Helston is nowadays a quiet, uninteresting town, by no means looking its age. It was in existence at the time of the Norman Conquest, for it appears in Domesday Book as "Henlistone." Of its castle, as likewise of its old-time Parliamentary importance of returning two members, nothing is left; and only once a year does Helston advertise its existence to the world, when its annual Furry, held on May 8th, is duly chronicled in the newspapers. It attracted more attention in 1907, because that was the year of Sir William Treloar, a native of Helston, being Lord Mayor of London; and the sun shone that day on the unwonted spectacle of a Lord Mayor jigging down the principal street of Helston in the Furry Dance:
"With Hal-an-tow, Rumbelow!
For we are up as soon as any, O,
And for to fetch the summer home,
The summer and the may, O!
For summer is acome,
And winter is agone."
Such is the chorus of the Furry Song, sung to an immemorially ancient tune. The Furry, which some hold to be a survival of the Roman "Floralia," and is obviously in any case a celebration in honour of spring, is observed with great earnestness and is officially recognised by the Mayor and Corporation of Helston, who take active part in it.
The woods of Penrose descend beautifully to the shares of Looe Pool, and they are exchanged with some regret for the not very interesting cliff-road on to Porthleven, a small harbour town, situated on steep hillsides overlooking a pool. Granite is shipped at the quays, and much yacht- and boat-building is carried on. Inland is Breage, a village lying just off the modern high-road between Helston and Penzance, and suffering from the fact that it has thus been shouldered aside, in the deviation of traffic. You may perceive, in the following lines, the pronunciation of the place-name:
It lies off the road to the Lizard,