8 TOURISTS' GUIDE CORNWALL TREGELLAS TOURIST'S GUIDE TO CORNWALL AVP TtlE SCILLY ISIiES. c n^y*^/tyis districts arc mainly composed of tlie Devonian slates — espocially tlic lowest of tlio series, tlio copper- bearing "/iiV/'s" of ftlarazion, Camborne, llcdruth, and Gwcnnap; whilst the exquisitely beautiful Hcrpentiiu-, of igneous origin, is almost entirely confined to tlie district round the Lizard, and a small patch ut Clicker Tor, near Liskeard. B 2 4 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLT ISLES. sight appear so : indeed, some that have been too hastily so termed are more probably old river beds ; nor do submerged forests necessarily indicate a very remote antiquity for their destruction. As bearing on the peculiar configuration of Cornwall, it may here be observed that more than one attempt has been made to evade the circumnavigation of the Lands End by constructing canals and other routes across the county.* One such attempt was made in 1796 between Wadebridge and Lostwithiel, under Act of Parliament, 37 Geo. III. ; but the great cost of a long tunnel, which was found necessaiy, prevented the execution of the l)roject. The next step was a tramway between Fal- mouth harbour and Portreath ; and the problem was at last satisfactorily solved by the late Mr. Trefifry of Fowey, who commenced, but did not complete the Corn- wall Minerals Eailway between Fowey and Newquay. This has recently been acquired by the Great Western Railway Company, and adapted for passenger traffic. HISTORY. It would not be practicable (even if it were desirable), considering the limited space at our command, to enter upon that vague field of learned discussion, the condition of Cornwall before the Eoman invasion ; the limits of the Cimbri, the Carnabii, and the Damnonii ; or her ancient Phoenician commerce. f It will probably suffice for our purpose to note tliat, though the early history of the county — the Cassiterides of the ancients — is obscured by the mists of remotest ages, and, though even the Druids are only vaguely mentioned by two or three of the Latin writers, such as Cassar and Pliny, yet there are not wanting indications of the early greatness of her trade in British times ; nor of the probability that, at the period of the Eoman invasions, Cornwall had already some- what fallen from her former high estate. The Eoman occupation of Britain can, however, scarcely be said to have penetrated Cornwall, though this county nominally formed part of their Britannia Prima ; traces of it are to be found in the names of a few i^laces, imper- * A similar schemp for connecting the English and Bristol Channels was devised by Telford, wlio once projected a canal between Bridgewater and Axniouth. t Cf. Smith's ' Cassiterides.' HISTORY. O fectly identified, and in those characteristic roads, which, however, in Cornwall are for the most part on the lines of more ancient British tracks.* ' But in fact, at this period distant Cornwall was almost beneath Eoman notice. Stray- coins of some of the earlier emperors, and Brito-Eoman inscribed stones, &c., have been found at sundry points, even in remote Penwith ; but they are comparatively few and far between. With the age of the Antonines the proportion slightly increases, but it is not until the middle of the 3rd century that they appear in any con- siderable quantities ; all denoting that no permanent Eoman settlement of importance was made in the county. We need not, however, linger long over this part of tlie subject, but may at once proceed to the times of the English conquest. The history of the Cornwall men— the Cornwealhas f — or "/oj-etV/ners of the hom-shaped land" (for such tlie English considered and named them), now begins to be what the peculiar situation of tlie county would lead us to expect. " Shouldered out into the farthest part of the realm, and so besieged with the ocean, that, as a derai-island in an island, the inhabitants find but one way of issue by land,''t it is not surprising that, as in the case of the Eoman occupation of our island, Cornwall should have again been the last part of England that submitted to the English conqiiest. Eastern Damnonia § — a name which we still seem to recognize in that of beautiful Devon — necessarily submitted before her western neighbour; but at last even the Cornish, in the early part of the 10th century, notwithstanding tlicir having from time to time received hel[) from Danish allies — afterwards their plunderers — were subjugated by Athel- stan, who is said to have passed right through " West Wales" in d'2(\ and again in 928, fixing the Tamar for the Cornish military frontier. Tt is nevertheless noticeable that, loesl of the Taraar, a tract, roughly included * An interesting attempt to show the traces of Roman occu- pntinii in Cornwall lias been mude by Mr. Wliitloy. See ' Journal of Koyal Institution of Cornwall.' t It is interesting to note that there is also a district of Brit- t my called Cornouaille, teoniin'^ with Cornish names, and whose rustii's are, moreover, celebrated wrestlers. X Curew. § Perhaps tlic Latin form of Dyfnaint — tlie land of dark valleys. b GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. between that river and a line drawn westward from about Antony to Tintagel, contains many names distinctly of Saxon origin — a fact which seems to indicate that at least this portion of wliat is now called CornvaU, was, from a still more remote period — perhaps as early as the middle of the 7th century — in Saxon occupation. To this comparatively late conquest of their soil, the men of the West were fortunately indebted for a much milder treatment by their victors than most of their fellow-countrymen had previously received. The Cornish were Christians before their conquerors ; but the English had gradually become christianized also, and the Chris- tian Welsh could now sit dowTi with the Christian Saxon ; no longer, as Dr. Freeman has observed, wild beasts, enemies, or slaves, but fellow-pitizens, living under the king's peace. It is still the grateful boast of the county that along her roadsides are plentifully dispersed those imperishable stone crosses,* which, by their equal-limbed Greek form, attest the primitive source from which she derived her Christianity. To these early times must be referred the origin of such stories as those of King Arthur, of whose existence no Cornish man at least can ever permit himself to doiibt, though many a long year was to roll by before " the blameless king " appeared in a written chronicle. As Cornwall preserved for a longer period than any other part of England her jjolitical independence, so did slie also maintain her separate ecclesiastical standing. ]More than two centuries elapsed between the adoption of the Roman Easter by the King of Damnonia and the submission of the Cornish bishop (with, possibly, the ex- ception of Kenstec, in 833-70) to the Eoman occupant of the see of Canterbury, in a.d. 931 ; indeed it was not until 950 that Ethelgar, the first EnyUsh bishop of Cornwall, was appointed to Bodmin f We must pass rapidly by the ravages of the Danes in the 11th century, though they were numerous and de- structive, especially that of 1068. There is reason to sup- * On the backs of many of these monuments Latin crosses have been incised by later hands. t It has been stated that Christianity was introduced into Cornwall in the 2nd century ; and it is known that there were three British bishops at the Council of Ariniinum in a.d. 359. Tlie Welsh Triads say that Cornwall was the seat of an arch- bishop. HISTOET. i pose that traces of these rough times are still to be found in some of the hill and cliff castles. But the disposBessor of the Celt was himself soon to be disi>ossessed for a time by the followers of the Norman conqueror; although nearly two years passed by before the two western counties submitted to William's rule, and the major part of the westernmost of them was allotted to the builder of our Norman- Cornish castles, Robert de Mortain, the conqueror's half-brother. The vitality of the Celtic proprietor, and the tenacity of his grasp of the soil (though nearly all traces of British customs, except perhaps the courts of the Stannaries, were swept away by the Saxons) are remarkably displayed under this double confiscation ; for although the names of a few Norman landowners linger, even down to modern times, the majority of them died out at a comparatively early period ; and the men of that soil from which their names were derived," emerged from the debris of Norman and Saxon," " By Tre, Eos, Pol, Lan, Caer, and Pen, You may know* most Cornishnien," as Camden puts it ; and Dr. Bannister has enumerated no less than 2400 Coi-nish proper names with Tre ( = home- stead), 500 with Pen (= head), 400 with Eos (= moor), 300 with Lan ( = church or enclosure), 200 with Pol (= pool), and 200 with Caer (= town or camp). There are jjrobably many more than this number.t It has been suggested that to the early and rapid decay of Norman feudalism in Cornwall may be due that lack of feudal * The extent towhioli Cornish surnames are derived fromtlie names of places is remarkable. Tlierc are several places iu various parts of tlie eounty Ijearing the same name as the writer of this liaiulbook ; and (hat such names date from an early period is evident from the fact that one Nicholns Trep lias witnessed a deed at Lostwilhiel in the reij^n of Edward II., and another — Thomas — was returned to Parliament ns one of the juembers for Truro, in llichard II. 's third Parliament, at WesI minster. Of course such names were probably iu existence at a much earlier date; and it may here be observed that down to the middle of the last century Cornisli gentlemen not only derived tiieir names from their residences, but even changed the one with the other when they moved. t It has often been observed that a large number of the names of Cornish parishes bear the prefix " Saint." Lysons gives a long list of ancient names without this prefix. 8 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. notions and that impatience of aristocratic interference, which have always characterized the Cornish, and which caused those great risings of the people which constitute some of the main features of the county history. Not to lay too much stress upon the disturbances created by a few Lancastrian partisans in 1471, the risings which occurred during the Tudor dynasty next deserve a passing notice. The first of any importance — known as Flammock's (or Flamank's) rebellion — was in the reign of Henry VII. (1495), whose exactions for the ex- penses of the Scotch war raised a spirit of resistance amongst the Cornishmen; which, afterwards aided perhaps by a symjjathy with the claims of Perkin Warbeck, who landed on Cornish ground, resulted in " the most for- midable danger which ever threatened Henry's throne." But the bills and bows of the Cornish, though their arrows were (says Lord Bacon) " the length of a tailor's yard, so strong and mighty a bow were they said to draw," * were no match for the king's artillery, which completed their defeat at Blackheath. " Perkin's rebellion," in the following year, ended very summarily in the submission of his followers to Henry VII. at Exeter, and the com- mittal of the pretender to the Tower. The next rising — knoAvn as " Arundel's rebellion " — was fifty years afterwards, when the Cornishmen, ever averse to change, and now incited by Eoman Catholic priests, rose in a futile attempt for the defence of the "■' old religion." Their leader was Humphry Arundel, who mustered 10,000 "stout traitors," as Foxe calls them, at St. Michael's Mount, but they were dispersed at Clifton Downs on 19th August, 1549. t It is scarcely necessary to add that the Beformed faith ultimately prevailed ; and that, owing to the zealous labours of Wesley towards the close of the last century (which the Bishop of Truro in his recent first charge bade his clergy " remember joyfully "), the general tendency of religious thought in later times, at least among the lower orders, has been, until recently, rather towards dissent ; but it is curious to observe how, not- withstanding, most of the parishes retain the names of their patron saints instead of the older secular names. * ' Life of Henry VII.' t ^f- Lord Clarendon's ' History of the Rebellion.' HISTORY. 9 Even more memorable than the foregoing incidents of Cornish liistory is the attitude which the county assumed during the Civil Wars. This was, no doubt, partly owing to a refusal of the House of Commons to redress certain Cornish grievances.* " Nowhere," says Mr. Green, in his 'Short History of the English People,' "wastheEoyal cause to take so brave or noble a form as among the Cornishmen. Cornwall stood apart from the general life of England : cut oft" from it not only by difference of blood and speech, .... they suff'ered their fidelity to the Crown to determine their own. They had as yet done little more than keep the war out of their own county ; but the march of a small Parliamentary force, under Lord Stamford, upon Launceston, forced them into action. A little band of Cornishmen gathered round the chivalrous Sir Bevil Greenvil (s/c), so destitute of provisions that the best oflBcers had but a biscuit a day, and with only a hand- ful of powder for the whole force; but, starving and outnumbered as they were, they scaled the steep rise of Stratton Hill,t sword in hand, and drove Stamford back to Exeter, with a loss of 2000 men, his ordnance and baggage train. Sir Ralph Hopton, the best of the Eoy- alist generals, took command of their army as it advanced into Somerset, and drew the stress of the war into the west. Essex despatched a picked force, under Sir William Waller, to check their advance ; but Somerset was already lost ere he reached Bath, and the Cornishmen stormed his strong position on Lansdown Hill in the teeth of his guns." Equal honours fell to their share at the siege of Bristol ; and such services as these to the Eoyal cause could not be forgotten. They produced from Charles I. J a memorable letter of thanks to the county, dated Sudeley Castle, 10th September, 1G43, in which he directs that a * For full particuLirs, see Sir Riolianl Baker's 'Chrouicle' (ed. Pliillips, 1674, pp. 248, 244, and .304). t A i)revioii.s victory over tin; Parliamentary forces was obtained on Broadoak, or Bradock Down, on January ID, 1043. X A (leclaralion of King James I. was publisiiod in 1(J13, to the ctieot t)iat Prince Charles was to be Duki; of Cornwall on the death of the kiiij^'s " first-bcgottcii " sou H(;ury. It may also be noted here, in further explanation of the strong feeling which existed on the part of the Cornish towards Charles I., that in the earlier part of his nign a Bill jiasscd the Commons for making all the Cornish rivers navigable. 