By Hook or By Crook

Devon Hedge near Coffinswell - cant actually see the use of Crooks here - image by Derek Harper [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

""By Hook or by Crook"—I imagine that the expression "By hook or by crook" is in very general use throughout England. It was familiar to my ear forty years ago in Surrey, and within these four years its origin was (to my satisfaction at the moment) brought home to my comprehension in the north of Devon, where the tenant of a certain farm informed me that, by an old custom, he was entitled to take wood from some adjoining land "by hook and crook;" which, on inquiry, I understood to include, first, so much underwood as he could cut with the hook or bill, and, secondly, so much of the branches of trees as he could pull down with the aid of a crook.

Whether this crook originally meant the shepherd's crook (a very efficient instrument for the purpose), or simply such a crooh-ed stick as boys use for gathering hazel-nuts, is not very material. It seems highly probable that, in the vast forests which once overspread this country, the right of taking "Jire bote" by "hook or crook" was recognised; and we can hardly wish for a more apt illustration of the idea of gaining a desired object by the ordinary means—" a hook," if it lay close to our hand ; or, by a method requiring more effort, "a crook," if it were a little beyond our reach. J. A. S.

NOTES AND QUERIES. [No. 25. April 20. 1850.]

[We made use of Hooks (bill hooks) and Crooks hedge-laying on Dartmoor, but weirdly the crook was the piece of wood used to pin down the hedge - a sort of 7 shaped piece of wood hammered into the hedge (hedge here being the name for the bank, not the bits of tree on top.)]

Glastonbury Walnut Tree

Saint Josephs Chapel, Glastonbury - By Francis Frith (Yale University Art Gallery [1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons 

"Collinson, in his History of Somersetshire, vol. ii. p. 265, speaking of Glastonbury, tells us, that, "besides the holy Thorn, there grew' in the Abbey Church-yard, on the North side of St. Joseph's Chapel, a miraculous Walnut Tree, which never budded forth before the feast of St. Barnabas, viz. the eleventh of June, and on that very day shot forth leaves, and" flourished like its usual species. This tree is gone, and in the place there of stands a very fine Walnut-tree of the common sort. It is strange to say how much this tree was sought after by the credulous; and, though not an uncommon Walnut, Queen Anne, King James, and many of the nobility of the realm, even when the times of monkish superstition had ceased, gave large sums of money for small cuttings from the original.""

Brand 1813

Map - Glastonbury

The sunken valley from Rame Head to Looe

Towards Rame Head from Portwrinkle, part way to Looe.  © Copyright Trevor Rickard and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

"From Rame-head to the two Looes very fertile valleys are stated to have extended at least a league southwards, over a tract now covered with sea; and around the coast in many places, we are assured, in twelve feet of water, trees are to be seen in the sea."

Hunt 1903

Map - Looe
Map - Rame Head

The Lost Land of Lyinesse, or Lethowsow - Part 6

  The Scillonian ferry regularly crosses the waters above the legendary Lyonesse.  If you wish to use my photo please attribute this blog!

[cont.] "..."That Cornwall once extended further west may be inferred from hence, that about midway between the Land's End and Scilly are rocks called in Cornish Lethowsow; by the English, Seven-stones.

"The Cornish call the places within the stones Tregva, -- i.e., a dwelling;--and it has been reported that windows and other stuff have been fished up, and that fishermen still see tops of houses under water. From the Land's End to Scilly, a tract of thirty miles, is an equal depth of water, and the bottom of the sea a plain, level surface. St Michael's Mount is called in Cornish, Careg cowse in clowse--i.e., the hoary rock in the wood. Large trees with roots and bodies have been driven in by the sea of late years between St Michael's Mount and Penzance; and tradition says that at the time of the inundation which made the separation, one Trevelyan swam from thence on horseback; and in memory thereof the family, now in Somersetshire, bears gules a horse argent, from a less wavy argent, and azure, issuing out of a sea proper,"--Gough's Camden, vol. 1. p. 15...... [cont.]"

Hunt 1903

Map - Land's End

Map - Isles of Scilly

Map - Saint Michael's Mount 

Map - The Seven Stones  

The Lost Land of Lyinesse, or Lethowsow - Part 5

  The Scillonian ferry regularly crosses the waters above the legendary Lyonesse.  If you wish to use my photo please attribute this blog!

