A pick and shovel brigade, with or without hats, might do some good
work on the north coast, where the sand has buried towns and churches.
People speak of places having been "drowned in sand," which they
certainly were. The sands of Hayle, like those of great deserts, shift
with storm and tempest, and have encroached from century to century.
The sand-hills are called "towans" at Hayle, and very weary walking we
found it in places where coarse, fibrous grasses have not covered the
surface. What splendid results might follow the efforts of a pick and
shovel brigade from Perran to Newquay! Two churches are known to have
been buried at Perranporth, and one at Gwithian, near Hayle. These
have been discovered, so there is no mistake about them, and they are
said to be the earliest Christian monuments visible in Britain. There
isn't much to see now. There was an oratory at St. Gwithian, and the
altar was built into a cowshed. Guy said it did not seem that people
cared very much for antiquities until they were destroyed, or belonged
to some other country, like Egypt, for example.
The fine, dry sands here are splendid preservatives, and the Bookworm
became enamoured of his idea of a pick and shovel brigade undertaking
scientific exploration. Why not? There were exploration societies in
Italy and Greece, and why not in Cornwall, wherein there is a lost
history and a lost language to recover? Guy was sure that lots of
fellows would put in a few weeks' digging and sifting and sorting if
somebody would only take the matter in hand in a business-like way. If
legend can be believed, there is at Crantock a Cornish Pompeii waiting
to be uncovered. The ancient Crantock was reputed to have been a large
and important sea-port with seven churches, and the place was literally
"drowned" in a deluge of sand, brought upon the wings of the wind. The
buried chronicles of Crantock (all in the Cornish language, of course)
would be a splendid discovery. The present church was allowed to fall
into decay, but is one of the show-churches in the north, and is now
famous for the newspaper crusade against hatless women fingering
their prayer-books within its walls. The "living" is said to be worth
eighteen shillings per week. Fat livings do not abound--"a house, a
glebe, a pound a day" does not fall to the lot of all parsons hereabout.
The Bookworm remarked that his Satanic Majesty was not held responsible
for sand-storms, although Hell's mouth was on this coast. His Majesty
is familiarly known as "Old Artful;" and people speak of one another
as "artful" by way of compliment. There is at present a good deal of
confusion in the stories told about Old Artful and his doings in this
part of the world. It is said that he never crossed the Tamar, and the
question may only be answered satisfactorily when spirits are summoned
from the vasty deep and examined before a royal commission. The
Bookworm took the matter in hand, with the following results in favour
of Old Artful's presence:--
When the Phoenicians traded here for tin, Old Artful set up a
smelting-house, and taught the tinners some tricks, which they
afterwards improved on.
That St. Michael drove him away, and, out of pure spite, he cursed the
blackberry, which is not now eaten after St. Michael's Day.
[Illustration:
"One day the devil, having nothing to do,
Built a great hedge from Lerrin to Looe"]
That when visiting "Cheese-wring" he saw an old woman making a conger
pie, and inquired what she put inside, and the old woman, smelling
brimstone, said, "If you don't take yourself off pretty quick, I'll
clap you inside, and then we shall have a devilled pie," which threat
so alarmed him that he gave a hop, skip, and jump, and landed at
Devil's Point in the sister county.
That Old Artful had a turn for housekeeping, and was pretty much at
home at the Lizard, and left behind as memorials his "frying-pan" at
Cadgwith and his "bellows" at Kynance. Then he had a post-office, the
earliest on record, and no end of "devil's footsteps," "ovens," and
"caves" are to be found in the peninsula.
That Old Artful, finding himself lonely and amongst the out-of-works,
built a stone fence about seven miles in length, hence the couplet--
"One day the devil, having nothing to do,
Built a great hedge from Lerrin to Looe."
And very good workmanship it was, for it is still there. In this way
the problem of employing the unemployed was solved.
That Old Artful took a great interest in the building of churches,
sometimes altering the architect's plans, and sometimes choosing a
site. Whenever a church is built in an inconvenient place, it is said
that Old Artful would have it there and nowhere else, and paintings
on the walls often recorded the fact, showing him removing at night
the courses which the masons laid down during the day. Many of these
paintings were whitewashed by pious Covenanters, but little bits have
been restored. It is said that St. Mewan wanted a high tower to his
church, and there was a battle-royal between him and Old Artful, who
prevailed. The "cloven hoof" may be seen on a stone gate-post, a very
short distance from the church. At Towednack, near St. Ives, Old Artful
would not allow pinnacles to be put to the church tower.
That at Ladock Old Artful changed himself into a raven, and made an
inspection of the church tower; but the babies brought to be christened
made such a row that he flew away.
"How can all these things have happened if Old Artful never crossed the
Tamar?" asked the Bookworm, triumphantly.
Sailors say that Old Artful was never able to learn navigation
properly, or find his sea-legs on board ship; and there is an idea that
he does not take kindly to blue water, and was never able to swim.
It is well known that Lloyd's underwriters will not insure a ship
with Old Artful on board. He never interferes with the building of a
ship, or does anything but provide a "locker"--called "Davy Jones's
locker"--where poor Jack rigs himself out before dancing with the
mermaids on "Fiddlers' Green."
Guy came to the conclusion that the Cornish climate was too restful
for "sabbathless, restless Satan," who is never supposed elsewhere to
be happy except in the wearing, tearing, raging, whirligig of pleasure
and vice. Hence the idea of his not crossing the Tamar.
[Illustration: THE ROCHE ROCK.]
[Illustration: NEWQUAY SANDS.]