Food, Clothing and Names
Food, clothing and names have special significance for characters in Fairy in the Bed series. Here are some of those.
Clothing and Jewellery
Midsummer Melody (1969)
Melody Peckerdale has a yellow silk dress for the Midsummer Ball. She wears it with green slippers and a hair ribbon.
Marguerite du Fen wears the cooler forget-me-not blue, as does her cousin, Babette
Roderick has on court ball clothes
Alan Adair wears a kilt to the ball, but flares and a plaid shirt at work in Keleidoscope.
Peter Peckerdale has on loose pants and a thigh-length tunic
Melody Peckerdale has a yellow silk dress for the Midsummer Ball. She wears it with green slippers and a hair ribbon.
Marguerite du Fen wears the cooler forget-me-not blue, as does her cousin, Babette
Roderick has on court ball clothes
Alan Adair wears a kilt to the ball, but flares and a plaid shirt at work in Keleidoscope.
Peter Peckerdale has on loose pants and a thigh-length tunic
Wish-Matched (1985)
Susan has her transi, a convertible garment in blue stretch cotton with lace and stars on the bodice. See the picture of this in the gallery below.
Susan has blue leather button boots, made for her when she was fifteen
York Shimmer the pixie wears a green tunic and loose leggings. He shows Si what he wore when over here; bib and brace overalls and a flannelette shirt
Mari wears a red sarong when Si first meets her, and a blue one when approaching York
Kishie wears a red skirt with a green top
Ryl has ripped jeans and a tee-shirt
When she first met Joe in the 1960s, Liz had on shorts, a loose top and a floppy hat decorated with cloth daisies
Susan has her transi, a convertible garment in blue stretch cotton with lace and stars on the bodice. See the picture of this in the gallery below.
Susan has blue leather button boots, made for her when she was fifteen
York Shimmer the pixie wears a green tunic and loose leggings. He shows Si what he wore when over here; bib and brace overalls and a flannelette shirt
Mari wears a red sarong when Si first meets her, and a blue one when approaching York
Kishie wears a red skirt with a green top
Ryl has ripped jeans and a tee-shirt
When she first met Joe in the 1960s, Liz had on shorts, a loose top and a floppy hat decorated with cloth daisies
The Kissing Ring (1985 - 1988)
Tom gets a charmed cream pullover from Ryl as a gift
Merry makes a kissing ring for each of them
Ryl has a top that shifts from pink to green
Calico Calypso (1986)
Calypso Lindon the exotic dancer wears one black stocking and one white with (probably) a bodystocking... or possibly a glamour.
Deek Caffrey generally wears flip flops, bermudas, a bushel of ginger beard and loud shirts, but he changes his image to what he calls "Plumber's Mate 1", shaving, darkening his hair and dressing in neat khaki.
Calypso Lindon the exotic dancer wears one black stocking and one white with (probably) a bodystocking... or possibly a glamour.
Deek Caffrey generally wears flip flops, bermudas, a bushel of ginger beard and loud shirts, but he changes his image to what he calls "Plumber's Mate 1", shaving, darkening his hair and dressing in neat khaki.
Court in Between (2019-20)
Court wears human style clothing, but dresses in modified Elizabethan costume while singing.
He also wears his grandfather's cloak
Tansy wears voluminous smocks.
Court receives his father's fief ring when he turns 25
Court wears human style clothing, but dresses in modified Elizabethan costume while singing.
He also wears his grandfather's cloak
Tansy wears voluminous smocks.
Court receives his father's fief ring when he turns 25
Fairy on the Christmas Tree (2016)
Frances wears a holly print shirt for Christmas Eve, but manages to splash it with boiling custard after which she drops her phone in the pan. When she first meets Niall Le Fay, he's in the guise of a check-out chap wearing an elf hat. The next time she sees him, he's a blond himbo with a wig, makeup, a puffy pink frock and a pair of cellophane wings. She soon disposes of that with the scissors, and wraps him in a wet-wipe. After that, it seems likely he'll have to wear a sheet. It's all in a night's work for a Christmas Elf.
Honey and the Harvest Hob (2017)
Hob wears jeans and shirts or sweaters over here but prefers oatmeal-coloured smocks with or without breeches over there
Honey has a wedding dress made by Skye... Eau de Nil slip with a gold embroidery overlay. Honey reflects that she looks more like a fairy than a bride. She has honeybee clips in her hair. See the picture of this in the gallery below.
Having brought the wrong bag on her honeymoon-for-one, she borrows Hob's smocks, signifying her acceptance of his world
When Hob finds Honey again he is in jeans and shirt. He assumes his smock in his happiness at being back with her
Skye made dance dresses for Honey and her friends for the prom. The implication is these dresses contribute to their magical evening
Green Balls (2017)
Peck wears coveralls at work. This reflects his love of all things mechanical
Over There he assumes a tunic and tights with soft shoes; traditional pixie gear. On his return he forgets to change and a child mistakes him for an elf. Peck, unwilling to confuse the child, pretends he's in costume.
When Peck first meets Chloe she has on multiple earrings, black tights, a short green skirt and tiny top
Later, he sees her in a green pencil skirt and blouse, with emerald ear studs
She wears an emerald ring
On their fourth encounter, she's wearing a green tunic and tights
Chloe also drives a green car.
Her devotion to green reflects that she's going to cause Peck some angst
Pen and Ink (2015 - 2017)
Pen, exhausted and depleted after three years of widowhood, is dressed in tired pants and vest while Skye measures her for a dress
Skye is making her a yellow dress to wear for a wedding job, but Pen opines you can't make a daffodil from a dead stick
Skye gives Pen a fairy-tale dress of gold and indigo. It hints at a fairy tale future for Pen, but Pen doubts she'll ever wear it
Ryl gives Pen an airy shawl with rainbow light. Again, this hints at a brighter future. See the picture of this in the gallery below.
