Page:Glossary of words in use in Cornwall.djvu/356

ADDITIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. XXIU Bushfield' Brigg I To^re nowt but rogues and tliieyes. Fifteen pcMvd I ! Fifteen shillin's sadly too miteh for that ; for f road leads nowwher but to Nah- wills* at f Wood. Fairnley fooils is bad enough, but Omebury fooils is waur ! I * The old man was rather mistaken as to the advisability of the outlay, for the repair of this bridge led to the project of.making a new road to Farnley. Five hundred pounds were begged of Sir James Macadam (the dispenser of the public money) for the filling up of the valley, and the new road to Farnley cost nearly £4000, all which — gratuitous and generous as the gift was ^resulted from the kindness of William, the uite Earl of Darnnouth, in providing labour for the famishing poor of the district. PADFOOT. I will repeat here most of the evidence I have received on the subject. Johnny B. often saw the padfoGl on the footpath by Clough Hall. He described it as of a gray colour, with ' e'en as big as tea-plates.' He had seen it at all times, in the moonlight and in the dark. It often turned off the path for him, and when he looked round for it, it was gone. The old folk always said that the improved cultivation had killed them by destroying their harbour. It often knocked down old Jo B. (a man fond of hquor) in the dai'k lane leading to Thorpe. His testimony is given at the end. The padfoot was like an immense sheej) or bear, with large eyes as big as tea-plates. It walked along the village streets, followed by all the dogs I It disappeared in Barley Time, i,e. 1799 or 1800, and was supposed to have been ' clammed * to death. It used to be seen at the ' gang doors,' the doors of an old bam-like building, which stood opposite to the ea^ end of the church, where the new houses now are : supposed to be called the ' gang doors ' on account of an unruly mob who used to assemble there, a practice not entirely discontinued.. W. H. said, ' About 1820 (this must have been a resuscitation), J. L., going from Farnley Bank to fetch Dr. Bradley, who lived near Almondbury Church, met the padfoot at the lane end. It was like a bear, with eyes, &c., and it accompanied him to Almond- bury — shog — shog — shog ; he lost it at Pentys end. Coming out of the doctor's, the padfoot was ready for him, jumped out of a narrow passage, and followed him home as far as the bottom of Shros Wood. Old A. M. once t^ent to Boyd House to pay for his milk and butter. He stopped till eleven, and gate a litUe beer I Coming back between Boyd House and Square Hall, he met ^^fadfooi in the form of a large dog. He said, making a solemn adjuration, ' What wanteet t^u wi' me ? ' The padfoot stared at him with eyes like two tea-plates, then turned towards the hedge and changed into a calf, and followed him all the way home into Upperfold. He had a wooden kit of milk on his head, and a wooden mggin in his hand. When he gat to his own door he had to call for his wife to open it. People always believed ^e padfoot to have seized them in the arms, which caused them to be useless. The night following a few old men, as customary, met to- gether at F. Lodge's cottage at Sharpe Lane end. Old Joe North