Spirit Chaser: The Quest for Bega, 10 years on

21st of June, 2012, saw the publication of my psychic questing work, Spirit Chaser. This paperback tells the story of my very personal interaction with the folklore, mystery and history of an obscure Irish saint called Bega and of the land that she inhabited 1,400 years ago.

Many readers of my more recent folklore works, may be surprised to know that my first full length book was about my experiences out in the landscape, where I was able to fully immerse myself in the hidden realms of Nature and interact with the Genius Loci at the centre of the British Isles. 

According to the concept of psychogeography, the idea of something as mundane as a walk can be expanded and constituted through a conscious contemplation of both place and walker’s relationship with it. This can be both deepened and expanded through psychic interactions with layers of story, lore and myth, where it somehow morphs into a kind of 'occult topography', which seems be a more descriptive term for this type of practice.

Spirit Chaser tells the story of my very own attempt at this type of  interaction. At the beginning of 1989, I started having a longing to return to the Cumbrian fells. I had no real motive, apart from some remote and brief childhood memories of a 1970s family holiday, where vast lakes and high waterfalls had imprinted somewhere in my consciousness. I was 24 years old and I was interested in paranormal phenomena, folklore, earth mysteries and the practice of witchcraft and neopaganism. I was also involved in the countercultural, cultish and liminal world of psychic questing. With all of this floating around my psyche, looking back it was inevitable that I would end up on a spiritual adventure of discovery and pilgrimage, which incorporated many, if not all of the above interests. The nostalgic spectre of it all is now very apparent, and the interaction with the 'Genius Loci' - that elusive polytheistic and animistic spirit of place has become commonplace in all the more creative areas in my life. For this is when magic happens, at the point where we begin to connect.

If I were to write Spirit Chaser now, it would have undoubtedly been written very differently. However, as with all writers' work, it has become a snapshot of my life, frozen in time.  

Here is the back cover blurb:

This is the true story of a psychic quest that turned into an uplifting spiritual pilgrimage.  In June 1989, the author began following a series of psychic messages and significant synchronicity that led him to discover the enigmatic mystery of St Bega, the sacredness of the British landscape and ultimately to experience the divine reality of the Celtic tradition of mysticism, miracles and magic.

Spirit Chaser takes us on a magnificent journey, a journey into the twilight past of seventh century Britain and Ireland. A journey into the heart of a modern day quest for the mystery that is the Sancta Bega; the sacred ring at the mystical centre of the British Isles.

The book is available as a paperback here. You can also listen to it on audio CD here and via Audible here. (Audio versions narrated by Jon Lane, and produced by Circle of Spears Productions).

You can read Cheryl Straffon's review of Spirit Chaser on page 11 of Meyn Mamvro issue 80 here

In 2014 we published a limited edition hardback edition, celebrating 25  years since the beginning of the quest. There were only 30 copies produced. We now have only 2 left, and they are available here

Video release of book launch for The Liminal Shore

 

With thanks to Anna Dowling, Jane Cox and Gemma Gary

Footprints in Stone

Bucca's hoofprints at Tolcarne, Newlyn

Footprints in Stone

Petrosomatoglyphs in Cornwall

by Alex Langstone

I have long been intrigued by ideas of topographical features relating to giants and other legendary figures. These petrosomatoglyphs, such as footprints and handprints, can be found all over the world, and seem to variously belong to kings, devils, saints, horses and giants. Cornwall has its own stony prints and our journey begins on Tintagel Island.

King Arthur’s footprint is located at the highest point on the island, and centuries of erosion make it difficult to judge whether this is a natural feature or not. It has been discussed as an important place of inauguration, where a king was required to stand as a symbolic gesture of territorial leadership.  However, there is nothing recorded in Cornish folklore on this custom, but there is evidence elsewhere in Britain. The ancient seat of the Kings of Dalriada at Dunadd in Scotland had a tradition where the newly crowned king would place his foot into a “stone footprint” on the land to symbolise his rule, similarly with St Columba’s footprint at the Mull of Kintyre, and the footprints of Fergus Mór mac Eirc at Crinan Moss. 

