Labourers proverb - Somerset.

"To heave and theave. -  Somerset. (The labouring husbandman.)"

Ray 1768

[Is 'theave' the same as 'thieve'? If so, does the thieving here refer to thieving from the animals he works with, or that his poverty is such he can only survive by thieving from others? - In that sense it is not dissimilar to modern Supermarkets failing to pay a living wage to their employees...  (Am I getting a little to political here?)]

Early translation into English from Kernowec (Cornish) of The Tale Of Ivan - part 4

St Levan Church (Llanlavan is probably Saint Levan - My poor knowledge of Cwmraeg (Welsh) would suggest so anyway, Llan in Welsh being roughly equivalent to a parish area) - image © Copyright Tim Heaton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

[cont...] "...17 And as they were going by the fields of the houses in the meadow, not having gone far from Ivan, robbers fell upon them :

18 And they began to cry out, and With the cry which the merchants made, Ivan also shouted Thieves! thieves !

19 And at the shout which Ivan gave, the robbers left the merchants. And when they came to Market-Joy, there they met again.

20 Oh, Ivan! said they, we are bound to thee, had it not been for thee, we should have been lost men. Come with us, and thou shalt be welcome.

21 And when they were entering the house where they were accustomed to lodge, I must, said Ivan, see the man of the house.

22 The host ! replied they ; what dost thou want with the host ? here we have the hostess, and she is young. If thou must see the host, go to the kitchen, and thou shalt see him.

23 And when he came to the kitchen, he saw the host, and he was an old man, and weak, and turning the spit.

24 Oh ! quoth Ivan, here I will not lodge, but in the next house. Not yet, replied they ; sup with us, and thou shalt be welcome...." [cont...]

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine 1818

Sally the Goose knows her man

Domestic Goose - By Noodle snacks (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"Before a West-country bench, Samuel Scrane was charged with stealing fowls from Mr. Grose, geese from Mr. Lambshead, ducks from Mr. Vellacott, and pigeons from Mr. Cobbledick.
 

Prosecutors proved missing the poultry, and Lambshead positively identified his grey goose. The following amusing statements were made in Court.

Lambshead : Yer 'onour I ciide swear tii my dear old grey giize.

Magistrates' Clerk : How could you do that ?
 

Lambshead : Cuz if I cal'th she, her'll knaw my voice and answer me back.
 

Magistrates' Clerk : By what name do you call her ?

Lambshead : Why, zir, her rayle name is Sarah, but zometimes us cal'th 'er Sallie; her knaweth uther wan of her names, and cometh when her's called, like a dog wid.
 

Magistrates' Clerk : Did you call her ?
 

Lambshead : Cal 'er ? Ess, I did, and 'er knawed me direckly. And 'er answered me back wi'a zoart of a tissy. That's 'er language you must knaw. Why 'er spoak so natteral as a curschin wid that's zo var's 'er ciide.
 

Magistrates' Clerk : Tell us more about it, Mr. Lambshead, exactly what you did and what Sarah did. We find this most interesting.

Lambshead : Tell, sir, I went to Scrane's 'ouze and when I corned there Scrane's wife zed to me, zed she, "Well, Lambshead, what's want yer ?" "Well," zed I, "I wants my giize, Sallie." "Well, than," zed she," 'er bant yer. I ant a zeed nort o' thee old giize Sally, and be damned tii ee." "Well, zed I, yii mid be civil I zim, and dawnt use noan o' yer cussing tii me, ver I'll be d d if I'll stand cussing and thieving intii the bargain. Zo, I jist made so bold as to walk strite drii th' ouze intii backouze, and there, I zeed amazing sight of poultry, and ruckied down in the far cornder was my poor old Sally, liiking so wisht as Simon Fluke's owl. The very minute 'er zeed me up er jumped and hissed and tissed fit tii bust 'erzel with joy. So I zed, "Sallie, Sallie, m' dear, be that yii ? Then 'er flied slap acrass the 'eads of all the rest of the ducks and vowls that was there, and corned and crawped down by my veet like a dog wid. I cudden 'elp crying, I cudden, so I tiiked her up in my arms and was gwaine tii car 'er away with me when Scrane's wife corned and hailed her away from me and scat 'er vore intti the yard. Well, I urned arter 'er and cald tii 'er : Sallie, Sallie, Sallie, come yer my purty ! and 'er rinned and flapped 'er wings tii me in a minute, 'er did, and I walked strite away out tii the gate and old Sallie arter me atissing and drawing abroad her wings fit to bust 'erzel, I tellee !

