Cornwall, who is said to have sworn away the life of an innocent person.
“The face of this false witness is the colour of one long in the tomb;
and he has never, since the death of the victim of his forswearing, seen
the sun.” It must be remembered the perjured man is not blind. All
things around him are seen as by other men, but the sense of vision is so
dulled that the world is for ever to him in a dark, vapoury cloud.
CHARACTERISTICS.
An esteemed and learned correspondent, himself a Cornishman, writing to
me on the Cornish character, says:—
“There are some adages in which beadledom receives various hard
knocks—that abstraction mostly taking the shape of some unlucky mayor;
and I have heard in Cornwall, but never elsewhere, that the greatest fool
in the place for the time being is always made the mayor.
“There is an adage of the Mayor of Calenich, (and yet I doubt if ever
that hamlet had such an officer.) Calenich is one mile from Truro,
and the mayor’s hackney was pastured two miles from home; so, as his
worship would by no means compromise his dignity by walking to Truro, he
invariably walked to his horse to ride there, so that it was said of any
one who would keep up appearances at great trouble, that he was ‘_like
the Mayor of Calenich, who walked two miles to ride one_.’
“The class who never know on which side their bread is buttered, are
said to be ‘_like the Mayor of Market-Jew, sitting in their own light_;’
and the stupid man whose moods, whether of sadness or merriment, are
inopportune, is, as may be, said to be ‘_like the Mayor of Falmouth, who
thanked God when the town-jail was enlarged_.’
“Many persons are chronicled in the same manner.
“‘_Like Nicholas Kemp, he’s got occasion for all._’ Nicholas was said to
be a voter in a Cornish borough, who was told to help himself (so that no
one should have given him a bribe,) from a table covered with gold, in
the election committee-room. Taking off his hat, he swept the whole mass
into it, saying, ‘I’ve occasion for all.’
“‘_Like Uncle Acky Stoddern, the picture of ill luck._’ This was always
applied to a once well-known Gwennap-man.
“When a boy is asked what he will be, it is sometimes answered on his
behalf, ‘_I’ll be like Knuckey, be as I am_.’
“‘_Like Nanny Painter’s hens, very high upon the legs_,’ is applied to a
starveling or threadpaper.
“‘_Like Malachi’s cheeld, choke-full of sense_,’ applied derisively to
any one boasting of himself or of his children. This is, I believe,
purely Cornish.
“‘_Like a toad under a harrow, I don’t know whichee corse to steer._’ The
first division of this adage is common property, the last is confined to
Cornwall.
“‘_He is coming home with Penny Liggan_,’ sometimes ‘Peter Lacken,’
signifies the return of a pennyless scapegrace. The term was probably
‘penny lacking’ originally.
“Are the Cornish folk given to making ‘bulls,’ like the Irish?” asks my
correspondent. “I have heard of one or two curious inversions of speech.
“Once upon a time a little boy having vainly importuned his seniors for a
penny to go and buy sweets, being determined not to be disappointed, went
off, exclaiming, ‘I don’t care; I’ll go and _trust_ Betty Rule,’ (the
sweetmeat vendor.) This is native and genuine Gwennapian.
“The common people are fond of figures of speech. Port-wine negus was
christened by the miners ‘black wine toddy.’ They go on Midsummer-day to
Falmouth or Penzance, to get ‘_a pen’ord o’ say_’—that is, they go out in
a boat on payment of a penny.
“With them, when their health is inquired after, every man is ‘_brave_,’
and every woman ‘_charming_;’ and friendship takes dear household names
into its mouth for more expressiveness.
“‘Well, Billy, my son, how’s faether?’
“‘Brave, thank ee.’
“‘How are you, Coden [Cousin] Jaan, and how’s Betty?’
“‘She’s charming, thank ee.’
“_Trade_ is a word of special application, ‘_a pa’cel o’ trade_.’
“A precious mess is ‘_a brave shape_.’
“Of an undecided person it is said, ‘_He is neither Nim nor Doll_.’ Does
this mean he is neither Nimrod nor Dorothy?
“A phrase descriptive of vacuity of expression is, ‘_He looks like
anybody that has neither got nor lost_.’”
Years since it was a common custom to assign some ridiculous action to
the people of a small town or village. For example, the people of one
place were called “Buccas,” “because some one of them was frightened at
his shadow.”
Those of another town were named “Gulls,” “because two of the townsmen
threw a gull over a cliff to break its neck.”
The men of a fishing-village were nicknamed “Congers,” “because they
threw a conger overboard to drown it.”
