The Queen’s very own.

No sooner would he milk his cow and start carrying it away and the handle would break, spilling milk everywhere. A sharpened blade would be dull by morning, a lead rope would snap unexpectedly causing the man to chase his spooked horse sometimes for hours. A saw blade would be found in a puddle of water rusting where it had been hung on a peg the night before. Each time the man would go into a rage, cursing his damned luck and everything in the world that was against him. That is, until 1 day, during a particularly heated session in which he was throwing things around his shed he heard the tale-tell sound of almost child like laughter followed by a sharply rebuking,”Shhh!”

The man made all manner of signs to ward off evil and ran from the shed. A few days later he had an opportunity to visit an old woman passing through the area. The woman was said to be a Druidess and knowledgeable in bad omens and the like.

After hearing the mans story the old woman laughed with true mirth in her voice. The man didn’t have bad luck or evil spirits after him. His home had been found by a troop of fairies most likely and he had not been properly respecting them and theirs, the old ways, and therefore was the target of much of their mischief. The man rushed home and sure enough in a copse of trees not far from his home he found the fairy ring.

The old Druidess urged him to make friends with the fairies, bring them small gifts to appease them and his suffering would wane. The man did as he was instructed and began leaving small gifts on occasion on his window sill and sometimes out by the ring. A bauble here, a bit of meat pie and brown ale there. His troubles did lessen, fewer accidents and broken items about the house. It wasn’t until he found a small blackberry bush and left a few of the berries he had foraged that day out by the ring that things really started turning around for him.

The following day as he prepared for his daily chores he noticed that the door to the shed had been fixed. This was something he had muttered to himself about for weeks but had yet to get around to the repair. Nothing went wrong that day and even his animals seemed tranquil. Over the next few weeks and moving into fall the man would forage from the blackberry bush and share some of his haul with the fairies and the most marvelous things began happening. An axe head that had been loose would turn up tight as the day it was made. After milking the cow and letting it set to separate the cream and removing it the pail was still just as full as after freshly milking the cow. The shearing blades seemed freshly sharpened and hung in their proper place after a late day of activity the day before and the man distinctly remembering he had left them on a table outside the work shed. That fall as the wind began to grow colder he made several cuttings from the bush and in the spring planted them as part of his garden.

Over the next few years the man learned all he could of his fairy neighbors. Providing bits and baubles, interesting rocks and bits of shiny glass, and yes the occasional hand full of blackberries. His home was thriving now, he had a successful trade business going now that his garden was growing the best and most beautiful produce around. His work animals were healthy and strong, and his herd animals were fat and happy. He had even had to hire on a couple of young men to help his growing enterprise and found a young and talented woman to make him an honest man. The man was finally content; After years of struggle he had learned the hard lesson that to get along, sometimes you must go along.

The man wanted to thank the fairies for all they were doing for him. It was obvious now that the simple act of acknowledging their existence and letting them know he appreciated all they did…and didn’t do, had made his life all the richer. That year when he gathered in his crops he took the best and juiciest blackberries in a large bucket and left them at the fairy ring. The next morning only the bucket remained. All was quiet for several weeks until one day when the wife came to leave a small coat she had sewn she noticed a beautiful bottle shimmering with a purple liquid inside at the ring.

Little did the man realize that of all the berries in the forest, blackberries in particular are the favorite of the Fairy Queen. She was grateful for the mans dedication to her people of the last few years and wished to thank him. So she took a portion of the blackberries he had provided and a bit of honey from a grumpy ol’ bears horde and made a secret recipe of mead known only to The Queens immediate family. She gifted this bottle of blessed mead to the man.

The man was ecstatic when his wife brought home the gift. He sent word to all his friends and within a fortnight he hosted a grand party at his farm. He toasted to health and happiness and bade everyone fill their cup from the The Fairy Queens Gift. Somehow, each person was able to get a glass of the blessed liquid for the grand toast, even from such a small bottle. He made sure to make a plate and even managed to pour the last cupful of the mead and left it at the ring. The celebration became an annual event and the man had many sons and daughters and a long and fruitful life.

The Queens own recipe is hers and hers alone but we have strived to produce an elixir that would make her proud. We only use some of the best honey in the world along with the juiciest and ripest blackberries we can find. Coupled with natural spring water and that’s it. No fillers, no additives. Nothing but what nature intended. Wherever she is, we hope the Fairy Queen smiles upon our tribute to her creation half as much as she did that man. This would make us happy and rich of heart beyond our dreams. We hope you enjoy our tribute as much as we did in making it.