Early translation into English from Kernowec (Cornish) of The Tale Of Ivan - part 7

St Levan Church (Llanlavan is probably Saint Levan - My poor knowledge of Cwmraeg (Welsh) would suggest so anyway, Llan in Welsh being roughly equivalent to a parish area) - image © Copyright Tim Heaton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

[cont...] "...42 I am here, replied Ivan. In the name of Mary, whom do I hear  said she ; if you are Ivan, come in. Bring you also a light, said Ivan. Then she brought a light.

43 And when Ivan was come in, as I was advancing to the door, said he, I heard some one else in the bed.

44 Oh ! Ivan, replied she, when you determined to go away, I was three months gone with child ; and now we have a beautiful infant in the bed, gracious in the sight of God may he be !

45 Reph'ed Ivan, I will tell thee, my master and my mistress gave me a cake, and told me, when I and my wife should be most joyful together, that we should break the cake and not sooner. And now we have cause to be joyful.

46 Then they broke the cake, and there were nine pounds in the cake; and the money they had, and the bread they eat ; and there never was an idle word nor strife between them afterwards. And so it ends."


Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 1818 

Maps with help from here - http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Celtic_Fairy_Tales/Addenda_and_Corrigenda

Map - Llanlavan / St Levans.
Ty Hwrdh / Chyannor [Unknown]
Map - Wayn Her / St Hilary's Moor. [Saint Hillary?]
Map - Kaer Esk fair (Exeter)
Map - Tre Rhyn / Trereen [Treen?]
Map - Market Jew / Marazion.
Coed Carn y Wylfa / Cûz Carn na huila [Unknown]
Map - Burman / Buryan.

[The place-name corrections in this tale are due to Mr. Phillimore, who points out that Llwyd, in his Welsh translation of the original Cornish, gave the Welsh equivalents of the Cornish place-names.]

Early translation into English from Kernowec (Cornish) of The Tale Of Ivan - part 5

St Levan Church (Llanlavan is probably Saint Levan - My poor knowledge of Cwmraeg (Welsh) would suggest so anyway, Llan in Welsh being roughly equivalent to a parish area) - image © Copyright Tim Heaton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

[cont...] "...25 Now, as to the woman of the house, she conspired with a certain monk in the town, to murder the old man in his bed that night, while the rest were asleep, and lay the murder on the merchants.

26 And while Ivan was in bed, there was a hole in the pine-end of the house, and he saw a light, and he rose out of his bed and listened, and heard the monk speaking; and the monk turned his back upon the hole "perhaps," said he, " there is some one in the next house who may see our horrid deeds :" And with that the adultress, with her paramour, put the old man to death.

27 In the meantime, however, Ivan with his knife cut, through the hole, a pretty round piece of the monk's gown

.
28 And the next morning the adultress began to cry aloud, because her beloved was murdered ; and as there was neither man nor child in the house except the merchants, they ought to be hanged on his account.

29 Then they were taken and carried to prison, and at last Ivan came to them.

30 Alas, alas! Ivan, said they, a hard fate attends us ; our host was killed last night, and we shall be hanged for him.

31 Aha ! request the justices, said Ivan, to summon those who committed this heinous crime before hem.

32 Who knows, replied they, who committed the crime ? Who committed the crime ! said Ivan. If I know not how to prove who committed the crime, I will suffer myself to be hanged in their stead.

33 Explanation replied they 

(Nos 33, 34, and 35, Ivan repeats what he had seen, and produces the piece of the gown in evidence.)

36 And with that the merchants had their liberty, and the woman and the monk were hanged...." [cont...]

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 1818

Unlucky in Devon - 50 & 51 (mirrors)

By Car_mirror_at_night.jpg: Mark Sebastian from San Jose (Car_mirror_at_night.jpg) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It is unlucky - 

"For a bride to take a last peep at the mirror before starting for church.

To look into a mirror at dusk, or night-time, unless the room is well lighted, is not pleasant : for there is a dread of something uncanny peeping over the shoulder ; such an apparition would portend death."

Hewett 1900

Chagford Pixies

Me in Chagford! - if you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog - thanks!

"As a gentleman, late at night, was driving across the moor to Chagford, a village in mid-Devon, he was startled by the merry tinkle of tiny bells. Lights appeared in the meadows close at hand as of thousands of glow-worms shedding their luminous rays on every leaflet, while an innumerable company of small people tripped joyously to the sportive music. Every movement of this assemblage of fairies was distinctly seen by him. He reined in his horse, and watched for a considerable time their merry antics. He sat motionless, the better to catch the spirit of the sportive scene. The sward was crowded with myriads of sprites, some waving garlands of tiny wild flowers, roses and blue bells, others joining in the dance, while not a few bestrode the slender stalks of tall grasses, which scarcely bent beneath their feathery weight. All went merrily till the shrill crow of chanticleer rang out on the midnight air, when suddenly darkness fell and the gorgeous scene with its fantastically attired crowd vanished from the wayfarer's sight.

