s ^ K PERAMBULATION OF DARTMOOR tioTE.— Large Paper Edition limited to two hundred and fifty copies, of which this is No. /-y ^ A PERAMBULATION Antient and Royal Forest o£ ©arttnoor AND THa Venville Precincts OR A Topographical Survey of their Antiquities and Scenery BV THE LATE ^amucl ^oixsc^ iVl«^. THIRD EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED BV J. BROOKING ROWE F.S.A., F.L.S. ILLUSTRATED FROM DRAWINGS BV F. J. WIDQERY EXETER JAMES G. COMMIN, 230, HIGH STREET LONDON GIBBINGS & CO., Limited, 18. Bury Street 1896 Dedication of First Edition TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, ALBERT, PRINCE OF WALES, AND DUKE OF CORNWALL, THIS DESCRIPTION OF THE ANTIQUITIES & TOPOGRAPHY OF HIS FOREST OF DARTMOOR, DEVON. 7s humbly dedicated by the gracious permission (Bi His Eogal Higbnass f rina Albert, MASTER FORESTER, AND LORD WARDEN OF THE STANNARIES, BY HIS LOYAL, FAITHFUL, AND MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, SAMUEL ROWE. Vicarage, Crediton. Devon, July lyth, 1848. SAMUEL ROWE, born ii November, 1793. B.A., Jesus College, Cambridge, 1826. Curate St. Andrews, Plymouth. Vicar of St. Budeaux. Minister of St. Paul's, Stonehouse. Minister of St. George's, Stonehouse. M.A., Cambridge, 1833. Vicar of Crediton. Died 15 Sept., 1853. TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication to Original Edition. Editor's Preface. Preface to First Edition. Chapter i. Introductory; Extent, Boundaries, etc., of the moor - page i 2. Early Inhabitants - - ,, 22 3. Monumental Relics - - ,,28 4. Huts, Forts, Roads, etc. - • .. 53 5. The Perambulation. Sticklepath TO Fingle Bridge - ,,82 6. The Perambulation continued Fingle Bridge to Ashburton - ,,124 7. The Perambulation continued Ashburton to Plvmpton - i> 159 8. The Perambulation continued Plympton to Tavistock and Okehampton - - - ,, 183 g. Geology, Petrology, and Miner- alogy OF THE Moor - ,,231 10. Soil and Agriculture - - ,, 289 11. Historical View of Mining in Dartmoor and the Precincts - ,, 260 12. The Convict Prisons- - ,, 272 13. Historical Documents - - „ 281 14. Wild Quadrupeds - - ,, 329 15. Birds of the Moor and its Borders ,, 339 i6. Fishes - - - ,, 347 17. Botany - - - - „ 350 18. Miscellaneous - - „ 399 19. Lydford Church and the Churches of the Border - - ,, 432 20. Dartmoor Literature - ,, 485 Notes and Corrections - - ,, 499 Index - - - >! 502 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. full page plates. Scene on the Taw. Stepperton Large Sketch Map of Dartmoor Logan Stone, Rippon Tor Menhir, near Merivale Bridge Leather Tor Bridge Wallabrook Clapper Bridge Cranmere Pool ... - Stone Row on the South Teign Tolmen on the Teign Drewsteignton Dolmen FiNGLE Bridge ... - Bowerman's Nose, Manaton - Hound Tor .... Grimspound, showing Main Entrance from Dewerstone .... Post Bridge .... Sacred Circle on Langstone Moor Vixen Tor .... Tavy Cleave .... Okehampton Castle Hill Bridge on the Tavy Valley of Rocks on the West Okement Ancient Map of Dartmoor Yes Tor .... Portrait of the Rev. Samuel Rowe Frontispiece. - page I - >j 35 . n 51 64 - )5 90 - )} 93 - >> 95 - i> 99 - )) no - >? 122 • ^J 139 THE South 141 146 . 179 196 - )» 211 - »» 212 - >» 219 - >9 227 - 241 246 281 . 399 485 vignettes and woodcuts. Nun's or Siward's Cross, from the west. Menhir. Preston- bury. Lydford Bridge. Lover's Leap, Holne Chase. Brent Tor. Lydford Castle. Kitt's Steps. Seal of the Stannary Court [see I. p. 418.] Head of Red Deer. [Cervus elaphus.] Ring Ousel. [Turd US torquatus], A Dartmoor Stream. Staghorn Moss. [Lycopodium Selago.'] Widecombe in the Moor. Piscina, St. Petrock's Church, Lydford. Font, St. Petrock's Church, Lydford. Arch, St. Brigidas' Church, Bridestowe. West Door- way, St. Winifred's Church, Manaton. Font, St. Patrick's Church, South Brent. Tower and Transept, St. Patrick's Church, South Brent. Sundial Stone, Sheepstor Church. Tombstone, St. Peter's Church, St. Peter Tavy. Dartmoor Farmhouse, Four Sectional Maps of Dartmoor and the surrounding neighbourhood. EDITOR'S PREFACE. The first edition of tfiis work was published in 1848, and it was soon sold out, and the book is now a scarce one. A second edition, a mere reprint of the first, appeared in a smaller form in 1856, a few copies contained the same illustrations as the larger work, the others had the letter-press with two or three plates only. The second edition is now nearly as scarce as the first, and copies with the full number of illustrations are very seldom indeed met with. Although since the publication of the Perambulation many guides to the "wild and wondrous region" have appeared, none have been found so useful, none so full of information as this book, and I am mformed that for a considerable time past, enquiries for it have been frequent. To meet the evident want, I have ventured to prepare another edition. I have made many alterations and some additions, but, although entirely dis-agreeing with them, I did not feel at liberty to eliminate altogether the Druidical theories of the author, with which the first edition of the book was saturated. Nor had I any intention of re-writing the book. I was desirous that the Perambulation should be still Samuel Rowe's Perambulation, and that his name should continue to be connected with the best history of the place he loved so much, and to the surpassing interest of which he was one of the first to direct attention. I could not do all that seemed to be necessary in the way of addition and correction, by means of notes, and I have therefore, in many places, altered and extended the text, and have tried to make the reader acquainted with the most recent ideas of students, and to X- Editor's Preface. put before them the results of researches made since 1848, in connection with Dartmoor. The time has not arrived for writing a proper history of the Moor. Many questions have to be settled before this can be under- taken. At the time the work was written there was only one theory as to the origin of the monumental remains of Dartmoor. Since, there have been several. Fifty years ago Pre-historic Archaeology was a science unknown, certainly our author was quite ignorant of it. But he tells us that " where history is silent " and monumental evidence is disputable, an ample field is opened " for theory and speculation." And this is so — speculate we may, but it is too soon to dogmatise ; we have not yet sufficient evidence to be positive. There is nothing to support the con- clusions of the older antiquaries, that our dolmens, circles and rows were connected with Druidisni ; on the other hand, we must know more about them before we can, as Fergusson said, relegate them to the misty haven of pre-historic antiquity. The latest authority, Mr. A. L. Lewis, adduces a considerable amount of evidence in support of his proposition, that the Stone Circles were intended primarily as places of worship or sacrifice, in which case, as he says, it is most likely that the antiquaries of the last century were not so altogether wrong as has since been thought, in pronouncing them to be the temples of our sun and star worshipping ancestors and their priesthood, although there may be, so far, no absolute proof that such was the case.* And Mr. Arthur J. Evans says, that after all perhaps we may find ourselves in Druid company, but we must arrive there by the methods imposed by modern science.} But at present we are only groping our way. Rays of light sometimes strike across our path, and quickly vanish, but they are enough to show, that we are on the right track, and at the same time, that we have much to do before we can reach our journey's end. A hundred years ago the Druidical theory was unhesitatingly accepted, and Stukeley had no difficulty in distinguishing the barrow of an arch-druid, and could with confidence assign a precise date for the rearing of the mighty trilothons of Stonehenge. Then the pendulum swung, and the other extreme was reached. Sir Edward Smirke began to talk about " bearded old mistletoe-cutting humbugs, the •A. H. Lbwis. Stone Circles of Britain. Arch. Journal, vol xlix., pp. 136-134. fARTHUK J. Evans. Stonehenge. Archaaological Review, vol. ii., p. 312. Editor's Preface. *•• " Druids," and upon this hint others spoke, and asserted that there never were any Druids, and that therefore the monumental relics of Dartmoor could have had nothing to do with sacrifice or worship. To take Grimspound as an instance. Note the various suggestions that have been advanced as to the origin and use of this interesting place. Polwhele states that it was a seat of judicature for the Cantred of Durius ; Samuel Rowe, that it was a Belgic or Saxon Camp ; Ormerod considered it a cattle pound, pure and simple ; Spence Bate was convinced that it was nothing more than a habitation of tinners, and of no great age ; while now, the work of the Rev. S. Baring-Gould and Mr. Robert Burnard, goes far to show that its construction reaches back into a remote past, and that its antiquity is greater than any former investigator dared to assign to it. This example shows how very necessary it is that we should walk warily, and work on with caution, hoping to solve in time, the riddle that Dartmoor puts to us, and until we can be sure as to the answer, not to make mere guesses at solutions. I have thought it desirable, as a warning, and to prevent further mistakes, to put this caution clearly, and perhaps strongly. Having done so, I may say that certain conclusions have been arrived at, very difficult to upset, which go far to prove that the megalithic monuments of Dartmoor are the work of the races of the Neolithic and early Bronze periods, peoples altogether distinct from the Celt and early Briton, and by whom they were conquered. To anticipate criticism in one direction. I have no doubt it will be said that the book is incomplete, and that references to many things and places of interest, are wanting. But I have made no attempt to make the book a perfect one by including in it an account of every relic, thing, and place on Dartmoor. This was not my intention. I have followed the lines of my original, making such additions and alterations as I thought desirable, and which I considered would be of interest to the bulk of my readers. But although it is by no means exhaustive, I hope I have done some- thing to make this new edition, not only a useful guide to the visitor, but that it will not be considered altogether unworthy of the subject by the enihusiast who knows his Dartmoor well. A sketch map is provided, and four other maps to a larger scale, which pedestrians will find useful. For more convenient »»• Editor's Preface. use and reference the book has been divided into chapters; the greater part of the work after chapter VIII. is new; the contents of the chapter " Dartmoor Literature," shows how much has been done since the Perambulation was written. I have to acknowledge very much valuable assistance rendered me by my friends the Rev. S. Baring-Gould and Mr. Robert Burnard ; Mr. W. A. E. Ussher. f.g.s., of Her Majesty's Geological Survey, has been good enough to write the chapter on the Geology of the Moor — in the stead of the admirable chapter in the first edition, by the late Dr. Edward Moore, but which the progress of geological knowledge has rendered obsolete — to which Mr. R. N. Worth, f.g.s., has obligingly added some pages on the Petrology, a subject he has made peculiarly his own ; Mr. Francis brent, f.s.a., most kindly furnished me with the the chapter on the Botany, and Mr. Hine gave me the use of the wood blocks from which the illustrations in Chapter XIX. have been printed. To these gentlemen, I return my best thanks. Help from other good and willing friends is referred to and acknowledged in the body of the book. J. BROOKING ROWE. Castle Barbican, Plympton, 2g Sept., 1895. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. An essay on the most prominent objects of antiquarian interest, in the Forest of Dartmoor, was originally read before the Plymouth Institution, in the year 1828, as the result of the united researches of a few members* of that Society, who at different times had pursued their investigations in a district which, although within a few miles of their town, was little known to the neighbourhood and the County in general. The paper drawn up at the request of my esteemed coadjutors, was subsequently published in the Transactions of the Society.! Since that time I have endeavoured to prosecute the investigations thus begun, for the most part with the able assistance of my valued friend the President of the Institution, at such intervals as scanty leisure and few opportunities would permit ; hence, abundant materials have been collected for expanding the original essay into the present volume. The publication has been undertaken with the view of render- ing the numerous objects of interest, with which the great moorland district of the west abounds, more generally known and appreciated, in the persuasion that within its limits there is enough to repay, not only the historian and antiquary, but also the scientific investigator, for the task of exploring the mountain- wastes of the Devonshire wilderness. The characteristic tors, capping the hills with their massive granite piles, supply an interesting field of study to the geologist— Wistman's Wood, •Henry VVoollcombe (President); Col. Hamilton Smith, f.r.s.; John Prideaux ; and the Rev. Samuel Rowe. fTransactions Plymouth Institution, 1830, p. 179, =''»• Preface to the First Edition. primitive and peculiar, affords an unique specimen to the botanist — and the aboriginal circumvallation of Grimspound, one equally singular, to the antiquary. It is not difficult to imagine that relics so remarkable, if situated in a far distant land, would be sought out, chronicled, and described, for the information of the learned, and gratification of the curious, whilst in our own country, objects as fully calculated to illustrate the most antient periods of British history, as are the extraordinary ruins at Palenque that of Central America, are overlooked and neglected, as it would seem for no other reason than their proximity, and facility of access. The tourist, who ventures to penetrate the Devonshire High- lands, will also find himself greeted with a succession of scenes of unexpected loveliness and grandeur, especially along the entire verge of the Moor, many of them rivalling the far-famed scenery of North Wales, but distinguished by characteristic features of peculiar beauty. Nor have they been thought unworthy of admiration by more than one traveller fresh from the charms of Continental magnificence and sublimity, with whom I have visited the precincts of Dartmoor. My own opinion may be attributed to partiality for my native county, and to untravelled ignorance of " The Alps and Apennine, The Pyrenean and the River Po ; " but when it is fortified by the recorded sentiments of strangers, and by such competent and impartial authority as that of William Howitt, I feel justified, in specially referring to Devonshire, the pertinent expostulation which has been made with so much propriety in reference to Great Britain generally. — " Pilgrims of beauty, ye who far away " Roam where poetic deserts sadly smile, "Oh ! ere ye leave it, view your own fair native Isle." The testimony of a native of Scotland, a writer of some ten years ago, in Blackwood's Magazine,* who is evidently well acquainted with the district he describes, may here be adduced. " West Devonshire is that large tract of land comprised " between the Dartmoor mountains, the rivers Tamar and Plym, •Vol. sxxiii., 1833, p. 6og. Preface to the First Edition. xv. " and the Plymouth Sound ; and illustrious for the number, " narrowness, and depth of the larger valleys — whose banks "generally rise into a flat ascent, from the banks of the dividing " streams — and for many down-like swells and many strangely- " fractured hills. You may know how dear this district was to us, " last time we wandered through its delights, when we tell you " that we often forgot where we were wandering, and believed that " we were holidaying it in one of the half lowland, half highland " regions, among the blue bonnets of Auld Scotland. * * '*- " Dartmoor — we have nothing like it in Scotland. Our moor of " Rannoch is a vast flat. * '■' But Dartmoor is no flat. It is " indeed an elevated table land ; but its undulations are endless : " there are no separate single masses, nor can it be called moun- "tainous;'' but it is as if a huge mountain had been squeezed " down, and in the process had split asunder, till the whole was " one hilly wilderness, showing ever and anon strange half-buried " shapes striving to uplift themselves towards the sky." To the same effect, but in a still more enthusiastic strain, is the panegyric of William Howitt, in his " Rural Life of " England."! " If you want sternness and loneliness, you may pass into " Dartmoor. There are wastes and wilds, crags of granite, views "into far off districts, and the sound of waters hurrying away over " their rocky beds, enough to satisfy the largest hungering and " thirsting after poetical delight. I shall never forget the feehngs "of delicious entrancement with which I approached the outskirts " of Dartmoor. I found myself amongst the woods near Haytor " Crags. It was an autumn evening. The sun, near its setting, " threw its yellow beams among the trees, and lit up the tors on " the opposite side of the valley into a beautiful glow. Below, the " deep dark river went sounding on its way with a melancholy " music ; and as I wound up the steep road all beneath the "gnarled oaks, I ever and anon caught glimpses of the winding " valley to the left, all beautiful with wild thickets and half " shrouded faces of rock, and still on high those glowing ruddy " tors standing in the blue air in their sublime silence. My road " wound up, and up, the heather and the bilberry on either hand, *Yet he has just called ihe Dartmoor ridge, " mountains," vide supra. tVol. ii., p. 378, ed. 1838. xvi. Pre/ace to the First Edition. " showing me that cultivation had never disturbed the soil they " grew in ; and one sole woodlark from the far ascending forest on " the right, filled the wild solitude with his wild autumnal note. " At that moment I reached an eminence, and at once saw the " dark crags of Dartmoor high aloft before me." Such is the verdict of a popular author, unbiassed by local partialities, and conversant with the romantic loveliness of the Rhine, and the stupendous magnificence of the Alps. And such is the district for which the author thinks himself justified in venturing to claim a foremost place among the scenes which " England holds " within her world of beauty," in the hope that the charms of our Devonian highlands will be more generally known and appreciated, and the interesting monu- ments of antiquity which they shelter, will be more effectually protected against the manifold modes of spoliation and destruction which have arisen from multiplied population, increasing commercial speculations, and economic improvements. The venerable relics of past ages (like the antient Britons, retreating before overpowering numbers) have been pursued from one asylum to another, until the mountainous districts of the western and south- western portions of the island afford them their last and only refuge. But their rocky citadel is no longer secure. Quarries are opened on the heights of Dartmoor — powder-mills are projected in the very heart of its solitudes — cultivation is smiting its corners — steam is marshalling his chariots of iron and coursers of fire, panting to penetrate its fastness — and the most interesting vestiges of antiquity are in hourly danger of destruction. An account of the district which contains them (in a more systematic form than has yet been attempted) may at least preserve their memory, or perhaps more happily, may be the means of rescuing them from the impending assaults of the mason's hammer, and the excavator's pick, and of perpetuating their existence, by pointing out their claims to the protection of all who feel becoming interest in the history of their country and of mankind. r CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES, ANTIENT PERAMBULATIONS, AND NATURAL FEATURES OF DARTMOOR. ' -J^ Dartmoor, while it forms in itself the most conspicuous and characteristic feature in the physical geography of the county of Devon, con- tributes also, in no small degree, to partitioning this important shire into three principal divisions, which, generally speaking, are no less clearly defined by natural bovmdaries, than distinctly marked by peculiar features. From its extreme northern verge, North Devon* stretches to the Bristol Channel — the Teign sweeps round its eastern extremity within six miles of the Exe, (the well-defined boundary of East Devon) whilst South Devon or the South Hamsf includes the fertile tract stretching from the Southern slope of the Moor to the Enghsh Channel, and extending east and west from the Teign *The Devonshire tourist will, however, often find himself perplexed to ascertain whether he has reached North Devon or not; but the North has long been proverbially celebrated for the indefiniteness of its whereabouts, and the vagueness of the term is by no means confined to Devonshire : — Ask Where's the North ? at York 'tis on the Tweed : In Scotland at the Orcades: — and there In Greenland, Zembia, — or the Lord knows where. Pope, Essay on Man, Epistle II. fSouth Devon is sometimes thus designated, but strictly speaking, the term South Hams is appropriated to a smaller district, and a circle, of which Totnes is the centre, with a radius of twelve or fourteen miles, would perhaps more nearly approach to its generally received limits. A 2 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. to the Tamar. Thus centrally placed, Dartmoor forms the most prominent and striking feature, not only of the county of Devon (occupying as it does, one-fifth of its entire area) but of the whole Western peninsula. Yet, though contributing so largely to the beauty of the far-famed Devonshire scenery, and ministering so effectually to the fertility of the soil, until of late years it was comparatively little known even to the inhabitants of the very district which benefits so largely from its proximity. Dartmoor, the antient and Royal Forest or Chase of that name, has its own specific boundaries, but Dartmoor, in the common acceptation of the word, includes numerous outlying tracts, presenting the same physical features as the forest itself, and in the following description it is intended to include the adjacent land and commons surrounding it, and which partake of the same general character. Dartmoor and its adjuncts may be thus estimated, as extending about twenty miles from east to west, and twenty-two miles from north to south, and as containing more than 280,000 acres of land. The area of the granite district, coloured pink in the geological map of the Ordnance Survey, which district corresponds fairly with that popularly known as Dartmoor, extends from north to south, twenty-two miles and a half, and from east to west, eighteen miles. De la Beche"''' calculates the distance from Butterton Hill in the south to Cosdon Beacon in the north at twenty-two miles, f and observes that " both geographically and geologically, the " elevated land which extends eastward from Cawsand Beacon to " Cranbrook Castle, Buttern Down and Mardon Down, near " Moretonhampstead, ranging round thence by Bridford and " Hennock to High or Hey Tor, forms part of Dartmoor." From Hey Tor, above Ilsington Church-town, in a south-westerly direction, the boundary takes the line of hills which overlook Ashburton, thence skirting the parishes of Holne, Buckfastleigh, and Brent, it proceeds to its southernmost point at the Western Beacon and Three Barrow Tor above Ivybridge. Thence, trending to the north-west, it crosses the rivers Erme and Yealm, passes by Cornwood belov; Pen Beacon and Shell Top, then takes a westerly course in the Hne of the Hentor Ridge and Shaugh Moor, approaches its westernmost point at Meavy, and thence runs •Report on the Geology of Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset, 1839, p. 5. fThe actual measurement is twenty miles and three-quarters, but neither of these summits are in the extreme limits of the moor. Dartmoor in Domesday. 3 almost from south to north, by Walkhampton, Sampford Spiney, west of the Tavy, to Peter Tavy, Mary Tavy and Sourton, thence to Okehampton and Belstone, where, at its northernmost point, it reaches Cosdon or Cawsand Beacon, and returns eastwards as above described. The whole forest of Dartmoor lies within the parish of Lydford, by far the largest parish in the county. We learn from Domesday, that in Edward the Confessor's time, it was of the king's demesne. The entry in the Exeter book is as follows : — " Rex habet i burguin " qui uocatur Lideforda quern teiiuit Edunardus rex ea die qua ipse "fuit uiuus et mortuus.. Ibi habct rex xxviii burgensts infra " burguin, et foras xli, et isti reddunt pir annum iii libras ad pensum "regi. Et ibi sunt xl domus uastatcB postquam Willelmus rex "habuit Angliam. Et supra-dicti burgenses habent terrain ad \\ " carrucas foras ciititatem. Et si expeditio uadit per terrain uel per "mare reddit tantum de seruitio quantum Totenais reddit uel " Barnestapla." (Exon Domesday. 87 b.) Risdon gives the following : — " Rex habet hurgum de Lidford, "et burgenses ibidem, tenet vigint' et octo burgenses infra burgum, "et ^i, extra &■€. Inter omnes redditus reddant tres libras ad "pensum et arsuram, et sunt ibi quadraginta domus vastata " prins-quain rex venit in Anglia, et predict, burgenses et iiianerium " de Lidford se extendit per totam villain et parochiam de Lidford, "et per totam forrestam dc Dartmoor."'- In the Domesday entry there is no reference to Dartmoor as a Forest, and Risdon does not give his authority for the addition " et predict' burgenses, etc., etc." but the quotation comes apparently from Hooker's MS. Discourse} from whence, no doubt Risdon copied it with all its errors, but it is not surprising, as observed by the late Sir Edward Smirke, that nothing but the borough is there noticed. " Until the property was granted to a subject in a " subsequent reign, it was in the king's hands, and can have been " liable to pay none of those taxes, which under the names of " hidage, carrucage, etc., were chiefly in view when the Survey " was made." Were it otherwise, an uncultivated tract of land like Dartmoor, would not be likely to find its way into Domesday. It is probable that the Forest was occasionally under grant to members of the Royal family during the 12th century, for we find •Risdon. Survey, p. 221, ed. 1811. fDevon Assoc, Trans. Vol, VIII, p. 403. 4 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. from a charter of John, Earl of Morton, Duke of Cornwall, (and afterwards king) during the life of his brother Richard, that he grants certain immunities to free tenants out of the Regard of the Forest. The first distinct notice of any transfer of the Castle Manor and Forest by the Crown to a subject, is the grant of Henry III, to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, commonly called King of the Romans, or of Germany. From that date, the property has been from time to time, under grant from the Crown ; and since 1337, the Forest and its belongings have been permanently annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall, as an appanage of the Prince of Wales. When there is no heir apparent, the Forest reverts to the custody of the Crown. Properly therefore, as belonging to a subject, and not to the monarch, Dartmoor is not a Forest but a Chase, but Dartmoor seems to have always had the peculiar privileges of a Forest, and retained such rights, laws and officers as belonged to it when used by the King " for his princely delight "and pleasure," and it is more frequently called Foresta than Chacea. In 16 Edward III, we find Dertemore Chase mentioned, and in the preceding reigns, both forest and chase are referred to, and still \a.ier foresta is used. The explanation probably is to be found in Coke's statement that " a subject may have a forest by " a special grant of the king." When Britain was invaded by the Romans, the country was extensively covered with wood. Caesar found the people upon the south coast engaged in agricultural pursuits, but inland all appeared to be forest, and he tells us that a town among the Britons is nothing more than a thick wood fortified with a ditch and rampart.'''- The extensive tracts of land in different parts of the country called Royal Forests, are so antient, says Coke in his Commentaries upon Littleton's Institutes,! as no record or history doth make any mention of their erections or beginnings. They were appropriated for animals of the chase with ascertained and well-defined limits, and governed by a code of laws, rigidly, and frequently cruelly, enforced. When these districts became subject to the Laws of the Forest is unknown, but they were certainly so from very early times, — probably before the date of Canute's Constitidiones de Foresta. Of such a character was Dartmoor down to the time of the *C.^SAR. Comraentaiies, Book V, chap. 8. Forests of England, Brown. fCOKE, Institutes, IV, 319, quoted by Manwood, Laws Forest, Art. Forests, 5.9. ed. 1741. Antient Woods. ■ 5 Conquest, not necessarily covered with wood in all parts, but there being enough to afford shelter and cover for beasts of the chase, and to serve as a retreat for man escaping from an enemy. The term Forest, as also pointed out by the antiquary whom we have before quoted, does not necessarily imply that there would be more timber or herbage than might be sufficient for food and shelter for the wild animals that ranged over it. Manwood's definition confirms this. " A forest is a certain territorie of woody grounds " and fruitful! pastures, priviledged for wild beasts and fowles of " Forest, Chase and Warren, to rest and abide in the safe " protection of the King, for his princely delight and pleasure, " which territory of ground so priviledged is meered and bounded " with unremoveable marks, meets and boundaries, either knowne " by matter of record or by prescription, etc."* It is indeed probable, that formerly there existed more wood on Dartmoor than is now to be found, and that the tinners, who certainly were allowed to supply themselves with fuel for the fusion of the ore they obtained, have laid waste the surface, but it is not likely that the granite table-land was ever covered to any extent, with anything entitled to the name of timber. It must not be assumed that diversion was the main object of the appropriation of land as forest. It is very certain that our ancestors (excluding, of course, those who were obliged to be content with humbler fare), relied upon their deer parks, chases and warrens for the supply of their larders. We know that cured venison was an important article of food in royal households, it being salted and packed, and sent from distant parts of the country to the king's larders, t The ancient woods of Wistman and Piles remain, and there are some antient oaks at Brimps, but at the head of the East Dart, below Great Hey Tor, in Stannon Bottom, and elsewhere branches of trees of considerable size have been found in the bogs. Near Princetown, in an enclosure made by the prison authorities, within a space of ten acres, upwards of twenty cart-loads of wood — oak, willow and alder — were obtained without any trouble. J One of the oaks measured seven feet six inches in circumference near the roots. 'Manwood. Treatiseof tha Lawes of the Forest, fol. i8, ed. 1615. fWardrobe Accounts. 28 Edw. I. Society Antiquaries, London, 17S7. lEx re!, late Mr. Thomas Kelly, of Yealmpton, who believed that the whole of the great bog in the neighbourhood of Cranmere Pool, was once forest. 6 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. Dartmoor is, no doubt, referred to in the Charter of John, while he was Earl of Cornwall, and is mentioned by name in his Charter of May i8, 1203 or 1204, by which all lands in Devonshire, except Dartmoor and Exmoor, are disafforested. The earliest perambulation of which we have any record was made in pursuance of a writ 13 June, 1240, in the 24th year of the reign of Henry III. "Every forest," says Manwood, "being a " Franches within its selfe, must bee inuironed with marshes, "meeres, and boundcries, round about the same, whereby the " circuit of ground, that is Forest, may be known and discerned "from that which is not Forest."'^ These " markes, meeres, and bounderies" were to be ascertained by a jury, and upon the construction of the statute. Carta de Foresta, g Hen. III., it was requisite there should be a writ issued out of Chancery, and by virtue thereof, a verdict upon the oaths of twelve men or more, which were the meets and bounds of the Forest. f We accord- ingly find that the writ of 13 June, 1240, was directed to the Sherifif of Devon, instructing him to summon a jury of twelve knights to determine by perambulation the boundaries of the Forest of Dartmoor, which, with the Castle of Lidford, had been granted by Henry to his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall and Poitou. The actual verdict or return to this commission has not been found, but there are several copies, bearing different dates, slightly varying from one another. The twelve jurors were William Brewer, Guy Bretevlye, WiUiam Wydeworthy, Hugh Bollay, Richard Gyffard, Odo Treverbyn, Henry, son of Henry, William Trenchard, Phillip Parrer, Nicholas Heanton, William Morleghe, and Durantus son of Botour. They began their perambulation at Cosdon Hill in the north quarter, and proceeded south-eastward skirting the bounds of Throwleigh, Gidleigh, and Chagford, to the point where the North joins the East quarter near Fernworthy. From hence southward the forest boundary runs deep into the moorlands, leaving Moreton six miles to the east, and crossing the road from that town to Two Bridges and Tavistock below King's Oven, Furnuvi Regis, (probably an ancient smelting or blowing house) follows the course of the Wallabrook, until that stream falls into the West Dart, which becomes the boundary as far as Dartmeet. Leaving the West Dart, the line intersects the •Manwood, op cit. fol. 56. tNELSON's Manwood, p. 44, ed. 1741, Venville Bounds. 7 extensive moors in the south quarter above Holne — proceeding to the springs of the Avon and thence to the Erme. Passing the Erme and leaving Yeahn Head on the south, the boundary- proceeds northwards to Siward's Cross, enters the west quarter of the moor, makes for Histworthy i.e. North Hessary* Tor, and from thence mounts to Great T^Iistor. Thence across the Walkham and Tavy it goes up the Rattiebrook, passes over the West Ockment below Yes Tor to the verge of Okehampton Park, crosses the East Ockment at Halstock below Belstone, and returns to the starting point at Cosdon. From a copy of the Perambulation, written on the back of a map, now in the Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, the late Spence Batef , with much ingenuity, worked out fairly accurately, the various meets and bounds, but particular reference will be made to these hereafter. The Venville or Fenfield districts, and also those wastes^ anciently known as the " Commons of Devonshire," are mentioned in the presentment of the jury of the Survey Court for the Forest made in the sixth year of King James I. i6og. Risdon enumerates the bounds and limits of the Fenfield men's tenures, beginning from Podaston Lake, running through Ashburton, and so through various places specified " to Ashborne, and so from thence to the " stream of Dart." But it would be difficult, if not impossible, to identify the names thus enumerated with existing places ; so that little available information on these points, can be gleaned from his statement. But a clearer notion of Venville bounds will be gained by an enumeration of the parishes in Venville, which, on examination, will be found to lie immediately round the Moor. Beginning in the north, and proceeding eastward, we find them to be Belstone, South Tawton, Throwleigh, Gidleigh, Chagford, North Bovey, Manaton, Widecombe, Holne, Buckfastleigh, Dean •The Devonshire tongue habitually gives " ery " for " worthy," as. for instance, Woolsery for Woolfardisworthy. Essery for Esworthy, and on the Ordnance Map are several instances of its adoption, as where He.iwortliy, near Dartraeet. appears as Haxary. fTransactions Devonshire Association. Vol. V. 1S72. p. 511. Jin the Forest, as well as in the Venville Commons, there have been from ancient times, certain enclosed lands, called ^ieiv-takes, as appears from accounts rendered by the officers of the Forest and Manor. The sums paid for these holdings are entered as neiu rents, and the tenure is called Umd bote. This word in western rentals means the claim of a copy-hold tenant to a small new-take of manorial waste or desmesne. Such a custom apparently obtained in other Devonshire Manors. It is curious to observe that many of these New-takes in the time of Henry VII, contained tio more than a single acre of land. Archaeological Journal, Vol. V. pp. 23, 24. $ Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. Prior, South Brent, Shaugh Prior, Meavy, Sheepstor, Walk- hampton, Sampford Spiney, Whitchurch, Cudliptown, (in Tavi- stock), Taverton Tything, Peter Tavy, Lydford, Bridestowe, Sourton. In addition to these, Burt gives Sampford Courtenay, Mary Tavy, Lamerton, Okehampton, Ugborough, Cornwood, and Halford.* The Venville tenures seems to have originally grown out of trespasses in the Forest. By the Survey of 25 Edward I, among the proceeds of the Forest, are included £^ los. for lines of the villagers, and pasturage of cattle. "In 17 Elizabeth, an account " was taken of the fines, which had then grown to be fixed rents, "and they amounted to £^ us. 4^d. They are payable at the " Court Baron, held by the Deputy-Steward of the Forest "originally at Lydford Castle, but since its being ruinous, at " Princetown, where homage jurors are sworn in, surrenders "taken, and grants made to the free and customary tenants. "f The forest is divided into four quarters — east, west, north and south, in each of which, except the western, is a pound for stray cattle. There are some curious remains of feudal customs in the service which the Venville men above mentioned, render to the Prince of Wales as Lord of the Forest, and by virtue of which they hold in Venville under the Duchy. As tenants of the Prince, they are liable to the service of driving the moor, after receiving notice through the Forest Reeve from the Deputy-Auditor, who fixes the exact time, which is somewhere between new and old Midsummer day. The colt drift for the east, south and west, is under the same precept and warrant. The tenants also do suit and homage at the Prince's Courts, and are required to present all defaults in the Forest and its purlieus. Their privileges, on the other hand, are pasturage on the moor at a fixed rate, a right to take away anything of the forest that may do them good, except vert, (meaning green oak) and venison ; to fish in all waters, and to dig turf in any place. J They are also exempt from tollage in all fairs and markets throughout England, except London, Totnes 'Preface, Carrington's Dartmoor, p. xxxviii. The valuable Introduction to Carrington's Poem and Notes, by William Burt, should be consulted by all interested in Dartmoor. Both the original author and the editor of this edition of the Perambulation have used this introduction freely. fBL'RT, op cit. p. xxix. This is not quite correct, for the court was removed from Lydford to Prince Town by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, and the Castle has become altogether ruinous since that time. {Burt, op cit. p. xxx. Duchy Drifts. 9 and Barnstaple, and the Duchy steward gives them an exemption, under his hand, for all the produce of the Venville estates, and they are free from attachment by any officer, except for the yearly rent of four-pence at Michaelmas. The drifts, at which the Venville men are required to assist, are organised for the purpose of ascertaining what stock is within the bounds, in order that the forest may not be trespassed upon by cattle belonging to those who have no riglit of pasture there. The custom of the Duchy authorities is to drive the bullocks and ponies, as before mentioned, in the autumn, on different days in the different quarters, ponies on one day, horned cattle on another, but sometimes there are not more than six drifts in the year. The old customs are not now fully observed. According to antient usage, Mr. W. F. Collier''' tells us the drift ought to be exercised in the following way : — A day is fixed without giving any notice to anyone. About two o'clock in the morning a messenger is sent to the moorman of the quarter, ordering him to drive his quarter for colts, who then proceeds, by blowing horns on the tors, to summon the Venville tenants to join in the drift. In the western quarter there was a particular stone, with a hole in it, through which it was customary to blow the horn. "All the " ponies or colts on the quarter, including those on the Commons "of Devon, are then driven from every nook and corner by men "on foot, on horseback, and with dogs, to the usual well-known "place, — in the western quarter it was Merrivale Bridge, — and it "is a curious sight to see herds of these fleet and sure-footed "little animals, in a great state of alarm at the unusual uproar of " hooting, holloaing, and horns sounding, galloping over the " moor all in one direction, giving their tails and manes to the " wind. The movement of ponies on the tors and the noise " proclaim the drift to all the world ; the owners of ponies have been " on the look out as the time of the year approaches, and they pro- " ceed to the drift to claim their property. The driving having been " completed, and the vast number of ponies of all ages, with the " men and the dogs, having been collected together, by this time "in a state of wild confusion, an officer of the Duchy stands " upon a stone, — the old traditional stone in all probability, — and " reads a formidable document with seals attached to it to the " assembly. That ceremony being performed, owners are called •VV. F. Collier. Venville Rights on Dartmoor, 18S7. to Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. " upon to claim their ponies. Venville tenants claim theirs and " go free, others pay a fine for each animal, but no one is con- " sidered a trespasser," for this reason that the owners and occupiers of all lands in Devon (except the men of Totnes and Barnstaple who were not disafforested when the forest rights were granted) can have the right, at all events, to pasture and depasture commonable beasts upon the Commons of Devon, and upon the Forest upon payment of certain customary fees. " If an animal " is not claimed by the owner he is driven to Dunnabridge " pound, which is the ' Duchy pound.' If claimed, his owner " has to pay for poundage and for water, but if unclaimed in a " given time, he is sold, and the money goes to the Duchy. The " horn has not been heard since 1843, and the Duchy now let the " quarters to the moormen who make as much as they can of " them." Besides the Venville rights, there are ancient tenements on the Moor held by copy of Court Roll, the persons residing on them being called Customary Tenants, and doing suit and service at the Court, and bound like the Venville men to assist at the drifts. The following is a list of these holdings : three tenements called Brimps ; three, Hexworthy ; two, Believer ; five, Dunna- bridge ; three, Baberry ; three, Pizwell ; two, Runnage ; five, Huccaby ; three, Sherberton, and one each Riddon's, Lov/er Maze Pits, Hartaland, Broom Park, Brown Berry, and Prince Hall, thirty-five in all.* In the suit of the rector of Lydford, Thomas Bernaford, against Hext and others, Exch., B. and A. Devon, i Anne 43, A.D. 1702, it was proved that there were thirty-five antient tenements and new takes, and Anthony Torr gave them with their tenants. Their names were Rennidge and Warner, three tenements, Piswell, ; one, Hastiland, ; one, Riddam, ; three, Barbary ; three, Brimpston ; four, Huccaby or lying in Huccaby ; one, Dury or lying there ; three tenements, Hexworthy ; three, Sherborne or lying there, ; five, Dunabridge or lying there ; one, Brownberry ; one, Princehall ; one, Bellaford ; two, Bellaford, one lying in Bellaford, and the other in called Lake. These were all ancient forest tenancies, but Anthony Torr says, that there were divers new-takes which he gives as follows : two, Bradrings, ; Stannon, Eyremerrypit, Laster Hole, Bellaford Combe, Winford, Laughter •Vide Burt, op. cit. p, xxxi. Natural Features. il Combe, Broad Oak, Cock's Lake, Dead Lake, Swancombe Head, Swancombe, three called Holeshead, and Swancombe Ford.* The bounds of the Royal Forest and the adjacent commons and moorlands, comprehend the district which forms the subject of the present volume, under the general name of Dartmoor, so called, probably from one of the principal of those numerous streams, of which it is the prolific parent. The whole of this large tract of land rises conspicuously above the surrounding country. Its appearance is singularly characteristic and picturesque, on whatever side it may be approached from the adjacent lowlands. The bard of Dartmoor, Noel Thomas Carrington,f with the eye of an accurate observer, and with the feeling of a genuine poet, describes as one of its prominent characteristics, the belt, " Of hills, mysterious, shadowy " by which it is encircled, as with a natural rampart, whilst it is moated by deep valleys, which wind round its base and are replenished by streams pouring down from the heights in every direction. This primseval circumvallation comprehends within its stupen- dous enclosure, an elevated table-land, which is not strictly a plain, but a series of hemispherical swelhngs or undulations gradually overtopping each other, and here and there interrupted by deep depressions, yet without forming what may be properly called distinct mountains. " To a person standing on some lofty " point of the Moor, it wears the appearance of an irregular " broken waste, which may best be compared to the long rolling " waves of a tempestuous ocean, fixed into solidity by some "instantaneous and powerful impulse.''^: It is thus, with much •Publications Dart, Pres : Assoc. Vol. I. pp. S9-90. fCARRINGTON, mhose poem entitled " Dartmoor" is so frequently quoted in this volume was the son of an artisan in the Dockyard atOevonport, then Plymouth Dock, who also kept a small shop. The boy, finding his apprenticeship in the yard uncon- genial, ran away and entered himself on board a man-of-war, and was present at the Battle off Cape St. Vincent, in Feb. 1797. Some verses written by the lad on the occasion, came under the notice of the captain, who, being interested in the lad, befriended him, gave him his discharge and sent him home. He then resolved to be a teacher and eventually settled down in his native place as a schoolmaster, where he remained until within six months of his death, which look place at Bath in 1830. His principal poems are " Dartmoor " " The Banks of Tamar" and " My Native Village." With regard to the first, in 1824 the Royal Society of Literature offered a premium for the best poem on Dartmoor, and Carrington decided to compete, but the premium was awarded to Mrs. Hemans, long before he knew the time for sending in the poems had arrived, and "Dartmoor" was, under the advice of Mr. William Burt, the secretary of tlie Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, published with notes written by the latter, in 1826. It immediately obtained a more than local success, and in six weeks another edition was called for. JBURT, op cit. p. 102. 12 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. graphic accuracy, that the author of the Notes to Carrington's Dartmoor, paraphrases Gilpin's compendious description of the Moorland district of Devon, when he says, " Dartmoor spreads " like the ocean after a storm, heaving in large swells." Even at a distance, it wears this billowy aspect, which in every zone, according to Humboldt, is the characteristic of primitive chains. The late John Prideaux faithfully sketches the geological features of the southern quarter of the moor, which, as he justly remarks, will apply to the whole. It is entirely mountainous, the highest hills being on the borders, where some of them attain the height of nearly 2000 feet.* The valleys run in v-arious directions, but have a tendency, upon the whole, to the north and south line. The hills rise often steep, sometimes precipitous, — their sides clothed with long grass except where rushes or moss indicate subjacent bogs, and they are often strewed with loose blocks of granite, from fifty or more tons, down to the size of a ilag-stone. A crag called a Tor usually projects at the summit of the hill, having a very striking appearance of stratification, the fissures being sometimes horizontal ; more commonly a little inclined. This stratified character is not less general in the quarries, where although there are none of those marked divisions indicative of intermissions, in the original depositions of the rock, the stone always comes out in beds. The dip is different in different hills, but seems to have a prevailing tendency towards east and south. | The principal rivers which have their source in the north table land of Dartmoor are : — The Dart, formed of the East Dart with numerous nameless tributaries flowing under Hartland Hill to Post Bridge, and of the West Dart receiving the Cowsick, Blackabrook, Cherrybrook, and other small streams. The two branches unite at Dartmeet Bridge ; receive the Webburn near Holne Chase, and flowing by Buckfastleigh and Totnes, the Dart finally reaches the sea at Dartmouth, after a course of about forty miles. The Teign, which is the next river northwards, also consists of two main branches. The north Teign rises near Sittaford *Cosdon Beacon, 1799 feet above the sea-level, was generally considered the highest point on Dartmoor until De la Beche published his Report on the Geology of Cornwall, Devon, and West Somerset, wherein he estimates Yes Tor at 2050 feet, and Amicombe Hill at 2000. But tiie new Ordnance Survey makes the Hig h VVillhays Bench Mark 2039 feet, and Yes Tor 2029lt. 6in. fPRIDEAUX. Transactions Plymouth Institution, 1830, p. 20. See chapter IX. Rivers of the Moor. 13 Tor, north of the Grey Wethers' Circle ; takes an easterly course towards Gidley Common, where it receives the Wallabrook ; and being joined near Chagford by the South Teign, which also rises near the Grey Wethers, the united stream passes under Chagford, Fingle, Clifford, and Dunsford bridges, amidst some of the most picturesque and striking scenery, and bounding the moorland district to the eastward, proceeds by a southerly course towards Chudleigh and Teigngrace, where it receives the Bovey ; and, taking a tributary from Newton, disembogues itself into the sea at Teignmouth. The Taw rises near Cranmere Pool ; and taking a northerly direction flows below Cosdon Hill and Belstone, and leaves the Moor at Sticklepath. In its northward progress, it gives the name to South and North Tawton, and being joined by the Yeo, near Eggesford, by the Little Dart, near Chulmleigh, and the Mole from Southmolton, flows into the Bristol Channel in Barnstaple Bay. The West Ockment or Okement taking its source near Cranmere Pool, flows below Yes Tor to Okehampton, and there is joined by the East Ockment, from the glen below Belstone and Okehampton Park, it takes a northward course through the centre of the county, and falls into the Torridge near Meeth. The Lyd rises in the hollow below Branscomb Loaf, flows south by Doe Tor, forces its passage through the rocky chasm at Skit's Hole, thence through the celebrated ravine of Lydford and beneath its romantic bridge, towards Maristow, where it receives the Lewwater, and being increased by the Thrushel Brook, renders its tributary waters to the Tamar, near Lifton. The Tavy rises about a mile westward from Cranmere Pool below Great Kneeset Tor, flows north of Fur Tor and Watern Oak, above Tavy Cleave it is joined by the Rattlebrook which comes from the north, down a deep valley below Amicombe Hill, leaves the moor by a fine mountain gorge between Gertor or Great Tor, and Stannon Hill, flows amidst a succession of picturesque scenery to Tavistock, and receiving the Walkham at Screeche's Ford, passes under Denham Bridge through the richly-wooded dales of Buckland Abbey and Maristow, to join the Tamar at Beer Ferrers, where the noble estuary presents all the appearance of an inland lake of singular beauty. The Walkham, incorrectly called in the old one inch Ordnance Map, Wallacombe, rises in a swamp below Lints Tor, and taking 14 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. a southerly course leaves Great Mistor on the left, flows under Merivale Bridge and Huckworthy Bridge by Walkhampton, to which probably it gives name, and thence through Horrabridge to its junction with the Tavy. The rivers rising in the swampy table land of the south are ; — The Plym, rising near Eylesburrow, flows westward below Trowlesworthy Tor to Cadaford Bridge, Dewerstone, and Shaugh Bridge, where it receives the Mew, or West Plym, from Meavy and Sheepstor. The augmented stream continues its course through Bickleigh Vale, receiving the Tory Brook at Long Bridge, thence to the estuary of the Lary, and falls into the sea at Plymouth, to which famous port, as well as to the borough of Plympton, and the parishes of Plympton St. Mary and Plymstock, it is supposed to give name. The Yealm rises in the boggy table-land south of Shaver- combe Head, and flows in a direct course to Cornwood. At Lee Mill Bridge it is crossed by the great Plymouth road, passes Yealmpton, to which it gives name, and meets the sea in a lovely estuary, completely landlocked by the heights of Wembury, Newton Ferrers, and Revelstoke, so as to form, at full tide, two lakes of singular beauty. The Erme, or Arme, takes its rise south of Cater's Beam about a mile knd a half from Plym Head. It passes Harford church in its way to Ivybridge, flows by Ermington, to which it gives name, and falls into Bigbury Bay, at Mothecombe. The Avon, Aven, or Aune (which seems to have been the antient appellation) has its source on the highest part of the southern table-land, north of Cater's Beam, near Peter's Bound- stone. Thence it flows southward, to Brent, Avon Bridge, and Diptford, leaves Modbury on the right, and flowing by Loddiswell, gives name to Aveton, or Auton GifTord, where it expands into an estuary, and falls into Bigbury Bay, near Burr Island. De la Beche concisely describes Dartmoor as "an elevated " mass of land, of an irregular form, broken into numerous minor "hills, many crowned by groups of picturesque rocks, provincially " termed tors,* and for the most part presenting a wild mixture of •Like most other provincial terms, tor is a relic of the ancient language of the country, preserved in the vernacular of the common people. It is found in both dialects of the antient British tongues : Cornish, tor ; Welsh, twr ; as well as in the Gaelic, tor — a tower, heap or pile. In addition to these it is traced by Bosworth (Anglo-Saxon Diet, in voc.) to the Dutch toren, Old German, turre turen. The Fatherland of Rains. 15 " heath, bog, rocks and rapid streams." Such are the general features of this singular district, which from its stem and frowning aspect, as viewed from the surrounding lowlands, and as contrasted with their smiling pleasantness, has been long branded by traditional prejudice with an ill name. From generation to generation it has been proverbial as the chosen spot, where bleak skies and brooding storms maintain undisputed and undisturbed, " their antient soUtary reign," causing Dartmoor to be regarded through the entire neighbourhood, as the very fatherland* of the whole family of rains, from a mist to a waterspout. Its lofty tors may often be discerned glittering with an Alpine scapular of snow, amidst surrounding verdure ; and frequently when Spring is smiling among the coombs of the South Hams, "Winter lingers" and " chills the lap of May " along the bleak expanse of the Moor. This proverbial barrenness of soil,t and inclemency of climate, may account for the slight and cursory notice which historians and topographers have, until late years, thought fit to bestow upon the great Moorland district of Devonshire. Even the indefatigable Risdon contents himself (and appears to think he has satisfied all reasonable inquirers thereby) with enumerating " three remarkable things "J within the precincts of Dartmoor ; and from his time to the present day, the opinion seems to have generally prevailed, that a tract so wild and barren, could afford little to encourage research into its past history, or to repay investigation into its present condition. But wild as it is, it is not "all barren." The native rudeness and untamed simplicity of these upland solitudes, become subjects of the deepest interest to those who find pleasure in contemplating nature in her sterner moods and more austere aspects ; while they secure to the antiquary means of investigating Danish, taarn, (which is almost Devonian, as our Moormen pronounce the word tar, and not tor), Swedish, icryi, &c. So that it is found in all the cognate Teutonic dialects, as well as in the Celtic ; to which however. Lye traces its primary derivation. " Originem habet in lingua Celtica qua mors dicebatur Thor : quas Syris et Chaldeis ' efferebatur Thur. Radicem hiijus conservant Cambri in verbo dwyre surgere etc. Inde etiam nomina montium et monticolarum apud varias gentes; ex gra, Dyr. Atlas lingua Maiiritanias, Taurus mons Asia;. Tauri monies Sarmatias. Taurini gentes Alpinae. Turinum caput Pe-de-montii etc. Thuringi vel Toringi montani monticolae, 'Nimborum Patria. Virgil. fThe soil of the Moor can scarcely be regarded as barren. The difficulty of cultivation is mainly due to the climate, especially to the wet west and south-westerly winds. See Chapter x. JCrockern Tor, Childe of Plymstock's Tomb, Wistman's Wood, Risdon, ed. 1811, p. 223. i6 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. the earliest history of the island which he would vainly seek in more favoured districts, where cultivation has obliterated the venerable memorials of primitive times. Finding among the wild uplands of Devon, the most unquestion- able vestiges of a period of our history of which so little that is authentic has come down to us, we are scarcely disposed to join in the lament which the sterility of Dartmoor has called forth. As the guardians of many an antique memorial, which in more accessible and attractive spots, would have long since experienced a fate, unhappily but too common, the tors and wilds of the antient Forest of the West, find favour in the sight of those who feel that other wants besides those of the body, are legitimate objects for the consideration of an intellectual, not to say an immortal, being. And without any affected or morbid deprecation of the peaceful triumphs of the ploughshare, nay, with the sincerest wish that every acre of waste which can be made to bring forth " green herb "for the service of man" may be reclaimed, until that period arrives, one may be pardoned for regarding with pleasure, the wilds of Dartmoor in their primitive state, and may be permitted to rejoice that there are myriads of acres equally unproductive and far less picturesque, which may justly be required to be subjected to the dominion of agriculture, before their " free and unhous'd condition is put in circumscription and confine." That there are tracts on the Moor, which may be cultivated with success, we do not for one moment question ; and that much credit is due to those enterprising individuals, who have from time to time engaged in e.xtensive, and to some degree, successful attempts to reclaim considerable portions of the waste, we are free to admit. All honour to the cultivator " who makes two blades of "grass grow where one only grew before," and, if it should really come to a question of the production of a sufficient quantity of food for the teeming population of a nation, all other considerations must give way, just as in seasons of great public peril, a siege or an invasion, the monuments of antiquity, the " gorgeous palaces " and even the "solemn temples" would be levelled, rather than that they should stand to impede the defenders, or to advantage the enemy. But that which would be praiseworthy patriotism in such an extreme case, would in a less manifest emergency be reckless spoliation, such as has been too often perpetrated upon the venerable relics of Dartmoor, without the pretence of a plea of the urgent necessities of the community. One may contemplate Useless Agricultural Efforts. 17 with satisfaction, such judicious and well-planned efforts, as may be seen in the vale of Cowsick, near Two Bridges, at Archeton, and on a much larger scale at Prince Town, the result of prison labour ; but it is melancholy to witness the abortive attempts that have been sometimes made on the bleak hillside, where, after a rock- pillar has been demoHshed for a gate-post, or a cromlech overthrown for a foot-bridge, or a kistvaen destroyed for a new-take wall, the injudicious attempt has been abandoned as hopeless, after irreparable mischief has been done. Even Carrington's honeyed strains fail in inducing us to sympathise with his satisfaction when exercising the powers of poetic vaticination, " rapt into future times," he views with delight " The dauntless grasp Of Industry assail yon mighty Tors Of the dread wilderness." nor shall we, hke him, kindle with misplaced indignation, and demand, " Shalt thou alone Dartmoor ! in this fair land where all beside Is life and beauty, sleep the sleep of death, And shame the map of England ? " Rather would we subscribe to the opinion expressed by a writer, who, in speaking of the present state of the Moor, observes, " perhaps it serves as it is, the gracious purposes of Providence."* On this subject alone, we cannot applaud the sentiments of the honoured bard of Dartmoor, as much as admire the attractive forms in which he has embodied them, — here our mountain minstrel seems to have struck the only jarring chord in the whole compass of the wild harp of the desert. Those who have climbed the bleak summits of Dartmoor, and threaded the granite labyrinths which perplex their acclivities, must be persuaded that profitable agricultural efforts must be confined to the lower grounds, and every attempt to carry cultivation up to the rugged eminences of the tors, can only issue in loss and disappointment. Besides, who will venture to affirm, if Dartmoor could be ploughed to its very crest, and a scanty and precarious crop reaped from corn patches, two thousand feet above the sea-level, that there would be no counter-balance to the dearly- bought benefit ? How much of health is now wafted from the •Blackwood's Magazine, vol. xxxiii., p. 6gi, i8 Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. mountain's brow over the circumjacent towns and villages ? How much of beauty and refreshment is poured down from the perennial fountains of the misty moor upon the smihng lowlands of the South Hams, — of West and Central Devon ? Carrington appropriately describes Dartmoor as the " source of half the beauty of Devon's austral meads," and while he mourns over its native barrenness, he justly celebrates its importance to the whole surrounding region, in the bountiful economy of Him who "sendeth His springs into the rivers which run among the hills." " For other fields Thy bounty flows eternal. From thy sides Devonia's rivers flow ; a thousand brooks Roll o'er thy rugged slopes ; 'tis but to cheer Yon Austral meads unrivall'd, fair, as aught That bards have sung, or fancy has conceived, 'Mid all her rich imaginings." Would the same fertility and the same loveliness then be produced, if there were no condensing apparatus set up in Nature's wondrous laboratory, amidst the wilds of Dartmoor ? The primal paradise of Eden was not perfect without the " river which went " out to water the garden, and was thence parted into four heads." — Genesis ii, lo. Would Devon challenge the envied designation of the garden of England, if the Urn of Cranmere were broken and dry ? Where would be the characteristic amenities of the Land of Promise, those striking features which mark Devonshire as the Canaan of the West — " a good land, a land of brooks of " water, of fountains that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of " wheat and barley, of milk and honey ; a land whose stones are "iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass." — Deut. viii, 7,8,9 ; where, but for Dartmoor, to which must be attributed, mainly, the fact that this inspired description may be applied to Devon, without figure, accommodation, or vain glory? Since then the poet traces so much of the beauty of the lowlands, to the rugged steeps of the central wilderness, and philosophers regard Dartmoor as the source of much of the fertihty of the surrounding region, the admirers of its wild simplicity may be pardoned for hoping that other means may be found for rendering its wide expanse productive, without impairing its solitary grandeur, or of destroying its venerable memorials of aboriginal antiquity. Nor is this hope \'isionary. It was the deliberate opinion of one of the post enterprising of the modern experimentahsts on Dartmoor, the Points of Interest. ig late Mr. George Frean, of Plymouth, as it has been since by others of equal authority, that the pasturing of cattle on the uplands, connected with judicious cultivation in more sheltered spots, is likely to be the most profitable husbandry, and best adapted to the circumstances of the soil and climate.