A Story of Superstition From Old Cornwall - The White Hare

A story today - an old story from a book, about 1860, written by Robert Hunt and originally titled 'The drolls, traditions, and superstitions of old Cornwall'. I have made a few minor adjustments.

It is a very popular fancy that when a maiden, who has loved not wisely but too well, dies forsaken and broken hearted, she comes back to haunt her deceiver in the form of a white hare. 

This phantom follows the false one everywhere, mostly invisible to all but him. It saves him from danger, but invariably the white hare causes the death of the betrayer in the end.

Here is one such story:

A large landed proprietor engaged a fine, handsome young fellow to manage his farm, which was very extensive as well as a high class one.

When the young farmer was duly settled in his new farmhouse, there came to live with him, to take care of the management of the dairy, a peasant's daughter. She was handsome, and of a singularly fine figure, but entirely without education.

The farmer became desperately in love with this young creature, and eventually their love passed all the bounds of discretion. It became the policy of the young farmer's family to put down this unfortunate passion by substituting a more legitimate and endearing object. After a long trial, they thought they were successful and the young farmer married.

Many months had not passed when the discharged dairy-maid was observed to suffer from illness, which, however, she constantly spoke of as nothing; but knowing dames saw too clearly the truth. One morning there was found in a field a newly born babe, strangled. The unfortunate girl was at once suspected as being the parent, and the evidence was soon sufficient to charge her with murder. She was tried, and chiefly by the evidence of the young farmer and his family, convicted of, and executed for, the murder.

Everything now went wrong in the farm, and the young man suddenly left it and went to another part of the country.

Still nothing prospered, and he gradually took to drink to drown some secret sorrow. He was frequently on the road by night than by day; and go where he would, a white hare was constantly crossing his path. The white hare was often seen by others, almost always under the feet of his horse; and the poor terrified animal would go like the wind to avoid the strange apparition.

One morning the young farmer was found drowned in a forsaken mine; and the horse, which had evidently suffered extreme terror, was grazing near the corpse. Beyond all doubt the white hare, which is known to hunt the perjured and the false-hearted to death, had terrified the horse to such a degree that eventually the rider was thrown into the mine-waste in which he was found.

Another old story:
Bodmin Jail and a Hanging Watched by 25,000 People

Lost Gardens of Heligan - Voted UKs Top Visitor Garden

Thought we'd better have a trip to the Lost Gardens of Heligan as they have just been named the UK's top visitor garden by readers of Garden News magazine.

This is an annual poll to find the best 100 gardens in the UK. In second place was Bodnant Gardens in Wales and third was Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.

Diggory, the scarecrow, was delighted at Heligan's success!

I snapped a few quick photos as we walked. The artichokes had a fine head of coloured hair.

There was an array of dahlias.

Lots of vegetables too - with Diggory at work in the background..

We moved on from this part of the gardens and ...

into the potting shed. This is the original shed. The garden at Heligan was originally built in the 18th century but went into decline at the beginning of World War I.

The gardens were then 'lost' until a hurricane in 1990 revealed their existence. Restoration started in the early 1990s and gradually the gardens were brought back to life.

The photo above and below is of the Sundial Garden, quite a pleasant place to sit. But Heligan has so many sections to enjoy from formal gardens to jungle!

Moving on we come to a lots more dahlias - and several varieties.

Must admit I like dahlias so snapped a couple of close- ups …

… of colours I like.

The Stewards House by the dahlia is now a café. 

Moving on to a change of scenery ...

… and a few attractive pink hydrangeas.

The scene changes  again …

… to a jungle and a lost valley (no longer 'lost' of course)

Large plants - including gunnera seem to be everywhere, and water too.

Now we have trees ...

… and there's often something unexpected.

A seat and shelter almost hidden away.

There is so much more to the Lost Gardens of Heligan spread over 200 acres. 

Below is a view of the coastline from the gardens.

I have several other posts on Heligan, with photos:

The Lost Gardens of Heligan: 18 Photos of Farm Animals, Plants and Jungle

The Lost Gardens of Heligan In July :16 Photos 

Lost Gardens of Heligan in Winter : 11 Photos

Thirteen February Photos of The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall

The Coincidence of a Link Between Germany and My Wife in Cornwall

Here's something a bit different today - how a coincidence can stare you in the face but goes unnoticed.

My wife and I were going to a car boot sale that is held in the car park of the council offices. We have often driven down this short road, off the A390. For the first time though we noticed that it is called Dithmarschen Way.

"Good gracious," said my wife, "Dithmarschen is where my mother was born."

So I stopped the car and she snapped the above photo out of the car window.

 Dithmarschen is in Germany and is a district of Schleswig-Holstein where my wife was born! Though she has been in England since her late teens. 

Hardly an earth shattering coincidence but there is a bit more. My wife had received a letter (remember them!) from her cousin in Germany, who wrote that she had just visited Dithmarschen.

How strange that the place we chose to live in Cornwall would have a link to my wife's heritage in Germany. At times it can seem a very small world.

I have since found out that the former Restormel area in Cornwall has been twinned with Dithmarschen for nearly 30 years.