The villagers assert that on peaceful nights they often hear the echoes of delightful music and the tripping patter of tiny feet issuing from the meadows and hill sides.

By wells and rills, in meadows green
We nightly dance our heyday guise,
And to our fairy king and queen
We chant our moonlight minstrelsies,
When larks 'gin sing,
Away we fling,
And babes new-born steal as we go ;
And elf in bed,
We leave instead,
And wend us laughing, ho! ho! ho!"

Hewett 1900

Map - Chagford (exact location uncertain)

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 

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 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

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

The Mermaids Vengence - part 10

"..."The stars are beautiful, when bright
They are mirror'd in the sea;
But they are pale beside that light
Which was so beautiful to me.
My angel child, my earth-born girl,
From all your kindred riven,
By the base deeds of a selfish churl,
And to a sand-grave driven!
How shall I win thee back to ocean?
How canst thou quit thy grave,
To share again the sweet emotion
Of gliding through the wave?"..." [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The Fairy Gardens - part 2

'..."As I was saying, when I have been to sea close under the cliffs, of a fine summer's night, I have heard the sweetest of music, and seen hundreds of little lights moving about amongst what looked like flowers. Ay! and they are flowers too, for you may smell the sweet scent far out at sea. Indeed, I have heard many of the old men say, that they have smelt the sweet perfume, and heard the music from the fairy gardens of the Castle, when more than a mile from the shore." Strangely enough, you can find no flowers but the sea-pinks in these lovely green places by day, yet they have been described by those who have seen them in the midsummer moonlight as being covered with flowers of every colour, all of them far more brilliant than any blossoms seen in any mortal garden.'

Hunt 1903

Fairy Funeral - part 2

'...Richard beheld the bier borne between six--whether men or women be could not tell--but he saw that the face of the corpse was that of a beautiful female, smaller than the smallest child's doll. It was, Richard said, "as if it were a dead seraph,"--so very lovely did it appear to him. The body was covered with white flowers, and its hair, like gold threads, was tangled amongst the blossoms. The body was placed within the altar; and then a large party of men, with picks and spades, began to dig a little hole close by the sacramental table. Their task being completed, others, with great care, removed the body and placed it in the hole. The entire company crowded around, eager to catch a parting glimpse of that beautiful corpse, ere yet it was placed in the earth. As it was lowered into the ground,they began to tear off their flowers and break their branches of myrtle, crying, "Our queen is dead! our queen is dead!" At length one of the men who had dug the grave threw a shovelful of earth upon the body; and the shriek of the fairy host so alarmed Richard, that he involuntarily joined in it. In a moment, all the lights were extinguished, and the fairies were heard flying in great consternation in every direction. Many of them brushed past the terrified man, and, shrieking, pierced him with sharp instruments. He was compelled to save his life by the most rabid flight.'

Hunt 1903

Fairy Funeral - part 1

'THIS and two or three other bits of folk-lore were communicated to the Athaenaum by me, when Ambrose Merton (Mr Thorns) solicited such contributions.

The parish church of Lelant is curiously situated amidst hills of blown sand, near the entrance of the creek of Hayle. The sandy waste around the church is called the Towen; and this place was long the scene of the midnight gambols of the Small People. In the adjoining village--or, as it is called in Cornwall, the "church-town "--lived an old woman who had been, according to her own statement, a frequent witness to the use made by the fairies of the Towen. Her husband, also, had seen some extraordinary scenes on the same spot. From her--to me, oft-repeated description--I get the following tale:-- lt was the fishing season; and Richard had been to St Ives for some fish. He was returning, laden with pilchards, on a beautiful moonlight night; and as he ascended the hill from St Ives, he thought he heard the bell of Lelant Church tolling. Upon a nearer approach, he saw lights in the church; and most distinctly did the bell toll--not with its usual clear sound, but dull and heavy, as if it had been muffled, scarcely awakening any echo. Richard walked towards the church, and cautiously, but not without fear, approaching one of the windows, looked in. At first he could not perceive any one within, nor discover whence the light came by which everything was so distinctly illuminated. At length he saw, moving along the centre aisle, a funeral procession. The little people who crowded the aisle, although they all looked very sorrowful, were not dressed in any mourning garments--so far from it, they wore wreaths of little roses, and carried branches of the blossoming myrtle...'[cont.]