Duffy tries to assume pants but is so distracted he gets a grandpa shirt instead... or so he says. He might be joking. He later dresses in tight pants and a flashy pirate shirt to upstage the pixies, and then in an indigo shirt
An off-duty Peck Grene has swapped his coveralls for tight chinos and a fitted green sweater
Horizontal Bunny Hop
Mab wears an over-sized rabbit print tee... a present for her birthday the year before
Derry wears khaki shorts, boots and a blue singlet and looks like a clean construction worker
Hot Summer Knight
Piers Le Fay arrives in Kendra's bedroom wearing armour with a surcoat and carrying a helmet with curlicues. He strips down to his skin under the influence of a Midsummer manifest; tricky to negotiate since he's in the antipodes and it's thus midwinter. Once Kendra manages to get through to his normal self, he has no idea where he left his clothes.
Floribunda and the Best Men
Flori wears a full-skirted dress splashed with ochre roses as bridesmaid at Pen's wedding to Duffy. She borrows Jenny McTavish's walking gown; a heather-coloured wool dress with a laced bodice and a crossed shawl
Hamish and Gervais wear dark trousers with white poet shirts and ochre pocket squares as best men at the wedding
Later, Gervais appears in chinos with a blur shirt with a rose on the pocket
Hamish wears a kilt and tee shirt to go running and tends to wear a kilt over there
Sir Gervais wears fine chain mail, a white surcote with red roses
At the wedding, Pen has a primrose silk gown. Skye has a gold shift with blue details and Chloe is in green.
The Courting of Eileen
Eileen wears milking clothes (a heavy long skirt with a "pull-me-down" blouse, buckled shoes, a half-shift and stockings gartered at the knee). She has a shawl for when it is colder. Her festival dress is white with a green overskirt. She remembers wearing jeans, shorts, tees and pullovers over here
Sean McTavish wears a McTavish tartan kilt with a teal shirt which is his favourite. He changes that for a white frilled one for the dance.
Kieran wears green britches and a russet tunic to the festival and Tally has a russet dress.
Shamus has britches and a tunic
Elen has a daffodil yellow and green gown
Pisky Business
Linda buys a new dress for the school reunion. It is royal blue velvet, mini-length and simple, with silver lace accents. Because it is one of Skye Bakewell's dresses, it is charmed. It's combination of opulent fabric and rich colouring with a simple style suits Linda's austere personality. She wears Mary's silver wheat brooch.
Mary has a scarlet dressing gown, borrowed from Geraint.
Later, she has a Skye creation; a soft gown in silvery pink/peach.
Tane wears a short kilt with a silver belt over there
Merry wears breeches with a loose top, and his hair bundled with silver thread. He has a lot of jewellery
Merry makes an intricate silver belt for Rachel
Tane makes a flower-wreathed ring for Mary's betrothal ring, a broad band with sapphires for Linda's betrothal ring and a braided silver earring for Jory
Jory normally wears 1980s casual gear, but he does make one startling appearance in a pink tutu, blond wig, pink stilettos and iridescent fairy wings
Keeley wears clothing with many bands, belts and bindings
Sam and the Sylvan
When Peck first meets Sam Silver she is wearing the confusing combination of a very short tight mini in fuchsia under a buttoned up man's jacket, and boots. She has a backpack and a handbag
Chloe is in green, with pigtails. She has an emerald engagement ring
Sam later wears a sylvan tunic in a soft green, matching Oash's
Josefa wears yellow coveralls with pops and has a yellow striped towel
The Merriweather boys wear bow ties, braces, docs and jackets for performing and jamming, but also ordinary tees and shorts.
Tied up in Tinsel
Flick finds herself in a white flowing robe, a white mini with a thick covering of tinsel and a nice holly-printed dress. It is Christmas, after all.
Sunshower
Tab conjures an oversized tee-shirt for Josefa to wear when they're camping
Josefa has a sky blue vintage dress with a romantic neckline worn with mary janes for her performance as half of Sunshower
Tab has brown trousers, a white shirt, tweed waistcoat and bow tie for his performance as half of Sunshower
Both of them wear hob nightshirts... shirred, pintucked and voluminous decorated with blue bows and embroidered grapes and grain for Josefa and plain for Tab
Sheelagh Chalk wears a loose print dress, frilled apron and cotton cap as maid at The Harvest Hob
Debbie, the receptionist at Summerleigh Grange wears a blue cotton dress and floral cardigan
Man Overboard
Zach Rowan wears a charmed crimson shirt Honeycomb Bakewell gave him years ago,
Later, he wears a blanket of braeside wool
Queen of the May
Lucy Tan is enchanted with the costume she gets to wear as a camp companion on Ferris Island. It consists of a long, full skirt, leather boots and a blouse and jacket. The outfit looks 19th Century but is far more comfortable.
Later, Lucy wears a borrowed dress to the May Day Ball. It belongs to Lorelei Herron who is considerably taller than Lucy, but as it's tea-length on Lorelei it's long on Lucy. The dress is green with white flowers.
Food
Honey and the Harvest Hob
Hob serves Honey with a meal of brown cob loaves, butter, honey, soft cheese, almonds, walnuts, figs, home made cider and apples and then tea strong enough to make her tongue cringe. His idea of a before-bed snack is a trug of strawberries. Breakfast is brown bread and honey.
During their enchanted ten days at the cottage, they catch and cook fish, and eat it with fresh salad from Hob's garden. Since his manifest is harvest hob, the food he provides reflects this.
Back home in her flat, Honey finds coffee tastes bad and the packaged bread and supermarket jam tastes so bland she bins it.
