The Botanist as he rides along in the Summer months will observe amongst the gorse (Ulex), which is abundant on each side of the road, the parasitical plant Cuscuta Epithymum, (called Epiphany by the country people,) winding its spiral structure in all directions, and producing from its reddish hue a beautiful contrast.
The farming of this country is in general slovenly, and certainly very far behind any other part of the kingdom,[37] although it is but just to acknowledge that Leha, a farm situated near the Land's End road, forms a pleasing exception to this general remark. The proprietor, John Scobell Esq. of Nancealverne, has here introduced the Drill Husbandry of Northumberland, which would seem to be well adapted to a country so infested with weeds, those hungry invaders of the farmer's property, and usurpers of his soil. The farmers have a peculiar practice, obviously suggested by the inconstancy of the weather, that of putting up their wheat, barley, and other kinds of grain, in the field into what are called "Arishmows." The sheaves are built up into a regular solid cone about twelve feet high; the beards all turned inwards, and the butt end only exposed to the weather. The whole is finished by an inverted sheaf of reed or corn and tied to the upper rows.
The first objects of antiquity which we have to notice are the stone crosses placed by the roads' side; some of them still retain their original situation, while others, broken and mutilated, have been converted into the various purposes of rural œconomy. They appear to have been originally designed as guides to direct the pilgrim to the different churches. A few of the more remarkable of them are represented as vignettes in different parts of the present work, from which the reader will become acquainted with their general appearance.
At Boscawen-Un, in a field about a quarter of a mile west of Leha, we meet with one of the most ancient British monuments in the kingdom; "a Druidical circle," as it has been pronounced, consisting of nineteen stones, some of which have fallen, placed in a circle of about twenty-five feet in diameter, having a single one in the centre. There is considerable doubt and obscurity with respect to the origin and intended use of these circles, of which there are many similar examples in Cornwall. Camden is inclined to consider them as military trophies, while Borlase deems it highly probable that such monuments were of religious institution, and designed originally and principally for the rites of worship; at the same time he conceives "they might sometimes have been employed as places of council and judgment, and that, whilst any council or decree was pending, the principal persons concerned stood, each by his pillar, and that where a middle stone was erected, as at Boscawen-Un, there stood the Prince or General elect." This must certainly be acknowledged as one of the most extraordinary specimens of antiquarian dreaming ever presented to the public.
About half a mile to the right of the high road stands an object of later origin, but not of less interest to the antiquary; the ruins of a small oratory, or baptistry, dedicated to Saint Euinus, and commonly known by the name of Chapel Euny. It is situated near a well, whose waters have been long supposed to possess very extraordinary virtues, and to have performed many miraculous cures. There is a similar ruin, which we shall hereafter have occasion to notice at Madron; and it is worthy of remark that these wells do not possess any mineral impregnation; the sick, however, at this very day, repair to them, while the credulous attempt to read the future in the appearance of the bubbles produced in their waters by the dropping in of pins or pebbles. This mode of divining is perhaps one of the most ancient superstitions that have descended to us, and was termed Hydromancy. The Castalian fountain, and many others amongst the Grecians, were supposed to be of a prophetic nature; thus, by dipping a fair mirror into a well did the Patræans of Greece receive, as they vainly imagined, some notice of ensuing sickness, or convalescence.
On the summit of the hill above these ruins, are situated the remains of Caerbran Castle or Round (that is Brennus's Castle) which is thus described by Borlase. "It is a circular fortification, consisting first of a deep ditch, fifteen feet wide, edged with stone, through which you pass to the outer vallum, which is of earth, fifteen feet high, and was well perfected towards the north-east, but not so towards the west; within this vallum, passing a large ditch about fifteen yards wide, you come to a stone wall, which quite rounded the top of the hill, and seems to have been of considerable strength, but lies, now, like a ridge of disorderly stones; the diameter of the whole is ninety paces, and in the centre of all is a little circle."
There are no less than seven of these hill castles, as they are termed, although they might with more propriety be called strong entrenchments, to be seen at this time within five miles around Penzance; all so placed on the hills as to admit of immediate communication with each other by signal. From several of them we have views of the North and South Channel, but from all of them either that of one sea or the other. Much doubt has arisen concerning their origin. Mr. Polwhele attributes them to the Irish, while Dr. Borlase, like an orthodox antiquary, who takes shelter, whenever he is bewildered, under the sanction of a popular name, at once boldly decides upon their Danish origin.
The lonely ruins of Chapel Carn Bre next attract our notice; they are situated upon the extremity of a high granite ridge, overlooking the surfy recess of Whitsand Bay; from their great elevation they are visible from every part of the country, although they scarcely form a skeleton of the original building, and in a short time, probably, not a vestige will remain to mark the consecrated spot. It appears to have been a Chantry, erected for the performance of religious service for the safety of mariners. It is not for the inspection of these ruins that we direct the stranger to ascend the hill, for they are too insignificant to merit attention, but it is for the purpose of his viewing the extensive prospect which its summit commands,—a wild expanse of waters occupying twenty-nine points of the compass!—From this spot also Saint Michael's Mount has a singularly fine effect, appearing as if placed in the centre of a lake at a distance from the ocean.
We now proceed to Sennan Church-town,[38] which according to barometrical admeasurement is 391 feet above the level of the sea. It is about a mile from the Land's End, and is celebrated for containing the Ale-house whimsically called "The First and Last Inn in England." On the western side of its sign is inscribed "The First," and on the eastern side "The Last Inn in England."