CORNISH CHARACTERS
AND STRANGE EVENTS
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME
DEVONSHIRE CHARACTERS
AND STRANGE EVENTS
With 55 Full-page Illustrations
Reproduced from Old Prints, etc.
[Illustration: THOMAS PITT, LORD CAMELFORD]
CORNISH
CHARACTERS
AND STRANGE EVENTS
BY S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.
WITH 62 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
REPRODUCED FROM OLD PRINTS, ETC.
[Illustration: ONE · AND · ALL]
"We all are men,
In our own natures frail, and capable
Of our flesh; few are angels."
HENRY VIII (Act V, Sc. 2).
LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMIX
PLYMOUTH: WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS
PREFACE
Cornwall, peopled mainly by Celts, but with an infusion of English
blood, stands and always has stood apart from the rest of England,
much, but in a less degree, as has Wales. That which brought it into
more intimate association with English thought, interests, and
progress was the loss of the old Cornish tongue.
The isolation in which Cornwall had stood has tended to develop in it
much originality of character; and the wildness of the coast has bred
a hardy race of seamen and smugglers; the mineral wealth, moreover,
drew thousands of men underground, and the underground life of the
mines has a peculiar effect on mind and character: it is cramping in
many ways, but it tends to develop a good deal of religious
enthusiasm, that occasionally breaks forth in wild forms of
fanaticism. Cornwall has produced admirable sailors, men who have won
deathless renown in warfare at sea, as "Old Dreadnought" Boscawen,
Pellew, Lord Exmouth, etc., and daring and adventurous smugglers, like
"The King of Prussia," who combined great religious fervour with
entire absence of scruple in the matter of defrauding the king's
revenue. It has produced men of science who have made for themselves a
world-fame, as Adams the astronomer, and Sir Humphry Davy the
chemist; men who have been benefactors to their race, as Henry
Trengrouse, Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, and Trevithick. It has sent forth
at least one notable painter, the miner's boy Opie, and a dramatist,
Samuel Foote, and a great singer in his day, Incledon. But it has not
given to literature a great poet. Minor rhymes have been produced in
great quantities, but none of great worth. Philosophers have issued
from the mines, as Samuel Drew, eccentrics many, as Sir James Tillie,
John Knill, and Daniel Gumb. And Cornwall has contributed a certain
number of rascals--but fewer in number than almost any other county,
if we exclude wreckers and smugglers from the catalogue of rascality.
Strange superstitions have lingered on, and one very curious story of
a girl fed for years by fairies has been put on record.
It is somewhat remarkable that Cornwall has produced no musical genius
of any note; and yet the Cornishman is akin to the Welshman and the
Irishman.
Cornwall has certainly sent up to London and Westminster very able
politicians, as Godolphin, Sir William Molesworth, and Sir John Eliot.
It furnished Tyburn with a victim--Hugh Peters, the chaplain of Oliver
Cromwell, a strange mixture of money-grasping, enthusiasm, and humour.
It has been the object of the author, not to retell the lives of the
greatest of the sons of Cornwall, for these lives may be read in the
_Dictionary of National Biography_, but to chronicle the stories of
lesser luminaries concerning whom less is known and little is easily
accessible. In this way it serves as a companion volume to
_Devonshire Characters_; and Cornwall in no particular falls short of
Devonshire in the variety of characters it has sent forth, nor are
their stories of less interest.
The author and publisher have to thank many for kind help: Mr. Percy
Bate, Mr. T. R. Bolitho, Rev. A. T. Boscawen, Mr. J. A. Bridger, Mr.
T. Walter Brimacombe, Mr. A. M. Broadley, Mr. R. P. Chope, Mr. Digby
Collins, Mr. J. B. Cornish, Mrs. Coryton of Pentillie Castle, Miss
Loveday E. Drake, Mr. E. H. W. Dunkin, F.S.A., Mr. J. D. Enys of Enys,
the Rev. Wm. Iago, Mrs. H. Forbes Julian, Mrs. de Lacy Lacy, the Rev.
A. H. Malan, Mr. Lewis Melville, Mr. A. H. Norway, Captain Rogers of
Penrose, Mr. Thomas Seccombe, Mr. Henry Trengrouse, Mr. W. H. K.
Wright, and Mr. Henry Young of Liverpool--and last, but not least,
Miss Windeatt Roberts for her admirable Index to the volume.
The publisher wishes me to say that he would much like to discover the
whereabouts of a full-length portrait of Sir John Call, with a view of
Bodmin Gaol in the background.
