[Illustration: _Drawn by F. Tonkin._]
A GVIDE
TO
MOVNTS BAY
AND
LANDS END.
[Illustration]
A
GUIDE
TO THE
MOUNT's BAY
AND THE
LAND's END;
COMPREHENDING THE
TOPOGRAPHY, BOTANY, AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES,
ANTIQUITIES, MINING, MINERALOGY
AND GEOLOGY OF
Western Cornwall.
SECOND EDITION.
_To which is added_, _for the information of Invalids_,
A DIALOGUE ON THE PECULIAR ADVANTAGES OF THE CLIMATES
OF PENZANCE, DEVONSHIRE, AND THE
SOUTHERN PARTS OF EUROPE.
By a PHYSICIAN.
"Auditque suis _tria_ littora campis."
LONDON:
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY W. PHILLIPS,
GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD STREET:
SOLD ALSO BY T. VIGURS, PENZANCE; AND W. AND C. TAIT,
EDINBURGH.
1824.
TO
THE VICE PATRONS, PRESIDENT,
VICE PRESIDENTS,
AND MEMBERS
OF
The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall,
_THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED_,
AS A HUMBLE, YET SINCERE TRIBUTE OF RESPECT,
FOR THE ZEAL AND LIBERALITY WITH WHICH THEY CONTINUE
TO UPHOLD
AN INSTITUTION
"WHICH HAS RENDERED THEIR HOME THE SCHOOL OF
SCIENCE,
AND THEIR NATIVE RICHES INCREASING SOURCES
OF PROSPERITY."
TO THE READER.
This little volume has been republished, at the earnest solicitation
of numerous friends and applicants, and with such additions and
improvements as the present extended state of information appeared to
render necessary. In obeying this call, the author trusts that he may,
in some degree, remove the prejudice to which the carelessness of his
provincial compositor must, on the former occasion, have exposed the
work.
Since the publication of the first Edition, PENZANCE, and the District
of the Mount's Bay, have become objects of greatly increased interest;
the successful establishment of the Geological Society,--the erection
of commodious Sea Baths,--the growing confidence of the Public, and of
the medical profession, in the superior mildness of the climate,--and
the general amelioration of every thing connected with the wants and
comforts of a winter residence, have powerfully operated in augmenting
the influx of strangers and invalids, into this formerly obscure,
and comparatively neglected district. Such considerations, it will
be acknowledged, were quite sufficient to sanction the propriety
and expediency of the present undertaking, but the author must in
candour allow, that they would scarcely have prevailed, had not
another powerful motive been in silent but effectual co-operation--the
"_Antiquæ vestigia Flammæ_,"--a secret lingering after the pursuits of
Geology have, for once at least, seduced him from a resolution he had
formed on quitting Cornwall,--that of abandoning a science which can
never be pursued except with enthusiasm; but which, from its direction
and tendency, is wholly incompatible with the duties of an anxious and
laborious profession.
As the work is calculated for the guidance of those who may seek the
shores of the Mount's Bay, for its genial atmosphere, the introduction
of some general observations upon the subject of Climate, appeared
essentially necessary. For this purpose, the form of a Dialogue
has been preferred to that of a Didactic essay; by which much
circumlocution is avoided, while the only interesting parts of the
question are thus made to appear in a more prominent and popular point
of view.
The Cornish Dialogue, introduced in the Appendix, for the sake of
illustrating the provincial Dialect, has been composed after the
model of the well known "_Tim Bobbin_," which was written for the
accomplishment of the same object, with reference to Lancashire. From
the direction in which it came into the hands of the author, he is
inclined to consider it as an hitherto unpublished production of the
celebrated Dr. Walcott.----VALETE.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
OF THE MOUNT's BAY, AND THE LAND's END
DISTRICT.
(_Page_ 1.)
