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A CORNISH ANTHOLOGY Some books by A. L. Rowse

CORNISH A Cornish Childhood A Cornishman at Cornish Stories Tudor Poems Chiefly Cornish Poems of Cornwall and America The Cornish in America : Church, Town, Parish A Cornish Anthology

ENGLISH The of Elizabeth The Expansion of Elizabethan England The Elizabethans and America Ralegh and the Throckmortons Sir of the Revenge The Early Churchills The Later Churchills The Churchills The English Spirit (Revised edition) Times, Persons, Places William Shakespeare: A Biography Shakespeare's Sonnets (Edited with an Introduction and Notes) Christopher Marlowe: A Biography Shakespeare's Southampton: Patron of Virginia Poems Partly American eA Cornish eAntbology

CHOSEN BY A. L. ROWSE

Palgrave Macmillan 1968 Selection and editorial matter © A. L. Rowse 1968 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1968

Published by MACMILLAN AND CO LTD Little Essex Street wc2 and also at Bombay Calcutta and Madras Macmillan South Africa (Publishers) Pty Ltd Johannesburg The Macmillan Company of Canada Ltd Toronto

ISBN 978-1-349-15283-4 ISBN 978-1-349-15281-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-15281-0 To Douglas Jay For his love of Cornwall and his friendship over many years Contents

PREFACE XV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xvii

I. Prologue I. When I Set Out For Lyonnesse Thomas Hardy 3 2. Setting Cornish to Music Peter Warlock and Cecil Gray 4 3· The Richard Carew 5 4· And Shall Trelawny Die? R.S.Hawker 5 5· The Cornish Emigrant's Song R.S.Hawker 6 6. Emigrant Miners R. L. Stevenson 7

