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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..556bea1 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #67547 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/67547) diff --git a/old/67547-0.txt b/old/67547-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e9bbc51..0000000 --- a/old/67547-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12121 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Memorials of Old Devonshire, by F. J. -Snell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Memorials of Old Devonshire - -Editor: F. J. Snell - -Release Date: March 9, 2022 [eBook #67547] - -Language: English - -Produced by: KD Weeks, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIALS OF OLD -DEVONSHIRE *** - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. Superscripted -characters are indicated with a carat ‘^’ and if multiple characters are -so printed, they are delimited by ‘{ }’. - -Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are -referenced. - -Placeholders for full page illustrations have been moved to the nearest -paragraph break. - -Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding -the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. - - - - - - - - - MEMORIALS - - OF - - OLD DEVONSHIRE - -[Illustration - - _From a Drawing by J. M. W. Turner._] [_Engraved by T. Jeavons._ - EXETER. - -] - - - - - MEMORIALS - OF - OLD DEVONSHIRE - - - - - EDITED BY - F. J. SNELL, M.A. (OXON) - - AUTHOR OF - “_A Book of Exmoor_” - “_Early Associations of Archbishop Temple_” - _&c._ - - -- - - - - - - - - - WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS - - - - -[Illustration - - - - - LONDON - BEMROSE AND SONS, LIMITED, 4, SNOW HILL, E.C. - AND DERBY - 1904 - - -- - - [_All Rights Reserved_] - - - - - TO THE - RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT EBRINGTON, - LORD LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY OF DEVON, - AND REPRESENTING ONE OF ITS OLDEST - AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FAMILIES, - THESE “MEMORIALS” ARE, - BY PERMISSION, - DEDICATED. - -[Illustration - - - - - PREFACE - - -The object of the present volume is to present what may be termed a -history of Devon in episode. A comprehensive and, at the same time, -detailed record of the county, dealing more or less fully with the -principal events of every town’s life, would require many volumes as -large as or larger than ours, and yet might fail to impress the reader -with the salient features of county life as a whole. In selecting the -subjects for the various articles comprised in this work, the Editor’s -aim has been to single out such as may be expected, for different -reasons, to appeal to all Devonians, and, perhaps, to some unconnected -with the beautiful shire. The majority of the articles have been written -expressly for the present work, but three have been reproduced, in -shortened form, from the _Transactions of the Devonshire Association_, -in which they were published many years ago, and so were in danger of -being forgotten. The Editor deems he has no need to apologize for thus -enriching the volume with the labours of departed Devonians, whom their -compatriots recall with deep reverence, and whom, were they living, the -Editor would hail as valued collaborators. Of the other articles, two -have already seen print in pamphlet form, in which, after many years, -they had naturally become exceedingly scarce. All the other -contributions are new, and most of the papers, both old and new, have -been embellished with illustrations, some of them curious and rare. - -The Editor takes this opportunity of rectifying two omissions in his -preliminary sketch. Owing to some accident, he failed to refer to the -defence of Dartmouth against the attack of Du Chastel in 1404. This -event was memorable on account of the active part taken by the women, -who, Amazon-like, hurled flints and pebbles on the French, and thus -expedited their retirement. The other omission concerns the abortive -Cavalier rising of 1655. Penruddock and Groves, the leaders in the -affair (for which they suffered death at Exeter), were both Wiltshire -men, but it is certainly interesting that an attempt which might have -antedated the Restoration by five years was initiated by the -proclamation of Charles II. at South Molton—a town of the county of -which George Monk, to whom the Merry Monarch owed his crown, was a -native. - -It only remains for the Editor to thank his many able contributors for -their generous assistance, and to express the hope that the plan and -execution of the work will prove satisfactory to those who desire a -fuller acquaintance with the families, persons, and places therein -mentioned. - - F. J. SNELL. - -_Tiverton, October 1st, 1904._ - - - - - CONTENTS - - PAGE - - Historic Devonshire By the EDITOR 1 - - The Myth of Brutus the Trojan By the late R. N. WORTH 20 - - The Royal Courtenays By H. M. IMBERT-TERRY, 34 - F.R.L.S. - - Old Inns and Taverns of Exeter By the late R. DYMOND, F.S.A. 63 - - The Affair of the Crediton By the Rev. Chancellor 77 - Barns—A.D. 1549 EDMONDS, B.D. - - Gallant Plymouth Hoe By W. H. K. WRIGHT 88 - - The Grenvilles: a Race of By the Rev. Prebendary 99 - Fighters GRANVILLE, M.A. - - The Author of _Britannia’s By the Rev. D. P. ALFORD, M.A. 116 - Pastorals_ and Tavistock - - The Blowing-up of Great By GEORGE M. DOE 132 - Torrington Church - - Herrick and Dean Prior By F. H. COLSON, M.A. 141 - - The Landing of the Prince of By the late T. W. WINDEATT 155 - Orange at Brixham, 1688 - - Reynolds’ Birthplace By JAS. HINE, F.R.I.B.A. 176 - - French Prisoners on Dartmoor By J. D. PRICKMAN 201 - - Ottery St. Mary and its By the Right Hon. LORD # 210# - Memories COLERIDGE, M.A., K.C. - - “Peter Pindar”: the Thersites By the Rev. W. T. ADEY 218 - of Kingsbridge - - Honiton Lace By Miss ALICE DRYDEN 238 - - The “Bloody Eleventh”; with By Lt.-Col. P. F. S. AMERY 250 - Notes on County Defence - - Jack Rattenbury, the Rob Roy By MAXWELL ADAMS 264 - of the West - - Barnstaple Fair By THOMAS WAINWRIGHT 276 - - Tiverton as a Pocket Borough By the EDITOR 284 - - Index 297 - -[Illustration - - - - - INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS - - Exeter _Frontispiece_ - - (_From a Drawing by J. M. W. Turner. Engraved by T. Jeavons_) - - _Facing Page_ - - Rougemont Castle, Exeter (_From a Photograph by Frith & Co._) 8 - - Okehampton Castle, 1734 (_From an Engraving by S. and N. 34 - Buck_) - - Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire 54 - - (_From the original portrait by Sir Antonio_ - - _More, at Woburn. Engraved by T. Chambars_) - - Doorway of King John’s Tavern, Exeter 62 - - (_From a Drawing by F. Wilkinson. Engraved by J. Mills, 1836_) - - High Street, Exeter (_From a Photograph by Frith & Co._) 76 - - Plymouth Hoe 88 - - (_From a Drawing by J. M. W. Turner. Engraved by W. J. Cooke_) - - Sir Bevill Grenville (_From an Oil Painting_) 104 - - West View of Tavistock Abbey, 1734 116 - - (_From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck_) - - Great Torrington Church (Old and New) 132 - - The Landing of William III. at Torbay 154 - - (_From a Painting by T. Stothard, R.A. Engraved by George Noble_) - - The Cloisters, Plympton Grammar School 176 - - (_From an Engraving by J. E. Wood_) - - Norman Doorway, Plympton Priory 176 - - (_From an Engraving by J. E. Wood_) - - The “War Prison” on Dartmoor, 1807 200 - - (_From a Drawing by S. Prout, Jun. Engraved by Neele_) - - Samuel Taylor Coleridge (_From the Portrait by Peter Vandyck_) 214 - - Dr. Wolcot (“Peter Pindar”) 218 - - (_From a Painting by Opie. Engraved by C. H. Hodges_) - - Honiton Lace (_From a Photograph by Miss Alice 238 - Dryden_) - - “Jack” Rattenbury (_From a Lithograph by W. Bevan_) 264 - - Queen Anne’s Walk and the Quay, Barnstaple 276 - - (_From a Lithograph by J. Powell_) - - St. Peter’s Church, (_From a Lithograph by W. Spreat, 284 - Tiverton Jun._) - - - - - HISTORIC DEVONSHIRE. - - BY THE EDITOR. - - -No county of England is richer in historic associations and romantic -memories than Devonshire, whose sons have proved themselves on many a -stubborn day as brave as its daughters are proverbially fair. We may go -further, and say that no English shire is richer, and only a few as -rich, in those pre-historic remains which will always exercise a weird -fascination over cultivated minds that would hold it sin to be incurious -as to the beginnings, or, rather, the age-long development, of man upon -the earth. The great mausoleum of these remains is Dartmoor, with its -menhirs, its logans, its cromlechs (or dolmens), its circles and -avenues, and its famous clapper-bridge; but all over the county are -specimens of the typical round barrow, encrusted with hoar legends, and -possessing, in addition, their strict scientific interest. The legends -attach themselves to the individual barrows; the scientific problem is -concerned with the almost unvarying form and type. Briefly, it may be -stated that the Devonshire round barrow is a late variety of the cairn; -the long barrow, which is numerously represented in the neighbouring -county of Dorset, being older and corresponding to the long-headed race -which preceded the round-headed Kelts in the occupation of Britain. The -difference is between the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, to which the -round barrows belong and bear witness. To the Stone Age are assigned the -chambered round barrows, the so-called giants’ graves, and the stone -kists of Lundy Island. - -Roughly contemporary with the typical round barrows are those mysterious -remains in the great central waste, to which allusion has already been -made. Just as false systems of astrology were elaborated before the dawn -of clear scientific knowledge, so during the eighteenth century a -complete hagiology was constructed respecting these remains, which has -become untenable in view of more rigorous historical, philological, and -anthropological investigation. In other words, the accepted -interpretation of these moorland wonders connected them more or less -definitely with Druidism. The prism of imagination presented those -hierarchs in crimson hues. If their functions included inhuman -sacrifices, they themselves were far from being deficient in dignity. -What says Southey in _Caradoc_? - - Within the stones of federation there - On the green turf, and under the blue sky, - A noble band—the bards of Britain—stood, - Their heads in rev’rence bow’d, and bare of foot, - A deathless brotherhood. - -But whether as priests or mere medicine men, the existence of Druids in -Devon has yet to be proved. Drewsteignton derives its initial syllable, -not from them, but from Drogo; Wistman’s Wood comes, not from _wissen_, -but is more probably _uisg-maen-coed_ disguised in modern garb. And, as -for those basins on the summits of the Dartmoor tors, they are purely -natural. So the whole delightful edifice which Polwhele was at such -pains to build up, and which Mrs. Bray described to the sympathetic -Southey, topples down, or, rather, vanishes into thin air, leaving not a -wrack behind. - -While the Druids, both locally and generally, belong rather to the -region of myth than of solid history, the Romans are an indisputable -fact in both senses. Still, their advent in the West Country is not free -from obscurity. One thing seems fairly certain, namely, that they did -not establish themselves in Devonshire by their usual method of -conquest. Exeter, however, was a thoroughly Roman city, and traces of -the Imperial race are to be found in local names, such as Chester Moor, -near North Lew, and in the ruins of Roman villas, as at Seaton and -Hartland. The siege of Exeter by Vespasian is one of those fictitious -events which, by dint of constant reiteration, work themselves into the -brain as substantial verities. The place that Vespasian attacked was not -Exeter, but Pensaulcoit (Penselwood), on the borders of Somerset and -Wilts. Probably the Romans were content with a protectorate, under which -the Britons were suffered to retain their nationality and their native -princes. - -The Saxons, though known as “wolves,” certainly appeared as sheep or in -sheep’s clothing in their earliest attempts to settle in the county. -They lived side by side with the Britons, notably at Exeter, where the -dedications of the ancient parishes testify to the juxtaposition of -British and Saxon. Here, also, it was that the West Saxon apostle of -Germany, St. Boniface, was educated in a West Saxon school. But this -state of things was not to last. In 710, Ine, the King of the West -Saxons, vanquished Geraint, prince of Devon, in a pitched battle; and -although there is no reason to think that he extended his borders much -to the west of Taunton, the work of subjugation thus begun was continued -by Ine’s successors, primarily by Cynewulf (755–784); and since, in 823, -the men of Devon were marshalled against their kinsmen, the Cornish, at -Gafulford, on the Tamar, the Saxon conquest must by that time have been -complete. Still the victors were not satisfied. In 926, as we learn from -William of Malmesbury, Athelstan drove the Britons out of Exeter, and, -constituting the Tamar the limit of his jurisdiction, converted Devon -into a purely Saxon province. The immense preponderance of Saxon names -in all parts of the county proves how thoroughly this expropriation of -the Kelts was carried into effect. The theory held by Sir Francis -Palgrave, amongst others, that the conquest of Devon was accomplished by -halves, the Exe being for some time the boundary, rests upon no adequate -grounds, neither evidence nor probability supporting it. In due course, -the whole county was mapped out into tithings and hundreds, in -accordance with the Saxon methods of administration, and the executive -official was the portreeve. - -Parallel with the record of Saxon conquest runs the story of Danish -endeavours, stubborn, long-protracted, but, on the whole, less -successful, to secure a footing and affirm the superiority. In the first -half of the ninth century, the Vikings, in alliance with the Cornish, -were routed by Egbert in a decisive engagement at Hingston Down, when, -according to a Tavistock rhyme— - - The blood that flowed down West Street - Would heave a stone a pound weight. - -During the latter half of the same century, the Danes were again active, -and in 877 made Exeter their headquarters. Seventeen years later they -besieged the city, which was relieved by Alfred the Great, who confided -the direction of church affairs in the city and county to the learned -Asser, author of the _Saxon Chronicle_. In 1001, the Danes, having -landed at Exmouth, made an attempt on Exeter, when the Saxons of Devon -and Somerset, hastening to the rescue, were overthrown in a severe -encounter at Pinhoe, and the piratical invaders returned to their ships, -laden with spoil. The following year was marked by a general massacre of -the Danes at the behest of Ethelred, and, to avenge this treacherous -slaughter, Sweyn (or Swegen) swooped, like a vulture, on the land, and, -through the perfidy of Norman Hugh, the reeve, was admitted within the -gates of Exeter. As usual on such occasions, red ruin was the grim -sequel; but in after days, when the Danish dynasty was in secure -possession of the throne, Canute (or Cnut) cherished no malice by reason -of the tragic horror inflicted on his race, but conferred on Exeter’s -chief monastery the dignity of a cathedral. - -In a secular as well as in a religious sense, far the most romantic -episodes of Saxon rule in Devon centre around the old Abbey of St. -Rumon, Tavistock, the largest and most splendid of all the conventual -institutions in the fair county. Ordulf, the reputed founder, was no -ordinary mortal. He looms through the mist of ages as a being of -gigantic stature, whose delight it was, with one stroke of his -hunting-knife, to cleave from their bodies the heads of animals taken in -the chase, and whose thigh-bone, it is said, is yet preserved in -Tavistock Church. But if he had something in common with Goliath and -John Ridd, Ordulf was likewise, and very plainly, cousin german to Saint -Hubert, for having been bidden in a vision, he built Tavistock Abbey, to -whose site his wife was conducted by an angel. An alternative version -associates with him in this pious work his father, Orgar. However that -may be, the edifice was destroyed by the Danes in the course of a -predatory expedition up the Tamar to Lydford. This was in 997. It was -re-built on a still grander scale, and bore the assaults of time until -the days of the sacrilegious Hal, when it was suppressed and given to -William, Lord Russell. - -So much for the Abbey. Now for the secular romance, which yields a -striking illustration of Shakespeare’s warning:— - - Friendship is constant in all other things - Save in the office and affairs of love: - Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues, - Let ev’ry eye negotiate for itself - And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch - Against whose charms faith melteth into blood. - -Orgar, the father of Ordulf, had a daughter named Elfrida, the fame of -whose loveliness came to the ears of the King. Edgar, being unwedded, -despatched Earl Ethelwold to Tavistock on a mission of observation, and -the courtier was empowered, if report erred not, to demand her in -marriage for his royal master. Ethelwold came, and saw, and was -conquered. Although much older than the fair lady, he fell in love with -her, and gained her assent and that of her father to their union. This -he could do only by concealing from them the more advantageous offer of -a royal alliance. With equal duplicity he kept from the King not only -the knowledge of his bride’s surpassing beauty, but the bride herself, -being assured that her appearance at court would be fatal. However, in -no long time the truth leaked out, and Edgar set out for Dartmoor, -ostensibly to hunt. Ethelwold, in desperation, now made full confession -to his wife, whom he charged to disguise her charms, but the vain and -ambitious woman, angered at his deceit, displayed them the more, and the -King, resolved on Ethelwold’s death, actually slew him at Wilverley or -Warlwood in the Forest. - -After the departure of the Romans and before the final absorption of -Devon by the Saxons, there are signs that the Kelts of South-West -Britain were in intimate touch with their brethren on the other side of -St. George’s Channel. At any rate, the Ogham inscriptions found in the -neighbourhood of Tavistock testify to the missionary enterprise of the -Island of Saints during the latter part of the fifth and the beginning -of the sixth centuries after Christ. For most purposes, the centre of -county life has from the first been Exeter, but to this rule there was -at one time an important exception, which was not Tavistock, but the -little town of Crediton, situated on a tributary of the Exe. An old -rhyme has it— - - Kirton was a market town, - When Exeter was a fuzzy down. - -Little can be said for this view on general historic grounds, but from -the standpoint of ecclesiastical Anglo-Saxondom, Crediton had a decided -claim to the preference, for was it not the birthplace of Winfrid (St. -Boniface), and the seat of the Anglo-Saxon bishops from the year 909 -until 1050, when Leofric, for fear of the Danes, transferred the see to -Exeter? This prelate was installed by Edward the Confessor and Queen -Edith, who, holding him by the hands, invoked God’s blessing on future -benefactors. - -If the Ogham stones of Dartmoor attest the zeal of Keltic Christianity, -Coplestone Cross, a richly-carved monument near Crediton, is a reminder -of the early days of Saxon piety, when such crosses were erected as -shrines for the churchless ceorls. Coplestone, also, was the name of a -powerful race known as the Great Coplestones, or Coplestones of the -White Spur, who claimed, but apparently without reason, to have been -thanes in Saxon times. In the West Country, no distich is more popular -or more widely diffused than the odd little couplet— - - Croker, Cruwys, and Coplestone, - When the Conqueror came, were all at home. - -The invincible William knocked at the gates of the Western capital in -1066, and was at first refused admission. If it be true, as Sir Francis -Palgrave held, that Exeter was a free republic before Athelstan -engirdled it with massive walls, the _genius loci_ asserted itself with -dramatic effect when the Conqueror demanded submission, and, in the -words of Freeman, “she, or at least her rulers, professed themselves -willing to receive William as an external lord, to pay him the tribute -which had been paid to the old kings, but refused to admit him within -her walls as her immediate sovereign.” Dissatisfied with this response, -William besieged the city, which held out for eighteen days, and then -surrendered on conditions. Exeter, it may be observed, was at this time -one of the four principal cities of the realm, the other members of the -quartette being London, Winchester, and York. - -The capitulation was followed by the building of Rougemont Castle, not a -moment too soon, for ere it could well have been completed, the sons of -Harold led an assault on Exeter. This was repulsed without much -difficulty by the Norman garrison, but the Saxons showed themselves -still restless in the West. The army of Godwin and Edmund fought with -fruitless valour on the banks of the Tavy until, three years after the -opening of the struggle, Sithric, the last Saxon abbot of Tavistock, -betook himself to the Camp of Refuge at Ely, to be under the protection -of the noble Hereward. - -Exeter, to which one always returns, stands out prominently among -English towns on account of its many sieges. Old Isaacke, happily a much -better chronicler than poet, testifies as follows:— - - In midst of Devon Exeter city seated, - Hath with ten sieges grievously been straitned. - -This is sure proof of the immense value attached to the possession of -the place in troublous times, and prepares us for the conspicuous part -taken by both county and city in the centuries that succeeded the -establishment of Norman rule. The first Norman governor was Baldwin de -Redvers, whose grandson, another Baldwin, declared for Matilda when -civil war broke out between her party and Stephen’s. The citizens, on -the other hand, espoused the cause of the King, and were subjected to -all sorts of barbarities, until the approach of a vanguard of two -hundred horse compelled the retreat of the garrison into the castle. -After a three months’ siege, water failed, and the doughty defenders -were forced to yield. - -[Illustration - - _From a Photograph_] [_by Frith & Co._ - ROUGEMONT CASTLE, EXETER. - -] - -Edward I. held a parliament at Exeter, and his great-grandson, the -famous Black Prince, must have been well acquainted with the city, as he -passed through it more than once _en route_ to Plymouth, whence he -sailed to France on the glorious expedition which ended at Poictiers. -Its relations with the Black Prince reveal to us how much the county has -receded in practical importance since medieval times. Plymouth, indeed, -maintains her place: she is as great now, perhaps greater, than she was -then; and Dartmouth, charming Dartmouth, is still far from obscure. -Nevertheless, it is idle to claim for the ports of Devon as a class the -relative standing they once enjoyed, when, according to the _Libel of -English Policy_, Edward III., bent on suppressing the pirates of St. -Malo— - - did dewise - Of English towns three, that is to say, - Dartmouth, Plymouth, the third it is Fowey; - And gave them help and notable puissance - Upon pety Bretayne for to werre. - -And when Chaucer has to depict a typical mariner, he begins with the -words— - - A schipman was ther, wonyng far by weste; - For ought I woot, he was of Dertemouth. - -—obviously because of Dartmouth’s national reputation. Topsham, formerly -the port of Exeter, is a truly startling instance of decline, since as -late as the reign of William III. London alone exceeded it in the amount -of its trade with Newfoundland. On the other hand, Bideford never -possessed all the importance that Kingsley attributes to it, though -relatively of much greater consequence in ancient days than at present. -It is a curious fact that Ilfracombe, that popular watering-place, sent -six ships to the siege of Calais, as compared with Liverpool’s one, -Dartmouth contributing thirty-one, and Plymouth twenty-six. - -The Black Prince was the first Duke of Cornwall, and the stannaries or -tin-bearing districts of Devon and Cornwall, which in Saxon and Norman -times had been a royal demesne, passed to this valiant prince and his -successors. The old Crockern Tor Parliament would furnish material for a -fascinating chapter in the romance of history, but the present sketch is -necessarily too brief to admit of much discussion. Its regulations -certainly did not err on the side of leniency. “The punishment,” says -Mrs. Bray, “for him who in days of old brought bad tin to the market was -to have a certain quantity of it poured down his throat in a melted -state.” The most important event in the annals of Chagford, one of the -stannary towns, is the falling in of the market-house on Mr. Eveleigh, -the steward, and nine other persons, all of whom were killed. This sad -disaster, which occurred “presently after dinner,” is the subject of a -rare black-letter tract, entitled, _True Relation of the Accident at -Chagford in Devonshire_. - -Going back to the Wars of the Roses, the West of England for the most -part supported the Lancastrian cause. In 1469, Exeter was besieged for -twelve days by Sir William Courtenay, in the interest of Edward IV.; and -in the following year, Clarence and Warwick repaired to the city prior -to embarking at Dartmouth for Calais. When, however, Edward IV., seated -firmly on the throne, appeared in Exeter as _de facto_ sovereign of the -realm, the citizens, forgetting past grudges, provided such a welcome -for the monarch, his consort, and his infant son, that he presented the -Corporation with the sword of state still borne before the Mayor. The -city had given him a hundred nobles. Just twice that sum was the loyal -offering to Richard III. when, in 1483, he arrived at Exeter soon after -the Marquis of Dorset had proclaimed the Earl of Richmond King. A -gruesome incident marked his visit, for Richard, that best-hated of -English rulers, caused his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas St. Leger, to be -beheaded in the court-yard of the Castle. The name, Rougemont, jarred on -his superstitious nature, the reason being its similarity to Richmond. -The point is referred to by Shakespeare in the well-known play:— - - When last I was at Exeter - The Mayor in courtesy showed me the castle, - And called it Rougemont; at which name I started, - Because a bard of Ireland told me once - I should not live long after I saw Richmond. - -In 1497, that bold adventurer, Perkin Warbeck, claimed admission within -the walls, which, so far as the citizens were concerned, would have been -readily granted. The Earl of Devon and his son were less accommodating, -and, after Warbeck had set fire to the gates, succeeded in beating off -his attack. The pretender’s next appearance in the city, where the King -had taken up his quarters, was in the character of a prisoner. Henry’s -conduct towards his rebellious subjects was worthy of a great prince, -and affords a marked contrast to the brutality that characterized the -suppression of the next revolt and the still more notorious savagery of -“Kirke’s Lambs.” When brought before him, “bareheaded, in their shirts, -and halters round their necks,” he “graciously pardoned them, choosing -rather to wash his hands in milk by forgiving than in blood by -destroying them.” - -As is well known, the Reformation was not the popular event in England -that it was in Scotland, and the introduction of the Book of Common -Prayer in lieu of the Mass was the torch which, in 1549, set the western -shires—Cornwall, and Somerset, and Devon—in a blaze. The opposition, -started at Sampford Courtenay by a pair of simple villagers, soon came -to include leaders of the stamp of Sir Thomas Pomeroy and Sir Humphry -Arundel, who barricaded Crediton, the rendezvous of their party. The -interests of the Crown were befriended by Sir Peter and Sir Gawen Carew, -who, though utterly unscrupulous and barbarous in their methods of -warfare, failed to arrest the insurrection. Presently no fewer than ten -thousand rebels commenced the investment of Exeter. At this serious -juncture, the Lord Lieutenant of the county (Lord Russell) took the helm -of affairs, and ultimately raised the siege, the city in the meantime -being reduced to terrible straits through famine. But the rebels -suffered, too. In all, four thousand peasants fell in the Western -Rising. A dramatic episode was the execution of the Vicar of St. Thomas, -who was hanged in full canonicals on his church, where his corpse -remained suspended till the reign of Edward’s successor, when the Roman -Catholics regained, for a season, the upper hand. - -The geographical position of Devonshire suggests, what is also the fact, -that the county had a considerable share in the colonization of the -Western Hemisphere. The first port in Devon to send out ships to America -for the purpose of establishing settlements was Dartmouth. In this -enterprise, Humphry and Adrian Gilbert, who were half-brothers of Sir -Walter Raleigh, and whose seat, Greenway, was close to Dartmouth, took -the lead. The pioneer expedition, which took place in 1579, was -productive of no result; but in 1583, Humphry Gilbert seized -Newfoundland, the present inhabitants of which are largely of Devon -ancestry. This navigator, though brave and skilful, rests under an ugly -imputation which we must all hope is baseless. According to some, he -proposed to Queen Elizabeth the perfidious destruction of the foreign -fishing fleets which had long made the island their station. During his -homeward voyage Humphry was drowned, and the manner of his death is -depicted in an old ballad:— - - He sat upon the deck; - The book was in his hand. - “Do not fear; Heaven is as near - By water as by land.” - -Adrian Gilbert interested himself in the discovery of the North-West -Passage, but neither of the brothers did much more than secure for -Dartmouth a principal share in the Newfoundland trade, for many and many -a year one of the chief props of Devon commerce. - -Of far greater practical significance, as a centre of maritime -adventure, was Plymouth. Hence sprang William Hawkins, the first of his -nation to sail a ship in the Southern Seas. Hence sprang his more famous -son, Sir John Hawkins, the first Englishman that ever entered the Bay of -Mexico, and who spent the bribes of Philip of Spain in defensive -preparations against that tyrant’s fleet. Here was organized the -Plymouth Company founded for the colonization of North Virginia after -the failure of Sir Walter Raleigh (who, like Sir Humphry Gilbert, had -made Plymouth his base) to form a settlement. The efforts of the -Plymouth Company were at first not very felicitous, but in 1620 it -received a new charter, and although its schemes were absurdly -ambitious, and fell ludicrously short of realization, and although it -was administered for private ends rather than in a large spirit of -enlightened patriotism, still the mere existence of the company must -have tended to promote the flow of men and money to the new plantations -beyond the seas. - -In the Great Civil War, the towns generally were in favour of the -Parliament, but Exeter, on which city Elizabeth had conferred the proud -motto _Semper fidelis_, appears to have been Royalist in sympathy. As, -however, the Earl of Bedford, the Lord Lieutenant, held it for the -opposite party, it was besieged by Prince Maurice, to whom it -surrendered in September, 1643. In April, 1646, it was recovered by the -Roundheads, but ere this many interesting events had come to pass. In -May, 1644, Queen Henrietta Maria had arrived in the city, and there, on -June 16th, was born the Princess Henrietta Anne, afterwards Duchess of -Orleans. Just at this moment, the Earl of Essex made his appearance, and -the Queen was fain to escape alone, leaving her infant in the charge of -Lady Moreton and Sir John Berkeley, who arranged for her christening in -the font of Exeter Cathedral. Her portrait by Sir Peter Lely, which -adorns the Guildhall, was the gift of Charles II., who, in 1671, thus -testified his appreciation of the city’s good services. The donor -himself had been the guest of the Corporation in July, 1644, when his -royal father had received from the civic authorities a present of five -hundred pounds. - -Looking further afield, Devonshire was the theatre of many stirring -events in that fratricidal struggle. It was in 1642 that the High -Sheriff, Sir Edmund Fortescue, of Fallapit, at the instigation of Sir -Ralph Hopton, called out the _posse comitatus_, and so precipitated a -conflict. Sir Ralph himself, with the aid of Sir Nicholas Slanning, -assembled a force of some two or three thousand men, with which he -captured first Tavistock, and then Plympton, afterwards joining -Fortescue at Modbury, where a mixed army of trained bands and levies was -soon in being. The next proceeding was to have been an attack on -Plymouth, but Colonel Ruthven, the commandant of that town, sent out -five hundred horse, which, after a feint at Tavistock, dashed through -Ivybridge, and delivered a sudden assault on Modbury. In a moment all -was over. Exclaiming, “The troopers are come!” the trained bands fled in -confusion, while the rest of the army, who knew nothing about soldiering -and had no love for the cause, went after them, save for a few friends -of the Sheriff, who helped him to defend the mansion of Mr. -Champernowne. When this was fired, the movement collapsed, and the -Roundheads, who had lost but one man, effected a good haul of county -notabilities, including the High Sheriff, John Fortescue, Sir Edmund -Seymour, and his eldest son, Edmund Seymour, M.P., Colonel Henry -Champernowne, Arthur Basset, and Thomas Shipcote, the Clerk of the -Peace. About a score of these worthies of Devon were placed on board -ship at Dartmouth, and transported to London. - -This initial success of the Roundheads was soon qualified by reverses. -Ruthven, having marched into Cornwall, was encountered by Hopton at -Braddock Down, and sustained a crushing defeat. In February, 1643, -Hopton laid siege to Plymouth, but Fortune again veered, and the -Royalists were forced to retire in consequence of a second defeat at -Modbury. Attempts were made to bring about a _pax occidentalis_, by -which both parties were to forswear further participation in the -unnatural strife, but they proved abortive. Encouraged by the defeat of -the Earl of Stamford at Stratton, a Cornish army advanced northwards on -the disastrous march which resulted in the overthrow at Lansdown, near -Bath, and involved the loss of four leading Royalists—Sir Bevil -Grenville, Trevanion, Slanning, and Sidney Godolphin—the last of whom -fell in a miserable skirmish at Chagford. - -Later in the year, Prince Maurice exerted himself to reduce Plymouth, -but, although the Cavaliers fought well, the garrison, equally brave and -perhaps more pious, drove them back to the cry of “God with us!” Among -the besiegers was King Charles himself, but not even the presence of -royalty could alter the situation, and he and Maurice presently withdrew -from the scene of operations. The siege was not ended till the spring of -1645, in the January of which year Roundheads and Cavaliers occupied the -same relative positions as Britons and Boers in the memorable fight at -Wagon Hill. Even after this terrible repulse, the Cavaliers did not -quite abandon hope, and several small actions took place; but the advent -of Fairfax in 1646 led to a precipitate retreat, and the Cavalier -strongholds—Mount Edgecumbe and Ince House—gallantly defended -throughout, had to be given up. - -The last place in Devon to be held for King Charles was Salcombe Castle, -and the person who held it was the very Sir Edmund Fortescue who was -High Sheriff, in 1642, and, in that capacity, threw down the glove to -his opponents. The “Old Bulwarke” was not a promising fort, but it stood -a siege of four months, when the garrison were allowed to march out with -the honours of war. Among other articles of surrender, it was stipulated -that John Snell, Vicar of Thurlestone, who had acted as chaplain to the -garrison, should be allowed quiet possession of his parsonage. This -condition was not observed. However, Parson Snell was not forgotten -after the Reformation, as he was appointed Canon Residentiary of Exeter, -in which position he was succeeded by his sons. By the 7th of May, the -date of the surrender, the cause of King Charles was _in extremis_; and, -accordingly, Fort Charles, as Sir Edmund had re-named the castle, was -fully justified in capitulating. The key of the castle is said to be -still the treasured heirloom of the hero’s representative. - -Devon men took an active part in the Monmouth Rebellion; and, in common -with its neighbours, the county experienced the judicial atrocities of -the notorious Jeffreys. A “bloody assize” was opened at Exeter on -September 14th, 1685, when twenty-one rebels were sentenced, thirteen of -whom were executed. Thirteen more were fined and whipped, and one was -reprieved. A feature in this assize was the publication of 342 names, -all belonging to persons who were at large when the business closed. -These comparatively fortunate yeomen had escaped the search of the civil -and military powers, and were tenants of the open country, living in -copses and haystacks as best they might. - -However, vengeance was not long delayed. In 1688, the Prince of Orange -landed at Brixham, and marched to Exeter by way of Chudleigh. The -account of an eye-witness printed in the Harleian Miscellany gives the -impression that his entry into the city, as a spectacle, was somewhat -barbaric. The pageant included two hundred blacks from the plantations -of the Netherlands in America, with embroidered caps lined with white -fur, and crested with plumes of white feathers; and two hundred -Finlanders or Laplanders in bear-skins taken from the beasts they had -slain, with black armour and broad, flaming swords. The troops were -received with loud acclamations by the people at the west gate, and -their conduct was excellent. Meanwhile, the position of the authorities -was far from enviable. In vulgar parlance, they were in a “tight place,” -not knowing which way the wind would blow, and being desirous of -maintaining the reputation of the city for unswerving loyalty. The -Bishop and the Dean adopted the safe, if not too heroic, method of -flight, while the Mayor, with more dignity, commanded the west gate to -be closed, and declined to receive the Prince. The poor priest-vicars, -no less faithful at heart, were intimidated into omitting the prayer for -the Prince of Wales, and employing only one prayer for the King. On the -ninth, notice was sent to the canons, vicars-choral, and singing lads, -that the Prince would attend the service in the Cathedral at noon, and -they were ordered by Dr. Burnet to chant the _Te Deum_ when His Highness -entered the choir. This they did. The Prince occupied the Bishop’s -throne, surrounded by his great officers, and after the _Te Deum_, Dr. -Burnet, from a seat under the pulpit, read aloud His Highness’s -declaration. The party then returned to the Deanery, where William had -taken up his quarters. - -The Prince of Orange was in Exeter for three days before any of the -county gentry appeared in his support, and naturally the members of his -suite began to feel disconcerted. Presently, however, the gentlemen of -Devon rallied to his standard, and in compliance with a proposal of Sir -Edward Seymour, formed a general association for promoting his interest. -A notable arrival was Mr. Hugh Speke, who, it is said, had been -personally offered by King James the return of a fine of £5,000 if he -would atone for his support of Monmouth by acting as spy on the Prince -of Orange, and had bravely refused. The Mayor and Aldermen now thought -it high time to recognise the change in the situation and observe a -greater measure of respect towards one who, it seemed likely, would soon -be their lawful sovereign. The Dean, too, hastened home to give in his -adhesion to the Prince; and William left Exeter with the assurance that -the West Country, which could not forgive the Jacobite massacre, was -heart and soul with him, and that elsewhere the power of his despotic -father-in-law was rapidly crumbling. - -In a second letter, reproduced in the Harleian Miscellany, we are -informed that there had been “lately driven into Dartmouth, and since -taken, a French vessel loaded altogether with images and knives of a -very large proportion, in length nineteen inches, and in breadth two -inches and an half; what they were designed for, God only knows.” -Possibly for a purpose not wholly unlike that which inspired the -unpleasant visit of some of the same nation to Teignmouth in 1690, when -they fired the town. It appears that the county force had been drafted -to Torquay with the object of resisting a threatened landing from the -French fleet, which was anchored in the bay. Certain French galleys, -availing themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them, stole round -to Teignmouth, threw about two hundred great shot into the town, and -disembarked 1,700 men, who wrought immense damage in the place, already -deserted by its inhabitants. For three hours there was pillage, and then -over a hundred houses were burnt. A contemporary named Jordan, -recounting the circumstances, cannot restrain his righteous indignation. -“Moreover,” says he, “to add sacrilege to their robbery and violence, -they, in a barbarous manner, entered the two churches in the said town, -and in a most unchristian manner tore the Bibles and Common Prayer Books -in pieces, scattering the leaves thereof about the streets, broke down -the pulpits, overthrew the Communion tables, together also with many -other marks of a barbarous and enraged cruelty; and such goods and -merchandize as they could not or dare not stay to carry away, they -spoiled and destroyed, killing very many cattle and hogs, which they -left dead behind them in the streets.” This, the last, invasion of -Devonshire, cost the county £11,030, the amount at which the damage was -assessed, and which was raised by collections in the churches after the -reading of a brief. French Street, Teignmouth, conserves by its name the -memory of this heavy, but happily transient, disaster. - -With the seventeenth century ends the heroic period of Devonian history. -From that time it figures merely as a province sharing in the triumphs -and distresses of the country of which it forms part, but having no -special or distinctive record. The most exciting era was, without doubt, -the Napoleonic age, when the dread of a new French invasion was -terminated only by the glorious victory of Trafalgar. - -In conclusion, it may be mentioned that Sidmouth was the early home of -her late Majesty Queen Victoria. Her father, the Duke of Kent, died -there in 1820, and the west window of the church was erected as a -memorial of this son of George III., whose visit to Exeter in the -preceding century gave such delight to the county. - - THE EDITOR. - - - - - THE MYTH OF BRUTUS THE TROJAN. - - BY THE LATE R. N. WORTH, F.G.S., ETC. - - -Brutus, son of Sylvius, grandson of Æneas the Trojan, killed his father -while hunting, was expelled from Italy, and settled in Greece. Here the -scattered Trojans, to the number of seven thousand, besides women and -children, placed themselves under his command, and, led by him, defeated -the Grecian King Pandrasus. The terms of peace were hard. Pandrasus gave -Brutus his daughter, Ignoge, to wife, and provided 324 ships, laden with -all kinds of provisions, in which the Trojan host sailed away to seek -their fortune. An oracle of Diana directed them to an island in the -Western Sea, beyond Gaul, “by giants once possessed.” Voyaging amidst -perils, upon the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea they found four nations of -Trojan descent, under the rule of Corinæus, who afterwards became the -Cornish folk. Uniting their forces, the Trojans sailed to the Loire, -where they defeated the Gauls and ravaged Aquitaine with fire and sword. -Then Brutus - - “... Repaired to the fleet, and loading it with the riches and spoils - he had taken, set sail with a fair wind towards the promised island, - and arrived on the coast of Totnes. This island was then called - Albion, and was inhabited by none but a few giants. Notwithstanding - this, the pleasant situation of the places, the plenty of rivers - abounding with fish, and the engaging prospect of its woods, made - Brutus and his company very desirous to fix their habitation in it. - They therefore passed through all the provinces, forced the giants to - fly into the caves of the mountains, and divided the country among - them, according to the directions of their commander. After this they - began to till the ground and build houses, so that in a little time - the country looked like a place that had been long inhabited. At last - Brutus called the island after his own name, Britain, and his - companions Britons; for by these means he desired to perpetuate the - memory of his name; from whence afterwards the language of the nation, - which at first bore the name of Trojan or rough Greek, was called - British. But Corinæus, in imitation of his leader, called that part of - the island which fell to his share Corina, and his people Corineans, - after his name; and though he had his choice of the provinces before - all the rest, yet he preferred this county, which is now called in - Latin Cornubia, either from its being in the shape of a horn (in Latin - _Cornu_), or from the corruption of the same name. For it was a - diversion to him to encounter the said giants, which were in greater - numbers there than in all the other provinces that fell to the share - of his companions. Among the rest was one detestable monster called - Goemagot, in stature twelve cubits, and of such prodigious strength - that at one stroke he pulled up an oak as if it had been a hazel wand. - On a certain day, when Brutus was holding a solemn festival to the - gods in the port where they at first landed, this giant, with twenty - more of his companions, came in upon the Britons, among whom he made a - dreadful slaughter. But the Britons at last, assembling together in a - body, put them to the rout, and killed them every one, except - Goemagot. Brutus had given orders to have him preserved alive, out of - a desire to see a combat between him and Corinæus, who took a great - pleasure in such encounters. Corinæus, overjoyed at this, prepared - himself, and, throwing aside his arms, challenged him to wrestle with - him. At the beginning of the encounter, Corinæus and the giant, - standing front to front, held each other strongly in their arms, and - panted aloud for breath; but Goemagot presently grasping Corinæus with - all his might, broke three of his ribs, two on his right side and one - on his left; at which Corinæus, highly enraged, roused up his whole - strength, and snatching him upon his shoulder, ran with him, as fast - as the weight would allow him, to the next shore, and there getting - upon the top of a high rock, hurled down the savage monster into the - sea, where, falling on the sides of craggy rocks, he was torn to - pieces, and coloured the waves with his blood. The place where he - fell, taking its name from the giant’s fall, is called Lam Goemagot, - that is, Goemagot’s Leap, to this day.”[1] - ------ - -Footnote 1: - - _Geoffrey of Monmouth_, Giles’ Translation. - ------ - -Such, in its complete form, is the myth of Brutus the Trojan, as told by -Geoffrey of Monmouth, sometime Bishop of St. Asaph, who professed, and -probably with truth, to translate the British history of which it forms -a part from “a very ancient book in the British tongue,” given to him by -Walter Mapes, by whom it had been brought from Brittany. Geoffrey wrote -in the earlier part of the twelfth century, and he does not indicate -with more precision than the use of the term “very ancient” the date of -his original. - -If, however, we are to accept the writings of Nennius as they have been -handed down as substantially of the date assigned to them by the -author—the middle of the ninth century—the legend of Brutus, though not -in the full dimensions of the Geoffreian myth, was current at least a -thousand years ago; and in two forms. In one account, Nennius states -that our island derives its name from Brutus, a Roman consul, grandson -of Æneas, who shot his father with an arrow, and, being expelled from -Italy, after sundry wanderings settled in Britain—a statement that -agrees fairly well with that of Geoffrey. In the other account, which -Nennius says he had learned from the ancient books of his ancestors, -Brutus, though still through Rhea Silvia, his great-grandmother, of -Trojan descent, was grandson of Alanus, the first man who dwelt in -Europe, twelfth in descent from Japhet in his Trojan genealogy, and -twentieth on the side of his great-grandfather, Fethuir. Alanus is a -kind of European Noah, with three sons—Hisicion, Armenon, and Neugio; -and all his grandsons are reputed to have founded nations—Francus, -Romanus, Alamanus, Brutus, Gothus, Valagothus, Cibidus, Burgundus, -Longobardus, Vandalus, Saxo, Boganus. He is wholly mythical. - -Brutus here does not stand alone. He falls into place as part of a -patriarchal tradition, assigning to each of the leading peoples of -Europe an ancestor who had left them the heritage of his name. This one -fact, to my mind, removes all suspicion of the genuineness of these -passages of Nennius, which have been sometimes regarded as -interpolations. With Geoffrey not only is the story greatly amplified, -but it is detached from its relations, and is no longer part of what may -fairly be called one organic whole. Nennius, therefore, gives us an -earlier form of the myth than Geoffrey. I think, too, that the essential -distinctions of the two accounts render it clear that the ancient -authorities of Nennius and Geoffrey are not identical, from which we may -infer that the original tradition is of far older date than either of -these early recorders. - -But we may go still further. Whether the legend of Brutus is still -extant in an Armoric form, I am not aware, but it appears in Welsh MSS. -of an early date; the “Brut Tysilio” and the “Brut Gr. ab Arthur” being -important. It has been questioned whether, in effect, these are not -translations of Geoffrey; but there seems no more reason for assuming -this than for disbelieving the direct statement of Geoffrey himself, -that he obtained his materials from a Breton source. Bretons, Welsh, and -Cornish are not only kindred in blood and tongue, but, up to the time -when the continuity of their later national or tribal life was rudely -shattered, had a common history and tradition, which became the general -heritage. If the story of Brutus has any relation to the early career of -the British folk, we should expect to discover traces of the legend -wherever the Britons found their way. If this suggestion be correct, if -Geoffrey drew from Armoric sources, and if the “Brut Tysilio,” which is -generally regarded as the oldest of the Welsh chronicles, represents an -independent stream, the myth must be dated back far beyond even Nennius, -as the common property of the Western Britons, ere, in the early part of -the seventh century, the successes of the Saxons hemmed one section into -Wales, another into Cornwall, and drove a third portion into exile with -their kindred in Armorica. There is, consequently, good reason to -believe that the tradition is as old as any other portion of our -earliest recorded history or quasi-history, and covers, at least, the -whole of our historical period. - -The narrative of Geoffrey does not give the myth in quite its fullest -shape. For that we have to turn to local sources. Tradition has long -connected the landing of Brutus with the good town of Totnes; the combat -between Corinæus and Goemagot with Plymouth Hoe. Like the bricks in the -chimney called in to witness to the noble ancestry of Cade, has not -Totnes its “Brutus stone”? And did not Plymouth have its “Goemagot”? - -The whole history of the “Brutus stone” appears to be traditional, if -not recent. My friend, Mr. Edward Windeatt, informs me that it is not -mentioned anywhere in the records of the ancient borough of Totnes. I -fail to find any trace of it in the pages of our local chroniclers, -beyond the statement of Prince (_Worthies_) that “there is yet remaining -towards the lower end of the town of Totnes a certain rock called -Brute’s Stone, which tradition here more pleasantly than positively says -is that on which Brute first set his foot when he came ashore.” The good -people of Totnes, so it is said, have had it handed down to them by -their fathers from a time beyond the memory of man, that Brutus, when he -sailed up the Dart, which must consequently have been a river of notable -pretensions, stepped ashore upon this stone, and exclaimed, with regal -facility of evil rhyme:— - - “Here I stand, and here I rest, - And this place shall be called Totnes!” - -Why the name should be appropriate to the circumstances, we might vainly -strive to guess, did not Westcote and Risdon inform us that it was -intended to represent _Tout à l’aise_! We need not be ashamed of -adopting their incredulity, and of doubting with them whether Brutus -spoke such good French, or, indeed, whether French was then spoken at -all. - -The stone itself affords no aid. All mystery departed when it was -recently lifted in the course of pavemental repairs, and found to be a -boulder of no great dimensions, with a very modern-looking bone lying -below. However, it is the “Brutus stone,” and I dare say will long be -the object of a certain amount of popular faith.[2] - ------ - -Footnote 2: - - An old inhabitant of Totnes, named John Newland, states that he and - his father removed this stone from a well which they were digging - about sixty years ago, and deposited it in its present position. The - stone is precisely such a boulder as occurs in large numbers in the - deposit left by the Dart on the further margin of the alluvial flat or - “strath” at Totnes, and which is cut through by the tramroad to the - quay, near the railway station. Popular opinion is in favour of the - authenticity of the stone, but it can hardly have been the “rock” - referred to by Prince, already cited, “towards the lower end of the - town”; and for my own part, I am inclined to regard it as the “modern - antique” Newland’s account would make it, to which the old tradition - has been transferred. Moreover, there is yet current a local tradition - that Brutus landed at Warland. If this is not held to dispose of the - present “Brutus stone,” it certainly indicates an important divergence - of authorities. - ------ - -But, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth himself, Totnes town could not -have been intended by him as the scene of the landing of Brutus. It was -when Brutus was “holding a solemn festival to the gods, in the port -where they had at first landed,” that he and his followers were attacked -by Goemagot and his party. There it was that Goemagot and Corinæus had -that famous wrestling bout, which ended in Corinæus running with his -gigantic foe to the next shore, and throwing him off a rock into the -sea. There is no sea at Totnes, no tall craggy cliff; and for Corinæus -to have run with his burden from Totnes to the nearest point of Start or -Tor Bay would have been a feat worthy even of a Hercules. - -We are not surprised to find, therefore, that Totnes has her -rivals—Dover, set up by the Kentish folk, and Plymouth,[3] each claiming -to be the scene of the combat between Corinæus and Goemagot, and -claiming, therefore, incidentally, also to be the port in which Brutus -landed. I do not know that we can trace either tradition very far into -antiquity. They do not occur in the chronicles, where, indeed, the very -name of Plymouth is unknown. The earliest reference to that locality has -been generally regarded as the Saxon Tamarworth. I am not at all sure, -however, that Plymouth is not intended by Geoffrey’s “Hamo’s Port,” -which he assumes to be Southampton. Geoffrey, indeed, says that -Southampton obtained the “ham” in its name from a crafty Roman named -Hamo, killed there by Arviragus; but if the identification is no better -than the etymology, we may dismiss it altogether. On the other hand, the -name of the estuary of the Tamar is still the Hamoaze—a curious -coincidence, if it goes no further. There is nothing in the story of -Hamo itself to indicate Southampton or preclude Plymouth; only a few -references to Hamo’s Port occur in Geoffrey. One of these, where Belinas -is described as making a highway “over the breadth of the kingdom” from -Menevia to Hamo’s Port, may rather seem to point to Southampton; but -there is no positive identification, even if we assume the story to be -true. Again, “Maximian the senator,” when invited into Britain by -Caradoc, Duke of Cornwall, to be King of Britain, lands at Hamo’s Port; -and here the inference would rather be that it was on Cornish territory. -And so when Hoel sent 15,000 Armoricans to the help of Arthur, it was at -Hamo’s Port they landed. It was from Hamo’s Port that Arthur is said to -have set sail on his expedition against the Romans—a fabulous story, -indeed, but still helping to indicate the commodiousness and importance -of the harbour intended. It was at Hamo’s Port that Brian, nephew of -Cadwalla, landed on his mission to kill the magician of Edwin the King, -who dwelt at York, lest this magician might inform Edwin of Cadwalla’s -coming to the relief of the British. After he had killed Pellitus, Brian -called the Britons together at Exeter; and it would be fair to infer -that the place where he landed was likely to be one where the Britons -had some strength. Here, again, whatever we may make of the history, it -is Hamo’s Port that is the fitting centre of national life; and it is -the Hamoaze that best suits the reference. - ------ - -Footnote 3: - - Bridport also, on the ground of its etymology, Brute-port (!). - ------ - -This legend of Brute the Trojan was firmly believed in, and associated -with these Western shores, by the leading intellects of the Elizabethan -day. Spenser refers to it in his:— - - That well can witness yet unto this day - The Western Hogh besprinkled with the Gore - Of mighty Goemot. - -Drayton verifies the legend in his _Polyolbion_, and tells us how— - - Upon that loftie place at Plimmouth, call’d the Hoe, - Those mightie Wrastlers met; - -and how that Gogmagog was by Corin— - - Pitcht head-long from the hill; as when a man doth throw - An Axtree that with sleight deliurd from the Foe - Roots up the yeelding earth, so that his violent fall, - Strooke Neptune with such strength, as shouldred him withall; - That where the monstrous waues like mountaines late did stand, - They leapt out of the place, and left the bared sand - To gaze vpon wide heauen. - -And this article of faith had then long been popular. Carew, in his -_Survey of Cornwall_, says: “Moreover, vpon the Hawe at Plymmouth, there -is cut out in ground the pourtrayture of two men, the one bigger, the -one lesser, with clubbes in their hands (whom they terme Gogmagog), and -(as I have learned) it is renewed by order of the Townesmen when cause -requireth, which should inferre the same to be a monument of some -moment.” Westcote, writing some half a century later, states of the -Hoe—“in the side whereof is cut the portraiture of two men of the -largest volume, yet the one surpassing the other every way; these they -name to be Corinæus and Gogmagog.” And there these figures remained -until the Citadel was built in 1671—a remarkable witness of the local -belief that Plymouth had played a prominent part in the affairs of -Brutus and his fellows. - -We know when these figures ceased to be. Can we form any idea as to when -they originated? Their earliest extant mention occurs in the Receiver’s -Accounts of the borough of Plymouth, under date 1494–5:— - - It. paid to Cotewyll for y^e renewying of y^e pyctur of Gogmagog a pon - y^e howe. vij^{d.} - -Previous to this date there only remain complete accounts of two -years—those for 1493–4 and those for 1486—with a few fragmentary -entries; and as the Gogmagog did not come to be “renewed” every year, -there are no conclusions to be drawn from the absence of earlier -notices. The next entry is in 1500–1, when 8_d._ was paid for “makying -clene of gogmagog.” In 1514–15, John Lucas, sergeant, had the like sum -for “cuttyng of Gogmagog”; and in the following year we read of its “new -dyggyng.” In 1526–7, the entry runs: “Itm p^{d.} for Clensying and -ryddyng of gogmagog a pon ye howe viij^{d.}”; and about this time it was -renewed almost yearly. In 1541–2, the entry is: “Itm p^{d.} to William -Hawkyns, baker (evidently to distinguish him from William Hawkyns, -father of Sir John), for cuttynge of Gogmagog the pycture of the Gyaunt -at hawe viij.” In 1566–7, the price had gone up to twenty pence. -Probably this ancient monument had been neglected for some years before -the last vestiges disappeared in 1671. It is not likely to have been -renewed under the Commonwealth, nor do I think it was revived under the -Restoration. It is noteworthy that the official entries apparently refer -to one figure only, though we know from Carew and Westcote that there -were two. Fourpence a day was about an average wage for labourers at -Plymouth in the opening years of the sixteenth century, so that the -“pyctur” probably took about two days to cleanse, and therefore must, -indeed, have been of gigantic dimensions. - -Some years ago I threw out the suggestion that as Geoffrey made no -allusion to these figures, “it must be assumed either that he did not -know of their existence, or that they did not then exist.” Believing the -latter the more reasonable conclusion, I suggested, further, “that they -were first cut in the latter half of the twelfth century, soon after -Geoffrey’s chronicle became current, or not long subsequently; unless, -as is possible, they had a different origin, and were associated with -the wrestling story in later days.” Finally, I put forward the -hypothesis, “that the legend, in the first place, did refer to something -that occurred in the fifth century at or near the Hoe, and with which -the Armorican allies, whom Ambrosius called to his aid about the year -438, were associated; that the Armoricans, on their return to Brittany, -between the fifth and twelfth centuries, under the mingled influence of -half-understood classical history and of religious sentiment working -through the romantic mind, it developed into the full-blown myth of -Brutus the Trojan; and that when it returned to England, and was made -known under the auspices of Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Plymouthians of -that day, to perpetuate the memory of what they undoubtedly believed to -be sterling fact, cut the figures of the two champions on the greensward -of the Hoe.” - -I am not inclined now to adopt this hypothesis so broadly as it was then -suggested. Probably the story did take shape in Brittany in some such -fashion, but I now believe we must look far beyond the fifth century for -its origin. There seems, however, little reason to doubt that the -“Brutus stone” of Totnes and the Gogmagog of Plymouth originated, like -the Gog and Magog of London City, in the popularity of Geoffrey’s book. -The name, of course, linked Totnes with the legend, but we have -absolutely no knowledge whatever of the reason why Plymouth (any more -than Dover) came into the story. Dover, indeed, has no case -what-ever—not even a “Gogmagog.” - -What, then, are the claims of Totnes? - -Now, as to Totnes, it is important, in the first place, to observe that -in all the early works, Totnes is generally alluded to as the name of a -district, and not of a town. For example, in the story of Brutus, as -given by Geoffrey of Monmouth, his hero “set sail with a fair wind -towards the promised island, and arrived on the coast of Totnes.” -Nennius does not mention any place of debarkation. Geoffrey makes -Vespasian arrive at the shore of Totnes, and, in quoting Merlin’s -prophecy to Vortigern concerning his own fate, says of the threatened -invasion of Aurelius Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon, “to-morrow they will -be on the shore of Totnes.” Later in the same chronicle, the Saxons whom -Arthur had allowed to depart “tacked about again towards Britain, and -went on shore at Totnes.” Though the town seems rather to be indicated -here, it is not necessarily so. - -However, it is certain that we are to understand the landing to have -taken place somewhere upon the south coast, for the invaders made an -“utter devastation of the country as far as the Severn sea.” Constantine -is said to have landed at the port of Totnes, which again may mean a -place so called, or the principal harbour of a district of that name. It -is clear, then, all things considered, that we are not dealing in these -older chronicles with the present Totnes, great as is its antiquity, -though the “Brut Tysilio” does go so far as to specify the place of -Constantine’s landing as “Totnais in Loegria.” - -Now, Mr. T. Kerslake, of Bristol, who has applied himself with singular -acumen to the unravelling of sundry knotty points of our ancient -history, is inclined to hold that the Totnes of the chronicles was a -distinct place, and he has pointed out that the Welsh chronicles contain -“early forms of the names of this favourite British port that has got to -be thus confounded with Totnes.” In the “Brut Tysilio,” for example, the -place of the landing of Brutus is called “Talnas” (at least, this is the -printed form given in the Myvyvian Archæology); “Brut Gr. ab. Arthur” -reads “Totonys”; and in a third, the “Hafod Chronicle,” we have -“Twtneis.” Mr. Kerslake, therefore, treats “Talnas” as the earliest form -of the word, and thereon builds the hypothesis that “the name given by -the British writers to their port would resolve itself into ‘’t-aln-as’ -and if Christchurch Haven should be conceded to be Ptolemy’s estuary of -Alaunus, it would also be the port called by the Britons ‘Aln’ or -‘’t-Aln-as,’ from which Vespasian advanced up to Alauna Sylva, or Caer -Pensauelcoit—the City in the Head of the High Wood.” - -There can be little doubt, I think, that Mr. Kerslake is right in -regarding Penselwood as the site of Caer Pensauelcoit, given as Exeter -by Geoffrey of Monmouth, not apparently on the authority of his British -original, but, as in other cases, for his own gloss; and thenceforward -cherished most fondly as one of the worthiest memories of the -“ever-faithful” city by its chief men and antiquaries. If it was at -Totnes town, or in Torbay, into which some critics have expanded the -idea of the “Totonesium littus,” that Vespasian landed immediately -before his siege of “Kairpen-Huelgoit,” then there is considerable force -in Geoffrey’s comment, “quæ Exonia vocatur.” If Penselwood, on the -borders of Somerset, Dorset, and Wilts, were this “Primæval British -Metropolis,” then we must give up the idea that Vespasian landed at -Totnes town, or anywhere in its vicinity. However, it by no means -follows that there was such a place as Totnes in the Talnas sense, as -localised by Mr. Kerslake. Talnas is the single exception, so far as I -am aware, to an otherwise general concord of agreement in favour of -Totnes, at a date when Totnes town had not yet risen into such -prominence as to justify or explain its appropriation of this tradition. -The general sense of the language used when Totnes and the Totnes shore -are mentioned, lead me, as I have already said, to the conclusion that -it was rather the name of a district than of a town or port; and it was -evidently understood in this sense by Higden, who in his Chronicle -quotes the length of Britain as 800 miles,“a totonesie litore,” rendered -by Trevisa, “frome the clyf of Totonesse,” which I take to be only -another form of expression for the Land’s End. - -My suggestion is that what we may call the Older Totnes is really the -ancient name for the south-western promontory of England, and perhaps -may once have been a name for Britain itself, in which case we can -understand somewhat of the motive which led early etymologists to derive -Britain from Brute or Brutus. The myth may be so far true that an elder -name was supplanted by that which has survived, and that it lingered -latest in this western promontory, perhaps as a name for the district -occupied by the Kornu-British kingdom in its more extended form. Whether -the modern Totnes is nominally the successor of the ancient title, the -narrow area into which this vestige of far antiquity had shrunk, may be -doubtful; for the name is as capable of Teutonic derivation as of -Keltic. In my _Notes on the Historical Connections of Devonshire -Place-names_, I pointed out that a Saxon derivation that “would fit -Totnes town quite as well as any other would be from ‘Tot,’ an -‘enclosure,’ and ‘ey,’ an ‘island’—Totaneys, allied to Tottenham, and -associated with the island by the bridge, one of the Dart’s most notable -features.” For the original Totnes I suggested: “Perhaps instead of -‘ness,’ a ‘headland’ (Scandinavian), we should read ‘enys,’ an ‘island,’ -and Tot may be equivalent to the Dod or Dodi, which we have in the Dod -of the well-known Cornish headland, the Dodman.... Then we may read -Toteneys the ‘projecting or prominent island’; or, if ‘Dod’ is read as -‘rocky,’ the ‘rocky island.’” I am satisfied that it is somewhere in -this direction we have to look for the origin of the name, which would -seem, however, to be corrupted from its earliest form when we first -light upon it, and which may, indeed, be a relic of the giant race whom -the followers of Brutus extirpated. - -The last sentence may sound somewhat strange, but my enquiries into this -curious story have led me to attach more importance to it than at first -sight it seemed to deserve. Stripped of the dress in which it was decked -out by Geoffrey, improving on his predecessors; deprived of its false -lustre of classicism; cleared from the religious associations of a later -day—this myth of Brutus the Trojan loses its personality, but becomes -the traditionary record of the earliest invasion of this land by an -historic people, who, in their assumed superiority, dubbed the less -cultivated possessors of the soil whose rights they invaded “giants,” -and extirpated them as speedily as they knew how. - -Moreover, though Totnes town has to surrender its mythical hero, it -preserves a record of an elder name for this England of ours than either -the Britain of the later Kelts or the Albion of the Romans; and if that -name be indeed a survival from these early times, makes certain what the -general aspect of the story renders highly probable—that it was into -this corner of Britain the pre-Keltic or Iberic inhabitants of our -island first entered, and that it was here their rude predecessors—who -to the diminutive Turanians might indeed appear as “giants”—made their -final stand, just as in later days the non-Aryan invaders had to fly -before the Kelt, and the Kelt in turn before the Saxon, until the -corners of the island became the refuge not only of a gallant, but of a -mingled race, with one language, one faith, and a common tradition. - -Thus much, indeed, I think we may safely infer from the local -associations of the story, supported as that inference is by the yet -current traditions of the giant enemies of the Cornish folk. - - - - - THE ROYAL COURTENAYS. - BY H. M. IMBERT-TERRY, F.R.L.S. - - -When in that incomparable romance, _Les Trois Mousquetaires_, the source -and parent of every historical novel of to-day, the author, Alexandre -Dumas, wished to impute to the leader of his trinity of heroes the -possession of a high and exalted chivalry, he called him Athos. - -Probably the intention was to institute a comparison between the lofty -attributes of the character and the altitude of the celebrated Greek -mountain. Possibly, however, the talented Frenchman may have bestowed -this title on the chief personage of his story because he, the author, -conceived that no more fitting designation could be given to the -embodiment of distinguished and aristocratic qualities than the actual -name borne by the founder of one of the most illustrious families that -has adorned the brilliant roll of French nobility, has given Emperors to -the East, and subsequently established in this land of Devon a noble -house which is inseparably connected with the traditions and history of -the county. - -In the continuation of Aimon’s _History of France_, an ancient chronicle -of the thirteenth century, it is stated that the Châtelain of Chateau -Renard had a son, named Athos, who rendered himself famous by his deeds -of daring, and, in the reign of King Robert of France—A.D. -1020—fortified the town of Courtenay. - -[Illustration: - - Okehampton Castle, 1734.</sc> - (_From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck_) -] - -Transcription: _This Castle, was built by Baldwin de Bronys, & was at -first call’d Ochementon; it descended to Rich. de Rivers or Riparus, & -from him to his Sister Adeliza, who marrying one of the Courtenays, it -came into that Noble family, & so continued til K.E.IV. seized it, for -their adherence to the Hous^e of Lancaster. K.H. VII. restord it to the -Courtenays, but K.H.VIII. again alienated it & dismantled the Castle & -Park, yet Ed. Courtenay in Q. Marys Reign obtain’d a Restoration, but he -dying without Issue Male, it came by a female into the Mohuns Barons of -Mohun & Oakhampton, & by the like failure of y^e male it came by -marriage to Christopher Harris of Heynes Esq^r._ - - _S. & N. Buck, delinm et Sculp. 1734._ - -From this castle, situated on a hill in the rich and wooded country -which stretches over that district anciently called L’Isle de France, -the descendants of Athos took their title. The name of his wife, the -mother of the race, is nowhere recorded, although Bouchet, the historian -of the French branch of the Courtenay family, states that she was “une -dame de condition”; and the truth of this statement is verified by the -fact that in those days, when the prerogatives of birth were universally -acknowledged, her progeny were considered fitting mates for the noblest -in the kingdom. - -Jocelyn de Courtenay, the son of Athos and his unnamed wife, married -twice: first, in the year 1060, Hildegarde, daughter of Geoffrey de -Ferole, Comte de Gastinois; second, Elizabeth, daughter of Guy, Seigneur -de Montlehery, by whom he had three sons—Milo, Jocelyn, and Geoffry. - -At this period of history, the countries of Europe were undergoing one -of those strange religious convulsions which frequently occurred in the -Middle Ages. The passionate pilgrimage of Peter the Hermit drew motley -crowds of so-called Christians to the Holy Land. Wherever the small, -mean monk of Picardy, seated on his ass, “pusillus, persona -contemptibilis et sponte fluens ei non deerat eloquium,” as William of -Tyre describes him, preached the holiness of the Cause and the shame to -Christendom that the Sepulchre of the Saviour should remain in infidel -hands, his earnestness and enthusiasm, if not his eloquence, made -thousands of fervid converts. - -In those days of lawlessness and violence, few men of rank but had the -stain of blood-guiltiness upon their souls. The richer hoped to buy -salvation and release from their wrongdoings by founding abbeys and -bestowing, out of their abundance, generous grants of land to maintain -the same; the poorer went pilgrimages, and purchased the promise of as -much future happiness as their possessions would afford. - -But to the fighting noble of the day, whatever means he may already have -taken to obtain the pardon of the Church, the call to arms by Pope Urban -for the defence of the Holy Land, proclaimed, as it was, with all the -authority of the Head of Christendom, endowed with all the plenitude of -Papal indulgence, necessarily possessed a special attraction, for it -promised him not only remission of his sins, but also the hope that the -remission would be gained by exercising those very same deeds of -violence and rapine, the commission of which in his daily life had -probably brought him to believe that eternal punishment was his just -doom. - -Small wonder, therefore, that knights and nobles in large numbers -endeavoured thus to gain everlasting advantages. Among the French -nobility who passed over to La Terre Sainte, Jocelyn II. de Courtenay is -numbered. - -The principality of Edessa, a province so situated as not only to be -divided by the Euphrates, but by its position specially exposed to -enemies who surrounded it on all sides, was then held by Baldwin de -Bruges, a renowned knight, cousin to Godfrey de Bouillon. Baldwin’s -mother and the wife of Jocelyn, son of Athos, were sisters, their -children consequently being cousins. - -According to the Archbishop of Tyre, the elder warrior gladly welcomed -his young kinsman, yielding to his charge those territories which lay -farthest from the enemy, but retaining under his personal supervision -the frontier, on which largely depended the safety of the Christian -dominions. - -Blessed with all the advantages a good administration can bestow, and -protected from an unwearying enemy, to a certain extent, by the river, -the country ruled by Jocelyn de Courtenay acquired such prosperity and -opulence as to excite the envy of the neighbouring Christian Princes. -Indeed, as all chroniclers show, when the overpowering personality of -Godfrey de Bouillon was withdrawn, the promiscuous host which he led, -rent by great diversity of interests, composed of many nations, lost the -little cohesion it had once possessed, and rapidly fell apart. - -Baldwin succeeding to the throne of Jerusalem, his cousin held undivided -sway over the whole province. For thirty years did the gallant Frenchman -defend his domains against the ever-returning infidel hordes, with -varying success—at times a conqueror, at times a captive, dying in a -manner befitting his life, for in his old age, weak with sickness, -broken with wounds, he caused himself to be carried before his troops as -he led them to succour their fellow-countrymen besieged by the Sultan of -Iconium. - -On his advance, the terror his prowess inspired sufficed to force the -enemy to retire, news of which reaching the ears of the dying warrior, -he gave thanks to God that the last moments of his life should be -illumined with victory, and then immediately expired. - -He was succeeded by Jocelyn, third of the name, the only son of his -first wife, a sister of Levon, an Armenian notable. - -It is to be suspected that the wisdom, energy, and endurance which so -strongly characterized the father, and by which the little state, -threatened with innumerable enemies, could alone be preserved, were, to -some extent, deficient in the son, the deterioration probably being -caused by the mixture of Asiatic blood in his veins. - -In all contemporary records, the Pullani or Poulaines, progeny of Frank -Crusaders and Syrian mothers, are spoken of with contempt and disdain, -and although no lack of valour or even military qualities can be -attributed to Jocelyn II., yet it is plain that the Eastern strain in -his descent rendered him unduly disposed towards the seductions of a -luxurious life; leading him to prefer the pleasures and ease of -residence in the agreeable city of Turbessel to the constant care and -hardships inseparable from an habitation in his fortified capital, -Edessa. - -This lack of vigilance on his own part naturally re-acted on his -subordinates, and led, as a logical consequence, to a serious diminution -in the military spirit and power of the country. In addition, an -embittered feud with Raynald, Prince of Antioch, deprived him of the -only ally who could, if well disposed, afford prompt and efficient aid. - -Therefore, when Zenghi, or Sanguine, as the name has been corrupted by -the Latin writers, leader of the Atabeks, with a vast host invaded the -city of Edessa, it fell into his hands before either the ruler or the -neighbouring Christian Princes were prepared to march to its assistance. - -Defeated so often as to be without the means of efficient resistance to -the powerful invader, Jocelyn himself before long became the prisoner of -some wandering hordes. Carried a captive to Aleppo, he soon died, -crushed by the misery of his position and the unwholesomeness of his -surroundings, leaving one son, called by the same name as himself, and -two daughters. - -Beatrice, his widow, for a while, with ability and courage, defended -Turbessel against the attacks of Zenghi’s successor, Noureddin, but -receiving inadequate support from the King of Jerusalem, she yielded the -task of holding the country to the effeminate Greeks, and they proving -incapable of the effort, the whole province, which from the time of the -Apostles had been the home and refuge of Christianity in the East, was -irretrievably overrun by the infidel. - -Jocelyn III., with his mother and sister, took refuge in Jerusalem, -where, for more than twenty years, he led the existence inseparable from -the lot of those who supported the waning dominion of the Christians—one -constant struggle, not for supremacy, but for life. His fate is unknown: -history has no record of him after the siege of Jerusalem, so it may -well be surmised that he shared the fate of the slain when the Holy City -fell to the assault of the great Sultan Saladin. - -Two daughters were the sole descendants of Jocelyn; consequently, with -him ended the House of the Courtenays of Edessa. - -But while one branch of the parent stem had thus died off in less than -ninety years, the family tree itself flourished exceedingly, giving -great promise of that luxuriance which, in after generations, blossomed -into Royal magnificence. - -The fall of Edessa, the bulwark of Christianity in the East, caused the -Second Crusade. Again in the roll of those who took the Cross is to be -found the name of Courtenay, for among the followers of King Louis le -Jeune were numbered William and Reginald of that name, and also Peter de -France, the King’s brother. - -When Jocelyn of Edessa, together with his younger brother, Geoffrey -Courtenay, surnamed de Chapalu, sailed, in the year 1101, for La Terre -Sainte, the eldest son of the house, Milo de Courtenay, remained in -France, succeeding, on the death of his father, to the family domains. -He married Ermengarde, daughter of Renaud, Comte de Nevers, and by her -had three sons—William, Reginald, and Jocelyn. Of the last, nothing is -known but the name. William, who as aforesaid took part in the Crusade, -died in the Holy Land, leaving, on the extinction of the Counts of -Edessa and the death of Geoffrey de Chapalu, his uncle, Reginald, his -younger brother, sole heir to the name and possessions of his -forefathers. - -In those days, when transit was difficult and the social barriers -between the noble and the roturier almost insurmountable, it was the -custom, well known to all who plunge into the intricacies of French -genealogy, and reasonable enough, considering the circumstances of the -times, for the males of a family of rank to marry, hardly without -exception, the daughters of their neighbours of like degree. - -Life was a very precarious commodity to a man of the eleventh and -twelfth centuries. He lived in an atmosphere of continuous warfare, and -if by nature, mental or physical, he was disinclined for this turbulent -existence, the only refuge open to him lay in the celibate seclusion of -the cloister. It frequently occurred, therefore, that females inherited -paternal estates. - -To this cause may well be attributed the fact that the possessions of -the Courtenays had become largely augmented, for Reginald is described -as Seigneur of Montargis, Chateau Renard, Champignelle, Tanlay, Charny, -Chantecoq, and several other seigneuries, all situated in the Pays de -Gastinois and the country round Sens, many of which, in the time of his -progenitors, were unmistakably the property of neighbouring families. - -The possession of great wealth, at all periods of the world’s history, -has been held as a claim to consideration; and when such opulence is -combined with high rank and birth, the fortunate owner may well cherish -lofty ambitions. - -In the early part of what we call the Middle Ages, the coat armour borne -by a warrior surely denoted his lineage and descent, for, unless assumed -for purposes of disguise, heraldic insignia were used as a means of -showing to which family an individual belonged—not, as now-a-days, to -which family an individual wishes the world to think he belongs. - -In addition to those claims to nobility which are known to be possessed -by Athos, the fact is also acknowledged that he and his descendants used -the arms attributed to the ancient counts of Boulogne—three torteaux or, -on a field gules—arms which were undoubtedly borne by Eustace de -Bouillon, when he and his illustrious brother Godfrey journeyed on the -Crusade. - -It may, therefore, well be believed that the ancestors of the Courtenays -came from the same stock as the even more ancient house of Boulogne; and -it is easy to understand that the only daughter and heir female of -Reginald de Courtenay was considered a fitting mate for Peter de France, -seventh son of King Louis le Gros. - -Indeed, the relations between the Crown and the great nobles of the -kingdom rested far more on a basis of equality than the pretensions of -the monarch cared to allow. - -Sismondi declares that the real domains of Louis VI. consisted only of -five towns, including Paris and Orleans, together with estates, probably -large, in the immediate vicinity; the remainder of the country being -divided among the great nobles, some of whom possessed equal, if not -more, extensive territories than their titular Sovereigns. - -The young Prince Peter having but little estate left him by his father, -and no title—for he is always styled the “King’s son” or “the King’s -brother”—took to himself the name of Courtenay, and from him and his -wife, Elizabeth, sprung that branch of the family which flourished in -France for more than six hundred years. Five sons and six daughters -issued from this union, the eldest daughter, Alix, marrying, as her -second husband, Aimar, Comte d’Angouleme, by whom she had one daughter, -Elizabeth, who, in her turn, became the wife of John, and the mother of -Henry III., both Kings of England. - -That portion of the Eastern Empire which, having been conquered by the -Latin knights errant remained in their power, for twelve years had been -ruled by Baldwin of Flanders and his brother, Henry, a wise and politic -prince, upon whose death, in 1217, the male line of the House of -Flanders became extinct. - -From respect to the laws of succession, the crown was thereupon offered -to Peter de Courtenay, son of Elizabeth de Courtenay and Peter of -France, who had married Yolande, daughter of the Count of Hainault, and -sister to both the late Emperors, Baldwin and Henry. The proffered -honour, doubtless, was great, yet the accession to the Imperial purple -proved the precursor of heavy calamities to the unfortunate Emperor and -his descendants. Peter de Courtenay, it is true, bore the reputation of -a valorous knight and a courageous warrior. He served with distinction -in the Crusade against the Albigenses, prompted, perhaps, by a desire to -merit the forgiveness of the Church, whose servants in his own domain he -had, if the chroniclers are to be believed, treated with the haughty -intolerance characteristic of the arrogant seigneur of the period. - -But at that critical time in the history of the Eastern Empire, the -wearer of the Imperial Crown required not only courage, but talents and -diplomacy of the highest degree, such as Peter neither possessed nor -found opportunity of acquiring. - -Arriving at Rome in company with his wife, Yolande, and his children, -Pope Honorius, after some pressure, was induced to crown him and his -consort; but, as Gibbon hints, performed the ceremony in the Church of -St. Lawrence, without the walls, lest by the act itself any right of -sovereignty over the ancient city should be bestowed or implied. - -In pursuance of a promise to the Venetians, the Emperor Peter, having -first sent his wife and children by sea to Constantinople, directed his -forces against the Kingdom of Epirus, then under the rule of Theodore -Comnenus. Failing in his object, he fell, either by force or fraud, into -the hands of the Greek despot, and died, by assassination or in prison, -without having entered his Imperial dominions. - -With a discretion rare, indeed, in those days, Philip, his eldest son, -refused the honour of the purple, contenting himself with the Marquisate -of Namur, his paternal fief; whereupon Robert, the younger brother, -accepted the burden of the crown, and having, with due precaution, -journeyed to Constantinople, was there crowned by the Patriarch Matthew, -with all pomp and circumstance, in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia. - -But in the grandeur of his coronation consisted the only splendour of -his reign. All historians combine in representing Robert as deficient in -every quality requisite for the high station he occupied and the -necessity of the realm he had been chosen to rule; even Bouchet, -self-appointed laureate to La Maison Royale de Courtenay, after -describing the death of the Emperor on his return journey from Rome, -whither he had gone to solicit against his own rebellious subjects the -thunders of the Pope, is constrained to admit that to the weakness of -this ruler may justly be attributed the disgraces which occurred in the -reign of his successor. - -Robert dying childless, the crown descended to his brother, Baldwin, the -infant son of Yolande, born during his father’s captivity. The -impossibility of an empire in the throes of dissolution being governed -by a child of seven years, compelled the barons of the realm to invite -John of Brienne, the old King of Jerusalem, to bring his wisdom and -experience to their aid; but the seeds of disintegration had too long -been sown. Notwithstanding a two-fold victory against the invader, on -the death of the veteran in 1237, the Latin supremacy in the East well -nigh vanished. - -The youthful Baldwin de Courtenay, during the life of John of Brienne, -visited many European courts in the vain hope of obtaining aid, military -or pecuniary, for the defence of his forlorn dominions, and in the -subsequent five and twenty years of his reign these visits were more -than once repeated, each time with less result, and though, in fruitless -efforts to raise men and money, he alienated his own patrimony of Namur -and Courtenay, although in desperation he sold the sacred treasures of -his capital—the Crown of Thorns and other relics reputed equally -holy—yet his utmost efforts could in no wise avert the doom which -threatened the Empire, but only availed to postpone for a while the -final catastrophe. - -At last the determination of Michael Palæologus brought the struggle to -an end. Constantinople was invested and taken by the Greeks, the last -remnant of Latin sway, in the person of the Emperor Baldwin and his -family, taking refuge on board the Venetian fleet, which lay anchored in -the Bosphorous. - -With Baldwin and his son Philip, titular Emperor of Constantinople, -ended the elder branch of the Courtenay family, for the latter left one -daughter only, who married Charles of Valois, a prince aptly described -as “son of a King, brother of a King, uncle to a King, and father to a -King, but yet himself no King.” - -The elevation of three of its members to the Imperial throne undoubtedly -conferred great honour on the House of Courtenay, but the after results -most adversely affected the surviving members. While other families -connected with the French monarchy increased in wealth and influence, -the severe struggles made by three generations to maintain their -Imperial dignity so impoverished the ancestral domains that the -successive holders, though undeniably of Royal descent and near -relationship to the reigning dynasty, were not esteemed, and could not -obtain recognition of their claims to be considered as Princes of the -Blood Royal. It is true, however, that much doubt exists as to whether -in the early days of the French nobility, kinship with the King implied -any superiority of rank over others nobly born. - -Le Comte Boulainvilliers, to whose family the Seigneurie of Courtenay, -after its alienation, had been given as a royal fief, declares, in his -“Dissertation sur la Noblesse de France”: “The French knew nothing of -Princes among themselves; consanguinity (_parenté_) to Kings gave no -rank the same as if descended in the male line. This is evident by the -examples of the Houses of Dreux, of Courtenay, and the junior branches -of the House of Bourbon.” - -Indeed, it is quite apparent to all who read early French history that -the King exercised merely nominal authority over the nobility, and was -considered but as a chief and leader among those of equal birth and -descent, though differing in degree. It cost King Louis VI. a vast deal -of trouble to reduce the pretensions of the Seigneurs of Montlehery, -who, allied by marriage to the houses of Flanders and Courtenay, -conceived themselves in all essentials to be equal to and independent of -their titular monarch, while even more cogent testimony to the same -effect, redolent also to a great degree of the atmosphere of the times, -is borne by the subjoined letter from Thibaut, Comte de Champagne, to -the Abbot of St Denis, Governor of the Realm in the absence of the -King:—“This is to let you know that Renaud de Courtenay hath done great -injury to the King, ... for he hath seized on certain merchants that are -the King’s subjects, who have discharged their toll at Orleans and Sens, -and hath stripped them of all their goods. It is, therefore, necessary, -to order him in the King’s name, they be set at liberty and all that -belongs to them restored. In case he refuse ... and you be desirous to -march an army against him, ... let me know, and I will send you aid.” - -After the extinction of the elder branch in the persons of the Emperor -Baldwin and his son, the House of Courtenay became so divided that, in -the many ramifications of descent and consequent division of goods, the -Seigneurs de Champignelles, de Tanlay, d’Arrablay, de Ferté Loupiere, -etc., lost their pride of place, and were undistinguishable from the -remainder of the nobility, direct evidence of which is furnished by the -fact that Bouchet, who certainly loses no opportunity of enhancing the -grandeur of the race, places over the arms of the Lord of D’Illier the -nine-pointed coronet of a seigneur, and not, as on other occasions, the -crown, embellished with fleur-de-lys, which designated the Royal House -of France. - -Yet the right of the Courtenays to be considered of Royal blood is -incontrovertible, testimony to it being borne by many deeds of partition -and contracts of marriage to which members of the reigning family -affixed their signatures, in each case describing themselves as -relations and cousins. - -Moreover, even in the nineteenth century, the head of the House of -Courtenay received a summons to the funeral of Henri Dieudonné, Comte de -Chambord, Henri Cinq de France, as “notre parent et cousin.” - -Fifteen years after the surviving members had lodged a final petition -for the restoration of their rights of blood, “by the eternal doom of -Fate’s decree,” the death of Charles Roger de Courtenay, the last male -of the line, the controversy was closed; and thus what Gibbon calls the -plaintive motto of the House: “Ubi lapsus, quid feci?” for the second -time in history received the endorsement of truth. - -But while two branches of the race grew, flourished, and fell, a third -division rose to rank and fortune in this island, becoming closely -allied by links of property and title with Devon, the fairest shire in -the English land—links which the space of 750 years has strengthened, -the glamour of an historic name, the charm of many a noble nature, have -rendered unbreakable. - -In olden times, a nation made it a point of honour to claim descent from -ancestors who had participated in the siege of Troy. Fashions change. In -the twentieth century, if an individual rises to such eminence that he -is elevated to the peerage, the world knows he must have had a father, -and presumes he had a grandfather. When the presumption can be carried -back for a generation or two, the basis of an ancient descent is so -firmly laid that a visit to the Heralds’ College will inevitably result -in the discovery of a progenitor among those who fought with Norman -William at the battle of Senlac, undoubtedly, judging from their reputed -descendants, the most prolific band of warriors that ever peopled a -conquered country. - -In this, as in some other attributes, the Courtenays differ from the -modern aristocracy. - -The first mention of a Courtenay in English history occurs in the reign -of Henry II., and although Bouchet, with true prophetic instinct, -considers it necessary to allege that a certain Guillaume de Courtenay -crossed over with the army of William of Normandy, the Battle Abbey roll -of William Tailleur does not contain the name; but a “Cortney” may be -found in the probably inaccurate transcriptions of the same, which have -been inserted in the Chronicles of Stowe and Holinshed. A certain degree -of doubt, however, exists as to the identity of the first Courtenay -mentioned in English records. - -Dugdale, copying the register of the monks of Forde Abbey—a foundation -which benefited largely by the munificence of the family, and, as long -as the spring flowed, lost no opportunity of gratifying their ancestral -pride—declares that the founder of the name in this country was -Reginald, a son of Florus, younger son of Lewis le Gross, King of -France, who assumed the name of Courtenay from his mother, the heir -female of that family. - -History is silent as to whether Peter, seventh son of Louis le Gros, -ever bore the designation of Florus; but it is undoubtedly proved by -Bouchet and others that the said Peter married a daughter of Reginald de -Courtenay, and enjoying her possessions, called himself by the title of -her seigneurie. It is also fairly assured that the offspring of this -noble couple did not number among them any son of the name of Reginald, -and the preponderance of authority seems to show that the Reginald, -friend of Queen Alienore of Aquitaine, who, being divorced from King -Louis, afterwards married Henry of England, was probably the father of -that Elizabeth de Courtenay who became allied with the Royal family of -France. - -On many occasions a de Courtenay is mentioned as accompanying Henry on -his travels; and in the year 1167, Roger de Hoveden records that -“Reginald de Curteney” witnessed a treaty of peace between Henry II. of -England and Roderick, King of Connaught. - -For services rendered to the State, Henry, in exercise of his -prerogative, gave as wards to Reginald de Courtenay, probably the one -aforesaid, the two daughters of Matilda, herself daughter of Randolph -Avenel. - -Reginald immediately married the elder, Hawise, and bestowed her -half-sister, Maude, on a William de Courtenay, possibly his son, -probably, as Cleveland thinks, his brother. - -Hawise, as sole heiress to her father, Robert d’Abrincis, and descended -from Baldwin de Brionis, a valorous Norman knight, inherited large -estates in the West of England—the Barony of Okehampton, the Shrievalty -of Devonshire, the custody of the Castle of Exeter, and the title of -Vicecomes or Viscount; both dignities and land, as was the custom in -those days, being enjoyed, “jure uxoris,” by her husband, Reginald de -Courtenay, passed to the child of their marriage, Robert, who still -further augmented the position of the family by marrying in his turn -Mary, younger daughter of William de Redvers or Rivers, sixth Earl of -Devon, through whom the House of Courtenay finally obtained the title -which they retain to this day. - -The policy of Henry III. deprived Robert de Courtenay of the Viscounty -of Devon and the custody of Exeter Castle, but the Barony of Okehampton -still remained in the line, being successively held by John and Henry, -son and grandson of the said Robert. - -In 1262, by the failure of heirs male, Isabella, daughter of Baldwin, -seventh Earl, and his wife, Amicia, became Countess of Devonshire. This -masterful lady married William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, and, -surviving her husband and children for more than thirty years, exercised -despotic sway over the wide domains belonging to her. She erected a weir -across the River Exe, even now called Countess Weir, for the benefit, as -she declared, of her mills situated on both banks, though the citizens -of Exeter were of different opinion, and on their oaths did aver that -the Countess had “made a great Purpresture or Nusance ... to the -Annoyance, Hurt and Damage of the said City.” - -At her death, in 1292, the Earldom of Devon reverted to Sir Hugh -Courtenay, second of the name, Baron of Okehampton, through his -great-grandmother, Mary de Rivers, daughter of William de Ripariis, -Redvers or Rivers, sixth Earl. - -Some forty years after the death of his predecessor, Sir Hugh was -summoned by writ, without any further creation, to take his seat as -Earl, but before then he participated in many Parliaments as a Baron, -both Stowe and Holinshed alleging that he was one of the two Lords of -that rank who carried a solemn message to King Edward II., demanding -from him the abdication of the throne. - -Chiefly by means of judicious matrimonial alliances, the first members -of the English Courtenays added largely to their rank and possessions. - -Following the good example, Hugh, third of the name and second Earl, -wedded, in 1325, Margaret, daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of -Hereford, Lord High Constable of England, by her obtaining that appanage -associated so intimately with the Courtenay name as known in their own -county, the beautiful castle and demesne of Powderham. Earl Hugh -assigned this residence and estate to his younger son, Philip, from whom -is descended the present branch of the family. - -High in rank, possessed of great territory, honoured in the council, -foremost in the fray, for a hundred and fifty years the Courtenays of -Devon occupied a great place in English history. They took part in the -battles of Halidon Hill, Creçy, the siege of Rouen, the triumphal entry -into Paris; as Admirals of the West, repelled invasion; as Governors of -the County, exercised extensive jurisdiction; and in their just pride of -station, contended with the Earls of Arundel as to who should take -precedence as premier Peer in the degree which they held. - -Their functions, when acting as rulers of the county, were varied, for -it is stated that in 1383 a command was issued to them by the King, -ordering the punishment of “certain malefactors and troublers of our -peace ... come lately to Topsham and by force of arms have taken Peter -Hill, a certain messenger of the Venerable Father, William, Archbishop -of Canterbury, and with no small cruelty and threatening compelled him -to eat the wax of a certain seal of the said Archbishop.” - -This William, son of Hugh, second Earl, at first Bishop of London, -afterwards raised to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury, possessed so -fully the hereditary courage of his opinions that he not only resolutely -opposed the weighty influence of the Duke of Lancaster and Lord Percy of -Northumberland, when exercised by them in favour of John Wicliffe, but -also as Adam, Archdeacon of Usk, pathetically declares: “Eciam a facie -istius regis Ricardi, ille vir perfectissimus Willelmus Cantuariensis -Archiepiscopus quia hujus modi taxe resistere volens.” The strength of -the superlative epithet is justified by the said tax having been levied -solely against the clergy. - -But the prosperity of the Courtenays, as of most other noble families in -England, was rudely disturbed by the outbreak of civil strife—the Wars -of the Roses. Supporting strongly the House of Lancaster, they shared in -undue proportions the calamities which befel that party, three -successive Earls of Devon, the sons of Thomas, fifth in title, giving -their lives for the cause they supported. Thomas, the elder of the -three, taken at Towton, was soon after executed, as historians say, to -appease the ghost of the Duke of York. A few years later, Henry, his -brother, met the same fate; while John, the youngest, fell in the -disastrous battle of Tewkesbury, the great estates of the family being -escheated by the King. - -Yet once more, with the triumph of Henry VII., the fortunes of the -ancient house revived. The King annulled the attainder and restored the -ancestral domains to the faithful noble who had followed him into exile -and fought by his side at Bosworth Field, subsequently sanctioning also -the marriage of the eldest son, Sir William Courtenay, with Katherine, -the younger daughter of the late King Edward IV.; though this royal -alliance, as was often the case in such connections, only led to -suspicion on the part of the reigning monarch and calamity to the -aspiring bridegroom. - -In the succeeding reign, Henry, the child of this marriage, stood high -in the favour of the monarch. As the boon companion of his cousin the -King, he tilted with him at Greenwich; as his brother-in-arms, he fought -at the Battle of the Spurs; in the office of Lord High Steward, he -presided over the trial of those persons who had fallen under the Royal -displeasure; and finally the honour of a Marquisate was bestowed, and -Henry, seventh Earl of Devon, became the first Marquis of Exeter. - -But the friendship of Henry VIII. was almost as deadly as his enmity. -Accused of treason, neither personal virtues nor high connections -availed anything, and so the Marquis of Exeter was arrested, tried, and -executed. Hume, in this connection, remarks: “We know little concerning -the justice or iniquity of the sentence pronounced against these men: we -only know that the condemnation of a man who was at that time prosecuted -by the court forms no presumption of his guilt”; but with characteristic -ambiguity he continues: “Though ... we may presume that sufficient -evidence was produced against the Marquis of Exeter and his associates.” - -In the light of present knowledge, it is not difficult to conjecture the -causes of this unfortunate nobleman’s downfall. There were two actions -Henry VIII. never forgave: Failure to obey his wishes, tantamount to -disobedience to his commands; and friendship, or even tolerance, towards -those whom he chose to consider his enemies. - -There is little doubt that Henry Courtenay committed the former as well -as the latter form of “lèse majesté.” A letter from Sir Thomas More to -Cardinal Wolsey is still extant, in which he writes:—“And as touching -the ouverture made by my Lord Shevers for the marriage of my Lord of -Devonshire the King is well content and as me seemyth very glad of the -motion, wherein he requireth your Grace that it may lyke you to call my -Lord of Devonshire to your Grace and to advise him secretly to forbere -any further treate of marriage with my Lord Mountjoy.” - -Now, in 1526, Henry, Marquis of Exeter, married, as his second wife, -Gertrude, daughter of Lord Mountjoy, as this letter shows in opposition -to the wishes of the King; and although, truly, the matter cannot in any -way be considered of importance, yet the fact that the lady was a strong -supporter of the ancient Church, taken in conjunction with the jealousy -obviously shown by Henry towards the power and authority exercised in -the West Country by all who bore the Courtenay name, may well have had -an influence over the fate of the unfortunate nobleman. - -The actual charge, in the State Trial, alleged complicity with the -designs of Cardinal Pole and a desire to deprive the King of his -prerogatives. At this period of his reign, the one great object of -Henry’s life was to assert his supremacy over the English Church—that -church in whose services and welfare he showed such deep interest, not -only by the extreme frequency with which he celebrated the marriage -ceremony, but also by the tenacious affection he displayed for her -temporal possessions. - -Reginald Pole, at one time Dean of Exeter, born of a royal stock, allied -with many noble English houses, a Cardinal, and deep in the councils of -the Pope, was an unsparing opponent of Henry’s aspirations; so if, as -Burnet says, “There were very severe invectives printed at Rome against -King Henry, in which there were nothing omitted which could make him -appear as the blackest of tyrants, ... and Cardinal Pole’s style was -known in some of them,” even a kindly expression, much less a spirit of -friendliness towards the author of these attacks would be amply -sufficient to draw on anyone, be he gentle or simple, the wrath of -Henry, who “never spared man in his anger, or woman in his lust.” - -Therefore, as Wriothesley, in his Chronicle, relates: “The third of the -same month, the Lord Henry Courtney, Marquis of Exceter and Earle of -Devonshire, and the Kinge’s neare kinsman, was arraigned at Westminster -Hall ... and there condempned to death, for treason against the Kinge by -the counsaille of Raynold Poole, Cardinall ... which pretended to have -enhaunsed the Bishop of Rome’s usurped authority againe, lyke traitors -to God and their Prince.” - -The same strain of royal blood, breeding jealousy and mistrust, which -had caused the imprisonment of the grandfather and the death of the -father, inflicted also heavy penalties on the son. Edward, only child of -Henry and Gertrude Courtenay, though but twelve years old at the date of -his father’s execution, was then committed to the Tower, and there -remained close prisoner for fifteen years. - -Released by Mary on her first regal entry into London, restored to his -hereditary titles and property, endowed, moreover, with ample bodily and -many mental charms, the youthful Earl of Devonshire rapidly rose into -favour, and at one time was even considered as a fitting aspirant for -the hand of the Queen. - -But to a young man of twenty-seven, the greater part of whose life had -been spent amid the gloom and seclusion of a State prison, with only -such amusements as the translation of Italian theological treatises -could afford, or other similar exercises, whether physical or mental, as -the gaoler would allow, the freedom of the outer world presented greater -temptations than his untrained nature could resist. Yielding to the -dissipations of the court and, so ’tis said, the more sordid pleasures -of the town, Edward Courtenay sacrificed to the enjoyment of the moment -the opportunities which were offered him of gratifying splendid -ambitions, and, too high placed to be disregarded, became, as his -progenitors before him, an object of mistrust and suspicion to the -occupant of the throne. - -This unfortunate youth has been accused not only of ingratitude to his -royal benefactress by making secret advances to her sister, the Princess -Elizabeth, but also of the serious offence of disloyalty and treason -towards the monarch. But though, indeed, he may have committed the -former mistake, a critical examination of the evidence produced clears -him of knowing and wilful participation in any of the serious plots -which the proposed marriage of the Queen with Philip of Spain had -aroused among her subjects. Sir Thomas Wyat unreservedly absolved -Courtenay from all knowledge of his rising, and the leniency with which -Mary, little given to clemency, extended towards the Earl shows that -she, at least, believed in his innocence. - -Probably the truest aspect of the case is shown by Burnet, who declares, -when writing of the harsh treatment dealt to Elizabeth by her royal -sister: “Others suggest a more secret reason for this dispute. The new -Earl of Devonshire was much in the Queen’s favour, so that it was -thought that she had some inclination to marry him, but he, either not -presuming so high or having an aversion to her and an inclination to her -sister, who of that moderate share of beauty which was between them had -much the better of her and was nineteen years younger, made his -addresses with more than ordinary concern to the Lady Elizabeth, and -this did bring them both into trouble.” - -[Illustration - - _From the original portrait by Sir Antonio More, at - Woburn._] [_Engraved by T. Chambars._ - EDWARD COURTENAY, EARL OF DEVONSHIRE. - -] - -It is plain enough that this young man, little older and assuredly not -more experienced than a boy, was a tool in the hands of those astute -intriguers, de Noailles and Simon Renard, the French and Spanish -ambassadors. The one, strenuously opposing the Spanish marriage, the -other, equally determined in his advocacy of the alliance, united in -using the innocent Earl of Devonshire as a factor in their game, with -disastrous results to the unfortunate victim. - -Advised to remove himself far from the scene of those intrigues which -had caught him in their net, Edward Courtenay departed for the Continent -with the declared intention of travelling to distant lands, even to -Constantinople. That he had no consciousness of having committed a great -offence is evident from his correspondence; for while frequently -expressing the hope that he may soon be home again, he asks a friend to -give him a buck and some does, so that his park may be stocked with -deer, and gleefully relates that the Emperor and King Philip had -received him kindly. But his health is not good. He suffers, so he -writes, from a disease in his hip from cold; there is, also, much plague -about; and then no more is heard until the news arrives from Peter -Vannes, the English ambassador to the Venetian Republic, who was staying -at Padua, announcing that Edward, Earl of Devonshire, had died in that -city, on September 18th, 1556. _Ubi lapsus, quid feci?_ - -Noble and honoured in degree, gifted with many admirable and amiable -qualities, the fairest prospects open before them, yet, one after the -other, successive Earls of Devon, like their even more exalted -ancestors, perished in sorrow and adversity, until, as was generally -believed, their ancient title became extinct. - -Yet, far away in the West Country, beneath the oaks of Powderham, while -the elder branches dropped or were snapped off, the descendants of Sir -Philip Courtenay, youngest son of Hugh, second Earl of Devon, lived and -thrived, gaining among their own people a love and devotion which has -endured the strain of centuries and the many vicissitudes of fortune. - -Through the course of years the Courtenays of Powderham followed the -example of their greater kinsmen, taking part in events of national -importance, bearing themselves with distinction against the foreign foe; -with hereditary courage and self-denial opposing the usurper, Richard of -Gloucester, and, in defeat as well as in victory, supporting the cause -of Henry VII. - -But in all things, great or small, they essentially were Devonshire -leaders of Devonshire men—living among their own people, beloved and -respected by them. - -Peter Courtenay, Bishop of Exeter in 1437, expended his energy and -substance in maintaining and improving the Cathedral, and to this day -the great bell which he hung in the north tower is called by his name, -Great Peter. - -Many a Devonshire Courtenay sat as Knight of the Shire for his native -County; others of the family filled the office of Sheriff; and thus for -340 years this branch of the house did its duty punctually and well, -earning fresh honours and new titles in the place of those which lay in -abeyance. - -On the death of Edward, eighth Earl, in 1556, at Padua, the Courtenays -of Powderham were represented by Sir William Courtenay, who died at the -siege of St. Quintin, a few months after the decease of his noble -kinsman, his son and successor, also called William, being but four -years old at the time. - -It may be that the tidings of the death of the head of the house were -long in travelling from Italy to distant Devonshire. It may be that none -of the living members of the family were cognizant of the facts of the -case; but whatever the reasons, for 260 years the Earldom of Devon was -regarded as lapsed, and no successor claimed its honour and dignity, -though some indications may, indeed, be found, both in written records -and the behaviour of individuals, of a belief that the title, though -latent, was not extinct. - -Gibbon, who himself has conferred a great and undying honour on the -family by devoting, in his monumental work, a whole chapter to the -history of the Courtenays, uses this significant expression: “His -personal honours as if they had been legally extinct”; and in 1660, when -Charles II. offered the dignity of a Baronetcy to the then Sir William -Courtenay, it was, as Cleveland relates, refused, “he not affecting that -title because he thought greater of right belonged to him. Indeed, the -patent of Baronetcy was never taken out, although his successors were -always styled as such.” - -It is possible, however, that this refusal may have been due to the -natural irritation felt by the head of a great family at seeing his -hereditary and ancestral honours conferred on others; for in 1602, James -I. created Charles Blunt, Lord Mountjoy, Earl of Devonshire, and on his -decease, six years later, gave the same title to William Cavendish, in -whose line it remained until changed to a Dukedom. - -In the reign of William III., an offer of an English Barony was made to -the head of the Courtenays, and again refused; but in 1762, the many -services of Sir William Courtenay, eighth of the name, merited a higher -honour, and he, accepting a Peerage, took his seat in the House of Lords -as Viscount Courtenay of Powderham Castle. - -Only surviving his elevation some six months, he was succeeded by his -son, who, marrying a lady of less exalted lineage than himself, became -the parent of one son and thirteen daughters. - -This only son and heir, the tenth in thirteen generations who -successively bore the name of William, on the advice, it is said, of -that distinguished lawyer, Mr. Pepys, afterwards Lord Chancellor and -first Earl of Cottenham, in 1830 asserted, by petition to Parliament, -his right to the ancient Earldom of Devon. The grounds of the claim were -as follows: When, in the year 1553, Sir Edward Courtenay, son of Henry, -Marquis of Exeter and Earl of Devonshire, attainted and executed by -Henry VIII., after having suffered a long confinement in the Tower, -obtained from Queen Mary his release, she annulled the attainder, and -created him, by special patent, “to hold the title and dignity of Earl -of Devon with the said honours and pre-eminence thereunto belonging, to -the aforesaid Edward and his _heir male for ever_” (“prefato Edwardo et -heredibus suis masculis imperpetuum”). And this phrase is again repeated -later: “Do grant to the aforesaid now Earl that he and his _heirs male_ -may enjoy ... the same pre-eminence as any of the ancestors of the said -Earl being heretofore Earl of Devon may have enjoyed.” - -With great lucidity and deep knowledge of the subject, Mr. Pepys -maintained that, whereas in the majority of patents it was usual to -restrict the title to the recipient and his direct descendants (heirs -male of his body), in this instance, as shown by the wording of the -deed, the Sovereign deliberately intended to restore the Earldom to the -heir male of Hugh, second Earl of Devon, which position was undoubtedly -occupied by the claimant, William, Viscount Courtenay. - -Certain cases were cited in support of this contention, especially the -charter given by Richard II. creating William le Scrope Earl of -Wiltshire, and special reference was made to a patent of Charles I. -appointing Lewis Boyle Baron of Bandon Bridge, which contained a -declaration explaining the express intention of words absolutely similar -to those used in the deed concerning the Earldom of Devon. The claim was -tried before the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords, -consisting of the Lord Chancellor (Lord Brougham) and Lord Wynford, who -himself, as Sir W. Draper-Best, had lately been raised to the peerage, -for the reason, as Greville, in his Memoirs, amusingly remarks, “that he -is to assist the Chancellor in deciding Scotch causes of which he knows -nothing whatever; as the Chancellor knows nothing either, the Scotch law -is likely to be strangely administered.” The decision in this case which -related to an English peerage, however, was eminently just, and the -House resolved and adjudged: “That William, Viscount Courtenay, hath -made out his claim to the title, honour, and dignity of Earl of Devon.” - -By this decision, William, Lord Courtenay, succeeded to one of the great -historical titles of England, for the Earl of Devon is justly entitled -to rank with his brothers of Shrewsbury, Derby, Huntingdon, and -Pembroke, who, occupying Earldoms created before 1600, have been -designated Catskin Earls—a name concerning the derivation of which -authorities differ, some alleging that the ancient trimming of an Earl’s -gown consisted of cat skin, in the place of ermine; while others are -inclined to believe that in early times Peers of this rank were -permitted to wear four (quatre) rows of fur on their coronation robes. -It is to be feared that now this question “des jupons” will never be -definitely settled. - -On the successful issue of his claim, William, ninth Earl of Devon, both -at Powderham, in London, and in Paris, maintained a state which, however -worthy of the vast domains appertaining to his great ancestors, yet cast -a heavy burden on the mere moderate appanage inherited by himself, with -the inevitable result that the estates were encumbered and the successor -to the title seriously embarrassed. He died, a bachelor, in 1835, being -succeeded by his cousin, William, the representative of a younger branch -of the family derived from Sir William Courtenay, third Baronet. - -This nobleman, before his accession to the Peerage, sat in the House of -Commons as Member for the City of Exeter, at one time also filling the -post of Clerk to Parliament. After a long and valuable life, he died in -1859, the succession devolving upon his son, William Reginald, eleventh -Earl, whose name is still a household word in the land with which he and -his have so long been associated. - -Marrying Lady Elizabeth Fortescue, a member of a house also closely and -honourably connected with the best traditions of the county, Lord Devon, -in all things which he undertook, exercised an influence indeed worthy -of his illustrious lineage. - -Gifted with a great kindliness of disposition—he was never known to lose -his temper or to utter a harsh opinion of others—and a high sense of the -duties and responsibilities of his position, he spent his life in -earnest endeavours, and whether as President of the Local Government -Board in Lord Derby’s Ministry, or as Chairman of the St. Thomas’ Union -in the neighbourhood of his own beautiful home, his uniform punctuality -and assiduity was only exceeded by his unfailing courtesy and -amiability. - -It has been said of “Devon’s noblest son,” as he was popularly styled, -with equal truth and felicity, that from the date of his accession to -the title till the day of his death, he identified himself with every -good work, whether in the County of Devon or the City of Exeter; those -which had as their aim the spread of religious teaching or the -advancement of the Church of England being specially near his heart. So -active was the part he played in all ecclesiastical matters, that on one -occasion, so it is currently reported, Dr. Temple, afterwards Archbishop -of Canterbury, declared: “Why, Lord Devon is almost a lay Bishop.” - -Unfortunately, carried away, perhaps, by a desire to adequately perform -the obligations of his rank, Lord Devon’s expenditure largely exceeded -the income from his property. In the hopes that it would materially -conduce to the welfare of that part of Ireland in which his estates were -situated, he laid down, mainly at his own cost, a line of railway, the -heavy outlay on which and the paucity of returns added considerably to -the encumbrances which then burdened him. It should, however, be stated -that in the last few years this line, which cost its maker so dearly, -has been bought by an important Irish railway company for many thousands -of pounds. - -The embarrassments which these ventures charged upon the property were, -moreover, in no way lightened by the successor to the title, Edward -Baldwin, twelfth Earl, whose expenditure as M.P. for East Devon and for -the City of Exeter, as well as his fondness for sport in many branches, -added costly burdens to an already overweighted exchequer. - -And thus, by a proneness to follow the dictates of a benevolent heart or -the desire to indulge in magnificence consonant with ancient tradition, -without adequate consideration with regard to the means by which the -impulse was to be gratified, the glories of the Earldom of Devon have -been shorn of their just splendour, and the holders of the dignity -deprived of the due means of maintaining their hereditary station. - -Edward Baldwin died in 1891, and was succeeded by his uncle, Henry Hugh, -thirteenth Earl and Rector of Powderham, who married Lady Anna Maria -Leslie, sister to the eleventh Earl of Rothes. By her, whose charity and -simple-minded goodness of heart made her universally beloved, he had two -sons—Henry Reginald, Lord Courtenay, who married Lady Evelyn Pepys, -youngest daughter of the first Earl of Cottenham, predeceasing his -father in 1898; and Hugh Leslie, who is still living. Lord Devon died in -February, 1904, at the ripe age of 93, having survived his beloved wife -by seven years. - -_Ubi lapsus, quid feci?_ Surely, if worldly prosperity could be earned -by a blameless life and a just discharge of every duty, Henry Hugh, -thirteenth Earl of Devon, Rector of Powderham, and Prebendary of Exeter, -would have enjoyed wealth beyond the desires of man; surely, if the -highest place and the greatest honours could be gained by courage and -devotion, they would have adorned his noble son, Henry Reginald, Lord -Courtenay, who bore the suffering and faced the inevitable end of a -dread disease with an heroic courage which more than equalled the deeds -of his chivalrous ancestors. - -It is to be deplored, in these days, when wealth has usurped to an undue -extent that place which used formerly to be the privilege of high birth -or great intellectual attainments, that the holders of an historic -dignity are deprived, even for a time, of a revenue commensurate with -their name and station; but as it was by the legal knowledge and -forensic skill of Charles Pepys, Earl of Cottenham, the Courtenays -regained their ancestral rank, so, perhaps, it is reserved for a noble -daughter of that same distinguished family, by her wise guidance, to -assist in reviving the glories of a House which she has graced with her -alliance and enriched with her many virtues. - -Yet to those who saw the crowds, all sorts and conditions of men, which -thronged the little churchyard at Powderham when the last four -Courtenays were laid to rest, it was plainly evident that in their own -fair county of Devon, the land of the green hill and the flowing river, -the love which is felt for all who bear the Courtenay name is not -measured by the breadth of their acres or the length of their -purse-strings, but in the heart of everyone who knows this ancient house -and its kindly members, there exists a genuine and sincere wish that the -Royal Courtenays may ever flourish in all fulness of health, honour, and -prosperity. - - H. M. IMBERT-TERRY, F.R.L.S. - -[Illustration - - _From a Drawing by F. Wilkinson._] [_Engraved by J. Mills, 1830._ - DOORWAY OF KING JOHN’S TAVERN, EXETER. - -] - - - - - OLD INNS AND TAVERNS OF EXETER. - - BY THE LATE ROBERT DYMOND, F.S.A. - - Whoe’er has travelled life’s dull round, - Where’er his stages may have been, - May sigh to think he still has found - The greatest comfort in an inn. - —_Shenstone._ - - -In one of his oracular and sententious utterances, Dr. Johnson declared -that “there is nothing that has yet been contrived by man by which so -much happiness is produced, as by a good tavern or inn.” But, inasmuch -as Boswell tells us that this opinion was pronounced just after the -great doctor had “dined at an excellent inn,” we may fairly receive the -sentiment as the pair received their meal—with a grain of salt. It would -be foreign to the purpose of this paper to enlarge upon the benefits or -to denounce the evils connected with inns and taverns. It is enough to -know that they exercised on the domestic lives and habits of our -forefathers an influence sufficiently potent to establish their claim to -share the attention of historical writers with churches, and -monasteries, and castles. The Royalist tendencies of the citizens were -shown by the “King John Tavern,” in the Serge Market, at the head of -South Street; the “Plume of Feathers,” at the bottom of North Street; -the “Unicorn,” in the Butcher Row; the “King’s Head,” formerly in -Spiller’s Lane; and the “Crown and Sceptre,” in North Street. - -The oldest of Exeter inns having anything like a connected history was -known for centuries by the inappropriate title of the “New Inn.” We may -enter it now without any suspicion of its antiquity. Of the ladies of -the present day who are so familiar with the house, which bears over its -alluring portal the name of “Green & Son,” probably not one in a hundred -suspects that her ancestors knew it equally well as the principal inn in -Exeter. The archives of the Corporation and of the Dean and Chapter, to -whom it jointly belonged, make frequent mention of the “New Inn,” the -earliest being a lease in 1456, by which the Master and Brethren of the -Magdalen Hospital granted to Roger Schordych and Joan, his wife, two -tenements opposite “le Newe Inne,” in the parish of St. Stephen. It -appears from Shillingford’s _Letters_ (p. 85), that the inn was then -“newly built,” and one of the frequent squabbles between the Cathedral -and the City authorities arose out of a “purpresture” or encroachment -said to have been made there by the Chapter. A few years later, as we -learn from Mr. Cotton’s _Gleanings_ (p. 11), an entry was made in the -accounts of the Receiver to the Chamber of 3_s._ 4_d._, disbursed for -“four gallons of wine sent to Lord Stafford at the Newynne.” From this -time it often occurs on successive renewals of the lease. In John -Hoker’s _Extracts from the Act Books of the Chamber_, we find that on -the 16th February, 1554, during the mayoralty of John Midwinter, that -body resolved to establish at the “New Inn” the cloth mart previously -kept at the “Eagle” from 1472—"The newe Inne to be bought of Christian, -the wydowe of Thomas Petefyn, and the same to be converted into a -commodious hall for all manner of clothe, Lynnen or wollyn, and for all -other m’chandises and w^{ch} shalbe called the m’chaunts hall." In -pursuance of this arrangement, Edward Clase and Elizabeth, his wife, who -had succeeded Thomas Peytevin, surrendered their lease to the Chamber in -1555. The Act Book also shows that Thomas Johnson was deprived of the -tenure of the “New Inn” on the 25th July, 1582, and was succeeded by -Valentine Tooker (or Tucker). This tenant had a misunderstanding with -the municipal authorities, in which he induced some of his mercantile -customers to take up his cause; for amongst the municipal records is a -letter addressed to the Chamber on the 20th of June, 1612, in which -Matthew Springham, Walter Clarke, John Pettye, and eighteen other London -merchants, intercede for Tooker, who had received notice to quit his -“nowe dwelling howse, the Newe Inn”; and they pray that in consideration -of his years and services “some stipend may be given him.” Shortly after -this, Valentine Tooker died, and in 1617 his sons, Thomas and Samuel, -state, in a letter to Ignatius Jurdaine, the Mayor, that their father -had recovered £43 13_s._ 4_d._ from the Chamber by a Decree in Chancery -for being compelled to leave the New Inn, of which he had been tenant -for many years, and they desired that it might be paid without putting -them to the charge of taking out the Decree under the Great Seal. They -thought it hard that their father should, without any just cause or -indemnity, be thrust out of doors, “after keeping the New Inn for more -than thirty years, behaving himself honestly, and paying his rent duly, -albeit two or three several times raysed and enhanced therein on the -promise afterwards to enjoy it for his life.” Notes are added in favour -of the petitioners by the brothers Richard and Symon Baskerville. - -This Simon Baskerville, a near relative of the Mayor, was a man of note -and influence at this time. He was the son of Thomas Baskerville, an -Exeter apothecary, and was born in the city in 1573. He was successively -appointed physician to James I. and Charles I., from the latter of whom -he received the honour of knighthood. A mural tablet in St. Paul’s, -London, records that “Near this place lyeth the body of that worthy and -learned gentleman, Sir Simon Baskerville, Knight and Doctor in Physick, -who departed this life the fifth of July, 1641, aged 68 years.” The -transactions between the sons of Valentine Tooker and the Chamber appear -to have closed on the 3rd of April, 1618, when they acknowledged the -receipt from that body of £6 16_s._, “in full satisfaction, recompence -and payment, of and for the full and uttermoste value of all those -selynges, stayned or paynted, clothes, shelfes, and all other goods, -chattels,” etc., left by them in the “New Inn.” - -After the year 1612, we find many references to the “New Inne Halle” or -Merchants’ Hall. This was let separately from the inn, and was used as -an Exchange, where the cloth merchants congregated, and where the three -great yearly cloth fairs drew together traffickers from all parts to -carry on the trade previously conducted at “le Egle,” opposite the -Guildhall. These merchants rented stalls or shops, which were also -distinct from the inn, and in 1640 they petitioned the Chamber to -prevent “foreigners,” by whom they meant non-residents, from buying and -selling to one another in the city. They suggested that “the hygher -roome of Sent Johns (Hospital) be ordenyd to be a store as a roome -annyxt unto the New In halle, to reseve all wols browght unto thys -cyttaye by foreners.” These restrictive and protectionist measures, -operating with the introduction of steam power, finally caused the great -woollen manufacture of the West to depart into districts where trade was -freer and coal was cheaper. - -The “New Inn” extended as far back as Catherine Street, including what -was till lately Mr. Seller’s coach factory. Perhaps the sole relic of -the original structure is the well in the cellar under this part of the -old premises. When this well was opened, in May, 1872, its circular -wrought courses of red sandstone plainly testified to its antiquity. The -stabling was on the other side of Catherine Street, on a site still used -for that purpose, and belonging to the Duke of Bedford. A fire broke out -in these stables in 1723, and their great extent is shown by the -following advertisement in Andrew Brice’s _Postmaster, or Loyal -Mercury_: “Whereas there has been a Report industriously spread abroad -by certain malicious or designing persons, that all or most of the -Stables belonging to the New Inn, in the High Street, Exon, are burnt -down;—this is to certify that the said Report is vicious and false, -there being but one only Stable any way damaged by the said late Fire; -and that there are remaining near Three times as much Stable room as -belongs to any other Inn House in that City, with handsome Accommodation -for Coaches, &c., and above an Hundred Horses.” - -The structure already referred to was the first edition of the “New Inn” -on that site. About the time of the Restoration of Monarchy the house -appears to have been re-built, and then was erected the great Apollo -Room, which still remains the chief ornament of the house. This splendid -apartment is 32½ feet long by 23½ feet wide, and before the floor was -raised by Messrs. Green to increase the height of the shop below, it was -17 feet high. The original contract for the construction of the rich and -elaborate ceiling appears to have been made with the Chamber by Richard -Over, who was to receive £50 “for his skill and labour in playstering -the fore chamber, or dining-room, in the New Inn, according to the form -and mould which he hath propounded and laid down in a scheme or map.” -But the work appears to have been begun in 1689 by Thomas Lane, a -plasterer, for five shillings a yard, and on the following 20th of March -he was paid by the Chamber £50 for this admirable work of art. It -displays the royal arms, with those of the See of Exeter, and of the -county families of Hillersdon, Calmady, Prestwood, Acland, and -Radcliffe. The name of this fine room may possibly have been borrowed -from the Apollo Club in London, near Temple Bar, a place of great resort -in the reign of James I. Its principal room was called the Oracle of -Apollo, the bust of the god being set above the door of the room, whilst -over the entrance to the house were some verses beginning:— - - Welcome all who lead or follow - To the Oracle of Apollo. - -Perhaps our county magistrates sought his inspiration when they met at -the “New Inn” for public business. Amongst the many illustrious visitors -who have been lodged there, none ever excited more curiosity than that -great potentate, Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, who came with an -imposing retinue, on his way to London, in the spring of 1669. The Mayor -and Alderman waited on him in full state, and were received in a saloon -above stairs, perhaps the one that was afterwards converted into the -Apollo Room. His highness graciously desired the Mayor to be covered, -listened patiently to the inevitable speech or address, accepted the -gift of money (£20), which it was then customary to present to great -personages, but politely declined his worship’s invitation to a banquet. -The Grand Duke afterwards received Sir John Rolle and his two sons, John -and Denys, and on the next day returned the visit at their house in the -Close, formerly the town mansion of the Abbot of Buckfast, and now -occupied as a school by Mrs. Hellins. The fortunes of the “New Inn” -began to decline when the Cloth Fair was removed to St. John’s Hospital -in 1778, and its decay was probably hastened by the rivalry of the -“London Inn,” now the “Bude Haven Hotel.” In his _Grand Gazetteer_, -published a little before this time, Andrew Brice describes the “New -Inn” as “not undeserving mention, not only as having most or all the -Properties of an Inn super-excellent, but especially for one most -magnificent lofty and large room, called the Apollo; the Fellow of which -scarce any Inn in the Kingdom can truly boast. It’s the property of the -Chamber. Herein is kept the present Cloth Hall, and at Whitsuntide fairs -the whole Court and nearly every Room are filled with Clothiers and -their wares. It may casually be acceptable to some or other of the -worthy Fraternity to note also that the said Apollo is the only -constituted Lodge of Exeter Freemasons.” When the testy but clever -author of this description ended his long life in 1773, two hundred of -his brother Freemasons, members of several lodges, met in full costume -at the Apollo Room, and joined the funeral procession to St. -Bartholomew’s Yard, singing as they went a solemn Masonic elegy composed -for the occasion. It was probably not long after this event that the -premises ceased to be used as an inn; but the judges of assize continued -to be lodged there until about the year 1836, when they removed to -Northernhay Place. In a large upper room, in the rear of the “New Inn” -premises, the first popular Literary Society in Exeter held its meetings -from the year 1830. It was founded five years earlier in some rooms in -South Street, under the title of a Mechanics’ Institute. Soon after the -termination of its brief but useful existence, its place was supplied by -the still flourishing Exeter Literary Society. - -Next, if not equal, in importance to the “New Inn” was the “Mermaid,” -whose yard is now worthily occupied by two huge blocks of Industrial -Dwellings. There was a great oaken staircase, with carven handrail and -ample landings, leading to the assembly and other large rooms, for the -quality folks, on the left of the entrance. Dr. Oliver, in a -contribution to a newspaper in 1833, mentions this assembly room as -having been used for balls within the memory of old people then living. -It was 56 feet long and 17 wide. Its arched and moulded ceiling was -enriched with gold and colour. On a carved stone in the centre of the -mantelpiece (30 inches wide by 25 high), and dated 1632, were impaled -the arms of the old Devonshire families of Shapleigh and Slanning. -Travellers and casual guests were lodged on the left side of the -entrance; and besides the spacious yard there was a large garden with a -summer-house, commanding a prospect of fields and distant hills. Here -the city merchants could look down upon their ships in the haven below, -as they smoked their pipes over cups of canary, and held converse -touching their foreign ventures. The “Mermaid” was a favourite sign with -our forefathers, who had a liking for strange fishes, especially for -those connected with fable or mystery. An old book tells how, once upon -a time, a long consultation on the choice of a sign ended in the -selection of the “Mermaid,” “because,” said the hostess, “she will sing -catches to the youths of the parish.” Not from the parish only, but from -every quarter of the county, did customers of high degree make their way -to the “Mermaid” of Exeter. They sang catches, if she did not. "What -things we have seen done at the ‘Mermaid!’" wrote Beaumont to Ben -Jonson. Those dashing brethren, Sir Peter and Sir Gawen Carew, with a -gallant company of knights and squires and justices of the quorum, rode -into its yard, in 1549, after conference with the misguided Catholic -insurgents at St. Mary’s Clyst, and there, after supper, words waxed -high over the terms of dealing with the rebels. - -During the whole of the last century the “Mermaid” was a great -rendezvous for carriers; and Edward Iliffe, to whom it belonged in 1764, -was a partner with Thomas Parker, of the “New Inn,” and two others, in -one of those long vehicles, then called “machines,” advertised to carry -passengers from Exeter to London in two days. Iliffe had also “fly -waggons,” which performed the journey in four and a half days, setting -out from the “Mermaid” every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. It may be -doubted whether this promised speed was maintained, for, in the course -of some alterations of the covered entrance in 1825, discovery was made -of a board announcing under the date 1780, that “Iliffe’s Flying Van -leaves this yard every Monday morning for London, performing the journey -in six days.” Edward Iliffe sold the “Mermaid,” about the year 1810, to -Thomas Bury, a wool-stapler, who erected for himself a substantial brick -dwelling in the yard. Iliffe prospered in his business, and ended his -days at Exmouth, where he lived at Sacheverall Hall, with the title of -Esquire, and a mural tablet to his memory may yet be seen in Littleham -Church. In later times the yard became the site of a brewery, carried on -successively by Mr. Joseph Brutton and the father of the late Mr. John -Clench. All traces of its former state are now obliterated, and the -“Mermaid” no longer “sings catches to the youths of the parish.” - -But although the “Mermaid” has completely vanished, its rival, the -“Dolphin,” over the way, still retains the name, and little but the -name, that was once so widely known. Francis Pengelly, an Exeter -apothecary, its owner at the beginning of the last century, gave it in -charity to trustees for certain benevolent purposes, which were not to -take effect until after the death of Joan, his wife. Once, in 1725, the -“Dolphin” happened to remain unlet for a week, and was kept open by the -trustees. Their accounts show that during this short period there came -carriers from Moreton, Yeovil, Ashburton, Totnes, and Okehampton, with -fifty-six pack-horses amongst them. The regular charge was sixpence per -night for each horse. A century before this, the “Dolphin,” like the -“Mermaid,” was frequented by guests of a higher class. Amongst the -documents preserved in the Record Room of Exeter Guildhall are some -lengthy depositions of witnesses on a charge of murder, supposed to have -been committed by some of these. From their testimony may be gleaned the -following condensed outline of the story. It appears that on a January -night, in the year 1611, there was staying at the “Dolphin” Sir Edward -Seymour, of Berry Pomeroy, the first Devonshire member of the new order -of baronets created by James I. as a means of raising money for his -royal needs without the aid of Parliament. Sir Edward was seated in an -upper chamber, playing at cards with some friends, when the party was -joined by Master William Petre, a member of a distinguished family no -longer connected with Devonshire, and by John and Edward Drewe, then of -Killerton, but whose worthy descendants are now seated at the Grange in -Broadhembury. One of the Drewes wore a white hat and cloak, the other -was clad in black. Edward carried a short sword, and John a rapier. -These three young gallants, already flushed with wine at the “Mermaid” -and at the “Bear,” in South Street, drank “a pot or two of beer” and -some more wine with Sir Edward Seymour at the “Dolphin.” Perhaps they -were in too quarrelsome a mood to be very acceptable company, for after -tarrying there an hour, and indulging in a rude practical joke on the -tapster, they remounted their horses, dropped in at a few more taverns, -and finally rode out of the city through the East Gate. Here Will Petre -spurred on at a reckless pace up the broad highway of St. Sidwell, and -was soon lost in the darkness. The Drewes gave chase, but stopped at St. -Anne’s Chapel, and shouted to their companion by name. Receiving no -answer, they groped their way to a house where a light was burning, but -the woman of the house had seen nothing of Will Petre. They rode on to -his home, at Whipton House, and there found his horse standing, -riderless, at the gate, whereupon a servant of the house came forth and -opened the gate. He (Edward Drewe) then willed him to take of his -master’s horse, and then the servant demanded where his master was. -Drewe, contenting himself with the answer that he thought he would come -by-and-bye, rode on with his brother to their home at Killerton. The -dawn of Sunday morning showed the dead body of Will Petre lying by the -causeway near St. Anne’s Chapel, with a ghastly wound on the head. The -hue and cry was raised, and the two Drewes were taken as they lay in -their beds, and brought before the city justices on the charge of -murdering their friend. Some of the witnesses testified to a quarrel -between Edward Drewe and Will Petre; but, though the papers do not -disclose the issue of the trial, I think it must have ended in the -discharge of the accused. - -The “Bear Inn,” where the three roysterers had called for a quart of -wine, was in South Street, at the lower corner of Bear Lane. It probably -took its name from the Bere or Bear Gate, which was so styled in 1286, -when the Cathedral Close was first surrounded by a wall. It was rebuilt -in 1481, and was then the town mansion of the abbots of Tavistock, the -wealthiest, if not the oldest, of the monastic houses of Devonshire. It -is described as “le Bere Inne alias Bere” in the lease; by which John -Peryn, the last abbot, in view of the pending dissolution of his house, -leased it, in the year 1539, to Edward Brygeman and Jane, his wife, for -a term of sixty years. King Henry VIII., on the 30th January, 1546, -granted the freehold of the premises to William Abbot, Esq., by whom, on -the 15th February, 1548, they were sold to Griffin Amerideth and John -Fortescue, who, on the 28th October, 1549, renewed the lease granted by -the abbot to Edward Bridgman. Shortly afterwards the property was held -in moieties, one of which belonged to William Buckenham, Mayor of Exeter -in 1541, and was, in pursuance of his will, together with the other -moiety which he purchased of Edward Ameredith in 1565, conveyed by -Buckenham’s executor, Philip Chichester, on the 6th of March, 1566, to -the mayor, bailiffs, and commonalty of the city of Exeter, for the -benefit of the poor persons lodged in the Twelve (Ten) Cells in Billiter -Lane, now called Preston Street. Prince, in his _Worthies of Devon_, -published in 1701, tells us that the arms of Tavistock Abbey and of -Ordgar, its founder, were “to be seen in painted glass in the great -window of the dining room,” with the figure of a man standing on a -bridge. This was, no doubt, a rebus on the name of Bridgeman, the former -owner. Even so late as the beginning of the present century, when -Jenkins wrote his _History of Exeter_, he could remember that a “great -part of the old buildings, particularly the chapel, was standing a few -years since; they were built with freestone, of excellent Gothic -workmanship, decorated with fretwork panels. Mutilated inscriptions and -different sculptures were seen, and over the cornice, even with the -battlements, was a cabossed statue of a bear, holding a ragged staff -between its paws.” Dr. Shapter is the fortunate possessor of some -admirable sketches of bits of the old building from the pencil of the -late John Gendall. These show the heavy stone arches of the basement, -and a massive stone spiral staircase leading to the floor above, -evidently portions of the structure rebuilt in 1481. When newspapers -began to be published in Exeter, early in the last century, the “Bear” -appeared now and then in their quaint advertisements, and, like the -“Mermaid” and the “Dolphin,” it became a noted house for carriers. One -of these advertisements announced, in July, 1722, that “Since the widow -Wibber has left The Bear, for the Better Accommodation of Merchants, -Tradesmen, &c., who frequent the Serge Market, at The Mitre, in the same -Street, is commodious Entertainment for Man and Horse by Henry -Dashwood.” Simon Phillip advertised that he had taken the “Bear” in -1779, and when he died, in 1796, Mary, his widow, continued the -business. She kept it until it ceased to be an inn, and Robert Russell -re-modelled it for his great waggon establishment. This gentleman, -familiarly known as Robin Russell, offered to assist the Government with -three hundred draught horses at the time of the threatened French -invasion in 1798. He became wealthy, built himself a house, called -Russell House, on the quay at Exmouth, and finally died there in 1822, -at the age of 63. - -Our final notice must be given to the inn now known as the “Clarence.” -It was the first in Exeter, if not the first in England, to assume the -French title of hotel, and in its early days was commonly referred to as -“The Hotel in the Churchyard.” It was built about the year 1770 by -William Mackworth Praed, Esq., a partner in the adjacent Exeter Bank, -the oldest banking-house in the city. The first landlord of the hotel -was Peter Berlon, a clever Frenchman, who nevertheless failed in 1774, -and was succeeded by one Connor, from the well-known “Saracen’s Head” in -London. Connor remained less than two years, and the house, which was -still known as “Berlon’s Hotel,” was entered on by Richard Lloyd, who -had kept the old “Swan Inn” in High Street, where Queen Street now joins -it. Lloyd succeeded no better than Berlon, and in October, 1778, he went -to the “New Inn,” whilst his waiter, Thomas Thompson, took his place, -and the house was thenceforward known as “Thompson’s Hotel.” This -landlord fared better than his predecessors, for his reign lasted more -than twenty years. In 1799, the hotel was kept by James Phillips, but in -October, 1813, he was overtaken by the bad fortune of former landlords, -and was succeeded by Samuel Foote, from Plymouth. Foote at once -proceeded to carry out several improvements, including the restoration -of the large assembly-room. For decorating this in the “Egyptian style,” -he engaged the services of an artist named De Maria, whose work on the -ceiling is described in a newspaper of the day as a masterpiece of -“classic taste and elegance.” The new room was opened with a ball in the -following year, and in 1815 a meeting was held there to consider a plan -for lighting Exeter with gas—an invention which this city was the first -place in Devonshire to adopt. Samuel Foote was chiefly known to fame as -the parent of Maria Foote, the celebrated actress, whose brilliant -career on the stage had just commenced at the time when her father -entered on the hotel. She finally quitted the boards in 1831 to become -the wife of Charles, Earl of Harrington. The Countess survived until the -27th of December, 1867. Her only son having died in his father’s -lifetime, the Earldom passed to his uncle. - -Samuel Foote was succeeded by Mr. Congdon, who afterwards took the -Subscription Rooms, while Mrs. Street became landlady of the hotel. -Under Foote and Congdon, the house was visited by many guests of high -distinction. In 1799, during Phillips’ time, a great crowd assembled in -front to welcome the arrival of Lord Duncan soon after his great victory -at Camperdown, and his lordship was presented with the freedom of the -city. - -The Duke of Kent was there in 1802, and in 1806 Lord Cochrane, with his -friend, Col. Johnson, set out from thence in a coach drawn by six -horses, decorated with purple ribbons, to visit the electors of the -immaculate borough of Honiton. In 1817, Samuel Foote received no less a -guest than the Grand Duke Nicholas, afterwards Emperor of Russia. But -the event which earned for the hotel its present name of the “Clarence” -occurred on the 13th of July, 1827, whilst Mrs. Street was the landlady. -The Duchess of Clarence, afterwards Queen Adelaide, came to Exeter on -her way to join the Duke, who had arrived at Plymouth by sea. Her -carriage was escorted into the city by a procession, and the streets -through which she passed were gaily decorated. Lord Rolle and the -Recorder received the Duchess at the hotel, and the Bishop and cathedral -dons were introduced. On the next morning she went to the Bishop’s -Palace and the Cathedral, and then pursued her journey to Plymouth, by -way of Teignmouth and Torquay. In later years she visited the city as -the Dowager Queen Adelaide, and was again a guest at the “Clarence.” - -This sketch of the old inns of Exeter, however imperfect, may at least -suffice to prove their importance in the trade of the city, and their -influence in moulding the habits of the citizens. - -[Illustration - - _From a Photograph_] [_by Frith & Co._ - HIGH STREET, EXETER. - -] - - - - - THE AFFAIR OF THE CREDITON - BARNS—A.D. 1549. - - BY THE REV. CHANCELLOR EDMONDS, B.D. - - -There are few memorials of county history even in Devonshire at once as -authentic, as interesting and as important, as that of which the title -of this chapter recalls a single incident. And not only is it authentic -and interesting, but the story comes to us at first hand. It is written -by one who was an eye-witness of most of the scenes which he describes, -who bore an honoured name, and held an honourable office in the City of -Exeter in the days of Henry VIII., Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth. He was -uncle of a man yet more celebrated and gifted than himself—the famous -Richard Hooker. His own name was John; his surname is sometimes written -with one “o,” sometimes with two, and sometimes it is written as if he -had another name altogether—Vowell. Uncle and nephew belonged, as Sir -FitzJames Stephen says, to the party of progress in the greatest crisis -which the world had seen for many centuries—a greater crisis, in some -respects, than any which has followed it. - -Moreover, he was brought into contact with two men who in importance are -part of the history of their times—Dr. Moreman, the great Cornish -schoolmaster, whose influence was immense amongst the West Country -rebels who fought at Crediton; and Myles Coverdale, afterwards Bishop of -Exeter, who held a service of thanksgiving a little while afterwards -among the bodies of the slain Cornishmen, “as, with stiffening limbs, -they lay with their faces to the stars.” - -It is strange that the burning of the barns at Crediton should be a -catchword to recall the struggle that for the moment seemed to involve -the fate of Exeter and even the religion of England. But the barns at -Crediton were like the barns of Hougoumont at the Battle of Waterloo. -The fight was critical, and it had decisive consequences. - -The Diocese of Exeter appears to have shared in the indifference which -throughout the country marked public opinion in the matter of the Pope’s -authority. The words of the Act of Henry VIII., “in restraint of -appeals” (to Rome), expresses the mind of most men at that time, “by -divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles, it is manifestly -declared and expressed that this realm of England is an Empire.” It is -tolerably certain that if the changes brought about in England at the -Reformation had been restricted to the abolition of the authority of -Rome, there would have been no rising such as that which is here -described in opposition to it. But it was otherwise when the changes -extended to the order and nature of the services by which the religious -life of the time was guided. Then the love which is felt for things -familiar came into play. The old order changed, and yielded place to -new. But the break of the new day was not cloudless nor serene. - -It is so natural to us to think of ourselves in England as a people of -one language, and that a very noble language, whatever the pure, not to -say pedantic, grammarian may say, that it is hard to think that in this -West Country the English tongue was not universal even as late as the -beginning of the seventeenth century. Devonshire and Cornwall, which -from 1042 to 1877 formed a single diocese, were in some respects for -many centuries like countries foreign to each other. The Book of Common -Prayer in the mother tongue of the English made no appeal, in the -sixteenth century, to the hearts of the common people in Cornwall. This -most interesting matter does not appear to have attracted the notice -which it deserves. If Cranmer and his colleagues could have made these -admirable offices speak to the ears of the Cornish, as they speak to the -ears of the English, Sampford Courtenay might have been left to fight -its own battles, and the Crediton barns would have lacked at the -critical moment their most eager defenders. - -Long after 1549, in King James’ time, when the Great Bible, despised by -the Cornish, despised and rejected as an alien thing, had as a -translation lost its hold upon the scholars of England, and its -successor in public esteem, the Geneva Bible, was in turn to yield place -to what we now call the Authorised Version, the celebrated John Norden, -with Royal recommendations in his pocket, was making his journeys and -constructing his _Speculum_, his topographical description of this -kingdom. He never completed it; indeed, it was not printed till long -after his time. But it is a vivid and for the most part trustworthy -survey of the country generally, and the county of Cornwall is minutely -described. Nowhere can a better view be had of the condition of the -Western part of the Diocese in the distribution of language. Here are -his words; the spelling is Norden’s: “Of late the Cornishmen have muche -conformed themselves to the use of the English tongue, and their English -is equal to the beste, especially in the Eastern partes; even from Truro -eastwarde it is in menner wholy Englische. In the West parte of the -Countrye, as in the hundreds of Penwith and Kirrier, the Cornish tongue -is most in use amongste the inhabitantes, and yet (which is to be -marveyled) though the husband and wife, parentes and children, master -and servauntes do mutually communicate in their native language, yet -there is none of them in manner but is able to convers with a straunger -in the English tongue unless it be some obscure people that seldom -confer with the better sorte. But it seemeth that in a few yeares the -Cornish language will be by litle and litle abandoned.” That was how the -case stood in the beginning of the seventeenth century. - -It is no wonder that two generations earlier the leaders of the Cornish -rising demanded that they should be allowed to have the services of the -Church as they had been accustomed to have them, for that other new Book -was to them a foreign thing. “We will not receive,” they said, “the new -service, because it is but like a Christmas game.... And we, the -Cornish, whereof certain of us understand no English, utterly refuse the -new English.” - -Whitaker, himself a Cornish clergyman, though not a Cornishman, who -published his _History of the Cathedral of Cornwall_ in 1804, and -represents the most intelligent criticism of his time, says, in his -vigorous way, as if the old blood still ran in his veins: “The English -was not desired by the Cornish, but forced upon the Cornish by the -tyranny of England, at a time when the English language was as yet -unknown in Cornwall.” “This act of tyranny,” he continues, “was at once -gross barbarity to the Cornish people, and a death blow to the Cornish -language.” “To use the universal tongue,” says Freeman, “whether -understood or not, was no grievance; to have English forced on them -was.” - -Two centuries before the Book of Common Prayer was issued, a Bishop of -Exeter, John de Grandisson, one of the most accomplished and travelled -of the whole series of mediæval prelates, was describing the Cornish end -of his Diocese to the Pope who had “provided” him to his Bishopric. He -speaks of it as if it were a foreign land “adjoining England only along -its eastern boundary, being surrounded on every other side by the sea, -which divides it from Wales and Ireland on the North. On the South, it -looks towards Gascony and Brittany; and the Cornish speak the language -of those lands.” The barrier of language was breaking down fast in 1549, -but these illustrations will show how real a barrier it was. - -The Act of Parliament which authorised the use of the Book of Common -Prayer and, indeed, commanded it to be used, took effect on Whitsunday -in 1549. A cold but competent critic, Mr. Goldwin Smith, has remarked of -it that “Cranmer’s singular command of liturgical language enabled him -to invest a new ritual at once with a dignity and beauty which gave it a -strong hold on the heart of the worshipper, and have made it a main stay -of the Anglican Church.” He adds, however, that in the backward parts of -the country masses of people willing enough to part with papal supremacy -and courts ecclesiastic “clung to the ancient faith and still more to -the ancient forms.” Various risings against the new order took place. -Two chief struggles stand out from the rest: one, in the East of -England, with its centre around Norwich, the other, in the West of -England, with its centre round Exeter. It is this last, of course, with -which the present chapter is concerned, and in telling the story of this -fragment of county history, as much use as possible will be made of -Hooker’s own language. It is a strange thing, however it may be -accounted for, that this racy narrative lay for years in manuscript in -the archives of the City of Exeter, and was not printed till 1765. Even -then it was left to private enterprise, and was published by -subscription. The title runs: “The Antique Description and Account of -the City of Exeter, in three parts, All written purely By John Vowell, -alias Hoker, Gent. Chamberlain, and Representative in Parliament of the -Same. Exon, now first printed together by Andrew Brice, in North Gate -Street. M.DCC.LXV.” It is dedicated to the two representatives of the -City in Parliament at the time of its publication, and begs them -“Candidly to pardon the Presumptions, and benignly accept this little -Oblation, of their most respectful and obsequious humble Servant, Andrew -Brice.” In such a modest moment was this precious document given to the -world. - -“It is apparent and most certain that this rebellion first was raised at -a place in _Devon_ named Sampford Courtneie, which lieth Westwards from -the City about sixteen miles.” Then Hooker marks the day. It was Monday; -it was in Whitsun-week; it fell that year on the tenth of June. It was -indeed a memorable day. For, as already has been said, the Book of -Common Prayer was ordered to be used on Whitsunday, and was so used in -Exeter as elsewhere, and in Exeter “the day passed off quietly.” Hooker -says the statute was “with all obedience received in every place, and -the common people well enough contented therewith every where, saving in -this West Country, and especially at this said Sampford Courtneie.” “For -upon the said Monday, the Priest being come to the Parish Church of -Sampford, and preparing himself to say the service as he had done the -day before, ... they said he should not do so.... The Priest in the end, -whether it were with his will, or against his will, he relied (_sic_) to -their minds, ... and forthwith ravisheth himself in his old Popish -attire, and sayeth mass, and all such services as in Times past -accustomed.” - -Then the movement took shape. Leaders were chosen, or chose themselves. -“William Underhill or Taylor and one Segar, a labourer,” joined -afterwards as “Captains” by Maunder, a shoemaker, and Aishcaredge, a -fish-driver. “Like lips, like lettice,” says Hooker, “as is the cause so -are the rulers.” These leaders were good enough for the Sampford -Courtenay men, but it was otherwise when the prevailing discontent, -slowly gathering strength at first, and directed as much against the -Lord Protector Somerset and “the gentlemen” who suddenly had become rich -at the cost of the poor, as at the alteration in the services of the -Church, brought more powerful persons and larger bodies of men upon the -scene. Then the dimensions of the rebellion revealed themselves. -Devonshire sent knights like Sir Thomas Pomeroie; Cornwall sent squires -like Arundell and Winneslade, doomed to end their lives at Tyburn. -Arundell’s history is illuminative of the times in which he lived and of -the events in which he took part. Ten years before, at the dissolution -of the monasteries, he had obtained the revenues of St. Michael’s Mount. -It was by his advice that the rebels laid siege to Exeter. If he had -marched on, his army would have gathered as it marched. The “ten -thousand” who were at his heels at Exeter would have been fifty thousand -before he reached London; but Exeter held out stubbornly, and Arundell -it was, not Exeter, that surrendered. But this is anticipatory; and it -is necessary to return to Sampford Courtenay on Whitsun Monday. - -When the news of the disturbance at Sampford had spread through the -neighbourhood, the local magistrates met together to endeavour to pacify -the people. They temporised and were timid; “they were afraid of their -own shadows,” and “departed without having done anything at all.” So -things went on till the news reached the King and his Council, who -already had enough on their hands elsewhere. Sir Peter Carew and Sir -Gawen Carew, Devonshire men, were sent down with commissions to deal -with the rising as on consideration and conference with the magistrates -might seem best. Lord Russell was to follow. The two knights came with -all haste to Exeter, and sent for the Sheriff, “Sir Peter Courtneie,” -and the Justices of the Peace, “and understanding that a great Company -of the Commons were assembled at Crediton, which is a town distant about -seven miles from Exeter, ... it was concluded that the said Sir Peter -and Sir Gawen, with others, should ride to Crediton, ... and to use all -the good ways and means they might to pacify and appease them.... But -the people being by some secret intelligence advertised of the coming of -the Gentlemen towards them, and they (being) fully resolved not to yield -one jot from their determinations, but to maintain their cause taken in -hand, do arm and make themselves strong, with such armors and furnitures -as they had, they intrench the highways and make a mighty Rampire at the -Town’s End, and fortify the same, as also the Barns next adjoining to -the same Rampires with men and munitions, having pierced the walls of -the Barns with Loops and Holes for their Shot.” - -When “the Gentlemen” reached the “Rampire,” they were surprised to find -all conference refused, and Hooker says: “The Sun being in Cancer and -the mid-summer moon at full, their minds were imbrued with such follies, -and their heads carried with such Vanities, that ... they would hear no -man speak but themselves, and thought nothing well said but what came -out of their own mouths. The warlike knights, after conference, -attempted the barrier, but a volley from the Barns repelled them with a -loss of some, and the hurt of many.” But a servant of Sir Hugh Pollard, -whose name was Fox, set one of the barns on fire, and the defenders -fled. When the magistrates entered the town, they found none in it but -old women and children. And so it might seem that the incident was -closed, and the rebellion stamped out and quenched. It was not so. Here -Hooker’s account must be given without alteration or abridgment:— - -“The noise of this Fire and Burning was in Post-haste, and as it were in -a moment, carried and blazed abroad throughout the whole Country; and -the common people, upon false Reports, and of a Gnat making an Elephant, -noised and spread it abroad, that the Gentlemen were altogether bent to -over-run, spoil and destroy them. And in their Rage, as it were a Swarm -of Wasps, they cluster themselves in great Troops and Multitudes, some -in one place and some in another, fortifying and entrenching themselves -as though the Enemy were ready to invade and assail them.” Thus “the -barns of Crediton,” in themselves of small importance, became, as in our -days for a moment “Remember Mitchelstown” was, a war cry in a movement -of high and lasting importance. - -While the country was in this excited state on the West side of Exeter, -an incident of no great apparent importance stirred up a new outbreak on -the Eastern side. The father of Sir Walter Raleigh was riding through -Clyst St. Mary, when he overtook an old woman on her way to church, -telling her beads as she went. Quite needlessly, but also quite after -the fashion of the time, he entered into a polemical discussion, and so -angered the old lady that she rushed into church, and shouted that she -and her religion had been insulted, and that a “gentleman” had -threatened that if they did not give up their beads, their holy bread, -and their holy water, he would burn them out of their homes. This was -enough to set the heather on fire on the eastern side of Exeter. - -By this time Exeter was the centre of a district in full revolt, and -amongst the country gentlemen and magistrates there was weakness and -division. - -It was at this stage that there arrived from Cornwall and North Devon -the promise of support from men of more mark than the leaders of the -village revolutionists. The barns of Crediton had done their work; the -eyes of all men turned now to the walls of Exeter. The annals of Exeter -are rich in records of worthy conduct. The proud motto, _Semper -fidelis_, has been no inglorious boast. Amongst all her chronicles none -is more to her credit than her behaviour throughout this siege. Around -the walls thousands of men were encamped, or came and went as -opportunity offered or necessity compelled. The Cornishmen brought to -the siege men skilled in “underground” labour, and these dug beneath the -walls and prepared mines. Exeter had also at least one man of skill in -like arts. Setting pans of water over suspected places, he watched till -the vibrations of the water revealed the blows of the pick-axe below. It -was at once deliverance and merry relaxation of the strain upon the mind -to divert all the slop and drainage of the city into the besiegers’ -mines. John Newcomb was this man’s name; and like the name of the man -who fired the barn at Crediton, it bears witness to the genuineness of -the narrative. - -Meantime, during this five weeks’ siege, strange things had happened. -One of the Carews had been to London to convince the Court of the -reality of the peril, and with blunt directness had driven the -conviction that the case was urgent, home to the minds of the Council. -Troops were promised, Germans chiefly, and though their number was not -great, they were used to discipline—war was their profession, not their -pastime—their arrival soon made a difference. The citizens were cheered -and depressed alternately, as news reached them from the villages, that -Lord Russell and the Carews were coming. The darkest hour, it is said, -is that before the daybreak. It was so in Exeter at the end of July and -the beginning of August. The siege had lasted five weeks, when news -reached the city that the relieving troops had been defeated. Sunday, -the fourth of August, was the darkest day of the siege. While the -citizens were at Church, and, in obedience to the law, were using the -new order of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, news -had reached the ill-affected in the city that the King’s troops had -suffered defeat. A violent mob paraded the streets, hungry and angry, -shouting: “Come out, these heretics and twopenny bookmen! Where be they? -By God’s wounds and blood, we will not be pinned in to serve their -turns. We will go out and have in our neighbours; they be honest, good, -and godly men.” The Mayor drove them back to their dwellings, and then -the most faithful of the defenders entered into a covenant of fidelity -to each other, no matter what might befall the city. Bedford House -should be their citadel, and if and when that ceased to be tenable, they -would go out by the postern gate into Southernhay, and cut their way -through or die together. That very day the reported defeat was turned -into victory. The relieving army, after reverses all but fatal, finally -won the field. Monday inside the city was strangely quiet; before -midnight the invading Cornish, the besieging multitude, had melted away. -When the morning of Tuesday broke, Exeter was free. - -Such is the bare outline of the last siege but one of the many which -Exeter has sustained. “The barns of Crediton” raised the country side; -the bridge of Clyst St. Mary pacified it. Between the place where the -fighting began and the place where it ended stood, and still stands, the -ancient city which so often in the past had been a place of defence to -the interests of the country, but never in all the long roll of her -achievements had borne herself more bravely, more nobly, and more -successfully than when she disdained to surrender at the cry of hunger -the _rôle_ of law-abiding fidelity which was the crown and glory of her -mayor and municipality in the July and August of 1549. - -Strangely enough, but fitly, too, the struggle closed where it began. -Back through Crediton, past the blackened barn, the Royal troops -marched. At Sampford Courtenay the shattered forces of the insurgents -had collected. Once more they fought, “and never gave over until that -both in the town and in the field, they were all or the most taken and -slain. And so,” says Hooker, “of a traitorous beginning they made a -shameful ending.” - -It is a pathetic thing to read the Collect for Whitsunday, with its -prayer for a right judgment in all things, and to think that the first -result of ordering it to be said in the mother tongue was the series of -battles, sieges, and executions which make up the terrible history that -began to unroll its woes outside the Barns of Crediton. - - W. J. EDMONDS. - - - - - GALLANT PLYMOUTH HOE. - - BY W. H. K. WRIGHT. - - -What memories of the past crowd into the mind as we stand upon the -far-famed Plymouth Hoe, and gaze seaward towards the open Channel! -Looking out over Plymouth Sound, crowded with shipping from all parts of -the world, one is apt to lose one’s twentieth-century identity, and to -wander in thought over long-past and well-nigh forgotten days. - -For, in truth, there is a glamour and a halo of romance about Plymouth -Hoe which can be found nowhere else; for there, beyond and around us, -spread the blue waters ebbing and flowing as they have ebbed and flowed -for countless ages, and pregnant with mighty secrets and a wondrous -retrospect. - -Beneath those waters lie buried many strange tragedies, and of the -shores are told many wonderful legends; but there are many living -stories connected with our national and naval history that are to be -found enshrined in our glorious annals. The Hoe, as regards its position -and outlook, has changed but little since the days of Trojans, -Phœnicians, Romans, Danes, Normans, Bretons, and Spaniards, all of whom -in their turn have brought their ships within the bold headlands to east -and west in quest of spoil or possessions. - -The watchers on Plymouth Hoe may have witnessed many novel sights from -their elevated standpoint, and may have joined in the welcome accorded -to many distinguished visitors. - -[Illustration - - _From a drawing by J. M. W. Turner._] [_Engraved by W. J. Cooke._ - PLYMOUTH HOE. - -] - -From a very early period, Plymouth has occupied a prominent position in -the naval affairs of the kingdom, and on many occasions has been -privileged to supply men, ships, money, and other requisites for the -fitting out of expeditions—some of a warlike character, against our -aggressive neighbours or foreign foes; others of a more peaceable -intent, destined for the discovery of new countries and the exploration -of unknown seas. From its position as one of the most westerly ports, -and possessing, as it does, one of the finest harbours in the world, -Plymouth has naturally been chosen as the starting-point of many of -those daring enterprises which have astonished the world; and doubtless -the Hoe has witnessed many interesting scenes, including the departure -of these diversified expeditions and their triumphant homecoming. It -would seem to us but as a matter of course that our forefathers should -have betaken themselves to this famous place of outlook when anything -unusual was going forward, even as we do at this time under similar -circumstances. But in olden time there were many reasons beside those of -mere idle curiosity to prompt the inhabitants of Plymouth to assemble on -the Hoe. With what eager interest must they have repaired thither in -those early days, when the French, with fire and sword, descended upon -it, and made havoc wherever they went! Small and insignificant as the -town then was, it appeared, nevertheless, to have possessed a peculiar -attraction for our French neighbours, who, upon several occasions, paid -their unwelcome visits. Thus, in 1339, we find it recorded that the -French burnt the greater part of the town; again, in 1377, the same -depredations were committed; in 1399, the French attacked Plymouth, but -were defeated by the people of the town and neighbourhood, under Hugh -Courtenay, Earl of Devon, the enemy losing five hundred men, and flying -in disorder to their ships; in 1403 it was burnt by the French; and -again, in 1405, the Bretons invaded Plymouth, and burnt six hundred -houses. The name Breton or Briton Side, given to a street in the lower -part of the town, and still in evidence, is traceable to a connection -with this event. - -But the brave seamen of gallant little Plymouth were on other occasions -amply revenged for these outrages. Thus, in 1346, the battle of Cressy -and siege of Calais are recorded, and it is a matter of historical fact -that the latter town was blockaded by twenty-six ships and over six -hundred men mustered by the town of Plymouth, while Saltash, Millbrook, -and other neighbouring places also sent their quota of help. Again, in -1354, a fleet of three hundred ships sailed from hence, and within sight -of the watchers on Plymouth Hoe, for the invasion of France, under the -command of the King (Edward III.), the Black Prince, and other noted -leaders. The watchers on Plymouth Hoe may have also taken part in the -enthusiastic reception given by the people to the Black Prince, on the -occasion of his landing here, after his memorable victory at Poictiers -in 1356, bringing with him as hostages John, King of France, that -monarch’s youngest son, and some of his principal nobles. - -It is, however, to the age of Elizabeth that we must turn to find the -greatest interest centreing around Plymouth. In that reign, the town -attained a degree of importance that it has never since lost; and, as a -matter of course, Plymouth Hoe was, as in still earlier times, from its -commanding position and extent, the rendezvous for the townsfolk, as -well as the muster-ground for troops. Many scenes of intense interest -that have been witnessed from this historic spot, rise to the mind’s -eye. - -“The brave sea-captains it (Plymouth) produced made a glorious history -for England in the reign of Elizabeth. Drake, first of England’s -vikings, as a sailor, went out with his little fleet of schooners from -this port on the 15th of November, 1577, to plough with their small -keels a track through all the seas that surround the globe. The -birth-roll of Plymouth is rich and illustrious with names of seamen who -wrote them on the far-off islands and rough capes of continents they -discovered. Drake, Hawkins, Raleigh, Oxenham, and Cook sailed on their -memorable expeditions from this port.”