Cherry of Zennor

Samhain, the veil thins, and young Cherry wanders beneath the high hedgerows of hawthorn and jewel-bright berries. As the moon wanes beyond the bare trees, Cherry comes to a crossroads, subtle music on the air…

At the moment I am working on a re-telling of this little gem of a tale from the far west of Cornwall. I have discovered a few tales like this one, where a young woman falls in love with an otherworldly man, but for them, often there is no happy ending, just a lifetime of longing.

There are many tales reminiscent of an otherworld in Cornwall, one particularly magical tale is found in the parish of St Allen, told of a young boy who wandered away from home, became lost in a wood, and was led by a faery woman into a place where pillars of glass supported arches of crystal hung with crystals of every colour.