The Piskies of Sheepstor

The popular version, told fairly consistently across modern sources, describes piskies living around Sheepstor and playing tricks on moorland travellers. Like most pixie tales from Dartmoor, they are said to lead people astray, steal small items, and generally meddle. The story fits neatly into the broader Dartmoor pixie tradition that most of us grew up reading about.

The trouble is, I cannot trace this particular tale back very far in printed sources. Legendary Dartmoor mentions piskies at Sheepstor, but I have not yet found the original written account or worked out how far back the legend actually runs. It may be genuinely old; it may be a later assembly of the generic "pixies live on Dartmoor" template applied to a specific place. Without the sources in front of me, I cannot say honestly. If you know where this one comes from, I would be curious to hear it.