-
New York Fairies is OUT NOW!
I’m so happy to say that New York Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Empire State releases today! This is the first book that collects all the fairy and Little People folklore in New York State, making it the perfect follow up to New England Fairies. I had so much fun gathering…
-
Marblehead’s lost pixie boulders
Today I want to share a photograph that might help illuminate the numerous nineteenth-century sources in which residents of Marblehead, Massachusetts, are described as possessing a belief in pixies. NB. We’re indebted to folklorists Peter Muise and Stephen Gencarella for drawing attention to these sources. It’s thought that fishermen from Devon, Somerset, and Cornwall brought…
-
An African American folktale about fairies
While researching fairy folklore outside the Northeast, I came across a rare example of an African American folktale about fairies. I’ve wondered about fairies in African American storytelling for a while, but I’ve never come across a folktale before, so it was with some pleasure and surprise that I found this one. The story, written…
-
A 1921 depiction of a Wabanaki mikummwess
Continuing yesterday’s post about pukwudgie drawings from 1890, today I want to examine an Anglo-American drawing of a Wabanaki mikummwess (one of the Little People) from 1921. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, writers of children’s literature such as Mabel Powers, L.J. Bridgman, and John C. Farrar began to incorporate elements of Indigenous…
-
Some depictions of pukwudgies from 1890
I recently came across the following pukwudgie illustrations by the writer and artist L.J. Bridgman, who’s known for publishing children’s literature in magazines at the end of the nineteenth century. Bridgman drew the images to illustrate a story about the pukwudgies’ winter migration to the shores of Lake Superior (gichi-gami in the Ojibwe language), where…
-
Fairy belief and mental illness in New York City
While researching my book New York Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Empire State, I came across four interesting nineteenth-century cases of Irish (and other) immigrants experiencing fairy-related delusions. I don’t want to give an exhaustive account of the cases here because I describe them in the book. But I will give…
-
My travels in search of New York fairies
If I were to ask you where fairies dwell in New York State, I wouldn’t be surprised if you mentioned natural locations such as the Adirondacks or Catskills. That’s because, in the present day, fairies are often associated with nature, with beautiful locations such as hills and forests. While completing my research for New York…
-
New York Fairies: Cover reveal!
I’m excited to share the cover approved for my next book New York Fairies: A History of the Little People of the Empire State, out July 8! The book covers four hundred years of folklore about Little People, fairies, goblins, gnomes, imps and elves—all from New York State.
-
A conversation with the Fairy Whisperer
I had the pleasure of talking recently with Claire Casely of the Fairy Whispering podcast. Claire has written a book on British pixies that will be coming out soon: I can’t wait to read it. Check out our conversation above or wherever you listen to podcasts, including Spotify. We discuss the following topics: To read…
-
The use of “Fairy” in depictions of Queen Alexandra
NB. In this post, I use the term Fairy to describe a condition, state, or influence. However, it also refers to a discourse, that is, a set of understandings, references, and connotations related to fairy tales; it’s the use of this discourse I wish to examine in this post. I recently wrote a Facebook post…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Fairies of New England: The Little People of the Hills and Forests 