LIONEL LACKLAND. 235 



to thry the fall." " Oh ! my Voon, what ! you would not lift a 

 leg of an old worn-out pedlar, or make him back the ground before 

 his final end ; no, no, Voon." " Aih, aih, Smallsman, an thra 

 away your fase goud and lying dramers, such as youn ha there," 

 striking his box with his thick staff until the trinkets rattled 

 again. The old man took the alarm, and partly closed the lid; 

 muttering a curse or two between his teeth, he moved quickly 

 away from his unfriendly company, who all began to look with 

 suspicious eyes upon his condemned box. " I know the chate, 

 tho'f he has put on that big black patch over his eye ; tint na 

 long since he sauld me a brooch for goud that wann none 

 but kenneth-cole (copper). I mind it an well, for it kept my 

 pocket cold for a month." A loud laugh from the by-standers 

 at the expense of the poor dupe did not tend to lessen his irri- 

 tation ; lucky it was that Mister Smallsman departed when he 

 did. Ellen and I moved slowly on, her father stopping with 

 different persons, saluting some with a passing word, or loitering 

 a few minutes to ask after family or agricultural business ; we 

 sauntered on, listening to the quick-witted maid and the loud 

 laugh of the discomfited churl. The tents were principally 

 occupied as drinking booths and for refreshment ; some were 

 filled with stalls, loaded with cakes and ripe gushing fruits; 

 generally not far distant from a tent, the games were held — 

 wrestling, back-sword, throwing the " mottoed ball" (a very 

 admirable and exciting game, long celebrated in Cornwall) — 

 while in two or three more retired spots the fortune- telling crone 

 was " realing the cards," a circle of girls around her, waiting, 

 with breathless anxiety, the destiny of the *' fall." Above all 

 people in the world, the Cornish are credulous of the supernatural, 

 and they will wait the chance of a " fall " with the most implicit 

 reliance. Ellen leaned on my arm ; her father walked behind in 

 earnest conversation with Stratton, who had just appeared ; the 

 sun was sinking lower in the horizon, and the evening breezes 

 blew rather chilly across the moor. 



The shouts of the victor wrestlers rose up every now and then 

 even above the unremitting din of voices — the girls witnessed 

 the games with the most absorbed attention, now clapping their 

 hands in exultation, or waiving their kerchiefs for the "best 

 throw." Away flew the " mottoed ball," bounding from one to 

 the other in quick succession, until it was caught and borne 

 away by the successful side. We had advanced towards a small 

 tent, from which the noise of laughter was unusually loud, and 

 yet occurring but at intervals ; as we drew nearer to the entrance, 

 we could perceive a number of young men and girls crowding 

 round a table, on which was a large blue slate, famed ages back 

 for its prophetic properties ; on the table also were a small box 

 compass, a pack of cards, and a number of "plaited braids," 

 which the Kenneth peasant wears as a charm against sickness 

 and misfortune ; there was also a heap of small round blue and 

 white pebbles, called " dreamers," Standing over the table was 



