Author: William Henry Kearley Wright

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2018-02-09

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 9780656150984

Excerpt from The Western Antiquary, or Devon and Cornwall Note-Book, Vol. 1 Surrounded on three sides by the sea, their native population, as must ever be borne in mind, were able to preserve their identity as a branch of the Celtic tribal federation (if we may so call it), long after the Saxons, by advancing to the Severn, had cut them adrift from the parent stock of their race and nation. But centuries before this, another influence had been at work, the effect of which was altogether distinct from race influence, and was wholly internal in its nature and origin. The much coveted mineral wealth, which lay beneath the uninviting surface of their tors and moorlands, had brought them the knowledge of their own resources; had implanted in them an inducement to industry and energy. Which was all the more important since it was inseparably connected with intellectual acumen and scientific method, and had doubtless supplied them at the same time with no small portion of that culture, which was ever flowing northwards along the tracks of commercial enterprise. From these two causes, then, when taken together, has 'been derived, if I mistake not, an individuality more marked even than that which race alone can give; a pride of country and a love of home, in which subsequent settlers. - whether Saxon, French, or Breton - found themselves alike participators and, side by side with this, - as part and parcel of the common property of a blended people, - a mass of legendary lore, - a heritage of saints and heroes, giants and wizards, which all the while was a survival from purely Celtic times, a boulder of the bed-rock out of which the first natives were hewn, and which like the remnants of the ancient language has not yet quite crumbled away, but has left specimens behind to be gathered up still in the homes of the most retiring classes in the utmost corners of the land. Cornwall and Devon then, have a just and full claim to be treated by themselves, and in proportion to the number and variety of the individual interests with which their County Historians have had to deal, has been the number of those who have undertaken the task. No other English county can boast so many chroniclers as Cornwall can, and in addition to this, the transactions of the local societies, literary and scientific, in both counties, are exceptionable not merely in bulk, but in the quality and intrinsic value of their contents. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.