The Other Side of the Tamar: Addendum for the Comparison of Pixies from Devon and Cornwall, ML 7015 and ATU 124 Ronald M James January 2022 Figure 1. The title page of English Forests and Forest Tracks featured a lithograph of an idyllic wooded scene. Abstract: In March 2020, I published an article comparing the pixies of Devon and Cornwall, appearing in Folklore, the journal of the Folklore Society. Since that time, I found a relevant source, Ingram, Cooke, and Co., English Forests and Forest Trees, Historical, Legendary, and Descriptive (1853). It includes remarkably early references to Devonian pixies, enhancing the ability to understand the traditions of the two neighbors on either side of the Tamar River, which forms much of the boundary separating Cornwall and Devon. This source (featuring ML 7015 and ATU 124) allows for an augmentation of my original article, enhancing and supporting the conclusion that I reached, namely that the pixy traditions of Devon and the far west of Cornwall were not expressions of diffusion from one place to the other. 1 Text: In March 2020, I published an article comparing the pixies of Devon and Cornwall, appearing in Folklore, the journal of the Folklore Society.1 Since that time, I found a relevant source, Ingram, Cooke, and Co., English Forests and Forest Trees, Historical, Legendary, and Descriptive, which appeared in 1853.2 It includes remarkably early references to Devonian pixies, enhancing the ability to understand the traditions of the two neighbors on either side of the Tamar River, which forms much of the boundary separating Cornwall and Devon. English Forests was released one year before the famous, groundbreaking collection of Devonian stories by Anna Eliza Kempe Bray (c.1790–1883). In 1838, she had published a collection of letters of diverse content, Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire on the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy. Based on its success, Bray released the children’s book, A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West, in 1854.3 English Forests subsequently occupies a unique place in Devonian folklore studies, being published for adults and including numerous pixy legends, appearing a year before Bray’s famous collection. Because the primary topic of English Forests is, as the title suggests, the woods of England, it easily escapes the notice of folklorists. The book’s chapter on Devon yields specific, valuable insight into early pixy traditions. The unnamed authors describe how belief has waned, “before the wand of science” and “the age of pixies … is now nearly gone.” The text then comments about how pixies plagued dairymaids by upsetting milk pails, souring cream, and hindering the churning of butter. It further declares that the pixies, mount the ponies or colts left in the field all night, and pulling hairs from their tails, twist them into stirrups for their tiny feet, or knot the mane, and sitting astride on the neck, ride away over moor and fell, faster and faster, until the 1 Ronald M James, “The Other Side of the Tamar: A Comparison of the Pixies of Devon and Cornwall,” Folklore, 131:1 (March 2020) 76-95. 2 Ingram, Cooke, and Co., English Forests and Forest Trees, Historical, Legendary, and Descriptive (London: Ingram, Cooke, and Co., 1853). 3 Anna Eliza Kempe Bray, Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire on the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy (London: John Murray, 1838) and A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West (London: Grant & Griffith, 1854); for an evaluation of Bray, see Paul Manning, “Pixies’ Progress: How the Pixie Became Part of the Nineteenth-Century Fairy Mythology,” in The Folkloresque: Reframing Folklore in a Popular Culture World, edited by Michael Dylan Foster and Jeffrey A. Tolbert (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016) 81-103. 2 poor beast sinks down from sheer exhaustion, and is found in the morning by the owner in its proper pasture lying half dead.4 A similar tradition inspired an illustration in William Bottrell’s second, 1873 edition of the folklore from Cornwall, Devon’s western neighbor: Figure 2. William Bottrell’s 1873 book, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall includes this image of Cornish piskies tormenting a horse by riding it in the night.5 English Forests also mentions how Devonian trooping pixies “delight in tormenting and leading astray such persons as they find abroad after nightfall.” To avoid this fate people were directed to “turn some part of the dress” inside out.6 As described in my original article, Simon Young had previously indicated that being pixy-led was apparently more common in Devon than Cornwall. The 1853 reference to the tradition in English Forests reinforces Young’s observation.7 As noted in the original article, however, lacking pixy-led legends with sufficient details, especially in Cornwall, inhibits a comparison of variants. 