“Who whipped the hake?” was applied to the inhabitants of another town,
because hake, it is said, being excessively plenty, the fishermen flogged
one of those fish, and flung it back into the sea; upon which all the
hakes left that coast, and kept away for years.[65]
“Who drowned the man in a dry ditch?” belongs especially to another place.
Certain Cornishmen built a wall around the cuckoo, to prevent that bird
from leaving the county, and thus to insure an early spring. When built,
the bird flew out, crying “Cuckoo! cuckoo!” “If we had put one course
more on the wall we should a’ kept’n in,” said they.
Camborne is so called from _Camburne_, _a crooked well-pit_ of water.
This crooked well was at one time far famed for the cure of many diseases.
The persons who washed in this well were called _Merrasicke_. I know not
the meaning of the word. According to an old Cornish custom of fixing
nicknames on people, the inhabitants of Camborne are called _Mearageeks_,
signifying perverse, or obstinate.—(_Lanyon._)
The Church was anciently called _Mariadoci_. I therefore suspect that the
above terms have some connexion with this name. By an easy corruption,
and the addition of _geeks_, or _gawks_, (meaning awkward,) either word
can be produced.
Of the Gorran men it is asked, “Who tried to throw the moon over the
cliffs?”
THE MUTTON FEAST.
An old tradition—the particulars of which I have failed to recover—says
that a flock of sheep were blown from the Gwithian Sands over into St
Ives Bay, and that the St Ives fishermen caught them,—believing them to
be a new variety of fish,—either in their nets, or with hook and line,
and brought them ashore as their night’s catch.
I learn that Mr Fortescue Hitchins, some fifty or sixty years since,
wrote a “copy of verses” on this tradition, but I have never seen this
production.
THE FLOATING GRINDSTONE.
I have already told of St Piran and his grindstone. I have, however,
another and a more modern story, which is told with great glee at some of
the social meetings of the fishermen. This is given merely to indicate
the simplicity of this honest race.
A party was got together on a promontory at the extremity of the bay
which enclosed a fishing-town. They were gathered to see a wonder, a
_floating grindstone_. Seeing that grindstones were grindstones in those
days, and worth many pounds sterling, a boat was manned, and away they
went, the mover of the expedition being in the bow of the boat.
As they approached the grindstone, this man planted his foot on the
gunwale, ready for a spring. They were close aboard the circular
mass,—“All my own, and none for nobody,” he cries, and sprang off, as
he fancied, on to the grindstone. Lo! to his great surprise, he sank
under water, presently popping up again within his charmed circle, to be
greeted with roars of laughter. He had leaped into a sheet of “salt sea
foam” which had gathered, and was confined within a large hoop.
CELTS—FLINT ARROW-HEADS, ETC.
The common people believe these to be produced by thunder, and thrown
down from the clouds, and that they shew what weather will ensue by
changing their colour.
I have also found a belief prevailing in many districts, that Celts
impart a virtue to water in which they have been soaked, and that
diseases have been cured by drinking it.
HORNS ON THE CHURCH TOWER.
When the masons were building the tower of Towednack Church, the devil
came every night and carried off the pinnacles and battlements. Again and
again this work was renewed during the day, and as often was it removed
during the night, until at length the builders gave up the work in
despair, feeling that it was of no use to contend with the evil one.
Thus it is that Towednack Church stands lonely, with its squat and
odd-looking tower, a mark of the power of evil to the present day.
Associated with this tower is a proverb: “There are no cuckolds in
Towednack, because there are no horns on the church tower.”
TEA-STALKS AND SMUT.
Stems of tea floating in that beverage indicate strangers. Flakes of smut
hanging loose to the fire-bars do the same thing.
The time of the stranger’s arrival may be known by placing the stem on
the back of one hand, and smacking it with the other; the number of
blows given before it is removed indicates the number of days before his
arrival.
The flake of carbon is blown upon, and according as it is removed by the
first, second, or third blow, so is the time at the end of which the
visitor may be expected.
AN OLD CORNISH RHYME.
“When the corn is in the shock,
Then the fish are on the rock.”
The pilchard visits this coast in the early autumn. These are the “fish”
_par excellence_ of the Cornish, and they are thus distinguished.
TO CHOOSE A WIFE.
Ascertain the day of the young woman’s birth, and refer to the last
chapter of Proverbs. Each verse from the 1st to the 31st is supposed to
indicate, either directly or indirectly, the character, and to guide
the searcher—the verse corresponding with her age indicating the woman’s
character.
THE ROBIN AND THE WREN.
“Those who kill a robin or a wran,
Will never prosper, boy or man.”
