FOOTNOTES:
[1] Skaiting, as an amusement, is entirely unknown among the young men of Penzance. The marsh between this place and Marazion, which is generally overflowed in the winter season, and which offers, when frozen, a very fair field for the skaiter, has not been more than four times during the last thirty years sufficiently solidified to admit of that diversion, viz. in the years 1788, 1794, 1814, and 1819.
[2] It is this fact that permits the cultivation of many species of plants in the open ground about London, which in the vicinity of Paris will not live without a green-house.
[3] These plants thrive in the open air, and commonly attain a height of ten or twelve feet; they may be seen trained on the front of some of the houses in Penzance to double that height. A sufficient quantity of cuttings was obtained from a tree of this description, covering one of the houses, in the course of six weeks, to supply the oven with fuel for three months!
[4] The following catalogue was drawn up by the Rev. T. Bree, of Allesley, Warwickshire, viz.
Amaryllis Vittata.
Arum Colocasia.
Azalea Indica.
Buddlœa Globosa.
Bocconia Cordata.
Coronilla Glauca, &c.
Calla Æthiopica.
Cistus Salvifolius.
Chrysanthemum Indicum.
Camellia Japonica.
Cyclamen Persicum.
Canna Indica.
Cheiranthus Tristis.
Dahlia (many varieties.)
Daphne Indica.
Eucomis Striata.
Fuchsia Coccinea.
Geranium (several species of the African G.)
Hypericum Coris.
— Crispum.
— Balearicum.
Hydrangea Decolor.
Haustonia Coccinea.
Hemerocallis Alba.
Lavandula Viridis.
Lobelia Fulgens.
Myrtus Communis.
Mesembryanthemum Deltoideum.
Melianthus Major.
Mimulus Glutinosus.
Magnolia Tripetala.
Metrosideros Lanceolata.
Olea Fragrans.
Pittosporum Undulatum.
Phylica Ericoides.
Protœa Argentea.
Punica Nana.
Solanum Pseudo-Capsicum.
Teucrium Frutescens.
— Marum.
Verbena Triphylla.
Westringia Rosmarinacea.
[5] Cabbages are ready for the table as early as February; Turnips before the end of March; Broccoli, against Christmas; Green Peas are generally ready by the middle of May. But the most remarkable exception, perhaps, to the ordinary routine of the culinary calendar is to be found in the growth of the potatoe. It is customary for the gardeners in the vicinity of Penzance to raise two crops in one year. The first being planted in November is gathered in April, May, and June; the second crop is planted immediately on taking up the first, and as late as to the middle of July. The first or spring crop has, in general, no other defence from the cold of winter than the stable dung used as manure, and it is rarely injured by the frost! Such is the ordinary practice of the market-gardener; but Mr. Bolitho of Chyandour, has constantly new potatoes at Christmas, and through the whole of January and part of February, raised in the open garden, with no other shelter than that afforded by some matting during the coldest nights.
[6] Mr. Boase has lately published, in the 2d volume of the Transactions of the Cornish Society, a very interesting letter upon this subject, (in the possession of Mrs. Ley of Penzance, who is the present representative of the Daniel family.) It was written, in the reign of Charles II. to the then proprietor of an estate, which included part of the "Western Green;" and that part is there estimated at thirty-six acres of pasturage!
[7] See "A memoir on the submersion of part of the Mount's Bay, by H. Boase, Esq." in the 2d volume of the Cornish Transactions.
[8] "On the third of the nones of November," cries Florence of Worcester, "the sea comes out upon the shores, and buried towns and men, very many, oxen and sheep innumerable." While the Saxon Chronicle relates that "this year eke, on Saint Martin's mass day, sprang up so much the sea flood, and so myckle harm did, as no man minded it ever afore did."