And as the seasons come and go,
here’s something you might like to know.
There are fairies everywhere:
under bushes, in the air,
playing games just like you play,
singing through their busy day.
So listen, touch, and look around -
in the air and on the ground.
And if you watch all nature’s things,
you might just see a fairy’s wings.
-Author Unknown
Fairies are gifters. They love to give and receive small objects, often shiny ones, such as brightly colored stones, gems, seashells, broken glass, beads, baubles, marbles, and bits of metal (other than iron). They will also make objects crafted from nature, such as a bowl made from an acorn top, to give as a gift.
Have you watched the fairies when the rain is done
Spreading out their little wings to dry them in the sun?
-Rose Fyleman (Rose Amy Fyleman (1877 - 1957))
“I really love being human. But some days I really wish I could be a fairy.” -Greta, at 4 years of age
And though you should live in a palace of gold, or sleep in a dried up ditch,
You could never be as poor as the fairies are, and never as rich.
-Rose Fyleman (Rose Amy Fyleman (1877 - 1957))
When used as a noun, ‘fairies’ means ‘enchanted ones.’ Fairies are typically small creatures with human-like appearances, existing in a close mysterious association with the natural world and living in partially-hidden realms within it.
“The Realm of Fairy is a strange shadow land, lying just beyond the fields we know.” -Author Unknown
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l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
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Fairies
They don’t believe in fairies,
Those old folk wide and staid,
They’ve never caught the glitter
Of their wings in forest shade.
For them the bush is just a place
Of timber, cows, and corn,
They’ve never been up our creek
On a cool November morn.
From mossy banks all dotted
With violets breaking through,
Beneath the frondled maidenhair
Their shy eyes peep at you.
They sleep ‘neath tasseled tea-trees,
The drowsy Summer day,
Where tiny crimson love-birds
Around them dart and play.
The dew-drenched nights of Summer,
When gum-trees are aflower,
In foamy waves of sweetness
Bring round the fairies’ hour.
This is the time of frolic,
When they go floating high,
On wispy shreds of river mist,
Across the shining sky.
What! Don’t believe in fairies!
When they’re round you everywhere!
See them - who needs to see them?
You simply know they’re there.
by Alice Guerin Crist (1876 - 1941)
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l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
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“No child but must remember laying his head in the grass, staring into the infinitesimal forest and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies.” -Robert Louis Stevenson (Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850 -1894)): “Essays in the Art of Writing” (1905)
The wall is silence, the grass is sleep,
Tall trees of peace their vigil keep,
And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled
Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world.
-Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (1888 - 1960)
The broader term ‘fairy folk’ or ‘faery folk’ can be used in the sense of encompassing many different types of enchanted creatures, including leprechauns, pixies, trolls, sprites, goblins, elves, imps, changelings, and even unicorns.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping
Than you can understand.
-W. B. Yeats (William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)): “The Stolen Child”
“You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.” -J. M. Barrie (James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937)): “Peter Pan” (1928), act I
The Lonesomest Fairy
There’s a dewdrop shining bright
On the grass by the sun undried,
It’s a tear that fell in the night
When the lonesomest fairy cried.
by Mary Carolyn Davies (1888 - 1940)
“Few humans see fairies or hear their music, but many find fairy rings of dark grass, scattered with toadstools, left by their dancing feet.” -Judy Allen
Priscilla: Why can’t fairies drive cars?
Melissa: Because their tiny feet can’t reach the pedals.
“I’ve always thought fairies are like mushrooms, you trip over them when you’re not thinking about them, but they’re hard to spot when you’re searching for them.” -Jo Walton
here’s something you might like to know.
There are fairies everywhere:
under bushes, in the air,
playing games just like you play,
singing through their busy day.
So listen, touch, and look around -
in the air and on the ground.
And if you watch all nature’s things,
you might just see a fairy’s wings.
-Author Unknown
Fairies are gifters. They love to give and receive small objects, often shiny ones, such as brightly colored stones, gems, seashells, broken glass, beads, baubles, marbles, and bits of metal (other than iron). They will also make objects crafted from nature, such as a bowl made from an acorn top, to give as a gift.
Have you watched the fairies when the rain is done
Spreading out their little wings to dry them in the sun?
