(_For the Mirror._)
From "time out of mind" a tradition has existed in Dartmoor, Devon, and
is noticed by several writers, that one _John Childe_, of Plymstock, a
gentleman of large possessions, and a noted hunter, whilst enjoying that
sport during a very inclement season, was benighted, lost his way, and
perished through cold and fear, in the south quarter of the forest, near
Fox-tor, after taking the precaution to kill his horse, (which he much
valued), as a last resource, and for the sake of warmth and prolonging
life, to creep into its bowels, leaving a paper, denoting, that whoever
should find and bury his body, should have his lands at Plymstock.
"_The furste that fyndes and bringes me to my grave,
The landes of Plymstoke they shal have_."
This couplet was found on his person afterwards. Childe, having no
issue, had previously declared his intention of bestowing his estates
upon the church wherein he might be buried, which coming to the
knowledge of the monks of Tavistock, they eagerly seized the body, and
were conveying it to that place; but learning on the way, that some
people of Plymstock were waiting at a ford to intercept the prey, they
cunningly ordered a bridge to be built out of the usual track, thence
pertinently called _Guile_-bridge, and succeeding in their object,
became possessed of the lands until the dissolution, when the Russell
family received a grant of them, and still retain it.
In memory of Childe, a tomb was erected to him in a place a little below
Fox-tor, where he perished, which stood perfect till about fifteen years
since; but it has been destroyed by some ignorant "landlord or tenant,"
for building materials, and it is now in a ruinous condition. It was
composed of hewn granite, the under basement comprising four stones, six
feet long by four square, and eight stones more, growing shorter as the
pile ascended, with an octagonal basement, above three feet high, and a
cross affixed to it. The whole, when perfect, wore an antique and
impressive appearance, and it may now, as it is, be looked upon as an
object of antiquity and curiosity.
A socket and groove for the cross, and the cross itself, with its shaft
broken, are the only remains of this venerable tomb, on which Risdon
says there was an inscription, but now no traces of it are visible.