THE SVRVEY OF CORNWALL Written by Richard Carew of Antonie Esquire AVT NVNC AVT NVNQVAM LONDON Printed by S. S. for Iohn Iaggard and are to bee sold neere Temple-barre at the signe of the Hand and Starre 1602. To the Honourable Sir Walter Raleigh Knight Lord Warden of the Stannaries Lieutenant Generall of Cornwall c. THis mine ill-husbanded Suruey long since begun a great while discontinued lately reuiewed and now hastily finished appealeth to your L. direction whether it should passe to your correction if it doe passe and to your protection when it is passed Neithervnduely for the same intreateth of the Prouince and persons ouer whose bodies and estates you carrie a large both Martiall and ciuill commaund by your authoritie but in whose hearts and loues you possesse a farre greater interest by your kindnesse Your eares and mouth haue euer beene open to heare and deliuer our gricuances and your feete and hands readie to goe and worke their redresse and that not onely alwayes as a Magistrate of your selfe but also verie often as a suiter and solliciter to others of the highest place Wherefore I as one of the common beholden present this token of my priuate gratitude It is dutie and not presumption that hath drawne me to the offering and it must be fauour and not desert that shall moue your Lordship to the acceptance and so I take humble leaue resting no lesse willing to serue you then vnder you Your Lordships poore kinsman Richard Carew of Antonie To the Reader WHen I first composed this Treatise not minding that it should be published in Print I caused onely certaine written copies to bee giuen to some of my friends and put Prosopopeia into the bookes mouth But since that time master Camdens often mencioning this worke and my friends perswasions haue caused my determination to alter to imbrace a pleasing hope that charitie good construction resteth now generally in all Readers Albeit I well know how Opere in vario no lesse then in longo fas est obrepere somnum And I acknowledge this playing work to come so farre short of satisfying euen my selfe though Suus cuique placet partus as I haue little reason to expect the applause of any other Besides the state of our Countrie hath vndergone so manie alterations since I first began these scriblings that in the reuiewing I was driuen either likewise to varie my report or else to speake against my knowledge And no maruaile for each succeeding time addeth or reaueth goods euils according to the occasions which it selfe produceth rather a wonder it were that in the ceaselesse reuolution of the Vniuerse any parcell should retaine a stedfast constitution Reckon therefore I pray you that this treatise plotteth downe Cornwall as it now standeth for the particulars and will continue for the generall Mine Eulogies proceede no lesse from the sinceritie of a witnesse then the affection of a friend and therefore I hope that where my tongue hath beene good no mans eye will bee euill and that each wel-minded Reader will wish a merrie passage to this my rather fancie-sporting then gaine-seeking voyage Farewell The Prosopopeia to the Booke I Craue not courteous ayd of friends To blaze my praise in verse Nor prowd of vaunt mine authours names In catalogue rehearse I of no willing wrong complaine Which force or stealth hath wrought No fruit I promise from the tree Which forth this blooth hath brought I curry not with smoothing termes Ne yet rude threats I blaste I seeke no patrone for my faults I pleade no needlesse haste But as a child of feeble force I keepe my fathers home And bashfull at eche strangers sight Dare not abroad to rome Saue to his kinne of neerest bloud Or friends of dearest price Who for his sake not my desert With welcome me entice THE SVRVEY OF CORNWALL The first Booke COrnwall the farthest Shire of England Westwards hath her name by diuers Authors diuerfly deriued Some as our owne Chroniclers draw it from Corineus cousin to Brute the first Conquerour of this Iland who wrastling at Plymmouth as they say with a mightie Giant called Gogmagog threw him ouer Cliffe brake his necke and receiued the gift of that Countrie in reward for his prowesse Some as Cerealis no lesse mistaken perhaps in that then in his measures from Cornu Galliae a horne or corner of Fraunce whereagainst nature hath placed it and some from Cornu Walliae which in my coniecture carrieth greatest likelyhood of truth For what time the Saxons after many bloudie inuasions as Pirates began at last to plant their dwellings and take roote in this Iland as Conquerors the Britons by them supplanted were driuen to seeke their safegard in the waste Moores craggie Mountaines and wild Forrests of Wales and Cornwall where the Countries barrennesse barred their pursuers from victuals and the dangerousnesse of the passages laid them open to priuie inuasions Such as had in this sort withdrawne themselues the Saxons termed Welshmen by interpretation strangers for so they were to them as they to the Countrie and their place of abode they called Welsh-land sithence turned to Wales euen as by the same reason they giue still the same name