St. Cleer is situate in the hundred of West, and hath upon the north,
Altarnun; south, Liskeard; east, St. Tew; west, St. Neot. The modern
name of this parish was not extant at the time of the Norman Conquest,
but probably then passed in the Domesday tax under the titles of
Trelven, Niveton, or Trethac. At the time of the Pope’s inquisition
into the value of Cornish benefices, in order to his Annats, 1294,
Ecclesia de Sancto Claro, in Decanatu de Westwellshire, was charged
ten marks; Vicar ejusdem 40_s._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, and
Valor Beneficiorum, 19_l._ 16_s._ 8_d._ and the parish rated to the
4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 241_l._ 17_s._
The name of this parish is taken from the church, and the church’s
name from the titular guardianess thereof, to whom the same is
dedicated, viz. St. Clare or Cleer; whose name is derived from the
Latin word claro, i. e. clear, bright, shining, transparent; and she
herself was born of an honourable lineage at the city of Assisum in
Italy.
[Mr. Hals here gives a long history of St. Clare, much more in detail
than is suited to a parochial history.
It may be sufficient to add, she was the daughter of Phavorino Sciffo,
a noble knight, and of Hortulana, his most virtuous wife, and born in
the year 1193. St. Francis was then alive and at the height of his
fame. St. Dominic and St. Francis, as is well known, instituted the
two great orders of begging monks or friars. Those who entered into
any of the previously existing monastic establishments, underwent what
was termed a civil death, renounced all individual property, bestowing
what was at their own disposal in any way most agreeable to
themselves, and suffering what was inalienable to descend to their
heirs. Hence has originated the expression natural life, as opposed to
civil life, still used in legal proceedings. But St. Dominic and St.
Francis, not content with this individual poverty, extended it to
their orders; so that with the exception of a dwelling, some
furniture, and necessary raiment, their friars were to live, as the
cynics had done of old, upon the accidental charity of victuals given
in kind and from day to day; for a broad and impassable boundary was
drawn between receiving bread from the donor’s hand, and a piece of
metal for which that bread might be procured; in the same manner as
any portion of the increase arising from flocks or herds might
lawfully be given; whilst anathemas were thundered against him who
accepted the least return for valuable commodity, in exchange for
which similar flocks or herds could easily and freely be procured.
As impassioned harangues were obviously the most efficient agents for
eliciting or extorting these daily alms, they were incessantly
employed; so that the mendicants soon acquired the distinctive
appellation of preaching friars; and the whole institution being
suited to the genius, the spirit, and the prejudices of the rude age
in which it arose, the Dominicans and Franciscans acquired and
maintained, during some centuries, almost the temporal sovereignty of
Europe; till their dissentions, the scandalous immorality growing out
of their vagrant lives, and the diffusion of knowledge, dissolved the
charm.
This contagion readily extended itself to females, so that, with some
indispensible modifications, societies soon arose of women bound by
the same rule of individual and collective poverty. St. Clare appears
to have been the first female disciple of St. Francis, or at least the
first raised by him to eminence and power, acquisitions far more
captivating to the human mind, than wealth with all its passive
luxuries and enjoyments.
St. Clare had the gratification of eloping from her parents to receive
the veil and the tonsure from the hands of St. Francis, who placed her
at first in a monastery of Benedictine Nuns; but the young saint soon
found herself in the situation of an abbess, with her mother and two
sisters members of the community, submitted to her sway. From this
station she advanced to be the founder of an order, having numerous
houses established under her supreme authority, exercised according to
rules dictated by St. Francis; and the poor Clares constitute a
principal branch of the female monastic establishments existing in all
Catholic countries up to the present times.
Pope Innocent IV. made a journey on purpose to visit Clare, not long
before her death in 1253, and again to assist at her funeral. His
successor, Pope Alexander IV. two years afterwards, inscribed her name
in the celestial canon. Mr. Hals then proceeds to particulars.]
