Decantant me veneficæ;
Vale! Valete! ho, ho, ho!"
Footnote 1:[(return)]
This line is distinctly so written. We should probably read or instead of but. Mummes may mean mumbling, muttering.
FOLK LORE.
DEVONSHIRE FOLK LORE.
1. Storms from Conjuring.—A common Devonshire remark on the rising of a storm is, "Ah! there is a conjuring going on somewhere." The following illustration was told me by an old inhabitant of this parish. In the parish of St. Mary Tavy is a spot called "Steven's grave," from a suicide said to have been buried there. His spirit proving troublesome to the neighbourhood, was laid by a former curate on Sunday after afternoon service. A man who accompanied the clergyman on the way was told by him to make haste home, as a storm was coming. The man hurried away home; but though the afternoon had previously been very fine, he had scarcely reached his door before a violent thunderstorm came to verify the clergyman's words.
2. The Heath-hounds.—The brutende heer are sometimes heard near Dartmoor, and are known by the appellation of "Heath-hounds." They were heard in the parish of St. Mary Tavy several years ago by an old man called Roger Burn: he was working in the fields, when he suddenly heard the baying of the hounds, the shouts and horn of the huntsman, and the smacking of his whip. This last point the old man quoted as at once settling the question. "How could I be mistaken? why I heard the very smacking of his whip."
3. Cock scares the Fiend.—Mr. N. was a Devonshire squire who had been so unfortunate as to sell his soul to the devil, with the condition that after his funeral the fiend should take possession of his skin. He had also persuaded a neighbour to undertake to be present on the occasion of the flaying. On the death of Mr. N., this man went in a state of great alarm to the parson of the parish, and asked his advice. By him he was told to fulfil his engagement, but he must be sure and carry a cock into the church with him. On the night after the funeral, the man proceeded to the church armed with the cock; and, as an additional security, took up his position in the parson's pew. At twelve o'clock the devil arrived, opened the grave, took the corpse from the coffin and flayed it. When the operation was concluded, he held the skin up before him, and remarked: "Well! 'twas not worth coming for after all, for it is all full of holes!" As he said this, the cock crew; whereupon the fiend, turning round to the man, exclaimed: "If it had not been for the bird you have got there under your arm, I would have your skin too." But, thanks to the cock, the man got home safe again.