A Book of Cornwall

"Let us swear an oath, and keep it with equal mind,
In the hollow lotus-land to live, and lie reclined
On the hills like gods together, careless of mankind."

And there are good hotels at Falmouth where the lotus-eaters may do this.

Finally, a story of S. Just. He left Cornwall and settled in North Brittany, at Plestin, but left it for a pilgrimage. On his return he found his cell occupied by an Irish chief, S. Efflam, who had settled into it to follow a religious life. Whose should the cell be? "Let us sit down," said Just, "and he on whom the sun first falls, his the cell shall be." So they sat down. The golden streak through the little window travelled on, as the sun declined, and lighted up the face of Efflam. Just rose and departed, but surely bore away on his face the radiance of Charity, not on face only, but also in his heart.

CHAPTER XV

NEWQUAY

Mr. Austin Treffry-The sands-Cliff-castles-Castel-an-Dinas-The Gannel-S. Carantock-Newlyn-Perranzabuloe-Church of S. Piran-History-Roche-S. Denis-Columb Major and Minor-S. Agnes-The Cornish rotten boroughs-How they passed away from the Crown-Mitchell-The town hall-Kit Hawkins-Trerice-Lanherne-Church-William Noye-S. Mawgan-The educator-The early missionaries.

Newquay is a very new place; it was projected by Mr. J. T. (Austin) Treffry, of Place House, Fowey, a very remarkable man, far in advance of his time, to whom not Fowey only, but Cornwall generally owes a debt of gratitude. His projects have been worked out since his death with complete success.

In itself uninteresting to the last degree, it is the key to very fine coast scenery, and the air is bracing without being cold. It possesses excellent sands, both at Newquay and Fistral Bays. There is further a long tract of sand, two and a quarter miles long, to the north of S. Columb Porth, the Tregurian Beach. The rocks will interest the geologist as well as form a subject for the artist.

The coast presents examples of several cliff-castles, as at Kelsey, Trevelgue and Griffith's Heads, and Redcliff above Bedruthan; but the finest example of a castle is Castel-an-Dinas, near S. Columb Major.

This fortress comprises about six acres of land, enclosed within three concentric rings of bank and moat, built up of earth and stone together, about a pyramidal hill. The innermost enclosure contains about an acre and a half, and there were at one time indications of habitations therein, but these have now disappeared. There are, however, traces of a pit that was a well or tank for rain-water, as there is no spring on the hill. There are two entrances to this interesting camp or dinas.

According to legend, King Arthur lived here and hunted the wild deer on Tregoss Moors.

Near Perranzabuloe are Caer Kieff (eyf, perfect) and Caer Dane (dinas).

To the south of Newquay is the curious creek called the Gannel (gan-hael, the mouth of saltings). A very slight thread of sweet water descends from the land into a creek of three miles of salt marsh and sand, filled at high water with the tide. Here it was that S. Patrick's companion, adviser, and friend, Carantock, on leaving Ireland, set up his residence. He was a remarkable man, for he was one of the three bishops chosen by Laogaire at Tara to revise the laws of Ireland. When the Irish accepted Christianity it was obvious that the laws needed modification. King Laogaire was not and never did become a Christian, but he accepted the situation, and appointed a commission for the revision of the laws, and on this sat Carantock. The result was the Senchus Mor, the great code by which the Irish were ruled till 1600. Carantock was an acquaintance of King Arthur, but he met him, not at Castel-an-Dinas, but on the Severn at Dinedor, and did not get on well with him.

An odd story is told of his fixing the site for his church at Crantock. After he had landed in the Gannel he went up on the land, and began to till a scrap of land granted him; and when not at work on the soil, he whittled his staff, to make the handle smooth. Then, when he resumed his mattock, he saw a wood-pigeon fly down, pick up the shavings, and carry them off. He was curious to know what she did with them, so he followed, and saw that she dropped them in one spot in a little heap. "There must be some meaning in this," said Carantock, and he resolved to build his church there. Those Celtic saints looked out for some omen to direct them in all their doings.

Crantock Church was collegiate; it fell into a condition of decay, and was shockingly mutilated, but is about to be restored carefully and conservatively.

