THE ISLANDS OF SCILLY.
THE EDITOR.
Neither Mr. Hals nor Mr. Tonkin has noticed these islands.
It may be proper, therefore, to add a few observations on their ancient history, of which however very little is known.
That the Phœnicians, and after them the merchants of Carthage, traded with the Britons for tin, is established without the slightest doubt; but no possible absurdity can be greater than the supposition that voyagers, having sailed through the Mediterranean Sea, and passed between the Pillars of Hercules into the exterior ocean, and navigated through this boundless and dreaded expanse of water for about a thousand miles, should then stop short at trifling islands, or rather rocks, and that too year after year during centuries, with the country before them, actually in sight, from whence the valuable commodity which they sought must have been manifestly taken, and where they would have been sure of an improved market for the commercial articles to be given in exchange. Yet, relying on the literal interpretation of passages from ancient authors, who never visited the land of tin, nor possibly ever conversed with the adventurous sailors who had been there, persons of account have gravely asserted that the rocks of Scilly were the ancient Cassiterides; while others, to render this strange supposition somewhat less absurd, have glossed it with the miracle, probably invented by Florence of Worcester, of a large tract of country between these existing islands and the Land’s End, having been engulphed within times of recent memory.
Perhaps this mode of induction, directly opposed to common sense and to experience, may be a remnant of the hallucination which bound itself round men’s minds at the
period when the stores of ancient learning were first poured on modern Europe; under this delusion they were not contented with ascribing a high degree of merit to the artists, to the writers, to the architects of Greece and Rome; nothing short of absolute perfection was believed to exist in each, and this servile appeal to authority is not even yet quite obsolete, although the time for such delusions being in the slightest degree advantageous either to literature or to science, has long since passed by.
The traders who frequented these remote shores would naturally mistake land in the great unbounded ocean for mere islands, and their vague descriptions, purposely made obscure, proved so successful that Julius Cæsar was not aware when he landed on the coast of Kent that he was arrived in the country producing tin.
The rocks of Scilly, having inhabitants, were visited by monks and anchorites, who formed establishments there, and gradually associated themselves into a small priory; but, so early as the time of King Henry the First, their monastery, with all its appendages, was given to the Abbey of Tavistock. The grant is extant.
“Henricus Rex Anglorum Willelmo Episcopo Excestriæ et Ricardo filio Baldwini, et Justiciæ suæ de Devenesira et Cornegallia, salutem. Sciatis me dedisse in perpetuam elemosinam Osberto Abbati et Ecclesiæ de Tavystok, et Turoldo Monacho suo, omnes Ecclesias de Sullye cum pertinentiis suis, et terram sicut unquam Monachi aut Heremitæ melius eam tenuerunt tempore Regis Edwardi, et Burgaldi Episcopi Cornegalliæ. Et volo et præcipio quod ipse Turoldus et omnes Monachi de Sully sicut proprii Præbendarii mei habeant firmam pacem cum omnibus quæ ad eas pertinent,” &c.
There is also a confirmation by Reginald de Dunstanville, illegitimate son of King Henry the First, who was created Earl of Cornwall in 1140, and died without male issue in 1175.
“Reginaldus Regis Filius Comes Cornubiæ, omnibus
Baronibus suis et Ballivis suis Cornubiæ et Scilly, salutem. Sciatis me, pro anima Henrici Regis patris mei, et mea, et pro Carta ipsius quam vidi, concessisse et confirmasse in liberam et perpetuam elemosinam Monachis de Sully, sicut propriis Præbendariis Patris mei, omne Wrec quod in Insulis, quas ipsi totas tenent, advenerit; præter cœtum et navem integram, hoc est, in Rentemen et Nurcho et insula Sancti Elidii et Sancti Sampsonis, et Sanctæ Teonæ. Et prohibeo super forisfactum meum, sicut prohibuit pater meus per cartam suam, ne quis eis aliquam injuriam faciat aut molestiam. Quoniam nolo ut de aliquo tenemento suo in Scilly aut libertate aut consuetudine, quam eis concessi, alicui amodo intendant nisi michi[24] et Abbati Tavistochiæ.
“Teste Radulpho de Bosco-Roardi apud Dorecestriam.”
There is also another document, entitled,
“Confirmatio B. Episcopi Exoniæ de Decimis de Sully.”—It is probable that the person indicated by B, was Bartholomew Iscan, consecrated in 1161, and died in 1184.
