[105] John Ruddle, or Rudall, A.M., was instituted Vicar of St. Mary Magdalene, Launceston, on Christmas Day, 1663, on which day he began his ministry. He is entered in the Visitation Book of 1665 as vicar, and in that of 1692 as curate. He became a prebendary of Exeter. On July 15, 1671, he married Mary Bolitho, a widow. He was buried on January 22, 1698. (See Appendix H.) [106] It is a question whether these documents ever existed outside Hawker’s brain. See note on p. 101. [107] See Vivian’s “Visitations of Cornwall,” p. 148. [108] For the pedigree of the family of Bligh, of Botathen, see Vivian’s “Visitations of Cornwall,” p. 38. William Bligh, baptized May 18, 1657, was the son of William, who was baptized June 9, 1633, and was, therefore, only thirty-two in 1665. According to ancestries given by Carew and Gilbert, it is probable that the Earls of Darnley are descended from the Blighs of Botathen. (See App. H.) [109] This is no doubt a mis-spelling for “Dingley.” A James Dingley was vicar of the parish of South Petherwin, where the ghost appeared, in the same reign, and assisted Parson Rudall in his ministrations at Launceston. The name Dingley exists in that town and district at the present day. [110] See p. 15. [111] The pentacle of Solomon. See p. 14. [112] Compare the lines on Merlin in “The Quest of the Sangraal”-- “He raised his prophet-staff: that runic rod, The stem of Igdrasil--the crutch of Raun,” to which Hawker appends the following note: “Igdrasil, the mystic tree, the ash of the Keltic ritual. The Raun, or Rowan, is also the ash of the mountain, another magic wood of the northern nations.” [113] See Appendix A_b_. [114] See note on p. 104. [115] Hawker was quite capable of submitting a poser of this kind to his own bishop, Dr. Phillpotts. It is on record that he once exorcised a rebellious vestry, but whether he obtained the bishop’s licence in this case is not stated. A RIDE FROM BUDE TO BOSS[116] BY TWO OXFORD MEN[117]