How Fast Do Fairies Fly? September 21, 2016
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
How fast do fairies fly?
This comes from a story told in the The Prince Edward Island Magazine (June 1902), which uniquely, gives us the evidence for fairy flight speed. We are in the Canadian Maritimes, on the eastern coast of Canada. Prince Edward Island (PEI) is one of the Canada’s most attractive provinces. By the twentieth century there was little evidence of fairylore in the island. But there are several clues that, in the nineteenth century, some settlers, took the fairies very seriously, perhaps a little too seriously…
First let’s introduce the hero of our story Roderick M.
I remember [states the narrator] when I was quite a young fellow there lived not far from my father’s house a man by the name of Roderick M. He was a married man and with his wife and small family lived comfortably on his farm. In meeting and conversing with him, one would not notice anything to distinguish him from other men of his calling; yet there were whispered tales of strange occurrences in connection with his life, and of remarkable absences from his home.
Roderick invites his neighbours to an evening dance. At about ten o’ clock Roderick went out to the barn.
On the further side of the barn we discovered the lighted lantern on the ground, the sole occupant of the place; and as it had snowed during the early part of the night it was quite easy to discover any tracks. We soon came upon Roderick’s footsteps leading down across the field away from the barn. At first we concluded that he must have gone to one of the neighbors houses; but some of the party following up the footprints noticed something very peculiar about them. For the first few yards there was nothing to be remarked; but going a little farther we perceived that the steps were farther apart, as if he had been running, and that the impression in the snow was becoming fainter; proceeding further we found a step only here and there. On coming to a fence we noticed that the snow had been brushed off the top rail in two spots about three inches apart, as if the toes of two boots had rubbed over it, and beyond the fence the snow was undisturbed.
Roderick returned at about 2.00 am, four hours after he had gone missing.
‘His clothes were soaking wet from head to foot, and were coated over with a white crust, which upon further inspection proved to be salt spray. His long hair hung down over his forehead and his face, deathly pale, presented a wearied and ghastly appearance.
Where had he been?
O… those cursed fairies have been after me again. They plague me incessantly. I cannot rid myself of them by any means. To-night, just as I was coming in, two of them seized me, compelled me to drop my lantern, and then took me off to some foreign land. I think it must have been across the Atlantic ocean, for I never saw so much water before. After hurrying me through many strange places they at last turned westward again: and crossing that vast ocean, one of them who seemed to be the leader asked if I would go with him the next time he came. I told him no, and all at once I was immersed in the billows beneath me; and each time I refused his request he ducked me in the briny ocean, and threatened me with many and more terrible punishments, until at length I was fain to give in, and tell him yes I would go again.
So this leads us to the delicate question of fairies’ flight speed. Let’s accept conservatively that Roderick reached Britain (rather than say Paris or the Steppes): the article is called ‘How Roderick Visited Europe’. And how fast do fairies fly? Well, this is about 4300 miles x 2 in four hours or about 2000 kilometres an hour or about the speed of concorde.
Other evidence for fairy speed or PEI fairy traditions: drbeachcombing At yahoo DOT com
The story incidentally seems to be told at second hand and to date back to the early nineteenth century.
Ruth in WA, 25 Sep 2016: ‘Or perhaps it was ET giving poor Roderick a hell of a flight (and time) during the party. Never heard of fairies going for the long distance flight across sundry lands and water, and dragging someone toe down in the water better yet. But ET, well…’ Several emails making the ET connection: fairies and ET have long been connected of course. I’d still like to find an example of a UFO dragging an abductee across the waters though…
Steven W: 29 Dec 2016 ‘Where does this legend come from? What strikes me is that it doesn’t particularly sound either Scottish or Irish: you have to go back a couple of centuries to find much of men being rushed through the air even in Ireland or Scotland. It is possible that there is some sort of mixing with native shamanic traditions?
