There are many stories of the Cornish 'Faerie-folk' and, as always with myth and legend, stories vary considerably about their behaviour, appearance and attitude towards humans.

Robert Hunt (of which you'll hear a great deal on this website) travelled extensively throughout Cornwall in the mid to late 1800s, collecting Cornish folktales from local people. He stated that there were five varieties of faerie in Cornwall:

1. The Small People,
2. The Spriggans,
3. Piskies, or Pigseys,
4. The Buccas, Bockles, or Knockers,
5. The Browneys.'

(Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, 1923 edition, p.80)

However, despite hearing hundreds of first-hand accounts, he admitted that 'it is by no means clear that the tradition of (the Small People's) origin does not apply to the whole five branches of this ancient family'. In other words, he was unsure whether the 'Small People' shared the same origin as their cousins, or that 'Small People' was a generic term for all Cornish fairies. Things are confused even more by the number of stories that use the term 'Small People' when writing about characters who act more like Spriggans, Piskies, Knockers or Browneys.

Most folklorists now agree that the Small People or Pobel Vean were a race apart from the other four as there are sufficient stories and descriptions of them to differentiate them. Therefore, we'll look at each faerie race in turn.

The Small People - Pobel Vean

One local tradition claims that the Small People were the spirits of the ancient Celts that had inhabited Cornwall long before the birth of Christ. It was said that they were 'poor innocents' that were 'not good enough to inherit the joys of heaven, but that they were too good to be condemned to eternal fires' (Hunt p.81). The earliest Christian missionaries appear to have been the originators of this belief. Throughout history, missionaries have allowed pagan beliefs and festivals to be absorbed into the Christian calendar in an effort to ease the transition to Christianity. In converting the Celtic people of Cornwall, many of the older beliefs became Christian-sanctioned myth and folklore. (Note: Celtic society was remarkably well-organised and sophisticated - see the page on 'Pagan belief and Druidry'.)

It is said that the Small People got their name because they began to get smaller and smaller after the birth of Christ, eventually becoming ants (Cornish muryans) and then dwindling away to nothing until they disappeared from the Earth. Robert Hunt relates the following theory of the ant:

'The ant is called by the peasantry a Muryan. Believing that they are the Small People in their state of decay from off the earth, it is deamed most unlucky to destroy a colony of ants. If you place a piece of tin in a bank of Muryans at a certain age of the moon, it will be turned into silver.

(Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England, page 130.)

Margaret Ann Courtney reinforces the superstition and says it was considered unlucky for the above reason to destroy an ant's nest, and that:

'A piece of tin put into one could, in bygone days, through pisky power, be transmuted into silver, provided that it was inserted at some varying lucky moment about the time of the new moon.'

(Courtney, Cornish Feasts and Folklore, page 125.)

Another version of the 'shrinking' story says that in Cornwall, as in Wales, the Small People were once Druids that were cursed to become smaller and smaller because they would not give up their idolatries and pagan beliefs. Yet another is that they are the souls of un-christened children who died while still young. In yet another version of events, it is only the shape-shifting Small People who shrink in size. (Note: Shape-shifting was a gift owned by only a few Small People. Mostly, they shape-shifted into goats to lure other goats to their faerie homes.)

The Small People are described as 'not over two feet tall' and of great beauty; the men of darker skin than the woman but all dresed in fine clothes, often green or red in colour. It was said that they looked young with unblemished skin and glorious dark hair but, if seen in daylight, they would look old, wrinkled and liver-spotted. The most detailed and fanciful description I've found was on the Cornish Connexions website (See links page). I reprint it below although I have been unable so far to discover their source (If anyone knows where this quote comes from, I'd love to know). It describes them thus:

'To begin with they were all identical, and each no higher than, say a mouse. They wore wigs of grey lichen beneath their red caps. Eyes as bright and unwinking as a robin's stared out of each small, wrinkled face. They were dressed in dapper fashion - white weskits, green stockings, brown coats and breeches, while their brightly gleaming shoes were buckled with diamond dew- drops. Always lively, when they chattered they filled the air with a sound like the droning of bees. They were accustomed with riding about on snails.'

The Small People were generally known to be playful amongst themselves and helpful to any human that took their fancy. In the story The Small People's Garden, they are described as 'beautiful little creatures, who appear to pass a life of constant enjoyment among their flowers' (ibid.). It was said that if you left them alone, they'd leave you alone. Some even performed good, helpful deeds for particular humans who took their fancy. However, they were capricious creatures who would turn on you at the drop of a hat. For example, in the story, The Faerie Fair of Germoe, they become 'wicked, spiteful devils' who cause the death of Daniel Champion's friend, simply because he described them to his work colleagues (ibid.). Both of these short tales can be read by clicking on this link.