PERRANZABULOE. 1 1 



having been ordained bishop at Home, fixed his abode 

 among a simple people, and passed a long and exem- 

 plary life in instructing them. Nor did he confine him- 

 self to the functions of his sacred calling, but, we are told, 

 he was equally zealous in instructing his parishioners in 

 the useful arts, and especially in the working of metals. 

 Hence, it is not without reason that "the Cornish miners 

 venerate the name of Piranus as their tutelary saint and 

 benefactor; and to this day the tinners of Cornwall keep 

 his feast on the oth of March, and hold a fair near his 

 church in honour of St. Piranus." The church, long 

 buried under the sands, has recently been exhumed, and 

 the vignette at the head of this chapter represents its 

 present state.* Another instance occurs on the coast of 

 Suffolk, where, in the lapse of a century, the sands have 

 spread over more than 1000 acres of land. On the 

 coast of Sligo an equally destructive sand-inundation 

 has taken place, and, though partially checked, is still 

 in progress. This has already destroyed from seven to 

 eight hundred acres of fertile land, burying in its course 

 a considerable village. Strange to say, the village is not 

 yet a "Deserted Village," though buried in the midst of 

 a desert. Its inhabitants still cling to their wretched 

 huts, only the roofs of which now rise above the sands, 

 and these, with the entrances, are kept clear only by 

 the constant labours of the inmates. It is a singular 

 sight in walking over extensive sandy downs, where 



* See an interesting publication by the Rev. Collins Trelawney, 

 called " Perranzabuloe the lost church found," 1836, and also " Per- 

 ranzabuloe ; with an Account of the Past and Present State of the 

 Oratory of St. Piran in the Sands," by the Rev. W. Haslam, 1844. 



