Taken by the Fairies~Anne Jefferies Story

Taken by The Fairies~Anne Jefferies Story

FairyLand

I found this story my dear friends & followers and was very interested. I hope that you find the tale interesting too. It seems the story has many different versions or beginning to the tale of Anne and the Faeries but this is my take on the tale. It seems that when Anne was nineteen, she was in a service home of the wealthy Pitt family home. I don't know why she was put in this home at such a young age, but I will find out later in the post. One afternoon it was said that Anne was knitting in the arbour outside in the garden gate when something so alarming happened to her that she fell to the the ground in a convulsive fit. Anne was later found by members of the Pit family and taken up to her bedroom where she remained ill for some time. This could be days or even weeks. When she finally regained consciousness Anne related an incredible story that will never be forgotten. What Anne told the Pitt family was truly amazing. What she told them while she had been in the arbour knitting, she heard a buzzing noise in the bushes, not sure what it was she set her knitting down to listen more to the sound, then suddenly six tiny men appeared all dressed completely in green with unusually bright eyes. The leader of the faeries had a red feather in his cap and spoke to Anne very lovingly, then jumped into her palm of her hand, which she then place him on to her lap. The tiny man then climbed up Anne body and began kissing her neck, which she apparently enjoyed very much. He then called his five companions who swarmed all over her body kissing her until one of them put his hands over her eyes and she felt a sharp pricking sensation and everything went dark. 

Faeryland

Anne was then lifted up into the air and carried off. When she was set down again she heard someone say, 'Tear! tear! and her eyes were opened. She found herself in a paradisiacal land of temples, palaces, beautiful gardens, crystal lakes, faeries of all different races and colours, brightly coloured singing birds of songs she had never heard before. The richly adorned people who lived in this magick land were human sized and spent their time dancing, singing and playing. Anne herself was treated like a princess. She again met her fairy friend with the red feather in his cap, [but human size] however whilst they were alone together his five companions arrived accompanied by an angry mob. In the struggle of the angry faery's you could say, her fairy lover was wounded trying to protect Anne and the same individual who had blinded her before did so again, to bring her away from their enchanted land. Anne was once more taken up into the air, this time with a great humming noise and finally found herself back on the ground in the arbour. After recovering from consciousness for those many days or weeks, from fairyland it seemed according to the Pitt family there were some side-effects that they couldn't explain after she woke up. According to the father of the Pitt family, after the incident Anne would eat no food at their house as she claimed to be nourished by the Good People themselves. They never really knew what she meant by that to the day she died. Also Anne began to show that she had healing powers which she never had before and since it being of the 1650's this was very odd. There was even one occasion that Anne had healed her mistress injured leg by just placing her hands on her leg and it was healed. Later hordes of folks from all over the country would come to the Pitt house for her cures. It was said that Anne could also foretell the identities of the people who would visit her, where they came from and what time they would arrive! 

Fairyland

I found that Anne Jefferies was born in 1626 and died in 1698. She was the daughter of a poor labouring man, who lived in the parish of St. Teath. When she was nineteen years old, Anne who was remarkably smart and a clever teenager went to live as a servant for the family of Mr. Moses Pitt. Anne was an unusually bold girl and would do things which even boys feared to attempt to do in the 1650's. Of course, in those days every one believed in fairies and everybody also feared them too. They was constant talk about the faery folk and this set Anne longing anxiously to meet them. So everyday Anne could be often found after sundown, turning up the fern leaves looking into the bells of the foxgloves to find a fairy while singing a song; 

Fairy fair and fairy bright;
Come and be my chosen sprite.'
She never allowed a moonlight night to pass without going down into the valley and walk against the stream and sing;
'Moon shines bright, waters runs clear
I am here, but where's my fairy dear?'

I also found that it was well documented, the source were taken from a letter in 1647 in the Clarendon Manuscripts and a printed letter from publisher Moses Pitt to the Bishop of Gloucester, written in 1696. Pitt was writing from experience as he was born in St. Teath and was the son of Anne Jefferies former master and mistress. I am sure there is more to the story and the writing of Anne, but for myself I truly believe what she saw and what she went though. After her experience she always went into the forest looking for the faeries.

The question is for you' Do YOU Believe?'

I hope you enjoy the post & the story

I love you all my dear friends & followers 

YOUR WENDY