Cornish mythology

Last updated

The Merry Maidens at St Buryan Merrymaidens0.jpg
The Merry Maidens at St Buryan
Celebration of St Piran's Day in Penzance Stpiraninpenwith.JPG
Celebration of St Piran's Day in Penzance

Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. It consists partly of folk traditions developed in Cornwall and partly of traditions developed by Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium, often shared with those of the Breton and Welsh peoples. Some of this contains remnants of the mythology of pre-Christian Britain.

Contents

The traditional folklore of Cornwall often consists of tales of giants, mermaids, Bucca, piskies or the 'pobel vean' (little folk.) These tales are still popular today, with some events hosting a 'droll teller' or storyteller, [1] [ page needed ] to share Cornish myths and legends. The myths and stories of Cornwall have found much publishing success, particularly in children's books. The fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer takes place in Cornwall. Many early British legends associate King Arthur with Cornwall, putting his birthplace at Tintagel, the court of King Mark of Cornwall, uncle of Tristan and husband of Iseult, the most famous Cornish lovers.

Overview

Cornwall shares its ancient cultural heritage with its 'Brythonic cousins' Brittany and Wales, as well as Ireland and parts of England such as neighbouring Devon. Many ancient tales of the Bards, whether the Arthurian Cycle, Tristan and Iseult, or the Mabinogion take place in the ancient kingdom of Cerniw between Greater and Lesser Britains with a foot on either side of the 'British Sea' Mor Brettanek/Mor Breizh.

Part of Cornish mythology is derived from tales of seafaring pirates and smugglers who thrived in and around Cornwall from the early modern period through to the 19th century. Cornish pirates exploited both their knowledge of the Cornish coast as well as its sheltered creeks and hidden anchorages. For many fishing villages, loot and contraband provided by pirates supported a strong and secretive underground economy in Cornwall. [2] [ page needed ]

Legendary creatures that appear in Cornish folklore include buccas, knockers, Giants, and Pixies. [3] Tales of these creatures are thought to have developed as supernatural explanations for the frequent and deadly cave-ins that occurred during 18th century Cornish tin mining, or else a creation of the oxygen-starved minds of exhausted miners who returned from the underground.

The knocker is said to be about two feet tall and grizzled, but not misshapen. They tend to live underground. Here they wear tiny versions of standard miner's garb and commit random mischief, such as stealing a miner's unattended tools and food. They were often cast a small offering of food – usually the crust of a pasty – to appease their malevolence.

Many landscape features, from the barren granite rock features on Bodmin Moor, to the dramatic cliff seascape, to the mystical form of St Michael's Mount are explained as the work of Giants and English tales such as the early eighteenth century Jack the Giant Killer may recall much older British folk traditions recorded elsewhere in medieval Welsh language manuscripts and closely related to the folk traditions of Dartmoor in neighbouring Devon.

There is a Cornish legend of the lost land of Lyonesse, supposedly lost to the sea in one night. It is claimed to represent the folk memory of the flooding of the Isles of Scilly and Mount's Bay near Penzance. [4] For example, the Cornish name of St Michael's Mount is Karrek Loos y'n Koos, literally, "the grey rock in the wood". The Breton legend of Ys is a similar concept.

Old Michaelmas Day falls on 11 October (10 October according to some sources). According to an old legend, blackberries should not be picked after this date. This is because, so British folklore goes, Satan was banished from Heaven on this day, fell into a blackberry bush and cursed the brambles as he fell into them. In Cornwall, a similar legend prevails, according to which the devil urinated on them. [5]

The midnight washerwomen

Les Lavandières or the Midnight Washerwomen are three old laundresses in Celtic mythology. In Wales and Cornwall, a passerby must avoid being seen by the washerwomen. If they do get seen, however, they are required to help wring out the sheets. If they twist the sheets in the same direction as the washerwomen, the individual's arms will be wrenched from their sockets and they will get pulled into the wet sheets and killed instantly. If, however, they twist in the opposite direction, the washerwomen are required to grant the person three wishes.

Weather lore

"Mist from the hill / Brings water for the mill; / Mist from the sea / Brings fine weather for me." [6] "Lundy plain, Sign of rain" (current in north Cornwall where Lundy Island is normally visible).

Enys Tregarthen

Nellie Sloggett of Padstow devoted much of her attention to Cornish folklore and legend. She collected and recorded many stories about the Piskey folk, fairies of Cornish myth and legend. She published most of her works in this category under her better-known pen-name of Enys Tregarthen. [7]

North Cornwall

Dozmary Pool is identified by some people with the lake in which, according to Arthurian legend, Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur to The Lady of the Lake. [8] :11 Another legend relating to the pool concerns Jan Tregeagle.

The Beast of Bodmin has been reported many times but never identified with certainty.

