Tynners goe to worke casting vp trenches before thē in depth 5. or 6. foote more or lesse as the loose ground went three or foure in breadth gathering vp such Shoad as this turning of the earth doth offer to their sight If any ryner thwart them and that they resolue to search his bed hee is trained by a new channell from his former course This yeeldeth a speedie and gaineful recompence to the aduenturers of the search but I hold it little beneficiall to the owners of the soyle For those low grounds beforetime fruitfull hauing herethrough their wrong side turned outwards accuse the Tynners iniurie by their succeeding barrennesse To find the Loadworkes their first labour is also imployed in seeking this Shoad which either lieth open on the grasse or but shallowly couered Hauing found any such they coniecture by the sight of the ground which way the floud came that brought it thither and so giue a gesse at the place whence it was broken off There they sincke a Shaft or pit of fiue or sixe foote in length two or three foote in breadth and seuen or eight foote in depth to proue whether they may so meete with the Load By this Shaft they also discerne which was the quicke ground as they call it that mooued with the floud and which the firme wherein no such Shoad doth lie If they misse the Load in one place they sincke alike Shaft in another beyond that commonly farther vp towards the hill and so a third and fourth vntil they light at last vpon it But you may not conceiue that euerie likelyhood doth euer proue a certaintie for diuers haue beene hindered through bestowing charges in seeking and not finding and many vndone in finding and not speeding whiles a faire show tempting them to much cost hath in the end fayled in substance and made the aduenturers Banckrupt of their hope and purse Some haue found Tynne-workes of great vallew through meanes no lesse strange then extraordinarie to wit by dreames As in Edward the sixts time a Gentlewoman heire to one Fresculierd and wife to Lauyue dreamed that a man of seemely personage told her how in such a Tenement of her Land shee should find so great store of Tynne as would serue to in rich both her selfe and her posteritie This shee reuealed to her husband and hee putting the same in triall found a worke which in foure yeeres was worth him welneere so many thousand pounds Moreouer one Taprel lately liuing dwelling in the Parish of the hundred of West called S. Niot by a like dreame of his daughter see the lucke of women made the like assay met with the effect farmed the worke of the vnwitting Lord of the soyle and grew thereby to good state of wealth The same report passeth as currant touching sundrie others but I will not bind any mans credite though that of the Authors haue herein swayed mine and yet he that will afford his eare to Astrologers and naturall Philosophers shall haue it filled with many discourses of the constellation of the heauens and the constitution of mens bodies fitting to this purpose There are that leauing these trades of new searching doe take in hand such old Stream and Loadworks as by the former aduenturers haue beene giuen ouer and oftentimes they find good store of Tynne both in the rubble cast vp before as also in veines which the first workmen followed not From hence there groweth a diuersitie in opinion amongst such Gentlemen as by iudgement and experience can looke into these matters some of them supposing that the Tynne groweth and others that it onely separateth from the consumed offall But whosoeuer readeth that which Francis Leandro hath written touching the yron mynerals in the I le of Elba will cleaue perhaps to a third conceite for hee auoucheth that the trenches out of which the Owre there is digged within twentie or thirtie yeeres become alike ful againe of the same mettall as at first he confirmeth it by sutable examples borrowed from Clearchus of Marble in Paros Iland and of Salt in India deducing thence this reason that the ayre and water replenishing the voide roome through the power of the vniuersall agent and some peculiar celestiall influence are turned into the selfe substance and so by consequence neither the Owre groweth nor the earth consumeth away and this opiniō Munster in his Cosmographie doth seeme to vnderprop affirming that neere the Citie of Apoloxia in Dalmatia the veines whence Brasse is digged are filled in like maner So doth he report that neere Ptolomais there lieth a round valley out of which glassie Sand being taken the winds fill the pit againe from the vpper part of the adioyning mountaines which matter is conuerted into the former substance and that euen Mettals throwne into this place doe vndergoe the like Metamorphosis The colour both of the Shoad and Load resembleth his bed as the Sea sand doth the Cliffes and is so diuersified to reddish blackish duskie and such other earthy colours If the Load wherein the Tynne lieth carrieth a foote and halfe in breadth and bee not ouerbarren it is accompted a verie rich worke but commonly the same exceedeth not a foote vnlesse many Loads runne together When the new found worke