Magistrates' Clerk : This seems far too ridiculous, for belief. Did any one witness the mutual recognition between you and the goose.
 

Lambshead : Whativer be telling about, sir ? You spayketh so fine there's no understanding aw'ee, but I spose you be axing, who 'twas zeed my giize, Sallie, recognise me ? Why then, when I went to Scrane's 'ouze, Billy Chubb and Nick Stradles went with me and they both aw'm zeed Sallie rin tii me.

Magistrates' Clerk : Did you, Chubb, see the goose when she recognised Lambshead ?
 

Billy Chub : Ess, by Gor, I did, and twas a sight for sore eyes, I kin tellee, for when thickee old gennelman went vore and caled she, 'er urned tii 'n a hissing and a tissing as if twas 'er father. When us liiked into the back-ouze nobody ciide tell wan giize from 'tother, but the very instant 'er master spoke, 'er up and urned tu'h and rubbed 'er 'ead agin his legs so loving as a cheel.

Mr. Lambshead mutched 'er down awver 'er head and neck and 'er was so plaized as punch, 'er was.
 

Lambshead : There now, zir, didden I tellee so ? 'tez so true as the Gospel, tez ; I've ah'ad she for purty nigh ten year and I widden take ten pound for 'er. Why, my old 'oman lov'th 'er so well's 'er dii inny of our chillern. I mayns tii take 'er 'ome wi' me and keep 'er so long's 'er liv'th, ess fy ! Er'll sit in the chimbly cornder warm and comferble-like.
 

Magistrates' Clerk : I wish to see this goose. 

Lambshead : I'll fetch 'er vore, sir.
 

Hereupon the goose was produced and placed in a far corner of the Court. When Lambshead called Sallie, Sallie, she rushed towards him clearing every impediment. Whereupon Scrane was convicted of the theft, and Lambshead left the Court with Sallie comfortably tucked under his arm.
 

Somewhat modified from report in Western Morning News."

Hewett 1900

Devon charm to protect from theives and enemies

Frontispiece of the Old Testament -By Phillip Medhurst (Photo by Harry Kossuth) [FAL], via Wikimedia Commons

"SAY daily at sunrise :

"In the power of God, I walk on my way
In the meekness of Christ, what thieves soe'er I meet
The Holy Ghost to-day shall me keep.
Whether I sit, or stand, walk or sleep,
The shining of the sun
Also the brightness of his beams, shall me help.
The faith of Isaac to-day shall me lead ;
The sufferings of Jacob to-day be my speed.
The devotion of the holy Lamb thieves shall let,
The strength of Jesus's passion them beset,
The dread of death hold thieves low,
The wisdom of Solomon cause their overthrow.
The sufferings of Job set them in hold,
The chastity of Daniel let what they would.
The speech of Isaac their speech shall spill,
The languishing faith of Jerom let them of their will.
The flaming fires of hell to hit them, I bequeath,
The deepness of the deep sea, their hearts to grieve
The help of Heaven cause thieves to stand.
He that made the sun and moon bind them with his hand
So sure as St. Bartholomew bound the fiend,
With the hair of his beard.
With these three sacred names of God known and unknown.
Miser, Sue, Tetragrammaton, Christ Jesus ! Amen."

Hewett 1900

[I am not a great expert on such things, but this line "Miser, Sue, Tetragrammaton," sounds a bit Jewish.  Although it does feature Jesus and Saint Bartholomew the rest seem to be old testament characters.]

Lucky in Devon - 22

We bit our babies nails for the first few months, but then used scissors as she was so wriggly we could only do it while she was breast feeding - if you want to use my images please attribute my blog

It is lucky-

"To bite a baby's nails before it is a year old instead of cutting them, as it ensures its honesty through life."