Pen and Ink
Pen, worn out after a bout of flu, wishes she'd succumbed to TV dinners and tinned beans after her husband died. Because she eats "fresh" she has almost nothing fit for purpose
On her first post-flu shopping trip, she buys fruit, vegetables, cheese, crackers and some fish... which is lucky when Ink turns up
Noel buys her tea with scones and jam and cream; comfort food
Ryl and Skye feed Pen comforting soup, chocolate mousse, cherry pie and chocolate in the Tower
Duffy makes toast and honey after Pen tries to knock him out with a bed lamp. Pen thinks this is an odd thing for a home invader to do
Green Balls
Peck feeds Chloe home made leek and potato soup and bread after she threatens him with pepper spray. He pixie dusts the publican who won't sell him a bottle of stout. Later, Ryl gives Peck some rather savagely curried soup when he needs warming up
Horizontal Bunny Hop
Mab orders salad medley and fruit medley from Room Service. That's lucky as Derry is a vegetarian. She also gets through most of a mini bottle of advocaat and some Easter eggs after the shock of battery failure and meeting Derry
Derry smells of chocolate, cinnamon and other sweet and spicy things. That's part of his manifestation around Easter time
Hot Summer Knight
Kendra has to find suitable knight fodder to feed Sir Piers Le Fay. She settles on rustic bread and cheese and fruit. Later, Piers gives her strawberries and cream
Fairy on the Christmas Tree
Frances makes custard but never gets to eat it. When her Christmas plans fall through, she buys herself some upmarket food for Christmas Day. She also buys a fairy doll for her Christmas tree and ends up with a good deal more than she bargained for
Floribunda and the Best Men
Hamish makes coffee at the van. Gervais makes pancakes at Flori's place.
At the bothy, the best men make pottage, oatcakes and bread for Flori
Later, they cook freshly-caught trout at the loch
Gervais's sisters send strawberries, light soup and plaited bread, which is later augmented with oatcakes, porridge, more strawberries and tea.
As Hamish says, fairy men like to feed their women. “Food has a soothing effect, and it’s giving, my bonnie. It’s difficult for a woman to think about mayhem and violence when she has a meek fairy man feeding her soup.”
The Courting of Eileen
Eileen offers Sean leek and tattie soup. The leeks hint at her heritage. There's also soda bread, apple duff and the inevitable tea. For an on-your-way breakfast Eileen and Sean take apples, bread and cheese.
Eileen mentions making butter and mint cheese
Wish-Matched
Susan makes sandwiches with cheese and tomato, and takes oranges and peanuts and a flask of coffee on her impromptu bush-walk
Si has apples, muesli bars (which he doesn't eat), tea, dried milk, honey and rolled oats at his camp
Pisky Business
Linda and Jory eat scones with jam and cream at Gateway Cottage. They also eat hob courting cake and charmed cider at the cottage. This is provided by Keeley Marsh, but made by Jem Cottman. They have more of the cake in Linda's flat, donated by Mr Trip, who also makes one for himself and Mary.
Si and Skye Bakewell serve tea or coffee with Si's camp cake, made with oatmeal, honey and powdered milk
Linda makes curry puffs and chili pancakes for Mr Trip
Tane buys Earl Grey tea and a different kind of soda water
Merry serves tea and things that are not quite scones to Linda at his cottage, and Tam helps herself to some
At Shamrock Village, Jory and Tane partake of poteen with Tam, Liam and Dervla
Sam and the Sylvan
Peck and Chloe eat Thai soup and pumpkin bread with apricot jam with Sam
Sam and Oash share courting cake and cider, salad, bread and fruit, and later on Oash produces a honeycomb and strawberries.
Tab favours apples
Sunshower
Sam blames apricot jam for her pregnancy
Tab and Josefa cook damper on sticks and stuff it with jam while camping, and Tab conjures apples for Josefa
Nathaniel Applebee provides courting cake and hob cider at The Harvest Hob, with predictable results. Tab opts for tea the second time around
At Fee Kaffee, Tab orders a kaffee schnapps. Josefa steals a sip and likes it better than her own flat white, so he orders one for her. They both eat alpenkuchen, a chocolate cake with hard white icing
Midsummer Melody
Roderick feeds Melody on strawberries, grapes, brown bread and butter, cream cheese and tea because she was too nervous to eat at the ball
Calico Calypso
Kris tries to feed Mistress Calico a mix of fish and vegetables made by LeeLee for her own cat.
Kris and Calypso share figs from his fay tree
Christmas Eve
Eve Adeste shares cherries with Raph Angelous from Raph's tree. She uses a leprechaun charm on one. Later, they take cherries to Niall and Frances and Frances is mock-indignant that she doesn't get a charm.
Names
Honey and the Harvest Hob
Honeycomb Bakewell. The in-story reason for her name was that she was born smelling of honey. The boy who invited her to the prom commented on this... though in his opinion she smells like a bees' nest
Author's reason? I wanted a name that could be lopped to seem normal. It's a bit like calling a child "Evening". Drop it to "Eve" and it's not odd at all
The name is intentionally a bit clunky, but not ugly
As Honey herself says, "Says the woman who named her helpless baby after a bee larder..."
Robin "Hob" Cottman. Hob is an old English nickname for Robert or Robin. Cottman means "cottager", which made it a good name for a hob who has a delightful cottage and productive lands. Robin is a name associated with Puck, whose other name is Robin Goodfellow. See the blog post Handles for Hobs for more.
The Cornfellow brothers have a rustic surname and solid old first names; Patrick and Nicholas.
Skye McFee Bakewell has a hippy name to match her personality. "McFee" is a Scottish name that may mean "Child of fairies".
