between St. Minver Churchtown and Roserrow, a farm in the parish. There was once a meeting-house here, which has disappeared. The burials were entered in the parish register, the first in 1695, and there are twenty-eight burials entered between that date and 1742. No Quakers now reside in the parish of St. Minver, and this little Quakers' last reposing-place and that I have described near Sennen are the only two I know of in West Cornwall.

Other ancient Cornish burial-grounds are at Kea ("Come to God"), Tregongeeves-St. Austell, and Budock-Falmouth, where interments still take place.

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CHAPTER X

THE LONGSHIPS LIGHTHOUSE, LAND'S END

NE of the objects of interest at Land's End, though few visitors undertake the sea journey to visit it, is the Longships Lighthouse, the light of which ships at sea, homeward bound, pick up long before the land is reached. This guardian angel of our coasts stands out in the ocean, not far from the actual Land's End, in the centre of a little nest of deadly, dangerous rocks which at high water just raise their jagged, adamanține outlines above the water. The actual rock upon which the lighthouse is built is called Carn Brâs-the great carn-and rises seventy-one feet above low-water mark during spring tides.

I have little doubt "Longships" is a literal translation of naves longa-longships, the name given by the Romans to their war-ships, and the rocks upon which the lighthouse now stands were so called from their resemblance to such ships when seen at a distance.

One fine August morning at Sennen, seeing the supply boat going off, I jumped in. On that particular voyage she was taking out a supply of paraffin oil for the burners at the top of the lighthouse, upon the supply of which entirely depends the life and ship-saving efficiency of the structure at night. The oil which formed our cargo was in iron drums of about 18 inches by 10 inches, with two iron handles on the top, and on this trip we carried some fifty of these iron cylinders. The boat was a lugger-rigged, very heavy vessel, with four men, and we had to row all the way out, the wind being contrary.

The trip was exceedingly pleasant. As we passed the barrier of rocks outside Sennen Cove, Cowloe, Bo Cowloe, and the Tribbens, gulls innumerable and greedy cormorants rose up and saluted us with cries. What right had we, they seemed to say, to disturb them at their marine contempla

tions, intently watching the sea for food for themselves and families!

Then Land's End came into view, clearly showing up, with its sharp, angular rocks angrily silhouetted against the sky-line and the long line of rocks, looking at this distance continuous, from one of which the lighthouse rose far above the contours of the island. The deadly "Shark's Fin " rock lowered up threateningly on our right, clearly indicating the origin of its name.

As one approaches the Longships one sees at once how similar in structure and disposition are these rocks to those forming the actual Land's End, and there can be little, if any, doubt that once these rocky islets were joined to, and formed a continuation of, those masses of granite we now know under the name of the last bit of the island of Great Britain.

Near the shore is seen the flat rock called Kettle's Bottom, and at the exact end of Land's End is the Spire Rock, or Peal-Careg an Pell. An iron spire was said to have been once affixed to this rock and that it was thrown down and broken in three pieces in 1648 during a great storm. Its fall was, of course, ominous. Every untoward event in Celtic Cornwall is. Next year King Charles I was beheaded-not for nothing, therefore, was it broken! Some have thought this iron structure was erected by King Athelstan, the Saxon king, when on his way back to Buryan to fulfil his vow after conquering the Scilly Isles. But, as quaint, old, original Hals says, "it is not probable such a piece of iron, in this salt sea and air without being consumed by rust, could endure so long a time," with which opinion most people, I think, will agree. But Pell is said to mean far off." This was the old name given by the Celtic inhabitants to the promontory itself, and from this word Camden thinks it likely that Diodorus derived his Belerium, and Ptolemy his Bolerium. It is also said to be named from Bellerius, a Cornish saint :

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"Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,
Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old."

The old Celtic bards called it Penlien Guard, "the Promontory of Blood," from some dreadful fight which took