4 English Forests, 187. William Bottrell, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (Penzance: Beare & Son, 1873) 76. 6 English Forests, 187. 7 Simon Young, “Pixy-Led in Devon and the South-West,” Devonshire Association Transactions 148 (June 2016) 313; and see Simon Young, “Four Neglected Pixy-Led Sources from Devon,” Devon Historian 85 (2016) 39-49. 5 3 English Forests also mentions pixies as interested in “changing children” (Migratory Legend 5085, “The Changeling”), but again, details are lacking for comparative purposes. The same can be said for brief mentions of pixies as living, “in the deep clefts of broken rock which form the tors of Dartmoor.” In addition, English Forests describes how Devonian pixies mashed apples for cider and worked with metal. The text further asserts that the pixies can be placated with “a bunch of grass or one or two pins as a propitiatory offering.”8 It is wonderful to have these specific details documented in this early publication, but, again, this presents no opportunity for comparative analysis. The pixies are also described as resembling “a bale or bundle or rags.” English Forests recounts a story of an abduction: A woman, on the northern borders of the moor [i.e., Dartmoor], was returning home late on a dark evening, accompanied by two children, and carrying a third in her arms, when, on arriving at her own door, she found one missing. Her neighbours, with lanterns, immediately set out in quest of the lost child, whom they found sitting under a large oak-tree, well known to be a favourite haunt of the pixies. He declared that he had been led away by two large bundles of rags, which had remained with him till the lights appeared, when they immediately vanished.9 In this case, the text includes an early reference to the motif of pixies appearing as a bundle of rags. Although this is common in the south west of Britain, the motif is not typical of accounts from Cornwall. Accordingly, this is yet another instance where it is possible to do little more than to acknowledge that the traditions in the two places tend to be distinct in a general way. English Forests further describes pixies that assist with domestic and agricultural tasks, presenting two variants of Migratory Legend 7015, “The New Suit.” In this case of these two stories, there is a clear opportunity for comparison. The text reads as follows: A cottage at Belstone, near Oakhampton [Okehampton], is pointed out as having been a favourite scene of their labours. It was common to find great additions made to the “web” of cloth, morning after morning; and the pixies were frequently heard working at the loom all through the night. Plates of honey and cream, but especially a basin of pure water, must be regularly placed for them in such houses as they frequent; and it is not safe to add a more valuable reward. A 8 9 English Forests, 188. Ibid. 4 washerwoman was one morning greatly surprised, on coming down stairs, to find all her clothes neatly washed and folded. She watched the next evening, and observed a pixy in the act of performing this kind office for her; but she was ragged and mean in appearance, and Betty’s gratitude was sufficiently great to induce her to prepare a yellow petticoat and a red cap for the obliging pixy. She placed them, accordingly, by the side of the basin of water, and watched for the result. The pixy, after putting them on, disappeared through the window, apparently in great delight. But Betty was ever afterwards obliged to wash all her clothes herself. At another farm on the borders of the moor, the inhabitants were disturbed at dead of night by the loud noise of a flail at work in the barn; and in the morning a quantity of corn which had been left in ear was found thrashed. On the ensuing night watch was kept by the farmer, who perceived six “sprites” of the smallest imaginable size enter the barn, and perform the same kind office as before. Their dress, however, was ragged and dirty; and the farmer had better clothes provided for them, which he placed where they might readily find them. In the mean time, he told his neighbours of his good luck; who, less kindhearted than himself, stationed themselves in the barn with their guns behind some unthreshed corn. They had not watched long before the pixies arrived; and, delighted with their new clothes, commenced their usual dance and song. In the midst of their joviality, however, the farmers in hiding fired on them. But they were not to be harmed by weapon of “middle earth,” and they departed for ever, singing as they went, “Now