Fairies & flowers! A Witchy Wednesday article.
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| I found these beautiful Cuckoo flowers in April. I left them alone so not to upset the fairies! On a serious note please don't pick wildflowers some areas in the UK they are protected and you must never pick plants and flowers from private land. Leave them to the wildlife and fairies! 🌸🌸🌸 |
In folklore, cuckoo flowers, also known as Milk maids, fairy flowers and Lady's Smock are believed to be sacred to fairy folk. It was considered unlucky to pick these beautiful flowers and extremely unlucky to bring them into homes.
This belief may have led to the flower being excluded from May Day garlands.
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The flower's name, "Lady's Smock," is also thought to be related to the shape of the flower petals, which resemble a lady's dress. A smock is a dress or top for a woman or girl, gathered at the chest and having a loose fitting lower part.
Since their first publication in 1923, Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies have enchanted both adults and children alike around the world. The botanically accurate drawings in the 170 original illustrations, coupled with the enchanting fairy images based on real children from Cicely’s sister’s nursery school, appeal to our innate sense of magic and wonder.
Originally accompanied by a poem or verse dedicated to the individual Flower Fairy the charming characters and detailed artwork have also been translated into fiction for young readers as well as the New York Times bestselling Fairyopolis series.
Please visit Flower Fairies website to see more beautiful illustrations by Cicely Mary Barker.
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| The Lady’s-Smock Fairy The Estate of Cicely Mary Barker © 2025 |
Where the grass is damp and green,
Where the shallow streams are flowing,
Where the cowslip buds are showing,
I am seen.
Dainty as a fairy’s frock,
White or mauve, of elfin sewing,
’Tis the meadow-maiden growing—
Lady’s-smock.
Please join me again next week for another Witchy Wednesday article.
Until then have a magical week.
😊
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