EXCURSIONS THROUGH CORNWALL.
Cornwall is the most western county in England, and is almost wholly surrounded by the sea, excepting the eastern side, which is partly separated from Devonshire by the Tamar river. The greatest length of the county from Moorwinstow to the Land’s End, is nearly 90 miles; but its greatest breadth from Moorwinstow on the north, to Ram Head on the south, does not exceed 43 miles, and diminishes gradually till it is only, from Mount’s Bay to St. Ives, little more than seven miles. Its form, therefore, nearly resembles a horn, or as some historians term it, a cornucopia.—The surface of the county being extremely difficult to compute, owing to the many promontories and juttings on the coast, is stated at about 210 miles, containing 758,484 acres, but is supposed to have been much larger in former times.
According to the works of the most respectable historians, the original name of Cornwall was Cerwyn, and so called from its peculiar shape. The antient inhabitants were also called Carnibii, or Cerwyn and Gwyr, or Men of the Promontory; but after the Roman invasion, that name is supposed by Borlase, to have been latinized into Cornubia, which it retained till the Saxons imposed the name of Weales on the Britons driven by them west of the rivers Severn and Dee, calling their county in the Latin tongue, Wallia; after which, finding the Britons had retreated not only into Wales, but into the more western extremities of the island, the Latinists changed Cornubia into Cornwallia; a name not only expressive of the many natural promontories of the county, but also that the inhabitants were Britons of the same nation and descent as those of Wales; and from this Cornwallia, the name of Cornwall is derived.
The population of the county, according to the returns of 1811, was 216,667, and 28,398 greater than it was 10 years previous; but by the late census, amounts to 261,000, the extraordinary increase of about 45,000 in the last 10 years.—It is divided into nine hundreds, 203 parishes, (of which 85 are Rectories, 100 Vicarages, and 18 Curacies,) 30 market towns, and now returns forty-two members to Parliament.
The climate of this county has long been noted for its mildness and salubrity. Its inhabitants in respect to longevity, are said to surpass every other county in England, and Carew says, “that 80 and 90 years is common in every place, and in most persons accompanied with an able use of the body and senses.” In the parish where he resided, an instance is mentioned of the decease of four persons, within 14 weeks space, whose united ages amounted to 340 years. Various instances of the longevity of the inhabitants of Cornwall, are also recorded by Borlase and other subsequent writers. As a proof of the mildness of the climate, even the most tender shrubs and plants, such as myrtles, hydrangea, geraniums, Balm of Gilead, &c. live and thrive the whole year in the open ground, and in many parts, grow to the greatest state of perfection. Notwithstanding so much rain falls in Cornwall, heavy showers are not, however, so frequent as in other counties.—The storms which occur, are very severe, but are considered extremely conducive to the healthiness of the inhabitants, by clearing the air of the pernicious vapours which exhale from the mines, leaving in their room, the vivifying qualities wafted by the genial breezes of the ocean.—The winters, in general, are very mild; frosts are of short duration; and snow seldom lies upon the ground more than three or four days. Mr. Worgan, the author of a work upon the Agriculture of Cornwall, says, “a kind of languid spring prevails through the winter, which brings forth early buds and blossoms, raising the expectations of agriculturists, to be too often disappointed by blighting north-east winds, in March, April, and even so late as May.”
The cause of such frequent rains in Cornwall is, that for three-fourths of the year, the wind blows from the intermediate points of the south and west, and sweeping over a vast tract of the Atlantic Ocean, collects large bodies of clouds, which being intersected in their passage by the hills, descend in frequent showers. Notwithstanding the salubrity of the climate of Cornwall, the harvests in general, are much later than in midland counties; but owing to the great improvements which have been made of late years in agriculture, the corn which it produces, is equal, if not superior, to any other.
The sterile and rugged aspect of many parts of the county, (especially the road from Launceston to Truro, which presents, excepting the town of Bodmin, almost nothing but extensive and waste moors,) impresses the minds of travellers with a very unfavourable opinion of the county; but the admirers of the picturesque will always be delighted with the beauty of its numerous valleys and more cultivated parts. On the other hand, Cornwall, from its maritime situation, and the numerous mines with which it abounds, possesses many advantages. To an antiquarian it will always be highly interesting, as few other counties contain so many Druidical and Roman remains. The mineralogist will always have an endless source for amusement in the great variety of mineral specimens which it presents to his notice.
The north and south parts of the county are divided by a ridge of barren and rugged hills, running from east to west, like a distorted back bone. The most remarkable hills are Brown-Willy, Roughton, and Henborough; the first being no less than 1,368 feet above the level of the sea.
