Scotland's Fairies - The Beetle & The Fairy Healer

This is an original story written and performed by Rachael Corral with Celtic-inspired background music by Chris Collins. We follow Isla and the house brownies as they find a beetle with a damaged wing casing and take him to a fairy healer with a tree-hollow apothecary. A gentle tale for all ages.

Transcript

Hello,

My name is Rachel and my country is Scotland.

A country steeped in fairy faith.

A place of mythical valleys,

Fairy glens and pools and lochs and ancient Caledonian pine forests.

It's a country where fairies or wee folk can be found.

In the tree hollows and abandoned bird's nests.

And in the rivers and burns which flow through the mountainous valleys.

There are river sprites with webbed feet who ride on the back of the leaping Scottish salmon.

Tucked away inside unused teapots and empty shortbread tins.

Wee folk called brownies,

A sort of house fairy,

Live amongst the Scottish people inside their very homes.

Although most people never look close enough in the nooks and crannies to ever spot them.

Now I'm guessing you might like to join me on an adventure here in Scotland and hear more about these magical wee folk,

The guardians of our hills,

Forests and homes.

So get comfortable,

Maybe even have a wiggle of fingers and toes.

Take a deep breath in to fill your chest full of air and a deep breath out again.

To relax your body down into whichever comfy spot you might be sitting or lying in.

Gently close your eyes and coorie in and come with me to Scotland.

Now in this story we return again to our little red-headed girl Isla.

It was a Saturday morning and Isla had her list of chores to do around the house to earn her weekly pocket money.

She had to tidy her bedroom,

Fold and put away her laundry and sweep the downstairs hallway and kitchen.

The most fun job was tidying her bedroom.

This is probably quite unusual for a child but Isla had the two house brownies,

Englenook and Cokie,

To help her.

Being so small and obviously having wings,

They particularly excelled.

At dusting and high up places like on the picture shelves and around the lights.

They were good at making her mirrors shine and tidying her trinkets and squeezing into the hard to reach places to retrieve long forgotten items.

Once all these jobs were done,

The two brownies moved on to cleaning the doll's house in Isla's room.

This is actually where the two of them had been living since Isla had become trusted with the gift of fairy sight by Queen Morven.

As the two of them worked on getting the doll's house big and span,

Isla went downstairs to dust.

She collected the metal dustpan and traditional wooden broom from under the stairs and then got to work.

She started in the corner of the hall sweeping along the base of the wall,

Sweeping smoothly so as not to throw up dust into the air.

The repetitive motion of the sweeping and tidying up of the space was quite calming and Isla's mind started to wander,

Taking her back to memories of the fairy palace of Elfenhame.

Situated in a tree stump adorned with lanterns,

The fairies dancing to Keeley music in all their finery.

Isla's attention then returned to the task at hand.

She realised that she'd built up quite a big pile of dust and dirt.

She reached for the dustpan and focused on sweeping the debris into the centre of the pan.

As she did this though,

She noticed something wriggling.

Isla crouched down further to look and she realised it was an upturned beetle,

Its bronze underside dilled with dust and its legs waving wildly as it struggled to right itself and get back on its feet.

Oh,

Poor dear,

She exclaimed as she scooped it up with her left hand before tipping it right side up onto her other palm.

Initially delighted to see its iridescent violet and blue upper surfaces,

She soon felt bad as she realised it had a really dented wing casing.

She carefully cupped her hands together to keep it safe as she ran upstairs to Ingonuk and Koki.

She called the names and noticed the little heads pop out of the doll's house windows.

Ingonuk,

With his short sandy blonde hair and bright green eyes,

And Koki with her beautiful black ringlets and sparkling blue eyes.

She placed the little beetle on the floor of the doll's house and explained her concerns.

The house brownies clucked and cooed over the pretty beetle,

Gently examining his wing casing and stroking his soft furry head.

Is there anything we can do?

Asked Aida.

Yes,

I believe so,

Replied Koki,

Nodding her head full of curls to convey her optimism.

You see,

Chimed in Ingonuk,

Our wings are made of the same thing as this beetle's exoskeleton.

It's called chitin.

And the fairy healer,

She's able to help us if we ever damage our wings.

We can find her in the woods and we can see what she can do to help the beetle.

Shall we go now?

Oh yes,

Said Aida.

The housework can definitely wait.

I feel ever so guilty for sweeping up this poor creature.

I want to help him right away.

While the fairies talked in hushed whispers to the beetle,

In words that Aida definitely didn't understand,

She instinctively swept her red hair away from her shoulder to prepare for the house brownies to take up residence there.

