From Legendary Dartmoor; What is known is that all of the surnames in the song belong to well established families in and around northern Dartmoor. Additionally some of the village graveyards contain the last resting places of individuals with the same names as mentioned. The kind hearted man who lent his grey mare is a prime example and the subject of this webpage – Tom Pearse.

Behind what is now Finch’s foundry is the old Quaker burial ground and in 1818 the last of the Sticklepath Quakers was interred there. This in effect made the graveyard redundant so in 1830 Tom Pearse bought the plot for the sum of £14. He then gave the graveyard to the village on the understanding that it was to be a undenominational cemetery. Tom Pearse died on the 8th of February 1875 and was buried in the Sticklepath cemetery where his grave stone can be seen today.