LAND'S END TO NEWQUAY
No visitor to Cornwall can fail to notice the remarkable number of wells, situated near stone circles, dolmens, cromlechs, or churches that have replaced them in more modern times, for well-worship was undoubtedly one of the most persistent of the pagan customs with which the early Christian missionaries had to deal. Sir Norman Lockyer writes:—"It seems to be accepted now that well-worship in Britain originated long before the Christian era; that it was not introduced by the Christian missionaries, but rather they found it in vogue on their arrival, and tolerated it at first and utilized it afterwards, as they did a great many other pagan customs."
It is of course quite easy to understand how a once devout custom degenerated into mere superstition, how some wells came to be called "wishing wells", &c., in which the modern village maidens drop their pins, in much the same way as their pagan ancestors left offerings to invoke the aid of the tutelary saint.
The superstitions attached to the wells of Cornwall are as strong to-day as ever they were in the past, and there seems little reason to doubt that the good condition of wells, cromlechs, and other antiquities in the county, is due to the widespread traditions that dreadful harm will befall those who disturb or mutilate any ancient remains.
Sennen Cove lying immediately to the north of Land's End is a very charming little spot that shows signs of becoming a fashionable watering-place. The church, situated a mile inland, is dedicated to St. Senan or Senannus, one of those numerous Irish saints who showed such a predilection for the land of Cornwall. It is a low, weather-beaten structure with a good tower, and standing nearly 400 feet above the level of the sea, it forms a conspicuous land- and sea-mark. Within, there is a mutilated alabaster figure that is thought to have represented the Virgin and Child, and a small piece of mural painting. East of the church, a few yards from the roadside, and near the end of a small cottage, is the stone known as the Table Mên, a block of granite nearly eight feet in length, and three feet high. The word "main", or "mên", is the old Cornish for "stone". Here, according to tradition, a great battle took place between King Arthur and some Danish invaders, and the stone is also said to have been used as a royal dining table, when the number of kings who dined here is given by some old topographers as three, while others speak of seven. Hals gives their names as follows: "Ethelbert, fifth king of Kent; Cissa, second king of the South Saxons; Kingills, sixth king of the West Saxons; Sebert, third king of the East Saxons; Ethelfred, seventh king of the Northumbers; Penda, ninth king of the Mercians; and Sigebert, fifth king of the East Angles; who all flourished about the year 600". Merlin, the Wizard, who appears to have prophesied something about every nook in the kingdom, foretold that a yet larger number of kings will assemble around this rock for a similar purpose on the destruction of the world. A rock near Lanyon Cromlêh claims a similar honour, and the same story is attached to another at Bosavern in the parish of St. Just.
Sennen Cove is situated on the curve of Whitesand Bay, which terminates to the northward in the fine bluff headland of Cape Cornwall. It was once a favourite spot for smugglers and wreckers, and here Athelstan, after his final defeat of the Cornish, started to conquer the Scilly Isles. Stephen landed here on his first arrival in England, as did Perkin Warbeck when he sought to seize the crown he claimed. King John is also said to have landed here on his return from Ireland. Cape Cornwall, a mile and a half from the village, is one of the most prominent headlands of the western coast, but being in the neighbourhood of the great mining district it is somewhat neglected by visitors, a remark that applies to the whole of this portion of the coast as far as St. Ives, the great exception being Gurnards' Head. The inland country is bleak and barren, with a number of mining shafts capping the hillocks, with the result that the uninviting hinterland has inspired few people with the desire to explore a really grand and rocky piece of coast.
Nearly a mile south-west of Cape Cornwall are the Brisons, two fearful and dangerous rocks, rising about seventy feet above high-water mark. Brison is Cornish for prison, and tradition affirms that these rocks were once used as prisons.
North of the cape is Kenidjack headland, Porthleden being the name of the cove that divides the promontories. Skirting the coast from Kenidjack many fine bits of rocky scenery are passed. Botallack Head, with its old engine houses perched on its rocky crags, has a singularly savage appearance. The mine is one of the oldest in Cornwall, and the ancient workings continued for a considerable distance under the bed of the sea. The Levant, another submarine mine to the north, has also considerable workings beneath the sea.
