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92-472: A pixie (also called pisky , pixy , pixi , pizkie , piskie , or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon ) is a mythical creature of British folklore . Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name. However, the word 'pixie' (under various forms) also appears in Dorset , Somerset and to

184-588: A folk music tradition that has survived into the present and is well known for its unusual folk survivals such as Mummers Plays , the Furry Dance in Helston played by the famous Helston Town Band , and Obby Oss in Padstow . Newlyn is home to a food and music festival that hosts live music, cooking demonstrations, and displays of locally caught fish. The Three Little Pigs The phrases used in

276-416: A bundle of rags to lure children. The pixies of Dartmoor are fond of music, dancing, and riding on Dartmoor colts . These pixies are generally said to be helpful for humans, sometimes helping needy widows and others with housework. They are not completely benign, however, as they have a reputation for misleading travellers known as being "pixy-led", and it can be cured by turning a coat inside-out. In some of

368-468: A circle that had appeared upon the turf until one of them, named Omfra, lost his laugh. After searching amongst the barrows of the ancient kings of Cornwall on St Breock Downs , he wades through the bottomless Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor until his laugh is restored by King Arthur in the form of a Chough . In the legends associated with Dartmoor , pixies (or piskeys ) are said to disguise themselves as

460-535: A cross argent'). According to legend Saint Piran adopted these colours from seeing the white tin in the black coals and ashes during his discovery of tin. The Cornish flag is an exact reverse of the former Breton black cross national flag and is known by the same name " Kroaz Du ". Since the 19th century, Cornwall, with its unspoilt maritime scenery and strong light, has sustained a vibrant visual art scene of international renown. Artistic activity within Cornwall

552-525: A first language in the late 18th century. In the 20th and 21st centuries, it has been revived by a small number of speakers. It is closely related to the other Brythonic languages ( Breton and Welsh ), and less so to the Goidelic languages . Cornish has no legal status in the UK. There has been a revival of the language by academics and optimistic enthusiasts since the mid-19th century that gained momentum from

644-431: A house out of bricks , which the wolf fails to blow down. The wolf then attempts to meet the pig at a turnip field, an apple orchard, and a fair, but the pig always arrives early and avoids the wolf. Finally, the infuriated wolf resolves to come down the chimney , whereupon the pig lights a fire under a pot of water on the fireplace. The wolf falls in and is fatally boiled , avenging the death of his brothers. After cooking

736-416: A house out of straw , but the wolf blows it down and devours him. The second little pig builds a house out of sticks , but the result is the same. Each exchange between wolf and pig features ringing proverbial phrases, namely: "Little pig, little pig, let me come in." "No, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin." "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in." The third little pig builds

828-708: A large part of the Cornwall National Landscape . The national landscape also includes Bodmin Moor , an upland outcrop of the Cornubian batholith granite formation. The county contains many short rivers; the longest is the Tamar , which forms the border with Devon. Cornwall had a minor Roman presence, and later formed part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia . From the 7th century, the Britons in

920-668: A large urban centre in south west Devon, is an important location for services such as hospitals, department stores, road and rail transport, and cultural venues, particularly for people living in east Cornwall. Cardiff and Swansea , across the Bristol Channel, have at some times in the past been connected to Cornwall by ferry, but these do not operate now. The Isles of Scilly are served by ferry (from Penzance) and by aeroplane, having its own airport: St Mary's Airport . There are regular flights between St Mary's and Land's End Airport , near St Just, and Newquay Airport ; during

1012-554: A lesser extent in Sussex , Wiltshire and Hampshire . Similar to the Irish and Scottish Aos Sí (also spelled Aos Sidhe ), pixies are believed to inhabit ancient underground sites such as stone circles , barrows , dolmens , ringforts , or menhirs . In traditional regional lore, pixies are generally benign, mischievous, short of stature, and childlike; they are fond of dancing and wrestling outdoors, of which they perform through

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1104-605: A possible ancient Celtic forebear—such dwarfish sprites wore traditional hooded cloaks associated with the British and concealed phallic daggers. In the Christian era, they were sometimes said to be the souls of children who had died unbaptised (similar to the belief in Limbo ). These children would change their appearance to pixies once their clothing was placed in clay funeral pots used in their earthly lives as toys. A common idea in