10 GUIDE to' CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES, copy of it should be kept for ever in all the Cornish churches and chapels, " that, as long as the history of these times and of this nation shall continue, the memory of how much that county hath merited from us and our Crown may be derived with it to posterity." In many churches large copies of this epistle still hang on the walls, but from others they have been allowed to disappear. Since those stirring times the history of Cornwall is the history of England ; partly owing, no doubt, to the dis- tance of this county from the great centres of political life. It has, so far as its individual history is concerned, mainly consisted in the peaceful and energetic develop- ment of her mineral and agTicultural resources. The former, however, have, within the last few years, received a terrible blow from the discovery of vast quantities of tin and copper abroad — found under such favourable conditions as almost to preclude all hopes of Cornish competition. About three-fourths of the mines have been stopped ; n'liilst in thoso that are still worked, only half the hands are employed, and those at reduced wages. Emigration of the working men has consequently taken place, to an enormous extent, " to distant climes, a dreary scene, Where half the convex world intrudes between." The busy scenes where thousands of both sexes were once employed in the many varieties of mining operations are now nearly all deserted ; a terrible poverty, which no " national subscription " has attempted to relieve, has found its way into many a humble home, and the face of the country is entirely changed.* Amidst all this distress a curious trait of Cornish character has appeared in cer- tain discussions at public meetings held during the winter of 1877, Avhen it was proposed to alleviate the sufferings of the raining population by the distribution of about 1000/., the balance of a sum collected for a similar pur- pose in 1867. The difficulty was this — the worthy poor * There wna a complaint of the decay of the population of Cornwall in the middle of the 16th century, and an Act of Par- liament was passed in 1540 for tlie reconstruction of dwelling- houses in the towns of Truro, Bodmin, Launceston, Liskeard, Lostwithiel, and others. CLIMATE. 11 could not be induced to own their poverty. The future progress of Cornwall must in all human probability de- pend upon some industry which shall replace that of which she has of late years been so completely deprived. Whether this is to be found in some profitable method of cultivating the vast tracts of moorland — in certain classes of agricultural and horticultural pursuits for which the climate is so singularly fitted, and for which the vast supplies of blown sand and seaweed afford manures — or from the further development of the fisheries (wdth their attendant industries), Avhich exist at many parts of the long line of seaboard — or possibly from the establishment of local manufactories of porcelain, the natural ingredients of w'hich exist under the soil in such inexhaustible abundance — remains to be seen.* It is well known that many mines increase in richness the deeper they are ex- cavated, and it would be even yet more remarkable if the Sti'enuous endeavours which are being made to improve the machinery used in deep-mining operations should succeed ; or if an increased demand for the products of the mines should arise, and so cause a repetition of that chapter of Cornish history which, for the last century and a half, has chiefly distinguished her as a county — her varied mineral wealth. Finally, the most recent event of importance in the history of Cornwall has been the re-establishment of its ancient Ei-itish bishopric, and the elevation of Truro to the dignity of a city, by letters patent, dated 28th August, 1877. CLIMATE. The climate of Cornwall, owing to the peculiar situa- tion of the promontory, is so remarkable as to deserve special notice ; and to this subject Mr. Whitley has given * It would be diflicult to do more than jiistire iu acknow- ledging the extreme value of the contributions of Mr. Wliitley, of Truro, towards a correct appreciation of the geological, meteorological, and agricultural resources of his native county. Mr. Whitley's suggestive papers on tliese subjects are chiefly to be found in tlie journals of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, &c., &c. The writer takes this opportunity of acknowledginj^ how much he is indebted to thes-e extensive ami varied researches. 12 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. such long and careful attention that it would be difficult to do better than to quote his words.* " A Canadian would think there was no summer, and say there was no winter ; a Spaniard would wonder what had become of the sun ; and a Peruvian would think it always rained. " The month of January at Penzance is as warm as at Madrid, Florence, and Constantinople ; and July is as cool as at St. Petersburg in that month. The seasons appear to mingle like the interlacing of the warm and cold waters on the edge of the Gulf-stream ; and along our coast-line in January night and day have hardly a distinctive temperature, the mean difference being scarcely four degrees. There is no country in the world with a climate so mild and eqnable as the south-west of England, if we except the south-west of Ireland, where this peculiarity is intensified. " The cause is now well understood. The Atlantic Ocean on the west is an immense reservoir of warm water, fed and heated by the Gulf-stream, so that around tlie Cornish lands in the depth of winter the temperature of the surface-water is seldom lower than 46^ ; and out at sea, beyond the influence of the land, the water is much warmer. The air pressed on its surface partakes of its temperature, and this warm air is swept by tlie prevailing westerly winds over the land, imparting to it the heat which was generated in and conveyed from the torrid zone. Let the cold be ever so intense in winter, the westerly wind will drive it back, and day after day the tliermometer will stand at 50°. " Tliere is a magic touch and a mighty power about this brave west wind, which in winter we should thank- fully acknowledge. In the middle of December, 1859, the cold from the north-east had coated Cornwall with snow, and loaded the trees and hedgerows with masses of glittering crystals. A falling barometer indicated that the generous hero of the west was approaching ; his first blast was cold and chilly ; but on, on, roaring and groaning, he came ; sigliing through the trees and hedge- * ' Development of the Agricultural Resources of Cornwall,' ' Biith and West of England Agricultural Journal,' vol. ix. part 2. Cf. Mr. Whitley's ' Prize Essay on the Climate of the British Islands,' 'Journal of the Koyal Agricultural Society,' 1850. CLIMATE. 13 rows, and the snow fell in heavy lumps from the boughs. From the western sides of hills, and from the more ex- posed brows of the land, the snow melted rapidly away, and so effective was his influence that lines of tempera- ture might almost be drawn on the delicately-shaded surface. Within twenty-four hours the white mantle of winter was gone, and the emerald green of si)ring re- turned, except that here and there were left some patches of snow which had skulked under the eastern side of a hedge ; and the thermometer ranged from 50° at night to 54° by day. "15ut in stm?ner admiration changes into dislike. 'Fair weather may come out of the north,' but the tyrant of the west rolls in, cloud on cloud, till the sun is obscured by masses of vapour which, day after day, no ray of his can pierce ; then long pendent streams of condensing vapour float over the languishing ears of corn, or descend in heavy rain to retard and injure the harvest. The sun may be a monarch in the desert, where ' the earth is fire and the sun is flame,' but in Cornwall we often view him as the 'dim discrowned god of day,' and long to feel more of his vivifying beams, gilding the fading corn and swelling the half-ripe fruit." Humboldt calculated that, according to the latitude of England, it should have an annual lainfall of 22 inches ( about 2200 tons per acre). As a matter of fact, how- ever, the English average is half as much again ; whilst Cornwall gets a double share, or 44 inches annually. The flora and fauna of the county are therefore, owing to the mildness of the climate, to a considerable extent of a sub-tropical character. 'I'o enumerate the various interesting examples which have been noticed would unduly increase the contents of this handbook ; but those who are curious in the matter will find ample details, in a most attractive form, in the ' Reports of the Ivoyal Institution of Cornwall.' * To attempt to give them here would neither do justice to the naturalist nor to Cornwall. For the invalid suffering from chest or throat com- plaints the well-known advantages of the climate of the south of Cornwall are greater than those of any other part of the kingdom. * The Meteorological Tables kept by tlie Curator, and tlu^ ' Oriiitliology,' by Mr. E. H. Rodd, are particularly copious and valuable. 11 GUIDE TO COENWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. THE PEOPLE. Ti'uism though it be, that race and situation determine the character ot a people, yet the Cornish are so peculiar in both respects, that in Cornwall this should always be borne in mind. Their Celtic blood * makes them ardent and vivacious ; their almost insulated position has caused them to be self-reliant and versatile. It is no uncom- mon thing for a Cornish man to build his own house, make his own shoes, and be both fisherman and miner — possibly a small shopkeeper besides. But his character shall be pourtrayed by the impartial pens of strangers. Queen Elizabeth said that " the Coi'nish gentlemen were all born courtiers, with a becoming confidence." A close observer of character, Mr. Wilkie Collins, writes : — " As a body of men they are industrious and intelligent, sober and orderly ; neither soured by hard work, nor easily depressed by harsher privations The views of the working men are remarkably moderate and sensible. I never met with so few grumblers any- where." The tourist will almost invariably find them courteous and hospitable, most willing to impart what- ever information they can, and equally ready to receive any facts (especially of a personal nature) in return ; but any curt reply or haughty demeanour on the part of the visitor will at once prove fatal to agreeable intercom- munications. A London pedestrian in 1649 writes — " Cornwall is the compleate and repleate Home of Abund- ance, for high churlish hills, and affable, courteous people. .... The country liath its share of huge stones, mighty rocks, noble free gentlemen, bountiful housekeepers, strong and stout men, handsome and beautiful women." Warner, in his ' Tour through Cornwall,' in 1808, says — " Its men are sturdy, bold, honest, and sagacious; its women lovely and modest, coui-teous and unaffected." Their courage is sufficiently evidenced by their gallant conduct during the Civil Wars, when they are said to have "twice rescued the Eoyal cause;" — in 1G43, by the victories at Stratton and Lansdown, and in 1044, at * Professor Max Miiller, in his ' Chips from a German Work- shop,' ranks the Celt very high in the qualifications of" physical beauty and intellectual vigour." THE PEOPLE. 