A terrifying Devon Lulaby

An appropriately fierce Black Ram... Steve F [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"WHEN a child gets tired or a little out of temper, and he nurse wishes to amuse it, she dandles it on her knee, and sings -

"Vather and mawther
And uncle Jan,
Went to Market
Pin tap a black ram,
Off val'd vather,
Off val'd mawther,
And away raw'd
Uncle Jan ! !

All up ! all up ! all up !
Eat the fat ram
And hang Uncle Jan !
All up ! all up ! all up !
Huraw for Uncle Jan !""

Hewett 1900

Mothering Sunday in Devon (part 2)

[cont] "...The custom arose from the practice of our Roman Catholic ancestors going in procession on Mid-lent Sunday, from the most distant parts of their parishes, to visit the Mother Church ; and, according to the custom of the times, much of the day, though nominally set apart for a religious service, was devoted to festivity and mirth. Instances of such perverted institutions are to be met with in the saints' festivals, the wakes, the revels, the church-ales, and fairs, many of which are still kept up in country villages, to say nothing of the more riotous festivities of Lent, Easter, Whitsuntide, and Christmas.

I'll to thee a simnel bring,
Gainst thou go a-mothering ;
So that when she blesseth thee,
Half that blessing thou'lt give me.

Hewett 1900

Mothering Sunday in Devon (part 1)

Seakale - David Baird [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

 "In many parts of Devonshire and other western counties, the fourth Sunday in Lent is observed as a holiday, under the title of Mothering Sunday. Servants, apprentices, and young working-folks in general visit their parents, and between them make up very happy home parties. The previous Saturday is a busy day, for the mother is looking forward with great pleasure to the morrow's meetings and festivities. She busies herself in preparing the materials for a good dinner for the joyous youngsters, and gives them the very best she can afford. Of course the mothering-cake is her chief care. It is big and rich, and must be well baked, sugared, and ornamented with fanciful designs. The dinner on Sunday consists of a hind quarter of lamb with mint sauce, a well-boiled suet pudding, seakale, and cauliflower, wheat furmity, with home-made wines. The day is one of mirthful enjoyment, mutual congratulations, and benevolence. The remains of the feast are usually distributed amongst needy neighbours who are unable to purchase these delicacies for themselves..." [cont.]

Hewett 1900

The Death-Watch in Devon

Death-Watch Beetle - Xestobium rufovillosum - By Sarefo (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

ONE often hears issuing from the rafters and woodwork of old houses sounds resembling the ticking of a watch. These clickings are produced by a small insect known as the " Death-Watch." By nervous persons they are considered omens of death.

Mrs. Hagland, a laundress, living at Tiverton, came to me one morning in great distress of mind, and her simple story will give a better insight into the feelings of the superstitious than any thing I can say. I give verbatim her account of a very unhappy experience

" I be zure zom'thing is gwaine tli 'appen tii me, or mine, for all last night I kep' on hearing of the Death-Watch, aticking, ticking, ticking, ess, he kep' on ticking till he drawved me most mazed. He made me think of my poar bwoy Bill whot's out to zay, 'e tha' bin gone now for tii or dree yer ; I dii zim 'tez a brave while ago I zeed 'n, but there God Almighty 'th tiiked kear aw'n zo var and I 'opes as how He will 'et. I a'n't ahad ide-nor-tide aw'n zince he went away and I dii zim tez a longful time agone that I zeed'n. Well, as I wuz azaying of, I yeard that Death-Watch aclicking all drii the night and dii trubble me dreffel bad. Gi'th me the heart ache and  I can't get no rest for thinkind aw'n ; 'tez all day and ivvry day and all night tii. A mawther's heart is a sorrowful thing tii car about, when her only cheel is zo var away, and out tii zay tii. I've a yerd the Death-Watch avore, and then my mawther died perty quick afterwards, but he diddent tickee zo 'ard and zo dismal-like as he did last night. It zimmed to me, as how he zed, 'tick ! tick ! tick ! tick ! wake up, Mawther ! I be drownded ! I be drownded !' Ah ! Lord-a-massy ! if he be a drownded 'twill break my heart. What diiee think mum ?" Poor soul, she went away, crying bitterly. Bill never came back, and now she has gone to her rest, where there will be no more wakeful nights, or dread born of the love-calls of a common insect. Swift ridiculed the foolish fancy of predicting death in this way, but ridicule, be it never so strong, does not kill belief in the supernatural.

