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 rtlMiitjiliili iiji! il M^H! 
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 illilliliii' i!li!!!l![!lSi!!jl'|i!:1.. 
 
 ..lilKliiiHi iiilihil'Hili'Hiiiii:!; 
 
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 A TOUR 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 CORNWALL, 
 
 AUTUMN OF 1888. 

 
 A TOUR 
 
 THROUGH 
 
 CORNWALL, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 AUTUMN OF 1808. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 ReV^, Richard Warjier, 
 
 OF BATH. 
 
 2a yxq ff< xa Ttxtroc,. 
 " Creation's Tenant, all the world is thine!" 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 niCHARD CRUTTWELL, ST. JAMES's-STREET, BATH J 
 
 AND SOLD BY 
 
 WILKIE AND ROBINSOX, PATER-NOSXiiU-ROW, LONDON. 
 
 ] 809.
 
 DA 
 
 THE NOBILITY AND GENTUY, 
 
 THE CLERGY, 
 
 MINE-PROPRIETORS, ^ MERCHANTS, 
 
 OF 
 
 CORNWALL, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING WORK, 
 
 AN HUMBLE, BUT GRATEFUL RETURN, 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE PLEASURE HE RECEIVED, 
 
 THE INFORMATION HE ACQUIRED, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE HOSPITALITY HE EXPERIENCED, 
 
 IN A TOUR 
 
 THROUGH THAT COUNTY, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 
 BY THEIR OBEDIENT SKRVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 BATH, FEB. 1, 1809. 
 
 7S6970
 
 ITINERARY. 
 
 Miles. 
 
 From Bath to Exeter, by new road 78 
 
 Chudleigh 9 
 
 Ashburton 12 
 
 Ivy Bridge 15 
 
 Plymouth 10 
 
 Dock 2 
 
 Anthony, by Tremarton and Mount Edg- 
 
 cumbe 13 
 
 East Looe 11 
 
 Fowey 15 
 
 St. Austle 7 
 
 Truro 13 
 
 Penrhyn 7 
 
 Falmouth 2 
 
 Pendennis, and back 3 
 
 St. Ives, by the Tolmen, Carn-bre, Dol- 
 
 cooth, Phillack, &c. 36 
 
 Penzance 8 
 
 Marazion, by Sennar, Logan-Stone, 
 
 Mousehole, &c. 30 
 
 Hclston 10 
 
 Truro, by Mullion, Lizard, Gweek, &c. 38 
 
 St. Columb 15 
 
 Padstow, by Kistvacn, &c. 12 
 
 Tintagel, by Dinabolc^ &c. J5 
 
 361
 
 C iv ] 
 
 MUet. 
 Brought over 36 1 
 
 Camelford, by Bossiney, &c. 8 
 
 Stratton 18 
 
 Kilkhampton 4 
 
 391 
 Bath, by Holdsworthy, Hatherleigh, Ex- 
 eter, Sec. ' 130 
 
 Total 521 
 
 ERRATA. 
 Page 70. 1. 18. for our, read his. 
 
 97. 1. 4. insert more useful. 
 1 14. 1. 20. for credit, read creditable. 
 1.-32. 1. 7. for .50, read 150. 
 136. 1. 13 for county, read country. 
 193. 1. 20. ioT form, read from. 
 194. 1. 10. for course, read coarse. 
 209. 1. 20. for noxious, read uxorious. 
 218. 1. 10. ior fddh, read fade. 
 iH7. 1. 10. for tkoiu, read throiv. 
 
 lb. Note, 1. 2. for (/.xi, read xxi. 
 256. Note, L 3. for rums, read ras, 
 
 lb. 1.4. for itrO.x^c, read xireXaBi. 
 
 2j7.1. 1. for lucre, read 7t;aj. 
 
 lb. Note, 1. 1. for Pofjixvoi, read PoiACttot. 
 
 lb. 1.2. after cjnioTi, insert ^. 
 
 lb. 1. 4. for roTB, read rois ; for xQiKna-iv, read tfltXao-iv ; 
 
 for SaXarXay, read S^Xarlay. 
 259. Note, 1. 5. for ;4a:T;^|'T; read xxrctips^irxt. 
 sa31. 1. 8. for <p(A'^Tj^vj_, read (p/XoTtp^vw^.
 
 r 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 To WILLIAM JOHNSTON, Esq; 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, Ashlurton,July25, 1808. 
 
 THOUGH our correspondence has been inter- 
 rupted for a considerable time, by a variety 
 of circumstances, yet I trust you will allow me to 
 renew it, with the same flattering readiness with 
 which you originally assented to my request of 
 commencing an epistolary intercourse between us.
 
 C 2 ] 
 
 Happily, the continuance of friendship does not 
 depend on the regular interchange of letters ; nor . 
 is it in the power of distance* to weaken esteem, 
 or obliterate regard. The mind, independent of 
 time and place, can perpetuate its partialities through 
 all vicissitudes; and recolledion, faithful to her office, 
 preserves within it the image of our friends, though 
 years ^lapse without the enjoyment of personal in- 
 tercourse, or oceans separate us from these objefts 
 of our preference. 
 
 These are sentiments, which I am sufficiently 
 acquainted with you, to be assured you will concur 
 in J I shall not therefore offer any apology for again 
 using a privilege that has never been withdrawn 
 from me, and from the renewed exercise of which I 
 anticipate as much future pleasure, as I have expe- 
 rienced past satisfalion. Yet it must not be con- 
 cealed, that however greatly my inclination may be 
 gratified in once more addressing you through the 
 medium of pen, ink, and paper, ray conscience will 
 be relieved at the same time in nearly a similar 
 proportion; since I shall be performing a promise, 
 which. hcup,h made some years since, has never yet 
 been fulfilled, and paying a debt that has been equally 
 
 * The genlleman to whom these letters are addressed ha 
 be'u lor some years a resident in a foreign country.
 
 C 3 2 
 
 long undischarged, and is the more burthensome to 
 me from its having been voluntarily contraifted. 
 
 You will perceive that I allude to the Letters I 
 had the pleasure of addressing to you in 1799;* in 
 the first of which I undertook to conduft you to the 
 Western extremity of our Isle, and introduce to your 
 notice whatever particulars Cornwall might offer 
 worth communicating to my friend. Circumstances, 
 however, which I could neither foresee, nor have 
 controlled, had they been anticipated, prevented me 
 from executing the plan I had chalked out for 
 myself, and fulfilling the engagement I had con- 
 trafted with you. Necessity compelled me to 
 return, as soon as I had reached the Eastern limits 
 of the county I purposed to perambulate; and I 
 came home, with my curiosity ungratified with 
 fespeft to the most interesting feature of my pro- 
 jefted tour, but with my experience enriched by 
 another proof of the delusive nature of hope, and 
 the uncertainty of all anticipated enjoyment. 
 
 You will smile at me, perhaps, that, whilst I am 
 boasting of this addition to my wisdom, I should at 
 the same time be neglcfting its dilates, and again 
 promising myself pleasures in fcrspedive, the real- 
 izing of which a thousand accidents may again pre- 
 
 Warner's Western Walk, i vol. o<5lavo. 
 B 2
 
 [41 
 
 vent. But such, you know, is the nature of man : 
 a sage in theory, he is a child in aftion j and like a 
 child, forgets on the morrow the lesson he has 
 been taught on the preceding day. Yet let him be 
 content with his lot ; for if the delights of Hope be 
 too frequently succeeded by the anguish of disap- 
 pointment, their present enjoyment is still exquisite, 
 and their ends noble and important. They enlighten 
 the darii, and they sweeten the bitter of human 
 lifej they rouze to exertion, and animate to per- 
 severance j they conquer difficulties, with which 
 the mind, unsupported by their magic influence, 
 would be unable to contend ; and they draw forth 
 energies, that could only be awakened by their 
 enlivening call : 
 
 " La! startled by Hope's heavenly ray, 
 *' With speed unwonted Indolence upsprlngs, 
 " And, heaving, lifts her leaden wings, 
 "And sullen glides away." 
 
 The circumstances, indeed, under which I have 
 commenced my second Tour into the West, are suffi- 
 ciently propitious to justify every pleasing prospeft. 
 The weather is fine and settled ; and in the ardent, 
 cheerful, and benevolent W , I have a compa- 
 nion, who, whilst he promises to direl my curiosity, 
 and assist my enquiries, will enliven every incident
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
 fhat may occur, and spread a sunshine over the 
 excursion, which could never accompany a solitary 
 journey. 
 
 Our course, for the first thirty miles, led us 
 through a country with which you are already 
 acquainted. In the ancient city ot Wells, we 
 again contemplated, with mingled delight and won- 
 der, the magnificent specimens of an architefture, 
 which, though the produlion of a comparatively 
 barbarous age, defies all the efforts of modern 
 science to imitate : But whilst we confessed the 
 extinftion of a style of building which so happily 
 combined the beautiful with the august, we are 
 compelled to allow the palm of taste to our contem- 
 poraries, by the elegant, judicious, and appropriate 
 improvements in the Episcopal Palace made by the 
 present Diocesan. 
 
 The decaying ruins of Glastonbury naturally 
 awakened all the melancholy a,ssociations conne^cd 
 with the view of fallen greatness j nor were our 
 minds exhilarated, by observing, that the venerable 
 old Market-Cross, which for centuries had adorned 
 the town, was now removed, and h^d 
 
 _____ left its place 
 
 " A seat for emptiness." 
 
 We were detained for a short time by the blue 
 Has quarries of Street, which underlie the surface
 
 [ 6 ] 
 
 of the flat country in its neighbourhood, to a con- 
 siderable extent. The stone is deposited in beds 
 from three to six inches in depth j and these strata 
 are so uniform in thickness, as to afford materials 
 for building, equal in regularity to brick, without 
 any other process, than that of merely breaking 
 them into masses small enough for the purpose. 
 The lias takes a polish sufficiently fine to render it 
 applicable to the uses which marble usually serves. 
 It also produces many elegant specimens of' the 
 Mytilus^ Cornu Ammonis, Cochlea, Sec. enriched by 
 those splendid pyrltical crystallizations which are 
 common to organized fossils of a similar habitat. 
 
 We found the inhabitants of the country around 
 us deeply deploring the effects of a storm that had 
 recently occurred ; nor did their lamentations appear 
 to be unfounded. They described the circum- 
 stances of this tempest (whose violence was almost 
 unprecedented in the records of modern English 
 meteorology) in terms which proved that its visit- 
 ation had made a deep and awful impression on their 
 minds. It occurred on Friday the 15th of July, 
 and seemed to approach them from the East ; when, 
 having exercised its fury chiefly on their neighbour- 
 hood, it sailed slowly away in a Westerly direftion, 
 towards the mouth of the Bristol Channel. The 
 thunder that attended it, unlike that customary
 
 r r ] 
 
 accompaniment of a tempest in theTemperate Zones, 
 was not intermittent, but continuous 5 roaring unin- 
 terruptedly for upwards of three hours ; whilst 
 quickly-succeeding streams of lightning wrapped 
 the atmosphere in a perpetual blaze. But the most 
 tremendous circumstance connected with it was a 
 shower of hail-stones, or rather of masses of ice, 
 which rattled down for upwards of forty minutes. 
 Irregular in shape, and unusual in magnitude, (for 
 many of them measured nine inches in circumfe- 
 rence,) these masses appeared to be fragments of a 
 vast plate of ice, formed by sudden congelation in 
 some very high and intensely cold region ot the 
 atmosphere, which, as it descended, had been broken 
 into the smaller portions that covered the ground. 
 During the whole of this terrifying scene, the pro- 
 gress of the tempest was opposed by a strong wind 
 from the north-west, peculiarly hollow and mouiiAful 
 in its sound, affording no incomplete idea of what 
 Ossian calls, " the voice of the Spirit of the Storm.*' 
 Its course was marked by ruin and destruction. The 
 labours of the husbandman fell an early and an easy 
 prey to its violence. Promising harvests were in a 
 short time totally destroyed : and we saw many 
 corn-fields in which there was little more appearance 
 of grain, than if they had just yielded their riches 
 to the hand of the reaper. Those windows of
 
 C 8 ] 
 
 dwelling-houses which stood in the direftion of its 
 march, had scarcely a single pane unbroken j the 
 glass of every hot-house was smashed to atoms ; the 
 smaller plants and shrubs were beaten to the ground; 
 many trees were nearly stripped of their foliage ; 
 and the roads were strewed with the smaller branches 
 of others. Nor was its havock confined to inani- 
 mate nature alone. Several cattle were killed or 
 injured : two or three labourers were struck by the 
 lightning ; and no less than five hundred rooks were 
 destroyed by the masses of ice, within the cir- 
 cumference of four miles round Piper*s-Inn. In a 
 word, it appeared to have been one of the most 
 terrible storms that this country had ever expe- 
 rienced ; and to have realized that sublime descrip- 
 tion of an elemental tumult, which our Bard of 
 Nature, when he penned the picture, probably only 
 intended as a creation of fancy : 
 
 " Down corqes a deluge of sonoroas hail, 
 
 " Or prone-descending rain. Wide-rent tlie clouds 
 
 " Pv^ur a whole flood : and yet, its flame unquench'd, 
 
 " Th" unconquerable lightning struggles through, 
 
 ** Ragged and fierce, or in red whirling balls, 
 
 " And hres the mountains, with redoubled rage. 
 
 " Black from the stroke, above, the smould'ring pine 
 
 " Stands a sad, shattered trunk j and, stretch'd below.
 
 C 9 ] 
 
 *''A lifeless group, the blasted cattle He : 
 
 " Here, the soft flocks, with that same harn^less look 
 
 " They wore alive, and ruminating still 
 
 " In fancy's eye; and there the frowning bull, 
 
 " And ox half-rais'd. Struck on the castled cliff, 
 
 " The venerable tov, 'r,. and spiry fane 
 
 ** Resign their aged pride. The gloomy woods 
 
 " Start at the flash, and from their deep recess, 
 
 *' Wide flaming out, their trem,bling inmates ahake." - 
 
 At Piper's-Inn we quitted the road I had taken 
 in my former tour, and pursued the new one, which 
 was formed three or four years ago, for the purpose 
 of saving six miles between this place and the town 
 of Taunton. It runs in nearly a strait line for about 
 fourteen miles, crossing the moors in its course, and 
 joining the old turnpike at Warborne Lodge. Of 
 this distance six miles are entirely new road, made 
 over a low and flat country, which heretofore in the 
 winter time had been generally covered with water. 
 The road is raised above the level, and spread on a 
 thick layer of faggots, so that it bids fair to be 
 sufficiently durable. There is no doubt that much 
 convenience is gained by this recent alteration. 
 Time and expence are both saved ; which is of 
 course a ssificient recommendation to the private 
 traveller to lake it in preference to the old turnpike 5
 
 C 10 ] 
 
 though, as it does not include Bridgewater in its 
 course, the public vehicles still continue to run the 
 former stages. With this convi^ion of its conve- 
 nience on our minds, you will be surprised perhaps 
 at the weakness of our judgment, or the singularity 
 of our scepticism, when I say, that whilst wc 
 availed ourselves of the short cut which it afforded 
 us to the place of our destination for the night, wc 
 could not help doubling whether or not the great 
 improvements which had been made of late years 
 in the English public roads, could be fairly consi- 
 dered as promotive of the real happiness of our 
 country. Are they not, said we, the means by 
 which luxury spreads her poison from large towns 
 into the quiet retreats of rural simplicity? Have 
 they not a tendency to injure the morals and pervert 
 the manners of the country, by importing thither 
 the vices and habits and fashions of corrupted cities ? 
 Do they not enable the idle and the dissipated to 
 overwhelm the sequestered abodes of contented 
 industry, and by exhibiting new and dazzling modes 
 of life, to excite expensive emulation, or envious dis- 
 satisfaction? And are not the visits of the rich and 
 extravagant ramblers, who by these means penetrate 
 with e;isc into the most remote recesses of the 
 island, invariably attended with a rise in the cost of 
 every article of life, in the places to which they arc
 
 [ 11 ] 
 
 thus perpetually migrating? It is true, indeed, to 
 all this may be answered, that the present conveni- 
 ence of travelling throughout England fiicilitates the 
 intercourse of distant places j gives activity to the 
 internal /r^ii'^' of the country; and above all, improves^ 
 promotes, and extends civilization through the land. 
 Allowing thus much, however, 1 would still contend, 
 we are yet without sufficient proof that the improve- 
 ments in our public roads are promotive of the real 
 happiness of our country. Frequent and intimate 
 intercourse gives wings to corruption, and makes 
 that licentiousness general, which, without its aid, 
 would be only partial. Internal trade, beyond a 
 certain limit, is the parent of luxury and profuse 
 expense ; of which the one only increases our 
 wants, and the other, in endeavouring to satisfy 
 them, plunges us into misery and ruin ; and civili- 
 zaiion is an ambiguous terra, being either a good 
 or an evil, a blessing or a curse, according to the 
 degree to which it has arrived, or the measure 
 which it has exceeded. Indeed, there is no ques- 
 tion relating to the happiness ol man in his aggre- 
 gate character so difficult to be determined, as the 
 exat point at which civilization should stop in order 
 to produce the greatest possible degree of public 
 felicity. To me, I confess, it appears, that all the 
 writers on political cccoQomy arc equally distant
 
 [ 12 3 
 
 from the truth in their reasonings on this sobjeft. 
 Without, however, attempting to settle the dispute 
 between the disciples of Rousseau and the follow- 
 ers of Adam Smith, I would lay this axiom down as 
 an incontrovertible one ; that, in proportion as civi- 
 lization is promotive of virtue, morality, and religion 
 amongst a people, so far is it a source of public 
 felicity ; but, on the contrary, that it becoHies sub- 
 versive of real national happiness, in the exaft ratio 
 of its producing opposite effects to these on the 
 general character of a country. Whether or not 
 our admirable turnpike-roads are likely to have any 
 influence in giving either, or which, of these colour- 
 ings to the English moral character, I leave it ta 
 you to determine. 
 
 The gloom of these speculations was however 
 in some degree dispersed, on our being informed, 
 that in consequence of the new road, and an Ad for 
 Inclosure, a prodigious rise had taken place in the 
 value of the land through which it runs. Six and 
 twenty thousand acres had been rescued from the 
 winter's floods, drraned, cultivated, and raised in 
 annual rent from 5s. to 45s. and three guineas per 
 acre. Noble crops of corn were now waving over 
 large districts of land which had . formerly been 
 the exclusive possession of the gander, his wife, 
 and family j and large herds of black cattle were
 
 C 13 1 
 
 grazing and fattening on rich Inclosures that here- 
 tofore could only have been trodden by the light 
 step of the adventurous snipe-shooter. 
 
 A short time before we reached Borough-Bridge, 
 we were induced to quit the turnpike in order to 
 examine a little stone stru^ure to the left hand, 
 which appeared to have been raised in commemo- 
 ration of some remarkable person or event. We 
 found it to be elegant in design, and neat in work- 
 manshipj and bearing the following inscription ; 
 
 " KING ALFRED THE GREAT, 
 
 * In the year of our Lord 879, having been defeated hj the 
 *' Danes, fled for refuge to the Forest of Athelney, where 
 " he lay concealed from his enemies for the space of a 
 *' whole year. He foon after resigned t he possession of ^ y^''*^ 
 *' his throne, and in grateful remembrance of the pro- 
 *' tedion he had received under the favour of Heaven, 
 '* ere6ted a Monastery on this spot ; and endowed it with 
 " the land contained in the Isle of Athelney. 
 
 " To perpetuate the memory of so remarkable an incident 
 " in the life of that illustrious prince, this edifice was 
 " founded by John Slade, esq; of Mansol, the proprietor 
 " of Athelney Farm, and lord of the manor of North- 
 " Pethertou, A. D. 1801." 
 
 It was not without considerable pleasure, and 
 some little feeling of national vanity, that we recoU 
 Ic^ed we were now on a spot, immortalized by the
 
 C 14 ] 
 
 greatest public character, perhaps, that adorns the 
 page of history; and that this chara^er wa^ a coun- 
 tryman of our own. To this secluded spot, after a 
 strenuous confllft of nine years with the Danes, who 
 in tumultuous crowds had over-run and laid waste 
 the Eastern part of his dominions, was Alfred undef 
 the necessity of retiring,* with a few faithful adhe- 
 rents. Here he concealed himself for the space of 
 a year, employing the period of his concealment in 
 arranging those measures, and making those prepa- 
 tions, which enabled him to retaliate with a dreadful 
 vengeance upon his enemies, and by their signal 
 overthrow at Eddington, to reduce them to uncon- 
 ditional submission. It Was here that he exhi- 
 bited that exalted proof of his beneficence, when he 
 supplied the wants of an hungry beggar, by giving 
 him the only loaf in his possession, and left himself 
 without a meal ; and was rewarded for his humanity 
 by an unhoped-for and almost miraculous supply of 
 provision. And it was from hence he made his cele- 
 brated visit to the Danish camp, in the disguise of a 
 harper, which gave him an opportunity of observing 
 the carelesness and want Of discipline of his enemies, 
 and enabled him to attack them with that success 
 which crowned the Battle of Eddington. When 
 we consider the conduct of this great man under the 
 strange reverses to which he was at different times
 
 t 15 ] 
 
 tsx'posed, it is difficult to say whether he is most the 
 objeft of admiration in prosperity or adversity. His 
 tnoderation in the one, and his firmness in the other, 
 'Were equally uncommon and exemplary. In short, 
 viewed cither as a legislator, a warrior, a scholar, 
 a philosopher, or a Christian, I think we may ven* 
 ture to say, that the character of Alfred stands 
 Unrivalled in the history of the world; and every 
 way deserves the splendid eulogies which have been 
 accumulated upon it. 
 
 Would to Heaven, that encomium and desert wert 
 always as legitimately joined together, as in this 
 instance ! But it is melancholy to refied how 
 seldom this is the case; how few of what the 
 world calls great men^ can claim the applause of the 
 wise, or the approbation of the good ; how infre- 
 quently the character of the true hero appears ; or 
 how rarely the conqueror deserves the blessings of 
 mankind! I may be faflidious, or perhaps forget- 
 ful ; but at present none such occur to my rccol- 
 ledion, save the august subject of the present 
 page, and the illustrious deliverer of America : 
 
 " Thou, patriot conqueror! 
 
 " Who in the western world 
 
 "^ Thine own delivered country, for thyself 
 
 " H^dst planted an immortal grove, and there, 
 
 *' Upon the glorious mount of liberty 
 
 ' Reposing, sat'st bencatli the palmy shade."
 
 [ 16 ] 
 
 In pious gratitude to Heaven for the success that 
 had been granted him, (as the inscription relates,) 
 and with a natural predileftion for the place which 
 had afforded him refuge and proteftion, Alfred, after 
 his restoration to empire, founded a Monastery 
 at Althelney (or the Isle of Nobles) for Benedic- 
 tine Monks ; and dedicated it to St. Saviour, and 
 Sf. Peter. It subsisted till the Reformation, when 
 Robert Hamlyn the abbot, with nine monks, sur- 
 rendered it, together with its possessions, which 
 were then valued at 209/. oj. ^d. per annum.* 
 
 William of Malmesbury gives the folio ^ving account of the 
 monastery, and the place on which it was ccnstrufted : " Athelney 
 *' is not an island of the sea; but is so inaccessible, on account of 
 " bogs and the inundations of the lakes, that it cannot be got to 
 " but in a boat. It has a very large wood of alders, which harbours 
 " stagi, wild-goats, and other beasts. The firm land, which is 
 ** only two acres in breadth, contains a little monastery, and dwel- 
 " lings for monks. Its founder was King Alfred, who, being driven 
 *' over the country by the Danes, spent some time here in secure 
 " privacy. Here in a dream St. Cuthbert appearing to him, and 
 *' giving him an assurance of his restoration, he vowed that he 
 ** would build a monastery to God. Accordingly he ereded a 
 * church, moderate indeed as to size, but as to method of construc- 
 " tion singular and novel : for four piers, driven into the ground, 
 *' support the whole fabrick, four circular chancels being drawn 
 *' round it. The monks are few in number, and indigent; but they 
 " are sufficiently compensated for their poverty by the tranquillity 
 " of their lives, and their delight in solitude.'*
 
 [ 17 ] 
 
 Close to the hamlet of Borough-Bridge, and near 
 the conflux of the rivers Parret and Thone, a large 
 mound or barrow to the left hand, which gives 
 name to the neighbouring village, attraled our atten- 
 tion. From the regularity of its forra^ we imme- 
 diately judged it to be at least partly artificial ; and 
 this idea of its origin was strongly confirmed, when 
 we learnt that the materials of which it is composed, 
 are not found within three miles of the spot which 
 the barrow occupies. Its summit is crowned by 
 an ancient chapel dedicated to St. Michael, who by 
 the bye seems to have been complimented with 
 these elevated situations, probably from his being 
 the head or chief of the angelical hierarchies. 
 Having fallen into ruins, it has of late years been 
 repaired and modernized. From the loftiness of this 
 mound, swelling boldly out of a wide level, and 
 towering far above the adjoining country, it appeared 
 to be peculiarly adapted to the use to which it was 
 originally dedicated j for as the distrift around 
 exhibited only a woody marsh, without roads cut 
 through it to any particular spot, it was indispens- 
 able to place the house of worship in a conspicuous 
 situation, that the inhabitants might the more easily 
 find their way to this place of public meeting. 
 The Barrow, however, does not appear to have 
 been always the pacific scene of prayer and thanks- 
 
 c
 
 i 18 ] 
 
 giving. During the disturbances of the seventeenth 
 century, it served far different purposes j and echoed 
 the tumults of warfare, the shouts of triumph, and 
 the cry of defeat. Goring having seized its summit, 
 garrisoned it with 1 20 men, and made a gallant and 
 successful resistance against the Parliamentary forces. 
 Nor was it taken from the Royalists, till after the 
 battle of Langport ; when all hope of relief being 
 extinguished, and a formidable body of forces 
 being prepared to attack it, the governor was com- 
 pelled to surrender the place he had so long and, so 
 nobly defended. 
 
 We now entered the most fertile part of the 
 county of Somerset, the broad and luxuriant valley 
 celebrated through the kingdom by the name of 
 Taunton Dean J* a rich expanse of meads, pas* 
 tures, and corn-fields, 
 
 - - - " Where Plenty, with disporting hand, 
 
 " Pours all the fruits of Amalthea's horn; 
 
 ** Where Ceres with exuberance enrobes 
 
 *' The pregnant bosom of the fields with gold." 
 
 Art, indeed, has lent her assistance to Nature in 
 enriching this productive distrifi:, by making the 
 river Thone, which waters it, navigable from Bridge- 
 
 * /. e. Taunton Valley, fron) the Saxon Ben,
 
 [ 19 ] 
 
 water to Taunton ; a navigation that not only gives 
 ardour to the industry of the country through which 
 it passes, but confers upon Taunton itself the wealth, 
 beauty, and respectability it enjoys. Indeed there 
 are few towns in the West of England, which can 
 vie with this in either of these particulars. It$ 
 woollen and silk manufactures have poured a full 
 tide of opulence into it : elegant public buildings? 
 substantial private dwellings, wide and uniform 
 streets, and broad commodious pavements, give it 
 an air of peculiar elegance and neatness ; and the 
 police of the place, at once vigilant and vigorous^ 
 confer upon it a weight of character, that cannot be 
 boasted by many other towns. This last excel- 
 lence of Taunton may, perhaps, be in part ascribed 
 to the nature of its charter, which wisely precludes 
 its corporation from possessing either lands, houses, 
 or joint stock. Hence it is, that its municipality 
 having no other means of ensuring respeft, or 
 maintaining influence, tlian their public good charac- 
 ter, and the activity with which they perform the 
 duties of their civil distinftions, are kept awake to 
 the alert administration of those functions, which 
 they arc so apt to forget or negleft, who arc 
 ** at ease in their possessions." 
 
 From the remains of the Castle, which stand at 
 the West side of the town, it should seem that, 
 
 c 2
 
 [ 20 ] 
 
 ^licn originally cre^ed by William Giffard, bishop 
 of Winchester, in the reign of Henry I. it must 
 have been a grand and spacious edifice. The Church 
 also of St. Mary Magdalene, built in the thirteenth 
 century, is a most beautiful example of the archi- 
 tecture of that age. Its tower, like most of these 
 members of ecclesiastical edifices in West Somerset, 
 claims the praise of extreme elegance, lightness, 
 and grace. 
 
 Taunton, however, is not only attraftive from its 
 beauty, but venerable from its antiquity, and remark- 
 able on account of its having been the scene of 
 many memorable events. 
 
 It was here, that Ina, the West-Saxon Justinian, 
 digested and promulgated a code of laws (if indeed 
 they be genuine) as remarkable for their wisdom, 
 as they are amiable for their temperance and mild- 
 ness. It was here, that the woollen manufacture 
 was first established in England, bping introduced 
 into the town by a party of Dutch, who settled there 
 in the year 1336. It was here, that the unfortunate 
 Monmouth established his head-quarters, and caused 
 himself to be proclaimed king, when, in 1685, he 
 made his generous but unsuccessful attempt in behalf 
 of his oppressed countrymen, against the despotism 
 and bigotry of his inglorious uncle. Hither he 
 hurried with rapidity as soon as he had landed at
 
 [ 21 j 
 
 Lyme, expecting, from the zeal and number of the 
 Protestant dissenters, who formed a great portion of 
 its inhabitants, the most favourable reception. Nor 
 werehis expe6lations disappointed. "The inhabitants, 
 of the upper as well as the lower classes, vied with 
 each other in testifying their affeftion for his person, 
 and their zeal for his cause. While the latter rent 
 the air with applauses and acclamations, the former 
 opened their houses to him and to his followers, 
 and furnished his army with necessaries and supplies 
 of every kind. His way was strewed with flowers : 
 the windows were thronged with speftators, all 
 anxious to participate in what the warm feelings of 
 the moment made them deem a triumph : husbands 
 pointed out to their wives, and mothers to their 
 children, the brave- and lovely Hero, who was des- 
 tined to be the deliverer of his country. The 
 beautiful lines which Dryden makes Achitophel, in 
 his highest strain of flattery, apply to this unfor- 
 tunate nobleman, were in this instance hterally 
 verified : 
 
 *' Thee, Saviour, theCj the nation's vows confcssj 
 
 " And never satistied with seeing, bless. 
 
 " Swift unbespoken ponips thy steps proclaim, 
 
 "" And stammering babes are taught to lisp thy name.'' 
 
 In the midst of these joyous scenes, twenty-six 
 young maids, of the best families in the place, pre-
 
 [ 22 ] 
 
 senicd hiin, in the name of their townsmen, with 
 colours wrought by them for the purpose, together 
 with a bible; upon receiving which, he said, that he 
 had taken the field, with a design to defend the 
 truth contained in that book, and to seal it with 
 his blood if there were occasion.* 
 
 Alas ! my friend, how painful is it to pursue the 
 history of Monmouth's progress; and after such a 
 propitious commencement, to contemplate the sad 
 reverses that immediately succeeded the fatal battle 
 of Sedgemoor, and the ruin of his array; the cap- 
 ture of the Duke, almost famished, and concealed 
 in a ditch by a covering of fern and nettles ; the 
 degradation of his self-accusation, and appeal to the 
 compassion of his merciless uncle; the cold cruelty 
 of the detestable monarch ; the Duke's condemna- 
 tion to the scaffold ; and the affeling circumstance 
 of his execution, when, after three ineffeftual strokes 
 of the axe, the headsman, in a fit of horror, threw 
 down the instrument of death, and could be induced 
 only by threats to make a second attempt, which, 
 by two further blows effefted the detestable act. 
 
 Nor were these sad vicissitudes confined to the 
 fortunes of the Duke and his immediate followers. 
 
 Sec Mr. Fox's masterly Historical Fragment, entitled the 
 Hihtoryof the ileign of James IJ. page 229.
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
 The town of Taunton, which had witnessed the 
 triumph of the commencement of his career, partook 
 also of the 'sorrows of its termination. Here the 
 blood-thirsty Kirk exercised all that licentious cru- 
 elty which so generally marks the conduct of the 
 unprincipled conqueror ; and is, indeed, too often the 
 spontaneous produ^liou of a profession, whose asso- 
 ciations are necessarily more or less connected with 
 murder, rapine, and devastation. One of his als 
 of indescribable villainy, which was exhibited at the 
 White-Hart Inn in this place, Pomfret has selefted 
 for the foundation of his Poem of Cruelly and Lusty 
 and thus perpetuated a tale of horror which one can- 
 not help wishing had been expunged from the 
 recolleftion of mankind. Judge JefFeries, who 
 was Kirk*s coadjutor on this occasion, handed 
 down his name also to posterity, by equal a61s of 
 atrocity, loaded with an equal share of odium and 
 infamy.* One instance of his inhumanity is too 
 detestable to be lost in general accusanon. Mr. 
 Benjamin Hewling was a young gentleman of twenty- 
 two years of age, and a captain of horse in the 
 
 * I almost feel vexed that the charafter of such an execra- 
 ble villain as JefFeries, the tool of such an execrable Court as 
 James the Second's, should have been handled in so t nder a 
 manner by Mr. Fox, in his History. (Vide p. 96) But this is
 
 [ 24 ] 
 
 forces of the Duke. Having been detached to 
 Minehcad for cannon, he was not present at the 
 battle of Sedgmoor; but being taken by a party of 
 the royal horse after the conflil, was brought to 
 Tauuton, and condemned by JefFeries to immediate 
 death. His sister. Miss Hannah Hewling, suppli- 
 cated this fiend of the law, for mercy on her brother, 
 or at least a suspension of the execution of the sen- 
 tence, offering one hundred pounds for the respite 
 of two days. In the thoughtless anguish of unspeak- 
 able grief, she presented herself before the carriage 
 of the Judge, seized with one hand the reins of the 
 horses, and caught with the other the wheel of his 
 coach. " Drive over the pest," said the monster to 
 the coachman ; " and lash her hands till she have 
 *' quitted her hold!" She with difficulty saved her- 
 self from this threatened destruction; and could 
 obtain nothing more by her dangerous efforts, than 
 a reference to the pardon-monger of the day, who 
 cxafted the enormous sum of loool. for a permission 
 that her brother's remains might be buried in St. 
 Mary Magdalen's church at Taunton. Hewling 
 
 one amongst some few instances in that book, in which this 
 mild and gentle writer appears to have suffered the stern 
 tlairns of justice to have been silenced by the st^iall still 
 voice of his own amiable disposition.
 
 [ 25 ] 
 
 died with a firmness and composure that did honour 
 to the noble cause for which he suffered ; and 
 exafted even from the mouth of an enemy this 
 unqualified praise: "If you would learn to die, 
 " think of Mr. Hewling."* But enough of hor- 
 rors and tyrants, violated laws, and oppressed 
 subjefts. 
 
 The country from Taunton to Wellington pre- 
 serves the same cheerful appearance of natural fer- 
 tility, and produftive cultivation, that had gladdened 
 the eye for some miles past. Its plentifulness is 
 indeed best established by the moderate price of 
 all the articles of life here ; for the whole Vale 
 of Taunton may be considered as cheaper than 
 any part of England, under similar circumstances of 
 resort and population. 
 
 Wellington claimed our notice from the neat- 
 ness of its present appearance, and our respe^l from 
 its having been formerly the property o^Asserius, the 
 favourite and biographer of the great Alfred, and 
 one of the most aniient, venerable, and authentic of 
 our English historians.! Its church is a superb 
 
 * Western Rebellion, p. 1, 2. 
 
 f Tantuvi se ejus Jidei tr'ducre, (juantum auctori antirpds' 
 .vmo, gravissimo, opthnvque omnium. Bale apud Vossium dc 
 Jrlist. Lat. 338.
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 Gothic pile, with an embattled tower; decorated 
 with twelve pinnacles ; and containing a fine monu- 
 ment to the memory of Sir John Popham, chief 
 justice of the Court of King*s-Bench in the conclu- 
 sion of Elizabeth's reign. The ciBgies of himself and 
 his lady are sculptured at length upon the tomb. 
 
 Quitting Somersetshire, about three miles from 
 Wellington, we entered Devonshire at Blewet's- 
 cross; and after a further progress of ten miles, 
 reached the town of Cltllumptonj remarkable for 
 its handsome church, with the beautiful chapel it 
 contains, built by John Lane, a wealthy clothier, in- 
 the fourteenth century ; a stru^ure one should have 
 thought far beyond the means of an humble trades- 
 man, had we not recollected that the woollen 
 manufacture was first established in these parts, and 
 confined to them for a long period, during which 
 time immense fortunes were made by those who 
 preserved the monopoly of this lucrative branch of 
 trade. We were also much struck by a venerable 
 house in the town, a well-preserved specimen of 
 the architecture of the fifteenth century. 
 
 The magnificent scenery of Devonshire now 
 opened upon us; sweeping hills and broad luxuriant 
 vallies, backed to the north and west by the dark 
 irregular summits of Exmoor. The picturesque 
 effect, too, of the high banks which occasionally
 
 [ 27 ] 
 
 bounded the road on either side, was not lost upon us 5 
 where the combination of the red highly-carbonated 
 earth, and the green foliage spread over its face, 
 produced a most agreeable harmony of colouring. 
 The vivid vegetation of the low parts of Devon- 
 shire is indeed almost proverbial with artists ; and 
 the chief of English painters. Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
 used to assert that the verdure in the neighbourhood 
 of Exeter, Bath, and Bristol, was the richest in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 In the happiest part of this scenery stands Killer- 
 ton, the elegant mansion of Sir Thomas Acland, 
 skreened to the north-east by a superb traft of 
 wood, and commanding a view, if not extensive, at 
 least beautifully diversified. 
 
 Evening had almost overtaken us before we 
 gained the summit of Stoke hill, almost two miles 
 from Exeter; but she bad not as yet so completely 
 drawn her " gradual dusky veil" over the scenery, as 
 to rob us of the pleasure, or prevent the admiration, 
 which it is so well calculated to afford and excite. 
 Immediately before us lay the suburbs of Exeter, 
 its venerable city, and m.ajestic cathedral. The 
 frowning heights of Exmoor closed the view to the 
 north-west. To the left, the river Exe rolled tran- 
 quilly through its vallies to the sea, which formed 
 the horizontal line in that quarter. The interme-
 
 [ S8 ] 
 
 diate space was filled up with " hamlets, brown and 
 " dim-discovered spires;'* meads, corn-fields, and 
 woods, " uncertain if beheld," and, in a word, all 
 the other constituents of a grand pifture, '* stretched 
 out immense," and infinitely diversified. 
 
 Has it ever been your fate, my friend, to enter a 
 large inn at the close of day, when all its apartments 
 were completely occupied, and every one of it$ 
 attendants with more business upon his individual 
 hands than three could well perform ? If so, you 
 will figure to yourself the situation of W and 
 myself when we reached the L Inn, hungry and 
 jaded, and found ourselves in a house that made up 
 seventy beds, and whose waiters were as thick 
 as rabbits in a warren, but where no arts of per- 
 suasion, or airs of authority, could liave procured 
 the least attention to our pressing wants. But how 
 efiicacious are the virtues of patience and good- 
 humour in remedying " the miseries of human life ! " 
 By having recourse to these, our inconveniencies 
 began gradually to disappear; and we at length 
 found ourselves in possession of all the accommoda- 
 tion we could have wished, and treated with all the 
 hospitality, to say the least of it, that our humble 
 appearance deserved. 
 
 As the term of our absence from home was limit- 
 ed, and our chief attention intended to be directed
 
 [ 29 ] 
 
 to Cornwall^ our stay in Exeter was not delayed 
 beyond the time necessary to catch a glance at its 
 many curiosities. We took a transient survey of 
 the massive Saxon cathedral, and its numerous inte- 
 resting monuments. We ascended to Rougemont, 
 which having served the purpose of a Roman, and 
 pollibly anterior to that time, of ^ British post, was 
 afterwards the residence of the West-Saxon mo- 
 narchs; devolved then upon the Earls of Cornwall; 
 and contains now the civil and criminal Courts for 
 the county. We rambled through the gardens of 
 Mr. Granger, by the Castle-gate, on the scite of the 
 ditch, the striking beauties of which are formed 
 from a combination of natural charms, the remains 
 of antiquity, and the improvements of modern 
 taste. Mr. Edward Upham, with a ready and kind 
 politeness that increased the weight pf the obligation, 
 gratified us with a sight of the Roman Penates, or 
 domestic gods, which were dug up on his premises; 
 and this classical feast was still further heightened 
 by the large and valuable colleftion of Keiserman's 
 Drawings of Ancient Remains in Italy, which we 
 were permitted to inspect by the obliging civility 
 of its owner, Mr. Russell, jun. 
 
 The road to Chndleigh conduced us over Hall- 
 Down, an elevated, dreary heath, but commanding 
 a view of the utmost magnificence ; a magnificence,
 
 I 30 1 
 
 in the words of Johnson, like that ascribed to a Chi- 
 nese plantation, the magnificence of vast extent and 
 endless diversity. With all its attractions, how- 
 ever, we congratulated ourselves that we had to 
 traverse its broad and exposed summit in the sum- 
 mer instead of the winter; when it is so beaten by 
 the fury of the south-westerly gales, that the travel- 
 ler is scarcely able to maintain his footing ; or so 
 covered by a sheet of snow, that he can only dis- 
 cover the proper road by the posts which are ranged 
 along its side for his direftion. 
 
 One of the chief characteristics of the scenery of 
 Devonshire is the striking contrast perpetually 
 recurring in it of hopeless barrenness to extreme 
 fertility, of bare and craggy mountains to luxuriant 
 wooded vallies. An example of this was before us 
 when we descended from the region of storm and 
 sterility just described, into the delightful Vale 
 of Chudleigh. Here every thing is concentrated, 
 that can delight the eye of the painter: rock, 
 wood, water, meads, and fields waving with abun- 
 dant harvests. It is a trat, indeed, to which may 
 be applied with the utmost justice the terse descrip- 
 tion of the Lacedsemonian reign of Amycles, by 
 Polybius, TOTTcg KotXi^ev^POTccrcg, xui KoiXixoc^Tro- 
 TKTog, a place at once most beautifully wooded, 
 and most exuberantly produftive.
 
 [ 31 ] 
 
 1 had in my former series of Letters made you 
 acquainted with the pleasing little town of Chud- 
 LEiGH, seated in the bottom of this picturesque and 
 quiet vale. The description, however, which I then 
 gave you of it, will by no means apply to its present 
 appearance. Since that time, an awful visitation 
 has completely changed its charafter a dreadful 
 Fire, that consumed almost every house in the place. 
 But it is now recovering from the calamity ; and rising, 
 kke a phoenix from the flames, into superior beauty, 
 and greater extent than before. As the devastation 
 was almost general, (for upwards of 170 of the 
 houses were destroyed by it,) so will its improve- 
 ment be general also. The small, inconvenient, 
 thatched dwellings, which fell before the conflagra- 
 tion, are replaced by larger, better planned, and 
 nearly uniform stone houses, covered with a neat 
 blue slate; which, though they render the town 
 less a pifturesque objeft than before, give it the 
 pleasing appearance of greater wealth, and more 
 extended comfort. It is gratifying to refleft, that 
 Chudleigh has obtained this increase of beauty 
 and respeftability, without the loss of a single life, 
 and with trifling injury to the property of its inha* 
 bitants; the circumstance of the fire happening in the 
 day-time having prevented the one, and the liberal 
 ^contributions of benevolent persons through the
 
 C 32 ] 
 
 kingdom having raised a sum nearly adequate to 
 cover the other. The impression, however, made 
 upon the minds of the inhabitants by the accident 
 was deep and awful; nor is it yet mentioned by any 
 of them without strong impressions of horror and 
 dismay. The fire happened on the 22d of May, 
 1807, in consequence of a baker throwing the hot 
 ashes of his oven near a heap of straw. This was 
 quickly in a blaze; and communicated its flames to 
 an adjoining house. A brisk wind, in an unfavour- 
 able direction, drove them on to neighbouring dwel- 
 lings, and as the habitations were all covered with 
 thatch, the whole town ih a few hours was one 
 heap of smoking ruins* The situation of the unfor^ 
 tunate people, in the mean time, may be better 
 imagined than described. The lamentations of 
 women, and the cries of children, the shrieks of 
 horror, and the groans of despair, mingled with the 
 roaring of the flames, the crash of falling houses, 
 and the din of universal confusion, induced by the 
 instantaneous visitation of a calamity, (which, under 
 its least alarming circumstances, is peculiarly terri- 
 fying,) must have produced an effeft, which the 
 mind cannot contemplate without the deepest agita- 
 tion; nor perhaps could fancy frame a piilure more 
 calculated to afFeft sensibility by the fad reverse that 
 it exhibits, than the quiet inhabitants of ;his seques-
 
 [ 33 ] 
 
 tered spot, hitherto the residence of peace, content, 
 and joy, plunged in a moment as it were into agony, 
 horror, and ruin. The sympathy excited in the 
 public mind by the catastrophe was answerable to 
 its distressful magnitude. A general subscription 
 for the sufferers was opened throughout the king- 
 dom, which in a few months amounted to up- 
 wards of 20,000/. This, together with insurances, 
 amounting to 15,498/. and the value of the scites, 
 6745/. produced an aggregate that made up the 
 losses of the 400 claimants, within 7500/. of the 
 sum required. It is but justice to the philanthropic 
 conductors of this subscription to add, that the dis- 
 tribution of it was conduled with the highest 
 honour, justice, and feeling ; and what is still more 
 surprising, to the complete satisfaftion of those who 
 were the objefts of it. You will be shocked to be 
 told, there is every reason to suspeft, that the author 
 of this calamity was an intentional agent in produ- 
 cing it. Indeed he seems to have confirmed the 
 general opinion of his sublime villainy by having 
 immediately decamped from the place, and concealed 
 himself so effe(ftually, that no one at present knows 
 where he is. 
 
 The romantic features of Chudleigh valley are, 
 perhaps, viewed to the best effect for the first 
 mile on the Ashburton road. The great marble 
 
 D
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
 quarry is here caught, with its accompaniments of 
 workmen and machinery, overhung by solemn shades j 
 the little river of East Teign is seen rattling through 
 the bottom over its stony bed, bestrid by an old 
 bridge of three arches, finely festooned with ivy ; a 
 noble wood covers the declivity of a rapid hill that 
 rises to the right, which is opposed on the left hand 
 by another swell of equal beauty. The interme- 
 diate space is filled with cottage residences, built 
 in a style of architecture appropriate to the scenery ; 
 and behind, the town of Chudleigh is partly seen 
 through the wood, by which it is nearly embosomed. 
 
 Stover House, the seat of Templar, esq;. 
 
 recedes half a mile from the turnpike-road, on the 
 left hand, nearly mid-way between Chudleigh and 
 Ashburton. , The mansion, the village church, and 
 a few little cottages, scattered amongst the sur- 
 rounding virood, produce a very agreeable combina- 
 tion of objels, which are further diversified by a 
 good artificial sheet of water, spread in front of the 
 house, apparently formed by the judicious manage- 
 ment of a small stream that trickles from the distant 
 hills, and winds through the moor in their bottom. 
 It is to this broad flat, and the steep declivities 
 beyond it, that Stover House is indebted for the 
 view it enjoys ; a view both singular and striking, 
 stretching over a wide expanse of moor, meadow.
 
 I 35 2 -^"^ 
 
 and wood, and terminated by the fantastic heights 
 of Dartmoor Forest. 
 
 As we approached the environs of Ashburton, 
 our curiosity was excited by several parties of 
 decent looking men, whom we overtook, walking 
 slowly towards the town. From their conversing in 
 a language which we did not understand, we quickly 
 discovered that they were foreigners ; but to what 
 nation they belonged, we were unable to determine. 
 A peculiar manliness in" their appearance, and a 
 sedateness in their manner, convinced us they were 
 not Frenchmen ; whilst the animation of their coun- 
 tenances, and the ardour of their conversation, were 
 totally unlike the gloom and reserve of the Spaniard. 
 When we reached our quarters, one of our first 
 enquiries was, who these strangers (many more of 
 whom we saw in the town) might be? to which we 
 received for answer, that they were Danes, who 
 had been detained in England at the time of the 
 Copenhagen Expedition, and sent as prisoners to 
 Ashburton. The information was like an eleirical 
 ftiockto us ; we bluftied " rosy red" for our coun- 
 try; and W , with the happiest readiness, quoted 
 the pathetic apostrophe of the Psalmist : " For it 
 *' is not an open enemy that hath done this dis- 
 " honour, for then could I have borne it : 
 
 D 2
 
 i 36 2 
 
 " Neither was it mine adversary that did mag- 
 ** nify himself against me; for then peradventurc 
 " I would have hidden myself from him : 
 
 ** But it was even thou, my companion, my guide, 
 " and mine own familiar friend." 
 
 I assented to the propriety of the present applica- 
 tion of the passage, and added a wish that Heaven 
 would avert from the transgressors the malediftion 
 which immediately followed his quotation. 
 
 I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 Your's sincerely, 
 
 R. W.
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 MY DEAR Sin, Ply mouth-Dock J Aug. 2. 
 
 WE had been recommended to the London 
 Ion at Ashburton, kept by Mr. Lloyd, 
 the intelligent ciceroni of the place; and had 
 hoped under his guidance to have visited the many 
 beautiful spots in the neighbourhood of the town. 
 But, alas ! we found his family sorrowing for the
 
 [ 33 ] 
 
 loss of a tender husband, an afFelionate father, and 
 a sincere friend ; seeking consolation, however, in 
 their grief from the recolleftion that he had left 
 behind him " the everlasting memorial " of a good 
 name, and carried to his " dread abode" the fair 
 testimony of an upright, beneficent, and useful life. 
 Should the separation of connections be deemed so 
 overwhelming an evil as it usually is, when such is the 
 solace of those who are spared, and such the pass- 
 port of the departed? No! let nature and affelion 
 have their tribute ; but let not the claims of reason 
 and religion be disregarded. To sorrow as those 
 without hope, for the virtuous dead, is ungratefully 
 to refuse the cup of comfort mingled by Heaven for 
 the survivor, and selfishly to fegret the certain feli- 
 city of " those who have died in the Lord." 
 
 Disappointed in our hope of finding a guide 
 who would have conduced us to whatever was 
 remarkable in the neighbourhood of Ashburton, we 
 were left to our own researches, which, though 
 less successful than they might have been under 
 the direflion of one who was better acquainted with 
 the country than ourselves, were, notwithstanding, 
 far from unproduftive of entertainment to us. 
 In the course of our ramble we visited the lead- 
 mine, recently opened on the heights of Dartmoor, 
 about two miles to the north of the town, where a
 
 C 39 J 
 
 hundred men are employed in raising and dressing 
 ore, worth, in its rough state, we were told, 30/. 
 per ton. From hence we stretched across to the 
 Dart, and viewed, though at a distance, Buckland 
 
 in the Moor, the seat of Bastard, esq; and 
 
 Spitchwick-park, one of the Devonshire residences 
 of Lady Ashburton, situated on the edge of the 
 Moor, at the distance of five miles from Ashburton. 
 Both these elegant places are indebted to the scenery 
 of the Dart for their most striking beauties. Here, 
 indeed, this celebrated river begins to assume its 
 characteristic charms, and- to exhibit all its varieties 
 of rock, wood, and precipices; the hills now rece- 
 ding in gentle acclivities from its tranquil surface ; 
 and now hemming in, and frowning over, its exas- 
 perated waters. Perhaps there are few residences 
 in the kingdom (with the exception of Chatsworth) 
 more marked by the agreeable effel:s of contrast, 
 than the two just mentioned; commanding views of 
 the richest diversity, in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of dreary wastes. 
 
 The town of Ashburton affords little to engage 
 attention. It is partly situated in a bottom, stretch- 
 ing up the sides of the hills to the east and west. 
 Being one of the four Stannary towns for the tin 
 mines of Devonshire, it seems to have been a place 
 of some consequence in ancient times. Together
 
 [ 40 ] 
 
 with Plyrapton, Tavistock, and Chagford, it sends its 
 Jurats to the occasional meetings of the Mining Par- 
 liaments, held at Crockern Torr, a high hill in the 
 center of Dartmoor, where the legislative business 
 of the Devonshire tin mines is transaled. Formerly 
 the concerns of this assembly were important, as 
 well as numerous : but little, save the form of the 
 meeting, now remains. 
 
 The circumstance of its modern history, which 
 reflefts the greatest credit upon Ashburton, is that 
 of its being the birth-place of John Dunning Lord 
 Ashburton; and well may it be proud of a produc- 
 tion of such rare value, and extensive utility, of a 
 man of such great natural powers, and unusual 
 acquirements. The general knowledge of the late 
 Lord Ashburton was as solid as diversified; and 
 his acquaintance with every branch of human in- 
 formation that bore upon his profession, as clear as 
 it was profound. To these endowments he added 
 an eloquence ready, exuberant, and ' animated ; 
 which, though its full elFeft was a little obstrufted 
 by a trifling defeat in manner, never failed to enchain 
 the attention, to captivate the mind, and to convince 
 the judgment. Perhaps one of the happiest compli- 
 ments ever paid to a man for the possession of this 
 enchanting faculty, was a reply of Dr. Johnson's, 
 on a little recital of Mr. Boswell's, which respefted
 
 [ 41 ] 
 
 a conversation that had taken place between Lord 
 Ashburton and himself: " I told him," says Boswell, 
 " that I had talked of him to Mr. Dunning a few 
 " days before, and had said, that in his company 
 *' W did not so much interchange conversation, as 
 *' listen to him; and that Dunning observed upon 
 " this, * one is always willing to listen to Dr. John- 
 ' son ;' to which I answered, " that is a great deal 
 " from you, sir." ' Yes, sir, (said Johnson,) a 
 * great deal indeed. Here is a man willing to listen^ 
 ' to whom the world is listening all the rest of the 
 ' year.* It is a pleasing circumstance to the friends 
 of Revelation to refleft, that the great mind of 
 Lord Ashburton may be added to the preponder- 
 ating class of superior intclleft, which has acknow- 
 ledged and asserted the divinity of our religion. He 
 was a firm believer of Christianity, a belief, I doubt 
 not, built upon cool conviction ; since he has been 
 heard often to declare, that if the evidences in favour 
 of it could be made an abstract subjeft of judicial 
 determination, they were such as would be altoge- 
 ther satisfactory and convincing to any Court of law, 
 in which they might be sifted, and to every enlight- 
 ened Jury to whom they might be proposed. As 
 his Lordship cannot, I presume, be denied to have 
 possessed the deepest and most accurate knowledge 
 of the nature and rules of evidence, the argument in
 
 [ 42 ] 
 
 favour of the authenticity of Revelation, drawn from 
 his declaration, is as compleat, as such a species of 
 argument can be. The church of Ashburton con- 
 tains a handsome monument to the memory of this 
 accomplished charaften 
 
 About two miles from Ashburton we crossed the 
 Dart, rolling its troubled waters through a romantic 
 country in this point of its course. Precipices of 
 shistus are seen peeping through the wood, which 
 rises on all sides, contrasting their bare faces with 
 the splendid verdure of diversified vegetation. It is 
 a solemn scene, and would be a silent one also, were 
 not its stillness interrupted by the thundering strokes 
 of the heavy instruments with which the rocks arc 
 broken, to procure the good slate that they afford : 
 the noise however, which is occasional, and re- 
 echoed by the woods and precipices, produced a 
 pleasing effedl, rather than otherwise. The little 
 church of BucKFASTLEiGH, which crowns a rising 
 ground on the western bank of the river, adds 
 another agreeable accompaniment to the pifturc. 
 
 These romantic beauties arc associated with all the 
 Devonshire rivers. We again found them adorn- 
 ing ihc Hone, which runs through Brent, eight 
 miles to the west of Ashburton. Here we passed a 
 lofty head of rock, called Brent Beacon, terminating 
 the extensive distrifl of Dartmoor to ihc south j a
 
 . [ 43 ] 
 
 traft too interesting to be quitted without more par- 
 ticular notice than I have hitherto bestowed upon it. 
 
 This vast range of wild country, so abundant in 
 grand, uncommon, and grotesque scenery, occupies 
 a space of twenty miles in length, by fourteen in 
 breadth ; affording pasture for upwards of twenty 
 thousand sheep, and a great abundance of other 
 cattle ; and sheltering in its wilds a considerable 
 quantity of red deer. Its surface, for the most part, 
 is a thin black earth, swampy and spongy, through 
 which the granite rocks occasionally shew them- 
 selves in a variety of fantastic forms. In many parts, 
 into excellent manure. Like the Irish mosses, these 
 beds of peat, which makes good fuel, and burns 
 however, the soil is more valuable, from its ]'ich deep 
 beds will again vegetate in a few years, if they be 
 judiciously cut. Independendy of this product, it 
 abounds also, in some parts, with rabbits, sufficiently 
 numerous to supply the market of Exeter, and other 
 towns, with this delicate article of food. Other 
 riches, however, seem formerly to have been drawn 
 from Dartmoor, as is evident from the numerous 
 traces of ancient Tin-works found in every dip be- 
 tween the hills, both on its southern and western sides j 
 a small remnant of which are worked to this day. 
 
 The Prince of Wales's royalty occupies the cen- 
 ter of Dartmoor, surrounded by tra^s, in the hands
 
 [ 44 ] 
 
 of other possessors ; but it is every year lessened 
 by the allotments granted to speculators, who arc 
 induced to cultivate it under beneficial leases from 
 his Royal Highness. Mr. Tyrwhitt, the Prince's 
 agent, has himself set the example of cultivation, by 
 inclosing a large traft of the Moor, reducing it into 
 husbandry, planting a number of trees, and building 
 a handsome house upon it for his own residence. 
 The system pursued in this conversion of the waste 
 is said to have been that of compression, by frequent 
 rolling, the ground having been previously inter- 
 sefted by drains, into which the water exudes, and 
 is afterwards carried off. Large quantities of sand 
 are also spread upon the surface, for the purpose 
 of consolidating the mass, over which, when it has 
 been thus condensed, streams of water are conducted 
 to nourish and irrigate it. The effect produced 
 by the latter experiment has been answerable to 
 the highest expectation ; and remains a convincing 
 proof, that what have been always considered as the 
 most destructive waters to vegetation, (mineral ones 
 excepted,) those flowing even from peat bogs, may 
 be productive of the most beneficial consequences 
 to land. Danmoor was first made a forest by King 
 John ; whose successor determined its bounds by 
 perambulation.
 
 [ 45 J 
 
 As we continued our course to Ivy-Bridge, we 
 were struck with the appearance of the materials 
 used on our road for its reparation, which lay in 
 great heaps by the side of the turnpike. They con- 
 sisted of beautiful varieties of granite, rounded by 
 attrition, and apparently taken from the bottoms of 
 the rivers in the neighbourhood, which bring 
 these treasures from the mountains, whence they 
 roll. A striking proof of the violence of the tor* 
 rents of Dartmoor, when they are in their strength, 
 that can rend such fragments from their priraseval 
 beds, and polish their rough surfaces by the force 
 of their surge. 
 
