of this, which was used by Mr. Hawker, has “Tidnacombis” instead of
“Tunnacombis.” In the Register itself the letter “u” is turned up at
the end, the usual contracted form of “un,” but the writing is obscure;
and, although experts would read it correctly without hesitation, it
might easily, in this case, be mistaken for “id” by others. One of Mr.
Hawker’s most beautiful poems is entitled “The Token Stream of Tidna
Combe.” It is interesting to note that Stanbury was the birthplace of
John Stanbury, Bishop of Hereford, who died 1474. He was confessor
to Henry VI., and was nominated the first Provost of Eton College,
although he never took up the office.
The following curious tradition relating to the extremely rude font is
quoted by Lieut.-Colonel Harding in a paper on Morwenstow Church in the
“Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society” (Second
Series, vol. i. p. 216). It has been preserved among some valuable MSS.
which belong to the Coffin family of Portledge, near Bideford, and were
collected by an antiquary of that family about three hundred years ago.
“Moorwinstow, its name is from St. Moorin. The tradition is, that
when the parishioners were about to build their church, this saint
went down under the cliff and chose a stone for the font which she
brought up upon her head. In her way, being weary, she lay down the
stone and rested herself, out of which place sprang a well, from
thence called St. Moorin’s well. Then she took it up and carried
it to the place where now the church standeth. The parishioners
had begun their church in another place, and there did convey this
stone, but what was built by day was pulled down by night, and the
materials carried to this place; whereupon they forbare, and built
it in the place they were directed to by a wonder.”
The date on one of the capitals seems to be 1564 instead of 1475. The
inscription runs round the capital, each of the twenty letters being on
a separate face, thus--
“THIS WAS MADE ANNO MVCLX4”
The next capital has the following inscription, _upside down_--
“THIS IS THE HOVSE OF THE L.”
The supposed piscina, according to the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, is merely
“the base of a small pillar, Norman in style, with a hole in it for
a rivet which attached to it the slender column it supported” (“The
Vicar of Morwenstow,” ed. 1899, p. 60). It has also been stated that
Mr. Hawker obtained the piscina from the ruined chapel at Longfurlong,
Hartland, and placed it in his church at Morwenstow (Rev. T. H. Chope,
“Hartland Parish,” 1896, p. 17).[160]
FOOTNOTE:
[160] Hawker’s account (on p. 11) of the discovery of the piscina in
the chancel wall at Morwenstow is, however, very circumstantial. If
“the jumbled carved work and a crushed drain,” which, he says came to
light when the mortar was removed, proceeded from his imagination, it
is a touch of genius in fabrication. In a letter to Mr. Richard Twining
dated October 25th, 1855, Hawker writes: “Will you have the kindness
to present the inclosed drawing to Miss L. Twining in my name and with
my best regards. It is of a piscina discovered by me in the south wall
of my chancel, where it has been hidden by mortar full 300 years, and
existed there before that date full 500 years more.”
The whole passage from Mr. Baring-Gould is as follows: “The ancient
piscina in the wall is of early English date. Mr. Hawker discovered
under the pavement in the church, when reseating it, the base of a
small pillar, Norman in style, with a hole in it for a rivet which
attached to it the slender column it supported. This he supposed was
a piscina drain, and accordingly set it up in the recess beside his
altar.” Mr. Baring-Gould evidently uses the word “piscina” as meaning
the whole “recess” beside the altar. Mr. Chope appears to use it for
the pillared structure within the recess. Hawker’s own words seem to
show that he found the whole piscina, _i.e._ the recess with the drain
inside it, “in the chancel wall.” He says nothing of any discovery
“under the pavement,” and Mr. Baring-Gould does not give his authority
for this statement.
At any rate, if the piscina, or piscina drain, or pillar-base,
whichever it be, was abstracted from the ruined chapel at Longfurlong,
it presumably was not discovered under the pavement of Morwenstow
Church, unless by another stroke of genius.
It may be of interest to add that, on thrusting a piece of grass
down the hole which Hawker took for a piscina drain, and which Mr.
Baring-Gould says is a rivet-hole, I found that it went right through
to the floor of the recess, a depth of about 13 inches. It is quite
possible, therefore, that, if connected with another hole through the
wall, it might at one time have served the purpose of a drain.--EDITOR.
APPENDIX A_a_ (p. 9 and foll.)
