The manor of Ludgean Lease has been of great consequence and extent.
It still spreads over lands in several parishes; and holds as
appendages the advowson to the rectory of this parish, and the high
lordship of St. Ives, where certain honorary perquisites are paid to
the lord of this manor for ships entering the port; and moreover, on
the day of holding the annual court, the corporation maces are borne
before the steward. Mr. Lysons states that the manor was given by
Richard Earl of Cornwall to the family of Ferrers; from whom it
passed, by successive female heirs, to those of Champernown and
Willoughby (Lord Broke), and from a coheiress of the latter to the
family of Paulet; and it now belongs to the two daughters, or their
descendants, of Henry Paulet, last Duke of Bolton, who died in 1794.
Treassow has been for a considerable time the seat of the family of
Rogers, since removed to Penrose, in the neighbourhood of Helston, in
consequence of a large fortune acquired there by Mr. John Rogers, as
steward to the Godolphins.
Annexed to Treassow is Castle-an-Dinas, the most lofty hill in that
whole district, and the one standing furthest towards the south. It
differs, however, from all the other hills thereabout in the quality
of its material; for, although the whole is granite, not a rock is to
be seen, and at its north-western base works are carried on, similar
to those near St. Austell for preparing china-clay. On the top of the
hill a considerable part remains of the extensive dinas, entrenchment,
or castle, that has given the name, reduplicated in modern times, from
an entire forgetfulness of the Celtic language.
Borlase gives the following description of these remains:
“Castle-an-Dinas consisted of two stone walls, one within
the other, in a circular form, surrounding the area of the
hill. The ruins are now fallen on each side of the walls,
and show the work to have been of great height and
thickness. There was also a third, or outer wall, built more
than halfway round. Within the walls are many little
inclosures of a circular form, about seven yards diameter,
with little walls round them of two or three feet high; they
appear to have been so many huts for the shelter of the
garrison. The diameter of the whole fort from east to west
is four hundred feet, and the principal ditch sixty feet.
Towards the south, the sides of the hill are marked by two
large green paths, about ten feet wide. Near the middle of
the area is a well, almost choked up with its own ruins, and
at a little distance a narrow pit, its sides walled round,
probably for water also, now filled up.”
On this account the following remarks have been made by a recent
intelligent writer:[2]
“It is to be regretted that Borlase did not publish a plan
to illustrate his description of this Castle, as it has been
much dilapidated since his time. A tower was built on the
site of the outer wall about forty years ago, by Mr. Rogers,
of Penrose; and subsequent reparations have not contributed
towards a restoration of the old walls. Nor are there any
perceptible remains of the inclosures, two or three feet
high, which formed the huts for the shelter of the garrison;
but in this respect, Borlase’s description exactly
corresponds with the remains I observed within the area of
Chûn-Castle, as already mentioned. I could discover no
traces of the ancient entrance, nor does Borlase notice it;
if it was towards the west, as at Chûn-Castle, it has been
blocked up, for the walls on that side seem to have been
rebuilt or repaired; if on the southern side, where, Borlase
says, there were two broad paths leading up the side of the
hill, towards the Castle, it has been totally destroyed.
“I now proceed to a description of this ancient and curious
fortress. The first inclosure is a mound of earth alone,
seven or eight feet high, surrounded by a ditch. Within
this, a second fosse, or ditch, encircled the _outer wall_,
which was built as before described, and is about five feet
in thickness, and four or five high, excepting towards the
south-east, where it has been destroyed, and the materials
used in building the tower before mentioned.
“A vallum, or terrace, separates this wall from another of
considerable strength and thickness, being thirteen feet
across at the top. The circular area inclosed by this wall
is two hundred and fifty-four feet in diameter. A third
wall, of no great substance or height, like the others,
appears to have made a circuit within this space, and
reduced the diameter to one hundred and ninety feet. But
what is most curious in this Castle, is the appearance of a
certain wavy outline, slightly raised above the natural
soil, but overgrown with turf. The singular form of these
foundations, if they are supposed to be the inclosures
noticed by Borlase, and their exact regularity, which I took
some pains to ascertain, is perhaps deserving the attention
of some more experienced antiquary.
“The area within is very uneven, and has, nearly in the
centre, a small round inclosure, twenty-two feet in
diameter, without an entrance. It is exactly similar in its
construction to the remains in Caër-Brane and Bartìnè
Castles. There is a well also within the circuit of the
walls, and we were told it was never known to be without
water. The diameter of the whole work, from ditch to ditch,
north and south, is four hundred and thirty-six feet.”
Rosevithney was for ages a gentleman’s residence. The family of Larmer
possessed it during a considerable time, till it passed by an heiress
to a branch of the Davieses. The freehold has recently been sold three
or four times.
Trowell, an adjoining farm, which belonged to the Godolphins, is
remarkable for the extremely productive copper-mine, called Whele
Fortune, which first launched Mr. Lemon on his splendid voyage through
life.
