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._
THE RISE OF
PENDENNIS CASTLE
When Henry VIII. took thought for the coast defences of his semi-island,
Falmouth was one of the places that benefited. At St. Mawes and
Pendennis batteries were erected and in Budock Church is the brass of
John Killigrew, with this pertinent inscription: "Heere lyeth John
Killigrew Esquier of Arwenack ... he was the first Captaine of Pendennis
Castle, made by King Henry the eight and so continued untill the nynth
of Queene Elizabeth, at which time God tooke him to his mercye, being
the yeare of our lord 1567. Sr. John Killigrew knight his sonne
succeeded him in the same place by the gift of Queene Elizabeth." Henry
VIII.'s batteries were not the first fortifications erected on this high
point of land, which is literally the "headland fortress." There were
formerly three lines of entrenchment, due to an older architect than the
Mr. Treffry, of Fowey, who was responsible for this and other of the
Cornish defences. Indeed from its position--it is almost surrounded by
water--it was marked out both as a refuge and a point of vantage, and
was probably fortified before history was more than stories handed down
from father to child, or sung by wandering bards who had been given an
honoured place by the hearth-fire.
SIR JOHN ARUNDEL
When the war broke out between Charles I. and his Parliament, Henry
Killigrew was a member of the House. "I shall provide a good horse, a
good buff coat, a good brace of pistols, and I doubt not I shall find a
good cause," quoth he when Essex was appointed General and one and
another were saying what troops they could raise; and so went out and
rode post to Falmouth and plunged devotedly into the gallant struggle.
He would not take any command, though he was in every action and always
where there was the most danger. But it was an Arundell, not a
Killigrew, who held Pendennis for the King, old John Arundell of
Trerice, who as a young man had been at Tilbury when Queen Elizabeth
reviewed the troops; and who was known as "Game to the Toes," "John for
the King," and "Old Tilbury." To him came the unhappy Queen, Henrietta
Maria, rested at Pendennis for a moment, and then winged her way back to
France. A couple of years later her son, Charles, embarked here for the
Scilly Isles; and shortly after, the news reached Arundell that after
the conference on Tresillian Bridge the King's forces had been
disbanded, and that the long struggle was over. Across the water Sir
John grimly watched the surrender of St. Mawes, and when he found there
were malcontents among his men, gave them a safe conduct and let them
go. For himself, had he not fought at Edgehill, Lansdowne, and Bradock
Down? Summoned to surrender he said he had but a few more days to live
and he would not stain them with dishonour. To Fairfax he replied:
"Col. John Arundell to Sir Thomas Fairfax.
"Sir,--The castle was committed to my Government by his
Majesty, who by our laws hath command of the castles and
forts of this kingdom; and my age of seventy summons me
hence shortly. Yet I shall desire no other testimony to
follow my departure than my conscience to God and loyalty to
his Majesty, whereto I am bound by all the obligations of
nature, duty, and oath. I wonder you demand the castle
without authority from his Majesty; which if I should
render, I brand myself and my posterity with the indelible
character of treason. And having taken less than two
minutes resolution, I resolve that I will here bury myself
before I deliver up this castle to such as fight against his
Majesty, and that nothing you can threaten is formidable to
me in respect of the loss of loyalty and conscience.
"Your servant,
"JOHN ARUNDELL,
"of Trerice.
"_18th March, 1646._"
Stout words from a stout heart; but though the castle, closely invested
by land and sea, held out for five lean months and only surrendered on
honourable terms, yet surrender it did; being the last place in England,
with the one exception of Raglan, so to do. And on August 17, 1646, the
garrison marched out "with their horses, complete arms, and other
equipages, according to their present or past commands or qualities,
with flying colours, trumpets sounding, drums beating, matches lighted
at both ends, and bullets in their mouths." So great a stir had Sir
John's defence made that not only did the House of Commons vote large
sums to the messengers who brought the news that he had yielded, but
September 22, 1646, was by their order set apart as a day of public
thanksgiving for the surrender "of the garrisons of Pendennis and four
other castles."
