0ur “ very Ancient borough ”
More than 350 years ago, Saltash was already venerable enough to justify the above description in a Charter granted to her loyal burgesses by Queen Elizabeth. For more than 380 years before that, in the far-
Saltash was born in a remote age before the days of Edward the Confessor, when it was known as Aissetone ‘the town on the water’ and is so called in Doomsday Book. The name assumed its present form to mark its situation on the salt-
The Court of Atepotoijer
HELD IN THE FAIR,
HEARS CASES AND ADMINISTERS JUSTICE.
(Tried by the following boys of the County School).
Mayor: E. J. Cruttenden. Recorder: R. R. Crosley.
Mace Bearers : J. F. Rickard, C. A. Richardson.
Constables : J. H. Prior, A. J. Summerfield.
Drovers : G. H. R. Cook, K. B. John. Huckster : B. Harding.
FIRST CASE.—Unlawfully and wantonly disturbing the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the King within the Fair.
SECOND CASE.-
The Court of Piepowder (Pied-
The Prince’s
Welcome, good wenches. Thy Prince hath not forgotten your loyal act, and,because of it, we are pleased to-
God save the King. {Cheers.)
Prince :
Ho ! I see another friend—that roistering knave, William Leache. Come hither, rascal. By my faith, thy face is as honest and as ugly as ever. {Leache kneels). Nay, do not kneel, We have been comrades in arms, and thou hast ever served me with unswerving fealty. But, thou hast lost an eye! Was it at Poitiers ? Ay, I mind it now, and, by the rood, to-
our privy purse. But look to it that the saucy wenches of Saltash take it not from thee, for, by my soul, they would seduce blessed Antony himself. And, friend William, thy
one eye has a roving look that would do the work of two.
And now we must press on, for the king’s work is urgent. Farewell, my friends. Forget not your allegiance to the Lord Christ, and—Edward and England for ever ! {Cheers.
Exit procession, followed by townspeople).
Episode 4.
Sixteenth Century
DRAKE’S DREAM.
Herald :
As every schoolboy knows’—and schoolgirl, too, one would add To Macaulay’s egregious phrase—Queen Elizabeth Never in life set foot in the
Duchy of Cornwall.
To-
A point far beyond the range of her longest Progresses !
But pageants, like poets, are granted a measure of licence. What though the incident be but a figment of fancy ?
No one can argue that Drake, as here shown, did not dream it.
See him, pacing with troubled mind the green deck of the field. For safer bestowal the treasure new-
He has moved from ships in the haven to Trematon Keep,
Instead of despatching it under strong guard to the Tower. Truth to tell he is sorely reluctant to part with it.
For, knowing Elizabeth’s greed for gold and for jewels,He doubts if, after her fingers have dipped in the coffers,
Anything will be left for himself and his mariners : A sackful of silver, it may be, flung to her sea dogs, A gracious reprieve from the hangman’s rope for their Captain !
And now word is come that the Queen is storming and swearing Because of the long delay in receiving the plunder.
“ She suspects me," growls Drake, “ ’twere wise to tarry no longer :
The waggons shall set forth at dawn." And, filled with foreboding,
He flings himself down, and dreams in the lee of the hedgerow , Drake is seen dreaming. Enter men with maypole followed by Mayday procession of children, May Queen, etc., and townspeople who enter singing a Mayday madrigal. At the end of song man runs in shouting).
Queen :News, news, my masters ! News, I say. (All gather round. Shouts of “ What is it ? ”)
Tis said that the Queen is approaching Saltash and will be here at any moment. Not our good Queen Bess ! Out upon thy lying tongue ! What should bring her here ?
Nay, that I know not. I can only tell you as ’twas told to me. Perchance she comes to join in our Mayday revelling ? (Laughter fromcrowd).
Out upon thee for a saucy knave! Have a care, or that tongue of thine will lose thee thine head, and a good riddance too say I! (Laughter.)
(Cheers heard in distance. Great excitement. Shouts of " What is it ? ’’)
The Queen ! The Queen is here ! The Mayor is greeting her even now. Come on now, we will give her a real Saltash welcome.