-Rose Fyleman (Rose Amy Fyleman (1877 - 1957))
“I really love being human. But some days I really wish I could be a fairy.” -Greta, at 4 years of age
And though you should live in a palace of gold, or sleep in a dried up ditch,
You could never be as poor as the fairies are, and never as rich.
-Rose Fyleman (Rose Amy Fyleman (1877 - 1957))
When used as a noun, ‘fairies’ means ‘enchanted ones.’ Fairies are typically small creatures with human-like appearances, existing in a close mysterious association with the natural world and living in partially-hidden realms within it.
“The Realm of Fairy is a strange shadow land, lying just beyond the fields we know.” -Author Unknown
□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□
Fairies
They don’t believe in fairies,
Those old folk wide and staid,
They’ve never caught the glitter
Of their wings in forest shade.
For them the bush is just a place
Of timber, cows, and corn,
They’ve never been up our creek
On a cool November morn.
From mossy banks all dotted
With violets breaking through,
Beneath the frondled maidenhair
Their shy eyes peep at you.
They sleep ‘neath tasseled tea-trees,
The drowsy Summer day,
Where tiny crimson love-birds
Around them dart and play.
The dew-drenched nights of Summer,
When gum-trees are aflower,
In foamy waves of sweetness
Bring round the fairies’ hour.
This is the time of frolic,
When they go floating high,
On wispy shreds of river mist,
Across the shining sky.
What! Don’t believe in fairies!
When they’re round you everywhere!
See them - who needs to see them?
You simply know they’re there.
by Alice Guerin Crist (1876 - 1941)
□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼
□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□▬□
“No child but must remember laying his head in the grass, staring into the infinitesimal forest and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies.” -Robert Louis Stevenson (Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850 -1894)): “Essays in the Art of Writing” (1905)
The wall is silence, the grass is sleep,
Tall trees of peace their vigil keep,
And the Fairy of Dreams with moth-wings furled
Plays soft on her flute to the drowsy world.
-Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (1888 - 1960)
The broader term ‘fairy folk’ or ‘faery folk’ can be used in the sense of encompassing many different types of enchanted creatures, including leprechauns, pixies, trolls, sprites, goblins, elves, imps, changelings, and even unicorns.
Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
For the world’s more full of weeping
Than you can understand.
-W. B. Yeats (William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939)): “The Stolen Child”
“You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl.” -J. M. Barrie (James Matthew Barrie (1860 - 1937)): “Peter Pan” (1928), act I
The Lonesomest Fairy
There’s a dewdrop shining bright
On the grass by the sun undried,
It’s a tear that fell in the night
When the lonesomest fairy cried.
by Mary Carolyn Davies (1888 - 1940)
“Few humans see fairies or hear their music, but many find fairy rings of dark grass, scattered with toadstools, left by their dancing feet.” -Judy Allen
Priscilla: Why can’t fairies drive cars?
Melissa: Because their tiny feet can’t reach the pedals.
“I’ve always thought fairies are like mushrooms, you trip over them when you’re not thinking about them, but they’re hard to spot when you’re searching for them.” -Jo Walton
When I sound the fairy call,
Gather here in silent meeting,
Chin to knee on the orchard wall,
Cooled with dew and cherries eating.
Merry, merry, Take a cherry
Mine are sounder, Mine are rounder
Mine are sweeter, For the eater
When the dews fall. And you’ll be fairies all.
-Robert Graves (1895 - 1985): “Cherry-Time” (1918), ’Fairies and Fusiliers’
“A lady, with whom I was riding in the forest, said to me, that the woods always seemed to her to wait, as if the genii who inhabit them suspended their deeds until the wayfarer has passed onward: a thought which poetry has celebrated in the dance of the fairies, which breaks off on the approach of human feet.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882): “The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson” (1866), Volume 1, page 8, ‘Essays,’ ‘History’
Soft moss a downy pillow makes
And green leaves spread a tent,
Where Faerie folk may rest and sleep
Until their night is spent.
The bluebird sings a lullaby;
The firefly gives a light:
The twinkling stars are candles bright,
Sleep, Faeries all, Good Night.
