£74 PEN 
paintings; and in another room is a large aflortment of 
Roman antiquities, principally from the wall of Anto¬ 
ninus, and the neighbouring encampments. Clofe to the 
river, within the “ policy,” is Oflian’s Hall, the much ad¬ 
mired work of Runciman; andbehind the houfe is an exa< 5 l 
model of the celebrated Roman temple, called by Bucha¬ 
nan Templum Termini, which formerly ftood on the banks 
of the Carron, and which was known to the vulgar by 
the appellation of Arthur’s Oon. Here is likewife an 
obelifk, in honour of Ramfay the poet, who frequently 
refided at Penycuik, and is fuppofed to have laid the 
fcene of the Gentle Shepherd on the confines of this pa¬ 
ri fh and Glencrofs. About two miles from this feat, lower 
down the river, ftood the ancient caftle of Brunftone, the 
baronial manfion of the Crichtounes, fome ruins of which 
ftill remain. New-Hall, another refidence of the fame 
family, ftands three miles north-weft from the village. It 
is fuppofed to have derived its appellation of Netu from 
the circumftance of its occupying the fcite of an old re¬ 
ligious houfe. The name of New-Houfe, an inn on the 
lands of Spittal here, boafts a fimilar derivation, having 
been erected to fupply the place of an ancient hofpitium 
for the accommodation of travellers. Even at the prefent 
day, the weary and benighted traveller is confidered as 
entitled to fhelter and protection; and accordingly one 
of the out-houfes, at the Old Spittal, is ufually appropri¬ 
ated to that purpofe. Traces of feveral encampments 
of different forms and eras are yet vifible in this parifh. 
Ravens-Nook Caftle, fituatedon the Efk, belonged to the 
Sinclairs of Rofslyn. The government had converted 
the buildings of two large paper-manufaCtories here into 
depots forprifoners of war. 
According to the parliamentary returns, the houfes in 
this parifh amount to 309 in number, and the inhabitants 
to 1817. 
A foffil tree is in exiftence near the village of Peny¬ 
cuik, of which phenomenon the following defcription is 
given in a letter by fir J. S. Mackenzie, bart. inferted in 
Conftable's Magazine for Dec. 1818. “On the fouth 
bank of the river North Efk, a lnort diftance above the 
paper-mill at Penycuik, where the ftrata ufually accom¬ 
panying the coal-formation of this country are expofed, 
a large portion of the trunk and feveral roots of a foflil 
tree are vifible : it rifes feveral feet above the bed of the 
river, as far as the ftrata reach ; and the roots fpread 
themfelves in the rock. It appears as if the tree had ac¬ 
tually vegetated on the fpot where we now fee it. It is, 
where thickeft, about four feet in diameter. The ftrata, 
in which the remains of the tree ftand, are flate-cl3y, 
and the tree itfelf is fandftone. There is fandftone below 
and immediately above the flate-clay; and the roots do 
not appear to have penetrated ^the lower fandftone, to 
which they reach. Small portions of coal were obferved 
where the bark exifted, the form of which is fodiftinft on 
the foflil, that we may conjecture the tree to have been 
a Scotch pine. This conjecture may appear more proba¬ 
ble, from the roots fpreading more horizontally than 
thofe of other fpecies. There are feveral rents acrofs the 
trunk, which may have been caufed by froft.” 
PEN'ZA,a town of Ruffia, and capital of a government, 
near the Sura: 644 miles fouth-eaft of Peterfburg, and 
316 eaft-fouth-eaft of Mofcow. Lat. 53. 30. N. Ion. 45. 
41. E. ^ 
PENZAN'CE, a feaport and market-town in the 
county of Cornwall, and the molt wefterly town in Eng¬ 
land, is fituated on the north-weft fide of Mount’s Bay, 
287 miles weft-fouth-weft from London, and only ten 
miles from the Land’s End. It is particularly diftin- 
guifhed for the cheapnefs of its fifh-market, the mildnefs 
of its climate, and the fertility of the neighbouring lands: 
tIrefe circumftances have occafioned a confiderable in- 
creafe of population, by the influx of inhabitants from 
the adjacent villages. 
