The Peculiar Archives

A Foreword by Miss Alma LeFay Peregrine

When Miss Blackwood had courteously presented me the honour of writing a foreword for her first book, I was both delighted and intrigued. As a young peculiar ward in my care, she was always interested in the teachings of all things peculiar. When it came time to share the stories we ymbrynes had fostered over the course of many years, young Miss Blackwood was absolutely delighted - taking it upon herself to gather as much information as she could from us. The act was both innocent yet bold for a girl of her age, and we knew she would grow up to be a great and powerful woman.

Truth be told, I never wanted for her to leave - as is the case with all my wards. But nevertheless, it was ultimately her decision, and despite my constant insistence for her remainder, she chose to go. Years later it would be that I received word of her well-being. She had learned many things over the years, as she had told me, both peculiar and normal. With these teachings, she was able to garnish a greater love for peculiardom (or more specifically, the peculiars themselves), and such love was one of which she could no longer keep to herself. And thus, the writing of The Peculiar Archives commenced, with the peculiars she already knew from my ward as her first cases. When that was all done and well, she ventured out to discover more peculiars and their abilities, both rare and common (as common is as common comes to a peculiar), and interview them (as best she could, at the very least).

Before I submitted to her this foreword, I took the liberty to ask her why she didn't simply go about listening to the stories told around bonfires of the grandest, queerest, and charming peculiars, as many others do, rather than go through the treachery of finding the very peculiars themselves. As she had simply put it to me in her letter, "One may know them self as peculiar, but to infer another as such would be that of an utmost insult." I took it as an act of curiosity - to rather find the information one seeks in person, then to assume such positions of another without accordance, and simply through the tales of others. It was a strange philosophy, but one that seemed to suit her, as Miss Blackwood was always a forward lady who seemed only to look for life's greatest challenges.

In the end this collection, inspired by the stories of The Tales she herself listened to as a young peculiar, would be comprised of the research and annotations of peculiars she had the pleasure of befriending (or in some cases, befiending) during her travels. And so, it is with my final words of this foreword do I say to you, dear reader, continue forth with The Peculiar Archives if you have such curiosity and love of the peculiardom as Miss Blackwood does, for one may only truly enjoy the pleasantries that accompany you through the tales and archives that follow suit after my foreword if one had been looking for it all this time.

- Alma LeFay Peregrine