This feeling is deeply impressed on every young mind; there are few,
therefore, who would injure either of those birds.
I remember that a boy in Redruth killed a robin: the dead robin was tied
round his neck, and he was marched by the other boys through the town,
all of them singing the above lines.
TO SECURE GOOD LUCK FOR A CHILD.
Give the first person whom you meet between your own house and the church
to which you are taking the infant to be christened, a piece of bread and
salt.
INNOCENCY.
To wash the hands is an attestation of innocency. To call a man “dirty
fingers,” is to accuse him of some foul or unjust deed.
RAIN AT BRIDAL OR BURIAL.
“Blessed is the bride
Whom the sun shines on,
Blessed is the dead
Whom the rain rains on.”
If it rains while a wedding party are on their way to the church, or on
returning from it, it betokens a life of bickering and unhappiness.
If the rain falls on a coffin, it is supposed to indicate that the soul
of the departed has “arrived safe.”
CROWING HENS, ETC.
A whistling maid and a crowing hen in one house, is a certain sign of a
downfall to some one in it. I have known hens killed for crowing by night.
The braying of an ass is a sign of fair weather; so is also the crowing
of a cock. The quacking of ducks foretells rain.
THE NEW MOON.
To see the new moon for the first time, through glass, is unlucky; you
may be certain that you will break glass before that moon is out. I
have known persons whose attention has been called to a clear new moon,
hesitate. “Hev I seed her out a’ doors afore?” if not, they will go into
the open air, and if possible shew the moon “a piece of gold,” or, at all
events, turn their money.
LOOKING-GLASSES.
Breaking a looking-glass is certain to insure seven years of misfortune.
THE MAGPIE.
“One is a sign of anger,
Two is a sign of mirth,
Three is a sign of a wedding,
Four is a sign of a {birth.
{death.”
A scolding woman is called a magpie. Whenever you see a magpie, take off
your hat to it; this will turn away the anger.
THE MONTH OF MAY UNLUCKY.
May is regarded by many as an unhealthy and unlucky month.
Children born in the month of May are called “May chets,” and kittens
cast in May are invariably destroyed, for—
“May chets
Bad luck begets.”
Another rhyme is—,
“A hot May,
Fat church hay,”
meaning that funerals will be plenty.
ON THE BIRTHS OF CHILDREN.
“Sunday’s child is full of grace,
Monday’s child is full in the face,
Tuesday’s child is solemn and sad,
Wednesday’s child is merry and glad,
Thursday’s child is inclined to thieving,
Friday’s child is free in giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for his living.”
ON WASHING LINEN.
“They that wash Monday got all the week to dry,
They that wash Tuesday are pretty near by,
They that wash Wednesday make a good housewife,
They that wash Thursday must wash for their life,
They that wash Friday must wash in need,
They that wash Saturday are sluts indeed.”
ITCHING EARS.
When the ears are red and itch, it is a sign that some one is talking
of the suffering individual. If it is the left ear, they are being
scandalised; if the right ear, they are being praised.
Often have I heard, when the lower and middle class people have been
indulging in some gossip of their neighbours or friends, “I’ll bet how
their ears do itch.”
THE SPARK ON THE CANDLE.
A bright spark on the candle-wick indicates a letter coming to the
house. The person towards whom it shines will receive it. The time of
its arrival is determined by striking the bottom of the candlestick on
the table. If the spark comes off on the first blow, it will be received
to-morrow; if two blows are required, on the second day, and so on.
THE BLUE VEIN.
A fond mother was paying more than ordinary attention to a fine
healthy-looking child, a boy about three years old. The poor woman’s
breast was heaving with emotion, and she struggled to repress her sighs.
Upon inquiring if anything was really wrong, she said “the old lady of
the house had just told her that the child could not live long, because
_he had a blue vein across his nose_.”
THE CROAKING OF THE RAVEN.
There is a common feeling that the croaking of a raven over the house
bodes evil to some member of the family. The following incident, given to
me by a really intelligent man, illustrates the feeling:[66]—
“One day our family were much annoyed by the continued croaking of a
raven over our house. Some of us believed it to be a token; others
derided the idea; but one good lady, our next-door neighbour, said,
‘Just mark the day, and see if something does not come of it.’ The day
and hour were carefully noted. Months passed away, and unbelievers were
loud in their boastings and inquiries after the token.
“The fifth month arrived, and with it a black-edged letter from
Australia, announcing the death of one of the members of the family in
that country. On comparing the dates of the death and the raven’s croak,
they were found to have occurred on the same day.”
WHISTLING.