15 Broadoak : how Lord Exmoutb, a Penzance man, with a crew of Cornish miners who had never before been to sea, defeated a French frigate, may be read in his biography by another Cornishman, the h\te Edward Osier, F.R.S. Mr. J. 0. Halliwell Phillips says :— " Yet of all the attractions of Cornwall, surely the greatest is the genial character of the people, which would almost suflSce to make a desert an agreeable place of sojourn to a stranger. The same description of their courtesy holds true at the present day. It is a rarity to find a native, in however humble a condition, who does not display that truest and best politeness which arises from an anxious desire to satisfy an inquiry or a want." Diodorus Siculus observed that "the people who inhabit a pro- montory of Britain called Bolerium, are exceedingly hospitable and courteous in their manners." Festus Avienus says of them — " . . . . multa vis hie gentis est, Superbus animus, efficax solertia, Negotiandi cura jugis omnibus." And Leifchild, the author of ' Cornwall ; its Mines and Miners,' observes — " I would prefer a month's walk over Cornish scenes, or a month's sojourn among Cornish peasants, to the same anywhere else." The only dark side which we have been able to find to these pleasant pictures of the Cornish, as given by out- Biders, is that drawn by poor Lady Fanshawe, who, in the midst of her sad troubles whilst passing through Cornwall during the rebellion, observed tliat, though "the gentlemen of this county are generally loyal to tTie Crown and hospitable to their neighbours, yet they are of a crafty and censorious nature, as most are so far from London." It must, moreover, be admitted that (whilst they are imaginative and devotional) they are also often super- Btitious; especially as regards charms for the ciire of illness, and also as to fairies and pixies. In some parts of Cornwall branches of seaweed are set up as ornaments in the house to preserve it from fire : these are called (? our) Lady's tresses. One notable instance of credulity is that a stone celt — locally called a thunderbolt — is, when boiled, a cure for rheumatism. Another is, that a 16 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. mutton knuckle - bone, a raw potato, or a loadstone, carried in the pocket is a cure for sciatica. The men have usually a good physique, and are cele- brated for the breadth of their shoulders. A Cornish militia regiment was observed at Chatham to require from this cause a greater area of ground than any other. "With the exception of the miners, whose various illnesses, en- gendered by their dangerous and unhealthy pursuits, have formed the theme of many medical treatises by Dr. Barham and others, the inhabitants have been remark- able for their longevity. The peculiar, half-foreign beauty of many of the fairer sex in some districts has been a subject of remark from time immemorial. Many curious old customs still linger in Cornwall. Among them may be mentioned the ceremony of " cutting the neck," or last few ears of corn, at harvest time; the lighting of bonfires on the hills, on St. John's eve ; and the furry or Flora dance at Helston, on the 8th of May. Nor must we omit to mention some of the curious dishes peculiar to the Cornish cuisine. Pre-eminent is the pasty — the almost universal daily dinner of the working class — a savoury compound of meat and potatoes en- closed in a crescent-shaped crust ; but it is necessary to be a Cornishman to thoroughly appreciate this dish. The variety of pies is truly marvellous, and most of them are richly saturated with clotted cream : such are veal and parsley, leeks, conger eels, and pilchards, whose heads peeping through the crust have earned for this dish the title of star-gazing pies. It has been said that the devil himself would be put into a pie if only he could be caught anywhere in Cornwall. This gave rise to the following scandalous lines, penned on an occasion when several Cornish attorneys, meeting at Quarter Sessions at a time when wheat was very scarce and dear, resolved to abstain from pastry : — " If tlie proverb is true that the fame of our pies Prevents us from falling to Satan a prej', It is clear that his friends the attorneys are wise In moving such obstacles out of the way." There are i:)lenty of old stories about wrecking and smuggling; and no doubt in former times a good deal of both went on in Cornwall as well as on other parts of the coast. If more were done in Cornwall than else- THE OLD CORNISH LANGUAGE. 17 where it is easily accounted for by the dangerous and extended coast line. But the best vindication of Cornish manners and morals will be found in the creditable position which the county occupies in the Criminal Returns, THE OLD CORNISH LANGUAGE. An ancient tongue still used in the names of most of the j)?ace.s in the county, as well as in the names of many things, and which even lingers, in remote corners, in the form of rustic expressions now rapidly growing obsolete, — but yet occasionally breaking through the modern tongue, as Plutonic rocks force their way through superincumbent strata, — must be considered deserving of a short notice. Though at the time of the departure of the Eomans the language of which the Cornish is, or rather was, the representative, was that spoken over at least all southern Britain, its literary remains are confined to three or four MSS., the earliest of which, a vocabulary, dates from the 13th century, whilst of the remainder, mostly sacred dramas (probably not by a Cornish author), none is earlier than the l-ith. The difficulties of understanding it are con- sequently very considerable, but, thanks to the learned labours of Edwin Norris,* whose translations of the Ancient Cornish Drama, together with grammar and vocabulary, were published about twenty years ago, a fair idea of the history and character of the language can even yet be gained. The Cornish is, of course, a Celtic language — allied rather to the Welsh and Armoric branches than to the Irish, Scotch, and ]\Ianks. In short, it is Cymric, not Gaelic. Probably it is not of so early an origin as the Irish, but is older than the ^^'elsh ; an opinion for which Norris gives good i-easons. The language was sufficiently like the Welsh and Armoric for the Bretons and Welshmen to understand it, to some extent, when spoken ; but, not to mention cer- tain differences in its grammar and vocabulary, Scawen, writing at the close of the 17th century, says, its sound was not so yuttural as the Welsh, nor tuuttcred like the * Scawen, Kcigwyn, Llliuyd, Gwavas, and Pryce (Tonkin), are earlier autlioritics, but tlie most scientific treatise Norris considered to be Zcuss's ' Grammatica Celtica.' c 18 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. Armoric ; and Carew's description of it is somewhat similar. Max Muller says of it that " it was a melodious and yet by no means an effeminate language." Into the causes of its decay it hardly seems necessary to enter here, though Scawen gives no less than sixteen lengthy and elaborate reasons for it. The same obvious causes which are gradually exterminating Welsh in our own days obliterated Cornish in the times of our ancestors. Although it was pretty generally spoken in the days of Henry YIII., Norden says (about 1584) that "the Cornish men have much conformed themselves to the English tongue ; " adding that, in the west part of the country, " the Cornish tongue is most in use amongst the inhabitants .... yet there is none of them but in a manner is able to converse with a stranger in the English tongue, unless it be some obscure people that seldom confer with the better sort." Carew says it had fallen into disuse in 1602 ; but this statement requires qualification, as Hals says that in 1640 the vicar of Feock was obliged to administer the sacrament in Cornish to his older parishioners. In 1644 it was the rustic language of the Meneage, Pendennis, and Land's End districts ; and the last sermon in Cornish was not preached till 1678 in Landewednack church. The guaries, or miracle-plays, continued to be acted in Cornish for some time afterwards.* In 1701, Llhuyd writes that every Cornish man could then sjieak English, and that Cornish was then spoken only in a few villages in the Land's End district ; and Borlase says the fishermen in the western part of the country used it pretty generally at the beginning of the last century ; though, he adds, the general use of it had ceased in 1758. Yet Daines Barrington considered he heard Dolly Pentreath speak it in 1768 at Mousehole, as Borlase certainly did in 1774 : in fact, Newly n and Mousehole appear to have been its last stronghold. Pryce says, that in 1790 he knew an old man who could speak it ; and Whitaker (author of the ' Ancient Cathe- dral of Cornwall') heard of two persons who could sj)eak it, in 1799. * Bishop Gibson, in his additions to Camden's ' Cornwall ' (1678-1700), says one of tlie disadvantages of suppressing the Cornish language would be loss of commerce and correspondence with the Aimoricans of Brittany. MINES. 19 The "coup de grace," however, was no doubt given in the 16th century, as to which Scawen writes : " Our people in Queen Elizabeth's time desired that the common liturgy should be in the English tongue, to which they were then for novelty's sake affected, not out of true judgment desired it." Dr. Moreman is said to have first introduced this innovation at Menheniot. A slight specimen of the Cornish language may be Interesting ; and I have selected the following because I believe it is the only example extant of which even an approximation to the right pronunciation is certainly known. Norris gives it as having been taken down by him from the lips of an old man who had been taught, when a child, the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed in Cornish : — "Dewan TasOlgallosak"— "God,the Father Almighty," was pronounced, Duan taza gallasack ; the cis sounded like a in father. The writer will, he hopes, be excused for adding, that, for illustrations of the ways in which many old Cornish words and phrases are still used by the miners and rural population generally, — as well as for a vivid pourtrayal of tlie manners and customs of the people, and the peculiar dialects of the various parts of the coimtry, — the reader may be referred to several tales and sketches, both humorous and serious, contained in works of the late John Tabois Tregellas. He has the less hesitation in doing this, as they were commended to the attention of the British Archaeological Association at Bodmin in 1876, by Mr. Stokes, the Clerk of the Peace for Cornwall. For a scientific treatment of the subject the pages of the Philological Society's publications, especially a paper by Mr. Ilcmy Jonner, in 1873, on the Cornish language at its various periods, may be advantageously consulted. Mr. Jenner has recently discovered a very early com- position in the Cornish language (perhaps the earliest extant) on the back of an ancient charter preserved in the British Museum. MINES. (By Richard Meade, Esq., of the Royal School of Slines.) CornAvall, from time immemorial, has been intimately associated with the mineral and metallurgical industries of Britain ; indeed, in no other county in the kingdom can c '2. 20 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. richer metalliferous deposits be found. The " Cassi- terides " or Tin Islands of the historian have been thought to be the Scilly Islands ; but, as there is no evidence that any tin was ever found in Scilly, this idea must be re- linquished. The name in all probability was given by the early navigators to this most western part of England, over which is spread the tin formations, and where we find evidences of mine workings of the highest anti- quity. Diodorus Siculus, who wrote in the 1st century B.C., describes the trade with Cornwall, " Bolerion," for tin, and mentions the place of shipment, in the following account : " The inhabitants of that extremity of Britain which is called Bolerion, both excel in hospitality, and also, by reason of their intercourse with foreign merchants, are civilized in their mode of life. These prepare the tin, working very carefully the earth which produces it. The ground is rocky, but it has in it earthy veins, the produce of which is brought down and melted and purified. Then, when they have cast it into the form of cubes, they carry it to certain islands adjoining to Britain, and called Ictin. During the recess of the tide, the intervening space is left dry, and they carry over abundance of tin to these places in their carts. And it is something peculiar that happens to the islands in these parts lying between Eurojje and Britain ; for at full tide, the intervening passage being overflowed, they appear islands, but when the sea retires a large space is left dry, and they are seen as peninsulas. From hence then the traders purchase the tin of the natives, and transport it to Gaul, and finally, travelling through Gaul on foot, in about thirty days bring their burden on horses to the mouth of the river Ehone." Some have supposed the Isle of Wight to be the "Ictin," but it does not fulfil any of the conditions of the geographer ; whereas. Saint Michael's Mount and Looe Island, to which may also perhaps be added Drake's Island in Plymouth Harbour, in all respects agree with the description. The earliest traders for tin with Cornwall are con- sidered to have been the Phcenicians, wlio, from their colony of Gades on the western coast of Spain, were the medium of commercial intercourse between Phojnicia and Cornwall. It further appears that the traders in this MINES. 21 metal considered it so important that they concealed the situation whence it was obtained. As early as the 6th and 7th centuries, with tlie introduction of bells into the churches and cathedrals of Western Europe, a consider- able demand for Cornish tin arose, and subsequently the sale was greatly increased by the use of cannon. The principal emporium for the tin trade in the 13th century was Bruges ; and later, the merchants of Italy obtained the tin of Cornwall and distributed it among the countries of the Levant, though Bruges at that time continued to be the great market for Cornish tin. According to Borlase, the produce of tin in Cornwall was inconsiderable in the time of King John (who granted a cliarter to the tinners of Cornwall and Devon), the property in the mines precarious and unsettled, and the tin traffic engrossed by the Jews to the great regret of the barons and their vassals, the right of working the tin being wholly in tlie king, as Earl of Cornwall. The tin- farm of Cornwall then only amounted to one hundred marks (66^. 