The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-02-22
That Are still Observed in the Region Of
Cornwall.
Watching for the Arrival of Nay Day-"Bless-
ing" the Apple -"wiping the Shoe"
Furry Day" and Taking Day"
Special to THE SUNDAY CALL

life and friendships, and holding with brave
tenacity to the folklore and all legends,
forgivable superstitiOns and customs which
link their workaday lives to the dfmmeSt
pagan days into which a loyal and loving
Cornish fancy may soar.
Their superstitions are innumerable and
outlandish; though, so far as l can judge,
they in no wise lessen or abate Cornish
religious zeal and loyalty. They neither
hinder nor detract from devGut lives, but,
as nearly as can define them, they are a
transfused and not unwelcome heredity of
paganstic myths to which simple and far
from intellectual people cling as prideful
proof of their own extreme antiquity.
They are fisher-folk, the bravest and
most daring known to the sea-swept shores
of the British Isles. They are miners, the
sturdiest and most manly in all the world
that bring riches from the earth's depths.
They are peasant farmers, who have wrung
from English landlordiSm, through ire
mendous independence, something like
shining homes and ample comfort. They
are all Cornishmen, whose united roar, as
in the old ballad,
And will they scorn IRE, Pol and Pen,
Aud shall Treawney die 4?
Then twenty thousand Cornishmen
Win know the reason why =
I.dNb lEOIt lutu OHCe lHUulutu ltle PURPOSES
of English Parliaments and changed the
policies of English kings.
Out Of this half fairy, half black-art,
mythology of Cornwall have come number
less curious Cornish customs. which all the
telegraphs. all the railways, all the news
papers, ard indeed all the vigorous Wes-
leyan Methodism of England have so far
been unable to clay" or dispel or even
modify in any marked degree. Ministers
will pound church-bench to splnters from
their glorious fervor at ''prayer-meeting"
and in an hour thereafter go on tiptoe to
their all-night's labor in the shift" from
5000 to 5000 feet "belOw grass" tearing to
give attrOnt by honest noise from their hob
nailed boots to the "buccas, or knockers"
those elves of the mines whom they sacredy
believe control their good or i'll luck at all
mine labor. Fishermen of WITHSTAND, Ma
raziou, PenZanee or ancient st. Ives will ex-
perience and exhibit equal spiritual and
physical citation at prayer or claSs-meeting,
and at the turn OF the tide the same night as
they brave death along a lee shore.
IN THE ROWLING ATLANTIC,
Calmly throw companion overheard, who
might, by even whStlipg a bar of How
VAN Is All Beneath the Skies p tempt the
malevOlent attentions of every buchaboo
and fury OF the sea. So, toe, the peasant
farmers Will hasten back from church ser
of bull calf, that their herds may De re-
lieved from fairy strokes" and the various
and vagarlous powers of witches. While
villagers OF all faiths and works will walk
nine times around churchyard at midnight
to have a certainty of everyday avoidance
of the devil and Will on all occasions lift
their hats sooner to a dreaded magpie than
beloved parsnn to guard against the posi-
bility of lll-luck.
These superstitions are but hint of the
thousands that PXiSt COrnisb
From time inmemOrial "a man must take
the new year in" 10 all habitaiions: that is.
good luck will only come to woman where a
man or boy has first entered the house on
New Years day, and all Cornish women
will so manage matters; the simplest ana
most general method being to employ bows
to sand their door-steps. The American
custom of watching the old year out and
the New Iear in" has almost prototype
among Cornish folk in watching" all night
for the arrival of May day Immediately
after midnight it is ushered in with great
uproar of songs, general hilarity, and an
especial profusion of all manner of shrilI
musical instruments. One of the most
rigdly preserved of Cornish customs is
that The mother of a newly christened
child must bestow a gift, of proporti0nare
value to her means and position, upon the
first person she may meet upon the road,
after the ceremony of christening. At ST.
Ives and other western towns of Cornwall
professions of uproarious boys on Shrove
Tuesday march through the streets banging
at doors with stones tied to strong cords, the
meantime demanding:
Give me pancake now-now-no,y
Or IN souse in your door with n row-tow--towt
Pancakes or ha' pennies are invariably be-
slowed. Apple trees are blessed " by some
on July 25th, ST. James day, and by some
at Christmas-time. painful of cider, con-
tanning broken roasted apples, is carried
into the orchard. Each member Of the family
then tn o nj tho aifior drIpl
ton, and, casting the remains upon the tree
amid the shouts of companions, gives
health to the tree with:
Health TO the good apple tree!
Well to bear. pocketsful, hatfuls,
Peckfuls, bushei-bagfulsl
This nature-worshiP, which had so promi-
peat part in the customs of ancient Eu.
rope. is in many other ways kept pefma-
nentiy alive in Cornwall. The general May
day festivities do not materially differ from
those in other parts of England. But the
olden fires of Baal still burn brightly. along
the entire Cornish coast on the eve of June
24th. These
MIDSUMMER FIRE FEsTALs,
Though corrupted by long usage. are I'M
doubtedly of Druidc origin, and bear every
evidence of remaining lasting relic of the
pagan Irish Bealtina; of whose eXtraordi-
nary LIBERATION at Taillten now Teiltawn)
near Tara. before the introduction of Chris.
tianity in Erin, there are now preserved the
lilOSL tNdCL anu laSctuHttUR records. All OF
the Idolatrous features Of these orgies, such
as the FIRE ordeal for thu cure of disease and
leaping through head-high flames to pre-
serve from evil during the succeeding
year, have been eliminated; but not so long
ago that those yet living have forgotten
them. The scenes now witnessed at Fem
Zance and other West Cornwall towns are
chiefly interesting from a certain awe which
the huge bontires always compel among the
peasantry, and the exultant torch-dancing,
occasionally almost reaching species
of frenzy, which may always be OBJ
served. Analogous to this, and singu.
larly indicative of the preservation of
medieval rites, are the Peter-tide
fires, which always flame from the Gin
cling shores of Mounts Bay, above Mara
zion and PenZance, and are challenged by
responsive flames wreathing the eastella-
ted head of somber ST. Mchaeps M0uAt.
OF the more modern aud wholly quaint
and innocent customs of Cornwall few
pleasant illustrations NAV be cited. The
tiSh-wiyes of ancient st. Ives are an inc0r-
rigible lot. Should you visit the town at
the height of fredericksburg, and enter
the dark cellars where hundreds of women
and girls are engaged in "bulkngr" OF salt
ing the fish, scores of grinning AmaZons
will rush at you, and the fleetest one will
daub your shoes generously with the odor-
ous fish oil which has drained from the piles
of curing fish. This is called ''wipng the
Shoe aud if YOU do not respond with
tIiDuIe Oh at leaSt nan crown Tor luck OF
the fair maids that feed and clothe the
poor"--that IS, the pilehard fishers-your
subsequent "hustlng" by These savory
wenches will certainly cost you new suit
of clothing. The same custom, save that
the daubing is done with miners clay"
prevails within the mines, where ihe
stranger is expected to pay something for his
Initiation into their weird mysteries.
Cornwall is not blessed in being an ex-
cepticn to other regions in the matter or
shrewish wives aud Cornish shrews are the
most eloquent of all women ia their pro-
fusion and exuberauee of bitter household