II. Places I, D. H. Lawrence Likes Cornwall D. H. Lawrence II 2. St. Michael's Mount J. Farington II 3· The Vision of the Mount John Milton 12 4· Peter Warlock at Peter Warlock I3 5· A Cottage at Poltescoe Arthur Symons 14 6. and St. Just Contrasts Dr. Borlase and Dr. Oliver of Bath I6 7· Erisey Arthur Symons 16 8. Phillack Sir Compton Mackenzie IS 9· A. K. Hamilton Jenkin 20 10. Celia Fiennes Visits Tregothnan Celia Fiennes 21 II. How Many Miles to Mylar? A.L.Rowse 23 12. Winds at Gorran Anne Treneer 24 I3. From a Cornish Window Q 25 I4· Trenarren: Autumn 194I A.L.Rowse 27 15. Peter Green 28 I6. The Harbour of Q 29 vii I7• The Sunken Garden at Tregrehan A.L.Rowse 30 IS. A Plan-an-Gwary: Ferran Round Q 33 I9· Near Thomas Hardy 34 20. Blisland Church 36 2I. Autumn in Cornwall A. C. Swinburne 38 22. in Tudor Times John Leland 40 23. Trebetherick ]ohn Betjeman 4I 24· Mist on Moor Margaret Leigh 42 25· Beeny Cliff Thomas Hardy 44 26. Dozmary Pool Margaret Leigh 45 27. The Seasons in Charles Causley 46 28. The Phantom Horsewoman Thomas Hardy 47 29· Snowfall at Kernick Jack Clemo 49 30· The Geoffrey Grigson 49 Ill. People I. Theodora Paleologus in Church 53 2. A Natural Richard Carew 53 3· Nicholas Boscawen Charles Henderson 55 4· The Parson of St. Ewe Richard Carew 56 5· On Sir F. Carew Sidney Godolphin 57 6. Thomas Hobbes Dedicates the Leviathan 57 7· Character of Sidney Godolphin Lord Clarendon 58 8. Lord Treasurer Godolphin Charles II and Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough 59 9· Sir Bevil Grenville William Cartwright 6o IO. Character of Sir Harry Killigrew Lord Clarendon 63 II. The Beautiful Lady Robartes Anthony Hamilton 64 I2. Mrs. Anne Killigrew John Dryden 65 I3· The Second Lord Godolphin Lord Hervey 68 I4· On Sir John St. Aubyn Sir Robert Walpole 68 I5• Admiral Boscawen William Pitt and Mrs. Boscawen 69 I6. William Glanville Boscawen 69 I7· Mrs. Delany's First Husband Mrs. Delany 70 IS. Dr. Borlase Remembered General Tremenheere 72 19. Friends Dr. Oliver of Bath 72 viii 20. An Eighteenth-century Gentleman Mrs. Delany 73 21. A Fracas at the Opera J. Farington 73 22. Mr. Tillie of Pentillie W.S. Gilpin 74 23. In Churchyard 75 24· Boswell's Friend Temple Lewis Bettany 75 25. Sir Christopher Hawkins Nancy Temple 77 26. John Opie's Beginnings J. Farington 77 27. Opie's Originality J. Farington 78 28. Sir E. C. Bentley and S. T. Coleridge 79 29· Sir Humphry Davy and Sir Walter Scott J. G. Lockhart 79 30. Miss Branwell Becomes Mrs. Bronte Mrs. Gaskell 81 31· Aunt Branwell Mrs. Gaskell 81 32. Matthew Arnold's Family A. B. Baldwin and Matthew Arnold 83 33· Coleridges at Caroline Fox 83 34· Evening at Enys Caroline Fox 84 35· Mill on Sir William Molesworth John Stuart Mill 85 36. Molesworths 85 37· George Borrow Visits his Kinsfolk W.I.Knapp 86 38. Jonathan Couch the Naturalist Q 87 39· Burnard the Sculptor Caroline Fox 89 40· Billy Bray: Miner, Evangelist ClaudeBe"y 90 41. The Death of Cheelie A.L.Rowse 92 42. The Squire of Lanarth Frank Baines 94 43· The Perpetual Curate of -with- Bernard Walke 97 44· The Vicar of Poughill 99 45· 'Atky' Peter Green 99 46. Charles Henderson Q 100 47· Christopher Wood Robin Atthill 103 48. The Voyages of Alfred Wallis W.S.Graham 104 IV. History and Events I. Tumult over Charles Henderson 109 2. Excommunication at St. Buryan Charles Henderson 109 3· St. Michael's Mount Richard Carew 112 ix 4· Before Agincourt William Shakespeare 114 5· The Trevelyans G. M. Trevelyan 114 6. Storm Drives Essex's Fleet into Falmouth, I 597 The Earl of Essex II6 7· The Spanish Raid on 117 8. Charles I on Sir II7 9· Sir Bevil Grenville Goes toW ar II7 10. Inscription on St. Ives Loving Cup Francis Basset II8 II. Francis Basset Rejoices over a Royalist Victory II8 12. King Charles's Letter to the Inhabitants of Cornwall 119 13. The Surrender of Pendennis Castle Lord Clarendon 120 14. Prince Charles Escapes via Scilly Lord Clarendon 120 15. A Brief Narration of the Town of Fowey's Sufferings 122 16. Restoration Amenities 123 17. George Fox in Doomsdale George Fox 124 18. The Funeral of Margaret Godolphin John Evelyn 125 19. A Sea-Fight Off Daniel Defoe 125 20. Planting the Tree of Liberty William Jenkin 126 21. Trevithick's Steam Locomotive Davies Gilbert 127 22. Up 'ill, Comin' Down Traditional 128 23· Napoleon's Curiosity about Cornwall I. H. Vivian 128 24. Bridge L. T. C.Rolt 130 25. The A.L.Rowse 132 26. Mylorin War-Time Marion Howard Spring 133 27. Fighting Gunboats Robert Hichens 134

V. Travellers and Travelling I. Ralegh and Spenser Land at the Mount Edmund Spenser 139 2. A Great Naturalist on Tour John Ray 139 3· Apple-Pie at St. Austell Celia Fiennes 143 4· Wesley in West Cornwall John Wesley 144 5· Dr. Borlase Disapproves Dr. Borlase q6 6. Riot at Falmouth !ohn Wesley 147 7· Georgian Tour Dean Lyttelton 149 8. A Summer Jaunt William Johnston Temple 151 9· William Beckford at Falmouth William Beckford 153