In this parish is yet to be seen a famous chapel Well, dedicated to
St. Clare, a work of great skill, labour, and cost, though now much
decayed, which formerly pertained to some nunnery of those sort of
religious women extant here or at Leskeard. (See Truro and Kenwyn, for
Clares.) From this parish was denominated an ancient family of
gentlemen, surnamed de St. Cleare, from whence are descended the St.
Clears of Tudwell, in Devon, who, suitable to their name, give for
their arms, in a field Azure the sun in its glory shining or
transparent; of which tribe was that Robertus de Sancto Claro, qui
tenet decem libratas terræ, in hundredo de Mertock, in comit.
Somerset, de domine rege in capite, per servicium inveniendi unum
servientem armatum cum uno equo in exercitu domini regis in Wallia per
xl. dies sumptibus suis propriis. (Pleas of the Crown in Scaccario, 8
Edward I.)
In this parish is Tre-worg-y, the mansion of John Conock, Esq., that
married Burgoigne; his father Heale and Courtney; and giveth for his
arms, Argent, a fess dancette between three spread eagles Gules.
The name Conock or Connock signifies rich, prosperous, thriving,
successful, of which name and family those in Cornwall are descended
from the Conocks of Wiltshire, and the first propagator of this tribe
in those parts was one Mr. Conock, who in the time of Queen Elizabeth
came to Leskeard town a tanner, and in that occupation got much
riches, and laid the foundation of his estate, as Mr. Thomas River, of
Liskeard, informed me.
Tre-mabe, in this parish, id est, the son’s town, viz. a place in
former ages by some father given as the dwelling to his son, was
formerly the lands of Samuel Langford, Gent. that married Cary of
Clovelly.
Tre-wor-oc, also Tre-wor-ock, the town on a lake, was formerly the
lands of Trubody, who sold the same to Jackman, now in possession
thereof. In the church on seats or pews, pertaining to those Trubodys,
I have seen this inscription, Nati honoris; in what sense to be
construed is mystery to me, since I have not understood that any of
this tribe was either a son nobly born, or inherited to any kind of
honour, dignity, or promotion.
At Pennant in this parish, id est, the head of the valley, or the
valley head, in the open downs by the high road or street-way,
formerly stood a large flat moor-stone, about eight feet long, in
perpendicular manner, described by Mr. Carew and Mr. Camden, wherein
is still to be seen on the one side thereof this inscription, in Roman
Saxon letters, then in use when it was set up, containing these words:
doniert rogauit pro anima.
[Instead of the long and uninteresting account given by Mr. Hals of
this monument, I will take the liberty of substituting an extract from
Mr. Bond’s Topographical and Historical Sketches of the Boroughs of
East and West Looe, printed by J. Nichols and Son, Parliament Street,
in 1823, which will be found of a very different description.]
“Not far from Dosmery Pool may be seen a curious heap of
rocks, called Wring Cheese or Cheese Wring; and, at a short
distance therefrom, an artificial curiosity called the
Hurlers, and another called the Other-half-stone.
“Camden, in his Britannia, speaking of St. Neot’s parish,
says, ‘Near unto this, as I have heard, within the parish of
St. Cleer, there are to be seen, in a place called Pennant,
that is, the head of the vale, two monuments of stone; of
which the one in the upper part is wrought hollow, in manner
of a chair; the other, named Other-halfe-stone, hath an
inscription of barbarous characters, now in a manner worn
out,’ which he thinks should be read thus: DONIERT ROGAVIT
PRO ANIMA. As for this Doniert, Camden thinks he was that
prince of Cornwall whom the chroniclers name Dungerth, and
record that he was drowned in the year of our salvation 872.
Camden also says, ‘Hard by there is a number of good big
rockes heaped up together; and under them one stone of a
lesser size, fashioned naturally in form of a cheese, so as
it seemeth to be pressed like a cheese; whereupon it is
named Wring Cheese. Many other stones besides, in some sort
four-square, are to be seen upon the plain adjoining; of
which seven or eight are pitched upright of equal distances
asunder. The neighbouring inhabitants term them Hurlers, as
being by a devout and godly error persuaded, they had been
men sometime transformed into stones, for profaning the
Lord’s day with hurling the ball. Others would have it to be
a trophy (as it were) or a monument in memorial of some
battle. And some think verily they were set as mere stones
or landmarks; as having read in those authors that wrote on
limits, that stones were gathered together of both parties,
and the same erected for bounders. In this coast the river
Loo maketh way and runneth into the sea, and in his very
mouth giveth name to two little towns joined with a bridge
together.’