MORWENSTOW CHURCH
BY THE LATE REV. W. WADDON MARTYN
One of the most beautiful of Mr. Hawker’s poems commences with the
words “My Saxon shrine.” It becomes of interest, therefore, to examine
as far as possible into the dates which attach to the different periods
of architecture of the truly venerable church of Morwenstow.
It is very likely that Mr. Hawker is correct when he speaks of the
first church here dedicated to God’s service as being of Saxon times,
but it is equally true that, with the exception of perhaps the font,
no trace of that early building remains. The earliest portion of the
present building consists of the south porch and the three Norman
arches which form the western portion of the north arcade. There is a
difference in the elaboration of the work of these three arches, but
it is scarcely likely that they could have been erected at different
times. It is more probable that they are intended to show the varied
methods of dealing with the semi-circular arch at that early period. It
is of perhaps more interest to decide whether the pattern of the Norman
arch bisected, which occurs on the easternmost of the Norman pillars,
was placed there at the time of the Norman church or at the time of the
construction of the two Gothic arches on the same side. If the former
supposition be correct, it will signify, of course, that the whole
structure was made at the close of the purely Norman period; if the
latter, it would be intended to explain the reason why the architecture
of that period passed so strangely from the round to the pointed arch.
Before passing on to speak of the second date of architecture, which
was certainly of the pure Gothic or early English character, it may be
interesting to speak of the size and shape of the church as it stood in
the early Norman times. Taking everything into consideration, it would
seem likely that the Norman church consisted of a nave, north aisle,
and chancel. The Norman porch consequently stood twelve or fourteen
feet further in than at present, the boundary of this church being
clearly marked by the foundation plainly visible outside the north wall.
We pass on to consider the next step in the work of enlargement, which
consisted in the extension of the north aisle and the erection of two
fine, though somewhat rudely constructed, arches with circular pillars.
By this means the chancel became absorbed in the new portion of the
aisle, and consequently the present chancel was erected further on to
the eastward.
The next step consisted in the erection of the three bays of very
beautiful polyphant stone on the south side exactly co-extensive
with the three Norman arches, so that a line drawn from the
foundation-stones of the Norman church southwards through the church
would mark the boundary of the polyphant extension also. It is
difficult to assign a date to this very beautiful addition, but we must
suppose that the present wall-plate, with its richly and boldly carved
foliage, dated from this period. There would seem to be good ground for
this argument, inasmuch as the last addition to the church in 1564,
when the two granite arches were erected on the south-eastern side of
the church, had a piece of wall-plate specially carved for that new
portion. It is quite certain that the whole roof of the church was put
up in 1564 at the time of the erection of the granite arches, and I
have no doubt that this roof was placed upon the older and magnificent
wall-plate, since much injured by the leaks which a defective roof
has caused in so many places. It is worth noting that, although the
polyphant arches were erected prior to the granite ones, yet they were
taken down and the whole arcade entirely rebuilt at the same time. This
I consider proved by the fact that the relieving arches are so very
similar in character. The effect, meanwhile, on the wall-plate on the
south side of the nave was not good, the exactly perpendicular line of
the pillars and arches not catching it on every point, and thus giving
it a somewhat ragged appearance which it will require care to rectify.
A word here on the height of the building. It is probable that the
present height was attained when the early English arches were erected.
Before that time the church was evidently lower. This, again, may be
proved by the additional stonework which was added above the Norman
arches, and which must have been so added at the next additional work,
as the two lofty arches (especially that at the east) would really
require it.
A very interesting question remains, as to whether the portion of
ground now spanned by the granite arches was formerly disused, or
whether it formed a Baptistery or other building in connection with the
church, such as priests’ chambers, etc. That it was separated off from
the portion of the church at the west end of the south aisle is evident
by the discovery of a portion of the wall which so separated it,
running southwards from the westernmost of the granite pillars. I may
add that in the same way traces of the Norman chancel further to the
west than the present chancel were found when the workmen were engaged
in the work of restoration.
There only remains to notice the last period of restoration, the
first time in which, as far as we can judge, granite was introduced
into the building. The date may be found on the westernmost of the
two pillars--MDLX4: on the other the words, “This is the House of the
Lord.” It is noticeable that the half polyphant pillar, which had at
one time formed the boundary of the arcade towards the east, was then
carried forwards and placed against the wall of the chancel. It thus
seems to mark, not only that the arcade was designed at different
periods, but that it was ultimately (the former portion being taken
down) all built together.