[4] - ------ - -Footnote 4: - - Burritt’s _Walk from London to Land’s End_. - ------ - -Many a time and oft did the people of Plymouth his away to the Hoe to -bid Drake and his gallant company God-speed on their voyages of -discovery and warfare. And it was no empty curiosity that led them to do -this, for Drake was their hero, beloved by everybody, and his ship’s -company numbered many Plymouth men, the husbands, sons, and brothers of -those who looked wistfully and through blinding tears at the little -vessels fast disappearing in the distance, out into the great unknown. - -And if they thus watched the outgoing, what about the home-coming? That -was an anxious time for the watchers on Plymouth Hoe, for no one knew -until the ship actually arrived in port how many of their loved ones had -succumbed to the rigours of the varying climate, disease, storm, and, -worst of all, the dreaded Spaniards, with their horrible Inquisition. It -is very evident that the townsfolk did take a very great interest in the -events and expeditions of this period, for one old chronicler informs us -that “Sir Francis (then Captain) Drake returning from one of his -voyages, and arriving at Plymouth on Sunday, August 9th, 1573, in sermon -time, and the news of his return being carried into the church, there -remained few or no people with the preacher, all running to observe the -blessing of God upon the dangerous adventures of the captain.” - -But this home-coming of Drake’s, and the reception then given him, was -as nothing compared to that accorded him when he returned from his -voyage of circumnavigation. As stated before, he left Plymouth on the -15th of November, 1577, and returned on the 11th September, 1580. In -this voyage he had completely surrounded the globe—a feat which, it is -alleged, no commander-in-chief had accomplished before. He had five -vessels at starting, the aggregate tonnage of which did not reach three -hundred tons, and a company of men, gentlemen, and sailors, all told, -amounting to one hundred and sixty-four. Before this voyage was half -done, Drake had parted company with several of his ships, and returned -from that voyage with only one ship, _The Golden Hind_, otherwise known -as _The Pelican_. But, alas! there came a time when the watchers on -Plymouth Hoe looked in vain for their hero; for both he and his -companion, Hawkins (of a noted Plymouth family), died at sea, and were -buried in the ocean, within a few weeks of each other. It was said of -Drake— - - The waves became his winding-sheet, the waters were his tomb, - But for his fame the ocean-sea was not sufficient room. - -But we have anticipated matters a little. It must not be forgotten that -Drake and Hawkins, with many another Plymouth captain of renown, fought -the Armada of Philip the Second in 1588. All other events in the annals -of Plymouth and Plymouth Hoe pale into insignificance beside that -culminating event in the history of the time—that grandest of all -England’s triumphs—described by Camden as “the only miraculous victory -of that age.” For out there, well within sight of the watchers on -Plymouth Hoe, was assembled the English fleet of a hundred and twenty -sail, which was destined, by the Providence of God, to cause the -destruction of that magnificent armament, “whose descent upon our shores -had lighted up the beacon fires of British defiance from the Lizard to -the Hoe, and roused the spirit of our loyal tars to drive the proud -invaders from the seas.” - -Let us, for a moment, imagine ourselves thrown back to that eventful -summer’s evening in 1588, so graphically described by Macaulay, when— - - There came a gallant merchant ship full sail to Plymouth bay, - -bringing the important and alarming news that the Spaniards were within -sight of our shores. We take up our position on the Hoe, then, as now, -the favourite resort of the townsfolk, and find much to interest us. -Near the Hoe is “The Pelican” Inn, with its terrace bowling green, and -there we find a noble company assembled. “Chatting in groups, or -lounging over a low wall which commands a view of the shipping far -below, are gathered almost every notable man of the Plymouth fleet—that -fleet which will to-morrow begin the greatest sea fight the world has -ever seen.” - -There we see Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, Lord High Admiral of -England, Sir John Hawkins, Admiral of the Port of Plymouth, Sir Francis -Drake, Lord Sheffield, Sir Richard Grenville, the hero of the great -fight with the Spaniards a few years later, Sir Robert Southwell, Martin -Frobisher, John Davis, and possibly Sir Walter Raleigh. - -These and many others were on the Hoe at Plymouth that summer’s evening -the day before the coming of the Armada. Some were enjoying a game of -bowls, and tradition says that in the midst of the game intelligence was -brought that the Armada were in the offing. Howard called upon the -captains to lay aside their toys, and prepare to shoot in another and -more serious game; but Drake, with that coolness which was one of his -most marked characteristics, respectfully answered his chief: “There is -time enough to finish our game, and to fight the Spaniards afterwards.” -So the game was fought to its finish, and then there was hurry and -bustle on land and sea, men thronging to the shore to gain their ships, -sails being spread, all sorts of commands being given, and then came a -waiting time, till the darkness of night fell, till— - - The beacons blazed upon the roof of Edgcumbe’s lofty hall, - -and the warning radiance spread from hill-top to hill-top, from cape to -cape, until in a few short hours the whole land was told that the -dreaded and much-vaunted Armada was at last in the English Channel. -There is no need to follow the story further, as the scene is shifted -from Plymouth Hoe, and the doings of Howard, Drake, Hawkins, and their -brave companions have passed beyond our ken. - -A few years later, in 1620, a little bark lay out there on the waters of -the Sound having on board her the seeds of a mighty empire; for in the -little _Mayflower_ were the pilgrims who alienated themselves from home -and friends for religion’s sake, and sought in a new clime a haven of -rest and peace. They found it after many days and the endurance of much -hardship. Elihu Burritt, an American writer, giving his reminiscences of -Plymouth Hoe and the Pilgrim Fathers, says:— - - As Noah took in with him all that was worth preserving of the old - world before the Flood, not only of animal, but of mental and moral, - life, so that little ruddered ark, with its sky-lights looking upward - to the face of God by night and day, and filled with the ascending - voice of prayer by those who trusted in His guidance, bore across the - wide world of waters the life-germs of all that was worth planting in - the New World, or that could grow in its soil. - -How these seeds of Empire have borne fruit may be seen in the marvellous -growth of the United States of America, which has now a population -exceeding eighty millions. - -A few years later, viz., in 1625, all Plymouth flocked on to the Hoe, -attracted thither by the presence of the King, Charles I., who there -reviewed 10,000 troops from the counties of Devon and Cornwall. Twenty -years after, the Royalist forces were encamped on Staddon Heights over -yonder, holding the rebel town under close siege, and the people who -ventured on Plymouth Hoe noted the white tents of the opposing forces -with a feeling somewhat akin to dismay, for they did not know what a day -might bring forth. But Plymouth remained staunch to the Parliamentary -cause, and withstood Charles and his armies throughout the whole period -during which the Civil War lasted. - -Then, in 1652, a mournful procession landed under the Hoe with the body -of Admiral Blake, who had succumbed to wounds received in a sharp fight -with the Dutch. His heart was buried in St. Andrew’s Church; his body -received honourable interment in Westminster Abbey. - -The next memorable scene was the building of the Citadel—that huge -fortification to the east of the Hoe proper—which served the double -purpose of repelling invaders and of menacing the rebellious townsfolk, -the memory of whose disaffection still rankled in the minds of Charles -II. and his advisers. This was in 1670. - -Another notable scene was doubtless witnessed by the watchers on the Hoe -on the 14th of November, 1698, when Henry Winstanley completed and -lighted the first lighthouse on the Eddystone reef. The story is well -told by Jean Ingelow in a graphic poem, for which we have only space for -a few lines:— - - Till up the stair Winstanley went - To fire the wick afar, - And Plymouth in the silent night - Looked out and saw her star. - - Winstanley set his foot ashore; - Said he, "My work is done; - I hold it strong to last as long - As aught beneath the sun. - - "But if it fail, as fail it may, - Borne down with ruin and rout, - Another than I shall rear it high, - And brace the girders stout. - - “A better than I shall rear it high, - For now the way is plain; - And though I were dead,” Winstanley said, - “The light would rise again.” - . . . . . . . - With that Winstanley went his way, - And left the rock renowned, - And summer and winter his pilot star - Hung bright o’er Plymouth Sound. - -The sequel to this episode is a sad one, for it is recorded that the -tower was destroyed on the 26th of November, 1703, and its -public-spirited and confident designer perished with it. - - And men looked south to the harbour mouth, - The lighthouse tower was down. - -Other scenes rise up before us as the centuries roll on. We see the good -citizens of Plymouth crowd on to the Hoe to witness the departure of -Captain Cook on his various voyages of exploration in the South Seas; we -note the pregnant comings and goings attending the great war with -France, stately vessels sailing from the Sound in all their warlike -glory, anon coming back crippled and wounded, with half their men killed -or maimed. Then, later, we see the arch-cause of all this bloodshed—the -great Napoleon—a prisoner on board the _Bellerophon_ in Plymouth Sound, -while the waters below us teem with the boats and craft of all -descriptions of the curious sightseers. - -The years slip by. This time we are at war with Russia, with France as -our ally, and we stand on the Hoe to watch the stately troopships -sailing off with the flower of our army to court death in the Black Sea -or in the Baltic. History tells the tale. - -At another time we watch the first shipload of emigrants bound for the -Antipodes to plant New Englands in Australia, New Zealand, and -elsewhere; and so it goes on through the centuries—the Plymouth Hoe -beautified by the hands of men, and surrounded by stately buildings, and -within sound of a teeming population, but in its general character and -appearance little changed since the days of which we have spoken; and -Plymouth men of to-day congregate on the Hoe, and watch the huge liners -and leviathan battleships coming and going, even as their far-away -ancestors noted the coming and going of Drake and his fighting ships -that bore over the blue waters of the Sound those pioneers of empire—the -sea-dogs of Devon. - - W. H. K. WRIGHT. - -[Illustration: leaf] - - =A SONG OF EMPIRE.= - - (Occasioned by the visit of the King and Queen to Devonshire, March, - 1902.) - - A song, a song of Empire, of Britain, and her fame; - Of sons who fought and fell for her, and gained a deathless name; - Of men who on the trackless deep, or on the battle-field, - Maintained her old supremacy, who died, but scorned to yield. - - They sowed the seeds of Empire in far lands o’er the sea; - They made the name of England the watchword of the free. - And by their deeds of daring, on land or on the main, - O’erthrew the pride of Philip, and crushed the power of Spain. - - ’Twas Drake and his brave seamen who boldly led the van; - ’Twas Hawkins, Grenville, Raleigh, and many a Devon man - Who taught the boastful Spaniard how dogged they could be— - That British pluck was e’er a match for old-world chivalry. - - Through many an age on history’s page their fame shines clear and fair, - From sire to son the message passed boldly to do and dare; - And whereso’er Old England’s flag is seen the world around, - Shoulder to shoulder, rank on rank, Devonia’s sons are found. - - But Britain’s Empire grows apace; and whereso’er they be, - Britannia’s sons still wave aloft the banner of the free. - No narrow jealousies can stay—no obstacles affright: - Their motto is “Right forward, for Britain, Crown, and Right.” - - And when the war-note soundeth, as late it sounded shrill, - How nobly rose her sons to arms, obedient to her will! - And as they came to Afric’s shores from many a distant clime, - So will they come for her loved sake, e’en to the end of time. - - - Nor race, nor people, clime nor zone her march can stay or bound; - In every land beneath the sun the British bugles sound; - Her warships ride on every sea, her flag flies far and near, - Mother of nations is she still, to all her children dear. - - . . . . . . . - - “God Save the King,” the people cry, and ’tis no empty sound— - He’s loved and honoured for his worth the whole wide world around. - Despotic power he’ll never wield, but with benignant sway - Rule o’er a people myriad-tongued, who gladly homage pay. - - And to his Consort, now a Queen—the Queen we all adore— - We raise our greetings loyally and all our love outpour; - Long life be hers and happiness, and may no cares of State - E’er cast a shadow o’er her crown or love or joy abate. - - Let Britons all with pride unite in welcome leal and true, - To Edward, King and Emperor, we’ll raise our shouts anew. - And may our mighty Empire still flourish and increase— - May War and Anarchy give place to Unity and Peace. - - W. H. K. WRIGHT. - - - - - THE GRENVILLES: A RACE OF - FIGHTERS. - - BY THE REV. PREBENDARY GRANVILLE, M.A. - - -The family of Grenville claimed descent from Rollo the Sea-King, and -they did not belie their fierce and adventurous ancestor. They were -fighters to the core. Rightly they had for their bearing three -horseman’s rests, in which the lance or tilting spear was fixed. Some, -of course, through the long centuries, were senators, magistrates, -ecclesiastics; but as a rule they were men of the sword, serving their -country by land and sea. - -The first Sir Richard de Grenville, “near kinsman to the Conqueror,” -sheathing his sword after the Conquest of South Wales, settled on the -borders of Devon and Cornwall beside the Severn Sea. Concerning any -feats of arms achieved by his immediate descendants the chronicles are -silent. We have only their frequent summonses “to go with the King -beyond the seas for their honour and preservation and profit of the -Kingdom”; but another Sir Richard was Marshal of Calais under Henry -VIII., and in the quaint language of Carew, “enterlaced his home -magistracy with martial employments abroad”; whilst his son, Sir Roger, -a sea captain, and the father of the future hero of the _Revenge_, after -fighting the French off the Isle of Wight in 1545, went down in the -_Mary Rose_ off Portsmouth, when that ill-fated vessel, like the _Royal -George_, two centuries later, capsized and sank with all on board. - -His son, Richard, was then but two years old. The story of his boyhood -has yet to be discovered, but he first gave vent to his fierce fighting -spirit when, a stripling of some eighteen summers, he took service under -the Emperor Maximilian against the Turks, obtaining therein the -commendation of foreign historians for his intrepidity and early -knowledge of the art of war. Next we find him taking part in suppressing -the Irish rebellion, and though after this he settled for a while on his -English estates, his restless spirit and natural thirst for distinction -led him to participate in the perils and glories of the brilliant -engagement at Lepanto in 1572, when Don John of Austria, with the -combined squadrons of Christendom, defeated the Ottoman fleet. On his -return to England he was knighted. - -One of the features of the Elizabethan era was the zeal for colonization -which pervaded the West of England. In common with Gilbert, Raleigh, and -many others, Grenville petitioned the Queen to allow an enterprise for -the discovery of “sundry ritche and unknowen landes.” Their request was -granted, and in 1584 two ships, provided by Raleigh and Grenville, -discovered Virginia; and the following spring, Sir Richard took command -of seven ships fitted with the first colonists of that country. On his -return journey he sighted a Spanish vessel of 300 tons, and his ship, -the _Tiger_ (which was but 140 tons), out-sailing the rest of his little -squadron, had nearly overhauled the chase, when the wind suddenly -dropped, and the little _Tiger_ and her big quarry lay becalmed. Sir -Richard’s boats had all been carried away in a gale of wind, but, -determined not to lose his prize, he “boarded her,” says Hakluyt, “with -a boat made with the boards of chests, which fell asunder and sank at -the ship’s side as soon as ever he and his men were out of it.” The -Spaniard proved richly laden, and Grenville’s dare-devilry won him -£50,000 in prize money. - -But his δαιμονίη ἀρετὴ (as Froude calls it) was soon to be exemplified -in a still more striking manner in that last great service for his Queen -and country, in which he so nobly sacrificed his life, and which has -been told by Raleigh and Tennyson in “Letters of Gold.” To his great -mortification, he had been prevented from sharing in the glories of the -defeat of the Armada, having received the Queen’s special commands not -to quit Cornwall during the peril; but in the summer of 1591 he was -appointed Vice-Admiral, under Lord Thomas Howard, and despatched to the -Azores to intercept an unusually rich treasure fleet, which was lying at -Havannah ready for the homeward voyage. Grenville’s ship was the -_Revenge_, a second-class galleon, carrying twenty-two heavy guns, -twelve light ones, and twelve small pieces used for repelling boarders. -She had carried Drake’s flag against the Armada three years before, and -was considered one of the best types of a fighting ship. - -On the 31st of August, Lord Thomas Howard’s squadron, consisting of six -men of war and nine or ten victuallers and pinnaces, was riding at -anchor in the bay of Flores; many of the crews were ashore digging for -ballast, filling water casks, and obtaining fresh provisions and fruit -for the sick, who numbered nearly half the strength of the fleet, for -fever and scurvy had made havoc among the ships’ companies. Suddenly an -English pinnace, the _Moonshine_, swept round a headland into the bay -with the alarming intelligence that an armada of twenty Spanish -men-of-war and over thirty transports and smaller craft were close at -hand, despatched by Philip II. to protect his treasure ships. - -Howard at once determined that he was in no condition to fight a force -so superior, and accordingly made signal to weigh anchor instantly. All -obeyed but the _Revenge_, Grenville being delayed, according to Raleigh, -in getting his sick men brought on board from the shore; and when at -last she got under way, she had lost the wind, and was unable to follow -the other vessels as they ran past the Spanish fleet to windward. A -second line of retreat was still open to him: by cutting his mainsail, -he could run before the wind, pass the Spaniards to leeward, and rejoin -the flag in the open sea. But to pass an enemy to leeward was a -confession of inferiority to which Grenville would not stoop, and, -though urged to this course by his officers and crew, he scornfully and -passionately refused, and, sword in hand, drove his men to their posts, -swearing that he would hew his way single-handed through the whole -Spanish fleet, or perish in the attempt. - -For a while he prevailed, compelling several of the foremost to give -way, who sprang their luff and fell under the lee of the _Revenge_. But -his success was short-lived; the _Revenge_, coming under the lee of the -great _San Philip_, of 1,500 tons, was becalmed. This was about three -o’clock in the afternoon; and while the _Revenge_ was hotly engaged with -this gigantic adversary, four more Spanish ships-of-war ranged -alongside, and, after a furious cannonade, attempted to board her, but -in vain; and the _San Philip_, after receiving from the lower tier of -guns of the _Revenge_ an especially deadly salvo, “discharged with -cross-bar shot, shifted herself with all diligence from her sides, -utterly misliking her first entertainment.” But her place was at once -taken by another Spaniard, and, indeed, through the twelve or fifteen -hours during which the battle lasted, Grenville’s ship was constantly -fighting against overwhelming odds. All through the August night the -fight continued under the quiet stars, ship after ship washing up on the -_Revenge_ like clamouring waves upon a rock, only to fall back foiled -and shattered amidst the roar of artillery:— - - Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came, - Ship after ship, the whole night long, with their battle-thunder and - flame, - Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and her - shame, - For some were sunk, and some were shattered, and some would fight no - more; - God of battles! was ever a battle like this in the world before? - -Though wounded early in the day, Grenville was able to fight his ship -from the upper deck till an hour before midnight, when he was again -wounded, this time in the body, with a musket ball. The sailors carried -him below, and as his wounds were being dressed, a shot crashed through -the _Revenge_, stretched the doctor lifeless, and inflicted an injury to -Sir Richard’s head from which, in two or three days, he died. - -And still the battle raged; and still ship after ship drew out of -action, utterly defeated by the splendid gunnery and desperate courage -of Grenville’s men. Gradually the fire slackened; before daylight it -ceased altogether, for the Spaniards abandoned their attempts to sink -the _Revenge_ or carry her by board. Yet fifteen out of their twenty -men-of-war had been hotly engaged with her: two of them she had sunk -outright; a third was so damaged that her crew ran her on shore to save -their lives; a fourth was in a sinking condition. Dawn found the enemy’s -immense fleet encircling the one English ship like wolves round a dying -lion, and wary of approaching him in his last agony. When the sun rose, -the survivors of the crew began to realise their desperate plight. Sir -Richard commanded the master-gunner to split and sink the ship, that -thereby nothing might remain of glory or victory to the Spaniards, and -endeavoured to persuade the crew “to yield themselves to God and to the -mercy of none else, but as they had, like valiant resolute men, repulsed -so many enemies, they should not now shorten the honour of their nation -by prolonging their own lives by a few hours or a few days.” - -The chief gunner and a few others consented; but the rest having dared -quite enough for mortal men, refused to blow up the ship, and -surrendered to the enemy. Grenville was carried in a dying condition to -the ship of the Spanish Admiral, and as he lay upon his couch on the -deck, the captains of the fleet crowded round to see the expiring hero, -who, feeling his end approaching, showed not any sign of faintness, but -spake these words in Spanish, and said: “Here die I, Richard Grenville, -with a joyful and quiet mind, for that I have ended my life as a true -soldier ought to do, that hath fought for his country, Queen, religion -and honour. Wherefore my soul most joyfully departeth out of this body, -and shall always leave behind it an everlasting fame of a valiant and -true soldier that hath done his duty as he was bound to do.” - -Such was the fight at Flores in that August of 1591—“a fight memorable -even beyond credit and to the height of some heroic fable.” It has been -called “England’s naval Thermopylæ.” It was from the first as hopeless a -battle as that of the Spartans under the brave Leonidas, and its moral -effects at the time were hardly less than that of Thermopylæ. Froude -tells us it struck a deeper terror, though it was but the action of a -single ship, into the hearts of the Spanish people—it dealt a more -deadly blow upon their fame and moral strength than even the destruction -of the Armada itself, and in the direct results which arose from it it -was scarcely less disastrous to them. Men may blame Sir Richard -Grenville for his obstinacy, and what they deem his false notion of -honour in scorning to turn his back upon the foe when the odds were so -overwhelmingly against him, but at least it must be conceded that his -courage and that of his crew have immortalised his name. - -[Illustration: - - SIR BEVILL GRENVILLE. - (_From an Oil Painting._) -] - -Passing over Sir Richard’s son, John, who followed Drake and was drowned -in the ocean, “which became his bedde of honour,” and also another son, -Sir Bernard, we come to the latter’s famous son, Sir Bevill—a man no -whit inferior in loyalty and courage to his illustrious grandsire, and -whom men called the English Bayard. When Charles I., in 1639, raised an -army against the Scots, Bevill Grenville joined the Royal Standard at -the head of a troop of horse at York. “I cannot contain myself within my -doors,” he wrote, “when the King of England’s standard waves in the -field upon so just an occasion, the cause being such as must make all -those that die in it little inferior to martyrs. And for my own part, I -desire to acquire an honest name or an honourable grave. I never loved -my life or ease so much as to shun such an occasion, which if I should, -I were unworthy of the profession I have held, or to succeed those -ancestors of mine who have so many of them in several ages sacrificed -their lives for their country.” - -History shows this to have been a bloodless campaign, but the above -extract proves Grenville’s hereditary spirit, and the King, in token of -his approval, knighted him at Berwick-on-Tweed before the army broke up; -and when, three years later, the storm at last burst over England, which -had been so long threatening, Charles I. had no more loyal supporter -than Sir Bevill Grenville. Clarendon says he was “the most generally -loved man in Cornwall.” He was the soul of the Royalist cause there, and -his influence was so great that he readily raised a body of volunteers -fifteen hundred strong. At Bradock Down, near Liskeard, where the first -important encounter with the Parliamentarian troops took place, Sir -Bevill led the van. Describing the fight to his wife, he writes: “After -solemn prayers at the head of every division, I led my part away, who -followed me with so great a courage, both down the one hill and up the -other, that it struck a terror into them,” with the result that twelve -hundred prisoners were captured, and all the guns. The next engagement -took place at Stratton (distant only a few miles from Grenville’s own -home in the adjoining parish of Kilkampton) on May 16th, 1643, where he -was again conspicuous for his personal courage. The Earl of Stamford, -who commanded the Parliamentarian troops, which numbered close on 6,000, -all perfectly equipped and victualled, had encamped in a very strong -position on the top of a hill, now called Stamford Hill, near the -village of Stratton. It is an isolated grassy hill on a ridge which runs -nearly due north and south. The sides on the east and south are the -steepest, whilst the western slope has an ancient earthwork near the -summit, which Stamford had defended with guns that ought to have -rendered it impregnable. The Royalist troops, less than half their -number, short of ammunition, and so destitute of provisions that the -best officers had but a biscuit a day, lay at Launceston. They -nevertheless marched the twenty miles to Stratton “with a resolution to -fight with the enemy upon every disadvantage of place or number.” In the -evening they halted, footsore and hungry, a mile from the base of the -high hill on which the Parliamentarian troops lay in overwhelming -strength, and determined to attack them at daybreak. Weary as they were, -the men stood to their arms all night, for the enemy were too near to -make rest possible, and with the first light, Sir Bevill, to whom every -inch of the ground was, of course, perfectly familiar, and to whom, -consequently, was committed the ordering of the fight, divided the -troops into four storming parties. The little army was too small to -merit, when divided into such parts, any other designation. In the -morning the fight commenced, and continued till the afternoon was well -advanced, but no impression could be made by the gallant Cornishmen, who -were repulsed again and again. At last powder began to fail, and it -became a question between retreat, which implied certain disaster, or -victory. A final and heroic effort was made; muskets were laid aside, -and, trusting to pike and sword alone, the lithe Cornishmen pressed -onwards and upwards. Grenville led the party on the western slope, and -Sir John Berkeley that on the northern, while Hopton and the other -commanders scaled the south and east sides. Their silent march seems to -have struck their opponents with a sense of power, and the defence grew -feebler. Grenville first reached the crest, and seized the entrenchment, -and captured the thirteen brass field-pieces and one mortar by which it -was defended; and when Berkeley prevailed on the north side, the -Parliamentarian horse fled from the hill headlong down the steep -descent, and made off. This had its moral effect on the defenders of the -other two sides of the camp, and their resistance perceptibly slackened. -Soon the other two storming parties, who had had the steepest climb, -pressed upward, and the enemy, despite the efforts of their officers to -rally them, made off to the adjoining heights. The victorious commanders -embraced one another on the hard-won hilltop, thanking God for a success -for which at one time they had hardly ventured to hope. It was no time -to prolong their rejoicings, as the enemy, demoralised though they were, -appear to have rallied somewhat, and to have shown a disposition to -renew the combat; but Grenville quickly turned their own captured cannon -on them, and a few rounds sufficed to dislodge them. Panic ensued, and a -general stampede, in which arms and accoutrements were flung aside, -concluded the fight of Stratton. By this decisive victory, not only was -Cornwall cleared of the enemy and secured for the King, but the whole of -Devon, excepting a few of the principal towns, fell into the hands of -the Royalists. The King was not unmindful of the gallant Sir Bevill’s -share in the fight, but wrote him a gracious letter promising further -proofs of his bounty and favour. - -The following June, the Cornish army joined that under Prince Maurice -and the Marquis of Hertford at Chard, and soon Taunton, Bridgwater, -Glastonbury, and Dunster Castle were taken. They then proceeded to -attack Sir William Waller, who had occupied an extremely strong position -on the lofty ridge of Lansdown, near Bath. There he had raised a -breastwork behind which his guns were posted, and he had so distributed -his foot and horse as to defend all points of access. Realising the -tremendous strength of his position, the Royalists wisely resolved not -to break themselves upon it, and were actually turning to resume their -march when the whole body of Waller’s horse came thundering down the -hill upon their rear and flank, striking them with a crash they could -not withstand, and throwing them into disorder from which they could not -recover, till Slanning came up with a party of three hundred Cornish -musketeers, and with his aid the enemy were beaten off and chased back -to the hill again. Hopton now assumed the offensive. The blood of the -whole army was beating hotly. It is said that the Cornishmen, under Sir -Bevill, coveted Waller’s cannon, and begged at least to be allowed “to -fetch off those cannon.” Leave was given, and up the steep height the -Cornishmen went with a rush: the horse on the right, the musketeers on -the left, and Sir Bevill himself leading the pikes in the centre. In -this order the Cornish moved forward, much as they had moved at -Stratton, slowly and doggedly. In the face of the enemy’s cannon and -small shot from their breastworks, they at length gained the brow of the -hill, having sustained two full charges from Waller’s horse, but in the -third charge Sir Bevill’s horse had given way; the cohesion of the pikes -was broken, and instantly the enemy was in among them, hewing them down; -the officers were falling fast, and Sir Bevill himself, sorely wounded -and fighting valiantly, was struck out of his saddle by a pole-axe, of -which hurt he died very shortly. Young John Grenville, a lad of sixteen, -sprang, it is said, into his father’s saddle, and led the charge, and -the Cornishmen followed with their swords drawn and with tears in their -eyes, swearing they would kill a rebel for every hair of Sir Bevill’s -beard; and at last the whole Royalist force surged over Waller’s -breastworks, and the victory was theirs. - -Never was a man more universally or deservedly beloved than Sir Bevill, -and it is said that his untimely death was as bitterly lamented by the -Parliamentarian troops as it was by his own followers. - -Of a very different character and temperament was his brother, another -Sir Richard Grenville, of whose life as a soldier only the very briefest -sketch can be given. He seems to have had little in common with the long -line of his illustrious predecessors, except their just pride of -ancestry and their appetite for fighting; for he was undoubtedly a brave -soldier of no little experience and skill. He entered the army at an -early age, and left England when he was eighteen, and saw much service -in France, Holland, Germany, and the Netherlands. Next he took part in -the disastrous expeditions to Cadiz and the Island of Rhe, in both of -which he was accompanied by his young cousin, George Monk, who always -regarded him as his father-in-arms. Like Sir Bevill, he accompanied -Charles I. to Scotland, having also raised a troop of horse; and in 1641 -he took a prominent part in suppressing the rebellion in Ireland, when -in fire and blood the wretched Irish were made to do penance for their -outburst of savagery, to which they had been goaded by Strafford’s -imperious rule. Having been recalled to England in 1643 for -insubordination to the Marquis of Ormond, Sir Richard pretended to adopt -the Parliamentarian cause, and was made a Major-General of Horse; but -having learnt all the secrets of their campaign, he treacherously -marched his soldiers to Oxford, and joined the King. For such abominable -treachery he was rightly denounced, and no epithets were too choice to -apply to him. He was, moreover, excepted from all pardon, both as to -life and estate. Shortly afterwards he was placed by Prince Rupert in -command of the troops that were besieging Plymouth, and it was mainly by -his successful tactics that Lord Essex was utterly defeated in Cornwall -in 1644, when the King commanded the Cavaliers in person. - -After this he was appointed “The King’s General in the West,” a title of -which he was justly proud, and which was eventually carved on his -tombstone at Ghent. Considering himself thus constituted -Commander-in-Chief, he afterwards refused, when called upon to do so by -the Prince’s Council, to act in any subordinate position; and hence -arose those unhappy dissensions and jealousies which finally wrecked the -royal cause in the West. Grenville was placed under arrest, and -cashiered from his command without any court-martial. In spite of his -overbearing manners and tyrannical conduct, of which frequent complaints -had been made, public opinion was strongly in his favour and clamoured -for his release, whilst the soldiers refused to be commanded by Hopton -or anyone else, and both officers and men, to the number of four -thousand, petitioned the Prince in his favour. Sir Richard’s -imprisonment and the dissensions that arose in consequence undoubtedly -gave the finishing stroke to the war in the West; the service everywhere -languished; the soldiers gradually deserted, and Lord Hopton was -compelled, after some faint resistance, to disband, and accept of such -conditions as the enemy would give. Sir Richard, it must be confessed, -represented the worst type of Cavalier. He was frequently actuated by -the dictates of a violent and revengeful disposition, and was intriguing -and unscrupulous. He died abroad in exile in 1659. - -The heroism of young John Grenville, Sir Bevill’s son, in taking command -of his father’s regiment at Lansdown when the latter fell mortally -wounded, met its recognition a month later at Bristol, when he was -knighted. After this he served under his uncle, Sir Richard, at the -siege of Plymouth and in Cornwall, and apparently accompanied Charles I. -in his march from the West after the defeat of Lord Essex; for the next -time we hear of him is at the second battle of Newbury (27th October, -1644), where he narrowly escaped his father’s fate. Being in the -thickest of the fight, and having received several other wounds, he was -at last felled to the ground with a very dangerous one in the head from -a halberd, which rendered him unconscious, and he was left for dead, nor -was he discovered until a body of the King’s horse, charging the enemy -afresh and beating them off the ground, found him covered with blood and -dust, but still living. He was carried to where the King and Prince of -Wales were, who sent him to Donnington Castle hard by, to be treated for -his wounds; but no sooner were the armies drawn off from the field of -battle than the castle itself was besieged by the enemy, and their -bullets constantly whistled through the room where the young sufferer -lay, during the twelve days which elapsed before the defenders were -relieved by the King at the third battle of Newbury. On his recovery -from his wounds, Sir John Grenville was promoted to the rank of a -Brigadier of Foot, and the following year was appointed a Gentleman of -the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, who had formed a strong -attachment for him, which proved lifelong. He remained with the Prince -accordingly during the rest of the war, and accompanied him in his -flight to the Isles of Scilly, and afterwards to Jersey. - -Towards the end of the year 1648 the Scilly Islands revolted from the -Parliament, and became the last rallying point of the Royalists under -Grenville, who was appointed Governor to hold them for the King; but he -had scarcely been there three weeks when tidings reached him of the -King’s execution. With passionate indignation, he at once proclaimed -Charles II. King, and could find no words hard enough for Cromwell and -the Regicides. He fortified the islands, already strong from their -natural position and existing earthworks; and in this he was ably -assisted by his brother, Bernard, then barely eighteen, who had run away -from his tutor, and lay concealed at Menabilly, near Fowey, whence he -managed to carry considerable reinforcements for the defence of the -islands. For two years Sir John carried on a guerilla warfare against -the English republic, and seized many merchant and other vessels; but -when Van Tromp made overtures to him to cede the islands to the States -General, and offered £100,000 as a bribe, Grenville indignantly refused -to yield an inch of British soil to a stranger, saying he was there “to -contend against treason, not to imitate it.” Admiral Blake, who was in -pursuit of Van Tromp, next appeared, and again attempted negotiations -for the cession of the islands, but Grenville was resolved to hold them -for the King alone, and for a whole month made such a stubborn -resistance that when at last Blake prevailed, Grenville secured terms so -exceptionally favourable to the Royalists that the Parliament refused to -ratify them, till Blake insisted and threatened to resign his -commission. - -Sir John Grenville’s future career and the prominent part he took, in -conjunction with his cousin, George Monk, in the Restoration of Charles -II., who created him Earl of Bath, and showered countless honours and -endowments upon him, do not belong to a paper confined to giving the -fighting qualities of the family. These, however, found expression in -his two sons, Charles, Lord Lansdown, and John, afterwards created Lord -Granville of Potheridge. The latter was in the navy, and took part in -most of the naval engagements of his time, behaving with great bravery -and skill, particularly at the siege of Cork in 1690. Lord Lansdown took -part in the wars of Hungary against the Turks, and was present at the -battle of Kornenberch, the siege of Vienna, at Baracan, Gran, and -several smaller engagements, in all of which he displayed such unwonted -valour and intrepidity for one so young, that the Emperor Leopold, as a -special mark of honour, created him a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, -with the distinction of bearing his paternal coat-of-arms upon the -breast of the Roman Eagle. He also took part in the constant reprisals, -which marked the reign of William III., by the English and French upon -one another’s shores; and in one of these assisted in the bombardment of -his ancestral Norman town, Granville, and in another in the defence of -Teignmouth and Torbay. - -The fighting spirit of the family was still handed on in another member -of the family—a second Sir Bevill, the eldest son of the Honourable -Bernard Granville (as the name was now spelt), who appears to have -inherited all the courage of the grandfather whose name he bore. On -leaving Cambridge, he entered the army, and served with distinction in -his uncle, Lord Bath’s, regiment in Ireland and Flanders, and was -knighted by James II. at the head of that regiment on Hounslow Heath on -the 22nd of May, 1686. When Lord Bath revolted to the side of the Prince -of Orange, Sir Bevill was despatched to Jersey to disarm the Papists and -secure the island—a mission which he carried out with complete success. -After this he took part in the Continental war against the French, and -behaved with conspicuous bravery at the battle of Steinkirk, August 4th, -1692. The battle was going against King William, when Prince Casimer of -Nassau, who was in command of the troops, galloped back to the English -in his right rear, and begged them to advance, as Count Solmes refused -to bring up his infantry. Rapidly forming Bath’s regiment, with the -pikes in the centre and the grenadiers and musketeers on either flank, -Sir Bevill put himself at its head, and, closely followed by the Buffs, -moved out from the line. He was only just in time. Baron Pibrach, the -Colonel of the Luxemburgers, had been desperately wounded whilst -endeavouring to rally his men, who were flying in disorder, hotly -pursued by the French. Suddenly out of the crowd of fugitives hurrying -to the rear there emerged a line of glistening steel, and Bath’s -regiment, scarcely discernible from its foes in its scarlet stockings -and breeches, its blue coats and buff cross-belts, strode sternly -forward, its three red banners waving overhead. A hail of musket balls -smote it in the face; a storm of iron from the batteries mangled and -tore its flanks; but it pressed irresistibly on, and amid a hurricane of -cheers that drowned even the roar of the cannons, hurled the French -infantry from its path, and recovered the position. But only for a -moment. Again and again the French batteries worked up in dense masses -along Granville’s front, only to surge back again, rent and maimed by a -pitiless fire. So for another hour the carnage grew, till Prince -Casimer, galloping to Granville’s side, gave him the order to retire. It -was six in the evening. The allied drums were everywhere beating the -retreat. William had at last given up the struggle, and the columns were -slowly winding to the rear. There was no pursuit. Sir Bevill’s gallantry -was long remembered and talked of with grateful admiration by the -British camp fires. - -This paper must now close with a brief quotation from a letter written -by one who was the last but one of the representatives of this ancient -house in the senior male line, namely, George Granville (younger brother -of the last-mentioned Sir Bevill), afterwards created Baron Lansdown of -Bideford. Although no opportunity arose for him to distinguish himself -otherwise than in politics and as a poet, the old fighting spirit was -not lacking in him, and he was eager to gain his father’s permission to -take up arms against the Prince of Orange:— - - Sir,—You having no prospect of obtaining a commission for me can no - way alter or cool my desire at this important juncture to venture my - life in some manner or other for my King and my country. I cannot bear - living under the reproach of lying obscure and idle in a country - retirement when every man, who has the least sense of honour, should - be preparing for the field. You may remember, Sir, with what - reluctance I submitted to your commands upon Monmouth’s rebellion, - when no importunity could prevail with you to permit me to leave the - Academy. I was “too young to be hazarded”; but give me leave to say it - is glorious at any age to die for one’s country, and the sooner, the - nobler the sacrifice. I am now older by three years. My uncle Bath was - not so old when he was left among the slain at the battle of Newbury, - nor you yourself, Sir, when you made your escape from your tutor’s to - join your brother at the defence of Scilly. The same cause is now come - round about again. The King has been misled; let those who have misled - him be answerable for it. Nobody can deny but he is sacred in his own - person, and it is every honest man’s duty to defend it. You are - pleased to say it is yet doubtful if the Hollanders are rash enough to - make such an attempt. But be that as it will, I beg leave to insist - upon it that I may be presented to his Majesty, as one whose utmost - ambition it is to devote his life to his service and my country’s, - after the example of my ancestors. - -No unworthy extract, this, surely, wherewith to close the annals of six -centuries of stainless loyalty in a family whose motto has always been: -“Deo, Patriæ, Amicis.” - - ROGER GRANVILLE. - - - - - - -THE AUTHOR OF _BRITANNIA’S| PASTORALS_ AND TAVISTOCK.[5] | |BY THE REV. -D. P. ALFORD, M.A. - - -If beautiful country could beget good poets, Tavistock ought to abound -in them. For, on one side, there is Dartmoor, with its rugged grandeur, -stretching out protecting arms to Brent Tor and Whitchurch Down; on the -other side, there is the majestic Tamar, winding through its -deeply-wooded valley, from Latchley Weir, past New Bridge and the -Morwell Rocks, to Gawton Quay; whilst through the midst, the sportive -Tavy runs down from its lonely cleave, and gathering up the Walla on its -way, with bright and tawny waters, now creeps, now rushes past, to break -through the beetling cliffs beyond Crowndale, and glide beneath the -Ramsham woods, to its happy meeting with the Walkham, and thence to the -copse-covered banks at Denham Bridge. - ------ - -Footnote 5: - - _Chief authorities for this paper_: Dugdale and Oliver’s _Monasticon_; - old documents connected with Tavistock, recovered in ancient oak chest - in 1886; various papers on Tavistock Worthies, in the _Transactions of - the Devonshire Association_; Mr. A. H. Bullen’s “Life of William - Browne,” in the _Dictionary of National Biography_; and Mr. Wm. Carew - Hazlitt’s Introduction to the Roxburghe Club Edition of Browne’s - Works, 1868. - ------ - -Perhaps it was the rich and varied beauty round his home that forced -some scraps of verse from the rugged soul of our Puritan incumbent, -Thomas Larkham. At all events, two hundred years later, Vicar Bray was -versifying in the quiet seclusion of his vicarage, and inscribing his -best lines on slate slabs for the garden walls; and at the same time, -Mrs. Bray was writing her local tales in imitation of Scott, sending -letters to Southey about the borders of the Tamar and Tavy, and -commending to his kindly notice her poetical _protegée_, the modest and -gentle maid-servant, Mary Collins. Then, also, Miss Rachel Evans was -writing verse, as well as prose; and her brother-in-law, Mr. H. S. -Stokes, was beginning his career as a west-country poet here in -Tavistock. - -[Illustration: - - WEST VIEW OF TAVISTOCK ABBEY, 1734. - (_From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck._) -] - -Transcription: [For the most noble John, Duke and Earl of Bedford, -Marquess of Tavistock, Baron Russel of Thornbaugh, and Baron Howland of -Streatham. Proprietor of these Remains. This Prospect is humbly -Inscrib’d by Your Grace’s most Dutiful, and Obedient Servants, Sam^l & -Nath^l Buck. Ordigarius or Orgarius Duke of Devonshire & Cornwall, whose -Daughter was married to K. Edgar, Very probably kept his Court here, -till his son Odulph built this Abbey Anno 961, for then the whole Mannor -of Tavistock, & Jurisdiction thereof, were given to the Monastery with -view of Frank Pledge, Gallowes Pillory assize of Bread Beer &c. The -Church was dedicated to St. Mary &. St Rumon. The Danes burnt it but it -was soon rebuilt. In the Reign of Ed. I. The abbot claim’d the aforesaid -Priveleges, which were by that King allow’d & confirm’d. There were some -famous Men Abbots thereof, particularly two Bishops & one Earl of -Devonshire; of the Courtenay family, Lectures were herein read in the -Saxon language to preserve it in Memory; it was of the Dignity of the -Mitred Abbots, who sat as Barons in Parliament. Their Power and -Priveleges continued till the Dissolution by K. H. 8. who gave it to -John L’^d Russel, in which Noble Family it still continues. Annual Value -£902 5 7¾. - -S. & N. buck delim et sculp 1733 ] - -All these, however, are local celebrities; and our one poet of public -fame is William Browne, the reverent disciple of Sidney and Spenser; the -personal friend of Wither and Drayton, Selden and Ben Jonson; the poet’s -poet, who suggested more than one idea to Milton, was admired by Keats, -and highly commended by Mrs. Browning. He was a bright little man, -beloved by his brother-poets for his simple manners and gentle -character; such another as Hartley Coleridge, without his weakness of -will; so that he was known amongst them as “Bonny Browne” and “Sweet -Willy of the Western Main.” - -William Browne probably came of a knightly family near Great Torrington; -but he was born here in Tavistock in 1591—just the most stirring time -for minds and morals that England has ever known. The Reformation had -stimulated the conscience, as the New Learning had liberated the mind; -and then our wonderful deliverance from the mighty power of Spain had -produced an extraordinary national exultation. What wonder that this -newly-awakened energy should find expression in Spenser and Shakspere, -in Hooker and Bacon, and their innumerable, not unworthy satellites? - -But apart from the general excitement, Tavistock had its own special -atmosphere of stirring influences, both from the past and in the -present. The inscribed stones in the vicarage garden show that the -country was occupied by a Gaelic tribe of Celts early in the Roman -times. But the town owed its fame, and probably its very existence, to -the great Benedictine monastery, founded by Earl Ordulf, and sanctified -by the relics of St. Rumon in the days of Edgar the Peaceable. For -almost six centuries it had reflected, and even, for a short while, -directly influenced, through its abbots, the changeful course of -England’s progress. Two of its earlier abbots were leading statesmen, as -well as active prelates. Lyfing, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, was -Canute’s fellow-traveller to Rome in 1026, and the staunch friend of the -patriotic Earl Godwin. Aldred, also Bishop of Worcester, and then -Archbishop of York, was the wise counsellor of Edward the Confessor and -of Harold, and the brave rebuker of William I.; he was the great -church-builder and church-reformer of his time, and he was the first -English Bishop to visit Jerusalem. - -Our later abbots often illustrate public feeling, though they could not -guide it as these two had done. Thus the general confusion at the close -of Henry III.’s reign found such a bad sample in our monastery that -Abbot John Chubbe was suspended in 1265, and deposed in 1269. The -growing luxury and indifference of the fourteenth century was seen too -plainly in Abbot John de Courtenay, who was reproved by the good Bishop -Grandisson, in 1348, for neglecting his duties to the abbey and -alienating its property, whilst he kept dogs for hunting. Bishop -Brantyngham’s strong injunctions to Abbot Thomas Cullyng, in 1387, to -restore discipline and to keep the monastic rules, show that disorder -and dissipation had been tending from bad to worse. - -But there is a brighter side to this picture of the past, and most of -our abbots were more learnedly or more clerically disposed. Some had -been slowly collecting a good library—an early promise of the present -Public Library, the best, for the size of the town, in the West of -England. Others had fostered the “Saxon School,” probably founded in the -early days of the thirteenth century, and still represented by the -Grammar School. In the spring of 1318, under Abbot John Campbell, Bishop -Bronescombe consecrated the Parish Church, which had been rebuilt in the -beautiful Decorated style of the day; and in the autumn of the same -year, he came again to consecrate the Conventual Church, which, in its -grand proportions, was almost a rival of Exeter Cathedral. Under Robert -Bonus, in 1325, was established the Guild of the Brothers and Sisters of -the Light of St. Mary in the Parish Church; and in 1370, Abbot Stephen -Langdon showed his concern for the good of the town by appealing to the -faithful to help in restoring the stone bridge over the rude waters of -the Tavy. John Denyngton probably rebuilt much of the Abbey in the -Perpendicular style then in vogue; and he certainly added to his own -dignity and to that of his monastery by gaining the permission of Henry -VI., in 1458, to apply to the Pope, Pius II., for the privilege of -wearing the pontificalia. This, our first mitred abbot, like his -predecessor, Allan of Cornwall, two hundred years earlier, had come back -to Tavistock from presiding over the dependent Priory of Tresco, in the -Isles of Scilly. Abbot John Banham was more ambitious than Denyngton; in -1513 a grant of Henry VIII. made him a spiritual peer, as Baron -Hurdwick, and four years later, a bull of Leo X. exempted him from -episcopal visitation. It was probably to Banham that the abbey owed an -honour more considerable and more in keeping with the spirit of the -age—the setting up within its precincts of the first printing-press in -the West of England. - -But the glory of our abbey had scarcely reached its height, before it -faded suddenly and for ever. Anticipating the blow which shattered the -larger monasteries in the spring of 1539, our abbot, John Peryn, not -emulous of the fate of the abbots of Glastonbury, Woburn, and Fountains, -assembled his twenty monks in the Chapter-house on March 20th, and then -and there resigned all their claims into the hands of the King. For this -ready surrender they were rewarded with their lives and various -pensions. With his pension of £100 a year, the abbot withdrew to -Stonepost, in West Street, and was probably the “Sir John Peryn” who, in -1543, was paid £6 as “Jesus’ Priest.” - -When William Browne was a lad, middle-aged men must have known the last -Abbot of Tavistock; and old people could recall—the poorer sort with -regretful sighs, the good old times, when the frequent services still -sounded from the Abbey Church, and the monks distributed alms at the -arched gateway, beneath the present library. Even Browne himself, a -child of the Renaissance, who hated superstition and loved the Pagan -mythology, could grudge the misuse of sacred buildings; and amongst -other evils done by the Tavy in flood, he tells us how the stream— - - Here, as our wicked age doth sacriledge, - Helpes downe an Abbey. - -But though he was fond of Chaucer and our older poets, and though he -felt the influence of the stately ruins that surrounded his -school-house, he loved nature more than art, and was too full of present -life to care very much for the past. As a boy with boys, he would spend -his holidays breaking away from - - An Orchard, whence by stealth he takes - A churlish Farmer’s Plums, sweet Peares or Grapes; - -chasing the “nimble Squirrel” in “Blanchdown Woods”; or, with his rod, -following his “native Tavy” in her “many mazes, intricate meanders.” But -as thought came with years, he would be stealing away alone to cherish -his “Spring of Poesie” with Sidney’s _Sonnets_ or Spenser’s _Faërie -Queen_, as he wandered over the “Dazied Downes” that “sweetly environed” -his home, or nestled beneath some shade in “Sweet Ina’s Combe,” half -lulled to sleep by the Walla’s murmurings, or rousing himself to compose -“the pleasing cadence of a line” in tune with those gentle murmurings. - -Nor, indeed, had all the honour of Tavistock departed with the overthrow -of her abbey. The Russells, who succeeded to the property, did not -neglect the duties connected with it. They began—as they have -continued—to maintain the religious and educational endowments. They -supplied the borough with statesmen for Members of Parliament, in the -generous patriot, Lord William Russell, in Lord John, the leader of -Reform, and in the thoughtful, far-sighted Lord Arthur. They improved -the town with wide streets and public buildings, and, more recently, -with a fine statue, the first in the country, of Francis Drake. - -Browne was but a little lad of five when his greatest townsman finished -his heroic course in a sea-grave off Nombre de Dios, in 1596; but he -kept his exploits in remembrance, and presently celebrated him as the— - - —valiant, well-resolvèd Man, - Seeking new paths i’ th’ pathlesse Ocean. - -Besides the Drakes, there were several families of distinction in and -about Tavistock when Browne was a boy: there were Slannings, Kellys, and -Champernownes near by; and in the parish, Glanvills, Maynards, Peeks, -and Fitz. - -In that year, 1596, there was born in the mansion at Fitzford the -daughter of John Fitz and Bridget Courtenay, who, as Lady Howard, was to -be so cruelly maligned by false rumours and fictitious romance. The -family had been long settled at Fitzford, and a John Fitz was M.P. for -Tavistock in 1427. Lady Howard’s grandfather married Mary Sydenham, of -Brympton, Somerset; and at the back of their quiet tomb in the Parish -Church is the kneeling figure of her father, Sir John Fitz. He was but a -youth of fifteen at his father’s death, in 1589; and his riotous, wasted -life was an ironical commentary on his kneeling posture. After a wild -and reckless youth, in 1699, when he was twenty-five, he killed Nicholas -Slanning, of Bickley, in a cowardly brawl. Coming home from a short -sojourn abroad, he was more quiet for a while; but presently, returning -from London, whither he had gone to be knighted at the Coronation of -James I., he was more dissipated than ever. He drove his wife and -daughters to seek refuge at Powderham, and upset the usually decent -parish with drunkenness and disorder. At last, on a second journey to -London, in a fit of mad panic, he killed the innkeeper at Twickenham, -and then so stabbed himself that he died in a few days. - -His nine-year-old daughter, the prey of greedy guardians, after being -forced into early marriages, enjoyed some years of wedded happiness with -her third husband, Sir Charles Howard, fourth son of the Earl of -Suffolk. Then, having suffered years of neglect and annoyance from her -fourth husband, the clever soldier, but treacherous politician, Sir -Richard, brother of the chivalrous Sir Bevil Grenville, at last, after -Fitzford had been sacked by the Roundheads, and her husband had fled the -country, she settled down in her old home for twenty-five quiet years, -from 1646 to 1671. Her son, George Howard, managed her property, joined -her in such local contributions as that, in 1670, for the “redemption of -captives in Turkey,” and represented Tavistock with Lord William Russell -in 1660. But as he died some weeks before her, Lady Howard left her -large estates bordering the Tavy, the mansion of Fitzford, the pleasant -country house of Walreddon, with many goodly farms, Browne’s favourite -Ramsham amongst them, to her first cousin, Sir William Courtenay, of -Powderham. - -It was about the year 1606 that William Browne left the Grammar School -for Exeter College, Oxford. He did not then matriculate or take his -degree, but he made friends with his colleagues, several of whom showed -their poetical taste in commendatory verses to his _Pastorals_ in 1613. -Meanwhile, in November, 1611, Browne had passed on to the Inner Temple, -where he largely increased his poetical acquaintance. He was on good -terms with Ben Jonson, Chapman, and Massinger amongst our dramatists, -and was therefore probably known to Shakspere; but his most intimate -friends were John Davies, the able author of _Nosce Teipsum_; -Christopher Brooke, the close ally of the famous poet and preacher, John -Donne; George Wither, and Michael Drayton. He and Brooke, in 1613, -published in one volume their elegies on the death of Prince Henry. He -had much in common with the early poems of Wither: their _Pastorals_ -exhibit the same charming simplicity, the same full content in -verse-making, the same indifference to irresponsive maidens. These lines -of Browne:— - - And gentle Swaine, some counsel take of me; - Love not where still thou maist; love who loves thee; - -strike the same note as that of Wither’s spirited song:— - - Shall I wasting in despair, - Die because a woman’s fair? - . . . . . . - If she be not so to me, - What care I how fair she be? - -To Drayton, as his “Honor’d Friend,” Browne addressed some verses -introductory to the second part of the _Polyolbion_. Regretting the loss -to letters when great Eliza died, with Chapman’s _Homer_ in mind, he -boasts that we can still render the classics into English without loss:— - - Whilst our full language, musical and high, - Speaks, as themselves, their best of Poesy. - -Browne’s regret at the general falling-off since the death of Elizabeth -suggests that the verses in her honour, which were removed with the -plastering from Tavistock Parish Church in 1845, may have been amongst -his earliest efforts. They ended with these flattering words:— - - This! This was she, that in despite of Death, - Lives still ador’d, admir’d Elizabeth. - Spain’s rod, Rome’s ruin, Netherland’s relief; - Heaven’s gem, Earth’s joy, World’s wonder, Nature’s chief. - -Browne’s elegy on Prince Henry was reprinted as one of the songs in the -first book of his _Britannia’s Pastorals_, which was also published in -1613, with commendatory verses from Drayton and Brooke and the learned -Selden, besides those from his college friends. In doing the same kindly -office for the second book, in 1616, Ben Jonson spoke thus highly of the -care and finish of Browne’s work:— - - which is so good - Upon th’ Exchange of Letters, that I wou’d - More of our Writers would, like thee, not swell - With the _how much_ they set forth, but th’ _how well_. - -Other verses prefixed to this book came from Tavistock, and were written -by Sir John Glanvill, probably Browne’s relation, and an old -schoolfellow. - -After the Fitz, the Glanvill family was the most important in Tavistock. -Settled at Holwell, in Whitchurch, for many generations, about 1550 they -sent a younger son into the town as a merchant. His son, John, passed -from an attorney’s office to the Bar, and in 1598, two years before his -death, he was made a Justice of the Common Pleas. In 1615, the fine -Jacobean monument against the south wall of the chancel was erected to -his memory by his widow, probably in gratitude to her sons, who in that -year had conveyed to her Sortridge, her own family estate, also in -Whitchurch, probably forfeited by her second marriage; for in the -interval she had married Sir Francis Godolphin, and become a second time -a widow. She occupied a dower house in Barley Market Street, and her -second name still lingers in the “Dolvin Road,” across the Tavy. The -Judge, Prince tells us, lived in part of the Abbey, this being, most -likely, the Abbey House, which Oliver says was occupied in 1635 by -Serjeant Maynard. The Barton at Kilworthy was bought by Judge Glanvill, -but it was his eldest son, Sir Francis, who built the mansion and laid -out the terrace gardens, of which some charming portions are still in -use. This Sir Francis Glanvill sat, as M.P. for Tavistock, in 1625 and -1628, with the great Commoner, John Pym. On January 21st, 1626, his son, -Francis, was baptized at Mary Tavy, by reason of the plague raging so -fiercely at Tavistock. So dreadful was the scourge, that six hundred -people died in twelve months; and the little town had scarcely recovered -its normal population in a hundred and fifty years. The younger Francis -dying without issue, left Kilworthy to his nephew, Francis Kelly; and he -left it to the Manatons, who held it till it was bought by the Russells -about 1770. By his sisters, daughters, and grand-daughters, Judge -Glanvill’s family became allied to the Brownes, Hamlyns, and Glubbs of -Tavistock, the Grylls of Launceston, to Heles, Eastcourts, and -Polwheles; to the Fowells, the Sawles of Penrice, and the Doidges of -Hurlesditch; besides the Kellys and Manatons. One of his sisters was the -second wife of Robert Knight, probably the first _married_ Vicar of -Tavistock; and his third son, George, was Vicar from 1662 to 1673. - -Sir John Glanvill, the second son, was equally distinguished in law and -politics. He was made Recorder of Plymouth in 1614, Serjeant in 1637, -and Recorder of Bristol in 1640. As M.P. for Plymouth from 1614 to 1628, -he was attached to the country party with Elliott and Pym, and he had -charge of the Petition of Right before the Lords. Returned for Bristol -in 1640, he was chosen Speaker of the Short Parliament, as a man of -reasonable judgment and soothing speech; but having joined the King at -Oxford in 1643, from 1645 to 1648 he was imprisoned in the Tower as a -delinquent. He was re-appointed King’s Serjeant at the Restoration, and -died soon after at Broad Hinton, his estate in Wiltshire. It was this -worthy fellow-townsman who, in 1616, addressed William Browne in verses -overflowing with kindly appreciation, and beginning:— - - Ingenious Swaine! that highly dost adorne - Clear Tavy! on whose brinck we both were borne! - -Another eminent fellow-townsman, John Maynard, might have been with -Browne at the Grammar School, and certainly followed him to Exeter -College and to the Inns of Court. Like Sir John Glanvill, Maynard was a -man of mark, both in law and politics; but he was more of a time-server. -He was clever enough to be leader of the Western Circuit during fifty of -the most turbulent years of our annals. He was “Protector’s Serjeant” -under Cromwell; “Ancient Serjeant” under Charles II. and James II.; and -“Lord Commissioner” after the Revolution of 1688. He also sat in every -Parliament from the first of Charles I. to the first of William and -Mary. He was presented to the new King at Whitehall when he was nearly -ninety; and William observed that he must have outlived all the lawyers -of his time. “Yes, sire,” he promptly replied; “and if your Highness had -not come over to help us, I should have outlived the law, too.” As -Maynard took part both in the impeachment of Strafford and also of Sir -Henry Vane, it is no wonder that Roscommon, Strafford’s nephew and -godson, should write of him:— - - The robe was summoned, Maynard at the head, - In legal murder none so deeply read; - -or that the author of _Hudibras_ should enquire, in his witty doggrel:— - - Did not the learned Glynne and Maynard, - To make good subjects traitors, strain hard? - -It is to Maynard’s credit that he spent part of his fortune in founding -a free school at Bere Alston, which he had represented in Parliament. -Maynard and Courtenay are names still pleasantly associated in Tavistock -with provision for the deserving poor, in convenient almshouses; whilst -an exhibition to help some “Grammar scholar,” “of the best ingenuity and -towardliness,” on his way to the University, is a lasting memorial of -Sir John Glanvill. - -In 1626, Browne probably received from another old schoolfellow, Richard -Peeke, a copy of his _Three to One_, a short and vigorous account of his -recent exploits in Spain. This Richard Peeke, a gentleman of good family -in Tavistock, had volunteered, in 1625, for the ill-starred expedition -to Cadiz, and being taken prisoner, by his prowess in defeating three -fully-armed Spaniards with a quarter-staff, had won his life and -liberty, and was presently celebrated in ballads as “Manly Peeke,” and -in a fine old play as “Dick of Devonshire.” He was invited by King -Philip IV. to serve him by land or sea, but Peeke said he must return to -the wife and children who were sighing for him in Tavistock; so he came -back to settle down quietly in the old home, and, as one of our pewter -flagons tells, he was churchwarden in 1638. - -And what was William Browne doing all this time? In 1614 he had written -his masque of “Ulysses and Circe” for the Inner Temple, where it was -performed 13th January, 1614–5. The subject may have been suggested by -Chapman’s _Odyssey_, printed in 1614, or by Samuel Daniel’s lyric, -“Ulysses and the Siren” (1605), and it is more than likely that Browne’s -masque gave Milton some hints for his “Comus.” In 1614 he also -contributed seven Eclogues to the “Shepheard’s Pipe,” the other -contributors being C. Brooke, Davies, and Wither. Browne worked into his -first Eclogue the “Jonathas” of the little-known Occleve, and the fourth -is an Elegy on Thomas, the son of Sir Peter Manwood. - -Our little and learned poet, as Prince describes him, is said to have -been appointed, in 1615, Pursuivant of Wards and Liveries for life. He -married a daughter of Sir Thomas Eversfield, and had two sons, who both -died young. In 1624 he returned to Oxford as tutor to the Hon. Robert -Dormer, afterwards Earl of Carnarvon, who was killed at Newbury in 1643. -Browne, being thirty-three, matriculated from Exeter College on 30th -April, 1624, and on 16th November took his M.A., being commended for his -knowledge of humane letters and the fine arts. He seems to have gone -abroad with his pupil, and in 1640 he wrote from Dorking to Sir Benjamin -Ruddyerd, congratulating him on his “late speech in Parliament, wherein -they believe the spirit which inspired the Reformation, and genius which -dictated the Magna Charta, possessed you. In my poore cell and -sequestration from all businesse, I blesse God and praye for more such -members in the Commonwealth.” Anthony Wood says he was afterwards -domesticated with the Herberts at Wilton, and prospered there; and it -has been fairly proved that he, and not Ben Jonson, wrote that most -perfect epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke:— - - Underneath this sable hearse - Lies the subject of all verse, - Sidney’s sister, Pembroke’s mother; - Death! ere thou hast slain another, - Learn’d and fair, and good as she, - Time will throw a dart at thee. - -We do not know when or where our poet ended his days, but if, oppressed -with sorrow or sickness, he turned with longing to the native scenes -which in early youth he had loved so well, it is likely enough that he -is referred to in the simple entry of the Tavistock register:—“27th -March, 1643, William Browne was buried.” - -As poets will, Browne went on writing all through life, but he published -nothing new after 1616. He left in MS. a third book of the Pastorals, -which was first printed in 1852, and a number of smaller poems, sonnets, -epistles, visions, allegories, epigrams, epitaphs, and some jocular -pieces. Amongst the last were the Lydford stanzas, which contained the -first notice of the wild Gubbingses, and the sharp satire on Lydford -Law; about 1630 they were “commonly sung by many a fiddler” as a -Devonshire ballad. - -Why did Browne print nothing new after 1616? He had not lost the poetic -gift, for much that he left in MS. is as good as anything he ever wrote. -We have examples in the first and second songs of the third book of the -Pastorals, and nothing that he published is brighter than the song in -the Lansdowne MS. with the pleasant refrain: - - Welcome! Welcome! do I sing! - Far more welcome than the Spring! - He that parteth from you never, - Shall enjoy a Spring for ever!” - -In truth, William Browne was, as his friend Drayton styled him, “a -rightly-born Poet.” If, like the “Faërie Queene,” his Pastorals are -vague and diffuse in narrative, and deficient in human interest, yet, -like the “Faërie Queene,” they abound in happy visions, and fine -descriptions, and wholesome thoughts, expressed in easy, flowing melody. -Browne was akin to Keats and Tennyson in his love of well-sounding words -and sonorous lines. It gave him keen pleasure— - - To linger on each line’s enticing graces. - -And his enjoyment of the simple beauties of nature was as true and -heartfelt as Cowper’s. Vivid pictures of country scenes, and homely -sketches of country life, are presented to us again and again in verse -that is always clear and lucid, though soft and sweet, or rough and -rugged, according to the subject. His carefully-constructed verses, in -their clearness and in their varying tone, would really seem to have -been attuned to the “voiceful Tavy” which he loved so dearly and -celebrated so gladly, and by whose side many of them were written. - -Why, then, with such a gift, so obviously unexhausted, did he decline to -publish anything after the appearance of the second book of _Britannia’s -Pastorals_, in 1616? Probably he felt, as S. Daniel had felt before him, -that a people entirely devoted to action and incident could have little -taste for pure poetry. Even as early as 1613 he had described a poor -poet, sitting up late, wasting ink and paper, and wearing out “many a -gray goose quill,” in the vain hope of immortal renown:— - - When Loe! (O Fate!) his worke not seeming fit - To walk in equipage with better wit, - Is kept from light, there gnawne by Moathes and Wormes, - At which he frets. - -And, in 1623, when he wrote his commendatory verses for Massinger’s -_Duke of Millaine_, he was convinced that there was no demand for any -poetry but the drama:— - - I am snapt already, and may go my way; - The Poet-Critic’s come; I hear him say: - This Youth’s mistook, the Author’s work’s a Play. - -It would be easy to make a pleasant little volume of selections from the -more striking or more beautiful passages in Browne’s Pastorals, but here -we can hardly find room for half-a-dozen specimens. Of death he writes:— - - Death is no stranger, - And generous Spirits never fear for danger. - -Of cheerful content:— - - Where there’s content, ’tis ever Holy-day. - -Of the Good Shepherd he says that from - - the stem - Of that sweet singer of Jerusalem, - Came the best Shepherd ever flocks did keepe, - Who yeelded up his life to save his sheepe. - -In Book 2 we have such satire as this, of the “fawning citizen,” - - Who “lives a Knave to leave his sonne a Knight”; - -such strong lines as this of the sea:— - - The vast insatiate Sea doth still devour; - -such vivid pictures as this:— - - The whistling Reeds upon the water’s side, - Shot up their sharpe heads in a stately pride; - -or sweetly-soothing verses like these, on the stillness of nightfall:— - - Onely the curled Streames soft chidings kept; - And little Gales that from the greene leafe swept - Dry summer dust, in fearefull whisp’rings stir’d, - As loth to waken any singing bird. - -Such passages as these must be admired by every lover of nature, but the -poet will always be doubly dear to those who have lived amongst the -scenes he describes so tenderly and so faithfully. My own feeling of -indebtedness to one whose poetry had given a sort of sacredness to his -native haunts was thus expressed when I was in clerical charge of the -Tamar side of Tavistock, more than thirty years ago:— - - Nature’s true Poet, blest with fancies sweet, - And voice as swift and changeful as our brooks, - We country swains cast often wondering looks - On those great singers that around thee meet; - For Spenser, Sidney, thy chief teachers were, - And Wither, Drayton, Jonson, called thee friend; - And, like enough, kind Shakespere did commend - Thy “modest muse.” And yet, we all may share - The scenes of beauty that inspired thy lay; - For still, by “Blanchdown Wood” the Tamar sweeps; - Still trickle streamlets down the “Dartmoor” steeps, - And sing blithe music to the lambs at play; - Still through “sweet Ina’s Combe” the Walla leaps, - Hurrying to greet the Tavy on its way. - - D. P. ALFORD. - - - - - THE BLOWING UP OF GREAT - TORRINGTON CHURCH. - - BY GEORGE M. DOE. - - -The town of Great Torrington played a not inconspicuous part in the -Civil Wars, the culminating and dramatic incident of which was the -blowing up of the Parish Church after the defeat and flight of the -Royalist forces who were then in the town. The fight at Torrington, too, -was the last important engagement of the campaign in the West, being the -final decisive blow to the Royalist cause there. A very accurate and -full account of the whole of the doings in North Devon during this -stirring time is to be found in the late Mr. R. W. Cotton’s invaluable -work on _Barnstaple and the Northern part of Devonshire during the Great -Civil War_, 1642–1646, and the incidents more particularly relating to -Great Torrington were collected by me and embodied in a little book -entitled, _A few Pages of Great Torrington History_, 1642–1646, and the -blowing up of the Church is also dealt with in my paper in the -_Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the year 1894_. - -Though of far less importance than the final battle, there were two -other previous engagements at Great Torrington. The first of these took -place in December, 1642, when a party of Parliamentarian horse and foot -from Barnstaple attacked the Royalists then in the town. From the -varying accounts given by each party, it is, however, uncertain which -side came off best in the encounter. - -[Illustration: GREAT TORRINGTON CHURCH (OLD).] - -[Illustration: GREAT TORRINGTON CHURCH (NEW).] - -There are entries of burials in the Parish Register of Great Torrington -of this date, one being that of Christopher Awberry, a trooper of Sir -Ralph Hopton, who was killed by the “goeing off of a muskett unawares -upon the maine gard,” and was buried “Souldier Like,” and another of -Thomas Hollamore, “slaine by ye goeing off of a muskett.” - -In the next year another attack was made on the Royalist forces under -Colonel Digby in Great Torrington, resulting in a fight on the Commons -on the north side of the town, in which the attacking force was -repulsed. A description of this engagement is given by Lord Clarendon in -his _History of the Rebellion_. - -Between this last date and that of the blowing up of the Church, there -is the following interesting entry in the Register of Burials of July, -1644:— - - Thomas Moncke gent. lieuetennt to Colonell Thomas Moncke of Poderidge - Esq beeing slaine in South Streete the IX^{th} day about 12^{th} a - ’clocke att night by somme of his owne company by reason of some - misprision of the word given being the IX^{th} day att 12^{th} - aforesaid was buried the 10^{th} day. - -The “Colonell Thomas Moncke” in this entry was the father of the -unfortunate lieutenant, and brother of the celebrated George Monk, Duke -of Albemarle and Earl of Torrington, who subsequently played the leading -part in the Restoration of King Charles II. Potheridge, in the parish of -Merton, which is now converted into a farm-house, was the family seat of -the Monks. - -On the morning of Monday, the 16th February, 1645, the Parliamentarian -Army, with Fairfax as General and Cromwell Lieutenant-General, marched -from Ashreingney viâ Stevenstone, reaching Great Torrington late in the -evening, and after some hard fighting in the dark succeeded in forcing -their way into the town and driving the Royalist soldiers, under Lord -Hopton, through the streets and across the Torridge in the direction of -Cornwall. Hardly had the victors effected an entrance, before the -Church, which had been used by the Royalists as a magazine for their -powder, was blown up, the explosion wrecking the surrounding houses and -dealing ruin and destruction in all directions. - -There are several very graphic accounts of the catastrophe and the -incidents immediately leading up to it, by eye witnesses, which cannot -be excelled in accurate and vivid description by any additional -embellishments. The following is that of Joshua Sprigge, the chaplain of -Fairfax:— - - Monday, February 16th, the drums beat by four of the clock in the - Morning; the general rendezvous of the army was appointed to be at - Rings-Ash, about three miles from Chimleigh; where, accordingly, by - seven of the clock in the morning, the whole army was drawn up in - battalia, horse and foot, on the moor five miles short of Torrington, - and so marched in order ready for a present engagement, in case the - enemy should attempt any thing in our march through the narrow lanes; - the forlorn hope of horse, commanded by major Stephens and Captain - Moleneux, being advanced towards Stephenston (master Rolls’ house near - Torrington), his excellency understood that the enemy had 200 dragoons - in the House, whereupon a commanded party of horse and foot were sent - to fall on them; but upon the advance of our forces towards them, the - enemy quit the place; yet our horse marching fast, engaged their rear, - took several of their dragoons prisoners, and afterwards the forlorn - hope of horse on both sides were much engaged in the narrow and dirty - lanes; at last we beat them from master Rolls’ house, all along the - lane almost to Torrington. About five of the clock in the evening the - van of the army was drawn up in the park, the forlorn hope of foot was - drawn out near the forlorn hope of horse in the midway, between master - Rolls’ house and Torrington, and there lined the hedges to make good - the retreat of the horse; the enemy likewise drew out of the town four - or five closes off, and lined the hedges with musketeers within a - close of ours, and flanked their foot with horse; whereupon good - reserves were sent to second our forlorn hope of foot, lest the enemy, - knowing the ground, and we being strangers unto it, might suddenly - encompass us (it being by this time dark night, and the whole army - being then come up, having marched ten miles that day). About eight at - night the enemy drew off from some of the closes they formerly - possessed; whereupon we gained the ground they quitted, and a council - of war being called, whether it was advisable, being night, to engage - the enemy’s body, then in the town, who were ready with the best - advantages of ground and barricadoes to receive us; it was the general - sense of the council to make good our ground and double our guards - till the next morning, that we might the better take view of the - places where we were like to engage; whereupon the general and - lieutenant-general went from master Rolls’ house to see the guards - accordingly set, but, hearing a noise in the town, as if the enemy - were retreating, and being loath that they should go away without an - affront, to that purpose, and that we might get certain knowledge - whether they were going off or not, a small party of dragoons were - sent to fire on the enemy near the barricadoes and hedges. The enemy - answered us with a round volley of shot; thereupon the forlorn hope of - foot went and engaged themselves to bring off the dragoons, and the - reserve fell on to bring off the forlorn hope; and being thus far - engaged, the general being on the field, and seeing the general - resolution of the soldiery, held fit that the whole regiments in order - after them should fall on. And so both sides were accordingly engaged - in the dark for some two hours, till we beat them from the hedges and - within their barricadoes, which were very strong, and where some of - their men disputed the entrance of our forces with push of pike and - butt-end of musket for a long time. At last it pleased God to give us - the victory, our foot first entering the town, and afterwards the - horse, who chased the enemy through the town, the Lord Hopton, - bringing up the rear, had his horse shot dead under him in the middle - of the town, their horse once facing about in the street, caused our - foot to retreat, but more of our horse coming up pursued them to the - bridges, and through the other barricadoes at the further end of the - town, where we had no sooner placed guards at the several avenues, and - had drawn our whole army of foot and most of our horse into the town, - but the magazine of near eighty barrels of powder, which the lord - Hopton had in the church, was fired by a desperate villain, one Watts, - whom the enemy had hired with thirty pounds for that purpose, as he - himself confessed the next day, when he was pulled out from under the - rubbish and timber, and the lead, stones, timber, and iron work of the - church were blown up into the air and scattered all over the town and - fields about it where our forces were; yet it pleased God miraculously - to preserve the army, that few were slain besides the enemy’s (that - were prisoners in the church where the magazine was blown up), and - most of our men that guarded them who were killed and buried in the - ruins: and here was God’s great mercy unto us, that the general being - there in the streets escaped with his life so narrowly, there falling - a web of lead with all its force which killed the horse of one master - Rhoads of the lifeguard who was thereon next to the general in the - street, but doing neither him nor the general any hurt. There were - taken in the town about 600 prisoners besides officers, great store of - arms (the lanes and fields being bestrewn with them), all their foot - were scattered, their horse fled that night towards Cornwall in great - confusion: the prisoners we took confessed they had about 4,000 foot - and 4,000 horse at least; the service was very hot, we had many - wounded, it was stoutly maintained on both sides for the time. - -From other sources we learn that the main body of the Royalist Horse was -stationed at the end of the barricade on the north side of the town, and -the Prince’s Guards were in the Castle Green. The word for the night -was, “We are with you,” and the signal was a handkerchief tied round the -right arm. The word for the night of the Parliamentarian Army was, -“Emmanuel, God with us,” and each man carried a sprig of furze in his -hat. - -Fairfax himself also gives a detailed account of the affair in a letter -to the Speaker of the House of Commons, in which he says:— - - Accordingly on Monday morning I drew out the army to an early - rendezvous at Ring-Ash, within six miles of the enemy; the weather - still continued very wet and so by all signs was like to hold till we - advanced from the rendezvous; but suddenly, when we were upon march, - it, beyond all expectation, began to be fair and dry, and so continued - whereas we had scarce seen one fair blast for many days before. The - enemy (as we understood by the way), had all their horses drawn - together about Torrington, and with their foot prepared to defend the - town, which they had fortified with good barricadoes of earth cast up - at every avenue, and a competent line patched up round about it, their - horse standing by to flank the same, and some within to scour the - streets. Our forlorn hope had order to advance to Stephenson-park, - about a mile from the town, and there to stay for the drawing up of - the army, there being no other place fit for that purpose nearer to - the town on that side we came on. But when we came near we understood - that the enemy had with 200 dragoons possessed the house in the park, - and were fortifying it, being of itself very strong, but upon our - nearer approach their dragoons quitted the house, and our forlorn hope - falling on them took many prisoners and pursuing them near the town - were engaged so far as they could not well draw back to the park which - occasioned to sending up of stronger parties to make them good where - they were, or bring them off; and at last there being some fear that - the enemy would draw about them and hem them in, Colonel Hammond was - sent up with three regiments of foot, being his own, Colonel Harlow’s, - and mine, and some more horse to lie for reserves unto them, by which - time the night was grown on so that it was not thought fit unless the - enemy appeared to be drawing away to attempt anything further upon the - town till morning, in regard none of us knew the ground nor the - advantages or disadvantages of it; but about nine of the clock, there - being some apprehension of the enemy’s drawing away, by reason of - their drawing back some outguards, small parties were sent out towards - the town’s end to make a certain discovery which going very near their - works before the enemy made any firing, but being at last entertained - with a great volley of shot and thereupon supposed to be engaged, - stronger parties were sent up to relieve them, and after them the - three regiments went up for reserves, till at last they fell on in - earnest. After very hot firings, our men coming up to the barricadoes - and line, the dispute continued long at push of pike and with - butt-ends of muskets till at last it pleased God to make the enemy fly - from their works, and give our men the entrance; after which our men - were twice repulsed by their horse and almost all driven out again, - but colonel Hammond, with some other officers and a few soldiers, made - a stop at the barricadoes, and, so making good their re-entrance, - rallied their men, and went on again, major Stephens with their - forlorn hope of horse coming seasonably up to second them: the enemy’s - foot ran several ways, most of them leaving their arms, but most of - their officers, with the assistance of horse, made good their own - retreat out of the town towards the bridge, and taking the advantage - of strait passages, to make often stands against our men, gave time - for many of their foot to get over the bridge; their horse without the - town, after some attempts at other avenues to have broken in again - upon us, being repulsed, at last went all away over another bridge, - and at several other passes of the river, and all fell westward; the - ground where their horse had stood and the bridge they went over lying - so beyond the town, as our horse could not come at them but through - the town, which, by reason of strait passages through several - barricadoes, was very tedious, by means whereof, and by reason of - continued strait lanes the enemy had to retreat by, after they were - over the river, as also by the advantage of the night, and by their - perfect knowledge of the country and our ignorance therein, our horse - could do little execution upon the pursuit, but parties being sent out - several ways to follow them, as those disadvantages would admit, did - the best they could, and brought back many prisoners and horses. We - took many prisoners in the town, who, being put into the church where - the enemy’s magazine lay, of above fourscore barrels of powder, as is - reported, besides other ammunition either purposely by some desperate - prisoner, or casually by some soldier, the powder was fired, whereby - the church was quite blown up, the prisoners and most of our men that - guarded them were killed and overwhelmed in the ruins; the houses of - the town shaken and shattered, and our men all the town over much - endangered by the stones, timber, and lead, which with the blast were - carried up very high, and scattered in great abundance all the town - over and beyond; yet it pleased God that few of our men were slain or - hurt thereby, save those in the church only, our loss of men otherwise - in this service was small, though many wounded, it being a hotter - service than any storm this army hath before been upon, wherein God - gave our men great resolution; and colonel Hammond especially, and - other officers engaged with him, behaved themselves with much - resolution, courage and diligence, recovering the ground after their - men were twice repulsed; of prisoners taken in this service about 200 - were blown up, 200 have taken up arms with us, and about 200 more - common soldiers remain prisoners: besides many officers, gentlemen, - and servants, not many slain, but their foot so dispersed as that of - about 3,000, which the most credible persons do affirm they had there, - and we find, by a list taken among the lord Hopton’s papers, - themselves did account them more, we cannot hear of above 400 that - they carried off with them into Cornwall, whither their horse also are - gone, being much broken and dispersed as well as their foot. By the - considerations and circumstances in this business which I have here - touched upon, you will perceive whose hand it was that led us to it, - and gave such success in it, and truly there were many more evident - appearances of the good hand of God therein than I can set forth: let - all the honour be to Him alone for ever. - -A letter of John Rushworth, the Secretary to Fairfax, written at -Torrington on the 22nd of February, 1645–6, states that:— - - The other day, being the market day, Master Peters preacht unto the - country people and souldiers in Torrington (the Church being blown up) - he was forced to preach out of a belcony, where the audience was - great: he made a great impression upon the hearts of the people. - -This was the celebrated Hugh Peters, the Puritan preacher, who attended -the army in its journeyings. - -The following curious certificate is given in the preface to a work by -the Rev. John Heydon, dedicated to Sir Thomas Fairfax, the title page of -which reads:— - - The Discovery of the wonderfull preservation of his Excellencie Sir - Thomas Fairfax, The Army, the Records of the Town, the Library, and - blessed Bible, under the hands of the Maior, Aldermen, Capt. and - Schoolmaster of Torrington in Devon. In an Epistle to his Excellency - (and also in the end of a Book, entituled, _Man’s Badnesse and God’s - Goodnesse_: or, some Gospel Truths laid down, vindicated and - explained), by his Excellencies speciall Command. Never Printed - heretofore by any. By John Heydon, Minister of the Gospel. London, - Printed by M. Simmons, 1647. - -The certificate runs:— - - We whose names are here subscribed do testifie, that when the Publick - place of God’s worship was blown up by a hellish plot, and his - Excellency was wonderfully preserved, there fell out by Divine - Providence, that which we look upon as _mira non mirabilia_, viz., - though both the Books of Common Prayer were blown up or burnt, yet the - blessed Bible was preserved and not obliterated, although it were - blown away; and also the Library, and the books, together with the - Records of the Town were wonderfully preserved: I do testifie, John - Voysey, Maior. We also testifie, Richard Gay, William White Capt., - John Ward, Henry Semor Schoolmaster, and John Heydon Minister of the - Gospel. And I shall be ready to shew the Originall to whomsoever - desires it, and craves condigne punishment if the Originall be - adulterated. - -Further on Mr. Heydon says:— - - Now the Lord confirm you in the true grace of God wherein you stand, - and make you more instrumentall to the Kingdom and Nations that are - Christian the world over, and make you a leading peece to all Generals - that now are, or shall be here after, and move your heart to pity the - Town of Torrington, and as much as in you lyes, to erect a publick - Place for God’s worship there, upon the Publique Stock; the people - being poore, yet those that are Christian, both Magistrates and - Commanders, that have little incouragement from those that they have - adventured their lives for, and expended their estates, for their - safety; the Lord put better hearts into them I say, those are - thankefull to God, and have gladly received those that would impart - the Gospel to them, and keep dayes of Thanksgiving, etc., for so great - a deliverance, and though they stand in the open streets, neither cold - nor rain can deter them from it; they being true Eagles will feed on - the carkasse Christ in the Gospel purely preach’t, as Mr. Peters and - divers of the Army can witnesse, and their own testimony for my self - annexed, that spent a day by way of Thanksgiving since my being under - the Command of Coll. Henry Gray, as it follows word for word in their - Certificate annexed, the 20. Decemb. 1646: This day Mr. John Heyden - Chaplain to the Honorable Coll. Gray, did powerfully preach the Gospel - of Jesus Christ in Torrington magna, to the great comfort and - incouragement of that great audience which were present.—John Voysey - Maior, Richard Gay, John Harwood, John Ward, William White, and Henry - Semor. - -The blowing up of the Church of Great Torrington is recorded on two -stones built into the walls of the south transept. The inscriptions on -these stones run as follows:— - - This Chvrch was blowen up with Powder Febry ye 16^{th} ano 1645 and - rebuilt A^d 1651; - -and - - This Church was re-erected ano Domini 1651. - -Under the date of February, 1645, there is this entry in the Register of -Burials:— - - There have bin buried the 16th 17th 18th 19th and 20th 21st dayes 63 - soldyers; - -and other entries appear in July and August of the same year of -interments of soldiers. - -In the _Journal of the House of Lords_ (Vol. x., 318) is the following -entry respecting the re-building of the Church:— - - _10 June 1648_ _Ordered_, By the Lords and Commons assembled in - Parliament, That a Grant be prepared, and that the Commissioners of - the Great Seal be hereby authorized and required to pass the same - under the Great Seal, to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, of - the Town of _Greate Torrington_, in the County of _Devon_, for a - General Collection of the Charity of well-disposed People, through all - the Counties of _England_ and Dominion of _Wales_ for Reparation of - the Great Church of the said Town, which was utterly demolished by the - Enemies Firing thereof with their Magazine of Powder, to the Value of - Six Thousand Pounds at least; which the Inhabitants, by reason of the - Miseries of the late War, and Ruin of the said Town, are no Way able - to repair. - -The only external part of the Church which appears to have escaped is -the vestry, though a few of the piers and arches at the east end seem to -be in their original condition, and perhaps also the arch of the north -transept. - - GEORGE M. DOE. - - - - - HERRICK AND DEAN PRIOR. - - BY F. H. COLSON, M.A. - - -The little village of Dean Prior, five miles from Brent on the high road -from Plymouth to Ashburton, is indissolubly associated with the name of -one of the greatest of our lyric poets; a poet, indeed, who has a -certain touch and power which is quite unique in English poetry. Robert -Herrick was vicar of this parish for about thirty-two years. The main -facts of his life may be very shortly told. Born in London in 1591, he -was educated at St. John’s College and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He spent -the earlier part of his life, after taking his degree, probably partly -in Cambridge and partly in London. It was not till 1629, when he was -thirty-eight years old, that he was ordained and presented to Dean -Prior. Here he remained till 1648, when he was ejected, and a certain -John Syms, a Puritan of some fame and worth, established in his place. -Herrick went to London and there published his two books of verse, -_Hesperides_ and _Noble Numbers_. In 1662 he was sent back to his -living, and there spent the remainder of his days. He died and was -buried in the churchyard of Dean Prior in 1674. - -There is not much in this little parish at the present day to remind one -of Herrick. The vicarage is probably an enlargement of the poet’s house. -The newer part stands on a somewhat higher level than the old, and this -last is probably the “cell,” whose humble comforts Herrick extols in one -of his most true and charming pieces. The present vicar, Mr. -Perry-Keene, who is himself something of a poet, and knows and loves -well his great predecessor, showed me what he believes to be Herrick’s -“byn.” - -Just opposite the Vicarage stands the Church, which Mr. Perry-Keene -tells me has been altered a great deal. It now contains a monument to -Herrick erected in 1857 by a remote kinsman, Mr. William Perry Herrick. - -Opposite this recent memorial, in the south aisle, stands a far more -interesting monument. It is a brass with three figures—husband, wife, -and son—but no name or inscription which might give a clue to the name -is legible. Underneath it, however, run the following verses:— - - No trust to metals nor to marbles, when - These have their fate and wear away as men. - Times, Titles, Trophies may be lost and spent, - But virtue rears the eternal monument. - - What more than these can Tombs or Tomb-stones pay? - But here’s the sunset of a tedious day. - These two asleep are: I’ll but be undrest, - And so to Bed, Pray wish us all good rest. - -This beautiful and interesting epitaph is printed by Mr. Grosart in his -fine edition of Herrick, as being indisputably the work of the poet. Mr. -Grosart also states positively that the figures on the monument are -those of Sir Edward and Lady Giles, of whom the former died at Dean -Court in 1637. Mr. Grosart speaks on these points with such certainty -that I was surprised to find that the external evidence for both -statements is absolutely nil. As a matter of fact, the monument itself -hardly appears to belong to Herrick’s time. Mr. Perry-Keene’s opinion is -(and I confess that my own very slight knowledge of such subjects would -have led me to the same conclusion) that the figures are Elizabethan -rather than Caroline. It seems, therefore, hardly safe to print the -inscription as being _undoubtedly_ Herrick’s work. At the same time I do -believe that the lines are Herrick’s. There is a very distinct -Herrickian ring about them, particularly about the last three, which to -my mind is almost unmistakeable. Observe the phrase “I’ll but be -undrest.” It borders on the grotesque; in almost any other poet’s hand -it would have been grotesque. In his hand it acquires a certain -beautiful quaintness, becomes what Herrick himself calls a “phrase of -the royal blood.” I commend this charming epitaph, therefore, to the -reader as the one existing memorial which connects Dean Prior with -Herrick, though I think he should at the same time be cautioned, that -the ascription of the lines to the poet is based solely on internal -evidence. - -About a mile from the Church stands Dean Court, now a farm-house, in -Herrick’s time a manor house, and occupied during his incumbency by the -above-mentioned Sir Edward Giles, and afterwards by the Yardes. To-day -it looks what it is, and unless there has been considerable alteration -and demolition, it seems a poor house for such important families. - -A charming village is Dean Prior, as indeed are all the villages on the -outskirts of Dartmoor. No wonder that essayists on, and editors of, -Herrick have traced his freshness and quaintness to the simplicity of a -West Country parish, and that the perfume of flowers which pervades his -pages almost _ad nauseam_ seems to his readers to be inspired by the -soft and luxurious air of Devonshire. In a word, Herrick’s _Hesperides_ -has seemed to be the work of a Devonshire man drawing his inspiration -from Devonshire, as Barnes from Dorset or Burns from Ayrshire. - -I am bound, however, to say that I believe this to be true only with -considerable limitations. Generally speaking, I hold that while the -_Noble Numbers_ do undoubtedly belong to the Dean Prior period, the same -cannot be said with equal certainty of the _Hesperides_, or at least of -that part of the _Hesperides_ which has given Herrick his immortality. -The book contains, no doubt, several pieces, perhaps some sixty in all, -which are shewn by internal evidence to have been written later than -1628, but of these, few, if any, are of special merit. The real Apples -of the Golden Garden are practically undated. - -Now we must remember that not only was Herrick thirty-eight when he went -to Devonshire, an age at which many poets have produced their best work, -but that he hated, or, to use his own oft-repeated expression, “loathed” -Devonshire. This hatred is expressed in numerous passages. The -following, written at the time of his ejection from the living, may -serve as a specimen:— - - First let us dwell in widest seas, - Next with severest savages, - Last let us make our best abode - Where human foot as yet ne’er trod. - Search worlds of ice and rather there - Live than in loathèd Devonshire. - -“No bird,” says Plato, “sings when it is cold or hungry or suffering any -pain,” and it is a natural inference from passages like this of -Herrick’s that his native genius suffered rather than gained from his -sojourn at Dean Prior. But on this point he has left us his own -testimony in two important passages. The first runs thus:— - - Before I went - In banishment - Into the loathèd West, - I could rehearse - A lyric verse, - And speak it with the best. - -The second is— - - More discontents I never had - Since I was born than here, - Where I have been and still am sad, - In this dull Devonshire. - Yet justly too I must confess - I ne’er invented such - Ennobled numbers for the press - As where I loathed so much. - -At first sight these two passages seem contradictory, but the -contradiction vanishes when we remember that Herrick’s book of sacred -poems is called _Noble Numbers_. To these and these only, as it seems to -me, the “ennobled numbers” of the second passage refers, and the plain -meaning of these lines is that Herrick, as vicar of Dean Prior, felt his -old powers of song-making gone, and gave his attention mainly to sacred -poetry. - -To the same conclusion point some lines in the “Farewell to Poetry,” -written probably when he took orders:— - - I my desires screw from thee, and direct - Them and my thoughts to that sublime respect - And conscience unto priesthood. - -But he adds:— - - When my diviner muse - Shall want a handmaid as she oft will use, - Be ready then for me to wait upon her, - Though as a servant, yet a maid of honour. - -I do not of course suggest that all this is to be taken quite literally, -or that we are to affirm positively that all Herrick’s best lyrics date -from an earlier period; but that it is generally true I see no reason to -doubt, more especially as in the many hundred lyrics which - - Sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds and flowers, - Of April, May and June, and July flowers, - -there is, so far as I can see, little or no trace of Devonshire. - -The great poets—whom Herrick looked on as his masters—Catullus and -Horace, understood the magic of a name, and were fond of grouping their -best thoughts round the names of the particular spots which they knew. -Anyone who reads Catullus’s lines on Sirmio, or Horace’s on Tivoli, -anyone, we may add, who knows Burns, or Wordsworth, or Scott, will feel -the significance of the fact that Herrick only once mentions by name any -place in Devonshire. It is not that he dislikes localising, for he -lingers affectionately enough over the names of - - Richmond, Kingston, and of Hampton Court. - -And on the one occasion, when a Devonshire scene is described by name, -it is in the following lines on “Dean, a rude river in Devon, by which -he sometimes dwelt”:— - - Dean Bourn, farewell! I never look to see - Dean, or thy watry incivility. - -The reader of Herrick will remember that he goes on to say that the -“currish, churlish” people of Dean are as rocky as their river. Herrick -could hardly be expected to admire Dartmoor itself. The love of moor and -mountain hardly existed in his time; but the glen of Dean Bourne is a -different thing, and surely nothing but invincible prejudice can have -made Herrick describe it in such “currish and churlish” terms. - -Herrick is _par excellence_ the poet of flowers and fruits. Cherries, -cowslips, daffodils, and primroses are inseparably connected with his -verse. That the rich luxuriance of Dean Prior must have been a source of -continual pleasure to him we cannot doubt. Yet even in this department -of nature one misses local touches. Where are the high hedgerows, the -ferns, and the fox-gloves? and where are the apple orchards of Devon? - -Herrick was very fond of observing village festivities and studying -folk-lore, and it is generally assumed that the poems which deal with -these subjects were written in Devonshire and based on Devonshire -observations. This may be so, though I do not know of any evidence in -favour of it. On the other hand there is one small circumstance which -seems to me significant. In Herrick’s descriptions of barley-breaks, -harvest homes, and Christmas festivities, there is much mention of beer -but none of cider. Cider making had its poetry for Keats:— - - Or by a cider-press with patient look - Thou watchest the last oozings hour by hour. - -It seems strange that it should never be mentioned by the poet of -cider-land. - -One of Herrick’s parishioners stands out pleasantly in the pages of -_Hesperides_—“my Prue,” otherwise Prudence Baldwin, the house-keeper, -who apparently followed him to London at his ejection and returned with -him in 1662. It is generally assumed that the persons attacked in the -epigrams were parishioners. If so, no wonder they were churlish. It does -not appear that many of the fifty or sixty persons addressed in what Mr. -Grosart calls “verse-celebrations,” were West-Country people, and on the -whole there is as little of local life as of local scenery in the -_Hesperides_. - -The critics, then, seem to me perverse, who, in spite of Herrick’s -assurances, declare that he only pretended to dislike Dean Prior. They -rely, presumably, on his keen eye for country beauties. Now I venture to -doubt whether Herrick, as we see him in the _Hesperides_, is one of the -real nature-poets. He knows and loves certain aspects of nature, more -particularly fruits and flowers, bright colours and sweet smells. Even -amongst these he is often happiest when he can trace some likeness to -human beauty. The famous “Cherries ripe” grew on Julia’s lips, not in an -orchard. Above all poets he understands the picturesqueness of dress, -and when after a catalogue of Julia’s silks and laces in their “wild -civility” he confesses that he dotes less on nature than on art, he -probably speaks the truth. It is the same with country life; he has none -of the deep respect for the peasant’s healthy and thrifty life, which -lies at the bottom of Virgil and Horace and Wordsworth’s work. He has -plenty of interest in their May-days and other merry-making, but little, -I think, in their life as a whole. And the few praises of country life -to be found in the _Hesperides_ do not seem to me to ring very true. - -If, then, I read Herrick’s life at Dean Prior aright, he is not the -genial parson, moving light-heartedly among the people, drinking in the -soft air of Devonshire and pouring it out in spontaneous song, passing -from his sermon to the Maypole, blending Paganism with Christianity and -ribaldry with religion, without sense of harm or incongruity—writing, in -fact, the _Hesperides_ on weekdays and the _Noble Numbers_ on Sundays. -Rather it was by the Cam and the Thames that he imbibed his inspiration, -made love to his half-imaginary mistresses, and learnt— - - How roses first grew red and lilies white. - -In Devonshire he is a changed man, sobered partly by isolation and -partly by clerical responsibility. He has, no doubt, his light-hearted -and even wanton moods, and often writes poetry in the old vein; but he -feels that the old lyrical effusiveness is going or gone, and finds his -main occupation in writing sacred poetry. - -At any rate he did not write gross or indecent verse during this period. -This all too plentiful element of the _Hesperides_ need not be fathered -on Dean Prior. He himself calls it— - - Unbaptised rhymes - Writ in my wild, unhallowed times. - -There is surely no reason why these words should not be taken in their -literal sense, which is that they were written in Herrick’s youth and -before he took orders, and the pilgrim to Dean Prior need not harrow his -imagination with the revolting picture of this elderly bachelor sitting -in the little vicarage spinning out these miserable and often pointless -indecencies. No doubt it may be asked why, if these were poems of -Herrick’s youth, condemned by his better judgment, he published them in -1648. Two answers may be given to this question, though I do not say -that either of them is an excuse. In the first place he had been turned -out of his living and probably wanted money. In the second place, the -fact that he describes himself on the title page as Robert Herrick, -Esq., seems to indicate that he considered his clerical profession had -gone with his incumbency, and if so, he very probably had deluded -himself into the idea that clerical responsibility had gone also. - -I will devote the rest of my allotted space to a few remarks on that -part of Herrick’s work which undoubtedly belongs to the Dean Prior -period. I mean the “pious pieces,” or _Noble Numbers_. Now it is not to -be denied that there is a great deal of poor stuff in the _Noble -Numbers_. Nobody is likely to care much for the metrical creeds, or the -tawdry and sensuous poems on the Nativity or Passion. Still the little -book contains some pieces which English literature could ill spare. -There is, for instance, the strange and, indeed, startling “litany to -the Holy Spirit.” This hymn is actually included in one at least of our -popular hymn-books, and I have sometimes heard parts of it sung in a -village church. I wonder what the congregation would have thought of -these two stanzas, which, needless to say, are not to be found in the -hymn-book version:— - - When the artless doctor sees - No one hope, but in his fees - And his skill runs on the lees, - Sweet Spirit, comfort me. - - When his Potion and his Pill - Has or none or little skill, - Meet for nothing but to kill, - Sweet Spirit, comfort me. - -Probably they would be greatly shocked, and indeed everyone must admit -that the stanzas show a certain strange devilry mixing itself with -Herrick’s most reverent thoughts. At the same time, I do not think there -is any real or intentional irreverence in them. There is one stanza in -the “Litany” which has, I think, a personal interest:— - - When the house doth sigh and weep, - And the world is drowned in sleep, - Yet mine eyes the watch do keep, - Sweet Spirit, comfort me. - -Now compare this with the following:— - - Night hath no wings to him that cannot sleep, - And time seems then not for to flie but creep. - . . . . . . - Just so it is with me who listening pray - The winds to blow the tedious night away. - -And again— - - Through all the night - Thou dost me fright, - And holdst mine eyes from sleeping. - -I infer from these that Herrick suffered much from sleeplessness, and if -so, may we not with considerable probability trace the genesis of this -celebrated litany to some sleepless nights in the little vicarage of -Dean Prior? - -Again it is to the _Noble Numbers_ that we owe the beautiful “Lord, Thou -hast given me a cell.” Familiar as this poem is, it is only a just -tribute to Dean Prior that these sweet praises of its simple plenty -should be set down here. - - A THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR HIS HOUSE. - - Lord, Thou hast given me a cell - Wherein to dwell; - A little house, whose humble roof - Is weather-proof; - Under the sparres of which I lie - Both soft and drie; - Where Thou my chamber for to ward - Has set a guard - Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep - Me while I sleep. - Low is my porch, as is my Fate, - Both void of state; - And yet the threshold of my doore - Is worn by th’ poore, - Who thither come, and freely get - Good words or meat. - Like as my Parlour, so my hall - And Kitchen’s small: - A little Buttery, and therein - A little Byn - Which keeps my little Loafe of Bread - Unchipt, unflead: - Some little sticks of Thorne or Briar - Making a fire, - Close by whose living fire I sit - And glow like it. - Lord, I confess too, when I dine, - The Pulse is Thine, - And all those other bits, that bee - There plac’d by Thee; - The Worts, the Purslaine, and the Messe - Of Water-cresse, - Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent; - And my content - Makes those, and my beloved Beet - To be more sweet. - ’Tis thou that crownst my glittering Hearth - With guiltlesse mirth; - And giv’st me Wassaile Bowles to drink, - Spic’d to the brink. - Lord,’tis Thy plenty-dropping Hand - That soiles my land; - And giv’st me, for my Bushell sowne, - Twice ten for one: - Thou mak’st my teaming Hen to lay - Her egg each day: - Besides my healthful Ewes to beare - Me twins each year. - The while the conduits of my kine - Run creame (for Wine). - All these, and better Thou doest send - Me, to this end, - That I should render, for my part, - A thankful heart, - Which, fired with incense, I resigne, - As wholly Thine; - But the acceptance, that must be, - My Christ to Thee. - -And now let me ask the reader to note the following triplet, which -occurs in a Christmas Anthem in _Noble Numbers_:— - - We see Him come and know Him ours, - Who with His sunshine and His showers - Turns all the patient earth to flowers. - -I think if we compare these two poems, which embody Herrick’s attitude -to nature and country life during the Dean Prior period, with some of -the earlier (as I think) lyrics in the _Hesperides_, we shall feel that -if Dean Prior took something from him, it also gave him something. -Compare them, for instance, with “Fair Daffodils, we weep to see,” or -the song to “Meddows,” which begins “Ye have been fresh and green.” -These last are beautiful fancies, among the most beautiful in our -language, but they have not the depth or fulness of feeling which the -triplet has. _That_ breathes the spirit of the true lover of rural life, -and so it seems to me that if Herrick, in this little out-of-the-way -village, felt the lyric power gone, if the “fairy fancies” no longer -“ranged” or “lightly stirred” as before, on the other hand, something of -the peace of a country village, something of the peace which Wordsworth -felt two centuries later, had descended upon him. - -Finally, let me call the reader’s attention to the two “Graces for -little children,” also to be found in _Noble Numbers_:— - - Here a little child I stand, - Heaving up my either hand; - Cold as paddocks though they be, - Here I lift them up to Thee - For a Benison to fall - On our meat and on us all. - -And again— - - What God gives and what we take, - ’Tis a gift for Christ His sake; - Be the meal of beans and pease, - God be thanked for those and these. - Have we flesh or have we fish, - All are fragments from His dish. - He His Church save and the King, - And our peace here like a spring - Send it ever flourishing. - -If I may indulge in a little fancy, I should say that this last was -written for some small Dean Prior “maid”; written on one of those -delicious balmy days which a Devonshire spring sometimes, though not, -alas! always, brings; written during the first half of Herrick’s first -incumbency, when peace still “flourished” at Dean Prior, though perhaps -the shadows of the coming trouble were not unfelt by those who could -read the signs of the times. Both these “Graces” always seem to me to -have a peculiar charm and freshness, and even by themselves they would -go far to justify the view that has been maintained in this essay, that -Herrick’s genius, if hampered and enfeebled in some ways, was in other -ways matured and mellowed by his sojourn in “dull Devonshire.” - -The following passage, which is an extract from an article in the -_Quarterly_ of August, 1809, by Mr. Barron Field, may be of some -interest:— - - Being in Devonshire during the last summer, we took an opportunity of - visiting Dean Prior for the purpose of making some inquiries - concerning Herrick, who, from the circumstance of having been vicar of - that parish (where he is still talked of as a poet, a wit, and a hater - of the county) for twenty years, might be supposed to have left some - unrecorded memorials of his existence behind him. We found many - persons in the village who could repeat some of his lines, and none - who were not acquainted with his "Farewell to Dean Bourn"— - - “Dean Bourn, farewell; I never look to see - Dean, or thy watry incivility,” - - which, they said, he uttered as he crossed the brook upon being - ejected by Cromwell from the Vicarage, to which he had been presented - by Charles I. “But,” they added, with an air of innocent triumph, “he - did see it again,” as was the fact after the Restoration. And, indeed, - although he calls Devonshire “dull,” yet as he admits, at the same - time, that “he never invented such ennobled numbers for the press as - in that loathed spot,” the good people of Dean Prior have not much - reason to be dissatisfied. - - The person, however, who knows more of Herrick than all the rest of - the neighbourhood, we found to be a poor woman in the ninety-ninth - year of her age, named Dorothy King. She repeated to us, with great - exactness, five of his _Noble Numbers_, among which was the beautiful - Litany quoted above. These she had learned from her mother, who was - apprenticed to Herrick’s successor in the vicarage. She called them - her prayers, which, she said, she was in the habit of putting up in - bed whenever she could not sleep, and she therefore began the Litany - at the second stanza, “When I lie within my bed,” etc. Another of her - midnight orisons was the poem beginning— - - “Every night thou does me fright, - And keep mine eyes from sleeping,” etc. - - She had no idea that these poems had ever been printed, and could not - have read them if she had seen them. She is in possession of few - traditions as to the person, manners, and habits of life of the poet, - but in return she has a whole budget of anecdotes respecting his - ghost, and these she details with a careless but serene gravity which - one would not willingly discompose by any hints at a remote - possibility of their not being exactly true. Herrick, she says, was a - bachelor, and kept a maid-servant, as his poems, indeed, discover; but - she adds, what they do not discover, that he also kept a pet pig, - which he taught to drink out of a tankard. And this important - circumstance, together with a tradition that he one day threw his - sermon at the congregation, with a curse for their inattention, forms - almost the sum total of what we could collect of the poet’s life. - - F. H. COLSON. - -[Illustration - - _From a Painting by T. Stothard, R.A._] [_Engraved by George Noble._ - THE LANDING OF WILLIAM III. AT TORBAY. - -] - - - - - THE LANDING OF THE PRINCE OF - ORANGE AT BRIXHAM, 1688. - - BY THE LATE T. W. WINDEATT. - - -The landing of the Prince of Orange—the Prince who "saved England"—on -the shores of Devon in 1688, must always be a matter of interest. The -subject has been dealt with by Macaulay and other historians with more -or less detail. I certainly should not, therefore, have ventured on the -subject myself had it not been for the fact of having had placed in my -hands, through the courtesy of Mr. J. B. Davidson, of Secktor, a -somewhat rare pamphlet, containing many interesting facts not noted in -the papers referred to by Mr. Pengelly, and from my being the repository -of some local anecdotes worth preserving. - -The pamphlet I have referred to is entitled, “An Exact Diary of the late -Expedition of His Illustrious Highness The Prince of Orange (now King of -Great Britain), from his Palace at the Hague to his Landing at Torbay, -and from thence to his arrival at Whitehall. Giving a particular account -of all that happened and every Day’s March. By a Minister Chaplain in -the Army.” It consists of seventy-three pages, was printed for Richard -Baldwin, near the Black Bull, in the Old Bailey, in 1689, licensed April -23rd, 1689. It is dedicated to the Earls of Bedford and Portland, -Viscount Sidney of Sheppy, and Sir John Maynard, one of the Lords -Commissioners of the Great Seal; and from the Dedication it appears that -the writer was one “John Whittle.” - -This Sir John Maynard was at this time Recorder for this borough, and -member for the borough during the Long Parliament. He was a very able -lawyer, and at this time near ninety. It is related of him that when he -came “with the men of the law” to welcome the Prince, the latter took -notice of his great age, and said that he had outlived all the men of -the law of his time. Whereupon Maynard replied, he had like to have -outlived the law itself if his Highness had not come over. - -That this pamphlet is genuine, and was written by an English clergyman -who accompanied the expedition throughout, there is strong internal -evidence; and Macaulay cites it as one of the authorities for several of -his statements with reference to the expedition, though he does not -quote largely from it. - -In this diary or, more strictly, narrative, which enters more fully into -particulars than the other pamphlets, Mr. Whittle gives a graphic -account of the arrangements for, and the departure of, the expedition, -the storm which sent it back again, its refitting, second departure, and -safe (if not miraculous) arrival in Torbay, of all of which the writer -was evidently an eye-witness. - - The number of our capital ships or men-of-war was about fifty, which - were very well rig’d, mann’d, and provided with all things requisite; - the number of our fire-ships was about five and twenty; lesser - Men-of-war or Frigats about six and twenty; the number of Merchant - Ships, Pinks, Fly-boats and others was about three hundred and odd; so - the total number of the Fleet as they sailed from the Brill was about - four hundred and odd ships. But at our setting out the second time, at - Hellevort-Sluys, there were near an hundred vessels more, which were - Schievelingers or Boats which the Fisher-men of Schieveling went to - sea in. - -Whittle gives the following account of the final departure of the -expedition:— - - Upon Thursday, Novemb. 1, Old Stile, Novemb. 11, New Stile, after the - Prince of Orange had din’^d with all English, Dutch, Scotch, and - French Lords, Knights and Gentlemen attending his Sacred Person, about - three or four of clock in the afternoon, he went on board a new vessel - of about Twenty-eight Guns, with the Rotterdam’s Admiral call’d the - Brill, as some will have it, and being now in his Cabin, fired, for to - give notice unto all the Fleet to weigh their anchors and make Sail, - which was accordingly done by every Ship with all possible expedition. - The whole Fleet was divided into three Squadrons; the Red Flag was for - the English and Scotch, commanded by Major-General Mackay; the White - Flag was for the Prince’s Guards and the Brandenburghers, commanded by - Count Solms; the Blew Flag was for the Dutch and French, commanded by - Count Nassau. Now every Ship had a certain Mark, or Token, that it - might be known unto what Squadron she belong^d. - - So once more the whole Fleet (thro’ God’s blessing) was under sail for - England, with a very favourable East Wind. The darkness coming on us, - all the Ships set out their Lights, which was very pleasant to see, - and the Ship in which the Prince of Orange was, had three Lanthorns, - the Men of War two, and each other Ship one. - -Whittle brings the fleet to the English shores, and thus continues:— - - On the morrow-morning, being the Lord’s day, Novemb. 4, Old Stile, - which was the happy Birthday of his thrice Illustrious Highness, the - Prince of Orange; most men were of opinion that we should land either - in the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, or some other convenient place, - about which matter they were much mistaken, for the Prince of Orange - did not sail, but observe the duty of the day; so all were driven of - the Waves. Prayers and Sermon being done, he went to Dinner with some - Nobles attending him, and about Four of Clock in the afternoon made - sail, all the whole Fleet following the example of his ship; now every - Schipper endeavour’d for to keep sight of the three Lanthorns or - Admiral of Rotterdam’s Ship for the sake of his Highness therein. The - darkness shutting upon us all our Lights were set out as before. - -Whittle then brings us down to the morning of Monday, the 5th of -November, and proceeds as follows:— - - So when the day began to dawn, we found that we were very near the - English Shore, but whereabout we could not yet tell. The Ship in which - the Prince of Orange was sailed so near the Shore that with much - facility a man might cast a stone on the Land; we were driven very - slowly, all our Sails being struck. The morning was very obscure with - the Fog and Mist, and withal it was so calm that the Vessels now as - ’twere touch’d each other, every Ship coming as near unto the Ship - wherein the Prince of Orange was as the Schipper thereof would permit - them. Here we were moving for a while very slowly by the Shore, and - could see all the Rocks there abouts very plain. We perceived that we - should land thereabout, but no place near was commodious for either - Men or Horses, it being a steep Rock to march up. The Ships did all - observe the motion of the three Lanthorns, which were driven by the - Coast of England back again, for we had sailed somewhat beyond Torbay. - And being thus calm’d for a while, it afterwards pleased the God of - Heaven, that He gave us a West or Westerly Wind, which was the only - Wind that could blow to bring us safe into the Bay; for even to this - place we had an East and South-East Wind, which was indeed a good Wind - to bring us from Holland, and along all the Channel, but not to carry - us into the Bay, there were so many Rocks and Shelves on that side. - Making some Sail again, his Highness the Prince of Orange gave order - that his Standard should be put up, and accordingly it was done, the - White Flag being put uppermost, signifying his most gracious offer of - Peace unto all such as would live peaceably: And under that the Red or - Bloody Flag was set up, signifying War unto all such as did oppose his - just Designs. The Sun recovering strength soon dissipated the Fog, and - dispers’d the Mist, insomuch that it prov’d a very pleasant Day. Now - every Vessel set out its Colours, which made a very pleasant show. By - this time the People of Devonshire thereabout had discovered the - Fleet, the one telling the other thereof; they came flocking in droves - to the side or brow of the Hills to view us: Some guess’d we were - French, because they saw divers White Flags; but the Standard of the - Prince, the Motto of which was, For the Protestant Religion and - Liberty, soon undeceived them. - - Others more discreet said, that it was the Dutch Fleet so much talk’d - of in the Nation, and so long expected by most people. This Day was - very remarkable in England before, being the fifth of November, the - Bells were ringing as we were sailing towards the Bay, and as we - landed, which many judged to be a good Omen: before we came into the - Bay’s mouth, as we were near the Rocks, the People ran from Place to - Place after us; and we being so near as to see and discern the Habit - of the Country People, and they able to see us and hear our voices, a - certain Minister in the Fleet, on board the Ship called the Golden - Sun, went up to the top of the uppermost Cabin, where the Colours hang - out, a Place where he could easily behold all the people on the Shore, - and where they might most perfectly see him, and pulling a Bible out - of his Pocket, he opened it, and held it so in his right Hand, making - many flourishes with it unto the People, whose Eyes were fix’^d on - him, and duly observ’d him, thereby signifying to the People the - flourishing of the Holy Gospel (by God’s Blessing upon the Prince of - Orange’s Endeavours), and calling out as loud as he was able, said - unto them on the top of the Rock: For the Protestant Religion, and - maintaining of the Gospel in the Truth and Purity thereof, are we all - by the Goodness and Providence of God come hither, after so many - storms and Tempests. Moreover, said he, it is the Prince of Orange - that’s come, a Zealous Defender of that Faith which is truly Ancient, - Catholic, and Apostolical, who is the Supream Governour of this very - great and fomidable Fleet. Whereupon all the People shouted for Joy, - and Huzzas did now echo into the Air, many amongst them throwing up - their Hats, and all making signs with their Hands. So after the - Minister had given them some Salutations, and they returned him the - same again, he came down from off the upper Deck, unto the vulgar one - among his Acquaintance, who spoke to him about the People on the brow - or side of the mountain. - -The bells were evidently ringing for the 5th of November, and I find -that the bells of the parish church of Brixham are still rung on that -day, but I apprehend that the custom has been continued in commemoration -of the landing of the Prince. - -All who know Brixham, even in its present populous condition, can -corroborate the accuracy of Whittle’s description of the coast, and -recognize his felicitous expression of the people on shore being “on the -brow of the mountain.” - -Whittle proceeds as follows:— - - The Prince of Orange being come into the middle of the Bay, called - Torbay, attended with three or four Men of War only, that is to say, - one or two sailing before his Vessel, and one on each side the Ship in - which he was; and all the Merchant Ships, Pinks and Fly-boats coming - round him, as near as they durst for safety, the rest of the Men of - War being out in the Rear to secure all the little Pinks and - Fly-boats, and withal to prevent the English Fleet from disturbing us - in our Landing. - - At the upper end of Torbay there is a fair House, belonging to one Mr. - Carey, a very rigid Papist, who entertained a Priest in his House. - This Priest going to recreate himself on the Leads, on the top - thereof, it being a most delightsome day, as he was walking there he - happened to cast his Eyes towards the Sea, and espying the Fleet at a - distance, withal being purblind in his Eyes, as well as blinded by - Satan in his mind, he presently concludes that ’twas the French Navy - (because he saw divers White Flags) come to land the Sons of Belial, - which should cut off the Children of God, or as they call us, the - Hereticks. And being transported with joy, he hastened to inform his - own Disciples of the House, and forthwith they sung Te Deum. This was - a second grand Mistake, the third time will fall to our Lot to sing Te - Deum for our safe Landing (as the Prince had it done at Exeter - Cathedral in the Quire): And because false Reports were spread abroad, - that the People of this House had shot several of the Prince of - Orange’s Souldiers, and thereupon they had burnt down the House. I - must inform the candid Reader that there was nothing at all in it, for - our People did not give them one reviling word, nor they us; some - lodged there while we were at Torbay. - -He then proceeds with the following account of the landing:— - - The major part of the fleet being come into the Bay, Boats were - ordered to carry the Prince on Shore, with his Guards; and passing - towards the Land, with sundry Lords, the Admiral of Rotterdam gave - divers Guns at his Landing; the Boat was held length-ways until he was - on shore: So after he had set his Fleet on Land, then came all the - Lords and Guards, some going before his Sacred Person, and some coming - after. There are sundry little Houses which belong unto Fishermen, - between the two Hills, at Torbay where we landed. The People of these - Houses came running out at their Doors to see this happy Sight. So the - Prince, with Mareschal Schomberg, and divers Lords, Knights, and - Gentlemen, marched up the Hill, which all the Fleet could see over the - Houses, the Colours flying and flourishing before his Highness, the - Trumpets sounding, the Hoit-boys played, the Drums beat, and the - Lords, Knights, Gentlemen, and Guards shouted; and sundry Huzzas did - now echo in the Fleet, from off the Hill, insomuch that our very - hearts below in the water were even ravished for joy thereof. On this - Hill you could see all the Fleet most perfectly, and the Men of War - sailing up and down the Seas, to clear them of all enemies; the Ships - in the Rear making all the sail and speed they could. - - The Navy was like a little City, the masts appearing like so many - Spires. The People were like Bees swarming all over the Bay; and now - all the Schievelingers are set to work to carry the Men and Horses - unto Shore with speed, for as yet they had done nothing. The Officers - and Souldiers crowded the Boats extreamly, many being ready to sink - under the Weight; happy was that Man which would get to Land soonest: - And such was the eagerness of both Officers and Souldiers, that divers - jeoparded their Lives for haste. Sundry Oars were broken in rowing, - because too many laid hands on them, some jump’d up to their Knees in - Water, and one or two were over Head and Ears. Extraordinary pains was - now taken by all sorts of Men to get their necessary things to shore, - every one minding his own concern. The Night was now as the Day for - Labour, and all this was done, lest the Enemy should come before we - were all in readiness to receive them. The Country Harmony was, - ringing of Bells for our arrival. - - The Officers and Souldiers were continually marching up the Hill after - the manner of the Guards, with their Colours flying and flourishing, - Hoit-boyes playing, Drums beating, and all shouting and echoing forth - Huzzas. - -Whittle does not give many particulars of the landing of the Prince -himself. Probably they did not land at the same time. It is interesting -as to this to refer to the details given by Blewitt in the _Panorama_. -His account is as follows:— - - The 4th of November it anchored safely in Torbay. This was the - anniversary of the Prince’s birth and marriage, and he therefore - wished to render it more memorable by landing on the British shore. - The preparations, however, could not be completed that night, but on - the following day, the Prince, attended by his principal officers, - proceeded to raise his standard on Brixham Quay. At this time Brixham - contained but few houses, and the good people, astonished at the - appearance of such an armament, are said to have stood in silent - wonder on the beach. At last William approached the shore and demanded - whether he was welcome, when after some further pause he was asked his - business, and his explanation considered satisfactory, he was, after a - little more parley, informed that he was welcome. “If I am, then,” - said the Prince, “come and carry me ashore,” and immediately a little - man, one of the party, plunged into the water and carried him - triumphantly ashore to the steps of the pier. On his landing the - inhabitants are said to have presented their illustrious visitor with - the following address: - - “And please your Majesty King William, - You’re welcome to Brixham Quay - To eat buckhorn and drink bohea, - Along with me, - And please your Majesty King William.” - -This story Mr. White very properly calls an absurd one, as the Prince -was not a King, and tea was a fabulous price. - -In a note to this account, said to have been communicated by the Rev. H. -F. Lyte, it is stated as follows:— - - The subsequent history of the “little man” who carried the King on - shore is rather singular. Having a short ambling pony, which was - commonly used in fish-jolting, he rode bare-headed before the Prince - to Newton and afterwards to Exeter, and so pleased him by his zeal - that he told him to come to him to court, where he should be seated on - the throne, and he would make a great man of him. He also gave him a - line under his hand, which was to be his passport into the royal - presence. In due time accordingly the little man took his course to - London, promising his townsmen that he should come back among them a - Lord at least. When, however, he arrived there some sharpers, who - learnt his errand at the inn where he put up, made our poor little - Brixhamite gloriously drunk, and kept him in that state for several - successive weeks. During this time one of the party, having obtained - the passport, went to court with the little man’s tale in his mouth, - and received a handsome present from the King. Our adventurer, - recovering himself shortly afterwards, went to the Palace without his - card of admission and was repulsed as an impostor, and came back to - Brixham never to hold up his head again. - -I find that this story of the little fisherman carrying the Prince on -shore is still current at Brixham, the reason given for it being that it -was low tide at the time; the ending of the story as given to me being -that the “little man” who journeyed to London to see the Prince, owing -to being in difficulties from having lost his horse, and his boat being -out of repair, did see the King, and received a large sum of money, said -to be £100, with which he built a house in Brixham and lived “happily -for ever after.” His name was Varwell, and one story is that the Prince, -on being carried safely on shore, desired him to ask a favour of him, -upon which the fisherman desired that no press-gang might be sent to -Brixham. The actual spot on which the Prince landed was where the fish -market now stands, and the stone on which the Prince first placed his -foot was long preserved there and pointed out with pride and veneration. -In 1828 William IV., then Duke of Clarence, having come into Torbay, -landed at the New Quay at Brixham, and this stone was removed from the -fish market to this place to have the additional honour of receiving the -second Prince of that name who had dignified Brixham by his presence; -and while the Duke stood on the stone the Rev. H. F. Lyte, on the part -of the inhabitants, presented him with a box of heart of oak eight -hundred years old, a portion of the timber of the old Totnes bridge, -lined with velvet, containing a small portion of the stone, which the -Duke in his reply promised to preserve as a precious relic. - -The stone itself was built into a small granite column erected to -commemorate the landing of the two Princes, and was set up in the fish -market; but in consequence of its inconvenient situation it was taken -down and subsequently erected on the Victoria Pier. - -Blewitt remarks that the landing of the Prince on the shoulders of the -little fisherman was a very different kind of landing to that which -Northcote has assigned to William in his celebrated picture. An old -Dutch print, at present in my possession, purporting to be a delineation -of the landing, represents on the land a large and imposing castle, into -which the troops as they land are triumphantly marching, the Prince’s -flag flying from the summit. - -To return to Whittle’s narrative, we find him giving the following -account of the proceedings subsequent to the landing:— - - As soon as the Prince had viewed well the Ground upon the top of the - Hill, and found the most commodious place for all his Army to encamp, - he then gave Orders for everything, and so returned down the Hill unto - the Fishermen’s little Houses: One of which he made his Palace at that - time, instead of those at Loo, Honsterdyke, and the Hague. The Horse - Guards and some Foot were round about him at other Houses, and a - strong Guard but a little below the House wherein his Highness was. - All the Lords were quartered up and down at these Fishermen’s Houses, - whereof these poor Men were glad. Now the camp began to be filled with - Officers and Souldiers; for no Officer must move from his Company or - Post. The Foot Guards belonging to the Prince of Orange did encamp - within an enclosure of plowed Land, about which there was a natural - Fence, good Hedges and little Stone Walls, so that no Horse could - touch them; Count Solms being their Colonel or Commander. Count - Nassau’s Regiment encamp’d in another Craft or Inclosure joyning to - that of the Guards, having the like Fence about it as before. The - Regiment belonging unto Colonel Fagell encamp’d in a Craft or - Inclosure next to that of Count Nassau, and so all the English, Dutch, - French, and Scots encamp’d according to the aforesaid manner. The - Souldiers were marching into the Camp all hours in the Night; and if - any straggled from their Companies, it was no easy matter to find them - in the dark amongst so many thousands; so that continually some or - other were lost and enquiring after their Regiments. - - It was a cold, frosty night, and the stars twinkl’d exceedingly; - besides, the Ground was very wet after so much Rain and ill Weather; - the Souldiers were to stand to their Arms the whole Night, at least to - be all in a readiness if anything should happen, or the enemy make an - Assault; and therefore sundry Souldiers were to fetch some old Hedges - and cut down green Wood to burn therewith, to make some Fire. Now one - Regiment beginning all the rest soon followed their Example. Those - that had Provision in their Snap-sacks (as most of the Souldiers had) - did broil it at the Fire, and others went into the villages - thereabouts to buy some fresh Provisions for their Officers, being we - were newly come from Sea; but alas! here was little Provision to be - gotten. There was a little Ale house amongst the Fishermen’s Houses - which was so extremely throng^d and crowded that a Man could not - thrust in his Head, not get Bread or Ale for Mony. It was a happy time - for the Landlord, who strutted about as if indeed he had been a Lord - himself, because he was honoured with Lords’ Company. - -The little “ale-house” was probably the Buller’s Arms, which is still in -existence. Report says that the Prince himself slept there, though this -is doubtful, and that he left behind him there, or where he slept, a -ring, which fell into the possession of the landlord, and was preserved -with great care by subsequent possessors, eventually coming into the -possession of one Mary Churchward, who died somewhere about twenty years -ago, from whom the ring was stolen some years before her death by a -thief who entered her bedroom at night and carried it off owing to the -lady being in the habit of sleeping with her window open. Persons now in -Brixham remember the lady bitterly lamenting the loss of the ring on -account of its having belonged to the Prince of Orange. - -Whittle continues:— - - On the morrow after we landed, when all the Souldiers were encamp’d, - the Prince with sundry Noblemen rode and viewed each Regiment, and - then return’d to Dinner at this little House. The number of his - Highness’s Regiments landed here at this Bay was about six and twenty, - the number of Officers about one thousand, the number of Field - Officers about seventy-eight. The number of all his Forces and - Souldiers about fifteen thousand four hundred and odd men. You might - have seen several hundred Fires all at once in this Encampment, which - must needs signify to the Country round about that we were landed. The - Prince here was pleased to accept of Peoples Good-Will for the Deed, - because things were not here to be bought for Mony, no Market-Town - being near. Many People from all the adjacent places came flocking to - see the Prince of Orange. The Horses were landed with all the speed - that might be, and truly were much out of order, and sorely bruised, - not able to find their Legs for some days: Everything that was of - present use was posted to shoar, but the Artillery, Magazine, and all - sorts of Baggage and cumbersome things were left on Shipboard, and - order’d to meet us at Exeter. - -Whittles reference to the fact that many people from the adjacent places -came flocking to see the Prince is confirmed by other writers. - -Local tradition in my own family, handed down from parent to child with -no little pride, says that among those who flocked to see the Prince -from here were two Windeatts, Samuel and Thomas—father and son, and a -lady whose great niece subsequently intermarried with the Windeatts. At -the time of the Prince’s landing, Samuel Windeatt, a man about forty, -and a strict Nonconformist, was living in Bridgetown, where the family -had been settled for some years. Hearing the joyful news that the -Protestant Prince of Orange was in Torbay, he immediately set off to -“Broxholme” on horseback, taking his little son Thomas, then about eight -years old, in front of him, to see the Deliverer of England and his -troops. They narrated the fact on their return that the country people -around brought quantities of apples and rolled them down the hill to the -soldiers; and the truth of this incident was curiously confirmed some -years since. A member of my family having mentioned this to a gentleman -who in his early days farmed in this part of the country, he gave me the -following interesting account of the stories handed down to him:— - - There are few now left who can say as I can that they have heard their - father and their wife’s father talking together of the men who saw the - landing of William the Third at Torbay. I have heard Capt. Clements - say he as a boy heard as many as seven or eight old men each giving - the particulars of what he saw then. One said a ship load of horses - hauled up to the Quay and the horses walked out all harnessed, and the - quickness with which each man knew his horse and mounted it surprised - them. Another old man said, “I helped to get on shore the horses that - were thrown overboard and swam on shore, guided by only a single rope - running from the ship to the shore”; and another would describe the - difference in the rigging and build of the ships, but all appeared to - welcome them as friends. - - My father remembered only one “Gaffer Will Webber,” of Staverton, who - served his apprenticeship with one of his ancestors, and who lived to - a great age, say, that he went from Staverton as a boy, with his - father, who took a cart-load of apples from Staverton to the high-road - from Brixham to Exeter, that the soldiers might help themselves to - them, and to wish them “God-speed.” - -I merely mention this to show how easily _tradition_ can be handed down, -requiring only three or four individuals, for two centuries. - -The lady I referred to as one of those who flocked to see the Prince was -a Miss Juliana Babbage, from a brother of whom the late Charles Babbage, -the famous mathematician, was descended. She came, when a girl of -twelve, from Barbadoes, and was also a decided Nonconformist. On the 5th -November, 1688, she was attending the old meeting-house in Totnes, at a -thanksgiving service for the discovery of the gunpowder plot, and while -there was told that the Prince of Orange was in Torbay landing his -troops. She also hailed the news with joy, and as soon as service was -over set off to walk to Brixham, accompanied by an old lady of her -acquaintance, and making their way to the Prince, they boldly welcomed -him to England. He shook hands with them, and gave them some of his -proclamations to distribute, which they did so industriously that not -one was left in the family as a memorial. A crimson velvet and gold -purse, a pincushion, and a gold chain, which she is said to have worn on -the occasion, as well as a curious gold locket with hair belonging to -her, are still in the possession of our family. - -These stories come to me from a relative who has attained an honoured -old age, who, owing to the early death of her mother, passed her -childhood and girlhood in an old family circle, and heard from the lips -of those elderly relatives tales of old times, which they had received -in like manner from their relatives. This lady says her grandmother told -her she well recollected her father joking her mother as to what might -have happened if the Prince had not succeeded, saying, “Oh! mistress, -your aunt might have swung for it!” - -The terror infused into the minds of the men of the West by the bitter -persecution which followed the unsuccessful rising on behalf of the Duke -of Monmouth, was doubtless sufficient to deter the leading men from -openly espousing the Prince’s cause at this moment. - -The first gentleman of any position to do so, and this he probably did -at Brixham, as he lived in the neighbourhood, was Mr. Nicholas Roope, -who was appropriately rewarded for his adhesion to the Prince by being -appointed, within a short time of the Prince reaching St. James’, -Governor of Dartmouth Castle, in the room of Sir Edward Seymour the -elder, who had then recently died. - -In an interesting letter from the last Governor of Dartmouth Castle -(Governor Holdsworth) to Sir H. P. Seale, Bart., dated May 1st, 1857, -the warrant for his appointment is set out in full. It runs in the name -of William Henry, Prince of Orange, and is dated 7th of January, 1688–9, -and this was followed, on the 18th July of the same year (1689), by a -regular commission, when the Prince had become King of England. - -The authority for the statement that Mr. Roope was the first to join the -King is contained in a letter from Mr. Roope to the Earl of Nottingham -in reply to one from his Lordship containing a complaint against him. -These letters are set out in full in Governor Holdsworth’s letter. - -At Berry Pomeroy, some few miles distant from the scene of the Prince’s -landing, was then living Sir Edward Seymour the younger, sometime -Speaker of the House of Commons, son of the Seymour who was Roope’s -predecessor in the Governorship of Dartmouth Castle, and one of the most -influential men of his time, whose birth, says Macaulay, put him on a -level with the noblest subjects in Europe, and who, in political -influence and in Parliamentary abilities was beyond comparison the -foremost among the Tory gentlemen of England. He openly joined the -Prince at Exeter, and he it was who contributed greatly to the success -of the Prince’s cause by suggesting that an association should be -founded, and that all the English adherents of the Prince should put -their hands to an instrument binding them to be true to their leader and -to each other. He doubtless was well informed of what was now going on -at Brixham, and we can hardly imagine him to have been a passive -spectator of the great enterprise. Tradition says that the Prince had a -secret interview with him at a house, now a cluster of labourers’ -cottages, still known as Parliament House, situate on the confines of -Berry parish on the road from Berry House to Brixham, and that there he -agreed to come out for the Prince at Exeter, for which city he was -member. Another account gives the place of meeting at Marldon, at a spot -now called Parliament Hill. The present Duke of Somerset, with whom I -have communicated on this point, has been good enough to inform me that -he believes the building called Parliament House to have been the place -where the country gentlemen assembled and agreed to support the Prince, -and that the latter probably had some interview with Seymour at that -time, as it was by his inducement that the country gentlemen, when they -met at Exeter, signed their names to the paper I have been referred to, -promising to support the Prince, and that for this probably the Prince -appointed him Governor of Exeter. - -His Grace also informs me that the late Duke, who had the family papers -examined, said that all documents relating to these transactions -appeared to have been carefully destroyed, and that this precaution was -natural after the recent failure of Monmouth’s landing in the West of -England, though it deprives us, as he says, of many incidents that would -now be very interesting. - -There is little information to be gained from the parish records of -Brixham on the subject of this paper, but from them it appears that at -least one poor nameless foreigner was left behind at Brixham when the -Prince’s army began its march to Exeter, and probably succumbed to the -effects of the voyage, which, from Whittle’s narrative, appears to have -been fatal to five hundred horses; for in the Register of Burials for -the parish for the year 1688 there appears the following entry:— - - Nov. 21, a fforeigner belonging to the Prenz of Oringe. - -In another book, containing an account of those buried in woollen, in -accordance with the law passed to encourage that trade, the entry is as -follows:— - - November 21, a Dutchman cujus nomen ignotum. - -There is a steep lane leading from the outer harbour up the hill to -where the station now stands, which the present vicar of Brixham -considers derives its name, Overgang, apparently a Dutch word, from -“Obergang,” or Gang-ober or “over,” and that it arose from the fact of -troops after the landing being repeatedly ordered to gang over this -hill. This may be so; but as I find that the word “gang,” meaning to go -or to walk, was in use in England in the time of Spenser, it is not -improbable that this lane gained its name before the advent of the -Prince of Orange. - -The Prince’s army marched from Brixham on its way to Newton on the 6th -or 7th November, passing along the narrow lanes of Churston, Paignton, -Cockington, and Kingskerswell, taking apparently a part of two days on -the march, the roads being so bad as to make locomotion slow and -tedious. - -Report says that at a place called Collins’ Grave, near the higher lodge -at Churston, where there is high ground overlooking the river, the army -encamped one night; also that the Prince himself stayed at a house in -Paignton, now the Crown and Anchor Inn. A room there is still shown as -the “Prince’s room.” - -In a Protestant sense it is interesting that William landed within sight -of the Bible Tower at Paignton, where Coverdale, the translator of the -Bible, undoubtedly dwelt, and where he is said to have been probably -engaged on his translation; and doubtless this tradition was not lost -sight of by those about the Prince on his sleeping at the “Crown and -Anchor,” just outside the palace wall. - -The following is Whittle’s graphic account of the march to Newton:— - - Upon Wednesday about Noon, Order was given to march towards Exeter, - and so every Souldier was commanded by their Officers to carry - something or other besides his own Arms and Snap-sack, and this made - many murmur exceedingly. Sundry scores of Horses were thrown overboard - which died at Sea, so that by just Computation the Prince lost about - six hundred Horses at least by the Storm. As we marched here upon good - ground, the Souldiers would stumble and sometimes fall, because of a - dissiness in their Heads after they had been so long toss’d at Sea, - the very ground seem’d to rowl up and down for some days, according to - the manner of the Waves: Therefore, it is the Lords Goodness that our - Foes did not come upon us in this juncture and unfit Condition. The - whole Army marched all the same way, in a manner which made very ill - for the Rear Regiments, and cast them much behind. Many Country People - which met us did not know what to say or think, being afraid that we - should be served as the D. of Monmouth’s handful of Men were. - Notwithstanding, some were so courageous as to speak out and say, - truly their Hearts were for us, and went along with us, and pray’d for - the Prince of Orange; but they said the Irish would come and cut them - in pieces if it should be known. Some Souldiers asked them if they - would go with them against the Popists? and many answered they were - enough themselves, and wanted no more. His Highness, with Mareschal - Scomberg, Count Sohms, Count Nassau, Heer Benting, Heer Zulustein, - Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl of Macclesfield, Viscount Mordaunt, Lord - Wiltshire, and divers other Knights and Gentlemen, came in the Rear of - the middle Line; for as soon as we could conveniently, we were to - march in three Lines, and the Prince was commonly or always in the - middlemost Line, which was the meetest place. So he went unto a - certain Gentleman’s House, about two miles off, where the last Line - encamp’d the Second Night, and lodged there, his own Guards being with - him. The first day we marched some hours after Night in the Dark and - Rain; the lanes hereabout were very narrow, and not used to Wagons, - Carts or Coaches, and therefore extreme rough and stony, which - hindered us very much from making any speed. Divers of the Dutchmen - being unaccustomed to such bad ways and hard marching in the Dirt, - wished themselves back again in their own Country, and murmured - because of the Dark and Rain. At length we came to the Corn-stubble - Inclosures on the side of a Hill, where we encamp’d that Night. It was - a red clay, and it rain’d very hard the greatest part of the Night; - the Winds being high and stormy. Nevertheless, the poor Souldiers - being much wearied with the Tent-Polls, Spare Arms, and other Utensils - for War, which they had carried all Day and some hours after Night, as - well as with the badness of the March, lay down to take their Repose; - and verily the water run over and under some of their legs the major - part of the Night, and their Heads, Backs and Arms sunck deep into the - Clay, being so very wet and soft, notwithstanding they slept all Night - very sweetly, in their Pee or Campagne Coats. The Souldiers here - fetch’d some old Hedges and Gates to make their Officers and - themselves some Fire (as they had done the night before), else some - would have perished in the Cold, being all over in a Froth with Sweat - in marching. And the old Hedges and Gates not being enough, they - fetch’d away the new ones, for the Weather was not only raw and cold - but we ourselves were so too, having nothing to eat or drink after so - bad a day’s journey. The Souldiers had some good Holland’s Beef in - their Snap-sacks, which they brought, and their Officers were very - glad to get part with them, so they broil’d it at the Fire; some had - bought Chickens by the way, but raw, which they broil’d and eat as a - most delicate Dish. Sundry Captains offer’d any Mony for a Guide to - bring them to a House thereabout, where they might have some provision - for their money, but no Guide could be found; it was exceeding dark, - and being all Strangers and unacquainted with the Country, we could - not tell where to find one House, for those few that were scattering - here and there were either in some little grove of Trees, and so hid - from our Eyes, or else in a bottom amongst the Hills, and so could not - be seen. These Quarters did not content our Minds, for tho’ we got as - near to the Hedges as we could possible with our Fires, yet we could - not be warm. Many of the Souldiers slept with their feet in the Ditch, - and their Heads on the side thereof. We thought this Night almost as - long as that in the Storm at Sea; and judged it to be the dawn of Day - some hours before it was. The Morning appearing rejoiced our very - Hearts, for we thought now we should march presently; and we were sure - of this, that worse Quarters we could never meet with, but much better - we hoped to find. A private souldier, therefore, going in the next - Croft for to seek a convenient place, he found it to be an Inclosure - with Turnips, so bringing his Burden away with him, he came to the - Fire and gave those there some, telling his Comrades of the Place, who - soon hastened thereto, and brought enow with them: Some roasted them - and others eat them raw, and made a brave Banquet. The Souldiers were - busy in discharging their Musquets, after the Wet and Rain, for they - durst not trust to that Charge; and about 11 of the Clock the Army - received Orders to march. - - The Prince of Orange with the Lords and Gentlemen, rode from this - place unto Sir William Courtenay’s, within a mile of Newton Abbot, the - first Line being about Newton, and the last on their march thither. - The Place where we encamped was trodden to Dirt, and stuck to our - Shoes wretchedly. Now the Regiments marched sundry Roads, of which we - were right glad, hoping to meet with better Quarters than the Marl and - Clay Crofts. The People came in flocks unto the Cross-ways to see the - Army, but especially the Prince. We met with much civility on the - Road; now they began to give us Applause, and pray for our Success; - sundry Persons enquired for the Declaration of his Highness. - -Arrived near Newton, the Prince, as Whittle says, went to Ford House, -within a short distance of the town, the residence of Sir William -Courtenay, who endeavoured cautiously to abstain from doing anything to -compromise himself with the King, should the latter prevail, and so -managed not to be at home on the Prince’s arrival, but left directions -that he should be hospitably lodged and feasted. Here he probably stayed -two nights to enable the whole of the troops to come up and be in order -for the march to Exeter, to which place Dr. Burnet and Lord Mordaunt -with four troops of horse were sent on in advance. - -The room at Ford House in which the Prince slept is still pointed out; -it is called the “Orange room,” and is papered and upholstered in -orange. - -Mr. Blewitt, in the _Panorama of Torquay_, says:—“It is _said_ that his -first proclamation was read from the base of the ancient cross at Newton -by the Rev. John Reynell, the minister of Wolborough”; and Mr. White, in -his valuable _History of Torquay_, published in 1878, repeats this -statement as a fact. The stone pedestal on which formerly stood the -ancient cross, still remains near the tower at Newton, in the parish of -Wolborough, and is now surmounted by a public lamp. On this pedestal is -the following inscription:— - - THE FIRST DECLARATION OF - WILLIAM III., PRINCE OF ORANGE, - THE GLORIOUS DEFENDER OF THE - LIBERTIES OF ENGLAND, - WAS READ ON THIS PEDESTAL BY - THE REV. JOHN REYNELL, - RECTOR OF THIS PARISH, - 5TH NOVEMBER, - 1688. - -That the Prince’s declaration was read from the old cross there can be -little doubt, but that the inscription cannot be looked upon as much of -an authority is clear from the statement that the declaration was read -on the 5th; for the Prince’s army did not commence to land at Brixham -until that day, and could not have possibly reached Newton until the -7th; and that it is erroneous also in stating that it was read by -Reynell is evident from the following very interesting paragraph from -Whittle’s Diary:— - - Now being on their march to Newton Abbot, a certain Divine went before - the Army; and finding that ’twas their Market-day, he went unto the - Cross, or Town Hall; where, pulling out the Declaration of the Prince - of Orange, with undaunted Resolution, he began, with a loud and - audible voice, to read as follows: William Henry, by the Grace of God, - Prince of Orange, &c., of the Reasons inducing him to appear in Arms - in the Kingdom of England, for preserving of the Protestant Religion, - and restoring the Laws and Liberties of England, Scotland, and - Ireland, &c. - - When the people heard the Prince of Orange’s name mentioned, they - immediately crowded about him in a prodigious manner to hear him, - insomuch that some jeoparded their lives. - - The Declaration being ended, he said, God bless and preserve the - Prince of Orange: To which the People, with one Heart and Voice, - answered Amen, Amen; and forthwith shouted for Joy, and made the Town - ring with their echoing Huzzas. The Minister, _nolens volens_, was - carried into a Chamber near the Place: the Windows were shut, the - doors lock’d and bolted, to prevent the crowd from rushing in. - - The People of the House, and others very kindly asked him: Sir, What - will you be pleased to eat? or, What shall we provide for you? Name - what you love best, it shall be had. The Minister answered, What you - please, give me what you will. So they brought forth such as was - ready; and having eaten and drunk well, they desired him to spare them - but one Declaration. Yes, says he, for I have enow in my Pocket, and - pulling them out, he gave Three, because they were of distinct - Parishes. He told the People, he would go and visit their Minister, - and cause their Bells to ring, because the Prince of Orange was come - into the Parish, at Sir Will Courtney’s, tho’ not into the Town; and - (says he) this being the first Market-Town, I cannot but think it much - the more proper and expedient. Whereupon he went to the Minister’s - House, and enquiring for him he was courteously invited in, and - desired to sit down: The Reverend Minister of the Parish coming - presently to him, they saluted each other; and after some - communications passed between them, this Divine from the Army, desired - the Keys of his Church Doors, for to welcome the Prince of Orange into - England with a Peal (that being the first Market-Town they came to). - The Minister answered; Sir, for my own part, I am ready to serve his - Highness any way, but of my own accord cannot give the Keys; but you - know you may command them, or anything else in my House in the Name of - the Prince of Orange, and then I will readily grant it. So the Divine - said: Sir, I demand your Keys of the Church Door only for an hour to - give his Highness a Peal, and then I will return them safely unto you. - - The Minister presently directed him to the Clerk’s house, and desired - him to come and take a Glass of Wine with him after the Peal was - ended, (but the Ringers coming together, they rung sundry Peals) and - he returned the Keys to the Minister. - - The People of the Town were exceeding Joyful, and began to drink the - Prince of Orange’s Health. The Country People in the Town were well - inclined towards us; and here was the first favour we met with worth - mentioning. His Highness was most kindly receiv’d and entertain’d at - Sir Will Courtney’s, the Souldiers generally well treated by the - Vulgar. - -Oldmixon, in his _History of the Reign of the Stuarts_, simply says that -“the first place the Prince of Orange’s Declaration was publicly read -was Newton Abbot, a market town near Exeter, and the first man who read -it was _a_ clergyman.” No doubt the fact that it was read by a clergyman -gradually changed into the statement that it was read by _the_ clergyman -of the parish, and so Reynell became credited with a bold act, which, -from Whittle’s account, he was far too cautious a man to commit, however -favourable he may have been to the Prince’s cause. The lettering of the -inscription is evidently modern, and the Rev. H. Tudor, the present -Rector of Wolborough, informs me that a man, now dead, told him he was -employed to cut or re-cut it, and was never paid for doing so. - -The question remains, and it is an interesting one, who was the divine -who first proclaimed the Prince by reading the Declaration? I was first -inclined to believe, from the detailed manner in which the story was -told, that it was Whittle himself. It is not improbable, however, that -it was the renowned Dr. Burnet, afterwards Bishop Burnet. He was the -Prince’s own chaplain, and doubtless the head and chief of the clergy -who accompanied the Prince, and from his undaunted spirit, and the -leading part he took in the Cathedral at Exeter, he was undoubtedly the -divine most likely to have performed this act. One gentleman with whom I -have been in communication on the point, and whose opinion always -carries weight, says:— - - Burnet was such a busybody, that I feel certain if anything was to be - done by a clergyman he would have put himself forward to do it. - -No information is to be gleaned from the parish registers or the books I -have inspected relative to what occurred at Newton during the time of -the Prince’s visit, but I have been favoured with the following -interesting story from a lady now residing at Newton, of the advanced -age of ninety-six, told her by her father, who heard it from his -grandmother, who was a Miss Joan Bearne, the daughter of Mr. Bearne, a -lawyer of Newton Abbot; viz., that when a girl of sixteen, there was a -stranger staying at her father’s house for about three weeks, who was -only known as “the gentleman,” and who was out during the day, and only -returned in the evening; that on the entry of William of Orange into -Newton from Ford House, her father took her out to see him, and that -walking by the side of the Prince was the strange gentleman, who, on -passing where Mr. Bearne was standing, pointed him out as “his host for -three weeks” to the Prince, who at once lifted his hat to him. - -[Illustration: leaf] - - [This paper having been written in 1880, sundry allusions must be - interpreted in the light of that circumstance.