13s. Ad.) per annum, while the tin of Devon was at the same time farmed for 100/. Subsequently, in the time of LMchard, Duke of Corn- wall, the produce of the tin mines is described as being considerable, so that he derived great revenue from them ; but after the banishment of the Jews in the Ibth of Edward I., the mines were again neglected. By charters of King John and Edward I., power was granted to the tinners to take both turf and wood for smelting their tin, as had been their ancient custom, so that then and previously botli kinds of fuel were em- ployed in the reduction of the ore. During more than six centuries the tin i)aid a tax to the Earls and Dukes of Cornwall after being smelted, having been cast into blocks, that ajipcar, judging from ancient specimens which have been found, to have varied in size and form, but which were latterly of a rect- angular shape with a bevel, corresponding with tho mould, between the upper and lower surfaces, and weighing 3" 34 cwts. each. The tin, each block being marked with the smelter's stamp, was carried to certain towns for the purpose of being coined ; that is, after having a corner of tho blocks struck otf and examined by Duchy officers appointed for the purpose (in order to 22 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLT ISLES. see that the tin was of proper qiiality), the blocks were stamped with the Duchy seal, the dues paid, and the blocks permitted to be sold. It appears by a charter of Edward I. (1305) to the Cornish tinners, that the coinage towns then appointed were Lostwithiel, Bodmin, Liskeard, Truro, and Helston ; Penzance being added to the list in the reign of Charles II. In the year 1837 the coinages of the Duchy of Cornwall were effected at Calstock, St. Austell, Truro, Hayle, and Penzance. In the year 1838, by an Act passed on the 16th August, the duties payable on the coinages of tin in Cornwall and Devon were abolished, and a compensation in lieu of them was given to the Duchy ; and at the same time the duties on the imports of foreign tin were reduced, and at a later period entirely remitted. The varied operations succeeding each other, and employed in obtaining the ores, and their subsequent conversion in the furnace to the metallic form, is too large a subject to be considered here. It will therefore be convenient first to refer generally to the rocks in which the several minerals are found, and their order of occurrence, following with Eeturns of production, show- ing quantities and values, and concluding with such facts as may prove interesting to the general reader, e.g. as depths of mines, accidents, and the mining population. Cornwall, geologically, presents several large surfaces of granite, protruding through other rocks known as killas or clay-slate. The general direction of these granite masses is from W.S.AV. to E.N.E. The granite is in- trusive, as the killas is found to repose upon it at an angle of about 45'^. In these granite and killas rocks occur veins or lodes bearing metalliferous minerals ; these mineral veins run nearly parallel ; sometimes a series of veins are seen in two directions at nearly right angles bearing tin and copper.* The character of metalliferous ores is generally marked by their direction. Mineral * Roughly speaking, tin and copper lodes run east and west, and lead lodes north and south. Tin is mostly found in the granite, and has been most abundant in the St. Austell and St. Agnes neighbourhoods. The Gwennap, Redrutli, and Cam- borne districts have produced the most copper ; whilst lead, anti- mony, and manganese are chiefly found in the sluty rocks of north-east Cornwall.— W. H. T. MINES. 23 veins are subject to great interruptions in their course, both laterally and vertically, from the nature of the rock through which they pass. In passing from a granite to a bedded rock they are generally deflected, and when this takes place, the mineral deposit is found to diminish. Numbers of our deepest mines have at times been abandoned from the veins having become small ; though when at a subsequent period operations have been further extended, they have proved a rich harvest to the adventurer. Minei-al lodes are sometimes cut through by other veins, known as cross-courses. Boase, in re- ferring to these, says : " When these granitic veins are of a large size, they are termed elvan courses ; indeed, this is the only distinction between these two forms of elongated masses of granite rock." These elvans are composed of quartziferous porphyry, that is, a granular crystalline mixtm-e of felspar and quartz, and are common in both Cornwall and Devonshire. Generally, these elvan courses are considered favourable for the discovery of tin and copper ; while, on the other hand, when tlie granite in which they occur is found sufficiently compact for building purposes (for which it is largely employed) the conditions for mining are seldom favour- able. The killas or clay-slate previously referred to is the rock in which most lodes occur ; — a white vai'iety is considered favourable for mining, and is invariably selected by miners. A\hen of a pale grey or buff colour, but more especially when the killas assumes a bluish tinge, the mineral vein becomes impoverished. In some of the western mines, at the junction of the granite and slate, the killas-bearing vein is found to pass from one kind of ore to another ; but where a vein passes from one rock to another, the mineral is not found equally rich in each rock. Tin is invariably found in the crystalline and meta- raorphic rocks, in several forms of deposit, tlie more important of which is in veins or lodes ; and from such the great bulk of tin annually obtained in Cornwall is derived. It also occurs in the form of stream tin, i.e., in small grains and nodules, deposited in alluvial sands and gi-avcls, the result of the disintegration of the primary rocks of the neighbouring hills. All the operations of the early tinners were directed to these deposits ; and stream 24 GUIDE TO COENWALIi AND THE SCILLY ISLES. works, until late in the last century, furnished the chief supply of tin. Tin is almost exclusively obtained from cassiterite or tin- stone, a peroxide of tin containing nearly 80 per cent, of the metal, and is readily separated from most of its accompanying minerals, by taking advantage of the great density of the ore. Production of Metallic ("White) Tin. — In the reigns of .James I. and Charles I. the yield of metallic tin varied from 1400 to 1600 tons. 2100 tons was the yield in 1742, and this was the average produce for several years. The following are the quantities produced in each of the years named : — Year. Tons. Year. Tons. 1760 .. .. 2717 1800 .. .. 2522 1770 .. .. 2977 1810 .. .. 2006 1780 .. .. 2926 1820 .. . . 2775 1790 .. .. 3193 1830 .. .. 4183 The average price of metallic tin per cwt. in 1780 was 3Z. 8s., increasing to U. Is. in 1800, and 11. 17s. in 1810, when prices fell to Zl. 13s. Qd. in 1820, and 3/. 12s. in 1830 ; when it again increased in value until 1836, real- ising 5/. 9s. Qd. per cwt. The following account shows the number of blocks coined ; distinguishing the quantity coined in each coinage town in both counties, and the grain tin from common tin, in the year from Midsummer, 1837, to Midsummer, 1838, when coining was abolished. Coinage Towns. Grain Tin. Common Tin.' Total. Calstock Truro Hayle Penzance 1 ,345 118 393 8,952 5,334 12,423 393 10,297 5,452 12,423 Totals ,. .. 1,463 27,102 28,565 In the same year the tin imported into the United Kingdom amounted to 1451 tons, while the exports amounted to 1465 tons. MINES. 25 Referring to the " Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom," first issued for the year 1848, the production of tin (bhick) ore amounted to 10,176 tons, increased to 10,383 tons in the year 1850, and receding to 9674 tons in the year 1852, and still further in the year 1854 to 8747 tons, of which quantity about 300 tons were raised in Devonshire; the average price of the black tin being 64/. per ton, giving a total value of 559,808?. ; while the black tin in 1854 yielded on smelting from 67 to 68 per cent, of metallic (white) tin, equivalent to 5947 tons; the average prices of the several varieties of metal the same year being, English blocks, 114?. per ton; bars, 115/., and refined, 118/. per ton. The extent and importance of mining operations in the production of tin alone in Cornwall and Devonshire will be understood by the following abstract, showing the number of mines selling black tin, the quantity produced, and its average value in each of the years given. Tin Ore. Year . Number of Mines. Price of Ore per Ton. Quantity. Value. £ s. (/. tons £ 1858 137 63 4 9,959 633,501 1860 143 71 11 6 10,400 812,160 1862 147 59 14 11,841 777,396 1864 174 60 17 6 13,985 881,031 1866 145 48 10 13,785 667,999 1868 109 55 4 11.584 641,137 1870 147 75 3 15,234 1,002,357 1872 162 87 7 14,2<;6 1,246,135 1874 230 56 3 14,039 788, HIO 1876 135 43 18 13,688 600,923 The unfavourable condition of the tin industries appears in the low price of the ore in 1876, compared with 1872, when the value was 87/. 7s. per ton ; indeed, in the history of Cornish mining, a more discouraging state of afiairs has never occurred. To compare the metallic (white) tin produced in each of the above years is ai){)ended the following abstract of quantities produced and values ; also side by side is given 26 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. the average price per ton of common block tin in each of the same years. Year. Metallic Tin. Price per Ton. Quantity. Value. tons £ £ ,ni(l tljnt pilcliaril.s arc tn Corinvall wluit liorrin;!j;s arc to Yarmouth, cutturi to Mauchc&ter, pigs to liclaiul, and coald to Newcastle. D 34 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLT ISLES. offered up in many of the cliurclies : a bad one means starvation and misery to many a household. The habits of the pilchard, to which Mr. Couch, the author of the ' Fauna of Cornwall,' devoted considerable attention, are very curious and mysterious. Tt begins to make its appearance off the Cornish coast in July or August,* and retires to the deep, warm waters west of the Scilly Islands in November. They are generally in greatest abundance towards the end of October. In that month they are sometimes so numeroiis that, in IMilton's words, they "bank the mid sea ; " the front ranks of the fish being sometimes actually forced on shore by the pressure of the enormous shoals behind tliem. Mr. Couch describes one shoal, or ''school," as they are locally termed, which was 100 miles long.f Tliere are two modes employed for catching the pilchard : one by drift-nets, the other by seines. The former method is chiefly employed during the sum- mer nights, along the south coast; and the drift-nets are so called because they are cast in a tide-way, and drift with the tide. They are about half a mile long, and 30 feet deep. The fish taken by these nets are usually smaller, but more oily than those enclosed by the seines. The seines are more than 300 yards long, and 70 feet deep, of fine-meshed, heavy net ; yet, notwithstanding this, such are the dexterity and precision Avith which they are handled, that they are " shot" in five minutes. The enclosure of a "school" of pilchards is one of the "sights" of Cornwall. The " huer," on the hill, whose practised eye has first descried the fish far out at sea, directs the motions of the boats by signs and gesticula- tions, to which the rowers in seine-boat, follower, and lurker, with their crews of about twenty men, respond with marvellous rapidity and skill. The shoal being successfully enclosed, a tuck net is employed to deposit the fish in the boats ; unless, indeed, as is sometimes the case, the seine itself is dragged at high tide into some sandy cove ; and the retreating waves leave behind them * " When the corn is in the shock, Then the fish are off the rock." t See the Third Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Poly- technic Society. FISHERIES. 85 a wall of living silver. The exciting nevv^s of a good catch soon sjjreads far and wide: "fish-jowsters"'* carts throng the beach, and the pilchards are rapidly distri- buted round the neighbourhood, often at the rate of twelve for a penny. I'he great mass of the fish, however, are " bulked " and " pressed," for the foreign market. These processes are w^ell worth seeing, for there are few such busy and merry spectacles. f Some idea of the numbers caught on exceptional occasions may be gathered from the ibllowing facts : — It is said that in 184G, seventy- five millions of pilchards^ were caught at St. Ives in one day, worth, at 21. per hogshead, about 60,000/. ; and in 18G6 there was another enormous catch at New Quay. Sometimes, however, these capricious fish scarcely visit the Cornish coast (so that the seine is almost as specu- lative a business as the mine) ; and then there is a dull season at the principal head-quarters of the seiners — Mevagissey, Penzance, St Ives, and New Quay It is said that the pilchard is becoming yearly more and more scarce ; and that amongst the causes are the poisonous discharges from the mine adits, and the increased steam traffic. Such is the nature of the pilchard fishery; in which not only the regular fishermen take part, but miners, townsfolk, and even strangers often join. The regular Cornish fisherman is engaged in fishing nearly all the year round, on various parts of the English and Irish coast, from the early mackerel time in January to the disappearance of the pilchards in November; and these men have been described as " the hardiest and most adventurous " fishermen afloat. Our notice of fishing would be incomplete without a reference to the excellent fiy-iishing for trout, salmon- peal, and salmon, which may be had on must of the rivers ; as, fortunately, some of the largest and best streams have not suffered from contamination by mine pro- duce. Many of the best flies are of a local cliaractcr, and sliould be obtained on the spot by the angler; but blue and yellow duns, red palmers, and other general favourites arc pretty safe killers. * Retailers. t The i)iesscd fish arc called funiadocs (locally "fair maids"). X Tlicrc are about 2500 ijilcliuids in a hogshead. D 2 36 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE 6CILLT ISLES, ANTiaUITIES. One remarkable feature of the Antiquities of Cornwall — " relics of the childliood of our race " — is that, for many of them, an antiquity has been claimed almost as great as that of the granite rocks and cliifs themselves, of which they are composed. Tliere is an abundance — we had almost written, a super- abundance — in this " land of the giants," of giants' quoits, basons, chairs, spoons, punch-bowls, wells, ladles, houses, beds, and graves ; all in granite. To the latter resting- place most, if not all, of these have now been consigned by that modern Jack the Giant-killer, a more enlightened spirit of anliquarian research, which has even dared to attack the Druids themselves. With such natural objects, however (often curious and picturesque enough from their huge dimensions and fantastic forms) it is not proposed to encumber this portion of our pages ; but attention should certainly be directed to other stone monuments with which Cornwall, especially the western part of it, is still most richly endowed ; though vast numbers of them have been utilized by the tixrmer and the mason, even since the days of Borlase. The principal examples of these will be referred to in their proper places ; but it will be convenient to classify them here as — I. " But circles " (ancient British villages), which seem to bring us into closer contact with our Celtic ancestors than almost any other class of remains, and of which an excellent example is to be seen at Chysauster, near Pen- zance ; and again, near Brown "Willy mountain. As to these it should be noted that tlie huts in East Cornwall are generally detached from each other and are very rudely constructed, whilst farther west they usually cluster together, and are more carefully built. II. Cromlechs (= bent, flat stones or slabs), as Chun Cromlech and Lanyon " Quoit'' on Boswavas Moor; both near Penzance. These are hugo stone sepulchral monu- ments; and though no doubt of British origin, have occasionally been found to contain Roman interments, and are perhaps the most striking and characteristic relics of the ancient inhabitants of Cornwall. III. Kist- Vaens ( = stone chests), also graves, of which ANTIQUITIES. 