* And it is curious to observe that this method, if carried into effect, will probably be little more than a recurrence to the practice of our forefathers. Rich in pre-historic remains, Dartmoor also, in later times, as an antient Stannary district, and a Royal Forest or Chase, urges many claims to our attention, whilst in its present state, as a field of scientific research, a region of picturesque and romantic scenery, and an asylum of old-world customs and language, it can scarcely fail to excite the interest, not only of those whom local partialities might be supposed to influence, but of all others who hold, with the great English moralist that " whatever withdraws " us from the power of the senses, — whatever makes the past, the " distant, and the future, predominate over the present, advances "us in the dignity of thinking beings." To an object so important, the wild uplands of Dartmoor are calculated to minister, and that in no ordinary degree. Who, with a particle of sensibility can climb its tor-crowned steeps, traverse its rock-strewn ravines, or penetrate its tractless morasses, without an irresistible impression that every object around belongs to a period of unrecorded antiquity ? And who, when thus surrounded by the silent yet eloquent memorials of the mysterious past will not acknowledge their influence in " withdrawing him from the power of the senses," and in carrying forward his thoughts to the still more mysterious future ? He wanders in a desert encircled with primeval mountains, and beholds nature piling all around in fantastic and mimic masonry, huge masses of granite, as if to mock the mightest efforts of human art. Vast and gloomy castles appear to frown defiance from the beethng crags around. But no mortal hand ever laid their adamantine foundations, or reared their dizzy towers. Nature is the engineer that fortified the heights thousands of years ago, — hers are the massive walls, — hers the mighty bastions, — hers the granite glacis, scarped down to the roaring torrent below — hers the hand that reared those stupendous citadels which fable might have garrisoned with demigods, and beleaguered with Titans ; whilst in the recumbent mass that •See Chapter x. Agriculture. ao Introductory. Extent, Boundaries, &c. guards the approach, imagination, with scarcely an effort, might discern an archetype of the mystic Sphynx" in kindred prophyry, of proportions far more colossal, and of date far more antient, than that which still looks forth in serene and lonely grandeur over the sands of the Memphian desert. There are numerous tracts of the moor, where, around the whole expanse, the eye cannot light upon a single feature that is not pristine, intact, and natural. The entire scene in spots, such as that beyond Tavy Head, at the foot of Fur Tor, is of this untamed and primeval character. Not a trace of man's presence or occupancy is to be detected. Even the half-wild cattle which range the other parts of the moor at pleasure, seem to shun the swampy steppes of the central wilderness. It is only on the spot that the graphic accuracy and poetic beauty of Carrington's description can be appreciated, when with master hand he sketches the characteristic features of a scene, which seems to transport you in a moment from the richly cultivated and thickly-peopled provinces of England, to some unexplored and desert tract, in the remotest regions of the globe. " Devonia's dreary Alps ! And now I feel The influence of that impressive calm That rests upon them. Nothing that has life Is visible ; no solitary flock At wide will, ranging through the silent moors. Breaks the deep-felt monotony ; and all Is motionless, save where the giant shades Flung by the passing cloud, glide slowly o'er The grey and gloomy wild." The desert expanse has come down to us rude and inviolate from primeval times. The tors pile their fantastic masses against the sky, as they first " frowned in the uncertain dawn of time," the granite wrecks of some original convulsion still lie scattered " in most admired disorder." The roar of " many an antient river " foaming along its rock-bound channel, breaks upon the still silence of the waste, as it did hundreds of ages ago. All bears the impress of unaltered duration and undisturbed solitude. And if from a period, whose chronology reaches far beyond the epochs of cycles, lustrums, and olympiads, we come down to the • In the road from Two Bridges to Tavistock, Dr. Berger and his friend Mr. Nccker, were both struck, at once, with the resemblance of a granite rock — Vixen Tor — to the Egyptian Sphynx, in a mutilated state. — Carrington's Dartmoor. Notes, p. 193. Points of Interest. 21 era of monumental antiquity, all is still antique, mysterious, and venerable. The simple and time-worn memorials of unchronicled ages, rear their hoary forms amidst the sombre solitudes of the moor. The mossy cairn surmounted by its primitive unwrought pillar, carries the thoughts back to a period which out-dates the Pyramids and Babylon, — a period when the Mesopotamian patriarchs erected their monumental column, as the witness and memorial of the earliest treaties in the history of man. The columnar masses which mark out the sacred enclosure formed by our Pagan forefathers, stand in rough and native simplicity, untouched by the workman's tool. Walls, which fortified the towns of the aboriginal inhabitants, and bridges, which spanned the swollen torrents of the desert, yet remain, of ruder and more primitive construction than the cyclopean architecture of far- famed Mycenae. And desolate as Dartmoor is, with thousands of acres now destitute even of a turf-cutter's cabin, considerable vestiges of antient dwellings may still be traced in various parts of the Forest and its precincts. " E'en here, Man, rude untutor'd man, has liv'd, and left Rude traces of existence." CHAPTER II. FORMER INHABITANTS.* The evidences of human habitation observable in various parts of Dartmoor Forest and the surrounding country are eminently characteristic of the people whom we conclude from the testimony of history to have been the inhabi- tants of this part of the island, long before the arrival of Julius C^sar in Britain. To that accurate observer and faithful commentator on what he saw, we are indebted for a brief but important notice of the inhabitants of the country he invaded. " Bri!aiutice pars "interior ah iis incolitur, quos natos in insula ipsa memoria " proditum dicunt: maritima pars ab iis, qui pra:da: ac belli iii/erciidi "causa ex Belgis transierant ; et hello illato, ibi remauseninf, atque " agros colere ceperunt."] How strikingly does this prove that man is the same in every age, and that similar circumstances issue in the same results. More than two thousand years ago, the Belgian adventurers having crossed the Channel and landed on the coast of Britain, were enabled, doubtless by the power of numbers, or superior civilization, to make good their footing along the maritime parts, and to drive back the original dwellers to the less inviting, but more secure districts of the interior, just as the English settlers and their transatlantic descendants, established 'This Chapter must be read with caution. See the two concluding paragraphs. frfte interior of Britain is inhabited by people, who are reported by tradition to have been iiidigenous in the islaud. The maritime pares are possessed by itivaders who came over from the country of the Belga, allured by the hope of booty, and having made war upon the Britons, established themselves in the country, and began to cultivatt the land. — Casar Bell. Gall. b. v. c. 5. Belgic Settlers. 23 themselves on the coasts of America, and thrust back the aboriginal Red-men into the forests and savannahs of the North American continent. Thus before the Roman period of our history, we find two distinct classes, perhaps two distinct races of inhabitants, on the southern coast of England, the origin of one, not doubtful, as they were universally acknowledged to have passed over from the country of the Belgae, and to have settled in those maritime tracts which lay opposite to the coast of Gaul, and in parts of which (Hampshire) their name long remained, and marked an important division of the country. Whence the earlier settlers who were supposed to have been the aboriginal inhabitants of the island, came, is not so apparent. Cassar gives no information on a subject which has caused no little controversy among antiquaries. Whitaker maintains that Britain was peopled from Gaul, about one thousand years before the Christian era, and, that the Belgae, whom Csesar mentions, followed more than six hundred years after. We are not aware whether there is any better authority for this, than Richard of Cirencester, who records, under the date Anno Mundi M.M.M. " Circa hcec tempora cultain et hahitatam "priinitm, Dritanniam arbitrantiir nonnulli, cum illam saliitarent " Grceci, Phoenices que mercatores." If Richard be the only voucher for this exposition, as it appears to be, of Csesar's text, those who are acquainted with the doubts which were formerly raised as to the sources of the monk's information, and who now are told on undoubted authority that his work is a forgery, will not be inclined to overrate its importance. Polwhele, our western antiquary, contends that the aborigines mentioned by Caesar, did not come from Gaul, but that they arrived by sea, from the eastern parts of Asia, Armenia as he supposes, and voyaging by the Straits of Gibraltar, at length reached the westernmost coasts of Britain. Having settled in Cornwall and Devon, in after-times they were visited in succession by Phenician and Greek traders, who made the distant and perilous voyage in search of tin, for which metal, the Cassiterides were already famous at this early period of history. In support of his favourite theory, he goes so far as to trace vestiges of these aboriginal settlers in the name of one of our Dartmoor rivers, and in that of a parish on its banks. Ermington, is doubtless, still generally pronounced Armeton, by the common people, and this our enthusiastic antiquary regards as evidence that the Asiatic navigators might have debarked at the mouth of the Erme (Arme) in Bigbury Bay, and named the 24 Early Inhabitants. country which was to be their future habitation in memory of the land they had left. If they did so, their Danmonian descendants, some three thousand years after, imitated their example when they emigrated from the mouth of the Plym to an island in the Pacific and founded a new Plymouth at the Antipodes. But the hypothesis of Asiatic colonization rests on far better support than this questionable etymology. The emigration of bodies of people, in every age, has been attended with one universally accompanying circumstance, — the importation of their religious opinions and rites into the country of their adoption. That there is a striking similarity between the religious opinions and sacred rites of the Druids, and those of the eastern nations, none acquainted with the testimony of antient authors on the subject will venture to question. From the undeniable evidence which Holy Writ affords, we know how popular and universally prevalent was the worship of the heavenly bodies among the nations of the east, and with what frantic eagerness and perverse obstinacy, even the well-instructed Hebrews recurred again and again to idolatrous practices, which the Holy One of Israel had expressly forbidden on the pain of his hottest displeasure, and had punished with the severest vengeance times out of number. Still "they tempted " and displeased the most High God," and " burned incense unto " Baal, to the sun, to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the "hosts of heaven." — 2 Kings, xxiii., 5. And this worship the Israelities derived from "the nations round about," for so early as the times of Job, it was the pardonable boast of that upright man, that he had not been carried away by the general prevalence of idolatry in the land of Uz, "his heart had not been enticed, nor " his mouth kissed his hand if he beheld the sun when it shined, "or the moon walking in her brightness." — Job, xxxi., 26-27. The Baal or Bel of the Canaanities and the Phoenicians was evidently the same deity whom Diodorus describes as the object of worship, in a northern island over against the Celtae of Gaul. They had a large grove and a temple of a round form, to which the priests resorted to sing the praises of Apollo* — Diod. Sic. b. Hi. But whilst the Druids, in the time of Caesar, ministered to the popular propensities by sanctioning the worship of idols and, perhaps, the use of images, there are just reasons for the belief that these, with other practices, were the result of their inter- 'BoRLASE asserts that the old British appellation of the Scilly Islands was Sullth or Sylleh, signifying rocks consecrated to the sun. — Ant. Com. 11., c. 19. / Druids and Druidism. 25 course with the Phenicians, who seem also to have introduced the worship of their favorite goddess Astarte, or Bali Sama, i.e., the queen of heaven.f Their earlier and purer practice seems to have been much more nearly allied to the Sabaean creed — the worship of the sun under the form of fire — and abhorrence of every kind of image of the ^invisible God. They also appear to have scrupulously abstained from using any tool in the construc- tion of their temples and altars, — a practice utterly unknown to classical antients, and which seems again to point to an eastern origin, and even to a traditionary acquaintance with the express ordinance of the Almighty, for the guidance of the Israelites in this particular. [Ex. xx., 25.) But the Druids had their hill altars, — and sacred groves, — in exact correspondence again, with those idolatrous practices of the east with which Holy Writ has made us familiar; and, what is worthy of remark, the favourite tree with the primitive British priesthood, for this purpose, was the oak, the very tree which is specified by the prophet Isaiah, as connected with the worst atrocities of paganism, in the practice of his idolatrous countrymen, whom he accuses of " inflaming themselves with idols among the oaks [margin] slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks." — {Is. Ivii., 5. margin.) The Druids, like the Chaldeans, cultivated the science of astronomy (doubtless in connection with astrology) and were great observers of the motions of the heavenly bodies. Hi terrce mundiqiie magnitiidinem et formain niotus cali ac sidenim, ac quod Di velint scire profiteiitur. — Pomp: Mela. lib. ii, c. 2. But the most remarkable point of similarity is the behef in the transmi- gration of souls which the Druids are believed to have held in common with the Gymnosophists of antient India. Taliessin, the Welsh bard affirms that he has experienced, in his own person, the changes of the metempsychosis : — " I have died, I have " revived ; a second time was I formed, — I have been a blue " salmon ; I have been a dog ; I have been a stag ; I have been fThe Rev. Vernon Harcourt asserts that the Phenicians introduced the worship of Baal or Fire, five hundred years before the Christian era, among the aboriginal inhabitants ot Ireland, whom he calls Momonii,and whom he describes as Arkites. " There are two places," observes this author, " called Magh Trrey, one in the " north, the other in the south, and at both, not long before the Christian era, that is "about the time when the Arkites received a strong reinforcement by a Scythian " swarm from the north, called Tualh de Doinan, a battle was fought between the " Belgae, the worshippers of Bel or Baal on the one side, and the Danans i.e. the " Danai, the Dionusans, the Arkites, and the Caledonian or Deucaledoniao, Diluvian " tribes on the other. — Doct. Deluge, Vol. i., 487. ^ Early Inhabitants. " a roebuck on the mountains ; I have been a cock ; I have been " Aedd ; returning to my former state, I am now Taliessin.* All these factsj may fairly be brought to support the hypothesis of an oriental colonization of the south-western parts of England previously to the immigration of the Belgse from Gaul, B.C. 350. J It may, however, be objected, that although an earlier peopling of Britain than this might have taken place, it does not then necessarily follow that the settlers might not have crossed the narrow seas from the continent, at a remoter period, for instance A.M. 3000, as Whitaker supposes. To this it is answered that few, if any, traces of similar religious doctrines are observable across the continent, in a direction which a wave of population from the east would have taken, had it reached the shores of Britain, in one flow, or by successive undulations. Druidism had taken no root among the German nations, and in Gaul, where it flourished in the latter times of the Roman republic, it was not indigenous. Caesar expressly records that the Druidical discipline was discovered in Britain and transmitted thence to Gaul. Disciplina in Britannia reperta, atque in Galliam translata esse existimatur. — Caesar. Bell. Gall. lib. vi., c. 13. The Rev. V. Harcourt, in his elaborate and valuable researches into the vestiges of the Scripture doctrine of the Noachic deluge among the heathen nations of antiquity, traces them in their traditions, mythology, and worship, as well as in the etymology of the names of persons and places. He adduces a mass of remarkable testimony to prove that the Arkite worship (which he believes Druidism to have been in its purer and more antient form) prevailed from India and China in the east, to Britain in the west. In proceeding with an account of the existing monumental relics of Dartmoor, which we do in the next chapter, it will be curious to remark in how many particulars they appear to bear out the theory which this learned author has brought forward. After much hesitation, we have decided to allow the fore- going speculations to remain much as they appeared in the former editions of this work, but it must be observed, firstly, that there is •Davies. Mythology of the Druids, p. 573. tPliny was evidently struck with the same similarity. Britannia hodiequt earn attonile celebrat tantis ccremoniis, ut dedissc Pcnii videri possit. PLINY, lib. xxx. JDioGENES Laertius says the Druids and Gymnosophists of India were similar. Proem, 4-5, ed. He. Stephens, 1594, Recent Opinions. Neolithic Man. 27 no proof whatever that Druidical worship prevailed at any time upon Dartmoor ; and secondly, that the Eastern origin of the antient people of Britain, arguments for which our author thus adduced, was supposed to be well established until recently. The investigations of Latham, and of German and French scholars, have now altogether upset this oriental theory, and it is upon linguistic grounds as well as for other reasons, that it is now supposed that the origin of these very early settlers in Britain, must be sought for in Mid-Europe, and not in the far East. And what appHes to Britain, applies to Dartmoor, for there is no reason to believe that Dartmoor was different from the rest of the country. " It is plain that the ci\-ilization which we find in Europe at the " beginning of the historic period, was gradually evolved during " a vast period of time, and was not introduced cataclysmically, by " the immigration of a new race."* Traces of Neolithic man, as well as of those men who succeeded him, are to be found, as in other parts of our island, on Dartmoor, as evidenced by recent most important investigations, to which reference will be made in succeeding chapters of this work. It is unnecessary to occupy space with any of the results of enquiries as to these pre-historic people, to whose history so much research and learning has of late years been devoted. The evidence obtained from barrows, and hut circles, and the camps of which so many are found on the borders, is of the greatest interest, although it is too early to be dogmatic as to the theories which this e\adence supports. It will be sufficient to say here, that the Neolithic people reached Britain from the Continent, and being a little stronger and more enterprising, and with better weapons than those possessed by the people they found here, drove before them the Paleolithic men, who had no power to make resistance. With their stone axes, they made a clearing in the woods in which to place their settlements. They brought with them domestic animals, sheep and goats, dogs and pigs. They grew com and manufactured a rude kind of pottery. Each tribe lived in a state of war with its neighbours. These few words (although Dartmoor has not so far, given us so many examples of the life history of these people as are here mentioned) will enable us to understand much of what has hitherto been a mystery to some who have essayed to write upon Dartmoor matters. •Isaac Taylor. The Origin of the Aryans, 1890, p. 132. CHAPTER III. MONUMENTAL RELICS. Of the Antiquities of Dart- moor, none are more con- spicuous than the so-called Sacred Circles. We have no example approaching either in vastness or extent to the massive proportions of Stonehenge, but there are not wanting specimens equally decisive in char- acter, although inferior in magnitude. For the con- struction of these circles the region supplied ample and appropriate material. The accidents of nature have more to do with the decision of matters of this kind, than we are usually free to allow. The colossal architecture of Egypt had its birth in the granite quarries of that peculiar country; the bituminous plains of Babylon, sugges- ted the employment of brick in the construction of the vast edifices of that " lady of the kingdoms." The granite tors of Devon and Cornwall in like manner, furnished materials for the erection of circles, cromlechs, and rows, abundant in supply, and suitable in form and quality ; — as to form, sublime from their very simplicity and vastness ; and as to durability, imperishable as the hills from which they were taken, rude and untouched by the workman's tool, as when dislodged by some primeval convulsion of nature from their original position. The rude simplicity and complete absence of all preparation in (.•■- ,7t:.j? Sacred Circles. 29 the materials of the Dartmoor circles, mark their high antiquity, and in this respect, invest them with an interest superior to the majestic but artificial trilithons of Stonehenge. The circle was evidently a rude patriarchal temple, .thinks Sir R. C. Hoare. " That they were erected for the double purpose of religious and "civil assemblies may be admitted without controversy" says he in his Antiquities of Wilts.* Our Danmonian Circles are apparently of the same description as the fine inclosure at Abury in Wiltshire, and are similar in the size, form and character of the stones of which they are constructed. Although the mighty columns of Stonehenge are connected by horizontal imposts, in no instance does there appear the least vestige of any provision for a roof. On Dartmoor, the stones which form the circle, are for the most part, insufficient in height for any such purpose, nor in any instance, have the uprights ever been furnished with imposts. The size of the area would also have precluded any attempt at covering it with a roof. It is therefore clear that the uses of the enclosures of Stonehenge, Abury, Stanton Moor, Stennis and elsewhere, and of those on Dartmoor, are identical, and if the purposes for which the first were erected could be discovered, the clue to the objects of the last mentioned would be obtained." It was a favourite idea of the old antiquaries, to consider these circles Druidical erections, and they called them Sacred Circles, and connected them with the avenues near, and concluded that they were Dracontian temples, in which serpent worship was practised, and from their circular form, as indicating solar worship. Really all that can be said at present with any certainty about them, is that they were connected with burial, and probably with worship and sacrifice. f These remains approach, in all cases, more or less to the circular form. They are of various dimensions and are constructed of granite blocks of irregular shape, and by no means uniform in size. Taking a general view of monuments of this class in our island, some antiquaries have fixed the number of stones as ranging from twelve to twenty-seven ; it is stated also that they are more •Vol. II., p. 118 ; Lond. 1812. •R.N.Worth. Notes and Gleanings. Vol. III.,p. log. fVide Stone Circles of Britain. A. L. Lewis, Arch; Journal, Vol XLIX. p. 136, Heth andMoab.C. R.Conder, 1883. See also a very valuable and important paper by Arthur J. Evans, on Stonehenge, in Archaeological Review, Vol II, p. 312, 30 Monumental Relics. frequently found of the former number than any other. This number is still preserved in the inner circle at Abury. This conjecture, however, seems to be much at variance with conclusions drawn from an examination of Dartmoor specimens. In some instances the number has been found to be twenty-seven, but circles consisting of twenty-five, fifteen, twelve, eleven, and even ten, have also been observed, the height of the stones above the surface, ranging from seven feet and a half, to eighteen inches. In the latter cases they have probably been mutilated. The circumference varies from thirty-six feet to three hundred and sixty feet, which is the size of the Grey Wethers, below Sittaford Tor, the largest on the Moor. It would seem possible to distinguish two kinds of circles, one surrounding a place of burial, the other enclosing a larger area in which no trace of an interment has been found. Sometimes these circles, are, as at Merivale Bridge, Drizzlecombe, Erme Pound, and elsewhere, found in connection with avenues ; at the Grey Wethers, (some of the stones of which have been apparently worked so as to form square heads) there are two circles whose circumferences almost touch each other, and one example has been observed, containing two concentric circles, and one on Castor, a sepulchral one, with four. These stone rings which we continue to call Sacred Circles for want of a better name, must not be confounded with the Hut circles, or the Pounds, the former of which are so numerous on the Moor. The stones of which the Sacred Circles are composed, are in all cases set up at intervals of greater or less extent, whereas the latter clearly indicate a totally different purpose, the stones being set as closely together as their rugged and unwrought form will permit. The most noticeable of the Dartmoor Circles, are those of Scorhill, The Grey Wethers, Froggy Mead, and Trowlesworthy, the two first being the most important, and the last discovered, in 1894, a very fine one on Langstone Moor, the stones of which have been recently re-erected. The Stone Avenues, Rows, Alignments, or Paral- Rows. lehthons, have been as productive of Druidical speculations as the Circle. These the older antiquaries liked to call Avenues. They did not know that many of them on Dartmoor were single lines only, not double, nor did they know, or imagine, that an avenue could be composed of more thap two rows Stone Rows. 31 of stones. It was in the year 1827, that the author, in company with Col. Hamilton Smith and others, examined the avenues near Merivale Bridge. Before this time, Httle notice had been taken of this class of remains, and they had been scarcely mentioned by our local topographers and antiquaries. Polwhele, who in the most systematic and elaborate manner classifies and enumerates every remnant of antiquity on Dartmoor, mentions the avenue only in an incidental and cursory manner, in his minute account of the Drewsteignton Cromlech, which he says " is placed on an elevated "spot, overlooking a sacred way, and two rows of pillars, which "tuark this processional" road of the Druids. Lysons in his History of the County, makes no mention of anything of the kind, although the existence of this curious conformation of stones was well known to the inhabitants of Tavistock and the neighbourhood, under the popular name of the Plague Market. Rows — for as suggested by Mr. R. N. Worth, this is a much better name than any other — are very numerous on Dartmoor, more so than anywhere else. Examples of these are found in other parts of Great Britain, and in other countries, although as far as the magnitude and number of the stones is concerned, there is nothing elsewhere hke the rows in Brittany — those of Kermario, Menec, and Erderven. On Dartmoor these avenues occur always in connection with other rehcs, and most commonly with the circle. Mr. Lukis indeed considers it probable that all of them were originally connected with burial mounds, and he says that out of the tw-enty- four he examined, fourteen were still connected with or attached to cairns. Of the examples of circles and cairns with single lines may be mentioned that on Staldon Moor, south-east of Erme Pound. Here we have a circle of about fifty-two feet in diameter, and in a direction from it almost due north, is a line of stones which have been traced by the late Rev. \V. C. Lukis for a distance of eleven thousand two hundred and thirty nine feet. On Hingston Hill, east of Down Tor, is a cairn surrounded by a circle and a single hne of stones, which are visible to the extent of eleven hundred and seventy three feet ; on Hartor, east of Blackdown is a cairn with an excavation in the centre, and a single line of stones, which has been partially destroyed by a stream-work, is traceable for about two hundred feet, and lastly the curious collection of stone monuments on Glazebrook Moor, where we find two cairns, with a third a little west of the hne, and a single line of stones four hundred 32 Monumental Relics. and eighty six feet long, besides other remarkable lines to be presently referred to. Of circles and cairns with lines, may be mentioned that east of Cosdon Beacon, on South Tawton common, where there is a triple row of stones starting from sepulchral circles at the west end, and with kistvaens and tumuli west of the circles, and also that at Assycombe, where there is a double row running east and west for four hundred and thirty feet, starting from a sepulchral circle at the eastern end. Another, at the foot of Hartor near the cairn with the single line before mentioned, an avenue runs from the cairn almost due west for four hundred and fifty feet. There are also examples of Rows consisting of four and five lines, and the very remarkable one on the moor between the streams of the East and West Glazebrook, outside Glazecombe Moor Wall, which Mr. Lukis with infinite patience and trouble investigated, and pronounced to be of thirteen rows, extending for about three hundred and thirty feet. Here, there is a line of stones leading to a cairn, and then to a stream, as before mentioned. By the side of the most distant cairn, is a larger one, and from this in a south-westerly direction, run the thirteen lines referred to. Particular features which may have their bearing on the intentions of those who erected these circles and avenues, may be noticed in connection with these remains as the result of an examination of the principal specimens to be found on Dartmoor. They are never serpentine, although not always quite straight, one example is very slightly curvilinear for a short distance. The stones comprising them are from two to four feet high, and appear to have been chosen with a view to some degree of uniformity, and they are placed at irregular distances, but generally about three feet and a half apart. The terminating blocks are in most cases of larger size than the others, some are of great size, as for example those at Drizzlecombe, in the Plym Valley, and the parallel lines stand about four feet and a half asunder. The general direction of the avenues, appears to be from a circle to a neighbouring stream, and in several instances there seems to be preference given to a leaning east and west. But the Staldon Moor row, with its circle 59ft. gin. in diameter at one end, and the cairn 27ft. in diameter at the other end, and exclusive of these, as before mentioned, measuring two miles and a quarter long, crosses the Erme river. Had the straight line been followed, an obstruction in the precipitous bank of the river would have been met with, so the Stone Rows. 33 builders of this great monument deviated eastward, to where the bank was more sloping and the water more shallow. Here the stream was crossed and gradually tending towards the west, the Row finally reached the cairn at the north end. Mr. Hansford Worth has traced this the whole length, as did Mr. Lukis.* Some of these alignments commence, and sometimes end, with a menhir of greater or lesser size. At Drizzlecombe there is a cairn which is connected by a row, two hundred and sixty feet long, with an upright stone seventeen feet nine inches in lengfth, formerly prone, but once more erect, and standing thirteen feet six inches above the ground. Near Headland, on what is known as Challacombe or Chillacombe Down, is an avenue to which attention was first drawn by Prideaux fifty or more years ago. He only mentions lines, and does not give the number, but Mr. Baring-Gould considers there were originally eight rows, three of which are perfect, and the others now represented by a few stones only. These lines run from N.N.W. to S.S.E. for five hundred and twenty eight feet, and end in a menhir eight feet six inches high, and are of a varying width to five feet. It is safe to assume that all these circles and rows are memorials of the dead and connected with burial, but beyond this we cannot at present go. In chapter xviii., we are enabled to give a list of the known existing Stone Rows on Dartmoor, and in the list of plans prepared by the late Rev. W. C. Lukis, in the same chapter, will be found those measured by him. Mr. R. N. Worth has given much attention to these remains and has recorded the results of his investigations in three papers printed in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 1892-3-4, and to these we must refer our readers for a full account of the Dartmoor Rows, and of the speculations with regard to them, some of which are ludicrous. Among the relics of antiquity, authors have enumer- ROCK IDOLS, ated the Logan Stone and Rock Idol. Of the latter of these, not to be confounded with the Rock Pillar or Menhir, Dartmoor can boast many remarkable specimens. Moulded as they are, as Carrington soothly sings, " Into a thousand shapes Of beauty and of grandeur," few are the tors which would not attract attention, and inspire awe, if pointed out for the purpose of worship to an 'Trans. Plyra. Inst. Vol. xi., p. 181. 34 Monumental Relics. ignorant and superstitious people. But there is no evidence that such adoration was ever offered by our aboriginal fore- fathers, although Borlase has ventured to particularize and classify these stone deities. To give any accurate notice of objects of this class, would be scarcely less than to enumerate the principal tors on the moor ; or rather it would be im- possible to discriminate, in a classification, in which the judgment would have far less exercise than the imagination. Some have thought, that a so-called rock-basin on any tor, or pile of rocks, is decisive of its mythological character. Polwhele, who is by no means over cautious in admitting the claims of various objects to Druidical honours, judiciously restrains his fancy in this particular, and truly enough observes, that " we are afraid to fix on a Druid Idol, lest the neighbouring mass should have the same pretensions to adoration, and all the stones upon the hills and in the vallies, should start up into divinities."* Yet he thinks " the principal rocks on Dartmoor might have been British idols," and is inclined to concede to Blackstonef and Whitstone, near Moreton, the honour of canonization. And when we gaze upon such a mass as Vixen Tor, grand and huge, as it towers above the vale of Walkham, or view such a singular pile as Bowerman's Nose, on Heighen or Hayne Down, we scarcely err in concluding that if the Druids had their Rock Idols, these must have ranked high in their granite mythology. Bower- man's Nose may have been utilized as an idol, but its formation is due to the granite rock having fallen away along the hnes of parting. The Logan Stone seems to have formed an important LOGAN STONES, and characteristic feature in the mystic apparatus of Druidism, but there are only one or two specimens now known to exist in Devonshire, and even these have almost, if not entirely, lost the quality which originally gave them fame and distinction. The celebrated Drewsteignton Logan Stone might be repeatedly passed by, without exciting more curiosity or attention than any other huge granite mass, standing aloft in the bed of the river. And it is impossible to traverse the moor in any direction without observing many a similar rock, which once might have been a Logan Stone, or might have been easily made ^Historical Views of Devonshire, p. 53. fBlackystone and Heltor, as they are commonly called in the neighbourhood. ti O H •z, O o< M 55 O H z O Logan Stones. 35 to logt:, that is, vibrate — so fantastical and singular are the positions in which such superincumbent masses are continually found, balanced on another rock below, so nicely as to admit of the immense bulk being moved, by the application of no more force than the strength of a man's hand. Such curiously adjusted masses, seem not to have been unknown to the antients. Pliny, observes Polwhele,* hath evidently the Logan Stone in view, when he tells us that at Harpassa, a town of Asia, was a rock of a wonderful nature, "Lay one finger on it, and it will stir; but thrust at it with your whole body and it will not move." But the most curious mention of the Logan by the antients, is that of ApoUonius Rhodius ; from which it would appear that such rocking stones were sometimes artificial, and raised as funeral monuments, in connection too, with tumuli or barrows. " In sea-girt Tenos, he the brothers slew. And o'er their graves in heapy hillocks threw The crumbling mould ; then with two columns crowned Erected high, the Death devoted ground ; And one still moves, (how marvellous the tale) With every motion of the northern gale." Fawkes' Argonaut, h. iv. In Wales, such stones are called Maen Sigl, the Shaking Stone, a term eqiiivalent to the Logan or Logging Stone of Devon and Cornwall. Our vernacular probably still retains the word ; and " a great logging thing" familiarly and popularly describes any large mass in vibratory motion. The purposes to which the Logan Stone was supposed to be applied by the Druids, have given rise to no little antiquarian controversy. According to Toland, " the Druids made the people " believe that they alone could move these stones, and by a miracle " only ; by which pretended power they condemned or acquitted " the accused, and often brought criminals to confess what could " in no other way be extorted from them." Borlase having observed rock basins on the Logan Stones in Cornwall, conjectures, that by means of these basins, the Druids made the Logan subservient to their judicial purposes, and applied it as an ordeal to convict or acquit a culprit, by filling or emptying the basin, and by this displacement of the centre of gravity, rendered the mass immovable, or the contrary, at pleasure. This ingenious conjecture of the 'Hist. View Dev., p. 56. Juxta Harpasa, oppidum Asiae, cautes Stat horrenda, nno digito mobilis ; eadem, si toto corpore impellatur, resistens- — Vlin. lib. ii. 36 Monumental Relics. antiquary has been thus felicitously rendered subservient to poetical purposes by Mason : — " Behold yon huge " And unhewn sphere of living adamant, " Which poised by magic, rests its central weight " On yonder pointed rock. Firm as it seems, " Such is its strange and virtuous property, " It moves obsequious to the gentlest touch " Of him whose heart is pure ; but to a traitor, " Tho' ev'n a giant's powers nerved his arm, " It stands as fixed as Snowdon." Fosbrooke considers the Logan or Rocking stone as the " stone of power," referred to so frequently in the poems of Ossian, according to which authority it appears that the bards walked round the stone singing, and made it move as an oracle of the fate of battle. " He called the grey-haired Snivan, that sang round "the circle of Loda, when the stone of power heard his voice, and " battle turned in the field of the valiant." That stones so placed as to form Logan Stones is the effect of natural circumstances, there can be no doubt. Norden's explana- tion may apply to many, if not to all the examples. " It is to be " imagined that theis stones were thus lefte at the general floude " when the earth was washed awaye, and the massie stones " remained, as are mightie rocks uncovered, standing upon loftie "hills." Like many other disputed points of antiquarian ROCK BASINS, interest, where no contemporary authority or external evidence can be adduced on either side, the Rock Basins have afforded a fruitful source of controversy. Whilst some have strenously advocated their claims to the venerable character of Druidical relics, " others at this doctrine rail," and attribute their formation to the action of the weather, and to the facility with which the component particles of granite disintegrate under certain circumstances. That numberless hollows on granite masses have been thus naturally formed, no observer of the natural phenomena of Dartmoor will for a moment question. A typical specimen, is that on the top of Great Mis Tor, one of the loftiest hills on the moor. This basin is in a singularly perfect state, in form a circle, three feet in diameter, and eight inches deep. Its sides are regularly formed, rising straight from the bottom which Rock Basins. 37 is flat, a spout or lip is formed in its northern edge. It might be most characteristically described as a pan, excavated in granite, and accordingly Mis Tor Pan is its popular designation, " a rocke "called Mistorr pan," say the perambulators of 1609. On Castor Rock is another fine specimen, two feet seven inches deep, and seven feet six inches in diameter across the top, narrowing to two feet at the bottom. The frequent occurrence of Rock Basins on the surface of Logan Stones, induced Dr. Borlase to conclude that they were intended to regulate the motion of the Logan Stone. The same author supposes them to have been used for libations of blood, wine, honey or oil, and describes some, as large enough to receive the head and part of a human body. Fosbrooke unhesitatingly pronounces Rock Basins to be " cavities cut in the surface of a rock " supposed for reservoirs, to preserve the rain or dew in its original " purity, for the religious uses of the Druid."* Polwhele observes " with respect to the uses of these basins, I think we may easily con- "jecture that they were contrived by the Druids as receptacles of " water, for the purpose of external purifications, by washing and " sprinkling. The rites of water lustration and ablution were too " frequent among the Asiatics, not to be known to the Druids, who " resembled the Eastern nations in all their religious ceremonies, " fashions and customs From such basins the officiating " Druid might sanctify the congregation with a more sacred " lustration than usual. In this water he might mix his mistletoe " or infuse his oak leaves, for a medicinal or incantorial potion."* We learn from Vernon Harcourt that the connection, or rather the identity of Druidism with Arkite worship, may be satisfactorily traced in this remarkable relic of antiquity, the Rock Basin. In the opinion of the Druids, or of their predecessors in the Arkite priesthood, water was deemed so essential to the mysteries of regeneration, that they took great pains to secure a supply of it in the best way they could, and for this purpose they excavated basins upon the surface of the rocks in their high places to contain it. The same author notes a curious circumstance, related by an oriental traveller, " There are three large troughs or rock basins, "really cut out on the flat surface of a granite rock at Axum, in " Abyssinia, out of which, tradition says, that a great snake, the •Encyc. of Ant. Vol. ii., ed. 1843, p. 778. •POLwHELE. Historical Views of Devonshire. Vol. i., p. 59. 38 Monumental Relics. " presiding genius of the flood, who resided in the hollow of the " mountain, used to eat."* Such are the theories of the older antiquaries as to the origin and use of Rock Basins. But geologists take another view. In an exhaustive Memoir on Rock Basins in the granite of the Dartmoor District, contained in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, the late George Waring Ormerod entered fully into the history of these hollows. In this, and other memoirs, he stated that the granite of Dartmoor consisted of three belts reaching across the Moor. The first is a crystalline belt, in the northern part, in which very few basins are found ; a belt of coarse grained laminated granite that occupied the central portion, in which most of the basins are found ; and a belt of a variable nature to the south in which very few basins occur. The characteristics of the Rock Basins observed in various parts of Dartmoor, may be noted as follows : situation, commonly on the highest spot of the loftiest pile of the tor, very often near the edge of the block in which they are hollowed ; in many instances with a lip or channel, to convey the water from the basin ; the bottom flat ; sides, perpendicular ; form, for the most part circular. The diameters of thirty-five perfect basins examined by Ormerod, varied from eleven by ten inches to forty-two inches by fifty-four inches, and the depths from two inches to nine inches. He examined thirty-six basins besides these, that were not perfect, and he knew of eleven others that he had not been able to examine. In addition to these, there are four others, that far exceed the average size, viz., those at Hell Tor, Cas Tor, Ingstone, and Bell Tor. Sir Henry De la Beche, Dr. McCullock and Mr. Ormerod had no doubt but that these hollows were caused by atmospheric action upon the rock, aided by the spheroidal structure of the granite, t The opinion of Ormerod is generally accepted, but Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson combatted his reasoning, and, while admitting that the greater number of Rock Basins were natural, thought that some were formed by human agency. J •Doctrine of Deluge, Vol. II., pp. 505-6. tQuart. Journ. Geol. Society, Vol XV., part i, February 1859. {Journal Brit. Arch. Assoc, Vol XVI., i860, p. loi. Cromlechs or Dolmens. 39 CROMLECHS The Cromlech, or Dohiien as it should be called, is or perhaps the most curious relic of our aboriginal DOLMENS. ancestors, and the precincts of Dartmoor can boast one of the finest in the kingdom, and the only perfect specimen in Devonshire. Sir R. C. Hoare observes that cromlechs had long been confounded with kistvaens, but that he had strong reason for supposing they were raised for different purposes. The true cromlech, as distinguished from the kistvaen, generally consists of three rude unwrought stones, artificially fixed in the ground, and supporting a fourth of an irregular tabular form, as a canopy, in most cases at the height of several feet from the ground ; whereas the kistvaen consists of four, five or more slabs, forming a kind of rude stone coffin or sarcophagus, fixed in the ground with a cover stone, for the reception of corpses. Instances occur of four, and even six supporters to the impost in cromlechs ; but three is the more usual number. It is singular that Dr. Borlase should never have found more than three supporters, as the Trevethy Stone, near St. Cleer, in his own county, has seven. He supposes three to have been chosen in preference to a larger number, as not requiring so much nicety in bringing the impost to bear. The masses of which cromlechs are composed, are rude and unwrought, and appear to have been placed in their present position, rough from their native bed, — and untouched, except by the winter storm. The term, cromlech, is of doubtful import, and the researches of antiquaries into its etymology have thrown little light on the purposes for which these primitive monuments were originally designed. Rowlands (Mona Autiqua Restaurata) derives the name cromlech from the Hebrew Carem liiacit, which he renders a devoted stone or altar. Sir R. C. Hoare traces the etymology to the British words ciom, bending, or ho.ced, and llec, a broad, fiat stone. Dr. Borlase hazards the conjecture that the word means the crooked stone, the impost or quoit being generally of a gibbous or curved form. And with regard to the particular specimen at Drewsteignton, Polwhele is of opinion that the name of the farm on which it stands, may be regarded as favouring this etymology, as he thinks Shilston is no more than a corruption of Shilfeston* (by which term the estate is described in antient deeds,) which "signifies the shelf-stone, or shelving stone." t One of the * Hist. Vievas Dev., p. 76. t In Gaelic, Crom means crooked, or bent, and ieac a broad, flat stone. The name of Shovelstone also applies to a rock in VVidecombe and is one of the boundary points between the Manors of Widecombe To,vn (Mrs, Drake's), and Dunstone, (the 46 Monumental Relics. characteristics of the cromlech is its shelving cover-stone, or quoit as it is more commonly called ; and by those who contend that these curious monuments were gigantic altars,* — raised for the celebration of the bloody rites of Druidism, — this form is supposed to have been adopted to afford the assembled votaries a fuller view of the devoted victim and sacrificing priest, and to allow the blood to run off readily. But whilst standing by the altar, is a position familiar to all, as the universally prevailing practice among all nations where sacrifices have formed part of the worship of the people, the idea of a priest standing upon it is altogether foreign to our notions, and would doubtless appear to be abhorrent to the feelings of the Druids, who seem to have been most scrupulous in inculcating peculiar reverence for places and objects consecrated to the purposes of religion. Such an elevation as that of the Drew- steignton cromlech, could never have been reached, except by the help of a ladder or steps. A Cyclopean staircase of granite blocks might have given access to the surface, but no traces of such an accommodation have ever been found in any of the numerous existing examples. For these and other reasons, we may justly question tbe hypothesis, which would discover a colossal altar in these remarkable monuments of aboriginal antiquity, and would conclude that this was their original destination. Still they might have been the scene of religious rites, although the cromlech itself was not intended to form an altar, but rather a shrine, or perhaps the tomb of some distinguished personage. Sir R. C. Hoare considers the absence of human remains in a particular instance, as evidence in favour of the cromlech having been intended for an altar ; bufDr. Borlase remarks " as the whole " frame of the cromlech shows itself to be unfit for an altar of " burnt offerings, so I think it points out evidently to us, several " reasons to conclude that it is a sepulchral monument," though he allows that in his researches, he never found bones or urns to support his hypothesis. late Mr. Roben Dymonds). It is worthy of remark, that in our genuine Devonshire vernacular, the word shelf is still pronour^ced shil, and ihus far supports Polwhele's notion. Moreover the Anglo-Saxon sci l/e is not only a shelf, but also an abacus, a roof or covering, as rendered by Bosworth, [A tj^lo-bax. Diet, in voc. abacus scamnutn, iabulatam, tectwn,) terms which describe with singular accuracy, the cromlech at Shilston in the parish of Drewsteignton. *Olaus VVormius appears to support this hypothesis. " Ararum structura apud " nos est varia. Maxima ex parte congesto ex terra constant tumulo, in cujus "summitate, tria ingentia saxa, quartum, illudque majus, latius ac planius, " sustinent, fulciunt ac sustentant, ut instar mensze tribus fu eris innixx emineat." Cromlechs or Dolmens. 41 Fosbrooke quotes Hollinshed in support of the altar hypothesis, but although the old chronicler speaks of an altar, it by no means follows that the altar he mentions, must be a cromlech. "Cromlechs " are further designated as altars, by Hollinshed, .... where, " after mentioning places compassed about with huge stones, round " like a ring," he adds, " but towards the south was one mightie " stone, farre greater than all the rest, pitched up in manner of an " altar, whereon their priests might make their sacrifices in honour " of their gods."'= A mighty stone (standing singly) might be "pitched up in manner of an altar" without supporters beneath, (for this would destroy its altar-like character, and constitute it a table, instar mensa, as Olaus Wormius has it) and there are thousands of large stones on Dartmoor which only require to be raised to form altars, + and closely approaching to the pedestal or truncated form, so generally preferred among the nations of classical antiquity, for this essential and prominent feature in the arrangement of their temples. Another hypothesis regards the cromlech as a sanctuary or sacred cell, a place of occasional retreat for a Druid, and intimately connected with Arkite cere- monies, probably representing the ark itself. Borlase and Polwhele, (from their acquaintance with the examples in Cornwall and Devon) conclude that cromlechs were chiefly intended as sepulchral monuments, raised only to persons of eminence and distinction, although this might not prevent their being used for other purposes. That very curious specimen, the Cromlech of St. Cleer, in Cornwall, is popularly called the TrevethyJ Stone, and if this is rightly rendered the house or place of graves, it would appear that some evidences of antient burials had been found within its area. At least we are certain that human remains have been discovered beneath the massive canopy of the cromlech, in various instances, although Sir R. C. Hoare adduces an example, mentioned above, in which a cromlech occurs, surrounded by five kistvaens, all which contained bones ; yet none •Fosbrooke. Encyc. Antiq.,«i. 1843, p. 775. f'The huge piles of stones erected from time immemorial, in several parts of Ireland, with immense coverings, raised indue order, are doubtless of Pagan times. Some think them Druidical altars. They have the generic name of L eaba na Feitie. (Feine in Gaelic means Fingalians or Fenians.) These words signify the beds of tbe Pliani or Car:ha^inians." FOSBROKE. Encyc. Aniiq. ed. 1843, p. 513. From this etymology, it may however, be inferred that these erections were burying places rather than altars. JNORDEN, however, calls it Trethenie, Casa Giganiis; but Trevethy or Trethevy is the name by which it is still known in the neighbouihood. 4^ Monumental Relics. were found under the cromlech itself: but then it must be borne in mind that the learned Wiltshire antiquary, as he himself allows, never had an opportunity of examining a cromlech, his own county not offering the same advantages as are presented to the Dan- monian investigator in the fine specimens which remain in Cornwall and Devon. Polwhele pronounces that the Drew- steignton Cromlech " was the sepulchre of a chief Druid, or of " some prince, the favourite of the Druid order. Hence the crom- " lech acquired a peculiar degree of holiness; and sacrifices were " performed in view of it to the manes of the dead."* That religious ceremonies were celebrated at or near these singular erections, may be inferred from the designations which some of them have traditionally obtained. Fosbroke mentions that the Cromlech, near Marecross, in Glamorganshire, is still called the old Church among the common people. Yet another theory, that of William Chappie, who in his incomplete work, "Description and Exegesis of the Dreivsteignton Cromlech " etc., 1778, satisfied himself from various careful measurements and other conclusions arrived at, that it " could not " be primarily intended either as a religious structure or a sepulchral " monument, but was partly designed for sciatherical purposes, "and in general, as the apparatus of an Astronomical Obser- vatory."! Chappie infers that one thousand two hundred years have elapsed since the Drewsteignton Cromlech was erected. He computes the super-incumbent quoit to contain two hundred and sixteen cubic feet, and calculates its weight at sixteen tons and sixteen pounds. When we consider that this huge mass of granite rock, was, until its fall in 1862, as hereinafter mentioned, supported at the height of nearly seven feet from the ground, and had preserved its position for perhaps twenty centuries ; we should be unjust in forming a low estimate of the mechanical skill of the people who could construct such a massive and durable fabric. But among all these speculations, fanciful and wild, and even ridiculous, as some are, no reference has been made to the probability, if not certainty, that this Cromlech was, like so many of the Brittany Dolmens, originally in the centre of a mound of earth, and not free standing. The Trevethy Stone was formerly covered by a mound, and although as far as we know, no remains of interments have been found in or near it, or under or *Hist, View Dev., p. 94. iOp. at. p. 138. KiSTVAENS. 43 about the Drewsteignton Cromlech, the latter presents so acceptable a spot for treasure seekers, situated as it is in the midst of a cul- tivated field, that their non-discovery does not militate against the opinion, that this structure was also of a sepulchral character. This cromlech has been supposed to be the only one on Dartmoor, and consequently, from being so perfect, has attracted much notice, but really there are three others on the Moor, but unfortunately all in a ruined condition. The first is at Merivale Bridge ; the second on Shuffle Down ; and the third on Shaugh Common. The Kistvaen, Cistvaen, Cist or Stone Chest, has KISTVAENS. been thought to differ from the Cromlech only in size, but its formation is essentially different. By the term Kistvaen, is commonly understood, stones placed edgewise, enclosing a small space of ground, and covered with a similar stone. " Of this relic of British antiquity," says Sir R. C. Hoare, " I am enabled to speak with certainty, if, by its form and name, "it did not speak for itself; it is composed of several stones, set " upright, with a large one incumbent, thus forming a stone coffin " or chest, in which the ashes or bones of the deceased were " deposited." ■ Sometimes it is found on the summit of a cairn, as at Molfra, Cornwall, but we have observed no example of this description in Devonshire. Sometimes it is embedded in the cairn, and one of this kind remains on the highest part of Cosdon Hill. One we noticed near a trackway, below Rippon Tor, within the inclosure of one of the hut circles, or foundations of aboriginal habitations, and which would therefore not appear to be designed for sepulture. We observed and measured a fine specimen, about a furlong south of Hound Tor, within a circular enclosure, (con- structed of slabs closely set) about twenty-two feet in diameter. The kistvaen itself is formed of four stones, — one of the lateral slabs remains almost upright in its original position ; it is not less than six feet one inch long, one foot in average thickness, and fifteen inches wide. At the south end, the head or foot-s*:one remains erect, two feet three inches broad, and thus giving the breadth of this aboriginal sarcophagus. The other side and end stones are thrown down. Of late years this kistvaen has been much mutilated and some of the stone removed. Kistvaens are sometimes found in connection with the sacred circle, and with cairns, as above described ; but they are more usually observed 'Antiq. Wilts., vol. ii., p. 115. 44 Monumental Relics. simply placed, i.e., independently of any other relic. In the centre is frequently seen a circular excavation, from which, in most cases, there is good reason for supposing a cinerary urn to have been removed, as in many instances both urns and bones have been found within these primitive depositories. It is thought by some that Kistvaens were used only for the deposit of the burnt ashes of the deceased, but examples with complete skeletons in them have been found. Kistvaens, in barrows, with sepulchral remains, according to Sir R. C. Hoare, are usually found in barrows at the broad or eastern end. Our Dartmoor kistvaens number about fifty. They, without exception, says Mr. Robert Burnard " lie " longitudinally north and south, or with variations east and west "of these points, the object evidently being that the remains " should face the sun."'-^' They have been long associated in the minds of the inhabitants of the moor with treasure and they call them Money Pits, Money Boxes and Gold Crocks. Mr. Burnard gives an illustration of one of the smallest examined which is locally known as the Crock of Gold. It is near Princetown, leading from Tor- Royal to Swincombe, and from its dimensions, it probably contained the burnt remains of the body. The Tolment or Holed Stone, as the word in Cornish TOLMENS. impHes, of which we have several examples on Dartmoor, is found in Cornwall, in Ireland, and according to Fosbrooke, in the East Indies. This antiquary describes the tolmen as a perforated stone for drawing children through, and adults also ; and adds that " two brass pins were " carefully laid across each other on the top edge of this stone for oracular purposes."! Whether the holes in the Dartmoor Stones or any of them, are artificial, or the result of natural causes, there is no doubt but that tolmens have played their part in the superstitious observances of by-gone times. With reference to the great tolmen at Constantino, near Penryn, Gilbert observes that it seems probable that the aperture was an instrument of superstitious "juggle and applied to the purposes of purification, "or penance, or for the removal of bodily disorders." 5 Borlase on the other hand regards the tolmen as a rock idol, — " there is •Trans. Devon Assoc., vol. xxii., pp. 300-207. jTol in Gaelic means hole. JEncyc. Antiq. p. 75. §Hist. Survey of Cornwall, 1817, vol. i., p. 177. TOLMENS. 45 " another kind of stone deity which has never been taken notice of " by any other author that I have heard of, its common name in " Cornwall and Scilly is Tolmen, or the Hole of Stone, literally " the Stone of the Hole." Besides the celebrated specimen at Constantine, he mentions one at St. Mary's Island, Scilly, on the Salakee Downs and the other on the httle isle of Northwithee. All these however, are huge masses resting upon natural rocks below, and leaving apertures beneath ; but near Lanyon is one of the same description as the Teign Tolmen, (as we would venture to designate it) though incomparably less curious. It is described by Gilbert as one of " three erect stones on a triangular plane." The tolmen " is thin, flat, and fixed in the ground on its edge ; it *' has a hole in the middle near two feet in diameter, from whence " it is called Men-an-tol, that is, the holed stone." This evidently however, is artificially set up, whereas our Men-an-tol in the Teign, — described in Chapter IV — seems to have been placed in the bed of the river by natural agency. Mr. Harcourt unhesitatingly connects the tolmen wth some recondite mysteries of Arkite worship, since, as he finds them in connexion with other Arkite monuments on Brimham Moor, near Pately Bridge, Yorkshire, he concludes they can leave no doubt of the religious system to which they belonged. The description given of these monuments by a writer in the Archaeologia, would lead them generally to be classed as Druidical relics, strictly speaking, even if it be g^ranted that Druidism is a more recent form of Arkite superstition. This account is quoted by Mr. Harcourt, and may be adduced in proof of the opinion above advanced — that the holed stone of the Teign is a Druidical monument of the tolmen class. Among other relics, three tolmens are described. " One of them with an aperture through which a " man might pass, and a rock-basin at each entrance ; in another, " the passage was three feet and a half across, and contained a " rock-basin three feet in diameter. The excavation in the third " is little more than three feet square at the entrance, and runs in " a straight direction no more than six feet ; but on the right hand " side, a round hole, two feet only in diameter, is perforated quite " through the rock to the length of sixteen feet ; — and, from this "form, it has obtained the name of the Great Cannon. A road " has been made over a bed of rock on purpose to reach it, and the " whole rock is ninety-six feet in circumference." Lastly, he describes an assemblage of rocks which seem to have been a chosen 46 Monumental Relics. spot for religious ceremonies; "here," says he, "we find rock " idols, altars, circular holes, evidently cut in the sides of rocks, "and passages between, for some sacred mysterious purpose/'* There is no Dartmoor cromlech with a hole in any of the stones composing it, but many foreign examples have them, and as before mentioned, also in Cornwall. The hole in the capstone of the Trevethy Cromlech, is a well-known example and there are many others. " They have been made by piercing the stones "from opposite sides and then slightly enlarging and smoothing " the aperture."