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NOOKS & CORNERS
OF CORNWALL
_IN THE SAME SERIES_
NOOKS & CORNERS OF YORKSHIRE
BY J. S. FLETCHER
_IN PREPARATION_
NOOKS & CORNERS OF DEVON
BY C. A. DAWSON SCOTT
NOOKS AND CORNERS OF HAMPSHIRE AND SUSSEX
BY DOUGLAS GOLDRING
Price 2s. 6d. net each (with map)
NOOKS & CORNERS
OF CORNWALL
By C. A. DAWSON SCOTT
WITH A MAP
[Illustration]
LONDON: EVELEIGH NASH
FOREWORD
At first sight it seems incongruous to speak of the Nooks and Corners to
be found in so rugged a land as Cornwall. The masses of rock at
Tintagel, Tol-Pedn, and the Lizard, the sheer drop of the High Cliff and
the Dodman, the moors, the cromlechs, and the granite tors, are so
impressive that we are apt to overlook the fertile valleys that
intersect the country, the coves, coombes, and "pills" in which the
hillside vegetation is often semi-tropical, and where the houses are
embowered in flowering shrubs till they look like Jacks-in-the-Green
that have taken root.
Nor do these picturesque villages, sheltered and fruitful, this
magnificent coast scenery, these grey moors, comprise the whole of this
half-smiling, half-frowning land. Here in out-of-the-way places are
relics of forgotten creeds and peoples, earthworks, amphitheatres,
castles, the caves of smugglers, and the subterranean hiding-places of
neolithic man. There is so much to interest, so much to see--almost too
much it would seem, certainly too much for any one holiday; but Cornwall
is a place to go to again and again, to go to till it seems as your own
land, and its people have forgiven you for being a "foreigner."
This Cornish folk, clannish but kindly, has of late years been
decreasing. Not only is there the competition of foreign tin, but the
lodes being now deep the cost of home production has proportionately
increased. "Cousin Jack" therefore has to go in search of more
remunerative metal, leaving "Cousin Jenny" at home to manage as best
she can on his remittances.
WARNINGS
"You can only see Cornwall by walking through it," said George Borrow,
but the traveller must bear in mind that a name, large on the map, is
apt to materialise into a few cottages, a lonely farmhouse, or a rocky
gorge with never an inhabitant. Nor though the voice of the tourist has
now for several years been heard in the land has the response, in
hotels, been great; while there are not as many country inns as might be
expected. The cheerful, pleasure-loving Cornishman has another aspect to
his character. Generally a Nonconformist and a Sabbatarian he--perhaps
more particularly she--thinks the fewer inns the better. Hamlets the
size of which would lead one to expect a wayside tavern are often drawn
blank, and it is as well to make inquiry, when mapping out the day's
journey, as to the accommodation to be found at its latter end.
It cannot be too firmly impressed upon the traveller that along the
northern and western shores both boating and bathing are unsafe. It is a
dangerous coast. Fortunately very few boats are kept, and these are
seldom let out to strangers; but in the matter of bathing the tourist
depends upon his own wisdom, and not only is there a bad undertow but
the big rollers from the Atlantic come in when least expected.
Moreover he must, when following these cliff paths, be on the look-out
for blow-holes. These sinister cavities result from the action of the
sea at the cliff base and of the fresh water springs above. A depression
is gradually formed, the surface sinks to be washed out by the tides,
till at last a round hole has been formed. This is the blow-hole. In
course of time the whole of the side towards the sea breaks away,
leaving a tiny bay, which gradually enlarges. The Cornish who do not
imagine that any one could be so foolish as to walk along this dangerous
coast after dark do not safeguard the blow-holes, and it is as well to
be on the look-out.
THE CROSSES
AND CHURCHES
A word with regard to the innumerable crosses and churches.
At an early date in the history of Christianity, saints from the
neighbouring countries of Brittany, Ireland and Wales appear to have
poured into Cornwall. Some floated over on their altar-stones--a
poetical way of saying they brought the said stones with them--others on
a miraculous leaf, _i.e._, a coracle, while yet others appear to have
walked! On arrival they found a large number of upright slabs and
boulders, relics of an earlier creed and vanished race. With the
sensible early-Christian habit of turning everything to account they
soon invented a history and found a use for the stones.
On a lonely moorland these big menhirs made excellent way-marks; by
some--possibly blocks that tradition accounted holy--the saints built
their oratories, others they carved into rude crosses, and others they
used as a centre about which to gather the countrypeople for service. As
the local preaching-place, these last stones, like the oratories
themselves, thus became the forerunners of the parish churches.
