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)
Sir Kit died in 1829, unmarried, when the title became extinct, but his
memory continues green, if not sweet, in the minds of Cornishmen of the
parts where he ruled.
In 1806 one of the representatives of the borough was Arthur Wellesley,
the subsequent Duke of Wellington.
During eleven years, 1807-1818, there were _nine_ elections at
Mitchell. No event of importance occurred after 1818, except the
extraordinary and significant revelation made at the contested election
of 1831, when Hawkins, the nephew of Sir Christopher, got two votes;
Kenyon, a Tory, five; and Bent three. In the following year the five
electors of Mitchell found their borough disfranchised.
There were, when I visited Mitchell in 1893, two old men, brothers, of
the name of Manhire, one aged ninety-four, who could recollect the last
election, and could tell some good stories about it.
Trerice, the ancient seat of the Arundells, is near Mitchell, which,
it may be remembered, was made into a borough because completely under
their control. But their influence rapidly declined, and they lost all
power over the voters. The old house is converted into a farm, and
is no longer in the possession of the Arundells. Its fine carved oak
furniture was scattered.
More charmingly idyllic than Trerice is Lanherne, another seat of the
Arundells. Roger de Arundell was at home when the Conqueror came to
England. William Arundell had his lands forfeited for rebellion in the
reign of King John, but they passed to his nephew, Humphrey Arundell,
in 1216. His son, Sir Renfrey Arundell of Treffry, married the daughter
and heiress of Sir John de Lanherne in the reign of Henry III., and
since then Lanherne became one of the favourite family seats of a house
that acquired the baronies of Wardour and Trerice.
Lanherne lies in the loveliest vale in Cornwall, shut in and screened
from the blasts that sweep from the Atlantic. The old house was
abandoned in 1794 to the nuns of Mount Carmel, who fled to England
for refuge from the storms of the French Revolution. The front of the
mansion is of the date 1580, and is eminently picturesque. A modern
range of buildings has been added for the accommodation of the nuns,
but it is not unsightly. The lovely pinnacled tower of the church of
S. Mawgan rises beside the ancient mansion, at a considerably lower
level, and the interior is rich with sculptured oak, and with monuments
of the Arundells.
Alas! the mighty family that once dominated in Cornwall, second in
power only to the Princes of Wales, royal dukes of that duchy, is now
represented in Cornwall by empty mansions, alienated to other holders,
and by tombs.
The motto of the family is “Deo data--Given by God.” It might be
properly supplemented, If the Lord gave, the Lord hath also taken away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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