Another interesting church, one with a fine screen and in good condition, is Newlyn. This is probably situated on the patrimony of S. Newlyna-"the white cloud," as her name signifies. She was of noble birth, but, like the rest of the Celtic saints, thought she must travel, so she took ship at Newlyn West, where she has also left her name, and arrived in Brittany with her foster-mother as chaperon. There she had an unpleasant experience. She caught the fancy of a local magnate, who pursued her when she fled from him, and as she stubbornly repelled his advances, in a fit of fury, struck her with his sword and killed her. She is commemorated at Noualen, or Noyal-Poutivy, where the screen was formerly painted with a series of subjects relative to her story. This was destroyed in 1684 by order of the vicar-general, because it concealed the new reredos in the debased style of the period. This tasteless construction has been in turn demolished, and the paintings that formerly decorated the jubé have been reproduced in coloured glass in the windows.

The great towans, or sand dunes, of Penhale extend three miles in length, and almost two in parts inland. They are held in check to the north and north-east by the little stream that finds its way into Holywell Bay. In these sands was found S. Piran's Chapel, of the eighth or ninth century, in 1835, exactly resembling similar structures of the same date in Ireland. It was cleared out by Mr. William Mitchell, of Comprigney, near Truro, and he thus describes it: -

"The church, which is built nearly east and west, inclining only 4° north of west, is of but small dimensions, the length without the walls being 30 feet and within the walls 25 feet; the width within 13 feet in the chancel and 12 feet in the nave, and the height about 13 feet. There is a very neat arched doorway in a good state of preservation at the date of the work, viz. the day when I removed the sand from it, 7 ft. 4 in. by 2 ft. 4 in., ornamented with Saxon tracery [this is inaccurate, no Saxon about it], the arch itself having on its keystone the head of a tiger, and the points of its curve (i. e. label-terminations) the head of a man and that of a woman, rudely sculptured in stone, in the centre of the nave on the south wall; and another doorway in the north-east corner, near the altar, of similar dimensions and style, if we may judge from the remains of its arch lying near it, and which may be assumed to be that intended for the priest himself, leading into the chancel. The chancel is exactly 9-1/2 feet long, and shows in the north and south walls the precise spots where the railing (screen) separating it from the nave was fixed. Attached to the eastern wall of the church is an altar nearly equidistant between the north and south walls, 5 ft. 3 in. long by 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and 4 feet high, built of stone and neatly plastered with lime. Eight inches above this altar is a recess or niche about 12 inches high by 8 inches wide, in which, undoubtedly, was once S. Piran's shrine… There is only one small aperture or window, 12 inches high by 10 inches wide, about 10 feet above the floor, in the south wall of the chancel… A stone seat, raised 14 inches above the level of the floor, and 12 inches wide, covered with lime-plaster, runs all round the walls except the east and south walls of the chancel. The nave is exactly 15-1/2 feet long, its floor, together with the floor of the chancel, being composed of lime and sand, apparently as perfect as when first laid down. Each door has two low steps to descend into the church. The church itself is plastered with beautiful white lime. The masonry of the entire building is of the rudest kind, and evidently of very remote antiquity. There is not the slightest attempt at regular courses, but the stones, consisting of granite, quartz, sandstone, porphyry, etc., appear to have been thrown together almost at random-horizontally, perpendicularly, and at every angle of inclination-just as the hand, not the eye, of the workman happened to direct him. To render the church as perfect as when it was originally erected, nothing seemed wanting but its doors and roof. Not an atom of wood, except a piece of about 8 inches long by 2 inches wide, and an inch thick, was found within the walls. That there were many bodies interred both in the chancel and nave of the church is an unquestionable fact. Several skeletons have been found deposited about 2 feet below the floor. Three were discovered with their feet lying under the altar, one of them of gigantic dimensions, measuring about 7 ft. 6 in… Their heads, which appeared to be almost cemented together, lay between the knees of the skeleton deposited nearest to the south wall.

"On the southern and western sides of this venerable ruin is the ancient burying-ground, strewed over tens of thousands of human bones and teeth as white as snow; and, strange as it may seem, the showers of sand which fall all around hardly ever remain on these melancholy relics of mortality."[20 - Reprinted in Preb. Hingeston-Randolph's Registers of Bishop Grandisson. Exeter, 1897, p. 608.]

