TWO DAYS IN CORNWALL WITH THE CAMBRIAN
ARCHEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION.

BY J. T. BLIGHT,

AUTHOR OF "A WEEK AT THE LAND'S END," &c.

An account of the meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Association at Truro, in 1862, has already appeared in the pages of the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE (vol. xiii., New Series), but it is thought that an illustrated description of some of the objects inspected by the members in their excursions through the Land's End district will be acceptable to those who then visited the far west, as well as to many who had not the opportunity of doing so.

The members arrived at Truro on Monday, August 25th, and the two following days were devoted to the neighbourhoods of Bodmin and Truro. On Thursday a large party left for Penzance. Every facility was kindly offered by the directors of the West Cornwall Railway. The weather could not possibly have been finer; and it is only to be regretted that more time was not available for the examination of the numerous antiquities scattered within a radius of five or six miles around the town.

A few of the members proceeded by the first morning train to the Marazion station, visiting St. Michael's Mount and the inscribed stones at St. Hilary. The greater number, however, came on by the next train, joining the others at Penzance, where carriages were waiting to drive westward.

After leaving the outskirts of the town, the first object noticed by the wayside was the ancient cross at Trembath. It is of the usual form of the Cornish cross, a plain shaft with a rounded head, but differs from any other in the county in the rude figures incised on two of its sides. On the eastern face is a double cross. Possibly it may have marked the boundary of land of, or have been in some other way connected with, a religious Order holding land in the neighbourhood. The canons regular of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, for instance, bore on the cassock a cross of similar form.

Trembath Cross.

At Drift, about a mile beyond this cross, we passed the two pillars described and figured by Borlase (" Antiquities of Cornwall," p. 187),

and soon after the tall Tregonebris stone was seen. We did not, however, alight from the carriages to inspect those objects, as better examples of monuments of this class were to be visited in the course of the day. We had now advanced about six miles on the Land's End road, and were opposite the Boscawen-ûn Circle, which lay in a moor on the left, a quarter of a mile distant. Nearly all the party went to inspect this remarkable circle, which is formed by nineteen stones, averaging little more than three feet in height, and placed at irregular distances, some being thirteen feet apart, others no more than seven or eight. Within the area, but not in the centre, is a stone nine feet long, in an inclining position. It inclines W.S.W. 49° from the horizon, but whether originally upright is uncertain. No other stone circle in Cornwall

has this peculiarity, which is found, however, in the tall stones in the "ship-barrows" of Sweden.

Dr. Borlase speaks of a cromlech on the north-eastern side of the circle. This does not now exist; but a large stone lies near the spot referred to, and may have formed a side or covering for a kist-vaen.

It is very evident that this circle of stones was never the mere base of a huge barrow, as some have supposed similar remains to be. The diameter from east to west is seventy-six feet, from north to south eighty-one feet. It is not necessary here to give Dr. Borlase's speculations on the use of this circle, but it may not be out of place to say that the late Rev. Thomas Price considered this to be the circle mentioned in an ancient Welsh triad, whatever importance may be attached to it, as "the Gorsedd of Boscawen in Damnonium."

About thirty yards south of the circle is a barrow from six to seven feet high.

At the time of our visit the Boscawen-ûn circle was divided by

a hedge, and many of the stones were overgrown by brambles and furze. Within the last twelve months, however, these disfigurements and obstructions have been cleared away. The circle has been enclosed within a strong fence, and is now secure from accidental or wilful mutilation. For this care taken of a valuable monument of a remote age, the county owes a debt of gratitude to Miss Carne, of Penzance, on whose property the circle stands, and who has thus set an excellent example to Cornish landholders to preserve those antiquities for which the county is so justly celebrated, but which are in too many instances liable to destruction by thoughtless and ignorant tenants.

After a pleasant scramble through heath and gorse, we regained the carriages on the high road, and proceeded direct to the Land's End. The cross at Crowz-an-wra was glanced at as we drove along. On the right were the hills of Chapel Carn Brea and Bartiné. An open country of cultivated fields, amidst tracts of moor and down, lay spread on the left and before us, until the long line of the distant horizon became visible, and approaching the cliffs we were soon as far westward as it was possible to go on England's soil.