37 admirable examples may be found at St. Samson's Island, Scilly ; and, exposed to view, in the recently- opened Trevelgie tumuli near Lower St. Columb Forth. When covered with eartli these objects are called Barrows. IV. intone Circles. As the "Nine Maidens" on St, Breock Do^vn, and near Penzance; and the "Hurlers" near Liskeard. These also are probably sepulchral, though possibly some of them were associated with ancient religious and judicial ceremonies. V. Men-hirs (= long stones), tall memorial stones, sometimes single, as the Long Stone, near Penzance ; sometimes in avenues (when their original purpose is more obscure), as at Kilmarth on the Bodmiu Moors.* VI. Bohwns or Tolmcns ( = holed stones), the exact purpose of which has not been satisfactorily ascertained. These objects liave caused many interesting antiquarian speculations, and many superstitious notions among the common folk, who have been in the habit of dragging wretched invalids of all ages tlirough the orifices, in the hope of curing the maladies of tlie sick persons. A good example may be seen at Cam Galva, near Pen- zance. VII. Cliff Castles; which abound in the Land's End district, and are also to be found in many other points along the coast. Secure retreats, sometimes used by the native tribes against their invaders, or against some hostile Cornish clan ; at others, possibly, by the invaders themselves, when they desired to secure a " base of operations" close to the sea. The history of these relics is not the least among the Cornish " cruccs autiqua- riorum." VIII. Edrthirurh /'^or^.s, usually called Caers ( = camps), as at Ti-enail J>ury, near Tintagcl. These are generally on elevated sites, and are almost innumerable through- out the county ; sometimes stonework is combined with tliem, and at others (according to the locality) tliey are entirely of stone, recalling tlie words of Tacitus — " tunc niontibus arduis si (lua clementer acccdi poterant in modum valli saxa prtestruit." Some of these were un- doubtedly fortifications; whilst others, of smaller dimen- sions and weaker profiles, were probably only cattle * Cromlechs, stone circle.'^, and monolithfl are erected in tlie prcseut day by the Kasbius in India aa acpulchral mouuments. ^ 38 GUIDE TO COENWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. enclosures. Castell-an-Dinas ((fe«s = fortification), near St. Columb Major, is a fine example of mixed work.* Such, then, may be regarded as a brief sketch of the prima-vnl antiquities of Cornwall ; though it should be added that many (of the earthworks especially) are, pei'haps, much less ancient than has sometimes been ascribed to them. The relics found in connection with these objects of antiquity have rarely had any very special interest ; though the gold torques and gorgets (especially that found near Padstow, now in Her Majesty's possession), and the gold cup found in a barrow near Lis- keard, the golden amulet Irom Sancreed, and the curious gold fibula found at the Lizard, may be mentioned for the sake of their strong resemblance to ancient Irish objects of the same class. The early Christian antiquities comprise the Oratories, or small chapels (frequently associated with a Baptistery or Holy Well), and the Crosses to which an allusion has already been made under " History." Some of these extremely interesting little cliurches are, in all proba- bility, as early as the fifth century ; and more than one of them (Perranzabuloe being one of the best examples) attest their origin by the names of Irish saints which they bear ; though the remains of most of the buildings are, of course, now scarcely to be traced. It has been observed by a distinguished architect and antiquarian (Mr. E. W. Godwin) that the Cornish Oratories represent the ordi- nary type of the Cornish Church — viz., that they usually exhibit no constructional distinction between nave and chancel. The Crosses (of which there is a great variety of examples) have been beautifully illustrated by Mr. J. T. Blight in his well-known work. A large proportion will be found to confirm the tradition of a primitive Chris- tianity in Cornwall.! As to their uses Wynken de Worde in " Dives et Pauper" (ad. 1496), says — "For this reason ben crosses by y" way, that when folk passynge see y" * Many of the principal objects of this class have been admiraltiy de.scribed and figured by Mr. M'Lauchlan in the 'Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall '; and (so far as the north-east corner of the county is concerned) by Sh John MacLean in his laborious and exhaustive description of the Deanery of Trigg Minor. t See ' Archfeological Journal,' vol. iv. p. 312. ANTIQUITIES. 39 croysses, they shoulde thynke on Ilyra that deyed on y'^ croysse, and worshippe Hym above althyng." They were also, no doubt, sometimes erected to "guide and guard the way to the church ; " and it was also occasionally the beautiful practice to leave on the crosses alms for poor wayfarers. The Ck)rnish crosses were once far more numerous than at present ; yet it is gratifying to record that, during the last few years, many have been rescued from their t-ervile duty as gate-posts and the like, to be re-erected in churchyard or rectory. Churches. — It has sometimes been said that, as a rule, the Cornish churches are comparatively late and un- interesting. This is no doubt to a certain extent true ; a large number of them being of the Perpendicular period, grafted on older structures ; but there are many splendid exceptions. A high authority has declared that there are examples in Cornwall of "the highest and most successful times of English art." In the typical Cornish clmrch the original cruciform plan is often modified by the addition of a long south aisle to the southern limb of the cross.* Amongst the churches of the Norman period may be adduced St. Germans (the old Cornish cathedral), Manaccan, t^f. Cher, Tintayel, Mylor, and Landewednack. Early English work is very rare: tit. Anthony, near Falmouth, is one of the best examples. Beautiful illustrations of Decorated work are at /bY. Austtll, Lost- loithiel spire, and the large church of *S'^ CoJiimh Major. Amongst the finest specimens of Perpendicular work are Luuncesfon, with its elaborately sculptured granite panels ; and rrobus, with its exquisite tower. Granite, though close at hand, does not seem to have come into general use till the Kith century. There are only about twenty churches in Cornwall having spires ; most of them, however, have towers ; and in some few instances (as at (hcemtap) the belfry tower is at a little distance from the church. Old stained glass and encaustic tiles are rarely met witli. Of Mediivvul Miliiary Buildings there are very few in * It is iiitfresting: to note how liirgc a proportion of (Ir- churclics ill Wtwt Cornwall aru dodiciitcd to Irish tinints; whilst for thotic ill the north the luirnei of Welsh saints predominate, iiud of Bretons in the south. 40 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLT ISLES. Cornwall ; and they are almost all of the " Norman " period, as Launceston, Tintagel, Eestormel, and Tre- maton Castles. The Domestic and Monastic remains are not of sufficient importance to require special remark here ; but such as have any particular or unusual interest will be described in their proper places. Though not in strict chronological order, it is right here to call attention, first, to supposed traces of Fhoenician intercourse with Cornwall, such as are ex- emplified by a very singular specimen of a small bronze bull, and two " astragali " — tin blocks— now deposited in the museum of the Eoyal Institution of Cornwall at Truro ; second, to the Human Remains, the scarcity of which and the reasons for it have already been noticed under " History." Traces have been found at Carhayes ; at Carminow and Penrose nearHelston; at St. Minver, near Padstow; Carnbrea; Hayle; Towednack; Falmouth; Car- non ; and elsewhere. They are mostly coins, and there- fore can hardly be considered as indicating permanent Eoman settlements. Before concluding this section, the plain -an- guares (= playing places), and circular pits with concentric ranges of steps, as at tit. Just, Perran Round, and Gwen- napj, deserve mention ; the latter are of doubtful origin, and have in modern times been turned to practical account, not only by preachers, but also by athletes. The Cornish sacred dramas, to which Norris has devoted so much learned attention, Avere often performed in these open-air theatres. Scawenthus describes them — " These Guirrimears, which were used at the great conventions of the people, at which they had famous interludes celebrated with great preparations, and not without show of devotion in them, solemnized in great and spacious downs of great antiquity, encompassed about with earthen banks, and some in part stone-work, of largeness to con- tain thousands, the shapes of which remain in many places to this day, though the use of them long since gone They had recitations in them, poetical and divine." COUNTY STATISTICS. The Eoyal Duchy of Cornwall measures about 80 miles along its northern coast, 70 miles on its southern, and is 43 miles broad where it adjoins Devon. It has an COUNTY STATISTICS. 41 area of 869,878 statute acres, or 1360 sqiaare miles; and its population, which is much below the average per acre of English counties, in 1871 was 362,343 persons (males, 169,706 ; females, 192,637). The population in 1337 was estimated at 34,960. Since the census of 1801 the popu- lation has nearly doubled, having increased by 170,062 persons, or 88 per cent. The county comprises nine " Hundreds," and the Scilly Islands, and, for Parliamentary representation, is divided into East and West Cornwall ; in the former division are the Parliamentary boroughs of Bodmin, Launceston, and Liskeard ; whilst, in West Cornwall, the boroughs of Helston, Penryn and Falmouth, St. Ives, and the city of Truro, send representatives to the House of Commons, There is one Court of Quarter Sessions for the county ; and it is divided into sixteen petty-sessional divisions. The jurisdiction of the Court of tlie Yice-Warcjen of the Stannaries extends, over the counties of Cornwall and Devon, to all companies formed to work mines of metallic minerals within the two counties; and over all transactions connected therewith. There are sixteen lieutenancy sub- divisions for militia purposes, w'hich are nearly identical with the petty- sessional divisions. The general law regnilating the militia does not ajjply to tlie mines of Cornwall and Devon, the stannaries in that respect being governed by 42 Geo. III., c. 72. Population of County, 1801 to 1871. Census Years. 1801 1811 1821 1831 1841 1,S51 1S61 1871 I'lipuUaion. Increase per Cent. 192,281 220,52.5 261,015 301,306 342,159 355,5.58 369,3!»0 362,343 15 18 15 14 4 4 2 decrease AiiiDiiiit iitrt-'iil j)n>j)erty assf.'-seil to the iiiconie anil proiHrty tux (Schedule A.) in the year ^ ending April, 1871 1,312,783 Gross e.stim:ited rental according to valuation li.-t.s, api)n)Vcd for lfS71 1,344,105 Amount oi' ratable value 1,167,071 42 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. Amount levied for county and police rates in j'ear ending Michaelmas, 1871 Amount levied for poor rates in year ending Lady-day, 1871 152,938 £ 19,754 The following statistics as to the state of the surface of the county, compiled a few years ago by Mr. Whitley, will be found suggestive. Acres. Arable and jjasture lands, orchards and gardens 515,000 Waste unenclosed lands 191,500 Large enclosed crofts 60 ' 000 Blown sand 4 350 Kivers and brooks 2 150 Hedges and ditches 18^000 Roads 10,000 Towns, houses, and farmyards 9,000 Furze-brakes and plantations 30,000 Timber and oak coppice 20^000 Total 800,000 Less than two-thirds of the whole county therefore is under actual cultivation ; of which some (especially the soils on the trap and hornblende rocks) is as good as any land in the kingdom, and some as sterile as the worst. POPULATION OF PKINCIPAL TOWNS. Towns, Bodmin Camborne Falmouth (Borough) Hayle Helston Launceston Limits and Description. M.B P.B Town .. .. M.B.andL.Bd. L.Bd. M.B. P.B. M.B. P.B. L.Bd. Population Population in 1861. in 1871. 4,466 6,381 7,208 5,709 3,843 8,497 2,790 5,140 4,672 6,758 7,757 5,294 1,180 3,797 8,760 2,935 5,468 3,458 MODES OF ACCESS. Population of Principal Towns — continued. 43 Tuwu. Liskeard Ludgvan Newquay Padstow Penryn .. Penzance Redruth St. AustoU St. Columb St. Ives Limits and Description. Population Population in 1861. I in 1871. 