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THE PISKEY-PURSE
Legends and Tales of North Cornwall
By
ENYS TREGARTHEN
Illustrated by
J. LEY PETHYBRIDGE
London
Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., Ltd.
3, Paternoster Buildings, E.C.
And 44, Victoria Street, Westminster
INTRODUCTION
The tales given in this small volume, with one exception, are from
North Cornwall, where I have always lived.
The scene of 'The Piskey-Purse' is from Polzeath Bay (in maps called
Hayle Bay, which is not its local name), in St. Minver parish. This
charming spot was once much frequented by the Piskeys and other fairy
folk, and many a quaint story used to be told about them by the old
people of that place, which some of us still remember. The spot most
favoured by the Piskeys for dancing was Pentire Glaze cliffs, where,
alas! half a dozen lodging-houses now stand. But the marks of fairy
feet are not, they say, all obliterated, and the rings where Piskeys
danced may yet be seen on the great headland of Pentire, and tiny
paths called 'Piskey Walks' are still there on the edge of some of
the cliffs.
'The Magic Pail' is a West Cornwall story, the scene of which is
laid on a moorland between Carn Kenidzhek (the Hooting Carn) and
Carn Boswavas, and not a great distance from the once-celebrated Ding
Dong tin-mine.
The ancient town of Padstow provides the 'Witch in the Well'; lovely
Harlyn Bay, in the parish of St. Merryn, is the scene of 'Borrowed Eyes
and Ears'; and the 'Little White Hare' is from the Vale of Lanherne,
at St. Mawgan in Pydar.
Readers will gather from these tales that we have several kinds of
fairies in Cornwall--the Good Little People, the Merry Little People,
and the Bad Little People. To the latter belong the Spriggans, who are
spiteful and lovers of money, and who have all the hidden treasures
in their keeping. The Merry Little People are the Piskeys and the
Nightriders, and are the best known of all the Wee Folk. The Piskeys
are always dancing, laughing, and 'carrying on.' Their special delight
is in leading the traveller astray, and who is at their mercy till
he turns a garment inside out. The Nightriders take horses out of
the stable and ride them over the moors and downs when their owners
are in bed.
There are many quaint accounts as to the origin of the Cornish
fairies. According to one tradition they are the Druids, who, because
they opposed Christianity when it was first preached in Cornwall,
were made to dwindle in size till they became the Little People they
now are. The worst opposers of the Christian Faith dwindled to ants!
Another tradition says that the Wee Folk are the original inhabitants
of Cornwall, who lived here long centuries before the Birth Star of
the Babe of Bethlehem was seen in the East. In North Cornwall they
are still sometimes called the 'little Ancient People.'
Whoever the Cornish fairies are, and whatever their origin, they
are not without their interest from the folklore point of view, and
we hope that these stories about them will be pleasing, not only to
Cornish people themselves, but to those who come to visit 'the land
outside England.'
I am indebted to my kind publishers for their deep interest in these
folklore tales, and to Mr. J. Ley Pethybridge, a Cornishman, for so
faithfully depicting many of the scenes referred to.