1196-735: A raid from the Tamar to Land's End, and the end of Cornish independence. However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 825 (adjusted date) a battle took place between the Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) at Gafulforda . The Cornish giving battle here, and the later battle at Hingston Down, casts doubt on any claims of control Wessex had at this stage. In 838, the Cornish and their Danish allies were defeated by Egbert in

1288-628: A result, in 2005 its promoters received limited government funding. Several words originating in Cornish are used in the mining terminology of English, such as costean , gossan , gunnies , kibbal, kieve and vug . The Cornish language and culture influenced the emergence of particular pronunciations and grammar not used elsewhere in England. The Cornish dialect is spoken to varying degrees; however, someone speaking in broad Cornish may be practically unintelligible to one not accustomed to it. Cornish dialect has generally declined, as in most places it

1380-411: A set of bells, or bell ringers, to come from Wales, of whom were escorted by monks on their journey. The pixies were worried, as they knew that once the bells were installed it would be the death knell of their rule over the land. They cast a spell over the monks to redirect them from the road to Otteri to the road leading them to the cliff's edge at Sidmouth . Just as the monks were about to fall over

1472-428: A sort of weakness for finery exists among them, and a piece of ribbon appears to be... highly prized by them." Some pixies are said to steal children or lead travellers astray. This seems to be a blend from fairy mythology not originally attached to pixies; in 1850, Thomas Keightley noted that much of Devon pixie mythology may have originated from fairy myth. Pixies are said to reward consideration and punish neglect on

1564-551: A very infertile soil which covers the flat and marshy heaths of the interior of the peninsula. This is home to rare plants, such as the Cornish Heath , which has been adopted as the county flower . Cornwall's only city, and the home of the council headquarters , is Truro. Nearby Falmouth is notable as a port. St Just in Penwith is the westernmost town in England, though the same claim has been made for Penzance , which

1656-464: A war. The pixies were victorious and visit occasionally, whilst the fairies are said to have left after their loss. By the early 19th century, their contact with humans had diminished. In Samuel Drew ’s 1824 book Cornwall , Drew states: "The age of pixies, like that of chivalry , is gone. There is, perhaps, at present hardly a house they are reputed to visit. Even the fields and lanes which they formerly frequented seem to be nearly forsaken. Their music

1748-490: Is Samuel Minturn Peck . In his poem, "The Pixies", he writes: The late 19th-century English poet Nora Chesson summarised pixie mythology in a poem entitled "The Pixies". She gathered all the speculations and myths into verse: Have e’er you seen the Pixies, the fold not blest or banned? They walk upon the waters; they sail upon the land, They make the green grass greener where’er their footsteps fall, The wildest hind in

1840-742: Is a ceremonial county in South West England . It is recognised by Cornish and Celtic political groups as one of the Celtic nations , and is the homeland of the Cornish people . The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest urban area in the county is a conurbation that includes the former mining towns of Redruth and Camborne , and

1932-454: Is a high degree of local variation of names. In west Penwith , the area of late survival of the Cornish language , spriggans are distinguished from pixies by their malevolent nature, while knockers are distinct for their association with tin mining in Cornwall . Pixie mythology is believed to pre-date Christian presence in Britain. Romano-British Hooded Spirits genii cucullati are

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2024-403: Is by F. H. Davey Flora of Cornwall (1909). Davey was assisted by A. O. Hume and he thanks Hume, his companion on excursions in Cornwall and Devon, and for help in the compilation of that Flora, publication of which was financed by him. Cornwall has a temperate Oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfb ), with mild winters and cool summers. Cornwall has the mildest and one of

2116-594: Is documented in a dedicated online journal. Local television programmes are provided by BBC South West & ITV West Country . Radio programmes are produced by BBC Radio Cornwall in Truro for the entire county, Heart West , Source FM for the Falmouth and Penryn areas, Coast FM for west Cornwall, Radio St Austell Bay for the St Austell area, NCB Radio for north Cornwall & Pirate FM . Cornwall has

2208-426: Is larger. St Ives and Padstow are today small vessel ports with a major tourism and leisure sector in their economies. Newquay on the north coast is another major urban settlement which is known for its beaches and is a popular surfing destination, as is Bude further north, but Newquay is now also becoming important for its aviation-related industries. Camborne is the county's largest town and more populous than

2300-416: Is now little more than a regional accent and grammatical differences have been eroded over time. Marked differences in vocabulary and usage still exist between the eastern and western parts of Cornwall. Saint Piran 's Flag is the national flag and ancient banner of Cornwall, and an emblem of the Cornish people. The banner of Saint Piran is a white cross on a black background (in terms of heraldry 'sable,

