The
Cottingley
Fairies
They had Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Nuts.
The Cottingley Fairies appear in a series
of five photographs taken by Elsie Wright
and Frances Griffiths,two young cousins who
lived in Cottingley,
near Bradford England.
In 1917, when the first two photographs were taken,
Elsie was 16 years old and Frances was 10.
The pictures came to the attention of writer
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who used them to illustrate
an article on "Fairies" he had been commissioned
to write for the Christmas 1920 edition of
"Strand Magazine" . Conan Doyle, as a spiritualist,
was enthusiastic about the photographs,
and interpreted them as clear and
visible evidence of "Psychic" phenomena.
Public reaction was mixed; some accepted
the images as genuine, but others believed
they had been faked.
Interest in the Cottingley Fairies gradually declined
after 1921. Both girls grew up, married and lived
abroad for a time. Yet the photographs continued to
hold the public imagination; in 1966 a reporter
from the "Daily Express" newspaper traced Elsie,
who had by then returned to the UK. Elsie left open
the possibility that she believed she had photographed
her thoughts, and the media once again became
nterested in the story. In the early 1980s Elsie
and Frances admitted that the photographs were
faked using cardboard cutouts of fairies copied
from a popular children's book of the time,
but Frances continued to claim that the fifth
and final photograph was genuine.
My family is from Sligo
and Cork Ireland.
Some People really
beleve in Fairy's.
I found fairy footprints
in a rock.
Yes, two little girls set the whole of England
nuts. The photographs fooled the best of them
Elsie wright 16 and Francis Griffiths 10 years old.
It is a fun true story.
Fairy names:: Breena-Diana-Donella
Ella- Faye- Lily- Rosalie-Shea-Tana-
Marigold-Naida-Zanna
and a boy is
Puck like in Shakespeare
Posted by Yvonne @ La Petite Gallery
Comments are welcome
11 comments:
Fascinating story, Yvonne; I do believe!
Oh Yvonne,
I was only watching the film the other day. It is such a brilliant story and, true as well. Those two little girls certainly fooled everybody. XXXX
I sometimes think I see fairies. Did last night after 3 mojitos.
The castle on my blog is the one bought by William Hurst. Don't know who Marian Davies is though. It's Welsh pron, is St. Donats. More history here:
http://www.castlewales.com/donats.html
Di
x
Ohh how I love to confabulate things like these two girls did!!! And those photos have a WONDERFUL "creep" value to them that make them even more enchanting. I believe that we make folklore to make sense of our world; what good or fun would it be if everything was just AS WE SEE IT with our eyes!!!
YVONNE DEAREST, thank you so much for your comment. LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Anita
Never heard of the Cottingley Fairies,but the name Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is, of course,very known. If the two english girls had succeded in fooling the famous writer, then they were indeed Something.
Great story!
love that doll. Faires are huge in The Isle of Man where
they shout out (everyone does it) FAires! everytime they cross over a bridge..they take it very seriously.
Neat post! I love the fairy names! Thanks for visiting me. I enjoyed browsing your lovely blog!
I always felt terribe for Conan Doyle's gullibility. But I suppose if you really REALLY want to believe in something, you'll snatch at any hint of proof.
Plus this was in the early days of photography. But how clever these two girls were.
Conan Doyle should have stuck with Sherlock Holmes.
Great story! I want to see a fairy, as I believe in fairy..
i am certain there are fairies.
i have worked with,
and among them for years.
Yes, I remember hearing about this story! If it were today, you could look it up on Snopes. Those girls must have been very clever to pull the wool over peoples' eyes for so many years!
-Pam
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