CoLENSO. — Memorabilia, Ancient and Modern. 321 



from a certain old tradition, that the land then drowned by 

 the incursion of the sea was called ' Lionesse.' " Here follow 

 several reasons, or "hints," as Camden calls them, "contri- 

 buting something of probability " ; and he closes with the 

 following remark : "To these we may add a tradition that, 

 at the time of the inundation supposed here, Trevelyan swam 

 from thence, and in memory thereof bears gules an horse 

 argent issuing out of the sea proper" (I.e., p. 148). This 

 last remark is a very suitable one for Camden to make, he 

 being Clarencieux King-at-Arms. I have myself heard of 

 the tract of land overflowed by the sea being called Lionesse, 

 and also know of large portions of land extending along the 

 shore in the western part of the bay, once covered with de- 

 lightful green turf (on which I had often walked and played), 

 being entirely carried away by the sea. 



I have mentioned a modern belief that St. Michael's 

 Mount is (at least) one of the places in Britain anciently 

 resorted to by the Phoenicians for tin, but I do not agree 

 therewith. No doubt it has at present a kind of raised flat 

 and broad beach, or natural causeway, connecting it with the 

 mainland, passable for carts, &c., at and near low water, but 

 whether such existed in those ancient times is highly ques- 

 tionable. And this, moreover, is largely supported by the 

 Cornish name of the mount (Carregluzenkuz = "the hoar-rock 

 in the wood "), and we know from our own ancient history 

 that Cornwall was largely disforested in the reign of King 

 John. "William of Worcester records a tradition that " St. 

 Michael's Mount was originally enclosed with a very thick 

 wood, distant six miles from the ocean." The ancient Britons, 

 workers of and traders in tin, must have had a long way to 

 bring their heavy metal ore to such a mart or port, seeing 

 that all old ancient workings have been found at a great dis- 

 tance from the mount. I should rather incline to believe 

 that the Looe Pool, in Mount's Bay (only a few miles east 

 from the mount), was then both open (without its bar of 

 sand at its mouth) and, with the Cober River at its head, 

 formed more of a harbour than it is at present, and quite 

 sufficient for the light Phoenician vessels ; and that Helford 

 River and Harbour, on the east side of the Lizard Promontory 

 (its head-waters at Gweek being only a short distance — three 

 or four miles — across the same from the Looe Pool), was also 

 another port visited by the Phoenicians. There are good 

 antiquarian reasons for believing this, some of which I will 

 briefly mention: (1.) Many ancient stream-tin workings have 

 been discovered at and around those two places, with the 

 rude implements then used in the extraction and dressing of 

 tin. (2.) Various foreign remains have also been found there, 

 as urns, coins, beads, &c., of Roman and other nations; and 

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