About this ebook
ISSN: 2397-9607 Issue 261
In this 261st ÿissue 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.
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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!
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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.
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Herein are two legends of St Neot. Both are surely the strangest, for he was, so the old traditions have it, a pigmy, perfectly formed, yet only fifteen inches in height (although this is thought to be an exageration.) There are very many stories told of this tiny holy man, and most of them seem to show that he wielded a great power over all animals.
One of the prettiest stories is of the time when St. Neot presided over his abbey and there came one night thieves to the monastic farm and stole all the monks' plough oxen. The poor brothers had not the money to purchase other beasts, and seed-time was upon them with their fields yet unploughed. Ruin seemed certain until the good little abbot appealed to the wild beasts to come to their aid. And then, to the amazement of the monks, there came from the surrounding forests wild stags, who docilely offered their necks to the yoke and drew the heavy ploughs.
Each night the stags were released, and they went off to the woods; but each succeeding morning they returned to continue their task.
The news of this miraculous happening spread rapidly abroad and came at last to the ears of the thieves. They were so deeply impressed by the story that they returned the stolen oxen at once and promised never again to pursue their evil ways.
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But what of the second legend of St. Neot? Well, you?ll just have to download and read the story to find out what it is.
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Each issue also has a "WHERE IN THE WORLD - LOOK IT UP" section, where young readers are challenged to look up a place on a map somewhere in the world. The place, town or city is relevant to the story. HINT - use Google maps.
Baba Indaba is a fictitious Zulu storyteller who narrates children's stories from around the world. Baba Indaba translates as "Father of Stories".
ÿAbout the author
The Baba Indaba Children's Stories, published by Abela Publishing, often uses folklore and fairy tales which have their origins mists of time. Afterall who knows who wrote the story of Cinderella, also known in other cultures as The Little Glass Slipper, or Cenerentola (Italian),ÿ Cendrillon, ou La petite Pantoufle de Verre (French), Aschenputtel (German), Tattercoats and Cap o? Rushes (English), or Conkiajgharuna (Georgian). There is still debate as to whether the story originated in Egypt or China. So who wrote the original? The answer is simple. No-one knows, or will ever know, so to assume that anyone owns the rights to these stories is nothing but nonsense. As such, we have decided to use the Author name "Anon E. Mouse" which, of course, is a play on the word "Anonymous".
