Towards the end of the 19th century,
a group of scientifically-minded people
with nevertheless strong spiritual beliefs,
began to theorize that the worlds often
labeled "magic" were actually as natural as
the one we live in, but that they vibrate at
a different speed, and so they can exist
alongside us, unseen. There were different
groups who pursued these ideas, but they can
generally be called The Spiritualist Movement
(although the Theosophists who were so
instrumental in bringing the Cottingley
photographs to public attention, always denied
that they were a Spiritualist group.) When
Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths photographed
fairies in Cottingley in 1917, the grown-ups
who believed in them were mostly of this movement.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, despite having created
that most cold and un-spiritual thinker Sherlock
Holmes, was a devout spiritualist.
The fairies of Cottingley seem somewhat
different from those described in the oldest
tales. In stories written down as long as 800
years ago, the experiences of people encountering
fairies were often frightening, and fairies
acquired a reputation of being quite dangerous.
The fairies in Cottingley did not seem in any
way menacing or prone to mischief. Going back
equally far are reports that the fairies had
left Ireland, Scotland, or England. Numerous
witnesses described their "final" departure at
different times. It is possible that the few
fairies remaining in the British Isles by the
early 20th century, such as those at Cottingley,
were either more benevolent or less powerful
than the fairies of olden times. Perhaps both.
In any case, the smaller fairies are generally
thought to be less powerful and less
mischievous as a rule.
More recently, a different kind of "scientific"
theory has been offered to suggest that the
stories about fairies are all based on specific
groups of ordinary mortals. This idea supposes
that one ancient group of people was pushed off
the land by a different, conquering group.
Perhaps the "native" group was merely a weaker
tribe who were conquered by a stronger tribe,
or perhaps they were truly a different, ancient
form of humans somewhat smaller than we modern
humans. The old group fled to the forests and
fields where they hid. There, they lived for
centuries in underground, or partly underground
huts, moving stealthily, often by night, and
keeping to themselves as much as possible.
When in need they are supposed to have robbed
the conquerors of food or odd items. They may
also have worked for the conquerors, doing
household chores in exchange for food or for
the use of tools they could not make themselves,
like iron kettles. This theory offers many
explanations for most of the wide-spread
beliefs about fairies. Unfortunately for
this "scientific" notion, there is no
scientific evidence of this earlier people
to support it, only the very stories that it
seeks to disprove. The simpler explanation,
of course, is that the vast array of
fairy-stories are, to some degree at least,
true.