Simon, (Si) is an older name that never really goes out of style. Honey considers her parents' rhyming names (Skye and Si) embarrassing and is glad they didn't choose to name her Diana and call her Di.
Jake Peters, Honey's sculptor ex-fiance, has siblings called Jenna and Chris. Chris started out as Rob, but that was too close to Hob
Pen and Ink
Pen Swan's name is admittedly odd. A pen is a female swan, after all. Pen is an illustrator, who specialises in pen and ink sketches. It's possible her full first name is Penelope, which means weaver or, by extension, faithful wife since the mythological Penelope was the wife of Odysseus. Pen is a short and simple name with a good deal of meaning behind it
Duffy Inkersoll was named because I wanted an Irish first name and a surname that was related to Ink. The name ties him to Pen's name and occupation. Inkersoll is a rare form of Ingersoll. I originally called him Duff, but as I got to know him, Duffy seemed more appropriate.
Here are Pen and Duffy discussing the possibilities of names...
“I don’t burgle. In case you were wondering about my future occupation, I’m setting up a private enquiry agency. I’m thinking of calling it Little Cat Feet.”
“You are not.”
“Inkersollutions.”
“Better.”
“You could always join me. We’d be Inkerpen, not to be confused with Interpol.”
“Pen and Ink inc.”
“Hey! I like that. Seriously?”
“We’ll see.”
Green Balls
Peckerdale Peter Grene has an odd name but he's a pixie, after all. The in-story explanation is that he is named for his grandfathers, Peter Grene and Peter Peckerdale. His friends usually call him Peck, or Pecker. This is a slang word, but also close to Puck, a traditional fairy name. Grene is a surname which means...green.
Chloe Fraser has a Greek first name and a Scottish last name. Chloe means green shoot and Chloe is fond of the colour green. It's no wonder she eventually succumbs to Peck's charms.
Ryl Merriweather, Peck's older cousin, has a name that could be short for Amaryllis, (but isn't) or could be related to a rill, or stream. It's uncommon. It's revealed in The Kissing Ring that her second name is Glissando.
Peck's friends from Over There have less human names.
Heidi Ash the tree maid has a tree surname and a pretty and not-too-common first name.
Oash the sylvan has a name derived from oak and ash two trees associated with fairies.
Poll, Niss and Plie have unusual names. Poll is related to Pollux, and that may be his full name. Niss is related to nissa or nisse, a water fairy. Plie is a ballet step, suggesting grace. The second water lad, Hector, has a Greek/Scottish name. It seems the odd one out, but Pollux is also Greek.
Shan, the cheerful pixie miss, has a short and fairly unusual name like Heidi
Horizontal Bunny Hop
Mab O'Mara has an unusual first name from the queen of the fairies and an Irish surname. The in-story reason is that her parents wanted a name that couldn't be shortened. Mab's sister is Bess, another short name, and the name of another queen.
Diarmaid "Derry" Warrener has a complicated Irish first name and its pet name equivalent for everyday use. The surname means rabbit keeper.
His brother is Hal, an old English form of Henry, married to Ruth, whom Mab refers to as "Reception".
Hot Summer Knight
Piers Le Fay is a cousin to Niall Le Fay and shares his surname. It means "the fairy" and is also the famed surname of King Arthur's half sister, Morgan Le Fay. Piers is a rather superior mediaeval English name as befits a knight. His cousin calls him Prof, reflecting his usual occupation.
Kendra Eckmann was going to be called Keira but for some reason it didn't work, so I tried different names until something took. Kendra is a pretty name that is neither peculiar nor very common, and means "knowledge". Since Kendra is a researcher, this was a happy coincidence. Her surname, Eckmann, was an effort to shift from the Celtic names I'd been using.
Fairy on the Christmas Tree
Frances was my aunt's name. It's pretty and not very common, and it just seemed to fit my eccentric red-haired heroine. Her surname, Eckmann, which she shares with Kendra is explained above.
Niall Le Fay has a surname meaning "the fairy" and famous for its association with Morgan Le Fay. Niall is a Celtic form of Neil, and just "felt" right for a fairy. He uses Egbert as a pseudonym while working as a check-out chap dressed as an elf.
Casey, Frances' untrustworthy ex, has one of those unisex names.
Flori and the Best Men
Hamish McTavish has a clearly Scottish name. In his clansman guise he goes by McTavish
Gervais St Clair has an aristocratic name similar to Piers Le Fay's in Hot Summer Night. Hamish calls him Gervy and after a while Flori does as well
His sisters Katharine "Kit" and Eloise "Lissy" have aristocratic names as well. They call him Child which is to keep him in his (younger brother) place.
Floribunda Rose Alexandris (Flori) has another unexpected name like Honeycomb Bakewell. Floribunda means "many blossoms" and is the name of a type of multi-blossomed rose. Her second name, "Rose" reinforces this. Floribunda is not generally a name, but it fits in with name-stock, having the short form Flori which Flori herself says is "Flora with an i instead of an a". The full name hints at abundance, and Flori is a plus-size heroine with an hourglass figure. Her last name is Greek, and she does have long wavy dark hair and dark eyes, making her contrast nicely with Hamish's dark red and Gervais's fair hair. Alexander means 'Helper of Men", which hints that Flori is as good for the best men as they are for her.
Treefolk
Tally Beech, Sash, and Moss are tree maids and a beechmaster.
Leprechauns
Leprechauns tend to use traditional Irish first names, while surnames are a matter of choice and are often descriptive. The leppies don't need surnames to identify one another, as they have genealogy at their fingertips.
Kieran Shamrock is a leprechaun man, lovie (husband) of Tally Beech. Shamrock is probably a convenience rather than his true last name
Alannah is his cousin and Eileen o' the Mist and Grainne Forge are his sisters. His daughters are Sinead and Ashling.
