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TEEGONNING HILL AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 

 Br THE Rev. S. BUNDLE. 



Tregonning Hill — a purple saddle-back projection of vast 

 proportions, — presents a fascinating subject for study. Our 

 interest cannot fail to be excited, when we consider its vast stores 

 of tin, and clay, and pinite of peculiarly large dimensions — its 

 hut-circles — its entrenched camps, and underground hollows — 

 its giants' well — its giants' lapstone, and all its legends of giants 

 and pisgays — its gal-gals or cairns, and various remains the 

 origin of which it is now impossible to discover — its tradition of 

 St. Breaca's visit, and her churches in " Talmennith et Trenewith" 

 — its conjectural appearance in Doomsday Book — the inspection 

 of its clay deposits by Mr. Cookworthy in 1 745-50 — its smug- 

 glers' caves, and its signalling-station and beacon erected in the 

 time of the last French war. Around it, or on it within a radius 

 of three-quarters of a mile are the sites or remains of seven 

 camps, whilst at the same distance a giant's holt or hold, and 

 two rude Latin crosses have been discovered. 



Like all lofty eminences Tregonning Hill has served as a 

 weather-guide to its neighbourhood. Old Saws, now obsolescent, 

 used to say :— 



" Tregonning Hill wears a cap— 

 Binner wood will care for that," 

 Binner wood a water-can — 

 Tregonning Hill '11 be a man." 



Binner Wood, about two miles off, has been demolished. 



I shall not venture to raise the " vexata questio " of Cornish 

 derivation by assigning a meaning to Tregonning. Mr. R. 

 Hunt says that both Tregonning and Oodolphin Hills have 

 given names to two ancient Cornish families. I am very 

 doubtful as to the correctness of his statement, as far as 

 Tregonning Hill is concerned. There is no Cornish family of 

 this surname with a pedigree. Col. Vivian in his Visitations 

 of the County of Cornwall makes no mention of any such 

 family, and gives only two persons with the surname of 