King Arthur's footprint, Tintagel Island. The church of St Materiana can be
seen on the opposite cliff

The Tintagel footprint story has been repeated often since 1889, when it was first suggested that King Arthur could step one stride across the sea from the island’s rocky footprint to the parish church on Glebe cliff, linking two very important sites. Another example of this amazing folkloric deed is found at the Carn Brea Neolithic hilltop settlement where we find giant Bolster standing with one foot on the summit and the other on the top of St Agnes Beacon. It is interesting to note that whilst Carn Brea is lacking a stony footprint, it does have a giant’s handprint on the top of one of the massive, weathered granite stacks. This is linked to the hill’s very own resident giant, known as John of Gaunt, and alongside his  hand, we have his petrified stony head protruding from an outcrop at the eastern end of the hill.  John and Bolster would throw rocks at each other, demonstrating their rivalry, and it seems that Bolster won this game, as Carn Brea is littered with rocks, whilst St Agnes Beacon is smooth and clear.

The footprint of St Agnes (or sometimes ascribed to Giant Bolster) Chapel Porth. Pic: Rupert White

The legendary holy woman, St Agnes has her own immortal footprint set into stone at Chapel Porth. Located in the valley, not far from the ruins of her old chapel and well, where in the early eighteenth century, local historian Thomas Tonkin recorded:

“She likewise left the mark of her foot on a rock, still called St. Agnes Foot, which they tell you will fit a foot of any size”  

The St Agnes footprint is also sometimes ascribed to the giant Bolster. Interestingly there is another giant’s footprint at the rocky outcrop known as Creeg Tol in West Penwith.

Goss Moor lies in the heart of mid-Cornwall, and was once the home of King Arthur's Stone, which was recorded as having several indented hoofmarks, which were described as the prints of King Arthur’s hunting horse, which was kept at Castle an Dinas. This old folk narrative is perpetuated in a ghostly encounter, which states that Goss Moor is haunted by the shimmering apparition of King Arthur and his knights. Cornish historian Samuel Drew recorded one of the most impressive ghost sightings linked to Arthur. Around the end of the eighteenth century, King Arthur’s ghostly army was witnessed in the sky above Castle an Dinas, in a wild hunt. Around a century later, Henry Jenner recorded a story from an old man at the hamlet of Quoit, who had seen the ghosts of King Arthur's soldiers training at Castle an Dinas hillfort, and recalled the moonlight glinting and reflecting from their broadswords. Nearby can be found the remains of a Neolithic chambered tomb called the Devil's Coyt and this site maybe connected to King Arthur’s stone, as it also has the imprint of a cloven hoof on its surface. 

Devil's Coyt

On the south shore of the Duchy, lies the fishing port of Polperro, and it is here where we encounter our next stony footprint. The village is home to the Devil’s Hoofprint, which is also known as the Devil’s Doorway, where the Dark Horned One rides up from his eerie domain in a glistening black coach drawn by his enormous midnight stallion with glowing red eyes. The spooky tale informs us that as the Devil and his coach materialised from the egress in the rocks, Satan’s Stallion left a gigantic fiery hoofmark in the slate. This can still be seen today as a hoof-shaped pool, which is filled twice each day by the flood-tide.   

In the far west of Cornwall, we have our final rocky footfalls. These can be found set into a large stone at Tolcarne, which rises to the rear of the fishing harbour at Newlyn. This rock, locally known as Bucca’s rock, is believed to show the Devil’s (or Bucca’s)  footprints on the top, and around the base is the solidified print of a fishing net. The story tells us that in the year 1592, the Devil decided he wanted to go fishing. He stole some nets from the Newlyn fleet and headed towards the harbour. However, he was discovered by some of the choir of St Peter’s church, and they chased him away from the harbour, whilst chanting the Apostles’ Creed in the hope of exorcising him. The Devil strode out across the valley, trying in vain to escape, and finding that he could not flee, increased his body size to that of a giant, flapping his dark outstretched wings, he flew to the top of Tolcarne, uttering the words Bucca, Bucca, Bucca! 

The summit of Tocarne, Newlyn

Article first published in Meyn Mamvro Vol, 2 No. 5. © Alex Langstone

With thanks to Jane Cox, Gemma Gary and Rupert White.

New Release: The Liminal Shore

My latest book, The Liminal Shore: Witchcraft, Mystery and Folklore of the Essex Coast is now available to buy on the publishers website: www.troybooks.co.uk/the-liminal-shore

The Liminal Shore is a brand-new work, seeking the spookiness of the isolated salt marsh and the hidden lore of the urban shore.  Detailing and cataloguing some of the captivating cultural legends, myths, and folklore from the fascinating coastline of Essex and its eerie and brooding borderland. The author explores many remarkable old folk-narratives and traditional tales of marsh-wizardry, cunning magic, and sea-witchery, alongside some of the region’s most enigmatic spine-chilling ghost-lore. The peculiar calendar-customs and eccentric festivals are also investigated, bringing to life many of the old and often forgotten rituals of this interesting and enchanted coast. Discover such characters as Hoppin’ Tom, Mother Redcap, Cunning Murrell, Rollicking Bill and Jop Summers, who among many others form part of a rich and diverse folkloric history of this deliciously atmospheric, strange, and often unexpected coastline.