to Italy Now Cornwall being cast out into the Sea with the shape of a horne borrowed the one part of her name from her fashion as Matthew of Westminster testifieth the other from her Inhabitants both which conioyned make Cornuwalliae and contriued Cornwall in which sence the Cornish people call it Kernow deriued likewise from Kerne a horne Neither needeth this composition to be accompted any way vncouth seeing the same is made familiar vnto vs by the like in other Countries as of Herbipolis in Germanie Lombardie in Italy Paleocastrum in Crete and Neoportus in Carniola all which with many other are likewise compacted of double languages This ill-halsening hornie name hath as Corneto in Italy opened a gap to the scoffes of many who not knowing their owne present condition or at least their future destinie can be cōtented to draw an odious mirth from a publike infamie But seeing the wisest Enditer hath directed the penne of his holiest writers to vse this terme not only in a good meaning but also in a significant sense and to sanctifie the thing it selfe in sundrie parts of his seruice such iesters dishonest indiscretion is rather charitably to bee pittied then their exception either angerly to be grieued at or seriously to bee confuted I am not ignorant how sorely the whole storie of Brute is shaken by some of our late writers and how stiffely supported by other some as also that this wrastling pull betweene Corineus and Gogmagog is reported to haue befallen at Douer For mine owne part though I reuerence antiquitie and reckon it a kind of wrong to exact an ouer-strict reason for all that which vpon credite shee deliuereth yet I rather incline to their side who would warrant her authoritie
must either craue or take leaue of the Londoners to lay open the hard dealing of their Tynne Marchants in this trade WheÌ„ any Western Gent. or person of accompt wanteth money to defray his expences at London he resorteth to one of the Tynne Marchants of his acquaintance to borrow some but they shall as soone wrest the Clubbe out of Hercules fist as one penie out of their fingers vnlesse they giue bond for euerie twentie pound so taken in lone to deliuer a thousand pound waight of Tyn at the next Coynage which shal be within two or three months or at farthest within halfe a yeere after At which time the price of euerie thousand will not faile to be at least twentie three prehaps twentie fiue pound yea and after promise made the party must be driuen with some indignitie to make three or foure errands to his house or hee shall get the money deliâ—ered In this sort some one Marchant will haue 5. hundred pound out beforehand reaping thereby a double commoditie both of excessiue gaine for his lone and of assurance to bee serued with Tynne for his money This they say is no Vsurie forsooth because the price of Tynne is not certainely knowne before-hand for once onely within these twelue yeeres of set purpose to escape the penaltie of the Law they brought it a little vnder twentie pound the thousand but if to take aboue fiftie in the hundred be extremitie whatsoeuer name you list to giue it this in truth can bee none other then cutthroate and abominable dealing I will not condemne all such as vse this trade neither yet acquite those who make greatest pretence of zeale in Religion and it may be that some vpon by-respects find somwhat friendly vsage in Vsance at some of their hands but the common voice saith that for the most part they are naught all And yet how bad soeuer this fashion may iustly bee accompted certaine of the same Countrymen do passe farre beyond it as thus The Marchant that hee may stand assured to haue Tynne for his money at the time of Coynage or deliuerance besides his trade of lone abouementioned layeth out diuers summes before-hand vnto certaine Cornishmen owners of Tynworkes or otherwise of knowne sufficiencie who are bound to deliuer for the same so many thousands of Tynne as the money shal amount vnto after the price agreed vpon at the Coynages To these hungrie flies the poore labouring Tynner resorteth desiring some money before the time of his pay at the deliuerance the other puts him off at first answering he hath none to spare in the end when the poore man is driuen through necessitie to renew his suite he fals to questioning what hee will doe with the money Saith the Tynner I will buy bread and meate for my selfe and my houshold and shooes hosen peticoates such like stuffe for my wife and children Suddenly herein this owner becomes a pettie chapman I will serue thee saith he hee deliuers him so much ware as shall amount to fortie shillings in which he cuts him halfe in halfe for the price and foure nobles in money for which the poore wretch is bound in Darbyes bonds to deliuer him two hundred waight of Tynne at the next Coynage which may then bee worth fiue pound or foure at the verie least And as mischiefe still creepes onward this extreme dealing of the London Marchant and Countrie chapman in white Tynne is imitated or rather exceeded by the wealthier sort of Tynners themselues in the blacke by laying out their money