Faerie Hills

There are many hills that are inhabited by faeries and they can be dangerous places to  set foot upon. But there are a few intrepid souls who venture on to them either in hope of being transported to faerieland  or would be musicians who hope to be endowed with the gift of faerie magic if they spend the night sleeping on the mound.

There is a hill called Pipers Grave at Ednam in the Scottish borders, it is only half a mile from the village where a piper from a local band lived. One night he crept inside the hill so that he could learn  some of the faeries tunes. He was never seen again but sometimes he can be heard playing from deep inside the faerie hill.

But even if he had been released time is different in faerieland and as soon as he stepped foot back in the mortal world the piper would have probably crumbled away to nothing. Which is what happened to two fiddlers who had been hired by the Faerie Queen to play for her guests one night. When they were released and stumbled back onto the hillside after playing all night they crumbled to dust for they had been playing for 200 years.

The hill of Ile in the west highlands is another faerie dwelling where the Faerie Queen lives. Here she hands out from a golden goblet wisdom to all the women of the world.

'Still on the hill when the wisdom was handed out' is the local saying for anybody less than bright! 

 Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

Faeries and Folkore

Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

Available from Amazon and my website www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk

A great pressie for the little faeries in your life!!

Great introduction to the host of strange sightings of supernatural beings who inhabit the British Isles

Many of these folk tales can be traced back to Celtic times and have been passed on orally, from old wives tales to the spellbinding faerie stories we were told as children.

The Faerie Helper

The Bean Tighe of Ireland is the Irish form of the Faerie Godmother, 

she will attach herself to certain families for many generations. 

Looking after the children and pets, even finishing the chores around the house.

Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

These domestic faeries piskies, hobs, boggarts perform many useful tasks 

around the home. Generally regarded as a good thing the house holder had to 

be careful not to offend  them. If vexed cream jugs were smashed, butter would not 

come, horses would be unmanagable, all manner of things would go wrong while 

the small creatures would watch in delight from some secret place!

The faeries also disliked lazy wives and servants.

If ye will with Mab find grace

Set each platter in his place

Rake the fire up and get

Water in, ere sun be set

Wash your pailes, and cleanse your dairies

Sluts are loathsome to the Faeries

Sweep your house. Who doth not so

Mab will pinch her by the toe

So with that I am off to sweep my floors before I get pinched by Mab!

The Faerie Shoemaker

The Faerie Shoemaker otherwise known as Leprechaun spends his time 

around clear pure streams, also has a liking for cool dark cellars. 

Easily recognisable from the red cap he wears, he also wears two leather

 purses on his belt. In one a silver coin and in the other a gold coin. 

The silver coin always returns to his purse even after being given away. 

He only hands out the gold if he needs to buy his freedom from a captor. 

But keep your eye on him, one blink and he will vanish and the coin will turn to dust.

When he is not drinking and smoking ( which he is very partial to!) he is busy 

making shoes for the faerie folk. The Leprechaun is well paid for his services and 

has amassed quite a store of gold which he keeps in a large crock. 

He hides it well but usually it can located buried at the end of the 

rainbow where it touches the earth.

Ivy brings good luck

The Ivy Faerie available as card from www. magic-myth-legend.co.uk

Ivy brings good luck, fun and happiness and growing some over the outside wall of your house will deter misfortune. If you have a houseplant of ivy and it dies this might signify that financial problems are looming. The ivy was sacred to Bacchus God of wine and to show that good wine could be found within innkeepers would hang garlands of ivy around their doors. Ivy is the emblem of fidelity and it used to be customary to hand a wreath of ivy to newly weds. The bridesmaids would also carry some as well as it was believed to aid fertility and bring good luck.

For a man to dream of his future bride he must pick a leaf on the 31st Oct and place it under his pillow. For a woman to dream of her future husband she must collect some leaves and recite the following:

'Ivy, ivy I love you

In my bosom I put you

The first young man  who speaks to me

My future husband he shall be'

'Faerie Flora'

All Hallows

Well Halloween is over for another year.. we had a steady stream of little elves, 

goblins and monsters coming to our door. The sizes got progressively larger 

as the night wore on! We just had a few sweets left for our last caller, 

all got soaked of course as it was such a foul night but it didn't seem to 

dampen their spirits!

Although of course I should have been handing out soul-cakes but I 

think they preferred the sweets!

The Feast of All Saints or All Hallows which is also Samhain the pagan 

Celtic New Year festival when stored fruits and crops were blessed and 

the dead remembered.

On this night  soul-cakes are made and given out usually to the poor 

who in return would pray for the souls of the departed: and the returning dead 

were supposed to share in the cakes.

