[by Frith & Co.
Rougemont Castle, Exeter.
Edward I. held a parliament at Exeter, and his great-grandson, the famous Black Prince, must have been well acquainted with the city, as he passed through it more than once en route to Plymouth, whence he sailed to France on the glorious expedition which ended at Poictiers. Its relations with the Black Prince reveal to us how much the county has receded in practical importance since medieval times. Plymouth, indeed, maintains her place: she is as great now, perhaps greater, than she was then; and Dartmouth, charming Dartmouth, is still far from obscure. Nevertheless, it is idle to claim for the ports of Devon as a class the relative standing they once enjoyed, when, according to the Libel of English Policy, Edward III., bent on suppressing the pirates of St. Malo—
did dewise
Of English towns three, that is to say,
Dartmouth, Plymouth, the third it is Fowey;
And gave them help and notable puissance
Upon pety Bretayne for to werre.
And when Chaucer has to depict a typical mariner, he begins with the words—
A schipman was ther, wonyng far by weste;