Cara is a friend of Alannah
Sean McTavish, Hamish's youngest brother, is a leprechaun. He is known to Kieran and Alannah as "Highland Sean".
Tadhg is the baby son of Sash the tree maid and her Leprechaun husband
Brae people
The brae people have traditional Scottish names. Hamish's father is Lachlan and his mother is Jenny.
Court people
The court people have aristocratic names
Gervais' parents are Gavin and Joanna and his sisters are Katharine "Kit" and Eloise "Lissy"
A court girl Hamish and Gervais know is Matilda du Fen
Hobs
William is a stable hob
Joss Hollander is also a stable hob
The Courting of Eileen
Eileen has a traditional Irish name meaning "light". Sean must know this because he puns on it.
Her last name, "o' the Mist" is something she chose at fifteen to commemorate a startling incident.
Sean McTavish has a name that spans Irish and Scottish heritage and his last name is Scottish
Kieran Shamrock is Eileen's elder brother. He has an Irish first name meaning "little dark one" and his last name is taken from the village where he lives.
Tally Beech is Kieran's lovie (wife). She has a beechclanner name.
Sinead and Ashling are the beechmaid daughters of Tally and Kieran. They have Irish first names. The leprechaun gossoons, their brothers, are not named in this book
Grainne Forge is one of Eileen and Kieran's sisters. Her name is taken from her occupation.
Elen (el-LENN) is a Welsh name meaning "light". Elen's surname, if any, isn't known
Shamus has an Irish name but no last name mentioned
Cushy and Burry have dialect-sounding names (they are cows) and Wonder's name fits in sound, but probably denotes an unusual colour
Wish-Matched
Susan has a name which means "lily". It's a common name for the period, and her parents call her that in full. Her grandfather calls her "Sky-maid"
Alicia has a slightly posh name
Eddie has a name that hints that he's not the dominant one in the marriage
Joe Bakewell has a pleasant name suited to the period
Liz, his wife, has a similarly short and friendly name
Janus, the water lad, has a classical name as they often do
Tia, Sha, and Mari have short pretty names as water maids often do
Kishie the pixie miss has a soft name reminiscent of "kiss"
York Shimmer the pixie has an abrupt first name and a softer last name, hinting at his nature
Ryl Skipton appears in other books as Ryl Merriweather
Pisky Business
Linda Hobbs has a plain and rather colourless name, but there's more going on than meets the eye. She was named in the late 1970s, and her mother chose the name because it means beautiful. Hobbs is a mishearing of Linda's very young father's inexperienced attempt at disclosure. Later it's revealed that Jory, like Linda's mother, perceives her name a beautiful.
George Pendennis renamed himself Jory in his teens, on the grounds that his surname is Cornish. Jory is the Cornish form of George.
Mary Canterbury has a timeless and stylish name. She was born in the late 1950s. Linda wishes her mother had given her Canterbury as a surname. Her name forms part of the salon name of Canden.
Rachel Pendennis, Mary's friend, also has a timeless and stylish name. Her friend calls her "Rach" and her son annoys her by calling her "Ma".
Merryn Pendennis, (Merry) is Jory's father. He coincidentally has the same name as Rachel, so Jory has the correct surname. Merry's personality reflects his name. He's sweet-natured for a pisky, and has passed this trait on to his sons. Merryn is a Cornish name.
Jem Cottman is Linda's father. He's a hob, and they tend to have strong, solid English names. His wife is Iris and their son is Robin.
Jory's half-brother is called Tane. He's Merry's son by Tam, a water maid, and because Tam had the naming of him, he has a water lad name.
Keeley Weir has a name which could be made into a nickname - "Kiwi".
Drew Marsh, her human husband, has an ordinary-sounding name
Their sons, Yestin (Yes), Kevern (Kev) and Caden have Cornish names, suggesting Keeley named them
Laura Pendennis is named by Linda, but she chose a name she knew Jory loved. It encompasses both their names, sharing its first and last letter with Linda's and its major vowel sound with both Jory's chosen name and his original name
Amaryllis Geranium Trip has names echoing her mother (Mary) and father (Geraint)
Richenda Pendennis, Jory's baby sister, has a pretty and uncommon first name
Sam and the Sylvan
Sam Silver has a unisex first name because her parents weren't sure what she was. Her last name is a corruption of "Sylvan".
Her mother is Sherry, her great uncle Shem and her cousin is Solly. The clan favours S names, including Sofa (Sofia) and Shoshanna.
The Merriweather boys all have musical first names beginning with T which can be shortened to an easy three-letter nickname.
Tabor (Tab) - a drum
Tango (Tan) - a dance
Tempo (Tem) - musical timing
Timbre (Tim) - tone
Josefa McCord has a musical name with more dignity than her nickname "Jojo". Tab calls her "Josefa".
Sunshower
Josefa and the Merriweather boys are named as detailed above. New characters in this book include:
Beatrice Florin, a pisky woman who was married to a human. Beatrice is in middle age but chooses to appear older. She has a classic English name. Her second name is unusual, but suggests silver, of which piskies are fond.
Nathaniel Applebee, the hob publican, has a traditional English male name coupled with a rural-sounding surname.
Sheelagh Chalk has an Irish first name and a last name suggesting her family lives near the hobs in the chalk lands.
Tied up in Tinsel
Felicity Echo has a name that means "good things" and "repeat", although it could also refer to a Greek nymph.
Charles and his son George have good solid British names meaning "a man" and "a man of the land".
Sarah, George's mother, is named for the biblical Sarah who had an unexpected child.
Natalia, Niall's mother, has a Christmas name.
The Kissing Ring
Alexander Peckerdale has a name which means defender of men. He acts as Ryl's and Tom's friend/helper.