intiseth with probabilitie of profit the discouerer doth commonly associate himselfe with some more partners because the charge amounteth mostly verie high for any one mans purse except lined beyond ordinarie to reach vnto and if the worke doe faile many shoulders will more easily support the burthen These partners consist either of such Tinners as worke to their owne behoose or of such aduenturers as put in hired labourers The hirelings stand at a certaine wages either by the day which may be about eight pence or for the yeere being betweene foure and sixe pound as their deseruing can driue the bargaine at both which rates they must find themselues If the worke carrie some importance and require the trauaile of many hands that hath his name and they their Ouerseer whome they terme their Captaine such are the Pel Whilancleuth in English The worke of the Ditches Pulstean that is The myrie head Grueg braaz The great Borough Saint Margets and many surnamed Balls which betoken the Vales where the works are set on foote The Captaines office bindeth him to sort ech workman his taske to see them applie their labour to make timely prouision for binding the worke with frames of Timber if need exact it to place Pumpes for drawing of water and to giue such other directions In most places their toyle is so extreame as they cannot endure it aboue foure houres in a day but are succeeded by spels the residue of the time they weare out at Coytes Kayles or like idle exercises Their Kalender also alloweth them more Holy-dayes then are warranted by the Church our lawes or their owne profit Their ordinarietooles are a Pick-axe of yron about
to this last mill whereto if you adde his care and cost in buying the wood for this seruice in felling framing and piling it to bee burned in fetching the same when it is coaled through such farre foule and cumbersome wayes to the blowing house together with the blowers two or three Moneths extreame and increasing labour sweltring heate danger of skalding their bodies burning the houses casting away the worke and lastly their vgly countenances tanned with smoake and besmeared with sweate all these things I say being duely considered I know not whether you would more maruaile either whence a sufficient gaine should arise to counteruaile so manifold expences or that any gaine could traine men to vndertake such paines and perill But there let vs leaue them since their owne will doth bring them thither During the Tinnes thus melting in the blowing house diuers light sparkles thereof are by the forcible wind which the bellows sendeth forth driuen vp to the thatched roofe For which cause the owners doe once in seuen or eight yeeres burne those houses and find so much of this light Tynne in the ashes as payeth for the new building with a gainefull ouerplus A strange practise certes for thrifts sake to set our house on fire Others doe frame the Tunnels of the Chimnies verie large and slope therein to harbour these sparkles and so saue the burning This casualtie may bee worth the owner some ten pound by the yeere or better if his Mil haue store of sutors But sithence I gathered stickes to the building of this poore nest Sir Francis Godolphin whose kind helpe hath much aduanced this my playing labour entertained a Duch mynerall man and taking light from his experience but building thereon farre more profitable conclusions of his owne inuention hath practised a more sauing way in these matters and besides made Tynne with good profit of that refuse which the Tynners reiected as nothing worth We will now proceede to take a view of the orders and customes most generally vsed among the Tynners Their workes both Streame and Load lie either in seuerall or in wasirell that is in enclosed grounds or in cominons In Seuerall no man can search for Tynne without leaue first obtained from the Lord of the soile who when any Myne is found may worke it wholly himselfe or associate partners or set it out at a farme certaine or leaue it vn wrought at his pleasure In Wastrell it is lawfull for any man to make triall of his fortune that way prouided that hee acknowledge the Lordes right by sharing our vnto him a certaine part which they call toll a custome sauouring more of indifferencie then the Tynners constitutions in Deuon which inable them to digge for Tynne in any mans ground inclosed or vnclosed without licence tribute or satisfaction Wherethrough it appeareth that the Law-makers rather respected their owne benefit then equitie the true touch of all lawes The Wastrel workes are reckoned amongst chattels and may passe by word or Will When a Myne is found in any such place the first discouerer aymeth how farre it is likely to extend and then at the foure corners of his limited proportion diggeth vp three Turfes and the like if he list on the sides which they terme Bounding and within that compasse euery other man is restrained from searching These bounds he is bound to renew once euerie yeere as also in most places to bestow some time in Working the Myne otherwise hee loseth this priuiledge The worke thus found and bounded looke