THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 
217 
stance ; but I am convinced that this has simply arisen out of the 
corruption of the Kornu-British Pen-y-craes — "the head of the 
cross," probably referring to the crossing of two tracks or roads. 
On the other hand, though there is no distinct proof (unless the 
inscribed stone at Yealmpton be taken into account), both Plympton 
and Yealmpton may have been seats of the Keltic Church ; and 
we cannot believe that so wide, if so sparsely populated, an area 
was without some. 
There are two or three interesting facts indicated by the stock 
returns of the Exeter Domesday. Rather over a third of the manors 
have no stock stated, and therefore were purely arable. Sheep were 
the most numerous class of farm animals, then as now ; but there 
were large numbers of half-wild swine among the woods ; and 
goats were fairly numerous on the uplands, by the coast, and in this 
immediate vicinity. Thus there were goats at Bickham, Bickleigh, 
Beer, Coltrestan, Cornwood, Lipson, Newton Ferrers, Rame, Stoke 
Damerel, Tamarlande, Weston Peveril, Widey, and Whitleigh. 
Swine are entered at Bickham, Bickleigh, Beer, where there were 
enough to give occupation to three swineherds ; Blackstone, which 
had one swineherd ; Buckland Monachorum, Brixton in Shaugh, 
Coltrestan, Compton, Cornwood, Yealmpton, Feniton, Goosewell, 
Langdon, Meavy, Membland, Natton, Newton Ferrers, Stoke 
Damerel, Staddiscombe, Tamarlande, Tor, Torry, Collaford, and 
Weston Peveril. Cornwood had also three wild horses, the 
ancestors of some of our Dartmoor ponies. 
Our local examination of Domesday might be carried much more 
into detail, but I must not trespass further on your patience. In 
enquiries of this character we can only hope to approximate to the 
truth, and u:ay well be satisfied if our main conclusions can be 
regarded as correct. I trust that the attempt now made for the 
first time, by the aid of the great Norman census, to bridge over 
the gap in our local history, which here, as elsewhere, yawns 
between the region of pure inference and the domain of stated fact, 
may not have been without interest, and may be at least of some 
value as an aid to future investigators. 