! Wherever Stone Monuments are found, holed stones are found also. They were set up, no doubt, to provide an instrument by which solemn promises, vows and oaths were taken, and St. Wilfred's Needle at Ripon, and the wedding ring, which the Church enjoins, are survivals of more antient practices. Many of them, however, were formed to serve as a rude but sufficiently effective arrangement for hanging a gate, or supporting a bar to form a fence. Others, no doubt, not so originally intended, are made to do duty for these purposes. In the lane leading to Cholwich Town Farm, is a cross used as a gate post, in the back of which is a round hole three inches in diameter and three inches and a half deep. In a wall, in a lane near Teigncomb hamlet, is a stone, in which near the top is a round hole four inches in diameter and four inches and a half deep, and there are others of a similar kind which Mr. Lukis considered as true holed stones, but which may have been merely gate-posts, the holes having been made to receive the hanging part of the gate. Like those next to be mentioned, they should rather be called cupped stones, the holes having been made, it is said, to receive food for the dead, and not running through from side to side of the stone. Near French-bere Farm are two stones, almost circular, about four feet across : — one with a hole, six and a half inches in diameter and seven and a quarter inches deep, the hole in the other, smaller and shallower, and a similar stone is to be seen in a wall, in a lane at Teigncomb, near the upright-stone mentioned above, and there is another in the lane leading from Chagford towards the Prince Town Road. In the same lane is to be seen a circular stone about three feet three inches in diameter, and about six inches in thickness, with the perforation running quite through, and in the Teigncomb lane before referred to, in a •Doct. Deluge, vol. ii., p. 509. fREV. W. C. LUKIS. Proc. Soc. Ant. Ter. ii., Vol. vii., p. 289 Barrows. Cairns. 47 wall, is a stone lying on its side, four and a half feet long by ten inches thick, in which is a hole of an hour-glass shape, four and a half inches in diameter on the outside, diminishing to three inches in the centre, and again swelling out to nearly five inches on the other side. All these are good examples of the tolmen. But many stones with a socket cut in them to serve useful purposes, have been taken for tolmens. We have occupied some space in this account of Holed Stones, more particularly as Mr. W. C. Lukis thought them of consider- able interest, and connected with traditions and the folk-lore* of this and other countries. The Barrow, Tumulus or Cairn, is too well known as barrows, a primitive monumental mound, to require any lengthened description. Where stones were not abundant, the soil heaped together, at once protected the remains of the dead, and formed their monument. But where stones of convenient size abounded, as on Dartmoor, the monuments of the departed were raised by an accumulation of stones, all of a size to be easily carried by a man, since we learn that every person in the army or community or town, brought one stone to the cairn, as the Roman soldiers were each accustomed to bring a helmet full of earth to the tumulus, and thus formed the cairn or carnedd, which Sir R. C. Hoare observes, resembles the barrow both in shape and purport, but differs in its materials and situation. Most of the Dartmoor barrows consist of heaps of stone or mounds of earth, and they contain a small chamber or chest of stone. In these have been found vessels of baked clay which had contained the burnt remains. In some, flint implements have been found, and in one, an amber ornament and a bronze dagger. On the new Ordnance maps, barrows and cairns are marked as " tumuli." Some authors distinguish between cairn and carnedd, regarding the latter as a place of sacrifice, the former, of burial. But Sir R. C. Hoare pronounces that several have been opened without any appearance of sepulchral remains being detected, and thence concludes that many cairns, or artificial aggregation of stones, are merely heaps of memorial, raised for the purpose of commem- orating some remarkable event or transaction. The venerable and unerring records of Divine history afford a well-known *See Proc. Soc. Ant. Ser. ii., vol. viii., pp. 289-480 ; also Strange Survivals and Superstitions. Rev. S. Baring-Goold. Article. Holes, p. 252. 48 Monumental Relics. example of the existence of this custom in the earliest ages of the world, when Jacob raised a heap of stones in attestation of the compact of reconciliation and amity between himself and his father-in-law, Laban ; and in the terms employed, and the cere- monies resorted to, it is not a little curious and instructive, to trace the indications of the several purposes to which similar monuments were alike applied by the Mesopotamian patriarchs, and by our Celtic fore-fathers. In this highly interesting record, we have preserved even some minute details of the process of forming the monumental erection, after the conflicting parties had adjusted the preliminaries of the compact. " Now therefore," said Laban, " come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and " let it be for a witness between me and thee." The effect of the »appeal made to the domestic charities and kindliest feelings of our nature, are seen in the construction of that kind of simple but significant monument, which was no doubt the recognized symbol and memorial of similar transactions. Jacob, as the chief of his clan or household, first chooses a columnar stone, Maen or Rock Pillar, such as are frequently seen on Dartmoor, and then calls upon his family and followers to collect other stones of a form suitable for the construction of a cairn or barrow. " And Jacob " took a stone and set it up for a pillar, and Jacob said unto his " brethren, gather stones : and they took stones and made an heap " and they did eat there upon the heap." We find that the word here rendered heap* properly means any round accumulation, the Hebrew root implying, in its primary sense, something rolled into a spherical form. Hence commentators have imagined that the stones thus collected might have formed a circular mound, with a single stone erect in the centre, and that it was upon this rudely constructed inclosure the people sat, when " they did eat there " upon the heap," whilst the central pillar might have been an altar, of which arrangement there are many examples, especially when the surrounding enclosure is a sacred or columnar circle. But the patriarchal monument which we are now examining, was more probably a simple cairn or round stone barrow, with a rock pillar elevated in the centre ; and, as all the family and retainers seem to have been called upon to carry stones to the heap, it appears to have been intended to impress upon their memory, the transaction in which they had been en- gaged, and thus to constitute them all so many witnesses of the •Gal. acervus, cumulus, in rotundum, aggestus, SIMONIS, Lex. Heb. in voc. Beacons. Cairns. 49 covenant into which their chiefs had entered. That this cairn was primarily designed to attest and perpetuate the treaty of recon- ciHation and amity, we are expressly told, and the names which the patriarchs respectively gave it — each in his proper tongue, leave no room for doubt on this point. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha ; but Jacob called it Galeed, both importing the same thing, the heap of witness. But Laban appears to have added a further designation, which indicates another use to which these cairns were applied. It was also called Mizpah — i.e., a beacon or watch-tower ; for he said, " The Lord watch between me and thee, " when we are absent one from another." Placed on some of the loftiest peaks of Dartmoor, the cairns were doubtless used as most suitable watch-towers ; and when alarm was necessary, the flaming pile raised upon them would be a conspicuous signal to the whole surrounding country. A beacon kindled upon the cairn on the top of Cosdon, often perhaps, roused the warriors of North Devon, whilst it would be also seen from Hey Tor, and thus spread the alarm through East Devon and the South Hams. The mountain retains the name of Cosdon Beacon to this day. Furthermore, the mound raised by the patriarchs on this memorable occasion, probably answered the purpose of a landmark or boundary. — " And " Laban said to Jacob, This heap be witness, and this pillar be " witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou " shalt not pass over this heap unto me, to do me harm." Such were the purposes, among others, to which these primitive monuments appear to have been applied ; nor can we doubt that the counterpart of the Heap of Witness, piled up some four thousand years ago in the wilds of Syria, is to be found in many of the cairns and barrows of our British ancestors. Many of the cairns on Dartmoor, as those which gave name to Three Barrow Tor, at the southern extremity, are popularly but incorrectly called barrows, the simple and descriptive designation of the latter being conveyed in the words, Sepulchrum cespes erigit, a monument formed of the sod, whereas the cairn is constructed of stones, whence, in the rocky wilds of Devonshire, where these materials are abundant, the cairn is frequent, while the true sod barrow is of comparatively rare occurrence. On the other hand, in a more champaign region, such as the Wiltshire downs, the barrow, in every shape, is found to prevail. Of the four principal D 50 Monumental Relics. kinds' which Sir R. Hoare enumerates, we have numerous speci- mens of the first kind, the Long Barrow, on the moorland heights of Devon. These are thought by this learned author to have been clearly alluded to by the celebrated Danish antiquary, Olaus Wormius, when describing royal barrows, in the form of a large ship, (Regii tumuli ad magniludinem et figuram carina: navis)— it would seem, keel upwards. Mr. Harcourt points out this form as identifying this kind of monumental rehc with that traditionary knowledge of the deluge, and veneration for the ark, which prevailed so extensively among the antient nations of the world — - " It is not difficult to account for the reversed position of the ship ; "for when the first wanderers over the ocean desired to have a " place of worship, to which they might repair in bad weather, " with the least possible deviation from their antierit usages, it " would naturally occur to them, that by hauling their ships on " shore and turning their keel upwards, they would obtain at once "an object of religious reverence and a shelter from the storm. "f But whatever might have given rise to the form, and to whatever other purposes the barrow or cairn might have been applied, its sepulchral character will not admit of question ; although Sir R. C. Hoare thinks it wonderful that such gigantic mounds should have been raised for the deposit of a few human bodies, but in this remark he seems to betray the want of his usual acumen, as it is evident on very slight reflection that magnitude was the only means by which monuments of such simple materials could be rendered conspicuous, distinctive, or permanent. But our Wilt- shire antiquary admits that some cairns have been proved sepulchral, and as to barrows there can be no doubt, though both, as we have already seen, may have been applied to other purposes. And with regard to their size being disproportioned to their object as monumental erections — in proof of what has been advanced above, we have an account of the opening of a Cairn on Haldon by the Rev. John Swete, of Oxton, in the centre of which was found a single cinerary urn, though the cairn was more than two hundred feet in circumference. J We may therefore believe *i — Long Barrow; 2 — round or bowl-shaped ; 3 — bell-shaped ; 4 — Druids' Barrow. The three lalter forms are scarcely likely to occur where stone barrows or cairns prevail, as in Devonshire. Mr. R. N. Worth, contrary to the opinion of our author, considers that the tumuli of Dartmoor, whether Barrow or Cairn, are wholly of the round or bowl-shape, as distinguished from the long. \l>oct. Del., vol. ii., p. 273. {Essays by a Society of Gentlemen at Exeter, 1796, p. 106. F."- pJH k ;,.:«t. ^z -Al^ * 'f> t '^^^H "■i Q »5 O Menhirs. 51 Silbury to have been a colossal monument (as well as a hill altar) especially as this Wiltshire wonder, vast as it is, shrinks into comparative insignificance when contrasted with the tumulus of Ninus, near the city of Nineveh, which, according to Ctesias, was nine furlongs in height and ten in breadth. This method of burial was continued down to the Saxon era. Thus in Caernarvonshire, Bedn Gwortigern, still preserves the memory of Vortigern — a large Carnedd or stone barrow. Whitaker*' quotes Adamnan's Life of Columba,t to show that it continued a century later, as the burial of a person is thus expressly described, socii congesto lapidem acervo sepelierunt, A simpler commemorative monument is the Rock MENHIRS, pillar, or rude stone obelisk^similar, probably to that pillar which Jacob erected on the above occasion, and still more like that which he had previously set up at Bethel, to commemorate the precious manifestation of his Divine presence, which the God of his fathers had vouchsafed, and the promise to his countless posterity of that whole land on which he lay a forlorn and houseless wanderer. In the former case, where the pillar stood only as the witness to former transactions between man and man, we have no mention of any ceremonial or dedication. But the pillar, which was raised to transmit to future generations the remembrance of the heavenly vision of the Most High, appears to have been dedicated by the patriarch as marking a spot consecrated by the manifestation of the Almighty Presence, and regarded by him as none other than the House of God and the Gate of Heaven. The sacred historian writes, that Jacob took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and put oil upon it. " This passage," says Burder, "evinces of how great antiquity is the custom of considering " stones in a sacred light, as well as the anointing them with " consecrated oil." And in speaking of blocks of stone, still worshipped in Hindostan and other eastern countries, the same author observes, " that it is very remarkable that one of the " principal ceremonies incumbent upon the priests of these stone " deities, according to Tavernier, is to anoint them daily with " odoriferous oils. From this conduct of Jacob, and this Hebrew "appellative [Betlid) the learned Bochart, with great ingenuity *Hist. Manchester, ii., p. 140. \Lib. i., c. 33. 52 Monumental Relics. "and reason, insists that the name and veneration of the sacred "stones called Dactylt, so celebrated in all pagan antiquity, were " derived." Thus, the setting up of a stone by this holy person, in grateful memory of the celestial vision, probably became the occasion of idolatry in succeeding ages to these shapeless masses of unhewn stone, of which so many astonishing remains are scattered up and down the Asiatic and European world.* Many such are to be found on Dartmoor, and were probably designed for similar purposes. A striking specimen appears amidst the relics near Merivale Bridge, on the Walkham, in the Western quarter. Tapering in form, it presents, in a shaft of unwrought granite, twelve feet high and eight in girth, at the base, a rude type of the architectural obelisk, and may be regarded as a characteristic illustration of the designation by which monuments of this kind are described by antiquaries — Maen Hir — the Long Upright Stone. The Bair Down Man, near two Bridges, and the fine Menhirs at Drizzlecombe are also typical examples. When thus found, in connection with other relics, a variety of purposes to which these columns might have been applied, suggest themselves to the mind ;t but that the primary objects were those of burial memorials, or the commemoration of remarkable or important events there seems little reason to doubt. But it may also be observed, that although our Dartmoor Menhirs cannot compare in magnitude with those to be found in Brittany, it is difficult to suppose that the objects which the people who erected them had in view were different ; and that if the Pierre du Champ Dolant at Dol, was the scene of certain rites, it is probable the upright stones of Merivale and Drizzlecombe were resorted to for the same purpose. •nuRDER, Orient. Cust. vol. i., p. 40. — Lond. 1827. But Mr. Harcourt, in noticing the vast numbers of such relics in various parts of the world, attributes them to a much earlier origin ; and regards them as so many undoubted memorials of the Deluge, in a variety of forms ; symbolizing " The highest peak of the Diluvian Mountain," i.e. one of the columnar or pyramidal crags of Mount Ararat. f Sir R. C. Hoare states that no example occurs in Wiltshire " but they are to be found in other parts of our island, in Ireland and in Wales. Ant. Wilts, vol. ii., p. 114. The Devils' Arrows in Yorkshire and the rock pillars at Trelech, in Monmouth- shire, are cited as examples, but the authority seems to have been ignorant of the existence of our fine Devonshire specimens, which, standing as they do, are more decidedly monumental than the former, which are found in connection with others. CHAPTER IV. HUTS, FORTS, ROADS, &C. • Imperfect but undoubted relics of the dwellings of the antient inhabitants are found in profusion in almost every part of Dart- moor. It is worthy of remark how, until very recently, little attention • .jiA-3^^'*-'" has been paid by topo- graphers and historians to these curious and un- questionable vestiges of the early population of our island. The observations of Sir R. C. Hoare in reference to Wiltshire, will, for the most part apply with equal if not with greater pertinence, to Devonshire. " It is some- " what singular" he remarks "that the discovery of our British " settlements should not have been made previous to my own " researches, and that they had escaped the notice of Aubrey, " Stukeley and every subsequent writer on our national antiquities. " Their eyes seem to have been dazzled with the splendour of an " Abury and a Stonehenge, and to have noticed only the tumuli of " the Britons, without turning a thought towards the residences " of the living, to whose memory these sepulchral mounds were " raised at their decease." So the Drewsteignton Cromlech and the Logan stone are the theme of every topographer, but the hundreds of ruined dwellings scattered over the highlands of Devonshire appear, for the most part, to have escaped observa- tion, or to have been deemed unworthy of attention. HUTS The hut, known as the bee-hive, on Dartmoor, AND as elsewhere, was constructed by its builder HUT CIRCLES. Setting up on end stones in two circles, one within the other, and filling up the space between with turf, and placing stones upon the upright ones. This walling, if it may be ^ 54 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. so called, was drawn together as it was raised, the stones being selected as flat as possible, until a dome-shaped roof was formed, at the top was a hole for light and for the escape of smoke, and on one side of the hut a doorway was formed with two upright stones and another resting upon them to form a lintel. The only perfect one of this character — and that one of the smallest — is situated on the bank of a little stream which falls into the Erme. This is about six feet long, four feet wide and three feet high, and was probably, a tool house, the kind of construction mentioned would be that used in the smaller huts only. The larger dwellings, instead of having stones above the upright blocks, had turves for the roof, and in them is frequently found in the middle of the floor a heap of stones, sometimes described as a fireplace, but which Mr. C. Spence Bate thought was the spot on which an upright pole was fixed for the purpose of supporting the roof. In still larger dwellings the roof required some other kind of support, and it is probable that the turf roof in these was kept up by wooden beams or rafters, one end of each supported upon the external walls, the other meeting the rest in the middle, and the whole fastened together. The smaller bee-hive hut has some- times been found to have been built into the walls of the larger hut circle, in which case, apparently, it would be not used for habi- tation, but as a store-house. And these dwellings, of various sizes, are sometimes found in groups enclosed with a circular rampart. These ruined abodes of our rude fore-fathers, are more numerous along the declivities on the skirts of the moor, and on the hill-sides in the interior, which slope down to the water- courses, than in other parts. The principal groups of houses, villages or towns, are invariably foimd in such situations. For miles in the heathy table-land round Cranmere Pool, we have only been able to find a single insulated dwelling, while on the slopes of almost all the vallies, especially those fronting to the south and west, they are of frequent occurrence. The large village near Merivale Bridge has a western aspect, and is situated on the side of the hill gently rising from the banks of the Walkham ; Grimspound with its cyclopean circumvallation, is built on the western dechvity of Hameldon, with a spring rising on the eastern side of the inclosure, and Langstone with its numerous hut circles, with one group of huts protected by an enclosing wall, lies open to the southern sun. But in whatever situ- ations the rude dwellings of the primitive inhabitants are Huts and Hut Circles. 55 found, whether inclosed within walls as at Grimspound, or in unwalled villages as at Merivale — they are all apparently similar n design — and all, with only one ascertained exception — on the Erme — in the same completely ruined condition, with nothing but the foundations and the door jambs remaining. These Hut Circles as they are generally called, to distinguish them from the so-called Sacred Circles (from which they differ essentially) are all circular in plan, and consist of granite blocks, set firmly in the ground on their edge, and placed closely together (instead of at wide intervals as in 'the Sacred Circle) so as to form a secure foundation for the super-structure, whether it were constructed of stone and turf, wattle — jfunctce cortice virgce — or other material. To adopt the language of Whitaker, in describing the houses of the Lancashire Britons, " they were great round cabins " built principally of timber on foundations of stone, and roofed " with a sloping covering of reeds." It would however appear that where stone was abundant, as on Dartmoor, the cabins, in some instances at least, were constructed entirely of stone, as the same author remarks of the remains of British buildings in Anglesea and Wilts. In this kind of masonry, the interstices were filled with turf or earth, as, according to Whitaker, was the practice in the Western Isles of Scotland, who might have found modern examples of the same kind of building in England, since this rough-and-ready method of erecting walls seems to have been handed down from the earliest times, and prevails among our Dartmoor peasants to this day. The Danmonian huts have their counterparts in the Shealings of the Orkneys some of which are of this form, and are constructed of stone and turf ; others have a base of stone, consisting of two circles one within the other, with a roofing of fir poles converging to a point, and thatched with branches or heather. Both kinds appear to have existed on Dartmoor ; and the vestiges which still remain sufficiently accord with the descriptions given by Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, of the habitations of the Britons of their times, to induce the belief that they had received the accounts from some of those enterprising mariners, who had seen the buildings in their trading voyages to the isles of tin. The ruined basement, which constitutes the hut circle consists, in the majority of examples, of a single course of stones, but in some instances a double circle is observed. These stones stand generally from eighteen inches to thirty inches above the surface. 56 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. The door jambs also of stone, are, in most cases, higher placed, nearly at right angles to the outline of the circle ; in a very considerable proportion of examples, the door faces the south. These dwellings measure from twelve to thirty feet in diameter, the most usual size being about twenty six feet, though some occur of much larger dimensions, and these were, perhaps, appropriated to the chieftain of the clan. Casar describes the houses of the Britons as similar to the dwellings of the Gauls, lighted only from the door, and on this, Fosbrooke remarks that his account was perfectly correct, from the representation of the British cabins on the Antonine column where they appear as circular buildings, with sloping or domical roofs, having an opening at the top for the emission of smoke. The Britons of the interior were a pastoral people, as we may safely conclude from Caesar's account of their mode of subsistence ; " Iiiteriores plerique "fncineiita tioii sennit, sed lacte et came vivitnt." The nomadic life and habits evidently implied by this brief but comprehensive description, their inattention to tillage, and their subsisting upon milk and flesh, would be quite in keeping with the nature of the wild uncultivated tracts of Dartmoor.* Hence we may infer that the Britons had out-buildings and inclosures for the folding of their cattle, and that, therefore, some of the ruined foundations which have been described above, are the remains of buildings raised for purposes of this kind, and, as in our times, in most cases, adjoining the habitations of the owners of the flocks and herds. But it is also very probable that some of these hut dwellings will prove to be the temporary habitation of the tin miners and smelters remains whose workings are so very apparent in various parts of the moor. C. Spence Bate noticed in the valley below Shell Top a chambered dwelling, which he mistakenly called a cairn. This, besides the rounded end of the passage, which is about five feet wide, contains four chambers. It is so far the only observed hut cluster on Dartmoor, and has been described by Mr. R. N. Worth. f *Like the Nomads of the antient times, and the more modern Tartars our Britons resided upon the hills, sheltered by huts from the inclemency of the weather, and subsisting on the produce of their cattle, and the venison, which the woods supplied in abundance. The numerous remains we have discovered in each district of our county, sufficiently prove the original residence of the Britons lo have existed upon the hills : but in later times, when civilized by the Romans, they probably began to clear the vallies from woods, and to seek more sheltered situations in the vales, and in the vicinity of rivers. — Antiq. Wilts., vol. ii., p. 106. fTrans. Devon Assoc, vol. xxii., p. 237. Hut Dwellings. 57 Besides these huts, which are of a circular shape, others occur, rectangular in form. These, where they are not ruined blowing houses, are no doubt more modern than the others mentioned, and are the remains of the dwellings of miners. The ruins of the hut dwellings on Dartmoor are now under- going a very careful examination. The pick and the shovel for the first time have been called to aid in the attempt to discover some of the secrets of the Moor. The investigations recently undertaken by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould and Mr. Robert Burnard, and commenced at Grimspound, Broadun, Broadun Ring, Tavy Cleave and Langstone Moor, and which are now being extended by them and those associated with them in the work, in other directions, are leading to the establishment of facts of the greatest importance. So far as these explorations have gone, the presence of a considerable neolithic population on Dartmoor has been apparently established. We say apparently, as, comparatively speaking, only a very small number of the hut dwellings on Dartmoor have been explored, and it is absolutely necessary that these investigations should be pursued with care, and that there should be no jumping to conclusions upon what may prove insufficient data. There is very much yet to be learnt from Dartmoor, and it is very probable that the work now in progress will result in discoveries of much value. To refer more partic- ularly to the characteristic features of these dwellings. In the first place, like other houses of a similar kind, these had roofs formed by poles fastened into the walls, which v/ere drawn together at the top and fastened by thongs of hide, and covered with turves, or rushes, or dried grass, or all three, with a hole somewhere to allow the smoke to escape. Nothing remains of sufficient height to show whether there was a window, but it is not likely there was any. The stone walling of the foundation, rose probably as high as the jambs of the doorway, which is ordinarily on the south or south-west side, and on the jambs rests a lintel. The hut contains the hearth, which is either against the wall, on the side opposite the door, or in the middle of the house, and is a large flat stone with marks of fire upon it. There is also frequently, another flat stone embedded in the ground, the use of which is only matter of conjecture, it may have been an anvil, or a stone for killing small animals upon. Generally on the right hand side of the entrance is a raised mass of stone, upon which it is supposed the bed of fern and leaves was placed, and one of the 58 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. Grimspound huts has a bed for two, there being a division in the centre formed of stones set on edge. But the most remarkable feature has yet to be mentioned, and it is one which gives us a most interesting insight into the customs of these early inhabitants of our moor. In the floor of every hut so far examined, is a hole lined with stones about nine inches deep. These holes were the cooking places of the natives. They are always full of charcoal ashes, and as so far, not a single scrap of pottery of any kind has been found, it is evident that the food was placed in these holes, with heated stones, after the manner of the Assinneboins, a tribe of North American Indians, visited by Catlin. When these Indians " kill meat, a hole is dug in the ground about the size of " a common pot, and a piece of raw hide of the animal, as taken " from the back, is put over the hole, and then pressed down with " the hands close around the sides, and filled with water. The " meat to be boiled, is then put in this hole or pot of water ; and " in a fire, which is built near by, several large stones are heated " to a red heat, which are successively dipped and held in the "water until the meat is boiled. The custom is a very awkward "and tedious one, and used only as an ingenious mode of boiling " their meat, by a tribe who was too rude and ignorant to construct "a vessel or pot." At the time Catlin saw these people, the custom, except at public festivals, had fallen into disuse, they having been taught, by being brought into contact with their more civilized neighbours, the method of manufacturing good and serviceable earthen pots.* There is an account too of the Fena, a primitive Irish race, whose custom it was to dig holes in the ground, and after heating round stones, put them in the bottom of the pits, and over them the meat to be cooked, and then another layer of hot stones and covering the whole over, allowed them to remain until the meat was dressed. These rounded stones have been found not only at Grimspound, but at Broadun. These old dwellers on the Moor were evidently low in the scale, even of Neolithic people, they had no pottery, no iron, no hand-mills for grinding corn. Clothed in skins and mainly dependent upon the chase for their sustenance, with weapons of flint and bone, and scrapers of flint for dressing the skins, the lot of these men must often have been a hard one ; although, once within their huts, the door closed with a hide, •Letters and Notes on the Manners, &c., of the North American Indians. Vol. i., p. 54, 1841. iPoUNDS. 59 and a supply of food secured, their refuges were no doubt found snug, and, so far as the wants of the occupants were concerned, comfortable ones, certainly quite as much so as those " old black " houses " of the islands of Lewis and Harris in the Hebrides, in which, as Dr. Mitchell says, so many thousands of people have been born, have lived, and have died.* Those curious enclosures popularly called Pounds by POUNDS, the moormen, which occur in so many places, are traditionally supposed to have been constructed for the protection of cattle. That they were intended to protect the inhabitants as well as their cattle, on any sudden emergency, there can be no doubt, although it would appear that the most perfect of them — Grimspound — was designed as the fortification of a permanent settlement, rather than as a temporary stronghold, to which, as we learn from Caesar, the Belgic Celts were accustomed to retreat with their families, flocks and herds, on the approach of danger. The enclosures are either low walls of stones piled rudely together in a ridge-like form, or belts of huge granite blocks placed erect in the ground. Their general form is circular, but some examples are elliptical. Remains of habitations are in most cases found in these primitive entrenchments, so that we may justly conclude that they were originally constructed for purposes of retreat, security and defence. A fine specimen occurs on the commons, west of Castor Rock, adjoining a moorland road which forms the boundary between the parishes of Chagford and Gidleigh, where the Roundy Pound, as it is called by the moormen, exhibits the foundations of a house within the inclosure, which itself forms a kind of courtyard round the dwelling, with the jambs at the entrance still erect. Grimspound is by far the finest and most important of all the relics of this class. Viewed from Hooknor Tor, which commands its entire area, it presents to the spectator an object of singular curiosity and interest. Its situation is on the N.W. slope of Hameldon, on the borders of the parishes of Manaton, North Bovey, and Widecombe. The wall is formed of moor- stone blocks, rudely piled up, but so large as not to be easily displaced: it is double, a space, probably a passage with entrances to it from the interior face, running between the two walls, but it may be only the space left to be filled up with earth which has •The Past in the Present, p. 49. 6o Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. now been washed away. The base of this rampart covers in some parts a surface of twenty feet in breadth, but the average height of a section taken at any point would not exceed six feet. With the exception of openings on the east and west sides through which the road run, the inclosure is perfect, surrounding an area of about four acres. The original entrance is on the south-east, the wall here being from ten to twelve feet thick, composed of enormous stones ; the width of the entrance is seven feet, it is paved, and has three steps in its thickness. The vestiges of antient habitations within this primitive entrenchment are numer- ous, as already observed, and occupy the whole area, leaving only one vacant spot at the upper or north end, which might have been a place for driving cattle into, or a kind of forum, or place of public concourse, for the inhabitants. There are twenty-four hut circles within the enclosure, and their examination shows that ten of these were dwellings, and that the rest were used as store houses or cattle pens. One is double, and has a tall upright stone set against the wall, making it more conspicuous than the rest. A spring rising on the eastern side, and, skilfully conducted for some distance below the wall, supplied the inhabitants with pure water ; and the whole presents a more complete specimen of an antient settlement, provided with means of protracted defence, than will perhaps be found in any other part of the island. A road which leads from Manaton to Headland Warren runs through the inclosure."' Dunnabridge Pound between Two Bridges and Dartmeet is another large enclosure, measuring, according to Ormerod, one hundred and ten paces from north to south, and from east to west one hundred and seventeen paces. The height of the wall where perfect is nearly six feet, the base being three feet, diminishing at the top to two feet and a half and having a double facing. It is probable this is nothing more and was never any other than it is now, a moor pound. Of another kind of enclosure, or circumvallation as it may be called, we know but one existing specimen which was observed by us first in the year 1828. It was situated in a small pasture field about a furlong south-east of Manaton Church, •Since the above was written, the First Report of the Dartmoor Exploration Committee (Grimspound) has been published in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. xxvi., 1894, and to this we must refer our readers for further details as to these most interesting and important investigations. Trackways. 6i and conjectured by Col. Hamilton Smith to have given the original name to the parish, Maen-y-dun, the Fort or inclosure, of Erect Stones. This appeared to be a description of primitive circumvallation unknown to, or at least altogether unnoticed by antiquaries. The following description applied to its state when first visited, the hand of the destroyer played havoc with it soon after. It was elliptical in form, and in an exceedingly perfect condition. The masses of which the fence was constructed, were from four to six feet high, placed in a double row and set closely together. One stone, however, was so large that it filled the whole breadth, being six feet wide by five feet thick. The diameters of the elliptical area were one hundred and thirty-eight feet by one hundred. There were no vestiges of any monumental relic within the inclosure or near it, and the most cursory observer would instantly remark that its character was totally different from the Pounds, and still more so from the Columnar or Sacred circle. As it was situated on comparatively low ground, where pasturage must have been abundant, it was probably erected for the protection of cattle. But we have been informed by a gentle- man who knew it well, that it was, in his opinion, a sacred circle, and one of the finest on the moor. Whatever the character of this may have been, it was ruthlessly destroyed in 1849, by the Rev. William Paul Wood, who carried off a part of the stones, to build a wall, and used the rest in dividing two fields. Wherever there are communities having settled TRACKWAYS, habitations, however simple and uncultivated the people, we justly expect to find some traces of the means of communication between village and ^^llage, or one settlement and another. Nor is Dartmoor without numerous examples of this kind, affording proofs, in addition to those already advanced, of its having been inhabited in remote times. Track- ways, under which designation those roads or causeways which cross the moor in various directions are generally known, were no doubt often made to serve the purpose of boundary lines. Sir R. C. Hoare describing those which he had examined in Wiltshire, observes " The lines of communication between one village and " another, were by means of trackways, not paved or formed, but " following the natural ridge of the country, by which they have " gained the additional name of Ridgeways, which some of them " still retain." Such an ancient trackway was the Abbot's Way, 62 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. between the Cistercian Abbeys of Buckfast and Buckland. Branching from it was another to Tavistock Abbey. These are not paved roads, but are formed simply by the constant traffic which in time formed the hard pathway. But in a country where stone was so abundant, as in the Devonshire highlands, it is probable we should find other roads of a more substantial cha- racter. Here we find them constructed of stones (too large to be easily displaced) irregularly laid down on the surface, and thus forming a rude but efficient causeway, the general breadth of which is about five or six feet, but which, in one example (near Three Barrow Tor) we found to be fifteen feet, though much obscured by the encroaching vegetation. The most extensive and important trackway which has come under our notice, is one which is supposed to traverse the forest in a line bearing east and west from Hameldon to Great Mistor. Considerable portions of the line can be traced in a direction corresponding to these points, but a large extent of it rests rather upon the testimony of tradition than upon the evidence of existing remains. The oral topographers of the uplands^' recognize this trackway as the equator of the moorland region, all above it being considered the north, and all below it the south country, a circumstance which, though it affijrds good evidence of the antiquity of this relic, might be supposed to give it the character of a boundary rather than of a road, but which will have less weight in this scale when we consider how frequently antient roads are found to form boundaries between parishes, manors, and other divisions of country. + This trackway may be observed in high preservation, coming down the northern slope of Chitta- ford Down towards the banks of the East Dart. Here it can be traced for a considerable distance, and is visible due west through HoUocombe, and up the opposite hill to Lower White Tor, down the common, towards the Dart, it bends towards the north-east, but in the level near Post Bridge it takes a direction southward. With some difficulty it may be detected through the boggy meadows below Hartland Farm. The peat-cutters are reported to come upon it below the surface in some places ; nor is it at all •On the authority of the late Rev. J. M. Mason.' tA case which seems completely in point, occurs near the town of Plympton, where an old road that crosses the crest of the hill in a remarkably straight direction, is still called the Ridge Lane, and which for a considerable distance divides the parish of Brixton from the two Plymptons, St. Mary and St. Maurice or Plympton Earl. Tracklines. 63 unlikely that the encroachments of the vegetation, which in some instances are only partial, should in others have extended over the whole breadth of the trackway, and thus have obliterated all traces of it in the lower grounds. This trackway has been commented on by Mr. R. N. Worth and Mr. R. Barnard ; by the latter it has been most carefully traced and surveyed. The con- clusion which these gentlemen have arrived at, upon evidence which it is impossible to resist, is that it formed a portion of the great Fosseway,'' the British road which the Romans found and utilised. Mr. Burnard traced it for eighteen miles from the eastern side of Haytree Down beyond Hameldon, in one direction, nearly to Tavistock in the other. In its perfect state it seems to have been about ten feet wide, and it was formed of stone from two feet to two feet six inches deep. The trackways have no characteristic which would lead us to refer their construction to the Roman period of British history, nor have we documentary evidence that any of their roads ran through Danmonium in a direction corresponding to that of the Dartmoor trackways. In none of these trackways or roads are there any marks of modern construction, as fences or bounds ; the remains of the oldest cattle fences on the Moor, being so strikingly different, as to be evident to every observer of common penetration. Greatly similar in construction are the Tracklines TRACKLINES. or Boundary Banks, which are invariably observed in connection with aboriginal dwellings and sepul- chral remains. They are numerous in every part of the moor- lands, and like the same kind of primitive fosse which Sir R. C. Hoare describes as of frequent occurrence " throughout the " downy district " of Wiltshire, " were originally thrown up for " the double purpose of defence and communication," serving for bounds and pathways, and connecting and enclosing dwellings. The most striking specimen is perhaps that which is presented on the south-eastern slope of Torrhill, near the road from Ashburton to Moreton, below Rippon Tor. Here are evident marks of regularity of design, and the tracklines intersect each other in such numbers that nearly the whole hill-side is partitioned into squares, conveying, in a remarkable manner, a lively idea of an aboriginal rural settlement, as there are remains of many antient habitations, within their respective enclosures. It would be too 'Trans. Dev. Assoc, vol. xvii. p. 351 ; vol. xxi., pp. 431-436. 64 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. much to pronounce that we have evidence of a different fashion prevailing in these constructions in different parts of the Moor, but on the south side of Heytor, in the neighbourhood of Torrhill, they are observed in rectangular outlines, while on Cosdon, they are in curves ; on Archeton Hill, and below Wistnian's Wood in various irregular forms ; and near Littleford Tor one occurs connecting two ruined dwellings in a line, which forms the segment of a circle. With regard to these lines, however, further examination does not confirm the above opinions. Mr. R. N. Worth considers " that they appear, as a rule, to represent enclosures exterior to the " immediate surroundings of the huts, and to belong to a more " recent date than the so called pounds. Carefully traced, the " majority will be found equivalent to the remains of hedges, " walling the little fields taken out from the moor for the purpose " of pasturing or protecting stock, or raising hay in the immediate " vicinity of huts or villages when the moorland farming had " began to advance beyond its primitive original. Probably they " are among the most modern of the moorland antiquities. They " are certainly among the least mysterious."* In a region such as Dartmoor, intersected by rivers BRIDGES, and brooks in all directions, and these streams so peculiarly liable to be swollen by summer torrents, and by the thawing of the accumulated snows in winter, the progress of the trackways would be continually interrupted by these natural and formidable obstacles. In some instances they may be found pointing to a ford, as would appear to be the case with the grand central road below Chittaford Down ; but as the East Dart would frequently become impassable at that ford, the necessities of the case would task the ingenuity of the earliest inhabitants in contriving the erection of a bridge. Happily the materials, which lay at hand, when such a necessity arose to a primitive people, were of a more durable kind than the felled tree, which in more wooded districts forms a ready and not incon- venient bridge. Vast slabs of granite afforded the means of constructing solid piers by being merely laid one upon another, yet stable enough without cement or other adventitious appliances, to breast the impetuous rush of the moorland torrents. The necessity of arching was obviated by massive imposts of a tabular * Notes and Gleanings, vol. iii., p. 60. w o a X a X < a Post Bridge. 65 form laid horizontally from pier to pier. Some of these are formed of a single stone, and would then probably come under the vernacular denomination clavi, a term also frequently applied to a bridge formed of a plank or single tree, although we have noticed a distinction sometimes made, the wooden bridge being called a clapper, and a stone bridge a clam. Adjoining Post Bridge (a modern county bridge over the East Dart, traversed by the Tavistock and Moreton road) stands one of these venerable and characteristic relics of probably very early times, presenting a truly interesting specimen of primitive architecture. The piers are two, and these with the abutments form three sufficient openings for the waterway. Its construction though rude, is of the most durable kind. No structure of ordinary stability could have withstood the fury of the vehement Dart in his most turbulent moods for so many centuries. The piers consist of six layers of granite slabs above the foundation. The superincumbent stones are singularly adapted for the purpose to which they are applied. The centre opening is narrower than the side openings ; the imposts here were two, one of these was thrown down many years since in an attempt to form a duck- pond, and it remained in the bed of the river for a long time. It has now however been restored to its original position, and the bridge is again perfect. The stones are about fifteen feet long, and six wide, and thus a roadway was made over which, even the scythed chariot of the Danmonian warrior might pass the river in safety. There are other specimens of what has been called the Cyclopean bridge, in various parts of the moor, those at Two Bridges, Okery Bridge and Dartmeet may be mentioned, but this is by far the largest and most interesting. Mr. Bray in enumerating other local antiquities, bears the testimony of an observant traveller to the uncommon character of these curious structures. " It is not unhkely that they are unique " in their construction ; at least I can say that though I " have visited in England, South Wales, and Brittany, many " places celebrated for Celtic remains, I have never yet seen " anything like our antient Dartmoor bridges." Nor are there any such examples to our knowledge in North Wales or in Westmoreland or Cumberland, but at Tar Steps between Hawkridge and Winsford in our county, there is a bridge over the Barle, of similar construction, with nineteen openings, the total length being one hundred and fifty feet. There is nothing necess- E 66 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. arily indicating extreme antiquity in these bridges. The form is such as the material at hand lends itself to, and for the purposes for which these bridges were made, as long as foot passengers and pack-horses only used them, man, a hundred years ago, would raise a similar structure to his predecessors many centuries before. Mr. Burnard, in his survey before mentioned, shows that the bridge at Post Bridge could not have been a part of the Great Central Trackway, but of the old packhorse road from Plymouth to Moreton Hampstead and Ashburton, the Trackway crossing the East Dart by a ford, a considerable distance above this bridge. The Camps, or earth-works, which are found on the CAMPS. skirts of the moorlands, may be regarded as forming a connecting link between the aboriginal period of British history, and the succeeding eras of Roman and Saxon dominion, since the same positions, from their national capa- bilities, would be occupied in many cases by the different invaders or defenders of the country in succession. Prestonbury on the Teign, near Drewsteignton, and Henbury on the Dart, near Buckfastleigh, are both hill forts, so strikingly characteristic of the Celtic method of castramentation, that we can scarcely err in attributing their original construction to the Britons. We learn from Cffisar that our warlike progenitors, when repulsed by the Romans, betook themselves into strongholds, chosen, it would appear, with great discernment for their natural advantages, and strengthened by art with so much skill, as to deserve the commendation of a commander so well versed in military affairs as the conqueror of Gaul. He describes such a stronghold as excellently fortified by nature and art. A favourite position according to the same authority, was a peninsulated hill, moated naturally, to a greater or less extent, by a river, and fortified, on the most accessible side, by a ditch and rampart drawn across the neck of land. Such was the fortress of the Aduatici, in Gaul, described by Caesar. " The Gaer-Dykes, or Coxall Hill, where " Caractacus was finally defeated, is a similar position," says Fosbrooke, "on the point of a hill accessible only one way." The same author observes, that " the British camps in general, occupy " the summits of hills of a ridge-like form, and commanding "passes." This is precisely the description of Prestonbury, which is a Celtic hill fortress, evidently of high antiquity, and of Prestonburv Camp. 67 a most interesting description, whether we consider its construc- tion, or the situation it occupies. This- characteristic specimen of the primitive fortifications of the Danmonian highlands, occupies the extreme point of a ridge-like hill, which forms the northern bank of the Teign, to the extent of about a mile between Fingle and Clifford bridges. Immediately above the former, it rises from the brink of the river in the form of a bold headland, fully commanding the low ground beneath, from its precipitous character. The hollow between Prestonbury, and the acclivity which rises towards Drewsteignton Church, has evidently the appearance of a pass from the champaign country to the uplands by the ford, which doubtless existed before the erection of the oldest bridge, at or near where the picturesque arches of Fingle now span the rapid current of the Teign. Thus situated, Prestonbury was admirably calculated for a watch-tower, as well as a fortress, and the strength of its entrenchments seems to indicate the importance attached to the position. The extremity of this inland promontory is the highest ground of the ridge, which on the south side is scarped down by nature in a precipitous rocky glacis to the river's brink. Nature having, therefore, so amply provided for the security of the fortress on this side, less was demanded from the resources of art, so that a rampart without any ditch, rising inmiediately from the precipice, was evidently thought sufficient. But on the north, where there is a much gentler declivity landwards, the rampart is of a far more formidable appearance, forming an entrenchment in some parts, eight yards in height. The circumference of the circum- vallation taken along the crest of the vallum, is five hundred and twenty yards, and this part of the entrenchment, which may be considered as a kind of keep, was defended by two parallel outworks, constructed on the ridge of the hill. The ground declines slightly from the eastern side of the keep, and at sixty yards distance, the first of the outworks occurs — a rampart and a ditch crossing the ridge saddle-wise, and dying away in the precipice on the south. The next entrenchment is thrown up at the distance of one hundred and twenty yards, here the vallum is loftier and the fosse deeper. Beyond this line of entrenchment, the ground rises, till at the distance of about a furlong east of the keep, or principal work, it is lofty enough to command the fortified portion of the hill already described. At this point therefore, we find fortifications erected to guard the approaches, where the 68 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. ridge gradually slopes eastward, and where easy access might be otherwise obtained by the enemy. But when the whole of the neck of land was thus fortified, ample means were aflforded for preventing surprise, and for maintaining a protracted defence if necessary. Here, then, on the northern verge of our moorland region may be observed a curious and interesting specimen of those strong- holds, to which the Celtic tribes were accustomed to retreat in cases of danger ; for although such a post as this would scarcely fail to be garrisoned by the troops of the successive occupants or invaders of the country, and might undergo some alterations in the lapse of centuries, yet, enough of the primary features remain to enable the antiquary to trace the original fortifying of this remarkable hill, to our warlike Danmonian progenitors. The monuments of antiquity which have been thus far enumerated, indicate a rude and simple state of society, and may be reasonably traced to the requirements of a primitive people, suggested probably, in some degree by the nature and abundance of the materials supplied by the surrounding district. The memorial of some compact between two reconciled tribes would probably be needed, and the neighbouring tor would alike furnish materials for another Jegar Sahadutha {Geii. xxxi., 47) — the heap of witness — as well as for a memorial pillar, or for a conspicuous and durable landmark to define the limits of adjoining pasture grounds. Their villages would require defence from hostile attack, or protection from the beasts of prey, with which the rocky slopes and swampy thickets of the Forest abounded, and the unwrought boulders of moorstone would readily form the Cyclopean fortification of Grimspound. Their religion demanded open shrines — and a circle of rude granite obelisks guarded the primitive sanctuary from all profane intrusion. Or if we look beyond natural circumstances, and should conclude that there would appear to be more of premeditation and design in the choice of their materials, and in the forms employed, it might thence be inferred that the notions which led to their erection were not of indigenous growth, but were brought from other lands by the original settlers. Since, also, points of resemblance have been observed between these monuments and such as are found in eastern countries, or are known to have existed there in the earliest ages, for purposes which are recorded, although they do Legend of Brutus; 69 not establish the hypothesis of the colonization of Britain from the east, they certainly favour an opinion which is also counte- nanced by tradition, and which, no less than eight centuries since had assumed a shape sufficiently definite to be preserved in one of the most valuable documents of mediaeval times — the Saxon Chronicle — which states that " the first inhabitants of this " country were Britons, who having come from Armenia, estab- " lished themselves in the southern parts of Britain." The legendary fable of the voyage of Brutus, from the Mediterranean to the shores of Devonshire, his landing at Totnes, and overthrow of his gigantic antagonists at Plymouth, however unworthy of credit as to details, deserves consideration, as indicating some substantial truths, just as shadows, however distorted and exaggerated, are proofs of an actual substance. And if there is any just foundation for the ingenious theories of Vernon Harcourt, that the Albion of Aristotle (De Mundo, c. 3.) Britain, was one of the Isles of the Blessed, of antiquity ; the macaron iiesos of Lycophron (according to Tzetzes), that the celebrated Atlantis may be more reasonably sought for in the British Isles than elsewhere — that it was here that the slumbers of the Titanian Kronos were guarded by the hundred-handed Briarchus, as reported by Plato ; that the island which was the abode of Neptune, was Britain,-' and that the Hesperides, to which Hercules travelled to fetch the golden apples for Juno, were also the same islands, since ApoUodorus expressly says that the Hesperian apples were not in Libya, but at the Atlas, among the Hyperboreans f — then shall we conclude that there is more cause for believing that there existed a much earlier communication by sea, between our islands and the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, than has been generally supposed, and that this may have partly arisen from the circumstance of the original colonization of the British isles having taken place by a voyage through the Straits of Gibraltar. The expedition of Brutus is alleged to have been undertaken •We question whether the composer of the once popular sea-song, ever imagined that he could boast such high auliority as the celebrated Athenian philosopher, for regarding our island as the contemplated residence of the god of ocean. " Daddy Neptune one day unto Freedom did say — If e'er I should live upon dr)' land. The spot I should hit on would be little Britain, 'Tis such a snug, tight little island." fDoct. 0/ Deluge, vol. ii., pp. 150-152. 70 Huts, Fokts, Roads, &c. about the year iioo, B.C., and in the first century after the Trojan war, from which period, Britain is supposed to have taken its name from that successful invader. These legendary tales may preserve the memorial of a real descent by some foreign chief, about the time in question, and appear to intimate that the invaders had to encounter the opposition of a fierce and warlike people. Hence these traditionary legends evidently assume that this island must have been peopled (it may be presumed) for some ages anterior to the reported landing of the Trojan adventurers in the estuary of the Dart, and their conflicts at the mouth of the Plym — both Dartmoor rivers, and therefore identifying these legends with the venue of this treatise. But it is far more probable that the truth of these fables will be found in a Tyrian expedition, rather than in a Trojan, when impartial history,-^' regarding the claimants with equal eye, (Tros, Tyriusve, niillo discrimitie) steps in to decide the rival claims, since we are assured that the enterprising traders of Phenicia had brought tin by sea from some western country, before the time of Homer, and that it is not more probable that Brutus, a great-grandson of .(Eneas, ever made an expedition to Totnes, and gave his name to Britain, than that he founded the city of Tours, in Gaul, as gravely asserted by Georfrey of Monmouth. Much less fanciful is the etymology which would derive the original designation of our island, with the writers Bochart, Sammes, and others, from two Phenician words — Barat-anac, the land of tin, translated in after-times by the Greeks, Cassiterides ; since it is so far supported by historical evidence, as we learn from classical writers that the PheniciansJ were the earliest traders upon record to the tin countries beyond the pillars of Hercules, in the Hyperborean ocean. We learn with what jealous vigilance the Phenician voyagers guarded the lucrative monopoly of the tin trade. The account of the patriotic shipmaster, who ran his vessel aground to prevent his course from being traced by a Roman galley, and his reimbursement by his grateful countrymen, is well known. It is also recorded that *" I am not for wholly rejecting," says Bishop Nicolson, "all that is contained in that history, believing there is somewhat of truth in it, under a mighty heap of monkish forgeries." — English Historical Library, p. 37. {Bishop Nicolson contemptuously dismisses the speculations of Sammes about " the Phenicians his only darlings,' but subsequent researches of others have shown that opinions which have been entertained troni the times of Nhnnius, and were advocated by Bochakt, are not to be summarily disposed o(, without investi- gation, as the baseless reveries of an enthusiastic, but illinformud antiquarj'. The Cassitekides. 7I the Greeks of Marseilles, who had long been anxious to obtain a share in this traffic, were at last successful in their attempts to dis- cover the Cassiterides, which became known to them B.C. 330. But Herodotus, more than a century before, whilst he confesses his ignorance of the precise situation of the Cassiterides, mentions tin, without any question, as the product of the extreme regions of Western Europe, with which he was unacquainted.* Tin was one of the commodities in the fairs of Tyre, enumerated by the prophet Ezekiel (B.C. 595) and was known to the Jews in the time when Isaiah prophesied (B.C. 760.) If therefore tin was generally recognised by the common consent of antiquity as a product of the Cassiterides, and an import of the Phenicians, we are carried back to the age of Homer, who mentions the metal as forming an ingredient in the manufacture of armour in those early ages of the world. But if, with the apprehension of an anachronism in this particular, we hesitate to go back to the siege of the Troy (1190, to 1200 B.C.) there can be no difficulty in admitting that a voyage from the Levant to Britain, might have been accomplished at so remote a period as about one thousand years before the Christian era. The historian Heeren fixes the flourishing period of Tyre and the Phenician States, from 1000, to 332, B.C., nor does it seem without the bounds of probability to suppose that their enterprising navigators possessed, even in those early times, the means, as they doubtless had the desire, of extending their policy of foreign colonization, even to the remote isles of Britain. A prominent feature in that policy was the forming of their mercan- tile settlements on islands and peninsulas. We know that they pushed their discoveries, by coasting Africa in a southern course, after passing the Pillars of Hercules. There does not therefore appear any sufficient reason for questioning the probability of their having (as early as the reign of David or Solomon) voyaged northwards along the coasts of Spain and Gaul, until they reached the islands of Baratanac, the country of tin. The period of our history, characterized by the Camps we have referred to, may therefore be regarded as commencing before the arrival of the Phenician mariners, and as extending over the time when the tin trade was carried on by them, and subsequently by the Phoca^an-Greeks from Marseilles, previously to the invasion of the Romans. Among those relics, examples of two kinds of *" Neither am I acquainted with the Cassiterides Island, from whence tin comes to us." Herodotus, r/ta/m. vol. iii., p. 115. Gronov. 