The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #125973 Message #2794570
Posted By: katlaughing
22-Dec-09 - 04:58 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Christmas Eve Mousehole Cornwall
Subject: RE: Folklore: Christmas Eve Mousehole Cornwal
This in one of our very favourites to watch. Oh, the Star Gazey Pie in Mo'sle! Here's a bit which MMArio posted back in 2001:
The night before Christmas Eve, legend has it, a fisherman called Tom Bawcock saved the village from starving by putting to sea in a storm and bring in a massive haul of fish. Tom Bawcock's Eve is celebrated by street processions, the serving of Star Gazey Pie (a large fish and potato pie with the fish heads and tails sticking out through the pastry) and heavy drinking.
sound like fun!
also: TOM BAWCOCK'S EVE
Mousehole is a particularly "merry place" to be on the evening of December 23. This is Tom Bawcock's Eve, celebrated in memory of a local fisherman, Tom Bawcock, who many years ago, during a Christmas period of terrible food shortages, went to sea in a lull between storms and returned with a healthy catch of "seven sorts of fish". From these, the villagers made Starry Gazey Pie, complete with fish heads protruding from the crust. On Bawcock's Eve today, local children parade through the village carrying brightly lit fish lanterns, and the pubs are very "merry places". The delightful book and animated film, "The Mousehole Cat", is based on the Tom Bawcock story.