The book features illustrations by Paul Atlas-Saunders, and a foreword by David Southwell.

Special Edition

Standard Hardback

 

                               

"Highly recommended - a very good and informative read"  Nigel G Pearson

“This book will be read in the decades to come, still delivering stabs of wonder and delight” 

David Southwell, @HooklandGuide

Lien Gwerin 6 now on general release

The sixth annual edition of the Cornish Folklore periodical is now available. Published every February, each issue contains a wealth of original research, recorded lore and traditional folk narratives from across Cornwall. The journal regularly features some of the leading writers and academics specialising in Cornish folklore and culture, alongside classic reprints from the heyday of folklore collecting. Lien Gwerin aims to showcase the best in folklore, social history, myth, legend and culture from across the the rugged peninsula. 

A5 148 x 210 mm, perfect bound, 110 pages, fully illustrated throughout. 

Contents

The Lark in the Morning by Merv Davey

Bizarre Beasts of Cornwall by Alex Langstone

T.F.G Dexter: Cornish Pagan by Rupert White

St Keyne’s Well by Robert Charles Hope  

Gwithti an Pystri: A Cabinet of Folklore and Magic, reviewed by Alex Langstone

Industrial Drolls: The Sub-Genre of the ‘Cousin-Jack Story’ in Cornish Folklore by Alan M. Kent

Rambles and Ruminations around the inner life of  the Fogous of Cornwall by Steve Patterson

The Stone Men of St Cleer by George Basil Barham

Donald R. Rawe and the ‘Night on Roughtor’ by Karen F. Pierce

Review: The Cornish Folklore Collection. Vol. 1

The St Allen Piskies by Alex Langstone

PLUS original artwork by Paul Atlas-Saunders, Tony Shiels and Harry Maddox

ORDER HERE

Enquiring Eye 6

The latest edition of The Enquiring Eye is now available, with many interesting articles, including a great overview of  ghost hunter and folklore collector James Wentworth Day by Steve Patterson, a close look at the Bardic chair of Gorsedh Kernow by Alan Kent and my own contribution The Salt Marsh Devil of Old Essex, which is based on an excerpt from my brand new work - The Liminal Shore: Witchcraft, Mystery and Folklore of the Essex Coast. 

You can get a copy of the Enquiring Eye, issue 6 here

You can order a copy of The Liminal Shore here 

Grampound and District Folklore

 

Folk Custom and Culture in Creed Parish

Alex Langstone

 

Situated in the Fal Valley, in the heart of Mid-Cornwall, you will find the village of Grampound. The name is Norman-French, and means ‘great bridge’, and was recorded in Cornish as Ponsmur, as far back as 1308.[1] The village has several old traditions and some interesting, recorded folklore.

In early January each year, the Grampound Wassail once took place. Visiting the hostelries and homes of the settlement, this wassail was of the ‘visit’ persuasion, and was probably similar to the Bodmin wassail, which is still a living tradition. This kind of wassail visits homes and hostelries, and in Grampound, they would have carried their wooden wassail bowl, collecting money and beer, whilst entertaining the villagers with the Grampound wassail song. The custom died out in 1933, when the bowl fell to pieces. The traditional song was recorded by Dr Stevens of Perranporth in 1933,[2] and can be viewed online.[3]

The legend of the market cross features the 15^th century octagonal standing cross, which is sited in the centre of Grampound, in front of the nineteenth century rebuild of St Naunter’s chapel.  The monolithic monument is believed to stand in its original position and its name and location indicate that it acted as a focus for market trading and other meetings. There was previously a 14^th century chapel of ease on this site, built to help accommodate the growing settlement around the large parish. Therefore, it is more likely that this cross was originally an ecclesiastical monument linked to the old chapel. There is a local tradition that if you run around the cross nine times, in an anti-clockwise direction, you will summon the devil. The cross was described in the 1920s as “no more like a Christian cross than chalk from cheese. The discerning reader will recognise that it is a fertility symbol, phallic in origin, and in purport comparable with the hermae of the Greek markets”[4]

St Crida’s parish church lies to the south of Grampound, in the hamlet of Creed which is nestled in a green valley, close to the banks of the Fal. The legend of St Crida states that she was the daughter of King Mark, and she founded the religious settlement, where the church now stands, for herself and her followers during the 6^th century. A spring that flows at nearby Manheir is thought to be the place where Crida’s holy well was once sited. There is still a spring marked on the OS map close to Manheirs Farm, which may allude to this statement; and a village tale tells of Crida’s nuns, who would stop at the stream that crosses the track close to the church, and there would confer blessings and invoke prayer.  You can still hear the running water from this sacred brook, which flows unseen, beneath the road, as it makes its way to merge into the River Fal in the valley below.