S. BARING-GOULD.
CONTENTS
PAGE
WILLIAM PENGELLY, GEOLOGIST 1
SIR CHARLES WILLS, K.B. 12
LIEUTENANT GOLDSMITH AND THE LOGAN ROCK 18
HUGH PETERS, THE REGICIDE 26
JAMES POLKINGHORNE, THE WRESTLER 54
HENRY TRENGROUSE, INVENTOR 59
THE BOTATHAN GHOST 72
JOHN COUCH ADAMS, ASTRONOMER 83
DANIEL GUMB 91
LAURENCE BRADDON 96
THOMASINE BONAVENTURA 108
THE MURDER OF NEVILL NORWAY 117
SIR WILLIAM LOWER, KNT. 126
THE PIRATES AT PENZANCE 130
DAME KILLIGREW 133
TWO NATURALISTS IN CORNWALL 141
John Ralfs
George Carter Bignell
SIR JOHN CALL, BART. 154
JOHN KNILL 169
THOMAS TREGOSS 176
ANTHONY PAYNE 181
NEVIL NORTHEY BURNARD 186
SIR GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY, KNT., INVENTOR 192
THE JANES 206
THE PENNINGTONS 222
DOCTOR GLYNN-CLOBERY 228
THREE MEN OF MOUSEHOLE 232
DOLLY PENTREATH 238
ROBERT JEFFERY OF POLPERRO 247
ADMIRAL RICHARD DARTON THOMAS 258
COMMANDER JOHN POLLARD 269
THE CASE OF BOSAVERN PENLEZ 270
SAMUEL FOOTE 280
THE LAST LORD MOHUN 298
THE LAST LORD CAMELFORD 318
WILLIAM NOYE 329
WILLIAM LEMON 342
SAMUEL DREW 346
THE SIEGE OF SKEWIS 364
THE VOYAGE OF JOHN SANDS 370
CHARLES INCLEDON 375
THE MURDER OF RICHARD CORYTON 388
SIR JAMES TILLIE, KNT. 399
LIEUTENANT JOHN HAWKEY 408
DR. DANIEL LOMBARD 424
THE DREAM OF MR. WILLIAMS 427
SIR ROBERT TRESILIAN 432
PIRATE TRELAWNY 441
JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM 455
MARY ANN DAVENPORT, ACTRESS 466
THE ROYAL FAMILY OF PRUSSIA 470
CAPTAIN RICHARD KEIGWIN 479
THE LOSS OF THE "KENT" 489
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES V. PENROSE 500
SIR CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS, BART. 515
ANNE JEFFERIES 531
THOMAS KILLIGREW, THE KING'S JESTER 544
NICOLAS ROSCARROCK 554
LIEUTENANT PHILIP G. KING 559
HICKS OF BODMIN 569
CAPTAIN TOBIAS MARTIN 579
THE MAYOR OF BODMIN 586
JOHN NICHOLS TOM, _ALIAS_ SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY, K.M. 593
THE BOHELLAND TRAGEDY 614
MARY KELYNACK 620
CAPTAIN WILLIAM ROGERS 623
JOHN BURTON OF FALMOUTH 627
THE FATE OF SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL 637
FRANCIS TREGIAN 652
ANN GLANVILLE 663
JONATHAN SIMPSON, HIGHWAYMAN 670
DAVIES GILBERT 675
JAMES HOSKIN, FARMER 682
JOHN HARRIS, THE MINER POET 692
EDWARD CHAPMAN 701
JOHN COKE OF TRERICE 704
THOMAS PELLOW OF PENRYN 707
THE ORIGIN OF THE ROBARTES FAMILY 718
THEODORE PALEOLOGUS 727
ILLUSTRATIONS
THOMAS PITT, LORD CAMELFORD _Frontispiece_
TO FACE PAGE
WILLIAM PENGELLY 2
From a painting by A. S. Cope, reproduced by permission of Mrs. H.
Forbes Julian
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR CHARLES WILLS 12
From an engraving by Simon, after a picture by M. Dahl
A VIEW OF THE CELEBRATED LOGAN ROCK, NEAR LAND'S END
IN CORNWALL 18
Taken after the Rock was displaced on the 8th of April, 1824. From
a lithograph by Vibert, after a drawing by Tonkin
A VIEW OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF CASTLE TRERYN, SHOWING
THE MACHINERY ERECTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF REPLACING THE
LOGAN ROCK 22
From a lithograph by Vibert, after a drawing by Tonkin
HUGH PETERS 26
From an old engraving
JAMES POLKINGHORNE, THE FAMOUS CORNISH WRESTLER 54
From a drawing as he appeared in the Ring at Devonport on Monday,
23 October, 1826, when he threw Aḇͫ. Cann, the Champion of
Devonshire, for a stake of 200 sovereigns
HENRY TRENGROUSE, THE INVENTOR OF THE ROCKET APPARATUS
FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA 60
From an oil painting by Opie the younger, reproduced by permission
of Mr. H. Trengrouse
THE WRECK OF THE "ANSON" 66
From a sketch by Mr. H. Trengrouse
"PARSON RUDALL" 72
From a painting in the possession of the Rev. S. Baring-Gould
JOHN COUCH ADAMS 84
From a mezzotint by Samuel Cousins, A.R.A., after a picture by
Thomas Mogford. From the collection of Mrs. Lewis Lane
JOHN COUCH ADAMS 88
THE CHEESE-WRING 92
From an etching by Letitia Byrne, after a drawing by J. Farington,
R.A.
NEVILL NORWAY 118
From a painting in the possession of Miss A. T. Norway
SIR WILLIAM LOWER 126
THE KILLYGREW CUP 134
"1633. FROM MAIOR TO MAIOR TO THE TOWNE OF PERMARIN,
WHERE THEY RECEIVED MEE THAT WAS IN GREAT MISERY"
JANE KILLYGREW
This cup has been recently valued at the sum of £4000. It measures
just two feet in height
GEORGE CARTER BIGNELL 142
From a photograph
JOHN RALFS 146
Reproduced by permission of Miss Loveday E. Drake
SIR JOHN CALL, BART. 154
From a portrait (by A. Hickle) in the possession of his
great-granddaughter, Mrs. de Lacy Lacy
WHITEFORD--THE RESIDENCE OF SIR JOHN CALL 164
From a drawing in the possession of Mrs. de Lacy Lacy
JOHN KNILL 170
After a picture by Opie in the possession of Captain Rogers, of
Penrose
GLASS INSCRIBED "SUCCESS TO THE EAGLE FRIGATE, JOHN KNILL,
COMMANDER" 172
From the collection of Percy Bate, Esq., of Glasgow
ANTHONY PAYNE 182
From a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, purchased by Sir Robert
Harvey, High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1901, and presented to the
Institute of Cornwall
NEVIL NORTHEY BURNARD 186
From a bas-relief by the sculptor himself, in the possession of S.
