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)
Neidhe was now able to pronounce a _glam dichinn_, or curse. Here it
is:--
“Evil, death, and short life to Caier!
May spears of battle slay Caier;
The rejected of the land be Caier;
Buried under mounds and stones be Caier!”
Caier went out next morning to wash at the well, when he found that
boils and blains had broken out over his face, disqualifying him for
reigning, as a king must be unblemished. He accordingly fled the
country, and concealed his disgrace in the _dun_ on the Old Head of
Kinsale, and Neidhe took to him the wife and throne of his uncle. Caier
remained at Kinsale till he died, blasted by the curse pronounced by
the bard.
The saints did just the same, only not for such scandalous reasons;
they did it in the cause of humanity, and for the protection of the
weak against the strong.
But it will be seen, from what has been said, that the Celtic saint
was a very independent personage, and that he and the chief had their
separate residences. It will be found that usually a stream divided the
territory of the saint from that of the chieftain.
All this in illustration of Llan Stephan and Dunheved, the castle and
the church facing and glowering at each other from opposite heights.
Launceston Castle is Norman. That there stood here a castle in Celtic
times is certain; the name Dunheved indicates as much. The _heved_
in composition is a difficulty. Some suppose it a Saxon addition:
_haefod_, a head; but it is more probable that the whole name is
Celtic, and signifies the summer _dun_. _Hafod_ is a summer residence
in contradistinction to a _hendre_, which is that for the winter--the
old house, in principal use. The keep consists of concentric rings on a
mound natural originally, but much adapted by art. That the castle was
employed to dominate the West Welsh, first by the Saxons and then by
the Normans, is indisputable. It formed one in a chain of fortresses
employed by the Saxon kings, of which Warbstow and Helborough and
Killibury were others. That the garrison of Warbstow was composed of
Mercians is probable, as they dedicated their chapel to S. Werburga,
a Mercian princess-saint. Another contingent was planted at Wembury,
commanding Plymouth harbour, where also they introduced the same saint,
who really had no “call” to come into these parts.
The parish church of Launceston, dedicated to S. Mary Magdalen,
is a very interesting structure externally, of carved granite of
extraordinary but somewhat barbaric richness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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