X IO. Southey Arrives by Packet Robert Southey I 54 II. A Fight with an American Privateer I 55 I2. An American Ally I 56 I3· Byron Departs by Packet Lord Byron I 56 I4. Byron's Farewell from Falmouth Roads Lord Byron 157 15. The Picturesque Tamar W. S. Gilpin x6o I6. Travelling Bernard Moore I6I

VI. Occupations and Callings I. A Dream of a Tinwork Richard Carew 165 2. Tinners' Finds Richard Carew 166 3· Early Tin Mining Celia Fiennes I66 4· Dr. Borlase's Occupations Dr. Borlase 16S 5· The Mines of Gwennap William Beckford 16S 6. A Rich Mine Traditional 170 7· A Young Sailor 170 s. Wedgwood and China Clay Eliza Meteyard 170 9· Carclaze Tin Mine ]. Farington 173 10. Georgian Head-Master R. Polwhele 174 II. A Cornish Fellow of All Souls Dr. Borlase 175 I2. Dr. Cardew Makes Good 176 13. Mining under the Sea W.G.Maton 177 14· Iron Casting Caroline Fox 177 15. A Shipwright I79 I6. Datur Hora Quieti R.S.Hawker 179 17· The Wreck of the Caledonia R.S.Hawker ISO IS. The Smuggler's Song R.S.Hawker 1S2 19· The Last of the Smugglers R.S.Hawker 1S3 20. Officious Zeal IS5 2I. Thackeray Electioneers at W. M. Thackeray 1S5 22. Michael Verran the Miner Thomas Carlyle 1S7 23. Early Train Services E. T. MacDermot 1SS 24. Wooden Viaducts on the G.W.R. E. T. MacDermot 1S9 25· Founding the Bishopric of E. F. Benson 190 26. The Old Labourer Arthur Symons 192 27· Laying Up the Boat Q 193 xi 28. Bathing Sir Compton Mackenzie 195 29. The Fisher's Widow Arthur Symons 197 30. Heva! Heval Sir Compton Mackenzie 198 3I. Holidays at Menabilly 199 32· 'Bethlehem' at St. Hilary Bernard Walke 202 33· The Cinder-heap Jack Clemo 203 34· China Clay Bernard Leach 204 35· Glazing Bernard Leach 205 36. Riches Bernard Moore 206 37· Buying a Farm Margaret Leigh 207 38. From the States Bernard Moore 208

VII. Folklore, Charms and Inscriptions I. West Country Folk Song A.L.Rowse 213 2, A True Ballad of Sir Henry Trecarell Charles Causley 214 3· Constantine William Peter 2!6 4· Charles Causley 217 5· To the Mermaid at Zennor John Heath-Stubbs 219 6. 'Treacle' Caroline Fox 220 7· Helston Furry Dance Song Traditional 220 8. The Furry Dance Traditional 221 9· Summercourt Fair Traditional 222 IO. The Lezzard Lights Charles Henderson 222 II. The Silent Tower of Bottreaux R.S.Hawker 222 12. Weather Rhyme Traditional 225 13· A Parish Rhyme against Mevagissey Traditional 225 14. Vicarage R.S.Hawker 226 I5. The Devil Takes Himself Off to Robert Hunt 226 !6. How to Make a Witch R.S.Hawker 227 17· In St. Ewe Churchyard 227 IS. The Levan Stone Traditional 227 19· Charm to Extract a Thorn Traditional 228 20. Charm for Adder-bite Traditional 228 21, A Cornish Folk Song R.S.Hawker 229 22. Weather Rhyme Traditional 229 23. In St. Buryan Churchyard 230 xii 24· The Price of Empire 230 25· Going to Bed Traditional 23I