Ingonuk gently lifted the beetle to his chest.

The beetle seemed to cuddle in a coorie into his green waistcoat,

Looking quite content and at home.

Hanging on with the little hooks of his spindly legs,

The two little brownies then flew up towards Aida's shoulder and she felt the lightest of pressure as they softly landed like little birds on a nest.

Aida headed down the stairs.

She slipped on her shoes,

Calling to her mum,

Who was busy tending to the garden veggie patch.

She was just popping to the woods for a little walk.

Aida was very lucky to live where she did,

In a little white cottage called Tynakal on the edge of a great Caledonian pine forest.

Aida twisted her head towards the little house brownies and beetle on her shoulder and inquired where she was to find the fairy healer.

Oh,

The healer is called the Fairy and I think you'll know where to find her.

It's where the storm took down those trees two winters ago.

The clearing with the decaying trees and the colourful fungus growing.

She sat up in a pocket there and there.

As they set off,

The forest seemed to burst with life when she entered the little house brownies on her shoulder.

Although Aida had been accepted by the fairy folk and they often came excitedly to say hello to the girl who had successfully completed Morven's challenges,

The animals were never quite as sure of her.

However,

When she was accompanied by one or more of the wee folk,

All of their inhibitions seemed to disappear and the squirrels would dart between her feet,

Birds would circle around her head tweeting and singing happily and the rabbits and badgers would pop out of their earthy dens to extend their greetings.

Even a shy deer would gracefully stride along beside her through the forest.

It was exactly like Aida had been given a secret VIP pass to be part of the most special show on earth.

After five or so minutes of walking,

She'd reached the spot in the forest with the fallen trees.

Thanks Aida,

Chimed the house brownies and they flew down to the mossy ground,

Stopping on the rim of the hollowed out fallen tree.

They tipped their heads towards the hollow darkness and they called out the name of the Fairy Healer.

In the blink of an eye,

The hollowed trunk became illuminated with a warm amber glow.

Aila knelt down in the moss behind the fairies so she could peek into the glowing hollow.

She was absolutely amazed by the sight before her.

The inside of the trunk was lined by what looked like a pulsing web of glowing lights,

Like the neural circuitry of the tree was alive despite the decay.

Lining the walls weaved in between the threads of light were shelves tiny shelves teeming with an assortment of jars and bottles of various shapes,

Sizes and colors.

All the colors of the rainbow,

Pink,

Blue,

Violet and in the center of the hollow was a sort of plinth or massage bed and sitting in a tiny wooden chair beside it was a gray-haired fairy bent over a glowing cauldron,

Stirring it in a smooth circular motion with great intensity.

She was wearing a simple gray tunic and an opal shawn around her neck.

Her gray hair was in a neat bun on top of her little head with strands of silver and tiny,

Tiny shells woven into it.

She looked up from the cauldron directly at Ingonuk and Koki and Isla too with eyes of the palest blue and she smiled warmly.

How wonderful it is to meet you Isla,

She said in her soft lilt.

I would invite you into my apothecary but unfortunately none of my potions can make you small like Queen Morphin's magic can.

Oh don't worry,

It's lovely to meet you too said Isla.

If you don't mind I will watch from outside the hollow.

We have brought a beetle to you which I do hope you can help.

I carelessly swept the poor thing with my broom and I feel terribly ashamed to have hurt it.

Oh dear,

Now now,

It was an accident.

Beetles are forgiving fellows and I'm sure I can help.

You see,

I set up my apothecary wherever there's an abundance of fungus.

Chitin,

The same substance in the soft body of a caterpillar,

The hard shells of crabs,

The wings of fairies and the skeletons of beetles and so many of nature's wonders.

Now here in my apothecary,

I use the harvested chitin with some other powerful healing ingredients to create a regenerative salve.

It can heal damaged fairy wings after only a few applications.

So please don't worry about the robust little beetle.

I have every faith he will be recovered in no time.

Ingle Nook,

If you would be so kind as to bring the beetle forward and place him on the plinth,

I can get to work.

Ingle Nook did as requested and the fairy healer spoke in a sing-song chant to the beetle as she continued to stir the cauldron.

It looked very relaxing inside the trunk,

Womb-like almost,

And the beetle looked very content up on the plinth with a soft chanting from the healer.

The cauldron began to bubble and wisps of smoke started rising from it,

Curling upwards towards the curved ceiling of the trunk.