_THE MOUNT'S BAY--Its Topography and Scenery, 1.--Northern
Shores, their aspect cheerless but interesting, 3.--Minerals and
Antiquities, 4.--The Climate of Mount's Bay, 5.--Meteorological
Records, 5.--Vegetation, 6.--Tender Exotics flourish in the
open air, 7.--Proofs of superior mildness from the animal
kingdom, 9.--Coolness of the Summer, 10.--Rain; Storms,
11.--Hurricane of 1817, 14.--Encroachments of the Sea,
16.--The Bay formerly a woodland, 17.--Causes of the Sea's
inundation, 18.--Rapid decomposition of the Cornish hills,
19.--PENZANCE--an eligible residence, 22.--Its situation most
beautiful.--Extraordinary fertility of the neighbouring lands,
23.--Corporation--Pier--Chapel--Meeting Houses, 24.--Penzance a
Coinage Town, 25.--Public Dispensary, 25.--ROYAL GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF CORNWALL, 26.--Its Cabinet of Minerals, 27.--Laboratory,_
_29.--Accidents from explosion in Mines prevented by the scientific
efforts of the Society, 30.--Mineralogical Collection of Joseph
Carne, Esq. 31.--Penwith Agricultural Society, 32.--Penzance
Market, 33.--Wild fowl and fish abundant and cheap,--Newlyn
Fish-women remarkable for their beauty, 33.--PUBLIC HOT AND
COLD SEA BATHS, 34.--Beautiful prospect from the waiting room,
35.--Packet to Scilly, 35.--Ancient Customs--Festivities at
Midsummer, 36.--Penzance remarkable in history from having been
burnt by the Spaniards, 38.--Tobacco first smoked in this town,
39.--The birth place of Sir Humphry Davy, 40.--LIST OF INDIGENOUS
PLANTS OF WESTERN CORNWALL, 41, &c._
EXCURSION I.
(_Page_ 45)
TO SAINT MICHAEL's MOUNT.
_An object of the very first interest--Excursion by water--By
land, 45.--The Eastern Green celebrated as the habitat of some
rare plants, 46.--MARAZION, or MARKET JEW, 47.--Its origin and
Charter, 47.--Chapel Rock, 48.--ARRIVAL AT SAINT MICHAEL'S MOUNT,
49.--Conical form of the hill--Its dimensions--Town at its
base--The Pier--Interesting as a geological object, 50.--Why--Its
scenery most magnificent--Geological structure, 51.--Militates
against the Wernerian doctrines--De Luc's improbable explanation,
51.--Dr. Berger's gratuitous assumption, 52.--Plutonian views,
52.--Western_ _base of the Mount--Beds of Granite, 53.--Quartz
veins--Interesting contents of the veins, 55.--Pinite discovered
in this spot, 55.--Other minerals, 56.--Lodes of Tin and
Copper--Remains of a Tin Mine--Veins of Mica, 57.--The Tamarisk,
57.--Ascent to the Castle, 57.--Ancient Fortifications--The
Chevychace room, 58.--The Chapel, 59.--Mysterious discovery in
the Chapel, 59.--More Discoveries--Ascent to the top of the
tower--Prospect hence of the grandest description, 60.--Saint
Michael's Chair--Its origin and supposed mystic powers--A
remnant of Monkish fable, 61.--The modern Apartments, 62.--THE
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HILL--Formerly cloathed with wood--Its
old Cornish appellation, 62.--Once at a distance from the sea,
63.--ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY--Monkish Legends of the vision of
Saint Michael, 63.--Saint Keyne's Pilgrimage to the Mount in
the fifth century, 64.--The Confessor's Endowment, 65.--Ancient
instrument A.D. 1070 found amongst its registers, 65--Annexed to a
Norman Priory at the Conquest, 66.--The Nunnery--Its establishment
broken up--The connection of the Priory with Normandy destroyed,
67.--Granted by Henry the Sixth to King's College Cambridge,
67.--Transferred by Edward IV. to the Nunnery of Sion in Middlesex,
68.--Bestowed upon Lord Arundel at the Reformation, 68.--Its
PRIVATE HISTORY continued, 69.--MILITARY HISTORY.--Pomeroy's
Treachery--Monks expelled--Monks restored, 70.--The Mount is again
reduced by the Earl of Oxford, 71.--who in his turn is compelled
to surrender to the forces of Edward the Fourth, 71.--The Lady_
_Catherine Gordon, wife of Perkin Warbeck, flies to the Mount
for safety, 71.--Besieged by the Cornish rebels in the reign of
Edward VI., 71.--Reduced by Colonel Hammond during the Civil war
of Charles the First, 72.--The Mount supposed by Sir Christopher
Hawkins and Dr. Maton to be the ICTIS of Diodorus Siculus, 73._
EXCURSION II.
