A BOOK OF THE WEST
VOL. I.
DEVON
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
THE TRAGEDY OF THE CÆSARS
THE DESERT OF SOUTHERN FRANCE
STRANGE SURVIVALS
SONGS OF THE WEST
A GARLAND OF COUNTRY SONG
OLD COUNTRY LIFE
YORKSHIRE ODDITIES
FREAKS OF FANATICISM
A BOOK OF FAIRY TALES
OLD ENGLISH FAIRY TALES
A BOOK OF NURSERY SONGS
AN OLD ENGLISH HOME
THE VICAR OF MORWENSTOW
THE CROCK OF GOLD
A
BOOK OF THE WEST
BEING AN INTRODUCTION
TO DEVON AND CORNWALL
BY S. BARING-GOULD
VOL. I.
DEVON
WITH THIRTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.
LONDON
1899
PREFACE
In this "Book of the West" I have not sought tosay all that might be said relative to Devon andCornwall; nor have I attempted to make of it aguide-book. I have rather endeavoured to conveyto the visitor to our western peninsula a generalidea of what is interesting, and what ought to attracthis attention. The book is not intended to supersedeguide-books, but to prepare the mind to usethese latter with discretion.
In dealing with the history of the counties and ofthe towns, it would have swelled the volumes undulyto have gone systematically through their story fromthe beginning to the present; it would, moreover,have made the book heavy reading, as well as heavyto carry. I have chosen, therefore, to pick out someincident, or some biography connected with theseveral towns described, and have limited myselfthereto.
My object then must not be misunderstood, andmy book harshly judged accordingly. There are[vi]ten thousand omissions, but I venture to think agood many things have been admitted which willnot be found in guide-books, but which it is well forthe visitor to know, if he has a quick intelligence andeyes open to observe.
In the Cornish volume I have given rather fullythe stories of the saints who have impressed theirnames indelibly on the land. It has seemed tome absurd to travel in Cornwall and have thesenames in the mouth, and let them remain nudanomina.
They have a history, and that is intimately associatedwith the beginnings of that of Cornwall. Buttheir history has not been studied, and in booksconcerning Cornwall most of the statements aboutthem are wholly false.
I have not entered into any critical discussionconcerning moot points. I have left that for my"Catalogue of the Cornish Saints" that is beingissued in the Journal of the Royal Institution ofCornwall.
There are places that might have been describedmore fully, others that have been passed over withoutnotice. This has been due to no disregard forthem on my part, but to a dread of making thevolumes too bulky and cumbrous.
Finally, I owe a debt of grati