Pearn, Esq., Altarnon
WESLEY'S HEAD OVER THE OLD MEETING-HOUSE, PENPONT,
ALTARNON. Cut by Burnard when 16 years of age 188
TOMBSTONES CUT BY BURNARD 188
That on the right is upon the grave of his grandfather in Altarnon
Churchyard, and was cut when the sculptor was only 14 years old;
the one on the left is in Bodmin Churchyard
TOMBSTONES IN ALTARNON CHURCHYARD. Cut by Burnard 190
SIR GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY 192
From a lithograph by W. Sharp, after a drawing by S. C. Smith
DOROTHY PENTREATH OF MOUSEHOLE IN CORNWALL. THE LAST
PERSON WHO COULD CONVERSE IN THE CORNISH LANGUAGE 232
From a drawing by R. Scadden
MONSCHOLE, IN MOUNT'S BAY, FROM THE ISLAND 238
From a drawing by Captain Tremenhere
SAMUEL FOOTE 280
THE LAST LORD MOHUN 298
From a mezzotint by I. Faber, after a picture by Sir Godfrey
Kneller
THE DUEL BETWEEN LORD MOHUN AND THE DUKE OF HAMILTON 312
From a contemporary mezzotint in the British Museum
SIR WILLIAM NOYE, ATTORNEY-GENERAL TO KING CHARLES THE
FIRST 330
SIR WILLIAM LEMON, BART., M.P. FOR CORNWALL 342
From an engraving by J. H. Meyer
SAMUEL DREW 346
From an engraving by R. Hicks, after a painting by F. Moore
HENRY ROGERS, PEWTERER 364
CHARLES INCLEDON, AS MACHEATH 376
From an engraving by J. Thomson, after a painting by Singleton
SIR JAMES TILLIE, KNT. 400
SIR JAMES TILLIE'S MONUMENT AT PENTILLIE 406
EDWARD JOHN TRELAWNY 442
From a drawing by D. Lucas
JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM 456
MRS. DAVENPORT, IN THE CHARACTER OF MRS. GRUNDY 466
From an engraving by Ridley, after a picture by De Wilde
AT PRUSSIA COVE. "BESSY'S" COVE FROM BATTERY POINT 470
From a drawing in the possession of J. B. Cornish, Esq.
JOHN CARTER'S HOUSE AT PRUSSIA COVE. (DEMOLISHED IN 1906) 476
From a photograph by Gibson & Sons, Penzance
VICE-ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES V. PENROSE, K.C.B. 500
From a picture by Allingham
THOMAS KILLIGREW, GROOM OF THE BEDCHAMBER TO KING
CHARLES THE SECOND 544
From an engraving by I. Vander vaart, after a picture by W.
Wissens
LIEUTENANT PHILIP GIDLEY KING 560
From an engraving by W. Skelton, after a drawing by J. Wright
WILLIAM R. HICKS 570
WILLIAM R. HICKS OF BODMIN 576
From a Caricature
JOHN THOMAS, OTHERWISE SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY, WHO SHOT
LIEUTENANT BENNET IN BASENDEN WOOD, BOUGHTON, NEAR
CANTERBURY, AND THE CONSTABLE MEARS, ON THURSDAY,
MAY 31ST, 1838. 594
PERCY HONEYWOOD COURTENAY, KNIGHT OF MALTA, ETC. ETC.,
AS HE APPEARED AT THE ELECTION IN 1832 608
MARY KELYNACK 620
CAPTAIN W. ROGERS 624
From an engraving by Ridley and Blood, after a picture by Drummond
JOHN BURTON OF FALMOUTH 628
SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL 638
ANN GLANVILLE 664
DAVIES GILBERT 676
From a mezzotint by Samuel Cousins, A.R.A., after a picture by
Henry Howard, R.A. From the collection of Mrs. Lewis Lane
JOHN HARRIS, THE MINER POET 692
THE RIGHT HON. JOHN EARL OF RADNOR: BARON ROBERTS OF
TRURO 718
After Sir Godfrey Kneller
MEMORIAL BRASS IN THE CHURCH OF LANDULPH. 728
Reproduced by permission of E. H. W. Dunkin, Esq., F.S.A., from
his book on Cornish Brasses
CORNISH CHARACTERS
AND STRANGE EVENTS
CORNISH
CHARACTERS
AND STRANGE EVENTS
WILLIAM PENGELLY, GEOLOGIST
William Pengelly was born at East Looe on January 12th, 1812, and was
the son of the captain of a small coasting vessel and nephew of a
notorious smuggler. The Pengellys had, in fact, been connected with
the sea for several generations. His mother was a Prout of the same
family as the famous water-colour artist.
As a child his career was almost cut short by fire. An aunt came to
stay with the Pengellys, arriving a day before she was expected. Early
on the following morning, when sitting in her bedroom window, wrapped
in a thick woollen shawl, she saw her little nephew William rush out
of the house enveloped in flames. She hurried after him, and managed
to smother the fire with her woollen garment, and thus saved the
child's life, though she was herself so badly burnt that she carried
the scars to her dying day. The little boy had risen early, and had
kindled a fire so that he might go on with his lessons before any one
else was astir in the house, with the result that he set light to his
clothes, and except for the premature arrival of his aunt, must
certainly have been burnt to death.
At the age of twelve he went to sea. He says:--
"Our voyages were short. I do not remember an instance of being at sea
more than three consecutive days; so that, except when windbound, we
were almost always taking in or taking out cargo. The work was hard,
but the food was abundant, and on the whole the life, though rough,
was not unpleasant.
