Moon love-prophosy from Paignton

"Jenny [living in Haldon Hills] told me too, that one evening when visiting friends at Paignton, one of the party saw for the first time the new moon : she called all the young folk out on the balcony requesting each to bring a small hand-mirror, to turn their back to the moon, and holding up the mirrors to catch the reflection of the moon. As many reflections as were cast on the glass, so many years would pass before the marriage of the holder took place. One charming girl of the party told me : "I had three moons. Fancy that, my dear, and you know how very old I am now, and have three years of weary waiting yet.""

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills
Map - Paignton

Hewett's Haloween - Part 10 - sleeping on the wedding cake

"After supper we retired for the night. The next morning the girls told me, that sometimes they placed tiny scraps of bridecake, wrapped in tissue paper, under their pillows at night, hoping they would dream of "him": at other times made a "dumb cake," and gave me a recipe for making one, which I append."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 9 - Hemp seed love-charm and the reapers...

Hemp - By Jungbim (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

"Now the crucial movement was at hand. Each girl took possession of a big handful of hempseed. The front door was thrown wide open and securely fastened back to prevent the possibility of its being accidentally closed ; the girls stood without. As the clock gave the first stroke of twelve off they started each in a different direction across the lawn, shouting :

Hempseed I sow,
Hempseed I throw,
He that's my true-love,
Come after me and mow !

The spirits of the future ones were expected to be beyond the shrubs ready to rush after the sowers, and unhappy would have been the maiden, who could not get over the threshold before the scythe of the reaper caught her. All the girls reached the hall unharmed : little Mary, looking a bit scared, said, as she wound her arms around me.

" Oh, wasn't I just about startled? indeed, I was, for I thought I saw Dick Harvey right in front of me as I turned to come back, holding a bright new sickle over his head."

I felt the child tremble, and then I enquired, " Who is Dick Harvey ?"

"Oh, nobody in particular, don't tell."

Of course I have not told till now..."

Derkovits, Gyula - Dózsa-series II. Peasant Whettering the Scythe (1928)

"...Poor Dick Harvey never came to claim little Mary, for, very soon after that happy evening, news came of a great storm, and Dick, who was first officer of the ss. Petrel, was lost with all hands in mid Atlantic."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 8 - Blind-mans prophosy

Not really this ceremony - but an approximation... - Blind Mans Bluff Game - 1751 - Jean-Honoré Fragonard

"Heedless of this affectionate raillery, everything drifted along smoothly, and four dishes of water were brought in and placed severally in three corners of the room, and the fourth, emptied of its contents, was placed in the fourth corner. Then four blind-folded operators were led into the room and placed back to back in its centre, the lights having been previously extinguished. Then all four fell on their knees and each crept at discretion to any, or all to the same, corner.
 

The empty dish portended celibacy or poverty. The dish of clean water, that the future one would never before have married. The dish of dirty water, that the future spouse would be a widow or widower. The dish of water with pebbles at the bottom, riches and honour."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 7 - Water letters love-charm

Zephyris at the English language Wikipedia [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

"Next came Tom to try his hap with a pair of scissors. Tom in silence separated the capital letters, each falling into the basin of water without being touched by the hand. When all were free they were stirred and left to settle. The initials of the future one, were supposed to float on the water. Alas ! poor Tom ! in his case fifteen letters presented themselves. Here again was food for fun and conjecture. Many suggestions were made. Tom, perhaps was going to be a Mormon, or perhaps he was going abroad and set up a harem, and all sorts of other absurd theories. Mary at last came to the rescue, " Oh, I know," said she, " take G and M out and there you have Gertrude Morley, then tack all the rest on to the end of the name, and there you have certain degrees won by Gertrude at the 'Varsity. Gertrude is a Newnham student. Last autumn in the long vacation there was a young woman of that strain dodging across the hills, and on one occasion when she saw our Tom cantering towards her, her bike became fractious instanter, and poor innocent Tom had to dismount, tie Highflyer to a gate-post and assist the distressed biker. Of course, Tom couldn't help himself and had to lead Highflyer up the hill and push the bike too." Alas poor Tom ! Then turning to her mother she explained that Tom was about to present her with a new daughter in the form of a Newnham girl so vastly clever, that she used up all the alphabet to shew how clever she was and the heaps of degrees she took, &c., &c. " I say, Tom, do you think Gertrude Morley, B.A., M.D., M.G.L.Q.R., will like taking my place in the house work, and be able to cry chuggie, chuggie, chuggie, every morning to the dear little piggy-wiggies ; perhaps though, instead of giving them barley-meal and milk, she'll sit them all in a row, in the bottom of the trough, and teach 'em Latin and Greek don't-cher-know ; eh, Tom dear ?""