the pixies work is done, We take our clothes and off we run.”10 The first example describes a supernatural helper leaving once given new clothes, a motif common in similar examples of Migratory Legend 7015 throughout Northern Europe. In this first example, the solitary pixy leaves, “in great delight,” but her departure is without a word. The second legend again features the clothing and the flight of the pixies, but it is combined with the oddly hostile act of people firing weapons upon the helpful creatures. In this second narrative, the pixies sing a phrase and then leave. In my original article, I describe a difference that distinguishes Devonian variants of this migratory legend from those recorded in Cornwall. Namely, in Devon the pixies tended to express their farewell by using a phrase along the lines of, “I tweat! I tweat!”, a reference to 10 Ibid, 188-89. 5 sweating, apparently because of their hard work. At other times, there is some other response. In Cornwall, the piskies usually departed with a rhyme, most of often playing on the words “gay” and “away”: “Piskie fine, and piskie gay; Piskie now will fly away,” for example.11 While the second variant from English Forests includes a rhyme, the ditty pairs the words, “done” and “run.” This is distinct from what was recorded in the Cornish sources consulted for my original article. Nevertheless, the mere presence of a rhyme alters my initial finding. The example provided by English Forests represents an outlying rhymed farewell from the pixies in Devon. A new map depicting the location of variants for ML 7015 now appears as follows (now including a “P” and an additional “O” in Devon): Figure 3. Distribution of ML 7015, “The New Suit.” Map by author. 11 Robert Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, or the Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall (London: Chatto & Windus, 1903; first published in two volumes in 1865) 129-30; William Bottrell, Stories and Folk-Lore of West Cornwall (Penzance: F. Rodda, 1880) 193-94; Ronald M. James, The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2018) 66-68. 6 The two narratives about the pixy helpers are followed by an odd variant of what is normally a folktale (a story told as fiction for entertainment), ATU 124, “Blowing the House In.”12 Popularly known as “The Three Little Pigs,” this story from Dartmoor features a fox in the role usually played by a wolf and pixies protecting their homes, in ways that recall the pigs in the more well-known account. The text is provided here in full: There was once a fox, who, prowling by night in search of prey, came unexpectedly on a colony of pixies. Each pixy had a separate house. The first he came to was a wooden house. “Let me in, let me in,” said the fox. “I won’t,” was the pixy’s answer; “and the door is fastened.” Upon this the fox climbed to the top of the house; and having pawed it down, made a meal of the unfortunate pixy. The next was a “stonen” house. “Let me in,” said the fox. “The door is fastened,” answered the pixy. Again was the house pulled down, and its inmate eaten. The third was an iron house. The fox again craved admittance, and was again refused. “But I bring you good news,” said the fox. “No, no,” replied the pixy; “I know what you want; you shall not come in here to-night.” That house the fox in vain attempted to destroy. It was too strong for him, and he went away in despair. But he returned the next night, and exerted all his fox-like qualities in the hope of deceiving the pixy. For some time he tried in vain; until at last he mentioned a tempting field of turnips in the neighbourhood, to which he offered to conduct his intended victim. They agreed to meet the next morning at four o’clock. But the pixy outwitted the fox; for he found his way to the field, and returned laden with his turnips long before the fox was astir. The fox was greatly vexed, and was long unable to devise another scheme, until he bethought himself of a great fair about to be held a short way off, and proposed to the pixy that they should set off for it at three in the morning. 12 Hans-Jörg Uther. The Types of International Folktales (Part I) (FFC 284-86. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 2011) 95-96. 