Kris Peckerdale's name means I carry Christ and he too is a helper and advisor, though a less sympathetic one. He is fond of animals and they react well to him, which is why his second name is Francis.
Mish Verhoven, Tom's first girlfriend, has a soft casual first name with a more unusual (probably Dutch) last name. Her full first name is Michelle, a common 1960s-1980s name, popular in The Beatles' song.
Annabel Vehovan, Mish's mother, has a girlish but determined-sounding name. The last syllable reflects the bell motif which is part of her character.
Oison Seekjoy is a leprechaun gossoon with a traditional Irish myth-name and a last name of his choosing, highlighting his happy and sweet nature. He quips that if he'd met his lover before he chose it would have been Foundjoy. His first name is pronounced OH-sheen.
Popcorn Guy is how Tom thinks of Mish's later boyfriend whose name is actually Guy Popplewell.
Midsummer Melody
Roderick Skipton has a Norman (or Welsh) first name, as many of the courtfolk do. His surname is English, possibly from hob chalk country, suggesting his bloodline isn't entirely Court
Melody Peckerdale is a pixie, and has a pretty name with pleasant connotations. Her sister is Leilani, whose name means flower. She meets Roderick at a midsummer ball, so the name is appropriate
Calico Calypso
Calypso Lindon has a pretty but unusual name. The Lindon echoes Jenny Lind the singer, though Calypso is a dancer. Calico is her pet name.
Kris Peckerdale's real name is Kristos; a whim of Pia's. It matches up with Calypso's as both are Greek.
Deek Caffrey is a hybrid. Caffrey echoes his leprechaun heritage, while Deek is an unusual name that suggests he's a nonconformist.
The dancers at The Cats Pyjamas all have double-repeating-syllable names such as Mimi, Coco, Didi, Dodo, and Lulu. These aren't their real names. Mimi's actual name is Janine Berry,
Colour
.Colour is used for contrast and theme
In Honey and the Harvest Hob the predominant colours are brown and gold, though Hob has blue eyes
Green Balls has green as a major theme. Peck and Chloe both have green eyes, and Chloe wears a lot of green and drives a green car. Peck has black hair and olive skin
Pen and Ink has black, indigo and gold/yellow as its colour scheme. Duffy and Ink have black hair and indigo eyes, while Pen dresses in gold and indigo and yellow
Flori and the Best Men has contrasts. Flori has dark hair and eyes and wears yellow and heather colours, while Hamish has dark red hair and heather-coloured eyes and Gervais is fair, pale and grey-eyed. When his eyes go blue it's a plot point. McTavish wears a red and green/blue plaid, but that's the McTavish tartan...it was sheer good luck that the loud colours matched his personality. Gervais favours cool colours like blue
Both men wear dark trousers and white poet shirts at the wedding with ochre pocket squares
The Courting of Eileen has a lot of green. The leppy men have a green cast to their skin. Eileen and Sean both have green eyes and black hair. Eileen wears green and white, while Elen wears yellow and green. Sean wears red and teal, and later, a white shirt. Tally wears russet, and Kieran has a russet shirt with his green breeches. The coverlets Sean summons are wheat coloured. Shamus has dark red hair and green eyes. Eileen's cows are dappled (Cushy), red (Burry) and possibly parti-coloured (Wonder)
Wish-Matched has blue as a major colour. Skye favours blue for her transi, and her grandfather gives her blue leather boots. Mari wears blue for York (and Si clearly likes it too). Skye's name reflects the colour. The second colour is gold- Susan uses gold lace for her grandfather, Si has dark honey-coloured eyes and favours honey for food, and the lovers meet at sunset.
Pisky Business has blue and silver. Linda's magic dress is royal blue and silver, and the piskies favour silver. Mr Trip's eyes love-up blue, while Linda's go silver/mother-of-pearl. Mary's gown is silvery peach-pink.
Sam and the Sylvan has shades of yellow and green. Chloe wears her signature green and now has an emerald engagement ring via Peck's great great grandmother Grene - made by a Pendennis jeweller. Sam wears an unflattering fuchsia mini with a bulky coat and boots, but moves into soft greens and yellows. Oash the sylvan favours these colours too. Josefa wears sunshine yellow to suit her optimistic personality.
Sunshower has blue, brown, yellow and white/cream. Josefa has a blue dress and Tab wears brown with a white shirt. Josefa's hair is yellow, and they have cream nightshirts at The Harvest Hob. The alpenkuchen is brown and white
Midsummer Melody is blue and yellow. Melody has a yellow dress and Maggie and Babette are in blue
In Honey and the Harvest Hob the predominant colours are brown and gold, though Hob has blue eyes
Green Balls has green as a major theme. Peck and Chloe both have green eyes, and Chloe wears a lot of green and drives a green car. Peck has black hair and olive skin
Pen and Ink has black, indigo and gold/yellow as its colour scheme. Duffy and Ink have black hair and indigo eyes, while Pen dresses in gold and indigo and yellow
Flori and the Best Men has contrasts. Flori has dark hair and eyes and wears yellow and heather colours, while Hamish has dark red hair and heather-coloured eyes and Gervais is fair, pale and grey-eyed. When his eyes go blue it's a plot point. McTavish wears a red and green/blue plaid, but that's the McTavish tartan...it was sheer good luck that the loud colours matched his personality. Gervais favours cool colours like blue
Both men wear dark trousers and white poet shirts at the wedding with ochre pocket squares
The Courting of Eileen has a lot of green. The leppy men have a green cast to their skin. Eileen and Sean both have green eyes and black hair. Eileen wears green and white, while Elen wears yellow and green. Sean wears red and teal, and later, a white shirt. Tally wears russet, and Kieran has a russet shirt with his green breeches. The coverlets Sean summons are wheat coloured. Shamus has dark red hair and green eyes. Eileen's cows are dappled (Cushy), red (Burry) and possibly parti-coloured (Wonder)
Wish-Matched has blue as a major colour. Skye favours blue for her transi, and her grandfather gives her blue leather boots. Mari wears blue for York (and Si clearly likes it too). Skye's name reflects the colour. The second colour is gold- Susan uses gold lace for her grandfather, Si has dark honey-coloured eyes and favours honey for food, and the lovers meet at sunset.