how many men doc labour therein so many Doales or shares they make thereof and proportionably diuide the gaine and charges The Lord of the soyle is most-where allowed libertie to place one workman in euerie fifteene for himselfe at like hand with the aduenturers if hee be so disposed They measure their blacke Tynne by the Gill the Tapliffe the Dish and the Foate which containeth a pint a pottell a gallon and towards two gallons Townes specially priuiledged for the Coynages are Helstan Truro Lostwithiel and Liskerd The times of Coynage come twise in the yeere Viz. about Midsummer and Michaelmas but because it falleth out verie often that the Tynne which is wrought cannot be blowen and brought thither against the limited dayes there are in fauour of the Tynners certaine later times assigned which they terme Post-coynages The officers deputed to manage this Coynage are Porters to beare the Tynne Peizers to weigh it a Steward Comptroller and Receiuer to keepe the accompt euerie of which haue entertainement from her Maiestie and receiue a fee out of the coyned Tynne For the maner of Coynage the Biockes or peeces of Tynne are brought into a great roome ordained for that purpose and there first poized then tasted that is proued whether they be soft Tynne or hard and after marked with her Maiesties stampe To the hard lesse worth by fiftie shillings in the thousand then the soft the letter H. is added e're it come from the blowing house Each thousand must answere fortie shillings to the Queene which with the other incident fees being satisfied then and not before it is lawfull for the owner to alienate and distract the same But about the price there groweth much adoe betweene the Marchants and the owners before they can iumpe to an agreement The Marchant vnfoldeth his packe of strange newes which either he brought with him from London where most of them dwell or forged by the way telling what great likelyhood there is of warres what danger of Pirates at Sea how much of the fore-bought Tynne lieth on their hands c. The owner on the other side stoppeth his eares against these charmes answeres his newes with the Spaniards Credo en Dios encounters his reasons with the present scarcitie and charges of getting and working Tynne and so keeping vp the price Iniquum petit vt aequum ferat In the end after much bidding and louing varying and delaying commonly that Marchant who hath most money to bestow and that owner who hath most Tynne to sell doe make the price at which rate the Marchant is bound to yeeld present payment for so much Tynne as shall be brought him and of necessitie must bargaine for tenne thousand at the least Others notwithstanding are not bound to buy or sell at this price but euerie man left at libertie to make his best market The Tynne so sold hath vsually amounted heretofore to the worth of thirtie or fortie thousand pound in money and carried price betweene twentie and thirtie pound the thousand sometimes higher and sometimes lower according to the quicke vent and aboundance or the dead sale and scarcitie wherein yet some haue obserued that this so profitable and vendible a marchandize riseth not to a proportionable enhauncement with other lesse beneficiall and affected commodities and they impute it partly to the Easterne buyers packing partly to the owners not venting and venturing the same Here I
land and waded thorow the Sea to discouer all the creatures therein insensible sensible the course of method summoneth me to discourse of the reasonable to wit the Inhabitants and to plot downe whatsoeuer noteworthily belongeth to their estate reall and personall and to their gouernment spirituall and temporall Vnder their reall state I comprise all that their industrie hath procured either for priuate vse or entercourse and trasfike In priuate life there commeth into consideration their Tenements which yeeld them sustinance and their houses which afford them a place of abode Euerie tenement is parcell of the demaynes or seruices of some Mannor Commonly thirtie Acres make a farthing land nine farthings a Cornish Acre and foure Cornish Acres a Knights fee. But this rule is ouerruled to a greater or lesser quantitie according to the fruitfulnesse or barrennesse of the soyle That part of the demaines which appertaineth to the Lords dwelling house they call his Barten or Berton The tenants to the rest hold the same either by sufferance Wil or custome or by cōuention The customary tenaut holdeth at Wil either for yeeres or for liues or to them and their heires in diuers manners according to the custome of the Mannour Customarie Tenants for life take for one two three or more liues in possession or reuersion as their custome will beare Somewhere the wiues hold by widdowes estate and in many places when the estate is determined by the Tenants death and either to descend to the next in reuersion or to returne to the Lord yet will his Executor or Administrator detaine the land by the custome vntill the next Michaelmas after which is not altogether destitute of a reasonable pretence Amongst other of this customarie Land there are