after thus much the marke which trade though subtill and darke I will open as plainely as I can A foote of blacke Tynne as is before said containeth in measure two gallons the waight vncertainely followeth the goodnesse A foote of good Moore-tyn which is counted the best sort will way about fourescore pound Of the Myne Tynne which is meaner fiftie two pound of the worst fiftie pound Two pound of good blacke Tynne being melted will yeeld one of white twentie eight or thirtie foote of the best fortie of the middle 52. of the meanest a thousand Now the wealthier sort of Tynners laying out part of their money beforehand buy this black Tynne of the poore labourers after so much the marke that is looke how many markes there are in the price made at the Coynage for the thousand so many two pence halfepenie three pence or foure pence partly after the goodnesse and partly according to the hard conscience of the one and necessitie of the other shal he haue for the foote as if the price be twentie sixe pound thirteene shillings foure pence the thousand therein are fortie markes then shall the poore Tynner receiue of him who dealeth most friendly for euerie foote of his best blacke tynne of which as was said about thirtie will make a thousand fortie times foure pence viz. thirteene shillings and foure pence which amounteth to twentie pound the thousand whereas that foote at the price is worth aboue fiue pence the marke Likewise will hee pay for the meaner blacke Tynne of which about fortie foote will make a thousand three pence the marke which is ten shillings the foote and so shall he haue also after twentie pound for the thousand for the worse they giue lesse rateably By which proportion how vncertaine soeuer the goodnesse of the Tynne or the greatnesse of the price do fall their gaine of a fourth part at least riseth alwaies vncertainly Whereto adding that they lay out beforehand but a portion of the money due and that onely for some small time you shall find it grow to the highest degree of extremitie But whether it proceedeth from this hard dealing or for that the Tynners whole familie giue themselues to a lazie kind of life and depend only vpon his labour and gaynes which often ill succeeding aduentures such ouer-deare bought Tynne daylie impaire or from both these together once it hath beene duly obserued that the parishes where Tynne is wrought rest in a meaner plight of wealth then those which want this dammageable commoditie and that as by abandoning this trade they amend so by reuiuing the same they decay againe whereas husbandrie yeeldeth that certayne gaine in a mediocritie which Tynneworkes rather promise then performe in a larger measure Let vs now examine what course of Iustice is held for deciding such controuersies as befall in Tinne causes and with what priuileges they are endowed and encouraged After such time as the Iewes by their extreame dealing had worne themselues first out of the loue of the English Inhabitants and afterwards out of the land it selfe and so left the Mines vnwrought it hapned that certaine Gentlemen being Lords of seuen tithings in Blackmoore whose grounds were best stored with this Minerall grewe desirous to renew this benefit and so vpon suit made to Edmond Earle of Cornwal sonne to Richard king of the Romans they obtayned from him a Charter vvith sundrie Priuileges amongst
burial of a Duke whose heire was maried to the prince But who it should bee I cannot deuise albeit my best pleasing coniecture lighteth vpon Orgerius because his daughter was married to Edgar At the last Cornish commotion S. Richard Greynuile the elder did with his Ladie and followers put themselues into this Castle there for a while indured the Rebels siege incamped in three places against it who wanting great Ordinance could haue wrought the besieged small scathe had his friends or enemies kept faith and promise but some of those within slipping by night ouer the wals with their bodies after their hearts and those without mingling humble intreatings with rude menaces he was hereby wonne to issue forth at a posterne gate for patley The while a part of thoserakehels not knowing what honestie and farre lesse how much the word of a souldier imported stepped betweene him and home laid hold on his aged vnweyldie body and threatned to leaue it liuelesse if the inclosed did not leaue their resistance So prosecuting their first treacherie against the prince with suteable actions towards his subiects they seized on the Castle and exercised the vttermost of their barbarous crueltie death excepted on the surprised prisoners The seely Gentlewomen without regard of sexe or shame were stripped from their apparrell to their verie smockes and some of their fingers broken to plucke away their rings and Sir Richard himselfe made an exchange from Trematon Castle to that of Launceston with the Gayle to boote This Castle vaunteth the Lord Warden his steward by Patent Master Anthonie Rouse his Baylife by inheritance and Richard Carew of Antony his keeper by lease Of the ancient officers one yet retayneth the name though not the place viz. M. Porter