2392-719: Is often used to refer to them collectively. Because of its location of origin, it is possible it comes from the Proto-Brythonic *bɨx, which has become bych, little, in Middle Welsh and bihan, in Breton. The change from b to p can be easily explained by a sandhi that occurs after the use of the old article or a pronoun. Very similar analogues exist in closely related Irish ( Aos Sí ), Manx ( Mooinjer veggey ), Welsh Tylwyth Teg ('Fair Family'), and Breton ( korrigan ) culture. Although their common names are unrelated, there

2484-574: Is rarely heard." Pixie Day is an old tradition which takes place annually in June at the East Devon town of Ottery St. Mary . The day commemorates a legend of pixies being banished from the town to local caves known as the "Pixie's Parlour". The Pixie Day legend originates from the early days of Christianity, when a local bishop decided to build a church in Otteri (Ottery St. Mary), and commissioned

2576-573: Is re-enacted each year by the Cub and Brownie groups of Ottery St. Mary, with a specially constructed Pixies' Parlour in the Town Square—the original Pixie's Parlour can be found along the banks of the River Otter . Pixies are described in folklore and fiction in various ways, most commonly as ill-clothed or naked. In 1890, William Crossing noted a pixie's preference for bits of finery: "Indeed,

2668-457: Is traced to immaterial and malignant spirit forces. In some discussions, pixies are presented as wingless, pygmy -like creatures. However, this is probably a later accretion to the mythology. One British scholar stated his belief that "Pixies were evidently a smaller race, and, from the greater obscurity of the ... tales about them, I believe them to have been an earlier race." Many Victorian-era poets saw pixies as magical beings. An example

2760-534: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum . In the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c. 1198 as Cornwal . Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia (first appears in a mid-9th-century deed purporting to be a copy of one dating from c. 705), and as Cornugallia in 1086. Cornwall forms the tip of the south-west peninsula of

2852-653: The A30 which connects Cornwall to the M5 motorway at Exeter , crosses the border south of Launceston , crosses Bodmin Moor and connects Bodmin, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle and Penzance. Torpoint Ferry links Plymouth with Torpoint on the opposite side of the Hamoaze . A rail bridge, the Royal Albert Bridge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1859), provides the other main land transport link. The city of Plymouth,

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2944-795: The Atlantic Bronze Age system, and which extended over most of the areas of present-day Ireland, England, Wales, France, Spain, and Portugal. During the British Iron Age , Cornwall, like all of Britain (modern England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man), was inhabited by a Celtic-speaking people known as the Britons with distinctive cultural relations to neighbouring Brittany . The Common Brittonic spoken at this time eventually developed into several distinct tongues, including Cornish , Welsh , Breton , Cumbric and Pictish . The first written account of Cornwall comes from

3036-511: The Battle of Hingston Down at Hengestesdune. In 875, the last recorded king of Cornwall, Dumgarth , is said to have drowned. Around the 880s, Anglo-Saxons from Wessex had established modest land holdings in the north eastern part of Cornwall; notably Alfred the Great who had acquired a few estates. William of Malmesbury , writing around 1120, says that King Athelstan of England (924–939) fixed

3128-733: The Bodmin Manumissions . One interpretation of the Domesday Book is that by this time the native Cornish landowning class had been almost completely dispossessed and replaced by English landowners, particularly Harold Godwinson himself. However, the Bodmin manumissions show that two leading Cornish figures nominally had Saxon names, but these were both glossed with native Cornish names. In 1068, Brian of Brittany may have been created Earl of Cornwall , and naming evidence cited by medievalist Edith Ditmas suggests that many other post-Conquest landowners in Cornwall were Breton allies of

3220-542: The Celtic Sea , part of the Atlantic Ocean, is more exposed and therefore has a wilder nature. The High Cliff , between Boscastle and St Gennys , is the highest sheer-drop cliff in Cornwall at 223 metres (732 ft). Beaches, which form an important part of the tourist industry, include Bude , Polzeath , Watergate Bay , Perranporth , Porthtowan , Fistral Beach , Newquay , St Agnes , St Ives , and on

