The arrival of Petrock determined Samson to depart. He went on to Petherwin, where his first cousin, S. Padarn, was settled. He had brought with him all the sacred vessels and books he could collect, and had laden with them a waggon, drawn by two horses that he had brought from Ireland.
He sent forward a messenger to tell Padarn that he was on his way, and drawing near. The story has been already told how the news reached Padarn at the time he was dressing. Whilst in the district of Trigg Samson made the acquaintance of the chieftain, named Gwythian, and rendered him some service with his son, who was stunned by a fall from his horse. Gwythian seems to have followed him. Later on he became a disciple of S. Winwaloe, and founded a church in West Cornwall. Samson went on to Northill, where he remained for some time, and then proceeded to Golant. His main object in remaining in Cornwall was to watch affairs in Brittany. He had with him several companions--disciples from Wales, Austell, and Mewan and Erme. At Golant Samson continued till the arrival of his cousin, Maglorius, with tidings from Brittany, whereupon he entrusted his church to a disciple, crossed over, and settled at Dol. Conmor, usurper of Domnonia, had murdered Jonas, the reigning prince, in 540, and had usurped the throne. Judual, the son of the murdered king, had fled to the court of Childebert, King of the Franks. Samson visited Paris, and used persuasion to induce the Frank king to interfere and reinstate Judual. Childebert would not do this, but finally gave Samson leave to do what he could off his own bat. Samson then retired to the Channel Islands, where he enlisted soldiers and drilled them, and then landed on the Brittany coast, and proclaimed Judual. In the meantime Mewan had acted as his agent, travelling through the country preparing for a general revolt. Three bloody battles were fought, and in the third Conmor was killed by the hand of Prince Judual, A.D. 555, whereupon Judual ascended the throne, and rewarded Samson as liberally as he could have desired, but the bishop died five years later. Samson must have spent a good many years in Cornwall if he left Wales in 548 to escape the yellow plague which was then ravaging the land.
At Golant the saying is that there is to be seen "a tree above the tower, a well in the porch, and a chimney in the roof." The tree was probably once growing out of the stones on the top of the tower; the well is there still, close to the entrance to the church, under a rude arch. It is a holy well, and is said to have been a spring elicited by Samson with his staff.
The church is late Perpendicular.[[19]] The pulpit and reading-desk are made up of old bench-ends, representing S. Samson, the M of Mary, and the lily of the Annunciation, and instruments of the Passion.
On the tower of S. Austell under niches are representations of S. Samson habited as an archbishop--which he was not--and his disciple S. Austell. The reason of his being represented as an archbishop is curious. In 848 Nominoe, King of Brittany, determined to free his country from being Frenchified, and he not only made it independent of the Frank crown, but he also dismissed the Frank bishops from the Breton sees, and filled their places with native prelates. He also elevated the see of Dol into an archbishopric over all the British-speaking races in Armorica. Now it so happened that there had been a Samson of York, but he was never more than a priest, and he was quite a different man from Samson, son of Amwn the Black, who settled at Dol. However, because York was an archiepiscopal see, and a Samson had once been there, it was supposed that he had been archbishop. Next he was confounded with Samson of Dol, and it was pretended that he had resigned York and come to Dol to set up his archiepiscopal see there. This served quite well enough as an excuse for withdrawing Dol and all the Breton bishoprics from allegiance to the Metropolitan of Tours; and Dol was able to maintain itself as a Breton archbishopric till 1199, that is to say, for over three hundred years.
Near S. Samson, or Golant, is Castle Dor, a very early fortification, that was, in historic times, held by the Crown, and a castle erected on the spot to keep the Cornish in order.
Fowey itself lies near the river-mouth; it much resembles a miniature Dartmouth. Opposite the town opens the creek that runs to Lanteglos. There were and are two castles, as at Dartmouth, commanding the entrance to the harbour, but they are insignificant, and form no feature of the scenery. Fowey is a curious, rambling place--one long street twisting in and out among houses, commanded by Place, the beautiful mansion of the Treffry family, that would have been entirely beautiful but for absurd and tasteless additions. This stands on a rock above the town, which is crowded below it.
The very fine church, with noble tower, is dedicated to, because founded by, S. Finbar, afterwards Bishop of Cork. In 1336 Bishop Grandisson rededicated the church to S. Nicholas. He sought persistently to drive out the local and Celtic saints and substitute for them such as were in the Roman calendar. But he has failed; the Irish patron maintains his place. Finbar was a disciple of S. David. His origin was not very creditable. He was the son of a noble lady by a vulgar intrigue with a smith, for which both were sentenced to be burnt alive, but the sentence was commuted to expulsion from the kingdom of Connaught. Finbar's real name was Lochan, but he received the other in allusion to his fair hair.
In a gloss by the O'Clerys on the martyrology of Oengus is a funny legend of S. Finbar. One day, as he was walking on the sea, on his way home to Ireland from Cornwall, he met S. Scuthin similarly walking, starting on his pilgrimage to Rome. "Arrah, now!" said Finbar, "how come you to be walkin' on the salt say?" "Why not?" answered Scuthin; "ain't I now walking over an illegant meadow?" Then he stooped, plucked a purple flower, and threw it at Finbar. The latter at once bowed, put down his hand, caught a salmon, and threw it flop into S. Scuthin's face. The O'Clerys got this from popular legend. Finbar died in 623.
The only really picturesque old house in Fowey is the "Lugger Inn," where Mr. Varco, the kindly host, has, more than once, made me very comfortable. A beam in the house bears the date 1633. The "Ship" is older; it was built in 1570, as the date over the chimney-piece records, but the house has been modernised externally. Near the club, on the south side, stands the house of Peter Pindar.