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Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts

Chapter 7 No.7

Word Count: 7725    |    Released on: 01/12/2017

e

what you say,

tell what

at there is a

d in you

l what you sa

tell what

at there is a

d in you

what you say,

tell what

in you too a s

doth spea

the colour of

colour of l

of the fru

aithful, and fru

l day shall c

ow what the rock

spering woo

ey: Da

ions; and between the lonely wastes about its source on Dartmoor, and the calm, broad reaches above Dartmouth,

the Poly-olbion, speaking of the 'm

er floods that on

in right the hei

s later he mak

s not the pr

the Mount and Exm

h mine, with me

yone to answer

f heather, and now and again wide spaces of waving cotton-grass. All around is 'an everlasting wash of air' and a sense of spaciousness, which it is to be hoped no cynically named 'improvements' may ever diminish. Westcote comments

ar the Broadstones a-crying." The Broadstones are boulders of granite lying in the bed of the river. The cry, however, ha

ng flood. Only a few years ago a farmer was crossing a very safe ford when he saw the freshet coming, and tried to hurry his

Dart, O ri

thou claime

from no misty legend, but

ad to Tavistock it is crossed by an old bridge, one of the many rugged witnesses to unwritten history scattered all over Dartmoor.

eet B

ct is rather curious, for sunk deep between the wide barren stretches of moor and desolate tors, broad green ribbons of trees and undergrowth, broken by tufts and uneven edges, mark the course of the rivers till they wind away out of sight. Their darker green makes them stand out against the sides of the valleys, and they are the only trees in sight. In summer the river is often very lo

loop to the north, flowing among lovely scenery along a steep and narrow valley, where great rocks break through the woods; then curving r

with the sun and moon above.' The teasel was used to raise the nap in making cloth, and was a symbol of that industry, as the sun and moon were symbols of mining. In 1697 the manufacturers felt foreign competit

tation ceased. The privilege was given back to the borough after the Restoration, through th

he town, and the tapering spire adds to the effect given by its commanding position. By far the most interesting building here is Buckfast Abbey, founded in the reign of Henry II, on the site of a Benedictine abbey of Saxon days. The place must have been very remote and inaccessible when the Benedictines first settled there, and the Saxon name given in Bishop ?lfwold's charter in 1016 was 'Buck

culture in the districts near them. It has been supposed that the sunken track called the Abbot's Way was used in carrying the wool from the moorland farms belonging to the monastery towards Plymouth and Tavistock. In the thirteenth century the monks showed their interest in trading by joining the 'Gild Merchant' of Totnes. A memor

e Br

tithe-barn, are in a state of good preservation at the present day. A modern house was built on the western side of the vanished cloisters, but in 1882 the Abbey was

had the good luck to come into the brilliant and witty company that gathered round Ben Jonson, so it must be allowed that he had an excuse for sometimes thinking that life in an obscure hamlet, two hundred miles from London, was a dreary exile. But, as Mr R. J. King rem

Eve' refers to a local c

his night the

ef, though n

sh-hooks, do

cat

ho all alon

eyes still

al of mi

atch

on it: 'This custom, so far as I kno

itary

s eyes stil

l of migh

hrough the night

the moorland parishes, it has disappeared at home. But the Newfoundland fisheries were long carried on for the most part by sailors from the neighbourhood of Dartmouth and

tic ceremonies he commemorates were probably the usual customs observed at Dean Prior in his time. On a hot August eve

cart, hear

ungling rais

fore, some

hout, and thos

carte, some ki

hem up with

fill-horse, s

ake the home-

kinds of village festivals, as, for instance, th

hy quintels,

too, with ga

dance, thy

feast, whic

home, thy wa

up after F

s, thy twelf

thy Christma

ne mirth, th

pays too de

ng game, in which boys bea

ward succeeded immediately to his father, who was 'a good old gentleman,' with a taste for small jokes that must have been sometimes a little tedious. The son had too 'active and vigorous a spirit' to rest 'within the compass of an island, wherefore ... he travelled beyond the seas,' and in the Low Countries 'trayl'd a pike in her Majesty's service, Queen Elizabeth of glorious memory.' Having carved for himself a high reputation, he came to the court of King James, to find that his fame had preceded him, and he received the honour of knighthood at the time of the King's coronation. This gave the old knight a chance for a little jest, which his son must have found rather exa