3312-565: The Cornish language , Cornwall is Kernow which stems from the same Proto-Celtic root. Humans reoccupied Britain after the last Ice Age . The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then by Bronze Age people. Cornwall in the Late Bronze Age formed part of a maritime trading-networked culture which researchers have dubbed

3404-588: The Dumnonii often came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex . Centwine of Wessex "drove the Britons as far as the sea" in 682, and by 690 St Bonifice , then a Saxon boy, was attending an abbey in Exeter, which was in turn ruled by a Saxon abbot. The Carmen Rhythmicum written by Aldhelm contains the earliest literary reference to Cornwall as distinct from Devon. Religious tensions between

3496-515: The Dumnonii , three of which may have been in Cornwall. However, after 410 AD, Cornwall appears to have reverted to rule by Romano-Celtic chieftains of the Cornovii tribe as part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia (which also included present-day Devonshire and the Scilly Isles), including the territory of one Marcus Cunomorus , with at least one significant power base at Tintagel in

3588-532: The Industrial Revolution , the tin and copper mines were expanded and then declined, with china clay extraction becoming a major industry. Railways were built, leading to a growth of tourism in the 20th century. The Cornish language became extinct as a living community language at the end of the 18th century , but is now being revived. The modern English name "Cornwall" is a compound of two terms coming from two different language groups: In

3680-461: The Puck (Cornish Bucca ), a mythological creature sometimes described as a fairy; the name Puck (Irish: Púca , Welsh: Pwca ) is also of uncertain origin. The earliest published version of The Three Little Pigs story is from Dartmoor in 1853 and has three little pixies in place of the pigs. In older Westcountry dialect , modern Received Pronunciation letter pairs are sometimes transposed from

3772-457: The River Looe are both popular with tourists. The interior of the county consists of a roughly east–west spine of infertile and exposed upland, with a series of granite intrusions, such as Bodmin Moor , which contains the highest land within Cornwall. From east to west, and with approximately descending altitude, these are Bodmin Moor, Hensbarrow north of St Austell , Carnmenellis to

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3864-577: The constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula , and the southernmost county within the United Kingdom. Its coastline is characterised by steep cliffs and, to the south, several rias , including those at the mouths of the rivers Fal and Fowey . It includes the southernmost point on Great Britain , Lizard Point , and forms

3956-579: The county town is the city of Truro . The county is rural, with an area of 1,375 square miles (3,562 km ) and population of 568,210. Outside of the Redruth-Camborne conurbation the largest settlements are Falmouth , Penzance , Newquay , St Austell , and Truro. For local government purposes most of Cornwall is a unitary authority area, with the Isles of Scilly having a unique local authority . The Cornish nationalist movement disputes

4048-481: The sub-Roman Westcountry , South Wales, Brittany, the Channel Islands, and Ireland through the fifth and sixth centuries. In Cornwall, the arrival of Celtic saints such as Nectan , Paul Aurelian, Petroc , Piran , Samson and numerous others reinforced the preexisting Roman Christianity. The Battle of Deorham in 577 saw the separation of Dumnonia (and therefore Cornwall) from Wales, following which

4140-460: The "Cornish Riviera", is more sheltered and there are several broad estuaries offering safe anchorages, such as at Falmouth and Fowey . Beaches on the south coast usually consist of coarser sand and shingle, interspersed with rocky sections of wave-cut platform . Also on the south coast, the picturesque fishing village of Polperro , at the mouth of the Pol River, and the fishing port of Looe on

4232-424: The 1st-century BC Sicilian Greek historian Diodorus Siculus , supposedly quoting or paraphrasing the 4th-century BCE geographer Pytheas , who had sailed to Britain: The inhabitants of that part of Britain called Belerion (or Land's End) from their intercourse with foreign merchants, are civilized in their manner of life. They prepare the tin , working very carefully the earth in which it is produced ... Here then

4324-551: The AHS Heat Zone 1. Extreme temperatures in Cornwall are particularly rare; however, extreme weather in the form of storms and floods is common. Due to climate change Cornwall faces more heatwaves and severe droughts, faster coastal erosion, stronger storms and higher wind speeds as well as the possibility of more high-impact flooding. Cornish, a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic language family , died out as

4416-730: The Dartmoor area). The stannary courts administered equity for the region's tin-miners and tin mining interests, and they were also courts of record for the towns dependent on the mines. The separate and powerful government institutions available to the tin miners reflected the enormous importance of the tin industry to the English economy during the Middle Ages. Special laws for tin miners pre-date written legal codes in Britain, and ancient traditions exempted everyone connected with tin mining in Cornwall and Devon from any jurisdiction other than

