The Giant Bolster

Bolster was one of a number of Cornish Giants who spent their days on the hilltops idling the hours away by throwing rocks at each other. In his prime he was tall and proud and could comfortably stand with one foot on St. Agnes Beacon and the other on Carn Brea.

Bolster was a tyrant. In addition to his battles with other giants he terrified the villagers (regularly eating small children) and he mistreated his wife making her supply him with ammunition by carrying rocks up to the top of The Beacon. She was very good at her task, and to this day the fields surrounding The Beacon have very few large rocks in them, but over the years Mrs. Bolster became stooped and worn down by her thankless task and the giant began to look around for a more attractive wife.

One day young Agnes was out in the fields about her chores. Enjoying the early summer sunshine, she began to sing and the giant, who was resting nearby, was entranced by her dulcet tones. Agnes, fearing for her life, was very surprised when, instead of eating her, the giant proposed to marry her. Stalling, in order to buy time and collect her wits, Agnes told Bolster that she would marry him if first he completed a range of tasks that she would set. The giant, who in his heart was already smitten, willingly agreed.

Task after task was completed by the enthusiastic, love struck Bolster and time and again Agnes wracked her brains to find a way to rid herself, and the village, of this monstrous pest. Bolster ran races, faced the pompous mayor, fought knights in shining armour and competed in feats of strength. Finally, losing patience, the giant agreed to one last task, after which he would insist that Agnes honour her promise.

Agnes thought hard and eventually came up with a solution that she believed might work. She led Bolster onto the cliffs at Chapel Porth and showed him a small hole in the rock. Then, climbing the hillside beside him, she whispered in his ear: "If you truly love me then show me. Make a small cut in your wrist and fill this hole with your blood as a token of your commitment." Bolster smiled (a terrible grin that split his face from side to side) and agreed, believing this to be the easiest task of all.

He drew his knife and made the cut, then held his wrist above the hole for Agnes to see. Slowly the blood began to trickle, then run, then gush into the hole, but still it was not full. Unbeknownst to Bolster, this was no tiny hole, but a cleft that ran right down through the cliff before finally opening into the sea.

Tired and beaten, the giant collapsed, closing his eyes. He took one final sad look at his lost love and sighed his last breath. All along the coast, the sea ran red for days and even now the cliffs around Chapel Porth retain the crimson stain from the giant's lost lifeblood.

The villagers hailed Agnes as a heroine as she had freed them from the giant's tyranny and saved the lives of their children. To celebrate, they held a party, which went on for weeks, and lit a bonfire on the top of The Beacon to show the world how happy they were. In time, they even re-named the village after the now canonized St Agnes.

As for Agnes, her pleasure in being released from her promise was forever tainted by the memory of the sad look in the giant's eyes as he finally left this world.

Each April/May the St Agnes Bolster Pageant re-enacts the story of Bolster with a number of special events.