IRELAND AND CORNWALL 23 Buryan. Dr. Pryce supposed that Sinninus, on his landing near Hayle, was murdered by Theodorick, and that Breaca and others built this church to commemorate his name. His festival as a martyr is celebrated on June 30th. St. Sennen's feast, or, at any rate, that of the parish, is on Advent Sunday, or the Sunday nearest to St. Andrew's Day. Hals raises a doubt as to the place having been named after the Irish saint, St. Sinninus. He thinks the word Sennen means the Holy Valley, from San, holy, and nam, valley. Modern criticism is against this, as there are no valley and no marks or signs of there having been any special sanctity at Land's End. The connection between Ireland and this part of Cornwall must have been at one time considerable. Several of the relics found in association with the very ancient antiquities bear a remarkable resemblance to ancient Irish objects of the same class. Notably, I may mention the gold torques and gorgets (especially that found near Padstow) and the gold cup found in a barrow at Liskeard, the golden armlet from Sancreed, and the curious golden and very characteristic fibula found at the Lizard. S CHAPTER IV SENNEN CHURCH ENNEN Church-the first and last church in Englandis situated in the one street, or rather country road, of which Sennen consists and is suitably in close juxtaposition to the First and Last Inn in England. This close relationship of church and inn in old English villages is not unusual. In the Middle Ages the inn was often owned by the parson, and before the era of good roads all over the country this close connection between inn and church was most convenient, if not almost necessary. Horses and chaises could be put up at the inn whilst the travellers attended service. In out-of-the-way spots in Ireland people to this day attend service arriving on horseback from distant places across the bogs, where roads or even bridle paths are not. In distant Connemara I have seen many a good yeoman with his wife on the same horse, the wife behind holding on to her husband, arrive from far-away spots across the mountains to attend Sunday service. So it used to be all over England before the advent of roads. The stone mounting-blocks outside so many of these Cornish churches and hostelries, with steps up either side, also attest the fact that large numbers of the congregation used to arrive at the church door from afar on horseback. As might be expected in this critical age, this close proximity of public-house and public place of worship has given rise to much banter, probably chiefly by those who have little antiquarian knowledge and are ignorant of the high esteem in which inns were formerly held in England. Defoe, even in his days, satirises the fact in well-known lines : "Wherever God erects a house of prayer PURITAN MUTILATION 25 which, though they may be smart, contain one of the greatest libels ever perpetrated in the English language. I can remember a very remarkable instance of this closeeven touching-association between church and inns. On the north side of Knightsbridge, in London, adjoining the French Embassy, a church actually had on either side of it, and built close up to it, a public-house, the order of houses at that spot being-public-house, church, public-house. This decidedly unique London curiosity was known as the "Trinity," which also, curiously enough, was the name of the church. The arrangement has now ceased, the inn next the Embassy having been absorbed into the French Republic. Sennen Church stands 390 feet above sea-level, on the flat land some few hundred yards from the edge of the cliff, below which is the Cove. Between it and the cliff are fields surrounded by stone walls. Around the edifice and abutting on the high road is the churchyard, small in size and now full of graves. The first feature which strikes the eye on entering is the unusual lowness of the nave and chancel of which the edifice consists, evidently so constructed to withstand the winds which in tempestuous weather sweep with unimpeded violence across this jutting-out piece of land over which the church stands guardian. The square tower contains five bells which melodiously call the faithful to service. Five low round arches of granite separate the nave from chancel; from the floor to inner margin of these arches the height is only about sixteen feet. In addition to nave and chancel there is a small side-chapel, now almost entirely filled up by the organ. Here on the east side, in a niche, is a small headless figure (2 feet 8 inches high) of what was once evidently the Virgin and Child. The remains of the Child are clearly visible, though the beautifully designed drapery is as well sadly mutilated. The dilapidated state is no doubt due to the