The Lost Land of Lyonesse, or Lethowsow - Part 4

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

[cont.] "...and, to increase the wonder, a gentleman, accidentally on horseback, is carried by this animal to the neighbouring shore of Whitsand Bay, or twenty miles further off, to Perranuthnoe, through a sea which had swallowed an entire country, and from which the largest of modern vessels could not possibly have escaped. This idle tale, related by one writer after another, has almost reached our own times. The editor remembers a female relation of a former vicar of St Erth who, instructed by a dream, prepared decoctions of various herbs, and, repairing to the Land's End, poured them into the sea, with certain incantations, expecting to see the Lionesse country rise immediately out of the water, having all its inhabitants alive, notwithstanding their long submersion. But

'Perchance some form was unobserved,
Perchance in prayer or faith she swerved.'

No country appeared, and although the love of marvellous events, and of tales exciting the passions, seems not to have diminished in recent times, yet the editor is unaware of any subsequent attempt having been made to rescue those unfortunate people from their protracted state of suspended animation."--The Parochial History of Cornwall, by. Davies Gilbert, vol. iii.pp. 109, 110.

"Although a sweep of ocean, twenty-seven miles in breadth, separates at present the Land's End from the Scilly Islands, there can yet be little doubt of their having been heretofore united to each other by the mainland. The records of history indeed do not rise so high as the era when this disjunction was first effected; but we have documents yet remaining which prove to us that this strait must have been considerably widened, and the number of the Sciilly Islands greatly increased within the last sixteen or seventeen centuries, by the waters of the Atlantic (receding probably from the coast of America) pressing towards this coast of Britain, accumulating upon Bolerium, and overwhelming part of the western shores of Cornwall...." [cont.]

Hunt 1903











Map - Perranuthnoe

Map - Land's End

Map - Isles of Scilly
Map - Whitesand's Bay
Map - Bolerium

Dream divination on Saint Mark's Eve in Devon

Landscape with a Graveyard by Night by Matthias Withoos (1627-1703)

"Repair to the nearest churchyard as the clock strikes twelve, and take from a grave on the south side of the church three tufts of grass, and on going to bed place them under your pillow, repeating earnestly three several times,

The eve of St. Mark by prediction is blest,
Set therefore my hopes and my fears all to rest :
Let me know my fate, whether weal or woe ;
Whether my rank's to be high or low ;
Whether to live single or to be a bride, 

And the destiny my star doth provide. 

Should you have no dream that night, you will be single and miserable all your life. If you dream of thunder and lightning, your life will be one of great difficulty and sorrow."

Hewett 1900

[This bit of lore in Hewett 1900, and another I have not included on this blog, are found verbatim in  Memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions, Volumes 1-2 By Charles Mackay who copies them from Mother Bridget's "Dream and Omen" book - no source can be found for this so it may well be these things never appeared in Devonshire before the publication of Hewett's book...]

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

Devon Dreams O - R

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

Oats. 
Are lucky omens of success.

Onions.
If you dream you are eating them you will find much money.

Pall. 
One over a coffin is prophetic of a wedding dress.

Parcel.
If you carry one you should receive a foreign letter.

Quarrels.
If you dream of them it is a sign that you will soon be very profitably engaged in a business matter.

Rain.
Is an omen of misfortune.

Rats. 
Prophesy enemies near at hand.

Hewett 1900

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

Devon Dreams G - K

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

Garden. 

To dream of being in a beautiful garden shews you will be rich and prosperous in love.
 

Glass. 

Broken glass foretells quarrels and family strife.
 

Gold; 

To dream of gold portends riches.
 

Hares. 

To dream of these implies great trouble in pecuniary matters and sickness.
 

Horses. 

Shews that your life will be long and happy. If kicked by a horse you will have a long and severe illness, and heavy misfortune.

Ivy.

A sign that your friendships are true.

Inn. 

To dream that you are staying at an inn is a most favourable one. It shews that you will inherit a large fortune, be successful in all your undertakings, and will enjoy much happiness.
 

Jackdaw. 

Beware of danger and evil disposed persons.

Journey. 

If you are about to take one in your dream, you will meet with reverse of fortune.
 

Knives 

are always omens of some evil about to happen.
 

Kiss.

To dream that some one is kissing you, is a sure sign that you are being deceived. To dream that you are kissing some one whom you love is a sign that your love is not reciprocated."

Hewett 1900

Devon Dreams D - F

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

Dancing. 
This is fortunate. You will gain riches, honour, and many friends. Your life will be long, happy, and prosperous.

The Dead.
To dream of the dead brings news of the living.

Ducks.
To see them in a pond swimming about is an omen of good luck.

Eggs. 
That you are eating eggs shews you will be delivered from great tribulation. That you break them when raw, shews loss of friends and fortune.

Empty Vessels
Shew that your life will be one of toil and privation.

Eating.
Portends sickness and death.

Fish.
To dream of fish shows that you will have an abundance of wealth and good things. Also that you will be successful in love.

Fire.
To dream of fire shews that you will have hasty news.