7,027 10,353 Truro / City. M.B.,P.B., K ^^^^ \ andlmpt.D. j^'' 337 1,991 3,679 10,414 10,685 3,803 1,113 0,965 9,992 11,049 " P.B." signifies Parliamontary HornuRli ; "MB." Municipal Borough; " L.Bd." Local Board Dibtrict; " Impl.D." Improvement Commissioners' Dis- trict. MODES OF ACCESS. On this subject the poet Wordsworth, in his remarks on Lake Scenery, seems to me to hiy down a g-oldcn rule. He recommends conimoneing at the Imocr end or outlet of the lake ; "for, by this Avay of aiiproach, the traveller is gradually conducted into the most sublime recesses of the scene. As every one knows, from amenity and beauty the transition to sublimity is easy and favourable: but the reverse is not so; for, after tin; faculties have been elevated, they are indisposed to humbler excitement." Applying this princijile to the case before ns, the traveller should approach Cornwall thmugii I'lyniouth, proceed westward to the Laiid'.s Knd and Seilly, and return along the northern shores of the county ; where the climax of natural scenery is reached in the stupendous cliifs of 44 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. BedrutLan and Tintagel, and the less ancient work of man culminates in " Castle Terrible,'' frowning down from Launceston Hill upon the peaceful valley of the Tamar. If the tourist should commence his acquaintance Avith Cornwall at Launceston, and work westward from that point, we fear that, after reaching the Land's End, he would find a less " easy and favourable transition " to the tamer scenery of her southern shores. The former course is therefore recommended ; and the question next arises as to the best way of reaching Plymouth — a town of ancient renown, and containing many objects of interest which the traveller would do Avell to insi)ect. Here he should, if practicable, so arrange as to rest a night, in order that he may bring fresh eyes and brain to the scenes and places to be described in the following pages. There are many ways of reaching Plymouth. First by sea ; but the route from London is somewhat long and tedious, and many a voyager has gladly availed himself of the opportunity presented by the steamer's putting in at Southampton to take a fresh departure by a circuitous land route from tliat port. Besides which, a sliorter and pleasanter sea trip (one which, moreover, would enable a person to see a great deal of the coast line of Cornwall) might be taken on board the steamer from Plymouth to Falmouth. The objection to this, however, is that, unless the traveller doubles back, he misses many objects of interest lying between the two last named places. "We are therefore disposed, unhesitatingly, to give the palm to the rail ; and recommend mtcuding tourists to place themselves in the luxurious rolling stock on the broad gauge of the Great Western Railway, whose system now embraces all the Cornish lines, including the branches to Fowey, to Newquay, and to St. Ives.* By these means they will most quickly reach their destination, and will moreover enjoy the exhilarating sensations of a railway tri]) along the sea beach between Exeter and Teignmouth. The time from Paddington to Plymouth by the fast trains, which are available to the tourist during " tourist months" (viz. from June to October, both inclusive) * The shcirt mineral railway lines which branch northwards from Liskeard to Caiadon and southwanls to Looc, are also in course of acquisition by the Great We.-tern Railway for the pur- pose, it ia uuderstood, of passenger tiafSc. PRINCIPAL WORKS UPON CORNWALL. 45 is six hours and one quarter; and a monthly return ticket may be obtained at the following rates: 1st class, 74s., 2nd class, 53s. 3'i., single 3rd class, 18s. 8d. Two- monthly tickets on favourable terms are also available during the above named months. Through return tickets of the same description may also be obtained to I'enzcmce — the terminus of the railway — at the following rates : 1st class, 102s. 9'/., 2nd class, 73s.; but, for the reasons already mentioned, as well as on account of the numerous stations at which the tourist should stop west of the Tamar, we should advise travellers, if practicable, to rest at Plymouth, where their tickets allow them to break the journey. PRINCIPAL WORKS UPON CORNWALL. William of Worcester's ' Itinerary ' circ. 1478 Leland's ' Itineiai y ' temp. Henry VIII. Norden's ' Speculi BritamiioB Pars,' &c ." 15S4 Camden's ' Britannia ' 1,599 Cartw's 'Survey ' 1G02 William Scawen {Lanjimje), — a fragment only — temp. Charles II. ' Laws of the Stannaries.' By T. Pearce 1725 ' Cornwall and the Isles of Sciily.' By Kobert Heath 1750 Hals's ' Paroeliiul History ' (incomplete) 1750 Troutbeck's ' Sciily ' 1751 'Antiquities.' By Borlase 1751 ' Observations on the Sciily Isles.' By Borlase .. 175(3 'Natural History of Cornwall.' Borlase 1758 'Mineralogia Cornubiensis.' By W. Pryce; and 'Arclisoologia Cornu-Biit innica,' by the same 1778-1790 Shaw's 'Tour' 1789 Lipscomb's ' Journey through Cornwall ' .. .. 1799 Kcv. 1;. Pol whole's ' History of Cornwall' .. 180:3-1816 'Thu Ancient Cathoilral ot'Cornwall.' By Whitaker 1804 Lysons's ' Miigna Puitannia' (Cornwall) ISi-t ' History of Cornwall.' 13y Ilitchins and Drew ,. Isl7 C. S. Gilbert's ' History of Cornwall' 1820 'Excursions in Cornwall.' \'>y F. W. li. Stockdalo 1821 Davies (iilbert's publislied ' Extracts from Hals, and the Extant Notes of Tonkin,' with Kemarks of his own 1838 ' The Geology of Cornwall and Devon.' By De la lit^fhc ■ .. .. 1839 . Cyrus lledding's ' Itinerary of Cornwall ' 1842 Twycross's ' Mansions of Cornwall ' ly4(; 46 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILL"? ISLES, Dr. Oliver'ri ' Monasticou Diocesis Exoniensis' .. 1846 ■ Dr. G. Smith's ' Cassiterides ' 1863 Blight's ' Churches of West Cornwall ' 1865 Dr. Bannister's ' Glossary of Cornish Names ' .. .. 1871 Blight's ' Crosses and Antiquities of Cornwall ' .. 1872 ' Bibliotheca Cornubiensis.' Courtney and Boase. 2 vols, (in course of publication) 1876-7 Lake's ' Popular History of Corawall.' 4 vols. ,. recent ^ Sir J. MacLean's ' History of the Deanery of Trigg Miaor in course of publication Those interested in the ancient Cornish language should consult Norris's able work in 2 vols., and the Transactions of the Philological Society. The folk-lore has been well treated by Mr. Eobert Hunt, P.R.S., in his ' Romances and Drolls of the West of England ' (1865) ; and, for many places, such as Penzance, St. Just, Looe, Liskeard, Mullyon, Cury, Gunwalloe, &c., there are interesting monographs by various writers. There is abundant store of information also to be found in the following books : — ' The Journals of the Koyal Institution of Cornwall.' ' The Journals of the Royal Aichseological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.' ' The Pliilosophical Transactions and Magazine.' ' Transactions of tlie Exeter Diocesan Society.' ' Transactions of the Geological Society of Cornwall.' &c. &c. &o. ITINERARY. 47 THE ITINERARY. N.B. It has heen assumed that, along the railway routes, the tourist sits looking towards the engine. The first objects of interest to a tourist in Cornwall are so situated with reference to the Tamar, the county- boundary, that, by the aid of steamboats, they may be most conveniently visited from Plymouth. Tlie noble park of Mount Edgcumbp, the quaint little fishingvillage of Cuwsand, Maker Heights and fortifications, and the Itame Head lie close to the Cornish shore of Ply- mouth Harbour ; whilst, passing up Hamoaze under the gigantic Albert Bridge, and a few miles up the river are the Tudor mansion of Cotlule, the rocks and woods of Mor- wellham, and the little villages of Calstock and Gunnis Lake ; all well worth visiting. These, as well as trips to the Eddy^tone Liglithouse, and to Whitsand Bag, are so essentially the subjects of excursions from Plymouth that it has been found the most convenient course — although they all belong, geographically, to Cornwall — to describe them at length in the haudbook of this series which treats of youth iJin'un. The Cornish Itinekary will therefore commence with the passage across the Tamar (= the big water) over the Royal Albert Bridge, one of the most audacious accom- plishments even of the daring genius of Brunei. The Cornish Railway Bill received the Royal Assent in 184G ; and the bridge, erected under the superintendence of Mr. Brereton, C.E. (whicli is 300 feet longer than the Britannia Bridge across the ]\[cnai Straits) was opened by the late Prince Consort, in 1859. It is nearly half-a- mile long, 445 feet from pier to pier, height of granite centre pier 240 feet above bed of river, height of railway above liigli-water mark 100 feet. Tlic oval tubes to which the chains carrying the rails are attached (70 feet below) are 16 feet by 12 feet in transverse section, and weigh about 1200 tons each; 4000 tons of iron, 17,000 cubic yards of masonry, jind 14,000 cubic yards of timber were used in the construct ion of the bridge. Its total cost is said to have been 2oO,000/., and it is sui)posed to be able to carry about eleven times the weight of the heaviest train, 'iickcfs for walking over the bridge arc granted at tho Saltash Kailway Station. 48 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. Saltash, 4jm. (formerly called Villa de Esse, Ashe, or Asheburgjli) may also be reached from Plymouth and Devonport by boat, or by steam ferry. A picturesque old town, built on a steep slope, and a great nursery for sailors ; the women of Saltash are celebrated for rowing in their four-oared gigs, frequently bearing away the prize from men at the various Cornish regattas. It has a mayor and corporation, whose jurisdiction ex- tends over all the liberties of the Tamar. The church or " chapel " is dedicated to St. Nicholas, and dates from about 1225 ; but the tower is earlier. Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, represented Saltash in 1G40, and Edmond Waller, the poet, in 1685 ; but Saltash was disfranchised by the Eeform Bill. During the Civil "Wars this town was of course an important post, and was frequently taken and retaken for King or Parlia- ment. Leaving Saltash, the attention of the traveller is first arrested by the woods of Antony on the left, the seat of the Carews ; and by Anto7iy Church (early 15th century), where PJchardCarew, the historian of Cornwall, is buried. Antony House is an uninteresting building, about 150 years old ; but it contains some good portraits, especially two Holbeins. On an eminence to the right rise the red walls of Trematon Gusth (Trematon = ? the king's place, or the place on the great hill), one of a group of fortresses built in Norman times, either by Earl Morton, or perhaps by the Valletorts, to keep the Cornish men in order. The other castles referred to are Launceston, and Eestormel, both of which are of similar design, and Tintagel. There now remain, as in Carew's time, only the " ivy- tapissed walls of the keep (on a mound 30 feet high) and base court," and the gateway. It was here that Sir Richard Greynvile the elder, with his lady and f jllowers, was captured by treachery during the riots of 1549, as described by Carcw; when "the seely gentle- women, without regard of sex or shame, were stripped from their apparel to their very smocks, and some of their fingers broken, to pluck away their rings." The position of the Castle is a strong one, and was probably occupied by a work of defence even before the Norman period. A wayiS'^. Neofs Well is in a meadow close by. h. Dozmdre Fool(= the pebble-beached mere, or the mere that ebbs and flows) lies a long six miles to the north, amongst moors as bleak and desolate as can be found in England. The place derives its interest entirely from the legends connected with it, and the superstitious awe with which it is regarded by the Cornish labourers in the vicinity. One of the many stories goes that the pool, which is only from 3 to 6 feet deep, occupies the site of the palace of one Tregeagle, an unjust steward of an old Cornish family,* who was avaricious enough to sell his soul, for immense possessions, to the devil. On the expiration of the term agreed upon (100 years) Treg- eagle was surprised in one of his numerous acts of rapine and cruelty by the fiend's putting an end to the compact; whereupon the mansion crumbled away into the sur- rounding waters. Tregeagle is still to be heard howling on wintry nights, as the devil chases him with his hell- hounds across the moors to Roche Eock hermitage, where he finds a temporary sanctuary. But he has to return the next day to Dozmare, to resume his never-ending task of dipping out the pool with a limpet shell, and weaving ropes of its rough granite sand. Another of his tortures is to spend all night making up weary steward's accounts, in which there is always 6>l. wrong. The legend has been told in some spirited lines by Penwarne, a Cornish poet. Carew thus describes the place : " Dosmery Poole, amid the Moores On top stands of a hill More than a mile about, no streams It empt, or any fill." * There is a room still known as " Tregeagle's " at Lord Robartes' mansion of Lanhydroc. ITINERARY. 