Welcome to the A to Z challenge, a blog post everyday of April apart from Sundays, covering every letter of the alphabet. My theme is travel, that thing that we haven’t been able to do over the last 12 months, so it seemed appropriate to reminisce about past travels we’ve taken, looking forward to when we can travel freely again.
I was struggling to come up with places we’d visited starting with F until I remembered how many places we’ve been relating to fairies. I am a believer so any hint of fairies at a place and I’m there, dragging my long suffering beloved behind me.
The Fairy Glen is a beautiful walk to a waterfall on the Black Isle in the Scottish Highlands. Next to the falls is a money tree where coins have been hammered into it as gifts to the fairies – some of the coins are very old, but I added a new one the day we went, as it’s good to keep the wee ones happy.
On the Isle of Skye Fairies have a very important role in the history of the local clan, and there are several places with fairy in the name. Here I am putting my foot in one of the fairy pools and you can probably tell by what I’m wearing, it was still winter, and the water was quite cold. My beloved thought I was crazy, but it had to be done – I wasn’t quite brave enough to put both feet in.
Even though it was really cold, there were lots of tourists walking up to the fairy pools, but thankfully the majority stayed quite low down on the hill, so we managed to get some photos with no one in them. The pools are popular for wild swimming, and I would love to do that in slightly warmer weather – I don’t think the water would be much warmer, but at least the outside air would be. The water is so crystal clear it looks blue – really lovely.
I should tell you the legend of the fairies on Skye. A member of the Clan Macleod married a beautiful fairy who had to return to fairyland a year after their wedding, and the bridge below is the place that they parted. When they said farewell, she gave her husband a silken flag and told him that it could be used three times to help him win a battle. According to Dunvegan Castle website, it has been used twice in battle, and the clan believe strongly in its powers. The flag has been dated back to at least the 11th century, and is framed and still in the castle.
I stood under this bridge, placed my hand against the stones, and imagined the emotions that the man and the fairy must have felt knowing that they could no longer be together.
Two years ago my beloved took me to a woods in Aberdeenshire where many fairies live – it was truly magical and you can read more about it in the post Fairies and a very strange bridge. I think I was more excited at finding all the fairy homes than some of the children that were there.
Scotland is the land of so many mystical tales and the best thing for me is that the national animal of Scotland is the unicorn – it’s even on the coat of arms. I’ve been a fan of unicorns since before they became trendy, and have a bit of a collection.
No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you, that is me dressed as a fairy, complete with black wings to match my black wand and skirt. This is at the most wonderful festival ever, the New Forest Fairy Festival, which is a gathering of everything fairy related. The year that we went there was an attempt at the world record of fairies gathered in one place, but unfortunately we were a little short of the number needed. To qualify you had to have wings, a wand, and a skirt/tutu, and everyone gathered together was a really colourful and beautiful sight.
Here’s a few more photos from the festival, including fairy dogs, and other mystical creatures that we met.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this foray into the lands where fairies live – do you have any mythological tales from the area you live in?
Thanks for stopping by and make sure you visit other bloggers who are crazy enough to be doing the challenge with me – Click Here to visit the master list of participants.
Stay safe and have a good day.
Past A to Z posts:
2018 – F is for Festival
2017 – F is for Falls of Foyers
2016 – F is for Flowers
Tasmanian Abroad 
We took a guided tour to the Isle of Skye and I recall stopping at someplace that had to do with fairies, but now I can’t recall the name of it, but I think it had something to do with fairy rings?? All I remember is that we would have had to hike up a steep hill to see it and the guide talked us out of going up there. Perhaps because it was rainy and slick.
I followed the link to the New Forest Fairy Festival, and now I’m longing to go there!
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I think that would be the fairy glen, which we haven’t ventured to yet because of similar reasons. You would love the fairy festival, so much fun.
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That sounds like a fun festival. There is a hike not far from my home that has a section where people build fairy homes. It’s fun to see all the creations that are left there for the fairies to enjoy. Weekends In Maine
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One of our favourite places to go for afternoon tea is a hotel which has created a fairy walk through their garden, with lots of fairy homes including washing lines with tiny clothes on them.
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Wow, that fairy festival sounds fun! 🙂 And I would love to swim in those pools, but only in the summer…
The Multicolored Diary
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Yes, I’m not a cold weather swimmer – I think I’d need to do it really early or very late to avoid all the tourists.
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Great post! Fairies have always fascinated me. I’d swear I’ve seen a few. My Scottish ancestors are very proud right now.
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A fellow believer – fabulous. Scotland is truly an enchanted land.
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I’m a cynic when it comes to fairies but you make it look like so much fun…and I love Skye.
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Skye is a favourite of ours as well – so beautiful and still lots of space despite the tourists.
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So much so smile about: you in your fairy dress, the dogs enjoying the festival, the fairy door in the trunk of the tree and the crystal clear water of fairy the pool! What did you put your foot in for? Good luck? Magic?
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I think I was hoping for a little bit of fairy magic to rub off on me. The dogs were so cute and some of them even qualified for the world record attempt.
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I don’t really think much about fairies but they seem like good creatures. That festival must have been fun. A whole collection of strange but fun sights.
Have a lovely day.
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They are generally good, but do have a wicked side as well.
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A fairy festival sounds like so much fun! Loved reading this blog.
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