seuenteene Mannours appertaining to the Duchie of Cornwall who doe euerie leuenth yere take their Holdings so they terme thē of certain Comissioners sent for the purpose haue continued this vse for the best part of three hundred yeeres through which they reckon a kind of inheritable estate accrued vnto them But this long prescription notwithstanding a more busie then well occupied person not long sithence by getting a Checquer lease of one or two such tenements called the whole right in question and albeit God denyed his bad minde any good successe yet another taking vp this broken title to salue himselfe of a desperate debt prosecuted the same so far forth as he brought it to the iutty of a Nisiprius Hereon certayne Gentlemen were chosen and requested by the Tenants to become suiters for stopping this gap before it had made an irremediable breach They repayred to London accordingly and preferred a petition to the then L. Treasurer Burleigh His L. called vnto him the Chauncellour and Coife Barons of the Exchequer and tooke a priuate hearing of the cause It was there manifestly prooued before them that besides this long continuance and the importance as that which touched the vndooing of more then a thousand persons her Highnesse possessed no other lands that yeelded her so large a benefit in Rents Fines Heriots and other perquisites These reasons found fauourable allowance but could obtaine no thorough discharge vntill the Gentlemen became suppliants to her Maiesties owne person who with her natiue supernaturall bounty vouchsafed vs gratious audience testified her great dislike of the attempter gaue expresse order for stay of the attempt since which time this barking Dogge hath bene musled May it please God to award him an vtter choaking that he neuer haue power to bite againe Herein we were beholden to Sir Walter Raleghs earnest writing who was then in the Countrey to Sir Henry Killigrews sound aduice and to Master William Killigrews painefull soliciting being the most kinde patrone of all his Countrey and Countreymens affaires at Court. In times past and that not long agoe Holdings were so plentifull and Holders so scarce as well was the Land-lord who could get one to bee his Tenant and they vsed to take assurance for the rent by 2. pledges of the same Mannour But now the case is altred for a farme or as wee call it a bargaine can no sooner fall in hand then the Suruey Court shal be waited on with many Officers vying reuying each on other nay thei are taken mostly at a ground-hop before they fall for feare of comming too late And ouer and aboue the old yerely rent they will giue a hundred or two hundred yeeres purchace and vpward at that rate for a fine to haue an estate of three liues which summe commonly amounteth to ten or twelue yeeres iust value of the land As for the old rent it carrieth at the most the proportiō but of a tenth part to that whereat the tenement may be presently improued somewhere much lesse so as the Parson of the parish can in most places dispend as much by his tithe as the Lord of the Mannour by his rent Yet is not this deare setting eueriewhere alike for the westerne halfe of Cornewall commeth far short of the Easterne and the land about Townes exceedeth that lying farther in the Countrey The reason of this enhaunsed price may proue as I gesse partly for that the late great trade into both the Indies hath replenished these parts of the world with a larger store of the Coyne-currant mettals thē our anceltours enioyed partly because the banishment of single-liuing Votaries yonger mariages then of olde and our long freedome from any sore wasting warre or plague hath made our Countrey very populous and partly in that this populousnes hath inforced an industrie in them and our blessed quietnes giuen scope and meanes to this industrie But howsoeuer I ayme right or wide at this once certayne it is that for these husbandry matters the Cornish Inhabitants are in sundry points swayed by a diuerse opinion from those of some other Shires One that they will rather take bargaines at these excessiue fines then a tolerable improued rent being in no sort willing to ouer a penny for they reckon that but once smarting and this a continuall aking Besides though the price seeme very high yet mostly foure yeeres tillage with the husbandmans payne and charge goeth neere to defray it Another that they fal euery where from Commons to Inclosure and partake not of some Easterne Tenants enuious dispositions who will sooner preiudice their owne present thrift by continuing this mingle-mangle then aduance the Lords expectant benefit after their terme expired The third that they alwayes preferre liues before yeeres as both presuming vpon the Countries healthfulnesse and also accounting their family best prouided for when the husband wife and childe are sure of a liuing Neither may I without wrong conceyle the iust commendation of most such wiues in this behalfe namely when a bargaine is so taken to these three it often falleth out that afterwards the sonne marieth and deliuereth his yeruing-goods as they terme it to his father who in lieu thereof
