Cornwall : Demons and Spectres

A longer chapter this week. As part of this project, the material extracted from Hunt’s Popular Romances of the West of England will eventually become a gazetter. This means this material has a rawer feel than some other episodes. It also doesn’t have statistics, although those should eventually be forthcoming.

The Hooting Cairn

Cairn Kenidzhek (pronounced Kenidjack, meaning “Hooting”) is on the road from St Just to Penzance. Devils gather there to watch wrestling matches. The light and noise are obvious in the surrounding land, and so people avoid talking when passing through its shadow, which lies over the road.  At night, most avoid the road.

The story that describes the doings on the cairn are given by two miners who, a little drunk, passed along the road at night, and forgetting the prohibition, discussed their mining. A man in black galloped toward them, on a horse they knew as one of those used in the mine, and so they called out, to make sure they were not ridden down by accident. The drunken men spoke to the rider, who told them he was going to the wrestling, and to come along.

The miners found they could not help but obey, and that the climb was effortless. A crowd was gathered about a huge fire, and singing a song that had a hoot as a chorus. Two gigantic men began to wrestle, but the man in black called that there was insufficient light. A demon set his eyes upon the athletes, and they glowed with balefire that illuminated the match. The giants wrestled until one dropped the other, who lay as if dead. One of the miners was a lapsed minister of religion, and in a fit of morality offered the ultimate unction to the fallen giant.

In an instant, the men were lost in the dark and fog: the demons had vanished. The miners lay in each other’s arms for warmth, and waited for the safety of the sunrise.

A quick quote from Hunt

“The old, half-starved horses on the common, with their hides grown rusty brown, like dried and withered grass, by exposure, are ridden by the archfiend at night. He is said to hunt lost souls over this heath ; and an old stile hard by bears an evil name, for there the souls are sure to be caught, none being able to get over it.”

Diabolic vicars

There are a surprising number of vicars skilled in demon worship in Cornwall.  There are many others who can lay or banish ghosts. Hunt says that it’s common to cast them to the Red Sea, or Dead Sea. There are covenants near the Dead Sea: surely it must be annoying to have the various terrors of Cornwall appear in your lake? The Red Sea is the province of the Soqotrans, a secluded order of magicians served by, and serving, potent tree-spirits. Might they send agents to stop this?

Jago of Wedron

Time for a quote from Hunt

“Any one visiting the parish of Wendron will be struck with many distinguishing features in its inhabitants. It would appear as if a strange people had settled down amidst the races already inhabiting the spot, and that they had studiously avoided any intimate connection with their neighbours. The dialect of the Wendron people is unlike any other in Cornwall, and there are many customs existing amongst them which are not found in any other part of the county. Until of late years, the inhabitants of Wendron were quite uneducated ; hence the readiness with which they associate ancient superstitions with comparatively modern individuals.

The Reverend Mr Jago was no doubt a man who impressed this people with the powers of his knowledge. Hence we are told that no spirit walking the earth could resist the spells laid upon him by Jago. By his prayers or powers many a night wanderer has been put back into his grave, and so confined that the poor ghost could never again get loose. To the evil-disposed Mr Jago was a terror. All Wendron believed that every act was visible to the parson at the moment it was done day or night it mattered not. He has been known to pick a thief at once out of a crowd, and criminal men or women could not endure the glance of his eye. Many a person has at once confessed to guilty deeds of which they have been suspected the moment they have been brought before Mr Jago.

We are told that he had spirits continually waiting upon him, though invisible until he desired them to appear. The parson rode far and wide over the moorland of his parish. He never took a groom with him ; for, the moment he alighted from his horse, he had only to strike the earth with his whip, and up came a demon-groom to take charge of the steed.”

So, Jago has Piercing Gaze, at minimum, and a demonic groom.  He also has the ability to pin ghosts into their graves. It’s possible he has faerie powers, or uses the powers of the Divine to control the Infernal. As an alternative, he might really be happy using demons to be a really great vicar. Not every diabolist wants to become Emporer.

Jago is mentioned in a later story. There was a suicide called Tucker, who was buried ata crossroads. When people rode past, they could crack a whip and yell “Arise, Tucker!” and his shade would travel with them for a way. Eventually, Tucker became sick of being used for a game, so he did not return to his grave, staying gripped to the rider. This parson locked him into his grave.

The people of this area might have odd characteristics because they have Faerie Blood, or magical Warping. This is where you can find your Deep Ones, if you need them.

Peter of Altarnun

This myth is from the reign of Charles II, but you can work it back into 1220 if you wish. The deacon of the church, Peter, was interested in his office only for the luxuries it provided. He was reputed to disinter the recently dead. Some said ti was to steal their rings. Others said it was for black magic. What is known is that at the age of a hundred, dark hair grew through his grey ones, and new teeth thrust from his empty jaws. He died when he was over 150 years old.

