Cats, mice and lazyness - a Somerset proverb

"I keep no more cats than will catch mice" - Somerset

i.e. no more in the family than will earn their living.

Ray 1768

Cat Latin in the West Country

Cat and Lady - 1910

"Servants, when desirous of hoodwinking their mistresses or each other, resorted to a curious method of speech.
 

They added "us," or "vus" to every word. This jargon was styled cat-latin ; as " Whenvus thevus catvus isvus outvus, thevus, micevus allvus playvus." The above will give the reader some idea of this ridiculous custom. I am told that it has not quite died out in the far west even up to this date (1898)."

Hewett 1900

True signs of rain from an old almanac - part 2

Morning mist over Chagford, Devon - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog

[cont.] "...Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, .
The distant hills are seeming nigh ;
How restless are the snorting swine,
The busy flies disturb the kine.

Low o'er the grass the swallow wings,
The cricket too, how loud it sings ;
Puss on the hearth with velvet paws,
Sits smoothing o'er her whiskered jaws.

Through the clear stream the fishes rise,
And nimbly catch the incautious flies ;
The sheep are seen at early light,
Cropping the meads with eager bite.

Though June, the air is cold and chill,
The mellow blackbird's voice is still ;
The glow-worms, numerous and bright,
Illumed the dewy dell last night.

At dusk the squalid toad was seen,
Hopping and crawling o'er the green ;
The frog has lost his yellow vest,
And in a dingy suit is dressed..." [cont.]

Hewett 1900

A non-traditional weather rhyme about Devon rain.

Mist over Padley Common, Chagford, Devon - if you wish to use my pictures please attribute this blog.

"A gentleman who once visited the west country thinks the following fairly represents the chronic conditions of Devonshire weather :

One unlucky Friday, with sorrow and pain
I proceed to record it, it came on to rain,
It rained on the Saturday, rained on the Sunday,
It rained every hour of the day on the Monday.
On Tuesday it rained cats and dogs as they say,
And Wednesday was also a very wet day,
On Thursday and Friday, especially the latter day,
It rained very hard, but my gracious on Saturday
The rain was most dreadful, a great deal more bad
Than that of any other day we had had.

Anti-Pluvius, Western Morning News, Feb. l7th, 1899."

Hewett 1900

Devon / Westcountry weather lore #9 - February

Sourton, Devon, in February

"If a storm comes on February 2nd, spring is near ; but if that day be bright and clear, the spring will be late.

When drops hang on the fence on February 2nd, icicles shall hang there on March 14th.

There is always one fine week in February.

When it rains in February it will be temperate all the year.

All the months in the year curse a fine Februeer.

or,

If in February there be no rain,
The hay won't goody, nor the grain.
All other months of the year
Most heartily curse a fine Februeer.

February fill dyke, be it black or be it white ; but if it be white, the better to like.

If bees get out in February the next day will be rough and rainy.

When the cat in February lies in the sun, she will creep under the grate in March.

If the eighteen last days of February be wet, and the first days of March, you'll see that the spring quarter, and the summer too, will prove to be wet, and danger will ensue.

February and be ye fair,
The hoggs will mend, and nothing pair ;
February and be ye foul,
The hoggs will die in the pool (Scotch)."

Hewett 1900

[Yet again I find myself cursing, for Hewett has failed to say where any of her lore comes from (other than the book is about Devon lore) and has thrown in "Scotch" in brackets. Hopefully all she meant was that the pronounciation was somewhat Scotish, rather than that she has simply added the odd Scotish proverb to pad it out!]

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

Unlucky in Devon - 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 & 66 ; and lucky in Devon 32 (all at sea)

The Lundy Ferry, nr. Ilfracombe North Devon

It is unlucky -

"To lose a mop or a broom at sea. 

To whistle on board ship, as it raises storms, and enrages the devil, who in retaliation brews tempestuous weather and causes shipwrecks.

Save a sailor from the sea,

And he'll become your enemy.

Fishermen are exceptionally superstitious and believe that ill-luck attends certain practices : for instance, they would never think of turning a craft against the sun, or of mentioning rabbits, hares, or pigs, while aboard, nor will they lend anything from one boat to another.

If the first herring brought aboard for the season is found to be a "melt," then a disastrous time in the fishing world is to be expected. If on the other hand the first brought in is a "roe," then hundreds of mease (600) will be caught and full purses the result.

Fishermen consider it most unlucky to throw a cat overboard, or to drown one at sea. 

(Children bring good luck to a ship.)"

Hewett 1900 

 

Unlucky in Devon - 20

Baby and Cat 2009 by Creatives  - [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

It is unlucky

"To have a kitten and a baby in a house together. The kitten should be sent away in order to secure good health to the baby."

Hewett 1900

Unlucky in Devon - 8

It is unlucky

"To tread on a cat's tail."

