greenstone, supported on clay slate, called the CHAPEL ROCK. A small fishing village lies at the base, skirting a harbour which has sufficient depth of water for vessels of 500 tons, and the hill towers magnificently above it, bare, precipitous, and rugged. The body is of granite, resting, on the north side, on a substratum of slate, and streaked on the south-east by veins of glittering quartz. The ascent is commanded by a cross-wall pierced with numerous embrasures, and a platform defended by two small batteries. In the castle itself there is little to be seen: the ancient HALL, now called the CHEVY CHACE ROOM, is enriched with an animated cornice representing the fox, stag, boar, wild bull, and other animals appropriated to the huntsman's sport; the CHAPEL exhibits details both of Decorated and Perpendicular, and is enlivened with some modern stained glass. From the tower, or the stone lantern, erroneously called ST. MICHAEL'S CHAIR-a point somewhat difficult to reach, and very difficult to return from- -a noble panorama of the Cornish coast and the wide-spreading Channel, seen usually under the most picturesque aërial effects, may be commanded. It is said by the gossips that the husband or wife who first sits in St. Michael's Chair will obtain the highly-prized privilege supposed to be conferred by the first draught of the waters of St. Keyne's Well. But the real "St. Michael's Chair" is a rude, rough crag on the west side of the rock. "Who knows not Michael's mount and chair, the pilgrim's holy vaunt; Returning to Marazion, and resuming our places in our railway-carriage (the station, by the way, is about 1 mile northwest of Marazion-town), we pass LUDVAN and GULVALE (see post.), and running along the shore for a mile or so, enter the beautiful market-town of Penzance, the southern terminus of the great iron roads of England. PENZANCE-.e., THE HOLY HEADLAND. [Population, 9214. Inns: The Western, Union, Star, and Three Tuns. 283 m. from London; 10 m. from the Land's End; 27 m. from Truro; 824 m. from Plymouth; 3 m. from Marazion; 8 m. from Cape Cornwall; Ives; 12 m. from Helstone; and 24 m. from Falmouth. BANKS Messrs. Batten and Co.; Messrs. Bolithos and Co. MARKET-DAYS: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. m. from St. A STEAMERS to Falmouth, Plymouth, Liverpool, and London. COACHES through Truro and Bodmin to Plymouth.] Penzance, the most westerly town of England, lies on a declivity at the north-west edge of Mount's Bay, with hills closely encircling it on the north and east. The soil in its vicinity, resting upon a substratum of hornblende and argillaceous slate, is noted for its extraordinary fertility, and especially for its growth of potatoes. The town itself is mainly composed of four large streets, which meet in the market-place, and possesses no public buildings of architectural importance; but it is very finely situated, commanding a full view of the beautiful shores of Mount's Bay, and communicating with hills bold and romantic, with valleys as fair as they are fertile. It derives its name from a chapel dedicated to St. Anthony, which formerly crowned the headland just beyond the pier, and principally dates from the reign of Charles II., when it was made a coinage town. In 1595, it was sacked by the Spaniards, who landed at Mousehole, destroyed that village and Newlyn, and set Penzance on fire. Having thus accomplished the old Cornish prophecy, which predicted that "Strangers would land on the rocks of Merlin, And burn St. Paul's Church, Penzance, and Newlyn." They were fiercely attacked by the townsmen (who had wisely waited the fulfilment of the rune), and compelled to retire. Such, at least, is the story told by old Carew. In 1646 the town was ravaged by the Roundheads under Fairfax. In 1846 it was visited by Queen Victoria. Penzance has given birth to three "illustrissimi,"—to Gilbert Davies, a man of considerable scientific merit; Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829), who bequeathed £100 to the Penzance. grammar-school, on condition that the boys were annually allowed a holiday on his birthday, and whose house is still pointed out in front of the market-place; and the gallant admiral, Lord Exmouth (1757-1832). Among its celebrities ought also to be classed Mary Kalynack, the fishwoman who, at eighty-four years of age, walked all the way to London to visit the Great Exhibition of 1851, and received her Majesty's especial notice. Her bust was sculptured by Burnard, the Cornish artist, and is, we think, preserved in the Polytechnic at Falmouth. The parish church of Penzance is at MADRON (population, 2366), 1 mile north-west, but there are two chapels of ease in the town-one dedicated to ST. MARY, consecrated in 1680; and a recent building of granite, and in the Early English style, from the designs of Mr. Matthews of Penzance, erected in 1835 at a cost of £5000-defrayed by the Rev. H. Batten, and dedicated to ST. PAUL. The TOWN HALL is a modern semi-classical structure of granite, surmounted by a dome, which contains the collections of the Penwith Natural History Society, open to the public on marketdays. The ESPLANADE affords a delightful promenade, and is ornamented by a Russian trophy-a 36-pounder gun, captured at Bomarsund. The HARBOUR, 22 feet deep at high water, is protected by a battery erected in 1858. Nearly opposite stands the railway terminus,—the line defended by a massive sea-wall, and beyond extend the two arms of the PIER-the east constructed in 1845, the west in 1772. In 1814, and through the exertions of the late eminent physician Dr. Paris, was founded the ROYAL GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF CORNWALL, whose published "Transactions" should be duly estimated by every "geological tourist." Its MUSEUM contains several thousand specimens of rare and valuable minerals; a fine collection of Cornish fossils; and models illustrative of mining operations. At LAVIN'S MUSEUM, Chapel Street, the amateur may select from a large stock of fossils and minerals. The SEATS in the neighbourhood are numerous, and interesting from the charming landscapes which they overlook. The principal may be briefly hinted at :-TREVAYLOR (Rev. W. Veale), just beyond Hea, north of Penzance. NANCEALVERNE (J. Scobell, Esq.), on the Madron road. ROSE HILL (Louis Vigors, Esq.) CASTLE HORNECK (Samuel Borlase, Esq.) LARIGGAN (W. Borlase, Esq.), near Madron. POUSONDINE (W. Bolithos, Esq.), near Chyandour. PENDREA (J. Bolithos, Esq.) TRENGWAINTON (Mrs. Davy), beyond Madron. KENEGIE (W. Coulson, Esq.), north of Gulval. TREREIFE (D. P. Le Grice, Esq.), west of Penzance. TREWITHIN (E. Bolithos, Esq.), near Trereife. [The RAMBLES in the neighbourhood should include visits to-1. GULVAL and LUDGVAN; 2. MADRON; 3. MOUSEHOLE and LAMORNA COVE; 4. To the LAND'S END by way of ST. PAUL, ST. BURYAN, ST. LEVAN and the Cliffs: 5. The COAST from PENZANCE to the LIZARD POINT. We shall now describe them in detail. 1. TO GULVAL we proceed by way of CHYANDOUR, lying east of the town, and boasting of a camp-crowned hill, called LESCADDOC CASTLE. Turning to the right we descend into a leafy hollow, very romantically beset with bough and branch, and echoing with the music of the birds. Here the village of GULVAL (population, 1859) nestles in a tranquil solitude. On the hill beyond rises its ancient CHURCH, distinguished by some Early English details; its churchyard graced with a hoary cross. From thence we may climb to the mossy rocks of GULVAL CARN for the sake of the sea-view which their elevated position commands, and turning off to the north-east make across the fields to LUDGVAN (population, 3529), where sleeps the erudite and amiable Borlase (1696-1772), historian of Cornwall, and rector of the parish for 52 years. He was born at Pendieu, about 2 miles further. There are memorials in the interior of the old Norman CHURCH to members of the Davy family. Facing now to the north-west, we may catch sight of the rugged outline of bleak old CASTLE AN DINAS, a ruined tower and an ancient camp on its summit, 735 feet above the sea, 2. MADRON (population, 2366) is the mother-church of Penzance. The road thither passes York House, the Cemetery, and Nancealverne, and then crosses the meadowy uplands. Away to the right lies HEA (pron. Hay), where the WESLEY ROCK CHAPEL enshrines the granite rock from which John Wesley proclaimed the gospel to the wondering Cornishmen. Madron CHURCH is placed 350 feet above the sea, is Early English in character, and contains some old memorials. A tombstone commemorates George Daniell, the founder of the schools, "Belgia me birth, Britaine me breeding gave, Remark the wayside cross in the neighbouring hedge, and look for its pedestal in the village street. MADRON WELL, 1 mile north, is a chalybeate well, once highly esteemed for its curative properties in cases of lameness and scrofula, and its prophetical powers in respect to love and marriage. The latter were tested by young men and maidens, who flung pebbles or crooked pins into its waters, and read in the consequent bubbles the indications of their future fates. The mouldering walls of the ancient Baptistry afford an excellent shelter for trailing ivy, mosses, lichens, and parasitical climbers. From hence to LANYON CROMLECH, or the Giant's Quoit, is some twenty minutes' walk. The upper slab is 18 feet long, its breadth is 8 feet, and three rude masses of stone about 5 feet high support it. A similar cromlech may be seen in a field adjacent to Lanyon Farm. The MEN-AN-TOL, or Holed Stone, is but a few paces further; and to the left lies the remarkable MEN SCRYFFEN, or Written Stone, 8 feet long, and bearing the inscription-"Rialobran Cunovan Fil." It probably dates from the era of the Roman occupation of Britain. Standing here, and looking towards the east, the tourist will just be able to discern the Boskednan Ring or sacred Druidical arch-68 feet in diameter, and composed of 11 stones, three of which now lie upon the sward. 