Thursday 3 April 2008


It is said in our village that a young man once stole a cow from the faeries of the wild meadows. Those cows are special it's said. They always look fat and sleek and are said to give the best milk, which has sometimes been given when the faeries of the wild meadows are especially pleased with someone in the village. So naturally farmers leave their cows in the wild meadows to graze in the hope that their cows will turn out just like the faerie ones.

But as my old granny used to say, you should always be very careful with the faeries for their moods are like dragonflies, they can change direction just as quickly. Now I've only been told about this young man and it was a long time ago. His name was Philippe or something like that. It seems that this Philippe didn't have a wise granny like mine. He was up in the wild meadows in the late evening when it was neither day or night. He was out hunting for deer, but when he saw the faerie herd he became excited at the thought that one of them might be his for the taking. For you should know that there were no faerie herdsmen or women watching over their herd. Or if they were, he couldn't see any and that was all he wanted.

He got his rope together - he had it in case he got a deer so he could tie up the carcass and bring it home - and he tried to herd the cows along the track towards his barn. Most of the cows were too canny for him and they scattered away from him in their leisurely way. They lowed gently and strolled away all but one beautiful cow. This one stood watching him and when she lowered her head to graze he crept up alongside her and put his rope about her neck and gently tugged her away with him. He got her home to his farm and put her in the barn with plenty of straw and food for her. Oh he meant to look after her alright. She was a prize after all.

The next morning it rained and it thundered in the wild meadows. Lightning flashed and crashed all over the village, frightening the farm girls and the children. But the women put a stop to all that for there was still work to be done. Then the people heard the calling of cows through the village and they guessed that the faeries were at work in all this hullabaloo. When the sound reached Philippe's farm the cow in his barn answered it. At that, it's said, the calling cows stopped their lowing. They knew who was answering them and in the farmhouse, Philippe went pale with worry all of a sudden. He knew very suddenly that he shouldn't have done what he had done.

Even tho' the thunder was growling all over the valley and the lightning was being hurled all over and the rain was lashing down with all the fury of a cat in a temper - even so he knew he had to make it all good. So he went out of the farmhouse, the rain soaking him to the bones in like water bees and dashed into the warmth of the barn. But he saw that the poor cow's udders were full and he couldn't let her go like that or it would make things worse. So he took a clean pail and began to milk her. He filled that pail and went back into the farmhouse to get another. That was filled too. The more pails were emptied, the more milk flowed from the faerie cow. The women emptied the pails into the bathtub. They filled every bowl in the house and every bottle. They were forced to go through the village and fetch more vessels to put all the milk in. Still the rain fell upon them, still Philippe milked the cow and still her udders were full and the milk flowed free. Everyone was kept busy trying to fill the vessels and find more. Everyone began to churn the milk to butter and to make cheese with it. All the babies were filled up drinking it, the cats and dogs were all spoilt by being given it, but still the milk came until the village had nothing more to fill with the milk.

Then the villagers grew afraid and they insisted that Philippe should take the cow back to the wild meadows. The village priest came to the barn and spoke to the cow reminding her of where the Christ child was born and of almighty god. The cow was not impressed. She was after all a cow, but also a faerie cow and the faeries are not a sacred people. She lowed and licked the priest's face and groaned to be milked.

Philippe covered the cow in a fine blanket and let the poor animal to the wild meadows. The rain let up around her, but Philippe was drenched and while he managed to lead her up to the pastures, when he returned to the village he was forced to go straight to bed for a month with a severe cold.

The milk made excellent cheeses and butter. It sold out very quickly at the nearest town. But it had one major peculiarity. The cheese made people who ate it suddenly dance until they dropped. The butter made all the lawyers start telling the truth and all the robbers hand themselves in to the police. It made all the babies ugly for three months so that their eyes had a spiteful look and they bit their wet-nurses when they shouldn't have.

Philippe sold his herd when he had recovered and stuck to growing crops instead. It was probably better that way.

11 comments:

Barbara said...

That photo reminds me of hte cheese we saw in Spain called Tetilla. It was the shape of a woman's breast.

madameshawshank said...

barbara, isn't there an Italian cake with either breast or nipple in the name...gotta be Italian:-)

'n the readers quietly nibble on meringue and chocolate and rejoice at storytelling...

Rosemary in Utah said...