The name of another farm in Ludgean, which cannot be accidental,
requires notice. On this farm was a well, now destroyed by mines,
having, in all probability, some slight quality of a chalybeate. The
water acquired an established reputation for the relief of weak sight,
and hundreds repaired there every year to bathe their eyes. The farm
is named Collurian, and has been so time out of mind.
Varfull has been held as a leasehold for lives, or under copy of court
roll, for more than a century, by the family of Davy, and actually
belonged to Sir Humphry Davy, whose name has reflected so much honour,
not on Cornwall alone, but on the whole nation to which he belonged.
The church, with the church town and the rectory, are placed in a
commanding situation, and being surrounded by trees, make one of the
most pleasing objects in the Mount’s Bay. The house has been entirely
rebuilt by the late rector Mr. John Stephens. The tower is one of the
most correct in its proportions and in its ornaments of any in the
west of Cornwall. About the year 1761, a pinnacle was thrown down by
lightning, and the effect was then universally imputed to the
vengeance of a perturbed spirit exorcised from Treassow, and passing
eastward towards the usual place of banishment in the Red Sea.
A more ancient legend is also connected with this church. After St.
Ludgvan, an Irish missionary, if such a one ever existed, had
constructed the fabric, he brought a stream of water under the church
stile, with the intention of bestowing on the water various miraculous
powers; among others, that of enabling every infant sprinkled with it
at the baptismal font, instantly to acquire the power of making all
the responses in distinct words, and probably in the Latin tongue;
but, being interrupted by some unhallowed interference, his general
purposes were defeated, so that one alone of the many intended
qualities could by possibility be conferred; a qaality very different
from the former, but so much esteemed by some descriptions of persons,
that, within times of memory, children are reported to have been
brought there for baptism, to acquire the protection afforded by this
consecrated stream, which, after washing away the stain of original
sin, does not indeed effectually guard the infant against committing
crimes of his own, but against ever expiating them through the medium
of an hempen cord; and experience is said to have proved that the
charm does not extend to one of silk.
But the church of Ludgvan is not driven to seek renown from ancient
missionaries or from legendary saints: during fifty years of the
eighteenth century, it had for its rector Dr. William Borlase, a man
of whom Cornwall will ever have reason to be proud.
At a time when the very names of natural science were scarcely heard
among us, and when our mining and metallurgic processes were matters
merely empiric, Dr. Borlase kindled the first spark of light, and
fanned it by long-continued and able exertions, guided by a
correspondence with persons the most distinguished on the continent of
Europe, as well as at home, with the great Linnæus, and with
Boerhaave, in some departments superior even to Linnæus himself. When
no communications were maintained by the rapid circulation of
periodical journals, antiquities, as connected with classical
acquirements, had proceeded much further than the sciences dependent
on mathematics and on natural philosophy. Dr. Borlase, in a most
learned work, essayed to trace the learning, the mythology, and the
civil institutions of the Celtic people, the earliest inhabitants of
Britain, and especially of their priests the Druids; and with such
success, that it established his high reputation for learning, for
extensive research, and for discriminating judgment, throughout the
literary world, where the subject, from its general nature, excited
universal attention. For this work the degree of Doctor in Civil Law
by diploma was conferred on him by the University of Oxford; an honour
bestowed with so much discrimination and regard to its high value,
that the next instance occurs in the case of Dr. Johnson, about ten
years afterwards.
* * * * *
The following document has been copied by the Editor from the official
Register at Oxford, and it is inserted as a record at once honourable
to Dr. Borlase and to the University:
“Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen,
“Whereas I have been informed that it is proposed among you
to confer the degree of Doctor in Civil Law by diploma upon
the Reverend William Borlase, Master of Arts, formerly of
Exeter College, and now Rector of Ludgvan in Cornwall, whose
abilities as a scholar are sufficiently known to the public
by his learned and valuable work, entitled ‘The Natural
History and Antiquities of Cornwall;’ and also having heard
that he has been a considerable benefactor to the University
by presenting to the Ashmolean Museum a curious collection
of ores, crystals, and other specimens of natural subjects,
I give my full consent that he should receive the proposed
testimony of your approbation, and am, Mr. Vice-Chancellor
and Gentlemen,
Your affectionate friend and servant,
LITCHFIELD.
“_Hill Street, March 8, 1766._”
“Lectis hisce literis et approbatis, diploma tenoris
sequentis per registrarium lectum erat, et ex decreto
venerabilis domus in proxima congregatione communi
Universitatis sigillo muniendum.
“Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis
Oxoniensis omnibus ad quos præsens scriptum pervenerit,
salutem in Domino sempiternam.
