A Guide to the Mount's Bay and the Land's End / Comprehending the topography, botany, agriculture, fisheries, antiquities, mining, mineralogy and geology of West Cornwall

by John Ayrton Paris

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.
OF THE MOUNT's BAY, AND THE LAND's END
DISTRICT.
(Page [1].)

The Mount's Bay—Its Topography and Scenery, [1].—Northern Shores, their aspect cheerless but interesting, [3].—Minerals and Antiquities, [4].—The Climate of Mount's Bay, [5].—Meteorological Records, [5].—Vegetation, [6].—Tender Exotics flourish in the open air, [7].—Proofs of superior mildness from the animal kingdom, [9].—Coolness of the Summer, [10].—Rain; Storms, [11].—Hurricane of 1817, [14].—Encroachments of the Sea, [16].—The Bay formerly a woodland, [17].—Causes of the Sea's inundation, [18].—Rapid decomposition of the Cornish hills, [19].—Penzance—an eligible residence, [22].—Its situation most beautiful.—Extraordinary fertility of the neighbouring lands, [23].—Corporation—Pier—Chapel—Meeting Houses, [24].—Penzance a Coinage Town, [25].—Public Dispensary, [25].—Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, [26].—Its Cabinet of Minerals, [27].—Laboratory, [29].—Accidents from explosion in Mines prevented by the scientific efforts of the Society, [30].—Mineralogical Collection of Joseph Carne, Esq. [31].—Penwith Agricultural Society, [32].—Penzance Market, [33].—Wild fowl and fish abundant and cheap,—Newlyn Fish-women remarkable for their beauty, [33].—Public Hot and Cold Sea Baths, [34].—Beautiful prospect from the waiting room, [35].—Packet to Scilly, [35].—Ancient Customs—Festivities at Midsummer, [36].—Penzance remarkable in history from having been burnt by the Spaniards, [38].—Tobacco first smoked in this town, [39].—The birth place of Sir Humphry Davy, [40].—List of Indigenous Plants of Western Cornwall, [41], &c.

EXCURSION I.
(Page [45])
TO SAINT MICHAEL's MOUNT.

An object of the very first interest—Excursion by water—By land, [45].—The Eastern Green celebrated as the habitat of some rare plants, [46].—Marazion, or Market Jew, [47].—Its origin and Charter, [47].—Chapel Rock, [48].—Arrival at Saint Michael's Mount, [49].—Conical form of the hill—Its dimensions—Town at its base—The Pier—Interesting as a geological object, [50].—Why—Its scenery most magnificent—Geological structure, [51].—Militates against the Wernerian doctrines—De Luc's improbable explanation, [51].—Dr. Berger's gratuitous assumption, [52].—Plutonian views, [52].—Western base of the Mount—Beds of Granite, [53].—Quartz veins—Interesting contents of the veins, [55].—Pinite discovered in this spot, [55].—Other minerals, [56].—Lodes of Tin and Copper—Remains of a Tin Mine—Veins of Mica, [57].—The Tamarisk, [57].—Ascent to the Castle, [57].—Ancient Fortifications—The Chevychace room, [58].—The Chapel, [59].—Mysterious discovery in the Chapel, [59].—More Discoveries—Ascent to the top of the tower—Prospect hence of the grandest description, [60].—Saint Michael's Chair—Its origin and supposed mystic powers—A remnant of Monkish fable, [61].—The modern Apartments, [62].—The Natural History of the Hill—Formerly cloathed with wood—Its old Cornish appellation, [62].—Once at a distance from the sea, [63].—Ecclesiastical History—Monkish Legends of the vision of Saint Michael, [63].—Saint Keyne's Pilgrimage to the Mount in the fifth century, [64].—The Confessor's Endowment, [65].—Ancient instrument A.D. 1070 found amongst its registers, [65].—Annexed to a Norman Priory at the Conquest, [66].—The Nunnery—Its establishment broken up—The connection of the Priory with Normandy destroyed, [67].—Granted by Henry the Sixth to King's College Cambridge, [67].—Transferred by Edward IV. to the Nunnery of Sion in Middlesex, [68].—Bestowed upon Lord Arundel at the Reformation, [68].—Its Private History continued, [69].—Military History.—Pomeroy's Treachery—Monks expelled—Monks restored, [70].—The Mount is again reduced by the Earl of Oxford, [71].—who in his turn is compelled to surrender to the forces of Edward the Fourth, [71].—The Lady Catherine Gordon, wife of Perkin Warbeck, flies to the Mount for safety, [71].—Besieged by the Cornish rebels in the reign of Edward VI., [71].—Reduced by Colonel Hammond during the Civil war of Charles the First, [72].—The Mount supposed by Sir Christopher Hawkins and Dr. Maton to be the Ictis of Diodorus Siculus, [73].