The Doom Bar at the mouth of the River Camel was, according to legend, created by the Mermaid of Padstow as a dying curse, after being shot by a sailor.

Penwith

16th century Zennor mermaid bench end Zennor Mermaid Chair.JPG
16th century Zennor mermaid bench end
The lantern Parade on Tom Bawcock's Eve Tombawcockseve.jpg
The lantern Parade on Tom Bawcock's Eve

Within the bounds of Gulval parish lies the disused Ding Dong mine, reputedly one of the oldest in Cornwall. Popular local legend claims that Joseph of Arimathea, a tin trader, visited the mine and brought a young Jesus to address the miners, although there is no evidence to support this. [9] [ page needed ]

At Zennor, there is a legend of the Mermaid of Zennor and at Mousehole, Tom Bawcock is a legendary fisherman from the village who, according to legend, risked his life to go out and fish and managed to come back with enough fish to feed the village until the storm was over. All the fish was put into a big pie, and the pie called "Stargazy pie".

The Merry Maidens stone circle at St Buryan: the local myth about the creation of the stones suggests that nineteen maidens were turned into stone as punishment for dancing on a Sunday. (Dans Maen translates as Stone Dance.) The Pipers, two megaliths some distance north-east of the circle, are said to be the petrified remains of the musicians who played for the dancers. A more detailed story explains why the Pipers are so far from the Maidens – apparently the two pipers heard the church clock in St Buryan strike midnight, realised they were breaking the sabbath, and started to run up the hill away from the maidens who carried on dancing without accompaniment. These petrification legends are often associated with stone circles, and is reflected in the folk names of some of the nearby sites, for example, the Tregeseal Dancing Stones, the Nine Maidens of Boskednan, as well as the more distant Hurlers and The Pipers on Bodmin Moor.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pixie</span> Mythical creature of British folklore

A pixie is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name. However, the word 'pixie' also appears in Dorset, Somerset and to a lesser extent in Sussex, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack the Giant Killer</span> Cornish fairy tale and legend

"Jack the Giant Killer" is a Cornish fairy tale and legend about a young adult who slays a number of bad giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterised by violence, gore and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore, Breton mythology and Welsh Bardic lore. Some parallels to elements and incidents in Norse mythology have been detected in the tale, and the trappings of Jack's last adventure with the Giant Galigantus suggest parallels with French and Breton fairy tales such as Bluebeard. Jack's belt is similar to the belt in "The Valiant Little Tailor", and his magical sword, shoes, cap, and cloak are similar to those owned by Tom Thumb or those found in Welsh and Norse mythology.

Fairies, particularly those of Irish, English, Scottish and Welsh folklore, have been classified in a variety of ways. Classifications – which most often come from scholarly analysis, and may not always accurately reflect local traditions – typically focus on behavior or physical characteristics.

The redcap is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. He is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds and is known for soaking his cap in the blood of his victims. He is also known as Redcomb and Bloody Cap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blunderbore</span> Giant of Cornish folklore

Blunderbore is a giant of Cornish and English folklore. A number of folk and fairy tales include a giant named Blunderbore, most notably "Jack the Giant Killer". The stories usually associate him with the area of Penwith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spriggan</span> Legendary creature in Cornish faery lore

A spriggan is a legendary creature from Cornish folklore. Spriggans are particularly associated with West Penwith in Cornwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Cornwall</span>

The culture of Cornwall forms part of the culture of the United Kingdom, but has distinct customs, traditions and peculiarities. Cornwall has many strong local traditions. After many years of decline, Cornish culture has undergone a strong revival, and many groups exist to promote Cornwall's culture and language today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sennen Cove</span> Coastal village in Cornwall, England

Sennen Cove is a small coastal village in the parish of Sennen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the Penwith District Council, the population of this settlement was estimated at 180 persons in 2000. The South West Coast Path passes through Sennen Cove.

Morgens, morgans, or mari-morgans are Welsh and Breton water spirits that drown men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guise dancing</span>

Guise dancing is a form of community mumming practiced during the twelve days of Christmastide, that is, between Christmas Day and Twelfth Night in West Cornwall, England, UK. Today, guise dancing has been appropriated for feast days at other times of the year.

<i>Peter and the Piskies</i>

Peter and the Piskies: Cornish Folk and Fairy Tales is a 1958 anthology of 34 fairy tales from Cornwall that have been collected and retold by Ruth Manning-Sanders and illustrated by Raymond Briggs. It was the first in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black dog (folklore)</span> Mythical creature of British folklore

The black dog is a supernatural, spectral, or demonic hellhound originating from English folklore that has also been seen throughout Europe and the Americas. It is usually unnaturally large with glowing red or yellow eyes, is often connected with the Devil, and is sometimes an omen of death. It is sometimes associated with electrical storms, and also with crossroads, barrows, places of execution and ancient pathways.