Hewett 1900

Devon Dreams A - C

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

Ass.
To dream one sees an ass labouring under a heavy burden, indicates that one will by diligent application to business amass a fortune.

Absent ones.
To dream of these ill, or in trouble, shows they are in danger ; if well, it is a sign they are prosperous.

Angels.
A happy dream, showing peace at home, and a good understanding with your friends.

Baby.
If you dream of holding a baby in your arms it signifies trouble.

Bells.
If you hear them ring it is a good sign, foretelling luck in business and speedy marriage.

Bees.
That you see a swarm of bees signifies you will be wise and highly respected. If they disturb or sting you, you will lose friends, and your sweetheart will abandon you.

Carriage.
If you dream that you are shut up in a carriage and cannot get out, it shows that your false friends are scandalizing you ; and you will suffer much at their hands.

Cats.
Dreaming of cats shews that your female friend are treacherous.

Cards.
If you dream you are playing cards it signifies that you will shortly be married."

Hewett 1900

Ill-omened animals on a wedding day...

Raven - Corvus Corax - Naumann, Naturgeschichte der Vögel Mitteleuropas (Natural history of the birds of central Europe) of 1905

"Now follow the unfortunate omens and events attached to this momentous occasion. Should a raven hover over their path, a cat, dog, or hare pass between them, or should they encounter a toad, frog, or other reptile, then terrible misfortunes will follow them for all time. These creatures are supposed to be the embodiment of pixies, witches, and every species of evil spirit. Even his satanic majesty does not object to assume the form of an animal, to enable him to work certain ill on their future lives, and to assist in contributing his share to their distress."

Hewett 1900

Betty Stogs and Jan the Monster - part 6

'...While yet full of fear and trembling to meet her husband, Jan came home from Bal. He was, of course, told that his "croom of a chield was lost." He didn't believe a word of what Betty told him, but he went about and called up all the neighbours, who joined him in the search. They spent the night in examining every spot around the house and in the village--all in vain.

After daybreak they were all assembled in deep and earnest consultation, when the cat came running into the house, with her tail on end, and mewing anxiously. She ran forth and back round a brake of furze, constantly crying, as if she wished the people to follow her. After a long time some one thought of going after the cat, and in the middle of the furze-brake, on a beautiful green, soft spot of mossy grass, was the baby sleeping, "as sweet as a little nut," wrapped carefully up in some old dry gowns, and all its clothes clean and dry. When they unwrapped the child, they found he was covered over with bright flowers, as we place them round a babe in the coffin. He had a bunch of violets in his dear little hands, and there were wallflowers and primroses, and balm and mint spread over his body. The furze was high all around, so that no cold wind could reach the infant. Every one declared that the child never looked so handsome before. It was plain enough, said the old women, that the Small People had taken the child and washed it from top to toe; that their task of cleansing the babe was a long one, and that the sun arose before they could finish it; that they had placed the child where it was found, intending to take it away the next night.

They were never known to come for the babe, but every one said that this affair worked a great change in Betty Stogs and in Jan the Mounster. The cottage was kept tidy, the child clean; and its father and mother drank less, and lived happier, for ever afterwards.'

Hunt 1903

The Spriggan's Child - second lot of tags

I'LL tell you a tale, an you've patience to hear an,
'Bout the Spriggans, that swarm round Partinney still--
You knew Janey Tregeer, who lives in Brea Vean,

In the village just under the Chapel Hill.
One arternoon she went out for to reap,
And left the child in the cradle asleep:
Janey took good care to cover the fire;--
Turn'd down the brandis on the baking.ire (iron),
Swept up the ashes on the hearthstone,
And so left the child in the house all alone--
The boys had all on 'em gone away,
Some to work and some to play.
Janey work'd in the field as gay as a lark,
And when she came home it was nearly dark;
The furst thing she saw when she open'd the door
Was the cradle upset--all the straw on the floor.

But no child in sight--
She search'd all round --
Still no child was found:
And it got dark night.
So great was Jane's fright,
That for more than an hour
She hadn't the power
To strike a light.

However, she kindled the fire at last,
And threw in a faggot to make a blast.
As she stoop'd over the wood.corner stone,
She heard a sound 'tween a cry and a moan --
It clearly came from a bundle of ferns--
The two bigger boy's bed--
And there, sure enough, as frighten'd she turns,
Janey saw the child's head.

'Twas very queer. How the child got there,
Nobody could say;Yet ever since that day, the
And blinking and peeping, when it ought to be sleeping,
But seldom it closed its eyes.
Jane said for a child it look'd too wise --
That, she thought it a changeling
She didn't disguise--
And often and often the gave it a beating,
To stop--but she couldn't--its cussed bleating.

Janey resolved to work the spell,
And whene'er she could stay,
She bath'd the brat in the Chapel Well --
Which he thought rare play.

