The Myths, Legends and Literature of Bodmin Moor

The wild uplands of the British Isles have always inspired stories; rocky crags, bottomless bogs and thick dense mists all add that something special to a tale told around a fireside, be it in a medieval longhouse, or through the latest Hollywood blockbuster. They are the places where the little people live, where the Devil hides, where young married couples get lost on their wedding night, where large black dogs run free and where tortured lovers meet.

Over the years Bodmin Moor has inspired many a story and once you have visited the area you will soon realise why. The oldest tales would have been handed down through the generations, passed from storyteller to storyteller as they journeyed around the county. Tales of giants who lived on the summits of Cornish hills, throwing stones at the other giants, resulting in the stone covered tors we visit today. Changelings, ugly babies of pixies swapped with pretty human babies whilst the family slept, tales of witchcraft and ghosts, and always tales of the Devil.

Many of these tales had morals or prayed on the superstitions of the country people. The story of The Hurlers stone circle at Minions being made up of people who were turned to stone because they played games on the Sabbath instead of going to church can be found in different guises all over the county and beyond. Hurling is a Cornish game similar to rugby without the rules. It is still played on certain days in two Cornish towns, St Columb and St Ives, where teams from town and country go up against each other in a battle to get a silver ball into the others goal. Just away from the Hurlers stand the Pipers, two more standing stones supposedly the remains of the musicians who played whilst the villagers hurled.

A short walk north of the Hurlers brings one to the Cheesewring, a natural tower of balanced stones. Legend has it that if you are beside the stones at midnight and you hear a cock crow the top stone will revolve several times. It was also thought by many until fairly recently, that these natural rock formations had originally been built by druids.

If bad luck and superstition were used to stop people from doing ungodly things, then wondrous acts were used to get them to worship. All around Bodmin Moor the visitor can discover churches dedicated to Saints who performed far-fetched feats. St Nunn, the Saint at Altarnun, supposedly the mother of St David, is said to have crossed the sea from Brittany to Cornwall on a stone. St Neot is said to have been only 15 inches high and bathed everyday in a well, lived on a diet of one fish a day, and built a rectangular pound in which to enclose the crows of the area whilst the farmers were at church.

Far fetched perhaps, but they are stories that have lasted hundreds of years. As have the tales surrounding King Arthur. Whether there ever was such a man is open to question but his legend has, and still does, bring many to Bodmin Moor. As early as the 12th century the moor was being linked to Arthur in literature, and King Arthurs Hall, on the moors west of St Breward, was appearing on maps as early as 1610. But it is to Dozmary Pool that most visitors now head. This small lake, high on the moor near Bolventor, is said to be bottomless, and more importantly said to be the lake where Arthur was brought as he was dying and into which he ordered Sir Bedivere to throw the sword Excaliber. But of all the Arthurian legends this is possibly the most recent and comes about through guidebook writers in the Victorian age, not some long lost text translated by mediaeval poets.

The pool is also linked to the legends of Jan Tregeagle, a steward at Lanhydrock House near Bodmin in the 17th century. After various misdemeanours including robbing his master of land and charging his tenants extortionate rents he was sentenced to death. Even after death he was tormented, and amongst various sentences that his ghost was given, was one to empty Dozmary Pool with a leaking limpet shell. It is also said his ghost can be seen running across the moors pursued by the Devils hounds in a vain attempt to reach the safety of Roche Rock.

Just up the road from Dozmary Pool is possibly the most visited place on the moor, Jamaica Inn. It owes its fame to the novel published in 1936 by author Daphne Du Maurier. She had found herself lost whilst out riding on the moor and ended up staying the night at what was at the time a Temperance Hotel. Her novel is set in the days when Cornwall was a hot bed for smugglers and tells of rogues and ruffians hiding out in the heart of the moor. Like the original moorland stories, it describes a landscape rugged and wild, where the mists come down quickly and the wind always blows.

In recent times the moor has been the setting for novels by the writer EV Thompson. His "Chase the Wind" was Historical Novel of the year in 1977 and tells the tale of families living around the Minions area in the early 19th century, as copper mining took off and soon changed the landscape forever.

Both Du Maurier and Thompson drew inspiration from the landscape and folklore all around them, and weaved it in amongst the history of the moor. Du Maurier wrote that the moors had "a fascination unlike any other, they are a survival from another age". That other age is still to be seen and still inspires, and with "Jamaica Inn", Du Maurier created a new legend. Visitors now think of the moor as the haunt of smugglers; a wild, windy desolate wilderness. It may no longer be inhabited by piskies, pixies and giants, but it still evokes the feeling that it could be...

For a more detailed introduction to the myths and legends of Bodmin Moor, why not order our excellent new book "An Introduction to Bodmin Moor" by Mark Camp!