1825.]

On the early History of St. Columb, Cornwall.

thence the burial-place of some distinguished Briton known by the name of the Coyt. This monument is composed of five massy stones, one covering, three supporting, and one buttressing, and strikes upon the eye as a solitary remnant of ancient grandeur, over which ages have rolled, but which still seems haughtily to plead for glories gone. Such was the tomb of a British sovereign in the time of Diocletian. Its surly magnificence has, however, been long since appropriated as a receptacle for pigs, and the antiquary surveys this humiliating exchange with feelings scarcely less powerful than those which filled the mind of the classic enthusiast on beholding the temple of Peace in the Roman forum converted into a sheepfold;

"Damnosa quid non imminuit dies!" HOR.

In proceeding to notice the eminently pious individual, to whom St. Columb is indebted for its name, it may be proper to refer to Camden, who tells us from the information of Nicholas Roscarrock, a gentleman highly prized by Carew for his industrious delight in matters of history and antiquity, that St. Columba was a holy virgin and martyr: her life existed at that time in the Cornish language, and was in the possession of Mr. Roscarrock, who had translated it into English; but the decay of the ancient vernacular tongue, and the Gothic spirit of Protestant indifference, equally contributed to the neglect and final disappearance of this biographical memoir. Mr. Whitaker in his "Cathedral of Cornwall" (vol. 11. 82, 90) is quite animated on the subject of the Virgin Martyr, and with his usual regard to topographical accuracy, thus sympathizes in her sufferings.

"The King of Cornwall, a Pagan, resident in the royal house of Trekyninge, probably in consequence of Diocletian's edict, ordered a young woman of the Roman name of Columba to be put to death for her Christianity. The scene of the execution he directed to be North of his own house, behind the hill that backs it on the North, and upon the very site of the present Churchyard; ground sufficiently distant from his house not to annoy his feelings with either the sight or the hearing of the deed during its transaction, yet resting higher than any immediately adjacent, even looking down into a steep valley on the North, and conspicuous from all the high lands beyond. Here I suppose the fatal fire was kindled,

203

casting its awful gleam upon the sides of the hills opposite, and carrying a strong terror with it to the heart of every secret but cowardly Christian. Here too I suppose was seen the Virgin Saint of Christianity, already a confessor, soon to be a martyr, earth and hell could inflict, as eager to pass looking down with a smile upon all that culiar blessedness of martyrs in eternity.— on the wings of hovering angels to the peThe Church was naturally fixed upon the very ground upon which its own martyr had suffered."

Castle-an-Dinas, which rears its barren summit a short distance South of St. Columb, is one of the most considerable earth-works in the county, and tion of King Arthur's Castle: the unwas formerly known by the appellacultivated tract of land which widely extends itself around it is called the Gos Moor, and was noticed as the British prince, to commemorate which scene of the hunting excursions of the the impress of his horse's foot. Hals a stone was heretofore shown bearing mentions a tradition of the ground having been once covered with trees, from whence the Church of St. Columb was supplied with the wood netime, however, the adjacent country cessary for its erection; in Leland's presented a prospect as wild and destitute of foliage as at present. Hals also cient British treble intrenchment;" speaks of the castle as "a famous anbut the other antiquarian authorities appear more favourable to a Roman origin.

interesting associations connected with Independently, however, of these the British æra, St. Columb lays claim to peculiar attention, as having been for so many centuries under the lordship and patronage of the "great Arundels of Lanherne," who for many descents lie there interred; " and greatest stroke for love, living, and respect, in the country heretofore they bare," (Carew, A. D. 1602, fo. 144). It is needless to enter into a detail of the eminent men who have descended from that illustrious stock: they were indeed true in counsel, and trusty in peril, and have achieved for themselves and for their name a goodly niche among the patriots of other days. The Baron Arundels of Trerice originally sprung from the same family, although there seems to be considerable difference of opinion with regard to dates; some connecting the branches in Devonshire, others in Cornwall, through

the

204

On the early History of St. Columb, Cornwall.

the house at Tolcarn. They both bear
the same arms; Sable, six swallows
in pile Argent, from the French hi-
rondella, in reference to their name;
this bearing has been alluded to by
an early English poet in commenda-
tion of their valour. A.D. 1170.
Hirundelæ velocior alite quæ dat
Hoc agnomen ei, fut cujus in ægide dig-
num, &c.*

Leland, indeed, says that the Trerice branch did not bear the same arms: this must have been either a mistake, or at that time they might have borne those of Lansladron only, Sable, three chevronels Argent, which they afterwards always quartered with those of Arundel. In support of this suggestion, Carew says, "Divers Cornish gentlemen born younger brothers, and advanced by match, have left their own coats, and honoured those of their wives with the first quarter on their shields, so that the arms of one stock are greatly diversified in the younger branches." There were frequent collateral matches between the families at subsequent periods.