(Shouts of “Ay, ay, that will we.” Enter Queen,ladies-
Good Mr. Mayor, methinks our visit to this our ancient Borough of Saltash is well-
matter that concerns us closely, and demands oui instant attention. Where is Master Drake, for it is his affairs that have brought us hither, and we would have speech with him at once
Mayor ; My liege, I know not if he is to be found on the quay
Queen :Know not, sirrah ! Ods bodikins, thou hads’t best find out forthwith or it will be the worse for thee. Go, send a messenger at once, and see to it that Drake is brought here Instantly.
Drake groans and stirs uneasily in his sleep. It shall be as your Majesty commands. Giles Gosling, thou art fleet of foot. Hie thee to the quay and see if Frankie Drake has arrived, and if so bring him hither at once.
(Exit messenger.)
Now let the ceremonies begin. Bring thy May Queen hither and Elizabeth shall crown her. By the food, a merry jest! A queen to crown a queen! The idea doth please us mightily. May Queen and attendants come forward to Queen and curtsey. It is our royal pleasure to crown thee Queen of the May.
See to it that thou dost rule thy subjects with love and justice. So shalt thou find happiness in thy kingdom. (Leads her to the throne.) And now the Maypole. The maypole is danced. Messenger arrives running to Your Grace, Captain Drake is here. Will your Majesty be pleased to have speech with him in the inn yonder ?
Nay, what we have to say shall be said here in the presence of you all. Bring him to me.
(Exit messenger to fetch Drake. Some consternation among the crowd, and an atmosphere of uneasiness. Enter Drake and his sea-
Stand forth, Master Drake. (Drake advances and kneels.)
My gracious liege!
Drake, is’t true that thou hast seized three Spanish treasure ships and anchored them off the quay here ? Speak out and be speedy. Thou wert better dally with a lioness than with Elizabeth.
’Tis true, your Grace, I see no reason to deny it.
See no reason! Have a care, Master Drake, beshrew me, but that head of thine is in deadly peril. Where are the gold and
treasure that thou didst seize ? It hath not reached
out coffers. Where is it, I say ? Stored in a safe place, most gracious lady, against the day when it can be given over to your Majesty’s still safer keeping.
Thou hast a smooth tongue for a pirate, Master Drake, for by my father’s beard, that is all thou art! But thou canst not trick us, so have a care. What is the amount of this treasure, sirrah?
Some £60,000, my liege, an all too poor a gift for your gracious Majesty. £60,000 !! ’Tis a princely sum. Look to it that it doth reach our coffers within a sennight, Drake, or it will be the worse for thee. £60,000! !! Methinks thy queen must pardon thee and graciously accept thy gift. £10,000 shalt thou keep for thyself as a mark of our esteem. Butnoh ! I fear me thou aft a sorry rogue, Frankie. Yet our heart doth warm.to thee for thy deeds of daring.
Drake kneels and kisses Queen’s hand during her speech. Meanwhile his wife, with her father and brother, has entered and has watched rather fearfully. At end she conies forward joyfully but shyly to Drake .
Queen : But whom have we here ? Part of the treasure, Frankie ? Ay, your Grace, a treasure in very sooth, once known to Saltash folk as Mary Newman, and now my own dear wife.
Mistress Drake, we are glad to greet thee, for thy wooing by our Frankie touched all hearts. Keep an eye on thy man, for he is over venturesome on the high seas. Wilt lend him to thy queen for a space ? Then come, Drake, thy hand! We will tread a Mayday measure. (Dance follows.) Now, good people, our royal coach awaits us, and we must away. Elizabeth of England will not easily forget this Mayday, nor her subjects’ loving welcome. The burdens of a sovereign
are heavy, but it doth ease them mightily to
know that thy queen can claim the allegian ce of such loyal and trusty hearts. Farewell.(Exeunt omnes to music)
Episode 5 — Eighteenth) Century
POWDER AND PATCHES.
