CORNUBIANA. 85 



sulphate of barium. Its construction is as follows. The shaft 

 bends away from the top to the bottom, being smaller at the top 

 than the bottom. It is perfectly smooth, the obverse being 

 convex, and the reverse concave. Two handles, rudely carved, 

 connect the upper face of the pedestal, which is 3 inches by 2^, 

 forming an irregular triangle with the bottom. The upper 

 portion is perfectly plain, with two holes probably intended for 

 the retention of an image. The foot is hollowed, and is 3|- in. 

 by 2|- in., for here the pedestal expands. It weighs lOf ounces* 

 This was probably the pedestal for an image, and has been 

 stained with some black material. (Fig. 5). 



Legends which have taken a Concrete Form. 



Legends may be divided into two classes, those that exist 

 merely in oral tradition, and those that apply to some existing 

 memorial as a proof of their truth. It need hardly be said that 

 those of the latter class are quite as devoid of any real basis of 

 fact as the first. I subjoin three instances of legends which 

 have taken a concrete form (1). The St. Breage Churchyard 

 Cross. (2). Dane-wort. (3). The Mill-proo. 1.— St. Breage 

 Churchyard Cross is simply the rounded portion of a cross, from 

 which the shaft has been removed. It stands outside the south 

 porch of the church on a portion of slightly elevated ground. 

 Most of the Cornish crosses are formed of granite : this one is of 

 a kind of yellow sand-stone, and the legend runs that a great 

 battle took place by the barrow of sand near Grreat Work Mine, 

 between the Cornu-Celts and Saxons, and that so much blood 

 was shed that, when mixed with sand it coagulated into stone, 

 whence the cross was carved to commemorate the event. The 

 material of which the cross is composed certainly corresponds 

 with indurated sand-stone from the above sand-barrow, which is 

 locally known as " Sandy-Burrow." (2). The next legend is 

 that of Dane-wort, Wall-wort, or, as it is more commonly known, 

 dwarf-elder, the scientific name of which is JEhulus Samhicus. 

 It seems rare, as but three localities for it are given in Wuther- 

 ing's Botany, viz : Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire ; Q-oosegreen, 

 near Dalton, and Tamworth Castle Hill. To these a fourth may 

 be added, the Griebe, St. Erth, where it flourishes in great luxur- 

 iance. Tre^dition relates that close at hand, by the site of the 