“Omnibus fidelibus ad quos præsens scriptura pervenerit, B. divina miseratione dictus Episcopus Exoniæ salutem in Domino. Noverit universitas vestra me vidisse et legisse cartam Ricardi de Wicha, in qua confitetur se concessisse, et in liberam et perpetuam elemosinam dedisse omnes decimas suas de Sully (et nominatim de cuniculis, quas injuste aliquandiu detinuerat, eo quod de rebus hujusmodi decimas dandas esse non putavit,) Abbati et Conventui Tavistochiæ, et Fratribus Monasterii Beati Confessoris Nicholai de Sully, pro salute animæ suæ, et parentum suorum, necnon et Reginaldi quondam Comitis Cornubiæ Domini sui; et hanc donationem super altare Beati Rumoni Tavistochiæ per Librum Evangeliorum manu propria obtulisse in præsentia B. Abbatis et conventus ejusdem loci et multorum aliorum.
“Quoniam autem tam Monasterium Tavistochiæ,
quam tota terra prædicti Ricardi de Sully ad meam pertinet Diocesim, ego sicut Episcopus diocesanus prænotatam ipsius Ricardi donationem, auctoritate episcopali, præsenti scripto, et sigilli mei, sicut eam quam gratam et ratam habeo, appositione confirmo.
“Hiis testibus, B. Archidiacono Cornubiensi, &c.”
There is also a letter of protection from King Edward the First for the prior of St. Nicholas, within his island de Scilly. This letter is addressed among others, to the constable of his camp in the island of Enmour in Scilly.
Enmour may well be a corruption of Ennis Moor, the great island, possibly the secular name of St. Mary’s.
In the time of Edward the Third, this priory or cell to Tavistock must have been of very little importance, since in the 19th year of his reign, it appears by the following entry in the Abbreviatio Rotulorum Originalium, that two monks only were resident. Since, for some reason which it is difficult to discover, secular priests were to be stationed in Scilly during the continuance of a war with France, instead of the monks, which gave rise to the following agreement:
“Abbas et Conventus de Tavistok finem fecerunt cum Rege per viginti solidos, pro licentia habenda, quod ipsi duos capellanos sæculares pro animabus progenitorum Regis, quondam Regum Angliæ, et hæredum suorum, in Insula de Sulley celebraturos, loco duorum Capellanorum commonachorum suorum, quos ibidem ex causa prædicta invenire solebant, durante guerra inter Regem et homines de Francia mota, invenire possint.”
Since the Reformation the tithes have been appropriated, and passed with the different leases of the lands. Remains of the convent, most properly dedicated to St. Nicholas, are still to be seen on the island of Trescow. St. Nicholas was the patron of mariners, and frequently preserved vessels in a miraculous manner when his aid had been fervently invoked; perhaps the right of wreck was given to the convent for the pupose of attaching an increased degree
of merit to their prayers in favour of ships likely to be dashed against those rocks.
St. Nicholas had also delegated to him from Heaven the peculiar care of infants, as a reward for his early piety, which induced him, in the first month, to abstain from taking the nourishment afforded by his mother’s breast on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on all occasional fasts appointed by the church.
He was Archbishop of Myra, a city of Lycia, in Lesser Asia, where he died in 342; but in 1087 his relics were forcibly taken from thence, and conveyed to the town of Bavi in Italy, towards the opening of the Adriatic, and where they continue to perform the most wonderful cures, more especially in all cases of infants.
The Scilly Islands first became objects of public attention in the great civil war, and especially towards the latter part of these struggles. After the death of King Charles the First, Sir John Grenville, subsequently created Earl of Bath in memory of the battle at Lansdown, where his father fell in the arms of victory, having collected a small force, kept possession of St. Mary’s island, where they either constructed or enlarged lines, rather than a fortress, which still remain. Their opponents encamped themselves on Trescow, till at last, as relief was clearly impossible, the cavaliers surrendered, but not till they had evinced their honour and true feelings as gentlemen, by refusing to accept any terms from a foreign power, and preserving the integrity of England, although it was in the hands of their deadly foes.
Unfortunately for these islands, they remain public property, or as it is termed, belong to the Crown; and a system has prevailed, at least from the time of Queen Elizabeth, one of the very worst that could be devised, of granting them at an annual rent, and for a short term of years, to private gentlemen; renewed, indeed, in the same line for more than two hundred years, first to the family of Godolphin,
and then to the family of Osborne, which succeeded to the property of the former, but always with an uncertain tenure and the impossibility of encouraging others to expend capital on any permanent undertaking.
A better system has, however, been at last adopted, although very inferior to the plain, simple, and natural one of making the land freeholds in the hands of individuals.
