A Gathering of Ghosts

by Karen Maitland

  In medieval times, pigseys were considered to be frightening and often malicious creatures, vengeful and quick to anger. They were thought to inflict painful illnesses on humans, and bring disasters and chaos to farms, families and livestock. Pigseys would disguise themselves as bundles of clothes or lumpy sacks to lure children close, then snatch them and carry them off into a pixy-house, from which either the children never returned or were found wandering, lost and bewildered, weeks or even years later, believing they had only been away for a few hours. A pixy-house is the local name for a deep crevice or hidden natural cave on the moors.

  Pigseys delighted in leading travellers into bogs and mires, known as pixy-beds, or sending them stumbling around, hopelessly lost, in the mist or snow until they died of exhaustion. Until the twentieth century, pixy-led was a term that conjured fear for it meant being completely lost and helpless. If you thought you were being pixy-led you could counter this by removing your coat or cloak and putting it on inside out to reverse the spell.

  There are many places associated with pigseys on Dartmoor, especially Sheepstor, which has a cave among the rocks known as Piskie Cave, Piskie Grott, or Elford’s Cave, so named because a member of the Elford family is said to have hidden from Cromwell’s troops in this pixy-house. It is believed that the cave was once much larger, but rock falls have destroyed or sealed part of it and made the existing entrance even narrower, though it is still possible to squeeze in if you are slender.

  Fire Tor

  There are a number of knocking caves or tors on Dartmoor, from which the sounds of tapping, whispering human voices, wailing, music and singing can be heard. So much so that people through the centuries have believed these tors either to be the abodes of ghosts or pigseys or the entrance to Purgatory. Many have thought there were people inside and were so convinced they went in to investigate, but found the caves empty. The sounds are probably made by the wind whistling through the many crevices, and from water dripping or running unseen among the rocks, which echoes through the granite stone and hollows.

  Holy Wells

  There are many healing or holy springs and pools all over Devon and Cornwall. Some are known as Bryde’s Well or Bride’s Well, and were once dedicated to the goddess Brigid. Since the medieval Church was powerless to stop local people continuing to make offerings at these ‘pagan’ sites for good fortune or for healing, many were renamed and dedicated to Christian saints, and stories were constructed to explain how the saint had caused the well to bubble up. These legends often incorporate elements taken from Celtic and other pre-Christian mythologies.

  The stone carving of the head or skull described in this novel, which lies behind the holy spring, was inspired by a carving that can be found on Sheepstor Church, Dartmoor; it has evidently been moved to the church from another site.

  Frogs

  In the Middle Ages, frogs were one of the creatures believed to be produced by spontaneous generation. This was thought true of a number of animals and insects whose juvenile form did not resemble the adult, such as flies, which were thought to be generated by corpses. Some people even advocated beating the corpses of calves to bring out the ‘blood maggots’, which would eventually turn into bees, while others said scornfully that this was foolish as it was well known bees were born from oxen, hornets from horses and wasps from the corpses of donkeys. Most were in agreement that frogs and toads were born from mud, not surprisingly because they would be seen in great numbers after rivers flooded in the spring.

  In many ancient cults, they were associated with goddesses and venerated as symbols of regeneration and fertility. There are a number of holy wells in Devon and Cornwall, such as the one in Bovey Tracey on Dartmoor, where legend has it that little golden frogs were seen swimming in the clear water. These golden frogs were a sign that the well had been blessed or become a healing well, thanks to an act of kindness by a villager towards a beggar woman they had encountered. Originally, she was the goddess Brigid in disguise, in later centuries the Virgin Mary. But, like owls which were once sacred to ancient goddesses, when Christianity spread and the goddesses were demonised, owls became symbols of death, and frogs became symbols of evil because they sprang from mud and filth.

  The passage quoted in the novel is from the New Testament, the Book of Revelation 16:13 – And I saw from the mouth of the dragon and from the mouth of the beast and from the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are the spirits of devils. This verse also made frogs a symbol of heresy in the Middle Ages because they come ‘from the mouth of the false prophet’.