The most considerable rivers in the county, are the Tamar, the Lynher, the Looe, the Fowey, the Fal, and the Camel or Alan.
The Tamar rises in the northern side of the county, in the parish of Moorwinstow, and with little variation, pursues a southerly direction, for nearly 40 miles, when it unites with the Lynher Creek, and ultimately forms the spacious harbour of Harmoaze, between Plymouth Dock and Saltash. The banks of this river, which is the most considerable in the West of England, are richly diversified with rocks and woods, and the scenery in many parts of its course is extremely beautiful.[[2]]
The Lynher rises in the parish of Alternon, eight miles north-west of Launceston, and after running a circuitous course of 24 miles, spreads itself into the form of a lake, near St. Germains, (called Lynher Creek) and ultimately unites with the Tamar, about a mile below Saltash.
The Looe rises in the parish of St. Cleer, and taking a course of seven or eight miles, meets the tide at Sand Place, becomes navigable, and at the distance of three miles empties itself into the sea, between the towns of East and West Looe.
The Fowey rises from a well near Brown-Willy, one of the highest hills in Cornwall, between Lanson and Bodmin. It flows for some miles in a southerly direction, turns suddenly to the west, and pursues a course of some miles, till it meets the tide at Lostwithiel, and ultimately falls into the sea at Fowey. The scenery on the banks of the river from Lostwithiel to Fowey, is remarkably beautiful and picturesque.
The Fal, which is the most considerable river in the centre of the county, rises about two miles west of Roche Rocks, and after a course of 12 miles, meets the tide below Tregony, and passing Tregothnan Park, joins Truro and St. Clement’s Creeks, which are navigable to Truro Quay and Tresilian Bridge; from its junction with those creeks, after flowing four or five miles, it forms the principal branches of Falmouth Harbour, named Carrick and King’s Road.
The river Alan or Camel, rises on the north-east side of the county, near Camelford, and after a circuitous course of 12 miles, becomes navigable for barges at Egleshale, near Wadebridge, from whence it flows into the harbour of Padstow. On all these rivers, as well as others of less note, great quantities of sea sand are carried in barges for manure, and sold to the farmers at a very reasonable rate.
The most considerable lake in Cornwall, is the Loo Pool, near Helston, and which is about two miles long and a furlong wide, formed of a bar of pebbles, sand, and shingles, forced up against the mouth of the creek, by the south-west winds; but in the winter time, the whole valley between the sea and Helston, is frequently covered with water.
Dosmery Pool, is a piece of water about a mile in circumference, lying in the parish of Alternon, on the borders of St. Cleer parish, and said by Leland, to be 15 fathoms deep, but which, upon trial, a few years back, was found to be only nine feet. It is formed and supplied by water which drains from the neighbouring hills.
Between Budock and Falmouth is a piece of water, near half a mile in length, and secured from the sea, by a bar of sand and shingles, called Swan Pool, from the circumstance of its having had many swans kept on it some years ago.
The Soils of Cornwall chiefly consist of three species: first, the black growan or gravelly; second, the shelfy or slaty; third, loams differing in texture, colours, and degrees of fertility.
The first abounds in the high lands, and consists of a light, moory, black earth, intermixed with small particles of granite or gravel. The earthy parts of this are so exceedingly light, that in a dry summer, as Dr. Borlase observes, the sun quickly exhales its moisture, and in a wet summer or winter, much of the vegetable soil is washed from the tilled grounds. This soil is in general very productive, and fit for any kind of grain. The shelfy or slaty soil is far the most prevalent, and is distinguished by this name from having a large proportion of the schistus, or rotten slaty matter mixed with the light loam, of which its soil is composed. With sand and more viscuous earths, it makes an excellent compost, and produces great crops of wheat and barley. In congenial situations, barley has frequently been sown, reaped, and threshed, in less than nine weeks. This soil is not unfrequently mixed with quartz, provincially called spar, and according as this prevails, its value is lessened. When a dun or ironstone is found, it is considered a fortunate circumstance, being a certain indication of the incumbent soil.
Of the Loamy Soils, there are many very rich and fertile patches, interpersed in different parts of the county; and the low grounds, declivities, banks of the rivers and town-lands are composed of them. Some of these are incumbent on a subsoil of clay, and partake more or less of it in their composition. With respect to Clays, Cornwall presents endless varieties; good bricks are made from some of them, and in the parish of Lelant, there is an excellent species for making furnaces and ovens. A clay of a slaty nature, but soapy to the touch, is found near Liskeard, and has fertilizing powers; but the Serpentine, with veins of steatite, near the Lizard, is the most curious of all the earthy substances found in Cornwall, although very little of it has been used for some years in the porcelain manufactures. Large quantities of a fine white clay, found in the parish of St. Stephen near St. Austell, is exported annually, and is now become an important article of commerce.
