The Brownies Of Brimmond Hill By Angela Joss and Illustrated by Shirelle Young
The Brownies of Brimmond Hill
Written by Angela Joss and illustrated by Shirelle Young DEDICATION Angela Joss – To my Dad, Johnnie Dunn, who encouraged me to look for the small furred and feathered things, and to appreciate our place alongside them. And to my Mum, Dot Dunn, who encouraged me to be tidy. Unsuccessfully. Luckily, there are Brownies….. Shirelle Young – To my mother, Melba who gifted me a childhood full of exploration, pets, plants and wildlife and the confidence to explore creativity and nature that has stayed with me all my life and is reflected in the art I do.
FOREWORD
By David Morland, Aberdeen and District Beekeepers’ Association. Let this book, written by Angie Joss, whom I have helped to learn more about bees and how to look after them, take you into the magical world of the mystical creatures that live in harmony with the wild life and plants, to Brimmond Hill where the Brownies are sad because all the honey bees seem to have disappeared. As you will know, bees are terribly important to us as they buzz about, pollinating the flowers and collecting nectar and pollen to feed their babies. If the flowers don’t get pollinated there won’t be as much delicious fruit and vegetables for us to eat, like strawberries, pears, tomatoes and peas. We humans have not been looking after the world that nature gave us, and our future is not good unless something can be done. So the Brownies have a meeting and come up with a plan which everybody can help with. Beekeepers, like myself and like Angie, also work to help the honey bees. If you’d like more information about Aberdeen and District Beekeepers’ Association, a charity promoting the study and development of apiculture, and advancing the heritage, culture and science of beekeeping amongst their membership and throughout the wider community, use the link below http://aberdeenbeekeepers.net
Published By Equinox, 2020
©Angela Joss & Shirelle Young The author and illustrator assert their moral rights to this book and its contents. Designed and Printed by The Gatehouse-Design & Print Agency at Robert Gordon University
Behind the grey, granite city of Aberdeen, Live tiny, fairy folk you’ve never seen, For so many years, round Brimmond Hill, They’ve lived their lives and here they are still.
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There’s Fairies, Brownies, Pixies, Elves; Hiding from humans, they keep to themselves, Friends to the animals living here Foxes, butterflies, owls and deer.
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The Brownies who live on Brimmond Hill-side, Look after the land with love and pride, In days long past, they helped out farmers, Now, they’re more like eco warriors! 3
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But the Brimmond Brownies are worried today, It seems all the honey bees have gone away, Without the bees, it’s just not funny, No flowers, no fruit and, of course, no honey! 5
So the Brimmond Brownies decide they will, Help the honey bees on their hill, “Let’s choose one of us to investigate, And save our buzzy friends before it’s too late.” 6
They take a vote, because that’s the best way, After listening to what each other has to say, Then, Bracken’s the Brownie they decide is the one, For they know she won’t stop till the job is done. 7
She looks on the internet and reads lots of books, So she finds things in places other Brownies don’t look, As well as that, she has local knowledge, And Brownie wisdom you won’t learn in college!
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After two weeks, Bracken calls the Brownies together, “Come to the Douping Stane, whatever the weather,” (That’s where Brownies have met, over the years; For dancing, for magic, for sharing their fears.)
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“It’s serious news,” Bracken says to her friends, “Humans might be responsible for this latest trend, Because they neglect the earth, sky and seas, I think they have hurt Brimmond’s little honey bees.”
“No longer are the honey bees swarming, Could this be down to global warming? Sad to say, but the signs are all there, Without our help, this hill may turn bare.”
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“It doesn’t take a scientist to understand, That our bees are vital for the land, Perhaps helping our bees won’t be a global cure, But we need to start locally, that’s for sure”.
“We could ask humans to commit, To take good care of their own wee bit, Of garden, of park, of hill, street or town, So we no longer let Mother Earth down”. 14
“It used to be that buzzing bees would be, Travelling from bush to flower to tree, Pollen from blooms just sticks to their feet To fertilize new plants whilst creating honey, sweet!”
“But now there’s less gardens and less plants, So to gather pollen there’s much less chance,” Bracken was sad as she looked at the Brownies, Saying “Bees need us and we need bees”. 15
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As Bracken finished, the other Brownies smile, Her solution would keep them busy for a while, But “busy” is what these fairy-folk like the best, So they scurry to put Bracken’s theory to the test.
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Next the Brownies ask local children to sow, Flower seeds which they’ll tend and grow, They say, “Take this packet and your rake, Then plant these seeds23for all our sakes.”
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“If we all do this there will be more flowers, And plenty of pollen for bees such as ours, Then, in return, the honey bees will, Pollinate all the blooms on Brimmond Hill.”
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Before we leave the Brownies, on Brimmond Hill, Where they’ve lived for years, and they hide there still, Bracken and friends ask you to remember this idea, As we all sit and look from the hill to the sea – “Every one of us has the power, To plant an idea, a tree, a flower, If we all work together, humans and Brownies, Perhaps we can save Earth – and the honey bees”.
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Angela Joss – A writer, performance poet, beekeeper and a mum of four who believes in the power of community, and of doing little bits of good where you can. Born and raised in sight of Brimmond Hill, its nature – and its magic – have always been part of her life.
Shirelle Young – Painter, printmaker, potter who lives in the countryside, overlooking the sea. Her inspiration comes from nature and her passion is to depict the wildlife that strive to exist despite the difficulties they face from climate change and human persecution. She believes that nature and creativity are the key to our own well-being.
BRILLIANT BEES • Many plants rely on insects like bees in order to be pollinated; which is why they provide nectar to “say thank you” to the bees, and to make sure they keep coming back. • According to Greenpeace, about 70 out of the top 100 things human like to grow to eat, such as apples and strawberries, need bees to pollinate them. • A bee’s wings beat 190 times a second, that’s 11,400 times a minute. • Each colony smells different to bees. This is so they can recognise their home hive. • Every hive needs one queen bee; and, in the warmer months, she will lay around 1,500 eggs a day. • Bees have two separate stomachs; one for food and another just for nectar, sometimes called the “honey stomach”. • Bees communicate using smells called ‘pheromones’ and by performing special ‘dances’ • Bees are the only insect in the world that make food that people can eat – honey. • One bee will only make one twelfth of a tablespoon of honey in its entire life. • It takes over 22,000 bees to make one pound of honey and they would have to visit two million flowers, flying about 55,000 miles - that’s more than twice round the world. Busy bees!
Brimmond Hill is a real place, to the north of Aberdeen city, in Scotland. It is just a small hill, but full of wildlife and plants. Hopefully, there will still be bees there. Like lots of places in our world, it needs humans to be more careful and less greedy, to help all these wild things to survive. You can help bees everywhere, and other insect pollinators, by planting wildflower seeds, in your garden, in a windowbox, even in a small pot outside. The Doupin Stane, where Bracken calls her friends together to discuss their plans, is real, too..... We’ll leave you to decide about the brownies....