CHAXXEL PORTS— AXD SOME OTHERS 



been tenanted by saint and sinner, soldier, 

 monk, and knight. Dearest to the heart, 

 perhaps, is the story of Cormoran. whom 

 later Jack-the-Giant-Killer slew, dearest 

 perhaps because of the memories of a 

 little girl and boy who loved the story 

 long ago. We ought to prefer Saint 

 Keyne — but, well, Cormoran is so hu- 

 man. Can you see the one-eyed monster 

 playing "bob-button" with his friend, the 

 giant, on Cam Brea? And the huge 

 boulders they used for playthings ! Ah ! 

 Cormoran was a real giant then and in 

 his prime ; doubtless he had grown old 

 and weak and thin when Tack came. 



The mount belongs now to the St. 

 Aubyn family and Lord St. Levan admits 

 strangers quite graciously at suitable 

 hours. One may make a tour through 

 its rooms if one likes, but it is pleasanter 

 to sit among the grasses, where shy rab- 

 bits scurry to and fro, and read or dream. 



Besides its legends, the castle has much 

 real history, some of it martial. In the 

 War of the Roses Henry II entered it as 

 a pilgrim, held it as a soldier, while Per- 

 kin Warbeck marched toward London 

 claiming a crown : the "Fair Rose of 

 Scotland" sought shelter there : during 

 the Civil War Roundhead and Royalist 

 strove hotly for its possession. 



WHERE PIECHARDS BECOME SARDINES 



We may follow the coast-line eastward 

 and southward to the Lizard, passing the 

 great wireless station upon Poldhu, or 

 cut across the little neck of land to Fal- 

 mouth, a very fair harbor. Megavissey, 

 beyond, is but a fishing port, where — may 

 I hint it? — pilchards sometimes become 

 sardines ; but Fowey, to which we next 

 come, has considerable past importance 

 and present pride (see page 6). 



Once one of the great seaports of the 

 kingdom, boats from Fowey sailed by 

 scores to the Crusades, to the siege of 

 Calais, to the plundering of Normandy. 

 "Fowey gallants" swaggered on all the 

 then known seas, and when not busy with 

 strangers turned to trimming their rivals 

 nearer home. Finally, accused of piracy, 

 Edward IV confiscated their ships and 

 gave them to Dartmouth. 



What a blow to a port which had sent 

 more boats and men to support Edward 



III than an}' other in the kingdom! 

 Fowey never recovered from this crush- 

 ing injustice; but after a time she 

 turned to peaceful trades and welcomed 

 the stranger ships that she once barred 

 out, filling them with barrels upon barrels 

 of powdery china-clay. 



There are remnants of forts upon each 

 side of the harbor entrance, forts between 

 which a chain was slung each night. In 

 spite of the forts and the chain and a 

 castle on the hill, invaders got in, how- 

 ever, Frenchmen coming to avenge a fight 

 against a Genoese corsair in the hire of 

 the King of France, in which the "Fowey 

 gallants" seem to have had the best of 

 it. Do you know the ballad of "John 

 Dory," otherwise Giovanni Doria? 



The grappling hooks were brought at length, 

 The brown bill and the sword-a; 



John Dor}- at length, for all his strength, 

 Was clapt fast under board-a. 



FOWEY' S GE0RY G0XE 



That was in the days of good King 

 John of France (say 1350), and in 1457 

 comes the invasion ; and then, pouf ! adieu 

 to all Fowey's glory and hope. Once the 

 greatest port in the kingdom, she has seen 

 every rival outgrow her in favor and 

 prosperity. Probably the little town is no 

 larger today than then ; certainly the har- 

 bor is the same — close locked, deep, 

 smooth, shining sfreen surrounded with 

 steep tree-clad hills, and always boats 

 coming and going through the narrow 

 entrance, the entrance whose chain went 

 to Dartmouth along with the fleet ; boats 

 at anchor far out on the mirror-like sur- 

 face or tied up close to shore, the masts 

 and spars mingling in astonishingly 

 friendly way with trees or houses. 



There are no men-of-war among them 

 and no fishing-boats ! Make no mistake 

 there ! Fowey is furious if taken for a 

 fishing port. Peaceful merchantmen and 

 yachts, these fill Fowey harbor, make its 

 life. More than twoscore men-of-war 

 she sent to Calais — -770 men. How piti- 

 fully small are the figures today, when 

 one modern battleship requires a larger 

 crew than did that fleet 450 years ago. 

 Xo 50 ships of modern type could find 

 place in Fowey harbor today, but for 

 smaller craft — submarines, destroyers — it 

 affords admirable shelter. 



