Matthew Trigg and the Pharisees
Surrey has its own name for fairies- the Pharisees. They like everything to be just right and when Matthew Trigg stumbles into their dancing ground, they take their revenge. But the children of Ash realise he is missing and enlist the help of the wise old woman to get him back again. But just how does the steeple of Ash church get dented?
Pharisees is the old Surrey name for fairies. And the Pharisees in Surrey are most particular about the right and proper way to behave. Sometimes they were helpful on farms and mowed the hay at night, leaving drying in the morning sun. Sometimes they came into the houses at night, and played in the embers of the fire. If they found it neat and tidy and a bowl of water left out for them, then they would leave a silver sixpence. But if it was left dirty and untidy- the fairies would find the people responsible- and pinch them black and blue as they slept!
But mostly- the Pharisees were particular about their special places!
Now, back in the old days, there was a man called Matthew Trigg, and he lived in the village of Ash. He was a grumpy old man, and as he walked in the village the children would dance around him, and tug on his sleeve, asking him to tell them a story. But he would wave them away, shaking his walking stick at them.
One day he went for a walk in the woods. And he didn’t come back.
It was the children who first realised he was missing.
“Where is Matthew Trigg?” they asked their parents. “We haven’t seen him today.” Their parents went to check on Matthew’s house. He wasn’t there. They asked all round the village. Nobody had seen him since the morning.
“That’s strange” they said, “It’s not like him to just go off without a word to anyone, even if he is a grumpy old man.”
Then one little boy spoke up. “I saw Matthew go into the wood.”
Well, as soon as they heard that, they started a search party. They all stood in a long line, and went into the wood, calling out “Matthew. Where are you?”
He wasn’t anywhere. Then one girl called out - “I have found his walking stick.”
And there was the walking stick. Right in the middle of a ring of toadstools. And some of the toadstools were broken. Matthew must have stumbled into them. The ring of toadstools was a fairies’ dancing ring. And all the adults looked at each other and knew that the Pharisees have taken him.
How can they get Matthew back?
The children knew what to do. They went to find the wise old woman who lived on the edge of the village and asked her. The old woman took out a basin, and poured some water into it. The she looked very hard into it.
“Ah yes” she said, “I can see him now. He is at the court of the Pharisees. And for punishment for breaking their dance circle, they are making him dance and dance and dance. It’s on the far side of Surrey. We must hurry; he will die from exhaustion if we don’t help him!”
But what to do? The wise old woman said- “I have a plan- but I need a special ingredient. It has to come from you children. What will you give up, so that Matthew can come home?”
The children were surprised. Then the littlest one said, “I will give up my doll to bring him home.” The another said, “I will give up my bat”, another “My beautiful hair ribbon” and so it went on until all the children had given up something.
“Well done” said the wise old woman. She took all their offerings, and placed them in a cauldron, and dropped a flame in- they all went up in smoke. “Now the ash is full of your good intentions” she said. She took some oil and mixed it up with the ash.
“Now let’s see if we can borrow old Dobbin the horse.”
She put some of the potion on the back of the old Dobbin, and it began to grow wings.
“Now go,” she said to old Dobbin, “Bring Matthew Trigg straight back here!”
Old Dobbin flew up into the air, and was away. The wise old woman and the children waited.
Matthew Trigg was very, very tired. He had been dancing non stop for such a long time. “Please let me stop, “he cried, “I’m sorry that I stepped on your Toadstool ring.” But the Pharisees just laughed and shook their heads.
Then, just above him, he couldn’t believe what he saw. A flying horse. Come straight towards him. It swooped down, and as it passed him, he saw it was old Dobbin.
“Here boy” called out Matthew- and he reached for old Dobbin’s mane, tightened his fingers around it, making knots. As old Dobbin began to fly up, Matthew scrambled on to his back. Away from the Pharisees, Matthew’s legs stopped dancing, and as he looked down he could see the Pharisees shaking their fists at him. But he didn’t mind, He was on his way home.
As the wise old woman and the children waited- one of them saw something move in the sky. “Look, there he is!”
Sure enough, there was old Dobbin, and that looked like Matthew on his back.
Now there was just one problem. The wise old woman had told old Dobbin to come straight back to her. And old Dobbin was going straight in to the church steeple and ……… Crash!
Old Dobbin and Matthew tumbled to the ground, and luckily landed safely. But the church steeple was bent!
Well, there was such a fuss and a bother when all was told but Matthew was back safe and sound and that was what mattered.
Now when the children tugged his sleeve and asked him for a story, Matthew had a grand one to tell, and could point to the bent steeple tower to prove it.
And that steeple was bent for a very long time- but in the 19th century someone paid to have it repaired. But just remember- the Pharisees are on the look out for people who don’t behave right and proper- so just look out where you are stepping!