Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Second SeriesBottrell, William
General
Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Second Series
Bottrell, William
Cornwall (England : County) -- Social life and customs; Legends -- England -- Cornwall (County)
Having soon finished that task, he returned to the man that
brought him from his grave, and followed and tormented him
worse than before, until he procured the help of other powerful
exorcists who were more astute. The first thing they did was to
draw a circle, out in the town-place, and put the man to stand
within it. The spirit then took the form of a black bull and
tried to get at him with horns and hoofs, but the man was safe
within the line traced. A parson continued reading all the time,
while others kept an eye on the spirit that took many shapes. At
first the holy words of power made him furious; by turns, he
bellowed like a mad bull, hissed like an adder, or roared like a
wild beast, that he might be heard for miles away. Yet, by
degrees, Tregagle became as gentle as a lamb, and allowed the
spirit-quellers to bind him with a new hempen cord; and to
lead him far away to Gwenvor Cove.
There they doomed him to make a truss of sand, to be bound
with ropes made of the same material, and carry it up to Carn
Olva.
Tregagle was a long while at his tiresome task without being
able to accomplish it, until it came to a very cold winter, when,
one hard frosty night, by taking water from Velan Dreath brook,
and pouring it over his truss, he caused it to freeze together and
bore it in triumph to Carn Olva.
He then flew back to the man who raised him, and he would
have torn him in pieces, but, by good luck, he happened to have
in his arms an innocent young child, so the spirit couldn't harm
him.
[226]
Without delay the terrified man sent for the nearest parson,
who, however, was not able, alone, to cope with Tregagle; the
most he could do was to prevent him from harming the man
until other spirit-quellers were brought to his assistance; with
whose aid the furious spirit was again bound, led away to
Gwenvor, and required to undertake the same task, without
going near fresh water.
So Tregagle was matched at last, for he is still there on
the shore of Whitsand Bay vainly trying to make his truss of
sand; and he is frequently heard roaring for days before a
northerly storm comes to scatter it.
I well remember that when a boy, and living in Rafra, St.
Levan, how elderly men would go out into the town-place, last
thing before they went to bed, to "look at the weather,"—in
harvest particularly,—and come in saying, "Tregagle is roaring,
so we shall surely have northerly wind and a dry day to-morrow,"
or, "the northern cleeves are calling," by which they
meant the same, and unconsciously used somewhat poetical
figures of speech.
A legend which connects Tregagle's escape from Gwenvor
with the sanding up of Parcurnow has been noticed (on page
140); other stories, however, say, that job was imposed on him
as a separate task, which he quickly accomplished just before he
was finally settled at Gwenvor.
[227]
West Country Superstitions.
Devil's Money.
There needs no other charm nor conjurer,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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