356 SPRING MEETING. 



They had secured a hard-working man and one who would confer 

 honour on the office. In the name of the Society he offered a 

 hearty welcome to the new President. 



The Rev. S. Baring-Gould thanked the members for their kind 

 welcome. He could assure them it was the greatest possible 

 pleasure to him to be amongst Cornish people and to speak to them 

 on a subject very near his heart — the early History of Cornwall, — 

 of which so little was known. 



At the conclusion of the President's Address (given in 

 extenso in the following pages), Mr. Thurstan C. Peter, on 

 questions being invited, said he did not think anyone would ask 

 anything on the encyclopaedic paper which had occupied such an 

 area of time and country, for the president had gone from earliest 

 days down to modern times. It was one of those most valuable 

 papers which they would be delighted to see printed in the Journal. 

 He proposed that the cordial thanks of the Institution and of the 

 ladies and gentlemen present, be given to the President for 

 his address. This was seconded by Mr. Collins, and carried 

 nuanimously, the President suitably acknowledging the compliment. 

 The following papers were also read. 



"The House of Godolphin," by Mr. G. E. Hadow, M.A., 

 M.B.J "The Cornish Domesday and Geld Inquest," by Mr. H. 

 Michell Whitley, F.G.S.; "Notes on the Fauna of the Neighbour- 

 hood of Falmouth, for 1897," by Mr. Rupert Vallentinj "The 

 Garland Barrows," by Rev. R. Prior, M.A. 



The Rev. W. lago exhibited a stone tablet of small size, 

 illustrated by a diagram on a large scale, for the purpose of clearly 

 shewing its peculiar incised markings. The stone was found in an 

 old hedge in the village of St. Lawrence, in Bodmin parish, where 

 stood the Lepers' Hospital in mediaeval times. The age and 

 purpose of the tablet are unknown, and opinions on both points 

 were invited. The stone was kindly lent for exhibition by Mr 

 Sibly, to whom it belongs. The tablet is of slate, and it is 

 incised with four columns on each face, each column containing 

 symbols of various forms, many of which are repeated. It is 

 intended to publish an illustration of it in the Society's Journal, 

 with any notes that may tend to throw light on the meaning of the 

 characters, which are in the form of scorings and picture-writing. 