“On the 6th August, 1802, I went with a party of friends to
see these natural and artificial curiosities, mentioned by
Camden. I first got the party to Red-gate,[26] in St. Cleer
parish, about four miles from Liskeard, in order to find out
Doniert or Dungerth’s monument, which I understood was
somewhere near to it. I made inquiry at the house at
Red-gate after this monument, but could get no account of it
for some time, though I questioned in a variety of ways; at
last, however, we got information where it was situated. It
is about a quarter of a mile off from Red-gate, eastward, in
a field next the high road. We got into this field, and
seeing an erect stone went towards it, and found it to be
the monument we sought. One moorstone stands erect, and the
other with the inscription on it, lies in a pit close by.
The figures of these stones in Borlase’s History are most
like them of any I have seen.[27] I made out and copied the
inscription very perfectly, by rubbing a soft stone which
left its mark in the letters.
+---------+
| DONI |
| ERT: RO |
| GAUIT |
| PRO AN |
| IMA |
+---------+
“This stone by recollection is about two feet wide at top,
and about five or six feet in length. And the other stone,
which still stands erect, and ornamented with cross lines,
&c. is about the same in height.
“The west front is quite plain; the top has the remains of a
kind of mortice, left hand corner broken off. The east front
is dotted over, but has no letters.
“I find in Hals, that the pit in which the stone with the
inscription lies, was formed in the latter end of the reign
of Charles II. in consequence of his, Hals’s, going there at
that period with some gentlemen, to view, as he says, the,
at that time thought barbarous, inscription; for some
tinners in the contiguous country, taking notice of these
gentlemen visiting this place, apprehended they came there
in quest of some hidden treasure; whereupon, as Hals says,
some of them wiser than the rest, lay their heads together,
and resolved in council to be before-hand, and accordingly
went with pickaxes and shovels, and opened the earth round
about the monument, to the depth of about six feet; when
they discovered a spacious vault walled about, and arched
over with stones, having on the sides thereof two stone
seats, not unlike those in churches for auricular
confession. The sight of all which struck them with
consternation, or a kind of horror, that they incontinently
gave over search, and with the utmost hurry and dread,
throwing earth and turf to fill up the pit they made, they
departed, having neither of them the courage to enter or
even to inspect into the further circumstances of the place;
which account Hals says, he had from the mouths of some of
the very fellows themselves. Some short while after, the
loose earth, by reason of some heavy rains which fell, sunk
away into the vault, which occasioning also a sort of
terræ-motus and concession of the earth adjoining, the said
monument was at length so undermined thereby, that it fell
to the ground, where it still remains. Would some gentlemen
of ability and curiosity, says Hals, and so say I, be at the
charge of again opening and cleansing this under-ground
chapel, or whatever else it may be denominated, it might
probably afford matter of pleasing amusement, if not grand
speculation to the learned searchers into matters of
antiquity.
“This monument formerly went by the name of ‘the other half
stone.’ Some translate the inscription, ‘Pray for the soul
of Dungerth,’ others ‘Doniert asked for his soul;’ and there
seems to be great controversy for what purpose this monument
was erected. High stones might originally, in the early ages
of Christianity, have been erected near roads in desolate
situations, and at short distances from each other, to
direct travellers in their journies; and crosses might have
been placed on them as a memento for thanksgiving, when the
traveller had effected this part of his journey in safety.
