As Forteans, we don’t spout on about our own beliefs. We are interested in what others believe, and in how that links in with other ideas. We treat all our sources with respect and courtesy.
That is why it gives us a really naughty sense of pleasure to say from the start that the next story is a big, fat fib.
The Fairy on the Chevin
One fine day in 2007, a man and his wife were out walking their dog on the Chevin path.
Everyone knows that path. It has been there since the days when hillside routes were the best way to get from A to B without wading through mud and brambles. Firestone is the open space above the Chevin path close to Belper. It has been a prime picnic, hide and seek and tig venue for a very long time.
At a certain point on that path, their dog became nervous. It stared and barked continuously but refused to budge. The man investigated. He found a crack had opened up in a bank and there seemed to be a hollow space inside. In his own words, this is what happened next:
The crack measured about 2ft long and 1ft wide and looked to have been formed recently as I had never seen it before. I knelt down and looked inside the dark hole. The hill seemed to be hollow like a cave as I could feel a cool draught against my skin. I used the small LED torch on my car keys to see if I could see anything in the darkness.
It was at this point I saw something that startled me, 2 or 3 feet in front of me I could see a human like form only this was much smaller. My initial instinct was to call the police as I thought it may be the body of a small child but as I looked closer I could see that this was not the case. It was too small and more importantly, it had what appeared to be wings! Not wanting to touch it I used a stick to carefully drag it out and picked it up in one of the dog’s poo bags (empty of course).
The body was well preserved, with ears, hair and teeth. He was astounded to see there were perhaps twenty similar bodies hidden away. He took this one home and shared his story. Before long, it was in the papers and on TV. It went global.
A few days later, on April 1st, Dan Bains, artist and illusionist, admitted it was a hoax, and issued the following statement:
Thank you for the interest you have shown in my story.
Even if you believe in fairies, as I personally do, there will always have been an element of doubt in your mind that would suggest the remains are a hoax. However, the magic created by the possibility of the fairy being real is something you will remember for the rest of your life.
Alas, the fairy is fake but my interest and belief has allowed me to create a work of art that is convincing and magical. I was also interested to see if fairy folklore is still a valid belief in modern society and I am pleased to say that yes it is! I have had more response from believers than I ever thought possible.
As well as an artist I am also a magician and you have been my fantastic audience. That spark of magic ignited your imagination and made your day more memorable and exciting.
I believe fairies to be Earth spirits rather than physical beings so my performance was slightly flawed. The question stills begs to be answered though, are they made of flesh and blood like you and I?
Dan’s website recorded 20, 000 hits in one day. He received hundreds of emails. Some respondents continued to believe the fairy was genuine, even after his disclosure.
Fairy Lore, Anyone?
Do you believe in fairies?
Probably the only sensible answer to that would be tell me what you think a fairy is, then I’ll decide….
Do you think a fairy looks like Tinkerbell? Do you think a fairy is a spirit? Do you think a fairy is one of a race of hidden people, whose reality intersects with our own? Or is ‘fairy’ just another name for the same phenomenon which gives us aliens, visions and spooks?
The connection between fairies and nature spirits dates back to Paracelsus. He was a Swiss thinker in the 16th century, when the disciplines we might call science, magic, medicine and astrology were still mixed together in a rich intellectual soup. Paracelsus decided that the four medieval elements: fire, water, earth and air, each had their own associated beings, or ‘elementals’. These were, in the same order: salamanders, undines, gnomes and sylphs. Later, this notion was adopted and developed within a number of belief systems, from Rosicrucians to Theosophists to neo-pagans and all points between. Nature spirits look after the natural world. They are concerned with plants and the landscape. Sometimes, we might be aware of them.
The fairies we meet in folk tales are quite different. They have a culture and norms of their own. They dance in circles and have feasts. They have their own secret land. Some of them interact with humans; there may be an element of trade; rewards for favours done, or punishment for misdeeds. Derbyshire examples are:
Hob Hurst – he lived in barrows and stone circles. If farmers left cream for him, he would make the cows give plenty of milk. If he became cross, the milk would go sour.
Nine Stones Close – fairies came out to dance there; fairyland was under the ground
Calver – a widower lay awake worrying about how he was going to cope with his six children. In the morning, he found that the fairies had done all the housework.
In the 19th century, Rev Sabine Baring-Gould was probably the first person to suggest that people see fairies in whatever form is conventional at the time. Fairies look how we expect them to look, depending on the images we have absorbed from popular culture. Sometimes they look like little men driving tiny cars. Sometimes they look like small, floaty, luminous beings. Sometimes they are small, brown and rugged-looking. It depends who saw them, where and when.
Themes from fairy lore, such as unearthly lights, abduction and missing time recurred in UFO stories. Many people who encountered fairies or aliens felt they had been fundamentally changed by the experience. Alien stories could be modern fairy stories.
Today, belief in fairies is still a part of life for many people in the world. 50% of Icelanders believe there is a race of hidden people, who look like us but wear old-fashioned clothing. Building plans have to be negotiated round their needs (or the needs of those who believe in them).
We must all decide for ourselves what might or might not exist. Do you believe in fairies?
Interviewing Dan Bains
Yes, I have had a full encounter with 3 fairies when I was about 5 in Allestree. They were bright white with long straight white hair, very attractive and all looked very similar, or of the same race at least, it was one female and two children, about 4 feet tall at a guess.