(_Page 74_)
TO THE LAND's END, LOGAN ROCK, &c.
_Intermediate objects worthy of notice, 74.--Castle Horneck,
75.--Rose Hill--Trereiffe, 76.--The country wild but susceptible
of cultivation, 77.--Furze--Boulders of Granite, 77.--Capable of
numerous applications in rural oeconomy, 78.--Cornish Granite,
(provincially, Growan), when in a state of decomposition is used
as a manure, 79.--Theory of its operation, 79.--Form of the
Felspar crystals, 79.--State of Agriculture--The Farm of John
Scobell, Esq. at Leha, 80.--Arish Mows, 81.--Ancient Stone Crosses,
81.--Druidical Circle at Boscawen Un, 81.--Opinions concerning the
origin of such circles, 82.--Chapel Euny, and its mystic well,
82.--Caerbran Round, 83.--Other Hill Castles, 84.--Chapel Carn
Bre--Its origin, 84.--Commands a very extensive view, 85.--Sennan
Church-town--The First and Last Inn in England, 85.--The Village
of Mayon or Mean, 85.--Table Mean the vague tradition concerning,
86.--THE LAND'S END, 86.--A Spot of great geological_ _interest,
87.--Grotesque appearance of its granitic rocks, 87.--The Armed
Knight, Irish Lady, and Dr. Johnson's Head, 88.--Cape Cornwall, and
Whitsand Bay, 88.--Historical recollections, 88.--The Long-Ships
Light-house, 89.--Tradition of the Lioness, 91.--The Wolf rock,
91.--THE SCILLY ISLANDS, 92.--Ancient Accounts--Six of the Islets
only inhabited, 92.--Saint Agnes, 93.--The Light-house, 93.--Civil
Government of the Islands, 93.--Present inhabitants all new
comers, 94.--A robust and healthy race, 94.--Their employment,
96.--Experience great distress, 96.--Curious fact with respect
to the migration of the Woodcock, 98.--Climate and Geology,
99.--RETURN TO THE LAND'S END--Fine rock Scenery at the Cape near
the Signal Station, 101.--Tol Pedn Penwith, 102.--Cornish Chough--A
Cliff Castle, 102.--Castle Treryn--Stupendous Rock Scenery--THE
LOGAN ROCK, 103.--Its weight, 103.--How and whence it came, 104.--A
natural production, 104.--Its appearance easily reconciled with
the known laws of decomposition, 105.--Used probably by the Druids
as an engine of superstition, 105.--Plants--Geological phenomena,
106.--Rare Shells to be found in Treryn Cove, 107.--SAINT BURYAN,
once the seat of a College of Augustine Canons, 108.--Church Tower
commands a very extensive prospect--Remarkable ancient Monument in
the church, 109.--Ancient Crosses, 110.--The Deanery, 111.--The
supposed Sanctuary, 111.--Return to Penzance by a circuitous route,
through the parish of Saint Paul, 111.--Boskenna, the romantic
seat of John Paynter, Esq., 112.--A Druidical_ _circle, called
the Merry Maidens, 112.--Sepulchral Stones called the Pipers,
113.--Carn Boscawen, Pensile Stone at, 113.--Trove or Trewoof, the
remains of a triple entrenchment at, 113.--The romantic valley of
Lemorna, 113.--Kerris, supposed Druidical monument at, 114.--PAUL
CHURCH, 114.--Epitaph of Dolly Pentreath, 115.--Mousehole and
Newlyn, Colonies of Fishermen, 116.--Geological phenomena, 117._
EXCURSION III.
