The record-union., 1891-12-05
Especial Correspondence of the RECORD
UNION. Copyright, 1911

Especial correspondence of the REcoRI
UNION. Copyright, 1911
CRowAN, Cornwall, Nov. %, 1891.
always love to come into rough and
hearty old Cornwall. Physically it has
two interesting aspects, the moorland,
mineland interior barrenness and the
weird and wondrous coastwise scenic
glory.
The moorlands stretch dolorously as il
IN boundless loneliness. The tors or hills
are bleak and bare. The whole face OF
nature seems torn and SCARED as if by tre-
mendous elemental struggles. Yet all
these caverns and chasms which disfg-
ure 1t were made by the hand of man. It's
granite, shale and slate hide copper, tin
and iron. For more than 1900 years its
surface has been cleft, and its depths
gored and bored, until its face is pitted
as If with extinct volcanoes.
Toward st. Georges Channel at the
northwest and the English Channel at the
southeast, Innumerable valleys and tiny
burns slope toward and cut through the
walls by the sea, every one discharging
umpld streams, which 90 whirling. foam
ing, or singing to the sea. Along the sides
OF these lovely cOmbes are the quaint old
homes, the rich acres, ,sthe ample rickS OF
grain and the sleek herds of the sturdy
farmers of Cornwall. Tramp these coast
roads but mile you suddenly stumble
upon these lovely Yales-the stream and
the farms half hidden by glorious foliage
uottlng the sides far up the combe as eve
can reach; here rumbling old mill
Jhere nesting church.; below you the
quaint Old village; beyond, the tiny haven
sklrted by the homes of fishers and
speekled by queer fishers crafts; fur
tner, the tide pIowing up between mas
slVe haven walls, or a stretch of low-tide
rock and drift, and at last the bright blue
sea.
SO there are three kinds of folk and life
an Cornwall. The mines and miners
largely occupy the barren interior. Be-
tween these and the coast are the farms
ana farmers OF the tiny combes and vales
And everybody on the coast is a fisher
man, flshWife, or in some way profits
from the endless harvesting of the deep,
4 ct these Cornish folk are all one. They
are one in sentiment and tradition: in
everyday life and custom; in ceaseleSs la
Dor and integrity; in countless quaint and
curious superstitions: IN dislike and dis
trust OF every English person and thiue
outside Of Cornwall; and they are one in
an almost universal piety They are
nearly all Methodists of the first. firm
sort. They are all God-fearing, spook-
believing, hOnest-dealing folk, who be-
l1eve that liquor is as good for the body
as IS religion for the soul. scrimpinn
neither, indulging in neither to excess
and, wlthal, savoring their rugged, ev-
eryday lives with mutual Ihelpfulness
that Is noble and generous hospitality
70 the right meaning stranger which
knows no bounds.
Having been much among these simple
ana sturdy people, | have been greatly
impressed by the often mournful and al
most stern manner in which their olden
customs are preserved. Change is un-
knoWn III Cornwall. 1t is regarded in the
nature OF deSecration. The chanpeless
pursuits of the people for thousands. not
hundreds, Of years, mining, farming and
hshIng, largely account for this. Besides.
Cornwall has few large towns. People
i've IN miners cottages, farm houses and
ishers' huts, which are huddled, by the
nalI dozen to, perhaps, score, in tiny
lamlets. In these Cornish life NAV be
seen to-day precisely as it has remained
Tor hundreds of years.
Perhaps there is no event among these
people more illustrative of character.
rats and the peculiar cherishing OF
mOuTnful customs than the Cornish fil-
neral. No work is done for half a score
Of miles roundabout on funeral days. All
together such Cornish crowds as the
burial of the lowliest man or woman of
cornwall. The assemblages never num-
Der less than many hundreds, and usu-
lily comprise many thousands of stCousin
Jacks as all Cornishmen are called, and
all call each other, while the burial of a
cornish farmer, miner or fisherman will
often attract far greater crowds than that
0f the greatest and noblest lord To Illus
orate this singular outpouring on funeral
occasions, IN 1870 the body of a PraZe
miner who had emigrated to Colorado
and had been accidentally killed in one
OF the mines of that State. was brought
back here for burial. The entire popuia-
ilon OF Cornwall is less than half mill
lon souls, yet more than 100000 Cornish
ok attended this funeral, or nearly ten
ZINES the number that gathered at the
funeral ceremonies of the late Lord St.
Aubyn.
Every little hamlet has its carpenter
and joiner. From time immemorial this
parsonage has possessed extraordinary
dignity from the fact that, by favor and
custom, he is also the undertaken. His
shop, which is also his home, where his
apprentice lives with him, is regarded
with extreme awe. It contains the s.fu-
neral tackle" the necessary implements
aof burlal, which have been handed down
through generations, and in whose nres-
and display extraordinary anxiety and
Pride. The people are universally super
ButlCus regarding all these articles. and if
any are accidentally seen living about
lhey exhibit genuine awe and fear. In
1act, they are intensely and hereditarily
Keen IN all death portents, attach the
greatest significance to the slightest
token, and, it is said, can ''smell a funeral
1rom Bodm1n to Penzance."
Az the discovery of the faintest aroma
OF CONN Varnlsh in any Cornish hamlet
everybody is astir. Men and women
rather IN the streets, and women rush
INTO each others houses with the well
come-mournful news.
"Oa, jimmy" the breathless visitor viii
gasp, "Tommy's (the joiner maxim a
box, you"
You" is added to nearly every CONVEX
satlonaI exclamation, inquiry, answer or
sentence, in Cornwall.
''Howst ee knaaw, your"
Cost ee smell un?''
The Joiner is quite as keen in keeping
informed regarding the progress of any
neighborhood illness, and is not likely to
oe caught unprepared when his services
are finally required, for there is not only
thirty shillings, or trifie over seven
american dollars, to be got for theord in
ary Cornish coffin, but death ushers in
he joiner's absolute reign for at least for
ty-eight hours. During that period he is
The undertaken, the greatest man in
Cornwall, and in ali commands and be-
hests no Gar was ever more implicitly
obeyed.
But he cannot provide against accidents
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