Sprites at the Museum

I am the professor
And beg you gather close
For we have an infestation here
For which we must make the most

There have been reports and sightings
Through these galleries wide and long
And with a little patience we might spy them
Though in truth I might be wrong

So steady your nerve and with a focused will
We shall endeavour to spot our quarry
But nothing shall befall our souls
So please no need to worry

First we must make a spy glass
With thumb and finger round
Then we shall search amongst the gallery treasures
To see if these creatures can be found

But before we go hunting
Your lens must be perfectly clean
So pay attention to this method now
And your Sprites will be easily seen

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

And with this tool we shall go hunting
To spy a natural Sprite
I'm told they are active during day light hours
And generally sleep at night

So get your Sprite spotters guide
And be thorough with these directions
And perhaps we'll see something amazing here
Besides these incredible collections

It is generally best
When close to a Sprites nest
To be as quiet as a bird
So raise your hand
With thumb and finger as planned
As shush is the magic word

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

X

As you spy through your glass into the cabinet you see several Sprites all busy around the stone heart box, they check every inch of it cleaning and making notes. Then you look deeper and you see Sprites excavating the heart box from the ground. Some are measuring with devices on tripods, some are writing simple notes, others plotting and drawing so that the location, depth and even orientation of the artefact can be logged properly before it is lifted.

But then you look deeper still, further back in time and see the stone heart box being buried. All around are obviously very sad to have lost one of their own and are now ceremoniously burying the most important part of them.

X

Time now to switch and move along
For this is home where the Sprites belong
Please tip toe away without a single sound
Ready for the next spotters to become spellbound

It is generally best
When close to a Sprites nest
To be as quiet as a bird
So raise your hand
With thumb and finger as planned
As shush is the magic word

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

X

And there before you is the great bell, heavy and solid on the plinth but when you look through your lens you can see deep into its history. From its earliest moments of being in a rock before the ore was even mined and smelted. Then you see the bell being hoisted up into the church, followed by its daily peels to the final resting place here in the gallery.

One of the scenes from this history is of a wedding day, the bell is swinging and the clapper knocking loudly and all about people are dressed in their finest clothes, smiling and having fun. Sun is shining and tears of joy stream down faces, happy for the newly married couple.

But the bell is swung with such gusto that it breaks free of its frame and begins to fall, then the scene dissolves before more is revealed. You hope the Sprites are going to be alright.

X

Time now to switch and move along
For this is home where the Sprites belong
Please tip toe away without a single sound
Ready for the next spotters to become spellbound

It is generally best
When close to a Sprites nest
To be as quiet as a bird
So raise your hand
With thumb and finger as planned
As shush is the magic word

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

X

You look through your lens at a beautiful sculpture of a lady holding a box or something, on each tiny finger a Sprite sits with a canvas and charcoal drawing a Sprite life model close by. The drawings are amazing, and seem to come to life as the lines are applied.

The model then sneezes and her composure is lost, the Sprite artists put down their work to put a warm blanket around her shoulders and give her a hot drink but she doesn't look too well.

Then the scene dissolves and you hope the model Sprite is going to be alright.

X

Time now to switch and move along
For this is home where the Sprites belong
Please tip toe away without a single sound
Ready for the next spotters to become spellbound

It is generally best
When close to a Sprites nest
To be as quiet as a bird
So raise your hand
With thumb and finger as planned
As shush is the magic word

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

X

And there before you is a very strange type of piano called a virginal, you look through your spy glass and see two Sprites are painting the river scene and a third Sprite is posing as a fisherman casting his line into imaginary water. He is getting a bit fidgety as he's been standing there for quite some time.

He casts his fishing rod out into the painted water again but this time the hook catches on his hat and whips it off! Then a large fish jumps out of the water and grabs his hat in its mouth and dives back into the pond with it.

The Fisherman Sprite is not at all happy to have lost his hat, but then you see a ripple of water and think that perhaps the fish is coming around again, but before anything happens the scene dissolves and all you can see is the cabinet with the instrument inside again.

How frustrating, I wonder what was going to happen?

X

Time now to switch and move along
For this is home where the Sprites belong
Please tip toe away without a single sound
Ready for the next spotters to become spellbound

It is generally best
When close to a Sprites nest
To be as quiet as a bird
So raise your hand
With thumb and finger as planned
As shush is the magic word

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

X

Before you stands the timber end of a church pew and on it a delicate carving of a goose with her goslings. You look through your spy glass and see that the Sprites are checking the pew for live wood worm, there appears to be quite an infestation and it is important that no more live larvae are still eating it.

When you look closer you can see the deeper history of the pew, with Sprites cutting a large felled tree by hand. The oak is then cut into planks using a long saw with one person above pulling and another below pushing. Then there is an awful crash as the plank falls and traps a Sprite beneath.

Then the scene dissolves and you hope the Sprite is going to be alright.

X

Time now to switch and move along
For this is home where the Sprites belong
Please tip toe away without a single sound
Ready for the next spotters to become spellbound

It is generally best
When close to a Sprites nest
To be as quiet as a bird
So raise your hand
With thumb and finger as planned
As shush is the magic word

Blow three times through your lens bright
Then blow three times again
Now blow three more
Just to be sure
And one through the lens of your friend

X

In this little nook of a gallery is a winged dragon and with your eye glass you can see Sprites pretending to fly it around the gallery. When you look deeper into the artefact you can see a scene of school children being told that it's not a Wyvern it's actually a Dragon. The difference is that dragons generally have four legs and two wings but the Wyvern has just two legs and two wings.

You then look further back in time and see Sprites coaxing a Wyvern into a cave mouth, the Wyvern then lurches forward to snatch one of the Sprites in his clawed feet but then the scene dissolves and you hope the Sprite is going to be alright.

X

Time now to switch and move along
For this is home where the Sprites belong
Please tip toe away without a single sound
Ready for the next spotters to become spellbound

Show me your charts
Show me your notes
We must compile and collect
This is such a rare occurrence here
All those Sprites which we have met

In all these cabinets and frames
In galleries wide and long
Our histories begin to unravel a little
And our roots become deep and strong

Using your spy glass resonator
To observe way back through time
These special Sprites
Reveal such delights
Not to celebrate would be a crime

But before we depart and leave this place
I have a question for you to ponder
Which artefact in these galleries great
Should we consider a little longer?

Which should we celebrate
Historically investigate
And where should our journey begin
What secrets to reveal
All that history to peel
Perhaps it's time we got stuck right in

Make a note on your spotting sheet
Of new artefacts you've spotted today
And which one, in your opinion
Should the Sprites take their time to play?

Now each of you must identify
A different place and spot
So when we reveal the Storywalk here
We'll have different places to stop

Spy it in position now
Note its shape and place
Take a little photo perhaps
And begin your Spritely case

Here are some questions about the story, read and discuss whilst some of the other groups finish and catch up.


Q – Which artefact would you like the Sprites to examine further?

Q – Should something funny happen in your scene, what could it be?

Q – If you look through your spy glass at other parts of the building, what can you see / would like to see?