Old Fawdon Hill in Northumberland, England, is near Rothbury in sight of the great Cheviot Hills, an
Old Fawdon Hill in Northumberland, England, is near Rothbury in sight of the great Cheviot Hills, and it is said to be the home of Mab, the Queen of the Fairies. James Service wrote of it in Metrical Legends of Northumberland (1835),And the crimson light of morning fell,On Fawdon Hills, where the fairies dwell.Soft as the ray of the crescent moon,That hallows the Fairies’ festive noon, -The noon of night, when the clear blue skyAnd numberless stars linverted lieOn the breast of the scarcely-stirring stream,When waked by the elfin-star’s dawning beam,The little green hunter winds his horn,And dew-drops start from the snow-spangled thorn ;For within each cup of its blossom lay,Nestled from day-light, a minikin fay.One day a farmer happened to ride by, and he heard the exquisite fairy music. He stopped and noticed the hill had a door; peering in he saw the fairy council with Queen Mab at the top of the table. A fairy spotted him and offered him a silver chalice, but he ran away knowing it was a trap. Nevertheless, as he made his escape, he wondered what it would be like to enter into the fairy world.[Sources: Northumberland Folk Tales by Malcolm Green, Fawdon Hill Fairies, Queen of the Fairies by Arthur Rackham] -- source link
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