  In the later Middle Ages and during the witch trials of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, frogs were one of the animals that witches and sorcerers were most frequently accused of having as their familiars or imps of Satan to aid them in their spells and to spy on their neighbours. Lucifer and three of his imps are said to dwell in the form of frogs in Frog Well, Acton Burnell. While the imps are often seen mocking those who look into the water, the devil, true to his wicked nature, cunningly conceals himself, waiting to do mischief.

  In the days of damp houses and wells, it must have been only too easy to discover a frog hiding somewhere in the home or garden of the alleged witch, and frogs would certainly have been seen in the sodden dungeons into which the accused were thrown. What more proof did you need that the ‘witch’ had been whispering to one of the devil’s imps?

  Black Hounds

  The legends about the packs of wisht hounds that hunt the moors are unlike those of early accounts of the solitary ‘Black Dog’ or ‘Black Shuck’, which often appeared on isolated roads turning travellers back from danger and may have a different origin.

  The talbot, or Norman hound, was brought to Britain with the Norman Conquest. It was a hunting dog bred for speed, strength and stamina, and was probably the size and build of the modern bloodhound. The Norman hound was a crossbreed, and one of the strains used in the cross was the Hubert, a huge black hound bred in the monastery of St Hubert in the Ardennes. They were so sought after as hunting dogs that they were presented as gifts to royalty. Huberts had ‘red’ patches over the eyes, and if some of these dogs, or strains bred from them, escaped and turned feral, hunting in packs, they might have contributed to the legends of the terrifying hellhounds or wisht hounds of Dartmoor, with their black coats and ‘red’ eyes. See also Glossary – Wisht Hounds.

  Glossary

  Agasted – a medieval word meaning afraid or terrified. It is still used in Devonshire dialect today.

  Ankow, Ankou or Ankuo – was a legendary medieval figure found in many areas that had once been Celtic lands; belief in him in some parts continued right up to the last century. He was the servant or bondsman of Death, and was thought to be the last person to die in the parish in the previous year. Other legends say he was a prince who had foolishly challenged Death to a contest to catch a magical stag and lost, or that he was Cain who had slain his brother Abel and was doomed to collect souls as a punishment for bringing murder into the world.

  Ankow was responsible for guarding the graveyard and collecting up the souls of all who died in that parish throughout the following year. He was sometimes thought to ride a black or skeleton horse, or drive a black cart. He guided the souls of the newly dead and helped them find the spirit paths, or lych-ways, along which they must travel. Ankow announced his arrival by a mysterious knocking sound or by an eerie wail or the call of an owl. Once he entered a cottage, he never left alone.

  In times of plagues and deadly fevers, when people often concealed sick loved ones for fear they would be taken away, Ankow was said to ride through the villages and towns at night, marking the doors of infected houses with a red sign. This could lead to families being walled up alive by frightened neighbours or even killed. It would be only too easy for someone to sneak out at night and mark the houses of those they suspected of being sick or against whom they held a grudge, and claim Ankow had done it.

  Bait – dialect
word meaning to feed a fire and also to be in a fiery mood or bad temper.

  Blow-in – a derogatory name for an outsider, a newcomer, someone who was not born in the area or village.

  Brideog – a crude doll made from twisted rushes or straw, representing the goddess Brigid. For further details see Historical Notes – Brigid.

  Buddle – a rectangular surface or shallow trough with a sloping base used in tin streaming. Crushed gravel would be tipped in and washed with water. The heavy tin ore, the heads, would settle near the top of the slope. The lighter worthless material or gangue, known as the tailings, would settle at the bottom, or be washed off the buddle, and the mixed stone, the middles, would settle between. Heads produced the best quality tin, middles could also be used, but would need to be smelted twice, and the tailings were discarded. The skill lay in spotting where to draw the line between each.

