1865.] Hunt on British Gold. 637 



amount which will exceed the charge of refining and the loss of the 

 baser ore, it is called a rich ore, or a Mine Boyal, and is appertaining 

 to the king by his prerogative." 



A few further notes on gold seeking in the British Isles will not 

 prove uninteresting. In 1526 James V. of Scotland granted to 

 certain Germans the right of working, under conditions favourable 

 to the crown royalties, the gold and silver mines of that country for 

 forty-three years. Elizabeth had previously made similar grants to 

 Houghsetter, Thurland, and Schutz. In neither case, however, do we 

 learn of any gold mines having been discovered. In one part of 

 Devonshire those miners gave the names of " Gold Street" and "Gold 

 Field " to spots where lead and silver, but no gold, are still found ; 

 and it is probable that they worked over the valleys near North 

 Molton, in which the Britannia and Poltimore mines are situated. 

 A few years since these mines gave rise to poetic 'prospectuses, 

 speaking, almost singing, of " Pactolean streams flowing through the 

 lovely valleys of Devonshire," and holding out the hope of "a 

 realization of the fable of Colchis and the Golden Fleece." In 1593 

 James VI. of Scotland granted " Crawford and Glengomar to Thomas 

 Foulis, goldsmith, of Edinburgh, for twenty-one years, in con- 

 sideration of the great sums due to him, by his Majesty and his 

 dearest spouse." This grant had especial reference to the reported 

 discovery of gold in the Lead Hills district of Lanarkshire, and it 

 was hoped would pay off the debt, 14,594Z., due to the Edinburgh 

 goldsmith. We learn, however, incidentally from another authority 

 that " the king expended 3,000Z. on Crawford Moor and obtained not 

 quite three ounces of gold." Pennant, however, says, on what 

 appears to be very questionable authority, " in the reigns of James IV. 

 and V. of Scotland was procured in the Lead Hills from gold washed 

 from the mountains, especially in the reign of the latter, not less than 

 the value of 300,000Z. sterling." We are also told that a piece of 

 gold weighing thirty ounces was then discovered. Sir Bevis Bulmer 

 and five other gentlemen were empowered to work all the supposed 

 auriferous districts . of Scotland, and also the silver mine of Hilder- 

 stone, near Linlithgow, which was discovered in 1607. In 1616 

 Atkinson, a gold refiner, obtained a grant from the Privy Council, 

 which was confirmed by James, " to search for gold on Crawford 

 Moor, paying the king one-tenth." The inducements which were, 

 from time to time, held out to capitalists to embark in the great gold 

 adventure of the Lead Hills, clearly prove the unprofitable nature 

 of the search for gold. The most amusing— as showing how skilfully 

 the king and Atkinson ministered to human weaknesses — was an order 

 of council, instructing Atkinson " to move twenty-four gentlemen of 

 England, of sufficient land, to disburse 300Z. each," . . . .for 

 which they were to be created for ever " Knights of the Golden Mines." 

 Again and again the cry of gold has been raised, and the result has 

 ever been the same — renewal of a large expenditure of money, the 

 finding of but little gold. 



After the Lead Hills the most notable example of gold-seeking 

 has been in Ireland. In 1795 gold was picked up in the valley on 



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