12 April 2011

J is for

The two boy dogs, black labradors 18 & 20 months old, are full of high jinks tonight and have the devil in them.. It may have to do with the fact that they both had a bath in the sunshine this morning and their coats are gleaming like glossy coal.

Jasper didn't seem to approve very much of his outdoor bath, but Murphy resigned himself to the process using a watering can to provide a shower effect before the shampoo was applied. I wish I could be in two places at once, because poor forlorn Jasper behaved as though his life was coming to an end.

Today's word then is the devil, which in Cornish is an jowl and the Welsh Equivalent is y diafol.

One cornish legend is that the devil hides in corners, so in Veryan which is a village on the Roseland peninsula, in a lush wooded hollow. Probably best known for its round houses , which were designed to keep the devil out as there were no corners for him to hide in. It is unclear as to why the devil was more likely to appear in Veryan than in other Cornish villages, but they were built in the 19th century, with the round houses topped with a conical thatched roof and a cross for extra protection.

4 comments:

Kath said...

I can just imagine bath time with your boys. Ellie is like Jasper, she loooks up mournfully with tragic eyes, as if her world was coming to an end. She will cheerfully swim, but hates me wetting her.
How interesting about Veryan, I have never been there, but I would love to see it.

Jeff Beesler said...

Wow, superstitions can bring out a colorful creativity in people as far as how to go about protecting themselves from the things they fear most. I ought to Google Veryan and see if I can't find what some of these houses look like. I fear I might be imagining them wrong.

Pleasure to meet you via the A-Z Challenge!

Manzanita said...

That is so interesting.... the round houses to keep the devil out. I've seen quite a few round barns around my neck of the woods. Wonder is they are for the same reason.

Eliza said...

Love to see a picture of your "boys":-)