The Cottingley Fairies – An amazing tale!

For me, when losing a milk or ‘baby’ tooth when I was little was a celebration in our house. Not only did I think that it was showing the world that I was growing up but also that I was going to be gifted with a visit from the tooth fairy. As a little girl with a vivid imagination I had my very own unique picture of how my tooth fairy looked and somehow it had become influenced by the famous pictures of the fairies at the bottom of the garden, otherwise known as the Cottingley Fairies.  I digress in my recollections of my youth…. but if you haven’t heard of the Cottingley Fairies, then you may remember the old black and white photos of two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, who, back in 1917 had the country in awe with 5 photos of the dancing fairies.

The photos caused a storm of debate everywhere they were seen and prominent figures and associations of the time were drawn into the discussions surrounding the validity of the prints.

Elsie’s mother took the picture to a meeting of The Theosophical Society in Harrogate, who are united in a belief that mankind is a spiritual family. It was thought by some members that the picture could see what the naked eye could not and enhanced the thought that the prints were evidence of spirits. In fact the double exposure element of the prints created the glow that attributed to this view.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle leant his support to the idea that the photos were genuine in an article he wrote for The Strand’s Christmas edition in 1920. This would seem to me as a step outside his normal comfort zone of writing his detective novels which involved precise deliberations and fact based conclusions. However, on looking closer into Doyle’s pursuits you can see that he had harboured an interest in Spiritualism for many years and had given his first public lecture on the subject in 1917.

In some quarters his reputation was starting to become damaged as not everyone was as convinced about the fairies or indeed Doyle’s perspective on the matter. He remained involved and in 1921 he penned The Coming of The Fairies where he recounts the experience with the Cottingley Fairies. He continued with The History of Spiritualism which was originally published in 1926 in which Doyle wanted to look at the successive developments of the spiritualist movement throughout the world.  He was assisted greatly Mr W Leslie Curnow who he acknowledges in the forward but not as a co-author.

After a few years the intense interest in the girls and their claims died down and they grew up and made their own lives, for the large part, away from their native England.

However, they were tracked down when interest spiked once again and in 1981 Elsie confessed to the pictures being a hoax and explained that she used the ‘Princess Mary’s Gift Book’ as inspiration to draw the little figures. She then cut them out and attached them to a hat pin which was used to move and place the fairies. There remained no firm denial of the fifth picture, with both ladies claiming they had taken it.

Even with this admission to what they had done, speculation is still rife with the topic of the fairies still creating news and interest. There are even reports of people trying to prove that the denial is false and insisting on the authenticity of the prints.

Peoples continued fascination with fairies can be hugely attributed to the cousins ability to create their own fairy realm, by the stream at the bottom of the garden.

~Surely they must be one of the most creative and enduring storytellers of our time~