The name of the farm is probably a corruption of the old Cornish language word managhes, which translates as nun,[5] commemorating the sacred settlement that Crida founded in around 520 AD.

The church was largely rebuilt in the 15^th century, and during this time a guild of St Mary Magdalene was established at the site, with an altar dedicated to her cult.  However, the church is thought to have its origins with the arrival of Crida in the 6^th century. In the north door there is a small hatch known as the devil’s hatch, which was customarily opened during Christenings to allow evil spirits to escape the building to the north.[6]

The mile long lane between Grampound village and St Crida’s church, which undulates across the wooded hillside is undoubtedly an ancient route and has been used for centuries as a church path, bringing the dead to be buried in consecrated ground. There is an old stone coffin rest sited roughly midway along the side of the lane, which gave respite for the teams of coffin bearers on their journey.  

Whitsuntide was once a grand affair in the parish, where a Whit Tuesday processional march was enacted to St Crida’s church and back to the Dolphin public house, where beer and black milk was consumed.  There was also a teetotaller march in afternoon, with a tea treat in the field opposite the town hall. The main event was held in the evening, where the Grampound furry dance was held along the main street. Cecil Sharpe collected some details of the Grampound furry during his visit in 1913, where it was described as a similar dance to Helston’s more famous counterpart. However, one or two differences were explained, where couples held hands crossed in front of them as they danced forward, and how the procession would stop every so often so that the dancers could reform in a ring, going first clockwise then anticlockwise around in a circle. At the same time, other dancers would perform a six-hand reel inside the circle, and every so often the band would assemble to perform within the dancers.[7]

          

  

[1] Cornish Place-Names and Language by Craig Weatherhill, p 114

[2] Grampound and Creed: A Guide to the Churches by Mary Oliver (privately published church guide).

[3] cornishfolkloretales.blogspot.com/2021/04/grampound-wassail-song.html

[4] Pagan Origins of Fairs by T. F. G. Dexter. New Knowledge Press, Perranporth, 1930

[5] Grampound and Creed: A Guide to the Churches by Mary Oliver (privately published church guide).

[6] Ibid

[7] http://www.an-daras.com/cornish-customs/Clay_Country_Customs.pdf

Article first published in Meyn Mamvro. © Alex Langstone

The Liminal Shore - promotional video

New Title: The Liminal Shore

My latest book, The Liminal Shore: Witchcraft, Mystery and Folklore of the Essex Coast  is now available for pre order on the publishers website: www.troybooks.co.uk/the-liminal-shore

The Liminal Shore is a brand-new work, seeking the spookiness of the isolated salt marsh and the hidden lore of the urban shore.  Detailing and cataloguing some of the captivating cultural legends, myths, and folklore from the fascinating coastline of Essex and its eerie and brooding borderland. The author explores many remarkable old folk-narratives and traditional tales of marsh-wizardry, cunning magic, and sea-witchery, alongside some of the region’s most enigmatic spine-chilling ghost-lore. The peculiar calendar-customs and eccentric festivals are also investigated, bringing to life many of the old and often forgotten rituals of this interesting and enchanted coast. Discover such characters as Hoppin’ Tom, Mother Redcap, Cunning Murrell, Rollicking Bill and Jop Summers, who among many others form part of a rich and diverse folkloric history of this deliciously atmospheric, strange, and often unexpected coastline.

The three hardback editions (two of which are very limited print runs) are shown below, and are available to pre order on Troy Books website now. The paperback edition (above) will be to follow.

The book features illustrations by Paul Atlas-Saunders, and a foreword by David Southwell.