VIII. Birds, Beasts, Flowers, Gardens I. The Cornish Chough B.H.Ryves 235 2. Dr. Borlase's Tame Chough Dr. Borlase 236 3· The Eagles Sir Humphry Davy 237 4· of Geoffrey Grigson 237 5· Birds in Cold Weather W.H.Hudson 239 6. Chough 240 7· A Young Seal Sir Compton Mackenzie 24I 8. Seagull and Adder D. H. Lawrence 242 9· A Merry Gentleman's Mishap Richard Carew 242 IO. Owl and the Owl-Woman C. C. Vyvyan 243 II. A Little Cat at Polruan Bernard Walke 244 I2. Gallop Galliards in the Roof Richard Carew 245 I3. Lanes and Hedges Geoffrey Grigson 246 I4· Herbs on the Cliffs Richard Carew 248 I5· A Garden after the War C. C. Vyvyan 248 I6. Ludgvan Rectory Garden Sir Compton Mackenzie 251 I7. Acclimatising Plants W. Arnold-Forster 252 r8. Garden-stealing Frank Baines 253 I9· Planning and Planting W. Arnold-Forster 255

IX. Customs and Beliefs I. The Miracle Plays Richard Carew 259 2. A Conjurer Reproved Dr.Borlase 260 3· The Piskies George Borrow 260 4· By Church as I did go Q 26I 5· The Mayor of Halgaver Richard Carew 264 6. Hurling and Wrestling Daniel Defoe 264 7· Hobby-Horse John Betjeman 265 8. St. Nunn's Well Richard Carew 267 9· An Image at Launceston Daniel Defoe 267 IO. The Red Lion at Truro William Jenkin 268 II. The Bodmin Riding ].Polsue 268 xili I2. The Diversions of Mount's Bay Dr. Borlase 269 I3. A Duel J. Farington 270 I4· Culver-houses Charles Henderson 27I I5. Bells Charles Henderson 273 I6. The Ringers of Lancells' Tower R. S.Hawker 275 I7. 'Shoring' Daniel Defoe 276 IS. Fare Richard Polwhele 277 I9· Parish Feasts Traditional 277 20. Lord, When the Wise Men Came from Far Sidney Godolphin 277 2I. Christ at the Charles Causley 279

X. Victoriana I. Thackeray Enjoys Himself at W.M. Thackeray 283 2. John Sterling at Falmouth Thomas Carlyle 284 3· Godrevy Francis Kilvert 285 4· Shopping in Truro Francis Kilvert 286 5· Garibaldi and Colonel Peard Caroline Fox 288 6. Morning Service at St. Michael Penkivel Francis Kilvert 289 7· Tennyson on Holiday Holman Hunt 290 8. Birth and Dedication of The Golden Treasury F. T. Palgrave 293

XI. Epilogue Our Time 297 INDEX OF CONTRIBUTORS 299

xiv Preface

ANTHOLOGIES should and can be a delightful form of reading. They can also be educative. For myself I can say how much pleasure I derived, and how much I learned, from such anthologies as The Golden Treasury, Q's Oxford Book of English Verse, E. V. Lucas's The Open Road-frequent companion of my walks in youth-and 's The Knapsack. Someone has observed that anthologies are not an exacting form of reading. Oddly enough, I have found this a most exacting form of making a book. It was nearly forty years ago that the idea first occurred to me, and that I wrote to Q suggesting that he give us a Cornish Anthology. He thought the idea a good one, but returned the compliment by suggesting that I should do it. It was then quite beyond my powers. Nevertheless, as the years have gone by, filled with other under­ takings, I find that I have been putting aside passages in prose and verse that have caught my attention and appealed to me as revealing of Cornwall in many of its aspects and of Cornishmen in various moods and characters. Altogether I hope that the book presents a representative picture, if by no means a complete one. I am chiefly indebted, for suggestions and valued help over this book, to Professor Jack Simmons and Mr Robin Davidson. A.L.RowsE Trenarren, St. Austell March 1968

