The Missing Fairies of Norfolk

The fairies of Norfolk may be missing but perhaps they are not lost.

PART ONE:

Norfolk is a predominantly rural county with a coastline bordered by the wild and untameable North Sea, we are one of the few places in the UK that has no motorway and a large amount of land still devoted to agriculture. Tourists are often heard to remark that visiting our eastern idyll is like stepping back in time. There is magic in the air, earth and sea; folk tales of the otherworldly shadow dog Black Shuck, mermaids attending church services and witches aplenty. Surely a historically bucolic populace such as this has fairy tales abounding, a veritable plethora of folk knowledge pertaining to the fae and what the weary traveller or local farmer should or should not do to avoid or gain favour with ‘the strangers’? The Fairy Faith is still strong in the West Country, Wales, the Highlands of Scotland and Ireland where ‘fairy curses’ still cause dips in the road. Even in our neighbouring counties of Lincolnshire & Suffolk there are plenty of tales to be found. The knowledge of ‘fair folk’ native to Norfolk however seems not to have been retained. Where have our fairies gone?

Over a series of posts I will be exploring the (sparse) fairy lore of Norfolk, the past research on the subject and adding my own theories in to the mix involving Bronze Age round barrows, puritanism and the enclosure acts!

Let me begin by saying I do not believe that the fairies of Norfolk are lost but that the general folk memory of Norfolk fairy-lore has gone astray. As mentioned in the introduction, here in Norfolk we do have some strong folk traditions, Black Shuck in particular is a subject that many a Norfolk resident could expound upon roundly if questioned. So it is not folk-lore in general that is missing, just our fae-lore.

Follow along for part two in which I will be discussing Pharisees, Ferishers & Hyter Sprites!

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