Flowers.
Always a good dream ; is a sure sign of of joy, success and prosperity. "

Hewett 1900

Dream Oneiromancy in Devon

Dreaming of Beer... - If you wish to use  my photos please attribute this blog.

"Oneiromancy is the art of interpreting dreams. This kind of divination is still in use among the masses, and has been practised from the most remote ages. In rural districts there are to be found ancient dames whose interpretations of dreams are looked upon with reverence, and are a source of revenue to the old women.

At breakfast, it is not uncommon for members of of a family to narrate their dreams, and seek the elucidation thereof.

"A dream is an ill-arranged action of the thinking faculties during a state of partial sleep, and is but a momentary impression, perfectly natural in its operation; the state of mind which causes it being produced by temporary functional derangement."

If I dream of water pure,
Before the coming morn,
"Tis a sign I shall be poor,
And unto wealth not born.
If I dream of tasting beer,
Middling then will be my cheer
Chequered with the good and bad,
Sometimes joyful, sometimes sad ;
But should I dream of drinking wine,
Wealth and pleasure will be mine.
The stronger the drink, the better the cheer,
Dreams of my destiny appear.

The belief that dreams are indicative or symbolical of coming events is very common among the masses. Some persons look upon dreams as absolutely true mediums of revealing the secrets of futurity."

Hewett 1900

[In her frustrating style I am once again left not knowing what parts of Hewett's work reffer to Devon and what is to do with wider beleifs she picked up else where through books. However in this case I have included it all. Barring the rhyme (which may or may not have been used in Devon) the rest is generic enough to believe it covered Devon beliefs quite well.]

Recipe for making a Dumb Cake

This fireplace is from Dolgoch Youth Hostel in Wales, not Devon!  - If you want to use my images, please do, but I would appreciate it if you attributed this blog

"IN the preparation of a dumb cake, if perfection be desired, it is imperative to observe strict: silence, and to follow these instructions closely.

Let any number of unmarried ladies each take a handful of wheaten flour, and place it on a sheet of white paper, then sprinkle it with as much salt as can be held between the finger and thumb ; then, one must put as much clear spring-water as will make it into dough, which being done, each of the party must roll it up, and spread it thin and broad, and each maid must, at some distance apart, make the first letters of their Christian and surname with a large new pin, towards the end of the cake ; if more christian-names than one, the first letter of each one must be made. Then set the cake before the fire, and each girl must sit down in a chair, as far from the fire as the room will admit, not speaking a word all the time. This must be done between eleven and twelve o'clock at night. Each person in rotation must turn the cake once, and five minutes after midnight the husband of her who is to be wed first will appear and lay his hand upon that part of the cake bearing her initials. From the Norwood Gipsy Fortune-teller.

If the cake be eaten, strict silence must be observed from the moment a slice is cut. The person walks backwards from the room, up the stairs, and after undressing goes into bed, still backwards. Stumbling and giggling are inadmissible. It is presumed that happy dreams of " the loved one" will occupy the hours of slumber."

Hewett 1900

[This recipe seems to be taken from a publication talking about London, but as "Dumb Cake" is used in one of the previous post I thought it was worth posting. The last paragraph could well be referring to a Devon practice - the area covered by Hewetts book.]

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 

The man who lived too long - Wimborne Minster

Inside Wimborne Minster church

"In the south aisle beneath an arch is a raised black marble coffin, painted with heraldic shields, and guarded by iron railings, which contains the remains of a very eccentric old gentleman, named Ettrick, the first Recorder of Poole. He had a conviction (probably created by some dream) that he should die in 1691, and had his coffin thus prepared, and the date cut on it. But his previsions proved false; he survived till 1717, and the alteration of the date on the coffin is visible. He fixed it in position with his own hands; for in a fit of anger, caused by some offence the people of Wimborne had given him, he had vowed to be buried neither in their church nor out of it, neither above their ground nor below it. In order to keep this paradoxical vow he obtained permission to place his coffin within the thickness of the wall, and on a level with the pavement. He left a sum of twenty shillings a year for the repairs in trust with the corporation of Poole."

Valentine (undated) 

Map - Wimborne Minster

The Olive, The Crown, The King and The Church - part 2

Bath Abbey or Cathedral - Some rights reserved by alkruse24

"...He interpreted this dream as calling on him to restore the Church, for Olive answered to his Christian name, Oliver, and King to his family name. Most certain it is," Harrington continues, "he was so transported with his dream for the time, that he presently set in hand with the church (the ruins whereof I rue to behold even in writing these lines), and at the west end thereof he caused a representation to be graved of this his vision of the Trinity, the angels, and the ladder; and on the north side the olive and crown, with certain French words, which I could not read, but in English is the verse taken out of the Book of Judges, chap. ix. :-

'Trees going to choose their king,
Said, Be to us the Olive King.'"

The window to which Harrington refers is, at the present day, one of the glories of the cathedral; it represents the dream which led to the re-erection of the building. 

But Bishop King died and left his work unfinished, and the Reformation arrested all architectural ecclesiastic work, and in Harrington's time the church, which had become dilapidated, lay in a ruinous state."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Bath Abbey

The Death of King Rufus - part 2

"..The morning of that second of August dawned in unusual splendour. The previous night had been disturbed by Rufus, who had had an awful dream, and v-hose shouts had called his followers to his bedside, where, at his request, they had retained till dawn. Put at breakfast the king was in great spirits the day was come that he had fixed on for the chase, and he had forgotten his dream.