(_Page 119_)
TO BOTALLACK MINE; CAPE CORNWALL; AND THE
MINING DISTRICT OF SAINT JUST.
_Plan of the excursion, 119.--Nancealverne, the seat of John
Scobell, Esq.--Poltair, of Edward Scobell, Esq.--and Trengwainton,
of Sir Rose Price, Bart. 119.--Original Paintings by Opie,
120.--Village of Madron, 120.--Madron Well and Baptistry; Ancient
Superstitions attached to it, 121.--Lanyon Cromlech (represented
in the title page of this work) known by the name of the Giant's
Quoit, 122.--Its supposed origin, 123.--Men-an-Tol, 124.--Men
Skryfa, or the Inscribed Stone, 125.--Chun Castle, 126.--Stamping
Mills, Burning Houses, or Roasting Furnaces, 127.--Cavern at
Pendeen, 126.--Pendeen Cove, 128.--Geological phenomena, 128.--The
Gurnard's head, 129.--Minerals to be found in this district,
130.--Axinite at Trewellard--Prehnite--Stilbite--Mesotype,
131.--THE CROWN ENGINE OF_ _BOTALLACK--Extraordinary Scenery
of the spot, 132.--Descent to the Engine, 133.--The workings
of the Mine extend under the bed of the Atlantic ocean,
133.--Mineralogical observations, 134.--CAPE CORNWALL, 136.--Little
Bounds Mine, 136.--Its workings under the sea, 137.--Curious
Stalactites found there, 138.--CARAGLOSE HEAD, a spot well worthy
the stranger's notice, 138.--Portnanvon Cove, 139.--SAINT JUST
CHURCH TOWN, 139.--Ancient Amphitheatre, where Tournaments are
held at this very day, 140.--Botallack circles, 140.--Antiquarian
speculations, 141._
EXCURSION IV.
(_Page_ 143)
TO SAINT IVES, HAYLE, HUEL ALFRED, &c.
_Embowered Village of Gulval--Kenegie the seat of J. A. Harris
Arundel, Esq.--Rosmorran, the retired cottage of George John,
Esq., 143.--Ascent to the great Granite ridge, 143.--Castle an
Dinas, 144.--Atmospheric Phenomenon, 144.--SAINT IVES, 145.--THE
PILCHARD FISHERY--Confusion and bustle which are occasioned
on the appearance of a shoal, 146.--Natural History of the
Pilchard, 147.--Period of its appearance, 148.--How discovered
by the Huer, 149.--Necessary outfit for the fishery, 149.--The
Great Net, or Stop Seine--How shot, 150.--The quantity of fish
usually secured--Tucking, a beautiful sight, 152.--Driving Nets,
153.--Fish_ _brought to the cellars and cured--lying in bulk,
153.--Packed in hogsheads, headed up, and exported, 154.--The
great importance of this fishery to the county, 155.--Refuse fish
used as manure, 155.--Their fertilizing powers increased by lime,
156.--THE HERRING FISHERY, 156.--Tregenna Castle, the seat of
Samuel Stephens, Esq.--Knill's Mausoleum, 157.--Quinquennial Games
instituted, 158.--Hayle Sands--The Port of Hayle, 159.--Desolate
appearance of the district, 161.--Sand-flood, 162.--RECENT
FORMATION OF SANDSTONE, 163.--Investigation of the causes which
have operated in consolidating the sand, 166.--Huel Alfred
Copper-mine, 169.--The Herland Mines, 170.--Saint Erth--Trevethoe,
171.--Tin Smelting, 173.--Ludgvan Church--The tomb of the venerable
and learned Dr. Borlase, 174._
EXCURSION V.
(_Page_ 176.)