—THE EDITOR.] - - - - - REYNOLDS’ BIRTHPLACE. - - BY JAMES HINE, F.R.I.B.A. - - -Any interest attaching to Plympton belongs to the olden time. Of many -other places it may be said that the new has entirely supplanted the -old. Modern business requirements, new warehouses, and thoroughfares, -have had the effect of stamping out all vestiges of the past, and even -the traditions of them. An unpretending Railway Station and a dozen or -more new houses have not had this effect at Plympton. The town has no -novelties to shew us; the lions are just what they were two hundred -years ago. - -Plympton in the olden time had its castle and its priory, its two -churches, and later its Guildhall and Grammar School. Not quite in the -olden time, but only just on the verge of our prosaic modern time, -Plympton gave to the world England’s greatest painter—a circumstance -which (though forgotten by the native, who on being asked by a tourist -where Sir Joshua Reynolds was born, replied he “never heeard of sich”) -should indeed make this honoured little town almost as famous as -Stratford-on-Avon. - -In the Doomsday Book, Plympton is designated “Terra Regis,” so also are -Tavistock, Ashburton, and Tiverton, “all which places were then the -King’s demesne towns,” but not boroughs. - -[Illustration - - _From an Engraving_] [_by J. E. Wood._ - THE CLOISTERS, PLYMPTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL. - -] - -[Illustration - - _From an Engraving_] [_By J. E. Wood._ - NORMAN DOORWAY, PLYMPTON PRIORY. - -] - -A date anterior to the Norman Conquest has been ascribed to the castle, -on the ground of its similarity to Trematon, Launceston, and Restormel -castles, which Borlase and Grose assert to have been built before the -year 900. The antiquaries, however, of the eighteenth century are often -extremely inaccurate in their classification both of military and -ecclesiastical structures. St. German’s Church, the ancient cathedral of -Cornwall, is designated Saxon by them, whereas its features, as any tyro -will now see, are undoubted Norman; in fact, there are no remains of -Saxon architecture in Cornwall, and it would be surprising if there -were, seeing that the Saxons never had any permanent hold on this part -of Britain; for, though Egbert is said to have reduced the Cornish -Britons to “nominal subjection” about the year 810, we find that -Athelstan as late as 936 was in conflict with the British forces, and -drove them across the Tamar, and not until that year had Exeter been -subjected to his government. - -Restormel Castle is undoubtedly of Norman construction, and it is -probable that the most ancient portions of Launceston Castle are nearly -two centuries later than the date ascribed by Borlase. - -Although, therefore, from the naturally strong position of all these -castles, it is probable that the Britons occupied these positions for -defence, no visible remains can be considered as anterior to the Norman -Conquest. In the absence of any architectural details at Plympton -Castle—the masonry in the walls being somewhat analogous to the British -masonry found in different parts of Cornwall—there may be more room for -doubt and conjecture here than in respect to the other castles; yet the -rudeness of the masonry may be accounted for by supposing that only the -vassal inhabitants of the neighbourhood were employed in the works, -under Norman architects and overseers. - -The vestiges of Norman rule are clearly traceable in the county and -borders of Devon. The same independent character which Exeter maintained -against the Saxon authority, that city endeavoured to assert against the -Conqueror; and the obedience of the western capital required to be -insured by a number of castles, of a date not long subsequent to the -Conquest. The castles of Barnstaple, Exeter, Totnes, Plympton, and -Trematon guarded the rivers which gave access to the interior of the -county; and the fortresses of Okehampton, Launceston, Lydford, Berry, -and Tiverton, the inland passes. Of the castles enumerated here, Berry -at least has been entirely rebuilt at a later period. - -Plympton Castle was the chief residence of the Earls of Devon and Lords -of Plympton. King Henry, the youngest son of the Conqueror, in the first -year of his reign, granted the Lordship to Richard de Redvers or Rivers -and his posterity, to enjoy also the title and possessions belonging to -the Devonshire Earldom. The said Richard was one of William the -Conqueror’s generals in the battle of Hastings, and obtained the barony -of Okehampton from William Rufus. He was one of the chief councillors of -Henry the First, and was so highly esteemed by him that he was created -first Earl of Devon since the Conquest. The castle stood on the north -side of the town, occupying a space of about two acres, extending 700 -feet from east to west, including the ditch, and 400 feet from north to -south. Leland says of this structure, in his Itinerary, “On the side of -the town is a fair large castelle and dungeon in it, whereof the walls -yet stand, though the lodgings be clean decayed.” At present there only -remains a portion of the circular keep or tower, fifty feet in diameter, -on a mound about sixty feet high. The ruined walls average fourteen feet -in height and are nine feet thick, grouted with mortar or concrete as -hard as the stones themselves. Around the keep in the thickness of the -wall is a plastered flue, fifteen inches by ten inches, the purpose of -which is not obvious. It has been suggested that it was designed for the -conveyance of sound. It seems more probable that it was for ventilation. -There is a similar flue at Rochester Castle. The habitable portions of -Plympton Castle must have been of considerable extent. These, including -the state apartments, and lodgings (as Leland calls them) for the -military and retainers, were within the outer castle walls, and built -around a spacious basse-court. The ballium wall—embattled and flanked -with towers—was raised on a platform about 30 feet above the fosse or -ditch, in the position now indicated by a modern path, and by a belt of -trees planted about a hundred years ago. The basse-court has long been a -quiet village green, and the site of the ballium wall, where stern -warriors peered over frowning battlements, is now a “lovers’ walk.” Such -are the tendencies of modern civilization. Surrounding the castle wall -was a deep moat about 40 feet wide, still to be traced, except on the -eastern side, where it has been filled up. In Leland’s time it was full -of water, and stored with carp. There are no remains whatever of the -great gateway of the castle (with its drawbridge and portcullis), which, -as shewn by the seal of the Lords of Plympton, was on the north side. -There were probably towers at the different angles. - -In the time of Baldwin de Rivers, second Earl of Devon and Lord of -Plympton, the castle was the scene of events which strikingly illustrate -the then unsettled state of the country, and the insubordination of even -the most privileged class. Baldwin de Rivers was considered one of the -richest and bravest men of the age; but having with some other nobles -rebelled against King Stephen, on account, it is said, of the king -refusing to confer certain honours on them, he fortified himself in his -castle at Exeter, where he was besieged by the monarch; and it appears -that certain knights, to whom he had entrusted his castle of Plympton, -being apprehensive of the Earl’s danger, or alarmed about their own -safety, treated for the surrender of Plympton; and the king sent two -hundred men with a large body of archers from Exeter to Plympton, who -unexpectedly appeared under the walls of the castle about daybreak, and, -according to the chronicler, the fortress was then almost entirely -destroyed. - -The lands of the Earl, which extended far and wide round Plympton -Castle, and said to have been abundantly stocked and well cultivated, -were harried by the king’s troops, who drove off to Exeter many -thousands of sheep and oxen.[6] Baldwin was then dispossessed of all his -honours, and banished the kingdom; but afterwards siding with the -Empress Matilda, in the civil wars which ensued, he was restored to all -his honours and possessions by Henry II. He died A.D. 1155, and was -succeeded by his son, Richard de Redvers. - ------ - -Footnote 6: - - Devonshire wool was already a valuable commodity, and was bought at - that time, it is said, by Flemish merchants who frequented Devonshire - ports. - ------ - -Baldwin, the eighth Earl, was the last of the male Redvers or Rivers who -held the barony of Plympton. His death, by poison, occurred in France in -1262, and the inheritance of the Earls of Devon and Lords of Plympton -descended to Isabella de Redvers, the wife of the Earl of Albemarle, who -styled herself Countess of Devon. Their only issue was a daughter, -Aveline, who married the Earl of Lancaster, and she dying in 1293, -without issue, Hugh Lord Courtenay, next heir to Isabella, Countess of -Devon, and lineally descended from John Courtenay, Lord of Okehampton, -who married the daughter of Sir William de Redvers, became ninth Earl. - -The possession by the Courtenays during succeeding centuries of the -Earldom of Devon and the Barony of Plympton, was marked by many -interesting and even tragical incidents, but these have no very -immediate connection with the subject of this paper.[7] - ------ - -Footnote 7: - - One remarkable circumstance—mentioned by Pole—concerning Henry - Courtenay, created Earl in 1525, may be noted. “This Henry,” says - Pole, “was soe intimate unto King Henry the 8th, that having no issue - he intended to have made hym his successor unto the crown; but - afterwards he fell into high displeasure of the King, so, as being - questioned with divers others for ayding of Cardinale Poole, and - intencion for the raising of forces on the Pope’s behalf, he was - arraigned, convicted, and executed for treason.” - ------ - -The barony of Plympton was subdivided in the reign of Queen Mary. In the -beginning of the eighteenth century it was in the hands of three -families. It is now invested in the Earl of Morley. - -The castle (probably rebuilt after its partial demolition in the time of -Baldwin de Rivers, second Earl) does not appear to have been much -molested between the reigns of Stephen and Charles I.; at least, we have -no record of any memorable event during that long interval. - -At the beginning of the Civil War, Plympton was the headquarters of the -force which the Royalists then had in the county. It was one of the -principal quarters of Prince Maurice’s army whilst besieging Plymouth, -from October, 1642, to January, 1643. The King had a garrison here, -which, however, was taken by the Earl of Essex, in the month of July, -1644. The castle at this period was mounted with eight pieces of -ordnance. - -The fertile valley of the Plym was often a tempting field for plunder to -the Plymouth parliamentary troops, as it had been to the archers of King -Stephen five centuries before. Its rich pasturage and produce induced a -fraternity of pious monks at a very early period to settle here; which -brings me to speak of the once famous priory of Plympton, the richest -and most flourishing in Devon. - -The first monastery or college existing here is said to have been -founded by one of the Saxon kings, possibly Ethelwolf, who had a palace, -so tradition informs us, at Yealmpton, about four miles distant. This -establishment, however, early came to grief. Leland says:— - - The glory of this towne (Plymptoun Marie) stoode by the priorie of - blake chanons, there buildid and richely endowid with landes. - - The original beginning of this priorie was after this fascion: one - William Warwist, bisshop of Excester, displeased with the chanons or - prebendaries of a fre chapelle of the fundation of the Saxon kinges, - because they wold not leve theyr concubines, found meanes to dissolve - their college, wherein was a deane or provost, and four prebendaries, - with other ministers. - - The prebende of Plympton self was the title of one, and the prebend of - S. Peter and Paule at Sultown, now caullid Plymmouth, another. Bisshop - Warwist, to recompence the prebendaries of Plympton, erectid a college - of as many as wer ther at Bosenham in Southsax, and annexid the gift - of them to his successors, bisshops of Excester. Then he set up at - Plympton a priorie of canons regular, and after was ther buried in the - chapitre house. - - Diverse noble men gave after landes to this priorie, emong whom was - Walterus de Valletorta, lord of Tremerton, in Cornewal, and, as sum - say, of Totnes, who gave onto Plymtown priorie the isle of S. Nicholas - cum cuniculis, conteyning a two acres of ground, or more, and lying at - the mouthes of Tamar and Plym ryvers. - - There were buryed sum of Courteneis and diverse other gentilmen in the - chirch of the priorie of Plymtoun. - -The second establishment, then—dedicated to the Virgin Mary and SS. -Peter and Paul—of the Order of St. Augustine, was founded in 1121 by -William Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter, the nephew and chaplain of William -the Conqueror. He was one of the most gifted and energetic ecclesiastics -of his day, and to him we are indebted for the earliest existing -portions of Exeter Cathedral, including the two noble Norman towers. He -seems to have set his heart on making Plympton priory the richest and -most important in this part of the kingdom, and conveyed to it very -large properties in Exeter. Many noblemen followed his example. - -The rental of the priory shows that certain lands and rents were -attached to the several conventual offices of almoner, precentor, -cellarer, and chaplain of the infirmary. - -Some idea of the wealth of the monastery may be gathered from the fact -that at the dissolution it was rated at £912 12_s._ 8_d._ per annum, -whereas the whole annual revenue of the 173 Augustine priories in the -kingdom amounted to £33,027, the average being about one-fourth that of -Plympton. - -The founder, Bishop Warelwast, was buried here (as Leland says) in the -chapter house of the priory, as were also the remains of his nephew, the -fifth Bishop of Exeter. “Whoever is acquainted,” says Dr. Oliver, “with -the deeds and writings of subsequent bishops, the immediate patrons of -Plympton Priory, must have observed how closely they imitated the zeal -of the founder in watching and guarding its interests and promoting its -welfare.” Amongst other privileges, the prior and convent possessed the -right of appointing the rural dean of Plympton. - -The venerable building had been destroyed before Leland’s time, as is -evident from his saying “the chirch that there a late stood,” meaning, -of course, the priory church. - -“At present,” says Dr. Oliver, “scarcely a vestige remains of any of the -conventual buildings”; but in this respect, as we shall hereafter see, -he is not quite correct. - -Within one hundred and fifty years after the erection of the priory -church, another sacred edifice was required for the growing population -around; and Bishop Stapeldon, on Friday, October 29th, 1311, consecrated -one in honour of the Virgin Mary, for the use of the parishioners. The -present chancel and north aisle of Plympton St. Mary Church are portions -of the church then dedicated, the great body of the church, as we now -see it, having been re-built in a later age and style. It was situate -“_infra cemeterium prioratus_”; and, as a mark of subjection, the -parishioners were required to assist at divine service in the conventual -church on the feast of its dedication, and to receive the blest palms -there on Palm Sunday, and walk in the solemn procession of that day. -This obligation was sanctioned by Archbishop Courtenay, when he made a -visitation of the diocese of Exeter in 1387, and confirmed by Pope -Boniface IX. For some neglect of this ancient custom Bishop Lacy -expressed his high displeasure, and enjoined its strict observance in -the future. - -In Plympton St. Mary parish there were several chapels, subject to the -priory—one at Newnham, another at Hemerdon, and a chapel attached to a -lazar-house, of which there are now no remains. Sutton or South-town, -now part of Plymouth, belonged to the priory of Plympton. “In the -priors’ court there the portreve of the commonality was elected and -sworne into office by his steward, and the markets, the instruments of -punishment, and the assize of provisions belonged to him.” - -Those were not exactly the “furzy down” days of Plymouth; but it was -quite an insignificant place at that time, compared with its more -wealthy neighbour, Plympton. Its great market, in fact, was Plympton. As -Plymouth grew into more importance, as a naval as well as fishing -station, and as the inhabitants became more influential, they naturally -became anxious to obtain independence and the right of self-government, -with municipal privileges. Accordingly, the inhabitants petitioned the -king and parliament to be incorporated as early as 1412, and the answer -to the petition was, “Let the petitioners compound with the lords having -franchises before the next parliament, and report to them of their -having made an agreement.” As a matter of course, the prior and convent -at first opposed their views, but when the inhabitants succeeded, in -1439, in obtaining the royal licence and an Act of Parliament, which -constituted them a corporation, under the title of the Mayor and -Commonalty of the Borough of Plymouth, it was time for the prior and -convent to come to terms with the reformers; and animated with an -excellent feeling, they addressed a petition to Bishop Lacy, -representing that it would be desirable to convey to this municipal body -certain lands, tenements, franchises, fairs, markets, mills, and -services, which they had possessed therein from time immemorial, and -praying his consent to dispose of them. In January, 1440, as bishop and -patron, he directed a commission to the archdeacon of Totnes to hold an -inquisition, and to report to him the verdict of the jury. Accordingly, -a public inquisition was held in the nave of the priory church of -Plympton, on the 7th of January, the gates of the monastery, and the -doors of the church, being thrown wide open for all comers to enter. -That was a memorable day for the young town; and no doubt many -Plymouthians flocked to the priory, anxious to know the award. The jury -being sworn, found that the premises of the priory, within Sutton-Prior, -had in part been burnt by a hostile descent from Brittany; that the -yearly rental of the lands and tenements there was £8; of the courts, -fairs, and markets, 60_s._; and the clear profit from the mills -something more than £10 yearly; that the offer by the mayor and -corporation of the yearly fixed pension of £41 for the premises -aforesaid was deemed by the prior and convent a satisfactory -compensation, and that they were willing to accept the same; and the -jury concurred in recommending such alienation and sale on such terms. - -The parish church of St. Andrew, in Plymouth, continued an appendage to -the priory nearly until the dissolution of the house. Its perpetual -vicar, William de Wolley, became a professed religious at Plympton; and -on resigning this benefice, the prior and convent granted, November -23rd, 1334, to Bishop Grandisson, the nomination of an incumbent, -saving, however, their yearly pension of sixty marks. The bishop -nominated Nicholas de Weyland, a canon of Plympton, December 23rd. - -The chapel of St. Katherine on the How also belonged to the priory; but -the following list of chapels appendant to this house will give some -idea of the immense patronage which it enjoyed:—SS. Mary and Thomas, -Plympton, Brixton, Wembury, Plymstock, Saundford-Spiney, Egg Buckland, -Lanhorn (or Lanherne), Tamerton, Maristowe, Thrushelton, Uggeburgh, -Exminster, Islington, Newton, Stoke-in-Teignhead, Blackhauton, Bratton, -Meavy, St. Just, Petertavy, etc.; and the tithes of these places were -appropriated to the priory for the promotion of hospitality and charity. - -Two subordinate priories or cells depended on Plympton priory—St. Mary -de Marisco, commonly called Marsh Barton, in Alphington parish, and the -cell of St. Anthony in the deanery of Powder, in Cornwall. - -Most of the churches appendant to the Plympton priory have the parvise -over the south porch, as at both the Plympton churches and at Ugborough. -Here were probably deposited books written by the monks in their hours -of study—missals with rich borders, as well as writings of a more -secular character; and possibly the preaching monks tarried in these -chambers between the hours of divine service. - -Dr. Oliver gives the names of thirty Priors of Plympton, from Ralph, the -first prior, to John How, the last, who subscribed to the King’s -supremacy in 1534. During the administration of some of the priors, the -hospitality of the establishment seems to have been unbounded. In -consequence of the great confluence of the nobility and their retinues -to the priory, the house became overcharged with debt, and Bishop -Oldham, after his first visitation of the house, in 1505, authorized the -prior, David Bercle,[8] to retire to a distant cell until a new system -of economy could be arranged. - ------ - -Footnote 8: - - There is a quaint letter extant of this hospitable prior, which Dr. - Oliver gives. It is— - - “To his rev’ende broders in Criste, Maister Dene and Maister Chaunter, - of Excester, or on’ of theym, this to be delyvd. in goodely haste. - Right rev’end broders in Criste, in my most lovynge maner y recomaunde - me unto yow p’ynge yow right hartely to be good maisters to a prieste - called I. David Neyton, a lovyer of myn’ which trustyth by your favors - to be on’ of your vicaryyes in Synte Peters Churche if he be a person’ - necessary to occupye a such rome yn your’ sayde churche y p’y yow that - he may the rader for my desyre be accepte to the same rome, and he and - y shall p’y for the longe contynuance of your bothe prosperyteis, - which God p’sve to his pleasur’ and your hartes desyres—Amen. Writyn - in haste penultimo die Aprilis by your olde louyer and bedman’. - - “DAVID, Prior of Plympton’.” - ------ - -The refectory was by no means an unimportant portion of the priory. It -and the cellar under (which was in charge of a much-envied functionary, -known as the cellarer) are the only considerable remains existing of the -once extensive monastic buildings at Plympton. Here the monks, according -to the seasons, had their one meal or two meals a day; the usual -allowance being “one white loaf, another loaf called Trequarter, a dish -called General, another dish of flesh or fish called Pitance, three -potells of beer daily, or three silver halfpence” for the teetotalers. -This is said to have been the ordinary bill of fare, but it was, no -doubt, amplified to any extent when the lords and squires were -entertained by the prior, and especially when, as in 1348, Edward the -Black Prince dined at his hospitable table. - -But the time was coming when there would be “no more cakes and ale”—when -the prior and brethren would leave the monastery gates, never again to -re-enter them; when, with their “occupation gone” (like the stage -coachmen and guards of the nineteenth century), they would be lost in -the crowd of a bustling world, and never seen or heard of more. There -was a dark side to the picture which England then presented; and perhaps -the saddest sight was when, on the morrow after the dissolution, the -mendicant knocked at the almonry door, knowing no change, and least of -all in charity, and for the first time found no bread or alms for him. - -The priory remains, though little known, are of considerable interest. -Besides the Norman cellar, and the Early English refectory over, there -are some scattered remains of the chapel and cloisters. The cellar is -sixty-one feet six inches by fourteen feet within, stone-arched, and -lighted on the south side by four small semi-circular-headed windows. -The masonry is of great thickness; and on the north side and east end, -in the width of the wall, is a passage two feet six inches wide, which -probably was nothing more than a dry area, though the common notion is -that it is the commencement of a subterranean way (now blocked up) -leading to the castle, about a quarter of a mile distant. The original -entrance to the cellar was by a fine Norman doorway on the south side. -It was only after diligent search that I found it, encased with many -coats of plaster. There are engaged shafts on each side, and the chevron -ornament is carried round the jambs as well as the arch, which latter is -formed of alternate voussoirs of grey and green stone. - -Above the cellar is the almost perfect outline of the refectory, with -its original fire-place, windows, and roof, all of an Early English -character. The kitchen, a detached building of the fifteenth century, -situated to the east of the refectory, remains in a tolerably perfect -state, and the position of the old priory mill is indicated by a modern -structure erected about seventy years ago. - -Adjoining the mill is the priory orchard, said to be the oldest in -England. - -At some distance to the north-west of the domestic buildings were the -chapel and cloisters, of which some vestiges remain in their original -positions, but around them modern walls and hedges have been formed. The -bases of a doorway, deeply recessed, having four detached shafts on each -side, and beautifully moulded, lead to the supposition that the Priory -as a whole was a most important architectural work. I also found several -scattered fragments of Early English foliage. No doubt many interesting -objects lie buried in the priory lands, and possibly even the tombs of -the two bishops Warelwast. - -In the Norman and Early English and Decorated work about here we find -that granite was never used, although to be obtained in the immediate -locality.[9] It was probably rejected, not merely because it was hard to -work, but on account of its cold and colourless appearance. Thus, in the -Priory and in the most ancient portions of the two churches, _i.e._, the -chancels, you will find no dressings or moulded work in that material, -but in the beautiful and durable green slate-stone from St. Germans or -Boringdon, and in Caen stone; and to give still more artistic effect to -their buildings, they used sparingly a close red sandstone, obtained -from a distance. There are some rather old-looking houses in Plympton, -which are said to be built entirely of stone from the priory, and in one -front in particular may be observed this beautiful masonry of the -thirteenth century, in green and red, arranged almost like a draught -board. - ------ - -Footnote 9: - - This also applies to the Cornish churches. - ------ - -The Perpendicular builders were not, as a rule, remarkable for artistic -feeling. They saw beauty in size, uniformity, and in the endless -repetition of a stereotyped panel; and one can imagine archæologists of -the fifteenth century regarding contemporary architects much as we look -upon the designers of the glass and iron palaces of the present day. The -greater part of the churches of Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. -Maurice are Perpendicular and built of granite, in large blocks, and -there is not that sharp and elegant detail in this as in the earlier -work. - -St. Mary’s is a pretty and picturesque church now; but it was probably -more than two hundred years before the granite began to tone down, and -the ivy and lichen to cling to it—neither, as a rule, “take kindly,” as -the saying is in Devonshire, to granite. - -The limits of this paper will not allow of my giving anything like a -detailed description of Plympton St. Mary Church. Full justice has -already been done this edifice by the late Rev. W. I. Coppard, who was -largely instrumental in its being restored. The Early Decorated -chancel—with its fine east window and elaborate sedilia and piscina—is -one of the best specimens of the period in the county. Not the least -interesting part of the church is the south porch and parvise over, -which the late Mr. H. H. Treby took most commendable pains to restore. -The groining of the porch is admirable, though in the re-dressing and -chiselling of the ribs and bosses the original character of the work has -been partially impaired. In restorations, much is lost through the -desire to see things look fresh and new. - -In the Strode, or St. Catherine chapel, is the monument of Sir William -Strode, with the effigies of the knight and his two wives:— - - Mary, incarnate virtue, soul and skin - Both pure, whom death nor life convinced of sin, - Had daughters like 7 Pleiades, but she - Was a prime star of greatest charity. - -And over the knight:— - - Treade soft, for if you wake this knight alone, - You raise an host, religion’s champion, - His country’s staff, right bold distributor, - His neighbour’s guard, the poor man’s almoner, - Who dies with works about him as he did, - Shall rise attended most triumphantly. - -The Town Church of Plympton, originally dedicated to Thomas à Becket, -but, when rebuilt in the fifteenth century, to St. Maurice, consists of -a nave, north and south aisles, and a fine tower at the west end, in the -Perpendicular style of the fifteenth century, and a chancel, as at St. -Mary’s, of an earlier date, having an interesting sedilia and good -decorated window at the east end—speaking of the masonry, and not of the -glass, which is extremely bad. The south porch has a vaulted roof and -parvise over, as at the other church. - -Much has been done of late years towards improving this parish church, -but its internal effect is entirely marred by the unsightly plastered -roof of the nave, and the close pews or pens. The nave-roof, I find by -reference to the vestry book, was re-constructed in the year 1752, after -the model of the new roof in Stoke Damerel Church, then recently put up. -That was the dark age of English taste. How very dark may be imagined -from this plagiarism. - -There are memorial windows in this church to members of the Treby -family, and monuments to the Rev. Samuel Reynolds, Admiral Cotton, and -other local celebrities. The following epitaph is the most curious:— - - Saml. Snelling, Gent. - Twise Maior of this - town, he died the 20 - Day of Nov. 1624. - - The man whose body - That here doth lye - Beganne to live - When he did dye. - - Good faith in life - And death he proved, - And was of God - And man belov’d; - - Now he liveth - In Heaven’s joy, - And never more - To feel annoy. - -The shaft of a large granite cross, probably the market cross, was -discovered about forty-two years ago embedded in a wall of the -Guildhall, taken down in the course of some alterations. - -In the register of this parish are some curious entries. Thus, there is -record of a plague which carried off a great number of the inhabitants; -and on one occasion forty marriages are said to have taken place in one -day, by proclamation, at the Market Cross. This was during the -Commonwealth, when the religious ceremony was ignored, and against the -entry some stout Royalist or disappointed bachelor has written: “This -was the hour and power of darkness.” - -We have yet to touch on the politics of the town. - -Plympton became a borough town, with the privileges of a market and -fairs, by a charter from Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, dated March -25th, 1241. The borough sent members to Parliament as early as the -twenty-third year of Edward I.’s reign, and continued to do so until -disfranchised in 1832. It was a very respectable constituency of nearly -a hundred free burgesses, who were sworn in by the corporation, which -consisted of a mayor, recorder, and eight aldermen, called the Common -Council. - -The Strode influence was great in the town from a very early time, and -several members of that family sat in Parliament for Plympton. In -Elizabeth’s reign, Sir John Hele, a distinguished lawyer, and at one -time King’s Sergeant, was returned for the borough. A little later, Sir -Francis Drake, nephew of the great Sir Francis, and successor to the -baronetcy, became member. In Charles I.’s reign, Sir William Strode, one -of the most distinguished of the great party which then resisted the -undue authority of the Crown, and who, with three other members, was -committed to the tower by the King, sat in Parliament for Plympton. -Another famous member for Plympton was Sir Nicholas Slanning, a staunch -Royalist, who distinguished himself, especially, as a brave soldier in -the siege of Bristol. Then we have the memorable names of Sir George -Treby (ancestor of the late Mr. H. H. Treby) and Sir John Maynard, and -at quite a late period in the history of this borough, Lord Castlereagh -represented it in Parliament. - -In an interesting address delivered by the last recorder of the town, -Mr. Deeble Boger, on the occasion of the corporation resigning their -functions in 1859, it was stated that the borough was “what was called a -nomination borough, that is, those two families who had the greatest -number of friends, and to whom, from the period of the revolution, the -gratitude of the borough was justly due—the Trebys, in whom great -interest naturally centred, and the Edgcumbes, who were connected with -the borough in the same way—possessed the power of nominating a member, -and this nomination consisted in their recommending him for election. -This power was subject to one limitation, that the person recommended -should be of the same politics as the electors.” - -Perhaps the greatest representative the borough ever had was Sir -Christopher Wren. It was in May, 1685, that this distinguished architect -was elected Member of Parliament for Plympton. How this came to pass, -and which of the two great parties he represented, we are not precisely -informed, but may easily conjecture, as Plympton was always a Tory -borough. No doubt he occasionally thought, though he might not say, with -Mercutio, “A plague on both your houses,” for men of science and -artists—and he was in a high degree an artist—are seldom very ardent -politicians. Still, we know he was a staunch Royalist and Churchman. His -father was Dean of Windsor; his uncle, the Bishop of Ely, had been -imprisoned in the Tower for nearly twenty years during the Commonwealth; -he himself was a Fellow of All Souls’, Oxford, and held a professorship -at that University, at an extremely orthodox period. There are other -reasons for supposing that he stuck pretty close to the court and -government of the day. His father being Dean, and Sir Christopher -himself having only the year before been appointed Comptroller of the -Works at Windsor, we may readily imagine that he came down to the -independent electors of Plympton with a rather strong recommendation -from the Dean and Chapter, who were, as they are still, the patrons of -the living in this borough. And when he came (always supposing that he -did come, and that he did not merely send his respects from London), he -was, no doubt, well entertained by the gentlemen of his party in the -town, and lustily cheered by the agricultural non-electors, who always -exhibited a great deal of enthusiasm under the stimulating influence of -an election, and were never heard again to express their sentiments -until the next parliament brought down a new member for the eyes of all -Plympton—not to say “all Europe”—to gaze upon. Many of the inhabitants, -however, who were acquainted with Sir Christopher’s fame, may be -supposed to have regarded their representative with admiration and -pride. Just nineteen years before, the terrible Fire had devastated the -metropolis, and now London was rising like a phœnix from the ashes by -his magic wand. Exactly ten years before he had himself laid the -foundation stone of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and now the first stage of -that great work had been just completed, the choir and its side aisles, -and critics, who remembered old St. Paul’s in its Gothic glory, and had -seen Inigo Jones defacing and tinkering the venerable fane with his -Palladian porticoes and urns, were flocking to the churchyard. The new -structure was already too grand and unique not to be commended; but -there was yet a quarter of a century’s laborious and incessant work -before the top stone could be raised, and the gilded cross could crown -the noble dome. The same architect, the same master-builder, and the -same bishop, who witnessed the beginning of the great work in 1675, saw -its close in 1710. - -Sir Christopher Wren, the member for Plympton, was probably the first -architect ever returned to the House of Commons. There have been several -since then, and their presence in Parliament has no doubt tended to -advance public taste, and to further many great and important national -works. - -The Guildhall was built or, rather, restored in 1696, some years after -Sir Christopher Wren represented the town, and it may be safely asserted -that he had no hand in designing the present elevation, because, quaint -and picturesque though it is, his style is nowhere stamped on it. It is, -however, said (with what truth I cannot say) that he was the architect -of Plympton House, a large and substantial mansion, with a façade of -Portland stone, erected in the reign of Queen Anne for Mr. Commissioner -Ourry, of Plymouth Dockyard. It is a plain but costly building, in the -then newly-adopted style, with a certain French character about it. The -large and broad barred sash windows, with their weights and pulleys, -which were novelties at that time, must have greatly puzzled Snug, the -joiner of Plympton, who had been accustomed all his days to the old -English casements. - -The Guildhall has more of the mediæval character about it, with its -pillars and arches and covered way, like the Chester Rows, and probably -it was intended to have some resemblance to the Guildhall in the county -town—a humble but by no means unsuccessful imitation. Thus we follow -suit in buildings as in everything else, though the architecture of our -towns would, no doubt, be more entertaining if we oftener aimed at -originality, and played a card of our own occasionally.[10] - ------ - -Footnote 10: - - Over the Guildhall are the arms, carved in stone, of Sir Thomas - Trevor, Knight, and Sir George Treby, Knight. Members of the Treby - family were often connected with the corporation of the borough. In - 1755 the parishioners at a vestry then held passed a resolution - concerning the ringing of the church bells, “George Treby, Esq., and - the other gentlemen belonging to the corporation,” being respectfully - included in the said resolution. - - “Agreed on Easter Monday, March the 31st day, 1755, by us whose names - are hereunto subscribed, being the Parishioners then present at the - Vestry then held. That only five persons shall, and are by the - authority of the said Vestry allowed to ring the Bells of this Parish - for the future, and that they shall ring only on such public days as - the Parishioners shall from time to time agree to and approve of, and - that the said five persons that shall undertake to Ring shall be - obliged likewise to chime the Bells on every Sunday in the forenoon - and the afternoon, at the proper season for Divine Service, and that - they shall be obliged to give their due and regular attendance, both - in the fore and afternoon of every Sunday upon the Service of the - church, and that they be at Liberty to ring for George Treby, Esq., - and the other Gentlemen belonging to the Corporation, as often as the - said Gentlemen shall signify it to be their pleasure to have the Bells - rung, and that the said Ringers are never to ring after _Eight_ of the - clock in the Evening, or before Seven in the morning.” - - “The Ringers are never to ring after Eight.” Thus are old customs and - traditions handed down from age to age. - - “The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day.” - ------ - -Speaking of cards reminds me that in the same street with the Guildhall -are some curious old slated fronts, in which the slates have been cut in -the shape of clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Under these fronts we -have also the covered way. - -We now come to a building a little to the south-east of the church, -around which so many treasured associations cluster, that we hardly know -whether we have yet said adieu to the sacred edifices of Plympton. The -old Grammar School is the most venerable and interesting school of art -in all England. Here the greatest English painter—a man for “all -time”—learnt the first principles of drawing. The house in which he was -born overlooks his schoolroom and his playground. Here, too, Northcote, -his clever and eccentric pupil, acquired his, perhaps not very classic, -education. This, also, was the first school of the late distinguished -President of the Royal Academy, Sir Charles Eastlake, and the _Alma -Mater_ of poor Benjamin Haydon. A mournful interest, indeed, attaches to -the building as connected with the last-mentioned name. The year before -he died Haydon visited the old Grammar School, and wrote his name in -pencil on the wall, where you may still see it:— - - B. R. Haydon, - Historical Painter, London, - Educated here 1801. - Rev. W. Haines (Master). - Head Boy then. - -This was only a few months before a dark and impenetrable cloud shrouded -the clear intellect of this gifted man, and his life—so useful, but so -ill-requited—closed in saddest gloom. - -The key-stone of the doorway under the cloister gives the date of the -building as 1664. Strange to say, it is a Gothic structure of the most -picturesque design and arrangement. At the time it was built, -architecture had been given over almost entirely to the Renaissance and -Italian schools. It is singular, therefore, to find here at Plympton an -unconventional style adopted at such a time, but it has been suggested -that the same eccentric architect who designed the fine Gothic church of -Charles in Plymouth in the middle of the seventeenth century built also -the Grammar School in the neighbouring town, and the points of -resemblance are certainly very great. We have the same evidence of the -desire to do something good and true in both—the same good outline and -arrangement of parts, and the same superadded faults in little details, -as though the designer himself knew what he was about, but could not -bring his workmen up to the mark. No wonder little Reynolds saw -something to admire in the outline and shadows of the cloisters, for -nothing can be better than the proportions of the pillars and arches, -and the banding of the masonry over in alternate courses about six -inches high, of granite and dark limestone. In fact, the lower portion -of the building is the most pleasing piece of masonry in this -neighbourhood; and though the large square-headed windows over are not -so good, yet the angle of the roof is excellent, and the large -Perpendicular windows at the ends not without merit. The schoolroom is -about sixty-three feet long by twenty-six feet in width, the master’s -desk at one end, and on each side of the window (over) a rudely-painted -shield, with the armorial bearings of Hele and Maynard. Overhanging the -entrance on one side is a small gallery, approached from a chamber -probably once used as a class or flogging room, but now too dilapidated -for either practical purpose, and much in keeping with the rest of the -building, which is rather out at elbows. In fact—what with the Castle, -Priory, and Grammar School—the description which the American gave of -Rome will apply to Plympton—“_Quite_ a nice place, but the public -buildings very much out of repair.” The Master’s house adjoins the -school-room, and here the great painter was born. The front appears to -be comparatively modern, but the bedroom in which he is said to have -first seen the light is in the back and older part of the house, with a -window overlooking the school and playground, as before mentioned. Some -rough sketches, drawn by Reynolds in his youth, were to be seen on the -walls of this room when Haydon and Wilkie visited the house in 1809, but -have since been obliterated by some barbarous whitewasher. The engraving -represents the cloisters of the Grammar School, the subject of almost -the first drawing Reynolds ever made. - -Sir Joshua Reynolds was born on the 16th July, 1723, and was baptized on -the 30th of the same month, when, by mistake, his name was entered in -the register as Joseph. - -It is unnecessary here to give anything like a sketch of the great -painter’s career, but one or two incidents connected with the place of -his birth (to which throughout his life he was strongly attached) may be -mentioned. He regarded with the greatest satisfaction and pleasure his -visit to Devonshire with Dr. Johnson in 1762. It was on this occasion -that Northcote first saw his great master. It seems that Sir Joshua went -to Plymouth Dock, in company with the Doctor, on a certain day when -there was a great commotion in reference to some local matter, probably -the water question. “I remember,” says Northcote, “when he was pointed -out to me at a public meeting, where a great crowd was assembled, I got -as near to him as I could from the pressure of the people, to touch the -skirt of his coat, which I did with great satisfaction to my mind.” - -In 1772, Sir Joshua was elected to the Aldermanic gown of Plympton, Lord -Mount Edgcumbe acquainting him by letter of the circumstance. The letter -in which he acknowledges the honour, with most hearty thanks, is in the -Cottonian Museum at Plymouth. In the following year he was chosen Mayor -of the borough, and he declared that this circumstance gave him more -gratification than any other honour which he had received during his -life; and this sentiment he expressed when it was rather out of place, -as the following circumstance related by Northcote will shew. Reynolds -had built for his recreation on Richmond Hill a villa, of which Sir -William Chambers was architect, and in the summer season it was the -frequent custom of Sir Joshua to dine at this place with select parties -of his friends. “It happened some little time before he was to be -elected Mayor of Plympton that, one day, after dining at the house, -himself and his party took an evening walk in Richmond Gardens, when, -very unexpectedly, at a turning of one of the avenues, they suddenly met -the King, accompanied by a part of the Royal Family; and when, as his -Majesty saw him, it was impossible for him to withdraw without being -noticed. The King called to him, and immediately entered into -conversation, and told him that he had been informed of the office that -he was soon to be invested with—that of being made the Mayor of his -native town of Plympton. Sir Joshua was astonished that so minute and -inconsiderable a circumstance, which was of importance only to himself, -should have come so quickly to the knowledge of the King; but he assured -his Majesty of its truth, saying it was an honour which gave him more -pleasure than any other he had ever received in his life; and then, -luckily recollecting himself, added, ‘except that which your Majesty was -graciously pleased to bestow upon me,’ alluding to his knighthood.” - -On the occasion of his being elected Mayor, he presented to his -much-loved native town his own portrait, painted, as it seems, expressly -to commemorate the occasion. It was placed in the Corporation -dining-room, but sold by the Common Council for £150 when the town was -disfranchised! That _this_ was “the hour and power of darkness” there -cannot be a doubt. - -Sir Joshua Reynolds died on the 23rd February, 1792, and was interred in -the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral with every honour that could be shewn -to worth and genius. His tomb, adorned by one of Flaxman’s best works, -is almost close to that of Sir Christopher Wren—England’s greatest -painter, we may almost say without any qualification, and England’s -greatest architect—each, during some portion of life connected with this -honoured little town of Plympton, though by different ties and at -different periods of its history; both resting from their labours in the -great temple which Wren built, and which Reynolds sought to adorn with -his matchless pencil. - -The great honour which belongs to Plympton deserves to be held in -lasting remembrance, not merely by every inhabitant of that town, but by -all who have any appreciation of art or desire for its advancement. - - JAMES HINE. - -[Illustration: leaf] - - NOTE.—The authorities for the historical facts in this paper are Dr. - Oliver, Rev. S. Rowe, and Mr. Cotton. - -[Illustration - - _From a Drawing by S. Prout, Jun._] [_Engraved by Neele._ - THE “WAR PRISON” ON DARTMOOR, 1807. - -] - - - - - FRENCH PRISONERS ON DARTMOOR. - - BY J. D. PRICKMAN. - - -In the early part of the nineteenth century Mr. Thomas, afterwards Sir -Thomas Tyrwhitt, who held the office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries -under the then Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., originated the -idea of building a prison on Dartmoor for the numerous prisoners of war -then in Great Britain, who were at that time mostly confined in hulks -and military and naval prisons. The Government of that day took up the -idea, and, adopting the plans of Mr. Daniel Alexander, proceeded to -carry them out, the first stone of the prison being laid by Sir Thomas -Tyrwhitt on the 20th March, 1806. - -The site of the prison—about seven miles east of Tavistock and about -fifteen (straight across the moor) south of Okehampton—was granted by -the Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall and Lord of the Forest of -Dartmoor. - -The building as then built is described in the Notes to Risdon’s -_Devonshire,_ published in 1811, as follows:— - - The outer wall encloses a circle of about 30 acres—within this is - another wall which encloses the area in which the Prison stands—this - area is a smaller circle with a segment cut off. The prisons are 5 - large rectangular buildings each capable of containing more than 1,500 - men; they have each two floors, where is arranged a double tier of - Hammocks slung on cast-iron pillars, and a third floor in the roof, - which is used as a promenade in wet weather. There are besides two - other spacious buildings, one of which is a large hospital, and the - other is appropriated to the Petty Officers. The entrance is on the - western side, the gateway, built of solid blocks of granite, bearing - the inscription, “Parcere subjectis.” - -The total cost of the work was nearly £130,000, and it was completed -somewhere about the year 1809, and the collection of houses gradually -formed what is now known as Princetown. - -The first set of prisoners was sent there on the 29th May, 1809, and the -buildings continued to be used as a war prison from then until the 22nd -April, 1814, during which time no less than 12,679 prisoners underwent -confinement there. During the years 1809, 1810 and 1811, deaths at the -prison were very numerous from one cause and another, so much so, that a -Return was asked for in the House of Commons, by which it appears that -from May, 1809, to June, 1811, no less than 622 prisoners died. - -The following is a copy of such Returns:— - - 1809. No. in Prison. Deaths. - May 2,479 — - June 2,471 9 - July 3,059 9 - August 4,052 3 - September 6,031 15 - October 5,993 21 - November 5,940 29 - December 5,875 63 - —- - 149 - === - - - 1810. No. in Prison. Deaths. - January 5,741 131 - February 5,624 87 - March 5,399 63 - April 5,352 28 - May 5,282 25 - June 5,261 17 - July 5,247 12 - August 5,229 16 - September 5,209 11 - October 5,399 9 - November 5,372 12 - December 5,247 8 - —- - 419 - === - - - 1811. No. in Prison. Deaths. - January 5,728 14 - February 5,019 7 - March 5,605 11 - April 5,594 10 - May 6,084 5 - June 6,577 7 - —- - 54 - === - -In the year 1812 no less than 6,280 prisoners of war were confined in -the buildings. The total number of deaths during the whole time the -buildings were used as a war prison was 1,117; of these 1,095 were -French, and 22 American, prisoners. - -Of the life of the prisoners inside the prison little is known. We know -that Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt procured the privilege of holding a market and -a fair at Princetown, and that daily markets were held within the -precincts of the prison for the sale by the country people of -vegetables, etc., to the prisoners. There are rumours that the prisoners -gambled away their clothing and rations; but their life as prisoners on -Dartmoor must have been infinitely preferable to that endured by those -who were previous thereto confined in hulks and transports; but the -details of the life are wanting, and even the pamphlet written by Capt. -Vernon Harris, for many years Governor of Dartmoor Prison after it was -re-opened, gives no great information on the subject. Many writers of -fiction have founded romances on the prison and the prisoners, but for -the most part on imagination. Probably the best of the kind, and most -accurate in detail, is _The Queen of the Moor_, by the Rev. Frederick -Adye, who was for many years resident in the district, and therefore -well acquainted with the surrounding country and the rumours of the -neighbourhood. Monsieur Jules Poulain, a Frenchman who is said to have -lived at Princetown to be near a friend who was confined there, has -written in the French language an interesting book entitled _Dartmoor, -or the Two Sisters_. He, in describing Dartmoor, says:—“Think of the -ocean waves changed into granite during a tempestuous storm, and you -will then form an idea of what Dartmoor is like,” which indeed gives -rather a vivid picture of the rolling hills and valleys. - -Many of the prisoners of war were allowed out on parole. From Capt. -Vernon Harris’ interesting pamphlet we learn the form of parole was as -follows:— - - Whereas the Commissioners for conducting His Majesty’s Transport - service and for the care and custody of French officers and sailors - detained in England have been pleased to grant A. B. leave to reside - in .... upon condition that he gives his parole of honour not to - withdraw one mile from the boundaries prescribed there without leave - for that purpose from the said Commissioners, that he will behave - himself decently and with due regard to the laws of the Kingdom, and - also that he will not directly or indirectly hold any correspondence - with France during his continuance in England, but by such letter or - letters as shall be shewn to the Agent of the said Commissioners under - whose care he is or may be in order to their being read and approved - by the superiors. He does hereby declare that he having given his - parole of honour will keep it inviolably. - - (Signature) - -The following towns in Devon and Cornwall were set aside for prisoners -on parole:—Ashburton, Okehampton, Moretonhampstead, Tavistock, Bodmin, -Launceston, Callington, Roscoe and Regilliack, but probably prisoners -were from time to time billetted in other towns such as Tiverton -(mentioned later) and elsewhere. - -The following notice was sent and posted as notice to the inhabitants of -the town selected for residence of the prisoners allowed out on parole:— - - NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, - - That all such prisoners are permitted to walk or ride on the Great - Turnpike Road within the distance of one mile from the extreme parts - of the Town (not beyond the bounds of the Parish) and that if they - shall exceed such limits or go into any field or cross road they may - be taken up and sent to prison and a reward of 10s. will be paid by - the Agent for apprehending them. And further that such prisoners are - to be in their lodgings by 5 o’clock in the winter and 8 o’clock in - the summer months and if they stay out later they are liable to be - taken up and sent to the Agent for such misconduct. And to prevent the - prisoners from behaving in an improper manner to the inhabitants of - the town or creating any riots or disturbances either with them or - among themselves notice is also given that the Commissioners will - cause upon information being given to their agent any prisoner who - shall so misbehave to be committed to prison. And such of the - inhabitants who shall insult or abuse any of the prisoners of war on - parole or shall be found in any respect aiding or assisting in the - escape of such prisoners will be prosecuted according to law. - -In reference to Tavistock, the Prison Commissioners reported that there -were 150 prisoners there allowed out on parole, and that their conduct -was exemplary. The Report further stated— - - Some of them have made overtures of marriage to women in the - neighbourhood which the magistrates have very properly taken pains to - discourage. - -When allowed out on parole the prisoner was assigned to some place of -residence, after which he received a fixed sum for his maintenance, and -was permitted to engage in any kind of business or occupation, and to -use any additional funds he might possess. Many of the prisoners -occupied their time in teaching languages, and in carving various things -such as chessmen, etc. - -There are instances of attempts by the prisoners on parole to escape. At -the Devon Summer Assize, 1812, Richard Tapper, described as of -Moretonhampstead, Carrier, Thomas Vinnacombe and William Vinnacombe (his -brother) of Cheriton Bishop, described in the indictments as Smugglers -(a curious and, one would have thought, a somewhat prejudiced -description of their occupation), were indicted and convicted of -misdemeanour for aiding and assisting, with divers other persons -unknown, Casimer Baudouin, an officer in the French Navy; Allain Michel -and Louis Hamel, Captains of Merchant Vessels; Pierre Joseph Dennis, a -Second Captain of a Privateer; and Andrew Fleuriot, a Midshipman of the -French Navy, to escape from Moretonhampstead. The French prisoners paid -£25 down, and subsequently £150 for the assistance rendered. They were -taken on horseback to Topsham, and placed in a large boat described as -eighteen feet long, but in going down the estuary of the Exe, however, -not far from Exmouth, the boat grounded on the Bar, and they were -apprehended. The story is somewhat graphically, though at considerable -length, told in the records of the proceedings. - -The French prisoners formed no less than twenty-six Lodges and Chapters -of Freemasons in England and elsewhere. The only one in the -neighbourhood of Dartmoor was at Ashburton, and the only evidence of it -is an undated certificate granted to one Paul Carcenac, described as -Assistant Commissary, the Lodge being described as “Des Amis Reunis” -(the Re-united Friends). A copy of the certificate and many further -interesting details concerning this and other Lodges, notably those at -Abergavenny, “Enfants de Mars et de Neptune”; at Plymouth “Amis Reunis”; -at Tiverton, “Enfants de Mars” (see Bro. Sharland’s _Freemasonry in -Tiverton_, published in 1899), are given in a most interesting book by -Bro. John T. Thorp entitled _French Prisoners’ Lodges_, published in -1900, and printed at Leicester by Bro. George Gibbons, King Street. - -There appear to be but few records of the prisoners at the various -towns, and only the vaguest reminiscences. In Okehampton it is said that -there were about 150 prisoners on parole. In the Churchyard is a -tombstone—a rough slate slab—on which appears the following:— - - Cette Pierre Fut - Elevee Par - Lamitie a La Memoire - Darmand Bernard - ne au Harve - En Normande Marie a - Calais a Mad^{cle} Margot - 11^e Officer - De Commerce Decedee - Prisoner de Guerre a - Okehampton le 26 October - 1815 aged 33 ans - A Labri des vertus - Qui Distinguaient - La vie - Tu reposes en paix - ombre tendre et cherie - -Another close by bears the following inscription:— - - C^r Cit - Adelaide Barrin Du Puyleaune[11] De La - Commune De Montravers Dept - Des Deux Sevres Nee le 31 Avril - 1771 Decedee a Okehampton le 18 - Fevre 1811 Fille le Legitme Dal - F^{are} Barrion Notaire et Procav^{re} - De Machecoura ne de N^{re} - Ici repose la mere & l’enfant - ------ - -Footnote 11: - - Entered in the Death Register of the parish as Ann Duchane. - ------ - -Many prisoners on parole died and were buried at Moretonhampstead, but -the grave-stones are not easily decipherable. The following entries of -burial appear in the Register:— - - Jan. 24 1811 Jean Francois Rohan French Officer on Parole. June 11 - 1811 Arnaud Aubry Lieutenant on Parole. Buried in Wooling (Shroud) - according to act of Parliament. - -Of the numerous French prisoners who died at Princetown no account -appears in the parish register, and to quote again from Capt. Vernon -Harris’ book: - - Little attention appears to have been paid to the last resting-place - of these unfortunates. We read in the account published by R. Evans - that the burial place of the unfortunate captives has been sadly - neglected. Horses and cattle have broken up the soil and left the - bones of the dead to whiten in the sun. - -This will be readily understood when it is remembered the prison -remained unoccupied from 1816 until about the year 1850. To Capt. -Stopforth, who was Governor of the prison in 1865, belongs the honour of -collecting the remains of the prisoners and burying them in two separate -enclosures on the northern side of the prison way from the public road, -and erecting monuments which are at present existing, being granite -columns; the one on the left or western side being the French, bears the -following inscription:— - - In memory of the French - Prisoners of War who - died in Dartmoor Prison - between the years 1809 - and 1814 and lie buried here - “Dulce et decorum - est pro patriâ mori.” - -The other, being the American, bears the same inscription except that -the word “French” is altered to “American.” - -After the prison was discontinued as a war prison, various schemes were -started for utilising the buildings. The late Prince Consort visited the -Duchy Estates in 1846, and the question of making use of the old prison -came under his notice. In 1850 began the formation of a Convict -Settlement, and gradually the old buildings have been pulled down so -that now only one small portion, known as the French Prison, remains. As -a convict prison all the prisoners—and the average is about one -thousand—are those who have been sentenced to penal servitude. Many are -sent specially to Dartmoor for the benefit of their health, the climate, -in the early stages of chest complaint, being most efficacious. Medical -officers of the prison and elsewhere have from time to time recorded -their opinion of the great advantages which are derived by phthisical -patients from residence at such an altitude above the sea-level. - -Much of the information derived is from Capt. Vernon Harris’ pamphlet, -Rowe’s _Dartmoor_, 3rd Edition, published in 1896, and from the various -references thereto. Some of the statistics are contained in the writer’s -paper on the prison printed in the transactions of the Devonshire -Association, 1901, xxiii. pp. 309–321. - - J. D. PRICKMAN. - - - - - OTTERY ST. MARY AND ITS - MEMORIES. - - BY THE RIGHT HON. LORD COLERIDGE, M.A., K.C. - - -If the traveller passing down the Vale of Otter by rail looks out to the -East, he will see a great grey church with transeptal towers—a rare -feature—one crowned with a spire, standing on rising ground backed by a -great continuous chine of hill. Around the church nestles a small town, -and a clear, swift river hastens by it to the sea. This is the -Collegiate Church of Ottery St. Mary, mainly the creation of Bishop -Grandisson. Edward the Confessor gave the Manor of Ottery St. Mary in -1061 to the Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Rouen, in Normandy. -Bishop Grandisson bought the Manor in 1335, laid the foundations of the -college for forty secular monks, and amplified the church to suit the -college. Bishop Bronescombe consecrated a church here in 1260. His work -is seen in the nave and transepts of the present building. Bishop -Grandisson built the nave, lady chapel and side chapels, etc., raised -the towers over the transepts, and covered the whole with a -stone-groined roof. The church left his hands a miniature cathedral. A -wealthy lady, Cicely Bonville, wife, first of the Marquis of Dorset, and -then of Henry Lord Stafford, added the north aisle—1503–1523—with its -grand fan-tracery groining, a purely indigenous feature, which may be -seen repeated at Cullompton, and the whole result is a majesty and -variety of external elevation which no building of its size can well -surpass. It was the central figure of a group of buildings. -Chapter-house, library, cloisters, gate-house, all were there. The -houses for the dignitaries stood around. Fragments alone remain. There -still stand the vicar’s house, the warden’s house, the chanter’s house, -and the manor house containing portions of old work. The houses of the -minister, the sacristan, and the canons have disappeared. - -From these haunts of ancient peace there was issued, in 1509, Alexander -Barclay’s _Stultifera Navis_, or _Ship of Fools_, a translation, or -rather paraphrase, of the _Narrenschiff_ of Sebastian Brandt, which -originally appeared in the Swabian dialect. Barclay’s book contains much -original work, and breaks the great period of literary silence between -Chaucer and Spenser. When we say, “Man proposes, God disposes,” “skin -deep,” “robbing Peter to pay Paul,” “of two evils choose the least,” -“from pillar to post,” “sticking like burrs,” “over head and ears,” “you -cannot touch pitch and not be defiled,” “making the mouth water,” “out -of sight out of mind,” “the burnt child dreads the fire,” we are -unconsciously using phrases which appear in their first form in -Barclay’s writings. - -The town was dominated by the College. The bridge by which you entered -the town from the west was the bridge of the Holy Saviour. In one of its -recesses the sacred light was ever kept burning, inviting those who -passed to pray. We have Pater-noster Row, Jesu Street, Chapel Lane, -Butts (St. Budeaux) Hill, Paradise; names of a flavour ecclesiastical. -In the Flexton, as the open space is called where now the Town Hall and -a Jubilee Memorial Pillar to Queen Victoria stand, the markets and fairs -were held, and in the churchyard may still be seen the ancient stocks. -Great fires, however, in 1604, 1767, and 1866, have destroyed much of -interest in the town. - -Henry VI. visited the College in 1451, and Henry VII. in 1497. - -The College disappeared at the Reformation. Some portion of its funds -were used to found the King’s Grammar School, which took root in what -remained of the collegiate buildings. The fortunes of the school varied -with the capacities of the head masters. It was successful under the -Rev. John Coleridge, 1760–1781, and under his son, the Rev. George -Coleridge, 1794–1808, it became almost the equal of Blundell’s School at -Tiverton. It subsequently slowly declined, the buildings were unsuited -to modern requirements, and it finally disappeared, reviving recently on -another site in another form under a scheme of the Charity Commission. - -The town must have sadly suffered for a time from a dissolution of the -College. But as soon as the rule of Philip II. in England was over, and -his fanaticism began to work in the Netherlands, the Flemings flying to -England added a great impetus to our wool trade. Some, I think, must -have come to Ottery St. Mary, for a flourishing woollen industry sprang -up here about this time, and a small outlying portion of the town still -bears the name of Dunkirk. The pastoral character of the Vale of Otter, -and the ample water-power of the river were advantageous to the trade, -which was only killed by the discovery of steam. - -The great factory built by Sir George Yonge, the Secretary of State for -War in 1790, a prominent feature to the passer-by, shows the extent to -which the industry once flourished. - -In Mill Street there stood a house “beturreted and wearing a monasterial -aspect,” which Sir Walter Ralegh, who was born at Poer’s Hayes, now -Hayesbarton, further down the valley, is said once to have inhabited. A -house built in the quiet, dignified style of the eighteenth century, -called Ralegh House, marks the site. - -Our town and vale were not unnoticed by poets. William Browne, the -author of _Britannia’s Pastorals_, full of quaint conceits, but with a -true vein of poetry running through them, alludes to the Naïads who fish -and swim in the clear stream of Otter. And he is believed, on the -authority of Southey, to be the author of two fine inscriptions in the -small south chapel of the church, one on John Sherman and his son, who -died on the same day in 1617, and one on the wife of Gideon Sherman, who -died in the first week of her marriage. - -Michael Drayton thus described the broad pastoral character of our -vale:— - - Here I’ll unyoke awhile, and turn my steeds to meat, - The land grows large and wide, my team begins to sweat. - -At the time of the Great Rebellion, Ottery St. Mary was for a time -occupied by the King’s troops. At the advance of the Parliamentary army, -however, in 1645, they withdrew beyond Exe, and the Roundheads took -their place. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Thomas Fairfax, took up his -quarters at the Chanter’s House, then owned by Robert Collins, a strong -sympathiser. Fairfax was accompanied by Ireton as Commissary, and John -Pickering as Colonel. In the dining-room, which still exists, and was -then called the Great Parlour, he met Lord General Cromwell, and -determined on the plan of campaign against the King’s forces in the -West, which terminated in the capitulation of Sir Ralph Hopton in -Cornwall in March, 1646. This room Polwhele calls “the Convention Room.” -Here also a number of members of Parliament, in the name of both Houses, -presented Fairfax with a fair jewel set with diamonds of great value, -which they tied with blue ribbon and hung about his neck in grateful -recognition of his signal services at Naseby. - -Sickness overtook the army during its stay, and they removed to -Tiverton. Local opinion at the Restoration swung round to the Monarchy, -the Stuarts, and the Church of England. Violent strife, political and -ecclesiastical, embittered social life. The Rev. Robert Collins, of the -Chanter’s House, a descendant of the host of Fairfax, was the leader of -the Nonconformists, and Mr. Haydon, of Cadhay, a fine quadrangular Tudor -House in the neighbourhood, upheld the dominant party. Robert Collins -insisted on disobeying the Act of Uniformity, 1662, and the Conventicle -Act, 1664. Haydon resolved to see the law obeyed. There was a constant -besetting of the Chanter’s House to discover the holding of an unlawful -prayer-meeting, and finally persistent persecution drove Robert Collins -and his family to Holland in 1685, where he died, brave and unflinching -to the last, bequeathing money to the building of the Independent Chapel -at Ottery St. Mary. - -This chapel, built of old-time furze-burnt bricks in the manner known as -“the Flemish bond,” is one of the oldest in the kingdom, has an air of -Quaker-like seclusion, and is surrounded by a small graveyard occupying -the site of an ancient bowling green. There existed a trap-door in the -floor at the back of the pulpit, through which the minister could fly in -case of danger, into the vaults which still exist below the schoolroom. -The parish workhouse, now converted into cottages, stands near St. -Saviour’s Bridge. Here, on the ground floor, were ranged the chained -lunatics, to whom passers-by would throw scraps of bone and odds and -ends to appease their raving hunger. - -At the Vicar’s House was born, in 1772, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His -father, the Rev. John Coleridge, vicar and schoolmaster, was an erudite -Hebrew scholar, and assisted Dr. Kennicott in his literary labours. He -was a pious, simple soul, beloved by his family, whose amusing absence -of mind is described in a diverting anecdote by De Quincey, not quite -fit to be repeated here. One of his scholars was Francis Buller, who sat -for twenty-two years as a puisne judge, through whose influence Samuel -Taylor Coleridge obtained a nomination at Christ’s Hospital. - -[Illustration - - _From the Portrait_] [_By Peter Vandyck._ - SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE. - -] - -This is not the place to describe at length the career of Ottery St. -Mary’s most gifted son. But we can read in his poems of the profound -influence of early scenes in the home of his boyhood upon the poet’s -imagination. In his sonnet to the river Otter, his “native brook, wild -streamlet of the West,” in after years he calls up the vision of the -crossing plank, the marge with willows grey, the bedded sand, the flung -stone leaping along its breast. - - Then with quaint music hymn the parting gleam - By lonely Otter’s sleep-persuading stream. - Or where his wave with loud unquiet song - Dashed o’er the rocky channel froths along, - Or where his silver waters smoothed to rest - The tall tree’s shadow sleeps upon his breast. - -The last two lines describe with exquisite felicity the peaceful -passages between the “stickles” of the bickering river. - -In the year 1789, he cut his initials, “S. T. C.,” on the rock just -outside Pixie’s Parlour, a small cavern in the sandstone on the left -bank half a mile down stream. - -Always keenly sensible to music, the cadence of the old church bells -rang in his ears in later life when far away from home, for he sings:— - - Of my sweet birthplace, and the old Church Tower - Whose bells, the poor man’s only music, rang - From morn to evening, all the hot fair day. - -He spoke of them to Charles Lamb, his schoolfellow; for though Charles -Lamb never came to Ottery St. Mary and never heard the bells, he makes -his characters allude to them thus:— - -_Marg._: Hark the bells, John! _John_: Those are the Church bells of St. -Mary Ottery— St. Mary Ottery, my native village, In the -sweet shire of Devon, Those are the bells. - -A. W. Kinglake, the author of _Eothen_ and the _History of the Crimean -War_, was educated here at Rock House, now Sandrock, under the Rev. -Edward Coleridge, who kept a successful private school. In the year -1849, Thackeray published the novel _Pendennis_. He lived as a youth at -Larkbeare House, and the scene of many of his incidents is laid in the -neighbourhood. We read of the little river running off noisily westward, -of the fair background of sunshiny hills that stretch towards the sea, -of the pattens clacking through the empty streets, of the schoolboys -making a good, cheerful noise, scuffling with their feet as they march -into church and up the organ-loft stair, and blowing their noses a good -deal during the sermon; of the factory, of the single pair of old -posters that earned their scanty livelihood by transporting the gentry -round to the county dinners; of the hollow tree in Escot Park (then a -noble house built by Inigo Jones, since burnt down, and now replaced by -a modern building, the seat of the Right Hon. Sir J. H. Kennaway), in -which the young lovers deposited their letters; and above all of the -great grey towers rising up in purple splendour, of which the sun -illuminates the delicate carving, deepening the shadows of the huge -buttresses and gilding the glittering windows. - -The town contributed its share to science. Here, in 1806, in Ralegh -House, was born Edward Davy. In 1836 he sketched out a plan of -telegraphic communication, and in 1837 he laid down a copper wire round -the inner circle at Regent’s Park, and made wonderful experiments in -electricity with it. In March, 1837, he took the first step to patent -his invention by “entering a caveat,” and deposited with Mr. Aikin, -Secretary of the Society of Arts, a sealed description of his invention, -anticipating Cook and Wheatstone by two months. His invention and that -of Cook and Wheatstone were held not to be quite identical. In 1839 he -emigrated to Australia, leaving the field to his rivals. - -The inhabitants are remarkable for the love which they bear towards -their birthplace. In London a society of over one hundred members of -townsfolk who have left to seek their fortunes in other scenes meet at -regular intervals to talk over the present local gossip and call up past -associations, and to renew or form a community of feeling based on -common love of home. And when the members take a holiday, the first -object of their pilgrimage, the shrine towards which their footsteps are -directed, is the dear old town of Ottery St. Mary. - - COLERIDGE. - - - - - “PETER PINDAR”: THE THERSITES - OF KINGSBRIDGE. - - BY THE REV. W. T. ADEY. - - Thersites only clamoured in the throng, - Loquacious, loud, and turbulent of tongue; - Aw’d by no shame, by no respect controul’d. - In scandal busy, in reproaches bold; - With witty malice studious to defame; - Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim, - But chief he gloried, with licentious style, - To lash the great and monarchs to revile. - —_Pope._ - -Buried in the vestry vault of the churchyard of St. Paul’s, Covent -Garden, London, so near that their coffins actually touch, are the -mortal remains of two remarkable Englishmen. - -The one is a Worcestershire worthy, Samuel Butler, the author of -_Hudibras_, a caricaturist in verse of the times in which he lived. His -chief character, giving name to the book by which he is best known, was -suggested by Sir Samuel Luke, his puritan patron, whilst the book -itself, commenced in 1663 and modelled after the Don Quixote of -Cervantes, is in its faithful exposure of cant and hypocrisy scarcely -inferior to its spirited Spanish prototype. - -[Illustration - - _From a Painting by Opie._] [_Engraved by C. H. Hodges._ - DR. WOLCOT (“PETER PINDAR”). - -] - -The other distinguished person who found a resting-place so near him, -also a satirist and an accomplished genius with many and varied gifts, -was Dr. John Wolcot, a Devonian, born at Kingsbridge, or, more -accurately, Dodbrooke, who is better known as PETER PINDAR, whose lively -writings were most popular in the time of the later Georges, and who -then enjoyed a large measure of favour with society, whose questionable -manners he so fearlessly portrayed, and for a while at least with the -Court, every one of whom in turn, from the King and Prince Regent down -to the royal kitchen maids and cooks, he mercilessly, cleverly, and -continuously lampooned. - -It is with this latter curious and cosmopolitan poet and satirist that -we have to do. We shall be obliged to tread carefully as we follow the -track of his life and his literature, for at the very outset we must -remember that the times in which he lived were coarse and in many ways -objectionable, and that he was, if not a product, at least a reflection -of them. - -We may wonder why he took upon himself the name of _Pindar_ with the -added apostolic difference—_Peter_. Was it done playfully or -satirically, as was usual with him? Perhaps it was a joke at the expense -of his neighbours, whose talk was so seldom on literature and art, but -so often on _oves et boves_. Turning to the _Biographia Classica_, which -he very possibly used, we read:—“_Pindar_, the first of the lyric poets -born in Bœotia.... He quitted his native country, which was proverbial -for the stupidity of its inhabitants, and went to Athens, where the -greatest honours were bestowed upon him.... Such was the respect paid to -his memory that when the Lacedemonians took Thebes, they spared his -house, as also did Alexander the Great.” To this historical fact Wolcot -frequently alluded, as, for instance, in the clever poem entitled— - - AN ODE TO MY BARN. - - By Lacedæmon men attack’d, - When Thebes in days of yore was sack’d, - And naught the fury of the troops could hinder; - What’s true yet marv’lous to rehearse, - So well the common soldiers relish’d verse, - They scorn’d to burn the dwelling-house of Pindar. - - With awe did Alexander view - The house of my great cousin too, - And gazing on the building, thus he sigh’d— - “General Parmenio, mark that house before ye! - That lodging tells a melancholy story: - There Pindar liv’d (great Bard!) and there he died. - - “The king of Syracuse, all nations know it, - Was celebrated by this lofty poet, - And made immortal by his strains: - Ah! could I find like him, a bard to sing me; - Would any man like him a poet bring me; - I’d give him a good pension for his pains. - - “But, ah! Parmenio, ’mongst the sons of men, - This world will never see his like again; - The greatest bard that ever breath’d is dead! - Gen’ral Parmenio, what think you?” - “Indeed ’tis true, my liege, ’tis very true,” - Parmenio cry’d, and, sighing, shook his head. - - Then from his pocket took a knife so nice, - With which he chipp’d his cheese and onions, - And from a rafter cut a handsome slice, - To make rare toothpicks for the Macedonians; - Just like the toothpicks which we see - At Stratford, made from Shakespear’s mulb’ry tree. - - What pity that the squire and knight - Knew not to prophesy as well as fight; - Then had they known the future men of metre: - Then had the gen’ral and the monarch spy’d - In fate’s fair book, our nation’s equal pride, - That very Pindar’s cousin Peter! - - Daughter of thatch, and stone, and mud, - When I, no longer flesh and blood, - Shall join the lyric bards some half a dozen; - Meed of high worth, and, ’midst th’ Elysian plains, - To Horace and Alcæus read my strains, - Anacreon, Sappho, and my great old cousin; - - On thee shall rising generations stare, - That come to Kingsbridge and to Dodbrook fair, - For such thy history and mine shall learn; - Like Alexander shall they ev’ry one - Heave a deep sigh, and say, since Peter’s gone, - With rev’rence let us look upon his Barn. - -His allusions to Pindar the Greater make one fear that he has paid an -ill compliment to his old friends, and that in his choice of a _nom de -plume_ he has allowed, as in many other instances, his merciless satire -to overcome his evenness of judgment. Like his namesake, he turned from -the country to find his laurels in the town, and there the parallel -ends. It is not true that the people of South Devon, who singularly -combine agricultural skill with good seamanship, so that they handle -equally well the plough and the oar, are open to any implication of -special dulness. - -There is little in common between the two Pindars, the ancient and the -modern. Peter displayed great skill of a kind in his versification, but -no one can say it was to any extent truly lyrical. We cannot imagine the -people singing his productions. They were popular, readable, pungent, -savoury (too much so by a long way), but certainly not lyrical, for he -had not the singer’s heart or the singer’s sweetness. Beyond the -attraction of “apt alliteration’s artful aid,” we can see no great -reason why he should have gone so far as Thebes in 540 B.C. to -appropriate the name of that ancient singer of triumphal hymns for -classic warriors. - -There is a pretty story of the older Pindar that a swarm of bees lighted -on his cradle in his infancy and left honey on his lips; but we fear in -the case of our hero they were wasps that came, and that they left some -of the caustic venom of their stings. - -The odes of Pindar the Great have survived and are to be admired “for -sublimity of sentiment, grandeur of expression, energy and magnificence -of style, boldness of metaphors, harmony of numbers, and elegance of -diction.” According to Horace he was inimitable, and all succeeding -writers have agreed in extolling his genius. - -_Peter Pindar_ also called his favourite productions odes. We have them -before us in bulky quartos as originally published, and in numerous -volumes of pocket size as collected in 1816 by Walker. They were written -in Cornwall, Devon, the West Indies, Bath and London, and covered a very -wide range of subjects. He approached the realm of poetry as George -Morland did that of pictorial art, refusing no subject on account of its -coarseness, and yet with his fidelity of treatment in describing both -rustic and town life, has often shown a fine appreciation of truth and -of the beautiful. - -Like George Morland he was spoiled by moral laxity, and like him always -gives us a sad impression of what he might have been and might have -done, if his clever genius had been kept within bounds by moral -restraint. But, alas! even as an old man, he retained a taste for the -follies which corrupted his youth, and continued to reflect too -faithfully the spirit of those immoral days when the scandalous manners -of the court were injurious alike to the Church and the State. It would -have been better for him to have taken the advice he gives in one of his -odes:— - - Build not, alas! your popularity - On that beast’s back ycleped Vulgarity, - A beast that many a booby takes a pride in, - A beast beneath the noble Peter’s riding. - - . . . . . . - - Envy not such as have surpast ye, - ’Tis very, very easy to be nasty. - -The name of the classic Pindar has been associated with other writers -than Dr. Wolcot, who probably have better claims to use it than ever he -had. - -Thomas Gray (1716–1771), whose monument in Westminster Abbey bears these -lines: - - No more the Grecian muse unrivalled reigns, - To Britain let the nations homage pay: - She felt a Homer’s fire in Milton’s strains, - A Pindar’s rapture in the lyre of Gray. - -Jean Dorot (1507–1588) and Pouce Denis Debrun (1729–1807), have each -worn the title of French Pindar, whilst Gabriello Cluobrera (1552–1637) -was the acknowledged Italian Pindar. Peter’s work has been translated -into most of the continental tongues, and has been appreciated in -Germany especially but not in France, his Francophobia being all too -evident in many allusions to the French people. His poetry is too full -of the localisms of his native county to be fully appreciated by any but -Devonians, and too full of personal and political references and -allusions to persons about the court and in the London society of that -day to appeal successfully to readers of the present generation. - -Our Dr. John Wolcot was the fourth child of Dr. Alexander Wolcot, -himself a surgeon’s son residing at Kingsbridge, on the bank of the -estuary at the foot of the town. The grounds of the family dwelling -extended from the old Dartmouth Road at the back down to the water’s -edge, and the house, though much altered, still retains its name of -Pindar Lodge. His baptismal register, preserved at the Church of St. -Thomas à Becket, Dodbrooke, is dated May 9th, 1738. Of his mother we -have not been able to gather much information beyond her name—Mary -Ryder—and that she belonged to a local family. The Ryders are still -numerously represented in the townships both of Kingsbridge and -Dodbrooke. - -The Grammar School of Kingsbridge, erected at the cost of the old -Puritan, Thomas Crispin, Merchant of Exeter, and endowed by him in 1670, -was the place where he commenced his education under the mastership of -John Morris. It is to be regretted that no roll of scholars earlier than -1830 is extant, so that we have to depend upon indirect though undoubted -evidence as to his connection with this school, but there are lively -legends of his school days preserved in the folk-lore of the district, -one of which is too characteristic to be omitted. - -A certain cobbler whose shop was in the street leading to the Grammar -School, a man disliked by the boys, and specially so by young Wolcot, -was, to the amazement and horror of the whole township, reported to have -been cruelly murdered whilst sitting at his stall. The neighbours, on -looking in, were terror-stricken to find the man and his shop from floor -to ceiling bespattered with blood. The cobbler was certainly living, but -too terrified to speak of the nature of his wounds, his features being -covered with gore. He was not, however, seriously injured; indeed he was -much frightened and little hurt. What had happened was this. Young -Wolcot, whose threats of vengeance against the offender had been -somewhat mysterious for several days, had procured an old blunderbuss -from his father’s house and had duly charged it with powder, but instead -of shot had loaded it with _bullock’s blood_, and deliberately fired it -in the cobbler’s face; of course in one moment transforming the whole -appearance of things, and creating in the peaceful neighbourhood a great -sensation. - -Such escapades no doubt made it desirable that he should change his -quarters, and he was presently transferred to the care of an uncle -practising as a surgeon at Fowey, in Cornwall. He attended the Grammar -School for awhile at Liskeard, and after that at Bodmin, under the -mastership of a clergyman named Fisher. - -After this he spent one year in completion of his education in France -(1760). He failed to appreciate the French, and the dislike was quite -mutual. Of them he said in one of his odes:— - - I hate the shrugging dogs, - I’ve lived among them, ate their frogs. - —_Coll. Works_, Vol. I., p. 107. - -On his return to England he became his uncle’s pupil and medical student -for seven years. A reflection of his duties is cleverly given in one of -his lyrics, apparently addressed to Opie, his pupil in art:— - - The lad who would a ’Pothecary shine, - Should powder Claws of Crabs and Jalap fine, - Keep the shop clean, and watch it like a Porter, - Learn to boil glysters—nay, to give them too, - If blinking nurses can’t the business do: - Write well the labels, and wipe well the Mortar. - —_Odes to Royal Academicians_, Ode iii., p. 8. - -Drawing, painting, and classical reading seem, however, to have claimed -too much of his time, and his verse-making occupations were no doubt -hindrances to his professional progress, for in them he was quite -industrious, and from Fowey, in 1756, he sent his poem on the elder -“Pitt’s recovery from Gout” to _Martin’s Magazine_. - -His apprenticeship over, he spent a short time in the medical schools of -London; then he returned to Devon, where Dr. Huxham, a celebrated -Plymouth physician, did him the good service of examining him as to his -competency in medicine and surgery, and recommended him to a northern -university—that of Aberdeen—for a degree by diploma, which he was -fortunate enough to get conferred upon him, receiving his M.D. in -September, 1767. - -In the same year came an opportunity for foreign travel, of which he -eagerly availed himself. Sir William Trelawney, a connection of the -family on his mother’s side, and a patient of his uncle’s in Cornwall, -was that same year appointed Governor of the island of Jamaica, and -taking young Wolcot with him, in a short time made the new-fledged -doctor Physician General to the Forces in the island. - -Whilst there, in 1769, the idea seems to have occurred to his patron -rather than to himself that if he could give his young friend nothing -more in the way of official promotion, there was yet the hopeful field -of Church preferment, which, in the West Indies, he was able to command. -The rich living of St. Ann’s, Jamaica, then enjoyed by an invalid -clergyman, was likely to be soon vacant by his demise. Sir William was -the patron, and without sufficient thought, as it seems to us, of -Wolcot’s unfitness for such a solemn responsibility, urged him to go at -once to England and qualify by ordination for the post. - -This curious candidate for holy orders was actually ordained deacon on -June 24th, 1769, and the following day priest, but he did not on his -return secure the living of St. Ann’s, as the incumbent recovered his -health and lived on for years. He was, however, solaced by the inferior -living of Vere, a parish for which Wolcot procured the services of a -curate, himself continuing to reside in the Government House at Spanish -Town. The history of this transaction and the profanity of the language -in which it is recorded are alike scandalous. - -“Go,” said Sir William, “and get japanned. You may safely say that you -have an inward call, for a hungry stomach can speak as loudly as a -hungry soul!” _O tempora, O mores!_ How very few persons ever imagine -Peter Pindar in clerical guise. Sir William Trelawney died, Wolcot -returned to England in company with his widow, who died on the voyage. -Once more in England, he showed his good sense by reverting, despite the -axiom “once a clerk always a clerk,” for his future occupation to -medicine, letters, or the fine arts, leaving the sacred office to -others. - -As a medical man Peter Pindar was a modified failure at the best. He was -cordially disliked by his brother practitioners in the Truro district, -who in the end drove him out of it. His treatment of fever patients with -copious libations of cold water roused their wrath, and they utterly -despised the theory expressed in his own words that “a physician can do -little more than watch Dame Nature and give her a shove on the back when -he sees her inclined to do right.” - -In letters he was far more successful, and was undoubtedly the most -popular satirical poet of the Georgian period. Whether he lampooned -individuals, or public bodies, the Royal Academicians, or Royalty -itself, his versatile genius displayed such a wide range of -accomplishments that he attracted hosts of readers, and his books -commanded a prodigious sale. All the world has read of the King’s visit -to Whitbread’s Brewery, and his wondering how the apples got into the -apple dumplings, and not a few readers have felt for Sir Joseph Banks, -James Boswell, and Benjamin West, as they came in turn under his -stinging lash. - -His principal poems were issued from time to time as shilling or -half-crown pamphlets. They were written in irregular, rollicking metre, -the most important of them in the form of odes. In these he shines as a -critic of music, painting, and literature. In all these directions he -was, as he describes himself, “the most merciless Mohawk that ever -scalped.” By such an expression he puts himself out of court as a safe -and equitable judge. His appreciations of Wilson, of Gainsborough, of -Sir Joshua Reynolds, and of J. M. W. Turner, have been endorsed by the -foremost art writers of our time. Of Turner he said:— - - Turner, whatever strikes thy mind, - Is painted well, and well designed. - -Perhaps his least-known verses are those written for music and published -from Exeter in the time of Jackson, the Cathedral organist, who was -responsible for the airs to which they were sung. His own musical -accomplishments were undoubtedly varied and sound. - -Dr. Wolcot had much of the Bohemian in his constitution. He lived in a -town where to this day a Puritan simplicity of manners marks the habits -of the middle-class people. Quakers, Baptists, and Independents of the -early Presbyterian type were numerous in the Kingsbridge of his day. If -the old barn to which he addressed some of his odes could speak, it -would tell of the visits of strolling players who, anathematised -elsewhere, but welcomed by Peter Pindar, were allowed there to perform -their bloodcurdling tragedies and questionable farces, to the scandal of -the “unco guid.” And besides all this, old Richard Stanley, the king of -the gipsies, grandfather of the present Romany patriarch of that name, -was welcomed year by year to a shake-down in the straw when he came -horse-dealing to Kingsbridge or to Dodbrooke Fair. Wolcot stoutly -maintained that he never lost an egg or a chicken by his hospitality to -the gipsies. We have heard the Bucklands, the Stanleys, and the Lees -speak of his memory as of one who was kind to their fathers, and we have -conversed with old people who have spoken of the building, which now -stands almost unaltered, as the only theatre in Kingsbridge. Its -interior is wonderfully like the picture of Hogarth’s called the -“Strolling Players.” The fact that Bamfield Moore Carew, the king of the -beggars, frequently lodged in it, adds historical interest to the -picturesque and venerable shanty. - -Dr. Wolcot’s real kindness to John Opie, whom he discovered as a lad -working in a saw pit; his industrious endeavours to educate and refine -him; and his generous assumption of fullest responsibility for his -maintenance, together with his introduction of him to the world in -London, form a creditable chapter in his history which ought never to be -omitted from Peter’s life story. In Dugdale’s _British Traveller_ will -be found the copy of a written contract made by Opie in favour of his -patron and friend. It begins— - - I promise to paint for Dr. Wolcot any picture or pictures he may - demand, as long as I live; otherwise I desire the world will consider - me as an ungrateful son of a ——. [The words are unquotable.] - -Opie stood to this obligation, but always made his friend pay -eighteenpence for the canvas! - -Opie is said to have paid great deference to Dr. Wolcot’s instructions. -Whilst that gentleman was painting, he would sometimes lean over him and -exclaim, “Ah! if I could ever paint like you!” to which Pindar replied, -“If I thought thou wouldst not exceed me, John, I would not take such -pains with thee.” For two years he never painted a single picture -without the judgment of his friend. - -It was at the Doctor’s suggestion that his name was changed from Hoppy -to Opie, a name worn by a good family in Cornwall, and more likely to -attract favourable notice in London, whither they both went together in -1780, their joint expenses being supplied from one purse. Out of this -last circumstance grew a dispute and estrangement, never fully settled. -The communistic arrangement lasted for a short time only. One morning, -when Sir Joshua Reynolds was breakfasting with Wolcot and Opie, Sir -Joshua remarked of Opie, “Why, this boy begins his art where other -people leave off!” Very numerous are the portraits of his patron which -Opie has left behind, representing Pindar in different stages of his -career, most of them having been engraved and published in various -editions of his works, or in miscellanies containing contributions from -his pen. - -If a watchful editor did not restrict us for space, we should have liked -to show how that facile pen of Peter’s could run on “from grave to gay, -and from lively to severe.” Perhaps there may be room for a sample of -each. We wish he had given us a little more of such quiet and pathetic -writing as - - THE OLD SHEPHERD’S DOG. - - The old shepherd’s dog like his master was gray, - His teeth all departed and feeble his tongue, - Yet where’er Corin went, he was followed by Tray; - Thus happy through life did they hobble along. - - When fatigued on the grass the shepherd would lie - For a nap in the sun—’midst his labours so sweet, - His faithful companion crawled constantly nigh, - Plac’d his head on his lap or lay down at his feet. - - When winter was heard on the hill and the plain, - And torrents descended and cold was the wind, - If Corin went forth ’midst the tempests and rain, - Tray scorned to be left in the chimney behind. - - At length in the straw Tray made his last bed; - For vain against death is the stoutest endeavour— - To lick Corin’s hand, he rear’d up his weak head, - Then fell back, closed his eyes, and, ah! clos’d them for ever. - - Not long after Tray did the shepherd remain, - Who oft o’er his grave in true sorrow would bend; - And when dying, thus feebly was heard the poor swain, - “Oh! bury me, neighbour, beside my old friend.” - -Is not that a genuine piece of pure pastoral writing—grave and truthful? -Of his gay writing there is more than enough, and much of it is as unfit -for modern quotation as some of the classics in whom he delighted. As -Thomas Bewick could not be persuaded that anything he actually saw was -unsuited for pictorial representation, however vulgar, if the drawing -were true to nature, so Pindar shocks our sense of propriety continually -and without apology. He could, however, play on the whole gamut of the -soul’s passions, as witness his touching threnody on “Julia, or the -Victim of Love,” in his _Smiles and Tears_, a piece no man without a -tender heart could ever have written. - -Many jocular little pieces like the following are strewn among his -verses:— - - =ODE (_Introductory_).= - - Simplicity, I dote upon thy tongue; - And thee, O white-rob’d _Truth_, I’ve reverenced long— - I’m fond too of that flashy varlet wit, - Who skims earth, sea, heav’n, hell, existence o’er - To put the merry table in a roar, - And shake the sides with laugh-convulsing fit. - - O yes! in sweet simplicity I glory— - To _her_ we owe a charming little story. - - =WILLIAM PENN, NATHAN, AND THE BAILIFF.= - A Tale. - - As well as I can recollect, - It is a story of fam’d _William Penn_, - By bailiffs oft beset, without effect, - Like numbers of our Lords and Gentlemen. - - William had got a private hole to spy - The folks who came with writs, or “How d’ye do?” - Possessing too a penetrating eye - Friends from his foes the Quaker quickly knew. - - A bailiff in disguise, one day, - Though not disguised to our friend Will, - Came, to Will’s shoulder compliments to pay, - Concealed, the catchpole thought, with wondrous skill. - - Boldly he knocked at William’s door, - Drest like a gentleman from top to toe, - Expecting quick admittance, to be sure, - But no! - - WILL’S servant NATHAN, with a strait-hair’d head - Unto the window gravely stalked, not _ran_. - “Master at home?” the Bailiff sweetly said— - “Thou canst not speak to him,” replied the man. - - “What,” quoth the Bailiff, “won’t he see me then?” - “Nay,” snuffled Nathan, “let it not thus strike thee; - Know, verily, that WILLIAM PENN - _Hath seen_ thee, but he doth not _like_ thee.” - -A Kingsbridge gentleman having recently come across the original -manuscript of one of the characteristic pieces written by Peter Pindar, -has kindly allowed its publication. It will be seen that the rhyme -describes in his forceful and not over polite style the outcome of a -magistrates’ meeting at Morleigh after the passing of the law against -poaching. It is in the Devonshire dialect:— - - =EPISTLE.= - - From Deggony Dolt, farmer, of Stanborough; to John Tolt, waggoner, of - Clannaborough. - - Lord Jan! hast thee heer’d that at leet Morleigh Town, - Where Just Asses often rag w——e, rogue and clown, - A learge drove of Passons and Tomies and Squires - Met lately to ruin the Poachers and Buyers? - How vierce and how vine they came scampering in, - Zome dreiving, zome riding, zome vat and zome thin; - This mounted on Pony and that Rozinante, - Zome Galloways shodded, zome whisky, zome jaunty. - - Mum Doubtful, Tom Guzzle, Jack Jaw, and Ned Tilly, - Dick Doubty, Jan Numskull, and Blockheaded Billy, - Jan Clod from the vield, Janny Jumps from the Shop, - His father sells Incle, woll buy and woll zwop; - Young Nincompoop Simpkins, the son of Jan Huffer, - Wat Windy, Soft Stephen, and Peter the Puffer, - Like mazed men were eager their plans to express, - Tho’ as to their reasons they cou’d not be less, - Where brains are but little and Tyranny’s found - Much bother and bluster most times do abound. - - Our Squires of those yet but a few by the bye - War zich; as to their others, that’s all in my eye, - Our Squires and Parsons and limbs of the Law - Determined strong rules and resolves for to draw, - And then in the Papers the whole advertise, - Sure most as they thaut you’d be acting more wise, - All Game must in future to none else belong, - Their Rerts were so clear, their powers so strong. - - To dinner they went, where they grinned and they sneer’d; - The Bottle pushed round till with drink their eyes glared, - All speakers at once, nort but d—m—ie was plain, - Ev’n Parsons took roundly the Lord’s name in vain; - The Reckoning discharged yet at this zome looked bluff, - And grudged the expense tho’ ’twas reasonable enough; - Zome gallopped away, zome halted at ease, - Zome mounted their ponies and two wheeled post chaise. - Not far howsomever went Mum Doubtful ’twas zed - When he tumbled and luckily valled on his head; - Tom Guzzle over zit in a Ditch on the road, - And eased his gorged Stomach of part of its load. - Jan Clod lodged his bones where bars grow in clumps, - And under a hen roost sprawled leet Janny Jumps, - Reversed lay Soft Staphen his heels only zeed, - The rest was concealed in the Briers and Weed; - Here plunged in a Buddle roll’d Parson Jack Daw, - There bald pate Dick Doubty was emptying his Maw, - Wat Windy proceeded, but at length came to ground, - Zome say that his nose in a Cow Dung was found; - But Nort’s ne’er in danger who’s born to be hung, - Will never meet death till on gallows he’s slung. - Jan Numscull, a Mushroom that’s lately arose, - Now stretched on a Dunghill had fuming repose; - Young Nincompoop Simpkin lay speechless hard by, - A large Dap of Cow Dung had closed his left eye, - And Peter the Puffer, he could not tell how, - In spite of his boasting rode into a slough, - While snug in a hogstie got Parson Ned Tilly, - And under a Vuz bush snored Blockheaded Billy, - Thus ended the meeting that made Poachers tremble. - The next thee shall hear when again they assemble. - -The late Rev. Treasurer Hawker, M.A., in his sketch of Wolcot, written -for the Devonshire Association in 1877 and published in their -_Transactions_, describes most accurately Pindar’s very humorous account -of George the Third’s visit to Exeter in _Brother Jan’s Epistle to -Zester Naw_. He says:— - - The humour is irresistible. It is impossible not to laugh.... There is - a rollicking swing about the description which keeps the whole - narrative going like the steady onward pace of a racing eight-oar, or - the _vis vivida_ of a fast four-horse coach. - -He quotes these stanzas as characteristic alike of the humour and the -dialect. Introducing the Royal entry:— - - Well, in a come _King George_ to town - With doust and zweat as nutmeg brown, - The hosses all in smoke: - Huzzain, trumpetin, and dringin, - Red colours vleein, roarin, zingin, - So mad seemed all the voke. - -The King was not entertained at the Palace, but was sent to the Dean. -Peter says:— - - Becaze the Bishop sent mun word - _A hadn’t got the means_. - A could not meat and drink afford. - -Peter affected to have heard the King’s remarks about the cathedral:— - - Zo, said, “Neat, neat; clean, very clean; - D’ye mop it, mop it, Measter Dean, - Mop, mop it every week?” - -The unhappy reference of Farmer Tab to the King’s mental condition, -though concealed by his dialect, was simply cruel, and, of course, was -carefully preserved by Peter:— - - And, Varmer Tab, I understand, - Drode his legs vore and catched the hand - And shaked wey might and main. - “I’m glad your Medjesty to zee, - And hope your Medjesty,” quoth he, - “Wull ne’er be _mazed_ again.” - -The King is befogged by the Devonshire word:— - - “Maz’d, maz’d, what’s maz’d,” then said the King, - “I never heerd of zich a thing. - What’s maz’d, what, what, my lord?” - “Hem,” zed my lord, and blow’d his nose, - “Hem, hem, sir, ’tis, I do suppose, - Sir, an old Devonshire word.” - -Jan Ploughshare is made to say in a later stanza that he has found -royalty so disappointing a show that when he gets home to Moreton and -reads his Bible he shall for the future “skep the books of Kings.” - -The late Rev. Treasurer Hawker further says:— - - Kingsbridge may point with some degree of pride to her son’s sturdy - independence, his dislike of jobbery and shams, his refusal to be - blinded or muzzled in his denunciation of abuses by any powerful - position or high rank.... Wolcot was a bad, sensual, vindictive man, - yet a certain respect must, I think, be paid to one who in an age - inclined to toadyism of big people, did not shrink from confronting - the false idols of the day, even if sometimes he toppled them over - with undue violence and contempt.—(Sketch of Wolcot read at - Kingsbridge, July, 1887. _Transact. Devon. Association._) - -A writer in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_ gives this most accurate -appreciation:— - - Wolcot’s humour was broad, and he cared little whether he hit above or - below the belt, but he had a keen eye for the ridiculous, and was - endowed with a wondrous facility of diction. - -The same writer truly says that many of his serious pieces were marked -by taste and feeling, and his translation of Thomas Warton’s Latin -epigram on sleep dwells in the memory through its happy simplicity. - -The story is told of the bargain which he made with the London -publishers, who, hearing that he proposed to sell his copyrights, told -off one of their representatives to negotiate with him. The agent found -the old Doctor quite ready for him, sitting up in bed with a fine -churchyard cough in splendid development, and with a side-table -furnished with an impressive array of medicines. At first a sum was -offered which Peter considered contemptibly small. He asked at once a -payment of some three hundred pounds a year, and amidst much painful -coughing managed to say, “I shall not live, I know, to enjoy it long, as -you may see, so there is no excuse for meanness in my case.” The agent -was quite impressed by the scene, and the bargain was closed for two -hundred and fifty pounds yearly for his life, with the condition that -all future writing was to be for them alone. This was in 1795, and to -the chagrin of his publishers he displayed the vitality so often seen in -annuitants, and actually lived on for nearly a quarter of a century to -enjoy their reluctant generosity. - -His minor poems are oftener quoted because they are freer from -objectionable matter. _The Razor Seller_, and _The Pilgrim and the Peas_ -are well known, and have been used as recitations, but his longer odes -and letters had more than a passing notice, they were so strong in their -satire, and so numerous as to have affected public opinion. The very -Government were alarmed and pressed upon him a pension as a means of -preventing further onslaughts upon the foibles and peculiarities of the -king. Some preliminary payments were actually received by him, and all -was at one time apparently settled in his favour when he suddenly -returned the monies paid him, objecting to the conditions of silence and -declining all further favours. - -Cruel to the peculiarities of others, he was most sensitive himself to -criticism, and hungry for praise, as he admits in an appeal to his -reviewers:— - - I am no cormorant for fame, d’ye see; - I ask not _all_ the laurel, but a _sprig_! - Then hear me, Guardians of the sacred Tree, - And stick a leaf or two about my wig. - - In sonnet, ode, and legendary tale, - Soon will the press my tuneful works display; - Then do not damn ’em, and prevent the sale; - And your petitioner shall ever pray. - -It must have been hateful to him to have found at last, in Gifford, the -scholar and critic who attacked him in the anti-Jacobin magazine in an -article entitled “Nil admirari, etc.,” a foeman whose satire was as -strong as his own. Gifford speaks of Peter Pindar as “this disgusting -subject, the prolific reviler of his Sovereign and impious blasphemer of -his God”; hard words for one to put up with, however clearly he may have -deserved them. Though his character is not exemplary, and cleverness -must not be allowed to atone for lack of moral sense, we do not wish to -paint him of too black a hue, if only for charity’s sake. Gifford’s -attack was strong and straight, and it may be doubted if Peter’s -reputation ever survived it. There was a common fight between these two -in which Peter came off worst. He deserved it, for he was the aggressor. -Discredited in the popular estimation, he lingered on for a while, and -though from 1811 to 1819 he was suffering from blindness and infirmity, -he dictated verses until within a few days of his death. - -Commencing his London residence in 1781, soon after the publication of -his first book of lyric odes, he lived in many different houses, in -Southampton Row (1793); Tavistock Row (1794); Chapel Street, Portland -Place (1800); 8, Delany Place, Camden Town (1802); 94, Tottenham Court -Road (1807); and Latham Place, Somer’s Town, where he died on the 14th -January, 1819. - -Of his personal appearance much has been said. He has been described as -“a thick, squat man with a large, dark and flat face and no speculation -in his eye.” There are many portraits of him published, most of them by -his _protégé_, Opie, the “Cornish boy,” as he calls him, whom he both -educated and boomed in the press, a genius of undoubted merit as a -painter. Unless these pictures outrageously flatter him, his must have -been a fine physiognomy. We have seen eight or nine portraits, taken at -different periods of his life, and in all he appears like a well-bred -and handsome man of the style and period of George the Fourth. There is -a miniature of him, however, in the National Portrait Gallery, which is -said with candour to express many of the disagreeable features of his -character. Our own portrait appended to this sketch is from a painting -by Opie, engraved by C. H. Hodges, and reproduced in photography by -Bailey, of Kingsbridge. One of his most faithful portraits is a -miniature by Lethbridge, a Kingsbridge artist of some fame, who was born -at Goveton, a little hamlet not far from the town. - -Probably the last public compliment ever received by Peter Pindar was -the dedication by his scholarly neighbour to him of the well-known -_History of Kingsbridge_, published in 1819 (the year of Pindar’s death) -by A. Hawkins, Esq., F.H.S. With the terms of that dedication we might -fitly close our notice:— - - To JOHN WOLCOT, M.D., long accredited at the Court of Apollo as Peter - Pindar, Esq., these pages commemorative of the History and Topography - of the vicinity of his native earth, are by his permission dedicated - as a mark of sincere respect for his superior genius and talents. - -If in our sketch of Peter Pindar we have “extenuated aught,” we have -been wishful to “set down naught in malice,” and can only endorse the -universal opinion as to his talent, with the unconcealed wish that such -great power had been allowed to exert itself on a higher plane and to a -nobler purpose. - - O quantum est in rebus inane! - —_Pers. I._ 1. - - How vain are all his cares! - And oh! what bubbles, his most grave affairs. - —_Gifford._ - - WILLIAM THOMAS ADEY. - - - - - HONITON LACE. - - BY MISS ALICE DRYDEN. - - -Situated in the fertile vale of the Otter, surrounded by wooded hills -and combes, the quiet little town of Honiton slopes down a hill, crosses -the river, and ends at the old Hospital of St. Margaret. The picturesque -street seems to have a repose amid its beautiful surroundings -commensurate with the peaceful industry that has made its undying fame; -for thanks to its having been the head-quarters of the beautiful lace -manufacture, the name of Honiton is better known than that of many a big -city. That its renown should have overshadowed other places is doubtless -owing to its being situated on the great coach roads from London and -from Bath to Exeter and the ports beyond; travellers were brought to the -spot, who would alight while their horses rested; they would then be -offered a box of lace at the inn to select from, while the work-girls -themselves looked out for the arrival of the coaches and pressed their -wares on the occupants, who took away their purchases to other parts of -the country as a speciality of Honiton. - -Risdon[12] speaks of it as “a great Market and Thorough-Fair, from East -to West,” and Westcote[13] writes:—“It is a great thoroughfare from -Cornwall, Plymouth, and Exeter to London; and for the better receipt of -travellers, very well furnished with Inns.” - ------ - -Footnote 12: - - _Survey of Devon_, 1605–20 (printed editions, 1785, 1811). - -Footnote 13: - - _View of Devon_, _circiter_ 1630 (first printed, 1845). - ------ - -[Illustration - - _From a Photograph_] [_By Miss Alice Dryden._ - HONITON LACE. - -] - -Lace-making has been practically limited to that part of the county -south of Exeter which lies between Dorset and the Exe. The industry -found its way to Devonshire, if the generally accepted theory be -correct, by the Flemish refugees flying from the persecutions of the -Duke of Alva. Lace was made on the pillow in the Low Countries about the -middle of the sixteenth century, so by the date of the Alva persecution -(1568–77) the people might have learnt it in sufficient numbers to start -it wherever they set up their new home. - -There is much probability to support this theory, and some names of -undoubted Flemish origin did and do still exist in Honiton, as Gerard, -Murch, Groot, Trump. On the other hand, if there had been any -considerable number of Flemings in Devonshire they would surely have -founded a Company of their Reformed Church, and no reference is found in -the published books of the Archives of the London Dutch Church of any -such Company in Devonshire; whereas references abound to places in the -eastern counties and Midlands where Flemings were established. - -It was not till we read of bone[14] lace that it may be taken to mean -pillow lace, made either with fish bones as pins or sheep’s trotters as -bobbins. That bones were used as bobbins is stated by Fuller;[15] but -the fish bone theory is also possible; pins were very high priced at -that time, and it would have been perfectly possible to use fish bones -fine enough for the geometrical laces of the sixteenth century. - ------ - -Footnote 14: - - The term _bone_ lace is wrongly interpreted as representing the raised - Venetian points, which have been likened to carved ivory or bone. - -Footnote 15: - - _Worthies_, 1662. - ------ - -Queen Elizabeth was much addicted to the collecting and wearing of -beautiful clothes, but no definite mention of English lace seems to -occur in the Royal Wardrobe Accounts. - -The earliest mention of Honiton lace is by Westcote—“At Axminster you -may be furnished with fine flax thread there spun. At Honiton and -Bradnidge with bone lace much in request”;[16] and, referring again to -Honiton—“Here is made abundance of bone-lace, a pretty toye now greatly -in request”; and therefore the town may say with merry Martial— - - In praise for toyes such as this, - Honiton second to none is. - ------ - -Footnote 16: - - _View of Devon._ - ------ - -The famous inscription on a tombstone in Honiton Churchyard, together -with Westcote, proves the industry to have been well established in the -reign of James I. The inscription runs:— - - Here lyeth ye body of James Rodge, of Honinton in ye County of - Devonshire, (Bonelace Siller, hath given unto the poore of Honinton - P’ishe the benyfitt of £100 for ever) who deceased ye 27 of July A^o - D^i 1617 ÆTATÆ SVAE 50. Remember the Poore. - -There have been traditions that Rodge was a valet who accompanied his -master abroad and there, learning the fine Flemish stitches, taught some -Devonshire women on his return home, and was enabled to make a -comfortable competence by their work. - -Rodge was not the only benefactor to the town connected with the -industry; there are two others recorded in the seventeenth century. -“Although the earliest known MS., Ker’s _Synopsis_, 1561, giving an -account of the different towns in Devonshire, makes no mention of lace, -we find from it that Mrs. Minifie, one of the earliest named -lace-makers, was an Englishwoman.”[17] “She was a daughter of John Flay, -Vicar of Buckrell, near Honiton.”[18] She died in 1617, and left money -for the indigent townspeople, as did Thomas Humphrey, of Honiton, -lace-maker, in 1658. - ------ - -Footnote 17: - - _History of Lace._ Mrs. Palliser, 1901. - -Footnote 18: - - _Worthies of Devon._ Prince, 1701. - ------ - -The advantages of the lace trade were realized by the time of the -Commonwealth. Fuller,[19] writing during that period, says of bone -lace:— - - Much of this is made in and about Honyton, and weekly returned to - London. Some will have it called Lace, _à Lacinia_, used as a fringe - on the borders of cloathes. Bone-lace it is named, because first made - with bone (since wooden) bobbins ... - - Modern the use thereof in England, and not exceeding the middle of the - Raign of Queen Elizabeth. Let it not be condemned for a superfluous - wearing, because it doth neither hide nor heat; seeing it doth adorn. - Besides, though private persons pay for it, it stands the State in - nothing; not expensive of Bullion, like other lace, costing nothing - save a little thread descanted on by art and industry. Hereby many - children who otherwise would be burthensome to the Parish prove - beneficial to their Parents. Yea, many lame in their limbs, and - impotent in their arms, if able in their fingers, gain a livelyhood - thereby; not to say that it saveth some thousands of pounds yearly, - formerly sent over Seas to fetch Lace from Flanders. - ------ - -Footnote 19: - - _Worthies_, 1662. - ------ - -The English were always ready to protect their own trades and -manufactures, and various were the Acts passed to prohibit the -importation of foreign lace, for the encouragement of home workers. In -1698 it was proposed to repeal the last Prohibition, and from the text -of a Petition sent to the House of Commons, some interesting light is -thrown on the extent of the trade at that date. - - The making Bonelace has been an ancient Manufacture of England and the - Wisdom of our Parliaments all along thought it the interest of this - Kingdom to prohibit its Importation from Foreign Parts.... This has - revived the said Languishing Manufacture and there are now above one - hundred thousand People in England who get their living by it and Earn - by meer Labour £500,000 a year, according to the lowest computation - that can be made; and the Persons employed in it, are for the most - part Women and children who have no other means of Subsistence. The - English are now arrived to make as good Lace in Fineness and all other - respects, as any that is wrought in Flanders; and particularly since - the late Act so great an improvement is made that way that in - _Buckinghamshire_ the highest prized lace they used to make was about - eight shillings per yard, and now they make lace there of above thirty - shillings per yard and in Dorsetshire and Devonshire they now make - lace worth Six pound per yard and in other Places proportionable. The - Laws formerly made not proving effectual, one more strict passed 36 - Years since in the 14th of King Charles II. which said Act recites - “That great numbers of the Inhabitants of this Kingdom were then - employed in making the said manufacture. Since that time the same has - encreased to a great Degree, till of late Years the Art of Smuggling - being grown to greater Perfection than formerly, larger quantities of - _Flanders_-lace have been clandestinely imported, which occasioned the - Enforcing of the former Prohibition Acts by a late one made in the - 10th year of his Present Majesty. - - Secondly, the Lace which used to come for England is but a small part - of their [Flanders] whole Lace-Trade, for they send it to Holland, - Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, etc., whereas we - make it chiefly to serve our own Country and Plantations. - - ... The Lace Manufacture in England is the greatest next to the - Woollen and maintains a multitude of People, which otherwise the - Parishes must, and that would soon prove a heavy burthen, even to - those concerned in the Woollen Manufacture ... on the Resolution which - shall be taken in this affair depends the Well-being or ruin of - numerous families in their own Country. Many laws have been made to - set our Poor on Work and it is to be hoped none will be made to take - away work from Multitudes who are already Employed.” - -Here follows the numbers of the people in a few places which get their -living by making of lace. Those quoted in Devonshire as interesting to -compare with the present day are:— - - Gittesham 139 - Culliton 353 - Coumbraleigh 65 - Northleigh 32 - Sidmouth 302 - Axmouth 73 - Sidbury 321 - Buckerall 90 - Farway 70 - Upotery 118 - Shut and Musbery 25 - Southley 45 - Fennyton 60 - Branscombe Beare and Seaton 326 - Widworthy and Offerell 128 - Broad Hembury 118 - Honyton 1,341 - Luppit 215 - Axminster 60 - Otrey St. Mary 814 - Shut and Musbery 25 - -The Dragoons suppressing Monmouth’s Rebellion in 1680 are stated to have -despoiled the poor lacemakers greatly, and at Colyton broke into the -house of a dealer in bone lace, Burd by name, and stole his goods to the -value of £325. - -The trade was still advancing when Defoe wrote in 1724:— - - The valuable manufactures of Lace, for which the inhabitants of Devon - have long been conspicuous, are extending now from Exmouth to Torbay. - -Later still we find the people at Honiton make “the broadest sort that -is made in England.”[20] Just previously, in 1753, the first prize was -awarded by the Anti-Gallican Society, which encouraged home trade, to -Mrs. Lydia Maynard, of Honiton, “in token of six pairs of ladies’ -Lappets of unprecedented beauty.” This date seems to have been the -zenith of the lace prosperity, and reverses soon after set in. - ------ - -Footnote 20: - - _Complete System of Geography._ Bowen, 1747. - ------ - -Two fires occurred in Honiton, causing much distress, and the second, in -1765, was of so devastating a character that the town had to be rebuilt. -Shawe says, writing at the end of last century:— - - For its present condition Honiton is indebted to that dreadful fire - which reduced three parts of it to ashes. The houses now wear a - pleasing aspect, and the principal street extending from East to West, - is paved in a remarkable manner, forming a canal, and well shouldered - up on each side with pebbles and green turf, which holds a stream of - clear water with a square dipping place opposite each door, a mark of - cleanliness and convenience I never saw before. - -The American war had an evil effect upon the lace trade; still worse was -the French Revolution, and also the change of the fashion in dress; lace -was no longer used in profusion in the ladies’ wardrobe, and the demand -for it declined to a serious extent for the workers. Worse yet, however, -was the introduction of machine net, the first factory being set up at -Tiverton in 1815. Lysons[21] writes just afterwards:— - - The manufactory of lace has much declined, although the lace still - retains its superiority. Some years ago, at which time it was much - patronized by the Royal Family, the manufactures of Honiton employed - 2,400 hands in the town and in the neighbouring villages; they do not - now employ above 300. The lace here made had acquired some time ago - the name of Bath Brussels lace; but it is now generally known by its - original appellation of Honiton bone (or thread) lace. It has always - been manufactured from thread made at Antwerp; the present market - price of which is 70l. per lb.; an inferior lace is made in the - villages along the coast, of British thread, called Trolly lace. - ------ - -Footnote 21: - - _Britannia_, 1822. - ------ - -No other reference to Bath Brussels lace is forthcoming; the reason of -the name Bath is not apparent. The thread seems always to have been and -is still a difficulty to contend with in English lace. It seems -impossible to get the very fine, silky, pure flax thread in the home -market. A greater part of the lace made at the present time is wasted -labour by reason of the coarse cottony thread used. - -The evolution (if it may be termed so) of Honiton lace is briefly this. -The bone or bobbin lace before mentioned at first consisted of a small -and simple imitation of the early Italian pillow laces—mere narrow -strips made by coarse threads plaited and interlaced. They got wider and -more elaborate as the workers gained experience. Specimens may be seen -on three Devonshire monuments of the first part of the seventeenth -century. Whether the lace of the district is imitated or not it is -probably similar to what would have been made there at that time. On the -effigy of a Lady Pole in Colyton Church, her cape is edged with three -rows of bone lace. Another, which is in excellent preservation, is on an -effigy of Lady Dodderidge in Exeter Cathedral, her cuffs and tucker -being a good pattern of geometric design. The third is on an effigy in -Combe Martin Church, 1637.[22] - ------ - -Footnote 22: - - There is an example of _opus araneum_ or _lacis_, net work embroidered - with a simple floral design, on the collar of Bp. Stafford, 1308, in - Exeter Cathedral. - ------ - -Bobbin laces soon became popular, as they were so much cheaper than the -elaborate points; they became so eminently the speciality of Belgium as -to make her the classic country of pillow work. Belgium was noted for -her linens and delicately spun flax; in consequence, the Flemings -departed from the style of their Italian masters, and made laces of -their own fine threads; the fashion of wearing flat linen collars, in -the early part of the seventeenth century, encouraged the new style. -They worked out their own designs, and being fond of flowers, it -naturally came about they composed devices of blossoms and foliage. - -These alterations, in course of time, found their way to England, there -being much intercourse between their brethren here established and those -remaining in Flanders. The lace continued to get finer and closer in -texture, the flax thread being required so fine that it became necessary -to spin it in damp underground cellars. That the workers in England -could not compete successfully against the foreigner with their -home-made threads we find over and over again. They also altered the -Brussels designs, and instead of the beautiful _fillings_ and openwork -stitches substituted heavy guipure bars. The _vrai réseau_ or pillow net -ground succeeded the _bride_ towards the end of the seventeenth century. -During the eighteenth century the flowers were made separately and -worked in with the net afterwards, or rather the net was worked into the -flowers on the pillow. The best _réseau_ was made by hand with the -needle, and was much more expensive. The advantages of making the net -separately soon declared themselves, and it formed an extensive branch -of the trade. The mode of payment seems tedious but primitive in its -simplicity; the net was spread out on the dealer’s counter, and the -worker covered it with shillings; as many as it took to cover it she had -as the value of her work. “A piece bought previous to the introduction -of machine net, 18 ins. square, cost £15. At the commencement of machine -net, in 1808, it could be bought for as many shillings, and in 1851 for -as many pence.”[23] - ------ - -Footnote 23: - - _Antique Point and Honiton Lace._ Mrs Treadwin. No date. - ------ - -Trolly lace comes next in order; it was quite different from the Honiton -type, and resembled many of the laces made in the Midlands at the -present time. It was made with coarse British thread, heavier, larger -bobbins, and worked straight on round the pillow. The origin was -undoubtedly Flemish, but it is said to have reached Devonshire at the -time of the French Revolution through the Normandy peasants, driven by -want of employment from their own country, where lace was a great -industry in the eighteenth century. Be this as it may, lappets and -scarves were certainly made of Trolly lace at an earlier date; Mrs. -Delaney, in one of her letters (1756) speaks of a “trolly head.” Trolly -lace, before its downfall, has been sold at the extravagant price of -five guineas a yard.[24] The origin of _Trolly_ is from the Flemish -_Trolle Kant_, where the design was outlined with a thick thread. - ------ - -Footnote 24: - - _History of Lace._ Mrs. Palliser, 1901. - ------ - -The most startling change in the lace industry occurred after 1816, when -the introduction of machine net caused the _vrai réseau_ to go out of -fashion. The cheap mechanical net took the place of the hand-made -ground, throwing hundreds of hands out of work in a few years, and -upsetting the social economy of the district. Application on machine net -became universal, and the prices decreasing, the workers lost heart, and -gave up their good old patterns, taking to inventions out of their -heads, and frequently down to the present time copying some frightful -design from a wall paper! - -Queen Adelaide, in answer to a petition sent up by the lace makers, -ordered a dress made of Honiton sprigs on machine net, in which every -flower was to be copied from nature. It was executed at Honiton.[25] The -bridal dress of Queen Victoria, which she ordered from Devonshire, was -carried out at Beer, and cost £1,000. It was made in the _guipure_ -fashion, the sprigs being connected by openwork stitches on the pillow. -The trade from that time revived, as lace came once more into fashion, -the _guipure_ being the description made, the sections of the pattern -united on the pillow, or sewn on to paper and joined by the needle with -the various lace stitches; _purling_ is made by the yard, for the edge. - ------ - -Footnote 25: - - Queen Adelaide also caused to be introduced the Maltese lace, that - continued to be made for years here and there. - ------ - -The lace schools of this time were a great feature, there being many in -every village, and as few other schools existed, boys in addition to the -girls of the place attended and learnt the industry.[26] The usual mode -of procedure was this. The children commenced attending at the age of -five to seven, and were apprenticed to the mistress for an average of -two years, who sold all their work for her trouble; they then paid 6d. a -week for a time, and had their own lace, then 3d., and so on according -to the amount of teaching they still required. The young children went -first from 10 to 12 in the morning to accustom them to work by degrees. -At Honiton the full hours were 8 to 8 in the summer and in the depth of -winter, but in spring and autumn less on account of the light; as -candles were used only from nutting day, the 3rd of September, till -Shrove Tide. The old rhyme runs:— - - Be the Shrove Tide high or low Out the candle we will blow. - ------ - -Footnote 26: - - Mrs. Treadwin in her younger days saw some twenty-four men lace makers - in Woodbury, one of whom had worked at his pillow so late as 1820. - From being taught as boys, the sailors used to employ themselves in - the winter making some of the coarse laces. - ------ - -At Sidbury it was _de rigeur_ that directly a girl married, however -young, she wore a cap; but till then the lace-makers were famous for -their good hair being beautifully dressed. When school began they stood -up in a circle to read the “Verses”; if any one read “jokily” they were -given a penalty, and likewise for idleness—so much extra work. In nearly -all schools they were taught reading from the Bible, and in some they -learnt writing. - -The Honiton pillows run rather smaller than those for Buckingham lace, -and do not have the multiplicity of starched coverings—only three “pill -cloths” over the top, and another each side of the lace in progress; two -pieces of horn, called “sliders,” go between to take the weight of the -bobbins from dragging the stitches in progress; a small square -pincushion is on one side, and stuck into the pillow is the “needle -pin,” a large sewing needle in a wooden handle, used for picking up -loops through which the bobbins or “sticks” are placed. These last are -mostly turned box-wood, small and light, and no coloured beads or -“gingles” at the end, as that would make them too heavy for the fine -threads. Some of them are of great age. Mrs. Treadwin found an old -lace-maker using a lace “turn” for winding sticks, having the date of -1678 rudely carved on the foot. - -The pillow has to be frequently turned round in the course of the work, -so no stand is used, and it is rested against a table or doorway, or -formerly, in the golden days, in fine weather there would be rows of -workers sitting outside their cottages resting their “pills” against the -back of the chair in front. - -Ever since the Great Exhibition of 1851 drew attention to the industry, -someone or some society has been trying to encourage better design and -better manufacture; but the majority of the people have sought for a -livelihood by meeting the demand for cheap and shoddy articles—that -dreadful bane of modern times. Good patterns, good thread, good work, -have been thrown aside, the workers and small dealers recking little of -the fact that they themselves were ruining the trade as much as -machinery; tarnishing the fair name of Honiton throughout the world -among those able to appreciate a beautiful art. Fortunately there were -some able to lead in the right path, and all honour must be given to -Lady Trevelyan, who, at Seaton and Beer, about 1850–70, designed and -superintended the working of naturalistic flowers and sprays; also to -Mrs. Treadwin at Exeter, who started reproducing old laces, and with her -workers turned out excellent copies of old Venetian rose-point, -Valenciennes, or Flemish. Mrs. Treadwin was a woman of culture and taste -who had the best interests of the trade at heart. - -In the present work there is a straining after novelty with no capable -designers at the helm. We ought, as a national duty, to encourage to our -utmost any industry that can be worked in the rural districts. Let the -Education Authorities frankly acknowledge that our Art Schools cannot -turn out lace designers, and import one of our clever French neighbours -to help the Devonian workers. It would, after all, only be a case of -_L’histoire se répète toujours_ since the days of Benedict Biscop, who -imported vestments which gave the English their first lesson in -embroidery. - - ALICE DRYDEN. - - - - - “THE BLOODY ELEVENTH”; - WITH NOTES ON COUNTY DEFENCE. - - BY LIEUT.-COL. P. F. S. AMERY. - - -The Devonshire Regiment, of which the Haytors now form a battalion, was -raised so far back as 1685, has seen a vast amount of service, and has -ever served with distinction before the enemy in the two centuries of -its history. During the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth, in 1685, many -new corps were raised, and among them a regiment of musketeers and -pikemen by the Duke of Beaufort. It was composed of loyal men of Devon, -Somerset, and Dorset, and was known as “The Duke of Beaufort’s -Musketeers.” In the same year, after the rebellion had been crushed at -Sedgemoor, the Duke resigned the colonelcy to his son, the Marquis of -Worcester. At that time regiments were named after their colonels. The -corps was distinguished by tawny-coloured ribbons in their hats, scarlet -coats lined with tawny-coloured shalloon, tawny-coloured breeches, -stockings, and sashes. Lord Worcester was succeeded in 1687 by Lord -Montgomery, who was devoted to the interests of James II. In 1688 the -regiment was in garrison at Hull, when the Prince of Orange landed at -Torbay. The Governor of Hull was also a supporter of James. The -regiment, however, led by its Lieutenant-Colonel, Sir John Hanmer, -declared with the inhabitants of Hull for the Prince of Orange and the -Protestant party. Sir John Hanmer was made Colonel, and in 1689 took -part with his regiment in the famous relief of Londonderry. In 1690 it -served under the eye of William III. at the Battle of the Boyne, where -it repulsed three cavalry charges and materially assisted to secure the -Protestant succession. In 1707, under Colonel Hill, it was present at -the terrible battle of Almanza, in Portugal, where, after performing -deeds of valour, it was overpowered and cut to pieces. Twenty-six -officers and nearly all the men were killed, wounded, or taken. In 1709 -it served under Marlborough in the Netherlands, took part in the siege -of Mons, where it greatly distinguished itself in repulsing a sortie, in -which ten officers and 150 men were lost. In 1715, under Colonel -Montague, it took part against the rebellion under the Earl of Mar in -Scotland, and at the battle of Dunblane lost eight officers and 108 men. -In 1738, Colonel Cornwallis was appointed, and as Cornwallis’ regiment -took part in the war of Austrian succession. It was present at the -battle of Dettingen, in 1743, where George II. in person commanded the -army, and received a French cavalry charge in line. Cornwallis’ and -another battalion executed a difficult manœuvre, which brought the -enemy’s cavalry under fire. The name of Dettingen is borne on the -colours. In 1745, at Fontenoy, it again broke through the French lines, -and almost secured victory; its losses were seven officers and 212 men. -It was re-called to England during the Pretender’s rebellion in -Scotland, and sent again into the Low Countries in 1746, where, as -Graham’s regiment, it took a prominent and honourable part in the -desperate battle of Roucoux against the renowned Marshal Saxe, where it -lost twelve officers and 206 men. - -1st July, 1751.—A royal warrant was issued, regulating the clothing and -colours of every regiment. It was now numbered as 11th Regiment of Foot, -and the “facings spoken of as being green,” but when they were changed -from tawny is not known. The drummers were clothed in green, faced with -red. 1756.—The strength was increased to twenty companies, which were -divided into two battalions. 1758.—The second battalion was constituted -the Sixty-fourth Regiment, illustrating the birth of new regiments. The -11th took part in the Seven Years’ War, 1760 to 1763, under the Prince -of Brunswick. In 1782 county titles were given to regiments in order to -facilitate recruiting, and the 11th was designated the “North Devon -Regiment,” and the officers were enjoined to cultivate an intercourse -with that part of the county, so as to create a mutual attachment -between the inhabitants and the regiment. Exactly a century afterwards -similar orders and changes took place for a like purpose. In 1793, when -England was threatened with invasion by the French Republic, and -volunteers were being drilled, the 11th was defending Toulon against -Napoleon. It was evacuated after a gallant defence by twelve thousand -men of five different nations, over a line of outposts extending fifteen -miles in circumference, against an army of between thirty and forty -thousand men. The 11th formed part of the garrison under Lord Mulgrave, -and distinguished itself in several sorties, especially that on 30th -November, 1793, when the French were driven from their batteries and -guns spiked. In this affair, Napoleon Bonaparte, then an artillery -officer, received a bayonet wound in his thigh. Thus the first contact -the future Emperor made with a British battalion was with our Devon -Regiment; and he did not again come face to face with us until the -Battle of Waterloo, although he is said to have watched some of the -battles in the Pyrenees from a distance. In 1798, it was sent to Ostend -on a very hazardous expedition to cut the Great Canal; it did its work, -but was unable to re-embark owing to a storm, and 24 officers and 456 -men were captured. In 1800, the 11th was sent to the West Indies, took -part in the capture of St. Bartholomew, St. Martin’s, St. Thomas, St. -John, and Santa Cruz; in 1807 to Madeira. In 1808, a second battalion -was again added, which formed a part of the Walcheren expedition in -1809. At the taking of Flushing they took a set of brass drums belonging -to the 11th French Regiment, and enlisted the musicians of a Prussian -band serving in the French army, when all the men joined with their -instruments. In 1810 and 1811, they took part in the Peninsula War. On -22nd July, 1812, the regiment won glory at the decisive battle of -Salamanca, which led to the French being driven out of Spain. The 11th, -53rd, and 61st Regiments formed a brigade in the Sixth Division, -commanded by Major-General Clinton. Lord Wellington had noticed that in -manœuvring his troops the French marshal had so extended his forces as -to be unable to support each other. To take advantage of this mistake, -the 11th, as leading its brigade, was pushed forward under a heavy fire, -and was soon engaged in a desperate struggle, and drove the French from -their ground. At the close of the action a French division made a very -determined stand to recover the retreat. The 6th British Division again -attacked, led by the 11th, and as the darkness came on overpowered the -French, who fled in confusion. They lost 16 officers, 325 men; only 4 -officers and 67 men came out unwounded. The 11th captured a battery of -guns and a green standard without an eagle. The 122nd French Regiment, -which was opposed to the 11th with two battalions, numbering 2,200 -strong, the next day only mustered 200 men; they were mostly taken -prisoners. Captain Lord Clinton, uncle of our late Lord Lieutenant, was -despatched with the news direct from the field, and carried with him the -green standard. He landed at Plymouth, and in a chaise and four rattled -up the road to London. As he passed through the towns on the way he -exhibited the standard, and persons now living in Ashburton remember -seeing him pass through; he was at that time Lord of the Borough of -Ashburton. The 11th earned the nickname of “The Bloody Eleventh” from -the part it had taken in that terrible day. It suffered severely in the -battles in the Pyrenees and following movements, which resulted in -driving the French across the frontier. It was not present at Waterloo, -and in 1816 the Second Battalion was disbanded at Gibraltar, the men -being incorporated in the First Battalion. In 1825, new colours were -presented to the regiment whilst at Cork, on which were added the names -of the Peninsula battles. During the years of peace it moved from -station to station, and was not in the Crimea. During the Indian Mutiny -a Second Battalion was again raised, but did not take part. In -1879–1880, the 11th took part in the Afghan War; in 1881, the regiment -ceased to be the 11th and became the “Devonshire Regiment,” but the -green facings were changed to white, in common with other line -regiments, and are alone borne by the junior battalion, viz., the Haytor -Volunteer Battalion. The Devonshire Territorial Regiment now consists of -two line battalions for foreign service, two militia battalions, five -volunteer battalions, of which the 1st and 2nd are rifles, total nine. - -The reformation and development of the volunteer force in the middle and -latter half of the nineteenth century, with its embodiment into the -territorial line regiments, has tended to increase the local _esprit de -corps_ throughout the kingdom, and especially in Devon, where the -movement had its birth. A short sketch of the formation and growth of -the volunteers in Devon will, therefore, not only be of local interest, -but will be an illustration of the steps taken in times of danger for -the defence of our shores in the times of our grandfathers, and -continued through the years of peace under our late imperial Sovereign, -Queen Victoria. - -Plymouth and its immediate neighbourhood is the cradle in which the -spirit of volunteer defence has been nurtured; frequently before the -sixteenth century have French and Spaniards made or attempted landings -there for pillage or destruction, but in each case they suffered -severely from the resolute resistance of the townspeople. In the Civil -War the inhabitants formed themselves into trained bands and resisted -the Royalist siege. In 1745, when Prince Charlie, the young Pretender, -landed in Scotland and gained the battle of Prestonpans, Plymouth again -raised a body of volunteers; and in 1759, when France determined on a -descent on England and had 18,000 men ready to embark on board the -French fleet, Plymouth again raised two companies of volunteers to -strengthen the militia, one of which undertook to clothe and feed -itself. The destruction of the French fleet by Admiral Hawke, at the -mouth of Quiberon Bay, and the decisive battle of Minden, where the -20th, or East Devon Regiment, learned its celebrated “Minden Yell,” -removed for a time the fear of French invasion. When, therefore, in -1779, the combined fleets of France and Spain held for a time the -possession of the English Channel, and the gallant Elliot was holding -the rock of Gibraltar against famine and bombardment, and most of our -army was fighting in America, the Spanish and French fleets suddenly -appeared off Plymouth, causing great alarm for the safety of the -dockyard and the numerous French prisoners in the port, the inhabitants -were again ready to enroll themselves. Mr. William Bastard, of Kitley, -the great grandfather of the present Mr. B. J. B. Bastard, the first -Lieutenant-Colonel of the Haytor Volunteer battalion, offered to raise a -force of 500 men as a corps of Fencibles, and in two days had 1,500 -young men to select from, who wished for the honour of serving under -him. On 23rd August, 1779, he escorted 1,300 war prisoners to Exeter for -safety, and on the 25th delivered them to the commanding officer there, -and at once returned with his regiment to Plymouth. I have been unable -to find any traditions of this march preserved in the towns through -which they must have passed, but we may be sure at the time it caused -much excitement along the road and at the places they rested the two -nights. The whole of this eventful period at Plymouth is well described -by Miss Peard in her charming little book, _Mother Molly_. The example -of Plymouth was followed by the citizens of Exeter, who also raised a -Volunteer corps. For these services the King, on the 24th September, -signed a warrant for a baronetcy for Mr. Bastard, who, however, modestly -declined the honour. The supremacy in the Channel was soon restored by -the return of the fleet, and the victories of Admiral Rodney rendered -our shores safe for a time. - -In 1794, the effects of the French Revolution had made themselves felt -in England, and several elaborate plots were formed to supersede -Parliament by a National Convention after the French model, and to -abolish the Monarchy. Great distress prevailed in the country, which -always forms the best weapon of revolutionists. The rate of interest -rose to seventeen per cent.; the Bank of England only saved itself by -the suspension of cash payment. Monge, the French Minister of Marine, -threatened to land in England with 50,000 red caps of liberty, and to -overthrow the Government of the country. - -It was at this crisis that the Government called on the different -counties to take steps for the defence of the kingdom, and a meeting of -magistrates was called by Lord Fortescue, the Lord Lieutenant, and -presided over by the High Sheriff, J. S. Pode, Esq., on the 22nd April, -1794. 1795, 7th January, returns showed two troops of cavalry and -twenty-three companies of infantry to have been raised and equipped by -subscription. March 23rd, the Lord Lieutenant, Earl Fortescue, ordered -monthly returns from each corps. 7th April, 1795, the twelve corps in -the eastern part of the county were formed into a battalion, under Col. -Mackenzie. 2nd June, Colonel Orchard, of Hartland Abbey, reported that -he had inspected his own regiment, viz., corps at Fremington, Westleigh, -Northam, Hartland, and two companies at Bideford. This appears to be the -six western companies of the north battalion. 1796 returns showed two -troops of cavalry, twenty-two companies of infantry—1,651 men. In this -year an attempt was made by the French to land in Bantry Bay, which, -however, failed, and the expedition was glad to get back to Brest, with -the loss of four ships of the line and eight frigates. Early in 1797, -another expedition, under Tate, appeared in the Bristol Channel, off -Ilfracombe, with the intention of burning Bristol. The North Devon -Volunteers turned out with great zeal, and were prepared to dispute the -landing on their coast. The French, however, turned northward and landed -in Wales, where they soon surrendered to a far inferior force of -militia, yeomanry, and volunteers, commanded by Lord Cawdor, and -supported by a reserve of Welsh women in red cloaks. 