Now, how can one know "the rules" when dealing with fairies? That they don't like iron, their moods change quickly, etc.
And why would they use their powers to make babies ugly?

madameshawshank said...

utah damsel...perhaps there aren't rules..and that's why it's a tad tricky dealing with faeries..as for the making babies ugly...in life stuff happens...'n if one has a sense of just that..that life happens...including the idea that faeries could make babies ugly...well..imagination is all methinks..here's a little (I know you speed read:-)) info to get you going:
Definition of faeries
Faerie : from the Latin term for "fate" (fata), faeries (or fairies) are a "host of supernatural beings and spirits who occupy a limbo between earth and heaven" (Guiley). This is in recognition of the skill faeries had in predicting and even controlling human destiny. Faeries could be either good or evil creatures, and at various points in history have been confused with witches and demons

Fay or fey is the archaic term for faerie meaning bewitched or enchanted. This word derives from 'Fays' meaning Fates, and thought to be a broken form of Fatae. 'Fay-erie' was first a state of enchantment or glamour, and was only later used for the fays who wielded those powers of illusion. The state of enchantment is fayerie, which became fairy and faerie.



Other terms :

Fair Folk is a welsh name, often used in litterature and in scandinavian myths.

Good Neighbours is from Scotland. It had its origin in a desire to give no unnecessary offense. The `folk' might be listening, and were pleased when people spoke well of them, and angry when spoken of slightingly. The same feeling made the Irish Celt call them `honest folk' (Daoine Coire) or `good people' (Daoine Matha).

The Green Children was used in medieval litterature and versions of it is often used in modern Fantasy litterature.This theme has many variations like Greenies, Greencoaties and others.

The Old People refers as Faerie lived on earthlong before Mankind.

The Silent People (the people of peace, the still folk, or silently-moving people) comes from the Irish and Scottish Gaelic, the sith people. The name sith refers to `peace' or silence of Airy motion, as contrasted with the stir and noise accompanying the movements and actions of men. The Fairies come and go with noiseless steps, and their thefts or abductions are done silently and unawares to men.

Elf (ves) means also faerie and derived from the word alfarfrom the Nordic and Teutonic languages which is associated with mountains and water. This clearly illustrates the close relationship between faeries and the earth.

madameshawshank said...

I promise no more floodgates of posting...couldn't help maself...again I promise promise promise

Griffin said...

Rosemary,

The fairies are always capricious, but also highly dangerous. The Victorians sanitised them for kid's consumption to take away their 'sting'. But I like the fact that they have a dangerous edge - they should have.

The idea here was in the opposites, so burglars returning what they took, lawyers telling the truth ;)
and babies who are mostly just too cute for words are ugly and troublesome - possibly like changelings...!

Rosemary in Utah said...

Madame & Griffin, thank you. "Fairies could either be good or evil" explains a lot. I suppose, like Superman, Batman, even Mr. Spock, I want these creatures to have behaviors and motives that I can count on, so tales about them will be meaningful. (Superman can be harmed by Kryptonite--if in one episode he can ignore it, it would cheapen the story, yes?)
Griffin, I was influenced here by the illustrations of Arthur Rackham--fairies and the infant Peter Pan--can't imagine any ugliness!
Madame shouldn't promise to close floodgates when those spillways/sluices/streams may be quite controlled by...floodgate fairies!

framboise_et_rose said...

I want some of that cheese....... I wonder what I'll do after eating a serving of them - become a changeling... What a novel idea.

Feasting is what I've been doing every morning. What to do on weekends???? Oh, that would just make Mondays be a day worth looking forward to.

Madame, keep the floodgates open. It is such a joy to read youir posts.

Griffin said...

Rosemary,

I am also a big Rackham and Dulac fan! But Victorian painters like John Anster Fitzgerald and others gave the fairies the shape we recognise today - pretty young women with wings. Rackham and Dulac did the same to be fair, but that is not what the faeries are like in the literature. Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth, Yallery Brown and the like were just trouble.

Diane Purkiss, in her book 'Troublesome Things' a history of fairies and fairy tales suggests that the faeries live on the borders of what we know. These days, aliens are the new fairies. But what I like about the faeries is their connection to the land and it's history and old folk traditions.

Christina Rossetti's poem Goblin Market does give the fair folk back their menacing edge, one of the few 19th century writers who does.

Framboise et rose... sigh, what a wonderful combination!

All that food will make you burst. On the weekend you'll have to curl up like a cat and just digest.

madameshawshank said...

These were in a cakeshop in Plateau d'Assy. I bought some to give our hostess. They were delicious ~ she shared!

Marilee said...

All well said comments and such but being much less cerebral today I just want to find out if you have any of that butter left for my friends lawyer? Hehe >=)