Part 13
The apparition of a lady carrying a lanthorn always on one part of the Cornish coast [24] foretells a storm and shipwrecks. She is supposed to be searching for her child who was drowned, whilst she was saved, because she was afraid to trust it out of her arms. For the legends of "The Lady of the Vow" and "The Hooper or Hooter of Sennen Cove," see ante, p. 71. [25] Mermaids are still believed in, and it is very bad to offend them, for by their spite harbours have been filled up with sand. They, however, kindly take idiot children under their protection. The lucky finder of one of their combs or glasses has the power (as long as it remains in his possession) of charming away diseases.
Boats are said to come to a sudden standstill when over the spot where lies the body of a drowned man, for whom search is being made. The body is supposed to rise when drowned, on the seventh, eighth, or ninth day. Sailors regard many things as bad omens, such "as a loaf of bread turned upside-down on a table." (This will bring some ship to distress.) They will not begin a voyage on Childermas-day, nor allow a piece of spar-stone (quartz) to be carried on board a vessel: that would ensure her striking on a rock. Of course, they neither whistle when there, nor speak of hares, two most unlucky things; and should they meet one of these animals on their way to the place of embarkation they think it far wiser to turn back home, and put off sailing for a tide. Hares (as already noticed) play a great part in Cornish folk-lore. The following amusing story I had from a friend:--"Jimmy Treglown, a noted poacher living in a village of West Cornwall, became converted at a revival meeting; he was tempted on his way to class-meeting one Sunday morning soon after by the devil in the form of a beautiful hare. Jimmy said, 'There thee art, my dear; but I waan't tooch thee on a Sunday--nor yet on a weeky day, for that matter.' He went briskly on his way for a few paces, and then, like Lot's wife, he was tempted to look behind him. Alas! in Jimmy's own words, 'There she was in her seat, looking lovely. I tooked up a stone, and dabbed at her. Away she runned, and fare-ee well, religion. Mine runned away with her. I went home, and never went to class no more. [26] You see it was the devil, and 'simmen to me' (seeming) I heard 'un laugh and say, 'Ah! ah! Jimmy, boy, I had thee on the hip then. Thee must confess thee'st had a fair fall.' So I gave in, and never went nigh the 'people' (Wesleyans) no more. Nobody should fire at hares of this sort, except with a silver bullet; they often appear as white, but the devil knowed I couldn't be fooled with a white 'un.'" Nothing is too ridiculous to be told of hares. Another old man from St. Just (still living) once recited this anecdote in our kitchen, and from his grave manner evidently expected it to be believed:--"I was out walking (he said) one Sunday morning, when I saw a hare in a field which I longed to have; so I shied a bit of 'codgy wax' (cobbler's wax), the only thing I had in my pocket, at 'un, when he ran away. What was my surprise on getting over a stile to see two hares in the next field face to face, the 'codgy wax' had stuck to the nose of the first, and he in his fright had runned against the other, and was holden 'un fast, too. So I quietly broke the necks of both, and carried em home."
"The grapes are sour" is in Cornwall often changed to "Lev-un go! he's dry eaten after all," as the old man said when he couldn't catch the hare.
Sailors and fishermen have naturally many weather proverbs, of which I will give a few:--
"A north wind is a broom for the Channel."
"A Saturday's moon is a sailor's curse."
"A Saturday's and Sunday's moon Comes once in seven years too soon."
"Between twelve and two you'll see what the day will do."
"A southerly wind with a fog bring an easterly wind in 'snog' (with certainty)."
"Friday's noon is Sunday's doom."
"Friday and the week are never alike."
"There's never a Saturday in the year But what the sun it doth appear," etc.
"Weather dogs" are pillars of light coloured like the rainbow, which appear on the horizon generally over the sea in unsettled weather, and always foretell storms. The inland dwellers of Cornwall have also their wise sayings on this subject. Rooks darting around a rookery, sparrows twittering, donkeys braying, are signs of rain. Cats running wildly about a house are said to bring storms on their tails. Some of their omens are simply ludicrous, such as "We may look for wet when a cat, in washing its face, puts its paw over its ear," or when "hurlers" (small sparks) play about the bars of a grate. A cock crowing on a stone is a sign of fine weather; on the doorstep, of a stranger. But here it is well known "That fools are weather-wise," and "That those that are weather-wise are rarely otherwise."
