NATURAL PHENOMENON IN CORNWALL. In the parish of Saint Austle there is a singular phenomenon, which seems to have mightily puzzled the wits of the good neighbourhood, and in earlier times would certainly have given rise to some legend of Robin Goodfellow, or of hidden treasures. In the present day folks having grown wiser, or less imaginative, are contented to wonder at what they cannot comprehend. The phenomenon in question is the appearance of a light near the turnpike road at Hill-Head, about three quarters of a mile west of the town. In the summer it is not often visible, dry weather being most probably incompatible with the causes of the meteor; but in the winter, and more particularly in the months of November and December, scarcely a dark night passes, in which it may not be seen. Its appearance is that of a small flame, of a yellowish hue, and for the most part stationary; even when moving, it wanders very little from its usual spot, but alternately rises and descends over the same place. As it has existed from time immemorial, it has at length become so familiar to the people of the vicinity as to excite no attention, but at one period many attempts were made to discover its cause and nature, though without success. On approaching the spot where according to previous observation it should be, the flame invariably became invisible to the enquirer, even while remaining perfectly luminous to those who watched it at a distance. A level was then taken during its appearance, by which the curious were guided in their researches, and still the phenomenon was pronounced to be as great a mystery as ever. There can be little doubt, however, notwithstanding its stationary character, that it was neither more nor less than a Will-o'-the-Wisp, and produced by the same causes, even though the soil was not actually marshy. POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS. DEVONSHIRE.-If a man or woman has been injured by a scald or burn then shall the charmer place her hand gently on her heart, and in a soft voice shall say— "Three angels came from the north, east, and west; So out, fire; and in frost; In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." It is supposed, however, by the lower orders, who put great faith in the charm, that it would lose all its efficacy if it were once to get into a printed book. To prevent so grievous a mishap, the secret is orally handed down from one to another, the most legitimate and approved way being, that it should be communicated by a man to a woman, and by a woman to a man. But this last rule is not always attended to, nor is the virtue of the charm held to be affected even though it were imparted without the opposition of the sexes. Many other old superstitions are still to be found amongst the lower classes of the Devonians, who a few years since clung with remarkable tenacity to the feelings and customs of their forefathers. The cuckoo with them was, and I believe still is, an ominous bird; and to hear him for the first time on the left hand is a marvellous sign of ill luck. They imagine too that the King's Evil may be cured by kissing seven virgins, daughters of the same mother, for seven days consecutively. But the most curious of their general superstitions is that of the Glass Rod, which they set up in their houses and wipe clean every morning, under the idea that all diseases from malaria, as well as other contagious maladies will gather about the rod innoxiously. It is twisted, in the form of a walking stick, and is from four to eight feet long. They can seldom be persuaded to sell it, and if it gets broken they augur that misfortune will ere long befall some one in the cottage where it has been set up. Others of their superstitions are peculiar to certain families. Such for instance is the popular legend attached to the family of the Oxenhams at Newhouse, according to which every decease amongst its members is prognosticated by the appearance of a white-breasted bird, that flutters awhile about the bed of the sick person, and then suddenly disappears. This is particularly noticed by Howell in his "Familiar Letters," in which may be found the following monumental inscription. "Here lies John Oxenham, a goodly young man, in whose chamber, as he was struggling with the pangs of death, a bird with a white breast was seen fluttering about his bed, and so vanished." The same circumstance is related of his sister, Mary, and of two or three others of the family. Cheshire. A superstition, not very dissimilar to the above, still obtains amongst the peasantry about Brereton. Adjoining to Brereton, the seat of the family of that name, there is a pool wherein the trunks of trees are seen to swim for certain days together, before the death of any heir of that house; and after the heir is dead, they sink, and are never more seen 'till the next occasion of the same * kind. But in truth this kind of forewarnings appear to have been very common; Burton tells us that, "diverse ancient families in England are forwarned of their deaths by oaks bearing strange leaves."t Surrey. (Oral).—On the high road between Buckland and Reigate the devil is popularly believed to amuse himself with dancing, sometimes in the shape of a dog, and at others in that of a donkey. Contrary to the received notion that all spirits, and particularly evil spirits, dread the water, the site of these terpsichorean exhibitions is a bridge, which crosses a little rill, and every effort made to dislodge him has hitherto proved ineffectual. He has been shot at repeatedly, but his Satanic Majesty turned out as might have been expected altogether bullet-proof. One old fellow, who was bolder than his neighbours, then ventured near enough to run a pitch-fork through him, but still he danced on as merrily as ever, steel evidently producing no more effect than ball and powder had done. Some unbelievers, however, who have a wonderful propensity for explaining everything by natural causes, have hinted at the presence of marshy grounds in the neighbourhood as being likely enough to have originated certain meteoric illusions, which by the usual process of exaggeration might grow into a dancing devil. It can not be denied that as great miracles have been built upon no better foundations; but for all that the people choose to believe their own eye-sight, and will not give up their BUCKLAND HAG, as they call this apparition, iet philosophy say what it pleases. Surrey and Kent (Oral).—In both these counties every * See Burton's Admirable Curiosities, p. 24, 12mo. London. 1737. + Id. p. 31. These superstitions, which are marked Oral, have been picked up by myself amongst the peasantry; the reader therefore must judge for himself how far it may be right to put his faith in them. |