[cont.] "..."Strabo expressly tells us that the Cassiterides (so called from the Greek name of tin, there produced) were in his time only ten in number; whereas they are now divided into a hundred and forty rocky islets. Solinus also makes mention of a large and respectable island, called Silura, evidently the Scilly of present times, lying on Damnonian or Cornish coast, and separated from the mainland by a strait turbulent and dangerous--a character which sufficiently marks the compression of its waters. And William of Worcester, an author of our own country, thirteen centuries after Solinus, states, with a degree of positive exactness, stamping authenticity upon its recital, that between Mount's Bay and the Scilly Islands there had been woods, and meadows, and arable lands, and a hundred and forty parish churches, which before his time were submerged by the ocean. Uninterrupted tradition since this period, which subsists to the present day vigorous and particular, authenticates his account, and leaves no doubt upon the wind that a vast track of land, which stretched anciently from the eastern shore of Mount's Bay to the north-western rock of Scilly (with the exception of the narrow strait flowing between the Long-ships and Land's End), has, since the age of Strabo and Solinus, and previous to that of William of Worcester, been overwhelmed and usurped by the waves of the sea. . . . The depth of the water at the Land's End is about eleven fathoms; at the Long-ships, eight; to the north of them, twenty; to the south, thirty; and twenty-five, twenty, and fifteen fathoms between them and the north-west of Scilly. The shallowest water occurs in the mid-space between Cornwall and the Isles. "--A Tour through Cornwall in the Autumn of 1808, by the Rev. Richard Warner.

"Yet the cause of that inundation, which destroyed much of these Islands (the Scilly Islands), might reach also to the Cornish shores, is extremely probable, there being several evidences of a like subsidence of the land in the Mount's Bay. The principal anchoring-place, called a lake, is now a haven, or open harbour. The Mount, from its Cornish name, we must conclude to have stood formerly in a wood, but now, at full tide, is half a mile from the sea, and not a tree near it; and in the sandy beach betwixt the Mount and Penzance, where the sands have been dispersed by violent high tides, I have seen the trunks of several large trees in their natural position."-- Borlase, Phil. Trans., vol. xlviii. part I..... [cont.]"

Hunt 1903

Map - Longships

Map - Land's End

Map - Isles of Scilly

Map - Saint Michael's Mount 

The West Country Man - a slightly anti-monarchy folksong reffrencing Barnstaple Fair

Ash tree leaves - By Pearson Scott Foresman [Public domain],

'There was an old man in the West Country ;
A blatch in his lease the attorney found,
Twas all for the felling of five ashen trees,
And building a house upon his own ground.

The old man, he would to London go,

To shew the King great part of his woe,
To shew the King great part of his grief,
And likewise to ax'n for some relief.

Now when the old man to London came,

The King he was to Windsor gone,
" Why if he had known that I was acoming,
He widden have gone so far from home."

When the old man unto Windsor came,

The gates were locked, and all secure,
" Why let's knock away with my oaken club,
There's room for me to get vore, to be sure."

"Yer sarvint, Maister Nobles!" shew me the king,
"Whot's this the King you sheweth to me ?
I zeed a chap to Barnstaple fair
Looked more like a king than thicky chap there."

"Yer sarvint, Mr. King !" the old man said,

"A blatch in my lease the 'torney' hath found,
And it's all for felling of five ashen trees,
And building a 'ouze pin tap his own ground."

The King he took the lease all up,

And signed it with his hand so free.
" Why, if us ciide a-had it a-diied at home,
Us needn't a-comed to thee."

The old man took the lease all up,

And for to go home was also willing,
But to make the King some sort of amends,
He took out his purse and gave him a shilling,

The King he thanked the noble soul,

And paid him down ten pounds in gold,
And every year for the sake of the sport,
Ten pounds were paid from Windsor Court.

The old man took the lease all up,

And for to go home he now was quite willing,
" But if I'd a-knowed thee'd agot so much money,
The devil-a-bit wid I a-gied thee a shilling."'

For this and the following song I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. W. H. Whiteaway, of Sunnyside, Exmouth, who is good enough to allow me to insert them here. He says, " these songs I give to you, from memory, as I can remember hearing them sung over sixty years ago."

Hewett 1900

Map - Barnstaple Fair

Map - Exmouth

[A tune exists here, Roud No. 18844 and 18877, in Sabine Baring-Gould's manuscripts, that looks like it might fit.]

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Cattle

Cow near Chagford, Devon - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog.

"Cattle leaving off to feed and hastening to shelter under hedges, bushes, trees, outhouses, &c., shows sudden showers are coming."

Hewett 1900

Devon / Westcountry weather lore - Plant lore and the weather

Beans in Flower - if you want to use my photos please attribute this blog.

"When beans are in bloom brew not your ale.

When elder is white, brew and bake a peck.

When elder is black, brew and bake a sack.

When the sloe-tree is white as a sheet, sow your barley whether it be dry or wet.

Ash before oak, there will be a soak,

Oak before ash, there will be but a splash."

