rrying a child to
be christened, to take with her _a piece of bread and cheese_, to give to
the first person she met, for the purpose of _saving the child from
witchcraft or the fairies_. Another custom was that of the "Queeltah," or
salt put under the churn _to keep off bad people_. Stale water was thrown
on the plough "to keep it from the _little {618} folks_." A cross was tied
in the tail of a cow "to keep her from _bad bodies_." On May morning it was
deemed of the greatest importance to avoid going to a neighbour's house for
fire; a turf was therefore kept burning all night at home. Flowers growing
in a hedge, especially green or yellow ones, were good to keep off the
fairies. And finally, the last cake was left "behind the turf-flag for the
little people."

J. W. THOMAS.

Dewsbury.

_Cornish Folk Lore: King Arthur in the Form of a Raven._--In Jarvis's
translation of _Don Quixote_, book II. chap. v., the following passage
occurs:

"'Have you not read, sir,' answered Don Quixote, 'the annals and
histories of England, wherein are recorded the famous exploits of King
Arthur, whom in our Castilian tongue we always call King Artus; of whom
there goes an old tradition, and a common one all over that kingdom of
Great Britain, that this king did not die, but that by magic art he was
turned into a raven; and that, in process of time, he shall reign
again, and recover his kingdom and sceptre; for which reason it cannot
be proved, that, from that time to this, any Englishman has killed a
raven?'"

My reason for transcribing this passage is to record the curious fact that
the legend of King Arthur's existence in the form of a raven was still
repeated as a piece of folk lore in Cornwall about sixty years ago. My
father, who died about two years since at the age of eighty, spent a few
years of his youth in the neighbourhood of Penzance. One day, as he was
walking along Marazion Green with his fowling-piece on his shoulder, he saw
a raven at a distance and fired at it. An old man who was near immediately
rebuked him, telling him that he ought on no account to have shot at a
raven, for that King Arthur was still alive in the form of that bird. My
father was much interested when I drew his attention to the passage which I
have quoted above. Perhaps some of your Cornish or Welsh correspondents may
be able to say whether the legend is still known among the people of
Cornwall or Wales.

EDGAR