VILLAGERS who protested that a new housing estate would “harm the fairies” living in their midst have forced a property company to scrap its building plans and start again.
Marcus Salter, head of Genesis Properties, estimates that the small colony of fairies believed to live beneath a rock in St Fillans, Perthshire, has cost him £15,000. His first notice of the residential sensibilities of the netherworld came as his diggers moved on to a site on the outskirts of the village, which crowns the easterly shore of Loch Earn.
He said: “A neighbour came over shouting, ‘Don’t move that rock. You’ll kill the fairies’.” The rock protruded from the centre of a gently shelving field, edged by the steep slopes of Dundurn mountain, where in the sixth century the Celtic missionary St Fillan set up camp and attempted to convert the Picts from the pagan darkness of superstition.
Heh. Darned pagan darkness, bogging down good capitalist endeavors like that! I must say--I like that fairies are apparently anti-development. It sort of puts ELF in a whole new light, eh?
6 comments:
I'm charmed that the people there not only believe in more than their eyes see, but that someone in their government considers their wishes important enough to support them. It makes the world a lot more interesting.
I love this. I did some research on magical creatures for a freelance piece a few months ago, and found out that in Iceland it's actually pretty common for them to build around areas where they think fairies or gnomes live. It's so great that some cultures haven't lost their lore.
I think this is very cool, Mac! I'm blown away that they backed off!
Makes me wish developers here would show similar/any respect for sacred/any Indian lands.
This must have happened somewhere other than the US where it's still de rigeur to 'pave paradise, put up a parking lot'.
I wonder if the faeries have room under that rock for me.
This is awesome. It's great to know there are still people (besides me) who believe in and respect the Fae.
Thanks for posting it!
Thanks Mac. That's a nifty story. :)
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