Baba Indaba Children's Stories 261 - TWO CORNISH LEGENDS - THE SPECTRE COACH and ST. NEOT, THE PIGMY SAINT

ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 261 In this 261st issue of the Baba Indaba’s Children's Stories series, Baba Indaba narrates the Cornish legends of “THE SPECTRE COACH and ST. NEOT, THE PIGMY SAINT.” In THE SPECTRE COACH, Baba Indaba tells of the parson of Talland, a quaint little sea-village near Looe, who was a singular man named Dodge. Parson Dodge's reputation was that of being able to lay ghosts to rest and command evil spirits. Although the country folk were rather terrified of their vicar, they had the utmost faith in his powers. As it happened that the good folk of Lanreath, a few miles away, were suffering severely from a wild spirit that frequented the high moor in their parish. It was said that the ghost was that of an avaricious landowner who had wasted his fortune in lawsuits, attempting unjustly to seize a wide stretch of common-land from the villagers. Disappointment had killed him, but in the spirit world he could find no rest, for he used to return at nights to the land he had coveted, and drive wildly about in a black coach drawn by six sable, headless horses, much to the terror of the country folk. So the rector of Lanreath decided at last to appeal to Parson Dodge to come over and exorcise the wandering spirit. Well was Parson Dodge successful and was he able to give the villagers peace of mind? Well, you will have to download and read the story to find out! In our second story, Baba Indaba narrates the story of ST. NEOT, THE PIGMY SAINT. St Neot is reported to have lived in the 9th century as a monk in Cornwall. He is reported to have met King Alfred the Great and is mentioned in Bishop Asser's “Life of King Alfred”. He is thought to have died around AD 870. Herein are two legends of St Neot. Both are surely the strangest, for he was, so the old traditions…