And The Elder Said...

We are from Devonshire and here is a little to wet your appetite!Devon has a host of folklore, and the tales go well beyond the famous rhyme of 'Widecombe Fair', with many being tales about pixies, and others about the Devil, the wild hunt, wisht hounds, and sacred groves.Pixies have the reputation for being mischievious, and if they are not paid the appropriate respect, or given the appropriate gift, woe betide you. Perhaps the most common tales involve pixies leading people astray on Dartmoor (being Pixy-led), which with the moorland bogs and changeable weather can very easily become a matter of life and death. One way to avoid being pixy-led is to turn your coat inside-out. However pixies are not always malicious, and if left water they are sometimes reputed to leave gifts.Dartmoor and Exmoor are also the home of the dreaded 'wisht hounds' (black dogs with baleful red eyes) who at the bequest of Dewer (the Devil or the leader of the wild hunt), hunt down unbaptised souls and sinners.The Devil himself appears a number of times in Devon Folklore, more frequently than in most other parts of Britain. The Dewerstone (near Shaugh Bridge) is reputed to be the site where footprints (one set cloven, another human) left in the snow showed where the Devil guided a lost traveller over the cliff edge in a blizzard. The wisht hounds are also reputed to have driven people over the edge of the Dewerstone.Here 'Widecombe Fair' is worth a mention, for beneath its comic tale of people on horseback, it is believed that the grey mare represents the taking of the souls to the Devil.Of course, one of the more famous 'legends' is that of Drake's Drum, and it is said that in England's hour of need, when Devon's shores are threatened, the beating of his drum will bring Drake back to join the fray.If you do enjoy - then check out :http://www.soundclick.com/andtheeldersaid