The fairy healer then stopped stirring and ladled out a spoonful of the mixture,

Pouring it into a glass bowl that had previously sat beside her feet.

The mixture in the glass bowl was an opaque fuchsia pink colour and the fairy healer rose out of her chair with the bowl and placed it on the plinth beside the beetle.

She scooped the pink mixture out of it with her hands.

It looked more like a jelly consistency than when first ladled out of the cauldron and she started applying the pink jelly in soft strokes across the beetle's back.

The beetle looked to Isla like he had sank down blissfully into the soft plinth,

Enjoying his massage enormously.

In fact,

It was a bit like they had all gone into a bit of a trance,

Watching the fairy's healing hands work in this glowing trunk.

The little beetle now seemed to be giving off a pink aura,

As if he was fully enveloped in this healing potion.

Time felt like it was standing still,

Everybody feeling so relaxed watching the fae Lika at work.

But then suddenly,

The glowing web within the trunk started beating faster.

Before the trunk went fully dark and then illuminated once more.

That is us finished with today's healing.

I would like to do one more session with this beetle,

But for now he must just rest.

How about you,

Ingonuk and Kogi,

Return home and then come back at the same time tomorrow and see how the beetle is doing once it's been in my care overnight?

Of course,

Said Isla.

Thank you so,

So much for what you have done today.

They waved goodbye and they returned back through the woods to Isla's little cottage and got back on with their jobs and the rest of the fun things they had planned that day.

But Isla's mind could not stop going back to that magical tree trunk and all she'd seen there.

It set her imagination alight and she could not wait to find out if the beetle was healed.

In fact,

That night she felt like every dream was about the fae Lika and that spider web of glowing lights within the trunk and all the potions.

In her dream,

She went around inspecting every potion,

Picking them up and opening the tops,

Looking inside.

By what all those bottles could do,

All the magic which they held within them.

In the morning,

She was bursting with excitement and she was the first one up,

Knocking on the little doll's house and whispering Ingonuk and Kogi's names.

For of course,

She could not be too loud because her mum did not know that these wee folk lived in their home.

After breakfast,

Her mum allowed her to go for a walk and of course,

She had Ingonuk and Kogi back,

Hidden on her shoulder.

She was almost bounding through the woods,

But Ingonuk and Kogi was lifting in the air with every stride.

So eager was she to get back to the apothecary.

She bent down at the spot,

The decayed log in the clearing and Ingonuk and Kogi hopped off and they jumped onto the rim of the log to call the fae Lika.

The lights went on and the first thing they saw was the gorgeous beetle scuttling towards them.

Oh my gosh,

Squealed Isla,

Look at him.

He looked absolutely perfect.

His wing casing was completely smooth with no dent in sight.

In fact,

Isla thought he probably looked better than before because now on his casing along with the emerald green and violet and purple colours,

There was also a marble effect of pink.

The same pink that had been used in the fae Lika's potion seemed to weave across his wing casing,

Making him completely unique and more beautiful than ever.

The fae Lika started to approach them in her gorgeous grey tunic,

Opal necklace shining and a big smile on her face.

As you will see dears,

It worked better than imagined.

Our beetle friend here is perfectly restored and he can go home with you right away.

Oh,

Thank you,

Thank you,

Ingonuk and Kogi chimed.

And Isla just smiled and nodded in appreciation of all that the fae Lika had done.

Thank you so much,

She said,

We're delighted to take him back.

I just want to check,

Ingonuk and Kogi,

Could you talk to him?

Does he want to come back with us after what I did?

The two house brownies again spoke in these whispers that Isla could not understand.

And then they nodded eagerly,

Yes,

Yes,

The beetle wants to return home with us.

He completely forgives you,

Isla,

He knows it was just an accident.

So they returned home and the beetle was actually to stay in Isla's room alongside Ingonuk and Kogi.

Isla made it a walnut bed that she stuffed with some soft wool and moss and it sat on the grounds of the doll's house.

And so it was almost like they had a little pet there too.

Although fairies do not look at other creatures like pets.

Everybody is one in the same and the fairies are guardians of all the nature.

So there the beetle was to coexist alongside the two house brownies and Isla.

Now I hope you enjoyed this story and you can imagine what it must be like to be in that fairy apothecary.

Basking in all the glowing lights and examining all the different potions with all their jewel-like colors.

Now I hope you sleep well.

Reviews

I love your voice, so relaxing. And your stories are so charming.

Thank you Rachel for this beautiful story. I really enjoyed it. So looking forward to more of your work. Much love x