CORNISH SORCERERS.

THE powers of the sorcerer appear to have been passed on from father to son through a long succession of generations.

There are many families--the descendants from the ancient Cornish people--who are even yet supposed to possess remarkable powers of one kind or another. Several families, which have become extinct, are more especially reputed by tradition to have had dealings with the bad spirits, and mans of them to have made compacts with the Evil One himself. Amongst the most curious of the stories once told,--I believe they are nearly all forgotten,--are those connected with Pengerswick Castle. A small tower alone remains to note the site of a once famous fortified place. This castle was said to have been occupied, in the time of Henry VIII., by a man who had committed some great crime; but long previous to that period the place was famous for its wickedness. [a]

[a] See Appendix V.