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 6 - Lead love-charm

A lead droplet - Some rights reserved by Menage a Moi http://www.flickr.com/photos/bearpark/3156914401/sizes/z/in/photostream/

"Then everybody insisted on Jack trying his luck, which he essayed to do by melting a few scraps of lead in the ladle and pouring it red hot into one of the basins of cold water. The letters formed, or the nearest approach to letters, at the bottom of the basin were supposed to be the initials of the future " She." The closest resemblance to letters which we could discover was an I, and an L. The question which now arose amid merry peals of laughter was to whom the initials I.L. could belong. Many names were mentioned and negatived as soon as suggested, Jack looking rather bashful, when from Jenny came the query " Does not I stand for Ida, and L for Lang ? Ida Lang is a very pretty name, and is owned by a very sweet girl." 

Jack gave Jenny a look which could easily be interpreted "I owe you one for that, Jenny" "

Oh ! oh ! Jack," replied Jenny, " we are hoping that Ida Lang will not be an unappropriated blessing. She shall have my white satin and all the orange blossoms." There was a good deal more of this sort of chaff, but no offence was taken by the good-natured Jack, and things swung along amicably."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills  
Map - Bristol

[I have some friends of English and German-Jewish descent in Bristol who do a version of this on New Years Eve, reading the future year from the shape of the lead. 

The caption for the above photo (not mine!) reads - My Future In The Palm of My Hand I spent a lovely New Year's Eve with friends. Superlekker and keroleen73 introduced the rest of us to Bleigießen - the German New Year's Eve custom of telling fortunes by the shapes made by molten lead dropped into cold water. I can't recall what mine meant but I loved the shape.]

Hewett's Haloween - Part 5 - Water and paper love-charm

"Then one took a handful of torn paper and scattered it on the surface of a big basin of water, and after stirring vigorously, awaited developments. The number of pieces of paper which fell to the bottom indicated the number of years which would intervene before the operator's marriage. In this case twenty-one fell, and as Jenny was now twenty-eight, Jack thought there was small chance for her to have an establishment of her own at forty-nine, so she had better resign herself to her fate, and be content to become the unappropriated blessing of the family, for, said he, " How could you, Jenny, at that advanced age, dare to don white satin and orange blossoms? No, my dear, your future is sealed.""

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 4 - Apple and comb love-charm

"After this, one of the girls took an apple, a comb, and a mirror, and retired to the brightest corner of the room, where she began to comb out her long tresses with her left hand and held an apple in the right, which she slowly ate. Her future husband was expected to look over her shoulder, revealing his face to her in the mirror. He did not, however, satisfy our curiosity by putting in an appearance."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 3 - Hazelnut love prophosy

Hazelnuts - See page for author [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Then Jack, otherwise the family clown, brought in dishes of apples and nuts, bags of hemp seed, torn paper, large basins of water, scraps of lead, a melting ladle, large combs, small hand mirrors, and a printed sheet of capital letters, all of which were to be used as love-charms.

Just as the clock began to strike eleven, a move was made towards the fireplace, where from the bars of the grate Jack had already swept every vestige of ashes. 

Simultaneously each girl laid a big hazel nut on the lowest bar of the grate, and sat silently watching the result. I noticed that perfect silence was religiously observed during each ceremony.

She, whose nut first blazed, would be the first to marry.

She, whose nut first cracked, would be jilted.

She, whose nut first jumped, would very soon start on a journey, but would never marry. 

She, whose nut smouldered, would have sickness, disappointment in love, and perhaps die young."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

Hewett's Haloween - Part 2 - Fortune telling with playing cards.

"Mary suggested that All Hallowe'en should be observed with due ceremony, as indeed it was. The amusements began with fortune-telling by cards, at which Maggie the eldest daughter was an adept. The fortunes were appraised as "not up to much," and as no one crossed Maggie's hand with a piece of silver, the cards were swept aside."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills

Hewett's Haloween - Part 1 - Introduction

A Settle - By Pearson Scott Foresman [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

"I THINK I cannot do better than describe what actually took place at an old farm house, in the [eighteen-] eighties, in South Devon.