XV Acknowledgements

THE editor and publishers wish to thank the following, who have kindly given permission for the use of copyright material: Mr Robin Atthill for 'Christopher Wood', from If Pity Departs; G. Bell & Sons Ltd, for extracts from Harvest of the Moor, by Margaret Leigh; the owner of the copyright for 'Founding the Bishopric of Truro', from As We Were, by E. F. Benson; Mr Nicolas Bentley and T. Werner Laurie Ltd for 'Sir Humphry Davy', from BiO­ graphy for Beginners, by E. C. Bentley; the Bodley Head Ltd for 'Chough', from Poems and Contradictions, by Rex Warner; British Railways, Western Region, for the extract from History of the Great Western Railway, by E. T. MacDermot; Curtis Brown Ltd for extracts from The Old Place, by C. C. Vyvyan; Cambridge University Press for extracts from From a Cornish Window, by Arthur Quiller-Couch, Memories and Opinions: An Unfinished Autobiography, by Arthur Quiller-Couch, edited by S. C. Roberts, and , by H. W. Dickinson and A. Titley; Chatto & Windus Ltd for extracts from My Life and Times: Octave Four, by Sir Compton Mackenzie; the Clarendon Press for extracts from Cornwall in the Great Civil War, by Mary Coate, Diaries of William Johnston Temple, by Lewis Bettany, and Arthur Quiller-Couch's Preface and passages from Essays in Cornish History, by Charles Henderson; William Collins, Sons & Co Ltd for the extract from Bird life in Cornwall, by B. H. Ryves, and 'Mylar in War-Time', from Memories and Gardens, by Marion Howard Spring; Country Life Ltd for extracts from Shrubs for the Milder Counties, by W. Arnold-Forster; the C. W. Daniel Company Ltd for the poems from A Cornish Collection, by Bernard Moore; Eyre & Spottiswoode Ltd for 'The Squire of Lanarth' and 'Garden-stealing', from Look Towards the Sea, by Frank Baines; Faber & Faber Ltd for extracts from A Potter's Book, by Bernard Leach, and 'The Voyages of Alfred Wallis', from The White Threshold, by W. S. Graham; xvii the Executors of the Cecil Gray Estate and Jonathan Cape Ltd for the extract from Peter Warlock; Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd for extracts from Union Street and Johnny Halleluia, by Charles Causley; William Heinemann Ltd for two poems from The Poems of Arthur Symons; David Higham Associates Ltd for extracts from Freedom of the Parish, by Geoffrey Grigson, and A Charm Against the Toothache, by John Heath-Stubbs; Hodder & Stoughton Ltd for the extract from Chronicles of the Eighteenth Century, by Maud Wyndham; Hutchinson Publishing Group Ltd for extracts from The Farington Diary; Mr A. K. Hamilton Jenkin for extracts from News from Cornwall; Michael Joseph Ltd for the extract from We Fought Them in Gunboats, by Robert Hichens; the Editor of the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall for the extracts from 'William Borlase', by P. A. S. Pool; Longmans, Green & Co Ltd for the extract from Sir George Otto Trevelyan, O.M.: A Memoir, by G. M. Trevelyan; Methuen & Co Ltd for extracts from The Map of Clay, by Jack Clemo, and Twenty Years at St. Hilary, by Bernard Walke; John Murray (Publishers) Ltd for the poem from Collected Poems and extracts from First and Last Loves, by John Be~eman, and extracts from Kenneth Grahame, by Peter Green; for 'The Harbour of Fowey' and 'By Talland Church as I did go', from Poems, by Arthur Quiller-Couch; A. D. Peters & Co for the extract from Admiral Boscawen, by C. Aspinall-Oglander; Mr William Plomer and Jonathan Cape Ltd for extracts from Kilvert's Diary, edited by William Plomer; Laurence Pollinger Ltd, William Heinemann Ltd and the Estate of the late Mrs Frieda Lawrence for extracts from The Collected Letters of D. H. Lawrence; Mr L. T. C. Rolt and Longmans, Green & Co Ltd for the extract from lsambard Kingdom Brune!; the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Society of Authors for the extract from The Land's End, by W. H. Hudson; and the Executors of the Anne Treneer Estate for extracts from Schoolhouse in the Wind (Jonathan Cape Ltd) and The Mercurial Chemist (Methuen & Co Ltd). In a few cases the publishers have been unable to trace the copyright-holders, but they will be pleased to make the necessary arrangements at the first opportunity.

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