A wood-worm

That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form,
With teeth or with claws it will bite, or will scratch ;
And chambermaids christen this worm a death-watch
Because like a watch it always cries click ;
Then woe be to those in the house that be sick,
For, sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost.
If the maggot cries click when it scratches the post
But a kettle of scalding hot water ejected,
Infallibly cures the timber affected.
The omen is broken, the danger is over ;
The maggot will die, the sick will recover."

Hewett 1900

[Later Hewet reiterates that it is unlucky "To hear the melancholy ticking of the " Deathwatch," in woodwork, is an omen of death. " Because like a watch it always cries click, Then woe be to those in the house that be sick."]

Map - Tiverton

The Lady and the Lantern - Saint Ives

The Shipwreck - by Ivan Aivasovsky

"There is a pathetic ghost story attached to the St. Ives' sands. It was a year of storms at the close of the last century, and many wrecks were seen on the rock-bound coast, when one evening the St. Ives' people perceived a large ship, close to the fatal rocks. The crew perceived their danger, as well as the townsmen had, and did their best to save themselves.

But all their efforts were vain. The ship parted her anchors, swing round, struck violently on a rock, and her mast went by the board. The waves swept over her; but the brave and kindly fishermen of St. Ives at once went to her assistance, through the driving storm.

They succeeded in getting near the ship, but not alongside, and they called to the sailors to throw them ropes, by the aid of which several escaped, and were hauled into the boat.

But on the deck there stood a lady with an infant in her arms. They begged her to give the child to a strong man, while they tried to pass her to the boat. But she refused, and tightly clasping her babe, she was lowered into the sea, and the fishermen drew her rapidly into the boat. But she had fainted during the transit, and the infant had been washed from her arms and lost. With the lady, and as many of the crew as they had saved, the fishermen returned to the shore. But when the mother recovered, and found that her child was lost, she sank under the blow, and died. She was buried in St. Ives' churchyard. Soon afterwards a spectral form was seen passing from the churchyard wall, and walking towards the Island. Then it appeared to be diligently searching the sands. When nights were tempestuous and dark, the same form was seen, still earnestly searching, but with a lantern in its hand; it is the mother seeking for her child, who might have been saved if she had let the seaman take it. Death cannot quench a mother's love and remorse.

This appearance is called "The Lady with the Lantern." It is always seen moving over the rocks which run into the sea from the eastern side of the point called the Island, and is supposed to predict stormy weather.

May there be a scientific reason for such a wandering light appearing before a storm?"

Valentine (undated)

Map - Saint Ives

The Living Corpse

Xaos fractal

By Nevit Dilmen (Rendered with [Xaos]) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

"The Lady Edgcumbe, believed to be the mother of the first baron - created 1748 - was supposed to be dead, and was buried in less than a week after she had expired. She was interred in the family vault. But the sexton had noticed a valuable ring on her finger, and resolved to take it. He went down into the vault, opened the coffin, and endeavoured to remove the ring; but it was small, and he could not get it off. He pressed, pinched, and pulled, and suddenly the corpse sat upright and opened its eyes. The man ran off in an agony of superstitious terror. The lady arose after a pause, took the lantern and issued from the vault, which happily the man had been too much alarmed to close. Her husband, sorrowful and sleepless, heard her voice, and admitted her at once. She had, of course, been in a trance. Five years afterwards her son, Sir Richard, was born."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Possibly to do with Mount Edgcumbe

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

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 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 Mermaids Vengence - part 4

"...The mother, as may well be supposed, suffered a momentary agony of terror; but presently the babe swam up to the surface of the water, its little face more bright and beautiful than it had ever been before. Great was the mother's joy, and also--as the gossips say -- great her surprise at the sudden change in the appearance of her offspring. The mother knew no difference in the child whom she pressed lovingly to her bosom, but all the aged crones in the parish declared it to be a changeling. This tale lived its day; but, as the girl grew on to womanhood, and showed none of the special qualifications belonging either to fairies or mermaids, it was almost forgotten. The uncomplaining father had solace for all his sufferings in wandering over the beautiful sands with his daughter. Whether it was when the summer seas fell in musical undulations on the shore, or when, stirred by the winter tempests, the great Atlantic waves came up in grandeur, and lashed the resisting sands in giant rage, those two enjoyed the solitude. Hour after hour, from the setting sun time, until the clear cold moon flooded the ocean with her smiles of light, would the father and child walk these sands. They seemed never to weary of them and the ocean.