1798 saw the nation -in the most serious crisis of its history. The French Directory having -made terms with the European powers, were able to turn all their -attention to the invasion and conquest of the British Isles. Former -expeditions were designed to stir up the disloyal and assist them to -overthrow the Government, but now a French army was to land on our -shores. The Spanish and Dutch fleets had been pressed into the French -service, but British courage and seamanship had effectually disposed of -them in the great naval battles of St. Vincent and Camperdown. -Nevertheless, an army was organized, named the Army of England, and -distributed along the French coast in readiness for embarkation. -Flat-bottomed boats were prepared for landing troops and for service on -our rivers. The bankers of Paris were called upon to advance a loan on -the security of English property. The greatest calamity, however, was a -general mutiny in the Channel Fleet at the Nore, which expelled their -officers, elected their own admiral and captains, hoisted the red flag, -and blockaded the mouth of the Thames; they seriously discussed the -expediency of making the whole over to the French. If England could not -depend on her fleet she must fall. Had not prompt measures been taken -and the mutiny quelled, invasion on a large scale would certainly have -taken place. To add to these troubles a formidable rebellion broke out -in Ireland, and its leaders arranged for the support of the French army, -under Hocke, a general of great experience. A brigade of 1,000 men -actually landed in Ireland, under General Humbert, beat the local -troops, and advanced into the country, but were compelled to surrender -to Lord Cornwallis; and Admiral Warren caught a French fleet with 3,000 -troops on their way to support them, and only one of the nine ships -returned to France. Such being the state of public affairs, it cannot be -denied that our great grandparents had good grounds for alarm. There is -hardly a district or family in Devon but has some tradition of that -period. Nervous people were afraid to take off their clothes at night. -Old gentlemen provided themselves with hollow walking-sticks filled with -guineas to carry with them in their flight. At Totnes my -great-grandfather’s family permanently engaged a post-chaise in which -the women and children might escape to Bristol; the family plate was -packed ready to be taken off, and a belt of guineas provided. The -schoolboys enjoyed it, for there was no school, as the seniors were too -much engaged in obtaining and discussing news to attend to them. The -saying still exists at Totnes, “Going to Paignton to meet the French,” -for “meeting trouble half-way.” Beacon fires were prepared to spread the -news of any landing. A story is told of a tramp at Dawlish who, in -lighting his pipe, set a hay rick on fire; the watchers at the nearest -beacon took it for a signal of an invasion, and lighted their fires, -which were answered in every direction, and the people sprang to arms -until “That time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day.” One old -sailor, however, had his wits about him, when his daughter shook him out -of a deep sleep with the news that the French had landed. Rubbing his -eyes, he told her to go and look at the weather-cock. She came back -saying the wind was from the north. “I thought so,” said he, “and so it -was yesterday. The French can’t land with this wind.” And so the ancient -mariner turned round and went to sleep again. - -The next place in the history of volunteers was the extension of the -area of their service. Up to this date the condition of service was -confined to the county of Devon, and in the case of the early Exeter -corps to the defence of the city only. The military authorities saw the -impossibility of mobilising the volunteers, even to a small extent, who -had enlisted under these conditions. The County Committee were, -therefore, instructed to accept no offers except for service throughout -the military district. It was, however, ultimately arranged for all -volunteers to accept the new conditions, but cities or large towns -should be allowed to maintain a local corps composed of respectable -householders only, to aid the civil power to protect property. Most of -the corps appear to have been willing to extend their services to the -military district. In January, 1799, it was resolved that no further -offers should be accepted. Each parish was required to appoint a man and -horse to act as guide. The battle of the Nile and the extinction of the -Irish rebellion seem to have quieted men’s minds for a time. But in -April Devonshire was again astir, for the Committee of Secrecy of the -House of Commons reported that undoubted intelligence had been received -that plans of an invasion and insurrection in Ireland were being made in -France. That the utmost diligence was being observed in the ports of -France in preparing another expedition to co-operate with the rebels in -Ireland, that it was intended at the same time to land a French force at -different parts of the coast. That the instructions to Tate, who was -taken prisoner in Wales in 1797, and those of General Humbert, who -landed in Ireland, and who had been destined to command an expedition -against Cornwall, had fallen into the hands of the Government, and were -as follows:—The legion was to land in Cornwall and to cross the Tamar as -quickly as possible, and to establish itself in the district between it -and the Exe, or, as we should say, in the South Hams. The “passes and -mountains” (Dartmoor) would afford an easy and safe retreat from the -pursuit of the enemy. Thus Dartmoor was selected both by the French -Directory and by the English officers for a place of refuge. There, -indeed, in the Dartmoor prisons, many French soldiers and sailors were -destined to find a safe retreat. - -But as time went on, and no invasion took place, things became quieter; -the Defence Committee seldom met; the volunteers, however, continued to -drill and to hold reviews. - -In 1801, the separate corps were consolidated into battalions and -regiments. The two 1st Devon troops of cavalry, with those at Bicton, -Tiverton, and Cullompton, united in the “Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry -Cavalry,” under Lord Rolle as Colonel, Sir Stafford Northcote as -Lieutenant-Colonel. The North Devon Corps of Infantry became the 3rd -North Devon Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fortescue. The Loyal -Exminster Hundred Regiment of Volunteers, under Lord Courtenay, was -similarly formed. In 1802 came the “Peace of Amiens,” or, as it is -frequently called, the “Cloamen Peace.” It was a fragile, patched up -affair, by which Bonaparte gained breathing time. “It was a peace -everyone was glad of and nobody proud of.” Volunteer affairs became -quiet, many corps were disbanded, among them the Ashburton Sergebacks. -Old soldiers were discharged from the line regiments, and militiamen -sent to their homes. - -In May, 1803, Bonaparte suddenly declared war, and then, as Emperor, -prepared in earnest to invade England. A camp of 100,000 men was formed -on the cliffs at Boulogne, and a host of flat-bottomed boats gathered -for their conveyance across the Channel. At last the Emperor Napoleon -appeared in camp; all was ready. “_Let us be masters of the Channel for -six hours_,” he is reported to have said, “_and we are masters of the -world._” But he never was able to be master of the Channel for six -hours. The army waited and drilled, the old Bayeaux tapestry, which -illustrates the conquest of England by William of Normandy, was searched -out to create enthusiasm, and show what had once been done; all kinds of -schemes were resorted to to obtain the naval assistance of other -nations, and with success, for the Spanish fleet joined him. Still, the -English fleet, under Lord Nelson, held the Channel, but any accident -might give the six hours’ mastery, and so England had to be prepared. -The County Defence Committee again assumed the direction of affairs. The -arrangements made in 1798 were once more put in force. It was in 1803 -that the Haytor Regiment was formed, and commanded by Lord Seymour; it -was 1,000 strong, with 250 artillery attached, and appears to have been -made up of all the volunteers in the Haytor Hundred with those of -several towns and parishes adjoining. Newton Abbot was the headquarters, -where Captain Babb, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel Babb, was captain. In -the former arming of 1798 Ashburton had formed the 9th Devon Corps, -under Captain Walter Palk; they had clothed themselves with local-made -serge, and so gained the name of Sergebacks; they were disbanded at the -Peace of Amiens, but now again formed and became a company in the Haytor -Regiment, under Captain Tozer. Bridgetown, being in Berry Pomeroy -parish, also was in the Haytor district. Mr. Milford Windeatt, a -relative of the present Captain Windeatt, held a commission in the -Haytor Corps. Totnes, however, formed a separate corps, being in the -Stanborough Hundred, as did also Highweek, Kingsteignton, Chudleigh, and -Bovey Tracey, which were in Teignbridge. The Stanborough Regiment, in -which Kingsbridge formed a part, was connected with Plymouth. Torquay, -Paignton, and Brixham supplied artillery men under Colonel Cary, of Tor -Abbey. For the protection of Tor Bay the authorities garrisoned Berry -Head, which, being in the Haytor Hundred, was committed to a detachment -of the regiment under Colonel Cary. Many stories remain of this period -of service. I cannot say how long the volunteers were out; probably they -relieved each other. One story frequently told was of the French -fire-ships, for which they were on the lookout, to be sent among the -fleet in the bay, and which caused much stir. One night, as the full -moon rose red and fiery out of the sea, the sentry at the headland, who -had come from an inland parish, mistook it for a fire ship, discharged -his musket, and aroused the garrison. The uniform was similar to the -line regiments of the period, viz., scarlet swallow-tailed coats, turned -out with yellow, blue-black breeches, white cross belts, with a brass -plate having Haytor Regiment thereon; the pouches were black, the -buttons had H.V.R. (Haytor Volunteer Regiment); officers wore cocked -hats, others tall shakoes. The regiment assembled for field days and -drill at various points in the district. Lord Clifford has a plan of a -sham fight on Bovey-heathfield, but the movements appear to have been -very simple. Lieutenant-Colonel Babb, whose tablet is in Wolborough -Church, Newton Abbot, commanded the regiment at one time. On 21st -October, 1805, Lord Nelson caught the combined French and Spanish fleet -off Cape Trafalgar. His last and famous signal, “England expects every -man to do his duty,” was observed and obeyed, and although he fell in -the hour of victory, twenty battleships had struck their flags ere the -day was done. Pitt explained, in his last public words, “England has -saved herself by her courage; she will save England by her example.” The -crisis had again passed, England could breathe freely once more, still -the volunteers were kept enrolled for a time. The Haytors were disbanded -about 1809, and the old colours laid up in Wolborough Church until time -had consumed them. The time of peace continued for about forty years, -until the Crimean War, in 1853, left the country almost without troops -to garrison her arsenals. Then several Volunteer corps were raised, -among them the “Exeter and South Devon,” under Colonel Sir Edmund -Prideaux. At the peace in 1856 it was not disbanded, but remained -embodied until the memorable circular of 12th May, 1859, in which the -Secretary of State for War suggested the formation of Volunteer corps -throughout the country as a means of preventing the frequent war scares -caused by the uncertain actions of the French under Napoleon III. The -Exeter corps then became the first in the kingdom, and through them -Devonshire stands at the top in the precedence of the counties. On 24th -May, 1859, the Plymouth corps was formed, but the date of its acceptance -was later on. The movement had life because it was in accordance with -the feelings of the people, which was shown by almost every town in -Devon holding meetings for the purpose of forming corps, and persons of -every social position offered their services, and in a large proportion -undertook their own outfits. These offers were mostly accepted by Her -Majesty; each corps became an independent body, and was numbered in the -order in which they were accepted, but joined into administrative -battalions for drill purposes. In 1880, the administrative battalions -were consolidated into corps, which in 1885 were incorporated as -volunteer battalions of the county regiment, of which they have since -formed a part, and in the South African war sent two companies, fully -officered and equipped, to the front. This brings us to the eve of the -proposed changes in the constitution of our army and military system, -and possibly the close of the volunteer system as we have known it. - - “The brave old men of Devonshire! - ’Tis worth the world to stand, - As Devon’s sons, on Devon’s soil, - Though juniors of the band; - And tell Old England to her ace, - If she is great in fame, - ’Twas good old hearts of Devon oak - That made her glorious name.” - P. F. S. AMERY. - - - - - JACK RATTENBURY, THE ROB ROY - OF THE WEST. - - BY MAXWELL ADAMS. - - - - -John Rattenbury—or, as he is commonly called, the “Rob Roy of the -West”—was born at Beer in 1788. His father was a shoemaker by trade, but -before his son John was born, he went to sea on board a man-of-war, and -was never again heard of. His mother supported herself by selling fish, -while Jack was allowed to run wild, spending his time chiefly at the -water-side, where he acquired a taste for the sea and for those daring -adventures which made him subsequently so notorious. When about nine -years of age, he induced his uncle, who was a fisherman, to take him -with him in his fishing expeditions. This was the beginning of his sea -training, and continued for some time, until one day, being left in -charge of the boat, while his uncle was on shore at Lyme, he lost her -rudder. For this negligence his uncle chastised him with a rope’s end, -whereupon a separation ensued. Jack then joined a Brixham fisherman as -an apprentice, but after a space of twelve months, finding this -occupation uncongenial, he engaged himself to the master of a coasting -vessel of Bridport, trading between that port and Dartmouth. - -[Illustration: - - “JACK” RATTENBURY. - (_From a Lithograph by W. Bevan._) -] - -About this time war broke out between England and France, and fearing -the press-gang, he returned to Beer. There he found his uncle engaged in -collecting men for privateering, an enterprise which appealed to his -roving spirit, and joining the crew, he, with twenty-two others, was -conveyed to Torquay and put on board the _Dover_, commanded by Captain -Matthews. In due course the _Dover_ was ready for sea, and in March, -1792, started for her first cruise off the Western Islands. He thus -describes his feelings on this occasion:— - - And even now, notwithstanding the lapse of years, I can recall the - triumph and exultation which rushed through my veins, as I saw the - shores of my native country recede, and the vast ocean opening before - me; I was like a bird which had escaped from the confinement of the - cage, and obtained the liberty after which it panted. I thought on - some who had risen from the lowest to the highest posts, from the - cabin boy to the admiral’s flag. I wished to make a figure on the - stage of life, and my hopes and expectations were restless and - boundless, like the element around me. - -The privateering enterprise, however, does not appear to have been very -successful. After cruising about the Western Islands for several weeks -without meeting with any adventure worth relating, the _Dover_ at last -fell in with three American merchant ships laden with French goods, but -as their commanders contended that they were not lawful prizes, they -were allowed to go. It transpired later on that these very vessels were -afterwards taken by an English cruiser. Not long after, the _Dover_ was -captured by a French ship, and the crew, including John Rattenbury, were -taken to Bordeaux and confined in the prison of that place. He does not -appear to have been badly treated by his jailers, and he was allowed a -certain amount of liberty, which enabled him to make the acquaintance of -the master of an American vessel, then lying in Bordeaux harbour, -Captain Prowse by name, who, taking a liking to the lad, allowed him to -conceal himself on board his ship. It was, however, more than twelve -months before the vessel was allowed to leave the port in consequence of -an embargo on all foreign shipping, when, having taken in a cargo of -wine, etc., it was cleared for New York, which port was reached after a -passage of forty-five days. Here Rattenbury engaged himself as cook and -cabin boy on board a ship sailing for Havre de Grâce. On arrival there -he was anxious to get home again. He therefore transferred himself to an -American merchantman belonging to Boston named the _Grand Turk_, bound -for London, as he supposed, but much to his disappointment it proceeded -to Copenhagen instead. He returned in her to Havre de Grâce, and thence -after sundry adventures found himself in Guernsey, where, to his -delight, he met his uncle, who took him back to Beer. - -He was now sixteen years of age, and remained quietly at home for six -months, part of which time he spent in fishing. After the roving life he -had led, he found this occupation most uncongenial, and the smuggling -trade, which was then being plied very briskly in the neighbourhood, -offering great inducements, he determined to try his fortune at it. He -accordingly joined a vessel engaged in this trade between Lyme and the -Channel Islands, but after four months he engaged on another vessel, the -_Friends_, a brig, commanded by Captain Jarvis. While in Tenby harbour -she was captured by a French privateer. He thus narrates the incident:— - - At eight o’clock the captain set the watch, and it was my turn to - remain below; at twelve I went on deck, and continued till four, when - I went below again, but was scarcely dropped asleep when I was aroused - by hearing the captain exclaim, “Come on deck, my good fellow! here is - a privateer, and we shall all be taken.” When I got up, I found the - privateer close alongside of us. The captain hailed us in English, and - asked us from what port we came and where we were bound. Our captain - told the exact truth, and he then sent a boat with an officer in her, - to take all hands on board his own vessel, which he did, except myself - and a little boy, who had never been to sea before. He then sent his - prize-master and four men on board our brig, with orders to take her - into the nearest French port. When the privateer was gone, the - prize-master ordered me to go aloft and loose the main-top-gallant - sail. When I came down I perceived that he was steering very wildly, - through ignorance of the coast, and I offered to take the helm, to - which he consented, and directed me to steer south-east by south. He - then went below and was engaged in carousing with his companions. They - likewise sent me up a glass of grog occasionally, which animated my - spirits, and I began to conceive a hope not only of escaping, but also - of being revenged on the enemy. A fog, too, came on, which befriended - the design I had in view. I therefore altered the course to east by - north, expecting that we might fall in with some English vessel. As - the day advanced, the fog gradually dispersed, and the sky getting - clearer, we could perceive land. The prize-master and his companions - asked me what land it was; I told them it was Alderney, which they - believed, though at the same time we were just off Portland. We then - hauled our wind more to the south until we cleared the Bill of the - Island. Soon after we came in sight of land off St. Alban’s. The - prize-master then again asked what land it was which we saw; I told - him it was Cape la Hogue. My companions then became suspicious and - angry, thinking I had deceived them, and they took a dog that had - belonged to our captain and threw him overboard in a great rage, and - knocked down his house. This I supposed to be done as a caution, and - to intimate to me what would be my own fate if I had deceived them. We - were now within a league of Swanage, and I persuaded them to go ashore - to get a pilot. They then hoisted out a boat, into which I got with - three of them, not without serious apprehension as to what would be - the event; but hope animated, and my fortunate genius urged me on. We - now came so near shore that the people hailed us, and told us to keep - further west. My companions now began to swear, and said the people - spoke English; this I denied, and urged them to hail again; but as - they were rising to do so, I plunged overboard, and came up the other - side of the boat. They then struck me with their oars, and snapped a - pistol at me; but it missed fire. I still continued swimming, and - every time they attempted to strike me, I made a dive and disappeared. - The boat in which they were now took in water, and finding they were - in a vain pursuit and endangering their own lives and safety, with - little chance of being able to overtake me, they suddenly turned round - and rowed away as fast as possible to regain the vessel. Having got - rid of my foes, I put forth all my efforts to get to the shore, which - I at last accomplished, though with great difficulty. In the meantime - the men in the boat reached the brig, and spreading all their canvas, - bore away for the French coast. Being afraid that they would get off - with the vessel, I immediately sent two men, one to the signal-house - at St. Alban’s and another to Swanage, to obtain all the assistance - they could to bring her back. - -By good fortune the _Nancy_, a cutter belonging to the Custom’s Service, -happened to be lying in Swanage Bay, under the command of Captain -Willis, who, giving chase, re-captured the brig and brought her into -Cowes Roads. She was restored to her owners, on their paying salvage, -but Rattenbury received no reward for his services, and two days after -re-joining the brig, was impressed into the Royal Navy and put on board -a cutter cruising off the Channel Islands. On her return to Spithead, -Rattenbury escaped on board a fishing smack and was landed at Portland, -whence he proceeded, on foot, to Beer, exchanging his cap with a young -man whom he met on the way for a hat. Some days after a party from the -cutter sent in search of him reached Lyme, but although they failed to -catch Rattenbury they had arrested the young man with whom he had -exchanged hats. He was released, however, when they discovered that he -was not the man they were in search of. - -During the next six months he occupied himself with fishing and -smuggling, but his roving spirit once more took him to sea, and in -March, 1800, we find him sailing for Newfoundland on board a brig -belonging to Topsham, commanded by Captain Elson. He was now twenty-two -years of age. On its way out the brig put into Waterford for provisions, -but had not been at sea many days before it had to put back to Waterford -for repairs, having sprung a leak. These were speedily effected owing to -the kindness of Lord Rolle, who lent seventeen of his soldiers to assist -in the work. In due course they reached St. John’s, Newfoundland, and -after discharging a part of their cargo, proceeded to Placentia and -afterwards to Pacee, where the ship was laid up for three months, while -the crew were employed in catching and curing cod. When they had secured -sufficient for a cargo, they set sail, in November, for Oporto, but they -had not been at sea many days before they were chased and captured by a -Spanish privateer, and a prize crew put on board. Rattenbury and an -Irish lad were, however, allowed to remain on board, and the former, by -making himself generally useful, gained the confidence of the Spanish -prize-master, so that when the prize reached Vigo, Rattenbury, instead -of being sent to a prison, was taken by the prize-master to his own -house, and given such a good character that the owner of the privateer -gave him his liberty and presented him with thirty dollars and a mule to -take him to Vianna, where the British Consul gave him a pass to Oporto. -Here he met his late captain and ship-mates, who had also been given -their liberty, and after some days found a vessel bound for Guernsey, on -which he was engaged as mate. After an exceedingly rough passage he -reached Guernsey on the 25th March, 1801, where he found a packet about -to sail for Weymouth, in which he took a passage, and thus reached Beer -once more. - -On the 17th April, 1801, he married a young woman to whom he had become -engaged before setting out for his last voyage and settled down at Lyme. -Failing to find any regular employment, he determined to try -privateering again, and accordingly joined the _Alert_, a lugger -belonging to Weymouth, commanded by Captain Diamond. In her he sailed, -in May, for Alderney, where, having taken in a stock of wine and -spirits, a course was steered for the Western Islands in the expectation -of falling in with Spanish vessels, but the venture was not successful, -and the _Alert_ returned to Weymouth on the 28th December, 1801. - -Rattenbury now remained at home for four years, and was employed in -piloting and victualling ships. One day, while at Bridport, he was taken -by the press-gang. He managed, however, to escape, and was pursued by -the lieutenant and nine men of the _Greyhound_. During the chase his -wife appeared on the scene, and seized the lieutenant round the neck. A -scuffle ensued, in which the townspeople joined, and Rattenbury was able -to get clear away. After this adventure he went to live at Beer, and -made many trips in smuggling with varied success; but the lieutenant of -the _Greyhound_ was his most persistent enemy, and was determined to -capture him. On one occasion, at Weymouth, hearing that the lieutenant -was on his track, he took refuge in a public-house, the landlord of -which was a friend of his. The lieutenant having received information as -to his hiding-place proceeded to the spot, and at two o’clock in the -morning roused up the house, threatening to fire at the landlord through -the window and force an entrance if he did not immediately come down and -open the door. On the alarm being given, Rattenbury concealed himself in -the chimney, and remained there for about an hour, while the premises -were being searched. On the departure of the lieutenant he came out of -the chimney in a parlous condition, black with soot and much bruised, -but, as he says, “triumphing over the sense of pain itself, in the -exultation which he experienced at having once more escaped out of the -clutches of this keen-eyed Lieutenant and indefatigable picaroon.” - -Becoming sick of being constantly hunted, he determined to take to -privateering again, and shipped accordingly on board the _Unity_, a -cutter then fitting out at Weymouth, commanded by Captain Head. About -February, 1805, they proceeded to sea, touching at Alderney to take in -provisions and spirits, and steered a course for Madeira, Teneriffe, -etc., in the hope of falling in with prizes; but they met with no -success, and returned to Beer in August of the same year. In consequence -of his continued want of success in privateering, he determined never -again to engage in it, “a resolution,” he says, “which I have ever since -kept, and of which I have never repented.” - -Rattenbury now settled down ostensibly to a life of fishing, but -actually of smuggling, in which he met with many adventures and every -variety of fortune. He had not been long at this employment when he was -captured by the _Roebuck_ while off Christchurch, in Hampshire; but -during the chase one of the man-of-war’s men, named Slaughter, had his -arm blown off in the act of firing one of the guns. The captain was -anxious to land the wounded man, and ordered a boat alongside to take -him ashore, into which Rattenbury smuggled himself, and on reaching -shore got clear off. That same evening he borrowed a boat and rescued -his companions from the _Roebuck_, together with three kegs of gin, part -of his contraband cargo which had been seized. - -In the spring of 1806, he was captured by the _Duke of York_, cutter, in -a fog, and was taken to Dartmouth. On nearing that port, he jumped -overboard, swam ashore, and concealed himself in some bushes. Two women, -however, who had seen him, inadvertently revealed his place of -concealment, and he was re-taken. When he came on board again - - ... He was in such a pickle that his own shipmates could not help - laughing at him, and the captain, completely aggravated, exclaimed, “I - will put you on board a man-of-war and send you to the East Indies,” - to which he replied by calling him an old rascal, an expression which - only tended to sharpen his anger still more. - -The smugglers were all tried by the magistrates of Dartmouth, who -sentenced them to a fine of £100, to go on board a man-of-war, or to -jail. They unanimously agreed to the last condition, but by six o’clock -in the evening they were all so heartily sick of their quarters, which -resembled the “Black Hole of Calcutta,” that they agreed to serve in the -Navy, and were accordingly entered for the _Kite_, then lying in the -Downs. They were removed the same evening to the _Safeguard_, brig, -which lay in Dartmouth Roads. Next morning Rattenbury asked permission -to go on board the _Duke of York_, on the pretext that he had a private -communication to make to the captain. While on board, he seized an -opportunity for escaping, jumped down on the bob-stay, and signalling -with his finger a small boat which was passing at the time dropped into -her, and in five minutes was landed at Kingswear, opposite Dartmouth, -whence he made his way home by land. - -Later on he was captured by the _Humber_, sloop, commanded by Captain -Hill, and taken to Falmouth, where he was committed by the magistrates -to jail. Next morning he and one of his shipmates were put into two -post-chaises in charge of two constables to be taken to Bodmin. As the -constables stopped for liquid refreshment at every public-house on the -road they came to, they became somewhat merry towards evening. This was -Rattenbury’s opportunity. While the constables were taking their -potations at the “Indian Queen,” a public-house a few miles from Bodmin, -he bribed the drivers not to interfere in what was to follow, and as -soon as the constables came out they were overpowered by the smugglers. -Rattenbury ran to a cottage close by, and the woman who occupied it -showed him a way through the back door and garden, and having run a -mile, on looking back, he saw his companion, who had escaped in the same -way. That night they reached Newquay together, and next morning found -their way on hired horses to Mevagissey, whence they took a boat to -Budleigh Salterton. - -On another occasion he defended himself in a cellar for four hours with -a reaping hook and a knife, against a sergeant and ten men, all armed, -and only escaped capture through a diversion created by some women -arriving with a made-up story that a vessel had drifted ashore and that -a boy was in danger of drowning. - -Towards the end of 1808, through the influence of Lord Rolle, the -soldiers posted at Beer for the purpose of catching Rattenbury were -ordered away, and the ever-present fear of capture being thus removed, -he determined to settle down as a law-abiding citizen, and with this -object in view took a public-house, spending his leisure hours in -fishing. But unfortunately this business did not prosper, so that about -November, 1812, he reverted to his old trade of smuggling. In due course -he was captured by the _Catherine_, a brig commanded by Captain Tingle, -and brought to Brixham. While there his wife was allowed to visit him, -and with her he arranged a plan of escape. She, in company with the -wives of his shipmates, were to come alongside the _Catherine_ on the -next day with a good boat. This was done, and Rattenbury, with his -companions, jumped into the boat for the avowed purpose of helping “the -ladies” out of her up the side of the brig. As soon as the women were -all out of the boat, Rattenbury gave the order to “shove off,” and -although chase was immediately given and shots fired, the smugglers -managed to land at a headland called “Bob’s Nose.” They quickly -scrambled up the cliff, but Rattenbury, taking off his coat and hat and -leaving them at the top of the cliff, rolled himself down again to the -beach and made for Torquay. On the next day he met his wife, and they -set off together for Beer. His companions, however, were pursued, the -chase being watched from the neighbouring hills by several hundred -people from Brixham, but only two were re-taken. - -Rattenbury remained in his public-house till November, 1813, when he was -obliged to close it owing to want of business and the bad debts he had -contracted. He was now in a bad way, without any obvious means of -subsistence, except fishing, which did not pay, and with a wife and four -children to support. To add to his misfortunes, in the autumn of the -same year, he lost his boat in a gale. He, nevertheless, managed to pick -up a little by piloting, and in the beginning of 1814 was fortunate -enough to obtain employment with a Mr. Down, of Bridport, who kept a -small boat for fishing. With the wages thus obtained he was enabled by -August to buy another boat. - -During the next few years he was engaged in running contraband cargoes -from Cherbourg, and some of his expedients for outwitting the revenue -officers are very ingenious. On one occasion the officer who was -searching his ship for contraband goods came across a goose, which he -was desirous of purchasing, but as it was stuffed with fine lace instead -of the orthodox sage and onions, Rattenbury naturally preferred not to -sell it. At another time he had soldered up some valuable French silks -in a tin box, so that when his boat was being overhauled he was able to -throw it overboard while the searchers were in another part of the boat, -and the package being buoyant was subsequently recovered. - -One dark night he landed a cargo at Seaton Hole, and began carrying the -kegs one by one on his back up the cliff, when he tumbled over a donkey -lying in the path. The beast set up such a vigorous braying that it -awoke the preventive officer, who was asleep at the foot of the cliff, -and the whole cargo was consequently seized. - -In the summer of 1820, he contemplated building himself a house, and -bought a piece of land for the site. He at once commenced collecting -stones on the coast in his boat, and till the end of the year was -superintending building operations. - -In 1825, while returning from a smuggling expedition, he was captured -off Dawlish by the crew of a coastguard boat and lodged in Exeter jail, -where he remained till the 5th April, 1827, when he was released through -the influence of Sir William Pole. In May, and again in July, he was in -London giving evidence in connection with a scheme for the construction -of a harbour at Beer and a canal from Beer to Thorverton. He then -remained at home engaged in his old occupations till 1829, when Lord -Rolle got him into the Royal Navy, but falling sick, he was discharged -on 6th January, 1830. His last smuggling adventure happened in January, -1836. He was bringing twenty tubs of brandy in a cart from Torquay to -Newton Bushel, and when within a mile of the latter place, at ten -o’clock at night, he was overtaken by some mounted officers, and the -horse, cart, and its contents were seized. Rattenbury, however, effected -his escape. This adventure ended his career as a smuggler. At the Exeter -Assizes, held in March, 1836, he appeared as a witness on behalf of his -son, who was charged with having been engaged with others in an affray -on Budleigh Salterton beach, in which some revenue officers were roughly -handled. The case excited considerable interest, and Rattenbury’s -cross-examination by Mr. Sergeant Bompas afforded much amusement. The -following are some extracts from a contemporary account of the trial:— - - Rattenbury _loquitur_. He keeps school at sea—fishes for sole, turbot, - brill; any kind of fish that comes to hook. B.: Which do you catch - oftenest, soles or tubs? R.: Oh, the devil a tub—(great - laughter)—there are too many picaroons going now-a-day. B.: You have - caught a good many in your time? R.: Ah, plenty of it! I wish you and - I had as much of it as we could drink—(laughter). B.: You kept school - at home and trained up your son? R.: I have always trained him up in a - regular honourable way, larnt him the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and - the Ten Commandments. B.: You don’t find there, Thou shalt not - smuggle? R.: No, but I find there, Thou shalt not bear false witness - against thy neighbour. B.: Nobody smuggles now-a-day? R.: Don’t they, - though! (Laughter.) B.: So these horses at Beer cannot go above three - or four miles an hour? R.: If you had not better horses you would - never get to London. I seldom ride on horse-back. If I do, I generally - falls off seven or eight times in a journey—(great laughter). - -Rattenbury’s adventures now come to an end, and he appears to have -settled down to a quiet life for the remainder of his days, Lord Rolle -having generously allowed him a pension of one shilling a week for -life.[27] - - MAXWELL ADAMS. - ------ - -Footnote 27: - - This account of John Rattenbury is compiled from a somewhat scarce - little book entitled _Memoirs of a Smuggler_, compiled from his Diary - and Journal, containing the Principal Events in the Life of John - Rattenbury, of Beer, Devonshire, commonly called “The Rob Roy of the - West.” Sidmouth: J. Harvey, 1837. 12mo. - ------ - - - - - FAIR. - - BY THOMAS WAINWRIGHT. - - -Barnstaple Fair, although now deprived of some of its ancient commercial -importance by the establishment of great markets at other centres in -North Devon, still attracts great numbers of purchasers of horses, -Exmoor ponies, cattle, and sheep, reared by the agriculturists of the -neighbourhood. Buyers attend the fair not only from all parts of -Devonshire, but also from places beyond the borders of the county, among -others cavalry officers come in some years to purchase horses for the -military service of the country, while visitors from a wide district -around the town arrive in large numbers to enjoy the “fun of the fair.” - -This annual event has a very ancient history, for the claim of the town -to the right to hold the fair is granted in Charters and recognized in -Inquisitions from an early period, in one of which Inquisitions the -jurors say that among divers liberties and free customs used and enjoyed -by the burgesses of the Borough by the Charter of the Lord Athelstan, of -famous memory, King of England, is the right to hold one fair in the -year. The date of the fair was anciently July 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and -24th, as appears from the following regulations, which were in force for -a long period:— - - 1st. The fair shall continue for four days, viz., on the eve and the - day of the blessed Mary Magdalene and the two next days following. - - 2nd. The whole soil of Boutport Street and the other streets within - the said Borough belongs to the Mayor and Comonaltie of the said - Borough during the fair and until 12 o’clock at noon on the day - afterwards. - - 3rd. The said Mayor and Comonaltie may set and demise the said soil - one day before the eve of the said fair, and have the whole profits of - the said fair and the bailiff of the said Borough shall collect and - receive the same. - - 4th. Also they shall there have the cognizance of Pleas and a court of - Pie Poudre, as incident to all fairs. - -[Illustration - - _From a Lithograph_] [_by J. Powell._ - QUEEN ANNE’S WALK AND THE QUAY, BARNSTAPLE. - -] - -The time for holding the fair was changed subsequently, probably during -the reign of King James I., the new regulations being as follows:— - - If the 19th of September be on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, the - fair shall finish on the following Saturday night, but if on either of - the three subsequent days it shall be allowed to continue until Friday - in the next week. - -Another change was made in the year 1852, the fair being then fixed to -commence on the Wednesday nearest to September 19th, and to continue for -the two days following only, and this is the present regulation -respecting its date and duration. By the latest arrangement the dealings -in horses and ponies are limited to Thursday, the second day, the first -being still devoted to the sale of cattle and sheep, and the third being -_par excellence_ the pleasure day, although the shows, swings, “horses,” -and other attractions, and the stalls, do a great trade on the other -days also. - -The place for holding the fair has also been changed. A century ago the -cattle were disposed of in Boutport Street, the horses in the North -Walk, and the shows and stalls for pleasure-seekers were located in the -Square. For a few years, about 1880, the cattle and sheep were placed in -Victoria Road, but by the present arrangement the cattle and sheep are -disposed of in the Cattle Market, the horses in the Strand, and the -pleasure-seekers find their shows and other attractions in the North -Walk. It has already been mentioned that the cattle and sheep now sold, -though still many, are not so many as in the old days when Barnstaple -fair was the only event of the kind in North Devon. In the year 1824, it -was recorded that 1,440 bullocks were driven in by the northern entrance -into the town, over Pilton Bridge, of which not 300 were driven out by -that road, and of these more than half were sold, and that it was -calculated that £20,000 was expended in the purchase of cattle. - -In the Borough Records we have accounts of the sales of horses and -cattle at an early period, which are interesting as showing the mode in -which security was given by the purchasers and the prices paid. The -following are extracts from these records:— - - Barnestaple. The register of horses and mares bought, sold and - exchanged in the ffayre there holden on the feast day of the Nativitie - of our blessed Virgin Mary, the 8th day of September [O.S.] in the - fowerth yeare of our Sov’eigne Lord Charles, by the grace of God of - England, France and Ireland King, defender of the faith, &c. - - [Tolls] For every horse, mare, or colt 8d., viz., for record 4d. and - for custome 2d. apiece of the buyer & seller. - - For every bullock 2d., viz., 1d. a piece of the buyer and seller; for - every pigg 1d. a peece; for every calf 1d. a peece. - - Abraham Hearson, of Tawton, sold unto one William Earle of Biddiford, - one black mare, with a hitch in the near ear, Price 33sh, John Dillon - knoweth the seller. - - Henry Puggesley, of Bratton, sold unto Walter Thomas, of South Malton, - one little bay nagge, with a square halfpenny under the farther ear, - Price 27 sh. The parties know each other. - - William Blake, of Chiltenhampton sold unto John Ballamey of Stover a - bay mare with a halfpenny and a slit in the neare eare. Price 43sh. - 4d. Roger Blake of Chittington, knoweth the seller. - - William Barber, of Instowe sold unto Thomas Axford, of Lifton one bay - mare with a spade in the further eare, Price 33sh. 4d. Amos Ford - knoweth the seller. - - Matthewe Brooke of Clovelly sold unto John Pine of Burrington one - little sorell nagge, toope cut in the neare eare & a slitt in the - farther, price 54sh. 8d. Hugh Dennis Upoostree knoweth the seller. - - John Bellamy of Stooerd exchanged with John Ruddicliffe of Bishopp - Nimpton one pinshutt nagge colour blacke for a little blacke nagge, - top cut in the farther eare & a ob, [halfpenny] in the neare. John - Bellamey giveth 13sh. 4d. to boote. - - Arthur Serjante of Kirchbe in Lancaster sold unto Richard Chapple of - Ilfarcombe in the County of Devon one greye geldinge snipt in the - bottome of both eares. Price £3 2s. 6d. The parties know each other. - - Thomas England of Bristoll sold unto Richard Lyssett of Newport, one - browne baye mare top cutt in the neare eare. Price 10sh. - -The total number of horses disposed of at this fair was 44, while 6 were -exchanged; the prices of two are not given; the remaining 36 average £2 -0s. 0½d. each, the highest price paid being £4 5s. for “one bay nagge,” -and the lowest 10s. for the bay mare sold by the Bristol dealer. - -At fairs in other years the business done in horses was as follows:— - - Average price. - No. of horses sold. £ s. d. - 1629 39 2 9 8 - 1630 97 2 9 9 - 1631 60 2 19 8½ - 1632 26 2 16 2 - 1633 33 3 5 0 - 1634 29 2 18 0 - 1635 21 2 1 10 - 1636 17 2 15 7 - 1637 22 2 19 1 - 1638 31 2 18 0 - 1639 36 2 14 0 - 1641 9 2 14 5 - 1642 3 — - 1643 2 1 15 6 - 1647 46 4 3 4 - 1648 5 2 14 0 - 1649 37 3 15 10 - 1650 17 4 5 8 - 1651 12 3 16 0 - -The absence of sales during the years 1644–46, and the small number -disposed of in 1641–3, may be accounted for by the following entry in -the Parish Register:— - - 1647. The Regester of the Towne and Burrough of Barnestaple, by the - cause of the troubles and the contagion [plague] was not kept from the - year anno 1642 till the year anno 1647. - -The following prices were realized for cattle sold at the various fairs -mentioned above:— - -8 heifers, black like, price £30 10s. 0d. -2 black oxen, topp cutt on farther eare. Price £13. -2 heifers and 1 steward. Price £6 13s. 4d. -1 red ox. Price £4 3s. 4d. -2 oxen. Price £10. - -The opening of the fair takes place with the ceremonies which have -attended it for many generations. On the morning of the first day a -large stuffed glove, fixed at the end of a pole, is displayed from a -window of the Guildhall, having before the year 1852 been exhibited from -the west corner of the Quay Hall, which was demolished in that year to -widen the street and quay, and which had been, until the dissolution of -religious houses by Henry VIII., an ecclesiastical building, known as -St. Nicholas’ Chapel. In the Receiver’s accounts for 1615 occurs the -entry:— - - Paid for a glove put out at the fair, 4d.; - -and in those for 1622:— - - Paid for a paire of gloves at the faire 4d. - -Another entry in the same account being:— - - Paid for candles to hange by a bull that was not beaten, - -from which it may be inferred that bull-baiting was one of the -amusements provided for visitors. The display of the glove is usually -considered to be a symbol of the welcome extended to all comers. In the -Guildhall meanwhile the sergeants-at-mace are busy preparing for all -comers who care to partake of it the toast and spiced ale, the latter -according to a recipe handed down for centuries. With this ale are -filled the handsome flagons belonging to the Corporation, and the loving -cups charged from them are passed round to the assembled guests. A few -toasts are then given, among them that of “The Ladies,” the response to -which often affords a good deal of amusement, for humorous Mayors have -been known to astonish a bachelor in the company, sometimes “a young man -from the country,” by calling upon him to respond; and while some -orators have passed the ordeal successfully, others have found the -situation an embarrassing one. The speeches ended, and the toast and ale -consumed, about noon a procession of the Mayor, Corporation, and -officials is formed, and, escorted by a large crowd of on-lookers, the -Town Clerk reads the following proclamation at the High Cross and other -places in the Borough:— - - =Proclamation for the Fair.= - - THE MAYOR of this BOROUGH doth hereby give notice that there is a FREE - FAIR within this Borough for all manner of persons to BUY and SELL - within the same which fair begins on this day WEDNESDAY the - and shall continue until 12 o’clock on the night of FRIDAY next the - instant during which time the Mayor chargeth and commandeth on - HIS MAJESTY’S behalf all manner of persons repairing to this TOWN and - FAIR do keep the KING’S PEACE. - - AND that all BUYERS and SELLERS to deal justly and truly and do use - true WEIGHTS AND MEASURES and that they duly pay their TOLL, STALLAGE - and other DUTIES upon pain that shall fall thereon - - AND if any OFFENCES INJURY or WRONG shall be committed or done by or - to any person or persons within this TOWN FAIR and LIBERTY the same - shall be redressed according to JUSTICE and the LAWS of this REALM - - DATED this day of September 190 - - =God Save the King.= - -In the olden time it was the custom to have a stag hunt on the second -day, and the “fair ball” is still, and has long been, kept up. It was -formerly the practice for many tradesmen to keep open house during the -fair, of which practice some of their customers took very liberal -advantage. Calling on one shopkeeper to pay a small account, they and -members of their family who accompanied them would enjoy a hearty meal, -and after an hour or two in the fair would repeat the proceeding with -another, and sometimes with a third. This has now been put a stop to by -the reduction of profits, through the competition brought about by the -advent of Co-operative Societies and Companies, and other causes. Not -only have the glories of Barnstaple fair been celebrated in prose, but -the poet has sung of them, and this sketch may be appropriately -concluded by giving one of the compositions that used to be sung:— - - =BARNSTAPLE FAIR.= - - Oh! Devonshire’s a noble county, full of lovely views, miss! - And full of gallant gentlemen, for you to pick and choose, miss! - But search the towns all round about there’s nothing can compare, miss! - In measurement of merriment, with Barnstaple Fair, miss! - Then sing of Barum, merry town, and Barum’s merry Mayor too, - I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to! - - There’s nothing happens in the year but happens at our fair, sir! - ’Tis then that everything abounds, that’s either new or rare, sir! - The Misses make their start in life its gaieties to share, sir! - And ladies look for beaux and balls to Barnstaple Fair, sir! - Then sing of Barum, merry town, and Barum’s worthy Mayor too, - I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to! - - The little boys and girls at school their nicest clothes prepare, ma’am! - To walk the streets and buy sweetmeats and gingerbread so rare, ma’am! - Their prime delight’s to see the sights that ornament our square, ma’am! - When Powell brings his spangled troop to Barnstaple Fair, ma’am! - Then sing of Barum, merry town, and our indulgent Mayor too, - I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to! - - If milk be scarce though grass be plenty, don’t complain too soon, dame! - For that will very often happen in the month of June, dame! - Though cows run dry while grass runs high, you never need despair, dame! - The cows will calve, and milk you’ll have, to Barnstaple Fair, dame! - Then sing of Barum, wealthy town, and its productive Fair too, - And drink “the corporation, and the head of it, the Mayor too.” - - If pigeons’ wings are plucked, and peacocks’ tails refuse to grow, - friend! - In spring; you may depend upon’t in autumn they will shew, friend! - If feathers hang about your fowls in drooping style and spare, friend! - Both cocks and hens will get their pens to Barnstaple Fair, friend! - Then, friend leave off your wig, and Barum’s privileges share too, - Where everything grows once a year, wing-feathers, tails and hair, - too! - - If winter wear and summer dust call out for paint and putty, sir! - And Newport coals in open grates make paper-hangings smutty, sir! - And rusty shops and houses fronts most sadly want repair, sir! - Both shops and houses will be smart, to Barnstaple Fair, sir! - And Barum is a handsome town, and every day improving, sir! - Then drink to all who study its improvement to keep moving, sir! - - - King George the Third rode out of Staines, the hounds to lay the stag - on; - But that was no great thing of sport for mighty kings to brag on; - The French, alas! go _à la chasse_ in _von po shay_ and pair; - But what’s all that to Button Hill? to Barnstaple Fair? - For we will all a hunting go, on horse, or mule, or mare, sir! - For everything is in the field to Barnstaple Fair, sir! - - To Button Hill, whose name to all the sporting world sure known is, - Go bits of blood, and hunters, hacks, and little Exmoor ponies; - When lords, and ladies, doctors, parsons, farmers, squires, prepare - To hunt the stag, with hound and horn, to Barnstaple Fair. - Then up and ride for Chillam Bridge or on to Bratton Town, sir! - To view the rouse, or watch the yeo, to see the stag come down, sir! - - There’s nothing else in jollity, and hospitable fare, sir! - That ever can with Barnstaple, in Fair time, compare, sir! - And guests are very welcome hospitality to share, sir! - For beer is brew’d, and beef is brought, to Barnstaple Fair, sir! - Then sing of merry England, and roast beef, old English fare, sir! - A bumper to “the town and trade of Barum and its Mayor,” sir! - - Boiled beef, roast beef, squab pie, pear pie, and figgy pudding plenty, - When eight or nine sit down to dine, they’ll find enough for twenty; - And after dinner, for dessert, the choicest fruits you’ll share, sir! - E’en walnuts come from Somerset, to Barnstaple Fair, sir! - Then sing of Barum, jolly town, and Barum’s jolly Mayor too, - No town in England can be found, old Barum to compare to. - - I will not sing of Bullock Fair, and brutes whose horrid trade is, - To make us shut our window blinds, and block up all the ladies: - Nor of the North Walk rush and crush, where fools at horses stare, sir! - When Mister Murray brings his nags to Barnstaple Fair, sir! - But sing of Barum, jolly town, and Barum’s jolly Mayor too, - No town in England can be found old Barum to compare to. - - The ball one night, the play the next, with private parties numerous; - Prove Barnstaple people’s endless efforts, sir, to humour us; - And endless, too, would be my song if I should now declare - All the gaieties, and rarities, of Barnstaple Fair. - Then loudly sing, God save the King, and long may Barum thrive, O! - May we all live to see the Fair, and then be all alive, O! - - - - - TIVERTON AS A POCKET BOROUGH. - - BY THE EDITOR. - - -Towards the close of the year 1903 the Earl of Harrowby generously -presented to the Mayor and Corporation of Tiverton a very complete -collection of manuscripts carefully preserved by his ancestors and -relating to the Parliamentary connection between themselves and the old -Corporation of Tiverton, swept away by the municipal Reform Act of -1834–5. The general nature of the tie has long been known. It was a -political nexus binding privileged burgesses to an influential family, -and the sanction was interest. The motto might have been, on both sides, -_do ut des_, for, while there were many professions of personal -attachment, which may have been real, it was well understood that the -cornerstone of the whole edifice was mutual advantage. As the -connection, venal in origin, crystallized into permanence and -respectability, it lost something of its sordid character. Sentiments of -honour and loyalty, and even chivalric devotion, were spoken and -cultivated, but these were the accidents, the trimmings. The substance -remained what it had always been—reciprocal profit. All this was vaguely -familiar to the present generation of townspeople, to whom traditions of -the _ancien régime_ had descended from their forefathers, but the -arrival of twenty-six stout files, crowded with an infinite variety of -curious particulars, has made an evident change in the situation. We no -longer behold through the dark windows of distorted memory. Now at last -we see face to face; and for the authors of some of those “human -documents” the Day of Doom would have already dawned, but for the screen -of their own insignificance, which incriminating papers may remove, but -the discretion of the censor at once re-erects. - -[Illustration - - _From a Lithograph_] [_by W. Spreat, Jun._ - ST. PETER’S CHURCH, TIVERTON. - -] - -Before we speak of Tiverton as an appanage of the Ryders, it will be -desirable to glance at the subject of pocket boroughs in general. There -are no pocket boroughs or rotten boroughs now, and readers who have -bestowed no special attention on political or constitutional -developments, may be glad of some measure of illumination as to their -rise and their place in the representative system of England. An -impression formerly prevailed that the institution dated from the great -Revolution, but this, it will be easy to show, was a fallacy. It was -much older. On the other hand, the pocket-borough was never substituted -by the arbitrary action of the Crown for the open borough, although it -was the settled belief of many of the inhabitants of Tiverton that under -the provisions of that mighty instrument, Magna Carta, the right of -returning members had been inalienably secured to them, and the -circumstance that this right was in fact exercised by neighbouring -towns, like Barnstaple and Taunton, was considered proof that the local -potwallers, or potwallopers, were the victims of invidious and illegal -discrimination. “Magna Carta,” said Sir Edward Coke, “is such a fellow -that he will not fear an equal”; and if it had been true that open -voting in the boroughs had been promulgated as the law of the land after -Runnymede, it has been judicially determined that no departure from that -principle, brought about by the use of the Royal prerogative or by any -other means, would have been recognized as valid. The terms of Magna -Carta, however, do not countenance the view that the burgesses of any -given town became entitled at their own option to send deputies to -Parliament, or that universal suffrage was the rule. On the contrary, -Parliamentary representation had at that time no existence either in -theory or in practice. The Commons were simply tenants _in capite_ of -the Crown. After 1265, no doubt, elections began to be held, and many -little places were summoned to return members, who received salaries -from their constituencies in payment of their services. This charge -rendered the honour a costly burden, and Edward I., one of the wisest of -our princes, varied the direction of the writs so as to distribute the -maintenance of the new third estate over as wide an area as possible. -The towns themselves did not greatly value the franchise, and, in many -instances, petitioned to be relieved of the dubious privilege. It seems -unquestionable that the mere receipt of an occasional summons did not -create or confirm any inherent or indefeasible right of unbroken -representation, nor do we meet with any attempt to institute such a -system until the days of the Reformation, when a new spirit invaded the -country and the Commons, as a branch of the Legislature, made rapid -strides in numbers and importance. - -Then it was that the lawyers of the Inns of Court, many of them Puritan -in sympathy, disinterred the ancient records, and, on the strength of -one or two summonses, insisted that such demesne towns, some mere -villages, were boroughs by prescription, and as such possessed the right -to send representatives to Parliament for all time. The consequence was -that about thirty towns, in which great men at Court had an interest, -resumed their lapsed privileges, and by the reign of Queen Elizabeth the -Lower House had received an accession of sixty fresh members. This seems -to have been brought about in the first instance by the sheriffs sending -precepts to the places in question, and although in the thirteenth year -of Elizabeth a debate took place regarding the admission of members from -towns not hitherto represented, the practice was not seriously -challenged owing to the efficient patronage and protection of the -courtiers before named. In subsequent reigns the Commons themselves -proceeded to enlarge their body. James I., indeed, talked of reform, but -that pedantic monarch, far from checking the growth of the borough -system, was the very sovereign to whom Tiverton was indebted for its -charter. - -The small borough, in the nature of things, tended to become a -pocket-borough. In the reign of Elizabeth the Earl of Leicester “owned” -the town of Andover; and the degree to which this form of property was -stretched is amusingly illustrated by the well-known story of Ann -Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, who lived in the days of the Merry -Monarch. The Secretary of State, Sir Joseph Williamson, had sent her a -letter in which he named a particular candidate for her borough of -Appleby. Incensed at this presumption, the haughty dame returned the -following reply: “I have been bullied by an usurper, I have been -neglected by a court, but I will not be dictated to by a subject. Your -man shan’t stand.” - -The system, it goes without saying, lent itself to numberless kinds of -abuse. It has been stated that at one period a mistress of the King of -France acquired some borough, and that the Nabob of Arcot was able to -secure the return of seven or eight members, all pledged to his -interest. These assertions may be true or they may not, but the -possibility of such anomalies did not deter apologists from affirming -that the system was not by any means an unmixed evil. - - A splendid senate, too, requires the gay ornamental parts, a sort of - shining plumage. The witty, the ingenious, the elegant, should be - represented. They were faithfully represented in our time by a - Sheridan, a Hare, a Fitzpatrick. Would a young adventurer, as Sheridan - was at his entrance in life, have attracted the eyes of the crowd? - Would the attic Hare or courtly Fitzpatrick have contended at a scene - like the Westminster election? We might have lost not only them, but - even the philosophic eloquence of Burke if all the returns were to - proceed from the crowd.—(George Moore, _History of the British - Revolution_, p. 341.) - -This brief sketch will perhaps suffice as an explanation of the origin -and character of the borough system in general. Let us now turn to the -case of Tiverton in particular. As has been intimated, many of the -inhabitants believed that Tiverton was a borough by prescription, and -that accordingly the crown could not by its charter limit the right of -election to members of the corporate body alone. Naturally the evidence -relied on was that of State papers. An inquisition _post mortem_ a^o 51 -Edw. III. sets out the extent and value of the manor and borough, from -which it appears that the two were distinct as to rents and services, -and that each had a separate court. By Letters Patent a^o 1 Edw. IV., -the King grants the manor, borough and hundred to Humphry Stafford, -Knight, in special tail without any other description. These data are -obviously insufficient, and search was made at the Rolls Chapel from the -thirty-third year of Henry VIII., the year of the earliest return to -Parliament extant since the reign of Edward IV. The result was not -satisfactory to the enthusiasts who instituted the inquiry, the first -return discovered being that of 18 James I., when John Bamfylde and John -Davye, Esqrs., were returned by indenture dated the 20th December, by -the Mayor, capital burgesses, and assistants. It may be added that in -Prynne’s _Brevia Parliamentaria_ there occurs no mention of Tiverton, -which, on all these grounds, can hardly have been a borough in the sense -desired. - -Tiverton, then, we may take it as certain, did not enjoy the right of -returning members until the thirteenth year of the reign of James I., -when the Mayor, Capital Burgesses, Assistant Burgesses of the town and -parish, or the major part of them, were empowered to choose and nominate -two discreet and sufficient men to be burgesses of the Parliament. The -charter was renewed in the same terms in the fourth year of James II., -and again in the reign of George II., so that we need feel no surprise -that, when the potwallopers from time to time threatened to assert their -supposed right, the members of the Common Council, assured of their -legal position, treated such vapourings with calm superiority. Until the -tidal wave of reform demolished the bulwarks of their monopoly, the -twenty-four were sole masters and arbiters. It was they who had the -right to decide who should sit in Parliament for the ancient town—they -and they alone. But how that right was exercised, if we except the bare -list of the Council’s nominees, there is for a long period no evidence -to show. - -However, there was always material for a deal, and in the former half of -the eighteenth century Tiverton already figures as a political -tied-house. The overlordship afterwards acquired by the Ryder family was -then vested in a politician of some note, who in 1728 was one of the -representatives of Tiverton, though the Parliamentary connection of his -house with Honiton was even closer and of much longer standing, lasting, -indeed, from 1640 to 1796. We allude to Sir William Yonge. Martin -Dunsford, the first real historian of Tiverton, describes him as “a -popular man and closely attached to the minister, Sir Robert Walpole,” -adding that he “had great influence over the leading members of the -Corporation of Tiverton, and generally directed their choice of -burgesses.” The same writer, referring to Sir Edward Montague and -Charles Gore, Esquire, who in 1761 held one of the seats successively, -makes bold to assert that “there is reason to believe these members were -never in Tiverton, but bargained for their seats at a distance either -with Sir William Yonge or with Oliver Peard, Esq., the _primum mobile_, -of the Corporation.” With regard to the former, there is clearly some -misapprehension, as he had died in 1755, but the tradition that this -eminent Devonshire worthy was dictator at Tiverton must have rested on a -solid foundation. It behoves us, therefore, to render some further -account of him. - -In the course of his successful career Sir William, who was the fourth -holder of the baronetcy, became one of the Lords of the Treasury, and on -the restoration of the order in 1725, was created a Knight of the Bath. -Subsequently he was appointed Secretary at War and Privy Councillor, and -over and above these political distinctions, was entitled to write after -his name the honourable symbols LL.D. and F.R.S. As Dunsford implies, he -was a great personal friend of Walpole, and his support was of -inestimable value to that statesman, “the glory of the Whigs.” Outside -the house he does not appear to have counted (save, of course, in -Devonshire), but inside, partly by reason of his high ability, and -partly on account of his voice, which is stated to have been peculiarly -melodious, his speeches were eagerly listened to. One curious fact -preserved concerning him is that Sir Robert could speak from notes taken -by Yonge, and by no other. - -During the local supremacy of this statesman, and doubtless under his -auspices and sponsorship, there was introduced to the Corporation of -Tiverton a member of the Bar, Dudley Ryder, Esq., who in 1735 became -their representative. In 1741, the same gentleman, but now known as Sir -Dudley Ryder, Solicitor-General, was re-elected; and he continued to -hold the seat until 1754, when he was elevated to the great office of -Lord Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench. Mr. Nathaniel Thomas Ryder -succeeded him, but only for a short time, after which Mr. Nathaniel -Ryder occupied the seat, and remained one of the members till, in 1776, -he was called to the House of Lords by the title of Baron Harrowby. As -the Hon. Dudley Ryder was still an infant, Mr. John Wilmot was permitted -to fill the vacancy, but on the clear understanding that he would at the -proper time make way for Lord Harrowby’s son and heir. This condition -was eventually carried out in the most honourable manner, and, on the -part of Lord Harrowby, with a patriotic regard for the public interests. - -Thus, little by little and step by step, the Ryders firmly consolidated -their political influence in the town, and though only one of the seats -was claimed for a member of the family, the other seat also was -evidently at their disposal. This for a long series of years was -entrusted to the Duntzes, rich merchants of Exeter, who became baronets. -Apart from politics, the Ryders had no connection with Devonshire, which -they seldom visited, but Sir John Duntze, living at Rockbeare, and a -member of the Tiverton Corporation, was able to keep a watchful eye on -the local barometer, of whose subtle changes he (and most of his -colleagues) kept Lord Harrowby sedulously and punctually informed -through the post. On the other hand, poor Duntze, a perfect martyr to -rheumatism, experienced, owing to the exposure of the long journey by -coach, considerable difficulty in attending to his Parliamentary duties, -and for practical purposes Lord Harrowby, or his nominee, was the London -agent of the Tiverton Corporation. From the point of view of convenience -no arrangement could have been happier. - -The above remarks apply to the first Lord Harrowby and the first Sir -John Duntze. The second Lord Harrowby, after a distinguished official -career, was advanced to the dignity of an earldom, and locally much -regret was expressed that he did not take his second title from the town -so long represented by his grandfather, his father, and himself. Had -this been the case, the present Lord Chancellor, whose eldest son enjoys -the courtesy title of Viscount Tiverton, must have looked elsewhere for -a subsidiary territorial designation. The second Sir John Duntze lived -at Tiverton in a large house, which he either erected or restored for -himself in the centre of the town; and an old man named Court, who is -still alive, but almost totally blind, told me a year or two since of a -lively incident which he can remember as taking place in front of the -floridly decorated mansion. The potwallopers of the place, he said, -organized a torchlight procession, the principal feature of which was a -cavalcade of four-and-twenty bedizened donkeys. The point could not be -missed. The asses were aggressively emblematic of the “corporators,” and -their riders of the family of which Lord Harrowby was the head. - -In 1832, the Parliamentary connection ended with the passage of the -Reform Bill. The alliance had always been with the Corporation rather -than with the town, although many of the inhabitants, directly and -indirectly, had been repeatedly benefited by the generous consideration -of Lord Harrowby and his relations. There was, however, in the town a -strong body of malcontents numerous enough to carry their point, and a -potent counter-attraction had arisen in the person of Mr. John -Heathcoat, a resident manufacturer, whom his opponents derisively styled -“Lord Tiverton.” In view of these facts, Lord Harrowby’s friends felt it -their duty to notify him that no member or adherent of his family would -stand a chance of being returned at the approaching open election. The -members of the Common Council, loyal to the end, refused the least -countenance or support to any of the new candidates until his lordship’s -wishes had been disclosed, but the day of their predominance was already -past. Politically, the game was up. Both Lord Harrowby and his brother, -the Hon. Richard Ryder, consented to remain members of the Corporation, -but three years later the “iron hand of Parliament,” as the Town Clerk -expressed it, “terminated the long continuance and interchange of -friendly communications.” At present the chief, if not the sole -surviving, link between the family of Ryder and Tiverton is the large -share of the ecclesiastical patronage of the borough still in the hands -of Lord Harrowby. - -And now for the Ryder correspondence. The earliest letters appear to -date from the time when the Georgian lawyer was elevated to the bench -and the seat which he had occupied, no doubt to his immense advantage, -passed by inheritance to his son, then a young man fresh from college. -We have the very epistles written by the gentleman whom Dunsford so -grandly names “the _primum mobile_ of the Corporation,” congratulating -him on taking his master’s degree and absolving him from the unnecessary -trouble of a journey to the south in order to attend his cut-and-dried -election. A letter from Mr. Osmond acquaints him with the departure from -the town of a “pretty partner” whose lively manners had enhanced the -enjoyment of a visit, whilst the member for Tiverton was yet a callow -bachelor. Eight years later Mr. Ryder had joined the noble army of -Benedicks, and then we find Mrs. Peard afflicted with an unselfish -anxiety to gratify his lady with a fine collection of shells. - -Such pleasing gifts were the regular accompaniment and sweetener of the -more serious transactions, the graver obligations which formed the -mainstay of the connection. On the part of the members there was the -annual present of a pair of bucks for the municipal banquet, and one of -the oddest passages in this vast epistolary jungle is to be found in a -letter of Sir John Duntze, in which he informs his colleague that a -member of the Corporation, on bad terms with another member, announced -as the ostensible cause of the quarrel, that he had been improperly -helped to venison on the occasion of this important festival. Allusions -to the subject are so frequent and unctuous, that one is tempted to -conclude that in those gay, convivial days the yearly consignment of -venison was a more considerable factor in the case than we should now -deem possible. Thus, Mr. Mayor observes, with the distinctive air of a -man of the world:— - - We had on Thursday the Grand Dinner, when ninety-four gentlemen dined - with me, amongst whom was Sir Rich. Bampfylde and Mr. Ackland, eldest - son of Sir Thos. Ackland, who is going to be married to Sir Rich^d’s - second daughter, a most amiable lady. This is a very great alliance - for Sir Richard Bampfylde’s family, and will be the means of keeping - everything quiet in the county. - -This brings us to the topic of the social status of the Corporation, -which was comparatively high. Its critics, indeed, complained that it -included attornies, “very improper persons to be elected”; and the -members were frequently laughed at for “having Mayors in trade.” In -reply to this heavy indictment it was alleged by one of their number -that at least twenty-two out of the twenty-four had landed property -either in the town or in the parish. This was in 1831. In the reign of -William and Mary the “burgesses” are described some as esquires, others -as merchants, and one or two as yeomen; and this standard, there is -reason to think, was consistently maintained. Tiverton, it may be well -to say, was for centuries an important centre of the woollen trade. -Instead of one big factory, as now, for the production of lace, there -were many modest firms engaged in the manufacture and sale of serges, -etc., and consequently the Common Council was, above all things, the -valued preserve of families enriched by commerce, some of whom had -acquired all the attributes of gentle birth and breeding. Mr. Worth, of -Worth, and Mr. Cruwys, of Cruwys Morchard, belonged to two of the oldest -families of Devon, and an ancestor of the former had sat in Parliament -for Tiverton in days when the choice of members was apparently free and -unfettered. With such the Ryders corresponded in the most genial, -unaffected, and friendly way, and, in their somewhat infrequent visits -to the place, were glad to accept their hospitality. They would, for -instance, occasionally stay with Mr. Dickinson, of Knightshayes, an -ancestor of the present Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Sir W. H. -Walrond), and once, at least, Air. George Owen, of Lowman Green, was -honoured by a surprise visit from the younger nobleman. - -In the year 1808, this second Lord Harrowby condescended to be Mayor—a -concession which resulted in a somewhat diverting misconception. It -appears that a Barnstaple correspondent, interested in the working of -the mails, had written to him in the belief that he was a “common or -garden” mayor—a plain Mr. Mayor. His consternation on learning the truth -does not need to be imagined, for he has pictured it himself:— - - I was much mortified at my ignorance at the receipt of your Lordship’s - letter, for which I beg to apologize. Far from having the least idea - that the Corporation of Tiverton was so highly respected and had the - Honor of a Nobleman of your Lordship’s High Rank for Mayor, I - naturally concluded it to be an open borough like Barnstaple. - -Lord Harrowby was coached for the inaugural ceremonies by the cousins -Wood, the elder of whom, Mr. Beavis Wood, who long filled the office of -Town Clerk, was by far the shrewdest of the Ryders’ multitudinous -correspondents. Even now his clever, incisive letters, lit up with many -a happy jest, are a pleasure to peruse, and neither in his earlier nor -in his later ones was he inclined to spare the feelings and -eccentricities of those with whom his lot was cast. Thus, on August 5th, -1808, he writes:— - - The Mayor now again produced your Lordship’s Letter, desiring to know - the answer they might [deem?] it proper for him to give to it, when - they unanimously acknowledged your Lordship’s kind offer, and gladly - consented to embrace it, and elect you Mayor for the ensuing year. The - Business being unanimous, to be sure on that account from such an - offer it must be pleasant; but those assembled on this occasion did - not look like _old Christians_ in old Times at previous meetings on - such occasions. Twelve o’clock by Day is always a dull, dry time, when - old Tiverton aldermen never met to do chearful Business, as they could - not fix their Nominee by drinking his Health. Father Tucker gave the - Company a Hint of it, but it had no effect. I suppose as those of the - Junta are now under pantile Influence, and have turned their Backs on - our Lord Bishop, they will leave off drinking wine, unless when quite - by themselves. - -_Tempora mutantur._ Of the old times and the old Christians Mr. Wood had -told Lord Harrowby not a few entertaining stories, which are still -preserved in his faded but excellent handwriting. Possibly at some -future date they may be printed for the benefit of students of human -nature, together with extracts from other correspondence, but with one -more specimen of his admirable humour this paper must be brought to a -close. - - Sept. 17, 1775. - - This afternoon according to the usual Custom the Corporation attended - the new Mayor to Church, but before the Procession moved from the Town - House, there happened a very unseasonable altercation and Dispute - between Mr. Osmond, Mr. Mayor, and Mr. Lewis about the priority of - reading the newspapers which are sent here directed to you. For since - the late spite commenced, and almost during the whole of Mr. Lewis’s - Mayoralty, care has been taken to prevent the newspapers coming to Mr. - Osmond’s hands, and they have been sent about to persons out of the - Corporation. Words grew high and rough, and this mad Trio did not end - ’till each had called the other a damned Liar. Mr. Atherton[28] was - present, and being met to go to church, the Magistrates recollected - themselves, and after their return from prayers they looked at one - another as quietly as if nothing had happened. - ------ - -Footnote 28: - - The Rev. Philip Atherton, M.A., Headmaster of Blundell’s School, and a - member of the Corporation. - ------ - - - INDEX - - - Abbey of St. Rumon, Tavistock, 5, 73. - Abbot of Buckfast, former town house of, 68. - Abbot of Tavistock, Aldred, 118. - ” ” Banham, John, 119. - ” ” Campbell, John, 118. - ” ” Chubbe, John, 118. - ” ” Cullyng, Thomas, 118. - ” ” de Courtenay, John, 118. - ” ” Denyngton, John, 119. - ” ” Langdon, Stephen, 119. - ” ” Lyfing, 118. - ” ” Peryn, John, 119. - Abbot Sithric, last Saxon Abbot of Tavistock, 8. - Adelaide, Queen, at “Clarence,” Exeter, 76. - Adye, Rev. Frederick, Romance of, 203. - Albemarle, George Monk, Duke of, 133. - Alexander, Plans of Mr. David, 201. - Alfred the Great, Relief of Exeter by, 4. - Amicia, Countess of Devon, 48. - Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall, 177. - Annals of Chagford, 10. - Apollo Room, New Inn, Exeter, 67-69. - Archbishop of Canterbury, William Courtenay, 50. - Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Temple, 60. - Armada, Coming of the, 93. - ” Fight with the, 92. - Arms of Sir George Treby, Plympton Guildhall, 195. - Arundel, Sir Humphrey, 11, 82, 83. - Asser, Saxon Chronicle of, 4. - Athelstan, Charter to Barnstaple from King, 276. - ” Drives Britons out of Exeter, 3. - Athos, Founder of illustrious family, 34. - Attack on Pensaulcoit, 3. - - Babb, Lieutenant Colonel, 261. - ” ” ” Tablet of, 262. - Babbage, Charles, famous mathematician, 166. - Babbage, Miss Juliana, 166. - Ball, Barnstaple Fair, 281. - Barclay, Alexander, “Stultifera Navis” of, 211. - Barnstaple Borough, 295. - ” ” Charter to, 276. - ” ” records, 278. - ” Fair, 276, 281, 284. - ” poem on, 282. - ” Guildhall, 280. - ” Quay Hall, 280. - Baronet, First Devonshire, 71. - Baskerville, Sir Simon, Mural tablet of, 65. - Bastard, Mr. William, of Kitley, 255. - Battle of Stratton, 105. - ” ” Steinkirk, 113. - “Bear Inn,” The, Exeter, 73. - Bearne, Story of Miss Joan, 175. - Beaufort, Duke of, 256. - Beer, Harbour construction at, 274. - ” birthplace of Jack Rattenbury, 264. - ” return to, of Jack Rattenbury, 268, 269. - ” to Thorverton Canal, 274. - Bercle, David, Prior of Plympton, 186. - Berry Pomeroy, Sir Edward Seymour of, 71. - Bideford, Importance of, 9. - Bishop of Exeter, Peter Courtenay, 56. - Black Prince, Relations of Exeter with the, 8. - Blake, Admiral, Death of, 95. - ” ” Pursuit of Van Tromp, 112. - Blewitt, account of the landing of the Prince of Orange, 161–163. - Blewitt, “Panorama of Torquay,” 172. - “Bob’s Nose” headland, 273. - Boger, Mr. Deeble, Recorder of Plympton, 192. - Bompas, cross-examination by Mr. Sergeant, 275. - Bonville, Lady Cicely, 210. - Bray, Mrs., description of Druidic remains, 2. - Bray, Mrs., Local tales of, 116. - “Brevia Parliamentaria,” Prynne’s, 287. - British Revolution, George Moore’s History of the, 287. - Brooke, Christopher, 123. - Browne, William, Tavistock poet, 117–212. - Brutus, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24. - ” Stone, 24. - Brut, Tysilio, 23. - ” Gr. ab Arthur, 23. - Buller, Francis, puisne judge, 214. - Burnet, Dr., proclamation of the Prince of Orange, 17, 174. - Burritt, reminiscences of Elihu, 94. - Butler, Samuel, caricaturist in verse, 218. - - Cadhay, Ottery St. Mary, 213. - Caer, Pensauelcoit, 31. - Canal, Beer to Thorverton, 274. - Canterbury, William Courtenay, Archbishop of, 50. - Canute, 4. - Captain Cook, departure from Plymouth, 96. - Capture of Jack Rattenbury by French privateer, 266. - Cardinal Reginald Pole, 52. - Carew, Sir Peter, 11, 70, 83. - ” Sir Gawen, 11, 70, 83. - Carew’s “Survey of Cornwall,” 27. - Cargoes from Cherbourg, 273. - Cary, Colonel, 261. - Castle of Rougemont, 8. - ” Plympton, 177, 178. - ” Salcombe, 15. - Cathedral, ancient, of Cornwall, 177. - Catskin Earls, Origin of, 59. - Catullus, 145. - Chagford, Annals of, 10. - Chancellor, Earl of Halsbury, present Lord, 291. - ” of the Duchy of Lancaster, present, 294. - Chanters House, quarters of Sir Thomas Fairfax, 213. - Chapel at Ottery St. Mary, Independent, 214. - Charles I., King, 94. - ” Lord Lansdowne, 112. - Cherbourg, cargoes from, 273. - Chronicle of Higden, 31. - Church, Colyton, Effigy of Lady Pole in, 244. - Church, Plympton Town, 190. - ” ” St. Mary, 189. - ” St. Germans, 177. - Churchyard, ring of Mary, 164. - “Clarence” Inn, Exeter, 74. - ” ” ” Duchess of Clarence at the, 76. - Clinton, Captain Lord, 253. - Close, house in the, 68. - Cluobrera, Gabriello, the Pindar of Italy, 222. - Clyst St. Mary, 85. - Coke, Sir Edward, on Magna Carta, 285. - Coleridge, Rev. John, 212, 214. - ” ” George, 212. - ” ” Samuel Taylor, Birthplace of, 214. - Collection of manuscripts, 284. - College of Ottery St. Mary, 211. - Collins, Mary, maid to Mrs. Bray, 117. - Collins, Rev. Robert, Nonconformist leader, 213, 214. - Comte de Chambord, Funeral of the, 46. - Consort, late Prince, visit to the Duchy Estates, 208. - Convention Room, 213. - Convict Settlement, Formation of, 208. - Coplestone Cross, 7. - Coplestones of White Spur, Race of the, 7. - Corinæus, 25. - ” Rule of, 20. - ” Combat of, 21. - Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, 68. - Cottenham, First Earl of, 58, 61, 62. - Cotton, R. W., on Barnstaple, 132. - Courtenay, Baronetcy refused by family of, 57. - ” Barony refused by family of, 57. - ” Edward, 53–55. - ” Edward Baldwin, 12th Earl of Devon, 61. - ” Henry, 80. - ” Henry Hugh, 13th Earl of Devon, 61, 89. - ” Henry Reginald, Lord, 61. - ” John, 50. - ” Lord, 260. - ” Made Viscount, 57. - ” Peter, Bishop of Exeter, 56, 183. - ” Philip, 49. - ” Sir Hugh, 49, 180. - ” Sir William, 51. - ” Sir William of Powderham, 56, 122, 172. - ” Thomas, 80. - ” William, 9th Earl of Devon, 59. - ” William, 10th Earl of Devon, 59. - ” William Reginald, 11th Earl of Devon, 60. - Courtneie, Sir Peter, Sheriff of Exeter, 83. - Coverdale, Myles, 77. - ” translator of the Bible, 169. - Crediton, town of, 6, 83. - Crockern Tor Parliament, 9. - Cynewulf, King of Wessex, 3. - Cruwys, Mr., of Cruwys Morchard—old Devon family, 294. - - Danes at Exmouth, 4. - Dartmoor, King Edgar on, 6. - ” Pre-historic Remains on, 1. - ” Rowe’s, 209. - Dartmouth Castle, Last Governor of, 167. - ” Charming, 9. - ” French Vessel taken at, 18. - ” Jail, 271. - ” Trade with Newfoundland, 12. - Davidson, J. B., of Secktor, 155. - Davy, Birthplace of Edward, 216. - Dean Bourn, 146. - ” Court, 143. - ” Prior, Village of, 141, 143. - Debrun, Ponce Denis, Pindar of France, 222. - de Courtenay, Baldwin, 43. - ” ” Jocelyn, 35, 39. - ” ” ” II., 36. - ” ” ” III., 37. - ” ” ” IV., 38. - ” ” Peter, 41. - ” ” Reginald, 39, 40. - ” ” Robert, 42. - ” ” William, 39. - de Courteney, John, Abbot of Tavistock, 118. - ” ” Reginald, 47. - ” ” Robert, 48. - de Grandisson, John, 80. - de Grenville, First Sir Richard, 99. - ” ” Sir Richard, Marshal of Calais, 99. - ” ” Sir Richard, Capture of Spanish Vessel, 100. - ” ” Sir Roger, sea captain, 99. - Delaney, letters of Mrs., 246. - Denyngton, John, Abbot of Tavistock, 118. - De Quincey, Anecdote of, 214. - Devon, Amicia, Countess of, 48. - ” Edward Baldwin, 12th Earl of, 61. - ” Edward, Earl of, 55. - ” Henry Hugh, 13th Earl of, 61, 89. - ” Notes to Risdon’s, 201. - ” William, 10th Earl of, 57. - ” William Reginald, 11th Earl of, 60. - Dickinson, Mr., of Knightshayes, 294. - Dodbrooke, birthplace of Dr. John Wolcot, 219. - Dodderidge, Effigy of Lady, 244. - “Dolphin” Inn at Exeter, 71, 72. - Dolvin Road, 124. - Dorot, Jean, a French Pindar, 222. - “Dover,” adventures of the, 264. - Drake, Sir Francis, 90, 91, 93, 192. - ” ” Statue of, 121. - Drayton, Michael, poet, 27, 123, 129, 213. - Drewe, John and Edward, of Killerton, 72. - Druids in Devon, 2. - Duchess of Clarence (afterwards Queen Adelaide) at Exeter, 76. - Duchy of Lancaster, present Chancellor of, 294. - Dugdale, copying register, 47. - Duke of Kent at Exeter, 76. - ” ” ” Death of, 19. - “Duke of Millaine,” Massinger’s, 130. - Duncan, Arrival in Exeter of Lord, 76. - Dunsford, Martin, historian of Tiverton, 289. - Duntze, family of, 291. - - Earl of Cottenham, Mr. Pepys, afterwards first, 58, 61, 62. - Earl Ethelwold, 5. - Earl of Harrowby’s present to Tiverton, 284. - Earl of Torrington, George Monk, 133. - Earls, Catskin, Origin of, 59. - Eastlake, First school of Sir Charles, 196. - Eddystone Lighthouse, Completion of, 95. - Edgar, King, 5. - Edith, Queen, 7. - Edward the Confessor, 7. - Edward I. varies direction of writs, 286. - Effigy of Lady Pole, 244. - ” ” ” Dodderidge, 244. - Elfrida, Loveliness of, 5. - Elizabeth, Queen, 239. - Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke Nicholas, afterwards, 76. - Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke, 128. - Ethelwolf, Saxon King, 181. - Evans, Poetry and prose of Miss Rachel, 117. - Exeter, 3, 85, 86. - ” Arrival of Lord Duncan at, 76. - ” “Bear Inn” at, 73, 233. - ” “Clarence” at, 74. - ” Danes at, 4. - ” “Dolphin Inn” at, 71, 72. - ” Free Republic of, 7. - ” Headquarters of the Danes at, 4. - ” Henry, first Marquis of, 51, 52. - ” History of, Jenkin’s, 73. - ” “Mermaid” Inn at, 69. - ” “New” Inn, 63–68. - ” Peter Courtenay, Bishop of, 56. - ” Royalist, 13. - ” Sieges of, 8, 10, 87. - ” William Warelwast, Bishop of, 182. - Exmouth, Danes at, 4. - - Fair ball, Barnstaple, 281. - Fair, poem on Barnstaple, 282. - Fairfax, Letter to Speaker from General, 136. - ” March to Great Torrington by General, 133. - ” Sir Thomas, 213. - ” Sir Thomas, Wonderful preservation of, 138. - Field, Mr. Barron, on Dean Prior, 153. - Firing of Teignmouth, 18. - First Earl of Cottenham, Pepys, afterwards, 58, 61, 62. - First Marquis of Exeter, 51. - Foote, Maria, celebrated actress, 75. - Former Town Mansion of Abbot of Buckfast, 68. - Fortescue, Lord, 256. - ” Lieutenant-Colonel, 260. - ” Sir Edmund, 14. - Freemasons, French, in England, 206. - Free Republic of Exeter, 7. - French landing at Torquay, 18. - French privateer, capture by, 266. - Froude on Sir Richard Grenville, 100. - Fuller on bone lace, 241. - - Geoffrey, of Monmouth, 21. - George III., Memorial to son of, 19. - ” ” Visit to Exeter, 233. - Gilbert, Adrian and Humphry, 12. - Glanville of Kilworthy, Judge, 124. - ” John, 125. - ” Sir Francis, 125. - Goegmagot, 25. - Gogmagog, 27, 28. - Grammar School of Plymouth, 197. - ” ” Kingsbridge, 223. - Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosmo III., 68. - ” ” Nicholas received by Samuel Foote, 76. - Grandisson, Bishop, 185, 210. - Granville, George, created Lord Lansdown, 114. - ” Lord of Potheridge, 112. - ” Sir Bevill, at Steinkirk, 113. - Gray, Monument of Thomas, 222. - Great Coplestones, race of, 7. - ” Torrington, Fight at, 133. - Grenville, Bevill, supporter of Charles I., 104. - ” ” knighted at Berwick, 105. - ” ” brother of Sir Richard, 122. - ” John, drowned, 104. - ” 2nd John, leads charge at Lansdown, 108. - ” 2nd John, knighted at Bristol, 110. - ” John, brother of Sir Bevill, Flight of, 122. - ” Sir John, flight to Scilly Isles, 111. - ” Sir Richard, 108. - ” 3rd Sir Richard, fight with Spanish at Flores, 103. - ” 3rd Sir Richard Death of, 104. - ” 4th Sir Richard, Death in exile of, 110. - “Greyhound,” lieutenant of the, 269. - Grosart, Mr., statement _re_ brasses, 142. - Guildhall, Barnstaple, 280. - - Hall, Barnstaple Quay, 280. - Hamoaze, The, 26. - Hamo’s, Port, 26. - Hanmer, Londonderry, 250. - Harbour construction at Beer, scheme for, 274. - Harris, Form of parole by Captain Vernon, 204. - Harris, Pamphlet by Captain Vernon, 203. - Harrowby, present Earl of, 284. - Harrowby, 1st Lord, 290–291, 295. - ” 2nd Lord, first Earl, 291. - Hawker, Sketch by late Reverend Treasurer, 232–234. - Hawkins, Sir John, 12, 92. - ” William, 12. - Haydon, Benjamin, last visit to Grammar School, 196. - Headland, “Bob’s Nose,” 273. - Heathcoat, Mr. John, “Lord Tiverton,” 292. - Hele, Sir John, distinguished lawyer, 192. - Henry Courtenay, first Marquis of Exeter, 51, 52. - Heydon, Curious certificate of Rev. John, 138, 139. - Higden, Chronicle of, 31. - Hill, Colonel, in Portugal, 251. - Historian of Tiverton, Martin Dunsford, 289. - History of Kingsbridge, 237. - ” ” Torquay, 172. - “History of the British Revolution,” George Moore’s, 287. - Hoker, John, _alias_ of John Vowell, 81. - Holdsworth, Governor of Dartmouth Castle, 167. - Honiton, 238. - ” Mrs. Lydia Maynard of, 243. - Hopton, Defeat of Lord, 133, 135. - Horace, 145. - Howard, Disposal of estates of Lady, 122. - ” Lord Thomas, 101. - ” Romance of Lady, 121. - - Ilfracombe, 9. - Independent Chapel, Ottery St. Mary, 214. - Ine, King of West Saxons, 3. - Ingelow, Jean, poem on Eddystone Lighthouse, 95. - Inns of Court, lawyers of, 286. - Inscriptions, Ogham, 6. - Isaacke, Chronicler, 8. - - Jail, Dartmouth, 271. - Jenkin’s History of Exeter, 73. - Johnson, Dr., on Inns, 63. - ” ” visit to Devonshire, 198. - Jonson, Ben, on Browne’s “Britannia’s Pastorals,” 124. - - Keats on Cider making, 146. - Kennicott, Dr., 214. - Kerslake, Mr. T., 30. - Killerton, John and Edward Drewe of, 72. - King Charles besieging Plymouth, 15. - ” Stephen, 8. - Kinglake, W., 215. - Kingsbridge Grammar School, 233. - King’s Grammar School, Ottery, 212. - Knightshayes, Mr. Dickinson of, 294. - - Lacy, Petition to Bishop, 184. - Lamb, Schoolfellow of Charles, 215. - Lancaster, ancestor of present Chancellor of Duchy of, 294. - Landing of the Prince of Orange, 16. - Langdon, Stephen, Abbot of Tavistock, 119. - Lansdown, Attack on Sir William Waller at, 107. - Lansdown, Charles, Lord, 112. - Larkham, Thomas, Puritan incumbent, 116. - Last Governor of Dartmouth Castle, Letter from, 167. - Late Prince Consort, visit to Dartmoor, 208. - Lawyers of Inns of Court, 286. - Leicester, Earl of, 287. - Leland on Plympton Castle, 178, 179, 181. - Leofric, Bishop, 7. - Letter to Dr. Oliver, 186. - Lieutenant of the “Greyhound,” enmity of, 269. - Lighthouse, First Eddystone, 95. - Lord Russell, 11. - Lowman Green, Tiverton, Mr. George Owen of, 294. - Lydford Law, Satire on, 128. - Lyte, Communication from Rev. H. F., 161. - Lyte, Rev. H. F., presentation to William IV., 162. - - Mackenzie, Colonel, 256. - Magna Carta, 285. - Manuscripts, collection of, 284 - Marquis of Worcester, 250. - Massinger’s “Duke of Millaine,” 130. - Maurice, Prince, 15. - ” ” at Chard, 107. - “Mayflower,” Sailing of the, 94. - Maynard, John, eminent townsman, 126. - ” Sir John, Lord Commissioner, 155. - ” Sir John, Recorder of Brixham, 156. - ” Sir John represents Plympton, 192. - ” of Honiton, Mrs. Lydia, 243. - “Mermaid” Inn at Exeter, 69. - Monk, George, Duke of Albemarle, in Scotland, 109. - Monk, George, Duke of Albemarle, Restoration of Charles II., 112, 133. - Monmouth Rebellion, 16. - Montgomery, Colonel, 251. - ” Lord, 250. - Monument to Sir William Strode, 190. - ” to Thomas Gray, 222. - Moore’s “History of the British Revolution,” 287. - “Mother Molly,” Miss Peard’s, 255. - Mural Tablet to Sir Simon Baskerville, 65. - - Napoleon on board the _Bellerophon_, 96. - Nennius, 22. - Newfoundland seized, 12. - “New Inn,” Exeter, 63–67. - ” ” ” Apollo room in the, 67–69. - ” ” ” “Inne Halle,” 66. - Norden, John, 79. - Northcote, Education of, 196. - ” Sir Stafford, 260. - Notes to Risdon’s “Devonshire,” 201. - - Offering to Richard III., 10. - Ogham Inscriptions, 6. - Oldham, Visitation to Plympton Priory by Bishop, 186. - Oliver, Dr., 69, 182, 183, 186. - ” ” Letter to, 186. - Opie, John, 228, 229, 237. - Orchard, Colonel, 256. - Ordulf, founder of St. Rumon’s Abbey, 5. - Owen, Mr. George, of Lowman Green, Tiverton, 294. - - Paignton, Bible Tower at, 169. - Palgrave, Sir Francis, Theory of, 4. - Palk, Captain Walter, 261. - “Panorama of Torquay,” Blewitt’s, 161, 172. - Parliament, Crockern Tor, 9. - Peard, Miss, 255. - Peeke, Exploits in Spain of Richard, 127. - Pembroke, Ann Clifford, Countess of, 287. - ” Epitaph on the Countess of, 128. - “Pendennis,” Thackeray’s, 215. - Pensaulcoit, Attack on, 3. - ” Caer, 31. - Penselwood, 31. - Perkin Warbeck, 11. - Perry-Keene, Rev., Vicar of Dean Prior, 141. - Peryn, John, Abbot of Tavistock, 119. - Peters, Hugh, Puritan preacher, 138. - Petre, Master William, 71. - Pindar, first lyric poet of Bœotia, 219. - Pindars, French and Italian, 222. - Pixie’s Parlour, 215. - Plato on birds, 144. - Plymouth, 12. - ” Port of, 89. - ” Siege of, 15, 25. - Plympton, 176. - ” Castle, 177, 178. - ” Grammar School, 196. - ” Guildhall, 195. - ” David Bercle, Prior of, 186. - ” Priory, 181, 182, 187. - ” St. Mary Church, 190. - ” Town Church, 190. - Pode, J. S., 256. - Poem, “Barnstaple Fair,” 282. - Pole, Cardinal Reginald, 52. - ” Effigy of Lady, 244. - ” Influence of Sir William, 274. - Polwhele, 2, 213. - “Polyolbion,” Drayton’s, 27. - Pomeroy, Sir Humphry, 11. - Port, Hamo’s, 26. - Port of Topsham, 9. - Poulain, Interesting book of Mons. Jules, 203. - Powderham, Sir William Courtenay of, 56. - Powderham, Viscount Courtenay of, 57. - Pre-historic Remains on Dartmoor, 1. - Present Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster, 294. - Prideaux, Colonel Sir Edmund, 262. - Prince Consort, the late, visit to Duchy Estates, 208. - ” Maurice, 15, 107. - ” of Orange, Landing of the, 16. - ” “Worthies of Devon,” 73. - Princess Henrietta Anne, born at Exeter, 13. - Privateer, capture by French, 266. - Privateering, 264. - Prynne’s “Brevia Parliamentaria,” 288. - Pym, John, 125. - - Quay Hall, Barnstaple, 280. - Queen Adelaide, 246. - ” ” at the “Clarence,” Exeter, 76. - ” Elizabeth, Fondness for dress of, 239. - ” Victoria, 246. - ” ” Early home of, 19. - - Raleigh, Sir Walter, 13, 212. - Rattenbury, Jack, amusing cross-examination of, 275. - ” ” birthplace at Beer, 264, 274. - ” ” capture by French privateer, 266. - ” ” pension allowed to, 275. - Rebellion of Monmouth, 16. - Records, Barnstaple Borough, 278. - Republic, Free, of Exeter, 7. - Revolt of Scilly Isles, 111. - Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 176. - ” ” ” admiration of cloisters, 197. - ” Sir Joshua, Appreciation of, 227, 229. - ” Sir Joshua, astonished by the King, 199. - ” Sir Joshua, Birth of, 198. - Richard II., Offering to, 10. - Risdon’s Notes to “Devonshire,” 201. - ” Honiton, 238. - Rivers, Sir Richard, 178. - Rolle, Lord, 260, 268, 272, 274, 275. - ” Sir John, 68. - ” ” ” House in the close, 68. - Roope, Mr. Nicholas, first openly to espouse the Prince of Orange, 167. - Roscommon, nephew of Strafford, 126. - Rougemont Castle, 8. - Rowe’s “Dartmoor,” Information derived from, 209. - Russell, Lord, 11, 83, 86. - ” Arthur, 121. - ” John, Leader of Reform, 121. - ” William, Patriot, 121. - Russells of Tavistock, The, 121. - Ryder, family of, 290–296. - - St. Boniface of Germany, 3. - St. German’s Church, ancient cathedral, 177. - St. Mary’s Church, Plympton, 189. - Salcombe Castle, 15. - Sampford Courtney, 82. - ” ” Battle of, 87. - ” ” Whitsun Monday at, 83. - Saxon Abbots, Last of Tavistock, 8. - Saxons, The, 3. - “Saxon School” of Tavistock, 118. - Scilly Isles, Revolt of the, 111. - Seale, Letter to Sir H. P., 167. - Secktor, Mr. J. B. Davidson of, 155. - Secretary of State, Sir Joseph Williamson, 287. - Seizure of Newfoundland, 12. - Sergeant Bompas, amusing cross-examination by, 275 - Seymour, Lord, 261. - ” Sir Edward, Proposal of, 17. - ” Sir Edward, the younger, 167 - Ship of Fools, “Stultifera Navis,” 211. - Siege of Plymouth, 15, 25. - Sieges of Exeter, 8, 10. - Sithric, Abbot, 8. - Slanning, Sir Nicholas, at the siege of Bristol, 192. - Smith, Mr. Goldwin, 81. - Snell, John, 15. - Sonnet to the River Otter, 215. - Speke, Arrival of Hugh, 17. - Spenser, 27. - Sprigge, Joshua, Chaplain to Fairfax, 133. - Stamford, Earl of, Parliamentarian commander, 105. - Stapledon, Bishop, consecrates Plympton Church, 183. - Statue of Sir Francis Drake, 121. - Steinkirk, Battle of, 113. - Stephen, King, 8, 179. - Stokes, Mr. H. S., as West Country poet, 117. - Stratton, Battle at, 105–107. - Strode, Sir William, member for Plympton, 192. - Strode, Sir William, Monument to, 190. - “Stultifera Navis,” or Ship of Fools, 211. - Survey of Cornwall, Carew’s, 27. - Sweyn, Revenge of, 4. - - Tablet to Lieutenant-Colonel Babb, 261. - Tavistock Abbey, 5, 73. - ” Beauty of, 116. - ” Last Saxon Abbot of, 8. - ” Tamar side of, 131. - ” Town Mansion of Abbots of, 73. - Teignmouth, Firing of, 18. - Temple, Dr., Archbishop of Canterbury, 60. - Thackeray, Youthful home of, 215. - The Armada, Appearance off Plymouth of, 93. - ” College of Ottery St. Mary, 211. - ” Conqueror, William, 7. - ” Convention Room, Ottery St. Mary, 213. - ” “Dover,” adventures of, 265. - ” Earl of Leicester, 287. - ” Earl of Stamford, 105. - ” “Greyhound,” lieutenant of, 269. - ” Guildhall, Barnstaple, 280. - ” Hamoaze, 26. - ” Marquis of Worcester, 250. - ” _Mayflower_, Sailing of, 94. - ” present Lord Chancellor, 291. - ” Prince of Orange, Landing of, 16. - ” Quay Hall, Barnstaple, 280. - ” _Revenge_, naval battle at Flores, 101, 102. - ” ” Surrender of, 103. - ” River Otter, Sonnet to, 215. - ” Russells of Tavistock, 121. - ” Saxons, 3. - ” _Tiger_, Sir Richard Grenville’s Ship, 100. - Theory of Sir Francis Palgrave, 4. - Thorverton, canal from Beer to, 274. - Thurlestone, Vicar of, 15. - Tiverton, 243, 284–296. - Tiverton, Martin Dunsford, historian of, 289. - Topsham, Port of, 9. - Torquay, French landing at, 18. - Torrington, George Monk, Earl of, 133. - Totnes, Claims of, 29. - ” Landing of Brutus at, 24. - ” Port of, 30. - Town Church, Plympton, 190. - ” Mansion of Abbots of Tavistock, 73. - Treadwin, Mrs., 248, 249. - ” ” Younger days of, 247. - Treby, Sir George, 192. - ” ” ” Arms of, 195. - Trelawney, Sir William, 225, 226. - Trevelyan, Lady, 248. - Trevisa, 32. - Turner, J. M. W., 227. - Tyrwhitt, Sir Thomas, lays first stone of Dartmoor Prison, 201. - Tyrwhitt, Sir Thomas, Privileges procured by, 203. - - Van Tromp attempts to bribe Grenville, 111. - Vicar of Thurlestone, 15. - Village of Dean Prior, 141. - Vowell, John, 77, 81. - - Waller, Sir William, attacked at Lansdown, 107. - Walpole, Sir Robert, 289, 290. - Walrond, Sir W. H., 294. - Warbeck, Perkin, 11. - Warelwast, William, Bishop of Exeter, 182. - Westcote, 27. - ” on Honiton, 238. - ” on lace, 240. - White, Mr., contradiction of story, 161. - ” ” History of Torquay, 172. - Whittaker on the Cornish language, 80. - “Whittle, John,” pamphlet on landing of the Prince of Orange, 155. - Wilkie visits Plympton Grammar School, 198. - Williamson, letter to Countess of Pembroke from Sir Joseph, 287. - William the Conqueror, 7. - ” IV. landing at Brixham, 162. - Windeatt, Mr. Edward, 24. - ” Mr. M., 261. - ” Samuel and Thomas, 165. - Winstanley, Henry, completion of first Eddystone Lighthouse, 95. - Wolcot, Dr. Alexander, father of Dr. John Wolcot, 223. - Wolcot, Dr. John, “Peter Pindar,” 218–223. - Wood, Mr. Beavis, 295. - “Worthies of Devon,” Prince’s, 73. - Worth, Mr., of Worth—old Devon family, 294. - Wren, Sir Christopher, distinguished representative, 193. - Wren, Sir Christopher, first architect returned to Parliament, 194. - - Yonge, Sir George, Factory built by, 212. - ” Sir William, 289. - Youthful home of Thackeray, 215. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Bemrose & Sons, Limited, Printers, Derby, London and Watford. - - =Selected from the Catalogue of - BEMROSE & SONS, Ltd.= - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - =Memorials of the Counties of England.= - -=MEMORIALS OF OLD BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.= - - Edited by the Rev. 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Price to Subscribers, =21/-= net. _Prospectus will be - sent on application._ - -=ACROSS THE GREAT SAINT BERNARD.= - - The Modes of Nature and the Manners of Man. By A. R. SENNETT, - A.M.I.C.E., M.I.M.E., &c., with original drawings by Harold Percival, - and nearly two hundred illustrations. Large Crown 8vo, attractively - bound in cloth. Price =6/-= net. - -=TRACES OF THE NORSE MYTHOLOGY IN THE ISLE OF MAN.= - - A Paper read before the Isle of Man Natural History and Antiquarian - Society. By P. M. C. KERMODE, F.S.A.Scot., &c. Demy 8vo. Illustrated - with 10 plates, paper cover, price =2/6=. - -“This brochure is undoubtedly a very valuable addition to our scanty -knowledge of an obscure yet extremely fascinating subject.”—_Reliquary._ - -=CHURCH AND PRIORY OF S. MARY, USK.= - - By ROBERT RICKARDS. Demy 8vo, paper boards, illustrated, price =3/6= - net. - -“It contains much valuable and interesting matter. The original -documents in the Appendix are not the least valuable portions of the -work.”—_The Western Mail._ - -“Church historians will find a volume abounding in interest.”—_Daily -News._ - -=A SHORT HISTORY OF SEPULCHRAL CROSS-SLABS.= - - With Reference to other Emblems found thereon. By K. E. STYAN. With - Notes and 71 Plates and Illustrations of Examples found in the British - Isles. Demy 8vo, cloth, price =7/6= net. - - This volume is intended as a short popular history on the Sepulchral - Cross-Slabs of the early centuries, for the use of both students and - general readers. - -“Really a work of art. The slabs selected by the author for her -well-drawn illustrations number about seventy. In the introductory -chapters a good deal of information is given which will help visitors to -churches where these monuments of piety have escaped the spoilers’ hands -to fix approximately the dates of the slab. We almost believe that some -of the parish priests, who at present are not much inclined to value -such treasures, may be led to take more care of them if they will learn -from Miss Styan what there is to admire in them.”—_Church Times._ - -=THE ROMAN FORT OF GELLYGAER IN THE COUNTY OF GLAMORGAN.= - - By JOHN WARD, F.S.A., Curator of the Welsh Museum, Cardiff, &c. - Printed by order of the Committee of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society. - The book is well illustrated, containing a General Plan (30 ft. to 1 - in.), 13 Plates, and 22 Illustrations in the text, and is printed in - the best style upon good paper. Demy 8vo, 120 pp., cloth, gilt, =7/6= - net. - - The work is the outcome of the excavation of the site of this Roman - Fort by the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society in the years 1899, 1900, and - 1901. - -“Mr. Ward, evidently, has spared no pains to give the fullest and -clearest description of these interesting remains, and the -illustrations, of which there are a large number, are excellent. They -are illustrations in the truest sense of the word.”—_Border Counties -Advertiser._ - -=LLANDAFF CHURCH PLATE.= - - By GEORGE ELEY HALLIDAY, F.R.I.B.A., Diocesan Surveyor of Llandaff, - with 59 illustrations in line and half-tone. Royal 8vo, cloth, price - =12/6= net. - -“A thoroughly good contribution to the history of Church -Plate.”—_Reliquary._ - -=THE REGISTERS OF THE PARISH OF ASKHAM, IN THE COUNTY OF WESTMORELAND=, - - from 1566 to 1812. Copied by MARY E. NOBLE, Editor of the “Bampton - Parish Registers” and Author of “A History of Bampton.” Demy 8vo, - cloth, price =21/-= net. - - These Registers contain many interesting entries of the Sandford, - Myddleton, Collinson, Bowman, Law, Holme, Wilkinson, and Langhorne - families, and others, and some reference to Parochial events. A list - of Vicars is included, and some Local Notes. - -“Miss Noble has followed up her admirable edition of the “Bampton Parish -Registers” by copying and publishing the Registers of the adjoining -parish of Askham, which go back to the year 1566. She has discharged her -self-imposed task with her accustomed care and ability, and the -handsomely printed and substantially bound volume of 250 pages is not -merely a record of marryings, buryings, and christenings in this ancient -parish ... but a valuable contribution to the history of the border -land.”—_The Carlisle Patriot._ - -=MATLOCK MANOR AND PARISH.= - - Historical and Descriptive, with Pedigrees and Arms, and Map of Parish - reduced from the Ordnance Survey. By BENJAMIN BRYAN. Crown 8vo, cloth, - =12/6=; large paper, =15/-=. - -“Mr. Bryan’s history is an excellent record of the rise and progress of -the Matlocks up to the present time, and for many years to come local -people will regard it as the standard work for consultation on all -questions arising out of local customs, local government, local -institutions, local events, and prominent local people.”—_Derby -Mercury._ - -=HOW TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF A PARISH.= - - An Outline Guide to Topographical Records, Manuscripts, and Books. By - Rev. J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A. _Fourth Edition._ Crown 8vo, - buckram. Price =3/6=. - -=THE FRENCH STONEHENGE.= - - An Account of the Principal Megalithic Remains in the Morbihan - Archipelago. By T. CATO WORSFOLD, F.R.HIST.S., F.R.S.L., Member of the - Council of the British Archæological Association; Author of “Staple - Inn,” “Antwerp, Past and Present,” “Porta Nigra, the Treasure of - Treves,” &c. Second Edition. =With numerous additions and - Illustrations.= Size 9 in. by 6 in., cloth, price =5/-=. - -“Mr. Worsfold has compressed into a small space a great amount of -interesting detail with regard not only to the megalithic and other -stone monuments, but also to the Roman and early Mediæval remains in the -district he has sought to illustrate. His style is easy and attractive, -and his little work may induce visitors to France, who are interested in -objects of remote antiquity, to take the opportunity of seeing a part of -the country which abounds with them.”—_Athenæum._ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - =London:= - BEMROSE & SONS, LTD., 4, SNOW HILL, E.C.; - AND DERBY. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -The Index distinguishes between ‘de Courtenay’ and ‘de Courteney’. -However, the latter does not appear in the text. The index is given as -printed. - -Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. - - 129.9 Shall enjoy a Spring for ever![”] Removed - 174.29 The lettering of the inscript[i]on Inserted. - 183.25 [“]and,> as a mark of subjection Removed. - 204.32 Th[e] following notice Added. - 246.20 _vrai r[esé/ése]au_ Replaced. - 299.20 de Courteney, John, Abbot of Tavis[s]tock Removed. - 299.47 Dickinson, Mr., of Knight[s]hayes Added. - - --- - - Transcriptions of Extended Captions - - --- - - Okehampton Castle, 1734. - -This Castle, was built by Baldwin de Bronys, & was at first call’d -Ochementon; it descended to Rich. de Rivers or Riparus, & from him to -his Sister Adeliza, who marrying one of the Courtenays, it came into -that Noble family, & so continued til K.E.IV. seized it, for their -adherence to the Hous^e of Lancaster. K.H. VII. restord it to the -Courtenays, but K.H.VIII. again alienated it & dismantled the Castle & -Park, yet Ed. Courtenay in Q. Marys Reign obtain’d a Restoration, but he -dying without Issue Male, it came by a female into the Mohuns Barons of -Mohun & Oakhampton, & by the like failure of y^e male it came by -marriage to Christopher Harris of Heynes Esq^r. - - S. & N. Buck, delim et Sculp. 1734. - - West View of Tavistock Abby - -For the most noble John, Duke and Earl of Bedford, Marquess of -Tavistock, Baron Russel of Thornbaugh, and Baron Howland of Streatham. -Proprietor of these Remains. This Prospect is humbly Inscrib’d by Your -Grace’s most Dutiful, and Obedient Servants, Sam<sup>l</sup> & -Nath<sup>l</sup> Buck. Ordigarius or Orgarius Duke of Devonshire & -Cornwall, whose Daughter was married to K. Edgar, Very probably kept his -Court here, till his son Odulph built this Abbey Anno 961, for then the -whole Mannor of Tavistock, & Jurisdiction thereof, were given to the -Monastery with view of Frank Pledge, Gallowes Pillory assize of Bread -Beer &c. The Church was dedicated to St. Mary &. St Rumon. The Danes -burnt it but it was soon rebuilt, In the Reign of Ed. I. The abbot -claim’d the aforesaid Priveleges, which were by that King allow’d & -confirm’d. There were some famous Men Abbots thereof, particularly two -Bishops & one Earl of Devonshire; of the Courtenay family, Lectures were -herein read in the Saxon language to preserve it in Memory; it was of -the Dignity of the Mitred Abbots, who sat as Barons in Parliament. Their -Power and Priveleges continued till the Dissolution by K. H. 8. who gave -it to John L’<sup>d</sup> Russel, in which Noble Family it still -continues. Annual Value £902 5 7¾. - - S. & N. Buck delim et sculp 1733. - - --- - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIALS OF OLD -DEVONSHIRE *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following -the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use -of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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} - </style> - </head> - <body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Memorials of Old Devonshire, by F. J. Snell</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Memorials of Old Devonshire</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Editor: F. J. Snell</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: March 9, 2022 [eBook #67547]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: KD Weeks, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIALS OF OLD DEVONSHIRE ***</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriber’s Note:</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Footnotes have been collected at the end of each chapter, and are -linked for ease of reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Full page illustrations have been moved to the nearest paragraph -break.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please -see the transcriber’s <a href='#endnote'>note</a> at the end of this text -for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered -during its preparation.</p> - -<div class='htmlonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated using an <ins class='correction' title='original'>underline</ins> -highlight. Placing the cursor over the correction will produce the -original text in a small popup.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/cover.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='epubonly'> - -<p class='c001'>Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the -reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the -note at the end of the text.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='pageno' id='Page_I'>I</span><span class='sc'>Memorials</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='sc'>of</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='sc'>Old Devonshire</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_II'>II</span></div> -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='frontis' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_frontispiece.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Drawing by J. M. W. Turner.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by T. Jeavons.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Exeter.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_III'>III</span> - <h1 class='c005'><span class='xlarge'><span class='sc'>Memorials</span> <br />of <br /> <span class='xlarge'>Old Devonshire</span></span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c006'> - <div>EDITED BY</div> - <div><span class='large'>F. J. SNELL, M.A. (<span class='sc'>Oxon</span>)</span></div> - <div class='c000'><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Author of</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'>“<i>A Book of Exmoor</i>”</span></div> - <div><span class='small'>“<i>Early Associations of Archbishop Temple</i>”</span></div> - <div><span class='small'><i>&c.</i></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c007' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c002'> - <div><span class='sc'>With many Illustrations</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/title_deco.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c006'> - <div>LONDON</div> - <div>BEMROSE AND SONS, LIMITED, 4, SNOW HILL, E.C.</div> - <div>AND DERBY</div> - <div>1904</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c007' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>[<i>All Rights Reserved</i>]</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c006'> - <div>TO THE</div> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'>Right Hon. Viscount Ebrington</span>,</span></div> - <div>LORD LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY OF DEVON,</div> - <div>AND REPRESENTING ONE OF ITS OLDEST</div> - <div>AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS FAMILIES,</div> - <div>THESE “MEMORIALS” ARE,</div> - <div>BY PERMISSION,</div> - <div>DEDICATED.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span> - <h2 class='c008'>PREFACE</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>The object of the present volume is to present what -may be termed a history of Devon in episode. A -comprehensive and, at the same time, detailed -record of the county, dealing more or less fully with the -principal events of every town’s life, would require many -volumes as large as or larger than ours, and yet might fail -to impress the reader with the salient features of county -life as a whole. In selecting the subjects for the various -articles comprised in this work, the Editor’s aim has been -to single out such as may be expected, for different reasons, -to appeal to all Devonians, and, perhaps, to some unconnected -with the beautiful shire. The majority of the -articles have been written expressly for the present work, -but three have been reproduced, in shortened form, from -the <cite>Transactions of the Devonshire Association</cite>, in which -they were published many years ago, and so were in -danger of being forgotten. The Editor deems he has no -need to apologize for thus enriching the volume with the -labours of departed Devonians, whom their compatriots -recall with deep reverence, and whom, were they living, -the Editor would hail as valued collaborators. Of the -other articles, two have already seen print in pamphlet -form, in which, after many years, they had naturally -<span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>become exceedingly scarce. All the other contributions -are new, and most of the papers, both old and new, -have been embellished with illustrations, some of them -curious and rare.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Editor takes this opportunity of rectifying two -omissions in his preliminary sketch. Owing to some -accident, he failed to refer to the defence of Dartmouth -against the attack of Du Chastel in 1404. This event -was memorable on account of the active part taken by -the women, who, Amazon-like, hurled flints and pebbles -on the French, and thus expedited their retirement. The -other omission concerns the abortive Cavalier rising of -1655. Penruddock and Groves, the leaders in the affair -(for which they suffered death at Exeter), were both -Wiltshire men, but it is certainly interesting that an -attempt which might have antedated the Restoration by -five years was initiated by the proclamation of Charles II. -at South Molton—a town of the county of which George -Monk, to whom the Merry Monarch owed his crown, was -a native.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It only remains for the Editor to thank his many able -contributors for their generous assistance, and to express -the hope that the plan and execution of the work will -prove satisfactory to those who desire a fuller acquaintance -with the families, persons, and places therein mentioned.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>F. J. Snell.</span></div> - -<p class='c003'><i>Tiverton, October 1st, 1904.</i></p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span> - <h2 class='c008'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='45%' /> -<col width='45%' /> -<col width='9%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c012'><span class='sc'>Page</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Historic Devonshire</td> - <td class='c011'>By the <span class='sc'>Editor</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Myth of Brutus the Trojan</td> - <td class='c011'>By the late <span class='sc'>R. N. Worth</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_20'>20</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Royal Courtenays</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>H. M. Imbert-Terry</span>, F.R.L.S.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Old Inns and Taverns of Exeter</td> - <td class='c011'>By the late <span class='sc'>R. Dymond</span>, F.S.A.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_63'>63</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Affair of the Crediton Barns—<span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 1549</td> - <td class='c011'>By the Rev. Chancellor <span class='sc'>Edmonds</span>, B.D.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_77'>77</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Gallant Plymouth Hoe</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>W. H. K. Wright</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_88'>88</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Grenvilles: a Race of Fighters</td> - <td class='c011'>By the Rev. Prebendary <span class='sc'>Granville</span>, M.A.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_99'>99</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Author of <cite>Britannia’s Pastorals</cite> and Tavistock</td> - <td class='c011'>By the Rev. <span class='sc'>D. P. Alford</span>, M.A.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Blowing-up of Great Torrington Church</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>George M. Doe</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_132'>132</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Herrick and Dean Prior</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>F. H. Colson</span>, M.A.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_141'>141</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>The Landing of the Prince of Orange at Brixham, 1688</td> - <td class='c011'>By the late <span class='sc'>T. W. Windeatt</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_155'>155</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Reynolds’ Birthplace</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>Jas. Hine</span>, F.R.I.B.A.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_176'>176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>French Prisoners on Dartmoor</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>J. D. Prickman</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_201'>201</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Ottery St. Mary and its Memories</td> - <td class='c011'>By the Right Hon. <span class='sc'>Lord Coleridge</span>, M.A., K.C.</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_210'>210</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>“Peter Pindar”: the Thersites of Kingsbridge</td> - <td class='c011'>By the Rev. <span class='sc'>W. T. Adey</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_218'>218</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Honiton Lace</td> - <td class='c011'>By Miss <span class='sc'>Alice Dryden</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_238'>238</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'><span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>The “Bloody Eleventh”; with Notes on County Defence</td> - <td class='c011'>By Lt.-Col. <span class='sc'>P. F. S. Amery</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_250'>250</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Jack Rattenbury, the Rob Roy of the West</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>Maxwell Adams</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_264'>264</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Barnstaple Fair</td> - <td class='c011'>By <span class='sc'>Thomas Wainwright</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_276'>276</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Tiverton as a Pocket Borough</td> - <td class='c011'>By the <span class='sc'>Editor</span></td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_284'>284</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c011'>Index</td> - <td class='c011'> </td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#Page_297'>297</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c001'>[Illustration]</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span> - <h2 class='c008'>INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='36%' /> -<col width='57%' /> -<col width='6%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Exeter</td> - <td class='c012' colspan='2'><a href='#frontis'><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Drawing by J. M. W. Turner. Engraved by T. Jeavons</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c015' colspan='2'><i>Facing Page</i></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Rougemont Castle, Exeter</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From a Photograph by Frith & Co.</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i008'>8</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Okehampton Castle, 1734</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i034'>34</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i054'>54</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From the original portrait by Sir Antonio</i></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'><i>More, at Woburn. Engraved by T. Chambars</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Doorway of King John’s Tavern, Exeter</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i062'>62</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Drawing by F. Wilkinson. Engraved by J. Mills, 1836</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>High Street, Exeter</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From a Photograph by Frith & Co.</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i076'>76</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Plymouth Hoe</td> - <td class='c016'> </td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i088'>88</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Drawing by J. M. W. Turner. Engraved by W. J. Cooke</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Sir Bevill Grenville</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From an Oil Painting</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i104'>104</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>West View of Tavistock Abbey, 1734</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i116'>116</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Great Torrington Church (Old and New)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i132'>132</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>The Landing of William III. at Torbay</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i154'>154</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Painting by T. Stothard, R.A. Engraved by George Noble</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>The Cloisters, Plympton Grammar School</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i176'>176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c015' colspan='3'>(<i>From an Engraving by J. E. Wood</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Norman Doorway, Plympton Priory</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i176'>176</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c015' colspan='3'>(<i>From an Engraving by J. E. Wood</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>The “War Prison” on Dartmoor, 1807</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i200'>200</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c015' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Drawing by S. Prout, Jun. Engraved by Neele</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Samuel Taylor Coleridge</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From the Portrait by Peter Vandyck</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i214'>214</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Dr. Wolcot (“Peter Pindar”)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i218'>218</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Painting by Opie. Engraved by C. H. Hodges</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Honiton Lace</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From a Photograph by Miss Alice Dryden</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i238'>238</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>“Jack” Rattenbury</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From a Lithograph by W. Bevan</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i264'>264</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013' colspan='2'>Queen Anne’s Walk and the Quay, Barnstaple</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i276'>276</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c014' colspan='3'>(<i>From a Lithograph by J. Powell</i>)</td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>St. Peter’s Church, Tiverton</td> - <td class='c016'>(<i>From a Lithograph by W. Spreat, Jun.</i>)</td> - <td class='c012'><a href='#i284'>284</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> - <h2 class='c008'>HISTORIC DEVONSHIRE.</h2> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c017'> - <div><span class='sc'>By the Editor.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_n.jpg' width='35' height='36' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -No county of England is richer in historic -associations and romantic memories than -Devonshire, whose sons have proved themselves -on many a stubborn day as brave -as its daughters are proverbially fair. We may go -further, and say that no English shire is richer, and -only a few as rich, in those pre-historic remains which -will always exercise a weird fascination over cultivated -minds that would hold it sin to be incurious -as to the beginnings, or, rather, the age-long development, -of man upon the earth. The great mausoleum of these -remains is Dartmoor, with its menhirs, its logans, its -cromlechs (or dolmens), its circles and avenues, and its -famous clapper-bridge; but all over the county are -specimens of the typical round barrow, encrusted with -hoar legends, and possessing, in addition, their strict -scientific interest. The legends attach themselves to the -individual barrows; the scientific problem is concerned -with the almost unvarying form and type. Briefly, it may -be stated that the Devonshire round barrow is a late -variety of the cairn; the long barrow, which is numerously -represented in the neighbouring county of Dorset, being -older and corresponding to the long-headed race which -preceded the round-headed Kelts in the occupation of -Britain. The difference is between the Stone Age and -the Bronze Age, to which the round barrows belong and -bear witness. To the Stone Age are assigned the -chambered round barrows, the so-called giants’ graves, -and the stone kists of Lundy Island.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>Roughly contemporary with the typical round barrows -are those mysterious remains in the great central waste, -to which allusion has already been made. Just as false -systems of astrology were elaborated before the dawn of -clear scientific knowledge, so during the eighteenth century -a complete hagiology was constructed respecting these -remains, which has become untenable in view of more -rigorous historical, philological, and anthropological investigation. -In other words, the accepted interpretation of -these moorland wonders connected them more or less -definitely with Druidism. The prism of imagination -presented those hierarchs in crimson hues. If their -functions included inhuman sacrifices, they themselves -were far from being deficient in dignity. What says -Southey in <cite>Caradoc</cite>?</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Within the stones of federation there</div> - <div class='line'>On the green turf, and under the blue sky,</div> - <div class='line'>A noble band—the bards of Britain—stood,</div> - <div class='line'>Their heads in rev’rence bow’d, and bare of foot,</div> - <div class='line'>A deathless brotherhood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>But whether as priests or mere medicine men, the -existence of Druids in Devon has yet to be proved. -Drewsteignton derives its initial syllable, not from them, -but from Drogo; Wistman’s Wood comes, not from -<i>wissen</i>, but is more probably <i>uisg-maen-coed</i> disguised in -modern garb. And, as for those basins on the summits -of the Dartmoor tors, they are purely natural. So the -whole delightful edifice which Polwhele was at such pains -to build up, and which Mrs. Bray described to the -sympathetic Southey, topples down, or, rather, vanishes -into thin air, leaving not a wrack behind.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While the Druids, both locally and generally, belong -rather to the region of myth than of solid history, the -Romans are an indisputable fact in both senses. Still, -their advent in the West Country is not free from -obscurity. One thing seems fairly certain, namely, that -they did not establish themselves in Devonshire by their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>usual method of conquest. Exeter, however, was a -thoroughly Roman city, and traces of the Imperial race -are to be found in local names, such as Chester Moor, -near North Lew, and in the ruins of Roman villas, as -at Seaton and Hartland. The siege of Exeter by -Vespasian is one of those fictitious events which, by dint -of constant reiteration, work themselves into the brain -as substantial verities. The place that Vespasian attacked -was not Exeter, but Pensaulcoit (Penselwood), on the -borders of Somerset and Wilts. Probably the Romans -were content with a protectorate, under which the Britons -were suffered to retain their nationality and their native -princes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Saxons, though known as “wolves,” certainly -appeared as sheep or in sheep’s clothing in their earliest -attempts to settle in the county. They lived side by -side with the Britons, notably at Exeter, where the -dedications of the ancient parishes testify to the juxtaposition -of British and Saxon. Here, also, it was that -the West Saxon apostle of Germany, St. Boniface, was -educated in a West Saxon school. But this state of -things was not to last. In 710, Ine, the King of the West -Saxons, vanquished Geraint, prince of Devon, in a pitched -battle; and although there is no reason to think that -he extended his borders much to the west of Taunton, -the work of subjugation thus begun was continued by -Ine’s successors, primarily by Cynewulf (755–784); and -since, in 823, the men of Devon were marshalled against -their kinsmen, the Cornish, at Gafulford, on the Tamar, -the Saxon conquest must by that time have been complete. -Still the victors were not satisfied. In 926, as we learn -from William of Malmesbury, Athelstan drove the Britons -out of Exeter, and, constituting the Tamar the limit -of his jurisdiction, converted Devon into a purely Saxon -province. The immense preponderance of Saxon names -in all parts of the county proves how thoroughly this -expropriation of the Kelts was carried into effect. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>theory held by Sir Francis Palgrave, amongst others, that -the conquest of Devon was accomplished by halves, the -Exe being for some time the boundary, rests upon no -adequate grounds, neither evidence nor probability -supporting it. In due course, the whole county was -mapped out into tithings and hundreds, in accordance -with the Saxon methods of administration, and the -executive official was the portreeve.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Parallel with the record of Saxon conquest runs the -story of Danish endeavours, stubborn, long-protracted, -but, on the whole, less successful, to secure a footing and -affirm the superiority. In the first half of the ninth -century, the Vikings, in alliance with the Cornish, were -routed by Egbert in a decisive engagement at Hingston -Down, when, according to a Tavistock rhyme—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The blood that flowed down West Street</div> - <div class='line'>Would heave a stone a pound weight.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>During the latter half of the same century, the Danes -were again active, and in 877 made Exeter their headquarters. -Seventeen years later they besieged the city, -which was relieved by Alfred the Great, who confided -the direction of church affairs in the city and county to -the learned Asser, author of the <cite>Saxon Chronicle</cite>. In -1001, the Danes, having landed at Exmouth, made an -attempt on Exeter, when the Saxons of Devon and -Somerset, hastening to the rescue, were overthrown in -a severe encounter at Pinhoe, and the piratical invaders -returned to their ships, laden with spoil. The following -year was marked by a general massacre of the Danes -at the behest of Ethelred, and, to avenge this treacherous -slaughter, Sweyn (or Swegen) swooped, like a vulture, -on the land, and, through the perfidy of Norman Hugh, -the reeve, was admitted within the gates of Exeter. As -usual on such occasions, red ruin was the grim sequel; -but in after days, when the Danish dynasty was in -secure possession of the throne, Canute (or Cnut) cherished -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>no malice by reason of the tragic horror inflicted on his -race, but conferred on Exeter’s chief monastery the -dignity of a cathedral.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In a secular as well as in a religious sense, far the -most romantic episodes of Saxon rule in Devon centre -around the old Abbey of St. Rumon, Tavistock, the -largest and most splendid of all the conventual institutions -in the fair county. Ordulf, the reputed founder, was no -ordinary mortal. He looms through the mist of ages as -a being of gigantic stature, whose delight it was, with -one stroke of his hunting-knife, to cleave from their bodies -the heads of animals taken in the chase, and whose -thigh-bone, it is said, is yet preserved in Tavistock -Church. But if he had something in common with -Goliath and John Ridd, Ordulf was likewise, and very -plainly, cousin german to Saint Hubert, for having been -bidden in a vision, he built Tavistock Abbey, to whose site -his wife was conducted by an angel. An alternative -version associates with him in this pious work his father, -Orgar. However that may be, the edifice was destroyed -by the Danes in the course of a predatory expedition up -the Tamar to Lydford. This was in 997. It was re-built -on a still grander scale, and bore the assaults of time -until the days of the sacrilegious Hal, when it was -suppressed and given to William, Lord Russell.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So much for the Abbey. Now for the secular romance, -which yields a striking illustration of Shakespeare’s -warning:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Friendship is constant in all other things</div> - <div class='line'>Save in the office and affairs of love:</div> - <div class='line'>Therefore all hearts in love use their own tongues,</div> - <div class='line'>Let ev’ry eye negotiate for itself</div> - <div class='line'>And trust no agent; for beauty is a witch</div> - <div class='line'>Against whose charms faith melteth into blood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Orgar, the father of Ordulf, had a daughter named Elfrida, -the fame of whose loveliness came to the ears of the -King. Edgar, being unwedded, despatched Earl Ethelwold -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>to Tavistock on a mission of observation, and the -courtier was empowered, if report erred not, to demand -her in marriage for his royal master. Ethelwold came, -and saw, and was conquered. Although much older than -the fair lady, he fell in love with her, and gained her -assent and that of her father to their union. This he -could do only by concealing from them the more advantageous -offer of a royal alliance. With equal duplicity -he kept from the King not only the knowledge of his -bride’s surpassing beauty, but the bride herself, being -assured that her appearance at court would be fatal. -However, in no long time the truth leaked out, and -Edgar set out for Dartmoor, ostensibly to hunt. Ethelwold, -in desperation, now made full confession to his -wife, whom he charged to disguise her charms, but the -vain and ambitious woman, angered at his deceit, displayed -them the more, and the King, resolved on Ethelwold’s -death, actually slew him at Wilverley or Warlwood in -the Forest.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the departure of the Romans and before the final -absorption of Devon by the Saxons, there are signs that -the Kelts of South-West Britain were in intimate touch -with their brethren on the other side of St. George’s -Channel. At any rate, the Ogham inscriptions found in -the neighbourhood of Tavistock testify to the missionary -enterprise of the Island of Saints during the latter part -of the fifth and the beginning of the sixth centuries after -Christ. For most purposes, the centre of county life has -from the first been Exeter, but to this rule there was -at one time an important exception, which was not -Tavistock, but the little town of Crediton, situated on -a tributary of the Exe. An old rhyme has it—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Kirton was a market town,</div> - <div class='line'>When Exeter was a fuzzy down.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Little can be said for this view on general historic grounds, -but from the standpoint of ecclesiastical Anglo-Saxondom, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>Crediton had a decided claim to the preference, for was -it not the birthplace of Winfrid (St. Boniface), and the -seat of the Anglo-Saxon bishops from the year 909 until -1050, when Leofric, for fear of the Danes, transferred -the see to Exeter? This prelate was installed by -Edward the Confessor and Queen Edith, who, holding -him by the hands, invoked God’s blessing on future -benefactors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If the Ogham stones of Dartmoor attest the zeal of -Keltic Christianity, Coplestone Cross, a richly-carved -monument near Crediton, is a reminder of the early days -of Saxon piety, when such crosses were erected as shrines -for the churchless ceorls. Coplestone, also, was the name -of a powerful race known as the Great Coplestones, or -Coplestones of the White Spur, who claimed, but -apparently without reason, to have been thanes in Saxon -times. In the West Country, no distich is more popular -or more widely diffused than the odd little couplet—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Croker, Cruwys, and Coplestone,</div> - <div class='line'>When the Conqueror came, were all at home.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The invincible William knocked at the gates of the -Western capital in 1066, and was at first refused admission. -If it be true, as Sir Francis Palgrave held, that -Exeter was a free republic before Athelstan engirdled -it with massive walls, the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>genius loci</i></span> asserted itself with -dramatic effect when the Conqueror demanded submission, -and, in the words of Freeman, “she, or at least -her rulers, professed themselves willing to receive -William as an external lord, to pay him the tribute which -had been paid to the old kings, but refused to admit him -within her walls as her immediate sovereign.” Dissatisfied -with this response, William besieged the city, which held -out for eighteen days, and then surrendered on -conditions. Exeter, it may be observed, was at this time -one of the four principal cities of the realm, the other -members of the quartette being London, Winchester, and -York.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>The capitulation was followed by the building of -Rougemont Castle, not a moment too soon, for ere it -could well have been completed, the sons of Harold led -an assault on Exeter. This was repulsed without much -difficulty by the Norman garrison, but the Saxons showed -themselves still restless in the West. The army of -Godwin and Edmund fought with fruitless valour on the -banks of the Tavy until, three years after the opening -of the struggle, Sithric, the last Saxon abbot of Tavistock, -betook himself to the Camp of Refuge at Ely, to be -under the protection of the noble Hereward.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Exeter, to which one always returns, stands out prominently -among English towns on account of its many -sieges. Old Isaacke, happily a much better chronicler -than poet, testifies as follows:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In midst of Devon Exeter city seated,</div> - <div class='line'>Hath with ten sieges grievously been straitned.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>This is sure proof of the immense value attached to the -possession of the place in troublous times, and prepares -us for the conspicuous part taken by both county and -city in the centuries that succeeded the establishment -of Norman rule. The first Norman governor was Baldwin -de Redvers, whose grandson, another Baldwin, declared -for Matilda when civil war broke out between her party -and Stephen’s. The citizens, on the other hand, espoused -the cause of the King, and were subjected to all sorts -of barbarities, until the approach of a vanguard of two -hundred horse compelled the retreat of the garrison into -the castle. After a three months’ siege, water failed, -and the doughty defenders were forced to yield.</p> - -<div class='column-container capwidth66'> - -<div id='i008' class='figcenter id004'> -<img src='images/i_008fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Photograph</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>by Frith & Co.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Rougemont Castle, Exeter.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Edward I. held a parliament at Exeter, and his great-grandson, -the famous Black Prince, must have been well -acquainted with the city, as he passed through it more -than once <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>en route</i></span> to Plymouth, whence he sailed to -France on the glorious expedition which ended at -Poictiers. Its relations with the Black Prince reveal to -us how much the county has receded in practical -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>importance since medieval times. Plymouth, indeed, -maintains her place: she is as great now, perhaps -greater, than she was then; and Dartmouth, charming -Dartmouth, is still far from obscure. Nevertheless, it is -idle to claim for the ports of Devon as a class the -relative standing they once enjoyed, when, according to -the <cite>Libel of English Policy</cite>, Edward III., bent on suppressing -the pirates of St. Malo—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in28'>did dewise</div> - <div class='line'>Of English towns three, that is to say,</div> - <div class='line'>Dartmouth, Plymouth, the third it is Fowey;</div> - <div class='line'>And gave them help and notable puissance</div> - <div class='line'>Upon pety Bretayne for to werre.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And when Chaucer has to depict a typical mariner, he -begins with the words—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A schipman was ther, wonyng far by weste;</div> - <div class='line'>For ought I woot, he was of Dertemouth.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>—obviously because of Dartmouth’s national reputation. -Topsham, formerly the port of Exeter, is a truly startling -instance of decline, since as late as the reign of -William III. London alone exceeded it in the amount of -its trade with Newfoundland. On the other hand, -Bideford never possessed all the importance that Kingsley -attributes to it, though relatively of much greater consequence -in ancient days than at present. It is a curious -fact that Ilfracombe, that popular watering-place, sent six -ships to the siege of Calais, as compared with Liverpool’s -one, Dartmouth contributing thirty-one, and Plymouth -twenty-six.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Black Prince was the first Duke of Cornwall, and -the stannaries or tin-bearing districts of Devon and -Cornwall, which in Saxon and Norman times had been -a royal demesne, passed to this valiant prince and his -successors. The old Crockern Tor Parliament would -furnish material for a fascinating chapter in the romance -of history, but the present sketch is necessarily too brief -to admit of much discussion. Its regulations certainly did -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>not err on the side of leniency. “The punishment,” says -Mrs. Bray, “for him who in days of old brought bad tin -to the market was to have a certain quantity of it poured -down his throat in a melted state.” The most important -event in the annals of Chagford, one of the stannary -towns, is the falling in of the market-house on Mr. -Eveleigh, the steward, and nine other persons, all of whom -were killed. This sad disaster, which occurred “presently -after dinner,” is the subject of a rare black-letter tract, -entitled, <cite>True Relation of the Accident at Chagford in -Devonshire</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Going back to the Wars of the Roses, the West of -England for the most part supported the Lancastrian -cause. In 1469, Exeter was besieged for twelve days by -Sir William Courtenay, in the interest of Edward IV.; -and in the following year, Clarence and Warwick repaired -to the city prior to embarking at Dartmouth for Calais. -When, however, Edward IV., seated firmly on the -throne, appeared in Exeter as <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>de facto</i></span> sovereign of the -realm, the citizens, forgetting past grudges, provided such -a welcome for the monarch, his consort, and his infant -son, that he presented the Corporation with the sword -of state still borne before the Mayor. The city had given -him a hundred nobles. Just twice that sum was the loyal -offering to Richard III. when, in 1483, he arrived at -Exeter soon after the Marquis of Dorset had proclaimed -the Earl of Richmond King. A gruesome incident -marked his visit, for Richard, that best-hated of English -rulers, caused his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas St. Leger, -to be beheaded in the court-yard of the Castle. The -name, Rougemont, jarred on his superstitious nature, the -reason being its similarity to Richmond. The point is -referred to by Shakespeare in the well-known play:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When last I was at Exeter</div> - <div class='line'>The Mayor in courtesy showed me the castle,</div> - <div class='line'>And called it Rougemont; at which name I started,</div> - <div class='line'>Because a bard of Ireland told me once</div> - <div class='line'>I should not live long after I saw Richmond.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>In 1497, that bold adventurer, Perkin Warbeck, claimed -admission within the walls, which, so far as the citizens -were concerned, would have been readily granted. The -Earl of Devon and his son were less accommodating, -and, after Warbeck had set fire to the gates, succeeded -in beating off his attack. The pretender’s next appearance -in the city, where the King had taken up his -quarters, was in the character of a prisoner. Henry’s -conduct towards his rebellious subjects was worthy of -a great prince, and affords a marked contrast to the -brutality that characterized the suppression of the next -revolt and the still more notorious savagery of “Kirke’s -Lambs.” When brought before him, “bareheaded, in -their shirts, and halters round their necks,” he “graciously -pardoned them, choosing rather to wash his hands in -milk by forgiving than in blood by destroying them.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As is well known, the Reformation was not the -popular event in England that it was in Scotland, and -the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer in lieu -of the Mass was the torch which, in 1549, set the western -shires—Cornwall, and Somerset, and Devon—in a blaze. -The opposition, started at Sampford Courtenay by a pair -of simple villagers, soon came to include leaders of the -stamp of Sir Thomas Pomeroy and Sir Humphry -Arundel, who barricaded Crediton, the rendezvous of their -party. The interests of the Crown were befriended by -Sir Peter and Sir Gawen Carew, who, though utterly -unscrupulous and barbarous in their methods of warfare, -failed to arrest the insurrection. Presently no fewer than -ten thousand rebels commenced the investment of Exeter. -At this serious juncture, the Lord Lieutenant of the -county (Lord Russell) took the helm of affairs, and -ultimately raised the siege, the city in the meantime being -reduced to terrible straits through famine. But the rebels -suffered, too. In all, four thousand peasants fell in the -Western Rising. A dramatic episode was the execution -of the Vicar of St. Thomas, who was hanged in full -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>canonicals on his church, where his corpse remained -suspended till the reign of Edward’s successor, when the -Roman Catholics regained, for a season, the upper hand.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The geographical position of Devonshire suggests, -what is also the fact, that the county had a considerable -share in the colonization of the Western Hemisphere. -The first port in Devon to send out ships to America -for the purpose of establishing settlements was Dartmouth. -In this enterprise, Humphry and Adrian Gilbert, who were -half-brothers of Sir Walter Raleigh, and whose seat, -Greenway, was close to Dartmouth, took the lead. The -pioneer expedition, which took place in 1579, was productive -of no result; but in 1583, Humphry Gilbert -seized Newfoundland, the present inhabitants of which are -largely of Devon ancestry. This navigator, though brave -and skilful, rests under an ugly imputation which we must -all hope is baseless. According to some, he proposed to -Queen Elizabeth the perfidious destruction of the foreign -fishing fleets which had long made the island their station. -During his homeward voyage Humphry was drowned, -and the manner of his death is depicted in an old -ballad:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>He sat upon the deck;</div> - <div class='line in2'>The book was in his hand.</div> - <div class='line'>“Do not fear; Heaven is as near</div> - <div class='line in2'>By water as by land.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Adrian Gilbert interested himself in the discovery of -the North-West Passage, but neither of the brothers did -much more than secure for Dartmouth a principal share -in the Newfoundland trade, for many and many a year -one of the chief props of Devon commerce.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of far greater practical significance, as a centre of -maritime adventure, was Plymouth. Hence sprang -William Hawkins, the first of his nation to sail a ship -in the Southern Seas. Hence sprang his more famous -son, Sir John Hawkins, the first Englishman that ever -entered the Bay of Mexico, and who spent the bribes of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>Philip of Spain in defensive preparations against that -tyrant’s fleet. Here was organized the Plymouth Company -founded for the colonization of North Virginia after the -failure of Sir Walter Raleigh (who, like Sir Humphry -Gilbert, had made Plymouth his base) to form a settlement. -The efforts of the Plymouth Company were at -first not very felicitous, but in 1620 it received a new -charter, and although its schemes were absurdly ambitious, -and fell ludicrously short of realization, and although it -was administered for private ends rather than in a large -spirit of enlightened patriotism, still the mere existence -of the company must have tended to promote the flow -of men and money to the new plantations beyond the -seas.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the Great Civil War, the towns generally were in -favour of the Parliament, but Exeter, on which city -Elizabeth had conferred the proud motto <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Semper fidelis</i></span>, -appears to have been Royalist in sympathy. As, however, -the Earl of Bedford, the Lord Lieutenant, held it -for the opposite party, it was besieged by Prince Maurice, -to whom it surrendered in September, 1643. In April, -1646, it was recovered by the Roundheads, but ere this -many interesting events had come to pass. In May, -1644, Queen Henrietta Maria had arrived in the city, and -there, on June 16th, was born the Princess Henrietta -Anne, afterwards Duchess of Orleans. Just at this -moment, the Earl of Essex made his appearance, and -the Queen was fain to escape alone, leaving her infant -in the charge of Lady Moreton and Sir John Berkeley, -who arranged for her christening in the font of Exeter -Cathedral. Her portrait by Sir Peter Lely, which adorns -the Guildhall, was the gift of Charles II., who, in 1671, -thus testified his appreciation of the city’s good services. -The donor himself had been the guest of the Corporation -in July, 1644, when his royal father had received from -the civic authorities a present of five hundred pounds.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Looking further afield, Devonshire was the theatre of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>many stirring events in that fratricidal struggle. It was -in 1642 that the High Sheriff, Sir Edmund Fortescue, -of Fallapit, at the instigation of Sir Ralph Hopton, -called out the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>posse comitatus</i></span>, and so precipitated a -conflict. Sir Ralph himself, with the aid of Sir Nicholas -Slanning, assembled a force of some two or three thousand -men, with which he captured first Tavistock, and then -Plympton, afterwards joining Fortescue at Modbury, -where a mixed army of trained bands and levies was -soon in being. The next proceeding was to have been -an attack on Plymouth, but Colonel Ruthven, the commandant -of that town, sent out five hundred horse, -which, after a feint at Tavistock, dashed through -Ivybridge, and delivered a sudden assault on Modbury. -In a moment all was over. Exclaiming, “The troopers -are come!” the trained bands fled in confusion, while -the rest of the army, who knew nothing about soldiering -and had no love for the cause, went after them, save -for a few friends of the Sheriff, who helped him to -defend the mansion of Mr. Champernowne. When this -was fired, the movement collapsed, and the Roundheads, -who had lost but one man, effected a good haul of -county notabilities, including the High Sheriff, John -Fortescue, Sir Edmund Seymour, and his eldest son, -Edmund Seymour, M.P., Colonel Henry Champernowne, -Arthur Basset, and Thomas Shipcote, the Clerk -of the Peace. About a score of these worthies of Devon -were placed on board ship at Dartmouth, and transported -to London.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This initial success of the Roundheads was soon -qualified by reverses. Ruthven, having marched into -Cornwall, was encountered by Hopton at Braddock Down, -and sustained a crushing defeat. In February, 1643, -Hopton laid siege to Plymouth, but Fortune again veered, -and the Royalists were forced to retire in consequence -of a second defeat at Modbury. Attempts were made to -bring about a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>pax occidentalis</i></span>, by which both parties -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>were to forswear further participation in the unnatural -strife, but they proved abortive. Encouraged by the -defeat of the Earl of Stamford at Stratton, a Cornish -army advanced northwards on the disastrous march which -resulted in the overthrow at Lansdown, near Bath, and -involved the loss of four leading Royalists—Sir Bevil -Grenville, Trevanion, Slanning, and Sidney Godolphin—the -last of whom fell in a miserable skirmish at Chagford.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Later in the year, Prince Maurice exerted himself to -reduce Plymouth, but, although the Cavaliers fought well, -the garrison, equally brave and perhaps more pious, drove -them back to the cry of “God with us!” Among the -besiegers was King Charles himself, but not even the -presence of royalty could alter the situation, and he and -Maurice presently withdrew from the scene of operations. -The siege was not ended till the spring of 1645, in the -January of which year Roundheads and Cavaliers occupied -the same relative positions as Britons and Boers in the -memorable fight at Wagon Hill. Even after this terrible -repulse, the Cavaliers did not quite abandon hope, and -several small actions took place; but the advent of -Fairfax in 1646 led to a precipitate retreat, and the -Cavalier strongholds—Mount Edgecumbe and Ince -House—gallantly defended throughout, had to be -given up.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The last place in Devon to be held for King Charles -was Salcombe Castle, and the person who held it was -the very Sir Edmund Fortescue who was High Sheriff, -in 1642, and, in that capacity, threw down the glove to -his opponents. The “Old Bulwarke” was not a promising -fort, but it stood a siege of four months, when the garrison -were allowed to march out with the honours of war. -Among other articles of surrender, it was stipulated that -John Snell, Vicar of Thurlestone, who had acted as -chaplain to the garrison, should be allowed quiet possession -of his parsonage. This condition was not observed. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>However, Parson Snell was not forgotten after the -Reformation, as he was appointed Canon Residentiary of -Exeter, in which position he was succeeded by his sons. -By the 7th of May, the date of the surrender, the cause -of King Charles was <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>in extremis</i></span>; and, accordingly, Fort -Charles, as Sir Edmund had re-named the castle, was -fully justified in capitulating. The key of the castle is -said to be still the treasured heirloom of the hero’s -representative.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Devon men took an active part in the Monmouth -Rebellion; and, in common with its neighbours, the county -experienced the judicial atrocities of the notorious -Jeffreys. A “bloody assize” was opened at Exeter on -September 14th, 1685, when twenty-one rebels were -sentenced, thirteen of whom were executed. Thirteen -more were fined and whipped, and one was reprieved. A -feature in this assize was the publication of 342 names, -all belonging to persons who were at large when the -business closed. These comparatively fortunate yeomen -had escaped the search of the civil and military powers, -and were tenants of the open country, living in copses -and haystacks as best they might.</p> - -<p class='c001'>However, vengeance was not long delayed. In 1688, -the Prince of Orange landed at Brixham, and marched -to Exeter by way of Chudleigh. The account of an -eye-witness printed in the Harleian Miscellany gives the -impression that his entry into the city, as a spectacle, -was somewhat barbaric. The pageant included two -hundred blacks from the plantations of the Netherlands -in America, with embroidered caps lined with white fur, -and crested with plumes of white feathers; and two -hundred Finlanders or Laplanders in bear-skins taken -from the beasts they had slain, with black armour and -broad, flaming swords. The troops were received with -loud acclamations by the people at the west gate, and -their conduct was excellent. Meanwhile, the position of -the authorities was far from enviable. In vulgar parlance, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>they were in a “tight place,” not knowing which way -the wind would blow, and being desirous of maintaining -the reputation of the city for unswerving loyalty. The -Bishop and the Dean adopted the safe, if not too heroic, -method of flight, while the Mayor, with more dignity, -commanded the west gate to be closed, and declined to -receive the Prince. The poor priest-vicars, no less -faithful at heart, were intimidated into omitting the -prayer for the Prince of Wales, and employing only one -prayer for the King. On the ninth, notice was sent to -the canons, vicars-choral, and singing lads, that the Prince -would attend the service in the Cathedral at noon, and -they were ordered by Dr. Burnet to chant the <cite>Te Deum</cite> -when His Highness entered the choir. This they did. -The Prince occupied the Bishop’s throne, surrounded by -his great officers, and after the <cite>Te Deum</cite>, Dr. Burnet, -from a seat under the pulpit, read aloud His Highness’s -declaration. The party then returned to the Deanery, -where William had taken up his quarters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Prince of Orange was in Exeter for three days -before any of the county gentry appeared in his support, -and naturally the members of his suite began to feel -disconcerted. Presently, however, the gentlemen of Devon -rallied to his standard, and in compliance with a proposal -of Sir Edward Seymour, formed a general association for -promoting his interest. A notable arrival was Mr. Hugh -Speke, who, it is said, had been personally offered by -King James the return of a fine of £5,000 if he would -atone for his support of Monmouth by acting as spy on -the Prince of Orange, and had bravely refused. The -Mayor and Aldermen now thought it high time to recognise -the change in the situation and observe a greater -measure of respect towards one who, it seemed likely, -would soon be their lawful sovereign. The Dean, too, -hastened home to give in his adhesion to the Prince; and -William left Exeter with the assurance that the West -Country, which could not forgive the Jacobite massacre, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>was heart and soul with him, and that elsewhere the power -of his despotic father-in-law was rapidly crumbling.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In a second letter, reproduced in the Harleian Miscellany, -we are informed that there had been “lately -driven into Dartmouth, and since taken, a French vessel -loaded altogether with images and knives of a very large -proportion, in length nineteen inches, and in breadth two -inches and an half; what they were designed for, God -only knows.” Possibly for a purpose not wholly unlike that -which inspired the unpleasant visit of some of the same -nation to Teignmouth in 1690, when they fired the town. -It appears that the county force had been drafted to -Torquay with the object of resisting a threatened landing -from the French fleet, which was anchored in the bay. -Certain French galleys, availing themselves of the -opportunity thus afforded them, stole round to Teignmouth, -threw about two hundred great shot into the town, -and disembarked 1,700 men, who wrought immense -damage in the place, already deserted by its inhabitants. -For three hours there was pillage, and then over a -hundred houses were burnt. A contemporary named -Jordan, recounting the circumstances, cannot restrain his -righteous indignation. “Moreover,” says he, “to add -sacrilege to their robbery and violence, they, in a barbarous -manner, entered the two churches in the said town, and -in a most unchristian manner tore the Bibles and Common -Prayer Books in pieces, scattering the leaves thereof -about the streets, broke down the pulpits, overthrew the -Communion tables, together also with many other marks -of a barbarous and enraged cruelty; and such goods and -merchandize as they could not or dare not stay to carry -away, they spoiled and destroyed, killing very many -cattle and hogs, which they left dead behind them in -the streets.” This, the last, invasion of Devonshire, -cost the county £11,030, the amount at which the damage -was assessed, and which was raised by collections in the -churches after the reading of a brief. French Street, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>Teignmouth, conserves by its name the memory of this -heavy, but happily transient, disaster.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With the seventeenth century ends the heroic period -of Devonian history. From that time it figures merely -as a province sharing in the triumphs and distresses of -the country of which it forms part, but having no special -or distinctive record. The most exciting era was, without -doubt, the Napoleonic age, when the dread of a new -French invasion was terminated only by the glorious -victory of Trafalgar.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In conclusion, it may be mentioned that Sidmouth was -the early home of her late Majesty Queen Victoria. Her -father, the Duke of Kent, died there in 1820, and the -west window of the church was erected as a memorial -of this son of George III., whose visit to Exeter in the -preceding century gave such delight to the county.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>The Editor.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span> - <h2 class='c008'><span class='large'>THE MYTH OF BRUTUS THE TROJAN.</span> <br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By the late R. N. Worth, F.G.S., etc.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_b.jpg' width='35' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -Brutus, son of Sylvius, grandson of Æneas -the Trojan, killed his father while hunting, -was expelled from Italy, and settled in -Greece. Here the scattered Trojans, to the -number of seven thousand, besides women and children, -placed themselves under his command, and, led by him, -defeated the Grecian King Pandrasus. The terms of -peace were hard. Pandrasus gave Brutus his daughter, -Ignoge, to wife, and provided 324 ships, laden with all -kinds of provisions, in which the Trojan host sailed away -to seek their fortune. An oracle of Diana directed them -to an island in the Western Sea, beyond Gaul, “by -giants once possessed.” Voyaging amidst perils, upon -the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea they found four nations -of Trojan descent, under the rule of Corinæus, who -afterwards became the Cornish folk. Uniting their forces, -the Trojans sailed to the Loire, where they defeated the -Gauls and ravaged Aquitaine with fire and sword. Then -Brutus</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>“... Repaired to the fleet, and loading it with the riches and spoils he -had taken, set sail with a fair wind towards the promised island, and arrived -on the coast of Totnes. This island was then called Albion, and was -inhabited by none but a few giants. Notwithstanding this, the pleasant -situation of the places, the plenty of rivers abounding with fish, and the -engaging prospect of its woods, made Brutus and his company very -desirous to fix their habitation in it. They therefore passed through all -the provinces, forced the giants to fly into the caves of the mountains, -and divided the country among them, according to the directions of -their commander. After this they began to till the ground and build -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>houses, so that in a little time the country looked like a place that had -been long inhabited. At last Brutus called the island after his own name, -Britain, and his companions Britons; for by these means he desired to -perpetuate the memory of his name; from whence afterwards the -language of the nation, which at first bore the name of Trojan or -rough Greek, was called British. But Corinæus, in imitation of his leader, -called that part of the island which fell to his share Corina, and his -people Corineans, after his name; and though he had his choice of the -provinces before all the rest, yet he preferred this county, which is now -called in Latin Cornubia, either from its being in the shape of a horn -(in Latin <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Cornu</i></span>), or from the corruption of the same name. For it was -a diversion to him to encounter the said giants, which were in greater -numbers there than in all the other provinces that fell to the share of -his companions. Among the rest was one detestable monster called -Goemagot, in stature twelve cubits, and of such prodigious strength -that at one stroke he pulled up an oak as if it had been a hazel wand. -On a certain day, when Brutus was holding a solemn festival to the -gods in the port where they at first landed, this giant, with twenty more -of his companions, came in upon the Britons, among whom he made a -dreadful slaughter. But the Britons at last, assembling together in a -body, put them to the rout, and killed them every one, except Goemagot. -Brutus had given orders to have him preserved alive, out of a desire to -see a combat between him and Corinæus, who took a great pleasure in -such encounters. Corinæus, overjoyed at this, prepared himself, and, -throwing aside his arms, challenged him to wrestle with him. At the -beginning of the encounter, Corinæus and the giant, standing front to -front, held each other strongly in their arms, and panted aloud for -breath; but Goemagot presently grasping Corinæus with all his might, -broke three of his ribs, two on his right side and one on his left; at -which Corinæus, highly enraged, roused up his whole strength, and -snatching him upon his shoulder, ran with him, as fast as the weight -would allow him, to the next shore, and there getting upon the top of a -high rock, hurled down the savage monster into the sea, where, falling -on the sides of craggy rocks, he was torn to pieces, and coloured the -waves with his blood. The place where he fell, taking its name from the -giant’s fall, is called Lam Goemagot, that is, Goemagot’s Leap, to this -day.”<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c021'><sup>[1]</sup></a></p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Such, in its complete form, is the myth of Brutus -the Trojan, as told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, sometime -Bishop of St. Asaph, who professed, and probably with -truth, to translate the British history of which it forms -a part from “a very ancient book in the British tongue,” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>given to him by Walter Mapes, by whom it had been -brought from Brittany. Geoffrey wrote in the earlier -part of the twelfth century, and he does not indicate -with more precision than the use of the term “very -ancient” the date of his original.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If, however, we are to accept the writings of Nennius -as they have been handed down as substantially of the -date assigned to them by the author—the middle of the -ninth century—the legend of Brutus, though not in the -full dimensions of the Geoffreian myth, was current at -least a thousand years ago; and in two forms. In one -account, Nennius states that our island derives its name -from Brutus, a Roman consul, grandson of Æneas, who -shot his father with an arrow, and, being expelled -from Italy, after sundry wanderings settled in Britain—a -statement that agrees fairly well with that of Geoffrey. -In the other account, which Nennius says he had learned -from the ancient books of his ancestors, Brutus, though -still through Rhea Silvia, his great-grandmother, of -Trojan descent, was grandson of Alanus, the first man -who dwelt in Europe, twelfth in descent from Japhet in -his Trojan genealogy, and twentieth on the side of his -great-grandfather, Fethuir. Alanus is a kind of European -Noah, with three sons—Hisicion, Armenon, and Neugio; -and all his grandsons are reputed to have founded nations—Francus, -Romanus, Alamanus, Brutus, Gothus, Valagothus, -Cibidus, Burgundus, Longobardus, Vandalus, Saxo, -Boganus. He is wholly mythical.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Brutus here does not stand alone. He falls into place -as part of a patriarchal tradition, assigning to each of -the leading peoples of Europe an ancestor who had left -them the heritage of his name. This one fact, to my -mind, removes all suspicion of the genuineness of these -passages of Nennius, which have been sometimes regarded -as interpolations. With Geoffrey not only is the story -greatly amplified, but it is detached from its relations, -and is no longer part of what may fairly be called one -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>organic whole. Nennius, therefore, gives us an earlier -form of the myth than Geoffrey. I think, too, that the -essential distinctions of the two accounts render it clear -that the ancient authorities of Nennius and Geoffrey are -not identical, from which we may infer that the original -tradition is of far older date than either of these early -recorders.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But we may go still further. Whether the legend of -Brutus is still extant in an Armoric form, I am not aware, -but it appears in Welsh MSS. of an early date; the -“Brut Tysilio” and the “Brut Gr. ab Arthur” being -important. It has been questioned whether, in effect, -these are not translations of Geoffrey; but there seems -no more reason for assuming this than for disbelieving -the direct statement of Geoffrey himself, that he obtained -his materials from a Breton source. Bretons, Welsh, and -Cornish are not only kindred in blood and tongue, but, -up to the time when the continuity of their later national -or tribal life was rudely shattered, had a common history -and tradition, which became the general heritage. If the -story of Brutus has any relation to the early career of -the British folk, we should expect to discover traces of -the legend wherever the Britons found their way. If -this suggestion be correct, if Geoffrey drew from Armoric -sources, and if the “Brut Tysilio,” which is generally -regarded as the oldest of the Welsh chronicles, represents -an independent stream, the myth must be dated back far -beyond even Nennius, as the common property of the -Western Britons, ere, in the early part of the seventh -century, the successes of the Saxons hemmed one section -into Wales, another into Cornwall, and drove a third -portion into exile with their kindred in Armorica. There -is, consequently, good reason to believe that the tradition -is as old as any other portion of our earliest recorded -history or quasi-history, and covers, at least, the whole -of our historical period.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The narrative of Geoffrey does not give the myth in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>quite its fullest shape. For that we have to turn to local -sources. Tradition has long connected the landing of -Brutus with the good town of Totnes; the combat between -Corinæus and Goemagot with Plymouth Hoe. Like the -bricks in the chimney called in to witness to the noble -ancestry of Cade, has not Totnes its “Brutus stone”? -And did not Plymouth have its “Goemagot”?</p> - -<p class='c001'>The whole history of the “Brutus stone” appears -to be traditional, if not recent. My friend, Mr. Edward -Windeatt, informs me that it is not mentioned anywhere -in the records of the ancient borough of Totnes. I fail -to find any trace of it in the pages of our local chroniclers, -beyond the statement of Prince (<i>Worthies</i>) that “there -is yet remaining towards the lower end of the town of -Totnes a certain rock called Brute’s Stone, which tradition -here more pleasantly than positively says is that on which -Brute first set his foot when he came ashore.” The good -people of Totnes, so it is said, have had it handed down -to them by their fathers from a time beyond the memory -of man, that Brutus, when he sailed up the Dart, which -must consequently have been a river of notable pretensions, -stepped ashore upon this stone, and exclaimed, -with regal facility of evil rhyme:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Here I stand, and here I rest,</div> - <div class='line'>And this place shall be called Totnes!”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Why the name should be appropriate to the circumstances, -we might vainly strive to guess, did not Westcote and -Risdon inform us that it was intended to represent <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Tout -à l’aise</i></span>! We need not be ashamed of adopting their -incredulity, and of doubting with them whether Brutus -spoke such good French, or, indeed, whether French was -then spoken at all.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The stone itself affords no aid. All mystery departed -when it was recently lifted in the course of pavemental -repairs, and found to be a boulder of no great dimensions, -with a very modern-looking bone lying below. However, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>it is the “Brutus stone,” and I dare say will long be -the object of a certain amount of popular faith.<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c021'><sup>[2]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>But, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth himself, -Totnes town could not have been intended by him as -the scene of the landing of Brutus. It was when Brutus -was “holding a solemn festival to the gods, in the port -where they had at first landed,” that he and his followers -were attacked by Goemagot and his party. There it was -that Goemagot and Corinæus had that famous wrestling -bout, which ended in Corinæus running with his gigantic -foe to the next shore, and throwing him off a rock into -the sea. There is no sea at Totnes, no tall craggy cliff; -and for Corinæus to have run with his burden from -Totnes to the nearest point of Start or Tor Bay would -have been a feat worthy even of a Hercules.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We are not surprised to find, therefore, that Totnes -has her rivals—Dover, set up by the Kentish folk, and -Plymouth,<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c021'><sup>[3]</sup></a> each claiming to be the scene of the combat -between Corinæus and Goemagot, and claiming, therefore, -incidentally, also to be the port in which Brutus landed. -I do not know that we can trace either tradition very -far into antiquity. They do not occur in the chronicles, -where, indeed, the very name of Plymouth is unknown. -The earliest reference to that locality has been generally -regarded as the Saxon Tamarworth. I am not at all -sure, however, that Plymouth is not intended by Geoffrey’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>“Hamo’s Port,” which he assumes to be Southampton. -Geoffrey, indeed, says that Southampton obtained the -“ham” in its name from a crafty Roman named Hamo, -killed there by Arviragus; but if the identification is no -better than the etymology, we may dismiss it altogether. -On the other hand, the name of the estuary of the Tamar -is still the Hamoaze—a curious coincidence, if it goes no -further. There is nothing in the story of Hamo itself -to indicate Southampton or preclude Plymouth; only a -few references to Hamo’s Port occur in Geoffrey. One -of these, where Belinas is described as making a highway -“over the breadth of the kingdom” from Menevia to -Hamo’s Port, may rather seem to point to Southampton; -but there is no positive identification, even if we assume -the story to be true. Again, “Maximian the senator,” -when invited into Britain by Caradoc, Duke of Cornwall, -to be King of Britain, lands at Hamo’s Port; and here -the inference would rather be that it was on Cornish -territory. And so when Hoel sent 15,000 Armoricans to -the help of Arthur, it was at Hamo’s Port they landed. -It was from Hamo’s Port that Arthur is said to have set -sail on his expedition against the Romans—a fabulous -story, indeed, but still helping to indicate the commodiousness -and importance of the harbour intended. It was at -Hamo’s Port that Brian, nephew of Cadwalla, landed on -his mission to kill the magician of Edwin the King, who -dwelt at York, lest this magician might inform Edwin -of Cadwalla’s coming to the relief of the British. After -he had killed Pellitus, Brian called the Britons together -at Exeter; and it would be fair to infer that the place -where he landed was likely to be one where the Britons -had some strength. Here, again, whatever we may make -of the history, it is Hamo’s Port that is the fitting centre -of national life; and it is the Hamoaze that best suits the -reference.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This legend of Brute the Trojan was firmly believed -in, and associated with these Western shores, by the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>leading intellects of the Elizabethan day. Spenser refers -to it in his:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>That well can witness yet unto this day</div> - <div class='line'>The Western Hogh besprinkled with the Gore</div> - <div class='line'>Of mighty Goemot.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Drayton verifies the legend in his <cite>Polyolbion</cite>, and tells -us how—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Upon that loftie place at Plimmouth, call’d the Hoe,</div> - <div class='line'>Those mightie Wrastlers met;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>and how that Gogmagog was by Corin—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Pitcht head-long from the hill; as when a man doth throw</div> - <div class='line'>An Axtree that with sleight deliurd from the Foe</div> - <div class='line'>Roots up the yeelding earth, so that his violent fall,</div> - <div class='line'>Strooke Neptune with such strength, as shouldred him withall;</div> - <div class='line'>That where the monstrous waues like mountaines late did stand,</div> - <div class='line'>They leapt out of the place, and left the bared sand</div> - <div class='line'>To gaze vpon wide heauen.