Legend* tells of a pirate ship that drifted into view off Cape Cornwall. As terrified locals watched from behind rocks, the pirates rowed a boat containing a chained man into Priest’s Cove. The pirates released the man and pushed him onto the beach, before rowing away at speed.
This man - who was too nasty even for the pirates to endure – settled locally and kept the terrified locals in his thrall. His innumerable unpleasant deeds included wrecking hundreds of ships by tying a lantern to his horse’s tail whilst it grazed and chopping the hands off survivors as they grasped the shore.
After many years of such wickedness, the hated man lay on his deathbed screaming, “The Devil is tearing at me with nails like the claws of a hawk!” As he died, a fearful storm whipped up and a ghostly black ship was seen. Only the bravest locals volunteered to carry the coffin to the churchyard. Before it was reached, lightning struck the coffin and set fire to it. The locals fled as the coffin was carried off into the air by a whirlwind.
*Might not be 100% true.
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