Chapter I: Front Matter

POPULAR ROMANCES
OF THE
WEST OF ENGLAND;

OR,

The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of
Old Cornwall.

COLLECTED AND EDITED BY
ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S.

SECOND SERIES.

LONDON:
JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN, PICCADILLY.
1865.

[_Right of Translation is reserved._]

“‘Have you any stories like that, gudewife?’

“‘Ah,’ she said; ‘there were plenty of people that could tell those stories once. I used to hear them telling them over the fire at night; but people is so changed with pride now, that they care for nothing.’”

CAMPBELL.

LONDON: JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN, PICCADILLY.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

THE SAINTS.

1. Legends of the Saints, 3

2. The Crowza Stones, 5

3. The Longstone, 7

4. St Sennen and St Just, 8

5. Legends of St Leven—

The Saint and Johana, 9

The Saint’s Path, 10

The St Leven Stone, 10

The Two Breams, 11

10. St Keyne, 12

11. St Dennis’s Blood, 15

12. St Kea’s Boat, 16

13. St German’s Well, 17

14. How St Piran reached Cornwall, 19

15. St Perran, the Miner’s Saint, 20

16. The Discovery of Tin, 21

17. St Neot, the Pigmy, 22

18. St Neot and the Fox, 23

19. St Neot and the Doe, 23

20. St Neot and the Thieves, 24

21. St Neot and the Fishes, 25

22. Probus and Grace, 26

23. St Nectan’s Kieve and the Lonely Sisters, 27

24. Theodore, King of Cornwall, 33

HOLY WELLS.

25. Well-Worship, 35

26. The Well of St Constantine, 38

27. The Well of St Ludgvan, 39

28. Gulval Well, 43

29. The Well of St Keyne, 45

30. Maddern or Madron Well, 47

31. The Well at Altar-Nun, 50

32. St Gundred’s Well at Roach Rock, 53

33. St Cuthbert’s or Cubert’s Well, 54

34. Rickety Children, 55

35. Chapell Uny, 56

36. Perran Well, 56

37. Redruth Well, 56

38. Holy Well at Little Conan, 56

39. The Preservation of Holy Wells, 57

KING ARTHUR.

40. Arthur Legends, 59

41. The Battle of Vellan-druchar, 62

42. Arthur at the Land’s End, 63

43. Traditions of the Danes in Cornwall, 65

44. King Arthur in the Form of a Chough, 66

45. The Cornish Chough, 68

46. Slaughter Bridge, 68

47. Camelford and King Arthur, 69

48. Dameliock Castle, 71

49. Carlian in Kea, 71

SORCERY AND WITCHCRAFT.

50. The “Cunning Man,” 73

51. Notes on Witchcraft, 76

52. Ill-wishing, 78

53. The “Peller,” 81

54. Bewitched Cattle, 82

55. How to Become a Witch, 83

56. Cornish Sorcerers, 83

57. How Pengerswick Became a Sorcerer, 84

58. The Lord of Pengerswick an Enchanter, 86

59. The Witch of Fraddam and Pengerswick, 90

60. Trewa, the Home of Witches, 92

61. Kenidzhek Witch, 93

62. The Witches of the Logan Stone, 94

63. Madgy Figgy’s Chair, 96

64. Old Madge Figgey and the Pig, 99

65. Madam Noy and Old Joan, 101

66. The Witch of Treva, 102

67. How Mr Lenine Gave Up Courting, 104

68. The Witch and the Toad, 105

69. The Sailor Wizard, 108

THE MINERS.

70. Traditions of Tinners, 111

71. The Tinner of Chyannor, 115

72. Who are the Knockers? 118

73. Miners’ Superstitions, 122

74. Christmas-Eve in the Mines, 123

75. Warnings and “Tokens,” 124

76. The Ghost on Horseback, 125

77. The Black Dogs, 126

78. Pitmen’s Omens and Goblins, 126

79. The Dead Hand, 128

80. Dorcas, the Spirit of Polbreen Mine, 129

81. Hingston Downs, 131

FISHERMEN AND SAILORS.

82. The Pilot’s Ghost Story, 133

83. The Phantom Ship, 135

84. Jack Harry’s Lights, 136

85. The Pirate-Wrecker and the Death Ship, 137

86. The Spectre Ship of Porthcurno, 141

87. The Lady with the Lantern, 143

88. The Drowned “Hailing their Names,” 146

89. The Voice from the Sea, 146

90. The Smuggler’s Token, 147

91. The Hooper of Sennen Cove, 148

92. How to Eat Pilchards, 149

93. Pilchards Crying for More, 149

94. The Pressing-Stones, 149

95. Whipping the Hake, 152

DEATH SUPERSTITIONS.

96. The Death Token of the Vingoes, 155

97. The Death Fetch of William Rufus, 156

98. Sir John Arundell, 157

99. Phantoms of the Dying, 158

100. The White Hare, 162

101. The Hand of a Suicide, 164

102. The North Side of a Church, 164

103. Popular Superstitions, 165

OLD USAGES.