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And this article of faith had then long been popular. -Carew, in his <cite>Survey of Cornwall</cite>, says: “Moreover, -vpon the Hawe at Plymmouth, there is cut out in ground -the pourtrayture of two men, the one bigger, the one -lesser, with clubbes in their hands (whom they terme -Gogmagog), and (as I have learned) it is renewed by -order of the Townesmen when cause requireth, which -should inferre the same to be a monument of some -moment.” Westcote, writing some half a century later, -states of the Hoe—“in the side whereof is cut the portraiture -of two men of the largest volume, yet the one -surpassing the other every way; these they name to be -Corinæus and Gogmagog.” And there these figures -remained until the Citadel was built in 1671—a remarkable -witness of the local belief that Plymouth had played a -prominent part in the affairs of Brutus and his fellows.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We know when these figures ceased to be. Can we -form any idea as to when they originated? Their earliest -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>extant mention occurs in the Receiver’s Accounts of the -borough of Plymouth, under date 1494–5:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>It. paid to Cotewyll for y<sup>e</sup> renewying of y<sup>e</sup> pyctur of Gogmagog a pon -y<sup>e</sup> howe. vij<sup>d.</sup></p> - -</div> - -<p class='c003'>Previous to this date there only remain complete accounts -of two years—those for 1493–4 and those for 1486—with -a few fragmentary entries; and as the Gogmagog did not -come to be “renewed” every year, there are no conclusions -to be drawn from the absence of earlier notices. -The next entry is in 1500–1, when 8<i>d.</i> was paid for -“makying clene of gogmagog.” In 1514–15, John Lucas, -sergeant, had the like sum for “cuttyng of Gogmagog”; -and in the following year we read of its “new dyggyng.” -In 1526–7, the entry runs: “Itm p<sup>d.</sup> for Clensying and -ryddyng of gogmagog a pon ye howe viij<sup>d.</sup>”; and about -this time it was renewed almost yearly. In 1541–2, the -entry is: “Itm p<sup>d.</sup> to William Hawkyns, baker (evidently -to distinguish him from William Hawkyns, father of Sir -John), for cuttynge of Gogmagog the pycture of the -Gyaunt at hawe viij.” In 1566–7, the price had gone up -to twenty pence. Probably this ancient monument had -been neglected for some years before the last vestiges -disappeared in 1671. It is not likely to have been -renewed under the Commonwealth, nor do I think it -was revived under the Restoration. It is noteworthy that -the official entries apparently refer to one figure only, -though we know from Carew and Westcote that there -were two. Fourpence a day was about an average wage -for labourers at Plymouth in the opening years of the -sixteenth century, so that the “pyctur” probably took -about two days to cleanse, and therefore must, indeed, -have been of gigantic dimensions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Some years ago I threw out the suggestion that as -Geoffrey made no allusion to these figures, “it must be -assumed either that he did not know of their existence, -or that they did not then exist.” Believing the latter the -more reasonable conclusion, I suggested, further, “that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>they were first cut in the latter half of the twelfth century, -soon after Geoffrey’s chronicle became current, or not -long subsequently; unless, as is possible, they had a -different origin, and were associated with the wrestling -story in later days.” Finally, I put forward the hypothesis, -“that the legend, in the first place, did refer to something -that occurred in the fifth century at or near the -Hoe, and with which the Armorican allies, whom -Ambrosius called to his aid about the year 438, were -associated; that the Armoricans, on their return to -Brittany, between the fifth and twelfth centuries, under -the mingled influence of half-understood classical history -and of religious sentiment working through the romantic -mind, it developed into the full-blown myth of Brutus -the Trojan; and that when it returned to England, and -was made known under the auspices of Geoffrey of -Monmouth, the Plymouthians of that day, to perpetuate -the memory of what they undoubtedly believed to be -sterling fact, cut the figures of the two champions on -the greensward of the Hoe.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>I am not inclined now to adopt this hypothesis so -broadly as it was then suggested. Probably the story -did take shape in Brittany in some such fashion, but I -now believe we must look far beyond the fifth century -for its origin. There seems, however, little reason to -doubt that the “Brutus stone” of Totnes and the -Gogmagog of Plymouth originated, like the Gog and -Magog of London City, in the popularity of Geoffrey’s -book. The name, of course, linked Totnes with the -legend, but we have absolutely no knowledge whatever -of the reason why Plymouth (any more than Dover) -came into the story. Dover, indeed, has no case what-ever—not -even a “Gogmagog.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>What, then, are the claims of Totnes?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Now, as to Totnes, it is important, in the first place, -to observe that in all the early works, Totnes is generally -alluded to as the name of a district, and not of a town. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>For example, in the story of Brutus, as given by Geoffrey -of Monmouth, his hero “set sail with a fair wind towards -the promised island, and arrived on the coast of Totnes.” -Nennius does not mention any place of debarkation. -Geoffrey makes Vespasian arrive at the shore of Totnes, -and, in quoting Merlin’s prophecy to Vortigern concerning -his own fate, says of the threatened invasion of Aurelius -Ambrosius and Uther Pendragon, “to-morrow they will -be on the shore of Totnes.” Later in the same chronicle, -the Saxons whom Arthur had allowed to depart “tacked -about again towards Britain, and went on shore at Totnes.” -Though the town seems rather to be indicated here, it -is not necessarily so.</p> - -<p class='c001'>However, it is certain that we are to understand the -landing to have taken place somewhere upon the south -coast, for the invaders made an “utter devastation of -the country as far as the Severn sea.” Constantine is -said to have landed at the port of Totnes, which again -may mean a place so called, or the principal harbour of -a district of that name. It is clear, then, all things considered, -that we are not dealing in these older chronicles -with the present Totnes, great as is its antiquity, though -the “Brut Tysilio” does go so far as to specify the -place of Constantine’s landing as “Totnais in Loegria.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Now, Mr. T. Kerslake, of Bristol, who has applied -himself with singular acumen to the unravelling of sundry -knotty points of our ancient history, is inclined to hold -that the Totnes of the chronicles was a distinct place, -and he has pointed out that the Welsh chronicles contain -“early forms of the names of this favourite British port -that has got to be thus confounded with Totnes.” In -the “Brut Tysilio,” for example, the place of the landing -of Brutus is called “Talnas” (at least, this is the printed -form given in the Myvyvian Archæology); “Brut Gr. -ab. Arthur” reads “Totonys”; and in a third, the -“Hafod Chronicle,” we have “Twtneis.” Mr. Kerslake, -therefore, treats “Talnas” as the earliest form of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>word, and thereon builds the hypothesis that “the name -given by the British writers to their port would resolve -itself into ‘’t-aln-as’ and if Christchurch Haven should -be conceded to be Ptolemy’s estuary of Alaunus, it would -also be the port called by the Britons ‘Aln’ or ‘’t-Aln-as,’ -from which Vespasian advanced up to Alauna Sylva, or -Caer Pensauelcoit—the City in the Head of the High -Wood.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There can be little doubt, I think, that Mr. Kerslake -is right in regarding Penselwood as the site of Caer -Pensauelcoit, given as Exeter by Geoffrey of Monmouth, -not apparently on the authority of his British original, -but, as in other cases, for his own gloss; and thenceforward -cherished most fondly as one of the worthiest -memories of the “ever-faithful” city by its chief men -and antiquaries. If it was at Totnes town, or in Torbay, -into which some critics have expanded the idea of the -“Totonesium littus,” that Vespasian landed immediately -before his siege of “Kairpen-Huelgoit,” then there is -considerable force in Geoffrey’s comment, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“quæ Exonia -vocatur.”</span> If Penselwood, on the borders of Somerset, -Dorset, and Wilts, were this “Primæval British Metropolis,” -then we must give up the idea that Vespasian -landed at Totnes town, or anywhere in its vicinity. -However, it by no means follows that there was such a -place as Totnes in the Talnas sense, as localised by -Mr. Kerslake. Talnas is the single exception, so far as -I am aware, to an otherwise general concord of agreement -in favour of Totnes, at a date when Totnes town -had not yet risen into such prominence as to justify or -explain its appropriation of this tradition. The general -sense of the language used when Totnes and the Totnes -shore are mentioned, lead me, as I have already said, -to the conclusion that it was rather the name of a district -than of a town or port; and it was evidently understood -in this sense by Higden, who in his Chronicle quotes the -length of Britain as 800 miles,<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“a totonesie litore,”</span> -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>rendered by Trevisa, “frome the clyf of Totonesse,” -which I take to be only another form of expression for -the Land’s End.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My suggestion is that what we may call the Older -Totnes is really the ancient name for the south-western -promontory of England, and perhaps may once have been -a name for Britain itself, in which case we can understand -somewhat of the motive which led early etymologists -to derive Britain from Brute or Brutus. The myth may -be so far true that an elder name was supplanted by -that which has survived, and that it lingered latest in -this western promontory, perhaps as a name for the -district occupied by the Kornu-British kingdom in its -more extended form. Whether the modern Totnes is -nominally the successor of the ancient title, the narrow -area into which this vestige of far antiquity had shrunk, -may be doubtful; for the name is as capable of Teutonic -derivation as of Keltic. In my <cite>Notes on the Historical -Connections of Devonshire Place-names</cite>, I pointed out -that a Saxon derivation that “would fit Totnes town -quite as well as any other would be from ‘Tot,’ an -‘enclosure,’ and ‘ey,’ an ‘island’—Totaneys, allied to -Tottenham, and associated with the island by the bridge, -one of the Dart’s most notable features.” For the -original Totnes I suggested: “Perhaps instead of ‘ness,’ -a ‘headland’ (Scandinavian), we should read ‘enys,’ an -‘island,’ and Tot may be equivalent to the Dod or Dodi, -which we have in the Dod of the well-known Cornish -headland, the Dodman.... Then we may read -Toteneys the ‘projecting or prominent island’; or, if -‘Dod’ is read as ‘rocky,’ the ‘rocky island.’” I am -satisfied that it is somewhere in this direction we have -to look for the origin of the name, which would seem, -however, to be corrupted from its earliest form when we -first light upon it, and which may, indeed, be a relic of -the giant race whom the followers of Brutus extirpated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The last sentence may sound somewhat strange, but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>my enquiries into this curious story have led me to attach -more importance to it than at first sight it seemed to -deserve. Stripped of the dress in which it was decked -out by Geoffrey, improving on his predecessors; deprived -of its false lustre of classicism; cleared from the religious -associations of a later day—this myth of Brutus the -Trojan loses its personality, but becomes the traditionary -record of the earliest invasion of this land by an historic -people, who, in their assumed superiority, dubbed the less -cultivated possessors of the soil whose rights they invaded -“giants,” and extirpated them as speedily as they knew -how.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Moreover, though Totnes town has to surrender its -mythical hero, it preserves a record of an elder name for -this England of ours than either the Britain of the later -Kelts or the Albion of the Romans; and if that name -be indeed a survival from these early times, makes -certain what the general aspect of the story renders highly -probable—that it was into this corner of Britain the pre-Keltic -or Iberic inhabitants of our island first entered, -and that it was here their rude predecessors—who to -the diminutive Turanians might indeed appear as -“giants”—made their final stand, just as in later days -the non-Aryan invaders had to fly before the Kelt, and -the Kelt in turn before the Saxon, until the corners of -the island became the refuge not only of a gallant, but -of a mingled race, with one language, one faith, and a -common tradition.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus much, indeed, I think we may safely infer from -the local associations of the story, supported as that -inference is by the yet current traditions of the giant -enemies of the Cornish folk.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span> - <h2 class='c008'><span class='large'>THE ROYAL COURTENAYS.</span> <br /> <span class='sc'>By H. M. Imbert-Terry, F.R.L.S.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_w.jpg' width='45' height='35' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -When in that incomparable romance, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><cite>Les -Trois Mousquetaires</cite></span>, the source and parent -of every historical novel of to-day, the -author, Alexandre Dumas, wished to impute -to the leader of his trinity of heroes the possession of -a high and exalted chivalry, he called him Athos.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Probably the intention was to institute a comparison -between the lofty attributes of the character and the -altitude of the celebrated Greek mountain. Possibly, -however, the talented Frenchman may have bestowed this -title on the chief personage of his story because he, the -author, conceived that no more fitting designation could -be given to the embodiment of distinguished and aristocratic -qualities than the actual name borne by the -founder of one of the most illustrious families that has -adorned the brilliant roll of French nobility, has given -Emperors to the East, and subsequently established in -this land of Devon a noble house which is inseparably -connected with the traditions and history of the county.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the continuation of Aimon’s <cite>History of France</cite>, an -ancient chronicle of the thirteenth century, it is stated -that the Châtelain of Chateau Renard had a son, named -Athos, who rendered himself famous by his deeds of -daring, and, in the reign of King Robert of France—<span class='fss'>A.D.</span> -1020—fortified the town of Courtenay.</p> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i034' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_034fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'><a href='#transcribe034'>Okehampton Castle, 1734.</a></span></span></div> - <div>(<i>From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck</i>)</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>From this castle, situated on a hill in the rich and -wooded country which stretches over that district -anciently called L’Isle de France, the descendants of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>Athos took their title. The name of his wife, the -mother of the race, is nowhere recorded, although Bouchet, -the historian of the French branch of the Courtenay -family, states that she was <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“une dame de condition”</span>; -and the truth of this statement is verified by the fact -that in those days, when the prerogatives of birth were -universally acknowledged, her progeny were considered -fitting mates for the noblest in the kingdom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jocelyn de Courtenay, the son of Athos and his -unnamed wife, married twice: first, in the year 1060, -Hildegarde, daughter of Geoffrey de Ferole, Comte de -Gastinois; second, Elizabeth, daughter of Guy, Seigneur -de Montlehery, by whom he had three sons—Milo, -Jocelyn, and Geoffry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At this period of history, the countries of Europe were -undergoing one of those strange religious convulsions -which frequently occurred in the Middle Ages. The -passionate pilgrimage of Peter the Hermit drew motley -crowds of so-called Christians to the Holy Land. Wherever -the small, mean monk of Picardy, seated on his ass, -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“pusillus, persona contemptibilis et sponte fluens ei non -deerat eloquium,”</span> as William of Tyre describes him, -preached the holiness of the Cause and the shame to -Christendom that the Sepulchre of the Saviour should -remain in infidel hands, his earnestness and enthusiasm, -if not his eloquence, made thousands of fervid converts.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In those days of lawlessness and violence, few men -of rank but had the stain of blood-guiltiness upon their -souls. The richer hoped to buy salvation and release -from their wrongdoings by founding abbeys and bestowing, -out of their abundance, generous grants of land to maintain -the same; the poorer went pilgrimages, and purchased -the promise of as much future happiness as their -possessions would afford.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But to the fighting noble of the day, whatever means -he may already have taken to obtain the pardon of the -Church, the call to arms by Pope Urban for the defence -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>of the Holy Land, proclaimed, as it was, with all the -authority of the Head of Christendom, endowed with all -the plenitude of Papal indulgence, necessarily possessed -a special attraction, for it promised him not only remission -of his sins, but also the hope that the remission -would be gained by exercising those very same deeds of -violence and rapine, the commission of which in his daily -life had probably brought him to believe that eternal -punishment was his just doom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Small wonder, therefore, that knights and nobles in -large numbers endeavoured thus to gain everlasting -advantages. Among the French nobility who passed -over to La Terre Sainte, Jocelyn II. de Courtenay is -numbered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The principality of Edessa, a province so situated as -not only to be divided by the Euphrates, but by its -position specially exposed to enemies who surrounded it -on all sides, was then held by Baldwin de Bruges, a -renowned knight, cousin to Godfrey de Bouillon. Baldwin’s -mother and the wife of Jocelyn, son of Athos, were -sisters, their children consequently being cousins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>According to the Archbishop of Tyre, the elder -warrior gladly welcomed his young kinsman, yielding to -his charge those territories which lay farthest from the -enemy, but retaining under his personal supervision the -frontier, on which largely depended the safety of the -Christian dominions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blessed with all the advantages a good administration -can bestow, and protected from an unwearying enemy, -to a certain extent, by the river, the country ruled -by Jocelyn de Courtenay acquired such prosperity and -opulence as to excite the envy of the neighbouring -Christian Princes. Indeed, as all chroniclers show, when -the overpowering personality of Godfrey de Bouillon was -withdrawn, the promiscuous host which he led, rent by -great diversity of interests, composed of many nations, -lost the little cohesion it had once possessed, and rapidly -fell apart.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>Baldwin succeeding to the throne of Jerusalem, his -cousin held undivided sway over the whole province. -For thirty years did the gallant Frenchman defend his -domains against the ever-returning infidel hordes, with -varying success—at times a conqueror, at times a captive, -dying in a manner befitting his life, for in his old age, -weak with sickness, broken with wounds, he caused -himself to be carried before his troops as he led them -to succour their fellow-countrymen besieged by the Sultan -of Iconium.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On his advance, the terror his prowess inspired sufficed -to force the enemy to retire, news of which reaching the -ears of the dying warrior, he gave thanks to God that -the last moments of his life should be illumined with -victory, and then immediately expired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was succeeded by Jocelyn, third of the name, the -only son of his first wife, a sister of Levon, an Armenian -notable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is to be suspected that the wisdom, energy, and -endurance which so strongly characterized the father, and -by which the little state, threatened with innumerable -enemies, could alone be preserved, were, to some extent, -deficient in the son, the deterioration probably being -caused by the mixture of Asiatic blood in his veins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In all contemporary records, the Pullani or Poulaines, -progeny of Frank Crusaders and Syrian mothers, are -spoken of with contempt and disdain, and although no -lack of valour or even military qualities can be attributed -to Jocelyn II., yet it is plain that the Eastern strain in -his descent rendered him unduly disposed towards the -seductions of a luxurious life; leading him to prefer the -pleasures and ease of residence in the agreeable city of -Turbessel to the constant care and hardships inseparable -from an habitation in his fortified capital, Edessa.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This lack of vigilance on his own part naturally -re-acted on his subordinates, and led, as a logical consequence, -to a serious diminution in the military spirit -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>and power of the country. In addition, an embittered -feud with Raynald, Prince of Antioch, deprived him of -the only ally who could, if well disposed, afford prompt -and efficient aid.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Therefore, when Zenghi, or Sanguine, as the name has -been corrupted by the Latin writers, leader of the Atabeks, -with a vast host invaded the city of Edessa, it fell into -his hands before either the ruler or the neighbouring -Christian Princes were prepared to march to its assistance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Defeated so often as to be without the means of -efficient resistance to the powerful invader, Jocelyn himself -before long became the prisoner of some wandering hordes. -Carried a captive to Aleppo, he soon died, crushed by -the misery of his position and the unwholesomeness of -his surroundings, leaving one son, called by the same name -as himself, and two daughters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Beatrice, his widow, for a while, with ability and -courage, defended Turbessel against the attacks of -Zenghi’s successor, Noureddin, but receiving inadequate -support from the King of Jerusalem, she yielded the task -of holding the country to the effeminate Greeks, and they -proving incapable of the effort, the whole province, which -from the time of the Apostles had been the home and -refuge of Christianity in the East, was irretrievably overrun -by the infidel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Jocelyn III., with his mother and sister, took refuge -in Jerusalem, where, for more than twenty years, he led -the existence inseparable from the lot of those who -supported the waning dominion of the Christians—one -constant struggle, not for supremacy, but for life. His -fate is unknown: history has no record of him after the -siege of Jerusalem, so it may well be surmised that he -shared the fate of the slain when the Holy City fell -to the assault of the great Sultan Saladin.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Two daughters were the sole descendants of Jocelyn; -consequently, with him ended the House of the Courtenays -of Edessa.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>But while one branch of the parent stem had thus -died off in less than ninety years, the family tree itself -flourished exceedingly, giving great promise of that -luxuriance which, in after generations, blossomed into -Royal magnificence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The fall of Edessa, the bulwark of Christianity in -the East, caused the Second Crusade. Again in the roll -of those who took the Cross is to be found the name -of Courtenay, for among the followers of King Louis le -Jeune were numbered William and Reginald of that name, -and also Peter de France, the King’s brother.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When Jocelyn of Edessa, together with his younger -brother, Geoffrey Courtenay, surnamed de Chapalu, sailed, -in the year 1101, for La Terre Sainte, the eldest son of -the house, Milo de Courtenay, remained in France, succeeding, -on the death of his father, to the family domains. -He married Ermengarde, daughter of Renaud, Comte de -Nevers, and by her had three sons—William, Reginald, -and Jocelyn. Of the last, nothing is known but the -name. William, who as aforesaid took part in the Crusade, -died in the Holy Land, leaving, on the extinction of -the Counts of Edessa and the death of Geoffrey de -Chapalu, his uncle, Reginald, his younger brother, sole -heir to the name and possessions of his forefathers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In those days, when transit was difficult and the social -barriers between the noble and the roturier almost insurmountable, -it was the custom, well known to all who -plunge into the intricacies of French genealogy, and -reasonable enough, considering the circumstances of the -times, for the males of a family of rank to marry, hardly -without exception, the daughters of their neighbours of -like degree.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Life was a very precarious commodity to a man of -the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He lived in an -atmosphere of continuous warfare, and if by nature, -mental or physical, he was disinclined for this turbulent -existence, the only refuge open to him lay in the celibate -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>seclusion of the cloister. It frequently occurred, therefore, -that females inherited paternal estates.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To this cause may well be attributed the fact that -the possessions of the Courtenays had become largely -augmented, for Reginald is described as Seigneur of -Montargis, Chateau Renard, Champignelle, Tanlay, -Charny, Chantecoq, and several other seigneuries, all -situated in the Pays de Gastinois and the country round -Sens, many of which, in the time of his progenitors, were -unmistakably the property of neighbouring families.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The possession of great wealth, at all periods of the -world’s history, has been held as a claim to consideration; -and when such opulence is combined with high rank -and birth, the fortunate owner may well cherish lofty -ambitions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the early part of what we call the Middle Ages, -the coat armour borne by a warrior surely denoted his -lineage and descent, for, unless assumed for purposes of -disguise, heraldic insignia were used as a means of -showing to which family an individual belonged—not, -as now-a-days, to which family an individual wishes the -world to think he belongs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In addition to those claims to nobility which are known -to be possessed by Athos, the fact is also acknowledged -that he and his descendants used the arms attributed to -the ancient counts of Boulogne—three torteaux or, on -a field gules—arms which were undoubtedly borne by -Eustace de Bouillon, when he and his illustrious brother -Godfrey journeyed on the Crusade.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may, therefore, well be believed that the ancestors -of the Courtenays came from the same stock as the even -more ancient house of Boulogne; and it is easy to understand -that the only daughter and heir female of Reginald -de Courtenay was considered a fitting mate for Peter -de France, seventh son of King Louis le Gros.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Indeed, the relations between the Crown and the great -nobles of the kingdom rested far more on a basis of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>equality than the pretensions of the monarch cared to -allow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sismondi declares that the real domains of Louis VI. -consisted only of five towns, including Paris and Orleans, -together with estates, probably large, in the immediate -vicinity; the remainder of the country being divided -among the great nobles, some of whom possessed equal, -if not more, extensive territories than their titular -Sovereigns.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The young Prince Peter having but little estate left -him by his father, and no title—for he is always styled -the “King’s son” or “the King’s brother”—took to -himself the name of Courtenay, and from him and his -wife, Elizabeth, sprung that branch of the family which -flourished in France for more than six hundred years. -Five sons and six daughters issued from this union, the -eldest daughter, Alix, marrying, as her second husband, -Aimar, Comte d’Angouleme, by whom she had one -daughter, Elizabeth, who, in her turn, became the wife -of John, and the mother of Henry III., both Kings of -England.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That portion of the Eastern Empire which, having -been conquered by the Latin knights errant remained in -their power, for twelve years had been ruled by Baldwin of -Flanders and his brother, Henry, a wise and politic prince, -upon whose death, in 1217, the male line of the House -of Flanders became extinct.</p> - -<p class='c001'>From respect to the laws of succession, the crown -was thereupon offered to Peter de Courtenay, son -of Elizabeth de Courtenay and Peter of France, who -had married Yolande, daughter of the Count of Hainault, -and sister to both the late Emperors, Baldwin and Henry. -The proffered honour, doubtless, was great, yet the -accession to the Imperial purple proved the precursor of -heavy calamities to the unfortunate Emperor and his -descendants. Peter de Courtenay, it is true, bore the -reputation of a valorous knight and a courageous warrior. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>He served with distinction in the Crusade against the -Albigenses, prompted, perhaps, by a desire to merit the -forgiveness of the Church, whose servants in his own -domain he had, if the chroniclers are to be believed, -treated with the haughty intolerance characteristic of the -arrogant seigneur of the period.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But at that critical time in the history of the Eastern -Empire, the wearer of the Imperial Crown required not -only courage, but talents and diplomacy of the highest -degree, such as Peter neither possessed nor found opportunity -of acquiring.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Arriving at Rome in company with his wife, Yolande, -and his children, Pope Honorius, after some pressure, was -induced to crown him and his consort; but, as Gibbon -hints, performed the ceremony in the Church of -St. Lawrence, without the walls, lest by the act itself -any right of sovereignty over the ancient city should be -bestowed or implied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In pursuance of a promise to the Venetians, the -Emperor Peter, having first sent his wife and children -by sea to Constantinople, directed his forces against the -Kingdom of Epirus, then under the rule of Theodore -Comnenus. Failing in his object, he fell, either by force -or fraud, into the hands of the Greek despot, and died, -by assassination or in prison, without having entered his -Imperial dominions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With a discretion rare, indeed, in those days, Philip, -his eldest son, refused the honour of the purple, contenting -himself with the Marquisate of Namur, his paternal fief; -whereupon Robert, the younger brother, accepted the -burden of the crown, and having, with due precaution, -journeyed to Constantinople, was there crowned by the -Patriarch Matthew, with all pomp and circumstance, in -the Cathedral of Saint Sophia.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But in the grandeur of his coronation consisted the -only splendour of his reign. All historians combine in -representing Robert as deficient in every quality requisite -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>for the high station he occupied and the necessity of -the realm he had been chosen to rule; even Bouchet, -self-appointed laureate to La Maison Royale de Courtenay, -after describing the death of the Emperor on his return -journey from Rome, whither he had gone to solicit against -his own rebellious subjects the thunders of the Pope, is -constrained to admit that to the weakness of this ruler -may justly be attributed the disgraces which occurred in -the reign of his successor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Robert dying childless, the crown descended to his -brother, Baldwin, the infant son of Yolande, born during -his father’s captivity. The impossibility of an empire in -the throes of dissolution being governed by a child of -seven years, compelled the barons of the realm to invite -John of Brienne, the old King of Jerusalem, to bring his -wisdom and experience to their aid; but the seeds of -disintegration had too long been sown. Notwithstanding -a two-fold victory against the invader, on the death of -the veteran in 1237, the Latin supremacy in the East well -nigh vanished.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The youthful Baldwin de Courtenay, during the life -of John of Brienne, visited many European courts in -the vain hope of obtaining aid, military or pecuniary, for -the defence of his forlorn dominions, and in the subsequent -five and twenty years of his reign these visits were more -than once repeated, each time with less result, and though, -in fruitless efforts to raise men and money, he alienated -his own patrimony of Namur and Courtenay, although -in desperation he sold the sacred treasures of his capital—the -Crown of Thorns and other relics reputed equally -holy—yet his utmost efforts could in no wise avert the -doom which threatened the Empire, but only availed to -postpone for a while the final catastrophe.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At last the determination of Michael Palæologus -brought the struggle to an end. Constantinople was -invested and taken by the Greeks, the last remnant of -Latin sway, in the person of the Emperor Baldwin and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>his family, taking refuge on board the Venetian fleet, -which lay anchored in the Bosphorous.</p> - -<p class='c001'>With Baldwin and his son Philip, titular Emperor -of Constantinople, ended the elder branch of the -Courtenay family, for the latter left one daughter only, -who married Charles of Valois, a prince aptly described -as “son of a King, brother of a King, uncle to a King, -and father to a King, but yet himself no King.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The elevation of three of its members to the Imperial -throne undoubtedly conferred great honour on the House -of Courtenay, but the after results most adversely -affected the surviving members. While other families -connected with the French monarchy increased in wealth -and influence, the severe struggles made by three generations -to maintain their Imperial dignity so impoverished -the ancestral domains that the successive holders, though -undeniably of Royal descent and near relationship to the -reigning dynasty, were not esteemed, and could not -obtain recognition of their claims to be considered as -Princes of the Blood Royal. It is true, however, that -much doubt exists as to whether in the early days of -the French nobility, kinship with the King implied any -superiority of rank over others nobly born.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Le Comte Boulainvilliers, to whose family the -Seigneurie of Courtenay, after its alienation, had been -given as a royal fief, declares, in his <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Dissertation sur -la Noblesse de France”</span>: “The French knew nothing of -Princes among themselves; consanguinity (<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>parenté</i></span>) to -Kings gave no rank the same as if descended in the -male line. This is evident by the examples of the Houses -of Dreux, of Courtenay, and the junior branches of the -House of Bourbon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Indeed, it is quite apparent to all who read early -French history that the King exercised merely nominal -authority over the nobility, and was considered but as -a chief and leader among those of equal birth and descent, -though differing in degree. It cost King Louis VI. a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>vast deal of trouble to reduce the pretensions of the -Seigneurs of Montlehery, who, allied by marriage to the -houses of Flanders and Courtenay, conceived themselves -in all essentials to be equal to and independent of their -titular monarch, while even more cogent testimony to the -same effect, redolent also to a great degree of the -atmosphere of the times, is borne by the subjoined letter -from Thibaut, Comte de Champagne, to the Abbot of -St Denis, Governor of the Realm in the absence of the -King:—“This is to let you know that Renaud de -Courtenay hath done great injury to the King, ... for -he hath seized on certain merchants that are the King’s -subjects, who have discharged their toll at Orleans and -Sens, and hath stripped them of all their goods. It is, -therefore, necessary, to order him in the King’s name, -they be set at liberty and all that belongs to them -restored. In case he refuse ... and you be desirous -to march an army against him, ... let me know, and -I will send you aid.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the extinction of the elder branch in the persons -of the Emperor Baldwin and his son, the House of -Courtenay became so divided that, in the many ramifications -of descent and consequent division of goods, the -Seigneurs de Champignelles, de Tanlay, d’Arrablay, de -Ferté Loupiere, etc., lost their pride of place, and were -undistinguishable from the remainder of the nobility, -direct evidence of which is furnished by the fact that -Bouchet, who certainly loses no opportunity of enhancing -the grandeur of the race, places over the arms of the -Lord of D’Illier the nine-pointed coronet of a seigneur, -and not, as on other occasions, the crown, embellished -with fleur-de-lys, which designated the Royal House of -France.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet the right of the Courtenays to be considered of -Royal blood is incontrovertible, testimony to it being -borne by many deeds of partition and contracts of -marriage to which members of the reigning family affixed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>their signatures, in each case describing themselves as -relations and cousins.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Moreover, even in the nineteenth century, the head of -the House of Courtenay received a summons to the -funeral of Henri Dieudonné, Comte de Chambord, Henri -Cinq de France, as <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“notre parent et cousin.”</span></p> - -<p class='c001'>Fifteen years after the surviving members had lodged -a final petition for the restoration of their rights of blood, -“by the eternal doom of Fate’s decree,” the death of -Charles Roger de Courtenay, the last male of the line, -the controversy was closed; and thus what Gibbon calls -the plaintive motto of the House: <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Ubi lapsus, quid -feci?”</span> for the second time in history received the endorsement -of truth.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But while two branches of the race grew, flourished, -and fell, a third division rose to rank and fortune in this -island, becoming closely allied by links of property and -title with Devon, the fairest shire in the English land—links -which the space of 750 years has strengthened, the -glamour of an historic name, the charm of many a noble -nature, have rendered unbreakable.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In olden times, a nation made it a point of honour -to claim descent from ancestors who had participated in -the siege of Troy. Fashions change. In the twentieth -century, if an individual rises to such eminence that he -is elevated to the peerage, the world knows he must have -had a father, and presumes he had a grandfather. When -the presumption can be carried back for a generation or -two, the basis of an ancient descent is so firmly laid that -a visit to the Heralds’ College will inevitably result in -the discovery of a progenitor among those who fought -with Norman William at the battle of Senlac, undoubtedly, -judging from their reputed descendants, the most prolific -band of warriors that ever peopled a conquered country.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this, as in some other attributes, the Courtenays -differ from the modern aristocracy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first mention of a Courtenay in English history -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>occurs in the reign of Henry II., and although Bouchet, -with true prophetic instinct, considers it necessary to -allege that a certain Guillaume de Courtenay crossed over -with the army of William of Normandy, the Battle Abbey -roll of William Tailleur does not contain the name; but -a “Cortney” may be found in the probably inaccurate -transcriptions of the same, which have been inserted in -the Chronicles of Stowe and Holinshed. A certain degree -of doubt, however, exists as to the identity of the first -Courtenay mentioned in English records.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Dugdale, copying the register of the monks of Forde -Abbey—a foundation which benefited largely by the -munificence of the family, and, as long as the spring -flowed, lost no opportunity of gratifying their ancestral -pride—declares that the founder of the name in this -country was Reginald, a son of Florus, younger son of -Lewis le Gross, King of France, who assumed the name -of Courtenay from his mother, the heir female of that -family.</p> - -<p class='c001'>History is silent as to whether Peter, seventh son of -Louis le Gros, ever bore the designation of Florus; but -it is undoubtedly proved by Bouchet and others that the -said Peter married a daughter of Reginald de Courtenay, -and enjoying her possessions, called himself by the title -of her seigneurie. It is also fairly assured that the offspring -of this noble couple did not number among them -any son of the name of Reginald, and the preponderance -of authority seems to show that the Reginald, friend of -Queen Alienore of Aquitaine, who, being divorced from -King Louis, afterwards married Henry of England, was -probably the father of that Elizabeth de Courtenay who -became allied with the Royal family of France.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On many occasions a de Courtenay is mentioned as -accompanying Henry on his travels; and in the year 1167, -Roger de Hoveden records that “Reginald de Curteney” -witnessed a treaty of peace between Henry II. of England -and Roderick, King of Connaught.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>For services rendered to the State, Henry, in exercise -of his prerogative, gave as wards to Reginald de -Courtenay, probably the one aforesaid, the two daughters -of Matilda, herself daughter of Randolph Avenel.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Reginald immediately married the elder, Hawise, and -bestowed her half-sister, Maude, on a William de -Courtenay, possibly his son, probably, as Cleveland -thinks, his brother.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Hawise, as sole heiress to her father, Robert d’Abrincis, -and descended from Baldwin de Brionis, a valorous -Norman knight, inherited large estates in the West of -England—the Barony of Okehampton, the Shrievalty of -Devonshire, the custody of the Castle of Exeter, and the -title of Vicecomes or Viscount; both dignities and land, -as was the custom in those days, being enjoyed, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“jure -uxoris,”</span> by her husband, Reginald de Courtenay, passed -to the child of their marriage, Robert, who still further -augmented the position of the family by marrying in his -turn Mary, younger daughter of William de Redvers or -Rivers, sixth Earl of Devon, through whom the House of -Courtenay finally obtained the title which they retain to -this day.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The policy of Henry III. deprived Robert de Courtenay -of the Viscounty of Devon and the custody of Exeter -Castle, but the Barony of Okehampton still remained in -the line, being successively held by John and Henry, son -and grandson of the said Robert.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1262, by the failure of heirs male, Isabella, daughter -of Baldwin, seventh Earl, and his wife, Amicia, became -Countess of Devonshire. This masterful lady married -William de Fortibus, Earl of Albemarle, and, surviving -her husband and children for more than thirty years, -exercised despotic sway over the wide domains belonging -to her. She erected a weir across the River Exe, even -now called Countess Weir, for the benefit, as she declared, -of her mills situated on both banks, though the citizens -of Exeter were of different opinion, and on their oaths -<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>did aver that the Countess had “made a great Purpresture -or Nusance ... to the Annoyance, Hurt and Damage -of the said City.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>At her death, in 1292, the Earldom of Devon reverted -to Sir Hugh Courtenay, second of the name, Baron of -Okehampton, through his great-grandmother, Mary de -Rivers, daughter of William de Ripariis, Redvers or Rivers, -sixth Earl.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Some forty years after the death of his predecessor, -Sir Hugh was summoned by writ, without any further -creation, to take his seat as Earl, but before then he -participated in many Parliaments as a Baron, both Stowe -and Holinshed alleging that he was one of the two Lords -of that rank who carried a solemn message to King -Edward II., demanding from him the abdication of the -throne.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Chiefly by means of judicious matrimonial alliances, the -first members of the English Courtenays added largely -to their rank and possessions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Following the good example, Hugh, third of the -name and second Earl, wedded, in 1325, Margaret, -daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Lord -High Constable of England, by her obtaining that -appanage associated so intimately with the Courtenay -name as known in their own county, the beautiful castle -and demesne of Powderham. Earl Hugh assigned this -residence and estate to his younger son, Philip, from -whom is descended the present branch of the family.</p> - -<p class='c001'>High in rank, possessed of great territory, honoured -in the council, foremost in the fray, for a hundred and -fifty years the Courtenays of Devon occupied a great -place in English history. They took part in the battles -of Halidon Hill, Creçy, the siege of Rouen, the triumphal -entry into Paris; as Admirals of the West, repelled -invasion; as Governors of the County, exercised extensive -jurisdiction; and in their just pride of station, -contended with the Earls of Arundel as to who should -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>take precedence as premier Peer in the degree which -they held.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Their functions, when acting as rulers of the county, -were varied, for it is stated that in 1383 a command -was issued to them by the King, ordering the punishment -of “certain malefactors and troublers of our peace ... -come lately to Topsham and by force of arms have taken -Peter Hill, a certain messenger of the Venerable Father, -William, Archbishop of Canterbury, and with no small -cruelty and threatening compelled him to eat the wax of -a certain seal of the said Archbishop.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This William, son of Hugh, second Earl, at first Bishop -of London, afterwards raised to the archiepiscopal see of -Canterbury, possessed so fully the hereditary courage of his -opinions that he not only resolutely opposed the weighty -influence of the Duke of Lancaster and Lord Percy -of Northumberland, when exercised by them in favour of -John Wicliffe, but also as Adam, Archdeacon of Usk, -pathetically declares: <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Eciam a facie istius regis Ricardi, -ille vir perfectissimus Willelmus Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus -quia hujus modi taxe resistere volens.”</span> The -strength of the superlative epithet is justified by the said -tax having been levied solely against the clergy.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the prosperity of the Courtenays, as of most -other noble families in England, was rudely disturbed -by the outbreak of civil strife—the Wars of the Roses. -Supporting strongly the House of Lancaster, they shared -in undue proportions the calamities which befel that -party, three successive Earls of Devon, the sons of -Thomas, fifth in title, giving their lives for the cause they -supported. Thomas, the elder of the three, taken at -Towton, was soon after executed, as historians say, to -appease the ghost of the Duke of York. A few years -later, Henry, his brother, met the same fate; while John, -the youngest, fell in the disastrous battle of Tewkesbury, -the great estates of the family being escheated by the -King.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>Yet once more, with the triumph of Henry VII., the -fortunes of the ancient house revived. The King annulled -the attainder and restored the ancestral domains to the -faithful noble who had followed him into exile and fought -by his side at Bosworth Field, subsequently sanctioning -also the marriage of the eldest son, Sir William Courtenay, -with Katherine, the younger daughter of the late King -Edward IV.; though this royal alliance, as was often the -case in such connections, only led to suspicion on the part -of the reigning monarch and calamity to the aspiring -bridegroom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the succeeding reign, Henry, the child of this -marriage, stood high in the favour of the monarch. As -the boon companion of his cousin the King, he tilted -with him at Greenwich; as his brother-in-arms, he fought -at the Battle of the Spurs; in the office of Lord High -Steward, he presided over the trial of those persons who -had fallen under the Royal displeasure; and finally the -honour of a Marquisate was bestowed, and Henry, seventh -Earl of Devon, became the first Marquis of Exeter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the friendship of Henry VIII. was almost as -deadly as his enmity. Accused of treason, neither personal -virtues nor high connections availed anything, and so -the Marquis of Exeter was arrested, tried, and executed. -Hume, in this connection, remarks: “We know little -concerning the justice or iniquity of the sentence pronounced -against these men: we only know that the -condemnation of a man who was at that time prosecuted -by the court forms no presumption of his guilt”; but -with characteristic ambiguity he continues: “Though -... we may presume that sufficient evidence was -produced against the Marquis of Exeter and his -associates.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the light of present knowledge, it is not difficult -to conjecture the causes of this unfortunate nobleman’s -downfall. There were two actions Henry VIII. never -forgave: Failure to obey his wishes, tantamount to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>disobedience to his commands; and friendship, or even -tolerance, towards those whom he chose to consider his -enemies.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is little doubt that Henry Courtenay committed -the former as well as the latter form of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“lèse majesté.”</span> -A letter from Sir Thomas More to Cardinal Wolsey is -still extant, in which he writes:—“And as touching the -ouverture made by my Lord Shevers for the marriage -of my Lord of Devonshire the King is well content and -as me seemyth very glad of the motion, wherein he -requireth your Grace that it may lyke you to call my -Lord of Devonshire to your Grace and to advise him -secretly to forbere any further treate of marriage with -my Lord Mountjoy.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Now, in 1526, Henry, Marquis of Exeter, married, -as his second wife, Gertrude, daughter of Lord Mountjoy, -as this letter shows in opposition to the wishes of the -King; and although, truly, the matter cannot in any way -be considered of importance, yet the fact that the lady -was a strong supporter of the ancient Church, taken in -conjunction with the jealousy obviously shown by Henry -towards the power and authority exercised in the West -Country by all who bore the Courtenay name, may well -have had an influence over the fate of the unfortunate -nobleman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The actual charge, in the State Trial, alleged complicity -with the designs of Cardinal Pole and a desire -to deprive the King of his prerogatives. At this period -of his reign, the one great object of Henry’s life was to -assert his supremacy over the English Church—that -church in whose services and welfare he showed such -deep interest, not only by the extreme frequency with -which he celebrated the marriage ceremony, but also by -the tenacious affection he displayed for her temporal -possessions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Reginald Pole, at one time Dean of Exeter, born of -a royal stock, allied with many noble English houses, a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>Cardinal, and deep in the councils of the Pope, was an -unsparing opponent of Henry’s aspirations; so if, as -Burnet says, “There were very severe invectives printed -at Rome against King Henry, in which there were nothing -omitted which could make him appear as the blackest of -tyrants, ... and Cardinal Pole’s style was known in -some of them,” even a kindly expression, much less a -spirit of friendliness towards the author of these attacks -would be amply sufficient to draw on anyone, be he -gentle or simple, the wrath of Henry, who “never spared -man in his anger, or woman in his lust.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Therefore, as Wriothesley, in his Chronicle, relates: -“The third of the same month, the Lord Henry Courtney, -Marquis of Exceter and Earle of Devonshire, and the -Kinge’s neare kinsman, was arraigned at Westminster -Hall ... and there condempned to death, for treason -against the Kinge by the counsaille of Raynold Poole, -Cardinall ... which pretended to have enhaunsed the -Bishop of Rome’s usurped authority againe, lyke traitors -to God and their Prince.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The same strain of royal blood, breeding jealousy and -mistrust, which had caused the imprisonment of the -grandfather and the death of the father, inflicted also -heavy penalties on the son. Edward, only child of Henry -and Gertrude Courtenay, though but twelve years old -at the date of his father’s execution, was then committed -to the Tower, and there remained close prisoner for -fifteen years.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Released by Mary on her first regal entry into London, -restored to his hereditary titles and property, endowed, -moreover, with ample bodily and many mental charms, -the youthful Earl of Devonshire rapidly rose into favour, -and at one time was even considered as a fitting aspirant -for the hand of the Queen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But to a young man of twenty-seven, the greater part -of whose life had been spent amid the gloom and -seclusion of a State prison, with only such amusements -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>as the translation of Italian theological treatises could -afford, or other similar exercises, whether physical or -mental, as the gaoler would allow, the freedom of the -outer world presented greater temptations than his -untrained nature could resist. Yielding to the dissipations -of the court and, so ’tis said, the more sordid pleasures -of the town, Edward Courtenay sacrificed to the enjoyment -of the moment the opportunities which were offered -him of gratifying splendid ambitions, and, too high placed -to be disregarded, became, as his progenitors before him, -an object of mistrust and suspicion to the occupant of -the throne.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This unfortunate youth has been accused not only -of ingratitude to his royal benefactress by making secret -advances to her sister, the Princess Elizabeth, but also -of the serious offence of disloyalty and treason towards -the monarch. But though, indeed, he may have committed -the former mistake, a critical examination of the -evidence produced clears him of knowing and wilful -participation in any of the serious plots which the -proposed marriage of the Queen with Philip of Spain -had aroused among her subjects. Sir Thomas Wyat -unreservedly absolved Courtenay from all knowledge of -his rising, and the leniency with which Mary, little given -to clemency, extended towards the Earl shows that she, -at least, believed in his innocence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Probably the truest aspect of the case is shown by -Burnet, who declares, when writing of the harsh treatment -dealt to Elizabeth by her royal sister: “Others -suggest a more secret reason for this dispute. The new -Earl of Devonshire was much in the Queen’s favour, so -that it was thought that she had some inclination to -marry him, but he, either not presuming so high or -having an aversion to her and an inclination to her sister, -who of that moderate share of beauty which was between -them had much the better of her and was nineteen years -younger, made his addresses with more than ordinary -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>concern to the Lady Elizabeth, and this did bring them -both into trouble.”</p> - -<div class='column-container capwidth80'> - -<div id='i054' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_054fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From the original portrait by Sir Antonio More, at Woburn.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by T. Chambars.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><span class='sc'>Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devonshire.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>It is plain enough that this young man, little older -and assuredly not more experienced than a boy, was a -tool in the hands of those astute intriguers, de Noailles -and Simon Renard, the French and Spanish ambassadors. -The one, strenuously opposing the Spanish marriage, the -other, equally determined in his advocacy of the alliance, -united in using the innocent Earl of Devonshire as a factor -in their game, with disastrous results to the unfortunate -victim.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Advised to remove himself far from the scene of -those intrigues which had caught him in their net, Edward -Courtenay departed for the Continent with the declared -intention of travelling to distant lands, even to Constantinople. -That he had no consciousness of having -committed a great offence is evident from his correspondence; -for while frequently expressing the hope that he -may soon be home again, he asks a friend to give him -a buck and some does, so that his park may be stocked -with deer, and gleefully relates that the Emperor and -King Philip had received him kindly. But his health is -not good. He suffers, so he writes, from a disease in -his hip from cold; there is, also, much plague about; -and then no more is heard until the news arrives from -Peter Vannes, the English ambassador to the Venetian -Republic, who was staying at Padua, announcing that -Edward, Earl of Devonshire, had died in that city, on -September 18th, 1556. <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Ubi lapsus, quid feci?</i></span></p> - -<p class='c001'>Noble and honoured in degree, gifted with many -admirable and amiable qualities, the fairest prospects -open before them, yet, one after the other, successive -Earls of Devon, like their even more exalted ancestors, -perished in sorrow and adversity, until, as was generally -believed, their ancient title became extinct.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet, far away in the West Country, beneath the oaks -of Powderham, while the elder branches dropped or were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>snapped off, the descendants of Sir Philip Courtenay, -youngest son of Hugh, second Earl of Devon, lived and -thrived, gaining among their own people a love and -devotion which has endured the strain of centuries and -the many vicissitudes of fortune.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Through the course of years the Courtenays of -Powderham followed the example of their greater -kinsmen, taking part in events of national importance, -bearing themselves with distinction against the foreign -foe; with hereditary courage and self-denial opposing -the usurper, Richard of Gloucester, and, in defeat as well -as in victory, supporting the cause of Henry VII.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But in all things, great or small, they essentially were -Devonshire leaders of Devonshire men—living among -their own people, beloved and respected by them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Peter Courtenay, Bishop of Exeter in 1437, expended -his energy and substance in maintaining and improving -the Cathedral, and to this day the great bell which he -hung in the north tower is called by his name, Great -Peter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Many a Devonshire Courtenay sat as Knight of the -Shire for his native County; others of the family filled -the office of Sheriff; and thus for 340 years this branch -of the house did its duty punctually and well, earning -fresh honours and new titles in the place of those which -lay in abeyance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the death of Edward, eighth Earl, in 1556, at -Padua, the Courtenays of Powderham were represented -by Sir William Courtenay, who died at the siege of -St. Quintin, a few months after the decease of his noble -kinsman, his son and successor, also called William, being -but four years old at the time.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It may be that the tidings of the death of the head -of the house were long in travelling from Italy to distant -Devonshire. It may be that none of the living members -of the family were cognizant of the facts of the case; -but whatever the reasons, for 260 years the Earldom of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>Devon was regarded as lapsed, and no successor claimed -its honour and dignity, though some indications may, -indeed, be found, both in written records and the behaviour -of individuals, of a belief that the title, though latent, -was not extinct.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Gibbon, who himself has conferred a great and undying -honour on the family by devoting, in his monumental -work, a whole chapter to the history of the Courtenays, -uses this significant expression: “His personal honours -as if they had been legally extinct”; and in 1660, when -Charles II. offered the dignity of a Baronetcy to the -then Sir William Courtenay, it was, as Cleveland relates, -refused, “he not affecting that title because he thought -greater of right belonged to him. Indeed, the patent of -Baronetcy was never taken out, although his successors -were always styled as such.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is possible, however, that this refusal may have -been due to the natural irritation felt by the head of a -great family at seeing his hereditary and ancestral honours -conferred on others; for in 1602, James I. created Charles -Blunt, Lord Mountjoy, Earl of Devonshire, and on his -decease, six years later, gave the same title to William -Cavendish, in whose line it remained until changed to a -Dukedom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the reign of William III., an offer of an English -Barony was made to the head of the Courtenays, and -again refused; but in 1762, the many services of Sir -William Courtenay, eighth of the name, merited a higher -honour, and he, accepting a Peerage, took his seat in -the House of Lords as Viscount Courtenay of Powderham -Castle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Only surviving his elevation some six months, he -was succeeded by his son, who, marrying a lady of less -exalted lineage than himself, became the parent of one -son and thirteen daughters.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This only son and heir, the tenth in thirteen generations -who successively bore the name of William, on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>advice, it is said, of that distinguished lawyer, Mr. Pepys, -afterwards Lord Chancellor and first Earl of Cottenham, -in 1830 asserted, by petition to Parliament, his right to -the ancient Earldom of Devon. The grounds of the claim -were as follows: When, in the year 1553, Sir Edward -Courtenay, son of Henry, Marquis of Exeter and Earl of -Devonshire, attainted and executed by Henry VIII., after -having suffered a long confinement in the Tower, obtained -from Queen Mary his release, she annulled the attainder, -and created him, by special patent, “to hold the title and -dignity of Earl of Devon with the said honours and -pre-eminence thereunto belonging, to the aforesaid -Edward and his <i>heir male for ever</i>” (<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“prefato Edwardo -et heredibus suis masculis imperpetuum”</span>). And this -phrase is again repeated later: “Do grant to the aforesaid -now Earl that he and his <i>heirs male</i> may enjoy -... the same pre-eminence as any of the ancestors of -the said Earl being heretofore Earl of Devon may have -enjoyed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>With great lucidity and deep knowledge of the subject, -Mr. Pepys maintained that, whereas in the majority of -patents it was usual to restrict the title to the recipient -and his direct descendants (heirs male of his body), in -this instance, as shown by the wording of the deed, the -Sovereign deliberately intended to restore the Earldom -to the heir male of Hugh, second Earl of Devon, which -position was undoubtedly occupied by the claimant, -William, Viscount Courtenay.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Certain cases were cited in support of this contention, -especially the charter given by Richard II. creating William -le Scrope Earl of Wiltshire, and special reference was -made to a patent of Charles I. appointing Lewis Boyle -Baron of Bandon Bridge, which contained a declaration -explaining the express intention of words absolutely -similar to those used in the deed concerning the Earldom -of Devon. The claim was tried before the Committee -of Privileges of the House of Lords, consisting of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>Lord Chancellor (Lord Brougham) and Lord Wynford, -who himself, as Sir W. Draper-Best, had lately been -raised to the peerage, for the reason, as Greville, in his -Memoirs, amusingly remarks, “that he is to assist the -Chancellor in deciding Scotch causes of which he knows -nothing whatever; as the Chancellor knows nothing -either, the Scotch law is likely to be strangely administered.” -The decision in this case which related to an -English peerage, however, was eminently just, and the -House resolved and adjudged: “That William, Viscount -Courtenay, hath made out his claim to the title, honour, -and dignity of Earl of Devon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>By this decision, William, Lord Courtenay, succeeded -to one of the great historical titles of England, for the -Earl of Devon is justly entitled to rank with his brothers -of Shrewsbury, Derby, Huntingdon, and Pembroke, who, -occupying Earldoms created before 1600, have been -designated Catskin Earls—a name concerning the derivation -of which authorities differ, some alleging that the -ancient trimming of an Earl’s gown consisted of cat skin, -in the place of ermine; while others are inclined to -believe that in early times Peers of this rank were permitted -to wear four (quatre) rows of fur on their coronation -robes. It is to be feared that now this question <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“des -jupons”</span> will never be definitely settled.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the successful issue of his claim, William, ninth -Earl of Devon, both at Powderham, in London, and in -Paris, maintained a state which, however worthy of the -vast domains appertaining to his great ancestors, yet cast -a heavy burden on the mere moderate appanage inherited -by himself, with the inevitable result that the estates were -encumbered and the successor to the title seriously -embarrassed. He died, a bachelor, in 1835, being succeeded -by his cousin, William, the representative of a -younger branch of the family derived from Sir William -Courtenay, third Baronet.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This nobleman, before his accession to the Peerage, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>sat in the House of Commons as Member for the City -of Exeter, at one time also filling the post of Clerk to -Parliament. After a long and valuable life, he died in -1859, the succession devolving upon his son, William -Reginald, eleventh Earl, whose name is still a household -word in the land with which he and his have so long -been associated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Marrying Lady Elizabeth Fortescue, a member of a -house also closely and honourably connected with the -best traditions of the county, Lord Devon, in all things -which he undertook, exercised an influence indeed worthy -of his illustrious lineage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Gifted with a great kindliness of disposition—he was -never known to lose his temper or to utter a harsh opinion -of others—and a high sense of the duties and responsibilities -of his position, he spent his life in earnest -endeavours, and whether as President of the Local -Government Board in Lord Derby’s Ministry, or as -Chairman of the St. Thomas’ Union in the neighbourhood -of his own beautiful home, his uniform punctuality -and assiduity was only exceeded by his unfailing courtesy -and amiability.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It has been said of “Devon’s noblest son,” as he was -popularly styled, with equal truth and felicity, that from -the date of his accession to the title till the day of his -death, he identified himself with every good work, -whether in the County of Devon or the City of Exeter; -those which had as their aim the spread of religious -teaching or the advancement of the Church of England -being specially near his heart. So active was the part -he played in all ecclesiastical matters, that on one -occasion, so it is currently reported, Dr. Temple, afterwards -Archbishop of Canterbury, declared: “Why, Lord -Devon is almost a lay Bishop.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Unfortunately, carried away, perhaps, by a desire to -adequately perform the obligations of his rank, Lord -Devon’s expenditure largely exceeded the income from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>his property. In the hopes that it would materially -conduce to the welfare of that part of Ireland in which -his estates were situated, he laid down, mainly at his -own cost, a line of railway, the heavy outlay on which -and the paucity of returns added considerably to the -encumbrances which then burdened him. It should, however, -be stated that in the last few years this line, which -cost its maker so dearly, has been bought by an important -Irish railway company for many thousands of pounds.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The embarrassments which these ventures charged -upon the property were, moreover, in no way lightened -by the successor to the title, Edward Baldwin, twelfth -Earl, whose expenditure as M.P. for East Devon and -for the City of Exeter, as well as his fondness for sport -in many branches, added costly burdens to an already -overweighted exchequer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And thus, by a proneness to follow the dictates of -a benevolent heart or the desire to indulge in magnificence -consonant with ancient tradition, without adequate consideration -with regard to the means by which the impulse -was to be gratified, the glories of the Earldom of Devon -have been shorn of their just splendour, and the holders -of the dignity deprived of the due means of maintaining -their hereditary station.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Edward Baldwin died in 1891, and was succeeded by -his uncle, Henry Hugh, thirteenth Earl and Rector of -Powderham, who married Lady Anna Maria Leslie, sister -to the eleventh Earl of Rothes. By her, whose charity -and simple-minded goodness of heart made her universally -beloved, he had two sons—Henry Reginald, Lord -Courtenay, who married Lady Evelyn Pepys, youngest -daughter of the first Earl of Cottenham, predeceasing his -father in 1898; and Hugh Leslie, who is still living. -Lord Devon died in February, 1904, at the ripe age of -93, having survived his beloved wife by seven years.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>Ubi lapsus, quid feci?</i></span> Surely, if worldly prosperity -could be earned by a blameless life and a just discharge -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>of every duty, Henry Hugh, thirteenth Earl of Devon, -Rector of Powderham, and Prebendary of Exeter, would -have enjoyed wealth beyond the desires of man; surely, if -the highest place and the greatest honours could be -gained by courage and devotion, they would have adorned -his noble son, Henry Reginald, Lord Courtenay, who bore -the suffering and faced the inevitable end of a dread -disease with an heroic courage which more than equalled -the deeds of his chivalrous ancestors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is to be deplored, in these days, when wealth has -usurped to an undue extent that place which used formerly -to be the privilege of high birth or great intellectual -attainments, that the holders of an historic dignity are -deprived, even for a time, of a revenue commensurate -with their name and station; but as it was by the legal -knowledge and forensic skill of Charles Pepys, Earl of -Cottenham, the Courtenays regained their ancestral rank, -so, perhaps, it is reserved for a noble daughter of that -same distinguished family, by her wise guidance, to assist -in reviving the glories of a House which she has graced -with her alliance and enriched with her many virtues.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Yet to those who saw the crowds, all sorts and conditions -of men, which thronged the little churchyard at -Powderham when the last four Courtenays were laid to -rest, it was plainly evident that in their own fair county -of Devon, the land of the green hill and the flowing -river, the love which is felt for all who bear the Courtenay -name is not measured by the breadth of their acres or -the length of their purse-strings, but in the heart of -everyone who knows this ancient house and its kindly -members, there exists a genuine and sincere wish that -the Royal Courtenays may ever flourish in all fulness of -health, honour, and prosperity.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>H. M. Imbert-Terry, F.R.L.S.</span></div> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i076' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_076fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Drawing by F. Wilkinson.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by J. Mills, 1830.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Doorway of King John’s Tavern, Exeter.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span> - <h2 class='c008'>OLD INNS AND TAVERNS OF EXETER. <br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By the late Robert Dymond, F.S.A.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c022'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whoe’er has travelled life’s dull round,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Where’er his stages may have been,</div> - <div class='line'>May sigh to think he still has found</div> - <div class='line in2'>The greatest comfort in an inn.</div> - <div class='line in29'>—<i>Shenstone.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>In one of his oracular and sententious utterances, -Dr. Johnson declared that “there is nothing that -has yet been contrived by man by which so much -happiness is produced, as by a good tavern or -inn.” But, inasmuch as Boswell tells us that this opinion -was pronounced just after the great doctor had “dined -at an excellent inn,” we may fairly receive the sentiment -as the pair received their meal—with a grain of salt. It -would be foreign to the purpose of this paper to enlarge -upon the benefits or to denounce the evils connected -with inns and taverns. It is enough to know that they -exercised on the domestic lives and habits of our forefathers -an influence sufficiently potent to establish their -claim to share the attention of historical writers with -churches, and monasteries, and castles. The Royalist -tendencies of the citizens were shown by the “King -John Tavern,” in the Serge Market, at the head of South -Street; the “Plume of Feathers,” at the bottom of North -Street; the “Unicorn,” in the Butcher Row; the “King’s -Head,” formerly in Spiller’s Lane; and the “Crown and -Sceptre,” in North Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The oldest of Exeter inns having anything like a -connected history was known for centuries by the inappropriate -title of the “New Inn.” We may enter it now -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>without any suspicion of its antiquity. Of the ladies of -the present day who are so familiar with the house, which -bears over its alluring portal the name of “Green & Son,” -probably not one in a hundred suspects that her ancestors -knew it equally well as the principal inn in Exeter. The -archives of the Corporation and of the Dean and Chapter, -to whom it jointly belonged, make frequent mention of -the “New Inn,” the earliest being a lease in 1456, by -which the Master and Brethren of the Magdalen Hospital -granted to Roger Schordych and Joan, his wife, two -tenements opposite “le Newe Inne,” in the parish of -St. Stephen. It appears from Shillingford’s <cite>Letters</cite> -(p. 85), that the inn was then “newly built,” and one -of the frequent squabbles between the Cathedral and -the City authorities arose out of a <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“purpresture”</span> or -encroachment said to have been made there by the -Chapter. A few years later, as we learn from Mr. Cotton’s -<cite>Gleanings</cite> (p. 11), an entry was made in the accounts -of the Receiver to the Chamber of 3<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i>, disbursed for -“four gallons of wine sent to Lord Stafford at the -Newynne.” From this time it often occurs on successive -renewals of the lease. In John Hoker’s <cite>Extracts from -the Act Books of the Chamber</cite>, we find that on the -16th February, 1554, during the mayoralty of John -Midwinter, that body resolved to establish at the “New -Inn” the cloth mart previously kept at the “Eagle” -from 1472—"The newe Inne to be bought of Christian, -the wydowe of Thomas Petefyn, and the same to be -converted into a commodious hall for all manner of clothe, -Lynnen or wollyn, and for all other m’chandises and w<sup>ch</sup> -shalbe called the m’chaunts hall." In pursuance of this -arrangement, Edward Clase and Elizabeth, his wife, who -had succeeded Thomas Peytevin, surrendered their lease -to the Chamber in 1555. The Act Book also shows that -Thomas Johnson was deprived of the tenure of the “New -Inn” on the 25th July, 1582, and was succeeded by -Valentine Tooker (or Tucker). This tenant had a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>misunderstanding with the municipal authorities, in which -he induced some of his mercantile customers to take up -his cause; for amongst the municipal records is a letter -addressed to the Chamber on the 20th of June, 1612, -in which Matthew Springham, Walter Clarke, John Pettye, -and eighteen other London merchants, intercede for -Tooker, who had received notice to quit his “nowe dwelling -howse, the Newe Inn”; and they pray that in consideration -of his years and services “some stipend may -be given him.” Shortly after this, Valentine Tooker -died, and in 1617 his sons, Thomas and Samuel, state, -in a letter to Ignatius Jurdaine, the Mayor, that their -father had recovered £43 13<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> from the Chamber by -a Decree in Chancery for being compelled to leave the -New Inn, of which he had been tenant for many years, -and they desired that it might be paid without putting -them to the charge of taking out the Decree under the -Great Seal. They thought it hard that their father -should, without any just cause or indemnity, be thrust -out of doors, “after keeping the New Inn for more than -thirty years, behaving himself honestly, and paying his -rent duly, albeit two or three several times raysed and -enhanced therein on the promise afterwards to enjoy it -for his life.” Notes are added in favour of the petitioners -by the brothers Richard and Symon Baskerville.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This Simon Baskerville, a near relative of the Mayor, -was a man of note and influence at this time. He was -the son of Thomas Baskerville, an Exeter apothecary, and -was born in the city in 1573. He was successively -appointed physician to James I. and Charles I., from the -latter of whom he received the honour of knighthood. -A mural tablet in St. Paul’s, London, records that “Near -this place lyeth the body of that worthy and learned -gentleman, Sir Simon Baskerville, Knight and Doctor in -Physick, who departed this life the fifth of July, 1641, -aged 68 years.” The transactions between the sons of -Valentine Tooker and the Chamber appear to have closed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>on the 3rd of April, 1618, when they acknowledged the -receipt from that body of £6 16<i>s.</i>, “in full satisfaction, -recompence and payment, of and for the full and uttermoste -value of all those selynges, stayned or paynted, -clothes, shelfes, and all other goods, chattels,” etc., left -by them in the “New Inn.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the year 1612, we find many references to the -“New Inne Halle” or Merchants’ Hall. This was let -separately from the inn, and was used as an Exchange, -where the cloth merchants congregated, and where the -three great yearly cloth fairs drew together traffickers from -all parts to carry on the trade previously conducted at -“le Egle,” opposite the Guildhall. These merchants -rented stalls or shops, which were also distinct from the -inn, and in 1640 they petitioned the Chamber to prevent -“foreigners,” by whom they meant non-residents, from -buying and selling to one another in the city. They -suggested that “the hygher roome of Sent Johns (Hospital) -be ordenyd to be a store as a roome annyxt unto the -New In halle, to reseve all wols browght unto thys cyttaye -by foreners.” These restrictive and protectionist measures, -operating with the introduction of steam power, finally -caused the great woollen manufacture of the West to -depart into districts where trade was freer and coal was -cheaper.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The “New Inn” extended as far back as Catherine -Street, including what was till lately Mr. Seller’s coach -factory. Perhaps the sole relic of the original structure -is the well in the cellar under this part of the old premises. -When this well was opened, in May, 1872, its circular -wrought courses of red sandstone plainly testified to -its antiquity. The stabling was on the other side of -Catherine Street, on a site still used for that purpose, -and belonging to the Duke of Bedford. A fire broke out -in these stables in 1723, and their great extent is shown -by the following advertisement in Andrew Brice’s <cite>Postmaster, -or Loyal Mercury</cite>: “Whereas there has been a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>Report industriously spread abroad by certain malicious -or designing persons, that all or most of the Stables -belonging to the New Inn, in the High Street, Exon, -are burnt down;—this is to certify that the said Report -is vicious and false, there being but one only Stable any -way damaged by the said late Fire; and that there are -remaining near Three times as much Stable room as -belongs to any other Inn House in that City, with handsome -Accommodation for Coaches, &c., and above an -Hundred Horses.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The structure already referred to was the first edition -of the “New Inn” on that site. About the time of the -Restoration of Monarchy the house appears to have been -re-built, and then was erected the great Apollo Room, -which still remains the chief ornament of the house. -This splendid apartment is 32½ feet long by 23½ feet -wide, and before the floor was raised by Messrs. Green -to increase the height of the shop below, it was 17 feet -high. The original contract for the construction of the -rich and elaborate ceiling appears to have been made -with the Chamber by Richard Over, who was to receive -£50 “for his skill and labour in playstering the fore -chamber, or dining-room, in the New Inn, according to -the form and mould which he hath propounded and laid -down in a scheme or map.” But the work appears to -have been begun in 1689 by Thomas Lane, a plasterer, -for five shillings a yard, and on the following 20th of -March he was paid by the Chamber £50 for this admirable -work of art. It displays the royal arms, with those of -the See of Exeter, and of the county families of -Hillersdon, Calmady, Prestwood, Acland, and Radcliffe. -The name of this fine room may possibly have been -borrowed from the Apollo Club in London, near Temple -Bar, a place of great resort in the reign of James I. Its -principal room was called the Oracle of Apollo, the bust -of the god being set above the door of the room, whilst -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>over the entrance to the house were some verses -beginning:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Welcome all who lead or follow</div> - <div class='line'>To the Oracle of Apollo.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Perhaps our county magistrates sought his inspiration -when they met at the “New Inn” for public business. -Amongst the many illustrious visitors who have been -lodged there, none ever excited more curiosity than that -great potentate, Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, who -came with an imposing retinue, on his way to London, -in the spring of 1669. The Mayor and Alderman waited -on him in full state, and were received in a saloon above -stairs, perhaps the one that was afterwards converted into -the Apollo Room. His highness graciously desired the -Mayor to be covered, listened patiently to the inevitable -speech or address, accepted the gift of money (£20), -which it was then customary to present to great personages, -but politely declined his worship’s invitation to a banquet. -The Grand Duke afterwards received Sir John Rolle and -his two sons, John and Denys, and on the next day -returned the visit at their house in the Close, formerly -the town mansion of the Abbot of Buckfast, and now -occupied as a school by Mrs. Hellins. The fortunes of -the “New Inn” began to decline when the Cloth Fair -was removed to St. John’s Hospital in 1778, and its decay -was probably hastened by the rivalry of the “London -Inn,” now the “Bude Haven Hotel.” In his <cite>Grand -Gazetteer</cite>, published a little before this time, Andrew Brice -describes the “New Inn” as “not undeserving mention, -not only as having most or all the Properties of an Inn -super-excellent, but especially for one most magnificent -lofty and large room, called the Apollo; the Fellow of -which scarce any Inn in the Kingdom can truly boast. -It’s the property of the Chamber. Herein is kept the -present Cloth Hall, and at Whitsuntide fairs the whole -Court and nearly every Room are filled with Clothiers -and their wares. It may casually be acceptable to some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>or other of the worthy Fraternity to note also that the -said Apollo is the only constituted Lodge of Exeter Freemasons.” -When the testy but clever author of this -description ended his long life in 1773, two hundred of -his brother Freemasons, members of several lodges, met -in full costume at the Apollo Room, and joined the -funeral procession to St. Bartholomew’s Yard, singing as -they went a solemn Masonic elegy composed for the -occasion. It was probably not long after this event that -the premises ceased to be used as an inn; but the judges -of assize continued to be lodged there until about the -year 1836, when they removed to Northernhay Place. In -a large upper room, in the rear of the “New Inn” -premises, the first popular Literary Society in Exeter held -its meetings from the year 1830. It was founded five -years earlier in some rooms in South Street, under the -title of a Mechanics’ Institute. Soon after the termination -of its brief but useful existence, its place was supplied -by the still flourishing Exeter Literary Society.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Next, if not equal, in importance to the “New Inn” -was the “Mermaid,” whose yard is now worthily occupied -by two huge blocks of Industrial Dwellings. There was -a great oaken staircase, with carven handrail and ample -landings, leading to the assembly and other large rooms, -for the quality folks, on the left of the entrance. Dr. -Oliver, in a contribution to a newspaper in 1833, mentions -this assembly room as having been used for balls within -the memory of old people then living. It was 56 feet -long and 17 wide. Its arched and moulded ceiling was -enriched with gold and colour. On a carved stone in -the centre of the mantelpiece (30 inches wide by 25 high), -and dated 1632, were impaled the arms of the old Devonshire -families of Shapleigh and Slanning. Travellers and -casual guests were lodged on the left side of the entrance; -and besides the spacious yard there was a large garden -with a summer-house, commanding a prospect of fields -and distant hills. Here the city merchants could look -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>down upon their ships in the haven below, as they smoked -their pipes over cups of canary, and held converse -touching their foreign ventures. The “Mermaid” was a -favourite sign with our forefathers, who had a liking for -strange fishes, especially for those connected with fable -or mystery. An old book tells how, once upon a time, -a long consultation on the choice of a sign ended in the -selection of the “Mermaid,” “because,” said the hostess, -“she will sing catches to the youths of the parish.” Not -from the parish only, but from every quarter of the county, -did customers of high degree make their way to the -“Mermaid” of Exeter. They sang catches, if she did -not. "What things we have seen done at the ‘Mermaid!’" -wrote Beaumont to Ben Jonson. Those dashing brethren, -Sir Peter and Sir Gawen Carew, with a gallant company of -knights and squires and justices of the quorum, rode into -its yard, in 1549, after conference with the misguided -Catholic insurgents at St. Mary’s Clyst, and there, after -supper, words waxed high over the terms of dealing with -the rebels.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the whole of the last century the “Mermaid” -was a great rendezvous for carriers; and Edward Iliffe, -to whom it belonged in 1764, was a partner with Thomas -Parker, of the “New Inn,” and two others, in one of -those long vehicles, then called “machines,” advertised -to carry passengers from Exeter to London in two days. -Iliffe had also “fly waggons,” which performed the -journey in four and a half days, setting out from the -“Mermaid” every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. It -may be doubted whether this promised speed was maintained, -for, in the course of some alterations of the covered -entrance in 1825, discovery was made of a board -announcing under the date 1780, that “Iliffe’s Flying Van -leaves this yard every Monday morning for London, -performing the journey in six days.” Edward Iliffe sold -the “Mermaid,” about the year 1810, to Thomas Bury, -a wool-stapler, who erected for himself a substantial brick -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>dwelling in the yard. Iliffe prospered in his business, and -ended his days at Exmouth, where he lived at Sacheverall -Hall, with the title of Esquire, and a mural tablet to his -memory may yet be seen in Littleham Church. In later -times the yard became the site of a brewery, carried on -successively by Mr. Joseph Brutton and the father of the -late Mr. John Clench. All traces of its former state are -now obliterated, and the “Mermaid” no longer “sings -catches to the youths of the parish.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But although the “Mermaid” has completely vanished, -its rival, the “Dolphin,” over the way, still retains the -name, and little but the name, that was once so widely -known. Francis Pengelly, an Exeter apothecary, its -owner at the beginning of the last century, gave it in -charity to trustees for certain benevolent purposes, which -were not to take effect until after the death of Joan, -his wife. Once, in 1725, the “Dolphin” happened to -remain unlet for a week, and was kept open by the -trustees. Their accounts show that during this short -period there came carriers from Moreton, Yeovil, Ashburton, -Totnes, and Okehampton, with fifty-six pack-horses -amongst them. The regular charge was sixpence -per night for each horse. A century before this, the -“Dolphin,” like the “Mermaid,” was frequented by guests -of a higher class. Amongst the documents preserved in -the Record Room of Exeter Guildhall are some lengthy -depositions of witnesses on a charge of murder, supposed -to have been committed by some of these. From their -testimony may be gleaned the following condensed outline -of the story. It appears that on a January night, in the -year 1611, there was staying at the “Dolphin” Sir Edward -Seymour, of Berry Pomeroy, the first Devonshire member -of the new order of baronets created by James I. as a -means of raising money for his royal needs without the -aid of Parliament. Sir Edward was seated in an upper -chamber, playing at cards with some friends, when the -party was joined by Master William Petre, a member of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>a distinguished family no longer connected with Devonshire, -and by John and Edward Drewe, then of Killerton, -but whose worthy descendants are now seated at the -Grange in Broadhembury. One of the Drewes wore a -white hat and cloak, the other was clad in black. Edward -carried a short sword, and John a rapier. These three -young gallants, already flushed with wine at the “Mermaid” -and at the “Bear,” in South Street, drank “a -pot or two of beer” and some more wine with Sir Edward -Seymour at the “Dolphin.” Perhaps they were in too -quarrelsome a mood to be very acceptable company, for -after tarrying there an hour, and indulging in a rude -practical joke on the tapster, they remounted their horses, -dropped in at a few more taverns, and finally rode out -of the city through the East Gate. Here Will Petre -spurred on at a reckless pace up the broad highway of -St. Sidwell, and was soon lost in the darkness. The -Drewes gave chase, but stopped at St. Anne’s Chapel, -and shouted to their companion by name. Receiving no -answer, they groped their way to a house where a light -was burning, but the woman of the house had seen nothing -of Will Petre. They rode on to his home, at Whipton -House, and there found his horse standing, riderless, at -the gate, whereupon a servant of the house came forth -and opened the gate. He (Edward Drewe) then willed -him to take of his master’s horse, and then the servant -demanded where his master was. Drewe, contenting -himself with the answer that he thought he would come -by-and-bye, rode on with his brother to their home at -Killerton. The dawn of Sunday morning showed the -dead body of Will Petre lying by the causeway near -St. Anne’s Chapel, with a ghastly wound on the head. -The hue and cry was raised, and the two Drewes were -taken as they lay in their beds, and brought before the -city justices on the charge of murdering their friend. -Some of the witnesses testified to a quarrel between -Edward Drewe and Will Petre; but, though the papers -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>do not disclose the issue of the trial, I think it must have -ended in the discharge of the accused.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The “Bear Inn,” where the three roysterers had called -for a quart of wine, was in South Street, at the lower -corner of Bear Lane. It probably took its name from -the Bere or Bear Gate, which was so styled in 1286, when -the Cathedral Close was first surrounded by a wall. It -was rebuilt in 1481, and was then the town mansion of -the abbots of Tavistock, the wealthiest, if not the oldest, -of the monastic houses of Devonshire. It is described -as “le Bere Inne alias Bere” in the lease; by which John -Peryn, the last abbot, in view of the pending dissolution -of his house, leased it, in the year 1539, to Edward -Brygeman and Jane, his wife, for a term of sixty years. -King Henry VIII., on the 30th January, 1546, granted -the freehold of the premises to William Abbot, Esq., by -whom, on the 15th February, 1548, they were sold to Griffin -Amerideth and John Fortescue, who, on the 28th October, -1549, renewed the lease granted by the abbot to Edward -Bridgman. Shortly afterwards the property was held in -moieties, one of which belonged to William Buckenham, -Mayor of Exeter in 1541, and was, in pursuance of his will, -together with the other moiety which he purchased of -Edward Ameredith in 1565, conveyed by Buckenham’s -executor, Philip Chichester, on the 6th of March, 1566, -to the mayor, bailiffs, and commonalty of the city of -Exeter, for the benefit of the poor persons lodged in the -Twelve (Ten) Cells in Billiter Lane, now called Preston -Street. Prince, in his <cite>Worthies of Devon</cite>, published in -1701, tells us that the arms of Tavistock Abbey and of -Ordgar, its founder, were “to be seen in painted glass in -the great window of the dining room,” with the figure of -a man standing on a bridge. This was, no doubt, a rebus -on the name of Bridgeman, the former owner. Even so -late as the beginning of the present century, when -Jenkins wrote his <cite>History of Exeter</cite>, he could remember -that a “great part of the old buildings, particularly the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>chapel, was standing a few years since; they were built -with freestone, of excellent Gothic workmanship, decorated -with fretwork panels. Mutilated inscriptions and different -sculptures were seen, and over the cornice, even with the -battlements, was a cabossed statue of a bear, holding a -ragged staff between its paws.” Dr. Shapter is the fortunate -possessor of some admirable sketches of bits of -the old building from the pencil of the late John Gendall. -These show the heavy stone arches of the basement, and -a massive stone spiral staircase leading to the floor above, -evidently portions of the structure rebuilt in 1481. When -newspapers began to be published in Exeter, early in the -last century, the “Bear” appeared now and then in their -quaint advertisements, and, like the “Mermaid” and the -“Dolphin,” it became a noted house for carriers. One -of these advertisements announced, in July, 1722, that -“Since the widow Wibber has left The Bear, for the Better -Accommodation of Merchants, Tradesmen, &c., who -frequent the Serge Market, at The Mitre, in the same -Street, is commodious Entertainment for Man and Horse -by Henry Dashwood.” Simon Phillip advertised that he -had taken the “Bear” in 1779, and when he died, in -1796, Mary, his widow, continued the business. She kept -it until it ceased to be an inn, and Robert Russell -re-modelled it for his great waggon establishment. This -gentleman, familiarly known as Robin Russell, offered to -assist the Government with three hundred draught horses -at the time of the threatened French invasion in 1798. -He became wealthy, built himself a house, called Russell -House, on the quay at Exmouth, and finally died there -in 1822, at the age of 63.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our final notice must be given to the inn now known -as the “Clarence.” It was the first in Exeter, if not the -first in England, to assume the French title of hotel, and -in its early days was commonly referred to as “The Hotel -in the Churchyard.” It was built about the year 1770 -by William Mackworth Praed, Esq., a partner in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>the adjacent Exeter Bank, the oldest banking-house in -the city. The first landlord of the hotel was Peter Berlon, -a clever Frenchman, who nevertheless failed in 1774, and -was succeeded by one Connor, from the well-known -“Saracen’s Head” in London. Connor remained less -than two years, and the house, which was still known as -“Berlon’s Hotel,” was entered on by Richard Lloyd, who -had kept the old “Swan Inn” in High Street, where -Queen Street now joins it. Lloyd succeeded no better -than Berlon, and in October, 1778, he went to the “New -Inn,” whilst his waiter, Thomas Thompson, took his place, -and the house was thenceforward known as “Thompson’s -Hotel.” This landlord fared better than his predecessors, -for his reign lasted more than twenty years. In 1799, -the hotel was kept by James Phillips, but in October, -1813, he was overtaken by the bad fortune of former -landlords, and was succeeded by Samuel Foote, from -Plymouth. Foote at once proceeded to carry out several -improvements, including the restoration of the large -assembly-room. For decorating this in the “Egyptian -style,” he engaged the services of an artist named De -Maria, whose work on the ceiling is described in a newspaper -of the day as a masterpiece of “classic taste and -elegance.” The new room was opened with a ball in the -following year, and in 1815 a meeting was held there to -consider a plan for lighting Exeter with gas—an invention -which this city was the first place in Devonshire to adopt. -Samuel Foote was chiefly known to fame as the parent -of Maria Foote, the celebrated actress, whose brilliant -career on the stage had just commenced at the time when -her father entered on the hotel. She finally quitted the -boards in 1831 to become the wife of Charles, Earl of -Harrington. The Countess survived until the 27th of -December, 1867. Her only son having died in his father’s -lifetime, the Earldom passed to his uncle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Samuel Foote was succeeded by Mr. Congdon, who -afterwards took the Subscription Rooms, while Mrs. Street -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>became landlady of the hotel. Under Foote and Congdon, -the house was visited by many guests of high distinction. -In 1799, during Phillips’ time, a great crowd assembled -in front to welcome the arrival of Lord Duncan soon -after his great victory at Camperdown, and his lordship -was presented with the freedom of the city.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Duke of Kent was there in 1802, and in 1806 -Lord Cochrane, with his friend, Col. Johnson, set out -from thence in a coach drawn by six horses, decorated -with purple ribbons, to visit the electors of the immaculate -borough of Honiton. In 1817, Samuel Foote received no -less a guest than the Grand Duke Nicholas, afterwards -Emperor of Russia. But the event which earned for the -hotel its present name of the “Clarence” occurred on -the 13th of July, 1827, whilst Mrs. Street was the landlady. -The Duchess of Clarence, afterwards Queen -Adelaide, came to Exeter on her way to join the Duke, -who had arrived at Plymouth by sea. Her carriage was -escorted into the city by a procession, and the streets -through which she passed were gaily decorated. Lord -Rolle and the Recorder received the Duchess at the -hotel, and the Bishop and cathedral dons were introduced. -On the next morning she went to the Bishop’s Palace -and the Cathedral, and then pursued her journey to -Plymouth, by way of Teignmouth and Torquay. In later -years she visited the city as the Dowager Queen Adelaide, -and was again a guest at the “Clarence.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This sketch of the old inns of Exeter, however imperfect, -may at least suffice to prove their importance in the -trade of the city, and their influence in moulding the -habits of the citizens.</p> -<div class='column-container capwidth66'> - -<div id='i062' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_062fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Photograph</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>by Frith & Co.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>High Street, Exeter.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span> - <h2 class='c008'>THE AFFAIR OF THE CREDITON<br /> BARNS—<span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 1549.<br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By the Rev. Chancellor Edmonds, B.D.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_i.jpg' width='15' height='35' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -There are few memorials of county history even -in Devonshire at once as authentic, as interesting -and as important, as that of which the title of -this chapter recalls a single incident. And not -only is it authentic and interesting, but the story comes -to us at first hand. It is written by one who was an -eye-witness of most of the scenes which he describes, -who bore an honoured name, and held an honourable -office in the City of Exeter in the days of Henry VIII., -Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth. He was uncle of a man -yet more celebrated and gifted than himself—the famous -Richard Hooker. His own name was John; his surname -is sometimes written with one “o,” sometimes with two, and -sometimes it is written as if he had another name -altogether—Vowell. Uncle and nephew belonged, as Sir -FitzJames Stephen says, to the party of progress in the -greatest crisis which the world had seen for many centuries—a -greater crisis, in some respects, than any which has -followed it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Moreover, he was brought into contact with two men -who in importance are part of the history of their times—Dr. -Moreman, the great Cornish schoolmaster, whose -influence was immense amongst the West Country rebels -who fought at Crediton; and Myles Coverdale, afterwards -Bishop of Exeter, who held a service of thanksgiving a -little while afterwards among the bodies of the slain -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>Cornishmen, “as, with stiffening limbs, they lay with their -faces to the stars.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is strange that the burning of the barns at Crediton -should be a catchword to recall the struggle that for the -moment seemed to involve the fate of Exeter and even -the religion of England. But the barns at Crediton were -like the barns of Hougoumont at the Battle of Waterloo. -The fight was critical, and it had decisive consequences.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Diocese of Exeter appears to have shared in the -indifference which throughout the country marked public -opinion in the matter of the Pope’s authority. The words -of the Act of Henry VIII., “in restraint of appeals” (to -Rome), expresses the mind of most men at that time, “by -divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles, it is -manifestly declared and expressed that this realm of -England is an Empire.” It is tolerably certain that if -the changes brought about in England at the Reformation -had been restricted to the abolition of the authority of -Rome, there would have been no rising such as that which -is here described in opposition to it. But it was otherwise -when the changes extended to the order and nature of -the services by which the religious life of the time was -guided. Then the love which is felt for things familiar -came into play. The old order changed, and yielded place -to new. But the break of the new day was not cloudless -nor serene.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is so natural to us to think of ourselves in England -as a people of one language, and that a very noble -language, whatever the pure, not to say pedantic, grammarian -may say, that it is hard to think that in this West -Country the English tongue was not universal even as -late as the beginning of the seventeenth century. Devonshire -and Cornwall, which from 1042 to 1877 formed a -single diocese, were in some respects for many centuries -like countries foreign to each other. The Book of -Common Prayer in the mother tongue of the English made -no appeal, in the sixteenth century, to the hearts of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>common people in Cornwall. This most interesting matter -does not appear to have attracted the notice which it -deserves. If Cranmer and his colleagues could have -made these admirable offices speak to the ears of the -Cornish, as they speak to the ears of the English, Sampford -Courtenay might have been left to fight its own battles, -and the Crediton barns would have lacked at the critical -moment their most eager defenders.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Long after 1549, in King James’ time, when the Great -Bible, despised by the Cornish, despised and rejected as -an alien thing, had as a translation lost its hold upon -the scholars of England, and its successor in public -esteem, the Geneva Bible, was in turn to yield place to -what we now call the Authorised Version, the celebrated -John Norden, with Royal recommendations in his pocket, -was making his journeys and constructing his <cite>Speculum</cite>, -his topographical description of this kingdom. He never -completed it; indeed, it was not printed till long after -his time. But it is a vivid and for the most part trustworthy -survey of the country generally, and the county -of Cornwall is minutely described. Nowhere can a better -view be had of the condition of the Western part of the -Diocese in the distribution of language. Here are his -words; the spelling is Norden’s: “Of late the Cornishmen -have muche conformed themselves to the use of the -English tongue, and their English is equal to the beste, -especially in the Eastern partes; even from Truro eastwarde -it is in menner wholy Englische. In the West -parte of the Countrye, as in the hundreds of Penwith and -Kirrier, the Cornish tongue is most in use amongste the -inhabitantes, and yet (which is to be marveyled) though -the husband and wife, parentes and children, master and -servauntes do mutually communicate in their native -language, yet there is none of them in manner but is -able to convers with a straunger in the English tongue -unless it be some obscure people that seldom confer with -the better sorte. But it seemeth that in a few yeares -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>the Cornish language will be by litle and litle abandoned.” -That was how the case stood in the beginning of the -seventeenth century.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is no wonder that two generations earlier the leaders -of the Cornish rising demanded that they should be -allowed to have the services of the Church as they had -been accustomed to have them, for that other new Book -was to them a foreign thing. “We will not receive,” they -said, “the new service, because it is but like a Christmas -game.... And we, the Cornish, whereof certain of -us understand no English, utterly refuse the new English.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Whitaker, himself a Cornish clergyman, though not a -Cornishman, who published his <cite>History of the Cathedral -of Cornwall</cite> in 1804, and represents the most intelligent -criticism of his time, says, in his vigorous way, as if the -old blood still ran in his veins: “The English was not -desired by the Cornish, but forced upon the Cornish by -the tyranny of England, at a time when the English -language was as yet unknown in Cornwall.” “This act -of tyranny,” he continues, “was at once gross barbarity to -the Cornish people, and a death blow to the Cornish -language.” “To use the universal tongue,” says Freeman, -“whether understood or not, was no grievance; to have -English forced on them was.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Two centuries before the Book of Common Prayer was -issued, a Bishop of Exeter, John de Grandisson, one of -the most accomplished and travelled of the whole series -of mediæval prelates, was describing the Cornish end of -his Diocese to the Pope who had “provided” him to -his Bishopric. He speaks of it as if it were a foreign -land “adjoining England only along its eastern boundary, -being surrounded on every other side by the sea, which -divides it from Wales and Ireland on the North. On -the South, it looks towards Gascony and Brittany; and -the Cornish speak the language of those lands.” The -barrier of language was breaking down fast in 1549, but -these illustrations will show how real a barrier it was.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>The Act of Parliament which authorised the use of -the Book of Common Prayer and, indeed, commanded it -to be used, took effect on Whitsunday in 1549. A cold -but competent critic, Mr. Goldwin Smith, has remarked -of it that “Cranmer’s singular command of liturgical -language enabled him to invest a new ritual at once -with a dignity and beauty which gave it a strong hold -on the heart of the worshipper, and have made it -a main stay of the Anglican Church.” He adds, however, -that in the backward parts of the country masses -of people willing enough to part with papal supremacy and -courts ecclesiastic “clung to the ancient faith and still -more to the ancient forms.” Various risings against the -new order took place. Two chief struggles stand out from -the rest: one, in the East of England, with its centre -around Norwich, the other, in the West of England, -with its centre round Exeter. It is this last, of course, -with which the present chapter is concerned, and in telling -the story of this fragment of county history, as much use -as possible will be made of Hooker’s own language. It -is a strange thing, however it may be accounted for, that -this racy narrative lay for years in manuscript in the -archives of the City of Exeter, and was not printed till -1765. Even then it was left to private enterprise, and -was published by subscription. The title runs: “The -Antique Description and Account of the City of Exeter, -in three parts, All written purely By John Vowell, alias -Hoker, Gent. Chamberlain, and Representative in Parliament -of the Same. Exon, now first printed together by -Andrew Brice, in North Gate Street. M.DCC.LXV.” It -is dedicated to the two representatives of the City in -Parliament at the time of its publication, and begs them -“Candidly to pardon the Presumptions, and benignly -accept this little Oblation, of their most respectful and -obsequious humble Servant, Andrew Brice.” In such a -modest moment was this precious document given to the -world.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>“It is apparent and most certain that this rebellion first -was raised at a place in <em>Devon</em> named Sampford Courtneie, -which lieth Westwards from the City about sixteen miles.” -Then Hooker marks the day. It was Monday; it was -in Whitsun-week; it fell that year on the tenth of June. -It was indeed a memorable day. For, as already has -been said, the Book of Common Prayer was ordered to -be used on Whitsunday, and was so used in Exeter as -elsewhere, and in Exeter “the day passed off quietly.” -Hooker says the statute was “with all obedience received -in every place, and the common people well enough -contented therewith every where, saving in this West -Country, and especially at this said Sampford Courtneie.” -“For upon the said Monday, the Priest being come to the -Parish Church of Sampford, and preparing himself to -say the service as he had done the day before, ... -they said he should not do so.... The Priest in the -end, whether it were with his will, or against his will, he -relied (<i>sic</i>) to their minds, ... and forthwith -ravisheth himself in his old Popish attire, and sayeth -mass, and all such services as in Times past accustomed.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then the movement took shape. Leaders were chosen, -or chose themselves. “William Underhill or Taylor and -one Segar, a labourer,” joined afterwards as “Captains” -by Maunder, a shoemaker, and Aishcaredge, a fish-driver. -“Like lips, like lettice,” says Hooker, “as is the cause -so are the rulers.” These leaders were good enough for -the Sampford Courtenay men, but it was otherwise when -the prevailing discontent, slowly gathering strength at -first, and directed as much against the Lord Protector -Somerset and “the gentlemen” who suddenly had become -rich at the cost of the poor, as at the alteration in the -services of the Church, brought more powerful persons -and larger bodies of men upon the scene. Then the -dimensions of the rebellion revealed themselves. Devonshire -sent knights like Sir Thomas Pomeroie; Cornwall -sent squires like Arundell and Winneslade, doomed to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>end their lives at Tyburn. Arundell’s history is illuminative -of the times in which he lived and of the events in -which he took part. Ten years before, at the dissolution -of the monasteries, he had obtained the revenues of -St. Michael’s Mount. It was by his advice that the rebels -laid siege to Exeter. If he had marched on, his army -would have gathered as it marched. The “ten thousand” -who were at his heels at Exeter would have been fifty -thousand before he reached London; but Exeter held -out stubbornly, and Arundell it was, not Exeter, that -surrendered. But this is anticipatory; and it is necessary -to return to Sampford Courtenay on Whitsun Monday.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the news of the disturbance at Sampford had -spread through the neighbourhood, the local magistrates -met together to endeavour to pacify the people. They -temporised and were timid; “they were afraid of -their own shadows,” and “departed without having done -anything at all.” So things went on till the news reached -the King and his Council, who already had enough on -their hands elsewhere. Sir Peter Carew and Sir Gawen -Carew, Devonshire men, were sent down with commissions -to deal with the rising as on consideration and conference -with the magistrates might seem best. Lord Russell was -to follow. The two knights came with all haste to Exeter, -and sent for the Sheriff, “Sir Peter Courtneie,” and the -Justices of the Peace, “and understanding that a great -Company of the Commons were assembled at Crediton, -which is a town distant about seven miles from Exeter, -... it was concluded that the said Sir Peter and Sir -Gawen, with others, should ride to Crediton, ... and -to use all the good ways and means they might to pacify -and appease them.... But the people being by -some secret intelligence advertised of the coming of the -Gentlemen towards them, and they (being) fully resolved -not to yield one jot from their determinations, but to -maintain their cause taken in hand, do arm and make -themselves strong, with such armors and furnitures as they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>had, they intrench the highways and make a mighty -Rampire at the Town’s End, and fortify the same, as -also the Barns next adjoining to the same Rampires with -men and munitions, having pierced the walls of the Barns -with Loops and Holes for their Shot.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When “the Gentlemen” reached the “Rampire,” they -were surprised to find all conference refused, and Hooker -says: “The Sun being in Cancer and the mid-summer -moon at full, their minds were imbrued with such follies, -and their heads carried with such Vanities, that ... -they would hear no man speak but themselves, and thought -nothing well said but what came out of their own mouths. -The warlike knights, after conference, attempted the -barrier, but a volley from the Barns repelled them with -a loss of some, and the hurt of many.” But a servant of -Sir Hugh Pollard, whose name was Fox, set one of the -barns on fire, and the defenders fled. When the magistrates -entered the town, they found none in it but old -women and children. And so it might seem that the -incident was closed, and the rebellion stamped out and -quenched. It was not so. Here Hooker’s account must -be given without alteration or abridgment:—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The noise of this Fire and Burning was in Post-haste, -and as it were in a moment, carried and blazed abroad -throughout the whole Country; and the common people, -upon false Reports, and of a Gnat making an Elephant, -noised and spread it abroad, that the Gentlemen were -altogether bent to over-run, spoil and destroy them. And -in their Rage, as it were a Swarm of Wasps, they cluster -themselves in great Troops and Multitudes, some in one -place and some in another, fortifying and entrenching -themselves as though the Enemy were ready to invade -and assail them.” Thus “the barns of Crediton,” in themselves -of small importance, became, as in our days for -a moment “Remember Mitchelstown” was, a war cry -in a movement of high and lasting importance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>While the country was in this excited state on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>West side of Exeter, an incident of no great apparent -importance stirred up a new outbreak on the Eastern -side. The father of Sir Walter Raleigh was riding -through Clyst St. Mary, when he overtook an old woman -on her way to church, telling her beads as she went. -Quite needlessly, but also quite after the fashion of the -time, he entered into a polemical discussion, and so -angered the old lady that she rushed into church, and -shouted that she and her religion had been insulted, and -that a “gentleman” had threatened that if they did not -give up their beads, their holy bread, and their holy water, -he would burn them out of their homes. This was enough -to set the heather on fire on the eastern side of Exeter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>By this time Exeter was the centre of a district in -full revolt, and amongst the country gentlemen and magistrates -there was weakness and division.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was at this stage that there arrived from Cornwall -and North Devon the promise of support from men of -more mark than the leaders of the village revolutionists. -The barns of Crediton had done their work; the eyes -of all men turned now to the walls of Exeter. The -annals of Exeter are rich in records of worthy conduct. -The proud motto, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Semper fidelis</i></span>, has been no inglorious -boast. Amongst all her chronicles none is more to her -credit than her behaviour throughout this siege. Around -the walls thousands of men were encamped, or came and -went as opportunity offered or necessity compelled. The -Cornishmen brought to the siege men skilled in “underground” -labour, and these dug beneath the walls and -prepared mines. Exeter had also at least one man of -skill in like arts. Setting pans of water over suspected -places, he watched till the vibrations of the water revealed -the blows of the pick-axe below. It was at once -deliverance and merry relaxation of the strain upon the -mind to divert all the slop and drainage of the city into -the besiegers’ mines. John Newcomb was this man’s -name; and like the name of the man who fired the barn -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>at Crediton, it bears witness to the genuineness of the -narrative.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Meantime, during this five weeks’ siege, strange things -had happened. One of the Carews had been to London -to convince the Court of the reality of the peril, and with -blunt directness had driven the conviction that the case -was urgent, home to the minds of the Council. Troops -were promised, Germans chiefly, and though their number -was not great, they were used to discipline—war was -their profession, not their pastime—their arrival soon -made a difference. The citizens were cheered and -depressed alternately, as news reached them from the -villages, that Lord Russell and the Carews were coming. -The darkest hour, it is said, is that before the daybreak. -It was so in Exeter at the end of July and the beginning -of August. The siege had lasted five weeks, when -news reached the city that the relieving troops had been -defeated. Sunday, the fourth of August, was the darkest -day of the siege. While the citizens were at Church, and, -in obedience to the law, were using the new order of -Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, -news had reached the ill-affected in the city that the -King’s troops had suffered defeat. A violent mob paraded -the streets, hungry and angry, shouting: “Come out, these -heretics and twopenny bookmen! Where be they? By -God’s wounds and blood, we will not be pinned in to -serve their turns. We will go out and have in our -neighbours; they be honest, good, and godly men.” The -Mayor drove them back to their dwellings, and then the -most faithful of the defenders entered into a covenant of -fidelity to each other, no matter what might befall the -city. Bedford House should be their citadel, and if and -when that ceased to be tenable, they would go out by -the postern gate into Southernhay, and cut their way -through or die together. That very day the reported -defeat was turned into victory. The relieving army, after -reverses all but fatal, finally won the field. Monday inside -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>the city was strangely quiet; before midnight the invading -Cornish, the besieging multitude, had melted away. -When the morning of Tuesday broke, Exeter was free.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such is the bare outline of the last siege but one of -the many which Exeter has sustained. “The barns of -Crediton” raised the country side; the bridge of Clyst -St. Mary pacified it. Between the place where the fighting -began and the place where it ended stood, and still stands, -the ancient city which so often in the past had been a -place of defence to the interests of the country, but never -in all the long roll of her achievements had borne herself -more bravely, more nobly, and more successfully than when -she disdained to surrender at the cry of hunger the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>rôle</i></span> -of law-abiding fidelity which was the crown and glory of -her mayor and municipality in the July and August of -1549.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Strangely enough, but fitly, too, the struggle closed -where it began. Back through Crediton, past the -blackened barn, the Royal troops marched. At Sampford -Courtenay the shattered forces of the insurgents had -collected. Once more they fought, “and never gave over -until that both in the town and in the field, they were all -or the most taken and slain. And so,” says Hooker, “of -a traitorous beginning they made a shameful ending.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is a pathetic thing to read the Collect for Whitsunday, -with its prayer for a right judgment in all things, -and to think that the first result of ordering it to be said -in the mother tongue was the series of battles, sieges, and -executions which make up the terrible history that began -to unroll its woes outside the Barns of Crediton.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>W. J. Edmonds.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span> - <h2 class='c008'>GALLANT PLYMOUTH HOE.<br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By W. H. K. Wright.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_w.jpg' width='45' height='35' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -What memories of the past crowd into the -mind as we stand upon the far-famed -Plymouth Hoe, and gaze seaward towards -the open Channel! Looking out over -Plymouth Sound, crowded with shipping from all parts -of the world, one is apt to lose one’s twentieth-century -identity, and to wander in thought over long-past and -well-nigh forgotten days.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For, in truth, there is a glamour and a halo of -romance about Plymouth Hoe which can be found -nowhere else; for there, beyond and around us, spread the -blue waters ebbing and flowing as they have ebbed and -flowed for countless ages, and pregnant with mighty -secrets and a wondrous retrospect.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Beneath those waters lie buried many strange tragedies, -and of the shores are told many wonderful legends; but -there are many living stories connected with our national -and naval history that are to be found enshrined in our -glorious annals. The Hoe, as regards its position and -outlook, has changed but little since the days of Trojans, -Phœnicians, Romans, Danes, Normans, Bretons, and -Spaniards, all of whom in their turn have brought their -ships within the bold headlands to east and west in quest -of spoil or possessions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The watchers on Plymouth Hoe may have witnessed -many novel sights from their elevated standpoint, and -may have joined in the welcome accorded to many -distinguished visitors.</p> -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i088' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_088fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a drawing by J. M. W. Turner.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by W. J. Cooke.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Plymouth Hoe.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>From a very early period, Plymouth has occupied a -prominent position in the naval affairs of the kingdom, -and on many occasions has been privileged to supply -men, ships, money, and other requisites for the fitting -out of expeditions—some of a warlike character, against -our aggressive neighbours or foreign foes; others of a -more peaceable intent, destined for the discovery of new -countries and the exploration of unknown seas. From -its position as one of the most westerly ports, and -possessing, as it does, one of the finest harbours in the -world, Plymouth has naturally been chosen as the starting-point -of many of those daring enterprises which have -astonished the world; and doubtless the Hoe has -witnessed many interesting scenes, including the departure -of these diversified expeditions and their triumphant -homecoming. It would seem to us but as a matter of -course that our forefathers should have betaken themselves -to this famous place of outlook when anything -unusual was going forward, even as we do at this time -under similar circumstances. But in olden time there -were many reasons beside those of mere idle curiosity -to prompt the inhabitants of Plymouth to assemble -on the Hoe. With what eager interest must they have -repaired thither in those early days, when the French, -with fire and sword, descended upon it, and made havoc -wherever they went! Small and insignificant as the town -then was, it appeared, nevertheless, to have possessed -a peculiar attraction for our French neighbours, who, -upon several occasions, paid their unwelcome visits. -Thus, in 1339, we find it recorded that the French burnt -the greater part of the town; again, in 1377, the same -depredations were committed; in 1399, the French -attacked Plymouth, but were defeated by the people of -the town and neighbourhood, under Hugh Courtenay, -Earl of Devon, the enemy losing five hundred men, -and flying in disorder to their ships; in 1403 it was -burnt by the French; and again, in 1405, the Bretons -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>invaded Plymouth, and burnt six hundred houses. The -name Breton or Briton Side, given to a street in the -lower part of the town, and still in evidence, is traceable -to a connection with this event.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the brave seamen of gallant little Plymouth were -on other occasions amply revenged for these outrages. -Thus, in 1346, the battle of Cressy and siege of Calais -are recorded, and it is a matter of historical fact that -the latter town was blockaded by twenty-six ships and -over six hundred men mustered by the town of Plymouth, -while Saltash, Millbrook, and other neighbouring places -also sent their quota of help. Again, in 1354, a fleet -of three hundred ships sailed from hence, and within sight -of the watchers on Plymouth Hoe, for the invasion of -France, under the command of the King (Edward III.), -the Black Prince, and other noted leaders. The watchers -on Plymouth Hoe may have also taken part in the -enthusiastic reception given by the people to the Black -Prince, on the occasion of his landing here, after his -memorable victory at Poictiers in 1356, bringing with -him as hostages John, King of France, that monarch’s -youngest son, and some of his principal nobles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is, however, to the age of Elizabeth that we must -turn to find the greatest interest centreing around -Plymouth. In that reign, the town attained a degree -of importance that it has never since lost; and, as a -matter of course, Plymouth Hoe was, as in still earlier -times, from its commanding position and extent, the -rendezvous for the townsfolk, as well as the muster-ground -for troops. Many scenes of intense interest that have been -witnessed from this historic spot, rise to the mind’s eye.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The brave sea-captains it (Plymouth) produced made -a glorious history for England in the reign of Elizabeth. -Drake, first of England’s vikings, as a sailor, went out -with his little fleet of schooners from this port on the -15th of November, 1577, to plough with their small keels -a track through all the seas that surround the globe. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>The birth-roll of Plymouth is rich and illustrious with -names of seamen who wrote them on the far-off islands -and rough capes of continents they discovered. Drake, -Hawkins, Raleigh, Oxenham, and Cook sailed on their -memorable expeditions from this port.”<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c021'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>Many a time and oft did the people of Plymouth -his away to the Hoe to bid Drake and his gallant -company God-speed on their voyages of discovery and -warfare. And it was no empty curiosity that led them -to do this, for Drake was their hero, beloved by everybody, -and his ship’s company numbered many Plymouth -men, the husbands, sons, and brothers of those who looked -wistfully and through blinding tears at the little vessels -fast disappearing in the distance, out into the great -unknown.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And if they thus watched the outgoing, what about -the home-coming? That was an anxious time for the -watchers on Plymouth Hoe, for no one knew until the -ship actually arrived in port how many of their loved -ones had succumbed to the rigours of the varying climate, -disease, storm, and, worst of all, the dreaded Spaniards, -with their horrible Inquisition. It is very evident that -the townsfolk did take a very great interest in the events -and expeditions of this period, for one old chronicler -informs us that “Sir Francis (then Captain) Drake -returning from one of his voyages, and arriving at -Plymouth on Sunday, August 9th, 1573, in sermon time, -and the news of his return being carried into the church, -there remained few or no people with the preacher, all -running to observe the blessing of God upon the dangerous -adventures of the captain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>But this home-coming of Drake’s, and the reception -then given him, was as nothing compared to that accorded -him when he returned from his voyage of circumnavigation. -As stated before, he left Plymouth on the 15th of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>November, 1577, and returned on the 11th September, -1580. In this voyage he had completely surrounded the -globe—a feat which, it is alleged, no commander-in-chief -had accomplished before. He had five vessels at -starting, the aggregate tonnage of which did not reach -three hundred tons, and a company of men, gentlemen, -and sailors, all told, amounting to one hundred and -sixty-four. Before this voyage was half done, Drake had -parted company with several of his ships, and returned -from that voyage with only one ship, <i>The Golden Hind</i>, -otherwise known as <i>The Pelican</i>. But, alas! there came -a time when the watchers on Plymouth Hoe looked in -vain for their hero; for both he and his companion, -Hawkins (of a noted Plymouth family), died at sea, and -were buried in the ocean, within a few weeks of each -other. It was said of Drake—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The waves became his winding-sheet, the waters were his tomb,</div> - <div class='line'>But for his fame the ocean-sea was not sufficient room.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>But we have anticipated matters a little. It must not -be forgotten that Drake and Hawkins, with many another -Plymouth captain of renown, fought the Armada of -Philip the Second in 1588. All other events in the -annals of Plymouth and Plymouth Hoe pale into insignificance -beside that culminating event in the history of -the time—that grandest of all England’s triumphs—described -by Camden as “the only miraculous victory of -that age.” For out there, well within sight of the -watchers on Plymouth Hoe, was assembled the English -fleet of a hundred and twenty sail, which was destined, -by the Providence of God, to cause the destruction of -that magnificent armament, “whose descent upon our -shores had lighted up the beacon fires of British defiance -from the Lizard to the Hoe, and roused the spirit of -our loyal tars to drive the proud invaders from the -seas.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>Let us, for a moment, imagine ourselves thrown back -to that eventful summer’s evening in 1588, so graphically -described by Macaulay, when—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>There came a gallant merchant ship full sail to Plymouth bay,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>bringing the important and alarming news that the -Spaniards were within sight of our shores. We take up -our position on the Hoe, then, as now, the favourite -resort of the townsfolk, and find much to interest us. Near -the Hoe is “The Pelican” Inn, with its terrace bowling -green, and there we find a noble company assembled. -“Chatting in groups, or lounging over a low wall which -commands a view of the shipping far below, are gathered -almost every notable man of the Plymouth fleet—that -fleet which will to-morrow begin the greatest sea fight -the world has ever seen.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>There we see Lord Charles Howard of Effingham, -Lord High Admiral of England, Sir John Hawkins, -Admiral of the Port of Plymouth, Sir Francis Drake, -Lord Sheffield, Sir Richard Grenville, the hero of the -great fight with the Spaniards a few years later, Sir -Robert Southwell, Martin Frobisher, John Davis, and -possibly Sir Walter Raleigh.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These and many others were on the Hoe at Plymouth -that summer’s evening the day before the coming of the -Armada. Some were enjoying a game of bowls, and -tradition says that in the midst of the game intelligence -was brought that the Armada were in the offing. Howard -called upon the captains to lay aside their toys, and prepare -to shoot in another and more serious game; but Drake, -with that coolness which was one of his most marked -characteristics, respectfully answered his chief: “There is -time enough to finish our game, and to fight the Spaniards -afterwards.” So the game was fought to its finish, and -then there was hurry and bustle on land and sea, men -thronging to the shore to gain their ships, sails being -spread, all sorts of commands being given, and then -<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>came a waiting time, till the darkness of night fell, -till—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The beacons blazed upon the roof of Edgcumbe’s lofty hall,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>and the warning radiance spread from hill-top to hill-top, -from cape to cape, until in a few short hours the -whole land was told that the dreaded and much-vaunted -Armada was at last in the English Channel. There is -no need to follow the story further, as the scene is -shifted from Plymouth Hoe, and the doings of Howard, -Drake, Hawkins, and their brave companions have passed -beyond our ken.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A few years later, in 1620, a little bark lay out there on -the waters of the Sound having on board her the seeds -of a mighty empire; for in the little <i>Mayflower</i> were -the pilgrims who alienated themselves from home and -friends for religion’s sake, and sought in a new clime -a haven of rest and peace. They found it after many -days and the endurance of much hardship. Elihu -Burritt, an American writer, giving his reminiscences of -Plymouth Hoe and the Pilgrim Fathers, says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>As Noah took in with him all that was worth preserving of the old -world before the Flood, not only of animal, but of mental and moral, life, -so that little ruddered ark, with its sky-lights looking upward to the face -of God by night and day, and filled with the ascending voice of prayer -by those who trusted in His guidance, bore across the wide world of -waters the life-germs of all that was worth planting in the New World, or -that could grow in its soil.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>How these seeds of Empire have borne fruit may be -seen in the marvellous growth of the United States of -America, which has now a population exceeding eighty -millions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A few years later, viz., in 1625, all Plymouth flocked -on to the Hoe, attracted thither by the presence of the -King, Charles I., who there reviewed 10,000 troops -from the counties of Devon and Cornwall. Twenty years -after, the Royalist forces were encamped on Staddon -Heights over yonder, holding the rebel town under close -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>siege, and the people who ventured on Plymouth Hoe -noted the white tents of the opposing forces with a -feeling somewhat akin to dismay, for they did not know -what a day might bring forth. But Plymouth remained -staunch to the Parliamentary cause, and withstood -Charles and his armies throughout the whole period -during which the Civil War lasted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then, in 1652, a mournful procession landed under the -Hoe with the body of Admiral Blake, who had succumbed -to wounds received in a sharp fight with the Dutch. His -heart was buried in St. Andrew’s Church; his body -received honourable interment in Westminster Abbey.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next memorable scene was the building of the -Citadel—that huge fortification to the east of the Hoe -proper—which served the double purpose of repelling -invaders and of menacing the rebellious townsfolk, the -memory of whose disaffection still rankled in the minds -of Charles II. and his advisers. This was in 1670.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Another notable scene was doubtless witnessed by -the watchers on the Hoe on the 14th of November, -1698, when Henry Winstanley completed and lighted the -first lighthouse on the Eddystone reef. The story is well -told by Jean Ingelow in a graphic poem, for which we -have only space for a few lines:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Till up the stair Winstanley went</div> - <div class='line in2'>To fire the wick afar,</div> - <div class='line'>And Plymouth in the silent night</div> - <div class='line in2'>Looked out and saw her star.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Winstanley set his foot ashore;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Said he, "My work is done;</div> - <div class='line'>I hold it strong to last as long</div> - <div class='line in2'>As aught beneath the sun.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>"But if it fail, as fail it may,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Borne down with ruin and rout,</div> - <div class='line'>Another than I shall rear it high,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And brace the girders stout.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“A better than I shall rear it high,</div> - <div class='line in2'>For now the way is plain;</div> - <div class='line'>And though I were dead,” Winstanley said,</div> - <div class='line in2'>“The light would rise again.”</div> - <div class='line'> . . . . . . .</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>With that Winstanley went his way,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And left the rock renowned,</div> - <div class='line'>And summer and winter his pilot star</div> - <div class='line in2'>Hung bright o’er Plymouth Sound.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The sequel to this episode is a sad one, for it is -recorded that the tower was destroyed on the 26th of -November, 1703, and its public-spirited and confident -designer perished with it.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And men looked south to the harbour mouth,</div> - <div class='line'>The lighthouse tower was down.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Other scenes rise up before us as the centuries roll -on. We see the good citizens of Plymouth crowd on to the -Hoe to witness the departure of Captain Cook on his -various voyages of exploration in the South Seas; we -note the pregnant comings and goings attending the great -war with France, stately vessels sailing from the Sound in -all their warlike glory, anon coming back crippled and -wounded, with half their men killed or maimed. Then, -later, we see the arch-cause of all this bloodshed—the -great Napoleon—a prisoner on board the <i>Bellerophon</i> in -Plymouth Sound, while the waters below us teem with -the boats and craft of all descriptions of the curious sightseers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The years slip by. This time we are at war with -Russia, with France as our ally, and we stand on the -Hoe to watch the stately troopships sailing off with the -flower of our army to court death in the Black Sea or -in the Baltic. History tells the tale.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At another time we watch the first shipload of -emigrants bound for the Antipodes to plant New Englands -in Australia, New Zealand, and elsewhere; and so it -goes on through the centuries—the Plymouth Hoe -beautified by the hands of men, and surrounded by -stately buildings, and within sound of a teeming population, -but in its general character and appearance little -changed since the days of which we have spoken; and -Plymouth men of to-day congregate on the Hoe, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>watch the huge liners and leviathan battleships coming -and going, even as their far-away ancestors noted the -coming and going of Drake and his fighting ships that -bore over the blue waters of the Sound those pioneers -of empire—the sea-dogs of Devon.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>W. H. K. Wright.</span></div> - -<div class='figcenter id006'> -<img src='images/leaf.jpg' alt='leaf' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><b>A SONG OF EMPIRE.</b></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>(Occasioned by the visit of the King and Queen to Devonshire, March, 1902.)</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A song, a song of Empire, of Britain, and her fame;</div> - <div class='line'>Of sons who fought and fell for her, and gained a deathless name;</div> - <div class='line'>Of men who on the trackless deep, or on the battle-field,</div> - <div class='line'>Maintained her old supremacy, who died, but scorned to yield.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>They sowed the seeds of Empire in far lands o’er the sea;</div> - <div class='line'>They made the name of England the watchword of the free.</div> - <div class='line'>And by their deeds of daring, on land or on the main,</div> - <div class='line'>O’erthrew the pride of Philip, and crushed the power of Spain.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>’Twas Drake and his brave seamen who boldly led the van;</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas Hawkins, Grenville, Raleigh, and many a Devon man</div> - <div class='line'>Who taught the boastful Spaniard how dogged they could be—</div> - <div class='line'>That British pluck was e’er a match for old-world chivalry.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Through many an age on history’s page their fame shines clear and fair,</div> - <div class='line'>From sire to son the message passed boldly to do and dare;</div> - <div class='line'>And whereso’er Old England’s flag is seen the world around,</div> - <div class='line'>Shoulder to shoulder, rank on rank, Devonia’s sons are found.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>But Britain’s Empire grows apace; and whereso’er they be,</div> - <div class='line'>Britannia’s sons still wave aloft the banner of the free.</div> - <div class='line'>No narrow jealousies can stay—no obstacles affright:</div> - <div class='line'>Their motto is “Right forward, for Britain, Crown, and Right.”</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And when the war-note soundeth, as late it sounded shrill,</div> - <div class='line'>How nobly rose her sons to arms, obedient to her will!</div> - <div class='line'>And as they came to Afric’s shores from many a distant clime,</div> - <div class='line'>So will they come for her loved sake, e’en to the end of time.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>Nor race, nor people, clime nor zone her march can stay or bound;</div> - <div class='line'>In every land beneath the sun the British bugles sound;</div> - <div class='line'>Her warships ride on every sea, her flag flies far and near,</div> - <div class='line'>Mother of nations is she still, to all her children dear.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> . . . . . . .</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“God Save the King,” the people cry, and ’tis no empty sound—</div> - <div class='line'>He’s loved and honoured for his worth the whole wide world around.</div> - <div class='line'>Despotic power he’ll never wield, but with benignant sway</div> - <div class='line'>Rule o’er a people myriad-tongued, who gladly homage pay.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And to his Consort, now a Queen—the Queen we all adore—</div> - <div class='line'>We raise our greetings loyally and all our love outpour;</div> - <div class='line'>Long life be hers and happiness, and may no cares of State</div> - <div class='line'>E’er cast a shadow o’er her crown or love or joy abate.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Let Britons all with pride unite in welcome leal and true,</div> - <div class='line'>To Edward, King and Emperor, we’ll raise our shouts anew.</div> - <div class='line'>And may our mighty Empire still flourish and increase—</div> - <div class='line'>May War and Anarchy give place to Unity and Peace.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in46'>W. H. K. WRIGHT.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span> - <h2 class='c008'>THE GRENVILLES: A RACE OF <br /> FIGHTERS.<br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By the Rev. Prebendary Granville, M.A.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_t.jpg' width='33' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -The family of Grenville claimed descent from -Rollo the Sea-King, and they did not belie their -fierce and adventurous ancestor. They were -fighters to the core. Rightly they had for their -bearing three horseman’s rests, in which the lance or -tilting spear was fixed. Some, of course, through the -long centuries, were senators, magistrates, ecclesiastics; -but as a rule they were men of the sword, serving their -country by land and sea.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first Sir Richard de Grenville, “near kinsman to -the Conqueror,” sheathing his sword after the Conquest -of South Wales, settled on the borders of Devon and -Cornwall beside the Severn Sea. Concerning any feats -of arms achieved by his immediate descendants the -chronicles are silent. We have only their frequent summonses -“to go with the King beyond the seas for their -honour and preservation and profit of the Kingdom”; -but another Sir Richard was Marshal of Calais under -Henry VIII., and in the quaint language of Carew, -“enterlaced his home magistracy with martial employments -abroad”; whilst his son, Sir Roger, a sea captain, -and the father of the future hero of the <i>Revenge</i>, after -fighting the French off the Isle of Wight in 1545, went -down in the <i>Mary Rose</i> off Portsmouth, when that ill-fated -vessel, like the <i>Royal George</i>, two centuries later, -capsized and sank with all on board.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>His son, Richard, was then but two years old. The -story of his boyhood has yet to be discovered, but he -first gave vent to his fierce fighting spirit when, a stripling -of some eighteen summers, he took service under the -Emperor Maximilian against the Turks, obtaining therein -the commendation of foreign historians for his intrepidity -and early knowledge of the art of war. Next we find -him taking part in suppressing the Irish rebellion, and -though after this he settled for a while on his English -estates, his restless spirit and natural thirst for distinction -led him to participate in the perils and glories of the -brilliant engagement at Lepanto in 1572, when Don John -of Austria, with the combined squadrons of Christendom, -defeated the Ottoman fleet. On his return to England -he was knighted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One of the features of the Elizabethan era was the -zeal for colonization which pervaded the West of England. -In common with Gilbert, Raleigh, and many others, -Grenville petitioned the Queen to allow an enterprise for -the discovery of “sundry ritche and unknowen landes.” -Their request was granted, and in 1584 two ships, provided -by Raleigh and Grenville, discovered Virginia; and the -following spring, Sir Richard took command of seven -ships fitted with the first colonists of that country. On -his return journey he sighted a Spanish vessel of 300 tons, -and his ship, the <i>Tiger</i> (which was but 140 tons), out-sailing -the rest of his little squadron, had nearly overhauled -the chase, when the wind suddenly dropped, and the -little <i>Tiger</i> and her big quarry lay becalmed. Sir Richard’s -boats had all been carried away in a gale of wind, but, -determined not to lose his prize, he “boarded her,” says -Hakluyt, “with a boat made with the boards of chests, -which fell asunder and sank at the ship’s side as soon -as ever he and his men were out of it.” The Spaniard -proved richly laden, and Grenville’s dare-devilry won him -£50,000 in prize money.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But his δαιμονίη ἀρετὴ (as Froude calls it) was soon -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>to be exemplified in a still more striking manner in that -last great service for his Queen and country, in which -he so nobly sacrificed his life, and which has been told -by Raleigh and Tennyson in “Letters of Gold.” To his -great mortification, he had been prevented from sharing -in the glories of the defeat of the Armada, having received -the Queen’s special commands not to quit Cornwall during -the peril; but in the summer of 1591 he was appointed -Vice-Admiral, under Lord Thomas Howard, and -despatched to the Azores to intercept an unusually -rich treasure fleet, which was lying at Havannah ready for -the homeward voyage. Grenville’s ship was the <i>Revenge</i>, -a second-class galleon, carrying twenty-two heavy guns, -twelve light ones, and twelve small pieces used for -repelling boarders. She had carried Drake’s flag against -the Armada three years before, and was considered one -of the best types of a fighting ship.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the 31st of August, Lord Thomas Howard’s -squadron, consisting of six men of war and nine or ten -victuallers and pinnaces, was riding at anchor in the bay -of Flores; many of the crews were ashore digging for -ballast, filling water casks, and obtaining fresh provisions -and fruit for the sick, who numbered nearly half the -strength of the fleet, for fever and scurvy had made havoc -among the ships’ companies. Suddenly an English -pinnace, the <i>Moonshine</i>, swept round a headland into the -bay with the alarming intelligence that an armada of -twenty Spanish men-of-war and over thirty transports -and smaller craft were close at hand, despatched by -Philip II. to protect his treasure ships.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Howard at once determined that he was in no condition -to fight a force so superior, and accordingly made -signal to weigh anchor instantly. All obeyed but the -<i>Revenge</i>, Grenville being delayed, according to Raleigh, -in getting his sick men brought on board from the shore; -and when at last she got under way, she had lost the -wind, and was unable to follow the other vessels as they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>ran past the Spanish fleet to windward. A second line of -retreat was still open to him: by cutting his mainsail, -he could run before the wind, pass the Spaniards to leeward, -and rejoin the flag in the open sea. But to pass -an enemy to leeward was a confession of inferiority to -which Grenville would not stoop, and, though urged to -this course by his officers and crew, he scornfully and -passionately refused, and, sword in hand, drove his men -to their posts, swearing that he would hew his way single-handed -through the whole Spanish fleet, or perish in the -attempt.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For a while he prevailed, compelling several of the -foremost to give way, who sprang their luff and fell under -the lee of the <i>Revenge</i>. But his success was short-lived; -the <i>Revenge</i>, coming under the lee of the great <i>San Philip</i>, -of 1,500 tons, was becalmed. This was about three o’clock -in the afternoon; and while the <i>Revenge</i> was hotly engaged -with this gigantic adversary, four more Spanish ships-of-war -ranged alongside, and, after a furious cannonade, -attempted to board her, but in vain; and the <i>San Philip</i>, -after receiving from the lower tier of guns of the <i>Revenge</i> -an especially deadly salvo, “discharged with cross-bar -shot, shifted herself with all diligence from her sides, -utterly misliking her first entertainment.” But her place -was at once taken by another Spaniard, and, indeed, -through the twelve or fifteen hours during which the -battle lasted, Grenville’s ship was constantly fighting -against overwhelming odds. All through the August -night the fight continued under the quiet stars, ship after -ship washing up on the <i>Revenge</i> like clamouring waves -upon a rock, only to fall back foiled and shattered amidst -the roar of artillery:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons came,</div> - <div class='line'>Ship after ship, the whole night long, with their battle-thunder and flame,</div> - <div class='line'>Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead and her shame,</div> - <div class='line'>For some were sunk, and some were shattered, and some would fight no more;</div> - <div class='line'>God of battles! was ever a battle like this in the world before?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>Though wounded early in the day, Grenville was able -to fight his ship from the upper deck till an hour before -midnight, when he was again wounded, this time in the -body, with a musket ball. The sailors carried him below, -and as his wounds were being dressed, a shot crashed -through the <i>Revenge</i>, stretched the doctor lifeless, and -inflicted an injury to Sir Richard’s head from which, in -two or three days, he died.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And still the battle raged; and still ship after ship -drew out of action, utterly defeated by the splendid -gunnery and desperate courage of Grenville’s men. -Gradually the fire slackened; before daylight it ceased -altogether, for the Spaniards abandoned their attempts -to sink the <i>Revenge</i> or carry her by board. Yet fifteen -out of their twenty men-of-war had been hotly engaged -with her: two of them she had sunk outright; a third -was so damaged that her crew ran her on shore to save -their lives; a fourth was in a sinking condition. Dawn -found the enemy’s immense fleet encircling the one English -ship like wolves round a dying lion, and wary of approaching -him in his last agony. When the sun rose, the survivors -of the crew began to realise their desperate plight. Sir -Richard commanded the master-gunner to split and sink -the ship, that thereby nothing might remain of glory or -victory to the Spaniards, and endeavoured to persuade -the crew “to yield themselves to God and to the mercy -of none else, but as they had, like valiant resolute men, -repulsed so many enemies, they should not now shorten -the honour of their nation by prolonging their own lives -by a few hours or a few days.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The chief gunner and a few others consented; but -the rest having dared quite enough for mortal men, -refused to blow up the ship, and surrendered to the -enemy. Grenville was carried in a dying condition to -the ship of the Spanish Admiral, and as he lay upon his -couch on the deck, the captains of the fleet crowded -round to see the expiring hero, who, feeling his end -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>approaching, showed not any sign of faintness, but spake -these words in Spanish, and said: “Here die I, Richard -Grenville, with a joyful and quiet mind, for that I have -ended my life as a true soldier ought to do, that hath -fought for his country, Queen, religion and honour. -Wherefore my soul most joyfully departeth out of this -body, and shall always leave behind it an everlasting -fame of a valiant and true soldier that hath done his -duty as he was bound to do.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such was the fight at Flores in that August of 1591—“a -fight memorable even beyond credit and to the -height of some heroic fable.” It has been called -“England’s naval Thermopylæ.” It was from the first as -hopeless a battle as that of the Spartans under the brave -Leonidas, and its moral effects at the time were hardly -less than that of Thermopylæ. Froude tells us it struck a -deeper terror, though it was but the action of a single -ship, into the hearts of the Spanish people—it dealt a -more deadly blow upon their fame and moral strength -than even the destruction of the Armada itself, and in -the direct results which arose from it it was scarcely less -disastrous to them. Men may blame Sir Richard Grenville -for his obstinacy, and what they deem his false -notion of honour in scorning to turn his back upon the -foe when the odds were so overwhelmingly against him, -but at least it must be conceded that his courage and -that of his crew have immortalised his name.</p> - -<div id='i104' class='figcenter id007'> -<img src='images/i_104fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic007'> -<p><span class='sc'>Sir Bevill Grenville.</span><br />(<i>From an Oil Painting.</i>)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Passing over Sir Richard’s son, John, who followed -Drake and was drowned in the ocean, “which became -his bedde of honour,” and also another son, Sir Bernard, -we come to the latter’s famous son, Sir Bevill—a man no -whit inferior in loyalty and courage to his illustrious -grandsire, and whom men called the English Bayard. -When Charles I., in 1639, raised an army against the -Scots, Bevill Grenville joined the Royal Standard at the -head of a troop of horse at York. “I cannot contain -myself within my doors,” he wrote, “when the King of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>England’s standard waves in the field upon so just an -occasion, the cause being such as must make all those -that die in it little inferior to martyrs. And for my own -part, I desire to acquire an honest name or an honourable -grave. I never loved my life or ease so much as to shun -such an occasion, which if I should, I were unworthy of -the profession I have held, or to succeed those ancestors -of mine who have so many of them in several ages -sacrificed their lives for their country.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>History shows this to have been a bloodless campaign, -but the above extract proves Grenville’s hereditary spirit, -and the King, in token of his approval, knighted him at -Berwick-on-Tweed before the army broke up; and when, -three years later, the storm at last burst over England, -which had been so long threatening, Charles I. had no -more loyal supporter than Sir Bevill Grenville. Clarendon -says he was “the most generally loved man in Cornwall.” -He was the soul of the Royalist cause there, and his -influence was so great that he readily raised a body of -volunteers fifteen hundred strong. At Bradock Down, -near Liskeard, where the first important encounter with -the Parliamentarian troops took place, Sir Bevill led the -van. Describing the fight to his wife, he writes: “After -solemn prayers at the head of every division, I led my -part away, who followed me with so great a courage, both -down the one hill and up the other, that it struck a -terror into them,” with the result that twelve hundred -prisoners were captured, and all the guns. The next -engagement took place at Stratton (distant only a few -miles from Grenville’s own home in the adjoining parish -of Kilkampton) on May 16th, 1643, where he was again -conspicuous for his personal courage. The Earl of -Stamford, who commanded the Parliamentarian troops, -which numbered close on 6,000, all perfectly equipped -and victualled, had encamped in a very strong position -on the top of a hill, now called Stamford Hill, near the -village of Stratton. It is an isolated grassy hill on a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>ridge which runs nearly due north and south. The sides -on the east and south are the steepest, whilst the western -slope has an ancient earthwork near the summit, which -Stamford had defended with guns that ought to have -rendered it impregnable. The Royalist troops, less than -half their number, short of ammunition, and so destitute -of provisions that the best officers had but a biscuit a -day, lay at Launceston. They nevertheless marched the -twenty miles to Stratton “with a resolution to fight with -the enemy upon every disadvantage of place or number.” -In the evening they halted, footsore and hungry, a mile -from the base of the high hill on which the Parliamentarian -troops lay in overwhelming strength, and determined to -attack them at daybreak. Weary as they were, the men -stood to their arms all night, for the enemy were too -near to make rest possible, and with the first light, Sir -Bevill, to whom every inch of the ground was, of course, -perfectly familiar, and to whom, consequently, was committed -the ordering of the fight, divided the troops into -four storming parties. The little army was too small to -merit, when divided into such parts, any other designation. -In the morning the fight commenced, and continued till -the afternoon was well advanced, but no impression could -be made by the gallant Cornishmen, who were repulsed -again and again. At last powder began to fail, and it -became a question between retreat, which implied certain -disaster, or victory. A final and heroic effort was made; -muskets were laid aside, and, trusting to pike and sword -alone, the lithe Cornishmen pressed onwards and upwards. -Grenville led the party on the western slope, and Sir -John Berkeley that on the northern, while Hopton and -the other commanders scaled the south and east sides. -Their silent march seems to have struck their opponents -with a sense of power, and the defence grew feebler. -Grenville first reached the crest, and seized the entrenchment, -and captured the thirteen brass field-pieces and -one mortar by which it was defended; and when -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>Berkeley prevailed on the north side, the Parliamentarian -horse fled from the hill headlong down the steep descent, -and made off. This had its moral effect on the defenders -of the other two sides of the camp, and their resistance -perceptibly slackened. Soon the other two storming -parties, who had had the steepest climb, pressed upward, -and the enemy, despite the efforts of their officers to rally -them, made off to the adjoining heights. The victorious -commanders embraced one another on the hard-won hilltop, -thanking God for a success for which at one time -they had hardly ventured to hope. It was no time to -prolong their rejoicings, as the enemy, demoralised though -they were, appear to have rallied somewhat, and to have -shown a disposition to renew the combat; but Grenville -quickly turned their own captured cannon on them, and -a few rounds sufficed to dislodge them. Panic ensued, and -a general stampede, in which arms and accoutrements -were flung aside, concluded the fight of Stratton. By -this decisive victory, not only was Cornwall cleared of -the enemy and secured for the King, but the whole of -Devon, excepting a few of the principal towns, fell into -the hands of the Royalists. The King was not unmindful -of the gallant Sir Bevill’s share in the fight, but wrote -him a gracious letter promising further proofs of his -bounty and favour.