Pixie Day

Pixie Day

There is a yearly celebration in the town of Ottery St. Mary in the district of East Devon in Devon, England. It's called Pixie Day. The legend that pixies were banished from the town to nearby caves that has become known as 'Pixie's Parlour'.

This day of the pixies is originating from an early Christian period when a bishop in town decided to have a church built in Ottery and commissioned a set of bells to come from Wales, that had to be escorted by monks the whole way.

The pixies become worried on hearing this news. Pixies were in fear that this was a symbol for the end of their rule over the land. They decided to cast a spell onto the monks that would redirect them from their intended route to a cliff's edge at Sidmouth. The spell of the pixies were broken just before they walked right off the cliff when one of them stubbed his toe and yelled out “God bless my soul”.

The bells were installed successfully. The spell was not completely broken, though. Every year, sometime in June the pixies come out and capture the town's bell ringers and imprison them in Pixies' Parlour to be rescued by the Vicar of Ottery St. Mary. This legend is re-enacted each year by the Cub and Brownie groups of Ottery St. Mary, with a specially constructed Pixies' Parlour in the Town Square (the original Pixie's Parlour can be found along the banks of the River Otter).