The stories of Devonshire

May Day 2011 near Chagford, Dartmoor - If you want to use this image please attribute this blog

"The marvellous tales of supernatural visitations, death omens, apparitions, charms for healing the sick and the bewitched, with cursings and blessings, would fill many volumes. I can only furnish a few examples and hope they may prove interesting to the reader. 

One dear old country woman, who was never tired of telling me all the witch lore she could collect, one day, said, " Ave I askeed ee missus by telling ee thease yer discoose ? If zo be I've a gallied ee, I be main put about, but whot I dii tell 'e is true. Ess fy tez ! Ess by gor missus ! Ess fy !""

Hewet 1900



[I am rather sad Hewett didn't set about filling these potential volumes - she could have been the Robert Hunt of Devonshire]

Devon charm to summon the spirits

Prince Arthur and the Fairy Queen. Johann Heinrich Füssli 1788

"Anoint your eyes for three days with the combined juices of the herbs, dill, vervain, and St. John's-wort, and the spirits in the air will become visible to you."

Hewett 1900

Devon charm to cure mental illness, promote success in love and ward against evil

St Johns Wort, used as a charm - by Glyn Baker [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"ST. John's Wort, or Devil's Flight, gathered on St. John's Day or on a Friday, dried and placed in a closely-covered jar and hung in a window, will protect the house from thunderbolts, storms, fire, and evil spirits.

If the flowers and leaves are dried and ground into powder and then placed in a silken bag and hung round the neck, the person will be successful in love, and be cured of the vapours and all mental afflictions. To insure perfect immunity from these ills, it is necessary to operate in July, on the evening of the full moon."

Hewett 1900

Devon amulet to protect against witches, pixies, spirits and the forces of evil

The illustration to accompany this entry in Hewett's book.  The charm written on parchment used as an amulet against evil magics in Exeter, Devon.

"The word "Abracadabra" written on parchment was given by an Exeter white witch, to a person who desired to possess a talisman against the dominion of the grey witch, pixies, evil spirits and the powers of darkness ! It cost a guinea, and was sewn up in a small black silk bag one inch square. This was hung round the neck and never removed. Should it by chance fall to the ground, all its properties for good would be lost and a new charm must be procured from the same white witch, or dire misfortune would overtake the owner. In " Reminiscences and Reflections," of an old West Country clergyman (the Rev. W. H. Thornton, rector of North Bovey), the word "Abracadabra" occurs on page 44, in connection with a meeting of spiritualists, held in London in 1848."

Hewett 1900

Map - Exeter

Map - North Bovey

[The symbols look vaguely alchemical, but I can not identify any directly. The bottom one looks a bit like the Nordic Algez, while one on the left looks a bit like astrological Torus, possibly with a sign for completnes above it... Any advances?]

Unlucky in Devon - 50 & 51 (mirrors)

By Car_mirror_at_night.jpg: Mark Sebastian from San Jose (Car_mirror_at_night.jpg) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It is unlucky - 

"For a bride to take a last peep at the mirror before starting for church.

To look into a mirror at dusk, or night-time, unless the room is well lighted, is not pleasant : for there is a dread of something uncanny peeping over the shoulder ; such an apparition would portend death."

Hewett 1900

Unlucky in Devon - 35, 36, 37 & 38 (baptism and confirmation)

Roman Catholic Baptism

 It is unlucky -

"To reveal a child's Christian name before it is presented at the font for baptism.

To receive the left hand of the bishop on the head, at confirmation. It conveys a ban instead of a blessing.

For a child to refrain from crying when presented at the font for baptism. It is thought the more it yells and screams, the quicker the evil spirits will quit it.

For an unmarried person to be sponsor at a baptism : for "First to the font, never to the altar.""

Hewett 1900

Unlucky in Devon - 30

Not really an evil underground spirit - but looks like he could be... - By Arthur Rackham (1867–1939), via Wikimedia Commons.

It is unlucky -

"To whistle while underground, because it will awaken the evil spirits which inhabit the caves of the earth."

Hewett 1900

Lucky in Devon - 29

Common Cuckoo - By GabrielBuissart (self-made, Romelaere, Clairmarais FR.) [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

 

"On hearing the cuckoo's note in April run as fast as possible to the nearest gate, and sit on the top bar to drive away the spirit of laziness. Who neglects to do this will be weak for a year, and have no inclination to work until the ensuing spring when the harbinger of spring again returns."

Hewett 1900

Lucky in Devon - 21

Dragon from my other blog - http://abasketofleaves.blogspot.com/  If you want to use my picture please attribute one of my blogs.

It is lucky -

"To be born on a Sunday; because you can see spirits, and tame the dragon who watches over hidden treasure."