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The following June, the Cornish army joined that -under Prince Maurice and the Marquis of Hertford at -Chard, and soon Taunton, Bridgwater, Glastonbury, and -Dunster Castle were taken. They then proceeded to -attack Sir William Waller, who had occupied an extremely -strong position on the lofty ridge of Lansdown, near -Bath. There he had raised a breastwork behind which -his guns were posted, and he had so distributed his foot -and horse as to defend all points of access. Realising -the tremendous strength of his position, the Royalists -wisely resolved not to break themselves upon it, and were -actually turning to resume their march when the whole -<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>body of Waller’s horse came thundering down the hill -upon their rear and flank, striking them with a crash -they could not withstand, and throwing them into disorder -from which they could not recover, till Slanning -came up with a party of three hundred Cornish musketeers, -and with his aid the enemy were beaten off and chased -back to the hill again. Hopton now assumed the offensive. -The blood of the whole army was beating hotly. It is -said that the Cornishmen, under Sir Bevill, coveted -Waller’s cannon, and begged at least to be allowed “to -fetch off those cannon.” Leave was given, and up the -steep height the Cornishmen went with a rush: the horse -on the right, the musketeers on the left, and Sir Bevill -himself leading the pikes in the centre. In this order the -Cornish moved forward, much as they had moved at -Stratton, slowly and doggedly. In the face of the enemy’s -cannon and small shot from their breastworks, they at -length gained the brow of the hill, having sustained two -full charges from Waller’s horse, but in the third charge -Sir Bevill’s horse had given way; the cohesion of the -pikes was broken, and instantly the enemy was in among -them, hewing them down; the officers were falling fast, -and Sir Bevill himself, sorely wounded and fighting -valiantly, was struck out of his saddle by a pole-axe, of -which hurt he died very shortly. Young John Grenville, -a lad of sixteen, sprang, it is said, into his father’s saddle, -and led the charge, and the Cornishmen followed with -their swords drawn and with tears in their eyes, swearing -they would kill a rebel for every hair of Sir Bevill’s beard; -and at last the whole Royalist force surged over Waller’s -breastworks, and the victory was theirs.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Never was a man more universally or deservedly -beloved than Sir Bevill, and it is said that his untimely -death was as bitterly lamented by the Parliamentarian -troops as it was by his own followers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of a very different character and temperament was -his brother, another Sir Richard Grenville, of whose life as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>a soldier only the very briefest sketch can be given. He -seems to have had little in common with the long line of his -illustrious predecessors, except their just pride of ancestry -and their appetite for fighting; for he was undoubtedly a -brave soldier of no little experience and skill. He entered -the army at an early age, and left England when he was -eighteen, and saw much service in France, Holland, -Germany, and the Netherlands. Next he took part in -the disastrous expeditions to Cadiz and the Island of Rhe, -in both of which he was accompanied by his young cousin, -George Monk, who always regarded him as his father-in-arms. -Like Sir Bevill, he accompanied Charles I. to -Scotland, having also raised a troop of horse; and in -1641 he took a prominent part in suppressing the rebellion -in Ireland, when in fire and blood the wretched Irish -were made to do penance for their outburst of savagery, -to which they had been goaded by Strafford’s imperious -rule. Having been recalled to England in 1643 for -insubordination to the Marquis of Ormond, Sir Richard -pretended to adopt the Parliamentarian cause, and was -made a Major-General of Horse; but having learnt all -the secrets of their campaign, he treacherously marched -his soldiers to Oxford, and joined the King. For such -abominable treachery he was rightly denounced, and no -epithets were too choice to apply to him. He was, moreover, -excepted from all pardon, both as to life and estate. -Shortly afterwards he was placed by Prince Rupert in -command of the troops that were besieging Plymouth, -and it was mainly by his successful tactics that Lord Essex -was utterly defeated in Cornwall in 1644, when the King -commanded the Cavaliers in person.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After this he was appointed “The King’s General -in the West,” a title of which he was justly proud, and -which was eventually carved on his tombstone at Ghent. -Considering himself thus constituted Commander-in-Chief, -he afterwards refused, when called upon to do so -by the Prince’s Council, to act in any subordinate position; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>and hence arose those unhappy dissensions and jealousies -which finally wrecked the royal cause in the West. -Grenville was placed under arrest, and cashiered from -his command without any court-martial. In spite of his -overbearing manners and tyrannical conduct, of which -frequent complaints had been made, public opinion was -strongly in his favour and clamoured for his release, whilst -the soldiers refused to be commanded by Hopton or -anyone else, and both officers and men, to the number -of four thousand, petitioned the Prince in his favour. -Sir Richard’s imprisonment and the dissensions that arose -in consequence undoubtedly gave the finishing stroke to -the war in the West; the service everywhere languished; -the soldiers gradually deserted, and Lord Hopton was -compelled, after some faint resistance, to disband, and -accept of such conditions as the enemy would give. Sir -Richard, it must be confessed, represented the worst type -of Cavalier. He was frequently actuated by the dictates -of a violent and revengeful disposition, and was intriguing -and unscrupulous. He died abroad in exile in -1659.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The heroism of young John Grenville, Sir Bevill’s -son, in taking command of his father’s regiment at -Lansdown when the latter fell mortally wounded, met its -recognition a month later at Bristol, when he was knighted. -After this he served under his uncle, Sir Richard, at -the siege of Plymouth and in Cornwall, and apparently -accompanied Charles I. in his march from the West after -the defeat of Lord Essex; for the next time we hear -of him is at the second battle of Newbury (27th October, -1644), where he narrowly escaped his father’s fate. Being -in the thickest of the fight, and having received several -other wounds, he was at last felled to the ground with -a very dangerous one in the head from a halberd, which -rendered him unconscious, and he was left for dead, nor -was he discovered until a body of the King’s horse, -charging the enemy afresh and beating them off the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>ground, found him covered with blood and dust, but still -living. He was carried to where the King and Prince -of Wales were, who sent him to Donnington Castle hard -by, to be treated for his wounds; but no sooner were the -armies drawn off from the field of battle than the castle -itself was besieged by the enemy, and their bullets constantly -whistled through the room where the young -sufferer lay, during the twelve days which elapsed before -the defenders were relieved by the King at the third -battle of Newbury. On his recovery from his wounds, -Sir John Grenville was promoted to the rank of a -Brigadier of Foot, and the following year was appointed -a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to the Prince of Wales, -who had formed a strong attachment for him, which proved -lifelong. He remained with the Prince accordingly during -the rest of the war, and accompanied him in his flight to -the Isles of Scilly, and afterwards to Jersey.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Towards the end of the year 1648 the Scilly Islands -revolted from the Parliament, and became the last -rallying point of the Royalists under Grenville, who was -appointed Governor to hold them for the King; but he -had scarcely been there three weeks when tidings reached -him of the King’s execution. With passionate indignation, -he at once proclaimed Charles II. King, and could -find no words hard enough for Cromwell and the Regicides. -He fortified the islands, already strong from their natural -position and existing earthworks; and in this he was -ably assisted by his brother, Bernard, then barely eighteen, -who had run away from his tutor, and lay concealed at -Menabilly, near Fowey, whence he managed to carry -considerable reinforcements for the defence of the islands. -For two years Sir John carried on a guerilla warfare -against the English republic, and seized many merchant -and other vessels; but when Van Tromp made overtures -to him to cede the islands to the States General, and -offered £100,000 as a bribe, Grenville indignantly refused -to yield an inch of British soil to a stranger, saying he was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>there “to contend against treason, not to imitate it.” -Admiral Blake, who was in pursuit of Van Tromp, next -appeared, and again attempted negotiations for the cession -of the islands, but Grenville was resolved to hold them -for the King alone, and for a whole month made such -a stubborn resistance that when at last Blake prevailed, -Grenville secured terms so exceptionally favourable to the -Royalists that the Parliament refused to ratify them, -till Blake insisted and threatened to resign his commission.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sir John Grenville’s future career and the prominent -part he took, in conjunction with his cousin, George Monk, -in the Restoration of Charles II., who created him Earl -of Bath, and showered countless honours and endowments -upon him, do not belong to a paper confined to giving -the fighting qualities of the family. These, however, found -expression in his two sons, Charles, Lord Lansdown, and -John, afterwards created Lord Granville of Potheridge. -The latter was in the navy, and took part in most of -the naval engagements of his time, behaving with great -bravery and skill, particularly at the siege of Cork in -1690. Lord Lansdown took part in the wars of Hungary -against the Turks, and was present at the battle of -Kornenberch, the siege of Vienna, at Baracan, Gran, and -several smaller engagements, in all of which he displayed -such unwonted valour and intrepidity for one so young, -that the Emperor Leopold, as a special mark of honour, -created him a Count of the Holy Roman Empire, with -the distinction of bearing his paternal coat-of-arms upon -the breast of the Roman Eagle. He also took part in -the constant reprisals, which marked the reign of -William III., by the English and French upon one another’s -shores; and in one of these assisted in the bombardment -of his ancestral Norman town, Granville, and in another -in the defence of Teignmouth and Torbay.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The fighting spirit of the family was still handed on -in another member of the family—a second Sir Bevill, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>the eldest son of the Honourable Bernard Granville (as -the name was now spelt), who appears to have inherited -all the courage of the grandfather whose name he bore. -On leaving Cambridge, he entered the army, and served -with distinction in his uncle, Lord Bath’s, regiment in -Ireland and Flanders, and was knighted by James II. at -the head of that regiment on Hounslow Heath on the -22nd of May, 1686. When Lord Bath revolted to the -side of the Prince of Orange, Sir Bevill was despatched -to Jersey to disarm the Papists and secure the island—a -mission which he carried out with complete success. After -this he took part in the Continental war against the -French, and behaved with conspicuous bravery at the -battle of Steinkirk, August 4th, 1692. The battle was -going against King William, when Prince Casimer of -Nassau, who was in command of the troops, galloped back -to the English in his right rear, and begged them to -advance, as Count Solmes refused to bring up his infantry. -Rapidly forming Bath’s regiment, with the pikes in the -centre and the grenadiers and musketeers on either flank, -Sir Bevill put himself at its head, and, closely followed -by the Buffs, moved out from the line. He was only just -in time. Baron Pibrach, the Colonel of the Luxemburgers, -had been desperately wounded whilst endeavouring to -rally his men, who were flying in disorder, hotly pursued -by the French. Suddenly out of the crowd of fugitives -hurrying to the rear there emerged a line of glistening -steel, and Bath’s regiment, scarcely discernible from its -foes in its scarlet stockings and breeches, its blue coats -and buff cross-belts, strode sternly forward, its three red -banners waving overhead. A hail of musket balls smote -it in the face; a storm of iron from the batteries mangled -and tore its flanks; but it pressed irresistibly on, and -amid a hurricane of cheers that drowned even the roar -of the cannons, hurled the French infantry from its path, -and recovered the position. But only for a moment. -Again and again the French batteries worked up in dense -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>masses along Granville’s front, only to surge back again, -rent and maimed by a pitiless fire. So for another hour -the carnage grew, till Prince Casimer, galloping to Granville’s -side, gave him the order to retire. It was six -in the evening. The allied drums were everywhere -beating the retreat. William had at last given up the -struggle, and the columns were slowly winding to the -rear. There was no pursuit. Sir Bevill’s gallantry was -long remembered and talked of with grateful admiration -by the British camp fires.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This paper must now close with a brief quotation from -a letter written by one who was the last but one of the -representatives of this ancient house in the senior male -line, namely, George Granville (younger brother of the -last-mentioned Sir Bevill), afterwards created Baron -Lansdown of Bideford. Although no opportunity arose -for him to distinguish himself otherwise than in politics -and as a poet, the old fighting spirit was not lacking in -him, and he was eager to gain his father’s permission -to take up arms against the Prince of Orange:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Sir,—You having no prospect of obtaining a commission for me can -no way alter or cool my desire at this important juncture to venture my -life in some manner or other for my King and my country. I cannot -bear living under the reproach of lying obscure and idle in a country -retirement when every man, who has the least sense of honour, should be -preparing for the field. You may remember, Sir, with what reluctance -I submitted to your commands upon Monmouth’s rebellion, when no -importunity could prevail with you to permit me to leave the Academy. -I was “too young to be hazarded”; but give me leave to say it is -glorious at any age to die for one’s country, and the sooner, the nobler -the sacrifice. I am now older by three years. My uncle Bath was not so -old when he was left among the slain at the battle of Newbury, nor you -yourself, Sir, when you made your escape from your tutor’s to join your -brother at the defence of Scilly. The same cause is now come round -about again. The King has been misled; let those who have misled -him be answerable for it. Nobody can deny but he is sacred in his own -person, and it is every honest man’s duty to defend it. You are pleased -to say it is yet doubtful if the Hollanders are rash enough to make such -an attempt. But be that as it will, I beg leave to insist upon it that I -may be presented to his Majesty, as one whose utmost ambition it is to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>devote his life to his service and my country’s, after the example of my -ancestors.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>No unworthy extract, this, surely, wherewith to close -the annals of six centuries of stainless loyalty in a family -whose motto has always been: <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Deo, Patriæ, Amicis.”</span></p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>Roger Granville.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span> - <h2 class='c008'></h2> -</div> -<p class='c009'>THE AUTHOR OF <i>BRITANNIA’S| PASTORALS</i> AND TAVISTOCK.<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c021'><sup>[5]</sup></a> | |<span class='sc'>By the Rev. D. P. Alford, M.A.</span></p> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_i.jpg' width='15' height='35' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -If beautiful country could beget good poets, Tavistock -ought to abound in them. For, on one side, there -is Dartmoor, with its rugged grandeur, stretching -out protecting arms to Brent Tor and Whitchurch -Down; on the other side, there is the majestic Tamar, -winding through its deeply-wooded valley, from Latchley -Weir, past New Bridge and the Morwell Rocks, to Gawton -Quay; whilst through the midst, the sportive Tavy runs -down from its lonely cleave, and gathering up the Walla -on its way, with bright and tawny waters, now creeps, -now rushes past, to break through the beetling cliffs -beyond Crowndale, and glide beneath the Ramsham woods, -to its happy meeting with the Walkham, and thence to -the copse-covered banks at Denham Bridge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps it was the rich and varied beauty round his -home that forced some scraps of verse from the rugged -soul of our Puritan incumbent, Thomas Larkham. At all -events, two hundred years later, Vicar Bray was versifying -in the quiet seclusion of his vicarage, and inscribing his -best lines on slate slabs for the garden walls; and at -the same time, Mrs. Bray was writing her local tales in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>imitation of Scott, sending letters to Southey about the -borders of the Tamar and Tavy, and commending to his -kindly notice her poetical <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>protegée</i></span>, the modest and gentle -maid-servant, Mary Collins. Then, also, Miss Rachel -Evans was writing verse, as well as prose; and her -brother-in-law, Mr. H. S. Stokes, was beginning his -career as a west-country poet here in Tavistock.</p> - -<div id='i116' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_116fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic007'> -<p><span class='sc'><a href='#transcribe116'>West View of Tavistock Abbey</a></span>, 1734.<br />(<i>From an Engraving by S. and N. Buck.</i>)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>All these, however, are local celebrities; and our one -poet of public fame is William Browne, the reverent -disciple of Sidney and Spenser; the personal friend of -Wither and Drayton, Selden and Ben Jonson; the poet’s -poet, who suggested more than one idea to Milton, was -admired by Keats, and highly commended by Mrs. -Browning. He was a bright little man, beloved by his -brother-poets for his simple manners and gentle character; -such another as Hartley Coleridge, without his -weakness of will; so that he was known amongst them -as “Bonny Browne” and “Sweet Willy of the Western -Main.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>William Browne probably came of a knightly family -near Great Torrington; but he was born here in -Tavistock in 1591—just the most stirring time for minds -and morals that England has ever known. The Reformation -had stimulated the conscience, as the New Learning -had liberated the mind; and then our wonderful -deliverance from the mighty power of Spain had produced -an extraordinary national exultation. What wonder that -this newly-awakened energy should find expression in -Spenser and Shakspere, in Hooker and Bacon, and their -innumerable, not unworthy satellites?</p> - -<p class='c001'>But apart from the general excitement, Tavistock had -its own special atmosphere of stirring influences, both -from the past and in the present. The inscribed stones -in the vicarage garden show that the country was occupied -by a Gaelic tribe of Celts early in the Roman times. -But the town owed its fame, and probably its very -existence, to the great Benedictine monastery, founded -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>by Earl Ordulf, and sanctified by the relics of St. Rumon -in the days of Edgar the Peaceable. For almost six -centuries it had reflected, and even, for a short while, -directly influenced, through its abbots, the changeful -course of England’s progress. Two of its earlier abbots -were leading statesmen, as well as active prelates. Lyfing, -afterwards Bishop of Worcester, was Canute’s fellow-traveller -to Rome in 1026, and the staunch friend of -the patriotic Earl Godwin. Aldred, also Bishop of -Worcester, and then Archbishop of York, was the wise -counsellor of Edward the Confessor and of Harold, and -the brave rebuker of William I.; he was the great church-builder -and church-reformer of his time, and he was the -first English Bishop to visit Jerusalem.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our later abbots often illustrate public feeling, though -they could not guide it as these two had done. Thus -the general confusion at the close of Henry III.’s reign -found such a bad sample in our monastery that Abbot -John Chubbe was suspended in 1265, and deposed in -1269. The growing luxury and indifference of the -fourteenth century was seen too plainly in Abbot John -de Courtenay, who was reproved by the good Bishop -Grandisson, in 1348, for neglecting his duties to the -abbey and alienating its property, whilst he kept dogs -for hunting. Bishop Brantyngham’s strong injunctions to -Abbot Thomas Cullyng, in 1387, to restore discipline and -to keep the monastic rules, show that disorder and dissipation -had been tending from bad to worse.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But there is a brighter side to this picture of the -past, and most of our abbots were more learnedly or -more clerically disposed. Some had been slowly collecting -a good library—an early promise of the present Public -Library, the best, for the size of the town, in the West -of England. Others had fostered the “Saxon School,” -probably founded in the early days of the thirteenth -century, and still represented by the Grammar School. -In the spring of 1318, under Abbot John Campbell, Bishop -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>Bronescombe consecrated the Parish Church, which had -been rebuilt in the beautiful Decorated style of the day; -and in the autumn of the same year, he came again to -consecrate the Conventual Church, which, in its grand -proportions, was almost a rival of Exeter Cathedral. -Under Robert Bonus, in 1325, was established the Guild -of the Brothers and Sisters of the Light of St. Mary in -the Parish Church; and in 1370, Abbot Stephen Langdon -showed his concern for the good of the town by appealing -to the faithful to help in restoring the stone bridge over -the rude waters of the Tavy. John Denyngton probably -rebuilt much of the Abbey in the Perpendicular style then -in vogue; and he certainly added to his own dignity and -to that of his monastery by gaining the permission of -Henry VI., in 1458, to apply to the Pope, Pius II., for -the privilege of wearing the pontificalia. This, our first -mitred abbot, like his predecessor, Allan of Cornwall, two -hundred years earlier, had come back to Tavistock from -presiding over the dependent Priory of Tresco, in the -Isles of Scilly. Abbot John Banham was more ambitious -than Denyngton; in 1513 a grant of Henry VIII. made -him a spiritual peer, as Baron Hurdwick, and four years -later, a bull of Leo X. exempted him from episcopal -visitation. It was probably to Banham that the abbey -owed an honour more considerable and more in keeping -with the spirit of the age—the setting up within its -precincts of the first printing-press in the West of -England.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the glory of our abbey had scarcely reached its -height, before it faded suddenly and for ever. Anticipating -the blow which shattered the larger monasteries -in the spring of 1539, our abbot, John Peryn, not emulous -of the fate of the abbots of Glastonbury, Woburn, and -Fountains, assembled his twenty monks in the Chapter-house -on March 20th, and then and there resigned all -their claims into the hands of the King. For this ready -surrender they were rewarded with their lives and various -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>pensions. With his pension of £100 a year, the abbot -withdrew to Stonepost, in West Street, and was probably -the “Sir John Peryn” who, in 1543, was paid £6 as -“Jesus’ Priest.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>When William Browne was a lad, middle-aged men -must have known the last Abbot of Tavistock; and old -people could recall—the poorer sort with regretful sighs, -the good old times, when the frequent services still -sounded from the Abbey Church, and the monks distributed -alms at the arched gateway, beneath the present -library. Even Browne himself, a child of the Renaissance, -who hated superstition and loved the Pagan mythology, -could grudge the misuse of sacred buildings; and amongst -other evils done by the Tavy in flood, he tells us how -the stream—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here, as our wicked age doth sacriledge,</div> - <div class='line'>Helpes downe an Abbey.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>But though he was fond of Chaucer and our older -poets, and though he felt the influence of the stately -ruins that surrounded his school-house, he loved nature -more than art, and was too full of present life to care -very much for the past. As a boy with boys, he would -spend his holidays breaking away from</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>An Orchard, whence by stealth he takes</div> - <div class='line'>A churlish Farmer’s Plums, sweet Peares or Grapes;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>chasing the “nimble Squirrel” in “Blanchdown Woods”; -or, with his rod, following his “native Tavy” in her -“many mazes, intricate meanders.” But as thought came -with years, he would be stealing away alone to cherish -his “Spring of Poesie” with Sidney’s <cite>Sonnets</cite> or Spenser’s -<cite>Faërie Queen</cite>, as he wandered over the “Dazied Downes” -that “sweetly environed” his home, or nestled beneath -some shade in “Sweet Ina’s Combe,” half lulled to sleep -by the Walla’s murmurings, or rousing himself to compose -“the pleasing cadence of a line” in tune with those -gentle murmurings.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>Nor, indeed, had all the honour of Tavistock departed -with the overthrow of her abbey. The Russells, who -succeeded to the property, did not neglect the duties -connected with it. They began—as they have continued—to -maintain the religious and educational endowments. -They supplied the borough with statesmen for Members -of Parliament, in the generous patriot, Lord William -Russell, in Lord John, the leader of Reform, and in -the thoughtful, far-sighted Lord Arthur. They improved -the town with wide streets and public buildings, and, more -recently, with a fine statue, the first in the country, of -Francis Drake.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Browne was but a little lad of five when his greatest -townsman finished his heroic course in a sea-grave off -Nombre de Dios, in 1596; but he kept his exploits in -remembrance, and presently celebrated him as the—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in4'>—valiant, well-resolvèd Man,</div> - <div class='line'>Seeking new paths i’ th’ pathlesse Ocean.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Besides the Drakes, there were several families of -distinction in and about Tavistock when Browne was a -boy: there were Slannings, Kellys, and Champernownes -near by; and in the parish, Glanvills, Maynards, Peeks, -and Fitz.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In that year, 1596, there was born in the mansion -at Fitzford the daughter of John Fitz and Bridget -Courtenay, who, as Lady Howard, was to be so cruelly -maligned by false rumours and fictitious romance. The -family had been long settled at Fitzford, and a John -Fitz was M.P. for Tavistock in 1427. Lady Howard’s -grandfather married Mary Sydenham, of Brympton, -Somerset; and at the back of their quiet tomb in the -Parish Church is the kneeling figure of her father, Sir -John Fitz. He was but a youth of fifteen at his father’s -death, in 1589; and his riotous, wasted life was an -ironical commentary on his kneeling posture. After a -wild and reckless youth, in 1699, when he was twenty-five, -he killed Nicholas Slanning, of Bickley, in a cowardly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>brawl. Coming home from a short sojourn abroad, he -was more quiet for a while; but presently, returning from -London, whither he had gone to be knighted at the -Coronation of James I., he was more dissipated than -ever. He drove his wife and daughters to seek refuge -at Powderham, and upset the usually decent parish with -drunkenness and disorder. At last, on a second journey -to London, in a fit of mad panic, he killed the innkeeper -at Twickenham, and then so stabbed himself that -he died in a few days.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His nine-year-old daughter, the prey of greedy -guardians, after being forced into early marriages, -enjoyed some years of wedded happiness with her third -husband, Sir Charles Howard, fourth son of the Earl -of Suffolk. Then, having suffered years of neglect and -annoyance from her fourth husband, the clever soldier, -but treacherous politician, Sir Richard, brother of the -chivalrous Sir Bevil Grenville, at last, after Fitzford had -been sacked by the Roundheads, and her husband had -fled the country, she settled down in her old home for -twenty-five quiet years, from 1646 to 1671. Her son, -George Howard, managed her property, joined her in -such local contributions as that, in 1670, for the “redemption -of captives in Turkey,” and represented Tavistock -with Lord William Russell in 1660. But as he died some -weeks before her, Lady Howard left her large estates -bordering the Tavy, the mansion of Fitzford, the pleasant -country house of Walreddon, with many goodly farms, -Browne’s favourite Ramsham amongst them, to her first -cousin, Sir William Courtenay, of Powderham.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was about the year 1606 that William Browne left -the Grammar School for Exeter College, Oxford. He -did not then matriculate or take his degree, but he made -friends with his colleagues, several of whom showed their -poetical taste in commendatory verses to his <cite>Pastorals</cite> in -1613. Meanwhile, in November, 1611, Browne had passed -on to the Inner Temple, where he largely increased his -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>poetical acquaintance. He was on good terms with Ben -Jonson, Chapman, and Massinger amongst our dramatists, -and was therefore probably known to Shakspere; but -his most intimate friends were John Davies, the able -author of <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><cite>Nosce Teipsum</cite></span>; Christopher Brooke, the close -ally of the famous poet and preacher, John Donne; -George Wither, and Michael Drayton. He and Brooke, -in 1613, published in one volume their elegies on the -death of Prince Henry. He had much in common with -the early poems of Wither: their <cite>Pastorals</cite> exhibit the -same charming simplicity, the same full content in verse-making, -the same indifference to irresponsive maidens. -These lines of Browne:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And gentle Swaine, some counsel take of me;</div> - <div class='line'>Love not where still thou maist; love who loves thee;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>strike the same note as that of Wither’s spirited song:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Shall I wasting in despair,</div> - <div class='line'>Die because a woman’s fair?</div> - <div class='line'> . . . . . .</div> - <div class='line'>If she be not so to me,</div> - <div class='line'>What care I how fair she be?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>To Drayton, as his “Honor’d Friend,” Browne addressed -some verses introductory to the second part of the -<cite>Polyolbion</cite>. Regretting the loss to letters when great -Eliza died, with Chapman’s <cite>Homer</cite> in mind, he boasts -that we can still render the classics into English without -loss:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Whilst our full language, musical and high,</div> - <div class='line'>Speaks, as themselves, their best of Poesy.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Browne’s regret at the general falling-off since the death -of Elizabeth suggests that the verses in her honour, -which were removed with the plastering from Tavistock -Parish Church in 1845, may have been amongst his earliest -efforts. They ended with these flattering words:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>This! This was she, that in despite of Death,</div> - <div class='line'>Lives still ador’d, admir’d Elizabeth.</div> - <div class='line'>Spain’s rod, Rome’s ruin, Netherland’s relief;</div> - <div class='line'>Heaven’s gem, Earth’s joy, World’s wonder, Nature’s chief.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>Browne’s elegy on Prince Henry was reprinted as one -of the songs in the first book of his <cite>Britannia’s Pastorals</cite>, -which was also published in 1613, with commendatory -verses from Drayton and Brooke and the learned Selden, -besides those from his college friends. In doing the -same kindly office for the second book, in 1616, Ben -Jonson spoke thus highly of the care and finish of -Browne’s work:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in29'>which is so good</div> - <div class='line'>Upon th’ Exchange of Letters, that I wou’d</div> - <div class='line'>More of our Writers would, like thee, not swell</div> - <div class='line'>With the <em>how much</em> they set forth, but th’ <em>how well</em>.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Other verses prefixed to this book came from Tavistock, -and were written by Sir John Glanvill, probably Browne’s -relation, and an old schoolfellow.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the Fitz, the Glanvill family was the most -important in Tavistock. Settled at Holwell, in Whitchurch, -for many generations, about 1550 they sent a -younger son into the town as a merchant. His son, John, -passed from an attorney’s office to the Bar, and in 1598, -two years before his death, he was made a Justice of the -Common Pleas. In 1615, the fine Jacobean monument -against the south wall of the chancel was erected to his -memory by his widow, probably in gratitude to her sons, -who in that year had conveyed to her Sortridge, her own -family estate, also in Whitchurch, probably forfeited -by her second marriage; for in the interval she had -married Sir Francis Godolphin, and become a second -time a widow. She occupied a dower house in Barley -Market Street, and her second name still lingers in the -“Dolvin Road,” across the Tavy. The Judge, Prince tells -us, lived in part of the Abbey, this being, most likely, the -Abbey House, which Oliver says was occupied in 1635 -by Serjeant Maynard. The Barton at Kilworthy was -bought by Judge Glanvill, but it was his eldest son, Sir -Francis, who built the mansion and laid out the terrace -gardens, of which some charming portions are still in use. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>This Sir Francis Glanvill sat, as M.P. for Tavistock, in -1625 and 1628, with the great Commoner, John Pym. -On January 21st, 1626, his son, Francis, was baptized at -Mary Tavy, by reason of the plague raging so fiercely -at Tavistock. So dreadful was the scourge, that six -hundred people died in twelve months; and the little -town had scarcely recovered its normal population in -a hundred and fifty years. The younger Francis dying -without issue, left Kilworthy to his nephew, Francis -Kelly; and he left it to the Manatons, who held it till -it was bought by the Russells about 1770. By his -sisters, daughters, and grand-daughters, Judge Glanvill’s -family became allied to the Brownes, Hamlyns, and -Glubbs of Tavistock, the Grylls of Launceston, to Heles, -Eastcourts, and Polwheles; to the Fowells, the Sawles -of Penrice, and the Doidges of Hurlesditch; besides the -Kellys and Manatons. One of his sisters was the second -wife of Robert Knight, probably the first <em>married</em> Vicar -of Tavistock; and his third son, George, was Vicar from -1662 to 1673.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sir John Glanvill, the second son, was equally distinguished -in law and politics. He was made Recorder -of Plymouth in 1614, Serjeant in 1637, and Recorder of -Bristol in 1640. As M.P. for Plymouth from 1614 to -1628, he was attached to the country party with Elliott -and Pym, and he had charge of the Petition of Right -before the Lords. Returned for Bristol in 1640, he was -chosen Speaker of the Short Parliament, as a man of -reasonable judgment and soothing speech; but having -joined the King at Oxford in 1643, from 1645 to 1648 -he was imprisoned in the Tower as a delinquent. He -was re-appointed King’s Serjeant at the Restoration, and -died soon after at Broad Hinton, his estate in Wiltshire. -It was this worthy fellow-townsman who, in 1616, -addressed William Browne in verses overflowing with -kindly appreciation, and beginning:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Ingenious Swaine! that highly dost adorne</div> - <div class='line'>Clear Tavy! on whose brinck we both were borne!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>Another eminent fellow-townsman, John Maynard, -might have been with Browne at the Grammar School, -and certainly followed him to Exeter College and to the -Inns of Court. Like Sir John Glanvill, Maynard was a -man of mark, both in law and politics; but he was more -of a time-server. He was clever enough to be leader of -the Western Circuit during fifty of the most turbulent -years of our annals. He was “Protector’s Serjeant” under -Cromwell; “Ancient Serjeant” under Charles II. and -James II.; and “Lord Commissioner” after the Revolution -of 1688. He also sat in every Parliament from the -first of Charles I. to the first of William and Mary. He -was presented to the new King at Whitehall when he -was nearly ninety; and William observed that he must -have outlived all the lawyers of his time. “Yes, sire,” he -promptly replied; “and if your Highness had not come -over to help us, I should have outlived the law, too.” -As Maynard took part both in the impeachment of -Strafford and also of Sir Henry Vane, it is no wonder -that Roscommon, Strafford’s nephew and godson, should -write of him:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The robe was summoned, Maynard at the head,</div> - <div class='line'>In legal murder none so deeply read;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>or that the author of <cite>Hudibras</cite> should enquire, in his -witty doggrel:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Did not the learned Glynne and Maynard,</div> - <div class='line'>To make good subjects traitors, strain hard?</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>It is to Maynard’s credit that he spent part of his -fortune in founding a free school at Bere Alston, which -he had represented in Parliament. Maynard and Courtenay -are names still pleasantly associated in Tavistock -with provision for the deserving poor, in convenient almshouses; -whilst an exhibition to help some “Grammar -scholar,” “of the best ingenuity and towardliness,” on his -way to the University, is a lasting memorial of Sir John -Glanvill.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>In 1626, Browne probably received from another old -schoolfellow, Richard Peeke, a copy of his <cite>Three to One</cite>, -a short and vigorous account of his recent exploits in -Spain. This Richard Peeke, a gentleman of good family -in Tavistock, had volunteered, in 1625, for the ill-starred -expedition to Cadiz, and being taken prisoner, by his -prowess in defeating three fully-armed Spaniards with a -quarter-staff, had won his life and liberty, and was -presently celebrated in ballads as “Manly Peeke,” and in -a fine old play as “Dick of Devonshire.” He was invited -by King Philip IV. to serve him by land or sea, but -Peeke said he must return to the wife and children who -were sighing for him in Tavistock; so he came back -to settle down quietly in the old home, and, as -one of our pewter flagons tells, he was churchwarden in -1638.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And what was William Browne doing all this time? -In 1614 he had written his masque of “Ulysses and -Circe” for the Inner Temple, where it was performed -13th January, 1614–5. The subject may have been suggested -by Chapman’s <cite>Odyssey</cite>, printed in 1614, or by -Samuel Daniel’s lyric, “Ulysses and the Siren” (1605), -and it is more than likely that Browne’s masque gave -Milton some hints for his “Comus.” In 1614 he also contributed -seven Eclogues to the “Shepheard’s Pipe,” the -other contributors being C. Brooke, Davies, and Wither. -Browne worked into his first Eclogue the “Jonathas” of -the little-known Occleve, and the fourth is an Elegy on -Thomas, the son of Sir Peter Manwood.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our little and learned poet, as Prince describes him, -is said to have been appointed, in 1615, Pursuivant of -Wards and Liveries for life. He married a daughter of -Sir Thomas Eversfield, and had two sons, who both died -young. In 1624 he returned to Oxford as tutor to the -Hon. Robert Dormer, afterwards Earl of Carnarvon, who -was killed at Newbury in 1643. Browne, being thirty-three, -matriculated from Exeter College on 30th April, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>1624, and on 16th November took his M.A., being commended -for his knowledge of humane letters and the fine -arts. He seems to have gone abroad with his pupil, and -in 1640 he wrote from Dorking to Sir Benjamin Ruddyerd, -congratulating him on his “late speech in Parliament, -wherein they believe the spirit which inspired the Reformation, -and genius which dictated the Magna Charta, -possessed you. In my poore cell and sequestration from -all businesse, I blesse God and praye for more such -members in the Commonwealth.” Anthony Wood says -he was afterwards domesticated with the Herberts at -Wilton, and prospered there; and it has been fairly proved -that he, and not Ben Jonson, wrote that most perfect -epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Underneath this sable hearse</div> - <div class='line'>Lies the subject of all verse,</div> - <div class='line'>Sidney’s sister, Pembroke’s mother;</div> - <div class='line'>Death! ere thou hast slain another,</div> - <div class='line'>Learn’d and fair, and good as she,</div> - <div class='line'>Time will throw a dart at thee.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>We do not know when or where our poet ended his -days, but if, oppressed with sorrow or sickness, he turned -with longing to the native scenes which in early youth -he had loved so well, it is likely enough that he is referred -to in the simple entry of the Tavistock register:—“27th -March, 1643, William Browne was buried.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>As poets will, Browne went on writing all through life, -but he published nothing new after 1616. He left in MS. -a third book of the Pastorals, which was first printed in -1852, and a number of smaller poems, sonnets, epistles, -visions, allegories, epigrams, epitaphs, and some jocular -pieces. Amongst the last were the Lydford stanzas, -which contained the first notice of the wild Gubbingses, -and the sharp satire on Lydford Law; about 1630 they -were “commonly sung by many a fiddler” as a Devonshire -ballad.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Why did Browne print nothing new after 1616? He -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>had not lost the poetic gift, for much that he left in MS. -is as good as anything he ever wrote. We have examples -in the first and second songs of the third book of the -Pastorals, and nothing that he published is brighter than -the song in the Lansdowne MS. with the pleasant refrain:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Welcome! Welcome! do I sing!</div> - <div class='line'>Far more welcome than the Spring!</div> - <div class='line'>He that parteth from you never,</div> - <div class='line'>Shall enjoy a Spring for <a id='corr129.9'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='ever!'>ever!”</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_129.9'><ins class='correction' title='ever!'>ever!”</ins></a></span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>In truth, William Browne was, as his friend Drayton -styled him, “a rightly-born Poet.” If, like the “Faërie -Queene,” his Pastorals are vague and diffuse in narrative, -and deficient in human interest, yet, like the “Faërie -Queene,” they abound in happy visions, and fine descriptions, -and wholesome thoughts, expressed in easy, flowing -melody. Browne was akin to Keats and Tennyson in his -love of well-sounding words and sonorous lines. It gave -him keen pleasure—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To linger on each line’s enticing graces.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And his enjoyment of the simple beauties of nature was -as true and heartfelt as Cowper’s. Vivid pictures of -country scenes, and homely sketches of country life, are -presented to us again and again in verse that is always -clear and lucid, though soft and sweet, or rough and -rugged, according to the subject. His carefully-constructed -verses, in their clearness and in their varying tone, -would really seem to have been attuned to the “voiceful -Tavy” which he loved so dearly and celebrated so gladly, -and by whose side many of them were written.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Why, then, with such a gift, so obviously unexhausted, -did he decline to publish anything after the appearance -of the second book of <cite>Britannia’s Pastorals</cite>, in 1616? -Probably he felt, as S. Daniel had felt before him, that -a people entirely devoted to action and incident could -have little taste for pure poetry. Even as early as 1613 -he had described a poor poet, sitting up late, wasting ink -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>and paper, and wearing out “many a gray goose quill,” -in the vain hope of immortal renown:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When Loe! (O Fate!) his worke not seeming fit</div> - <div class='line'>To walk in equipage with better wit,</div> - <div class='line'>Is kept from light, there gnawne by Moathes and Wormes,</div> - <div class='line'>At which he frets.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And, in 1623, when he wrote his commendatory verses -for Massinger’s <cite>Duke of Millaine</cite>, he was convinced that -there was no demand for any poetry but the drama:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am snapt already, and may go my way;</div> - <div class='line'>The Poet-Critic’s come; I hear him say:</div> - <div class='line'>This Youth’s mistook, the Author’s work’s a Play.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>It would be easy to make a pleasant little volume of -selections from the more striking or more beautiful -passages in Browne’s Pastorals, but here we can hardly -find room for half-a-dozen specimens. Of death he -writes:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Death is no stranger,</div> - <div class='line'>And generous Spirits never fear for danger.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Of cheerful content:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Where there’s content, ’tis ever Holy-day.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Of the Good Shepherd he says that from</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in22'>the stem</div> - <div class='line'>Of that sweet singer of Jerusalem,</div> - <div class='line'>Came the best Shepherd ever flocks did keepe,</div> - <div class='line'>Who yeelded up his life to save his sheepe.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>In Book 2 we have such satire as this, of the “fawning -citizen,”</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Who “lives a Knave to leave his sonne a Knight”;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>such strong lines as this of the sea:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The vast insatiate Sea doth still devour;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>such vivid pictures as this:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The whistling Reeds upon the water’s side,</div> - <div class='line'>Shot up their sharpe heads in a stately pride;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>or sweetly-soothing verses like these, on the stillness of -nightfall:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Onely the curled Streames soft chidings kept;</div> - <div class='line'>And little Gales that from the greene leafe swept</div> - <div class='line'>Dry summer dust, in fearefull whisp’rings stir’d,</div> - <div class='line'>As loth to waken any singing bird.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Such passages as these must be admired by every lover -of nature, but the poet will always be doubly dear to -those who have lived amongst the scenes he describes so -tenderly and so faithfully. My own feeling of indebtedness -to one whose poetry had given a sort of sacredness -to his native haunts was thus expressed when I was in -clerical charge of the Tamar side of Tavistock, more than -thirty years ago:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nature’s true Poet, blest with fancies sweet,</div> - <div class='line'>And voice as swift and changeful as our brooks,</div> - <div class='line'>We country swains cast often wondering looks</div> - <div class='line'>On those great singers that around thee meet;</div> - <div class='line'>For Spenser, Sidney, thy chief teachers were,</div> - <div class='line'>And Wither, Drayton, Jonson, called thee friend;</div> - <div class='line'>And, like enough, kind Shakespere did commend</div> - <div class='line'>Thy “modest muse.” And yet, we all may share</div> - <div class='line'>The scenes of beauty that inspired thy lay;</div> - <div class='line'>For still, by “Blanchdown Wood” the Tamar sweeps;</div> - <div class='line'>Still trickle streamlets down the “Dartmoor” steeps,</div> - <div class='line'>And sing blithe music to the lambs at play;</div> - <div class='line'>Still through “sweet Ina’s Combe” the Walla leaps,</div> - <div class='line'>Hurrying to greet the Tavy on its way.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c023'><span class='sc'>D. P. Alford.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span> - <h2 class='c008'>THE BLOWING UP OF GREAT<br /> TORRINGTON CHURCH.<br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By George M. Doe.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_t.jpg' width='35' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -The town of Great Torrington played a not -inconspicuous part in the Civil Wars, the -culminating and dramatic incident of which was -the blowing up of the Parish Church after the -defeat and flight of the Royalist forces who were then in -the town. The fight at Torrington, too, was the last -important engagement of the campaign in the West, being -the final decisive blow to the Royalist cause there. A -very accurate and full account of the whole of the doings -in North Devon during this stirring time is to be found -in the late Mr. R. W. Cotton’s invaluable work on -<cite>Barnstaple and the Northern part of Devonshire during -the Great Civil War</cite>, 1642–1646, and the incidents more -particularly relating to Great Torrington were collected -by me and embodied in a little book entitled, <cite>A few -Pages of Great Torrington History</cite>, 1642–1646, and the -blowing up of the Church is also dealt with in my paper -in the <cite>Transactions of the Devonshire Association for -the year 1894</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Though of far less importance than the final battle, -there were two other previous engagements at Great -Torrington. The first of these took place in December, -1642, when a party of Parliamentarian horse and foot from -Barnstaple attacked the Royalists then in the town. From -the varying accounts given by each party, it is, however, -uncertain which side came off best in the encounter.</p> - -<div id='i132' class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_132fpt.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic007'> -<p><span class='sc'>Great Torrington Church (Old).</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_132fpb.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic007'> -<p><span class='sc'>Great Torrington Church (New).</span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>There are entries of burials in the Parish Register of -Great Torrington of this date, one being that of -Christopher Awberry, a trooper of Sir Ralph Hopton, -who was killed by the “goeing off of a muskett unawares -upon the maine gard,” and was buried “Souldier Like,” -and another of Thomas Hollamore, “slaine by ye goeing -off of a muskett.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the next year another attack was made on the -Royalist forces under Colonel Digby in Great Torrington, -resulting in a fight on the Commons on the north side -of the town, in which the attacking force was repulsed. -A description of this engagement is given by Lord -Clarendon in his <cite>History of the Rebellion</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Between this last date and that of the blowing up of -the Church, there is the following interesting entry in the -Register of Burials of July, 1644:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Thomas Moncke gent. lieuetennt to Colonell Thomas Moncke of -Poderidge Esq beeing slaine in South Streete the IX<sup>th</sup> day about 12<sup>th</sup> -a ’clocke att night by somme of his owne company by reason of some -misprision of the word given being the IX<sup>th</sup> day att 12<sup>th</sup> aforesaid was -buried the 10<sup>th</sup> day.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The “Colonell Thomas Moncke” in this entry was -the father of the unfortunate lieutenant, and brother of -the celebrated George Monk, Duke of Albemarle and -Earl of Torrington, who subsequently played the leading -part in the Restoration of King Charles II. Potheridge, -in the parish of Merton, which is now converted into a -farm-house, was the family seat of the Monks.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the morning of Monday, the 16th February, 1645, -the Parliamentarian Army, with Fairfax as General and -Cromwell Lieutenant-General, marched from Ashreingney -viâ Stevenstone, reaching Great Torrington late in the -evening, and after some hard fighting in the dark -succeeded in forcing their way into the town and driving -the Royalist soldiers, under Lord Hopton, through the -streets and across the Torridge in the direction of Cornwall. -Hardly had the victors effected an entrance, before -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>the Church, which had been used by the Royalists as a -magazine for their powder, was blown up, the explosion -wrecking the surrounding houses and dealing ruin and -destruction in all directions.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There are several very graphic accounts of the catastrophe -and the incidents immediately leading up to it, by -eye witnesses, which cannot be excelled in accurate and -vivid description by any additional embellishments. The -following is that of Joshua Sprigge, the chaplain of -Fairfax:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Monday, February 16th, the drums beat by four of the clock in the -Morning; the general rendezvous of the army was appointed to be at -Rings-Ash, about three miles from Chimleigh; where, accordingly, by -seven of the clock in the morning, the whole army was drawn up in -battalia, horse and foot, on the moor five miles short of Torrington, and -so marched in order ready for a present engagement, in case the enemy -should attempt any thing in our march through the narrow lanes; the -forlorn hope of horse, commanded by major Stephens and Captain -Moleneux, being advanced towards Stephenston (master Rolls’ house near -Torrington), his excellency understood that the enemy had 200 dragoons -in the House, whereupon a commanded party of horse and foot were -sent to fall on them; but upon the advance of our forces towards them, -the enemy quit the place; yet our horse marching fast, engaged their -rear, took several of their dragoons prisoners, and afterwards the forlorn -hope of horse on both sides were much engaged in the narrow and dirty -lanes; at last we beat them from master Rolls’ house, all along the lane -almost to Torrington. About five of the clock in the evening the van of -the army was drawn up in the park, the forlorn hope of foot was drawn -out near the forlorn hope of horse in the midway, between master Rolls’ -house and Torrington, and there lined the hedges to make good the -retreat of the horse; the enemy likewise drew out of the town four or -five closes off, and lined the hedges with musketeers within a close of -ours, and flanked their foot with horse; whereupon good reserves were -sent to second our forlorn hope of foot, lest the enemy, knowing the -ground, and we being strangers unto it, might suddenly encompass us -(it being by this time dark night, and the whole army being then come -up, having marched ten miles that day). About eight at night the enemy -drew off from some of the closes they formerly possessed; whereupon we -gained the ground they quitted, and a council of war being called, -whether it was advisable, being night, to engage the enemy’s body, then -in the town, who were ready with the best advantages of ground and -barricadoes to receive us; it was the general sense of the council to make -good our ground and double our guards till the next morning, that we -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>might the better take view of the places where we were like to engage; -whereupon the general and lieutenant-general went from master Rolls’ -house to see the guards accordingly set, but, hearing a noise in the -town, as if the enemy were retreating, and being loath that they should -go away without an affront, to that purpose, and that we might get -certain knowledge whether they were going off or not, a small party of -dragoons were sent to fire on the enemy near the barricadoes and hedges. -The enemy answered us with a round volley of shot; thereupon the -forlorn hope of foot went and engaged themselves to bring off the -dragoons, and the reserve fell on to bring off the forlorn hope; and being -thus far engaged, the general being on the field, and seeing the general -resolution of the soldiery, held fit that the whole regiments in order -after them should fall on. And so both sides were accordingly engaged -in the dark for some two hours, till we beat them from the hedges and -within their barricadoes, which were very strong, and where some of -their men disputed the entrance of our forces with push of pike and -butt-end of musket for a long time. At last it pleased God to give us -the victory, our foot first entering the town, and afterwards the horse, -who chased the enemy through the town, the Lord Hopton, bringing up -the rear, had his horse shot dead under him in the middle of the town, -their horse once facing about in the street, caused our foot to retreat, but -more of our horse coming up pursued them to the bridges, and through -the other barricadoes at the further end of the town, where we had no -sooner placed guards at the several avenues, and had drawn our whole -army of foot and most of our horse into the town, but the magazine of -near eighty barrels of powder, which the lord Hopton had in the church, -was fired by a desperate villain, one Watts, whom the enemy had hired -with thirty pounds for that purpose, as he himself confessed the next -day, when he was pulled out from under the rubbish and timber, and -the lead, stones, timber, and iron work of the church were blown up -into the air and scattered all over the town and fields about it where our -forces were; yet it pleased God miraculously to preserve the army, that -few were slain besides the enemy’s (that were prisoners in the church -where the magazine was blown up), and most of our men that guarded -them who were killed and buried in the ruins: and here was God’s great -mercy unto us, that the general being there in the streets escaped with -his life so narrowly, there falling a web of lead with all its force which -killed the horse of one master Rhoads of the lifeguard who was thereon -next to the general in the street, but doing neither him nor the general -any hurt. There were taken in the town about 600 prisoners besides -officers, great store of arms (the lanes and fields being bestrewn with them), -all their foot were scattered, their horse fled that night towards Cornwall -in great confusion: the prisoners we took confessed they had about 4,000 -foot and 4,000 horse at least; the service was very hot, we had many -wounded, it was stoutly maintained on both sides for the time.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>From other sources we learn that the main body of -the Royalist Horse was stationed at the end of the barricade -on the north side of the town, and the Prince’s Guards -were in the Castle Green. The word for the night was, -“We are with you,” and the signal was a handkerchief tied -round the right arm. The word for the night of the Parliamentarian -Army was, “Emmanuel, God with us,” and each -man carried a sprig of furze in his hat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Fairfax himself also gives a detailed account of the -affair in a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons, -in which he says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Accordingly on Monday morning I drew out the army to an early -rendezvous at Ring-Ash, within six miles of the enemy; the weather still -continued very wet and so by all signs was like to hold till we advanced -from the rendezvous; but suddenly, when we were upon march, it, -beyond all expectation, began to be fair and dry, and so continued -whereas we had scarce seen one fair blast for many days before. The -enemy (as we understood by the way), had all their horses drawn together -about Torrington, and with their foot prepared to defend the town, which -they had fortified with good barricadoes of earth cast up at every avenue, -and a competent line patched up round about it, their horse standing by -to flank the same, and some within to scour the streets. Our forlorn -hope had order to advance to Stephenson-park, about a mile from the -town, and there to stay for the drawing up of the army, there being no -other place fit for that purpose nearer to the town on that side we came -on. But when we came near we understood that the enemy had with -200 dragoons possessed the house in the park, and were fortifying it, -being of itself very strong, but upon our nearer approach their dragoons -quitted the house, and our forlorn hope falling on them took many -prisoners and pursuing them near the town were engaged so far as they -could not well draw back to the park which occasioned to sending up -of stronger parties to make them good where they were, or bring them -off; and at last there being some fear that the enemy would draw about -them and hem them in, Colonel Hammond was sent up with three regiments -of foot, being his own, Colonel Harlow’s, and mine, and some -more horse to lie for reserves unto them, by which time the night was -grown on so that it was not thought fit unless the enemy appeared to be -drawing away to attempt anything further upon the town till morning, -in regard none of us knew the ground nor the advantages or disadvantages -of it; but about nine of the clock, there being some apprehension -of the enemy’s drawing away, by reason of their drawing back some -outguards, small parties were sent out towards the town’s end to make a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>certain discovery which going very near their works before the enemy -made any firing, but being at last entertained with a great volley of shot -and thereupon supposed to be engaged, stronger parties were sent up to -relieve them, and after them the three regiments went up for reserves, -till at last they fell on in earnest. After very hot firings, our men coming -up to the barricadoes and line, the dispute continued long at push -of pike and with butt-ends of muskets till at last it pleased God to make -the enemy fly from their works, and give our men the entrance; after -which our men were twice repulsed by their horse and almost all driven -out again, but colonel Hammond, with some other officers and a few -soldiers, made a stop at the barricadoes, and, so making good their -re-entrance, rallied their men, and went on again, major Stephens with -their forlorn hope of horse coming seasonably up to second them: the -enemy’s foot ran several ways, most of them leaving their arms, but -most of their officers, with the assistance of horse, made good their own -retreat out of the town towards the bridge, and taking the advantage of -strait passages, to make often stands against our men, gave time for -many of their foot to get over the bridge; their horse without the town, -after some attempts at other avenues to have broken in again upon us, -being repulsed, at last went all away over another bridge, and at several -other passes of the river, and all fell westward; the ground where their -horse had stood and the bridge they went over lying so beyond the town, -as our horse could not come at them but through the town, which, by -reason of strait passages through several barricadoes, was very tedious, -by means whereof, and by reason of continued strait lanes the enemy -had to retreat by, after they were over the river, as also by the advantage -of the night, and by their perfect knowledge of the country and our -ignorance therein, our horse could do little execution upon the pursuit, -but parties being sent out several ways to follow them, as those disadvantages -would admit, did the best they could, and brought back -many prisoners and horses. We took many prisoners in the town, who, -being put into the church where the enemy’s magazine lay, of above -fourscore barrels of powder, as is reported, besides other ammunition -either purposely by some desperate prisoner, or casually by some soldier, -the powder was fired, whereby the church was quite blown up, the -prisoners and most of our men that guarded them were killed and overwhelmed -in the ruins; the houses of the town shaken and shattered, -and our men all the town over much endangered by the stones, timber, -and lead, which with the blast were carried up very high, and scattered -in great abundance all the town over and beyond; yet it pleased God -that few of our men were slain or hurt thereby, save those in the church -only, our loss of men otherwise in this service was small, though many -wounded, it being a hotter service than any storm this army hath before -been upon, wherein God gave our men great resolution; and colonel -Hammond especially, and other officers engaged with him, behaved themselves -<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>with much resolution, courage and diligence, recovering the ground -after their men were twice repulsed; of prisoners taken in this service -about 200 were blown up, 200 have taken up arms with us, and about -200 more common soldiers remain prisoners: besides many officers, -gentlemen, and servants, not many slain, but their foot so dispersed as -that of about 3,000, which the most credible persons do affirm they had -there, and we find, by a list taken among the lord Hopton’s papers, -themselves did account them more, we cannot hear of above 400 that -they carried off with them into Cornwall, whither their horse also are -gone, being much broken and dispersed as well as their foot. By the -considerations and circumstances in this business which I have here -touched upon, you will perceive whose hand it was that led us to it, and -gave such success in it, and truly there were many more evident appearances -of the good hand of God therein than I can set forth: let all the -honour be to Him alone for ever.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>A letter of John Rushworth, the Secretary to Fairfax, -written at Torrington on the 22nd of February, 1645–6, -states that:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The other day, being the market day, Master Peters preacht unto the -country people and souldiers in Torrington (the Church being blown up) -he was forced to preach out of a belcony, where the audience was great: -he made a great impression upon the hearts of the people.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This was the celebrated Hugh Peters, the Puritan -preacher, who attended the army in its journeyings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The following curious certificate is given in the preface -to a work by the Rev. John Heydon, dedicated to Sir -Thomas Fairfax, the title page of which reads:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The Discovery of the wonderfull preservation of his Excellencie Sir -Thomas Fairfax, The Army, the Records of the Town, the Library, and -blessed Bible, under the hands of the Maior, Aldermen, Capt. and -Schoolmaster of Torrington in Devon. In an Epistle to his Excellency -(and also in the end of a Book, entituled, <cite>Man’s Badnesse and God’s -Goodnesse</cite>: or, some Gospel Truths laid down, vindicated and explained), -by his Excellencies speciall Command. Never Printed heretofore by any. -By John Heydon, Minister of the Gospel. London, Printed by M. -Simmons, 1647.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The certificate runs:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>We whose names are here subscribed do testifie, that when the -Publick place of God’s worship was blown up by a hellish plot, and his -Excellency was wonderfully preserved, there fell out by Divine Providence, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>that which we look upon as <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>mira non mirabilia</i></span>, viz., though both the -Books of Common Prayer were blown up or burnt, yet the blessed Bible -was preserved and not obliterated, although it were blown away; and -also the Library, and the books, together with the Records of the Town -were wonderfully preserved: I do testifie, John Voysey, Maior. We -also testifie, Richard Gay, William White Capt., John Ward, Henry -Semor Schoolmaster, and John Heydon Minister of the Gospel. And I -shall be ready to shew the Originall to whomsoever desires it, and craves -condigne punishment if the Originall be adulterated.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Further on Mr. Heydon says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Now the Lord confirm you in the true grace of God wherein you -stand, and make you more instrumentall to the Kingdom and Nations that -are Christian the world over, and make you a leading peece to all -Generals that now are, or shall be here after, and move your heart to -pity the Town of Torrington, and as much as in you lyes, to erect a -publick Place for God’s worship there, upon the Publique Stock; the -people being poore, yet those that are Christian, both Magistrates and -Commanders, that have little incouragement from those that they have -adventured their lives for, and expended their estates, for their safety; -the Lord put better hearts into them I say, those are thankefull to God, -and have gladly received those that would impart the Gospel to them, -and keep dayes of Thanksgiving, etc., for so great a deliverance, and -though they stand in the open streets, neither cold nor rain can deter -them from it; they being true Eagles will feed on the carkasse Christ in -the Gospel purely preach’t, as Mr. Peters and divers of the Army can -witnesse, and their own testimony for my self annexed, that spent a day -by way of Thanksgiving since my being under the Command of Coll. -Henry Gray, as it follows word for word in their Certificate annexed, the -20. Decemb. 1646: This day Mr. John Heyden Chaplain to the Honorable -Coll. Gray, did powerfully preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in -Torrington magna, to the great comfort and incouragement of that great -audience which were present.—John Voysey Maior, Richard Gay, John -Harwood, John Ward, William White, and Henry Semor.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The blowing up of the Church of Great Torrington is -recorded on two stones built into the walls of the south -transept. The inscriptions on these stones run as -follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>This Chvrch was blowen up with Powder Febry ye 16<sup>th</sup> ano 1645 and -rebuilt A<sup>d</sup> 1651;</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c003'>and</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>This Church was re-erected ano Domini 1651.</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>Under the date of February, 1645, there is this entry -in the Register of Burials:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>There have bin buried the 16th 17th 18th 19th and 20th 21st dayes 63 -soldyers;</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c003'>and other entries appear in July and August of the same -year of interments of soldiers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the <cite>Journal of the House of Lords</cite> (Vol. x., 318) is -the following entry respecting the re-building of the -Church:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'><i>10 June 1648</i> <i>Ordered</i>, By the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament, -That a Grant be prepared, and that the Commissioners of the -Great Seal be hereby authorized and required to pass the same under -the Great Seal, to the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, of the -Town of <em>Greate Torrington</em>, in the County of <em>Devon</em>, for a General Collection -of the Charity of well-disposed People, through all the Counties of -<em>England</em> and Dominion of <em>Wales</em> for Reparation of the Great Church of -the said Town, which was utterly demolished by the Enemies Firing -thereof with their Magazine of Powder, to the Value of Six Thousand -Pounds at least; which the Inhabitants, by reason of the Miseries of the -late War, and Ruin of the said Town, are no Way able to repair.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The only external part of the Church which appears -to have escaped is the vestry, though a few of the piers -and arches at the east end seem to be in their original -condition, and perhaps also the arch of the north transept.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>George M. Doe.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span> - <h2 class='c008'>HERRICK AND DEAN PRIOR.<br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By F. H. Colson, M.A.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_t.jpg' width='33' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -The little village of Dean Prior, five miles from -Brent on the high road from Plymouth to -Ashburton, is indissolubly associated with the -name of one of the greatest of our lyric poets; -a poet, indeed, who has a certain touch and power which -is quite unique in English poetry. Robert Herrick was -vicar of this parish for about thirty-two years. The main -facts of his life may be very shortly told. Born in London -in 1591, he was educated at St. John’s College and Trinity -Hall, Cambridge. He spent the earlier part of his life, -after taking his degree, probably partly in Cambridge and -partly in London. It was not till 1629, when he was -thirty-eight years old, that he was ordained and presented -to Dean Prior. Here he remained till 1648, when he was -ejected, and a certain John Syms, a Puritan of some fame -and worth, established in his place. Herrick went to -London and there published his two books of verse, -<em>Hesperides</em> and <em>Noble Numbers</em>. In 1662 he was -sent back to his living, and there spent the remainder of -his days. He died and was buried in the churchyard of -Dean Prior in 1674.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is not much in this little parish at the present -day to remind one of Herrick. The vicarage is probably -an enlargement of the poet’s house. The newer part -stands on a somewhat higher level than the old, and this -last is probably the “cell,” whose humble comforts Herrick -extols in one of his most true and charming pieces. The -present vicar, Mr. Perry-Keene, who is himself something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>of a poet, and knows and loves well his great predecessor, -showed me what he believes to be Herrick’s “byn.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Just opposite the Vicarage stands the Church, which -Mr. Perry-Keene tells me has been altered a great deal. -It now contains a monument to Herrick erected in 1857 -by a remote kinsman, Mr. William Perry Herrick.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Opposite this recent memorial, in the south aisle, stands -a far more interesting monument. It is a brass with -three figures—husband, wife, and son—but no name or -inscription which might give a clue to the name is legible. -Underneath it, however, run the following verses:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No trust to metals nor to marbles, when</div> - <div class='line'>These have their fate and wear away as men.</div> - <div class='line'>Times, Titles, Trophies may be lost and spent,</div> - <div class='line'>But virtue rears the eternal monument.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What more than these can Tombs or Tomb-stones pay?</div> - <div class='line'>But here’s the sunset of a tedious day.</div> - <div class='line'>These two asleep are: I’ll but be undrest,</div> - <div class='line'>And so to Bed, Pray wish us all good rest.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>This beautiful and interesting epitaph is printed by -Mr. Grosart in his fine edition of Herrick, as being indisputably -the work of the poet. Mr. Grosart also states -positively that the figures on the monument are those of -Sir Edward and Lady Giles, of whom the former died at -Dean Court in 1637. Mr. Grosart speaks on these points -with such certainty that I was surprised to find that the -external evidence for both statements is absolutely nil. -As a matter of fact, the monument itself hardly appears to -belong to Herrick’s time. Mr. Perry-Keene’s opinion is -(and I confess that my own very slight knowledge of such -subjects would have led me to the same conclusion) that -the figures are Elizabethan rather than Caroline. It seems, -therefore, hardly safe to print the inscription as being -<em>undoubtedly</em> Herrick’s work. At the same time I do -believe that the lines are Herrick’s. There is a very -distinct Herrickian ring about them, particularly about -the last three, which to my mind is almost unmistakeable. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>Observe the phrase “I’ll but be undrest.” It borders on -the grotesque; in almost any other poet’s hand it would -have been grotesque. In his hand it acquires a certain -beautiful quaintness, becomes what Herrick himself calls -a “phrase of the royal blood.” I commend this charming -epitaph, therefore, to the reader as the one existing -memorial which connects Dean Prior with Herrick, though -I think he should at the same time be cautioned, that the -ascription of the lines to the poet is based solely on -internal evidence.</p> - -<p class='c001'>About a mile from the Church stands Dean Court, now -a farm-house, in Herrick’s time a manor house, and occupied -during his incumbency by the above-mentioned Sir -Edward Giles, and afterwards by the Yardes. To-day -it looks what it is, and unless there has been considerable -alteration and demolition, it seems a poor house -for such important families.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A charming village is Dean Prior, as indeed are all -the villages on the outskirts of Dartmoor. No wonder that -essayists on, and editors of, Herrick have traced his freshness -and quaintness to the simplicity of a West Country -parish, and that the perfume of flowers which pervades his -pages almost <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>ad nauseam</i></span> seems to his readers to be -inspired by the soft and luxurious air of Devonshire. In -a word, Herrick’s <cite>Hesperides</cite> has seemed to be the work -of a Devonshire man drawing his inspiration from -Devonshire, as Barnes from Dorset or Burns from Ayrshire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I am bound, however, to say that I believe this to -be true only with considerable limitations. Generally -speaking, I hold that while the <cite>Noble Numbers</cite> do -undoubtedly belong to the Dean Prior period, the same -cannot be said with equal certainty of the <cite>Hesperides</cite>, -or at least of that part of the <cite>Hesperides</cite> which has -given Herrick his immortality. The book contains, no -doubt, several pieces, perhaps some sixty in all, which are -shewn by internal evidence to have been written later -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>than 1628, but of these, few, if any, are of special merit. -The real Apples of the Golden Garden are practically -undated.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Now we must remember that not only was Herrick -thirty-eight when he went to Devonshire, an age at which -many poets have produced their best work, but that he -hated, or, to use his own oft-repeated expression, “loathed” -Devonshire. This hatred is expressed in numerous -passages. The following, written at the time of his -ejection from the living, may serve as a specimen:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>First let us dwell in widest seas,</div> - <div class='line'>Next with severest savages,</div> - <div class='line'>Last let us make our best abode</div> - <div class='line'>Where human foot as yet ne’er trod.</div> - <div class='line'>Search worlds of ice and rather there</div> - <div class='line'>Live than in loathèd Devonshire.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>“No bird,” says Plato, “sings when it is cold or hungry -or suffering any pain,” and it is a natural inference from -passages like this of Herrick’s that his native genius -suffered rather than gained from his sojourn at Dean -Prior. But on this point he has left us his own testimony -in two important passages. The first runs thus:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Before I went</div> - <div class='line'>In banishment</div> - <div class='line'>Into the loathèd West,</div> - <div class='line'>I could rehearse</div> - <div class='line'>A lyric verse,</div> - <div class='line'>And speak it with the best.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The second is—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>More discontents I never had</div> - <div class='line in2'>Since I was born than here,</div> - <div class='line'>Where I have been and still am sad,</div> - <div class='line in2'>In this dull Devonshire.</div> - <div class='line'>Yet justly too I must confess</div> - <div class='line in2'>I ne’er invented such</div> - <div class='line'>Ennobled numbers for the press</div> - <div class='line in2'>As where I loathed so much.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>At first sight these two passages seem contradictory, -but the contradiction vanishes when we remember that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>Herrick’s book of sacred poems is called <cite>Noble -Numbers</cite>. To these and these only, as it seems to me, -the “ennobled numbers” of the second passage refers, -and the plain meaning of these lines is that Herrick, as -vicar of Dean Prior, felt his old powers of song-making -gone, and gave his attention mainly to sacred poetry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To the same conclusion point some lines in the “Farewell -to Poetry,” written probably when he took orders:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I my desires screw from thee, and direct</div> - <div class='line'>Them and my thoughts to that sublime respect</div> - <div class='line'>And conscience unto priesthood.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>But he adds:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When my diviner muse</div> - <div class='line'>Shall want a handmaid as she oft will use,</div> - <div class='line'>Be ready then for me to wait upon her,</div> - <div class='line'>Though as a servant, yet a maid of honour.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>I do not of course suggest that all this is to be taken -quite literally, or that we are to affirm positively that all -Herrick’s best lyrics date from an earlier period; but that -it is generally true I see no reason to doubt, more especially -as in the many hundred lyrics which</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds and flowers,</div> - <div class='line'>Of April, May and June, and July flowers,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>there is, so far as I can see, little or no trace of Devonshire.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The great poets—whom Herrick looked on as his -masters—Catullus and Horace, understood the magic of -a name, and were fond of grouping their best thoughts -round the names of the particular spots which they knew. -Anyone who reads Catullus’s lines on Sirmio, or Horace’s -on Tivoli, anyone, we may add, who knows Burns, or -Wordsworth, or Scott, will feel the significance of the -fact that Herrick only once mentions by name any place -in Devonshire. It is not that he dislikes localising, for -he lingers affectionately enough over the names of</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Richmond, Kingston, and of Hampton Court.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>And on the one occasion, when a Devonshire scene is -described by name, it is in the following lines on “Dean, -a rude river in Devon, by which he sometimes dwelt”:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Dean Bourn, farewell! I never look to see</div> - <div class='line'>Dean, or thy watry incivility.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The reader of Herrick will remember that he goes on -to say that the “currish, churlish” people of Dean are as -rocky as their river. Herrick could hardly be expected to -admire Dartmoor itself. The love of moor and mountain -hardly existed in his time; but the glen of Dean Bourne -is a different thing, and surely nothing but invincible -prejudice can have made Herrick describe it in such -“currish and churlish” terms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Herrick is <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>par excellence</i></span> the poet of flowers and fruits. -Cherries, cowslips, daffodils, and primroses are inseparably -connected with his verse. That the rich luxuriance of -Dean Prior must have been a source of continual pleasure -to him we cannot doubt. Yet even in this department of -nature one misses local touches. Where are the high -hedgerows, the ferns, and the fox-gloves? and where are -the apple orchards of Devon?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Herrick was very fond of observing village festivities -and studying folk-lore, and it is generally assumed that -the poems which deal with these subjects were written in -Devonshire and based on Devonshire observations. This -may be so, though I do not know of any evidence in -favour of it. On the other hand there is one small -circumstance which seems to me significant. In Herrick’s -descriptions of barley-breaks, harvest homes, and Christmas -festivities, there is much mention of beer but none -of cider. Cider making had its poetry for Keats:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Or by a cider-press with patient look</div> - <div class='line'>Thou watchest the last oozings hour by hour.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>It seems strange that it should never be mentioned by -the poet of cider-land.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One of Herrick’s parishioners stands out pleasantly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>in the pages of <cite>Hesperides</cite>—“my Prue,” otherwise -Prudence Baldwin, the house-keeper, who apparently -followed him to London at his ejection and returned with -him in 1662. It is generally assumed that the persons -attacked in the epigrams were parishioners. If so, no -wonder they were churlish. It does not appear that many -of the fifty or sixty persons addressed in what Mr. Grosart -calls “verse-celebrations,” were West-Country people, and -on the whole there is as little of local life as of local -scenery in the <cite>Hesperides</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The critics, then, seem to me perverse, who, in spite of -Herrick’s assurances, declare that he only pretended to -dislike Dean Prior. They rely, presumably, on his keen -eye for country beauties. Now I venture to doubt whether -Herrick, as we see him in the <cite>Hesperides</cite>, is one of -the real nature-poets. He knows and loves certain aspects -of nature, more particularly fruits and flowers, bright -colours and sweet smells. Even amongst these he is often -happiest when he can trace some likeness to human beauty. -The famous “Cherries ripe” grew on Julia’s lips, not in -an orchard. Above all poets he understands the -picturesqueness of dress, and when after a catalogue of -Julia’s silks and laces in their “wild civility” he confesses -that he dotes less on nature than on art, he probably -speaks the truth. It is the same with country life; he has -none of the deep respect for the peasant’s healthy and -thrifty life, which lies at the bottom of Virgil and Horace -and Wordsworth’s work. He has plenty of interest in -their May-days and other merry-making, but little, I think, -in their life as a whole. And the few praises of country -life to be found in the <cite>Hesperides</cite> do not seem to me to -ring very true.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If, then, I read Herrick’s life at Dean Prior aright, he -is not the genial parson, moving light-heartedly among -the people, drinking in the soft air of Devonshire and -pouring it out in spontaneous song, passing from his -sermon to the Maypole, blending Paganism with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>Christianity and ribaldry with religion, without sense of -harm or incongruity—writing, in fact, the <cite>Hesperides</cite> -on weekdays and the <cite>Noble Numbers</cite> on Sundays. -Rather it was by the Cam and the Thames that he -imbibed his inspiration, made love to his half-imaginary -mistresses, and learnt—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>How roses first grew red and lilies white.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>In Devonshire he is a changed man, sobered partly by -isolation and partly by clerical responsibility. He has, no -doubt, his light-hearted and even wanton moods, and often -writes poetry in the old vein; but he feels that the old -lyrical effusiveness is going or gone, and finds his main -occupation in writing sacred poetry.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At any rate he did not write gross or indecent verse -during this period. This all too plentiful element of -the <cite>Hesperides</cite> need not be fathered on Dean Prior. -He himself calls it—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in14'>Unbaptised rhymes</div> - <div class='line'>Writ in my wild, unhallowed times.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>There is surely no reason why these words should -not be taken in their literal sense, which is that they -were written in Herrick’s youth and before he took orders, -and the pilgrim to Dean Prior need not harrow his -imagination with the revolting picture of this elderly -bachelor sitting in the little vicarage spinning out these -miserable and often pointless indecencies. No doubt it -may be asked why, if these were poems of Herrick’s youth, -condemned by his better judgment, he published them in -1648. Two answers may be given to this question, though -I do not say that either of them is an excuse. In the first -place he had been turned out of his living and probably -wanted money. In the second place, the fact that he describes -himself on the title page as Robert Herrick, Esq., -seems to indicate that he considered his clerical profession -had gone with his incumbency, and if so, he very probably -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>had deluded himself into the idea that clerical responsibility -had gone also.</p> - -<p class='c001'>I will devote the rest of my allotted space to a few -remarks on that part of Herrick’s work which undoubtedly -belongs to the Dean Prior period. I mean the “pious -pieces,” or <cite>Noble Numbers</cite>. Now it is not to be -denied that there is a great deal of poor stuff in the -<cite>Noble Numbers</cite>. Nobody is likely to care much for -the metrical creeds, or the tawdry and sensuous poems -on the Nativity or Passion. Still the little book contains -some pieces which English literature could ill spare. -There is, for instance, the strange and, indeed, startling -“litany to the Holy Spirit.” This hymn is actually -included in one at least of our popular hymn-books, and -I have sometimes heard parts of it sung in a village -church. I wonder what the congregation would have -thought of these two stanzas, which, needless to say, are -not to be found in the hymn-book version:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When the artless doctor sees</div> - <div class='line'>No one hope, but in his fees</div> - <div class='line'>And his skill runs on the lees,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Sweet Spirit, comfort me.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When his Potion and his Pill</div> - <div class='line'>Has or none or little skill,</div> - <div class='line'>Meet for nothing but to kill,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Sweet Spirit, comfort me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Probably they would be greatly shocked, and indeed -everyone must admit that the stanzas show a certain -strange devilry mixing itself with Herrick’s most reverent -thoughts. At the same time, I do not think there is -any real or intentional irreverence in them. There is -one stanza in the “Litany” which has, I think, a personal -interest:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When the house doth sigh and weep,</div> - <div class='line'>And the world is drowned in sleep,</div> - <div class='line'>Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Sweet Spirit, comfort me.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>Now compare this with the following:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Night hath no wings to him that cannot sleep,</div> - <div class='line'>And time seems then not for to flie but creep.</div> - <div class='line'> . . . . . .</div> - <div class='line'>Just so it is with me who listening pray</div> - <div class='line'>The winds to blow the tedious night away.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And again—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Through all the night</div> - <div class='line'>Thou dost me fright,</div> - <div class='line'>And holdst mine eyes from sleeping.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>I infer from these that Herrick suffered much from -sleeplessness, and if so, may we not with considerable -probability trace the genesis of this celebrated litany to -some sleepless nights in the little vicarage of Dean Prior?</p> - -<p class='c001'>Again it is to the <cite>Noble Numbers</cite> that we owe the -beautiful “Lord, Thou hast given me a cell.” Familiar -as this poem is, it is only a just tribute to Dean Prior that -these sweet praises of its simple plenty should be set -down here.</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>A THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR HIS HOUSE.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lord, Thou hast given me a cell</div> - <div class='line in6'>Wherein to dwell;</div> - <div class='line'>A little house, whose humble roof</div> - <div class='line in6'>Is weather-proof;</div> - <div class='line'>Under the sparres of which I lie</div> - <div class='line in6'>Both soft and drie;</div> - <div class='line'>Where Thou my chamber for to ward</div> - <div class='line in6'>Has set a guard</div> - <div class='line'>Of harmless thoughts, to watch and keep</div> - <div class='line in6'>Me while I sleep.</div> - <div class='line'>Low is my porch, as is my Fate,</div> - <div class='line in6'>Both void of state;</div> - <div class='line'>And yet the threshold of my doore</div> - <div class='line in6'>Is worn by th’ poore,</div> - <div class='line'>Who thither come, and freely get</div> - <div class='line in6'>Good words or meat.</div> - <div class='line'>Like as my Parlour, so my hall</div> - <div class='line in6'>And Kitchen’s small:</div> - <div class='line'>A little Buttery, and therein</div> - <div class='line in6'>A little Byn</div> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>Which keeps my little Loafe of Bread</div> - <div class='line in6'>Unchipt, unflead:</div> - <div class='line'>Some little sticks of Thorne or Briar</div> - <div class='line in6'>Making a fire,</div> - <div class='line'>Close by whose living fire I sit</div> - <div class='line in6'>And glow like it.</div> - <div class='line'>Lord, I confess too, when I dine,</div> - <div class='line in6'>The Pulse is Thine,</div> - <div class='line'>And all those other bits, that bee</div> - <div class='line in6'>There plac’d by Thee;</div> - <div class='line'>The Worts, the Purslaine, and the Messe</div> - <div class='line in6'>Of Water-cresse,</div> - <div class='line'>Which of Thy kindness Thou hast sent;</div> - <div class='line in6'>And my content</div> - <div class='line'>Makes those, and my beloved Beet</div> - <div class='line in6'>To be more sweet.</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis thou that crownst my glittering Hearth</div> - <div class='line in6'>With guiltlesse mirth;</div> - <div class='line'>And giv’st me Wassaile Bowles to drink,</div> - <div class='line in6'>Spic’d to the brink.</div> - <div class='line'>Lord,’tis Thy plenty-dropping Hand</div> - <div class='line in6'>That soiles my land;</div> - <div class='line'>And giv’st me, for my Bushell sowne,</div> - <div class='line in6'>Twice ten for one:</div> - <div class='line'>Thou mak’st my teaming Hen to lay</div> - <div class='line in6'>Her egg each day:</div> - <div class='line'>Besides my healthful Ewes to beare</div> - <div class='line in6'>Me twins each year.</div> - <div class='line'>The while the conduits of my kine</div> - <div class='line in6'>Run creame (for Wine).</div> - <div class='line'>All these, and better Thou doest send</div> - <div class='line in6'>Me, to this end,</div> - <div class='line'>That I should render, for my part,</div> - <div class='line in6'>A thankful heart,</div> - <div class='line'>Which, fired with incense, I resigne,</div> - <div class='line in6'>As wholly Thine;</div> - <div class='line'>But the acceptance, that must be,</div> - <div class='line in6'>My Christ to Thee.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>And now let me ask the reader to note the following -triplet, which occurs in a Christmas Anthem in <cite>Noble -Numbers</cite>:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>We see Him come and know Him ours,</div> - <div class='line'>Who with His sunshine and His showers</div> - <div class='line'>Turns all the patient earth to flowers.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>I think if we compare these two poems, which embody -Herrick’s attitude to nature and country life during the -Dean Prior period, with some of the earlier (as I think) -lyrics in the <cite>Hesperides</cite>, we shall feel that if Dean -Prior took something from him, it also gave him something. -Compare them, for instance, with “Fair Daffodils, -we weep to see,” or the song to “Meddows,” which begins -“Ye have been fresh and green.” These last are beautiful -fancies, among the most beautiful in our language, but they -have not the depth or fulness of feeling which the triplet -has. <em>That</em> breathes the spirit of the true lover of rural -life, and so it seems to me that if Herrick, in this little -out-of-the-way village, felt the lyric power gone, if the -“fairy fancies” no longer “ranged” or “lightly stirred” -as before, on the other hand, something of the peace of a -country village, something of the peace which Wordsworth -felt two centuries later, had descended upon him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Finally, let me call the reader’s attention to the two -“Graces for little children,” also to be found in <cite>Noble -Numbers</cite>:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here a little child I stand,</div> - <div class='line'>Heaving up my either hand;</div> - <div class='line'>Cold as paddocks though they be,</div> - <div class='line'>Here I lift them up to Thee</div> - <div class='line'>For a Benison to fall</div> - <div class='line'>On our meat and on us all.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And again—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>What God gives and what we take,</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis a gift for Christ His sake;</div> - <div class='line'>Be the meal of beans and pease,</div> - <div class='line'>God be thanked for those and these.</div> - <div class='line'>Have we flesh or have we fish,</div> - <div class='line'>All are fragments from His dish.</div> - <div class='line'>He His Church save and the King,</div> - <div class='line'>And our peace here like a spring</div> - <div class='line'>Send it ever flourishing.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>If I may indulge in a little fancy, I should say that -this last was written for some small Dean Prior “maid”; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>written on one of those delicious balmy days which a -Devonshire spring sometimes, though not, alas! always, -brings; written during the first half of Herrick’s first incumbency, -when peace still “flourished” at Dean Prior, though -perhaps the shadows of the coming trouble were not unfelt -by those who could read the signs of the times. Both -these “Graces” always seem to me to have a peculiar -charm and freshness, and even by themselves they would -go far to justify the view that has been maintained in -this essay, that Herrick’s genius, if hampered and -enfeebled in some ways, was in other ways matured and -mellowed by his sojourn in “dull Devonshire.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The following passage, which is an extract from an -article in the <cite>Quarterly</cite> of August, 1809, by Mr. Barron -Field, may be of some interest:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Being in Devonshire during the last summer, we took an opportunity -of visiting Dean Prior for the purpose of making some inquiries concerning -Herrick, who, from the circumstance of having been vicar of -that parish (where he is still talked of as a poet, a wit, and a -hater of the county) for twenty years, might be supposed to have left -some unrecorded memorials of his existence behind him. We found -many persons in the village who could repeat some of his lines, and -none who were not acquainted with his "Farewell to Dean Bourn"—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Dean Bourn, farewell; I never look to see</div> - <div class='line'>Dean, or thy watry incivility,”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>which, they said, he uttered as he crossed the brook upon being ejected -by Cromwell from the Vicarage, to which he had been presented by -Charles I. “But,” they added, with an air of innocent triumph, “he -did see it again,” as was the fact after the Restoration. And, indeed, -although he calls Devonshire “dull,” yet as he admits, at the same time, -that “he never invented such ennobled numbers for the press as in that -loathed spot,” the good people of Dean Prior have not much reason to -be dissatisfied.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The person, however, who knows more of Herrick than all the rest -of the neighbourhood, we found to be a poor woman in the ninety-ninth -year of her age, named Dorothy King. She repeated to us, with -great exactness, five of his <cite>Noble Numbers</cite>, among which was the -beautiful Litany quoted above. These she had learned from her mother, -who was apprenticed to Herrick’s successor in the vicarage. She called -them her prayers, which, she said, she was in the habit of putting up -in bed whenever she could not sleep, and she therefore began the Litany -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>at the second stanza, “When I lie within my bed,” etc. Another of -her midnight orisons was the poem beginning—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Every night thou does me fright,</div> - <div class='line'>And keep mine eyes from sleeping,” etc.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>She had no idea that these poems had ever been printed, and could -not have read them if she had seen them. She is in possession of few -traditions as to the person, manners, and habits of life of the poet, but -in return she has a whole budget of anecdotes respecting his ghost, -and these she details with a careless but serene gravity which one would -not willingly discompose by any hints at a remote possibility of their -not being exactly true. Herrick, she says, was a bachelor, and kept -a maid-servant, as his poems, indeed, discover; but she adds, what they -do not discover, that he also kept a pet pig, which he taught to -drink out of a tankard. And this important circumstance, together with -a tradition that he one day threw his sermon at the congregation, with -a curse for their inattention, forms almost the sum total of what we -could collect of the poet’s life.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>F. H. Colson.</span></div> -<div class='column-container capwidth80'> - -<div id='i154' class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i_154fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Painting by T. Stothard, R.A.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by George Noble.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Landing of William III. at Torbay.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span> - <h2 class='c008'>THE LANDING OF THE PRINCE OF<br /> ORANGE AT BRIXHAM, 1688. <br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By the late T. W. Windeatt.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_t.jpg' width='35' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -The landing of the Prince of Orange—the Prince -who "saved England"—on the shores of Devon -in 1688, must always be a matter of interest. The -subject has been dealt with by Macaulay and -other historians with more or less detail. I certainly should -not, therefore, have ventured on the subject myself had -it not been for the fact of having had placed in my hands, -through the courtesy of Mr. J. B. Davidson, of Secktor, a -somewhat rare pamphlet, containing many interesting facts -not noted in the papers referred to by Mr. Pengelly, and -from my being the repository of some local anecdotes -worth preserving.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The pamphlet I have referred to is entitled, “An Exact -Diary of the late Expedition of His Illustrious Highness -The Prince of Orange (now King of Great Britain), from -his Palace at the Hague to his Landing at Torbay, and -from thence to his arrival at Whitehall. Giving a particular -account of all that happened and every Day’s -March. By a Minister Chaplain in the Army.” It consists -of seventy-three pages, was printed for Richard -Baldwin, near the Black Bull, in the Old Bailey, in 1689, -licensed April 23rd, 1689. It is dedicated to the Earls -of Bedford and Portland, Viscount Sidney of Sheppy, and -Sir John Maynard, one of the Lords Commissioners of -the Great Seal; and from the Dedication it appears that -the writer was one “John Whittle.”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>This Sir John Maynard was at this time Recorder for -this borough, and member for the borough during the -Long Parliament. He was a very able lawyer, and at -this time near ninety. It is related of him that when he -came “with the men of the law” to welcome the Prince, -the latter took notice of his great age, and said that he -had outlived all the men of the law of his time. Whereupon -Maynard replied, he had like to have outlived the -law itself if his Highness had not come over.</p> - -<p class='c001'>That this pamphlet is genuine, and was written by an -English clergyman who accompanied the expedition -throughout, there is strong internal evidence; and -Macaulay cites it as one of the authorities for several of -his statements with reference to the expedition, though -he does not quote largely from it.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In this diary or, more strictly, narrative, which enters -more fully into particulars than the other pamphlets, -Mr. Whittle gives a graphic account of the arrangements -for, and the departure of, the expedition, the storm which -sent it back again, its refitting, second departure, and safe -(if not miraculous) arrival in Torbay, of all of which the -writer was evidently an eye-witness.</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The number of our capital ships or men-of-war was about fifty, which -were very well rig’d, mann’d, and provided with all things requisite; the -number of our fire-ships was about five and twenty; lesser Men-of-war or -Frigats about six and twenty; the number of Merchant Ships, Pinks, -Fly-boats and others was about three hundred and odd; so the total -number of the Fleet as they sailed from the Brill was about four hundred -and odd ships. But at our setting out the second time, at Hellevort-Sluys, -there were near an hundred vessels more, which were Schievelingers -or Boats which the Fisher-men of Schieveling went to sea in.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Whittle gives the following account of the final departure -of the expedition:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Upon Thursday, Novemb. 1, Old Stile, Novemb. 11, New Stile, after -the Prince of Orange had din’<sup>d</sup> with all English, Dutch, Scotch, and -French Lords, Knights and Gentlemen attending his Sacred Person, about -three or four of clock in the afternoon, he went on board a new vessel -of about Twenty-eight Guns, with the Rotterdam’s Admiral call’d the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>Brill, as some will have it, and being now in his Cabin, fired, for to -give notice unto all the Fleet to weigh their anchors and make Sail, -which was accordingly done by every Ship with all possible expedition. -The whole Fleet was divided into three Squadrons; the Red Flag was -for the English and Scotch, commanded by Major-General Mackay; the -White Flag was for the Prince’s Guards and the Brandenburghers, -commanded by Count Solms; the Blew Flag was for the Dutch and -French, commanded by Count Nassau. Now every Ship had a certain -Mark, or Token, that it might be known unto what Squadron she -belong<sup>d</sup>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>So once more the whole Fleet (thro’ God’s blessing) was under sail for -England, with a very favourable East Wind. The darkness coming on -us, all the Ships set out their Lights, which was very pleasant to see, -and the Ship in which the Prince of Orange was, had three Lanthorns, -the Men of War two, and each other Ship one.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Whittle brings the fleet to the English shores, and -thus continues:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>On the morrow-morning, being the Lord’s day, Novemb. 4, Old Stile, -which was the happy Birthday of his thrice Illustrious Highness, the -Prince of Orange; most men were of opinion that we should land either -in the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, or some other convenient place, about -which matter they were much mistaken, for the Prince of Orange did not -sail, but observe the duty of the day; so all were driven of the Waves. -Prayers and Sermon being done, he went to Dinner with some Nobles -attending him, and about Four of Clock in the afternoon made sail, all -the whole Fleet following the example of his ship; now every Schipper -endeavour’d for to keep sight of the three Lanthorns or Admiral of -Rotterdam’s Ship for the sake of his Highness therein. The darkness -shutting upon us all our Lights were set out as before.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Whittle then brings us down to the morning of -Monday, the 5th of November, and proceeds as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>So when the day began to dawn, we found that we were very near the -English Shore, but whereabout we could not yet tell. The Ship in which -the Prince of Orange was sailed so near the Shore that with much -facility a man might cast a stone on the Land; we were driven very -slowly, all our Sails being struck. The morning was very obscure with -the Fog and Mist, and withal it was so calm that the Vessels now as -’twere touch’d each other, every Ship coming as near unto the Ship -wherein the Prince of Orange was as the Schipper thereof would permit -them. Here we were moving for a while very slowly by the Shore, and -could see all the Rocks there abouts very plain. We perceived that we -should land thereabout, but no place near was commodious for either -<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>Men or Horses, it being a steep Rock to march up. The Ships did all -observe the motion of the three Lanthorns, which were driven by the -Coast of England back again, for we had sailed somewhat beyond Torbay. -And being thus calm’d for a while, it afterwards pleased the God of -Heaven, that He gave us a West or Westerly Wind, which was the only -Wind that could blow to bring us safe into the Bay; for even to this -place we had an East and South-East Wind, which was indeed a good -Wind to bring us from Holland, and along all the Channel, but not to -carry us into the Bay, there were so many Rocks and Shelves on that -side. Making some Sail again, his Highness the Prince of Orange gave -order that his Standard should be put up, and accordingly it was done, -the White Flag being put uppermost, signifying his most gracious offer -of Peace unto all such as would live peaceably: And under that the Red -or Bloody Flag was set up, signifying War unto all such as did oppose -his just Designs. The Sun recovering strength soon dissipated the Fog, -and dispers’d the Mist, insomuch that it prov’d a very pleasant Day. -Now every Vessel set out its Colours, which made a very pleasant show. -By this time the People of Devonshire thereabout had discovered the -Fleet, the one telling the other thereof; they came flocking in droves to -the side or brow of the Hills to view us: Some guess’d we were -French, because they saw divers White Flags; but the Standard of the -Prince, the Motto of which was, For the Protestant Religion and Liberty, -soon undeceived them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Others more discreet said, that it was the Dutch Fleet so much talk’d -of in the Nation, and so long expected by most people. This Day was -very remarkable in England before, being the fifth of November, the -Bells were ringing as we were sailing towards the Bay, and as we landed, -which many judged to be a good Omen: before we came into the Bay’s -mouth, as we were near the Rocks, the People ran from Place to Place -after us; and we being so near as to see and discern the Habit of -the Country People, and they able to see us and hear our voices, a -certain Minister in the Fleet, on board the Ship called the Golden -Sun, went up to the top of the uppermost Cabin, where the Colours -hang out, a Place where he could easily behold all the people on the -Shore, and where they might most perfectly see him, and pulling a -Bible out of his Pocket, he opened it, and held it so in his right Hand, -making many flourishes with it unto the People, whose Eyes were fix’<sup>d</sup> -on him, and duly observ’d him, thereby signifying to the People the -flourishing of the Holy Gospel (by God’s Blessing upon the Prince of -Orange’s Endeavours), and calling out as loud as he was able, said -unto them on the top of the Rock: For the Protestant Religion, and -maintaining of the Gospel in the Truth and Purity thereof, are we all -by the Goodness and Providence of God come hither, after so many -storms and Tempests. Moreover, said he, it is the Prince of Orange -that’s come, a Zealous Defender of that Faith which is truly Ancient, -Catholic, and Apostolical, who is the Supream Governour of this very -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>great and fomidable Fleet. Whereupon all the People shouted for Joy, -and Huzzas did now echo into the Air, many amongst them throwing -up their Hats, and all making signs with their Hands. So after the -Minister had given them some Salutations, and they returned him the -same again, he came down from off the upper Deck, unto the vulgar one -among his Acquaintance, who spoke to him about the People on the -brow or side of the mountain.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The bells were evidently ringing for the 5th of -November, and I find that the bells of the parish church -of Brixham are still rung on that day, but I apprehend that -the custom has been continued in commemoration of the -landing of the Prince.</p> - -<p class='c001'>All who know Brixham, even in its present populous -condition, can corroborate the accuracy of Whittle’s description -of the coast, and recognize his felicitous expression -of the people on shore being “on the brow of the -mountain.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Whittle proceeds as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The Prince of Orange being come into the middle of the Bay, called -Torbay, attended with three or four Men of War only, that is to say, -one or two sailing before his Vessel, and one on each side the Ship -in which he was; and all the Merchant Ships, Pinks and Fly-boats -coming round him, as near as they durst for safety, the rest of the -Men of War being out in the Rear to secure all the little Pinks and -Fly-boats, and withal to prevent the English Fleet from disturbing us -in our Landing.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the upper end of Torbay there is a fair House, belonging to one -Mr. Carey, a very rigid Papist, who entertained a Priest in his House. -This Priest going to recreate himself on the Leads, on the top thereof, -it being a most delightsome day, as he was walking there he happened -to cast his Eyes towards the Sea, and espying the Fleet at a distance, -withal being purblind in his Eyes, as well as blinded by Satan in his -mind, he presently concludes that ’twas the French Navy (because he -saw divers White Flags) come to land the Sons of Belial, which should -cut off the Children of God, or as they call us, the Hereticks. And -being transported with joy, he hastened to inform his own Disciples of -the House, and forthwith they sung Te Deum. This was a second -grand Mistake, the third time will fall to our Lot to sing Te Deum for -our safe Landing (as the Prince had it done at Exeter Cathedral in the -Quire): And because false Reports were spread abroad, that the People -of this House had shot several of the Prince of Orange’s Souldiers, and -thereupon they had burnt down the House. I must inform the candid -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>Reader that there was nothing at all in it, for our People did not give -them one reviling word, nor they us; some lodged there while we were -at Torbay.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>He then proceeds with the following account of the -landing:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The major part of the fleet being come into the Bay, Boats were -ordered to carry the Prince on Shore, with his Guards; and passing -towards the Land, with sundry Lords, the Admiral of Rotterdam gave -divers Guns at his Landing; the Boat was held length-ways until he was -on shore: So after he had set his Fleet on Land, then came all the -Lords and Guards, some going before his Sacred Person, and some -coming after. There are sundry little Houses which belong unto Fishermen, -between the two Hills, at Torbay where we landed. The People -of these Houses came running out at their Doors to see this happy -Sight. So the Prince, with Mareschal Schomberg, and divers Lords, -Knights, and Gentlemen, marched up the Hill, which all the Fleet could -see over the Houses, the Colours flying and flourishing before his -Highness, the Trumpets sounding, the Hoit-boys played, the Drums beat, -and the Lords, Knights, Gentlemen, and Guards shouted; and sundry -Huzzas did now echo in the Fleet, from off the Hill, insomuch that our -very hearts below in the water were even ravished for joy thereof. On -this Hill you could see all the Fleet most perfectly, and the Men of War -sailing up and down the Seas, to clear them of all enemies; the Ships -in the Rear making all the sail and speed they could.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Navy was like a little City, the masts appearing like so many -Spires. The People were like Bees swarming all over the Bay; and now -all the Schievelingers are set to work to carry the Men and Horses -unto Shore with speed, for as yet they had done nothing. The Officers -and Souldiers crowded the Boats extreamly, many being ready to sink -under the Weight; happy was that Man which would get to Land -soonest: And such was the eagerness of both Officers and Souldiers, that -divers jeoparded their Lives for haste. Sundry Oars were broken in -rowing, because too many laid hands on them, some jump’d up to their -Knees in Water, and one or two were over Head and Ears. Extraordinary -pains was now taken by all sorts of Men to get their necessary -things to shore, every one minding his own concern. The Night was -now as the Day for Labour, and all this was done, lest the Enemy -should come before we were all in readiness to receive them. The -Country Harmony was, ringing of Bells for our arrival.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Officers and Souldiers were continually marching up the Hill -after the manner of the Guards, with their Colours flying and flourishing, -Hoit-boyes playing, Drums beating, and all shouting and echoing forth -Huzzas.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>Whittle does not give many particulars of the landing of -the Prince himself. Probably they did not land at the -same time. It is interesting as to this to refer to the -details given by Blewitt in the <cite>Panorama</cite>. His account is -as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The 4th of November it anchored safely in Torbay. This was the -anniversary of the Prince’s birth and marriage, and he therefore wished -to render it more memorable by landing on the British shore. The -preparations, however, could not be completed that night, but on the -following day, the Prince, attended by his principal officers, proceeded -to raise his standard on Brixham Quay. At this time Brixham contained -but few houses, and the good people, astonished at the appearance of -such an armament, are said to have stood in silent wonder on the beach. -At last William approached the shore and demanded whether he was -welcome, when after some further pause he was asked his business, -and his explanation considered satisfactory, he was, after a little more -parley, informed that he was welcome. “If I am, then,” said the -Prince, “come and carry me ashore,” and immediately a little man, one -of the party, plunged into the water and carried him triumphantly ashore -to the steps of the pier. On his landing the inhabitants are said to -have presented their illustrious visitor with the following address:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“And please your Majesty King William,</div> - <div class='line'>You’re welcome to Brixham Quay</div> - <div class='line'>To eat buckhorn and drink bohea,</div> - <div class='line'>Along with me,</div> - <div class='line'>And please your Majesty King William.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c020'>This story Mr. White very properly calls an absurd -one, as the Prince was not a King, and tea was a fabulous -price.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In a note to this account, said to have been communicated -by the Rev. H. F. Lyte, it is stated as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The subsequent history of the “little man” who carried the King -on shore is rather singular. Having a short ambling pony, which was -commonly used in fish-jolting, he rode bare-headed before the Prince to -Newton and afterwards to Exeter, and so pleased him by his zeal that -he told him to come to him to court, where he should be seated on the -throne, and he would make a great man of him. He also gave him a -line under his hand, which was to be his passport into the royal presence. -In due time accordingly the little man took his course to London, -promising his townsmen that he should come back among them a Lord -at least. When, however, he arrived there some sharpers, who learnt -his errand at the inn where he put up, made our poor little Brixhamite -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>gloriously drunk, and kept him in that state for several successive weeks. -During this time one of the party, having obtained the passport, went -to court with the little man’s tale in his mouth, and received a handsome -present from the King. Our adventurer, recovering himself shortly -afterwards, went to the Palace without his card of admission and was -repulsed as an impostor, and came back to Brixham never to hold up -his head again.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>I find that this story of the little fisherman carrying -the Prince on shore is still current at Brixham, the reason -given for it being that it was low tide at the time; the -ending of the story as given to me being that the “little -man” who journeyed to London to see the Prince, owing -to being in difficulties from having lost his horse, and -his boat being out of repair, did see the King, and -received a large sum of money, said to be £100, with which -he built a house in Brixham and lived “happily for ever -after.” His name was Varwell, and one story is that the -Prince, on being carried safely on shore, desired him to -ask a favour of him, upon which the fisherman desired that -no press-gang might be sent to Brixham. The actual spot -on which the Prince landed was where the fish market now -stands, and the stone on which the Prince first placed -his foot was long preserved there and pointed out with -pride and veneration. In 1828 William IV., then Duke of -Clarence, having come into Torbay, landed at the New -Quay at Brixham, and this stone was removed from the -fish market to this place to have the additional honour of -receiving the second Prince of that name who had dignified -Brixham by his presence; and while the Duke stood on -the stone the Rev. H. F. Lyte, on the part of the inhabitants, -presented him with a box of heart of oak eight -hundred years old, a portion of the timber of the old -Totnes bridge, lined with velvet, containing a small portion -of the stone, which the Duke in his reply promised to -preserve as a precious relic.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The stone itself was built into a small granite column -erected to commemorate the landing of the two Princes, -and was set up in the fish market; but in consequence of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>its inconvenient situation it was taken down and subsequently -erected on the Victoria Pier.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Blewitt remarks that the landing of the Prince on the -shoulders of the little fisherman was a very different kind -of landing to that which Northcote has assigned to -William in his celebrated picture. An old Dutch print, -at present in my possession, purporting to be a delineation -of the landing, represents on the land a large and imposing -castle, into which the troops as they land are triumphantly -marching, the Prince’s flag flying from the summit.</p> - -<p class='c001'>To return to Whittle’s narrative, we find him giving the -following account of the proceedings subsequent to the -landing:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>As soon as the Prince had viewed well the Ground upon the top of -the Hill, and found the most commodious place for all his Army to -encamp, he then gave Orders for everything, and so returned down the -Hill unto the Fishermen’s little Houses: One of which he made his -Palace at that time, instead of those at Loo, Honsterdyke, and the -Hague. The Horse Guards and some Foot were round about him at -other Houses, and a strong Guard but a little below the House wherein -his Highness was. All the Lords were quartered up and down at these -Fishermen’s Houses, whereof these poor Men were glad. Now the camp -began to be filled with Officers and Souldiers; for no Officer must move -from his Company or Post. The Foot Guards belonging to the Prince -of Orange did encamp within an enclosure of plowed Land, about which -there was a natural Fence, good Hedges and little Stone Walls, so that -no Horse could touch them; Count Solms being their Colonel or Commander. -Count Nassau’s Regiment encamp’d in another Craft or -Inclosure joyning to that of the Guards, having the like Fence about it -as before. The Regiment belonging unto Colonel Fagell encamp’d in -a Craft or Inclosure next to that of Count Nassau, and so all the -English, Dutch, French, and Scots encamp’d according to the aforesaid -manner. The Souldiers were marching into the Camp all hours in the -Night; and if any straggled from their Companies, it was no easy matter -to find them in the dark amongst so many thousands; so that continually -some or other were lost and enquiring after their Regiments.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was a cold, frosty night, and the stars twinkl’d exceedingly; besides, -the Ground was very wet after so much Rain and ill Weather; the -Souldiers were to stand to their Arms the whole Night, at least to be -all in a readiness if anything should happen, or the enemy make an -Assault; and therefore sundry Souldiers were to fetch some old Hedges -and cut down green Wood to burn therewith, to make some Fire. Now -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>one Regiment beginning all the rest soon followed their Example. Those -that had Provision in their Snap-sacks (as most of the Souldiers had) did -broil it at the Fire, and others went into the villages thereabouts to buy -some fresh Provisions for their Officers, being we were newly come from -Sea; but alas! here was little Provision to be gotten. There was a little -Ale house amongst the Fishermen’s Houses which was so extremely -throng<sup>d</sup> and crowded that a Man could not thrust in his Head, not get -Bread or Ale for Mony. It was a happy time for the Landlord, who -strutted about as if indeed he had been a Lord himself, because he was -honoured with Lords’ Company.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The little “ale-house” was probably the Buller’s Arms, -which is still in existence. Report says that the Prince -himself slept there, though this is doubtful, and that he -left behind him there, or where he slept, a ring, which fell -into the possession of the landlord, and was preserved with -great care by subsequent possessors, eventually coming -into the possession of one Mary Churchward, who died -somewhere about twenty years ago, from whom the ring -was stolen some years before her death by a thief who -entered her bedroom at night and carried it off owing to -the lady being in the habit of sleeping with her window -open. Persons now in Brixham remember the lady bitterly -lamenting the loss of the ring on account of its having -belonged to the Prince of Orange.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Whittle continues:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>On the morrow after we landed, when all the Souldiers were encamp’d, -the Prince with sundry Noblemen rode and viewed each Regiment, and -then return’d to Dinner at this little House. The number of his -Highness’s Regiments landed here at this Bay was about six and twenty, -the number of Officers about one thousand, the number of Field Officers -about seventy-eight. The number of all his Forces and Souldiers about -fifteen thousand four hundred and odd men. You might have seen several -hundred Fires all at once in this Encampment, which must needs signify -to the Country round about that we were landed. The Prince here was -pleased to accept of Peoples Good-Will for the Deed, because things were -not here to be bought for Mony, no Market-Town being near. Many -People from all the adjacent places came flocking to see the Prince of -Orange. The Horses were landed with all the speed that might be, and -truly were much out of order, and sorely bruised, not able to find their -Legs for some days: Everything that was of present use was posted -to shoar, but the Artillery, Magazine, and all sorts of Baggage and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>cumbersome things were left on Shipboard, and order’d to meet us at -Exeter.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Whittles reference to the fact that many people from -the adjacent places came flocking to see the Prince is confirmed -by other writers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Local tradition in my own family, handed down from -parent to child with no little pride, says that among those -who flocked to see the Prince from here were two -Windeatts, Samuel and Thomas—father and son, and a -lady whose great niece subsequently intermarried with the -Windeatts. At the time of the Prince’s landing, Samuel -Windeatt, a man about forty, and a strict Nonconformist, -was living in Bridgetown, where the family had been -settled for some years. Hearing the joyful news that the -Protestant Prince of Orange was in Torbay, he immediately -set off to “Broxholme” on horseback, taking his -little son Thomas, then about eight years old, in front -of him, to see the Deliverer of England and his troops. -They narrated the fact on their return that the country -people around brought quantities of apples and rolled them -down the hill to the soldiers; and the truth of this incident -was curiously confirmed some years since. A member of -my family having mentioned this to a gentleman who in -his early days farmed in this part of the country, he gave -me the following interesting account of the stories handed -down to him:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>There are few now left who can say as I can that they have heard -their father and their wife’s father talking together of the men who saw -the landing of William the Third at Torbay. I have heard Capt. -Clements say he as a boy heard as many as seven or eight old men each -giving the particulars of what he saw then. One said a ship load of -horses hauled up to the Quay and the horses walked out all harnessed, -and the quickness with which each man knew his horse and mounted it -surprised them. Another old man said, “I helped to get on shore the -horses that were thrown overboard and swam on shore, guided by only -a single rope running from the ship to the shore”; and another would -describe the difference in the rigging and build of the ships, but all -appeared to welcome them as friends.</p> - -<p class='c001'>My father remembered only one “Gaffer Will Webber,” of Staverton, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>who served his apprenticeship with one of his ancestors, and who lived to -a great age, say, that he went from Staverton as a boy, with his father, -who took a cart-load of apples from Staverton to the high-road from -Brixham to Exeter, that the soldiers might help themselves to them, -and to wish them “God-speed.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>I merely mention this to show how easily <em>tradition</em> can -be handed down, requiring only three or four individuals, -for two centuries.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lady I referred to as one of those who flocked to -see the Prince was a Miss Juliana Babbage, from a brother -of whom the late Charles Babbage, the famous mathematician, -was descended. She came, when a girl of twelve, -from Barbadoes, and was also a decided Nonconformist. -On the 5th November, 1688, she was attending the old -meeting-house in Totnes, at a thanksgiving service for the -discovery of the gunpowder plot, and while there was told -that the Prince of Orange was in Torbay landing his -troops. She also hailed the news with joy, and as soon -as service was over set off to walk to Brixham, accompanied -by an old lady of her acquaintance, and making -their way to the Prince, they boldly welcomed him to -England. He shook hands with them, and gave them -some of his proclamations to distribute, which they did so -industriously that not one was left in the family as a -memorial. A crimson velvet and gold purse, a pincushion, -and a gold chain, which she is said to have worn on the -occasion, as well as a curious gold locket with hair belonging -to her, are still in the possession of our family.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These stories come to me from a relative who has -attained an honoured old age, who, owing to the early -death of her mother, passed her childhood and girlhood in -an old family circle, and heard from the lips of those -elderly relatives tales of old times, which they had received -in like manner from their relatives. This lady says her -grandmother told her she well recollected her father joking -her mother as to what might have happened if the Prince -had not succeeded, saying, “Oh! mistress, your aunt might -have swung for it!”</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>The terror infused into the minds of the men of the -West by the bitter persecution which followed the unsuccessful -rising on behalf of the Duke of Monmouth, was -doubtless sufficient to deter the leading men from openly -espousing the Prince’s cause at this moment.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first gentleman of any position to do so, and this -he probably did at Brixham, as he lived in the neighbourhood, -was Mr. Nicholas Roope, who was appropriately -rewarded for his adhesion to the Prince by being appointed, -within a short time of the Prince reaching St. James’, -Governor of Dartmouth Castle, in the room of Sir Edward -Seymour the elder, who had then recently died.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In an interesting letter from the last Governor of -Dartmouth Castle (Governor Holdsworth) to Sir H. P. -Seale, Bart., dated May 1st, 1857, the warrant for his -appointment is set out in full. It runs in the name of -William Henry, Prince of Orange, and is dated 7th of -January, 1688–9, and this was followed, on the 18th July -of the same year (1689), by a regular commission, when -the Prince had become King of England.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The authority for the statement that Mr. Roope was -the first to join the King is contained in a letter from -Mr. Roope to the Earl of Nottingham in reply to one from -his Lordship containing a complaint against him. These -letters are set out in full in Governor Holdsworth’s letter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At Berry Pomeroy, some few miles distant from the -scene of the Prince’s landing, was then living Sir Edward -Seymour the younger, sometime Speaker of the House of -Commons, son of the Seymour who was Roope’s predecessor -in the Governorship of Dartmouth Castle, and -one of the most influential men of his time, whose birth, -says Macaulay, put him on a level with the noblest subjects -in Europe, and who, in political influence and in -Parliamentary abilities was beyond comparison the foremost -among the Tory gentlemen of England. He openly -joined the Prince at Exeter, and he it was who contributed -greatly to the success of the Prince’s cause by suggesting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>that an association should be founded, and that all the -English adherents of the Prince should put their hands -to an instrument binding them to be true to their leader -and to each other. He doubtless was well informed of -what was now going on at Brixham, and we can hardly -imagine him to have been a passive spectator of the great -enterprise. Tradition says that the Prince had a secret -interview with him at a house, now a cluster of labourers’ -cottages, still known as Parliament House, situate on the -confines of Berry parish on the road from Berry House to -Brixham, and that there he agreed to come out for the -Prince at Exeter, for which city he was member. Another -account gives the place of meeting at Marldon, at a spot -now called Parliament Hill. The present Duke of Somerset, -with whom I have communicated on this point, has -been good enough to inform me that he believes the -building called Parliament House to have been the place -where the country gentlemen assembled and agreed to -support the Prince, and that the latter probably had some -interview with Seymour at that time, as it was by his -inducement that the country gentlemen, when they met -at Exeter, signed their names to the paper I have been -referred to, promising to support the Prince, and that for -this probably the Prince appointed him Governor of Exeter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His Grace also informs me that the late Duke, who -had the family papers examined, said that all documents -relating to these transactions appeared to have been carefully -destroyed, and that this precaution was natural after -the recent failure of Monmouth’s landing in the West of -England, though it deprives us, as he says, of many incidents -that would now be very interesting.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is little information to be gained from the parish -records of Brixham on the subject of this paper, but from -them it appears that at least one poor nameless foreigner -was left behind at Brixham when the Prince’s army began -its march to Exeter, and probably succumbed to the effects -of the voyage, which, from Whittle’s narrative, appears to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>have been fatal to five hundred horses; for in the Register -of Burials for the parish for the year 1688 there appears -the following entry:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Nov. 21, a fforeigner belonging to the Prenz of Oringe.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>In another book, containing an account of those buried -in woollen, in accordance with the law passed to encourage -that trade, the entry is as follows:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>November 21, a Dutchman <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">cujus nomen ignotum.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>There is a steep lane leading from the outer harbour -up the hill to where the station now stands, which the -present vicar of Brixham considers derives its name, -Overgang, apparently a Dutch word, from “Obergang,” or -Gang-ober or “over,” and that it arose from the fact of -troops after the landing being repeatedly ordered to gang -over this hill. This may be so; but as I find that the -word “gang,” meaning to go or to walk, was in use in -England in the time of Spenser, it is not improbable that -this lane gained its name before the advent of the Prince -of Orange.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Prince’s army marched from Brixham on its way -to Newton on the 6th or 7th November, passing along the -narrow lanes of Churston, Paignton, Cockington, and -Kingskerswell, taking apparently a part of two days on -the march, the roads being so bad as to make locomotion -slow and tedious.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Report says that at a place called Collins’ Grave, near -the higher lodge at Churston, where there is high ground -overlooking the river, the army encamped one night; also -that the Prince himself stayed at a house in Paignton, now -the Crown and Anchor Inn. A room there is still shown -as the “Prince’s room.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In a Protestant sense it is interesting that William -landed within sight of the Bible Tower at Paignton, -where Coverdale, the translator of the Bible, undoubtedly -dwelt, and where he is said to have been probably engaged -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>on his translation; and doubtless this tradition was not -lost sight of by those about the Prince on his sleeping -at the “Crown and Anchor,” just outside the palace wall.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The following is Whittle’s graphic account of the -march to Newton:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Upon Wednesday about Noon, Order was given to march towards -Exeter, and so every Souldier was commanded by their Officers to carry -something or other besides his own Arms and Snap-sack, and this made -many murmur exceedingly. Sundry scores of Horses were thrown overboard -which died at Sea, so that by just Computation the Prince lost -about six hundred Horses at least by the Storm. As we marched here -upon good ground, the Souldiers would stumble and sometimes fall, -because of a dissiness in their Heads after they had been so long toss’d -at Sea, the very ground seem’d to rowl up and down for some days, -according to the manner of the Waves: Therefore, it is the Lords Goodness -that our Foes did not come upon us in this juncture and unfit -Condition. The whole Army marched all the same way, in a manner -which made very ill for the Rear Regiments, and cast them much behind. -Many Country People which met us did not know what to say or think, -being afraid that we should be served as the D. of Monmouth’s handful -of Men were. Notwithstanding, some were so courageous as to speak -out and say, truly their Hearts were for us, and went along with us, and -pray’d for the Prince of Orange; but they said the Irish would come and -cut them in pieces if it should be known. Some Souldiers asked them -if they would go with them against the Popists? and many answered they -were enough themselves, and wanted no more. His Highness, with -Mareschal Scomberg, Count Sohms, Count Nassau, Heer Benting, Heer -Zulustein, Earl of Shrewsbury, Earl of Macclesfield, Viscount Mordaunt, -Lord Wiltshire, and divers other Knights and Gentlemen, came in the -Rear of the middle Line; for as soon as we could conveniently, we were -to march in three Lines, and the Prince was commonly or always in -the middlemost Line, which was the meetest place. So he went unto a -certain Gentleman’s House, about two miles off, where the last Line -encamp’d the Second Night, and lodged there, his own Guards being with -him. The first day we marched some hours after Night in the Dark and -Rain; the lanes hereabout were very narrow, and not used to Wagons, -Carts or Coaches, and therefore extreme rough and stony, which hindered -us very much from making any speed. Divers of the Dutchmen being -unaccustomed to such bad ways and hard marching in the Dirt, wished -themselves back again in their own Country, and murmured because of -the Dark and Rain. At length we came to the Corn-stubble Inclosures -on the side of a Hill, where we encamp’d that Night. It was a red clay, -and it rain’d very hard the greatest part of the Night; the Winds being -high and stormy. Nevertheless, the poor Souldiers being much wearied -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>with the Tent-Polls, Spare Arms, and other Utensils for War, which they -had carried all Day and some hours after Night, as well as with the -badness of the March, lay down to take their Repose; and verily the -water run over and under some of their legs the major part of the Night, -and their Heads, Backs and Arms sunck deep into the Clay, being so -very wet and soft, notwithstanding they slept all Night very sweetly, in -their Pee or Campagne Coats. The Souldiers here fetch’d some old -Hedges and Gates to make their Officers and themselves some Fire (as -they had done the night before), else some would have perished in the -Cold, being all over in a Froth with Sweat in marching. And the old -Hedges and Gates not being enough, they fetch’d away the new ones, -for the Weather was not only raw and cold but we ourselves were so too, -having nothing to eat or drink after so bad a day’s journey. The -Souldiers had some good Holland’s Beef in their Snap-sacks, which they -brought, and their Officers were very glad to get part with them, so they -broil’d it at the Fire; some had bought Chickens by the way, but raw, -which they broil’d and eat as a most delicate Dish. Sundry Captains -offer’d any Mony for a Guide to bring them to a House thereabout, -where they might have some provision for their money, but no Guide -could be found; it was exceeding dark, and being all Strangers and -unacquainted with the Country, we could not tell where to find one -House, for those few that were scattering here and there were either in -some little grove of Trees, and so hid from our Eyes, or else in a bottom -amongst the Hills, and so could not be seen. These Quarters did not -content our Minds, for tho’ we got as near to the Hedges as we could -possible with our Fires, yet we could not be warm. Many of the Souldiers -slept with their feet in the Ditch, and their Heads on the side thereof. -We thought this Night almost as long as that in the Storm at Sea; and -judged it to be the dawn of Day some hours before it was. The -Morning appearing rejoiced our very Hearts, for we thought now we -should march presently; and we were sure of this, that worse Quarters -we could never meet with, but much better we hoped to find. A private -souldier, therefore, going in the next Croft for to seek a convenient place, -he found it to be an Inclosure with Turnips, so bringing his Burden away -with him, he came to the Fire and gave those there some, telling his -Comrades of the Place, who soon hastened thereto, and brought enow -with them: Some roasted them and others eat them raw, and made a -brave Banquet. The Souldiers were busy in discharging their Musquets, -after the Wet and Rain, for they durst not trust to that Charge; and -about 11 of the Clock the Army received Orders to march.</p> - -<p class='c020'>The Prince of Orange with the Lords and Gentlemen, rode from this -place unto Sir William Courtenay’s, within a mile of Newton Abbot, -the first Line being about Newton, and the last on their march thither. -The Place where we encamped was trodden to Dirt, and stuck to our -Shoes wretchedly. Now the Regiments marched sundry Roads, of which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>we were right glad, hoping to meet with better Quarters than the Marl -and Clay Crofts. The People came in flocks unto the Cross-ways to see -the Army, but especially the Prince. We met with much civility on the -Road; now they began to give us Applause, and pray for our Success; -sundry Persons enquired for the Declaration of his Highness.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Arrived near Newton, the Prince, as Whittle says, went -to Ford House, within a short distance of the town, the -residence of Sir William Courtenay, who endeavoured -cautiously to abstain from doing anything to compromise -himself with the King, should the latter prevail, and so -managed not to be at home on the Prince’s arrival, but -left directions that he should be hospitably lodged and -feasted. Here he probably stayed two nights to enable -the whole of the troops to come up and be in order for -the march to Exeter, to which place Dr. Burnet and Lord -Mordaunt with four troops of horse were sent on in -advance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The room at Ford House in which the Prince slept is -still pointed out; it is called the “Orange room,” and is -papered and upholstered in orange.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Mr. Blewitt, in the <cite>Panorama of Torquay</cite>, says:—“It -is <em>said</em> that his first proclamation was read from the -base of the ancient cross at Newton by the Rev. John -Reynell, the minister of Wolborough”; and Mr. White, in -his valuable <cite>History of Torquay</cite>, published in 1878, -repeats this statement as a fact. The stone pedestal on -which formerly stood the ancient cross, still remains near -the tower at Newton, in the parish of Wolborough, and is -now surmounted by a public lamp. On this pedestal is -the following inscription:—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The first declaration of</span></div> - <div><span class='fss'><span class='large'>WILLIAM III., PRINCE OF ORANGE,</span></span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>The glorious defender of the</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Liberties of England,</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Was read on this pedestal by</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>The Rev. John Reynell,</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>Rector of this Parish,</span></div> - <div><span class='sc'>5th November,</span></div> - <div><span class='fss'>1688.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>That the Prince’s declaration was read from the old -cross there can be little doubt, but that the inscription -cannot be looked upon as much of an authority is clear -from the statement that the declaration was read on the -5th; for the Prince’s army did not commence to land at -Brixham until that day, and could not have possibly -reached Newton until the 7th; and that it is erroneous also -in stating that it was read by Reynell is evident from the -following very interesting paragraph from Whittle’s -Diary:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Now being on their march to Newton Abbot, a certain Divine went -before the Army; and finding that ’twas their Market-day, he went -unto the Cross, or Town Hall; where, pulling out the Declaration of the -Prince of Orange, with undaunted Resolution, he began, with a loud and -audible voice, to read as follows: William Henry, by the Grace of God, -Prince of Orange, &c., of the Reasons inducing him to appear in Arms in -the Kingdom of England, for preserving of the Protestant Religion, and -restoring the Laws and Liberties of England, Scotland, and Ireland, &c.</p> - -<p class='c001'>When the people heard the Prince of Orange’s name mentioned, they -immediately crowded about him in a prodigious manner to hear him, -insomuch that some jeoparded their lives.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Declaration being ended, he said, God bless and preserve the -Prince of Orange: To which the People, with one Heart and Voice, -answered Amen, Amen; and forthwith shouted for Joy, and made the -Town ring with their echoing Huzzas. The Minister, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>nolens volens</i></span>, was -carried into a Chamber near the Place: the Windows were shut, the doors -lock’d and bolted, to prevent the crowd from rushing in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The People of the House, and others very kindly asked him: Sir, What -will you be pleased to eat? or, What shall we provide for you? Name -what you love best, it shall be had. The Minister answered, What you -please, give me what you will. So they brought forth such as was ready; -and having eaten and drunk well, they desired him to spare them but one -Declaration. Yes, says he, for I have enow in my Pocket, and pulling -them out, he gave Three, because they were of distinct Parishes. He -told the People, he would go and visit their Minister, and cause their -Bells to ring, because the Prince of Orange was come into the Parish, -at Sir Will Courtney’s, tho’ not into the Town; and (says he) this being -the first Market-Town, I cannot but think it much the more proper and -expedient. Whereupon he went to the Minister’s House, and enquiring -for him he was courteously invited in, and desired to sit down: The -Reverend Minister of the Parish coming presently to him, they saluted -each other; and after some communications passed between them, this -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>Divine from the Army, desired the Keys of his Church Doors, for to -welcome the Prince of Orange into England with a Peal (that being the -first Market-Town they came to). The Minister answered; Sir, for my -own part, I am ready to serve his Highness any way, but of my own -accord cannot give the Keys; but you know you may command them, -or anything else in my House in the Name of the Prince of Orange, and -then I will readily grant it. So the Divine said: Sir, I demand your -Keys of the Church Door only for an hour to give his Highness a Peal, -and then I will return them safely unto you.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Minister presently directed him to the Clerk’s house, and desired -him to come and take a Glass of Wine with him after the Peal was -ended, (but the Ringers coming together, they rung sundry Peals) and -he returned the Keys to the Minister.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The People of the Town were exceeding Joyful, and began to drink -the Prince of Orange’s Health. The Country People in the Town were -well inclined towards us; and here was the first favour we met with worth -mentioning. His Highness was most kindly receiv’d and entertain’d at -Sir Will Courtney’s, the Souldiers generally well treated by the Vulgar.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Oldmixon, in his <cite>History of the Reign of the Stuarts</cite>, -simply says that “the first place the Prince of Orange’s -Declaration was publicly read was Newton Abbot, a -market town near Exeter, and the first man who read it -was <em>a</em> clergyman.” No doubt the fact that it was read -by a clergyman gradually changed into the statement that -it was read by <em>the</em> clergyman of the parish, and so Reynell -became credited with a bold act, which, from Whittle’s -account, he was far too cautious a man to commit, however -favourable he may have been to the Prince’s cause. -The lettering of the <a id='corr174.29'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='inscripton'>inscription</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_174.29'><ins class='correction' title='inscripton'>inscription</ins></a></span> is evidently modern, and -the Rev. H. Tudor, the present Rector of Wolborough, -informs me that a man, now dead, told him he was -employed to cut or re-cut it, and was never paid for -doing so.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The question remains, and it is an interesting one, who -was the divine who first proclaimed the Prince by reading -the Declaration? I was first inclined to believe, from -the detailed manner in which the story was told, that it -was Whittle himself. It is not improbable, however, that -it was the renowned Dr. Burnet, afterwards Bishop Burnet. -He was the Prince’s own chaplain, and doubtless the head -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>and chief of the clergy who accompanied the Prince, and -from his undaunted spirit, and the leading part he took -in the Cathedral at Exeter, he was undoubtedly the divine -most likely to have performed this act. One gentleman -with whom I have been in communication on the point, -and whose opinion always carries weight, says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Burnet was such a busybody, that I feel certain if anything was to -be done by a clergyman he would have put himself forward to do it.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>No information is to be gleaned from the parish -registers or the books I have inspected relative to what -occurred at Newton during the time of the Prince’s visit, -but I have been favoured with the following interesting -story from a lady now residing at Newton, of the -advanced age of ninety-six, told her by her father, who -heard it from his grandmother, who was a Miss Joan -Bearne, the daughter of Mr. Bearne, a lawyer of Newton -Abbot; viz., that when a girl of sixteen, there was a -stranger staying at her father’s house for about three -weeks, who was only known as “the gentleman,” and who -was out during the day, and only returned in the evening; -that on the entry of William of Orange into Newton from -Ford House, her father took her out to see him, and that -walking by the side of the Prince was the strange gentleman, -who, on passing where Mr. Bearne was standing, -pointed him out as “his host for three weeks” to the -Prince, who at once lifted his hat to him.</p> - -<div class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/leaf.jpg' alt='leaf' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>[This paper having been written in 1880, sundry allusions must -be interpreted in the light of that circumstance.—<span class='sc'>The Editor.</span>]</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span> - <h2 class='c008'>REYNOLDS’ BIRTHPLACE.<br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By James Hine, F.R.I.B.A.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_a.jpg' width='35' height='36' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -Any interest attaching to Plympton belongs to -the olden time. Of many other places it -may be said that the new has entirely -supplanted the old. Modern business -requirements, new warehouses, and thoroughfares, have -had the effect of stamping out all vestiges of the past, -and even the traditions of them. An unpretending -Railway Station and a dozen or more new houses have -not had this effect at Plympton. The town has no -novelties to shew us; the lions are just what they were -two hundred years ago.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Plympton in the olden time had its castle and its -priory, its two churches, and later its Guildhall and -Grammar School. Not quite in the olden time, but only -just on the verge of our prosaic modern time, Plympton -gave to the world England’s greatest painter—a circumstance -which (though forgotten by the native, who on -being asked by a tourist where Sir Joshua Reynolds was -born, replied he “never heeard of sich”) should indeed -make this honoured little town almost as famous as -Stratford-on-Avon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the Doomsday Book, Plympton is designated <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Terra -Regis,”</span> so also are Tavistock, Ashburton, and Tiverton, -“all which places were then the King’s demesne towns,” -but not boroughs.</p> - -<div class='column-container capwidth80'> - -<div id='i176' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_176fpt.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From an Engraving</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>by J. E. Wood.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The Cloisters, Plympton Grammar School.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id005'> -<img src='images/i_176fpb.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From an Engraving</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>By J. E. Wood.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Norman Doorway, Plympton Priory.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>A date anterior to the Norman Conquest has been -ascribed to the castle, on the ground of its similarity to -Trematon, Launceston, and Restormel castles, which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>Borlase and Grose assert to have been built before the -year 900. The antiquaries, however, of the eighteenth -century are often extremely inaccurate in their classification -both of military and ecclesiastical structures. St. German’s -Church, the ancient cathedral of Cornwall, is designated -Saxon by them, whereas its features, as any tyro will now -see, are undoubted Norman; in fact, there are no remains -of Saxon architecture in Cornwall, and it would be -surprising if there were, seeing that the Saxons never had -any permanent hold on this part of Britain; for, though -Egbert is said to have reduced the Cornish Britons to -“nominal subjection” about the year 810, we find that -Athelstan as late as 936 was in conflict with the British -forces, and drove them across the Tamar, and not until that -year had Exeter been subjected to his government.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Restormel Castle is undoubtedly of Norman construction, -and it is probable that the most ancient portions -of Launceston Castle are nearly two centuries later than -the date ascribed by Borlase.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Although, therefore, from the naturally strong position -of all these castles, it is probable that the Britons occupied -these positions for defence, no visible remains can be -considered as anterior to the Norman Conquest. In the -absence of any architectural details at Plympton Castle—the -masonry in the walls being somewhat analogous to -the British masonry found in different parts of Cornwall—there -may be more room for doubt and conjecture here -than in respect to the other castles; yet the rudeness -of the masonry may be accounted for by supposing that -only the vassal inhabitants of the neighbourhood were -employed in the works, under Norman architects and -overseers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The vestiges of Norman rule are clearly traceable in -the county and borders of Devon. The same independent -character which Exeter maintained against the Saxon -authority, that city endeavoured to assert against the -Conqueror; and the obedience of the western capital -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>required to be insured by a number of castles, of a date -not long subsequent to the Conquest. The castles of -Barnstaple, Exeter, Totnes, Plympton, and Trematon -guarded the rivers which gave access to the interior of -the county; and the fortresses of Okehampton, Launceston, -Lydford, Berry, and Tiverton, the inland passes. -Of the castles enumerated here, Berry at least has been -entirely rebuilt at a later period.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Plympton Castle was the chief residence of the Earls -of Devon and Lords of Plympton. King Henry, the -youngest son of the Conqueror, in the first year of his -reign, granted the Lordship to Richard de Redvers or -Rivers and his posterity, to enjoy also the title and possessions -belonging to the Devonshire Earldom. The said -Richard was one of William the Conqueror’s generals in -the battle of Hastings, and obtained the barony of Okehampton -from William Rufus. He was one of the chief -councillors of Henry the First, and was so highly -esteemed by him that he was created first Earl of Devon -since the Conquest. The castle stood on the north side -of the town, occupying a space of about two acres, -extending 700 feet from east to west, including the ditch, -and 400 feet from north to south. Leland says of this -structure, in his Itinerary, “On the side of the town is -a fair large castelle and dungeon in it, whereof the walls -yet stand, though the lodgings be clean decayed.” At -present there only remains a portion of the circular keep -or tower, fifty feet in diameter, on a mound about -sixty feet high. The ruined walls average fourteen -feet in height and are nine feet thick, grouted with -mortar or concrete as hard as the stones themselves. -Around the keep in the thickness of the -wall is a plastered flue, fifteen inches by ten inches, -the purpose of which is not obvious. It has been suggested -that it was designed for the conveyance of sound. -It seems more probable that it was for ventilation. There -is a similar flue at Rochester Castle. The habitable -<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>portions of Plympton Castle must have been of considerable -extent. These, including the state apartments, -and lodgings (as Leland calls them) for the military and -retainers, were within the outer castle walls, and built -around a spacious basse-court. The ballium wall—embattled -and flanked with towers—was raised on a -platform about 30 feet above the fosse or ditch, in the -position now indicated by a modern path, and by a belt -of trees planted about a hundred years ago. The basse-court -has long been a quiet village green, and the site -of the ballium wall, where stern warriors peered over -frowning battlements, is now a “lovers’ walk.” Such -are the tendencies of modern civilization. Surrounding -the castle wall was a deep moat about 40 feet wide, still -to be traced, except on the eastern side, where it has -been filled up. In Leland’s time it was full of water, -and stored with carp. There are no remains whatever -of the great gateway of the castle (with its drawbridge -and portcullis), which, as shewn by the seal of the Lords -of Plympton, was on the north side. There were probably -towers at the different angles.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the time of Baldwin de Rivers, second Earl of -Devon and Lord of Plympton, the castle was the scene -of events which strikingly illustrate the then unsettled -state of the country, and the insubordination of even -the most privileged class. Baldwin de Rivers was considered -one of the richest and bravest men of the age; -but having with some other nobles rebelled against King -Stephen, on account, it is said, of the king refusing to -confer certain honours on them, he fortified himself in -his castle at Exeter, where he was besieged by the -monarch; and it appears that certain knights, to whom -he had entrusted his castle of Plympton, being apprehensive -of the Earl’s danger, or alarmed about their own -safety, treated for the surrender of Plympton; and the -king sent two hundred men with a large body of archers -from Exeter to Plympton, who unexpectedly appeared -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>under the walls of the castle about daybreak, and, -according to the chronicler, the fortress was then almost -entirely destroyed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lands of the Earl, which extended far and wide -round Plympton Castle, and said to have been abundantly -stocked and well cultivated, were harried by the -king’s troops, who drove off to Exeter many thousands -of sheep and oxen.<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c021'><sup>[6]</sup></a> Baldwin was then dispossessed of -all his honours, and banished the kingdom; but afterwards -siding with the Empress Matilda, in the civil wars -which ensued, he was restored to all his honours and -possessions by Henry II. He died <span class='fss'>A.D.