Almost every morning, throughout the milder seasons, Selina was in the habit of bathing, and wild tales were told of the frantic joy with which she would play with the breaking billows. Sometimes floating over, and almost dancing on the crests of the waves, at other times rushing under them, and allowing the breaking waters to beat her to the sands, as though they were loving arms, endeavouring to encircle her form. Certain it is, that Selina greatly enjoyed her bath, but all the rest must be regarded as the creations of the imagination. The most eager to give a construction unfavourable to the simple mortality of the maiden was, however, compelled to acknowledge that there was no evidence in her general conduct to support their surmises. Selina, as an only child, fared the fate of others who are unfortunately so placed, and was, as the phrase is, spoiled. She certainly was allowed to follow her own inclinations without any check. Still her inclinations were bounded to working in the garden, and to leading her father to the sea-shore. Honour Penna, sometimes, it is true, did complain that Selina could not be trusted with the most ordinary domestic duty..." [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The adventures of Cherry of Zennor - part 3

'...Cherry was sixteen. One of her playmates had a new dress smartly trimmed with ribbons, and she told Cherry how she had been to Nancledry to the preaching, and how she had ever so many sweethearts who brought her home. This put the volatile Cherry in a fever of desire. She declared to her mother she would go off to the "low countries" [The terms 'high" and "low countries," are applied respectively to the hills and the valleys of the country about Towednack and Zennor.] to seek for service, that she might get some clothes like other girls.

Her mother wished her to go to Towednack, that she might have the chance of seeing her now and then of a Sunday...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The Adventures of Cherry of Zennor - part 2

'...We are, however, only concerned with one of them--his daughter Cherry. Cherry could run as fast as a hare, and was ever full of frolic and mischief.


'Whenever the miller's boy came into the "town," tied his horse to the furze-rick and called in to see if any one desired to send corn to the mill, Cherry would jump on to its back and gallop off to the cliff. When the miller's boy gave chase, and she could ride no further over the edge of that rocky coast, she would take to the cairns, and the swiftest dog could not catch her, much less the miller's boy.

Soon after Cherry got into her teens she became very discontented, because year after year her mother had been promising her a new frock that she might go off as smart as the rest, "three on one horse to Morva Fair." [proverb] As certain as the time came round the money was wanting, so Cherry had nothing decent. She could neither go to fair, nor to church, nor to meeting....' [cont.]


Hunt 1903

The Fairy Widower - part 7

'...Jenny sat up in the bed and bent her arm, resting her hand on her hip.

"Now say, I hope my arm may never come uncrooked if I have told ye a word of a lie."

"I hope my arm may never come uncrooked if I have told ye a word of a lie," repeated Jenny.

"Uncrook your arm," said Mary.

Jenny stretched out her arm.

"It is truth the girl is telling," said Mary; "and she has been carried by the Small People to some of their countries under the hills."

"Will the girl ever come right in her mind?" asked her mother.

"All in good time," said Mary; "and if she will but be honest, I have no doubt but her master will take care that she never wants."

Howbeit, Jenny did not get on very well in the world. She married and was discontented and far from happy. Some said she always pined after the fairy widower. Others said they were sure she had misbehaved herself, or she would have brought back lots of gold. If Jenny had not dreamt all this, while she was sitting picking ferns on the granite boulder, she had certainly had a very strange adventure.'

Hunt 1903

The Fairy Widower - part 6

'...Jenny entered on her duties, and gave, and continued to give, satisfaction. She loved the darling little boy, and he appeared to love her, and the time passed away with astonishing rapidity.