72 Huts, Forts, Roads, «S:c. fortresses have been mentioned. That of Prestonbury evidences more artificial preparation, and considerable advance in knowledge than the simpler circumvallation of Grimspound, and it may with great propriety be assigned to a period when the art of defensive warfare had been improved by intercourse with the classical nations. But proofs of the presence of these adventurous navigators may be traced with far more certainty in the vestiges of works — more congenial to the commercial spirit of the merchant princes of Tyre and Sidon, and more germane to the views with which they dispatched their argosies to brave the terrors of the Hyperborean ocean — in the remains of primitive mining operations which are still to be found in various parts of the moor. Polwhele remarks that the parishes of Manaton, Kingsteignton and Teigngrace, present examples of these antient works, which the inhabitants attribute to that period when wolves and winged serpents were no strangers to the hills or vallies. The two latter lie beyond our moorland district towards the estuary of the Teign, but the former is one of the border parishes of the forest, and contains many of the remains in question, which, although it is impossible to assign them any date, with even an approach to historical certainty, have been generally conjectured to be the relics of British operations, under the direction of Phenician traders. Speaking of these primitive stream-works, Polwhele goes on to observe that " the Bovey Heathfield hath been worked " in the same manner. And indeed all the vallies from the " Heathfield to Dartmoor bear the traces of shoding and stream- " ing, which I doubt not was British or Phenician." *Not only in Manaton, but in the parishes of Chagford, Walkhanipton, Sheepstor, and Lydford, (the Forest) may be noticed many similar remains, all in situations favourable for the peculiar operations of streaming. And without controverting the opinions of our zealous antiquary, that some of these may present veritable examples of forsaken mines of the British and Phenician period, we cannot suppose that of all the vestiges of these antient works, none are to be assigned to a later age. The nature of the case would rather suggest the inference, that as mining operations have been carried on in our country from very early times down- wards, so the existing relics, if discrimination were possible, would be attributable to different adventurers, and to successive ages and generations. Leaving those speculations, therefore, in •Polwhele. Hist. Vie-u:s of Devonshire.^, no. CiESAR's Notice of Metals. 73 the obscurity and uncertainty wherein time has enveloped them, and which can never be dispelled, let us proceed to collect the few scattered rays of light which antient history casts upon the mining operations and commercial transactions of the period in question, as far as they come within the plan of the present work. Britain had long been regarded as isolated from the rest of mankind, no less by its remote and insular position, than by the fierce and intractable character of its inhabitants — toto divisos orbe Britaiinos. The jealous policy of the Phenicians would doubtless be directed to foster this opinion as much as possible, to which they themselves had probably first given currency, from the desire of preserving in all its integrity, their much-valued monopoly of the British commerce. Hence, as we have seen in the case of Herodotus, little was known by antient authors on the subject of the Cassiterides, beyond the fact of their existence amidst the fabled horrors of the Hyperborean sea. But after the Greeks of Marseilles had succeeded m obtaining a knowledge of the country, and a share in its valuable trade, the philosophers and historians of antiquity had the means of acquiring some information on a subject of no little interest, which, at no distant period, were further enlarged by the invasion of Caesar. The late General Simcoe, as recorded by Polwhele, accurately applies Caesar's notice of the metallic productions of Britain, to Devonshire and Dartmoor. " When Caesar, speaking of Britain, says, Nascitur " ibi plumbum album in Mediterraneis regionibus, in marilimis "■^ferrum, sed ejus exigua est copia, he elucidates our western " history. To Caesar it appeared that tin came from the inner "country."* Under the general appellation of the midland, or rather, perhaps, inland parts, Dartmoor must have been included, as well as the metalliferous districts of Cornwall, since we have abundant testimony, as already shown, that the south-western angle of Britain was the principal scene of antient mining opera- tions. But Caesar, relying on hearsay evidence, collected probably in Kent, had been evidently misled as to the exact situation of the principal tin mines, some of which, even in our moorland district, were too near to the coast to be correctly described as existing in *■' The original road by which this tin was conveyed should be an object of your investigation ; and probably you will find it carried over fords, and forming towns in its progress between Dartmoor, and where Sir R. Worslev now traces it to have entered the Isle of Wight. On these fords, too, you will probably find a Roman settlement, and not impossibly, account for Crockern Tor, Chagford, &c., having been formerly places of eminence." — Gen. Simcoe to Rev, R. Polwhele, Hist. Viiws 0/ Devonshire, p. no. 74 Huts, Fokts, Roads, &c. the interior. With regard to iron, his observations are borne out by the presence of that valuable metal at Shaugh Bridge, on the southern verge of the moor, within six miles of the sea. The Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, who flourished about 40 B.C., enters more into detail and has recorded some particulars of antient mining operations, and the tin trade carried on in the southern parts of Britain, of the most interesting character. He incidentially notices that the soil of the tin country was rocky, but had soft veins of earth running through it, whence the meral was extracted. He also describes the principal tin mart, in a celebrated passage which has exercised the ingenuity, and divided the opinions, of successive commentators and antiquaries. Describing the smelting of tin by the Britons, he says, " When " they have cast it into ingots, they carry it into an adjacent " island, which is called Iktis. For when it is low water the " intervening space is left dry, and they carry into that island great " quantities of tin, in wagons." Henry, the historian, as well as Whitaker, misled probably by the name, hastily conclude Iktis to be the Isle of Wight, without considering the insuperable difficul- ties which this hypothesis presents.' And since, among other speculations as to the real position of this island, Polwhele has assigned it a site which would constitute it the emporium of the aboriginal Dartmoor stannaries, his exposition of the curious and interesting passage of Diodorus, as far as it bears upon our local antiquities, deserves consideration. After disposing of the arguments of Whitaker,! Borlase, and *If the antient Vectis was the island meant by Diodorus, the improbable postulate is indispensable that the m issive metal must have been brought to the shores of Hampshire, opposite to the Isle of Wight, from the South of Devon and the extremities of Cornwall (Belerium) cither by land or by sea. If by land, the vehicles, as well as the roads of our aboriginal ancestors, must have been in a state of advancement for which few would be prepared to give them credit. If by sea, ihe argument requires that these antient traders should have shipped their tin on the coasts of Dannionium, and then steered up the Channel to st>me port of the Belgic Britons, opposite to the Isle of Wight, on the coast of Hampshire, where they landed theircargo, as it would seem, for the mere pleasure of having it transported across the strait, in wagons, (when the channel became dry — if ever it did — at the ebbing of the tide) instead of adopting the more obvious and direct method of landing the tin immediately on the island, even if they did not make directly for the coast of Gaul, from their original port, which would more probably have been the course adopted. *BORLASii confesses himself at a loss to decide the situation of Iktis. but supposes it to have been the largest of the Scilly Isles, and identical with theMictiscf Pli.ny. Pkyce discovers it in the Black Rock in Falmouth Harbour : POLWiiELh claims the honour tor St. Nicholas' Island, in Plymouth Sound ; Hawkins in his '■ Tin Trade of Cornwall," pronounces that it is St. Michael's Mount, in which he is followed by Dr. Bakham. Dt La Beche, and others, and C. Spence Bate suggests Mount Batten as complying with the required conditions. Iktis. 75 Pryce, in favour of the Isle of Wight, Scilly, and Falmouth, Polwhele enters into an elaborate and ingenious disquisition to prove that the much-controverted situation of Iktis, is to be found in Plymouth Sound. Without referring to the extraneous points, it will suffice to advert to those bearing upon our subject. The same objections which militate against the adoption of the Isle of Wight as the stannary emporium of the south-west, lie in a great degree against Scilly, or even the Black Rock Islet, at Falmouth, with relation to Devonshire ; whereas the geographical position of Plymouth Sound, at the mouth of two navigable rivers, running down from the heart of the tin districts of Devon, and those of East Cornwall, would offer facilities, common to both counties, which no other place presents. We can also comprehend the sending of tin from the western districts, to an emporium higher up the Channel, which had already become (as is highly probable) an exporting place for its own neighbourhood ; but we can hardly imagine it probable, that tin from Dartmoor and Kingston Down, would be sent so far west as Falmouth, and still less as Scilly, to be shipped for Brittany, in its way to Marseilles. The position of Plymouth, with reference to the parts where the metal was raised, as well as to the country for which it was to be shipped, is thus far favourable to the claims of St. Nicolas' or Drake's Island, but there is one objection to this theory which has been overlooked by its advocate. Diodorus intimates that the metalliferous district which he describes is in the neighbourhood of the promontory Belerium. If by this, we are to understand the Land's End, as is generally supposed, we should be scarcely justified in allowing the expression so wide a scope, as to embrace Plymouth Sound ; unless we should conclude that this is another instance in which the im- perfect geographical knowledge of the Greeks cannot be relied upon. It might then be supposed that the Belerium being a striking object to the navigators, and some tin mines being observed by the Greek traders in its neighbourhood, in such a general description as that of our historian, other mining districts, though at a considerable distance, might possibly be included. And whilst we should infer from natural circumstances, that the products of the stannary districts on both sides of the Tamar would be exported from the mouth of that river, we are fortunately in possession of unquestionable historical evidence, that this noble and convenient roadstead was known to the Greeks, at the period under consideration, by the appellation of Tamarou ekbole the ^6 Huts, Forts, Roads, &C. Tama) i Ostia of the Romans, and thus far might have been the scene of the famous emporium of Diodorus. But should we advance a step farther with Polwhele and fix upon St. Nicolas' Island* as the very spot, an obstacle of great local importance, which appears to have escaped his notice, immediately presents itself. He supposes that the isthmus, over which, at the ebb, the tin wagons passed, lay between the island and Mount Edgcumbe ; and that in the reef of sunken rocks, known to this day as the Bridge, may be found the remains of a neck of land once passable at low water, but since swept away by by the action of the waves. That the sea has encroached upon the land in many parts of our island, is a fact too well known to admit of dispute ; but in Plymouth Sound, the converse appears to have taken place, from sundry fragments of raised beach which have been laid open under the Hoe, opposite St. Nicolas' Island, and from the well-established historical fact, that, in past ages, the tide flowed up from Millbay over the marshy plain between Plymouth and Stonehouse, so that the channel between the island and the mainland was probably much deeper 2000 years since than it is now, and the possibility of the existence of an isthmus, over which wagons could pass at low water, scarcely imaginable. But even if such a means of communication had existed, the slightest acquaintance with local circumstances would immediately show that this islet must have been most incon- veniently situated for the purposes in question. The tin wagons from Dartmoor could never reach it without first crossing the wide estuary of the Tamar ; and those from Hingston Down.f and the Cornish side of the river, in general would have to approach the peninsula of Mount Edgcumbe by a circuitous and *RlSDON is of opinion that this island may have been mentioned under the name of Tamarweorth, upwards of a thousand years ago. "In the Saxon's Heptarchy, this harbour (Plymouth) was called Tamarweorfb (as is to be read in the life of St. Indractus) if St. Nicolas' Island be not meant thereby; for VVeorth. in Saxon, is a river island." Leland describes this islet, as " lying at the mouthes of the Tamar and Plyni rivers," but gives no intimation of its possessing, in his time, any of the peculiar characteristics of the Iktis of DiODORtJS. tThat this district was the scene of antient mining operations, may be gathered from a popular tradition current in the time of Cakhw, no less than irom the evidence afforded by the present appearance of this conspicuous hill. " From Plymouth Haven," writes the old Cornish Chronicler, " ilengstcn Downe presenteth his waste head and sides to our sight. This name it borroweth of Hetigit, which, in the Saxon, signitieth a horse, and to such daintie beasts, it yieldeth fittest pasture. The countrie people have a bye-word, that " Hengsten Down well ywrought Is worth London town, dear bought, ' Which grewe from a store of tynne, in former times there digged up " — Carew's Survey o/ Cornwall, p. 272. Iktis and Plymouth. 77 incommodious route. But although these objections appear fatal to the claims of St. Nicolas, in particular, they do not in the least apply to Plymouth Sound in general ; and, taking into considera- tion the acknowledged retrocession of the sea from this coast we may perhaps look, with better success, for such an island as Diodorus describes, to the site of Plymouth itself. Feeling persuaded that the advantages of such a port as must have existed at the mouths of the Plym and Tamar, could not have been over- looked, either by the Phenicians or Massilian Greeks, we think it must be conceded, that in all probability, the ore raised in the neighbourhood would be sent down to that point on the Plymouth coasts which at that period was the most favourable for embarka- tion. And if the sea has receded from the inlets and creeks of the harbour to the extent that some have imagined,* an island answering to all the conditions required, might be found in Plymouth Hoe, and in the parts adjoining, separated at full tide from the rising ground, north of the present town, but connected with it at low water by the dorsal tract, which, amidst the chances and changes of twenty centuries, still exists in the direction of Old Town, sloping on one side to the Frankfort marshes and Millbay, and on the other, to Sutton Pool. Or if it should be deemed that we have no sufficient data for concluding that the water ever reached so high a level, as must necessarily be pre- sumed, if the Hoe were originally an island, there can be no reasonable doubt that the corresponding hill on the opposite side of Catwater, was once insulated by the union of the waters of the Lary with Sutton Pool, and that Catdown would probably then, at low tide, be approachable by an isthmus, not unlikely lying in the same direction as the old lane leading from Tothill to Catdown. The same rise of tide which in old times flooded the Plymouth marshes and brought the sea to Frankfort Gate, would abundantly suffice to cover the comparatively low ground between the Lary and Sutton Pool. Thus, if the reference to Belerium could be •Modern geologists assert, that in past ages the shores of the English Channel have been raised forty or fifty feet; and if, according to Forchammeh, the disrup- tion of England from the Continent occurred not more than 2,500 or 3,000 years ago, we can readily imagine that vast changes must have taken place, along the whole line of the coast, from the Land s End to the Nore, even if we h.id not direct testimony to the fact. flf the term Cassiterides included all the tin country of the western peninsula, might not Belerium have been the Greek appellation for the Roman Jugum Ocruium (the mountainous ridge reaching from Dartmoor to the Land's End.) and the name of the promontory, in which it terminates, put by synecdoche, for the whole chain ? Were this hypothesis tenable. " the dwellers below the promontory 78 Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. satisfactorily explained,! an island would be found, in all other respects, answering with singular exactness, to the description of Diodorus, and most conveniently situated for the Danmonian miners to bring their metal from the interior, for shipment to Gaul, for Marseilles, or in earlier times, for the Levant direct, by the Straits of Gibraltar. But whether the claims of Plymouth to the disputed honours of Iktis be allowed or not, it can scarcely be questioned that transactions, similar to those described by the Greek historian, from the very force of circumstances, must have taken place at some part of the shores of Plymouth Harbour. The contrary supposition, that with every facility for exporting the metal, raised almost on the very coast,* the traders should have conveyed the ponderous commodity by wagons to some distant port, is too absurd to be admitted. If the Dartmoor miners, then, had not the identical Iktis at the mouth of their rivers, and in sight of their southernmost hills, they had doubtless a similar emporium on their shores, and the interesting description of the maritime Britons may be fairly applied to the Danmonians of the neighbour- hood of Tiiman Oslia as well as to the other trading inhabitants of the Cassiterides. " The inhabitants of that part of Britain, below the " promontory called Belerium, are exceedingly hospitable (fond of "strangers) and on account of their intercourse with foreign " merchants, are more civilised in their habits of life."+ With reference to the existence of some kind of emporium on called Belerium" of DiODOitus, might be fairly interpreted as describing the inhabi- tants of the mining districts of the south coasts of Devon and Cornwall. Or, since the informants of Diodorus probably made the Land's End first, in their voyage, they might have termed the country eastward, the coast " below Belerium," if so, the term might have included, as above, all the maritime inhabitants of the stannary districts of Danmonium. •The tidal waters of the Plym are known to have flowed, in former times, over a great part of the Saltram marshes, close to Plympton St. Mary Churchyard, and even as far as the ditches of Plympton Castle, usque ad casitum, as an old document tells us, so that the mining ground, near Hemerdon, Newnhara, and Boringdon Park, was much nearer to the estuary than at present. fit is not impossible that the precincts of Dartmoor may have supplied materials for the Dockyards of Greek naval architects, two thousand years ago. PoLWHELE has noticed a circumstance which is worth observing. " That famous ship which was built at Syracuse under tlie direction of Archimedes, is at once a proof of the proficiency of the Greeks in the maritime arts, and of their connexion with Britain. According to Athen.^us, the ship had three masts, of which the second and third were easily procured ; but it was long before a tree for the mainmast could be found. At length a proper tree was discovered in the mountains of Britain, and brought down to the sea coast by a famous mechanic, Phileas Taukomfnues. This is a curious fact. And the mountains of Britain, I conceive, were the mountains of Danmonium. In other parts of the island the Greeks had very slight connc^cions. It was with Danmonium they traded, etc., etc." — Hisi. Views 0/ Devon, p. 145. Tamara. 79 the coast, at a convenient distance from the mining districts of Danmonium, it may be further observed that the place known to the Greeks by the name of Tamara, had obtained sufficient celebrity m antient times, to be mentioned by Ptolemy, among the few places which his scanty information enabled him to enumerate on the Danmonian shores. This could scarcely have arisen from any other cause than the natural advantages of Plymouth Sound — its contiguity to the stannary region, and the consequent growth of an emporium for the staple commodity of the country, at some convenient spot, in the parts adjacent. Had there been no direct evidence of the existence of such a port, nature would have indicated, that as a roadstead hke Plymouth Sound, and such harbours as Hamoaze and Catwater, could not have escaped the notice of the Phenician and Greek traders, so the circumstance of their resorting there for purposes of traffic, would naturally lead to the gradual rise of some kind of port, of greater or less consequence. But having the testimony of Ptolemy to the existence of a town in the neighbourhood of the Tamar, it is no longer matter of conjecture or inference, but an historical fact that such a place near the coast of Danmonium, was known to the Greeks and other classical nations, in the age of Ptolemy, and in all probability long before. Nor is it less certain that, with the sole exception of Isca, (Exeter) we can fix the situation of Tamara with more accuracy than any other of the Danmonian towns and places enumerated by Ptolemy. Its name identifies it with the banks of the Tamar, and most probably with the immediate neighbourhood of the estuary, since this author mentions both Tamar Mouth and Tamara. Guided by the land- marks of nature, and the evidence of etymology, many antiquaries have agreed that the antient Tamara is to be sought for in the modern Tamerton ; a conclusion at which those who are best acquainted with local circumstances will scarcely fail also to arrive, although others, with Horsley, have supposed it to be Saltash. Dr. Borlase, referring to Ptolemy, says, " The third " city is Tamara, in which the name of the river Tamar is too " strong to be questioned, and Tamerton, on the eastern bank of " the river, lies almost opposite to Saltash, and must have been " the place." Polwhele, venturing, on very slender and question- able authority, to divide antient Danmonium into cantreds (which he says gave rise to hundreds) finds the principal town of the cantred of Tamara in Tamerton or Plymouth. Without adopting 8o . Huts, Forts, Roads, &c. this author's fanciful opinions on the subject of these supposed cantreds, we may conclude that there was a district of some extent, known by the name of Tamara, comprehending, perhaps, the tract of country bounded by the Tamar, the Dartmoor Hills, the Plym, and Plymouth Sound ; and that within these bound- aries, at the village of King's Tamerton, in the parish of St. Budeaux, the true site of the Tamara of the antients will probably be found, opposite to Saltash, on the Roman road to the ferry, and from its commanding situation, in full view of the estuary of the Tamar, and therefore a situation likely to be fixed upon by the Danmonian Britons, or the Phenician traders. Sirkce Diodorus describes Britain as a populous island, we may justly conclude that this description must have applied to that part of the country, concerning which he had received the most accurate information, viz., the metalliferous districts. Hence we infer that the south of Devon, before the Roman era of our history, was inhabited by a numerous population ; — that on the coast, at the mouths of the rivers flowing down from the hilly country, where the staple commodity of the island was raised, there would be smelting establishments, and ports for the ship- ment of the metal by foreign merchants ; — that the maritime inhabitants, from their intercourse with these traders, became comparatively civilized, and probably adopted many foreign practices and opinions, whilst the dwellers of the interior retained their nomadic habits, and preserved their primitive superstitions, amidst the Forest wilds and rugged steeps of Dartmoor, as Carrington soothly sings : — " These silent vales have swarm'd with human life. These hills have echo'd to the hunter's voice — Here rang the chase — the battle burn'd — the notes Of Sylvan joy at high festivities Awoke the soul to gladness! Dear to him, His native hill — in simple garb attired. The mountaineer here rov'd. 'Tis said that here The Druid wander'd. Haply have these hills, With shouts ferocious, and the mingled shriek, Inferences. 8i Resounded, when to Jupiter upflam'd, The human hecatomb. The franctic seer Here built his Sacred Circle ; for he lov'd To worship on the mountain's breast sublime — The earth his altar, and the bending heav'n His canopy magnificent. The rocks That crest the grove-crown'd hill, he scooped to hold The Lustral waters ; and to wond'ring crowds And ignorant, with guileful hand he rock'd The yielding Logan." CHAPTER V. The Perambulation Commenced, Stickle Path TO FiNGLE Bridge. HOGADECOSSDONNE stickle path TAW MARSH COSDON beacon RAY BARROW POOL CLANNABOROUGH COMMON WROTESBROOK SHILSTON tor — SCORHILL down and SACRED CIRCLE — WATERN TOR THIRLSTONE CRANMERE POOL FERNWORTHY GIDLEIGH — THE PUCKIE STONE THE TOLMEN CHAGFORD HOLY STREET SHILSTON DOLMEN BRADMERE POOL THE TEIGN LOGAN STONE — FINGLE BRIDGE, Having in the preceding chapters taken a compen- dious view of the several relics which may be re- garded as so many monu- ments, reflecting the few and flickering beams which history casts upon the obscure period to which they may with most probability be justly assigned ; and having shown that they are eminently characteristic of the peoples who must have occupied this part of England before it was subjugated by the Romans, we now pro- ceed to a topographical survey of the inter- esting district, whose very wildness and inaccessible character has insured their preservation, amidst the chances and changes of twenty centuries — the HOGA DE COSSDONNE. 83 venerable, and often the only, witnesses of the unrecorded events of aboriginal times. In pursuit of this object, let us take the antient Perambulators of Henry III. (1240) for our guides, following their course, as before referred to,* as closely as the imperfect vestiges which can still be traced will permit, and while with them we make the Perambulation from east to west, and " beat the bounds," let us endeavour to lead the contemplative wanderer to those objects of antiquarian interest and natural beauty most worthy of his e.xamination within the bounds, metes, and precincts of the antient and Royal Forest of Dartmoor. The Perambulators began their circuit at Hoga de Cossdonne, and thence in an easterly direction to a Little Hill, which they say is called Little Hundetorre. These two hills are the great one of Cosdon and the little one of Hundetorre, which is identified with Shelstone. The former is spelt in various ways, but the name given in the Ordnance map is now generally adopted, and Cawsand Beacon, once supposed to be the highest point, was a suitable place for the king's men to commence their work. They started probably from somewhere in the immediate neighbour- hood of Stickle Path. This picturesque village is on what was the great mail-road from Exeter to Okehampton, and into Cornwall, which road sweeps round the very base of Cosdon Hill. Here will be found accommodation such as may well content the moorland tourist bent on exploring the " wild and wondrous "region" extending beyond the eminence which towers so majestically above the village nestling among the thickets that fringe the rocky channel of the Taw, here issuing forth into the champaign country, from a noble mountain gorge. The Hoga, the point from which the Perambulators set out, must have been sufficiently near to Cosdon, to authorize our making Stickle Path the starting point of our Forest perambulation. Proceeding along the high road up the ascent from whence the village derives its name,! at its western extremity, we notice on the left hand, hard by the wayside, and on the verge of a rocky common, the shaft of an antient cross, formed of the durable granite from the neighbouring mountain. It stands nearly six 'Ante. p. 6. fStickle-Path, the steep road from Sticele (Saxon) steep and path. In the Devon- shire vernacular, we still retain the Saxon word; a stickle rpof is a high pitched r9o{. 84 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. feet high, is about eleven inches in thickness, and has its sides rudely sculptured in curves, lines, and crosses, with little regu- larity of design, but which, ha\'ing been much defaced by the weather or by violence, are scarcely discernible, unless the sun shines full upon the shaft.* Adjoining the cross, a path winds away into the upland gorge, formed by Cosdon on one side and the Belstone hills on the other. Looking down upon the windings of the Taw, with the mill and the cottages peering through the trees on its banks, we are strongly reminded of some of the softer features of Welsh scenery in similar situations. A rugged path through broken ground, high above the river's western bank, leads to Taw Marsh, t a plain of considerable extent, and remarkably level, dotted with huge masses of granite, and surrounded by lofty eminences, with all the features and incidents characteristic of the peculiar scenery of the moor. Here is one of the spots where the evidences of some mighty convulsion of nature strike the beholder with astonishment, and carry irresistible conviction to the mind. The characteristic tors of Belstone, cresting the rocky hills on the west, their sides sloping down to the marshy level through which the Taw winds its way, are strewn with blocks and slabs of granite, forming those aggregations of stone which are known to the moormen by the name of Clatters, J a term expressive of their confused appearance. Among those may be noticed, near the river's brink, a stone of so unusual a size, and so singularly shaped, that it has been supposed by some to have been artificially reduced to its present figure ; but a slight exam- ination is sufficient to prove that Nature alone has formed its rude outline, like a mimic gnomon of colossal proportions, and planted it firmly in the ground as if to mark the progress of the silent hours of the desert. Down through the rugged and precipitous glen on the south, comes the Taw, white with foam, and hastening to soothe his ruffled waters in the level channel of the plain below. Here, in Taw Marsh, the philosophic observer may detect evi- dences of the existence of groves and woods, which once appear •Mr. Crossing considers this an inscribed stone and not the shaft of a cross. The Crosses of Dartmoor and its Borders have received much careful investigation in two worlts by Mr. W. Crossing, published in 1887 and 1892. ■fDR. Arthur B. Prowse has carefully examined Taw Marsh and itssurroundmgs, and has described other interesting remains in the neighbourhood, besides those mentioned here. Vide Trans. Devon Assoc, vol. xxii., 1890, p. 185. IThe Clatter or Clitler is sometimes erroneously confounded with the Tor; but the latter is the natural rock, cresting the hill, while the Clatter is the collection of stones, apparently hurled promiscuously together, along its declivity. Taw Marsh. 85 to have clothed the valhes and acchvities of the moor to a far greater extent than at present. Deep in the antiseptic soil, here, and in similar situations, whence the peat has been removed, branches, trunks, and roots of trees, chiefly oak and birch, have been frequently found, which on exposure to the air, speedily acquire great hardness. The birch, as is well known, delights in the moorland soil, nor is there any jusi reason for questioning that the trees thus exhumed, once flourished on the spot where they were afterwards submerged in the morass, having probably been gradually undermined by the saturation of the ground with excessive moisture. Leaving these speculations, and the boggy level which has given rise to them, let us take advantage of the natural stepping- stones which during the summer may be found in the wider parts of its channel, to cross the Taw, and scale the steep of Cosdon which rises abruptly from the eastern bank. Advancing up the ascent, we shall soon look back upon Belstone Church ; and taking its tower for a landmark, shall find the advantage of making for the beacon on the summit of the mountain by shaping our upward course in a south-easterly direction. We shall thus also come upon one of those antient paved ways, in a state of good preservation, principally exhibiting the characteristics of the trackway, described in Chapter IV., but partaking somewhat of the character of the trackliiies also. The direction of this antient roadway, or boundary, or both, is from the valley and inclosed country N.E. by E. It can be traced to the extent of four hundred and seventy yards, and it terminates towards the west in another line of similar character, which runs off in an acute angle. As we ascend, our attention will be attracted by other monu- mental relics. Scarcely fifty yards from the trackway, a cairn, much dilapidated, and diminished by the removal of many of the stones, will be noticed. But when we have nearly reached the object of our toilsome ascent — " the windy summit huge and high," — we shall find a cairn of a peculiarly interesting description at no great distance from the highest point of the hill. Unlike those monumental erections in general which are merely extem- poraneous agglomerations of stones, inartificially heaped up in the form into which they would almost necessarily fall, this cairn betokens much more preparation and design in its construction. The pile is inclosed by a ring of slab stones closely set, leaning outwards, apparently by design, and some of them not less than \ 86 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. three feet in height. About sixty yards S.W. of the last, will be observed another cairn, of which the materials are unusually large. Surrounded by the stones of which the cairn is composed, is a kistvaen, about seven feet square. The sides of the kistvaen are formed of slabs in the usual way, and two of them remain erect, and perfectly forming one of the angles of the sarcophagus. The others are more or less inclined or prostrate, and some appear to have been removed. Seventy yards W.S.W. of the above, within the area of a circular inclosure, similar to that observed near Hound Tor, formed of slabs set closely together, and fifty- four feet in diameter, is a dilapidated kistvaen eight feet square, and apparently exhibiting traces of an inner coffin, or sarcophagus, the coverstone of which is not more than two feet and a half broad. One of these kistvaens may probably be Cosdon House, of which the moormen speak as existing somewhere on Cosdon Beacon. Somewhat more than a hundred yards N.E. by N. from the kistvaen last described, is a circular inclosure totally different from the former, as the stones of which it is composed are small and pebbly, and irregularly heaped together, forming a sort of miniature Pound, and, with the exception of a small portion of the circumference, in a remarkably perfect condition. The area inclosed by it is boggy ground, although it is very nearly on the highest part of the mountain on which Cosdon Beacon stands, at an elevation of 1,799 feet above the level of the sea. This far-famed beacon bears south east from Belstone Church, and was long thought to occupy the loftiest spot in Devonshire and consequently in the south of England.'' But recent observa- tions have proved that this is not so, as we shall see further on, but Cosdon apparently has the advantage, from its rising immediately, without any intervening high ground, from the lowland country at its base. From this circumstance, it has more the appearance of a true mountain than any other of the Dartmoor Hills, though Mistor, seen from the gorge of the Walkham, cannot be regarded as a rival of mean pretensions. The cairn on the summit, is about ninety yards in circum- ference, and appears to have been opened in two distinct places, where there are hollows of considerable size; but for what purposes these hollows have been dug, does not appear, unless •It is perhaps not generally known that the Dartmoor hills are the loftiest South of Cader Idris and Snowdon, Skiddaw, Helvellyn, and Ingleborough. CosDON Beacon. 87 with the view of forming a kind of hearth for the reception of the fuel of which the beacon-fire was made. Few places could have been chosen more admirably adapted for the purpose of rousing the whole neighbourhood than this, where the eye can sweep _ three-fourths of the entire horizon, and look forth upon the greatest part of North Devon, with large portions of the Western and Eastern districts of the county, and some of the loftier points of Cornwall, Somerset, and Dorset. Exmoor looms large and distinct in the north, and it is said that the Bristol Channel can be seen on a clear day, which is perfectly possible, while there is no doubt that the English Channel, off Teignmouth, is distinctly visible. Imagine, then, the bale fire kindled on this commanding eminence. Heytor, which rises full in view against the south- eastern sky, would instantly catch the intelligence, and repeat the signal to Buckland Beacon, above Ashburton, whence it would be as speedily communicated to Brent. Brent would report to its neighbour the Eastern Beacon, which would repeat the signal to the Western, above Ivybridge. Pen Beacon, in full view of Plymouth Sound, would alarm the coast, and send the fiery despatch around the Western Quarter and through the central moorlands by Eylesburrow, Believer, and Mistor, till Amicombe and Yes Tor caught the intelligence on the north-west, and sent it by Kit Hill, Treninnow,* Caradon, and Rowtor, through the whole Cornish peninsula. In the north the flaming telegraph would be discernible from the entrenchments on Mockham Down, the southern outposts of E.xmoor, and from thence would be rapidly communicated to Dunkery Beacon, and the loftiest hills in Somersetshire. Let us not leave this lofty and solitary spot without observing how e.xactly it illustrates the allusion of the prophet Isaiah (xxx., 17) — "left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as "an ensign on an hill" — nor shall we fail to reflect how widely this ready and natural mode of conveying intelligence has pre- vailed in various countries, and in all ages of the world Beacons were not only used to spread the alarm of an approaching enemy, + and to rouse the population for the defence of the country, but were resorted to for despatching other tidings of importance. Among the Jews, notice was given of the appearance of the new *Treninnow Beacon, above VVhitsand Bay. fBeacon fires are mentioned as having being kindled upon the towers of Bethulia, on the invasion of Judsa by the Assyrians under Holofernes. — JuuiTH vii., 5. 88 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. moon, by firing beacons set up for that purpose. The same mode of telegraphic communication was practised by the Greeks, as the intelligence of the taking of Troy, according to ^schylus, was thus conveyed to Clyteninestra. Reluctantly leaving the beacon and the noble panorama it commands, we proceed down the south-western declivity, and nearly opposite Belstone Tor, shall observe a group of circular basements, the remains of aboriginal dwellings, nine in number, partly within and partly without an inclosure of similar construc- tion, three hundred and forty yards in circumference. Still lower down the declivity a trackway may be traced leading from the valley of the Taw, in a south westerly direction. To mount the summit of Cosdon and regain the valley on the opposite side will not be a difficult task for a vigorous pedestrian, and may be accomplished, with due allowance for detention by the antiquities and the prospect, in about two hours. The top can also be reached from the Sticklepath side on horseback, by those who may prefer the aid of a moor pony for that purpose. Towards Throvvleigh on the eastern side the descent is gradual and easy, and in this direction our perambulation now proceeds. Crossing a stream which flows down from the little tarn, des- cribed in the old one inch ordnance map as Raybarrow Pool, we shall soon reach Clannaborough Common, between the inclosed lands of Throwleigh and Shellstone Hill, and about one mile west of Throwleigh church. Here, was formerly to be seen, one of the most remarkable specimens of aboriginal architecture to be found on the Moor. We are confident that it had never been described by antiquaries, until we printed our account of it, although in some respects it is even more curious than Grimspound. It was called a Pound by the moormen, but from the small area inclosed and the description of walling, it appears to have been erected for purposes different from those contemplated in the Cyclopean structures popularly comprehended under the general designation of Pounds. Much more regularity of design, and exactness of construction than we have noticed in any other instance was exhibited in the wall, yet it was evidently of aboriginal character. This wall remained in an unusually perfect state, and the stones of which it was formed, instead of being thrown together as in the vast amphitheatre of Grimspound and in other similar enclosures, were laid in courses in several parts of the wall where they were of comparatively small size ; while in others, huge blocks A Lost Monument. 89 occupied the whole height of the wall, standing from two feet and a half to four feet above the ground. The average thickness of the wall thus formed was above seven feet, and on the western side it was built against the slope of the hill. The area was remarkably free from ruins, and appeared to have been hollowed out. We are afraid not a vestige of this remains. It was perfect when the first edition of this work was printed. In immediate connexion with it, was a trackline running down the hill eastward. Ruinated dwellings and other antient remains abound in its immediate neighbourhood. Among the rest, half a furlong south of the former, is another circle of similar character, but of smaller dimensions, twenty-four feet and a half in diameter, much more dilapidated, and having its area strewn with ruins All the surrounding objects convey the idea of an aboriginal settlement, and the situation is precisely such as our British progenitors are known to have chosen in other parts of the moor. Here, as in many other instances, regard seems to have been had to the supply of water. The streamlet from Raybarrow flows, at a short distance in its course, towards Pain's Bridge ; and, still nearer, a tributary of the Teign rises immediately below Shellstone Tor. Both these streams wind their devious way towards Chagford, to unite with the Teign, in its southward progress, while within a few yard? of the former, a brook takes its rise from the roots of the Cosdon, and joins the Taw in its course to the Bristol Channel in the north. Shilston Tor or Shellstone Hill was identified by C. Spence Bate, as the " Parvum Hogam," and not Hound Tor, the latter tor being west of Cosdon and not east, and two miles, and not one, as the place sought for should be, distant from it. One of the tributaries of the Teign, just referred to, may possibly be the Wotesbrook, described in the Perambulation as falling into that river. Or it may be the stream which we shall observe in our progress over Endsworthy Hill, flowing in the hollow below towards Wallabrook, but this we are unable to ascertain. Above, on Shellstone and Endsworthy Hills, are cairns or barrows, placed, like most other monuments of this description, on the crest of the eminences. Nearly due west from Endsworthy, Steepeiton Tor and Hound Tor rise above the course of the Taw, but will scarcely offer attractions enough to draw us so far away from the interesting object which we begin to discern, after we cross Buttern Hill and descend the slope of Scorhill Down. This go The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. is the sacred circle of Scorhiil, and is by far the finest example of this rude kind of relic in Devonshire ; and although unnoticed by antiquaries or topographers, may successfully dispute the palm with many that have acquired historical celebrity, such as the circle at Castle Rigg, near Keswick, or that at Rollright, in Oxfordshire. Scorhiil"' Circle stands near the tor of that name on the downs west of Gidleigh Park, and at a short distance above the Wallabrook, at its confluence with the North Teign. The rugged and angular appearance of the massive stones of which this rude hypaethral temple is constructed, forms a striking contrast to the Grey Wethers — the Sacred Circle below Sittaford Tor, which are of a squarer and more truncated form. The two principal columnar masses in this granite peristyle stand at nearly opposite points of the circle ; the highest, which in its widest part is about thirty inches, rising nearly eight feet from the surface and the other standing upwards of six feet. The lowest are about three feet high ; eight stones lie on the ground and twenty-four of these time worn obelisks still maintain their erect position, and twenty stones would be required to fill up the vacancies. The circle is ninety feet in diameter. There is no appearance of any central column or altar, and the whole of the inclosure has evidently been industriously cleared of stones, as the surrounding common without the area of the circle is abundantly strewed with the usual moorstone. Such then is the finest and most complete specimen of a sacred circle in the county, and few spots could have been chosen more in accordance with our notions of the requirements of that singular system of worship, which, as we learn from undoubted contemporary testimony was carried to such a pitch of perfection in Britain that the Gauls who wished to be initiated into its most recondite mysteries repaired to this island for instruction,! as to the general university of the Druidical communion. Our course now leads to the Wallabrook, which flows at the foot of Scorhiil Down. The means of crossing is afforded by one of the primitive bridges, of which we have so many examples on the Moor, consisting of a single slab of ponderous granite, fifteen feet long, nearly three wide, and twenty inches thick. Pro- 'Query Scaur, q.d. Scaurhill. Scot in Gaelic means a sharp rugged peak. f Disciplinain Britannia reperta, atque inde in Galliam translata esse existimatur. Et nunc qui diligentiiis earn rem cognoscere volunt, plerumqus illo.disceudi caussa, proficiscunlur. C^sar. Bell. Gall., lib. vi., 13. w Q CO OS III o o ai a: < Watern Tor. gt ceeding westwards, we shall cross the swampy flat, between the Wallabrook and North Teign, and mount Watern Hill to examine the singular tor which forms so conspicuous an object on the northern extremity of the ridge. Watern Tor is one of the many remarkable natural conformations of the granite rock which will repay a more particular examination. It consists of a series of piles, rising from the ridge of the hill, the stratification of which presents the appearance of laminar masses in a horizontal position. The two piles at the N.N.E. extremity, in one part near the top, approach so closely, as to appear to unite when seen from some points of view, leaving a large oval aperture in the tor, through which, the moormen say, a man can ride on horseback. But on a closer examination, it will be observed that there is an interval of at least one foot wide in the narrowest part ; and in the widest, the piles stand about eight feet apart, leaving ample room for man and horse to pass through. This aperture appears to have given rise to the name of Thirlstone,* by which this part of the tor is known. The lesser of the two piles, if viewed apart from the rest of the tor, is not unlike the far -famed Cheeswring, on the Cornish moors, but the courses (to borrow a term from masonry) are thinner. Its elevation is about twenty feet above the grassy surface of the hill. Had all rock basins been merely natural formations, we think many would have been found on Watern Tor, but not one example is to be found. Following the ridge of the hill at the southern extremity, we shall observe a large barrow or cairn of the ordinary description. Other similar cairns will be noticed on the opposite hi!! near Wild Tor, and on the higher hills above Taw Head, towards which we shall now bend our course, bearing due west from the cairn on Watern Hill. Watern Tor being a well known object, may serve the tourist as a landmark in his search for Cranmere Pool, which hides itself almost as successfully from the Dartmoor explorer, as the Nile concealed his fountains from the antients. From the cairn at the eastern end of Watern Hill above mentioned, we descend to the Wallabrook (here, only a small rivulet near its source,) and proceeding westward to White Horse Hill, which is a track of high heathy land, undistinguished by tors, ridges or bold features, but probably taking its name from large patches of the granite floor of the mountain having been laid bare and •Thirlstone — thirl, dirl, or JriU-slone ; the perforated stone. 92 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. whitened by exposure, presenting probably, at a distance, the rude outline of a horse. In this immediate neighbourhood, quantities of turf are cut for fuel, and somewhat beyond the farthest point of the turf-cutters operations,'" the approach to Cranmere may be made on horseback without difficulty. The tourist will find himself on the borders of the vast expanse of boggy tableland, which characterizes the remotest and most inaccessible parts of the moorland wilderness. If he has penetrated thus far by the aid of a Dartmoor pony, he will find it prudent to take advantage of the rude hut which the turf-cutters have raised in this wild spot, for temporary shelter against " the war of elements," to leave his horse, and pursue his wearisome way on foot towards Cran- mere Pool. The way in itself is toilsome, as you are continually plunging into the plashy soil ; or, to avoid getting knee-deep in the bogs, are constrained to leap from tuft to tuft of the firmer patches of rushy ground. Nor is there anything in the surround- ing scenery to cheer the wanderer who requires a succession of new and attractive objects to animate him in his progress. Here the image of "a waste and howling wilderness" is fully realized. Glance where it may, the same slightly undulating, but unvarying surface of heath, common, and morass, presents itself to the eye. Scarcely even a granite block on the plain, or a tor on the higher ground, " breaks the deep-felt monotony " of the scene. Yet in this very monotony there is a charm, for it gives birth to a feeling that you are now in the domains of primaeval Nature, and that this is one of the few spots where no indication of man's presence or occupancy are to be traced. The few sounds that, at long intervals, disturb the brooding silence of the desert — the plaintive cry of the curlew, or the whirring rustle of the heath-fowl, roused by the explorer's unexpected tread — the sighing wind, suddenly wrapping him perhaps in a mist-wreath, or the feeble tinklings of the infant streamlets — for we are now amidst the fountains of the Dartmoor rivers — are all characteristic of the scene ; and wild, remote, and solitary as it is, this central morass is thus associated with the richest, most populous, and loveliest spots of our fair and fertile Devon. Hence, then, in imagination, we follow the mountain-born streams, along their devious course to the distant ocean, through green pastures and wavy cornfields — by the noisy mill and the plenteous farm — now lingering by the fragrant- *The Moor-men call the spots where peat is cut for fuel, turve, i.e., turf, tics. o o » u < It The Urn of Cranmere. 93 blossomed orchard, and now sweeping by the golden furze-clad hill ; now flashing in sunshine along the enamelled meadows, and now darkling beneath deep " o'erarching groves ;" at one time mirroring the simple cottages and grey steeple of the sequestered village, and anon where the tidal waters have widened into a lake and deepened into a harbour, bearing on their ample bosom, the riches of commerce, and the terrors of war — reflecting the bristling masts of the crowded port — or the guarded battlements of the frowning citadel. All these are present to the mind's eye ; and whilst by contrast with the visible objects around, they render the desert still more waste and lonely, they will not fail to remind us of the justice of the poet's acknowledgment of the obligations of the smiling lowlands to Dartmoor, as " the source of half their " beauty." Accordingly Carrington has sung the " Urn of Cranmere " in strains of harmonious eulogy. " What time the lib'ral mountain-flood has fill'd The Urn of Cranmere, and the moisten'd moor Pours to the dales the largess of the heavens ! O let me wander, then, while freshness breathes. Along the grateful meads, and list the voice, Dartmoor — exhaustless Dartmoor — of thy streams. Thou land of streams !" But Cranmere Pool itself, is not, as it is sometimes supposed, the source of the numerous streams which pour down from the reservoir which nature has established in this lofty but humid region. Taw Head is half a mile distant eastward ; the sources of the Tavy are under Great Kneeset, a mile to the south-west ; Dart Head about the same distance south ; and the springs of the Teign still farther in a south-easterly direction. Ockment alone flows from Cranmere Pool, which was the largest piece of water in Dartmoor or its precincts, where we can boast of nothing like the mountain tarns of Wales and Cumberland. It is exceedingly difficult to find without a guide, and when the indefatigable tourist has reached the object of his toilsome walk he may perhaps scarcely think that the deep dark-looking hollow before him, imperfectly filled with water, with the heap of stones, has repaid him for the trouble he has taken to penetrate the watery fastnesses of the moor. The pool was formerly of an oblong form, and at its brink was about 220 yards in circumference and with an average depth of five feet. The bank some fifty years 94 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. ago was apparently dug through on the northern side and the result is that for a considerable time past it has been and is now nearly dry, a mere hollow in the bog, but the outline of its former extent is clearly to be seen. In this direction the springs of the Ockment find an outlet, and flow below Links Tor and Amicombe Hill towards Okehampton. We shall find nothing to detain us in the Cranmere morasses, from whence these variously wandering streams take their rise, after we have satisfied our curiosity with the inspection of what remains of the Pool, and shall therefore return to the White Horse Hill. Proceeding eastward we shall notice some vestiges of antient mining operations above the course of the North Teign, which we shall cross by a primitive Cyclopean bridge of three openings, in a state of high preservation. In character it is similar to Post Bridge but on a smaller scale. The piers are built of rough unwrought granite masses ; and the roadway over is rather less than seven feet wide, formed of slabs of the same durable material. The length of the bridge is twenty-seven feet and eight feet wide. Opinions differ as to whether it is of antient or recent erection. Mr. R. Burnard says the latter unhesitatingly. Passing over the hill through extensive turf-ties towards Sittaford Tor, we reach the circles popularly known by the name of the Grey Wethers. The circumference of these circles almost touch each other. They were, in the opinion of the late G. W. Ormerod, originally apparently constructed of thirty-two stones each, some of these are still erect. The largest has been dis- placed and lies on the ground. It is a slab four feet nine inches wide, less than a foot thick, and must have originally stood about five feet high. The north circle is in diameter one hundred feet and the south one hundred and five feet."' Returning eastward, and leaving the North Teign on the left, within two miles from Grey Wethers, we shall reach Frogymead Hill, adjoining Fernworthy. Here is another circle of a similar description but of smaller dimensions. Its diameter is sixty-three feet. Twenty-six stones now remain about three feet apart, still preserving their original position, but one has recently fallen. Mr. Ormerod thought that originally there were thirty-one stones. The highest stands four feet from the ground. •These have been carefully examined and planned by Mr. Robert Burnard. and full descriptions and measurements will be found in the second volume of his " Dartmoor Pictorial Records, " pp. 49, 54. H z; o GiDLEiGH Menhir and Rows. 95 Passing the enclosed lands, and reaching the other side of the little stream which flows into the South Teign, above the river itself upon Thornworthy Down, the cairn, opened by Mr. Samuel H. Slade in 1879, may be visited. It contained two kistvaens, the smaller of which was removed to, and is now in the Museum of the Torquay Natural History Society. A flint knife and a flint scraper, and two other flints were found, and also fragments of an earthenware vessel, one of the very few instances of pottery being found upon Dartmoor.* Proceeding northward, about a mile and a half from Frogy- mead, we shall explore a cluster of remarkable relics, beginning with the Gidleigh Rock Pillar, called in the Ordnance Map, Long Stone. The letters D.G. inscribed on one face, and D.C. on another, denoting the division between the parishes of Gidleigh, Chagford, and Dartmoor Forest, show that this primitive obelisk has been used as a boundary stone in modern times ; but that it is a fine specimen of the genuine Menhir of antiquity, there can be no reasonable doubt. It stands on the slope of a hill, about a mile S.W. of Castor Rock, and is evidently in conne.xion with the avenues and circles, referred to in a former chapter of this work. The stone measures twelve feet in height, and is at the base, three feet by two feet. The avenues, although presenting the same general features with those at Merivale, are in far less perfect preser^'ation . If any of these parallelithons deserve the name of Ciirsus, which has been sometimes applied to them, from the supposition that they were designed as race courses by our British forefathers, the Longstone Avenue certainly could not have been one. The ground is ill-adapted for the purposes of a hippodrome ; while on the other hand, the construction and arrangements indicate to the believer its character as a Via Sacra or piocrssionnl road of Druidical worship, according to the Arkite ceremonial. Beginning on the acclivity above Longstone Maen, the avenue passes over the hill towards the Teign in the direction of the great Sacred Circle on Scorhill Down, above described. The Teign flows at the distance of about one mile from the Pillar, and this row, one hundred and fifty four j'ards long, terminates in full view of another, near at hand, which runs down the declivity towards the river. At its southern extremity, is a dilapidated cairn, the only- example observed in the immediate neighbourhood. The avenue •W. PSNGELLY. Trans, Devon Assoc. Vol. xxii., 1880, p. 365. 