In West Cornwall, not very long ago farmers, before they began to break up a grass field or plough for sowing, always turned the faces of the cattle attached to the plough towards the west and solemnly said, "In the name of God let us begin," and then with the sun's course proceeded on their work. Everything in this county, even down to such a small thing as taking the cream off the milk-pans set round the dairy, must for luck be done from left to right. Invalids, on going out for the first time after an illness, must walk with, not against, the sun, for fear of a relapse.
Farmers here are taught that if they wish to thrive they must "rise with the craw (crow), go to bed with the yow (ewe)," not be "like Solomon the wise, who was loth to go to bed and loth to rise," for does not "the master's eye make the mare fat?" "A February spring," according to one proverb, "is not worth a pin," and another says "a dry east wind raises the spring." Sayings current in other counties, such as "a peck of March dust is worth a king's ransom," are also quoted, but those I shall not give. There should be as many frosty mornings in May as in March, for "a hot May makes a fat church-hay." A wet June makes a dry September. "Cornwall will stand a shower every day, and two for Sundays." There is always a black month before Christmas. The farmer too is told--
"A rainbow in the morn, put your hook in the corn; A rainbow in the eve, put your hook in the sheave."
In Cornwall, as well as in Devon, there is an old prophecy quoted to the effect, that "in the latter days there will be no difference between summer and winter, save in the length of the days and the greenness of the leaf." It is erroneously asserted to be in the Bible.--Cornubiana, Rev. S. Rundle, Transactions Penzance Natural History Society, etc., 1885-1886.
"Countrymen in Cornwall, if the breeze fail whilst they are winnowing, whistle to the spriggan, or air spirit, to bring it back."--Comparative Folk-lore, Cornhill, 1876.
A swarm of bees in May is worth a "yow" (ewe) and lamb same day. It is considered lucky in these parts for a stray swarm to settle near your house; and if you throw a handkerchief over it you may claim it as your own. To sell them is unlucky; but you may have an understanding with a purchaser that he will give you an equivalent for your bees. The inside of hives should be rubbed with "scawnsy buds" (elderflowers) to prevent a new swarm from leaving them. Honey should be always taken from the hive on St. Bartholomew's Day, he being the patron saint of bees. Of course all the principal events happening in the families to whom they belonged, in this as in other counties, were formerly whispered to them, that the bees might not think themselves neglected, and leave the place in anger. At a recent meeting of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society a gentleman mentioned that when a boy he had seen thirty hives belonging to Mr. Joshua Fox, of Tregedna, tied up in crape (an universal practice) because of a death in the Fox family. Another at the same time said that when, some years since, the landlady of the "First and Last" Inn, at the Land's End, died, the bird-cages and flower-pots were also tied with crape, to prevent the birds and plants from dying. When withering, because this has not been done, if the plants be remembered in time and crape put on the pots, they may revive. Enquiring a short time ago what had become of a fine maiden-hair fern that we had had for years, I was told "that we had neglected to put it into mourning when a near relative of our's had died, or to tell it of his death; and therefore it had gradually pined away." After a death, pictures, but especially portraits of the deceased, are also supposed to fade. Snails as well as bees are thought here to bring luck, for "the house is blest where snails do rest." Children on meeting them in their path, for some reason stamp their feet and say,
"Snail! snail! come out of your hole, Or I will beat you black as a coal."
Another Cornish farmers' superstition is that "ducks won't lay until they have drunk 'Lide' (March) water;" and the wife of one in 1880 declared "that if a goose saw a Lent lily (daffodil) before hatching its goslings it would, when they came forth, destroy them." Some witty thieves, many years ago, having stolen twelve geese from a clergyman in the eastern part of the county, tied twelve pennies and this doggerel around the gander's neck--
"Parson Peard, be not afeard, Nor take it much in anger, We've bought your geese at a penny a-piece, And left the money with the gander."
