animal-mastery

Starhouse's unusual ability to command and make cats dance highlights a supernatural or uncanny talent attributed to fairies.

1 chapter across 1 book

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)Susanna Clarke

4. Tubbs versus Starhouse: a famous case brought before the Quarter Sessions at Nottingham a few years ago.

The chapter recounts the story of Mr. Tubbs, a Nottinghamshire man obsessed with seeing a fairy, who becomes convinced that his coachman, Jack Starhouse, is a fairy. Despite Starhouse's protests of humanity, Tubbs's suspicion leads to Starhouse's dismissal and a subsequent legal case where Starhouse is declared human under English law. The episode ends unhappily for both men, illustrating the persistent belief in fairies in England and the social consequences of such beliefs.