96 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. instead of being perfectly straight, as at Merivale and Stanlake, in the West Quarter, is in some parts slightly curvilinear. This is the only indication of an ophite feature which we have been able to detect in any of the Danmonian avenues, and it is so slightly serpentine, as scarcely to warrant the belief, indulged in by some, that the vestiges of a Dracontium or Serpent Temple may here be traced. The avenue appears suddenly to stop one hundred and ten yards from the kistvaen. From its second commencement it runs nearly direct, and almost parallel to another at a short distance down the declivity eastward. These two avenues can be traced about one hundred and forty yards, the eastern having its commencement at two large stones lying on the ground on the north side of three concentric circles. There are ten stones in the outer circles, six in the middle circle, and eight in the third. The diameters are, outer circle twenty-six feet, middle circle twenty feet, and third circle three feet. This avenue runs down the hill, becoming more and more imperfect until it disappears for a considerable interval. ■' There is however apparently a distinct termination later on, in two erect stones, which stand apart, although evidently in the same line. Great havoc was made with these monuments, when the walls of Thornworthy New-take were erected. At the same time what is supposed to have been a Dolmen, known as the " Three Boys," was destroyed, two of the great stones having been removed. The impost was lost long before. Taking Castor Rock for our landmark we shall now bend our steps northwards, and on the western acclivity of the hill from which that conspicuous tor rises, we shall notice an interesting specimen of the hut circle or ruined habitation, surrounded by an external inclosure. By the moormen it is well known as the Roundy Pound, and is situated near a moorland road which forms the boundary between the parishes of Chagford and Gidleigh. This consists of an external enclosure in the form of a spherical triangle, with an inner circle nearly adjoining the north west side of the outer enclosure. The walls were probably built of upright rough masonry, those of the inner circle have had care paid them in their erection, and the door jambs still remain. The inner circle is thirty-five feet in diameter and the wall about five feet thick. The area between this circle and the outer enclosure, now a con- fused heap of stones, was divided into six compartments by *G. W. Ormerod. Rude ston^ remain; on the Easterly side of Dartmoor. i8y6, p. 9. Castor Rock. 97 narrow walls extending from the inner circle to the outer enclosure. Here is a small hut circle ten feet in diameter at the north angle of the outer enclosure, and a small triangular enclosure adjoins the remains of the outer wall of the western side. The late Mr. Ormerod has* described the foundations of other remains situate about a hundred yards to the south of the Roundy Pound, consisting of small enclosures and two huts which he has named the Square Pound. There are no other huts within a hundred yards of these pounds. At Bovey Combe Head there is an enclosure greatly resembling the Roundy Pound, which Mr. Ormerod describes.! Castor Rock rises high above Chagford, and, standing on one of the outposts of Dartmoor, forms a conspicuous object from a large tract of North Devon, and consequently commands a varied and extensive prospect. From Cosdon in the N.W., to Mardon in the E., the eye ranges round a grand amphitheatre of moor and mountain. Besides Cosdon Beacon, Yes Tor, Watern Tor, White Horse Hill, Warren Tor, Heytor, and East Down above Manadon, are all conspicuous eminences. Haldon, the Blackdown hills, and Exmoor, bound the view in the distant horizon. Chagford " tower and town " are seen on the slope below Middledown in front, with the rocky dells and sylvan wilds of Gidleigh on one side, and the glades and groves of Whiddon Park on the other. On Castor, besides five other smaller ones, is one of the finest, so called rock basins, on the moor, it is seven feet six inches in diameter at the top, four feet two inches, half-way down, and two feet at the bottom, and is two feet seven inches in depth. This basin was discovered by Mr. Ormerod, in 1856, it having been completely concealed by heather and it is now surrounded by iron rails to prevent accidents to cattle. On Middletor, a singular rock on the same common, is another very perfect specimen of the Rock Basin, almost circular in form, and about six inches deep. One side of this tor overhangs at least ten feet, and forms a massive granite canopy, under which the cattle frequently are seen to take shelter. Descending the hill towards Chagford, we pass over Teigncombe Down, where many hut circles, tracklines and other antient vestiges will be noticed. Teigncombe Common lane, through which our course now leads, may be noticed as a •Ormerod. Op.cit. p. 11. ]0p. cit. p. II. '; 98 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. curiosity. Of all the approaches to the moor, by which turf, furze, etc., are conveyed to the neighbouring farms and villages, and cattle driven, this is certainly the most extraordinary. It is difficult to conceive anything bearing the name of a road less suited to the purpose than Teigncombe Common lane, which is nothing more than a gulley between two hedges. The steep floor is bare granite, strewn with boulders and stones of the same material, many of them deposited there by the force of the torrents rushing from the hills. In former years all the turf for the supply of the immediate neighbourhood was brought down this lane on packhorses, but since carts have come into general use, it is now only traversed by the sure-footed moor pony, or by cattle pasturing on the common above. In our downward progress, we follow the course of the South Teign, through broken ground and little verdant crofts, so charac- teristic of the moorland borders, to Yeo Bridge, passing through the little hamlet of Teigncombe, where was formerly a chapel, the ruins of which are still to be seen, served from the mother Church of Chagford. Here the banks rise into steep cliffs, and form richly wooded dells, at the bottom of which, the stream hurries along, foaming over the rocky masses of which the channel is formed. Just below Lee Bridge, is the junction of the North and South Teign, whose united waters run from thence towards Holy Street, through the deep and rugged glen which bounds Gidleigh Park on the south. Scarcely half a mile above Holy Street, a tor rises near the river's brink on the south side, called by the country people the Puckie, Puckle, or Puggie Stone, and cele- brated for the large rock-basin, or pan (as it is popularly called) on its summit. The antiquary, trusting to local report, will be disappointed when, after having succeeded in scaling the rock, he finds that the characteristics of the genuine rock-basin, as herein- before described, are not sufficiently clear to enable him to pronounce that this is not one of the examples attributable exclusively to the operation of natural agencies. Although of large size, it is not of the usual circular form, nor do its sides display any decisive indications of artificial adaptation. '■■ But if "The author was shown, at the old house at Holy Street, by the late Mr. Nicholas Clampit, a semi-circular stone which appears originally to Iiave formed half of a circle of eighteen inches diameter. There had evidently been a hole perforated in the centre, about two inches in diameter, and the appearance of the stone altogether was that of a part of the upper stone of an antient quern or hand-mill. It had been dug out of a swampy spot on Holy Street Farm, which Mr. Clampit was engaged in w s 5 The Teign Tolmen. gg disappointed in the main object of his research, the explorer will be repaid for his escalade, by the commanding view he will have gained of the wild- wood glen, down which the Teign rushes, foaming along its rock-bound channel, in all the youthful vigour of a mountain-born torrent. And if, on his descent from the crest of the Puckie Rock, he will brave the difficulties of the rugged glen before him, and thread his adventurous path up the course of the North Teign, he will skirt the fine woodland scenery of Gidleigh Park, until he emerges upon the moor, amidst the countless granite masses which strew the steep sides of the declivity, or have been precipitated into the channel of the river, checking the force of the headlong current for a moment, and forming a succession of miniature cascades. Among these, let us pause to remark a singular mass, lying near the right or northern bank of the river, as we ascend the stream, which, had there been no other object of attraction, would repay the antiquary for his walk up this sequestered and romantic glen. This granite mass, approaching to an irregular rectangular form on its north side, is embedded in the channel of the Teign, and rests on two subjacent rocks, at an angle of about twenty-five degrees. The outline of the stone, above the surface, measures about thirty feet, and near the southern edge is a large and deep perforation, of a form so regular, that at first view, it will scarcely fail to convey the idea of artificial preparation, but a closer inspection will probably lead to the conclusion that natural circumstances, within the range of possibility, may have concurred to produce this singular conformation, although, on the other hand, it is far from improbable, that advantage might have been taken of some favourable accident of nature, and as in the case of the Logan stone, art had perfected the operations of nature, and this remarkable cavity had thus been adapted to the rites of Druidism, for lustration or some other religious ceremonial, which is the tradition connected wittrthis stone by the legendary chroniclers draining. There were several others of a similar description, and one, a perfect circle with a hole in the centre, taken from the spot at some considerable depth below the surface. If not parts of the antient hand-mills referred to in Holy Writ (Isa. xlvii., 2 — Jer. xxiii., lo — Matt, xxiii., 41, etc.) universally used among the nations of the east, and doubtless known to the Phenicians, and to our aboriginal ancestors, I am at a loss to conjecture for what purpose such stones could have been intended. If they really are pans of primitive querns, or hand-mills, then have we in our moorland district, not only numerous remains of the dwellings of the original inhabitants, but a curious specimen of their domestic utensils. The hole is exactly similar to that described by Fosbrooke, as made in the upper mill-stone of the ant:ents. for pouring in the corn. (Encyc. Antiq., p. 308). He remarks that specimens are quite common, and refers to one figured in NIontfaucon, roo The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. of the moor. But its present condition (as it has no bottom) pre- cludes the possibility of its having been used as a rock basin, except in some extraordinary flood, when the waters of the river might rise above the under surface of the block, and partially fill the cavity so as to admit of its being appropriated to the purposes of a font or lustral vessel. It presents the appearance of a cylin- drical trough, hollowed out in the granite, just three feet in diameter at the top, about two feet ten inches at bottom, and two feet eight inches in depth, with a convexity in the middle like a barrel. The outer side, towards the centre of the stream, is partially broken away, thus rendering the cylinder imperfect in that direction, leaving a curved breach in the southern face of the mass, about two feet high, and thus adding to the singular appearance of this curious relic, whether seen from the northern or southern bank of the river. When this breach might' have taken place, and whether in past ages the bottom and side might not have been perfect, can, of course, be only matter of conjecture. Under these circumstances, or on the supposition that the river might occasionally rise sufficiently high to fill the cavity, its being employed for lustral purposes is perfectly imaginable. To this, or some other Druidical ceremonial, it is traditionally supposed to have been appropriated ; and while this primitive font was so used for adults, the legends of the moor relate that a smaller one (which is supposed to have been destroyed) was resorted to for children. Without therefore pronouncing that this was never " a rock " which the Druid " scoop'd to hold the lustral waters," the antiquary will not fail to have suggested to his mind another kind of aboriginal relic, from an inspection of this curious memorial of by-gone ages. From its present aspect, he will probably conclude that it should rather be pronounced a Tolmen ;* and if it really belong to this class of relics, the interest with which we shall regard it, will be much increased, as it is the only known specimen in Devonshire. It has hitherto escaped the notice of topographers and antiquaries ; and while the Cromlech, the Logan-stone, and Grimspound are popularly known, and have been described in county histories and topographical and antiquarian works, this singular relic, unique in its character, and obscure in its destina- tion, is known only to the oral topographers of the moor. The accompanying circumstances of the tolmen in the Teign 'Vide Chap, iii., p. 44. Chagford Town. ioi are strikingly similar. The sacred circle stands at a short distance on Scorhill Down. On Middletor, near Castor Rock, on the other side of the Teign, as we have mentioned, is a fine rock- basin. Not far south-west, is placed the Longstone-pillar, already described, in immediate connexion with the cursus, or paral- lelithons, on the slope of the hill below Batworthy. Here then, as at Brimham Moor, we find an assemblage of relics, " which " seems to indicate a chosen spot for religious ceremonies ;" and here, as in the Yorkshire example, we find the Tolmen in imme- diate connexion with other monuments of primitive character and incontestable antiquity. Should the tourist, instead of proceeding up the glen from Holy Street, visit the tolmen, from Longstone and the avenues, he will find it by following the course of the Teign downwards, at forty yards from the spot where the Walla- brook falls into that river, immediately opposite a new-take wall, which separates Batworthy from the Moor, and which terminates on the southern bank, in front of the holed part of the stone. We have remarked that the assemblage of relics at this spot, seems to designate it as a place, dedicated in past ages, to the celebration of religious ceremonies, the general nature of which it is not difficult to conjecture, although it may not be easy to assign to the different monuments, the particular ceremonies for which they were originally designed. But the observation may be justly extended to a much wider scope, than the immediate precincts of the Teign Tolmen. The whole neighbourhood is rich in pre- historic remains, and if the antiquary wished to estabUsh himself at a point where, as from a centre, he could, within a moderate circumference, have the means of inspecting a specimen of the several monuments of Danmonian ajitiquity ; he could fix on no place more advantageously situated for the accomplishment of his wishes, than the pleasant little town of Chagford, where he will find comfortable accommodation at respectable inns, and be placed within reach of those various objects of antiquarian interest and picturesque beauty, with which the neighbourhood abounds. Chagford itself, as an antient Stannary and market town, built on a pleasing acclivity, backed by the lofty eminence of Middledown, with its jagged crest — a preniinent outpost of the granite range — with the moor stretching away indefinitely in the distance, and the diversified vale of the Teign directly in front, is well worthy of a visit. It presents some of the most interesting 102 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. characteristics of our moorland border towns. There is an air of picturesque informality in its general appearance. Many of the houses are of moorstone, grey, antient looking, substantial ; some with projecting porches and parvis-room over, and granite mullioned windows, while a perennial stream, fresh from the neighbouring hills, and clear as that which flowed from the Blandusian font, speeds vivaciously along the principal street, through a clean moorstone channel. The church, substantially built of native granite, with its stiurdy steeple of the same durable material — embattled porch with granite-groined vault, springing from low columns, with Norman-looking capitals — appropriately forms the central and principal object, among the simple buildings of this quiet, retired border-town. The quaint little market-place is in perfect keeping with the accompanying features of the scene. Standing apart from any great thoroughfare, the echoes of the Chagford hills are never awakened by the " twanging horn," nor its streets roused by the rattle of the stage-coach or royal mail. At the door of the Three Crowns, a postchaise is still, nearly at the close of the nineteenth century, enough of a phenomenon, to collect a group of rustic gazers. The carriage-road from Moreton to Okehampton and the north of Devon, passes over Rushford Bridge, about a mile from the town ; but the roads and lanes leading to the adjacent parishes, hamlets, farms, and commons, are, for the most part, so steep and rugged, as to be ill- adapted for any vehicles, where springs form an integral requisite in the construction. Accordingly, the methods of conveyance and transit partake of the olden times, and are characteristic alike of the country and the inhabitants. Breasting a formidable ascent on the south, the road to Ashburton is much better adapted to the packhorse of the last century, than to the carts or wagons of the present day ; while the upland track — which the western traveller, to his no small wonder, is admonished, by a timely finger post, to follow, as the road to Tavistock — scales a precipitous hill, and would have been far more suited to the wary paces of the palfrey of the abbot of the religious house of that antient town in by-gone days, than to the poles and springs of the Broughams and Britschkas of modern times. Instead of the convenient market-car of the lowlands, we therefore observe, without surprise, that panniers maintain the ascendancy with the rustic dames of the neighbourhood, and the phenomenon of a double horse, with saddle and pad, or even the antiquarian curiosity of a pilhon, Out of Date Agricultural Implements. 103 might recently, and perhaps may still be met with in the rugged and narrow by-ways of a district where rural manners and old- world customs still linger, and find an asylum which modern fashions render every day more precarious and untenable. Among the patriarchs of the hills, the straight-breasted blue coat (the relic and memorial of the 'prentice suit, or the wedding garments) made before the revolutionary innovation of lappels had been imported from republican France, may still be seen with (but a much rarer occurrence), the shoe fastened with buckle and strap, a memorial of the days of " their hot youth when George the " Third was king." In the market and at church the observant eye will trace also among the elder women the vestiges of the fashions of their youth in the carefully preserved red cloak, with its graceful and convenient hood — the respectable looking matronly silk bonnet, edged with black lace, and set off by the becoming mob cap of past generations. On a rainy day, the costume of such a matron will be characteristically completed by the umbrella, with which she protects her head-gear from the impending shower. The faded green cotton material ; the stout stick, with a few faint vestiges of original paint, the ring at the top ; the substantial whalebone ribs, enough to furnish forth a dozen of the flimsy productions of modern bazaars ; the absence of crook and ferule (and every similar contrivance to make the umbrella perform the additional duty of a walking stick) all characterize this as a specimen of original construction, and point to a time when the appearance of this useful invention at a Devonshire church, would cause a general sensation in the congregation, and furnish more than a nine days' wonder to the v/hole neighbourhood. Many agricultural implements, which have quite disappeared in ■ the more level districts, will still be found in the homesteads of the hilly country. In such a place as Chagford, the cooper, or rough carpenter, will still find a demand for the pack-saddle, with its accompanying furniture of crooks, crubs, or dung-pots. Before the general mtroduction of carts, these rough and ready con- trivances were found of great utility in the various operations of husbandry, and still prove exceedingly convenient in situations almost, or altogether, inaccessible to wheel carriages. The long crooks are used for the carriage of corn, in sheaf, from the harvest field to the mowstead or barn — for the removal of furze, browse, faggot -wood, and other light materials. The writer of one of the happiest effusions of the local muse, with fidelity to nature, equal I04 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. to Cowper or Crabbe, has introduced the figure of a Devonshire pack-horse, bending under the " swagging load " of the high-piled crooks, as an emblem of Care, toiling along the narrow and rugged path of life. " Care pushes by them, o'erladen zi'ith crooks." This line will be found in "The Devonshire Lane" by the Rev. John Marriott.* While we can readily imagine that the identical lane which furnished the excellent author with his original sketch, may be found in the neighbourhood of Broadclyst, and while we could fancy that one bowery lane in particular, leading towards Poltimore, might have sat for the picture, yet there are so many of our moorland border-lanes which exhibit an exact family like- ness, that every feature of a scene so faithfully depicted, and so felicitously applied, may be traced in numerous instances, especially in the environs of Chagford, Moreton, Ashburton, and Plympton. "In a Devonshire lane, as 1 trotted along T'other day, much in want of a subject for song, Thinks I to myself I have hit on a strain. Sure marriage is much like a Devonshire lane. " In the first place 'tis long, and when once you are in it, It holds you as fast as a cage does a linnet ; For howe'er rough and dirty the road may be found. Drive forward you must, there is no turning round. " But though 'tis so long, it is not very wide. For two are the most that together can ride ; And e'en then 'tis a chance but they get in a pother. And jostle and cross and run foul of each other. " Oft poverty greets them with mendicant looks, And care pushes by them, o'erladen with crooks ; And strife's grazing wheels try between them to pass. And stubbornness blocks up the way on her ass. " Then the banks are so high, to the left hand and right, That they shut up the beauties around them from sight ; And hence you'll allow 'tis an inference plain, That marriage is just like a Devonshire lane. *The Rev. John Marriott was not a native of this county, but of Leicestershire. He was Rector of Church Lawford with Newnham Chapelry, in the county of Warwick, but illness in his family, compelled him to live in Devonshire. Having no cure of souls, he was always ready to assist the cler.tjy at Exeter and hiroadclyst. He died 31st March. 1S35. Another poem ot his entitled " A Devonshire Sketch" will be found in Everett's " Devonshire Scenery.'' p. 232. MoORSTONE GaTE-PoSTS. I05 " But thinks I, too, these banks within which we are pent, With bud, blossom, and berry are richly besprent ; And the conjugal fence, which forbids us to roam, Looks lovely when deck'd with the comforts of home. " In the rock's gloomy crevice the bright holly grows ; The ivy waves fresh o'er the withering rose, And the evergreen love of a virtuous wife, Sooths the roughness of care — cheers the winter of life. " Then long be the journey, and narrow the way, I'll rejoice that I've seldom a turnpike to pay ; And whate'er others say, be the last to complain. Though marriage is just like a Devonshire lane." The force and point of the imagery must be lost to those who have never seen (and as in an instance which came under our own knowledge never heard of) this unique specimen of provincial agricultural machinery. The crooks are formed of two poles, about ten feet long, bent when green into the required curve, and when dried in that shape are connected by horizontal bars. A pair of crooks thus completed is slung over the packsaddle ; one "swinging on each side to make the balance true." The short crooks or ci-ubs are slung in a similar manner. These are of stouter fabric and angular shape, and are used for carrying logs of wood, and other heavier materials. The dmig-pots, as the name imphes, were also much in use in past times for the removal of dung and other manure from the farm yard to the fallows or ploughlands. The slide, or sledge, may also still occasionally be seen in the hay or cornfields sometimes without, and in other cases mounted on low wheels, rudely but substantially formed of thick plank, such as might have brought the antient Roman's harvest load to the barn, some twenty centuries ago." The primitive contrivance for hanging the gates of the moor- land crofts and commons, may also be seen in this neighbourhood. No iron hinge of any kind, nor gate-post is employed. An oblong moorstone block, in which a socket is drilled, is built into the wall, from which it projects sufficiently to receive the back stanchion of the gate, while a corresponding socket is sunk in a similar stone fixed in the ground below, unless a natural rock should be found in •Tardaque EleusinEE m^tris volventia plaustra. — ViRG. Ceorg. i, 163. These, ihe Delphtn annotator supposes to have had wheels without spokes, Plaastra quorum rotcE non erant radiatas, sed instar tympanorum, e solidis tabuHs. io6 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. silii, suitable for the purpose, which is frequently the case. The gate thus secured, swings freely, swivel-like in these sockets, and thus, from materials on the spot, without the assistance of iron, a simple, durable, and efficient hinge is formed by the rural engineer. These contrivances are found in all districts where stone is plentiful, and they are constantly met with in Brittany. Enthus- iasts discover in them Tolmens, and Holed stones, with mysterious attributes. See chapter iii. and ante, p. 46. The flail,^- with its monotonous strokes, still resounds from the barn-doors of all our smaller farms, where economy or attachment to old usages has prevented the introduction of the modern threshing machine. Still more rarely is the old method of winnowing resorted to ; but in a few instances the windstow may yet be seen, where the process is accomplished by simple manual labour — the grain being subjected to the action of the wind, on some elevated spot, and passed through sieves, shaken by the hand, until " clean provender " is produced, like that which was "winnowed with the shovel and with the fan,"f on the hills of Judaea of old. In this primitive process, the memory of the method of separating the grain from the chaff, so common in our county (before the introduction of the winnowing machine), is still preserved. When we construct our roads of iron, it may be justly said that we live in an iron age. Ploughs, harrows and drags, wholly of iron, have superseded the timber framework of those implements to a great extent ; but the old wooden plough may yet be seen on some farms, little, if at all, changed in its material parts, from that which the Romans might have taught our rude forefathers to use, when they subjected the western angle of their island to their sway, and induced them to become husbandmen, even if they had not been previously brought to add this useful occupation to their •In Devonshire, the hand threshing instrument is not known by the name of flail. Our vernacular retains the old Saxon word Therscol, by metathesis Threshel ; and, as in Driug for Thring, the aspirate th changed into d, makes it dreshel ; so thotpe a village, in Saxon, becomes Uorp, in Dutch. In the Lancashire dialect they have the same word, Threshel, (identical with ours) instead ol flail. fls. xxxii.. 24. Our winnowing sieve answers to the shovel here mentioned, and to the fan, (Matt, iii., 12,) which, as Shaw (quoted by Burder, Oriental Customs, vol iv., p. 298; observes is too cumbersome a machine to be thou,yht of, for it is represented as being carried in the hand (" whose fan is in his hand.'') Burder further remarks, " that the Greek word from the verb to spit, spit out, properly *• signifies .1 sho\el. whence com is throw n or spit out as it were, against the wind, to " separate it from the chaff. That this is the true sense of the word, and not a/an "or van, is evident from Homer Iliad, xiii., v. 5S8, where the same Greek word is " used in the same sense and connexion," Ploughs. — Roman and Dartmoor. 107 more antient one of shepherds and herdsmen. The antiquary versed in classic lore, will observe with interest, the striking similarity between Virgil's description of the plough, in the reign of Augustus, and that vs^hich may still be seen in Devonshire, after a lapse of eighteen centuries. " Continuo in sylvis magna vi flexa domatur " In burim et curvi formam accipit ulmus aratri. " Huic ab stirpe pedes temo protentus in octo, " Binae auras duplici aptantur dentalia dorso. " Caeditur et tiha ante jugo levis, altaque fagus, " Stivaque, quae currus a tergo torqueat imos." — Virg. Georg., lib. i., 169. The buris, or beam (though not always made of elm) has still a slight curvature. The ear of the ploughshare, by which the sod is turned off from the furrow — the stiva, handle (or haul, vernacular) by which the plough is guided — and the yoke (where oxen are employed, as is still sometimes the case in Devonshire) formed of the light alder, instead of the lime, or linden tree, which is not so common with us as in Italy — all exhibit a remarkable accordance with Virgil's description, and prove the tenacity with which antient usages maintain their ground among the sons of the soil. The goad, still in use for guiding, and urging on a yoke of oxen, carries us back even to more remote periods still, although the weapon which Shamgar (Judges iii., 31) wielded with such deadly effect against the Philistines, must have been of a more formidable description than those used by our ploughboys to incite the slow but patient ox to his useful toil. It would appear, from observations made by travellers in the east, that the antient o.\-goad combined in one instrument, the goad properly so-called, used by the ploughboy in driving the oxen, and the implement known to our husbandmen as the paddle shovel, for removing the mould which clogs the ploughshare and coulter. The observations of one of our older travellers, so satisfactorily illustrate the passage above cited from Holy Writ, and so directly connect our old-fashioned husbandry with the practice of eastern nations, tenaciously perpetuated from the earliest ages, as to become peculiarly interesting. "It is observable" says Mr. Maundrell, " that in ploughing, they use goads of an extraordinary size. " Upon measuring several, I found them about eight feet long, " and at the bigger end, six inches in circumference. They were " armed at the lesser end with a sharp prickle, for driving the io8 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. "oxen, and at the other end, with a small spade or paddle of iron, " strong and massy, for cleansing the plough from the clay that " encumbers it in working. May we not, from hence, conjecture " that it was with such a goad, as one of these, that Shamgar " made that prodigious slaughter related to him. I am confident " that whoever should see one of these instruments, \vould judge "it to be a weapon not less fit, perhaps fitter, than a sword for " such an execution. Goads of this sort 1 saw always used " hereabouts and also in Syria ; and the reason is because the " same single person both drives the oxen, and also holds and " manages the plough, which makes it necessary to use such a " goad as is above described, to avoid the encumbrance of two " instruments."* The goads used by our ploughboys are generally about the same length, with a similar prickle fixed in the smaller end of the pole or stick, which, however, is of slighter make, being used only for driving the oxen, while the paddle-shovel stick (and it is to be noticed that Maundrell uses our provincial term), would just correspond in size with that which our traveller noticed as still used in the country of the heroic Hebrew, who, like another Tell, roused, perhaps by some crowning act of wanton outrage, from his peaceful occupation, to withstand " the "fury of the oppressor," found an extemporaneous and efficient weapon (furor arimi ininistrat) in that implement, which, pro- bably, the jealous policy of the Philistines might allow the oppressed Israelites to sharpen, as in the disastrous reign of Saul, when " they had a file for the mattock, and for the coulters, and " for the axes, and to sharpen the goads." (I Sam. xiii., 21.) " Not rural sights alone but rural sounds," as the poet of the country — Cowper — so smoothly sings, "delight" those whose minds are not so absorbed by one particular pursuit as to render them insensible to every other object of interest and gratification. The plaintive strain, or peculiar kind of recitative which the ploughboy chants to his team, as he directs or urges them onwards, is both " musical and melancholy ; " especially when it comes wafted up the hill by the fitful winds of autumn, or the gusty breezes of spring. It is probably a custom of considerable antiquity, and its singularity in keeping with the slow and measured pace and pensive looks of the oxen — their necks bent earthward by the yoke, but patient of toilsome march through the furrows all the livelong day. A team •Maundrell. A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, Druidical Speculations of the Old Antiquaries. 109 of four or six fine oxen forms one of the most pleasing accidents of an agricultural landscape ; but one looks with almost Levitical repugnance at the ill-assorted combinations which sometimes present themselves, by the harnessing of bullocks in the same team with the horse or the ass (Deut. xxii., 10.)* While in the midst of scenes and sounds like these, the valetudinarian may successfully " woo Hygeia on the mountain's " brow," — the artist may richly replenish his sketch-book — the botanist store his herbarium with specimens of moorland fioraf — and the geologist fortify his theories of volcanic protrusion, or aqueous deposits, from phenomena presented in the abrupt hills and deeply-scoop'd valleys around ; — the antiquary, with whose pursuits this work is more immediately concerned, will find himself most advantageously stationed at Chagford for visiting such monumental relics as the columnar circle on Scorhill Down — the tolmen — the stone avenues with the Longtone Maen — the Roundy Pound, Castor Rock — hut circles, on Teigncombe Down — the rock-basins, on iVIiddletor, and the Puckie Stone, as well as those near Sandypark — the Drewsteignton cromlech — the Logan-stone, in the Teign, near Whiddon Park — Cranbrook Castle on the heights immediately above, and Prestonbury, near Fingle Bridge. All these, and many more antiquarian objects of minor importance, lie within a circle of which Chagford is the centre, with a radius of not more than three miles, so that a pedestrian may, without difficulty reach them all, " albeit unus'd,'' it may be, to moorland explorations. But many a zealous investigator would not find it a task too arduous to extend his perambulations (even without the aid of a moor-pony or vehicle) from hence to the Grey Wethers circle, to the avenue and circle near Fernworthy, to the pounds on Shellstone hill, to Cranmere Pool, or even to the top of Cosdon. Nor let the explorer of our upland wilds be deterred from the excursions thus indicated, by calculating his powers of locomotion from the result of his pedestrian efforts along a muddy lane, or a dusty highway. With the springy turf at his feet, and with the mountain air above and around him he will find his step acquiring •Agricultural progress has extended to Dartmoor and the levelling down process has affected the' former simplicity of the dwellers herein, both in manners and costume. VVe shall look in vain now for many implements and some customs and peculiarities of dress which were common when the first edition of this work was published. fThe bright green and Glomuliferous Parmelia (ParmeUa glomalifera) and the Resupinate Nephroma (NepHromia resupinata) will be found on the rocks and trees in the immediate neighbourhood. — (See chapter xvii.) no The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. unwonted elasticity and vigour, and will be enabled to accomplish, without undue fatigue, over the free and breezy moorlands, a distance which would present a toilsome, if not an impracticable task, in the beaten and confined thoroughfares below. We shall however now proceed to visit, in succession, those objects which have not already been noticed, or which from their importance, demand a more detailed account than has been given in the introductory chapters. Among these, the Drewsteignton cromlech holds a pre-eminent place. "^^ It has been noticed that the character and position of the abacus may probably be traced in the name of the adjoining farm. But without relying too much on the controverted evidence of etymology, the name of the parish is much more important, since it has been confidently appealed to as intimately connected with and directly relating to, the aboriginal relics with which the environs abound. Polwhele's enthusiasm has led him to regard these relics, viewed in connexion with the name, and with local circumstances, as pointing to the very metropolis of Druidism in the West — the seat of the regal, or arch-druidical court. That such courts existed in countries where the Druidical religion prevailed, there can be no doubt in the minds of those who are acquainted with Caesar's clear and circumstantial account of the nature and extent of the authority, exercised by that powerful priesthood in Gaul.f Nor can we hesitate in coming to the conclusion that similar authority was wielded in Britain, whence, as it has been already obser\'ed, the Gauls derived their knowledge of Druidical system. But whilst the existence of such courts in Britain will hardly be disputed, the precise spots where they may have been held must ever remain a subject of pure conjecture. Monumental relics are the only guides in the absence of historic testimony. Presumption, therefore, is in favour of a spot where an unusual congeries of Druidical relics still exists — *For the reasons given in the preface here and throughout the book, many of these Druidical speculations are allowed to stand as in the former editions. tWriting of the order of men called Druids, Cesar shows that their authority extended to the most important questions of litigation, ecclesiastical and secular. If any recusant opposed their decision, the ghostly terrors of excommunication were resorted to, for the purpose of enforcing the sentence of these absolute judges . — nor were the decrees which were issued from the solemn groves of the central Carnutes, less formidable than the interdicts which in alter ages, were fulminated from the Vatican. " Nam fere de omnibus controversiis, publicis privatisque constituunt ; et si quod est admissium facinus ; si caede facta si de heraeditate, si de finibus controversia est, idem decernunt; praemia paenasque con- stituunt." Cesar, BeU. Gal!., lib. vi., 13. The Ideas of William Chapple. hi and such a spot is certainly found in the immediate neighbourhood of the Drewsteignton cromlech — where the conditions requisite to make out a case (prima facie) are probably less equivocal than in Anglesea, where Rowland and others have traced vestiges of the seat of an Archdruid. Our Devonshire cromlech is incomparably more striking and curious than that at Plas Newydd, on the Menai Strait ; nor is that accompanied by such an assemblage of relics, as enriches the neighbourhood of Drewsteignton. With all due allowance for local predilection, and for the sanguine conclusions of the antiquary, whose wish is confessedly often " father to his " thought," the following observations of Polwhele, with reference to this point, may not be deemed altogether unworthy of con- sideration. " If we confine ourselves within the limits of Devon " and Cornwall, and fix an archidruidical seat in the west, I should "imagine that Drewsteignton would be the most eligible spot. " The very name of Drewsteignton instantly determines its " original appropriation to the Druids. And that this 'town of the "Druids, upon the river Teigii, ' \was the favourite resort of the " Druids, is evident from a great variety of Druidical remains in " the neighbourhood tof the town .... The only remaining " cromlech in Devonshire marks this spot as more peculiarly the " seat of the Druids. And the Archdruid perhaps could not have " chosen a more convenient place for his annual assembly." After controverting the opinion entertained by Westcote, Risdon, and Prince, that the prefix of Drew is derived from Drogo, who held lands in the Parish, in the reigns of Henry II., and Richard I., Chappie — to whose treatise on the Cromlech, reference has been previously made, proceeds to trace the origin of the name, to the occupancy of the Druids, more than a thousand years before." " As we find it called Tegn' Dru or Drues- " Teignton, in other antient records, it seems to me most probable " it was thus distinguished, as having been before the Roman " Conquest, the residence of a principal Druid. For, that some " considerable one governed here, and had great numbers under •This theory of Chappie, aroused the ire of Sir Edward Smirke, and he wrote to Mr. Pitman Joues. falling foul of Druids altogether, calling them bearded old mistletoe-cutting humbugs, whose assistance was always invoked to set two stones on end, or to bore a hole in a boulder. " Indeed their whole time must have been "spent in hauling about lumps of granite, and their habitual residence must have " been upon the tops of moors and wastes, where neither oaks nor mistletoe are '•ever liltely to have flourished. " This little outburst of Sir Edwards, set the example, and induced some recent writers on the Moor, to rush to tlie other extreme, to deny that there ever were any Druids. There is not, however, the slightest evidence of Druids or Druidism in connection with Dartmoor. 112 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. " his command, may fairly be inferred, from this stupendous " monument of their labour and skill. And that its present name " was formed from Druid's Teignton, has been the opinion of " most persons who have seen its cromlech, and judged it to be a " Druidical structure, though uncertain for what purposes it was " erected. Hence also, Drewston,* the name of a farm there, had " probably its origin, having been perhaps once the seat of some " Druid or Druids, and as such, called by the Saxons, Drewston, " from some such name of the like signification, given it by the " Britons. And the like, may be observed of another Drewston, " situate in the adjoining parish of Chagford, but on the other side "of the Teign."f Should the tourist regard these etymological and antiquarian speculations as of any validity, they will increase the interest with which he will proceed to visit the cromlech and its associated relics. Who can affirm that this was not the place, or one of the places, to which these Gauls resorted, whose anxiety for a more perfect initiation into the mysteries of Druidical lore, would lead them to Britain, to inbibe draughts of instruction at the fountain head? J Without, however, venturing to fix the precise spot, it is scarcely within the bounds of probability that no such establishment existed in or about Dartmoor, where so many Druidical vestiges abound ; and if this be granted, I know no situation where, from existing circumstances, it might be sought for with greater promise of success, than in the neighbourhood of the Drewsteignton cromlech, unless the neighbourhood of Wistman's Wood might dispute the claim, and challenge for itself the honours of the gorseddau and Druidical college. With what additional interest will the explorer look down from the Puckie Stone upon the oaken groves which overshadow the channel of the Teign, when he thinks that in the same spot, and beneath former generations of similar oaks, the Druid might have celebrated his dark and blood- stained rites, or instructed those who, perhaps, from the remotest parts of Gaul, had repaired hither to consult the hierophants of their mystic creed ! And as he threads his way down the romantic glen, towards Holy-street, a deeper horror will envelope those •Drewsteignton is also frequently abbreviated to Drewstone by the country people. It is also sometimes called Teignton. without the prefix. fCHAPPLE's uncompleted work, "Description and Exegesis of the Drewsteignton " Cromlech." 1779. p. 30. JCiSAR, Bell. Gall., lib vi., 13. Holy Street. 113 venerable woods. Association will not fail to enhance the interest of the scene, rich as it is in intrinsic charms. And few spots can boast natural features more striking and lovely, while the works of man, where they interpose, are so harmonious in their character, as to be in perfect keeping with the works of nature. The mill, at Holy-street — the substantial dwelling-house hard by with high pitched roof and gables, mullioned windows and low-browed doorways, all of enduring moorstone, its quaint terraced garden, trim with ever-green hedges, its enclosed paved court, with a crystal streamlet running through to join the river below — all suggestive of old hereditary occupancy and rural quiet — and all felicitiously harmonizing with the sequestered and sylvan character of the surrounding scenery. If the opinions of some antiquaries are to be credited, in passing from Holy Street homestead along the margin of the Teign, we are treading the Via Sacra of the Druids, which, it is conjectured, might have led from hence to the Cromlech itself, about two miles distant. The name of Holy Street is too signifi- cant to be lightly passed over ; and whatever may be said of many other etymological speculations, we believe it is generally held as an established canon in archseology, that the word street applied to roads in different parts of the country, may be regarded as conclusive evidence of the existence of some antient paved high- way in or near the spot. Such was probably the road passing along this romantic woodland glen, where it expands into a vale at the foot of the acclivity, on which the town of Chagford is built. Whether the Holy Street lane is to be pronounced the Via Sacra, or processional road of the Druids, leading (it may be) from the Cromlech to the Tolmen and Sacred Circle, or not, it would seem impossible to emerge from the narrow lane (by which we came down from Teigncombe Common, to the South Teign and the Puckie Stone) as it winds by Holy Street house, and pass into the sylvan glade, which then opens before you, without feeling, that few spots more likely to have been dedicated to the purposes of the Druidical consecrated grove, could be found in the whole island. Even now the venerable oaks towering aloft from the grassy floor, strewn with moss-grown rocks, and spreading a deep religious shade around, can scarcely fail to suggest thoughts of our barbarian forefathers, congregated at the summons of the mighty priesthood, in such a scene as this, "inflaming themselves with idols, among the oaks," (Is. Ivii., 5). H 114 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. But when, in addition to the oaken grove, on the level — the moss- covered rocks, and the darkly flowing river — all the surrounding eminences rose, thickly garnitured with primeval woods, it seems morally certain, that a scene so characteristic and appropriate, could not have been overlooked by the Druids, in a district where, as we have already seen, such unequivocal traces of their ritual still remain. We will now proceed along the valley towards Chagford Bridge, since, if there is attention to be given to the etymological inferences drawn from the name of Holy-street, the Via Sacra could scarcely have taken any other direction, than that indicated by the course of the river. But before taking a final leave of Holy-street, let us remind those whose predilections may lead them to regard these antiquarian speculations with the indifference, if not with the scornful scepticism, of an Ochiltree, that the feature of natural loveliness in this dale are so manifold and striking, that they will not fail to repay the " pilgrims of beauty " for a visit to this sylvan shrine, on the verge of the moorlands, especially if they should make their pilgrimage after the early frosts have tinged the oaken grove with the varied hues of autumn. Nor will the botanist, in his return from lichen hunting among the rocks on Teigncombe Common, or the v.-oods in Gidleigh Park, fail to observe, in the clear and rapid mill-leat by the road side, the luxuriant water plants, mantling the stones deep in the stream — green as an emerald, and thick and wavy as the tresses of Sabrina's hair, when evoked from her "coral paven bed," by the potent spell of the Miltonian muse. Having reached Chagford Bridge, we shall find our way along a pathway on the north bank of the Teign, until we reach Rushford Bridge, where the road from Moreton to Okehampton crosses the river. Turning to the left, at Rushford Barton, we mount the woody ridge which rises at the back of Sandy-park. On the summit we shall find a number of tors and boulders scattered along a strip of verdant turf, which seems to have given rise to the name of the " Bowling-green," by which it is (or was) known among the neighbouring peasantry, while the convivial designation of " the punchbowl " was given to a rock-basin on one of the masses which crest the hill. Descending on the other side we shall soon regain the road, and after proceeding north- wards about a mile, shall reach the Cromlech, which will be found in a small level field belonging' to a farm called Shilston, adjoining The Spinsters' Rock, or Drewsteignton Dolmen. 115 the road, which here proceeds eastward to Drewsteignton church- town, from which the Cromlech is distant about a mile and a quarter, and from whence it can be most conveniently approached by visitors from the east and north. Chappie describes its situation as " nearly in the middle of the county of Devon, being " within two miles and a half of the centre of its circumscribing " circle. From which circumstance, by the bye, ' continues this " author,' we might infer the fitness of the place for a Druidical " assize, supposing (what however we can at this distance of time " have no certainty of) that the present limits of this county were " then also, nearly, the boundaries of a distinct province of " Druidical government, in this western part of Britain." This venerable monument is popularly known by the name of the Spinsters' Rock ; the origin of which appellation is thus accounted for by the same writer who learnt it as the traditions of the neighbourhood — " their common saying is, that it was erected " by Three Spinsters, one morning before their breakfast. These " Spinsters tho' the appellation among lawyers is peculiar to " IVIaiden Women, but seems to be originally derived from the " common Employment of young girls in former ages, the " Inhabitants represent, as having been not only Spinsters in the " former Sense, but also Spinners by Occupation. For according " to their account, they did it after finishing their usual Work, and "going home with their Pad, as the phrase here is; that " is carrying home their pad of Yarn to the Yarn-jobber, to be " paid for spinning it : And on their return, observing such heavy " materials unapplied to any Use, and being strong Wenches, " (Giantesses we may presume, such as Gulliver's Gltimdalclitch, " or the Blouzes of Patagonia,) as an Evidence of their Strength " and Industry, and to shame the Men who, either from Weakness " or Laziness, had desisted from the Attempt, they jointly under- " took this task, and rais'd the unwieldy Stones to the Height and " Position in which they still remain. This is the Tale, which " they say has been handed down to them from Generation to " Generation : and thence they tell us, this romantic Structure had " its name."* Nor is the memory of this legendary fable extinct at the present day. Whilst, however, Mr. Chappie records the tradition, he by no means acquiesces in the derivation of the term, but appends a conjecture of his own, " taking for granted that the •Chapple. " Description and Exegesis of the Drewsteignton Cromlech, " pp. 98, 99- ii6 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. " original Name of this cromlech was expressive of the Use for " which it was design'd .... Why then might not the " Astronomical Druids give it some Celtic Appellation significant "of that Use; such as Lie 'Yspiennwr rhongca, (in the British " Dialect of the Celtic,) The place o( the open or hollow Observatory? " or possibly Yspienddyn Ser roiigca — The open Star-gazing " Place."* Without venturing to pronounce between the rival claims of these " astronomical Druids," and the stalwart spinsters of traditionary fame, it may be worth while to look a little further into the bearings of the legend. Shrouded under the wild extravagance of the popular fable, there may lie some mythic notion of antient and wide-spreading prevalence — or even some historical truth of revelation, however perverted. May we not therefore, possibly, detect in the legend of these three fabulous spinners, the terrible Valkyriur, of the dark mythology of our northern ancestors.! Or if the statement of a writer, quoted by Polwhele, be correct, the tradition with regard to the builders of the cromlech, varies, and that in some cases, he found its erection attributed to three young men, instead of young women. " But," continues this writer, commenting on Mr. Chappie's observations, " the tradition goes farther and says that "not only the three pillars were erected in memory of the three " young ones, but that the flat stone which covers them, was " placed there in memory of their father, or mother, according as "you supposed the young ones to be male or female, and that •Chapple. op. cit. p. 104. fThe Fatal Sisters, the choosers of the slain, whose dread office in the wild and gloomy mythology of the Norsemen, to "weave the warp and weave the woof" of Destiny, is thus celebrated in the lyric strains of the English Pindar : — " Glittering lances are the loom. Where the dusky warp we strain. Weaving many a soldier's doom, Orkney's woe and Randver's bane. " See the grisly texture grow. ('Tis of human entrails made) And the weights that play below, Each a gasping warrior's head. " Shafts for shuttles, dipt in gore. Shoot the trembling cords along ; Sword, that once a monarch bore. Keep the tissue close and strong. " Mista, black terrific maid, Sangrida and Hilda, see. Join the wayward work to aid — 'Tis the woof of victory." — Thomas Gray, The Fatal Sisters. Former Surroundings — Drevvsteignton DoLMfiN. 117 " each of these, both young and old, fetched these stones down " from the highest parts of the mountain of Dartmoor, where, for " some reason or other, they had thought fit to take up their " residence. Perhaps the expression, Lie Y'spinnwr, which the " author seems to think a spying or surveying place, might give " rise to the idea of spinners, and thus turn into three ladies. " But you will, perhaps, guess why I incline to suppose these " stones might be erected, among other reasons, in memory of "rt« old man and his three sons, who descended from an exceeding " high mountain, on a certain occasion."* What was the occasion alluded to by this writer, it is not difficult to divine ; and if Druidism is indeed no more than a corruption of a religion, diffused throughout the world in the earliest ages, by the descendants of the three diluvian patriarchs, after the division of the world in the time of Peleg {Genesis x., 25) then will this conjecture, as to the legend of the cromlech, be found of more importance than might at first appear. This opinion will also derive strength from the fact, that an examina- tion of the situation and circumstances in which the cromlech is placed, has led to the conclusion that there are other relics immediately adjacent to the cromlech, which are strongly indica- tive of Arkite worship. All these poetical theories must be abandoned. There can be little doubt but that the Cromlech, or Dolmen as it should be called, was similar to others in Wales and Brittany, and was primarily, a place of burial, standing by itself, or being a central chamber, approached by a covered way. In either case it would have been covered with a mound of earth, which has now by the forces of nature and the hand of man, been destroyed. The satellites which Polwhele mentions as attending the Drewsteignton cromlech — " two rows of pillars marking out the " processional road of the Druids, and several columnar circles," and " rock idols at the end of the down, that frown with more "than usual majesty," will now be sought for in vain. But on the north side of the road by which the cromlech field is bounded, there were objects highly worthy of examination, generally over- looked, and now altogether lost, and probably unknown to many, whose interest was absorbed in the celebrated Spinsters' Rock. Very fortunately the late Rev. William Gray, in 1838, with his brother, visited the Cromlech and its surroundings, and carefully •Polwhele. Historical Views oj Devomhire. p. 79. Ii8 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. examined and mapped the remains referred to on the north side of the road bounding the Cromlech field. He says that there are two concentric circles of stones, the inner circle having entrances facing the cardinal points, that to the north being sixty- five paces in length and five paces broad. The outer circle, besides these, has avenues diverging towards the N.E., S.E., S.W., and N.W., and a smaller circle seems to intersect the larger, of which the avenue eastward is very evident. Mr. Gray measured the remains and made a plan of them on the spot, v.'hich plan he completely finished the same night at Okchampton. In 1872, Mr. Gray mentioned the fruit of his visit so many years before, and the results to the late R. J. King, who communicated them to G. W. Ormerod, which resulted in a memoir by the latter, printed in the Archaeological Journal.* These most remarkable remains seems to have been carted away from time to time for building purposes, and the last of them disappeared in 1865, when the few remaining, were used as materials in the erection of a new farm house in the neighbourhood. On Friday, 31st January, 1862, the Drewsteignton Cromlech fell. G. W. Ormerod soon visited the spot, and wrote, " The southerly and easterly stones had given way, and the first "had fallen leaning against the northerly stone, the two others "were under it ; judging by the small depth of soil on the ground, " it is a wonder it did not fall before." The fallen Cromlech was re-erected in November of the same year, at the cost of Mrs. Bragg, of Furlong, under the superintendence of the rector of the parish, the Rev. WiUiam Ponsford. A full account of this restoration will be found in the memoir above referred to.f Bradford, or Bradmere Pool, a few hundred yards north of the cromlech, is now generally supposed to be the site of an antient tin mine. With less regularity of outline in its banks, it would approach more closely to the appearance of a mountain tarn, than any piece of water in our western moorlands. It covers an area of about three acres ; of a rectangular form, about forty yards wide, and not less than one hundred and eighty long, is said to be seventy-five feet deep, and is surrounded on all sides by trees. There seems to have been a provision for draining this piece of water, should occasion require. On the south side, the bank rises •Journal of Royal Arcbaelogical Institute, 1872, vol. xxix., pp. 348-350. fArch. Journal, vol. xxix., pp. 346-34S. See also Trans. Dev. Assoc. Vol. iv. 1S71, pp. 409-411, and vol. v., 1B72, pp. 73-74. Bradmere Pool. 119 steeply from the brink of the pool, and forms apparently the slope of an earthwork, where the vestiges of a ditch or moat can be traced, surrounding a mound of an elliptical form, measuring on the top, one hundred feet, by one hundred and thirty feet. There are too many indications of regularity and design, to admit of the supposition that this mound is nothing more than the upcast of an abandoned mine : but if it should be thought that the traces of entrenchment are not sufficiently decisive to warrant its being regarded as having been constructed for the purposes of defence ; there is yet another hypothesis, which would assign its erection to the earliest periods of history, and connect it with the artificial formation of the adjoining sheet of water, and the legendary erection of the cromlech, as notice above. We have before us the MSS. notes of Col. Hamilton Smith, on these relics, after a visit to the spot, in which he marks the appearances which presented themselves to our notice, and records the conclusion to which he had arrived from a personal inspection. " The sheet of water, or dub, embracing a part of " the sacred hill, and probably a sacred grove, having on one side " an oblique communication with the water, by a gradual ascent, " occurs in other places, particularly in two similar monuments " of Celtic origin, among the Savern hills and the Vogesian " mountains, where altars, sacred inclosures, and consecrated " pools of great depth, occur, as here. Forests surround them, as " was no doubt the case, also, at Shilston. As for the sloping " ditch, forming a road, it may have served for the covered coracle, " containing the novice in his mystic regeneration, and second " birth, to be drawn up from the waters to the mimic Ararat of " Gwidd-nau." "Worship on high places," says Mr. Harcourt, "imitations or " at least memorials of Ararat — was a characteristic feature of the " diluvian rites," and the same author has adduced a number of instances to show, that where natural hills or mountains contiguous to, or peninsulated by, water, did not occur, that the memory of the diluvian mountain would be preserved in artificial mounts and pools, such as Col. Smith supposes those at Shilston to have been ; where, as it has been shewn, the artificial piece of water, Dub,^ is in immediate connection with an artificial mound. The reasons for this he traces to a traditionary recollection of the altar built upon Moimt Ararat, by Noah, and to a supposed injunction of * " Dub, in Chaldee, is to flow. ' — Doct. Del., vol. ii., p. 417- 120 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to Fingle. that patriarch to his descendants to construct their altars in such situations as would preserve the memory of that awful catastrophe, and that the cause of the deluge was the impiety of mankind. " Thus every high place devoted to religion would become a sign " or emblem of Ararat All indeed, who retained any "reverence for the patriarchal precept, would avoid a long residence "upon extensive plains, because it would deprive them of their "hill altars. When, therefore, the rebels of Shinar, in opposition "to the Divine will, determined not to be dispersed, their leaders "could not devise a more politic plan for keeping them contentedly "in the plain, than by building an artificial mountain to be their "place of worship, that the name of the Lord might dwell there."* Our author further shows, from a variety of evidence, that " the mountain was honoured, first, as the throne of the avenging " deity, and, secondly, as the sanctuary of peace, which was " first disclosed by the retiring flood. At the same time," he continues, " there is distinctly visible an idolatrous disposition to " transfer the glory of the Creator to the creature, either to the " mountain or the man, which extended itself even to the remotest "islands scattered in the Pacific Ocean, and must, therefore, be " admitted to exhibit, in the strongest light, the indelible per- " manence of its character, and the antiquity of its origin." " Those," says the missionary Ellis, " who were initiated into " the company of Areois, invoked the Mouna Tabu, or sacred " mountain, which it further appears is exactly like one of the " mountains or mounds which were held sacred by the Celts, for it "is conical and situated near a lake, and what is most material " to this enquiry, the natives have a tradition which shows at "once, the reason of its being Tabu, or sacred. The Sandwichers," says the missionary, " believe that the Creator destroyed the " earth by an inundation that covered the whole earth except " Mount Roa, in Owhyhee, or Hawaii, on the top of which one " single pair had the good fortune to save themselves."! If, therefore, it should be questioned whether the evidence of the existence of such a sacred mound and lakej at Bradford Pool, 'Doct. Del., vol. i., p. 149. fDoci. Del., vol. i, p 37S. JAmong the legends of the ncighbouihood, may be mentioned one, which relates that there is a pasiage lined with large stones (high enough (or a man to walk upright) from this lake to the Teign, near the Logan Stone. This seems to point to a covered way connected probably with the Cromlech, the alkc couverU of the Brittany dolmens. The Drewsteignton Logan Stone. I2f as are above described, is sufficiently conclusive, it must be admitted that the spread tradition of the deluge, in connexion with consecrated mountains may justly be alleged as an argument in its favour. If the memory of that "overwhelming flood" is .preserved at the antipodes in our own times, it can scarcely be imagined that it had not reached our Celtic ancestors, two or three thousand years ago, by means of their intercourse with the Phenicians, even if it had not been brought hither by aboriginal settlers from the east. In that curious specimen of our antient native literature, the Welsh Triads, we accordingly find an express mention of the deluge, in the account of the bursting forth of the lake Llion, by which the face of the earth was over- whelmed, and all mankind drowned, with the exception of a single pair, who escaped in a boat, and subsequently re-peopled the island of Britain. The tradition of the deluge being thus manifestly familiar to the primitive inhabitants of our island, it is far from improbable that indications of its existence would be found in their rehgious rites and monumental relics. And if, as some antiquaries contend, cromlechs are Arkite cells, not only is plausibility added to the conjecture, which interprets the legend of the erection of the Drewsteignton cromlech, by three young men and their father, who came down from the heights of Dartmoor, as origina- ting in an obscured and perverted tradition of Noah and his three sons, — but the probability of an Arkite character pervading the accompanying archaeological relics is increased in proportion. In 1871, a bronze paktave was found at Drewsteignton, five and a half inches in length, and weighing fifteen ounces. It had no side loop or ear, A portion of a bronze calie, whatever thac may be, was said to have been found with it. We shall now proceed eastward, by the Drewsteignton road, to Stone Cross, the origin of which appellation we shall have no difficulty in tracing to the far-famed crom- lech. Turning out of that road, at the cross, we shall take the right-hand lane, and passing by Stone Farm and Parford, shall reach Sandypark at the crossing of the roads to Okehampton and Moreton, Chagford and Exeter. Here at the wayside inn, the stranger may obtain directions for finding his way to the Logan-stone, should the route now indicated be insufficient for that purpose, which, however, will scarcely be the case. The 122 The Perambulation. Stickle Path to FinglB. Moreton road from Sandypark will lead us directly to the bridge over the Teign, within a furlong from the inn. We shall not cross the bridge, but shall follow a beaten path on the left, down the river, along the northern bank. Following the course of the stream, as it winds through the meadows, we shall soon reach that point where a rock-crested headland rises abruptly above the little lateral vale of Coombe, on one side, and the wooded steps of Whiddon Park press forward to narrow the valley, on the other. Scarcely a quarter of a mile from this point, by keeping close to the river's brink, on the north side, we shall discover the Logan-stone. Should the explorer inadvertently follow a more accessible track, which winds along the side of the hill, at a short distance above the river, he may pass the Logan-stone without noticing it, among the numerous masses of granite with which the channel of the Teign is profusely strewed ; but by making his own path close to the brink, he will not fail to find the object of his search, rising boldly out of the bed of the river, near the northern bank. It is an irregular pentagonal mass, the sides of which are of the following dimensions. Eastern, five feet four inches in width; northern, seven feet eight inches; north-west, six feet four inches ; south-east, five feet four inches ; and the southern, towards the river, ten feet six inches. It is about seven feet and a half in height at its western corner. This huge mass rests on a single rock, and still loggs perceptibly, but very slightly, by the application of a man's strength ; but the motion must have been greater in former times, especially in those early ages when possibly its nicely-adjusted equipoise was rendered subservient to the purposes of Druidical or other delusion. Proceeding down the river we shall be greeted with some of the most striking vale scenery in the west of England. The course is a continuous succession of graceful curves ; the banks on the south, or Moreton side, clothed with wood and heather, as high as the eye can reach, and on the Drewsteignton slope presenting abrupt and bare declivities occasionally interspersed with craggy projections, beetling above our rugged, but romantic pathway. In one particular spot, high in the abrupt declivity, two bold cliffs will be observed, jutting out from the hill, like the ramparts of a redoubt, guarding the narrow pass below. Lower down, the northern bank becomes wooded and the path, proceeding through a tangled copse, at length emerges upon the Drewsteignton FiNGLE Bridge. 123 and Moreton road at Fingle Bridge.