Plym, and close above it, there is also a pound, which is far more ruinous, and might easily be passed unnoticed. The former, however, is a prominent object which any ordinarily observant person would see at once on ascending the hill from Plym Steps towards Eylesbarrow. It struck me that this might be the object meant by the term "Plym Crowndel." In the "Carta Isabellae de Fortibus" one of the boundaries there mentioned is traced from Siward's Cross "et Gyllesburgh et Plymerundla ad Plymna," showing that Plym Crowndel lies between Eylesbarrow and the Plym. Etymology here seems to give material assistance, for both Kymric and Gaelic branches of the Keltic tongue contain words signifying circular or roundness, which closely resemble in sound the first part of the word Crundla or Crowndel. Thus, the Cornish for "round" is Cren, and for "rounded," Crúm, Crôm, or Croum. The Erse for "circular" is Cruin, and for "crooked," Crum. The Welsh for "round" is Crwn, fem. Cron. The ancient Keltic was mother of all these, but since it has long ceased to be a living tongue, we must consult the daughter-tongue which most nearly resembles it. It is an ascertained fact in Philology that a language will undergo far less change in the course of time, if spoken by a fixed, compact, and numerous people who have comparatively little intercourse with surrounding peoples, than if spoken by nations or tribes who are fewer in numbers, and especially if commercial intercourse with their neighbours is more active. I adhere, therefore, to the opinion, which has guided me in former papers when suggesting etymologies for ancient place-names on the moor, that in the Welsh tongue we are far more likely to find that the sounds of words preserve those of the ancient mother-tongue more accurately than in most of the other Keltic languages. And since the names of many objects and places, especially in a wild district like Dartmoor, were first given in very ancient times, it is only reasonable to search for their meaning in the most archaic form of the old language now existing. Mr. Spence Bate noted that on the Tavy, a short distance below Tavistock, is a place called Crowndale; and I would add that in the "Carta Isabellae de Fortibus," among the bounds of the Manor of Cullompton is one called Crundla. This last name does not seem to have survived locally. It appears not unlikely that the name of each of these places may have had a similar origin to Crowndel or Crundla, in the Plym Valley. Ever since 1608 Erme Head has been looked upon as the Grimsgrove of 1240; and the next bound mentioned in the 1608 document, and by some of the witnesses subsequently, is Plym Head. On this point, the opinion of that veteran of the moor, the late Rev. J. H. Mason, of Widecombe, was as follows: "The boundary line could never be from Ermehead to Plymhead. No man on horseback could get to it. I imagine, and I speak from local knowledge, that the forestbounds were fixed that they should be approachable on horseback." (Devon. Assoc. vol. xi. p. 375.) In the evidence of Anthony Torr (column 22), he professes to give with great exactness the forest bounds in this district, inserting five places between Erme Head and South Hessary Tor, apparently the "heads" of brooks; but entirely omits two bounds which are quite certain, viz., Eylesborough and Siward's Cross. I fear his glibness arose from a deliberate attempt to mislead. The first he gives, Woodlake Head, may represent Plym Head; the second, Fox Tor Head, would be the source of one of the Swincombe affluents which arise west of Fox Tor; the third, Reddicliff Head, might be another affluent of the same river, which arises S.E. of Siward's Cross; the fourth, Stevon Head, the source of Newleycombe Lake (Nillcombe Brook), west of the same cross; and the fifth, Harborlake Head, Harter Brook which joins the Meavy near Black Tor. SIWARD'S CROSs is the next bound to Eylesborough. The name is given in Risdon as "Silward," by Hoker as "Sylward," and in the 1608 document as Seaward's Cross. In 1699 it appears as Nannecross," and in 1826 as "Nunscross." What the origin of these last two names was is a mystery, and the same remark applies to the name "Neru," which is mentioned by Mr. Bate in Devon. Assoc. vol. iv. p. 534. SOUTH HESSARY and NORTH HESSARY tors are the two next bounds, called in 1609 Little and Great Hisworthie respectively. The older names vary considerably in spelling, and perhaps the most interesting of them is that entered on the ancient map, viz., Heghysfoder, the first syllable of which, Hegh (=high), occurs also in Heghstone, or Heighstone, mentioned earlier in the paper. MYSTOR, or Mistmore, is one of the finest hills on the moor. That the summit of it was the boundary is shown by the mention of "Mistor pan" in several of the records, beginning with that of 1408, this being the name of a large rock-basin on the top. In the older records no bound is mentioned between this and North His worthy tor, but in 1702 two witnesses mention "Rundlestone," and "Fice's Will," or "Fitzwell." The former of these is just on the line of the boundary, but the latter is nearly half a mile within the line. MEWYBURGHE is the