The Penwith Agricultural Society holds its meetings, and distributes its premiums, in this town. Nothing can be more in place than such an institution. Geology and Agriculture are kindred sciences, and it has been truly observed that there is no district in the British Empire where the natural relations between the varieties of soil and the subjacent rocks can be more easily discovered and traced, or more effectually investigated, than in the county of Cornwall; and no where can the information which such an enquiry is capable of affording, be more immediately and successfully applied for the improvement of waste lands, and the general advancement of agricultural science.
The market of Penzance, for the goodness, variety, and cheapness of its commodities, is certainly not surpassed by any other in the kingdom; to the great quantity of salt usually mixed with the food of the swine, is perhaps to be attributed the delicacy and richness of the pork; whilst, owing to the fine pasturage of the neighbourhood, the heifer beef is superior, beyond comparison, to the Scotch. It is worthy also of notice, that during the winter season the market is filled with a variety of wild-fowl, woodcocks, snipes, &c. which are offered for sale at extremely low prices. The market is held on Thursdays and Saturdays; but every description of fish in season, as Red Mullet, John Doree, Turbot, Sole, Mackarel, Whiting, Pilchard, Herring, &c. &c. may be purchased from the Newlyn fish-women, who are in daily attendance at their stalls, and whose fine symmetry, delicate complexions, curling ringlets, and the brilliancy of whose jet black eyes, as they dart their rays from beneath the shade of large gypsey hats of beaver, fill the traveller with admiration.
We beg leave to introduce the reader to two of these Nymphs of the Cowel.[17]
Whilst speaking of the delicacies of the table we must not omit to mention the clotted or clouted cream of this and the neighbouring county,[18] a luxury with which the epicures of other parts are wholly unacquainted.
The town of Penzance is rapidly extending itself; new houses are continually rising in commanding situations; and, since the publication of the first edition of this work, Hot and Cold Sea Baths have been completed upon a suitable scale of convenience. The waiting room belonging to this establishment commands a prospect of very singular beauty. St. Michael's Mount rising boldly in front, forms a striking relief to the extended line of coast which constitutes the back ground; while the undulating shores on the left, skirted by the little village of Chy'andour, are well contrasted, on the opposite side, with the busy scene of the pier, and the numerous vessels in the harbour.
In enumerating the advantages this town holds out as a residence to invalids, it deserves notice that a packet sails every Friday to the Scilly Islands, and returns on the following Tuesday. The distance is about fourteen leagues, and, with a fair wind, the passage is generally accomplished in six hours; but with contrary winds it has sometimes, though very rarely, exceeded two days.
In a town so remote from the metropolis, and in a great degree insulated from the other parts of the empire, it is not extraordinary that we should find the traces of several very ancient customs. The most singular one is, perhaps, the celebration of the Eve of Saint John the Baptist,[19] our town saint, which falls on Midsummer Eve; and that of the Eve of Saint Peter, the patron of fishermen. No sooner does the tardy sun sink into the western ocean than the young and old of both sexes, animated by the genius of the night, assemble in the town, and different villages of the bay, with lighted torches. Tar barrels having been erected on tall poles in the market place, on the pier, and in other conspicuous spots, are soon urged into a state of vivid combustion, shedding an appalling glare on every surrounding object, and which when multiplied by numerous reflections in the waves, produce at a distant view a spectacle so singular and novel as to defy the powers of description; while the stranger who issues forth to gain a closer view of the festivities of the town, may well imagine himself suddenly transported to the regions of the furies and infernal gods; or, else that he is witnessing, in the magic mirror of Cornelius Agrippa, the awful celebration of the fifth day of the Eleusinian Feast;[20] while the shrieks of the female spectators, and the triumphant yells of the torch bearers, with their hair streaming in the wind, and their flambeaus whirling with inconceivable velocity, are realities not calculated to dispel the illusion. No sooner are the torches burnt out than the numerous inhabitants engaged in the frolic, pouring forth from the quay and its neighbourhood, form a long string, and, hand in hand, run furiously through every street, vociferating "an eye,"—"an eye,"—"an eye"! At length they suddenly stop, and the two last of the string, elevating their clasped hands, form an eye to this enormous needle, through which the thread of populace runs; and thus they continue to repeat the game, until weariness dissolves the union, which rarely happens before midnight.
On the following day (Midsummer day) festivities of a very different character enliven the bay; and the spectator can hardly be induced to believe that the same actors are engaged in both dramas. At about four or five o'clock in the afternoon, the country people, drest in their best apparel, pour into Penzance from the neighbouring villages, for the purpose of performing an aquatic divertisement. At this hour the quay and pier are crowded with holiday-makers, where a number of vessels, many of which are provided with music for the occasion, lie in readiness to receive them. In a short time the embarkation is completed, and the sea continues for many hours to present a moving picture of the most animating description.