 The London Inn at Ivy-Bridge is one of the 
 most agreeable houses of public reception in the 
 kingdom, from the circumstances of its situation; 
 and can be exceeded by none in elegance and com- 
 fort. Its venerable host, Mr. Rivers, has now been 
 nearly forty years in his present situation; and, 
 though in possession of a princely and well-merited 
 fortune, from steady industry, exemplary prudence, 
 and unimpeachable integrity, still ministers to the 
 convenience of his customers, with an attention, 
 politeness, and, I may add, humility, as engaging as 
 as they are uncommon. Let not Pride sneer at this 
 tribute of praise to the keeper of an inn ; moral 
 worth is a fair subjeft of eulogy, v/herever it may be
 
 C 45 ] 
 
 found : its claim*', too, are heightened, if discovered 
 under circumstances where it might least be expeled. 
 
 As the features of this spot were known to me 
 only by description, I was impatient to contemplate 
 them in their original beauty. After a hasty refresh- 
 ment, therefore, we borrowed the key of the walks 
 from our landlord, who now rents the land through 
 which they are carried, and proceeded to the western 
 side of the river Erme, whose course they follow for 
 upwards of two miles. The bridge we crossed in 
 our way, (at the foot of which the London Inn is 
 situated,) and the circumstance of its being richly 
 cloathed with ivy, have given its present name to 
 the Hamlet. It forms an objeft of considerable 
 piluresque beauty, viewed from the eastern side of 
 the river, where its lofty single arch, of wide span, 
 springing from natural abutments, embrowned with 
 the foliage of the classic plant, and stretching over 
 a rude rocky bed, is seen to the greatest advantage. 
 
 However warmed my fancy might have been by 
 previous descriptions of the beauties of the river 
 at Ivy-Bridge, the aftual scene would have realized 
 its most romantic dreams. I confessed that I never 
 had before seen so much variety crowded into so 
 short a distance. 
 
 The first combination of objefts that arrests the 
 attention, occurs two or three hundred yards above
 
 [ 4r ] 
 
 the bridge, where the path condufts to the side of 
 the torrent, and throws a short reach of it before the 
 eye, hemmed in on the opposite side by rock and 
 wood. Immediately in front a sheet of water tum- 
 bles over the face of a steep bank, apparently a 
 natural water-fall, though formed by a stream stolen 
 from the river at some distance above, to serve the 
 purposes of a paper-mill, which is seen a little behind 
 the cascade, so broken by wood, as to give addi- 
 tional beauty to the sketch. This is a favourite 
 subjefl with artists, and has afforded many good 
 drawings, and some tolerable engravings. 
 
 Pursuing the walk, we were carried parallel to 
 the river, through a coppice, for about half a mile ; 
 indulged occasionally with peeps at the rugged 
 channel and rocky banks of the stream : always 
 catching at these openings a lofty wood, which 
 rising in amphitheatrical majesty, and following the 
 curviture of the river, bounded the view before us. 
 In the course of another mile, the scenery was 
 changed. Our path now entered what might be 
 called a grove, consisting of fine tall trees, into 
 whose recesses the eye could penetrate, unobstrufted 
 by humbler coppice foliage, and catch the distant 
 voodman at his labours. To the right lay the 
 river in all its uncouth grandeur, darkened by the 
 brown shade of a thickly wooded acclivity, that rose.
 
 [ 48 ] 
 
 rapidly, and loftily, from its eastern bank* It was a 
 solemn, silent scene, and recalled the romantic 
 solitude described by Mason, and the purposes to 
 which it might be applied : 
 
 _. * Here might Contemplation imp 
 
 " Her eagle plumes ! the Poet here might hold 
 '< Sweet converse witn the Muse ! The curious sage, 
 " Who comments on great Nature's ample tome, 
 " Might find that volume here. For here are caves, 
 " Where rise* those gurgling rills, that sing the song 
 " Which contemplation loves. Here shadowy glades, 
 *' Where, through the tremulous foliage darts the ray 
 " That gilds the Poet's day-dream !" 
 
 The bed of the river is, at this point, truly chaotic. 
 It appears to have been formed in a convulsion of 
 nature; or rather, to have been left in its original state 
 of rudeness, when other things were reduced to order 
 and beauty. Huge masses of granite lie scattered over 
 it in the wildest confusion, associated with more 
 regular features of rock, the natural produce of 
 the spot, which have been laid bare, by the violence 
 of the torrent, when it assumes its wintry character 
 of ungovernable rage, and irresistible violence. In 
 truth, I know no place, where, in a little space, so 
 many eligible and striking studies for the pencil, of 
 rock scenery, are accumulated : I mean upon a nar- 
 row scale, and for near distances. The river, it is
 
 [ 49 ] 
 
 true, was peculiarly favourable for such sketches, at 
 the time we saw it, owing to the late very dry 
 season, which had diminished its waters to a purling 
 stream ; a circumstance, it must be confessed, that 
 deprived it of one of its grandest accompaniments, 
 and might be supposed to have lessened the pleasure 
 that a scene of this nature is calculated to afford. 
 I am, however, inclined to be of a contrary opinion. 
 The effeft produced upon the imagination by a 
 foaming torrent, roaring over its rugged bed, 
 struggling through opposing rocks, whirling round 
 in eddies, and darting down in catarafts, is in truth 
 exceedingly impressive, and naturally awakens 
 astonishment and awe : But it must be recollefled, 
 that the mind, under the aftion of these emotions, is 
 in a painful state ; the one being too intense, and 
 the other too gloomy, for long entertainment : 
 And whilst the scene is viewed only as one vast 
 whole, the ideas excited by it are rather overwhelm- 
 ing than agreeable. Contemplated, on the other 
 hand, in its peaceful summer dress, a pifture of 
 this kind calls up far different associations : won- 
 der and terror are changed into admiration and 
 delight : the mind, reposing in tranquillity, unruf- 
 fled by tumultuous emotions, can now dwell upon 
 its diversified features, and analyze its various beau- 
 lies : it can separate and combine at leisure j and 
 
 E
 
 t 50 ] 
 
 add to the number of its real charms the touches of 
 taste, or the creations of fancy. We quitted with 
 regret a spot that had so agreeably regaled our ima- 
 gination, and took the road that was to lead us to 
 ojie of a very different character, the dirty town 
 of Plymouth, and the bustling streets of Ply- 
 mouth-Dock. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that the country 
 around these towns is exceedingly rich both in natural 
 charms, and in grand specimens of human art ; and 
 even before we caught sight of them, we found 
 some scenes of great and diversified beauty. This 
 was particularly the case from a high ground about 
 five miles from Ivy-Bridge, where the eye ranged 
 over a broad and magnificent valley, surrounded by 
 hills of various forms, and including within its bosom 
 the two Plymptons, numerous villages, with their 
 steepled churches, elegant private mansions, and seve- 
 ral grand masses of wood. Amongst these obje.51s, 
 the circular remains of the Keep of Plympton- 
 Earle Castle, resting upon a huge artificial mound, 
 were strikingly conspicuous. This ruin was a suffi- 
 icent inducement to us to quit the turnpike, which 
 passes through Plympton St. Mary, and take the 
 rather circuitous road to Plymouth, through the 
 more ancient town of Plympton-Earle. The 
 effefi, however, produced by a distant view was les-
 
 [ 51 J 
 
 sened by near inspetion ; we found but little to repay 
 us for our deviation, in the remains of a Castle 
 that had formerly given dignity and influence to the 
 family of De Redvers, Earls of Devonshire. A curi- 
 ous circumstance in the architecture of the Keeps 
 had long exercised the fancy of antiquaries; till 
 they were relieved from the pain, or deprived of 
 the pleasure, of conjelure, by the sagacity of Mr. 
 King. It is an horizontal passage or hole, that ran 
 within the masonry of the prodigiously thick walls 
 which formed the Donjon of the fortress. He 
 suggested that the Romans, and after them, the Bri- 
 tons, Saxons, and Normans, as they carried their ram- 
 parts upwards, relieved the pressure on the lower 
 members of the edifices, and added strength to the 
 whole, by turning arches in the work, and forming 
 the rest of the wall upon them ; examples of which 
 judicious contrivance appear in the ramparts of Old 
 Sarum, and Manchester, and in the Keep at Roches- 
 ter. But cedant anna toga ; let us turn from the 
 contemplation of ancient hostile structures, to the 
 more agreeable view of modern peaceful arts. 
 Plympton-Earle does not derive so much glory from 
 the castle of De Redvers, as from its being the birth- 
 place of our English Raphael, the late Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds; who was born here July i6th, 1723. 
 Of this accomplished artist, it would be little to say, 
 
 E 2
 
 [ 52 ] 
 
 that his fame will survive his colours ; in the mixing 
 of which, sacrificing future glory to present efFel, 
 he unfortunately adopted a mode that prevented them 
 from being permanent ; his reputation happily rests 
 upon a less perishable foundation his literary pro- 
 duflions, which will remain as long as our language 
 subsists, monuments of taste and eloquence, of his 
 intimate acquaintance with the principles of art, and 
 his accurate knowledge of the rules of composition. 
 The occasion of his scriptural Christian name is 
 rather curious. His father, Mr. Samuel Reynolds, 
 master of the Grammar-School at Plympton, had 
 conceived a notion, that it might, at some future 
 period of life, be an advantage to a child to bear an 
 iinco7nmon Christian name ; as it might recommend 
 him to the attention and kindness of some person 
 bearing the same name, who, if he should happen 
 to have no natural objeft of his care, might be led,, 
 even by so slight a circumstance, to become his bene- 
 factor. Hence, the Knight derived the scriptural 
 name of Joshua, which, though not very uncommon, 
 occurs less frequently than many others. Of this 
 baptismal distinclion, however, the register of 
 Plympton has deprived him, by substituting the 
 name of Joseph for that of Joshua. 
 
 As we approached Plymouth, interesting obje(5ts 
 crowded upon us. Saltram, the seat of Lord
 
 [ ^3 ] 
 
 Borringdon, crowned the hill in front ; surrounded 
 by a noble belt of wood, descending to the wide 
 expanse of water called Catwater, and fringing the 
 waves with its foliage. It is an elegant mansion, 
 enlarged by the present owner's father, John Parker, 
 esq; under the direction of Mr. Adam, the archite^l. 
 Looking over an extensive lawn in front, and the 
 sheet of water below, it compleats its view by 
 resting on the beautiful grounds of Mount Edge- 
 combe on the opposite shore. Saltram had the 
 honour of entertaining the Royal Family, in the 
 the year 1789, who made it the place of their resi- 
 dence during their stay in the West of England. 
 
 A lofty hill, variegated with wood and rock, reared 
 itself in another direction; surmounted by a military 
 strufture, called Clarke's Battery, erefted about four 
 years ago ; whilst the ocstuary into which the 
 river Plym disembogues itself, lay spread in wide 
 extent to our left hand. By the side of this cestuary 
 we continued our course for nearly two miles along 
 a road lately opened, made at great expense, over a 
 marsh, level with the water ; and secured from its 
 incursions by a strong embankment. It runs in a 
 straight line, and saves a circuitous road, and an 
 ugly hill ; both which inconveniencies attended the 
 old turnpike.
 
 [ 5+ ] 
 
 We agreed that the praise of Plymouth should 
 be rather negative than positive, and modified when 
 compared with Portmonth and other sea-ports, in 
 some such manner as Jack Hatchway's celebrated 
 eulogy on the flame of Commodore Trunnion was 
 worded : " She is not a drunkard, like Nan Cas- 
 " tick of Deptford ; nor a nincompoop, like Peg 
 " Simper of Woolwich j nor a brimstone, like Kate 
 *' Coddle of Chatham ; nor a shrew, like Nell 
 *' Griffin on the Point.** The most remarkable 
 thing it contains at present is the stock of wine that 
 fills the Abbey cellars, the property of Messrs. 
 Welsford, Arthur, and Co. which amounts to 800 
 pipes in wood, and 300 in bottle, or 55,000 
 dozen j a larger quantity, perhaps, than is pos- 
 sessed by any other firm in Europe. 
 
 Owing to the rapid increase of buildings in these 
 parts within these few years, Plymouth, though two 
 miles distance from the Dock, is connected with it 
 almost all the way by contiguous houses ; Stone- 
 house, the intermediate town, which in the time of 
 Henry the Third was only a solitary dwelling, the 
 residence of a pn-son of that name, having now 
 increased into a place of considerable extent. We 
 were pleased to observe, on the outside of one of 
 the house? in this town, and in a spot which 
 appeared to be peculiarly dedicated to female pro-
 
 [ 55 ] 
 
 fligacy, a large board, inscribed, " the Penitentiary, 
 or Asylum for Penitent Pf ostitutes." It had been 
 creeled only a few months, but from the information 
 which W gave me, whose benevolence led him 
 immediately to enquire into its state, and to become 
 a contributor to its fund, it was gratifying to learn 
 that its success had been as flattering as the recent 
 -^ate of its institution could authorize us to expeft 
 it might be. Surely, my friend, there are no 
 objects to which philanthropy is more loudly called 
 to direl its attention, than those unhappy suff^^rers 
 for whom these establishments are opened; and no 
 institutions more deserving encouragement and sup- 
 port, than the asylums which are ereled to receive 
 them. Nor can we help lamenting, that in a 
 country so justly distinguished for humanity as our 
 own, and in an age whose most striking virtue is 
 that species of charity which ministers to the wants 
 of the unhappy, the instances of these recepta- 
 cles are so infrequent as we must confess them to 
 be. Could we but look into the secret cells of 
 these most pitiable victims of lawless passion, how 
 many of them should we at this moment discover, 
 " watering their couch with the tears" of contrition, 
 and yearning to be rescued from the horrors of 
 their situation ; from the sad alternative of accumu- 
 lating guilt upon themselves, or perishing wiih
 
 [ 56 ] 
 
 hunger. But, ah! my friend, who is moved by 
 their penitence and sorrow? or what do their sighs 
 and wishes avail? To what quarter may they 
 look for rescue ? or whither can they fly for pro- 
 telion ? Man glories in the havock he has made, 
 and only aims to sink them lower in perdition; and 
 woman, the jealous guardian of that honour, which 
 she is aware, alone ensures to her her place in 
 society, reproaches and renounces them. 
 
 " The watchful herd alarm'd, 
 
 " With selfish care, avoid a sisters woe" 
 
 Thus abandoned and forlorn, the unhappy pros- 
 titute is compelled to continue her ruinous career, 
 till disease at length drinks up her vitals, despair 
 seizes on her soul, and she drops into an untimely 
 grave, " with all her imperfelions on her head ;" 
 a melancholy monument of the brutality of one sex, 
 and the cruelty of the other ; an eternal reproach on 
 that society which has spurned her from its bosom ; 
 and denied her the solace and protection to which 
 Religion and Humanity have given her the most 
 holy right. To the rescue and reformation of 
 obje6is like these, so numerous and pitiable, how 
 gladly (could my feeble voice be heard) would I 
 direct the attention of the laws, the influence of 
 the powerful, and the charity of the rich! How
 
 [ 57 ] 
 
 earnestly would 1 recommend it to them to, establish 
 in every town within the realm sequestered sanc- 
 tuaries, in whose peaceful bosoms the penitettt 
 daughters of Folly might escape the commission of 
 further crime, work out their repentance for past 
 guilt, and prepare themselves in future for aling a 
 new, useful, and honourable part in society : sanc- 
 tuaries, to which the sheep that was lost might be 
 brought back J where the returning prodigal might 
 be received ; where the spark of re-kindling grace 
 might be fostered; where the Magdalen might be 
 aided in her contrition 3 and by whose protel:ion, 
 the last execrable triumph of the villainous seducer 
 might be marred the triumph of seeing his mise- 
 rable viftim perish.* 
 
 The town of Dock is an infant of yesterday, 
 compared with Plymouth. A century back it was a 
 desolate common, Vv'ithout houses or inhabitants : a 
 singular contrast to its present appearance ; that of a 
 
 * It must be observed, to the credit of the city of Bath, 
 that a charity of this nature has been established there for 
 these three years past, and attended with the most beneficial 
 effefts. Truly gratified would tiie nutho- of these pages be, 
 if any of his readers, impn;ssed by what lie has said above, 
 should bear the vail of com{)assl()u, and be induced to aid, by 
 their donations or subscriptions, so benevolent an institutioa 
 as the Bath Penitentiary.
 
 [ 58 ] 
 
 handsome, regular town, with a population of at least 
 25,000 souls. But though the origin of this place 
 nay be given to the commencement of the seven- 
 teenth century, yet its progress to the extent and 
 respeftability which it now exhibits, was at first 
 but slow; its most rapid advances having been made 
 within these forty years past, during which space of 
 time such numerous buildings have been ereled, 
 both of a public and private nature, as to give it at 
 least a four-fold increase both in houses and inhabit- 
 ants. This rapid improvement must of course have 
 produced a prodigious increase in the value of pro- 
 perty on the spot, aftd in its neighbourhood ; and we 
 were assured that several portions of land had, in 
 consequence of it, been raised, within the last 
 thirty years, a thousand ^per cent, in their annual 
 rents.* 
 
 * " The number of houses in Dock is about 2400. These 
 " were wholly ere6led by the inhabitants, to whom the lords 
 " of the manor granted leases for ninty-nine years, determi- 
 " nable by the deaths of three lives, of the builders' nomina- 
 " tion, and subjed to a certain annual quit-rent, of probably 
 '' from three shillings to fourteen, according to the space of 
 " ground occupied : with a heriot, double the quit-rent, on 
 " the death of each life. The original leases were renew- 
 " able on the dropping of a life, on paying a fine to the 
 " lord of the manor, equal to about three years' value of
 
 [ 59 ] 
 
 The growth of Plymouth-Dock town was indeed 
 for a long time obstructed by the difficulty of sup- 
 plying it with water J that of the place being unfit 
 
 " the premises. In the year 1791^ a plan of perpetual re- 
 " newalj at a certain fine, was presented to the inhabitants by 
 '* Sir John St. Aubinj the basis of which was, that the tenant 
 " should constantly keep his premises full lived, by nomi- 
 " nating some fresh persons within a year of the dropping of 
 " any one of the then existing lives ; and paying for this pri- 
 " vileg'e, a small addition of yearly conventionary rent, and a 
 " fine of about two years clear value of the premises. These 
 " terms^ not being so favourable as those held out by Lord 
 " Mount Edgcurobe for building at Stonehouse, and R. P. 
 " Carew, esq; atTorpoint, on the Cornish side of the Tamar/ 
 " met at first with many opponents : but latterly the inhabit- 
 ** ants appeared sensible of the advantages attcndiiig them ; 
 " and all the houses which by the dropping off of lives, on 
 " the original plan, came into the lord's hands, were leased 
 " accordingly. At present, however. Sir John declines grant- 
 " ing any more leases on these terms, or even on the old 
 " mode of holding for three lives : tlie houses which now fall 
 <' into his hands, as well as the lands of the manor, are let 
 " at a yearly rent, for .seven years only. The present annual 
 " income is considered as amounting to about (iOOO/. but 
 *' whenever the whole of the lands and houses of the manor, 
 ' not on perpetual renewal, shall revert to the proprietor, 
 " little doubt can be entertained, that the rental will increase 
 " to upwards of 80,000/. per annum.'' PolivhcWs History 
 of Dcv()/iihir(',\o]. iii. p. 450.
 
 r 60 I 
 
 for drinking, or culinary purposes. It is now, how 
 ever, plentifully accommodated with this useful 
 clement, which is conveyed from a large reservoir at 
 the north side of the town, into which the waters 
 of the Dartmoor rivers have been led at a very great 
 expense. Before this necessary improvement in the 
 state of Dock town took place, it was occasionally 
 exceedingly inconvenienced for want of it, parti- 
 cularly in the year 1762, when the celebrated Dr. 
 Johnson happened to be at' Plymouth, in an excur- 
 sion which he took into the West of England during 
 that year. The indefatigable Boswell, who tells 
 every thing, good, bad, and indiiFerent, of his illus- 
 trious friend, has given us the following characterise 
 tical anecdote of Johnson on the occasion : " The 
 ** Doctor having observed," says he, " that in con* 
 *' sequence of the dock-yard, a new town had arisen 
 *' about two miles ofF, as a rival to the old; and 
 *' knowing from his sagacity, and just observation 
 " of human nature, that it is certain if a man hate 
 *' at all, he will hate his next neighbour : he con- 
 " eluded that this new and rising town could not 
 " biu excite the envy and jealousy of the old, in 
 *' which conjefture he was soon confirmed. He 
 *' therefore set himself resolutely on the side of 
 " the old town, the established town in which his 
 " lot was cast, considering it a kind of dut^ to stand
 
 [ 61 ] 
 
 *'* by it. He accordingly entered warmly into its 
 *' interests j and upon every occasion talked of the 
 ** Dockers^ as the inhabitants of the New Town were 
 " called, as upstarts and aliens. Plymouth is very 
 " plentifully supplied with water, by a river brought 
 *' into it at a great distance, which is so abundant 
 '* that it runs to waste in the town. The Dock, or 
 " New Tov/n being totally destitute of water, peti- 
 " tioned Plymouth, that a small portion of the con- 
 " duit might be permitted to go to them, and this 
 " was now under consideration. Johnson, affel- 
 " ing to entertain the passions of the place, was 
 " violent in opposition ; and half laughing at him- 
 " self for his pretended zeal, where he had no 
 *' concern, exclaimed, ' No! no! I am against the 
 " ' Dockers', I am a Plymouth man. Rogues! let 
 * ' them die of thirst: they shall not have a drop.* " 
 It was the boast of an ancient monarch that he 
 found his capital built of mud, and left it of marble. 
 Such a declaration would be scarcely hyperbolical if 
 applied to Plymouth Dock town ; since most of the 
 public edifices are construled, and the very streets 
 paved, with this elegant species of calcareous stone, 
 whicli is found in abundance on tlie spot. In con- 
 sequence of this, the cfFc^: produced on any of the 
 pavements vvhicli lie on a descent, is said to be very 
 beautiful after a smart shower of rain, when the
 
 [ 62 ] 
 
 surface being washed clean, the veins of the marble 
 appear in their original bright colours and diversified 
 forms. The number of forts, batteries, lines, &c. 
 built for the defence of the place, is so great as to 
 require a considerable time to inspe^l, and would 
 be tedious to describe ; I cannot omit to mention, 
 however, the Telegraph, which stands on the parade 
 at the north-east extremity of the town. For this 
 useful instrument of rapid communication with dis- 
 tant places, we are indebted, you know, to the 
 French, who first invented it : and as we wisely fol- 
 lowed the maxim. Fas est ab hoste doceri, they are 
 now pretty general on our own coasts. The swift- 
 ness with which intelligence is conveyed by this con- 
 trivance over a great space, may be imagined from 
 the short time requisite for communicating news to 
 London from this place, and receiving an answer in 
 return. By means of thirty-one telegraphs any par- 
 ticulars from Plymouth-Dock are known at the 
 Admiralty, a distance of 217 miles, in twenty-two 
 minutes; and orders re-delivered at the Dock in the 
 same space of time. Only seven minutes are re- 
 quired to convey any intelligence to Portsmouth. 
 
 But the object best deserving attention at this 
 place is the Dock-Yard ; which is superior to any in 
 the world perhaps, for compactness, elegance, con- 
 venience, the magnitude of its buildings, and the
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
 beauty of its scenery. Aii admission is easily pro- 
 cured through the recommendation of any respectable 
 person of the town to the Commissioner; though 
 a very proper regulation prohibits the entrance of 
 a person not employed in the dock-yard, into any 
 of the buildings, without a specific order for that 
 purpose from that officer. The whole of this space 
 is private property, leased to Government for twenty- 
 one years, and perpetually renewable every seven 
 years ; with a reservation to the Lord of the Manor 
 of free ingress and egress at all times, as well as of 
 all forfeitures in case of premature deaths. William 
 the Third was the first of our kings who deemed 
 the scite of this spot eligible for the purposes of a 
 dock-yard, though but a small part of the present 
 buildings and conveniences were in his reign con- 
 strufted. From that time additions have been era- 
 dually made, as circumstances seemed to render 
 them necessary ; but the greatest part of the many 
 useful and capacious structures which now adorn the 
 dock-yard have had their origin in the present reign. 
 This noble depot of naval and military stores 
 occupies a space of about seventy acres, a great part 
 of which has been excavated out of the rock, to ren- 
 der its surface level. But however expensive such 
 an operation might be thought to have been, the 
 charges were greatly lessened by the stone produced
 
 [ 64 ] 
 
 by it having been applied to ereft the necessary 
 buildings. They are partly of shistus, and partly 
 of marble, for both these materials were the natural 
 produftions of the spot ; this neatness in their 
 appearance, added to their judicious arrangement, 
 the beautiful combination of wood and water, hill 
 and rock, which surround the dock-yard, and the 
 animation produced by 3500 workmen, render it 
 if not a picturesque scene, at least as striking and 
 agreeable a one as I ever saw. 
 
 The chief advantages of Plymouth Dock over that 
 of Portsmouth consists in the superior dimensions 
 of one of the docks, hewn out of the solid rock, and 
 the largest in the world ; and in its having two 
 Rope-houses of 1200 feet long each, whereas Ports- 
 mouth has but one, and that of inferior length. 
 The busy operation of this manufaftory struck us 
 with amazement, nor was our wonder lessened when 
 we learnt that the people employed in it worked at 
 present three days in one, a term of twelve hours 
 of uninterrupted labour, and that such of them as 
 attended the twisting of the cables, paced so fre- 
 quently up and down the rope-house, as to make 
 their diurnal journey twenty-five miles. 
 
 We peeped into the anchor forge, for all entrance, 
 as I before mentioned, is denied, and beheld a scene 
 only to be described in Virgil's words :
 
 [ 65 3 
 
 "** Ac reluti lentis Cyclopes fulmlna massis 
 " Cum properant: alii taurinis follibus auras 
 " Accipiunt redduntque -^ alii stridentia tingunt 
 " ^ra lacu; gemit impositis incudibus .^tnaj 
 " Illi inter se magna vi bracliia tollunt 
 " In numerum ; versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum." 
 
 But though we were forbidden a close inspeftion 
 of all the operations of these sons of fire, we had 
 an opportunity of seeing some of the effeds of their 
 labour, in a long range of anchors, which had been 
 compleated at the forge, and were now ready for 
 service; one of which, the largest ever made, weighed 
 five tons within an hundred and a half. It was no 
 little cause of elation to Britons to see at the same 
 time several French anchors, that had been taken in 
 prizes, and which (as we were told) were every way 
 below our own ; from the inferiority of the iron, and 
 the unskilful manufaifture of the throat of the anchor, 
 or the curved part between the fluke and the body 
 of it. Nor was this agreeable emotion lessened 
 when we went on board the Caledonia, almost ready 
 for launching,* a noble three-decker, built upon 
 dimensions larger than those of any other ship in 
 the navy. She is pierced for 132 guns; is from 
 stem to stern 240 feet, measures 54 in breadth, and 
 
 * She has been since launched. 
 F
 
 r 65 ] 
 
 is upwards of six feet high between all her dccks^ 
 The figure of an Highlander graces her head j a 
 proper compliment to a nation, 
 
 *' Inflexible in faith, invincible in armsj" 
 
 which forms, in my opinion, the most brilliant gem 
 of our imperial diadem ; a nation which blends in 
 its chara^er what we have yet to learn, the sincere 
 religious principle, and an exemplary morality, with 
 the most ardent courage, and the most determined 
 resolution. 
 
 It had been particularly enjoined us to visit the 
 market of Plymouth-Dock j an objeft which we 
 found to be well Worth our attention. Nothing can 
 be more judicious than the plan on which it is con- 
 structed j consisting of two stories, both of which are 
 defended from the weather by being covered over 
 head. The quantities of provision of all descrip- 
 tions exposed here for sale every Tuesday, Thurs- 
 day, and Saturday, are really astonishing j and it is 
 a pleasant circumstance that this profusion is accom- 
 panied by very moderate prices, which is not gene- 
 rally the case with the best furnished markets in the 
 kingdom. When we heard of sixpence-halfpenny 
 per pound for meat, two shillings for a couple of 
 ducks, and other poultry in proportion, it is not 
 wonderful that with our heads full of Bath prices.
 
 C 67 ] 
 
 we should for a moment imagine ourselves trans- 
 ported into Canaan, " the glory of all lands j" where 
 abundance was the charafter of the country, and 
 plenty was proverbial. The excellence of xhtjish 
 of Plymouth cannot be doubted, when it is recol- 
 lefted that the product of its market had sufficient 
 attraftions to overcome the vis inertia of Quin, and 
 draw him from the metropolis, to the western 
 extremity of Devonshire, that he might eat John 
 Dories and Red Mullet in perfelion. Indeed, 
 there cannot be imagined a finer picture for the 
 watery eye of a piscifte epicure, than the department 
 of the fishmongers in Plymouth-Dock market^ 
 whilst this article of food is in season. 
 
 One word more on the subjedl of this place, and 
 I release you. Acquainted as W - ahd myself 
 were with the customary licentious habits of the 
 lower orders and working class of people in most of 
 our large sea-ports, it afforded us no small gratifica- 
 tion to hear, and to observe, that the morals of the 
 population of the Dock-yard were of an higher 
 order than is usually the case in places of this de- 
 scription ; an effect, attributed by our conduftor, 
 and I believe with truth, to the strenuous profes- 
 sional exertions of a particular class of the clergy in 
 the neighbourhood. Without pretending to deter- 
 mine what may be the best mode of instrufting the 
 
 F 2
 
 [ 68 ] 
 
 multitude in their religious and moral duties, I think 
 we may venture to assert, that where any one has 
 been crowned by such compleat success as in the 
 instance before us, we ought at least to consider the 
 system with respet, and regard its instruments as 
 sincere. Thus much Christian charity should com- 
 pel us to allow, however our own speculative 
 opinions may differ from those of the persons so 
 laudably and usefully employed. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your's sincerely, 
 
 R. W.
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 10 THE SAME. 
 
 MY DEAR SIB, 
 
 Truro, Aui^ust "J. 
 
 YOU perceive wc have reached the capital of 
 Cornwall ; but, however your curiosity may 
 be excited by the mention of the Cornubian metro- 
 polis, or however impatient you may feel for a 
 description of a place which concentrates in itself 
 all the elegance of this distant county, you must be
 
 E ro ] 
 
 content to wait till a subsequent letter for complete 
 satisfaction on these points, and attend me in a long 
 and weary journey through rough roads, and over 
 barren hills, before you repose yourself amongst 
 the comforts of this respeftable town. 
 
 In making the customary excursion from Ply- 
 moath-Dock to Mount Edgcombe, it is usual to 
 ^ross the water from Mutton Cove to Cremill, a 
 passage rather more than a quarter of a mile ; we 
 however preferred a more circuitous course, that 
 we might include Trematon Castle in our route, 
 and were ferried over the Tamar from Morrice 
 Town to Tor-Point, a distance of nearly half a 
 mile. As the tolls of passengers are settled by Aft 
 of Parliament, there is no opportunity, if there 
 were inclination, forjmposition; though we confessed 
 that the terms of one-penny for a foot passenger, 
 and two-pence for our horse, seemed to be inade- 
 quate to the time and labour required in a convey- 
 ance of such a nature, and for such a distance. The 
 proportion, however, between the pay and the ser- 
 .vice may perhaps be pretty equal, when we con- 
 sider the multitude of passengers perpetually crossing 
 here, who keep the boat fully employed for^ up- 
 wards of twelve hours out of the twenty-four. On 
 our arrival at Little Anthony, we found it neces- 
 sary to cross another short passage, in order to
 
 C 71 ] 
 
 cScd: our visit to Treraaton Castle, and were ferried 
 over Lynher Creek, which washes the foot of this 
 noble ruin. We found these remains of baroniaj 
 splendour as august upon a near approach as they 
 were striking at a distance. They consist of a cir- 
 cular ivied embattled wall, including a base court of 
 an acre of ground, and surrounded by a deep ditch. 
 The entrance into this space is under a massive 
 square tower, formerly secured by three portcullises. 
 But the most majestic feature of the ruins is the 
 dilapidated keep which rises from a vast artificial 
 mound at the north-west comer of the area, an 
 edifice that must anciently have awed that great 
 extent of country which it now overlooks. Built 
 originally to be impregnable, its wall was ten feet 
 thick, and allowed entrance only by a strong arched 
 door-way which fronts the west. The careful 
 jealousy of its construftion, appears from its having 
 had no openings, even for windows ; for the light of 
 heaven was admitted only at the top : at least no 
 windows appear in an elevation of thirty feet. Its 
 figure is oval, extending in length upwards of 
 seventy feet, and in breadth about fifty. The exal 
 oera of its cre^ion is unknown ; but it appears to 
 have been one of the residences of the ancient 
 Cornish kings, and makes at present a part of the 
 Dutchy of Cornwall.
 
 C 72 ] 
 
 The road from hence to Mount Edgecombe is 
 enlivened by the perpetual recurrence of beautiful 
 views and agreeable objcfls; for though we were 
 now entered upon Cornwall, the rich scenery of 
 Devonshire- had not yet deserted us, and numerous 
 villages op every side evinced that we were still in 
 the region of trade, commerce, and population. 
 But the recolleftion of all these inferior charms was 
 lost when we approached the mansion of Lord 
 Mount Edgecombe. This place has been celebrated 
 indeed for its magnificence and beauty, ever since 
 the period of its becoming the residence of a private 
 family, which was in the middle of the sixteenth 
 century, when Sir Richard Edgecombe, knight, 
 chose it for the scite of his country mansion. Its 
 natural charms, and the growth of its artificial plan- 
 tations, excited the admiration of the Duke de Me- 
 dina Sidonia, who proudly passed it in his Invincible 
 Armada in the year 1588, and who would probably 
 have executed his determination of making it his 
 English residence, had not a few trifl'mg accidents 
 destroyed both his fleet and his anticipations together. 
 One cannot indeed wonder at the Spaniard's par- 
 tiality to the place, as there are few spots so calcu- 
 lated to strike the imagination, from the magnifi- 
 cence of its situation, and the beauty of its grounds. 
 Of the house as it stood shortly after the period
 
 E 73 ] 
 
 just mentioned, we have the following account left 
 10 us by Carew, which affords a tolerably accurate 
 idea of its rresent state, as the wing that has been 
 added in modern times is so skreened as not to 
 interfere wiih the cotiD d'(il of the original building. 
 *' The house is bnilded square, with a round turret 
 ** at each end, garretied at the top, and the hall 
 *' rising in the midst above the rest, which yields a 
 " stately sound as you enter the same. la summer 
 *' the opened casements admit a refreshing coldness. 
 *' In winter the two closed doors exclude all offensive 
 '' coldness. The parlour and dining-room give you 
 *' a large and diversified prospe^l of the land and sea. 
 *' It is supplied by a never-failing spring of water. 
 *' Both sides of the narrow entrance are fenced with 
 " block houses; and that next to Mount Edgecombe 
 *' was wont to be planted with ordnance, which, at 
 ** coming and parting, with their bass voices greeted 
 " such guests as visited the house.'* 
 
 The most advantageous tour of the extensive 
 grounds of this superb place, in which its interest- 
 ing parts are taken in best succession, is pointed out 
 in a little Guide, published at Plymouth-Dock, 
 written with neatness and elegance. It divides the 
 excursion very properly into two routes, embracing 
 by this arrangement the whole routine of its multi- 
 farious scenes and diversified objects. Assisted by
 
 [ 7+ ] 
 
 this little manual, the traveller, after passing the 
 Park-gate, takes the upper road, leading him through 
 a piece of fine broken woodland scenery to the 
 Wbiie Seat, as it is called, an eminence which com- 
 mands a view combining all the objedls that can be 
 introduced into the most varied scene. A little fur- 
 ther on a picture of a different character is pre- 
 sented, from Redding Point, in which the boundless 
 ocean forms the prominent feature, with Cawsand 
 Bay on the right, usually spotted with ships of war 
 stationed in this ample sheet of water. The route 
 will then lead him along the flat summit of the hill 
 to the boundary on the western side, disclosing in 
 its course occasional peeps at rivers, creeks, villages, 
 and towns, till gradually declining into a beautiful 
 valley, it agreeably contrasts the varied views com- 
 manded from the heights by the fewer, but more 
 distinctly marked objects of a closer scene. The 
 Great Terrace now receives the traveller, wrapping 
 him in gloom, with the fine accompaniment of the 
 ocean roaring at a great depth beneath him on his 
 right hand ; but his associations are quickly changed 
 by a beautiful little valley, upon which he suddenly 
 enters, called Picklecqmbe, Nothing can be con- 
 ceived more singular and romantic than this natural 
 hollow, which, from the uniformity of its appear- 
 ance, seems as if it were intended to pass upon the
 
 [ 75 ] 
 
 eye for an artificial excavation. A modern ruin, well 
 executed, representing a dilapidated chapel, stands 
 at the upper end, which takes in the whole of the 
 valley, and carries the gaze through its opposite 
 extremity to the sea, bounded only by the horizon. 
 A shrubbery of unequalled beauty next occurs, 
 formed entirely of every species of evergreen that 
 will endure the vicissirndcs of an English winter. 
 
 " Not that fair field 
 
 " Of Enna, where Proserpin gath'ring flowers, 
 
 " Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis 
 
 " Was gather'd, which cost Ceres all that pain 
 
 " To seek her thro' the world ; nor that sweet grove 
 
 " Of Daphne by Orontes, and the inspir'd 
 
 " Castalian spring, might strive with this." 
 
 To its other eharms it adds the prominent one of 
 perpetual verdure, for as no deciduous plant has 
 been admitted into if, and as it is protefted from 
 every blast that might injure or destroy its foliage, 
 it literally smiles with an eternal spring. The close- 
 ness of this grove scenery gives additional cffcS. to 
 the view that bursts upon the eye at the stone seat, 
 called the Jrch, where it is thrown down a precipice 
 washed by Plymouth Sound, that stretches into the 
 ocean to the right. The dg-zag "walks now con- 
 duct the traveller, by a new and interesting course, 
 to Picklccombc and the Great Terrace j and being for
 
 f 76 t 
 
 a time plunged in the darkness of a solemn sylvan 
 scene, be is suddenly brought to the dismantled 
 Gothic window, called the Ruin, where another ex- 
 tensive piflurc is spread before him, heightened by 
 a grand foreground of venerable wood. A road 
 from hence leads directly to the house. 
 
 Much, however, still remains to be seen of the 
 beauties of Mount Edgecombe, comprised in the 
 pleasure-grounds that lie more contiguous to the 
 mansion. To these the traveller is led by the 
 IIow^ Terrace, through the romantic depression, 
 called the Amphitheatre, which introduces him to 
 the English and French flower-gardens ; so deno- 
 minated from the different styles of horticulture 
 which they exhibit. The quiet and sequestered 
 charafter of the former is well described in a quo- 
 tation from Cowper's Task, inscribed on a bench at 
 ihe entrance of it : 
 
 *' Prospers, however lovely, may be seen 
 
 *' Till half their beauties fade j the wearied eye, 
 
 " Too well acquainted with their charms, slides ^flF' 
 
 " Fastidious, seeking less familiar scenes. 
 
 *' Then snug enclosures in some shelter'd spot, 
 
 " Where frequent hedges intercept the eye, 
 
 *' Delight us, happy to renounce awhile, 
 
 " Not senseless of its charms, what still we love, 
 
 ** That such short absence may endear it more."
 
 r 77 ] 
 
 This beautiful retreat is adorned with a pavilion 
 in the Doric style, containing two rooms and a bath^ 
 its marble basin supplied with hot and cold water, 
 from two bronze dolphins, which pour the element 
 from tbcir mouths. 
 
 The French flower-garden is laid out more in the 
 ornamental style of that fanciful nation, 
 
 *' Where vanity assumes her pert grimace, 
 *' And trims her robes of frieze with copper lace: 
 " Where beggar pride defrauds lier daily cheer, 
 ** To boast one splendid banquet once a year." 
 
 The copy, however, excels the original. All here 
 is elegance and taste. An evergreen edge includes 
 a small space laid out in a parterre; enlivened in its 
 center by a fountain, and surrounded by trellis 
 Work, thrown into arches, and berceaux, festooned 
 with every species of parasitical plant. The French 
 character of the spot is further supported by an 
 elegant oftagon room, opening into conservatories 
 on each side. Here too occurs a little trick in the 
 Gallic taste. On the removal of a pilure at the 
 back of the apartment, a small antique statue of 
 Melcager, exquisitely beautiful, is discovered, backed 
 by a mirror which reflects all the objects within the 
 garden. This little fairy scene was a fav.iurite 
 retreat of the late Countess of Mount Edgecombe,
 
 [ 78 I 
 
 who died m 1806. The recolle^lion of her predi- 
 le^lion, and of the improvements which her tasitc 
 suggested and executed on the spot, is perpetuated 
 by a piece of sculpture, consisting of an Urn sup- 
 porting a Tablet. The latter is inscribed "wyth the 
 name Sophia, The pedestal of the urn has the fol- 
 owing memorial : 
 
 To tlie Memory of 
 
 Her 
 
 whose taste embellished, 
 
 whose presence added charms to 
 
 tliese Retreats, 
 
 (Herself the brightest Ornament^) 
 
 This Urn is erefted 
 
 In the Spot she loyed- 
 
 The simplicity of the Doric alcove, called Thom- 
 son's seat, to which the steps are next direled, and 
 the chequered and extensive view which it affords, 
 form a singular change to the elaborate but minute 
 beauties of the spot just described. A very appro- 
 priate inscription has been selected from the works 
 of the Bard, to whom the fabric is dedicated, and 
 inscribed upon its front: 
 
 ^._'f On either hand 
 
 " Like a long wintry forest, groves of masts 
 
 " Shot up their spires j the bellying sheet between 
 
 ^* Possess'd the breezy void 3 the sooty hulk
 
 [ 79 ] 
 
 ** Steer'd sluggish on ; the splendid barge along 
 
 ^' Row'd, regular, to harmony ; around, 
 
 *' The boat, light skimming, stretched its oary wings. 
 
 " While deep the various voice of fervent toil 
 
 " From bank to bank increas'dj whence ribb'd with oak, 
 
 *' To bear the British thunder, black and bold, 
 
 " The roaring vessel rush'd into the main." 
 
 Anotber and a final variety meets the attention 
 on retiring from Tiiorason's seat. All grand exter- 
 nal scenery is again excluded ; and a second beauti- 
 ful specimen of exotic horticulture, called the Italian 
 garden, or Orangerie, presents itself. It is encircled 
 by a fine bank of evergreens; and divided into sec- 
 tions by gravel walks, which radiate from a basin 
 of water in the center ; out of which rises a beauti- 
 ful marble fountain, formed by four of the female 
 figures, called Cariatides, standing on a square 
 pedestal, supporting a deep patera, from whence 
 issues a very pleasing Jet d'eau. The Italian garden 
 is further chara6ler;zcd by long avenues of noble 
 orange trees loaded with fruit, which in winter are 
 secured in a green-house, of the Doric style, one 
 hundred feet in length ; and by a bust of Ariosio, 
 whose pedt'stal bears a quotation from his works, 
 with the following English translation: 
 
 " Near to the shore, from whence with soft ascent 
 "^ Rises the wooded hill, there is a place
 
 [ 80 ] 
 
 " Where many an orange, cedar, myrtle, bay^ 
 
 " And each sweet-scented shrub, perfume the air. 
 
 " The rose, the lily, crocus, serpolet, 
 
 *' Such sweetness shed from the odoriferous ground, 
 
 '* That every gale, soft breathing from the land^ 
 
 " Wafts forth tlie balmy fragrance to the sea." 
 
 The circuit of the pleasure-grounds is closed with 
 this beautifuilittle specimen of ornamental gardening. 
 
 From the faint idea which the above description 
 affords of Mount Edgecombe, you will be prepared, 
 I think, to acknowledge, that it is one of the first 
 places of the kind in the possession of a British 
 subject. It combines, indeed, all that can be ima- 
 gined of the grand or picturesque. Nature seems 
 to have lavished every effort in its favour ; nor has 
 art marred by any little tricks the effeft of her mu- 
 nificence. Johnson, I recolle<51', preferred Slaines 
 castle, the seat of Lord Errol, on the eastern coast 
 of Scotland, to the magnificent residence of Lord 
 Mount Edgecombe ; because " at the latter," said 
 he, " the sea is bounded by land on the other side, 
 " and though there is the grandeur of a fleet, there 
 ** is also the impression of there being a dock-yard, 
 '* the circumstances of which are not agreeable."* 
 
 * Bosweirs Account of a Tour to the Hebrides, p. QO.
 
 [ 81 ] 
 
 But if variety be admitted as a sine qua non in a 
 grand and beautiful view, we cannot sacrifice the 
 superlative claims of Mount Edgecombe even to the 
 authority of Johnson. No feature is wanting in the 
 views from this place, and they are all upon a great 
 scale ; to which must be added the noble recesses of 
 wood, both in the foregrounds, and some of the 
 distances, which give a richness to every picture 
 seen from it, of which no view from Slaines castle 
 can afford an idea. Much of the timber, indeed, of 
 Mount Edgecombe Park is of the most venerable 
 charafter j and we were told, that a tree, blown 
 down in a storm a few months before, had been 
 sold, independently of the loppings, for 76/. 
 
 Our road led us to West-Anthony, a village 
 which I could not approach without many painful 
 and melancholy recollections. The beautiful view 
 from its church-yard is, indeed, calculated to awaken 
 nothing but agreeable associations ; but the remem- 
 brance of a valued friend recently lost, for some 
 years the incumbent of the church on whose sacred 
 precin6ls I now stood, damped every joy that the 
 gay pifiure around was so well calculated to inspire. 
 Of him it might be truly said, in the words of 
 Horace, Multis ille bonis Jlebilis occidit ; and if I 
 might be permitted to coosider myself amongst that 
 number, 1 would add, nulli Jlehilior quam mihi* Iq 
 
 G
 
 - [ 82 ] 
 
 truth, it was impossible to be long and intimately 
 acquainted with a man whose superior endowments 
 and rare acquirements were the least estimable fea- 
 tures of his charafter, and not be greatly affe^led 
 by his loss. As a Divint, whilst the sincerity of his 
 piety, the virtues of his heart, and the earnestness 
 of his manner, ensured him the veneration of his 
 flock; the liberality of his sentiments conciliated the 
 esteem of Christians of every denomination. As a 
 man, the beneficence of his disposition is best testi- 
 fied by the gratitude of the innumerable objefts for 
 whose benefit it was perpetually exercised. As a 
 friend, a husband, and -^father^ the warmth of his 
 attachments, the cheerfulness of his manners, and 
 the sterling worth of his domestic virtues, secured 
 him that degree of tender affcftion, from all his con- 
 nections, which can only be estimated by the deep 
 grief that his unexpefted loss occasioned to those 
 who had the happiness of contemplating these ex- 
 cellencies-of his private character.* 
 
 *' His saltern accumidem donis. et fun gar hiarii 
 " Munere." 
 
 * The Rev. Joshua Jeans, D.D. minister of the Episcopal 
 Church of Amsterdam, relor of Sheviock, in the county of 
 Cornwall, and chaplain to the Duke of York. He died in 
 Amsterdam, after a short ilhiess, the 5th Odobcr I8O7. An. 
 :^tat. 50. .
 
 r 83 ] 
 
 We had scarcely entered Cornwall, before our 
 attention was agreeably interested by a praftice con- 
 ncfted with the agriculture of the people, which to us 
 was entirely novel. The farmers judiciously employ 
 the fine oxen of the county in ploughing, and other 
 processes of husbandry, to which the strength of this 
 useful animal can be applied ; and whilst the hinds are 
 thus driving these patient slaves along the furrows, 
 they continually cheer them with conversation deno- 
 ting approbation and pleasure. This encouragement is 
 conveyed to them in a sort of chaunt, of very agree- 
 able modulation, which, floating through the air 
 from diiFerent distances, produces a striking efFeft 
 both on the ear and the imagination. The notes 
 are few and simple j and when delivered by a clear 
 melodious voice, have something expressive of that 
 tenderness and afFeftion, which man naturally enter- 
 tains for those companions of his labours, in a 
 pastoral state of society j when, feeling more forci- 
 bly his dependancc upon domesticated animals for 
 support, he gladly reciprocates with them kindness 
 and proteftion for comfort and subsistence. This 
 wild melody was to me, I confess, peculiarly affeft- 
 ing. It seemed to draw more closely the link! of 
 friendship between man and the humbler tribes of 
 h\s fellow mortals. It solaced my heart with the ap- 
 pearance of humanity, in a world of violence, and in 
 
 G a
 
 [ 8i 1 
 
 times of universal hostile rage: and it gladdened my 
 fancy with an anticipation of those days of heavenly 
 harmony, promised in the predictions of eternal 
 truth ; when man, freed at length from prejudice 
 and passion, shall seek his happiness in cultivating 
 the mild, the benevolent, and the merciful sensi- 
 bilities of his nature j and when the animal world,, 
 catching the virtues of its Lord and Master, shall 
 soften into gentleness and love ; when " the wolf 
 " shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall 
 " lie down with the kid ; and the calf, and the 
 " young lion, and the failing together; and a little 
 " child shall lead them." ,,. :. -.^^ 
 
 The agreeable associations excited by this inte- 
 resting accompaniment of the labours of Cornish 
 h,usbandry made some amends for the wild and un- 
 ornamented appearance of the country that now pre- 
 sented itself to us. We had at length a specimen of 
 the denuded scenery which we had been taught to 
 e3(pe6t through a journey of many days. We had 
 bade adieu to all the features of the pifluresque, and 
 quitted the entertainments of taste for the gratifica- 
 tion of dry curiosity. Nature, you know, is a wise. 
 and thrifty housewife ; who, with a judicious impar- 
 tiality, equalizes the advantages of every place ; and 
 with a striCi justice denies her favours of one kind, 
 when she has lavished her bounty in another way.
 
 [ 85 ] 
 
 Such has been her system with respefl to Cornwall. 
 All her valuable gifts now lie concealed from the 
 -view. The nakedness of the surface, however, is 
 amply recompensed by the subterranean riches of 
 the county ; for like a rough diamond, when her 
 exterior is removed, a precious production is found 
 beneath the crust. You must not therefore expeft 
 to be entertained with the agrc-rable succession of 
 waving woods, and ornuinented vallies, purling 
 streams, or winding glens ; all above ground is deso- 
 late and dreary; and the only varicdes I can promise 
 you to these naked trafts of country, will be dark 
 mines, horrid rocks, or dangerous precipices. Of 
 this last feature of Cornwall, we had a good speci- 
 men in our road to East-Looe; as it is in many 
 places alarming, and in some not without jeopardy. 
 
 Quitting the turnpike (as it is called) to Liakeard, 
 which runs to the right, we directed our course 
 towards the coast, through a lane so exceedingly nar- 
 row, that in several places it would be impossible for 
 a horse and carriage going diiHrent ways to pass each 
 other. \V suggested that it would be a good plan 
 to adopt the same custom here that is practised in 
 passing through tlie excavated mountain of Pausilippo 
 in the neighbourhood of Naples, where every 
 carriage is provided or accompanied with a courier, 
 who blo'iVj his horn perpetually during the subter^
 
 [- 86 ] 
 
 mncous ride, to notify the pre-occupation of the road, 
 and prevent the approach of another carriage jn a 
 Strait where there is room neither for passing nor 
 turning about. I have no idea indeed what ^just- 
 ment could be adopted in some parts of the road ta 
 Looc, should such a rencontre unfortunately take 
 place. This want of breadth in a public way, how- 
 ever, may be considered perhaps only in the light 
 of an inconvenience ; there is another circumstance 
 in the cliaraler of the Looe road, which may well 
 excite the terror of the traveller. About seven 
 miles from Tor, it pointed direlly to the cliiF, and 
 led us to an abrupt descent of some hundred feet in 
 depth, inviting us down its precipitous face by a zig- 
 zag track which seemed calculated only for the agile 
 goats of the country, or the steady feet of an expe- 
 rienced mountaineer. We dismounted from our 
 horses, and led ihem, not without sensations of 
 dread, down a declivity, in some parts of which a 
 a false step must have inevitably been fatal, accom- 
 panied by a hind of the country, who with fearless 
 jocularity laughed at our alarm; and told us, he 
 himself had trotted the whole way when it was as 
 dark as pitch. He added, that he had more than 
 once seen gigs descend this fearful road. We would 
 not aflccl to doubt his information, but only begged
 
 I 87 J 
 
 leave to observe that their drivers must have pos- 
 sessed a much larger portion of nerve than prudence. 
 
 We continued ascending and descending with this 
 capricious track for about six miles, sometimes at 
 the edge of precipices, and at others pent up between 
 low hedges, till within half a mile of Looe, when by 
 a sudden bend it introduced us to a point from 
 whence a scene was suddenly exhibited equally sin 
 gular and beautiful. Immediately under us, but at 
 the same time at such a depth that it did not appear 
 how we could reach it, lay the town of East-Looe, 
 its long bridge, river, and West-Looe on the oppo- 
 site bank. To the right, a fine iraft of hilly country 
 stretched away, well wooded and watered ; and to 
 the left, the solitary spotcalled Lode Island was 
 discovered, with a long range of grand coast, washed 
 by the waves of the British channel. The pilure, 
 it must be confessed, is no common one, but it was 
 seen from such a po'uit of sight, as chastened the 
 pleasure it conveyed with some little mixture of 
 awe ; and we congratulated ourselves when we had 
 once more safely cached a comfortable inn. 
 
 West-Looe is a small miserable town ; and, de- 
 gpoilcd of its trade by war, exhibits little else at 
 present than poverty and discontent. In happier 
 times an active pilchard fishery was carried on here; 
 but this is now at a stand, and we were told, almost
 
 [ 88 J . 
 
 with tears, that a three years stock was on hand, 
 without the prospcft of a single barrel being to be 
 disposed of. It however boasts the honour of 
 sending two members to the British Senate, and 
 exists at present upon the languid anticipation of the 
 transient riot that a dissolution of Parliament never 
 fails to diffuse through it. As it was the first speci- 
 men we had seen of the pure representation of Corn- 
 wall, we regarded it with mingled feelings of indig- 
 nation, pity, and contempt. 
 
 It had been our wish, when we were at Plymouth, 
 to have visited the Edystone Light-house, about four 
 leagues from that port, in a boat, which, during the 
 summer season, has intercourse with it twice a week. 
 But it had unfortunately sailed for its destination 
 about half an hour before we reached the quay 
 from which it goes. As we plainly saw this cele- 
 brated structure from the platform at Looe, and 
 understood that we were now nearer to it than when 
 at Plymouth, our wish to visit it revived, and we 
 agreed with a sailor to be convened there on the 
 ensuing day for the sum of one guinea. Fortune 
 howevtr was again unpropitious ; the wind got to 
 the south-west in the night, and we were informed 
 any attempt to reach it would be unsuccessful ; as it 
 requires both that the wind should be /', or north- 
 erly, and blow lightly, to render a landing prac*
 
 [ 89 ] 
 
 ticable. We would not allow ourselves long to 
 regret a disappointment for which there was no 
 remedy ; though It would have afforded us much 
 gratification to have surveyed such a monument 
 of human skill and hardihood j a place of which 
 the history Is so remarkable, and the structure so 
 astonishing.* 
 
 The horrors of Edystone had long been a subjeft 
 of alarm to all the navigators of this part of the 
 British channel : and innumerable accidents pointed 
 out the necessity of taking some measures to remedy 
 an evil, which, as commerce increased, became every 
 day of greater magnitude. Accordingly, in the year 
 1696, Mr. Henry Winstanly, of Littlebury in Essex, 
 a celebrated shipwright and mechanic, was employed 
 to construft a light-house on this formidable rock. 
 The work was compleated in 1700, and stood the 
 furious assaults of the winds and waves, tiJl the year 
 1703, when some material repairs being required, 
 the architecl visited the Edysione that he might 
 superintend them himself. With a confidence in 
 the stability of his work, and a resolution of mind 
 
 * Wc arc indebted (o Mr. Siucaton both for the ercAion 
 of this edifice, and for an account of it as interesting as it is 
 fcimple and elegant, Folioj London, l/yi.
 
 C 90 ] 
 
 that deserved a better fate, he declared to his friends 
 previously to his departure for Plymouth, in the 
 month of November of the above-mentioned year, 
 it was his wish that the most violent storm 
 which ever blew should occur whilst he was at the 
 light-house, that he might see what efFeft it pro- 
 duced on the structure. His wish was unhappily 
 granted to him. A violent gale of wind came on, 
 and in the morning, when the inhabitants of Ply- 
 mouth looked out for the light-house, not a trace 
 was to be seen ; the whole of it having been over- 
 whelmed, and swept away during the night. Three 
 years after this melancholy catastrophe, a second 
 light-house was begun under the direction of Mr. 
 Rudyard, a silk-mercer on Ludgate-hill, assisted by 
 Messrs. Smith and Northcott, shipwrights, of Wool- 
 wich. In July 1708, it was furnished with a light; 
 and the whole of it corapleated in the succeeding 
 year. For forty-six years Rudyard's edifice answered 
 all the purposes of its erection ; but by some care- 
 lessness in the persons employed, it took fire, in 
 December 1755, and was entirely consumed. To 
 this conflagration we owe one of the most extraor- 
 dinary anecdotes recorded in the physical history of 
 man. Three persons had been appointed to take 
 care of the building, and were on the spot when the 
 accident happened. Whilst one of these was looking
 
 C 91 3 
 
 up to the flames which raged above, and gaping with 
 horror at the sight, a quantity of melted lead, ex- 
 ceeding seven ounces in vi^eight, poured down his 
 throat ! Wonderful to relate, the man perceived 
 but a trifling inconvenience at the time, and atually 
 survived the infernal dose eleven days. His body was 
 then opened by Mr. Spry, of Plymouth, who found 
 the mass in the stomach of the patient. He authen- 
 ticated the circumstance in a well-written account, 
 communicated to the Royal Society.* Notwith- 
 standing the disastrous fate of the two first light- 
 houses, in the succeeding year, 1756, the proprietors 
 of the Edystone employed the ingenious Mr. Sraea- 
 ton in the construction of a third. He commenced 
 his work on the foundation the 5th of August. On 
 the 1 2th of June in the ensuing year, the first stone 
 of the strufture was laid ; and on the 9th of Ofto- 
 ber 1759, it " stood fixed its stately height;" the 
 proudest monument which the world exhibits of 
 man's triumph over the fury of the blast and the 
 violence of the ocean. The accomplishment of this 
 great undertaking, and the genius that suggested it, 
 will appear the more extraordinary, when it is recol- 
 lected that, owing to frequent interruptions from the 
 tide and the winds, the workmen were not employed 
 
 Philosophical Transactions, vfll.-ip. p. AT/.
 
 [ 9B ] 
 
 more than a hundred and eleven days and ten hours, 
 from striking the first stroke to finishing the build- 
 ing. Nothing less than a convulsion that shall dis- 
 place the Edystone itself, will be able to destroy 
 the light-house upon it; since it is dove-tailed into 
 the rock, and thus identified with the mass that sup- 
 ports it. 
 
 It would be cruel, In the present depressed state 
 of East-Looe, to withhold any claim that it asserts to 
 celebrity. Let me not forget therefore to mention 
 that it boasts one of the finest breed of Terriers in 
 the kingdom, which afford much amusement to the 
 inhabitants in hunting the badgers that abound in 
 the creeks. The eye of our host sparkled when he 
 recounted to us the joys of this species of chase, the 
 hair-breadth 'scapes hq had experienced in the pur- 
 suit, the wiliness of the game, and the ardour and 
 intrepidity of the dogs that followed it. 
 
