Fairy Tale: A True Story
When her father is declared missing in action during World War I, Elsie Wright (Florence Hoath) is sent to live with her cousin Frances Griffiths (Elizabeth Earl) and her family in Yorkshire. The two girls soon discover the faeries living in the near by glen, but Frances’ parents (Phoebe Nicholls and Paul McGann), struggling to come to terms with the recent loss of their son Joseph, refuse to believe the girls. Borrowing a camera, Frances and Elsie set out to convince the adults and manage to get photos of the faeries. The adventure really starts for the girls once the pictures are published - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Peter O’Toole) and Harry Houdini (Harvey Keitel) both take a personal interest in their story.
More than anything, this story is about faith - though the faeries do make an appearance. The characters are dealing with loss and society as a whole was reeling from the horrors of WWI. The belief in faeries gives hope. This is an enchanting film, loosely based on the real Cottingley Fairies (see previous post).
Buy Fairytale: A True Story from Amazon.co.uk
The Music of All My Faith Lost
All My Faith Lost are Italian duo, Viola and Federico, who make hauntingly beautiful acoustic folk music. Their first demo CD, ‘Hollow Hills’ was inspired by the world of Faerie, in particular Keat’s ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ and Brian Froud’s ‘Good Faeries, Bad Faeries’. Their second CD ‘In A Sea, In A Lake, In A River… Or In A Teardrop’ was again inspired by folktales but this time concentrated on those connected to water. Their new album ‘As You’re Vanishing In Silence’ has just been released on the Cold Meat Industry label and is available to buy for €13 direct from the band. Sample tracks are also available to download from their site, as is the entirety of ‘Hollow Hills’.
Filed under Music | Comment (0)Stencil Kingdom
Stencil Kingdom is a UK company who design and manufacture an amazing array of unusual stencils. There are many, many styles and designs to chose from including several faerie ranges. These include images licensed from artists like Brian Froud (pictured above), Amy Brown, Natalia Pierandrei, Myrea Pettit, and James Browne. They are perfect for decorating children’s rooms, grown up’s rooms, furniture, fabrics… be sure to look through the gallery for more inspiration. They also offer a custom stencil design service so you can get exactly what you are after.
Filed under Home & Garden | Comment (0)The Luck of Edenhall
For over 200 years this famous glass remained in the possession of the Musgrave family of Edenhall, Cumbria (UK). It acquired the curious name ‘The Luck of Edenhall’ due to the story of how it came into the family:
A group of faeries were drinking and making merry at St Cuthbert’s Well in the garden of Edenhall. Some people, attracted by the curious sound, intruded on the faeries revelry. However the faeries took fright and scattered, leaving the cup behind. The last faery to leave shouted out ‘If this cup should break or fall, Farewell the Luck of Edenhall.’ The family very carefully looked after the cup over the following years until in 1926 it was loaned to the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK). There it remains, intact, to this very day. Historians believe the cup to actually be Syrian and date from the 13th century. It is possible it found it’s way to England with a knight returning from the crusades, but no one knows how it came to be at Edenhall.
Posie the Fairy
If you’ve been to the Spoutwood Farm Fairie Festival you’ll probably have seen Posie, one of the ‘celebrefairies’ and co-producer of the event. Throughout the rest of the year Posie brings a little of that faerie fun to children’s parties in the South Central Pennsylvania (USA) area and creates a vast array of fantasy wearables including wings, horns and wands. There is a choice of party packages, where guests are transformed into fairies or dragons and participate in a variety of activities, games and crafts.
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