TO REDRUTH, AND THE MINING DISTRICTS IN ITS
VICINITY.
_The country uninteresting to the traveller in search of the
picturesque, but affording a rich and instructive field of
Mineralogical inquiry, 176.--Antiquity of the Cornish Tin Trade,
177.--Stannary Courts--Copper Ore of comparatively modern
discovery, 178.--Lead, Cobalt, and Silver ores, 180.--Average
width of the metalliferous veins--Depth of the principal mines,_
_181.--North and South veins, or Cross Courses, 181.--Heaves of
the Lodes--A remarkable instance in Huel Peever, 182.--Costeening,
the meaning of the term--METHOD OF WORKING THE CORNISH MINES,
183.--Blasting the rock with gunpowder, 186.--DESCENT INTO A MINE,
186.--Interior of a Mine, 187.--Temperature of Mines, 189.--Mines
considered as property, 190.--Various processes by which the
ore is rendered marketable, 191.--Spalling, 191.--Stamping,
192.--Dressing, 193.--Vanning, 194.--Burning, 194.--The Standard
Barrow, 195.--Names of Mines, whence derived, 196.--Number of
Mines, 196.--STREAM WORKS, 197.--Gold found there, 197.--Clowance,
the seat of Sir John St. Aubyn--Pendarves, the seat of E.
W. W. Pendarves, Esq.--Tehidy Park, the mansion of Lord de
Dunstanville, 198.--DOLCOATH COPPER MINE, 198.--COOK'S KITCHEN,
199.--REDRUTH--The Great Steam Engine at Chacewater, 200.--The
Consolidated Mines--Huel Unity--Poldice, 202.--Hints to the
Collectors of Cornish Minerals, 202.--Mineralogical Cabinets--That
in the possession of Mr. Rashleigh, 203.--Of Mr. Williams's
Collection, 206.--Saint Agnes, 208.--CARN-BREH HILL--The supposed
grand centre of Druidical worship, 209.--Imaginary monuments of the
Druids--Their true nature developed, 209.--Cleavelandite found in
the porphyritic granite on the summit of the hill, 212.--Carn-breh
Castle, 213._
EXCURSION VI.
(_Page_ 214.)
TO KYNANCE COVE AND THE LIZARD POINT.
_Fundamental Rocks of the Lizard Peninsula, 215.--Alternate
beds of Slate and Greenstone at Marazion--Cudden Point--Acton
Castle--Pengerswick Castle, 216.--Tregoning, Godolphin, and
Breage Hills, 217.--Huel Vor, a great Tin Mine, 218.--Portleven
Harbour--HELSTON, 219.--Its Borough--The ancient and singular
festival of the Furry commemorated in this town, 220.--The
Furry-day Tune, 222.--Penrose, the seat of John Rogers, Esq.,
223.--The Loe Pool, an extensive fresh-water lake, 224.--Interior
of the Lizard Peninsula, 225.--Gunwalloe Cove--Bolerium--Mullion
Cove--Geology of this line of Coast, 226.--Serpentine
Formation--Goonhilly Downs--Erica Vagans, 227.--SOAP ROCK,
228.--Copper found in this district, 229.--KYNANCE COVE--Asparagus
Island--The Devil's Bellows, 229.--Explanation of the phenomenon,
230.--LIZARD LIGHT-HOUSES, 231.--Geology of the Eastern Coast of
the Peninsula, 232.--Frying Pan Rocks near Cadgwith, 233.--Diallage
Rock--Mr. Majendie's researches in this district, 233.--Coverack
Cove, a spot of the highest geological interest, 234.--Professor
Sedgwick's Observations thereon, 235.--Tregonwell Mill, the habitat
of Menacchanite or Gregorite, 236.--CONCLUDING REMARKS, 237._
APPENDIX.
PART I.
_A Dialogue, between Dr. A. a Physician, and Mr. B. an Invalid, on
the comparative merits of different Climates, as places of Winter
residence_ _p._ 239
APPENDIX.