Now if the inscription on the above monument is meant for
‘Pray for the soul of Dungerth,’ may we not suppose that it
was meant as a request to those who should happen to be
praying for themselves, to offer up a prayer also for
Dungerth, who probably caused that monument to be erected,
or who was buried near the same, perhaps in the chapel
before mentioned to have been discovered by the tinners. Or
if the inscription is to be read, ‘Doniert asked for his
soul,’ which seems the proper translation; may we not
suppose that Doniert (who by all accounts was a very pious
prince) erected this stone, and prayed or asked for mercy
thereat. Perhaps originally these stones might have been
called Ave stones, from the Latin word ‘Ave,’ all hail! God
speed you; God save you, &c. a very appropriate expression
in a desolate situation to a wanderer or traveller. And the
reference to another Ave stone might signify the one which
is a little to the eastward of it, bearing a cross, and by
its appearance formerly a legend underneath. This word Ave
(pronounced in the same manner it is in Ave-Mary-Lane,
London) might be corrupted into Half; so that Ave stone and
Half stone might mean one and the same thing. And in
Cornwall the F is very frequently pronounced as a V, and the
V as an F, at this present time.[28] If this does not meet
approbation, I will add another conjecture. As the circle of
stones called the Hurlers, are at a short distance from this
monument and the cross before-mentioned, might not the
monument and the cross be called the ‘one heave stone,’ and
the other, ‘the other or outer heave stone,’ places from
whence the ball during the game of hurling was thrown. The
traditionary story of the stones called the hurlers, being
once men turned into stone for profaning the Sabbath, will
give some slight sanction to this conjecture; and in
addition, even at this time the high-cross is vulgarly
believed to have been the man who ran off with the ball.
“With respect to the stones called the Hurlers being once
men, I will say with Hals, ‘Did but the ball which these
Hurlers used when flesh and blood, appear directly over them
immoveably pendant in the air, one might be apt to credit
some little of the tale;’ but as this is not the case, I
must add my belief of their being erected by the Druids for
some purpose or other, probably a court of justice; long
subsequent to which erection, however, they may have served
as the goal for hurl players. And indeed a finer spot for
such a game could not be fixed on perhaps any where. But I
believe the Hurlers took their names from some other source
than that of the game of hurling the ball being used there.
“After sufficiently viewing Dungerth’s monument, we directed
our course towards Cheese-wring, and soon came to the
Hurlers, but first we rode up to the High Cross before
mentioned, which at a distance looked somewhat like a man.
Under its cross it has an oblong square, as if the border of
an inscription, but at present there is not the least
vestige of a letter on it. Soon after we came to the
Hurlers, which we found to be moorstones of about five or
six feet high, forming two circles one without the other
(not as represented in Hals’ Parochial History, but like
that in Borlase), the circle nearest Cheese-wring less than
that of the other. Some of the stones are fallen down, and
remain where they fell, and others have probably been
carried off for gate posts and other purposes. The areas of
the circles are not level, there being many pits in them, as
if the earth had sunk over large graves. I confess I was not
much struck with the appearance of these famous stones, not
having faith to believe they once were men. Near this place
we fell in with a man going to Cheese-wring, and were glad
to follow him as a guide. Among other questions, I asked
him, as we passed along, whether he could tell me the name
of the tenement on which Dungerth’s monument was; he
answered Pennant. I also asked him whether he knew where the
source of the Looe river was; he said in a field next below
Dungerth’s monument. I was sorry to hear this, as we could
not conveniently return to see it, but I learned from him it
was a mere spring of water uninclosed.
“When we reached Cheese-wring, we discovered a man and woman
on the top of the mount (on the declivity of which
Cheese-wring stands), who, we afterwards found, were cutting
turfs for fuel. Our guide first led us to the house of the
late Daniel Gumb (a stone-cutter), cut by him out of a solid
rock of granite (the rocks all around this place are
granite, or moorstone as commonly called in Cornwall, and of
the finest quality). This artificial cavern may be about
twelve feet deep and not quite so broad; the roof consists
of one flat stone of many tons weight, supported by the
natural rock on one side, and by pillars of small stones on
the other. How Gumb formed this last support is not easily
conceived. We entered with hesitation lest the covering
should be our grave-stone. On the right-hand side of the
door is ‘D. Gumb,’ with a date engraved 1735 (or 3). On the
upper part of the covering stone, channels are cut to carry
off the rain, or probably to cause it to fall into a bucket
for his use; there is also engraved on it some geometrical
device formed by Gumb, as our guide told us, who also said
that Gumb was accounted a pretty sensible man. I have no
hesitation in saying he must have been a pretty eccentric
character to have fixed on this place for his habitation;
but here he dwelt for several years with his wife and
children, several of whom were born and died here. His
calling was that of a stone-cutter, and he fixed himself on
a spot where materials could be met with to employ a
thousand men for a thousand years.