The mineralogical substances of Cornwall are more abundant than any other county in England, and the variety and beauty of them affords an abundant source for the scientific enquirer. Of the stones most entitled to precedence, is the granite, or moor stone, which abounds in great quantities in almost every part of the county. Granite is an aggregate of felspar, quartz, and mica, and is found of different colours and texture. Most of the churches and gentlemen’s seats in the county are built with this stone, also the Waterloo Bridge in London, and which was exported at a very great expense. It is frequently cut into pillars, as supporters to buildings, and is very serviceable as gate posts, bridges over rivers, rollers, troughs, and many other purposes.
Another species of stone very prevalent in Cornwall, is distinguished by the name of Killas. It is a schistus, and forms the most considerable substratum in the county. It varies in texture and colour, some being hard, others more pliable and laniated, and of a blueish yellow, and ferrugineous brown; but either forms an excellent material for building.
The worst sort of stone found in Cornwall, is an opaque whitish debased crystal, generally called spar, and lies loose on the surface of the ground, in almost every parish. It is, however, useful for making fences and for repairing the roads.
On the north and south coasts of the county, there are several Slate Quarries, the slate from which is generally adopted for the roofing of houses; but the best species is found in the celebrated quarry of Delabole near Camelford, which is said to produce the finest and largest slates in England.—“The quarry is about 300 yards long, 100 broad, and upwards of 40 fathoms deep. The slate is first met with about three feet below the surface of the ground, in a loose shattery state, with short and frequent fissures, the laminæ of unequal thickness, but not horizontal.—Thus it continues to the depth of 10 or 12 fathoms, when a more firm and useful stone is procured, the largest pieces of which are used for flat pavements. This is called the top-stone, and continues for 10 fathoms, after which the quality improves with increasing depth, till at the 24th from the surface, the workmen arrive at the most superior kind, called the bottom-stone.—The colour is grey-blue, and the texture is so close, that it will sound like a piece of metal. The masses are separated from the rock by wedges driven by sledges of iron, and contain from five to 14 superficial square feet of stone. As soon as this mass is freed by one man, another stone cutter, with a strong wide chisel and mallet, is ready to cleave it to its proper thinness, which is usually about one eighth of an inch; the pieces are generally from a foot square, to two feet long, by one wide, but the flakes are sometimes large enough for tables and tomb stones.”[[3]]
The art of husbandry, three centuries ago, appears to have been little practised in this county; the grounds, says Carew, “lay all in common, or only divided by stiche meale, and their bread corn very little; their labour horses were only shod before, and the people devoting themselves entirely to tin, their neighbours in Devonshire and Somersetshire hired their pastures at a rent, and stored them with the cattle they brought from their own homes, and made their profit of the Cornish by cattle fed at their own doors. The same persons also supplied them at their markets, with many hundred quarters of corn and horse loads of bread.” But he also observes, “that the people increasing, and the mines sometimes failing, the Cornish felt the necessity of applying themselves to husbandry, and their improvements answered their expectations; for in the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, they found themselves not only in a capacity to support themselves, but also to export a great quantity of corn to Spain and other foreign parts.”
Within the last 50 years, a considerable quantity of the waste lands has been enclosed and cultivated; but after the growth of two or three crops of corn, much of these lands have again been neglected on account of the great expense of manuring them. A very considerable quantity of waste land has, within these few years, been enclosed by Charles Rashleigh, Esq., of Deeporth, near St. Blazey, and which is likely to prove a considerable benefit; E. I. Glynn, Esq., of Glynn, near Bodmin, has also had a large quantity of waste land enclosed, for permanent cultivation. In making enclosures, the fences generally consist of a stone hedge, or layers of turf, planted with thorns, nut hazles, and furze. In many parts of the county on the coast, where there is an opportunity of procuring sea sand for manuring the land, great quantities of corn have been grown, particularly in the western and eastern districts. It is usual after a crop of wheat, to sow the ground with barley, after which, turnips or potatoes; but the general course of crops in Cornwall, is considered extremely reprehensible by the author of the Agricultural Survey of the county, owing to the wretched, exhausted, and foul appearance of the grounds laid down with grass seeds. This may, however, be partly accounted for, by Cornwall not being a dairy county, and milch cows being generally kept for rearing the young stock.