THE KILLIGREWS:
SIR WALTER RALEIGH
Meanwhile Henry Killigrew, after the yielding of Pendennis, had been
accidentally wounded in the head by the bursting of a carbine, while his
kinsman's house in the neighbourhood had suffered from the exigencies of
war. They were a stirring and a striving family, the Killigrews. The
name Falmouth, in those days merely meant the land at the mouth of the
Fal; and on this land, when Sir Walter Raleigh, just home from an
expedition, stayed with the Killigrews at their house of Arwenack, there
was only one other building large enough to accommodate his men. The
Killigrews wished to develop their property. They said it was absurd
that vessels had not a nearer port than Penryn or Truro; and Sir Walter
having just put in to this fine natural harbour, saw the golden side of
their suggestion; and cared not a jot about the loss of trade to those
other towns. But Truro, Penryn, and Helston, alive to their own
interests, had long thrown their weight into the opposition scale; and
London was some seven days' journey to the east. Therefore the building
operations of the sturdy Killigrews had been brought to a standstill.
It is easy to picture the scene. Sir Walter, after a good dinner, washed
down by wines that had paid no duty, sitting at his ease before the
windows of the great house, the panorama of hills and land-locked
harbour stretching to the horizon, and the Killigrews pointing out its
capabilities as a trading-centre and naval base! The great man listened,
was convinced, and, presently moving on to London, laid the matter
before his Sovereign.
It was the days of interest and influence--those days which, of course,
are past and over, so that even kissing no longer goes by favour!--and
the Killigrews found Sir Walter's advocacy gave them all they wanted,
leave to build their big nest in their own way. From that date the
opposition that had been so industriously fostered by the loyal
burgesses of Truro, Penryn, and Helston ceased. Why Helston should have
taken part is somewhat puzzling, but she may have been willing to help a
pair of old friends against that "grove of eagles." At any rate the
three towns were unable to accomplish anything further, and could only
look on with glum faces while Falmouth went ahead. Greatly to their
indignation Charles II., who remembered what good friends the Killigrews
had been to him and his father, granted it a charter in 1661. As soon as
they thought it would be safe, the Mayor of Truro asserted his claim to
jurisdiction over the port and harbour of Falmouth, by sailing round the
harbour to the Black Rock.
According to local rhyme, however, the settlers in their new town were
not lacking in sturdiness:
"_Old Penrynners up in a tree
Looking as wisht as wisht can be,
Falmouth boys as strong as oak
Knocked 'em down at every poke._"
So the burgesses of Falmouth took the matter before the courts and
succeeded in establishing the claim of their town to a free control over
the waters of its harbour.
THE GENERAL POST OFFICE
AND FALMOUTH
In spite of the Killigrews, however, Falmouth remained small and
insignificant until the General Post Office chose the port in 1688 as a
station for its newly established mail boats. The next few years was the
time of its greatest prosperity, and Flushing--the other side of Penryn
Creek, and said to be so named from a colony of Dutch merchants--became
its fashionable suburb. Travellers came from all parts of England to
embark at this port, warships were stationed here, and the wives of
naval officers and others made it their home. The stir and bustle of
life has, however, departed with the service that created it; and the
fine harbour now only rocks on its broad bosom some little cargo
steamers and a fleet of fishing-boats. Arwenack House, said by some to
have been burnt by Sir Peter Killigrew in order that it should not
enable the Parliamentarians under cover of its walls to attack
Pendennis, was never rebuilt in its former splendour, and the ground
that once constituted its park is now laid out in town plots. Portions
of the old building are, however, still to be seen in Arwenack Street.
PENRYN
At the head of the creek is Falmouth's ancient rival, the town of
Penryn. A Killigrew and his wife--strong men are sometimes gey ill to
live with--fell out and the dame, being divorced, sought refuge in
Penryn. The Mayor of this place still has in his possession a silver cup
and cover given to the borough by this lady. On it is the inscription:
"1633.--From Maior to Maior, to the Towne of Penmarin, when they
received mee that was in great misery.--Jane Killygrew."
Penryn, still busy at its wharves with the exporting of granite, is the
site of Glasney College, where most of the old miracle plays performed
at the various plan-an-guares throughout the county were written. But
the main industry of the Roseland towns and villages is connected with
mines and quarries, the acme of arid desolation and dreariness being
reached at Gwennap. The mines there are of great depth, have been worked
for centuries, have produced in tin and copper during the last hundred
years at least ten million pounds sterling, and are now all abandoned.
Imagine the grey wilderness of stone and rubble, of old workings and
knacked bals. It rivals the sterility of the Black Country, but that is
teeming, while here in very truth is nothing but a littered and
abandoned waste.