but where it stood I know not Since it made roome to Christianity my not ouer-curious enquiry hath learned out these Pryories at S. Germaines Bodmyn Tywardreth Nunries at S. Martine Fryeries at Launceston Truro Bodmyn Colledges at Peryn Crantock Buryen Hospitals at Helston Of parishes the County hath 161. as master Camden noteth and as others haue about 180. Doubtles the Hierarchy of our English Church if it were kept fast to his first institution might with his far better effects close vp their mouthes who would thrust vpon vs their oftē varying discipline But albeit neither our time can well brooke it nor the succeeding would long hold it yet it shal not do much amisse to look vpō the originall beauty thereof if at least I be able to tricke the same truly out doe not blemish it with my pensil At the planting of Christian religion Monasteries cathedrall Churches were likewise founded which serued for seedplots of the ministery sent them abroad in yerely progresses to labor the Lords vineyard Afterwards about the time of our last conquest the country was sorted by a more orderly maner into parishes euery parish cōmitted to a spirituall father called their Parson who stept into that roome not by election as some imagine but mostly by the nomination of him that eyther built the Church or endowed the same with some liuelyhood or was L of the soyle where it stood As for Vicarages those daies knew few for they grew vp in more corrupt ages by the religious houses encrochmēts Besides this Incūbent euery parish had certaine officers as Church wardens Sidemen and 8. men whose duety bound them to see the buildings ornaments appertaining to Gods seruice decently maintayned good order there reuerētly obserued And lest negligence ignorance or partiality might admit or foist in abuses corruption an Archdeacon was appointed to take account of their doings by an verely visitatiō they there sworn duly to make it He they againe had their Ordinary the Bishop euery 3. yere to ouerlook their actions to examine allow admit the ministers as they and the Bishop were sēblably subiect to the Metropolitanes suruey euery 7. yere For warning the Clergy imparting their superiours directions the Curats chose yerely their Deanes rurall The Bishop in his cathedrall church was associated with certaine Prebēdaries some resident who serued as his ghostly coūsel in points of his charge others not bound to ordinary residēce who were called to cōsultation vpon things of greater cōsequence for matters of principal importāce the Archbishop had his prouincial Sinod the whole clergy their national Now then if euery one thus entrused would remember that he had a soule to saue or lose by the well or ill discharging of so waighty a function and did accordingly from time to time bestowe his requisite endeuour what the least fault could escape the espiall of so many eyes or the righting amongst so many hands But I haue thrust my sickle ouer-farre into anothers haruest let my mistaking be corrected and in regard of my good meaning pardoned The Temporal gouernment of Cornwall shooteth out also into two branches Martiall and Ciuill For martiall affaires master Camden noteth out of Iohannes Sarisburiensis that the Cornish mens valiancy purchased them such reputation amongst our ancestours as they together with those of Deuon and Wiltshire were wont to be entrused for the Subsidiary Cohort or band of supply An honor equall to the Romanes Triarii and the shoot-anker of the battell With which concurreth the ancient if not authenticall testimony of Michael Cornubiensis who had good reason to knowe the same being that Countryman and more to report it his verses for which I haue also beene beholding to M. Camden are these Rex Arcturus nos primos Cornubienses Bellum facturus vocat vt put a Caesaris enses Nobis non alijs reliquis dat primitus ictum Per quem pax lisque nobis fit vtrumque relictum Quid nos deterret si firmiter in pede stemus Fraus ni nos superet nihil est quod non superemus I will now set downe the principall Commaunders Officers touching these martiall causes together with the forces of the shire Lord Lieutenant generall Sir VValter Ralegh Deputie Lieutenāts Sir Frauncis Godolphin or any 3. of them Sir Nicholas Parker or any 3. of them Sir Reignald Mohun Peter Edgecumb or any 3. of them Bernard Greinuile or any 3. of them Christopher Harris or any 3. of them Richard Carew or any 3. of them Colonell generall Sir Nicholas Parker Marshall Bernard Greinuile Treasurer Richard Carew Master of the Ordinance VVil. Treffry Colonell of the horse Iohn Arundell of Trerise Sergeant maior Humfrey Parcks Quarter Master VVilliam Carnsew Prouost Marshall Iohn Harris Scowt Master Otwell Hill Corporals of the field Osburne Rusall Rattenbury Sled Ammunition Master Leon. Blackdon Trench Master Cooke Regiments Cōpanies Number Arm pikes Muskets Caliuers Sir Fra. Godol 12. 1200. 470. 490. 240. Sir Will. Beuil 6. 670 225. 215 130. Sir Rei Mohun 6. 600. 200. 210. 190. Ber. Greinuile 10. 1000. 370. 390. 240. Ri. Carew 5. 500. 170. 300 30. Antony Rouse 6. 760. 270. 