صفحة 1

CORNISH CHARACTERS AND STRANGE EVENTS

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME

DEVONSHIRE CHARACTERS AND STRANGE EVENTS

With 55 Full-page Illustrations Reproduced from Old Prints, etc.

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THOMAS PITT, LORD CAMELFORD

CORNISH CHARACTERS

AND STRANGE EVENTS BY S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.

WITH 62 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS REPRODUCED FROM OLD PRINTS, ETC.

"We all are men,
In our own natures frail, and capable
Of our flesh; few are angels."

Henry VIII (Act V, Sc. 2).

LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMIX

PLYMOUTH: WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, LTD., PRINTERS

PREFACE

Cornwall, peopled mainly by Celts, but with an infusion of English blood, stands and always has stood apart from the rest of England, much, but in a less degree, as has Wales. That which brought it into more intimate association with English thought, interests, and progress was the loss of the old Cornish tongue.

The isolation in which Cornwall had stood has tended to develop in it much originality of character; and the wildness of the coast has bred a hardy race of seamen and smugglers; the mineral wealth, moreover, drew thousands of men underground, and the underground life of the mines has a peculiar effect on mind and character: it is cramping in many ways, but it tends to develop a good deal of religious enthusiasm, that occasionally breaks forth in wild forms of fanaticism. Cornwall has produced admirable sailors, men who have won deathless renown in warfare at sea, as "Old Dreadnought" Boscawen, Pellew, Lord Exmouth, etc., and daring and adventurous smugglers, like "The King of Prussia," who combined great religious fervour with entire absence of scruple in the matter of defrauding the king's revenue. It has produced men of science who have made for themselves a world-fame, as Adams the astronomer, and Sir Humphry Davy the chemist; men who have been benefactors to their race, as Henry Trengrouse, Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, and Trevithick. It has sent forth at least one notable painter, the miner's boy Opie, and a dramatist, Samuel Foote, and a great singer in his day, Incledon. But it has not given to literature a great poet. Minor rhymes have been produced in great quantities, but none of great worth. Philosophers have issued from the mines, as Samuel Drew, eccentrics many, as Sir James Tillie, John Knill, and Daniel Gumb. And Cornwall has contributed a certain number of rascals—but fewer in number than almost any other county, if we exclude wreckers and smugglers from the catalogue of rascality.

Strange superstitions have lingered on, and one very curious story of a girl fed for years by fairies has been put on record.

It is somewhat remarkable that Cornwall has produced no musical genius of any note; and yet the Cornishman is akin to the Welshman and the Irishman.

Cornwall has certainly sent up to London and Westminster very able politicians, as Godolphin, Sir William Molesworth, and Sir John Eliot. It furnished Tyburn with a victim—Hugh Peters, the chaplain of Oliver Cromwell, a strange mixture of money-grasping, enthusiasm, and humour.

It has been the object of the author, not to retell the lives of the greatest of the sons of Cornwall, for these lives may be read in the Dictionary of National Biography, but to chronicle the stories of lesser luminaries concerning whom less is known and little is easily accessible. In this way it serves as a companion volume to Devonshire Characters; and Cornwall in no particular falls short of Devonshire in the variety of characters it has sent forth, nor are their stories of less interest.

The author and publisher have to thank many for kind help: Mr. Percy Bate, Mr. T. R. Bolitho, Rev. A. T. Boscawen, Mr. J. A. Bridger, Mr. T. Walter Brimacombe, Mr. A. M. Broadley, Mr. R. P. Chope, Mr. Digby Collins, Mr. J. B. Cornish, Mrs. Coryton of Pentillie Castle, Miss Loveday E. Drake, Mr. E. H. W. Dunkin, f.s.a., Mr. J. D. Enys of Enys, the Rev. Wm. Iago, Mrs. H. Forbes Julian, Mrs. de Lacy Lacy, the Rev. A. H. Malan, Mr. Lewis Melville, Mr. A. H. Norway, Captain Rogers of Penrose, Mr. Thomas Seccombe, Mr. Henry Trengrouse, Mr. W. H. K. Wright, and Mr. Henry Young of Liverpool—and last, but not least, Miss Windeatt Roberts for her admirable Index to the volume.

The publisher wishes me to say that he would much like to discover the whereabouts of a full-length portrait of Sir John Call, with a view of Bodmin Gaol in the background.