The soil and climate of Cornwall are peculiarly adapted to the growth of potatoes, and these are at all times a standing dish at the humble repast of the labourer. Of the sorts most cultivated, which have been long established, the painted lord and painted lady are much approved; but a kind of apple potatoe, entirely red, called Carolines, are grown in great abundance, as the standing winter crop. The most early potatoe produced, is the kidney sort, and as a proof of the goodness of the soil and climate, in the neighbourhood of Penzance, two crops are frequently produced in a year, and one acre of ground has been known to yield 300 bushels, Winchester measure, for the first, and 600 for the second crop! Many thousand bushels of potatoes are exported annually from Cornwall to London, Plymouth, Portsmouth, and other places. A Cornish bushel of potatoes, generally weighs 220lbs., and are sold from 4 to 5s. a bushel.—Most of the labourers in the county keep a pig or two, and as potatoes are so easily cultivated with advantage, they frequently use them to fatten their pigs.
The Cattle in Cornwall are chiefly of the Devonshire breed, and large quantities of the best oxen are annually sold to graziers and contractors, and sent out of the county to be slaughtered. Many of them are used by the farmers for agricultural purposes. They are shod, or cued, as it is provincially termed, and are extremely docile and active, while they are often driven by boys, who cheer and excite them by the song and the goad.
The Sheep of Cornwall are also, generally speaking, of the Devonshire species; and some of the Leicestershire breed have been introduced of late years, with great advantage. Mr. Worgan says, “a pure Cornish sheep is now a rare animal; nor from its properties, need their total extinction be lamented.”
With respect to Horses, few are kept in Cornwall for ostentation, or to live in idleness or luxury. The gentleman’s horse is often put to the cart or plough. The farm horses are well adapted to the hilly surface of this county, being a hardy and active sort. Most of the farmers keep up their stock by breeding a colt or two annually; but one-eighth of the horses for saddle and draught are supposed to be brought into the county by eastern dealers.[[4]]
Mules are bred in Cornwall, but are mostly employed in carrying supplies to and from the mines. Troops of 50 at a time are frequently to be met on the roads in the mining country, loaded with copper or tin ore.
The trade of Cornwall is mostly confined to the exportation of Pilchards, Tin, and Copper, the three great staple commodities of the county. The imports chiefly consist in groceries and bale goods, from London, Bristol, and Manchester, and coals from Wales. Large quantities of flour are also imported at Falmouth and Penryn, chiefly for the miners.—The manufactures in Cornwall are but trifling, compared with other counties. Some coarse woollen, a paper mill or two, and a carpet manufactory, is all that can be enumerated.
The most important objects connected with the History of Cornwall, are its numerous Mines and Fisheries, and which for centuries past, have given employment to nearly one half of its inhabitants, and yielded a considerable revenue to government.
The Pilchard Fisheries, which are mostly confined to East and West Looe, Polparrow, Fowey, Charles Town, near St. Austell, Mevagissey, the Creeks of Falmouth Harbour, Mount’s Bay, on the southern coast, and St. Ives, on the northern coast, generally commence in July and end in November.
The Pilchard, in form and size, very much resembles the Herring, except that it is smaller, and not so flat sided. “The dorsal fin of the Pilchard,” says Dr. Maton, “is placed exactly in the centre of gravity, so that the ordinary mode of distinguishing it from the Herring, is to try whether, when taken up by the fin, it preserves an equilibrium, or not. The body of the Herring dips towards the head, and the scales are also observed to drop off, whereas those of the Pilchard adhere very closely.” They mostly arrive from the North Seas at the Islands of Scilly and Land’s End, about July, and shift their situation as the season prompts and the food allures them; but unfortunately the fish have for the last two seasons been exceedingly scarce, which has been a great loss to the fishermen. They are generally caught in large nets of a peculiar make, called seans, and the fishermen are directed to the shoals of fish by persons stationed on the high lands near the shore, who discover them by the colour of the water. The nets in general, are managed by three boats, containing 18 persons. The seans are about 220 fathoms long, 16 fathoms deep in the middle, and 14 at each end, with lead weights at the bottom and corks at the top. The cost of these seans is very great, sometimes as high as £300 each; and a track sean of about 108 fathoms long and 10 deep, costs £120. The boats for carrying the seans, cost about £60, and the expenses incident to the first out-fit, (including every thing that is necessary,) may be estimated from £1000 to £1200, exclusive of salt.
The fish, immediately upon being brought on shore, are carried to the store-houses or cellars, where the small and damaged fish are picked out by women, and carried away and sold to the poor, or used for manuring land. The remainder are laid up in broad piles and salted. In this state they lie soaking 20 or 30 days, during which time a great quantity of dirty pickle and bittern drains from the fish: when the piles are taken up, the chief part of salt remaining at the bottom, is added to some fresh salt, and serves for another pile. The next process is to wash the fish in sea water, and place them in hogsheads, where, with great weight, they are pressed together as compact as possible, by which operation a great quantity of oil issues through the holes at the bottom of the casks.
