Near Cornwood is Fardell, once a manor of the Raleighs; and though Sir
Walter was not born here he undoubtedly paid the spot many visits. The
place is also interesting because of a stone discovered here, bearing
Ogham inscriptions supposed to prove the extent of the Irish invasion
somewhere about the sixth century, when Devon and Cornwall were
overrun by saints and chieftains from the green island. There are a
number of attractive manor houses in this part of the moorland's
fringe, together with some fine heights, such as Pen Beacon and Shell
Tor, rising to about 1500 feet. But there is no particular charm in
the china-clay works of Lee Moor--an industry which may be studied on
a larger scale in the St. Austell district of Cornwall. China-clay, or
kaolin, is a detritus of granite, much used for pottery and in the
preparation of calicoes; partly also for the supposed white sugar of
confectionery and in cheap adulterated flours. The neighbourhoods of
its workings are as white as those of coal are black, and in this
respect china-clay must be given the preference; but neither tends to
beautify a district.
[Illustration: A MOORLAND TRACK, THE DEVIL'S BRIDGE]
None of the lovely rivers already mentioned water a town of any great
importance; but when we come to the Plym it is different. The Plym is
not the most beautiful of Dartmoor streams, but it has given its name
to Plymouth, and Plymouth has imposed its own title on the three towns
which united form the supreme naval and industrial centre of the west
country. Other western seaports have decayed rather than advanced--they
have deteriorated at least in their relative importance; but Plymouth
has advanced and is still advancing. In no sense does it belong to
Dartmoor, but the Plym and the Tavy, whose waters go to swell Plymouth
Sound, are both genuine children of the moorland. The Plym, rising not
far from the Yealm, makes its way to its junction with the Meavy
through a grand ravine, overshadowed by the Dewerstone. Before
reaching the Dewerstone, however, the river passes under the Cadover
(or Cadaford) Bridge, and from this circumstance there has been some
dispute as to whether the true name of the stream should not be the
Cad. Carrington gave it this name, but he cannot be taken as an
authority; and it is probable that the _cad_ in Cadover is simply a
corruption of the Celtic word _coed_, or wood, and has nothing to do
with the river at all. From Cadover to Shaugh Bridge are some
wonderfully beautiful scenes, banks strewn with granite fragments
amidst tangled undergrowth. The Dewerstone towering above is
appropriately the haunt of a demon huntsman of the moors, who careers
abroad on stormy nights with his fierce-eyed baying wish-hounds.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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