§580

‘I was working as a shepherd. I’d gone up to a remote part of the farm to check on some of the sheep. It was morning. I went up as far as I could by tractor, but the last field was bounded by a drove road. I left the tractor, and walked into the field, when fog came down suddenly. I walked carefully back to the stile, and sat on the wall for a bit, wondering whether to wait or go back. I suddenly saw a small, old man walking towards me on the drove road. It was popular with walkers, but not usually on a winter’s morning mid-week. And he didn’t look dressed right for a walker? He was quite small, the size of a child. He grinned at me and paused. I’ll swear he asked me if I knew where I was. I said ‘yes’, and then he seemed to ask if I knew WHEN I was. He passed by me with a laugh, but after a few moments, I realised that I couldn’t really ‘remember’ what he wore, how he looked, what he sounded like, or where he went. He’d sort of drifted into the fog. I felt odd about it. When I finally got back down to the farm, I had to explain why I’d been gone more than two hours, on a job that usually took less than one. I explained about the fog, and my excuse was accepted with a mutter. I told my grandmother about the odd encounter: she was a wise old woman. She said that I’d nearly been ‘piskie-led’. This wasn’t the first encounter I’d had, as I’d seen things as a child, which all but my grandmother called nonsense. It has been my only visual encounter as an adult, although I’ve had audible encounters.’ ‘Seemed to be an old man. I have the impression of country dress: wool type trews, jacket, hat, neutral browns and greens. But the encounter was followed by a puzzling ‘fading of memory’’. ‘I’ve since discovered that the place was well known in local folklore for being close to a gateway for fairy folk.’. ‘On an ancient drove road, bounded by fields and woodland’. ‘The presence of fog. The appearance of the Piskie. The lack of fear or malice. He was very much of the land, as was I. Doesn’t get more bucolic than a lone shepherd in a remote field, watching sheep. We were part of the same place, rooted.’ ‘It was partly my experience that caused me to begin research into local folklore.’