Magical Folk A History of Real Fairies, 500ad to the Present by Simon Young, Ceri Houlbrook

Fairies feature in films and on TV, but through the ages there have been many actual sightings in Britain, Ireland and North America. Now, the digitisation of local newspapers and ephemera has opened another Aladdin’s cave of sources. For the first time, Magical Folk traces their hidden footsteps from 500 AD to the present. In Southern England Master Dobbs, who ended up as Harry Potter character ‘Dobby’, often shows himself, while in Ireland fairies may be the dead, Scotland harbors the terrifying Whoopity Stoorie, and homesick North America magical folk may dunk you in the Atlantic ocean. Also included are findings from the Fairy Census, the survey of modern sightings around the world.