One reason for the multiplicity of these crosses--and unless those at
any place should be exceptional, they will not be mentioned--may be
found in the will of a certain Dr. Mertherderwa who, dying in 1447,
directed that "new stone crosses are to be put up of the usual kind in
those parts of Cornwall from Kayar Beslasek to Camborne Church, where
dead bodies are rested on their way to burial, that prayers may be made
and the bearers take some rest."
There are six different kinds of crosses. Upright slabs with a Latin
cross front and back; Round-headed crosses; Holed crosses, of which only
twenty-seven instances are known; Latin crosses, Gothic crosses and
ornamented crosses.
THE CHURCHES
When Cornwall built her innumerable small but beautiful churches, that
is to say from the thirteenth (and earlier) to the sixteenth century,
she showed that an ornate and vivid ritual was to her taste. She
objected to and resisted the Reformation, and on its becoming an
established fact went peacefully to sleep, as far as religion was
concerned, until the arrival of John Wesley. As a consequence very few
of the churches are modern, and most of them have Norman remains--some
antiquarians even say Saxon--and a good deal of old carved oak in
benches, screens, and roofs. Some of this carving is of considerable
merit, and the same may be said, though more doubtfully, of the numerous
frescoes; but unless the mural paintings and bench ends are in some way
remarkable they will not be insisted on, nor will the Norman and other
survivals in the architecture be discussed.
THE PLAN OF
THE BOOK
The roads from Launceston and from Saltash to the Land's End--and the
main roads of Cornwall are excellent, as good as any in England--go as
far as possible by way of the towns. The rivers, too, are no great
matter, in fact precisians have maintained that there are none. The
Tamar, which best deserves the name, was fixed as the eastern boundary
by Athelstane in 926, while the Fal and Helford Rivers are mainly sea
creeks, and the Camel and Fowey which until they become estuaries are
never wider than a man, provided with a pole, can leap, are really only
brooks of a fine and Tennysonian quality.
Undoubtedly then the way to see Cornwall is to follow the country roads
that lead along the shore, beginning at the north where the coach
crosses the border on its way from Clovelly Dykes to Bude, and ending at
the Tamar. There would then remain only the reaches of that lovely
river, the moorland, and what nooks and corners are to be found off the
highways that run through the middle of the county.
* * * * *
My most sincere acknowledgments are due to Mr. Thurstan Peter, author of
"The History of Cornwall," for his generous help while these pages were
passing through the press.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE EXTREME NORTH
The Boundary between Devon and Cornwall on the north:
Kilkhampton and its Association with the Grenvilles:
Morwenstow and the Rev. R. Hawker: Tonacombe and Kingsley:
Stowe: the Battles of Stamford Hill and Lansdowne: Tennyson
and Bude: the Neighbouring Churches: a Female Dick
Whittington Pp. 21-29
CHAPTER II
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM WIDEMOUTH BAY TO ST. TEATH
The Great Cliffs: Boscastle and an Ancient Form of Tenure:
Otterham and Warbstow Barrows: Trevalga and Bossiney: the
Legend of St. Nechtan's Kieve: Tintagel: Arthur: The Castle:
The Beach and Barras Head: The Roman Occupation: Quarries:
Camelford and its Battle: Arthur's Hall: Lanteglos:
Henlistone and the Brewers: The Camel: The Delabole Slate:
St. Teath Pp. 33-44
CHAPTER III
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM PORT ISAAC TO THE VALE OF LANHERNE
Port Isaac and the Fishing: Pentire: St. Enodoc and the Sand:
Lovebond's Bridge: Wadebridge and Egloshayle: _Jan
Tergeagle_: Menhirs: Padstow and the Hobby Horse: Prehistoric
Inhabitants: Harlyn Bay: Trevose Head: Constantine: A Fogou:
Bedruthan: The Vale of Lanherne Pp. 47-64
CHAPTER IV
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM THE VALE OF LANHERNE TO HAYLE TOWANS
Hurling and St. Columb Major: Colan: The Gratitude of the
Stuarts: Trevalgue: A Good Centre for Crantock, St. Cubert,
and Trerice: St. Agnes and the Giant: Portreath: the Bassets:
Godrevy: Gwithian: The Pilchards Pp. 67-80
CHAPTER V
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM LELANT TO PENZANCE
Gold in Cornwall: Knill's Monument: The Antiquities of the
Extreme West: Cliff Castles: Fogous: Menhirs: Dolmens:
Oratories: Superstitions: St. Ives: Wesley: Irving: A Ripe
Old Age: The Mines: Sancreed and St. Buryan: Lighthouses:
Whitesand Bay: The Land's End: Mousehole and Dolly Pentreath:
Newlyn: Penzance Pp. 83-98
CHAPTER VI
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM THE SCILLY ISLES TO ROSELAND
The Land of Lyonesse: The Scillies: The Law of Wrecks: Mr.