Hens must never be put to sit on an even number of eggs, eleven or thirteen are lucky numbers; Basilisks are hatched from cock's eggs.
When cocks crow children are told that they say,
"Cock-a-doodle-doo! Grammer's lost her shoe, Down by the barley moo (mow), And what will grammer do, Cock-a-doodle-doo."
Moles in this county are known as "wants," and once in the Land's End district I overtook an old man and asked him what had made so many hillocks in a field through which we were passing. His answer was, "What you rich people never have in your houses, 'wants.'"
To this day in Cornwall, when anything unforeseen happens to our small farmers, or they have the misfortune to lose by sickness some of their stock, they still think that they are "ill-wished," and start off (often on long journeys) to consult a "pellar," or wise man, sometimes called "a white witch" (which term is here used indiscriminately for persons of both sexes). The following I had from a dairy-man I know, who about twelve years ago quarrelled with a domestic servant, a woman living in a neighbouring house. Soon after, from some reason, two or three of his cows died; he was quite sure, he told me, that she had "overlooked" and "ill-wished" him. To ease his mind he had consulted a "pellar" about the matter, who had described her accurately to him, and, for payment, removed the "spell" (I do not know what rites were used), telling him to look at his watch and note the hour, as he would find, when he returned home, that a cow he had left sick would have begun at that moment to recover (which he says it did). The "pellar" also added, "The woman who has 'ill-wished' you will be swaddled in fire and lapped in water;" and by a strange coincidence she emigrated soon after, and was lost in the ill-fated Cospatrick, that was burnt at sea.
Water from a font is often stolen to sprinkle "ill-wished" persons or things.
The two next examples were communicated to me by a friend: "Some twenty-six years ago a farmer in a neighbouring village (West Cornwall) sustained during one season continual losses from his cows dying of indigestion, known as 'loss of cud,' 'hoven-blown,' etc. After consulting an old farrier called Armstrong he was induced to go to a 'pellar' in Exeter. His orders were to go home, and, on nearing his farm, he would see an old woman in a field hoeing turnips, and that she was the party who had cast the 'evil eye' on him. When he saw her he was to lay hold of her and accuse her of the crime, then tear off some of her dress, take it to his farm, and burn it with some of the hair from the tails of his surviving stock. These directions were fully carried out, and his bad health (caused by worry) improved, and he lost no more cows. A spotted clover that grew luxuriantly that summer was no doubt the cause of the swelling." "Another farmer in the same village eighteen years since lost all his feeding cattle from pleuro-pneumonia; believing them to be 'ill-wished' by a woman, he also consulted the Exeter 'pellar.' He brought home some bottles of elixir, potent against magic, and made an image of dough, pierced it from the nape of the neck downward, in the line of the spine, with a very large blanket-pin. In order to make the agonies of the woman with the 'evil eye' excruciating in the last degree, dough and pin were then burnt in a fire of hazel and ash. The cure failed, as anyone acquainted with the disease might have forecast."
Besides those remedies already mentioned for curing cattle, you may employ these:--"Take some blood from the sick animal by wounding him; let the blood fall on some straw carefully held to the place--not a drop must be lost; burn the straw; when the ill-wisher will be irresistibly drawn to the spot; then by violence you can compel him to take off the spell." Or, "Bleed one animal to death to save the whole herd."
A local newspaper, in 1883 (Cornishman), gives the following:--"Superstitions die hard.--A horse died the other day on a farm in the neighbourhood of St. Ives. Its carcase was dragged on a Sunday away up to the granite rock basins and weather-worn bosses of Trecoben hill, and there burnt, in order to drive away the evil spell, or ill-wishing, which afflicted the farm where the animal belonged." I, a few years since, saw a dying cat taken out of a house on a mat, by two servants, that it might not die inside and bring ill-luck. "In 1865 a farmer in Portreath sacrificed a calf, by burning, for the purpose of removing a disease which had long followed his horses and cows." And in another case a farmer burnt a living lamb, to save, as he said, "his flock from spells which had been cast on them."--Robert Hunt.