It was at this time (c. 1564) that the whole fabric of the church
(possibly not the chancel) was built [it may be clearly seen where
the new work stands on the old early English foundations on the north
side], the only remaining portion untaken down being the Norman and
early English pillars, and a portion of the wall by the south porch,
and (as before observed) possibly the chancel.
The tower was, we may consider, built at the same time as the church,
in 1564.
The seats, with their magnificent carving, followed in 1575, as is
testified by an inscription[161] on the rail of the front seat touching
the pulpit. This will, however, be removed in due course, the position
of these few seats being contrary to the original plan. I should think
that this rail and the seats also were formerly fixed where the font at
present stands at the end of the church.
As we stand within the walls and beneath the bending roofs of this
magnificent building, our mind naturally inquires what teaching its
designs serve to afford us--the cable on its font, the dog-tooth
pattern on its Norman arches. Is it really true that, following out
the established teaching of the nave, whereby the ship with inverted
side was depicted to us--is it really true that, following out this
idea, the cable implied the anchor by which every soul baptized into
Christ was bound _to_ Christ? Does the pattern, with its many points
(“dog-tooth,” as it is generally spoken of), really signify the ripple
on the Lake of Gennesaret? Do the three steps by which we enter allude
in very deed to the Baptism of John, the saint of dedication? It would
certainly seem probable that, having acknowledged the church to be the
nave or ship, we should not find that the imagery would end here, but
that it would pass into other matters which the mediæval times knew
so well how to formulate. If so, we have a rich vein of thought to be
wrought out from this ancient sanctuary of the West, all untouched as
it is by ruthless and destructive hands. Solemn be the thoughts of all
who enter here! Lowly and humble the hearts that here bend at the feet
of their great Liberator and Saviour! In the words of one who will long
be remembered in the parish which he loved so well, Robert Stephen
Hawker--
“Pace we the ground! our footsteps tread
A cross--the builder’s holiest form:
That awful couch, where once was shed
The blood, with man’s forgiveness warm.
And here, just where His mighty breast
Throbb’d the last agony away,
They bade the voice of worship rest,
And white-robed Levites pause and pray.”
FOOTNOTE:
[161] The inscription runs as follows: “THIS · WAS · MADE · IN · THE ·
YERE · OF · OURE · LORDE · GOD · 1575.” The pew bearing it now stands
(1903) at the east end of the north aisle, facing south.--EDITOR.
APPENDIX A_b_ (pp. 16, 20, 203)
SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT NORTH AND EAST
Hunt, in his “Popular Romances of the West of England,” quotes
the following translation by the Rev. J. C. Atkinson from Hylten
Cuvalliec’s “Wärend och Wirdurne,” pp. 287-88. It agrees with many of
Hawker’s ideas.
“Inasmuch as all light and all vigour springs from the sun, our
Swedish forefathers always made their prayers with their faces
turned towards that luminary. When any spell or charm in connection
with an ‘earth-fast stone’ is practised, even in the present day,
for the removal of sickness, the patient invariably turns his face
towards the east, or the sun. When a child is to be carried to
church to be baptized, the Wärend usage is for the godmother first
to make her morning prayer, face towards the east, and then ask the
parents three several times what the child’s name is to be. The
dead are invariably interred with their feet lying eastward, so as
to have their faces turned towards the rising sun. _Frånsols_, or
with or in a northerly direction, is, on the other hand, according
to an ancient popular idea, _the home of the evil spirits. The
Old Northern Hell was placed far away in the North._ When any
one desires to remove or break any witch-spell, or the like,
by means of ‘reading’ (or charms), it is a matter particularly
observed that the stone (_i.e._ an ‘earth-fast’ one) is sought
to the northward of the house. In like manner also the ‘bearing
tree’ (any tree which produces fruit, or quasi fruit, apples,
pears, &c., _rowan tree_, especially, and white thorn herbs), or
the shrew mouse, by means of which it is hoped to remedy an evil
spell, must be met with in a northerly direction from the patient’s
home. Nay, if one wants to charm away sickness over (or into) a
running stream, it must always be one which runs northwards. On
the self-same grounds it has ever been the practice of the people
of the Wärend district, even down to the present time, not to
bring their dead _frånsols_--or to the northward--of the church.