Hunt 1903

Fairy Revel on teh Gump at St Just - part 5

'...Well, thought the old man, now is my time; if I could only crawl up to the prince's table, I should have a catch sure enough, and become a rich man for life. With his greedy mind fixed on this one object, and unobservant of everything else, he crouched down, as though by, so doing he could escape observation, and very slowly and stealthily advanced amongst the revellers. He never saw that thousands of spriggans had thrown little strings about him, and that they still held the ends of the threads. The presence of this selfish old mortal did not in any way discompose the assembly; they ate and drank and were as merry as though no human eye was looking on them. The old man was wondrous cautious lest he should disturb the feasters, consequently a long time was spent in getting, as he desired, to the back of the mound. At length he reached the desired spot, and, to his surprise, all was dark and gloomy behind him, but in front of the mound all was a blaze of light. Crawling like a serpent on his belly, trembling with anxiety, the old man advanced close to the prince and princess. He was somewhat startled to find, as he looked out over the mound, that every one of the thousands of eyes in that multitude was fixed on his. He gazed a while, all the time screwing his courage up; then, as a boy who would catch a butterfly, he took off his hat and carefully raised it, so as to cover the prince, the princess, and their costly table, and, when about to close it upon them, a shrill whistle was heard, the old man's hand was fixed powerless in the air, and everything became dark around him....' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

Fairy Revels on the Gump, St Just - Part 3

'...The brilliancy of the scene nearly overpowered the old man; but, when he was least prepared for it, the illumination became a thousand times more intense. Out of the hill were crowding thousands upon thousands of lovely ladies and gentlemen, arrayed in the most costly attire. He thought there would be no end to the coming crowd. By and by, however, the music suddenly changed, and the harmonious sounds which fell upon his ears appeared to give new life to every sense. His eyes were clearer, his ears quicker, and his sense of smell more exquisite.

The odours of flowers, more delicious than any he had eves smelt, filled the air. He saw, without any disturbing medium, the brilliant beauty of the thousands of ladies who were now upon the Gump; and their voices were united in one gush of song, which was clear as silver bells--a hymeneal symphony of the utmost delicacy. The words were in a language unknown to him, but he saw they were directed towards a new group now emerging from the hill....' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

Fairy Revels on the Gump, St. Just - part 1

'LONG has the Gump been the reputed playground of the Small People. Many of the good old people were permitted to witness their revels, and for years they have delighted their grandchildren with tales of the songs they have heard, and of the sights they have seen. To many of their friends those fairies have given small but valuable presents; but woe to the man or woman who would dare to intrude upon the ground occupied by them at the time of their high festivals. There was a covetous old hunks in St Just--never mind his name, he was severely punished, let that suffice--well, this old fellow had heard so much of the riches displayed by the little people, when holding holiday on the Gump, that he resolved to get some of the treasures. He learned all he could learn from his neighbours, but kept his intention to himself. It was during the harvest-moon--the night was a softened day--and everything abroad on such a night should have been in harmony with its quiet brilliancy. But here was a dark soul passing along, making a small eclipse with his black shadow. The old man stole towards the rendezvous of the "good people," as some were fond of calling them, anxiously looking out for the treasures which he coveted. At length, when he had not advanced far on the Gump, he heard music of the most ravishing kind. Its influence was of a singularly mysterious character. As the notes were solemn and slow, or quick and gay, the old man was moved from tears to laughter; and on more than- one occasion he was compelled to dance in obedience to the time. Notwithstanding that he was almost bewildered by the whirling motion to which he was compelled, the old man "kept his wits awake," and waited his opportunity to seize some fairy treasure; but as yet nothing remarkable had presented itself. The music appeared to surround him, and, as he thought, to come closer to him than it was at first; and although its sound led him to believe that the musicians were on the surface, he was impressed with an idea that they were realty beneath the earth Eventually there was a crash of sound, startling beyond description, and the hill before him opened. All was now ablaze with variously-coloured lights...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The Piskie

'The Piskie.--This fairy is a most mischievous and very unsociable sprite. His favourite fun is to entice people into the bogs by appearing like the light from a cottage window, or as a man carrying a lantern. The Piskie partakes, in many respects, of the character of the Spriggan. So wide-spread were their depredations, and so annoying their tricks, that it at one time was necessary to select persons whose acuteness and ready tact were a match for these quick-witted wanderers, and many a clever man has become famous for his power to give charms against Pigseys. it does not appear, however, that anything remarkable was required of the clever man. "No Pigsey could harm a man if his coat were inside-out, and it became a very common practice for persons who had to go from village to village by night, to wear their jacket or cloak so turned, ostensibly to prevent the dew from taking the shine off the cloth, but in reality to render them safe from the Pigseys."

They must have been a merry lot, since to "laugh like a Piskie" is a popular saying. These little fellows were great plagues to the farmers, riding their colts and chasing their cows.'

Hunt 1903