A child born at this time is supposed to have second sight and all of 

November's children will fortunate and beloved.

November's child is born to bless

He's like a song of thankefulness.

On all Souls Day Tindle bonfires should be lit to guide the souls out of purgatory.

There is an old custom in Herefordshire to hire the poor to attend funerals. 

They would be paid to take upon themselves the sins of the deceased. 

The corpse would be brought out of the house and laid upon the bier then a loaf of 

bread would be handed to the sin eater over the corpse. He would eat this 

along with a bowl of beer. Once he had done this and received his payment

 he would take upon himself all the sins of the deceased and 

free him or her from walking after they were dead.

The Rollright Stones

These stones date back to the neolithic times and are made up of the King stone 

which stands slightly to one side of the seventy seven stones called the 

whispering knights. These lean together looking as though they are plotting 

against the King. He was leading his army towards the Cotswold Ridgeway 

in his campaign to become High King of England. On his way up the hill 

the King met a witch, she addressed him

'Seven long strides thou shalt take

And if Long Compton  thou can see

King of England thou shalt be'

not to be outdone the King quipped back

'Stick, stock, stone

As King of England I shall be known'

Saying that he began to walk up the hill but a hillock reared up suddenly

before him and blocked his view of the distant village.

The witch sang out

'Rise up stick and stand still stone

For King of England thou shall be none

Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be

And I myself an eldern tree'

The King and all his men instantly turned to stone and the witch turned

 into a elder tree close to the stones to guard against the spell being broken.

For many years it was the custom for people to gather at the stones on 

Midsummer Eve to cut the elder tree, if it bled it would bring fertility to the land. 

Some believed that the King stone would move its head if the tree bled. 

The stones are also believed to confirm fertility upon woman who touch

 their bare breasts to the stones at midnight. 

The King and his knights are said to be asleep in a cavern under the stones

 ready to be awoken in time of need, very much like the Arthurian legend.

Dragons

The faerie gold on Cadbury Hill in Somerset is guarded by a huge green 

dragon; every day it flies from it's lair on Castle Neroche to Cadbury 

and then back again.

Many years ago the hill fort was inhabited by faeries, here they lived in 

underground homes along the sides of the hill and in their caves they stored 

their treasures and grain from the surrounding plain. They were driven from 

the hill by the sound of the newly erected bells from a nearby church. 

The sound of the iron bells hurt their ears so much that they left without 

all their possessions, leaving the gold still in it's underground cave.

The faerie treasure can not be found by mortals, for the harder you dig for it the 

deeper it will sink the earth of Cadbury Hill. The dragon has been guarding it ever since.

It was a beautiful  day when we visited the hill, I didn't bother looking for the 

treasure as I didn't want to anger the dragon!

Wonderful mirrors by Steven Shipp

These beautiful mirrors are handmade by west country artist Steven Shipp.

He is well known around the area for his artwork and accepts 

commisions for his paintings and mirrors.

Are you bewitched?

 In the 16th century girdle measuring was a common practice for 
wise women to see if evil spirits or faeries have invaded a persons body. 
Any unexplained weight gain especially after an illness was considered 
very suspicious. Their girdle or belt would be measured and if  the wise 
woman believed it to have increased in size charms and incantations 
would be said over it. Then the belt would be measured again and if it did
not show a reduction in size it would be chopped into bits and buried. 
This was supposed to be a sure fire way of getting rid of unwanted possesions.

Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

I have found another remedy for those bewitched dating from 1683- Doctor Lilly's Last Legacy
Take two horseshoes, heat them red hot and nail one on the threshold of the 
door but quench the other in the urine of the party bewitched; then set the 
urine over the fire in a pot or pipkin and put the horseshoe into it. Make the 
urine boil, with a little salt unto it., and three horseshoe nails until it is 
almost consumed: what is not boiled away cast into the fire. Keep then your 
horseshoes and nails in a clean cloth or paper and use the same manner three times.
 It will be the more effectual if it be done at the change of full of the moon.

Hairy Meg the Brownie from Scotland

A hundred years ago Hairy Meg lived in the farmhouse at Achnarrow near Glenlivet Scotland. As per usual she did all the work and was regularly rewarded with a bowl of milk and a piece of oat cake.

After a particularly bad year on the farm, the crops failed and the animals died, the farmer decided he couldn't afford to keep the rest of the servants so he sacked them all much to Hairy Meg's disgust. She was so upset that she went on strike refusing to do any of the chores and throwing pots and pans around the farmhouse.

