Legends of Parishes, etc. 7 1 of the pixies. Woe to the unhappy person who may be there after night-fall : they will lead him round and round, and he may be hours before he manages to get out of the place away from his tormentors. Here more than once fortunate persons have seen "the small people " too, at their revels, and their eyes have been dazzled by the sight of their wonderful jewels ; but if they have ever managed to secrete a few, behold next morning they were nothing but withered leaves, or perhaps snail-shells. " Sennen Cove was much frequented by mermaids. This place was also resorted to by a remarkable spirit called the Hooper — from the hooping, or hooting sounds it was accustomed to make. In old times, according to tradition, a compact cloud of mist often came in from over the sea, when the weather was by no means foggy, and rested on the rocks called Cowloc, thence it spread itself like a cur- tain of cloud quite across Sennen Cove. By night a dull light was mostly seen amidst the vapour, with sparks ascending as if a fire ■ burned within it : at the same time hooping sounds were heard pro- ceeding therefrom. People believed the misty cloud shrouded a spirit, which came to forewarn them of approaching storms, and that those who attempted to put to sea found an invisible force — seem- ingly in the mist — to resist them. A reckless fisherman and his son, however, disregarding the token, launched their boat and beat through the fog with a "threshal" (flail); they passed the cloud of mist which followed them, and neither the men nor the hooper were ever more seen in Sennen Cove. This is the only place in the county where any tradition of such a guardian spirit is preserved." — Bottrell. The same author tells a story of a reputed astrologer called Dionysius Williams, who lived in Mayon, in Sennen, a century ago. He found his furze-rick was diminishing faster than it ought, and discovered by his art that some women in Sennen Cove were in the habit of taking it away at night. The very next night, when all honest folks should be in bed, an old woman from the Cove came as was her wont to his rick for a " burn "* of furze. She made one of
- Bum, a load, a burden.