S. BARING-GOULD.

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tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">72 JOHN COUCH ADAMS, ASTRONOMER 83 DANIEL GUMB 91 LAURENCE BRADDON 96 THOMASINE BONAVENTURA 108 THE MURDER OF NEVILL NORWAY 117 SIR WILLIAM LOWER, KNT. 126 THE PIRATES AT PENZANCE 130 DAME KILLIGREW 133 TWO NATURALISTS IN CORNWALL 141 John Ralfs George Carter Bignell SIR JOHN CALL, BART. 154 JOHN KNILL 169 THOMAS TREGOSS 176 ANTHONY PAYNE 181 NEVIL NORTHEY BURNARD 186 SIR GOLDSWORTHY GURNEY, KNT., INVENTOR 192 THE JANES 206 THE PENNINGTONS 222 DOCTOR GLYNN-CLOBERY 228 THREE MEN OF MOUSEHOLE 232 DOLLY PENTREATH 238 ROBERT JEFFERY OF POLPERRO 247 ADMIRAL RICHARD DARTON THOMAS 258 COMMANDER JOHN POLLARD 269 THE CASE OF BOSAVERN PENLEZ 270 SAMUEL FOOTE 280 THE LAST LORD MOHUN 298 THE LAST LORD CAMELFORD 318 WILLIAM NOYE 329 WILLIAM LEMON 342 SAMUEL DREW 346 THE SIEGE OF SKEWIS 364 THE VOYAGE OF JOHN SANDS

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class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">370 CHARLES INCLEDON 375 THE MURDER OF RICHARD CORYTON 388 SIR JAMES TILLIE, KNT. 399 LIEUTENANT JOHN HAWKEY 408 DR. DANIEL LOMBARD 424 THE DREAM OF MR. WILLIAMS 427 SIR ROBERT TRESILIAN 432 PIRATE TRELAWNY 441 JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM 455 MARY ANN DAVENPORT, ACTRESS 466 THE ROYAL FAMILY OF PRUSSIA 470 CAPTAIN RICHARD KEIGWIN 479 THE LOSS OF THE "KENT" 489 VICE-ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES V. PENROSE 500 SIR CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS, BART. 515 ANNE JEFFERIES 531 THOMAS KILLIGREW, THE KING'S JESTER 544 NICOLAS ROSCARROCK 554 LIEUTENANT PHILIP G. KING 559 HICKS OF BODMIN 569 CAPTAIN TOBIAS MARTIN 579 THE MAYOR OF BODMIN 586 JOHN NICHOLS TOM, ALIAS SIR WILLIAM COURTENAY, K.M. 593 THE BOHELLAND TRAGEDY 614 MARY KELYNACK 620 CAPTAIN WILLIAM ROGERS 623 JOHN BURTON OF FALMOUTH 627 THE FATE OF SIR CLOUDESLEY SHOVEL 637 FRANCIS TREGIAN 652 ANN GLANVILLE 663 JONATHAN SIMPSON, HIGHWAYMAN 670 DAVIES GILBERT

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tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">675 JAMES HOSKIN, FARMER 682 JOHN HARRIS, THE MINER POET 692 EDWARD CHAPMAN 701 JOHN COKE OF TRERICE 704 THOMAS PELLOW OF PENRYN 707 THE ORIGIN OF THE ROBARTES FAMILY 718 THEODORE PALEOLOGUS 727

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford Frontispiece to face page William Pengelly 2

From a painting by A. S. Cope, reproduced by permission of Mrs. H. Forbes Julian

Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Wills 12

From an engraving by Simon, after a picture by M. Dahl

A View of the Celebrated Logan Rock, near Land's End in Cornwall 18

Taken after the Rock was displaced on the 8th of April, 1824. From a lithograph by Vibert, after a drawing by Tonkin

A View of the Southern Part of Castle Treryn, showing the Machinery erected for the purpose of replacing the Logan Rock 22

From a lithograph by Vibert, after a drawing by Tonkin

Hugh Peters 26

From an old engraving

James Polkinghorne, the Famous Cornish Wrestler 54

From a drawing as he appeared in the Ring at Devonport on Monday, 23 October, 1826, when he threw Ab ̱ͫ . Cann, the Champion of Devonshire, for a stake of 200 sovereigns

Henry Trengrouse, the Inventor of the Rocket Apparatus for Saving Life at Sea 60

From an oil painting by Opie the younger, reproduced by permission of Mr. H. Trengrouse

The Wreck of the "Anson" 66

From a sketch by Mr. H. Trengrouse

"Parson Rudall" 72

From a painting in the possession of the Rev. S. Baring-Gould

John Couch Adams 84

From a mezzotint by Samuel Cousins, a.r.a., after a picture by Thomas Mogford. From the collection of Mrs. Lewis Lane

John Couch Adams 88 The Cheese-wring 92

From an etching by Letitia Byrne, after a drawing by J. Farington, r.a.