Bucca is a male sea-spirit in Cornish folklore, a merman, that inhabited mines and coastal communities as a hobgoblin during storms. The mythological creature is a type of water spirit likely related to the Púca from Irish, the Pwca from Welsh folklore, and the female mari-morgans, a type of mermaid from Welsh and Breton mythology. Rev W. S. Lach-Szyrma, one 19th-century writer on Cornish antiquities, suggested the Bucca had originally been an ancient pagan deity of the sea such as Irish Nechtan or British Nodens, though his claims are mainly conjecture. Folklore however records votive food offerings made on the beach similar to those made to the subterranean Knockers and may represent some form of continuity with early or pre-Christian Brittonic belief practices.

William Henry Paynter (1901-1976) was a Cornish antiquary and folklorist who specialised in collecting witch-stories and folklore during the 1920s and 1930s - crucial years when witch beliefs were in decline in Cornwall. His folklore collecting preserved many stories of Cornish witchcraft and cunning folk that would otherwise have been lost.

The Montol Festival is an annual festival in Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, which has been held on 21 December each year since 2007. The festival is a revival or reinterpretation of many of the traditional Cornish midwinter customs & Christmas traditions formerly practiced in and around the Penzance area and common to much of Cornwall at one point. The festival spans several days, but the main events are held on the traditional date of the feast of St Thomas the Apostle, usually 21 December, which always coincides with the winter solstice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cormoran</span> Character of Cornish folklore

Cormoran is a giant associated with St. Michael's Mount in the folklore of Cornwall. Local tradition credits him with creating the island, in some versions with the aid of his wife Cormelian, and using it as a base to raid cattle from the mainland communities. Cormoran appears in the English fairy tale "Jack the Giant Killer" as the first giant slain by the hero, Jack, and in tales of "Tom the Tinkeard" as a giant too old to present a serious threat.

Betty Stogs was a Cornishwoman in a folktale. She lived on moorland near Towednack, Cornwall. She had a six-month-old baby but was lazy and dissipated. The whole town went looking for her child all through the night, but they came up with nothing. Betty was distraught and cried the whole night as she searched for her child. The neglected baby was cared for by the fairies, who returned it clean and laid upon a bed of moss. The tale is a traditional one of the area; a warning to mothers to look after their children properly, lest the pixies take them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mermaid of Zennor</span> Cornish folktale

The Mermaid of Zennor is a Cornish folk tale which originates in the village of Zennor. The legend tells the story of a mysterious woman who occasionally attended the parish church of Zennor; a young man followed her home one day, and neither were seen again. One Sunday, a mermaid appeared to a group of local sailors, asking that they raise their anchor to let her enter her home, and the villagers concluded that she was the same woman who had attended their church. The legend is associated with a carved bench-end in the church, which depicts a mermaid.

William Bottrell (1816–1881) was born at Rafta, St Levan in Cornwall on 7 March 1816. He contributed greatly to the preservation of Cornish mythology. Both he and Thomas Quiller Couch contributed folk stories of West Cornwall for Robert Hunt's Popular Romances of the West of England, published in 1865.

References

  1. O'Connor, Mike (2010). Cornish Folk Tales. Stroud: The History Press. ISBN   978-0-7524-5066-7. OCLC   865081421.
  2. Andrews, Robert; Brown, Jules; Humphreys, Rob; Lee, Phil; Reid, Donald; Whitfield, Paul (2006), The Rough Guide to Britain, Rough Guides, ISBN   978-1-84353-686-4
  3. Steves, Rick (2007), Rick Steves' England 2008, Avalon Travel, p.  253, ISBN   978-1-59880-097-5
  4. de Beer, Gavin (June 1960). "Iktin". The Geographical Journal. 126 (2): 160–167. Bibcode:1960GeogJ.126..160D. doi:10.2307/1793956. JSTOR   1793956.
  5. Taylor, Rob (7 October 2010). "Michaelmas Traditions". Black Country Bugle. Local World. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  6. Holloway, John, ed. (1987). The Oxford Book of Local Verses. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.  104. ISBN   0-19-214149-X. OCLC   463975437.
  7. "Introduction to Cornish Fairy Folk Tales". Celtic, Tolkien, and Arthurian Graphics, and Cornish Folklore. William Rowe. Archived from the original on 30 November 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  8. Tilley, Christopher (1995). "Rock as resources: landscapes and power" (PDF). Cornish Archaeology. 34: 5–57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  9. Matthews, John, ed. (1991). A Glastonbury Reader: Selections From the Myths, Legends and Stories of Ancient Avalon. London: Aquarian Press. ISBN   0-85030-999-9. OCLC   917210115.

Further reading