I was invited to spend a few days with a family, consisting of a farmer, his wife, and seven grown-up sons and daughters. The farm was picturesquely situated on a south-western slope of the Haldon Hills, from whence extensive views of land and sea could be enjoyed.

Mary was the youngest and merriest of the family. She it was who acted as prime mover in all the fun, not that either of the others showed any reluctance to carry out her wildest suggestions. A brighter set of young folk it would be difficult to find, and it has seldom been my good fortune to meet their equals in high spirits and natural gentleness. Every one was thoroughly imbued with credulity in regard to omens and predictions."

Hewett (1900)

Map - Haldon Hills

My Ashen Faggot and Yule Log

[Never one to shy from traditions, even if they don't belong to me, this mid winter I seized the opportunity to make and burn an Ashen Faggot, as they where in the past burned in this area (on Dartmoor). I know that around here they where burnt on Christmas Eve, but as we where celebrating the winter solstice (and accompanying full moon and lunar eclipse) as well as Christmas I decided to take the tradition back a millennium or two.  

Here is a bit of documentation in the form of photographs of the process -

Selecting the willow from my garden - one year old whithies.

Nine willow witheys cut...

In search of an ash tree.

to the end of the garden

Finding an omen - a big wing print in the snow - most probably a buzzard?

The finished faggot - nine logs of ash from a single ash sapling, bound with nine willow witheys. By this time I was running a little late, so the witheys where not that tight. The cutting the ash had however made my finger bleed - which I always take as a good sign - if you cut a living tree and bleed a little it wont begrudge you and make you bleed a lot! To make the willow flexible, even in the cold, run each withey tight around your knee to gently ease it. Next year I will do a neater job.

Baring the modest sized Faggot to the fire. I got one funny look from a woman who has lived hear all her life - I think she might have known what it was, and I don't think she approved - maybe it was because it was not Christmas Eve...

Placing the faggot on the fire - The tradition is that you are supposed to drink a good quantity of Cider for every band that bursts - however I placed it in a hot part of the fire and we drank our cider pretty quickly - perhaps 10 minutes between the first and the last! We settled for a mouthful of hot Cider per withey. There is also a tradition of those who are unmarried picking a withies, and s/he who picks the band that bursts first will get married the soonest! Nobody was willing to risk it though!  The green ash burnt well and didn't spit or his as much as I thought it might.

The witheys burst...

My friend also added his "Yule Log" to the fire!  It struck me that this is like a peasant and a gentry version of the same tradition - in Devon "Christmas Blocks" are recorded in the big houses and faggot's among the more normal people.  I certainly felt it was a big celebration to allow ourselves to burn so much wood at a time. A big sacrifice to the turning year.  

It was a good solstice night - personal spells where done by one friend, others gave songs and music, another friend did an incantation, we drank cider, exchanged news and best wishes and most of all sat in the slumbering lungs of winter and rekindled our spirits (and a fire!) to welcome in a new year. Christmas was good in a family homely way, but it was the solstice this year that held the magic for me. Another friend who was snowed into her house remarked to me later that this was the first year that her teenage children had really got what her traditional solstice feast was about, how vital (in all senses) the sun is to life, and how profound the turning year can be....

Just as a matter of interest I do not wish readers of this blog to think of me as Pagan, or Christian, or really as an Atheist.  Please take this blog in the spirit of complete non-partisan folklore exploration.

Next tradition I hope to try is Wassailing my apple trees on the 16th of January...]

Valentine (undated) done!!!

[Hooray!!  Valentine (Undated) is all done and dusted! Fully transcribed - all the folkloric bits anyway.

4 books now entirely done...

About half way through I found out that this book does have a date! It is 1893.  However as I had already posted so many posts I stuck to "(undated)" as the date.

Picturesque England 

Its Landmarks and Historic Haunts, 

as described in Lay and legend,

Song and Story

Compiled and Edited 

By L Valentine

Published by Frederick Warn and Co.:London and New York

(Undated)

Link.

This accompanying text from Matthew Spong who put this onto the internet -

I found this volume on a table at a church fete in Beecroft when I was around 14 years old. It was scanned from the original volume, converted to text, corrected and converted into a website over a long period from 1999 to 2004. The work was begun on a Powermac 8100 and finished on a generic PC running Red Hat Linux. I would like to dedicate this work to the memory of my father Neill Spong, who never went to England, had no interest in English history, but who loved old books and respected hard work and perseverence.

Matthew Spong, April 2004

DONE!

Only question now - where to next?]