"To me--thinking nothing of the pecuniary aspects of the question--the
most enjoyable occasions were those which fierce contrary winds brought
us, when we had to seek some harbour of refuge. These were by no means
necessarily holidays, for, if the weather were dry, advantage was taken
of the enforced leisure to give our craft a thorough cleaning, or to
repair her rigging, or to make up the books. Moreover, the crew employed
me to write letters to their wives from their dictation. These epistles
were generally of a remarkable character, and some of them remain firmly
fixed in my memory. The foregoing labours disposed of, and foul winds
still prevailing, we had a washing day, or, better than all, a bout of
tailoring, which did not generally get beyond repairing, though
occasionally the ambitious flight of making a pair of trousers was
attempted. On tailoring days it was understood that my clothes should be
repaired for me, in order that I might read aloud for the general
benefit. We assembled in our little cabin, where the stitching and
smoking went on simultaneously, and with great vigour. My poor library
consisted of a Bible, the eighth volume of the _Spectator_, Johnson's
_English Dictionary_, a volume of the _Weekly Miscellany_, the _History
of John Gilpin_, _Baron Munchausen's Travels_, Walkinghame's
_Arithmetic_, and a book of songs. My hearers were not very fastidious,
but allowed me to read pretty much what I pleased, though, truth to
tell, the _Spectator_ was not a favourite; some portions of it were held
to be nonsensical, and others were considered to be so lacking in
truthfulness that it was generally termed the 'lying book.' This ill
repute was largely due to the story of Fadlallah (No. 578). Walkinghame
was by no means unpopular. I occasionally read some of the questions,
and my shipmates endeavoured to solve them mentally; and as the answers
were all given by the author, I had to declare who had made the nearest
guess, for it was very often but little more. Of all the questions, none
excited so much interest as that which asks, What will be the cost of
shoeing a horse at a farthing for the first nail, two for the second,
and so on in geometrical progression for thirty-two nails, and which
gives for the answer a sum but little short of four and a half million
pounds sterling. This was so utterly unexpected that it went far to
confer on Walkinghame the same name that Fadlallah had given to the
_Spectator_."
[Illustration: A. S. Cope, pinxt.
_Reproduced by permission of Mrs. H. Forbes Julian_]
William Pengelly tells a curious story of his father, Richard
Pengelly:--
"After completing his fifteenth year he was thinking of going to sea.
When he was sixteen, his father, who was a sailor, was drowned almost
within sight of his home. The effect on the boy was to make him pause,
and on his friends, to urge him to give up the idea. For some months
these influences kept him quiet, but at length his restlessness
returned so strongly, that he would have gone to sea at once, had he
felt satisfied that his father would have approved the step. To
ascertain this point he prayed frequently and earnestly that his
father's spirit might be allowed to appear to him, with a pleasing or
frowning aspect, according as he might approve or disapprove. At
length he believed his prayer to have been answered, and that when in
the field ploughing he saw his father, who passed by looking intently
and smilingly at him. This decided him. He became a sailor at
seventeen, and as such died at a good old age."
One bitterly cold night at sea, young Pengelly and some other of his
shipmates having closed the cabin door, lit a charcoal fire, and
speedily fell asleep, succumbing to the fumes of carbonic acid.
Happily one of the crew who had been on deck entered the cabin. He
found the greatest difficulty in awakening his comrades to sufficient
consciousness to enable them to stumble up the ladder to get a breath
of fresh air, for their sleep had well-nigh become that of death. The
strong and hardy seamen soon recovered, but the boy was so seriously
affected that, long after he had been carried upon deck, he could not
be roused, and was only restored to consciousness by means of
prolonged exertions on the part of his shipmates. His earliest
geological experience was made when a sailor-boy weather-bound on the
Dorsetshire coast, and he was wont to relate it thus:--
"I received my first lesson in geology at Lyme Regis, very soon after
I had entered my teens. A labourer, whom I was observing, accidentally
broke a large stone of blue lias and thus disclosed a fine ammonite
--the first fossil of any kind that I had ever seen or heard of.
"In reply to my exclamation, 'What's that?' the workman said, with a
sneer, 'If you had read your Bible you'd know what 'tis.' 'I _have_
read my Bible. But what has that to do with it?'
"'In the Bible we're told there was once a flood that covered all the
world. At that time all the rocks were mud, and the different things
that were drowned were buried in it, and there's a snake that was
buried that way. There are lots of 'em, and other things besides, in
the rocks and stones hereabouts.'
"'A snake! But where's his head?'
"'You must read the Bible, I tell 'ee, and then you'll find out why
'tis that some of the snakes in the rocks ain't got no heads. We're
told there, that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's
head, that's how 'tis.'"
When in his sixteenth year William Pengelly lost his younger brother,
and after that his mother would not suffer him to go to sea. Some
years were spent at Looe in self-education.
While still quite young he was induced by a relative of his mother to
settle at Torquay, at that time a small place, but rapidly growing and
attracting residents to it. Here he opened a small day-school on the
Pestalozzian system, and was one of the first to introduce the use of
the blackboard and chalk. The school opened with six scholars, but
rapidly increased to about seventy.
It was now that scientific studies began to occupy Pengelly's
attention, and above all, geology.
In 1837 he married Mary Anne Mudge, whose health was always delicate.
Little by little his renown as a geologist spread, and he did not
confine himself to the deposits in Devonshire, but travelled to
Scotland and elsewhere to examine the rocks, and to meet and consult
with eminent scientists.
In 1846 his private pupils had grown so numerous that he was able to
give up his school altogether and become a tutor of mathematics and
the natural sciences. He tells a very amusing story of a visit made
during holiday time to an old friend.
"I one day learned that my road lay within a couple of miles of the
rectory of my old mathematical friend D----. We had been great friends
when he was a curate in a distant part of the country, but had not met
for several years, during which he had been advanced from a curacy of
about £80 to a rectory of £200 per year, and a residence, in a very
secluded district. My time was very short, but for 'auld lang syne' I
decided to sacrifice a few hours. On reaching the house Mr. and Mrs.
D---- were fortunately at home, and received me with their wonted
kindness.
"The salutations were barely over, when I said--
"'It is now six o'clock; I must reach Wellington tonight, and as it is
said to be fully eight miles off, and I am utterly unacquainted with
the road, and with the town when I reach it, I cannot remain with you
one minute after eight o'clock.'
