In Suffolk and Sussex the name for faeries is Farisees or Pharisees.
A sussex farmer called James Meppom who owned a small farm in a very lonely spot deep in the countryside had a close encounter with the sussex farisees. His barn stood some way off from his farmhouse so each evening he would have to trudge some way back down the track for his supper in the house. One evening after a long day threshing he closed the barn door and left a the pile of threshed corn on the floor to go home for his supper, The next morning when he returned to his surprise the pile of corn was much larger than when he had left the previous night. This went on for several days until James being quite a bold fellow was determined to see what was happening in his barn every night. So the next night he his himself amongst the straw and waited. Just as he was beginning to doze, for it was getting late and he had been working hard all day,he was roused by the steady thump of the flails. James peeped out and there steadily threshing the corn were two little figures no more than eighteen inches high.
When he saw the two little figures he started to laugh and shouted to them asking what they were doing in his barn. The two little men rushed for the barn door carrying their tiny little flails with them and as they passed James clouted him about the side of the head. It was such a savage blow that it laid him out until the next morning. He managed to struggle home and his wife seeing what a dreadful state he was in sent for the doctor. Although the doctor considered it to be a slight fit James would have none of it and told the good man that he had the curse of the Farisees upon him. As far as James was concerned he was doomed and sure enough within the year he was dead.
Faeries and Folklore of the British Isles
No comments:
Post a Comment