Dando of Saint Germans

Dando was a “jolly friar” at the priory of Saint Germans. He ate and drank to excess, and gave light, indulgent penances to those seeking confession. He was well-liked by many of the locals, save a few, whose deep curses followed him with effect.

The priest pursued hunting with the same excess as his other vices, and he trampled the fields and gardens of many farmers. Their hatred of him eventually took form. The Devil did not take Dando immediately.  He made sure he had good health, and regular money. Dando arranged the drinks, gluttony and sex. Eventually, though, Dando had done all of the damage he could do, and the Devil decided to harvest his soul.

One Sunday, while Dando was out hunting, he called for drink. “Where can I get it?” asked one of his grooms. “You can go to Hell if you can’t get it on Earth!” answered the priest. A dashing man rode up and gave him a flask. The man and the priest argued, and eventually the man lifted the priest onto the front of horse. He galloped toaard the river, and when he leapt into the flow, the water boiled and hissed.

The priest was never seen again. A carving of this story is found in the oak throne of the bishop of Saint Germans. The hounds of the hunt are often heard on Sabbath mornings. Some people are chased by the dandy-dogs, and a dark hunter with saturnine horns, but if they pray fervently, the hell-hounds are turned aside and seek other prey.

The Parson of Dawlish

The bishop of Exeter was dying, and the priest from Dawlish kept dropping in to see how he was doing. This seems like an act of charity, but he wanted the throne for himself and was waiting the prelate to die. The clerk of the cathedral was the priest’s guide through the wilds between the two settlements, until one night, they got lost near Haldon. The priest quarrelled with the clerk, and finally said “I would rather have the devil for a guide than you.” A peasant on a moor pony rode up, and led them to Dawlish.

As they entered the town, the peasant asked the priest to dinner. They entered a ruined house, well-lit and filled with wild but convivial people. There was a great deal of feasting and drinking, and the priest entertained his new friends with hunting songs, and songs in praise of the Devil. The company liked these, and joined in on the choruses. Near dawn, the clerk and priest tried to leave, but their horses would not move, regardless of how soundly they applied the whip.

The company laughed, and turned into devils. The priest found his horse was really a rock, and the mansion was merely an illusion above the sea. Two stray horses wandered into Dawlish the next morning and a search was made. The clerk and the priest were found dead, still clinging to the two rocks, waist deep in the bay.

 

Duffy and the Devil

Duffy and the Devil is a Cornish version of Rumpelstiltskin. The devil is called “Terrytop” in the local version. It differs a little, in that a beautiful peasant girl gets a job as a spinner by lying about the quality of her work. A devil appears and says he’ll do her work for three years, then give her the chance to guess his name. If she fails to guess, she must go away with him. The girl’s spinning is so good that she has many potential suitors, but marries her employer, a local nobleman.

Duffy spends a lot of time at the local mill, dancing and gossiping. The miller’s wife, Bet, is her best friend and a witch. The witch knew her spinning was done by a demon, because there was always a dropped stitch in the stockings. Demons can’t make perfect things.  She didn’t let on, because she had uses for demons herself, but when he friend appeared sad, toward the end of the three years, she had the whole story from Duffy.

Bet distracted the squire, who is off hunting, with a supernatural hare. She then puts on her red witch’s robe and seeks out her fellow witches, who hold a Sabbat at Fugoe Hole. She gets the devil drunk, and encourages him to dance and sing. He foolishly mentions his name. The squire, who has been led to the revel by the hare, hears this, and tells it to his wife the next morning, thinking it bu t a queer occurrence.

She then gives the creature its name, and all of the spinning it had created disappears. The squire thinks this is because he chased a witch, likely Bet, in hare form, and so has been cursed. He discovers Duffy cannot spin new cloth, and there is some sort of resolution which involves Duffy’s previous lover thrashing the squire, but Hunt then clams up, saying that the droll is long and its conclusion to immodest for the modern reader.

The Ghost of Rosewarne

Exekiel Grosse purchased the land and house of the de Rosewarnes, possibly through a lawyerish trick. This was in the time of James I, well after the game period, but use it anyway. Grosse was a terribly greedy man, and had heard a folktale saying there was treasure hidden somewhere about the house. He looked, but could not find it.

He began to hear noises about the house. After a time, he saw a shadowy figure. Eventually it manifested as a careworn man in clothes of an old style, making gestures Ezekiel could not understand. After weeks of this, he yelled at the spectre “In the name of God, what wantest thou ?”

“To show thee, Ezekiel Grosse, where the gold for which thou longest lies buried.” answered the ghost. Ezekiel could not rise from his chair, but the ghost made pleas to Ezekiel’s greed and dragged him out to a set of stones, telling him “Ezekiel Grosse, thou longest for gold, as I did. I won the glittering prize, but I could not enjoy it. Heaps of treasure are buried beneath those stones ; it is thine, if thou diggest for it.Win the gold, Ezekiel. Glitter with the wicked ones of the world ; and when thou art the most joyous, I will look in upon thy happiness.” The ghost then vanished.