Either the former lessee for years no longer wished to retain a source of small patronage, rendered of little importance by well-known changes, or the government resolved on doing something beneficial for the inhabitants and for the country; at all events, a lease for lives has now been granted to Mr. Smith, a gentleman of ability and information, the eldest son of a respectable country gentleman, under certain conditions, and among them a stipulation for essentially improving the harbour by the construction of a pier, the government contributing a certain sum towards the expense, and the lessee undertaking to complete the work. Mr. Smith, it is understood, means to reside there; and great expectations are entertained of the benefit likely to result.
Such a cluster of rocks, from eight to nine leagues west-south-west off the main land, must always be dangerous to ships returning from distant voyages; but the risk has been very greatly diminished by the excellent light on St. Agnes. There is, however, one rock called the Wolf, somewhat more than a third of the distance of Scilly from the Land’s End, on which a light-house might be erected; and the losses of lives and of property on this rock, which lies immediately in the way of all coasting vessels, more especially of those from Ireland, are supposed by many competent judges to exceed the losses occasioned by all the other western rocks taken together.
Before lights were placed on the coast, and the soundings laid down with accuracy, and the nature of the ground described, and before astronomical observations were
brought to practical perfection, the wrecks were, perhaps, quadruple to what they are at present, and with not one fourth of the vessels at sea: among the innumerable wrecks that have taken place at Scilly, the most remarkable is that of the Victory, a first-rate ship of war, commanded by Sir Cloudesley Shovel, returning from a series of exploits, which continued adding to his reputation even when they failed of obtaining success. This ship, with two others of a smaller size, struck on the rocks of Scilly in the night following the 22d of October 1705, when between fifteen hundred and two thousand men are supposed to have perished; and there is a tradition of one man having escaped, and of his relating some anecdotes of obstinacy, and even of violence, on the part of the Admiral, discreditable to him as a man, and the immediate causes of the calamity; but these additions induce me entirely to disbelieve the whole tale.
The Scilly Islands are composed of granite, similar to that of the Land’s End district, and intersected by small lodes of tin, but not of a size sufficiently large to have produced at any period a quantity worthy of mercantile account.
The land does not rise into lofty hills, nor are the rocks on a scale of magnificence; and the people have been so much absorbed in trade and in intercourse with strangers from all nations, that they are without any legendary histories or peculiarity of manners.
Although St. Mary’s, Trescow, and St. Agnes’, St. Martin’s, Bryher, and Sampson, have alone permanent inhabitants, yet a great many more islands are dignified with specific names. Among these one rock is honoured with the appellation of Scilly; and this trifling circumstance has given rise to theories about changes and devastations by the sea, by earthquakes, &c. when the name has clearly been given in the same spirit as that which induced seamen to declare that the cord attached to the water bucket is the only rope belonging to a ship.
Alterations in the laws respecting Customs and Excise, with increased vigilance as well as greater activity, both at sea and on shore, have materially interfered with the most lucrative trade of these islanders. They are, however, tolerably well supported by their agriculture, which is said to afford more corn than they consume; by their fisheries, particularly of ling, which are exported after being pressed and dried almost without salt; and finally, by the resort of ships in great numbers when the wind happens to be in opposition to their intended voyages.
Doctor Borlase has written a separate treatise on the Scilly Islands, and described in it the scanty remains of their supposed Druidical antiquities.
At the time of the last census (in 1831) the population was as ascertained to be
| Statute Acres. | |||
| St. Mary’s | 1311 | said to measure | 1640 |
| Trescow | 470 | 880 | |
| St. Agnes’ | 289 | 390 | |
| St. Martin’s | 230 | 720 | |
| Bryher | 128 | 330 | |
| Sampson | 37 | 120 | |
| 2465 | 4080 | ||
| The small islands are estimated at | 150 | ||
| 4230 | |||
A recent benefit has been given to Scilly by the legislature, in respect to their police and to the administration of justice. The sole authority previously existing in the islands resided in a court possessing very limited power, and that undefined, so that no case of any magnitude could be acted on in any other way than by sending the parties over to the main land; an Act of Parliament has now enabled
the executive government to appoint magistrates who may act in Scilly, without qualification by the possession of freehold property, in as ample a manner as other justices of the peace may act for the county at large.
St. Agnes Light House. Lat. 50° 18′ 27″. Long. 6° 19′ 23″. In time 25m. 8s. W.
Time of high water at the New and Full Moon, 10 minutes after 4.
[24] Michi for Mihi, Ducange.—Ed.