The lordship of St. Columb was originally part of the lands belonging to the Priory of Bodmin. In the thirteenth century it became the property of the Arundels, in which family it continued until the death of Sir John Arundel of Lanherne, in 1701, the last of his house in Cornwall who bore that name. Richard Arundel Bealinge, esq. the son of his only daughter, who married Sir Richard Bealinge, knt. succeeded to the family estates. This gentleman left two daughters; Frances, the eldest, married Sir John Gifford of Burstall, co. Lincoln, bart. and died without issue; Mary, the youngest, therefore became the sole representative of the Lanherne Arundels, and by marriage with Henry, seventh Baron Arundel of Wardour in 1739, united two branches of the family, after a separation of upwards of 200 years. His monumental inscription in Tisbury Church, Wilts, thus elegantly commemorates this event:

"Qui Mariam Arundel, Lanhernia in Cornubia stirpis, nobilissimam hæredem, accepit conjugem; inde filio ex eâ suscepto, clarissima hæc prosapia, quæ ultra duo sæcula fuerat divulsa, jam feliciter unita floret, floreatque semper, favente Deo."

This extensive manor having been

* Brito, alias Breton, Phillippidos, Lib. 111.

[Sept.

thus vested in the Wardour family, was transferred by purchase about the commencement of the present century from James Everard, ninth Lord Arundel, to the late Thomas Rawlings, esq.* of Saunders Hill near Padstow, to whom a view of the town is inscribed by Mr. Polwhele, in his History of Cornwall.

The Rectory of St. Columb is one of the most valuable in Cornwall: it is estimated in the King's books at 531. 6s. 8d. The patronage was for several years the property of the Trefusis family; and the present incumbent is the Rev. John Trefusis, brother of the late Lord Clinton. The parsonage house is situated in a steep but fertile valley at the South of the church; it is surrounded by a spacious lawn, and the declivities of the hill, which rises towards the town, have been judiciously planted. A stream runs through the valley, which contributes to the freshness and beauty, as well as to the calm and undisturbed retirement of the scene.

The house was built in the fifteenth century by John Arundel, Bishop of Exeter, a younger son of Renfrey Arundel, Sheriff of Cornwall, in the 3d of Edward IV. who removed the parsonage from its original site, on the North side of the church, to its present situation in the valley. The dilapidated remains of the old college or rectory, where Bishop Arundel received his early education previously to his re-. moval to Exon College, Oxford, and which Hals erroneously calls a college of Black Monks, were totally consumed by an accidental fire in 1701.

The Rectory houses of our island were originally the only schools for education, and the inmates generally consisted of the Rector and six subor dinates; the Deacon, Sub-deacon, and Acolyth; the exorcist, lector, and ostiary; the Rector and Deacon in holy orders, the remainder called Clerks, from whence is derived the name of the present assistants in our Churches. The domestic arrangements of these

* Mr. Rawlings was for a long series of years actively and honourably engaged as a Deputy Lieutenant and Magistrate for the county of Cornwall. The commanding talents and extended liberality of this gentleman were highly estimated by those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance. He died at his seat in 1820, in the 63d year of his age.

repo

1825.3

St. Columb.-Sir Thomas Wilson's Epistola.

repositories of learning is strikingly illustrated by the present parsonage house at St. Columb. This ancient building is quadrangular, and surrounded by a moat; it is therefore necessary to cross a bridge, in order to reach the porch. Mr. Whitaker thus enumerates the several apartments:

"The Rector's parlour and school-room, on the left of the entrance, now form a parlour, kitchen, and pantry; the three dormitories for the Rector, Deacon, and pupils, which are approached by a stone staircase to the chamber over the porch, have become servants' bed-rooms; the hall on the right is now a parlour and lobby; the State bed-room for the reception of ecclesiastical dignitaries, and the spacious and undoubted chapel of the whole are both approached by the grand staircase; the former has been altered into two stories, the latter is become a drawing room."

St. Columb is the most considerable town in the hundred of Pyder; the parish is a large one, and contains several villages. A market and fair were granted in the 6th of Edw. III. (1333) to Sir John Arundel of Lanherne. The windows of the Church were elaborately adorned with painted glass, bearing a representation of St. Columba with a dove in her hands, in allusion to her name; but they were all destroyed in 1760 by the explosion of a barrel of gunpowder kept in the rood loft; an accident attributed to the carelessness of school-boys, three of whom unfortunately perished. Renfrey Arundel, who died in 1310, made considerable additions to the Church, and his successor Sir John founded and endowed a chantry of five priests, 25 Edw. III. (1351.) In 1681 the lofty steeple was destroyed by lightning, and has not since been replaced. There were five chapels in the neighbourhood situated at Tregoos, Tresyth ney, Lauhinzy, Ruthos, and Bospol

van.