In that part of the churchyard the contemned _främlings högen_
(strangers’ burial-place) always has its site, and in it are buried
malefactors, friendless wretches, and utter strangers. A very old
idea, in like manner, connects the north side of the church with
suicides’ graves,” etc.
APPENDIX B (pp. 27 and 109)
The following quaint verses have been found among some unpublished
manuscripts in Hawker’s handwriting:--
THE MAID OF THE CROOKS OF COMBE.
There’s a Face will o’ershadow all faces!
There’s an Eye that will brighten a room:
There’s a Form that would win mid the Graces:
The Maid of the Crooks of Combe!
There’s a Heart that is harder than Granite:
There’s a Voice that will thrill you with gloom:
There’s a Look--how a Lover would ban it--
The Maid of the Crooks of Combe!
Good Lord! what a World we do pine in!
Where the Rose on the Bramble will bloom:
Where a Fiend like an Angel is shining:
The Maid of the Crooks of Combe.
The “Crooks of Combe” is a name given to the windings of the stream
that runs down Combe Valley to the sea (see p. 109). It seems possible
that these verses may have been written to accompany the story of Alice
of the Combe, and then discarded. On the other hand, the legend of
the mole is associated with Tonacombe Manor, and Tonacombe and Combe
are two different valleys. The poem may have been addressed to Miss
Kuczynski (afterwards Mrs. Hawker), who used to visit Combe and was
fond of riding about the valley. The third line of the last verse is an
echo from Coleridge’s poem “Love.” This poem was marked in a copy of
Coleridge given by Hawker to his future wife.
[Illustration: TONACOMBE MANOR.]
APPENDIX C (pp. 80 and 87)
ARSCOTT OF TETCOTT
This was John Arscott, whose epitaph in the parish church of Tetcott
ran as follows:--
“Sacred to the memory of John Arscott late of Tetcott in the
Parish, Esq^{re}, who died the 14^{th} day of January 1788.
What his character was need not here be recorded. The deep
impression which his extensive benevolence and humanity has left
in the minds of his friends and dependents will be transmitted by
tradition to late Posterity.”
A little paper-covered book, entitled “J. Arscott, Esq., of Tetcote,
and his Jester, Black John,” was published at Plymouth in 1880 by W. H.
Luke. From this we take the following:--
“The Arscotts, of Tetcot, were descended from the Arscotts, of
Holsworthy, an ancient family that ramified into the several
branches of Annery, Tidwell, Holsworthy and Tetcot. A descendant
of the Arscotts of Holsworthy, at a remote period, purchased the
manor and demesne of Tetcot from the Earl of Huntingdon and made
it his principal residence, and the other branches of the family
having become dispersed, and married into different houses,
the representation of the family and property at Holsworthy
and elsewhere became vested in Arscott, of Tetcot. The last
descendant of that name--John Arscott,--the subject of the annexed
song, died without issue, and devised Tetcot, with its manor
and appurtenances, to his relation, the late Sir Arscott Ourry
Molesworth, Bart., of Pencarrow. The late celebrated Dartmoor
sportsman, known as the Foxhunter Rough and Ready, Paul Ourry
Treby, Esq., of Goodamoor, was a near connection of the Tetcot
patriarch, and inherited the tastes and followed the pursuits of
this collateral ancestor. The lairds of Tetcot had been Sheriffs
of the County of Devon, A.D. 1633-38. C.I., 1678-28. C. II., and
1755-15. G. III. The family was noted for its loyalty, and the
Tetcott dependents mustered in full force and did their duty at
Stratton fight on May 16, 1643, whilst hunters and men were in full
working condition.”
The writer proceeds to say that the hunting song in honour of Mr.
Arscott was written “170 years ago” (_i.e._ 1710), but as the last
John Arscott lived till 1788, he would hardly have been of an age to
inspire hunting songs in 1710. There was an earlier John Arscott, whose
epitaph, with that of his wife, is also to be seen in Tetcott church.
These epitaphs read as follows:--
“Here lieth the body of John Arscott Esq^{re} who married the
daughter of Sir Shilston Calmady. He died while Sheriffe of the
County the 25^{th} day of September 1675 aetatis suae 63.
Here also lieth the body of Gertrude wife of the deceased John
Arscott Esq^{re} who died the 18^{th} day of October 1699 aged 77.”
If the song existed in 1710, and referred to this John Arscott, it was
no doubt written still earlier. The last of the Arscotts, however,
Black John’s master, would seem more likely to be the subject of it.