4508-784: The Dumnonians (who celebrated celtic Christian traditions) and Wessex (who were Roman Catholic ) are described in Aldhelm's letter to King Geraint . The Annales Cambriae report that in AD 722 the Britons of Cornwall won a battle at "Hehil" . It seems likely that the enemy the Cornish fought was a West Saxon force, as evidenced by the naming of King Ine of Wessex and his kinsman Nonna in reference to an earlier Battle of Llongborth in 710. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle stated in 815 (adjusted date) "and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west." this has been interpreted to mean

4600-453: The Lizard peninsula is unusual, in that it is mainland Britain's only example of an ophiolite , a section of oceanic crust now found on land. Much of the peninsula consists of the dark green and red Precambrian serpentinite , which forms spectacular cliffs, notably at Kynance Cove , and carved and polished serpentine ornaments are sold in local gift shops. This ultramafic rock also forms

4692-704: The Normans, the Bretons being descended from Britons who had fled to what is today Brittany during the early years of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. She also proposed this period for the early composition of the Tristan and Iseult cycle by poets such as Béroul from a pre-existing shared Brittonic oral tradition. Soon after the Norman conquest most of the land was transferred to the new Breton–Norman aristocracy, with

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4784-575: The Phoenicians sailed to Cornwall. In fact, he says quite the opposite: the production of Cornish tin was in the hands of the natives of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organized by local merchants, by sea and then overland through France, passing through areas well outside Phoenician control." Isotopic evidence suggests that tin ingots found off the coast of Haifa , Israel , may have been from Cornwall. Tin, required for

4876-492: The Roman road system extended into Cornwall with four significant Roman sites based on forts: Tregear near Nanstallon was discovered in the early 1970s, two others were found at Restormel Castle , Lostwithiel in 2007, and a third fort near Calstock was also discovered early in 2007. In addition, a Roman-style villa was found at Magor Farm , Illogan in 1935. Ptolemy 's Geographike Hyphegesis mentions four towns controlled by

4968-618: The South West increasingly came into conflict with the expanding Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex , eventually being pushed west of the Tamar; by the Norman Conquest Cornwall was administered as part of England, though it retained its own culture. The remainder of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period were relatively settled, with Cornwall developing its tin mining industry and becoming a duchy in 1337. During

5060-635: The St Austell area on 1 April 2009 St Austell was the largest settlement in Cornwall. Cornwall borders the county of Devon at the River Tamar. Major roads between Cornwall and the rest of Great Britain are the A38 which crosses the Tamar at Plymouth via the Tamar Bridge and the town of Saltash , the A39 road (Atlantic Highway) from Barnstaple , passing through North Cornwall to end in Falmouth, and

5152-430: The Victorian era was that pixies were a folk memory of the Pictish people, but that has largely been disproven and is viewed in academia as Norse propaganda against the Picts This suggestion is still referenced in contemporary writing, but there is no proven connection, and the etymological basis is considered ambiguous. Some 19th-century researchers made more general claims about pixie origins, or have connected them with

5244-496: The boundary between English and Cornish people at the east bank of the River Tamar . While elements of William's story, like the burning of Exeter , have been cast in doubt by recent writers Athelstan did re-establish a separate Cornish Bishop and relations between Wessex and the Cornish elite improved from the time of his rule. Eventually King Edgar was able to issue charters the width of Cornwall, and frequently sent emissaries or visited personally as seen by his appearances in

5336-400: The cliff, one of the monks stubbed his toe on a rock and said "God bless my soul", breaking the spell. The bells were then brought to Otteri and installed. However, the pixies' spell was not completely broken; each year on a day in June, the "pixies" come out and capture the town's bell ringers, later imprisoning them in Pixies' Parlour to be rescued by the Vicar of Ottery St. Mary. This legend

5428-442: The coast and are also rare in the central upland areas. Summers are, however, not as warm as in other parts of southern England. The surrounding sea and its southwesterly position mean that Cornwall's weather can be relatively changeable. Cornwall is one of the sunniest areas in the UK. It has more than 1,541 hours of sunshine per year, with the highest average of 7.6 hours of sunshine per day in July. The moist, mild air coming from