“After quitting this house, we ascended a few paces to the
pile of rocks called Cheese-wring, the resemblance of which
is well expressed by the print in Borlase’s Nat. Hist. We
were all struck with astonishment at this wonderful work of
nature; we surveyed it over and over again, went round it
several times, and viewed it from every part. It is about
thirty-two feet high. The uppermost stone I have no doubt
has Druidical basons formed in it. One of them shows itself
by the edge of the stone having fallen away. After spending
some time in viewing this tremendously awful pile of rocks,
we ascended to the summit of the mount on the side of which
it stands. This summit is surrounded by an artificial
rampart of loose stones, not piled up; possibly they might
have formed a wall, or have been carried there for building
one; for if they were placed as they now are with an
intention so to remain, they could not have been very
defensive to this mount. Possibly the name of Cheese-wring
may be derived from this ring of stones, and not from the
vulgar idea of the Cheese-wring rocks being like a
cheese-press.
“The area within the rampart may be about half an acre of
ground, and has rocks scattered all over it; but in some
places verdure even in this rude region makes its
appearance. We found a man and a woman within the area
cutting turfs between the rocks for fuel. Among other
questions, I asked the man to whom the spot belonged; his
answer was, ‘he believed to nobody.’
“Several curious piles of rocks, some forming cromlechs, and
others of various forms and positions, are here also to be
seen, and several of them have Druidical basons on them. The
rocks having these basons are the most lofty or most
remarkable for shape or situation. On some rocks there are
two or three basons; and where there are more basons than
one, they generally communicate by a channel. The basons
here are of different sizes, though all of them are of the
same shape, which is circular. Some of them are about a foot
and a half in diameter, and six or eight inches deep; others
not so large or deep. Never having seen any Druidical basons
before, and having had my doubts till this time, whether
they might not be natural productions caused by rain,
lightning, &c. I was led to examine other rocks, whether
they had (though equally exposed to the weather) similar
formations, but could not find a bason on any rock that was
not singular either for its shape or situation. I therefore
concluded that these basons were the work of art, and not of
nature; and I think they were not intended for the purpose
of receiving the rain for common uses, for if so, why were
they not made on rocks of easy access? It is possible,
however, that rain being held in a natural hollow of a rock,
may decompose that part of the rock on which it rests, and
being whirled about by the wind from time to time, may form
these basons which we attribute to art; and if this is the
case, they must continue increasing in size and depth. Have
such basons ever been seen but on granite rocks? if not,
probably water dissolves the feltspar and disunites the
quartz and mica; and the winds driving round the water with
particles of quartz at the bottom of the bason, must
consequently fret away the rock and enlarge the bason. A
rock of white marble lies on the sea-beach near Looe,
completely covered with hollows like what are termed
Druidical basons; these hollows in this rock I have no doubt
have been formed by the sea; it lies near an insulated high
rock under Sanders Lane, and is every tide covered with the
sea, and is very frequently covered with sand. A person
fancying the basons on this rock of marble to be an
artificial work, might also fancy that it once was placed on
top of the elevated rock near it; the contrast of the white
marble on top of the elevated rock, which is of a very dark
colour, would give a singular appearance. When this high
rock is shown to strangers, they are generally told, with a
serious face, that when it hears a cock crowing at Hay
(which is a farm just above it) it turns round three times!
“SHARPY TORRY.