To whistle by night is one of the unpardonable sins amongst the fishermen
of St Ives. My correspondent says, “I would no more dare go among a party
of fishermen at night whistling a popular air than into a den of untamed
tigers.”
No miner will allow of whistling underground. I could never learn from
the miners whether they regarded it as unlucky or not. I rather think
they feel that whistling indicates thoughtlessness, and they know their
labour is one of danger, requiring serious attention.
MEETING ON THE STAIRS.
It is considered unlucky to meet on the stairs, and often one will retire
to his or her room rather than run the risk of giving or receiving ill
luck.
I find this superstition prevails also in the Midland counties.
TREADING ON GRAVES.
“To see a man tread over graves,
I hold it no good mark;
’Tis wicked in the sun and moon,
And bad luck in the dark!”
So sings Coleridge in his ballad of “The Three Graves.”
Whenever a person shivers from a sensation of cold down the spine, it is
said some one is walking over his or her grave.
Persons believing this will give directions that they may be buried in
some secluded corner of the churchyard, so that their corpse may not be
disturbed by unholy footsteps.
A LOOSE GARTER.
If an unmarried woman’s garter loosens when she is walking, her
sweetheart is thinking of her.
TO CURE THE HICCOUGH.
Wet the forefinger of the right hand with spittle, and cross the front of
the left shoe or boot three times, repeating the Lord’s Prayer backwards.
THE SLEEPING FOOT.
This irregularity in the circulation is at once removed by crossing the
foot with saliva.
THE HORSE-SHOE.
To nail a horse-shoe, which has been cast on the road, over the door
of any house, barn, or stable, is an effectual means of preventing the
entrance of witches.
THE BLACK CAT’S TAIL.
Those little gatherings which occur on the eye-lids of children, locally
called “wilks,” are cured by passing a black cat’s tail nine times over
the place. If a ram cat, the cure is more certain.
UNLUCKY THINGS.
To put the loaf on the table upside down—to cut the butter at both
ends—to place the bellows on the table—to upset the salt—to cross your
knife and fork—to pour gravy out of a spoon backwards, (or back-handed,)
is each unlucky, and leads to quarrels. To borrow or lend a bellows is
most unlucky, and many would rather give than lend one.
If you are going on an errand, never turn back to your house, it presages
ill luck to do so. If, however, you are compelled to it, fail not to sit
down. By doing this, some mischief may be avoided.
THE LIMP CORPSE.
If a corpse stiffens shortly after death, all is thought to proceed
naturally; but if the limbs remain flexible, some one of the family is
shortly to follow. If the eyes of a corpse are difficult to close, it is
said “they are looking after a follower.”
To find a louse on one’s linen, is a sign of sickness. To find two,
indicates a severe illness. If three lice are so found within a month, it
is a “token to prepare.”
Talking backwards, or putting one word incorrectly before another,—“the
cart before the horse,”—is considered to foretell that you will shortly
see a stranger.
If two young people, in conversation, happen to think of the same thing
at the same time, and one of them utters the thought before the other,
that one is certain to be married first.
“BY HOOK OR BY CROOK.”
In the parish of Egles-Hayle are two crosses, known as “Peverell’s
Crosses;” and near Mount Charles, also in this parish, is another
“moorstone” cross, called the Prior’s Cross, whereon is cut the figure
of a hook and a crook, in memory of the privileges granted by a prior,
belonging to the family of the Peverells, who are said to have possessed
lands in this parish since the time of Richard II.
The poor of Bodmin were greatly distressed through the scarcity of fuel,
the “turf,” or peat of the moors being insufficient to supply their
wants. The prior gave “privilege and freedom” to the poor of Bodmin for
gathering, for “fire-boote and house-boote,” such boughs and branches of
oak-trees in his woods of Dunmear, as they could reach to, or come at,
with a “hook and a crook,” without further damage to the trees.
Hence the proverb concerning filching, “that they will have it by hook or
by crook.”
WEATHER SIGNS.
The WEATHER DOG.—It frequently happens in unsettled weather that banks of
rain-cloud gather around the horizon, and that, over isolated tracts, the
rain falls. If these depositions from this low stratum of clouds occur
opposite to the sun, the lower limb of a bow is formed, often appearing
like a pillar of decomposed light; and sometimes two of these coloured
bands will be seen, forming indeed the two extremities of the arch. These
are “weather dogs,” and they are regarded as certain prognostications of
showery or stormy weather.[67]
The usual proverb with regard to the full bow; which prevails generally,
is common in Cornwall,—
“The rainbow in the morning
Is the shepherd’s warning;
The rainbow at night
Is the shepherd’s delight.”