Hairy Meg made such a nuisance of herself that the farmer had to relent and give all the servants back their jobs and immediately Hairy Meg regained her temper.

You can tell she was happy!

( she reminds me of my old history teacher!!)

Aberdeen Brownies have no separate toes of fingers while in the Scottish lowlands they have a hole instead of a nose while others have no mouths just huge noses.

Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles 2006

Pics from the Wytch Market Glastonbury Oct 2012

This was first thing in the morning before the doors were open, after that it wasn't possible to see the tables for the crowds of people. Another enjoyable day in Glastonbury and usual we had a really fun day meeting lots of great people.

The Lavender Witch is now available in paperback

Now available in paperback from Amazon or www.magic-myth-legend.co.uk

While I was researching my book Faerie Flora I came across the strange but true tale of Hannah Henley, a well known witch from Devon whose bruised and bloody body was found hanging over a branch of a tree near her home. It was believed by the villagers that she had been taken by the devil even tho there was glass and blood inside the cottage. It was the strangest tale and started me thinking how this could have happened so I stopped FF ms for a while and wrote The Lavender Witch.

The Lavender Witch is a chilling ghost story based on the strange but true events surrounding the death of Hannah Beamish, accused of being a witch by a wealthy farmer in a small remote village where she lived in the early 1800’s.

One hundred and seventy years later these strange events, only now remembered by a few, come to light when Kitty and Gordon move back to the Devon village where they were born, they buy an old orchard from a farmer and build a small house. All is fine until they move in and Kitty spends her first day alone in their new home.

Over the course of their first week in the house chilling apparitions appear and events spiral out of their control bringing the past and present together until the truth emerges as to what really happened on Castle Hill.  Was Kitty and Gordon’s return to the village a coincidence? And what secrets are the elderly sisters Sybil and Queenie keeping?  To save their home and their sanity they must finally put the ghosts to rest

And yes this strange tale is based on fact!!

Wytches Market Glastonbury 2012

Off to the Wytches Market on Sat, my doesn't the year move on! 

I will be taking my usual artwork and print plus Faerie Dolls etc.

This year I will have a selection of beautiful mirrors created 

by artist Steven Shipp.

Great event and one we look forward to all year.

Hope to see you there.
All goods are available on my website.

Fearie Flora

Finished my new book Faere Flora at the beginning of the year, it explores the myths and legends surrounding our most common flowers and plants of Britain.

Just toying with the idea of publishing it myself, we found the Ali Baba site and were looking at the section for chinese printers, there are hundreds to choose from so perhaps in the new year that the direction that I will go in...

Devil's Nutting Day

The 14th  of September is Holy Cross or Holy Rood Day and is 

the beginning of the nutting season. 

It is also called Devil's Nutting day. 

The hazel nuts which are collected today have

 magical properties, if you can find a double nut 

this will ward off rheumatism, toothache 

and the  spells of witches.

But do not pick them too early as the hazel is a 

powerful tree, it's wood is used for divining rods 

and to gather its nuts unripe is unlucky or even dangerous.

All the hedgerow trees and bushes are beginning to fruit, 

a heavy crop presages a hard winter.

Many Hawes, many snows.

The rowan is the most powerful of all plants against evil and witchcraft. 

Hang it above your door or plant in the garden. It will protect against the influence of witches  and faeries: while rowan wood used in coffins will prevent the dead from walking.

Rowan tree and red thread

Hold the witches all in dread

The Perpetual Almanack of Folklore

Believe in the Faeries...

Believe in the Faeries

Who makes the dreams come true

Believe in the wonder

The stars and the moon

Believe in the magic

From Faerie above

They dance on the flowers

And sing songs of love

And if you just believe

And always stay true

The Faeries will be there 

To watch over you

Water Nymphs

The rivers of Britain contain many different sorts of wildlife including water nymphs, with the rising waters they have more territory to explore so it is wise to avoid the fast flowing flood waters. The river Frome around Wool in Dorset is known to be the home of water nymphs and although beautiful they are treacherous and very dangerous. The monks of Bindon Abbey which was destroyed by Henry the eighth during the dissolution knew of their existence warned  the locals of their existence. One man had already met one of them while walking by the side of the river and had fallen in love with the beautiful stranger.
He was horrified when the monks told him that it was a nymph and that she had no soul. He was told that she could only survive by sucking the life from her victims. Not wanting to believe the monks he rushed to the river bank to find her. Perhaps the water nymph had sensed that the monks had warned her lover and she was never seen again. Although he walked the banks from Wool bridge to Moreton Ford every day he never saw her again.

As time went on he became more and more heartbroken and eventually threw himself into the water and drowned.

