The Sun. — 1846-11-11 (London, England)

THE PIXIES OF DEVONSHIRE.—The pixies of Devonshire are very differently described in different parts of the county. In the North of Devon, and on the borders of Cornwall, there are thought to be " the ancient inhabitants,"—a dwarfish and malicious race, wearing dresses of dark green, and living within the green circles commonly called " fairy rings." Like the rest of the " good people," they are fond of music ; and the sound of their "harp and pipe and symphony" is occasionally heard at nightfall. It is said that a man once passing one of these pixy rings, and hearing them dancing and singing within it, threw a large stone into the midst of the circle, when the music at once ceased, and a dreadful shriek arose. It is seldom, however, that they become vi sible. There is a celebrated pixy haunt at Costellas, in Cornwall ; where they have been sittinir in a ring, the men smoking after the most approved fashion of the Dutch Burgmeester, and the women spinning. perhaps in emulation of the frugal Vrow. On the northern and western borders of Dartmoor, the Pixies have a different character. They are sometimes seen in bands, but more frequently in small numbers—as two or three together. They delight in tormenting and leading astray such persons as they find abroad after nightfall ; and the only remedy in such a case is to turn some part of your dress,—a spell which at once dissolves their " glamour.", Like the fairies, they are charged with stealing, or rather changing, children in the cradle ; and with carrying off to the " joyless elfin bower" such persons as, by the commission of some great crime, have placed themselves under their influence. A woman is still living at Totness, who is said to have been thus changed at her birth; and on the shores of what is called " the lake," st Tamerton, are certain soft sandy places into which whoever chance to step 'is at once carried off by the Pixies. They are said to have " houses" in the deep clefts of broken rock which form the Tors of Dartmoor. On the southern side of Sheepstor is a singular cavern, formed by large overhanging blocks of granite, called ." The Pixies' House," within which they may be heard sometimes hammering (for, like the Duergar, they are great workers in metal), and sometimes busily pounding their cider. This cave is considered " a critical place for children ;" and no one visits it without leaving a bunch of grass, or one or two pins, as a propitiatory offering to the mysterious beings who inhabit it. The Pixies delight in riding the cattle about Sheepstor at night ; and the horses and bullocks of the neighbouring farmers are constantly found, in the morning, wearied and covered with foam. They plait the manes of such horses as they ride ; and the twisted knots that are afterwards found in /hem are called " Pixy seats."—Athenceum. MELANCHOLY SUICIDE OF A LADY AT CLIFTON,— We regret having to announce the suicide, under melancholy circumstances, of Miss Rebecca Jones, a -maiden lady, 67 years of age, who resided in the house formerly occupied by the late Mr. Bickley, at Meridanplace, Clifton.—Miss Jones had resided with Mr. Bickley, and since his death, which, occurred on the 15th of October last, she had been in a very excited state. She would walk hurriedly from room to room, talk incoherently, and gave evidence that her mind was in an unsettled state, her prevailing idea being that she would brought to poverty. She was last seen alive at twelve o'clock on Wednesday, when her footman ob:served her in her drawing-room, and walking up and down in an agitated manner. In about half au hour afterwards he was alarmed by hearing a crash in the back area, and upon going to ascertain the cause of it, he was surprised to find two of the large coping stones of the parapet lying upon the ground. A violent ringing at the door-bell was heard, and on going to answer it, he was informed that his mistress had thrown herself -from the house-top into the back area of Mr. Harris's house next door. She groaned once or twice, and then expired. An inquest was held on the body the same afternoon, and a verdict of Temporary Insanity was re' turned.—Bristol Mercury. IMPORTATION OF GUANO,A vessel, just arrived in the River from Ghent (Belgium), has brought, in ad dition to 27 tons weight of oak bark, the production of Belgium, 616 bags of guano. The arrivals of this newlydiscovered description of manure have, we believe, hi therto been confined to the islands in the Southern and South Atlantic Ocean, and other places in those distant regions in which it abounds and has been collected.