Nevill Norway 118

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From a painting in the possession of Miss A. T. Norway

Sir William Lower 126 The Killygrew Cup 134

"1633. from maior to maior to the towne of permarin, where they received mee that was in great misery"
Jane Killygrew

This cup has been recently valued at the sum of £4000. It measures just two feet in height

George Carter Bignell 142

From a photograph

John Ralfs 146

Reproduced by permission of Miss Loveday E. Drake

Sir John Call, Bart. 154

From a portrait (by A. Hickle) in the possession of his great-granddaughter, Mrs. de Lacy Lacy

Whiteford—the Residence of Sir John Call 164

From a drawing in the possession of Mrs. de Lacy Lacy

John Knill 170

After a picture by Opie in the possession of Captain Rogers, of Penrose

Glass inscribed "Success to the Eagle Frigate, John Knill, Commander" 172

From the collection of Percy Bate, Esq., of Glasgow

Anthony Payne 182

From a painting by Sir Godfrey Kneller, purchased by Sir Robert Harvey, High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1901, and presented to the Institute of Cornwall

Nevil Northey Burnard 186

From a bas-relief by the sculptor himself, in the possession of S. Pearn, Esq., Altarnon

Wesley's Head over the Old Meeting-house, Penpont, Altarnon. Cut by Burnard when 16 years of age 188 Tombstones cut by Burnard 188

That on the right is upon the grave of his grandfather in Altarnon Churchyard, and was cut when the sculptor was only 14 years old; the one on the left is in Bodmin Churchyard

Tombstones in Altarnon Churchyard. Cut by Burnard 190 Sir Goldsworthy Gurney 192

From a lithograph by W. Sharp, after a drawing by S. C. Smith

Dorothy Pentreath of Mousehole in Cornwall. The last Person who could Converse in the Cornish Language 232

From a drawing by R. Scadden

Monschole, in Mount's Bay, from the Island 238

From a drawing by Captain Tremenhere

Samuel Foote 280 The Last Lord Mohun 298

From a mezzotint by I. Faber, after a picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller

The Duel between Lord Mohun and the Duke of Hamilton

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class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">312

From a contemporary mezzotint in the British Museum

Sir William Noye, Attorney-General to King Charles the First 330 Sir William Lemon, Bart., M.P. for Cornwall 342

From an engraving by J. H. Meyer

Samuel Drew 346

From an engraving by R. Hicks, after a painting by F. Moore

Henry Rogers, Pewterer 364 Charles Incledon, as Macheath 376

From an engraving by J. Thomson, after a painting by Singleton

Sir James Tillie, Knt. 400 Sir James Tillie's Monument at Pentillie 406 Edward John Trelawny 442

From a drawing by D. Lucas

James Silk Buckingham 456 Mrs. Davenport, in the Character of Mrs. Grundy 466

From an engraving by Ridley, after a picture by De Wilde

At Prussia Cove. "Bessy's" Cove from Battery Point 470

From a drawing in the possession of J. B. Cornish, Esq.

John Carter's House at Prussia Cove. (Demolished in 1906) 476

From a photograph by Gibson & Sons, Penzance

Vice-Admiral Sir Charles V. Penrose, k.c.b. 500

From a picture by Allingham

Thomas Killigrew, Groom of the Bedchamber to King Charles the Second 544

From an engraving by I. Vander vaart, after a picture by W. Wissens

Lieutenant Philip Gidley King 560

From an engraving by W. Skelton, after a drawing by J. Wright

William R. Hicks 570 William R. Hicks of Bodmin 576

From a Caricature

John Thomas, otherwise Sir William Courtenay, who shot Lieutenant Bennet in Basenden Wood, Boughton, near Canterbury, and the Constable Mears, on Thursday, May 31st, 1838. 594 Percy Honeywood Courtenay, Knight of Malta, etc. etc., as he appeared at the Election in 1832 608 Mary Kelynack 620 Captain W. Rogers 624

From an engraving by Ridley and Blood,

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after a picture by Drummond John Burton of Falmouth 628 Sir Cloudesley Shovel 638 Ann Glanville 664 Davies Gilbert 676

From a mezzotint by Samuel Cousins, a.r.a., after a picture by Henry Howard, r.a. From the collection of Mrs. Lewis Lane

John Harris, the Miner Poet 692 The Right Hon. John Earl of Radnor: Baron Roberts of Truro 718

After Sir Godfrey Kneller

Memorial Brass in the Church of Landulph 728

Reproduced by permission of E. H. W. Dunkin, Esq., f.s.a., from his book on Cornish Brasses