Gwynn-ap- Nudd, The White One, the Faerie King

The entrance to Annwyn faerieland on Glastonbury Tor is guarded by Gwyn- ap -Nudd. His Crystal Realm is the meeting place for the dead and from the Tor he leads the Wild Hunt on Samhain. On stormy nights he is accompanied by the White Hounds of the Otherworld.

Around the 1400's a welsh saint called Collen built himself a hermit hut on the lower slopes of the Tor. He wished to meditate in peace and at that time the Tor was still an island surrounded by marshland so it was an ideal retreat for him or so he thought. He didn't realise that the Tor was already occupied by Gwynn-ap- Nudd and his court.
One day he overheard two locals talking about the Faerie King and was furious that they could still believe in such old superstitions. The two men warned him to be careful of what he said of the Faerie King as his wrath could be terrible.
Collen refused to listen to their warnings and returned to his meditations. The next day a faerie messenger appeared at his hut inviting him to a meeting with Gwynn-ap- Nudd at the top of the Tor. The same messenger returned day after day until Collen finally agreed to meet with Faerie King. But before following the messenger to the top of the Tor he slipped a flask of holy water inside his cloak. As he reached the top the familiar landscape of the Tor disappeared and appearing instead out of the mists were the Faerie halls gleaming with sparkling lights and filled with beautiful music. The Faerie King was seated on a golden throne at the end of a vast hall surrounded by faerie courtiers.
He welcomed the welsh saint warmly offering him a drink from a beautiful golden cup, but Collen knew enough of the faerie ways to refuse the wine. He took the flask of holy water from his cloak and with a sweeping gesture threw the water over the company of faeries.
Gwynn-ap- Nudd, his faerie palace and all his courtiers disappeared leaving Collen alone at the top of the windswept Tor.
But the Faerie King did not disappear forever, he is such a powerful figure that he still remains at the Tor guarding the entrance to Annwyn.

Faerie shoes!!

Look what we found in our house this morning! We must have had faerie visitors during the night, I thought I heard the faint sounds of revelry coming from the garden. These can be found for sale at www.magicmythlegend.co.uk buy them quick before the owners come back for their shoes!

Somerset Levels

We had a lovely visit to Muchelney Abbey last weekend, it's the ruins of a very large Abbey out in the Somerset  levels. Once one of the most wealthy abbeys in the area, due in part to the catching of eels but I am sure there must have been some other reason for their wealth. As  Glastonbury it used to be surrounded by water; an island in the middle of the levels. It must have been an uplifting  sight for the inhabitants of the area, visible for miles. Not much remains now thanks to Henry and the dissolution of the monasteries. I believe Somerset the Lord Protector took a personal interest  in the destruction of Muchelney but he was excecuted for treason shortly after so did not enjoy the results of his labour! On a walk along the river by the Abbey we were surrounded by a flock of swifts swooping and diving around us, it was amazing I haven't seen a swift for years and to be surrounded by so many so breathtaking.

The whole area has a unique feeling to it, and Glastonbury was an important part linking the network of monasteries and abbeys together across the country. It's easy to forget amid the bustle of holidaymakers and gift shops what an important spiritual part of the country this is.
Elizabeth Andrews

June Witches Market Glastonbury

The witches Market was great fun as usual, the weather wasn't too bad and it didn't seem to dampen anybody's spirit. Many overseas visitors which was nice, Norway Japan, and several very appreciative young girls from Italy. I don't think they could believe the diversity of Glastonbury and having visited Italy I am not surprised. We had a short break in Treviso last year and there was a college in the town and as usual students were milling about everywhere but the strange and slightly unnerving thing is that they all looked like the adults in the town. Isn't that the point of being young and especially a student that you can experiment and wear all the weirdest gear you like? Seeing those young girls reminded me how strange it was. But for the market it was a great time catching up with all our friends even if business was a bit slow.

Post Packhorse Fair

Well I think we had the best day weatherwise for this fair, the small narrow street of Bruton was crammed with people enjoying the hog roast and various food stall ,cider beer etc and there was some excellent music provided by
Bateleurs- contemporary folk rock act based in wiltshire
Charles Hazelwood- world renowned conductor and creator of Orchestra in a field
Al O'Kane & Richard Kennedy Guitar players from Frome
Sashi & the Wild Beans from London
The Johnsons -country band from the west country
Gandhi Warhorse- three piece folk act
Abi Baker -Indie folk rock singer from Somerset
Blue Horse Dreaming -folky mixture of acoustic guitars and vocal harmony

My husband was camped out in front of the stage for most of the music and was really overwhelmed with the quality and diversity of the music!
Unfortunately we didn't have such a good result with sales on the stall - perhaps a sign of the recession? tho I am not too sure about that, nobody seemed interested in the craft stalls at all. I think it would have helped if the organisers of the Packhorse Fair had a designated site for all the artisans  and craft workers. We were mixed up with the car boot stalls. I think they have missed a trick there. They could get a really good art and craft side to the fair if they put a little more thought into the organising of the event. A Farmers market was there and present was the olive oil man as seen on Dragons Den which he had proudly splurged over the side of his gazebo!! As I recall they turned him down as they thought it was daft idea!!

