The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the WestRogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
History
The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West
Rogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603; Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
It was this feeling which brought the hardy miners, and their
half-brethren the Dartmoor peasantry, with their clubs and bows up to
the gates of Exeter in sturdy remonstrance, and to leave their mangled
bodies afterward on Clyst Heath, when the Mass they were accustomed to
reverence was abolished from their sight in the rural sanctuaries
where they worshipped, during the days of the sixth Edward. It was
this that stirred their hearts, and sent their war-cry aloft, when
their countryman Trelawney stood in peril of liberty and life at the
hands of the sinister James. It was this unsatisfied yearning, stifled
while under the religious torpor which had settled over the
mid-Georgian era, that welcomed the evangelic cry of Wesley, when he
breathed over their valley of dry bones, and devoted disciples by
myriads sprang into new and spiritual existence, followed subsequently
by the kindred and scarcely less-fruitful mission of O'Brien, the
apostle of the north Devon hills; and later still with equal
earnestness, their recognition and steadfast adhesion to the
beneficent discipline of Father Matthew. The same earnest receptive
spirit has continued in them through all the centuries. In
emotive warmth of heart,--not altogether wanting in touch of
chivalry,--home-loving clanship of nationality, and kinship of antient
tongue, the Cornish hold much in common with the Welsh, Irish, and
Scotch; qualities on crossing the Cheviots, Wrekin, or Dartmoor, lost
altogether in the common-place, flavourless compromise called English
character.
Slowly we wend our way through the nave, and observe in addition to
the numerous carved bench-ends, the lower compartments of the antient
rood-screen (its stair-turret still exists in the wall of the south
aisle), all the upper portion having disappeared. The design of its
tracery is similar, and from this we assume that the edifice was
entirely refitted within, if not wholly rebuilt at the same era. But
the majority of the benches have suffered curious treatment at the
ingenious hands of the parish joiner, a generation or so since, when
these old solid structures were transformed into pews, by grafting on
them above slender deal continuations, furnished with doors. Then
unfortunately the carved edging around their ends was nearly all
cleared away, so as to form a panel at the base, and finished
afterward by the whole being "neatly painted and grained" to acquire
uniformity. The north aisle has a fine open-timbered waggon roof, the
dividing arches between the nave and aisles are composed of
granite--moor-stone as Polwhele delighted to designate it--ponderous
and strong, and these, coupled with the old sturdy oak praying-benches
beneath, convey a sense of reality and abidingness in work that
contrasts strongly with our modern flimsy imitations.
"See now, along that pillared aisle
The graven arches firm and fair;
They bend their shoulders to the toil,
And lift the hollow roof in air.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account