Alex Langstone
Somewhere between the eldritch realm of Forteana and the conceptual ideas of folk horror lies a peculiar domain of extreme strangeness which has richly inspired the research surrounding this article. The bizarre beasts of Cornwall is a world of weird, where if you expect the unusual and can momentarily leave the world of reason behind, will reveal a rich and wondrous seam of folklore, navigating across a period of three hundred years. From the 1720s in Ladock, through the Victorian era and throughout the twentieth century; and finally bringing us up to date with odd tales still being reported in 2021.
Of course, the Cornish folklore archive is full of sightings of sea serpents, mermaids, and dragons, but there are denizens of other odd creatures to be found, if you seek at the edge.
The most famous of all the modern strange beasts must be the Beast of Bodmin. As I write this, local newspaper The Cornish Guardian has the headline “Big Cat Encounter”, which goes on to describe the most recent of confrontation with the alien big cat of Bodmin Moor, where a creature the size of a giant lurcher was seen on the cycle path known as Walter’s trail on the Lanhydrock estate, near Bodmin. This trail is densely wooded, and deer are often seen in the area. The big cat was described as dark charcoal grey, with a tail around 60 centimetres long and bushy fur. This means the cat would have stood around 76 centimetres in height. The witness described the incident as odd and surreal but felt that the big cat was out hunting deer, as he had seen several just prior to the cat’s appearance.
There have been around sixty sightings of the Bodmin Beast recorded in the area since 1983, and a spate of recent sightings, such as the one reported above, keeps the tale alive. ‘The phantom cat’ is frequently thought to be a Lynx, Leopard or Panther, and in 1995 a skull was found by the River Fowey, measuring about 10 cm long by 18 cm wide. Although lacking its lower jaw, it possessed two sharp, prominent teeth that suggested that it might have been a leopard. The story hit the national press at about the same time of the official denial of alien big cat evidence on Bodmin Moor. The skull was sent to the Natural History Museum in London for verification. They determined that it was a genuine skull from a young male leopard, but also found that the cat had not died in Britain and that the skull had been imported as part of a leopard-skin rug.
The legend of the Beast of Bodmin is still commemorated today within the annual folk-tradition of Bodmin Riding. This ancient patronal feast of the old trade guilds was still held each July, until recently.
Bodmin continues to promote the tales of the Beast, and there is a recent town centre mural (see below) depicting the folkloric creature, painted by local artist Harry Maddox, in all his splendour.
There is a far stranger account of a mysterious beast that was once sighted in the village of St Mawgan, close to Newquay airport. In the lush and beautiful Vale of Lanherne, where the River Menalhyl (Cornish language: melyn [mill] and heyl [estuary]) persists in her eternal flow towards the Celtic Sea. Here lies a bizarre modern mystery. It is one of those persistent elements from the past that crop up in the local press from time to time. One of those weird things that seem to creep up from the tenacity of a shared cultural memory. The case of the Woodwose of St Mawgan was first recorded by Cryptozoology researcher Deborah Hatswell, and subsequently listed on her British Wildman Sightings map. The story was later picked up by Cornwall Live on 12th September 2020. The tale is told by an anonymous estate worker who nervously recounts his memories of the event, which took place just over twenty years ago somewhere in the Vale of Lanherne. This would place the incident sometime during the late 1990s, and it is told something like this:
Bigfoot Spotted in St Mawgan Woods!
From the description he gives of the area, it is probable that it was somewhere on the Carnanton Estate, most likely at Carnanton Woods. The eerie tale continues, where the witness describes how his boss duly picked him up, and how he eventually gained enough courage to ask him about the extraordinary sighting. His boss then casually replied “Oh yes, we call them Woodwose here, best to just leave them be”.
Curiously, at the south-eastern end of the Vale of Lanherne in the parish church at St Columb Major there are bench ends featuring strange creatures and grotesque heads (above), and close by at St Eval, the church has several green man designs placed on some of the roof bosses. Maybe these old carvings were deliberately positioned nearby to remind us of a lost localised ancient folk narrative of something wild and mysterious; the remnants of which, may still survive today in the nearby woods.