Madge Figgy's Chair

Tol-Pedn-Penwith - By Jim Champion (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The fine rocks of Tol-Pedn-Penwith have on the top of them a stone, which is called "The Chair." Here it is said a famous witch and wrecker named Madge Figgy used to sit and practise her magic arts to raise storms and wreck vessels. That she caused several wrecks by the display of false and misleading lights, there is no doubt."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Tol-Pedn-Penwith

The Armed Knight

Tal-y-Maen or Longships - By Olaf Tausch (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"At low water there is to be seen off the Land's End a ridge of dangerous rocks [Tal-y-Maen or Longships], against which the Atlantic, the English, and St. George's Channels beat in fury. One of these rocks is still called the Armed Knight, because it once had on its summit an iron spike, which was thrown down in a tempest in 1647, and the rock was broken by it into three pieces. No one could explain how the spike came to be placed on such a spot."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Tal-y-Maen

The Irish Lady

The Irish Lady rock - Some rights reserved by polandeze  http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze/376377756/sizes/z/in/photostream/

"For the above incidents, and for some other legendary stories, we are indebted to Mr. Hunt, who collected and published them in his " Popular Romances of the West of England." From these and from other sources we have also learned from what the rock called the "the Irish Lady," near Pedn-men-dhu (the headland of Biack Rock), takes its name. It is a pathetic story. In a terrible storm an Irish vessel was one night wrecked on this rock. Only one of her passengers-none of the crew-escaped; and this was a lady, who was seen the next morning sitting on the top of the rock. The fishermen would have been rejoiced to rescue her, had it been possible; but it was not The wind and waves rendered the rock inaccessible while the storm lasted, and it continued for two days and nights. When at last it ceased, the lady had disappeared she had probably fainted from exhaustion, and had been washed away by the waves. What her feelings must have been, sitting there in sight of land, and of human beings powerless to help her, we can only dimly imagine. Long afterwards the fishers of the Land's End used to declare that they saw her seated on the rock, and heard her wailing cry, whenever the storm was at its height.

Sir Humphrey Davy wrote a poem on this tragical occurrence."

Valentine (undated)

Map - The Irish Lady

The Wild Sepherds Curse

A Wild Shepherd! - A Little Pretty Pocket-book Isaiah Thomas 1767

"There is another Cornish traditionary story of Sir John Arundell, who dwelt on the north coast of Cornwall, at a place called Efford, on the coast near Stratton. He was a very honourable, excellent man, and a just magistrate. One day a wild shepherd, who professed to possess supernatural powers and to be a seer, was brought before him for having in some way broken the law; this man also possessed a dangerous influence over the people, and Sir John committed him to prison for a short time. On his release, at the expiration of his term, he repeatedly waylaid the knight, and looking threateningly at him, muttered,-

"Thou shalt die by human hand
Upon the yellow sand."

Arundell was not above the superstitions of the age. He also believed that the seer might fulfil his own prophecy by murdering him. He therefore removed from Efford, which was close to the sands, and went to Trerice, where he lived for some years, and saw nothing of his old enemy.

But Richard de Vere, Earl of Oxford, seized St. Michael's Mount. Sir John Arundell was at the time sheriff of Cornwall, and he at once gathered together his own retainers and a large body of volunteers, and attacked the Lancastrians. The retainers of Arundell were encamped on the sands by Alarazion. The followers of the Earl of Oxford one day made a sally from the castle, rushed on the sheriff's men, and in the fight Arundell received his death-wound. " Although he had left Efford to counteract the will of fate, the prophecy was fulfilled; and in his dying moments, it is said, his old enemy appeared, singing joyously:-

'When upon the yellow sand,
Thou shalt die by human hand.'"

For the above incidents, and for some other legendary stories, we are indebted to Mr. Hunt, who collected and published them in his " Popular Romances of the West of England.""

Valentine (undated)

Map - Efford
Map - Trerice
Map - Alarazion

[The places are guesses based on internet searches and story context - Efford and Alarazion in particular are a bit tenuous.]

The death tokens of the Vingoe

Modern wine barrels - By Thomas Oldcastle (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

"When you cross the brook which divides St. Leaven from Sennen, you are on the Treville estates.