In the year 159s, the Spaniards difpatched four veffels 
from Bretagne, (of which they were then mailers,) to 
PEN 
invade the Englifh coaft. They landed near Moufehole, 
which they burnt, together with the church of St. Paul. 
Meeting with little refinance, they proceeded to Pen¬ 
zance ; and, the inhabitants deferting it, they entered 
the town in three places, and fet it on fire, after which 
they re-embarked. The returning courage and increafed 
numbers of the Cornifh, prevented the Spaniards from 
re-landing, and Penzance hasfince remained undifturbed 
by foreign foes. 
The parifh-church is fituated nearly at Madern, two 
miles from the town ; but there is a chapel of eafe nearer 
home, dedicated to St. Mary. There are various reli¬ 
gious denominations refiding here ; Prefbyterians, Qua¬ 
kers, Methodifts, and Jews, who have feparate places of 
worfhip. The government is veiled in a corporation, con¬ 
fiding of a mayor, recorder, twelve alderman, and twenty- 
four common-councilmen ; but fends no member to par¬ 
liament. Penzance is one of the four ftannary-towns of 
the Cornifh tin-mines; and the petty feflions for the 
weftdivifion of the hundred of Penwith are holden here. 
There is a charity-fchool endowed by John Buller, efq. 
of Morval, in 1711. The town is very pleafant, many of 
the houfes are large and refpeCtable, and moft of the ftreets 
are paved. A new pier, which Was ereCted by the corpo¬ 
ration fome years fince, affords much convenience to the 
confiderable trade carried on here, confifting chiefly of 
-tin, and the pilchard-fifhery. The packets, which form 
the principal mode of conveyance to the Scilly-iflands, 
fail from Penzance. By the cenfus of 1821, Penzance 
contained 5224 inhabitants. Among thefe are a great 
many good families of gentlemen, though in this utmofl 
angle of the nation; and the veins of lead, tin, and 
copper, ore, are faid to be feen, even to the utmofl extent 
of land, at low-water mark, and in the very fea. So 
rich, fo valuable, a treafure is contained in thefe parts of 
Great Britain, though they are fuppofed to be poor, be- 
caufe fo remote from London, which is the centre of our 
wealth. 
The method of layingand preffing their fifh, efpecially 
pilchards, is as follows: They pile them up on a bed of 
great length and breadth, indeed as long and broad as 
the houfe made for that purpofe will permit, and breaft- 
high ; then in the wall behind they have a hole, into 
which they thruft a rafteror poll of timber which reaches 
acrofs the bed of fifh, and on the other end of it hang 
one or two great ftones, with a great hook of iron 
fattened in them for that purpofe; of thefe holes and 
rafters they have many all along the bed, which keep 
down the boards wherewith the bed of fifh is covered, 
and fo prefs the fifh equally underneath the bed ; and 
they have a gutter to receive and convey the oil which 
is thus prefled out into a vefiel fixed in the ground at on® 
end of the building. 
In December 1797, there was found here a vein of 
the material ufed by the Chinefe in colouring their china- 
ware. A fpecimen of the fame compofition occurs on 
the Pentland hills, (fee p. 572.) which was fuppofed 
to be only one in Europe, or at lead in Great Britain. 
Here is a good market on Thurfday; and fairs on 
Trinity Thurfday and Holy Thurfday. 
About half a mile weft of Penzance are fome remains 
of the celebrated Wherry Mine. They are fituated in a 
part of the bay which is dry at low water, but covered 
by every returning tide to the depth of feveral feet. 
The peculiar fituation of this mine renders it an objeCl 
of curiofity, although the fhaft is filled up, and the 
frame-work nearly annihilated. When the works were 
in operation, the labour was extremely adventurous; 
the miners working at the depth of feventeen fathoms 
below the waves, nearly 120 fathoms from the fhore, and 
momentarily menaced with an inundation of the fea, 
which roared above them. The dangerous fituation of 
the fhaft, the injurious efteCt of ftorms and tides, and a 
partial failure of the lode, induced the proprietors to dif- 
continue working it in 1798. 
A large 