Puritan zeal of Cromwell's day. The figure was not only rendered headless and mutilated, but also broken in two about the centre, and there the cement joining the pieces is seen. The stone of which it is composed is alabaster, now covered with a thick coating of whitewash. Close to the alabaster mutilation is the parish iron safe, set in a recess which was evidently the entrance to the rood loft; one of the steps leading upwards being even now visible if a match be struck. The font of Sennen Church is composed of a granite monolith, set on a square base of the same stone, with a quaintly cut inscription running along the four sides and level with what was once the ancient floor of the church. At one time it stood within the altar-rails, whence it was removed to its present and proper position--just inside the door. This inscription is of the fifteenth century, and in the style of lettering and abbreviations follows the usual custom of that period. A portion of it has been broken away, and the remainder seems to be this: "Eccla i decole S. I. B. dedica fvit anno dui millo CCCCXX" (or XL or XLI), or Haec Ecclesia in decollatione Sancti Johannis Baptistæ dedicata fuit Anno Domini Milesimo quadringentesimo quadragesimo primo " (?" secundo " or "tertio " or quarto" in the missing portion). This in English would be: This church was dedicated on the festival of the beheading of St. John the Baptist, A. D. 1441" (or perhaps 1420 or 1440). 66 66 66 66 The font is not high, only about three feet, and it measures 2 feet 2 inches in diameter across the circular top. The pediment is carved, and the inscribed base, embedded in the pavement upon which it is set, is 3 feet 3 inches by 3 feet, the corners being truncated. At the west end of the church, where is the vestry, a copy of King Charles's famous letter to Cornwall still hangs, concerning which we shall have something to say later on. Near the east window, in the aisle, an oblong patch of the salmon-coloured wash has been either removed-or was never painted on at that spot-about 3 feet by 2 feet, which shows some roughly sketched embattlements looking rather Eastern in appearance. Probably this form of mural decoration was once used around the other windows. This particular piece now disclosed seems emblematic of the New Jerusalem. The church was consecrated about 1442 and restored in 1867. It used to be a "Royal Peculiar" attached, with St. Levan, to the Deanery of St. Buryan-an abuse which was rectified in 1864. Here let me at once say how admirable is the Cornish 1 See A Week at the Land's End, J. T. Blight, 1861, p. 77. SENNEN NAMES 27 custom of leaving the churches open. No matter at what time of the day you visit a church in the Land's End district of Cornwall, on turning the handle of the door you can enter. This obviates the custom so usual in other parts of England of having to ask the first passer-by as to who has the key, and then one is not inflicted with a fussy old woman waiting around until the tip is produced. The Cornish clergy are much to be commended for thus leaving their churches open on all days of the week besides during service times on Sunday. By the courtesy of the Rector of St. Sennen, the Rev. J. H. Michell, I have inspected the parish registers, which are in excellent preservation. The first volume, a large octavo, bound in leather and containing parchment pages, shows the ink of the writing as black as if it flowed from the quills yesterday. The legibility, too, is remarkable. There were scholarly persons in Sennen in 1699, when, on July 18th, this register was commenced. Among the marriages we noticed the first to be recorded is that of Robert Ellis and Dionise Richards. "Miss Dionise" is not a name one hears about nowadays. Among the surnames I came across several which struck me as somewhat unusual. Vingo, Vingow (which later on in the volume became Vingowe and Vingoe), Pender, Nicholas, Proves, Treeve, Tresise, Botherall, Binder, Jaska, Angwin, Wallish, Meene, Chynhalls, Varker. The Christian names in this first volume include Bridget, Philippa, Theadorah, Penelope, Usulah, Margarett, Jone, Rebeccah, Margrett, Thonazin, Thomasin, Honour, Justinian, Nowell, Pentycust, Pentecost, Jephta, Abimelech. Miss "Orange Reed," who became Mrs. Rowe on July 24th, 1703, was no doubt so named from the new fruit which about that time was introduced into England, and may well have arrived viâ Sennen, in some ship which came from Spain. On April 22nd, 1797, were married two sojournero, Stephen Vingoe and Jane Tregear, and yet the names are very Sennenish. A curious note appears to the entry of the marriage on October 10th, 1803, of "George Bone, of St. Just, and Ebat Cardew (signs Carthew)." Why should Ebat have one name and sign another ? |