 We crossed Looe river by a long and ancient 
 bridge of fifteen arches; stopping for a minute to 
 contemplate its views of much animation and beauty. 
 The sea, the shipping, the two opposite towns, 
 abrupt rocks, dark chasms, and little sequestered 
 pools, or recesses of water, form a very agreeable 
 pifture to the south. Up the river the eye ranges 
 over a scene of equal interest, though of different 
 cbara(fler. Looe river and the Dulo creek, which
 
 C 93 ] 
 
 unite above the bridge, are seen leading their 
 waters from the right and left through hollow val- 
 lies flanked by bold swells of ground, which, well 
 wooded on their sides, claim the praise of beauty as 
 well as of grandeur. Trenant Park, late the seat of 
 
 Sir John Morshead, bart. but now of Buller, 
 
 esq; has a happy situation on this promontory of 
 separation, embracing all the objects between itself 
 and the ocean. 
 
 At Looe we again lost sight for many miles of 
 ihe picturesque, picking our way through an intri- 
 cate road of fifteen miles, in a country which would 
 be superlatively tedious, did it not afford occasional 
 views of the ocean, an object that always interests 
 and enlivens. Another ferry over the mouth of the 
 river, from whence the town has its name, took us 
 to FowEY, from the opposite village of Polruan, 
 and gave us again some magnificent features of rock 
 scenery. These vast natural masses of shistus rise 
 with great dignity at the mouth of the harbour, 
 surmounted with forts for iis defence. That of St. 
 Catherine is supplied witli ordnance, which, from 
 their commanding situation, appear to be capable 
 of preventing the entrance of any hostile ship that 
 might make an attempt upon the town. 
 
 Complaints of the decay of commerce from the 
 continuance of the war, and the shutting up of the
 
 C d4 ] 
 
 MediterraiK^an ports, were as loud and general here 
 as at Looe. The stock of pilchards, the staple 
 commodity of the place, the fruit of the toil of 
 several seasons, was decaying on the hands of the 
 inhabitants. Trade had stagnated, and industry had 
 lost its stimulus; for what inducement can there be 
 to labour, when all its efFefts issue only in disap- 
 pointment and loss ? Ah! ray friend, when will that 
 happy period arrive, that shall behold the rulers of 
 the world (anxious for the happiness of society) once 
 more resting from the senseless struggles of ambition, 
 and giving some pause to the misery of mankind? 
 When, considering their oiun proper glory as identi- 
 fied with the prosperity of their subjects^ they shall 
 bid the sword of "juar rest in its scabbard and be still? 
 When the nations of the civilized world, hushed by 
 their fiat into peace, shall again exhibit that pifture 
 of plenty and tranquillity to which Christendom has 
 so long been a stranger? When ** their garners 
 " shall be full and plenteous with all manner of 
 *' stores; when their oxen shall be strong to labour; 
 " when there shall be no decay, no leading into 
 " captivity^ and no complaining in their streets ?" 
 
 We found another ferry at Par, after a pleasant 
 ride for some distance over the sands ; as these are 
 only passable at ebb, owing to a jutting low pro- 
 montory, which is washed by the sea near the time
 
 C 95 ] 
 
 of flood, it Is necessary to be previously acquainted 
 with the state of the tide, and in case of its being 
 near high water, to take a circuitous route, and 
 cross the river at St. Blazey bridge. 
 
 The road now diverged from the cliff, and soon 
 brought us into the neighbourhod of St. Austle's, 
 a country decorated with several gentlemen's seats, 
 some respedable woods, and highly ornamented 
 grounds. The town itself is narrow, but neat and 
 the church, particularly its tower, a beautiful exam- 
 ple of Gothic archite^ure.* 
 
 If we might be allowed to estimate the religion of 
 Cornwall in former times, by the general patronage 
 which the Saints seem to have possessed in it, wc 
 
 Three miles short of St. Austle's, a little to the left, is 
 Menabilly, the scat of Philip Rashlelgh, esq; M. P. for 
 Fowcy J a gcntlemaa on whom I had determined to call, 
 being well assured, that from his well-known urbanity and 
 hospitality, I should have met with a cordial reception, and 
 a ready gratification of that curiosity which had been excited 
 by his splendid publication on the subject of County Mine- 
 ralogy. Unfortunately, from dircdions not well understood, 
 I overshot his house ; and was prevented from participating^ 
 with W (from whom I had been accidentally separated) 
 the pleasure of Inspecting a Cabinet of Minerals, the product 
 of forty years purchase and collcftion; containing specimens 
 numerous though sele6t, rare, costly, and superb.
 
 [ 96 ] 
 
 should be disposed to rate it very highly, as there is 
 scarcely a village which does not boast such holy 
 tutelage. These consecrated gentlemen, and mem- 
 bers of parliament, are indeed, equally numerous 
 through the county. They go hand in hand toge- 
 ther; conferring and receiving mutual honour and 
 respelability. W marvelled at the heterogeneous 
 combination ; we both however, rejoiced at finding 
 a portion of our senators in such good company, and 
 traced many of the excellencies of St. Stephen to 
 the passive virtues of his brother saints in this dis- 
 tant county. 
 
 As we entered into St. Austle's, we were met by 
 several carts loaded with barrels, containing a white 
 earthly substance ; which, on enquiry, we under- 
 stood to be the porcelain earth from St. Stephen's 
 parish, (a distrift at a little distant to the north-west 
 of St. Austlc*s,) used in the china manufaftories of 
 Staffordshire and other places, and going for expor- 
 tation to a little town built by Mr. Rashleigh of 
 Menabilly, called Charlestown, on the neighbour- 
 ing coast. This article is a decomposed felspar, 
 produced in the vallies under the granite hills about 
 St. Stephen's, the mica of which is quite white. 
 The clay arising from this decomposition occurs 
 about six feet under the surface, and continues to 
 the depth of three fathoms on an average. The
 
 L 97 J 
 
 method practised for its purification, is casting it 
 into a pit under a fall of water about four feet high. 
 Here it is dissolved 3 the masses of granite which are 
 not decomposed falling to the bottom, whilst the 
 lighter and useful particles are carried by the stream 
 into two other pits, of different levels, conne(5ted 
 with the first, and following each other. When the 
 water in this last reservoir is pure and transparent oa 
 the surface, it is drained off, and the sediment at the 
 bottom is the article of trade. The residuum of the 
 first pit is of no value j but that of the second is 
 preserved for use, though of inferior value to the 
 deposit in the last. When dried in the pits to the 
 consistency of clay fit for moulding into bricks, it is 
 taken out, put into casks of about 500 cwt. each, and 
 shipped for Staffordshire and Wales. The works of 
 Messrs. Spodc and Wolf in Staffordshire consume 
 the greatest part of this produ<5l. They hold the 
 principal work under a rent to the lord of about 
 900/. per annum. It is estimated, that on an average 
 of seven years, nearly 1200 tons of this clay are an- 
 nually shipped from Cornwall. It consists of about 
 two-thirds of silex and one of argil. The profits 
 of St. Stephen's works, however, are not confined to 
 the pulverized clay : a considerable portion of them 
 arises from the exportation of white granite in lumps, 
 which is sent to the same porcelain manufaftories to 
 
 II
 
 r 98 ] 
 
 be ground for use: it is said to make a beautiful 
 enamel. 
 
 As we were now within two miles of one of the 
 largest and most ancient of the Cornish Tin-Mines, 
 called Polgooth, we promised ourselves much plea- 
 sure in the survey of an objel which would be new 
 to us both. When we reached the spot, however, 
 we were mortified to find that its working had been 
 discontinued for two years past. Long protracted 
 war, like death " with his mace petrijic** had stop- 
 ped its processc?; and silence and solitude were 
 spread over the spot, which had for centuries been 
 enlivened by the bustle of business, and the noise of 
 labour. Though the produft of the works had 
 amounted from 15,000/. to 18,000/. per annum, 
 yet such was the deadness of the market, that the 
 proprietors had deemed it prudent for a time to shut 
 them up. It is, however, fortunately in my power 
 to gratify you with an account of this extensive 
 mine, as it appeared a few years back, in brighter 
 days, written by a gentleman who has the happy 
 fiicuky of combining elegant description with 
 scientific accuracy, of making the minute interesting, 
 and throwing a charm over the driest subje6l.* 
 
 * See Dr. Maton's Observations on the Western Counties 
 f Eug'and, vol. i: p. 155. Salisbury, 1797. In addition to
 
 C 99 ] 
 
 " Polgooih, one of the richest and largest tin.minc 
 " in the county, if not in the world, is situated 
 *' about two miles south-west from St. Austle. The 
 
 the other valuable information to be found in Dr. Maton's 
 remarks on Cornwall, it should not be omitted to be men- 
 tioned, that they contain descriptions of many of its rare and 
 peculiar plants. On our return home we found that we had 
 missed another obje6t of curiosity in the neighbourhood, the 
 Stream-Tin works of St. Austle Moor, called Pcth-Strcarn 
 works. The spot where these occur is a narrow valley about 
 a furlong wide, (in some places somewhat wider,) running 
 near three miles from the town of St. Austle southward to 
 the sea. On each side, and at the head above St. Austle, 
 are many hills, betwixt which there are little vallies which 
 all discharge their waters, and whatever else they receive 
 from the higher grounds, into St. Austle's Moor 3 whence it 
 happens that the ground of this moor is all adventitious for 
 about three fathoms deep, the shodcs and streams from the 
 hills on each side, being here colleled and ranged into floors 
 according to their weight, and tlie successive dates of their 
 coming thither. The uppermost coat consists of three 
 layers of earth, clay, and pebbly gravel, about five feet deep ; 
 the next stratum is about six feet deep, more strong, the 
 stones pebbly-formed, with a gravely sand intermixed ; these 
 two coverings being removed, they find great numbers of tin- 
 stones from the bigness of a goose egg, and sometimes larger* 
 down to the size of the finest sand. The tin is inserted in a 
 stratum of loose smoollu ned stones, t'ronj a foot diamctcrdown- 
 wards to the smallest iHt)bU;. From the present surface of 
 the rock, down to the solid rock or l^arn, is eighteen feet deep 
 H 2
 
 [ 100 ] 
 
 ** surrounding country is for many miles bleak, bar- 
 " ren, and tedious to the eye. I ought not indeed 
 ** to call it barren, for its bowels contain riches, 
 
 at a medium : in the solid rock there is no tin. This stream- 
 tin is of the purest kind, and great part of it, without any 
 other management than being washed upon the spcrt, brings 
 thirteen parts for twenty at the melting-house ; that is, upon 
 delivering twenty pounds of this tin-ore at the melting- 
 house, the melter will contrad to deliver to the owner s 
 order thirteen pounds of melted tin at the coinage. Borlase's 
 Natural Hi-tory of Cormvall, p. 163. In Mr. Borlase's 
 time, two blocks of melted tin were found in these works, 
 weighing twenty-eight pounds each, of a different shape to 
 the modern Cornish blocks of tin : without stamp, but 
 having a semicircular handle to each. They were supposed 
 to be of the reign of King John, when the Jews monopolized 
 the tin trade of Cornwall ; and to have been tlie produdion 
 of one of their smclting-houses, -near this place, accidentally 
 washed into the valley, and covered witli later depositions. 
 Dr. Maton has the following valuable observations on these 
 stream-works : " The sand at Par" (to which they extend) 
 "^ is in some places seventy feet deep, and large blocks of 
 " granite lie buried in it. It appears to me diat both about 
 '* Poth and Par the soil has been formed partly by deposit 
 " from the sea, and partly by mould and fragments washed 
 " by streams from the surroundiiig mountains. The shells 
 " v.'hich abound in liie stream-works at all depths are proofs 
 " of the former, and numerous rivulets may be traced from 
 * tlie granite ridges about Luxulian and Lanlivery to the
 
 [ 101 ] 
 
 ** though like the shabby mien of the miser, its 
 " aspeft does not correspond with the hoards. 
 ** There are no less than fifty shafts in Polgooth ; 
 
 *' margin of the bay where they empty themselves. These 
 " have washed down pieces of ore from its beds, and perhaps 
 " remnants of old workings, and the sea has afterwards 
 " covered them with mud and sand, which are now carried 
 " off by brisk streams of water conducted over the ground 
 " in little channels, so as to leave the pebbles at the bottom ; 
 *' hence the name of stream-works, which most probably were 
 " the earliest method discovered by our ancestors for pro- 
 " curing the ore of tin. After being pounded by a machine 
 *' made for the pui-pose, (and turned by water,) and again 
 '^ washed in order to be cleansed as much as possible from 
 " earthly particles, the ore is sent to the sraelting-house to 
 " be made into malleable metal. So valuable is the supply 
 " of water used in some of the stream-works, that when 
 " turned from grist-mill tenants, it has been let for 50/. per 
 " month, for several years following. At Poth the famous 
 *' wood-tin, as it is called, (from the appearance of wood which 
 *' some of the pebbles exhibit) has been found abundantly, 
 " but it is now scarce. It has nearly the colour of Jia^na- 
 '' titcs, (and indeed contains some iron,) with fine streaks or 
 " strice converging to the different centres, like the radiated 
 *' zeolite. It is hard enough to give sparks with steel, and 
 " when broken still shews a fibrous appearance. Professor 
 " Brunnich, of Copenhagen, suys tliat it gives thirty-four 
 " parts of tin in an hundred. Klaproth found that it yielded 
 *' more than sixty-three." Matona Obs. vol. i. p. 153, 154.
 
 C 102 ] 
 
 ** twenty-six arc still in use, with as many horizontal 
 *' wheels, or whims. The main vein of ore, which 
 ** is about six feet thick, runs from east to west, 
 *' and dips to the north at the rate of about six feet 
 *' in a fathom. . Towards the east it divides into 
 '* two branches, and there is another that cuts the 
 *' former nearly at a right angle, and consequently 
 *' runs north and south, dipping to the cast. The 
 ** exai: extent of this mine has not been ascertained, 
 ** but we are informed that it has afforded tin the 
 *' full length of a mile. 1 he depth of the engine- 
 " shaft is about one hundred and ten fathoms, and 
 ** this machine draws up, at each stroke, a column 
 ** of water thirty feet in height and fifteen inches in 
 *' diameter. There is also an excellent overshot 
 *' water-engine with a wheel 36 feet in diameter. 
 " The ore is disseminated in general through a 
 *' matrix of caple, accompanied with yellow cupre- 
 " ous pyrites, and sometimes ferrugineous ochre. 
 " It is of the vitreous kind, but rarely found in 
 *' crystals; the colour for the most part greyish 
 *' brown. The coujitry of the ore is chiefly a greyish 
 " killas, but we observed large heaps of what the 
 " miners call ehan-stone about the shafts. This 
 " substance, they told us, formed a cross course, 
 *' and drove the vein of tin several feet out of the 
 " dired line. Polgooth is said to have yielded a
 
 [ 103 ] 
 
 " clear profit of 1500/. per monili, and Borlasc 
 *' mentions that in his time the proprietors ga.ned 
 " 20,000/. annually, several years following. Up- 
 *' wards of 1 7,000/. were expended, however, before 
 *' the mine yielded one shiU'mg.*' 
 
 The tower of St. Mewan's church, peeping from 
 a clump of trees, was a pleasing objet to the eye 
 that had not rested on any of Nature's loveliness for 
 many miles ; and we were reminded, as we pro- 
 ceeded, that new habits of rural life were opening 
 upon us, by the little flocks of goats and kids which 
 skipped about in the neighbourhood of the road, 
 affording milk for the dairy, and food for the pea- 
 sant. The tower of Probus church too 'could not 
 be passed without attention : it called forth the 
 reflelion, that if its magnificence do not prove the 
 genuine piety of our ancestors, it at least evinces 
 they spared no cost or labour in the construcftion 
 and decoration of edifices set apart for the worship 
 of their Maker. 
 
 At Tr ESI LI AN, about eleven miles from St. 
 Ausile, we again encountered an element from which 
 we had reluctantly been separated. St. Clement's 
 creek, a branch of Falmouth harbour, flows up to 
 the village, and forms, with i:s accompaniments, a 
 striking contrast to the general charafler of Corn- 
 wall, as far as wc had yet seen of it. A short dis-
 
 [ 10* J 
 
 tancc from hence, the more approved appearance of 
 the country, a more careful cuhivation, and a few 
 gentlemen's mansions, rari nantes in gurgite vastOy 
 intimated that we approached the town of Truro, 
 which soon appeared, and afforded us the repose qf 
 which we stood so much in need. 
 
 I am, my dear Sir, 
 
 Tour's sincerely, 
 
 R. W.
 
 British Channel 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 MT DEAR SIR, 
 
 St. Iocs, August 12, 
 
 NOTHING surely caw be more hostile to the 
 beauties of Nature than the processes of 
 min'mg. Its firt step is to level the little wood (if 
 indeed there be any) with which she may have gar- 
 nished the spots wlicre she has concealed her ores. 
 It then penetrates into the earth, and covers the
 
 . [ 10(5 ] 
 
 neighbouring soil with unproduftive rubbish. It 
 proceeds to poison the brooks around with its 
 mineral impregnations ; spreads far and wide the 
 sulphureous smoke of its smelting-houses; blasting 
 vegetation with their deleterious vapours, and ob- 
 scuring the atmosphere with the infernal fumes of 
 arsenic and sulphur. 
 
 Such were our reflections when we touched upon 
 the mining country in our way to Penrhyn. It 
 appeared to us like a distriCl: filled with extinguished 
 volcanoes, which, having exhausted their fury, could 
 now only be traced in the universal desolation they 
 had occasioned. As our inspeftion of this remark- 
 able feature of Cornwall was to be reserved till we 
 had the advantage of being conduced through the 
 mines by an intelligent friend at Penrhyn, we did not 
 permit ourselves to be led astray by such tempting 
 objeCls, but continued our course through this bald 
 but valuable country till within half a mile of our 
 intended stage. 
 
 Here our attention was directed to an old barn to 
 the left hand, remarkable for having been the scene 
 of an event that furnished the plot of one of the most 
 tragical and aiFefting of our English plays. I allude 
 to " The Fatal Gurloslty," written by Lillo ; a 
 drama that had its origin in a tale of family dis- 
 tress that literally happened at a dwelling-house
 
 I 107 ] 
 
 which formerly stood on the spot we were now 
 upon. The story is as follows: 
 
 During the seventeenth century, a family (whose 
 name I have forgotten) that had long lived at Penrhya 
 in credit, was, by some unforeseen reverse of fonunev 
 suddenly reduced from affluence to bankruptcy : It 
 consisted of a father, mother, and son ; a youth idol- 
 ized by his parents, beloved by his friends, and who 
 had been nourished up at home with all the tenderness 
 which usuLilly centers in an only child. Unwilling 
 to be a burthen upon his father and mother, when the 
 poor wreck of their substance was scarcely sufficient 
 to support themselves, and anxious by his .own 
 exertions to repay the debt of gratitude which he 
 owed them, and repair the havock that mi&fortunc 
 had made in their affairs ; the generous youth deter- 
 mined to seek employment abroad, and having 
 acquired a competence, to return and share it with 
 his parents. The hour at length arrived, when this 
 little family group were, for the first time, to be 
 separated ; and they, who, like yourself, have ex- 
 perienced the blessings of domestic harmony, will 
 readily conceive the sorrows of the parting. But the 
 hapless youth had other ties to England, besides his 
 father's roof. A secret attachment had long sub- 
 sisted between a young lady of Penrhyn, and himself, 
 whigh, though the misfortunes of his family could
 
 [ 108 ] 
 
 not cxtinguJsh, they still rendered it necessary to 
 conceal. The claims of duty were, however, para- 
 mount to those of love j he pressed his treasure to 
 his bosom, and hastened on board the ship that was 
 to tear him from all he valued upon earth. The 
 parents retired from Penrhyn, and with their small 
 remains of fortune, entered on a farm in the hamlet 
 of Tremough. Here a few years rolled tediously 
 and mournfully on, enlivened indeed occasionally by 
 accounts of their son*s success, but past by them, 
 for the most part, in sorrow and suffering j in strug- 
 gling with ill success, and in anticipating all the 
 horrors of ultimate want. The young man, in the 
 mean time, having acquired what to his moderate 
 wishes seemed enough, determined to return to 
 England ; and without notifying his intention to his 
 parents, embarked on board a ship bound for his 
 native land. He landed at Falmouth, and flew like 
 lightning to Penrhyn, where constancy and love 
 awaited him, and soon obliterated from his memory 
 all the pains of absence. To enhance the joy of his 
 parents at his unexpefted return, it was agreed that 
 he should disguise himself, go to their dwelling in 
 the evening, pass the night there as a stranger, and 
 acknowledge himself in the morning for their 
 long- lost son. The night was dark and dismal, 
 
 " Sky lour'd, and muttering thunder^ some sad drops 
 " Wept/'
 
 C 109 ] 
 
 at the approaching scene of woe; but the youth, un- 
 suspicious of the portent, and exulting in his heart at 
 the near termination of his parents* difficulties, went 
 gaily on, carrying under his arm a casket of his 
 treasure, which he intended in the morning to be 
 the offering of his filial affedion. He knocked at 
 the door, and craved a lodging, promising to remu- 
 nerate his hosts for the trouble he should give. The 
 chance of a trifling gain was an objel to the 
 wretched pair, and they granted his request. In 
 his momentary absence from the room, the mother 
 with 2. fatal curiosity uncovered the caiket, and saw 
 that its contents were gold. Her heart was now 
 at war with feeling. The frightful form of ap- 
 proaching poverty had long floated before her fancy, 
 and filled her soul with dark and desperate ideas. 
 The treasure promised the means of saving her 
 from the shame and sufferings of want, and she 
 determined to possess it. The youth now retired 
 to bed ; when the mother disclosed to her husband 
 the discovery she had made ; and urged him to 
 secure it for themselves by murdering the stranger! 
 The horror <jf the deed for a moment suspended its. 
 execution, but ah ! my friend, what a foe is poverty 
 to virtue! the scruples of the husband were quickly 
 overcome, and he determined to commit the horrid 
 aft. The ruthless pair accordingly proceeded to the
 
 C no ] 
 
 Stranger's chamber, and whilst the mother held the 
 light, the father thrust his knife into the heart of hia 
 guest. To avoid detection, it was necessary to 
 bury the body of the murdered youth immediatelyj 
 but what stretch of imagination can conceive the 
 agony of the wretched parents, when, from some 
 private marks, known only to themselves, they dis- 
 covered their vi6iim to be their only child ! Happily 
 the story ceases here ; nor, were tradition more 
 compleat, would I attempt to delineate those feelings 
 of unutterable remorse which such a catastrophe 
 must have produced in the survivors of this dread- 
 ful drama. 
 
 To them who have been accustomed only to the 
 towns on the great roads of the kingdom, or those 
 near its metropolis, even the second-rate towns of 
 Cornwall would not be considered as deficient both 
 in elegance and convenience. They are narrow and 
 irregular, and what is still worse, generally paved 
 with pebbles from the shore, the points of which 
 being turned upwards form a footing neither safe 
 nor pleasant. Penrhyn is remedying this inconve- 
 nience, being at this moment under an improve- 
 ment which will conduce much to the comfort of 
 the inhabitants, by having its foot-way flagged with 
 moor-stone. It is this article which at present 
 forms the chief export of the town; as the durability
 
 t in ] 
 
 f the Cornish granite has rendered the demand for 
 k very large of late. Government is the chief pur- 
 chaser of it for the use of the dock-yards j where it 
 rs applied to many purposes, in which hitherto it had 
 been the custom to use timber. It is brought down 
 from the moors, worked, and delivered at the quay 
 at IS. 6d. per square foot ; an high, but not an ex- 
 horbiiant price, as it should seem, when the hardness 
 of the material, the great expense in tools, and the 
 difficulty of working it, are considered. The ap- 
 pearance of Peurhyn is enlivened, and its situation 
 rendered highly advantageous, by a branch of Fal- 
 mouth harbour, called King's-road, flowing up to 
 the town. The tower of St. Gluvias, the parish 
 church of Penrhyn, on the opposite side of the water, 
 rising from a tuft of trees, would in any situation be 
 deemed an agreeable object; in Cornwall it was 
 Stellas inter luna minor cs^ and assumed additional 
 beauty from the rarity of such piiuresque obje<Sts 
 in the county. 
 
 The route to Falmouth, distant two miles from 
 Penrhyn, skirts for some distance along the shore of 
 King's-road, and then mounts a hill which takes a 
 more direO course to this town. The views, for the 
 greatest part of the ride, are strikingly fine ; gradu- 
 ally expanding under the eye, and introducing in 
 quick succession new features of grandeur and beauty.
 
 [ 112 ] 
 
 Amongst these objels, the numerous ramification?, 
 sweeps, creeks, and rivers of Falmouth harbour, 
 one of the most capacious and commodious in 
 Europe, claim the chief aiieniion. Close to the 
 left appears King*s-road, losing itself in the larger 
 expanse of water, called Cerrig-road ; whose north- 
 ern termination is seen dividing into a variety of 
 ksser branches, indenting the country to the right 
 and left. Farther to the south, in the same direc- 
 tion, the eastern shore of Cerrig water spreads 
 irself in long extent before the eye ; together with 
 the country that skirts it, including several towns 
 and villages, the castle of St. Mawe*s, the towns of 
 Flushing, St. Just, their little creeks, and commo- 
 dious ports. Immediately in front is Falmouth, its 
 shipping, and quays, washed by the waves of its 
 magnificent harbour ; and defended by the proud 
 fortress of Pendennis, which crowns with great dig- 
 nity the summit of a promontory, that braves the 
 ocean a mile and a half to the south-east of the 
 town. It must be confessed, however, that the 
 charms of Falmouth are external ; and lie without 
 its immediate limits. Irregular in form, with houses 
 of no elegance ; streets that follow the capricious 
 risings and declivities of the unequal ground on 
 which they are built, and paved with the execrable 
 pointed pebbles from the shore j it has no claim to
 
 [ 113 ] 
 
 attention, except the aftivity of its trade, the bustle 
 of its quays, and the great variety which it exhibits 
 of human countenances, whose commercial concerns 
 bring them from all parts of Europe, in the packets 
 which sail at stated days in the week and month 
 to the various ports of the West-Indies and the Con- 
 tinent. It is, however, a place of great population, 
 wealth, and respeflability; and from the unequalled 
 convenience of its harbour, deserves a much larger 
 portion of the attention and encouragement of 
 government than it has been honoured with. Un- 
 happily, to use a proverbial expression, it has no 
 friend at court j in other words, it does not return 
 any members to the British senate; though its 
 dirty little opposite neighbour, St. Mawe*s, a 
 mean village, with no house of God in it, and few 
 houses fit for the residence of man, enjoys the pri- 
 vilege of being represented in Parliament. This 
 will account for the petty intrigues which have 
 always interposed to destroy any scheme for the 
 aggrandizement of Falmouth, by turning the atten- 
 tion of Parliament to its harbour ; though one of 
 the greatest naval names of the present day, Lord 
 St. Vincent, has repeatedly declared, that with a 
 few very praflicable improvements, it would furnish 
 the best situation for dock-yards, and other naval 
 accommodations, in Europe. 
 
 1
 
 [ 114 ] 
 
 Falmouth, perhaps, contains a greater propor- 
 tion of persons adhering to different religious sc6ts, 
 than any other town of its size in the kingdom, 
 and (what is equally remarkable, and well deser- 
 ving the attention of high priests and zealots,) 
 all living in harmony and charity together. The 
 Jews form a considerable part of its population, and 
 have a synagogue for the celebration of their reli- 
 gious rites. Still more numerous are the Quakers j 
 highly respelable, and much esteemed for that sim- 
 plicity of manners, inoffensiveness of behaviour, and 
 stridness of morality, which charalerize and dignify 
 the set ; and preserve, amidst the ruins of Christ- 
 ianity, a pattern of the original fabrick. Though 
 more remarkable for the retiring virtues, let it not 
 be thought that this worthy description of people 
 exhibit no examples of afts of splendid excellence. 
 A proof of this occurred a few years ago in Fal- 
 mouth, which should be recorded to the honour of 
 the seV, and the family to which the credit sub- 
 jel of the anecdote belonged: Towards the con- 
 clusion of the American war, when France had 
 become an ally of the United Slates, a ship of St. 
 Ives, in which Mr. Joseph Fox, a surgeon, at Fal- 
 mouth, was part owner, being fitted out by the 
 majority, of proprietors as a letter of marque, took 
 several French prizes on a successful cruize, and
 
 r 115 1 
 
 brought them into port : the cargoes were of course 
 sold, and the amount of it divided amongst the own- 
 ers of the vessel. Mr. Fox, however, considered this 
 legalized species of robbery in a very different point 
 of view with his partners in the ship, and having 
 received his share in the concern, actually employed 
 an agent to go to Paris, and enquire by advertise- 
 ment in the Gazette, who were the proprietors of 
 the captured vessels, that he might restore to them 
 all he had received of the unhallowed spoil. Dr. 
 Franklin, who has honoured this anecdote with the 
 mention of it in one of his essays, (but without men- 
 tioning the name of Mr. Fox,) says at the conclu- 
 sion of the recital, " this conscientious man is a 
 * Quaker."* To this I would add, that however 
 lofty this eifort of virtue may appear to be to the 
 generality of mankind, it will not seem extraordi- 
 nary to those who are well acquainted with the 
 principles and praftices of the seft in general, or 
 have the still greater happiness of knowing person- 
 ally the excellencies of the remaining relations of 
 
 * Franklin's Essays, vol. ii. p. up. The whole of this 
 essay of its immortal author is well worth the attention ol 
 states as well as individuals- It is entitled, " On the Crimi- 
 nal Laws, and the Practice of Privateering." 
 
 1 2
 
 [ 116 ] 
 
 the truly great man who has set such a brilliant 
 example of justice and honour to maukidd. 
 
 Falmouth draws considerable sums of money 
 from the fleets that are detained at the chops of the 
 Channel by contrary winds ; particularly the out- 
 ward-bound ones, which seek refuge in its safe and 
 capacious harbour, and frequently wait here for 
 many weeks, till the gales are more propitious. An 
 instance of this accidental but- beneficial embargo 
 had occurred a few weeks before we were there ; 
 when General Spencer's expedition, consisting of 
 7000 men, had been wind-bound in the harbour for 
 nine weeks, and left 30,000/. behind them when 
 they went away. At the moment of our entering 
 the town, a bustling scene of embarkation of troops 
 that had been confined here for several days, was 
 taking place; the regiments under the command 
 of General Acland, destined for the assistance of 
 the Patriots in Spain. The wind had suddenly 
 veered about to a fair point, and signals were 
 out for the immediate return of those who were 
 on shore on board their respe<^ive ships. Never 
 was a scene of greater hurry or animation, or one 
 that more irresistibly carried the imagination along 
 with it. The real glory of the cause in which 
 they were about to engage flashed upon our fancy ; 
 and " perish the man whose wishes of success do
 
 C 117 ] 
 
 ** not accompany them," was the involuntary, secret 
 suggestion of our minds. We considered that it 
 was: a cause which involved the poHtical existence 
 of a nation brave, honourable, and virtuous ; of a 
 people placed in a predicament new to mankind, and 
 trying an experiment as important as it is unexam- 
 pled ; of a people deserted by its government, and 
 energizing for itself j contending, in the literal sense 
 of the words, pro aris et focis^ against an unprin- 
 cipled ambition, that having crushed and disgraced 
 its enemies, had now turned its arms against its 
 friends, and thus subverted every principle of justice, 
 and violated every feeling of honour. Tax us not 
 then wiih enthusiastic folly, if I say that the sight 
 before us not only interested our feelings in the 
 success of the cause which had occasioned it, but 
 at the same time filled our minds with the most 
 pleasing anticipation of its eventual triumph.* We 
 
 The above was written before that inauspicious omen, 
 the celebrated Convention with Jtaiot, had talcca phice ^ an 
 event fraught with such triumph and advantage to the 
 enemy, as mi^st cast the most disastrous gloom over the 
 future prospeds of the assertors of Spanish liberty. 
 
 " Hide, blushing Olory," Cintra's fatal '* daj."
 
 [ 118 ] 
 
 recoUefted, that the Spaniards, though abandoned 
 by their natural proteftors, are placed, perhaps, by 
 that very desertion, in a situation more favourable 
 for exertion than even had they possessed such 
 inefficient defenders. For what is the amount of 
 their loss? They are now set free from old, 
 hereditary, corrupt rulers, from persons who go- 
 verned by rote, from the creatures of intrigue, or 
 at best the creatures of form and precedent from 
 the feeble beings who will only suffer men to serve 
 the country according to their pedigrees, contem- 
 ners of merit and personal acquirements, scoffers at 
 the divinity of talents to whom, melancholy to 
 refle^, the fate of Europe has been entrusted for the 
 Jast twenty years, and in whose hands the cause of 
 regular government and national independence has 
 been placed, at a moment when all the bad passions 
 
 It is some consolation, however, under the pressure of this 
 national misfortune, to observe, that the people feel the dis- 
 grace which has been accumulated upon their country, and 
 are seeking, with a becoming earnestness, for a full, free, fair, 
 and impartial enquiry into the conduft of the authors of it ; 
 that punishment may fall wherever the crime originated ; 
 tliat the stain may be wiped from the military glory of the 
 country ; and some reparation be made to the wounded 
 honour of the nation.
 
 [ 119 ] 
 
 of man's nature were let loose against them, and 
 had ai med all the genius of a mighty people for 
 their destruflion.* 
 
 Being anxious to contemplate so interesting a 
 sight as a large fleet under sail, after a short stay in 
 Falmouth we proceeded to Pendennis Castle, which 
 would afford us au opportunity of following the 
 expedition with our eye till they were lost beyond 
 the horizon. The situation of this forrress, a mile 
 to the southward of Falmouth, is bold and com- 
 manding; embracing a view of a great extent of 
 coast, and a vast sweep of ocean. Its works are 
 respeftable, and manned by a body of artillery, with 
 a governor, lieutenant-governor, &c. It is proba- 
 ble that such an advantageous scite would not have 
 been overlooked by our military ancestors, v.nder 
 the different dynasties of Romans, Saxons, and Nor- 
 mans ; but the present fortress dates no further 
 back than the time of Henry VIII. who built a 
 castle on this promontory, which was afterwards en- 
 larged and strengthened by his daughter Elizabeth, 
 Historyt tells us, that it was bravely defended against 
 
 * See an admirable and eloquent disquisition on Spanish 
 affairs, in Edinburgh Review, No. xxiv. p. 439. 
 
 I Grose's Antiquities, vol. viii. p. 43.
 
 [ 120 ] 
 
 the Parliamentary forces by John Arundel, of Trc- 
 rice, then nearly eighty years of age; who was 
 assisted by his son Richard, a colonel in the Royal 
 army, (afterwards created Lord Arundel of Trerice,) 
 and many other loyal gentlemen of the county of 
 Cornwall. They held it, with unconquerable perse- 
 verance, till they had not provision for twenty-four 
 hours, and then negociated with such seeming 
 indifference, and insisted so firmly on the articles 
 they required, that the enemy, ignorant of their 
 situation, granted them their own conditions, which 
 were as good as had been given to any garrison in 
 the kingdom. The scite of the castle anciently 
 belonged to the Killigrews, a respectable family of 
 Falmouth in former times. On our return we 
 passed their mansion, which stands on the left of 
 the road, and still preserves some features of its 
 original architecture. This, and Mr. Fox's beautiful 
 seat, (Grove Hill,) which lies in its neighbourhood, 
 and possesses every circumstance of beauty, and 
 advantage of situation, are the only private resi- 
 dences that claim any . attention in the vicinity of 
 Falmouth. 
 
 Our curiosity had already been excited by a dis- 
 tant view of the famous Druidical Remain in Con- 
 stantine parish, called by the initiated the Tolmen, 
 or Hole of Stone, by the unlearned the Cornish Feb-
 
 r 121 ] 
 
 hlCf whose huge bulk lifting itself high in air, is 
 seen for miles before it is approached. Our kind 
 and intelligent friend, to whom we had been intro- 
 duced at Penrhyn, was both our guide to this 
 ancient monument of superstition through an intri- 
 cate road of eight miles, and the interpreter of its 
 uses and designs when we reached it. Nothing can 
 be more striking than the appearance of this objel. 
 It diffused around it the magic influence ascribed by 
 the poet to these druidical remains j 
 
 _ _ _ . "^ And aw'd our souls, 
 *' As if the very G e nius of the place 
 *' Himself appcar'd, and with terrific tread 
 *' Stalk'd through his drear domain." 
 
 Highly appropriate to its tremendous chara<51:er is 
 the savage spot on which it stands. The first idea 
 that impressed our minds on approaching it, was the 
 gloomy 7Mtureoi that superstition which had seledled 
 such a desert for its rites, the focal point of solitude 
 and desolation, where nothing met the eye around 
 but nature in her primjEval rudeness ; vast rocks of 
 granite starting out of the ground, of every form, 
 and in every direction ; occupying the same places, 
 and maintaining the same positions into which they 
 had been thrown, by the last general convulsion of
 
 [ 122 ] 
 
 our planet. But, however extraordinary these indi- 
 vidual masses might have appeared to us, had they 
 been seen independently of the Tolmen, our atten- 
 tion was almost exclusively occupied, and our won- 
 der entirely absorbed, by this superlative objeft; 
 which, like Milton's Satan, 
 
 _--_--_ 'f Above the rest, 
 
 " In shape and gesture proudly eminent, 
 
 " Stood like a tower." 
 
 An account of its dimensions and form will afford 
 you the best idea of the impression produced on the 
 mind by its appearance. The length of the Tolmen. 
 is 33 feet, its breadth 18 feet 6 inches, and its depth 
 14 feet 6 inches ; measuring 97 feet in circumfe- 
 rence, and weighing at least 750 tons. Its figure 
 approaches to that of an egg ; the extremities point- 
 ing due north and south, and the sides facing the 
 opposite points of the compass. A natural acerva- 
 tion of granite forms the broad foundation of the 
 Tolmen, which is elevated on the points of two of 
 these masses that lift themselves higher than those 
 around. These lie detached from each other, so as 
 to allow a passage of three or four feet wide, and 
 nearly as much in height, for any one to creep 
 through whose curiosity can encounter a little
 
 [ 123 ] 
 
 inconvenience.* Whether this huge fragment of 
 rock were placed in its present situation by mecha- 
 nical processes, with which we are no longer 
 acquainted; or by the mere dint of multitudinous 
 and unconquerable exertion, which we know has 
 cffefted, and can effet^ prodigies of labour, for, as 
 Johnson observes, " savagus in all countries have 
 *' patience proportionate to their unskilfulness, and 
 *' are content to attain their end by very tedious 
 *' methods ; '* or whether the stones remain at this 
 moment as they were originally placed by the hand 
 of Nature, and owe nothing more to human indus- 
 try than the removal of the bare earth in which they 
 were at first surrounded and concealed, has beea 
 disputed with all that ardour, which questions, that 
 never can be demonstrated, invariably excite. Wc 
 
 * It seems probable that this passage was originally tbe in- 
 strument of holy juggle, and applied to the superstitious pur- 
 poses, either of purification or penance, or for the removal 
 of bodily disorders. In the county of Waterford, in Ireland, 
 is a druidical remain of tliis kind, which vulgar superstition 
 still believes to retain the power of curing rheumatism. It is 
 called St. Dedan's Rock, and lies shelving upon the point of a 
 rock ; and on the patron-day of this saint, great numbers creep 
 vuider this stone three times, in order, as they pretend, to cure 
 or prevent pains in the back. //i5/ory oflVatcrfordyp. JO.
 
 [ 124 ] 
 
 were inclined, after an attentive consideration of the 
 Tolmen, to attribute its elevation to the art of man, 
 and for the following reasons ; In the first place, 
 the two supporting stones appeared to us to afford 
 the appearance of their having been fitted to receive 
 their incumbent weight ; in the second, the exaft 
 correspondence of the four sides of the Tolmen to 
 the cardinal points of the compass, seemed to indi- 
 cate astronomical design ; and in the third, its regu- 
 lar form and horizontal position could not, we 
 thought, be considered as the result of accident, but 
 as a combination produced by human labour. Of 
 the truth of this last conclusion v/e were more fully 
 assured by a survey of its upper surface, which may 
 be ascended by a ladder at the foot of the Tolmen. 
 Here the work of art was too obvious to be over- 
 looked or mistaken; the whole of this exterior 
 Laving evidently been first made level, and then ex- 
 cavated into numerous hollows or basins. Of these 
 depressions the two most capacious are at the north 
 and south extremities of the surface; the former 
 being about five feet, the latter nearly seven feet in 
 length; v^hich seems to have been intended to 
 receive some fluid from the smaller ones, through 
 little channels, conneling them with each other. 
 The basins situated near the rim of the surface, have 
 also small apertures to discharge their contents, not
 
 r 125 ] 
 
 leading, however, into the horizontal hollows, but 
 taking a direlion down the sides of the Tolmen, and 
 conduling their stream into other basins, scooped 
 out in some fiat rocks below. As these regular hol- 
 lows are without any doubt the produ6^ion3 of art, 
 much has it exercised the ingenuity of the learned, 
 to discover the use to which they were originally 
 applied. Seen through the observation of twenty 
 centuries, the superstition of Druidism is but dimly 
 discovered, and none of its parts are clearly defined. 
 Like other objefts, therefore, perceived in a fog, 
 it has been magnified by the medium of vision; 
 and a complexity and refinement attributed to it, 
 which could not belong to any religious system, in a 
 state of society so rude as the condition of our 
 ancestors in the druidical times. Magic and won- 
 der-working have been conneded with its 
 
 .__>__- _.___. ff rites 
 '' Mysterious 5 rites of such strange potency, 
 " As done in open day, would dim the sun, 
 " Though fhron'd in noon-tide brightness:" 
 
 and even our rock-basins have been made to serve 
 the combined purposes of murder and enchantment. 
 The probability, however, is, that their use was 
 much mor^ natural and simple. Purification by 
 'water was one of the most ancient religious rites.
 
 [ 126 ] 
 
 of which we liave any knowledge ; and though first 
 made a positive instiiuton of worship by theMosaical 
 Jaw, it is likely that the practice had existed from 
 ihe earliest ages of mankind. The use of this 
 clement, however, in the religious rites of the 
 ancient world was not confined to lustration alone ; 
 we have accumulated proofs, in profane as well as 
 sacred writers, that libations were made of water 
 both as afts of propitiation and as testimonies of 
 gratitude.* But whether it was required in the 
 sacred ceremonies, for purifying the worshippers, or 
 as an offering to the deity, it is but reasonable to 
 suppose, that water would be most carefully sele^ed 
 for the hallowed purpose which should be least 
 polluted by heterogeneous substances. Now it 
 is obvious that the most defecated stale of this 
 element, is that which falls from heaven under the 
 forms of dew, snow, or rain ; which having been 
 produced by evaporation from the earth, and con- 
 densation in the atmosphere, must be entirely free 
 from all foreign and polluting particles. Hence it 
 necessarily became an objedt of care with the priest- 
 hood to provide receptacles to catch these precious 
 
 See that most learned work of Spencer's De Leg. He- 
 traeorum, lib. iv. c. ii. p. IO98.
 
 [ 127 ] 
 
 distillations of the skies, and the method adopted by 
 the Druids for this purpose was, by exposing stones 
 of a large and flat surface to the open air, which, 
 being furnished with hollowed basins, connected 
 with each other by communicating channels, would 
 colleft and retain whatever moisture might descend 
 from above, either in the visible showers of rain or 
 snow, or in the unseen form of nightly dews. It is 
 to this Druidical custom of collecting the last-men- 
 tioned produdion of the atmosphere, and the pur- 
 pose of lustration to which it was applied, that 
 Mason alludes in one of his chorusses : 
 
 " Lift your boughs of vervain blue, 
 
 " Dipt in cold September dew ; 
 
 " And dash the moisture, chaste and clear, 
 
 ** O'er the ground, and through the air," 
 
 The above reasoning will, I think, not only suffi- 
 ciently account for those artiticial hollows which 
 occur on the surface of the Tolmen I have described, 
 but also for the like appearances to be found on all 
 Druidical altars throughout the North of Europe, 
 which indisputably exhibited the same rites, and 
 served the same purposes, with our Cornish Pebble, 
 The same principle explains the concavities in the 
 stones that surround it on the ground below, which 
 were obviQUsly intended to receive the sacred stream
 
 f 128 1 
 
 that fell from the surface of the upper stone, and to 
 preserve as much as possible of this pure, precious, 
 and hallowed element.* 
 
 The Tolmen was only an introdulion to the 
 Druidical remains which our obliging condudors 
 mtcnded for our inspeftion. We hastened there- 
 fore from this detached monument of Celtic super- 
 stition, to one of more ample extent and greater 
 variety, the celebrated Hill of Carn-bre, which wc 
 reached after a ride of nine or ten miles. The 
 broad and craggy summit of this hill, crowned with a 
 British fortress, and rough with cams, is seen from 
 afar, frowning with barrenness, and towering over 
 the adjcicent country. It lies about two miles to the 
 westward of Redruth. A copper-mine has been 
 recently opened at its foot, and named with sufficient 
 propriety, from its situation, the Druid ; the works 
 of which are supplied with water from a copious 
 
 * I am informed by my accompKshed friend Dr. Charles 
 Parry, of Bath, that Druidical monuments, with basins of 
 this description, are not uncommon in some parts of Sweden; 
 and that a remnant of the ancient superstitious veneration 
 paid to them and their contents may still be traced, in a 
 pra6lice common with the peasantry of that country, of 
 throwing into their concavities little pieces of money as they 
 pass By them.
 
 C 129 ] 
 
 spring near the summit of the hill, conducted to tliera 
 through a range of iron pipes. Its depth at present 
 is fifcy-two fathoms; its ore rich, worth about 15/. 
 per ton. Mr. Borlase, who has exhausted the sub- 
 ]ti of Druid ism, and who viewed Carn-bre not only 
 with the eye of an amateur, but with a mind stored 
 with good sound learning, has left us so complete a 
 description of this extraordinary place, that it would 
 be superfluous, if not presumptuous, to attempt 
 another delineation of it : particularly as its appear- 
 ance is much the same now, as it was forty years 
 ago, with the exception of its having lost a few of its 
 stones, which have been used by the proprietors of 
 the hill, or split and pillaged by the people of the 
 neighbourhood. The features of Carn-bre, indeed, 
 are not of a very destructible kind ; for what can 
 displace rocks which were stationed here at the 
 creation, or deform a surface condemned to eternal 
 and irremediable sterility ? It may be sufficient 
 therefore to say, that the surface of the hill is 
 covered with circles, cromlechs, and altars, disposed 
 after regular plans, and included within walls, which 
 marked the precin<^s of the holy ground. It seems, 
 indeed, to have been the Jerusalem of the south- 
 western Druids of Britain j nor perhaps is there in 
 Europe, a spot where the character of their most holy 
 places is better illustrated or defined, J/ike Zion 
 
 K
 
 r 130 ] 
 
 of old, too, it seems to have been the scat of 
 strength, as well as the residence of piety, being 
 defended by a fortress certainly of British construc- 
 tion, and probably coeval with the neighbouring 
 ruder remains of superstition. The older part of 
 this castle (for it has been added to of late years) is 
 august in its appearance, and singular in its struc- 
 ture. Its foundation is laid on a very irregular 
 ledge of vast rocks, whose surfaces being of different 
 heights, occasion the rooms on the ground-floor to 
 be equally uneven also- Another irregularity arises 
 from the circumstance of these rocks not being con- 
 tiguous to each other, which of course obliged the 
 architeft to contrive so many arches between them 
 as would carry the wall from one to the other. As 
 the ledge on which the building stands is narrow, 
 the rooms are small in proportion ; and the original 
 rocks being much higher in one point than another, 
 one portion of the fortress contains three stories of 
 windows, whilst the other has but one. The walls 
 are pierced throughout by loop-holes to descry 
 the enemy, or to permit the arrows of the garrison 
 to be discharged on them as they approached. It 
 was near this fortress, that in the month of June 
 1749, a large colleftion of gold coins was found, the 
 production of a British mint anterior to the Roman 
 invasion ; a few years previous to which discovery,
 
 [ 131 ] 
 
 several celts had been dug up in the same neighbour- 
 hood; instruments supposed to have been used by 
 the ancient Britons for warlike purposes. Perhaps, 
 however, you will now have had enough of the 
 " tales of other times," and be glad to be relieved 
 from Druidism and its rites ; and to diversify the 
 scene with a view of the largest Copper Mine in 
 Cornwall, to which we proceeded after having 
 minutely inspcfted every part of the Carn-bre hill. 
 
 Dolcooth mine lies about three miles to the west- 
 ward of Carn-bre, in a country whose very entrails 
 have been torn out by the industry of man, stimulated 
 by the auri sacra fames. Here every thing is upon a 
 great scale, and gives a wonderful idea of the results 
 which human powers are capable of producing 
 when concentrated into one point, and directed to one 
 end. The works of the mine stretch upwards of a 
 mile in length from east to west; an extent of ground 
 penetrated by innumerable shafts, and honey- 
 combed by as many subterraneous passages. Its 
 depth is 1200 fcer. Five engines are occupied in 
 bringing up ore and rubbish ; and three in freeing 
 the mine from water. The largest of these, made by 
 Bolton and Watts, is upon a stupendous scale; but 
 contrived with such ingenious mechanism, that its 
 vast operations are performed with an ease and 
 quickness truly wonderful. The construction of the 
 
 K 2
 
 [ 132 ] 
 
 beam, upon whose strength the whole success of 
 the machine depends, is particularly admired. It 
 was quite an awful sight to contemplate this prodi- 
 gious body in aftion, bowing and elevating alter- 
 nately its enormous crest, executing the work of 
 200 horses, and bringing up at every stroke (seven 
 of which it makes in a minute) upwards of fifty gal- 
 Jons of water. Darwin's animated description of 
 the steam-engine, naturally suggested itself to our 
 minds, and we confessed that " imagination might 
 '* be listed under the banner of science"* without 
 endangering the truth or accuracy of her mistress. 
 
 *' Nymphs! you ercwhilc o'er simmering cauldrons play'd, 
 
 " And called delighted Savery to your aid ; 
 
 " Bade round the youth explosive steam aspire, 
 
 " In gathering clouds, and wing'd the wave with fire ; 
 
 " Bade with cold streams the quick expansion stop, 
 
 " And sunk the immense of vapour to a drop. 
 
 " Press'd by the ponderous air the piston falls, 
 
 " Resistless, sliding through its iron walls : 
 
 " Quick moves the balanc'd beam, of giant-birth, 
 
 " Wields his large limbs, and nodding shakes the earth." 
 
 The unceasing rattle of this gigantic engine, the deep 
 and dark abyss in which it works, and the smoke 
 
 Darwin's CEconomy of Vegetation, 1st canto, line 253. 
 See his " Apolog\',"
 
 C 133 ] 
 
 that issued from the horrid mouth of the pit, 
 formed a combination that could not be regarded 
 without terror by those who are unaccustomed to 
 such scenes. 
 
 The persons employed at Dolcooth mine, including 
 men, women, and children, those who are above 
 and those who are under the earth, amount to about 
 1600. Its produce is from 60 to 70 tons of cop 
 per per month, and about 30/. worth of tin. The 
 copper is worth, when dressed, 90/. per ton. But 
 in order to give you a clear idea of the magnitude 
 of the works, as well as of the expence at which 
 they are carried on, the following items of monthly 
 charges in different articles used in its operations, 
 will, perhaps, be more satisfactory than the most la- 
 boured description. The mine consumes (per month) 
 
 In Coals, to the amount of - - - - /GO/. 
 
 Timber 300/. 
 
 Cordage .-- 300/. 
 
 Gunpowder for blasting - - - - 150/. 
 
 Candles 200/. 
 
 Iron 150/. 
 
 Sundries ------ about 2500/. 
 
 The whole business of this vast concern is under 
 the superintendance and management of a purser, or 
 book-keeper, at eight guineas a month ; a chief 
 captain, at thirteen guineas per month j eight inferior
 
 134 ] 
 
 captains, at six guineas per month ; and an engineer. 
 The miners provide tools, candles, and gunpowder, 
 are paid no regular wages for their labour, but 
 receive a certain proportion of the profits of the 
 copper, when it is purchased by the merchants. The 
 proprietors are at this time working five lodes or 
 veins of ore. But however considerable the busi- 
 ness of Dolcooth mine may be at present, still the 
 season of her greatest prosperity is past; (I use the 
 feminine pronominal adjedive, as the Cornish men, 
 with a gallantry peculiar to their country, have 
 applied that gender to their most valuable posses- 
 . sions;) she has heretofore employed 2000 workmen, 
 and cleared on an average 6000/. per month. But 
 copper was then 180/. per ton; it is now 90/.! 
 another pleasing instance of the blessed effefts pro- 
 duced on the commerce of a country by the war- 
 system.* The largest sum ever cleared by her 
 monthly produce, in the term of forty-five years, 
 during which she has been worked, was 7040/. 
 
 We could not quit Dolcooth mine without ex- 
 pressing the most grateful acknowledgments to the 
 son of the chief captain, Mr. Rule, who led us 
 through her extensive works, explained their pro- 
 
 * Since writing the above, I understand that the price of 
 copper has again risen to 110/. per ton.
 
 [ 135 ] 
 
 cesses, and afterwards gave us the clearest ideas of 
 their subterraneous geography, by several admirable 
 plans and seflions of it, executed by himself. When 
 we regarded these scientific delineations, the produc- 
 tions of an untaught youth, abnormis sapietis, and 
 saw that his mechanical powers were accompanied 
 with good taste, and fine sense, rendered still more 
 amiable by native courtesy and unassuming modesty, 
 we could not but lament that so much genius and 
 worth should be damnati ad metalla j that they were 
 not fostered by patronage, or brought into a sphere 
 better calculated for their cultivation, expansion, and 
 perfection, than the mining county of Cornwall, 
 
 As our share of entertainment had been so large 
 in the former part of the day, we had no right to 
 complain of the dreariness of our afternoon's ride, 
 which led us for ten miles through a country as 
 barren of interesting objects, wiih the exception of 
 some mines to the right and left, as any part of 
 Cornwall, A busy scene of commercial bustle, 
 however, occurred at Phillack and Heyl; and 
 the church of the former village, seen across its 
 creek, nestling itself in trees, and accompanied with 
 a few cottages, recalled the associations connected 
 with the picturesque. This quiet scene was agree- 
 ably opposed by the animation of the creek, which 
 contained a pretty considerable fleet of trading ships
 
 [ 136 ] 
 
 from Bristol and Wales, which bring iron and coal 
 for the mines, and lime-stones for flux, and load 
 back with copper ; as many of the proprietors find 
 it less expensive to export the ore to Wales , for 
 smelting, than to manufafture it on the spot. This, 
 however, is not the case with all the ore ; a part of 
 which is smelted at Heyl, and then rolled into flat 
 sheets at the pounding- houses, about three miles to 
 the southward of this place. The processes of 
 roasting and refining the ore at Heyl, during which 
 it passes through six or seven furnaces, are highly 
 interesting j but the pleasure arising from a sight so 
 curious to those who are not familiar with it, is 
 greatly damped by the appearance of the workmen 
 engaged in it. Nothing indeed can be more shock- 
 ing than this scene, as an humane and enlightened 
 Tourist has observed.* " So dreadfully deleterious 
 *' are the fumes of arsenic constantly impregnating 
 " the air of these places, and so profuse is the per* 
 *' spiration occasioned by the heat of the furnaces, 
 *' that those who have been employed at them but 
 *' a few months become most emaciated figures, and 
 " in the course of a few years are generally laid in 
 " their graves. Some of the poor wretches who 
 *' were lading the liquid metal. from the furnaces to 
 
 Matftn, vol; i. p. 233.
 
 [ 137 ] 
 
 ** the moulds, looked more like walking corpses than 
 *' living beings. How melancholy a circumsraace 
 ** to reflect upon, and yet to how few does it occur 
 *' that in preparing the materials of those numerous 
 *' utensils which we are taught to consider as indis- 
 '^ pensable in our kitchens, several of our fellow 
 *' creatures are daily deprived of the greatest bless- 
 *' ing of life, and too seldom obtain relief but ia 
 " losing life itself!" 
 
 Having obtained very particular directions, and 
 collefted all our caution, for both are necessary in 
 this passage, we crossed Heyl river over its sands, 
 which, when the tide is out, are left bare for a few 
 hours ; not indeed without some little apprehen- 
 sion, as many instances are remembered of travellers 
 having been entrapped by these treacherous Syrtes, 
 and reduced to great danger, if not entirely suffo- 
 cated, before they could be extricated from then^. 
 Theseunpleasant considerations however werequickly 
 dissipated by the beauty of the view at Lelant, which 
 embraced the mouth of Heyl river ; the busy picture 
 of Phillack creek, and the deep and capacious bay of 
 St. Ives, formed by Godrevy head and island to the 
 east, and the black promontory which rises over St. 
 Ives, to the west. A view of the same kind, but more 
 diversified, occurred again at Tregenna, the seat of 
 Stephens, csqj which crowns the summit of a
 
 [ 138 ] 
 
 hill half a mile from St. Ives. The house is modern, 
 and builc in imitation of a castle. Though this 
 stile of architefture may in general be pronounced 
 as little less than absurd when adopted in modem 
 mansions, yet in the case of Tregenna, we allowed 
 that it was justified by its situation. Its appearance 
 from the Channel must be formidable; and might 
 possibly assise in deterring an enemy from attempt- 
 ing to land on an exposed coast, by holding out 
 the semblance of defensive strength, which in faft it 
 does not possess. Independently, however, of this 
 mock fortress, St. Ives has a slight protection in its 
 battery, consisting of twelve pieces of ordnance, 
 placed on the promontory to the north-east of the 
 town; from which it is separated by a sandy isthmus. 
 This is a fine abrupt steep, ribbed with romantic 
 rocks, against which the waves dash with prodigi- 
 ous fury when the wind is to the northward.* A 
 strong gale blew from that quarter when we 
 visited it, and" threw a terrible sea into the harbour. 
 In general, we were informed, this noble basin was 
 considered as very safe anchorage, though storms 
 have occurred which covered its surface with wrecks. 
 On the 14th day of the preceding November, a 
 
 It has also a beacon, and a small chapel dedicated to St. 
 Michael, a sea-mark, kept in repair by the Corporation,
 
 [ 139 ] 
 
 melancholy scene of this kind hnd been exhibited to 
 the inhabitants of St. Ives ; when three vessels 
 were thrown upon the rocks of the harbour before 
 their eyes, totally destroyed, and the greater part 
 of their crews swallowed up. The affe^ling sight 
 made its proper impression on some of the spefta- 
 tors, who immediately endeavoured to raise a sub- 
 scription for building and maintaining a life-boat, 
 to prevent in future the most dreadful conse- 
 quences of such shipwrecks, the loss of the unhappy 
 seamen ; but so insensible were the merchants of 
 the place to the dangers and sufferings of the hardy 
 race who fill their coffers, that the philanthropic 
 attempt was frustrated by the impossibility of raising 
 the poor pittance required for the purpose ! As we 
 had this information from a merchant of St. Ives, 
 I take it for granted that it is correct. Should it 
 not be so, I must crave pardon of its affluent inha- 
 bitants for a representation so disgraceful to their 
 feelings. The town is large but irregular; inier- 
 sefted by narrow streets which run in the most 
 intricate and capricious directions. It is said by 
 wild tradition to have received its name from St. 
 Ivo, a Persian bishop, who came hither from 
 Ireland, and converted its Pagan inhabitants. St. 
 Leonard also was a patron of the town, at the north 
 end of which was a chapel dedicated to him, where
 
 [ 140 ] 
 
 prayers were formerly read to the fishermen before 
 they went to sea, to beg success on their under- 
 taking, by a friar who was stationary here. The 
 congregations are said to have paid him for his trou- 
 ble, with a part of their fish, when they returned. 
 The form appeared to us to be even now kept 
 up by a poor fanatic, whom we found addressing 
 this incorrigible race of men upon the Quay. His 
 congregation, however, did not appear to be very 
 attentive to him, nor could we wonder at his elo- 
 quence being thrown away upon them, when we 
 learnt that he was generally drunk, and, at his inter- 
 vals of inebriety, always mad. 
 
