Herm. 



141 



ment, and the very existence of a parish has long been for- 

 gotten. Apart from its ecclesiastical history the island is not 

 devoid of interest. Its name, if not of Celtic origin, may 

 possibly be connected with the Low-Latin word hernia— uncul- 

 tivated land. Mr. Tupper says, " from the same root is 

 evidently derived the French word ermite, and the English 

 hermit :" but this derivation is too ridiculous to need refutation, 

 hermite, hermit, eremita, &c, terms being, as everybody knows, 

 derived from the Greek word eremos — desert. The Governors of 

 Guernsey long enjoyed the privilege of hunting and shooting 

 in Herm, and the privilege was not formerly so barren as might 

 now be supposed. There were plenty of pheasants, partridges, 

 rabbits, and even larger game, such as deer and roebucks. In 

 one of the Governor's excursions, a sad accident occurred 

 in 1597, when young "Walter St. John, a connexion of 

 Sir Thomas Leighton, and his tutor Mr. Isaac Daubeney, were 

 drowned in bathing on the beach at Herm. Of the geology of 

 the island, its granite quarries and its copper mines, — of the 

 fauna or flora so interesting to the naturalist — I will not ven- 

 ture to speak in presence of so many better informed authori- 

 ties. 



One curious story I may add to what I have now said. 

 Some years ago the late Bailiff, Sir Peter Stafford Carey, being 

 on a visit to Herm, picked up an ancient gold signet ring, 

 which Mr. MacCulloch recognized as the signet of a bailiff who 

 lived in the middle ages. This interesting relic is now in the 

 possession of Sir Edgar MacCulloch. 



I will close what I have to say with a few notes upon the 

 sister islet of Jethou. Duke Robert of Normandy had given 

 the island to his Admiral Restald, and Restald, after becoming 

 a monk of Mont St. Michel, bequeathed the island to that 

 wealthy monastery, which by degrees obtained very large pos- 

 sessions in the islands. In these possessions they were con- 

 firmed by a brief of Pope Adrian IV. in the year 1155, and in 

 this document the Pope mentions the island of Jethou (or 