Taken at face value, this report seems ludicrous. But is it that dissimilar to comparable, more historic tales from the canon of Cornish folklore? It is not the only folk narrative that describes mysterious creatures in St Magwan. In 1827 the Royal Cornwall Gazette ran a report about a group of gruesome looking mermaids that had been observed on the rocks and in the caves at Mawgan Porth. These reports came from various witnesses across several days. Here is the full report:
Mermaids on the Coast of Cornwall - The following is an extract of a letter received on Sunday 1st July from our Correspondent at St. Columb’: "Within these last two or three days there have been several mermaids seen on the rocks at Trenance, in the parish of Mawgan. I will state the particulars at length, as I have been enabled to collect them, and which are from undoubted authority, and you can make what extracts you think proper. One evening this week, a young man from the adjoining the beach at Mawgan Porth, had made an appointment to meet another person on the beach to catch sprats with him. He went out about ten o'clock at night and coming near a point which runs into the sea, he heard a screeching noise proceeding from a large cavern which is left by the tide at low water, but which has some deep pools in it, and communicates with the sea by another outlet. He thought it was the person he had appointed to meet, and called out to him, but his astonishment is not to be described when on going up he saw something in the shape of a human figure staring on him, with long hair hanging all around its body. He then ran away, thinking, as he went, that he had seen the devil. The next day, some men being on the cliffs near this place, saw three creatures of the same description. The following day five were seen. The persons who saw the last five describe them in this manner: The mermaids were about forty feet below the men (who stood on the cliff), and were lying on a rock, separated from the land some yards by deep water; two of them were large, about four feet and a half to five feet long, and these appeared to be sleeping on the rock; the other small ones were swimming about, and went off once to sea and then came back again. The men looked at them for more than an hour, and flung stones at them, but they would not move off. The large ones seemed to be lying on their faces, their upper parts were like those of human beings, and black or dark-coloured, with very long hair hanging around them; their lower parts were of a bluish colour, and terminating in a fin, like fish. The sea would sometimes wash over them, and then leave them dry again. Their movements seemed to be slow. The hair of these mermaids extended to a distance of nine or ten feet.”
These mermaids do not sound like the usual description of beautiful young maids with fish tails, but rather something more sinister. Interestingly, there were nine distinct sightings of these creatures over three days. However, the description of the ‘mermaids’ on the rocks would fit the descriptions of seals, and the appearance of wild long hair was more than likely seaweed. However, a fascinating report, and it is easy to imagine the tall tales that were subsequently circulated after a glass or two of strong ale, huddled around the blazing hearth in St Mawgan’s village pub, the Falcon Inn.
Moving a short distance further along the north coast, there is a curious tale that was once told about the ghost of a dog headed man at Harlyn. This was recorded by surrealist artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun, whilst on a trip to visit the owners of the historic Harlyn House (right) during the 1950s. Colquhoun was seeking the strange and unusual, and questioned Captain Millar and his family, who had been living in the house since 1946, about any resident ghosts. Amid the cosier tales of a spectral white cat who was reputed to haunt the gardens and that of a former maid who was occasionally seen on the stairs, came the gruesome description of the Dog Headed Man who is sometimes seen at daybreak, where he appears to guard the front avenue and main entrance of the house during the twilight hours before dawn. A tradesman once reported that he could not bear to work at Harlyn House anymore because each morning, upon his early arrival, he would be greeted by a hideous apparition which had the appearance of a dog/man hybrid. Interestingly, Harlyn House is also reported as being haunted by a spectral black dog, and this was recounted as residing in the house, probably as the guardian ghost of the Peter family, who had continuously lived in the house between the 1630s and 1856.
Incidentally, the tale of the dog headed man reminds me of one of the first and scariest folkloric narratives that I encountered as an 11-year-old child. Whilst watching the legendary, and now much talked about BBC Nationwide broadcast of 20th February 1976, archaeologist Dr Anne Ross was interviewed about the case of the Northumbrian Hexham Heads. It was on this programme that she revealed that she had been haunted by sinister visitations of werewolves at her home. She recalled one particular incident of being awoken from a deep sleep to see several werewolves leaving her bedroom and padding downstairs, leaping over the banister and congregating around the front door before exiting. Ross described one of the creatures:
“It was about six feet high, slightly stooping, and was black against the white door. It was half-animal and half-man. The upper part, I would have said, was a wolf, and the lower part was human... It was covered with a very dark fur."
