A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and CornwallBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
History
A book of the west. Volume 2, Cornwall : $b being an introduction to Devon and Cornwall
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Cornwall (England : County)
On the tower of S. Austell under niches are representations of S.
Samson habited as an archbishop--which he was not--and his disciple
S. Austell. The reason of his being represented as an archbishop is
curious. In 848 Nominoe, King of Brittany, determined to free his
country from being Frenchified, and he not only made it independent
of the Frank crown, but he also dismissed the Frank bishops from
the Breton sees, and filled their places with native prelates. He
also elevated the see of Dol into an archbishopric over all the
British-speaking races in Armorica. Now it so happened that there had
been a Samson of York, but he was never more than a priest, and he was
quite a different man from Samson, son of Amwn the Black, who settled
at Dol. However, because York was an archiepiscopal see, and a Samson
had once been there, it was supposed that he had been archbishop. Next
he was confounded with Samson of Dol, and it was pretended that he had
resigned York and come to Dol to set up his archiepiscopal see there.
This served quite well enough as an excuse for withdrawing Dol and all
the Breton bishoprics from allegiance to the Metropolitan of Tours; and
Dol was able to maintain itself as a Breton archbishropic till 1172,
that is to say, for over three hundred years.
Near S. Samson, or Golant, is Castle Dor, a very early fortification,
that was, in historic times, held by the Crown, and a castle erected on
the spot to keep the Cornish in order.
Fowey itself lies near the river-mouth; it much resembles a miniature
Dartmouth. Opposite the town opens the creek that runs to Lanteglos.
There were and are two castles, as at Dartmouth, commanding the
entrance to the harbour, but they are insignificant, and form no
feature of the scenery. Fowey is a curious, rambling place--one long
street twisting in and out among houses, commanded by Place, the
beautiful mansion of the Treffry family, that would have been entirely
beautiful but for absurd and tasteless additions. This stands on a rock
above the town, which is crowded below it.
The very fine church, with noble tower, is dedicated to, because
founded by, S. Finbar, afterwards Bishop of Cork. In 1336 Bishop
Grandisson rededicated the church to S. Nicholas. He sought
persistently to drive out the local and Celtic saints and substitute
for them such as were in the Roman calendar. But he has failed; the
Irish patron maintains his place. Finbar was a disciple of S. David.
His origin was not very creditable. He was the son of a noble lady by a
vulgar intrigue with a smith, for which both were sentenced to be burnt
alive, but the sentence was commuted to expulsion from the kingdom of
Connaught. Finbar’s real name was Lochan, but he received the other in
allusion to his fair hair.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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