3. This, of all the rambles we have indicated, is the most delightful, and one that no tourist to Penzance can any more think of missing than a countryman in London would fail to see Buckingham Palace or "the Bank." The road to Mousehole is a noble "Marine Parade;" a terraced walk along the sea-coast, commanding fanciful views of the "guarded Mount," and the shifting billows, and the windswept headlands which tower against the castern sky. Opposite a clump of cottages called WHERRY TOWN, a Cornish miner, one Thomas Curtis, actually sunk a mine, 720 feet from the shore, forcing his iron shafts into the porphyritic rock, 100 feet beneath the waves. Considerable quantities of ore had been raised, when the machinery was accidentally destroyed by a ship which had drifted from her moorings (1798). An attempt was made to re-open the mine in 1836, but the speculation was abandoned on account of its cost. We now enter STREET-AN-NOWAN, pass through NEWLYN (population, 3125), and its pilchard garniture, refresh ourselves, if need be, at the NAVY INN, and climb the heart-wearying acclivity of PAUL HILL. A couple of small batteries (at some distance apart, however) may help to beguile us on our way by suggesting theories on the value of coast defences; but we shall probably be more inclined to speculate as to the influence of colour on a landscape, and admire the purpureum lumen which lights up sea and shore. The village of Mousehole nestles in a sweet shadowy hollow, which opens out upon two small piers of granite, some fantastic groupings of rocks, and the glorious Bay. The Spanish made a descent here in 1595, and the cannon-ball which killed one of its worthies, Jenkin Keigwin, is treasured as an interesting relic in a cottage opposite the Keigwins Arms. Off the harbour lies ST. CLEMENT'S ISLE, a mass of felspar once crowned by an oratory. Mousehole was formerly a market-town, known as PORTH ENYs (Enys, an island, Cornish). Its present name is derived, it is said, from Môz Hêl, the Maiden's River. A quay was built here in 1392. Here died, in 1788, aged 102 years, Dolly Pentreath, celebrated by Peter Pindar: "Hail, Mousehole, birthplace of old Doll Pentreath, The last who jabbered Cornish." The MOUSEHOLE CAVERN is situated 150 yards from the village. Whether it is worth the trouble of exploring the tourist had better decide for himself. Striking inland as far as the Kenyon Farm-house, and then turning off abruptly to the coast, the pedestrian will reach LAMORNA COVE. If he there ensconces himself on a rock out of hearing of the toiling quarrymen, who are rapidly destroying the romantic features of the scene, he may perhaps lose himself in the most delicious day-dreams imaginable; and in such a nook of loveliness something of the divine afflatus of Poesy must necessarily fall upon every heart. For the geologist the neighbouring coast will supply abundant themes of pleasant meditation. Following inland the course of a small stream that near this point ripples into the sea, we reach the high road, and pass the village of ST. PAUL (population, 2448), whose church-tower of granite bears the date 821. The remainder of the building was rebuilt after the descent of the Spanish in 1595. In the churchyard lies the dust of Dolly Pentreath. A noble view may be obtained from the hill. 4. In an excursion from Penzance to the LAND'S END-which is, of course, an excursion that every visitor must attempt-the following route may be recommended from personal experience. You leave Penzance by way of Wherry Town and Paul Hill, cross a patch of golden-blossomed moorland, descend into the Vale of Lamorna, where directions should be obtained for a peep into the FOOG-HOLE, an artificial recess, made use of by some royalists as a refuge from the Roundheads-leave Lamorna Cove on your left, and climb the ascent to BOLLEIT (a farmstead)—the "place of blood"-the scene of Athelstan's defeat of the Britons in 936. Into this, their last fastness, had the stanch aborigines been driven, and here they fought their last unavailing fight. On the right of the road you now pass two upright stones, 12 and 16 feet high, one in each field-hoary memorials, perhaps, of the British dead, but now called "the Pipers "-in allusion to the Druidic circle on the left of the road (and beyond Newtown), the DAWNS MEN, or Dancing Stones; better known as the "Merry Maidens." This circle, which now consists of 16, and formerly boasted of 19 upright stones, is about 60 feet in diameter. A solitary upright slab rises at some slight distance westward, and adjoining lies one of those holed stones, to which, it is supposed, the Druids bound their sacrificial victims. |