GUNW ALLOE EPITAPHS 363 On either side is a long, narrow, granite seat (8 inches wide). The door into the church is quite modern. A small Celtic cross is on the south-east angle of the chancel wall close to the building. It stands 2 feet 2 inches high, and the boss, or top, is 18 inches across, the back towards the church being plain. About eight feet from this cross is the tomb of one Joseph Dale, whose memorial slab fronts on the path. Let it speak for itself. "Sacred to the Memory of who was drown'd in the act of saving When softest pity mov'd his breast Himself, alass! a victim fell To the relentless wave. But tho' his mortal part be dead, His spirit lives above, Where he may bathe from danger free In seas of heav'nly love.' The grey lichens and the sea blasts are fast rendering the inscription illegible, and soon the record of a noble deed will live only in books. I noticed several tombstones around bearing the name of Dale, some of them adorned with verses. Near at hand is the tomb of one Edward Freeman, who died in 1876 at seventy years of age-just the allotted threescore years and ten, and yet he was not contented : "And must this body die, This well-wrought frame decay, And must these active limbs of mine This is another odd inscription on a tombstone, which surely must have been to a bell-ringer, as it looks like ringing the changes on a few words : "We shall die all, Shall die all we : All we shall die." A golf club has been established in the valley near the church, the sandy nature of the soil making it an admirable course. About one hundred and thirty years ago a celebrated wreck took place in Gunwalloe Church Cove of a ship laden with Spanish dollars. Only a few specimens of her valuable cargo have ever been recovered, notwithstanding many attempts, one of which came before the public some thirty years ago under the name of "The Dollar Recovering Company." The Austrian barque Diana, of Piccolo Lossini, 535 tons register, Captain Bonifacio Cattarinich, came to grief here early on Tuesday morning, December 8th, 1874. The story is told by Mr. Harvey in his Mullyon. "Encountering the full force of a south-westerly gale about eight miles S.W. off the Wolf Rock Lighthouse, she had some of her canvas blown away, which rendered it necessary for her to return to Falmouth to refit. The attempt to clear the Lizard, however, failed, and at 3.30 she was on the sands and in the surf in Gunwalloe Church Cove. At about three o'clock she was seen in the haze of Mullyon Cliffs, a very heavy and awkward sea running into Mount's Bay at the time. The rocket apparatus was got out, and the lifeboat's crew were soon ready, when the vessel, which had been lost sight of for a few minutes, owing to the thickness of the mist, was again seen off Mullyon Island, where from some cause she was compelled to wear ship. This made her fate more speedy of accomplishment, and it was now only a question on what particular spot she would come on shore; that it might not be against the cliffs was the hope of all. It was a sad, yet awfully splendid sight to witness the fine ship proudly rushing along in her wild career through and over the whitened waves, under and almost close to the lofty cliffs, nearer and nearer at every moment, to swift and inevitable destruction. And the poor souls on board! How many? Will they escape? Be drowned ? Or killed against the rocks? Heaven help them! A signal gun is fired. Ah! no need for that now! It seems like mockery to us, who know from an only too long and sad experience the nature of the impending catastrophe. About four minutes and she nears Poljew, but clearing this, she strikes on the sand at Church Cove, where she lies stern on the breakers, which soon deluge her in foam. "The rocket apparatus is planted and a line fired, but it SAVED FROM THE WRECK 365 misses her. A second is fired. Well done, Philip Angel!? It falls right between her main and mizen masts, but becoming entangled in the rigging, does not reach the deck, and before they can secure it a third line is fired which falls across the poop. This is easily caught, and by it the hawser hauled out, and immediately is the cradle sent out on its errand of mercy. It brings in first the captain's wife, and then the captain, who was so exhausted as to require support on his way to the nearest farm-house; after that the crew in couples to the number of twelve were taken off, until the mate alone was left, and then he too is hauled to shore in safety amid the grateful cheers of the assembled spectators. The crew, who had left their all on board, were clothed temporarily by the fishermen and villagers of the neighbourhood; and then taken for the night some to Gunwalloe fishing village and some to Mullyon Churchtown, where they were made as comfortable as circumstances would allow. "The Coastguard men and their assistants, under command of Mr. Harris, officer of Coastguard, Mullyon, deserve all praise for their prompt and energetic behaviour with the rocket apparatus. The rapidity with which it was brought to bear on the unfortunate ship's company, and the complete success which attended their efforts, were matters of sincere congratulations to all. The Diana lay perfectly upright across the cove for some weeks afterwards, and while her cargo was being taken out, which was done without difficulty as she was often left dry on the receding tide, hopes were entertained of her being once more floated off, and she was purchased as she lay for £300; but heavy weather coming on about the middle of January, her starboard bilge gave in first of all, and in about a week her remains were to be seen arranged in piles along the beach awaiting the arrival of the auctioneer." In 1817 the Primrose sloop-of-war was lost near Gunwalloe Cove, and all on board perished except a poor Irish boy. Leaving Gunwalloe Cove, we climb the high cliffs of Halzaphron. About one hundred years ago a transport was wrecked under these cliffs, and many lost their lives. The bodies of thirty seamen and military were buried near the spot where they were washed ashore, which was the last instance of burying the corpses of shipwrecked persons in unconsecrated ground. It was owing to the strong feeling which was excited over these poor fellows being buried like dogs that Mr. Davies Gilbert introduced into Parliament an Act sanctioning the burial of bodies thrown up by the sea in the parish churchyard, and to see to such burials is one of the few duties left to churchwardens. After hearing all these sad stories of wrecks, as one does all along this wild Cornish coast, Southey's lines naturally occur to our mind as we sit peacefully at home : "Tis pleasant, by the cheerful hearth, to hear And with an eager and suspended soul As you walk away from Gunwalloe, Lizardward up the hill by the sea, and look back and down, you see how solitary is the little low-roofed church with its odd separate square tower standing banked up by a high wall at the west side of the little bay. No houses near it, only one farm-house and one cottage about a quarter of a mile away. Players on the golf-links around and no other signs of human life for miles. The walk to Poldhu Bay (or Poljew Bay) is not long. At the end of it, just before ascending the farther side, is the small shed with a steam pump for forcing up water from the little stream which here enters the bay, to feed the engines above which drive the powerful dynamos of the Marconi apparatus. The engineer in this lonely spot had been a traveller. He had also worked at the same business at the Marconi station at Clifden, Connemara, and so we exchanged reminiscences of that village of public-houses. The towers of the Marconi system here are four in number, 235 feet high, each with a balcony or stage at the top. The Princess of Wales,1 he told us, went half-way up one of them, for a staircase renders that possible, but not easy. Good bassfishing can be got in this bay off the west point-the bait most in favour being bits of old pilchards. On the summit, facing towards Land's End, is the excellent Poldhu Hotel, a new large building of granite and wood. Care is necessary when bathing in the bay. Two men in 1 Now Queen Mary. |