THE FAL
Between Falmouth, which, as Byron said, "contains many quakers and salt
fish," and Truro lies the lovely wooded estuary of the Fal. Once
navigable to Tregony, large boats can now only go as far as Ruan
Lanihorne. At the latter place the river meets the tide. After passing
Tregothnan (Lord Falmouth's seat) it joins the St. Clement and Truro
Creeks, and finally, after forming by its twists and turns a series of
land-locked lakes of surpassing beauty, it broadens into that fine sheet
of water which is known as Carrick Roads. The way to see it properly is
to hire a suitable row-boat, stock it with provisions, and go up the
silent reaches till you discover some flat brown rock. There boil a
kettle gipsy-fashion and linger or go on, as the fancy takes you, up
this creek or that--they are equally beautiful--and so winding in and
out come at last to the capital city.
Queen Victoria, whose footsteps along the south of Cornwall can be
traced by various brass plates, was delighted with it. "We went up the
Truro, which is beautiful, winding between banks entirely wooded with
stunted oak, and full of numberless creeks. The prettiest are King
Harry's Ferry and a spot near Tregothnan (_i.e._, Feock), where there is
a beautiful little boat-house."
THE STANNARY COURTS
When Richard, King of the Romans, was created Earl of Cornwall, he, to
encourage the working of the mines--which brought him revenue--granted
the tinners a charter. By this, except in cases that might affect lands,
life, or limb, they were exempt from all jurisdiction but that of the
Stannary Courts. No laws were to be enacted but by the twenty-four
stannators chosen from the four stannary districts; and there was no
appeal from the Stannary Court, generally held at Truro, except to the
Duke or Sovereign in Council. These laws were concerned with maintaining
the purity of the tin, which was tested by cutting off a coign (corner)
and stamping the freshly exposed surface. The towns privileged to
perform this and collect the dues payable to the earldom (later duchy)
were called "coinage towns." It is said that some of their laws were
sufficiently grim, as for instance that which compelled an adulterator
of tin to swallow three spoonfuls of the molten metal. The last Stannary
Parliament was held at Truro in 1752, the courts being finally abolished
in 1897.
OLD TRURO
Truro was the town in which many of the local gentry spent the winter.
This custom of the counties, if it made for insularity rather than a
cosmopolitan culture, has given many of our old market-places, round the
square of which the commodious homes were built, an air of quiet
dignity. The gentry themselves, old people at their cards and
supper-parties, young people at their routs and balls, must have found
it more enjoyable--all friends and neighbours and very often
connections--than the present-day fashion of a dip into the whirlpool of
London.
Truro is a cathedral city, with a brand new cathedral, which some have
been found able to admire, but about which the note struck is generally
apologetic. The old houses are empty, simplicity has become complexity,
and the local gentry, those that are left, go up to town "for the
season." Yet these changes have taken place within the memory of man,
and there are those who can talk of the old state of affairs. Life was
even more a matter of compromise then than now. People lived simply and
did not exact a high standard of comfort. Not even in Boscawen Street
was gas or water laid on, but in the midst thereof was a pump, and
thither came the pretty serving lasses to fill their red earthenware
pitchers. Monday then, as now, was washing day, and in one godly
household of which I wot the maids went early to bed on a Sunday night
that as soon as midnight struck they might go forth and bring in enough
of the precious fluid to fill tubs and coppers against the morn. It was
believed that otherwise what with the competition of all the other maids
in Boscawen Street, they would not be able to obtain a sufficiency. In
those days sanitary arrangements were of the simplest and healthiest
description, and as for baths--well, there was the wooden tub, big,
round, and two-handled, the wooden tub and Saturday night!
FOOTE AND LOWRY
In households such as this were born Foote, the comedian, in 1721, and
Lowry, Cornwall's greatest poet, in 1867. Of the former we have the
story that when a wealthy man gave him a very small glass of wine, at
the same time boasting of its age and quality, he, glancing at it,
remarked, "My lord, surely it is very little for its age?" Of Lowry we
have no humorous stories. Cornwall has not produced many great men--some
gallant soldiers; in Sir Humphrey Davy a man of science; the painter
Opie; and in Lowry, as every one must acknowledge who has read "The
Hundred Windows," a poet! It will be a distinct loss to the nation if,
in the hurly-burly of modern life, the clear true note of this Cornish
singer should be lost.