While he was preparing for the hunt, an artizan brought him six new arrows. He praised the workmanship, and, keeping four for himself, he gave the two others to his favourite, Sir Walter Tyrrel, or de Poix, saying, "Good weapons are due to him who knows how to make a good use of them."

And now the horses were at the door, and the huntsman's horn sounded, when a strange monk suddenly appeared and demanded an interview with the king, saying that he had matters of great moment to communicate to him. He was admitted and brought before the Red King. "What would you with me, Sir Priest?" asked William, frowning at the delay..." [cont..]

Valentine (undated)

Netley Abbey

"On the turf in the church lie many fragments of the old roof, which bear mute testimony to an accident, of which a strange account has been preserved in the locality. The Abbey roof was entire up to 1704, when Sir Bartlet Lucy possessed the Abbey, With singular want of feeling or sentiment, the Earl of Huntingdown, its next possessor, actually sold the materials of the church to a builder. The following strange story is told of this purchase by Browne Walters, the antiquary:-

"The earl, it is said, made a contract with a Mr. Walter Taylor, a builder of Southampton, for the complete demolition of the Abbey; it being intended by Taylor to employ the materials in erecting a town house at Newport and other buildings. After making this agreement, however, Taylor dreamed that, as he was pulling down a particular window, one of the stones forming the arch fell upon him, and killed him. His dream impressed him so forcibly that he mentioned the circumstance to a friend, who is said to have been the father of the well-known Dr. Isaac Watts, and in some perplexity asked his advice. His friend thought it would be the safest course for him to have nothing to do with the affair, respecting which he had been so alarmingly forewarned, and endeavoured to persuade him to desist from his intention. Taylor, however, at last decided upon paying no attention to his dream, and accordingly began his operations for the pulling down of the building; in which he had not proceeded far, when, as he was assisting at the work, the arch of one of the windows, but not the one he had dreamed of (which was the east window still standing), fell upon his head and fractured his skull. It was thought at first that the wound would not prove mortal; but it was aggravated through the unskilfulness of the surgeon, and the man died."

The accident that befell Taylor was thought to have been a judgment of Heaven on him, and the Abbey was thus saved from demolition.

This story is told in the "History of Mitred Abbeys," and is quite intelligible. The instinctive reverence of the builder, struggling with his greed, undoubtedly caused his dreams, aided perhaps by his knowledge that the task of taking down the Abbey church must necessarily be a dangerous one. Happily, however, the walls still in great part remain, probably no one caring to take the risk of their removal."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Netley Abbey

[I am unsure as to where to start the westcounrty - my instinct is it starts roughly on a line between Poole and Bath or Bristol. This entry, then, is a little generous, but so be it.]

Madron - Saint Madern or Doom Well - Part 2

"...In the year 1640, John Trelille, who had been an absolute cripple for sixteen years, and was obliged to crawl upon his hands by reason of the close contraction of the sinews of his legs, upon three several admonitions in his dreams, washing in St. Madern's Well and sleeping afterwards in what was called St. Madern's bed, was suddenly and perfectly cured. 

Of all writers, Bishop Hall, sometime Bishop of the diocese of these western parts, bears the most honourable testimony to the efficacy of this well. In his Mystery of Godliness, when speaking of the good office which angels do to God's servants, the Bishop says "Of whiche kind was that noe less than miraculous cure whiche at Madern's Well, in Cornwall, was wrought on a poor cripple, whereof, besides the attestation of many hundreds of the neighhours, I saw him able to walk and get his own maintenance. I took strict and impartial examination in my last triennial visitation. I found neither art nor collusion, the cure done, the author an invisible God."..." [to be cont.]

 Hope 1893

Barkers Knee or The Fairy Tools

'There lived in the neighbourhood a great, hulking fellow, who would rather do anything than work, and who refused to believe anything he heard. He had been told of the Fairy Well--he said it was "all a dream." But since the good people around him reiterated their belief in the fairies of the well, he said he 'd find it all out. So day after day, Barker--that was this hulk's name--would lie down amidst the ferns growing around the mouth of the well, and, basking in the sunshine, listen and watch. He soon heard pick and shovel, and chit-chat, and merry laughter. Well, "he 'd see the out of all this," he told his neighbours. Day after day, and week after week, this fellow was at his post. Nothing resulted from his watching. At last he learned to distinguish the words used by the busy workers. He discovered that each set of labourers worked eight hours, and that, on leaving, they hid their tools. They made no secret of this; and one evening he heard one say, he should place his tools in a cleft in the rock; another, that he should put his under the ferns; and another said, he should leave his tools on Barker's knee. He started on hearing his own name. At that moment a heavy weight fell on the man's knee; he felt excessive pain, and roared to have the cursed things taken away. His cries were answered by laughter. To the day of his death Barker had a stiff knee; he was laughed at by all the parish; and "Barker's knee" became a proverb.'

Hunt 1903