Giants loom large in the folklore
of Cornwall, and legend tells us that once upon a time the
Penwith area was plagued with them. Of the two most famous, Cormoran, the
wicked Giant of St. Michael's Mount was eventually dispatched by
Jack the Giant Killer, but Giant Bolster is said to have
succumbed to the wiles of a saintly woman!
Bolster must have been a truly
enormous figure, since he could plant one foot on Carn Brea(the
high hill just outside Camborne) and the other on the cliffs
outside St. Agnes-some six miles away as the crow flies-he must
have been about 12 miles high.
Bolster was a bad tempered and
violent brute who terrorized the countryside and struck fear
into the hearts of ordinary folk, but he met his match in the
pious and chaste St. Agnes. He fell in love with her and pursued
him relentlessly, but St. Agnes wanted none of it.
Sick of his constant attentions, St.Agnes
told him to prove his love for her by filling up a hole in the
cliff at Chapel Porth with his own blood. To Bolster that was an
easy task. After all, he'd never miss a few gallons-but St.Agnes
knew that the hole was bottomless and led into the sea below!
He stretched out his arm, plunged
a knife into it and lay down to wait for the hole to fill up. It
never did, of course and eventually Bolster lost so much blood
he died. Thus, St.Agnes was rid of his unwanted attentions but
he left his mark behind. The cliffs at Chapel Porth to this day
still bear a red stain, said to be from where his blood ran down
into the sea.
JACK THE GIANT KILLER
According to Cornish legend, Jack
was a farmer's son who lived near Land's End in the days of King
Arthur. The folk of the area were being terrorized by Cormoran, the
Giant of St. Michael's Mount, who stole cattle and carried them
away either on his back or dangling from his belt. A reward was
offered to anyone who would slay the fearsome giant, and Jack
took up the challenge. He dug a huge pit near Morvah and covered
it with sticks and straw. Then he lured the Giant away from the
Mount by blowing his horn. The angry Giant rushed down the Mount
and fell into the pit. Jack then struck him a mortal blow with
his pick- axe and filled the pit with earth. For his brave deed
he was given a magnificent sword and belt. Embroidere Who slew
the Giant Cormoran"
Famed for his bravery Jack The
Giant Killer became something of a super hero, killing wolves
and breaking the skulls of pirates in addition to being on hand
to deal with other troublesome giants. Later he traveled on to
Wales to slay more of them and further embroidered his legend, and, to
mark his slaying of Cormoran there stands to this day near
Morvah Church a huge stone which is said to mark the Giant's Grave. It
is also said that sometimes voices can be heard coming from
beneath it!
THE LOST LAND OF
LYONESSE
There are many legends of towns
and countries submerged beneath the waves, but the legend of the
lost land of Lyonesse is possibly the most famous. Lyonesse, we
are told, was once a country beyond Land's End that boasted fine
cities and 140 churches; then, on November 11th 1099 a great
storm blew up and the marauding sea swept over it, drowning the
luckless inhabitants and submerging the kingdom beneath the waves, until
all that remained to view were the mountain peaks to the west, known
to us now as the Isles of Scilly. Only one man survived. His
name was Trevilian and he rode a white horse up to high ground
at Perranuthnoe before the waves could overwhelm him.
A 16th century writer tells us that Land's End once stretched
far to the west with a watchtower at the farthest point to guide
sailors. The rocks known as the Seven Stones were believed to be
the remains of a great city, called "The Town" by sailors, who
told of dragging up window, doors and other domestic items in
their nets. They also related how they had heard the church
bells of Lyonesse ringing beneath the waves.
As late as the 1930's a journalist from the News Chronicle, Stanley
Baron, was awoken in the night by the muffled ringing of bells
and was told by his hosts that he had heard the bells of LYONESSE. Â
former mayor of Wilton, Edith Oliver, claimed she had twice seen
towers, domes, spires and battlements beneath the waves whilst
standing on the cliffs at Lands End. It is a rough and rocky sea
and many a mariner has met his doom there, so it is not hard to
believe that, like most legends, there is an element of truth in
it.
THE LAKE OF THE LADY
Dozmary Pool is a natural
moorland lake situated to the south of Bolventor on Bodmin Moor. Once
it was home of ancient man, who has left remnants of his
presence in the shape of hut circles and other prehistoric remains. Local
folk long believed that the strange, mysterious Pool was
bottomless and had a whirlpool in the centre. It is hardly surprising, then, that
it has become an integral part of two major Cornish legends.
John Tregagle, the evil disciple of the Devil was doomed to bail
out the endless waters of Dozmary Pool with a leaking limpet
shell for eternity, in penance for his crimes. It was into the
depths of Dozmary pool, too, so legend tells us, that King
Arthur's sword Excalibur was cast by his loyal lieutenant Sir
Bedivere on the orders of the dying King. A hand and arm rose up
from the surface of the lake, clad in the white samite, caught
the sword and drew it underneath.
RALPH'S CUPBOARD
Legends of fierce giants abound
in Cornwall, but surely one of the fiercest and most wicked was
the giant known as Wrath of Portreath. Wrath lived in a huge cavern, known
as his "cupboard" where he would lie in wait for
passing ships, wade out into the sea and attack them, killing
the sailors with a single blow from his huge fingers. Then he
would carefully select the better specimens for supper and, tying
the ships up to his belt he would tow his booty back to his cave. Even
those who warily sailed by at what they thought was a safe
distance were in danger. Wrath would fling huge rocks onto them
from high up on the cliff and these are still visible today when
the tide is low, forming a deadly reef that stretches from
Godrevy Head.
St.Ives sailors avoided the "cupboard" at all costs, swearing
that nothing that went into it ever came out again.
Some years ago it lost it's roof and became an open gorge with
the sea flowing into it at high tide, but Ralph's Cupboard, as
it is now known, is still one of the more spectacular-if no
longer terrifying-sights along the cliffs at Portreath.
THE MERMAID OF ZENNOR
The bleak and windswept slopes of
the Penwith Peninsular have a strange, mystical charm. To see
the great towering granite crags and weird formations of
boulders is to almost believe in legends of giants, knockers, fairies
- and mermaids.
The tiny village of Zennor nestles in among the gorse and
granite some 5 miles from St.Ives and boasts legends of its own. Men
of Zennor once built a hedge around the first cuckoo of spring, to
try and preserve the season forever. Witches Rock, close by, is
said to be a Midsummer's Eve rendezvous for practitioners of the
Black Arts, but the legend which has made Zennor known far and
wide is that of the mermaid.
Once, centuries ago, young Matthew Trewhella was the finest
singer in the village and a chorister in the church. One day a
beautiful young woman in a long dress, a stranger in the village, came
to sit at the back of the church to hear him sing. She came often, until
one evening she lured him away to the stream which runs through
the village and thence down to Pendower Cove. Neither Matthew
nor the lady were never seen again.
Then some years later, a mermaid hailed a ship in the cove, asking
the captain to remove his anchor which was resting on the door
of her house beneath the waves as she wanted to return to her
husband, Mathey and their children. The captain made full speed
for St.Ives, for mermaids are said to be unlucky to mariners, and
when he related his story local folk had little doubt this was
the very same stranger who had lured young Matthew away. It is
said that on a warm Summer's evening, if you sit near what is
now known as Mermaid Cove you may hear the young lovers singing
beautifully beneath the waves.
The townsfolk had her image carved into a bench end and you may
see her still in the village church of St.Senara, her hair flowing, mirror
in one hand and comb in the other, cut into the ancient wood
upon the belt was the verse: "This is the valiant
Cornishman.
