398 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 291. 



have heard them addressed in the following 

 rhyme : 



" Jack o' the lantern ! Joan the wad ! 

 Wlio tickled the maid and made her mad, 

 Light me liome, the weather's bad." 



I leave the stories of the piskysled, of which this 

 neighbourhood can furnish several authentic in- 

 stances, for the following ancient legends, all 

 careful copies of oral traditions. 



Colman Grey. — A farmer, who formerly lived 

 on an estate in our vicinity, was returning one 

 evening from a distant part , of the farm, when, in 

 crossing a particular field, he saw, to his surprise, 

 sitting on a stone in the middle of it, a miserable- 

 looking little creature, human in appearance, 

 though diminutive in size, and apparently starving 

 ■with cold and hunger. Pitying its condition, and 

 perhaps aware that it was of elfish origin, and that 

 good luck would amply repay him for his kind 

 treatment of it, he took it home, placed it by the 

 warm hearth on a stool, and fed it with nice milk. 

 The poor bantling soon recovered from the 

 lumpish and only half-sensible state in which it 

 was found, and, though it never spoke, became 

 very lively and playful. From the amusement 

 which its strange tricks e\ cited, it became a 

 general favourite in the family, and the good folk 

 really felt very sorry when their strange guest 

 quitted them, which he did in a very uncere- 

 monious manner. After the lapse of three or 

 four days, as the little fellow was gamboling about 

 the farm kitchen, a shrill voice from the toion- 

 place, or farm-yard, was heard to call three times, 

 " Colman Grey ! " at which he sprung up, and 

 gaining voice, cried, " Ho ! ho ! ho ! my daddy is 

 come," flew through the key-hole, and was never 

 afterwards heard of. 



A Voyage unth the Piskies. — About a mile to 

 the eastward of us is a pretty bay, on the shores 

 of which may be seen the picturesque church of 

 Talland, the hamlet of Portallow, with its scattered 

 farm-houses, and the green on which the children 

 assemble at their sports. In old time, a lad in 

 the employ of a farmer who occupied one of the 

 homesteads was sent to our village to procure 

 some little household necessaries from the shop. 

 Dark night ha<l set in by the time he had reached 

 Sand-hill ; on his way home, when half way 

 down the steep road, the boy heard some one say, 

 *' I'm for Portallow-green." "As you .are going 

 my way," thought he, " I may as well iiavc your 

 company ;" and he waited for a repetition of the 

 voice, intending to hail it. " I'm for Portallow- 

 green," was repeated after a short interval. " I'm 

 for Portallow-green," shouted the boy. Quick as 

 thought he found himself on the green, surrounded 

 hy a throng of little laughing piskies. They were, 

 however, scarcely settled before the cry was heard 

 from several tiny voices, " I'm for Seaton-beach," 



— a fine expanse of sand on the coast between 

 this place and Plymouth, at the distance of seven 

 miles. Whether he was charmed by his brief 

 taste of pisky society, or taken with their pleasant 

 mode of travelling, is not stated ; but, instead of 

 turning his pockets inside out, as many would have 

 done, he immediately rejoined, " I'm for Seaton- 

 beach." Off he was wliisked, and in a moment 

 found himself on Seaton-beach. After they had 

 for a while " danced their ringlets to the whistling 

 winds," the cry was changed to " I'm for the king 

 of France's cellar," and, strange to say, he offered 

 no objection even to so long a journey. " I'm for 

 the king of France's cellar," shouted the ad- 

 venturous youth as he dropped his parcel on the 

 beach not f\ir from the edge of the tide. Im- 

 mediately he found himself in a spacious cellar, 

 engaged with his mysterious companions in tastifig 

 the richest of wines. Then they passed through 

 grand rooms fitted up with a splendour which 

 quite dazzled the lad. In one apartment the tables 

 were covered with fine plate and rich viands, as 

 if in expectation of a feast. Though in the main 

 an honest lad, he could not resist the temptation to 

 take away with him some memorial of his travels, 

 and he pocketed one of the rich silver goblets 

 which stood on the table. After a very short stay 

 the word was raised, " I'm for Seaton-beach," 

 which being repeated by the boy, be was taken 

 back as quickly as he went, and luckily reached 

 the beach in time to save his parcel from the 

 flowing tide. The next destination was Portallow- 

 green, where the piskies left our womlering tra- 

 veller, who reached home, delivered his parcel of 

 groceries, and received a compliment from the 

 good wife for his dispatch. "You'd say so, if you 

 only know'd where I've been," said he ; " I've 

 been wi' the piskies to Seaton-beach, and I've 

 been to the king o' France's house, and all in five 

 minutes." The fiirmer stared and expressed an 

 opinion that the boy was mazed. " I thought 

 you'd say I was mazed, so I brort (brought) away 

 this mug to show vor et," he replied, producing 

 the goblet. The farmer and his family examined 

 it, wondered at it, and finished by giving a full 

 belief to the boy's strange story. The goblet is 

 unfortunately not now to be produced for the 

 satisfaction of those who may still doubt ; but we 

 are assured that it remained the property of the 

 lad's family for generations after. 



Tho.mas Q. Couch. 

 Cornwall. 



ANTIQUITY OF TABLE-TURNING. 



The following extract from Monsieur Maim 

 bourg's History of Arianism (translated in 1728 

 by the Rev. Wm. Webster, M. A., Curate of St 

 Dunstan's-in-the-West, and a copy of which worf 



y 



