Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Second SeriesBottrell, William
General
Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Second Series
Bottrell, William
Cornwall (England : County) -- Social life and customs; Legends -- England -- Cornwall (County)
The gentlemen were introduced and walked together to Treen.
By the way M. Ivan related how curiosity had led him to visit
Treen, and that he was, on the whole, gratified with his visit,
though quite taken down in his exaggerated ideas (as transmitted
by family traditions) of their former importance here; and thought
the foregoing tragic story, which the old man related in part, just[129]
as probable a reason for his ancestor's departure as that of religious
persecution; yet he believed they were always attached
to, and held, the old faith. When they arrived at Treen he
handsomely rewarded the intelligent old guide, and was about to
leave when the preaching gentleman proposed for M. Ivan to
take tea with him at the house where he put up. The invitation
was accepted, and he was regaled with bread, cream, and honey—the
produce of what was once his family's acres.
Mr. Richard Edmonds remarks that "Treryn Castle, Maen
Castle, Chûn Castle, Castle-an-Dinas, and several other cliff-castles,
and hill-castles, in the Land's End district, have been in
existence probably between two and three thousand years. And
Treryn Castle, with its high massive vallum, deep ditch, and the
foundations of its stone wall, twelve feet thick, presents so little
temptation either to the agriculturist or to the builder, that its
existing remains, vast as they are, need no Society's protection
for their continued duration for generations yet to come.
All castles, of course, do, or did once contain dwellings of some
kind for their occupants. But the low huts which once stood
within the castles near Penzance (although considerable remains
of such dwellings in Chûn Castle were extant in Borlase's time)
have now almost everywhere disappeared. It was not, however,
from these rude huts, but from the fortifications enclosing them,
that our very ancient castles derived their name; and not one of
them, at the present day, appears more worthy of being thus
called than at Treryn Castle."
[130]
Castle Treen and its Legends.
"I cannot tell how the truth may be,
I say the tale as 'twas said to me."
Scott.
OLD traditions say that the headlands of Castle
Treen, or rather Trereen, on which the Logan
Rock carn and adjacent crags stand, was raised
out of the sea by enchantment. This portion of
the stronghold, enclosed by the inner line of
defence, running directly across the isthmus, is generally spoken
of as The Castle, and that between it and the outer or landward
embankments is usually called Treen Dynas.
The Key of the Castle.
It is not known what powerful magician raised this giant's
hold, though it was believed that its security depended on a
magic stone called "the key of the Castle," respecting which
Merlin had something to say, as well as about many other remarkable
stones in the neighbourhood. Castle Treen, however,
must have stood where it is long before Arthur and his magician
visited West Cornwall.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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