Tinkerbell has a lot to answer for, as have the gossamer winged creations that flutter among the flowers in children’s story-books and the saccharine- coated characters of Walt Disney films. All these have played a part in relegating fairies to the realm of whimsy, which is why contemporary folklorists, Pagans and those who claim to have seen them avoid using the word. Instead the term ‘faery’ is preferred, or ‘elfin race’, or ‘longaevi’ – anything but fairy.

As someone who belongs to the third category and claims to have seen them, I prefer ‘nature spirits’ for two reasons. Firstly, because in all my encounters with them I saw nothing resembling Tinkerbell, (although my partner at the time claims to have seen some very small sylph-like beings flitting among the flowers on a hot summer afternoon) and secondly, because this term has a distancing effect – which for someone who was actually invited to go and live in Elfland and turned down the offer, is a necessary safeguard.