Of Dartmoor and its Bordirland. 147 -shown, with a branch to Plymouth from Two Bridges, as at the present day. As the existing highway was not made till after 1772, that which is shown by Owen was, of course, only a rough track. Proceeding on oar way we soon arrive at Newhouse, or as it is now called, the Warren House Inn, a small wayside hostelry. Before the present house was built the old inn stood on the opposite side of the road, but it has been pulled down for many years. It was generally regarded as the scene of the story, related by Mrs. Bray, of a traveller who discovered a corpse in a chest in the chamber to which he had retired for the night, and whose terror was only dispelled in the morning, when he learned the meaning of so strange a circumstance. The deep snow had prevented its removal for burial, so the expedient had been adopted of preserving it in salt in the old chest. I have heard it said that on the morning after his adventure the traveller called at Prince Hall and related what he had seen. A story which I gathered many years ago on the moor shows us that the dwellers in this out-of-the-way region are by no means averse to indulging in a practical joke. A farmer, who was unacquainted with the neighbourhood, being at Newhouse with several moormen, was induced by a man whom he happened to meet there to agree to the purchase of what he imagined to be a flock of sheep. He afterwards found that the seller, an individual named Debben, had got the best of the bargain. The old ballad tells us how Robin Hood, disguised as a butcher, once decoyed the Sheriff of Nottingham to the glades of Sherwood Forest, under pretence of selling him some horned cattle, but which turned out to be the king's deer ; in the present instance, however, the sup- posed sheep were found to be in reality nothing more than granite stones. Near Siddaford Tor, in this vicinity, are two circles known as the Grey Wethers, formed of upright stones, of which several have, unfortunately, been taken away. It seems that the victim of the joke, who was unaware of the existence of these circles, was offered so many grey wethers at such a price, being told that he might see them if he wished, for they were '< up in the new- take, near Siddaford Tor." On the bargain being made he was filled with chagrin at discovering what it was he had engaged to purchase. I