</span> 1155, and was -succeeded by his son, Richard de Redvers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Baldwin, the eighth Earl, was the last of the male -Redvers or Rivers who held the barony of Plympton. -His death, by poison, occurred in France in 1262, and -the inheritance of the Earls of Devon and Lords of -Plympton descended to Isabella de Redvers, the wife -of the Earl of Albemarle, who styled herself Countess -of Devon. Their only issue was a daughter, Aveline, -who married the Earl of Lancaster, and she dying in -1293, without issue, Hugh Lord Courtenay, next heir to -Isabella, Countess of Devon, and lineally descended from -John Courtenay, Lord of Okehampton, who married the -daughter of Sir William de Redvers, became ninth Earl.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The possession by the Courtenays during succeeding -centuries of the Earldom of Devon and the Barony of -Plympton, was marked by many interesting and even -tragical incidents, but these have no very immediate -connection with the subject of this paper.<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c021'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>The barony of Plympton was subdivided in the reign -of Queen Mary. In the beginning of the eighteenth -century it was in the hands of three families. It is now -invested in the Earl of Morley.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The castle (probably rebuilt after its partial demolition -in the time of Baldwin de Rivers, second Earl) does -not appear to have been much molested between the -reigns of Stephen and Charles I.; at least, we have no -record of any memorable event during that long interval.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the beginning of the Civil War, Plympton was -the headquarters of the force which the Royalists then -had in the county. It was one of the principal quarters -of Prince Maurice’s army whilst besieging Plymouth, -from October, 1642, to January, 1643. The King had a -garrison here, which, however, was taken by the Earl -of Essex, in the month of July, 1644. The castle at this -period was mounted with eight pieces of ordnance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The fertile valley of the Plym was often a tempting -field for plunder to the Plymouth parliamentary troops, -as it had been to the archers of King Stephen five -centuries before. Its rich pasturage and produce induced -a fraternity of pious monks at a very early period to -settle here; which brings me to speak of the once -famous priory of Plympton, the richest and most flourishing -in Devon.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first monastery or college existing here is said -to have been founded by one of the Saxon kings, possibly -Ethelwolf, who had a palace, so tradition informs us, -at Yealmpton, about four miles distant. This establishment, -however, early came to grief. Leland says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The glory of this towne (Plymptoun Marie) stoode by the priorie of -blake chanons, there buildid and richely endowid with landes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The original beginning of this priorie was after this fascion: one -William Warwist, bisshop of Excester, displeased with the chanons or -prebendaries of a fre chapelle of the fundation of the Saxon kinges, -because they wold not leve theyr concubines, found meanes to dissolve -their college, wherein was a deane or provost, and four prebendaries, -with other ministers.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>The prebende of Plympton self was the title of one, and the prebend of -S. Peter and Paule at Sultown, now caullid Plymmouth, another. Bisshop -Warwist, to recompence the prebendaries of Plympton, erectid a college -of as many as wer ther at Bosenham in Southsax, and annexid the gift -of them to his successors, bisshops of Excester. Then he set up at -Plympton a priorie of canons regular, and after was ther buried in the -chapitre house.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Diverse noble men gave after landes to this priorie, emong whom was -Walterus de Valletorta, lord of Tremerton, in Cornewal, and, as sum -say, of Totnes, who gave onto Plymtown priorie the isle of S. Nicholas -cum cuniculis, conteyning a two acres of ground, or more, and lying at -the mouthes of Tamar and Plym ryvers.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There were buryed sum of Courteneis and diverse other gentilmen in -the chirch of the priorie of Plymtoun.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The second establishment, then—dedicated to the -Virgin Mary and SS. Peter and Paul—of the Order of -St. Augustine, was founded in 1121 by William Warelwast, -Bishop of Exeter, the nephew and chaplain of -William the Conqueror. He was one of the most gifted -and energetic ecclesiastics of his day, and to him we -are indebted for the earliest existing portions of Exeter -Cathedral, including the two noble Norman towers. He -seems to have set his heart on making Plympton priory -the richest and most important in this part of the kingdom, -and conveyed to it very large properties in Exeter. -Many noblemen followed his example.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The rental of the priory shows that certain lands and -rents were attached to the several conventual offices of -almoner, precentor, cellarer, and chaplain of the infirmary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Some idea of the wealth of the monastery may be -gathered from the fact that at the dissolution it was -rated at £912 12<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> per annum, whereas the whole -annual revenue of the 173 Augustine priories in the -kingdom amounted to £33,027, the average being about -one-fourth that of Plympton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The founder, Bishop Warelwast, was buried here (as -Leland says) in the chapter house of the priory, as were -also the remains of his nephew, the fifth Bishop of -Exeter. “Whoever is acquainted,” says Dr. Oliver, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>“with the deeds and writings of subsequent bishops, the -immediate patrons of Plympton Priory, must have -observed how closely they imitated the zeal of the -founder in watching and guarding its interests and promoting -its welfare.” Amongst other privileges, the -prior and convent possessed the right of appointing the -rural dean of Plympton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The venerable building had been destroyed before -Leland’s time, as is evident from his saying “the chirch -that there a late stood,” meaning, of course, the priory -church.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“At present,” says Dr. Oliver, “scarcely a vestige -remains of any of the conventual buildings”; but in -this respect, as we shall hereafter see, he is not quite -correct.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Within one hundred and fifty years after the erection -of the priory church, another sacred edifice was required -for the growing population around; and Bishop Stapeldon, -on Friday, October 29th, 1311, consecrated one in honour -of the Virgin Mary, for the use of the parishioners. The -present chancel and north aisle of Plympton St. Mary -Church are portions of the church then dedicated, the -great body of the church, as we now see it, having been -re-built in a later age and style. It was situate <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“<i>infra -cemeterium prioratus</i>”</span>; <a id='corr183.25'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='“and,'>and,</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_183.25'><ins class='correction' title='“and,'>and,</ins></a></span> as a mark of subjection, -the parishioners were required to assist at divine service -in the conventual church on the feast of its dedication, -and to receive the blest palms there on Palm Sunday, -and walk in the solemn procession of that day. This -obligation was sanctioned by Archbishop Courtenay, when -he made a visitation of the diocese of Exeter in 1387, -and confirmed by Pope Boniface IX. For some neglect -of this ancient custom Bishop Lacy expressed his high -displeasure, and enjoined its strict observance in the -future.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In Plympton St. Mary parish there were several -chapels, subject to the priory—one at Newnham, another -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>at Hemerdon, and a chapel attached to a lazar-house, of -which there are now no remains. Sutton or South-town, -now part of Plymouth, belonged to the priory of -Plympton. “In the priors’ court there the portreve of -the commonality was elected and sworne into office by -his steward, and the markets, the instruments of punishment, -and the assize of provisions belonged to him.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Those were not exactly the “furzy down” days of -Plymouth; but it was quite an insignificant place at that -time, compared with its more wealthy neighbour, Plympton. -Its great market, in fact, was Plympton. As Plymouth -grew into more importance, as a naval as well as fishing -station, and as the inhabitants became more influential, -they naturally became anxious to obtain independence -and the right of self-government, with municipal privileges. -Accordingly, the inhabitants petitioned the king and -parliament to be incorporated as early as 1412, and -the answer to the petition was, “Let the petitioners -compound with the lords having franchises before -the next parliament, and report to them of their -having made an agreement.” As a matter of course, -the prior and convent at first opposed their views, -but when the inhabitants succeeded, in 1439, in -obtaining the royal licence and an Act of Parliament, -which constituted them a corporation, under the title of -the Mayor and Commonalty of the Borough of Plymouth, -it was time for the prior and convent to come to terms -with the reformers; and animated with an excellent -feeling, they addressed a petition to Bishop Lacy, representing -that it would be desirable to convey to this -municipal body certain lands, tenements, franchises, fairs, -markets, mills, and services, which they had possessed -therein from time immemorial, and praying his consent -to dispose of them. In January, 1440, as bishop and -patron, he directed a commission to the archdeacon of -Totnes to hold an inquisition, and to report to him the -verdict of the jury. Accordingly, a public inquisition was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>held in the nave of the priory church of Plympton, on -the 7th of January, the gates of the monastery, and the -doors of the church, being thrown wide open for all -comers to enter. That was a memorable day for the -young town; and no doubt many Plymouthians flocked -to the priory, anxious to know the award. The jury -being sworn, found that the premises of the priory, within -Sutton-Prior, had in part been burnt by a hostile descent -from Brittany; that the yearly rental of the lands and -tenements there was £8; of the courts, fairs, and markets, -60<i>s.</i>; and the clear profit from the mills something more -than £10 yearly; that the offer by the mayor and -corporation of the yearly fixed pension of £41 for the -premises aforesaid was deemed by the prior and convent -a satisfactory compensation, and that they were willing -to accept the same; and the jury concurred in recommending -such alienation and sale on such terms.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The parish church of St. Andrew, in Plymouth, -continued an appendage to the priory nearly until the -dissolution of the house. Its perpetual vicar, William de -Wolley, became a professed religious at Plympton; and -on resigning this benefice, the prior and convent granted, -November 23rd, 1334, to Bishop Grandisson, the nomination -of an incumbent, saving, however, their yearly -pension of sixty marks. The bishop nominated Nicholas -de Weyland, a canon of Plympton, December 23rd.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The chapel of St. Katherine on the How also belonged -to the priory; but the following list of chapels appendant -to this house will give some idea of the immense -patronage which it enjoyed:—SS. Mary and Thomas, -Plympton, Brixton, Wembury, Plymstock, Saundford-Spiney, -Egg Buckland, Lanhorn (or Lanherne), Tamerton, -Maristowe, Thrushelton, Uggeburgh, Exminster, Islington, -Newton, Stoke-in-Teignhead, Blackhauton, Bratton, -Meavy, St. Just, Petertavy, etc.; and the tithes of these -places were appropriated to the priory for the promotion -of hospitality and charity.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>Two subordinate priories or cells depended on -Plympton priory—St. Mary de Marisco, commonly called -Marsh Barton, in Alphington parish, and the cell of -St. Anthony in the deanery of Powder, in Cornwall.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Most of the churches appendant to the Plympton -priory have the parvise over the south porch, as at both -the Plympton churches and at Ugborough. Here were -probably deposited books written by the monks in their -hours of study—missals with rich borders, as well as -writings of a more secular character; and possibly the -preaching monks tarried in these chambers between the -hours of divine service.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Dr. Oliver gives the names of thirty Priors of Plympton, -from Ralph, the first prior, to John How, the last, who -subscribed to the King’s supremacy in 1534. During the -administration of some of the priors, the hospitality of -the establishment seems to have been unbounded. In -consequence of the great confluence of the nobility and -their retinues to the priory, the house became overcharged -with debt, and Bishop Oldham, after his first visitation -of the house, in 1505, authorized the prior, David Bercle,<a id='r8' /><a href='#f8' class='c021'><sup>[8]</sup></a> -to retire to a distant cell until a new system of economy -could be arranged.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The refectory was by no means an unimportant -portion of the priory. It and the cellar under (which -was in charge of a much-envied functionary, known as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>the cellarer) are the only considerable remains existing -of the once extensive monastic buildings at Plympton. -Here the monks, according to the seasons, had their one -meal or two meals a day; the usual allowance being -“one white loaf, another loaf called Trequarter, a dish -called General, another dish of flesh or fish called Pitance, -three potells of beer daily, or three silver halfpence” for -the teetotalers. This is said to have been the ordinary -bill of fare, but it was, no doubt, amplified to any extent -when the lords and squires were entertained by the prior, -and especially when, as in 1348, Edward the Black Prince -dined at his hospitable table.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But the time was coming when there would be “no -more cakes and ale”—when the prior and brethren would -leave the monastery gates, never again to re-enter them; -when, with their “occupation gone” (like the stage -coachmen and guards of the nineteenth century), they -would be lost in the crowd of a bustling world, and never -seen or heard of more. There was a dark side to the -picture which England then presented; and perhaps the -saddest sight was when, on the morrow after the dissolution, -the mendicant knocked at the almonry door, -knowing no change, and least of all in charity, and for -the first time found no bread or alms for him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The priory remains, though little known, are of -considerable interest. Besides the Norman cellar, and -the Early English refectory over, there are some scattered -remains of the chapel and cloisters. The cellar is -sixty-one feet six inches by fourteen feet within, stone-arched, -and lighted on the south side by four small -semi-circular-headed windows. The masonry is of great -thickness; and on the north side and east end, in the -width of the wall, is a passage two feet six inches wide, -which probably was nothing more than a dry area, though -the common notion is that it is the commencement of -a subterranean way (now blocked up) leading to the -castle, about a quarter of a mile distant. The original -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>entrance to the cellar was by a fine Norman doorway on -the south side. It was only after diligent search that -I found it, encased with many coats of plaster. There -are engaged shafts on each side, and the chevron ornament -is carried round the jambs as well as the arch, -which latter is formed of alternate voussoirs of grey and -green stone.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Above the cellar is the almost perfect outline of the -refectory, with its original fire-place, windows, and roof, -all of an Early English character. The kitchen, a -detached building of the fifteenth century, situated to -the east of the refectory, remains in a tolerably perfect -state, and the position of the old priory mill is indicated -by a modern structure erected about seventy years ago.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Adjoining the mill is the priory orchard, said to be -the oldest in England.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At some distance to the north-west of the domestic -buildings were the chapel and cloisters, of which some -vestiges remain in their original positions, but around -them modern walls and hedges have been formed. The -bases of a doorway, deeply recessed, having four detached -shafts on each side, and beautifully moulded, lead to -the supposition that the Priory as a whole was a most -important architectural work. I also found several scattered -fragments of Early English foliage. No doubt -many interesting objects lie buried in the priory lands, -and possibly even the tombs of the two bishops Warelwast.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the Norman and Early English and Decorated -work about here we find that granite was never used, -although to be obtained in the immediate locality.<a id='r9' /><a href='#f9' class='c021'><sup>[9]</sup></a> It -was probably rejected, not merely because it was hard -to work, but on account of its cold and colourless appearance. -Thus, in the Priory and in the most ancient -portions of the two churches, <i>i.e.</i>, the chancels, you will -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>find no dressings or moulded work in that material, but -in the beautiful and durable green slate-stone from -St. Germans or Boringdon, and in Caen stone; and to -give still more artistic effect to their buildings, they -used sparingly a close red sandstone, obtained from a -distance. There are some rather old-looking houses -in Plympton, which are said to be built entirely of stone -from the priory, and in one front in particular may be -observed this beautiful masonry of the thirteenth century, -in green and red, arranged almost like a draught board.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Perpendicular builders were not, as a rule, -remarkable for artistic feeling. They saw beauty in size, -uniformity, and in the endless repetition of a stereotyped -panel; and one can imagine archæologists of the fifteenth -century regarding contemporary architects much as we -look upon the designers of the glass and iron palaces of -the present day. The greater part of the churches of -Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice are -Perpendicular and built of granite, in large blocks, and -there is not that sharp and elegant detail in this as in -the earlier work.</p> - -<p class='c001'>St. Mary’s is a pretty and picturesque church now; -but it was probably more than two hundred years before -the granite began to tone down, and the ivy and lichen -to cling to it—neither, as a rule, “take kindly,” as the -saying is in Devonshire, to granite.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The limits of this paper will not allow of my giving -anything like a detailed description of Plympton St. Mary -Church. Full justice has already been done this edifice -by the late Rev. W. I. Coppard, who was largely instrumental -in its being restored. The Early Decorated -chancel—with its fine east window and elaborate sedilia -and piscina—is one of the best specimens of the period -in the county. Not the least interesting part of the -church is the south porch and parvise over, which the -late Mr. H. H. Treby took most commendable pains to -restore. The groining of the porch is admirable, though -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>in the re-dressing and chiselling of the ribs and bosses -the original character of the work has been partially -impaired. In restorations, much is lost through the desire -to see things look fresh and new.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the Strode, or St. Catherine chapel, is the monument -of Sir William Strode, with the effigies of the knight -and his two wives:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mary, incarnate virtue, soul and skin</div> - <div class='line'>Both pure, whom death nor life convinced of sin,</div> - <div class='line'>Had daughters like 7 Pleiades, but she</div> - <div class='line'>Was a prime star of greatest charity.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>And over the knight:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Treade soft, for if you wake this knight alone,</div> - <div class='line'>You raise an host, religion’s champion,</div> - <div class='line'>His country’s staff, right bold distributor,</div> - <div class='line'>His neighbour’s guard, the poor man’s almoner,</div> - <div class='line'>Who dies with works about him as he did,</div> - <div class='line'>Shall rise attended most triumphantly.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The Town Church of Plympton, originally dedicated -to Thomas à Becket, but, when rebuilt in the fifteenth -century, to St. Maurice, consists of a nave, north and -south aisles, and a fine tower at the west end, in the -Perpendicular style of the fifteenth century, and a chancel, -as at St. Mary’s, of an earlier date, having an interesting -sedilia and good decorated window at the east end—speaking -of the masonry, and not of the glass, which is -extremely bad. The south porch has a vaulted roof -and parvise over, as at the other church.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Much has been done of late years towards improving -this parish church, but its internal effect is entirely marred -by the unsightly plastered roof of the nave, and the -close pews or pens. The nave-roof, I find by reference -to the vestry book, was re-constructed in the year 1752, -after the model of the new roof in Stoke Damerel Church, -then recently put up. That was the dark age of English -taste. How very dark may be imagined from this -plagiarism.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>There are memorial windows in this church to -members of the Treby family, and monuments to the -Rev. Samuel Reynolds, Admiral Cotton, and other local -celebrities. The following epitaph is the most curious:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Saml. Snelling, Gent.</div> - <div class='line in2'>Twise Maior of this</div> - <div class='line'>town, he died the 20</div> - <div class='line in2'>Day of Nov. 1624.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The man whose body</div> - <div class='line'>That here doth lye</div> - <div class='line'>Beganne to live</div> - <div class='line'>When he did dye.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Good faith in life</div> - <div class='line'>And death he proved,</div> - <div class='line'>And was of God</div> - <div class='line'>And man belov’d;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Now he liveth</div> - <div class='line'>In Heaven’s joy,</div> - <div class='line'>And never more</div> - <div class='line'>To feel annoy.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The shaft of a large granite cross, probably the -market cross, was discovered about forty-two years ago -embedded in a wall of the Guildhall, taken down in -the course of some alterations.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the register of this parish are some curious entries. -Thus, there is record of a plague which carried off a -great number of the inhabitants; and on one occasion -forty marriages are said to have taken place in one day, -by proclamation, at the Market Cross. This was during -the Commonwealth, when the religious ceremony was -ignored, and against the entry some stout Royalist or -disappointed bachelor has written: “This was the hour -and power of darkness.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>We have yet to touch on the politics of the town.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Plympton became a borough town, with the privileges -of a market and fairs, by a charter from Baldwin de -Redvers, Earl of Devon, dated March 25th, 1241. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>borough sent members to Parliament as early as the -twenty-third year of Edward I.’s reign, and continued to -do so until disfranchised in 1832. It was a very -respectable constituency of nearly a hundred free burgesses, -who were sworn in by the corporation, which -consisted of a mayor, recorder, and eight aldermen, called -the Common Council.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Strode influence was great in the town from a -very early time, and several members of that family sat -in Parliament for Plympton. In Elizabeth’s reign, Sir -John Hele, a distinguished lawyer, and at one time King’s -Sergeant, was returned for the borough. A little later, -Sir Francis Drake, nephew of the great Sir Francis, and -successor to the baronetcy, became member. In -Charles I.’s reign, Sir William Strode, one of the most -distinguished of the great party which then resisted the -undue authority of the Crown, and who, with three -other members, was committed to the tower by the King, -sat in Parliament for Plympton. Another famous -member for Plympton was Sir Nicholas Slanning, a -staunch Royalist, who distinguished himself, especially, -as a brave soldier in the siege of Bristol. Then we have -the memorable names of Sir George Treby (ancestor of -the late Mr. H. H. Treby) and Sir John Maynard, and -at quite a late period in the history of this borough, -Lord Castlereagh represented it in Parliament.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In an interesting address delivered by the last recorder -of the town, Mr. Deeble Boger, on the occasion of the -corporation resigning their functions in 1859, it was stated -that the borough was “what was called a nomination -borough, that is, those two families who had the greatest -number of friends, and to whom, from the period of the -revolution, the gratitude of the borough was justly due—the -Trebys, in whom great interest naturally centred, -and the Edgcumbes, who were connected with the -borough in the same way—possessed the power of -nominating a member, and this nomination consisted in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>their recommending him for election. This power was -subject to one limitation, that the person recommended -should be of the same politics as the electors.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Perhaps the greatest representative the borough ever -had was Sir Christopher Wren. It was in May, 1685, -that this distinguished architect was elected Member of -Parliament for Plympton. How this came to pass, and -which of the two great parties he represented, we are -not precisely informed, but may easily conjecture, as -Plympton was always a Tory borough. No doubt he -occasionally thought, though he might not say, with -Mercutio, “A plague on both your houses,” for men of -science and artists—and he was in a high degree an -artist—are seldom very ardent politicians. Still, we know -he was a staunch Royalist and Churchman. His father -was Dean of Windsor; his uncle, the Bishop of Ely, had -been imprisoned in the Tower for nearly twenty years -during the Commonwealth; he himself was a Fellow of -All Souls’, Oxford, and held a professorship at that -University, at an extremely orthodox period. There are -other reasons for supposing that he stuck pretty close to -the court and government of the day. His father being -Dean, and Sir Christopher himself having only the year -before been appointed Comptroller of the Works at -Windsor, we may readily imagine that he came down -to the independent electors of Plympton with a rather -strong recommendation from the Dean and Chapter, who -were, as they are still, the patrons of the living in this -borough. And when he came (always supposing that he -did come, and that he did not merely send his respects -from London), he was, no doubt, well entertained by the -gentlemen of his party in the town, and lustily cheered -by the agricultural non-electors, who always exhibited a -great deal of enthusiasm under the stimulating influence -of an election, and were never heard again to express -their sentiments until the next parliament brought down -a new member for the eyes of all Plympton—not to say -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>“all Europe”—to gaze upon. Many of the inhabitants, -however, who were acquainted with Sir Christopher’s -fame, may be supposed to have regarded their representative -with admiration and pride. Just nineteen years -before, the terrible Fire had devastated the metropolis, -and now London was rising like a phœnix from the -ashes by his magic wand. Exactly ten years before he had -himself laid the foundation stone of St. Paul’s Cathedral, -and now the first stage of that great work had been just -completed, the choir and its side aisles, and critics, who -remembered old St. Paul’s in its Gothic glory, and had -seen Inigo Jones defacing and tinkering the venerable -fane with his Palladian porticoes and urns, were flocking -to the churchyard. The new structure was already too -grand and unique not to be commended; but there was -yet a quarter of a century’s laborious and incessant work -before the top stone could be raised, and the gilded cross -could crown the noble dome. The same architect, the -same master-builder, and the same bishop, who witnessed -the beginning of the great work in 1675, saw its close -in 1710.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sir Christopher Wren, the member for Plympton, was -probably the first architect ever returned to the House -of Commons. There have been several since then, and -their presence in Parliament has no doubt tended to -advance public taste, and to further many great and -important national works.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Guildhall was built or, rather, restored in 1696, -some years after Sir Christopher Wren represented the -town, and it may be safely asserted that he had no hand -in designing the present elevation, because, quaint and -picturesque though it is, his style is nowhere stamped -on it. It is, however, said (with what truth I cannot -say) that he was the architect of Plympton House, a large -and substantial mansion, with a façade of Portland stone, -erected in the reign of Queen Anne for Mr. Commissioner -Ourry, of Plymouth Dockyard. It is a plain but -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>costly building, in the then newly-adopted style, with -a certain French character about it. The large and broad -barred sash windows, with their weights and pulleys, -which were novelties at that time, must have greatly -puzzled Snug, the joiner of Plympton, who had been -accustomed all his days to the old English casements.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Guildhall has more of the mediæval character -about it, with its pillars and arches and covered way, like -the Chester Rows, and probably it was intended to have -some resemblance to the Guildhall in the county town—a -humble but by no means unsuccessful imitation. Thus -we follow suit in buildings as in everything else, though -the architecture of our towns would, no doubt, be more -entertaining if we oftener aimed at originality, and played -a card of our own occasionally.<a id='r10' /><a href='#f10' class='c021'><sup>[10]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>Speaking of cards reminds me that in the same street -with the Guildhall are some curious old slated fronts, -in which the slates have been cut in the shape of clubs, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>spades, hearts, and diamonds. Under these fronts we -have also the covered way.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We now come to a building a little to the south-east -of the church, around which so many treasured associations -cluster, that we hardly know whether we have yet -said adieu to the sacred edifices of Plympton. The old -Grammar School is the most venerable and interesting -school of art in all England. Here the greatest English -painter—a man for “all time”—learnt the first principles -of drawing. The house in which he was born overlooks -his schoolroom and his playground. Here, too, Northcote, -his clever and eccentric pupil, acquired his, perhaps not -very classic, education. This, also, was the first school -of the late distinguished President of the Royal Academy, -Sir Charles Eastlake, and the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Alma Mater</i></span> of poor -Benjamin Haydon. A mournful interest, indeed, attaches -to the building as connected with the last-mentioned -name. The year before he died Haydon visited the old -Grammar School, and wrote his name in pencil on -the wall, where you may still see it:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>B. R. Haydon,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Historical Painter, London,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Educated here 1801.</div> - <div class='line'>Rev. W. Haines (Master).</div> - <div class='line in2'>Head Boy then.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>This was only a few months before a dark and -impenetrable cloud shrouded the clear intellect of this -gifted man, and his life—so useful, but so ill-requited—closed -in saddest gloom.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The key-stone of the doorway under the cloister gives -the date of the building as 1664. Strange to say, it is -a Gothic structure of the most picturesque design and -arrangement. At the time it was built, architecture had -been given over almost entirely to the Renaissance and -Italian schools. It is singular, therefore, to find here at -Plympton an unconventional style adopted at such a time, -but it has been suggested that the same eccentric architect -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>who designed the fine Gothic church of Charles in -Plymouth in the middle of the seventeenth century built -also the Grammar School in the neighbouring town, and -the points of resemblance are certainly very great. We -have the same evidence of the desire to do something -good and true in both—the same good outline and -arrangement of parts, and the same superadded faults in -little details, as though the designer himself knew what -he was about, but could not bring his workmen up to -the mark. No wonder little Reynolds saw something to -admire in the outline and shadows of the cloisters, for -nothing can be better than the proportions of the pillars -and arches, and the banding of the masonry over in -alternate courses about six inches high, of granite and -dark limestone. In fact, the lower portion of the building -is the most pleasing piece of masonry in this neighbourhood; -and though the large square-headed windows over -are not so good, yet the angle of the roof is excellent, -and the large Perpendicular windows at the ends not -without merit. The schoolroom is about sixty-three feet -long by twenty-six feet in width, the master’s desk at -one end, and on each side of the window (over) a rudely-painted -shield, with the armorial bearings of Hele and -Maynard. Overhanging the entrance on one side is a -small gallery, approached from a chamber probably once -used as a class or flogging room, but now too dilapidated -for either practical purpose, and much in keeping with -the rest of the building, which is rather out at elbows. -In fact—what with the Castle, Priory, and Grammar School—the -description which the American gave of Rome will -apply to Plympton—“<em>Quite</em> a nice place, but the public -buildings very much out of repair.” The Master’s house -adjoins the school-room, and here the great painter was -born. The front appears to be comparatively modern, -but the bedroom in which he is said to have first seen -the light is in the back and older part of the house, -with a window overlooking the school and playground, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>as before mentioned. Some rough sketches, drawn by -Reynolds in his youth, were to be seen on the walls -of this room when Haydon and Wilkie visited the house -in 1809, but have since been obliterated by some barbarous -whitewasher. The engraving represents the -cloisters of the Grammar School, the subject of almost -the first drawing Reynolds ever made.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sir Joshua Reynolds was born on the 16th July, -1723, and was baptized on the 30th of the same month, -when, by mistake, his name was entered in the register -as Joseph.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is unnecessary here to give anything like a sketch -of the great painter’s career, but one or two incidents -connected with the place of his birth (to which throughout -his life he was strongly attached) may be mentioned. -He regarded with the greatest satisfaction and pleasure -his visit to Devonshire with Dr. Johnson in 1762. It -was on this occasion that Northcote first saw his great -master. It seems that Sir Joshua went to Plymouth -Dock, in company with the Doctor, on a certain day when -there was a great commotion in reference to some local -matter, probably the water question. “I remember,” says -Northcote, “when he was pointed out to me at a public -meeting, where a great crowd was assembled, I got as -near to him as I could from the pressure of the people, -to touch the skirt of his coat, which I did with great -satisfaction to my mind.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1772, Sir Joshua was elected to the Aldermanic -gown of Plympton, Lord Mount Edgcumbe acquainting -him by letter of the circumstance. The letter in which -he acknowledges the honour, with most hearty thanks, is -in the Cottonian Museum at Plymouth. In the following -year he was chosen Mayor of the borough, and he -declared that this circumstance gave him more gratification -than any other honour which he had received during -his life; and this sentiment he expressed when it was -rather out of place, as the following circumstance related -<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>by Northcote will shew. Reynolds had built for his -recreation on Richmond Hill a villa, of which Sir William -Chambers was architect, and in the summer season it -was the frequent custom of Sir Joshua to dine at this -place with select parties of his friends. “It happened -some little time before he was to be elected Mayor of -Plympton that, one day, after dining at the house, -himself and his party took an evening walk in Richmond -Gardens, when, very unexpectedly, at a turning of one of -the avenues, they suddenly met the King, accompanied -by a part of the Royal Family; and when, as his -Majesty saw him, it was impossible for him to withdraw -without being noticed. The King called to him, and -immediately entered into conversation, and told him that -he had been informed of the office that he was soon to -be invested with—that of being made the Mayor of his -native town of Plympton. Sir Joshua was astonished -that so minute and inconsiderable a circumstance, which -was of importance only to himself, should have come so -quickly to the knowledge of the King; but he assured -his Majesty of its truth, saying it was an honour which -gave him more pleasure than any other he had ever -received in his life; and then, luckily recollecting himself, -added, ‘except that which your Majesty was -graciously pleased to bestow upon me,’ alluding to his -knighthood.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the occasion of his being elected Mayor, he -presented to his much-loved native town his own portrait, -painted, as it seems, expressly to commemorate the -occasion. It was placed in the Corporation dining-room, -but sold by the Common Council for £150 when the -town was disfranchised! That <em>this</em> was “the hour and -power of darkness” there cannot be a doubt.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sir Joshua Reynolds died on the 23rd February, 1792, -and was interred in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral with -every honour that could be shewn to worth and genius. -His tomb, adorned by one of Flaxman’s best works, is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>almost close to that of Sir Christopher Wren—England’s -greatest painter, we may almost say without any qualification, -and England’s greatest architect—each, during -some portion of life connected with this honoured little -town of Plympton, though by different ties and at different -periods of its history; both resting from their labours -in the great temple which Wren built, and which Reynolds -sought to adorn with his matchless pencil.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The great honour which belongs to Plympton deserves -to be held in lasting remembrance, not merely by every -inhabitant of that town, but by all who have any appreciation -of art or desire for its advancement.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>James Hine.</span></div> - -<div class='figcenter id009'> -<img src='images/leaf.jpg' alt='leaf' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'><span class='sc'>Note.</span>—The authorities for the historical facts in this paper are Dr. -Oliver, Rev. S. Rowe, and Mr. Cotton.</p> - -</div> -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i200' class='figcenter id008'> -<img src='images/i_200fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Drawing by S. Prout, Jun.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by Neele.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>The “War Prison” on Dartmoor, 1807.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span> - <h2 class='c008'>FRENCH PRISONERS ON DARTMOOR.<br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By J. D. Prickman.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_i.jpg' width='15' height='35' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi0_8'> -In the early part of the nineteenth century Mr. Thomas, -afterwards Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, who held the office -of Lord Warden of the Stannaries under the then -Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., originated the -idea of building a prison on Dartmoor for the numerous -prisoners of war then in Great Britain, who were at that -time mostly confined in hulks and military and naval -prisons. The Government of that day took up the idea, -and, adopting the plans of Mr. Daniel Alexander, proceeded -to carry them out, the first stone of the prison -being laid by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt on the 20th March, -1806.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The site of the prison—about seven miles east of -Tavistock and about fifteen (straight across the moor) -south of Okehampton—was granted by the Prince of -Wales, as Duke of Cornwall and Lord of the Forest of -Dartmoor.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The building as then built is described in the Notes -to Risdon’s <cite>Devonshire,</cite> published in 1811, as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The outer wall encloses a circle of about 30 acres—within this is -another wall which encloses the area in which the Prison stands—this -area is a smaller circle with a segment cut off. The prisons are 5 large -rectangular buildings each capable of containing more than 1,500 men; -they have each two floors, where is arranged a double tier of Hammocks -slung on cast-iron pillars, and a third floor in the roof, which is used as -a promenade in wet weather. There are besides two other spacious -buildings, one of which is a large hospital, and the other is appropriated -to the Petty Officers. The entrance is on the western side, the gateway, -built of solid blocks of granite, bearing the inscription, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Parcere -subjectis.”</span></p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>The total cost of the work was nearly £130,000, and -it was completed somewhere about the year 1809, and the -collection of houses gradually formed what is now known -as Princetown.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The first set of prisoners was sent there on the 29th -May, 1809, and the buildings continued to be used as a -war prison from then until the 22nd April, 1814, during -which time no less than 12,679 prisoners underwent confinement -there. During the years 1809, 1810 and 1811, -deaths at the prison were very numerous from one cause -and another, so much so, that a Return was asked for -in the House of Commons, by which it appears that from -May, 1809, to June, 1811, no less than 622 prisoners died.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The following is a copy of such Returns:—</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='39%' /> -<col width='39%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1809.</td> - <td class='c024'>No. in Prison.</td> - <td class='c012'>Deaths.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>May</td> - <td class='c024'>2,479</td> - <td class='c012'>—</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>June</td> - <td class='c024'>2,471</td> - <td class='c012'>9</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>July</td> - <td class='c024'>3,059</td> - <td class='c012'>9</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>August</td> - <td class='c024'>4,052</td> - <td class='c012'>3</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>September</td> - <td class='c024'>6,031</td> - <td class='c012'>15</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>October</td> - <td class='c024'>5,993</td> - <td class='c012'>21</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>November</td> - <td class='c024'>5,940</td> - <td class='c012'>29</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>December</td> - <td class='c024'>5,875</td> - <td class='c012 bb'>63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c024'> </td> - <td class='c012 bb'>149</td> - </tr> -</table> -<table class='table2' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='39%' /> -<col width='39%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1810.</td> - <td class='c024'>No. in Prison.</td> - <td class='c012'>Deaths.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>January</td> - <td class='c024'>5,741</td> - <td class='c012'>131</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>February</td> - <td class='c024'>5,624</td> - <td class='c012'>87</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>March</td> - <td class='c024'>5,399</td> - <td class='c012'>63</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>April</td> - <td class='c024'>5,352</td> - <td class='c012'>28</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>May</td> - <td class='c024'>5,282</td> - <td class='c012'>25</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>June</td> - <td class='c024'>5,261</td> - <td class='c012'>17</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>July</td> - <td class='c024'>5,247</td> - <td class='c012'>12</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>August</td> - <td class='c024'>5,229</td> - <td class='c012'>16</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>September</td> - <td class='c024'>5,209</td> - <td class='c012'>11</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>October</td> - <td class='c024'>5,399</td> - <td class='c012'>9</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>November</td> - <td class='c024'>5,372</td> - <td class='c012'>12</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>December</td> - <td class='c024'>5,247</td> - <td class='c012 bb'>8</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c024'> </td> - <td class='c012 bb'>419</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<table class='table2' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='39%' /> -<col width='39%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr><td class='c025' colspan='3'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1811.</td> - <td class='c024'>No. in Prison.</td> - <td class='c012'>Deaths.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>January</td> - <td class='c024'>5,728</td> - <td class='c012'>14</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>February</td> - <td class='c024'>5,019</td> - <td class='c012'>7</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>March</td> - <td class='c024'>5,605</td> - <td class='c012'>11</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>April</td> - <td class='c024'>5,594</td> - <td class='c012'>10</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>May</td> - <td class='c024'>6,084</td> - <td class='c012'>5</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>June</td> - <td class='c024'>6,577</td> - <td class='c012 bb'>7</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c024'> </td> - <td class='c012 bb'>54</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c001'>In the year 1812 no less than 6,280 prisoners of war -were confined in the buildings. The total number of -deaths during the whole time the buildings were used as -a war prison was 1,117; of these 1,095 were French, and -22 American, prisoners.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of the life of the prisoners inside the prison little is -known. We know that Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt procured the -privilege of holding a market and a fair at Princetown, -and that daily markets were held within the precincts of -the prison for the sale by the country people of vegetables, -etc., to the prisoners. There are rumours that the -prisoners gambled away their clothing and rations; but -their life as prisoners on Dartmoor must have been infinitely -preferable to that endured by those who were -previous thereto confined in hulks and transports; but the -details of the life are wanting, and even the pamphlet -written by Capt. Vernon Harris, for many years Governor -of Dartmoor Prison after it was re-opened, gives no great -information on the subject. Many writers of fiction have -founded romances on the prison and the prisoners, but for -the most part on imagination. Probably the best of -the kind, and most accurate in detail, is <cite>The Queen of -the Moor</cite>, by the Rev. Frederick Adye, who was for many -years resident in the district, and therefore well acquainted -with the surrounding country and the rumours of the -neighbourhood. Monsieur Jules Poulain, a Frenchman -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>who is said to have lived at Princetown to be near a -friend who was confined there, has written in the French -language an interesting book entitled <cite>Dartmoor, or the -Two Sisters</cite>. He, in describing Dartmoor, says:—“Think -of the ocean waves changed into granite during a tempestuous -storm, and you will then form an idea of what -Dartmoor is like,” which indeed gives rather a vivid picture -of the rolling hills and valleys.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Many of the prisoners of war were allowed out on -parole. From Capt. Vernon Harris’ interesting pamphlet -we learn the form of parole was as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Whereas the Commissioners for conducting His Majesty’s Transport -service and for the care and custody of French officers and sailors -detained in England have been pleased to grant A. B. leave to reside -in .... upon condition that he gives his parole of honour not -to withdraw one mile from the boundaries prescribed there without leave -for that purpose from the said Commissioners, that he will behave -himself decently and with due regard to the laws of the Kingdom, -and also that he will not directly or indirectly hold any correspondence -with France during his continuance in England, but by such letter -or letters as shall be shewn to the Agent of the said Commissioners -under whose care he is or may be in order to their being read and -approved by the superiors. He does hereby declare that he having -given his parole of honour will keep it inviolably.</p> -<div class='c010'>(Signature)</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The following towns in Devon and Cornwall were set -aside for prisoners on parole:—Ashburton, Okehampton, -Moretonhampstead, Tavistock, Bodmin, Launceston, Callington, -Roscoe and Regilliack, but probably prisoners were -from time to time billetted in other towns such as Tiverton -(mentioned later) and elsewhere.</p> - -<p class='c001'><a id='corr204.32'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Th'>The</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_204.32'><ins class='correction' title='Th'>The</ins></a></span> following notice was sent and posted as notice to -the inhabitants of the town selected for residence of the -prisoners allowed out on parole:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN,</div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>That all such prisoners are permitted to walk or ride on the Great -Turnpike Road within the distance of one mile from the extreme parts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>of the Town (not beyond the bounds of the Parish) and that if they -shall exceed such limits or go into any field or cross road they may be -taken up and sent to prison and a reward of 10s. will be paid by the -Agent for apprehending them. And further that such prisoners are to be -in their lodgings by 5 o’clock in the winter and 8 o’clock in the summer -months and if they stay out later they are liable to be taken up and sent -to the Agent for such misconduct. And to prevent the prisoners from -behaving in an improper manner to the inhabitants of the town or -creating any riots or disturbances either with them or among themselves -notice is also given that the Commissioners will cause upon information -being given to their agent any prisoner who shall so misbehave to be -committed to prison. And such of the inhabitants who shall insult or -abuse any of the prisoners of war on parole or shall be found in any -respect aiding or assisting in the escape of such prisoners will be prosecuted -according to law.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>In reference to Tavistock, the Prison Commissioners -reported that there were 150 prisoners there allowed out -on parole, and that their conduct was exemplary. The -Report further stated—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Some of them have made overtures of marriage to women in the neighbourhood -which the magistrates have very properly taken pains to -discourage.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>When allowed out on parole the prisoner was assigned -to some place of residence, after which he received a fixed -sum for his maintenance, and was permitted to engage in -any kind of business or occupation, and to use any additional -funds he might possess. Many of the prisoners -occupied their time in teaching languages, and in carving -various things such as chessmen, etc.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There are instances of attempts by the prisoners on -parole to escape. At the Devon Summer Assize, 1812, -Richard Tapper, described as of Moretonhampstead, -Carrier, Thomas Vinnacombe and William Vinnacombe -(his brother) of Cheriton Bishop, described in the indictments -as Smugglers (a curious and, one would have -thought, a somewhat prejudiced description of their occupation), -were indicted and convicted of misdemeanour for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>aiding and assisting, with divers other persons unknown, -Casimer Baudouin, an officer in the French Navy; Allain -Michel and Louis Hamel, Captains of Merchant Vessels; -Pierre Joseph Dennis, a Second Captain of a Privateer; -and Andrew Fleuriot, a Midshipman of the French Navy, -to escape from Moretonhampstead. The French prisoners -paid £25 down, and subsequently £150 for the assistance -rendered. They were taken on horseback to Topsham, -and placed in a large boat described as eighteen feet -long, but in going down the estuary of the Exe, however, -not far from Exmouth, the boat grounded on the Bar, and -they were apprehended. The story is somewhat graphically, -though at considerable length, told in the records -of the proceedings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The French prisoners formed no less than twenty-six -Lodges and Chapters of Freemasons in England and -elsewhere. The only one in the neighbourhood of Dartmoor -was at Ashburton, and the only evidence of it is -an undated certificate granted to one Paul Carcenac, -described as Assistant Commissary, the Lodge being -described as <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Des Amis Reunis”</span> (the Re-united Friends). -A copy of the certificate and many further interesting -details concerning this and other Lodges, notably those -at Abergavenny, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Enfants de Mars et de Neptune”</span>; at -Plymouth <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Amis Reunis”</span>; at Tiverton, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">“Enfants de -Mars”</span> (see Bro. Sharland’s <cite>Freemasonry in Tiverton</cite>, -published in 1899), are given in a most interesting book -by Bro. John T. Thorp entitled <cite>French Prisoners’ Lodges</cite>, -published in 1900, and printed at Leicester by Bro. -George Gibbons, King Street.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There appear to be but few records of the prisoners at -the various towns, and only the vaguest reminiscences. In -Okehampton it is said that there were about 150 prisoners -on parole. In the Churchyard is a tombstone—a rough -slate slab—on which appears the following:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Cette Pierre Fut</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Elevee Par</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Lamitie a La Memoire</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Darmand Bernard</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ne au Harve</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">En Normande Marie a</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Calais a Mad<sup>cle</sup> Margot</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">11<sup>e</sup> Officer</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">De Commerce Decedee</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Prisoner de Guerre a</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Okehampton le 26 October</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">1815 aged 33 ans</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">A Labri des vertus</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Qui Distinguaient</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">La vie</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Tu reposes en paix</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ombre tendre et cherie</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Another close by bears the following inscription:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in16'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">C<sup>r</sup> Cit</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Adelaide Barrin Du Puyleaune<a id='r11' /><a href='#f11' class='c021'><sup>[11]</sup></a> De La</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Commune De Montravers Dept</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Des Deux Sevres Nee le 31 Avril</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">1771 Decedee a Okehampton le 18</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Fevre 1811 Fille le Legitme Dal</span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">F<sup>are</sup> Barrion Notaire et Procav<sup>re</sup></span></div> - <div class='line'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">De Machecoura ne de N<sup>re</sup></span></div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Ici repose la mere & l’enfant</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Many prisoners on parole died and were buried at -Moretonhampstead, but the grave-stones are not easily -decipherable. The following entries of burial appear in -the Register:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Jan. 24 1811 Jean Francois Rohan French Officer on Parole. -June 11 1811 Arnaud Aubry Lieutenant on Parole. -Buried in Wooling (Shroud) according to act of Parliament.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Of the numerous French prisoners who died at Princetown -no account appears in the parish register, and to -quote again from Capt. Vernon Harris’ book:</p> - -<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span></div> -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Little attention appears to have been paid to the last resting-place of -these unfortunates. We read in the account published by R. Evans that -the burial place of the unfortunate captives has been sadly neglected. -Horses and cattle have broken up the soil and left the bones of the -dead to whiten in the sun.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This will be readily understood when it is remembered -the prison remained unoccupied from 1816 until about the -year 1850. To Capt. Stopforth, who was Governor of -the prison in 1865, belongs the honour of collecting the -remains of the prisoners and burying them in two separate -enclosures on the northern side of the prison way from -the public road, and erecting monuments which are at -present existing, being granite columns; the one on the -left or western side being the French, bears the following -inscription:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In memory of the French</div> - <div class='line'>Prisoners of War who</div> - <div class='line'>died in Dartmoor Prison</div> - <div class='line'>between the years 1809</div> - <div class='line'>and 1814 and lie buried here</div> - <div class='line in4'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Dulce et decorum</span></div> - <div class='line in5'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">est pro patriâ mori.”</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>The other, being the American, bears the same inscription -except that the word “French” is altered to “American.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>After the prison was discontinued as a war prison, -various schemes were started for utilising the buildings. -The late Prince Consort visited the Duchy Estates in -1846, and the question of making use of the old prison -came under his notice. In 1850 began the formation of -a Convict Settlement, and gradually the old buildings -have been pulled down so that now only one small portion, -known as the French Prison, remains. As a convict -prison all the prisoners—and the average is about one -thousand—are those who have been sentenced to penal -servitude. Many are sent specially to Dartmoor for the -benefit of their health, the climate, in the early stages of -chest complaint, being most efficacious. Medical officers -of the prison and elsewhere have from time to time -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>recorded their opinion of the great advantages which are -derived by phthisical patients from residence at such an -altitude above the sea-level.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Much of the information derived is from Capt. Vernon -Harris’ pamphlet, Rowe’s <cite>Dartmoor</cite>, 3rd Edition, published -in 1896, and from the various references thereto. Some -of the statistics are contained in the writer’s paper on the -prison printed in the transactions of the Devonshire Association, -1901, xxiii. pp. 309–321.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>J. D. Prickman.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span> - <h2 class='c008'>OTTERY ST. MARY AND ITS<br /> MEMORIES. <br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By the Right Hon. Lord Coleridge, M.A., K.C.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_i.jpg' width='15' height='35' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi0_8'> -If the traveller passing down the Vale of Otter by rail -looks out to the East, he will see a great grey -church with transeptal towers—a rare feature—one -crowned with a spire, standing on rising ground -backed by a great continuous chine of hill. Around the -church nestles a small town, and a clear, swift river hastens -by it to the sea. This is the Collegiate Church of Ottery -St. Mary, mainly the creation of Bishop Grandisson. -Edward the Confessor gave the Manor of Ottery St. Mary -in 1061 to the Chapter of the Cathedral Church of Rouen, -in Normandy. Bishop Grandisson bought the Manor in -1335, laid the foundations of the college for forty secular -monks, and amplified the church to suit the college. -Bishop Bronescombe consecrated a church here in 1260. -His work is seen in the nave and transepts of the present -building. Bishop Grandisson built the nave, lady chapel -and side chapels, etc., raised the towers over the transepts, -and covered the whole with a stone-groined roof. The -church left his hands a miniature cathedral. A wealthy -lady, Cicely Bonville, wife, first of the Marquis of Dorset, -and then of Henry Lord Stafford, added the north aisle—1503–1523—with -its grand fan-tracery groining, a purely -indigenous feature, which may be seen repeated at -Cullompton, and the whole result is a majesty and variety -of external elevation which no building of its size can -well surpass. It was the central figure of a group of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>buildings. Chapter-house, library, cloisters, gate-house, all -were there. The houses for the dignitaries stood around. -Fragments alone remain. There still stand the vicar’s -house, the warden’s house, the chanter’s house, and the -manor house containing portions of old work. The houses -of the minister, the sacristan, and the canons have -disappeared.</p> - -<p class='c001'>From these haunts of ancient peace there was issued, -in 1509, Alexander Barclay’s <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><cite>Stultifera Navis</cite></span>, or <cite>Ship of -Fools</cite>, a translation, or rather paraphrase, of the -<span lang="de" xml:lang="de"><cite>Narrenschiff</cite></span> of Sebastian Brandt, which originally appeared -in the Swabian dialect. Barclay’s book contains -much original work, and breaks the great period of literary -silence between Chaucer and Spenser. When we say, -“Man proposes, God disposes,” “skin deep,” “robbing -Peter to pay Paul,” “of two evils choose the least,” “from -pillar to post,” “sticking like burrs,” “over head and ears,” -“you cannot touch pitch and not be defiled,” “making -the mouth water,” “out of sight out of mind,” “the burnt -child dreads the fire,” we are unconsciously using phrases -which appear in their first form in Barclay’s writings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The town was dominated by the College. The bridge -by which you entered the town from the west was the -bridge of the Holy Saviour. In one of its recesses the -sacred light was ever kept burning, inviting those who -passed to pray. We have Pater-noster Row, Jesu Street, -Chapel Lane, Butts (St. Budeaux) Hill, Paradise; names -of a flavour ecclesiastical. In the Flexton, as the open -space is called where now the Town Hall and a Jubilee -Memorial Pillar to Queen Victoria stand, the markets and -fairs were held, and in the churchyard may still be seen -the ancient stocks. Great fires, however, in 1604, 1767, -and 1866, have destroyed much of interest in the town.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Henry VI. visited the College in 1451, and Henry VII. -in 1497.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The College disappeared at the Reformation. Some -portion of its funds were used to found the King’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>Grammar School, which took root in what remained of the -collegiate buildings. The fortunes of the school varied -with the capacities of the head masters. It was successful -under the Rev. John Coleridge, 1760–1781, and under his -son, the Rev. George Coleridge, 1794–1808, it became -almost the equal of Blundell’s School at Tiverton. It -subsequently slowly declined, the buildings were unsuited -to modern requirements, and it finally disappeared, reviving -recently on another site in another form under a scheme -of the Charity Commission.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The town must have sadly suffered for a time from a -dissolution of the College. But as soon as the rule of -Philip II. in England was over, and his fanaticism began to -work in the Netherlands, the Flemings flying to England -added a great impetus to our wool trade. Some, I think, -must have come to Ottery St. Mary, for a flourishing -woollen industry sprang up here about this time, and a -small outlying portion of the town still bears the name of -Dunkirk. The pastoral character of the Vale of Otter, -and the ample water-power of the river were advantageous -to the trade, which was only killed by the discovery of -steam.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The great factory built by Sir George Yonge, the -Secretary of State for War in 1790, a prominent feature -to the passer-by, shows the extent to which the industry -once flourished.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In Mill Street there stood a house “beturreted and -wearing a monasterial aspect,” which Sir Walter Ralegh, -who was born at Poer’s Hayes, now Hayesbarton, further -down the valley, is said once to have inhabited. A house -built in the quiet, dignified style of the eighteenth century, -called Ralegh House, marks the site.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our town and vale were not unnoticed by poets. -William Browne, the author of <cite>Britannia’s Pastorals</cite>, full -of quaint conceits, but with a true vein of poetry running -through them, alludes to the Naïads who fish and swim in -the clear stream of Otter. And he is believed, on the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>authority of Southey, to be the author of two fine inscriptions -in the small south chapel of the church, one on John -Sherman and his son, who died on the same day in 1617, -and one on the wife of Gideon Sherman, who died in the -first week of her marriage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Michael Drayton thus described the broad pastoral -character of our vale:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Here I’ll unyoke awhile, and turn my steeds to meat,</div> - <div class='line'>The land grows large and wide, my team begins to sweat.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>At the time of the Great Rebellion, Ottery St. Mary -was for a time occupied by the King’s troops. At the -advance of the Parliamentary army, however, in 1645, they -withdrew beyond Exe, and the Roundheads took their -place. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Thomas Fairfax, -took up his quarters at the Chanter’s House, then owned -by Robert Collins, a strong sympathiser. Fairfax was -accompanied by Ireton as Commissary, and John Pickering -as Colonel. In the dining-room, which still exists, and -was then called the Great Parlour, he met Lord General -Cromwell, and determined on the plan of campaign against -the King’s forces in the West, which terminated in the -capitulation of Sir Ralph Hopton in Cornwall in March, -1646. This room Polwhele calls “the Convention Room.” -Here also a number of members of Parliament, in the name -of both Houses, presented Fairfax with a fair jewel set -with diamonds of great value, which they tied with blue -ribbon and hung about his neck in grateful recognition -of his signal services at Naseby.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Sickness overtook the army during its stay, and they -removed to Tiverton. Local opinion at the Restoration -swung round to the Monarchy, the Stuarts, and the Church -of England. Violent strife, political and ecclesiastical, -embittered social life. The Rev. Robert Collins, of the -Chanter’s House, a descendant of the host of Fairfax, was -the leader of the Nonconformists, and Mr. Haydon, -of Cadhay, a fine quadrangular Tudor House in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>neighbourhood, upheld the dominant party. Robert Collins -insisted on disobeying the Act of Uniformity, 1662, and -the Conventicle Act, 1664. Haydon resolved to see the -law obeyed. There was a constant besetting of the -Chanter’s House to discover the holding of an unlawful -prayer-meeting, and finally persistent persecution drove -Robert Collins and his family to Holland in 1685, where -he died, brave and unflinching to the last, bequeathing -money to the building of the Independent Chapel at -Ottery St. Mary.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This chapel, built of old-time furze-burnt bricks in the -manner known as “the Flemish bond,” is one of the -oldest in the kingdom, has an air of Quaker-like seclusion, -and is surrounded by a small graveyard occupying the site -of an ancient bowling green. There existed a trap-door -in the floor at the back of the pulpit, through which the -minister could fly in case of danger, into the vaults which -still exist below the schoolroom. The parish workhouse, -now converted into cottages, stands near St. Saviour’s -Bridge. Here, on the ground floor, were ranged the -chained lunatics, to whom passers-by would throw scraps -of bone and odds and ends to appease their raving hunger.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At the Vicar’s House was born, in 1772, Samuel -Taylor Coleridge. His father, the Rev. John Coleridge, -vicar and schoolmaster, was an erudite Hebrew scholar, -and assisted Dr. Kennicott in his literary labours. He was -a pious, simple soul, beloved by his family, whose amusing -absence of mind is described in a diverting anecdote by -De Quincey, not quite fit to be repeated here. One of -his scholars was Francis Buller, who sat for twenty-two -years as a puisne judge, through whose influence Samuel -Taylor Coleridge obtained a nomination at Christ’s -Hospital.</p> - -<div class='column-container capwidth75'> - -<div id='i214' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_214fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From the Portrait</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>By Peter Vandyck.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Samuel Taylor Coleridge.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This is not the place to describe at length the career -of Ottery St. Mary’s most gifted son. But we can read in -his poems of the profound influence of early scenes in -the home of his boyhood upon the poet’s imagination. In -<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>his sonnet to the river Otter, his “native brook, wild -streamlet of the West,” in after years he calls up the vision -of the crossing plank, the marge with willows grey, the -bedded sand, the flung stone leaping along its breast.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Then with quaint music hymn the parting gleam</div> - <div class='line'>By lonely Otter’s sleep-persuading stream.</div> - <div class='line'>Or where his wave with loud unquiet song</div> - <div class='line'>Dashed o’er the rocky channel froths along,</div> - <div class='line'>Or where his silver waters smoothed to rest</div> - <div class='line'>The tall tree’s shadow sleeps upon his breast.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The last two lines describe with exquisite felicity the -peaceful passages between the “stickles” of the bickering -river.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the year 1789, he cut his initials, “S. T. C.,” on the -rock just outside Pixie’s Parlour, a small cavern in the -sandstone on the left bank half a mile down stream.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Always keenly sensible to music, the cadence of the -old church bells rang in his ears in later life when far away -from home, for he sings:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Of my sweet birthplace, and the old Church Tower</div> - <div class='line'>Whose bells, the poor man’s only music, rang</div> - <div class='line'>From morn to evening, all the hot fair day.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>He spoke of them to Charles Lamb, his schoolfellow; -for though Charles Lamb never came to Ottery St. Mary -and never heard the bells, he makes his characters allude -to them thus:—</p> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div class='left'> - -</div> -<div class='left'> - -<p class='c019'><i>Marg.:</i><br /><i>John:</i></p> - -</div> -<div class='right'> - -<p class='c003'>Hark the bells, John!<br /> Those are the Church bells of St. Mary Ottery—<br /> St. Mary Ottery, my native village,<br /> In the sweet shire of Devon,<br /> Those are the bells.<br /></p> - -</div> - -</div> -<p class='c020'>A. W. Kinglake, the author of <cite>Eothen</cite> and the <cite>History -of the Crimean War</cite>, was educated here at Rock House, -now Sandrock, under the Rev. Edward Coleridge, who -kept a successful private school. In the year 1849, -Thackeray published the novel <cite>Pendennis</cite>. He lived as a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>youth at Larkbeare House, and the scene of many of his -incidents is laid in the neighbourhood. We read of the -little river running off noisily westward, of the fair background -of sunshiny hills that stretch towards the sea, of -the pattens clacking through the empty streets, of the -schoolboys making a good, cheerful noise, scuffling with -their feet as they march into church and up the organ-loft -stair, and blowing their noses a good deal during the -sermon; of the factory, of the single pair of old posters -that earned their scanty livelihood by transporting the -gentry round to the county dinners; of the hollow tree -in Escot Park (then a noble house built by Inigo Jones, -since burnt down, and now replaced by a modern building, -the seat of the Right Hon. Sir J. H. Kennaway), in -which the young lovers deposited their letters; and above -all of the great grey towers rising up in purple splendour, -of which the sun illuminates the delicate carving, deepening -the shadows of the huge buttresses and gilding the -glittering windows.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The town contributed its share to science. Here, in -1806, in Ralegh House, was born Edward Davy. In 1836 -he sketched out a plan of telegraphic communication, and -in 1837 he laid down a copper wire round the inner circle -at Regent’s Park, and made wonderful experiments in -electricity with it. In March, 1837, he took the first step -to patent his invention by “entering a caveat,” and -deposited with Mr. Aikin, Secretary of the Society of -Arts, a sealed description of his invention, anticipating -Cook and Wheatstone by two months. His invention and -that of Cook and Wheatstone were held not to be quite -identical. In 1839 he emigrated to Australia, leaving the -field to his rivals.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The inhabitants are remarkable for the love which -they bear towards their birthplace. In London a society -of over one hundred members of townsfolk who have -left to seek their fortunes in other scenes meet at regular -intervals to talk over the present local gossip and call -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>up past associations, and to renew or form a community of -feeling based on common love of home. And when the -members take a holiday, the first object of their pilgrimage, -the shrine towards which their footsteps are directed, is -the dear old town of Ottery St. Mary.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>Coleridge.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span> - <h2 class='c008'>“PETER PINDAR”: THE THERSITES <br /> OF KINGSBRIDGE.<br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By the Rev. W. T. Adey.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c022'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Thersites only clamoured in the throng,</div> - <div class='line'>Loquacious, loud, and turbulent of tongue;</div> - <div class='line'>Aw’d by no shame, by no respect controul’d.</div> - <div class='line'>In scandal busy, in reproaches bold;</div> - <div class='line'>With witty malice studious to defame;</div> - <div class='line'>Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim,</div> - <div class='line'>But chief he gloried, with licentious style,</div> - <div class='line'>To lash the great and monarchs to revile.</div> - <div class='line in36'>—<i>Pope.</i></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c020'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_b.jpg' width='35' height='41' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -Buried in the vestry vault of the churchyard of -St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, London, so near that -their coffins actually touch, are the mortal -remains of two remarkable Englishmen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The one is a Worcestershire worthy, Samuel Butler, -the author of <cite>Hudibras</cite>, a caricaturist in verse of the -times in which he lived. His chief character, giving name -to the book by which he is best known, was suggested by -Sir Samuel Luke, his puritan patron, whilst the book itself, -commenced in 1663 and modelled after the Don Quixote -of Cervantes, is in its faithful exposure of cant and -hypocrisy scarcely inferior to its spirited Spanish prototype.</p> - -<div class='column-container capwidth75'> - -<div id='i218' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_218fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Painting by Opie.</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>Engraved by C. H. Hodges.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Dr. Wolcot (“Peter Pindar”).</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The other distinguished person who found a resting-place -so near him, also a satirist and an accomplished -genius with many and varied gifts, was Dr. John Wolcot, -a Devonian, born at Kingsbridge, or, more accurately, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>Dodbrooke, who is better known as <span class='sc'>Peter Pindar</span>, whose -lively writings were most popular in the time of the later -Georges, and who then enjoyed a large measure of favour -with society, whose questionable manners he so fearlessly -portrayed, and for a while at least with the Court, every -one of whom in turn, from the King and Prince Regent -down to the royal kitchen maids and cooks, he mercilessly, -cleverly, and continuously lampooned.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It is with this latter curious and cosmopolitan poet and -satirist that we have to do. We shall be obliged to tread -carefully as we follow the track of his life and his literature, -for at the very outset we must remember that the times -in which he lived were coarse and in many ways objectionable, -and that he was, if not a product, at least a reflection -of them.</p> - -<p class='c001'>We may wonder why he took upon himself the name -of <em>Pindar</em> with the added apostolic difference—<em>Peter</em>. -Was it done playfully or satirically, as was usual with him? -Perhaps it was a joke at the expense of his neighbours, -whose talk was so seldom on literature and art, but so often -on <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>oves et boves</i></span>. Turning to the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><cite>Biographia Classica</cite></span>, -which he very possibly used, we read:—“<em>Pindar</em>, the first -of the lyric poets born in Bœotia.... He quitted his -native country, which was proverbial for the stupidity of -its inhabitants, and went to Athens, where the greatest -honours were bestowed upon him.... Such was the -respect paid to his memory that when the Lacedemonians -took Thebes, they spared his house, as also did Alexander -the Great.” To this historical fact Wolcot frequently -alluded, as, for instance, in the clever poem entitled—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>AN ODE TO MY BARN.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>By Lacedæmon men attack’d,</div> - <div class='line in2'>When Thebes in days of yore was sack’d,</div> - <div class='line'>And naught the fury of the troops could hinder;</div> - <div class='line in2'>What’s true yet marv’lous to rehearse,</div> - <div class='line in2'>So well the common soldiers relish’d verse,</div> - <div class='line'>They scorn’d to burn the dwelling-house of Pindar.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'><span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>With awe did Alexander view</div> - <div class='line in2'>The house of my great cousin too,</div> - <div class='line'>And gazing on the building, thus he sigh’d—</div> - <div class='line in2'>“General Parmenio, mark that house before ye!</div> - <div class='line in2'>That lodging tells a melancholy story:</div> - <div class='line'>There Pindar liv’d (great Bard!) and there he died.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>“The king of Syracuse, all nations know it,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Was celebrated by this lofty poet,</div> - <div class='line'>And made immortal by his strains:</div> - <div class='line in2'>Ah! could I find like him, a bard to sing me;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Would any man like him a poet bring me;</div> - <div class='line'>I’d give him a good pension for his pains.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>“But, ah! Parmenio, ’mongst the sons of men,</div> - <div class='line in2'>This world will never see his like again;</div> - <div class='line'>The greatest bard that ever breath’d is dead!</div> - <div class='line in2'>Gen’ral Parmenio, what think you?”</div> - <div class='line in2'>“Indeed ’tis true, my liege, ’tis very true,”</div> - <div class='line'>Parmenio cry’d, and, sighing, shook his head.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>Then from his pocket took a knife so nice,</div> - <div class='line'>With which he chipp’d his cheese and onions,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And from a rafter cut a handsome slice,</div> - <div class='line'>To make rare toothpicks for the Macedonians;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Just like the toothpicks which we see</div> - <div class='line in2'>At Stratford, made from Shakespear’s mulb’ry tree.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>What pity that the squire and knight</div> - <div class='line in2'>Knew not to prophesy as well as fight;</div> - <div class='line'>Then had they known the future men of metre:</div> - <div class='line in2'>Then had the gen’ral and the monarch spy’d</div> - <div class='line in2'>In fate’s fair book, our nation’s equal pride,</div> - <div class='line'>That very Pindar’s cousin Peter!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>Daughter of thatch, and stone, and mud,</div> - <div class='line in2'>When I, no longer flesh and blood,</div> - <div class='line'>Shall join the lyric bards some half a dozen;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Meed of high worth, and, ’midst th’ Elysian plains,</div> - <div class='line in2'>To Horace and Alcæus read my strains,</div> - <div class='line'>Anacreon, Sappho, and my great old cousin;</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>On thee shall rising generations stare,</div> - <div class='line in2'>That come to Kingsbridge and to Dodbrook fair,</div> - <div class='line'>For such thy history and mine shall learn;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Like Alexander shall they ev’ry one</div> - <div class='line in2'>Heave a deep sigh, and say, since Peter’s gone,</div> - <div class='line'>With rev’rence let us look upon his Barn.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>His allusions to Pindar the Greater make one fear that -he has paid an ill compliment to his old friends, and that -in his choice of a <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>nom de plume</i></span> he has allowed, as in -many other instances, his merciless satire to overcome -his evenness of judgment. Like his namesake, he turned -from the country to find his laurels in the town, and -there the parallel ends. It is not true that the people -of South Devon, who singularly combine agricultural -skill with good seamanship, so that they handle equally -well the plough and the oar, are open to any implication -of special dulness.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is little in common between the two Pindars, the -ancient and the modern. Peter displayed great skill of -a kind in his versification, but no one can say it was to -any extent truly lyrical. We cannot imagine the people -singing his productions. They were popular, readable, -pungent, savoury (too much so by a long way), but certainly -not lyrical, for he had not the singer’s heart or the -singer’s sweetness. Beyond the attraction of “apt -alliteration’s artful aid,” we can see no great reason why -he should have gone so far as Thebes in 540 <span class='fss'>B.C.</span> to -appropriate the name of that ancient singer of triumphal -hymns for classic warriors.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is a pretty story of the older Pindar that a -swarm of bees lighted on his cradle in his infancy and -left honey on his lips; but we fear in the case of our -hero they were wasps that came, and that they left some -of the caustic venom of their stings.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The odes of Pindar the Great have survived and are -to be admired “for sublimity of sentiment, grandeur of -expression, energy and magnificence of style, boldness of -metaphors, harmony of numbers, and elegance of diction.” -According to Horace he was inimitable, and all succeeding -writers have agreed in extolling his genius.</p> - -<p class='c001'><em>Peter Pindar</em> also called his favourite productions -odes. We have them before us in bulky quartos as -originally published, and in numerous volumes of pocket -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>size as collected in 1816 by Walker. They were written -in Cornwall, Devon, the West Indies, Bath and London, -and covered a very wide range of subjects. He -approached the realm of poetry as George Morland did -that of pictorial art, refusing no subject on account of its -coarseness, and yet with his fidelity of treatment in describing -both rustic and town life, has often shown a fine -appreciation of truth and of the beautiful.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Like George Morland he was spoiled by moral laxity, -and like him always gives us a sad impression of what he -might have been and might have done, if his clever genius -had been kept within bounds by moral restraint. But, -alas! even as an old man, he retained a taste for the follies -which corrupted his youth, and continued to reflect too -faithfully the spirit of those immoral days when the scandalous -manners of the court were injurious alike to the -Church and the State. It would have been better for him -to have taken the advice he gives in one of his odes:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Build not, alas! your popularity</div> - <div class='line'>On that beast’s back ycleped Vulgarity,</div> - <div class='line'>A beast that many a booby takes a pride in,</div> - <div class='line'>A beast beneath the noble Peter’s riding.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'> . . . . . .</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Envy not such as have surpast ye,</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis very, very easy to be nasty.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The name of the classic Pindar has been associated -with other writers than Dr. Wolcot, who probably have -better claims to use it than ever he had.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thomas Gray (1716–1771), whose monument in Westminster -Abbey bears these lines:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>No more the Grecian muse unrivalled reigns,</div> - <div class='line in2'>To Britain let the nations homage pay:</div> - <div class='line'>She felt a Homer’s fire in Milton’s strains,</div> - <div class='line in2'>A Pindar’s rapture in the lyre of Gray.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Jean Dorot (1507–1588) and Pouce Denis Debrun (1729–1807), -have each worn the title of French Pindar, whilst -Gabriello Cluobrera (1552–1637) was the acknowledged -Italian Pindar. Peter’s work has been translated into most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>of the continental tongues, and has been appreciated in -Germany especially but not in France, his Francophobia -being all too evident in many allusions to the French -people. His poetry is too full of the localisms of his -native county to be fully appreciated by any but -Devonians, and too full of personal and political references -and allusions to persons about the court and in -the London society of that day to appeal successfully -to readers of the present generation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Our Dr. John Wolcot was the fourth child of -Dr. Alexander Wolcot, himself a surgeon’s son -residing at Kingsbridge, on the bank of the estuary at -the foot of the town. The grounds of the family dwelling -extended from the old Dartmouth Road at the back down -to the water’s edge, and the house, though much altered, -still retains its name of Pindar Lodge. His baptismal -register, preserved at the Church of St. Thomas à Becket, -Dodbrooke, is dated May 9th, 1738. Of his mother we -have not been able to gather much information beyond her -name—Mary Ryder—and that she belonged to a local -family. The Ryders are still numerously represented in -the townships both of Kingsbridge and Dodbrooke.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The Grammar School of Kingsbridge, erected at the -cost of the old Puritan, Thomas Crispin, Merchant of -Exeter, and endowed by him in 1670, was the place where -he commenced his education under the mastership of -John Morris. It is to be regretted that no roll of scholars -earlier than 1830 is extant, so that we have to depend -upon indirect though undoubted evidence as to his connection -with this school, but there are lively legends of his -school days preserved in the folk-lore of the district, one -of which is too characteristic to be omitted.</p> - -<p class='c001'>A certain cobbler whose shop was in the street leading -to the Grammar School, a man disliked by the boys, and -specially so by young Wolcot, was, to the amazement and -horror of the whole township, reported to have been cruelly -murdered whilst sitting at his stall. The neighbours, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>on looking in, were terror-stricken to find the man -and his shop from floor to ceiling bespattered with blood. -The cobbler was certainly living, but too terrified to speak -of the nature of his wounds, his features being covered -with gore. He was not, however, seriously injured; -indeed he was much frightened and little hurt. What had -happened was this. Young Wolcot, whose threats of vengeance -against the offender had been somewhat mysterious -for several days, had procured an old blunderbuss from -his father’s house and had duly charged it with powder, -but instead of shot had loaded it with <em>bullock’s blood</em>, -and deliberately fired it in the cobbler’s face; of course -in one moment transforming the whole appearance of -things, and creating in the peaceful neighbourhood a great -sensation.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such escapades no doubt made it desirable that he -should change his quarters, and he was presently transferred -to the care of an uncle practising as a surgeon at -Fowey, in Cornwall. He attended the Grammar School -for awhile at Liskeard, and after that at Bodmin, under -the mastership of a clergyman named Fisher.</p> - -<p class='c001'>After this he spent one year in completion of his education -in France (1760). He failed to appreciate the -French, and the dislike was quite mutual. Of them he -said in one of his odes:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I hate the shrugging dogs,</div> - <div class='line'>I’ve lived among them, ate their frogs.</div> - <div class='line in10'>—<cite>Coll. Works</cite>, Vol. I., p. 107.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>On his return to England he became his uncle’s pupil -and medical student for seven years. A reflection -of his duties is cleverly given in one of his lyrics, apparently -addressed to Opie, his pupil in art:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in2'>The lad who would a ’Pothecary shine,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Should powder Claws of Crabs and Jalap fine,</div> - <div class='line'>Keep the shop clean, and watch it like a Porter,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Learn to boil glysters—nay, to give them too,</div> - <div class='line in2'>If blinking nurses can’t the business do:</div> - <div class='line'>Write well the labels, and wipe well the Mortar.</div> - <div class='line in9'>—<cite>Odes to Royal Academicians</cite>, Ode iii., p. 8.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>Drawing, painting, and classical reading seem, however, -to have claimed too much of his time, and his verse-making -occupations were no doubt hindrances to his -professional progress, for in them he was quite industrious, -and from Fowey, in 1756, he sent his poem on the elder -“Pitt’s recovery from Gout” to <cite>Martin’s Magazine</cite>.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His apprenticeship over, he spent a short time in the -medical schools of London; then he returned to Devon, -where Dr. Huxham, a celebrated Plymouth physician, did -him the good service of examining him as to his competency -in medicine and surgery, and recommended him -to a northern university—that of Aberdeen—for a degree -by diploma, which he was fortunate enough to get conferred -upon him, receiving his M.D. in September, 1767.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the same year came an opportunity for foreign travel, -of which he eagerly availed himself. Sir William Trelawney, -a connection of the family on his mother’s side, -and a patient of his uncle’s in Cornwall, was that same -year appointed Governor of the island of Jamaica, and -taking young Wolcot with him, in a short time made the -new-fledged doctor Physician General to the Forces in -the island.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Whilst there, in 1769, the idea seems to have occurred -to his patron rather than to himself that if he could give his -young friend nothing more in the way of official promotion, -there was yet the hopeful field of Church preferment, -which, in the West Indies, he was able to command. The -rich living of St. Ann’s, Jamaica, then enjoyed by an -invalid clergyman, was likely to be soon vacant by his -demise. Sir William was the patron, and without sufficient -thought, as it seems to us, of Wolcot’s unfitness for such a -solemn responsibility, urged him to go at once to England -and qualify by ordination for the post.</p> - -<p class='c001'>This curious candidate for holy orders was actually -ordained deacon on June 24th, 1769, and the following -day priest, but he did not on his return secure the living of -St. Ann’s, as the incumbent recovered his health and lived -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>on for years. He was, however, solaced by the inferior -living of Vere, a parish for which Wolcot procured the -services of a curate, himself continuing to reside in the -Government House at Spanish Town. The history of -this transaction and the profanity of the language in which -it is recorded are alike scandalous.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Go,” said Sir William, “and get japanned. You may -safely say that you have an inward call, for a hungry -stomach can speak as loudly as a hungry soul!” <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>O -tempora, O mores!</i></span> How very few persons ever imagine -Peter Pindar in clerical guise. Sir William Trelawney -died, Wolcot returned to England in company with his -widow, who died on the voyage. Once more in England, -he showed his good sense by reverting, despite the axiom -“once a clerk always a clerk,” for his future occupation -to medicine, letters, or the fine arts, leaving the sacred -office to others.</p> - -<p class='c001'>As a medical man Peter Pindar was a modified failure -at the best. He was cordially disliked by his brother -practitioners in the Truro district, who in the end drove -him out of it. His treatment of fever patients with copious -libations of cold water roused their wrath, and they utterly -despised the theory expressed in his own words that “a -physician can do little more than watch Dame Nature and -give her a shove on the back when he sees her inclined to -do right.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>In letters he was far more successful, and was undoubtedly -the most popular satirical poet of the Georgian -period. Whether he lampooned individuals, or public -bodies, the Royal Academicians, or Royalty itself, his -versatile genius displayed such a wide range of accomplishments -that he attracted hosts of readers, and his books -commanded a prodigious sale. All the world has read of -the King’s visit to Whitbread’s Brewery, and his wondering -how the apples got into the apple dumplings, and not -a few readers have felt for Sir Joseph Banks, James -Boswell, and Benjamin West, as they came in turn under -his stinging lash.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>His principal poems were issued from time to time as -shilling or half-crown pamphlets. They were written in -irregular, rollicking metre, the most important of them -in the form of odes. In these he shines as a critic of music, -painting, and literature. In all these directions he was, -as he describes himself, “the most merciless Mohawk that -ever scalped.” By such an expression he puts himself out -of court as a safe and equitable judge. His appreciations -of Wilson, of Gainsborough, of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and -of J. M. W. Turner, have been endorsed by the foremost -art writers of our time. Of Turner he said:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Turner, whatever strikes thy mind,</div> - <div class='line'>Is painted well, and well designed.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Perhaps his least-known verses are those written for -music and published from Exeter in the time of Jackson, -the Cathedral organist, who was responsible for the airs to -which they were sung. His own musical accomplishments -were undoubtedly varied and sound.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Dr. Wolcot had much of the Bohemian in his constitution. -He lived in a town where to this day a Puritan -simplicity of manners marks the habits of the middle-class -people. Quakers, Baptists, and Independents of the early -Presbyterian type were numerous in the Kingsbridge of -his day. If the old barn to which he addressed some of -his odes could speak, it would tell of the visits of strolling -players who, anathematised elsewhere, but welcomed by -Peter Pindar, were allowed there to perform their bloodcurdling -tragedies and questionable farces, to the scandal -of the “unco guid.” And besides all this, old Richard -Stanley, the king of the gipsies, grandfather of the present -Romany patriarch of that name, was welcomed year by -year to a shake-down in the straw when he came horse-dealing -to Kingsbridge or to Dodbrooke Fair. Wolcot -stoutly maintained that he never lost an egg or a chicken -by his hospitality to the gipsies. We have heard the -Bucklands, the Stanleys, and the Lees speak of his memory -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>as of one who was kind to their fathers, and we have conversed -with old people who have spoken of the building, -which now stands almost unaltered, as the only theatre in -Kingsbridge. Its interior is wonderfully like the picture -of Hogarth’s called the “Strolling Players.” The fact that -Bamfield Moore Carew, the king of the beggars, frequently -lodged in it, adds historical interest to the picturesque and -venerable shanty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Dr. Wolcot’s real kindness to John Opie, whom he -discovered as a lad working in a saw pit; his industrious -endeavours to educate and refine him; and his generous -assumption of fullest responsibility for his maintenance, -together with his introduction of him to the world in -London, form a creditable chapter in his history which -ought never to be omitted from Peter’s life story. In Dugdale’s -<cite>British Traveller</cite> will be found the copy of a -written contract made by Opie in favour of his patron and -friend. It begins—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>I promise to paint for Dr. Wolcot any picture or pictures he may -demand, as long as I live; otherwise I desire the world will consider me -as an ungrateful son of a ——. [The words are unquotable.]</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Opie stood to this obligation, but always made his friend -pay eighteenpence for the canvas!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Opie is said to have paid great deference to Dr. -Wolcot’s instructions. Whilst that gentleman was painting, -he would sometimes lean over him and exclaim, “Ah! -if I could ever paint like you!” to which Pindar replied, -“If I thought thou wouldst not exceed me, John, I would -not take such pains with thee.” For two years he never -painted a single picture without the judgment of his -friend.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was at the Doctor’s suggestion that his name was -changed from Hoppy to Opie, a name worn by a good -family in Cornwall, and more likely to attract favourable -notice in London, whither they both went together in 1780, -their joint expenses being supplied from one purse. Out -of this last circumstance grew a dispute and estrangement, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>never fully settled. The communistic arrangement -lasted for a short time only. One morning, when Sir -Joshua Reynolds was breakfasting with Wolcot and Opie, -Sir Joshua remarked of Opie, “Why, this boy begins his -art where other people leave off!” Very numerous are the -portraits of his patron which Opie has left behind, representing -Pindar in different stages of his career, most of -them having been engraved and published in various -editions of his works, or in miscellanies containing contributions -from his pen.</p> - -<p class='c001'>If a watchful editor did not restrict us for space, we -should have liked to show how that facile pen of Peter’s -could run on “from grave to gay, and from lively to -severe.” Perhaps there may be room for a sample of -each. We wish he had given us a little more of such quiet -and pathetic writing as</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>THE OLD SHEPHERD’S DOG.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The old shepherd’s dog like his master was gray,</div> - <div class='line in2'>His teeth all departed and feeble his tongue,</div> - <div class='line'>Yet where’er Corin went, he was followed by Tray;</div> - <div class='line in2'>Thus happy through life did they hobble along.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When fatigued on the grass the shepherd would lie</div> - <div class='line in2'>For a nap in the sun—’midst his labours so sweet,</div> - <div class='line'>His faithful companion crawled constantly nigh,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Plac’d his head on his lap or lay down at his feet.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>When winter was heard on the hill and the plain,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And torrents descended and cold was the wind,</div> - <div class='line'>If Corin went forth ’midst the tempests and rain,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Tray scorned to be left in the chimney behind.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>At length in the straw Tray made his last bed;</div> - <div class='line in2'>For vain against death is the stoutest endeavour—</div> - <div class='line'>To lick Corin’s hand, he rear’d up his weak head,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Then fell back, closed his eyes, and, ah! clos’d them for ever.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Not long after Tray did the shepherd remain,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Who oft o’er his grave in true sorrow would bend;</div> - <div class='line'>And when dying, thus feebly was heard the poor swain,</div> - <div class='line in2'>“Oh! bury me, neighbour, beside my old friend.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>Is not that a genuine piece of pure pastoral writing—grave -and truthful? Of his gay writing there is more -than enough, and much of it is as unfit for modern quotation -as some of the classics in whom he delighted. As -Thomas Bewick could not be persuaded that anything he -actually saw was unsuited for pictorial representation, however -vulgar, if the drawing were true to nature, so Pindar -shocks our sense of propriety continually and without -apology. He could, however, play on the whole gamut -of the soul’s passions, as witness his touching threnody on -“Julia, or the Victim of Love,” in his <cite>Smiles and Tears</cite>, -a piece no man without a tender heart could ever have -written.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Many jocular little pieces like the following are strewn -among his verses:—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><b>ODE (<i>Introductory</i>).</b></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Simplicity, I dote upon thy tongue;</div> - <div class='line'>And thee, O white-rob’d <em>Truth</em>, I’ve reverenced long—</div> - <div class='line in2'>I’m fond too of that flashy varlet wit,</div> - <div class='line'>Who skims earth, sea, heav’n, hell, existence o’er</div> - <div class='line'>To put the merry table in a roar,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And shake the sides with laugh-convulsing fit.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O yes! in sweet simplicity I glory—</div> - <div class='line'>To <em>her</em> we owe a charming little story.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c000'> - <div><b>WILLIAM PENN, NATHAN, AND THE BAILIFF.</b></div> - <div>A Tale.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>As well as I can recollect,</div> - <div class='line in2'>It is a story of fam’d <em>William Penn</em>,</div> - <div class='line'>By bailiffs oft beset, without effect,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Like numbers of our Lords and Gentlemen.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>William had got a private hole to spy</div> - <div class='line in2'>The folks who came with writs, or “How d’ye do?”</div> - <div class='line'>Possessing too a penetrating eye</div> - <div class='line in2'>Friends from his foes the Quaker quickly knew.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>A bailiff in disguise, one day,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Though not disguised to our friend Will,</div> - <div class='line'>Came, to Will’s shoulder compliments to pay,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Concealed, the catchpole thought, with wondrous skill.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>Boldly he knocked at William’s door,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Drest like a gentleman from top to toe,</div> - <div class='line'>Expecting quick admittance, to be sure,</div> - <div class='line in2'>But no!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='sc'>Will’s</span> servant <span class='sc'>Nathan</span>, with a strait-hair’d head</div> - <div class='line in2'>Unto the window gravely stalked, not <em>ran</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>“Master at home?” the Bailiff sweetly said—</div> - <div class='line in2'>“Thou canst not speak to him,” replied the man.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“What,” quoth the Bailiff, “won’t he see me then?”</div> - <div class='line in2'>“Nay,” snuffled Nathan, “let it not thus strike thee;</div> - <div class='line'>Know, verily, that <span class='sc'>William Penn</span></div> - <div class='line in2'><em>Hath seen</em> thee, but he doth not <em>like</em> thee.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>A Kingsbridge gentleman having recently come across -the original manuscript of one of the characteristic pieces -written by Peter Pindar, has kindly allowed its publication. -It will be seen that the rhyme describes in his forceful -and not over polite style the outcome of a magistrates’ -meeting at Morleigh after the passing of the law against -poaching. It is in the Devonshire dialect:—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><b>EPISTLE.</b></div> - <div class='c000'>From Deggony Dolt, farmer, of Stanborough; to John Tolt, waggoner, of Clannaborough.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Lord Jan! hast thee heer’d that at leet Morleigh Town,</div> - <div class='line'>Where Just Asses often rag w——e, rogue and clown,</div> - <div class='line'>A learge drove of Passons and Tomies and Squires</div> - <div class='line'>Met lately to ruin the Poachers and Buyers?</div> - <div class='line'>How vierce and how vine they came scampering in,</div> - <div class='line'>Zome dreiving, zome riding, zome vat and zome thin;</div> - <div class='line'>This mounted on Pony and that Rozinante,</div> - <div class='line'>Zome Galloways shodded, zome whisky, zome jaunty.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Mum Doubtful, Tom Guzzle, Jack Jaw, and Ned Tilly,</div> - <div class='line'>Dick Doubty, Jan Numskull, and Blockheaded Billy,</div> - <div class='line'>Jan Clod from the vield, Janny Jumps from the Shop,</div> - <div class='line'>His father sells Incle, woll buy and woll zwop;</div> - <div class='line'>Young Nincompoop Simpkins, the son of Jan Huffer,</div> - <div class='line'>Wat Windy, Soft Stephen, and Peter the Puffer,</div> - <div class='line'>Like mazed men were eager their plans to express,</div> - <div class='line'>Tho’ as to their reasons they cou’d not be less,</div> - <div class='line'>Where brains are but little and Tyranny’s found</div> - <div class='line'>Much bother and bluster most times do abound.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>Our Squires of those yet but a few by the bye</div> - <div class='line'>War zich; as to their others, that’s all in my eye,</div> - <div class='line'>Our Squires and Parsons and limbs of the Law</div> - <div class='line'>Determined strong rules and resolves for to draw,</div> - <div class='line'>And then in the Papers the whole advertise,</div> - <div class='line'>Sure most as they thaut you’d be acting more wise,</div> - <div class='line'>All Game must in future to none else belong,</div> - <div class='line'>Their Rerts were so clear, their powers so strong.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To dinner they went, where they grinned and they sneer’d;</div> - <div class='line'>The Bottle pushed round till with drink their eyes glared,</div> - <div class='line'>All speakers at once, nort but d—m—ie was plain,</div> - <div class='line'>Ev’n Parsons took roundly the Lord’s name in vain;</div> - <div class='line'>The Reckoning discharged yet at this zome looked bluff,</div> - <div class='line'>And grudged the expense tho’ ’twas reasonable enough;</div> - <div class='line'>Zome gallopped away, zome halted at ease,</div> - <div class='line'>Zome mounted their ponies and two wheeled post chaise.</div> - <div class='line'>Not far howsomever went Mum Doubtful ’twas zed</div> - <div class='line'>When he tumbled and luckily valled on his head;</div> - <div class='line'>Tom Guzzle over zit in a Ditch on the road,</div> - <div class='line'>And eased his gorged Stomach of part of its load.</div> - <div class='line'>Jan Clod lodged his bones where bars grow in clumps,</div> - <div class='line'>And under a hen roost sprawled leet Janny Jumps,</div> - <div class='line'>Reversed lay Soft Staphen his heels only zeed,</div> - <div class='line'>The rest was concealed in the Briers and Weed;</div> - <div class='line'>Here plunged in a Buddle roll’d Parson Jack Daw,</div> - <div class='line'>There bald pate Dick Doubty was emptying his Maw,</div> - <div class='line'>Wat Windy proceeded, but at length came to ground,</div> - <div class='line'>Zome say that his nose in a Cow Dung was found;</div> - <div class='line'>But Nort’s ne’er in danger who’s born to be hung,</div> - <div class='line'>Will never meet death till on gallows he’s slung.</div> - <div class='line'>Jan Numscull, a Mushroom that’s lately arose,</div> - <div class='line'>Now stretched on a Dunghill had fuming repose;</div> - <div class='line'>Young Nincompoop Simpkin lay speechless hard by,</div> - <div class='line'>A large Dap of Cow Dung had closed his left eye,</div> - <div class='line'>And Peter the Puffer, he could not tell how,</div> - <div class='line'>In spite of his boasting rode into a slough,</div> - <div class='line'>While snug in a hogstie got Parson Ned Tilly,</div> - <div class='line'>And under a Vuz bush snored Blockheaded Billy,</div> - <div class='line'>Thus ended the meeting that made Poachers tremble.</div> - <div class='line'>The next thee shall hear when again they assemble.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The late Rev. Treasurer Hawker, M.A., in his sketch -of Wolcot, written for the Devonshire Association in 1877 -and published in their <cite>Transactions</cite>, describes most -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>accurately Pindar’s very humorous account of George the -Third’s visit to Exeter in <cite>Brother Jan’s Epistle to Zester -Naw</cite>. He says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The humour is irresistible. It is impossible not to laugh.... There -is a rollicking swing about the description which keeps the whole narrative -going like the steady onward pace of a racing eight-oar, or the -<span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>vis vivida</i></span> of a fast four-horse coach.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>He quotes these stanzas as characteristic alike of the -humour and the dialect. Introducing the Royal entry:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Well, in a come <em>King George</em> to town</div> - <div class='line'>With doust and zweat as nutmeg brown,</div> - <div class='line in2'>The hosses all in smoke:</div> - <div class='line'>Huzzain, trumpetin, and dringin,</div> - <div class='line'>Red colours vleein, roarin, zingin,</div> - <div class='line in2'>So mad seemed all the voke.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The King was not entertained at the Palace, but was -sent to the Dean. Peter says:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Becaze the Bishop sent mun word</div> - <div class='line in2'><em>A hadn’t got the means</em>.</div> - <div class='line'>A could not meat and drink afford.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Peter affected to have heard the King’s remarks about -the cathedral:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Zo, said, “Neat, neat; clean, very clean;</div> - <div class='line'>D’ye mop it, mop it, Measter Dean,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Mop, mop it every week?”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The unhappy reference of Farmer Tab to the King’s -mental condition, though concealed by his dialect, was -simply cruel, and, of course, was carefully preserved by -Peter:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>And, Varmer Tab, I understand,</div> - <div class='line'>Drode his legs vore and catched the hand</div> - <div class='line in2'>And shaked wey might and main.</div> - <div class='line'>“I’m glad your Medjesty to zee,</div> - <div class='line'>And hope your Medjesty,” quoth he,</div> - <div class='line in2'>“Wull ne’er be <em>mazed</em> again.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'><span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>The King is befogged by the Devonshire word:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Maz’d, maz’d, what’s maz’d,” then said the King,</div> - <div class='line'>“I never heerd of zich a thing.</div> - <div class='line'>What’s maz’d, what, what, my lord?”</div> - <div class='line'>“Hem,” zed my lord, and blow’d his nose,</div> - <div class='line'>“Hem, hem, sir, ’tis, I do suppose,</div> - <div class='line'>Sir, an old Devonshire word.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>Jan Ploughshare is made to say in a later stanza that -he has found royalty so disappointing a show that when -he gets home to Moreton and reads his Bible he shall for -the future “skep the books of Kings.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The late Rev. Treasurer Hawker further says:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Kingsbridge may point with some degree of pride to her son’s sturdy -independence, his dislike of jobbery and shams, his refusal to be blinded -or muzzled in his denunciation of abuses by any powerful position or -high rank.... Wolcot was a bad, sensual, vindictive man, yet a -certain respect must, I think, be paid to one who in an age inclined to -toadyism of big people, did not shrink from confronting the false idols -of the day, even if sometimes he toppled them over with undue violence -and contempt.—(Sketch of Wolcot read at Kingsbridge, July, 1887. -<cite>Transact. Devon. Association.</cite>)</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>A writer in the <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite> gives this -most accurate appreciation:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Wolcot’s humour was broad, and he cared little whether he hit above -or below the belt, but he had a keen eye for the ridiculous, and was -endowed with a wondrous facility of diction.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The same writer truly says that many of his serious -pieces were marked by taste and feeling, and his translation -of Thomas Warton’s Latin epigram on sleep dwells -in the memory through its happy simplicity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The story is told of the bargain which he made with -the London publishers, who, hearing that he proposed to -sell his copyrights, told off one of their representatives to -negotiate with him. The agent found the old Doctor quite -ready for him, sitting up in bed with a fine churchyard -cough in splendid development, and with a side-table furnished -with an impressive array of medicines. At first a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>sum was offered which Peter considered contemptibly -small. He asked at once a payment of some three hundred -pounds a year, and amidst much painful coughing managed -to say, “I shall not live, I know, to enjoy it long, as you -may see, so there is no excuse for meanness in my case.” -The agent was quite impressed by the scene, and the -bargain was closed for two hundred and fifty pounds yearly -for his life, with the condition that all future writing was -to be for them alone. This was in 1795, and to the -chagrin of his publishers he displayed the vitality so often -seen in annuitants, and actually lived on for nearly a -quarter of a century to enjoy their reluctant generosity.</p> - -<p class='c001'>His minor poems are oftener quoted because they are -freer from objectionable matter. <cite>The Razor Seller</cite>, and -<cite>The Pilgrim and the Peas</cite> are well known, and have been -used as recitations, but his longer odes and letters had -more than a passing notice, they were so strong in their -satire, and so numerous as to have affected public opinion. -The very Government were alarmed and pressed upon -him a pension as a means of preventing further onslaughts -upon the foibles and peculiarities of the king. Some preliminary -payments were actually received by him, and all -was at one time apparently settled in his favour when he -suddenly returned the monies paid him, objecting to the -conditions of silence and declining all further favours.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Cruel to the peculiarities of others, he was most sensitive -himself to criticism, and hungry for praise, as he admits -in an appeal to his reviewers:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I am no cormorant for fame, d’ye see;</div> - <div class='line in2'>I ask not <em>all</em> the laurel, but a <em>sprig</em>!</div> - <div class='line'>Then hear me, Guardians of the sacred Tree,</div> - <div class='line in2'>And stick a leaf or two about my wig.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In sonnet, ode, and legendary tale,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Soon will the press my tuneful works display;</div> - <div class='line'>Then do not damn ’em, and prevent the sale;</div> - <div class='line in2'>And your petitioner shall ever pray.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>It must have been hateful to him to have found at -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>last, in Gifford, the scholar and critic who attacked him -in the anti-Jacobin magazine in an article entitled <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">“Nil -admirari, etc.,”</span> a foeman whose satire was as strong as his -own. Gifford speaks of Peter Pindar as “this disgusting -subject, the prolific reviler of his Sovereign and impious -blasphemer of his God”; hard words for one to put up -with, however clearly he may have deserved them. -Though his character is not exemplary, and cleverness -must not be allowed to atone for lack of moral sense, we -do not wish to paint him of too black a hue, if only for -charity’s sake. Gifford’s attack was strong and straight, -and it may be doubted if Peter’s reputation ever survived -it. There was a common fight between these two in which -Peter came off worst. He deserved it, for he was the -aggressor. Discredited in the popular estimation, he -lingered on for a while, and though from 1811 to 1819 he -was suffering from blindness and infirmity, he dictated -verses until within a few days of his death.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Commencing his London residence in 1781, soon after -the publication of his first book of lyric odes, he lived -in many different houses, in Southampton Row (1793); -Tavistock Row (1794); Chapel Street, Portland Place -(1800); 8, Delany Place, Camden Town (1802); 94, -Tottenham Court Road (1807); and Latham Place, Somer’s -Town, where he died on the 14th January, 1819.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Of his personal appearance much has been said. He -has been described as “a thick, squat man with a large, -dark and flat face and no speculation in his eye.” There -are many portraits of him published, most of them by his -<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>protégé</i></span>, Opie, the “Cornish boy,” as he calls him, whom -he both educated and boomed in the press, a genius of -undoubted merit as a painter. Unless these pictures outrageously -flatter him, his must have been a fine physiognomy. -We have seen eight or nine portraits, taken at -different periods of his life, and in all he appears like a -well-bred and handsome man of the style and period of -George the Fourth. There is a miniature of him, however, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>in the National Portrait Gallery, which is said with -candour to express many of the disagreeable features of -his character. Our own portrait appended to this sketch -is from a painting by Opie, engraved by C. H. Hodges, -and reproduced in photography by Bailey, of Kingsbridge. -One of his most faithful portraits is a miniature by Lethbridge, -a Kingsbridge artist of some fame, who was born -at Goveton, a little hamlet not far from the town.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Probably the last public compliment ever received by -Peter Pindar was the dedication by his scholarly neighbour -to him of the well-known <cite>History of Kingsbridge</cite>, published -in 1819 (the year of Pindar’s death) by A. Hawkins, -Esq., F.H.S. With the terms of that dedication we might -fitly close our notice:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>To <span class='sc'>John Wolcot</span>, M.D., long accredited at the Court of Apollo as -Peter Pindar, Esq., these pages commemorative of the History and -Topography of the vicinity of his native earth, are by his permission -dedicated as a mark of sincere respect for his superior genius and talents.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>If in our sketch of Peter Pindar we have “extenuated -aught,” we have been wishful to “set down naught in -malice,” and can only endorse the universal opinion as to -his talent, with the unconcealed wish that such great power -had been allowed to exert itself on a higher plane and to -a nobler purpose.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>O quantum est in rebus inane!</div> - <div class='line in30'>—<cite>Pers. I.</cite> 1.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line in7'>How vain are all his cares!</div> - <div class='line'>And oh! what bubbles, his most grave affairs.</div> - <div class='line in30'>—<cite>Gifford.</cite></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='c026'><span class='large'><span class='sc'>William Thomas Adey.</span></span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span> - <h2 class='c008'>HONITON LACE.<br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By Miss Alice Dryden.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_s.jpg' width='31' height='40' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -Situated in the fertile vale of the Otter, -surrounded by wooded hills and combes, the -quiet little town of Honiton slopes down a hill, -crosses the river, and ends at the old Hospital -of St. Margaret. The picturesque street seems to have -a repose amid its beautiful surroundings commensurate -with the peaceful industry that has made its undying -fame; for thanks to its having been the head-quarters -of the beautiful lace manufacture, the name of Honiton -is better known than that of many a big city. That its -renown should have overshadowed other places is doubtless -owing to its being situated on the great coach roads -from London and from Bath to Exeter and the ports -beyond; travellers were brought to the spot, who would -alight while their horses rested; they would then be -offered a box of lace at the inn to select from, while -the work-girls themselves looked out for the arrival of -the coaches and pressed their wares on the occupants, who -took away their purchases to other parts of the country -as a speciality of Honiton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Risdon<a id='r12' /><a href='#f12' class='c021'><sup>[12]</sup></a> speaks of it as “a great Market and Thorough-Fair, -from East to West,” and Westcote<a id='r13' /><a href='#f13' class='c021'><sup>[13]</sup></a> writes:—“It is -a great thoroughfare from Cornwall, Plymouth, and Exeter -to London; and for the better receipt of travellers, very -well furnished with Inns.”</p> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i238' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_238fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Photograph</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>By Miss Alice Dryden.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Honiton Lace.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>Lace-making has been practically limited to that part -of the county south of Exeter which lies between Dorset -and the Exe. The industry found its way to Devonshire, -if the generally accepted theory be correct, by the Flemish -refugees flying from the persecutions of the Duke of -Alva. Lace was made on the pillow in the Low Countries -about the middle of the sixteenth century, so by the -date of the Alva persecution (1568–77) the people might -have learnt it in sufficient numbers to start it wherever -they set up their new home.</p> - -<p class='c001'>There is much probability to support this theory, and -some names of undoubted Flemish origin did and do still -exist in Honiton, as Gerard, Murch, Groot, Trump. On -the other hand, if there had been any considerable number -of Flemings in Devonshire they would surely have founded -a Company of their Reformed Church, and no reference is -found in the published books of the Archives of the -London Dutch Church of any such Company in Devonshire; -whereas references abound to places in the -eastern counties and Midlands where Flemings were -established.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was not till we read of bone<a id='r14' /><a href='#f14' class='c021'><sup>[14]</sup></a> lace that it may be -taken to mean pillow lace, made either with fish bones -as pins or sheep’s trotters as bobbins. That bones were -used as bobbins is stated by Fuller;<a id='r15' /><a href='#f15' class='c021'><sup>[15]</sup></a> but the fish bone -theory is also possible; pins were very high priced at -that time, and it would have been perfectly possible to -use fish bones fine enough for the geometrical laces of -the sixteenth century.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Queen Elizabeth was much addicted to the collecting -and wearing of beautiful clothes, but no definite mention -of English lace seems to occur in the Royal Wardrobe -Accounts.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>The earliest mention of Honiton lace is by -Westcote—“At Axminster you may be furnished with fine -flax thread there spun. At Honiton and Bradnidge with -bone lace much in request”;<a id='r16' /><a href='#f16' class='c021'><sup>[16]</sup></a> and, referring again to -Honiton—“Here is made abundance of bone-lace, a pretty -toye now greatly in request”; and therefore the town -may say with merry Martial—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>In praise for toyes such as this,</div> - <div class='line'>Honiton second to none is.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c020'>The famous inscription on a tombstone in Honiton -Churchyard, together with Westcote, proves the industry to -have been well established in the reign of James I. The -inscription runs:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Here lyeth ye body of James Rodge, of Honinton in ye County of -Devonshire, (Bonelace Siller, hath given unto the poore of Honinton -P’ishe the benyfitt of £100 for ever) who deceased ye 27 of July A<sup>o</sup> D<sup>i</sup> -1617 ÆTATÆ SVAE 50. Remember the Poore.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>There have been traditions that Rodge was a valet who -accompanied his master abroad and there, learning the -fine Flemish stitches, taught some Devonshire women on -his return home, and was enabled to make a comfortable -competence by their work.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rodge was not the only benefactor to the town connected -with the industry; there are two others recorded -in the seventeenth century. “Although the earliest known -MS., Ker’s <cite>Synopsis</cite>, 1561, giving an account of the -different towns in Devonshire, makes no mention of lace, -we find from it that Mrs. Minifie, one of the earliest named -lace-makers, was an Englishwoman.”<a id='r17' /><a href='#f17' class='c021'><sup>[17]</sup></a> “She was a -daughter of John Flay, Vicar of Buckrell, near Honiton.”<a id='r18' /><a href='#f18' class='c021'><sup>[18]</sup></a> -She died in 1617, and left money for the indigent townspeople, -as did Thomas Humphrey, of Honiton, lace-maker, -in 1658.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>The advantages of the lace trade were realized by the -time of the Commonwealth. Fuller,<a id='r19' /><a href='#f19' class='c021'><sup>[19]</sup></a> writing during that -period, says of bone lace:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Much of this is made in and about Honyton, and weekly returned to -London. Some will have it called Lace, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>à Lacinia</i></span>, used as a fringe on -the borders of cloathes. Bone-lace it is named, because first made with -bone (since wooden) bobbins ...</p> - -<p class='c001'>Modern the use thereof in England, and not exceeding the middle of -the Raign of Queen Elizabeth. Let it not be condemned for a superfluous -wearing, because it doth neither hide nor heat; seeing it doth -adorn. Besides, though private persons pay for it, it stands the State -in nothing; not expensive of Bullion, like other lace, costing nothing -save a little thread descanted on by art and industry. Hereby many -children who otherwise would be burthensome to the Parish prove -beneficial to their Parents. Yea, many lame in their limbs, and impotent -in their arms, if able in their fingers, gain a livelyhood thereby; not to -say that it saveth some thousands of pounds yearly, formerly sent over -Seas to fetch Lace from Flanders.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The English were always ready to protect their own -trades and manufactures, and various were the Acts passed -to prohibit the importation of foreign lace, for the -encouragement of home workers. In 1698 it was proposed -to repeal the last Prohibition, and from the text of a -Petition sent to the House of Commons, some interesting -light is thrown on the extent of the trade at that date.</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The making Bonelace has been an ancient Manufacture of England -and the Wisdom of our Parliaments all along thought it the interest of -this Kingdom to prohibit its Importation from Foreign Parts.... -This has revived the said Languishing Manufacture and there are now -above one hundred thousand People in England who get their living by -it and Earn by meer Labour £500,000 a year, according to the lowest -computation that can be made; and the Persons employed in it, are for -the most part Women and children who have no other means of Subsistence. -The English are now arrived to make as good Lace in Fineness -and all other respects, as any that is wrought in Flanders; and particularly -since the late Act so great an improvement is made that way that -in <em>Buckinghamshire</em> the highest prized lace they used to make was about -eight shillings per yard, and now they make lace there of above thirty -shillings per yard and in Dorsetshire and Devonshire they now make lace -worth Six pound per yard and in other Places proportionable. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>Laws formerly made not proving effectual, one more strict passed 36 -Years since in the 14th of King Charles II. which said Act recites -“That great numbers of the Inhabitants of this Kingdom were then -employed in making the said manufacture. Since that time the same -has encreased to a great Degree, till of late Years the Art of Smuggling -being grown to greater Perfection than formerly, larger quantities of -<em>Flanders</em>-lace have been clandestinely imported, which occasioned the -Enforcing of the former Prohibition Acts by a late one made in the 10th -year of his Present Majesty.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Secondly, the Lace which used to come for England is but a small -part of their [Flanders] whole Lace-Trade, for they send it to Holland, -Germany, Sweden, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, etc., whereas we -make it chiefly to serve our own Country and Plantations.</p> - -<p class='c001'>... The Lace Manufacture in England is the greatest next to -the Woollen and maintains a multitude of People, which otherwise the -Parishes must, and that would soon prove a heavy burthen, even to those -concerned in the Woollen Manufacture ... on the Resolution which -shall be taken in this affair depends the Well-being or ruin of numerous -families in their own Country. Many laws have been made to set our -Poor on Work and it is to be hoped none will be made to take away work -from Multitudes who are already Employed.”</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Here follows the numbers of the people in a few places -which get their living by making of lace. Those quoted in -Devonshire as interesting to compare with the present -day are:—</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='78%' /> -<col width='21%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Gittesham</td> - <td class='c012'>139</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Culliton</td> - <td class='c012'>353</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Coumbraleigh</td> - <td class='c012'>65</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Northleigh</td> - <td class='c012'>32</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Sidmouth</td> - <td class='c012'>302</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Axmouth</td> - <td class='c012'>73</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Sidbury</td> - <td class='c012'>321</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Buckerall</td> - <td class='c012'>90</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Farway</td> - <td class='c012'>70</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Upotery</td> - <td class='c012'>118</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Shut and Musbery</td> - <td class='c012'>25</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Southley</td> - <td class='c012'>45</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Fennyton</td> - <td class='c012'>60</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Branscombe Beare and Seaton</td> - <td class='c012'>326</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Widworthy and Offerell</td> - <td class='c012'>128</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Broad Hembury</td> - <td class='c012'>118</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Honyton</td> - <td class='c012'>1,341</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Luppit</td> - <td class='c012'>215</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Axminster</td> - <td class='c012'>60</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Otrey St. Mary</td> - <td class='c012'>814</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>Shut and Musbery</td> - <td class='c012'>25</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c001'>The Dragoons suppressing Monmouth’s Rebellion in -1680 are stated to have despoiled the poor lacemakers -greatly, and at Colyton broke into the house of a dealer -in bone lace, Burd by name, and stole his goods to the -value of £325.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>The trade was still advancing when Defoe wrote in -1724:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The valuable manufactures of Lace, for which the inhabitants of Devon -have long been conspicuous, are extending now from Exmouth to Torbay.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Later still we find the people at Honiton make “the -broadest sort that is made in England.”<a id='r20' /><a href='#f20' class='c021'><sup>[20]</sup></a> Just previously, -in 1753, the first prize was awarded by the Anti-Gallican -Society, which encouraged home trade, to Mrs. Lydia -Maynard, of Honiton, “in token of six pairs of ladies’ -Lappets of unprecedented beauty.” This date seems to -have been the zenith of the lace prosperity, and reverses -soon after set in.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Two fires occurred in Honiton, causing much distress, -and the second, in 1765, was of so devastating a character -that the town had to be rebuilt. Shawe says, writing at -the end of last century:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>For its present condition Honiton is indebted to that dreadful fire -which reduced three parts of it to ashes. The houses now wear a pleasing -aspect, and the principal street extending from East to West, is paved in -a remarkable manner, forming a canal, and well shouldered up on each -side with pebbles and green turf, which holds a stream of clear water with -a square dipping place opposite each door, a mark of cleanliness and -convenience I never saw before.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The American war had an evil effect upon the lace -trade; still worse was the French Revolution, and -also the change of the fashion in dress; lace was no -longer used in profusion in the ladies’ wardrobe, and the -demand for it declined to a serious extent for the workers. -Worse yet, however, was the introduction of machine net, -the first factory being set up at Tiverton in 1815. Lysons<a id='r21' /><a href='#f21' class='c021'><sup>[21]</sup></a> -writes just afterwards:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The manufactory of lace has much declined, although the lace still -retains its superiority. Some years ago, at which time it was much -patronized by the Royal Family, the manufactures of Honiton employed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>2,400 hands in the town and in the neighbouring villages; they do not -now employ above 300. The lace here made had acquired some time ago -the name of Bath Brussels lace; but it is now generally known by its -original appellation of Honiton bone (or thread) lace. It has always -been manufactured from thread made at Antwerp; the present market -price of which is 70l. per lb.; an inferior lace is made in the villages -along the coast, of British thread, called Trolly lace.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>No other reference to Bath Brussels lace is forthcoming; -the reason of the name Bath is not apparent. The thread -seems always to have been and is still a difficulty to contend -with in English lace. It seems impossible to get the -very fine, silky, pure flax thread in the home market. A -greater part of the lace made at the present time is wasted -labour by reason of the coarse cottony thread used.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The evolution (if it may be termed so) of Honiton lace -is briefly this. The bone or bobbin lace before mentioned -at first consisted of a small and simple imitation of the -early Italian pillow laces—mere narrow strips made by -coarse threads plaited and interlaced. They got -wider and more elaborate as the workers gained -experience. Specimens may be seen on three Devonshire -monuments of the first part of the seventeenth -century. Whether the lace of the district is imitated or not -it is probably similar to what would have been made there -at that time. On the effigy of a Lady Pole in Colyton -Church, her cape is edged with three rows of bone lace. -Another, which is in excellent preservation, is on an effigy -of Lady Dodderidge in Exeter Cathedral, her cuffs and -tucker being a good pattern of geometric design. The -third is on an effigy in Combe Martin Church, 1637.<a id='r22' /><a href='#f22' class='c021'><sup>[22]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'>Bobbin laces soon became popular, as they were so -much cheaper than the elaborate points; they became so -eminently the speciality of Belgium as to make her the -classic country of pillow work. Belgium was noted for -her linens and delicately spun flax; in consequence, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>Flemings departed from the style of their Italian -masters, and made laces of their own fine threads; the -fashion of wearing flat linen collars, in the early part of -the seventeenth century, encouraged the new style. They -worked out their own designs, and being fond of flowers, -it naturally came about they composed devices of blossoms -and foliage.</p> - -<p class='c001'>These alterations, in course of time, found their way -to England, there being much intercourse between their -brethren here established and those remaining in Flanders. -The lace continued to get finer and closer in texture, the -flax thread being required so fine that it became necessary -to spin it in damp underground cellars. That the -workers in England could not compete successfully against -the foreigner with their home-made threads we find over -and over again. They also altered the Brussels designs, -and instead of the beautiful <em>fillings</em> and openwork -stitches substituted heavy guipure bars. The <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>vrai -réseau</i></span> or pillow net ground succeeded the <em>bride</em> -towards the end of the seventeenth century. During -the eighteenth century the flowers were made separately -and worked in with the net afterwards, or rather the -net was worked into the flowers on the pillow. The -best <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>réseau</i></span> was made by hand with the needle, and -was much more expensive. The advantages of making -the net separately soon declared themselves, and it -formed an extensive branch of the trade. The mode -of payment seems tedious but primitive in its simplicity; -the net was spread out on the dealer’s counter, -and the worker covered it with shillings; as many -as it took to cover it she had as the value of her work. -“A piece bought previous to the introduction of machine -net, 18 ins. square, cost £15. At the commencement of -machine net, in 1808, it could be bought for as many -shillings, and in 1851 for as many pence.”<a id='r23' /><a href='#f23' class='c021'><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>Trolly lace comes next in order; it was quite different -from the Honiton type, and resembled many of the -laces made in the Midlands at the present time. It -was made with coarse British thread, heavier, larger -bobbins, and worked straight on round the pillow. -The origin was undoubtedly Flemish, but it is said -to have reached Devonshire at the time of the French -Revolution through the Normandy peasants, driven by want -of employment from their own country, where lace was a -great industry in the eighteenth century. Be this as it -may, lappets and scarves were certainly made of Trolly -lace at an earlier date; Mrs. Delaney, in one of her letters -(1756) speaks of a “trolly head.” Trolly lace, before its -downfall, has been sold at the extravagant price of five -guineas a yard.<a id='r24' /><a href='#f24' class='c021'><sup>[24]</sup></a> The origin of <em>Trolly</em> is from the -Flemish <i>Trolle Kant</i>, where the design was outlined -with a thick thread.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The most startling change in the lace industry occurred -after 1816, when the introduction of machine net caused -the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>vrai <a id='corr246.20'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='reséau'>réseau</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_246.20'><ins class='correction' title='reséau'>réseau</ins></a></span></i></span> to go out of fashion. The cheap mechanical -net took the place of the hand-made ground, throwing -hundreds of hands out of work in a few years, and -upsetting the social economy of the district. Application -on machine net became universal, and the prices -decreasing, the workers lost heart, and gave up their -good old patterns, taking to inventions out of their -heads, and frequently down to the present time copying -some frightful design from a wall paper!</p> - -<p class='c001'>Queen Adelaide, in answer to a petition sent up by the -lace makers, ordered a dress made of Honiton sprigs on -machine net, in which every flower was to be copied from -nature. It was executed at Honiton.<a id='r25' /><a href='#f25' class='c021'><sup>[25]</sup></a> The bridal dress -of Queen Victoria, which she ordered from Devonshire, was -carried out at Beer, and cost £1,000. It was made in the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>guipure</i></span> fashion, the sprigs being connected by openwork -stitches on the pillow. The trade from that time revived, -as lace came once more into fashion, the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>guipure</i></span> being the -description made, the sections of the pattern united on -the pillow, or sewn on to paper and joined by the needle -with the various lace stitches; <em>purling</em> is made by the -yard, for the edge.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The lace schools of this time were a great feature, -there being many in every village, and as few other -schools existed, boys in addition to the girls of the place -attended and learnt the industry.<a id='r26' /><a href='#f26' class='c021'><sup>[26]</sup></a> The usual mode of -procedure was this. The children commenced attending -at the age of five to seven, and were apprenticed to the -mistress for an average of two years, who sold all their -work for her trouble; they then paid 6d. a week for a -time, and had their own lace, then 3d., and so on according -to the amount of teaching they still required. The young -children went first from 10 to 12 in the morning to -accustom them to work by degrees. At Honiton the full -hours were 8 to 8 in the summer and in the depth of -winter, but in spring and autumn less on account of the -light; as candles were used only from nutting day, the -3rd of September, till Shrove Tide. The old rhyme -runs:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Be the Shrove Tide high or low -Out the candle we will blow.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>At Sidbury it was <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>de rigeur</i></span> that directly a girl -married, however young, she wore a cap; but till then the -lace-makers were famous for their good hair being -beautifully dressed. When school began they stood up -in a circle to read the “Verses”; if any one read “jokily” -they were given a penalty, and likewise for idleness—so -much extra work. In nearly all schools they were taught -reading from the Bible, and in some they learnt writing.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>The Honiton pillows run rather smaller than those for -Buckingham lace, and do not have the multiplicity of -starched coverings—only three “pill cloths” over the top, -and another each side of the lace in progress; two pieces -of horn, called “sliders,” go between to take the weight -of the bobbins from dragging the stitches in progress; a -small square pincushion is on one side, and stuck into the -pillow is the “needle pin,” a large sewing needle in a -wooden handle, used for picking up loops through which -the bobbins or “sticks” are placed. These last are mostly -turned box-wood, small and light, and no coloured beads -or “gingles” at the end, as that would make them too -heavy for the fine threads. Some of them are of great -age. Mrs. Treadwin found an old lace-maker using a -lace “turn” for winding sticks, having the date of 1678 -rudely carved on the foot.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The pillow has to be frequently turned round -in the course of the work, so no stand is used, and it is -rested against a table or doorway, or formerly, in the -golden days, in fine weather there would be rows of -workers sitting outside their cottages resting their “pills” -against the back of the chair in front.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Ever since the Great Exhibition of 1851 drew attention -to the industry, someone or some society has been -trying to encourage better design and better manufacture; -but the majority of the people have sought for a livelihood -by meeting the demand for cheap and shoddy articles—that -dreadful bane of modern times. Good patterns, good -thread, good work, have been thrown aside, the workers -and small dealers recking little of the fact that they themselves -were ruining the trade as much as machinery; -tarnishing the fair name of Honiton throughout the world -among those able to appreciate a beautiful art. Fortunately -there were some able to lead in the right path, -and all honour must be given to Lady Trevelyan, who, -at Seaton and Beer, about 1850–70, designed and superintended -the working of naturalistic flowers and sprays; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>also to Mrs. Treadwin at Exeter, who started reproducing -old laces, and with her workers turned out excellent -copies of old Venetian rose-point, Valenciennes, or -Flemish. Mrs. Treadwin was a woman of culture and -taste who had the best interests of the trade at heart.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the present work there is a straining after novelty -with no capable designers at the helm. We ought, as a -national duty, to encourage to our utmost any industry -that can be worked in the rural districts. Let the -Education Authorities frankly acknowledge that our Art -Schools cannot turn out lace designers, and import one -of our clever French neighbours to help the Devonian -workers. It would, after all, only be a case of <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>L’histoire -se répète toujours</i></span> since the days of Benedict Biscop, who -imported vestments which gave the English their first -lesson in embroidery.</p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>Alice Dryden.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span> - <h2 class='c008'>“THE BLOODY ELEVENTH”;<br /> <span class='sc'>With Notes on County Defence.</span> <br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By Lieut.-Col. P. F. S. Amery.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_t.jpg' width='33' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -The Devonshire Regiment, of which the Haytors -now form a battalion, was raised so far back as -1685, has seen a vast amount of service, and has -ever served with distinction before the enemy -in the two centuries of its history. During the rebellion -of the Duke of Monmouth, in 1685, many new corps were -raised, and among them a regiment of musketeers and -pikemen by the Duke of Beaufort. It was composed of -loyal men of Devon, Somerset, and Dorset, and was -known as “The Duke of Beaufort’s Musketeers.” In the -same year, after the rebellion had been crushed at Sedgemoor, -the Duke resigned the colonelcy to his son, the -Marquis of Worcester. At that time regiments were -named after their colonels. The corps was distinguished -by tawny-coloured ribbons in their hats, scarlet coats lined -with tawny-coloured shalloon, tawny-coloured breeches, -stockings, and sashes. Lord Worcester was succeeded in -1687 by Lord Montgomery, who was devoted to the -interests of James II. In 1688 the regiment was in -garrison at Hull, when the Prince of Orange landed at -Torbay. The Governor of Hull was also a supporter of -James. The regiment, however, led by its Lieutenant-Colonel, -Sir John Hanmer, declared with the inhabitants -of Hull for the Prince of Orange and the Protestant party. -Sir John Hanmer was made Colonel, and in 1689 took part -with his regiment in the famous relief of Londonderry. In -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>1690 it served under the eye of William III. at the Battle -of the Boyne, where it repulsed three cavalry charges and -materially assisted to secure the Protestant succession. In -1707, under Colonel Hill, it was present at the terrible -battle of Almanza, in Portugal, where, after performing -deeds of valour, it was overpowered and cut to pieces. -Twenty-six officers and nearly all the men were killed, -wounded, or taken. In 1709 it served under Marlborough -in the Netherlands, took part in the siege of Mons, where -it greatly distinguished itself in repulsing a sortie, in which -ten officers and 150 men were lost. In 1715, under -Colonel Montague, it took part against the rebellion under -the Earl of Mar in Scotland, and at the battle of Dunblane -lost eight officers and 108 men. In 1738, Colonel -Cornwallis was appointed, and as Cornwallis’ regiment took -part in the war of Austrian succession. It was present at -the battle of Dettingen, in 1743, where George II. in -person commanded the army, and received a French -cavalry charge in line. Cornwallis’ and another battalion -executed a difficult manœuvre, which brought the enemy’s -cavalry under fire. The name of Dettingen is borne on the -colours. In 1745, at Fontenoy, it again broke through the -French lines, and almost secured victory; its losses were -seven officers and 212 men. It was re-called to England -during the Pretender’s rebellion in Scotland, and sent again -into the Low Countries in 1746, where, as Graham’s regiment, -it took a prominent and honourable part in the -desperate battle of Roucoux against the renowned Marshal -Saxe, where it lost twelve officers and 206 men.</p> - -<p class='c001'>1st July, 1751.—A royal warrant was issued, regulating -the clothing and colours of every regiment. It was now -numbered as 11th Regiment of Foot, and the “facings -spoken of as being green,” but when they were changed -from tawny is not known. The drummers were clothed in -green, faced with red. 1756.—The strength was increased -to twenty companies, which were divided into two battalions. -1758.—The second battalion was constituted the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>Sixty-fourth Regiment, illustrating the birth of new regiments. -The 11th took part in the Seven Years’ War, -1760 to 1763, under the Prince of Brunswick. In 1782 -county titles were given to regiments in order to facilitate -recruiting, and the 11th was designated the “North -Devon Regiment,” and the officers were enjoined to cultivate -an intercourse with that part of the county, so as -to create a mutual attachment between the inhabitants and -the regiment. Exactly a century afterwards similar orders -and changes took place for a like purpose. In 1793, when -England was threatened with invasion by the French -Republic, and volunteers were being drilled, the 11th was -defending Toulon against Napoleon. It was evacuated -after a gallant defence by twelve thousand men of five -different nations, over a line of outposts extending fifteen -miles in circumference, against an army of between thirty -and forty thousand men. The 11th formed part of -the garrison under Lord Mulgrave, and distinguished itself -in several sorties, especially that on 30th November, 1793, -when the French were driven from their batteries and -guns spiked. In this affair, Napoleon Bonaparte, then an -artillery officer, received a bayonet wound in his thigh. -Thus the first contact the future Emperor made with a -British battalion was with our Devon Regiment; and he -did not again come face to face with us until the Battle -of Waterloo, although he is said to have watched some of -the battles in the Pyrenees from a distance. In 1798, it -was sent to Ostend on a very hazardous expedition to cut -the Great Canal; it did its work, but was unable to -re-embark owing to a storm, and 24 officers and 456 men -were captured. In 1800, the 11th was sent to the West -Indies, took part in the capture of St. Bartholomew, St. -Martin’s, St. Thomas, St. John, and Santa Cruz; in 1807 -to Madeira. In 1808, a second battalion was again added, -which formed a part of the Walcheren expedition in -1809. At the taking of Flushing they took a set of -brass drums belonging to the 11th French Regiment, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>and enlisted the musicians of a Prussian band serving -in the French army, when all the men joined -with their instruments. In 1810 and 1811, they took -part in the Peninsula War. On 22nd July, 1812, the -regiment won glory at the decisive battle of Salamanca, -which led to the French being driven out of Spain. The -11th, 53rd, and 61st Regiments formed a brigade in the -Sixth Division, commanded by Major-General Clinton. -Lord Wellington had noticed that in manœuvring his -troops the French marshal had so extended his forces as -to be unable to support each other. To take advantage -of this mistake, the 11th, as leading its brigade, was -pushed forward under a heavy fire, and was soon engaged -in a desperate struggle, and drove the French from their -ground. At the close of the action a French division made -a very determined stand to recover the retreat. The 6th -British Division again attacked, led by the 11th, and as -the darkness came on overpowered the French, who fled -in confusion. They lost 16 officers, 325 men; only 4 -officers and 67 men came out unwounded. The 11th captured -a battery of guns and a green standard without an -eagle. The 122nd French Regiment, which was opposed -to the 11th with two battalions, numbering 2,200 strong, -the next day only mustered 200 men; they were mostly -taken prisoners. Captain Lord Clinton, uncle of our late -Lord Lieutenant, was despatched with the news direct -from the field, and carried with him the green standard. -He landed at Plymouth, and in a chaise and four rattled -up the road to London. As he passed through the towns -on the way he exhibited the standard, and persons now -living in Ashburton remember seeing him pass through; -he was at that time Lord of the Borough of Ashburton. -The 11th earned the nickname of “The Bloody Eleventh” -from the part it had taken in that terrible day. It suffered -severely in the battles in the Pyrenees and following -movements, which resulted in driving the French across the -frontier. It was not present at Waterloo, and in 1816 the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>Second Battalion was disbanded at Gibraltar, the men being -incorporated in the First Battalion. In 1825, new colours -were presented to the regiment whilst at Cork, on which -were added the names of the Peninsula battles. During -the years of peace it moved from station to station, and was -not in the Crimea. During the Indian Mutiny a Second -Battalion was again raised, but did not take part. In -1879–1880, the 11th took part in the Afghan War; in -1881, the regiment ceased to be the 11th and became the -“Devonshire Regiment,” but the green facings were -changed to white, in common with other line regiments, -and are alone borne by the junior battalion, viz., the -Haytor Volunteer Battalion. The Devonshire Territorial -Regiment now consists of two line battalions for foreign -service, two militia battalions, five volunteer battalions, of -which the 1st and 2nd are rifles, total nine.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The reformation and development of the volunteer -force in the middle and latter half of the nineteenth -century, with its embodiment into the territorial line -regiments, has tended to increase the local <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>esprit de corps</i></span> -throughout the kingdom, and especially in Devon, where -the movement had its birth. A short sketch of the -formation and growth of the volunteers in Devon will, -therefore, not only be of local interest, but will be an -illustration of the steps taken in times of danger for the -defence of our shores in the times of our grandfathers, -and continued through the years of peace under our -late imperial Sovereign, Queen Victoria.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Plymouth and its immediate neighbourhood is the -cradle in which the spirit of volunteer defence has -been nurtured; frequently before the sixteenth century -have French and Spaniards made or attempted -landings there for pillage or destruction, but in -each case they suffered severely from the resolute -resistance of the townspeople. In the Civil War the -inhabitants formed themselves into trained bands and -resisted the Royalist siege. In 1745, when Prince -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>Charlie, the young Pretender, landed in Scotland and -gained the battle of Prestonpans, Plymouth again raised -a body of volunteers; and in 1759, when France determined -on a descent on England and had 18,000 men -ready to embark on board the French fleet, Plymouth -again raised two companies of volunteers to strengthen -the militia, one of which undertook to clothe and feed -itself. The destruction of the French fleet by Admiral -Hawke, at the mouth of Quiberon Bay, and the decisive -battle of Minden, where the 20th, or East Devon Regiment, -learned its celebrated “Minden Yell,” removed for a time -the fear of French invasion. When, therefore, in 1779, the -combined fleets of France and Spain held for a time the -possession of the English Channel, and the gallant Elliot -was holding the rock of Gibraltar against famine and -bombardment, and most of our army was fighting in -America, the Spanish and French fleets suddenly appeared -off Plymouth, causing great alarm for the safety of the -dockyard and the numerous French prisoners in the port, -the inhabitants were again ready to enroll themselves. -Mr. William Bastard, of Kitley, the great grandfather of -the present Mr. B. J. B. Bastard, the first Lieutenant-Colonel -of the Haytor Volunteer battalion, offered to -raise a force of 500 men as a corps of Fencibles, and in two -days had 1,500 young men to select from, who wished for -the honour of serving under him. On 23rd August, 1779, -he escorted 1,300 war prisoners to Exeter for safety, and -on the 25th delivered them to the commanding officer there, -and at once returned with his regiment to Plymouth. I -have been unable to find any traditions of this march preserved -in the towns through which they must have passed, -but we may be sure at the time it caused much excitement -along the road and at the places they rested the two nights. -The whole of this eventful period at Plymouth is well -described by Miss Peard in her charming little book, -<cite>Mother Molly</cite>. The example of Plymouth was followed -by the citizens of Exeter, who also raised a Volunteer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>corps. For these services the King, on the 24th September, -signed a warrant for a baronetcy for Mr. Bastard, who, -however, modestly declined the honour. The supremacy -in the Channel was soon restored by the return of the fleet, -and the victories of Admiral Rodney rendered our shores -safe for a time.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1794, the effects of the French Revolution had made -themselves felt in England, and several elaborate plots -were formed to supersede Parliament by a National Convention -after the French model, and to abolish the -Monarchy. Great distress prevailed in the country, which -always forms the best weapon of revolutionists. The rate -of interest rose to seventeen per cent.; the Bank of -England only saved itself by the suspension of cash payment. -Monge, the French Minister of Marine, threatened -to land in England with 50,000 red caps of liberty, and -to overthrow the Government of the country.</p> - -<p class='c001'>It was at this crisis that the Government called on -the different counties to take steps for the defence of the -kingdom, and a meeting of magistrates was called by Lord -Fortescue, the Lord Lieutenant, and presided over by the -High Sheriff, J. S. Pode, Esq., on the 22nd April, 1794. -1795, 7th January, returns showed two troops of cavalry -and twenty-three companies of infantry to have been raised -and equipped by subscription. March 23rd, the Lord -Lieutenant, Earl Fortescue, ordered monthly returns from -each corps. 7th April, 1795, the twelve corps in the -eastern part of the county were formed into a battalion, -under Col. Mackenzie. 2nd June, Colonel Orchard, of -Hartland Abbey, reported that he had inspected his own -regiment, viz., corps at Fremington, Westleigh, Northam, -Hartland, and two companies at Bideford. This appears to -be the six western companies of the north battalion. 