May has been a month of little things. Little stories. Little steps forward on Book Two. Appropriate because this month’s video is dedicated to little fairies.
But it got me thinking, the little fairies in folklore tend to be associated (more than their larger cousins) with work, with artistry or craftsmanship. Whether it’s the housekeeping brownie, the shoemaking leprechaun or the mining and metal working dwarf, these beings are nearly always hard at work at some task or another.
Little Cowboy, what have you heard. Up on the lonely rath's green mound? Only the plaintive yellow bird Sighing in sultry fields around, Chary, chary, chary, chee-ee! Only the grasshopper and the bee?- "Tip-tap, rip-rap, Tick-a-tack-too! Scarlet leather, sewn together. This will make a shoe. Left, right, pull it tight, Summer days are warm; Underground in winter. Laughing at the storm!" Lay your ear close to the hill. Do you not catch the tiny clamour. Busy click of an elfin hammer. Voice of the Lupracaun singing shrill As he merrily plies his trade? He's a span And a quarter in height. Get him in sight, hold him tight, And you're a made Man! ~ William Allingham
I’ve always been fond of tales of fairy craftsmen. Part of the appeal, I think, is that these little beings work behind the scenes. The brownie sews when you’re sleeping. The dwarf mines under the mountain and the leprechaun labours where none can witness, though you might catch the rat-ta-tat of his little hammer, if you’re lucky.
Much creative work feels that way. Books are assembled out of sight, a page at a time, while the rest of the world goes about its business. Readers eventually encounter a finished story, but rarely see the countless small decisions, revisions, false starts, and repairs that went into its making.
Book two has felt a bit like that lately. A lot of steady work beneath the hill, all the while hoping that in the end all this hammering away will result in something that appears to have been formed by magic.
As for the actual state of Book Two (which I’m tentatively calling The Broken Company), I’m currently working through the second draft, and I’m pleased with how things are progressing. There is still plenty of work to do beneath the hill, but the story is becoming clearer with each tap of the hammer.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my latest video, a collection of eleven tiny stories about encounters with tiny people.
No fairy news headlines this month (I’m too busy tapping away) but more on the way.
Until next time,
Your Scary Fairy Godmother 🧚✨
I think that poem is actually by William Allingham?
I can't wait for the book!