Finn, Bride and Walsh, Babe 1. Interview about fairy lore.

• Main Author: Tennier-Stuart, Emma
• Other Authors: Babe Walsh, born in Ferryland, and Bride Finn, from the Goulds, both live in the Alderwood Estates retirement home.
• Format: Audio
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Supernatural belief; Fairies; Finn; Bride; Walsh; Babe; Newfoundland
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/ich_avalon/id/5956

Emma Tennier-Stuart interviewing Bride Finn and Babe Walsh in the Alderwood Estates retirement home about fairy lore in Witless Bay, Newfoundland. Recorded by Andrea McGuire 0:00 – Preamble; 1:00 – Introduction – Bride Finn and Babe Walsh introduce themselves; 1:30 – BF talks about her friend going missing while gathering boughs in the wood – friend says she was sitting on a rock, talking to the fairies while they searched – she was invisible to her friends while talking to the fairies; 3:45 – BF talks about a woman who went missing while picking potatoes and wood – she was found up a tree, still holding potatoes and wood – the priest blessed the spot and the house; 6:15 – BF heard the story about the woman up the tree once, but the story of her friend is easiest to believe because she was there; 6:30 – Not sure if fairy stories are usually about people being taken – BF's friend was not taken; 6:55 – BF not sure if the fairies are considered good or bad – always told to bring bread while picking berries so the fairies don’t take you; 7:20 – BF's mother would warn them, even if they weren’t going far – BW: “What a pile of foolish nonsense”, “all our parents had us brainwashed.”; 7:50 – Never heard of medals as protection against the fairies – religious medals are used as general protection; 8:25 – Priests did not talk about fairies – they had their own private rituals; 9:10 – Not sure if people still believe in fairies; children laugh at the stories; 9:25 – everyone believed in them when BF and BW were children; stories may have been a tool for parents to control their children; 9:55 – The woods were considered particularly dangerous; 10:15 – They have no stories about people who came back different after being taken by fairies; 11:00 – BW talks about a baby who suddenly couldn’t walk after her mother left her alone while looking for goats; BW doesn’t believe it was fairies, though others do; 12:35 – All Souls’ Night; everyone had to be careful when the souls are out; people don’t throw water out the door on ...