Herald :
In pageantry Time's leaden feet to quicksilver change :
The slow-
A magical carpet now bears us to Georgian days Of silk and brocade on a background of rags and tatters.
A turbulent age when beggars cut throats for a shilling And gentlemen settled their quarrels with rapiers, killing With no more excuse than the slight of a lifted eyebrow.
An age none the less of curtseys and exquisite manners,
Of tuneful gavotte and quadrille, stately dances which taught A reverence for women (not notably practised, maybe,
By a manhood largely composed of rakes and of roues)
Tonight Lady Betty descends from her new sedan chair To step, with friends at the Manor upon the smooth lawn,
A minuet, daintiest of measures, undreaming of days When, deafened by raucous percussion and saxophone discord,
We dance with a shuffle derived from the amorous ape.
Hark ! From that tuneful, quieter England of yesterday Melody unsyncopated soothes our noise-
It is mentioned in the Welsh tale Culhwch and Olwen which may date from the 11th century.
The story describes the court as being at Celliwig (callington ) in Cernyw (the Welsh name for Cornwall), otherwise known as the kingdom of Dumnonia including modern Devon.
The hall is guarded by Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr, Arthur's porter, and Culhwch has difficulty gaining entrance due to the special laws that restrict entry once a feast has begun.
Though there is no description of the place the implications of the story are of great wealth and splendour.
The story describes Arthur's warriors at the court in depth and says that:
"From here, one of his Warband, Drem, could see a gnat as far away as Scotland;
while another, Medyr, could shoot an arrow through the legs of a wren in Ireland!"
Some of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein (or Welsh Triads) mention Arthur and
"Three Tribal Thrones of the Island of Britain"
and locate one of his courts at Celliwig:
"Arthur as Chief Prince in Celliwig in Cernyw, and Bishop Bytwini as Chief Bishop, and Caradog Freichfras as Chief Elder."
Caradoc was his chief elder at this court and that
Bishop Bytwini or Bedwin was chief bishop.
This is one of the early triads found in Peniarth MS 54 reflecting information recorded before Geoffrey of Monmouth.
The same triad goes on to say Arthur's other courts were at Mynyw and Pen Rhionydd.
The triads also state that at Celliwig Mordred struck Gwenhwyfar a blow.
This may have led to the Battle of Camlann.
The early Welsh poem Pa gŵr yw'r porthor? may also mention the court.
Celliwig was also known to the Cornish as well, as it appears as Kyllywyc in the Cornish-
In the Iolo Manuscripts (1843), a corpus of pseudo-
Celliwig was identified by some Cornish antiquaries from 1816 onwards with Callington (occasionally locally attested as 'Callywith') where the ancient monuments of Castlewich Henge and Cadson Bury ringfort are in close proximity. Their influence gave Callington its modern name in Common Cornish; Kelly Bray (Cornish:Kellibregh 'dappled grove') is located just to the north. Another suggestion at the time was Kelliwith.[citation needed] Other suggested locations include Gweek Wood[citation needed], and on the coast at Tintagel Barras Nose[citation needed] or Willapark. Rachel Bromwich, the latest editor of the Welsh Triads, matched it to Kelly Rounds, a hill fort in the Cornish parish of Egloshayle.[4] This had already been suggested by Charles Henderson in the Cornish Church Guide (1925) (p. 87). Intriguingly, the Ravenna Cosmography identifies a major regional Roman-
However there are also a number of places called Cernyw or containing that name in Wales, e.g. the place name Coedkernew (Coed Cernyw) in Newport. So it has been suggested that this court might be the hillfort of Llanmelin, near Caerwent. As Caradog is connected to the Kingdom of Gwent this might support this idea. There is also a farm called Gelliweg on the Llŷn peninsula in Gwynedd which one pair of Arthurian researchers and writers, Steven Blake and Scott Lloyd, argue may be the location.
Celliwic as a fictional place ; Those who argue that Arthur is a mythic figure also suggest this court is entirely fictional. Given the name means "forest grove... it may have originally been envisaged as somewhere Otherworldly (sacred groves being common in Celtic myth) and only later might a specific location have been ascribed to it."
