‘Twas very, very long ago, in days no longer sung, when giant stood about so high, and pixies all were young. The Queen of Fairies said one day, “I’m tired of honey-dew. So, hasten now and fix for me a cup of something new. “It must lift the drooping spirit, it must heal the wounded heart. It must bid the smile of happiness, and bid the tear depart. It must make the young grow younger and the old no longer old. It must make the poor contented and the rich forget their gold.” Now, you can just imagine how the pixies, far and wide came hurrying and scurrying with things to be supplied. First, they brought a useful cauldron which some witches had for sale. And the nixies brought sweet water from the Falls of Dryadvale. Then they took some sprays of heartsease as the first thing to infuse. And they added Johnny-jump-up as an antidote to blues. For the young, they brought the May-bloom, Everlasting, for the old. For the rich and poor, the joy-weed, which is just as good as gold. When it boiled, they cooled and poured it, so the ancient story goes. And to the Queen, they brought it, in the chalice of a rose. She sipped, delighted; then she cried, “I issue this decree: The cup you have so deftly brewed, I christen “Fairy Tea!” So when you see the Fairy folk “at home” in Dingle Dell, all sipping something dainty from their cups of Heather-bell, you will notice they are happy, as good Fairies ought to be. And that’s because they always use their famous Fairy Tea.
Artist Frances Tyrrell