothing was

a very good way to make a friend of one.

The rise of christianity in britain

caused stories of pixies to change

slightly. Pixies were then explained as

being the souls of unbaptized children

who had died. Shortly after their funeral,

they would change into pixies, instead of

passing on they remained in this plane

with the same childlike innocence.

However, they were trapped in pixie limbo.

A type of creature that we see in many

cultures today takes the form of the

irish banshee. The old irish roughly

meaning ‘woman of the fairy mound’.

Banshees appear as both young and

elderly women, their eyes red and sore

from the continuous weeping they are

known for. The elderly banshees are quite

short with a green dress and grey cloak,

the more youthful banshees are sometimes

rather tall, with red, silver or golden

hair , a white dress and a ghostly

complexion.

A banshee appears when a family member

has died.

Their screaming or wailing is the first

sign, you may already be aware of the

situation, but in cases of long distance

the banshee is always seen as a bearer

of bad news. A common explanation was

that banshees were the ghosts of young

women who had died a brutal death.

if that woman was mistreated or had a

deep hatred for her family, then they

would stick around full of anger waiting

for those they hated to also die.

More common are these stories of women

who died too early and that had a strong

connection to their family, and so they

remain or linger to watch over them. The

songs of these banshees were much calmer

but, were also full of sorrow.

This ties to the profession of keening

and the term keening woman, which we do

see in scotland and ireland.

Essentially, keaning is a way of paying

respect to the dead. It is a vocal ritual

of sorts performed at wakes and funerals.

some may compare it to singing, however,

it's not quite the same. There is vocal

repetition and rhythm in both voice and

movement but, none of this is planned.

More importantly, there is also what some

would compare to a banshee's wailing.

sometimes banshees would predict a death

and appear early, the person whose fate

had been predicted may hear the banshee

song days before anyone else. when

numerous banshees were seen in one place,

the death was considered to be someone

of greater significance than normal. it's

fair to say that banshees aren't

considered evil or malicious fairies but,

given these circumstances that build up

to seeing one, it's understandable why

you would rather avoid them.

Another commonly held belief is that

fairies were once pagan deities. As their

belief and worship began to disappear,

they were demoted to just mythical

beings. The church echoes a similar idea

however, fairies in this case were once

angels who had been demoted. The story

states that during a revolt in heaven,

God ordered the gates to be shut, those

inside remained angels, those in hell

became demons and those in between

became fairies.

Eventually by the 17th century, the

church began to see all fairies as

demons. The brownies and hobgoblins which

were once seen as friendly house spirits,

were now seen by many as wicked goblins.

Even the idea of fairies had become

associated with acts of witchcraft and

thus, those spreading these stories were

punished in a similar way.

The idea of fairies being or

representing the souls of the dead

appears quite often in both scotland and

ireland. There is a fairy known as the

‘slough or sluch’, that flies through the

air during halloween. This is a cloudy

mess largely composed of the souls of

the dead flying together almost like a

flock of birds.

Pre-christianity, they were considered

some of the most vile members of the

unseelie court. wherever they went the

feeling of hopelessness and sadness

followed. Humans would avoid them at all

costs. The church then gave the slough a more

physical or human description,

rather than fairies they became the

souls of sinners and those who refused

to repent. They were cursed to fly

through the air together for eternity.

Now, as you have read today, the word fairy

is very much a blanket term used by many

cultures to categorize a group of

creatures within their folklore. These

creatures can have fairly joyous stories

but, they can also be part of very tragic

tales.