Devon Dreams L- N

"The following few examples shew " the stuff which dreams are made of."

Larks. 
To dream of these birds is a good sign, as it denotes that you will overcome all difficulties that may come in your way, and you will speedily rise to a good position.

Lightning 
without thunder is one of the very luckiest dreams. To lovers it means happiness; to farmers, good crops ; and to sailors, prosperous voyages.

Mad Dogs. 
In dreams these are omens of success.

Magpies. 
That you will soon be married.

Nightingales. 
Nightingales singing are indicative of bright days coming and a release from all troubles and anxieties.

Nuts. 
Indicate the receipt of money.

Hewett 1900

The White Bird of the Oxenhams of South Tawton - Part 2

The White Bird of the Oxenhams - From a scanned version of Devonshire characters and strange events by Sabine Baring-Gould, published in 1908, http://www.archive.org/details/devonshirecharac00bariuoft

"...For those who may be unable to procure the whole of the poem, I select one or two stanzas which may be interesting.

Where lofty hills in grandeur meet,
And Taw meandering flows,
There is a calm and sweet retreat
Where once a mansion rose.
 

There dwelt Sir James of Oxenham,
A brave and liberal lord :
Benighted travellers never came
Unwelcome to his board.

Here it goes on to say that Margaret was sole heiress to his property ; she was wooed by one Bertram, who from a blow on the head became an imbecile. Margaret's grief was great, but " consoling time healed the heart with anguish grieved," and " soft vermilion of her cheek again begins to flow."

Then John the Knight of Roxamcave
Sought her fair hand to gain :
And he was handsome, young, and brave
How could he plead in vain ?
 

He fondly pressed his Margaret
To fix their nuptial day,
And on its joyful eve they met
With friends and kinsfolk gay.

~#~

How happy was Sir James that night,
Unburdened of his care.
For he believed, with fond delight,
That heaven had heard his prayer.
 

~#~

Then up he rose, with joy elate,
To speak unto Sir John,
And rapt desire, outspeeding fate,
In thought he called him son.
 

But while the dear unpractised word
Was forming on his tongue,
He saw a silvery-breasted bird
Fly o'er the festive throng.
 

~#~

Now John, and Margaret, and her sire,
With many a dame and knight,
Ranged round the altar, heard the friar
Begin the holy rite.
 

When Margaret, with terrific screams,
Made all with horror start.
Oh, heavens ! her blood in torrents streamed,
A dagger's in her heart.
 

Behind stood Bertram, who then drew
Away the reeking blade ;
And frantically laughed to view
The life-blood of his maid.

" Now marry me, proud maid !" he cried,
" Thy blood with mine shall wed."
Then dashed the dagger in his side,
And on the ground fell dead.

Poor Margaret, too, grows cold with death,
And round her, hovering, flies
The phantom bird for her last breath,
To bear it to the skies."

 

Hewett 1900

 

Map - Okehampton
Map - South Tawton

The Ashen Faggot

Fire - if you wish to use my images please attribute this blog

"The custom of burning the yule log is observed in large country houses, [in Devon] at the present time, on Christmas Eve, but where the fireplaces are contracted and slow-combustion grates the vogue, small branches of green ash, are cut fresh from the plantation. These sawn into lengths the width of the grate are tied into faggots with four or five strong binds of bramble canes. Very large faggots, which are intended to be burnt in old-fashioned kitchen fireplaces, are bound with chains. The bramble binds are a source of much amusement, for soon after being placed on the dogs, they burn through, one by one. Before they begin to light and burn, each of the youngest members of the family choose a bind, and whose is first burnt through will be the first to marry. It is customary for the company to drink a quart of cider at the bursting of each bind, so that by the time the whole have given way, there has been a large consumption of that beverage. It soon begins to influence the flow of spirits and induces a hilarious state of mind, increasing in strength as the night advances."

