Notes on Mr S. F. Sanderson's Presidential Address, 21 March 1973, on ‘The Cottingley Fairy Photographs’

Abstract

THE speaker expresses surprise that the Strand Magazine article of Christmas 1920 was given no attention by the Folklore Society. My own feeling about that is one of curiosity as to the objectives of that Society. I once asked my father if he knew of any society or group in this country which made any serious study of fairies. He told me he knew of none; although, after the Cottingley event, he had been told of a group which had been formed to followup the study of phenomenaof similar character-onlyto expire after a very brief survival. I suspect though I am open to correction that the Folklore Society is exclusively concerned with the study of folklore, dialect and popular culture in an academic sense. The very limited references in such papers of the Society as I have seen to supportable belief in fairies seems to make that a fair assumption. This seems to me a significant point. My own interest in the subject has lasted over fifty years, from the time when I assisted in small measure in the investigations of my father and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into the Cottingley phenomena. In all that time, whenever I have introduced the subject in letters or discussion I have been faced with a polite but uncomfortable silence. Despite the fact that I have myself accumulated a number of supporting accounts of sightings of fairy creatures, the circle of acquaintances among whom I am happy to speak of them is limited to less than half a dozen individuals. Indeed, I was agreeably surprised to learn of Mr Sanderson's interest and consequent address. His obvious prejudice in his account and concluding judgement was a familiar attitude enough. To look at the Address, however: In declaring himself a sceptic in matters of 'supernatural' phenomena (I use 'quotes' because I hold there is no other phenomena than 'natural') Mr Sanderson and my father would be