On the three first Wednesdays in flow'ry May
She plunged it deep at the dawn of day--
Pass'd it slowly three times against the sun,
Went three times round,--and when all was clone,
The imp of a child roar'd aloud for fun.
No tongue can tell
The trouble it gave her
To dip the shaver,
And work the spell.

From Brea to Chapel-Uny is a mile or more,
And surely it tried Janey's patience sore
To trudge forth and back from the Chapel Well,
With this brat on her back, to work the spell.

She wish'd it dead; but it wouldn't die:
It ate its bread, it would pine and cry;
And Janey was nearly beside herself
With this plague of her life--this wicked elf.

Well, one rainy day,--as it rains in May,--
Janey set out with the child in her arms
Once more to work the holy charms.
When very close to the top of the hill,
Where she was sure there was nobody near,
She heard the strangest voice in her ear,
Saying these words, quite clear and shrill --
"Tredrill Tredrill! thy wife and children greet thee well."

Oh, Janey's heart-strings were like to crack,
When up spake the thing in her arms, good lack!--
" For wife or child little care I,
They may laugh,
Or they may cry,--
While milk I quaff;
When I am dry--
Get of my pap my fill
Whenever I will,
On the dowdy's back ride,
With my legs astride,
When we work the spell
At the Chapel Well"

Janey dropp'd the cussed thing on the ground,
And turn'd round, and round, and round;
You may be sure she was in a fright
To hear the sound, and nobody in sight,
And to hear a child talkMonths before it could walk.
She has said o'er and -o'er,
And I am sure you can't wonder,
'Twouldn't frighten her more,
Had the rocks burst asunder,
And the earth belch'd forth thunder,

When Janey at length got over the fright
From hearing the sound and nobody in sight,
And the brat which lay crying, as if it was dying,
Talking out like a man of his wife and his child,
She felt all bedazzled as if she was wild--
Took the brat by the arm, flung it over her shoulder--
Wouldn't believe it her child if the parson had told her--
Thought the devil was in it,
As she ran the hill down,
Without -stopping a minute
Till she came to Brea -town.

The old women came out, and all on 'em agreed
'Twas the strangest thing that ever they seed;
They stood in a row, and each one had a word --
'Twas the wonderfull'st story that ever they heard;
'Twas a Spriggan's brat--they were all sure of that--
No more like Jane's child than an old ram-cat.
She must beat it black, she must beat it blue,
Bruise its body all o'er with the heel of her shoe--
Then lay it alone beneath the church stile,
And keep out of hearing and sight for a while--
When every one said, as every one thought,
That Janey's child would again be brought:
Some said 'twould be living--some said 'twould be dead -
But the Spriggan's base brat she no longer need dread.

Jane beat the babe black,
And she beat the babe blue,
On the ashes' pile before the door;
And she would have beaten it ten times more,
But out of her hand she lost her shoe,
Struck away all at once - by she couldn't tell who.

The brat bad roar'd--it could roar no more--
So they carried it off to the old church stile,
And laid it under the stones--some swore
That when placed on the earth it was seen to smile --
Then all turn'd back, and kept far out of sight
And Janey declared she was almost wild:
But they kept her back till the turn o' the night,
When she rush'd to the stile and found her own child

'Twas there, sure enough, her own dear child
But when first she saw it,
She did not know it-- It look'd so frighten'd--it seem'd so wild.

Then the old women said,
If it keeps its wits,
We're sadly afraid
The poor babe will have fits'

Hunt 1903

How Tom and Jack found tin, part 5

[cont. '...The brewer of Market-Jew was also mayor, and, as it appears, tin-smelter, or tin merchant. To him, therefore, Tom went with his black tin, [c] and received not only his cask of beer, but such an amount of golden coin--all of it being a foreign coinage--as convinced him that Jack had not deceived him. This brewer is reputed to have been an exceedingly honest and kind-hearted man, beloved by all. It was his practice, when any of the townspeople came before him, begging him to settle their disputes,--even when they "limbed" one another,--to shut them up in the brewery-yard, give them as much beer as they could drink, and keep them there until they became good friends. Owing to this practice he seldom had enough beer to sell, and was frequently troubled to pay for his barley. This brewer, who was reputed to be "the best mayor that ever was since the creation of gray cats," gave rise, from the above practice of his, to the proverb still in daily use, "Standing, like the mayor of Market-Jew, in his own light."

The mayor was always fat and jolly. He was an especial favourite, too, with the Lord of Pengerswick, who is believed to have helped him out of many troubles. He had bought his tin of Tom and Jack, such a bargain, that he resolved to have some sport, so a barrel of beer was broached in the yard, and the crier was sent round the town to call all hands to a "courant" (merrymaking)....' [cont.]

Hunt 1903