320. 170. Ch. Treuanion 5. 500. 180. 190. 130. Will. Treffry 4. 400. 140. 130. 130. Sir Nic. Parker 2. 200. 60. 80. 60. Ha. Viuian 1. 100. 40. 40. 20. Ar. Harris 1. 100. 40. 40. 20. Summa 58. 6030. 2165. 2535. 1330. This may serue for a generall estimat of the Cornish forces which I haue gathered partly out of our certificate made to the Lords 1599. partly by information from the Sargeant maior partly through mine owne knowledge There are many more vnarmed pikes which I omit as better fitting a supply vpon necessitie then to bee exposed for opposed to an enemie The number as it standeth much exceedeth the shires proportion if the same be compared with Deuon and other Counties which groweth for that their neerenesse on all quarters to the enemy and their farnesse from timely succour by their friends haue forced the Commaunders to call forth the vttermost number of able hands to fight and rather by perswasion then authority procured them to arme themselues beyond lawe and their ability Which commendable indeuour shall not I hope ought not I am sure turne them to the preiudice of any vnwonted charge hereafter They are all prouided of powder bullet match in competent sort order taken for furnishing of victuals and mounting a third part of the shot at least vpon cause of seruice Light horses the Lords in their directions enioyne for orders sake and the Lieuienants excuse it by insufficiency Hitherto neither hath the commaundement bin reuoked nor the omission controlled In the yeere 1588. when the Spanish floting Babel pretended the conquest of our Iland which like Iosuahs armie they compassed but vnlike him could not with their blasting threats ouerthrow our walles it pleased her
Maiestie of her prouident and gracious care to furnish Cornwall with ordinance and munition from her owne store as followeth 2. Sacres of cast Iron well mounted vpon carryages with wheeles shodde with Iron and furnished with Ladles Spunges and Rammers with all other necessaries 2. Minions 2. Faulcons Spare axeltrees sixe Spare paires of wheeles shod with Iron three Shot of Iron for the sayd pieces of eche sort twenty Canon corne powder for the said ordinance sixe hundred wayght Fine corne powder three thousand six hundred waight Lead three thousand sixe hundred wayght Match three thousand sixe hundred wayght All which saue the ordinance it selfe partly by piece-meale employment and partly by ouerlong or cuilkeeping is now growne to nought or naught After the sudden surprize of Pensants Anno 1595. by direction from the Lords order was takē that vpon any alarum the next Captains should forth with put themselues with their companies into their assigned sea-coast townes whom the adioyning land-forces were appoynted to second and third as the opportunity of their dwellings affoorded best occasion The yeere following by a new commaund 4000. were allotted out and prouided in a readines to march for the ayd of Deuon if cause so required as the Lord Lieutenant of that County had the same order vpon like necessitie to send an equall number into Cornwall Lastly anno 1599. when the Spanish fleet was againe expected the Cornish forces volūtarily assembled themselues and made head at the entrance middle and West part of their south coast As for soldiers sent into other-places Cornwall yeeldeth vpon euery occasion a proportionable supply to the wants of Ireland neither is acquitted from performing the like seruice for Fraunce if the employment be in Brittaine or Normandy Which often ventrings notwithstanding vpon the instance of Captaine Lower and the follicitation of his friends there passed ouer this last yeere into Netherland at one time 100. voluntaries and vpwards there to serue vnder Sir Frauncis Vere And besides they often make out men of warre against the Spaniards Forts and Castles there are some olde and worne out of date and some in present vse with allowance of garrison Amongst the first sort I reckon these appertayning to the Duchy as also Tintogel and diuers round holds on the tops of hils some single some double and treble trenched which are termed Castellan Denis or Danis as raysed by the Danes when they were destyned to become our scourge Moreouer in this ranke wee may muster the earthen Bulwarks cast vp in diuers places on the South coast where any commodity of landing seemeth to inuite the enemie which I gesse tooke their originall from the statute 4. H. 8. and are euer sithence duely repayred as need requireth by order to the Captaynes of those limits Of the later sort is a fort at Silley called reduced to a more defensible plight by her Maiesties order and gouerned by the foreremembred Sir Frauncis Godolphin who with his inuention and purse bettered his plot and allowance and therein hath so tempered strength with delight and both with vse as it serueth for asure hold and a commodious dwelling The rest are S. Michaels mount Pendenis fort and S. Mawes Castle of which I shall haue occasion to speake more particularly in my second booke Of Beacons through the neernesse to the sea and the aduantage of the hilly situations welneere euery parish is