The Faeries. (Part One).

Fairies. (Part 1).

In Celtic folklore, the fairies are divided into two categories. The Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court also referred to by W.B. Yeats as the Trooping Fairies and the Solitary Fairies. 

The fairy of the Seelie Court were inclined to be benevolent to humans although they could still be dangerous, whilst the fairy belonging to the Unseelie Court were seen to be dark, malevolent, and extremely dangerous.

The word Seelie is Scottish in origin and means happy or lucky and these fairies would sometimes play pranks on humans and although somewhat annoying they were generally harmless, whereas those of the Unseelie Court were exactly the opposite and seemed to enjoy bringing harm and unhappiness to humans.

Some of the things blamed on the fairies such as souring the milk, tainting the butter, or turning road signs to lead the traveller astray could be looked upon as the work of ‘The Gentry’ as they were called.

However, the dark fairies could bring death and disease to your door in the form of tuberculosis where a body would be seen as wasting away, changelings were left in place of a human child, and these changelings were usually deformed in some way.

Even people who suddenly lost the power of speech and movement would be suspected of being away with the fairies. The word ‘Stroke’ is said to come from the description ‘fairy-stroke’.  It was believed that a person who suffered a stroke had been shot with a fairy dart, their body stolen away and replaced with a transformed fairy.

Of course today we would look to medical conditions such as a stroke, paralysis, or some other form of condition.

The belief in the power of the fairies was strong, especially in rural communities that had a strong link with the seasons and the land.  Therefore, superstition was rife, protective charms were worn, spells and incantations were spoken, and the use of iron was considered to be very effective (we will speak of this later). 

Wearing guises or masks at certain times of the year such as Samhain in order to confuse the fairies, even putting your jacket on back to front or clothing inside out was enough to prove detrimental to them.

Certain places known to be the home of fairies should be avoided. Digging in a fairy mound is extremely unwise and paths that fairies travel should never be blocked.  In times gone by, people would build their houses in such a way as to leave fairy paths clear, even if it meant knocking a corner off.  It has even been suggested that one of the reasons the traditional cottage was built with the back door in line with the front door was so that you could leave them both open on certain nights to allow the fairies to troop through. 

Fairy forts and fairy trees were left undisturbed, even cutting brush on a fairy fort could result in the death of the person concerned.

Another superstition concerned good housekeeping, it was said that the woman of the house must keep her home clean and neat otherwise she would incur the wrath of the ‘little people’, although I’d say this had more to do with the lazy man of the house rather than the fairy folk

What is a fairie?

Some people suggest that it may be a supernatural being halfway between human and angel, but where do they come from?

There are others who suggest that they may be forgotten angels.  There is a story that tells us that when the angels revolted, God ordered the gates of heaven shut; those that were still in heaven at this time remained as angels, those who had been cast into hell became demons, and those caught between became fairies. Not good enough to be allowed back into heaven but not bad enough to enter hell.  However, as they were still considered as fallen angels they were still subject to the will of the devil. 

Those that were seen as dealing with fairies were therefore guilty of witchcraft and were punished or even executed during certain times in our dark history.

Another theory, and if I subscribed to theories this is the one I would choose relates to the race of people known as the Tuatha de Danann in Irish folklore and mythology.

 It was said that they came from the sky in large chariots; another suggestion was that they came from the Islands in the north of the world.  They were said to be like gods and goddesses or even nature spirits and that they were driven into hiding in the caves and hidden valleys after suffering defeat at the hands of the Milesians (said to be the ancestors of the modern Irish).