Packhorse Fair Bruton Somerset

This is a great event in Bruton, the whole length of the Back rivers Lane in Bruton is closed for this, there will be loads to do , music stalls crafts art and last time there were Morris Dancers and a Hog Roast. I believe it was cancelled last year but this year w e will be praying for sun and loads of it! We will be there with a gazebo just in case it rains, and will be selling faerie cards and prints, faerie dolls books jewellery etc so come on and visit! it's worth it.

Axminster Artisans June show

If you are around Axminster Devon from June 2 t16 why not pop into  Trinity House for the art and craft show, it's well worth a visit with loads of local artist exhibiting, all prices affordable which makes a nice change! Yours truly will be there as well with a few crafts no paintings this time tho.

Baby's home!!
My little baby is back with scorched wings, in case you're wondering it's one of my manuscripts!
writing is difficult enough but then the nitty gritty sets in and you have to deal with agents publishers and rejection letters, but never mind! onward and upward as they say... I just wish these agents would return the damn ms even when given ssae. It's so annoying I'm sure they think they are the only one's that are busy (gnashing of teeth.)

But now on to a nicer note.. faeries.. a much more pleasant topic to discuss.
Faerie Flora is out and fluttering her wings again, she bounces back well so, so can I.

More rain!

The only consolation is that all this rain we are  having is feeding our magical wells of wisdom and healing. They can be found throughout the British Isles and Ireland. There is a fascinating story surrounding Connla's Well in Tipperary otherwise known as the Well of Wisdom. It stands at the centre of the celtic otherworld. From here flows the water which feeds all other sacred wells and springs throughout the rest of the world.
Overhanging this well grows a sacred hazel tree which produces the nine nuts of poetic art and wisdom, these nuts drop into the water and are eaten by Fintan the salmon of knowledge.
When the nuts fall into the water bubbles of inspiration rise to the surface which with the husks then flow from this well spreading the wisdom to the rest of the world.
Bu one asks how can we still be suffering from a drought? it's the wettest drought ever!

I wish I was in my garden.... but it's too wet!

The weeds are growing and I have packets and packets of seeds to sow. This year I'm going to try to plant more insect friendly plants, I'm sure the faeries will approve. It is said that butterfly are faeries in disguise, a lovely thought tho I'm have my doubts when I see the Cabbage white butterflies heading for my veg patch.Ah well... I suppose they have to eat as well.
Perhaps the faeries that live at the bottom of my garden will keep a kindly eye on my veggies!!

Sending baby out into the world!
I have been so busy finishing my new book that I have been neglecting my blog. This is my next nonfiction book entitled Faerie Flora, it details myths and faerie legends surrounding our most popular flowers and plants.
My last book Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles, published under my human name Elizabeth Andrews! was well received by the public and press so I am keeping my fingers crossed that Flora will do as well.

It's a very painful process sending an ms out into the big wide world, nearly as bad as sending the children to school for their first day. Well here's hoping! May she fly with gossamer wings across the publishing world.

Faerie Folk

Perhaps Faeries are just a small breed of beings who have withdrawn further and further into the wilderness to avoid the larger man.

There are other explanations, that they are nature spirits or maybe fallen angels. Whatever the explanations, they come in all shapes and sizes, good and evil and they survive no matter what this modern generation throw at them and tales of the Faerie folk will still be told long after we are forgotten.
A World of Magic Myth and Legend. www.magicmythlegend.co.uk

Origins of the Faerie folk

Origins of Faeries

There are many explanations as to the origins of faeries but the belief in them is widespread all over the world.
In Norse mythology faeries came from the maggots that crawled from a giant's corpse. Some became light elves that were happy and good, the others became dark elves that were evil and lived below ground.

The Icelandic version is that Eve hid some of her children from God because she was so ashamed that they were dirty. When asked if that was all her of her children she foolishly said yes, and so because she was lying, those dirty children were doomed to live forever in the dark and avoid the sight of man.