It was scarcely archæological to pass St. Sennan's Church unheeded, but there was a long day's work before us; we had left Penzance an hour later than was originally intended, and as many of the company had never before visited the Land's End this was considered a favourable opportunity. Moreover, on the green turf lay spread white cloths bearing almost every kind of refreshment that could be brought to such a spot. This handsome funcheon had been provided by gentlemen of the neighbourhood, and as it was now near mid-day a halt of this sort was not unacceptable, for many had left Truro so early as six o'clock.

Here, on the dark cliffs of Bolerium, the British “Penrhyn Guard,” the "promontory of blood," were assembled representatives of the Celtic races from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, met on Cornish ground to investigate the monuments erected by their common forefathers centuries ago, erected in the ordinary course of a simple mode of life, by men little dreaming of a future in which the meaning of their cromlechs, tolmens, and circles could possibly become subjects for earnest controversy, when the stones which they rudely heaped together to meet their commonest wants, and which are now the sole testimonies of their existence, should be regarded as objects of mystery,-when the greatest deeds of their best men should be forgotten, and not the name of one remembered.

The Land's End could not have been seen to greater advantage. There was a clear, bright sky overhead; the sun sent down cheering rays; the Atlantic was stretched out before us; the deep-blue waves were not angry, but they are never at rest; and the cliff-base and jutting rocks were fringed with snow-white foam. The old Longships

looked as firm as ever, and we could see the cloud-like islands of Scilly breaking the line of the distant horizon. The company consisted of about a hundred, for many ladies and gentlemen from Penzance and neighbourhood had joined this day's excursion.

Leaving the Land's End, we again passed near St. Sennen's Church, but there was no time to enter it. It is a small, unattractive structure

of the fifteenth century, interesting chiefly on account of an inscription on the stone at the base of the font, which, in the letters and with the usual abbreviations of the period, tells that "This church was dedicated on the festival of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, A.D. 1441," and thus affording direct evidence of the date of

the greater portion of the building; for it is not improbable that the walls of the chancel may have been erected long before. It was not unusual to re-dedicate a church when rebuilt or restored. The fifteenth-century piers present sections unlike any others to be found in West Cornwall churches, and with their capitals and bases shew much judgment in the use of that intractable granite. (See GENT. MAG., April, 1862.)

About three o'clock we had arrived at the quaint old village of Treryn, and thence proceeded to the cliffs to examine the "castle" and the Logan Rock. This promontory was strongly fortified: three lines of circumvallation may still be traced. First, there is a broad ditch, A on the accompanying plan, from the bottom of which to the summit of the first vallum of earth is about twelve feet. The second and third lines, B, C, appear to have been formed of masses of rock and earth, combined with the natural inequalities of the ground. They all extended to the sides of the cliffs as far as they were necessary; the cliffs themselves forming impenetrable barriers on the sea side. At D is another ditch cut across a narrow isthmus, and a straight line of defence

exhibiting rude masonry. These are the remains of the finest cliff-castle in Cornwall, perhaps in England. Such structures were numerous on the coast of the Land's End district: almost every promontory was cut off in like manner. It is unnecessary to repeat all the theories respecting their origin and use. Many have supposed them to be the works of the Danes, or other invading foes, who may have drawn up their ships

LOCAN ROCK

Plan of Castle Treryn.

in some sheltered cove hard by, fortified these promontories, and so gained a footing on the land, whereby they might at least so far subjugate the natives as to be able to procure for themselves necessary provisions. Before accepting this theory, however, it should be remembered that in many instances there are no landing-places near these fortifications, no sheltered coves in which to draw up boats, and the cliffs are altogether inaccessible. Supposing it possible for foreigners to have effected a landing and remained undisturbed sufficiently long to have constructed these fortifications, in all probability they would soon have been at the mercy of the natives. If shut up within their lines of defence their vessels could soon have been destroyed, unless there was a sufficient force without to protect them. If these invaders could not have been overcome in battle, supplies could have been withheld by the natives retiring inland with all their property. Indeed, there seems more reason to suppose these structures to have been the last strongholds of the natives themselves, driven seaward before a stronger race advancing on them from the east. The Rev. James Graves, the learned Secretary of the Kilkenny Archæological Society, who was present on this occasion, remarked at a subsequent meeting of the Kilkenny Society, that "The stone forts, cromlechs, caves, tumuli, and stone hut circles of the aborigines were alike in both countries (Ireland and