Chapter I
THE PARISH OF MADRON
The boundaries of the ancient parish of Madron suggest that the parish dates from the very beginning of parochial life in Cornwall, and they may represent some Celtic division of Penwith, long before there were any parishes in the modern sense of the word. At the Norman Conquest part of it was a sub-manor under Roseworthy in Gwinear and was a royal domain, while the rest was included in the Manor of Alverton.
The ancient boundary starts at the Four Parishes Stone under Carn Galver where Madron, Morvah, Zennor, and Gulval meet. The point of meeting is a small cross carved on a boulder lying by the stile on the ancient footpath from Ding-Dong to Bosigran Castle on the coast. This stone was anciently known as “ Maen Crowse ” the Cross-stone. The division between Madron and Morvah lies along the prehistoric trackway which passes Men Scryfa on the one hand and the Men-an-tol on the other, across Anguidal Downs to Chun Castle and the Cromlech. Passing down the hill, the boundary meets the Newlyn River, and follows it down to the sea, passing Newbridge, Bury as Bridge, Nancothan with its ruins, Stable Hobba, under Tolcarne Rock to the sea at Newlyn. The boundary leaves the sea again at Chyandour, and passes in a very erratic way first up Chyandour Coombe up the hill west of Trevaylor to Higher Gear; then down the Bone Valley to Merry Meeting, making a great wedge in the parish of Gulval. Then again up the Chyandour River across Green Barrow at Ding-Dong under the Nine Maidens to the Four Parishes Stone. An island in the parish of Gulval belongs to Madron, including the manors of Mulfra and Ninnis, and Mulfra Hill, and Quoit, which is perhaps the most impressive pre-historic monument in West Cornwall. Out of this large area, the three modern ecclesiastical parishes of Penzance have been taken, and the portion between Newlyn and Larigan Rivers belongs to St. Peter’s, Newlyn. Within this area there are numerous villages or town-places all bearing Celtic names, showing the antiquity of the place. In the Middle Ages there were chapels, besides the parish church, in Penzance, Morvah, Lanyon and Trewern. The boundaries of the Borough of Penzance have lately been extended to include a large slice of Madron. This makes no change to the ecclesiastical parish.
Ancient Man in Madron
West Cornwall is richer in Megalithic monuments than any district of the same area in England. Of these mysterious relics from a far-distant past Madron possesses many examples. It would be beyond the compass of this little book to discuss the history and purpose of these Megalithic monuments, which are being studied to-day by scholars, who differ widely in their interpretations. The date generally given to the Megalithic Culture in Britain is about 1500 b.c., and it appears to be generally agreed that they were set up here, and in other parts of the world, by foreigners searching for gold, tin, pearls and other natural products. In any case these monuments testify to the strength, patience, and skill of ancient men, whose history is lost in the mist of a long-distant past, (cf., Hencken, p. 149).
i.
Stone Circles
Of these Madron possesses only one, Trewern Round. It is now a circular meadow 125 feet in diameter. In a.d. 1850 a stone pavement was found in the centre. It has not been explored since. These stone circles, of which Stonehenge is at once the most imposing and perhaps the youngest, are of unknown date. Their original purpose is quite uncertain. After the Celtic Conquest, they were used for the meetings of the bards. In modern times the Welsh Gorshedd each year uses a conventional circle of stones for its meeting, but the recently revived Gorshedd of the bards of Cornwall have held their meetings at the ancient circles of Boscawen-un, Boscawen-ros
in the far west, and at the Hurlers near Liskeard. The Boskednan Circle or Nine Maidens is just outside Madron in the parish of Gulval.
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ii.
The Parish of Madron
Menhirs or Long-Stones
The outstanding example in Madron is the Men-scryfa or “ Stone of Writing ”. It is now eight feet high and bears an inscription, which was probably added in the seventh century, rialobrani CUNOVAlli fili •“ (The memorial) of Rialobran, son of Cunovall.” The croft in which it stands is called the Pillar Field and it is Plot No. 1 in the Madron tithe apportionment. A full account of this interesting monument may be found in Hencken, pp. 222, 227.
There is another Long-stone on the “ Goon Gumpas ” Down near Chun. The Inscribed Stone recently found in the church is another example.
iii.
Cromlechs or Quoits or Dolmens
These were probably graves of kings or heroes. Madron has some splendid examples.
1. Lanyon, close to the road from Madron to Morvah. The capstone is seventeen feet long and eight feet broad. It is supported by three stones about five feet high. It was overthrown in the great storm of a.d. 1816 and was replaced in a.d. 1824, with the same tackle with which the famous Logan Rock was replaced by Lieutenant Goldsmith. (Hencken, p. 38.)
2. West Lanyon Quoit stands in a field on the left of the Morvah road about half a mile further on. It was discovered in a.d. 1700 buried under a mound of earth. The capstone, which is eighteen feet long, has fallen. Under this cromlech was found a broken urn containing human bones.
3. Mulfra Quoit stands on the summit of Mulfra Hill, and commands a wonderful view. The capstone, which is fourteen feet by nine, was displaced in a thunder-storm in a.d. 1752.
