The Piskey-Purse: Legends and Tales of North Cornwall

In Short

Enys Tregarthen gathers five legendary tales from the coastal hamlets and high moors of North and West Cornwall. Across coastal cliffs, mine-pitted downs, and ancient towns, coastal children and humble hearth-dwellers encounter Piskeys, Spriggans, sea-fairies, and malicious witches. Humans who display courage, generosity, and unselfish love earn the enduring favor of the Good Little People, while those driven by gold or cruelty are outwitted. Preserving regional folklore, dialect, and landscape, these interconnected stories have endured as a vivid monument to Cornish mythic memory and local storytelling traditions.

The Story

The volume opens at Polzeath Bay, where a poor child named Gerna finds a sealed leather pouch dropped over the cliff by the Little People. Inside dwells an imprisoned, tiny fairy princess who has been locked away by Hager, the cruel and hideous King of the Spriggans, because she refused to marry him. Though Gerna’s greedy Great-Grannie and brother Gelert demand she hand the purse over to the dark, money-loving Spriggans in exchange for a promised bag of gold, Gerna chooses mercy. Refusing the Spriggans' bribes and threats—even when trapped by an incoming tide in a cliff gash—Gerna carries the captive fairy safely across the dangerous bogs to the sacred Tolmen stone just before the new moon. There, the rescued fairy is reunited with her True Love, who has waited for a century disguised nearby as big Farmer Vivian.

On the lonely moorland near Carn Kenidzhek, a childless miner, Tom Trebisken, and his invalid wife, Joan, find an extraordinary tiny foster child named Ninnie-Dinnie, who arrives with a enchanted, shapeshifting vessel called the Magic Pail. As the years pass, Ninnie-Dinnie fills the pail with captured sunbeams from moorland pools to warm Joan’s failing eyes and uses its magic to thwart a shapeshifting hobgoblin known as the Skavarnak. When the creature and his monstrous offspring threaten the local moorland folk, Ninnie-Dinnie and Joan trap the long-eared pest within the Pail, forcing him under threat of being cooked into a miner's pasty to swear an oath to leave the moors untouched for five hundred years.

In ancient Padstow, the cruel Witch o' the Well steals six young girls named after the days of the week from their home. A devoted child named Betty, aided by a faithful white dog named Pincher, journeys up to Bogee Down to seek the help of a Wise Woman. To earn wings capable of scaling the witch’s magic stairs, Betty serves the Wise Woman for a year and a day without asking a single question, gathering fuel in bitter snowstorms, freeing the trapped Lady Soft Winds, and capturing the song of the grey thrush. With the help of the liberated air-fairies, Betty flies up the witch's tower, sings the song that strips the hag of her dark powers, and banishes her forever into the depths of her own well. Betty then leads all six missing children safely back through the cobbled streets of Padstow to their rejoicing parents.

In the final tales, a shy girl named Bessie Jane borrows the magical eyes and ears of a sea-fairy at Harlyn Bay, beholding secret miniature cattle, tiny herdsmen, and musical cliffside choir gatherings hidden from normal human eyes. Lastly, in the Vale of Lanherne, young William John ventures into a forbidden, enchanted orchard guarded by a phantom White Hare. By touching the golden blossoms and following the mysterious, silvery light, he breaks an ancient spell, transforming the phantom hare back into a maiden and walking hand-in-hand with her into the sunset.

How It Unfolds

The sea-found prison Gerna discovers a mysterious pouch wedged in the rocks of Polzeath Bay and hears a tiny, weeping voice pleading for release from within its seams. The trapped fairy explains that Hager, the malignant King of the Spriggans, sealed her inside to force her into marriage.

Trapped by the tide When Gerna refuses to trade the purse to the dark Spriggans for a bag of gold, the malicious creatures abandon her to drown in a rising tide at Pentire Glaze. She holds fast to her promise, braving the roaring ocean until she is saved and able to make the arduous night journey to the Tolmen stone.

The hearth-child and the pail Tom and Joan Trebisken take in Ninnie-Dinnie, a remarkably small girl who never grows larger than her basket cradle and carries a mysterious metal pail. The Magic Pail responds to her moral choices, gleaming bright silver when she acts with love and turning dark as hornblende when she strays.

Banishment of the Skavarnak A mischievous hobgoblin in the form of a long-eared hare harasses the moorland cottagers and threatens the Little People. Joan and Ninnie-Dinnie corner the creature in the Magic Pail, extracting a solemn five-hundred-year oath of exile before releasing him back into the dark.

The stolen maidens In Padstow, an old witch in a steeple-hat tricks her way into a cottage while the mother is away, abducting six young sisters one by one. Little Betty swears to rescue them, following the advice of a wise dog to seek out the ancient woman of Bogee Down.

Testing of the faithful rescue Betty endures a rigorous year-and-a-day trial in the snow-swept hut, gathering fuel without complaint and strictly obeying the rule to ask no questions. Her unselfish purity earns her the alliance of the Lady Soft Winds and the magical melodies of the wild thrushes.

The witch's downfall Accompanied by a garland of flying wind-fairies, Betty scales the witch's unreachable stairs and sings the thrush's song, completely breaking the dark magic. The defeated witch plunges screaming into the depths of her own well, allowing the long-lost children to march triumphantly through Padstow's streets.