Hewett 1900

Castle Rock and the Black Monk - Part 2

Castle Rock - © Copyright Paul Jennings and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

"...The baron's cries summoned the affrighted servants, but when they reached his room they found their lord lying on the floor a blackened corpse. His only son, solemnly impressed by his father's fate, went on the Crusades and did many acts of valour against the infidels. But even to the Holy Land the black monk followed him, and never left him day or night. The unhappy man, driven nearly mad, sought to bury his trouble in drink. He grew a wild, dissolute gallant, and the mother and sister that he had left in the castle on the rock wept bitter tears over his fall, and were glad when death summoned them to the land where "the wicked cease from troubling."

Years afterwards the knight returned to his Devonshire home, and one Sunday morning, as he rode through the valley, he heard the church bells calling men to prayer. They reminded him of the days of his innocent childhood; of his mother's teachings, and lured him towards the house of prayer. The black monk sought to draw him back, with the whisper of false pleasures awaiting him; but as the sinner hesitated, scarcely able to wrest himself away from his evil associate, he saw in the church porch the forms of his mother and sister, clad in garments of light, and beckoning to him with their spirit hands. He tore himself from the grasp of the monk, rushed to the porch, and darting into the church, threw himself before the altar.

The black monk developed into a fiend, and stamping his foot there was an earthquake; the castle on the rock shook to its foundations and fell crashing into the valley; the rocks rolled over, the Ring was formed, and where a smiling vale had been there remained the Valley of Rocks. Was this an allegory? Did the black monk personify an evil habit, so difficult to break?"

Valentine (undated)

Map - Castle Rock

Saint Cleer, Liskeard

"The well of St. Cleer, the baptistery or chapel by which it was enclosed, and an ancient cross about 9 feet high, form a group by the roadside 100 yards eastward below the church, north of Liskeard. The chapel was destroyed by fanatics in the Civil War, but appears to have been similar in size and construction to that which now stands by Dupath Well, near Callington. It was restored in 1864 as a memorial to the Rev. John Jope, sixty-seven years Vicar of St. Cleer. The well is said to have been once used as a boussening or ducking pool, for the cure of mad people. Attempts have from time to time been made to cart away some of the stones of the chapel, but mysterious power has always returned them at night. The entrance is under two low round arches, the roof covered with ivy and brushwood. The water flowing out of the well fills a pool or basin, supposed to have been used as a boussening pool for curing mad people. St. Clare was born about 1200, in Italy, and died 1252. She became the abbess of a monastery of Benedictine nuns, and was foundress of the order of the Poor Clares.--E. Ashworth, Esq."

Hope 1893

Map - St Cleer's Well
Map - Dupath Well

Wishing Well, Roche

"Roche, north of St. Austell, famous for the Roche rocks, with St. Michael's Chapel built amongst them. Once tenanted by a hermit; then by a leper, whose daughter waited on him, and drew water from a well, said to ebb and flow, called after her. To St. Gundred's, near a group of cottages called Hollywell village, maidens would repair on Holy Thursday, to throw in pins and pebbles, and predict coming events by the sparkling of the bubbles which rise up. Lunatics were also immersed in it."

Hope 1893

Map - Roche

St. Agnes - Holy Well

Bousening at St Agnes Holy Well - Please attribute this website if you wish to use my drawing.

"At the foot of the holy well in St. Agnes, a place formerly of great repute, Dr. Borlase says he thinks the remains of a similar well to the last [St Nun's, or St Nonna's Well] are still discernible, though the sea has demolished the walls. . The Cornish call this immersion "boussening," from beuzi or budhizzi in the Corno-British and Armoric, signifying to dip or to drown."

Hope 1893

Map - St Agnes

Altarnum - Saint Nun's or Saint Nonna's well

Bousening at Saint Nun's Well, Altarnun - Please attribute this website if you use my drawing

"In the parish of Altarnum or Alternon, there is a well dedicated in honour of St. Nonna, who is said to have been the daughter of an Earl of Cornwall, and mother of St. David, whose waters were supposed to have the power of curing madness; and according to Carew and Borlase the process was as follows: The water running from this sacred well was conducted to a small square enclosure closely walled in on every side, and might be filled at any depth, as the case required. The frantic person was placed on the wall, with his back to the water; without being permitted to know what was going to be done, he was knocked backwards into the water, by a violent blow on the chest, when he was tumbled about in a most unmerciful manner, until fatigue had subdued the rage which unmerited violence had occasioned. Reduced by ill-usage to a degree of weakness which ignorance mistook for returning sanity, the patient was conveyed to church with much solemnity, where certain Masses were said for him. If after this treatment he recovered, St. Nun had all the praise; but in case he remained the same, the experiment was repeated so often as any hope of life or recovery was left. The mystic properties of this well have been transferred by the vulgar to the Pixies, whose goodwill is obtained by an offering of a pin."