* Here let us pause on its narrow roadway — ^just wide enough for a single cart — to gaze from its grey moorstone parapet, on a scene, the general features of which may be recorded by the pen, but of whose particular features of loveliness, the pencil alone can convey an adequate idea. Three deeply-scooped valleys, converging to one point — two or three little strips of greenest meadow-sward, occupying all the narrow level at the foot of the encircling hills — the fortified headland of Prestonbury, rising bold and precipitous, its rigid angular outline strikingly contrasted with the graceful undulations of the woody slopes which confront its southern glacis — the mill at their base embowered in foliage, and the river, clear and vigorous, giving animation to the scene without marring its sylvan seclusion, — all combine to form a scene of surpassing loveliness, which it is a disgrace for any Devonians not to have visited, before they set out in search of the picturesque, to Wales or Cumberland, or the highlands, and, still more, before they make their continental peregrinations, " Or by the lazy Scheld, or wandering Po ; Or onward, where the rude Carinthian boor Against the houseless stranger shuts his door."+ 'Some topographers, misled by sound, or anxious to impart an Ossianic character to the spot, have spelt this word, Fingall. Mr. Shortt derives Fingle from Fyn, Cornish, a boundary, and Gelli, hazel. But oak is the characteristic tree of this moorland boundary, and not hazel. May not Gill, the well-known designation of a water-fall among the Cambrian Celts, form part of the original word which would then be Fingill ? Fingill would mean the VVhiite Waterlall. tGOLDSMlTH, The Traveller. CHAPTER VI. The Perambulation Continued, Fingle Bridge to ashburton. prestonbury castle — cranbrook castle — whiddon park — chagford — jesson broadmoor mires grey wethers sittaford tor — south teign moreton — mardon down wooston castle vale of teign clifford bridge dunsford bridge blackystone heltor — bridford skattor moreton — lustleigh bottor rock becky fall MANATON NORTH BOVEY MORETON BOWERMAN's NOSE HOUND TOR HEYTOR BEETGR CROSS MORETON KINGS OVEN — SHAPELEY COMMON VITIFER MINE — CHALLACOMBE DOWN HEADLAND WARREN GRIMSPOUND HAMELDON^WIDECOMBE — RIPPON TOR — AUSWELL ROCK ASHBURTON. Proceeding from Fingle Bridge, we shall now mount the adjacent hill to- wards Moreton, by a steep mountain road, at whose narrowness and rugged- ness we shall not for one moment repine, since it retains enough of primi- tive simplicity, and freedom from modern improvement, to make the supposition perfectly credible, that it is the identical track by which our aboriginal forefathers main- tained a communication between Prestonbury fort and the champaign Cranbrook Castle. 125 country beyond, and Cranbrook Castle on the crown of the hill above, and the moorlands of the interior. So steep is the ascent, that it can only be accomplished by a succession of zigzags ; and these, at the several angles, present the most favourable points for commanding the romantic scenery of the vale of the Teign below. At one of these elbows, about half a mile up the hill, the view is so striking that it will amply repay those who perhaps generally content themselves with the more accessible beauties of Fingle Bridge for the trouble of the ascent. The road passes through oak copse, which shuts out all but glimpses of the surrounding scenery, until you reach this point, when a scene of singular loveliness bursts upon the sight. We look down upon the wooded glen, through which the Teign winds its devious course from Chagford to Fingle Bridge. Five projections of hills fold in behind one another, the last on the right bank, being the craggy ridge above the Logan-stone, and on the left, the wooded declivity of Whiddon Park. Imagine the morning to be still, and partially overcast (and to be seen in perfection we should reach our point before the sun has passed the meridian) such a sky as we often have in August and September, when the lazy clouds, pacing slowly along, throw one part of the landscape into dark shadow, while the other remains in uninterrupted sunshine. The narrow vale of the Teign seen from this spot, thus enveloped in shade, seems to sink deeper down into gloom and pleasing mystery. Beyond its western gorge, in the middle distance, cornfields, pastures, groves, cottages, and farmsteads, are glowing beneath the sunbeams in distinct and characteristic colours, while Cosdon from these peculiar " skiey influences," borrows more than his natural elevation, and towers, in purple majesty, high in the distant west. At the angle of the next zigzag, we look down upon Prestonbury, and enjoy a favourable opportunity for obtaining a bird's eye view of the fortifications of this remarkable headland ; and shall be better able to estimate the wisdom of our British ancestors,- in fortifying this important position, which, as has been already observed, seems intended to command a border pass from the champaign country, north and east, by the ford, or bridge (which, probably of cyclopean construction, existed even in the earliest ages) into the moorland district, then the favourite habitation of the hardy Danmonian Britons. Emerging from the copse, the road still winds upward through a common, richly embroidered with the purple heather. 126 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. golden furze, and green whortle. Arrived at the top, a grass path turns off from the beaten road over the common to the left, by following which we shall soon find ourselves within the area of another of these hill-forts, of which there was an evident chain guarding the moorland frontier. Cranbrook Castle occupies the highest ground of all the neighbouring forts ; and whilst it would be chosen for the purposes of defence, it seems impossible to observe how it commands the whole of the vale of Chagford, the country round Drewsteignton, together with a vast tract of Dartmoor, south and west, and a considerable extent in north and east Devon, without concluding that it would be also used as a speculum, or watch-tower, and that an alarm would be often given from this height by the kindling of the beacon-fire. Mr. Shortt describes Cranbrook Castle as "consisting of a " vallum, or agger of moorstone, without cement, about seven "acres in extent." Lysons mentions it "as an'irregular encamp- " ment, containing about six or seven acres, with a double ditch " on the south, a single ditch on the west, and none on the north " and east." It is six hundred and sixty-six paces within the rampart, the inner slope of which, on the south side, is about twenty-one feet, the outer forty-two feet in height. It is quite clear that the north side (towards the deep vale of the Teign) was never so strongly fortified as the southern and western sides, where the hill is much more accessible. No one can visit this interesting monument of antient days, without grieving to observe the wanton spoliation to which it has been exposed by reckless ignorance and parochial parsimony. We perceive, with indigna- tion and regret, that the rampart has been resorted to (and that in a country where stone is found at every step in redundant profusion) as a convenient quarry for road material. In one spot, on the west, we found the vallum, or rampart, had been dug up to the very foundations. Our lamented friend and antiquarian coadjutor, the late Henry Woollcombe, of Plymouth, first called attention to this gratuitous spoliation, and in 1840, Mr. Shortt brought it under the notice of the late Col. Fulford, whose regard for the venerable relics of antiquity, we rejoice to say, immediately led to securing this interesting relic from total destruction. W. P. Shortt in his " Collectanea Citriosa," (p. 26) gives the following account : — " The composition of the vallum, or agger, " is chiefly moorstone, loosely piled together, of no great height, "in some parts grauwacke or shillet. Part of both have been MiDDLEDOWN. JeSSON. ShUTE LaKE. I27 " broken into small fragments, as material for the adjacent roads, "and ready for removal. I took the first opportunity of remon- " strating in the proper quarter, against this vandalic piece of " profanation, which is of a piece with that which, in other parts " of the kingdom has fast obliterated the traces of many noble and " venerable works of antiquity, .... and hope to save the noble " camp from future devastation, by the mediation of a trustee of " the property, the public-spirited representative of the antient " house of Fulford." " The agger of granite at Cranbrook, may " have been British," continues Mr, Shortt, " and the shape on " the north-east and south-west, which is not entirely circular, " may perhaps lead some to suppose it was an aestivtuii, or summer " camp of the Romans." But Mr. Woollcombe, in his manuscript, containing the results of his examination of more than fourscore of these antient hill-forts in Devon,* unhesitatingly pronounces it to have been a British settlement. " Cranbrook Castle, near " Moreton," he writes, " is situated in that parish. It is con- " structed on the brow of a hill, above the Teign, commanding " most extensive views on every side ; to the north, seeing hills, " which I conclude must be in the neighbourhood of Barnstaple, " Coddon Hill and that range ; to the south, seeing the barrier of " Dartmoor. On this side, Cosdon is magnificent ; and many " tors adorn the scene, especially Heytor, in the south-east " quarter. Towards Exeter the view is uncommonly rich, as it " is likewise westward, though not equally so. This castle is " evidently the remains of a British town of large dimensions, " being surrounded by a single rampart only, and one ditch on the " outside. The vallum has been composed of stones principally, " but many have been dug up to make fences, yet still enough " remains to attest the antiquity of the structure." On revisiting Cranbrook, Mr. Woollcombe made a more particular examina- tion of the ditch and found it double, on the south, as before stated. Returning by a grassy path to the Moreton road, we shall soon reach a weather-beaten granite guide-post, at a crossway. Turning to the right, we shall follow the old Exeter and Chagford road, down the hill, as it skirts Whiddon Park, and thus com- pleting our circuit, return to Chagford to prepare for our next excursion. Having mounted the hill immediately above the town, and 'This manuscript is now in the Library of the Devon and Exeter Institution. 128 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. examined the rock-basins on Middledown, we shall proceed by the Tavistock road, towards the moor, in the direction of Jesson. Near this place, the road passes through a moor-gate, where the place of gate-posts is supplied by two natural masses of granite rock. On the top of that on the right, are three rock-basins, one of which is very perfect and well-defined. On the opposite rock, there are some cavities, evidently of natural formation, presenting a marked contrast to the artificial appearance of the former. Pursuing our course in a westerly direction, we shall enter upon the commons, towards Broadmoor mires and Bushdown Heath, one of the spots where a few black grouse still find shelter in the heathery cover. Here the hills begin to swell boldly from the lowlands, and numerous springs trickle from the bogs to render their tribute to the neighbouring Teign. The scene which here presents itself, might have formed the original of the moor- land border picture, so graphically sketched by the truthful pencil of Walter Scott. " A few birches and oaks still feathered the "narrow ravine, or occupied, in dwarf clusters, the hollow plains "of the moor. But these were gradually disappearing, and a " wide and waste country lay before them, swelling into bare hills " of dark heath, intersected by deep gullies, being the passages by " which torrents forced their currents in winter ; and during " summer, the disproportionate channels for diminished rivulets " that winded their puny way among heaps of stone and " gravel, the effects and tokens of their wintry fury, like so many " spendthrifts, dwindled down by the consequences of former " e.\cesses and extravagance." — Old Mortality, chap. xv. Many of these streams, such as Shute Lake, are tributaries of the South Teign, towards which we shall now bend our course for the sake of visiting the Grey Wethers, by this route, should the tourist prefer it to the excursion along the North Teign, already pointed out. Passing between Loughten Tor on the left, and Fernworthy on the right, we shall follow the principal stream of the South Teign, in a westerly direction, and having traced it to its source, within a mile of Sittaford Tor, shall be in a position to command a full view of these remarkable circles. Seen from this spot, we shall readily trace the popular designation to the appearance, which at a distance, these time-worn masses would present to the moorland shepherds, of a flock of sheep, pasturing on the common. But the more poetic eye, will rather here realize the image of a group of overthrown Titans, as " bodied forth " by the bard, who MoRETON HaMPSTEAD. 1 29 might almost be supposed to have sketched, on this spot, the grand and gloomy imagery of one of the most striking scenes of \ his " Hyperion." — " One here, one there, Lay, vast and edgeways, like a dismal cirque Of Druid stones, upon a forlorn moor. When the chill rain begins at shut of eve, In dull November, and their chancel-vault, The heav'n itself, is blinded throughout night." — Keats, Hyperion. These circles have been already referred to in the preceding chapters (pp. 30, 94) nor shall we find anything at Sittaford Tor sufficiently attractive to induce us to extend our excursion in that direction. We shall therefore retrace our steps along the eastern bank of the south Teign. Here the moormen will point out to us the dark green spikes of the Sparrow-grass, which they affirm to be of the most deleterious quality, if eaten by bullocks before Midsummer, but perfectly harmless and nutritious for cattle, after that season of the year.'' Continuing by a moorland cart-track, in the same direction, we shall soon pass Mevil, near which is the moor-gate bounding the parishes of Lydford and Chagford. Following this track, with the Teign on the left, flowing below Thornworthy Tor, we shall cross Tawton Common, where are some faint vestiges of tracklines, and a hut circle of the ordinary description, about thirty feet in diameter. From hence we may vary our route by following the lane nearest to the Teign, through Gully Hole, instead of taking the road which passes immediately below Middledown to Chagford. Bidding farewell to Chagford, we shall proceed by the high road to Moreton Hampstead, our next station, passing Wick Green — a name in which will probably be traced vestiges of an antient Vicns — and Drewston.t the place referred to by Chappie, quoted above, as indicating, together with Drewsteignton, the former haunts of the Druids. Moreton is situated on the turn- pike road from Exeter to Plymouth and Tavistock, and is the market and post-town of a considerable district. In the situation of Moreton, and the objects by which it is surrounded, we shall •VVe have not been able to ascertain what species of grass is here referred to. or indeed, to verify this observation in any way. tFosBROOKE derives the similar name of Drewson, a village in Pembrokeshire, from a Druidical circle formerly there. Ency. Antiq. p. 508, 130 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. not fail to observe evidence sufficient to convince us that the true orthography of the name is Moortown, and to none of our border- towns could the appellation be so properly applied, encompassed as it is by a noble amphitheatre of hills and moorlands, at a greater or less distance in every direction. Moreton is a clean- looking, cheerful little town, built on a gently-rising knoll. The streets are irregular, and many of the houses are of that antient and substantial character which marks the neighbourhood of the moor. The sunken cross, leaning against an old pollard elm, in the principal street — the open arcade of circular-headed arches (a relic of the early part of the seventeenth century) in front of the old poor-house, and the church, with its lofty granite tower, will all be noticed as characteristic and interesting features in the scene. From the brow of the knoll on which the church is built, one can scarcely look forth on the surrounding eminence without being forcibly reminded of the hills which stand round about Jerusalem, as beautifully described by the sacred lyrist in Psalm cx.xv. And while our thoughts are thus directed to Him, whose omnipresent power stands round about His people, the rock-idol, which rises darkling from yonder rugged steep, and Heytor, with its rock- basins, looming huge and grand in the southern horizon, carries the thoughts back to " the vanities " of our heathen forefathers, and to the sad spectacles which their blood-stained altars presented, in contrast with the pure and peaceful shrines of our Christian England, consecrated to the service of " the True God, and Jesus " Christ whom he hath sent." Let us now proceed to examine the relics, which can be con- veniently visited from Moreton as a central point. Taking a northward direction, the ground we traverse will be adjacent to that which we passed in our excursion to Cranbrook Castle. Leaving the town by the old road to Exeter, we shall mount a steep ascent, and, at about the distance of a mile and a half, shall diverge to the right, across the common, to examine the anti- quarian relics on Mardon Down. But before leaving the road, let us pause to cast a glance at the landscape which stretches away to the south, as we shall never see Heytor to greater advantage than from this point. The view of Moreton and the surrounding country is also very interesting. Mounting the northern slope of Mardon, we shall notice some aboriginal relics. Among these, the most conspicuous is a circle, thirty yards in circumference, with nine stones remaining erect in their original position, one of WoosTON Castle. 131 which stands two feet and a half above the surface, and is of similar form with the jambs of hut circles, in other parts. The collection of small stones in the area, would rather convey the notion of a dilapidated cairn from which the greater part of the stones had been removed. Near the circle are some tracklines, two of which intersect each other. Mounting the hill and bearing towards the south, in search of the Giant's Grave, on the S.E. side of Mardon, we shall notice the remains of a cairn, which seems to be the relic so designated. The Rev W. Ponsford told the author, and Mr. Shortt says, that the tumulus of the giant, on Mardon, was unfortunately stripped of its granite to repair the roads, and the place of sepulture was nearly obliterated. Turning north- wards again, and following a moorland track over the common, we shall leave Butterdon Down high on the left, and return by the old road from Moreton to Clifford Bridge, passing Pinmoor (more correctly perhaps Penmoor) in our way to Wooston Castle. Near a flnger-poft, where a road branches off to Chagford in the direction of Cranbrook Castle, we shall diverge to the left over a common, overgrown with heath and furze, which slopes north- wards in the direction of the Teign. The ground has evidently been much disturbed, and it is traditionally reported in the neighbourhood that the appearances here presented are vestiges of antient mining operations, but some of them look much more like fortifications, in connexion probably with Wooston Castle, which we shall now proceed to examine, as it is immediately in front, rising boldly above the wooded glen of the Teign. Wooston Castle is by far the most curious and interesting specimen of antient castrametation, in the whole of our moorland region. Mr. Shortt pronounces it to be a British camp, and justly conjectures it, with Cranbrook and Prestonbury, to "have been one of a chain of forts on the Teign." The camp itself is an earthwork of an irregular oval form, but there are subsidiary entrenchments and other works, in immediate con- nexion with it, of an exceedingly interesting description. The site itself is worthy of remark, as occupying much lower ground than the hill which ascends immediately behind it on the south. But in relation to the valley of the Teign, it rises high above a precipitous, wooded cliff. It would appear, therefore, that the greatest danger was apprehended from the north, where, probably in the lowlands, tribes of different manners and hostile dispositions were seated, against whose incursions the Danmonian highlanders 132 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. found it necessary to guard their frontier. The camp occupies a platform, or ledge, on the side of the furzy hill, above described. On the north and west sides, the rampart follows, for the most part, the natural outline of the ground, which sinks deeply down towards the river. The rampart, or vallum, is accordingly very inconsiderable, where the ground itself rendered the camp impreg- nable. On the north, west, and part of the'east side, the rampart is unprovided with a fosse, but on the southern side there is a deep ditch, and a rampart at least ten or twelve yards in average height, from the bottom of the trench to the crest of the vallum. The line of circumvallation on the south and west sides can be distinctly traced to an extent of two hundred and forty yards. The late Henry Woollcombe gives the following description of the subsidary earthworks. " About two hundred feet up the hill, " towards the south, where the castle was very defenceless, another " considerable rampart was made, with a deep ditch on the outer " side. On the eastern side of the castle, and immediately " communicating with it, is a covered way, which descends to the " river, and might afford shelter for access to the fortress. But "from whence it communicates with the camp, it proceeds up " the hill for some distance beyond the second rampart, and " terminates in a mound,* which, apparently, may have been used " as a fire-beacon, as from hence may be seen Prestonbury and " Cranbrook Castle on one side, and Holcombe and Perridget "on the other, and an immense extent to the northward. Higher " up the hill, adjoining the road to Moreton, another piece of " rampart occurs, totally unconnected with the castle. This has " much the appearance of the banks raised by the Romans for " their roads, but it is an isolated piece, which I could trace no " further. It is true the ground adjoining is cultivated, and, " therefore, its continuation may have been obliterated." — Fortified Hills in Devon, MSS. The notion of the fire-beacon on the south, in connection with the principal work, removes a difficulty which occurred to us when we observed that from the castle itself so few of the neighbouring hill-forts could be seen. Neither Cranbrook nor Cotley are in view from that point, but *A deep trackway, or ditch, appears to lead into the work from the upper part of the hill, and there is, besides, a small crescent-shaped redoubt, or outwork, above the camp, and facing to the west. Shoktt. Collectanea, p. 28. fBetter known by the name of Cotley. on the crown of a conical Plill, in the N.E. corner of the parish of Dunsford, commanding a fine view of Exeter and the vale of the Teign. The adjoining field is still called Castle Field. Banks of the Teign. Clifford Bridge. Dunsford. 133 since these and others can be commanded from some spot within the entrenchment, the choice of this situation for a fortified post is more intelligible ; yet should we be far from concluding that a work of such extent was ever constructed for the purposes of a beacon only, as appears to have been sometimes supposed, from Mr. Shortt's pertinent remarks on the subject. " The shape and " defensive lines of Wooston and its adjacent colossal brethren, " must put an end to the hypothesis of their being mere beacons, "on which no such labour was needed to be lavished; nor were " they the Gorseddau, or British courts, seats of judgment and " Gorseddadleu, convened in the open air, on the tops of hills, for " the same ostensible reason, any more than astronomical observa- " tories of Druidism." Taking advantage of the covered way, above described by Woollcombe, by which our ancestors resorted to the river for water or other purposes ; at the interval of twenty centuries, we shall follow their footsteps through brakes and thickets, down to the south bank of the Teign, where it forms a sharp bend immediately beneath the natural glacis of the castle. From hence we shall make our way, by a beaten path — where occasional difficulties will scarcely do more than increase the interest of the walk along this sequestered dell — until we reach Clifford Bridge, where the old road from Moreton and Chagford passes eastward to Exeter and Crediton. The scenery here, though not so bold and romantic as at Fingle, is varied, pleasing, and characteristic. The river glides away in a graceful sweep below thickly-wooded acclivities on the right bank towards Dunsford. The country on the eastern side, though inclosed and cultivated, rises scarcely less boldly, and from several points commands highly-interesting views of the course of the Teign, as it flows down through its woodland gorge from the western moorlands. Prestonbury, with its bold angular headland, scarped down to the river's brink, forms a prominent object in front of the deep, wooded glen beyond, while the giant bulk of Cosdon shuts in the scene in the distant west. Crossing Clifford Bridge we shall diverge from the Moreton road, and follow a pleasing rural lane on the right hand, which at first, skirts along the eastern bank of the river, but soon striking into the inclosed country, leads us through the charmingly-situated village of Dunsford to Dunsford Bridge, where the features of natural beauty, though of similar character, are more striking than 134 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburtok. those at Clifford. We now find ourselves on the direct road from Exeter to Moreton, and, as we mount the hill, looking down a precipitous slope to the river on the right, shall notice the peculiar characteristics of the scenery of the upper Teign, in the steep cliffy banks of reddish gray rock, shouldering back the course of the river — the protruding banks being bare and rocky, and the corres- ponding recessions on the opposite side being, for the most part, woody. These characteristics prevail along the course of the Teign, in a greater or less degree, from Whiddon Park to Dunsford Bridge. Many patches of the shelving bank on the north side, studded with groups of low brushwood, with the gray debris of the rock scattered between, will recall, on a small scale, the appearance of Fairfield Hill, above Rydal Mount, Westmor- land, as seen from the top of Loughrigg, on the opposite side of Rydal Water. Still following the turnpike, we shall observe a wild brow rising on the left above the road, called Woodhill, where huge boulder masses project from among the furze and heather ; the first characteristic and unequivocal indications of our approach to the great granitic district of Devon from the east. We shall continue to follow the road until we reach the top of the hill, at the cross- way, where a finger-post points out a road to Crediton on the right, and a lane on the left leads to Blackystone. By taking the latter road, and proceeding eastward, we shall soon discern this remarkable tor, rising in sombre majesty from the common. It consists principally of two huge masses of natural rock, the upper, crowning its colossal supporter, with an immense granite cap. This tor, like its twin-brother, Whitestone (or Heltor, as it is more generally called), forms a conspicuous object to the whole country round, and as far south as the mail road, near Bickington, it may be seen peering over the edge of Peppern Down. Leaving Blackystone by the road which winds round its base, we shall proceed somewhat to the north, and, at about the distance of a mile, shall reach Heltor, which occupies a more commanding position than even Blackystone, as the hill on which it stands rises abruptly from the vale of the Teign. Hence it is discernible from a greater distance to the north and east, than its giant brother is to the south. Viewed from Dunsford and the immediate neigh- bourhood, it wears the appearance of some antient castle-keep, draperied with ivy, and built to defend the pass below. On a closer examination, it is found to consist of two distinct, but Bridford. Skat Tor. Moor Barton Cairn. 135 closely adjacent piles, on the top of which are rock-basins ; three on the northern pile, and three on the southern. One of these is considerably larger than the others. They are all of irregular forms ; the larger about three feet in diameter. Thus, on the eastern confines of the moor, Heltor and Blackystone are stationed at the gates of the wilderness ; the Teign, which flows hard by, forming the natural boundary of the Dartmoor district ; and the former of these remarkable tors, rises, as we have seen, immediately above the southern bank of that river. Heltor stands about a mile north of Bridford Church. Proceeding to that village, and going along the road to Exeter, about a quarter of a mile, we shall observe in a field on the right, adjoining the lane, a conglomeration of stones, looking like the remains of a dilapidated cairn. In this heap of small stones, two tabular masses, appearing originally to have formed the side stones of a large kistvaen, are placed in a parallel position, the largest, six feet wide, three feet above the surface, and about eighteen inches in average thickness. Proceeding southward from Bridford, we shall mount the hill which rises in front of the village, to visit Skat Tor, remarkable for its singular conformation. The south front is graduated into a series of rude seats or steps, leading to a broad platform, on which is placed a mass of rock, with a smaller one at the side, as if it might have been the result of art. We do not find that Skat Tor ever enjoyed the reputation of a logan-stone ; but if so, this curious appearance would, in all probability, be satisfactorily explained. Skat Tor occupies a commanding situation above the vale of the Teign, between Bridford and Christow. Retracing our steps by Blackystone to the Moreton turnpike, we shall pass near a farm, called J.Ioor Barton, in the parish of Moreton, where, at no distant time, there existed a cairn, which was destroyed by the occupier, in carrying into effect some agri- cultural improvements on the estate. The tumulus, Mr. Shortt says, " was nine landyards round, in which a sort of rude kistvaen, "of six great stones, was found, with a spear-head of copper, the " two pegs, or screws, which fastened it to its staff; a glass British " bead, and a small amulet of soft stone — memorials of some chief " — calcined bones, ashes, &c."* — The spear-head, glass bead, &c., which were taken from the kistvaen, were for some time in the possession of the Rev. Mr. Carrington, late vicar of Bridford, *Shortt. Collectanea, p. 29. 136 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. and are important in the chain of evidence by which the occupancy of this part of the island in remote ages is established. Following the turnpike as it winds down the hill towards Moreton, one of the finest of our moorland border landscapes expands before us. The greater portion of the amphitheatre which sweeps round the town, is seen from a most favourable point of view. The huge dorsal ridge of Hameldon stretches far across the western horizon, while along the Bovey vale, southward, the eye looks down a long-drawn vista, where the picturesque forms of the ground, and the rich variety of foliage irresistibly attract the attention, and make us resolve to obtain a nearer view of the individual features of this charming scene, assured that they will lose nothing of their attractions on a closer inspection. Our next excursion will therefore lead us by the Bovey and Newton road to Lustleigh, which we shall reach (within five miles), by diverging to the right. Lustleigh Church is placed on the pleasant slope of one of our deepest Devonshire coombs,* where the most pleasing features of village scenery are happily combined, whilst not a single uncongenial object intrudes to mar the keeping of the harmonious whole. A clear vigorous stream, ripples cheerily down the dell — to turn the busy mill at the end of the hamlet ; graceful shelving acclivities partitioned by varied foliage into green crofts, or blooming garden grounds, substantial farm-steads, and whitewashed cottages, peep from among the orchards, or are nestled under sheltering trees. Boulder rocks, with thicket and copse interspersed, protrude from the soil, on the higher ground, while the far-famed Lustleigh Cleave with its granite barrier, fences in the vale from the storms of the neigh- bouring moor. The combination of rural scenery of this particular class, thus presented in this sequestered spot is certainly not surpassed, if equalled, in any other part of Devonshire. Passing from the church up a steep bridle road, to a nearer examination of the Cleave, we shall find it to be a genuine moor- land clatter, where amidst the wilderness of granite masses, it will be difficult to detect the particular block which is said to be a logan-stone, but where many are so placed that they might be easily made to logg, and some may have thus moved, without strictly claiming the honour of the antient logan. But if we should *Coomb or coombe, from the English Ccomb, a low valley. This term is peculiarly descriptive of the curved hollows which are scooped out in the sides of our Devonshire hills, especially in the sandstone formation. Hammerslake. Slade. Bottor Rock. 137 fail in identifying any Druidical relic in this rocky labyrinth, the smiling coomb of Lustleigh below, contrasted with the stern magnificence of the moorland heights above, will abundantly repay the trouble of the explorer ; and some will think the picturesque masses of rock with shrubs and foliage springing up from their fissures in the evergreen crofts of the little hamlet of Hammerslake just below, are more worthy of notice and admiration than the more conspicious and celebrated Cleave itself. Returning through Lustleigh to the turnpike road, we shall leave it at a place called Slade, where a lane on the left mounts the hill eastward. On reaching the hill, by turning to the right, and proceeding along the crest of the eminence, we shall reach Bottor Rock, a conspicuous tor,* at the extremity of the headland which rises above the valley of the Teign and Bovey Heathfield.t The huge block on the highest part of the tor tradition says was formerly worshipped as a rock-idol. Some vestiges of antient remains have been discovered in the immediate vicinity, which were described long ago by the late W. C. Radley, of Newton Abbot. About three hundred yards S.W., in a large field called Brady Park, two rock-circles, concentric, one within the other, may still, in part, be seen, the one, measuring from the centre of the inner circle on either hand, thirty-eight feet and a half, to the verge of the outer circle, gives a diameter of seventy-seven feet, divided thus : outer wall four feet thick, then a circular space eighteen feet wide to the inner circle. The second wall is four and a half to five feet in thickness, and the diameter of the area within is twenty-four feet. It had been hollowed out to a lower depth than the surrounding ground. Both walls are neatly formed without cement, of rough unchiselled blocks of sienitic rock, the smooth faces being placed within, and without having the central part filled up with the smaller fragments, as stone walls are at present made. | From Bottor Rock which presents a noble panorama of varied interest, bounded by Haldon, the heights of Dartmoor and the coast, we shall bid farewell to the Teign, which has so long been the companion of our wanderings. We shall mark its course along the deep vale on the •Bottor may be easily visited from Chudleigh, from which it is scarcely three miles distant. fBottor, near Hennock, has oak trees growing in its clefts, and at its feet are hollows, like caverns, lined with byssus aurca, which, according to De Luc, at particular spots, and in certain lights, displays a very glittering appearance, of a greenish hue. — Notes to Carkington's Dartmoor. {Letter by W. C. Radley, in Woolmer't Exettr Gazette, Nov., 1841. 138 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. left, with the pleasant town of Chudleigh and its characteristic cliff, on the eastern bank. Below Chudleigh Bridge, it sweeps in front of the stately groves of Ugbrook Park and loses the character of a moorland stream. Leaving the narrow vales and deep glens through which it has hitherto pursued its devious way, it now enters upon the wide alluvial plains of Teigngrace and Kingsteignton, and through meadow, copse, and pasture, meanders, in gentler mood, along a gravelly channel to its estuary at Teignmouth. Leaving with reluctance this pleasing scene of alternate softness and grandeur, and descending the hill by another lane, with the church-town of Bovey Tracey on the left, we shall cross the valley to the banks of its neighbouring tributary stream, by some called the West Teign, but described by Risdon, as the Bovey. Here we shall strike upon a road skirting the common below Yarnour Wood, and following the direction of a guide-post, pointing to Manaton, shall proceed to Becky* Fall — a considerable cascade on the Becky, a branch of the Bovey river, which we shall find by turning out of the road on the right, and repairing to the stream in the wood, nearly opposite to Lustleigh Cleave, about a mile from Manaton. When the river is not diminished by summer draughts, nor impoverished to furnish water-power for some adjacent works, it rolls down in a fine foamy volume, over a succession of rock stages, about seventy-five feet in height, from top to bottom. The fall is thickly overshadowed with foliage, and the general effect is pleasing, and characteristic of a moorland torrent. But if the tourist should be disappointed in his expec- tations, and find an insignificant rivulet trickling down through the moss-covered rocks, he should remember that the most celebrated waterfalls in the lake country are subject to the same contingency. Lodore, at the head of Derwentwater, whose " splashing and flashing and dashing and crashing," has been sung in echoing numbers by a laureate, will often be visited, when in the tamed and diminished stream, the sanguine admirer of Southey would be at utter fault in discovering " how the water " comes down from Lodore," in all the thundering magnificence of wintry streams or summer torrents, as faithfully represented in the simulative strains of the sportive muse. Leaving Becky Fall, and proceeding up the hill side, S.W., *Bccfi, in the North of England, is the common term for a mountain rivulet. May we not here trace the etymology of Becky ? WLCellfJhSc 30WF-RMANS NOSE. Manaton. North Bovey. Bowerman's Nose. 139 we shall notice a dilapidated cairn, with a trackway, bearing in some places the appearance of an imperfect avenue, or parallelithon, coming upwards N.E. from the valley, and ending, after a course which can be traced two hundred and forty yards, in the cairn above. We shall here find ourselves on a moorland road leading from Heytor to Manaton, and returning towards the latter place, we shall pass the small field on the right hand, where the singular elliptical circumvallation, before mentioned (p. 60) was formerly to be found but which no longer, unfortunately, attracts the attention of the antiquary and the tourist. Our roid will now lead us through Manaton church-town, screened from the north by a rugged tor, which rises immediately behind it. The steeple is of less sturdy appearance than some of our moorland towers, but in the western front, it has a massive two centred pointed granite doorway, of almost cyclopean character, but which is fifteenth century work. We shall notice with satisfaction, in passing, the simple rural churchyard, with its well-kept turf, and venerable yew, and the village green adjoining, a pleasing accompaniment, which one would rejoice to see connected with every hamlet in the kingdom. Following the road to North Bovey, we shall pass below East Down, a detached pyramidal hill, forming a conspicuous object to all the country round. We shall be disappointed in our search for any antiquities on this eminence, although it is plentifully strewed with masses of the natural rock. Polwhele records the existence of a logan, formerly on this common, called the Whooping Rock, but which had been wantonly moved from its balance, some years before that author wrote his account. He describes it as " evidently a Druidical logan-stone," and says it " has been " venerated by the superstitious neighbourhood as an enchanted " rock, from the time of the Druids to the present day." North Bovey, at the foot of the hill, is a village of similar character to Manaton (having also its well-planted green, or playstow, in front of the church), but with more picturesque accompaniments in the meanderings of the beautiful stream below, which we shall cross in our return to Moreton. Our next excursion will cause us to retrace our steps to North Bovey, on our way to Bowerman's Nose, but when about a quarter of a mile from Manaton, leaving that village on the left, and crossing a tributary of the Bovey, we shall mount the hill by a moor-tract passing over Heighen or Hayne Down, in front of that remarkable 140 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. pile. Bowerman's Nose,* as it is popularly called, rises from the brow of the headland which projects from Heytor and the hilly track, between the dale of Widecombe and those of Manaton and North Bovey. It is seen to greatest advantage when approached from the north by the road we are now traversing ; and is found, on examination, to consist of five layers of granite blocks piled by the hand of nature — some of them severed into two distinct masses; the topmost stone (where we presume the nasal resemblance is traced), being a single block. Polwhele seems to have been mis- taken in calculating the height at fifty feet ; it is rather less than forty above the clatter from which it rises conspicuous from its position, and remarkable for its form, it is easy to conceive that this fantastic production of nature, might have been pointed out to an ignorant and deluded people as the object of worship ; nor is it unworthy of remark that, viewed from below, it strongly resembles the rude colossal idols, found by our navigators when they visited Easter Island, in the Southern Pacific ; and when seen from the south, on the higher ground, it presents the appearance of a Hindoo idol, in a sitting posture. It is only on the spot that we can duly appreciate Carrington's graphic and faithful description, " On the very edge Of the vast moorland, startling every eye A shape enormous rises ! High it towers Above the hill's bold brow, and seen from far, Assumes the human form ; a granite god — To whom, in days long flown, the suppliant knee In trembling homage bow'd. The hamlets near. Have legends rude connected with the spot (Wild swept by every wind), on which he stands The giant of the moor." Among the unnumbered shapes, which, as our poet so truly sings, " By Nature strangely form'd — fantastic, vast. The silent desert throng." — Bowerman's tor will always occupy a position of highest rank. •The cognomen of Bowerman. In his notes to Carrington's Dartmoor, ed. 1826, p. 193, Burt says — " It is generally considered as a rock idol, and bears the name of " Bowerman's Nose, of which name there was a person in the Conqueror's time. " who lived at Houn Tor or Houndtor in Manaton.' The Editor is unable to verify this. [' • a u o H O z; s o K Hound Tor. Rippon Tor. Heytor. 141 for its singular natural conformation, and for the legendary recollections with which it is associated. Among the numerous masses by which the hill-side is plenti- fully strewn, may be observed one, so well suited for the purposes » of a logan-stone, that very little artificial adaptation would be required to impart to it considerable vibratory motion. A track- line connects the tor with another tor, southward, on the same hill. From this headland we look down upon Manaton. Leaving the height, and proceeding southward, we shall soon enter the Ashburton road, and passing through a moor gate, shall not fail to remark a lofty tor on the left, the north front of which presents the appearance of a mimic castellated building with two bold projecting bastions. On closer examination we shall find it to be Houndtor, one of the most interesting of the tors on the moor. The top of the hill is flanked by two colossal walls, piled up of huge granite masses, sixty, eighty, and in some places probably a hundred feet high, with an open space between forming an esplanade where Titan sentinels might have paced along, or rebel giants might have held a council of war. Returning from Hound- tor about a furlong south we shall pass the kistvaen described above (p. 43) and follow the Ashburton road, until at the foot of Rippon Tor, where the road diverges to the left, bringing us very soon to Heytor — which from its commanding position on the south-eastern frontier of the moor — at the head of a wide expanse of declivities sloping directly down to the level country (through which the great mail-roads from Exeter to Plymouth passed, by Totnes and Ashburton, in full view of the tor for many miles) is probably more generally known and admired than any of its granite kindred of the waste. Heytor rises from the brow of the hill with sombre grandeur in two distinct piles, and when viewed from the neighbourhood of Kingsleignton, and other adjacent lowlands, under the influence of a sullen and cloudy sky, presents a singularly accurate resemblance to a ruined castle, the massive keep of which is represented by the eastern pile. On the top is a rock-basin, two feet and a half in diameter, but much less perfect than Mistor Pan and many others. We shall now find ourselves amidst "the sights and sounds" so eloquently described by William Howitt. And if our visit can be so timed, we may even realize the characteristic accidents which will not fail to enhance the intrinsic loveliness of the scene. Here are "the wild thickets and half-shrouded faces of rock ; — the 142 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. " tors standing in the blue air in sublime silence, the heather and "bilberry on either hand showing that cultivation has never "disturbed the soil they grew in ;" and here, too, perchance, "one " sole woodlark from the far-ascending forest on the right, filling the " wild solitude with his wild autumnal note." We shall look with eager interest for that "one large soHtary house in the valley " beneath the woods," which he has commemorated ; and, contemplating the manifold variety before us, of rock and mountain, flood and fell, wood and meadow, busy towns and silent wastes, the level flat of Bovey Heathfield and the beetling steeps of Dartmoor, the placid estuary of the Teign, and the wide expanse of ocean seen over the rock-bound coast stretching far away to the misty verge of the southern horizon — shall enter into the feelings which he has thus enthusiastically recorded, " So " fair, so silent, save for the woodlark's note and the moaning " river, so unearthly did the whole scene seem, that my "imagination delighted to look upon it as fairy land."''= At the foot of the western pile of this conspicuous tor, we shall observe a trackway, running from south-east to north-west, intersected at the extremity by another, tending to the converse points of the compass, and discernible to the extent of two hundred and forty yards. The adjacent commons abound with similar remains of trackways and tracklines. One of these, of very marked character, comes down the hill from Rippon Tor, and crossing both the Bovey and the Ashburton road, may be traced about two miles. We shall also notice many hut-circles, and other ve.-.tiges of aborginal occupancy. One of the circles may be specified, consisting of eighteen stones closely placed, forming a circumference of seventy-five feet. A large circumvallation seventy-five feet in diameter is to be seen on the slope of Heytor about W. N.W. of the western pile of rocks standing alone, to which attention was first drawn, by the late Thomas Kelly, of Yealmpton, Following the winding course of the trackline mentioned above, we shall find ourselves on the high road to Chagford, which we shall follow, retracing our steps to the moor-gate near Houndtor and leaving Bowerman's Nose on the right, shall return towards Moreton below East Down on the western side, and passing Beetor Cross, — (the time-worn cross itself stands in an adjoining field) — shall enter the town by the Plymouth and Tavistock road. Our next excursion will lead us along that road until we reach *Ho\viTT. Rural Life of Euglaud, vol. ii., p. 379. Circle & Trackways. King's Oven. Shapeley Common. 143 the fifth mile-stone from Moreton. Here a group of interesting remains will attract our attention. One of the most prominent is a circle, or pound, two hundred and forty yards in circumference, inclosing two hut-circles. Three branches of trackways will be observed in connexion with this inclosure. One may be traced S.S.W., passing from the circumvallation to the valley below. Another beginning at the circle, is lost in the boggy hollows beneath, but reappears on the opposite hill, and crosses the turn- pike. Nearly parallel with the last, another hne proceeds also from the circle and is lost on the opposite slope, after crossing the high road, about a furlong west of the former. \\'e have now returned to a point where we have the means of ascertaining the course of the antient Perambulation. We have arrived at the bounds of the East Quarter which joins the North at Wotesbrook Lake foot, described in the original Perambulation as falling into the Teign, and which was thought by the Perambulators, who made their survey in the reign of James I.,* to be the same as the stream then called Whoodelake. There they accounted the North Quarter to end, one mile from Hingstone, or Highstone, near Fernworthy Hedges. f As the boundary proceeds from thence, in a straight line to the stream which rises below the cairn-crested hill called King's Oven, where it makes an angle, and then holds on in a direct line to King's Oven, we have in that well-known spot, and in Fernworthy, two ascertained points, between which we shall be able to trace the bounds of the East Quarter without danger of material error. In Broadmoor Mires we shall probably find the "turbary of Aberheve."! or Aberheeved, "the fennye place, now " called Turfehill," by the aforesaid Perambulators, and in " King's "Oven" on the hill above, Surt§ Reg^s (which seems to be a strange misprint for Furnum Regis), in Risdon's copy of the original document. But we must again forsake the guidance of the Perambulators, and return to the scene of our recent investigations, with Warren Tor on the right. Diverging from the high road, and m.ounting •6 Jac. I. August 16, A.D.. 1608. tCalled by the Perambulators Fernworthie Hedges. The inclosures of Fern- worthie have therefore been evidently of long standing. Jin the root of this word, we have an instance of the antient British prefix Aber, so rare with us, but so common in Wales and Scotland. §.\nerion in Risdon. Survey, p. 22?, ed. 1811. The F is transcribed as if it was a long S, and the last letter, as if it was a i, instead of «, with the mark of abbrevia- tion, to show the omission of the letters, urn. 144 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. the hill southward, we shall notice many other vestiges of hut- circles and tracklines, in our way over Shapeley Common. Passing the tor on the summit, we shall turn to observe the fine expanse of country which lies behind us, stretching away to the Exmoor range on the north. Taking the tors for our landmarks, we shall now keep a southward course, and make for Hooknor,* the nearest tor in that direction, as this will probably be our best guide for finding Grimspound, (which will be our next object) should our means of locomotion enable us to disregard the accommodation of roads. But if otherwise, the tourist will find it more convenient to proceed by the turnpike (instead of leaving it as above) to Vitifer mine, near a small inn by the way side, about six miles from Moreton. Here, at the Warren House Inn, a carriage may be put up, and he will find himself about two miles from the object of his search, which appears on the slope of the lofty ridge, terminating the prospect eastward. A tolerable road to the stamping mills in the valley below, will be our best course from this point. In the angle between this road and the turnpike, we shall notice an antient granite cross, locally known as Bennett's Cross, near the boundary of the parishes of Lydford and Chagford, standing erect in its original position, but time-worn and weather- beaten with the storms of centuries. The modern letters \V. B.are graven on the shaft. Leaving this venerable relic of mediaeval times on the left we proceed eastward and cross the springs of the West Webburn near the source. The w'ater-power thus furnished is rendered subservient to the mining operations in the valley below South- stone Common. A path east from the mine leads us still eastward over Challacombe Down where we shall notice many deep excavations and other remains of antient mines. On the saddle of Challacombe Down, with Grimspound immediately opposite, we shall cross at right angles an important parallelithon, or stone row \ running north and south, much wider than those at Longstone and Merivale, although the stones are of the same size and character. But unlike those the Challacombe or Headland row has a third line of stones, so that instead of a single aisle a double one is formed. There aie also remains of five other lines parallel to the three. These latter, however, are by some considered as the remains of a circle. At the southern end is a 'Hookney in the Ordnance Map. t First noticed by the late John Prideaux in 1828. Challacombe. Grimspound. 145 triangular menhir. The line of avenue may be traced clearly to the extent of eighty yards, terminating towards Birch Tor, on the south, and on the north, lost in an old stream-work. This row has received careful attention at the hands of the Rev. S. Baring Gould, and the stones have been re-erected. By a steep descent, we shall reach the vale of Challacombe, where the origin of the local designation will be observed at a glance, and its significance manifested in this secluded nook, hollowed out of the acclivities of surrounding hills. This coombe, which opens pleasantly to the south, is watered by another spring of the West Webburn, and presents a pleasing proof of successful cultivation, under favourable circumstances, in the heart of the moor. But Grimspound is now before us, as we mount the southern slope below Hooknor tor. A general description has been already given in Chapter iv., p. 59, of this remarkable specimen of a primitive town, fortified by a strong wall, and containing numerous remains of antient dwellings within its Cyclopean bulwark. A large stone on the eastern side of the circle, marks the spot where the spring rises, and from whence, beneath the foundations of the wall, as already described, it flows, under the name of Grimslake, to join the Webburn. After a dry spring, and a whole month of continuous hot weather immediately preceding, we have found at Midsummer a clear and copious stream issuing from the source,* so that it would appear, under ordinary circumstances, those using the enclosure would have been always sufficiently supplied with pure and wholesome water. The classical investi- gator will probably be disappointed at not finding in Grimspound the characteristics of an antient British town, as it has been considered by Sir Gardner Wilkinson and others, defended by woods, swamps, and thickets, as described by Caesar, in his account of the fortified post occupied by Cassivelaunus, where a large body of persons and herds of cattle might be congregated in security. But without raising the question whether, when Grimspound was originally built, these naked declivities might not have been clothed with wood, as some suppose, it has been contended that it presents all the features of a strong-hold, and that the present natural circumstances might suffice to account for •It was. however, quite dry at the end of June, 1S73, and we have found it so in subsequent years. Mr. Ormerod doubted whether it was anything more than sur- face water, but it is a stream which flows under the wall of the enclosure, and passing through it, renders the northern extremity somewhat boggy. K 146 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. the different kind of castrametation exhibited in the stronghold of that valiant British prince.* The eastern Britons, on the banks of the Thames, had not the same advantage, in point of materials, as their Danmonian compatriots possessed, in the granite blocks and boulders of Dartmoor, from which an effectual circumvalla- tion could be speedily formed ; to which these aboriginal engineers appear to have deemed it unnecessary to add the further protection of a fosse, since Grimspound is totally unprovided with any kind of ditch, or additional outwork, beyond its single rampart. This, it is contended, is a feature of much significance, and should be duly regarded in our endeavours to ascertain the period of the erection of this rude but venerable fortress. The rampart is doubtless much lower than it was originally built, but unhke many of the valla of our hill-forts and earth-works, it has not been tampered with, nor the original design altered by successive occupants. Sir R. C. Hoare furnishes us with an important axiom in archaeology, which may be legitimately applied in determining with proximate accuracy at least, the era of the erection of Grimspound. " In examining those earth-works, " we must endeavour to discriminate the work of the people who " constructed them ; and wherever we find very strong and " elevated ramparts, and deep ditches with advanced outworks, " such as Bratton, Battlesbury, Scratchbury, Yarnbury, Chidbury " Barbury, Oldbury, etc., we may, without hesitation, attribute " these camps to the Belgic or Saxon era ; for neither the Britons " nor Romans had recourse to strong ramparts. "t But to whatever conclusion the investigator may be led, as to the people by whom this marvel of the Moor was constructed, or the objects contemplated in its erection, he will not return from his examination of Grimspound, without being convinced that he has inspected one of the oldest monuments of our island ; whilst the mystery in which its origin is shrouded, and the appearance of hoar antiquity, with which its gigantic rampart is invested, will add interest to his speculations, and deepen his recollections of this extraordinary, if not unique, relic of aboriginal times. The late G. W. Ormerod, in his paper, " What is Grimspound "} discusses all the theories that have been advanced as to the use •FoSBROOKE misled by Lysons, describes "Grimspound, in Devonshire, as a " circular jnclosure, situate in a niarsli." Ency. Antiq., p. 100, ed.. 1843. fAnt. Wilts. Vol. ii., p, 108. \Devon Assoc. Trans., vol. v., p. 41. %•■ ■] d as O Grimspound. Barrows and Cairns on Hameldon. 147 of this great enclosure and concludes, — " in the days when " Grimspound was built, there were doubtless wolves on " Dartmoor, and, if legends are true, there were bands of " robbers, to whom cattle would also be a great temptation. " For the protection of cattle from these, and in the severe " winters of Dartmoor, I think that Grimspound, Dunnabridge — " now used as the pound for the cattle straying in the forest— " and other smaller pounds were erected, and that the huts " were the dwellings of the owners or herdsmen." The work of the pick and spade, under the direction of the Rev. S. Baring Gould and Mr. R. Barnard, however, reveals the true history of Grimspound, and although it may have been used in later years as a pound for cattle, and the huts utilized by a mining population, it had its origin in pre-historic times, and was the fortified dwelling place of man in the Neolithic age.' But no isolated examination of Grimspound, or speculation on its origin and purposes, will be satisfactory or complete, without reference to the other remains of primitive antiquity, existing in the immediate neighbourhood, and without due consideration of their probable bearings upon the question. Cairns are numerous on the adjacent downs and hills. We shall find them on King Tor, north, and Hameldon Tor, east of Grimspound. Hameldon, the saddleback of Devonshire, rises majestically above the stronghold, in a long bold ridge, and on its lofty eminence we shall observe Hameldon beacon, commanding a vast extent of country in all directions, and admirably adapted for the conspicuous site of a signal-flame to alarm the country. On Hameldon beacon, one of the most important finds on Dartmoor, was made by C. Spence Bate, in 1S72. He opened a barrow, known as Two Barrows, which was about forty feet in diameter, and about four feet and a half high, and mixed up with the bones of the interment, under a stone, was found an amber ornament, inlaid with gold pins, which had formed probably the handle of a dagger, and the blade of a dagger of bronze, t Another barrow near, was also opened subsequently, a detailed of which will be found in the proceedings of the County Society which account is however not quite correct. J The •For a full account of the explorations here and at Broadun.see Trans. Dev. Assoc. 1894. Vol. xxvi., p. loi. tTrans. Devon Assoc, vol. v., 1872. p. 549. JTrans. Devon Assoc, vol. vi., 1873, p. 272. 148 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. height of this barrow was three feet six inches, and roughly about sixty-six feet in diameter. A wall of loose stones was found, which indicated the original size of the barrow, the larger circumference having arisen we suppose, from the washing down of the covering earth. Almost in the centre of the barrow was found a beautifully built up cairn, of small flat stones — a perfect little beehive hut in fact — about three feet high. There was nothing inside, and to all appearance there had never been anything enclosed in it. The ground had never been dis- turbed in any way, and there was nothing but the natural surface soil, without any admixture of ash of any kind. The large flat stone mentioned, was nothing more than a surface one, and it rested upon the calm, and the same remark applies to the other flat stones outside the enclosing wall. The interment proper — indicated by a mass of comminuted bone and charcoal, among which was the palatal fang of a human upper molar tooth, evidently the remains of a cremated body — was far away from the centre, close upon the inner edge of the stone circle enclosing the mound. It really looked as if the cairn was placed only to mislead any possible disturber of the barrow. With the remains was found a thin square shaped flint implement. In general character the two barrows, the one first described and this one, were similar. Mounting the hill, we shall come upon the great Central Track- way before mentioned, p. 62, and from this elevated position shall have an opportunity of observing the direction it takes, and the probable relation which such constructions have to the antient mining works in the neighbourhood, and to those of the Moor generally. In the general description of this trackway, reference has been made to the authority of the late Rev. James Holman Mason, formerly vicar of Widecombe, a cautious and practical antiquary, whose long and intimate acquaintance with the topo- graphy, history and traditions of the Moor entitle his views to the greatest respect, whatever difference of opinion may exist, as to his conclusions, from the facts which he has industriously collected. When therefore, he inclines rather to regard these curious vestiges of antiquity as boundaries than as roads, we are anxious to preserve his observations on a subject of much local and antiquarian interest, as invaluable data, which might otherwise be lost to those who would gladly have recourse to the testimony of a competent observer, in endeavouring to solve an archaeological problem of no httle difficulty. Hameldon. Boundary Lines, Dykes or Trackways. 