  Changeling children – with many medieval villagers living in small isolated communities, constant intermarriage between the same families for generations could result in children born with genetic problems. If these were serious enough to be spotted at birth, the newborn might be exposed out on the moors and left to die. But when a child who seemed healthy at birth later began to look, behave or develop in ways that were different from the other village children, it was said that the faerie folk had stolen the human baby and left their own offspring in its place. Parents were advised that if they beat or mistreated the changeling or even pretended to throw the child on the fire, the faeries would snatch it back and return their human baby. Other, kinder, remedies were for the parent to do something ridiculous, like boil water in an egg shell, which would startle the changeling baby into speaking and betraying its real parents, who would then be forced to return for it.

  Chollers – Devonshire dialect word meaning cheeks.

  Citramer – the Hospitallers’ origin and spiritual heart lay in the Holy Land, and when that was lost, in Rhodes. So, no matter which nation they were from or where they served, they referred to the Holy Land or Rhodes as being Citramer or home, whereas their priories in England and mainland Europe were Outremer meaning overseas.

  Clooties (also spelt cloutie or cloughtie) – These were rags or strips of cloth torn from the garments of people who were sick or seeking good luck that were dipped in the holy wells, then tied to a nearby bush or tree, especially a thorn or oak. The affected part of the body might first be washed using the wet rag, before the clootie was hung in the tree. If someone couldn’t visit the holy well themselves, a relative might bring a clootie for them. Some people regarded the clootie as an offering to the goddess or spirit of the water, in which case the rag would be torn from a garment they valued.

  In other cases, the intention was to transfer the sickness or bad luck to the clootie and leave the ill-fortune at the well, in which case the rag might be torn from a garment they hated or associated with the start of their illness or misfortune. As the rag disintegrated or eventually blew away, the ailment would vanish. If anyone removed a clootie belonging to someone else they would risk that person’s illness or ill-fortune passing to them.

  Even when a holy well was rededicated to a Christian saint the practice continued and it still does today, along with the custom of throwing coins (silver) into wells or fountains as offerings to the gods or spirits for good luck or to make a wish come true.

  Cracky-wren or Crackety – are Devonshire dialect names for a wren. Some claim that they refer to the bird’s tiny size, others that they derive from another of its dialect names, Crackadee, which imitates the sound of a wren’s alarm call. The wrens’ song is said to contain more notes than any other birdsong. This, together with the wrens’ habit of nesting in caves and tombs, was the reason people believed the bird carried messages between our world and the world of the spirits or the dead.

  Crockern – See Wisht Hounds.

  Cross and Pile – a popular gambling game played by all classes, which today is known as ‘heads or tails’. Two players each chose a side of a coin and bet on their chosen side landing uppermost when the coin was flipped in the air. In the Middle Ages, the game was known as ‘cross and pile’ because one side of a medieval coin was stamped with a cross or a Christian symbol.

  Hammered coins were produced by placing a metal disc of a certain weight between two patterned dies, then striking the upper die with a hammer to stamp the pattern on the coin. The bottom die was called a pile, and by extension the reverse side of the coin, which became imprinted with the bottom die’s pattern, also became known as the pile or pyl.

  King Edward II was so fond of cross and pile that he was said to have borrowed money from courtiers and even his servants to keep playing.

  Cross formée – a Greek cross with four slightly fluted arms or the thicker version – a cross pattée – appears the most likely to be the version of the cross that the Knights of St John had emblazoned on the front of their surcoats and at the top of their left sleeves during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, since this is the type of cross most often depicted on their seals and in carvings on their buildings from the thirteenth century. The original cross used prior to this period was probably the patriarchal cross, which has two cross-bars. The now familiar eight-pointed Maltese Cross, still used today by the St John Ambulance, was probably not adopted until the sixteenth century. But in the early history of this order there were often variations in design between countries.