“This book will be read in the decades to come, still delivering stabs of wonder and delight”

David Southwell

@HooklandGuide

Porthtowan Folklore

 The Dark Mysteries and Folklore of Porthtowan

Alex Langstone

Lying on the dramatic north coast, midway between St Ives and Newquay, the coastal village of Porthtowan nestles amongst one of Cornwall’s most iconic and historic mining landscapes, now part of the UNESCO world heritage site. Perhaps less well known is the hidden history and folklore of the area, where ghosts, legends and dark mysteries abound. Robert Hunt, the eminent collector of Cornish folktales and narrative had this to say about Porthtowan Beach:

The Voice from the Sea

A fisherman or a pilot was walking one night on the sands at Porth-Towan, when all was still save the monotonous fall of the light waves upon the sand. He distinctly heard a voice from the sea exclaiming,— “The hour is come, but not the man.” This was repeated three times when a black figure, like that of a man, appeared on the top of the hill. It paused for a moment, then rushed impetuously down the steep incline, over the sands, and was lost in the sea. (1)  

This paragraph is fascinating, and from the description it is easy to stand on the beach today and visualise the order of ghostly events. Having lived in Porthtowan and stood by the tide line after dark many times, it is clear that the fisherman or pilot was walking along the beach heading towards the east cliff. For this dramatic cliff rises steeply from the cove and has a distinct and steep pathway which adjoins the sand at its base. It is amazingly easy to imagine this dark figure standing on the clifftop, briefly silhouetted against the night sky, then heading down the precarious path and onto the sandy beach, before running into the pounding waves. 

At some point in time, an extra piece of the tale has been added, possibly through a village droll teller, where the dark figure heads into the waves towards a ghost-ship, which mysteriously appears from a sea-mist on the ocean’s horizon. Many ships have been wrecked nearby and again, Robert Hunt recorded that where a ship was wrecked the souls of the drowned sailors will haunt the shore and call out to the dead. (2)  

As the tide recedes, other adjacent coves become accessible, and Lushington is a rocky cove immediately to the west of the main beach, guarded by the famous Tobban Horse rock. This beach always seems to have a cold feel about it, even on warm sunny days, and many folk wont hang around here for too long. 

It was on the clifftop above, at RAF Portreath where some of the deadliest chemical weaponry was developed during the 1950s in a secret government installation known as Nancekuke Base. The facility closed in 1980, and many of the buildings and some equipment were buried on the site.(3)  However, rumours quickly spread that the remaining chemicals were disposed of by pumping them into the sea through the vast network of old mine shafts on Nancekuke common. Today it is a military radar station, and during the mid-1980s many of the radar technicians witnessed a man dressed in a pilot’s uniform walk through a closed hangar door. It is believed that he is the restless spirit of a 2nd world war pilot who crashed nearby. (4)

Wheal Coates, on the coast between Porthtowan and St Agnes.
Ghost lights have been reported here. Watercolour by Paul Atlas-Saunders

 

Strange eerie balls of light can sometimes be seen on the clifftops amongst the ruins of the mines. Mainly seeming to manifest during the Autumn, these ghost-lights have been described as materialising around a metre from the ground,  and issue a strange ethereal glow, which lights up the clifftop for a few seconds, before suddenly vanishing. (5)

Another piece of folklore can be found at the other side of the village at Mile Hill. This tale concerns a fearsome fire-breathing dragon, who once made its lair up on the hilltop, between Chapel Hill and Nancekuke Common. The dragon regularly stalked the area seeking food of sheep and cattle, terrifying the community, and fiercely marking its territory. However, on one particular night on the eve of May and close to midnight, a ghostly black and white spotted dog who haunted the nearby lanes and coombes appeared. He was on the hunt for the dragon and soon found it eating one of the local farmer’s sheep. He squared up to the dragon and let out a long low growl. The dragon started to move in readiness to strike the dog, but the ghost dog sank its teeth into the dragons tail, ripping the tip clean off. The monster let out a fiery roar and the dog chased it towards the cliffs and the dragon was never seen again. The black and white ghost dog is still sometimes seen in the area. Appearing after dark, he stalks the narrow lanes around Porthtowan, and in particular on the old liminal festive nights of Halloween, Candlemas, May Eve, Midsummer, Midwinter and Lammas. (6)

Notes

[1] Popular Romances of the West of England by Robert Hunt

[2] Ibid

[3] https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/2000/jan/18/nancekuke-base

[4] Haunted Places of Cornwall by Sheila Bird, p 59

[5] Myths and Legends of Cornwall by Craig Weatherhill and Paul Devereux, p 61

[6] Ghosts of Cornwall by Peter Underwood, pp 68, 69

This piece was first published as part of my regular Cornish Folklore column in Meyn Mamvro, Vol 2 No. 3

© Alex Langstone

Some Cornish Harvest Traditions

Last sheaf is cut, Rillaton.

