The Fairy Feller's Masterstroke

The information on this page, and the image of the painting, is from Andy's Queen Page, where more detailed information on the painting can be found.

The painting is by a Victorian English artist called Richard Dadd. It was the inspiration of Freddie's song of the same name from "Queen II". The characters in the song are:

• The Fairy Feller, the Pedagogue, the Arch Magician, the Apothecary Man and the Ostler
• 'Ploughman, Waggoner Will'
• 'A Politician with senatorial pipe'
• 'A Satyr' peeps under lady's gown'
• 'Tatterdemalion and a junketer there's a Thief and a Dragonfly Trumpeter'
• 'Fairy dandy tickling the fancy of his lady the friend, the nymph in yellow'
• 'Soldier, Sailor, Tinker, Tailor, Ploughboy'
• 'Oberon and Titania watched by a Harridan, Mab is the queen'

The painting was inspired by lines from William Shakespeare's "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream". The Fairy Feller is about to crack open a nut to make a new carriage for the Fairy Queen, Mab. The various characters are watching. ("The Fairy Folk have gathered round the new moon shine to see the feller crack a nut at night's moon time").