"'Oh, very well,' said D----, 'then we must improve the shining hour.
Jane, my dear, be so good as to order tea.'
"Having said this he left the room. In a few minutes he returned with
a book under his arm and his hands filled with writing materials,
which he placed on the table. Opening the book, he said--
"'This is Hind's _Trigonometry_, and here's a lot of examples for
practice. Let us see which can do the greatest number of them by eight
o'clock. I did most of them many years ago, but I have not looked at
them since. Suppose we begin at this one'--which he pointed out--'and
take them as they come. We can drink our tea as we work, so as to lose
no time.'
"'All right,' said I; though it was certainly not the object for which
I had come out of my road.
"Accordingly we set to work. No words passed between us; the servant
brought in the tray, Mrs. D---- handed us our tea, which we drank now
and then, and the time flew on rapidly. At length, finding it to be a
quarter to eight--
"'We must stop,' said I, 'for in a quarter of an hour I must be on my
road.'
"'Very well. Let us see how our answers agree with those of the author.'
"It proved that he had correctly solved one more than I had. This
point settled, I said 'Good-bye.'
"'Good-bye. Do come again as soon as you can. The farmers know nothing
whatever about Trigonometry.'
"We parted at the rectory door, and have never met since; nor shall we
ever do so more, as his decease occurred several years ago. During my
long walk to Wellington my mind was chiefly occupied with the mental
isolation of a rural clergyman."
In 1851 he lost his wife, and some years after both his children by her.
In 1853 he married a Lydia Spriggs, a Quakeress.
William Pengelly's scientific explorations may be divided under three
heads. The first was his minute and accurate examination of the
deposits that form Bovey Heathfield, where there are layers of clay,
sand, and lignite. He was able to extract numerous fossil plants, and
thereby to determine the approximate age of the beds.
Next he took up the exploration of ossiferous caves; and he began this
work with that of Brixham, in Windmill Hill.
The floor of this cavern was excavated in successive stages or layers,
starting from the entrance. Bones were found in the stalagmite and in
the first, third, and fourth beds, and worked flints in the third and
fourth beds only; but where the third bed filled the cavern up to the
rock, its upper portion contained neither bones nor flints. The bones
were those of the mammoth, the rhinoceros, the urus, hyæna, cave lion
and cave bear, etc.
But by far the most laborious scientific undertaking of Pengelly's
life was the exploration of Kent's Cavern, near Torquay. This cave was
known as far back as 1824, when a Mr. Northmore, of Cleve, near
Exeter, made a superficial examination of it to ascertain whether it
had been a temple of Mithras, and quite satisfied himself on this
point. He was followed by Sir W. C. Trevelyan and by the Rev. J.
MacEnery. But it was not till 1865 that a complete, scientific, and
exhaustive exploration was undertaken by the British Association,
which made a grant of £100 for the purpose. Mr. Pengelly was appointed
secretary and reporter to the committee for the examination of the
cave and its deposits.
It was found that the floor of the cave exhibited the following
succession: (1) Blocks of limestone sometimes large, clearly fallen
from the roof. (2) A layer of black mould ranging from a few inches to
upwards of a foot in depth. (3) Beneath this came a floor of granular
stalagmite, about a foot in thickness, formed by the drip of water
from the roof. (4) A red loam containing a number of limestone
fragments. (5) A breccia of angular fragments of limestone and pebbles
and sandstone embedded in a reddish sandy calcareous paste.
On June 19th, 1880, the exploration of Kent's Hole was brought to an
end. It was the most complete and systematic investigation of a cavern
that had ever been undertaken, and on a much greater scale than that
at Brixham. A task of this kind is peculiarly exacting. It cannot be
entrusted to workmen; it cannot be left to a committee whose members
pay but intermittent visits: it demands the constant oversight of one
man; and this superintendence was given to Pengelly. The total amount
spent on this exploration was £2000. Pengelly states in one of his
papers that in the fifteen and a quarter years during which the
excavation was in progress he visited Kent's Hole almost daily, and
spent over the work, on an average, five hours a day.
"Above the stalagmite, and principally in the black mould, have been
found a number of relics belonging to different periods, such as
socketed celts, and a socketed knife of bronze, and some small fragments
of roughly smelted copper, about four hundred flint flakes, cores, and
chips, a polishing stone, a ring (made of Kimmeridge clay), numerous
spindle whorls, bone instruments terminating in comb-like ends, pottery,
marine shells, numerous mammalian bones of existing species, and some
human bones, on which it has been thought there are traces indicative of
cannibalism. Some of the pottery is distinctly Roman in character; but
many of the objects belong, no doubt, to pre-Roman times."
What was found beneath the stalagmite belonged to a long anterior
period, where it had lain sealed up for, at the very least, two thousand
years. In this deposit of the cave earth were found a large number of
chips, flakes, and implements of flint and chert, stones that had served
as pounders, and some pins, needles, and harpoons of bone.
Some mammoth bones were found in Kent's Cavern, and those of the cave
lion, the sabre-toothed tiger, the glutton, cave bear, woolly
rhinoceros, horse, reindeer, and beaver.
Mr. W. Pengelly died on March 17th, 1894.
A writer in the _Transactions of the Devonshire Association_ for 1894
says: "For science he lived, and for science he laboured, even long
after the age when the average man seeks rest and quiet. Starting out in
original lines of thought, and untrammelled by traditions of years long
ago, he met with many rebuffs, and the conclusions which he derived from
his investigations and minute and patient inquiry were almost laughed to
scorn. But he adhered to his work and clung to his beliefs, with
enthusiastic devotion, and in the end he lived to see even those who had
originally stoutly opposed his views convinced of their verity, and
their inestimable value to archæological and geological science."