“Cum a majoribus nostris eo consilio gradus academici
instituti fuerint, ut eximia virorum eruditorum studia digno
præconio honestarent, aliisque imitanda proponerent;
“Nos Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis
Oxoniensis, summa cum voluptate, viri Reverendi Gulielmi
Borlase, ecclesiæ de Ludgvan in comitatu Cornubiæ rectoris,
et olim e collegio Exoniensi Artium Magistri, scripta
pervolventes, queis natalis sui soli res cum naturales tum
antiquas descripsit, magnoque sumptu et labore diutino in
lucem edidit; nec inter ea immemores benevolentiæ suæ et
pietatis in Matrem Academicam singularis, quâ varia quæ sibi
occurrebat, mineralium, metallorum, et vetustissimi ævi
reliquiarum supellectili, Museum nostrum Ashmoleanum
locupletavit, quo viro tantum de nobis et republica
literarum merito debitus constet honos, (quique etiam non
minus ecclesiam sacerdos, quam patriam ornat philosophus,)
in frequenti academicorum senatu decrevimus eundem Gulielmum
Borlase, gradu Doctoris in Jure Civili, omnibusque quæ ad
talem dignitatem pertinent privilegiis, insignire. In cujus
rei testimonium sigillum Universitatis commune, quo in hoc
casu utimur, præsentibus apponi fecimus.
“Datum in domo nostra convocationis die decimo-tertio mensis
Martii, anno Domini millessimo septingentessimo sexagessimo
sexto.”
Not having been born sufficiently early even to see this highly
distinguished person, I am induced to copy the following short notices
from a well-known Biographical Dictionary, with a few trifling
alterations:
The Rev. William Borlase, LL.D. a very ingenious and learned writer,
was of an ancient family in Cornwall, and born at Pendeen in the
parish of St. Just, February 2d, 1695-6. His father had represented
St. Ives in Parliament.
Mr. Borlase received the early part of his education at Penzance, but
in 1709 removed to Plymouth. In March 1712-13 he became a member of
Exeter College; and in June 1719, took his degree of Master of Arts.
In 1720 he was ordained priest, and in 1722 he received institution to
the rectory of Ludgvan in Cornwall. In 1732 the Lord Chancellor King
presented him to the vicarage of St. Just, his native parish, the only
preferments he ever obtained.
In the parishes of Ludgvan and St. Just were at that time rich mines
of copper and of tin, abounding with a great variety of curious
minerals. These he collected, and from that pursuit was led to study
at large the natural history of this most interesting county.
The numerous monuments of remote antiquity scattered over the hills
and promontories of Cornwall, made also deep impressions on his mind,
and he availed himself of every resource placed within his reach, by
previous learning and erudition, to acquire a knowledge of the
Druidical learning, and of the manners and customs of the ancient
Britons previously to their becoming Christians. In 1750 he was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1753 published in a
folio volume, at Oxford, “The Antiquities of Cornwall.” A second
edition in the same form came out at London in the year 1769, with
considerable additions, under the following title: “Antiquities,
Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall, consisting of
several Essays on the ancient Inhabitants, Druid Superstition,
Customs, and Remains of the most remote Antiquity in Britain and the
British Isles; exemplified and proved by Monuments now extant in
Cornwall and the Scilly Islands: with a Vocabulary of the
Cornu-British language. Revised, with several additions, by the
Author.”
His next publication had for its title, “Observations on the ancient
and present state of the Islands of Scilly, and their importance to
the Trade of Great Britain,” Oxford, 1756, 4to. This work was an
extension of a paper, read before the Royal Society in 1753.
In 1758 came out his “Natural History of Cornwall, with Engravings of
all the specimens, both animate and mineral, deemed to be of curiosity
or of importance,” printed also at Oxford, in one volume folio, the
original specimens and many antiquities being deposited in the
Ashmolean Museum.
All these works, executed with great ability, patient diligence, and
skill, raised the reputation of the author so high throughout the
learned world, that in March 1766, the University of Oxford conferred
on him their highest honour, the degree of Doctor by diploma, which he
lived to enjoy somewhat more than six years, having departed this life
on the 31st of August, 1772.
Besides his literary correspondence with various learned men, he
carried on one of peculiar frequency with the great poet of his age,
Mr. Alexander Pope, and a large collection of Mr. Pope’s letters to
him is still extant, with a variety of other papers, obviously
intended for publication.
Dr. Borlase furnished Mr. Pope with many Cornish fossils to decorate
his celebrated grotto at Twickenham, where the donor’s name was scored
in capitals of the most splendid materials; and in a letter written on
the occasion, Mr. Pope says, “I am much obliged to you for your
valuable collection of Cornish diamonds. I have placed them where they
may best represent yourself, in a shade, but shining.”
The Royal Society is indebted to Dr. Borlase for about twenty
different communications, and in addition to all these labours, he for
several years undertook the care of some private pupils, and had
together under his roof the heirs of the principal families in the
neighbourhood, Hawkins, St. Aubyn, and Vyvyan.
A plain stone has been laid over his remains in Ludgven Church, with
an inscription rendered almost illegible in the short period of sixty
years.
The monument of some distinguished person bears an inscription ending
with these words:
Commemorat hæc tabula
brevi et ipsa interitura.