Hope - 1893

Map - Altarnun

The Demon Tregeagle - part 8

'...The monks of Bodmin and the priests from the neighbouring churches gathered together, and the result of their long and anxious deliberations was, that Tregeagle, guarded by two saints, should be taken to the north coast, near Padstow, and employed in making trusses of sand, and ropes of sand with which to bind them. By powerful spell, Tregeagle was removed from Roach, and fixed upon the sandy shores of the Padstow district. Sinners are seldom permitted to enjoy any peace of soul. As the ball of sand grew into form, the tides rose, and the breakers spread out the sands again a level sheet; again was it packed together and again washed away.--Toil! toil ! toil! day and night unrestingly, sand on sand grew with each hour, and ruthlessly the ball was swept, by one blow of a sea wave, along the shore.


The cries of Tregeagle were dreadful; and as the destruction of the sand heap was constantly recurring, a constantly increasing despair gained the mastery over hope, and the ravings of the baffled soul were louder than the roarings of the winter tempest.
 
Baffled in making trusses of sand, Tregeagle seized upon the loose particles and began to spin them into a rope. Long and patiently did he pursue his task, and hope once more rose like a star out of the midnight darkness of despair. A rope was forming, when a storm came up with all its fury from the Atlantic, and swept the particles of sand away over the hills.

The inhabitants of Padstow had seldom any rest. At every tide the howlings of Tregeagle banished sleep from each eye. But now so fearful were the sounds of the doomed soul,: in the madness of the struggle between hope and despair, that the people fled the town, and clustered upon the neighbouring plains, praying, as with one voice, to be relieved from the sad presence of this monster...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The adventurs of Chery of Zennor - part 14

'...Her parents had supposed her dead, and when they saw her, they believed her to be her own ghost. Cherry told her story, which every one doubted, but Cherry never varied her tale, and at last every one believed it. They say Cherry was never afterwards right in her head, and on moonlight nights, until she died, she would wander on to the Lady Downs to look for her master.'

Hunt 1903

Nursing a Fairie - part 2

[cont.] '...When out on the road, the bandage was removed from her eyes, and she found she had a small baby in- her arms, not remarkably good-looking, with very sharp, piercing eyes, and but ordinarily dressed. However, a bargain is a bargain; so she resolved to make the best of it, and she presented the babe to her husband, telling him so much of the story as she thought it prudent to trust him with. For years the child was with this couple. They never wanted for anything; meat, and even wines, were provided,--as most people thought,--by wishing for them; clothes, ready-made, were on the child's bed when required; and the charmed water was always in the magic ewer. The little boy grew active and strong. He was remarkably wild, yet very tractable, and he appeared to have a real regard for his "big mammy," as he called the woman. Sometimes - she thought the child was mad. He would run, and leap, and scream, as though he were playing with scores of boys, when no soul was near him. The woman had never seen the father since the child had been with them; but ever and anon, money was conveyed to them in some mysterious manner. One morning, when washing the boy, this good woman, who had often observed how bright the water made the face of the child, was tempted to try if it would improve her own beauty. So directing the boy's attention to some birds singing on a tree outside the window, she splashed some of the water up into her face. Most of it went into her eye. She closed it instinctively, and upon opening it, she saw a number of little people gathered round her and playing with the boy. She said not a word, though her fear was great; and she continued to see the world of small - people surrounding the world of ordinary men and women, being with them, but not of them. She now knew who the boy's playmates were, and she often wished to speak to the beautiful creatures of the invisible world who were his real companions; but she was discreet, and kept silence...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903