On the lookout for fairies in Baysdale

An early morning saunter around Baysdale, that remote dale in an expanse of moorland, its lush fields gleaming in the sunlight. In the distance, Ingleby Moor draped in a shroud of clouds, though it would disperse within the hour, leaving with a bright and dry morning. But this tranquil scene is soon to be disrupted, for Storm Agnes is due from the west come afternoon, packing a wallop of rain and fierce winds.

Whenever I’m here in Baysdale, I keep a keen eye out for any sign of them fairies, for legend has it this dale once played host to a merry band of those tiny magical folk. They must’ve had a dairy of sorts churning out their ‘fairy butter,’ which they’d wash in a cherished spring. Then they’d recklessly fling it about, leaving blobs strewn on gate posts and fences, evidence of their nightly revelry. But, apparently, it’s some peculiar fungus (Tremella arborea and Tremella albida) that sprouts from deadwood, magically appearing come dawn¹Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” Page 18/167. 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE.. But I must say, I didn’t spot any of that sort this morning.

• 1
  Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” Page 18/167. 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE.