It is now certain amongst all scientific
men that fairies do in fact exist, and indeed can cast magic amongst even the
poorest of us, as long as we are thrifty. The ancient dark races of Australia
were well aware of the faerie, and indeed carved a tree – still in existence in
Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens – in honour of these little mites.
These
faeries are not the sylvan fops of the British specie but a hardier, more
virile race which dandle on the thicket with gusto. They were first noted by
Cook’s botanist, Banks, in 1769; he wrote: ‘Many of the local sprites welcomed
us at Cape Dreary, and danced about on Midshipman Easy’s table where some of the
crew made play to capture them under goblets. Yet they were always too sparky.’
Since that time, sightings of faeries have been made as far north as Cape York
and as far south as Heugenot, though many subspecies once noted as prolific
have been seen to have become dispersed, and perhaps completely extinct, in the
Dulwich Hill area.
The
Hon. Willam Pilt, Deacon of Murrumbidgee, writes: ‘There are many of species of
faerie in the Murrumbidgee area, including the large, bumbling Hobnob variety
and the petite, hirsute Ragtail type. All are dressed in the most delightful
silken outfits with small pointed hats. Many an evening, wandering upon the
famous Murrumbidgee moors, I have startled a Hobnob and even once a Hobtail
cavorting with a Wignob, out amongst the blackboys and ferns on the big plateau
rock that overlooks Wooramai Gully.’
Deacon
Pilt continues: ‘My esteemed colleague Deacon Blue, of Ramsay, Qld. and I have
long enjoyed correspondence on the sightings of faeries we have made in our
respective dioceses, although he insists, bless his soul, that the plural form
is actually dioci. Deacon Blue actually caught a common Wigtail dressed in a
downy green anorak but, when he tried to press her in a book to send her to me,
she turned him into stone.
‘This
has limited our ability to communicate further on the subject.’
See also: Anoraks; Banks, Joseph and
Banking System; Murrumbidgee; Ramsay, Qld; Sparkiness.
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