charged with one which are watched secundum vsum but so farre as I can see not greatly ad propositum for the Lords better digested instructions haue reduced the Countrey by other meanes to a like ready and much lesse confused way of assembling vpon any cause of seruice For carrying of such aduertisements and letters euery thorow-fare weekly appoynteth a foot-Poast to giue his hourely attendance whose dispatch is welneere as speedy as the horses The last branch of my diuision and so of this book leadeth me to entreat of Cornwals ciuill gouernment as it passeth for a part of the Realme and that may againe be subdiuided into iurisdiction particular and general The particular iurisdiction is exercised by Constables Stewards of Courts Barons and Leets Franchises Hundreds Portreeues Maiors of boroughs corporations of the Stannaries we haue spoken already The generall by the Clarke of the market Coroners Vice-admiral Sherife Iustices of the peace Iudges of assize Constables of the hundreds the shire hath none but this office for giuing of warnings collection of rates is supplyed by the deputy Baylifs who performe it not with that discretion trust secrecy speed which were often requisite to the importance of the affaires I haue knowne the Iudges moued diuers times for their opinion touching the erecting of some found them of seueral resolutions which giueth little encouragement to an innouation Neither can the parish Constables well brooke the same because it submitteth them to a subalterne commaund more then of custome whereas now in their parishes they are absolute the least whereof hath one the middle sized 2. the bigger 3. or 4. I would not wish the blaze of their authority blemished if there were as much care vsed in choyce of the persons as the credit of their place deserueth Wise direction without diligent executiō proueth fruitles Now as the former is deriued from her Maiesty to the Lords from the Lords to the Iustices so this later lieth in the hands of the Constables Watches and searches oftentimes carry waighty consequence and miscary in the managing and it was seene in the last Cornish rebellion how the Constables commaund example drew many of the not worst meaning people into that extremest breach of duty Franchises Cornwall hath the Duchy Rialton Clifton Minhinet Pawton Caruanton Stoke Cliuisland Medland and Kellylond which haue their Baylifs as the Hundreds to attend the publike seruices Hundreds there are but 9. East West Trig Lesnewith Stratton Powder Pider Kerier Penwith which containe tithings by these the shire is deuided into limits all his rates proportioned as followeth Diuisions East East H. West H. N. Trig H. Lesnewith H. Stratton H. S. Powder H. Pider H. W. Kerier Pēwith In all rates the East South limits beare 3. parts in 5. to the North and West So in the Easterne dooth East Hundred to that of West in the Southerne Powder to pider and in the Westerne Kerier to Penwith In the Northern Trig beareth 5. Lesnewith Stratton 4. a piece There is the like proportion made of the parishes in the Easterne diuision but with little satisfaction of diuers neither will it euer fare otherwise therefore this notwithstanding I wish it followed in the residue The conuenientest vsual places of assembly for the whole County is Bodmyn for the East and North Launceston for the South and West Truro for the East Liskerd for the North Camelford for the South S. Colombs for
0 S. Breock 0. 15. 0 Withiel 0. 5. 0 Carnenton 0. 10. 0 Vwel 0. 10. 0 Sum. tot deductions 15. 10. 113. 1. 6. THE SVRVEY OF CORNWALL The second Booke IN this second booke I will first report what I haue learned of Cornwall and Cornishmen in general and from thence descend to the particular places and persons as their note-worthie site or any memorable action or accident of the former or later ages shall offer occasion The highest which my search can reach vnto I borrow out of Strabo who writeth that the Westerne Bretons gaue ayde vnto the Armorici of Fraunce against Caesar which hee pretended for one of the causes why he inuaded this Iland Next I find that about sixtie yeeres from the landing of Hengist one Nazaleod a mightie King amongst the Bretons ioyned battell with Certicus Soueraigne of the West-Saxons and after long fight with his owne death accompanied the ouerthrow of his armie Yet the Bretons thus abandoned by fortune would not so forsake themselues but with renued courage and forces coped once againe with Certicus and his sonne Kenrick at Certicesford thogh equally destitute of successe as before Gurmund an arch-Pirate of the Norwegians was called by the Saxons out of his late conquered Ireland to their aide against Careticus king of the Bretons whom he ouercame in battel and inforced his subiects to seeke safegard by flight some in Wales some in Cornwall and some in little Breteigne since which time they could neuer recouer againe their auncient possession of the whole Iland Howbeit not long after Iuor sonne to Alane king of the said little Breteigne landed in the West parts wanne from the Saxons Cornwall Deuon Somerset shires by force of armes