Legend Land, Volume 2

Legend Land, Volume 2, by
Various

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Title: Legend Land, Volume 2 Being a Collection of Some of The Old
Tales Told in Those Western Parts of Britain Served by The Great
Western Railway
Author: Various
Release Date: January 2, 2007 [EBook #20249]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGEND
LAND, VOLUME 2 ***

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[Illustration:

G.W.R: The Line to Legend Land.
THE ABBOT'S WAY Page 24 TAVISTOCK Page 20 BRENT TOR
Page 4 BUCKLAND ABBEY Page 16 DEAN COMBE Page 12 THE
PARSON AND THE CLERK Page 8
Vol. Two Front End]
* * * * *

LEGEND LAND
Being a collection of some of the OLD TALES told in those Western
Parts of Britain served by the GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY, now
retold by LYONESSE
[Illustration]
VOLUME TWO
Published in 1922 by THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY [FELIX J.
C. POLE, GENERAL MANAGER] PADDINGTON STATION,
LONDON

CONTENTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS
The Church the Devil Stole Page 4 The Parson and the Clerk 8 The
Weaver of Dean Combe 12 The Demon Who Helped Drake 16 The
Samson of Tavistock 20 The Midnight Hunter of the Moor 24 The Lost
Land of Lyonesse 28 The Piskie's Funeral 32 The Spectre Coach 36 St.
Neot, the Pigmy Saint 40 The Old Man of Cury 44 The Hooting Carn
48 The Padstow May Day Songs (Supplement) 52
* * * * *
This is a reprint in book form of the second series of The Line to

Legend Land leaflets, together with a Supplement, "The Padstow May
Day Songs."
The Map at the beginning provides a guide to the localities of the six
Devon legends; that at the back to those of Cornwall.
* * * * *
Printed by SPOTTISWOODE, BALLANTYNE & COMPANY
LIMITED, One New Street Square, London, E.C.4

FOREWORD
The western parts of our country are richer in legend than any other
part. Perhaps this is because of the Celtic love of poetry and symbolism
inherent in the blood of the people of the West; perhaps because of
inspiration drawn from the wild hills and bleak moors of the lands in
which they live; perhaps because life is, and always was, quieter there,
and people have more time to remember the tales of other days than in
busier, more prosaic, districts.
Most of the Devon legends cluster around the grim wastes of Dartmoor,
and, like that wonderful stretch of country, are wild and awe-inspiring.
The devil and his wicked works enter largely into them, and there is
reason to believe them to be among the oldest tales known to us.
Possibly they were not new when the hut circles of the Moor were
inhabited and Grimspound was a busy village.
Some of the Cornish stories told in this series, like the story of
Lyonesse and of Parson Dodge and the Spectre Coach, have their
beginning in historical fact; yet into the latter story has been woven a
tale that is centuries older, in origin, than the days of the eccentric
priest of Talland.
But old tales, like old wine, need nothing but themselves to advertise
them. In their time they have entertained--who can say how many
hearers through the ages? And they are still good--read or told--to

amuse as many more.
LYONESSE

[Illustration]

THE CHURCH THE DEVIL STOLE
Most travellers to the West know queer little Brent Tor, that isolated
church-crowned peak that stands up defiantly a mile or two from
Lydford, seeming, as it were, a sentry watching the West for grim
Dartmoor that rises twice its height behind it. Burnt Tor, they say, was
the old name of this peak, because, seen from a distance, the brave little
mountain resembles a flame bursting upwards from the earth.
Others--with less imagination and perhaps more knowledge--would
have us believe that Brent Tor was once a volcano, and that it really did
burn in ages long since.
But the old folk of the neighbourhood care less for the name of their
Tor than for the strange story of the church that crowns its summit.
Ever so long ago, they will tell you, the good folk of the lower lands
around the foot of the hill decided to build themselves a church. They
had long needed one; so long that the Devil, who roamed about
Dartmoor, had begun to consider that such an irreligious