Unhappily nothing was done to preserve this little church after it had been excavated from the sand. The three heads from the doorway were carried off for Truro Museum; visitors pulled out stones, boys tore down the walls, and now little more than a gable remains. But to this was added the mischievous meddlesomeness of the curate-in-charge, the Rev. William Haslam, who turned the altar-stones about, as he had got a theory into his head that they had formed a tomb, and rebuilt them in this fashion, pointing east and west, and cut upon the altar-slab the words "S. Piranus." It is purposed to undo Mr. Haslam's work, and replace the altar as originally found. More should be done. Cement should be run along the top of such wall as remains to save it from falling.

The Rev. C. Collins Trelawny, soon after the discovery, wrote an account in a book entitled Perranzabulo, the Lost Church Found, which went through seven editions (1837-72).

In 1844 Mr. Haslam published another book on the subject, and again another in 1888, From Death unto Life, in which he assumed to himself the credit of Mr. Mitchell's discovery. The church has not the extreme antiquity attributed to it. The fact of there being a chancel is sufficient evidence that it does not belong to the sixth century, as none of the earliest Irish churches possess this feature.[21 - The arch over door and window is decisive against sixth-century work. All the earliest Irish churches have a stone slab thrown across from the jambs, and no arch with key.] It is about two centuries later, though doubtless a reconstruction of the old materials, and perhaps on the old lines. Judging from Irish examples, in one point only is Mr. Haslam more correct than Mr. Mitchell. He considered the niche over the altar to have been a walled-up window, and in this was right.

The story of S. Piran, or Kieran, as he is called in Ireland, is of sufficient interest to be given.

He was born in Clear Island, in the county of Cork, the extreme south point of Ireland. He established a monastery at Saighir, in the extreme north of Munster. The legend is that his first disciples were a boar, a fox, a badger, a wolf, and a doe. And in this we have an instance of the manner in which simple facts assume a fabulous character in the hands of late writers. The district was that of the clan of Hy Sinnach, i. e. the foxes; an adjoining tribe was that of the Hy Broc, or the badgers; an Ossorian disciple was regarded as Os, i. e. a doe; and his wolf was no other than one of the Hy Faeladh, which has a double meaning of "hospitable" or "wolfish;" another disciple was S. Tore, and the name means "boar."

Kieran, as his name is in Irish, invoked the assistance of his mother, Liadhain, and induced her to start a school for girls at Kellyon, not far from Saighir. The arrangement was not happy, as at least one of his disciples carried on a lively flirtation with Liadhain's damsels.

How Kieran placed Buriena the Slender with Liadhain, and how a chief ran away with her, and how Kieran got her back, shall be told when we come to Land's End. It was possibly on account of this unpleasantness that he withdrew to Cornwall, and brought with him both his nurse, Cocca, and Buriena. But there were other reasons. Kieran belonged to the royal race of Ossory, and in his time Ossory was overrun by Cucraidh, who massacred all he could lay hands on of the royal race of the O'Bairrche, to which Kieran belonged. Most of Kieran's clan migrated to the north of Ossory, where they maintained their independence till 642. It was not likely that Kieran cared to remain in the country under an usurper whose hands were steeped in the blood of his brethren. Cucraidh tried to make terms with the saint, and his granddaughter was either put under his rule, or else voluntarily entrusted herself to him. But even if Cucraidh invited Kieran to remain, he was but under-king to Aengus, King of Munster, and Kieran quarrelled with the latter and denounced him to death. In fact, Aengus was killed in battle in 489. There was consequently very good reason why the saint should leave Ireland.

Kieran's monastery at Saighir was on a princely scale. "Numerous were his cattle; there were ten doors to the shed of his kine, and ten stalls at every door, and ten calves for every stall, and ten cows with every calf… Moreover, there were fifty tame horses with Kieran for tilling and ploughing the ground. And this was his dinner every night: a little bit of barley bread and two roots, and water of a spring. Skins of fawns were his raiment, and a haircloth over these. He always slept on a pillow of stone." Carantock was his scribe, and some of the books written by Carantock were long preserved at Saighir. One of Kieran's disciples was Carthag, who, although a saint, was a somewhat loose fish, and gave the abbot not a little trouble. S. Itha put one of his escapades in as delicate a way as might be when she said-

"A son will be born to Carthag,
And Carthag will not be thought better of accordingly."