-Elizabeth T. Dillingham (Elizabeth Thompson ‘Lizzie’ Dillingham (1880 - 1926)): “A Faery Song”
“Nothing can be truer than fairy wisdom . . . It is true as sunbeams . . .” -Douglas Jerrold (Douglas William Jerrold (1803 - 1857)): ‘Our Honeymoon: An Apology and an Explanation’ published in “Punch” (1853), Volume xxiv
“We call them faerie. We don’t believe in them. Our loss.” -Charles de Lint (born 1951): “Moonlight & Vines” (1999)
Oh! where do fairies hide their heads,
When snow lies on the hills,
When frost has spoiled their mossy beds,
And crystallized their rills?
-Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797 - 1839)
“There is, indeed, much in nature that we do not yet half enjoy, because we shut our avenues of sensation and feeling. We are satisfied with the matter of fact, and look not for the spirit of fact which is above it. If we opened our minds to enjoyment, we might find tranquil pleasures spread about us on every side. We might live with the angels that visit us on every sunbeam, and sit with the fairies who wait on every flower.” -Samuel Smiles (1812 - 1904): “Thrift” (1875)
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men.
-William Allingham (1824 - 1889): “The Fairies” (1850)
A Few Fairy Facts
- Fairies are capable of serious and silly mischief.
- Fairies dance in rings.
- Fairies have wings that enable them to fly.
- Fairies live in small hills called mounds and in other places.
- People who are gifted with Faery Sight can see fairies.
- Cats do not like fairies.
- Fairies can appear and disappear at will.
- Fairies do not like to have their names known.
- Fairies can also be spelled faeries.
- Fairies look after nature and animals.
When the winds of March are wakening the crocuses and crickets,
Did you ever find a fairy near some budding little thickets, . . .
And when she sees you creeping up to get a closer peek
She tumbles through the daffodils, a playing hide and seek.
-Marjorie Barrows (Ruth Marjorie Wescott Barrows (1892 - 1983))
“It’s easy to believe in magic when you’re young. Anything you couldn’t explain was magic then. It didn’t matter if it was science or a fairy tale. Electricity and elves were both infinitely mysterious and equally possible - elves probably more so.” -Charles de Lint (born 1951)
The little Plumpuppets are fairies of beds;
They have nothing to do but watch sleepy heads;
They turn down the sheets and they tuck you in tight,
And dance on your pillow to wish you good night!
-Christopher Morley (Christopher Darlington Morley (1890 - 1957)): “The Rocking Horse” (1919), ‘The Plumpuppets’
Fairies strongly dislike the smell and physical sensation they receive from the metal iron, and so they avoid it. The origin of the practice of hanging a horseshoe over or near a door may have been to keep out fairies. However, while it may keep out the mischievous and malicious fairies, it may also keep out helpful and benevolent ones. The use of iron and steel to make nails, screws, and other parts of buildings, fences, and other structures may explain why fairies are rarely encountered in modern times.
In the in-between times
when day fades into night
or Spring melts into Summer
and at the in-between places
where paths converge
a veil is parted
between the Worlds
and One may enter
The Otherworld
the world of Faery
but use much caution
Dear One!
for you have entered
The Faery Crossing
and none return unchanged.
-Author Unknown
The tangles people get in their hair at night and tangled electrical cords are from fairies playing pranks on them.
We the Fairies, blithe and antic,
Of dimensions not gigantic,
Though the moonshine mostly keep us,
Oft in orchards frisk and peep us.
-Thomas Randolph (1605 - 1635): “Fairy Song”
“Raindrops are like fairy whispers.” -Author Unknown
Well-known fairies include Tinker Bell, Fairy Godmother, Blue Fairy, and Tooth Fairy. Can you name some others?
The fairies went from the world, dear,
Because men’s hearts grew cold:
And only the eyes of children see
What is hidden from the old . . .
-Kathleen Foyle (born 1892 as Kathleen Brown)
“Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind.” -Author Unknown: Irish saying
Buttercups in the sunshine look like little cups of gold.
Perhaps the Faeries come to drink the raindrops that they hold.
-Elizabeth T. Dillingham (Elizabeth Thompson ‘Lizzie’ Dillingham (1880 - 1926)): “A Faery Song”
Riddle: I carry a wand to make wishes come true - who am I?
Solution: I am a fairy.
“Each fairy breath of Summer, as it blows with loveliness, inspires the blushing rose.” -Author Unknown
Are those the magic fairy wands
glistening on the tree
or only Winter icicles that I see?