5520-424: The county town Truro. Together with the neighbouring town of Redruth , it forms the largest urban area in Cornwall, and both towns were significant as centres of the global tin mining industry in the 19th century; nearby copper mines were also very productive during that period. St Austell is also larger than Truro and was the centre of the china clay industry in Cornwall. Until four new parishes were created for

5612-586: The early 6th century. King Mark of Cornwall is a semi-historical figure known from Welsh literature, from the Matter of Britain , and, in particular, from the later Norman-Breton medieval romance of Tristan and Yseult , where he appears as a close relative of King Arthur , himself usually considered to be born of the Cornish people in folklore traditions derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth 's 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae . Archaeology supports ecclesiastical, literary and legendary evidence for some relative economic stability and close cultural ties between

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5704-401: The forest comes at their call. They steal from bolted linneys, they milk the key at grass, The maids are kissed a-milking, and no one hears them pass. They flit from byre to stable and ride unbroken foals, They seek out human lovers to win them souls. The Pixies know no sorrow, the Pixies feel no fear, They take no care for harvest or seedtime of the year; Age lays no finger on them,

5796-489: The island of Great Britain , and is therefore exposed to the full force of the prevailing winds that blow in from the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline is composed mainly of resistant rocks that give rise in many places to tall cliffs. Cornwall has a border with only one other county, Devon , which is formed almost entirely by the River Tamar , and the remainder (to the north) by the Marsland Valley . The north and south coasts have different characteristics. The north coast on

5888-829: The land, and are forest creatures whom other wild creatures find alluring and non-threatening. They love humans, taking some for mates, and are nearly ageless. They are winged, flitting from place to place. The Pixie Day tradition in Samuel Taylor Coleridge ’s hometown of Ottery St Mary in East Devon was the inspiration for his poem " Songs of the Pixies ". The Victorian-era writer Mary Elizabeth Whitcombe divided pixies into tribes according to personality and deeds. The novelist Anna Eliza Bray suggested that pixies and fairies were distinct species. [REDACTED] Cornwall portal [REDACTED] Devon portal Cornwall Cornwall ( / ˈ k ɔːr n w ɔː l , - w əl / ; Cornish : Kernow ; Cornish pronunciation: [ˈkɛrnɔʊ] ; or [ˈkɛrnɔ] )

5980-417: The legends and historical accounts, they are presented as having an anthropomorphic stature. For instance, a member of the Elford family in Tavistock, Devon , successfully hid from Cromwell 's troops in a pixie house. Though the entrance has narrowed with time, the pixie house, a natural cavern on Sheep Tor , is still accessible. At Buckland St. Mary , Somerset, pixies and fairies are said to have been in

6072-401: The lion's share going to Robert, Count of Mortain , half-brother of King William and the largest landholder in England after the king with his stronghold at Trematon Castle near the mouth of the Tamar. Subsequently, however, Norman absentee landlords became replaced by a new Cornish-Norman ruling class including scholars such as Richard Rufus of Cornwall . These families eventually became

6164-457: The merchants buy the tin from the natives and carry it over to Gaul , and after traveling overland for about thirty days, they finally bring their loads on horses to the mouth of the Rhône. The identity of these merchants is unknown. It has been theorized that they were Phoenicians , but there is no evidence for this. Professor Timothy Champion, discussing Diodorus Siculus's comments on the tin trade, states that "Diodorus never actually says that

6256-475: The most important mining areas in Europe until the early 20th century. It is thought tin was mined here as early as the Bronze Age , and copper, lead, zinc and silver have all been mined in Cornwall . Alteration of the granite also gave rise to extensive deposits of China Clay , especially in the area to the north of St Austell, and the extraction of this remains an important industry. The uplands are surrounded by more fertile, mainly pastoral farmland. Near

6348-515: The myths and stories of Devon and Cornwall. Before the mid-19th century, the towns Cornwall and Devon had numerous cultural depictions of pixies and fairies. Books devoted to the homely beliefs of the peasantry were filled with incidents of pixie manifestations. Some locales were named for the pixies associated with them. In Devon, near Challacombe , a group of rocks were named after the pixies said to dwell there. At Trevose Head in Cornwall, 600 pixies were said to have gathered dancing and laughing in

