A Cornish Bestiary

'A magnificent compendium of curiosities. Luke Thompson is the perfect guide to this landscape teeming with demon chickens, ghost dogs and devil fish – wry, funny, curious and full of wonder and delight.'

-- Lucy Wood * author of Weathering *

'A Cornish Bestiary is a glorious, mischievous and deeply knowledgeable celebration of Cornwall and the creatures – real, legendary and wonderfully questionable – that inhabit its landscapes and stories. Thompson has a rare gift for combining serious research with curiosity, humour and a genuine delight in the strange. From saints and choughs to phantom dogs, big cats, sea monsters and demon chickens, he follows each trail with an open mind and a sharp eye, revealing along the way just how much our animals tell us about ourselves. A book to dip into, get lost in, and return to time and again ... full of wonder, wit and unmistakable Cornish character.'

-- Dr Paul Taylor-McCartney * author of Cornwall Uncharted *

'From demon chickens to Bodmin Moor beasts, Causley's Perranporth pet shop to Reverend Hawker's pig, Luke Thompson presents a glorious assemblage of Cornish beasts. Brilliantly researched and elegantly told, together these tales become more than the sum of their parts, evoking the rich history and ever-changing terrain of Cornish lands in a deeply satisfying manner'.

-- Petroc Trelawny * author of Trelawny’s Cornwall: A Journey through Western Lands *

'Luke Thompson’s knack for uncovering the weird and intriguing is unparalleled. As though Cornwall wasn’t strange enough already, he reveals it to be alive with ghost dogs, magical holy fish and lion men.'

-- Wyl Menmuir British novelist, best known for his debut novel The Many