 The trade of St. Ives luas, and I hope will be 
 again, very considerable. Coals from Wales, salt 
 from Liverpool, and wares from Bristol, were its 
 chief imports; for which it exported an immense 
 quantity of pilchards. Till of late years the bay 
 was remarkable for the plenty of this fish caught 
 in it ; but owing to some unknown, though 
 doubtless powerful cause, few pilchards have been 
 taken here latterly. Busy preparations, however, 
 continue to be made every year for the fishery, in 
 the hope that they may again visit the shore; and a 
 man is stationed in a little cottage on an elevation at 
 the bottom' of the bay to look out for and give 
 notice of the approach oF a shoal of pilchards, which
 
 t 141 ] 
 
 may always be determined by the red appearance 
 they diffuse over the surface of the water from the 
 hue of their fins. It is not, however, merely as an 
 article of trade that the pilchards are important to the 
 inhabitants of St. Ives ; they constitute the chief arti- 
 cle of the food of the lower orders of its inhabitants, 
 who suffer much from the scarcity of this essential 
 part of their diet. Do not suppose, however, that 
 I mean to assert their bill of fare should be 
 confined to pilchards alone. No : the inhabitants 
 of Cornwall are ingenious cooks, and convert many 
 things into viands, which less ceconomicai people 
 would waste or disregard. As a proof of this, take 
 the following anecdote which occurred here a few 
 months since, and was told us by an authority that 
 we could not resist. 
 
 The Cornish people, you know, are remarkably 
 fond of pies ; indeed they have a proverb expr^^s- 
 sive of this partiality, for it is said, " if a Corn'sh 
 " man were to catch the Devil ^ he would put him in 
 *' a pie " A Cockney traveller, who had a mind to 
 see the world, strayed down as far as St. Ives in Iiis 
 tour. He entered a public-house there in the even- 
 ing, and called for supper. *' Have you any beef 
 " for a steak ?" 'No!' " Any veal for a cutlet ? " 
 *No!' "Any mutton for a chop?" ' No I * 
 "What, no meat?'* 'No! an please your
 
 [ 142 ] 
 
 * honour, except a nice lammy^pie, which was 
 
 * baked to-day.' The traveller, ravenous as the 
 grave, licked his lips at the prospeft of so nice a 
 thing as a cold lamb-pie, and ordered it up. Hun- 
 ger was his sauce J he ate heartily, and relished his 
 meal exceedingly. He passed the night in horrors, 
 but had no idea they arose from the indigestible 
 quality of his supper till the next morning, when 
 he was about to mount his horse: * Well, sir,* 
 said the ostler, seeing he was a stranger, ' how 
 
 * did you like mistress's lammy-pie last night?' 
 " Excellent," replied he; " 'twas the best Iambi 
 " ever tasted." ' Lord love ye,' returned John, 
 
 * it was not that: lammy pie is not made of lamb* 
 " Why, what the devil was it then ?" exclaimed the 
 horrified traveller. ' Why, our poor Kiddy, to be 
 
 * sure,' returned the other, ' who died yesterday 
 o{\\i^shab:* 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your's sincerely, 
 
 R. W. 
 
 A ciUr.iieous disorder to which kids are liable.
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 MY DEAIl SIRj 
 
 Marazion, Auff. 14. 
 
 THE breadth of the county of Cornwall is very- 
 unequal. At its eastern extremity from Mor- 
 winstow on the north, to Ramshead on the south, it 
 measures upwards of forty-three miles. Five and 
 twenty miles further to t-he west, from Padstow to 
 Fowey, the distance is decreased to eighteen miles.
 
 [ 144 J 
 
 From the bottom of St. Ives bay to Mount's bay, 
 it is contradled to five miles ; and if we go to the 
 head of Heyl river, we are within three miles of the 
 waters of the British Channel. As it stretches 
 further to the west, however, its diameter extends, 
 and 'near the Land's-end, from Pendeen, on the 
 north, to Trereen castle, on the south, the distance 
 measures upwards of nine miles. Our course con- 
 dueled us over the narrowest part of the county, 
 through a distrift fruitful only in vast blocks of gra- 
 nite, which lay in wild disorder all around us, 
 bounded in the distance by hills crowned with artifi- 
 cial carnes,* or natural rocky acervations. As the 
 mind cannot dwell long with pleasure on objedls 
 which have neither beauty to interest, nor variety 
 to enliven it, we passed on through the region of 
 barrenness and desolation, with some impatience for 
 a change of scene; and were at length gratified 
 from the summit of a rising ground with a pifture 
 as grand as it was diversified. The British Channel 
 
 Johnson says, " a cairne is a heap of stones thrown 
 " upon the grave of one eminent for dignity of birth, or 
 " splendour of achievements." Hebrides. This may be the 
 tri6l definition of the word: but in Cornwall it is applied 
 more loosely; to Druidical altars, and heaps of stones, -appro- 
 ptiated to the purposes of worship.
 
 [ 145 ] 
 
 filled the distance In front : to the right and left the 
 bold black coasts of Cornwall rose in gloomy ma- 
 jesty : before us was spread Mount's Bay, deeply 
 indenting the land ; its gentle sheltered shores 
 smiling with verdure and cultivation. Towards the 
 north-eastern extremity of this recess, detached from 
 every obje(5l that could vie with it in altitude, and of 
 a character entirely novel and unique, St. Michael's 
 Mount, a mighty cone of rugged rock, crowned 
 with Gothic battlements, towered up with superla- 
 tive dignity. A stream of light thrown by the sun, 
 who was just emerging from a thunder cloud, played 
 at this moment upon its summit, and gave it so pro- 
 minent a relief from the dark scene below, as to pro- 
 duce an eife^ almost magical, and create the idea of 
 an air-built citadel. "We no longer wondered at the 
 awe with which St. Michael's Mount was regarded 
 by our forefathers, or the visions which superstition 
 had atiribntcd to it ; for it is an objel well calculated 
 to agitate the most sober imagination, and excite 
 fancy to 
 
 - - - - " travel beyond sense, 
 " And picture things unseen." 
 
 We caught, however, only a distant passing 
 glance at St. Michael's Mount, reserving it for a 
 Kitcr inspetion, and passed on to the maritime town 
 of Penzance, which lies on the north-western
 
 extremity of Its beautiful bay. The mildness of the 
 climate of this place has rendered it for many years 
 past the resort of that happier description of inva- 
 lids on whom fortune has bestowed the power of 
 seeking health in a riiore genial air than other parts 
 of England afford; and it must be confessed that 
 when migration is necessary and practicable, a more 
 pleasing retreat cannot be found than Penzance. 
 The town is regular and well-built ; the immediate 
 country rich and beautiful; the view, which em- 
 braces the whole of Mount's Bay, singular and 
 grand ; and the atmosphere so bland as to foster 
 myrtles and other tender plants through all the vicis- 
 situdes of a Cornish winter. But alas ! my friend, 
 too many " frail memorials " in the church-yard, 
 creled to the memory of those who had been cut 
 off in the flower of youth, convinced us that ev?n 
 Penzance, with all its advantages, offered but a pool: 
 defence to the unfortunate viClims upon whom that 
 harpy, the consumption^ had lain its vindiftive talons. 
 The admonition which a church-yard affords, is 
 unsuitable to no description of mortals ; but I know 
 not that a better lesson could be submitted to the 
 gay and thoughtless young than the inscriptions 
 which this contains, commemorative of those who 
 have been hurried from life in its very spring, and 
 numbered with the dead at that age, when presump-
 
 [ 1^7 J 
 
 tuous hope is most apt to revel in anticipation of 
 future enjoyment. Amongst other monumental 
 inscriptions in remembrance of early viftims to the 
 tomb, we found the following Scandinavian one, 
 which I leave to your Runic lore to explain : 
 
 I minde af 
 NIELS. H. KIER, 
 Fotl j Wisbyc j Holstein, 
 j Aaret i/SQ. 
 DoJe j Penzans den 24 Martz ISO/. 
 S'tor er Dog, O Gud^ din made Eviger 
 Dill Kieiliged Doden kan os nu ej 
 Skade men vi tor" of Legg ned, Rolig 
 Udi dodens Fayn s'ove sodt j Jesu 
 Navn jndtel Frydens morgenrode 
 Va'kker of igien Fia dode. 
 
 The exports of Penzance consist chiefly of pil- 
 chards and tin, innumerable blocks of which we 
 saw ranged in the open street, ready to be shipped. 
 Valuable as these masses are, their safety is suffi- 
 ciently secured against the nightly plunderer by their 
 individual weight, which generally amounts to 3oolb. 
 The market of Penzance is held twice a week, the 
 less on Tuesday, and the greater on Thursday, and 
 is well supplied with every article of life: fish for 
 the greatest part of the year is almost a drug ; pil- 
 chards arc now selling at one penny per dozen. 
 
 L 2
 
 [ 1+8 ] 
 
 We had promised ourselves much pleasure in sur- 
 veying the celebrated Wherry Mine, about half a 
 mile from Penzance, one of the most extraordinary- 
 proofs extant of man's disregard of danger in the 
 pursuit of gain, but the works had been for some 
 time discontinued, and we saw only the place where 
 they were carried on, and the skeletons of the 
 machinery used for that purpose. An elegant pen, 
 however, has preserved an account of this interest- 
 ing mine. " Imagine," says Dr. Maton, " the 
 " descent into a mine through the seaj the miners 
 " working at the depth of seventeen fathoms only 
 " below the waves ; the rod of a steam engine, 
 *' extending from the shore to the shaft, a distance 
 " of nearly 120 fathoms, and a great number of 
 " men momentarily menaced with an inundation of 
 " the sea, which continually drains in no small quan- 
 *' tity through the roof of the mine, and roars loud 
 " enough to be distinctly heard in it ! The descent 
 ** is by means of a rope tied round the thighs ; and 
 ** you are let down in a manner exactly the same as 
 ** a bucket is into a well ; a well indeed it is, for 
 " the water is more than knee deep in many parts 
 *' of the mine. The upper part of the shaft resem- 
 *' bles an immense iron chimney, elevated about 
 " twelve feet above the level of the sea, and a nar- 
 " row platform leads to it from the beach j close
 
 C 1-^9 ] 
 
 ** to this Is the engine-shaft, through which the 
 ** water is brought up from below. Tin is the 
 ** principal produce of the Wherry Mine. The 
 *' inclination of the lode is towards the north, about 
 ** six feet in a fathom ; and its breadth is thought 
 " to be no less than ten fathoms. The ore is 
 *' extremely rich.*'* 
 
 * Maton's Observations, vol. i. p. 209, Hazardous as such 
 Z speculation as this seems to be, a mine under still more 
 extraordinary circumstances was formerly worked in Corn- 
 wallj in the parish of St. Just^, of which Mr. Pryce in his 
 Cornish Mineralogy gives us the following account, " The 
 *' mine of Huel-Cock, in the parish of St. Just, is wrought 
 " eighty fathoms in length, under the sea, beyond low water 
 " mark ; and the sea, in some places, is but three fathoms 
 " over the back of the workings; insomuch, that the tinners 
 " underneath hear the break, flux, ebb, and retlux of every 
 " wave, which, upon the beach overhead, may be said to have 
 *' had the run of the Atlantic Ocean for many hundred 
 " leagues ; and consequently are amazingly powerful and 
 " boisterous. They also hear the rumbling noise of every 
 " nodule and fragment of rock, which are continually rolling 
 "upon the submarine stratum; which, altogether, make a 
 '^ kind of thundering roar, that will surprise and fcaifully 
 " engage the attention of the curious stranger. Add to thi, 
 " that several parts of the lode, M'hicli were richer than others, 
 " have been very indiscreetly hulked and worked within four 
 " feet of the sea; whereby, in violent stormy weather, the 
 " noise overhead has been so tremendous, that the workmeji 
 " have many times descried their labour under the greatest
 
 [ ^^0 ] 
 
 We now direled our course to the most distant 
 objc^l: of curiosity in Cornwall, the Land's End, 
 the vast rocky promontory that first opposes the 
 Atlantic Ocean on the west of England, and says to 
 its proud waves, " hitherto shalt thou come, and no 
 *' further.'* The road pursues a tolerably direct 
 line, through a country where industry maintains a 
 successful struggle with barrenness ; catching occa- 
 sional views of neighbouring hills, crowned with 
 
 " fear, lest the sea might break in upon them. This proxi- 
 " mity of the sea over the workmen, without their being 
 " incommoded by the salt water, is more wonderful than 
 " the account which Dr. Stukley gives of his descending 
 " into a coal-pit at Whitehaven one hundred and fifty 
 *' fathoms deep, till he came under the very bed of the ocean, 
 " where ships were sailing over his head; being at that time 
 " deeper under-ground by the perpendicular, than any part 
 " of the ocean between England and Ireland. In his case, 
 *' there is a vast thickness of strata between the mine and 
 *' the sea ; but at Huel-Cock they have only a crust be- 
 " tween, at most; and though in one place they have barely 
 " four feet of stratum to preserve them from the raging sea, 
 " yet they have rarely more than a little dribble of salt 
 " water, which they occasinally stop with oakum or clay, 
 " inserted in the crannies through which it issues. In ri 
 " lead mine in Perran Zabuloe, formerly wrought under 
 " the sea, they were sometimes sensible of a capillary stream 
 " of saltwater, which they likewise prevented by the same 
 " means, whenever they perceived it."
 
 r 151 ] 
 
 cairns, or girt with Saxon or Danish entrenchments. 
 Of the latter there are no less than eight within 
 the distance of five miles round the town of Pen- 
 zance ; each seen from the other, so as to preserve 
 a constant communication by signals ; and forming 
 together a suiEcient record of the domination of 
 these terrible enemies over the conquered Cornish, 
 but at the same time bearing testimony to the valour 
 of the subdued, who required such numerous and 
 powerful checks to render them subservient to the 
 yoke. Indeed it was not wiihout the most despe- 
 rate contests that the Cornish surrendered their 
 liberties to the invaders, who at different times over* 
 ran their country ; and the road we were now taking 
 afforded more than one spot which had been the 
 scene of their patriotic struggles for the undisturbed 
 enjoyment of the rights of freemen. It was near the 
 Land's End that they made their final stand in the 
 reign of Athelstan, and were overthrawn by that 
 prince in a terrible battle, the theatre of which is 
 still preserved in the name of Bolleit, (a place of 
 slaughter,) the court-house of a hundred a little to 
 the southward of the road to the Land's End. A 
 very different charaler happily marked the country 
 as we now passed through it : all was stillness and 
 peace: the fields were whitening to the harvest; 
 and the few people employed in them were pur-
 
 [ 152 ] 
 
 suing their avocations in undisturbed industry. \Vc 
 could not help observing, however, that of these 
 few by far the larger proportion vi'ere women, to 
 whom in these parts the agricultural work seems to 
 be chiefly committed. Nor did we fail to remark, 
 that notwithstanding the nature of the employment, 
 the female sex exhibited more of that softness and 
 roundness of external form which charafterize it 
 throughout the world, than can be discovered in the 
 lower classes of women in more inland parts of the 
 kingdom. We had, indeed, been frequently struck 
 by the beauty and freshness of the Cornish fair 
 before, but their figure seemed to improve as we 
 approached the western boundaries of their county. 
 A peculiar smoothness in the texture of their skin, 
 its delicacy and healthy colour, were too obvious 
 not to attract our attention ; nor could we at all 
 account for such appearances in women exposed to 
 the external air so much, and condemned to such 
 homely fare as this hardy race are, till we under- 
 stood from an intelligent friend that they arose from 
 the oily nature of their common diet, which con- 
 sists chiefly of pilchards. He confirmed his re- 
 mark by assuring us, that he had seen the same 
 cfFeds produced by the same mode of living in dif- 
 ferent parts of the world ; and that on the penin- 
 sula of India in particular they were strikingly
 
 r ^53 ] 
 
 observable In the people who inhabited the sea 
 coast of Malabar, where a similar fish diet occa- 
 sioned the like plumpness of form, and delicacy of 
 the external cuticle. Rank as the pilchard may 
 be esteemed by those who are unaccustomed to eat 
 it, yet throughout Cornwall it is considered as the 
 greatest delicacy; and happy is it that taste goes 
 hand in hand with necessity in this instance, for I 
 know not what would become of the lower classes 
 of the people here, if they turned with disgust from 
 an article which constitutes their chief support. It 
 is gratifying to observe how they enjoy the only 
 dish on which they can depend with any certainty 
 for a sufficient meal ; and though the fastidious 
 epicure might shrink back with some abhorrence 
 from a Cornish pea9ant*s table, which rarely exhi- 
 bits more than a dish of pilchards chopt up with 
 raw onions and salt, diluted with cold water, eaten 
 with the fingers, and accompanied with barley 
 or oaten cakes ; yet I confess we never contem- 
 plated these honest people round their board, blest 
 with a good appetite, and contented with what they 
 had, without catching the infe^ion of hunger, 
 and being willing to partake of their humble fare. 
 As the pilchard forms the niost important article 
 of the food of the Cornish lower classes, and as it 
 is a migratory fish, continuing on the coast only
 
 [ 154 ] 
 
 for a few stimraer months, it is an objefl with 
 the cottagers to secure, during this season, a suffi- 
 cient quantity of pilchaj-ds for their winter consump- 
 tion, when they are absent from the coast. For 
 this purpose, each cottager (on an average) lays by 
 about looo fish, which are salted, and either packed 
 together, or hung up separately. The quantity of 
 salt necessary for this process is about seven pounds 
 to the hundred fish, which, till the late rise on the 
 duty of that article, might be procured at three- 
 half-pence per pound j and the whole stock cured at 
 an expence of 8j. ^d. But tempora mutatitur', salt 
 is now increased to 4^. per pound, and 1000 fish 
 cannot be cured under i/. y. 4^. a sum of ter- 
 rifying, if not of unattainable magnitude to a maa 
 who only gets six or at the most seven shillings 
 for his weekly labour, which is the usual rate 
 of wages for a peasant about the Land's End. 
 Perhaps the ingenuity or malignity of man never 
 suggested an impost so oppressive to the lower 
 classes, particularly of the county we are at present 
 interested in, as this unnatural addition to the 
 duty upon one of the most necessary articles of 
 life. Indeed we found the peasantry and fisher- 
 men sufficiently sensible of the burthen, and we 
 blessed God, that we were not the financiers 
 who had invented an imposition that excited those
 
 C 1-55 ] 
 
 murmurs, not loud but deep, wlilch met our car, 
 on this account, wherever we went. 
 
 The nakedness of the country, completely bare of 
 wood, and the stone fences which bounded the road 
 on either side, evinced our near approach to the 
 western extremity of the kingdom. That we might 
 not miss the object of our ride, the celebrated pro- 
 montory of Bolereum, W sliouted to some 
 people who were working in a barn, for direftions. 
 In a raomei:C a female labourer appeared at the door, 
 and civilly enquired what we would have. She 
 appeared to be a healthy damsel of twenty, with a 
 form and face not easily to be matched for sym- 
 mety and beauty by girls of the highest and most 
 favoured classes, " Can you procure us a guide to 
 " the Land's End?" said W . ' Yes, sir; my 
 ' husband will condul you there.' " What, you 
 " are married then ? Have you any children ?'* 
 ' Yes, Sir,' replied the fair one, ' eight ;* and /kip- 
 ping over the gate with the nimblcness of a deer, 
 was in an instant out of sight. She returned with 
 the same expedition, followed by her spouse, a fish- 
 erman ; and I think I never saw a human figure ihat 
 gave me such an iJca of a being coinplctt-ly unincam- 
 bercd by the fetters of flc:;]i. He appeared to be all 
 sinew ; scarcely touched the ground as he wal'.cd, 
 was ar'ile as a greyhound, and clastic as a bclU
 
 C 15G ] 
 
 spring. We congratulated ourselves thai we were 
 equestrians j for it would have been impossible for 
 us to have kept pace with this meteor of a man, had 
 we accompanied him on foot. Under the direftion 
 of such a guide we were not long in reaching Sen- 
 KAR-CHURCH TowN, wliich lay at the distance of a 
 mile from the place where we picked him up. This 
 little group of houses, which, though dignified with 
 the name of a town, is only a small hamlet, affords 
 an excellent inn, where the traveller usually leaves 
 "his horse or carriage. Its situation is sufficiently 
 described by the inscriptions on its sign; that on 
 the east being " the last house in England," and on 
 the west, " the first house in England.** We found 
 it fitted up with every convenience j and affording 
 every accommodation to render it a good head- 
 quarters for those who may be induced by the 
 curiosities of the distrift to spend a few days 
 amongst them. The distance from hence to the 
 Land's End is about a mile ; partly over an open 
 common, sprinkled with a few bushes, and staring 
 masses of stone, the spontaneous production of the 
 soil ; and commanding an uninterrupted view of 
 the Atlantic ocean. The ruggedness of the coast 
 that presented itself to the right, prepared us for the 
 tremendous rocky scene which lay beneath our eye 
 when we reached the point that terminates England
 
 [ ur ] 
 
 to the west. We had travelled many weary miles 
 to gain this most distant objeft of our journey, but 
 we confessed that its novel and wonderful charac- 
 ter amply repaid us for all our trouble. It would 
 be difficult, indeed, for fancy to sketch a more sub- 
 lime picture of rocky scenery than that which we 
 now contemplated. The promontory, thrusting 
 itself forward into the Atlantic in a wedge-like form, 
 towers above its roaring waves in abrupt majesty, to 
 the height of 250 feet j defended against the in- 
 conceivable fury of the vast mass of waters that 
 break upon it, by its immoveable ribs of granite 
 which rise on every side in every form. The dark 
 colour of the rocks, the singularity of their shapes, 
 thewildness of their groups, and the absolute perpen- 
 dicularity of their descent, combined with the eternal 
 roar of the waves below, and the incessant whistling 
 of the wind above, excited in the mind an emotion 
 of terrific admiration that we had never before ex- 
 perienced. It seemed almost to unsettle the under- 
 standing; and gave us some idea of the nature of 
 that feeling of desperation said by Macaulay to be 
 produced on the imagination of strangers on visiting 
 the immense south-western promontory of St. Kilda, 
 who are so overpowered with the awfulness of a 
 precipice of 3000 feet in depth, that they would 
 rush mechanically to its brink, were they not pre-
 
 t lo8 ] 
 
 "Tented by the two guides who accompany each tra- 
 veller to this obje5l of terrible curiosity. We 
 trusted ourselves on the extreme rock of the Land's 
 End only a sufficient time to catch a view of the 
 unbounded scene which it unfolds. An iron coast 
 formed the skreen to the right, closed by a projeft- 
 ing rocky promontory, called Cape Cornwall, 
 sheltering from the north-easterly blast the capacious 
 basin of Whitesand Bay. Another abrupt eminence 
 shooting itself into the ocean, called Peden-maen-due 
 Point, attrafted our attention in the same direflion, 
 beset with frowning rocks that interdifted all ap- 
 proach to it by sea. Afar off in front we discerned, 
 or imagined we discerned, (for fancy, you know, is 
 at times an excellent help-mate to inclination,) the 
 celebrated Cassiterides, or Scilly Isles ; and more 
 immediately before us was the long ships, a range of 
 of rocks, the terrible scene of many a disastrous 
 wreck. To the left another horrid mass of granite 
 called the armed knight, whitened by breakers, 
 heightened the idea of dangers to which mariners 
 are exposed in these tempestuous seas. Beyond this 
 all was ocean. The frequency of shipwreck on this 
 dangerous projecting coast, is too well known ; and 
 many a tale of horror, fresh in the memory of the 
 older inhabitants of the spot, evinced the necessity 
 of taking some measures for guarding against the
 
 C 159 ] 
 
 evil. Accordingly, about fourteen years since, a 
 Ifght-house was construfted for the purpose, on the 
 central rock of the long ships ; and so well has it 
 answered the end of its erelion, that since its con- 
 struftion only one vessel has perished upon the 
 ledge J an accident that happened from the master 
 of it missing his reckoning, and mistaking the long- 
 ships for the Edysione. Three men belong to the 
 establishment; two of whom inhabit it; the third 
 is stationed at St. Just, to relieve one of the two 
 every month ; so that by this alternation every one 
 of them has, in his turn, a continued residence of 
 two months on the long-ship rocks. It frequently 
 hdppens, however, that this alternate relief is inter- 
 rupted ; and a much longer time elapses without any 
 intercourse with the main land, than the customary 
 time of change. In bad weather four months have 
 passed, and no other communication been kept up 
 between the light-house and St. Just, than that of 
 signals. To a residence under these circumstances, 
 in a very temple of the winds, rocked by the thunders 
 and the blase, and oftentimes buried in the waves, 
 which climb its side, and discharge their billows on 
 its head, there are men willing to condemn them- 
 selves, for the poor pittance of 30/. per annum, 
 and King's provisions^ They have here, iiowever, 
 one opportunity of acquiring a good habit, or as
 
 C ICO ] 
 
 is loo generally the case, of breaking ilirough a 
 bad one, which a residence on the shore would not 
 allord them ; for by an excellent regulation, rigidly 
 enforced, to prevent fire or negligence, no liquor 
 stronger than water, is allowed to be introduced into 
 the building. A distressing circumstance is related 
 to have taken place last year at long-slnps light- 
 house. In calm weather the tenants of it are enabled 
 to diversify their meal, by catching fish from the 
 rock on which they dwell. One of the inmates 
 had been successful in his sport, and whilst the 
 other was busied in the building, had retired to the 
 point of a precipice to clean his prey. His compa- 
 nion waited for his return till the hour of dinner, and 
 then, surprised at his delay, went out to seek him* 
 He called loudly and repeatedly on his name, but no 
 answer was returned. He looked round the rock, 
 but no human form was visible. Going at length 
 to the fatal point, he cast his eye into the chastii, 
 and beheld his friend stretched out a mutilated 
 corpse upon the ragged crags below. It would not 
 be easy to conceive the feelings of the survivor on 
 such a sight. Indeed it was a situation that em- 
 braced many peculiar circumstances of distress; a 
 catastrophe, the shock of which must have been 
 indescribably heightened by the conviction of the 
 total and horrible soHtude, to which the companioa
 
 [ 161 ] 
 
 of the deceased found himself so unexpeftedly 
 reduced. As soon as he was sufficiently recolIe(^ed 
 to give notice of the event, he hoisted a signal, and 
 received assistance from St. Just. 
 
 Although a sweep of ocean, twenty-seven miles in 
 breadth, separate at present the Land's End from 
 the Scilly Islands, there can yet be little doubt of 
 their having been heretofore united to each other 
 by the main land. The records of history, indeed, 
 do not rise so high as the cera when this disjunftion 
 was first efFcfbed ; but we have documents yet 
 remaining which prove to us that this strait must 
 have been considerably widened, and the number of 
 the Scilly Islands greatly increased, within the last 
 sixteen or seventeen centuries, by the waters of 
 the Atlantic (receding probably from the coast of 
 America) pressing towards this coast of Britain, 
 accumulating upon Bolerium, and overwhelming 
 part of the western shores of Cornwall, 
 
 Strabo expressly tells us that the Cassiterides, (so 
 called from the Greek name of tin, there produced) 
 were in his time only ten in number, whereas now 
 they are divided into a hundred and forty rocky 
 islets.* Solinus also makes mention of a large and 
 
 Ai d! xa3-(Ti?f (Cfs oiy.x _(/.;> t:tTi, xiiiiT.% o'jy/vf XXr,Ku' ill. 205. 
 -M
 
 [ 162 ] 
 
 respectable island, called Silura, evidently the Scill)" 
 of present times, lying on the Damnonian or Cor- 
 nish coast, and separated from the main land by a 
 strait turbulent and dangerous, a charafter which 
 Sufficiently marks the compression of its waters.* 
 And William of Worcester, an author of our own 
 country, thirteen centuries after Solinus, states with 
 a degree of positive exadness, stamping authenticity 
 upon his recital, that between Mount's Bay and the 
 Scilly Islands there had been woods, and meadows, and 
 arable lands, and 140 parish churches, which before 
 
 * He gives this account of the island and its inhabitants : 
 " Silurara quoque insulam ab.ora quam gens Britanna Dum- 
 " nonii tenant, turbidum fretum distinguit, cujus homines 
 " etiamnum custodiunt morem vetustumj nummuni refu- 
 " taut 5 dant reset accipiunt) mutationibus necessaria potius 
 " quam pretiis parant : decs percolunt ; scientiam futuro- 
 *' rum pariter viri ac faeminse ostendunt." Sol. Poly. Hist, 
 cap. xxii. c. It may be urged that Solinus only speaks of 
 one island, whereas Strabo mentions ten. But this may be 
 considered as a xar' |o;^>j expression 5 putting the most con- 
 siderable for the whole j an opinion which is strengthened 
 by a marginal reading in an ancient manuscript, mentioned 
 by Salraasius, that has Sillhias quoque in>ulas, for Siluram 
 quoque i.vw/aw. Vide Salinas. PUnian. Excercitat. torn. i. 
 p. 245.
 
 [ 163 ] 
 
 his time were submerged by the ocean.* Uninter- 
 rupted tradition since this period, which subsists to 
 the present day, vigorous and particular, authenti- 
 cates his account, and leaves no doubt upon the 
 mind, that a vast traft of land which stretched 
 anciently from the eastern shore of Mount's Bay to 
 the north-western rock of Scilly, (with the exception 
 of the narrow strait flowing between the Long-ships 
 and Land's End,) has, since the age of Strabo and 
 Solinus, and previous to that of William of Wor- 
 cester, been overwhelmed and usurped by the waves 
 of the sea.f Robbed of their population and riches 
 by :his dreadful inundation, which seems to have 
 happened in the tenth century, exposed afterwards to 
 the depredations of manners of all countries, who, 
 when navigation became more universal, plundered 
 these defenceless isles at their will, they dwindled 
 
 " Fuerunt tarn boscus quam prata, et terra arabilis inter 
 " dlAum Montem et Insulas Syllae, et fuerunt 140 ecclesise 
 " parochiales inter istum Montem. et Sylly submersae." 
 J For cater, 102. 
 
 t The depth of the water at the Land's End is about 11 
 fathoms 5 at the Long ships 8; to tl^e north of thera 2O3 to 
 the south 30 j and 25, 20, and 15 fathoms between thera 
 and the north-west of Scilly. The shallowest water occurs 
 in tlie mid space between Cornwall and the isles. 
 
 M 2
 
 [ lfi4 ] 
 
 into such insignificance, that in the reign of Eliza- 
 beth a grant was made of the whole of them, to a 
 Cornish gentleman, for a quit-rent of i o/. per annum. 
 With him, however, their consideration again 
 revived. He carried a colony of English to his 
 islands, and secured them from molestation by 
 building two forts, one on Trescaw, and another 
 on St. Mary's. Since this time they have been gra- 
 dually increasing in opulence and population. They 
 have some trade; three resident clergymen amongsc 
 them ; and maintain a communication with the main 
 land constantly, except when interrupted by very bad 
 weather, by means of a packet-boat, supported by 
 the General Post- Office, which carries thither letters 
 and passengers every week from Penzance. 
 
 But to return from our insular researches to nearer 
 objefts, and modern adventures. I have already ob- 
 served, that the promontory of the Land's End thrusts 
 itself into the waves in a wedge-like form, gradually 
 tapering towards a point, till it meets the waves." 
 About two hundred yards before it terminates, a 
 sudden depression takes place in its surface, which 
 continues falling with a pretty rapid descent for 
 some distance. The southern side of this portion 
 of the promontory is absolutely perpendicular ; its 
 base covered with masses of rock, which at high, 
 tides and in stormy weather are mingled with the
 
 [ 165 ] 
 
 the surf. Its greatest width does not exceed 50 
 yards; and its elevation above the water cannot be 
 less than 250 feet. Common prudence would seem 
 to interdift an approach to the point over such a 
 dangerous passage as this, by any other mode than 
 that of walking. There are heroes, however, who 
 soar above all the suggestions of this sage adviser in 
 their pursuit of fame, and scorn the road of glory 
 trodden by the vulgar foot. Empedocles plunged 
 into the centre of Mount iEtna, that he might 
 acquire the reputation of being immortal ; 
 
 _-._---" Deus immortalis haberi 
 
 " Dum putat Empedocles, ardentem frigidus ^Etnam, 
 
 " Insiluit :" 
 
 and Herostratus fired the Temple of Ephesus, to 
 obtain a name that should last for ever. The same 
 rash ambition seems to have influenced a traveller 
 who visited the Land's End during the course of 
 the last year ; and though no fatal effe6ls were the 
 consequences of his imprudence, yet its result was 
 such as I hope will caution every future visiter of 
 the place against any similar display of false courage. 
 He was mounted on a valuable spirited horse, and had 
 proceeded to the declivity just mentioned, though 
 the animal before he reached it had evinced every 
 mark of astonishment at the novelty of the scene
 
 r 166 I 
 
 before him. Here the guide requested him to dis- 
 mount, but in vain ; the glory of the achievement of 
 reaching the last rock on horseback preponderated 
 over every representation of danger, and on he rode. 
 With some difficuhy he prevailed on his horse to 
 carry him to the point ; but the mingled roar of the 
 wind and waves, and the horrid forms of the rocks, 
 which lift their craggy heads on all sides, so terrified 
 the beast that he became unmanageable. He 
 snorted, plunged, reared, and exhibited every symp- 
 tom of ungovernable fear. The gentleman, con- 
 vinced too late of his rashness and folly, turned him 
 to the main land^ and spurred him forwards. Insen- 
 sible, however, to every thing but the impression of 
 dread, the animal curvetted to the brink of the pre- 
 cipice. The fate of the rider hung upon a moment. 
 He threw himself with desperation on the ground 
 from the back of his horse, which the next instani- 
 plunged down the precipice, and was dashed to atoms. 
 The guides afterwards recovered the bridle and 
 saddle by descending on the northern side of the 
 point, and passing through a perforation at the bot- 
 tom, to the rocks on which the animal had fallen. 
 The only particulars we could learn of his rider, 
 were, that he was taken up more dead than alive, 
 with terror, and that his nervous system had been
 
 [ 167 ] 
 
 SO shaken by the adventure, as still to remain in 
 the most shattered state. 
 
 Before I quit the Land's End it may be amusing 
 to mention a particular of its natural history, which 
 I think throws some light on the much-disputed sub- 
 "jet of the 7nigration of English birds. You are 
 aware, perhaps, that a controversy has long subsisted 
 between ornithologists, whether those birds which 
 are seen amongst us at particular seasons, remain in 
 the kingdom concealed in undiscoverable recesses, 
 during the period of their disappearance, or whether 
 they are actually absent from our climate at this 
 time, and resident in countries more congenial to 
 their nature ^nd instinls. In this list of migratory 
 birds, (as they are called, ) the Woodcock, that im- 
 portant article of luxury and sport, is enumerated. 
 Mr. Daines Harrington, amongst others, is a strenu- 
 ous opponent to the doflrine of this species of 
 bird making a periodical passage from England to 
 other countries ; contending that it builds its nests, 
 and breeds amongst us, in the same manner as other 
 indigenous British birds ; and is invisible during the 
 summer, only, from the caution of its habits, and 
 privacy of its retreats, in that season. He further 
 makes the assertion, with respel to migratory birds 
 in general, that there is no well-attested instance of 
 such a migration actually taking place, which he
 
 [ 168 ] 
 
 considers as a convincing negative proof of the 
 falsehood of that opinion. What the value of 
 those examples of migration may be, which are 
 adduced by Willoughby, Buffon, Adanson, &c. I 
 know not, as I have never paid any attention to the 
 controversy; but I will venture to assert, that had 
 Mr. Daines Barrington made the question with 
 respel to woodcocks a subject of his enquiry when 
 he was in Cornwall, he would have learned a fai at 
 the Land's End, which must have at once settled his 
 scepticism on this particular head. He would here 
 have been told by every peasant and fisherman, that 
 the annual periodical arrival of the woodcocks from 
 the Atlantic, at the close of the year, is as naturally 
 expefted, and as surely takes place, as the return 
 of winter after the autumn ; and that the time of 
 their visit is directed by so certain an instinft, that 
 the inhabitants can tell by the temperature of the 
 air, the week, if not the day, on which they will 
 arrive. He would have been convinced that migra. 
 tion is the general habit of the speciesy and not the 
 wayward aft of an individual bird, by the prodi- 
 gious flocks of them which reach the shore at the 
 same timej and no doubt would have remained on 
 his mind of their coming from afar, when he had 
 been told that after their arrival, they might for a 
 day or two be easily knocked down, or caught by
 
 [ 169 3 
 
 dogs, from the extreme exhaustion induced by their 
 flight. A short respite, indeed, amongst the bushes 
 aud stones of the Land's End again invigorates 
 and enables them to take an inland course ; but till 
 they are thus recruited, they are an easy prey, and 
 produce no mean profit to those who live in the 
 neighbourhood of this place of their first landing in 
 England. We were told at Truro, as a proof of 
 the definite time of their arrival, that a gentleman 
 there had sent to the Land's End for several brace 
 to be forwarded to him, for a particular occasion. 
 His correspondent acquainted him in answer that no 
 woodcocks had yet arrived, but that on the third 
 day from his writing, if the weather continued as it 
 then was, there would be plenty. The state of the 
 atmosphere remained unchanged, the visiters came 
 as it was asserted they would, and the gentleman 
 received the number of birds he had ordered. 
 From all these circumstances we concluded that 
 woodcocks were actually migratory birds; that they 
 retire from England when the temperature of our 
 climate becomes too warm for them, take their flight 
 to more northerly regions, and return to our coast 
 as soon as the cold of those higher latitudes renders 
 it unpleasant or unsafe for them to remain in them. 
 
 The celebrated Logan Stone at the Land's End 
 lies about four miles to the southward of the pro-
 
 [ 170 ] ' 
 
 montory, over a wild and rocky clifF, presenting 
 nothing to the eye but its rough surface, an un- 
 bounded view of the ocean, and some fearful rocks 
 sprinkled through its nearer extent. Amongst these 
 the most remarkable, and most tremendous, if we 
 judge from its name, is the Wolf. Of late years 
 an attempt was made to divest it of some of its 
 horrors, by erecting upon its summit a huge copper 
 figure of a w^olf ; which, being so constructed 
 as to produce a stupendous noise by the current 
 of wind rushisg through it, and being hung with 
 bells to be agitated and rung by the blast, should 
 give notice to mariners in darkness or hazy weather 
 of their approach to this dangerous rock. The 
 philanthropic design, however, proved to be abor- 
 tive from the violence of the tides and other circum- 
 stances, and af[er much expence, labour, and danger, 
 encountered by the proprietor and workmen, was at 
 length relinquished. The Logan Stone is well 
 described by Dr. Borlase j for what it was in his 
 time it still continues to be. It is a feature of 
 Naturc*s architiedure, and defies all vicissitudes^ 
 *' In the parish of St. Levin, Cornwall," says he, 
 " there is a promontory called Castle Treryn. This 
 *' cape consists of three distinft groups of rocks. 
 " On the western side of the middle group, near 
 *' the top, Ires a very large stone, so evenly poised
 
 [ 171 ] 
 
 that any hand may move it to and fro; but the 
 extremities of its base are at such a distance from 
 each other, and so well secured by their nearness 
 to the stone which it stretches itself upon, that it 
 is morally impossible that any lever, or indeed 
 any force, (however applied in a mechanical way,) 
 can remove it from its present situation. It is 
 called the Logan Stone-* and at such a great 
 height from the ground, that no one who sees it, 
 can conceive that it has been lifted into the place 
 where we see it in. It is also much of the same 
 shape as the rocks which lie under it, and makes 
 a natural part of the crag on which it stands at 
 present, and to which it seems always to have 
 belonged."* No doubt is entertained that this 
 
 * " Logan, ill the Guidhelian British, signifies a pit or 
 " hollow of the hand; and Leagan a high rock, and thence 
 " I should think it most reasonable to derive it, although 
 " the Welsh word Kloguin, a great stone or rock, (see 
 " Lluyd in Saxuni,) comes very near it : but whether the 
 " word Logan be thence derived, or may possibly be a cor- 
 " ruption of the British Llygadtipi, in Welch signifying 
 " bewitching, (forasmuch as the singular property of this 
 " stone may seem the effed of witchcraft) I shall not take 
 ' upon me to decide." Borlase. 
 
 t Borlase's History, 180.
 
 [ 172 ] 
 
 and other natural wonders of a similar description, 
 were applied by the Druids to superstitious pur- 
 poses ; probably to increase their influence over 
 the ignorant, or extradl money from the rich. 
 Toland considers them, with much probability, 
 as instruments of priestcraft, the Druids keeping the 
 secret of their easy mobility to themselves, and 
 making the people believe that the priest alone could 
 remove them, and that by a miracle ; *' by which 
 " pretended miracle, (says he,) they acquitted or 
 " condemned the accused, and often brought crlmi- 
 *' nals to confess, what could in no other way be 
 " extorted from them.** It is to this cunning appli- 
 cation of them that Mason so nobly alludes in his 
 Cara6"tacus, a poem in which he has made the most 
 judicious as well as beautiful use of the imagery 
 afforded him by the superstitions of Druidism. 
 
 ... Thither, youths, 
 
 *' Turn your astonish'd eyes ; behold yon huge 
 " And unhewn sphere of living adamant, 
 " Which, pois'd by magic, rests its central weight, 
 " On yonder pointed rook: firm as it seems, 
 '" Such is its strange and virtuous property, 
 " It moves obsequious to the gentlest touch 
 " Of him whose breast is pure ; but to a traitor, 
 " Though ev'n a giant's prowess nerv'd his arm, 
 " It stands a^ fix'd as Snowdon." ;.-.
 
 [ 173 1 
 
 The lofty tower of St. Burian*s is a sufficleni 
 direftion to this ancient village. Its church dedi- 
 cated to St. Buriana, " an holy woman of Ireland," 
 was built by Athelstan, in gratitude for that success 
 which crowned his expedition to Scilly, and which 
 he had implored in his way thither at the oratory of 
 this female saint, that stood upon the same spot of 
 ground on which he afterwards erefted the church. 
 It is a fabrick of great curiosity, having from the 
 remoteness of its situation been little exposed to 
 alteration, and may therefore be considered in all its 
 essentials as in much the same state as when com- 
 pleated by Athelstan. Pvlany memorials of distant 
 times and former usages occur both within and 
 without it ; an ancient shallow cofEn like a tomb, 
 that once contained the remains of Clarice wife of 
 Geoffrey de Bolleit, lord of this manor, in the time 
 of Henry III. ; a series of old forms, for the accom- 
 modation of the worshippers, which our ancestors 
 were content to use in common, before refinement 
 had introduced the invidious distinftion of pews ; 
 and two stone crosses, either of the Danish or Anglo- 
 Saxon age. In addition to the other curiosities of 
 St. Burien's church, we may mention the stalls of the 
 dean and three prebendaries, (originally settled here 
 by Athelstan,)
 
 [ 174 ] 
 
 " Of monumental oak, and antique mould, 
 
 " That long have stood tlie rage of conquering years 
 
 " Inviolatej" 
 
 and probably preserve the same materials and carv- 
 ings which they exhibited in the days of the royal 
 founder. This collegiate establishment still sub- 
 sists, though in the shape of a wretched skeleton, 
 divested of flesh and blood. For two of the pre- 
 bends being absorbed into the deanery, and the 
 third attached to the bishopric of Exeter, the parish 
 is defrauded of all its rightful spiritual residents, 
 whose duties are now performed by a stipendiary 
 curate. So efFc61ual!y have the pious intentions 
 of Athelstan been enforced and perpetuated by his 
 successors! 
 
 From St. Burian to Penzance, including the two 
 fishing-towns of Mousehole and Newlyn, is about 
 eight miles ; a distance enlivened, for the most part, 
 by a grand view of Mount's Bay, along whose 
 western shore the road is carried* The inhabitants 
 of the former town, both men and women, exhibit 
 the finest specimens of Cornish strength and beauty. 
 The broad and muscular outline of the male, and 
 the luxuriant contour of the female form, here, evince 
 that the climate, food, or employment of the people, 
 (or perliaps all together,) are highly conducive to 
 the maturation and pcrfe^lion of the human figure.
 
 C m ] 
 
 Having taken another and a final survey of Pen- 
 zance, we crossed the sands to Marazion, being first 
 prepared with direlions not to venture too far 
 down upon them ; which we might have otherwise 
 been tempted to do, as the tide was very low, and 
 presented a wide expanse of level surface to the eye, 
 smooth as glass, and apparently compaft and firm as 
 a rock. We understood, however, that there was 
 treachery concealed under this fair and specious 
 appearance ; that the sands were in some places, 
 and at uncertain times, quick or loose, without 
 adhesion or consolidation, and swallowed up what- 
 ever pressed upon them. A melancholy confirm- 
 ation of the truth of this representation had 
 occurred only two or three years ago. Two 
 foreigners (I believe Frenchmen) had engaged a 
 guide to conduct them over these deceitful sands on 
 foot. The man preceded them with a pole, in 
 order to try the solidity and consistence of the sand 
 before they trod upon it, for the quicks (as they are 
 called) are so continually shifting their situation, 
 as to defy all the results of experience to settle their 
 locality. The poor fellow proceeded with his usual 
 cauiion, but not with his accustomed good fortune; 
 for while he was stooping forward with his pole 
 to determine the safety of his course, the sands
 
 t 176 ] 
 
 suddenly sunk under his feet, and in one moment 
 swallowed hlra up before the eyes of his astonished 
 and terrified companions. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your's sincerely, 
 
 R. W.
 
 N 
 
 Britisli Clianntl 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 I 
 
 viY DEAR SIR, ' Truro, Aug, 17. 
 
 T is not surprizing, that an objel so remarkable 
 in form, so conspicuous in situation, and so 
 venerable for the superstitions which had attached 
 to it forages, as St. Michael's Mount, should 
 have attrafted the attention of the poet, and afforded 
 some materials for the combinations of fancy. Wc 
 
 N
 
 [ 178 ] 
 
 accordingly find both Spenser and Milton noticing' 
 this singular rock. The former, indeed, confines his 
 use of St. Michael's Mount to little more than a 
 slight mention of its consecration to a saint. 
 
 " In evill howre thou hentst in hond 
 
 " Thus holy hils to blame : 
 *' For sacred unto saints they stand, 
 
 " And of them have their name. 
 ** St. Michael's Mount who does not know^ 
 
 *' That wardes the western coastr'* 
 
 Milton, however, has converted it to a more noble 
 purpose, and by a beautiful allusion to its legendary 
 history, made it the basis of one of the finest passages 
 in his Lycidas, 
 
 *' Or, whether to our moist vows denied 
 
 " Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old, 
 
 " "Where the great vision of the guarded mount 
 
 " Looks tow'rd Namancos and Bayona's hold, 
 
 " Look homeward, angel, now, and melt with ruth, 
 
 *' And, O ye dolphins, waft the haplesS youth."* 
 
 * I cannot resist inserting the late Mr.Warton's admirable 
 explication of the above passage, which may be justly consi- 
 dered as one of the finest specimens of illustrative criti- 
 cism extant. " The whole of this passage," says he, " hift 
 " never yet been explained or understood. .That part of the 
 *' coast of Cornwall called the Land's End, with its neigk-
 
 [ 179 ] 
 
 As we approached St. Michael's Mount along the 
 sands, we could not but acknowledge an influence 
 upon our imagination that made us pardon the. 
 
 *' bourhood, is here intended, in which is the promontory 
 " of Bellerium, so named from Bellerus a Cornish giant. 
 " And we are told'by Camden, that this is the only part of 
 " our island that looks directly towards Spain. So also 
 " Drayton, Polyolb. S. xxiii. vol.iii. p. II07. 
 
 " Then Cornwall crrepcth ont into the westerne maine, 
 " As, lying in her eje, she pointed slill atSpaine. 
 
 " And Orosius, ' The second angle or point of Spain forms 
 " ' ^ cape, where Brigantia, a city of Galicia, rears a most 
 " ' lofty watch-tower, of admirable constru6tion, in full view 
 " 'of Britain.' Hist. L. i. c. ii. fol. 5. a. edit. Paris. 1524. 
 " fol. Carew says of this situation, ' Saint Michael's Mount 
 *' ' looketli so aloft, that it brooketh no concurrent.' p. 154. 
 f* ut infur. But what is the meaning of ' the Great Vision 
 *' ' of the Guarded Mount ? ' And of the line immediately 
 '* following, ' Look homeward, angel, now, and melt with 
 " ' ruth?* I flatter myself I have discovered Milton's original 
 " and leading idea. Not far from the Land's End in Corn- 
 " wall, is a most romantic projeftion of rock, called Saint 
 " Michael's Mount, into a harbbur called Mount's Bay. It 
 " gradually rises from a broad basis into a very steep and nar- 
 " row, but craggy, elevation. Towards the sea, the declivity 
 *' is almost perpendicular. At low- water it is accessible by 
 " land : and not many years ago it was entirely joined with 
 ' the present shore., between which and the Mount there is a 
 
 N2
 
 r 180 ] 
 
 errors of ignorance in peopling it tvith wizard forms, 
 and involving it$ eaily history in witchery and won- 
 der. PecuHar as it is in figure and situation, it must 
 
 *' rock called Chapel-Rock/ Tradition, or rather superstition, 
 '' reports, that it was anciently conneAed by a large traft of 
 *' land, full of churches, with the isles^of Scilly. On the 
 " summit of St. Michael's Mount a monastery was founded 
 " before the time of Edward the Confessor, now a seat of Sir 
 *' John Saint Aubyn. The church, refc6lory, and many of 
 " the apartments still remain. With this monastery was 
 " incorporated a strong fortress, regularly garrisoned : and in 
 " a patent of Henry IV. dated 1403, the monastery itself, 
 " which was ordered to be n-^paired, is styled Fortalitium. 
 *' Rym. Feed, vili, 102, 340, 341 . A stone lantern, in one of 
 " the angles of the tower of the church, is called St. Michael's 
 *' Chair, But this is not the original St. Michael's Chair. 
 ^' We are told by Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, ' A little 
 " ' without the castle [this fortress] there is a bad [dangerous] 
 *' ' seat in a craggy place, called St. Michael's Chaire, some- 
 " ' what daungerous for accesse, and therefore holy for the 
 " 'adventure.' Edit. l602. p. 154. We learn from Caxton's 
 " Golden Legende, under the history of the Angel Michael, 
 " that ' Th' apparac}'oti of this angell is manyfold. The fyrst 
 * ' is when he appeared in m'ount of Gargan, &c.* Edit. 1493, 
 " fol. cclxxxii. a. William of Worcestre, who wrote his 
 *' travels over England about 14Q0, says, in describing St. 
 ' Michael's Mount, there was an ' ApparicioSantti Michaelia 
 *' ' in monte Tumba antea vocato Le Hore Rok in the uvdd* 
 ** Itinernr. edit. Cantab. 17/8. p. 102. The Hoar Rock in
 
 C 181 1 
 
 have made a striking impression on the warm fancies 
 of untutored men, and naturally claimed from thera 
 a reverential and mysterious awe. We did not 
 
 " the IFood is this Mount or Rock of St. Michael, anciently 
 " covered with thick wood, as we learn from Drayton and 
 *' Carcw. There is still a tradition, that a vision of St. 
 "Michael seated on this crag, or St. Michael's Chair, ap- 
 " peared to some hermits : and that this circumstance occa- 
 " sioned the foundation of the monastery dedicated to St. 
 " Michael. And hence this place was long renowned for its 
 " san6lity, and the objeft of frequent pilgrimages, Carew 
 " quotes some old rhymes much to our purpose, p. 154. 
 " ut supr. 2* 
 
 " Who knows not Mi ghel's Mount and chaire, 
 " The pilgrim's holy vaunt ? 
 
 *' Nor should it be forgot, that this monastery was a cell to 
 " another on a St. Michael's Mount in Normandy, where was 
 
 " also a vision of St. Michael. But to apply whathas been 
 
 " said to Milton. This Great Vision is the famous Appari- 
 " tion of St. Michael, whom he with much sublimity of 
 " imagination supposes to be still throned on this lofty crag 
 " of St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, looking towards the 
 *' Spanish coast. The Guarded Mount on which this Great 
 " Vision appeared, is simply the furtified mount, implying the 
 " fortress above-mentioned. And let Us observe, that Mount 
 " is the peculiar appropriated appellation of this promontory. 
 *' So in Daniel's Panegyricke on the King, st. 19. 'From 
 " ' Dover to the Mount.' "With the sense and meaning of 
 " the line in question, is immediately conneftcd that of the
 
 t 182 3 
 
 doubt that it had been the sceue of barbarous 
 worship from the cera of the first peopling of 
 Britain J and, long before it exhibited the follies 
 
 *' third line next following, which here I now for the first 
 " time exhibit properly pointed : 
 
 " Look homeward, angel, navi, and melt witli ruth. 
 
 " Here is an apostrophe to the Angel Michael, whom we have 
 " just seen seated on the Guarded Mount. ' O angel, look 
 ** ' nalonger seaward to Naniancos and Bayona's hold : rather 
 " * turn your eyes to another object. Look homeward or 
 *' ' landuard, look towards your own coast now, and view 
 *' ' with pity the corpse of the shipwrecked Lycidas floating 
 ** ^thither.' But I will exhibit the three lines together 
 " which form the context. Lycidas was lost on the seas 
 " near the coast, 
 
 " Where the great viiion of the guarded mount 
 " Looks tow'rds Namancos and Bajona's liold j 
 " Look homeward, angel, now, and melt with rutli. 
 
 " The Great Vision and the Angel are the same tiling : and 
 " the verb look in both the two last verses has the same refe- 
 *' rence. The poet could not mean to shift the aplicalion of 
 " look, witliin two lines. Moreover, if in the words Look 
 " homeward angel now the address is to Lycidas, a violent, 
 " and too sudden, an apostrophe takes place 3 for in the very 
 " next line Lycidas is distinftly called the hapless youth. To 
 " say nothing, that this new angel is a hapless youth, and to 
 ' be wafted by dolphins. Thyer seems to suppose, that the 
 " meaning of the last line is, ' You, O Lycidas, now an 
 " * angel, look down from heaven, &c.' But how can this be
 
 [ 183 ] 
 
 of Papal superstition, had served the purposes of a 
 a Canaanitish high place, and echoed to the terrible 
 rites of Druidism. Before, however, we could visit 
 
 ^' said to look homeward P Ai^d why is the shipwrecked per- 
 " son to jnelt with ruth? That meaning is <:ertainly much 
 *' helped by placing a full point after surmise, v. 153. But a 
 " semicolon there^ as we have seen, is the point to the first 
 " edition : and to shew how greatly such a punctuation 
 *' ascertains or illustrates our present interpretation, I will 
 *' take the paragraph a few lines higher, with a short analy- 
 *' sis. ' Let every flower be strewed on the hearse where 
 <' * Lycidas lies, so to flatter ourselves for a moment with a 
 ' * notioq that his corpse is present ; and this, (ah rae!) while 
 *" ' the seas are wafting it here and there, whether beyond the 
 *' * Hebrides, or near the shores of Cornwall, &c.' " 
 
 At the time I was writing this part of the present little 
 work, the miscellaneous History of Cornwall, published by 
 Mr, Polwhele, accidentally fell into my hands. It h enriched 
 by a copious supplement from the pen of " the Historian of 
 Manchester," including remarks on St. Michael's Mount, 
 Penzance, the Land's End, and the Scilly Isles. In the course 
 of these remarks Mr. Whitaker considers the passage above 
 quoted from Milton's Lycidas, and, with very little regard to 
 courtesy, accuses our great pcjet of ignorance, deficiency of 
 learning, want of antiquarian and geogiaphical knowledge, 
 and confusion of ideas with respcd to the subjciSt in question 
 The charge, I confess, excited my indignation ; and I had 
 prepared for vindication, when I saw by the Papers, that Mr. 
 WliiUiker was removed into that state, where the intercsi of
 
 [ 184 ] 
 
 this venerable objeft, we had to examine a more 
 modern one ; the town of Marazion, which stands 
 
 all human controversies, as well as the ability of maintaining 
 them, must for ever cease. Instead therefore of disturbing 
 the ashes of the departed, I would rather pay that tribute of 
 gratitude which is so justly due to the memory of a man 
 whose writings afford the information and entertainment 
 which Mr. Whitaker's confessedly do. His talents were 
 of the first rate, though he occasionally dishonoured thevi, 
 and diminished his respectability, by writing for such a 
 Review as the Anti-Jacobin. The stream of his learning 
 was wide, profound, and clear ; - though tindtured occa- 
 sionally with an acrimonious impregnation, which rendered 
 it less palatable than it otherwise would have been. His 
 style is manly, nervous, and frequently splendid j his accu- 
 racy greatj and his industry unrivalled. He has enriched our 
 history with new fafts, cleared our antiquities from many 
 obscurities^, and unravelled numerous perplexities that hung 
 around the records of ancient times. I may say, in short, 
 that wc should read his various productions with uninter- 
 rupted satisfaction, as well as with increasing information, 
 had he not sometimes unfortunately forgotten, that the realm 
 of letters, though a republic, should always be characterized 
 by courtesy, that Athens was the centre of politeness as well 
 as learning; and that the olive-tree, the emblem of peace, 
 was the favourite plant of the Goddess of JFisdovi. "Olea 
 " Minervae symbolum est, cui haec arbor artium habita praesesj 
 " quae artes ad lucernam no6tu lucubrando nimium quantum 
 " crcscunt in qua lucerna et oleum adhiberi soXci."' -Aug, 
 Ant. Dialog, in Antiq.
 
 i: 185 ] 
 
 on the shore, at the distance of half a mile from it. 
 Not that this place is a child of yesterday, since its 
 history may be traced as high as the twelfth century, 
 when it seems to have originated in a market, 
 granted to the religious house upon the mount, to 
 be held on the Thursday of every week. This 
 establishment would of course quickly produce some 
 habitations on the spot, which, as soon as they were 
 creled, were denominated Marghas-gou, a name 
 signifying the Thursday's market. Its present appel- 
 lation seems to be of later date, and imposed by 
 the Jews, who afterwards settled on the spot, 
 attached another town to the western part of the 
 original one, and in allusion to the trade which they 
 then monopolized, and carried on from this port, 
 called it Marazion, or the Market of Zion. All traces 
 of this lucrative commerce have been long extin- 
 guished here, and its only exports at present are, 
 I believe, the pilchards, wjilch are caught in asto- 
 nishing quantities in the Bay. The town itself, like 
 most of the others in Cornwall, is irregular and ill- 
 buiic, but full of inhabitants. It was with concern 
 we learnt that a population of between 2 and 3000 
 souls should have the public services of their religion 
 performed to ihcm only once in a fortnight, or three 
 weeks ! Can we wonder, my friend, at the increase 
 t)f Seiarisrs, when no better attention is paid
 
 [ 186 3 
 
 to the interests of the Established Church? Or 
 rather, ought we not to rejoice, that, if the parent 
 be so negligent of its children, the distant relatives 
 should fulfill the parental duties in its stead ? Man 
 is constitutionally a religious animal, hi wants, his 
 wishes, his infirmities, all occasioniiily direct his 
 heart to Heaven ; and if he be not Ivrutallzed by 
 ignorance or sensuality, perverted by false philoso- 
 phy, hardened by vice, or rendered delirious by 
 fashion, he naturally delights in a communion with 
 his Maker, through the medium of public worship. 
 As a great mass of mankind are happily not included 
 under either of the above descriptions, it follows, 
 that there will be a considerable number of people 
 in every extensive society, who must be anxious to 
 perform a service which they consider as a duty, 
 and feel to be a consolation ; and who will therefore 
 ^dopt an irregular mode of gratifying their propen- 
 sity, if they be excluded from the legitimate one. 
 Such is the case at Marazion j the Church, from the 
 infrequcncy of the performance of service there, 
 exhibits little better than bare walls when it is 
 opened ; whilst the Meeting-Houses, which invite 
 people to worship twice every sabbath-day, arc 
 always overflowing. 
 