afterwards transplanted from his peaceful solitude to Court, where he was appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to Prince Charles, and was known as the Penitential Preacher. Afterwards, when preferred to the bishopric of Carlisle, 'he was commonly called the Puritanical Bishop, and

e important work, for he was called to serve on several Commissions appointed to carry out the King's business in the county. The most interesting of these Commissions seems to have been the one appointed in 1462, fo

re the Bishop of Exeter and several justices, but Andrew Hillersdon, son-in-law to William Gibbs, was among them, with the result that the only penalty imposed was to find surety for his good 'aberying' (bearing) of 100 marks. Although this was a very mild verdict, it infuriated the culprit, whose next step was to shear the Church lambs, and carry off '11 youes with their lambs'; and on the Thursday night before the Feast of St. Matthew he, with his son Thomas and many others, did 'then and there ryottusly assemble theym togeders to kyll your said orators, leyin awayte,' and the said 'Thomas Gybbys with a swarde and a bokeler made a sawte' upon John Hals, ' ... so as the said John Hals was in danger of his lyf and toke the church and church yerde for his savegard and kept the same by the space of two ho

Sir Arthur Champernowne exchanged for it the lordship of Polslo, and settled here in the reign of Elizabeth. And now, says Westcote, 'it glories in the knightly tribe of Champernowne.' Originally Dartington consisted of two large quadrangles, but one has long been in ruins. The most striking fe

nt commander in the Irish wars' of the sixteenth century, and was conspicuous for his zeal and valour. Prince gives an odd little bit of gossip about an heiress of this family. He says she was 'a frolic lady,' and no unu

with the Queen's permission, went to help the cause of the 'Protestant Princes' in France; and it

e band of singers and musicians, which band, if report may be credited, was the occasion of the family's ruin, "for that Mr Champernowne taking it on the Thames in the time of Queen Elizabeth, her Majesty was so delighted with the music, that she requested the loan of it for a month; to which Mr Champernowne, aware of the improbability of its ever returning, would not consent, saying that he 'hoped her Majesty would a

treet,

s, in which, from the round Norman keep at its crown, to the river winding round the f

words are clear and concise: 'The Castelle of Totnes standith on the hille North West of the Towne. Th

n analyzing popular history and distilling all the romance out of it, the story of the town was very fine indeed. The founder of Totnes,

and, and h

e shall be ca

is still here, and the Mayor stands on it when

g explained that the coming of Brutus was held by some to be contemporary with the rule of Eli as high-priest in Israel, the writer continues: 'The first conqueror Brutus gave this town and the two provinces, Devon and Cornwall, then but one, to his cousin and great assistant, Corin?us, as is well known; whereof the western part is (as they say) called Cornwall; who

trike the historian as a rather wide gap, and the doings of the one and the ot

gestion that the town's name has been corrupted from Toute-à-l'aise is one shade less absurd, because that title would be so very appropriate. Here and there a silver gleam shows where the river runs between heavily wooded banks. To the east a green and smiling country of gentle hills and valleys leads to

ely modern times. Within is a room decorated by an early Renaissance frieze and 'linen-pattern' panelling. The upper stories of some of the old houses project over the lower ones, and in the High Street they

lize that it can be of stone. The main lines of the carving curve and spread upwards almost like the lines of palm-leaves, and the screen is coloured and gilded. There is another beautiful and delicate, though less elaborate, bit of carving which divides a little chapel from the south side of the chancel. Under the tower arch is a curious monument to Chris

bordered by granite pillars. Inside 'linen-pattern' panelling lines the walls; there are carved se

wards one another.... We were carried thither at low water, where we saw about fifty or sixty small salmon, about seventeen to twenty inches long, which the country people call salmon-peel,' caught by putting in a net at the end of a pole. 'The net being fixed at one end of the place, they put in a dog (who was taught his trade beforehand) at the other end of the place

glish history. At Sandridge, close to the river, lived Captain John Davies, or Davis, whose name is familiar as the discoverer of Davis's Straits. Prince, who himself lived not far away, takes the fascination o

and prosperity, and it was in the hope of opening up a trade for the woollen goods of the We

enne tunnes named the North Starre.'[5] But in spite of this name of good augury the little pinnace never came home again, and one can only admire with awe the daring that ventured to sail a boat of ten tons across the boisterous Atlantic into the unknown Arctic Seas. Traces of Davis's wanderings along the coasts of North America may still be found in the name