next bound in the 1240 perambulation. The variations in its spelling in some of the records are rather eccentric. In 1608 this name had been lost, but the jurors concluded that the place meant was one known to them as "Dedlakeheadd." In one record (no. 14) this appears as "Due Lake head," and in no. 20 Dedlake Will (= well) is given. I have stated reasons (Devon. Assoc. vol. xxi. p. 168) for concluding that the strong aboriginal camp on the summit of White tor, near Cudliptown, was the original Mewyburghe, and in the same paper pointed out that the next bound, LULLINGESFOTE, the various names of which in the early records all end in fote or sete, could not well be the top of the hill, known in 1608 as "Luntesborowe," and since then as Lunsborough, Linsborough, Limsborough, and, in 1826, also as Huntsborough. Since fote means the foot of the hill, the bound known as Lullingesfote was in all probability at or close to Bag tor, a small (= Bach) rocky elevation a mile or more west of the summit of Lints, or Lynch, tor, as the hill is now called. In one record (no. 20) "Whitaborough is inserted as a bound between Dedlake Will and Linsborough. This is a tumulus close to the Lich Way, and is called "White barrow" in the new Ordnance map. RAKERNESBROKYSFOTE, Rakilbrokesfote, or Rattlebrook foot, is the next bound to Lullingesfote in the 1240 records. In 1608, however, and since then, a small affluent of the Tavy, called "Wester Redlake," was interpolated, and in 1826 a portion of the Tavy also is said to form a part of the Forest limit. The same remarks will apply here as in the case of the Erme river (see page 426), for if these had formed a part of the boundary in 1240 they would have been clearly indicated in the precise Latin of the document. It is evident that then the line of perambulation went direct from Lullingesfote to the point of confluence of the Tavy and the Rattlebrook, and the evidence of the old map affords further proof of this. The latter stream limits the Forest for two-and-a-half miles, and the boundary, from its head to the ford (Cullever Steps) over the E. Ockment, on the east side of Halstock Down, was discussed by me in a paper in vol. xxii pp. 192-195; my conclusions being that "Forstand ledge" is the same as the WESTSOLLE of 1240; "Yestor," the ERNESTORRE of the same date and the Steinegtor of 1608; and SANDYFORD, the ford over the Blackaven, half a mile or more below the old clapper bridge near East Mil tor. In 1826 Mr. Burt quoted Mr. Shillibeer to the effect that "High Willows" (High Willis) and "West Mil tor" were then looked upon as bounds. The same authority evidently considered Sandyford, or Langsford, to be a ford over the West Ockment, and thus has helped to perpetrate that error until the present time. He also speaks of Sourton tor, or Stenaker tor-called, he says, in the 1786 perambulation, "Steynskatorr"-as a bound; but the present Sourton tor is two miles outside the Forest. Between the HOLSTOCK FORD and Cosdon there is no bound mentioned in any record except that of Mr. Shillibeer. If the jurors went direct from the one to the top of the other, as was most probably the case, they would cross the intervening ridge between the two highest rock-piles of Belston tor, which is exactly the line of what is called "Irishman's Wall." Is it not possible that this ruined stone fence was originally intended to mark the true Forest boundary, notwithstanding the common belief (mythical?) that it is the remains of a newtake boundary, put up by certain encroaching Irishmen, whose wishes were frustrated by the aggrieved inhabitants of Belstone and the district round. "DICK OF DEVONSHIRE."1 A REVIEW WITH EXTRACTS. BY REV. D. P. ALFORD, M. A. (Read at Plymouth, July, 1892.) THE drama in England, as in ancient Greece, burst into flower, bloomed, and began to fade, all within fifty years. From the appearance of Marlowe's Tamburlaine in 1587, for fifty years, the whole world's store of adventure was ransacked to supply our English playwrights with a sufficient variety of plots. As Heywood said, in 1627: "No history We have left unrifled; our pens have been dipp'd Dramatic genius was full to overflowing amongst us during those fifty years. There was even a careless wastefulness of labour, so that many a writer, unequalled since that fruitful time, poured forth excellent works for the passing gratification of the playgoers, without any thought of future fame. Thus, of the 220 pieces wholly or chiefly written by Shakespeare's fellow-actor, the admirable Thomas Heywood, only twenty-five have come down to us. Some of these heavy losses have been recovered in our own time; and, amongst others, the pleasant and vigorous tragi-comedy, Dick of Devonshire, which is founded upon the familiar exploits of our local hero, "Manly Peek," of Tavistock. I need hardly remind you that Richard Peek, being a gentleman of Tavistock, joined the expedition against Cadiz in 1625 as a volunteer; that when the fleet sailed home again with little credit, Peek stayed behind and won much personal glory by 1 All the extracts and most of the notes were made when Mr. A. H. Bullen kindly lent me his copy of the play three years ago. |