 I have mentioned above that the exports of Ma- 
 razion are confined chiefly to pilchards. As this
 
 [ 187 ] 
 
 place is one of the most celebrated fishing-towns of 
 Cornwall, and as we here first saw the process of 
 taking pilchards, it may, perhaps, be amusing to 
 yoUj if I describe the method employed in fishing for 
 them, as well as trouble you with a few particulars 
 of their history, cure, and sale. 
 
 The pilchard and the herring so nearly resemble 
 each other in appearance, that on the first view it is 
 not quite easy to discriminate between them. There 
 is, however, some difference in their forms, which 
 may be detedted by an attentive inspeiion. The 
 accurate Mr, Pennant has remarked that the scales of 
 the pilchard adhere more firmly to the ficin of the fish 
 than those of the herring, which are easily rubbed 
 oif if they be handled; and Dr. Maton observes, 
 that the former is less compressed than the latter, as 
 well as of a smaller size ; and that its dorsal fin is 
 placed so exaflly in the center of gravity, as to ipake 
 the fish preserve a perfeft equilibrium if it be sus- 
 pended by it. Did not all animated nature teem 
 with marks of that wise design and consummate 
 goodness, which have implanted various instincfls 
 and propensities in its dlEcrent orders for the obtain- 
 ing of the greatest measure of happiness of which 
 they are capable, the history of the pilchard would 
 naturally excite our admiration. Directed by the 
 impulse of their beneficent Creator, they quit, at a
 
 [ 188 ] 
 
 certain season, the frozen oceans of ihe Arctic Clrde, 
 and drive in immense shoals towards the warmer 
 seas of the British coast; thus at the same time pur- 
 suing their food, and strengthening and preparing 
 themselves and their young ones to return to their 
 northern habitation, m order to spawn and secure 
 themselves during the months when the Atlantic is 
 agitated by storms. The period of their migration 
 is the month of July, about the end of which they 
 reach the Scilly Islands, and shortly afterwards ap- 
 pear upon the coast of Cornwall. Peculiar circum- 
 stances of the seasons, indeed, which affcft the habits 
 of animated nature, as well as the natural order 
 of inanimate things, have been known to interrupt 
 the instinctive migration of the pilchard ; and in 
 the years 1786 and 1787, not a single fish appeared 
 upon the Cornish const ; but with the exception of 
 thes^ rare irregularities, their annual visit is as con- 
 stant as the succession of day to night. Equally 
 uniform is the time of their continuance upon the 
 coast, which never extends beyond the latter end of 
 December, when they regularly return again into the 
 Arctic seas. Once indeed, about fifty years ago, they 
 were known to remain till Christmas in the British 
 Channel, an anomaly said to have arisen from the 
 unusual mildness of the winter season in that year.. 
 The astonishing quantities of pilchards which thus
 
 C 189 ] 
 
 annually seek the Cornish seas, may be best con* 
 ccived from the annual results of the fishery. By 
 an average estimate made of the exports of these 
 iish from the four ports of Fowey, Falmouth, Pen- 
 zance, and St. Ives, from the years 1747 to 1756 
 inclusive, it appeared that the first town had ship- 
 ped annually 1732 hogsheads; the second 14,631 
 and two-thirds of a hogshead; Penzance 12,149, 
 and one-third; and St. Ives 1282; making in all 
 29,795 hogsheads; and this, exclusive of the im- 
 mense home consumption, fish sold in the markets, 
 and spread upon the land for manure. Great how- 
 ever as this produft may appear to be, of late years 
 it has been coniderably larger, for in the year 1796 
 above 28,000 hogsheads were taken in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Fowey alone, and more than 65,000 
 hogsheads through the county. f At present, indeed, 
 the career of the fishery is sadly checked, by 
 the want of a foreign market, though it is evident 
 that were there a sale for the article, it would be to 
 the full as profitable as ever, since the fish were 
 never known to be more numerous- on the coast 
 than now.* The natural historian of Cornwall has 
 ' - '- ' ' . 
 
 -j- Of this quantity, Naples alone took 20,000 hogsheads. 
 
 * The greatest abundance of fish ever known, particu- 
 larly pilchards^ were caught last week in Mount's Bay.
 
 [ ^90 ] 
 
 thus briefly enumerated the advantages which attend 
 the pilchard fishery : a summary that places its 
 national and provincial importance in a striking point 
 of view. It employs a great number of men on the 
 sea, training them thereby to naval affairs ; it em- 
 ploys men, women, and children on land, in salting, 
 pressing, washing, and cleaning them ; in making 
 boats, iiets, ropes, casks, and all the articles depend- 
 ing on their constrn6lion; the poor are fed by the 
 offals of the captures, the land with the refuse of 
 the fish; the merchant finds the gains of commission 
 and honest commerce, the fisherman the gains of 
 the fish.* As the season of the fishing continues 
 only a few weeks, the people employed in it are 
 seldom engaged by the proprietors of the nets for 
 a longer term than three months ; but as the advan- 
 
 Upwards of 10,000 hogsheads of the latter were landed at 
 St Ives, and sold at lOd: the cart-load for manure. Turbo t 
 only fetched from id. to'ld. per pound, and tlie inferior iish 
 were not worth catching. Baih Chron. Sept. 2, 180J. The 
 state of the pilchard trade may be judged of from this cir- 
 cumstance. The fair price for a hogshead of pilchards is 
 about three guineas. They fetch at present from \5s. to 18^. 
 per hogshead. The former of these prices was the market 
 one at Port Isaac, on the North coast, in the years IS07-S. 
 
 Borlase's Natural History of Cornwall, 2/3.
 
 [ 191 J 
 
 tagcs to ihem are great during this time, they are 
 enabled by its profits, like the harvest men of the 
 east country, to lay by a comfortable sum for the 
 winter support of their families out of their autum- 
 nal gains. Indeed it is necessary for the proprietors 
 to be as ceconomical as possible in their arrange- 
 ments, as the expences attending their speculations 
 are very large. The seine, or great stop net, as it is 
 called, 1320 feet long, and 84 deep, (the largest of 
 their nets,) cannot be fitted out at Marazion under an 
 exp>ence of between 1 100/. and 1200/. ; to this must 
 be added the cost of constant repair of many other 
 smaller nets, boats, ropes, and tackle, all perishable 
 articles; the building and support of extensive 
 houses for salting the fish ; and the wages of a 
 countless host of men, women, and children, em- 
 ployed in that process. The business of this ani- 
 mated trade may be described in few words. As 
 the season for the appearance of the pilchards 
 approaches, particular people, at the wages of hnlf- 
 a-guinea a week, are stationed on commanding 
 spots, to give notice of their arrival, a circumstance 
 easily detefted from the purple tinge which, as I 
 have before mentioned, the shoals impart to the 
 surface of the waters. These are called huers, from 
 t^i.. hue or shout by which they notify to the fisher- 
 .1 the approach of the fish. In an instant, on
 
 [ 192 ] 
 
 hearing the wished.for sbund, all is buStlc. The 
 seine-boat,* properly fitted out> is pushed off> and 
 being direfted to the spot, its net is let down to 
 inclose the shoal. This it does, by forming a com- 
 plete circle round them ; when the two ends of the 
 net are tied together. The whole is then rendered 
 stationary by several anchtirs that are let out, and 
 fixed to different parts of the seine. Within the 
 wide extent which this enclosure embraces, a snlaller 
 net called the tuck, about 1 6 fathoms long, is intro- 
 duced, capacious enough to contain 3 or 400 hog- 
 sheads, and having a bag at its bottom, from which 
 the fish when once within it, cannot escape. The 
 boats now approach, and being admitted into the 
 seine through the two ends which had been tied 
 together, they are loaded from the tuck net, the 
 fish being dipped out with hand-buckets. In the 
 mean time, the seine being thus gradually lightened, 
 and the anchors taken up, it is dragged slowly and 
 gently to shore, and on its arrival there, immediately 
 prepared for a second capture. The fish being 
 landed, and the home-market supplied, they are then 
 
 Three boats, and about twenty men, usually attend every 
 seine. Mount's Bay has five seines. St. Ives^ we were told. 
 Lad fitted out fifty 5 but the cost of the outfit of each is not 
 not more than between 6 and 700/. at that place.
 
 carried to the cellars, where the bulkers, who arc 
 chiefly women, take them in hand* The name 
 which the Cornish people have given to their curing- 
 houses, would convey to one who had never seen 
 them, a very false idea of their structure and appear- 
 ance. The pilchard cellars are all above ground, 
 and of a quadrilateral form, though their sides arc 
 not generally of uniform length. About seventy 
 feet perhaps may be allowed for their average ex- 
 tent. The center of this quadrangle is open to the 
 sky. Three of its sides are covered by a double 
 pent-house ; the outer one designed to proteft those 
 who clean the fish ; and the inner one to receive the 
 fish after they are cleansed, and whilst they are under 
 pressure for the extra^lion of their oil. The lofts 
 of the pent'houses contain the seines, nets, and other 
 tackle, when not employed in the fishery 5 and 
 under the floor of the buildings are contrived vats^ 
 or receptacles for the oil which drains or is ex- 
 pressed form the fish. Being conveyed to these 
 cellars on horses and in carts, the pilchards are cast 
 in a heap in the center of the area, and then takett 
 individually by the bulkers, who, having cleansed 
 them, place them in strata of single layers on the 
 floor of the inner pent-house, with a quantity of salt 
 between each layer. The bulk, or pile, thus con- 
 structed, rises generally to the height of four or five 
 
 o
 
 [ 194 ] 
 
 feet. In this situation the fish remain for thirty or 
 forty days, during which time a considerable quan- 
 tity of oil deliquesces from the mass, and runs into 
 the receptacles below. This is called maiden oil, 
 and is the best which the pilchards produce. The 
 distillation being completed, the bulks are broken 
 up, the fish laid regularly in barrels, and again 
 pressed by a mechanical force, both to extract more 
 oil, and render them as corapaft as possible j after 
 which they are fit for exportation. The oil pro- 
 duced by this second operation is of a coarser nature 
 than the other, and sells for a less price. It is said 
 that under these processes twelve hogsheads of good 
 fish will produce one hogshead of oil. The salt used 
 for the purpose is brought from Liverpool j it is of 
 a course grain, serves for two years, and is then 
 sold for manure at 4^. per bushel. 
 
 In the prosperous days of the Cornish fishery, 
 the operations which I have just described must have 
 given a most agreeable character of active industry 
 to Marazion during the season when they were car- 
 ried on. At present, indeed, but a small degree of 
 this animation is visible, as the want of a market 
 throws a languor over the whole system; but from 
 a little specimen which fell under our own observa- 
 tion, of the bustle produced by the appearance of a 
 a shoal, even under the present depression of the
 
 [ 195 3 
 
 trade, we could form some idea of what it must be 
 under more auspicious circumstances. When we 
 reached Marazion, the fish had not yet arrived, 
 but the buers were on the look-out, and the town 
 was big with the expectation of their speedy appear- 
 ance. In the middle of the ni?ht the eyent occurred. 
 A full unclouded moon shone brightly upon the 
 glassy bosom of the tranquil deep : assisted by her 
 radiance, the keen experienced eye of the huer 
 detected the approach of the innumerable shoals j 
 and he gave the expelled signal. In a few minutes a 
 scene was presented to us that recalled to the mind 
 thr beautiful simile of Virgil's bees : 
 
 " Qualis apes aestate nova per florea rura 
 
 *' Exercent sub sole labor, cum gentis adultos 
 
 '' Educunt foetus, aat cum liquentia mella 
 
 *' Stipant, et dulci distendunt neclare cellas, 
 
 " Aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agminc fadlo^ 
 
 *' Igna\ um fncos pccus a pntscpibus arcent : 
 
 * Fervct opus." 
 
 The strand was thronged with people j proprietor; 
 and fishermen, women and children, all interested, 
 anxious, and alert; the boats were quickly manned, 
 .md rushed rapidly through the waves, followed by 
 the prayers and good wishes of the multitude. We 
 could just discern them by the light of the moon 
 arrived at their station, and letting down their nets* 
 
 o 2
 
 [ 196 ] 
 
 A chearful cry, re-echoed from the people on 
 shore, soon announced that the prey was captured ; 
 and by nine o'clock in the morning nearly a thousand 
 hogsheads of pilchards were landed on the strand* 
 
 Having amused ourselves fOr some time with 
 this curious importation, and the circumstances that 
 attended it, and gained all the information we 
 wished respeftinp; the fishery, we proceeded to visit 
 St. Michael's Mount. This venerable and lofty emi- 
 nence is separated from the main land by an isthmus 
 30 or 40 yards over, and about 800 yards in length, 
 consisting of pebbles and sand, which is generally 
 deserted by the tide in mild weather for three or 
 four hours during the ebb, and may then be passed 
 in carriages or on foot. When the weather is 
 rough, however, the ridge continues covered even 
 at low water; and the Mount is thus frequently con- 
 verted into an aflual island for many days together. 
 As we traversed this isthmus, our attention was 
 directed to a vast rock of granite, which reared 
 itself on the right hand side, and being left dry 
 by the recess of the waters, allowed us to walk 
 round it. Viewed from below, it appeared to ter- 
 minate in a rough and craggy summit ; but we were 
 informed by our ^uide that it has a level surface 
 of fifty feet by twenty, on which anciently stood a 
 religious edifice dedicated to the Virgin Mary j a
 
 [ 197 ] 
 
 tradition that is countenanced by the name of the 
 Chapel Rock^ which it still bears. Having reached 
 the Mount, we ascended to the town of St. Michael's, 
 situated at its base, a group of three or four streets, 
 climbing up the ascent of the hill, and accommodated 
 "with a snug safe basin,* capable of receiving 
 fifty sail, defended by piers. It contains little worth 
 notice, consisting chiefly of dwellings occupied by 
 those engaged in the fishery ^ and store-houses 
 for the pilchards. Upwards of 200 feet in per- 
 pendicular height, above this town, towers the sum- 
 mit of the mount, rising from its base, in all the 
 naked majesty of barren rock, and crested with a 
 Gothic church, and other buildings in the same style 
 of architecture. The ascent is abrupt and difficult ; 
 and defended by various fortifications must have 
 
 * " This basin was formed in 1425, when it is recorded 
 " in the register of the Bishop of Exeter, that Edmund tlien 
 *' Bishop, granted forty days indulgence tp all those who 
 ** should contribute, or otherways assist the inhabitants of 
 " yizxTxzion in building the stone pier then begun. It has 
 " since been rebuilt by Sir John St. Aubyn, the third baronet 
 " of that niime^ in the years 1726 and 1/2/. The entrance 
 *' is in the middle of the north front, by an opening of forty 
 " feet- The west front of the wall is 481 feet. Tpwards the 
 " north and east itmcasures445 feet." G'roic'i ////^ viii. 35,
 
 [ 198 ] 
 
 been impregnable, before the invention of gunpow- 
 der entirely changed the art of war, and rendered 
 the advantages of natural situation a circumstance 
 of comparatively little consequence. Having for 
 some time thundered at the portal, we were at 
 length admitted within the walls, and conduced by 
 the person who lives in this military ecclesiastical 
 residence through its several parts. They consist of 
 the ancient Saxon church, built in the reign of 
 Edward the Confessor; and some more modern 
 apartments, ereled a century and a half since,* but 
 repaired about sixty years ago by an ancestor of the 
 present owner of the Mount, Sir John St. Aubyn, 
 bart. Of the latter it may be sufficient to say, that 
 good taste direfled the architect in his designs ; and 
 prevented all incongruities between the style of the 
 older members of the buildings, and the more recent 
 additions. We were glad to understand too, that 
 
 * At this time some of the ancient buildings seem to have 
 been converted into habitable rooms. This was probably tjie 
 case with a large dining-hall, (the old refeftory of the monks,) 
 fitted up with a very extraordinary stucco frieze, which 
 represents the chase of the wild-boar, bull, stag, ostrich, fox, 
 rabbit, and hare. At the upper end of the apartment is the 
 date 1(541, and over it the royal arms. The St. Aubyn arms 
 are at the other end.
 
 [ 199 ] 
 
 many interior decorations were in contemplaiion 5 
 and that it was the intention of the present Hberal 
 possessor of the place to fit up the church with 
 greater splendour than it had exhibited even in more 
 prosperous days. Inconsiderable indeed, and un- 
 known as it now is, the time has been, when its 
 name was great in ecclesiastical story, and its vene- 
 ble charafter attracted the resort of multitudes to it 
 from the most distant places. I speak now of its 
 recorded Christian history, without ascending to 
 those remoter times, when the lofty summit of St. 
 Michael's Mount was the scene of Pagan supersti- 
 tions : though were we to attribute to it the rites of 
 Canaanitish worship, we should have a sufficient 
 foundation in probability for the supposition. It is 
 a fal: irrefragably established, that the Phcenician 
 colonists of Gades trafiicked to the south-western 
 coast of Cornwall from high antiquity. It is also 
 likely, that they would form settlements in a spot 
 with which they had such constant and intimate 
 intercourse ; and if so, where could they have seated 
 themselves to more advantage than in the neighbour- 
 hood of St. Michael's Mount? It follows, that 
 where they became stationary, there they would prac- 
 tice the rites of their religion ; and as we have no 
 reason to doubt that in their various migrations they 
 carried with them the superstitions of their fathers
 
 I 200 ] 
 
 so wc may conclude, that these would accompany 
 them into their Cornish settlements. Now, we 
 must recollel, that one remarkable feature of these 
 superstitions was, the practice of choosing bi^h 
 places for the solemnities of worship ; a practice 
 founded in the natural feelings of the human mind, 
 and therefore coeval with the first corruptions of 
 religion. The silence and solitude of such cmi 
 nences were considered as peculiarly favourable to 
 that mental abstraftion from sublunary things, which 
 the religious spirit always wishes to possess in the 
 hour of its communion with the Deity. Their 
 loftiness also held out an additional reason for con- 
 secrating them to holy purposes. Elevated on their 
 summit, the worshipper would be far removed from 
 the din of human intercourse J and, high 
 
 " Above the smoke and stir of tills dim spot 
 
 *' Which men call earth, (and with low-thoughted care 
 
 *' Confin'd and pester'd in this penfold here, 
 
 *' Strive to keep up a frail and feverish being, 
 
 *' Unmindful of the crown that Virtue gives, 
 
 " After this mortal change, to her true servants, 
 
 *' Amongst the enthroned gods on sainted seats:") 
 
 with no obje^ls around him but what were solemn, 
 vast, and still, every association of his mind and 
 every feeling of his heart would be attuned to the
 
 [ 201 ] 
 
 holy purposes of his retirement. Fancy would 
 quickly catch the influence of a scene so awful and 
 impressive ; and superstition soon convert those 
 reveries of the imagination, which it was so calcu- 
 lated to inspire, into alual communications with 
 heaven, and visible appearances of the Deity; a 
 result that would confirm their appropriation to 
 religion and its rites. From these, and such like 
 causes, seems to have arisen that peculiar vent^ration 
 for the summits of lofty hills, which chara6terised 
 ihe Canaanitish worship, the earliest superstition 
 of which we have any accounts; and hence it is 
 xhat we find so many instances in the Bible of their 
 being resorted to for the purpose of prayer, sacri- 
 fice, and incantation. When Balak, the Canaanitish 
 prince of Moab, wished for a curse, sanftioned by 
 Heaven, upon the Israelites his enemies, he took 
 Balaam, and led him to the high places of Baal, that 
 the prophet, catching inspiration from the spot, 
 might deliver the wished-for execration, confirmed 
 by the authority of his God : and being disappointed 
 there in the result of his ofiering of a bullock and a 
 ram upon seven altar?, he successively conveyed 
 Balaam to the top of Pisgah and the top of Peor, in 
 hopes that the divine communication might visit him 
 on one or other of these consecrated mountainous 
 summits.
 
 [ 202 ] 
 
 To return from these hypoibetical excursions, and 
 to confine ourselves within the horizon of recorded 
 history, we find that St. Michaers Mount as far 
 back as the fifth century was a place consecrated to 
 the Christian religion, the retreat of monastics, and 
 the resort of pilgrims. Hither, in the year 490, 
 came St. Keyna, daughter of Braganus king of 
 Brecknockshire, with her " cockle hat," and pil- 
 grim's staff, to pay her vows at the shrine of its 
 tutelary saint ; but fascinated by the magic influence 
 of the place, she forgot the splendours of royahy, 
 and the joys of home, and continued as a devotee, 
 where she had intended only to have been a visiter. 
 Here too she was afterwards joined by her nephew 
 Cadoc, who associated himself to the same body of 
 retired religious, with whom his aunt had mingled, 
 and repaid them for admitting him, by producing 
 miraculously a fountain of fresh water, of which 
 they stood greatly in need. A few monks continued 
 here in the time of Edward the Confessor, who 
 bestowed upon them by charter the property of the 
 Mount, lands in Cornwall, and the port of Romney 
 in Kent. Shortly after William the Conqueror had 
 seized the crown of England, amongst the munifi- 
 cent gifts with which he rewarded the services of 
 his followers, he gave the dutchy of Cornwall 
 (including St. Michael's Mount) to Robert earl of
 
 [ 203 ] 
 
 Mortaign, who, out of regard to Normandy his 
 native country, made the monastery a ceil to a Cister- 
 tian abbey in those parts, and called it St. Michael 
 de Periculo Maris, from its situation, which was simi- 
 lar to that of Mount's Bay. To this establishment 
 was added, in the succeeding century, a sm^Wnumiery: 
 for, the Cistertians, (improved, in 1 148, by Gilbert of 
 Sempringham, in Lincolnshire, and thenceforward 
 called Gilbertines,) defying the power of temptation, 
 and boldly opposing the spirit to the flesh, made a 
 point, wherever they planted themselves, of trying, 
 or affefting to try, the dangerous experiment of per- 
 petually contemplating those objels to which they 
 were atiraded by nature, but from whom they were 
 eternally separated by the stern laws of their absurd 
 religion. The success, however, of this unnatural 
 effort, seems to have been but indifferent, as the 
 nunnery only existed fihy years; a period more 
 than sufficient to shew its folly and perverscness. 
 When Edward 111. seized upon all the alien priories, 
 this amongst others, came into the hands of the 
 king; but it was shortly afterwards restored, and 
 made denizen, on condition of paying to the crown 
 the same sum that it heretofore annually transmitted 
 to its foreign superior convent. A subsequent or- 
 donance, hov/cver, gave again to the monarch all 
 religious houses which ivcre net coiivcfilual, when.
 
 f 204 I 
 
 notwithstanding the prior of St. Miehaers appeared 
 to the summons, and produced sufficient proof that 
 this religious house could not be included under this 
 description, the Bishop of St. David's, then trea- 
 surer to the king, set it to farm at 20/. per annum ; 
 a rent afterwards remitted to i o/. on account of the 
 monks being unable to pay the former, and maintain 
 at the same time the buildings of the monastery in 
 repairs which were considered at that time as no 
 mean protetion to the neighbouring county.* Poor 
 however, as th*e priory might be, when this remis- 
 sion was made in its annual rent, it became after- 
 wards much enriched by the resort of pilgrims, and 
 the donations of the rich ; and Henry VI. on build- 
 ing King's College in Cambridge, conferred it upon 
 the prior and monks of St. Michael's Mount. At 
 the dissolution of religious houses by Henry VIII. it 
 was valued at no/. I2j. That monarch conferred 
 its revenues and government on Humphrey Arun- 
 dell, esq; who enjoyed it till his death, in the first 
 year of the reign of Edward VI. when It was granted 
 on a lease to John Milton, esq; at the yearly rent of 
 40 marks. It afterwards came into the family of 
 the present possessor. 
 
 '* (Jrott's Antiquities^ vol. iiip. 31.
 
 t 205 ] 
 
 The ftiost remarkable circumstance connected with 
 the ecclesiastical history of St. Michaers Mount is 
 the prodigious resort of pilgrims to it in former 
 times, and the salutary spiritual consequences which 
 were supposed to result from this pious visit. We 
 have seen that the holiness attributed to it was of 
 force -sufficient to draw a royal dame of the fifth cen- 
 tury from her father's court, and fix her within its 
 precinfts ; and that a similar spirit of superstition 
 produced a similar conduft in her nephew. But 
 what occasioned the greatest influx of votaries to its 
 shrine was an immunity granted to all such visiters 
 by Pope Gregory, In the eleventh century, and con- 
 firmed by Pope Leofric. " Know all men,'* says 
 the latter, *' that the most holy father Gregory, 
 " in the year of our Lord 1070, bearing an extra- 
 ** ordinary devoutness to the church of St Michael's 
 " Mount, in the county of Cornwall, has piously 
 " granted to the said church, and to all the faithful 
 " who shall seek and visit it -with their oblations and 
 *' alms^ a remission of a third part cf their pena?ices** 
 The importance of such a privilege as this, in an 
 age when morality was sufficiently lax, and the 
 religion professed not calculated to purify the 
 heart or regulate the life, will satisfa61orIIy account 
 for the number of persons who for some time flocked 
 to this sequestered spot, on the hply errand of pay-
 
 [ 206 ] 
 
 jng their vows and their money on its ahar. It is 
 however a very curioiis hd:, that privileged places 
 of the same description multiplied so rapidly in after 
 ages, that before three centuries had elapsed from 
 the grant of Gregory, penitents, accommodated with 
 nearer and more convenient resorts for the remission 
 of their ats of penance, had entirely discontinued 
 their visits to St. Michael's Mount; and even the 
 circumstance of its possessing such a privilege had 
 faded from the knowledge of the very monks them- 
 selves who inhabited the spot. The accidental 
 discovery of an old register put their successors in 
 possession of the secret in the beginning of the 
 fifteenth century ; who, too wise to let it sink again 
 into oblivion, painted upon the doors of the church 
 a notification of the privilege of their house ; and 
 addressed a circular letter to all the clergy of the 
 kingdom, requesting them to publish in their several 
 churches a formal annunciation of the indulgence 
 that would be granted to those penitents who visited 
 as heretofore the church of St. Michael's Mount.* 
 Thus notified and announced, the troops of pilgrims 
 who availed themselves of the remission of penance 
 oifered by the monastery of St. Michael's became 
 
 William of Worcester, p. 102.
 
 [ 207 ] 
 
 more numerous than ever, and we have accounts 
 still remaining, which prove that so low down 
 as the year 1500, it reaped considerable profits 
 from these wretched zealots of a wretched super- 
 stition. To increase the mummery of this pilgrim- 
 age, and to make a greater impression on the 
 minds of the votaries, by adding difficulty and dan- 
 egr to ceremony, it is probable, that at this recom- 
 mencement of the exercise of their privilege, the 
 monks construfted the celebrated chair on the bat- 
 tlements of the tower, known by the name of St. 
 Michaers Chair. By climbing to this terrifying 
 seat, and placing himself within ir, the pilgrim, it is 
 likely, was considered as performing an aft of pecu- 
 liar holiness, and had to boast a contempt of danger 
 in the service of religion, that soothed his own 
 mind with the idea of acquiring thereby a more than 
 ordinary share of the divine favour; and at the 
 same time procured him the respeft of less enthu- 
 siastic or less insensible devotees than himself. It is 
 to this self.gratulation, the result of having accom- 
 plished the dangerous feat, that an old poet, cited 
 by Carew, seems to allude in the following Hncs : 
 
 '' Who knows lu.t Mighel's Mount and Chairc, 
 "The Pilgrim a holij vaunt 'C" 
 
 We were naturally desirous of seeing an objcft 
 Which had been so famous in its day j and followinrr
 
 [ 208 1 - 
 
 onr guide up a narrow circular srair-case to the top 
 of the church tower, were soon conducted to the 
 elevated seat,* learning by the way, as an en- 
 couragement to place ourselves in it, that since the 
 Reformation its magic virtue had experienced a 
 considerable change for the better ; for as before it 
 certainly ensured to any one who sat in it the hap- 
 piness of heaven after deaths so now it produced to 
 every married man who enthroned himself in it, a 
 heaven upon earthy by giving him the management of 
 
 * It must not tjc concealed, however, that Antiquaries are 
 divided with respeft to the original use of this member of the 
 tower : Some contending that it exhibits merely the remains 
 of a stone lantern, in which a light was kept by the monks 
 during the night, and in hazy weather, for the direftion and 
 safety of ships navigating the neighbouring sea : (see War- 
 ton's note, and Grose :) Others, on the contrary, maintain 
 that it was construfted for the purpose mentioned in the 
 text. (Whitaker.) But perhaps, after all, the truth may lie,'as 
 it generally does in ail disputed points, between the two opi- 
 nions. This little appendage to the tower might have origi- 
 nally been formed for tlic purpose of a light-house; birt 
 afterwards falling into decay, through neglcft, or on account 
 of the expence attending its maintenance, it might then be 
 consecrated to superstition; and a seat within its holy cavity 
 be made an occasion of additional immunities to the pilgrims, 
 and additional profits to the monastery.
 
 r 209 ] 
 
 his mje^ and the govern?nent of his family. This 
 inducement, however, was not of a nature to hare 
 any effeft on those who were satisfied with a divided 
 sway; and I declined the honour of a sitting ', though 
 one of the party, whose countenance W- and 
 myself agreed to be strongly charaierized with the 
 marks of a Jerry Sneak, boldly ascended to the chair, 
 and enjoyed for some minutes in his dangerous 
 elevation the ideal prosped of fut-ure domestic 
 dominion. To us it appeared, that nothing but the 
 most degraded state of matrimonial servitude, accom- 
 panied with that faith which can believe a thing 
 because it is impossible, would have emboldened any 
 ne to trust himself in a little basin, elevated above 
 the battlements of the lower, projecting from its 
 side, and hanging over a frightful perpendicular pre- 
 cipice of some hundred feet in depth. We wished 
 all success to the charm, but thought the experiment 
 attended with more jeopardy, than chance of eman- 
 cipation from that noxious tyranny which drove the 
 unfortunate spouse to praftise it. 
 
 From the leads of the tower the view that 
 spread itself before us, formed a combination of 
 objects, too varied and beautiful to be described ; 
 though we doubted whether or no it were superior 
 to that which the same extent of country must have 
 presented previously to the tenth century, when this 
 
 p
 
 [ 210 1 
 
 shore seems to have been inundated by the ocean, 
 and a large portion of it thenceforward usurped into 
 his domain. Before that time the declivities of the 
 Mount, clothed with timber, justified the propriety 
 of its ancient name, CarregLug en Kug, '* the hoary 
 rock in the wood j" meadows, fields, and groves? 
 occupied the space now covered by the capacious 
 bay, and stretched so far to the south, as to leave 
 St. Michael's Mount six miles within the land j* a 
 wide extent sprinkled with towns, villages, and 
 many of those 140 churches, which, as we have 
 seen, William of Worcester attributes to the traft 
 of country that was submersed between this place 
 and the Scilly Islands. 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose that the natural situ- 
 ation and advantages of St. Michael's Mount would 
 point it out as a proper spot for defensive military 
 operations, and in faft it became a fortress as early 
 as the twelfth century ; though such was its strength 
 even when tenanted by monks, that it was only by 
 surprise, and not by regular attack, that this change 
 in its charafter could be efFeled. Henry de Pome- 
 
 ** Spacium loci montis Sandi Micliaelis est ducentorum 
 " cubitorum, undique oceano cin6ium ; prediftus locus cras- 
 " sima primo claudebatur sylva, ab oceano miliaribus distans 
 " sex, aptissimam proebens latebram fcr3.rum"^^U''i/l. ll'ar. 
 page 102.
 
 I 211 ] 
 
 ro'y is snid to have been the person who, during the 
 captivity of Richard I. committed the sacrilegious 
 al of treacherously gaining possession of St. Mi- 
 chael's iVIount, and expelling the monks. The 
 impious deed, however, vi^as speedily avenged on the 
 person of the perpetrator ; for Henry, hearing that 
 Richard had recovered his liberty, and fearing the 
 just punishment of the King for such an outrage, 
 became his own executioner on the scene of his 
 guilt. The monks were restored by the king, but 
 the place became a military post from that time. 
 The contests between the Houses of York and Lan- 
 caster, which affefied the most remote corners of the 
 kingdom, and deluged the land with blood, diver- 
 sified the military history of St. Michael's Mount. 
 In the thirteenth of Edward IV. John de Vere earl 
 of Oxford, an active partizan of the latter, after 
 the defeat at Barnet, took shipping for this place, 
 attended by a few faithful followers, and under the 
 disguise of pilgrims, surprized the garrison, and 
 seized the fortress, which he for a long time de- 
 fended against the king's forces, slaying in one of 
 the attacks John Arundel of Trerise, (who was 
 buried in the chapel,) but at length surrendered it 
 on reasonable conditions. Twenty-seven years after- 
 wards, in the Cornish insurreftion, it experienced 
 another capture, the particulars of which Carew thus 
 
 P 2
 
 [ 212 ] 
 
 relates : ** During the late Cornish commotion, 
 *' divers gentlemen, with their wives, and families, 
 " fled to the prote(5^ion of this place, where the 
 " rebels beseiged them, fyrst wynning the f)layne at 
 *' the hil*s foote by assault, when the water was our, 
 ** and then the even ground on the top, by carrying 
 ** up great trusses of hay before them to blench the 
 " defendant's sight, and dead their shot ; after 
 *' which they could make but slender resistahce, for 
 *' no sooner should any one within peep his head 
 " over those unflanked wals, but he became an 
 *' open marke to an whole showre of arrows. This 
 " disadvantage, together with woman's dismay, and 
 " decrease of viftuals, forced a surrender to these 
 ** Rakehels'v mercy, who nothing guilty of that 
 " effeminate vertue, spoyled their goods, imprisoned 
 " their bodies, and were rather by God's gracious 
 *' providence, than any want of will, purpose, or 
 " attempt, restrayned from murdering the principal 
 *' persons." 
 
 About the same time Lady Catherine Gordon, 
 wife of Perkin Warbeck, the impostor and pre- 
 tender to the crown, was taken by Lord Daubeny 
 at St. Michael's Mount, whither she had retired as 
 a place of refuge, and delivered to the king. 
 
 A place of this description was not likely to rest 
 in peace during the troubles of the first Charles's
 
 [ 213 ] 
 
 reign. ' In the year 1646, it surrendered to the 
 Parliamentary forces under Colonel Hammond, after 
 a stout defence by its governor Sir Francis Basset, 
 who, with his garrison, had permission to reiire 10 
 the Scilly Islands. The besiegers found the Marquis 
 of Hamilton a prisoner in the fort, and what pro- 
 bably they esteemed a more important objei, a 
 considerable store of ordnance, ammunition, and 
 provision also ; consisting of 100 barrels of powder, 
 500 muskets, 100 pikes, 30 pieces of cannon, three 
 murthcring pieces, plenty of eatables, and 80 tons 
 of wine. 
 
 Since this period the history of St. MichaePs 
 Mount has been peaceable, affording no particulars 
 worth recording ; a circumstance in which you will 
 probably most heartily rejoice, as I must already 
 have sufficiently tired you with the subjeft. I could 
 not, however, resist the inclination of being thus 
 particular in my account of a place, which at once 
 delighted my eye, and filled my imagination; and 
 which, when we consider its situation and appear- 
 ance, its history, natural, ecclesiastical, and military, 
 we must, perhaps, allow to be one of the most 
 remarkable spots in the kingdom. 
 
 The enchanting beauties of Mount's Bay were 
 strikingly contrasted by the grim features of the 
 road to Helston j which afforded us no objeft of
 
 [ GJ4 ] 
 
 curiosity or amusement, except the Castle of Pen- 
 gerswick, situated nearly half way between the two 
 towns, a little to the right of the road. Its situation, 
 which is a bottom, evinced at once that it never 
 could have been a place of great strength, though 
 from its machicolated gate, embattled turrets, and 
 other features of military architefture, we judged it 
 must have been built for defence. Indeed the name 
 marks its designation j pen-giver as- ike signifying the 
 head ward of the cove. No topographical writer 
 mentions by whom or when it was built ; but tradi- 
 tion, determined to supply the deficiency, tells us 
 its architeft was a man who had made so much 
 money at sea, that when he loaded his ass with his 
 gold, the weight was so great as to break the poor 
 animal's back. The foundation of this legend seems 
 to have been the representation of an ass (now 
 obliterated) formerly painted on the wainscoat of the 
 first floor, which was probably nothing more than 
 the emblematical illustration of some moral sentences 
 under it. These are in the black letter ; and one of 
 them compares a miser to an ass loaded with riches, 
 who, without attcriding to his golden burden, satisfies 
 hiuisclf with a bitter thistle. It is a circumstance not 
 discreditable to our ancestors, that their halls and 
 rooms of festivity were frequently ornamented with 
 ihe^e hints to good condu*51:, moral sentences, and
 
 [ 215 ] 
 
 passages from scripture : they had a tendency at 
 least to awaken and impress useful reflexions, which 
 cannot be asserted of modern domestic decorations, 
 even if they be designed with all the taste, and 
 executed at all the expence, so minutely described in 
 Mr. Hope's elaborate publication on Household Fur- 
 niture. We have only one story on record connefted 
 with Pengerswick Castle ; and that is an anecdote 
 of blood. A Mr. Milliton, who had killed a man in 
 the reign of Henry VIII. purchased, in the name of 
 his son, the domain of Pengerswick, and passed the 
 remainder of his guilty life in a secret chamber of 
 its tower, seen only by his most trusty friends, and, 
 I should hope, bitterly deploring the crime that had 
 thus condemned him to seclusion from the world. 
 The town of Helston made us some amends for 
 the dreariness of the country through which it is 
 approached, being neat, regular, and populous. It 
 stands on the river Lo, and carries on a considerable 
 export trade, chiefly of the tin manufadured in the 
 heart of the county. A large supply of flsh had 
 just been brought to its market, which were selling 
 at such low prices as astonished us. Amongst 
 others we observed great quantities of enormous 
 Conger Eels, with their adder-like head?, and eyes 
 nearly resembling the human organ of vision. 
 " What can be done with such a creature as this ?*'
 
 [.216 ] 
 
 said W , pointing to one that weighed nearly 
 8olbs. ' Why,* replied the market-man, * cut him 
 ' up, and put him into a poy to be sure ; they are 
 * main good eating, you know.* W blessed his 
 stars that he was not condemned to such monstrous 
 fare ; and declared he would as soon have thought 
 of making a meal off the serpent of Epidaurus. 
 
 It is only in places distant from the metropolis 
 that one can hope to find any vestiges of ancient 
 customs, or original manners. At Helston wc 
 were gratified by finding the traces of a superstition 
 which the abrasion of fourteen centuries had not 
 obliterated. We were told, that on the eighth 
 day of May, an annual holiday was kept at Helston, 
 evidently the remains of the Roman Floralia, a fes- 
 tival observed by that people in honour of the 
 goddess Flora on the fourth of the calends of 
 May, which answered to our 28th of April. Its 
 present name, the Furry, would discover its original, 
 were it not sufficiently pointed out by the time of 
 its celebration, and the rites observed on the occa- 
 sion. In one particular, indeed, it happily bears no 
 resemblance to the Roman festival,* as none of the 
 
 * " His ludis fivmhias, qurt vulgato corpore quocstum 
 " facic'bant, denudarij etpndendis obsca'.nisque invelatis, per 
 " luxmi et ]asci\ iain currerej et impudicos jocos agere, moris
 
 I ^^17 ] 
 
 indecencies are pra61ised at Helston which charac- 
 terized the ancient Floralia ; but in all its innocent, 
 gay, and unexceptionable features, it continues the 
 same as in the earliest times of its observance. On 
 the 8th of May, before the dawn of day, the cheerful 
 sound of various instruments ixhoes through the tov/n 
 of Heiston, accompanied with the roar of a chorus 
 song, vociferated by a large party of men, women, 
 ana children; announcing thearrival of a festival 
 which is to give a temporary repose to every sort of 
 labour, and to be dedicated entirely to sport and 
 jollity. In a short time the streets are thronged 
 with spectators, or assistants in the mysteries. 
 Should any industrious young man be found inatten- 
 tive to the summons to universal relaxation, he is 
 instantly seized by the joyous band, mounted upon a 
 
 ' crat, Ho5 in Vico Patricio ant proximo celcbrabant, 
 " aoetiuiuc acccnsis facibus, cui multa obsc<rnitate verbo- 
 " rum per urbcmi currebunt, et ad tubai sonitum convt^ni- 
 " cbant," Rfjsini Antic/. Rom. corpus Dempteii, p. 338. c.xv. 
 Ovid endeavours awkwardly enough to give a reason for 
 the obscene tharafter of these rites ; 
 
 " Uuierere conabar quare lascivia major 
 " His furet in ludis, libcriorque jocns : 
 " Sed milin succunit, numcn non essesc\erum, 
 " Apta(]uc deliciis niunera ferre deam." 
 
 r<i>t. 1. j. V.331.
 
 [ 218 ] 
 
 pole, borne on the shoulders of some of the party, 
 and hurried to the river, into which, if he do not 
 commute his punishment by a fine, he is plunged 
 sans ceremonie. At nine o'clock the revellers appear 
 before the Grammar-School, and make their demand 
 of a prescriptive holiday ; and then proceed through. 
 ihe towttj making a colle\ion from house to house 
 of money to be expended in the sports of the day. 
 After having levied this general contribution, the 
 troops fades as it is called (or in the modern Eng- 
 glish goes') into the country, where they gather oak 
 branches and flowers, and with these, like the Flora- 
 Ham of old, having adorned their heads, they return 
 into the town, through which they dance and gambol 
 till it is dusk, preceded by a fiddle playing an ancient 
 traditional tune, passing without ceremony (in the 
 mean time) through any house they think proper, a 
 right assumed by the party, and granted by the 
 inhabitants from time immemorial. Within the 
 memory of man the higher classes of the people of 
 Helston used to assist in these mt^^ fading into the 
 country in the afternoon, and when they came back 
 dancing like the crowd, and observing the same 
 ceremony of entering into private houses. This 
 custom, however, has vanished before modern re- 
 finement, and now only a seleft party observe the 
 pra^ice, performing their exforensic orgies after
 
 t i219 ] 
 
 night-fall, and then resorting to the ball-room, where 
 the evening is closed by the genteel inhabitants with 
 a ball and supper. The unusual gniety of the furry 
 in the year 1796, is spoken of with rapture; it 
 seems to have reached the climax of fun and jollity. 
 A bard of the neighbouihood wrote the following 
 excellent songs for the occasion, which added to 
 the celebrity of the day, and the elegance of the 
 entertainment. 
 
 JANUARY. 
 THOUGH oft we shiver'd to the gale. 
 
 That ho\vrd along the gloomy waste : 
 Or mark'd, in billows v/rapt, the sail 
 
 Which vainly struggled with the blast; 
 Tho' as the dark wave flash'd on high. 
 
 We view'd the form of danger near ; 
 While, as \\q. caught the seaman's cry. 
 
 Cold terror check'd the starting tear ; 
 Yet have we seen, where zephyrs breathe 
 
 Their sweets o'er mead or pasture-down. 
 Young laughing Spring with purple wreath 
 
 The hoary head of winter crown. 
 But, ere we hail'd the budding tree. 
 
 Or all its opening bloom survey'd. 
 Whilst in gay rounds the vernal bee 
 
 Hunuud o'er the fragrance of the glade ; 
 Fled was the faery smile, and clns'd 
 
 The little triinuph of an hour ; 
 And melancholy's eye rrpos'd 
 
 On the pale bud, the fainting flower !
 
 [ 220 ] 
 
 APRIL. 
 
 No longer the goddess of florets shall seem 
 
 To rekindle the bloom of the year ; 
 Then scatter around us the wreck of a dream. 
 
 And resign us to winter austere. 
 To its promise yon delicate child of the shade^ 
 
 The primrose, is never untrue : 
 Nor the lilac unfolds, the next moment to fade. 
 
 Its clusters of beautiful blue. 
 Though weak be its verdure, ere long shall the thorn 
 
 The pride of its blossom display. 
 Where Flora, amid the mild splendour of morn. 
 
 Unbosoms the fragrance of May. 
 
 THE EIGHTH OF MAY. 
 
 Soft as the sigh of zephyr heaves 
 The verdure of its lucid leaves. 
 Yon lily's bell, of vestal white. 
 Moist from the dew-drop, drinks the light. 
 No more in feeble colours cold. 
 The tulip, for each glowing fold. 
 So richly wav'd with vermeil dyes. 
 Steals the pure blush of orient skies. 
 The hyacinth, wliose pallid hue 
 Shrunk from the blast that Eurus blue. 
 Now trusts to May's delicious calm, 
 its tender tint, its musky balm. 
 And hark ! the plumed warblers pour 
 'J heir notes, to greet the genial hour. 
 As, whispering love, this arborous shade 
 Spoils Vvith the sun-beam down the glade
 
 [ 221 ] 
 
 Then say, ye Nymphs ! and truly tell, ' 
 If ever with the lily's bell. 
 Or with the tulip's radiant dye. 
 Young poets give your cheeks tar viej 
 Or to the hyacinth compare 
 The clustering softness of your hair ; 
 If e'er they bid your vocal strain 
 In silence hush the feather'd train ; 
 Beat not your hearts with more delight 
 At every " rural sound and sight," 
 Than at such flatter)', to the ear 
 Tho' syren-sweet, yet insincere? 
 
 THE FADE. 
 
 White-vestur'dj ye maidens of Ellas, draw near. 
 
 And honour the rites of the day : 
 'Tis the fairest that shines in the round of the year j 
 
 Tlien hail the bright Goddess of May. 
 O come, let us rifle the hedges, and crown' 
 
 Our heads with gay garlands of sweets : 
 And when avc return to the shouts of the town. 
 
 Let us weave the light dance thro' the streets. 
 Flinging open each door, Ictus enter and frisk. 
 
 Though the master be all in a pother 
 ^or, flway from one ho\ise as we merrily whisk. 
 
 We wiWf'idc it quick thro' another. 
 The nymph who despises the furry-day dance,' 
 
 Is a fine, or -d finical lady 
 Then let us with Iicarts full of pleasure advance. 
 
 And mix, one and all, in t!ie Fade.
 
 [ '1^2 ] 
 
 THE SOLITARY FAIR. 
 
 Perhaps, fair maid ! thy musing mind. 
 
 Little to festive scenes inclin'd. 
 
 Scorns not the dancer's merry mood. 
 
 But only longs for solitude. 
 
 Thy hearty alive to nature's power. 
 
 Flutters w^ithin the roseate bower. 
 
 Thrills with new warmth, it knows not why. 
 
 And steals delirium from a sigh. 
 
 Alas ! though so averse from glee. 
 
 This genial hour is felt by thee : 
 
 The tumults of thy bosom prove. 
 
 That May is but the tiurse of love ! 
 
 BEWARE OF- THE MONTH OF MAY. 
 
 Then, gentle maid, who'cr thou art. 
 
 Who bid'st the shades embowering, veil 
 The sorrows of a love-sick heart. 
 
 And listen to thy pensive talej 
 Sweet girl ! insidious May beware j 
 
 And heed thy poet's warning song : 
 Lo ! May and Venus spread the snare 
 
 For those who fly the festal throng ! * 
 
 As it was our intention to visit the Lizard 
 Point, and understanding that the roads in this 
 Cornish Chersonesus were very intricate, we provided 
 ourselves with directions for the excursion from 
 
 * Polwhele's History of Cornwall, vol. i. p. 46.
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
 two or three diiFerent quarters : they were, indeed, 
 very complicated and somewhat contradiftory, but 
 depending upon our own sagacity, our general know- 
 ledge of the principal bearings of the country, and 
 above all on the length and fineness of the day, and 
 the advantage of a full moon at night, we boldly set 
 out, without a guide, upon an expedition which 
 would have required the aid of Ariadne*s clue to have 
 performed it without an error.* Our deviations, 
 however, had one moral use ; if they tried our tem- 
 pers, they humbled our vanity, and left upon our 
 minds a friendly impression of the wisdom of 
 Solomon's advice, not " to lean on our own under- 
 standing." The village of Mullion, detected from 
 afar by the lofty tower of its church, is reached 
 without difficulty \. but to discover the way beyond 
 this place, hoc opus, hie labor est. Indeed had we 
 not known that the steatite or soap-rock quarries 
 lay immediately on the coast, it would have been 
 beyond ilic reach even of our acuteness to have 
 
 * Being indisposed at Hclston, I was unable to accompany 
 my friend W to the Lizard, and obliged to go on to llcdiuth. 
 From him, however, I received the particulars of this expe- 
 dition ; and not being willing to break the texture of the 
 narrative, have given them in the first person plural.
 
 [ 224 ] 
 
 found them out. Keeping as close to the cliff as it 
 was prafticable, we at length, about three miles 
 from Mullion, descended into a narrow valley, 
 where we perceived the objeft of which we were in 
 searck, and the workmen employed in extrafting the 
 fossil from the rock. The name steatite has been 
 imposed upon this produ^ion from its appearance and 
 texture ; for both to the eye and the touch it bears 
 the strongest resemblance to soap. Its matrix is an 
 hard serpentine rock, in which it lies imbedded in 
 veins or lodes; almost du6lile when first dug out, 
 but gradually indurating when exposed to the air, 
 though always retaining its unfluous feel. Its gene- 
 ral colour is a dull white, streaked or spotted with 
 purple or red ; though varying in hue according to 
 the different combinations of its component parts. 
 Five men are employed in digging the article, of 
 which they procure about 5oolbs. per week; and 
 three or four women in an adjoining building sort 
 the steatite when it is brought to t^em, separating 
 the finer masses from the grosser, and packing it in 
 barrels for exportation. The former is valued at 
 upwards of 20/. per ton ; the latter of course sells 
 at a reduced price. Messrs. Flight and Barr, of 
 Worcester, are the owners of the quarry, and con- 
 sume the greater part of its produce, using it in 
 their china manufactory, by mixing about one-third
 
 C 225 ] 
 
 of the best steatite with the other pofCelaifi earths ; 
 a combination that imparts to the ware a most 
 beautiful china-like appearance. Borlase, fifty years 
 ago, examined the various steatites of the rocks with 
 great attention, and has given us the following ac- 
 count of their different species : 
 
 " No. I. The pure white is a close-grained 
 " glossy clay, dissolves soon in water, is tasteless, 
 " sticks a little to the tongue, deposits a yellowish 
 " pulpy settlement at the bottom, above which a 
 " cloud of the finest parts continues suspended ; 
 " mixed with oil, it becomes greasy ; it is also too 
 " fat to make a body of colour for painting in water, 
 ** and makes no effervescence with aqua fortis. It 
 " is very absorbent, and takes spots out of silk, 
 " without injuring the colour; and is possibly the 
 " same which Bishop Pontoppidan calls the white 
 " ' Talc-stone, of such a whiteness, that it is used 
 " ' in Norway for powder, as it may be pulverized 
 " into an impalpable fineness.' This is carefully 
 " seleded from the other sons of clay, barrelled up, 
 " and almost wholly engrossed, by people employed 
 ** under the managers of the porcelain manufadlures. 
 " No. 2. A white, dry, chalky earth, sticks 
 ** strongly to the tongue, tasteless, dissolvess easily 
 ** in water into a pulp, with acids makes no effer- 
 ** vcscence.
 
 t 226 ] 
 
 *' No. 3. The same chalky eanh equally mixed 
 with a red earth ; its water ruddy, like red chalk ; 
 its deposit more gritty than the foregoing j make$ 
 no effervescence with acids. 
 " No. 4. The next sort of this clay is very white, 
 clouded here and there, but not veined with pur- 
 ple. It dissolves in water with more difficulty 
 than No. 1 , and tinges the water with purple ; as 
 to the rest agreeing in all its properties with No. 
 I. This is probably the cimoHa purpurescens, or 
 ad purpurissum ind'mans, of Pliny, lib. xxxv, 
 chap. xvii. 
 
 " No. 5. A glossy, pearl- coloured, bard clay, 
 approaching nearly to the consistence of a white 
 opaque spar; soon cleaves itself into granules 
 when immersed in water, yet dissolves no farther ; 
 but with water grinds soon into a flesh-coloured 
 milky pulp : it is much harder than soap and wajc, 
 saws free and greasy. There is a more stony 
 variety of this clay, and more speckled with pur- 
 ple, so that you can scarce break it with a hammer j 
 and I find that the more there is of the purple 
 in any sample, the more hard, and less ready to 
 dissolve in water. But the most curious of this 
 sort, which I have seen, was discovered here in 
 1755 ; it is of a texture so close and fine, that 
 afrcr it is cut or scraped, it remains as smooth.
 
 [ 227 ] 
 
 and of as high a polish, as the best porcelain does 
 " after it is burnt. It has an incrustation of green 
 " amianthos on the side of the lode, which in my 
 *' specimen was the twelfth part of an inch thick ; 
 " and is the most beautiful fossil of this kind I have 
 " seen. This may be the Galaftites of the ancients, 
 *' at least it is much of the same nature. 
 
 " No. 6. A fat mass of steatites, its coat or skin 
 " about half an inch thick, of -a waxen texture, of 
 " a brown.yeHow or deep amber colour, its interior 
 " strong purple, interlaced with a paler, more cine- 
 " reous purple, the whole veined with a whitish 
 <* steatites, exa^ly, as to the exterior, like the pur- 
 " pie Plymouth marble j it dissolves into a pulp 
 " sooner than the foregoing number. 
 
 " No. 7. In the lode (or vein), near the top of 
 " the clilF, I find a kind of green gritty chalk, which 
 " may be compressed with the grasp of the hand* 
 " divides in water easily, and dissolves into a 
 " clammy pulp. In the more regular and contracted 
 " lode below, I find the green making a stony course 
 " of about an inch wide; its taste brackish; immer- 
 ** ged in water, it divides into angular granules ; it 
 " is the most solid and hardest of any yet mentioned, 
 * whence I conclude that the green steatites, which 
 '' is tender, gritty, and pulpy above, becomes more 
 "'compaft in the contraaed vein below j its parts 
 
 Q.2
 
 [ 228 ] 
 
 ' attra^ing one another more forcibly where (hef 
 " have not room to spread into a loose incoherent 
 *' state, consequently the narrower the mold, cleft, 
 *' or vein, the more close, hard, and stony the 
 *' included substance becomes ; and if this stone 
 " prove harder still underneath, as is not unlikely, 
 *' it will thereby become the more valuable. 
 
 *' No. 8. A deeper purple, and more stony 
 " steatites, from the same cliffs ; but whether front 
 " the principal lode, uncertain. It has so much 
 " of the nature of stone, that it does not swell nor 
 '' decompound in water, as the foregoing numbers. 
 *' Being so stony, I tried to get a good colour from 
 *' it by grinding it in oil ; it was very difficult to 
 ** bruise, but when ground fine was too greasy for' 
 ** painting. 
 
 *' No. 9. A blackish kind of steatites, the vein 
 " about an inch thick, its exterior smooth and glossy, 
 ** its interior veined and spotted with No. 5: its tex- 
 " ture close, corneous, and approaching in the main 
 " to a dark flint, and as hard as flint it was to grind, 
 *' but it will not give fire with steel ; being ground 
 " down it became of a p;ood burnt umber colour, but 
 " like the rest, too fat for painting. This is how- 
 ** ever much coveted, and barrelled up for London, 
 '* the reasons concealed, but for the porcelain likely, 
 ** or glass manufaflure, or both. In the same vein
 
 I 229 ] 
 
 <^' there is a small course of real spar, (very unusual 
 " in our Coruish lodes,) about three-fourths of 
 " an inch thick, No. lo. This spar lies not in a 
 " solid lode, but in a shattery tesslated state, like 
 *' so many dies, loose and side by side j it ferments 
 *' immediately with aqua fortis ; is subtransparent, 
 *' and breaks into quadrangular prisms, the base a 
 " Rhombus." 
 
 One mile more to the north introduced us to 
 another natural curiosity of the Lizard, Kynance 
 Cove, a most tremendous assemblage of dark ser- 
 pentine rocks, disposed by the hand of Nature into 
 groups, if I may be allowed the expression, horribly 
 pifturesque. The descent into this recess is by a 
 gloomy narrow path, awful, if not dangerous; ba- 
 nishing by its dread solemnity all associations con- 
 nected with the works of man, and the bustle of 
 society. An interminable ocean was spread before 
 iis J huge rocks elevated their august masses high 
 above our heads on each side; and behind us a 
 dark cavern penetrated deeply into the cliff. We 
 only wanted the terrors of a storm to afford us 
 a pi~ture of the true sublime. Unhappily for the 
 mariner, this awful accompaniment to Kynance 
 Cove is but too frequent upon the shores of the 
 Lizard. More than seven months out of the twelve 
 it is deluged with rain, and the terrible south/-
 
 [ 230 ] 
 
 westerly winds prevail in the same proportion. 
 Shipwreck is consequently not an unusual event 
 here ; though the most prudent precautions have 
 been taken to prevent it, by the constru(5lion of 
 two light-houses on the Lizard Point, (about a mile 
 from Kynance Cove,) which front the south, and 
 stand nearly abreast of each other. These point 
 out the most southerly promontory of England, and 
 of course notify the dangerous adjoining coast ; 
 but unhappily they are at times found to be insuffi- 
 cient securities against the horrible darkness of the 
 midnight storm, and the uncontroulable fury of con- 
 vulsed elements. The Lizard Point has much of 
 the charaier of the Land's End, but wants its sub- 
 limity : those travellers therefore who would intro- 
 duce a just gradation of pleasure into their Cornish 
 excursion, should visit the Lizard before they go to 
 the western extremity of the county. 
 
 Our course from Ruan to Menachan over Goon- 
 heliy downs would have been intolerably dreary, had 
 not the surface on which we rode regaled both the 
 eye and olfaflory nerve with a vast profusion of 
 that beautiful and rare English Heath, called the 
 Erica Vagans. This natural carpet of blooming 
 vegetation accompanied us for some miles, and then 
 deserted us as suddenly as it had unexpectedly pre- 
 senred itself to our notice. Not a plant of it Vv'as
 
 C 231 } 
 
 to be seen as we proceeded j a circumstance which 
 bore as strong a testimony to a sudden difference 
 of the soils as if portions of them had been analy- 
 zed on the spot by the most subtle chemist. 
 
