A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Farmer Mybrow clears land beside a forest inhabited by beings the English edition calls fairies. When he cuts a bush, an unseen voice asks who is working. After he identifies himself, the group offers assistance and rapidly clears the field. He later deliberately strikes a stump to summon them again. They burn dry vegetation, remove stumps, prepare maize and yam ground and help with digging, sowing and planting. The resulting crop flourishes, although he conceals its location from neighbours.
His wife eventually learns where the field lies, with instructions not to answer questions there. Seeing green maize and yams, she picks some and defiantly answers the hidden voices. The fairies immediately offer to help her harvest and strip the entire field before she can object. Because the plants are unripe, the abundance is ruined. Their power is accelerated collective labour responsive to a spoken action; the account supplies no wings, miniature size or European-style costume.
Origins & earliest records
Barker and Sinclair collected versions from experienced teacher-training students at Accra and selected, arranged and retold them for this 1917 volume.
Records & interpretation
The selected tale attests the represented actions. The introduction explains the collection method; individual speakers and unedited transcripts are not provided here.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
West African Folk-Tales
Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies
- 02
West African Folk-Tales — XXXVI. Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies
W.H.Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, West African Folk-Tales, London: George G.Harrap & Company, MCMXVII(1917), CompletePress WestNorwood. Title and selected introduction methodpp14–16 independently read; stories collected through Accra teacher-training students, multiple versions selected and retold, not unmediated transcripts.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
West African Folk-Tales
W.H.Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, West African Folk-Tales, London: George G.Harrap & Company, MCMXVII(1917), CompletePress WestNorwood. Title and selected introduction methodpp14–16 independently read; stories collected through Accra teacher-training students, multiple versions selected and retold, not unmediated transcripts.
- Fairies help Mybrow’s agricultural tasks but later imitate his wife’s premature harvesting, destroying the unripe crop.
XXXVI. Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies, complete tale, printedpp.181–184; introduction methodpp14–16
Collection’s selected/edited English student versions, not exact first oral attestation or universal cultural biography. Introductory colonial judgments and editorial claims of removing spurious elements remain attributed. No songs, prayers, magical invocation wording or current zoological explanation copied; no whole book/introduction review asserted.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Collected and arranged oral taleFarmer Mybrow and the FairiesResearch access: 2026-10-05
- Collector methodologyIntroduction — collection methodResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