Somehow or other she had never thought of her mother. She had never thought of her home at all. She was happy and in luxury, and never reckoned the passing of time.

Howsoever happiness may blind us to the fact, the hours and days move onward. The period for which Jenny had bound herself was gone, and one morning she awoke and all was changed. She was sleeping in her own bed in her mother's cottage. Every thing was strange to her, and she appeared strange to everybody. Numerous old gossips were called in to see Jenny, and to all Jenny told her strange tale alike. One day, old Mary Calineck of Zennor came, and she heard, as all the others had done, the story of the widower, and the baby, and the beautiful country. Some of the old crones who were there at the time said the girl was "gone clean daft." Mary looked very wise--" Crook your arm, Jenny," said she...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The Fairy Widower - part 3

'...The widower rattled the gold in his breeches-pocket. "Wages! well, whatever you like to ask," said the man. Jenny was charmed; all sorts of visions rose before her eyes, and without hesitation she said--"Well, I 'II take the place, sir; when must I come?" "I require you now--my little boy is very unhappy, and I think you can make him happy again. You 'll come at once ?" "But mother"--"Never mind mother, I 'll send word to her." "But my clothes " --. "The clothes you have will be all you require, and I 'll put you in a much gayer livery soon."

"Well, then," says Jane, "'tis a bargain "--"Not yet," says the man; I 'ye got a way of my own, and you must swear my oath."

Jenny looked frightened.

"You need not be alarmed," said the man, very kindly; "I only wish you to kiss that fern-leaf which you have in your hand, and say, 'For a year and a day I promise to stay."

"Is that all?" said Jenny; so she kissed the fern-leaf and said--

"For a year and a day
I promise to stay."

Without another word he walked forward on the road leading eastward. Jenny followed him--she thought it strange that her new master never opened his lips to her all the way, and she grew very tired with walking. Still onward and onward he went, and Jenny was sadly weary and her feet dreadfully sore. At last poor Jenny began to cry. He heard her sob and looked round.

"Tired are you, poor girl? Sit down--sit down," says the man, and he took her by the hand and led her to a mossy bank. His kindness completely overcame her, and she burst into a flood of tears. He allowed her to cry for a few minutes, then taking a bunch of leaves from the bottom of the bank, he said, "Now I must dry your eyes, Jenny."

He passed the bunch of leaves rapidly first over one and then over the other eye...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

The Fairy Widower - part 1

'NOT many years since a very pretty girl called Jenny Permuen lived in Towednack. She was of poor parents, and lived in service. There was a good deal of romance, or what the old people called nonsense, in Jenny. She was always smartly dressed, and she would arrange wildflowers very gracefully in her hair. As a consequence, Jenny attracted much of the attention of the young men, and again, as a consequence, a great deal of envy from the young women. Jenny was, no doubt, vain; and her vanity, which most vain persons will say is not usual, was accompanied by a considerable amount of weakness on any point connected with her person. Jenny loved flattery, and being a poor, uneducated girl, she had not the genius necessary to disguise her frailty. When any man told her she was lovely, she quite admitted the truth of the assertion by her pleased looks. When any woman told her not to be such a fool as to believe such nonsense, her lips, and eyes too, seemed to say you are only jealous of me, and if there was a pool of water near, nature's mirror was speedily consulted to prove to herself that she was really the best-looking girl in the parish. Well, one day Jenny, who had been for some time out of a situation, was sent by her mother down to the lower parishes to "look for a place." Jenny went on merrily enough until she came to the four cross roads on the Lady Downs, when she discovered that she knew not which road to take. She looked first one way and then another, and she felt fairly puzzled, so she sat down on a boulder of granite, and began, in pure want of thought, to break off the beautiful fronds of ferns which grew abundantly around the spot she had chosen. It is hard to say what her intentions were, whether to go on, to return, or to remain where she was, so utterly indifferent did Jenny appear. Some say she was entirely lost in wild dreams of self-glorification. However, she had not sat long on this granite stone, when hearing a voice near her, she turned round and saw a young man...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