Pisky Business has blue and silver. Linda's magic dress is royal blue and silver, and the piskies favour silver. Mr Trip's eyes love-up blue, while Linda's go silver/mother-of-pearl. Mary's gown is silvery peach-pink.
Sam and the Sylvan has shades of yellow and green. Chloe wears her signature green and now has an emerald engagement ring via Peck's great great grandmother Grene - made by a Pendennis jeweller. Sam wears an unflattering fuchsia mini with a bulky coat and boots, but moves into soft greens and yellows. Oash the sylvan favours these colours too. Josefa wears sunshine yellow to suit her optimistic personality.
Sunshower has blue, brown, yellow and white/cream. Josefa has a blue dress and Tab wears brown with a white shirt. Josefa's hair is yellow, and they have cream nightshirts at The Harvest Hob. The alpenkuchen is brown and white
Midsummer Melody is blue and yellow. Melody has a yellow dress and Maggie and Babette are in blue
Jewellery
Jewellery is quite important to the fay and their associates.
Chloe Fraser wears green earrings and a bracelet, which help to attract Peck who has a pixie's fondness for the colour. He gives her a silver and emerald engagement ring, made for his g-g-grandmother Grene by an ancestor of Merryn Pendennis.
The piskies, including Keeley Marsh, Merryn and Jory Pendennis typically wear a silver earring in one ear. They are drawn to silver, and Merryn's family are silver jewellers. Merryn makes pieces to sell Over Here and also makes one-off pieces for people he loves. He gave Rachel Pendennis a pisky earring as a keepsake and call-to-me on the occasion of Jory's conception. He also made the wheat figured brooch Jem Cottman left for Mary. When he reunites with Rachel, Merryn gives her an intricate silver belt. It's likely he also made the engagement ring Jory gave to Linda and Flori, Gervais and Hamish plan to ask him for triple bands for their wedding. He may have made the ring Geraint Trip gives to Mary.
Merry certainly made the kissing rings Tom and Ryl exchange, and also the Popcorn ring Guy Popplewell gives to Mish Verhoven. His son Tane Pendennis is also a jeweller. He makes the Pisky Waters line of jewellery. Tane made the silver earring Linda gave to Jory
Chloe Fraser wears green earrings and a bracelet, which help to attract Peck who has a pixie's fondness for the colour. He gives her a silver and emerald engagement ring, made for his g-g-grandmother Grene by an ancestor of Merryn Pendennis.
The piskies, including Keeley Marsh, Merryn and Jory Pendennis typically wear a silver earring in one ear. They are drawn to silver, and Merryn's family are silver jewellers. Merryn makes pieces to sell Over Here and also makes one-off pieces for people he loves. He gave Rachel Pendennis a pisky earring as a keepsake and call-to-me on the occasion of Jory's conception. He also made the wheat figured brooch Jem Cottman left for Mary. When he reunites with Rachel, Merryn gives her an intricate silver belt. It's likely he also made the engagement ring Jory gave to Linda and Flori, Gervais and Hamish plan to ask him for triple bands for their wedding. He may have made the ring Geraint Trip gives to Mary.
Merry certainly made the kissing rings Tom and Ryl exchange, and also the Popcorn ring Guy Popplewell gives to Mish Verhoven. His son Tane Pendennis is also a jeweller. He makes the Pisky Waters line of jewellery. Tane made the silver earring Linda gave to Jory
Nelis Comice Winter's charm bracelet, made for her by her fiance, Xavier Partridge. The twelve charms represent their first year together...
The two pears are a winter nelis and a comice pear, the pink party dress represents their first kiss, the bird is a partridge, the two rings are for their upcoming wedding, the jar represents marmalade, the tomato is for Nelis' garden, the the X and the N are for their initials. The two hearts are for their promise to marry.
Scents of the Fay
Scents of the Fay
Many fay have a distinctive personal scent. Here are some of them.
