e ancient demesnes of the Crown, as that of the second was of the See
of Exeter. At the Kingsteignton 'revel' a curious custom used to be
observed, for a part of the proceedings was that 'a ram was hunted,
killed, roasted, and eaten.' Mr Baring-Gould gives these details, and
adds a village anecdote. 'The parson there once asked a lad in
Sunday-school, "How many commandments are there?" "Three, sir," was the
prompt reply--"Easter, Whitsuntide, and the Revel."'

Bishopsteignton has a church in which there are portions of Norman work,
and in the parish lie the remains of a Bishop's palace, 'From ancient
times,' says Lysons, 'one of the country seats of the bishops.' It was
practically rebuilt by Bishop Grandisson.

I was once given an interesting piece of information relating to
Bishopsteignton by an old man living near Newton St Cyres. He said that
in a general way the women there used to be very small, and folks said
that was because they had been changed by the pixies when they were
babies.

It is unnecessary to dwell on the fact that Teignmouth, besides being a
port, is a most flourishing watering-place. The colouring is very rich,
and especially lovely when set off by a brilliant sky and glittering
blue water. Blood-red cliffs lead north and south, and the green of
grass and plants, broken by masses of wild-flowers of all tints, here
scattered thinly, there in clumps, overlaps and creeps down the face of
the rock wherever there is foothold. Between Teignmouth and Dawlish an
'island-rock' of the warmest red runs out into the sea, and through an
arch in it the rippling water may be seen beyond. Looking down at
Teignmouth from the hill on the opposite side, the town seems to run
very flatly into the angle between sea and river. In the estuary, at
low tide, the ships and boats lie in pools among the sand-banks, with
the gulls circling and screaming about them.

It has been said that 'the cliffs of Teignmouth owe their deep-red hue
to the slaughter of the inhabitants by the Danes in 970, when "the very
rocks streamed with blood"'; and the old people confidently assert that
the dwarf-elder (called hereabouts 'Danes-elder') grows only upon the
site of old battle-fields 'where the Danes' blood was spilt!' These
legends are not altogether baseless, for there is no doubt as to the
pitiless brutality which the Danes showed in their various incursions
into Devon between the years 894 and 1013. Drayton's image is bold and
grue