The number of fish packed in each hogshead generally amounts to about 3000; and the quantity of salt used annually exceeds 50,000 bushels, each bushel weighing 84lbs. and one hogshead requires 420lbs. of salt; but nearly one half of this quantity is spoiled and sold to the farmers for manure at the rate of 10d. per bushel. Forty-eight hogsheads of Pilchards generally yield a ton or 252 gallons of oil, the price of which varies according to the times, but generally fetches about £25 a ton.
In some instances one sean has been known to take and cure near 1,500 hogsheads in a season; but the fishermen are more fortunate at some places than they are at others. The quantity taken in a season may be estimated at from 40,000 to 60,000 hogsheads of 40 gallons each.
The number of persons employed on the fisheries, cannot be estimated at less than 14,000; and the capital engaged is said to amount to upwards of £350,000. The tythe of each sean is £1 13s. 4d. yearly, exclusive of the duty paid to government for salt.
“The sea,” says Borlase, “is the great store house of Cornwall, which offers not its treasures by piece meals, nor all at once, but in succession, all in plenty in their several seasons, and in such variety, as if nature was solicitous to prevent any excess or superfluity of the same kind.”—Among those which visit the coasts of Cornwall, the following may be enumerated.
The Blower or Fin Fish, (the Physeta of the ancients,) and so called from the quantity of water which it blows into the air through a hole in its head.
The Grampus, the next in size, is usually about 18 feet long, and sometimes large enough to weigh 1000lbs.—The voracity of this fish is so remarkable, that it has been observed to prey upon the Sea Hog.
The Blue Shark is frequently seen during the Pilchard season.—It has no gills, but breathes through holes or pipes, situated betwixt the mouth and the pectoral fins.
The Monk or Angel Fish, is a flat species which seems to partake both of the nature of the Dog Fish and the Ray. The back is coloured like the Seal, without streaks, and has a white belly.
The Sea Adder is a kind of nettle-fish, about 16 inches long, and has a back and tail fin, with scales shaped like those of a land adder.
The Sun Fish, so called from being round and emitting a kind of lucid splendour in a dark apartment, is very rarely seen.
Turbot are caught in great plenty during the summer season. In Mount’s Bay particularly, there have been instances of 30 being taken in an evening, with the hook and line. When plentiful, they are generally sold from 4d. to 6d. per pound.
Mackarel are also caught in great abundance.
Red Mulletts and John Dory’s, which are very delicious fish, are very plentiful, but seldom caught eastward of Plymouth.
Conger Eels, of an extremely large size, weighing from 60 to 120lbs. each, and which with their adder-shaped heads, have a very disgusting appearance.
All sorts of shell fish are very plentiful, particularly Oysters; but in general they are not so good as those found on the Kentish and other coasts. The best sort are found in the creeks in Constantine parish, on the river Heyl.
Respecting the Mines, the author of the General View of Cornwall, says, “in a narrow slip of barren country, where the purposes of agriculture would not employ above a few thousand people, they alone support a population, estimated at nearly 60,000, exclusive of the artizans, tradesmen, and merchants, in the towns of St. Austell, Truro, Penryn, Falmouth, Redruth, Penzance, and others.”
The tin of Cornwall constituted a branch of commerce at a very early period; the Phenicians and Grecians are said to be the first persons who came to Britain to traffic for that article, but how long they enjoyed the advantage cannot be exactly ascertained. On the discovery of the secret that the Phenicians and Grecians had the means of procuring this valuable metal in Britain, the Romans under Cæsar were induced to undertake an invasion. Though they had possession of the mines for a long period, it does not appear they made much progress in working them. During the Saxon government, the tin mines are said to have been altogether neglected, and the subsequent wars with the Danes and antient Britons prevented the possibility of much progress being made in mining concerns. After the Conquest, the mines were of little value to the proprietors, and even in the reign of King John, the product of them was so trivial, that the Tin Farm amounted only to 100 marks, and the King, with whom the right of working the mines solely rested, was so sensible of their low state, that he bestowed some valuable privileges on the county, by relieving it from the arbitrary forest laws, and granting a charter to the tinners, &c.