Smith: The Admiral's Honour: Ding Dong Mine: St. Michael's
Mount: An Old Ceremony: China Clay: Wrecks: Germoe and
Breage: Pengersick: Flora Day: The Loe Pool: Serpentine:
Gunwalloe and Mullion: The Lizard: Bells: The Helford River:
Mawgan: Roseland Pp. 101-118
CHAPTER VII
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM FALMOUTH TO TRURO
The Rise of Pendennis Castle: Sir John Arundel: The
Killigrews: Sir Walter Raleigh: The General Post Office and
Falmouth: Penryn: The Fal: The Stannary Courts: Old Truro:
Foote and Lowry Pp. 121-129
CHAPTER VIII
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM ST. MAWES TO LISKEARD
St. Mawes and Gerrans: Tregony and Probus: Cornish Mutton: A
Story of Cornish Vengeance: Mevagissey: Antiquarian Finds:
The Capital of Clayland: Cock's and Hen's Barrow: Carglaze
Mine: Luxulyan: The Civil Wars: Lostwithiel: Lanhydrock
House and Restormel Castle: The Fight on St. Winnow's Downs:
The Gallants of Fowey: Place: Lanteglos: Polperro: Stories of
Talland, Killigarth, and Trelawne: The Giant's Hedge:
Boconnoc: Liskeard Pp. 133-153
CHAPTER IX
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM LISKEARD TO LAUNCESTON
King Dungarth and King Alfred: Menheniot: St. Keyne: Looe: A
Cage for Scolds: Looe Island and the Smugglers: The Armada:
Sheviock: The Eddystone: Mount Edgcumbe: The Tamar: Trematon
Castle: Markets: Saltash: Moditonham: Paleologus: Pentillie:
Cotehele: Hingston Down: Polyfant: Launceston Pp. 157-172
CHAPTER X
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM LAUNCESTON TO DOZMARE
The Upper Reaches of the Tamar: Launceston: The Old Highways:
St. Clether: Altarnon: Trebartha: The Trethevy Dolmen: The
Cheesewring: St. Cleer: St. Neot: Dozmare: Tregeagle: Lake
Dwellings Pp. 175-186
CHAPTER XI
NOOKS AND CORNERS FROM BROWN WILLY TO CAMBORNE
Brown Willy and Row Tor: Michaelstow, St. Tudy and St. Mabyn:
St. Breward and Blisland: Holland: Bodmin: Lanivet: Mitchell;
Cornish Names: Blackwater and Illogan: Redruth and St. Day:
Carn Brea: Camborne: A Word in Farewell Pp. 189-198
HOTELS ACCORDING TO THE ROUTE
Stratton. The Tree Inn.
Bude. The Falcon; Grenville.
Boscastle. Wellington.
Tintagel. Wharncliffe; King Arthur's Castle; Clifton House.
Camelford. King's Arms.
Wadebridge. Molesworth Arms.
Padstow. South-Western; St. Petrock's.
Newquay. Atlantic; Victoria; Headland; Great Western.
Perranporth. Perranporth; Tywarnhale.
Portreath. Portreath Hotel; by Gurnard's Head, the Treryn Hotel.
St. Ives. Tregenna Castle; Western; Queen's.
Lelant. Lelant Hotel.
Land's End. First and Last.
Penzance. Queen's; Riviera Palace; Mount's Bay; Western; Railway.
Scilly. Holgate's; Tregarthen's (both on St. Mary).
Helston. Angel.
Lizard. Housel Bay; Hill's; Caerthillian.
Coverack. The Coverack Headland Hotel; St. Keverne; St. Keverne Inn.
Falmouth. Falmouth; Green Bank; King's; Royal Albion.
Truro. Red Lion; Royal; Union.
St. Austell. Luke's White Hart; Queen's Head.
Fowey. Fowey.
Looe. Commonwood; Looe; Headland House.
Saltash. Bray's; Railway; Green Dragon.
Launceston. White Hart; King's Arms.