But, as far as I know, the “weather dog” is peculiarly Cornish.
WEATHER AT LISKEARD.
“The south wind always brings wet weather;
The north wind, wet and cold together.
The west wind always brings us rain;
The east wind blows it back again.
If the sun in red should set,
The next day surely will be wet;
If the sun should set in gray,
The next will be a rainy day.”
_Bond’s Looe._
THE FIRST BUTTERFLY.
“One of the superstitions prevailing in Devonshire is, that any
individual neglecting to kill the first butterfly he may see for the
season, will have ill luck throughout the year.”[68] The following
recent example is given by a young lady:—“The other Sunday, as we were
walking to church, we met a man running at full speed, with his hat in
one hand, and a stick in the other. As he passed us he exclaimed, ‘I
shan’t hat ’en now, I b’lieve.’ He did not give us time to inquire what
he was so eagerly pursuing; but we presently overtook an old man, whom
we knew to be his father, and who, being very infirm, and upwards of
seventy, generally hobbled about by the aid of two sticks. Addressing
me, he observed, ‘My _zin_ a took away wan a my sticks, miss; wan’t be
ebble to kill’n now though, I b’lieve.’ ‘Kill what?’ said I. ‘Why, ’tis
a butterfly, miss,—the _furst_ hee’th a zeed for the year; and they
zay that a body will have cruel bad luck if a ditn’en kill a _furst_ a
zeeth.’”
I have found this belief prevailing in the east, but never in the west,
of Cornwall.
PECULIAR WORDS AND PHRASES.
“The people in the west,” writes a correspondent, “have adopted many
words from the Danish invaders.” Tradition assures us that the sea-rovers
of the North frequently landed at Witsand Bay, burned and pillaged the
villages of Escols and Mayon, sometimes took off the women, but never
made a settlement. Certain red-haired families are often referred to
as Danes, and the dark-haired people will not marry with “a red-haired
Dane.” He continues:—“If you were in Buryan Church-town this evening,
you might probably hear Betty Trenoweth say, ‘I’ll take off my _touser_,
[toute serve,] and run up to Janey Angwins to _cousey_ [causer] a spell;
there’s a lot of boys gone in there, so there’ll be a grand _courant_,
[de courir,] I expect.’ In a short time Betty may come back disappointed,
saying, ‘’Twas a mere _cow’s courant_ after all, cheld vean—all hammer
and tongs.’”
The _touser_ is a large apron or wrapper to come quite round and keep the
under garments clean. By a _courant_ with the boys, they mean a game of
running romps. It is not at all uncommon in other parts of the country
to hear the people say, “It was a fine _courant_,” “We’ve had a good
_courant_,” when they intend to express the enjoyment of some pleasure
party. These are, however, probably more nearly allied to Norman-French.
There are some proverbial expressions peculiar to the west:—
“Sow barley in dree, and wheat in pul.”[69]
“To make an old nail good, right it on wood.”
“Fill the sack, then it can stand.”
The last meaning that neither man nor beast can work on an empty stomach.
The following are a few of less common expressions, preserving remarkable
words:—
’Tis not _bezibd_—It is not allotted me.
He will never _scrip_ it—He will never escape it.
He is nothing _pridy_—He is not handsome.
Give her _dule_—Give her some comfort or consolation.
Hark to his _lidden_—Listen to his word or talk.
It was _twenty_ or _some_—It was about twenty.
The wind brings the _pilme_—The wind raises the dust.
How thick the _brusse_ lies—How thick the dust lies.
He is _throyting_—He is cutting chips from sticks.
He came of a good _havage_—He belongs to a good or respectable family.
_Hame_—a straw collar with wooden collar-trees, to which are fastened the
rope traces.
_Scalpions_ (_buckthorn_, or rather _buckhorn_)—salt dried fish, usually
the whiting.
“Eating fair maids, or fermades—(_fumadoes_)—[pilchards,] and drinking
mahogany, [gin and treacle.]”
MISCELLANEOUS STORIES.
“Farewell, rewards and fairies,
Good housewives now may say;
For now foul sluts in dairies
Do fare as well as they.
...
“A tell-tale in their company
They never could endure;
And who kept not secretly
Their mirth, was punish’d sure.”
_Farewell to the Fairies_—RICHARD CORBET.
VARIOUS ROMANCES & SUPERSTITIONS.
THE BELLS OF FORRABURY CHURCH.
“The Cornish drolls are dead, each one;
The fairies from their haunts have gone:
There’s scarce a witch in all the land,
The world has grown so learn’d and grand.”
HENRY QUICK, _the Zennor Poet_.