Pengelly himself left this piece of advice to the student:--
"Be careful in scientific inquiries that you get a sufficient number
of perfectly trustworthy facts; that you interpret them with the aid
of a rigorous logic; that on suitable occasions you have courage
enough to avow your convictions; and don't be impatient, or annoyed,
if your friends don't receive all your conclusions, or even if they
call you bad names."
It must be remembered that Pengelly and Sir Charles Lyell were those
who startled English minds with the revelation of the enormous period
of time in which man had lived on the earth, and of the slow
progression of man through vast ages in the development of
civilization. How that he began with the rudest flint implements, and
progressed but very slowly to the perfection of these stone tools; how
that only in comparatively recent times did he discover the use of
metals and pottery; how of metals he first employed bronze, and not
till long after acquired the art of smelting iron and fashioning tools
and weapons of iron. All this startled the world, and men were very
unwilling to accept the doctrine propounded and to acknowledge the
facts on which this doctrine was based.
The _Life of William Pengelly_ was written by his daughter Hester
Pengelly, and published by Murray, 1897. Reference has been made as
well to the obituary notice in the _Transactions of the Devonshire
Association_ for 1894.
SIR CHARLES WILLS, K.B.
Sir Charles Wills belonged to a very ancient and widely ramified family
in Cornwall. The first, however, of whom anything authentic is known was
Anthony Wills, of Saltash, who died in 1576. They were settled at
Landrake, at Morval, Botusfleming, Wyvelscombe, Exeter, and Gorran.
Anthony Wills, of Gorran, youngest son of Digory Wills, of Botusfleming,
had a son, Anthony Wills, who was the father of the Right Hon. Sir
Charles Wills, K.B., general of His Majesty's forces, baptized at Gorran
23rd October, 1666. Sir Charles had two brothers, Richard, of Acombe, in
the county of York, and Anthony, of the Inner Temple, who died in
Ireland 1689. The arms of the family are, _arg_. three griffins passant,
in pale, _sa._, within a bordure engrailed of the last _besantée_.
Sir Charles was a subaltern in 1693, when serving in the Low Countries
under William III. The King went to Holland at the end of March in that
year, and returned on the last day of October, when the armies went into
winter quarters. Wills was in the battle of Landen and at the siege of
Namur. On the 13th October, 1705, he was appointed colonel of the 30th
Regiment, and sailed with it to Spain. He acted as quartermaster-general
to the troops in that country, was present at Llenda, Almanza, and
Saragossa, and was made prisoner in 1711 with the army under General
Stanhope, but was released at the end of the war.
[Illustration: _Lieutenant General Wills Commander of his Maj.^{ties}
Forces in the Action against the Rebells at Preston in Lancashire._]
He had been appointed brigadier-general in 1707, major-general on 1st
January, 1709, and lieutenant-general 16th November, 1710. After the
peace of 1715, being in command of the troops in the Midland district,
he marched northwards to meet the rebels from Scotland, and he and
General Carpenter met them at Preston. Preston was a town both Jacobite
and Roman Catholic; and in it was the army of the Pretender, composed of
Scottish Highlanders and Lancashire gentry and their retainers.
General Carpenter, who had been marching into Scotland, turned back
into Northumberland, and by forced marches had reached Durham, where
he combined with General Wills, who had been sent some time before
into the north to quell the many riots that preluded the insurrection.
Wills concentrated six regiments of cavalry, for the most part newly
raised, but commanded by experienced officers, at Manchester, whence
he moved to Wigan. There it was arranged that Wills should march
straight upon Preston, while Carpenter, advancing in another
direction, should take the insurgents in flank. As the Hanoverians
approached, General Forster, who commanded the Jacobites, gave
satisfactory evidence that he was no soldier; he fell into a fright
and confusion, and betook himself to bed. But Lord Kenmure roused him,
and in a hurried council, where all the gentlemen had a voice, and
where those spoke loudest who knew least of war, a plan of defending
Preston was adopted. But the plan, at least as executed, consisted
merely in throwing up some barricades in the streets and in posting
some men in defence of them. Brigadier Mackintosh either knew not the
ground or his better judgment was overruled; for Preston offered many
advantages as a defensive position which were altogether neglected. In
front of the town was a bridge over the Ribble, that might have been
held by a handful of men, and from the bridge to the town, for a
distance of a mile, the road ran through a hollow between steep banks
for a mile. But river, bridge, and road were all left undefended. When
Wills rode up to the bridge and saw that it was unprotected he could
hardly believe his eyes; and then he concluded that the insurgents
must have abandoned Preston and begun their retreat into Scotland, so
that there would be no fighting that day.
But as he came to the outskirts of the town, he heard a tumultuous
noise within, and saw the barricades that Forster had thrown up, and
was saluted by a shower of bullets. He ordered his dragoons to
dismount and attack two of the barricades. This service was gallantly
performed; but the regulars were sorely galled by a fire from the
houses as well as from the barricades.
As night was falling Wills withdrew his men, after they had suffered
considerable loss. Early on the following morning General Carpenter
came up with a part of his cavalry; and then Forster, who had scarcely
lost a man, and whose force more than doubled that of the regular
troops, lost heart entirely, and without consulting his friends, sent
Colonel Oxburgh to propose a capitulation.
General Wills, irritated at the loss he had sustained on the preceding
evening, seemed at first disposed to reject the proposition altogether;
but at last he agreed "that, if the rebels would lay down their arms and
surrender at discretion, he would protect them from being cut to pieces
by the soldiers, until further orders from the Government."
When Oxburgh's mission was known in the town, and the result of it,
the more warlike portion of the insurgents were indignant and railed
against the coward Forster; and so incensed were they against him
that, according to an eye-witness, if he had ventured into the street,
he would infallibly have been torn to pieces.
