The quaint little figures on the housetop in the old town of Padstow are visible to all the passers-by, and sometimes strangers ask why they were put there--a difficult question to answer, as nobody knows for certain. Perhaps they were placed on the ridge of the house for the Piskeys to dance on, or for the fairy riders to ride. Or maybe they were put there in the days of the Civil Wars, as a token that the house on which the little steeds and the little horsemen were perched was a refuge for King Charles' cavaliers. There is no tradition about the small horses and their riders, but the children were always told, as the tale says, that when they heard the clock strike twelve they galloped round the market and town. 'THE PISKEYS' REVENGE.' It used to be held, and is still told, that the Piskeys came in through the keyhole and ate up the good things. Children, when they knew that cakes were made and asked to have some, were told that the Piskeys had eaten them all. They had a special liking for junkets and sugar biscuits. 'THE PISKEYS WHO DID AUNT BETSY'S WORK.' Some of the Piskeys were kindly disposed, and were credited with doing kindly acts, and it is said that they often came into the cottages in the night-time and cleaned them. When the cottages looked very clean and neat it was said that the Piskeys had done it. 'HOW JAN BREWER WAS PISKEY-LADEN.' Legends about Piskey-led people are as plentiful as blackberries. The present one comes from the neighbourhood of Constantine. FOOTNOTES [1] Sad. [2] A bog near Rough Tor. [3] A bat. [4] Pronounced Dozmary. [5] Nightjar. [6] The ladybird. [7] Near Helston. [8] Tintagel. [9] China. [10] Sad. [11] Coax. [12] Tiny child. [13] Whortleberries. [14] An oven when half heated. [15] Frame. [16] The speckled, or ermine, moth. [17] Cotton-grass. [18] Tale. [19] Child-little. [20] Tale. [21] A small storeroom for victuals. [22] Power of utterance. [23] Mad. [24] Waving. [25] Little. [26] Wood-lice. [27] Mare's nest. [28] China. [29] Well. [30] A very small bird. [31] Mushrooms. [32] A double digging tool--one end pointed, the other flattened. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of North Cornwall Fairies and Legends, by Enys Tregarthen