1796 -returns showed two troops of cavalry, twenty-two companies -of infantry—1,651 men. In this year an attempt -was made by the French to land in Bantry Bay, which, -however, failed, and the expedition was glad to get back -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>to Brest, with the loss of four ships of the line and eight -frigates. Early in 1797, another expedition, under Tate, -appeared in the Bristol Channel, off Ilfracombe, with the -intention of burning Bristol. The North Devon Volunteers -turned out with great zeal, and were prepared to -dispute the landing on their coast. The French, however, -turned northward and landed in Wales, where they soon -surrendered to a far inferior force of militia, yeomanry, and -volunteers, commanded by Lord Cawdor, and supported -by a reserve of Welsh women in red cloaks. 1798 saw -the nation in the most serious crisis of its history. The -French Directory having made terms with the European -powers, were able to turn all their attention to the -invasion and conquest of the British Isles. Former expeditions -were designed to stir up the disloyal and assist -them to overthrow the Government, but now a French -army was to land on our shores. The Spanish and Dutch -fleets had been pressed into the French service, but British -courage and seamanship had effectually disposed of them -in the great naval battles of St. Vincent and Camperdown. -Nevertheless, an army was organized, named the Army of -England, and distributed along the French coast in readiness -for embarkation. Flat-bottomed boats were prepared -for landing troops and for service on our rivers. The -bankers of Paris were called upon to advance a loan on -the security of English property. The greatest calamity, -however, was a general mutiny in the Channel Fleet at -the Nore, which expelled their officers, elected their own -admiral and captains, hoisted the red flag, and blockaded -the mouth of the Thames; they seriously discussed the -expediency of making the whole over to the French. If -England could not depend on her fleet she must fall. Had -not prompt measures been taken and the mutiny quelled, -invasion on a large scale would certainly have taken place. -To add to these troubles a formidable rebellion broke out -in Ireland, and its leaders arranged for the support of the -French army, under Hocke, a general of great experience. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>A brigade of 1,000 men actually landed in Ireland, under -General Humbert, beat the local troops, and advanced -into the country, but were compelled to surrender to Lord -Cornwallis; and Admiral Warren caught a French fleet -with 3,000 troops on their way to support them, and only -one of the nine ships returned to France. Such being the -state of public affairs, it cannot be denied that our great -grandparents had good grounds for alarm. There is -hardly a district or family in Devon but has some tradition -of that period. Nervous people were afraid to take off -their clothes at night. Old gentlemen provided themselves -with hollow walking-sticks filled with guineas to -carry with them in their flight. At Totnes my great-grandfather’s -family permanently engaged a post-chaise in which -the women and children might escape to Bristol; the -family plate was packed ready to be taken off, and a belt of -guineas provided. The schoolboys enjoyed it, for there -was no school, as the seniors were too much engaged -in obtaining and discussing news to attend to them. The -saying still exists at Totnes, “Going to Paignton to meet -the French,” for “meeting trouble half-way.” Beacon -fires were prepared to spread the news of any landing. A -story is told of a tramp at Dawlish who, in lighting his pipe, -set a hay rick on fire; the watchers at the nearest beacon -took it for a signal of an invasion, and lighted their fires, -which were answered in every direction, and the people -sprang to arms until “That time of slumber was as bright -and busy as the day.” One old sailor, however, had his -wits about him, when his daughter shook him out of a -deep sleep with the news that the French had landed. -Rubbing his eyes, he told her to go and look at the -weather-cock. She came back saying the wind was from -the north. “I thought so,” said he, “and so it was yesterday. -The French can’t land with this wind.” And so -the ancient mariner turned round and went to sleep again.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The next place in the history of volunteers was -the extension of the area of their service. Up to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span>this date the condition of service was confined to -the county of Devon, and in the case of the early Exeter -corps to the defence of the city only. The military -authorities saw the impossibility of mobilising the volunteers, -even to a small extent, who had enlisted under these -conditions. The County Committee were, therefore, instructed -to accept no offers except for service throughout -the military district. It was, however, ultimately arranged -for all volunteers to accept the new conditions, but cities -or large towns should be allowed to maintain a local corps -composed of respectable householders only, to aid the civil -power to protect property. Most of the corps appear to -have been willing to extend their services to the military -district. In January, 1799, it was resolved that no further -offers should be accepted. Each parish was required to -appoint a man and horse to act as guide. The battle of -the Nile and the extinction of the Irish rebellion seem to -have quieted men’s minds for a time. But in April Devonshire -was again astir, for the Committee of Secrecy of the -House of Commons reported that undoubted intelligence -had been received that plans of an invasion and insurrection -in Ireland were being made in France. That the -utmost diligence was being observed in the ports of France -in preparing another expedition to co-operate with the -rebels in Ireland, that it was intended at the same time to -land a French force at different parts of the coast. That -the instructions to Tate, who was taken prisoner in Wales -in 1797, and those of General Humbert, who landed in -Ireland, and who had been destined to command an -expedition against Cornwall, had fallen into the hands of -the Government, and were as follows:—The legion was to -land in Cornwall and to cross the Tamar as quickly as -possible, and to establish itself in the district between it -and the Exe, or, as we should say, in the South Hams. -The “passes and mountains” (Dartmoor) would afford an -easy and safe retreat from the pursuit of the enemy. Thus -Dartmoor was selected both by the French Directory and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>by the English officers for a place of refuge. There, -indeed, in the Dartmoor prisons, many French soldiers and -sailors were destined to find a safe retreat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>But as time went on, and no invasion took place, things -became quieter; the Defence Committee seldom met; the -volunteers, however, continued to drill and to hold reviews.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1801, the separate corps were consolidated into -battalions and regiments. The two 1st Devon troops of -cavalry, with those at Bicton, Tiverton, and Cullompton, -united in the “Royal 1st Devon Yeomanry Cavalry,” under -Lord Rolle as Colonel, Sir Stafford Northcote as -Lieutenant-Colonel. The North Devon Corps of Infantry -became the 3rd North Devon Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel -Fortescue. The Loyal Exminster Hundred -Regiment of Volunteers, under Lord Courtenay, was -similarly formed. In 1802 came the “Peace of Amiens,” -or, as it is frequently called, the “Cloamen Peace.” It -was a fragile, patched up affair, by which Bonaparte -gained breathing time. “It was a peace everyone was -glad of and nobody proud of.” Volunteer affairs became -quiet, many corps were disbanded, among them the Ashburton -Sergebacks. Old soldiers were discharged from -the line regiments, and militiamen sent to their homes.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In May, 1803, Bonaparte suddenly declared war, and -then, as Emperor, prepared in earnest to invade England. -A camp of 100,000 men was formed on the cliffs at -Boulogne, and a host of flat-bottomed boats gathered for -their conveyance across the Channel. At last the -Emperor Napoleon appeared in camp; all was ready. -“<em>Let us be masters of the Channel for six hours</em>,” he is -reported to have said, “<em>and we are masters of the world.</em>” -But he never was able to be master of the Channel for six -hours. The army waited and drilled, the old Bayeaux -tapestry, which illustrates the conquest of England by -William of Normandy, was searched out to create -enthusiasm, and show what had once been done; all kinds -of schemes were resorted to to obtain the naval assistance -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>of other nations, and with success, for the Spanish fleet -joined him. Still, the English fleet, under Lord Nelson, -held the Channel, but any accident might give the six -hours’ mastery, and so England had to be prepared. The -County Defence Committee again assumed the direction of -affairs. The arrangements made in 1798 were once more -put in force. It was in 1803 that the Haytor Regiment -was formed, and commanded by Lord Seymour; it was -1,000 strong, with 250 artillery attached, and appears to -have been made up of all the volunteers in the Haytor -Hundred with those of several towns and parishes adjoining. -Newton Abbot was the headquarters, where Captain -Babb, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel Babb, was captain. -In the former arming of 1798 Ashburton had formed the -9th Devon Corps, under Captain Walter Palk; they had -clothed themselves with local-made serge, and so gained -the name of Sergebacks; they were disbanded at the -Peace of Amiens, but now again formed and became a -company in the Haytor Regiment, under Captain Tozer. -Bridgetown, being in Berry Pomeroy parish, also was in -the Haytor district. Mr. Milford Windeatt, a relative of -the present Captain Windeatt, held a commission in the -Haytor Corps. Totnes, however, formed a separate -corps, being in the Stanborough Hundred, as did also -Highweek, Kingsteignton, Chudleigh, and Bovey Tracey, -which were in Teignbridge. The Stanborough Regiment, -in which Kingsbridge formed a part, was connected with -Plymouth. Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham supplied -artillery men under Colonel Cary, of Tor Abbey. For the -protection of Tor Bay the authorities garrisoned Berry -Head, which, being in the Haytor Hundred, was committed -to a detachment of the regiment under Colonel -Cary. Many stories remain of this period of service. I -cannot say how long the volunteers were out; probably -they relieved each other. One story frequently told was -of the French fire-ships, for which they were on the lookout, -to be sent among the fleet in the bay, and which -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>caused much stir. One night, as the full moon rose red -and fiery out of the sea, the sentry at the headland, who -had come from an inland parish, mistook it for a fire ship, -discharged his musket, and aroused the garrison. The -uniform was similar to the line regiments of the period, -viz., scarlet swallow-tailed coats, turned out with yellow, -blue-black breeches, white cross belts, with a brass plate -having Haytor Regiment thereon; the pouches were -black, the buttons had H.V.R. (Haytor Volunteer Regiment); -officers wore cocked hats, others tall shakoes. -The regiment assembled for field days and drill at -various points in the district. Lord Clifford has a -plan of a sham fight on Bovey-heathfield, but the -movements appear to have been very simple. Lieutenant-Colonel -Babb, whose tablet is in Wolborough -Church, Newton Abbot, commanded the regiment at one -time. On 21st October, 1805, Lord Nelson caught the -combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar. -His last and famous signal, “England expects every man -to do his duty,” was observed and obeyed, and although -he fell in the hour of victory, twenty battleships had struck -their flags ere the day was done. Pitt explained, in his -last public words, “England has saved herself by her -courage; she will save England by her example.” The -crisis had again passed, England could breathe freely once -more, still the volunteers were kept enrolled for a time. -The Haytors were disbanded about 1809, and the old -colours laid up in Wolborough Church until time had consumed -them. The time of peace continued for about forty -years, until the Crimean War, in 1853, left the country -almost without troops to garrison her arsenals. Then -several Volunteer corps were raised, among them the -“Exeter and South Devon,” under Colonel Sir Edmund -Prideaux. At the peace in 1856 it was not disbanded, but -remained embodied until the memorable circular of 12th -May, 1859, in which the Secretary of State for War suggested -the formation of Volunteer corps throughout the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>country as a means of preventing the frequent war scares -caused by the uncertain actions of the French under -Napoleon III. The Exeter corps then became the first -in the kingdom, and through them Devonshire stands at -the top in the precedence of the counties. On 24th May, -1859, the Plymouth corps was formed, but the date of its -acceptance was later on. The movement had life because -it was in accordance with the feelings of the people, -which was shown by almost every town in Devon holding -meetings for the purpose of forming corps, and persons -of every social position offered their services, and in a -large proportion undertook their own outfits. These offers -were mostly accepted by Her Majesty; each corps became -an independent body, and was numbered in the order in -which they were accepted, but joined into administrative -battalions for drill purposes. In 1880, the administrative -battalions were consolidated into corps, which in 1885 -were incorporated as volunteer battalions of the county -regiment, of which they have since formed a part, and -in the South African war sent two companies, fully -officered and equipped, to the front. This brings us to -the eve of the proposed changes in the constitution of -our army and military system, and possibly the close of -the volunteer system as we have known it.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The brave old men of Devonshire!</div> - <div class='line in2'>’Tis worth the world to stand,</div> - <div class='line'>As Devon’s sons, on Devon’s soil,</div> - <div class='line in2'>Though juniors of the band;</div> - <div class='line'>And tell Old England to her ace,</div> - <div class='line in2'>If she is great in fame,</div> - <div class='line'>’Twas good old hearts of Devon oak</div> - <div class='line in2'>That made her glorious name.”</div> - <div class='line in17'><span class='sc'>P. F. S. Amery.</span></div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span> - <h2 class='c008'>JACK RATTENBURY, THE ROB ROY<br /> OF THE WEST.<br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By Maxwell Adams.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c027'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_j.jpg' width='19' height='40' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -John Rattenbury—or, as he is commonly -called, the “Rob Roy of the West”—was born -at Beer in 1788. His father was a shoemaker by -trade, but before his son John was born, he went -to sea on board a man-of-war, and was never again heard -of. His mother supported herself by selling fish, while -Jack was allowed to run wild, spending his time chiefly at -the water-side, where he acquired a taste for the sea and -for those daring adventures which made him subsequently -so notorious. When about nine years of age, he induced -his uncle, who was a fisherman, to take him with him in -his fishing expeditions. This was the beginning of his -sea training, and continued for some time, until one day, -being left in charge of the boat, while his uncle was on -shore at Lyme, he lost her rudder. For this negligence -his uncle chastised him with a rope’s end, whereupon a -separation ensued. Jack then joined a Brixham fisherman -as an apprentice, but after a space of twelve months, -finding this occupation uncongenial, he engaged himself -to the master of a coasting vessel of Bridport, trading -between that port and Dartmouth.</p> - -<div id='i264' class='figcenter id010'> -<img src='images/i_264fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic007'> -<p><span class='sc'>“Jack” Rattenbury.</span><br />(<i>From a Lithograph by W. Bevan.</i>)</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>About this time war broke out between England and -France, and fearing the press-gang, he returned to Beer. -There he found his uncle engaged in collecting men for -privateering, an enterprise which appealed to his roving -spirit, and joining the crew, he, with twenty-two others, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>was conveyed to Torquay and put on board the <i>Dover</i>, -commanded by Captain Matthews. In due course the -<i>Dover</i> was ready for sea, and in March, 1792, started for -her first cruise off the Western Islands. He thus describes -his feelings on this occasion:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>And even now, notwithstanding the lapse of years, I can recall the -triumph and exultation which rushed through my veins, as I saw the -shores of my native country recede, and the vast ocean opening before -me; I was like a bird which had escaped from the confinement of the -cage, and obtained the liberty after which it panted. I thought on some -who had risen from the lowest to the highest posts, from the cabin boy -to the admiral’s flag. I wished to make a figure on the stage of life, and -my hopes and expectations were restless and boundless, like the element -around me.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The privateering enterprise, however, does not appear -to have been very successful. After cruising about the -Western Islands for several weeks without meeting with -any adventure worth relating, the <i>Dover</i> at last fell in with -three American merchant ships laden with French goods, -but as their commanders contended that they were not -lawful prizes, they were allowed to go. It transpired later -on that these very vessels were afterwards taken by an -English cruiser. Not long after, the <i>Dover</i> was captured -by a French ship, and the crew, including John Rattenbury, -were taken to Bordeaux and confined in the prison -of that place. He does not appear to have been badly -treated by his jailers, and he was allowed a certain amount -of liberty, which enabled him to make the acquaintance -of the master of an American vessel, then lying in -Bordeaux harbour, Captain Prowse by name, who, taking -a liking to the lad, allowed him to conceal himself on board -his ship. It was, however, more than twelve months -before the vessel was allowed to leave the port in consequence -of an embargo on all foreign shipping, when, -having taken in a cargo of wine, etc., it was cleared for -New York, which port was reached after a passage of -forty-five days. Here Rattenbury engaged himself as -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>cook and cabin boy on board a ship sailing for Havre de -Grâce. On arrival there he was anxious to get home -again. He therefore transferred himself to an American -merchantman belonging to Boston named the <i>Grand -Turk</i>, bound for London, as he supposed, but much to his -disappointment it proceeded to Copenhagen instead. He -returned in her to Havre de Grâce, and thence after sundry -adventures found himself in Guernsey, where, to his -delight, he met his uncle, who took him back to Beer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>He was now sixteen years of age, and remained quietly -at home for six months, part of which time he spent in -fishing. After the roving life he had led, he found this -occupation most uncongenial, and the smuggling trade, -which was then being plied very briskly in the neighbourhood, -offering great inducements, he determined to try -his fortune at it. He accordingly joined a vessel engaged -in this trade between Lyme and the Channel Islands, but -after four months he engaged on another vessel, the -<i>Friends</i>, a brig, commanded by Captain Jarvis. While -in Tenby harbour she was captured by a French privateer. -He thus narrates the incident:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>At eight o’clock the captain set the watch, and it was my turn to -remain below; at twelve I went on deck, and continued till four, when I -went below again, but was scarcely dropped asleep when I was aroused -by hearing the captain exclaim, “Come on deck, my good fellow! here -is a privateer, and we shall all be taken.” When I got up, I found the -privateer close alongside of us. The captain hailed us in English, and -asked us from what port we came and where we were bound. Our -captain told the exact truth, and he then sent a boat with an officer in -her, to take all hands on board his own vessel, which he did, except myself -and a little boy, who had never been to sea before. He then sent his -prize-master and four men on board our brig, with orders to take her -into the nearest French port. When the privateer was gone, the prize-master -ordered me to go aloft and loose the main-top-gallant sail. When -I came down I perceived that he was steering very wildly, through -ignorance of the coast, and I offered to take the helm, to which he consented, -and directed me to steer south-east by south. He then went -below and was engaged in carousing with his companions. They likewise -sent me up a glass of grog occasionally, which animated my spirits, and -I began to conceive a hope not only of escaping, but also of being -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>revenged on the enemy. A fog, too, came on, which befriended the -design I had in view. I therefore altered the course to east by north, -expecting that we might fall in with some English vessel. As the day -advanced, the fog gradually dispersed, and the sky getting clearer, we -could perceive land. The prize-master and his companions asked me what -land it was; I told them it was Alderney, which they believed, though at -the same time we were just off Portland. We then hauled our wind -more to the south until we cleared the Bill of the Island. Soon after we -came in sight of land off St. Alban’s. The prize-master then again asked -what land it was which we saw; I told him it was Cape la Hogue. My -companions then became suspicious and angry, thinking I had deceived -them, and they took a dog that had belonged to our captain and threw -him overboard in a great rage, and knocked down his house. This I -supposed to be done as a caution, and to intimate to me what would be -my own fate if I had deceived them. We were now within a league of -Swanage, and I persuaded them to go ashore to get a pilot. They then -hoisted out a boat, into which I got with three of them, not without -serious apprehension as to what would be the event; but hope animated, -and my fortunate genius urged me on. We now came so near shore -that the people hailed us, and told us to keep further west. My companions -now began to swear, and said the people spoke English; this I -denied, and urged them to hail again; but as they were rising to do so, -I plunged overboard, and came up the other side of the boat. They -then struck me with their oars, and snapped a pistol at me; but it missed -fire. I still continued swimming, and every time they attempted to strike -me, I made a dive and disappeared. The boat in which they were now -took in water, and finding they were in a vain pursuit and endangering -their own lives and safety, with little chance of being able to overtake -me, they suddenly turned round and rowed away as fast as possible to -regain the vessel. Having got rid of my foes, I put forth all my efforts -to get to the shore, which I at last accomplished, though with great -difficulty. In the meantime the men in the boat reached the brig, and -spreading all their canvas, bore away for the French coast. Being afraid -that they would get off with the vessel, I immediately sent two men, one -to the signal-house at St. Alban’s and another to Swanage, to obtain all -the assistance they could to bring her back.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>By good fortune the <i>Nancy</i>, a cutter belonging to the -Custom’s Service, happened to be lying in Swanage Bay, -under the command of Captain Willis, who, giving chase, -re-captured the brig and brought her into Cowes Roads. -She was restored to her owners, on their paying salvage, -but Rattenbury received no reward for his services, and -two days after re-joining the brig, was impressed into the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>Royal Navy and put on board a cutter cruising off the -Channel Islands. On her return to Spithead, Rattenbury -escaped on board a fishing smack and was landed at -Portland, whence he proceeded, on foot, to Beer, exchanging -his cap with a young man whom he met on the way -for a hat. Some days after a party from the cutter sent -in search of him reached Lyme, but although they failed -to catch Rattenbury they had arrested the young man -with whom he had exchanged hats. He was released, -however, when they discovered that he was not the man -they were in search of.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the next six months he occupied himself with -fishing and smuggling, but his roving spirit once more -took him to sea, and in March, 1800, we find him sailing -for Newfoundland on board a brig belonging to Topsham, -commanded by Captain Elson. He was now twenty-two -years of age. On its way out the brig put into Waterford -for provisions, but had not been at sea many days before -it had to put back to Waterford for repairs, having sprung -a leak. These were speedily effected owing to the kindness -of Lord Rolle, who lent seventeen of his soldiers -to assist in the work. In due course they reached St. -John’s, Newfoundland, and after discharging a part of -their cargo, proceeded to Placentia and afterwards to -Pacee, where the ship was laid up for three months, while -the crew were employed in catching and curing cod. -When they had secured sufficient for a cargo, they set -sail, in November, for Oporto, but they had not been at -sea many days before they were chased and captured -by a Spanish privateer, and a prize crew put on board. -Rattenbury and an Irish lad were, however, allowed to -remain on board, and the former, by making himself -generally useful, gained the confidence of the Spanish -prize-master, so that when the prize reached Vigo, -Rattenbury, instead of being sent to a prison, was taken -by the prize-master to his own house, and given such a -good character that the owner of the privateer gave him -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>his liberty and presented him with thirty dollars and a -mule to take him to Vianna, where the British Consul -gave him a pass to Oporto. Here he met his late -captain and ship-mates, who had also been given their -liberty, and after some days found a vessel bound for -Guernsey, on which he was engaged as mate. After an -exceedingly rough passage he reached Guernsey on the -25th March, 1801, where he found a packet about to sail -for Weymouth, in which he took a passage, and thus -reached Beer once more.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On the 17th April, 1801, he married a young woman -to whom he had become engaged before setting out for -his last voyage and settled down at Lyme. Failing to -find any regular employment, he determined to try -privateering again, and accordingly joined the <i>Alert</i>, a -lugger belonging to Weymouth, commanded by Captain -Diamond. In her he sailed, in May, for Alderney, where, -having taken in a stock of wine and spirits, a course was -steered for the Western Islands in the expectation of -falling in with Spanish vessels, but the venture was not -successful, and the <i>Alert</i> returned to Weymouth on the -28th December, 1801.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rattenbury now remained at home for four years, -and was employed in piloting and victualling ships. -One day, while at Bridport, he was taken by the press-gang. -He managed, however, to escape, and was pursued -by the lieutenant and nine men of the <i>Greyhound</i>. -During the chase his wife appeared on the scene, and -seized the lieutenant round the neck. A scuffle -ensued, in which the townspeople joined, and Rattenbury -was able to get clear away. After this adventure -he went to live at Beer, and made many trips in -smuggling with varied success; but the lieutenant of -the <i>Greyhound</i> was his most persistent enemy, and was -determined to capture him. On one occasion, at Weymouth, -hearing that the lieutenant was on his track, he -took refuge in a public-house, the landlord of which was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>a friend of his. The lieutenant having received information -as to his hiding-place proceeded to the spot, and at -two o’clock in the morning roused up the house, threatening -to fire at the landlord through the window and force -an entrance if he did not immediately come down and -open the door. On the alarm being given, Rattenbury -concealed himself in the chimney, and remained there for -about an hour, while the premises were being searched. -On the departure of the lieutenant he came out of the -chimney in a parlous condition, black with soot and much -bruised, but, as he says, “triumphing over the sense of -pain itself, in the exultation which he experienced at -having once more escaped out of the clutches of this -keen-eyed Lieutenant and indefatigable picaroon.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Becoming sick of being constantly hunted, he determined -to take to privateering again, and shipped -accordingly on board the <i>Unity</i>, a cutter then fitting out -at Weymouth, commanded by Captain Head. About -February, 1805, they proceeded to sea, touching at -Alderney to take in provisions and spirits, and steered a -course for Madeira, Teneriffe, etc., in the hope of falling -in with prizes; but they met with no success, and returned -to Beer in August of the same year. In consequence of -his continued want of success in privateering, he determined -never again to engage in it, “a resolution,” he says, -“which I have ever since kept, and of which I have never -repented.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rattenbury now settled down ostensibly to a life of -fishing, but actually of smuggling, in which he met with -many adventures and every variety of fortune. He had -not been long at this employment when he was captured -by the <i>Roebuck</i> while off Christchurch, in Hampshire; but -during the chase one of the man-of-war’s men, named -Slaughter, had his arm blown off in the act of firing -one of the guns. The captain was anxious to land the -wounded man, and ordered a boat alongside to take him -ashore, into which Rattenbury smuggled himself, and on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>reaching shore got clear off. That same evening he -borrowed a boat and rescued his companions from the -<i>Roebuck</i>, together with three kegs of gin, part of his -contraband cargo which had been seized.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the spring of 1806, he was captured by the <i>Duke -of York</i>, cutter, in a fog, and was taken to Dartmouth. -On nearing that port, he jumped overboard, swam ashore, -and concealed himself in some bushes. Two women, however, -who had seen him, inadvertently revealed his place -of concealment, and he was re-taken. When he came on -board again</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>... He was in such a pickle that his own shipmates could not help -laughing at him, and the captain, completely aggravated, exclaimed, “I -will put you on board a man-of-war and send you to the East Indies,” to -which he replied by calling him an old rascal, an expression which only -tended to sharpen his anger still more.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The smugglers were all tried by the magistrates of -Dartmouth, who sentenced them to a fine of £100, to go -on board a man-of-war, or to jail. They unanimously -agreed to the last condition, but by six o’clock in the -evening they were all so heartily sick of their quarters, -which resembled the “Black Hole of Calcutta,” that they -agreed to serve in the Navy, and were accordingly entered -for the <i>Kite</i>, then lying in the Downs. They were -removed the same evening to the <i>Safeguard</i>, brig, which -lay in Dartmouth Roads. Next morning Rattenbury -asked permission to go on board the <i>Duke of York</i>, on -the pretext that he had a private communication to make -to the captain. While on board, he seized an opportunity -for escaping, jumped down on the bob-stay, and signalling -with his finger a small boat which was passing at the -time dropped into her, and in five minutes was landed at -Kingswear, opposite Dartmouth, whence he made his way -home by land.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Later on he was captured by the <i>Humber</i>, sloop, commanded -by Captain Hill, and taken to Falmouth, where -he was committed by the magistrates to jail. Next -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>morning he and one of his shipmates were put into two -post-chaises in charge of two constables to be taken to -Bodmin. As the constables stopped for liquid refreshment -at every public-house on the road they came to, they -became somewhat merry towards evening. This was -Rattenbury’s opportunity. While the constables were -taking their potations at the “Indian Queen,” a public-house -a few miles from Bodmin, he bribed the drivers not -to interfere in what was to follow, and as soon as the -constables came out they were overpowered by the -smugglers. Rattenbury ran to a cottage close by, and the -woman who occupied it showed him a way through the -back door and garden, and having run a mile, on looking -back, he saw his companion, who had escaped in the same -way. That night they reached Newquay together, and -next morning found their way on hired horses to Mevagissey, -whence they took a boat to Budleigh Salterton.</p> - -<p class='c001'>On another occasion he defended himself in a cellar -for four hours with a reaping hook and a knife, against -a sergeant and ten men, all armed, and only escaped -capture through a diversion created by some women -arriving with a made-up story that a vessel had drifted -ashore and that a boy was in danger of drowning.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Towards the end of 1808, through the influence of -Lord Rolle, the soldiers posted at Beer for the purpose of -catching Rattenbury were ordered away, and the ever-present -fear of capture being thus removed, he determined -to settle down as a law-abiding citizen, and with -this object in view took a public-house, spending his -leisure hours in fishing. But unfortunately this business -did not prosper, so that about November, 1812, he reverted -to his old trade of smuggling. In due course he was -captured by the <i>Catherine</i>, a brig commanded by Captain -Tingle, and brought to Brixham. While there his wife -was allowed to visit him, and with her he arranged a plan -of escape. She, in company with the wives of his shipmates, -were to come alongside the <i>Catherine</i> on the next -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>day with a good boat. This was done, and Rattenbury, -with his companions, jumped into the boat for the avowed -purpose of helping “the ladies” out of her up the side of -the brig. As soon as the women were all out of the boat, -Rattenbury gave the order to “shove off,” and although -chase was immediately given and shots fired, the smugglers -managed to land at a headland called “Bob’s Nose.” They -quickly scrambled up the cliff, but Rattenbury, taking off -his coat and hat and leaving them at the top of the cliff, -rolled himself down again to the beach and made for -Torquay. On the next day he met his wife, and they set -off together for Beer. His companions, however, were -pursued, the chase being watched from the neighbouring -hills by several hundred people from Brixham, but only -two were re-taken.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Rattenbury remained in his public-house till November, -1813, when he was obliged to close it owing to want of -business and the bad debts he had contracted. He was -now in a bad way, without any obvious means of subsistence, -except fishing, which did not pay, and with a -wife and four children to support. To add to his misfortunes, -in the autumn of the same year, he lost his boat -in a gale. He, nevertheless, managed to pick up a little -by piloting, and in the beginning of 1814 was fortunate -enough to obtain employment with a Mr. Down, of Bridport, -who kept a small boat for fishing. With the wages -thus obtained he was enabled by August to buy another -boat.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the next few years he was engaged in running -contraband cargoes from Cherbourg, and some of his -expedients for outwitting the revenue officers are -very ingenious. On one occasion the officer who was -searching his ship for contraband goods came across a -goose, which he was desirous of purchasing, but as it was -stuffed with fine lace instead of the orthodox sage and -onions, Rattenbury naturally preferred not to sell it. At -another time he had soldered up some valuable French -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>silks in a tin box, so that when his boat was being overhauled -he was able to throw it overboard while the -searchers were in another part of the boat, and the package -being buoyant was subsequently recovered.</p> - -<p class='c001'>One dark night he landed a cargo at Seaton Hole, and -began carrying the kegs one by one on his back up the -cliff, when he tumbled over a donkey lying in the path. -The beast set up such a vigorous braying that it awoke -the preventive officer, who was asleep at the foot of -the cliff, and the whole cargo was consequently seized.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the summer of 1820, he contemplated building himself -a house, and bought a piece of land for the site. -He at once commenced collecting stones on the coast in -his boat, and till the end of the year was superintending -building operations.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1825, while returning from a smuggling expedition, -he was captured off Dawlish by the crew of a coastguard -boat and lodged in Exeter jail, where he remained till the -5th April, 1827, when he was released through the influence -of Sir William Pole. In May, and again in July, he was in -London giving evidence in connection with a scheme for -the construction of a harbour at Beer and a canal from -Beer to Thorverton. He then remained at home engaged -in his old occupations till 1829, when Lord Rolle got him -into the Royal Navy, but falling sick, he was discharged -on 6th January, 1830. His last smuggling adventure -happened in January, 1836. He was bringing twenty tubs -of brandy in a cart from Torquay to Newton Bushel, and -when within a mile of the latter place, at ten o’clock at -night, he was overtaken by some mounted officers, and the -horse, cart, and its contents were seized. Rattenbury, -however, effected his escape. This adventure ended his -career as a smuggler. At the Exeter Assizes, held in -March, 1836, he appeared as a witness on behalf of his -son, who was charged with having been engaged with -others in an affray on Budleigh Salterton beach, in which -some revenue officers were roughly handled. The case -<span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>excited considerable interest, and Rattenbury’s cross-examination -by Mr. Sergeant Bompas afforded much -amusement. The following are some extracts from a -contemporary account of the trial:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Rattenbury <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>loquitur</i></span>. He keeps school at sea—fishes for sole, turbot, -brill; any kind of fish that comes to hook. B.: Which do you catch -oftenest, soles or tubs? R.: Oh, the devil a tub—(great laughter)—there -are too many picaroons going now-a-day. B.: You have caught a -good many in your time? R.: Ah, plenty of it! I wish you and I -had as much of it as we could drink—(laughter). B.: You kept school -at home and trained up your son? R.: I have always trained him up -in a regular honourable way, larnt him the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, -and the Ten Commandments. B.: You don’t find there, Thou shalt not -smuggle? R.: No, but I find there, Thou shalt not bear false witness -against thy neighbour. B.: Nobody smuggles now-a-day? R.: Don’t -they, though! (Laughter.) B.: So these horses at Beer cannot go -above three or four miles an hour? R.: If you had not better horses you -would never get to London. I seldom ride on horse-back. If I do, I -generally falls off seven or eight times in a journey—(great laughter).</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Rattenbury’s adventures now come to an end, and he -appears to have settled down to a quiet life for the -remainder of his days, Lord Rolle having generously -allowed him a pension of one shilling a week for life.<a id='r27' /><a href='#f27' class='c021'><sup>[27]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='c010'><span class='sc'>Maxwell Adams.</span></div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span> - <h2 class='c008'><span class='large'> FAIR.</span><br /> <br /><span class='sc'>By Thomas Wainwright.</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='c009'>Barnstaple Fair, although now deprived of -some of its ancient commercial importance by the -establishment of great markets at other centres -in North Devon, still attracts great numbers of -purchasers of horses, Exmoor ponies, cattle, and sheep, -reared by the agriculturists of the neighbourhood. Buyers -attend the fair not only from all parts of Devonshire, but -also from places beyond the borders of the county, among -others cavalry officers come in some years to purchase -horses for the military service of the country, while visitors -from a wide district around the town arrive in large -numbers to enjoy the “fun of the fair.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>This annual event has a very ancient history, for the -claim of the town to the right to hold the fair is granted -in Charters and recognized in Inquisitions from an early -period, in one of which Inquisitions the jurors say that -among divers liberties and free customs used and enjoyed -by the burgesses of the Borough by the Charter of the -Lord Athelstan, of famous memory, King of England, is -the right to hold one fair in the year. The date of the -fair was anciently July 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, as -appears from the following regulations, which were in -force for a long period:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>1st. The fair shall continue for four days, viz., on the eve and the -day of the blessed Mary Magdalene and the two next days following.</p> - -<p class='c001'>2nd. The whole soil of Boutport Street and the other streets within -the said Borough belongs to the Mayor and Comonaltie of the said -Borough during the fair and until 12 o’clock at noon on the day afterwards.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>3rd. The said Mayor and Comonaltie may set and demise the said -soil one day before the eve of the said fair, and have the whole profits -of the said fair and the bailiff of the said Borough shall collect and -receive the same.</p> - -<p class='c001'>4th. Also they shall there have the cognizance of Pleas and a court of -Pie Poudre, as incident to all fairs.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i276' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_276fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Lithograph</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>by J. Powell.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>Queen Anne’s Walk and the Quay, Barnstaple.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The time for holding the fair was changed subsequently, -probably during the reign of King James I., the new -regulations being as follows:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>If the 19th of September be on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, -the fair shall finish on the following Saturday night, but if on either of the -three subsequent days it shall be allowed to continue until Friday in -the next week.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Another change was made in the year 1852, the fair -being then fixed to commence on the Wednesday nearest -to September 19th, and to continue for the two days following -only, and this is the present regulation respecting -its date and duration. By the latest arrangement the -dealings in horses and ponies are limited to Thursday, the -second day, the first being still devoted to the sale of -cattle and sheep, and the third being <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>par excellence</i></span> the -pleasure day, although the shows, swings, “horses,” and -other attractions, and the stalls, do a great trade on the -other days also.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The place for holding the fair has also been changed. -A century ago the cattle were disposed of in Boutport -Street, the horses in the North Walk, and the shows and -stalls for pleasure-seekers were located in the Square. -For a few years, about 1880, the cattle and sheep were -placed in Victoria Road, but by the present arrangement -the cattle and sheep are disposed of in the Cattle Market, -the horses in the Strand, and the pleasure-seekers find -their shows and other attractions in the North Walk. It -has already been mentioned that the cattle and sheep now -sold, though still many, are not so many as in the old days -when Barnstaple fair was the only event of the kind in -North Devon. In the year 1824, it was recorded that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>1,440 bullocks were driven in by the northern entrance -into the town, over Pilton Bridge, of which not 300 were -driven out by that road, and of these more than half were -sold, and that it was calculated that £20,000 was expended -in the purchase of cattle.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the Borough Records we have accounts of the sales -of horses and cattle at an early period, which are interesting -as showing the mode in which security was given by -the purchasers and the prices paid. The following are -extracts from these records:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>Barnestaple. The register of horses and mares bought, sold and exchanged -in the ffayre there holden on the feast day of the Nativitie of -our blessed Virgin Mary, the 8th day of September [O.S.] in the fowerth -yeare of our Sov’eigne Lord Charles, by the grace of God of England, -France and Ireland King, defender of the faith, &c.</p> - -<p class='c001'>[Tolls] For every horse, mare, or colt 8d., viz., for record 4d. and for -custome 2d. apiece of the buyer & seller.</p> - -<p class='c001'>For every bullock 2d., viz., 1d. a piece of the buyer and seller; for -every pigg 1d. a peece; for every calf 1d. a peece.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Abraham Hearson, of Tawton, sold unto one William Earle of Biddiford, -one black mare, with a hitch in the near ear, Price 33sh, John -Dillon knoweth the seller.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Henry Puggesley, of Bratton, sold unto Walter Thomas, of South -Malton, one little bay nagge, with a square halfpenny under the farther -ear, Price 27 sh. The parties know each other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>William Blake, of Chiltenhampton sold unto John Ballamey of Stover -a bay mare with a halfpenny and a slit in the neare eare. Price 43sh. 4d. -Roger Blake of Chittington, knoweth the seller.</p> - -<p class='c001'>William Barber, of Instowe sold unto Thomas Axford, of Lifton one -bay mare with a spade in the further eare, Price 33sh. 4d. Amos Ford -knoweth the seller.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Matthewe Brooke of Clovelly sold unto John Pine of Burrington one -little sorell nagge, toope cut in the neare eare & a slitt in the farther, -price 54sh. 8d. Hugh Dennis Upoostree knoweth the seller.</p> - -<p class='c001'>John Bellamy of Stooerd exchanged with John Ruddicliffe of Bishopp -Nimpton one pinshutt nagge colour blacke for a little blacke nagge, top -cut in the farther eare & a ob, [halfpenny] in the neare. John Bellamey -giveth 13sh. 4d. to boote.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Arthur Serjante of Kirchbe in Lancaster sold unto Richard Chapple -of Ilfarcombe in the County of Devon one greye geldinge snipt in the -bottome of both eares. Price £3 2s. 6d. The parties know each other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thomas England of Bristoll sold unto Richard Lyssett of Newport, one -browne baye mare top cutt in the neare eare. Price 10sh.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>The total number of horses disposed of at this fair -was 44, while 6 were exchanged; the prices of two are -not given; the remaining 36 average £2 0s. 0½d. each, the -highest price paid being £4 5s. for “one bay nagge,” and -the lowest 10s. for the bay mare sold by the Bristol dealer.</p> - -<p class='c001'>At fairs in other years the business done in horses was -as follows:—</p> - -<table class='table3' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='34%' /> -<col width='34%' /> -<col width='17%' /> -<col width='8%' /> -<col width='5%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c024'> </td> - <td class='c012' colspan='3'>Average price.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'> </td> - <td class='c024'>No. of horses sold.</td> - <td class='c016'>£</td> - <td class='c024'>s.</td> - <td class='c012'>d.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1629</td> - <td class='c024'>39</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>9</td> - <td class='c012'>8 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1630</td> - <td class='c024'>97</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>9</td> - <td class='c012'>9 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1631</td> - <td class='c024'>60</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>19</td> - <td class='c012'>8½ </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1632</td> - <td class='c024'>26</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>16</td> - <td class='c012'>2 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1633</td> - <td class='c024'>33</td> - <td class='c016'>3</td> - <td class='c024'>5</td> - <td class='c012'>0 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1634</td> - <td class='c024'>29</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>18</td> - <td class='c012'>0 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1635</td> - <td class='c024'>21</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>1</td> - <td class='c012'>10 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1636</td> - <td class='c024'>17</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>15</td> - <td class='c012'>7 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1637</td> - <td class='c024'>22</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>19</td> - <td class='c012'>1 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1638</td> - <td class='c024'>31</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>18</td> - <td class='c012'>0 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1639</td> - <td class='c024'>36</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>14</td> - <td class='c012'>0 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1641</td> - <td class='c024'>9</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>14</td> - <td class='c012'>5 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1642</td> - <td class='c024'>3</td> - <td class='c016'> </td> - <td class='c024'>—</td> - <td class='c012'> </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1643</td> - <td class='c024'>2</td> - <td class='c016'>1</td> - <td class='c024'>15</td> - <td class='c012'>6 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1647</td> - <td class='c024'>46</td> - <td class='c016'>4</td> - <td class='c024'>3</td> - <td class='c012'>4 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1648</td> - <td class='c024'>5</td> - <td class='c016'>2</td> - <td class='c024'>14</td> - <td class='c012'>0 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1649</td> - <td class='c024'>37</td> - <td class='c016'>3</td> - <td class='c024'>15</td> - <td class='c012'>10 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1650</td> - <td class='c024'>17</td> - <td class='c016'>4</td> - <td class='c024'>5</td> - <td class='c012'>8 </td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'>1651</td> - <td class='c024'>12</td> - <td class='c016'>3</td> - <td class='c024'>16</td> - <td class='c012'>0 </td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c001'>The absence of sales during the years 1644–46, and -the small number disposed of in 1641–3, may be accounted -for by the following entry in the Parish Register:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>1647. The Regester of the Towne and Burrough of Barnestaple, by -the cause of the troubles and the contagion [plague] was not kept from -the year anno 1642 till the year anno 1647.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The following prices were realized for cattle sold at the -various fairs mentioned above:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-l'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>8 heifers, black like, price £30 10s. 0d.</div> - <div class='line'>2 black oxen, topp cutt on farther eare. Price £13.</div> - <div class='line'>2 heifers and 1 steward. Price £6 13s. 4d.</div> - <div class='line'>1 red ox. Price £4 3s. 4d.</div> - <div class='line'>2 oxen. Price £10.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>The opening of the fair takes place with the ceremonies -which have attended it for many generations. On the -morning of the first day a large stuffed glove, fixed at -the end of a pole, is displayed from a window of the -Guildhall, having before the year 1852 been exhibited from -the west corner of the Quay Hall, which was demolished -in that year to widen the street and quay, and which had -been, until the dissolution of religious houses by -Henry VIII., an ecclesiastical building, known as -St. Nicholas’ Chapel. In the Receiver’s accounts for 1615 -occurs the entry:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Paid for a glove put out at the fair, 4d.;</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>and in those for 1622:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Paid for a paire of gloves at the faire 4d.</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>Another entry in the same account being:—</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Paid for candles to hange by a bull that was not beaten,</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c019'>from which it may be inferred that bull-baiting was one -of the amusements provided for visitors. The display of -the glove is usually considered to be a symbol of the -welcome extended to all comers. In the Guildhall meanwhile -the sergeants-at-mace are busy preparing for all -comers who care to partake of it the toast and spiced ale, -the latter according to a recipe handed down for centuries. -With this ale are filled the handsome flagons belonging to -the Corporation, and the loving cups charged from them -are passed round to the assembled guests. A few toasts -are then given, among them that of “The Ladies,” the -response to which often affords a good deal of amusement, -for humorous Mayors have been known to astonish a -bachelor in the company, sometimes “a young man from -the country,” by calling upon him to respond; and while -some orators have passed the ordeal successfully, others -have found the situation an embarrassing one. The -speeches ended, and the toast and ale consumed, about -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>noon a procession of the Mayor, Corporation, and officials -is formed, and, escorted by a large crowd of on-lookers, -the Town Clerk reads the following proclamation at the -High Cross and other places in the Borough:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><span class="blackletter">Proclamation for the Fair.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>THE MAYOR of this BOROUGH doth hereby give notice -that there is a FREE FAIR within this Borough for all manner -of persons to BUY and SELL within the same which fair begins -on this day WEDNESDAY the and shall continue until -12 o’clock on the night of FRIDAY next the instant -during which time the Mayor chargeth and commandeth on HIS -MAJESTY’S behalf all manner of persons repairing to this -TOWN and FAIR do keep the KING’S PEACE.</p> - -<p class='c001'>AND that all BUYERS and SELLERS to deal justly and -truly and do use true WEIGHTS AND MEASURES and that -they duly pay their TOLL, STALLAGE and other DUTIES -upon pain that shall fall thereon</p> - -<p class='c001'>AND if any OFFENCES INJURY or WRONG shall be -committed or done by or to any person or persons within this -TOWN FAIR and LIBERTY the same shall be redressed -according to JUSTICE and the LAWS of this REALM</p> - -<p class='c020'>DATED this day of September 190</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><span class="blackletter">God Save the King.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>In the olden time it was the custom to have a stag hunt -on the second day, and the “fair ball” is still, and has -long been, kept up. It was formerly the practice for many -tradesmen to keep open house during the fair, of which -practice some of their customers took very liberal advantage. -Calling on one shopkeeper to pay a small account, -they and members of their family who accompanied them -would enjoy a hearty meal, and after an hour or two in the -fair would repeat the proceeding with another, and sometimes -with a third. This has now been put a stop to by -the reduction of profits, through the competition brought -about by the advent of Co-operative Societies and Companies, -and other causes. Not only have the glories of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>Barnstaple fair been celebrated in prose, but the poet has -sung of them, and this sketch may be appropriately concluded -by giving one of the compositions that used to be -sung:—</p> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'><b>BARNSTAPLE FAIR.</b></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Oh! Devonshire’s a noble county, full of lovely views, miss!</div> - <div class='line'>And full of gallant gentlemen, for you to pick and choose, miss!</div> - <div class='line'>But search the towns all round about there’s nothing can compare, miss!</div> - <div class='line'>In measurement of merriment, with Barnstaple Fair, miss!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then sing of Barum, merry town, and Barum’s merry Mayor too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>There’s nothing happens in the year but happens at our fair, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>’Tis then that everything abounds, that’s either new or rare, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>The Misses make their start in life its gaieties to share, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>And ladies look for beaux and balls to Barnstaple Fair, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then sing of Barum, merry town, and Barum’s worthy Mayor too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The little boys and girls at school their nicest clothes prepare, ma’am!</div> - <div class='line'>To walk the streets and buy sweetmeats and gingerbread so rare, ma’am!</div> - <div class='line'>Their prime delight’s to see the sights that ornament our square, ma’am!</div> - <div class='line'>When Powell brings his spangled troop to Barnstaple Fair, ma’am!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then sing of Barum, merry town, and our indulgent Mayor too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>I know no place in all the world old Barum to compare to!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If milk be scarce though grass be plenty, don’t complain too soon, dame!</div> - <div class='line'>For that will very often happen in the month of June, dame!</div> - <div class='line'>Though cows run dry while grass runs high, you never need despair, dame!</div> - <div class='line'>The cows will calve, and milk you’ll have, to Barnstaple Fair, dame!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then sing of Barum, wealthy town, and its productive Fair too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>And drink “the corporation, and the head of it, the Mayor too.”</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If pigeons’ wings are plucked, and peacocks’ tails refuse to grow, friend!</div> - <div class='line'>In spring; you may depend upon’t in autumn they will shew, friend!</div> - <div class='line'>If feathers hang about your fowls in drooping style and spare, friend!</div> - <div class='line'>Both cocks and hens will get their pens to Barnstaple Fair, friend!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then, friend leave off your wig, and Barum’s privileges share too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>Where everything grows once a year, wing-feathers, tails and hair, too!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>If winter wear and summer dust call out for paint and putty, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>And Newport coals in open grates make paper-hangings smutty, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>And rusty shops and houses fronts most sadly want repair, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>Both shops and houses will be smart, to Barnstaple Fair, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>And Barum is a handsome town, and every day improving, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then drink to all who study its improvement to keep moving, sir!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>King George the Third rode out of Staines, the hounds to lay the stag on;</div> - <div class='line'>But that was no great thing of sport for mighty kings to brag on;</div> - <div class='line'>The French, alas! go <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>à la chasse</i></span> in <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>von po shay</i></span> and pair;</div> - <div class='line'>But what’s all that to Button Hill? to Barnstaple Fair?</div> - <div class='line in4'>For we will all a hunting go, on horse, or mule, or mare, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>For everything is in the field to Barnstaple Fair, sir!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>To Button Hill, whose name to all the sporting world sure known is,</div> - <div class='line'>Go bits of blood, and hunters, hacks, and little Exmoor ponies;</div> - <div class='line'>When lords, and ladies, doctors, parsons, farmers, squires, prepare</div> - <div class='line'>To hunt the stag, with hound and horn, to Barnstaple Fair.</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then up and ride for Chillam Bridge or on to Bratton Town, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>To view the rouse, or watch the yeo, to see the stag come down, sir!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>There’s nothing else in jollity, and hospitable fare, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>That ever can with Barnstaple, in Fair time, compare, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>And guests are very welcome hospitality to share, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>For beer is brew’d, and beef is brought, to Barnstaple Fair, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then sing of merry England, and roast beef, old English fare, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>A bumper to “the town and trade of Barum and its Mayor,” sir!</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>Boiled beef, roast beef, squab pie, pear pie, and figgy pudding plenty,</div> - <div class='line'>When eight or nine sit down to dine, they’ll find enough for twenty;</div> - <div class='line'>And after dinner, for dessert, the choicest fruits you’ll share, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>E’en walnuts come from Somerset, to Barnstaple Fair, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then sing of Barum, jolly town, and Barum’s jolly Mayor too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>No town in England can be found, old Barum to compare to.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>I will not sing of Bullock Fair, and brutes whose horrid trade is,</div> - <div class='line'>To make us shut our window blinds, and block up all the ladies:</div> - <div class='line'>Nor of the North Walk rush and crush, where fools at horses stare, sir!</div> - <div class='line'>When Mister Murray brings his nags to Barnstaple Fair, sir!</div> - <div class='line in4'>But sing of Barum, jolly town, and Barum’s jolly Mayor too,</div> - <div class='line in4'>No town in England can be found old Barum to compare to.</div> - </div> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>The ball one night, the play the next, with private parties numerous;</div> - <div class='line'>Prove Barnstaple people’s endless efforts, sir, to humour us;</div> - <div class='line'>And endless, too, would be my song if I should now declare</div> - <div class='line'>All the gaieties, and rarities, of Barnstaple Fair.</div> - <div class='line in4'>Then loudly sing, God save the King, and long may Barum thrive, O!</div> - <div class='line in4'>May we all live to see the Fair, and then be all alive, O!</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span> - <h2 class='c008'>TIVERTON AS A POCKET BOROUGH.<br /> <br /> <span class='sc'>By the Editor.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class='c009'> - <img class='drop-capi' src='images/dc_t.jpg' width='33' height='39' alt='' /> -</div><p class='drop-capi1_1'> -Towards the close of the year 1903 the Earl of -Harrowby generously presented to the Mayor and -Corporation of Tiverton a very complete collection -of manuscripts carefully preserved by his -ancestors and relating to the Parliamentary connection -between themselves and the old Corporation of Tiverton, -swept away by the municipal Reform Act of 1834–5. The -general nature of the tie has long been known. It was -a political nexus binding privileged burgesses to an -influential family, and the sanction was interest. The -motto might have been, on both sides, <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>do ut des</i></span>, for, while -there were many professions of personal attachment, which -may have been real, it was well understood that the cornerstone -of the whole edifice was mutual advantage. As the -connection, venal in origin, crystallized into permanence -and respectability, it lost something of its sordid character. -Sentiments of honour and loyalty, and even chivalric -devotion, were spoken and cultivated, but these were the -accidents, the trimmings. The substance remained what it -had always been—reciprocal profit. All this was vaguely -familiar to the present generation of townspeople, to whom -traditions of the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr"><i>ancien régime</i></span> had descended from their -forefathers, but the arrival of twenty-six stout files, crowded -with an infinite variety of curious particulars, has made an -evident change in the situation. We no longer behold -through the dark windows of distorted memory. Now at -last we see face to face; and for the authors of some of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_285'>285</span>those “human documents” the Day of Doom would have -already dawned, but for the screen of their own insignificance, -which incriminating papers may remove, but the -discretion of the censor at once re-erects.</p> - -<div class='column-container'> - -<div id='i284' class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_284fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<p class='c003'><i>From a Lithograph</i>]</p> - -</div> -<div class='cap'> - -<div class='c004'>[<i>by W. Spreat, Jun.</i></div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='sc'>St. Peter’s Church, Tiverton.</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Before we speak of Tiverton as an appanage of the -Ryders, it will be desirable to glance at the subject of -pocket boroughs in general. There are no pocket boroughs -or rotten boroughs now, and readers who have bestowed -no special attention on political or constitutional developments, -may be glad of some measure of illumination as to -their rise and their place in the representative system of -England. An impression formerly prevailed that the -institution dated from the great Revolution, but this, it will -be easy to show, was a fallacy. It was much older. On -the other hand, the pocket-borough was never substituted -by the arbitrary action of the Crown for the open borough, -although it was the settled belief of many of the inhabitants -of Tiverton that under the provisions of that mighty -instrument, Magna Carta, the right of returning members -had been inalienably secured to them, and the circumstance -that this right was in fact exercised by neighbouring towns, -like Barnstaple and Taunton, was considered proof that -the local potwallers, or potwallopers, were the victims of -invidious and illegal discrimination. “Magna Carta,” said -Sir Edward Coke, “is such a fellow that he will not fear -an equal”; and if it had been true that open voting in the -boroughs had been promulgated as the law of the land -after Runnymede, it has been judicially determined that -no departure from that principle, brought about by the -use of the Royal prerogative or by any other means, would -have been recognized as valid. The terms of Magna Carta, -however, do not countenance the view that the burgesses -of any given town became entitled at their own option to -send deputies to Parliament, or that universal suffrage was -the rule. On the contrary, Parliamentary representation -had at that time no existence either in theory or in practice. -The Commons were simply tenants <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>in capite</i></span> of the Crown. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_286'>286</span>After 1265, no doubt, elections began to be held, and -many little places were summoned to return members, who -received salaries from their constituencies in payment of -their services. This charge rendered the honour a costly -burden, and Edward I., one of the wisest of our princes, -varied the direction of the writs so as to distribute the -maintenance of the new third estate over as wide an area -as possible. The towns themselves did not greatly value -the franchise, and, in many instances, petitioned to be relieved -of the dubious privilege. It seems unquestionable -that the mere receipt of an occasional summons did not -create or confirm any inherent or indefeasible right of -unbroken representation, nor do we meet with any attempt -to institute such a system until the days of the Reformation, -when a new spirit invaded the country and the -Commons, as a branch of the Legislature, made rapid -strides in numbers and importance.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Then it was that the lawyers of the Inns of Court, many -of them Puritan in sympathy, disinterred the ancient -records, and, on the strength of one or two summonses, -insisted that such demesne towns, some mere villages, were -boroughs by prescription, and as such possessed the right -to send representatives to Parliament for all time. The -consequence was that about thirty towns, in which great -men at Court had an interest, resumed their lapsed privileges, -and by the reign of Queen Elizabeth the Lower -House had received an accession of sixty fresh members. -This seems to have been brought about in the first instance -by the sheriffs sending precepts to the places in question, -and although in the thirteenth year of Elizabeth a debate -took place regarding the admission of members from towns -not hitherto represented, the practice was not seriously -challenged owing to the efficient patronage and protection -of the courtiers before named. In subsequent reigns the -Commons themselves proceeded to enlarge their body. -James I., indeed, talked of reform, but that pedantic -monarch, far from checking the growth of the borough -<span class='pageno' id='Page_287'>287</span>system, was the very sovereign to whom Tiverton was -indebted for its charter.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The small borough, in the nature of things, tended to -become a pocket-borough. In the reign of Elizabeth the -Earl of Leicester “owned” the town of Andover; and the -degree to which this form of property was stretched is -amusingly illustrated by the well-known story of Ann -Clifford, Countess of Pembroke, who lived in the days of -the Merry Monarch. The Secretary of State, Sir Joseph -Williamson, had sent her a letter in which he named a -particular candidate for her borough of Appleby. Incensed -at this presumption, the haughty dame returned the following -reply: “I have been bullied by an usurper, I have -been neglected by a court, but I will not be dictated to by -a subject. Your man shan’t stand.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>The system, it goes without saying, lent itself to numberless -kinds of abuse. It has been stated that at one -period a mistress of the King of France acquired some -borough, and that the Nabob of Arcot was able to secure -the return of seven or eight members, all pledged to his -interest. These assertions may be true or they may not, -but the possibility of such anomalies did not deter apologists -from affirming that the system was not by any means an -unmixed evil.</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>A splendid senate, too, requires the gay ornamental parts, a sort of -shining plumage. The witty, the ingenious, the elegant, should be represented. -They were faithfully represented in our time by a Sheridan, a -Hare, a Fitzpatrick. Would a young adventurer, as Sheridan was at his -entrance in life, have attracted the eyes of the crowd? Would the attic -Hare or courtly Fitzpatrick have contended at a scene like the Westminster -election? We might have lost not only them, but even the -philosophic eloquence of Burke if all the returns were to proceed from the -crowd.—(George Moore, <cite>History of the British Revolution</cite>, p. 341.)</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This brief sketch will perhaps suffice as an explanation -of the origin and character of the borough system in -general. Let us now turn to the case of Tiverton in particular. -As has been intimated, many of the inhabitants -believed that Tiverton was a borough by prescription, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_288'>288</span>that accordingly the crown could not by its charter limit -the right of election to members of the corporate body -alone. Naturally the evidence relied on was that of State -papers. An inquisition <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>post mortem</i></span> a<sup>o</sup> 51 Edw. III. sets -out the extent and value of the manor and borough, from -which it appears that the two were distinct as to rents -and services, and that each had a separate court. By -Letters Patent a<sup>o</sup> 1 Edw. IV., the King grants the manor, -borough and hundred to Humphry Stafford, Knight, in -special tail without any other description. These data are -obviously insufficient, and search was made at the Rolls -Chapel from the thirty-third year of Henry VIII., the year -of the earliest return to Parliament extant since the reign -of Edward IV. The result was not satisfactory to the -enthusiasts who instituted the inquiry, the first return discovered -being that of 18 James I., when John Bamfylde -and John Davye, Esqrs., were returned by indenture dated -the 20th December, by the Mayor, capital burgesses, and -assistants. It may be added that in Prynne’s <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><cite>Brevia -Parliamentaria</cite></span> there occurs no mention of Tiverton, -which, on all these grounds, can hardly have been a borough -in the sense desired.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Tiverton, then, we may take it as certain, did not enjoy -the right of returning members until the thirteenth year -of the reign of James I., when the Mayor, Capital Burgesses, -Assistant Burgesses of the town and parish, or the -major part of them, were empowered to choose and -nominate two discreet and sufficient men to be burgesses -of the Parliament. The charter was renewed in the same -terms in the fourth year of James II., and again in the reign -of George II., so that we need feel no surprise that, when -the potwallopers from time to time threatened to assert -their supposed right, the members of the Common Council, -assured of their legal position, treated such vapourings -with calm superiority. Until the tidal wave of reform -demolished the bulwarks of their monopoly, the twenty-four -were sole masters and arbiters. It was they who had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_289'>289</span>the right to decide who should sit in Parliament for the -ancient town—they and they alone. But how that right -was exercised, if we except the bare list of the Council’s -nominees, there is for a long period no evidence to show.</p> - -<p class='c001'>However, there was always material for a deal, and in -the former half of the eighteenth century Tiverton already -figures as a political tied-house. The overlordship afterwards -acquired by the Ryder family was then vested in a -politician of some note, who in 1728 was one of the representatives -of Tiverton, though the Parliamentary connection -of his house with Honiton was even closer and of -much longer standing, lasting, indeed, from 1640 to 1796. -We allude to Sir William Yonge. Martin Dunsford, the -first real historian of Tiverton, describes him as “a popular -man and closely attached to the minister, Sir Robert Walpole,” -adding that he “had great influence over the leading -members of the Corporation of Tiverton, and generally -directed their choice of burgesses.” The same writer, -referring to Sir Edward Montague and Charles Gore, -Esquire, who in 1761 held one of the seats successively, -makes bold to assert that “there is reason to believe these -members were never in Tiverton, but bargained for their -seats at a distance either with Sir William Yonge or with -Oliver Peard, Esq., the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>primum mobile</i></span>, of the Corporation.” -With regard to the former, there is clearly some -misapprehension, as he had died in 1755, but the tradition -that this eminent Devonshire worthy was dictator at -Tiverton must have rested on a solid foundation. It -behoves us, therefore, to render some further account of -him.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the course of his successful career Sir William, who -was the fourth holder of the baronetcy, became one of -the Lords of the Treasury, and on the restoration of the -order in 1725, was created a Knight of the Bath. Subsequently -he was appointed Secretary at War and Privy -Councillor, and over and above these political distinctions, -was entitled to write after his name the honourable symbols -<span class='pageno' id='Page_290'>290</span>LL.D. and F.R.S. As Dunsford implies, he was a great -personal friend of Walpole, and his support was of -inestimable value to that statesman, “the glory of the -Whigs.” Outside the house he does not appear to have -counted (save, of course, in Devonshire), but inside, partly -by reason of his high ability, and partly on account -of his voice, which is stated to have been peculiarly -melodious, his speeches were eagerly listened to. One -curious fact preserved concerning him is that Sir Robert -could speak from notes taken by Yonge, and by no -other.</p> - -<p class='c001'>During the local supremacy of this statesman, and -doubtless under his auspices and sponsorship, there was -introduced to the Corporation of Tiverton a member of -the Bar, Dudley Ryder, Esq., who in 1735 became their -representative. In 1741, the same gentleman, but now -known as Sir Dudley Ryder, Solicitor-General, was -re-elected; and he continued to hold the seat until 1754, -when he was elevated to the great office of Lord Chief -Justice of the Queen’s Bench. Mr. Nathaniel Thomas -Ryder succeeded him, but only for a short time, after -which Mr. Nathaniel Ryder occupied the seat, and -remained one of the members till, in 1776, he was called -to the House of Lords by the title of Baron Harrowby. -As the Hon. Dudley Ryder was still an infant, Mr. John -Wilmot was permitted to fill the vacancy, but on the clear -understanding that he would at the proper time make way -for Lord Harrowby’s son and heir. This condition was -eventually carried out in the most honourable manner, -and, on the part of Lord Harrowby, with a patriotic regard -for the public interests.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Thus, little by little and step by step, the Ryders firmly -consolidated their political influence in the town, and -though only one of the seats was claimed for a member -of the family, the other seat also was evidently at their -disposal. This for a long series of years was entrusted -to the Duntzes, rich merchants of Exeter, who became -<span class='pageno' id='Page_291'>291</span>baronets. Apart from politics, the Ryders had no connection -with Devonshire, which they seldom visited, but Sir -John Duntze, living at Rockbeare, and a member of the -Tiverton Corporation, was able to keep a watchful eye -on the local barometer, of whose subtle changes he (and -most of his colleagues) kept Lord Harrowby sedulously -and punctually informed through the post. On the other -hand, poor Duntze, a perfect martyr to rheumatism, -experienced, owing to the exposure of the long journey -by coach, considerable difficulty in attending to his Parliamentary -duties, and for practical purposes Lord Harrowby, -or his nominee, was the London agent of the Tiverton -Corporation. From the point of view of convenience no -arrangement could have been happier.</p> - -<p class='c001'>The above remarks apply to the first Lord Harrowby -and the first Sir John Duntze. The second Lord -Harrowby, after a distinguished official career, was -advanced to the dignity of an earldom, and locally much -regret was expressed that he did not take his second title -from the town so long represented by his grandfather, his -father, and himself. Had this been the case, the present -Lord Chancellor, whose eldest son enjoys the courtesy -title of Viscount Tiverton, must have looked elsewhere for -a subsidiary territorial designation. The second Sir John -Duntze lived at Tiverton in a large house, which he either -erected or restored for himself in the centre of the town; -and an old man named Court, who is still alive, but almost -totally blind, told me a year or two since of a lively incident -which he can remember as taking place in front of the -floridly decorated mansion. The potwallopers of the place, -he said, organized a torchlight procession, the principal -feature of which was a cavalcade of four-and-twenty -bedizened donkeys. The point could not be missed. -The asses were aggressively emblematic of the “corporators,” -and their riders of the family of which Lord -Harrowby was the head.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In 1832, the Parliamentary connection ended with the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_292'>292</span>passage of the Reform Bill. The alliance had always been -with the Corporation rather than with the town, although -many of the inhabitants, directly and indirectly, had been -repeatedly benefited by the generous consideration of Lord -Harrowby and his relations. There was, however, in the -town a strong body of malcontents numerous enough to -carry their point, and a potent counter-attraction had arisen -in the person of Mr. John Heathcoat, a resident manufacturer, -whom his opponents derisively styled “Lord -Tiverton.” In view of these facts, Lord Harrowby’s friends -felt it their duty to notify him that no member or adherent -of his family would stand a chance of being returned at -the approaching open election. The members of the -Common Council, loyal to the end, refused the least -countenance or support to any of the new candidates until -his lordship’s wishes had been disclosed, but the day of -their predominance was already past. Politically, the -game was up. Both Lord Harrowby and his brother, the -Hon. Richard Ryder, consented to remain members of the -Corporation, but three years later the “iron hand of -Parliament,” as the Town Clerk expressed it, “terminated -the long continuance and interchange of friendly communications.” -At present the chief, if not the sole -surviving, link between the family of Ryder and Tiverton -is the large share of the ecclesiastical patronage of the -borough still in the hands of Lord Harrowby.</p> - -<p class='c001'>And now for the Ryder correspondence. The earliest -letters appear to date from the time when the Georgian -lawyer was elevated to the bench and the seat which he -had occupied, no doubt to his immense advantage, passed -by inheritance to his son, then a young man fresh from -college. We have the very epistles written by the gentleman -whom Dunsford so grandly names “the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>primum -mobile</i></span> of the Corporation,” congratulating him on taking -his master’s degree and absolving him from the unnecessary -trouble of a journey to the south in order to attend his -cut-and-dried election. A letter from Mr. Osmond -<span class='pageno' id='Page_293'>293</span>acquaints him with the departure from the town of a -“pretty partner” whose lively manners had enhanced the -enjoyment of a visit, whilst the member for Tiverton was -yet a callow bachelor. Eight years later Mr. Ryder had -joined the noble army of Benedicks, and then we find -Mrs. Peard afflicted with an unselfish anxiety to gratify -his lady with a fine collection of shells.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Such pleasing gifts were the regular accompaniment and -sweetener of the more serious transactions, the graver -obligations which formed the mainstay of the connection. -On the part of the members there was the annual present -of a pair of bucks for the municipal banquet, and one of -the oddest passages in this vast epistolary jungle is to be -found in a letter of Sir John Duntze, in which he informs -his colleague that a member of the Corporation, on bad -terms with another member, announced as the ostensible -cause of the quarrel, that he had been improperly helped -to venison on the occasion of this important festival. -Allusions to the subject are so frequent and unctuous, that -one is tempted to conclude that in those gay, convivial -days the yearly consignment of venison was a more considerable -factor in the case than we should now deem -possible. Thus, Mr. Mayor observes, with the distinctive -air of a man of the world:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>We had on Thursday the Grand Dinner, when ninety-four gentlemen -dined with me, amongst whom was Sir Rich. Bampfylde and Mr. Ackland, -eldest son of Sir Thos. Ackland, who is going to be married to Sir Rich<sup>d</sup>’s -second daughter, a most amiable lady. This is a very great alliance for -Sir Richard Bampfylde’s family, and will be the means of keeping everything -quiet in the county.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This brings us to the topic of the social status of the -Corporation, which was comparatively high. Its critics, -indeed, complained that it included attornies, “very improper -persons to be elected”; and the members were -frequently laughed at for “having Mayors in trade.” In -reply to this heavy indictment it was alleged by one of -their number that at least twenty-two out of the twenty-four -<span class='pageno' id='Page_294'>294</span>had landed property either in the town or in the parish. -This was in 1831. In the reign of William and Mary the -“burgesses” are described some as esquires, others as -merchants, and one or two as yeomen; and this standard, -there is reason to think, was consistently maintained. -Tiverton, it may be well to say, was for centuries an important -centre of the woollen trade. Instead of one big -factory, as now, for the production of lace, there were -many modest firms engaged in the manufacture and sale -of serges, etc., and consequently the Common Council was, -above all things, the valued preserve of families enriched -by commerce, some of whom had acquired all the attributes -of gentle birth and breeding. Mr. Worth, of Worth, and -Mr. Cruwys, of Cruwys Morchard, belonged to two of the -oldest families of Devon, and an ancestor of the former -had sat in Parliament for Tiverton in days when the -choice of members was apparently free and unfettered. -With such the Ryders corresponded in the most genial, -unaffected, and friendly way, and, in their somewhat -infrequent visits to the place, were glad to accept their -hospitality. They would, for instance, occasionally stay -with Mr. Dickinson, of Knightshayes, an ancestor of the -present Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Sir W. H. -Walrond), and once, at least, Air. George Owen, of -Lowman Green, was honoured by a surprise visit from -the younger nobleman.</p> - -<p class='c001'>In the year 1808, this second Lord Harrowby condescended -to be Mayor—a concession which resulted in -a somewhat diverting misconception. It appears that a -Barnstaple correspondent, interested in the working of the -mails, had written to him in the belief that he was a -“common or garden” mayor—a plain Mr. Mayor. His -consternation on learning the truth does not need to be -imagined, for he has pictured it himself:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>I was much mortified at my ignorance at the receipt of your Lordship’s -letter, for which I beg to apologize. Far from having the least idea -that the Corporation of Tiverton was so highly respected and had the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_295'>295</span>Honor of a Nobleman of your Lordship’s High Rank for Mayor, I -naturally concluded it to be an open borough like Barnstaple.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'>Lord Harrowby was coached for the inaugural ceremonies -by the cousins Wood, the elder of whom, Mr. Beavis -Wood, who long filled the office of Town Clerk, was by far -the shrewdest of the Ryders’ multitudinous correspondents. -Even now his clever, incisive letters, lit up with many a -happy jest, are a pleasure to peruse, and neither in his -earlier nor in his later ones was he inclined to spare the -feelings and eccentricities of those with whom his lot was -cast. Thus, on August 5th, 1808, he writes:—</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<p class='c001'>The Mayor now again produced your Lordship’s Letter, desiring to -know the answer they might [deem?] it proper for him to give to it, when -they unanimously acknowledged your Lordship’s kind offer, and gladly -consented to embrace it, and elect you Mayor for the ensuing year. The -Business being unanimous, to be sure on that account from such an offer -it must be pleasant; but those assembled on this occasion did not look -like <em>old Christians</em> in old Times at previous meetings on such occasions. -Twelve o’clock by Day is always a dull, dry time, when old Tiverton -aldermen never met to do chearful Business, as they could not fix their -Nominee by drinking his Health. Father Tucker gave the Company a -Hint of it, but it had no effect. I suppose as those of the Junta are now -under pantile Influence, and have turned their Backs on our Lord Bishop, -they will leave off drinking wine, unless when quite by themselves.</p> - -</div> - -<p class='c001'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>Tempora mutantur.</i></span> Of the old times and the old -Christians Mr. Wood had told Lord Harrowby not a few -entertaining stories, which are still preserved in his faded -but excellent handwriting. Possibly at some future date -they may be printed for the benefit of students of human -nature, together with extracts from other correspondence, -but with one more specimen of his admirable humour this -paper must be brought to a close.</p> - -<div class='quote'> - -<div class='c010'>Sept. 17, 1775.</div> - -<p class='c001'>This afternoon according to the usual Custom the Corporation attended -the new Mayor to Church, but before the Procession moved from the -Town House, there happened a very unseasonable altercation and Dispute -between Mr. Osmond, Mr. Mayor, and Mr. Lewis about the priority of -reading the newspapers which are sent here directed to you. For since -the late spite commenced, and almost during the whole of Mr. Lewis’s -<span class='pageno' id='Page_296'>296</span>Mayoralty, care has been taken to prevent the newspapers coming to -Mr. Osmond’s hands, and they have been sent about to persons out of the -Corporation. Words grew high and rough, and this mad Trio did not -end ’till each had called the other a damned Liar. Mr. Atherton<a id='r28' /><a href='#f28' class='c021'><sup>[28]</sup></a> was -present, and being met to go to church, the Magistrates recollected themselves, -and after their return from prayers they looked at one another as -quietly as if nothing had happened.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_297'>297</span> - <h2 class='c028'>INDEX</h2> -</div> - -<ul class='index c017'> - <li class='c029'>Abbey of St. Rumon, Tavistock, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Abbot of Buckfast, former town house of, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Abbot of Tavistock, Aldred, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>. - <ul> - <li>” ” Banham, John, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Campbell, John, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Chubbe, John, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Cullyng, Thomas, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li>” ” de Courtenay, John, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Denyngton, John, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Langdon, Stephen, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Lyfing, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li>” ” Peryn, John, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c029'>Abbot Sithric, last Saxon Abbot of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Adelaide, Queen, at “Clarence,” Exeter, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Adye, Rev. Frederick, Romance of, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Albemarle, George Monk, Duke of, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Alexander, Plans of Mr. David, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Alfred the Great, Relief of Exeter by, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Amicia, Countess of Devon, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ancient Cathedral of Cornwall, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Annals of Chagford, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Apollo Room, New Inn, Exeter, <a href='#Page_67'>67</a>-69.</li> - <li class='c029'>Archbishop of Canterbury, William Courtenay, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Temple, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Armada, Coming of the, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>. - <ul> - <li>” Fight with the, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c029'>Arms of Sir George Treby, Plympton Guildhall, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Arundel, Sir Humphrey, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Asser, Saxon Chronicle of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Athelstan, Charter to Barnstaple from King, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>. - <ul> - <li>” Drives Britons out of Exeter, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c029'>Athos, Founder of illustrious family, 34.</li> - <li class='c029'>Attack on Pensaulcoit, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Babb, Lieutenant Colonel, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>. - <ul> - <li>” ” ” Tablet of, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c029'>Babbage, Charles, famous mathematician, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Babbage, Miss Juliana, <a href='#Page_166'>166</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ball, Barnstaple Fair, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Barclay, Alexander, “Stultifera Navis” of, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Barnstaple Borough, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>. - <ul> - <li>” ” Charter to, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>.</li> - <li>” ” records, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.</li> - <li>” Fair, <a href='#Page_276'>276</a>, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>.</li> - <li>” poem on, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>.</li> - <li>” Guildhall, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> - <li>” Quay Hall, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c029'>Baronet, First Devonshire, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Baskerville, Sir Simon, Mural tablet of, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bastard, Mr. William, of Kitley, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Battle of Stratton, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>. - <ul> - <li>” ” Steinkirk, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>.</li> - </ul> - </li> - <li class='c029'>“Bear Inn,” The, Exeter, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bearne, Story of Miss Joan, <a href='#Page_175'>175</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Beaufort, Duke of, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Beer, Harbour construction at, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” birthplace of Jack Rattenbury, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” return to, of Jack Rattenbury, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” to Thorverton Canal, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bercle, David, Prior of Plympton, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Berry Pomeroy, Sir Edward Seymour of, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_298'>298</span>Bideford, Importance of, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bishop of Exeter, Peter Courtenay, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Black Prince, Relations of Exeter with the, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Blake, Admiral, Death of, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Pursuit of Van Tromp, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Blewitt, account of the landing of the Prince of Orange, <a href='#Page_161'>161–163</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Blewitt, “Panorama of Torquay,” <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Bob’s Nose” headland, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Boger, Mr. Deeble, Recorder of Plympton, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bompas, cross-examination by Mr. Sergeant, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bonville, Lady Cicely, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bray, Mrs., description of Druidic remains, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Bray, Mrs., Local tales of, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Brevia Parliamentaria,” Prynne’s, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>British Revolution, George Moore’s History of the, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Brooke, Christopher, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Browne, William, Tavistock poet, <a href='#Page_117'>117–212</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Brutus, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Stone, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Brut, Tysilio, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Gr. ab Arthur, <a href='#Page_23'>23</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Buller, Francis, puisne judge, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Burnet, Dr., proclamation of the Prince of Orange, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>, <a href='#Page_174'>174</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Burritt, reminiscences of Elihu, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Butler, Samuel, caricaturist in verse, <a href='#Page_218'>218</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Cadhay, Ottery St. Mary, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Caer, Pensauelcoit, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Canal, Beer to Thorverton, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Canterbury, William Courtenay, Archbishop of, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Canute, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Captain Cook, departure from Plymouth, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Capture of Jack Rattenbury by French privateer, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cardinal Reginald Pole, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Carew, Sir Peter, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Gawen, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_70'>70</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Carew’s “Survey of Cornwall,” <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cargoes from Cherbourg, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cary, Colonel, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Castle of Rougemont, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Plympton, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Salcombe, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cathedral, ancient, of Cornwall, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Catskin Earls, Origin of, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Catullus, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Chagford, Annals of, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Chancellor, Earl of Halsbury, present Lord, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” of the Duchy of Lancaster, present, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Chanters House, quarters of Sir Thomas Fairfax, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Chapel at Ottery St. Mary, Independent, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Charles I., King, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Lord Lansdowne, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cherbourg, cargoes from, <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Chronicle of Higden, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Church, Colyton, Effigy of Lady Pole in, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Church, Plympton Town, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” St. Mary, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” St. Germans, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Churchyard, ring of Mary, <a href='#Page_164'>164</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Clarence” Inn, Exeter, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” Duchess of Clarence at the, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Clinton, Captain Lord, <a href='#Page_253'>253</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Close, house in the, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cluobrera, Gabriello, the Pindar of Italy, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Clyst St. Mary, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Coke, Sir Edward, on Magna Carta, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Coleridge, Rev. John, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” George, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Samuel Taylor, Birthplace of, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Collection of manuscripts, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>College of Ottery St. Mary, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Collins, Mary, maid to Mrs. Bray, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Collins, Rev. Robert, Nonconformist leader, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Comte de Chambord, Funeral of the, <a href='#Page_46'>46</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Consort, late Prince, visit to the Duchy Estates, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Convention Room, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Convict Settlement, Formation of, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Coplestone Cross, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Coplestones of White Spur, Race of the, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_299'>299</span>Corinæus, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Rule of, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Combat of, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cosmo III., Grand Duke of Tuscany, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cottenham, First Earl of, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cotton, R. W., on Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_132'>132</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Courtenay, Baronetcy refused by family of, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Barony refused by family of, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Edward, <a href='#Page_53'>53–55</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Edward Baldwin, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>th Earl of Devon, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Henry, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Henry Hugh, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>th Earl of Devon, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Henry Reginald, Lord, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” John, <a href='#Page_50'>50</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Lord, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Made Viscount, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Peter, Bishop of Exeter, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Philip, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Hugh, <a href='#Page_49'>49</a>, <a href='#Page_180'>180</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir William, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir William of Powderham, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Thomas, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>th Earl of Devon, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>th Earl of Devon, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William Reginald, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>th Earl of Devon, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Courtneie, Sir Peter, Sheriff of Exeter, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Coverdale, Myles, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” translator of the Bible, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Crediton, town of, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Crockern Tor Parliament, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cynewulf, King of Wessex, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Cruwys, Mr., of Cruwys Morchard—old Devon family, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Danes at Exmouth, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dartmoor, King Edgar on, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Pre-historic Remains on, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Rowe’s, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dartmouth Castle, Last Governor of, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Charming, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” French Vessel taken at, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Jail, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Trade with Newfoundland, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Davidson, J. B., of Secktor, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Davy, Birthplace of Edward, <a href='#Page_216'>216</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dean Bourn, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Court, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Prior, Village of, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>, <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Debrun, Ponce Denis, Pindar of France, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>de Courtenay, Baldwin, <a href='#Page_43'>43</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Jocelyn, <a href='#Page_35'>35</a>, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” II., <a href='#Page_36'>36</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” III., <a href='#Page_37'>37</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” IV., <a href='#Page_38'>38</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Peter, <a href='#Page_41'>41</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Reginald, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Robert, <a href='#Page_42'>42</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” William, <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>de Courteney, John, Abbot of <a id='corr299.20'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Tavisstock'>Tavistock</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_299.20'><ins class='correction' title='Tavisstock'>Tavistock</ins></a></span>, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Reginald, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Robert, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>de Grandisson, John, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>de Grenville, First Sir Richard, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Sir Richard, Marshal of Calais, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Sir Richard, Capture of Spanish Vessel, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Sir Roger, sea captain, <a href='#Page_99'>99</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Delaney, letters of Mrs., <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Denyngton, John, Abbot of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>De Quincey, Anecdote of, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Devon, Amicia, Countess of, <a href='#Page_48'>48</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Edward Baldwin, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>th Earl of, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Edward, Earl of, <a href='#Page_55'>55</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Henry Hugh, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>th Earl of, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Notes to Risdon’s, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>th Earl of, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William Reginald, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>th Earl of, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dickinson, Mr., of <a id='corr299.47'></a><span class='htmlonly'><ins class='correction' title='Knighthayes'>Knightshayes</ins></span><span class='epubonly'><a href='#c_299.47'><ins class='correction' title='Knighthayes'>Knightshayes</ins></a></span>, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dodbrooke, birthplace of Dr. John Wolcot, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dodderidge, Effigy of Lady, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Dolphin” Inn at Exeter, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dolvin Road, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dorot, Jean, a French Pindar, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Dover,” adventures of the, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_300'>300</span>Drake, Sir Francis, <a href='#Page_90'>90</a>, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Statue of, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Drayton, Michael, poet, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_123'>123</a>, <a href='#Page_129'>129</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Drewe, John and Edward, of Killerton, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Druids in Devon, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Duchess of Clarence (afterwards Queen Adelaide) at Exeter, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Duchy of Lancaster, present Chancellor of, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dugdale, copying register, <a href='#Page_47'>47</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Duke of Kent at Exeter, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” Death of, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Duke of Millaine,” Massinger’s, <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Duncan, Arrival in Exeter of Lord, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Dunsford, Martin, historian of Tiverton, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Duntze, family of, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Earl of Cottenham, Mr. Pepys, afterwards first, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Earl Ethelwold, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Earl of Harrowby’s present to Tiverton, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Earl of Torrington, George Monk, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Earls, Catskin, Origin of, <a href='#Page_59'>59</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Eastlake, First school of Sir Charles, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Eddystone Lighthouse, Completion of, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Edgar, King, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Edith, Queen, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Edward the Confessor, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Edward I. varies direction of writs, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Effigy of Lady Pole, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” Dodderidge, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Elfrida, Loveliness of, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Elizabeth, Queen, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke Nicholas, afterwards, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ethelwolf, Saxon King, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Evans, Poetry and prose of Miss Rachel, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Exeter, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>, <a href='#Page_85'>85</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Arrival of Lord Duncan at, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Bear Inn” at, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Clarence” at, <a href='#Page_74'>74</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Danes at, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Dolphin Inn” at, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Free Republic of, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Headquarters of the Danes at, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Henry, first Marquis of, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” History of, Jenkin’s, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Mermaid” Inn at, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “New” Inn, <a href='#Page_63'>63–68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Peter Courtenay, Bishop of, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Royalist, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sieges of, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William Warelwast, Bishop of, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Exmouth, Danes at, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Fair ball, Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_281'>281</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Fair, poem on Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Fairfax, Letter to Speaker from General, <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” March to Great Torrington by General, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Thomas, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Thomas, Wonderful preservation of, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Field, Mr. Barron, on Dean Prior, <a href='#Page_153'>153</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Firing of Teignmouth, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>First Earl of Cottenham, Pepys, afterwards, <a href='#Page_58'>58</a>, <a href='#Page_61'>61</a>, <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>First Marquis of Exeter, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Foote, Maria, celebrated actress, <a href='#Page_75'>75</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Former Town Mansion of Abbot of Buckfast, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Fortescue, Lord, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Lieutenant-Colonel, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Edmund, <a href='#Page_14'>14</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Freemasons, French, in England, <a href='#Page_206'>206</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Free Republic of Exeter, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>French landing at Torquay, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>French privateer, capture by, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Froude on Sir Richard Grenville, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Fuller on bone lace, <a href='#Page_241'>241</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Geoffrey, of Monmouth, <a href='#Page_21'>21</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>George III., Memorial to son of, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Visit to Exeter, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Gilbert, Adrian and Humphry, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Glanville of Kilworthy, Judge, <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” John, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Francis, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Goegmagot, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_301'>301</span>Gogmagog, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>, <a href='#Page_28'>28</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Grammar School of Plymouth, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Kingsbridge, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosmo III., <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Nicholas received by Samuel Foote, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Grandisson, Bishop, <a href='#Page_185'>185</a>, <a href='#Page_210'>210</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Granville, George, created Lord Lansdown, <a href='#Page_114'>114</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Lord of Potheridge, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Bevill, at Steinkirk, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Gray, Monument of Thomas, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Great Coplestones, race of, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Torrington, Fight at, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Grenville, Bevill, supporter of Charles I., <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” knighted at Berwick, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” brother of Sir Richard, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” John, drowned, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” 2nd John, leads charge at Lansdown, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” 2nd John, knighted at Bristol, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” John, brother of Sir Bevill, Flight of, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir John, flight to Scilly Isles, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Richard, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” 3rd Sir Richard, fight with Spanish at Flores, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” 3rd Sir Richard Death of, <a href='#Page_104'>104</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” 4th Sir Richard, Death in exile of, <a href='#Page_110'>110</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Greyhound,” lieutenant of the, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Grosart, Mr., statement <i>re</i> brasses, <a href='#Page_142'>142</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Guildhall, Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Hall, Barnstaple Quay, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hamoaze, The, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hamo’s, Port, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hanmer, Londonderry, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Harbour construction at Beer, scheme for, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Harris, Form of parole by Captain Vernon, <a href='#Page_204'>204</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Harris, Pamphlet by Captain Vernon, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Harrowby, present Earl of, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Harrowby, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>st Lord, <a href='#Page_290'>290–291</a>, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” 2nd Lord, first Earl, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hawker, Sketch by late Reverend Treasurer, <a href='#Page_232'>232–234</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hawkins, Sir John, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>, <a href='#Page_92'>92</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Haydon, Benjamin, last visit to Grammar School, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Headland, “Bob’s Nose,” <a href='#Page_273'>273</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Heathcoat, Mr. John, “Lord Tiverton,” <a href='#Page_292'>292</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hele, Sir John, distinguished lawyer, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Henry Courtenay, first Marquis of Exeter, <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Heydon, Curious certificate of Rev. John, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>, <a href='#Page_139'>139</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Higden, Chronicle of, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hill, Colonel, in Portugal, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Historian of Tiverton, Martin Dunsford, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>History of Kingsbridge, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Torquay, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“History of the British Revolution,” George Moore’s, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hoker, John, <i>alias</i> of John Vowell, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Holdsworth, Governor of Dartmouth Castle, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Honiton, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Mrs. Lydia Maynard of, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Hopton, Defeat of Lord, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>, <a href='#Page_135'>135</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Horace, <a href='#Page_145'>145</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Howard, Disposal of estates of Lady, <a href='#Page_122'>122</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Lord Thomas, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Romance of Lady, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Ilfracombe, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Independent Chapel, Ottery St. Mary, <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ine, King of West Saxons, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ingelow, Jean, poem on Eddystone Lighthouse, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Inns of Court, lawyers of, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Inscriptions, Ogham, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Isaacke, Chronicler, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Jail, Dartmouth, <a href='#Page_271'>271</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Jenkin’s History of Exeter, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Johnson, Dr., on Inns, <a href='#Page_63'>63</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” visit to Devonshire, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Jonson, Ben, on Browne’s “Britannia’s Pastorals,” <a href='#Page_124'>124</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_302'>302</span>Keats on Cider making, <a href='#Page_146'>146</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Kennicott, Dr., <a href='#Page_214'>214</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Kerslake, Mr. T., <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Killerton, John and Edward Drewe of, <a href='#Page_72'>72</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>King Charles besieging Plymouth, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Stephen, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Kinglake, W., <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Kingsbridge Grammar School, <a href='#Page_233'>233</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>King’s Grammar School, Ottery, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Knightshayes, Mr. Dickinson of, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Lacy, Petition to Bishop, <a href='#Page_184'>184</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lamb, Schoolfellow of Charles, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lancaster, ancestor of present Chancellor of Duchy of, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Landing of the Prince of Orange, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Langdon, Stephen, Abbot of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lansdown, Attack on Sir William Waller at, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lansdown, Charles, Lord, <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Larkham, Thomas, Puritan incumbent, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Last Governor of Dartmouth Castle, Letter from, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Late Prince Consort, visit to Dartmoor, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lawyers of Inns of Court, <a href='#Page_286'>286</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Leicester, Earl of, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Leland on Plympton Castle, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Leofric, Bishop, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Letter to Dr. Oliver, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lieutenant of the “Greyhound,” enmity of, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lighthouse, First Eddystone, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lord Russell, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lowman Green, Tiverton, Mr. George Owen of, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lydford Law, Satire on, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lyte, Communication from Rev. H. F., <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Lyte, Rev. H. F., presentation to William IV., <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Mackenzie, Colonel, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Magna Carta, <a href='#Page_285'>285</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Manuscripts, collection of, <a href='#Page_284'>284</a></li> - <li class='c029'>Marquis of Worcester, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Massinger’s “Duke of Millaine,” <a href='#Page_130'>130</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Maurice, Prince, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” at Chard, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Mayflower,” Sailing of the, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Maynard, John, eminent townsman, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir John, Lord Commissioner, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir John, Recorder of Brixham, <a href='#Page_156'>156</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir John represents Plympton, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” of Honiton, Mrs. Lydia, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Mermaid” Inn at Exeter, <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Monk, George, Duke of Albemarle, in Scotland, <a href='#Page_109'>109</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Monk, George, Duke of Albemarle, Restoration of Charles II., <a href='#Page_112'>112</a>, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Monmouth Rebellion, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Montgomery, Colonel, <a href='#Page_251'>251</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Lord, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Monument to Sir William Strode, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” to Thomas Gray, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Moore’s “History of the British Revolution,” <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Mother Molly,” Miss Peard’s, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Mural Tablet to Sir Simon Baskerville, <a href='#Page_65'>65</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Napoleon on board the <i>Bellerophon</i>, <a href='#Page_96'>96</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Nennius, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Newfoundland seized, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“New Inn,” Exeter, <a href='#Page_63'>63–67</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” Apollo room in the, <a href='#Page_67'>67–69</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” “Inne Halle,” <a href='#Page_66'>66</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Norden, John, <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Northcote, Education of, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Stafford, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Notes to Risdon’s “Devonshire,” <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Offering to Richard III., <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ogham Inscriptions, <a href='#Page_6'>6</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Oldham, Visitation to Plympton Priory by Bishop, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Oliver, Dr., <a href='#Page_69'>69</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Letter to, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Opie, John, <a href='#Page_228'>228</a>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>, <a href='#Page_237'>237</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Orchard, Colonel, <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ordulf, founder of St. Rumon’s Abbey, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Owen, Mr. George, of Lowman Green, Tiverton, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_303'>303</span>Paignton, Bible Tower at, <a href='#Page_169'>169</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Palgrave, Sir Francis, Theory of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Palk, Captain Walter, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Panorama of Torquay,” Blewitt’s, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Parliament, Crockern Tor, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Peard, Miss, <a href='#Page_255'>255</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Peeke, Exploits in Spain of Richard, <a href='#Page_127'>127</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pembroke, Ann Clifford, Countess of, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Epitaph on the Countess of, <a href='#Page_128'>128</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Pendennis,” Thackeray’s, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pensaulcoit, Attack on, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Caer, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Penselwood, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Perkin Warbeck, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Perry-Keene, Rev., Vicar of Dean Prior, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Peryn, John, Abbot of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_119'>119</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Peters, Hugh, Puritan preacher, <a href='#Page_138'>138</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Petre, Master William, <a href='#Page_71'>71</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pindar, first lyric poet of Bœotia, <a href='#Page_219'>219</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pindars, French and Italian, <a href='#Page_222'>222</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pixie’s Parlour, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Plato on birds, <a href='#Page_144'>144</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Plymouth, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Port of, <a href='#Page_89'>89</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Siege of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Plympton, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Castle, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Grammar School, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Guildhall, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” David Bercle, Prior of, <a href='#Page_186'>186</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Priory, <a href='#Page_181'>181</a>, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>, <a href='#Page_187'>187</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” St. Mary Church, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Town Church, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pode, J. S., <a href='#Page_256'>256</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Poem, “Barnstaple Fair,” <a href='#Page_282'>282</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pole, Cardinal Reginald, <a href='#Page_52'>52</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Effigy of Lady, <a href='#Page_244'>244</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Influence of Sir William, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Polwhele, <a href='#Page_2'>2</a>, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Polyolbion,” Drayton’s, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pomeroy, Sir Humphry, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Port, Hamo’s, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Port of Topsham, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Poulain, Interesting book of Mons. Jules, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Powderham, Sir William Courtenay of, <a href='#Page_56'>56</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Powderham, Viscount Courtenay of, <a href='#Page_57'>57</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pre-historic Remains on Dartmoor, <a href='#Page_1'>1</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Present Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Prideaux, Colonel Sir Edmund, <a href='#Page_262'>262</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Prince Consort, the late, visit to Duchy Estates, <a href='#Page_208'>208</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Maurice, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” of Orange, Landing of the, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Worthies of Devon,” <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Princess Henrietta Anne, born at Exeter, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Privateer, capture by French, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Privateering, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Prynne’s “Brevia Parliamentaria,” <a href='#Page_288'>288</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Pym, John, <a href='#Page_125'>125</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Quay Hall, Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Queen Adelaide, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” at the “Clarence,” Exeter, <a href='#Page_76'>76</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Elizabeth, Fondness for dress of, <a href='#Page_239'>239</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Victoria, <a href='#Page_246'>246</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Early home of, <a href='#Page_19'>19</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Raleigh, Sir Walter, <a href='#Page_13'>13</a>, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Rattenbury, Jack, amusing cross-examination of, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” birthplace at Beer, <a href='#Page_264'>264</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” capture by French privateer, <a href='#Page_266'>266</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” pension allowed to, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Rebellion of Monmouth, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Records, Barnstaple Borough, <a href='#Page_278'>278</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Republic, Free, of Exeter, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Revolt of Scilly Isles, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Reynolds, Sir Joshua, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” admiration of cloisters, <a href='#Page_197'>197</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Joshua, Appreciation of, <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>, <a href='#Page_229'>229</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Joshua, astonished by the King, <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Joshua, Birth of, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Richard II., Offering to, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Risdon’s Notes to “Devonshire,” <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Honiton, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_304'>304</span>Rivers, Sir Richard, <a href='#Page_178'>178</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Rolle, Lord, <a href='#Page_260'>260</a>, <a href='#Page_268'>268</a>, <a href='#Page_272'>272</a>, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir John, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” House in the close, <a href='#Page_68'>68</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Roope, Mr. Nicholas, first openly to espouse the Prince of Orange, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Roscommon, nephew of Strafford, <a href='#Page_126'>126</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Rougemont Castle, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Rowe’s “Dartmoor,” Information derived from, <a href='#Page_209'>209</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Russell, Lord, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>, <a href='#Page_86'>86</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Arthur, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” John, Leader of Reform, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” William, Patriot, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Russells of Tavistock, The, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Ryder, family of, <a href='#Page_290'>290–296</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>St. Boniface of Germany, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>St. German’s Church, ancient cathedral, <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>St. Mary’s Church, Plympton, <a href='#Page_189'>189</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Salcombe Castle, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sampford Courtney, <a href='#Page_82'>82</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Battle of, <a href='#Page_87'>87</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Whitsun Monday at, <a href='#Page_83'>83</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Saxon Abbots, Last of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Saxons, The, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Saxon School” of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_118'>118</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Scilly Isles, Revolt of the, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Seale, Letter to Sir H. P., <a href='#Page_167'>167</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Secktor, Mr. J. B. Davidson of, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Secretary of State, Sir Joseph Williamson, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Seizure of Newfoundland, <a href='#Page_12'>12</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sergeant Bompas, amusing cross-examination by, <a href='#Page_275'>275</a></li> - <li class='c029'>Seymour, Lord, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Edward, Proposal of, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir Edward, the younger, <a href='#Page_167'>167</a></li> - <li class='c029'>Ship of Fools, “Stultifera Navis,” <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Siege of Plymouth, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>, <a href='#Page_25'>25</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sieges of Exeter, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_10'>10</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sithric, Abbot, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Slanning, Sir Nicholas, at the siege of Bristol, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Smith, Mr. Goldwin, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Snell, John, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sonnet to the River Otter, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Speke, Arrival of Hugh, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Spenser, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sprigge, Joshua, Chaplain to Fairfax, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Stamford, Earl of, Parliamentarian commander, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Stapledon, Bishop, consecrates Plympton Church, <a href='#Page_183'>183</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Statue of Sir Francis Drake, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Steinkirk, Battle of, <a href='#Page_113'>113</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Stephen, King, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Stokes, Mr. H. S., as West Country poet, <a href='#Page_117'>117</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Stratton, Battle at, <a href='#Page_105'>105–107</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Strode, Sir William, member for Plympton, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Strode, Sir William, Monument to, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Stultifera Navis,” or Ship of Fools, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Survey of Cornwall, Carew’s, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Sweyn, Revenge of, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Tablet to Lieutenant-Colonel Babb, <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Tavistock Abbey, <a href='#Page_5'>5</a>, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Beauty of, <a href='#Page_116'>116</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Last Saxon Abbot of, <a href='#Page_8'>8</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Tamar side of, <a href='#Page_131'>131</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Town Mansion of Abbots of, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Teignmouth, Firing of, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Temple, Dr., Archbishop of Canterbury, <a href='#Page_60'>60</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Thackeray, Youthful home of, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>The Armada, Appearance off Plymouth of, <a href='#Page_93'>93</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” College of Ottery St. Mary, <a href='#Page_211'>211</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Conqueror, William, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Convention Room, Ottery St. Mary, <a href='#Page_213'>213</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Dover,” adventures of, <a href='#Page_265'>265</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Earl of Leicester, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Earl of Stamford, <a href='#Page_105'>105</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” “Greyhound,” lieutenant of, <a href='#Page_269'>269</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Guildhall, Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Hamoaze, <a href='#Page_26'>26</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Marquis of Worcester, <a href='#Page_250'>250</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” <i>Mayflower</i>, Sailing of, <a href='#Page_94'>94</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” present Lord Chancellor, <a href='#Page_291'>291</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Prince of Orange, Landing of, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Quay Hall, Barnstaple, <a href='#Page_280'>280</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” <i>Revenge</i>, naval battle at Flores, <a href='#Page_101'>101</a>, <a href='#Page_102'>102</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'><span class='pageno' id='Page_305'>305</span> ” ” Surrender of, <a href='#Page_103'>103</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” River Otter, Sonnet to, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Russells of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_121'>121</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Saxons, <a href='#Page_3'>3</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” <i>Tiger</i>, Sir Richard Grenville’s Ship, <a href='#Page_100'>100</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Theory of Sir Francis Palgrave, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Thorverton, canal from Beer to, <a href='#Page_274'>274</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Thurlestone, Vicar of, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Tiverton, <a href='#Page_243'>243</a>, <a href='#Page_284'>284–296</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Tiverton, Martin Dunsford, historian of, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Topsham, Port of, <a href='#Page_9'>9</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Torquay, French landing at, <a href='#Page_18'>18</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Torrington, George Monk, Earl of, <a href='#Page_133'>133</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Totnes, Claims of, <a href='#Page_29'>29</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Landing of Brutus at, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Port of, <a href='#Page_30'>30</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Town Church, Plympton, <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Mansion of Abbots of Tavistock, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Treadwin, Mrs., <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>, <a href='#Page_249'>249</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” Younger days of, <a href='#Page_247'>247</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Treby, Sir George, <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” ” Arms of, <a href='#Page_195'>195</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Trelawney, Sir William, <a href='#Page_225'>225</a>, <a href='#Page_226'>226</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Trevelyan, Lady, <a href='#Page_248'>248</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Trevisa, <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Turner, J. M. W., <a href='#Page_227'>227</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Tyrwhitt, Sir Thomas, lays first stone of Dartmoor Prison, <a href='#Page_201'>201</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Tyrwhitt, Sir Thomas, Privileges procured by, <a href='#Page_203'>203</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Van Tromp attempts to bribe Grenville, <a href='#Page_111'>111</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Vicar of Thurlestone, <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Village of Dean Prior, <a href='#Page_141'>141</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Vowell, John, <a href='#Page_77'>77</a>, <a href='#Page_81'>81</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Waller, Sir William, attacked at Lansdown, <a href='#Page_107'>107</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Walpole, Sir Robert, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>, <a href='#Page_290'>290</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Walrond, Sir W. H., <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Warbeck, Perkin, <a href='#Page_11'>11</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Warelwast, William, Bishop of Exeter, <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Westcote, <a href='#Page_27'>27</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” on Honiton, <a href='#Page_238'>238</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” on lace, <a href='#Page_240'>240</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>White, Mr., contradiction of story, <a href='#Page_161'>161</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” ” History of Torquay, <a href='#Page_172'>172</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Whittaker on the Cornish language, <a href='#Page_80'>80</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Whittle, John,” pamphlet on landing of the Prince of Orange, <a href='#Page_155'>155</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Wilkie visits Plympton Grammar School, <a href='#Page_198'>198</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Williamson, letter to Countess of Pembroke from Sir Joseph, <a href='#Page_287'>287</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>William the Conqueror, <a href='#Page_7'>7</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” IV. landing at Brixham, <a href='#Page_162'>162</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Windeatt, Mr. Edward, <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Mr. M., <a href='#Page_261'>261</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Samuel and Thomas, <a href='#Page_165'>165</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Winstanley, Henry, completion of first Eddystone Lighthouse, <a href='#Page_95'>95</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Wolcot, Dr. Alexander, father of Dr. John Wolcot, <a href='#Page_223'>223</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Wolcot, Dr. John, “Peter Pindar,” <a href='#Page_218'>218–223</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Wood, Mr. Beavis, <a href='#Page_295'>295</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>“Worthies of Devon,” Prince’s, <a href='#Page_73'>73</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Worth, Mr., of Worth—old Devon family, <a href='#Page_294'>294</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Wren, Sir Christopher, distinguished representative, <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Wren, Sir Christopher, first architect returned to Parliament, <a href='#Page_194'>194</a>.</li> -</ul> -<ul class='index c000'> - <li class='c029'>Yonge, Sir George, Factory built by, <a href='#Page_212'>212</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'> ” Sir William, <a href='#Page_289'>289</a>.</li> - <li class='c029'>Youthful home of Thackeray, <a href='#Page_215'>215</a>.</li> -</ul> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Bemrose & Sons, Limited, Printers, Derby, London and Watford.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><b><span class='large'>Selected from the Catalogue of</span></b></div> - <div><b><span class='xlarge'>BEMROSE & SONS, Ltd.</span></b></div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c030' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class="blackletter"><span class='large'>Memorials of the Counties of England.</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c003'><b>MEMORIALS OF OLD BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.</b></p> -<p class='c031'>Edited by the Rev. <span class='sc'>P. 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Demy 8vo, 120 pp., -cloth, gilt, <b>7/6</b> net.</p> - -<p class='c031'>The work is the outcome of the excavation of the site of this -Roman Fort by the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society in the years 1899, -1900, and 1901.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>“Mr. Ward, evidently, has spared no pains to give the fullest and clearest -description of these interesting remains, and the illustrations, of which there are -a large number, are excellent. They are illustrations in the truest sense of the word.”—<cite>Border -Counties Advertiser.</cite></span></p> - -<p class='c019'><span class='pageno' id='Page_306'>306</span><b>LLANDAFF CHURCH PLATE.</b></p> -<p class='c031'>By <span class='sc'>George Eley Halliday</span>, F.R.I.B.A., Diocesan Surveyor of -Llandaff, with 59 illustrations in line and half-tone. Royal 8vo, -cloth, price <b>12/6</b> net.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>“A thoroughly good contribution to the history of Church Plate.”—<cite>Reliquary.</cite></span></p> - -<p class='c019'><b>THE REGISTERS OF THE PARISH OF ASKHAM, IN THE COUNTY OF WESTMORELAND</b>,</p> -<p class='c031'>from 1566 to 1812. Copied by <span class='sc'>Mary E. Noble</span>, Editor of the -“Bampton Parish Registers” and Author of “A History of -Bampton.” Demy 8vo, cloth, price <b>21/-</b> net.</p> - -<p class='c031'>These Registers contain many interesting entries of the Sandford, -Myddleton, Collinson, Bowman, Law, Holme, Wilkinson, and -Langhorne families, and others, and some reference to Parochial -events. A list of Vicars is included, and some Local Notes.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>“Miss Noble has followed up her admirable edition of the “Bampton Parish -Registers” by copying and publishing the Registers of the adjoining parish of Askham, -which go back to the year 1566. She has discharged her self-imposed task with her -accustomed care and ability, and the handsomely printed and substantially bound -volume of 250 pages is not merely a record of marryings, buryings, and christenings -in this ancient parish ... but a valuable contribution to the history of the border -land.”—<cite>The Carlisle Patriot.</cite></span></p> - -<p class='c019'><b>MATLOCK MANOR AND PARISH.</b></p> -<p class='c031'>Historical and Descriptive, with Pedigrees and Arms, and Map of -Parish reduced from the Ordnance Survey. By <span class='sc'>Benjamin Bryan</span>. -Crown 8vo, cloth, <b>12/6</b>; large paper, <b>15/-</b>.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>“Mr. Bryan’s history is an excellent record of the rise and progress of the -Matlocks up to the present time, and for many years to come local people will regard -it as the standard work for consultation on all questions arising out of local customs, -local government, local institutions, local events, and prominent local people.”—<cite>Derby -Mercury.</cite></span></p> - -<p class='c019'><b>HOW TO WRITE THE HISTORY OF A PARISH.</b></p> -<p class='c031'>An Outline Guide to Topographical Records, Manuscripts, and -Books. By Rev. <span class='sc'>J. Charles Cox</span>, LL.D., F.S.A. <i>Fourth Edition.</i> -Crown 8vo, buckram. Price <b>3/6</b>.</p> - -<p class='c019'><b>THE FRENCH STONEHENGE.</b></p> -<p class='c031'>An Account of the Principal Megalithic Remains in the Morbihan -Archipelago. By <span class='sc'>T. Cato Worsfold, F.R.Hist.S., F.R.S.L.</span>, -Member of the Council of the British Archæological Association; -Author of “Staple Inn,” “Antwerp, Past and Present,” “Porta -Nigra, the Treasure of Treves,” &c. Second Edition. <b>With -numerous additions and Illustrations.</b> Size 9 in. by 6 in., -cloth, price <b>5/-</b>.</p> - -<p class='c001'><span class='small'>“Mr. Worsfold has compressed into a small space a great amount of interesting -detail with regard not only to the megalithic and other stone monuments, but also to -the Roman and early Mediæval remains in the district he has sought to illustrate. -His style is easy and attractive, and his little work may induce visitors to France, who -are interested in objects of remote antiquity, to take the opportunity of seeing a part -of the country which abounds with them.”—<cite>Athenæum.</cite></span></p> - -<hr class='c030' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class="blackletter">London:</span></div> - <div>BEMROSE & SONS, LTD., <span class='sc'>4, Snow Hill</span>, E.C.;</div> - <div><span class='sc'>and Derby</span>.</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Footnotes</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c034' /> -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. <cite>Geoffrey of Monmouth</cite>, Giles’ Translation.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. An old inhabitant of Totnes, named John Newland, states that he and -his father removed this stone from a well which they were digging about -sixty years ago, and deposited it in its present position. The stone is -precisely such a boulder as occurs in large numbers in the deposit left -by the Dart on the further margin of the alluvial flat or “strath” at -Totnes, and which is cut through by the tramroad to the quay, near -the railway station. Popular opinion is in favour of the authenticity of -the stone, but it can hardly have been the “rock” referred to by Prince, -already cited, “towards the lower end of the town”; and for my own -part, I am inclined to regard it as the “modern antique” Newland’s -account would make it, to which the old tradition has been transferred. -Moreover, there is yet current a local tradition that Brutus landed at -Warland. If this is not held to dispose of the present “Brutus stone,” -it certainly indicates an important divergence of authorities.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. Bridport also, on the ground of its etymology, Brute-port (!).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. Burritt’s <cite>Walk from London to Land’s End</cite>.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. <i>Chief authorities for this paper</i>: Dugdale and Oliver’s <cite>Monasticon</cite>; -old documents connected with Tavistock, recovered in ancient oak chest -in 1886; various papers on Tavistock Worthies, in the <cite>Transactions of -the Devonshire Association</cite>; Mr. A. H. Bullen’s “Life of William -Browne,” in the <cite>Dictionary of National Biography</cite>; and Mr. Wm. -Carew Hazlitt’s Introduction to the Roxburghe Club Edition of Browne’s -Works, 1868.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. Devonshire wool was already a valuable commodity, and was bought -at that time, it is said, by Flemish merchants who frequented Devonshire -ports.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. One remarkable circumstance—mentioned by Pole—concerning Henry -Courtenay, created Earl in 1525, may be noted. “This Henry,” says -Pole, “was soe intimate unto King Henry the 8th, that having no issue -he intended to have made hym his successor unto the crown; but afterwards -he fell into high displeasure of the King, so, as being questioned -with divers others for ayding of Cardinale Poole, and intencion for the -raising of forces on the Pope’s behalf, he was arraigned, convicted, and -executed for treason.”</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f8'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. There is a quaint letter extant of this hospitable prior, which Dr. -Oliver gives. It is—</p> - -<p class='c001'>“To his rev’ende broders in Criste, Maister Dene and Maister Chaunter, -of Excester, or on’ of theym, this to be delyvd. in goodely haste. Right -rev’end broders in Criste, in my most lovynge maner y recomaunde me -unto yow p’ynge yow right hartely to be good maisters to a prieste called -I. David Neyton, a lovyer of myn’ which trustyth by your favors to be -on’ of your vicaryyes in Synte Peters Churche if he be a person’ necessary -to occupye a such rome yn your’ sayde churche y p’y yow that he may -the rader for my desyre be accepte to the same rome, and he and y shall -p’y for the longe contynuance of your bothe prosperyteis, which God -p’sve to his pleasur’ and your hartes desyres—Amen. Writyn in haste -penultimo die Aprilis by your olde louyer and bedman’.</p> - -<div class='c010'>“<span class='sc'>David</span>, Prior of Plympton’.”</div> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f9'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. This also applies to the Cornish churches.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f10'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. Over the Guildhall are the arms, carved in stone, of Sir Thomas -Trevor, Knight, and Sir George Treby, Knight. Members of the Treby -family were often connected with the corporation of the borough. In -1755 the parishioners at a vestry then held passed a resolution concerning -the ringing of the church bells, “George Treby, Esq., and the other -gentlemen belonging to the corporation,” being respectfully included in -the said resolution.</p> - -<p class='c001'>“Agreed on Easter Monday, March the 31st day, 1755, by us whose -names are hereunto subscribed, being the Parishioners then present at -the Vestry then held. That only five persons shall, and are by the -authority of the said Vestry allowed to ring the Bells of this Parish for -the future, and that they shall ring only on such public days as the -Parishioners shall from time to time agree to and approve of, and that -the said five persons that shall undertake to Ring shall be obliged likewise -to chime the Bells on every Sunday in the forenoon and the afternoon, at -the proper season for Divine Service, and that they shall be obliged to give -their due and regular attendance, both in the fore and afternoon of every -Sunday upon the Service of the church, and that they be at Liberty to -ring for George Treby, Esq., and the other Gentlemen belonging to the -Corporation, as often as the said Gentlemen shall signify it to be their -pleasure to have the Bells rung, and that the said Ringers are never -to ring after <em>Eight</em> of the clock in the Evening, or before Seven in the -morning.”</p> - -<p class='c001'>“The Ringers are never to ring after Eight.” Thus are old customs -and traditions handed down from age to age.</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c018'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f11'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. Entered in the Death Register of the parish as Ann Duchane.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f12'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. <cite>Survey of Devon</cite>, 1605–20 (printed editions, 1785, 1811).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f13'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. <cite>View of Devon</cite>, <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>circiter</i></span> 1630 (first printed, 1845).</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f14'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. The term <em>bone</em> lace is wrongly interpreted as representing the raised -Venetian points, which have been likened to carved ivory or bone.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f15'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. <cite>Worthies</cite>, 1662.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f16'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. <cite>View of Devon.</cite></p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f17'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. <cite>History of Lace.</cite> Mrs. Palliser, 1901.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f18'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. <cite>Worthies of Devon.</cite> Prince, 1701.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f19'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. <cite>Worthies</cite>, 1662.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f20'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. <cite>Complete System of Geography.</cite> Bowen, 1747.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f21'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. <cite>Britannia</cite>, 1822.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f22'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. There is an example of <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>opus araneum</i></span> or <span lang="la" xml:lang="la"><i>lacis</i></span>, net work embroidered -with a simple floral design, on the collar of Bp. Stafford, 1308, in Exeter -Cathedral.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f23'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. <cite>Antique Point and Honiton Lace.</cite> Mrs Treadwin. No date.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f24'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. <cite>History of Lace.</cite> Mrs. Palliser, 1901.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f25'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. Queen Adelaide also caused to be introduced the Maltese lace, that -continued to be made for years here and there.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f26'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. Mrs. Treadwin in her younger days saw some twenty-four men lace -makers in Woodbury, one of whom had worked at his pillow so late as -1820. From being taught as boys, the sailors used to employ themselves -in the winter making some of the coarse laces.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f27'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. This account of John Rattenbury is compiled from a somewhat scarce -little book entitled <cite>Memoirs of a Smuggler</cite>, compiled from his Diary and -Journal, containing the Principal Events in the Life of John Rattenbury, -of Beer, Devonshire, commonly called “The Rob Roy of the West.” -Sidmouth: J. Harvey, 1837. 12mo.</p> -</div> -<div class='footnote' id='f28'> -<p class='c001'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. The Rev. Philip Atherton, M.A., Headmaster of Blundell’s School, and -a member of the Corporation.</p> -</div> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c000' /> -</div> -<p class='c001'><a id='endnote'></a></p> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><span class='large'>Transcriber’s Note</span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>The Index distinguishes between ‘de Courtenay’ and ‘de Courteney’. However, -the latter does not appear in the text. The index is given as printed.</p> - -<p class='c001'>Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.</p> - -<table class='table4' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='12%' /> -<col width='69%' /> -<col width='18%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_129.9'></a><a href='#corr129.9'>129.9</a></td> - <td class='c013'>Shall enjoy a Spring for ever![”]</td> - <td class='c015'>Removed</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_174.29'></a><a href='#corr174.29'>174.29</a></td> - <td class='c013'>The lettering of the inscript[i]on</td> - <td class='c015'>Inserted.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_183.25'></a><a href='#corr183.25'>183.25</a></td> - <td class='c013'>[“]and,> as a mark of subjection</td> - <td class='c015'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_204.32'></a><a href='#corr204.32'>204.32</a></td> - <td class='c013'>Th[e] following notice</td> - <td class='c015'>Added.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_246.20'></a><a href='#corr246.20'>246.20</a></td> - <td class='c013'><i>vrai r[esé/ése]au</i></td> - <td class='c015'>Replaced.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_299.20'></a><a href='#corr299.20'>299.20</a></td> - <td class='c013'>de Courteney, John, Abbot of Tavis[s]tock</td> - <td class='c015'>Removed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c013'><a id='c_299.47'></a><a href='#corr299.47'>299.47</a></td> - <td class='c013'>Dickinson, Mr., of Knight[s]hayes</td> - <td class='c015'>Added.</td> - </tr> -</table> -<hr class='c035' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>Transcriptions of Extended Captions</div> - </div> -</div> - -<hr class='c035' /> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><a id='transcribe034'></a><a href='#i034'>Okehampton Castle, 1734.</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>This Castle, was built by Baldwin de Bronys, & was at first call’d Ochementon; it descended to Rich. de Rivers or Riparus, & from him to his Sister -Adeliza, who marrying one of the Courtenays, it came into that Noble family, & so continued til <span class='fss'>K.E.IV.</span> seized it, for their adherence to the Hous<sup>e</sup> of Lancaster. <span class='fss'>K.H. -VII.</span> restord it to the Courtenays, but <span class='fss'>K.H.VIII.</span> again alienated it & dismantled the Castle & Park, yet Ed. Courtenay in Q. Marys Reign obtain’d a Restoration, but he dying without -Issue Male, it came by a female into the Mohuns Barons of Mohun & Oakhampton, & by the like failure of y<sup>e</sup> male it came by marriage to Christopher Harris of Heynes Esq<sup>r</sup>.</p> -<div class='c004'>S. & N. Buck, delim et Sculp. 1734.</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div><a id='transcribe116'></a><a href='#i116'>West View of Tavistock Abby</a></div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c001'>For the most noble John, Duke and Earl of Bedford, Marquess of Tavistock, Baron Russel -of Thornbaugh, and Baron Howland of Streatham. Proprietor of these Remains. -This Prospect is humbly Inscrib’d by Your Grace’s most Dutiful, and Obedient Servants, Sam<sup>l</sup> & Nath<sup>l</sup> Buck. -Ordigarius or Orgarius Duke of Devonshire & Cornwall, whose Daughter was married to K. Edgar, Very -probably kept his Court here, till his son Odulph built this Abbey Anno 961, for then the whole Mannor of -Tavistock, & Jurisdiction thereof, were given to the Monastery with view of Frank Pledge, Gallowes Pillory -assize of Bread Beer &c. The Church was dedicated to St. Mary &. St Rumon. The Danes burnt it but it was -soon rebuilt, In the Reign of Ed. I. The abbot claim’d the aforesaid Priveleges, which were by that King -allow’d & confirm’d. There were some famous Men Abbots thereof, particularly two Bishops & one Earl -of Devonshire; of the Courtenay family, Lectures were herein read in the Saxon language to preserve -it in Memory; it was of the Dignity of the Mitred Abbots, who sat as Barons in Parliament. Their -Power and Priveleges continued till the Dissolution by K. H. 8. who gave it to John L’<sup>d</sup> Russel, in -which Noble Family it still continues. Annual Value £902 5 7¾.</p> - -<div class='c010'>S. & N. Buck delim et sculp 1733.</div> -<hr class='c035' /> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIALS OF OLD DEVONSHIRE ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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