 At Menachan we saw the rivulet which produces 
 the semi-metal called Menacbanite, found here in 
 the form of grains, and procured by washing the 
 gravel and sand of the bed of the stream. Not 
 being as yet applied to any purpose of utility, 
 Menachaniie is only interesting to the mineralogist. 
 
 The village of Gweek, which stands at the head of 
 the river Hel, terminated the tour of the Lizard Cher- 
 sonesus. It afforded also comfortable refreshment 
 for ourselves, and good food for our horses, articles 
 we should in vain have enquired for in the other vil- 
 lages through which we passed after quitlingMuiiion. 
 
 Our road to Redruth afforded us more speci- 
 mens of Druidical remains, on the summits of 
 two lofty hills to the right, about six miles from 
 Helston. They consisted of cairnes and coits, a 
 term applied to groups of stones, when some of 
 them are ereft, forming three sides of an enclosure, 
 and others placed over them in a horizontal direc- 
 tion. We had before remarked, that these monu- 
 ments of early superstition were seldom found 
 isolated, but usually in a series contiguous to each 
 other. Here was another instance of this associ-
 
 [ 232 ] 
 
 ation, a circumstance naturally enough accounted for 
 
 by Borlase in the following manner : " It will, per- 
 
 " haps,'* says he, " seem surprising to some readers, 
 
 " that many places of devotion, and altars of the 
 
 ** same kind, should be found so near to one another. 
 
 " Karns for instance, on adjoming hills, and sorae- 
 
 '* tinies rocks in different parts of the same karns, 
 
 *' or ledges of rocks, marked with the same traces 
 
 *' of the use they were designed for ; but it must 
 
 *' be remembered, that the ancients were of opinion 
 
 " that all places were not at all times equally auspi- 
 
 *^ cious, and that the gods might permit, encourage, 
 
 *' or grant in one place or circle, or ou one rock or 
 
 *' altar, what they denied in another ; an opinion 
 
 *' first suggested for the furtherance and promoting 
 
 *' of error, and continued for the private gain of 
 
 *' these superstitious jugglers; for if appearances of 
 
 *' the victim were not favourable in one place, if 
 
 *' their divinations and enchantments were mistaken 
 
 " and their predictions failed, the fault was not laid 
 
 *' to the want of ait in the priest, or of truth in the 
 
 *' science, or of power in the idol, but lolhe inno- 
 
 '* cent place ; and the places were changed til! 
 
 " appearances became more supple and applicable 
 
 " to the purposes intended ;''*an opinion which he 
 
 " Bprlase's Antiquities^ p. 122.
 
 [ 233 ] 
 
 HlaBtrates and confirms by the conduct of Balak, 
 who, when he employed the prophet BiUaam to 
 curse the Israelites, finding the incantation fail in 
 one place, and hoping that another might prove 
 more favourable, requests Balaam to accompany him 
 to an adjoining elevation, and there repeat his arts ; 
 *' Come, I pray thee, says he, I will bring thee into 
 " another place, perad venture it will please Goi> 
 ** that thou raayest curse me them from thence.'* 
 
 It had not escaped our observation, also, that the 
 Druidical remains of Cornwall were destitute of 
 barrows in their neighbourhood, accompaniments 
 which surround in multitudes the stupendous tem- 
 ples of VViltbhire, Abury and Stonehenge. I appre- 
 hend, however, that their absence may be accounted 
 for upon a very obvious and rational principle. It 
 is universally allowed that barrows are places of 
 sepulture ; mounds raised over the bodies of those 
 who were celebrated for achievements, or dignified by 
 ofHce. Now it seems but reasonable to suppose that 
 die intention of these tumuli was to commemorate 
 the names of those who -were interred beneath them. 
 ^' If I must fall in the field,'* says a northern chief- 
 lian in Ossian, " raise high my grave, Vinvela. Grey 
 ^* stones, and heaped up earth, shall mark me to 
 ^' future times. When the hunter shall sit by 
 *' the mound, and produce his food at noon, a war-
 
 C 234 J 
 
 ** rior rests here, he will say, and my fame shall 
 ' live in his praise." Such being their design, 
 would not those who constructed them naturally 
 choose such materials for their formation as should 
 be most likely to excite enquiry, by most powerfully 
 striking the eye, and attrating attention? To 
 those who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the Wilt- 
 shire temples, a material of this kind presented 
 itself, the best calculated for the purpose that can 
 possibly be imagined ; the white chalk of the dowris, 
 which, piled into a heap, would be visible from afar, 
 and opposed to the verdant turf that covered the 
 surface of the plain^ would form a contrast as agree- 
 able as it was conspicuous. Hence arose, as I con- 
 ceive, the numerous tumuli scattered over this wide 
 expanse. In Cornwall, on the other hand, chalk 
 was unknown, as their hills were only abundant ia 
 stones ; and to these alone could they have recourse 
 for materials to immortalize the memory of the de- 
 parted. Instead therefore of heaping up barrows, 
 which would have been difficult to raise from the 
 scantiness of the soil, and invisible at a distance from 
 the dinglness of their colour, they constructed those 
 canis or aggestions of stones, which occur in such 
 numbers on all the hills, and thus left memorials of 
 their heroes and priests, which, if not so beautiful 
 at first as the barrows of chalk, will outlive these
 
 [ 235 ] 
 
 more perishable sepulchral monuments, and last as 
 long as time shall endure. 
 
 We had ridden within two miles of Redruth, 
 when a miner directed us to ascend a rising ground 
 to the left, for the sake of a view. We found it 
 worth the trouble of a deviation from the road, 
 for it not only gave us a great command of the 
 country around, but enabled us to embrace at the 
 same moment the North and South Sea ; an un- 
 bounded prospeft both of the Bristol and British 
 Channels. 
 
 The Cornish topographers, with a very pardon- 
 able degree of that vanity which charafterizes pro- 
 vincial writers, and leads them to attribute as high 
 antiquity as possible to the objel^s of their antiqua- 
 rian researches, have carried back the origin of 
 Redruth to the times of Druidism. But alas! how 
 vain are the labours of the etymologists ; and how 
 weak those strui^ures which are ere6ied upon the 
 fancied similarity of names. Behold, with what ease 
 the hypotheses of Borlase and Pryce are scalpedl, 
 hamstrung, and afterwards dashed to atoms, by the 
 tomahawk of Whitaker. " The chapel,'* says this 
 historical polemic, " as it is called, I consider as 
 *' the original church of the parish, and the original 
 " cause of the town. The church was fixed here: 
 *' lis parsonage-house accompanied it : and the
 
 I 236 ] 
 
 ** latter, I suppose, was called Redruth, or (as the 
 " real name of the town appears to be from some 
 *' writings in the hands of the lord, Sir F. Basset) 
 *' Dredruith. This name, however, was not given 
 *' it or the town, we may be sure, as Dr. Prycc 
 " fondly imagines, from Dre-Druith, the Druid's 
 *' town ; though this (he alleges) it ' undoubtedly 
 " * signifies from its vicinity to Carn Brea, that cele- 
 *' * brated station of Druidical superstition.' How 
 *' such a station could gwt name to a town two miles 
 *' off, the limping faith of un-iniiiated antiquaries 
 " will find it difficult to say. Nor does the word 
 " Druid, though once the most respectable in a)I 
 " the British vocabulary, retain any marks of honour 
 *' in any diale(5l of the British at present. Christ- 
 *' ianity has swept away all the heathen ideas of the 
 *' name : and the word now is stampt only with 
 " the impressions of magic and of whoredom j that 
 " referring to the knowledge of the Druids, and this 
 *' to the matrimonial clubs of them and their vota- 
 " rics. Thus, Dryi, Dryith is rendered by Mr. 
 ** Lhuyd a sorcerer; Draoi is properly a Druid, 
 " but liow an augur, a charmer, or magician ; Draot, 
 *' Dlieacd, or Draoidheacta, is properly the 
 " Druidish form of worship, but now magic or 
 " sorccryj Droide^achd, is sorcery, divination, 
 '^ magic J and Druadh is a charmer or magiciarx.
 
 C 237 1 
 
 ' All these involuntary acknowledgments of know* 
 ** ledge in the Druids, however, are confined to the 
 " Irish. The Welsh and the Cornish are not so 
 " ingenious. They know of nothing, but the lasci- 
 " viousness of the Druids and their followers. 
 " Druathaim is to commit fornication ; Drioth, a 
 harlot, or other unchaste person ; Drutharnutog, 
 " a bawd; Druthlanu,a bawdy-house; and Drutiir, 
 a fornicator; Drythyll, lascivious, wanton, leche- 
 " rous ; Dryihyllwoh, wantonness, lasciviousnes, 
 " lechery, lust ; Druov, a Druid ; Druth, a harlot ; 
 and Drythyll, bucksome, gamesome. In this 
 " view of the word Druid, Dre-druith, as meaning 
 " Druid's town, must either have been so called 
 " before Christianity was settled here, or have been 
 " so denominated in an abusive sense. But as it is 
 " no Roman-British town, it could not have been 
 " one before ChristianiLy. And the town v/ill not 
 " allow itself to be considered as a town of magi- 
 *' cians or a town of harlots. If indeed it was not, 
 " as It certainly was not, a town before Christianity, 
 " it could have no relation to the Druids, either in 
 " an abusive or a complimentary sense. And it 
 " must have been called Dre-druth, from the chan- 
 " nel on which it stood ; Drc-trot signifying 
 " the house on the bed or channel of the river. 
 *' This name is so very ancient,' says Dr. Pryce,
 
 t 238 ] 
 
 *' * as to be given to the situation of t!ie town/ and 
 " consequently to some house upon or near it, 
 *' * before this kingdom was divided into parishes,* 
 " and therefore in the time of the Druids, if it 
 " means the Druid*s town ; ' as old writings express 
 " 'thus:' ' in the parish of Uny (St. Uny) juxta 
 " Dredruith/ The town is not Roman-British, and 
 *' must therefore be of the middle ages. The parish 
 " is older than the town, because the town was not 
 " made the centre of it. But the parish itself could 
 " never be denominated as * juxta Dredruithj' because 
 " Redruth was a part of it. Nothing can possibly 
 " be described, as situate near itself. But the small 
 *' church, which from its smallness Mr. Tonkin has 
 " called a chapel, and which became so on the erec- 
 " tion of a larger for the town and parish, might 
 " and would be so described. And the parish is 
 " called in old writings that of Uny [St. UnyJ 
 " juxta Dredruuh,* the parish of the church of 
 " St. Uny near Redruth ; in contradistindlion from 
 " Uny-Lelant, of which (as Leland says) ' the 
 " ' toune of Lannant is praty, the church thereof is 
 " ' of St. Unine;' (v. iii. p. 21;) just as we have 
 " the parish and church of Lanteglos juxta Fowey 
 " and the parish and church of Lanteglos juxta 
 " Camtiford. ' Though the parish is now,' Dr. 
 " Fryce himself tells us, * and has been immemori-
 
 r 239 3 
 
 " ' ally denominated Redruth j its real dedicatory 
 * * name is St. Uny/ The original church, there- 
 * fore, was so dedicated. This shews itself deci- 
 *' sively to have been the chapel of Mr. Tonkin, 
 ** because the chapel stood * at the bottom of the 
 ' ' great street near the river,' because the church 
 " is described in old writings as near Redruth ; and 
 ** because the name of Redruth has been almost 
 " invariably referred, and is now found clearly to 
 " refer, to the position of all upon the river. And 
 *' so at last Dr. Pryce*s dream, of this town claim- 
 *' ing * an evident antiquity prior to any other in the 
 *' ' county,* is all dissolved into air. The town was 
 ' no Roman one. The town was not considerable 
 " enough on the erelion of parishes, to be made 
 " the centre of one. It was not even in being then. 
 *' The church and parsonage house were ere^ed 
 " near the present site of it. They gave occasion 
 *' to it. If I am not mistaken, the church Vi^as on 
 *' the west side of the brook, and perhaps the par- 
 " sonage house on the east. Both drew houses 
 *' near them. Yet all was only a village, that took 
 *' the name of the parsonage-house, the house on 
 " the channel. And all remained a village, nearly 
 " to the days of Mr. Tonkin." 
 
 But whether or no Redruth may be the offspring 
 of the Pagan Druids, or of a Christian chapel, it is
 
 [ 240 1 
 
 at present a towft, if not of surpassing bfeaiiry, at 
 least of much intercourse, alivity, and population. 
 Situated in the heart of the mining country, it is 
 enriched by a considerable part of the various 
 expenditures conne6^ed tvith these concerns ; and in 
 return, spreads through the distrift all the conveni- 
 ences and comforts flovi^ing from retail trade* The 
 day we arrived there happened to be one of its 
 three annual fairs : its lonp; street was a crowd from 
 the beginning to the end of it ; and the quantity of 
 iine oxen, the breed of the country, exposed for 
 sale, exceeded any thing we had ever seen of the 
 same kind, except the shew at Smithfield, the great 
 carcase mart of the metropolis. Nor let it be for- 
 gotten that Redruth claims some rcspe^j particularly 
 from the inhabitants of Cornwall, in being the birth- 
 place of William Pryce, the author of a Treatise 
 on the Minerals, Mines, and Mining of that county;* 
 a book of considerable service, and much practical 
 information ; and well deserving a republication, 
 with the addition of those improvements which 
 modern discoveries have introduced into the raining 
 system. 
 
 We had flattered ourselves with a- morning of 
 much information and amusement at Sdorrier House, 
 
 Folio, 1/78. London.
 
 [ 241 1 
 
 the residence of John Wiiliams, esq; which retires 
 from the road to the right, about two miles from 
 Redruth J and though placed in a country nakfd 
 of piauresque beauty, enjoys, by the judicious nia 
 nagement of the grounds around it, and the taste of 
 their plantations, a very agreeable home view. The 
 hospitality of its owner, and the kind politeness of 
 his elder son, had appointed a day for the grati- 
 fication of our curiosity. In viewing the extensive 
 mineralogic^d cohesion of the latter gentleman. A 
 derangement in the plan of our tour brought us to 
 Scorrier House two or three days earlier than the 
 one fixed for our engagement, and we were deser- 
 vedly punished for our irregularity, by finding, on 
 our arrival there, that both the gentlemen were from 
 home. We felt our disappointment poignantly, 
 which not only robbed us of the pleasure of inspca- 
 ing a cabinet arranged nearly after the system of 
 Werner, containing all the Cornish minerals in high 
 perfeaion, and a choice coUeaion of English and 
 foreign produaions, but also denied us the satisfac- 
 tion of a persoiaal interview with its possessor, a 
 gentleman certainly one of the most estimable cha- 
 raaers, and probably the best cheml.t, and most 
 experienced mineralogist, in the West of Enojaml. 
 
 It was a relief to the eye and to the mind, to 
 exchange the wild and dismal scenery of a j;reai pan 
 
 R
 
 [ 24^2 ] 
 
 part of the country between Redruth and Truro, for 
 the gay, and I may add, elegant appearance of the 
 latter town j which, for extent, regularity, and 
 beauty, may properly be denominated the metro- 
 pahs of Cornwall. Here all the modes of polished 
 life are visible, in genteel houses, elegant hospitality, 
 fashionable apparel, and courteous manners} and, 
 what adds still more to the respe(5tability of the place, 
 a taste for reading is pretty generally diffused 
 through itself and its neighbourhood, and the 
 " march of mind " accelerated, by a good public 
 library, at the easy subscription of one guinea pet 
 annum. It appeared to us to contain between two 
 and three thousand volumes. Science also has its 
 friends here; and we had the opportunity of pur- 
 chasing excellent Cornish specimens of Mr. Tre- 
 goning, an intelligent bookseller of the place, who 
 selects them with judgment, and disposes of them 
 at reasonable prices. To its other advantages Truro 
 unites that of a beautiful situation ; being placed at 
 the northern extremity of a creek, conne<fbed with 
 Falmouth harbour, and admitting ships of an loo 
 tons to its quays. From these, immense quantities 
 of tin coined, or stamped in town, are exported to 
 tlie home and foreign markets ; as well as copper 
 ore, which is sent into Wales to be manufafiured. 
 The adjacent country swells into gentle hills, which
 
 [ 243 ] 
 
 are well wooded, arid studded with gentlemen's 
 seats. On a rise of this description to the south of 
 the town, are convenient healthy Barracks for three 
 or four hundred Horse Soldiers j and near them, on 
 a spot equally advantageous, a noble Infirmary, sup- 
 ported by voluntary subscriptions, erefted for the 
 reception of those unfortunate miners who experi- 
 ence the various accidents to which their dangerous 
 employment is peculiarly liable.* The church is a 
 most beautiful Gothic fabric, and stands, as every 
 church ought to stand, unconnefled with the sur- 
 rounding buildings, unmixed with incongruous stru<i^ 
 tures, with nothing attached to it to m.ar the efFe(5l 
 of its elegant architedlure. The market of Truro, 
 though last not the least of itsattrations, is plentiful 
 and cheap ; its meat fine, and its fish various and 
 exquisite. The average price of red mullet is about 
 a penny per pound. The John Dory too, when in 
 season, (for he is a cannibal, devours the tenants of 
 his own element, and gormandizes on pilchards, 
 which spoil his flavour,) may be purchased for a 
 trifle. A friend of ours assured us that he had 
 lately seen two fine ones about three pounds each, 
 exposed in the market for sale. " What is the 
 
 * Tliis was cnxtcd in 1/9.9, 'I'li^ opened the 12th of 
 A'.i'Mist in thai year. 
 
 R 2
 
 [ 244 ] 
 
 * price of these fish?'* said he to the market- 
 woman : ' I cannot, sir, sell the two under ^d.* 
 " Well," returned he, " if you will carry them to 
 *' my home, you shall have your price, and a penny 
 " for your trouble." The offer was accepted, and 
 he had six pounds- of John Dory for as many 
 pence. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your's sincerely, 
 
 R. W.
 
 Britilh Channel 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 MY DEAR StRj 
 
 Padstow, AuiT. 20j 180S. 
 
 AT'OU will naturally expeSi, before I quit the 
 A mining country of Cornwall, I should be rather 
 more particular than I have hitherto been on the 
 subject of its Mineralogy ; and enter into some detail 
 of the history of its mining concerns, the system on 
 which they arc carried on, and the extensive trade
 
 [ 246 J 
 
 connected therewith. I shall readily gratify your 
 curiosity to the best of my ability, and think I may 
 venture to promise, that though the subje<^ be of a 
 less amusing nature than others which I have 
 touched upon in the course of my correspondence, 
 it will not altogether be without interest. You 
 must indeed dip with me as deep as Dolcooth, into 
 the mine of antiquarian research; but I trust we; 
 shall discover some ore there which may repay us for 
 the trouble of the descent. The chief mineralogical 
 productions of Cornwall, you know, considered as 
 objets of trade and manufa^ure, are only two, tin 
 and copper ; as the former, however, had been dis- 
 covered, and formed a branch of commerce, many 
 ag;es before the latter was known to exist in the 
 country, it will be proper to separate the history of 
 the two, and discuss all that relates to Tin, before 
 we pay any attention to the other mineral. 
 
 From the writings of ancient authors, both sacred 
 and profane, we learn, that tin was known and 
 manufactured several centuries anterior to the 
 Christian epoch. Moses,- who flourished 3200 
 years ago, in enumerating the purification by fire 
 of things that will " abide'* that element, makes 
 jnemion of tin amongst the rest.* Homer, who 
 
 g"~r".. >-. 
 
 * NuiQl>ersxxxi.^S.
 
 r- 247 1 
 
 is supposed to have lived 900 years before our nsra, 
 speaks of this metal thrice, if I recoiled right, ill 
 his description of Achilles' shield; first, as one of 
 the metals chosen by Vulcan for the formation of 
 this wonderful piece of armour ; 
 
 " In hissing flames huge silver bars are roll'd, 
 " And stubborn brass_, and tin, and solid gold;*" 
 
 secondly, (if we receive the poet's idea from his 
 translator,) as a contrivance to relie-ve a dark scene, 
 and thow the representation into perspective ; 
 
 " A darker metal mixt entrcneh'd the place, 
 
 *' Andpal<'s ofgliitering tin th' enclosure grac'd ^f 
 
 and thirdly," as enlivening and diversifying with this 
 bright metal the representation of a group of oxen, 
 
 'Kxi ^-"'jj-ov rii/.-/itrx, {Kxi ctcyi^r; . lA, D-. 47.'!). 
 
 \ r<;]H:'s Houi. book xviii. (i()(). Ilonicr is not so rciincd 
 lien; as his translator : he simply savs, " Vulcan ifiads a vine- 
 " yard, secured it with .^'tlcvr pales, .surrounded it with -jl 
 " ditch .)l"(h:rk metal, and a hedge of tin." 
 
 ,, > : > 
 
 LcTTy,;::: ti- xui/.xt: <itsrf/.7r;..[." a^y.fsrjO'iV 
 
 K.izi.! rr.ro/. lb. v. 60"3,
 
 [ 248 ] 
 
 by casting part of them in tin.* Isaiah too, in a 
 prophesy delivered 2500 years since, predifts the 
 future purification of the Jews, under the images of 
 the Almighty purging away " their dross, and 
 " talcing away all their tin ;" f and Ezekiel, ioo 
 years after Isaiah, specifies this metal aj one of the 
 articles which Tyre received from Tarshhh in return 
 
 * A/ 6i /3oj ^fv3-oio rtrivy(jx.Tay y.xiT<jiri^rjv rt, 2. 5/4. 
 
 Tope's translation misses this opposition of colours in the 
 group, from the use of both gold and tinj all his bulls are 
 of gold. 
 
 " Here, herds of oxen march, ere6t- and bold, 
 " Rear high the horns, and seem to \o\t in gold." 
 
 xviii. 665. 
 
 \ Isaiah chnp. i. ver. 25. The force and beauty of the 
 latter figure is not generally perceived. The Bishop of 
 Killalla has a good note on the meaning of this passage. 
 
 **' Thy tin, not alloy," says the Bishop, " as Lovvth incau- 
 " tiously renders it, for that should not be taken au ay, being 
 " of use to render metals durable ; but tin, which of all 
 " metals is most hurtful to silver, a very small admixture of 
 *' it rendering silver as brittle as glass, and what is worse, 
 " being very hardly separable from it again, if we may believe 
 " ijoerhaave ; Chemistry by ^Dallowe, vol. i. p. 15; Park- 
 " hur,->t.' Bishop of Killalla's translation of Isaiah, 4to note 
 in loc.
 
 E 249 ] 
 
 for her own exports : " Tarshish was thy merdianr, 
 *' by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches : 
 " with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy 
 ^ fairs."* You must not imagine, (however con- 
 fidently the opinion may have been advanced,) that 
 the tin here spoken of was the production of the 
 Scilly Islands or Cornwall, or that any mercantile 
 intercourse subsisted at such early periods between 
 this part of Britain and the nations above-men- 
 tioned. The markets of the East had been sup- 
 plied, it is true, with this article from Europe; not 
 however from its islands, but its continent, in one 
 part of which alone tin had been found from the 
 earliest antiquity. Lusitania ;ind Galicia, the 
 kingdom of Portugal, and the north-western pro- 
 vince of Spain, were the places which produced 
 this valuable metal, probably in no great ([uantities,t 
 since the price it bore aeems to have been very 
 higb/j: 
 
 Ezck. xxvii. 12. 
 
 J- It sccnis only to have been stream tin from Pliny's 
 account. " Intervcnlunt minuti calculi, niaxime torreniibus 
 *' siccatis." 
 
 J Pliny commences the x\llh chap, of his 34th book in 
 this manner: " Sctjuitur natura plun)l)i. Cujus duo genera, 
 " nigrum clque candidum. Pretiosis.simum candidum (m- tin) 
 " a Grx-ciii appellatum Cassiteron, iabuloscque naii.ituui iu
 
 [ 250 ] 
 
 Such was the original tin trade of the worlcf. 
 The metal was found in Spain, transported into 
 Phoenicia, and diffused from Tyre through all the 
 markets of the East and West.* Tariessus seems to 
 have been the Spanish port whence it was shipped, 
 the Tarshish of the scriptures, f the Gades;[: of 
 later times, and the Cadiz of the present day. 
 Whatever the trade of Tartessus mi^ht have been 
 
 O 
 
 tfnder its earliest inhabitants, we may be assured it 
 would be greatly increased when the place was 
 
 " insulas Atlantic! marls peti, vltilibusque navigiis circum- 
 " veutis corio advetri. Kunc certuin est^ in Lusitania gigni et 
 * in Gallicia." 
 
 * " Sam nil's would have the people of Scilly traffick In 
 ' tin with the merchants of Phoenicia lefore the Trojan war; 
 " as improbable a notion as ever Avas hatched in the heated. 
 *' bramof an antiquary." Bret. p. 47. 
 
 f " Tarsliish was thy merchant, Sec. Ezek. xxvii. 13. 
 *' J^>J^^^ est Hispania, vel Hispaniae pars,.quam 1 yrii max- 
 ** ime frequentabant, Gadcs nimirum ct Tartessus." Pol, 
 Synop. Crit. in loc. For an account of its trade, see Herod. 
 1. iv. c. 152. 
 
 J This name seems to have been ioj^ioscd upon it by the 
 Carthaginians, who sent a colony, to this place, enlarged 
 the old town, or built a new city, and greatly extended its 
 trade. ,T7J Gadir, scpivit, maceriam murum, vcl pari- 
 tem struxit, CastcUi lieptaglottou in verb.
 
 [ 251 ] 
 
 colonized and extended by the Carthaginians, who 
 appear to have made a settlement there several 
 centuries before the birth of Christ. These enter- 
 prizing mariners were themselves, you know, de- 
 scended from the greatest merchants of the world, 
 the ancient Tyrians, and carried with them into all 
 their colonies the same spirit that distinguished them 
 at home. No sooner were they established in their 
 new seat on the southern extremity of Spain, than 
 their ships boldly pushed into an ocean untra- 
 versed by them before, and roamed over the eastern 
 shores that arc washed by the Atlantic sea. After 
 having explored the coasts of Spain, the Bay of 
 Biscay, and the western provinces of France, they 
 would naturally cross the mouth of the British 
 Channel, and discover the Scilly Islands. Here their 
 attention would be immediately caught by the sight 
 of an article (and that too in abundance) which they 
 had hitherto supposed to be produced in Spain 
 alone, and whose exportation from their own city 
 had for a long time formed the most valuable branch 
 of its commerce. I'n the true spirit of trade, how* 
 ever, resolving still to preserve the monbpoly of such 
 a gainful branch of it, they carefully concealed their 
 discovery from the rest of the world, and giving 
 a false account of the situation of the islands from
 
 [ 252 ] 
 
 v;hence the market was now supplied" with tin,* they 
 took the most cunning as well as effectual method 
 of precluding any interference in their newly- 
 established trafSck.f The Greeks, egregious liars 
 themselves, gave implicit credit ta every idle story that 
 was told them. They believed this romance of the. 
 merchants of Gades, and with their accustomed vanity 
 of giving a Greek name to every place, called the 
 islands from whence the tin came, Cassiferides, with- 
 out as yet having any accurate idea of their loca} 
 situation.]; By the assistance of this imposition, 
 
 * " Fabuloseque narratum ia insulis Atlantic! maris peti.'* 
 Pliny, ut supra. 
 
 j- n^aripo* (JI.S* ovv ^onixis (Jiont t! tfvnoqtaii ejeXXoh txitviI tic ru9 
 Tx^iifuv, x^vKTovrcs xftocai rovrsK^y. Strabo iii. p. 240. Falconer's 
 Oxford edition. Strabo calls them Phoenicians from their 
 being colonists from Carthage, a colony of Tyre. 
 
 J The discovery of the Scilly Isles must have been madC;, 
 and tlie name of Cassiterides imposed upon them, twenty- 
 three centuries agoj as Herodotus^ who li\<ed about 450 years 
 before Christ, makes mention of them, though he professes 
 to knov.^ nothing more of them than their appellation. 
 
 OvTs rwBf Oi'Sx xx'7<TiTipioxs tuvois tx. Tfc'v g. /cao-ffiTspoi '/;/>i.' (potrx. 
 
 Tl "Mn AO. ' Neither do I know where the Cassiterides are 
 * \vlic*!,rc we have our tin.*' The name y.xc-a-irtpos seems to 
 tavc bt.ua of Phoenician oi"iffin. ** Quia Grxcum Stanni
 
 I 253 ] 
 
 the first discoverers of Scilly were enabled to pre- 
 serve to themselves the monopoly of the Cornish 
 tin trade for three or four ages; I sny Cor ..sh tin 
 trade, because it cannot be reasonably supposed that 
 such spirited adventurers as they were, inquisitive 
 after gain, and sagacious in discovering new modes 
 of increasing it, should confine their researches to 
 the Scilly Islands alone. The strait that separates 
 these from the main land was, as we have before 
 seen, not more than a mile in breadth ; and the pro- 
 bability of tinding the same article on the continent 
 of Britain, which they had met with on the islands, 
 would have mduced less hardy mariners than the 
 Cadizians to pass the gut, and to pursue their 
 enquiries there after the precious metal found so 
 immediately in its neighbourhood. I rhink w^e may 
 take it for granted, therefore, that they added the 
 tin produce of Cornwall to that of Scilly, and thus 
 secured for a long period the exclusive enjoyment of 
 one of the most valuable branches of commerce thea 
 
 *' nomen unde dia.x Cassiterldes posslt vlderi Phoeniciae esse 
 *' originis, quia Caldrci ct Arabes Stannum appellant vocabulis 
 " huic similibus." Sic Num. xxxi. 22. Pro Hebr^EO ^^'^2 et 
 Gnxco i^xT^^r.^H, Jonathan habet i^l^ODp A'a.-'ira j ct 
 Arab. "'"lllP ^usdri. Geo. Sac. cap. 39.
 
 [ 254 ] 
 
 known.* But the time now approached when others 
 were to participate in these advantages. The Greeks 
 of Phocea had settled at Marseilles ; and animated by 
 the same spirit of maritime adventure with the mer- 
 chants of Gades, they pushed, like them, their naval 
 researches into the Atlantic, and explored the northern 
 parts of this ocean as high up as the 63d degree of 
 latitude. Pytheas of Marseilles was the hardy sailor 
 who accomplished this achievement, and fell in with 
 the Scilly Islands in the course of his voyage. He 
 returned in safety to Marseilles, benefiting his coun- 
 trymen by the discovery of the secret mart of the 
 Cadizians, and astonishing Southern Europe with 
 an account of the phenomena he had seen, and heard 
 of, in his approach to the Northern pole.f No 
 
 * The remotest parts of the civilized world purchased 
 eagerly this useful metal of the Cadizian merchants ; giving 
 in exchange for it the precious produftions of tlteir owti 
 countries. " India neque aes, neque plumbunn habetj gnsi- 
 " mis suis ac margaritis h.-sc permutat." Plin. xxiv. 1/. 
 
 f He mentions the tides of our ocean as rising eighty 
 cubits upon the land ; and that at Tkule, six days sail beyond 
 Britain, the days and' nights continued for six months toge- 
 ther. " OiSlogenis cubitis supra Britanniam intumescere 
 *' xstus Pythias Massiliensis autor est." Plin. 1. ii. c. 2/. 
 " Solstitii diebns accedente sole proprius verticcm mundi. 
 " angusto lucis ambitU;, subjcda terrne coiitiuuos dies habere
 
 [ ^55 ] 
 
 sooner were the Massilian Greeks possessed of the 
 important information, than they took measure's to 
 turu it to their immediate advantage. They fitted 
 out a vessel for the trade ; one Midacritus had the 
 honour of being named to the command of it, and 
 of thus becoming the first importer into Greece, 
 direa from Scilly, of the tin produced there.* 
 
 Such seems to have heen the origin of the inter- 
 course of the Greeks with the coast of Cornwall ; 
 and we cannot doubt that it was daily improved 
 by the ardour and a^ivity of these enterprizing 
 people. Equally sensible, however, with the Cadiz- 
 ians of the lucrative nature of the commerce in 
 which they had thus accidentally become partici- 
 pators, they were equally desirous with them of 
 concealing the source whence it was derived ; and 
 though in the bonds of stria alliance with the 
 Romans at Narbonne, yet with the disingenuity 
 natural to rival tradesmen, they withheld from them 
 the secret of their expeditions to Scilly, and con- 
 
 " scnis mcnsibus noctesque e diverso ad Brumam rcmoto. 
 " Quod iicri in insula Thule, Pythias Massiliensis scripsit, 
 " sex dierum navigationc in Septcntrionem a Britannia dia- 
 " tante." Id. 1. ii. c. 75. 
 
 * ' riumbum ex Cassiteride insula primus opportavit 
 Midacutus." riin. vii. 50.
 
 [ Q56 ] 
 
 dut^cd them with a caution tliat seems even to Iiave 
 prevented any suspicion in tlieir neighbours of the 
 Masselian Greeks being possessed of so gainful a 
 commerce, ^flie Romans, indeed, stHI continued to 
 imagine that the merchants of Cadiz were the 
 exclusive monopolists of the trade ; and determined, 
 if possible, to detect the port whence the tin was 
 brought, they commissioned* the captain of one of 
 their vessels to hover at the mouth of the harbour 
 of Cadiz, and watch the course of any ship, which, 
 by pushing into the Atlantic, might appear to be 
 destined for the unknown emporium. The orders 
 were fulfilled, but their obje<^ was disappointed by 
 the patriotism of the Cadizian commander. He 
 perceived the Roman vessel following the course of 
 his own, and, guessing her intention, voluntarily 
 drove his own ship into a shallow, on which both 
 his pursuer and himself were wrecked. He, together 
 probably with his crew, escaped j and on his return 
 home, received a compensation from the community 
 for the loss of his freight.* The perseverance of 
 
 * Tctiv a Vuiixxiuv ivotyoXaOtmrut vxvKXr)eo: rivt, ottus KXt ecvTot 
 ywisv Trot, tixTTo^tix (^^ovjj o vxv^^.rieos iuut sis rsyxyos i^iauXe r/iv vxvv' 
 fKJiyxyu^v 6 e;> tou xvrriv c/.tS^oy >ixi Turns s'^c/x.svas xvros c(Tu:9yi oix 
 
 Strabo 1. ill. in fin.
 
 I Q57 ] 
 
 ihe Romans, however, were not to be disheartened 
 by a single disappointment ; they persisted in their 
 enquiries after the tin islands, and a little before 
 the invasion of Ca?sar, these researches were crowned 
 with success. After numberless vain attempts, Publius 
 Crassus made the fortunate discovery. He reached 
 the Scilly Inlands, inspected their tin mines, and per- 
 ceiving that the inhabitants worked them only super- 
 ficially, he taught them the art of mining, as it was 
 praflised by the Romans ; nay, what is more, he 
 improved their marine, and converted them from the 
 timid coasters of the adjoining shores into hardy 
 mariners, ihat should boldly conduft their leathera 
 vessels to the wide deep, and cross the British 
 Channel to the continent of Gaul.* Thus instrufted 
 and encouraged, the navigators from Scilly soon 
 found their way into Bretanny, and before the 
 descent of Ccesar upon Britain, another people of 
 Europe, in addition to the Romans, the Veneii of 
 
 0/ Poi^x*oi Se o(/.Mi Trii^u/xiyoi voKXxki^, t^t(jt.x6ov Tov irA 
 fTTsidr) xxt TJoTrXioi K^<ra-os lia^xs iw' avrui; cyvu rx fiiTocXXx tK 
 f/.ixu i2u.9ai op'jThfxivx, xxt rovf atvSfas ti^riyxiui rx Trt^iovaixs v^v 
 fyiv bx>.ut>.xi tgyx^iffOxi, rxvryiv rort uQiXtsaiy tirtht^t x(Wif ovo-af 
 7r>.tiu rrts cni^yovsvs tif TJjy ^^iTxyiKVjy. Strabo^ ib.
 
 J 258 ] 
 
 the north-west of France, partook of the profits of 
 the Cormsh tin trade.* 
 
 As sooo as the Romans had thus discovered this va- 
 luable traffic, it was an object with them to direft it to 
 the market through other channels than those which 
 bad hitherto condii<fted it thither. The difficulty, 
 danger, and tediousness of a voyage from the Italian 
 seas to the coast of Cornwall were sufficiently 
 obvious to a people whose marine was yet imperfe^. 
 They established, therefore, on that part of the 
 coast of France opposite to Britain certain stations 
 or towns, in which the Cornish tin should be disem- 
 barked, brought either by the natives of Cornwall 
 m their coracles, or by the Roman vessels employed 
 in the trade. Here the cargoes were landed, and 
 afterwards transported by rivers and other modes 
 of conveyance across the whole of France to Lug- 
 dunura, or Lyons, the great Roman emporium in 
 Narbonne. The chief of these stations seems to 
 have been at the mouth of the Seine 5 a spot fixed 
 upoiv for the joint convenience of the Romans and 
 Britons. Strabo has pointed out with sufficient 
 precision the particular accommodation that was 
 thus affijrded to either party. " The Rhone," 
 
 t Strabo, lib. quartus. Caesar de Bell. Gall. iii. 8,
 
 [ ^39 ] 
 
 says he, " may be navigated a great way up by 
 ** ships of great burthen, and from thence further 
 " up by the rivers Arar and Dubis. At this point 
 " is a carrying-place to the river Sequana or Seine; 
 " and down this river they go to the Lexobii and 
 " Caleti : and thence to the shore of the ocean . 
 .*' from whence the course into Britain is less than 
 *' a day's sail." * From this account we deduce 
 that the Britons had only to bring their tin by land- 
 carriage from Cornwall to that part of their own 
 coast which is opposite the mouth of the Seine, 
 when a voyage short and safe, compared with that 
 across the mouth of the Channel, enabled them, or 
 the merchants who bought' it of them, to transport 
 their staple to the place of its destination. This 
 course of conveyance, we find from another ancient 
 writer, they aftually established, and fixed on some 
 spot on the back of the Isle of Wight for such a 
 place of exportation to the coast of Gaul. The 
 
 * O (u.ty yi Pooaos TToXvv ri tytt to* ayxfiXa* xxt (xtyocXots ^o^Tioif, 
 xMi mi 'TtoKKx (jitpr) ri)s y^ui^ots S';a to rovs t(A.Tfi~TO)irxi t.t uvrov 
 morxixH^ vTia^^iiy ixXuths. xxt ^ixocx,^i6aci rov <p:>^Toii wXE'roy. O 
 o\\^xp VAMty^nxi, x.xi o AmSis o us mroy tfx^\>^u* tirx iri^cvsrxt 
 f-iX?' "^^^ Xjitoasas T woTa/jtw xxrrtvQiv nati nxri^i^trxi sis ron 
 Oxtxyav, y.xi ths Xv^o^ius xxi TaJertfy. x ot Ttsruv tis T5y (S^iTTatiKr,Vf 
 O.xTTii/v v Tif/.i^-fiTtos o^o(jios iTiv. Lib. iv. p. 2QI, 
 
 S 2
 
 [ 260 ] 
 
 passage that authorizes this conclusion is preserved 
 to us in Diodorus Siculus, It has been applied, I 
 confess, to other places, but I think, if you take the 
 trouble of weighing what has been said above, you 
 will agree wiih me, that it can only be considered 
 as refcning to that inland carriage of the tin, which 
 is just now supposed to have been settled between 
 Cornwall and the Hampshire coast. '* We will 
 ** now," says Diodorus, " give some account of the 
 " tin produced in this country. The people who 
 " inhabit a promontory of Britain, called Bolerium, 
 *' are exceedingly hospitable and courteous in their 
 " manners, from their intercourse with foreign mer- 
 ** chants. They procure the tin by working skil- 
 *'^ fully the ground which produces it. This being 
 " rocky, has earthy fissures, in which they get the 
 *' meral, purify it by melting, and cast it into the 
 *' form of Astragals, (dice-like masses,) and then 
 " carry it to a certain island lying on the coast of 
 " Britain, called Iktis.* ' When it is low water, the 
 
 * " It is a doubt with me whether the original word might 
 " not be Ict'n, as being in all probability British, and having 
 " no conneftion with the accusative case of the Greek lan- 
 " guage. It may be thought too fanciful, perhaps, to derive 
 *' the word tin, under this idea, from the above name." Maton. 
 Wc luve the very name in the Chaldee i>||0 tin^ Lutum,
 
 [ 261 ] 
 
 ** intermediate space being dry, they carry the tin 
 " thither in carts, in a great quantity. There the 
 " merchants buy it of the natives, and carry it into 
 " Gaul." t 
 
 mud, probably from its being found in the beds of rivers. 
 The same name designates an earth dug up in Egypt. Vide 
 Castelli Heptaglotton, in verb. JVarner. 
 
 P^trlxyixr,! y.xTX to acx^uiTri^iay To xaXufJisyov (SeAi^/'v 0/ xatToixovyltr 
 (piKo'^tyii re 5/a^EfovTwy itat, icxi oioc rrjv Tci>v ^fv&'v ifx-Ti-^'xii e'rTt(Jt.i^ix 
 t^y)lJ.t^iu(Atyot Tat? ccyuyxs. Ovrot rot xxatriTi^ov xxraa-yitvxC^ovaif 
 (piKortyjxs t^yxCj (j^ivoi t-ni ^e^ovs'xn xvtov yviy, avr-n ot titT^Mor,! 
 0V(TX dix^vit^ t^ii ytuoiis, sv a/j To vo^ov xxT'^yxtofiivoi, nxi ri)^xy\is 
 XJtoiJWfOfytv xTS^rvnovylis its xTT^xyxKaJv ^v9(a,ovs xoiAi^ovaiv tis nix 
 y-naoy Tr^oxEz/xEv^jv /:/, r-ns l^^crlxviKVi ovo/xx^ofAtvvv oi luty, YLxrxyx^ 
 Txs x(ji.Tiijrtis xvx^ri^xnoixivd t fAtrx^v rovie rxii afjix^xis us 
 Txvrv* xriixiCpvai ox-^i^.-n Toy KXTa-iTt^ov.Evrtvuiy it ot tiATTo^oi mx^c* 
 Til' lyy^x^iui 'jitv^vrxi, xxi oixx.'yf/.iCpvaiv Hs rw TxXxTix>,-T)iod- 
 Sic, lib, V. p. 301. Borlase has treated the idea of this 
 inland carriage of the tin by the Britons to the Isle of Wight 
 with ridicule ; but there are exceptions to Horace's rule, 
 
 ------------ Ridiculutn acri, 
 
 " Fortius et melius raagna^plerumque sccat res; 
 
 and ridicule is not always the test of truth. Dr. Maton too, 
 is of a different opinion respcfting the interpretation of this 
 passage of Diodorus. " It was to St. Michael's Mount that 
 " the Greek merchants traded for the Cornish tin, according
 
 [ 262 I 
 
 As soon as the Romans became completely mas- 
 ters of Britain, they would of course engross the 
 whole of the tin trade. The Cornish mining system 
 
 ** to Diodorus, though by some the Isle of Wight has been 
 " considered as the Icti^ of that historian. The latter idea 
 " is supported by the supposition that the isle was once a 
 " peninsula, otherwise indeed there cannot be the slightest 
 *' reason for imagining that Diodorus's accouttt is applicable 
 *' to that spot. * Let us now,' he says, ' make some mention 
 ' * of the tin produced in it (Britain). Those who live 
 " ' about a promontory of Britain called Boleriuin are remark- 
 *' ' ably hospitable, and, on account of their intercourse with 
 ** ' foreign merchants, courteous in their manners. They 
 *' ' prepare the tin by properly working the ground that 
 ' 'produces it. This (grou?nl) being rocky contains earthy 
 *' ' fissures, the produce whereof they purify by working and 
 *' ' melting. When they have cut it into pieces in the form 
 ** ' of dice, they carry it to a certain island lying off (the 
 *' ' coast of) Britain, called Ictis. At the ebb of the sea, the 
 *'* intermediate space being dry, they carry thither a -great 
 *' quantity of tin in carts.' Afterwards he informs us that 
 " here the merchants buy it of tlie natives, and carry it 
 " into Gaul. Sir Richard Worsley (in his History of the 
 *' the Isle of IVigh't) and Mr. Warner (in his Topographical 
 *' Rnnarks on HaiQpshire) urge several arguments to prove 
 " that there was once a passage similar to that alluded to by 
 " Diodorus from the coast near Lymiogton to the opposite 
 " part of the island : and yet Ptotemy, the geographer, who 
 ** wrote but a short time after ihe iiistorian, expressly calls
 
 [ Q63 ] 
 
 also would be quickly improved by all tbe inventioHS 
 and processes which these ingenious people were m 
 possession of , and die Britons would begin to 
 
 "it Nwror OvyikIh, or the Island of Vcctis. Besides, tl>e 
 " Land's-Eiid is universally allowed to be the BGlerium, or 
 "*' Belleritcm, of tlie ancients, wMch renders Diodorus's dc- 
 *' scription most unequivocally applicable, in ray opinion, 
 " to St. Michael's Mount." Had this elegant flutlior recol- 
 le&ed that in the time of Diodorus, St. Michael's Mount stood 
 six miles within the land, he would probably have hesitated 
 an giving this opinion. The passages alluded to by Dr. 
 Maton, in my Topographical Remarks, are as follow : 
 
 *' That Diodorus spoke of this island under the name of 
 *' Ictis, I cannot doubt ; since tire tin staple was certainly 
 *' removed prior to his time from tlie Cassiterides, or Scilly 
 " Islands, to the Roman Veftis, or Isle of Wiglit. The Phoe- 
 *' nicians, the first traders to our country, most probably 
 *' direfted their course immediately to the -westward fcxtre- 
 " inity of Britain, the spot which produced the obje6t of 
 *' their traffick ; but when the Greeks of Marseilles (and, 
 *' I should have added, the Romans of Narbonne) began 
 *' to share this commerce with t!>em, and afterwards to 
 " monopolize it, they removed tlic staple from the distant 
 " and tempestuous seas of the Bekrian coasts to the Isle of 
 * Wight, a spot much more commodious for the |)urposes of 
 *' trade, inasmuch as it was nearer to the shores of Gaul. 
 '' The following observations will confirm what has been 
 " said ; they were m idc by a gentleman of the Island, 
 " and are adduced bj^ Sir Richard Worsby, to support tic
 
 [ 254 ] 
 
 apply that metal to their own domestic purposes, 
 which had hitherto only been useful to them as an 
 article of commerce. We accordingly find, that 
 
 *' tradition of its ancient connexion with the coast of 
 ' Hampshire; and to corroborate the fad mentioned by 
 '* historians, of the intervening strait being formerly passable 
 " to carriages and men. At each extremity of the channel 
 " between the island and Hampshire, the tide rushes in and 
 " out with such impetuosity, as to render those parts the 
 " deepest and most dangerous ; whereas near the mid way, 
 " where the tides meet, though the conflift makes a rough 
 '* water, according as the wind may assist the one or the 
 "^ other, there is no rapidity of current to carry away the 
 " soil, and deepen the bottom ; accordingly we discover a 
 " hard gravely beach there, extending a great way across 
 '* the channel, a circumstance not to be found in any other 
 *' part of it. Corresponding with this, on the Hampshire 
 ** side, is a place called Leap, possibly from tiae narrow- 
 " ness of the pass ; and on the Isle of Wight, opposite this, 
 " is a strait open road, called Rew-street, (probably from 
 " the French word Rtie, to which the translation of it might 
 " be afterwards added.) This road, after having crossed 
 " the forest, may be traced, by an observant eye, from St. 
 *' Austin's gate to the west of Carisbrook Castle, over a 
 ' field cailled North-Jield, by Strcat, &c. on to the south 
 " side of the island. Many parts of this road are of little 
 ** or no use at this time, and unless it was heretofore used 
 '* for the purpose of conveying tin, it is not easy to conjec- 
 " ture what purpose it was to answer. To the above par-
 
 C 265 ] 
 
 they formed it into various culinary ?.nd ornamental 
 utensils ; and some pitchers, cups, and basins, are 
 still extant, made at this period by the Britons, 
 
 " ticulars I have to ad-l, that the ancient road or way (of 
 " which this one in the island above spoken of was only a 
 " continuatif.in) dire<5led its course in its progress to the 
 " Isle of ^Yight, through a river at Bossington, a village in 
 '' the south of Hampshire ; from the bed of \\ liich river, 
 ^' exaftly on the scite of the ancient road, was taken up, 
 " as I am informed, not long since, a large metallic mass, 
 " which, on inspe6tion, appeared to be i'm. Allowing then 
 "" this hypothesis to be true, that the Ictis of antiquity and 
 " the Isle of Wight are the Fame ; and that the intervening 
 " strait was a common foot (and carriage) road for the 
 " ancient Britons, the circumstance of tin being discovered 
 ' on the spot above-mentioned is not extraordinary, since 
 " it might easily have been dropped, and overlooked by the 
 *' carriers who were employed to carry it to the place of 
 " exportation; whereas, if we disallow these fafts, it will be 
 " difficult to for many reasonable or satisfactory conjeCture 
 " respefting the means by which it could come into this sin- 
 *' guiar situation." Vol. ii. p. 5. It may be useful here to 
 add, that an uniform tradition has long subsisted in the Isle 
 of Wight, and the opposite coast of Hampshire, that they 
 were anciently united together, without any intermediate sea 
 between them. Nennius reports, that this tradition subsisted 
 in his time, twelve centuries ago; and adds, that the sepa- 
 tion of the two gave the island its present nan:e, that of 
 Guith, or Wit, a Hritisli word, signifying a rent, or separa- 
 tion. Apud Galci scripiorcs, torn, i.
 
 [ 266 ] 
 
 instruftcd thus by their Roman masters.* They 
 also acquired the art of coating brazen vessels with 
 it, in order to prevent the pernicious or unpleasant 
 taste of the latter metal ; f and proceeding still fur- 
 ther in the art of metallurgy, they incorporated so 
 completely tin and brass together, as to produce the 
 combination that is now called bell-metal. { 
 
 As long as the Romans continued to be masters 
 of Britain, so long the Cornish tin trade appears to 
 have been conducted in the manner above-mentioned; 
 and even after their departure from Britain, and 
 during the aera of the Saxon irruptions into this 
 country, as Cornwall was but little exposed to the 
 fury of their invaders, it is probable that the inhabit- 
 ants of it still furnished the continent with a quan- 
 tity of their native metal. Cornwall was conquered 
 by Athdstan j but such was the confusion of Eng- 
 
 * Philosophical Transa6lions, 1759, parti, p. 13. 
 
 f Pliny, xxiv. c. 17. 
 
 X Plin. xxiv. c. 17. It will be seen that in the above 
 atcount of the ancient tin trade of Cornwall, I differ from 
 Borlasc, Pryce, and even Whitaker. I however confess 
 myself much indebted to the last learned writer for many 
 lights and assistances on this dark and perpkxcd subjeft. 
 See Supplement to Polwhele's Hist, Corn.
 
 [ ^^1 ] 
 
 land at that period, from the incursions of the Danes, 
 that all the arts of peace, and mining amongst the 
 rest, must have been for a time interrupted if not 
 destroyed ; nor does it appear that the Cornish 
 people pursued the search of tin with any vigour, 
 till the kingdom was again in some degree settled 
 by the Norman conquest. The Normans were an 
 aliveand industrious race. They soon turned their 
 attention to the improvement of their acquisition ; 
 and amongst other objefts of importance set them- 
 selves seriously to work and improve the tin- mines 
 of Cornwall. From this period, where we get 
 upon the solid ground of written record, and leave 
 the regions of hypothesis, the history of the tin 
 trade, and the regulations of the mining system, as 
 far as they relate to that article, cannot be given 
 in better words, or in a clearer manner, than 
 they are by Dr. Borlase. " In the time of King 
 " John,'* says he, " I find the product of tin in this 
 *' county very inconsiderable, the right of working 
 *' for tin being as yet wholly in the king, (King 
 ** John being at this time also Earl of Cornwall,) 
 *' the property of the tinners precarious and unset- 
 " tied, and what tin was raised was engrossed and 
 " managed by the Jews to the great regr(-t of the 
 " barons and their vassals. The tin-fann of Corn- 
 " wall at xhis lime amounted to no more than one
 
 [ 268 ] 
 
 " hundred marks, according to which valuation the 
 * Bishop of Exeter received then in lieu of his 
 *' tenth parr, and still receives from the Duke of 
 *' Cornwall annually the sum of 61. 13^. ^.d. so low 
 ** were the tin profits then in Cornwall, whereas in 
 *' Devonshire the tin was then set to farm for 100/. 
 ** yearly. King John, sensible of the languishing 
 " state of this manufacture, granted the county of 
 ** Cornwall some marks of his favour, disforested 
 '* what part of it was then subjeft to the arbitrary 
 * forest law, allowing it equal title to the laws of 
 *' the kingdom with the other parts of England, 
 ** and is said to have granted a charter to the tin- 
 *' ners (Carew, p. 17), but what it was does not 
 *' appear. 
 
 *' In the time of his son Richard, king of the 
 * Romans and earl of Cornwall, the Cornish mines 
 *' were immensely rich, and the Jews being farmed 
 ** out to him by his brother Henry III. what intc- 
 *' rest they had was at his disposal : at the same " 
 *' time the tin-mines in Spain were stopped from 
 *' working by the Moors, and no tin being as yet 
 " discovered in Germany, Cornwall had all the 
 *' trade of Europe for tin, and the earl the almost 
 *' sole profit of that trade. This prince is said to 
 ** have made several tin-laws ; but matters soon 
 " declining into disorder, where the prince has too
 
 [ 259 ] 
 
 " much, and the subjefts liitlc or nothing, and the 
 ** Jews being banished the kingdom in the eighteenth 
 *' of Edward I. the mines were again neglected, for 
 " want of proper encouragement to labour, and 
 " security to enjoy and dispose of the produfts of 
 " that labour j which the gentlemen of Biackmoor 
 " (lords of seven tithings, best stored at that time 
 "with tin), perceiving (Carew, p. 17), addressed 
 " themselves to Edmund earl of Cornwall, (son of 
 " Richard king of the Romans, &c. ) and obtained 
 " from him, confirmed by his own seal, a charter 
 " with more explicit grants of the privileges of 
 " keeping a court of judicature, holding plea of all 
 *' alions, (life, limb, and land excepted,) of mana- 
 *' ging and deciding all stannary causes, of holding 
 " parliaments at their discretion, and of receiving, 
 *' as their own due and property, the toll-tin, that 
 " is, one-fifteenth of all tin raised. At this time 
 *' also, as it seems to me, the rights of bounding or 
 " dividing tin-grounds into separate portions for the 
 " encouragement of searching for tin, were either 
 " first appointed, or at least more regularly adjusted 
 " than before, so as that the labouring tinner might 
 " be encouraged to seek for tin by acquiring a pro- 
 " perty in the lands where he should discover it, 
 *' and that the farm-tin acquired by the bounder.
 
 [ 270 ] 
 
 ** and the toll-tin, which was the lord's share, 
 *' might remain distinft and inviolated. For the 
 ^ * better promotion of tin-working in all waste and 
 ' uninclosed grounds, every tinner had leave to 
 ** place his labour in searching for tin j and when 
 *' he had discovered tin, (after due notice given in 
 *' the stannary court to the lord of the soil, and for- 
 <* mally registering the intended bounds without 
 *' opposition or denial,) he might, and at this time 
 *' still may, mark out the ground in which he should 
 " chuse to pursue his discovery, by digging a small 
 *' pit at- each angle of such wasteral, which pits are 
 *' called bounds ; by this means he did acquire a right 
 " in all future workings of such grounds, either to 
 *' work himself, or set others to work upon his own 
 " terms, reserving to the lord of the soil one fifteenth 
 " part of all tin raised therein. In Devonshire, 
 " ' the tinners constitution (says Mr. Carew, p. 14) 
 *' ' enables them to dig for tin in any man's ground 
 *' * inclosed or uninclosed, without license, tribute, 
 *' or satisfaftion;' which infraftion of common 
 *' property shews that the constitution of the stan- 
 *' naries was never equitably established in that 
 *' county, as the same judicious author observes. 
 " These pits, all bounders, by themselves or others, 
 *' are obliged to renew every year, by cutting the
 
 [ 271 I 
 
 " turf and cleaning up the dirt and rubbish which 
 " falls into them, to the intent that such land- 
 marks may not be obliterated. In consideration 
 of these privileges so granted by charter, thegen- 
 *' tlemcQ tinners obliged themselves to pay unto 
 " Edmund and his successors Earls of Cornwall, the 
 ** sura of four shillings for every hundred weight of 
 " white tin, a very high duty at the time it was laid 
 * on, the tinners of Devonshire then paying but 
 " eight-pence for every hundred weight of tin; ajid 
 ' that the payment of this tax might be the belter 
 secured, it was agreed, that all tin should be 
 *' brought to places purposely appointed by the 
 " prince, there weighed, coined, and kept, till the 
 " Earl of Cornwall's dues were paid. To this 
 " charter there was a seal with a pick-axe and shovel 
 " in soUire, (says Carew, page 17), as he was 
 *' informed by a gentleman who had seen this char- 
 " ter, though in Carew*s time it was not extant, 
 
 " In the thirty-third of Edward I. this charter of 
 *' Edmund seems to have been confirmed, and the tin- 
 ** ners of Cornwall were made a distind body from 
 * those of Devonshire ; whereas before, the tinners 
 *' of both counties were accustomed to meet on 
 " Hengston-Hill every seventh or eight year to con- 
 '' cert the common interest of both parties. Two 
 " coinages yearly, viz, at Midsummer and Michael-
 
 [ 272 ] 
 
 " tnas, wefe also granted by this charter, arid the tln- 
 " ners had the liberty of selling each man his own tin, 
 " unless the king insisted on buying it himself. 
 
 " A farther explanation of the Cornish privileges 
 " and laws was made by the fiftieth of Edward III. 
 " (Carew, p, 17,) and their liberties confirmed and 
 *' enlarged by p:irliament in the eighth of Richard 
 " IL third of Edward IV. first of Edward VI. 
 " first and second of Philip and Mary, and in the 
 " second of Elizabeth ; and the whole society of the 
 *' tinners of Cornwall, till then reckoned as one 
 " body, was divided into four parts, called from the 
 " places of the principal tin-workings of that time, 
 *' Fawy-raoor, Black-moor, Trewarnheyl, and Pen- 
 " with. One general Warden* was constituted to 
 *' do justice in law and equity with an appeal from 
 *' his decision to the Duke of Cornwall in Council 
 " only, or for want of a Duke of Cornwall to the 
 *' crown. 
 
 * '* The Lord- warden appoints a Vice-warden to determine 
 ' all stannary disputes every montli : he constitutes also four 
 ** stewards, (one for each of the four stannary precinfts before 
 *' mentioned,) who hold their courts every three weeks, and 
 *' decide by juries of six persons, with an appeal reserved to 
 " the Vice-warden, thence to the Lord-warden, theacc 
 *' finally to the Lords of the Prince's Council".
 