Moors. The Jamaica Inn.
Bodmin. Royal; Town Arms.
Redruth. Tabb's.
Camborne. Commercial; Tyack's.
CHAPTER I
NOOKS AND CORNERS OF THE EXTREME NORTH
_The Boundary between Devon and Cornwall on the north: Kilkhampton and
its Association with the Grenvilles: Morwenstow and the Rev. R. Hawker:
Tonacombe and Kingsley: Stowe: the Battles of Stamford Hill and
Lansdowne: Tennyson and Bude: the Neighbouring Churches: a Female Dick
Whittington._
KILKHAMPTON
The coach-road from Clovelly Dykes to Bude crosses Woolley Downs, but
the border on the north is the little stream that runs into Marsland
Mouth. The cliff paths with their fine views and the wonderful colour of
sea and sky--such colour as elsewhere only the Mediterranean gives
us--are the more interesting of the offered ways. Inland lies
Kilkhampton, by the Tamar, with its church of St. James, the south
doorway of which is one of the richest specimens of late Norman work in
the duchy. But, more interesting than the finely carved choir stalls,
numerous good bench-ends and doorway, is its connection with the family
of Grenville, who, descendants of the Norman dukes, lived in the parish
for six hundred years, and built the church. "Never a Grenville lacked
loyalty" was the saying, and the sons of the old house at Stowe proved
it by confiscated property and lives laid down. From Stowe came old Sir
Richard who, with his little "Revenge," fought the fifty-three galleons
of Spain.
"_God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before?_"
From there came his grandson, gentle, gallant Sir Beville, who after his
last stand against the Parliamentarians on Lansdowne, was brought back
to lie in the old church of Kilkhampton; and from there, ruined and
exiled for the sake of the last worthless Stuart, went out Sir Beville's
younger son.
By Sir Beville lies his wife, the Lady Grace, for whom the epitaph to be
seen in Minster Church might have been written:
"_He first departing, she a little tried
To live without him, could not and so died._"
The Earls of Bath, descendants of the Grenvilles, are buried in a vault
below the south aisle, but two hundred and fifty years have passed and
the name--it is a Marquisate now--is Thynne (of the Inn), nor is the
head of the family a Beville. The servant who brought back his master's
body sleeps at Stratton. A huge man this Anthony Payne, seven foot two
in his stockings! When he lay dead in the Tree Inn so large a coffin was
required that it could not be got into the house. He and Sir Beville may
be dead and buried, but their lives have been woven into the talk of the
countryside, and the traveller has only to ask a discreet question or so
and he will hear of the great deeds of old.
MORWENSTOW
The main interest of this part of the country--the extreme north--is
centred in the tiny hamlet of Morwenstow with its thatched inn and its
association with the Rev. Robert Hawker. He was no stranger when he
came, for his father had been vicar of Stratton and lay buried there.
For long the son, fearing the sadness of old associations, refused to
preach in the sister parish, and when at last his reluctance was
overcome and he stood in his father's pulpit it was only to hesitate and
break down. He explained with faltering voice, "I stand amid the dust of
those near and dear to me."
Morwenstow is reached from Marsland Mouth by the Henna Cliff (The
Raven's Crag--and Welsh legend hath it that King Arthur was changed into
one of these birds, though the Cornish say, a chough), from which is
obtained a magnificent view of that wild coast, Dizzard, Cambeak,
Tintagel, and Pentire, rising one beyond the other in shades of blue
deepening to purple. The Norman doorway of the church, which like that
of Marhamchurch is dedicated to St. Morwenna, is crowned with zigzag
and chevron mouldings which are surmounted by a range of grotesque
sea-faces--mermaid, dolphin, whale, and so forth. Mr. Hawker tells how
the old piscina was found and reinstated. "The chancel wall one day
sounded hollow when struck; the mortar was removed, and underneath there
appeared an arched aperture which had been filled up with jumbled carved
work and a crushed drain. It was cleared out and so rebuilt as to occupy
the exact site of its former existence. It is of the earliest type of
Saxon architecture, and for all we know may be the oldest piscina in the
land."
The church roof is of wood, and shingles of rended oak occupy the place
of the usual tiles. "Outside the screen and at the top of the nave is
the grave of a priest. It is identified by the reversed position of the
carved cross on the stone, which also indicates the self-same attitude
in the corpse. The head is laid down toward the east while, in all
secular interments, the head is turned towards the west."