The sight of hidden worlds Bessie Jane receives borrowed fairy senses at Harlyn Bay, observing miniature herds grazing among brilliant common flowers and listening to tiny courtier-musicians in poppy-red coats. Meanwhile, in Lanherne Vale, William John follows a shining light through a locked orchard, releasing a cursed maiden from the form of a silvery hare.

The People

• Gerna: A tender-hearted, impoverished coastal girl. Though pressured by her needy family to trade her magical finding for a bag of gold, she chooses to risk her life in the rising tide and brave the dark bogs to free an imprisoned fairy princess.
• The Imprisoned Fairy: A royal creature sealed inside a leather pouch by Hager, the Spriggan King, for refusing his hand in marriage. She relies on human compassion to carry her to the sacred Tolmen stone before the birth of the new moon.
• Joan Trebisken: An invalid moorland woman living near Carn Kenidzhek who suffers from severe joint pain in the dark month of November. Her deep faith in the Little People is rewarded when she becomes the loving foster mother to Ninnie-Dinnie.
• Ninnie-Dinnie: An unnaturally small, extraordinarily inquisitive child who never outgrows her baby cradle. She possesses a deep bond with nature and uses her enchanted Magic Pail to bring joy to her foster mother and banish malicious goblins.
• Betty: A courageous and obedient town girl from Padstow. To rescue six stolen maidens from a cruel hag, she willingly accepts a year of hard, silent service to a Wise Woman on the freezing downs.
• The Witch o' the Well: A sinister, pipe-smoking crone in a chintz petticoat and steeple-hat who deceives children with treats before dragging them away to her high, stairless lair.
• William John: A curious boy left to mind an old house in the Vale of Lanherne, whose willingness to enter a forbidden, sunlit orchard allows him to break an ancient enchantment haunting the land.

In Its Own Voice

"'Hager, who is even crueller than his name, will never let me escape from him any more.'"

The imprisoned fairy explains to little Gerna the grim fate awaiting her if she is delivered into the hands of the foul Spriggan King.

"The Small People show their age by looking younger and fairer--at least, the royal fairies do."

Upon her miraculous release at the Tolmen stone, the fairy princess laughingly corrects Gerna's expectation that an ancient creature ought to look as old as her Great-Grannie.

"'Poor little things!' she cried, looking first at the small Long-Ears and then at Ninnie-Dinnie. 'If he will promise to do what you want him, I'll set him free.'"

Joan Trebisken takes pity on the wailing offspring of the trapped hobgoblin, offering mercy despite the creature's past wickedness.

What It's Really About

At its core, the collection explores the reciprocal relationship between human morality and the unseen natural world. Nature and the spirit realm are not neutral; they actively respond to human intent. Greed, represented by the miserly, treasure-hoarding Spriggans and the calculating witch, isolates individuals and leads to eventual destruction. Conversely, unselfish love, pity, and innocence act as potent magic capable of shattering ancient curses and disarming dark forces. The stories also reflect a poignant sense of cultural transition: as modern lodging-houses encroachment upon the cliffs of Pentire, the tales capture a lingering longing to preserve the fragile, dwindling magical memory of the ancient Cornish landscape before it vanishes entirely under the weight of the modern era.

Why Read It Today

This collection will deeply appeal to lovers of authentic regional folklore, classic fairy tales, and historical British literature. Reading Tregarthen's prose feels like sitting beside a turf fire in a moorland cottage while wild Atlantic winds howl outside the casement windows. Her narrative style balances childlike innocence with eerie, atmospheric suspense, grounding fantastical encounters directly within real Cornish geography—from the granite carns of Carn Kenidzhek to the narrow, cobbled alleys and Tudor staircases of Padstow.

Readers should be prepared for authentic period dialect and localized phrasing. Characters speak in rich Cornish vernacular ("wisht," "bal," "goog," and "pysgy-pows"), and the text includes footnote glosses to translate regional terms. Furthermore, the pacing reflects early 20th-century children's storytelling, prioritizing gentle moral clarity, detailed environmental descriptions, and rhythmic repetition over fast-paced action. What stays with the reader long after finishing is the vibrant texture of the setting: the vivid colors of sea-thrift and gorse, the cold mist of November moorlands, and the abiding conviction that kindness remains the ultimate defense against the dark.

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<Elicitation label="Read a detailed breakdown of Cornish fairy lore and creatures" query="Provide a detailed overview of the different types of Cornish fairies and spirits mentioned in Enys Tregarthen's folklore, such as Piskeys, Spriggans, and Nightriders."/> <Elicitation label="Explore the real-world geography and locations in the book" query="Map out the real Cornish locations featured in The Piskey-Purse, such as Polzeath Bay, Padstow, and Carn Kenidzhek, explaining their historical background."/> <Elicitation label="Compare Tregarthen's folk style with other British folklorists" query="Compare Enys Tregarthen's collection of Cornish folk tales with other contemporary collectors of British and Celtic folklore, such as Joseph Jacobs or W.B. Yeats."/> </ElicitationsGroup>