DESTRUCTION OP ARWENACK. 51 



the heroine of Hals story about the plunder of the Spanish 

 ship — a story which I have in a former paper shown to be in 

 many respects inaccurate and not to apply to Dame Jane at all). 

 From the certificate of the inhabitants of Budock, it is evident 

 that the Civil War brought ruin in its train to the owners of 

 Arwenack, for Francis Bluett and Dame Jane are described as 

 being in great poverty, and in the former's petition to Parlia- 

 ment for leave to compound for his estates, he describes himself 

 as having no personal property. 



The house itself, it is distinctly stated, was burnt down to 

 the ground, together with all its stables and outbuildings, by 

 the garrison of Pendennis Castle, on the approach of the Parlia- 

 mentary forces, in order that it should afford no cover to the 

 enemy. 



But the damage and loss did not end here, for the besiegers 

 completed the work the defenders had begun. 



The timber and woods were cut down, trenches and batteries 

 were formed in the grounds, the fences were broken down, the 

 enclosures thrown open, the gardens and Park made an utter 

 waste, and all the lead pipes and conduits spoiled and taken 

 away, the whole damage being estimated at £2,000. 



And these facts are vouched for, not only by the inhabitants 

 of Budock, but also by Greorge Mothe, by Phillip Eisenbeck, of 

 Penryn, " Minister of Gods Word," and by Colonel Portescue, 

 the Parliamentary Governor of the Castle. 



It was to be expected that the Garrison should destroy any 

 house likely to afford cover to the besiegers, and these 

 documents confirm the Manuscript History of the Killegrew 

 family, and must finally set at rest this question. 



To the riglit Honi'i^' the Committee for compounding with cleluiq*^ att 

 Goldsmiths Hall London 



The Humble petition of Francis Bluett of Trevethan in the Ct untie of 

 Cornwall 

 Sheweth 



That your petitioner hath adheared to the Kings fforces in the late warre 

 against the Parliament by whiche means hee is become a delinquent 