7 The pixy agreed. But the fox was again outwitted; for he was only up in time to meet the pixy returning home with his fairings – a clock, a crock, and a frying-pan. The pixy, who saw the fox coming, got into the crock and rolled himself down the hill; and the fox, unable to find him, abandoned the scent and went his way. The fox returned the next morning; and finding the door open went in, when he caught the pixy in bed, put him into a box, and locked him in. “Let me out,” said the pixy, “and I will tell you a wonderful secret.” The fox was after a time persuaded to lift the cover; and the pixy, coming out, threw such a charm upon him that he was compelled to enter the box in his turn; and there at last he died.”13 This narrative has no counterpart in known Cornish sources, so comparison is not possible. Indeed, nineteenth-century folklore collections from both Devon and Cornwall feature far more legends (accounts generally told to be believed) than folktales, so this example is unusual. It is included here because it features pixies, the focus of the original article. Conclusion While English Forests provides only two Devonian pixy legends that can be used for comparison with stories from Cornwall, the examples are important because of their early date and because of their content. In addition, Devonian variants are not as numerous as those from Cornwall, so any additional information is precious. Based on the two legends documented in English Forests, the final map presented in my original article can be augmented. In “The Other Side of the Tamar: A Comparison of the Pixies of Devon and Cornwall,” my final map summarized observations regarding variants expressed in several migratory legends, typifying legends as being largely “western” or “eastern” based on specific motifs. In the case of Migratory Legend 7015, “The New Suit,” a rhymed phrase was judged to be “western,” while the lack of a rhyme was determined to be typical east of the Tamar, in Devon. English Forests records an example with a rhyme and one that lacks any spoken response. Again, it is important to point out that the so-called “western” rhymed variant uses a pairing of words that is not known in Cornish sources. That said, the new final map appears as follows: 13 English Forests, 189-90; this folktale is followed by a legend about a witch that does not include pixies, so it is not discussed here. 8 Figure 4. Western and eastern variants of pixy legends in Cornwall and Devon. Map by author. English Forests provides valuable additional information, which reinforces the conclusion reached in my original article. Map 2 offers a vivid expression of the distribution of legend variants, which hints at some diffusion of motifs in the Tamar area, the border between Cornwall and Devon. At the same time, Devonian pixy legends are generally distinct from what was documented in the far west of Cornwall. This addendum, then, supports the original article. The final paragraph of “The Other Side of the Tamar” reads as follows: Published legends speak to the apparent lack of diffusion of narratives to and from the end of the peninsula. One can imagine a westerly diffusion of stories from the rest of England into Devon, but accounts collected in Cornwall indicate that the far west was isolated, likely because of geography and the legacy of linguistic difference. The implication here is that the pixy legends of far western Cornwall, the preoccupation of many early collectors, should be considered on their own rather than being annexed to those of England.14 14 James, “The Other Side of the Tamar,” 91-92. 9 References cited: Bottrell, William, Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall (Penzance: Beare & Son, 1873). ----------, Stories and Folk-Lore of West Cornwall (Penzance: F. Rodda, 1880). Bray, Anna Eliza Kempe, Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire on the Borders of the Tamar and the Tavy (London: John Murray, 1838). ----------, A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West (London: Grant & Griffith, 1854). Hunt, Robert, Popular Romances of the West of England, or the Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall (London: Chatto & Windus, 1903; first published in two volumes in 1865). Ingram, Cooke, and Co., English Forests and Forest Trees, Historical, Legendary, and Descriptive (London: Ingram, Cooke, and Co., 1853). James, Ronald M., The Folklore of Cornwall: The Oral Tradition of a Celtic Nation (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2018). ----------, “The Other Side of the Tamar: A Comparison of the Pixies of Devon and Cornwall,” Folklore, 131:1 (March 2020) 76-95. Manning, Paul, “Pixies’ Progress: How the Pixie Became Part of the Nineteenth-Century Fairy Mythology,” in The Folkloresque: Reframing Folklore in a Popular Culture World, edited by Michael Dylan Foster and Jeffrey A. Tolbert (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2016) 81-103. Uther, Hans-Jörg, The Types of International Folktales (Part I) (FFC 284-86. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 2011). Young, Simon, “Pixy-Led in Devon and the South-West,” Devonshire Association Transactions, 148 (June 2016) 311-36. ----------, “Four Neglected Pixy-Led Sources from Devon,” Devon Historian, 85 (2016) 39-49. 10