Fairies in the East
The East Coast of Canada is home to a range of stories regarding Fairies. From winged pixies to devilish imps, fairy stories appear all along the east coast. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are historically home to many Scottish and Irish immigrants. Traditional European folk tales of the fae would be brought to the North American landscape.
In Nova Scotia, fairy stories came from the Gaelic people of Scotland. These fairies were not beautiful, winged creatures but short and strange-looking creatures. They are often devilish and are known for being tricksters. The fairies were called "Na Sìthichean" and lived in sithean, meaning fairy hills. The stories often had an element of music to them. Music often came from the hills, luring people into parties where time seemed to stop passing. [1]
A retelling of a story called "Oidhche Shamhna" meaning the origin of the fairies. This is told at the Highland Village Museum in Iona Nova Scotia (2011).
In Newfoundland fairies come from English and Irish folk traditions, this tradition is shared orally. Like Nova Scotia, the fairies were creatures found in nature, in and along gardens and pathways. Fairies could lead people astray from their homes out into the woods. Children were in danger of being tricked kidnapped and swapped. [2] Older people still advocate carrying tokens like bread or salt to protect themselves from the fae. Fairies were spooky creates to be feared. This is opposed to the slight and beautiful creatures often seen in modern media. [3]
A conversation between Gerry O'keefe and Michael Fortune about stories of the fae. The conversation was recorded in Branch Newfoundland in 2019.
References
1. “Na Sìthichean |The Fairies,” Nova Scotia Museum, October 24, 2017, https://museum.novascotia.ca/fr/resources/gaels/na-sithichean-fairies.
2. Rochelle Saltzman, “Barbara RIETI, Strange Terrain: The Fairy World in Newfoundland (St. John’s, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Ethnologies 15, no. 1 (1993): 159–62, https://doi.org/10.7202/1082554ar.
3. 'Tales of Ghosts, Fairies and Mermaids in Newfoundland and Labrador,” The Globe and Mail, June 30, 2021, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/adv/article-tales-of-ghosts-fairies-and-mermaids-in-newfoundland-and-labrador/.