The Wizard of West Penwith: A Tale of the Land's-End
Author of PENTOWAN, PENGERSICK CASTLE, KYNANCE COVE, &c., &c.
PENZANCE: W. CORNISH, THE LIBRARY, 1871.
THE AWFUL RIDE.
See Page 49.
In writing my Cornish Tales I have always endeavoured to pourtray the Cornish character in all its native wit and humour, for which the genuine west-country miners are so proverbial. And I have generally taken for the foundation of my Stories incidents which have really happened in the localities wherein the actions of my little dramas have been laid.
The scene of my present story is laid in the neighbourhood of the Land's-End, and most of the characters were well-known there in days gone by;—the names only being fictitious.
The fall of the horse over the cliff is still in the remembrance of some old people in the neighbourhood; and the circumstance is related by the Guides who shew the beauties of the Land's-End scenery to strangers. The marks of the horse's hoofs in the grass at the edge of the cliff are preserved to this day.
The Wizard (or Conjuror as he was called) was a notorious character at St. Just, some fifty years ago;—and the horrid murder related in these pages; and the mistaken identity of the guilty parties are also veritable facts.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown were well-known characters, and are drawn from real life.
This brief sketch of some of the scenes and characters to be found in this little volume may perhaps add an interest to it, and induce a large number of the lovers of Cornish lore to honour it with a perusal.
William Bentinck Forfar
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PREFACE.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. MR. FREEMAN.
CHAPTER II. THE WRECK NEAR THE LAND'S-END.
CHAPTER III. ALRINA.
CHAPTER IV. THE UNEXPECTED MEETING.
CHAPTER V. JOHN BROWN AND HIS FAVOURITE MARE "JESSIE."
CHAPTER VI. THE FAMILY PARTY.
CHAPTER VII. "MURDER MOST FOUL."
CHAPTER VIII. THE LAND'S-END CONJUROR.
CHAPTER IX. LOVE AND MYSTERY.
CHAPTER X. ALRINA'S TROUBLES INCREASE.
CHAPTER XI. FREDERICK MORLEY OBSTINATELY DETERMINES ON RIDING THE MARE.
CHAPTER XII. THE AWFUL RIDE.
CHAPTER XIII. ITS CONSEQUENCES.
CHAPTER XIV. MRS. BROWN TELLS THE CONJUROR A BIT OF HER MIND.
CHAPTER XV. THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER AT THE PENZANCE BALL.
CHAPTER XVI. JOSIAH'S ASTONISHMENT AT THE EFFECT PRODUCED BY THE DISPLAY OF HIS TREASURE-TROVE.
CHAPTER XVII. THE BORROWED FEATHERS OF THE PEACOCK FAIL TO CONCEAL ENTIRELY THE NATURAL PLUMAGE OF THE JACKDAW.
CHAPTER XVIII. THE BIRDS HAVE TAKEN FLIGHT.
CHAPTER XIX. THE MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTER.
CHAPTER XX. ARISTOCRATIC CONNECTIONS.
CHAPTER XXI. THE LOVE-CHASE.
CHAPTER XXII. ALRINA'S FIRST LOVE-LETTER.
CHAPTER XXIII. THE SECRET.
CHAPTER XXIV. "MAN IS BORN TO TROUBLE AND DISAPPOINTMENT, AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS."
CHAPTER XXV. RETROSPECTION AND RECRIMINATION.
CHAPTER XXVI. SQUIRE PENDRAY GETS ON HIS STILTS, AND VIEWS LIEUT. FOWLER FROM A LOFTY EMINENCE.
CHAPTER XXVII. THE STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
CHAPTER XXVIII. BY DOING A LITTLE WRONG, A GREAT GOOD IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE END.
CHAPTER XXIX. MRS. BROWN AND MRS. TRENOW INDULGE IN A CROOM O' CHAT. WHILE CAP'N TRENOW GIVES SOME SAGE ADVICE IN ANOTHER QUARTER.
CHAPTER XXX. THE TWO SISTERS PIERCED THROUGH THE HEART.
CHAPTER XXXI. OUT OF SCYLLA AND INTO CHARYBDIS.
CHAPTER XXXII. ALRINA'S TROUBLES ARE INCREASED BY AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY.
CHAPTER XXXIII. ALRINA VISITS A KIND FRIEND AND MAKES A PROPOSAL.
CHAPTER XXXIV. CAPTAIN COURLAND'S RETURN AND HIS WIFE'S ANXIETY.
CHAPTER XXXV. THE DESPERATE PLUNGE.
CHAPTER XXXVI. THE BROKEN REED.
CHAPTER XXXVII. JOSIAH'S LONELY MIDNIGHT WATCH IN THE CONJUROR'S HOUSE.
CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE SEARCH.
CHAPTER XXXIX. THE UNEXPECTED MEETING AND MYSTERIOUS COMMUNICATION.
CHAPTER XL. MISS PENDRAY'S SINGULAR ACCIDENT.
CHAPTER XLI. MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS ARE HEARD ISSUING OUT OF THE EARTH AT MIDNIGHT. THE CURIOUS COTTAGE ON THE HEATH.
CHAPTER XLII. THE POOR DUMB GIRL'S SUDDEN RESOLVE AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
CHAPTER XLIII. THE CONFESSION.
CHAPTER XLIV. MRS. BROWN ENJOYS ANOTHER CROOM O' CHAT WITH MRS. TRENOW, AND RECEIVES AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR.
CHAPTER XLV. AN AWFUL CATASTROPHE.
CHAPTER XLVI. THE DREADED INTERVIEW.
CHAPTER XLVII. MYSTERIES EXPLAINED.
CHAPTER XLVIII. A BRILLIANT CORNISH DIAMOND DISCOVERED AND PLACED IN A GOLDEN CASKET.
CHAPTER XLIX. THE WEDDING BELLS.