Dan is a freelance prop & illusion designer and his work has recently toured North America in Guillermo del Toro's At Home with Monsters exhibition.
Hear him telling his own story in a lecture to The South East London Folklore Society by following the link to this audio recording.
Bibliography
No direct quotes in this story, apart from Dan’s words. The following, however, informed the exploration, and can be recommended as good reads:
Would you like to share your memories of the hoax? Or have you got a story of your own to tell? We would love to hear from you. Fill in the contact box, or email [email protected]
A few days later, on April 1st, Dan Bains, artist and illusionist, admitted it was a hoax, and issued the following statement:
Thank you for the interest you have shown in my story.
Even if you believe in fairies, as I personally do, there will always have been an element of doubt in your mind that would suggest the remains are a hoax. However, the magic created by the possibility of the fairy being real is something you will remember for the rest of your life.
Alas, the fairy is fake but my interest and belief has allowed me to create a work of art that is convincing and magical. I was also interested to see if fairy folklore is still a valid belief in modern society and I am pleased to say that yes it is! I have had more response from believers than I ever thought possible.
As well as an artist I am also a magician and you have been my fantastic audience. That spark of magic ignited your imagination and made your day more memorable and exciting.
I believe fairies to be Earth spirits rather than physical beings so my performance was slightly flawed. The question stills begs to be answered though, are they made of flesh and blood like you and I?
Dan’s website recorded 20, 000 hits in one day. He received hundreds of emails. Some respondents continued to believe the fairy was genuine, even after his disclosure.
Fairy Lore, Anyone?
Do you believe in fairies?
Probably the only sensible answer to that would be tell me what you think a fairy is, then I’ll decide….
Do you think a fairy looks like Tinkerbell? Do you think a fairy is a spirit? Do you think a fairy is one of a race of hidden people, whose reality intersects with our own? Or is ‘fairy’ just another name for the same phenomenon which gives us aliens, visions and spooks?
The connection between fairies and nature spirits dates back to Paracelsus. He was a Swiss thinker in the 16th century, when the disciplines we might call science, magic, medicine and astrology were still mixed together in a rich intellectual soup. Paracelsus decided that the four medieval elements: fire, water, earth and air, each had their own associated beings, or ‘elementals’. These were, in the same order: salamanders, undines, gnomes and sylphs. Later, this notion was adopted and developed within a number of belief systems, from Rosicrucians to Theosophists to neo-pagans and all points between. Nature spirits look after the natural world. They are concerned with plants and the landscape. Sometimes, we might be aware of them.
The fairies we meet in folk tales are quite different. They have a culture and norms of their own. They dance in circles and have feasts. They have their own secret land. Some of them interact with humans; there may be an element of trade; rewards for favours done, or punishment for misdeeds. Derbyshire examples are:
Hob Hurst – he lived in barrows and stone circles. If farmers left cream for him, he would make the cows give plenty of milk. If he became cross, the milk would go sour.
Nine Stones Close – fairies came out to dance there; fairyland was under the ground
Calver – a widower lay awake worrying about how he was going to cope with his six children. In the morning, he found that the fairies had done all the housework.
In the 19th century, Rev Sabine Baring-Gould was probably the first person to suggest that people see fairies in whatever form is conventional at the time. Fairies look how we expect them to look, depending on the images we have absorbed from popular culture. Sometimes they look like little men driving tiny cars. Sometimes they look like small, floaty, luminous beings. Sometimes they are small, brown and rugged-looking. It depends who saw them, where and when.
Themes from fairy lore, such as unearthly lights, abduction and missing time recurred in UFO stories. Many people who encountered fairies or aliens felt they had been fundamentally changed by the experience. Alien stories could be modern fairy stories.
Today, belief in fairies is still a part of life for many people in the world. 50% of Icelanders believe there is a race of hidden people, who look like us but wear old-fashioned clothing. Building plans have to be negotiated round their needs (or the needs of those who believe in them).
We must all decide for ourselves what might or might not exist. Do you believe in fairies?
Interviewing Dan Bains
- What gave you the idea for the hoax? Have you had any real encounters which might have been fairy?
Yes, I have had a full encounter with 3 fairies when I was about 5 in Allestree. They were bright white with long straight white hair, very attractive and all looked very similar, or of the same race at least, it was one female and two children, about 4 feet tall at a guess.
- How did you go about getting all that publicity so quickly?
- What was the aftermath like? Did you judge it to be a success? Were there any unforeseen consequences?
Dan is a freelance prop & illusion designer and his work has recently toured North America in Guillermo del Toro's At Home with Monsters exhibition.
Hear him telling his own story in a lecture to The South East London Folklore Society by following the link to this audio recording.
Bibliography
No direct quotes in this story, apart from Dan’s words. The following, however, informed the exploration, and can be recommended as good reads:
- Dan’s brilliant website – www.danbaines.com (Best enjoyed in the daytime, on a sunny day, when everything is normal. Not on a dark night, or if you can hear strange noises at all)
- The Rough Guide to the Unexplained, Bob Rickard and John Michell. (Fascinating)
- The Lore of the Land, Westwood and Simpson. (Always)
- deadbutdreaming.wordpress.com (Neil Rushton’s excellent, erudite blog about fairies and consciousness. Really, he says it all)
- Ghosts and Legends of the Peak District, David Clarke (Every home should have one)
Would you like to share your memories of the hoax? Or have you got a story of your own to tell? We would love to hear from you. Fill in the contact box, or email [email protected]
