A little north of Redruth lies St. Day, of the growth of which Norden, in the sixteenth century, left a charming description. "There was sometime a chappell now decayde, called Trinitye, to which men and women came in times past from far in pilgrimage: the resort was so great, as it made the people of the Countrye bringe all kind of provision to that place; and so long it continued with increase, that it grew to a kind of market and by that means it grew and continued a kind of market to this day, without further charter."
Of Redruth itself there is little to be said. Like so many Cornish towns, it consists of a chief street that is wearisomely long: it had its famous man, Murdock, who first used gas as an illuminant; and the first railway in Cornwall ran from Redruth to Hayle, being opened in 1835. To the east is Carnmarth, 750 ft. high, with a wide view, and on one side the Gwennap Pit, a mine subsidence, in which John Wesley often preached and in which the members of his denomination assemble in their thousands every Whit Monday.
"Why," asked a "foreigner" of a Redruth man, "are the Cornish, and especially the miners, called Cousin Jacks?"
"Spoase Adam gave it out when he named t'other animals."
But Camborne asks the sister town a less civil question. "Who was it crowned the donkey?" And this had its origin in a certain playful disloyalty on the accession of George IV. Cornwall, as it might say of itself, has "never taken much stock in kings." It cropped the ears of Edward IV.'s pursuivant, killed Edward VI.'s commissioner, and crowned a donkey as George IV. Inconsistent county! For the Stuarts it must needs pour out blood like water and impoverish itself for generations!
Carn Brea
Between Redruth and Camborne is the rocky hill of Carn Brea (740 ft.). It consists of a rugged mass of granite crowned with huge piles of weathered rocks. In neolithic times it was undoubtedly a military station, large remains of the enclosing walls as well as many hut circles having been found. This hill has three summits, with the remains of an old castle on that towards the east, which castle is mentioned by William of Worcester in 1478. On the central peak is an ugly granite cross erected in 1836 by the county to the memory of their very good friend, Francis, Lord de Dunstanville and Basset. In one of the hut circles on the top of Carn Brea was found a cooking hearth now in the Truro Museum, whither went many of the old British and Roman coins, stone weapons, and tools, flint and quartzite spear heads, and socketed bronze celts unearthed on the hill. St. Ewny's Well is a romantic spot of repute for sanctity, while the "Giant's Well" halfway down the hill was said to be bottomless.
Camborne
Camborne Church is interesting for its carvings, those of the animals being comparable with the exquisite heads at Newlyn East. Near the porch is an ancient cross and below the communion table an early altar slab, formerly built into the exterior wall of the transept, but now restored. It is inscribed "Leviut jusit hec altare pro anima sua."
It is not easy to obtain permission to see more than the surface workings of the venerable Dolcoath, and even for them, in spite of the present-day harem skirt, the dress provided creates some disturbance in the mind of the average woman. She had not thought to see herself wearing the breeches—at least in public!