6440-516: The new rulers of Cornwall, typically speaking Norman French , Breton-Cornish, Latin , and eventually English, with many becoming involved in the operation of the Stannary Parliament system, the Earldom and eventually the Duchy of Cornwall . The Cornish language continued to be spoken and acquired a number of characteristics establishing its identity as a separate language from Breton . The stannary parliaments and stannary courts were legislative and legal institutions in Cornwall and in Devon (in

6532-406: The night. In the modern era, they are usually depicted with pointed ears , often wearing a green outfit and pointed hat. Traditional stories describe them as wearing dirty, ragged bundles of rags, which they discard for gifts containing new clothes. In other depictions, their eyes are described as being pointed upwards at the outer end. These, however, are Victorian era conventions and not part of

6624-467: The older Saxon spelling ( waps for wasp, aks for ask, etc.) resulting in piskies in place of piksies (pixies) as commonly found in Devon and Cornwall in modern times. Until the advent of contemporary fiction, pixie mythology was mostly localised to Britain. Some have noted similarities to "northern fairies", Germanic and Scandinavian elves , or Nordic Tomte , but pixies are distinguished from them by

6716-501: The older mythology. The origin of the word pixie is uncertain. It could have come from the Swedish dialectal pyske , meaning 'small fairy '. Others have disputed this, given there is no plausible case for Nordic dialectal records in southwest Britain, claiming instead—in view of the Cornish origin of the piskie —that the term is more Celtic in origin, though no clear ancestor of the word is known. The term Pobel Vean (Little People)

6808-415: The part of larger humans, for which Keightley gives examples. By their presence, they bring blessings to those who are fond of them. Pixies are said to have a spiritual connection to horses, riding them for pleasure and making tangled ringlets in the manes of those horses. In mythology, pixies are sometimes said to be of human origin or to "partake of human nature", in distinction to fairies whose mythology

6900-483: The pigs nameless, Lang's retelling cast the pigs as Browny, Whitey, and Blacky. It also set itself apart by exploring each pig's character and detailing the interaction between them. The antagonist of this version is a fox, not a wolf. The pigs' houses are made either of mud, cabbage, or brick. Blacky, the third pig, rescues his brother and sister from the fox's den after the fox has been defeated. Writer Bruno Bettelheim , in his book The Uses of Enchantment , interprets

6992-512: The production of bronze , was a relatively rare and precious commodity in the Bronze Age – hence the interest shown in Devon and Cornwall's tin resources. (For further discussion of tin mining see the section on the economy below .) In the first four centuries AD, during the time of Roman dominance in Britain , Cornwall was rather remote from the main centres of Romanization – the nearest being Isca Dumnoniorum , modern-day Exeter . However,

7084-550: The publication in 1904 of Henry Jenner 's Handbook of the Cornish Language . It is a social networking community language rather than a social community group language. Cornwall Council encourages and facilitates language classes within the county, in schools and within the wider community. In 2002, Cornish was named as a UK regional language in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . As

7176-400: The reaper time goes by The Pixies, they who change not, nor grow old or die. The Pixies though they love us, behold us pass away, And are not sad for flowers they gathered yesterday, To-day has crimson foxglove. If purple hose-in-hose withered last night To-morrow will have its rose. Pixies are "in-between", not cursed by God or especially blessed. They do the unexpected, they bless

7268-784: The sculptor Barbara Hepworth , at the outbreak of the Second World War . They were later joined by the Russian emigrant Naum Gabo , and other artists. These included Peter Lanyon , Terry Frost , Patrick Heron , Bryan Wynter and Roger Hilton . St Ives also houses the Leach Pottery, where Bernard Leach , and his followers championed Japanese inspired studio pottery. Much of this modernist work can be seen in Tate St Ives . The Newlyn Society and Penwith Society of Arts continue to be active, and contemporary visual art

7360-584: The south coast Gyllyngvase beach in Falmouth and the large beach at Praa Sands further to the south-west. There are two river estuaries on the north coast: Hayle Estuary and the estuary of the River Camel , which provides Padstow and Rock with a safe harbour. The seaside town of Newlyn is a popular holiday destination, as it is one of the last remaining traditional Cornish fishing ports, with views reaching over Mount's Bay. The south coast, dubbed

7452-493: The south coast, deep wooded valleys provide sheltered conditions for flora that like shade and a moist, mild climate. These areas lie mainly on Devonian sandstone and slate . The north east of Cornwall lies on Carboniferous rocks known as the Culm Measures . In places these have been subjected to severe folding, as can be seen on the north coast near Crackington Haven and in several other locations. The geology of