Woods:

higher than the hopes that stirred most of his contemporaries, and of his 'noble enterprizes the great design ... was to discover the remote countries of America, and to bring off those savages from their diabolical superstitions, to the embracing the gospel.' He made two efforts to graft a colony with little success, but his third effort was rather happier; and having left Devonshire in June, 1583, he 'sailed to Newfound

spirit,' and his dauntless motto was 'Quid non?' The story of his death makes an appropriate ending to his life. He was with his colony in Newfoundland when 'necessaries began to fail,' and he was urged to return home. He started in the Squirrel, a ship of ten tons. When they were far out at sea a violent tempest blew up, and those in the Golden Hind (a larger ship ac

truncheon, and the other is laid on the globe of the world, Virginia is written over; on his breast hangs the golden anchor, wi

see the portr

ountry's hono

ep; and made

rowing fam

his mind, if

e's picture, an

on him very graciously, in spite of the fact that his efforts did not then seem as if they would be crowne

ir Francis, Sir

and eke Sir R

good Earl of

s way most g

Chamberlain, wit

people begun

e Queen beg

me home, Sir

ueen's

all of Br

t sail in th

are not all w

h Sir Humphr

ueen's

added in

lkt forth

ound-land he

gallant fres

came ho

ss the

by the Queen after his return from circumnavigating the world in 1580: Sir Francis Walsingham, and Sir Francis Vere. Sir William Cecil, Lord

y reflects the t

er came b

ss the

o grudging those who had perished where the fame or power of the Queen could be furthered. Gloriana's subjects found no price too great, no sacrifi

where the sea-gulls rise like a drift of snowflakes on a sudden gust, into the midst of sliding walls of transparent green water beyond, where-if there is wind enough-glassy hillocks all round, at moments, hide everything else from sight. Besides the fascination of watching waves towering above the boat, and following it as if they would fall over and bury it in their depths, and climbing them, with the sudden plunge into the hollow beyond, it may be, especially if shoals of mackerel are near, that one may have the pleasure of coming upon a flock of gulls, swimming, swooping, flapping about, and all busy fishing. Or perhaps ther

arted once from this harbour when there was trouble in Normandy, and King John paid the town two visits. In Edward III's time Dartmouth had already become renowned for her shipping and sent six ships for the King's service in a fight in which engaged the comb

ds have often

s ther; wonyng

oot, he was o

the long range of buildings on the hill above, the Naval College that has superseded it. Risdon tells us that the town has been 'sundry times subject to the attacks of foreigners,' and particularly mentions one occasion in the reign of

much bustle and excitement amongst all the gossips of the place. The Earl was 'in danger of being surprized, whereupon leisurely (for his great spirit disdained anything that should look like a Flight) he retired

a certain John Hawley, a great merchant

high, or blow

still to Ha

ng that Hawley had so many ships all over the world th

chant and a noble warrior against the French Men.' Hawley is buried in the beautiful c

h' are painted on the panels of the lower part. In the high carved stone pulpit are tabernacled recesses, once enclosing figures, but now containing 'royal badges and devices'; and both screen and pulpit were coloured and gilded, and are rather

town-and, further, would guard the harbour by putting a chain across the mouth-they should have £30 yearly from the customs of Dartmouth and Exeter. The chain stretched across to Kingswear, and a hollow in the rock by the ruins of an ol

ken it later. Among the Duke of Somerset's papers are some orders given by a Council of War, at which 'Colonel Edward Seymour, Governor of Dartmouth town and garrison,' was present, providing very minutely for the defence of the town and for the supplies of the garrison. Stories of the Parliamentary troops quartering themselves in churches are sometimes told, with the unfair implication that they alone were guilty of such desecration; for where need was urgent the Royalists took the

outh

Parliamentary forces moved forward, and, after examining the town as closely as they could, decided to take it by storm. Additional troops were ordered up to strengthen the besiegers, and Sir Thomas Fairfax sent for a squadron to prevent any help reaching the

t above were in the hands of the enemy. Sir Hugh Pollard, the Governor (Sir Edward Seymour was at this time taking part in the defence of Exeter), had been wounded the night before, and, realizing that

l carried out, the garrison obtained better terms. 'To save time,' writes Fairfax to the House of Peers, 'I willingly c

d on the evening following the attack the P

lc

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