Hewett 1900

Salting the corpse in Devon

Salt - By Mark Schellhase (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

"An old nurse once told me that if a plate of salt be placed on the breast of a corpse, it would help the dead to rest peacefully, as it kept evil spirits from tormenting the soul on its journey through the dark valley."

Hewett 1900

Hewett's Haloween - Part 9 - Hemp seed love-charm and the reapers...

Hemp - By Jungbim (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

"Now the crucial movement was at hand. Each girl took possession of a big handful of hempseed. The front door was thrown wide open and securely fastened back to prevent the possibility of its being accidentally closed ; the girls stood without. As the clock gave the first stroke of twelve off they started each in a different direction across the lawn, shouting :

Hempseed I sow,
Hempseed I throw,
He that's my true-love,
Come after me and mow !

The spirits of the future ones were expected to be beyond the shrubs ready to rush after the sowers, and unhappy would have been the maiden, who could not get over the threshold before the scythe of the reaper caught her. All the girls reached the hall unharmed : little Mary, looking a bit scared, said, as she wound her arms around me.

" Oh, wasn't I just about startled? indeed, I was, for I thought I saw Dick Harvey right in front of me as I turned to come back, holding a bright new sickle over his head."

I felt the child tremble, and then I enquired, " Who is Dick Harvey ?"

"Oh, nobody in particular, don't tell."

Of course I have not told till now..."

Derkovits, Gyula - Dózsa-series II. Peasant Whettering the Scythe (1928)

"...Poor Dick Harvey never came to claim little Mary, for, very soon after that happy evening, news came of a great storm, and Dick, who was first officer of the ss. Petrel, was lost with all hands in mid Atlantic."

Hewett 1900

Map - Haldon Hills 

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

Smugglers and Wreckers in Cornwall

Helford River - Frenchmans Creek - © Copyright Mel Landells and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

"There is a cave in these cliffs [of Mullion] that is of some extent, and was probably in old days a resort and hiding-place of smugglers, who were rather abundant in this wavewashed county, which had also an evil reputation of being the abode of wreckers. There were many smugglers' caves or holes on the banks of the Helford river, and several have been discovered on the coast about St. Keverne by the falling in of their roofs. In one near Penzance a skeleton was discovered with its clothes on, lying beside two or three kegs of spirits."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Mullion
Map - Helford River
Map - Saint Keverne
Map - Penzance

Dead Mans Grip

Smugglers Leap? Best guess at location - © Copyright rich cressman and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

"Returning to the abbey [Lee Abbey near Lynton] lodge by which we left the grounds, and taking the road by the coast from thence, we shall shortly see a deep gorge on the edge of the path. This is called the Smuggler's Leap. Tradition says that a smuggler-Lynmouth was a favourite haunt of theirs-was riding through the Valley of Rocks at midnight, with a keg of spirits on each side of his saddle, when a mounted exciseman rode out of the shadow and called on him to surrender. The smuggler's reply was a pistol shot. It missed its aim, however, and he fled as swiftly as his horse would bear him through the valley; the exciseman followed him at full speed. They passed Lee Abbey, rode down the hill, round the corner, and up the opposite side. The smuggler glancing back, saw his pursuer close behind him, and just at the top of the hill he felt a hand upon his collar. Pulling himself violently away, his horse tottered for an instant on the edge of the precipice; he caught at the arm of the excisernan, and both riders and horses were precipitated into the gorge. Their bodies were found on the rocks, frightfully mangled. The dead man's hand still firmly clasping the poor exciseman's arm told their story."

Valentine (undated)

Map - Valley of Rocks
Map - Smuggler's Leap

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

The Black Goat of King Rufus - part 2

"It happened that Robert was hunting in the extensive woods round Bodmin - of which some remains are still to be found in the Glyn Valley - when the following fabulous incident is said to have occurred. 

"The chase," says Mr. Gunn, in "Abbeys and Castles," "had been a severe one. A fine old red deer had baffled the huntsmen, and they were dispersed through the intricacies of the forest, the Earl of Cornwall being left alone. He had advanced beyond the shades of the woods on to the moor above them, when he was surprised to see a very large black goat advancing over the plain. As it approached him, which it did rapidly, he saw that it bore on its back 'King Rufus,' all black and naked, and wounded in the midst of his breast. Robert adjured the goat, in the name of the Holy Trinity, to tell what it was he carried so strangely. He answered, 'I am carrying your king to judgment; yea, that tyrant William Rufus, for I am an evil spirit, and the avenger of his malice that he bore to the Church of God. It was I that did cause this slaughter; the proto-martyr of England, St. Albyn, commanding me so to do, who complained to God of him, for his grievous oppression in this isle of Britain which he first hallowed." Having so spoken, the spectre vanished.." [cont..]