In the time of Norden's survey (1584), there were twelve seats of the Arundels in Cornwall; at present, however, the name of this celebrated house is extinct in this county, and I cannot close

* Bishop Arundel moated the house round with rivers and fish-ponds (Hals 63), and emulating the castellated style of building adopted by the neighbouring gentlemen, he erected an arched gateway and drawbridge, the former of which "remained a few years since all mantled with ivy."(Whitaker, 1804.)

205

this paper without transcribing an extract from one of the unpublished manuscripts of the late Dr. Borlase, on the Cornish families. The works of that gentleman, both as an historian and naturalist, are truly valuable; but they cannot convey a sentiment more honourable to his memory than that contained in the following passage:

"It is a melancholy reflection to look back on so many great families as have formerly adorned the county of Cornwall, and are now no more. The most lasting have only their seasons more or less, of a certain constitutional strength;-they have their spring, and summer sunshine glare, their wane, decline, and death; they flourish and shine, perhaps for ages; at last they sicken, their light grows pale, and, at a crisis when the offsets are withered, and the whole stock is blasted, the whole tribe disappears, and leaves the world as they have done Cornwall. There are limits ordained to every in honour, of all human vanities, family thing under the Sun ;-man will not abide pride is one of the weakest.-Reader! go thy way,-secure thy name in the Book of Life, where the page fails not, nor the title alters nor expires;-leave the rest to heralds and the parish register."

Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

T. H.

July 1.

MR. DIBDIN in his "Library Companion," p. 588, tells us, speaking of Sir Thomas Wilson and his writings, that "his slender little volume, entitled Epistola de vitâ et obitu duorum fratrum Suffolciensium, Henrici et Caroli Brandon,' 1552, 4to, is a volume to rack the most desperate with torture, as to the hopelessness of its acquisition. The Bodleian Library possesses it; so does the British Museum; and so does Earl Spencer. Another copy is not known to me." It happens, however, that a copy has by accident come into my possession. It was a duplicate for sale in 1769, from the British Museum. My copy, however, is without date, and the colophon has "Excusum Londini in Adibus Richardi Graftoni, typographi Regis, cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum." As the book is scarce, some of your readers may not be displeased to see an extract or two from it.

The first shall be a character of the two brothers, written by Dr. Walter Haddon, regius professor of Civil Law in the University of Cambridge, which is prefixed to the "Epistola" of Sir Thos. Wilson,

206

Extracts from Sir Thomas Wilson's" Epistola."

"Dux ipse, licet nondum plane vir, tamen et annis ad juventutem pene adoleverat, et ingenio ad omnes res gerendas ita ema turuerat, ut ex his omnibus nihil illi abes set, quibus illustrem personam vel ornari deceret, vel institui conveniret. Gravis erat sine superbia, comis sine levitate, docilitate summa, minimo ut studio esset opus: diligentiâ tamen ejusmodi quæ naturam posset etiam ex tarditate incitare. Sermo verò penè omnis et de doctrinâ fuit, & cum viris doctis, quos & honoratissima cura matris illi multos circumfuderat, & ipse plures humanitate asciverat suâ. Nam cum dignitate principibus esset par, tamen generosa quadam ingenuitate animi se cum infimis exequebat, si quidem ullas eruditionis aut ingenii notas in illorum orationibus inesse intellexisset. Jam congressus nec muti illi erant, nec vulgares, nec rerum colloquia ludicrarum aut levium, sed proponebat aliquid semper de quo & ipse dicebat, ut poteret, & alios audiebat libenter, si quid illis in mentem veniret. Oratio fuit illius sanè prompta & explicata, nec se ipsa jactans, nec alios excludens, gravi quadam perfusa modestia, quam mentis æquabilitate perpetuâ sic turbatur, ut nec se ipse unquam desereret in dicendo, nec acerbè quenquam insectaretur. Reliqua vita quæ quidem nobiscum acta est, vel tota literis transmissa, vel illis certè condita fuit, quarum studio sic exarserat, ut nec collegia, nec scholas, nec otia, nec negotia, uno nec mensam, uno nec lectum, prorsus illarum expertes esse sineret. Itaq minimo tempore, maximarum in rerum doctrinâ sic evolaverat, ut ejus etiam extemporalem in disserendo facultatem, multi possent metuere, nemo contemnere deberet, laudarent sanè omnes, & admirarentur, quicunq' laude ipsi aut admiratione digni aliquando sunt habiti. Erunt fortasse, qui vel hæc in illo non fuisse, vel non tanta fuisse credant, quanta meis ego verbis illa facio. Sed hii quicunq' sunt, aut illum ignoraverunt, cujus vera virtus omnem orationis vanitatem repudiebat, aut me profecto non norunt, qui ad publicum tam nobilis personæ testimonium, minimè sanè mendatium accommodare velim. Talis igitur certè, talis Henricus ille Suffolciensis fuit, reliquis prestans universis adolescentibus, ipse tum adolescens, & jam appropinquans, ut aliis omnibus viris, ipse vir anteferratur. Talis illi succrevit frater Carolus, pubescens quidem adhuc, ut in vitâ gemma, sed qualem nostræ vites gemmam aut parem vix habent, aut certè preciosiorem omnino non habent."

