A Peep at the Pixies, or Legends of the West

What It's About

A collection of six retold legends about the pixies (or "piskies") of Devon and Cornwall, framed by an introductory description of Dartmoor as their supposed haunt. The tales include "Pixy Gathon, or, The Tailor's Needle," "The Three Trials, or, The Story of Crabby Cross," "The Seven Crosses of Tiverton," "Fontina, or, The Pixies' Bath," "The Lady of the Silver Bell," and "The Belfry Rock, or, The Pixies' Revenge," each followed by background notes on the local traditions behind the story.

Key Concepts

The book draws on West Country oral tradition, presenting pixies as mischievous but not wholly malevolent "little people" who reward kindness, punish greed or dishonesty, and occasionally form attachments to humans. Bray frames the stories within genuine local superstition and place-names, treating the legends as a record of regional folklore as much as entertainment.

About the Author

Anna Eliza Bray (25 December 1790 – 21 January 1883) was an English novelist. Born Anna Eliza Kempe, she was first married to the artist Charles Alfred Stothard and later to the Reverend Edward Atkyns Bray, vicar of Tavistock in Devon. Living for many years in the West Country, she took a strong interest in its local history, traditions, and folklore.