Hewett 1900

Chagford tune - All The Trees They Are So High

Me learning the fiddle...  If you want to use my photos please attribute this blog.

[This tune (a version of a well known folk tune) I encountered in a brilliant database of manuscripts held by the English Folk Dance and Song Society website , digitized by the Devon Traditions Project. Put Chagford in the EFDSS search bar to get the original of this tune.  I was researching for a forthcoming book on Chagford Folklore (more on that later in the year!).

It was collected in 1890 by Sabine Baring-Gould from William Aggett in Chagford. William was described thus by Sabine - 

“…William Aggett, aged 70, crippled and infirm, Chagford.  Certainly illiterate, an old broken down laborer…”   

The words of this song (just one of around 30 he collected from Chagford) are as follows - 

As I looked over my father’s castle wall

I saw four and twenty boys playing at the ball

But my pretty lad he did exceed them all

And my pretty lad is young and he is growing

O father, father dear, if that you think it fit

We’ll send him to the collage for a year yet

And spinning I at home will sit-sit-sit.

Whilst my pretty lad is young and is growing

I’ll buy my love five shirts of the Holland so fine

And all the time I’m sowing, the tears run down the twine

And I will sit and sing of that sweet love of mine,

Whilest my pretty lad is young and is growing

I’ll cast my yellow train away by the root

And I will clothe myself all in a boys suit

And to the collage ?wish?, I will go a foot

When my pretty lad so young still is growing

At the age of fourteen he was a married man

At the age of fifteen he had a little son

At the age of sixteen his thread of life was done

So my pretty lad so young had ceased growing

This actually did make me shed a tear when I read it to my wife. It was the amazing line "And all the time I'm sowing, the tears run down the twine" that did it! Folk music is amazing for getting to the core in just a few simple strides. The last verse didn't help...

And for those with a musical ear who might want to sing it, here is my faltering attempt at one of two complimentary tunes given by William Aggett. This is the tune noted as being sung to the words above. I have done a slight alteration to it by repeating the third bit to make it fit the 4 part structure of the song -

 

 Map - Chagford

p.s. Thanks to my neighbor Terri Windling for an excellent mini review on her blog. Cheers!]

Devon / Westcountry weather lore #13 April (part 2)

Mattiscombe Bay, Devon, in April - By Own Herby talk thyme (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

"Fogs in April foretell a failure of the wheat crop for next year.

One should look for grass in April on the top of an oak, because grass seldom springs well before the oak puts forth its leaves.

Fine warm weather from Easter to Whitsuntide produces much grass and cheap butter.

As the weather is on Ascension Day, so will it be the entire autumn.

If it rains on Good Friday and Easter Day,
There'll be plenty of grass and a little good hay.

April and May between them make bread for all the year.

April rains for men : May for beasts."

Hewett 1900

Devon / Westcountry weather lore #12 April (part 1)

Mattiscombe Beach, Devon, in April - By Own Herby talk thyme (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

"A dry April is not the farmer's will.

In April wet is what the farmer would get.

Till April is dead, change not a thread.

What March does not want April brings along.

When April blows his horn,
"Tis good for hay and corn.

On the first of April crows are still sitting.

April floods carry off frogs and their broods.

The cuckoo comes in April.

When the cuckoo comes to the bare thorn, 

Sell your cow and buy you corn ; 

But when he comes to the full bit, 

Sell your corn and buy you sheep.

If it thunders on All Fools' Day, 

There will be good crops of corn and hay...." [cont...]

Hewett 1900

Some Devon May Day customs

May Blossom - Hawthorn - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog.

[I hope these are about Devon, anyway - with Hewett she is infuriatingly spartan with place references, and occasionally includes stuff from other counties - so treat with care...]

"There were, and still are, numerous superstitions attached to the merry month of May. Marriages taking place in May are supposed to bring ill-luck to the contracting parties. Cats born in this month are regarded as unpleasant creatures to have about one, as the practice of bringing into the house snakes, toads, and other objectionable vermin is ascribed to them.
 

May-dew, collected before or close upon sun-rise, is looked upon as an infallible beautifier of the complexion. Young girls arose early to wash their faces in it with the hope that their charms would be increased. On returning from the fields they would gather branches of hawthorn bloom, and suspend it over the entrance to the house, to protect it and themselves from the spells of witches and the evil eye.

On the first of May, persons were sent on ridiculous errands, and on their return, empty handed, were derisively addressed as May giize-chicks, or May goslings."

Hewett 1900

Devon tree charm to cure toothache

Hand on Ash Bark - by Photograph and upload by John Delano of Hammond, Indiana. Wikipedia.

