{frances in the 1st of the 5 fairy pictures taken}
Do you BELIEVE in Fairies?
{frances & elsie at cottingley beck}
Two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, England in 1917 did.
Elsie Wright, 15, and Frances Griffiths, 10, took a series of 5
photos at Cottingley Beck that fascinated the world &
caught the eye of the renowned writer & spiritualist,
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
{the 2nd photo, elsie with a winged gnome}
This magic all began, when 2 little girls were trying to convince
their parents that they had seen fairy's in the Cottingley Beck.
Elsie took her father's camera, went down to the beck & came
back with the 1st two pictures of the Cottingley Fairies.
Today, we may think it fantastic that anyone could be fooled
into thinking these pictures were real, but in 1917 a camera was
a piece of scientific equipment & took pictures of what was
in front of it & nothing else...the Fairy Magic had begun!
{frances & the leaping fairy}
Elsie's mother was interested in the occult, having had some experiences
with the paranormal & went to a Theosophical meeting that was
taking place near her home. The lecture was on Fairy Life.
Polly mentioned that her daughter & niece had taken some
photographs of fairies & it became sensational evidence
of the existence of fairies.
{the 4th photo, a fairy offering posy harebells to elsie}
In 1920 the photographs made there way to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,
creator of Sherlock Holmes & he contacted the family for permission to
use the photos in an upcoming magazine article he was to write.
Several different researchers looked at the photographs for authenticity
& yet no one could confirm that they were fakes. After publication,
Arthur Doyle brought the girls 2 cameras & 20 photographic plates
in hopes that they would return to Cottingley Beck & catch
more images of THEIR fairies & they did!
{the 5th & last photograph, fairies & their sun bath}
Staying true to their tale for more then for 60 years, the girls,
Elsie & Frances now old women, finally admitted that their
fairies weren't real. That is none were real except for the 5th &
last photograph. Until her death, Frances swore that nothing had
been done to create the transparent images of the fairies dancing
& sunbathing in the grass. Her daughter, grand-daughter & great
grand-daughter all believe this one image to be true.
So my question for you today is...
Do you believe in Fairies??
I LOVE these...
I DO BELIEVE IN FAIRIES!!!
Clap your hands if you believe in fairies! ;)
XOXO
vintagesusie
Hi Susie! Well I do believe in faeries!The amazing thing is back on those days , who will think of photo shop, or transfer something in the picture. So many interesting things.I will keep thinking they were real!!!
ReplyDeleteOf course I believe in faery beings. We have some in our garden, though they are never still enough to photograph. One never sees faery straight on, you can only see them out of the corner of your eye. Just ask my grands....we celebrate summer solstice by leaving presents of bits of this and that for the fae and in return, they leave us flowers and small sightings and a wonderful feeling in the faery garden.
ReplyDeleteThat movie is one of my grands favorites. Did you know that last Friday was indeed Faery DAY?
The Olde Bagg, Linda
I do believe too!!
ReplyDeleteWould love to see one! I do believe in the Fae folk!
Linda
Absolutely I believe! Love your spoon jewelry! I'm so inspired by them! I've cut some handles off and am ready to start stamping!
ReplyDeleteOh yes Tinker Bell , I believe in fairies !
ReplyDeleteOh I do believe! This reminds me of the movie Finding Neverland with Johnny Depp! I can't wait to order the book and movie!!! I adore this post, one of your best ever!xoxoxox-cin
ReplyDeleteI DO believe in fairies! I do, I do, I do!!! I agree with Cindy.. this is a fabulous post and had me totally captivated!! Wishing you and your faerie friends a wonderful night!!!
ReplyDeletexo, Karen
i well remember reading about these girls and beign fascinated by their story. i didn't know they made 2 movies about them. i MUST see them! thanks for sharing! so enchanting (and yes, I "believe!)
ReplyDeleteI'm clapping, but it does make typing difficult! ;D
ReplyDeleteWonderful post...magical...and mysterious!
I clapped my hands and then laughter at myself. It fells good to be able to laugh at ones self. Thanks for the charming story, you've got me interested in reading more!!
ReplyDeletex0x0
Fascinating story, Susie!! I might just start clapping!!
ReplyDeleteClapping going on here!
ReplyDeleteThey did a better job way back then than I can still do with all of todays technology.
What is not to believe?
Magic is all around us daily.
Just stopping in for a visit from the Where Bloggers Create 2011 event. And Yes I do believe!!!
ReplyDeleteThere is a book from 1978 called faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee. At the end of the book are some photos that were taken in an area where their were known faerie haunting s. Not until revising did they find faeries in some of their photos. The book is amazing and worth finding.
ReplyDeleteI believe in fairies...it's just one of those gut feelings. Plus I have had weird things happen to me that make me believe things others don't.
ReplyDelete