Today and yesterday: Somewhat busy, Dale mended the Aga and today the men come to change the new bed foot and header. Andrew had spied a fault in the rather elegant Victorian bed and as he proposes to die in it (in time of course) wants perfection. They are supposed to come at 7.15 but haven't arrived yet.
Yesterday I went to an event, just round the corner. It was the Centre for Folklore, Myth and Magic. The building itself is rather attractive and has masqueraded as a cafe for a time. But now it is being opened up and transformed into a place for lectures, film shows and a large library of books on Northern folklore. You can see the website here, think it needs a bit of work though.
As I have been involved with prehistory for so long folklore does attach itself to stones. The Wade giants especially. They throw stones down to the rivers, make roads and generally get up to mischief.
I have some problems with fairies as to when they came up on in the history timeline. Apparently you can trace them back to the 11th century, and it is said that they follow on from the Celtic tales, especially of course in Ireland.
It is difficult to trace something that is but a figment of the imagination. The 'real live' Victorian fairies that the two little girls said they had seen comes to mind. A hoax of course.
But as a child with the brothers Grimms, I relished the rather nasty fairy tales of the Victorian era and not the simpering world of Disney. Dark European tales always hold more fascination and who hasn't looked at a black dog without wondering if the poor creature is not the devil in diguise.
You get a lot of fairies down in London. Quite a few in Manchester too. I hope that the Centre for Folklore, Myth and Magic thrives.
ReplyDeleteCareful Y/P who you call fairies;) . I also hope Holly thrives, her exhibition which she put on cost her just £25, or so she says. When I mentioned the millions that should flow into Tod, she sort of waved her hands around as if not to say too much about how the money was being distributed. But culture is culture and she has a legitimate claim to some of the largesse.
DeleteIreland has 8 foot-tall fairies which you would not want to mess with.
DeleteAre they real fairies or are they the ones that YP is alluding to Tom?
DeleteWell, I've never seen one in Soho - or Brighton.
DeleteMy neighbour strongly believes in folklore. She insists she has a Guardian Angel who lives in her loft. For my birthday last year she bought me a tiny Guardian Angel brooch!! I don't believe i such stuff although I find Folklore interesting but I can't dispose of the brooch - have put it in my jewelry box just in case.
ReplyDeleteAngels of course belong to the Christian faith, other people prefer some kind of amulet to ward of evil and bring them luck. I somehow think it is a vain hope that these objects have a hold over our lives, just wishful thinking but such thoughts do give comfort, a placebo effect I'm sure.
DeleteWhen I was a child, I 'inherited' a battered book about fairies. It had belonged to my mother as a child. I loved those stories. I'd read nothing like them before. If memory serves me rightly, the fairies were unfailingly good and helpful to the garden and human's around them. I'd certainly love to have that book now. However, as it had no cover, I have no idea the title of it or the author.
ReplyDeleteWell yes the fairies are always kind and good and the goblins (read Christina Rossetti's Goblins) are bad Debby. You can also trace the difference in the many creatures that appear in Lord of the Rings. Lothlorien country of the elves who are the fairest in the land and then the wicked old trolls ;).
ReplyDeleteWe have a fairy at the bottom of our garden. It has four legs, a long nose and pointy ears.
ReplyDeleteFairy foxes aren't allowed Tasker.
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