THE ELEMENT ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES: An A-Z of Fairies, Pixies, and other Fantastical Creatures. Lucy Cooper

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      Trees growing near a well or spring are often believed to possess special healing properties. “Cloutie trees” are still found in the British Isles today. Clouties—pieces of cloth—are tied to the tree to bring luck or good health. Traditionally, a piece of clothing was torn from the afflicted area of the body, for example to cure a bad back a piece of cloth was ripped from the back of a shirt or a dress. As the rag disintegrated, health was restored.

      Wells that were once shrines to water fairies and water spirits have now often been rededicated to Christian saints, continuing the tradition of wells as portals to the spirit world.

       Trespassers in Fairyland

      Entranceways to fairyland tend to be rooted in the natural world—and sometimes humans have, unwittingly or otherwise, meddled with the territory of the little people. In such cases, the fairies have usually been quick to make their displeasure known and to demand that trespassers rectify their transgressions or face a punishment.

      In Ireland, houses built blocking fairy thoroughfares have been subjected to fairy disturbances. In some cases, it is said that fairies have levitated buildings that blocked their path and moved them to a new position. So dwellings are now often built with the front and back doors opposite one another, and the doors are left open to facilitate the easy passage of fairy traffic. In recent years, a bypass was re-routed to avoid a thorn bush said to be frequented by fairies.

      In Iceland, a member of parliament saved a 24-ton boulder from being buried during work on the national highway. Believing it to be home to three generations of elves, he had it and its inhabitants shipped to his own home, where it would be out of harm’s way.

      The message here is for humans to be mindful of the impact of their interactions with the environment and to approach the fairy world with respect.

      Fairy Places to Visit

      In Welsh tradition, fairyland was once located in the Vale of Neath, in Glamorganshire. A certain steep and rugged crag there, Craig y Ddinas, bears a distinctly awful reputation as a stronghold of the fairy tribe. Its caves and crevices are said to have been their favorite haunt for many centuries, and some believe the last fairy court in Wales was held upon this rock before the Welsh fairies vanished.

      Other fairy places include:

      Silbury Hill in Wiltshire, where King Sil is said to be buried, wearing his golden armor and sitting astride his steed.

      Bryn Yr Ellyllon, “Hill of the Goblins,” near Mold in Clyd Flint, Wales, where an apparition clad in golden armor is said to haunt the hillside. An archeological dig here in the 1800s unearthed a skeleton and gold corselet.

      The Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire. The Oxfordshire fairies were last said to be seen here before they vanished.

      Glastonbury Tor, Somerset, where St. Collen saw through the fairy glamor of Gwyn ap Nudd’s fairy palace.

      Maes-Howe in the Orkneys and New Grange at Boyne, chambered mounds once home to Fians and Picts and later known as fairy mounds or forts.

      Tomnahurich Hill, a round, tree-covered hill on the outskirts of Inverness, in Scotland, has long been famed as a haunt of the fairies. In Popular Superstitions and Festive Amusements of the Highlanders of Scotland (1823), Grant Stewart recounts the tale of two fiddlers enticed into the fairy hill.

      Two traveling fiddlers came to Inverness one Christmas seeking work. A strangely dressed old wizened gentleman requested that they perform at a gathering that evening and offered them handsome pay. They set out in high spirits, but when they arrived at their destination it appeared more like a rough tower than a fine castle. However, their host reassured them and persuaded them to enter.

      Once inside, all misgivings vanished, for never had they seen a more sumptuously furnished hall or a more elegant assembly of guests. They played all night, never growing tired and performing a succession of jigs and reels for the eager dancers.

      When morning came, they only wished the night had lasted longer, such was the revelry that they had enjoyed. Their host paid them well, thanked them, and bid them farewell.

      But when the fiddlers left the great hall, outside everything was changed. To their consternation, they found that the great tower they had exited was no more than a low hill. When they made their way into Inverness, there were buildings where once there had been trees and fields, and the inhabitants of the town, dressed in strange, fantastical clothes, poked fun at their old-fashioned rags.

      A crowd gathered around the musicians and an old man hobbled up and questioned them.

      “I know who you are,” he declared, “you are the two men who lodged with my great-grandfather and who, it was supposed, were decoyed by Thomas the Rhymer to Tomnahurich Hill. Sore did your friends lament your loss, but a hundred years have passed since then, and your very names are forgot.”

      The fiddlers believed the old man’s story and were glad to have come out from the fairy hill alive. The church bells began to ring and they went to church to give thanks for their safe return. However, when the minister uttered the first word of scripture, they crumbled to dust.