The Mousehole

With shop names like The Mousehole, Cat and Mouse, and Hole Foods, locals appear to have taken an irreverent, cheesy approach to living in Mousehole (pronounced “Mowsel”). Though now a pun-friendly, picturesque town on the coast of Cornwall, the area was once in serious trouble.

In the sixteenth century, winter storms grew so intense that a famine took hold. Despite treacherous waves, a fisherman named Tom Bawcock endeavored to rescue the entire village by taking his boat to sea in search of food. Local legend insists that brave Tom (though, surprisingly, no Jerry) indeed caught enough fish to stave off starvation for the whole town.

His remarkably selfless effort is celebrated to this day on Tom Bawcock’s Eve, December 23rd. Memorializing his selfless triumph, locals celebrate by gathering for the Harbour Lights festival and eating “stargazy pie,” a dish made of sardines, eggs, potatoes, and pastry crust, to represent the culinary bounty that Tom brought to the village. Sardine heads poking out from the crust create a unique star shape—though the visual might override Tom’s legacy and lead to a troubled tummy for the uninitiated.

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