7544-568: The south of Camborne , and the Penwith or Land's End peninsula. These intrusions are the central part of the granite outcrops that form the exposed parts of the Cornubian batholith of south-west Britain, which also includes Dartmoor to the east in Devon and the Isles of Scilly to the west, the latter now being partially submerged. The intrusion of the granite into the surrounding sedimentary rocks gave rise to extensive metamorphism and mineralisation , and this led to Cornwall being one of

7636-541: The southwest brings higher amounts of rainfall than in eastern Great Britain, at 1,051 to 1,290 mm (41.4 to 50.8 in) per year. However, this is not as much as in more northern areas of the west coast. The Isles of Scilly, for example, where there are on average fewer than two days of air frost per year, is the only area in the UK to be in the Hardiness zone 10. The islands have, on average, less than one day of air temperature exceeding 30 °C per year and are in

7728-609: The stannary courts in all but the most exceptional circumstances. Cornish piracy was active during the Elizabethan era on the west coast of Britain. Cornwall is well known for its wreckers who preyed on ships passing Cornwall's rocky coastline. During the 17th and 18th centuries Cornwall was a major smuggling area. In later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as "West Wales" to distinguish it from "North Wales" (the modern nation of Wales ). The name appears in

7820-423: The story is from Dartmoor , Devon , England in 1853, and has three little pixies and a fox in place of the three pigs and a wolf. The first pixy had a wooden house: "Let me in, let me in", said the fox. "I won't", was the pixy's answer; "and the door is fastened." The story begins with the title characters being sent out into the world by their mother, to "seek out their fortune". The first little pig builds

7912-891: The story, and the various morals drawn from it, have become embedded in Western culture . Many versions of The Three Little Pigs have been recreated and modified over the years, sometimes making the wolf a kind character. It is a type B124 folktale in the Thompson Motif Index . "The Three Little Pigs" was included in The Nursery Rhymes of England (London and New York, c.1886), by James Halliwell-Phillipps . The story in its arguably best-known form appeared in English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs , first published on June 19, 1890, and crediting Halliwell as his source. The earliest published version of

8004-500: The summer season, a service is also provided between St Mary's and Exeter Airport , in Devon. Cornwall has varied habitats including terrestrial and marine ecosystems. One noted species in decline locally is the Reindeer lichen , which species has been made a priority for protection under the national UK Biodiversity Action Plan . Botanists divide Cornwall and Scilly into two vice-counties: West (1) and East (2). The standard flora

8096-480: The sunniest climates of the United Kingdom, as a result of its oceanic setting and the influence of the Gulf Stream . The average annual temperature in Cornwall ranges from 11.6 °C (52.9 °F) on the Isles of Scilly to 9.8 °C (49.6 °F) in the central uplands. Winters are among the warmest in the country due to the moderating effects of the warm ocean currents, and frost and snow are very rare at

8188-409: The tale as a showcase of the capacity for anticipation and courage in the face of adversity, symbolized by the wolf. According to him, the individual who is content to prepare themself as the first two pigs will be destroyed by the vicissitudes of life, and only a person who builds a solid base can face such hazards. He viewed the tale as a means of telling children that one cannot always act according to

8280-663: The third pig's brick house turns out to be the only one which is adequate to withstand the wolf. Variations of the tale appeared in Uncle Remus : His Songs and Sayings in 1881. The story also made an appearance in Nights with Uncle Remus in 1883, both by Joel Chandler Harris , in which the pigs were replaced by Brer Rabbit . Andrew Lang included it in The Green Fairy Book , published in 1892, but did not cite his source. In contrast to Jacobs's version, which left

8372-401: The wolf, the pig proceeds to eat him for dinner. In some versions, the first two pigs escape to their brother's brick house. Most such versions omit any attempts by the wolf to meet the third pig after his failed attempt to blow the house in. Sometimes, the wolf simply burns his tail and runs away. The story uses the literary rule of three , expressed in this case as a "contrasting three", as

8464-491: Was initially centred on the art-colony of Newlyn , most active at the turn of the 20th century. This Newlyn School is associated with the names of Stanhope Forbes , Elizabeth Forbes , Norman Garstin and Lamorna Birch . Modernist writers such as D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf lived in Cornwall between the wars, and Ben Nicholson , the painter, having visited in the 1920s came to live in St Ives with his then wife,

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