In short, Ezekiel found a bronze urn, filled with ancient gold coins. It was too heavy to lift, so Ezekiel sneaks out each night, bringing the treasure home. Ezekiel expands the house, buys the surrounding land, and buys a coach and four. He lives well for many years: his revels becoming vaster and vaster as time goes on. One Christmas Eve, he is having a massive party, and the ghost appears at the feast: crushing the mood of festivity. Afterward, whenever Ezekiel holds a gathering for his friends, a terrifying vision appears and drains away all goodwill. His friends abandoned him, until the only person he spoke to was his clerk. The ghost began to haunt Ezekiel’s every moment.

Eventually they came to terms: Ezekiel would give all his wealth to anyone the ghost nominated, and it would leave him in peace. The spectre selected Call, the clerk, and when the paperwork was done, it explained its motive. Time for some Hunt:

“Grosse was then informed that this evil spirit was one of the ancestors of the Rosewarne, from whom by his fraudulent dealings he obtained the place, and that he was allowed to visit the earth again for the purpose of inflicting the most condign punishment on the avaricious lawyer. His avarice had been gratified, his pride had been pampered to the highest ; and then he was made a pitiful spectacle, at whom all men pointed, and no one pitied. He lived on in misery, but it was for a short time. He was found dead : and the country people ever said that his death was a violent one ; they spoke of marks on his body, and some even asserted that the spectre of De Rosewarne was seen rejoicing amidst a crowd of devils, as they bore the spirit of Ezekiel over Carn Brea.”

Shorter pieces

A Spectral Coach

At its simplest: near Lanreath there is a moor on which a ghost appears, dressed in black and driving a team of headless horses, which draw a black coach. Those who see the spirit are never right in their minds again. Mortal horses avoid the coach, sensing it well before humans: but when it is within sight they are drawn to it, clearly against their own desires.

Spectre Bridegroom

This story is a commonplace, but it has an interesting bit of folk magic I’ll quote from Hunt:

It was All-hallows Eve, and two of Nancy’s companions persuaded her no very difficult task to go with them and sow hemp-seed. At midnight the three maidens stole out unperceived into Kimyall town-place to perform their incantation. Nancy was the first to sow, the others being less bold than she. Boldly she advanced, saying, as she scattered the seed, “Hemp-seed I sow thee, Hemp-seed grow thee ; And he who will my true love be, Come after me And shaw thee.”
This was repeated three times, when, looking back over her left shoulder, she saw Lenine ; but he looked so angry that she shrieked with fear, and broke the spell. One of the other girls, however, resolved now to make trial of the spell, and the result of her labours was the vision of a white coffin. Fear now fell on all, and they went home sorrowful, to spend each one a sleepless night.

The boy, Lenine, was a sailor and had great difficulty because his ghost was literally pulled from his body while he was trying to steer through a storm, causing him to faint. The girl who saw a coffin died within a year. The man’s boat was wrecked, and he died on the shore. After sunset his ghost appeared, on horseback and dressed in a shroud and grave clothes. to Nancy. She was so surprised to see him she took his hand without noticing his clothes, and once he had pulled her onto his horse, she could not resist him.

As the riders passed a blacksmith’s by a church Nancy regained speech, and cried out for aid. The blacksmith grabbed her, pulled her to the ground, but the ghost seized part of her dress, and began to drag her away with supernatural strength. The blacksmith kept hold, and the two were dragged for some distance. The blacksmith, who had been disturbed at his work still had a red-hot iron in one hand. He used it to burn through the dress, and the ghost vanished over the wall of the graveyard in which the sailor was lying.

In the morning, Lenine’s horse was found covered in foam, with a swollen tongue, and with rolling, mad eyes. There was a piece of wedding dress on Lenine’s grave. Nancy passed away from shock.

Sarah Polgrain

Storms are often blamed on the spirit of Sarah Polgrain of Lugvan. She murdered her husband and was hung on Bodmin Moor. In the shadow of the gallows, she spoke with her lover, a horsedealer named Yorkshire Jack, and made him promise to wed her living or dead. After some years, he began to see her from the corner of his eye, and he fled Cornwall on a merchant ship. This did not save him, for the Devil and Sarah sought him out, and destroyed his ship in a storm. Sarah’s descendants still live about Lugvan.

The lugger of Croft Pasco Pool

Hunt notes there’s a ghost ship here, and that it is unlucky to sight it. He says nothing else, save that “Unbelieving people attributed the origin of the tradition to a white horse seen in a dim twilight standing in the shallow water ; but this was indignantly rejected by the mass of the residents.” If you had a covenant in this area, would it be safe for the grogs to mount watches, given that they could be cursed by the stray sight of the lugger?