EXCURSION II.
(Page [74])
TO THE LAND's END, LOGAN ROCK, &c.

Intermediate objects worthy of notice, [74].—Castle Horneck, [75].—Rose Hill—Trereiffe, [76].—The country wild but susceptible of cultivation, [77].—Furze—Boulders of Granite, [77].—Capable of numerous applications in rural œconomy, [78].—Cornish Granite, (provincially, Growan), when in a state of decomposition is used as a manure, [79].—Theory of its operation, [79].—Form of the Felspar crystals, [79].—State of Agriculture—The Farm of John Scobell, Esq. at Leha, [80].—Arish Mows, [81].—Ancient Stone Crosses, [81].—Druidical Circle at Boscawen Un, [81].—Opinions concerning the origin of such circles, [82].—Chapel Euny, and its mystic well, [82].—Caerbran Round, [83].—Other Hill Castles, [84].—Chapel Carn Bre—Its origin, [84].—Commands a very extensive view, [85].—Sennan Church-town—The First and Last Inn in England, [85].—The Village of Mayon or Mean, [85].—Table Mean the vague tradition concerning, [86].—The Land's End, [86].—A Spot of great geological interest, [87].—Grotesque appearance of its granitic rocks, [87].—The Armed Knight, Irish Lady, and Dr. Johnson's Head, [88].—Cape Cornwall, and Whitsand Bay, [88].—Historical recollections, [88].—The Long-Ships Light-house, [89].—Tradition of the Lioness, [91].—The Wolf rock, [91].—The Scilly Islands, [92].—Ancient Accounts—Six of the Islets only inhabited, [92].—Saint Agnes, [93].—The Light-house, [93].—Civil Government of the Islands, [93].—Present inhabitants all new comers, [94].—A robust and healthy race, [94].—Their employment, [96].—Experience great distress, [96].—Curious fact with respect to the migration of the Woodcock, [98].—Climate and Geology, [99].—Return to the Land's End—Fine rock Scenery at the Cape near the Signal Station, [101].—Tol Pedn Penwith, [102].—Cornish Chough—A Cliff Castle, [102].—Castle Treryn—Stupendous Rock Scenery—The Logan Rock, [103].—Its weight, [103].—How and whence it came, [104].—A natural production, [104].—Its appearance easily reconciled with the known laws of decomposition, [105].—Used probably by the Druids as an engine of superstition, [105].—Plants—Geological phenomena, [106].—Rare Shells to be found in Treryn Cove, [107].—Saint Buryan, once the seat of a College of Augustine Canons, [108].—Church Tower commands a very extensive prospect—Remarkable ancient Monument in the church, [109].—Ancient Crosses, [110].—The Deanery, [111].—The supposed Sanctuary, [111].—Return to Penzance by a circuitous route, through the parish of Saint Paul, [111].—Boskenna, the romantic seat of John Paynter, Esq., [112].—A Druidical circle, called the Merry Maidens, [112].—Sepulchral Stones called the Pipers, [113].—Carn Boscawen, Pensile Stone at, [113].—Trove or Trewoof, the remains of a triple entrenchment at, [113].—The romantic valley of Lemorna, [113].—Kerris, supposed Druidical monument at, [114].—Paul Church, [114].—Epitaph of Dolly Pentreath, [115].—Mousehole and Newlyn, Colonies of Fishermen, [116].—Geological phenomena, [117].

