This story happened a long time ago, when the ladies mentioned were still teenage girls and did not really know what they were doing. They simply did not suspect that actions of this kind are qualified by Scotland Yard as fraud. Nobody hurt anyone, and no one, as a result, was particularly hurt … Well, perhaps the reputation of the father-creator of the great detective Sherlock Holmes was slightly "wet".
And it was like this. In the summer of 1917, two British cousins - 16-year-old Elsie Wright and 10-year-old Frances Griffiths - invented a story about fairies. Like, on the lawn by the stream, where time flies so imperceptibly in games, there are a lot of these annoying winged creatures. The adults, of course, did not believe such tales. Then the girls promised to back up their words with deeds and asked permission to use the family camera. They were allowed. Out of curiosity. In the morning the liars went on a "photo-hunt", and in the evening of the same day the first picture appeared - Francis surrounded by little dancing moths.
There was no doubt that the camera recorded some objects, supposedly fabulous fairies or elves. All that was required was to prove or disprove the authenticity of the photograph. The first expert was Arthur Wright, Elsie's father. He confirmed that the appearance of strange objects in the photograph was not the result of an error during shooting or development of the photographic plate. However, he admitted that the figures of miniature fairies could be cut out of paper. But the cousins stubbornly insisted on their own: the winged people - alive, real! Considering that before the girls had no tendency to lie, the parents had to agree.
Maybe this story would not have developed into such a large-scale photo-affair, peacefully settling in the archives of Griffiths-Wright family memoirs, but a few months later another photo appeared - Elsie with a dwarf. The rumor of girls who could see fairies slowly crept across Britain, spilling out beyond the town of Cottingley (Yorkshire). The viral mechanism of spread was greatly facilitated by the general fascination with spiritualism, which flourished in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century. And Anne Wright, the mother of the oldest girl, was just a member of the local Theosophical Society founded by Helena Blavatsky.
From Madame Blavatsky, Edward Gardner, a famous theosophical lecturer in the country, learned about the amazing phenomenon, and after him, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The latter was passionate about spiritualism and fully admitted the possibility of life after death, and also believed in the supernatural, in the existence of parallel worlds and … in fairies. It was then that what happened happened.
Several additional experts, professional photographers and artists, were brought in to study the images. All experts unanimously admitted that the photographs are not studio photographs, confirmed the authenticity of the negatives and positives, and also noted the absence of retouching (however, this was still not a direct confirmation of the existence of fairies as such, since the analysis did not provide for the analysis of photographic techniques and tricks). Edward Gardner, in turn, vouched strongly for the integrity of the Wright and Griffith families.
Inspired by the results of the preliminary investigation, Conan Doyle wrote the article "Fairy Pictures" for the Christmas issue of Strand Magazine. The entire print run was sold out in a matter of days. Following the news was picked up by the world press. So, with the light hand of the author of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, the little ones Elsie and Francis gained sensational fame not only in Britain, but also far beyond its borders. Crowds of curious people were drawn to Cottingley, wishing to see the winged people with their own eyes (and some even undertook to claim that they had really seen the elven fraternity of different sizes). The famous lawn by the stream was named the Fairy Valley. So it is called to this day.
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In August 1921, Doyle and Gardner set up an additional experiment. The cousins were given a camera with a set of labeled photographic plates (to avoid possible substitution) and asked to take new pictures. Soon, three more intriguing photographs were released. On a wave of heated public interest in 1922, Arthur Conan Doyle published the book The Coming of the Fairies, detailing all the circumstances of the Cotting England case, including eyewitness accounts, expert opinions, his own view of events and a number of different occult theories that existed in this regard in the world …
The Advent of the Fairies had supporters, critics, and outright detractors. Nevertheless, until Doyle's death (1930), no one was able to reasonably refute the authenticity of the photographs. So the writer died in peace and with a sincere faith in elves and other fabulous miracles.
For another forty years, fine ladies - Elsie and Francis - continued to keep the secret of the falsified photographs. From time to time the idle media pulled the case of the "Cottingleys fairies" out of the dusty chests of history and again, with passion, asked the old women about the details, demanded new photographic evidence. But they stubbornly stood their ground: “Everything is pure truth. They were children - they saw; matured - lost the ability to see and, accordingly, the ability to photograph. " Subsequently, the cousins admitted that the last thing they wanted was to cast a shadow on the noble Sir Arthur, who had become an unwitting "victim" of their childish tricks. Therefore, they continued to lead the reporters by the nose.
In the early seventies, both cousins could not stand the pressure of Mass Media and finally decided to surrender the impregnable bastions, confirming that some of the photographs were fiction. What provoked the next series of examinations and journalistic investigations. In the end, it came to computer analysis (Robert Schiefer's expertise). It was then that the whole truth came out: the famous "Cotting England fairies" are one hundred percent fake. This was followed by the full recognition of the old women in April 1983.
"I'm fed up with these stories …" said Frances Griffiths. - I hate these photos and shudder every time I see them. It was a joke, but everyone around him continued to take it seriously. But it should have ended by itself about sixty years ago."
In order to take the famous photographs, the girls copied images from the book (Princess Mary's Gift Book, 1914 edition), cut out and reinforced with cardboard. And the gnome was made of clay. Then the figurines were picturesquely placed and hung in front of the lens, fixing them with long hat pins and threads. That's all the nuances of the Cottinglis secret. The mystery of "The Coming of the Fairies" melted like the magical fog of Avalon.
The world learned the truth and breathed freely, ending the obsession with the existence of a mysterious winged people. However, not everyone was happy. Someone became sad, disappointed. Among them is Edward Gardner, the last surviving enthusiast of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Cotting England team. The news of the exposed falsification found him in New Zealand, the famous theosophist was 96 years old.
Three years after the recognition (in 1986), at the age of 78, Francis Griffiths died. Two years later (in 1988), the second heroine of the sensational story, Elsie Wright (84 years old), passed away. But the memory of two dreamy girls who believed in fairy magic remained. There are also fairies that our children still consider to be real …
Olga Sitnikova