If the above character can be at all depended upon, and why may it not? the sons of Charles Brandon appear to have been young men of great promise. And this does not seem to have been a singular opinion. The "Epistola" is followed by "Epigrammata varia, tùm Cantabrigiensium, tùm Oxoniensium

[Sept.

Græcè et Latinè conscripta," from which take the following specimen, chosen chiefly from its convenient length. The author, Robert Wisdom : 'Splendida Brandonum cecidit stirps, &

domus alta

Carole, morte tuâ spes ultima mosta refugit, :
Corruit, Henrici dum pia membra cadunt.
Quàm mundus nihili est, fallax, quam vanida
Et fugiens, tales edidit ore sonos,

rerum,

Copia? quàm mundi gloria, falsa, fugax? Quales, vix toto sol viderat aureus orbe, Tales, urna brevis pignora sancta tenet." I shall only add the following description of their deaths, from the Epistola:

"Memorabile est quòd Dux Henricus valens & incolumis horâ cœnæ dixit optimæ matronae domina Margaretæ in mensâ illis assidenti, quæ utrumq materna pietate amplectebatur. Ubi conabimus (inquit) sequente nocte? Illa modestè respondit, vel in istis ædibus (spero) mi domine, vel alibi apud aliquem amicum tuum. Nequaquam (inquit) ille. Nunquam enim post hac, unà hic conabimus. Cum matrona valde hac voce perterrita fuisset, ille ad tollendam ægritudinem jussit bono animo esse, & vul tum ridens exporrexit. Tandem mater (veľ invidia judice) laudatissima, summo vespere Bugdinum venit, & mox exosculata est filios, quod utrumq' vivum offendisset. Verùm Dux Henricus statim post in morbum incidit, & tam graviter cruciatus est sudoris ardore, ut dolor tantus lacrymas vel durissimo exprimeret. Mater attonita medicum consulit, quem secum habebat, & omnes vias persequitur, quibus possit mederi. Quid multis opus? Post quinq' horas elapsus ex hac vitâ est Princeps illustrissimus. Carolus eodem tempore graviter exæstuans, quo frater mortuus est, & nihil de illo ex cujusq sermone intelligens, separato nimirum collocatus & longè a fratre semoto cubiculo, tacitè apud se commentabatur. Medicus interrogat quamobrem sic cogitabundus esset. Ego vero (inquit) cogito, quàm grave sit destitui charissimo amico. Quamobrem quæso (inquit)? Respondit, rogas? Frater mortuus est. Verùm non ita refert, brevi subsequor. Atque ita post semihoræ spatium animam Deo commendavit, & frater fratrem sequutus est, minor majorem, & Dux Ducem."

At the end of the volume are the two following epitaphs:

In Ducem Carolum Brandonum Patrem Suffolciensibus, Joannes Parkehurstus. Carole te stravit Mors, quem Mars ipse nequebat:

Est magnum, Mortis scilicet, Imperium.” "Thomas Wilsonus in Clarissimam Janam, Angliæ Reginam, & Serenissimi Regis nostri Edwardi Sexti matrem.

Pignore

Baron Maseres.-Successes of the Greeks.

Pignore jam nato, cecidit mox optima Jana. Nempe ferunt soles sæcula nulla duos.", A copy of "that exquisitely rare piece" of Tom Nash, printed in 1594, 4to, of which Mr. Dibdin (Library Companion, p. 593) says, the only known copy is in the library of the Marquis of Stafford, is in the possession of Robert Reeve, esq. of Lowes

Tcesses of the Greeks against the part in the engagement, several of