 Cornish Harvest Traditions

Alex Langstone

The old Cornish harvest festival of Guldize was, and still is celebrated across Cornwall with “Crying the Neck” ceremonies and communal feasts, music and dance. Most are held by the many local branches of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, and were revived in 1928, though evidence shows that this tradition is far older, dating back to the eighteenth century and maybe to the distant past. Each year a different farm would be chosen and after the grain harvest was complete, the ceremony would be held in the last field that was harvested, where a small amount of corn would be left standing, as it was believed that the spirit of the crop would reside in these last stalks.  The last standing grain would then be cut with a scythe, tied together and was held aloft to the east, south and west with the cry “I have’n! I have’n! I have’n!”, to which the assembly responds “What ‘ave ee? What ‘ave ee? What ‘ave ee?” and the cutter replies “A Neck! A Neck! A Neck!” and then everybody shouts “Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”  

The ceremony is concluded by prayers from the local clergy.  The neck was then paraded to the local church or chapel, often accompanied by the local silver band, where a harvest service was taken. Then all would attend a harvest supper, where food was shared and stories told, harvest songs were sung and much dancing took place.                                                                                                                                                           

Rillaton harvest roundel, dated to 1599. Illustration: Paul Atlas-Saunders

Around the edge of Bodmin Moor, this tradition appears to have a much older pedigree. On the ceiling of an old 16th century cottage at Rillaton is a plaster roundel depicting a sheaf of wheat all garlanded ready for the ceremony, along with farm tools and surrounded by a circle made from wheat ears. The motif was carved in situ in 1599, when the house was built and the building was originally the Dower House for the Manor of Rillaton, which was one of the original seventeen manors belonging to the Earldom of Cornwall. This unique piece of craftsmanship has been authenticated by English Heritage and is a real testament to the history and folklore of Crying the Neck in this area of Cornwall.   The annual Rillaton ‘Cry’ is still held each year in the traditional manner, pretty much unchanged for centuries, as the old plaster roundel will attest. 

The Rillaton Neck

The ‘Neck’ ceremony at nearby St Cleer once included placing a witch’s hat and broom on the fire as a charm to keep evil at bay.  The Neck was often called The Craw or The Crow in some parts of mid and east Cornwall and the following ‘Craw sheaf ceremony’ was recorded at St Wenn in the 1930s by Stanley Opie – 

The following ceremony is remembered at the putting in of the craw or crow sheaf, in the building of the rick. This would be well raised on poles (6 or 7 lengthways with cross poles) laid across the tops of the stone ‘keps and posses’ (caps and posts). The ‘Mow stead’, or rick, was built up sheaf by sheaf and when it came to the putting in of the top corner sheaf, the following verse would be proclaimed so that it could be heard almost all over the parish ‘The Crow sheaf is in, ‘tis time to begin, to drink strong beer, and we’ve got it ‘ere.’ while one of them would lift the beer jar.

On the eastern side of Bodmin Moor at North Hill during the 1930s, Goldhys was celebrated with a broom dance to the tune of ‘So Early in the Morning’. This was recorded in Old Cornwall magazine in 1931, where the writer, E. Thompson says: 

“…I must not forget to mention the dance over the Broomstick. This is most interesting especially if someone is present with a concertina. The Dance, I think it is to the tune of So Early in The Morning. It’s fine when you hear the heavy boots beating a tattoo on the stone floors, as the dancers first lift one leg then the other, to pass the broomstick from hand to hand, as if they were weaving. What a wonderful time too. As the dance proceeds, the musician plays faster and faster and the dancers have to dance faster. It is a marvel how these men, some big and well built, can jump so nimbly as they do in this dance.”

Harvest at Tredethy, North Cornwall

Originally published in my regular folklore column for Meyn Mamvro

© Alex Langstone

The Museum of Magic & Folklore, Falmouth

 

a review by Alex Langstone

I recently took time to visit a brand new pop up exhibition. Titled the Museum of Magic and Folklore, this latest project by folklorist and antiquarian Steve Patterson can be found deep within the old vaults of Falmouth's Cornish Bank in Church Street. 

As you enter this mysterious subterranean world, you are greeted with images and idols of Cornish folklore: Crying the Neck, Midsummer fires, Penglaz, Kasek Nos, Helston Furry and Padstow Obby Oss all vie for your attention, as they creep and sidle up to you. 

However, as you become accustomed to the rich and thick atmospheres of this folkloric world of wonder, an even more unusual item draws you inwards. For here sits Tim Shaw's fascinating and unexpected sculpture of The Obby Oss in front of the Crucifixion. Inspired by the artist's  observation in 2011, which saw the Oss dancing before the high altar in St Petroc's parish church. This deeply inspired Shaw, and led to the creation of this strange and somewhat unusual bronze sculpture of the iconic Padstow Oss.