Valentine (undated)

Dozmare Pool - part 1

Dozmare Pool

  © Copyright nick macneill and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

"(Pronounced Dosmery)--i.e., Dos, a drop; Mor and Mari, the sea, from the old tradition that it was tidal--890 feet above the sea, a melancholy sheet of water, about one mile in circumference, and from 4 to 5 feet in depth. The lofty hill called Brown Willy, is the mark by which the traveller can direct his course. On the north side of the hill are the remains of an ancient village, probably of tinners or streamers, as they are locally called. Below this the pool is situated, on a tableland which borders the deep vale of the Fowey. The pool is the theme of many a marvellous tale, in which the peasants most implicitly believe. It is said to be unfathomable, and the resort of evil spirits. Begirt by dreary hills, it presents an aspect of utter gloom and desolation, and is said to have supplied some features for the "middle meer" in the Laureate's "Morte d'Arthur," into which Sir Bedivere at last flung Excalibur, having twice before concealed the "great brand"

"There in the many-knotted waterflags

That whistled stiff and dry about the marge."

The country people represent the pool as haunted by an unearthly visitant, a grim giant of the name of Tregeagle, who, it is said, may be heard howling here when wintry storms sweep the moors. He is condemned to the melancholy task of emptying the pool with a limpet-shell, and is continually howling in despair at the hope-lessness of his labour..."  [cont.]

Hope 1893

Dosemary Pool - part 3

'...Tregeagle, in the ballad, is a shepherd dwelling "by the poole on the moore." He was ambitious and unscrupulous. "I wish for all that I see !" was his exclamation, when "a figure gigantick" is seen "midst the gloom of the night."

This spirit offers Tregeagle, in exchange for his soul, all that he desires for one hundred years. Tregeagle does not hesitate:--

"'A bargaine! a bargaine!' he said aloude;
'At my lot I will never repine;
I sweare to observe it, I sweare by the roode.
And am readye to scale and to sygne with my bloode,
Both my soul and my body are thine."

Tregeagle is thrown into a trance, from which he awakes to find himself "cloathed in gorgeous attyre," and master of a wide domain of great beauty:

"Where Dozmare lake its darke waters did roil,
A castle now reared its heade,
Wythe manye a turrete soe statelye and talle;
And many a warden dyd walke on its-walle,
All splendidly cloathed in redde."...' [cont.]

Hunt 1903

Jahn Tregeagle the Steward - part 2

'..."And he rent for the man, and axed 'n for az rent: and the man said he'd apaid az rent: and the lord said he hadn't, there warn't no cross to az name in the books, and he tould 'n that he 'd have the law for 'ii if he didn't pay.

"And the man, he didn't know what to do: and he went yore to the minister of Simonward; [St Breward.] and the minister axed 'n if he'd a got faith: and the man, he hadn't got faith, and he was obliged for to come homewards again.

"And after that the 'Zaizes was coming naigh, and he was becoming afeerd, sure enough: and he went yore to the minister again, and tould'n he'd a got faith; the minister might do whatever a laiked.

"And the minister draed a ring out on the floor: and he caaled out dree times, Jahn Tergagle, Jahn Tergagle, Jahn Tergagle I and (I 've a heerd the ould men tell ut, sir) theess Jahn Tergagle stood before mun in the middle of the ring.

"And he went yore wi' mun to the Ezaizes, and gave ax evidence and tould how this man had a paid az rent; and the lord he was cast.

"And after that they was come back to their own house, theess Jahn Tergagle he gave mun a brave deal of trouble; he was knackin' about the place, and wouldn't laive mun alone at all...'

Hunt 1903

Judge Jeffries, Lidford Castle and the Black Pig

'As has been already hinted, the village is scattered over some 2 miles about the course of the Lid, having its center a mile or more from the station, on the high road from Brent tor running on to Okehampton, which, at the farther end, joins the other road through St. Mary Tavy. This central point is distinguished by the (castle and the Church. The former, now reduced to a hollow square tower mouldering upon an artificial mound, was founded . soon after the Conquest, and converted by Edward I. into the Stannary Prison of Devonshire. Until the last century it was still made use of for this purpose, though much defaced and shattered in 1650. The edicts of the Stannary Court partook to a considerable extent of the characteristics of Judge Lynch, so that " Lidford Law " became as notorious as " Jedburgh Justice." Judge Jeffreys held here one of his Black Assizes, and the legend runs that the court-room is still haunted by his spirit in the guise of a black pig.'


Hope Moncrieff 1895