During the time of Richard, King of the Romans and Earl of Cornwall, the revenue of the tin mines yielded an immense return; at which time many Jews appear to have been employed in working them. Notwithstanding this success, the latter were banished from the kingdom in the 18th year of the reign of Edward I., when the mines again became much neglected. Shortly after a charter was granted (through Edmund, Earl of Cornwall) to the gentlemen of Blackmoor, proprietors of the Seven Tithings, affording the greatest quantities of tin; by which charter, more explicit grants of the privileges of keeping a court of judicature, holding pleas of action, managing and deciding all stannary causes, of holding parliaments at their discretion, and of receiving as their own due and proportion, the toll tin, or one-fifteenth of all tin raised, were defined. At the same time, the right of bounding or dividing tin grounds into separate portions, for the encouragement of searching, appears to have been regulated; by which the labouring tinner, who might discover tin in waste or uncultivated lands, became entitled to a certain interest in the land, upon giving proper notice in the Stannary Court to the proprietor thereof. The bounds limited the particular portions of ground to which the claim was made, and were formed by digging a small pit at each angle, so that a line drawn from each, determined the extent of the claim. This practise still exists, and the bounder is obliged to renew the pits every year, by removing any dust or rubbish that might otherwise hide his land marks.
Carew says, that “this charter had a seal affixed to it, with a pick axe and shovel in saltier.”
In consideration of the privileges granted by this charter, the gentlemen tinners undertook to pay to Edmund and his successors, Earls of Cornwall, the sum of 4s. for every hundred weight of white tin. To secure the payment of that tax, they agreed that all tin should be brought to places appointed by the Prince, and there weighed, coined, and kept till the duties were paid.
In the 33rd of Edward I., this charter was confirmed, and the tinners of Cornwall were made a distinct body from those of Devonshire, having before been accustomed to assemble on Hengston Hill, every seventh or eighth year, to arrange their concerns and property in the mines. The laws and privileges of the Cornish miners were further enlarged in the 15th year of the reign of Edward III., and subsequent acts passed in the reigns of Richard II., and Edward IV., which confirmed the previous privileges, and the tinners divided into four bodies, and placed under the superintendance of one Warden, reserving them an appeal from his decisions, in suits of law and equity to the Duke of Cornwall in council, or should the title be held in abeyance, then to the Crown.
A Vice Warden is appointed by the Lord Warden, to determine all stannary disputes; he also constitutes four Stewards, (one for each precinct) who hold a Stannary Court every three weeks, and decide by juries of six persons, with a right of progressive appeal to the Vice Warden, Lord Warden, and the Lords of the Prince’s Council. The original Stannary Towns were Launceston, Lostwithiel, Truro, and Helston; to these places the miners were obliged to bring their tin every quarter of a year. But in the time of Charles II., Penzance was added for the convenience of the western tinners.
All tin ores are wrought into metal in the county, and are afterwards cast into blocks, weighing from 2½ cwt. to upwards of 3 cwt. each. They cannot be disposed of till assayed by the proper officers, and stamped with the Duchy seal, which bears the arms of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, viz. a lion rampant, gules, crowned or, with a border sable garnished with bezants.
Since the reign of Henry VIII. the coinages have been held quarterly. The average annual produce of the tin mines is about 25,000 blocks, which, exclusive of duties, may be valued at £260,000, and yielding a revenue to the Duchy of Cornwall of about £10,000 annually. The most considerable tin mines now working, are in the neighbourhood of St. Austell, St. Agnes, and Piranzabuloe. The celebrated Polgooth Mine, near the former place, however, has not been worked for upwards of 20 years past.
There are also many other valuable tin mines in the western districts, north-west of Truro.
Besides the mines, there are several stream works in the county, which have yielded immense quantities of tin.