     

As you enter the main vault, the lighting changes and a deliciously eerie ambient soundtrack entices you to enter into a world of sea monsters, witches and magic. Here is a world of mystery and enchantment, illustrated with artefacts from practitioners of witchery old and new, including Cecil Williamson's Witch's Cradle, many items from the art of the sea witch, a tableau of the sorcerers lair and many other artefacts of Cornish and west-country traditional practice.

As you leave the museum, you may notice a cabinet of pisky lore and magic. Piskies are the Cornish branch of the faery tribe of the Isle of Britain. Containing charms and idols of the Cornish little folk, including a four leaved clover, a hag stone charm and brass images of Joan the Wad and Jack O Lantern.

It is difficult not to compare this small and intimate collection with the larger and established Museum of Witchcraft & Magic in Boscastle. But this would be unfair and unjust. This collection, under the streets of the bustling maritime port of Falmouth, is an intimate glimpse into the world of folklore and it feels like it may have grown from the sea and the soil that surrounds it's underground lair.

These vaults below the old Cornish Bank lie close to the waterfront, and contain a mysterious tunnel. What a perfect space to house these esoteric and folkloric items of magic and sorcery. This collection is an interesting glimpse into the world of enchantment, and one I would highly recommend.

The pop up exhibition runs until 8th September, please check Steve's website for all the details here:

www.stevepattersonantiquarian.com or click the images below

For more information about the curator of this museum, Steve Patterson, see the ArtCornwall interview here by Rupert White

© Alex Langstone

The Black Dog of Tregrehan

 An old tale, re-imagined by Alex Langstone.

Tregrehan Mills, 1779.

It was a clear moonlit night in the narrow lanes at Tregrehan Mills, and a clandestine group of men were out poaching. Close to midnight they had gathered at an isolated trackway on the edge of the hamlet, not far from the boundary of the large estate owned by Lord Carlyon. Most of the men had cut across the fields from St Blazey, Boscoppa and Par and now gathered in the shadows of the ancient hedge. The old lane was brightly lit by the moon, and all was quiet.               

One of the lads, a mere boy, was told to keep guard by the granite hedge, whilst the older men quickly dispersed in the neighbouring fields, looking for deer tracks under the soft silver light of the full moon. Sam was on the lookout for any intruders, and he had been instructed to raise the alarm if any strangers appeared in the vicinity. Though nervous, he was a seasoned lookout, and had been on many night-time errands before, be they poaching at Tregrehan or smuggling at Par. If it wasn’t for these activities, Sam knew they would probably be starving, so it was all part of his regular routine.

Artwork copyright Paul Atlas-Saunders

Shortly after, Sam thought he heard a horse approaching, and he drew himself closer to the dark shadows cast by the tall hedge. He listened again, but the clattering sound had ceased. An owl hooted from the tree tops and another responded, their eerie avian conversation seemed to hang on the night air, in this ancient Cornish lane.

Sam’s senses suddenly heightened, as again he heard the clatter of a horse approaching. This time he raised the alarm, as they could ill afford to be caught trespassing, let alone poaching. As his companions drew close to the shadows of the hedge, the sound grew louder., and the noisy clatter of hooves became much more distinct. They were all intrigued to see who was riding out so noisily on this fine moonlit night. However, a dire feeling of dread came over them all, as a very strange apparition manifested before them. Instead of a horse, there appeared a huge furry black beast, which looked like a large dog or small bear. 

As the creature passed by the group, they all witnessed the wild monster with his demonic fiery eyes and large teeth, which struck terror into their hearts. What was this uncanny beast? Furthermore, the strange creature walked straight through a wooden gate, without any obstruction, as if it were a ghostly apparition or maybe a demon straight from hell.

Beyond the sturdy wooden gate, the strange black dog trotted off into the fields beyond. The men watched its monstrous spectral illuminated form for several minutes, and they continued to hear the strange nightmarish clattering of the ghost dog’s hoof-like paws, which gradually seemed to fade into the disturbing shadows of the trees on the far side of the pasture. 

The poachers decided to call it a night, and as they dispersed into smaller groups to head for their homes, the conversation was of confusion and fear, as they tried to understand what they had all witnessed in the lush fields and ancient woodlands of Tregrehan Mills on that fateful and haunted moonlit night.

Artwork copyright Paul Atlas-Saunders

Please see here for source material

This piece was first published in Lien Gwerin no. 2

© Alex Langstone

St Morwenna and Reverend Hawker

"...fair as the sea...."