 I Q73 2 
 
 " Thus continued the tin establishment till the 
 " reign of Henry VII. when Arthur, eldest son of 
 " that king, and consequently Duke of Cornwall, 
 " made certain constitutions relating to the stanna- 
 " ries, which the tinners refused to observe, and 
 ** indulging themselves in other irregularities not 
 *' consistent with their charters, Henry VII. after 
 " his son Arthur's death, seized their charter 
 " as forfeited J but upon proper submission, by 
 " his own new charter restored all their former pri- 
 " vileges, and enlarged them with this honourable 
 " and important addition, that no law relating to the 
 *' tinners, should be enacted without the consent of 
 *' twenty-four gentlemen tinners, six to be chosen 
 *' by a mayor and council in each of the stannary 
 " divisions. This charter was confirmed by the 
 " twentieth of Elizabeth, and (it being found incon- 
 *' venient that the consent of the whole twenty-four 
 *' should be required) it is declared at the meeting 
 " of every convocation or parliament of tinners, 
 " that the consent of sixteen stannators shall be 
 " sufficient to enact any law. Accordingly, when 
 " any more than ordinary difficulties occur, and either 
 " new laws for the better dire6lion of the tinners and 
 " their alFairs, or a more explicit declaration and 
 " enforcement of the old ones become necessary, 
 " the Lord-warden, by commission from the Duke 
 
 T
 
 [ 274 ] 
 
 of Cornwall, or from the Crown, if there be no 
 " duke, issues his precept to the four principal 
 ** towns of the stannary distri6>s, viz. Lanceston for 
 " Fawy-moor, Lostwythiel for Black-moor, Truro 
 " for Trewarnheyl, and Helston for Penwith. 
 " Each town chuses six members, and the twenty- 
 " four so chosen, called Stannators, constitute the 
 '* parliament of tinners. In the reign of Elizabeth, 
 * Sir Walter Raleigh being Lord-warden, the tin- 
 " ners perceiving that by the charter of Henry VII. 
 ** no law could be enacted, unless the full number of 
 " twenty-four stannators concurred, proposed that 
 " twenty-four other stannators should be chosen, six 
 '* at each of the tin-courts holden for each stannary, 
 *' returned by the steward and added to the former 
 * number, in order to make forty-eight members ; 
 " and that the majority of that number, or as many 
 " as should assemble of that number, should be 
 " enabled to make laws. This proposal did not take 
 *' efFeft ; but in the twenty-sixth of Charles II. 1 674, 
 " some terms and claims insisted upon by the Crown 
 " meeting with great opposition, the stannators, 
 " being under difficulties, named to the then Vice- 
 " warden six persons for each stannary, and desired 
 *' they might be summoned by the Vice-warden to 
 " meet and consult with that convocation. Since 
 " that time it is usual, but not necessary, for every 
 " stannator to name an assistant, and the twenty-
 
 [ 275 ] 
 
 ^* four assistants are a kind of standing council, and 
 ** assemble in a different apartment, and are at hand 
 *' to inform their principals of calculations, difficul- 
 " tics, and the state of things among the lower 
 *' class of tinners, such as the stannators might not 
 " otherwise be so well acquainted with. The stan- 
 '* nators, for the more orderly dispatch of business, 
 *' chuse their speaker, and present him to the Lord- 
 '' warden to be approved. Whatever is enabled by 
 " this body of tinners, must be signed by the stan- 
 ** nators, the Lord-warden, (or his deputy, the Vice- 
 ** warden, who presides in his absence,) and after- 
 " wards either by the Duke of Cornwall or the 
 " sovereign j and when thus passed, has all the 
 " authority, with regard to tin affairs, of an aft of 
 *' the whole legislature." 
 
 Although tin may be said to have become an 
 objeft of secondary consideration in Cornwall, since 
 the discovery of its copper mines, yet this branch of 
 trade still continues to be very lucrative to the 
 county. The annual sales of tin from it at present 
 amount to 300,000/. and the number of mines and 
 stream-works, small and great, are between one and 
 two hundred.* Of these, the largest and most pro- 
 
 * Tin is found cither collected and fixed, or loose and 
 detached ; in the first case, it is either accumulated in a lode. 
 T 2
 
 [ 276 ] 
 
 du^tivc arc, Huel Unity, and Poldlce, in Gwennap; 
 Cook's Kitchen, in Illogan ; Trevenncn, near Hel- 
 ston ; Roscwall Hill, near St. Ives ; and Botallack, 
 near St. Just. They produce upon an average from 
 600/. to 800/. worth of tin per month each. To 
 these more ijnportant mines may be added the stream 
 work at Carnan, four miles from Truro, which 
 yields about 8000/. worth of tin annually.* 
 
 or in a floor, or Interspersed in grains and bunches, in the 
 natural rock : In the second and more dispersed state, it is 
 found either in single, separate stones, called shades ; or in a 
 continued course of such stones, called the Benheyl or Stream: 
 or lastly, in an arenaceous pulverized state. The streams 
 are of diiFerent breadths, seldom less than a fathom j often- 
 times scattered, though in diiFerent quantities, over the 
 whole width of the moor, bottom, or valley, in which they 
 arc found ; and when several such streams meet* they often- 
 times make a very rich foor of tin, one stream proving as it 
 were a magnet to the metal of the other. BorJases Nat. Hist. 
 The streams are found at the distance of a furlong or more 
 from the veins or lodes to which they originally belonged ; and 
 from which the masses have been accidentally separated by 
 some operation of nature, washed or rolled from their origi- 
 nal situation, and accumulated together in some adjoining 
 iower level. 
 
 * T]ienuraber of men employed in the tin mines is very 
 considerable J but in no one mine much above 150; and from 
 |hat number down to only two men. Many women and
 
 C 277 3 
 
 It is generally supposed that tin lodes are of an 
 earlier formation than veins of copper ore, and the 
 hypothesis receives some confirmation of its truth 
 from the following faft : that if a shift or movement 
 of the earth have taken place where a tin and copper 
 lode interseft each other, the former is often removed 
 several fathoms from its original position, whilst the 
 latter continues its regular course or direftion.f 
 
 children also find means of livelihood in preparing the ore 
 after it is raised. 
 
 f Miners also meet with veins nearly perpendicular, called 
 cross-courses, composed of quartz and clay, which take a 
 diredion from north to south, and of course interseft the cop- 
 per and tin lodes, which are frona east to west j and some- 
 times one end is removed as far as forty fathoms north or 
 south from the other, though no appearance of movement is 
 observable at the surface. 
 
 South- 
 
 -North 
 
 In these cross courses are found detached pieces of the tin or 
 copper lodes, and particularly between the separated parts. 
 These masses are entirely similar to what is raised from the 
 Jodc so separated.
 
 [ 278 ] 
 
 " The indications of the presence of a lode,*** 
 Dr. Maton observes, " in a particular spot are vari- 
 *' ous. The most general are either a barren 
 " patch and a partial deficiency of vegetation, (but 
 " this can happen only when a lode is near the 
 " surface of the ground,) or scattered fragments of 
 ** ore, called shades, when they lie contiguous to a 
 *' substance of primitive formation, such as granite, 
 " quartz, killas, &c. or a metallic, harsh taste in 
 * springs and rills. But by whatever accident or 
 " method a lode be discovered, the leave of the 
 *' lord of the soil must be obtained before any 
 *' workings are commenced. On a waste, or com- 
 *' mon, indeed, any one has a right to set up 
 ** bounds, or in other words, to take possession of 
 '* a spot, and the bounder's consent is as necessary 
 ** to adventurers as the lord's in the former case. 
 " The lord's share of the profits (which is called 
 *' his dish^ is generally one sixth, or one eighth, 
 " clear of cost ; the shares of the adventurers de- 
 *' pend on their original contributions and engage- 
 " ments. 
 
 * '' A lode is a crack, or fissure, (in the earth,) containing a 
 " metallic substance which may be conceived to have insinu- 
 *' ated itself, as it were, into it, like the sparry matter of 
 *' Ludus Helmontii into the cracks of the clay.
 
 I ^79 ] 
 
 " In digging a mine, the three material points to 
 *' be considered are the removal of the barren rock, 
 or rubbish, the discharge of water, (which abounds 
 " more or less in every mine,) and the raising of the 
 ore. Difficulties of course increase with depth, 
 * and the utmost aid of all the mechanical powers 
 is sometimes inefFelual when the workings are 
 " deep and numerous. Mountains and hills are 
 " dug with the most convenience, because drains 
 *' and adits may be cut to convey the water at once 
 " into the neighbouring valleys. These adits are 
 " sometimes continued to the distance of one or two 
 " miles, and, though the expense is so very con- 
 * siderable, are found a cheaper mode of getting 
 " rid of the water than by raising it to the top, 
 *' especially when there is a great flow and the mine 
 " very deep. It seldom happens, however, that a 
 '' level is to be found near enough for an adit to be 
 <' made to it from the bottom of a mine ; recourse 
 " must be had to a steam-engine, by which the 
 " water is brought up to the adit, be the height of 
 " it what it may. As soon as a shaft is sunk to 
 " some depth, a machine called a whim is erc(5ied, 
 " to bring up either rubbish or ore, which is pre- 
 " viousiy broken into convenient fragments by pick- 
 *' axes and other instruments. The whim is com- 
 " posed of a perpendicular axis, on which turns a
 
 [ 2S0 ] 
 
 " large hollow C)'linder, of timber (called the cage\ 
 " and around this a rope (being direled down ihe 
 " shaft by a pulley fixed perpendicularly at the 
 *' mouth of it) winds horizontally. In the axis a 
 ** transverse beam is fixed, at the end of which two 
 ** horses or oxen are fastened, and go their rounds, 
 " hauling up a bucket (or kibbuf) full of ore, or 
 " rubbish, whilst an empty one is descending. The 
 " ore is blown out of the rock by means of gun- 
 " powder. When it is raised out of the mine, it is 
 " divided into as many shares (or doles') as there 
 ** are lords and adventurers, and these are measured 
 ** out by barrows, an account of which is kept by a 
 *' person who notches a stick. Every mine enjoys 
 *' the privilege of having the ore distributed on 
 *' the adjacent fields. It is generally pounded 
 *' or stamped on the spot in the stamping mill ; 
 " if full of slime, it is thrown into a pit caHed a 
 " huddle, to render the stamping the more free 
 " without choaking the grates. If free from 
 " slime, the ore is shovelled into a kind of sloping 
 *' canal of timber, called the pass, whence it slides 
 " by its own weight, and the assistance of a small 
 *' stream of water, into the box where the lifters 
 *' work. The lifters are raised by a water wheel, 
 " and they are armed at the bottom with large 
 *' masses of iron, (perhaps one hundred and forty
 
 C 281 ] 
 
 ** pounds in weight,) which pound or stamp the ore 
 ** small enough for its passage through the holes of 
 " an iron grate fixed in one end of the box. To 
 " assist irs attrition, a riil of water keeps it constantly 
 " wet, and it is carried by a small gutter into the 
 " fore pit where it makes its first settlement, the 
 " lighter particles running forward with the water 
 " into the middle pit, and thence into the third, 
 " where what is called the slime settles. From 
 " these pits they carry the ore to the keeve, when 
 " it is quite washed from all its filth, and rendered 
 " clean enough for the smelting-house." 
 
 The tin being thus prepared for melting, it is 
 carried to works construfted for this operation, and 
 delivered to the melter, who is paid for the labour 
 and expense of this process, not in money, but 
 by receiving about eight parts out of twenty of the 
 quantity melted. Here it is assayed, to determine 
 its quality, then fused, and run into moulds of an 
 oblong form, containing about 3oolb. weiglit of 
 metal each. When sufficiently cooled, tlie masses 
 are taken out of the moulds, and (under the name 
 of blocks of tin) carried to the coinage towns to be 
 coined.* This process, which takes place at stated 
 
 * These towns are Liskcard, Lostwitlilcl, Truro, Ilclston, 
 and Penzance.
 
 r 282 ] 
 
 seasons of the year, is performed by the Prince of 
 Wales's ofHcers, (as Duke of Cornwall,) who cut 
 off a mass frona the corner of each block, (about a 
 quarter of a pound in weight,) and then stamp it 
 with the seal of the dutchy, and the initials of the 
 house of the smelter, both as a permission to sell, 
 and as an assurance to the purchaser that the tin is 
 unadulterated. The duty of this authentication is 
 4j. in the hundred weight, forming a principal part 
 of the Cornish revenue of the Prince of Wales. 
 The blocks are then carried to the different ports, 
 and shipped off for London or Bristol.* 
 
 You will be glad to find that I do not mean to 
 detain you so long on the subjeft of Copper, as 
 I have on that of Tin, Happily for you, there is 
 here no ignis fatuus to lead us a dance into the 
 dimly-discovered regions of antiquity ; no delight- 
 ful passage in an old Greek or Latin author, to 
 amuse our fancy, or exercise our philology. The 
 history of Cornish copper is as a mushroom of last 
 night compared with that of its tin. Lying deep 
 below the surface of the earth, it would be con- 
 cealed from the enquiries of human industry, till 
 
 * A considerable quantity of tin used to be shipped for 
 the Levant. It was smelted into bars about two feet and a 
 half long, flat^ and of a finger's breadth.
 
 [ 283 ] 
 
 such time as natural philosophy had made consider- 
 able progress, and the mechanical arts had nearly 
 reached their present state of perfei^ion.* Accord- 
 ingly we do not find that any regular researches 
 were made for copper ore in Cornwall, till the latter 
 end of the fifteenth century, when a few adventurers 
 worked in an imperfe^l: manner some insignificant 
 mines, probably with little use to the public, and 
 little profit to themselves. Half a century after- 
 wadrs, in the reign of Elizabeth, though the produifl 
 of the mines would be naturally greater than before, 
 from the increased industry of the people, and the 
 improved state of the arts, yet little advantage seems 
 to have been derived to the county of Cornwall at 
 large from the working of its copper. Mr. Carew 
 hints at the small profits made from it in his time, 
 and assigns as a cause of it the ignorance in which 
 the mine proprietors were kept by the merchants, 
 with respeft to the uses and application of the 
 metal. t In the next reign, however, all this mystery 
 was dispersed ; the mines were inspected, their 
 
 * Tin in Cornwall seldom runs deeper than fifty fathom 
 below the surface. Good copper is rarely found at a less 
 ilepth than that, 
 
 I Eorlasc's Natural History, p. 204.
 
 [28+ ] i 
 
 value determined, and a system of working them to 
 greater advantage introduced. This was effefted by 
 the vigilance of Mr. Norden, (Cornish surveyor to 
 the Prince of Wales,) who, having observed that 
 .certain artful pralices were adopted to conceal the 
 real value of the copper produced from the mines, 
 wrote a letter to King James I. communicating the 
 frauds, and recommending that means might be 
 adopted to prevent them in future.* The gencraf 
 confusion, however, into which the kingdom was 
 thrown in the time of Charles I. checked the cop- 
 per mines of Cornwall ; nor were they characterized 
 by peculiar adivity and proportionate profit till after 
 the Revolution; when a company of gentlemen from 
 Bristol paying a visit of speculation to them, made 
 a general purchase of their produce at various prices, 
 from it. los. to 4/. per ton. The bargain proved 
 to be highly advantageous to the purchasers, a secret 
 that quickly transpired ; and induced another com- 
 pany from the same place, a few years afterwards, 
 to covenant with some of the principal Cornish 
 miners to purchase all their copper ores, at a stated 
 low price, for a certain term of years. This free 
 demand would naturally sharpen the attention, and 
 
 * Pryce's Mineralogy of Cornwall^ p. 287.
 
 C 285 J 
 
 spur the Industry, of the mine proprietors; their 
 views began to extend, and prospects of great for- 
 tune to open upon them ; though it is strange to 
 add, such was still the backward state of mineralogy, 
 that the yellow copper ore, which is at present so 
 valuable, was at the time above-mentioned considered 
 of no importance, called poder, (that is, dust,) and 
 put aside as mundic* In the reign of George I. 
 the Cornish mining system in general, and particu- 
 larly as it related to copper, was considerably im- 
 proved. A Mr. John Costar was the person to 
 whom the county is indebted in this respect. Being 
 an excellent metallurgist, and a good natural philo- 
 sopher and mechanic, he undertook the draining of 
 some considerable mines, and executed the attempt 
 with success. He then introduced a new system of 
 dressing and assaying the ore, improved upon the 
 old machinery, and invented additional engines. In 
 short, he seems to have given a new character to the 
 copper concerns of Cornwall ; and been the father 
 of many of the processes which render them so pro- 
 fitable as they at present are. The state of the 
 copper market from this period for the next fifty 
 years will evince the importance, in a national as 
 well as provincial point of view, to which it had 
 
 Borlase's Natural Ilistor/, p. 207.
 
 [ 286 ] 
 
 then attained. " The quantity of ore sold from 
 " 1726 inclusive, to the end of 1735, was 64,800 
 " tons, at an average price of 7/. i^s. icd. per ton, 
 *' amounting to 473,500/. which must have been 
 " yearly 47,350/. From 1736 inclusive, to th6 
 " end of 1745, 75j520 tons of copper ore were 
 " sold at 7/. Ss. 6d. average price, the amount 
 *' 560, 1 06/. in the gross, and 56,0 1 o/. yearly. From 
 ** 1746 inclusive, to the end of 1755, the quantity 
 " sold was 98,790 tons, at 7/, Ss, the ton, the 
 *' amount 731,457/.; annually 73,145/. From 
 *' 1756 inclusive, to the end of 1765, the quantum 
 *' sold made 169,699 tons, at the average price of 
 *' 7/. 6s, 6d. amounting to the sum of 1,243,045/. 
 " and 124,304/. yearly. Lastly, from 1766 to the 
 " end of 1777, 264,273 tons of copper ore were 
 ** disposed of at 6/. 14J. 6d. per ton, amounting 
 " in all to 15778,337/. which must have returned 
 " ^77i^33^' every year of the last ten."* 
 
 The quantity of copper ore, however, raised annu- 
 ally since the time when the above account closes, 
 has been larger in every successive year till 1808, 
 when the diminution of the demand lowered the 
 price, and lessened, of course, the number of specu- 
 
 Prycc's Mineralogy, introduft. p. xi. xii.
 
 [287 ] 
 
 lations. The following schedule of the produftions 
 of four recent years, in copper ore, fine metal, and 
 the sums for which it sold, will afford an interesting 
 view of this branch of the trade of Cornwall, imme- 
 diately previous to its late check.* 
 
 Copper Ore Fine Copper . 
 
 1803 - 54,381 tons, containing 5,351 sold for 560,144 
 
 1804 - 64,597 5,373 - - - 571,123 
 
 1805 - 80,043 6,416- - - 868,295 
 
 I8O7 - 73,405 6,827 - - - 630,2^7 
 
 * There is something very peculiar in the manner in 
 which the bargains are made between the buj-er and seller, 
 in the disposal of the ore. The former consists of a certain 
 number of companies, (at present, I believe, of twelve or thir- 
 teen,) who purchase from the adventurers aljfjthe copper 
 raised in Cornwall. Previous to every sale, which always 
 takes place once a month, a certain proportion, called a 
 sample, is taken from eveiy different lot to be disposed of, by 
 men appointed for the purpose, called samplers, and prepared 
 for the inspection of the agents of the companies, who, a 
 fortnight before the day of sale, carefully examine the same, 
 report to their principals the worth of the lots, and receive 
 their direftions as to the price they are to offer for the same. 
 Thus instruded, on the monthly tichet r.g day, as it is called, 
 they meet the proprietors of the mines, or their agents, either 
 at some neighbouring inn, or in a commodious room fitted 
 up for the purpose on the works, where a splendid dinner is
 
 [ 288 ] 
 
 Though the present depression In the Cornish 
 copper trade may obviously be attributed in a great 
 measure to the blasting influence of a long protrafted 
 
 provided, at the expense of the proprietors, in proportion to 
 the magnitude of their different k)ts. After the cloth is 
 removed, the agent for each company delivers in his ticJcet, 
 containing the different prices which he has to offer for the 
 different lots of ore exposed for sale. This ticket is a sheet 
 of printed paper, divided into as many perpendicular columns 
 as there are companies, with an additional one, standing 
 before the others, for the specification erf the several lots for 
 sale, the mines in which they ate raised, and the quantity of 
 which they consist. The head of every column has the 
 printed name of some particular company, and the whole of 
 it is filled up by the agent of this company, with the prices he, 
 on the behalf of his employers, has to offer for the lots j which 
 prices are gpipcified in a regular range from the top to the 
 bottom of tl^e external column, standing respectively against 
 thi. different lots. Having delivered these schedules in, 
 which contain the ultimatum of their offers, they are then 
 compared with each other, and the bidders of the highest 
 pnces are immediately declared the purchasers of the several 
 lots. Should however the same price be offered for the same 
 lot, by two or more bidders, it is then equally divided be- 
 tween the rivals. All this business is transafled in silence, 
 and with dispatch j so that bargains for 20,000/". worth of 
 copper ore are compleated in the course of half an<hour, 
 without a single word being spoken on the subje6t of the 
 sale or purchase.
 
 [ 289 J 
 
 war, yet it must not be concealed, that It Is partly 
 attributable also to the two following causes: the 
 increased produce of the Cornish mines, and the 
 large importations of foreign copper. 
 
 The very high price to which the metal had risen, 
 both induced and enabled the miners to speculate 
 more largely than they had been accustomed hitherto 
 to do. The consequence of this was, a supply more 
 than sufficient for all the demands of the British 
 market ; and a fall in the price of the ore naturally 
 followed. Unfortunately for Cornwall, just at the 
 period of this depression, very large quantities of cop- 
 per from South- America were taken by the British 
 cruizers, and the prizes brought to England; whilst at 
 the same time, or shortly after, considerable importa- 
 tions of the same article arrived from Lima, and other 
 places in South-America, the speculations of British 
 merchants to these parts under licenses from the 
 English and Spanish governments. Such a com- 
 bination of circumstances woiild of course influence 
 the home price of copper, and it actually expe- 
 rienced an immediate redufiion ; though as they 
 were mostly accidental, and as they had the efFe^l of 
 suspending the working of several mines, the pro- 
 prietors flatter themselves with the expectation that 
 the price of Cornish copper will again look up^ (to 
 use a mining phrase,) and this, like every other 
 
 u
 
 [290 ] 
 
 article, again find itslevel, as soon as the effefls of 
 this unnatural glut shall have passed away. 
 
 It is unnecessary for me to enumerate the differ- 
 ent species of copper which the mines of Cornwall 
 afford J it may be sufficient to say, that you here 
 find every variety of this ore, except muriat of coppery 
 which as yet has been discovered only in South- 
 America. I have before observed that of all the 
 Cornish copper works, Dolcooth is the largest ; 
 though many of them employ six hundred men, 
 besides a large tribe of women and children* The 
 principal mines now at work are as follow : Huel 
 Damsel, Huel Unity, Poldice, the Consolidated 
 Mines, Huel Fortune, Huel Jewel, and Huel 
 Gorland, in Gwennap ; Huel Towan, in St. Agnes ; 
 Dolcooth, in Camborn ; Huel Fanny, and Cook's 
 Kitchen, in Illogan ; Godolphin, and Benner Downs, 
 in Breage and Crowan ; Huel Alfred, near Hcyl ; 
 and Penberthy Crofts, and West Huel Fortune, near 
 Marazion. 
 
 Before I quit the subjeft of Cornish Mineralogy, 
 I must detain you a little longer with a few particu- 
 lars respeling the other metallic productions of this 
 curious county. 
 
 Gold is found native in Cornwall, but in such 
 small quantities as not to deserve the attention of the 
 owners of the mines. The workmen take it as their
 
 [ 291 3 
 
 perquisite, and sell the specimens to collectors. The 
 value of the whole annua! produce seldom reaches 
 I go/. The Carnan and other stream tin works (for 
 it has never appeared in any of the lodes) are the 
 only places which produce it ; where it is discovered 
 in grains from the size of fine sand to masses 
 (though very rarely) worth three or four guineas a 
 piece. It is sometimes mixed with quartz. 
 
 Silver also is produced in Cornwall. The largest 
 quantity ever found of this metal was raised in Her- 
 land copper mine, about ten years ago ; and might 
 be worth between 6 or 700/. It was dug up at the 
 depth of 100 fathoms, in a lode which intersected 
 the copper vein nearly at right angles. About 
 fifteen years since, a few small bunches of exceed- 
 ingly rich silver ore (particularly horn silver, or 
 muriat of silver, and a very rare mineral) were 
 raised in Cubert parish. Many of these pieces were 
 finely crystallized ; but the most beautiful specimen 
 is in the cabinet of Mr. John Williams, and has been 
 represented and described in that elegant work of 
 Mr. James Sowerby, the " British Mineralogy, for 
 the year 1808." Native silver also, vitrious silver 
 ore, red silver ore, and black silver ore, have been 
 found in Herland mine, in the parish of Gwinear j 
 and horn silver in the Mexico mine. The latter 
 may have produced about 2000/. worth of silver, 
 
 u z
 
 [ 292 ] 
 
 tut with no profit to the adventurers. These minca 
 have been discontinued several years. It is worth 
 observation, that the silver as well as lead lodes of 
 Cornwall run from north to south ; inclining, or as 
 miners call it, underlaying to the east or west ; a 
 direftion altogether opposite to the copper and tin 
 lodes, which run from east to west, and generally 
 underlie to the north or south. 
 
 Iron, in rich lodes of red and brown ore, is pro- 
 duced tn several parts of Cornwall, but sought after 
 in none ; owing to the great expense of smelting it, 
 there being no coal in the county. Iron pyritey^ 
 occurs in great quantities in most of the veins of 
 copper ; as well as magnetical iron ore at Penzance, 
 and specular iron ore at Tincroft mine, in Illogan, 
 Botollack mine, near the Land's End, and other 
 places. 
 
 Lead is not at present an objeft of search in 
 Cornwall. Within these last twenty years mines of 
 this metal have been worked to considerable extent 
 near Helston ; and furnaces were erected for smelt- 
 ing the ore; but the mines after a few years becom- 
 ing poor, and little profit arising from them to the 
 adventurer, they were given up. A similar specu- 
 Lition was undertaken upon a smaller scale inthc 
 parish of Cubert, and shortly after relinquished on 
 kccount of the same ill success. Small bunches of
 
 r 293 I 
 
 galsena, or sulphuret of lead, often occur in the cop- 
 per lodes ; and specimens of carbonat, phosphat, 
 and sulphat of the same, are now and then found. 
 
 Respecting the Semi-metals of Cornwall the fol- 
 lowing information will not, perhaps, be unaccept- 
 able to you : 
 
 Native Bismuth is found here, but not in sufficient 
 quantity to make it an article of commerce. 
 
 Antimony, Sulphuret or grey ore of this semi- 
 metal occurs near Port Isaac, on the North coast, 
 and is exported from thence to London ; where it 
 is used in casting types, and purchased by the che- 
 mists for medicinal preparations, Oxyde of ami* 
 mony is also found at the same place. 
 
 Cobalt. The Wherry mine, when worked, pro- 
 duced white cobah ore ; and Dolcooth, both white 
 and grey. The quantity raised at the latter has 
 amounted to several tons, but the workmen being 
 unacquainted with the art of treating it, no use has 
 been made of the ore, though it might be turned to 
 account, as it is in request to impart a blue tint to 
 porcelain and glass. Black oxyde of copper has 
 also been found. 
 
 Manganese. All the varieties of this ore are 
 produced in the Cornish manganese mines ; which 
 chiefly belong to the Williams's, of Scorrier House, 
 and the Foxes, of Falmouth, The principal of
 
 [ ^94 ] 
 
 these lie near Callington. They are very valuable, 
 the arts being much indebted to the assistance of 
 this ore in various of their processes ; such as, 
 bleaching linen and paper j* giving the violet colour 
 to glass, and the black hue to Wedgwood ware. 
 
 Arsenic* Arsenical Pyrites, both massive and cris- 
 tallized, occurs in many of the copper mines in 
 Gwennap, Illogan, &c. 
 
 Scheele, Wolfram, massive and crystallized, is 
 found in Poldice, and other mines in Gwennap, and 
 at Ketchill, near Callington. 
 
 Uranite, All the varieties of this semi-metal are 
 produced at Carharrach, Huel Gorland, Tolcarne, 
 and Huel Unity. 
 
 Menacanite, Of this I have already made mention. 
 
 Molybdana is found in very small quantities at 
 Huel Unity, in Gwennap. 
 
 Of the mineral crystallizations peculiar to Corn- 
 wall, the following, I believe, is a pretty correft list. 
 
 * The bleaching liquor prepared from manganese is used 
 for bleaching the rags with which the paper is made. It 
 renders the brownest rags perfe6tly white^ and fit for making 
 the finest paper. It is well known to be capable of whitening 
 paper after being manufactured; but it is not used by paper- 
 makers for that purpose.
 
 [ 295 ] 
 
 All the varieties of Arseniate of Copper, described 
 by Count de Boumon, and analyzed by Chenevix, 
 published in the Transaftions of the Royal Society 
 for the year 1801 j found at Huel Gorland and 
 Huel Unity. 
 
 Arseniate of Copper, of the olive green colour, 
 found at Carharrack mine. 
 
 Arseniate of Iron, crystallized in cubes, found at 
 the same place. 
 
 Wood tin found in several stream works, more par- 
 ticularly in the parish of St. Stephen's, and on the 
 Goss moors, near Bodmin. 
 
 To these should be added a schedule of the very 
 rare, though not peculiar crystallizations. 
 
 Horn Silver, mentioned before. 
 
 Red Copper Ore, crystallized in perfeft cubes, 
 oaoedrons and dodecaedrons, with the intermediate 
 
 passages. 
 
 Copper Pyrites, or yellow copper ore, in perfeft 
 tetraedrons, dodecaedrons, &c. from North-Down 
 mines, in the parish of Redruth 5 Tincroft mine, in 
 Illogan, &c- 
 
 Sulpburet of Copper, or vitreous copper ore, crystal- 
 lized in six-sided prisms, with and without double six- 
 sided pyramids, hexangular tables, and double hexan- 
 gular pyramids, &c. from Cook*3 Kitchen, Dolcooth, 
 Tincruft, Crevor, and Godolphin mines.
 
 [ 296 ] 
 
 Grey Copper Ore, crystallized, in tetraedrons and 
 decaedrons, with the intermediate passage of crys- 
 tallization J from Huel Jewel, in Gwennap. 
 
 Variegated or Purple Copper Ore, crystallized, in 
 cubes, from Dolcooth and Huel Jewel. 
 
 Sulphuret of Tin, or Tin Pyrites ; from St. Agnes 
 , and St. Stephen's parishes. 
 
 Carbonat of Lead, crystallized in hexangular 
 prisms, with and without hexangular pyramids j from 
 North Downs, Huel Unity, and Huel Rose. 
 
 Sulphat of Lead, crystallized, oftoedral, &c. from 
 a mine near Heyl. 
 
 OxydeofUranite, crystallized, in cubes, four-sided 
 tables, &c. from Carharrack, Tokarne, and Huel 
 Gorland mines. 
 
 Blende, crystallized, in perfeft tetraedrons, oftoe- 
 drons, cubes, &c. from St. Agnes parish. 
 
 Grey Ore of Antimony, described by Count de 
 Bournon, exceedingly rare. 
 
 Hydrcpbanous Opal, from Huel Clinton, ia 
 Gwennap. 
 
 Topaz, crystallized, white and yellow, an oxyde of 
 tin, from St. Agnes parish. 
 
 Felspar, crystallized, in rhombs, &c. from Pol- 
 gooth, Penandrea, in Redruth, and Roselobly 
 mines, in Gwennap.
 
 [ 297 ] 
 
 Tluor, crystallized, in oftoedrons, cubes withtran- 
 cated corners, also in crystals of twenty-four sides. 
 
 As the miners of Cornwall form so considerable 
 a part of the population of the mining country, they 
 would of course attraft our attention, and wc 
 observed a few circumstances in their character as a 
 body, which appeared to distinguish them from ail 
 other tribes of workmen that had before fallen 
 under our notice. These peculiarities naturally 
 arise from the nature of their employment, which is 
 altogether unlike that of the labouring classes in 
 general throughout the kingdom. I believe I have 
 before observed, that the expense of sinking the 
 shafts, and cutting the adits, or courses by which 
 part of the water is drained from the mines, lies with 
 the adventurers, who furnish also the machinery for 
 the works. The lode is then taken by the miners on 
 tribute, as it is called, or in other words, on specu- 
 lation ; an agreement by which they undertake to 
 drive the vein and raise the ore, (finding their own 
 tools, candles, gunpowder, &c.) on the condition of 
 their receiving a certain proportion of the profits on 
 the copper or tin produced and sold, be it little or 
 much J a proportion which is determined and ac-
 
 [ 298 ] 
 
 counted for every month. This circumstance of the 
 uncertainty of their gains has a marked cffeft upon 
 their charafter. The a^ivity which hope inspires 
 keeps their spirits in an agreeable agitation, ren- 
 ders their minds lively and alert, and prevents that 
 dulness which generally characterizes the English 
 labourer. Should success crown their speculation^ 
 it is needless to say that joy is the result ; but if it 
 terminate otherwise, the expeftation of a more for- 
 tunate take holds out its never-failing consolations to 
 them, and the charm of perspeftive good fortune 
 quickly banishes all the gloom of present disappoint- 
 ment. They cannot be distressed by want, as the 
 adventurers always make an advance to them after an 
 unlucky attempt, to provide immediate necessaries for 
 themselves and families; and thus relieved from a care 
 which deadens all the energies of a common labourer 
 under misfortune, and bows him down to the dust, 
 they proceed to a second experiment with unabated 
 ardour, and undiminished spirits. As their profits 
 are regulated by proportions, and determined by 
 calculations, their interest naturally leads them to 
 become conversant with numbers ; and there are 
 scarcely any of them who are not acquainted with 
 the lower branches of arithmetic. The various ma- 
 chinery too employed in the mines dire^ls their 
 attention so much to the mechanical powers, that it
 
 [ ^99 ] 
 
 is rare to meet with a good miner who is not also a 
 decent practical geometrician. They are men also of 
 very correal judgment, particularly on the subjeft of 
 their own work; a faculty of peculiar importance to 
 them in appreciating their labour, when it is to be 
 performed at settled wages. By a recollection and 
 Comparison of the results of former experience, 
 when a miner is taken to a spot to sink a shaft, he 
 knows at a glance at what rate per fathom he ought 
 to be paid for his labour, and makes his agreement 
 accordingly ; a bargain that is seldom found to give 
 any disproportionate advantage either to his employ- 
 ers or himself. The moral habits of the miners arc 
 not less respeftable, in general, than their intellec- 
 tual ones. We were told, by the most unquestion- 
 able authority, that they are civil and respectful in 
 their manners, and sober and decent in their conduct. 
 Early marriage, that surest guardian of virtue, and 
 best spur of honest industry, is very general amongst 
 the Cornish miners, and naturally introduces with 
 it continence, regularity, and domestic habits. In- 
 stances of ebriety will of course occasionally occur, 
 amongst such numbers ; but drunkenness is by no 
 means a practice with them. Their chief beverages 
 are water and tea, of which they are so fond, that 
 many of them drink it with their dinners. They 
 live in cottages, either rented, or ereCled by them-
 
 [ 30O ] 
 
 selves ; for as soon as a miner has saved a little 
 from the profits of his labour, he incloses a small 
 piece of waste land, builds a tenement, plants a 
 pittance of ground for a garden, and becomes pro- 
 prietor oF the spot on which he dwells. Here he 
 lives upon his gains, (which, when copper sells well, 
 may amount, upon an average, to about 5/. per 
 month,) in comfort, and generally with credit -, if 
 not an objeft of envy, one at least which the politi- 
 cal ceconomist may contemplate with improvement, 
 the moralist with pleasure, and the philanthropist 
 with delight. Nor let it be forgotten, that the reii' 
 gious sentiment is pretty universally diffused amongst 
 them, producing those good fruits of quiet, decency, 
 and order, which will inevitably more or less accom- 
 pany a knowledge of its sublime truths and awful 
 san^ions. The cold and feeble infidel, with iron 
 heart and leaden head, may perhaps smile at this 
 description of the effe^s of a principle, which his 
 bosom has never felt, and which his intellect cannot 
 distinftly comprehend ; but could he see amongst the 
 miners of Cornwall habits of inordinance fading 
 away before its purifying influence, cruel practices 
 vanquished by its gentle inspirations, and the whole 
 character humanized, dignified, and exalted, under 
 its soul-subduing power, he would at lease cease to 
 deride, if his prejudices would not suffer him to
 
 I 301 1 
 
 respeft, a Revelation which is capable of Imparting 
 such improvement to the nature of man. The cus* 
 toras which, some years ago, brutalized the miners 
 of Cornwall, and kept them in a state little better 
 than that of savages, are now, in a great measure, 
 exploded ; the desperate wrestling matches, for 
 prizes, that frequently terminated in death or mutila- 
 tion ; the inhuman cock-fights, which robbed the 
 miners of what little feeling they possesed, and often 
 left them plunged in debt and ruin; the pitched 
 battles which were fought between the workmen of 
 different mines or different parishes, and constantly 
 ended in blood ; and the riotous revelings held on 
 'particular days, when the gains of labour were 
 always dissipated in the most brutal debauchery, are 
 now of very rare occurrence, and will probably, in 
 the course of a few years, be only remembered in 
 tradition; the spots where these scenes of disorder 
 were held, being now inclosed, and a great part of 
 them covered with the habitations of the miners. 
 You will naturally enquire who have been the imme- 
 diate instruments of so much good, in a district so 
 unlikely to exhibit such gratifying appearances? and 
 I feel that I am but doing justice to a class of people, 
 much, though undeservedly calumniated, when I 
 I answer, the Wesleian Methodists. With a zeal
 
 [ 302 ] 
 
 that ought to put to the blush men of higher preleri" 
 sions, these indefatigable servants of their master 
 have penetrated into the wilds of the mines, and, 
 unappalledby danger or difficulty, careless of abuse 
 or derision, and inflexible in the good work they 
 had undertaken, they have perseveringly taught, 
 gradually reclaimed, and at length, I may almost 
 venture to say, completely reformed a large body 
 of men, who, without their exertions, would pro- 
 bably have still been immersed in the deepest spirit- 
 ual darkness, and the grossest mora Iturpitude. 
 " The irreligious fools of the world," and the inte- 
 rested asserters of exclusive establishment privileges^ 
 would probably consider this tribute of praise to 
 the Wesleian Methodists, as the dotage of enthui. 
 siasm, or the cant of disaffection ; but from you, I 
 may expert a more favourable conclusion. In your 
 heart there is a corresponding chord, which will 
 vibrate with pleasure at the view of so ample an 
 harvest of good, whoever may have been the labour- 
 ers employed in sowing the seed ; and will be ready 
 to bear grateful testimony to that exemplary zeal 
 which, under the sanftion of higher auspices, has 
 been the means of producing it. 
 
 Amongst a large body of men, confined almost 
 entirely to the company of each other, and engaged 
 
 1
 
 f 303 ] 
 
 in labours constantly associated with danger* and 
 darkness, we expefted to have found many super- 
 stitious notions, the natural offspring of the awful 
 operating upon ignorance. In this, however, we were 
 disappointed. The miners of Cornwall are free 
 from the shackles of these terrors of the imagination; 
 and the only remnants of superstition which we dis- 
 covered amongst them, were, a careful abstaining from 
 whistling when under ground, and a firm belief in the 
 efficacy of the Virgula Divinitoria, or Divining Rod. 
 In regard to whistlings it may be observed, that the 
 dislike to it does not seem peculiar to their profes- 
 sion. Sailors, you know, when on board ship, 
 avoid this praftice with the utmost caution, except 
 when they have recourse to it with the superstitious 
 view of calling a wind to their assistance by its 
 influence J at all other times they consider it as 
 
 * The accidents most common amongst the miners are 
 those arising from blasting the rock with gunpowder. Upon 
 enquiry, however, at the consolidated mines of Hucl Unitj 
 and Poldice, where the ground is hard, and frequently shot, 
 as it is called, there did not appear to be, upon an average, 
 more than one accident in every hundred men, during the 
 course of the year. A noble Infirmary at Truro receives 
 all the unfortunate miners who suffer such casualties j as 
 well as all other poor labouring men who are disabled by 
 accident or disease.
 
 inauspicious. It would be curious to Investigate the 
 cause of such associations being connefted with a 
 very innocent and sprightly kind of natural melody ; 
 I must leave this, however, to the researches of 
 others, and in the mean time confess myself totally 
 unable to deteil its reason, or trace its original. 
 
 The virtues of the Virgula, or Divining Rod, arc 
 acknowledged by other miners as well as those of 
 Cornwall. I remember some years ago having heard 
 them positively asserted amongst the people em- 
 ployed in the lapis calam'maris mines of Mendip, 
 who would as soon have doubted the power of gun- 
 powder in blasting the rock, as the influence of this 
 magical wand in pointing out the invisible course of 
 mineral veins. It must be observed, however, that 
 implicit credit is not given to the virtue of the Vir- 
 gula by ^//the persons concerned in the Cornish mines: 
 most of the workmen are firm believers in it; but 
 many of the captains are sceptical j and all the propri- 
 etors absolute infidels in this respecl. The use of it is 
 of great antiquity in foreign countries, though it was 
 introduced into this only in Queen Anne's reign by 
 a Spaniard, named Capt. Ribeira, who deserted from 
 the service of his country, and was made Captain 
 Commandant of the garrison of Plymouth. The 
 efficacy which it appeared to possess in his hands 
 soon made it a popular instrument in all the English
 
 [ 305 ] 
 
 ftiining counties, and as mplicit faith accompanied 
 its use, so those accidental discoveries which it was 
 impossible should not occasionally occur in districts 
 interscfted by lodes, to persons who tried the coun- 
 try with it, served to increase its credit j whilst the 
 disappointments or mistakes which more frequently 
 attended its operations, were ever put to the account 
 of the Virgula being irregularly made, improperly 
 held, or the person carrying it not being one in 
 whose hands it would afl. As lately as thirty years 
 ago the reputation of this magical wand continued ta 
 be unblemished, and its claims undiminished in the 
 West of England ; and Pryce, one of the most scien- 
 tific and experienced miners of Cornwall, was an 
 inflexible believer in its extraordinary effedls. He 
 has given us the following account of its construc- 
 tion and use: " The rods formerly used, were 
 *' shoots of one year's growth that grew forked 5 
 " but it is found, that two separate shoots tied 
 '* together with some vegetable substance, as pack- 
 " thread, will answer rather better than those which 
 " are grown forked, as their shoots being seldom of 
 " equal length or bigness they do not handle so well 
 " as the others, which may be chosen of exally the 
 " same size. The shape of the rod thus prepared, 
 " will be between two and a half and three fc^t 
 ** long. They must be tied together at their great 
 
 X
 
 [ 306 ] 
 
 *' or root ends, the smaller being to be held in the 
 *' hands. Hazel rods cut in the winter, such as are 
 *' used for fishing-rods, and kept till they are dry, 
 '' do best ; though where these are not at hand, 
 '' apple-tree suckers, rods from peach-trees, currants, 
 * or the oak, though green, will answer tolerably 
 well. 
 
 " It is very difficult to describe the manner of 
 *' holding and using the rod : it ought to be held ia 
 *' the hands, the smaller ends lying flat or parallel to 
 ** the horizon, and the upper part in an elevation 
 *' not perpendicular to it, but seventy degrees, 
 
 " The rod being properly held by those with 
 '* whom it will answer, when the toe of the right 
 ' foot is within the semi-diameter of the piece of metal 
 " or other subject of the rod, it will be repelled 
 *' towards the face, and continue to be so, while the 
 " feot is kept from touching or being direftly over 
 " the subjeft ; in which case, it will be sensibly and 
 " strongly attra6led, and be drawn quite down. 
 *' The rod should be firmly and steadily grasped ; 
 " for if, when it hath begun to be attracted there be 
 * the least imaginable jerk, or opposition to its 
 '' aitra^ion, it will not move any more, till the 
 *' hands are opened and a fresh grasp taken. The 
 " stronger the grasp, the livelier the rod moves, 
 *' provided the grasp be steady, and of an equal
 
 [ 307 ] 
 
 <* strength. This observation is very necessary, 
 * as the operation of the rod in many hands is 
 ** defeated purely by a jerk or counter aiion ; and 
 *' it is from thence concluded, there is no real efficacy 
 " in the rod, or that the person who holds it wants 
 the virtue ; whereas by a proper attention to this 
 *' circumstance in using it, five persons in six have 
 " the virtue as it is called ; that is, the nut or fruit 
 " bearing rod will answer in their hands. Whea 
 " the rod is drawn down, the hands must be opened, 
 " the rod raised by the middle fingers, a fresh grasp 
 " taken, and the rod held again in the direlioQ 
 " described. 
 
 " A little praftice by a person in earnest about it, 
 *' will soon give him the necessary adroitness in the 
 " use of this instrument ; but it must be particularly 
 *' observed, that as our animal spirits are necessary 
 " to this process, so a man ought to hold the roj 
 *' with the same indifTerence and inattention to, or 
 < reasoning about it, or its effects, as he holds a 
 " fishing-rod or a walking-stick j for if the mind be 
 *' occupied by doubts, reasoning, or any other 
 " operation that engages the animal spirits, it will 
 *' divert their powers from being exerted in this 
 " process, in which their instrumentality is abso- 
 *'^lutely necessary j from hence it is that the rod 
 " constantly answers in the hands of peasants, 
 
 X 2
 
 [ 308 ] 
 
 ** women, and children, who hold it simply without 
 ** puzzling their minds with doubts or reasonings. 
 '* Whatever may be thought of this observation, it 
 *' is a very just one, and of great consequnce in the 
 ' practice of the rod. 
 
 " If a rod, or the least piece of one, of the nut 
 " bearing or fruit kind, be put under the arm, it 
 " will totally destroy the operation of the Virgula 
 " Divinatoria in regard to all the subjefts of it, ex- 
 *' cept water, in those hands in which the rod natu- 
 *' rally operates. If the least animal thread, as silk, 
 " or worsted, or hair, be tied round or fixed on the 
 *' top of the rod, it will in like manner hinder its 
 *' operation ; but the same rod placed under the 
 " arm, or the same animal substances tied round or 
 *' fixed on the top of the rod, will make it work in 
 '* those hands, in which, without these additions, it 
 *' is not attracted. 
 
 " The willow, and other rods, that will not an- 
 *' swer in the hands in which the fruit or nut bear- 
 *' ing rods attrafted, will answer in those hands in 
 " which the others will not ; so that all persons 
 *' usicg suitable rods in a proper manner have the 
 * virtue as it is called of the rod. A piece of the 
 '* same willow placed under the arm, or the silk, 
 '* worsted, or hair, bound round, or fixed to the top 
 ^' of It, will make it answer with those to whom the
 
 [ 309 ] 
 
 " nut or fruit bearing rods are naturally suitable, 
 *' and in whose hands, without those additions, it 
 " would not answer. 
 
 ' All rods, in all hands, answer to springs of 
 *' water. 
 
 " If a rod is wanted for distinguishing copper or 
 ** gold, procure filings of iron, lead, and tin, some 
 ** leaf silver, chalk in powder, coal in powder,, and 
 *' rasped bones : let a hole be bored with a small 
 *' gimblet in the top of the rod ; then mix the least 
 *' imaginable quantity of the above ingredients, and 
 *' put it in the gimblet hole with a peg of the same 
 " wood with the rod, when it will only be attrafted 
 *' by what is left out, viz. gold and copper. 
 
 " In preparing a rod for distinguishing the white 
 " metals, leave out the lead, tin, and leaf silver, and 
 *' add copper filings to the other ingredients ; and 
 " so of every subjel by which you would have the 
 *' rod attraSted, the respective filings or powder 
 " must be left out of the mixture which is to be 
 *' put into the hole at the top of the rod. As for 
 ** coal and bones, they may be omitted in the dis- 
 '* tinguishing rods that are used in Cornwall, for 
 *' obvious reasons : but it is necessary to put in the 
 " chalk or lime ; for though there is no limestone in 
 " the mining part of the county, yet there are abun- 
 *' dance of strata that draw the rod as limestone j
 
 [ 310 1 
 
 for the distinftlon]of a dead or a live course, holds 
 
 as well in regard to limestone, as to the metals. 
 
 This, however paradoxical it may appear, is a 
 
 truth easily to be proved ; and it is one axiom in 
 
 the science of the rod, that it makes no distinftion 
 
 between the living and dead parts of a course. 
 
 ' Like the lodestone, it only shews the course, leav- 
 
 ' ing the success of the undertaking to the fortune, 
 
 ' skill, and management of the miner ; as the lode* 
 
 ' stone doth that of the voyage, to the fortune, 
 
 ' ability, and prudence of the mariner and merchaut, 
 
 *' The rod being guarded against all subjeds ex- 
 
 ' cept that which you want to discover, as tin and 
 
 ' copper, for example ; walk steadily and slowly on 
 
 ' with it ; and a person that hath been accustomed 
 
 ' to carry it, will meet with a single repulsion and 
 
 ' attraftion, every three, four, or five yards, which 
 
 ' must not be heeded, it being only from the water 
 
 ' that is between every bed of killas, grouan, or 
 
 ' other strata. When the holder approaches a 
 
 ' lode so near as its semi-diameter, the rod feels 
 
 ' loose in the hands, and is very sensibly repelled 
 
 ' toward the face ; if it be thrown back so far as 
 
 ' to touch the hat, it must be brought forward to 
 
 ' its usual elevation, when it will continue to be 
 
 ' repelled till the foremost foot is over the edge 
 
 ' of the lode ; when this is the case, if the rod
 
 [ 311 ] 
 
 *' is held well, there will first be a small repulsion 
 *' towards the face ; but this is momentary ; and 
 " the rod will be immediately drawn irresistibly 
 ** down, and will continue to be so in the whole 
 *' passage over the lode ; but as soon as the fore- 
 *' most foot is beyond its limits, the attraftion from 
 " the hindmost foot, which is still on the lode, 
 " or else the repulsion on the other side, or both, 
 *' throw the rod back toward the face. The dis- 
 " tance from the point where the attraction begun, 
 *' and where it ended, is the breadth of the lode ; or 
 *' rather of a horizontal sedlion of the bryle or back 
 *' just under the earth. We must then turn, and 
 *' trace it on obliquely, or in the way of zig-zag, as 
 ** far as may be thought necessary. 
 
 " In the course of this tracing a lode, all the cir- 
 *' cumstances of ir, so far as they relate to its back, 
 *' will be discovered ; as its breadth at diiferent 
 " places, its being squeezed together by hard strata, 
 ** its being cut oif and thrown aside from its regular 
 ** course by a cross-gossan, &c.*' 
 
 We were told, it is true, many stories to confirm 
 the above surprizing accounts of the powers of the 
 Virgula Divinatoria j but none of them were of suffi- 
 cient weight to make us converts to a faith in its 
 virtues -, and we came away from our informants in 
 much the same temper of mind as Johnson left tLe
 
 [ 312 ] 
 
 reporters of xhe second si^bt hcu\t)\ rather willing to 
 believe, than actually convinced that what we had 
 heard had any foundation in truth. 
 
 When we quilted Truro, we relinquished ary 
 further u7iderground researches, and determined to 
 confine ourselves for the remainder of our journey to 
 the external face of nature. We were now, indeed, 
 at every step leaving the principal mining country 
 behind us, and getting into districts where objects of 
 a far different nature engaged the busy attention of 
 man, and more certain, but less splendid profits were 
 sought for, in the cultivation of the surface of the 
 ground. One farewell view of the southern coast 
 remained to us from a rising ground two or three 
 miles from Truro. Here we caught si^bt of the 
 noble harbour of Falmouth ; and its bold termina- 
 tion, the promontory of Pendennis, crested by the 
 turrets of its castle, which from this distance 
 assum.ed a most august appearance. We beheld it 
 with that lingering gaze which is natural when we 
 take a parting look at a pleasing object ; and then 
 bade adieu to it probably for ever. 
 
 The shabby village of St. ^Erme would probably 
 have been passed by us without notice, had we not 
 been told that it was remarkable for the largest cattle 
 c^rnporii m in Cornwall. Here the graziers from the 
 north of Cornwall bring their beasts to the fair.
 
 I 313 ] 
 
 which is held in the month of September ; and in the 
 course of a few hour?, a transfer of property, to 
 the amount of many thousand pounds, is made in 
 a place, where, from its appearance, one would as 
 soon expect to see a mermaid as a guinea. I must 
 except, however, the halcyon time of an election, 
 when I presume St. Erme, like all other places in 
 Cornwall, so happily privileged as itself, is inundated 
 with the wages of corruption. Not, hov/ever, in 
 the same degree with another dirty village that wc 
 passed through, which, from the monstrous venality 
 of its voters, is denominated Sodom ; whilst its 
 neighbouring borough, from a similar cause, has 
 obtained the equally honourable name of Gomor- 
 rah ! mortify mg reflection to a Briton, whose chief 
 political boast is that grand feature of the constitu- 
 tion of his country, which distinguishes and exalts 
 it amongst the other governments of the world- 
 
 F OP ULAR R l.PRESEN -PA TIOK, * 
 
 * The following little history of llie origin of the Cornish 
 borouglis is curious and entertaining : " And now I am 
 *' engaged in this suljjee-t, it will not be foreign to the his- 
 " tory of Corn\^all, to enquire into t!ie original of this so 
 " much envied prixuege, of sending a g^t^'lt number of rc- 
 " preventatives to the House of Commons, Ironi so small a 
 " county, and Irom boroughs mostly so inconsiderable as to
 
 [ 514 I 
 
 We were led half a mile to the right, just before 
 we entered St. Columb, to look at a rude structure 
 
 *' trade, inhabitants, and every thing that can entitle place* 
 " to distin6tion ; whilst several towns in England, much 
 ** superior in all respeds, have never been admitted to the 
 *' same honour. 
 
 " This pre-eminence of our county is not ancient. From 
 *' the 23d of Edward 1. five boroughs only, (viz. Lanceston, 
 " Liskerd, Truro, Bodmin, and Helston,) sent two members 
 ** each, and the county two. Lostwythiel has held the same 
 *' privilege from the 4th of Edward II. and sent two mem- 
 ' bers once before, viz. in the 33d Edward I. These are 
 " our only six ancient boroughs, and the number was neither 
 *' diminished nor increased, till the 6th of Edward VI. ex- 
 *' cepting only in one instance, which shall be taken notice 
 " of in the sequel. 
 
 " At this time (viz. in the latter end of the reign of Ed- 
 *' ward VI.) seven other boroughs, viz. Saltash, Camelford^ 
 *' West-Loo, Granpont, Tindagel, Michel, and Newport, 
 *' were permitted to send up two members each. 
 
 " In the 1st of Mary, Penryn, and in the 4th and 5th of 
 " the same reign, St. Ives, had the like privilege. 
 
 "In the 1st of Elizabeth, Tregeny was admitted J in the 5th, 
 " St. German's and St. Maw's; in the 13th, East-Loo and 
 " Fawyj and in the 27th of that reign, Gallington > making 
 " up the number of twenty-one boroughs, which with Uie 
 " rounty, return to parliament forty-four members. 
 
 " The reason of this modern addition to the boroughs of 
 <' this county, mny, I think, best appear from considering that
 
 C 315 ] 
 
 of stones, called a Coit, similar to the one I have 
 before described. Borlase attributes this and such 
 
 ** the dutchy of Cornwall (then in the crown and oftener so 
 " than separated from it) yields in tin and lands an hereditary 
 ** revenue, much superior to what the crown has in any 
 " county in Fngland, and that eight of these boroughs had 
 '* either an immediate or remote connexion with the de- 
 * mesne lands of this dutchy, a link formerly of much striker 
 " union and higher command than at present. Four other 
 ** boroughs depended on or wholly belonged to religious 
 " houses which fell to the crown at the dissolution of monas- 
 *' teries, in the reign of Henry VIII. For instance, New- 
 *' port rose with Lanccston priory, and with it fell to the 
 *' crown. Penryn depended much on the rich college of 
 ** Glasney and its lands ; the manor also was alienated by 
 *' Edward VI. but restored by Queen Mary, and the towa 
 "privileged by her. St. German's was (after Bodmin) the 
 *' chief priory in Cornwall, and the borough of Fawy fell 
 *' to the crown with the priory of Trewardraith, to which it 
 *' belonged. 
 
 " The other boroughs remain to be taken notice of. MI- 
 " chel belonged to the lich and highly-allied family of the 
 " Arundels of Lanhearne, and St. Ives and Callington to the 
 " family of Pawlet, (Marquis of Winchester, now Duke of 
 *' Bolton,) by marrying the heiress of Willoughby Lord 
 *' Brook, some time of Newton-Ferrers in this county. Now 
 ** these several connections of the additional boroughs may 
 *' point out to us the rise of this privilege. 
 
 *' Henry \1I. reduced the power of the ancient Lords, and 
 " consequently advanced that of the Commons ; Henry VIII.
 
 [ 316 J 
 
 like strn(5lurcs to the Druids, who raised them as 
 sepulchral monuments, to secure and surround the 
 
 '* enriched many of the Commons with ehurch-lands j and in 
 *' the latter end of the reign of Edward VI. the Duke of 
 ** Northumbarland could not but perceive of what conse- 
 " quence it was to bis ambitious schemes to have a majority 
 * in the House of Commons ; and Cornwall seems to have 
 " been pitched upon as the most proper scene for this stretch 
 ** of the prerogative, because of tlie large property and con- 
 " sequently influence of the dutchy : Six towns therefore 
 *' depending on the dutchy and church-lands, and one 
 *' borough of a powerful family, were indulged to send four-> 
 * teen members. The ministry of those days- were not so, 
 *' defeftive in artifice as not to oblige powerful lords now, 
 " and then with the same indulgence which they granted ta 
 ** these boroughs, thereby endeavouring either to reconcile. 
 " them to their administration, or to make thi^ guilty in-, 
 ** crease of the prerogative less invidious. Queen Mary, ia 
 " her sliort reign, (probably from the same motives,) admit.-\ 
 ** ted two more ; and Queen Elizabeth, who never rejefted 
 *' any political precedent which might confirm her power 
 '* (though always, it must be owned, exerting that power for 
 *' the prosperity of her people, as well as her own glory,) 
 * admitted six other boroughs. 
 
 *' The only instances which could give the least colour of 
 *' justice to these proceedings, were few and weak. The 
 ' borough of Tregeny sent burgesses indeed twice, viz. in. 
 " the 23d and 35th of Edward I. but no more till the 1st of 
 ' Elizabeth. East-Loo and Eawy sent one and the same 
 ** merchcuit, then called a ship-owner, to a council at West-.
 
 r 317 ] 
 
 remains of the departed from the destructive violence^ 
 of the weather, and the impious rage of enemies; 
 
 *' minster, (not to parliament,) in the 14th of Edward III. 
 " Of these, however. Queen EUzabeth laid hold for the 
 *' more specious promoting her designs : In her first year 
 *' she revived the claims of Tregeny ; in the 5th of her reign, 
 " ' Burgesses being returned for St. Jerrayne's and St. Maw 
 *' ' in Cornwall, Mr. Speaker declared in the House, that the 
 " ' Lord-Steward agreed they should resort unto the House, 
 '* ' and with convenient speed, to shew their letters-patent* 
 "^ ' why they be returned in this parliament:' 'But they 
 " ' were no farther questioned,' (says Dr. Willis, ib. p, l6S,) 
 " ' the Glueen's inclinations being well understood.' 
 
 '* In the 13th Elizabeth both East-Loo and Fawy elecled two 
 " members, which being taken notice of and examined into* 
 " ' Report was made by the House of the validity of the bur- 
 " ' gesses, and it was ordered, by the Attorney-generars assent, 
 " ' that the burgesses shall remain according to their returns; 
 " ' for that the validity of the charters is elsewhere to be ex- 
 " amined, if cause be :' ' By which means,' saysDr. Willis, 
 *' (ib. p. 102,) ' little or no dispute being made against the 
 *' ' Queen's power, the House became greatly increased with 
 " ' representatives, especially by the sending of burgesses 
 *' ' from those borouglis.' 
 
