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Don't Mess With The Fairies

Hi, Brig: I'd forgotten to add that they were once thought to be the original inhabitants of the British Isles. I think that's the most interesting theory, actually, because I feel there could be a grain of truth in there.
 
The IOM as the Fiery bridge and you are supposed to say good morning or whenever to
the Fairies when you pass over it though it seems to be taken more seriously by the TT
racers than anyone else, then they need all the help they can get, but the now fairy bridge
is not the original one the so called real Fairy bridge is still standing but no longer carries
trafic.
 
Baleeber the grain of truth may very well be there. Actually the De Danans could have been both the first inhabitants of the British isles and survivors of Atlantis. We are dealing with histories here that go so Far back that they are lost in the mists of time. The Scots were supposedly named for Scotta, a princess of Egypt that settled the area in the beginning of British prehistory. And Egypt was thought to be a colony of Atlantis according to some theories. We're getting into some murky waters here.
 
A little dry and academic, but I just read this one, which quotes from oft-ignored sources like ballads and witch trials to try and piece together exact what fairy belief in Scotland looked like from the middle ages to ~1800: Scottish Fairy Belief by Lizanne Henderson and Edward J. Cowan (both of the University of Glasgow).
51foUbV%2BEKL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Some takeaways:
  • fairy folk in Scotland were rarely (though sometimes) believed to be diminutive (that being more of an English thing).
  • Some believed the fairies to be the fallen angels who happened to fall on land (the ones who landed in the sea became, of course, seals)
  • In shades of Margaret Murray's witch cult theory, many witch trials apparently depict earnest fairy beliefs that have been given a satanic gloss by christian inquisitors
It also talks about Robert Kirk, the author of The Secret Commonwealth, who was believed by some to have been abducted by the fairies himself.

For good measure, here are two great and mysterious Scots fairy ballads:

Thomas Rhymer, which describes how the (apparently historical) prophet got his abilities: through a long trek to fairyland,
For forty days and forty nights
He wade thro red blude to the knee

and a long stay there. He is granted the gift (or curse) of being unable to tell a lie, hence his prophetic abilities.

Tam Lin, in which a young woman becomes pregnant after being essentially raped by a man taken captive by the fairies; however, she decides that she's in love with him (the bad old days eh) and aids his escape from the Queen of Elphin.


For more information about specifically Orkney fairy/trow belief, look here: orkneyjar.com
 
The theory that fairies are actually prehistoric humans comes from folklore and became popular in the nineteenth century. Walter Scott mentioned it and thought that folk memories of the Saami were the inspiration for fairy lore. In the 1880s and 1890s folklorists like David MacRitchie spread the "Turanian dwarf theory" (Carole Silver's name for the idea that fairies were small dark-skinned non-Europeans living in caves, mentioned in her book Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies in The Victorian Consciousness.
One version was that they were Picts). John Buchan, author of The Thirty-Nine Steps, wrote a short story about a lost Pictish tribe called 'No-Man's Land' where the narrator, an Oxford professor, comes across a group of Picts in Scotland
and is almost sacrificed along with an acquaintance's sister. All three of them are eventually driven mad.
 
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Doesn't this also happen in Iceland or somewhere, with trolls or elves or summat?

In New Zealand roads, etc have to be built around areas that are inhabited by Taniwha (taneefa)

"In more recent years, taniwha have featured prominently in New Zealand news broadcasts - due to taniwha spirits being referenced in both court cases and in various legal negotiations."[2] Beliefs in the existence of taniwha have a potential for controversy where they have been used to block or modify development and infrastructure schemes.