Interestingly, like the Dog Man of Harlyn, these creatures appeared to congregate around entrances and exits of the buildings they seemed to inhabit.
Indeed, 1976 seems to have been a year of bizarre monster manifestations and we can’t leave the topic without mentioning two of the most notorious modern-day Cornish crypto-monsters; Morgawr and Owlman, and the man at the very epicentre of their mythology; surrealist magician Tony ‘Doc’ Shiels.
During the hot summer of ‘76 ‘Doc’ Shiels and friends appeared to upturn reality and conjure two of Falmouth’s most arcane spirits, the sea serpent Morgawr and the Owlman of Mawnan.
In the years since there have been sporadic sightings of both creatures, and I have reports and press cuttings from the Summer of 1995, where a spate of rumours suggested that both serpent and Owlman were once again materialising along the Falmouth coastline. Morgawr was witnessed at various locations, including the Helford Passage, Mawnan Church and Portscatho.
Around the same time the Black Panther of Rame was spotted at Antron Hill, between Long Downs and Mabe Burnthouse. The large black cat was seen in the headlights standing in the road and running along the hedge line, keeping up with the car, before leaping over a fence on the opposite side of the road, where it disappeared into the undergrowth.
The most recent sighting of Morgawr that I have in my archives is from Summer 2005, where a local man was out in a boat on the River Fal at Philleigh. He was just passing Smuggler’s Cottage when he saw what he thought was a seal’s head poking out of the water. He pointed it out to his companion, and they turned the boat towards it. Once they had got close, the head submerged, along with two serpentine humps, which he described as looking like black car tyres. He immediately thought of the Loch Ness Monster, and much later, after discussing the strange experience, he realised that he had witnessed Morgawr.
Meanwhile, whilst many were witnessing a mid-1990s resurgent Morgawr around the bay, Owlman seemed to make a brief return at Mawnan Woods. Apparently described by a marine-biology student from Chicago, who witnessed the surreal monster whilst holidaying in the area. The Owlman evidently spotted her whilst she was out walking, and she explained how the monster arose and floated towards her.
She described him as: “a vision from hell, with a ghastly face, a wide mouth, glowing eyes and pointed ears. It also had clawed wings and was covered with silvery-grey feathers. The creature also had large bird legs with huge black claws”
There are other, similar tales of strange and sinister birds in the Cornish folklore archive. Sometime during late May 1926, it was reported that two boys from Porthtowan witnessed a huge bird which was described as 6 foot 3 inches from tip of the one wing to the other and was three feet in length. It had a powerful pointed beak, six inches in length with large, webbed feet, striped with green and yellow, and a duck shaped body. The plumage was of cream colour, tinged with brown on the beak, and also on the upper wing coverts, and the tips of the wings were black. The report from the Cornish Echo, went on to recount the strange tale, stating that the two lads saw this striking bird flapping about on the top of a mine burrow. The youngest boy went to investigate and discovered that the bird was severely injured, and he thought it was dead. However, the bird sprang to life and attacked him. The older boy joined him and managing to defend himself with a stick, covered the bird with his coat, trying to subdue it, but the strange avian creature still managed to bite his hand. Many of the villagers came to view the bird, but none recognised the species. The feathered beast appeared to be in a very poor state of health, and due to rapid decay was soon buried.
Another interesting piece of Porthtowan 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 flew off into the sea, never to be seen again. The black and white ghost dog is still sometimes witnessed 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, seemingly making him a spectral guardian of the turning tides across the year.
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| Porthtowan Dog & Dragon by 'Doc' Shiels |
There is a curious and historic point of interest worthy of addition to this wonderful folktale. During the early 1970s, Tony ‘Doc’ Sheils’ family owned the Woodland restaurant at Mile Hill and ‘Doc’ persuaded his parents to rename the venue ‘The Dog & Dragon’. It wasn’t long before adverts and signage were sporting his wonderfully imaginative and graphic artwork of the folk narrative, enabling locals and visitors alike to marvel at the intricacies of Porthtowan’s very own otherworldly and spooky folktale.
