LOCAL RHYMES AND PROVERBS OF DEVONSHIRE.
"River of Dart, oh river of Dart,
Every year thou claim'st a heart."
It is said that a year never passes without the drowning of one person, at least, in the Dart. The river has but few fords, and, like all mountain streams, it is liable to sudden risings, when the water comes down with great strength and violence. Compare Chambers' Popular Rhymes, p. 8., "Tweed said to Till," &c. See also Olaus Wormius, Monumenta Danica, p. 17.
The moormen never say "the Dart," but always " Dart." "Dart came down last night—he is very full this morning." The cry of the river is the name given to that louder sound which rises toward nightfall. Cranmere Pool, the source of the Dart, is a place of punishment for unhappy spirits. They may frequently be heard wailing in the morasses there. Compare Leyden Scenes of Infancy, pp. 315, 316., &c.
Wescote (View of Devonshire: Exeter, 1845 (reprint), p. 348.) has a curious story of the Tamar and Torridge. It is worth comparing with a local rhyme given by Chambers, p. 26.: "Annan, Tweed, and Clyde," &c.
"When Haldon hath a hat
Kenton may beware a skat."
This often quoted saying is curiously illustrated by a passage from the romance of Sir Gawaya and the Grene Knicht (Madden's Sir Gawaya, p. 77.):
"Mist muged on the mor, malt on the mountes,
Uch hille hadde a hatte, a myst-hakel huge."
In the note on this passage Sir Frederick quotes two proverbs like the Devonshire one above. They are, however, well known, and there is no lack of similar sayings.
"When Plymouth was a furzy down,
Plympton was a borough town."
When Brutus of Troy landed at Totnes, he gave the town its name; thus,—
"Here I sit, and here I rest,
And this town shall be called Totnes."
"Crocker, Cruwys, and Coplestone,
When the Conqueror came, were found at home."
"Who on the Sabbath pares his horn,
'Twere better for him he had never been born."
"At toto Thori die hominibus ungues secare minime licuit."
—Finn Magnusen, Lex. Edd., s.v. Thor.
In the district of Bohnsland, in Sweden, in the middle of the eighteenth century, it was not thought proper to fell wood on the afternoon of Thursday. (Id.)
"Many slones [sloes], many groans,
Many nits [nuts], many pits."
"When the aspen leaves are no bigger than your nail,
Is the time to look out for truff and peel."
Margaret's Flood.—Heavy rain is expected about the time of St. Margaret's day (July 20th). It is called "Margaret's flood."
"Widdecombe folks are picking their geese,
Faster, faster, faster."
A saying among the parishes of the south coast during a snow-storm. 'Widdecombe' is "Widdecombe in the Dartmoors."
"Quiet sow, quiet mow."
A saying with reference to land or lease held on lives. If the seed is sown without notice of the death of the life, the corn may be reaped, although the death took place before the sowing.
Bees.—
"If they swarm in May,
They're worth a pound next day.
If they swarm in July,
They're not worth a fly."
Bees must never be bought. It is best to give a sack of wheat for a hive.
Dinnick is the Devonshire name of a small bird, said to follow and feed the cuckoo.
A cat will not remain in a house with an unburied corpse; and rooks will leave the place until after the funeral, if the rookery be near the house.
It is proper to make a low bow whenever a single magpie is seen.
It is not considered safe to plant a bed of lilies of the valley; the person doing so will probably die in the course of the next twelve months.
Where the rainbow rests, is a crock of gold.
A cork under the pillow is a certain cure for cramp.
Seven different herbs must be used for making a herb poultice.
"The editor remembers a female relation of a former vicar of St. Erth, who, instructed by a dream, prepared decoctions of various herbs, and repairing to the Land's End, poured them into the sea, with certain incantations, with the expectation of seeing the Lionesse rise immediately out of the water having all its inhabitants alive, notwithstanding their long immersion."—Davies Gilbert's Cornwall, vol. iii. p. 310.
If the fire blazes up brightly when the crock is hung up, it is a sign there is a stranger coming.
Cure for Thrush.—Take the child to a running stream, draw a straw through its mouth, and repeat the verse, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings," &c.
A creature of enormous size, called a "bull-frog," is believed to live under the foundation stones of old houses, hedges, &c. I remember having heard it spoken of with great awe.
Hen and Chickens.—In a parish adjoining Dartmoor is a green fairy ring of considerable size, within which a black hen and chickens are occasionally seen at nightfall.
The vicar of a certain Devonshire parish was a distinguished student of the black art, and possessed a large collection of mysterious books and manuscripts. During his absence at church, one of his servants visited his study, and finding a large volume open on the desk, imprudently began to read it aloud. He had scarcely read half a page when the sky became dark, and a great wind shook the house violently; still he read on; and in the midst of the storm the door flew open, and a black hen and chickens came into the room. They were of the ordinary size when they first appeared, but gradually became larger and larger, until the hen was of the bigness of a good sized ox. At this point the vicar suddenly closed his discourse, and dismissed his congregation, saying he was wanted at home, and hoped he might arrive there in time. When he entered the chamber the hen was already touching the ceiling. But he threw down a bag of rice, which stood ready in the corner; and whilst the hen and chickens were busily picking up the grains, he had time to reverse the spell.—(Ceridwer takes the form of a hen in the Hanes Taliesin.) I believe a hen and chickens is sometimes found on the bosses of early church roofs. A sow and pigs certainly are. A black sow and pigs haunt many cross roads in Devonshire.
The Dewerstone is a lofty mass of rock rising above the bed of the Plym, on the southern edge of Dartmoor. During a deep snow, the traces of a naked human foot and of a cloven hoof were found ascending to the highest point. The valley below is haunted by a black headless dog. Query, is it Dewerstone, Tiwes-tun, or Tiwes-stan?—(Kemble's Saxons, vol. i. p. 351.)
The great Cromlech at Drewsteignton is said to have been erected by three spinsters (meaning spinners); another legend says by three young men. The first is the more usual saying. The Cromlech is generally called "The Spinster's Rock." Rowe (Dartmoor, p. 99.) suggests that the three spinsters were the Valkyrien, or perhaps the Fates. He is no doubt right.
Rock and stone legends abound. A great quoit on the top of Heltor is said to have been thrown there by the Devil during fight with King Arthur. Adin's Hole (Etin's) is the name of a sea cavern near Torquay; another is Daddy's Hole. The Devil long hindered the building of Buckfastleigh Church, which stands on the top of a steep hill. A stone, at about the distance of a mile, has the marks of his finger and thumb. The stone circles, &c. on Dartmoor, are said to have been made "when there were wolves on the hills, and winged serpents in the low lands." On the side of Belstone Tor, near Oakhampton, is a small grave circle called "Nine Stones." It is said to dance every day at noon.
Whoever shall find the treasure hidden in Ringmore Down, may plough with a golden plough-share, and yoke his oxen with golden cross-sticks.
R.J.K.