Peter and the Piskies
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''Peter and the Piskies: Cornish Folk and Fairy Tales'' is a 1958 anthology of 34 fairy tales from
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
that have been collected and retold by
Ruth Manning-Sanders Ruth Manning-Sanders (21 August 1886 – 12 October 1988) was an English poet and author born in Wales, known for a series of children's books for which she collected and related fairy tales worldwide. She published over 90 books in her lifeti ...
and illustrated by
Raymond Briggs Raymond Redvers Briggs (18 January 1934 – 9 August 2022) was an English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist and author. Achieving critical and popular success among adults and children, he is best known in Britain for his 1978 story ...
. It was the first in a long series of such anthologies by Manning-Sanders. In an author's note, Manning-Sanders says of the passing down of the tales: "A widow woman lived in a cottage by the sea. ... It was the piskies who told the old widow woman the stories in this book, and she told them to me, and now I am telling them to you." Of the tales themselves, the book's dust jacket says: "The folk-tales of Cornwall are peopled with giants and saints and wicked demons; with the thieving, spiteful spriggans, the mischievous piskies who are always laughing, and the little bearded knockers who work industriously in the mines, and who, they say, are growing smaller with every year they live so that there will come a day when they are no size at all." This book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1958, by
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
. It was not published in the United States until eight years later, by Roy Publishers. The information for this entry is taken from the U.S. version.


Table of contents

* 1. Peter and the Piskies * 2. Skillywidden * 3. Lutey and the Mermaid * 4. Betty Stogs' Baby * 5. The Cock-Crow Stone * 6. Lyonesse * 7. The Boy and the Bull * 8. Saint Margery Daw * 9. From the Head Downward * 10. Tregeagle * 11. The Piskie Thresher * 12. Saint Neot * 13. The Knockers of Ballowal * 14. The Witch of Fraddam * 15. The Giant of the Mount * 16. The Spriggans' Treasure * 17. Cherry * 18. Bucca Dhu and Bucca Gwidden * 19. Fairies on the Gump * 20. Tom and Giant Blunderbus * 21. The Crowza Stones * 22. The Giant Holiburn * 23. Parson Wood and the Devil (1. The Demon Wrestler, 2. The Feathered Fiend) * 24. Madgy Figgey and the Sow * 25. The Tinner, the Dog, the Jew, and the Cake * 26. The Small People's Cow * 27. The Wish-hound * 28. The Demon Mason * 29. The Mermaid in Church * 30. Mr Noy * 31. Barker's Knee * 32. Peepan Pee * 33. Duffy and the Devil * 34. The Two Sillies


See also

* Pixie (folklore) *
Knocker (folklore) The Knocker, Knacker, or Tommyknocker (US) is a mythical, subterranean, gnome-like creature in Cornish and Devon folklore. The Welsh counterparts are coblynau. It is closely related to the Irish leprechaun, Kentish kloker and the English an ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peter And The Piskies: Cornish Folk And Fairy Tales Collections of fairy tales Children's short story collections Cornish culture Cornwall in fiction Cornish folklore Picture books by Raymond Briggs 1958 short story collections 1958 children's books British children's books 1958 anthologies