On account of his disreputable conduct, Kieran kicked him out, and bade him go to Rome, hoping that he might sow his wild oats in that chaste and holy place.

One day Kieran of Clonmacneis and the two Brendans came to visit him. The steward approached him in dismay. "There is nothing to offer these distinguished guests except some scraps of rusty bacon and water."

"Then serve up the bacon and the water."

Now there was at table a lay brother, and when the bacon was set before him he thrust his platter contemptuously from him, for he was tired of bacon, and when out visiting, by dad! he expected to be fed like a gintleman.

"Hah!" said Kieran turning angry, "you are dainty, son of Comgal; it is just such as you who would not scruple to eat ass's flesh in Lent."

Across the backbone of Cornwall is Ladock, and if I am not mistaken, Kieran planted there his old nurse, Cocca, who also became head of a religious house for women.

It is said that every Christmas night, after divine service at his own monastery, Kieran started off walking, and arrived at early morning to perform divine worship for his old nurse, and give her the compliments of the season. The date of his death is not known, but it is thought to have been about 550.

A friend writes to me: -

"It may be foolishness, but to me such a place as the ruined church of Peranzabulo appeals most powerfully. I determined to find it unaided, and when found I spent hours there, sometimes at dark, trying as best I might to recall the place as it once was, and to revivify the bones which were lying in several little heaps where the workmen, who had been railing about the ruin, had collected them.

"It seems to me that one loses a great deal in stifling and choking the imagination.

"In the dusk of evening, with the swallows in vast quantities gathered for their flight to the south, and the white bones lying before me, the wind sighing and piping in the grass, and the sea moaning in the distance, the scene was one that deeply impressed me, and will never be forgotten."

There is now some talk of a very careful and conservative restoration, so as to preserve what yet remains.

The rock and hermitage of Roche, standing up in a district that has been turned over and undermined for tin, and is strewn with ruined engine-houses, deserve to be seen. The rock is a prong shooting up boldly, and a chapel and the cell of an ancient hermit have been constructed on it.

S. Denis is a conical hill with an earthwork round it; in fact, it was an old Dinas, or palace of a chief. The church within was called Lan-dinas. The bishops of Exeter, not understanding the real meaning, concluded that it was the church of S. Denis, and dedicated it to the Bishop-martyr of Paris, a somewhat apocryphal personage. So two fortified headlands were each Lan-an-dinas,[22 - The church without, as outside of the camp.] and they were converted into churches of S. Anthony.

S. Columb Major has a fine church, which unhappily suffered from an explosion of gunpowder in 1676, when three boys carelessly set fire to a barrel of this explosive, which had been placed in the rood-loft staircase. The windows and roof were blown away, and the pillars thrown out of the perpendicular. Happily the fine carved benches were unhurt; they are curious. Apparently a travelling show of wild beasts passed through the town when they were being carved, and the workmen reproduced on them the strange beasts they saw.

There is an interesting and picturesque old slated house at the entrance to the churchyard.

The old custom of hurling is still observed at S. Columb on the feast, which is in November, and the silver ball is thrown in the market-place.

S. Columb Minor bench-ends, according to Hals, were of black oak, and bore the date 1525, and it had a fine rood-screen with loft, "a most curious and costly piece of workmanship, carved, and painted with gold, silver, vermillion, and bice, and is the masterpiece of art in those parts of that kind." This has all disappeared now.

S. Agnes' Head, pronounced S. Anne's, presumedly takes its name from Ann, the mother of the gods among the Irish Celts, and probably also among the Cymri. She gives her name to the Two Paps of Ana, in the county of Kerry. The parish was constituted late. There was no such parish at the time of the Conquest, and the present church was built and consecrated in 1484.

A story is told of a house in S. Agnes. When Wesley visited this part of Cornwall preaching, he was refused shelter elsewhere than in an ancient mansion that was unoccupied because haunted by ghosts.

Wesley went to the house, and sat up reading by candlelight. At midnight he heard a noise in the hall, and on issuing from his room saw that a banquet was spread, and that richly-apparelled ladies and gentlemen were about the board.