57 Returning to Bouhlebois Station (which the tourist should do, if only for the sake of the beautiful sylvan views of the Giya Valley from the railway, when he resumes that mode of conveyance), two other interesting places may be visited on the left (or south) of the line. These are c. Broadoak Doum (= Braddoc, the place of treachery), on which may still be seen many tumuli marking the site of an unrecorded conflict, probably of the British period. Here was also fought a battle between the King's and the Parliamentary forces on the 19th of January, 1643-4, which ended in the utter defeat of the latter by Sir Ralph Hopton. An obelisk (half a mile north-east of Boconnoc House), erected in 1771, to the amiable Sir Richard Lyttleton, stands within a small entrenchment, which marks, approximately, the position of the Royalists; the Roundheads were drawn up on the rising ground towards Broadoak Church. Sir Bevil Grenvil, in a letter to his wife, dated at Liskeard, the evening of the fight, says, " All our Cornish grandees were present at the battle." d. Boconnoc House (= ? the abode of C;i?noc) — where Charles I., as well as the Parliamentarians, had, at different times, their head-quarters — is a mansion, embosomed in the finest woods in Cornwall, through whicli runs the pretty Lerrin river ; the beeches are especially fine. Tlie house contains a few good pictures. The small church (which is without a tower) is Per- pendicular, but of no especial interest ; it is close to the house.] Returning again to Doublehois Station, unless the tourist prefers walking to Lostwithiel (4m.) from Boconnoc (in whicli case LmiJu/flroc House and Bodmin would be omitted from his programme), the rail is resumed. On the right is seen, amongst the trees, <>lyn, formerly the seat of a family of tliat name, but now of Lord Vivian, son of the first Lord Vivian, better known to fame as Sir Hussey Vivian, a Waterloo hero, and once Master-General of the Ordnance. The house contains some good pictures ; amongst them are some interesting examples by Sir .loshua, and by Opie. Bodmin Eoud Stuliou, Cm. from Doublebois, charm- ingly situated, is the spot from which to visit «. Lanhydr-oc House, Im. b. Bodmin, 3Jm. 58 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. Here 'buses meet the trains, and communicate (throug'li Bodmin) with Wadebridge and Padstow, also with Camelford and Boscastle. [a. Lanhyoroc (= the church under the watery hill). The Church itself, which is (as at Boconnoc) close to the house, calls for no special remark. The House, a battle- mented gi-anite mansion of the middle of the 17th century (but looking- much older), is the seat of Lord Robartes, the descendant of a wealthy family of Truro merchants, and well deserves a visit ; it can be inspected when the family are away. Here the Earl of Essex, General of the Parlia- mentary forces, had his head-quarters, and garrisoned the place in 1644. The grounds are well wooded, and the house is approached by a stately avenue of old syca- mores. The building forms three sides of a quadrangle, and bears the dates 1636 and 1642 on its walls ; the gate- way is interesting from its unusual form. There are a few good old family portraits (especially in the long gallery) ; and the library contains many obsolete works on divinity, chiefly by Puritan writers. Here is the Treg- eagle room already mentioned. I. There is a choice of ways for going on to Bodmiv, viz. either by walking (about 3m. northwards), or by returning to Bodmin railway station, and going by 'bus. If the former mode be adopted, the traveller may take the road which passes the new Brigade Depot Barracks (on the left), or follow the omnibus route, which branches off to the right on the top of the hill. The latter will take him close to Castle Canyke, a British earthwork. Bodmin (= abode of the monks, the stone house, or the dwelling under the hills) is an ancient town, the largest in Cornwall at the time of Domesday, inconveniently situated half-way between the north and south coasts, and thus at some distance from the modern lines of traffic ; it consists mainly of a long straggling street, nearly a mile in length. From 1294 to 1868 Bodmin returned two M.P.'s ; it now sends only one ; yet, not- withstanding its antiquity, the town contains few ancient objects except the church. "Bodmin appears, in the 10th century, to have shared with St. Germans (and perhaps with other places) the honour of being the site of the Cornish see, which was finally removed from Bodmin in 990. Its ancient name, St. I'etroc's Stow, was derived from that of a Cornish saint who died about 564, and to whom other churches in ITINERARY. 59 Cornwall and Devon are dedicated. The ivory reliquary which contained the saint's bones is one of the finest in this country, and is in the charge of the town clerk ; it is probably of Asiatic make, and of the 12th or 13th century. The ChurcJi (which Sir J. MacLean thinks is not that of the priory) is the largest in Cornwall ; but only a few of'the early portions now remain ; these are fragments of Norman work near the western doorway, and a fine Norman font. It was nearly all rebuilt in 14(39-72. The handsome south porch with its parvise chambers of two storeys should be compared with a similar one at Fowey. The tower (containing chimes) was formerly sui'mounted by a spire 100 feet high, which was destroyed in December 1699 by lightning: this might probably be replaced, as the tower walls are 8 feet thick at the base. The church was restored in 1S19, and is now again under- going the same process. The principal objects of interest in the interior are a pillared piscina, and the handsome altar tomb of the haughty prior, Thomas Vivian, who died in 1533. In the churchyard, east of the church, are the beautiful ivy-covered ruins of *S^. Thomas's Chapel, of the Decorated period, erected temp. Edward III., having a crypt under it : this building was at one time used as a grammar school. The other ecclesiastical remains are — at the cemetery — the relics of a chapel of the Holy Eood, built about 1501, of which only the " Bery Tower " now exists. Near this is an old Greek cross — one of many in the vicinity. West of Bodmin are a few remains of St. Lawrence's, a leper hospital existing in the 13th century,* and there are the sites, no longer to be recognized, of some other smaller chapels. The Priory, which stood a short distance to the south- east of the church, is said to have been founded by Athclstan in 930, for Rencdictincs ; but it may date from even an earlier period — in fact it may have had a I'ritish origin. It was re founded in 1107-15 for Augnstinian canons ; and, after having fallen into scandalous disorder, was surrendered in 153S by I'rior Wandsworth. It was purchased for 100/. by Thomas Sternliold (Strniliold and IIoi)kins, the versifiers of the rsalnis), and is now the residence of Colonel Gilbert. * In 1351 no less than 1500 persons died of the plague here. 60 GUIDE TO COENWALL AND THE SCILLT ISLES. The County Hall, in which tlie Assizes and Quarter Sessions are held, was built in 1837, on the site of an important Franciscan Friary erected about the latter part of the 13th century ; the west end of the Friary is still used as a corn market. The chief market-place is a handsome modern building of Luxulyan granite, and contains an interesting antique bell, perhaps of the 14th century ; and an old stone corn- measure, dated 1563, and inscribed " However ye sell your mesure fyll — " * it measures 16 gallons, or two Winchester bushels. The County Jail, near the town, was first built in 1780, but was rebuilt in 1855-8. The County Lunatic Asylum was commenced in 1815, but has been added to from time to time. The monument on Beacon Hill, to General Gilbert, of Indian fame, which forms so conspicuous an object to all the country round, is 144 feet high, and an inscription records his services. At Citstle Canyke, Im. from Bodmin, is a British earthwork, with two ramparts. At Tregear, 2im. west of Bodmin, were found, some years ago, frag- ments of Samian and other wares, two coins of Ves- pasian, and one of Trajan — interesting as being amongst the few evidences of the Romans in Cornwall. A rect- angular earthwork, assumed to be Eoman, stands on the hill above. The Royal Hotel is a large, handsome, and comfortable hostelry. Amongst certain other old customs, the curfew bell is still rung at Bodmin at 8 p.m.] Returning to the main route at Bodmin Road Station, in Ssm. we reach LosTwiTHiEL {= the lofty palace, or court; or ? the palace of Withiel), approached by a pictui'esque bridge of the 14th century ; an old and interesting, but small and very quiet town, prettily situated on the river Fowty. Lostwithiel communicates with Fowey (6m.), not only by water, but also by a mineral railway, which may * There is a eomewhat similar stone measure to be seen by the roadside from Fombiiry to Barn Park ; it was probably removed from the old market-place of Boscastle. ITINERAEY. 61 perhaps be hereafter made avaUable for passengers. In the latter part of the 13th century, when the Earls of Cornwall held their court here, Lostwithiel was the most important town in Cornwall ; here the county meetings were held, and here only was tin to be coined. The county elections were held here till 1832, up to which time Lostwithiel returned two M.P.'s. Addison, the poet, represented it in 1704. Lostwithiel was the head- quarters of the Parliamentary troops in August 1644, who not only burnt the Stannary Records, but also did con- siderable injury, after their fashion, to the church, and even attempted (according to Dugdale) to destroy it by gunpowder. The Church (15th to 17th century) is chiefly interesting from its very strange and pretty octagonal gi-anite spire, probably unique in England ; for its singular font, for its clerestory (a very unusual feature^ in Corn- wall), and for a group in alabaster of the flaying of St. Bartholomew — to whom the church is dedicated. It consists of a nave, with two aisles, chancel, south porch (the inner doorway of which is interesting), and western tower. The Duchy Hori.se, near the church, formerly enclosed the Hall of Exchequer and other buildings, temp. Edward I. lUstoi-mel t'dstlc ( = ? the palace of the iron rock) lies almost Im. north of the town, and overlooks Rostormel House, a seat of the Sawles, to which there is a very picturesque gate-house. The castle is situated in a com- manding position, and is surrounded with foliage. The keep alone (V temp. Richard I.) remains ; " a doiible circle of ivy-mantled w^alls and towers," 9 or 10 feet thick, en- closing an area 110 feet in diameter. There was a draw- bridge on the south side, and traces may still be seen of the apartments of the powerful Earls of Cornwall, wlio once resided liere. Carew describes it as having been " a palace healthful for air, delightful for prospect, necessary for commodities, fair (in regard of those days) for build- ing, and strong tor defence ; " but now, he adds, " the park is disparked, the timber rooted up, the conduit- pil)es taken up, the roof made sale of, the planchings rotten, the walls fallen down, and the hewed stones of the windows, dourns, and clavels i)luckt out to servo private dwellings; only there remaineth an utter de- facement to complain upon this unregarded distress." The Eoyal Talbot Inn is a comfortable old house ; and 62 GUIDE TO COBNWALL AND THE SCILLT ISLES. there is good fishing for trout, peal, and salmon in tlie river. The line now passes along a valley in which are plentiful traces of mining operations — whilst on the hills on the right are to be seen the Fowey and the Par Consols, celebrated for the rich dividends which they once paid — and reaches (45m.) Par ; interesting only as being a useful harbour, and for the mining, lead-smelting, cliina-clay, and granite quarry- ing works still carried on in its neighbourhood. Par owes its importance entirely to the energy of the late Mr. J. T. Treffry of Fowey. {tit. Blazcy^ a mile to the north-west, with a church dedicated to St. lilaise, the patron saint of wool-combers, is devoid of interest.) Par is the point from which the rail may be taken either north-west to Newquay^ or south-east to Fowvy. The latter place had better be at once taken on the downward route, and Newqimy on the return journey. [Fowey (= the cave or quick river), about 4m. either by rail or by road, is an ancient and interesting disfranchised town, with excellent deep water, but narrow-mouthed harbour.* It was formerly one of the principal seaports of England ; and its mariners were known as the "gallants of Fowey," for their having refused to ac- knowledge the supremacy of Rye and Winchelsea, two of the Cinque Ports. In the reign of Edward III. Fowey sent 47 ships and 770 mariners to the blockade of Calais — a larger number than went from any other port except Yarmouth. The " gallants," however, proving rather addicted to piracy, were disgraced, and Dartmouth seems to have taken the place of its rival port. The harbour, once defended by two square forts (one on the Fowey, the other on the Polruan side), between which, as at Portsmouth and other harbours at the same period, a chain Avas stretched, is now defended by a 2-gun battery at "St. Catherine's Fort." The guns of Fowey helped Charles I., who was here in 1644, to deny the harbour to the Parliament ; and repulsed an attack by the Dutch in 1667. The base of an old windmill, said to have been erected in 1296, and the ruins of St. Saviour's Chapel, close to the Coast Guard station, above the transmarine * The Queen landed here in 1846, and proceeded to Lost- withiel and Restormel. ITINKRART. 63 suburb of Polruan (= Pool of St. Eumon or?Eoman* port), form landmarks for the entrance. The Church is a handsome structure, situated in a hollow. It dates from about 1466 ; and its clerestory, line tower (100 feet high to the top of the battlements), and south porch with parvise are interesting. It has lately been restored at considerable cost, and contains some Treffry monuments worth seeing. Place House (" the glorie of Faweye "), the ancient and historic seat of the Treflrys, overlooks the church, and is well worth a visit, if only for the sake of the magnificent examples of the Cornish stones used in the building and its decorations. It also contains a few interesting por- traits, and there is a fine drive to the house. MenabiUi/, the seat of the memorable family of the Rashleighs, should also be seen, especially for its remark- able collection of Cornish minerals, the chief part of which was formed during the latter half of last century. The by-streets of Fowey have a foreign look (and odour sometimes), and the railway station is romantically placed.] Regaining the railway station at Par, and passing General Carlyon's wooded seat of Tregrehan, curiously situated in the disfigured landscape of the Pembi-uke and Crinnis, and the Charlestown United Mines, in 42m. we reach St, Austell (? St. Auxilius, or St. Austolusf), a com- paratively modern town for Cornwall, which owes its prosperity to the surrounding mines and clay-works, and contains in itself only one object of interest to the tourist — viz. the Church. It is, however, a convenient sjiot from which to visit the China-Ckiy W'wks of St. Stephens, I lenshar row- Beacon, and CarcJaze Tin Mine on the north ; and Mevaijiasrij to the south. The Churchyvas restored in 1870, and contains a monument on the south wall to Samuel Drew, one of tlie historians of Cornwall. The chancel and south chapel were built towards the end of the loth century, and tlie lemainder during tiic 15th and 16th centuries. The tower is handsome, and is ornamented with several niched statues, and with grotcscpic and other carvings. There is also a curious Norman font; ♦ Roman coins have been discovered near Place House, t A (Ic Aiisttll is said to have bceu Sheriff of Cornwall, temp. Edward HI. 64 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. and, over the south porch, an inscription in Cornish which has been rendered " Ry Du," or " Give to God." In the neighbourhood of St. Austell are some slight remains of ecclesiastical architecture at Mennacuddle Baptistery and at Toivan. [The most convenient arrangement for inspecting a day- vork will probably be to visit one on or near the road to Hensharrow (SJm.), returning either by the same way or via Carclaze. China chiy, tliough latterly so important a staple of Cornish industry — the annual produce having at one time reached nearly 250,000?. worth — is a com- paratively recent discovery, dating as it does fi'om about the middle of the last century.