to whose ancestor when Vantor was L. thereof one by a deed before date gaue land lying without the gate by the title of Russell Ianitori de Trematon which he still enioyeth M. Porters Armes are Sa. Three Belles Ar. a Canton Erm. It standeth in S. Stephens parish the sheafe whereof together with other farre reuennues M. George Wadham enioying in the right of his wife the daughter and heire to master Hechins liberally bestoweth in continuall hospitalitie Master Hechins Armes are Sa. a crosse Fleurty quarterly B. and G. betweene 4. Lyons heades erased Sa. langued of the second M. Wadhams G. a Cheuron betweene three Roses Ar. The same parish also compriseth Saltash in olde writings called Villa de Esse Esse his towne and such Gentlemen there haue bene of ancient descent and faire reuennues The word Salt is added thereunto because it standeth on the sea to distinguish it from other places of the same name It is seated on the declyning of a steep hill consisteth of three streets which euery showre washeth cleane compriseth betweene 80. and 100. households vnderlyeth the gouernment of a Maior his 10. brethren and possesseth sundry large priuiledges ouer the whole hauen to wit an yeerely rent of boates and barges appertayning to the harbour ancorage of strange shipping crowning of dead persons laying of arrests and other Admirall rights besides electing of Burgesses for the Parliaments benefit of the passage foreclosing all others saue themselues from dredging of Oysters except betweene Candlemas and Easter weckely markets halfe-yeerely fayres c. The towne is of late yeeres well encreased and adorned with buildings the townsmen addict themselues to the honest trade of marchandise which endoweth them with a competent wealth Some 7. or 8. ships belong thereunto It was not long since that the neighbour-ministers successiuely bestowed their paines in preaching there on the market daies and the bordering gentlemen yeelded their presence Sermon ended the Preachers resorted to one ordinary and the Gentlemen to another This affoorded commendable effects to many works of loue and charity but with the retorted blame from one to another it is now wholly giuen ouer Heere that great Carrack which Sir Frauncis Drake surprised in her returne from the East Indies vnloded her frayght and through a negligent fyring met with an vnproper ending In this towne also dwelleth one Grisling deafe from a long time who besides his merry conceites of counterseyting by signes like the Romane Pantamimi any kinde of occupation or exercise hath a strange quality to vnderstand what you say by marking the mouing of your lips especially if you speake deliberately of any ordinary matter so as contrary to the rules of nature and yet without the helpe of arte he can see words as they passe forth of your mouth and of this I haue caused him to giue often experiments And if Plyny now liued I suppose he would affoord a roome in his natural History to a dogge of this town who as I haue learned by the faithfull report of master Thomas Parkins vsed daily to fetch meate at his house there and to carry the same vnto a blinde mastiffe that lay in a brake without the towne yea that more is hee would vpon Sundayes conduct him thither to dynner and the meale ended guide him back to his couch and couert againe I had almost forgotten to tell you that there is a well in this towne whose water will neuer boyle peason to a seasonable softnes At the foot of Saltash there abbutteth vpon the sea a rock called Ashtorre alias Esses Torre which is inuested with the iurisdiction of a mannour and claymeth the sultes of many Gentlemen as his freeholders in Knights seruice Belowe this there is a rock on eche side of the riuer the one termed the Bull the other the Hen that on Deuon this on Cornwall side The Hen standeth a little distant from the shore which giueth occasion to a Packe how between it and the land the Queenes greatest ship may saile but it is meant of the farther distant Aboue Saltash Cargreen a fisher towne sheweth it selfe but can hardly muster a meane plight of dwellings or dwellers so may their care be greene because their wealth is withered Neere thereunto is Clifton a neat seated house appertayning to one of the Arundels descended by a yonger brother from those of Trerice he maried Hill his father Cole Neither hath your eye searcely quitted that when it receiueth Halton the pleasant and commodious dwelling of M. Anthony Rouse both which benefits he employeth to a kind vninterrupted entertainment of such as visit him vpō his not spare inuiting or their owne occasions who without the selfe guilt of an vngratefull wrong must witnes that his frankenesse confirmeth their welcome by whatsoeuer meanes prouision the fewell of hospitality can in the best maner supply His auncestours were Lords of little Modbury in Deuon before the descent of times grew to a distinguishment by the date of writings which mannour together with other lands through a lineall succession fell to be possessed by Raphe Wil. Raphe Iohn Wil. Raphe and Raphe whose daughter and heire Elizabeth bestowed the same with