[conversely Hewett also states that is unlucky -  "To cut a baby's nails or hair before the child is a year old."]

Hewett 1900

How to catch a theif with the Bible...

Key and Bible - Some rights reserved by Ashley R. Good 

"In Devonshire, many persons when they have lost anything, and suspect it to have been stolen, take the front door key of their dwelling, and, in order to find out the thief, tie this key to the Bible, placing it very carefully on the eighteenth verse of the fiftieth Psalm. ("When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.") Two persons must then hold the book by the bow of the key, and first repeat the name of the suspected thief, and then the verse from the Psalm. If the Bible moves, the suspected person is considered guilty ; if it does not move, innocent."

Hewett 1900

The Theiving Gentry of Woody Bay Part 1

Blunderbuss by Sopoforic

"There is a legend about Woody Bay, that is almost too strange for fiction and which has, we believe, already taken its place in a very clever collection of Cornish stories and legends by Mr. Hunt. It may belong to both counties.

There was a certain squire living near Woody Bay, who was a great gambler, and was therefore often in want of money. On one occasion when fortune had deserted him, and he was nearly penniless, he had recourse to burglary for a supply. It was the day before rent day, and he knew that the tenant of one of his largest farms would have the money in his house ready for the payment of his rent. He determined to break into his house and take the money. He would not be seen or recognised, and the farmer would still be obliged to pay his rent. With this villainous project in his head, he dressed himself in rough shooting clothes, took a pair of pistols, and set out for the farm. Here he tried to break open a window, but made so much noise that the farmer heard him, and shot him with a blunderbuss just as he was half-way into the house.

After this the ghost of the squire haunted the farm. Things went very badly with the farmer, his crops failed, his stock died, and it was all laid to the charge of the squire's ghost; so, in his despair the poor man applied to the parson of Trentishoe to lay the spirit. The parson came, but all his exorcisms were of no avail: the ghost still "revisited the glimpses of the moon," and ill fortune still befell the farmer. He applied for advice to a "wise man" living at Exeter..." [cont.]

Valentine (undated)

Saint Neot's Well - part 3

Roe Deer
By Die4Dixie [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], from Wikimedia Commons

"At another time St. Neot was praying at this well, when a hunted deer sought protection by his side. On the arrival of the dogs the saint reproved them, and, behold ! they crouched at his feet, whilst the huntsman, affected by the miracle, renounced the world, and hung up his bugle-horn in the cloister. 

Oxen -By Allen Drebert (Allen Drebert) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Again, the oxen belonging to the saint had been stolen, and wild deer came of their own accord to replace them, and returned to their woods at night, until the stolen bullocks were restored. When the thieves beheld St. Neot ploughing with his stags they were conscience-stricken, and returned what they had stolen. Such stories as these are represented in the stained-glass window, c. I500-1530, and many more may be gathered from the country people, who affirm that the church was built by night, and the materials brought together by teams of two deer and one hare. They also show in the churchyard the stone on which the saint used to stand to throw the key into the keyhole, which had been accidentally placed too high. (St. Neot was of small stature, and either this lock or another was in the habit of descending, so that his hand could reach it.)... [cont...]

Hope 1893

Princetown Prison

"A very brief acquaintance with Dartmoor Prison and the neighborhood removes all romance that may hang round the prisoner and captive, and when from time to time one escapes nobody is sorry when he is again caught - which invariably happens. He steals from the hamlets, and is discovered with stolen goods in his possession; one got as far as Plymouth, where a dog so alarmed his tender conscience that he began to run, so that the police, surprised to see a man running for nothing, suspected something amiss. Another left his boots in the back kitchen of a house near Chagford; he did not go away barefooted, and the authorities afterwords identified the "borrowed" pair."

Cresswell 1921

[N.B. Not sure weather to include this one - not really folklore yet, but stories of prison escapees are still passed orally today almost like folk tales]

Map - Princetown

Map - Plymouth
Map - Chagford