* Its valuable properties were discovered by William Cookworthy, of Plymouth, the first maker of hard or " true " porcelain in England (unless a share in this honour may be claimed for Heylin and Frye, at Boiv). Its preparation now employs thousands of hands ; and the following is a brief de- scription of the mode adopted. On the slope of a granite hill, wheie there is reason to suspect, from oozing springs, a deposit of the raw material— disintegrated granite— a certain space is cleared of the superincumbent turf. Streams of water are tlien laid on, and the surface is disturbed by trampling and by crowbars. Sometimes the material is collected Irom various stopes, and placed on prepared wooden platforms for similar treatment. The milk-white fluid, which is the result of this operation, is collected by " launders " into a cistern, from which the lighter impurities pass off, whilst the pure white creamy matter is deposited. This is again drawn off info other and smaller cisterns, where it dries and consolidates for four or five months, and is then removed, in cubical blocks of somewhat the consistency of cheese, into drying- sheds. From these it is removed either by carts or rail to Cliarhstown or PintcvanioY ^\\\\m\GiL\t \ or to BurrKjullow for transit to the Staffordshire potteries, and elsewhere. Such is kaolin (= the lofty ridge, the name of a hill whence it was obtained, near King-te-chin), the sub- stance which the Chinese so long kept a secret from the world. The other ingredient necessary for the manu- facture of porcelain is the Cornish growan or moor stone (pe-tun-tse in Chinese = small, white paste) found in the same spots, and serving to give the porcelain its hard, * This trade is now in a very depressed condition, oning to the markets being overstocked. ITINERARY. 65 vitreous body. The china clay is also used for bleaching calico and paper, and for the adulteration of flour and artificial manures ; and probably only one-third of what is now produced is made into porcelain. Htnsbarrow (= the ancient or King Genus's ban-ow), 1034 feet high, should be ascended only if the day be fine and clear, when a splendid view may be obtained from its summit. Carew calls this hill the " Archfteacou of Cornwall." Cardaze Mine (-grey rock), about 2m. north-east of St. Austell, a huge and astonishing excavation in the earth at the junction of the granite and the killas, about a mile and a half in circumference, and 150 feet deep, is said to have been worked for tin for more than 400 years. For the last twenty-five years it has been worked for china clay, and the spot has thus been rendered doubly interesting. The view from the eastern end of the mine, between 600 and 700 feet above the sea, is also very fine. Southwards from St. Austell a pleasant walk or drive of four or five miles may be taken down the once tin- streaming Pentowan, or Pentewan, Yalley, celebrated for the interesting fossilized remains of canoes and extinct animals found fifty or sixty feet beloAv the present surface.* The road follows nearly the line of the Pentewan china-clay railway to Alcvai/insnj. From Pentewan tlie tourist may proceed either by the cliffs (-m.) or by a detour of another mile through Ildirjau {— the place of willows— now rather the place of rhodo- dendrons), to the well-wooded scat of the fine old Cornish family of the Tremaynes. Here some interesting experi- ments on the acclimatization of sub-tropical plants have been conducted with remarkable success. Mevagissey(= either Saints Meva and Tssey, or the mill woods), anciently Jjamorrack, or Laverack, a small, and sooth to say, during the fisliing season, a stinking town. Hero is a .small harbour, where ships of oOO tons may lie alongside the pier ; but Mevagissey is chiefly noted for its fisheries, mostly pilchard, in which large numbers of seines are employed. Mevagissey was fearfully ravaged by the cholera in 1S49. The writer then visited it, and found, on an average, only one house in twenty occupied ; the inhabitants having availed themselves of tents sup- * See ' Archaeological Journal,' vol. xxxi. p. 53. r 66 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. plied by the Board of Ordnance to encamp on the sur- rounding hills. Of this scene, so novel in England, he made a sketch, which was engraved in the ' Illustrated London News ' at the time. The chuvch is uninteresting, and without a tower.] Eeturning to St. Austell, at 2jm. is passed Burngullow Station, where a "mineral railway" for china clay, &c., joins the main line. At Gmmpound Road (4fm.) a 'bus for St. Columb and Newquay meets the afternoon train, and conveyances also run to Grampound. From this point may be best visited, if desired, the small but ancient boroughs of Grampound (2m.), Tregony (5m.), and Probus (5m.), the latter cele- brated for its church tower — the most beautiful by far in Cornwall. [Grampound (= great bridge or great enclosures), pos- sibly the Eoman A^oluba, on the Fal, not here navigable. In 1322 Grampound acquii-ed the right of holding a market. The mai'ket house (formerly a chapel), at the western extremity of which is a cross, is in the centre of the town. Grampound was disfranchised in 1824. There are several earthworks, either British hill forts or perhaps ancient cattle-enclosures, in the vicinity. The road now runs past Creed church to Tregoxy (St. James) (= the dwellings on the common near the river), sometimes supposed to be the Eoman Cenia, another small disfranchised borough on the Fal, formerly navigable to this point. This is the smallest parish in Cornwall. Tliere were in early times a church and small priory here ; traces of the former existed up to 104:0. Cahi/ Church is at the N.E. extremity of the town, and contains a rude Norman font. There are also some traces at Tregony of a castle, supposed to have been built by one of the Pomeroy family, temp. Richard I. From Trecjony there is a pleasant walk of 3 or 4 miles by Cornelly Church to Probus, whose church, rebuilt in 1852, is dedicated to the married saints Probus and Grace. Its exquisitely proi^ortioned tower of granite, profusely and delicately ornamented, and 125 feet high, is the most beautiful of the kind in Cornwall, and was built about 1550. Eemains, supposed to bo those of the two patron saints, were discovered during the restorations ; and an allusion to their names is conveyed in the prayer, carved in wood — " Jesus hear us thy people, and send us ITINERAKY. 67 Grace and Good for ever." The church dates from about 1470, and contains the brasses of John Wulvedon and his wife, 1514.] Grampound, Tregony, and Prohus are somewhat difficult of access, in consequence of the distance between the stations of Gramiwund Road and Truro. We will therefore assume that the tourist is again at Grampound Eoad Station, which is 7^m. from The City of Truho (= three ways or streets; other suggested explanations of the name are the castle on the river, the place at the declivity of the road, &c. ; but the first finds most adherents). Truro, which has returned two M.P.'s for nearly 500 years, was a coinage town, and has always been considered the principal town of Corn- wall, although it has never been the county town, the Assizes having been held at Launceston, Lostwithiel, or Bodmin. It is prettily situated in a valley, for the most part on a tongue of land between the rivers Allen and Kenwyn, which meet at the quay-head, where vessels of 200 tons may lie. The surrounding hills are also covered with houses, and the town comprises altogether about 100 streets, lanes, and terraces. Of these the principal are Boscawen Street, Lemon Street, King Street, the High Cross, Kenwyn Street, and River Street. From Truro the rail branches off W. to Penzance and S. to Falmouth ; and 'buses and vans ply to Perranzabuloe, Newquay, and other villages. The neatness and cleanliness of the town, for which it was celebrated as early as the days of James I., the width of its principal streets, and the streams of clear water which run alongside of the pave- ments, have an attractive appearance. Its situation, on a tidal river, and its central position have always made it a place of importance ; and Truro has accordingly been selected as the site of the revived Cornish bishopric, by Jjctters Patent, 28th August, 1877. Several of the canonries have already been instituted, and have been named after early Cornish saints. The town is of considerable antiquity, its first charter, obtained for it by a resident, Richard do Lucy, Chief Justice of England, temp. Stephen, dating from the middle of the twelfth century. A "castle" of the Earls of Cornwall, which formerly stood near the top of Pydar Street, probably dates from about this time. A'ery few traces of it have ever been discovered, and they have F 2 68 GUIDE TO CORNWALL AND THE SCILLY ISLES. been such as to indicate that the work was of no very great strength or importance. The Church, now the Pro- Oathedral, dates from 1518; and, perhaps owing to the critical period in our religious history during which its construction was carried on, appears to have never been completed. The soiith front and porch, and the east end, notwithstanding the ravages of the weather on the soft Eoborough stone, indicate, however, that a handsome edifice was contemplated. The monuments which once covered the north wall were destroyed during the Eebellion. It is to be hoped that now St. Mary's Church has become the Cornish Cathedral, the ugly west front and spire, erected in 1769, will be swept away, and that the venerable structure will be at length completed with due magnificence.* The interior, with its modern classic ceiling, presents no objects of very special interest ; but the fine organ, by Byfield, and the monuments to Owen Phippen (1636), and to the Eobartes family (1614) — now of Lanhydroc — should be noticed. There are three other churches in the town, St. John's, St. George's, and St. Paul's — all modern. Of the more ancient ecclesiastical and domestic build- ings of Truro, none now remain. Even the sites of St. Mary's Chapel, dedicated in 1259, and St. Georges (" in St. Mary's Trurii "), are uncertain. The Friary of the Dominicans, founded temp. Henry III., visited by William of Worcester in 1478, was situated near the Western Inn, in Kenwyn Street. The earliest date at which a Prior's name has yet been traced is 1330. A seal of this Friary is preserved by the Corporation, and there is an impression of it at the Museum. The Town Hall and Market House in Boscawen Street is a handsome granite building, erected in 1847. At its rear arc the Stannary Courts, of which an account is given under the head " IMines and Mining." The Museum of the Eoyal Institution of Cornwall (es- tablished 1818), in Pydar Street, is well worth a visit. It contains an interesting collection of Cornish fauna, anti- quities, and minerals, besides many other curious objects ; and the Journals of this Society are replete with infor- mation concerning the county. The Library, established * It has recently been decided to remove the present edifice, which is in a dangerous condition, and to build the Cathedral on llie same site. ITINERARY. 69 in 1792, now removed to the Town Hall, was formerly under the same roof; and here is also preserved the hortus siccus of the Royal Cornwall Horticultural Society. The Assembly Rooms, in the High Cross,* and also two or three of the 'neighbouring houses, bear witness to the period when locomotion was not so easy as it is now- a-days ; and when, in the remoter parts of the country, our grandfathers had their social dissipations at home instead of in London. The building comprised a ball-room (con- vertible into a theatre), a card-room, &c., and, in the passages below, were formerly ranged a group of sedan- chairs, used for evening parties within the writer's memory. The Grammar School (Back Street), founded temp. Edward VI., is another relic of the good old times. The building is no longer used for its original purpose, but the ''foundation" continues, and the school is carried on in another part of the town. Some eminent men have been its masters ; and others, who have since distinguished themselves, have been their pupils. The Royal Cornwall Infirmary, established 1779, is another of "the institutions of which Truro may be proud. It stands at the top of Calenick Street, the old road from Truro to Falmouth before Lemon Street was opened. The last building which it seems necessary to refer to is one of which few exami)les remain elsewhere— the cock- pit in River Street— an octagonal building in a yard now occupied by a coach-builder. The site of the old coinage hall (loth century) is now occupied by the Cornish Bank. Amongst the worthies of Truro may be cited Polwhele, one of the historians of Cornwall ; Samuel Footc, the playwriter and wit (the Red Lion Hotel,t bearing the date l