The brave Highlanders, seeing that nothing was to be expected from the
Lancastrian boors who had joined them, proposed rushing with sword in
hand and cutting their way through the King's troops. But their
leaders thought this too hazardous a proceeding and counselled
surrender. They gave up Lord Derwentwater and Colonel Mackintosh as
hostages, and induced the clans to lay down their arms and submit.
Including English and Scotch, only seventeen men had been killed in
the defence of Preston.
The Lancastrian peasants got away out of the town, but fourteen
hundred men were made prisoners by a thousand, or at the outside
twelve hundred English horse. Among those captured were Lords
Derwentwater, Widdrington, Nithsdale, Winton, Carnwark, Kenmure,
Nairn, and Charles Murray. There were others, members of ancient and
honourable families of the north, of Scotland, and of Lancashire.
The invasion of England by the Jacobites had thus ended ingloriously.
The noblemen and gentlemen of rank and influence who were taken were
sent to London in charge of Brigadier Panter and a hundred men of
Lumley's Horse.
On January 5th, 1716, Wills was appointed to the colonelcy of the 3rd
Regiment of the line, and on the death of Lord Cadogan was transferred
in August, 1726, to that of the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards.
It was customary at all times for the King's company of the 1st
Guards to fly the Royal Standard, which was carried by that company on
all state occasions. It was of crimson silk throughout, with the
King's cypher and crown in the middle and the arms of the three
kingdoms quartered in the four corners. The staff of this standard was
also more ornamented than that of the other twenty-seven companies.
The lieutenant-colonel's colours were also of crimson silk throughout.
These colours were renewed every seven years.
In 1723 the King went to Hanover, when a camp was formed in Hyde Park
under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Wills. He had been elected M.P.
for Totnes in 1714, and he represented that borough till 1741. In 1725
he was made Knight of the Bath and Privy Councillor.
In 1733, in consequence of the increase of smuggling carried on even
in London, Strickland, Secretary for War, addressed a letter in the
form of a warrant to the Governor of the Tower and to the officers in
command of the Guards, authorizing them to furnish detachments of men
to assist in securing contraband goods; and in consequence of the
increase of the duties to be performed by the men of the Foot Guards,
their establishment was raised in 1739 by ten men per company.
In 1740, as the political horizon on the Continent was threatening,
Walpole had to choose between declaring war with Spain and resigning. He
disapproved of war, but rather than resign declared it. The people of
London were delighted and rang the bells in the steeples. "Ah!" said
Walpole; "they are ringing the bells now; they soon will be wringing
their hands." Camps, in anticipation of hostilities, were ordered to be
formed in various parts of England. In March orders were conveyed to Sir
Charles Wills and others to direct their officers to provide themselves
with tents and everything needful for encamping, and those troops under
Sir Charles were to occupy Hounslow. He superintended the formation of
the camp where the whole of the Horse and Foot Guards were to assemble,
and previous to departing they paraded in Hyde Park, on June 15th, under
Sir Charles, who had a lieutenant-general and a major-general on the
staff with him. Thence he proceeded to the encampment on the Heath
marked out for the purpose.
The twenty-four companies of the 1st Guards under the command of
Colonel Richard Ingoldsby, second major of the regiment, remained
encamped on Hounslow from June 16th for several months--in fact, till
the middle of October.
Sir Charles Wills was now filling the post of General Commander of the
King's forces, but had been failing in health and strength, and soon
became quite unable to take any active work; and he died on December
25th, Christmas Day, 1741, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
He had never been married. He had purchased land at Claxton, and this
and all he had he bequeathed to Field-Marshal Sir Robert Rich, Bart.,
of Roxhill, in Suffolk, Governor of Chelsea Hospital.
LIEUTENANT GOLDSMITH AND THE
LOGAN ROCK
In the parish of S. Levan is a promontory running out into the sea,
once cut off by embankments on the land side, and converted into a
cliff castle, that bears the name of Trereen-Dinas. The headland
presents a succession of natural piles of granite tors, the first of
which, rising perpendicularly, is crowned by the far-famed Logan Rock,
a mass weighing about ninety tons, and so exactly poised upon one
point that any one, by applying his shoulder to it, could make the
whole mass rock sensibly. Not only so, but in a high wind it could be
seen rolling on its pivot.
Doctor Borlase, in his _Antiquities of Cornwall_, 1754, says: "In the
parish of S. Levan, Cornwall, there is a promontory called Castle
Treryn. This cape consists of three distinct groupes of rocks. On the
western side of the middle groupe, near the top, lies a very large
stone, so evenly poised, 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 force
(however applied in a mechanical way), can remove it from its present
situation."
This overbold statement, added to the persistence of the people of the
neighbourhood, that no man could throw the Logan Rock from its
balance, stirred up a silly young lieutenant, Hugh Colvill Goldsmith,
of H.M.S. cutter _Nimble_, on the preventive service, lying off the
Land's End on the look-out for smugglers, to attempt to do what the
popular voice declared to be impossible. Lieut. Goldsmith was a nephew
of the famous Oliver Goldsmith, and had consequently some flighty
Irish blood in his veins.
[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE CELEBRATED LOGAN ROCK, NEAR LAND'S END IN
CORNWALL
_Taken after the Rock was displaced on the 8th of April_, 1824]
"On April 8, 1824," says the _Gentleman's Magazine_, "a party of
sailors belonging to H.M. cutter _Nimble_, commanded by Lieut.
