Welcome to Fairies of New England: The Little People of the Hills and Forests, a website in support of my books New England Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Hills and Forests (The History Press, 144 pages, out now) and New York Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Empire State (The History Press, 128 pages, out July 8).
My name is Andrew Warburton, and I’m a writer from Bristol, England, currently living near Providence, Rhode Island. In this blog, I write about fairies from a folkloric, literary, and historical perspective.
My book, New England Fairies, collects stories about fairies and fairylike beings from the six New England states. The stories cover four hundred years of history and are drawn from the traditions of various ethnic groups, including British, Irish, French Canadian, and Native American peoples. I traveled all over New England to research the book, and I can’t wait for you to read it.
Book overview
Tales of fairies and bewitching Little People have amazed and horrified New Englanders for over four hundred years. In the nineteenth century, residents of Marblehead, Massachusetts, reported malicious pixies leading them in circles at dusk. In Aroostook County, Maine, elves called lutins exasperated farmers with their mischievous tricks and games. In Uncasville, Connecticut, beguiling creatures emerged for centuries at twilight to collect corn-filled baskets from members of the Mohegan Tribe. And in Harrisville, Rhode Island, a vision of fearful banshees augured death to an Irish seer. From the ancient tales of Algonquian elders to the fireside stories of European immigrants, Andrew Warburton scours New England folklore to uncover the secrets of the region’s Fair Folk and the storytellers who’ve encountered them through the years.
New York Fairies is out now!
My new book, New York Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Empire State, came out on July 8, 2025. The book collects fairy stories from four hundred years of Dutch, English, Irish, Welsh, and Indigenous history in New York State. I cover territory from every corner of New York, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Hudson Valley, the Adirondack Mountains, the Mohawk Valley, and Western New York.
Book overview
Dutch, Irish, and Native American residents of New York State have long told tales about mysterious Little People occupying the region’s hills and forests. An exhausted man in 1880s Brooklyn reported to the police that dancing fairies on his roof were keeping him up at night. Irish immigrants in Hell’s Kitchen claimed that banshees in trailing white gowns mourned the deaths of their loved ones. Hordes of goblins on Bannerman Island emerged after nightfall to terrorize navigators of the Hudson River. And in the Genesee Valley, waterfall-dwelling Little People taught a sacred dance to a Haudenosaunee boy. From the noisy metropolis to upstate’s rolling hills, Andrew Warburton roams New York in search of tales of the enchanting Fair Folk.
This is me feeding a chickadee in Quincy, Massachusetts
Enquiries: andrewwarburton@hotmail.com
Fairies of New England: The Little People of the Hills and Forests 