4. Chun Cromlech stands a few hundred yards from Chun hill fort, and is perhaps 1,000 years older than the castle.
iv. The Men-an-Tol or Crick Stone Close to the Men-Scryfa at Bosollow Downs stands, by the side of a rough track, the unique monument known as the Men-an-tol, or the " Holed Stone.” Two monoliths about four feet high have
between them a slab of granite with a round hole about twenty-one inches in diameter. To-day the local name is the “ crick-stone ” and it is supposed that to crawl through the hole in a certain way is a sure cure for lumbago and kindred ailments. This monument is a mystery. Till a d.1815 the three stones were not in line as they are to-day, but there is no record or tradition as to why or when they were moved. These holed stones are found in many parts of the world, and may have formed parts of a chambered barrow, or have been used in some primitive nature cult as they are to-day in some parts of India. (Hencken, pp. 46, 50, 319, and Gentleman's Maga zine for 1864, p. 636.)
Tin Miners
Madron parish is dominated by the hill known as Ding-Dong, which was mined for tin till the mine was closed in a d 1875. The parish boundary passes over the hill and some of the shafts are in Madron parish. Local tradition says that this is the oldest tin-mine in Cornwall. The mine was called " Dindods ” in the time of King Henry III, and it is said that the deepest shaft is 148 fathoms, or 888 feet deep. It is suggested that the queer name " Ding-Dong ” means “ The head of the lode." If this be so, then there was an out-crop of tin stone on the hill, and the early seekers for tin, who had till then searched the streams in the valleys for the precious ore, found it there on the surface, and had only to dig down into it to get what they were seeking. That there it was that men learnt to dig for metal, who till then had searched for it in the streams, and that the art of mining for tin may have come to its birth in Madron. The market for the tin was at St. Michael’s Mount, the Ictis of ancient writers. (Taylor, St. Michael's Mount, p. 11.)
Early seekers for tin did come to Cornwall, if not Phoenicians at any rate Phoceans from Marseilles, passing across France and the English Channel seeking for the fabled Tin Islands of the West. Hill-Forts These circular enclosures on the tops of hills may have been the refuges for the people of the country against foreign invaders, or they may have been strongholds where foreign traders established a kind of market or storehouse for the tin ore purchased from the natives. Madron has three :— 1. Lesingey Round near the road from Penzance to St. Just. It is suggested that the name means “ The Castle or Royal Enclosure by the roadside." It is now planted with trees.
2. Lescudjack Castle near Penzance Station. It is probably “ Royal enclosure of Cadoc.”
3. Chun Castle on the border between Madron and Morvah. This, the finest castle in West Cornwall, has lately been explored by Mr. Leeds, F.S.A., keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. He discovered fragments of pottery showing that the castle was in habited about 300 B.c. by Celts, who had come from France. Pieces of tin slag showed that they had come for tin, and the pottery connects the traders with Marseilles. It is thought that this is the earliest of the Celtic castles, which can be traced through Cornwall to the Mendips and even beyond. A very complete report on Chun was published in the Journal of the Society of Antiquaries (also Hencken, p. 125). A find of gold bracelets was discovered near Chun about thirty
years ago ; specimens are in the British Museum and at Truro. The Celtic invasion of the fourth century before Christ appears to have started as a peaceful penetration in search of tin and other metals, and their earliest settlements were in the extreme west. Mousehole, Sennen, Portheras, and perhaps Penzance were their landing-places, seeking for the tin which was found in St. Just, Madron and Morvah, in the streams, in the lodes exposed on the sea cliffs, and perhaps the outcrop which became known later as Ding-Dong. The very probable identification of St. Michael’s Mount with the Ictis of the early Greek geographers confirms the theory that here was a source whence the ancient world derived its tin in historic times. In earlier days, the Bronze Age required immense quantities of tin, and in their search for it very early explorers came to Cornwall leaving the great monuments. But we do not know yet how, or when, or where, it was that men first learned to smelt the tin from the tin-stone.
Folk Lore
West Cornwall is full of stories about the giants. Unfortunately no giant appears to have chosen Madron for his home. At Morvah, which has been joined to Madron at any rate since a.d. 1390, there was a giant named Holibron. On the first Sunday in August the populace were allowed to witness his mystic rites on the slope of Carn Galva. The Giant’s Field is still pointed out and a ruined Cromlech called “ The Giant’s Grave ” is near Morvah church. People still living can remember the rites at the grave for gaining knowledge of the future. Most of the Giant’s Grave has been removed for mending roads, but the first Sunday in August is still kept as Morvah Fair. The piskeys or fairies do not seem to have been as interested in Madron people as they were in the inhabitants of other parishes in Cornwall. Other relics from the past are the granite Celtic crosses, which tell of the early days of Christianity and the Celtic Church. The oldest cross stands in the churchyard. It bears a clothed figure of Our Lord. Other crosses in the parish are at Boswarthen, Trengwainton Carn, Trereife, Trewidden, in the meadow below the church, by the road side at Heamoor, and in a hedge by the footpath from Poltegan. Canon Taylor, Celtic Christianity, tells us all that is known of the earliest missionaries to this far-western land, while Canon Doble is collecting the stories of the saints who have left their names. In Madron we have the ancient domain of Landithy, i.e., the “ Lan ” or sacred enclosure of Dithy, who may be one of the companions of St. Ia in the fifth century. Landithy is close to the parish church, which may stand on the ground where Dithy built his little church. The churchyard, till a hundred years ago, was
circular, and may represent an even earlier sacred enclosure. (See Hencken, p. 235.) If Dithy was a companion of Saint Ia, he was a century older than Madron. This will explain why the parish church is close to Dithy’s Lan, and not where Madron built his little church by the Wishing Well. There is also Larigan, which may represent Lanrigan, the Lan of an unknown saint called Rigan. Before that the churchyard may have been the holy place for the inhabitants of the numerous Iron Age villages scattered over the moors of the ancient parish. The Iron Age remains date about 300 B C to A D 300