“After leaving the area before-mentioned, we mounted our
horses, and went towards another very considerable rocky
eminence, about half a mile north-east; the road to which
over the Down is full of rocks and stones, so as to prevent
a horse from going other than step and step at times. On our
way we passed a small circle of stones, the remains I rather
think of an ancient Barrow, whose earth had been washed away
by the rains. We shortly after passed another pretty large
circle of stones, just about the diameter to appearance of
the lesser circle of the Hurlers; at length we arrived at
the pile of rocks, called by our guide Sharpy-torry
(Sharp-torr, from its conical shape). We alighted from our
horses and ascended. On the north or north-west side of it
there appears a hollow, more like a large chimney than any
other thing I can compare it to; the outside of which seems
to have given way, and the steep hill below is strewed with
an immense quantity of rocks and large stones, as if carried
down or poured out from this hollow. Whether this was caused
by the operation of fire or water bursting from this hollow
or crater, if I may use the expression, I will not take upon
me to say; but that one or other of these agents burst from
this mount appears to be extremely probable, for the rocks
and stones seem exactly as if they had been tumbled or
thrown out of this crater by a current of some kind. We
could not, however, discover lava; therefore it is probable
water might have burst out, unless the lava has been
decomposed. The views from this place are truly sublime. The
spot is nearly the centre of the broadest part of the
county; from it we saw both seas, north and south, and
consequently the intervening land; and I believe it is the
only eminence (except perhaps Brownwilly) in the eastern
part of Cornwall, from whence both seas may be seen. We also
saw in the North Sea a very high land, which we concluded
must be Lundy Island; but the horizon to the north being
rather hazy, I will not take upon me to say positively that
it was that island, though it is probable to have been so.
The prospect was equally extensive east and west, and as I
took a pocket spying-glass with me, we viewed therewith the
vast extent we commanded. We discovered Launceston Castle
with the naked eye; through the glass it became very
visible. We were much struck with the beautiful and
highly-cultivated lands to the east of us, terminated in
part by the high land of Dartmoor. To the westward, nothing
was to be seen but a vast continuance of moor land, without
a hedge, without a tree, for a stretch of many miles. The
cultivated land commenced just below our feet to the
eastward, and the uncultivated from where we stood westward;
the contrast on turning from west to east, or _vice versâ_,
was astonishing. Our station seemed to be amidst the wreck
of mountains of granite, rocks piled on rocks were strewed
around in awful grandeur. The extreme point of our western
view, dimmed by distance, showed us that elevated rock
called Roach Rock, and we also saw Dosmerry Pool about four
or five miles off; our south view commanded Plymouth Sound,
and a long extent of coast and sea; the northward in one
part was terminated by the sea. The views brought to my mind
the beautiful lines in Ovid:
“Tum freta diffundi, rapidisque tumescere ventis
Jussit, et ambitæ circumdare littora terræ.
Addidit et fontes, immensaque stagna lacusque.
Jussit et extendi campos, subsidere valles,
Fronde tegi silvas, lapidosos surgere montes.”
“Then he ordered the seas to poured abroad, and to swell
with furious winds, and to draw a shore quite round the
inclosed earth. He likewise added springs, and immense
pools and lakes. He ordered likewise plains to be
extended, and valleys to sink; the woods to be covered
with green leaves, and the rocky mountains to rise.”
“From this elevated spot (Sharp Tor) Hingston Hill appeared
considerably beneath us. After spending some time on Sharp
Tor, we reluctantly descended and went towards another range
of rocks, called Killmarth Hill (which signifies the Holy
Hill or Land, or perhaps Holy Grove), about three-quarters
of a mile off. This range of rocks looks from Sharp Tor,
like an immense wall of artificial masonry, with here and
there turrets ascending, and it brought to my mind Sir
George Staunton’s account of the Chinese wall. When we
arrived at its base, we alighted from our horses, and
ascended. This natural wall-looking range is composed of
granite rocks of, I should suppose some of them, a thousand
tons weight. We traversed along the ridge, with some
difficulty, towards the first turret, and from that to the
next and so on, but the highest, which at a distance looked
somewhat like Wringcheese, was yet to be explored; at length
we arrived at it, and found it, if possible, more curious
than Cheese-wring itself. It consists of immense rocks piled
one on the other, to the height of twenty or thirty feet,
and it leans so much, that a perpendicular dropped from its
top would, I may venture to say, reach the bottom fifteen or
more feet from its base; and from where we stood on the
ridge, its support at the base appeared so slight as if a
man could shove the whole mass over the precipice. Some of
the uppermost stones of this pile are, I should think, from
fifteen to twenty feet over, and the base of the whole
fabric appeared so slight, that I imagined the handle of my
whip would have exceeded its thickness. Upon descending to
take another view of this astonishing structure, we found
that the rocks were considerably thicker on one side than
the other; so that the thick parts formed a counterpoise to
the overhanging parts; but this not being apparent from the
spot on which we first stood, was the cause of our great
astonishment. However, though our astonishment was somewhat
lessened, yet much remained at this stupendous pile. This is
the most western turret.