149 The point in our perambulation at which we have now arrived, is pecuharly suitable for investigating the subject under considera- tion. Hameldon and its immediate neighbourhood, having been the principal scene of examination, with immediate reference to the trackways and tracklines, or rather, division lines, as they are termed by an antiquarian friend of Mr. Mason's,* who had referred to him on the subject, and to whom he replies in a communication which appeared in a provincial paper. " There is "no chance,' writes Mr. Mason "of my being able to ascertain " the height of the boundary hnes ; they are now, I fear, in every " part, razed to the ground. I have reason to believe, from the " inquiries I have since made, that one of the boundary lines you " saw (that on Hamel Down) went to Crockern Tor, and from " thence on to the common adjoining Roborough Down ; if so, it " divided Dartmoor, and must have extended from twelve to "fourteen miles. There is a barrow on Peek hill, near Walk- " hampton, where the boundary-line is now to be traced." On this, Mr. Northmore remarks, " the whole line being from E.N.E. " to S.W., and Dartmoor being thus divided into two almost "equal parts, the north and south divisions," — a distinction still traditionally recognised, as has been already noticed in a former chapter. In the same correspondence, occur the following remarks by the Rev. John Pike Jones. f "The dykes, or trackways, have "been traced through the uncultivated parts of the parishes of " ManatonJ and Widecombe, over Hameldon, and from thence " across Dartmoor. They generally run in a straight direction, " nearly parallel, and are from four to seven feet in breadth. " They are formed of large stones, and are raised above the level " of the ground, and are frequently lost in bogs. In the inclosed " country they cannot be traced, the stones having been removed. " Two of these dykes have been traced out ; one terminates at " Crockern Tor, and the other about two miles distant, at •This was Mr. Thomas Northmore, who, in a correspondence in the year 1825. addressed to the Editor of Besley's Exeter News, treats, at some length, of these division Imes, and refers to the researches of Mr. Mason and others. tAt that time, curate of the neighbouring parish of North Bovey, a gentleman who had abundant opportunities for examining this quarter of the Moor, and who was well-known in the scientific world, for his publications on the Botany of Dartmoor and the Ticinity. ;One of these is probably the trackline before described, where the mural character was so striking, that, at a distance, it might be easily mistaken for a dilapidated new-take wall. 150 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. " Waydon [?] Tor, on Dartmoor. They extend for about ten miles. " On Hameldon, they are not above half a mile from each other, "and in the neighbourhood, are several cairns, barrows, and " circles." " In tracing the northernmost reave* from Hameldon," writes Mr. Mason " we lost it in a tin-work. The western end was, " some time after, discovered towards Newhouse, emerging as it "were, from a wall, the boundary of the Courtenay property." Mr. Mason adds a suggestion of great pertinence. " Are not " these reaves, as they are called, the work of the tinners ? Omne " igHotum pro magnifico. Tin bounds have been brought down "from an early period, and claimed by working tinners over " property belonging to others. The estate of Fernworthy, has in "my recollection, taken in a very large track, according to an " antient tin-bound, admitted at Lydford Castle, in the reign of " Elizabeth. In the neighbourhood of Gidleigh, similar reaves of " stones were taken to be the boundary, of a grant from the " Crown, of a considerable portion of the Forest, to Giles de " Gidleigh, and the question at issue was thereby decided."! Nothing can be more satisfactory or conclusive, than the evidence thus adduced in favour of the existence of antient boundary-lines on Dartmoor, constructed for marking the limits of commons, grants, tin-bounds, and other like purposes. But if a corollary be thence deduced, that such boundary-lines comprehend all constructions of this kind, we cannot but venture to question, however deferentially, a conclusion which would militate against the distinction drawn in the former part of this work, between tracklines and trackways — the latter l)eing regarded as causeways, or means of communication ; the former, boundary-banks, dykes, or defensive lines. This distinction is fortified by the opinion of Sir R. C. Hoare, as it has been already observed, who remarks that by following these trackways on the Wiltshire downs, in •ThiB is the term by which tliese lines arc universally known among the moor- mrn. Reave is a vernacular term commonly used in Devonshire, to describe rows or courses of stones, earth, or other siibstance, raised in any ridge-like shape, sometimes it takes the lorm oiroavt, which expresses the same thing. Windreavts or reaves, are rows of hay, barley or oats, raked together in ridges in harvest operations. This is probably a remnant of our antient Teutonic language. Keef in Icelandic is Hoof, anti in the ridge, or roof-like form of these lines, may possibly be traced the original idea conveyed in the vernacular term reave. A leef of rocks is probably derived from the same source. It may not be inaptly remarked that the old word reaver (Anglo-Saxon reafere) and the modern rover, are identical so that from renvt to roave appears an ordinary transition. ■f Letter from Rev. J. H. Mason, to the author. Hameldon. Trackline Speculations. 151 more than one instance, he has been led directly into a British village. There seems no adequate reason for supposing that the Belgae of Wiltshire enjoyed conveniences of this kind, which were not possessed by their Danmonian countrymen, and that which would be legitimately inferred from the nature of the case, seems clearly demonstrated by existing monuments. While the boun- dary or tracklines vary from three or four to seven feet in breadth, trackways are found fifteen and even twenty feet broad ; and while the former are seen to partake more or less of the mound, or vallum character, where not razed to the foundations, the track- ways are totally destitute of all such appearance, and are merely causeways, constructed of stone rudely laid in the soil, and slightly raised above the natural level of the country. We can scarcely imagine that a line of pavement (however rude) twenty, or even fifteen feet wide, and of considerable length, could ever have been constructed for the mere purposes of demarkation. That roads, or ridge-ways, have served as boundaries, has already been shown, whilst the very etymology of the word, demonstrates the original design of the ridge too obviously, to admit of question. The period when these works were constructed, is a point of far greater difficulty. Mr. Mason connects them with antient mining operations, justly remarking that " the earliest trade from " this country was in tin ; the tinners were the most numerous " class of working people. That they inhabited Dartmoor and its " purlieus, their extensive works, fallen enclosures, and remains of " hovels, evidently attest." Mr. Northmore thinks the dykes, or division-lines, may be of high antiquity, and originally constructed for a defence against beasts, as v/ell as borderers ; but he adds, " I " am sometimes inclined to think them of later construction, having " relation to the Normans, and feudal rights and customs," and assigns as his reason for inclining to the latter opinion, a communi- cation he had received from Dr. Oliver, with an extract from King John's Charter, de hherlntibus Devoniiv, in which Mr. Northmore thinks there is evident reference to these division lines of Dartmoor, " within which the people of Devon could not make " their deer-leaps or enclosures." See Chapter xiii.. Having carefully examined these interesting monuments, we shall have no difliculty in concluding that they may have been connected with mining operations, and yet belong to the British period of our history. But without pursuing these speculations further, and leaving the opinions which have been advanced, to be 152 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. brought to the test of existing remains by the practical antiquary, we shall now descend the north-east declivity of Hameldon, below the tor and notice a circular inclosure, called Berry Pound, much overgrown with fern and heather, but of similar construction to those already described in other parts of the moor. Here a salient ridge projecting from the flank of Hameldon throws the drainage on one side to the tributaries of the Teign, and on the other side to those of the Dart and the Webburn. By following the latter, we shall soon strike upon a lane that enters the head of the Widecombe vale, along which we shall now proceed, with the ridge of Hameldon high on the right, forming, for a considerable distance, the stupendous rampart of the valley on the western side. Here the tourist will observe the most perfect counterpart in our western peninsula of one of the lovely dales of Westmorland or Cumberland, and the antiquary will find two logan-rocks as he proceeds, within half a mile of Widecombe churchtown. The Ruggelstone, as it is called in the neighbourhood, is an immense oblong rock, of which the computed weight is one hundred and fifteen tons. The length is about twenty two feet, by a breadth of about sixteen and a half feet, the sides being respectively, twenty, nineteen, twelve, and sixteen and a half feet. The mean thickness is five and a half feet, and it contains one thousand five hundred and fifty cubic feet. This huge mass rests on the supporting rocks beneath, so as to give the appearance of a huge cromlech. It is said to be movable with the aid of the large key of the parish church, but those who are not able to procure this, may impart a very perceptible rocking motion by the application of a stout walking stick as a lever. The other logan is a flat stone, about eleven feet in length by nine in breadth, but not more than fourteen or sixteen inches thick ; which could formerly be set in motion by the pressure of the foot, but it has been mischievously deprived, in some way, of its logging power, of late years. The dale expands about midway to make room for the pleasant knoll, on which the village and church are built, the " cynosure of " neighbouring eyes." The lofty granite tower is finely pro- portioned, embattled, and finished with crocketted pinnacles. The name of this sequestered sanctuary is permanently associated in local history with one of the most awful and sublime, and at the same time, characteristic accompaniments of moorland scenery — the thunder-storm. Moreton has been called the land of thunder, The Widecombe Thunderstorm. 153 and such terrific storms as those which sometimes occur when the greatest alarm is occasioned and considerable damage frequently done by the Ughtning, abundantly justify the appellation. But the skirts of the moor generally, from their mountainous character, are subject to these terrific " skiey influences ; " and Widecombe, with the mighty ridge of Hameldon on one side, and the lofty crest of Rippon Tor on the other, to gather and arrest the thunder- cloud must be peculiarly exposed to such occasional visitations. Hence, probably the appalling outbreak of that awful storm, the terrors of which are traditionally recorded after the lapse of more than two centuries and a half. " Oft the swain, When deeply falls the winter night, narrates To his own rustic circle, seated near The peat pil'd hearth, how in th' involving cloud Tremendous, flashing forth unusual fires. Was wrapt the House of Prayer ; — thy sacred fane, Romantic Widecombe ! The village bard In simple verse that time has kindly spared. Has sung it ; and in style uncouth, The pious rural annalist has penn'd The fearful story." The village bard, and the pious rural annalist thus com- memorated, were Richard Hill, schoolmaster, and the Rev. George Lyde, vicar of the parish, "a laborious preacher and a " prudent pastor," as we learn from Prince, author of the Worthies of Devon, who, in his memoir of Mr. Lyde, embodies an account of this awful tempest (" the chief ground," he observes " of my inserting him here ") in the quaint and characteristic style of the age. "In the year of our Lord, 1638, October 21, being " Sunday, and the congregation being gathered together in the " parish church of Wydecombe, in the afternoon, in service time, "there happened a very great darkness, which still increased to " that degree, that they could not see to read ; soon after, a " terrible and fearful thunder was heard, like the noise of so many " great guns ; accompanied with dreadful lightning, to the great " amazement of the people ; the darkness still increasing, that "they could not see each other, when there presently came such "an extraordinary flame of lightning, as filled the church with " fire, smoak, and a loathsome smell, like brimstone ; a ball of fire "came in likewise at the window, and passed thro' the church, 154 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. " which so affrighted the congregation, that most of them fell " down in their seats ; some upon their knees, others on their "faces, and some one upon another, crying out of burning and "scalding, and all giving themselves up for dead. There were in " all, four persons killed, and sixty-two hurt, divers of them " having their linen burnt, tho' their outward garments were not " so much as singed. . . . The church itself was much torn and " defaced with the thunder and lightning ; a beam whereof, "breaking in the midst, fell down between the minister and clerk, "and hurt neither. The steeple was much wrent ; and it was "observed where the church was most torn, there the least hurt " was done among the people. There were none hurted with the "timber or stone, but one man, who it was judged was killed by " the fall of a stone ; which might easily happen, since stones " were thrown down from the steeple as fast as if it had been by "a hundred men."* The " village bard's " commemorative verses, inscribed " on a "votive tablet, for that purpose ordained" in the church, also contained, according to the same authority, " a brief history of "what then happened, in large verse, consisting of seven feet ; too " too tedious to be here inserted, though they thus begun : " — " In token of our thanks to God, this table is erected, Who, in a dreadful thunder-storm, our persons here protected."! One of the legends connected with the storm at Widecombe, used to rivet the attention, and to excite the terrors of our child- hood. The tale passed current, that either a thunderbolt or a terrific minister of wrath in an unearthly form, was sent to inflict condign vengeance on one who was presumptuously playing at cards in his pew, by dashing him against the moor-stone pillar, where the bloody evidence of his guilt and punishment, as it was believed, remained for a considerable period. The original of this legend seems to be recorded by Prince. " Another man had his " head cloven, his skull wrent into three pieces, and his brains " thrown upon the ground whole ; but the hair of his head, through " the violence of the blow, stuck fast to a pillar near him, where " it remained a woeful spectacle a long while after." The Wide- •joHN Prince. Worthies c/ Devon, folio, p. 447. London. 1701 ; 4toecl. 1810, p. 569. fThcse lines will be found ifi extenso in " Things, New and Old, concerning the " parish of VVidccombcin the-Moor, and its neighbourhood," by R. Dymond, 1876. The Widecombe Thunderstorm. North Hall. 155 combe storm is an important incident in Mr. Blackmore's fine novel " Christowell." With Rembrandt touch Carrington has skilfully heightened the effect of his graphic delination of this fearful catastrophe, by bringing into striking, but natural contrast the calm and security of a rural sabbath day — with the sudden burst of the lowering cloud, gathering blackness and standing out in sublimer terrors, from the light and loveliness of the preceding scene. " Far o'er hill and dale Their summons glad the sabbath bells had flung; From hill and dale obedient they had sped Who heard the holy welcoming ; and now They stood above the venerable dead Of centuries, and bow'd where they had bow'd Who slept below. The simple touching tones Of England's psalmody upswell'd, and all With lip and heart united, loudly sang The praises of the Highest. But anon Harsh mingling with that minstrelsy, was heard The fitful blast : — the pictur'd windows shook — Around the aged tower the rising gale Shrill whistled ; and the antient massive doors Swung on their jarring hinges. Then — at once — Fell an unnatural calm, and with it came A fearful gloom, deep'ning and deep'ning till 'Twas dark as night's meridian ; for the cloud Descending had within its bosom wrapt The fated dome. At first a herald flash Just chas'd the darkness, and the thunder spake, Breaking the strange tranquility. But soon Pale horror reign'd — the mighty tempest burst In wrath appalling ; forth the lightning sprang And death came with it, and the living writh'd In that dread flame-sheet." But the curious antiquary will endeavour with no little interest 156 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. to trace, at the antient manor-house of North Hall, adjoining the church-yard, evidences of the accuracy of the rural chronicler's faithfulness of description, in such vestiges of its former impor- tance as time and change may have spared ; bearing in mind, as Prince quaintly remarks of Hill, that his " history may be good " though his poetry be but indifferent." And since there are not many villages that can boast the honours of local minstrelsy, we make no apology for inserting the metrical description of this venerable moor-land mansion, with its means and appliances for defence and delectation, traces of which still remain. The messuage there, which antiently was chief or capital, Tho' much decay'd, remaining still, is called yet North-hall : Whereas the houses, courtlages, with gardens, orchards, and A stately grove of trees within that place did sometime stand. Were all enclosed round about with moats of standing water. So that no thieves or enemies could enter in to batter The houses, walls, roofs, windows, or what else besides was there ; The moats or trenches being fed with streams of water clear. Wherein good store of fish was bred, as antient men did say ; The ruin'd banks whereof remain unto this very day. And when the family within, would walk into the town, Or else return, a draw-bridge firm they presently let down ; And at their pleasure drew it up to keep the household safe. This house did antiently belong to Raph, the son of Raph, So is he named in a deed of much antiquity. Which bears no date, for at that time was less iniquity. Between Whittaborough and Toptor — in the vernacular of the moormen, Taptor — on land belonging to the representatives of the late Robert Dymond, is a very fine kistvaen, perhaps the most perfect on the Moor. It was formerly covered with a cairn, and on Whittaborough close by, is a large cairn. The view of the valley from the hill above on the west is a beautiful one. Leaving Widecombe — a smiling oasis in the desert — with all its natural attractions and olden associations, we shall proceed eastward by a road which mounts the hill in the direction of Heytor and Rippon Tor, where we shall again find ourselves among the ruder monuments of unrecorded antiquity, on the RippON Tor. The Nutcrackers. Ashburton. 157 slopes of Thornhill or Toptor. This is the hill, which is described above, as having its eastern declivity partitioned into antient rectangular inclosures, by tracklines or boundary-lines. Circular inclosures also occur on the Widecombe side. From Torrhill, in our way to Rippon Tor, we shall cross the high road to Ashburton, and notice near the trackway, or boun- dary-line already described, two hut circles, one thirty feet in diameter, and the other eighteen. Within the latter are stones, having the appearance of a dilapidated kistvaen — but which Col. Hamilton Smith thought might have been a sort of store- place for domestic purposes — within a circular foundation, whose dimensions would admit of a super-structure with a roof ; this would seem therefore to have been erected, not as a fence to inclose a sepulchre of the dead, but as a house for the abode of the living. We shall now scale the rocky summit of Rippon Tor, which according to the Ordnance Survey, rises to the height of fifteen hundred and sixty-three feet, but which, from its frontier position has been often supposed to approach more nearly to an equality with the loftiest points of the Dartmoor range. The prospect, taking in the greater part of the South Hams, as well as a con- siderable extent to the eastward, and a fine sweep of hill country northward, is magnificent, but embraces so much that has been already viewed from Heytor, as not to call for more specific detail. The Tor itself has nothing sufficiently remarkable to detain us, after we are satisfied with the charms of the landscape ; we shall therefore turn westwards, and following the sloping crest of the hill, shall find ourselves, about a quarter of a mile from the top, in the midst of a number of scattered moorstone masses, among which a logan-rock forms a prominent and curious object. This logan is popularly known by the name of the Nutcrackers. It measures about fifteen feet in length, about four feet in thickness, and about three and a half feet wide in the middle, tapering towards each end. It contains about one hundred and eighty- seven cubic feet, and its estimated weight is rather less than fourteen tons. It is extremely difficult to imagine the position of the superincumbent mass to have been purely accidental, although it might possibly have been thus singularly placed by a diluvian convulsion. It can be still easily moved by the application of a suitable lever. Returning to the road, the careful observer will find, on and 158 The Perambulation. Fingle Bridge to Ashburton. near Rippon Tor, several fine cairns. We shall follow the highway, and soon enter the inclosed country with Buckland beacon on the right, and next notice the rugged crest of Auswell (not Answell as in the Ordnance map) Rock above the plantations, also on the right, with which, should we have time to climb the summit, we shall be much interested, looking directly down, as it does, upon the syhan magnificence of Holne Chase. We shall retire from this glimpse of some of the loveliest woodland scenery in the west, with a full determination to return for a more leisurely inspection, and proceed to Ashburton, where the tourist will find every accommodation he may require. CHAPTER VII. The Perambulation Continued, Ashburton TO Plympton. HOLNE BRIDGE HOLNE CHASE BUCKLAND-IN-THE-MOOR SHARPI- TOR ROWBROOK YARTOR B R I M P S DARTMEET HEXWORTHY BRIDGE CUMSDON TOR HOLNE — HEMBURY CASTLE BUCKFAST ABBEY BUCKFASTLEIGH — DEAN GATE DEAN BURN HUNTINGDON CROSS — KNATTLEBURROW — ABBOT'S WAY — RIVER AVON — SHIPLEY BRIDGE CORYNDON BALL SOUTH BRENT THREE BARROW TOR- — BUTTERTON HILL WESTERN BEACON IVYBRIDGE HARFORD SHARPITOR — ERME PLAINS — ERME HEAD — GRIMSGRAVE — LANGCOMBE BOTTOM — DRIZZLECOMBE — YEALM HEAD — RIVER YEALM — BROADALL DOWN PEN BEACON SHELL TOP CHOLWICH TOWN GOODAMOOR HEMERDON BALL SHAUGH PRIOR TROWLSWORTHY — CADAFORD BRIDGE — DEWERSTONE — SHAUGH BRIDGE — BORINGDON CAMP — PLYMPTON. In leaving Ashburton for our next excursion, on the right-hand side of North Street, in an old house, may be noticed a good arched doorway of timber in the Perpendicular style, with the square flower in the hollow, all round the arch. We shall proceed by the Holne road, as far as Holne Bridge (which here crosses the Dart in the midst of beautiful wood scenery) and leaving it on the left, shall trace the course of the river upwards, by a charming drive, which will take us immediately below Auswell Rock, and through a succession of fine woods and plantations, belonging ,Jj,S,v. i6o The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. to Mr. Baldwin. J. P. Bastard, of Buckland Court, with Holne Chase full in view on the opposite side of the Dart. The ancestor of the present owner — the late Col. Bastard — early in this century, purchased Auswell Manor, and planted the waste lands with fir, larch, and other forest trees, on so extensive a scale, that the thanks of the House of Commons were given him for what was designated, his patriotism. The banks of the river, in many parts, rise in steep acclivities — bold cliffs occasionally project from amidst the rich and varied foliage, with which the sides of the hills are fringed, and the windings of the stream present successive points of wood, rock, and river scenery, often grand, and always charming. The little rural church of Buckland-in-the-Moor stands high on the eastern bank. Below, the two branches of the Webburn form one united stream at the southern extremity of the vale of Widecombe, which running between Buckland and Spitchwick — the seat of the late Lord Ashburton, falls into the Dart, in Holne Chase, about a mile below Newbridge, in sight of which we shall diverge from the riverside and follow the road to the moors, with Leigh Tor on the right. On entering again on the commons, the road passes very near Beltor, which presents no object worthy of particular remark. Sharpitor, or Sharptor, rises grandly above the river, and will well repay a visit to its craggy summit, but our attention here will be chiefly directed to a group of aboriginal relics, which will be noticed near a moorland farm called Rowbrook. On the right of the road, on the western slope of the hill, is a remarkably perfect hut-circle, twenty-four feet in diameter, with the door-jamb erect, three feet high. From this circle, a trackline or boundary bank, is carried down the hill, and connects the hut with the foundation of a rectangular inclosure, forty-two feet by eleven, formed of the same materials, and in the same manner as the hut-circle; but whilst the circular form is found in every part of the moor, the rectangular is of exceedingly rare occurrence. Below the road, and nearer the river, just above the Eastcombe cottage, is a very fine circular foundation, of large dimensions, and of a very interesting description, being at least, thirty-eight feet in diameter, and having walls six feet in thickness. The door-jamb is of unusual size, five feet high and six feet wide ; and the whole ruin is in much finer preservation than any of the smaller hut-circles. Yartor is one of the tors which should not be passed by without a visit, presenting as it does, the appearance of a hill, Yar Tor. Dartmeet. Huckaby. i6i fortified by the engineering of Nature herself. On the north and south, are two courses, or walls, of natural rock. The western side has a low, rudo fence formed of granite blocks, and the eastern, has a similar breast-work, though less perfect, and some- what in advance of the parallel courses on the other sides of the tor. The whole conformation presents a rude but grand inclosure, suggesting the idea of a Cyclopean hill-fort, or of a natural temple admirably adapted to the wild and m}'stic rites of a dark, super- stitious religion. The remains of some hut-circles, and the ruins of a kistvaen, the cover-stone of which is about five feet by three, will be observed N.E. from the tor. In the vale below, the East Dart will be seen sweeping round the foot of Yartor Hill, in its progress to join the western branch of the river at Dartmeet, where the confluence takes place, and where also is the junction of the three parishes of Widecombe, Holne, and Lydford. Here we also meet again the Forest bounds, and find them well-defined by the watercourses of the Wallabrook and the Dart. The last point noticed in the Hne of perambulation was King's Oven (p. 143). From thence an imaginary line marked the boundary of the East Quarter to Wallabrook, or Wellabroke Head, " and soe along by Wallebrooke," say the Perambulators, " until it fall into Easter Dart,'' at a short distance north of Yartor foot. The East Dart then becomes the limit of the Forest, and of the parish of Lydford to the confluence, at Dartmeet. The scenery here is varied and interesting ; the fine reach of the Dart— the noble slope and mural crown of Yartor— the wildness of the moor contrasted with the plantations and inclosures of Brimpts, rising immediately above the bridge — all combine to attract and arrest the tourist's attention. An aboriginal Cyclopean bridge similar to that at Post-bridge, which formerly spanned the stream was thrown down many years since, by an inundation of the Dart, but was re-erected in 1888, by the Committee of the Dartmoor Preservation Association. Crossing the bridge, we shall proceed by the turnpike road, leaving the line of perambulation, which follows the course of the West Dart up the valley. Below Huckaby Tor (which presents nothing remarkable) v.-c shall diverge from the main road leading to Two Bridges, and proceed by the Holne road on the left, which winds down through the little moorland hamlet of Huckaby, to the river's bank again, in the midst of interesting border scenery. Here we cross the Dart at Hexworthy Bridge, and wind up the i62 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. hill on the opposite side. Looking back over the valley of the Dart, v/e shall observe the river making a fine sweep round the common, rising boldly from the brink. We follow the road about a mile, and just before reaching Saddle Bridge, which crosses a rivulet called Oldbrook, or Wobrook, flowing from Skaur Gut, shall notice a group of trackline inclosures on the slope of the hill, immediately above the road on the right. Here we again touch the Forest bounds, at the point of junction of the East and South quarters. Having crossed Saddle Bridge, and advanced on the road about one hundred yards, we shall notice on the right the remains of a building, constructed of materials like the circular inclosures in other parts of the moor, and presenting a similar appearance, but rectangular in form. Ruins of the wall, to the height of five feet remain, where the ground declines towards the rivulet. At a short distance above, on the same declivity, will be observed the remains of a large pound-like inclosure, in good preservation. The stones of which the fence is constructed are large, and are piled up more like walls than those which are generally seen. This is particularly observable at the entrance, where, in most examples, granite slabs form the jambs; but in the present case, the sides of the doorway are built up. This doorway is on the east side, and the wall remains in some parts not less than three feet high. Skirting along the hollow above Oldbrook, various remains of extensive stream-works will be noticed, with which the buildings below were no doubt connected. The whole of this neighbourhood abounds with the traces of the old men — as the natives call the miners of former days — ruins of blowing- houses, moulds, mortars and mill-stones, are to he found. Returning to the Heine road we shall soon reach Combeston or Cumsdon Tor, on the left, standing on high ground, above the valley of the Dart, and opposite Sharp Tor. Here we shall probably seek for a reputed logan-stone in vain, nor, although we scale the highest pile of the tor, shall we find any rock-basins to repay our search. But we gain a commanding view of Dartmeet Bridge, and of the windings of the river at some of the most interesting points of its moorland course. Crossing the road, and taking a course southward from Combeston Tor, we shall proceed by a gentle ascent, over a wide extent of common, towards Peter's Boundstone. On this exten- sive track, we shall find very few monumental relics ; while those that occur, such as a cairn near Combeston Tor, another about half HoLNE. Hembury Castle. 163 a mile south, and an inclosure fifty yards in circumference, at no great distance from the latter, present nothing worthy of particular remark. Cairns also are found on the eminences at Holne Ridge and Peter's Boundstone. Returning over Holne Lee, (a wide extent of monotonous moor country) we shall pass through Holne church-town, without observing anything of especial mark to detain us at that moorland village, except the "frugal fare" for man and horse, which may be there obtained, and will scarcely fail to be needed after so long an excursion over the breezy downs. From hence our course will continue through Shuttaford to the road which traverses the ridge above the deep glen of the Dart, with Hembury Wood on the left. This will soon bring us to Hembury, or Henbury Castle, a hill-fort of an oblong irregular form, in the northern part of the parish of Buckfastleigh. Lysons computes the area inclosed by the ramparts at about seven acres, and adds, " at the north end* is a prsetorium, forty-four feet by " seventeen." From Henry Woollcombe's examination of it, it appears to have remained in the same state as when we first visited it. Hembury occupies a commanding position on the wooded ridge which forms the western bank of the Dart, between Holne Bridge and Buckfast Abbey. Woollcombe's descrip- tion gives the following particulars. " The ramparts are all very " entire, and the ditches on the south, west, and part of the north " sides are still deep, having been forty feet in width. On the " north and east the ground sinks so precipitously, as to form a " natural fence. These sides are now clothed with coppice, and " may perhaps have been always wooded." Hence this observant antiquary justly infers, that Hembury may have been one of the antient British towns, surrounded by thick woods. " The " praetorium," our old friend continues, " I imagine to be of " more modern construction, and it is so completely a mound of " earth, as to lead me to think it might have been raised there in " pre-Norman times. If I conclude it to have been occupied by the " Romans, and then to have had this praetorium added to it, I do " not see why they should have possessed themselves of it, not " being connected with any road through the country."! The site •Not at the north, but in the south-western comer. fWooLLCoMBE. Fortified Hills in Devon, MSS. He appends a note, quoting from Polwhele. to the following effect. " Some years since, a great number of oval "stones were dug up at Heml^nry. They were plano-convex bodies, about three " iDCbes in diameier; no duubt Uiey were the sling-stones of the antient Britong." 164 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. is commanding, and well-chosen for defence, as well as for observation — the vale of the Dart, Holne, Brent Beacon, Haldon, and the southern heights of Dartmoor are all in view. By the road which skirts the western side of the fort, we shall soon descend to Buckfast Abbey and Dart Bridge, and shall terminate our lengthened excursion at Buckfastleigh, a small market-town, the spire of whose church, conspicuously placed on the brow of an eminence which rises above the Dart, is an interesting object to the whole neighlwurhood. " Whose finger points to heaven." It will be observed that this is the only spire among all the border churches. All the others have towers. Our next excursion will lead us along the great Plymouth road to Dean gate ; from whence we shall branch off to the right, in search of the scene thus described by Polwhele. " About four " miles from Ashburton, in the parish of Dean Prior, the vale of " Dean-Burn unites the terrible and the graceful in so striking a " manner, that to enter this recess hath the effect of enchantment ; " whilst enormous rocks seem to close around us, amidst the " foliage of venerable trees, and the roar of torrents. And Dean- " Burn would yield a noble machinery for working on superstitious " minds under the direction of the Druids." Leaving the inclosed country, and proceeding westward, we shall return to the extensive tract of common land,'" which we left on bearing southwards to visit Hembury Castle. On the ridge, near a cairn, we shall find a moorland road coming up in a straight direction from Dean, and here dividing into two branches, one diverging to the left, towards Huntingdon (or, as it is in the old Ordnance Map, Buntington) Cross and the Abbot's Way, and the other proceeding by Puppers and Ryder's Hill, to Aune, or Avon Plead. We shall remark that these moors, extending between the Avon and the Dart are remarkably deficient in tors, which so strikingly characterise the borders in other parts. The monu- •These, and similar tracU of wiiste, :ue probably those referred to by the Perambulators of 1609, when they "present that the soyle of dyvers moores, " comons. and wastes, lyinge for the most parte, aboute the same forrest of " Dartnioore. and usnallie called by the name of Cummon of Devonsheere, is " parcel of the Dutchic of Corn'.vall : and th;it tlie fosters, anc' other officers of his ■■ Matie. and his progenitors. Kings and Qiie.-ns of England, have allwayes accus- "tomed to drive the said commoms, anH \;ast groundes and all the commons, "moores, and wastes of oth^r men '.lyn^^e m lika manner about the said forest, " home to the corne hedges, and leape yeaies rounde aboute the same Common and " forest), some few places onlie excepted." — Preseiitmcnl of the Perambulators, 1609. See chaptL-r, xiii Knattleburrow. Abbot's Way. Huntixgdon Cross. 165 mental relics are also comparatively few, and consist principally of cairns on the most conspicuous eminences. We shall now return to the boundary of the South Quarter, in the midst of these monotonous moors, at Knattleburrow, about a mile to the eastward of the springs of the Avon. This is supposed by the Perambulators " to be the same that is called, in " the old records Gnatteshill," and by Risdon (apparently) Batshill, From the point where the South and east quarters meet at Wobrooke, or Oldbrook, as mentioned above in our last excursion, it is not easy to trace the Forest bounds, which are described as " from thence linyallie ascending to Drylake, alias Drywoorke, " and from thence ascending by Drylake into Crefield Ford or " Dryfield Ford, and from thence to Knattleburrow "* — but from this point, we shall again have the advantage of the satisfactory guidance of natural objects. From Knattleburrow, the boundary proceeds lineally to Western Wallabrook Head, following that stream, till it falls into the river Avon. From this point the boundary-line is carried to Western Whittaburrow,! or Peter's Cross, and from thence it proceeds in a straight direction to Redlake foot, a rivulet which rises about a mile north of Erme Pound, falling into the Erme and marking the boundary of the Forest at the latter place. But we have again reached a tract, where the hills are crowned with tors, and the moors abound v/ith objects of antiquarian interest. We shall therefore leave the Forest bounds, and explore the interesting district between the line of perambulation on the north ; the verge of the common lands on the south ; the Erme westward, and the Avon on the east. Proceeding .eastward from Peter's Cross, and following the old road at the foot of Western Whittaburrow, called the Abbot's Way, we shall regain the banks of the Avon. Leaving Huntingdon Cross on the left, we trace its course below Eastern Whittaburrow, through a wild and waste hollow, to Shipley Bridge, noticmg some vestiges of aboriginal circles on the declivity as we proceed. The channel is steep and rocky, and the river flows vigorously towards the inclosed country, through a narrow gorge, flanked on one side by Black *See as to the identification of places refarred to in the Perambulation, Spence Batk, On an old map of Dartmoor, Trans. Devon Assoc, vol v.. p, 510, and papers by Dr. Arthuk B. Phowse, Tians. Devon Assoc, vol. xxi.p. 166, vol. xxii.,p. 185. and the >.xiv.. p. 418 See also chapter xviii., for an account of the old map above referred to, and the copy of the Perambulation of 1340. tTho Perambulation s;»ys Eastern Whittaburrow. but it would appear incorrectly. i66 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. Tor, and on the other, by Shipley Hill. The single-arched moor- stone bridge — little verdant pasture-crofts won from the waste — a moor farm, scarcely sheltered from the upland storms by a few sycamores — peat stacks and granite boulders — furze brakes and heather banks — rugged moor-tracks winding up from the valley to the heights above — all combine to impart a pleasing character of border wildness to the scene. Following the moor-track which leads from Shipley Bridge westwards, with Black Tor on the right and Redlake rivulet on the left, we shall trace the stream upwards to the bog below Three Barrow Tor, from whence it takes its rise. Ascending its slope on the northern side, we shall strike upon a fine trackway, coming up the hill from the north-west, sixteen feet wide in many parts, and ending in the large cairn on the crest of the height. This cairn is of enormous size, probably one of the very largest in Devonshire ; and with the two others immediately near it on the same eminence, and in a straight line, gives name to this con- spicuous and well-known tor. The cairns appear to have been erected upon the line of the trackway which we shall trace from the north-v/estern tumulus, through the centre, to the south- eastern, and from thence we shall follow it in that direction to the extent of a mile. Proceeding towards Coryndon Ball, we shall observe an entrance gate opening upon the inclosed lands adjoining the common, through which a road leads to South Brent. Within a hundred yards of the gate will be noticed a congeries of massive stones, in which the observant investigator will have no difficulty in discovering unequivocal evidence of a dolmen, once standing on this spot, but now in ruins, and apparently overthrown by intentional violence, as we observe that the supporters are not crippled under an impost as if pressed down by the superincum- bent mass, but are lying in situations where they could not have accidentally fallen. The third supporter stands erect in its original position, of a pyramidal form, only four feet high, and five feet wide in the broadest part. The impost, or quoit, is eleven feet long, five feet at the widest end, and fourteen inches in average thickness. There are no other stones scattered around, so as to lead to the supposition that these are only large masses of granite, among many others, naturally thrown into these positions. There is only one other large flat stone, of greater size than the impost, suggesting the notion of a covering for an Brent Beacon. South Brent. 167 Arkite cell. The height of the supporters of the overthrown cromlech appears more adapted to the purposes of a kistvaen than of a cromlech, and it may also be observed that the monument stood at the verge of a large mound of stone and sod, sixty yards in circumference. A few score yards S. S. E. are the evident remains of a cairn, sacked doubtless to build the boundary wall adjoining. While thus far on our way to South Brent, we shall take advantage of the moor-road over Coryndon Ball, to visit some interesting objects in and about that little market town, which is situated on the Avon, at the foot of a lofty pyramidal hill, known by the name of Brent Beacon. Passing through the village, and going about half a mile along the old Exeter road (which winds over its eastern shoulder by a toilsome ascent) we shall find a pathway leading to the top of the hill. Here there are no remains of a cairn or beacon, and but few vestiges of the building which formerly stood on the summit. From hence an extensive view spreads before us in every direction. In front, the vale of the Avon and the South Hams ; on the north and west, the bleak expanse of the moor ; while to the east, the prospect extends to the heights of Haldon. Descending over the steep decHvity, on the north-western side, we shall reach the banks of the Avon, above the village, and proceed to the bridge, which is a single lofty arch spanning the deep and narrow channel of the genuine mountain stream, that runs chafing and foaming over the granite masses below. A pretty cottage, redolent with roses, and a "trim garden," overhanging the torrent, give contrast and effect to the scene. Returning by the river-side, through a stately avenue of beech, in the vicarage lawn, we shall pass the church, which is bounded on one side by a thickly-wooded and steep bank, rising immediately above the river. There is a fine old yew in the centre, which, with the low machicolated and battlemented tower, — the chancel higher than the nave, externally — the remains cf the screen, and the piers and arches in the interior, — will not fail to detain and interest the tourist. Following the Plymouth road to Brent Bridge, and there diverging towards the commons, we shall pass by Glaze Meet, on our way to the Eastern Beacon, a hill which, rising immediately above the inclosed country, forms a conspicuous object on the southern border of the moor, and is crowned with a characteristic tor, the western pile of which is surrounded by a cairn-like agglomeration of stones. We shall observe that all the neigh- i68 The PERANrnuiATioN. Ashburton to Plympton. bouring heights are crowned with cairns, as we proceed southward, to Butterton Hill and the Western Beacon, which (if we may regard the chain of hills which encircles Dartmoor, as a vast natural circumvallation) we shall describe as a huge ravelin pro- jecting into the South Hams and overawing the lowlands. Of all the views gained from the border-heights of Dartmoor, none is more extensive, varied, and interesting, than that which greets the eye from this the southermost point of the great Devonshire moorlands. The South Hams lie mapped out, at our feet, with the iron-bound coast from Torbay to Plymouth Sound forming the rugged boundary seaward. Beyond, the blue expanse of the English Channel stretches away far and wide from Portland, in Dorset, to the Lizard Point in Cornwall. Bays, headlands, and estuaries diversify the sea-board scene, while mansions, churches, villages and farms are plentifully interspersed among the corn fields, pastures, orchards, and woodlands which occupy the whole district, from the foot of the hills to the verge of the channel. The estuary of the Yealm beyond Kitley, and the Lary estuary, near Saltram, being apparently land-locked lakes, while the steeples and forts of Plymouth, rising amidst the smoke and haze of a populous and busy port, form a conspicuous and interesting feature in the western distance. Nor shall we fail to notice the railway's mazy track, winding round the base of those rugged hills, and marking by those works of almost more than Roman daring (the viaducts at Glaze Brook, Ivybridge, Blachford and Slade, in this immediate neighbourhood) the memorable era in which we live. In such a spot as this, the admirer of natural beauty may be pardoned, if catching the enthusism of a Goldsmith, he cannot refrain from apostrophising the varied objects of interest which meet his delighted gaze, — claiming them as his own by the very power of appreciating and enjoying their charms. " Ye glitt'ring towns, with wealth and splendour crown'd ; Ye fields, where summer spreads profusion round, Ye lakes, whose vessels catch the busy gale ; Ye swains, whose labours till the flowry vale. For me, your tributary stores combine, Creation's heir, the world, the world is mine." — We have thus reached, as already observed, the southernmost point of the great western waste, from whence with a trusty guide, it is possible to traverse, without any other obstacles, than \ Harford Bridge and Church. Pile's Wood. 169 those of bogs and morasses, tors and clatters, a distance of twenty-two miles over an uninterrupted succession of moorlands, to the fences of Okehampton Park, in the north. Bending our steps northwards, and skirting the western slope of the hill, we shall notice some remains of hut-circles, and observe below Black Tor, a large pond, which, in winter, might almost aspire to the distinction of a mountain tarn. On the common, above Lukesland Grove, are traces of a considerable circle, or ring, much dilapi- dated, which will not detain us from our inn, in the valley, to which we shall hasten through the moor-gate above Stowford, and crossing the line of the Great Western railway, in front of the viaducts, which here span the ravine at one hundred and fifteen feet above the waterway of the Erme, and appear suspended in mid-air, — shall soon reach the border village of Ivybridge and there close our excursion. Ivybridge, situated at the foot of the southern heights of Dartmoor, on the banks of the Erme, has been long celebrated for the picturesque bridge, draperied with ivy, and overhung with luxuriant foliage, to which it owes its name. The great mail road from Plymouth to Exeter was here, in former years, carried over the deep rocky channel of the Erme ; but more recently a commodious bridge has been erected lower down, now superseded in its turn by the Great Western railway, whose viaducts we have observed spanning the deep glen above the village, between Hanger Down and Stowford. " Nil mortalibus arduum est, Coelum ipsum petimus." Passing below this aerial highway, we shall proceed up the sylvan dell of the Erme to Harford Bridge, and from thence by Harford church, a little rustic sanctuary on the verge of the moor, with its characteristic granite steeple, and well-planted green adjoining, shall enter upon the commons, through a moor-gate hard by. In our progress along the side of the hill, above the eastern bank of the Erme, we shall notice a kistvaen in consider- able perfection, within a circle of nine stones still erect, one of which is a large slab, four feet six long, by three feet wide in the broadest part. The kistvaen itself, known as the Langcombe Kist, is four feet six inches by two feet four — the cover-stone appears to have been broken, and has fallen into the cavity, which is about eighteen inches deep. This antient relic will be dis- covered without difficulty by a practised eye, as the surrounding 170 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. common is remarkably free from natural rocks, furze, and heather. The lower part of the common towards the river, is inclosed by a new-take wall, within which we shall observe a group of singular inclosures, which the antiquary will find it difficult to classify. Antient tracklines or boundary-banks are mingled with walls, of apparently, more recent construction, yet these are evidently not erected for the ordinary purposes of modern fences. There are also the foundations of several large circular inclosures, one of which has the jambs erect, and another looks like a dilapidated cairn. The most perfect of these inclosures is thirty-two yards in circumference, but there are no hut-circles of the usual size, indicating aboriginal population. Traces of antient excavations, might lead to the supposition that these appearances are referable to the mining operations of former days ; but the most plausible conjecture will still leave m^uch room for speculation. The Erme runs at the foot of the declivity, and the battlements of Harford church are seen peeping over the shoulder of the hill southward. Near the river, a little distance higher up, will be noticed a small wood of scrubby oaks — Pile's Wood, somewhat resembling Wist- man's Wood, which Capt. S. P. Oliver considered was a planted one.* Proceeding up the slope of the common, north east, we shall cross a line of bound-stones, tending towards the cairn on the summit of Siiarp Tor. This cairn is about sixty yards in circum- ference and at least ten feet high. A mountain track, which it may be possible for turf-carts to traverse, passes below this tor, and skirting Three Barrow Tor, bears onward to Erme plains. We shall follow this track to Redlake, where we left the Forest bounds in our last excursion, and reach Erme Pound, near the river. South-east of Erme pound is one of the most remarkable monuments on or about Dartmoor, which has been referred to in chapter iii. We have before us a careful plan, made by the Rev. W. C. Lukis. in 1880. Starting from the sacred circle, the line of stones runs for about two thousand feet almost due north, then following the dip of the country it descends to the river Erme, reaching the bank at a distance of three thousand nine hundred and sixty-six feet from the circle ; gradually rising from the other bank, and crossing a small tributary of the river, it again reaches the level, where it crosses the stream of a modern mine work, and pursues its way, crossing another tributary, until it •Vide Gardener's Chronicle. 1873. Langcombe Bottom. Grimsgrave. 171 reaches the cisted cairn, eleven thousand two hundred and thirty- nine feet eight inches from the circle. We shall trace the Forest boundary along the river to Erme or Erme Head, which the Perambulators take to be a place named in the said (old) records Grimsgrove.* Hence we shall strike across a tract of unvaried morasses, or bog-lands, to Plym Head, following the guidance of the Forest boundary line, which is here drawn from point to point, — from the source of the Avon to the springs of the Plym. Here the south quarter ends, and the western takes its commencement ; and near this point, about a quarter of a mile west of Plym Head, in Langcombe Bottom, with Sheepstor looming boldly against the western sky, we shall observe one of the most perfect specimens of the antient Kistvaen in the whole of Dartmoor — Grimsgrave or Grimsgrove. + This aboriginal sarcophagus is formed of granite slabs, about a hand-breadth in thickness. The side stones of the sarcophagus are four feet nine in length ; the foot stone is two feet three inches — the breadth of the kistvaen in the clear. The dep"th is about two feet. The coverstone has fallen in, but in other respects this antient sepulchre is singularly perfect. It seems to have been constructed on an artificial mound, or tumulus, slightly elevated above the natural level. A circular inclosure, fourteen feet in diameter, surrounds the kistvaen ; the stones •Some etymologists have traced the name of Graham or Graeme, in Grimsgrove and Grimspound, and have thought that these appellations should be included in tha same etymological category with Graham's dyke. fThe votaries of nature, no less than the sons of Nimrod, will cordially respond to the general sentiment of the following characteristic lines, which were obligingly brought under our notice, at Goodamoor — formerly the seat of the late Paul Ourry Treby, now of Gen. Phillipps Treby — by whom the attention of the author to this kistvaen was first directed, and cannot be more appositely inserted than in this place. " Let Fashion exult in her giddy career, And headlong her course through the uni%'erse steer ; There's a land in the west never bowed to her throne, Where Nature tor ages has triumphed alone. And Dian oft revels in v/ild ecstacy. O'er gray granite tors, or soft mossy lea, Where the fox loves to kennel, the buzzard to soar All boundless and free o'er the rugged Dartmoor. 9 • • • Far remored be the day ore Fashion deface The features and charms of ihia primitive place I • • » • The Freehold of Nature, though rugged it be, Long, long may it flourish unsullied and free ; May the lox love to kennel, the buzzard to soar. As tenants of Nature on rugged Dartmoor." From the song " The Rugged Dartmoor" by the Rer. E. W. L. Davis. Since published i:i his volume, " Dartmoor Days, or Scci.is in tke Fortst." p. 109, 1863. 172 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. of which it is formed, nine in number, remain erect in their original position. The ground on all sides, is much over- grown with heather, and the antiquary without a guide may have some difBculty in finding the object of his search, but by crossing the boggy tableland from Yealm Head to Plym Head, N. N. W., and by following one of the spring.^ of the Plym, as it flows down Langcombe Bottom, carefully examining the right- hand banks as he proceeds, he will not fail to discover near it the northern brink of the stream. Or if he comes from the Sheepstor side and traces the river upwards, he will find it conversely on the left hand. And whilst he will not grudge the trouble of pene- trating these difficult and dreary moorlands, he will scarcely fail to be struck with surprise, to find this primitive tomb in the midst of the wilderness, so far remote from every vestige of the occupa- tion of living inhabitants.* Turning from the Forest boundary, and mounting the bank opposite to the kistvaen, we shall traverse the morasses, and pass a modern bovnid-stone marked on three faces L.B.P. in our way to Yealm Head. This river takes its rise on the southern verge of the swampy table-land, which stretches to a wide extent above the sources of the Avon, the Erme, the Plym, and the Yealm. We shall follow the course of the latter stream, down a narrow moorland glen, between Broadall Down, and Stalldon Moor. As we skirt along the western bank, we shall observe on the opposite declivity of Stalldon Moor, what the late Mr. Thomas Kelly describes as one of the largest and best specimens of the aboriginal village, on the western side of the moor. In this glen, about a mile from the source, below the Water- fall, will be found the ruins of a building which was conjectured by Henry Woollcombe (who discovered it in 1844) to have been a hermitage. " Far in a wild, unknown to public view," it certainly is, and thus might have met the wishes of the most solitary anchorite. Sooth to say, the recluse might have found some difficulty in supplying his scrip with fruits and herbs, like the " gentle hermit of the dale " of lyric fame, except when June had ripened the purple whortleberry ; but a supply of water from the spring, clear and abundant, the Yealm would furnish, as it flowed close to the walls of the sequestered cell, in a succession •Keferenco may be here niafie to two clever papers by Mr. R. Hansford Worth, "The Moorland Plym," and " The Erme, Yealvi. and Torry." In these the topography of the country near these rivers, and the antiquities are fully described. Trans. Plym. Inst., vol. x., 1889-90, p. 389; vol. xi., 1891-2, p. 173. Shell Top. Pen Beacon. 173 of cheery little waterfalls. A narrow strip of level ground runs along the river's brink, backed by a rocky scarp on the east. Under the lee of this ledge, are the ruined walls of a small oblong building, which (it seems almost wrong to interfere with the poetical idea of the hermit's cell) was a smelting or blowing-house, inclosing an area about twenty-one feet by sixteen. The walls are formed of large stones, laid in earth ; no mortar appears to have been used. The remains of the walls are from one foot to three in height. The door was in the north-east corner. A squared stone, much mutilated, will also be noticed, in which two oblong apertures have been made. In the eastern wall is a mould, which Woollcombe thought was a piscina. The late Thomas Kelly published an account in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, of the Yealm blowing-houses and the moulds found in them. They have been illustrated by Mr. R. Hansford Worth, and have been examined by Mr. Baring-Gould and Mr. John D. Pode, but no discoveries of any importance were made.'" Leaving the banks of the Yealm, and crossing Broadall Down, W. by S., we shall reach one of the tributaries of that river, rising in the hill-side below Pen Beacon. On the ascent immediately above, we shall observe the remains of numerous hut-circles, and other vestiges of antient occupation, within a large irregular curvilinear inclosure. From hence, mounting the hill, N.W. by N., we shall make for the cairn on the summit, well-known by the name of Pen Beacon. From this cairn, a trackline proceeds directly along the ridge ; this we shall follow in the direction of the neighbouring eminence, which we shall observe rising above Pen Beacon to the north. As we proceed, we find the trackline, which probably here served as a boundary, on its approach to Shell Top, diverging from the tor on the summit, a little to the east. Here, as on Whittaburrow, a cairn has been built round the tor, which is of small size, and consists of layers of native rock, rising like shelves above the surrounding aggregation of loose stones. Shell Top, or to adopt the more euphonious appella- tion of the moormen, Penshiel, rises to the height of sixteen hundred feet above the sea-level, and is one hundred and thirty feet higher than Pen Beacon. As frontier heights, these are both •For a further account of thes-- houses, and for full information ar. to mining on Dartmoor generally, we must refer our readers to the very valuable contributions of Mr. RoiiKKT BURNAKD to the history of the subject, vide " On the Track of the Old Men, Dartmoor,' and "Antiquity of Mining on Dartmoor," in the Transactions of the i^lyinoutii Instiitttion for iSbS, 1SS9 and 1S91. 174 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. conspicuous objects from all the adjacent lowlands ; whilst the prospect from their summit, comprehending the greater part of those objects seen from the Western Beacon, is still more exten- sive towards the north-west, where Mistor, Cockstor, and Stapletor are seen on the western borders, and Believer is discernible in the very centre of the moor, peering over the line of table-land on the north-east. The lake-like appearance of the estuaries of our Devonshire rivers, is here even still more decisive. If acquainted with the country, we can almost trace by its wooded banks, a great part of the course of the Yealm : — " Pride of our austral vales " as Carrington styles it, from the point where we left it before, through the pleasant vale of Blachford (with the church and village of Cornwood on the western bank above) onwards to the estuary, where surrounded by the groves and heights of Kitley, Puslinch, and Wembury, we can discern its tidal waters " sleeping in sunshine" like an inland lake. The Lary (the estuary of the Plym) seen curving round Saltram point ; the Lynher, or St. German's lake ; and the Tamar between Beer Ferrers and Landulph, are all \'isible, presenting the appearance of inland sheets of water more or less extensive. But we must leave this noble panorama, and descend the south-western slope of the hill to examine a considerable aboriginal village, where the hut-circles are of the usual description, but the circumvallation is rectangular instead of oval or circular, as is more generally seen. Lower down is Whithill Yeo, where the Torry, a considerable tributary of the Plym, takes its rise. Passing through a moor gate, we now proceed S. S. W., to Cholwich Town moor, where, on the lands of the Earl of Morley, near Tolch Gale, there is a single line of stones, placed at regular intervals, of precisely the same description as the double lines, or avenues, already noticed in other parts of the moor. This venerable monument of antiquity has been lamentably despoiled within the last few years, but the line can still be traced to the extent of /ip wards of seven hundred feet. The stones are placed erect, at intervals of from three to six feet ; at the northern extremity is a sacred circle of five yards in diameter, formed of six stones. The line runs nearly north and south ; the highest stone is about six feet. A much larger stone was removed a short time since; this is described as having been twelve feet high, and was therefore probably a menhir, similar to others on the moor. Cholwich Town. Slade Hall. Beechwood. 175 Under any circumstances, such spoliation would be most justly censured ; how much more, when the whole neighbourhood abounds with granite, in all respects adapted for the purposes of the railway contractors, so that there is not the shghcest plea for the sacrificing of those monuments of past ages at the shrine of modern enterprise. In the lane leading to Cholwich Town Farm house, is an antient stone cross, doing duty as a gatepost. Passing through Tolch moor-gate, in the direction of Brimedge or Brimage, we shall notice some traces of tracklines and hut- circles much obliterated. From hence we shall pass Goodamoor. Near here, in the course of draining operations in the grounds of Mr. John D. Pode, Slade Hall, was found in July, 1879, an ingot of tin. Its weight is fifty-one pounds and a half; on its upper surface it measured fourteen inches by eight and a half inches, and on the lower, eleven inches by seven inches, and it is about three inches in thickness. It was presented by Mr. Pode to the Museum of the Plymouth Institution. Here we follow the Plympton road through the village of Sparkwell, and passing Beechwood,* the seat of Lord Seaton, formerly of Col. Mudge, to whose Ordnance Map of Devon, the Dartmoor tourist is so much indebted. We here leave the Plympton road and turning to the right, shall skirt the eastern side of Hemerdon Ball, on which an encampment for troops was formed at the beginning of the present century, in prospect of a French invasion ; and which was then a heath-covered common, but which has since been cultivated almost to the summit, by the judicious management of a former proprietor, the late Admiral Woollcombe, of Hemerdon. From hence we shall soon enter upon a good road which passes from Ivybridge, through Cornwood towards Tavistock, and in the neighbourhood we have just left, and as we advance •The Beech grows vigorously in many spots on our moorland borders. At Great Fulford, the fine old seat of F. D. Fulford, Esq., is a noble avenue, so widely spreading that Virgil might have placed Tityrus with perfect satisfaction under the shade of the least. The seat of Lord Seaton, on the south border, derives its name fTOm a number of these stately trees, which adorn and characterise the spot. In antient times the numbers were probably far greater, and with the oak, might have been frequented by our Pagan ancestors for the purposes of worship; and if our excursion from the heights of Pensheil to Beechwood has been made under a cloud- less sky, we shall fully enter into the feelings of the friend of Wilberforce, who thus felicitously describes the amenities of a beechen grove, and carries us back to Druidical associations. " O what a delicious oratory is a beech wood in a calm hot " day! Not a leaf stirring, — not a sound, — a sacred kind of steady light, with here " and there a straggling sunbeam, like the gleam of providential direction in the "dark concerns of life. I do not doubt that the Druidical influence arose from the " worship in woods. It must have been irresistibly imposing. J. Stephens to W. Vv'ilberforce.— Lt/«, vol ii., pp, 463-4. 