The Cornishman, in another paragraph, says:--"Our Summercourt (East Cornwall) correspondent witnessed an amusing affair on Thursday morning (April, 1883). Seeing a crowd in the street, he asked the reason, and found that a young lady was about to perform the feat of throwing a pig's nose over a house for good luck! This is how it was done. The lady took the nose of a pig, that was killed the day before, in her right hand, stood with her back to the house, and threw the nose over her head, and over the house, into the back garden. Had she failed in the attempt her luck was supposed to be bad." "Whet your knife on Sunday, you'll skin on Monday," is a very old Perranuthnoe and St. Hilary (West Cornwall) superstition, so that, however blunt your knife may be, you must use it as it is, lest by sharpening it you bring ill-luck on the farmer, and he lose a sheep or bullock. Mr. T. Q. Couch, W. Antiquary, 1883, says of one, "He is an old-fashioned man, and, amongst his other 'whiddles' (whims), keeps a goat amongst his cattle for the sake of keeping his cows from slipping their calves." Branches of care (mountain ash) were, in the east of the county, hung over the cattle in their stalls to prevent their being "ill-wished," also carried in the pocket as a cure and prevention of rheumatism. "Rheumatism will attack the man who carries a walking stick made of holly."--Cornubiana, Rev. S. Rundle.
The belief in witchcraft in West Cornwall is much more general than most people imagine. Several cases have lately come under my own notice; one, that of a man-servant in our employ who broke a blood-vessel, and for a long time was so ill that his life was despaired of. He was most carefully attended by a Penzance physician, who came to see him three times a day. But directly that his strength began to return he asked permission to go to Redruth to consult a "pellar," as he was quite sure that he had been "overlooked" and "ill-wished." An old Penzance man, afflicted with rheumatism, who gained his living by selling fruit in the streets, fancied himself ill-wished. He went to Helston to see a "wiseman" residing there, to whom he paid seven-and-sixpence, with a further promise of five pounds on the removal of the "spell." As he was too poor to pay this himself a brother agreed to do it for him, but somehow failed to perform his contract. Now the poor old man thinks that the pellar's ill-wishes are added to his former pains.
The "pellars" wore formerly magical rings, with a blue stone in them, said to have been formed by snakes breathing on hazel-twigs. Our country-people often searched for these stones.
CHARMS, Etc.
Many are the charms against ill-wishing worn by the ignorant. I will quote some mentioned by Mr. Bottrell: "A strip of parchment inscribed with the following words forming a four-sided acrostic:--
S A T O R A R E P O T E N E T O P E R A R O T A S
"At the time of an old lady's decease, a little while ago, on her breast was found a small silk bag containing several charms, among others a piece of parchment, about three inches square, having written on one side of it 'Nalgah' (in capital letters); under this is a pen-and-ink drawing something like a bird with two pairs of wings, a pair extended and another folded beneath them. The creature appears to be hovering and at the same time brooding on a large egg, sustained by one of its legs, whilst it holds a smaller egg at the extremity of its other leg, which is outstretched and long. Its head, round and small, is unlike that of a bird. From the rudeness of the sketch and its faded state it is difficult to trace all the outlines. Under this singular figure is the word 'Tetragrammaton' (in capitals); on the reverse in large letters--
'Jehovah.' 'Jah, Eloim.' 'Shadday.' 'Adonay.' 'Have mercy on a poor woman.'
"A pellar of great repute in the neighbourhood tells me that this is inscribed with two charms, that Nalgah is the figure only. The Abracadabra is also supplied, the letters arranged in the usual way. Another potent spell is the rude draft of the planetary signs for the Sun, Jupiter, and Venus, followed by a cross, pentagram, and a figure formed by a perpendicular line and a divergent one at each side of it united at the bottom. Under them is written, 'Whosoever beareth these tokens will be fortunate, and need fear no evil.' The charms are folded in a paper on which is usually written, 'By the help of the Lord these will do thee good,' and inclosed in a little bag to be worn on the breast."