Another coincidence:
The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle, Cornwall

The Mevagissey to Fowey Ferry

I forgot to mention the Mevagissey to Fowey ferry on my two previous posts. According to tripadvisor, at today's date, the ferry is the 'best thing to do' in Mevagissey. Not sure if I entirely agree with this, but it is a fine ride - and return.

The scenery along this stretch of coast is excellent and there is the possibility of seeing dolphins - nothing guaranteed of course.

The ferry runs from the Lighthouse Quay, Mevagissey - which is by the lighthouse! It can get busy in the summer months. 

The fare (at today's date) is Adult: single £8 and £14 return; Children: single £4 and £7 return. There is no charge for well behaved dogs. Tickets can be bought on board. 

The crossing time is approximately 40 minutes.

Also see:
An Introduction to Mevagissey, Cornwall The Two Saint Village
Mevagissey Outer Harbour, Lighthouse and Beach

Mevagissey Outer Harbour, Lighthouse and Beach.

I'm following on from my previous Mevagissey post which concentrated on the inner harbour, where there are normally lots of boats in the enclosed area.

If we walk to the outer harbour it has a different atmosphere as there is much more space - as can be seen in the photos above and below.

The inner, more sheltered harbour wall, was built in 1774 on the site of a medieval quay. The outer harbour wall was first built in 1888 but had to be rebuilt in 1897 following damage in 1891.

Mevagissey's small lighthouse is made of cast iron and is about 26 feet tall.

The lighthouse is hexagonal in shape. The light can be seen for about twelve nautical miles.

If we walk along the lighthouse breakwater we can see how Mevagissey harbour is surrounded by high cliffs.

To get from the breakwater to the road is quite a climb up all of those steps. But not to worry ...

… there is a wide, flat walkway alongside the harbour instead.

If we return to the lighthouse we can see the other wall that makes up the entrance into the outer harbour.

Some quite smart houses have been built behind the wall.

Finally, mustn't forget the Mevagissey harbour beach! Okay, it isn't much, and is only really there when the tide is out, but there are usually one or two people enjoying the sand and splashing about in the water - if the weather is okay. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach.

In the photo below the gap between the two walls is the entrance to Mevagissey's inner harbour.

Also see:
An Introduction to Mevagissey, Cornwall The Two Saint Village

An Introduction to Mevagissey, Cornwall The Two Saint Village

It was a bit of a moody day, the sun couldn't make up its mind whether to be friendly or not, so we headed to Mevagissey - as we often do when in doubt. There's always something of interest to see.

The name Mevagissey is made up from the names of two saints: St. Meva and St. Issey - the 'g' in the middle is taken from the word 'hag' which is the Cornish word for 'and'.  

In the Cornish language the name is Lannvorek.

The first mention of Mevagissey was in 1313 but there is evidence of a settlement being here in the Bronze age.

Mevagissey has an inner and an outer harbour and is famed for its fishing. Back in 1886 it landed 250,000 hundredweight of fish, the highest quantity of any port in western England.

There is still fishing today. My wife occasionally buys freshly caught fish from a small stall on the harbour. I'm vegetarian but she enjoys her fish meals, especially the mackerel.

Nowadays Mevagissey is very much a tourist attraction. The harbour and the narrow streets throng with people in the summer season. You can park on the harbour - at a price, of course, but the spots soon fill up. As do the main car parks situated at the beginning of the village.

Needless to say Cornish pasties are available! As is Cornish ice cream, plus there are pubs, fish and chip shops, restaurants and so on.

I'll have more photos of Mevagissey on my next post.

Boscastle Harbour, Cornwall and Very Old Harbour Walls

This is Boscastle harbour, Cornwall and also its old harbour walls - built way back in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville.

Sir Richard (1542-1591) seems an interesting character. He was a lord of several manors in the west country and held various official positions. This included being the Member of Parliament for Cornwall. He was a cousin of Sir Walter Raleigh.

Grenville was perhaps most known for his military service and died in battle. To quote Encyclopaedia Britannica :

In 1591, Grenville was made second in command (under Lord Thomas Howard) of a squadron of about 15 vessels sent to intercept a Spanish treasure fleet off the Azores. When 53 Spanish vessels approached to protect their treasure ships, the English retreated, but Grenville was delayed and cut off. Undaunted, he attempted to run his ship, the Revenge, through the Spanish line. After 15 hours of hand-to-hand combat against 15 Spanish galleons and a force of 5,000 men, the Revenge with her 190-man crew was captured (Sept. 9/10, 1591). A few days later the wounded Grenville died on board the Spanish flagship.

As for Boscastle itself, the harbour is a natural inlet (as above) and is the only place where a harbour could be built on this stretch of Cornwall's intimidating north coast. 

The white building high on the cliff top (top left above) is a lookout built in the early 1800s. It's possible to follow a path from the harbour to the lookout - great views, of course, from the top.

The previous photos and the one below were snapped from the east side of the harbour.

We now move over to the west side of the harbour. On my visit the tide was returning. Both harbour walls can be seen in the photo below.

Looking at the photo below I always think the cliffs to the right of the inlet look like some sort of an animal waiting to gobble up any unwanted visitors.

Another look at the smaller harbour wall.

And finally looking inland from the harbour - the height of the water will soon increase.

P.S. Boscastle was where I had quite a remarkable coincidence, see The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle, Cornwall