"Cut your toe and finger nails, take these parings, wrap in tissue paper, and insert the packet into a slit made in the bark of an ash tree before sunrise. You will never have toothache again as long as you live."

Hewett 1900

Lucky in Devon - 25

I know this is not a Westcountry tree, but I couldn't resist it - I think felling this tree could NEVER be lucky!

It is lucky -

"To fell trees at the wane of the moon, and when the wind is in the North."

Hewett 1900

Wassailing this year!

[Old twelfth night, the 16th of January, is when my wife, writer and artist Lunar Hine, and I decided to Wassail our apple trees, as goes the tradition.

After gathering in the house and playing music and drinking mulled cider (and eating yummy Dorset Apple cake made by artist Rima, and my own dried apples) we  headed off into the garden to Wassail the apple trees.

The first - the oldest in my garden, though I only planted it last year, was my daughters discovery apple. We drank mulled cider from a wooden bowl and splashed some on the roots. 

The youngest child to hand, the son of jeweler Jason of England, hung bread in the branches soaked in cider.  We all cheered and tried to make lots of noise. Unfortunately none of us had brought anything really noisy like a pan, so we had to make do with maracas and bells!

Someone gently gave the tree a sake to wake it for the next year.

I said

"Wassail the tree, soes it may bear,

many an apple and many a pair,

soes it may grow, and it may bow,

and it may bring us apples eno'

Huzzar!"

This I had learned off the local Somerset Radio about 10 years ago from an old cider maker.

We then went on to another three orchards, though these where more developed.

One our friends planned to wassail again as they normally did, at the end of the month - so we chose a stunted tree that had produced a good crop for the first time in its life. After all "Wassail" (Saxon for "good health") is really a thank you to the trees (some would have it as the gods of the orchard - or in one case with us "the Pipins" - faeries from Rupert the Bear who lived in apple trees!).

With the other two orchards however it was the oldest and best trees that we chose.]

South Tawton ghost cow punishment

South Tawton - the oak tree in the top left was planted to replace an elm that died that had been the village Cross Tree - By Nilfanion (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

"At a hamlet near the parish of South Tawton, a small town on the borders of Dartmoor, there is an interesting story told of a ghost which assumes the form of a remarkably handsome Guernsey Cow, and appears at midnight promenading to and fro under the spreading branches of an avenue of elm trees. It is said that a lady having done some terrible deed of darkness was transformed into a cow and condemned to walk nightly in this avenue for seventy times seventy years, bellowing frantically in token of the agonies experienced by this unhappy creature during her long term of punishment."

Hewett 1900

Map - South Tawton

Devon Dreams T-Z

Teeth.
To dream of, are the most unlucky of all things. If they fall out it signifies much sickness, if they all drop from the gums, death.

Ships.
Sailing in clear water are favourable omens, but if the water be murky, most unfavourable.

Silver Coins.
Picking them up, unless there be gold with them, is significant of impecuniosity.

Ugliness.
If you see yourself reflected as very ugly it is an omen of success.

Umbrellas.
If you lose them it signifies losses in business.

Valentine. 
Dreaming of receiving one is a bad sign, illness and trouble will soon be upon you.

Violin. 
If you are playing on one in your dream, it denotes speedy marriage ; unless a string breaks, then you will not marry at all.

Water. 
Dreaming of water, if it be clear will bring good news, if dirty, bad news is at hand.

Wedding.
One dreamed of signifies a funeral.

Yachting 
in clear water on a sunny day is prophetic of very great happiness.

Yew-trees.
You will hear of the death of an aged person in whom you have a vested interest.

Hewett 1900

Ash and Clover charms in Devon

Four-leaved Clover - Some rights reserved by SuperFantastic

 

"AN even leaved ash and a four leaved clover
Are certain to bring to me my true love
Before the day is over.

An even leaved ash and a four leaved clover are beneficent attractors of the opposite sex, for if one finds an even leaved ash and holds it flat between both hands, and repeats softly,

" With this even leaved ash between my hands
The first I meet will be my dear man."

then placing it in the palm of the gloved right hand, say,

 

" This placed in my glove
Will bring my own true love."

then remove it to the bosom and whisper,

" This even leaved ash in my bosom
Will give me, in the first man I meet
My true husband.""

Hewett 1900

A normal odd-leaved Ash leaf - I have found even leaved ones in the past, but only rarely - By Pearson Scott Foresman [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Wistman's Wood and Isabella Courtney

Wistman's Wood - Some rights reserved by Warwick Conway http://www.flickr.com/photos/warcon/4421870196/sizes/l/in/photostream/

"THE countess Isabella [Courtney of Powderham] is accredited with having planted the oaks of Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor."

Hewett 1900

Map - Wistman's Wood
Map - Powderham

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