Betty Stoggs and Jan the Monster - part 2

'...The old people used to say--they wouldn't put the poor innocent chield to work to Bal, for fear the great rough heathens from Lelant might overcome her; so they kept her at home, and the old man would brag how his Betty could cut furze and turf. Instead of staying at home in the evenings, Betty was always racing round the lanes to class-meetings; for she had been a "professor ever since' she was a chield." Betty was an only child, and the old people had saved a little money, and they hoped some one "above the common" would marry her. In Higher Side there lived a man called Jan the Mounster (monster), and, tempted by the bit of money, he resolved to lay himself out to catch Betty. Jan became a converted character--he met in the same class with Betty, a expressed himself as being "so fond of the means of grace." Things went on in this way for some time, and it was found that Betty "had met with a misfortune." The old people were now in a great hurry to marry their daughter, and promised Jan money enough. to buy a set of cheene (china), and lots of beautiful clome (earthenware); but Mounster required more than this, and fought off. He left the "people," that he mightn't be read out. He said he was heartily sick of the lot, told strange stories about their doings, and became as bad a character as ever. Time advanced, and Betty 's mother--who was herself a wretchedly dirty woman, and, as people said, too fond of the "drop of drink "-- saw that she must lose no chance of making her daughter an honest woman. So she went to Penzance and bought a new bed--a real four-poster--a new dresser, painted bright lead and liver colour--an eight-day clock, in a painted mahogany case--a mass of beautiful clome--and a glass milk-cup. When all these things were ranged in cottage, Jan was well enough pleased with them, and hung his "great turnip of a watch" up in the middle of the dresser, to see how it would look. When he had satisfied himself he told the old woman he would marry Betty out of hand, if she would give them their great pretty, bright, warming-pan to hang opposite the door. This was soon settled, and Jan the Mounster and Betty Stogs were married...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

How Tom and Jack found tin, part 9

[cont.] '...Jack had a desire to go home to Dartmoor to see his mother, who had sent to tell him that the old giant Dart was near death. He started at once, on foot. Tom wished him to have Pengerswick's colt, but Jack preferred his legs. It would be too long a tale to tell the story of his travels. He killed serpents and wild beasts in the woods, and when he came to rivers, he had but to take off his coat, gather up the skirts of it with a string, and stretch out the body with a few sticks,--thus forming a cobble,--launch it on the water, and paddle himself across. He reached home. The old giant was at his last gasp. Jack made him give everything to his mother before he breathed his last. 'When he died, Jack carefully buried him. He then settled all matters for his mother, and returned to the West Country again....' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

How Tom and Jack found tin, part 6

[cont.] '...They came, you may be certain, in crowds. There was wrestling, hurling,--the length of the Green from Market-Jew to Chyandour, and back again, --.throwing quoits, and slinging. Some amused themselves in pure wantonness by slinging stones over the Mount; so that the old giant, who lived there, was afraid to show above ground, lest his only eye should get knocked out. The games were kept up right merrily until dusk; when in rode the Lord of Pengerswick on his enchanted mare, with a colt by her side. The brewer introduced Tom and Jack, and soon they became the best of friends. Tom invited Pengerswick to his castle, and they resolved to go home at once and make a night of it. Pengerswick gave Tom the colt, and, by some magic power, as soon as he mounted this beautiful animal, he found himself at home, and the lord, the brewer, and Jack with him. How this was brought about Tom could never tell, but Jack appeared to be in the secret. Tom was amazed and delighted to find Jane dressed like a queen, in silks and diamonds, and the children arrayed in a manner well becoming the dignity of their mother...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

Tom, Jane and Jack the Tinker, Part 9

[part 9] '...Much more of this character is related by the "drolls;" but with the exception of constant alterations of feasting and fighting, there is little of novelty in the story, until at last a grand storm arises between Tom and his wife, who is believed by the husband to be on too intimate terms with Jack the Tinkeard. The result of this is, that Jane goes home to Crowlas, fights with her mother, old Jenny, because old Jenny abuses Tom, which Jane will not allow in her presence While yet at Crowlas another boy is born, called Honey, and, as the cow was not at hand as when she was in the castle, he was nursed by a goat, and it is said a class of his descendants are yet known as the Zennor goats.'



Hunt 1903