“From this place one of the party and myself, the others not
chusing to accompany us, went to explore the easternmost
turret. Upon our arrival at its base we found much
difficulty in ascending it; the rocks jutted out, one over
the other, in such a manner that, had we slipped but a few
inches, we must have dropped over a considerable precipice.
I arrived first at the base, and attempted to ascend, but
fear pulled me back. Upon my friend’s arrival we thought we
would exert ourselves to get up, as we conjectured there
might be a Druidical basin at top. My friend got up the
first rock by creeping at full length under the overhanging
rock; and I was under the necessity of several times
desiring him, in the most energetic manner, to keep as close
in as possible; for if the body had gone a few inches
farther out, it must have slid over the sloping rock which
overhung the precipice. It took him a few minutes to drag
himself in in this manner. In this creeping state he thought
he should have broken his watch to pieces, as he was
obliged, as before stated, to crawl at full length, there
being no possibility; on account of the overhanging rock, of
going on hands and knees. Upon trying to get out his watch,
I earnestly entreated him to desist, for fear of losing his
centre of gravity; for on the left hand was the precipice,
and raising his right side ever so little might have been
attended with most serious consequences. He took my advice,
and by another exertion got far enough in to raise himself
on his hands and knees, and then on his legs. I then
followed him in the same manner. We then examined the rocks
above us, in order to observe the best mode of ascending
them. I first made the ascent, and in the uppermost rock
discovered the largest Druidical basin we had met with, and
observed it had a lip or channel facing the south. The
horrid precipices on each side prevented my getting on the
top of this rock, as I felt a slight vertigo. I then got
down on a lower rock, and my friend ascended the uppermost
one, and not finding himself dizzy, got into the basin
itself (where I hope he will never go again), and waved his
hat to our companions below. I desired him to measure the
circumference of this basin, which he did with his whip, and
found it to be about three feet and a half in diameter. We
did not take its depth, but I think it must have been about
a foot; it was of a circular form. The next thing to be
considered was, how we should get down again; which at last,
however, we effected nearly in the same manner (only
reversing our movements) as we got up; and I believe nothing
will ever induce me to pay a second visit to the top of this
rock.
“We had a very fine day for our excursion; the sun being
clouded, it was not over warm; and there was but little
wind: had there been more wind, we should not have been able
to ascend some of the places we did, particularly the last.
The air was somewhat hazy over the North and South seas,
which was the only thing we had to regret.
“A finer situation for Druidical[29] residence, rites, and
ceremonies, I think, could not be fixed on anywhere; every
thing around is awfully magnificent; probably in ancient
days these masses of rocks were surrounded with trees. Our
guide indeed informed us that on digging the soil trunks of
large trees have been there discovered; and Kil-mar,
Kill-mark, Kil-marth signify, in Cornish, the Great, the
Horse, or the Wonderful Grove.”
Since writing the above, I have been again to see these curiosities
(but did not visit the top of the easternmost turret), and went by the
way of St. Cleer Churchtown, near which is a curious old well, with a
moorstone cross by it, worth seeing; the stone itself is in form of a
cross, and it has a cross in relief cut on its cross. About a mile
from St. Cleer Church (on the way to Cheese Wring) stands a most
magnificent