should remain in the permanent possession of the Corporation. It weighed 137 oz., and like its fellow, was engraved with naïve, and, I fear, doggerel verses.
“When water workes in broaken wharfe
At first erected were,
And Beavis Bulmer with his art
The waters, ’gan to reare,
Disperced I in earth dyd lye
Since all beginnings old,
“In place cal’d Comb wher Martin long
Had hydd me in his molde.
I did no service on the earth,
Nor no man set me free,
Till Bulmer by skill and charge
Did frame me this to be.”
The Latin appendices to the “poems” show the date of the presentations to have been the year 1593; and Blackmore seems to refer to them when he speaks of the “inaccurate tales concerning” the silver cup at Combmartin, sent to Queen Elizabeth (Lorna Doone, chapter lviii.). Ultimately the flooding, with which there was no means of effectually coping, put a stop to the operations; but it is possible that they were not entirely suspended, as a few years ago I saw a report in a local journal that a Combmartin half-crown of 1645 was sold in an auction room in London for the sum of £5. 12s. 6d.
In 1659 the working of the mines was brought before Parliament by a distinguished mineralogist named Bushell, but nothing was done, and, when, forty years later, an attempt was made to exploit them, it resulted in failure. Between 1796 and 1802 the experiment was renewed, and 9293 tons of ore were shipped to Wales. The mines were then closed, and so remained till 1813, when 208 tons were sent to Bristol. The cost, however, exceeded the profit, and in 1817 the mining was again abandoned.
Yet another effort was made in 1833, this time by a joint-stock company with a capital of £30,000, nearly half of which was expended in plant, the sinking of shafts, etc. However, a rich vein having been discovered, work was carried on feverishly night and day, and a large profit realised, three dividends being made to the shareholders. As the result, shares were run up to a high premium by speculators, who, in mining phraseology, “worked the eye out.” In 1845 a smelting company was formed, but neither this nor the mining company, whose expenses averaged £500 a month, was destined to last. In 1848 the engines were taken down, and apart from a spasmodic and, ’tis said, unprincipled attempt at company promoting in 1850, nothing has since been done.
The levels were driven under the village; and beneath the King’s Arms (or Pack of Cards, as the old manor-house of the Leys is usually designated) runs a subterranean passage, constructed for drainage purposes. The ore is exceedingly rich in silver and lead, and the opinion has been expressed that the mines, worked fairly, would have yielded a tolerable return.
There is an old saying, “Out of the world, and into Combmartin.” On this odd text Miss Annie Irwin has based the following pretty verses:—
“‘Out of the world’ they call thee. True,
Thy rounded bay of loveliest blue,
Thy soft hills veiled in silvery grey,
Where glancing lights and shadows stray;