Tradition says that William the Norman gave this estate to his wine-taster, a relative of the ancient Counts of Treville, who named his estate after himself. The race is, we believe, now extinct. A peculiar appearance always foreboded the death of a Vingoe. Above the deep caverns in the Treville cliff rises a cairn, from which, whenever a member of the family was about to die, chains of fire were seen ascending and descending, accompanied by loud and terrible noises. These tokens, it is said, have not been heard since the last male heir died a violent death."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Treville Estate

The Druids of Carn Liskez

"Carn Liskez, the carn of light, where the Druids were wont to kindle their sacred fires."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Carn Liskez

The Giant of Carnbrea Castle

Carn Brea Castle - By en:User:Ash (Original photo scan by Ash) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or CC-BY-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], from Wikimedia Commons

"Near the Land's End is Carnbrea Castle. It is very small, scarcely sixty feet long by ten wide, and is built on a ledge of rock; in some parts it is three storeys high, in others only one. Part of this castle is very ancient, and of rude architecture. Strange stories are told by the country people of Carnbrea. They say that a mighty giant - Cornwall abounded in giants - lies buried beneath it, and that a block of granite indented into five nearly equal parts is his hand, which, protruding through the surface, became fossilized."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Carnbrea Castle

[Its really not very near Land's End!]

Wreckers at Lands End

Shipwrecked Mulheim near Land's End - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamiedfw/1571462556/sizes/z/in/photostream/ Some rights reserved by jimbowen0306

"About a mile and a half from the shore [at Land's End] rises the tall Longships Lighthouse, built of granite by Mr. Smith, in 1796 - a most needful building on such a coast as this, especially as Cornwall, a hundred years ago, still had wreckers on the shore, who showed false lights and wrecked many a good ship on the deadly rocks."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Longships Lighthouse

Bolerium

Land's End, or Bolerium - By Manfred Heyde (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The Land's End was the Bolerium of ancient geographers; it is an immense mass of granite, sixty feet high."

Valentine (undated)


Map - Land's End

[see also Bellerian the Giant]

Dr Johnsons Head

Dr. Johnson - The Illustrated Magazine of Art Vol.1, No. 1 (ca. 1853)

"There is a curious lump of cliff here [Land's End], named Dr. Johnson's Head, which really does resemble in some degree the profile of the London sage."

Valentine (Undated)

Map - Land's End

The Romances of Lyoness

The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere, by Julia Margaret Cameron.jpg The Parting of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere 1874 (Illustration to Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Other Poems). Sitters are Andrew Hichens and May Prinsep.

he Land's End is romantic and beautiful in the extreme, and the prospect from it is one of indescribable magnificence. Tradition says that it formerly was connected by land with the Scilly Islands. The sea has carried away the ridge of rocks and point of land which is said to have been the fabled Lyoness that now lies beneath the waves. All Cornwall is full of King Arthur, who was born on and lies buried in its soil; and as we gaze along the reef of rock that projects beyond the vast irregular bluffs, we think of Tristram and Lancelot, of Galahad and Percival, and of their great leader. What a charm hangs about the Arthurian romances! We are glad that they have been the subject of a great poet's genius, for the stories are full of great deeds, of noble ideas, of chivalrous feeling; a grand foundation for the character of a nation."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Lands End

Saint Levan's Baptistry

Saint Levan's Well - http://www.flickr.com/photos/treehouse1977/2769137480/sizes/z/in/photostream/  Some rights reserved by treehouse1977

"The ruins of the old well of St. Levan remain on the side of the stream that now flows over it. It must have been his original baptistery."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Saint Levan's

Bream - Saint Levan's "Choke-Child"

A Small Bream - or "Choke-Child" -  http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimpenfish/2618563143/sizes/z/in/photostream/ - Some rights reserved by zimpenfish

 "Though St. Levan's Church is somewhat decayed, a little of the ornamental work that adorned it is still to be seen. It consists of some curious carving, which evidently at one time recorded the events in the life of the saint. There are repetitions of one especial device; it is that of two fish on a hook. We have already mentioned that St. Levan, when he had caught one fish, did not attempt to take more: his fishing was for food, not for sport. But one evening, when he was catching his supper, there was a strong pull on his line, and on drawing it in he found two breams on his hook. The good saint needed only one; but wishing to be impartial, he would not keep either, but threw them both back into the sea. Again they came on the hook, and were again thrown back; but when they appeared on it a third time, St. Levan thought that there must be some reason for so singular an occurrence, and carried them both home. When he reached his hut at Bodellen, he found his sister, St. Breage, and her two children come to visit him, and he was glad that he had caught two fish. They were cooked for supper. The children had walked far, and were very hungry. They ate fast and carelessly, and a bone stuck in the throat of each, and choked them. Since that time the bream has been called by the fishermen of St. Levan "choke-child.""

