The Lavender Witch

The first few paragraphs of  The Lavender Witch

Elizabeth Andrews

Devon, a beautiful green county of gentle rolling hills and woodlands. Steeped in history and home to the Anglo Saxon tribe the Dumnonii from which the county reputedly gained its name. Dumnonii meaning 'deep valley dwellers'; an apt name for this beautiful countryside, hiding scores of small villages and hamlets deep in the fertile valleys of the Blackdown Hills. Reached by a maze of winding single tracks lanes enclosed on either side by high banks and hedges which in high summer grow together and meet overhead forming long green tunnels. Within just a few miles of the bustling towns and streets you enter a different world where the past is so close that it could be just around the next bend of the road.

The small village of Medbury, worthy of mention in the Domesday book is bounded by the river Yarty to the west and the county border of Dorset to the east, its single street winding its way way along the valley and rising gently to the slopes of Castle Hill. The street peters out at the rambling buildings of Castle Farm, originally the last residence on that road but with the overgrown orchard to the side of the barn recently having been sold, a new dwelling had risen inside the old stone walls of the orchard. The builders rubble had gone, lush green turf had been laid and a new gravel drive led up to the front door. Orchard Cottage was finished, and deep in the soil something stirred.

Published 2013

Redcap, most evil of the border goblins

Now this is an evil resident of the faerie world! He is called Redcap and is well known for being the most evil of the border goblins. He is short and wiry with ragged pointed teeth and sharp claws like steel. Redcap lives in any old abandoned castles or towers that he can find, he is especially fond on any with a violent history.
Hermitage Castle in Roxburgh was the home of Lord Soulis, a man with an evil reputation, and keeping him company was  a Redcap who acted as his familiar.
Redcaps are fond of killing people by rolling boulders onto them or tearing at them with his sharp claws before drinking his victims blood. His name comes from the fact that his cap is dyed in his victims blood!
Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles

Hairy Meg of Scotland

This is another creature of the world of fae that should not be judged by her appearance!
Hairy Meg was a brownie that lived a hundred years ago in the farmhouse of Achnarrow near Glenlivet. She was a grand worker and practically ran the place single handed, in fact she was too good! All she required in payment was a bowl of milk and an oatcake. At this time the farmer was struggling financially after a bad year of crop failure and sickness in his livestock so he decided to sack the rest of the servants to save money.
Hairy Meg was not pleased with this and decided to go on strike, refusing to do any of the chores and throwing pots and pans at the farmer if he ventured into the kitchen. She made such a nuisance of herself that the farmer had to relent and re hire all the servants. Hairy Meg was delighted to see them all back at the farm and peace and harmony reigned again.

The Grugach of Scotland

There are many strange creatures in the world of fae, not all are beautiful, but still, what glitters is not always gold! Take the Grugach for example, she is very ugly but always welcome where ever she goes, as she is the guardian spirit of grazing animals in the Highlands of Scotland. The old crone protects the animals from harm and if she does enter the crofters homes to seek warmth from their fire, she will bring good luck with her.
Up until the 1900's milk was still poured into hollow stones as offerings for her.

Well, I have just sent off my artwork to China for printing. It is my latest book called Faerie Flora, it's a seasonal guide to  our most common flowers and plants including the myths and legends for each plant and including spells, herbal remedies and culinary recipes.
It's like giving birth in a way, painful to get out and you're not sure what it's going to look like!
China was the obvious choice for printing because of the price, I would have liked to keep the printing in Britain but it was not cost effective. Luckily the nice girl I have been communicating with speaks very good English, especially as my Chinese is non existent!

 Just put on an image of the cover!

Faerie Flora should be available June/July

Mad March Hares

Now is the time that Hares begin their strange and mysterious mating rituals. In 1607 according to Edward Topsell writing in his History of four footed Beast; most people believed that hares were one year female and another year males. Hunters believed at that time that they were hermaphrodites.
There are many strange tales and beliefs surrounding the hare, that it is unlucky to meet one when setting out on a journey, or to mention one by name before putting out to sea, if you must then use  a nickname like Wat or Old Malkin.
And if you see a hare acting oddly it could be a shape shifting witch ( as told in my novel A Lavender Witch) or a were hare which can only be killed by using a silver bullet.

There is a goblin who resides on the Isle of Man called a Phynnodderee,  a very helpful chap but not too bright. He offered to help a local shepherd bring in his flock of sheep from the hills. Much later the goblin trailed into the farmyard exhausted,complaining that the  shepherds small brown sheep had caused him endless trouble when he was trying to round it up with the other sheep. The man was very puzzled when he heard this as all his sheep were snowy white. So he went to inspect the flock and cowering in the middle of the flock was an exhausted small brown hare.

Faerie Castle

There are rumours of many faerie castles in Britain, one such is Castle Howe 

situated on the banks of Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria. On misty mornings 

or sometimes late in the evening, the reflection of it can be seen in the waters 

of the lake but the actual castle is never seen.

Two children disturbed this faerie site and roused their anger when they started 

digging in the soft earth with toy spades. Their father saw what they were doing

 and sent the family dog over to attract the children's attention, but before the 

dog could reach them, it stopped dead in its' tracks as though it were paralysed.