 " Nor was it any objc6tIon, I imagine, to their sending up 
 ' members, that these boroughs had litth; trade, few inha- 
 " bitants, and those poor and of no eminence ; these circum- 
 " stances in all likelihood did rather promote than prevent 
 ^* their being privileged, as rciideriug them more tradable
 
 C 318 ] 
 
 and to preserve their memory by such a laboured 
 testimony of respeft. They are evidently of Celtic 
 
 *' and dependant than if they had been large and opulent 
 ** townS; inhabited by persons of trade, rank, and discernment. 
 *' It is true, indeed, these places so summoned were old 
 *' boroughs (in the legal acceptation of the word), that is, 
 ** had immunities granted tliem by their Princes or Lords, 
 ** exemptions from services in other courts, privileges of 
 *' exercising trades, of eleding officers within their own 
 *' distri6t, and invested with the property of lands, millsj 
 ** fairs, &c. paying annually a certain chief or fee-farm rentj 
 " most of tiiem also were parts of the ancient demesnes of the 
 * crown, and had been either in the crown or in the royal 
 ** blood from the Norman Conquest, and by passing to and 
 " from the crown often, and their privileges constantly 
 *' reserved and confirmed at every transfer, tliese towns had 
 "acquired a kind of nominal dignity, but were in every 
 *' other light inconsiderable, and no ways entitled to the 
 ' power of sending members to parliament, much less in 
 *' preference to so many more populous communities in the 
 ** other parts of England." Borlases Nat. Hist. p. 309, 312. 
 
 As Cornwall can boast the tutelage of more saints, and the 
 return of more members of parliament, than any other county 
 in England, so may it hold out a claim to a larger number of 
 country bankers than any distriiS of similar population with 
 itself. "We were told there are fifty-six of these firms in tlie 
 county} of whicli Truro produces six, and the little town of 
 Penzance nine\
 
 [ 319 1 
 
 origin, from their being found in all countries uni- 
 versally allowed to be peopled by this tribe j in 
 Cornwall, Wales, Anglesey, Scotland, Ireland, and 
 the British isles. 
 
 St. Colurab did not give u? more favourable im- 
 pressions of the Cornish towns than we had before 
 entertained; being straggling, narrow, and paved 
 with execrable pebbles, which, from the town 
 stretching down a long descent, may be considered 
 as forming a very dangerous road. It is suffi- 
 ciently satisfied with itself, however, as it possesses 
 the envied right of returning members to the senate. 
 We had been too much disgusted with prior speci- 
 mens of Cornish representation to enquire in how 
 few a number the eleftive franchise was vested. 
 
 As it was our intention to include some antiqui- 
 ties in our way to Padstow, we took a circuitous 
 route to that place, and turned into the Wadebridgc 
 road, where we reached the summit of the hill that 
 was to the north of St. Coluinb. Here our atten- 
 tion was soon caught by Castle Andinas^ a noble 
 entrenchment situated on the loftiest point cf a bold 
 eminence to the right. We found it a place of pro- 
 digious strength ; originally fortified with three cir- 
 cular walls, and an immense ditch. Remains of the 
 former are still visible, and the latter will probably 
 c-.dure till the destruction of " the great globe itself.
 
 [ 320 ] 
 
 ** and all which it inherit." It is generally believed 
 (and seemingly with truth) to have been constructed 
 by the Danes; and from its name, which signifies 
 the castle of the palace^ as well as some appearances 
 in its area, may be considered as a permanent fortified 
 residence of some Scandinavian chief, who for a 
 time ruled over the adjacent district. The diameter 
 of the inclosed space is 400 feet. 
 
 To this, at the distance of two miles, succeeded 
 another remain of antiquity, though perhaps of more 
 recent date : a series of nine rude stones, called the 
 Nine Sisters. They are placed in a rectilinear posi- 
 tion, stretching from north to south ; three of them 
 remaining upright as they were originally, and the 
 remainder lying on the ground. We were inclined 
 to attribute them to the Danes, (who visited Corn- 
 wall in the ninth century, both as friends and foes,) 
 on two accounts, first, because the number nine was 
 sacred in Runic mythology,* and secondl)'', because 
 
 * See Adam of Bremen in Grotil prolegom. 104 5 and Mal- 
 let's Northern Antiq. passim. Amongst the ancient Scandi- 
 navians a solemn festival was held every nine years, when 
 nine animals of every species were sacrificed to their gods. 
 Odin too, we are told, resolving to die as a warrior before the 
 approach of old age and infirmity, called a general assembly 
 of tlie Goths, and gave himself nine mortal wounds before
 
 [ 321 ] 
 
 it was the custom of this people to mark the scene of 
 vlftory, and places of intermentj with upright stones* 
 The highest of these monuments did not appear to 
 have stood more than eight feet out of the ground j 
 and was greatly eclipsed in grandeur by a solitary 
 stone about a mile and a half further on, which rose 
 from a circular basin to the height of sixteen feet. It 
 is an unchisseled mass of moor-stone, with no other 
 symptom of its having suffered from the battery of 
 ten thousand tempests, than being removed a little 
 out of its perpendicular. Its situation is desolate. 
 
 them, of which he died. The same veneration of the num- 
 ber Nine is to be found amongst the Tartars. All presenig 
 made to their princes consist, in general, of nine of each arti- 
 cle. At all their feasts this number and its combinations are 
 always attended to in their dishes of meat, and in their skins 
 of liquor. At one entertainment, mentioned by the Tartar 
 King Abulgazi Khan, there were nine thousand sheep, nine 
 hundred hor;s, and ninety-nine vessels of brandy, &c. 
 See Richardson's Dissertation, prefixed to his Persic Diftion- 
 ary; Proofs and Illustrations, This similarity between the 
 Tartars and Scandinavians, in a superstitious regard to the 
 number nine, is brought by this ingenious author as one 
 among other proofs of the latter people being descendants of 
 the former. His theory is supported by much Sensible reason- 
 jnig, and has probably its foundation in truth. 
 
 V
 
 [ 322 ] 
 
 but commands one of the finest views in Cornwalf. 
 We here caught many a league of the North coast, 
 from east to west, with its rocks and harbours ; and 
 a vast extent of inland country, diversified by its hills 
 and rivers, its towns and villages. Woods alone 
 were wanting to give the pi6lure every possible 
 charm ; for though the North ol Cornwall is not so 
 destitute of timber as the opposite district of the 
 county, the eye still craves a larger proportion of it 
 than it can find. 
 
 Having accidentally met with a very intelligent 
 farmer, we were conducted, through an intricate 
 road, to an objel: of which we had heard much, 
 but should probably never have discovered, without 
 such a conduftor, since its retired situation seems to 
 have concealed it even from the prying eye of the 
 indefiitigable Borlase. It is a Kistvaen,* (or stone 
 chest,) of great beauty, and in good preservation, 
 standing in a small common field, about a mile and a 
 half to the westward of the upright stone just de- 
 scribed. Its elaborate struture marks the dignity 
 of the person whom it commemorates. An artifi- 
 cial barrow appears to have been first raised, about 
 forty paces in circumference, in the centre of which 
 
 See Frontispiece.
 
 I 323 ] 
 
 ^as left an oblong depression^ three feet deep, 
 inclosed by upright stones, leaving a vacant space 
 for the body, eight feet in length, by three and a 
 half over. On the outside of these, nine stones 
 were placed in a perpendicular position, which sup* 
 ported a flat horizontal one, of irregular form, four- 
 teen feet and a half long, eight feet in breadth in the 
 broadest part, and about tvvo feet on the average in 
 depth. A large fragment of this covering has been 
 broken off, and lies at the foot of its parent mass. 
 We had no doubt of its Danish original, from the 
 reasons given above, as well as from the well-known 
 fai: of the Druids burning their dead, and the cir- 
 cumstance of a receptacle beneath the Kistvaen, 
 %vhich was evidently prepared for the purpose of 
 receiving the body in its natural state. We were 
 much pleased with the objeft itself, and with its 
 sequestered situation, and considered it as the finest 
 remain of rude antiquity which we had seen in 
 Cornwall. 
 
 An agreeable transition of scenery occurred 
 shortly after we quitted the Kistvaen. The wild, 
 unbroken views, that had so perpetually recurred, 
 were now changed for close sequestered glens, which 
 the most romantic parts of Devonshire could not 
 have rivalled in beauty. The charader of the per- 
 
 Y 2
 
 [ 324 3 
 
 fcl plluresque may be justly claimed by the village 
 of Little Potherwick, where a rude arch thrown 
 over the road, an old mill, an ivied church, and 
 several cottages, sprinkled on a very irregular spot 
 of ground, produced a most striking and lovely 
 effe^. The magic of this combination is completed 
 by an exuberance of foliage which breaks the forms 
 of the objefts, and only partially admits the light. 
 A 9[ood road of six or seven miles conducted us to 
 Padstow. The beauty of the harbour, on the 
 western side of which this town stands, powerfully 
 arrested our attention. The tide was at flood, and 
 filled the whole of a vast and deep recess, the 
 mouth of which being concealed by the juttings of 
 the land, the expanse assumed the appearance of a 
 noble lake. Had not nature denied it the accom- 
 paniment of wood, Padstow harbour would be one 
 of the most majestic objefts in Britain. The town, 
 though not correspondent in beauty, is a place of 
 wealth and respeftability ; and the liberal spirit of 
 its inhabitants is sujfhciently visible in the improve- 
 ments and accommodations they are forming in its 
 neighbourhood. Amongst them may be reckoned 
 the walks and plantations of Mr. Rawlings, which 
 are executed with taste, and when matured, will be 
 a considerable ornament to the town. Its trade, in
 
 C 325 ] 
 
 times of pe?.ce, is considerable; the exports consisting 
 of large quantities of fish, and the imports of hemp, 
 timber, &c. from Russia, Denmark, and Norway. 
 The only objecH: conneiSied with antiquity that 
 attratfled our notice here was Place, situated a little 
 above the town, the residence of Mr. Broom, an 
 embattled mansion, apparently of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, uniform and substantial, and capable originally 
 of making a respectable defence against the transient 
 accidental outrages of barbarous times. The chief 
 curiosity, however, in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of Padstow is its rocks, honeycombed into romantic 
 caverns, and resorted to in fine and warm weather, 
 for the purposes of pleasure and enjoyment. But 
 woe betide the wretched mariners who are involun- 
 tarily driven towards them by the blast of the storm ! 
 Escape is hopeless. Their black perpendicular 
 heads frown inevitable destruftion on every vessel 
 that approaches them ; and seldom does one of the 
 unhappy crew survive, to tell the horrors of the 
 shipwreck ! 
 
 " Again she plunges ! liark! a second shock 
 =' 'I'ears lier strong bottom ou the marble rock : 
 * Down on the vale of death, with dismal cries. 
 " The fated \ ictims shuddering roll thir eyes.
 
 [ 326 ] 
 
 *^' In wild despair; while yet another stroke 
 " With deep convulsions rends the solid oak : 
 " Till, like the mine, in whose infernal cell 
 " The lurking daemons of destruction dwell, 
 " At length asunder torn, her frame divides, 
 *'' And hashing spreads in ruin o'er the tides." 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Tour's sincerely, 
 
 R. W.
 
 LETTER VIII* 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 Kilhliamplon, Aug. 24} 1808. 
 
 MY Cornish tour has at least added to my stock 
 of prudential maxims, and taught me a rule, 
 which I shall always observe, never to attempt 
 crossing a strait of water with a horse, when it 
 shall be in my power to reath its opposite side by a 
 terra firma road, however circuitous the journey
 
 [ 328 ] 
 
 may be. The harbour of Padstow, at the ferry, is 
 somewhat better than half a mile across ; where a 
 commodious boat generally plies backwards and for- 
 wards to convey travellers and their cattle over the 
 passage. Unfortunately, however, this vehicle hap- 
 pened at present to be under repair, and its substitute 
 was too small to admit more than one horse at a 
 time. W.'s animal, with all the accommodating 
 readiness of his master, skipped vrilllngly into the 
 boat, and was conveyed over with expedition and 
 safety; but alas! no arts of persuasion or compul- 
 sion would prevail upon my Rosinante, to follow his 
 example when the boat returned. The Exeter 
 Hack (for such is his history) was dead to the 
 influence of both j and I found, too late, that the 
 most inflexible obstinacy might be enumerated 
 amongst his other unfortunate qualities. In this 
 dilemma, the boatmen advised me to swi?n him 
 over ; asserting that he would pass the strait in this 
 manner with the utmost ease. Ignorance must be 
 my excuse for listening to their advice; the steed 
 was tied to the stern of the boat, and we launched 
 into the deep. We had not proceeded an hundred 
 yards, however, before I bitterly repented my folly, 
 in giving the animal credit for possessing the proper- 
 ties of a Newfoundland dog. Convulsive snoriings 
 evinced that he was in an element by no means
 
 [ 3^9 J 
 
 natural to him ; and his motion resembled more the 
 struggles of death than the art of swimming. He 
 turned now on one side, and now on the other, whilst 
 the noose was every moment slipping from his head, 
 which the utmost strength of myself and a boat- 
 man was hardly sufficient to keep above the water. 
 Happily it was dead ebb tide, so that the distance 
 between the shores was considerably less than at 
 any other time, and no cross current impeded our 
 motion. But with all these advantages it was only 
 by the greatest exertions we preserved the poor ani- 
 mal from becoming the prey of fishes ; and I know 
 not that I ever experienced a more lively satisfalion 
 than when we brought him safe, though half dead 
 W'ith fright and fatigue, to land. The confusion into 
 which we were thrown by this adventure entirely 
 dissipated from our memory the direction of some 
 fair and amiable friends, who had troubled them- 
 selves with pointing out to our attention all in and 
 around Padstow ; and we forgot to visit St. Enodock, 
 which lies to the north of the spot where we disem- 
 barked. We regretted this the more, as we under- 
 stood that it was a place of great curiosity. The 
 violence of the north-westerly gales is continually 
 heaping sheets of sand upon the eastern side of 
 Padstow harbour ; and amongst the other depreda- 
 tions occasioned by this accumulation, the village of
 
 [ 330 ] 
 
 St. Enodock, it seems, has been compleatly covered 
 by them. The church too would inevitably share 
 the same fate, were it not rescued liy the piety of its 
 successive incumbents, who cannot enjoy tlie en- 
 dowment attached to it unless divine service be 
 performed there once every year. To etTc51: this 
 annual ceremony, the rcofo^ the church is kept clear 
 of the sand that was on all si ies of it, in which an 
 entrance is made into th^i body, as well as a sky- 
 light, for the convenience^ of the minister upon this 
 singular occasion. Th. little church of St. Mynver, 
 near our place of landing, destitute of neighbouring 
 habitations, which probably have been removed or 
 overwhelmed, from a similar cause, seems likely in 
 time to demand an equal exertion of 'z.eal in its 
 minister with that of St. Enodock. 
 
 The deep romantic recesses of the shore on this 
 coast of Cornwall form its most striking and pecu- 
 liar features. We crossed the sands at the bottom 
 of one of these indentations, which, from the terrors 
 it holds out to mariners, is denominated Hell-gates. 
 A tremendous sea, forced into it by a brisk north- 
 easterly wind, lashing its perpendicular rocky sides, 
 which reverberated the roar of the confli^ling waves, 
 afforded us a faint idea of the awful appearance it must 
 exhibit under the circumstances of a tempest from 
 this quarter of the heavens. We found another of
 
 [ 331 ] 
 
 these beautiful hollows, but of a less dangerous 
 charafler, about seven miles from Padstow, called 
 Port Isaac. It terminates in a little town, crouching 
 beneath a high hill to the south, which conceals it 
 from the view till a near approach. There is some- 
 thing particularly striking in its situation. It seems 
 as if it were a little world in itself, and held no com- 
 merce with mankind. Port Isaac is, however, a 
 place of business, and had not long since (for 
 unhappily I must use a past tense when I speak of 
 the prosperity of Cornwall) a considerable trade in 
 the exportation of pilchards, and slate from Dela- 
 bolc or Deniball quarry. Five seines are fitted out 
 by its merchants, who cure their fish in two or 
 three large cellars buih near the town.* 
 
 The celebrated quarry which furnishes so large a 
 proportion of the exports of Port Isaac, lies four 
 miles to the south-east of that place. This is a very 
 singular and curious feature of the country. Riding" 
 down a steep and rough descent, we found ourselves 
 on the edge of a huge excavation, the work of 
 human industry, which for an hundred years had 
 been occupied in digging the valuable slate from 
 
 - It was from one of these that I formed the description of 
 pilchard ccUar iii aa earlier part of tbis work.
 
 [ 332 ] 
 
 its bowels. The rugged precipices on every side, 
 the machinery for discharging water from the 
 quarry^ the different operations of a number of 
 labourers, and the shattering of the rock by gun- 
 powder, produced a powerful impression upon the 
 senses. It was, however, a tame scene compared 
 with wliat it must have displayed a few years 
 since, when its labourers were five times as many 
 as at present. Dr. Borlase, who saw it under hap- 
 pier circumstances, has left us a gocKl descriptioti 
 of k as it appeared fifty years ago, " The whole 
 " quarry,*' says he, " is about three hundred yards 
 " long and one hundred wide : the deepest part 
 *' from the grass is judged to be forty fathoms : the 
 " strata in the following order: the green sod, one 
 '^ foot y a yelbw brown clay, two feet ; then the 
 " rock, dipping inwards into the hill towards the 
 *' south-west, and preserving that inchnation from 
 *' top to bottom : at first the rock is in a lax shat- 
 " tery state, with short and frequent fissures, the 
 " Jamincs of unequal thickness, and not horizontal : 
 " thus the rock continues to the depth of ten or 
 '* twelve fathom, all which is good for nothing, 
 '^ and entirely to be rid off; then comes in a firmer 
 " brown stone, which becomes still browner in the 
 *' air ; this is fit for slatting houses, and the larg'est 
 " size for flat pavement^ never sweating as the cliff
 
 [ 333 ] 
 
 *' slat, which is exposed to the sea air. This iS 
 " called the top-stone, and continues for ten fathom 
 " deep, the stone improving somewhat as you sink, 
 " but not at the best till you come to twenty-four 
 *' fathom deep from the grass ; then rises what they 
 " call the bottom-stone, of a grey blue colour, and 
 " such a close texture, that on the touch it will 
 ''' sound clear, like a piece of metal ; the masses are 
 " first raised rough from the rock by wedges driven 
 " by sledges of iron, and contain from five to ten, 
 '' twelve or fourteen feet, superficial square of 
 *^' stone : as soon as this mass is freed by one man, 
 " another stone-cutter, with a strong wide chizel 
 " and mallet, is ready to cleave it to its proper thin- 
 " ness, which is usually about the eighth of an 
 " inch; the shivers irregular from two feet long, 
 "^ and one foot wide, downwards, to one foot square 
 " and sometimes (though seldom) dividing into 
 ** such large flakes as to make tables and tomb- 
 *' stones. 
 
 " In this quarry several parties of men work on 
 *' separate stages or floors, iiome twelve fathom 
 '' from the grass, some twenty, others forty fathoni 
 *' deep, according to the portion of ground belong- 
 *' ing to each party ; the small shattery stone, not 
 *' fit for covering houses, serves to shore up the 
 *' rubbish, to divide the different allotments, and
 
 [ 334 ] 
 
 " shape the narrow paths up and down the quarry; 
 *' all the slat is carried with no small danger from 
 *' the plot where it rises, on men's backs, which 
 *' are guarded from the weight by a kind of leathern 
 " apron, or rather cushion ; the carrier disposes 
 " his charge of stones in rows side by side, till the 
 " area allotted to his partners is full, and then 
 *' horses are ready to take them off, and carry 
 " them by tale to the person that buys them. The 
 " principal horizontal fissures, which divide the 
 *' strata i run from ten to fifteen feet asunder ; they 
 " are no more than chinks or joints, and contain no 
 " heterogeneous fossil. The stone of this quarry 
 " weighs to water as 2 ^-Vt- are to i, is not sub- 
 *' jeft to rot or decay, to imbibe water, or split with 
 *' falling, as the botto7n-stonc' of Tintagel, and other 
 " quarries ; but for its lightness, and enduring 
 " weather, is generally preferred to any slat in 
 " Great-Britain."* 
 
 We saw one of these slates, the dimensions of 
 which were eleven feet in length, and five feet 
 in breadth. 
 
 * I have been the more copious In my extrafts from Bor- 
 lase's Natural History, because his descriptions are minute 
 and accurate ; and because the book has become exceedingly 
 scarce.
 
 r SS5 ] 
 
 We had now nearly exhausted all the Cornish 
 objefts of curiosity; one more interesting remain of 
 antiquity, however, demanded our notice, before wc 
 quitted this county, which lay five miles from Dela- 
 bole quarry, Tintagel Castle, the birth-place 
 and chief residence of the immortal Arthur. You, 
 I presume, together with all our heretic antiquaries 
 of the present day, are sceptical as to the exist- 
 ence of this hero ; but we, not to miss the magical 
 effedl that imagination might throw over such a 
 celebrated scene, determined to " hold each strange 
 tale devoutly true," which monkibh writers or poets 
 had handed down of this ancient assertor of British 
 liberty. As we approached its venerable ruins, 
 wc conjured up all the visions of its ancient magni- 
 ficence, its martial splendour, and festal gaiety ; its 
 round table begirt with many a hero bold ; its 
 masques, its tourneys, and its minstrels; the triumph 
 of Arthur's return to his walls when he came back 
 from the conquest of his foes; and the inauspicious 
 omens which attended his fatal march to Camlan's 
 field, where he fell by the sword of Mordred : 
 
 " O'er Cornwall's cllfl's the tempest roar'cL 
 " High the screaming sea-mew soar'd; 
 " On I'intagel's topmost tow'r 
 " Darksome fell the sleety show'r ;
 
 [ 33^ ] 
 
 " Round the rough castle shrilly sunj 
 " The whistling blast, and wildly flung 
 " On each tall rampart's thund'ring side 
 " The surges of the trembling tide ; 
 " When Arthur rang'd his red-cross ranks, 
 " On conscious Camlan's crimson banks; 
 ' By Mordred's fciithless guile decreed 
 *' Beneath a Saxon spear to bleed !* 
 
 Every feature, indeed, connected with Tintaget 
 Castle is formed to foster the flights of fancy. The 
 wildest and most desolate traft of Cornwall is spread 
 around the promontory on which it stands j and its 
 immediate approach is through a tremendous glen, 
 darkened by shivering shistose rocks, re-echoing the 
 noise of quarriers' labours, and the thunders of 
 the explosions which split the slate from its parent 
 bed. The ruins are scattered over a lofty neck of 
 land, rent asunder towards the extremity by some of 
 " Nature*s throes ;" and flanked almost on every 
 side by the most awful precipices. No garniture of 
 trees or shrubs ; no luxuriant vegetation, the gift of 
 
 T. Warton's Poems, p. g5. It is whimsical, that by a 
 topographical or typographical error, this Castle should be 
 placed by Warton (in a note) on the soutfier?i instead of the 
 northern coast of Cornwall.
 
 [ S37 1 
 
 Nature; or waving harvest, the rich reward of 
 human industry, contrast these rugged features: all 
 ii in perfeft unison ; the ruins of Tintagel Castle 
 claim dominion over unqualified desolation ; over one 
 wide and wild scene of troubled ocean, barren 
 country, and horrid rocks. 
 
 The original disposition of these remains, and the 
 designation of their particular parts, are now unintel- 
 ligible from extreme decay ; but we were sufficiently 
 convinced from the appearance of a semi-circular 
 arch, a feature of architecture borrowed from the 
 Romans, that Borlase was wrong in his conjedure, 
 when he attributed Tintagel Castle to the Britons 
 before they were acquainted with that people.* It 
 is true, indeed, that its situation is not such an one 
 as modern taclics would have pitched upon for a for- 
 tress ; since it is overlooked by the rise of its own 
 hill to the south-west, and by another rocky eleva- 
 tion to the east; on the opposite side of the ravine 
 
 * He says it was " a produ6l of the rudest tlmes^ before 
 " the Cornish Britons had learnt from the Romans any thing 
 " of the art of war." Ant. 353. It must be remembered, 
 however, i!iat the Britons had no idea of turning an arch prc- 
 vioui^lv to tJicir acquaintance witli Roman masonr)'. The flat 
 impost was substituted by them, in lieu of this useful archi- 
 tixtural contrivance.
 
 [ 33S ] 
 
 I have described. But to these disadvantages may 
 be opposed the imperfeftioii of the art of war in 
 Britain till the invention of gunpowder, the impreg- 
 nable bulwarks which nature had thrown round three 
 sides of the promontory of Tintagel, and the faci- 
 lity with which the remaining quarter might be 
 rendered equally capable of defence against any 
 enemy unprovided with cannon. 
 
 These ruins of Tintagel consist of two divisions ; 
 one scattered over the face of the main promon- 
 tory, and another over the peninsula, which is 
 severed from it. The walls of the former are gar- 
 retted, and pierced with many little square holes for 
 the discharge of arrows. They seem to have included 
 within them two narrow courts. At the upper end 
 of the most southern of them are the remains of 
 several stone steps, leading probably to the parapet 
 of the walls. Here the ramparts were high and 
 strong ; this being the quarter overlooked by the 
 neighbouring hill. As they wound round to west, 
 however, less labour had been expended upon their 
 strufture ; for a hideous precipice of three hundred 
 feet deep, to the edge of which they were carried, 
 prevented the fear of any assault in that quarter, 
 'J he works on the peninsula had been anciently con- 
 rcrted with those on the main land, by a draw-bridge, 
 thrown across a chasm in the division above-men-
 
 [ S39 ] 
 
 lioned. This, however, had gone to decay even in 
 Leland's time, when its place was supplied by long 
 elm trees laid over the gulph. Since the removal 
 of these, all access is denied to men of any pru- 
 dence J and we contented ourselves with a view of 
 the ruins from the main land, without attempting to 
 imitate the hardihood of our guide, who trod the 
 pointed precipices, and skipped over their fissures, 
 with the unconcern and agility of an Alpine hunter. 
 We found the ascent into the ruins on the main 
 sufficiently arduous ; and as this was probably the 
 only approach to them, even in the best of days, we 
 went away with a full conviflion that Tintagel Castle 
 must have been in its original state one of the strongest 
 specimens of ancient fortification in Britain. 
 
 The recorded history of this fortress may be 
 included in a few lines : It continued to be a castle, 
 and the occasional residence of the earls of Cornwall, 
 to the time of Richard king of the Romans, who en- 
 tertained his nephew David prince of Wales within 
 its walls. After the death of Richard and his son 
 Edmund, however, the sun of its glory set; its cha- 
 raler was changed, and from a palace it became a 
 prison. The crown got possession of it, when Bur- 
 leigh, lord treasurer lo Queen Elizabeth, thinking 
 the charge of supporting it greater than the advan 
 tages resulting from it, withdrew the stipends allowed 
 
 '/. 2
 
 [ 340 ] 
 
 for keeping it in repair, and Tintagcl Casilc sunk 
 into ruins. 
 
 The rocks in the neighbourhood of this fortress 
 afford abundance of fine slate. It is shipped off 
 from a little creek at the bottom of the ravine above 
 described; but as lofty precipices rear themselves 
 on every side of this recess, except on that which is 
 open to the ocean, the freight is lowered down by a 
 crane and tackle, from the labourers above to the 
 sailors below ; all other means of loading the ves- 
 sels being precluded by the singular charafter of 
 the cove. 
 
 Of all the villages and towns of Cornwall which 
 we had seen, we considered Tintagel as most dreary 
 and exposed. Unsheltered and unornamented, its 
 situation and aspeft quite chilled us, and we could 
 not help acknowledging there was some truth in the 
 bold metaphorical remark of a London writer, who 
 had strolled down to this corner of Cornwall, when 
 we were there, that " to look at it was enough to 
 give one the tooth-ach."* But what little influence 
 
 * The parsonage mansion (If our enquiry about some ruins 
 near the village were answered with corre6tness) must have 
 bccu .1 rcspeclable building in former times. This at least 
 T^'e ;oncluded from a Gothic gate-way and other remains we 
 observed on t]ie spot.
 
 [ 341 ] 
 
 have the accidental circumstances of local situation 
 on the minds of those who are accustomed to them. 
 Happiness may be found at Tintagel, as well as in 
 the most favoured spots. 
 
 - - " Quod petis hlc est, 
 
 " Est Ulubris; animus si non deficit oequus." 
 
 This I ought to have known, without learning It 
 from a Cornish peasant ; to whom I put the ironical 
 question, " Whether Tintagel were not -^i pleasant 
 " place in winter?'* ' Yes, sir,' replied he, ' we 
 ^ think so ; tis good enough for us ; and were ic 
 ' not for the war and taxes, we should want nothing 
 ' beyond what we have.* This is no flourish of 
 the fancy ; it was the actual and keen reproof of 
 dignified content ; proudly independent on those 
 adventitious circumstances, without which minds 
 less properly regulated than the honest labourer's 
 would be miserable. 
 
 We did not quit the coast till we had visited Bos- 
 siney or Boss Castle, in hopes of finding some 
 rcinains of the ancient castle of the Lord Bot- 
 rcaux, who formerly possessed an ample domain 
 in this quarter, and gave name to the town where 
 their chief residence was placed. But no vestige of 
 the edifice was to be seen ; and the only visible 
 proof of its having existed was the circular mound on
 
 [ 342 ] 
 
 which the keep formerly stood. As the heiress of 
 this house was married iii the time of Henry VI. to 
 Robert Lord Hungcrford, whose possessions lay a 
 hundred miles to the eastward of Boss Castle, it is 
 probable that this period was the aera of its decay. 
 No attention was paid to so distant a mansion, and it 
 soon sunk into ruins. A hill, a mile in length, 
 opposed itself to our steeds when we left Bossiney, 
 of bad omen, it seems, to the horses of these parts: 
 for an honest peasant, who joined us as we panted 
 up it, declared that it had broken the wind of more 
 of these useful animals, than any other in Cornwall. 
 From its summit the country began to mend, exhi- 
 biting the successful labours of man in a productive 
 husbandry. Indeed, all the way from Padstow the 
 inland view had been cheerful, spreading itself under 
 the eye in an extensive valley, which, though 
 naked of magnificent wood, was spotted with vil- 
 lages, churches, and little patches of trees. 
 
 To a believer in the personality of Arthur, the 
 neighbourhood of Ca'melford would be interesting 
 from the circumstances of the battle said to have been 
 fought here between the British chieftain and his 
 treaclierous nephew Mordred, in which the former 
 was slain, and his forces routed. Camelford, how- 
 ever, exhibits no heroes or patriots now, for it has 
 long been a Cornish borough. But though destitute
 
 [ 343 ] 
 
 of public virtue, it pays due court to fashion. The 
 maid of our inn, a very lovely girl, was dressed in 
 the pink of the mode j and exhibited as much of her 
 fair skin as any female paragon of the Upper Rooms 
 could do. We observed, indeed, that this afFela- 
 tion in dress was not confined to her, but extended 
 to every girl of the inferior classes that passed our 
 window. The contrast was whimsical between such 
 fashionable attire, and the wretched hovels in which 
 the fine folks dwelt. Camelford, however, has one 
 decent structure; the market-bouse, buih by the 
 late Duke of Bedford, in whom the borough vested. 
 It is surrounded by a cupola, from which springs a 
 gilt camel, serving the purposes of a weather-cock. 
 W pointed it out as a good emblem of the voters 
 of Camelford, and its gaily-dressed females ; the one 
 speechless, and patient under every variation of the 
 political atmosphere ; and the other, satisjied by a 
 little external splendour under the privation of 
 almost all the comforts of life. 
 
 It was fortunate for us that our tour drew towards 
 a conclusion, since the remaining part of Cornwall 
 offers very little that is interesting to a traveller. In 
 a tedious nine miles between Camelford and the 
 dirty solitary inn at Wainhouse, nothing occurred 
 to attrafl: our attention, or divert us from the turn- 
 pike, except Werbstrow borough j about one mile to
 
 [ 3 J 
 
 the south-west of the latter place, an immense 
 Roman camp, in good preservation ; a vestige pro- 
 bably of the triumphs of Agricola, who in his fifth 
 campaign in Britain seems first to have reduced 
 Cornwall under the yoke of Rome. The country 
 mended, indeed, as we approached Straiton ; little 
 patches of trees again greeted our eyes, and the 
 road banks, high and shady, reminded us of Devon- 
 shire. The North sea, in the mean while, as if 
 determined to afford us the pleasure of contrast, 
 spread itself to the left into illimitable extent. It is 
 to its shores, at this point of Cornwall, that the many 
 gentry and the invalids from Launceston and other 
 inland places of the eastern division of the county 
 come to bathe, and breathe the sea air in the summer 
 months. A decent inn and several neat lodging- 
 houses afford them accommodation, at a little creek 
 called Budc, about two miles from Stratton. The 
 situation, indeed, of the village is not remarkably 
 pleasant, as it stands on the borders of a long 
 marsh; and not yet having arrived to the refinement 
 of bathing machines, the ladies are put to some little 
 inconvenience in performing the rites of immersion. 
 As a Roman road (whose vestiges are stiil discern* 
 able in a causeway) once ran through Stratton, we 
 had no doubt that the place received its name from 
 this circumstance j which is both an abbreviation
 
 [ 345 ] 
 
 and corruption oF the town of the street. Its cele- 
 brity will probably be always confined to the faft of 
 its having thus engaged the attention of the masters 
 of the world ; for at present there is nothing else in 
 it that can fix the attention. 
 
 Desirous of knowing whether the ecclesiastical 
 dissentions of Kilkhampton had been healed by the 
 lapse of eight years,* W'e determined to ride thither, 
 and then conclude our Cornish iour. The road for 
 thf- first two miles condu>ed us through a beautiful 
 woode i^ien, which to eyes long unacquainted with 
 the ^cauticb of sylvan scenery, afforded both relief 
 and enjoyment. Tameness, however, succeeded for 
 the remainii.g seven miles j but we did not repent 
 our ride, when we found the bells of Kilkhampton 
 ag^iin restored to their ancient managers, and the 
 feuds of the sexton, clerk, and ringers, hushed into 
 peace. 
 
 Though I have thus conduced you to the north- 
 eastern extremity of Cornwall, I cannot relieve you 
 immediately from the fatigue of my correspondence. 
 Gratitude to the inhabitants of a county which has 
 afforded me so much amusement, compels me to add 
 to my last letter a few particulars which may more 
 
 * Vide Warner's Western Walk, p. 13/, 138.
 
 [ 346 j 
 
 fully illustrate the charafter of themselves and the 
 distrift on which they reside, than the general 
 observations scattered through my former pages. 
 
 You are aheady acquainted with the face and 
 appearance of the country ; and must have remarked 
 that however valuable it may be in a commercial 
 point of view, it can offer no claim to the praise of 
 the pifturesque or beautiful. As external charms, 
 however, will bear no comparison with inirinsic 
 worth, so the concealed riches of Cornwall roake 
 ample amends for the deformity of her exterior j and 
 even those parts not enriched by mines excite some 
 admiration, from the triumph which they exhibit of 
 man's industry over a poor and scanty soil. The 
 greatest length of the county is 784 miles, and its 
 broadest diameter 43-I. j an area including nearly 
 33,000 dwellings, and upwards of 189,000 inhabi- 
 tants. A great part of this space is occupied by bare 
 and rugged hills, descending into bleak and barren 
 moors^ and extending (in the narrowest part of the 
 county) from one sea to the other. The districts 
 less hostile'to vegetation, are rendered produ&ive by 
 persevering labour, good husbandry, and the aid of 
 marine manure, the sand of the shores, and the 
 weed of the beach. From its being nearly sur- 
 rounded by the sea, the atmosphere of Cornwall is 
 moist j but the mildness occasioned by the same
 
 [ 347 ] 
 
 circumstance balances this inconvenience ; and 
 though the hills of the inland parts, and the lofty 
 cliffs which breast its oceans, intercept the mists 
 and clouds, and bring them down in frequent rains, 
 yet the constant variation and violence of the winds 
 which assault it from every quarter, prevent all 
 pernicious stagnation of the air, and render it, pos- 
 sibly, the most healthy county in England.* The 
 
 * Carew, who lived in Queen Elizabeth's reign, observes, 
 touching the temperature of Cornwall, " the ayre thereof 
 " is cleansed, as with bellowes, by the billows, and flowing 
 *' and ebbing of the sea, and therethrough bccommeth pure 
 ''and subtle 5 and by consequence, healthfull. So as the 
 " inhabitants do seldome take a ruthful and reaving expe- 
 " rience of those harmes which infeftious diseases use to 
 " carry with them," p. 5; and again, p. 6l, he remarks, 
 " that eighty and ninety years of age was ordinary in every 
 " place 3" and among other instances of longevity, names one 
 Polzew, who died a little while before he was writing, aged 
 one hundred and thirty. Borlase also observes, that " Mr. 
 " Scawen, a gentleman of no less veracity, in his MS. tells us, 
 " that in tlieyear lO/O", died a woman in the parish of Gwy- 
 ** thien (the narrowest, and therefore, as to the air, to be reck- 
 " oned among the saltest parts of this county) one hundred and 
 " sixty-four years old, (jf good memory, ana healthful at that 
 " age ; and at the Lizherd, where (exposed as this promontory 
 " is to more sea on the east, west, and south, than any part 
 " of Britain) the air must be as salt as any where, tliere are
 
 C 348 ] 
 
 only disadvantage resulting from these pecullarliies 
 of the atmosphere in Cornwall is, that the degree 
 and continuance of the summer and autumnal heat 
 appear to be insufficient to bring any grain, except 
 barley, to complete maturity. The inhabitants of 
 Cornwall, like their climate, are marked by peculiar 
 features of charadler. Its men are sturdyj and 
 bold, honest and sagacious ; its women lovely and 
 
 *' three late instances of people living to a great age : llie 
 " first is Mr. Cole, late minister of Landawidnec, (in which 
 " parish the Lizherd is) who by the parish register, A. D. 
 *' l6S3, appears to have been above one hundred and twenty 
 *' year old when he died. Michael George, late sexton of 
 " the same parish, buried the 20th of March, ibid, was more 
 " than a hundred years old ; and being at the Lizherd with 
 *' the Rev. and worthy Dr. Lyttelton, dean of Exeter, in the 
 *' year 1752, we went to see a venerable old man called 
 < Collins ; he was then one hundred and five years old^ of a 
 " florid countenance, stood near his door leaning on his staff', 
 '' talked sensibly, was weary of life he said, and advised us 
 " never to wish for old age. He died in the year 1/54." 
 
 f It is to be obse^rved of the regiment of Cornish Militia, 
 when at Chatham camp^ in the time of Col. Molesworth, 
 that they stood on more ground than any other militia of the 
 same number of men. This was attributed to the breadth of 
 their shoulders, which, in comparison with the Eastern meii;, 
 was uncommonly striking. Poltfhelc,
 
 [ 349 ] 
 
 modest, courteous and unaffected. Their hospitaiky 
 was a subjeft of encomium as far back as the time 
 DIodorus Siculus;* nor had we reason to think 
 that the lapse of eighteen centuries had diminished 
 this virtue amongst them in the slightest degree. 
 The fair complexion and light hair of a large pro- 
 portion of the population proved their Celtic 
 extraction jf though we observed towards the west- 
 ern extremity of the county many instances of so 
 remarkable a deviation from this general personal 
 appearance, as convinced us, there must have been, 
 at sometime or other, an importation of a breed into 
 the county very different to its original inhabitants. 
 The persons I allude to are not indeed very nume- 
 rous ; but of features sufficiently marked to be 
 readily distinguished from the genuine CornisI). 
 They are characterized by large black eyes, hair of 
 
 Tr,i "/^P i'^t^ir ^xiiXYiS y.xrx to xx^xrti^tO rs y.x?.H:j,ti^v I'^'J sr.r-, i. 
 KaTootayTfs (f/So^Ev'^i n oix^t^xvrn iiii. Those who live u^ar a 
 promontory of Eritahi called Boleiinin, are peculiar!) hos- 
 pitable. Lib. V. p. 301. It was a remark of Queen Elizabeth, 
 " that the Cornish gentlemen were all born courtiers, u ith a 
 '^'' becoming confidence." Boiiascs iVat, Hist. p. :iOl. 
 
 f "Vxis CE ax^^i y.x^v^yjC kxi ?.zi-/.oi
 
 [ 350 ] 
 
 the same colour, and swarthy complexions. A con- 
 trast so decided as this, evidently points at some 
 peculiar cause, and requires an explanation. But 
 where shall we obtain it ? I am too much prejudiced 
 in favour of the county to consider these people as 
 descendants of the Jews, who settled in some num- 
 bers in Cornwall in the twelfth century. I would 
 fain give them a more ancient and honourable origin ; 
 and I shall not, perhaps, find much difficulty in 
 efFe61ing this to your satisfa<5lion. I have before 
 remarked, it is extremely /^ro^^i^/i?, from the intimate 
 intercourse which so long subsisted between the 
 Cornish and Cadizians, that the latter people would 
 form settlements on various parts of the western 
 coasts of the county. I would now, however, go 
 further, and aver, that this is nearly demonstrable 
 from the names of several places towards this point, 
 which are genuine Hebrew * and could only have 
 
 * Such as Para72-zahulon, Phillach, Menachan, Ze- 
 phon, Bonithon, Marah-%ion, (if it be not a corruption of 
 another namej &c. &c. That the language of the Cadizians^ 
 who visited the coast of Cornwall, was a dialed of Hebrew, may 
 be fairly inferred from this single circumstance^ viz. that He- 
 brew was the vernacular tongue of the Carthaginians, which 
 they had brought with them from Phoenicia, and which con- 
 sequently their colonists carried with them to any place in
 
 [ 351 ] 
 
 been imposed by people to whom that language 
 was familiar. The Cadizians, we have seen, were a 
 colony from Carthage ; and Carthage, we know, 
 was peopled from Tyre. It is needless to observe 
 
 which they formed a settlement. Of the identity, or at least 
 intimate connexion of the Hebrew and Carthaginian lan- 
 guages, we have a most curious proof, in the Pcenulus of Plau- 
 tus. Vide quarto Delph. edit. In this play, Hanno, a Cartha- 
 ginian, is represented as having had two daughters, who had 
 been surprized and carried oft' by Pyrates, together with their 
 nurse, and sold to a person of Calydon, in ^tolia. Having 
 travelled a long time in search of his children, Hanno at 
 length reached the place where they are, and is made by the 
 poet to invoke the tutelary deities of the country in his own 
 language. The commencement of his speech is as follows : 
 
 Ni/ el'ia/onim valon uth si corathhima conslth. 
 
 On these words the learned Sclden, makes the following 
 observations : " Tarn clara heic Ebraismi vestigia sunt, ut 
 " cjetera, qu;e depravatissima ibi soquuntur, eidem etiam 
 " idiotismo restitui debere merito censeas. Et qu.-e attuli- 
 " mus, Hannonis exaranda forsan erant, ei qui sermonem 
 " ilium a Icpidissimo Poetk illuc lvadu6tum librarius primura 
 " transcripscrit, his pa^nc syllabisj 
 
 Na ethcllonim velionot '- se quara othain makom haioth ; 
 
 " quae parum a corruptis Plautinis exemplaribus dissident si 
 " ineptas scilicet juncturas, atque imperitas verborum dis- 
 '' tinftiones tollasj et Consith in veteribus nonnullis cditioni-
 
 [ 352 ] 
 
 that the features and complexion of the people of 
 Palestine were similar to those which I have just 
 mentioned as characterizing some of the inhabitants 
 of Cornwall, and it would be equally unnecessary 
 
 " bus comzet legitur, quod proprius accedit. Sic autem 
 " mere Ebraica sunt ; et rythmus ab eum quern protulimus 
 '' sonum ita scribendus ; 
 
 :n^?l^5 cipD cn*^ i^y^ 
 
 " Id estj si verbum verbo reddideris 
 
 "^ Obsecro superos superasquc 
 ' Quibus contingit locus iste." 
 
 Sel. de Diis Syris. Prolegomena, ly 
 
 I am not ignorant that Coll. Vallrncy and Sir I>awrence 
 ParsonSj in an honourable zeal for the antiquity of their own 
 country, have enlisted the Punic fragments of Plautus in their 
 cause, and by improved rcadini^s have assimilated them very 
 much to the ancient Irish language. But granting that they 
 are justified in their alterations, there still remains even in 
 these, too great a resemblance to tlie Hebrew^ to leave a 
 doubt on the mind of the affinity between the two. The 
 probability, indeed is, that both Selden and the Irish anti- 
 quaries are right 5 that the Punic was the lineal descendant; 
 and the Celtic, a coHateral branch of the Phoenician; and 
 that both had their origin either immediately, or indireftly, 
 from the Hebrew or Chaldee, the origcnal language 
 
 OF MAN.
 
 [ 353 ] 
 
 10 remark, that if they settled there, they must leave 
 descendants who would inherit the same personal 
 peculiarities. Such is my explication of the tenigma; 
 I know not what value it will have in your esteem, 
 but it satisfies my mind, because it saves the honour 
 of my friends. 
 
 Nothing proves the natural understanding and 
 sagacity of the inhabitants of Cornwall more than 
 the number of provincial proverbs which are float- 
 ing amongst them ; the results of good sense, and 
 nice observation a6ling upon experience ; applying 
 to the transalions of public as well as private life ; 
 and including both axioms of political wisdom, and 
 maxims of moral condu6l. Amongst the former we 
 may enumerate the following : Covos nebas, cows da, 
 nebas an ycvcrn yzv an gtvella : Speak little, speak 
 well ; little of public matters is best. Nyn ges gun 
 heb lagas^ na kei hcb scoveni : There is no down 
 without an eye, nor hedge without ears. Cows 
 nebas, cows da, ha da velh cowsas arta : Speak 
 little, speak well, and wtII be spoken again. From 
 the adages which enforce common prudence and 
 morality, we may sdtSt these: Cud yw guetha vcl 
 goosen : It is better to keep than to beg. Neb na 
 gave y <^\vyan coll rcsiouas: He that lieeds not gain, 
 must expeft loss. Neb na gare y gy, an gwra dc- 
 vecdcr : Tic that regards not his dog, will make him 
 
 A A
 
 [ 354 ] 
 
 a sheep-killer. Gura da, rag ta honan te ^n gura : 
 Do good J for thyself thou doest it. Fo rez deberra 
 an bez, vidu heerath a sem ; po res dal an vor, na 
 orenpan a tu, thuryan^ haul zethas, go gletb, po dehow : 
 When thou comest into the world, length of sorrow 
 follows J when thou beginnest the way, 'tis not 
 Jbiowu which side ; to the east or west, to the 
 north or south. Dcr taklow minniz eiv brez teez 
 gonvethes, avelan taklow broaz ; dreffen en tack- 
 low broaz, ma en gyniennow hetha go honnen ; bus in 
 tacklow minnisy ema en gye suyah haz go honnen : By 
 small things are the minds of men discovered better 
 than by great matters ; because in great things they 
 will accommodate themselves, but in small matters 
 they follow their own nature. 
 
 I have adduced these traditionary sayings amongst 
 the Cornish, not only as proofs of the popular wis- 
 dom of the county, but as specimens of a language 
 which, if not totally extinguished, has long ceased to 
 be the vehicle of oral communication, and is now 
 retained in the recolledtion of only one or two indi- 
 viduals.* Its analogy to the old Welsh will instantly 
 
 * It should seem from Mr. Whitaker's account, that the 
 ancient Cornish is still known to two persons in the county. 
 " I even heard in ray visit to the west, of two persons still 
 ' alive that could speak the Cornish language. On my offer
 
 [ 355 ] 
 
 suggest the intimate conneftion that originally sub- 
 sisted between the two ; and satisfy us, that, like 
 the Irish, Erse, Armorican, and Cambrian'ianguages, 
 it is nothing more than a dialeft of the ancient 
 Celtic or Gaelic. f Almost hypothetical as its ex- 
 
 *' of English money for Cornish words, to the men at the 
 " Land's-End, they referred me to an old man living about 
 " three miles off" to the south, at St. Levan, (I think,) a 
 *' second chapelry with St. Sennan, in the parish of St.Burian; 
 " and intimated, that I might there have as many words of 
 " Cornish as I would chuse to purchase. On my return 
 ** also to Penzance, Mr. Broad, (captain of a volunteer com- 
 *' pany of sea-fencibles,) additionally assured me, that there 
 " was a woman then living at Newlyn, who could equally 
 *' speak Coxwhh."'Polivheles Hist. Corn. vol. iii. sup. 42. 
 
 -} Daines Barrington says, " My brother. Captain (now 
 " Admiral) Barrington, who brought with him a French East- 
 " India ship into Mount's Bay, A. D. 17^Q, told me, tliat 
 " wlun he sailed from thence on a ci-uize towards the French 
 *' coast, he took with him from that j)art of Cornwall a sea- 
 " man who spoke the Cornish language, and who was under- 
 " stood by some French seamen of the coast of Bretagne, 
 *' with whom he aftei'wards happened to have occasion to 
 *' converge" /Irchipulogia, vol. iii. p. 260. We were told 
 at Truro, that fifty years ago two Welsh gentlemen who 
 were in that town, being introduced to a Cornisli man tliat 
 spoke the old language ot that county, hnd a conversation 
 with him in their respeftive tongues, ar.d that they were 
 vcrv intvllip'ible to each other.
 
 [ 356 ] 
 
 istence is at present, yet so late as the time of 
 Henry VIII. it was the universal dialeft of the 
 county, and Dr. John Moreman, vicar of Menliyn- 
 iiet, towards the conclusion of that reign, was the 
 first who taught his parishioners the Lord's Prayer, 
 Creed, andTen Commandments, in theEnglish tongue. 
 It is a curions exception to that general rule of the 
 attachment manifested by nations or provinces to 
 their vernacular language, that the Cornish, at the 
 Reformation, requested to have the liturgy in Eng- 
 lish, rather than in thd^r mother tongue. The 
 request was complied with, and the service in most 
 places performed thenceforth in English. A few 
 parishes, however, patriotically preferred their native 
 dialect:; and, in 1640, Mr. William Jackson, vicar 
 of Pheoke, found himself under the necessity of 
 administering the sacrament in Cornish, as his parish- 
 ioners understood no other language. From this 
 period its limits were gradually circumscribed, as its 
 trade and intercourse with England increased ; so 
 that a century since it was only to be found, as a 
 vehicle of conversation, amongst the inhabitants of 
 Paul's and St. Just, in the western extremity of the 
 county.* Mr. Daines Barrington made a journey 
 
 * Mr. Ray, in his Itineraries, p. 281, tells us, " that Mr. 
 *^ Dickan Gwyn was considered as the only person who could
 
 r ^oi ] 
 
 into Cornwall, in search of its remains, in 1768, 
 but could find only one person, Dolly Pentreath, 
 an old fisher-woman, at Mouschole, who spoke 
 Cornish.'}' It is evident, from more recent researches, 
 that his enquiries were not so successful as they 
 might have been, had he possessed more knowledge 
 than he did of the subjeft that engaged his atten- 
 tion ;* but their result may also convince us that 
 
 *' then .Ti7e in the Cornish language, and who lived in one 
 " of the most western parishes, called St. Just, where there 
 *' were few but what could speak English ; whilst few of the 
 " children also could speak Cornish, so that the language 
 " would soon be entirely lost." Archaol. vol. iil. p. 279. 
 
 \ She died in January 1778, at Mousehole^ aged 102. 
 
 * Mr. Barrington has given us the following account of 
 his expedition to Dolly Pentreath's cottage, and his interview 
 with the venerable poissard : " I set out from Penzance^ with 
 *' the landlord of the principal inn for my guide, toward^ 
 " the Sennan, or most western point, and when I approached 
 " the village, 1 said, that there must probably be some 
 " remains of the language in those parts, if any where, as the 
 " village was in the road to no place whatsoever j and the 
 " only ale-house announced itself to be the last in England. 
 " My guide, however, told mc, thati should be disappoiutedf 
 " but that if I would ride ten miie.i about in my return to 
 " Penzance, he would carry me to a village, called Mouse- 
 " hole, on the wesunn side of Mount's Bay, where there was 
 " au old woman, called Dolly Feutreath. who could speak
 
 [ 558 ] 
 
 forty years ago the facuhy of speaking the language 
 was exceedingly limited. Notwithstanding otir 
 most assiduous enqairies, we were unable to disco- 
 ver any one who spoke it at present j though from 
 Whiiaker's account, we had no doubt that it still 
 larked in some hole or corner, arrived to the last 
 fluttering pulse of its existence, and doomed pro- 
 bably to give up the ghost, without being agaia 
 
 *' Comrsh very floenH/. "Whilst we were trarclHng together 
 ** towards Moosehole, 1 enquired how he knew that this 
 " woman spoke Cornish, when he infoi-ioed me, that he fre- 
 *' qnently went from Penzance to Mousehole to buy fish, 
 " which were sold by her ; and that when he did not offer a 
 " price which was satisfaftory, she grumbled to some other 
 " old women in an unknown tongue, which he concluded 
 * therefore to be the Cornish. When we reached Mouse- 
 " hole, I desired to be introduced as a person who had laid a 
 " wager that there was no one who could converse in Cornish; 
 " upon which Dolly Pentreath spoke in an angrj' tone of 
 " voice for two or three minutes, and in a language which 
 " sounded very like Welsh. The hut in which she lived was 
 " in a very narrow lane, opposite to two rather better cot- 
 " tages, at the doors of which two other women stood, who 
 * were advanced in years, and who I observed -were laughing 
 *' at what Dolly Pentreath said to me. Upon this 1 asked 
 " them whether she had not been abusing mo ; to which tl>y 
 " answered, very heartily, and because I hud supposed she 
 " could not speak Cornish. I then said, that they must be 
 able to talk the language; to which tlicy answered, diat
 
 I o59 ] 
 
 brought forward into public noiice. With the 
 disappearance of their language, the Cornish have 
 lost almost all those provincial peculiarities in cus- 
 toms and amusements, which distinguished thcni 
 from the inhabitants of other English counties. 
 Their dangerous v/restling and hurling matches are 
 now of much rarer occurrence than heretofore ; the 
 spirit of sport has nearly evaporated, and that of 
 industry supplied its place. The occupaiions in the 
 mining countries fill up the time of those engaged :u 
 them too effectually to allow leisure for prolonged 
 revels, or frequent festivities ; and in the other 
 pans of Cornwall, the constant pursuits of Lteady 
 labour have banished the traditional times and sea- 
 sons of vulgar riot and dibsipaiion. Though the 
 
 " they could not speak it readily ; but that they nnderstood 
 ** it, being only ten or twelve years younger than Dolly Pen- 
 '* treath. I continued nine or ten days in Cornwall after 
 *' this 5 but found that my friends, whom I had left to the 
 " the eastward, continued as incredulous almost as they were 
 " before, about these last remains of the Cornish language, 
 " because (amongst other reasons) Dr, Borlase had supposed, 
 " in his Natural History of the county, that it had entirely 
 *' ceased to be spoken ; it was also urged, that as he lived 
 " within four or five miles of the old woman at Mousehole, 
 *' he consequently must have heard of so singular a thing as 
 " her continuing to use the vernacular tongue." Aichaol. 
 vol. iii. p. 180, 1S2.
 
 [ 360 ] 
 
 husbandry of the Cornish be not yet arrived to that 
 systematic excellence which many other counties can 
 boast ; yet of their dairies let no man speak but in 
 terms of the highest eulogy. If the praise of Here- 
 fordshire cider, and Oxford ale, deserve to be 
 sung in Miltonic verse,* the Clouted Cream f of 
 Cornwall puts in still more substantial claims to the 
 notice of the lofty muse. Devonshire had regaled 
 us with this delicious article, before we reached 
 Cornwall, but as soon as we had tasted the clouted 
 cream of the latter, accompanied by the excellent 
 coffee which we found at every inn throughout the 
 county, we acknowledged it was only here that this 
 produlion could be had in perfeftion. 
 
 * Philips:, and T. Warton. 
 
 f The usual method of making Clouted Cream is as fol- 
 lows: The milk is suffered to stand twelve hours, or longer 
 if necesary, till the cream, which naturally separates from it> 
 float to its surface. It is then put over a charcoal stove, (an 
 improvement upon the method, of the old housewives, who 
 performed the process over the kitchen fire, whence it con- 
 trailed a 5moaky taste,) and submitted to a heat that pro- 
 duces boiling as nearly as possible. Here it continues till it 
 be thoroughly scalded, when lit is taken off, returned to the 
 dairy, and in about ten or twelve hours a thick crust of 
 cream rises to the surface of the vessel, which is the excel- 
 lent article in question.
 
 r 361 ] 
 
 The varied luxuries of the Cornubian dairies, 
 indeed, were so delicious, as greatly to increase our 
 respet and value for the gentle beast by whose 
 udder they were supplied ; and we should, without 
 the least hesitation, have placed the cow at the head 
 of the English domesticated animals, had we not recol- 
 lefted the many and powerful claims of the hors^ to 
 this preference ; who not only administers to our 
 pleasure, convenience, and ease ; performs with wil- 
 lingness the drudgery appointed him to compleat ; 
 enhances the pleasure of our sports, and accelerates 
 the transactions of our business ; but, what is more 
 than all, conveys us, with rapidity and safety, when 
 separated from it by distance, into the bosom of that 
 family, without whose participation no enjoyment 
 can be complete; without whose society, novelty 
 itself soon ceases to interest ; and all that is beau- 
 tiful, gay, and magnificent in external nature, if it 
 do not become insipid, loses at least half its power 
 to charm. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Your's sincerely, 
 
 R. W. 
 
 E B
 
 [ S62 ] 
 
 In addition to the fafts produced in favour of 
 the migration of Woodcocks, I had forgotten, 
 whilst mentioning that subjeft, to adduce a circum- 
 stance relative to the history of this bird, as con- 
 nefted with the Land's-End, which would greatly 
 have strengthened the affirmative of the question. 
 "We were told by our guide that two winters ago, 
 the wind suddenly shifting to the north-east, when 
 these birds were on their passage to England, and 
 blowing strongly from that quarter, the poor voyagers 
 were exhausted before they could reach the land, 
 and falling into the sea, were drowned, drifted on 
 shore, and picked up, in vast numbers, by the pea- 
 santry. A modern poet has prettily adverted to a 
 casualty, which it should seem, not unfrequentJy 
 attends the migration of the woodcock. 
 
 - . - - . "111 fares it with him then, 
 
 " On stormy seas mid-way surpriz'd : no land, 
 *' Its swelling breast presents, where safe reclin'd 
 " His panting heart might find a short repose ; 
 ''' But wide around, the hoarse resounding sea 
 " Meets his dim-eye. Should some tall ship appear
 
 I 363 :\ 
 
 " High-bounding o'er the waves^ iirg'd by despair, 
 
 " He seeks the rocking masts, and throws him down 
 
 " Amid the twisted cordage: thence repell'd, 
 
 " If instant blows deprive him not of life, 
 
 '* He flutters weakly on, and drops at last, 
 
 " Helpless and flound'ring, in the whit'ning surge." 
 
 Fowling, a Poem, in five books. 
 Cadell and Davies. 1808. 
 
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