“In digging a mine,” says Dr. Maton, “the three material points to be considered, are the removal of the barren rocks or rubbish, the discharge of water, (which abounds more or less in every mine,) and the rising of the ore. Difficulties of course increase with depth, and the utmost aid of all the mechanical powers is sometimes ineffectual, when the workings are deep and numerous. Mountains and hills are the most convenient for working, because drains and adits are then easily cut to convey the water away into the neighbouring valleys. These adits are sometimes driven (as the miners term it) to the distance of one, or even two miles; and though the expense is enormous, these are found a cheaper mode of getting rid of the water than by raising it to the top, especially when there is a great influx, and the mine very deep. It seldom happens, however, that a level can be found near enough for an adit to be made to it from the bottom of a mine; recourse must be had then to a steam engine, by which the water is brought up to the adit, be the weight of it what it may. As soon as a shaft is sunk to some depth, a machine, called a whim, is erected, to bring up either rubbish or ore, which is previously broken into convenient fragments, by pickaxes and other instruments. The whim is composed of a perpendicular axis, on which turns a large hollow cylinder of timber, (called the cage) and round this a rope winds horizontally, being directed down the shaft by a pulley fixed perpendicularly over the mouth of it. In the axis a transverse beam is fixed, at the end of which two horses or oxen are fastened; and go their rounds, hauling up a bucket or kibbul, full of ore or rubbish, while an empty one is descending. The ore is blown out of the rock by means of gunpowder, and when raised from the mine, is divided into as many shares or doles as there are lords and adventurers, and these are measured out by barrows, an account of which is kept by a person who notches a stick for that purpose. Every mine enjoys the privilege of having the ore distributed on the adjacent fields. It is generally pounded or stamped on the spot, in the stamping mill. If full of slime, it is thrown into a pit called the buddle, to render the stamping more free, without choaking the grates, (thin plates of iron full of small holes.) If free from slime, the ore is shovelled into a kind of sloping canal of timber, called the pass, whence it slides, by its own weight, and the assistance of a small stream of water, into the box, where the lifters work. The lifters are raised by a water wheel, and are armed at the bottom with large masses of iron, about one hundred and a half in weight, which pound or stamp the ore small enough for its passage through the holes of an iron grate, fixed in one end of the box. To assist its attrition, a rill of water keeps it constantly wet, and it is carried by a small gutter into the fore pit, where it makes its first settlement, the lighter particles running forwards with the water into the middle pit, and thence into the third, where what is called the slime, settles. From these pits the ore is carried into a large vat, called the keeve, where it is washed and rendered clean enough for the smelting house. Most of the tin mines now working have steam engines, the advantages of which have proved a great benefit to the proprietors of them.”
The famous Wood Tin, as it is called, has frequently been found in the stream works. It nearly resembles the colour of Hæmatites, with fine streaks, or Striæ, converging to the different centres like the radiated zeolite. From the experiments of the celebrated Klaproth, wood tin was found to yield 63 parts in a hundred of tin. The most general state in which the tin of Cornwall is found, is the calciform, the greater quantity of ore being indurated, or glass-like; and its most prevalent matrix is either an argillaceous or a silicious substance, or a stone composed of both, and called by the miners caple: none of the calcareous genus ever appear contiguous to the ore, except the fluors.”
The discovery of the Copper Mines in Cornwall is of a much later date than those of tin, being about the year 1690. Although the propriety of searching was strongly recommended by Norden to King James, many years expired before the real value of the copper mines was discovered. Subsequent improvements and perseverance have rendered the copper mines one of the most important branches of commerce in this county; and the quantity of that valuable ore, now annually raised, is said to be worth, upon a moderate calculation, the sum of £350,000, or £90,000 greater than the value of tin. Copper ores are found in Cornwall, in great abundance and variety. Native copper is sometimes found on the sides of fissures in thin films, deposited by the impregnated water that runs from the lodes. Veins of copper are also frequently discovered in cliffs that are left bare by the sea, but the most certain sign of a rich ore is an earthy ocherous stone, called Gossan, of a ruddy colour, and crumbles like the rust of iron. Another sign of the presence of copper is, when the ground is inclinable to an easy free working blue Killas, intermixed with white clay. A white crystaline stone is also found to contain a great quantity of yellow copper. The lodes of copper ore generally lie deeper than those of tin, and its ores are mostly of the pyritous and sulphurated kinds, with more or less arsenic. “The lodes, both of tin and copper, appear most frequently to have granite for their country, and to make an angle from 60° to 76° with the horizon.” The matrices of copper ore are very numerous. Among the blue ores, there is one of an extremely fine blue earth. The grey ore is frequently spotted with yellow and purple, but is deemed richest when of an uniform colour throughout.
The copper ore is cleansed and dressed by the same process as that adopted for tin, but as it generally rises in large masses, requires less washing. Owing to the expense of importing coal, the ore is disposed of after it is prepared for the smelting houses, and owing to the expense of importing coal, the Smelting Houses at Hayle have ceased working for a considerable time past. “Nothing,” says Dr. Maton, “were so deleterious as the fumes of arsenic constantly impregnating the air of these places, and so profuse is the perspiration occasioned by the heat of the furnaces, that those who have been employed at them a few months, became most emaciated figures, and in the course of a few years are generally laid in their graves.”
The principal copper mines now working, are mostly in the neighbourhood of Redruth, of which the Gwennass, United, Poldice, Huel Unity, Cook’s Kitchen, and Dolcooth Mines, have yielded an abundant source of gain to their numerous adventurers.
A very accurate and well executed geological map of the mining districts, by Mr. Richard Thomas, was published in the year 1819.