-Author Unknown
Objects commonly associated with fairies are magic wands, fairy dust, tiny articles of clothes similar to dolls’ clothing, crystals, and other tiny, mysterious objects, all meticulously crafted, for the fairy folk are able to work with their skilled hands and also with fairy magic.
First, rehearse your song by rote
To each word a warbling note:
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
-William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616): “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1595 - 1596), Act 5, scene 1, lines 359 and 360
Fairies dress in all-natural fairy-crafted clothes, made from such things as flower petals, leaves, and tree bark. This helps them blend in with the natural world, whether in woods or in gardens, so that for us to see them we must look at the world with greater interest than we usually do.
Deep within the Winter forest among the snowdrift wide
You can find a magic place where all the fairies hide . . .
-Author Unknown
Fairies are believed by some to have a caretaker role in the natural world. They help bring in the new season and see the old one out. They help baby birds that have fallen out of their nests find their way back to them. They move about, seen and unseen, smoothing the lives of plants and animals and rivers and lakes.
Garden Fairies
Garden fairies
Come at dawn
To bless the flowers
And then they’re gone.
by Author Unknown
“Once upon a time, I thought faeries lived only in books, old folktales, and the past. That was before they burst upon my life as vibrant, luminous beings, permeating my art and my everyday existence, causing glorious havoc.” -Brian Froud
“A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near.” -Author Unknown
This is MFOL! . . . it’s magic . . . it really is . . . well, almost . . .
Gather here in silent meeting,
Chin to knee on the orchard wall,
Cooled with dew and cherries eating.
Merry, merry, Take a cherry
Mine are sounder, Mine are rounder
Mine are sweeter, For the eater
When the dews fall. And you’ll be fairies all.
-Robert Graves (1895 - 1985): “Cherry-Time” (1918), ’Fairies and Fusiliers’
“A lady, with whom I was riding in the forest, said to me, that the woods always seemed to her to wait, as if the genii who inhabit them suspended their deeds until the wayfarer has passed onward: a thought which poetry has celebrated in the dance of the fairies, which breaks off on the approach of human feet.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882): “The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson” (1866), Volume 1, page 8, ‘Essays,’ ‘History’
Soft moss a downy pillow makes
And green leaves spread a tent,
Where Faerie folk may rest and sleep
Until their night is spent.
The bluebird sings a lullaby;
The firefly gives a light:
The twinkling stars are candles bright,
Sleep, Faeries all, Good Night.
-Elizabeth T. Dillingham (Elizabeth Thompson ‘Lizzie’ Dillingham (1880 - 1926)): “A Faery Song”
“Nothing can be truer than fairy wisdom . . . It is true as sunbeams . . .” -Douglas Jerrold (Douglas William Jerrold (1803 - 1857)): ‘Our Honeymoon: An Apology and an Explanation’ published in “Punch” (1853), Volume xxiv
“We call them faerie. We don’t believe in them. Our loss.” -Charles de Lint (born 1951): “Moonlight & Vines” (1999)
Oh! where do fairies hide their heads,
When snow lies on the hills,
When frost has spoiled their mossy beds,
And crystallized their rills?
-Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797 - 1839)
“There is, indeed, much in nature that we do not yet half enjoy, because we shut our avenues of sensation and feeling. We are satisfied with the matter of fact, and look not for the spirit of fact which is above it. If we opened our minds to enjoyment, we might find tranquil pleasures spread about us on every side. We might live with the angels that visit us on every sunbeam, and sit with the fairies who wait on every flower.” -Samuel Smiles (1812 - 1904): “Thrift” (1875)
Up the airy mountain,
Down the rushy glen,
We daren’t go a-hunting,
For fear of little men.
-William Allingham (1824 - 1889): “The Fairies” (1850)
A Few Fairy Facts
- Fairies are capable of serious and silly mischief.
- Fairies dance in rings.
- Fairies have wings that enable them to fly.
- Fairies live in small hills called mounds and in other places.
- People who are gifted with Faery Sight can see fairies.
- Cats do not like fairies.
- Fairies can appear and disappear at will.
- Fairies do not like to have their names known.
- Fairies can also be spelled faeries.
- Fairies look after nature and animals.
When the winds of March are wakening the crocuses and crickets,
Did you ever find a fairy near some budding little thickets, . . .