 

St Morwenna and Reverend Hawker

Alex Langstone

July 8th is the feast of Morwenna, patron saint of the most northerly parish in Cornwall. Morwenstow  lies six miles north of Bude and close to the source of the River Tamar. The story of Morwenna is, like so many of the Celtic saints, one of pilgrimage and the sacredness of place. Morwenna was born during the early part of the 6th century in South Wales. She is listed as one of the many children of Brychan, which would mean that she came from Brecon.   

Holy well of St Morwenna

Her name is thought to be cognate with Welsh morwyn, meaning “maiden”, and poetically as “fair as the sea”. Her legend states that she trained in Ireland before coming to North Cornwall where she built her cell on the cliff top. The story goes that Morwenna carried all the building stones needed to build her hermitage from the beach far below. One day she dropped one large stone on her way back up the cliff path. Where the stone fell a miraculous spring gushed forth. The holy well of Morwenna can still be seen half way up the cliff, perched precariously overlooking the wild and stormy ocean. Morwenna is said to have died here, and her body was buried close to where the Norman church now stands. No story of Morwenstow is complete, however, without the mention of folklorist, antiquarian, poet and eccentric, the Reverend Robert Stephen Hawker, composer of the Cornish anthem, “Song of the Western Men” and remembered for re-introducing the harvest festival into the church calendar in October 1843, where bread was made from the last wheat harvest for the communion, and food was given to the poor.

Hawker has become part of the folklore of Morwenstow, and indeed he completely championed St Morwenna as patron of his parish. Sabine Baring Gould once called to question the reality of the story of Morwenna, and Hawker replied:

“What! Morwenna not lie in the holy place at Morwenstow! Of that you will never persuade me, -- no, never. I know that she lies there. I have seen her, and she has told me as much; and at her feet ere long I hope to lay my old bones.” 

St Morwenna's church, Morwenstow

Hawker arrived in Morwenstow in 1834 and spent the rest of his life in the parish. He earned a compassionate but eccentric reputation and he regularly attended ship wrecks at the nearby coast, where he helped the unfortunate sailors and buried the dead in the churchyard. The figurehead of the ship Caledonia, which foundered in September 1842, marks the grave in Morwenstow churchyard of five of the nine-man crew. There are two landmarks that are particularly associated with Hawker. He built a small hut on the cliff top from driftwood and wood from the wrecks of the Phoenix in January 1843 and the Alonzo in October of the same year. Here, in his look-out retreat, he would smoke opium, write poetry and entertain guests. He also built the beautiful and unusual vicarage behind the church with chimneys modelled on the towers of the churches in his life: Tamerton, where he had been curate; Morwenstow and Welcombe; plus, that of Magdalen College, Oxford. The old kitchen chimney is a replica of Hawker’s mother’s tomb. He often conducted his church services in an unorthodox way, walking among the parishioners, muttering the liturgy and allowing his many pet cats entry to the church to attend services, though he excommunicated one of them for catching a mouse on a Sunday. He had a strong sense of the supernatural, and frequently referred to his belief in demons, many of whom reputedly haunted Hawker. One famous account records a demon, who leapt out of the sea at Marsland Mouth, at twilight during a wild storm. Hawker put his horse to a wild gallop to escape from his demonic pursuer.  Interestingly the stream that drains across this remote beach, called Marsland Water marks the far northern Cornish border and a small wooden sign stands proudly by the stream marking the Duchy’s most northerly point. Another occasion at Marsland Mill, Hawker’s path was crossed by a small brown demon who appeared from under the gorse. Hawker pursued the demon, but it quickly slipped out of sight and into the river. And he described the event as “a nameless and indescribable sensation”. 

Rev. Hawker's vicarage

He also used to communicate with St Morwenna, and regularly saw her inside the church, around the graveyard and on the cliff-top at Morwenstow. Hawker also had a vision of an angel in the church, by the rood screen door, whilst conducting a baptism. After some delay, Hawker announced that the angel had communicated that he was now the guardian angel of the child he had just baptised. 

 

Hawker's hut on the cliffs at Morwenstow

                                           

In his younger days, Hawker is said to have dressed as a mermaid and sat on the rocks at Bude, he continued this practice until a local man threatened to go out and shoot the mermaid dead.

With all these tales in mind, it is easy to walk the ancient pathways around Morwenstow church and still feel the mighty presence of the Reverend Robert Stephen Hawker, and I for one am glad, as he was an eccentric visionary and a man of the people he served, who was always willing to help the poor and needy of the parish and beyond.

 Reverend Robert Stephen Hawker

Article first published in Meyn Mamvro no. 96, Summer/Autumn 2018, as part of my regular Cornish Folklore column

© Alex Langstone