The Forest Ring by William C. de Mille
The Forest Ring is a charming tale for children, written at the start of the twentieth century, in which a young girl is instrumental in helping the Fairy World and by so-doing also transforms the lives of those in the human world. It is a tale in which the Queen Fairy and her court of helpers rub shoulders with the animals of the forest, including bears, foxes, stags and one very sleepy owl...
The author, William C. de Mille, was a successful playwright, screenwriter and film director. If you think the surname looks a little familiar, you are correct: William was the elder brother of the famous filmmaker Cecil. B. DeMille (who changed the format & capitalisation of the surname). Although he was not quite as famous as his brother, William was one of the most respected directors of the silent movie era and specialised in adapting Broadway plays into silent films.
The Forest Ring was written, with Charles Barnard, in 1901 as a play for children and after its production William continued to write numerous plays, sketches and articles for magazines up to 1913. At the end of 1914 he moved to the west coast of America with his brother Cecil in order to make motion pictures. He would be a writer, director and producer of films for twenty years, and he directed nearly sixty films during that time. He was also one of the first to show faith in the new 'talkies' and he produced the second all-spoken movie made by film giant Paramount ('The Doctor's Secret' 1929, an adaptation of James Barries 'Half an Hour').
Turning to The Forest Ring itself, the story opens with the revelation that all is not well in the realm of the Fairies: “Times have changed since the good old days before Jack's beanstalk withered away.” It has been increasingly difficult for the Fairies to find any children who believe in them, and the Queen Fairy has threatened to retire from the fairy-business altogether if no believers can be found soon. As keen students of the Fairy Law know, it is forbidden for Fairies to reveal themselves to those who don't believe, so they are in the regretable position of being able to make people believe only if they already believe in them.
A committee of the wild creatues has come to the Fairy Queen to ask for help against a human hunter, Hank Struble, who has been violating the forest. They meet at the Forest Ring, inside which all creatures show their true form and appear and talk as humans, albeit retaining some of their animal features. The hunter Hank has caught 3 bear cubs and is holding them before he kills and skins them, and has now come in search of the mother-bear whose cave is near the Forest Ring. As he takes up station outside the cave to await the mother's return, he falls asleep, half inside the Ring. He cannot be harmed inside the Ring, but the Fairies know that it is disastrous for the bear to return while he remains in position, so the Queen intervenes and he is given a disturbing 'whole plum-pudding dream' which causes him to flee back to his house in acute discomfort!
While the animals try unsuccessfully to formulate a plan to deal with the hunter and return the cubs safely to their distraught mother, news reaches the Ring that at last a human-child has been found who truly believes in Fairies. She is called Jane Adams, and is at the home of her Aunt Sabrina in whose cellar – by the coincidence necesssary in such tales – the three baby bear-cubs are being held. Jane is transported – bed and all – into the Ring by Fairy Magic, and she makes a plan to release the cubs by pretending the mother bear is a tame dancing bear, fitted with collar and chain.
Unfortunately, the release of the bear cubs from the locked cellar does not go according to plan and the only option is for the mother bear to retire back to the forest, taking with her the son of Aunt Sabrina as a hostage, a young boy named Thomas who wishes to become a great hunter like Hank Struble. Jane goes with the bear, telling her Aunt that if she looks after the three bear cubs, she will protect Thomas.
Back in the forest, there are animals that are keen to kill the young Thomas for the pain caused by his hunting of wild creatures. Jane pleads that he should not be held to account, and he is saved when she instructs that he should pretend to be a valuable 'trained boy': he is forced to wear the same collar and chain as the she-bear, and to perform the same demeaning tricks.
By this time, Aunt Sabrina has tracked down Thomas and is re-united with her son, although Hank Struble is not far behind, and his gun is loaded. Sabrina and Thomas are guided to safety in the cave of the she-bear, but Hank, unaware of their presence, is ready to shoot into the dark opening, believing the bear to be inside. Once again it is the intervention of Jane that saves him as she persuades the Fairy Queen firstly to remove his gun (by magic of course), and then allow him to be able to see Fairies. He is forced to justify his actions as a hunter to the forest animals, and realises how close he has come to shooting Thomas or Sabrina. He vows that he will no longer be a hunter, and the book closes happily with Aunt Sabrina accepting his proposal of marriage!
The tale is charming in itself, and is accompanied with black & white text illustrations and the ten enchanting plates by Harold Sichel whose style perfectly captures the bosky atmosphere of the forest. If you have never seen this book, it is well worth reading!
Contributed by Tim
(Published 29th Sep 2016)