And when she sees you creeping up to get a closer peek
She tumbles through the daffodils, a playing hide and seek.
-Marjorie Barrows (Ruth Marjorie Wescott Barrows (1892 - 1983))
“It’s easy to believe in magic when you’re young. Anything you couldn’t explain was magic then. It didn’t matter if it was science or a fairy tale. Electricity and elves were both infinitely mysterious and equally possible - elves probably more so.” -Charles de Lint (born 1951)
The little Plumpuppets are fairies of beds;
They have nothing to do but watch sleepy heads;
They turn down the sheets and they tuck you in tight,
And dance on your pillow to wish you good night!
-Christopher Morley (Christopher Darlington Morley (1890 - 1957)): “The Rocking Horse” (1919), ‘The Plumpuppets’
Fairies strongly dislike the smell and physical sensation they receive from the metal iron, and so they avoid it. The origin of the practice of hanging a horseshoe over or near a door may have been to keep out fairies. However, while it may keep out the mischievous and malicious fairies, it may also keep out helpful and benevolent ones. The use of iron and steel to make nails, screws, and other parts of buildings, fences, and other structures may explain why fairies are rarely encountered in modern times.
In the in-between times
when day fades into night
or Spring melts into Summer
and at the in-between places
where paths converge
a veil is parted
between the Worlds
and One may enter
The Otherworld
the world of Faery
but use much caution
Dear One!
for you have entered
The Faery Crossing
and none return unchanged.
-Author Unknown
The tangles people get in their hair at night and tangled electrical cords are from fairies playing pranks on them.
We the Fairies, blithe and antic,
Of dimensions not gigantic,
Though the moonshine mostly keep us,
Oft in orchards frisk and peep us.
-Thomas Randolph (1605 - 1635): “Fairy Song”
“Raindrops are like fairy whispers.” -Author Unknown
Well-known fairies include Tinker Bell, Fairy Godmother, Blue Fairy, and Tooth Fairy. Can you name some others?
The fairies went from the world, dear,
Because men’s hearts grew cold:
And only the eyes of children see
What is hidden from the old . . .
-Kathleen Foyle (born 1892 as Kathleen Brown)
“Any man can lose his hat in a fairy-wind.” -Author Unknown: Irish saying
Buttercups in the sunshine look like little cups of gold.
Perhaps the Faeries come to drink the raindrops that they hold.
-Elizabeth T. Dillingham (Elizabeth Thompson ‘Lizzie’ Dillingham (1880 - 1926)): “A Faery Song”
Riddle: I carry a wand to make wishes come true - who am I?
Solution: I am a fairy.
“Each fairy breath of Summer, as it blows with loveliness, inspires the blushing rose.” -Author Unknown
Are those the magic fairy wands
glistening on the tree
or only Winter icicles that I see?
-Author Unknown
Objects commonly associated with fairies are magic wands, fairy dust, tiny articles of clothes similar to dolls’ clothing, crystals, and other tiny, mysterious objects, all meticulously crafted, for the fairy folk are able to work with their skilled hands and also with fairy magic.
First, rehearse your song by rote
To each word a warbling note:
Hand in hand, with fairy grace,
Will we sing, and bless this place.
-William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616): “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (1595 - 1596), Act 5, scene 1, lines 359 and 360
Fairies dress in all-natural fairy-crafted clothes, made from such things as flower petals, leaves, and tree bark. This helps them blend in with the natural world, whether in woods or in gardens, so that for us to see them we must look at the world with greater interest than we usually do.
Deep within the Winter forest among the snowdrift wide
You can find a magic place where all the fairies hide . . .
-Author Unknown
Fairies are believed by some to have a caretaker role in the natural world. They help bring in the new season and see the old one out. They help baby birds that have fallen out of their nests find their way back to them. They move about, seen and unseen, smoothing the lives of plants and animals and rivers and lakes.
Garden Fairies
Garden fairies
Come at dawn
To bless the flowers
And then they’re gone.
by Author Unknown
“Once upon a time, I thought faeries lived only in books, old folktales, and the past. That was before they burst upon my life as vibrant, luminous beings, permeating my art and my everyday existence, causing glorious havoc.” -Brian Froud
“A rustle in the wind reminds us a fairy is near.” -Author Unknown
This is MFOL! . . . it’s magic . . . it really is . . . well, almost . . .
