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St Levan Fairies
Cornish Fairy Folktale

In this story, a 19thC Cornish man sees fairies on his way home. He feels as if he is being stung by bees. He turns a glove inside out and the fairy disappear, but he is confused, piskie–led. In the morning, he gets his bearings and finds small silver buckles.

Years since—the time is past now—the green outside the gate at the end of Trezidder Lane was a favourite place with the Small Folks on which to hold their fairs. One might often see the rings in the grass which they made in dancing, where they footed it. Mr Trezillian was returning late one night from Penzance; when he came near the gate, he saw a number of little creatures spinning round and round. The sight made him light headed, but he could not resist the desire to be amongst them, so he got off his horse. In a moment they were all over him like a swarm of bees, and he felt as if they were sticking needles and pins into him. His horse ran off, and he didn't know what to do, till, by good luck, he thought of what he had often heard, so he turned his glove inside out, threw it amongst the Small Folk, and ere the glove reached the ground they were all gone. Mr Trezillian had now to find his horse, and the Small Folk, still determining to lead him a dance, bewildered him. He was piskie–led, and he could not find out where he was until broad daylight. Then he saw he was not a hundred yards from the place at which he had left his horse. On looking round the spot where he had seen the Small Folk dancing, he found a pair of very small silver knee–buckles of a most ancient shape, which, no doubt, some little gentleman must have lost when he was punishing the farmer. Those who knew the families will well remember the little silver buckles, which were kept for some time at Trezidder and some time at Raftra.

(Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, First Series, pages 119–120.)

The finding of silver buckles which other people are said to remember for some time at two places is used to lend credibility to this story.

The story also uses the clothes inside out foklore to counter the spell of the fairy.