Another demon-bird-hybrid appeared in the village of Ladock sometime during the early eighteenth century. The folklore was recorded by William Bottrell and is reproduced below:
A very large bird was spotted atop the tower of Ladock parish church. It was described as having coal black plumage, with fiery-red glowing eyes. None of the Ladock residents could recognise the bird and was seen perched on the tower for several nights in succession, where it remained for hours jumping from one pinnacle to another, and making an unnatural clamour, which was heard for many miles around. The local vicar of the time was the famous ghost-laying, exorcist and astrologer Parson Wood. William Wood was rector at Ladock between 1704 and 1749, a time when many Cornish clergy were involved in lavish exorcisms of demons and ghosts. Rev. Wood was a skilled exorcist, astrologer and occultist and he was kept busy keeping many undesirable entities at bay. He quickly set about dispelling this avian-demon, who he was sure had been sent by the witches of nearby St Enoder. Eventually Rev. Wood expelled the beast, sending him back to the St Enoder witches, who could often be seen flying on their ragwort stems during the time of the full moon or heading home after their midnight meetings in the shape of hares.
There are a few other Cornish strange beastie sightings that are worth mentioning before we close. Menacuddle Well (below) lies on the edge of St Austell in a lush green valley. The baptistery dates to the 14th century and the well’s waters have magical qualities as was reported in Hope’s Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England:
The virtues of these waters are very extraordinary, but the advantages to be derived from them are rather attributed to the sanctity of the fountain than to the natural excellence of its stream. Weak children have frequently been carried here to be bathed; ulcers have also been washed in its sacred water, and people in season of sickness have been recommended by the neighbouring matrons to drink of this salubrious fluid. In most of these cases, instances may be procured of benefits received from the application, but the prevailing opinion is that the advantages enjoyed result rather from some mystical virtue attributed to the waters for ages past, than from the natural qualities. Within the memory of persons now living, this well was a place of general resort for the young and thoughtless. On approaching the margin, each visitor, if he hoped for good luck through life, was expected to throw a crooked pin into the water, and it was presumed that the other pins which had been deposited there by former devotees might be seen rising from their beds, to meet it before it reached the bottom, and though many have gazed with eager expectation, no one has yet been permitted to witness this extraordinary phenomenon.
Modern folklore records an eerie out-of-place creature living near the well, and a few years ago when the well and gardens were being restored, it was spotted. Subsequently described as a large dark and mysterious monster, weirdly shaped, with an eerie and sinister face. The creature is believed to be living nearby in the dense thickets of this deep granite valley. A local resident described the creature as a large black animal which neither looked like a dog or a cat and went on to warn the volunteers to be careful clearing the trees as it had often been glimpsed prowling around at dusk.
There are many other locations where strange and uncanny creatures have been seen over the years. There have been reports of a strange jumping creature, reputed to haunt the coast near Falmouth, between Swanpool and Maenporth. Described as slightly larger than a dog, with cat's face, walking on its hind legs. The beast of Perrancoombe, which has been described equally as a red eyed creature seen in the woods at night, and as an odd-looking dog-like creature with a human face seen walking along the road after dark. Also, the Red Cat of Mevagissey, which was blamed for a spate of carcasses of several deer that appeared to have been partially eaten.
So, what are these creatures, and what to make of it all. Are they paranormal manifestations, escaped pets, or something else? The world of Cryptozoology may give some answers. Examples include mis-identification (Beast of Bodmin) and zooform phenomenon (Harlyn Dog Man).
Nevertheless, I believe that it is of significant value to bring these eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first century folkloric narratives together so we can compare and contrast the ‘paranormal contemporary legends’ with the older - and no less outlandish - established folklore. It is good to remember that legends are as powerful as any truth, and whilst some may find sightings of a Cornish Bigfoot completely untenable, the tale is now out there in the folkloric, sitting collectively with the other equally bizarre stories from across the centuries.
Further reading:
The Owlman and Others by Jonathan Downes
Monstrum: A Wizard’s Tale by Tony ‘Doc’ Shiels
Monstermind: The Magical Life and Art of Tony ‘Doc’ Shiels by Rupert White
The Living Stones by Ithell Colquhoun
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