176 The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. along the commons, shall notice china-clay works on the lands of the Rev. G. L. Woollcombe, the Earl of Morley, and others. By the roadside, on the right, on Lee Moor, north of the buildings connected with these works, is a rude, massive cross, known as Blackaton, the Roman or St. Rumon's Cross, the shaft of which appeared to have been broken off, was there as only enough left to raise the cross slightly above the large block in which a socket had been formed to receive it. It has now, however, by the care of the Earl of Morley, been restored to what is supposed was its original height, about six feet. Diverging from the road, and proceeding to the westward of the Morley clay works, we shall find, near the road from those works to Shaugh church-town, a singular relic, known in the neighbourhood as the Roman Camp, but which, it certainly is not ; nor does it appear to be an entrenchment belonging either to the British, Saxon, or Danish periods. In form, it is a parallelogram, measuring one hundred and fifty feet by eighty-six ; the ramparts, or artificial banks by which it is surrounded, are from twenty-six to forty feet high in some places, and have been evidently constructed with sod and earth taken from the inside, and not from without, so as to form a fosse for more effectual defence, as is usually done. Since it could not have been an entrenchment for defence, the conjecture has been hazarded that this singular erection might have been for the purpose of exhibiting games, or for other large assemblies of people, but in all probability it is nothing more than a reservoir for water, of comparatively modern construction. Returning to the highway, we shall proceed to Cadaford Bridge ; and diverging to the right, along the banks of the Plym — sometimes erroneously called the Cad — shall visit Trowlsworthy Warren, for the purpose of examining a group of antient relics in that neighbourhood. One of the numerous Dartmoor streams which bear the name of Blackabrook, here renders its tribute to the Plym. There are two important enclosures, pounds, or fortifications, one near the eastern bank of the Lee Moor China Clay Works leat, the other on the same side, further to the north- east. Within both are hut circles. The entrances to these are of much interest, as they are protected by cross-shaped walls. Near the Warren House are two circular pounds, one with two hut circles, the other with one only, and there are other enclosures. Here is a curious wall, built evidently for protection, and the ruins of a square building of early date. It is thirty-four feet long by The Plym River. 177 eighteen feet wide, the walls are of rough granite, three feet in thickness. There are two stone rows, one double, the other single. The former runs nearly north and south, and is about four hundred and twenty feet long : at the north is a circle which is perfect, twenty-three feet in diameter, formed of eight stones, and at the south end, not far from the termination of the row, is a single stone. The second, the single row, runs east and west, and is about two hundred and fifty feet long, with a circled cairn, ending with a pillar. This row was rescued from destruction, in 1859, by the Rev. W. I. Coppard, the then incumbent of St. Mary's, Plympton. He wrote, "a party of navvies were employed in " cutting a small ditch for a water-course. To save the trouble of " getting materials at a very trifling distance, the men were " carrying off some of the stones from the avenue, which was near " at hand, and had blasted some of them with gun-powder. " Fortunately, the work of destruction had only just begun. I " took upon myself to stop this mischievous proceeding, and "hastened to my friend. Admiral WooUcombe, of Hemerdon, the " owner of the property, who immediately despatched peremptory "orders to prevent any similar damage in future." Returning to the banks of the Plym, we follow the course of the river through a deep border-glen, which, under the name of the valley of the Cad, is thus graphically described by one of the annotators of Carrington, the son of the poet, H. E. Carrington: — " The traveller will behold the valley of the Cad to the greatest " advantage, by descending the left bank of the river from Cadaford " Bridge The right bank rises to a dizzy " height covered with a beautiful profusion of young trees. It is "opposed, however, on the other side by a slope of very different " appearance. All there is dreary, yet magnificent — barrenness " without a bough to shade it, and at first sight without a vegetable " beauty to recommend it. Huge fragments of granite lie scattered " about in wildest confusion. Some masses appear as if they had " just been torn out of the bowels of the moor by some unearthly " power ; others are on tiptoe to quit their precarious situations "ai)d roll down to the flashing torrent." Allured by such a description to thread the rocky mazes of this sequestered glen, we shall proceed until the rugged crest of Dewerstone, sung by more than one native minstrel, is descried towering above the scene. "This huge mass of rock," continues the same writer, "rises " perpendicularly from the stream to an immense height. Its M 17S The Perambulation'. Ashburton to Pi.ympton. " whole surface is jagged and seamed in the manner so peculiar to " fjranite, which makes the beholder imatjine that the stones are "regularly piled on each other. It is profusely overgrown with " ivy and other creeping plants which spread their pleasing foliage " over its shattered front, as if anxious to bind up the wounds that " time and tempest have intiicted. To adil to the striking effect of " its appearance, numerous hawks, ravens, dec.,* may be seen " floating around its rugged crest, and filling the air with their " hoarse screamings. The rocks immediately beneath seem as if " they had been struck at once by a thousand thunderbolts, and " appear only prevented from bursting asunder by chains of ivy. " A few wild flowers are sprinkled about in the crevices of the "cliff; tufts of broom wave like golden banners in the passing " breeze ; and these, with here and there a mountain ash, clinging " half-way down the precipice, impart a wild animation to the " spot." We wind down the glen to Shaugh Bridge, amidst the famihar scenes upon which the muse of Carrington loved to dwell, where from "Dartmoor's prolific bosom," " Rolls the Plym, With murmuring course by Sheepstor's dark-brow'd rock, And Meavy's venerable oak, to meet The ever-brawling Cad.f How oft, as noon, Unnotic'd, faded into eve, my feet Have linger'd near thy bridge, romantic Shaugh ! While as the sister waters rush'd beneath, Tumultuous, haply glanc'd the setting beam Upon the crest of Dewerstone." This river has been happily characterized by our bard, as " the *We do not know what tiie writer may have seen, but the visitor to the Dewer- stone will now look in vain for " nufiierous han'ks, ravens, Ac."' fThe late N. Howard, of Tamerton, near Plymouth, in his interesting local poem, BickUigh Valg, has sketched some points of this border scenery in llowing numbers. " Hence the Cad, o'er rocks white flashing, roars, To meet the lucid Plym." But both poets seem to be mistaken in designating thisstream by the name of Cad. That it is properly the Plym is evident from Plym Head being known as the source, and Plym Steps being also on the same branch, not far from the source. The name of Cadaford Bridge has probably given rise to the mistake — it having been interred that Cadaford must nocessai ily mean the ford of the river Cad. But Cad is a battle- field. Hence it may be conjectured, on more sntisfactory grounds, that this bridge may have been so designated from some unrecorded conHict on the neighbouring moors. The western branch of the Plym which joins it above Shaugh Bridge, has been by some called the Me'.v m^W--^. DEWERSTONE The Dewerstone. Shaugh Bridge. 179 " sylvan Plym."'" At Shaugh Bridge this pleasing and character- istic feature begins to be decisively manifested. Here the stern ruggedness of the upland ravine appears blended with the soner lineaments of downs and ^ woodlands. I'roni Dewerstone to Saltram Point, where its estuary widens into a tidal lake, the banks of the Plym are, for the most part, clothed with woods, chiefly of England's national tree, the noble oak. The bold headland, from the eastern flank of which Dewerstone protrudes, is mantled with copse down to the "margent " of the united streams. Few spots in the west display a greater share of natural charms " than this vale in whose bosom the dark waters meet;" and here too the " accidents " of moorland scenery in the most sublime and awful forms may be contemplated, under singularly favourable circumstances, by those who fear not to woo Nature in her wintry garb, and in her mountain seclusion. .\ low temperature and a thick fall of snow, are not unfrequently in our variable climate succeeded by a rapid thaw, accompanied by heavy and continuous rain. Such a sudden thaw took place during the severe winter of 1823, on the night of the the 27th of January. The pouring rains and the melting snow rushed together from a hundred hills into a narrow glen of the Plym, and speedily swelled the stream to a mighty river, which overspread the entire floor of the vale, and swept along high up the slopes of the acclivities with resistless force, until the adamantine barrier of Dewerstone checked for a moment the impetuous torrent. But like a furious animal loosened from its bonds, and maddened by resistance, the raging stream dashed its turbid waves against the beetling cliff" and threw the foaming spray, as in triumph, over its loftiest crag, while the roar of conflict was heard far along the echoing dales. The unbridled flood came careering down the widened vale, and rushing amain through the lofty arch of old Shaugh Bridge, filled it to the key-stone, and directing the main force of its overflowing current along the eastern bank, dislodged the huge masses which formed the antient causeway to the mill, as though they had been pebbles. This bridge has been replaced by the present substantial structure of hewn granite. Following the road along the line of this causeway, we shall diverge from the river and mount the hill, eastward, on our way to ' Plym, says Baxter in his glossary, from Piliiti, Erse or Celtic, to roll, but the origin of the word is one of the puzzles of Devonian nomenclature. See Plympton Castle, by J. Bkooking-Rowe, Trans. Plym. Institution. Vol; vi, pp. 247, 248. i8o The Perambulation. Ashburton to Plympton. Shaugh church-town, a stragghng village of genuine moorland character. The rude simplicity of this hamlet, and the Alpine wildness of the whole surrounding scenery, (in the opinion of a noble lady of no mean authority on points of art and taste, the late Countess of Morley,) forcibly impress the travelled observer with their resemblance to some well-remembered scenes amidst the Swiss mountains. The village church, with its lofty, well pro- portioned moorstone steeple, forms a conspicuous and pleasing object as we ascend the breezy common. And should we be tempted to turn aside to examine more closely this simple but venerable moorland sanctuary, we shall doubtless hear from the sexton an account of the well-remembered thunder-storn), which occured in the same winter as the flood above recorded, and which would have been no less terrific in its results than that of Widecombe, had it not providentially happened on a weekday, instead of on Sunday, in service time, as in the former case. The lightning struck off one of the pinnacles of the tower level with the battlements ; and hurled the fragments on the roof over the southern aisle, the western part of which was laid in ruins. About two hundred and thirty panes of glass were shivered, and among the few that escaped uninjured, was a small one, at the east end, of stained glass, the emblazonment of which intimated the antient dependance of Shaugh church upon the priory of Pl3'mpton. Stones of large size were flung into the neighbouring croft, at a considerable distance. The rural chronicler will perhaps "point " a moral," by telling us that a parish meeting for certain business, had been fixed to be held in that very part of the west end of the aisle where the pinnacle fell and where, had the parishioners met as intended, the loss of life must have been far more terrific than at Widecombe :— he will probably assure us that there were many who thought at the time that the thunder-storm was intended to admonish against such a profanation of the house of God in future. " rubente Dextera sacras jaculatus arces." On Shaugh Common, east of the village, we shall notice many remains of hut-circles, as well as some larger inclosures. Pro- ceeding along the slope of the common, above the road from Shaugh to Plympton, we shall observe an interesting relic of the dolmen kind, but to which Polwhele denies the honour, for Shaugh Dolmen. Boringdon Camp. i8i reasons, which on examination of the object itself, will immediately appear inapplicable and groundless. The impost-stone is doubt- less supported in an unusual manner, resting partly on a ledge of rock which forms also a natural wall on one side of the area covered by the quoit, but artificially supported on the other side. The impost apparently, stands in its original position, and is similar in appearance to those which belong to undisputed dolmens. Returning to the road, we pass through the moor-gate on the south, and following the highway towards Plympton, shall observe on the high ground south of Brixton Farm (originally known as Heath Down, but now inclosed) the vestiges of a camp, fort, or entrenchment. The site is of great strength, and standing five hundred feet above the sea, it commands the Plym estuary, and the valleys through which the streams running into it flow, and Plymouth Sound is clearly seen some seven miles away. It is known as Bormgdon camp, sometimes, but not often, Castle Ring.* It has a circumference of five hundred yards, enclosing an area of about four acres. There is a single rampart and a ditch, the former in fair condition and easily traced ; the latter, e.vcept in one part, is destroyed. An engineer officer pointed out to us the fact, that this camp is in a direct line to Plympton Castle, and he thought that the people who raised the earthworks of the southern fortification, constructed the more distant ore of Boringdon. The Buri-ton — for Boringdon is a late corruption of the original name — " was the fortified house and courtyard " of the mighty man, the king, the magistrate and the noble," as Bishop Stubbs says. — In Plympton, we have besides the burh, the township, the little knot of houses which clustered round the stronghold for shelter and protection, in times when life and property were not so safe as in our more happy days. From hence we soon reach a sylvan lane which descends the hill between Newnham Park on the left, and the grounds of Elfordleigh on the right, and conducts us to the vale of the Torry, at Loughtor Mill, where we cross the stream, amidst scenery of much interest. Still journeying southwards, within two miles we shall arrive at the village of Ridgeway, where the name of the antient Roman road is still preserved in the modern appellation, *This is the name commonly applied to the mound, with the masonry wall upon it, of Plympton Castle. i82 The Perambulation. Ashuurton to Plympton. and where, in all probability, it will be found that the line of the antient highway is indicated, for some distance at least, by the present mail-road from Plymouth to Exeter. At Plympton, in the vale below, as a stannary town, and as a place where the antiquary will not fail to find many objects of sufficient interest to excite inquiry and to repay examination, we shall terminate our excursion. CHAPTER VIII. The Perambulation Continued and Concluded, Plvmpton to Tavistock and Okehampton. PLYMPTON EARL PLYMPTON ST. MARY PLYM BRIDGE BICKLEIGH VALE ROBOROUGH DOWN — MEAVY SHEEPSTOR EYLESBURROW SIWARd's cross FOX TOR — CLACYWELL POOL BLACK TOR STANLAKE PRINCE TOWN TWO BRIDGES CROCKERN TOR PARLIAMENT ROCK DUNNABRIDGE POUND BELLEVER TOR LAKEHEAD HILL — BELLEVER BRIDGE POST BRIDGE — ARCHETON CHITTAFORD DOWN WISTMAN's WOOD — BAIRDOWN — FICe's WELL PRINCE TOWN TOR ROYAL NORTH HESSARY TOR MERIVALE BRIDGE GREAT MISTOR GREENABALL LANGSTONE MOOR STAPLE ROLLS AND VIXEN TORS VALE OF THE WALKHAM PEWTOR TAVISTOCK INa's COOMBli MOUNT TAVY — COCK's TOR PETER TAVY WHITE TOR — COCK's HILL LINK's TOR FUR TOR WATERN OAK TAVY CLEAVE MARY TAVY — HEATHFIELD DOWN BRENTOR LYDFORD FALL AND BRIDGE KATE's FALL LYDFORD TOWN AND CASTLE — DOE TOR — SOURTON TOR STENGATOR HIGH WILHAYES YES TOR MIL TOR — OKEHAMPTON CASTLE AND TOWN OKELANDS — PARK ROWTOR — HOLSTOCK CHAPEL FORD — BELSTONE TOR — NINE STONES — BELSTONE — BELSTONE CLEAVE. At the two Plymptons, — ecclesiastically St. Mary, and St. Maurice — we shall find within the circuit of about half a mile, an un- doubted Roman road, the very complete mound and earthworks of a Pre- N or man fortress, the remains of the massive walls of the keep of a Norman baronial castle — with the base court, moat, and barbican clearly defined; the site and vestiges of a once wealthy and important priory ; two 184 The Perambulation. Plympton to Bei.stone. churches of hewn stone, both, especially that of St. Mary, full of architectural interest, and a large school-house, raised on arches, with high-pitched roof, mullioned windows, and a spacious piazza below, and both indicating their proximity to the moorland district by the granite of which they are constructed. Plympton St. Maurice, otherwise Plympton Comitis, Plympton Earl — the Earl being Baldwin, Earl of Devon, who gave the inhabitants in 1242, their first charter — was a borough town, and until 1832 returned two members to parliament, and the well-known couplet, current in the neighbourhood, alludes to the comparatively recent origin of its prosperous daughter town of Plymouth. " Plympton was a borough town. When Plymouth was a vuzzy down." A respectable looking Guildhall, of the latter part of the seven- teenth century, built on arches and projecting into the street according to the prevailing fashion, stands, as a monument of departed municipal honours. The castle, once the possession of the powerful family of Redvers, earls of Devon, which overawed and protected their subject town, nestled in its pleasant valley under its formidable bulwarks. The church was originally a chapel, served by the canons of Plympton Priory, adjoining. The Grammar school — the foundation of Elizeus Hele — is cele- brated as the place where Sir Joshua Reynolds was born and received the rudiments of his education, under his father, then the master of the school. Plympton, although not larger than many villages, is a complete town in miniature, with its continuous lines of houses, paved streets, and public buildings ; and with him, who like the author, cannot revisit its well-remembered purlieus, without a crowd of pleasing associations with by-gone years, the Donjon keep, the old penthouse, the venerable school, and the Great House — formerly the seat of the Trebys, now a private lunatic asylum — will remain indelibly impressed upon the memory as the characteristic features of the miniature numicipality. From the ruined walls of the keep, or the loftier \antage ground of the tor-capt eminence, which rises boldly alxjve the town on the south-west, all the varied and pleasing objects of the renowned and cheerful vale of Plympton, Ijounded on the north by the Dartmoor range, will be full in view, nor will he fail to recall with personal application, the appropriate lines of the great master of Plympton. Dorsmouth Hill. 185 the English lyre : — " I feel the gales that from ye blow, A momentary bliss bestow, As waving fresh, with gladsome wing, My weary soul they seem to sooth. And redolent of joy and youth. To breathe a second spring." Coming down from the hill — Dorsmouth or Dartmouth — by a steep lane which enters the road at the west of Plympton, we shall proceed on our next excursion through Dark Street lane. In the significant appellation of street, most antiquaries detect good evidence of the existence of an old Roman road (strata via J and the proximity of the Ridge-way, to which we again return at the end of Dark Street lane, in the present instance, greatly favours the hypothesis. Beyond the western extremity of the village of Ridgeway, in a low situation,* near the banks of the Torry Brook, a tributary of the Plym, we shall obtain a nearer view of the fine old parish church of Plympton St. Mary. The lofty granite tower, embattled, pinnacled, and crocketted ; north and south porches, and the south aisle, also embattled ; and the five roofs are the external features of this interesting specimen of Perpendicular architecture which will immediately strike the antiquarian observer. Nor will he be disappointed in the interior, where the *A legend (similar lo one found in other parls) connected with the building of this church, is called into requisition lo account for its erection in a i^ituation which originally must have been little better than a marsh. The site hxed upon (certainly a more central and dry one than the present) is said to have been Crownhay Castle, about a mile to the eastward, near the present Chaddlewood lodge, and there, accordingly, materials tor the luture church were deposited. But, to the astonish- ment of the workmen, the stone and timber collected there by day, were regularly and pertinaciously removed, by the Knemy at night; until at length, wearied by repeated attempts to build on the original site, the architect was cttnstrained lo erecl his church where it now stands, st^me (our or five miles from the eastern extremity of the parish. Those, however, who connect this legend with Plympton, forget the history of the church, and the topographical changes that have taken place. The church was built (or the parishioners by the canons of IMympton, in the cemetery of the jjriory. The waters of the- estuary flowed up close to the western side of the jjriory precincts, which side was protected from the incursions of the sea, by a massive nnsonry wall, in which were landing places tor those persons who might arrive by barge or boat. After the dissolution no care was taken to keep this wall up, and it became a ruitl, and much silting in consec]uence, took place, as will be seen from the condition of the tower of the church, the lower part of the buttresses, which should be visible, being buried. Iniportantenibanking operations undertaken early in this century, by the ancestors of the Earl of Morley, and alterations effected by the present Earl, have done very much to improve the con- dition of St. Mary's Churchyard and its surroundings. i86 Thh Perambui.ation. Plvmpton to Bbi.stonr. eastern window in particular, the sedilia, the Courtenay and Strode monuments, the chapels, and the four arcades, will not fail to attract his attention. Until recently, considerable remains of the once flourishing priory might have been observed on the south side of the church, but new buildings on the site have now reduced them to a few meagre relics. On the south east the priory mill still exists. At Plvmpton St. Mary bridge, we diverge from the Plymouth turnpike, .md follow the road by which, from early times, an inter- course was kept up between the antient towns of Plympton and Tavistock. Passing over the saddle of the hill, it skirts P.oringdon Park — -at one time the seat of the l^arker's — ancestors of the Karls of Morley, who abandoned it in the middle of last century for the present residence, Saltram — and dropping into the well-wooded vale of the Plym, crosses that river at Plym Bridge, near which, beneath the trees on the right of the road, will be observed the scanty remains of an antient ruined chapel or cell. We cross the bridge and mount the opposite hill to the Plymouth and Dartmoor railway — now only used for the conveyance of clay from the Lee Moor works — which follows the frequent sinuosities of the declivities, along which it is carried, and thus discloses, in succession, the justly celebrated charms of Bickleigh Vale, nor could a pleasure drive through a lordly domain, have been more felicitously laid out for the enjoyment of the scenery, than the line of railway between Leigham and the \iliage of Jump, now called Roborough, where it skirts the Ta\istock turnpike at the southern e.xtremity of Roborough Down. Here we look down upon the village and well-proportioned granite church-tower of Bickleigh, with Shaugh and the Dewerstone among the pur|)le heights eastwards. We pass over a breezy tract of open country, bounded by the ground of Maristow on one side, and the western l>ranch of the Plym, or Mew, on the other, to the eastern verge of Roborough Down, at Hoo Meavy IBridgc. Here we cross the river and proceed to the village of Meavy (which appears to take its name from the neighbouring stream) where we shall pause to examine the simple rural church, witii the venerable oak in front, coeval perhaps with the sacred structure itself. The tree is of no great height, but spreads widely, and the trunk is of large circumference. Completely hollowed out as it is, it yet bears its leafy honours aloft, and presents an object of much interest and picturesque Meavy. Marchant's Cross. 187 beauty. The village chronicles relate that nine persons once dined within the hollow trunk, where a peat-stack may now be frequently seen, piled up as winter fuel. The village cross, hard by, of which for a long time the base only remained intact, has been restored to its former condition, a former Vicar, the Rev. \V. A. G. Gray having, with praiseworthy industry, sought out and recovered the stones belonging to it, which were scattered in various places about the parish, and added a newly carved head. Marchant's or Merchant's Cross, a very tine one, on the other side of the stream, we shall notice as we leave Meavy and trace the course of the river upwards to the adjoining parish of Sheepstor or Shitestor, noticing the waterfall as we proceed. The village church, with its moorstone tower, stands at the foot of the strange- shaped rugged tor, which rises boldly above, and gives name to the parish. We cHmb the hill, and soon find ourselves in a wilderness of scattered moorstone masses, with which the whole southern slope is profusely covered. In the midst of the clutter we shall discover the cave, or Pisky House, as it is popularly called, in which it is said, that one of the family of Elford once found a secure asylum in the troublous times of the civil wars. The opening, which is exceedingly difficult to hnd without a guide, is under an overhanging mass of moorstone. The passage proceeds at first in a straight direction, but suddenly turns, and terminates in a sort of recess, where two or three persons might lie concealed. The notion that this cave is the resort of the piskies or pixies, appears still to be extant in the neighbourhood. Almost due east from Sheepstor the moorlands rise into a high ridge, the loftiest point of which is at Eylesburrow, where we once more meet the Forest boundary, coming hither in a direct line from Plym Head. From Eylesburrow we trace the bounds by an imaginary line to Siward's or Nun's Cross, which has inscribed on one face of the stone, the words Crux Siwardi, and on the other it has been thought the word Roolande, but Mr. \\'. Crossing has, we think, satisfactorily shewn that the latter word is not as stated, but Bocland, which is carved on the western face of the cross, the side on which the lands of the Monks of Buckland Abbey lay." It appears that in the year 1846, by some means never satisfactorily ascertained, this antient cross was overthrown •See Antient Crosses of Dartmoor, W. Crossing pp, 30, 31, and for the boundaries of the Abbey lands, J. Brooking Rowe, The Cistercian Homes oj Devon, p. 29. i88 The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. and broken. That a monument so interesting has not been irrecoverably lost, is owing to the timely care of the late Sir Ralph Lopes, who caused it to be repaired and replaced in its former position. The remains of another cross in this quarter of the moor has been supposed to point out the spot where Childe, of Plymstock, was benighted and perished with intense cold, but this may be mere conjecture. If Risdon's account is to be credited, the place where " the luckless hunter," near Fox Tor, met his death was marked by some kind of sepulchral monument. This our quaint topographer describes as the second of the three remarkable things in the Forest. " The second is Childe's of Plimstock's "tomb, of the manner of whose death mention is already made, " in Plimstock, which is to be seen in the moor, where he was " frozen to death." The story of his slaying and disembowelling his horse to shelter himself from the biting blasts of the moor, and of his leaving a couplet to the following effect, which con- tained his last will and testament, written with his own blood, has been often told as well as sung.^" The fyrste that fyndes and brings me to my grave. The lands of Plymstoke they shall have. " Now whatever," observes Mrs. Bray, " modern critics may " think of the rhyme, it soon appeared that the monks of Tavistock "found there was reason in it, and good reason too, that they " should constitute themselves heirs of old Childe ; for soon " hearing that he was frozen to death, somewhere near Crockern " Tor, they set their wits and hands to work to give him as speedily "as possible an honourable sepulchre. " But as the heirship was thus left vague and open to competi- " tion, there were others who thought themselves quite as much, " if not more, entitled to succeed than the friars, and these were " the good people of Plymstock, in whose parish the lands in "question had their standing; and though not invited to the " funeral, yet out of respect to the old gentleman, or more " probably to his acres, they not only determined to invite theni- " selves, but also to try how far club-law might settle the heirship •Cakrington has sung the fate of the ill-starretl sportsman in a spirited ballad, entitled Childe the Hunter, which concludes in thr- following stanzas : — •' ^'et one dear wish — one tender thought, Came o'er thai hunter br^-ve, To sleep at last in hallow'd (.Tound, And find a Christian grave." Childe the Hunter. Fox Tor Mire. Clacywell Pool. 189 " in their favour ; and so taking post at a certain bridge, over " which they conceived the corpse must of necessity be carried " they came to the resolution to arrest the body out of the hands of " the holy men by force, if no better settlement of the matter " could be affected. " The friars however were men of peace, and had no mind, " may be to take up any weapon sharper than their wits ; since as " Dr. Fuller says when speaking of this adventure, ' they must " ' rise betimes, or rather not go to bed at all, that will overreach " ' the monks in matter of profit ; ' for these cunning brothers, " apprehensive of losing their precious relics, cast a slight bridge " over the river at another place, and thus crossing with the " corpse, they left the men of Plymstock the privilege of becoming " very sincerely the chief mourners, whilst they interred old Childe " in their own abbey church, and according to his last will took "possession of his lands. 'In memory whereof says Risdon, " ' the bridge beareth the name of Guile Bridge to this day ; ' but " according to Mrs. Bray, is now more commonly known by the " name of the Abbey Bridge," which crosses the Tavy at the south entrance of the town by the old Plymouth road. As the Childe was buried at Tavistock, his monument in the Forest wilds must have been a cenotaph. It is said to have existed till within the beginning of this century, and then to have been destroyed by the grantee of a new-take. Some of the stones which composed it have been found, and the monument re-erected in 1890, under the direction of Mr. E. Fearnley Tanner. The restorer, however, is not satisfied with the result, stones being missing, and it being found so difficult to maintain the original character of the monument. There are many difficulties and discrepancies in the current accounts of Childe and his fate, which it is difficult to reconcile ; yet the story claims insertion, as one of the characteristic traditions of the moor, where from time to time many benighted and be- wildered wanderers have lost their lives on the bleak and trackless waste. We shall proceed from Siward's Cross in our return to the tributaries of the Mev,', or western branch of the Plym in search of Clacy Well or Crazy Well Pool. A rough moor-track comes up the valley from Sheepstor and Leather Tor, and on the right of this road, as we advance westward, we shall observe a miniature ravine in the common, down which runs a noisy rivulet. By following this stream upwards from the road we shall soon reach igo The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. the pool south-east of Stanlake, south-west of Cramber Tor, and within a short distance of the Dcvonport leat. Clacy, Clazy, or Crazy Well is a large pool, or sheet of water, which covers about an acre of ground. It has been dug out of the .southern part of the hill and along the verge of the banks on the top, the measurement is three hundred and forty-six yards. From this part, which is level with the adjacent common, the banks slope rapidly down to the margin of the pool. On the east side the bank is almost per- pendicular, and is nearly one hundred feet high. At the lowest part it is, at least, thirty, except on the south where the water finds an outlet. All the banks are covered with heather and other moor plants, like the neighbouring common ; but there can be little doubt that the greater part of the hollow is an artificial excavation, and that the moormen's notion of it is probably correct in the main, that it was " an old antient mining pit." They will also relate that the pit has no bottom, because the bell-ropes of Wakington — Walkhampton — church tower were once tied together and let down to try the depth, but no bottom could be found. But unfortunately for this legend, its credit has been much damaged in hot summers, when the pool has been nearly drained dry, to supply the deficiencies of the neighbouring leat. . In our progress from Siward's Cross we shall probably not have deviated materially from the course of the Perambulation. The boundary is described as running lineally to Little Hisworthie, that is Hessary Tor. But we have now reached a tract rich in antiquities, and must not pass onwards without a careful examina- tion of those which will be found at one of the head springs of the Mew, near Black Tor, which rises about twelve furlongs south- west of Hessary. The tor itself on a near approach, forms a striking object. An immense block, resting slightly on the main pile, has much of the appearance of a logan stone. On the edge of this mass, is a rock- basin, of an irregular oval form, two feet eight inches by one foot ten inches. Nearly a furlong from the tor in the glen below, on the eastern bank of the stream, are a pair of rows which are only forty feet apart, and run parallel to each other, east and west. They are formed of stones two feet and a half high, and each is terminated at the east end by a circle, thirty-six feet in diameter, consisting of fifteen stones, inclosing a cairn. A stream forms the western termination of both these rows ; the southern can be traced about two hundred feet, and the northern, which is more Two Bridges. Crockern Tor. igi perfect and distinct, upwards of four hundred feet. The stones at the head of the avenues are of larger dimensions than the others, as in other examples. Between the northern avenue and the stream is a cairn. Another will be observed at the extremity of the southern, but very imperfect. It is somewhat remarkable that these avenues have escaped entire demolition, as they are intersected diagonally by an old stream-work. On the slope of an adjacent hill is a Pound, or circumvallation, of an irregular form, three hundred and sixty yards in circum- ference, inclosing nine hut circles of the ordinary description. Nearly opposite Stanlake Farm, on the same hill, fronting west- ward, is another Pound of similar character, but not more than two-thirds the size of the former. Within and without the fence are many hut-circles. On the eastern side flows a brooklet, which appears to have been diverted from the natural channel below the Pound. Proceeding northwards towards Hessary, we shall reach the high road from Plymouth to Prince Town. In the immediate neighbourhood of an antient stream-work, we shall observe a number of hut-circles, close to the highway. There are many others on the slope of the opposite hill eastward, the foundation slabs are very perfect, with the door jambs standing. North-west of these is a cairn containing a dilapidated kistvaen. Following the road from hence, we shall soon arrive at Prince Town, where, or at Two Bridges, distant scarcely two miles, we shall find accommodation for the night, and a central position from which a great number of interesting objects can be conveniently visited. Foremost amongst these is Crockern Tor, which w-e shall reach by proceeding from Two Bridges along the Moreton turnpike- road, from which town it is distant about eleven miles. This tor has long been celebrated as one of the wonders of the Forest, although there are numerous other objects, of far greater interest in reality, which have been passed without notice by those who have commemorated the antient Parliament Rock. Yet, if Polwhele's conjecture deserves any credit, faint as are the existing vestiges of bygone ages which will repay the antiquary's investi- gations at Crockern Tor, the charm of association w'ill not be wanting to impart interest to the scene. Our provincial historian having fixed the seat of judicature for his cantred of Uurius, at Grimspound, assigns Crockern Tor as the site of the supreme court of the cantred of Tamara. To these antient courts of 192 The Perambulation. Plympton to Bei.stone. justice, if such there were, Polwhele traces the origin of the stannary parhaments of Devon and Cornwall, which he affirms " were similar in every point of resemblance to the old British "courts." He. observes that " Crockern Tor, from its situation " in the middle of Dartmoor Forest, is undoubtedly a very strange " place for holding meetings of any kind. Exposed as it is to the " severities of the weather, and distant as it always has been, " within our own times and the memory of man, from every " human habitation, we might well be surprised that it should " have been chosen for the spot on which our laws were to be '' framed, unless some peculiar sanctity had been attached to it, " in consequence of its appropriation to legal or judicial purposes, , " from the earliest antiquity. Besides, there is no other instance " that I recollect, within our own times, of such a court, in so " exposed and so remote a place. On this tor, not long since, was " the warden's or president's chair, seats for the jurors, a high " corner stone for the crier of the court, and a table — all rudely " hewn out of the rough moorstone of the tor, together with a " cavern which, for the convenience of our modern courts, was " used in these latter ages, as a repository for wine. Notwith- " standing this provision, indeed, Crockern Tor was too cold and " dreary a place for our legislators of the last generation, who after " opening their commissions and swearing the jurors on this spot, " merely to keep up the old formalities, usually adjourned the " court to one of the stannary towns." That Crockern Tor was long the place where the hardy stannators of the moorlands held their conventions must be received as an established historical fact, whatever may be thought of our author's hypothesis of the original choice of the spot for judicial purposes. Our older topographers notice the circumstance. Prince, who wrote in the year 1697, records that Crockern Tor in the Forest of Dartmoor, was the place "where the " parliament is wont to be held for stannary causes ; unto which "the>four principal stannary towns, Tavistock, Plympton, Ash- " burton, and Chagford, send each twenty-four burgesses, who are " summoned thither, when the Lord Warden of the Stannaries, "sees occasion, where they enact statutes, laws, and ordinances, " which, ratified by the Warden aforesaid, are in full force in all " matters between tinner and tinner, life and limb excepted. This " memorable place is only a great rock of moorstone, out of which " a table and seats are hewn, open to all the weather, storms, and Crockern Tor. Dunnabridge Pound. 193 "tempests, having neither house nor refuge near it by divers " miles. The borough of Tavistock is said to be the nearest, and " yet that is distant ten miles off." It would, perhaps, be incorrect to say that no traces whatever of this celebrated hypaethral court can now be detected ; but on careful examination they v.'ill be found to be lamentably slight, if not decidedly equivocal. The common report that the most remarkable objects, such as the table and seats, were removed and destroyed by the workmen of Sir Francis Buller, then the owner of the neighbouring estate of Prince Hall, has been condemned by the annotators on Carrington's " Dartmoor," as a calumny, although the Rev. E. Bray affirms that the allegation is so far confirmed by the fact of his finding at Dunnabridge (the place whither the stannary tables is reported to have been carried) a tabular moorstone, eight feet long by nearly six wide, which the farmer at Dunnabridge stated, from his own knowledge, to have been there fifty years ; and that he had heard it was brought from Crockern Tor about eighty years ago. In the first volume of Mrs. Bray's Letters,* is an amusing account of Mr. Bray's pursuit of the lost relic in 1831, and of its alleged discovery at Dunnabridge Farm, near the well-known drift-pound of that name on the banks of the West Dart. In 1835, some information was obtained by the author, from a moorland patriarch near the spot, who stated that he had lived on the moor sixty years, and had been in the service of Judge Buller. He remembered, perfectly well, when there was a chair, or stone seat, at Crockern Tor, with four or five steps to go up to it, and that overhead there was a large flat thinnish stone. These were all by degrees removed for building, the last of them having been taken away, as well as he could remember, about twenty years before that time. With these recollections in our mind, let us descend from Crockern Tor, and strike across the common over Cherrybrook to Dunnabridge Pound, on the Ashburton road. Immediately within the entrance is a stone seat, which, if our aged informant's account of the judge's stannary chair be accurate, would present an appearance greatly similar to that venerable relic before it was demolished. Although others may be unable to discover in Dunna- bridge those unequivocal evidences of aboriginal antiquity, which were so satisfactory to Mr. Bray, the conclusions to which a 'Borders of Tamar and Tavy. Letter vii., ist ed. vol. i., p, 109 ; 2nd. ed, vol. i., p. 103. 194 The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. practised observer was led, on personal examination, will not fail to be interesting. " Had I any doubt before that the pound was " erected on the base of an antient British, or rather Celtic circle, " I could not entertain it now, for I have not the slightest doubt of " the high antiquity of this massy chair." After speaking of the Reeve (the probable despoiler of Crockern Tor), he adds, " but I am " fully convinced that it was originally designed for a much greater " personage ; no less perhaps than an Archdruid or President of " some court of judicature."" Dunnabridge Pound occupies a large area, inclosed by a rough moorstone wall. It is now used for the forest drifts, and is capable of containing vast numbers of cattle. Dunnabridge adjoins the Ashburton road, which we shall follow, until we cross a tributary of the Dart. Near this rivulet on the common, east of the road is an aboriginal village enclosure, but without any remains of hut-circles within the area. We have now again approached the Forest bounds, at the junction of the east and south Quarters on the West Dart. We therefore return over the common near the rivulet above mentioned, with Loughtor about half a mile north. From hence we can make our way through a succession of enclosed common lands, to Believer — that is Bellaford — Tor, below which on the S. S. W., is a huge moorstone slab, raised about nine inches above the natural rock on which it stands, so as to be made to vibrate easily. This is probably one of the many similar masses on the moor, which has fortuitously assumed the logan character. Should we search for rock-basins on this conspicuous tor, we shall be disappointed, but the venerable pile affords a fine central station, from whence a noble panoramic view of the moor is obtained. Holne Lee, south- ward ; Hessary, Great Mistor, Longaford Tor, west ; Sittaford, north ; Hameldon, Houndtor and Rippon Tor, east ; with Buckland Beacon, Corndonf Down, and Yartor, south-west; and a vast extent of waste are the characteristic objects by which, on all sides, we are surrounded. In the name of Believer, as well as Belstone and Beltor, many with Polwhele have imagined that they can discover traces of the idol-worship of the antient Britons, and •Tamar and Tavy, ist ed , vol. i., p. 134, and ed., vol. i., p. 103. From Mr. Bray's Journal, published in this work in 1S33, it appears that his recorded observations extend as far back as 1802. fin the Ordnance Map Quarnion, a most remarkable error. Probably it is Cairn or Cam Down, so named from the cairns thereabout. Bellever. King's Oven. 195 proofs of the eastern origin of their reHgion, supposing these places to have been so designated, from the celebrated oriental deity, Bel, or Baal. Descending from the tor, northward, we cross a moor-road leading from the turnpike to Believer Farm. Crossing this road to the common opposite, we shall find many aboriginal relics on Lakehead Hill. On the higher part of the eminence is a congeries of stones, possibly the ruins of a very large kistvaen, one of the side stones being about six feet in length. At the east end, the stone is fallen, and the cover is also displaced. On the same hill, about a furlong N.W., is a kistvaen in great perfection, the sides which are about four feet four inches long, by one foot nine inches, and stand fifteen inches above the ground. Another kistvaen, at no great distance, will be observed in connexion with a cairn, as in other places. We return to the rough moor-road, and having noticed, on the descent opposite Bellever, a circle, twenty yards in circumference, shall proceed by Bellever Farm (one of the oldest moor-farms in the Forest) to Bellever Bridge adjoining. Below the modern structure over the East Dart, are the remains of an aboriginal Cyclopean bridge of three openings. The rude piers and abutments still remain, and one massive granite slab still spans each of the eastern and western openings ; but the centre stone has been displaced, and no trace of it appears in the stream below. This primitive bridge is similar to that at Post Bridge, higher up the stream, but the stones which span the waterway are not so large, measuring only twelve feet six inches in length. From hence, passing over Redridge Down, where we shall notice a circular inclosure in a very imperfect state, we shall proceed to the Wallabrook, above which Corndon Tor rises on the south-east. In this direction we shall observe many cairns, but none sufficiently remarkable to detain us from our progress up the Wallabrook, for the purpose of tracing the line of perambulation from hence to King's Oven, where we left it in our former excursion. The original Funiiim Jifgis, the King's Oven, the tin smelting place, was destroyed probably some time during the last century, and was reduced to further ruin by the removal of stones, or the construction of the buildings of Bush Down Mine, which are hard by, but the site is still indicated by a pile of stones, in the midst of a pound that is nearly circular. There are the remains of a rectangular building, on the south-west side of the pound, and there are also traces of a circle, enclosing 196 The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. a cairn, and a kistvaen in the centre. Having exercised our ingenuity, "•^= as others have done, in endeavouring to find some relics which would account for this curious designation, we shall direct our course westward, and leaving Merripit Hill on the right, shall proceed to Post Bridge, on the East Dart. The aboriginal bridge has been already described ; but when we observe that this is the scene of considerable agricultural improvements, and that many dwellings have been erected in the immediate neighbourhood, v/e shall be as much surprised as pleased, to find that this venerable relic of primitive times has escaped demolition, and has been preserved to a period when a more enlightened appreciation of national antiquities extensively prevails. We shall remark that the antient structure bears more east and west than the modern bridge, and probably thus points to the great central trackway which passes over Chittaford Down. I At Archerton, on the East Dart, just above Post Bridge, Mr. J. N. Bennett, of Plymouth, under grants from the Duchy, has enclosed considerable tracts of land, in the centre of which he has built a good dwelling house. On the slope in front of the house are some antiquities of great interest, which are now carefully protected within a fence. The remains of a singularly formed elliptical inclosure can be traced, with an entrance on the south-east, where the oval outline, instead of being continuous is bent into two circular sweeps, between which, apparently, was the original entrance to the inclosure. Within are vestiges of tracklines and the ruins of an aboriginal hut, where not only the formation, but the remains of the walls are still to be seen. The planting of trees, the growth of vegetation, and the gradual accumulation of what in time makes soil, has obscured the main features of this enclosure. At one time the hut presented the most perfect specimen of an aboriginal dwelling, of more solid construction than those generally found remaining on the moor. It appeared to have been constructed of stone, the interstices being filled with sod, and to have had a roof of the bee-hive, or domical form. Within the inclosure are other 'Furmim Regis must always have been a spot of mark. For the results of a recent examination of the site, see the account in the Second Report of the Dart- moor Exploration Committee. Vide Trans. Devon. Assoc. 1895, Vol. xxvi. tThis as before mentioned, is not so. The trackway crossed the Dart at Still Pool, upwards of five hundred yards above this bridge. Post Bridge — The Metropolis of the Moor. 197 antiquities, and in the immediate vicinity, remains of kistvaens, more or less perfect. One of these primitive sepulchres may be particularly noticed, as it is surrounded by an external circle eight feet in diameter. The kistvaen itself measures four feet six inches by four feet three inches. We have only mentioned a few of the remains hereabout, but in the neighbourhood of Post Bridge, was, as there is little doubt, an important settlement of prehistoric man. Dr. Arthur B. Prowse calls it the ancient Metropolis of the Moor, and he mentions fourteen pounds, containing at least one hundred hut-circles, and concludes that these were occupied by a population of about four hundred persons. The great central trackway, the antient road modified and utilised by the Romans, runs through the middle of this settlement.''' Broadun is close by, and the careful investigations made here by Mr. Robert Burnard, confirm the previously expressed opinions of Dr. Arthur B. Prowse. f The largest kistvaen found on Dartmoor was discovered by Mr. Robert Burnard, in 1S93, at Roundy Park, about a mile N.N.W. of the Clapper Bridge. In the bottom it is six feet six inches long, and three feet nine inches wide. In it were found two flints — an arrow point (?) and a scraper and some bone charcoal. J Between the boundary of Mr. Bennett's estate and the Dart, a moor-track runs north towards Hamlyn's New-take, where we shall notice several hut-circles. Still proceeding along the high ground, above the valley of the Dart, we shall observe in Templer's New-take, opposite Hartland Tor, and about a mile above Post Bridge, a Cyclopean circumvallation, which deserves the name of a miniature Grimspound ; but, unfortunately, its rampart is much less perfect, having been demolished on the N.W., and partially built upon for the purpose of forming a modern fence, which intersects the area on this side. A large segment of the circular inclosure, however, still remains, forming a sweep below the new-take wall, two hundred and twenty-four yards in length. The original base of the wall, or rampart, appears to have been about twelve feet wide ; in some parts of the circumvallation, it has more the appearance of a wall than usual, as the stones are piled upon each other instead of being heaped up promiscuously. On the north side, the rampart re-appears beyond the new-take wall, but here the spoliation has been •Trans. Devon Assoc. Vol. xxiii., iSgi, p. 307. fTrans. Devon Assoc. Vol. xxvi. 1894, p. 185. JBURNARD. Dartmoor Pictorial Records. Vol. iv., p. 55. igS The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. lamentable. We shall notice a large hut-circle with others of smaller dimensions ; and the whole forms one of the most striking and interesting objects in the Forest. The pound in the six-inch Ordnance Map (Sheet xcix., N.W.) is called a camp. Passing over Broad Down or Broadun,* and Ladehill, we shall notice several cairns on the heights, and, turning southwards, shall cross Chittaford Down beyond the inclosed lands of Archerton. Here we shall trace without difficulty, the trackway already described,! as it passes from the East Dart westward, over the common, to Waydown Tor. From hence we shall scale the steep acclivity of the long ridge which runs between Cherry- brook and the West Dart, and terminates in an inland promontory at Crockern Tor. This ridge is fortified by a range of tors in succession, of which the most conspicuous are Longaford, Beetor, and White, or Whitten Tor. On some are rock-basins, and, near Longford, a hut-circle. Of these relics, we shall observe many more groups, and a pound, of irregular form, on the western slope of the hill, above the narrow vale of the West Dart, and near the " lonely wood of Wistman." Wistman's, or Whistman's, Wood is the third of Risdon"s " three remarkable things " in the Forest of Dartmoor. By him it is described as consisting of " some acres of wood and trees " that are a fathom about, and yet no taller than a man may touch "the top with his hands." The general description of this third wonder of Dartmoor is in sufficient accordance with its present condition to warrant the conclusion that the lapse of more than two centuries and a half has not materially changed its aspect, and that probably for a much longer period it has presented the same singular appearance as now. The traditionary account that the wood was planted by Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon and Albemarle, in the thirteenth century, has been related by some authors ; but there is no reason for supposing that this is a planted wood. Nor can there be any reasonable doubt that here we behold the poor relics of those sylvan honours, which we may reasonably conclude once graced many of the moorland vales and acclivities, without contending that the entire district — the granite •On Broadun Down and at Broadun Ring, on its southern slope, many hut-circles have been examined by Mr. Robert llurnard, and distinct evidences of their permanent occupation by Neolithic people, obtained. ViJc Devon Ttaiis. Assoc, 1S94, vol. xxvi.. pp. 1S5-J96. fR. BuRNARD. The Great Central Trackway. Trans. Devon Assoc, vol. xxi., pp. 43'-436- Wistman's Wood. 199 soil of which is unfavourable to the growth of trees — was at any period one continuous forest in the ordinary acceptation of the term. Risdon, Bray, and other writers, report a Perambulation made immediately after the Conquest, to prove that Wistman's Wood was even at that remote period much the same as it now appears. We can trace no such document. The earliest peram- bulation was in 1240, and there is no reference in it to this wood. The whole world cannot boast, probably, a greater curiosity, in sylvan archaeology, than this solitary grove in the Devonshire wilderness. Wordsworth has celebrated the characteristic yews of the Lakelands, in his description of the " Fraternal Four of " Borrowdale ; " but whilst venerable yews may be found in a thousand English sanctuaries, the antient storm-stricken oaks of Wlstman are without recorded parallel. Viewed from the opposite steep, when sullen clouds have lowered down upon Longaford Tor, and shut out all surrounding objects — when mist- wreaths half shroud and half reveal their hoary branches and moss-covered trunks — there is something almost unearthly in their aspect. Our native bard has however chosen the profound sunlit repose of a moorland noon (and it is only in the shelterless solitudes of the moor, amidst the quivering rack of a heated atmosphere, that the truthfulness and beauty of his imagery can be appreciated) as most perfectly in keeping with the old mysterious grove which had lived perhaps more than a thousand years, but had not grown for centuries. " How heavily That old wood sleeps in the sunshine ;— not a leaf Is twinkling, not a wing is seen to move Within it ; — but, below a mountain-stream. Conflicting with the rocks, is ever heard. Cheering the drowsy noon. of this grove. This pigmy grove, not one has climb'd the air So emulously that its loftiest branch May brush the traveller's brow. The twisted roots Have clasp'd, in search of nourishment, the rocks. And straggled wide, and pierced the stony soil : — In vain, denied maternal succour, here A dwarfish race has risen. Round the boughs, Hoary and feeble, and around the trunks, ibo The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. With grasp destructive, feeding on the life That lingers yet, the ivy winds, and moss Of growth enormous. E'en the dull vile weed Has fixed itself upon the very crown Of many an antient oak ; and thus refused By Nature kindly aid — dishonoured — old — ' Dreary in aspect — silently decays The lonely Wood of Wistman." To add to this sketch, faithful and graphic as it is, would be superfluous and impertinent. It will be only necessary to state that the account of the stature of the trees must be taken with due allowance for poetical license. Ten feet might be more correctly given as the average height of the trees. A botanical writer says : — " The trees are all dwarfs, apparently of the same "age, and growing on a singularly unfavourable site. They " owe their preservation to an effectual defence in the shape of a " number of large stones which cover the site on which they " grow, and amid which the venerable dwarfs lift their branches. " The trunks of the trees are about the height of a common stool, " such as clerks sit upon, and I sat down on the crown of one in " passing, and leaned upon the main limbs. The bole of this tree "was about three feet high, and its total height to the topmost " branches, fifteen feet. The trunk was hollow, but still full of " life. Its circumference was six feet. It was at its prime, probably " about the height of an average oak : this must have been at the " period of the Norman Conquest, and it is still as tough a dwarf " for a tree, as the notorious Quilp was for a man. Time-worn as " the stems and trunks are, they are well covered by their spread- "ing and flattened heads. Seen at a distance in August, a sheet " of green seems spread upon the hillside. I do not remember " oaks more uniform in the character of their umbrella like heads, " or with foliage of a brighter green. Whether the trees were " planted by man or by nature, their security is due to the shelter- " ing blocks of granite, amid which they stand, and to the " moss-covered props and slabs on which the branches rest." Although it is probable that these trees have not increased in height for many an age, yet these dwarf patriarchs of the Forest produce bud and leaf in their season, but no acorns are at present borne, and the emitted roots are weak, in consequence of even the smallest branches being too old, hard and tough. When Wistman's Wood. Druidical Speculations. 2oi therefore the old trees crumble, a thousand years hence, they will leave no successors. =" The trees, which are in three clumps or divisions, separate from each other, extend for about a third of a mile, along the rocky declivity. In the widest part, neither group of trees is more than one hundred feet. In this new edition we have indicated freely our disbelief in many of the speculations contained in the former issues of this book. Here in Wistman's Wood, the old antiquaries ran riot and found a sacred grove, dedicated to the rites of Druidism, and did not hesitate to advance theories, and to write in the following imagina- tive strain. If in other spots, led by the evidence of the pillared circle, the lustral basin, or the oracular logan, we are carried back in imagination to the age and ceremonial of a mysterious and sanguinary ritual — surely this antient oaken grove, whose age outdates tradition and history, and which is such an anomaly in physiology as to baffle scientific calculation, might have itself been a favourite resort of the hierophants of Druidism, and might have sheltered the last of the Danmonian priesthood, who, in these secluded wilds of the west might have found an asylum from the vengeance of the exasperated Roman. But it is not a httle curious that among the aboriginal relics in the immediate neigh- bourhood, no sacred circle, no avenue, no logan, is to be obser\'ed. Nor among all the parasitical plants which crowd the branches of these venerable oaks — the most sacred tree of Druidism — has the far-famed mistletoe ever been discovered. f Yet would this con- sideration not be suflScient to detract from the claims of Wistman to be regarded as the remnant of a Druidical grove, especially since we learn, from an antient contemporarj' writer, J that the mistletoe, even then was scarce, and seldom to be met with, on the oak in particular. Hence when found, they gather it with great devotion and many ceremonies. But the same author informs us that whatever the Druids found growing on the oak, parasitically, 'Journal of Forestry, vol 5, p. 421. fAlthough the mistletoe is plentifully produced on the apple tree, in the neigh- bouring county of Somerset, it is remarkable that in Devonshire, it is scarcely known as an indigenous plant. In the Floras of the county it is recorded as having been found at Holcombe Regis, near Plymouth, on an apple tree in the orchard at Higher Fordton, Crediton, Harford, Larkbere. near Otterton, and in an orchaid at Ilsham. See KKYb. Flora Devon and Cornv.'all,sxihViscum album. The mistletoe which thrives in Siberia, in certain situations, does not climb in England higher than five or six hundred feet above the level of the sea, and Wistman's Wood is not much less than one thousand feet above the sea level. Our Druidical friends must therefore like their predecessors for their flints, have gone some distance for their mistletoe. JPliny, Xat. Hist., lib. xvi., 14. 202 The Perambulation. Plympton to Belstone. whether mistletoe or other plants, they esteemed as a Divine gift, and as a token that their god had made that tree his peculiar choice. If, then, the Wistman oaks were draperied with the same exoteric garniture as at present, they must have been regarded by the Druids with peculiar veneration. Nor can " imagination body "forth" a place more congenial to the sights and sounds of dark and blood-stained rites, than this dreary, narrow, rock-strewn glen of the Dart. We can imagine the appointed Druid, on the natural watch tower, afforded by the neighbouring tor, carefully marking the moment when the moon has completed the sixth day of her age — when haply a mistletoe has been found in the grove below ; — we follow him to the tree, and there see him clothed in his robe of pure white ; and bearing the golden hook, reverently ascend the oak and cut the plant, which is received by the assistant priests below with every demonstration of gladness and awe. Wistman's Wood is just such a place as the holy prophet of the Most High describes as one of the scenes of the idolatrous orgies of the Israelites. Here are the oaks — here " the valleys "under the clifts of the rocks" where they sacrificed their children — here " the smooth stones of the stream among which " was their portico." In this spot too, m.ight the Roman bard have found his original of the grove, which he depicts as conse- crated to the mystic ceremonies of Druidism. " Lucus erat longo nunquam violatus ab a;vo, Obscurum cingens connexis aera ramis, Et gelidas alte summotis solibus umbras. Hunc non ruricolte Panes, nemorumque potentes Silvani Nympha: que tqnent, sed barbara ritu Sacra Deum, structas sacris feralibus aras Omnis et humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos."-'- — LucAN, Pharsalia, Book iii. •" Not far away for ages past had stood An old iinviolated sacred wood ; Whose gloomy boughs, thick interwoven, made A chilly, chearless, everlasting shade ; There, not the riistick godh nor satyrs sport. Nor Fauns and Sylvans with the Nymphs resort ; But barbarous priests some dreadful Power adore, And lustrate every tree with human gore." — Lucan's Pharsalia, translate'! into F.nglish verse by Nicliolas Rowe, Esq., Servant to His Majesty, iol. 171s, p. 107. Nicholas Rowe. the translator of Lucan, was a son of Francis I