Mr. Baring-Gould, who includes it among his “Songs of the West,” says
that one of the many versions supplied to him was dated 1772, which
would suit this theory. Hawker himself published the song in “Willis’s
Current Notes” for December, 1853, and it has since his death been
erroneously included in his poems, for apparently he only claimed
to have been the first to print it, though he doubtless added some
touches of his own. Black John is mentioned in his version, and Mr.
Baring-Gould says that “the author of the song is said to have been
one Dogget, who used to run after Arscott’s fox-hounds on foot.” A
search for this name in the parish registers of Tetcott and Stratton
has proved unsuccessful. Mr. R. P. Chope found a version of the song
current at Hartland, and an old man there (over eighty in 1903) says
that his father used to sing it seventy years ago.
From Luke’s book we learn that--
“The Old house at Tetcott, which, as well as the mansion of
Dunsland, had been built under the superintendence of the Architect
sent by the government of Charles II. to build Stowe for the Earl
of Bath, was taken down in 1831, and a Gothic cottage constructed
in its stead. The demolition of the ancient structure was a very
unpopular act, and the old crones of the neighbourhood shake their
heads and say that Black John and Driver (a staghound), when the
Cottage was burnt down a few years only after it had been built,
were seen yelling and dancing round the flames. The origin of that
fire was never ascertained.”
[Illustration: STOWE: THE RESIDENCE OF JOHN, EARL OF BATH, SON OF SIR
BEVILL GRANVILLE]
Hawker’s poem, “Tetcott, 1831,” which is all his own, is an elegy on
the destruction of the old house. He quotes one stanza of it on p. 87
of the present volume. The present representative of John Arscott’s
family, Mrs. Ford, of Pencarrow, describes Tetcott as “an imposing
Queen Anne’s house,” and speaks of “the front door steps under which
John Arscott’s pet toad resided, and every morning came out to be fed
by his kind master till the envious peacock killed him.”
* * * * *
Mrs. Calmady, of Great Tree, Chagford, writes as follows:--
“An old retainer, called Oliver Abbot, who, with his forefathers,
had worked at Tetcott for generations, told me that Arscott of
Tetcott kept not only a well-known pack of foxhounds, but a pack of
foumart hounds, which he hunted by night.[162] The song, ‘Arscott
of Tetcott,’ was undoubtedly not written concerning the Arscott
who married Gertrude Calmady, but of the more recent John Arscott,
who died in 1788, and was Black John’s master. Gossips will still
tell how Black John, though pleasant and amusing enough when things
went smoothly, became dangerous when roused. One day, Sir William
Molesworth playfully tried to push him into one of the fishponds,
when Black John, wrathfully exclaiming, ‘Turn sides, brother
Willie, turn sides’ (and, although a dwarf, he was very strong),
soon had Sir William in the water, and, in his rage, would have
drowned him, had not a man named Beare come to the rescue.
“It is said that Arscott of Tetcott still appears on a phantom
horse, with a phantom pack, on the wild moors he used to hunt,
and that their cry portends death or misfortune to the unlucky
wayfarer; but I am inclined to agree with the man who, when told
the devil appeared to people on Cookworthy Moor, replied, ‘I’ve
been out on the moor all hours of the day and night; had there
been e’er a devil, I must a seen un.’ During the thirty years that
Mr. Calmady lived at Tetcott, he kept up with zeal the sporting
reputation of the place by keeping a pack of foxhounds and otter
hounds, and showing such sport as will long be remembered in
the West. During those years, I heard many a story of the olden
times. One ascribed, whether rightly or wrongly, to that grand old
sportsman, Paul Treby, was to the effect that, on some one asking
the meaning of Dosmary Pool, he replied, ‘Don’t e knaw? Why, Do,
Dos, Dot damme Mare, give’d up from the Zay, to be Zure.’
“Some years ago I obtained from a cottage in Tetcott an old
Staffordshire jug, decorated with game. It was said to have been
formerly in the possession of Arscott of Tetcott. This jug I have
since given to Mr. Lane, the publisher.”
The surname of Black John, and the place and date of his birth, death,
and burial are unknown. The editor would be glad to hear from any one
who could supply information on these points.
FOOTNOTE:
[162] The foumart is now extinct in England, though, I believe, to be
met with in parts of Scotland.
APPENDIX D (p. 90)
DANIEL GUMB’S ROCK
BY R. PEARSE CHOPE