EXCURSION III.
(Page [119])
TO BOTALLACK MINE; CAPE CORNWALL; AND THE
MINING DISTRICT OF SAINT JUST.

Plan of the excursion, [119].—Nancealverne, the seat of John Scobell, Esq.—Poltair, of Edward Scobell, Esq.—and Trengwainton, of Sir Rose Price, Bart. [119].—Original Paintings by Opie, [120].—Village of Madron, [120].—Madron Well and Baptistry; Ancient Superstitions attached to it, [121].—Lanyon Cromlech (represented in the title page of this work) known by the name of the Giant's Quoit, [122].—Its supposed origin, [123].—Men-an-Tol, [124].—Men Skryfa, or the Inscribed Stone, [125].—Chun Castle, [126].—Stamping Mills, Burning Houses, or Roasting Furnaces, [127].—Cavern at Pendeen, [126].—Pendeen Cove, [128].—Geological phenomena, [128].—The Gurnard's head, [129].—Minerals to be found in this district, [130].—Axinite at Trewellard—Prehnite—Stilbite—Mesotype, [131].—The Crown Engine of Botallack—Extraordinary Scenery of the spot, [132].—Descent to the Engine, [133].—The workings of the Mine extend under the bed of the Atlantic ocean, [133].—Mineralogical observations, [134].—Cape Cornwall, [136].—Little Bounds Mine, [136].—Its workings under the sea, [137].—Curious Stalactites found there, [138].—Caraglose Head, a spot well worthy the stranger's notice, [138].—Portnanvon Cove, [139].—Saint Just Church Town, [139].—Ancient Amphitheatre, where Tournaments are held at this very day, [140].—Botallack circles, [140].—Antiquarian speculations, [141].

EXCURSION IV.
(Page [143])
TO SAINT IVES, HAYLE, HUEL ALFRED, &c.

Embowered Village of Gulval—Kenegie the seat of J. A. Harris Arundel, Esq.—Rosmorran, the retired cottage of George John, Esq., [143].—Ascent to the great Granite ridge, [143].—Castle an Dinas, [144].—Atmospheric Phenomenon, [144].—Saint Ives, [145].—The Pilchard Fishery—Confusion and bustle which are occasioned on the appearance of a shoal, [146].—Natural History of the Pilchard, [147].—Period of its appearance, [148].—How discovered by the Huer, [149].—Necessary outfit for the fishery, [149].—The Great Net, or Stop Seine—How shot, [150].—The quantity of fish usually secured—Tucking, a beautiful sight, [152].—Driving Nets, [153].—Fish brought to the cellars and cured—lying in bulk, [153].—Packed in hogsheads, headed up, and exported, [154].—The great importance of this fishery to the county, [155].—Refuse fish used as manure, [155].—Their fertilizing powers increased by lime, [156].—The Herring Fishery, [156].—Tregenna Castle, the seat of Samuel Stephens, Esq.—Knill's Mausoleum, [157].—Quinquennial Games instituted, [158].—Hayle Sands—The Port of Hayle, [159].—Desolate appearance of the district, [161].—Sand-flood, [162].—Recent Formation of Sandstone, [163].—Investigation of the causes which have operated in consolidating the sand, [166].—Huel Alfred Copper-mine, [169].—The Herland Mines, [170].—Saint Erth—Trevethoe, [171].—Tin Smelting, [173].—Ludgvan Church—The tomb of the venerable and learned Dr. Borlase, [174].

EXCURSION V.
(Page [176])
TO REDRUTH, AND THE MINING DISTRICTS IN ITS
VICINITY.