104. Sanding the Step on New Year’s-Day, 169

105. May-Day, 170

106. Shrove Tuesday at St Ives, 171

107. “The Furry,” Helstone, 171

108. Midsummer Superstitious Customs, 172

109. Crying the Neck, 173

110. Drinking to the Apple-Trees on Twelfth Night Eve, 175

111. Allhallows-Eve at St Ives, 177

112. The Twelfth Cake, 177

113. Oxen Pray on Christmas Eve, 178

114. “St George”—The Christmas Plays, 179

115. Geese-Dancing—Plough Monday, 182

116. Christmas at St Ives, 183

117. Lady Lovell’s Courtship, 188

118. The Game of Hurling, 193

119. Sham Mayors—

The Mayor of Mylor, 196

The Mayor of St Germans, 197

The Mayor of Halgaver Moor, 198

120. The Faction Fight at Cury Great Tree, 198

121. Towednack Cuckoo Feast, 200

122. The Duke of Restormel, 200

POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS.

123. Charming, and Prophetic Power, 203

124. Fortune-Telling, Charms, &c., 204

125. The Zennor Charmers, 208

126. J. H., the Conjurer of St Colomb, 209

127. Cures for Warts, 210

128. A Cure for Paralysis, 212

129. A Cure for Rheumatism, 212

130. Sundry Charms, 213

131. Cure for Colic in Towednack, 213

132. For a Scald or Burn, 213

133. Charms for Inflammatory Diseases, 213

134. Charms for the Prick of a Thorn, 213

135. Charms for Stanching of Blood, 214

136. Charm for a Tetter, 214

137. Charm for the Sting of a Nettle, 215

138. Charm for Toothache, 215

139. Charm for Serpents, 215

140. The Cure of Boils, 215

141. Rickets, or a Crick in the Back, 215

142. The Club-Moss, 216

143. Moon Superstitions, 217

144. Cures for Whooping-Cough, 218

145. Cure of Toothache, 219

146. The Convalescent’s Walk, 220

147. Adders, and the Milpreve, 220

148. Snakes Avoid the Ash-Tree, 223

149. To Charm a Snake, 223

150. The Ash-Tree, 224

151. Rhyme on the Even Ash, 225

152. A Test of Innocency, 225

153. The Bonfire Test, 226

154. Lights Seen by the Converted, 226

155. The Migratory Birds, 226

156. Shooting Stars, 227

157. The Sun Never Shines on the Perjured, 228

158. Characteristics, 229

159. The Mutton Feast, 232

160. The Floating Grindstone, 232

161. Celts—Flint Arrow-heads, &c., 233

162. Horns on the Church Tower, 233

163. Tea-Stalks and Smut, 234

164. An Old Cornish Rhyme, 234

165. To Choose a Wife, 234

166. The Robin and the Wren, 235

167. To Secure Good Luck for a Child, 235

168. Innocency, 235

169. Rain at Bridal or Burial, 235

170. Crowing Hens, &c., 236

171. The New Moon, 236

172. Looking-Glasses, 236

173. The Magpie, 236

174. The Month of May Unlucky, 237

175. On the Births of Children, 237

176. On Washing Linen, 237

177. Itching Ears, 237

178. The Spark on the Candle, 238

179. The Blue Vein, 238

180. The Croaking of the Raven, 238

181. Whistling, 239

182. Meeting on the Stairs, 239

183. Treading on Graves, 239

184. A Loose Garter, 240

185. To Cure the Hiccough, 240

186. The Sleeping Foot, 240

187. The Horse-Shoe, 240

188. The Black Cat’s Tail, 240

189. Unlucky Things, 241

190. The Limp Corpse, 241

191. “By Hook or by Crook,” 242

192. Weather Signs, 242

193. Weather at Liskeard, 243

194. The First Butterfly, 243

195. Peculiar Words and Phrases, 244

MISCELLANEOUS STORIES.

196. The Bells of Forrabury Church, 247

197. The Tower of Minster Church, 249

198. Temple Moors, 250

199. The Legend of Tamara, 251

200. The Church and the Barn, 252

201. The Penryn Tragedy, 253

202. Goldsithney Fair and the Glove, 255

203. The Harlyn Pie, 256

204. Packs of Wool the Foundation of the Bridge of Wadebridge, 256

205. The Last Wolf in England, 258

206. Churches Built in Performance of Vows, 258

207. Bolait, the Field of Blood, 259

208. Woeful Moor, and Bodrigan’s Leap, 261

209. Pengerswick Castle, 263

210. The Clerks of Cornwall, 264

211. A Fairy Caught, 265

212. The Lizard People, 267

213. Prussia Cove and Smuggler’s Holes, 267

214. Cornish Teeny-tiny, 268

215. The Spaniard at Penryn, 269

216. Boyer, Mayor of Bodmin, 270

217. Thomasine Bonaventure, 271

218. The Last of the Killigrews, 274

219. Saint Gerennius, 278

220. Cornish Dialogue, 280