The Story of A Fairy Family is a handwritten fairytale from 1918. Only four copies were produced and only two are known to survive in private collections. The book is a collaborative project reimagining an autumn at Jessie M. King’s Greengate Close in Kirkcudbright. It was produced by Vera Jack Holme, a suffragette and driver for the Scottish Women’s Hospitals, with Cecile Walton and two other Scottish artists, Dorothy Johnstone and Anne Finlay. 

It recounts the story of a couple (Jack and Dorothy) who find a child (Anne) while a Ghost (Cecile) watches on. The book reimagines the group’s relationship in the form of a fairy story, relating both their joy and their knowledge that their relationship will soon end.

As a researcher of Greengate Close in Kirkcudbright, I became fascinated with this queer Scottish fairy story. I began sharing my research in through in-person and online lectures, workshops, and audio tours across Scotland. I was very lucky to be commissioned by Aberdeen University’s WayWORD Festival to write, design, and hand-bind a pamphlet introducing the Fairy Family to a wider audience. The book explores the fate of the four copies of the original manuscripts and introduces this glimpse into Scottish art history to a wider audience. My WayWORD commissioned pamphlet is now available to support researchers in libraries and public collections which hold the work of these artists.