The country uninteresting to the traveller in search of the picturesque, but affording a rich and instructive field of Mineralogical inquiry, [176].—Antiquity of the Cornish Tin Trade, [177].—Stannary Courts—Copper Ore of comparatively modern discovery, [178].—Lead, Cobalt, and Silver ores, [180].—Average width of the metalliferous veins—Depth of the principal mines, [181].—North and South veins, or Cross Courses, [181].—Heaves of the Lodes—A remarkable instance in Huel Peever, [182].—Costeening, the meaning of the term—Method of Working the Cornish Mines, [183].—Blasting the rock with gunpowder, [186].—Descent into a Mine, [186].—Interior of a Mine, [187].—Temperature of Mines, [189].—Mines considered as property, [190].—Various processes by which the ore is rendered marketable, [191].—Spalling, [191].—Stamping, [192].—Dressing, [193].—Vanning, [194].—Burning, [194].—The Standard Barrow, [195].—Names of Mines, whence derived, [196].—Number of Mines, [196].—Stream Works, [197].—Gold found there, [197].—Clowance, the seat of Sir John St. Aubyn—Pendarves, the seat of E. W. W. Pendarves, Esq.—Tehidy Park, the mansion of Lord de Dunstanville, [198].—Dolcoath Copper Mine, [198].—Cook's Kitchen, [199].—Redruth—The Great Steam Engine at Chacewater, [200].—The Consolidated Mines—Huel Unity—Poldice, [202].—Hints to the Collectors of Cornish Minerals, [202].—Mineralogical Cabinets—That in the possession of Mr. Rashleigh, [203].—Of Mr. Williams's Collection, [206].—Saint Agnes, [208].—Carn-breh Hill—The supposed grand centre of Druidical worship, [209].—Imaginary monuments of the Druids—Their true nature developed, [209].—Cleavelandite found in the porphyritic granite on the summit of the hill, [212].—Carn-breh Castle, [213].

EXCURSION VI.
(Page [214])
TO KYNANCE COVE AND THE LIZARD POINT.

Fundamental Rocks of the Lizard Peninsula, [215].—Alternate beds of Slate and Greenstone at Marazion—Cudden Point—Acton Castle—Pengerswick Castle, [216].—Tregoning, Godolphin, and Breage Hills, [217].—Huel Vor, a great Tin Mine, [218].—Portleven Harbour—Helston, [219].—Its Borough—The ancient and singular festival of the Furry commemorated in this town, [220].—The Furry-day Tune, [222].—Penrose, the seat of John Rogers, Esq., [223].—The Loe Pool, an extensive fresh-water lake, [224].—Interior of the Lizard Peninsula, [225].—Gunwalloe Cove—Bolerium—Mullion Cove—Geology of this line of Coast, [226].—Serpentine Formation—Goonhilly Downs—Erica Vagans, [227].—Soap Rock, [228].—Copper found in this district, [229].—Kynance Cove—Asparagus Island—The Devil's Bellows, [229].—Explanation of the phenomenon, [230].—Lizard Light-houses, [231].—Geology of the Eastern Coast of the Peninsula, [232].—Frying Pan Rocks near Cadgwith, [233].—Diallage Rock—Mr. Majendie's researches in this district, [233].—Coverack Cove, a spot of the highest geological interest, [234].—Professor Sedgwick's Observations thereon, [235].—Tregonwell Mill, the habitat of Menacchanite or Gregorite, [236].—Concluding Remarks, [237].

APPENDIX.
Part I.

A Dialogue, between Dr. A. a Physician, and Mr. B. an Invalid, on the comparative merits of different Climates, as places of Winter residence p. [239]

APPENDIX.
Part II.

An Account of the First celebration of the Knillian Games at Saint Ives p. [260]

A Cornish Dialogue [267]

Carn Breh—An Ode hitherto unpublished, by Dr. Walcot [271]

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A GUIDE
TO THE
MOUNT'S BAY
AND
THE LAND's END.