On the south side of the churchyard--as in so many along this ruthless
coast--are the graves of wrecked sailors; and Hawker, a great-hearted
man and to some extent a poet, was foremost in rendering the last kind
offices to the dead. Over forty men, the crews of three lost vessels,
lie here, while the figurehead by one lot of graves is that of the brig
_Caledonia_ from Arbroath in Scotland. No wonder ships give these
stupendous cliffs as wide a berth as possible. An occasional steamer is
sighted, some tramp in search of cargo goes hurrying by, but, as a rule,
the wide expanse is empty of surface life, a fact which is both
noticeable and suggestive.
On a spot where he had seen the lambs sheltering from wind and weather,
Mr. Hawker built the vicarage. With one of his personality as architect,
it was impossible it should quite resemble any other manse; therefore it
is not surprising to find that in the chimney-stacks he has reproduced
the forms of certain church towers that he admired, while inset over the
doorway is the distich:
"_A house, a glebe, a pound a day,
A pleasant place to watch and pray,
Be true to Church, be kind to poor,
O Minister for evermore!_"
TONACOMBE
AND STOWE
Not far from Morwenstow lie--or rather did lie, for though Tonacombe
still preserves its original design, Stowe, near Coombe Valley, the home
of the Grenvilles, was unfortunately destroyed in 1715--two old
manor-houses. The former, which was built in the fifteenth century, has
a fine stone-floored hall with timbered roof, old open fireplace, and
minstrel's gallery. Some of the rooms, which have lattice windows, are
panelled, and Charles Kingsley stayed in this "in some respects the most
remarkable mediaeval house in the west of England," while he was writing
"Westward Ho."
Of far greater interest, however, is Stowe (Anglo-Saxon for a stockaded
place), at one time a magnificent building. Of it only the moat remains,
but when Sir Beville rose for Charles I., many a Cornishman, who in his
boyhood had stayed at Stowe, practising arms under the eye of Anthony
Payne, rose with him.
THE BATTLE OF
STAMFORD HILL
To Stratton, a little south of Stowe, came in 1643 the Parliamentarian
General, Lord Stamford. The cavaliers, not then very prosperous, but
gallant gentlemen all, were lying at Launceston, and the Roundhead made
the mistake of underestimating their strength. Sir Ralph Hopton and Sir
Beville Grenville marched the twenty miles from the capital town without
more food than a few biscuits. Intent on intercepting and driving out
the intruder, they found when they reached Stratton late in the evening
that he had entrenched himself strongly on a neighbouring hill. As he
had the advantage in numbers, having about twice as many men and must
know that they were tired, hungry, and in poor condition, the Royalists
stood to their arms through the short May night in momentary expectation
of an attack. Their leaders were at one of the Poughill cottages--they
bear date 1620 and are still to be seen--and Sir Beville, while he
waited anxiously, must have wondered how it had gone with wife and
children, over above in the moated and stockaded house of Stowe.
Lord Stamford, however, did not take advantage of his enemy's weariness.
No doubt he thought it would be more convenient, as the country was
unknown to him, to scatter the little force by daylight. At any rate he
sat still on the top of the hill and did nothing. In the grey dawn,
therefore, the Royalists, the fiercer for their hunger and
sleeplessness, decided not to wait any longer. Since he would not come
down they must go up. Dashingly they attacked his entrenchment, doggedly
they continued the fight. After nine hours of it, word was passed round
that their scanty store of ammunition had come to an end. But they were
nothing daunted. Grimly and in a strange silence they made the last
assault; and this time were successful, the leaders of the four narrow
columns meeting at the top of the hill. As they did so, Lord Stamford,
who had looked on from a safe distance, set spurs to his horse, and fled
headlong. Cornwall was won for King Charles, and from the battlefield
Francis Basset of Tehidy could write to his wife "Dearest soule, ring
out the bells, raise bonfires, publish these joyful tidings."
A year or two later, however, Stratton told a different tale. Cornwall
might in the main be Royalist, but all England was for a change in the
government; and presently Lord Essex, driving Sir Richard Grenville--a
brother of Sir Beville--before him, crossed the Tamar and stormed the
house at Stowe. It was the beginning of evil days. In 1646 Hopton, the
Royalist General, retired to Stratton with a broken, dispirited and,
alas! disorderly army, and from thence Sir Thomas Fairfax drove him back
across the pass at Wadebridge which Cromwell--it is the only mention of
him in Cornish annals--was sent to secure.