  Donats – wealthy lay men and women could become donats of the order of the Knights of St John, by making a single generous donation to the Hospitallers of money, land or property in exchange for spiritual benefits, while continuing to live as laity. Donats could be buried in Hospitaller graveyards and hoped their act of piety would shorten their time in Purgatory, particularly as the Knights of St John and their priests would remember them in their prayers and says masses for their souls.

  Donats had to pledge that if they ever decided to enter holy orders, they would join the Hospitallers. A number did so in old age, which enabled them to be cared for when they were frail. But some waited until they were on their deathbeds to become fully professed members of the order. Often husbands and wives would both become donats and mutually promise that if one died, the surviving spouse would make a full profession and enter the order rather than remarry, usually to ensure their estate was maintained intact for children of that marriage. A number of wills survive from this period which contain such provisions. But it was also accepted that many donats would never want to become fully professed.

  Duru – Old English word meaning door. A waxing gibbous moon was believed to be the doorway into other realms. It was a place between darkness and light, a time of beginnings. Different curses and charms were thought to be most effective when created at certain phases of a moon – waxing, waning, full or new – depending on what they were intended to do.

  Egurdouce – it meant sweet and sour. It was sauce used with a variety of meat, including hare, mutton and beef, and also fish. Meat such as rabbits’ legs and saddles were deep fried in lard, then laid in a dish and covered with fried onions and fried currants. A sauce of melted lard, red wine, vinegar, sugar, pepper, ginger, cinnamon and salt was made and seethed until it was thick, or thickened with egg yolks or breadcrumbs, then poured over the meat and served.

  Garderobe – this was a feature of religious houses or wealthy manors and castles. It was a tiny room enclosing a lavatory, often built on an upper storey projecting from an outer wall, so that waste would fall through the hole beneath the seat into a pit, moat or river. Its height made it harder for thieves or invaders to climb up through the hole. If it was built in the middle of a complex on the ground floor in a monastery, a stream of water would usually be diverted from a nearby river to run beneath it and carry off the waste. Clothes were often hung in garderobes as the stench of urine and excrement was said to keep away moths.

  Gleedy – the character’s nickname is derived from gleed, an old word meaning a squint.r />
  Graffing – ancient dialect word meaning digging.

  Hag-stones – small holed stones or pebbles, which were thought to guard against evil. Hung on the back of a door, they prevented the entry of evil spirits or witches. Hung over a bed, they guarded against illnesses and nightmares. If a key was attached to them, the combination of the stone and iron was thought to be a powerful amulet against bad luck and protected the house from thieves. Many holed stones can still be found on doors in houses and barns today, and are still hung on key rings.

  Hare’s beard – one of the many old country names for mullein (verbascum). It was called this because the plant is covered with white hairs. When dried, it could be used as kindling and as candle wicks or tapers, hence other names such as hag-taper and Our Lady’s candle. Witches were said to use mullein in their spells and it may be one of the nine herbs referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Nine Herbs Charm, but the plant was also thought to be very effective in warding off demons and night terrors. The juice was believed to remove warts and the leaves and flowers were infused to make a cough, cold and bronchitis remedy.

  Horn gesture – this was made by tucking your two middle fingers under your thumb, while extending your index and little finger, like two horns, towards the person or object you feared. It was used to ward off evil, especially to protect against sorcery, or defend you from those you thought might be ‘overlooking’ you with the evil eye.

  Imbolc – is Brigid’s Day, celebrated around 31 January to 2 February, approximately midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The origin of the word Imbolc is disputed. Some authorities claim it comes from the Old Irish meaning in the belly, and refers to the pregnancy of ewes. Other sources state that it meant to ritually wash or cleanse and some link the origin of the word to milk, particularly ewe’s milk. During the Middle Ages, many of the traditions, images and beliefs associated with Imbolc became merged with the Christian festival of Candlemas on 2 February, which celebrated the ritual purification or cleansing of the Virgin Mary, forty days after the birth of Christ. See also Historical Notes – Brideog and Brigid’s Cross.