Valentine (undated)

Map - Saint Levan Church

[I have not been able to find the location of "Bodellen", any help would be appreciated]

Saint Levan's Stone and prophosy

Saint Levan's Stone and an ancient cross - By Jim Champion (originally posted to Flickr as St Levan churchyard) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"On the south side of the church, to the east of the porch, is a rock broken in two, the fissure being full of ferns and wild flowers that grow in it, while tall grass encompasses it. On this rock St. Levan was wont to sit and read and meditate, or listen to the far-off moan of the sea.

He appears to have had a giant's strength, for one day he gave the stone a blow with his fist and split it in two; then, bending over it, he uttered this prophecy:-

"When with panniers astride,
A packhorse can ride
Through St. Levan's Stone,
The world will be done."

The fissure does not seem to have opened much since the saint's day. There is therefore no immediate chance of his prophecy being fulfilled."

Valentine (undated) 

Map - Saint Levan's Stone

Saint Levan's Curse

Saint Levan's Church - By Jim Champion (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-SA-2.5-2.0-1.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Pursuing the same course as the phantom ship, and finally ascending some stone steps, we reach the church of St. Levan, at the head of the green valley, standing on the same spot as that where the saint had his cell. By his power the dreary valley became, during his lifetime, a garden; for where his footsteps fell, grass and flowers sprang up. He used to go fishing daily at the headland of Pedn-men-an-mere, to which a footpath through the fields leads from the church. There is a legend that one Sunday morning St. Levan was passing over the stile to get some fish for dinner, when a woman named Johana, who was in her garden by the pathway gathering potherbs, reproached him for fishing on Sunday. The saint replied that mass was said, and that there was no more harm in his getting his dinner from the sea than there was in her gathering potherbs for her own. In fact, the saint never caught more than one fish, which sufficed for his frugal meal.

He called her "foolish Johana," and said that if another of her name were ever baptized in his well, she should be still more silly than Johana. On this account no child of that name was ever christened at St. Levan's, but those who wished to thus name their daughters took them to Sennen for baptism."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Saint Levan Church

Map - Pedn-men-am-mere

Map - Sennan

The animals worship Jesus on Christmas Eve

Honey Bee (unfortunately from Texas, not the Westcountry!) - By Baytownbert (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

"A belief was long current in Devon and Cornwall, and perhaps still lingers both there and in other remote parts of the country, that at midnight, on Christmas Eve, the cattle in their stalls fall down on their knees in adoration of the infant Saviour, in the same manner as the legend reports them to have done in the stable at Bethlehem. Bees were also said to sing in their hives at the same time, and bread baked on Christmas Eve, it was averred, never became mouldy. All nature was thus supposed to unite in celebrating the birth of Christ, and partake in the general joy which the anniversary of the Nativity inspired."

Chambers 1888a

Devonshire Wassail on Christmas Eve

Apple Tree in Winter - Some rights reserved by Enric Martinez

 

"Another custom in Devonshire, still practised, we believe, in one or two localities on Christmas Eve, is for the farmer with his family and friends, after partaking together of hot cakes and cider (the cake being dipped in the liquor previous to being eaten), to proceed to the orchard, one of the party bearing hot cake and cider as an offering to the principal apple-tree. The cake is formally deposited on the fork of the tree, and the cider thrown over the latter, the men firing off guns and pistols, and the women and girls shouting—

' Bear blue, apples and pears enow,
Barn fulls, bag fulls, sack fulls.
Hurrah ! hurrah ! hurrah !'"

Chambers 1888a

Reffrence for Chambers 1888a

THE BOOK of DAYS : A MISCELLANY POPULAR ANTIQUITIES IN CONNECTION WITH THE CALENDAR INCLUDING Anecdote, Biography and History; Curiosities of Literature and Oddities of Human Life and Character 

EDITED BY R. CHAMBERS IN TWO VOLS.—VOL. II.
 

1888

Lightning the Cornish "Mock" on Christmas eve

Fire - Some rights reserved by Kirrus

"In Cornwall, as we are informed by a contributor to Notes and Queries, the Yule log is called ' the mock,' and great festivities attend the burning of it, including the old ceremony of lighting the block with a brand preserved from the fire of last year. We are informed also that, in the same locality, Christmas Eve is a special holiday with children, who, on this occasion, are allowed to sit up till midnight and ' drink to the mock."

Chambers 1888