THE BATTLE OF
LANSDOWNE HILL
But by then Sir Beville was dead. After the--surely the name is
ironical--battle of Stamford Hill, he and his victorious troops had
marched to the King's aid. At the battle of Lansdowne, on the heights
above Bath, Sir Beville, sorely wounded, was struck out of his saddle by
a pole-axe. The pikemen he was leading fell into confusion, and in an
instant the Parliamentarians were among them, hewing them down. Then did
Anthony Payne, Sir Beville's giant retainer, come to the rescue.
Catching his master's riderless horse, he set on it young John, a
stripling of sixteen, Sir Beville's eldest son; and led him to the head
of the wavering pikemen. The appeal was irresistible. The Cornish
followed their beloved leader's son like men possessed; and so, while
Sir Beville lay dying on the hillside, his regiment, led by his faithful
servant and his young son, swept all before them.
One is glad to remember that at the Restoration when the family's
confiscated estates were restored to them, young John, in memory of his
own deeds and those of his greater father, was created Earl of Bath.
TENNYSON
AT BUDE
Bude with its wide sands and unsafe harbour is without historical
associations, but it can be used, having hotels, as a centre from which
to visit the more interesting towns (so-called, but they are no bigger
than an ordinary village) and hamlets of the neighbourhood. Tennyson,
when he had it in mind to write his Arthurian Idylls, came here--no
doubt for local colour, though being a Victorian what he said was, "That
he must go to Bude and be alone with God!" During his visit he rode out
to Morwenstow to call on Mr. Hawker, and the less-known bard has left an
interesting account of their interview.
"I found my guest ... a tall, swarthy, Spanish-looking man with an eye
like a sword. He sate down, and we conversed. I at once found myself
with no common mind.... Before he left the room, he said: 'Do you know
my name?'
"I said: 'No, I have not even a guess.'
"'Do you wish to know it?'
"'I don't much care--that which we call a rose, &c.'
"'Well, then,' said he, 'my name is _Tennyson_.'
"'What!' said I, '_the_ Tennyson?'
"'What do you mean by _the_ Tennyson? I am Alfred Tennyson, who wrote
"Locksley Hall," which you seem to know by heart.'
"So we grasped hands, and the Shepherd's heart was glad."
CHURCHES OF THE
NEIGHBOURHOOD
With regard to certain old churches, St. Olaf's, at Poughill, has two
rather crudely restored mural paintings and, set heavily in the south
door, what is reputed to be one of the few genuine sanctuary rings still
in existence. The church at Marhamchurch also shows the remains of
frescoes, while Stratton has a fine stoup, and in the north wall of the
chancel an Easter sepulchre, probably the only one in the county. That
of Swithin--dear apple saint--at Launcells, has a circular font reputed
to date from Saxon times, and the fifteenth century bench-ends, though
rudely carved, show a play of symbolic fancy, unusual in Cornwall. On
one you see the visit of Mary when she mistook the gardener for Christ,
Mary being represented by a spice-box, the gardener by a spade! On
another the Harrowing of Hell is represented by the jaws of a dragon,
and so with the various subjects. An empty grave and cross triumphant
tells the story of the resurrection, while the supper at Emmaus, though
faithfully suggested, is given without the introduction of a single
human figure. It is all symbolism--riddles which are interesting to
guess, but not always easy.
WEEK ST. MARY
Some five miles or so south of Marhamchurch lies Week St. Mary, about a
native of which village a sort of Dick Whittington story is told. In a
field adjoining the churchyard the remains of extensive buildings can be
traced, and these, once a chantry, were said to be due to the pious
energy of Dame Thomasin Perceval. As a girl she herded geese on the
common of Greenamore, until in the shape of a staid and, alas! already
married merchant, the Prince came riding by. He spoke to the girl and
found her as pleasant in discourse as to the eye. Without more ado,
therefore, he took her away with him--and here, though propriety is
preserved, the fairy-tale suddenly drops to unromantic fact--he took her
to wait upon his wife! In course of time, however, that good lady died
and the middle-aged Prince was free to marry his goose-girl.
After many years she returned as a rich widow to her native parish, and
there spent the remnant of her days in a cheerful and rather bustling
philanthropy, repairing anything in the way of churches, bridges, and
roads that required attention, portioning the virtuous and hard working
of her own sex and generally playing Lady Bountiful--or so it is said!
In the churchwardens' Accounts of Stratton under date 1513 we read:
"paid for my lady parcyvale ijs Meneday [_i.e._ day of prayer for her
soul] to iiij preistes & for bred & ale 1s. 1d."