The Pixie (piskie, pisky) is the mischievous fairy of Cornwall and the West Country of Britain — a small, merry, capricious sprite of the moors, fields, and ancient places, famous for leading travelers astray, playing pranks, and dancing in the wild country by night. The most beloved of the Cornish fairy-folk, the Pixie is the very spirit of the moorland mischief and the old magic of the far southwest.
The Little People of the West Country
The Pixie (Cornish piskie) is a small fairy-being of Devon and Cornwall — typically pictured as a little person, often with pointed ears, an upturned nose, and a pointed cap, dressed in green or rags, merry and mischievous. They dwell in the wild and ancient places — the moors, the stone circles and standing stones, the old barrows, the hills and fields — and are creatures of the night and the lonely country, dancing in fairy-rings and going about their secret fairy business under the moon. They are among the most characteristic and widespread of the British fairy-folk, the “little people” of the West Country.
Pixie-Led on the Moor
The Pixies are famous above all for their mischief — their delight in playing tricks on humankind. The most famous of these is leading travelers astray: to be “pixie-led” (or “pixy-led”) was to be bewildered and lost on the moor, led in circles by the laughing fairies until utterly confused, unable to find one’s way even on familiar ground. The traditional remedy was to turn one’s coat inside-out, which broke the pixie spell. They also tangled horses’ manes, soured milk, blew out candles, and played a hundred other pranks — yet they could also be helpful, doing housework or farm-work by night for those they favored (though, like the brownie, they might be offended and depart if rewarded with clothes). Mischievous, capricious, neither quite good nor evil, the Pixies embody the unpredictable magic of the wild.
Spirits of the Old Land
The Pixies belong to the deep tradition of the British and Celtic fairy-folk — the diminutive, magical, capricious beings who share the land with humankind and must be treated with care. In Cornwall and Devon they are bound up with the ancient landscape — the moors of Dartmoor and Bodmin, the standing stones and circles, the old places where the fairy-folk are felt to linger. Some traditions held them to be the spirits of the ancient dead, or of those not good enough for heaven nor bad enough for hell, lingering in the old land. Whatever their origin, the Pixies are the living magic of the West Country, the merry, tricksy fairies of the moor.
Legacy
The Pixie endures as the most beloved fairy of Cornwall and the West Country — the mischievous, merry sprite of the moors who leads travelers astray, plays pranks, and dances by night, the very spirit of the region’s old magic. From the medieval fairy-lore to the modern image of the cheerful, pointy-eared pixie, these little people remain a cherished part of British folklore and the enchantment of the Cornish landscape. As the tricksy fairy of the moor, the Pixie remains the heart of West Country fairy-tradition.