A
Acacia
Otto Fairling
Air-dried washing
Skye Bakewell
Almonds
Chess Dane
Apples
Kev Marsh
Autumn harvest and baking bread
Hob
B
Baking bread
Grete Luchsinger
Black currant
Joyful Dark
Boronia
Richenda Pendennis
Broad bean flowers
Augie Herron
C
Camomile
Promise Grene
Candy-Pash perfume
Mish Verhoven
Catmint (nepeta)
Calypso Lindon
Champagne and high end perfume
Alicia McFee
Cherries
Evangeline Le Fay
Chocolate
Derry
Christmas pudding
Deek Caffrey
Chrysanthemums
Valentine Caffrey
Cinnamon
Tempo
Citrus
Foss Chancery
Clover
Sean McTavish
Clover and hay
Liffey Rosheen
Clover flowers
Dervla Flower
Clove-carnations
Melody
Cloves
Tango
Coffee
Eddie McFee
D
Dog roses green notes
Eileen
E
Eau de cologne
Phillipa Hackney
F
Figs
Corin Peckerdale
firecrackers and pine
The Hardy twins – Dumas and Frans
Frangipani
LeeLee Grene
Fresh air and sunlight
Julius
Furze
Alexander Peckerdale
G
Geranium
Betula Bakewell
Ginger
Timbre
Grass
Peter Peckerdale
Green apples/ Green tea and clover (Perfume)
Chloe
Freshly cut grass
Fergal son o’ Padraig son o Lorcan Hillman…
Green growing things
Gentian Grene
Green scent
Peck
H
Hay
Joe Bakewell
Ancel de Libre
Heather and Peat
Hamish
Herb garden / eau de cologne mint
Duffy
Herbs
Quinn Peckerdale
Honey
Si
Honeycomb
I
Incense
Rory Inkersoll and Red
J
Jasmine
Beatrice Florin
Sweet perfume – later Lemons (Perfume)
Josefa
L
Lemonade
Jacobi le Fay
Lemons
Josefa (perfume made by Gentian Grene)
Lemon verbena
Yvanne Skipton
Lilies
Lillianne Persimmon Skipton
Lime blossom
Nanette Leopold Fanshaw
M
Marmalade
Xavier Partridge
Marzipan
Flick Echo Dark
N
New Bread
Parsifal Brioche
New mown grass
Jem Cottman
Nutmeg
Tabor
O
Oatcakes
Emer
Ocean
Lore Mor Arlodh
Oranges
Theodora
Orange blossom
Suzette
P
Pancakes
Dara Treadwell
Peppermint
McNamara “Mac” Tilley
Pineapple Sage
Yes Marsh
Pine tree
Lanner St Ives
Poplar
Mal Grene
Primrose
Giselle Skipton
Q
Quince
Betony Field
R
Roses and lavender–
Ryl
Rosewater
Gervais
S
Sandalwood
Sam Silver
Spices
Tor Chancery
Spring
Kishie
Spring grass, blossom, wet leaves
Oash
Spring rain
Heidi Ash
Spruce and snow
Nord Lindstrom
Strawberries
Xanthe Persimmon
Summer
Piers Le Fay
T
Tansy
Tansy Thrift
Tea
Court Leopold
Tea roses
Linda
Thyme
Kris Peckerdale
V
Vanilla
Amalie de Courcy
W
Wallflowers
Tam
Walnut and other autumn leaves
Brigitta
Wild roses
Mari
Willow catkins
Dove Inkersoll
Wintersweet
Jisinia Peckerdale
Wisteria
Pia Peckerdale
Many fay have a distinctive personal scent. Here are some of them.
A
Acacia
Otto Fairling
Air-dried washing
Skye Bakewell
Almonds
Chess Dane
Apples
Kev Marsh
Autumn harvest and baking bread
Hob
B
Baking bread
Grete Luchsinger
Black currant
Joyful Dark
Boronia
Richenda Pendennis
Broad bean flowers
Augie Herron
C
Camomile
Promise Grene
Candy-Pash perfume
Mish Verhoven
Catmint (nepeta)
Calypso Lindon
Champagne and high end perfume
Alicia McFee
Cherries
Evangeline Le Fay
Chocolate
Derry
Christmas pudding
Deek Caffrey
Chrysanthemums
Valentine Caffrey
Cinnamon
Tempo
Citrus
Foss Chancery
Clover
Sean McTavish
Clover and hay
Liffey Rosheen
Clover flowers
Dervla Flower
Clove-carnations
Melody
Cloves
Tango
Coffee
Eddie McFee
D
Dog roses green notes
Eileen
E
Eau de cologne
Phillipa Hackney
F
Figs
Corin Peckerdale
firecrackers and pine
The Hardy twins – Dumas and Frans
Frangipani
LeeLee Grene
Fresh air and sunlight
Julius
Furze
Alexander Peckerdale
G
Geranium
Betula Bakewell
Ginger
Timbre
Grass
Peter Peckerdale
Green apples/ Green tea and clover (Perfume)
Chloe
Freshly cut grass
Fergal son o’ Padraig son o Lorcan Hillman…
Green growing things
Gentian Grene
Green scent
Peck
H
Hay
Joe Bakewell
Ancel de Libre
Heather and Peat
Hamish
Herb garden / eau de cologne mint
Duffy
Herbs
Quinn Peckerdale
Honey
Si
Honeycomb
I
Incense
Rory Inkersoll and Red
J
Jasmine
Beatrice Florin
Sweet perfume – later Lemons (Perfume)
Josefa
L
Lemonade
Jacobi le Fay
Lemons
Josefa (perfume made by Gentian Grene)
Lemon verbena
Yvanne Skipton
Lilies
Lillianne Persimmon Skipton
Lime blossom
Nanette Leopold Fanshaw
M
Marmalade
Xavier Partridge
Marzipan
Flick Echo Dark
N
New Bread
Parsifal Brioche
New mown grass
Jem Cottman
Nutmeg
Tabor
O
Oatcakes
Emer
Ocean
Lore Mor Arlodh
Oranges
Theodora
Orange blossom
Suzette
P
Pancakes
Dara Treadwell
Peppermint
McNamara “Mac” Tilley
Pineapple Sage
Yes Marsh
Pine tree
Lanner St Ives
Poplar
Mal Grene
Primrose
Giselle Skipton
Q
Quince
Betony Field
R
Roses and lavender–
Ryl
Rosewater
Gervais
S
Sandalwood
Sam Silver
Spices
Tor Chancery
Spring
Kishie
Spring grass, blossom, wet leaves
Oash
Spring rain
Heidi Ash
Spruce and snow
Nord Lindstrom
Strawberries
Xanthe Persimmon
Summer
Piers Le Fay
T
Tansy
Tansy Thrift
Tea
Court Leopold
Tea roses
Linda
Thyme
Kris Peckerdale
V
Vanilla
Amalie de Courcy
W
Wallflowers
Tam
Walnut and other autumn leaves
Brigitta
Wild roses
Mari
Willow catkins
Dove Inkersoll
Wintersweet
Jisinia Peckerdale
Wisteria
Pia Peckerdale