Maisie's Cakes - A Story About Fairies and Their Love of Her Baking -- from Scotland

Maisie McKenzie was the best baker in Scotland. She baked her cakes and scones in her stone fireplace which was probably the only thing holding up her simple thatched cottage at the end of a country lane.  Not only was she known for being a fantastic baker, Maisie was also known for being very smart, a clever woman. Being an expert baker got her in more than a wee bit of trouble, but it was her cleverness that got her out of it.

If you know about fairies, you might not be surprised to hear that the fairies had something to do with it, too. In this little village, the fairies were crazy about Maisie's little cakes. The problem was that the people in the village loved Maisie's cakes, too, so there was hardly ever a crumb left for a fairy to find.

So, the fairies made their plan to capture Maisie and keep her always so that she would bake cakes JUST for them.

So, this is what happened. That night, the fairies hid in the grass. Maisie was out for her evening stroll. She swatted at the air in front of her face and thought, " My stars, the fireflies are so thick tonight!"

The swarm around Maisie was not the fireflies. Don't you know, it was the fairies with moonlight shimmering from their wings!

These were sneaky fairies, mind you, and being sneaky, they dropped fern seed in Maisie's eyes. If you know about the fairies, you might know that fern seed makes people feel sleepy and fall into a deep slumber.

With the fern seed the fairies put in Maisie's eyes, she felt so sleepy that she had to go down to her knees and then onto the grass so she could sleep. Maisie got comfortable for sleep, thinking she was lying on a grassy hill. In truth, it was a fairy mound, so she was now in the fairies' power.

After a restful slumber, Maisie awoke, looked around her and asked, "Am I in fairyland?"

The fairies had been waiting for Maisie to wake up.

They answered her, "You will stay with us always and bake for us." Maisie was flattered, but she knew there was NO WAY she was going to stay with the fairies for the rest of her life.

Maisie could see the fairies had become very impatient to taste the cakes. Wanting more time to think about the trouble she was in, Maisie turned to the fairies and said, "I need the equipment from my kitchen."

Getting more impatient, the fairies dashed out to get the woman her baking equipment. They came back with her equipment.

Then Maisie said," You're largest mixing bowl is too small for me to mix with.
"That is not nearly big enough." She

So, the fairies made their plan to capture Maisie and keep her always so that she would bake cakes JUST for them.

So, this is what happened. That night, the fairies hid in the grass. Maisie was out for her evening stroll. 

She swatted at the air in front of her face and thought, " My stars, the fireflies are so thick tonight!"

The swarm around Maisie was not the fireflies. Don't you know, it was the fairies with moonlight shimmering from their wings!

These were sneaky fairies, mind you, and being sneaky, they dropped fern seed in Maisie's eyes. If you know about the fairies, you might know that fern seed makes people feel sleepy and fall into a deep slumber. With the fern seed the fairies put in Maisie's eyes, she felt so sleepy that she had to go down to her knees and then onto the grass so she could sleep. Maisie got comfortable for sleep, thinking she was lying on a grassy hill. In truth, it was a fairy mound, so she was now in the fairies' power.

After a restful slumber, Maisie awoke, looked around her and asked, "Am I in fairyland?"

The fairies had been waiting for Maisie to wake up.

They answered her, "You will stay with us always and bake for us." Maisie was flattered, but she knew there was NO WAY she was going to stay with the fairies for the rest of her life.

Maisie could see the fairies had become very impatient to taste the cakes. Wanting more time to think about the trouble she was in, Maisie turned to the fairies and said, "I need the equipment from my kitchen."

Getting more impatient, the fairies dashed out to get the woman her baking equipment. They came back with her equipment.

Then Maisie said," You're largest mixing bowl is too small for me to mix with.
"That is not nearly big enough." She described the kind of bowl she needed and the

fairies went off again in search of the right bowl. The fairies returned with the large bowl that Maisie described.

Pausing for a moment, Maisie said, " My stars! I need my utensils to mix this batter. She asked the fairies to go back to her kitchen to retrieve her kitchen utensils. Maisie insisted that they bring back her whisk, spatula, and wooden spoons.

The fairies were now exhausted from running back and forth to get what Maisie needed to bake her perfect cakes. The fairies tried to keep calm because they knew the cake would be worth all their trouble.

As Maisie worked on her cakes, she stopped and called out, "It's no use! I can't bake without my cat by my side."

The fairies sang out, "Get the cat!"

They hurried to Maisie's baker's house and returned with the cat. The cat purred as Maisie stirred the batter.

Shaking her head in frustration, Maisie, the baker, said,"I cannot get the rhythm of the mixing without my dog here to snore on every second beat."

"Get the dog!" shouted the fairies.

Finally, it looked like they would be tasting those cakes very soon. Maisie's dog curled up on the floor. The dog snored, the cat purred, and the woman mixed the batter.

The fairies waited, looking at each other knowing it wouldn't be too much longer. All seemed well.

"I miss my little boy," said Maisie. Two of the fairies went to get Maisie's husband to bring their son. Once the little boy was there, Maisie gave the boy a wooden spoon and a pot and he entertained himself by banging loudly on the pot with the spoon.

The husband was afraid of the fairies. He knew they had special powers. He had faith that his wife had a plan to get out of there. Maybe she had some way in mind for him to help.

It was so noisy and above all the noise, Maisie whispered to her husband, "Pinch the dog!" and
he did just that.

"Step on the cat's tail!" whispered Maisie again. 

"YOW!"

The the kitchen was filled with so much noise! The fairies ran around in circles covering their ears because fairies can't stand such loud noises. They looked at each other as if they were in pain from all that noise.

Unable to wait any longer for Maisie's yummy cakes, the fairies commanded Maisie ,"Go home!"

And that is how Maisie, the clever Scottish baker, fooled the fairies and got to go home, just as she wanted.

Copyright 2011 Elaine Robinson