In 2002, Ngāti Naho, a Māori tribe from the Meremere district, successfully ensured that part of the country's major highway, State Highway 1, be rerouted in order to protect the abode of their legendary protector. This taniwha was said to have the appearance of large white eel, and Ngāti Naho argued that it must not be removed but rather move on of its own accord; to remove the taniwha would be to invite trouble. Television New Zealand reported in November 2002 that Transit New Zealand had negotiated a deal with Ngāti Naho under which "concessions have been put in place to ensure that the taniwha are respected".[14] Some like the journalist Brian Rudman have criticised such deals in respect of 'secretive taniwha which rise up from swamps and river beds every now and again, demanding a tithe from Transit New Zealand'.[15]

In 2001 "another notable instance of taniwha featuring heavily within the public eye was that of a proposed Northland prison site at Ngawha which was eventually granted approval through the courts."[16]

Māori academic Dr Ranginui Walker, in a detailed letter to the Waikato Times, said that in the modern age a taniwha was the manifestation of a coping mechanism for some Māori. It did not mean there actually was a creature lurking in the water, it was just their way of indicating they were troubled by some incident or event.[citation needed]

In 2010 there was an episode of Destination Truth where Josh Gates and his team went looking for the taniwha, but turned up no good evidence.[17]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taniwha
 
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And they imagined they would find a spirit protector (someone else's at that) by just going and looking for it? That sounds ...um... naive. I'm being polite.

Taniwha are thought to resemble sea serpents or giant lizards , so may represent an actual cryptid rather than a spirit creature.
 
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Cochise: And they wondered why the couldn't find anything. Delving into the past is the best way to understand these myths and/or legends.
 
Gee Skinny. I couldn't get your message to play. Not your fault; it's this antiquated equipment I'm stuck with. How about a synopsis?
 
Some really old west Irish folk comment on their superstitions about the fae folk and the consequences of messing with the wrong trees. Eddie Lennihan features - he's a real live orator, a relic of the celtic oral tradition. I like his moustaches.
 
Brig, you could upgrade your hardware for less than you think. It's much much cheaper to buy a new hard drive than it was in 1998.
 
Bit more Eddie Lennihan here. He made the Dept of Roads divert an entire section of a new freeway around a fairy tree on pain of supernatural repercussion. How does that even happen these days?

ed; link not able to embed, so.
The Farmer
 
Jenny Butler has gone in deep into the growth of neopaganism in Ireland. Get past the gothic exterior and she's got tons of insights. I'm looking to buy her book. She's got some interesting vids on fairies and witchcraft, druidry and the clash of religion with trad beliefs in Ireland available for free on Youtube.

I first heard her voice on a Smithsonian doco examining the closing of the passage tombs and Newgrange type sites, along with associated uptake of new religious practices, as a possible result of a cometary interaction in prehistory. I immediately scoffed at her Lily Munster facade, but she talked the talk.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXTgVJJwJIDnbX2q7uVAhqQ
 
Telephone interview with Dr Jenny B herself. She goes deep into the lore and history of fairies through the Tuatha and into misty pasts. Fascinating.
 
Brig, you could upgrade your hardware for less than you think. It's much much cheaper to buy a new hard drive than it was in 1998.
It's possible to buy a new PC or laptop in the USA for less than 200 dollars.
 
yEAH BUT WOULD THIS OLD FART KNOW HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER AND GET IT RUNNING. REMEMBER I'm THE GUY THAT HAD TO HAVE A KINDERGARTEN STUDENT GET ME OUT OF A TIGHT SPOT ON A SCHOOL COMPUTER.
 
Click on this link to the Website forum and put your request to the pros.

Click here -> Tech Help Thread

There'll be members from the US who can offer hot tips available in your locale.
 
yEAH BUT WOULD THIS OLD FART KNOW HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER AND GET IT RUNNING. REMEMBER I'm THE GUY THAT HAD TO HAVE A KINDERGARTEN STUDENT GET ME OUT OF A TIGHT SPOT ON A SCHOOL COMPUTER.
Laptops don't need 'putting together'. All the parts (keyboard, screen, computer) are together in one unit.
To plug in a printer these days, all printers use USB connectors. ALL of them. Also, all webcams, cameras etc.
For the software, maybe you could pay someone to show you what to do to with it.
 
Brig, if I can do it anyone can. These days it’s just a question of turning it on.
 
OK, Thanks. Will check it out. BTW do they require WiFi? My house completely blocks it.
 
OK, Thanks. Will check it out. BTW do they require WiFi? My house completely blocks it.
Laptops have wi-fi and a wired (Ethernet RJ45) connection. Take your pick!
 
Skinny: I would have loved to see and hear your video on the fairies but, unfortunately. my antiquated equipment will not show it. I'm too antiquated myself to resolve the problem.
 
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