Paul McDevitt
Home grown gnome
DO YOU hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet? Elf sightings are on the rise, and it’s a trend for life, not just for Christmas. A team of folklore researchers led by Simon Young at the University of Virginia has published a compendium of British encounters with fairy folk, charting a steady rise in sightings.
An online survey of 1062 people found that 44 per cent reported seeing fairies, and the majority of these eagle-eyed respondents had seen them more than once.
Sadly, not all of these pointy-eared folk appear to be the jovial stripy-socked toy-makers you might…