and then established his conquest by a peaceable composition with his aduerse partie Adelred king of West-sex inuaded Deuon and Cornwall whom Roderick king of the Bretons and Blederick Prince of those prouinces encountred and discomfited which notwithstanding processe of time reaued from him and added such strength to his enemies that he was driuen to abandon Cornwall and retire into Wales So the Cornishmen quitting their libertie with their prince stouped to the cōmaund of Egbert King of West-sex and with their territorie saith William Malmsburie enlarged his confines Athelstane handled them yet more extremely for hee draue them out of Excester where till then they bare equall sway with the Saxons left onely the narrow angle on the West of Tamer riuer for their Inhabitance which hath euer since beene their fatall bound On their Reguli as Vincentius deliuereth he imposed an yerely tribute of 20. li. in gold 300. li. in siluer 25. oxen and hunting hounds and hawkes at discretion To these afflictions by home-neighbours of bondage tribute and banishing was ioyned a fourth of spoyling by forrayne enemies for Roger Houedon telleth vs that the Danes landed in sundry places of Cornwall forrayed the Countrey burned the Townes and killed the people To whom succeeded in the like occupation Godwin and Edmond magnus King Harolds two sonnes discomfiting the forces opposed against them harrowing Deuon and Cornwall and then retiring with their prey into Ireland After the conquest when K. H. the first inuaded Griffin ap Conan Prince of Wales he distributed his armie into three portions one of which wherein consisted the forces of the fourth part of England and Cornwal hee committed to the leading of Gilbert Earle of Strigill In Henry the thirds time by the testimony of Mathew Paris William Earle of Sarum after long tossing at sea with much adoe about Christmas arriued in Cornwall and so afterwards did Earle Richard the Kings brother at two seuerall times the later of which being destitute of horses and treasure he prayed therein ayde of his loyals When Edward the third auerred his right to the Crowne of Fraunce by the euidence of armes the French for a counterplea made an vnlawfull entry into Deuon and Cornwall but Hugh Courtney Earle of Deuon remooued it with posse Comitatus and recommitted them to the wooddē prison that brought them thither Yet would not the Scots take so much warning by their successe as example by their precedent if at least Froissarts ignorance of our English names bred not his mistaking in the place By his relation also Cornwals neere neighbourhead gaue oportunity of accesse both to the Earle Montford when he appealed to that Kings ayd for recouering his right in Brittaine albeit I cannot bring home Cepsee the designed port of his landing and after his captiuitie to the messengers of his heroicall Countesse employed in the like errand And from Cornwall the Earle of Sarum Wil. de Mesuile and Philip de Courtney set to sea with 40. ships besides Barks and 2000. men at armes besides Archers in support of that quarrell Lastly his authoritie enformeth me that those souldiers of Cornwall who vnder their Captaines Iohn Apport and Iohn Cornwall had defended the Fort of Bercherel in Brittaine against the power of Fraunce aboue a yeree space in the end for want of due succours vpon an honourable composition surrendred the same Queene Margaret wife to H. 6. vpon her arriual out of Fraūce after the losse of Barnet field receiued great ayd though to smal purpose frō the Deuon and Cornish men vnder the conduct of Thomas Earle of that shire And so much were those Western people addicted to that name as they readily followed Sir Edw. Courtney his brother Peter Bishop of Excesler what time they assisted the Duke of Buckingham in his reuolt against Richard the third Neither did his suppressour and successour H. the 7. finde them more loyall for the Cornish men repining at a Subsidy lately graunted him by Act of Parliament were induced to rebellion by Thomas Flammock a Gentleman Michael Ioseph a Black-smith with whom they marched to Taunton there murdering the Prouost of perin a Commissioner for the sayd Subsidy and from thence to Welles where Iames Touchet Lord Audely degenerated to their party with which encrease they passed by Sarisbury to Winchester and so into Kent But by this time Lords Commons were gathered in strēgth sufficient to make head against them and soone after black Heath saw the ouerthrow of their forces in battell and Loudon the punishment of their seducers by iustice In the same fatall yeere of reuolts Perkin Warbeck a counterfeit Prince landed in Cornwall went to Bodmyn assembled a trayne of rake-hels assaulted Excester receyued the repulse and in the end sped as is knowne and as he deserued The last Cornish rebellion was first occasioned by one Kilter and other his associats of a Westerne parish called S. Keueren who imbrued their wicked hands in the guiltles blood of one M. Body as he sate in Commission at Helston for matters of reformation in religion and the yere following it grew to a general reuolt vnder the