There never was a merry world since the fairies left off dancing, and the Parson left conjuring.

The saying is attributed to John Selden in the posthumously published collection of his table-talk—brief, aphoristic remarks recorded from conversation in the 1630s–1640s and edited after his death. In that milieu, Selden often commented wryly on religion, superstition, and social change in early Stuart and Civil War England. The line evokes a nostalgic contrast between an older, more enchanted world (fairies “dancing”) and the waning of both folk belief and clerical “conjuring” (a jab at priestly claims to spiritual power). It reflects the period’s tensions between popular magic, confessional polemic, and a growing skepticism that could make the world feel less “merry.”

The epigram laments disenchantment: as belief in fairies and in the clergy’s ritual power fades, the world feels less “merry,” i.e., less enchanted, festive, and imaginatively alive. Selden’s pairing is pointed: the loss is not only of folklore (“fairies”) but also of institutional, sanctioned wonder (“the Parson”). The line can be read as cultural critique rather than simple credulity—suggesting that rationalization and religious reform may strip communal life of its symbolic drama and consolations. It also hints at how “merriment” depends on shared stories and rites; when those shared frameworks collapse, the emotional tone of society changes with them.