North Cornwall Fairies and Legends Part 16

The little fairy riders, or 'night-riders,' as we Cornish call them, are, I believe, peculiar to North and East Cornwall. They do not seem to have been a kind Little People. They never had any consideration for the horses and colts which they took out of farmers' stables near their haunts, but rode them over the moors and commons till they were ready to drop, and then left them to perish or to find their way back to their stables as best they could. They made stirrups out of the colts' manes and tails.

The legend that King Arthur never died is still extant, and it is said that he haunts the dark Tintagel cliffs and the ruins of the old castle where he was born in the form of a red-legged chough.

'LEGEND OF THE PADSTOW DOOMBAR.'

The above legend is doubtless a myth, but it is a fact that a wailing cry is sometimes heard on the Doombar after a fearful gale and loss of life on that fateful bar, like a woman bewailing the dead.

'THE LITTLE CAKE-BIRD.'

In the neighbourhood of St. Columb the children used to be told that when they were in bed and asleep the dear little Piskeys would pa.s.s over their noses and order their dreams. One of the strange conceits about the Piskeys was told to me not long ago by a native of Cornwall. He said he had heard the old Granfers and Grannies say that the Piskeys were the spirits of still-born and unbaptized children, which will perhaps explain the curious belief that Small People were not good enough for heaven nor bad enough for h.e.l.l. The gay little Piskeys seem to have their wistful moments and yearnings for higher things. They are said to listen at windows and doors in moorland villages when Christian people are saying their prayers.

It was the custom in some parts of Cornwall to put a piece of dough in the shape of a bird on the top of the children's Christmas Eve buns, to remind the children that the white-winged Angels sang when the Babe of Bethlehem was born. If I remember rightly, the buns were eaten hot from the oven.

'THE IMPOUNDED CROWS.'

This is a well-known legend. The Crow Pound, where little St. Neot impounded the pilfering crows, was in existence not a great while ago. It is now a field.

'THE OLD SKY WOMAN.'

Wherever the snow falls in North Cornwall, especially at Padstow, little children cry one to the other that the Old Woman is up in the sky plucking her goose.

'THE LITTLE HORSES AND HORs.e.m.e.n OF PADSTOW.'

The quaint little figures on the housetop in the old town of Padstow are visible to all the pa.s.sers-by, and sometimes strangers ask why they were put there--a difficult question to answer, as n.o.body knows for certain. Perhaps they were placed on the ridge of the house for the Piskeys to dance on, or for the fairy riders to ride. Or maybe they were put there in the days of the Civil Wars, as a token that the house on which the little steeds and the little hors.e.m.e.n were perched was a refuge for King Charles' cavaliers. There is no tradition about the small horses and their riders, but the children were always told, as the tale says, that when they heard the clock strike twelve they galloped round the market and town.

'THE PISKEYS' REVENGE.'

It used to be held, and is still told, that the Piskeys came in through the keyhole and ate up the good things. Children, when they knew that cakes were made and asked to have some, were told that the Piskeys had eaten them all. They had a special liking for junkets and sugar biscuits.

'THE PISKEYS WHO DID AUNT BETSY'S WORK.'

Some of the Piskeys were kindly disposed, and were credited with doing kindly acts, and it is said that they often came into the cottages in the night-time and cleaned them. When the cottages looked very clean and neat it was said that the Piskeys had done it.

'HOW JAN BREWER WAS PISKEY-LADEN.'

Legends about Piskey-led people are as plentiful as blackberries. The present one comes from the neighbourhood of Constantine.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Sad.

[2] A bog near Rough Tor.

[3] A bat.

[4] p.r.o.nounced Dozmary.

[5] Nightjar.

[6] The ladybird.

[7] Near Helston.

[8] Tintagel.

[9] China.

[10] Sad.

[11] Coax.

[12] Tiny child.

[13] Whortleberries.

[14] An oven when half heated.

[15] Frame.

[16] The speckled, or ermine, moth.

[17] Cotton-gra.s.s.

[18] Tale.

[19] Child-little.