People in good health visited these pellars every spring to get their charms renewed, and bed-ridden people who kept theirs under their "pillow-beres" were then visited by the pellar for the same purpose. "Of amulets mention must be made of certain small crystal balls called 'kinning stones,' held in high esteem for cure of ailments of the eye. I examined one of these 'kinning stones' recently, which had been lent to a person with a bad eye, who on recovering from his ailment had returned it to the owner. It proved to be a translucent, blueish-white globular crystal, about one-and-a-quarter inch in diameter; in texture, horny rather than vitreous; apparently not made of glass, but perhaps of rock crystal; pierced by a hole containing a boot lace for suspension; having striæ running through the substance of the crystal perpendicular to the hole. It had been for many generations in possession of the family of the owner, who valued it very highly, 'but was willing to lend it to anyone to do good.' This kind of amulet is worn around the neck, the bad eye being struck with the crystal every morning. There are other 'kinning stones' within reach, but examples are not common; their virtues are familiar to the people, and instances are to be met with among the country folk, whose recovery from a 'kinning' in the eye ('kennel,' West Cornwall) is attributed solely to the use of these charms."--Notes on the Neighbourhood of Brown Willy (North Cornwall), Rev. A. H. Malan, M.A.
In every small Cornish village in olden times (and the race is not yet extinct) lived a charmer or "white witch." Their powers were not quite as great as those of a pellar, but they were thoroughly believed in, and consulted on every occasion for every complaint. They were not only able to cure diseases, but they could, when offended, "overlook" and ill-wish the offender, bringing ill-luck on him, and also on his family and farm-stock. The seventh son of the seventh son, or seventh daughter of the seventh daughter, were born with this gift of charming, and made the most noted pellars; but anyone might become a witch who touched a Logan rock nine times at midnight. These Logan rocks are mentioned elsewhere as being in Cornwall their favourite resorts, and to them they went, it is said, riding on ragwort stems, instead of the traditional broomsticks.
Or, he might, says another authority, use the following charm: "Go to the chancel of a church to sacrament, hide away the bread from the hands of the priest, at midnight carry it around the church from south to north, crossing east three times. The third time a big toad, open-mouthed, will be met, put the bread in it; as soon as swallowed he will breathe three times upon the man, and from that time he will become a witch. Known by five black spots diagonally placed under the tongue." There is also a strange glare in the eye of a person who can "overlook," and the eyelids are always red.
Witches could in this country change themselves into toads, as well as hares. Mr. Robert Hunt relates the story of one who met her death in that form, and Mr. T. Q. Couch tells the tale of a sailor who was a "witch," who received several injuries whilst in the shape of that animal. When a very small child, having a "kennel" (an ulcer) on my eye, I was unknown to my parents taken by an old servant to a Penzance "charmer," who then made a great deal of money by her profession. All I can remember about it is, that she breathed on it, made some curious passes with her hands and muttered some incantation.
About twelve years ago, a woman who lived in the "west country" (Land's End district) as well as being a "white witch was a famous knitster," and we amongst others frequently gave her work. When she brought it back she was treated by our maids, who lived in great fear of her "ill-wishing" them, to the best our kitchen could afford; and many were the marvellous stories she told me of her power to staunch blood, etc., when doctors failed. It was not necessary for her to see the person; she could cure them sitting by her fireside if they were miles away. Witches are also consulted about the recovery of stolen property, which, by casting their spells over the thief, it is still supposed they can compel him to return.
A part of Launceston Castle is locally known as Witch's Tower, from the tradition that one was burnt at its foot; no grass grows on the spot. Another is said to have met with the same fate on a flat stone close to St. Austell market-house.
"Charms are still in use by the simple-minded for thrush, warts, and various complaints; also for the cure of cattle, when some evil disposed person has 'turned a figure upon (i.e. bewitched) them;' and white witches--those who avert the evil eye--have not yet ceased out of the land."--Notes on the Neighbourhood of Brown Willy (North Cornwall), Rev. A. H. Malan, M.A.