Lead is found in several parts of Cornwall, but not in any great abundance. The ores are very dissimilar, but the sort most frequently discovered is galena, or pure sulphuret of lead, which is found both crystallized and in masses. Its colour is most of a bluish grey, and the form of its crystals is generally the cube. The most common varieties are the cube, truncated at the angles and corners, and the octahedron of two four-sided pyramids, applied base to base. The principal mines are Huel Pool and Huel Rooe, near Helston. There are also a few others on the north coast, in the neighbourhood of Endellion and St. Minver, but of little consequence. The oxides of lead are valuable for painting and dying, and also for medicinal uses.
Among the numerous mineral productions of Cornwall, Gold and Silver ought not to be omitted; the former has been frequently found in extremely small granules, generally intermixed with the tin ore, in the stream works. The largest piece ever found, is mentioned by Borlase to have weighed 15 pennyweights and 16 grains. The latter has been found at different periods in considerable quantities, particularly in a mine called Huel Mexico, some years ago, near St. Agnes; also in the Herland Copper Mine, in the parish of Gwinear.—A particular account of the discovery of silver in the Herland Mine, was furnished by the Rev. Malachy Hitchins, and printed in the transactions of the Royal Society for 1801. But it appears that after the mine was sunk to a considerable depth, the works were abandoned, the expenses of the mine having considerably exceeded the receipts.
Within the last three years, a considerable quantity of silver has been discovered in a mine belonging to Sir Christopher Hawkins.
Iron, in rich lodes of red and brown ore, has been found in great abundance, in many parts of the county, but there are not any iron mines which have been much worked.—Iron Pyrites, or sulphuret of iron, occur in most of the veins of copper, as well as some magnetical iron ore at Penzance, and specular iron ore at Tin Croft Mine, in Illogan, Botallack Mine, near the Land’s End, and other places.
A variety of other semi-metals are found in Cornwall; the most remarkable of these are Bismuth, Zinc, Antimony, Cobalt, Arsenic, Wolfram, Menachanite, and Molybdena, or Sulphuret of Molybdenum; but a description of the places where they are found, or of their several properties, has already been published in most of the works relating to this county.
Notwithstanding the early part of the History of Cornwall is enveloped in obscurity, there is little reason to doubt that (particularly from the writings of Leland) a battle was fought between the renowned King Arthur and his nephew Mordred, in the neighbourhood of Camelford, in which the former was slain; and that on the spot where the battle is said to have taken place, several warlike antiquities have been found.
That during the incursions of the Saxons, several engagements took place between them and the Cornish Britons, particularly in the time of Athelstan, who in the year 926, is said to have completely defeated this county and subdued the Scilly Isles, when considerable havoc and depredations were committed. At subsequent periods, the Danish pirates frequently landed, and committed great mischief in many parts of the county, particularly in plundering the monasteries.
During the captivity of Richard I., several commotions took place in Cornwall, and St. Michael’s Mount was seized upon, but afterwards given up, and Henry de lu Pomeroy died through fear of the King’s anger.
In the year 1322, many of the Cornish people were smitten with an enthusiasm of conquering the Holy Land, and left the county; but some were executed, and others returned and repented of their folly.
When Queen Margaret landed at Weymouth in the year 1471, the people of Cornwall and Devonshire, under the persuasions of Sir Hugh Courtenay, of Boconnoe, and Sir John Arundell, of Langhorne, marched to Exeter and accompanied her to Tewkesbury, when her troops were completely defeated, and the Queen, after being ransomed, died a few years after in France. At the latter end of the same year, John Vere, Earl of Oxford, took possession of St. Michael’s Mount, and retained possession of it till the February following, when (on his life being spared by the King) it was surrendered to Sir John Fortescue.
In 1497, the people in Cornwall rose in rebellion, and marched to Blackheath, in Kent, where they were defeated by Lord Dauberry, and their ringleaders executed. Lord Bacon, says, “on this occasion, they were armed with a strong and mighty bow, and had arrows the length of a tailor’s yard.” Shortly after another rebellion broke out in Cornwall, and no less than 3000 men joined the notorious Perkin Warbeck, and marched to Exeter; but his wife, Lady Catherine Gordon, was taken a prisoner from St. Michael’s Mount. A subsequent rebellion broke out in the year 1548, under Humphry Arundell, who was defeated and executed, together with many of his supporters.
During the civil wars in the 17th century, the inhabitants of Cornwall greatly distinguished themselves by their bravery and loyalty; but during the severe contests which took place, many valuable lives were lost on both sides; especially as the insurgents had taken possession of some of the antient fortifications in the county. Cornwall now furnishes a regiment of militia, a corps of miners, and several troops of yeomanry. During the late war with France, many volunteer corps were raised, but fortunately their services were not required.