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| A really awkward selfie I took with 'Walter' the fairy at the Cupids Legacy Centre. The sun was burning my eyes, thus the horrible facial expression. |
I recently had the opportunity to visit Cupids, Newfoundland. You may remember from my earlier video that Cupids, formerly Cuper's Cove, is the oldest European settlement in Canada and second oldest in North America to last longer than a year. While there, I visited the Cupids Legacy Centre, a community centre/museum/cultural interpretive centre. While exploring, I realized that the roof of their building is home of a fairy garden. It made me feel really nostalgic because growing up I loved listening to Newfoundland fairy stories.
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| A picture of Walter when he was indoors, showing his face. His clothes are wrinkled and scraggly, which is a signature of many fairy stories here in Newfoundland. For the record his name isn't exactly Walter, but a friend and I agreed that he looked like a Walter. |
The reason I define them as specifically Newfoundland fairy stories is that the idea of fairies here in Newfoundland is rather unique compared to other places. Newfoundland's idea of fairies is a hybrid of stories from Ireland, Scotland, and England, which have been coming over since the 1600s, and Newfoundland has acted as a petri dish where the stories have since developed and evolved.
Newfoundland fairy folk, often called the "Little People" or "Good People", are shapeshifters. They have been known to appear as children or adults, as bright lights, as animals, and even as forms of nature, such as storms. They often appear wearing red hats, or at least red on their outfits, but red hats are their signature.
They are natural creatures. They do not change the course of nature. They often act as defenders of nature but are not necessarily guardians of nature, such as the Lorax of Dr. Seuss. Many stories of the Good People are of them messing around with humans who interfere with their habitat. It is to be noted, however, that fairies are not evil but are more of a 'chaotic neutral' type of personality ('chaotic neutral' meaning that they have their own ways of justice but that they are neither good nor evil beings).
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| A 'fairy ring' in Conception Bay North. A fairy ring is a cleared circle in the middle of a forested area where fairies are said to lure humans and have them dance with them for hours or even days. This is a very pristine example of one. Photo credit is due to Dennis Flynn. |
Many stories of fairies are about people being taken, such as berry pickers hearing their music and being led away in a trance or children who played too far into the forest being taken. These people often reappear some amount of time later (as short as minutes or as long as months), dazed, confused, and without any or very little memory of what had happened. There is a thing known as 'fairy shot' or 'fairy blast' which is when someone is shot by a fairy's slingshot. It is said that fairy shot is different from say the sting of a bee or the bite of a fly because things will grow out of the wound, such as balls of wool, twigs, leaves, or even fish bones.
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| A sign at the start of the D'Iberville Trail warning people to carry bread. |
Newfoundlanders have developed ways of fighting back however. Many Newfoundlanders will carry things around in their pocket or pinned to their shirt such as coins (usually silver coins), bread, or religious metals. It is said that fairies cannot approach these things. Another impromptu defense against them is to remove an article of clothing and turn it inside-out, as it confuses them and breaks whatever trance they may have their victim in.
It is unknown why fairy stories have been so popular here in Newfoundland. Perhaps it is because of Newfoundland's love for the supernatural. Perhaps it is simply our way of understanding the in-explainable. Perhaps the fairies are real after all. Some believe it was a way of teaching children certain lessons, such as not playing too far into the woods or to stay within sight, much like fairy tales (is that a coincidence?). Either way, it has been an interesting adventure to learn about them. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood were of listening to people tell stories about their encounters with the fairies of Newfoundland and what happened as a result.
If you would like to learn more, there is tons of material on them. The Memorial University of Newfoundland has an amazing collection of stories both in their library and online, most of which is available to the public. They even have a collection of audio recordings of people telling the story of their personal encounters with fairies online, which I HIGHLY recommend you go and check out (I have put some links at the end of this blog to some of the stories I have found). Another excellent resource, which is probably where most of my understanding of the fairies of Newfoundland comes from is Dale Jarvis. This man is an amazing storyteller, and has a wealth of knowledge on everything supernatural and folklore. He has numerous books on haunted places, fairy stories, and other tales of the sorts from here in Newfoundland as well as a few different acts that he does. On several occasions I have had the pleasure of listening to him tell stories, and he truly brings them to life. If you ever have the chance of reading or listening to him, DO IT.
(Credit for the above links goes to the Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive. Their collections are excellent. These stories are only a minute or two long, but the entire transcripts are also written on those pages. They have much more content, but these are three of my favourites.)
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