Pixie

Pixies are mythical creatures of English folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall. In regional dialect, these mischievous little folk are sometimes referred to as piskeys or the little people. They are usually depicted as wingless, with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Sometimes their eyes are described as being pointed upwards at the Tempel ends.

Characteristics

Pixies are said to enjoy playing tricks on people, for example by stealing their belongings or throwing things at them. At night, they steal horses and bring them back before dawn, leaving only tangled manes as evidence of the prank. Some pixies are said to exude pixie dust, which is left in their footprints or floating behind them as they fly.

Related Topics:
Trick - Night - Horse - Pixie dust

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On Dartmoor, in Devon, travellers who became lost on the moor were sometimes said to have been "pixie led," in other words, deliberately led astray by the little people. It is said that if travellers feel the onset of the pixie spell, they can turn their coats inside out to confuse them and escape.

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Pixies can be repelled by objects made from iron or iron ore as contact with the metal is said to harm them, a trait they share in common with other fairies of the British Isles.

Related Topics:
Iron - Iron ore - Fairies

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Those who deliberately follow pixies often vanish without a trace. For example, a farmhand at Rowbrook, situated on the steep, wooded flanks of the River Dart valley, is said to have been lured down towards the river by mysterious voices, calling his name: ?Jan Coo.? He was never seen again.

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Even within living memory, some rural families left small gifts, such as bowls of food or saucers of milk, for the pixies in order to placate them. When shown this respect and attention, pixies would sometimes even help the family by tidying up the household during the night.

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