Goldsmith, came on shore for the purpose of removing from its
situation that great curiosity the Logging (rocking) Stone; and which
object they were unfortunately enabled to accomplish. This mass of
granite, which is nearly 100 tons weight, was one of the three objects
that excited the curiosity of every visitor to the west part of
Cornwall. It stood on the summit of a mass of rocks at the Land's End,
and was so poised on a natural pivot, that the force which a man could
exert was sufficient to cause it to vibrate. In this situation it
remained from a period anterior to our authentic records, as it is
noticed by our earliest writers, until the _barbarian_ above
mentioned, in sheer wantonness, removed it from its place. This act of
vandalism has excited the greatest indignation at Penzance, as it will
in every part of Cornwall, and throughout the kingdom. It appears that
Lieut. Goldsmith landed at the head of fourteen of his men, and with
the assistance of handspikes and a handscrew, called by the sailors
jack-in-the-box, with much labour and perseverance threw over the
stone. What renders the act most atrocious is, that two poor families,
who derived a subsistence from attending visitors to the stone, are
now deprived of the means of support."
It was found that the handspikes and jack were of no avail. Accordingly
Goldsmith made his fourteen men put their shoulders to the stone and
bring it into such violent oscillation that at last it toppled over.
The Logan Stone, thus displaced, would have rolled down from the tor
on which it had rested and have shot into the sea, had it not happily
been arrested by a cleft in the rock.
The indignation of the people was great, so that the life of Lieut.
Goldsmith was threatened by the sturdy fishermen, should he land. But
the desire to land was taken from him, for the whole county was
roused, and a gathering of the magistrates was summoned to consider
what could be done, and to memorialize the Admiralty against the
perpetrator of this wanton act of mischief.
Happily Mr. Davies Gilbert was at the time in London, and he at once
proceeded to the Admiralty and complained of the vandalism perpetrated,
and requested that the lieutenant should be ordered to replace the block
as found, and that the proper apparatus, capstan, blocks, chains, etc.,
should be furnished by the dockyard at Devonport.
This was undertaken, and orders were despatched to Lieut. Goldsmith
that he must either restore the Logan Rock to its old position, at his
own cost, or forfeit his commission. As the expense would be wholly
beyond his means, Mr. Davies Gilbert very liberally subscribed £150
for the purpose.
A writer, Lieut. L. Edye, in the _Western Antiquary_ for 1887, says:
"In his trouble he appealed to my grandfather (Mr. William Edye) for
advice and assistance, stating that the Admiralty had called upon him
either to replace the stone or forfeit his commission. My grandfather,
ever ready to render assistance to any one in trouble, readily
assisted, and having travelled into Cornwall (as a friend) and seen
the damage done, applied to the Admiralty for the loan of plant and
men. Their Lordships complied with the request, but stipulated that
the cost must be entirely defrayed by Lieut. Goldsmith."
We will now see what Goldsmith had to say for himself. The following
is an extract from a letter written by him to his mother, dated April
24th, 1824:--
"The facts in question, my dear mother, are these: On the 8th of this
month we were off the Land's End, near the spot where the Rock stood.
Our boats were creeping along shore beneath it for some goods which, we
suspected, might be sunk in the sands near it. I took the opportunity of
landing to look at the Logan Rock with my mate; and hearing that it was
not in the power of men to remove it, I took it into my head to try my
skill, and, at this time (half-past four o'clock p.m.), the boats having
finished what they had to do, and it blowing too fresh for them to creep
any longer, I took them and their crew with me, and, having landed at
the foot of the rocks, we all scrambled up the precipice. We had with
us, at first, three handspikes, with which we tried to move the Rock,
but could not do it." By move the rock he really means--displace it. A
child could move it on its pivot. "The handspikes were then laid aside,
and the nine men who were with me took hold of the Rock by the edge, and
with great difficulty set it in a rocking motion, which became so great,
that I was fearful of bidding them try to stop it lest it should fall
back upon us, and away it went unfortunately, clean over upon its side,
where it now rests. There was not an instrument of any kind or
description near the Rock when thrown over, except one handspike, and
that I held in my hand, but which was of no use in upsetting the Rock;
and this is the truth, and nothing but the truth, as I hope for
salvation.
"For my part, I had no intention, or the most distant thought, of
doing mischief, even had I thrown the Rock into the sea. I was
innocently, as my God knows, employed, as far as any bad design about
me. I knew not that the Rock was so idolized in this neighbourhood,
and you may imagine my astonishment when I found all Penzance in an
uproar. I was to be transported at least; the newspapers have traduced
me, and made me worse than a murderer, and the base falsehoods in them
are more than wicked. But here I am, my dear mother, still holding up
my head, boldly conscious of having only committed an act of
inadvertency. Be not uneasy--my character is yet safe; and you have
nothing on that score to make you uneasy. I have many friends in
Penzance: among them the persons most interested in the Rock, and many
who were most violent now see the thing in its true light. I intend
putting the bauble in its place again, and hope to get as much credit
as I have anger for throwing it down."[1]
[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF CASTLE TRERYN, SHEWING
THE MACHINERY ERECTED FOR THE PURPOSE OF REPLACING THE LOGAN ROCK]
The letter is disingenuous, and is the composition of a man impudent
and conceited. He knew the estimation in which the Logan Rock was
held, and it was because Borlase had pronounced it impossible of
displacement that he resolved to displace it. He pretends that he
tried to "move" it, whereas from the context it is clear that he
intended to throw it down, and for this purpose had brought the
handspikes. He boasts vaingloriously of his intention of replacing it
and gaining glory thereby, and never says a word about his having
been given by the Admiralty the alternative of doing that or losing
his commission. Nor does he mention the generous help he received from
Mr. Gilbert and his kinsman Mr. Edye.
On November 2nd, in the presence of vast crowds, ladies waving their
handkerchiefs, and men firing _feux de joie_, the block was raised, Mr.
Goldsmith, his natural conceit overcoming his sense of vexation,
superintending the operation. But, although replaced, it was no longer
so perfectly balanced as before. As one wrote who was present at the
time, "it rocked differently, though well enough to satisfy the people."
An account of the feat, written in the true style of the penny-a-liner,
appeared in the _Royal Cornwall Gazette_ of the 6th November:--