In writing my Cornish Tales I have always endeavoured to pourtray the Cornish character in all its native wit and humour, for which the genuine west-country miners are so proverbial. And I have generally taken for the foundation of my Stories incidents which have really happened in the localities wherein the actions of my little dramas have been laid. The scene of my present story is laid in the neighbourhood of the Land's-End, and most of the characters were well-known there in days gone by;-the names only being fictitious. The fall of the horse over the cliff is still in the remembrance of some old people in the neighbourhood; and the circumstance is related by the Guides who shew the beauties of the Land's-End scenery to strangers. The marks of the horse's hoofs in the grass at the edge of the cliff are preserved to this day. The Wizard (or Conjuror as he was called) was a notorious character at St. Just, some fifty years ago; and the horrid murder related in these pages; and the mistaken identity of the guilty parties are also veritable facts.
Chapter 1 * * *
THE AWFUL RIDE.
See Page 49.
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PREFACE.
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In writing my Cornish Tales I have always endeavoured to pourtray the Cornish character in all its native wit and humour, for which the genuine west-country miners are so proverbial. And I have generally taken for the foundation of my Stories incidents which have really happened in the localities wherein the actions of my little dramas have been laid.
The scene of my present story is laid in the neighbourhood of the Land's-End, and most of the characters were well-known there in days gone by;-the names only being fictitious.
The fall of the horse over the cliff is still in the remembrance of some old people in the neighbourhood; and the circumstance is related by the Guides who shew the beauties of the Land's-End scenery to strangers. The marks of the horse's hoofs in the grass at the edge of the cliff are preserved to this day.
The Wizard (or Conjuror as he was called) was a notorious character at St. Just, some fifty years ago;-and the horrid murder related in these pages; and the mistaken identity of the guilty parties are also veritable facts.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown were well-known characters, and are drawn from real life.
This brief sketch of some of the scenes and characters to be found in this little volume may perhaps add an interest to it, and induce a large number of the lovers of Cornish lore to honour it with a perusal.
Plymouth,
March, 1871.
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CONTENTS.
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Chapter 1 * * *
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Chapter 2 MR. FREEMAN.
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Chapter 3 THE WRECK NEAR THE LAND'S-END.
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Chapter 4 ALRINA.
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Chapter 5 THE UNEXPECTED MEETING.
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Chapter 6 JOHN BROWN AND HIS FAVOURITE MARE JESSIE.
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Chapter 7 THE FAMILY PARTY.
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Chapter 8 MURDER MOST FOUL.
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Chapter 9 THE LAND'S-END CONJUROR.
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Chapter 10 LOVE AND MYSTERY.
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Chapter 11 ALRINA'S TROUBLES INCREASE.
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Chapter 12 FREDERICK MORLEY OBSTINATELY DETERMINES ON RIDING THE MARE.
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Chapter 13 THE AWFUL RIDE.
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Chapter 14 ITS CONSEQUENCES.
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Chapter 15 MRS. BROWN TELLS THE CONJUROR A BIT OF HER MIND.
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Chapter 16 THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER AT THE PENZANCE BALL.
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Chapter 17 JOSIAH'S ASTONISHMENT AT THE EFFECT PRODUCED BY THE DISPLAY OF HIS TREASURE-TROVE.
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Chapter 18 THE BORROWED FEATHERS OF THE PEACOCK FAIL TO CONCEAL ENTIRELY THE NATURAL PLUMAGE OF THE JACKDAW.
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Chapter 19 THE BIRDS HAVE TAKEN FLIGHT.
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Chapter 20 THE MYSTERIOUS ENCOUNTER.
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Chapter 21 ARISTOCRATIC CONNECTIONS.
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Chapter 22 THE LOVE-CHASE.
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Chapter 23 ALRINA'S FIRST LOVE-LETTER.
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Chapter 24 THE SECRET.
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Chapter 25 MAN IS BORN TO TROUBLE AND DISAPPOINTMENT, AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARDS.
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Chapter 26 RETROSPECTION AND RECRIMINATION.
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Chapter 27 SQUIRE PENDRAY GETS ON HIS STILTS, AND VIEWS LIEUT. FOWLER FROM A LOFTY EMINENCE.
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Chapter 28 THE STEP IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
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Chapter 29 BY DOING A LITTLE WRONG, A GREAT GOOD IS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE END.
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Chapter 30 MRS. BROWN AND MRS. TRENOW INDULGE IN A CROOM O' CHAT. WHILE CAP'N TRENOW GIVES SOME SAGE ADVICE IN ANOTHER QUARTER.
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Chapter 31 THE TWO SISTERS PIERCED THROUGH THE HEART.
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Chapter 32 OUT OF SCYLLA AND INTO CHARYBDIS.
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Chapter 33 ALRINA'S TROUBLES ARE INCREASED BY AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY.
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Chapter 34 ALRINA VISITS A KIND FRIEND AND MAKES A PROPOSAL.
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Chapter 35 CAPTAIN COURLAND'S RETURN AND HIS WIFE'S ANXIETY.
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Chapter 36 THE DESPERATE PLUNGE.
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Chapter 37 THE BROKEN REED.
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Chapter 38 JOSIAH'S LONELY MIDNIGHT WATCH IN THE CONJUROR'S HOUSE.
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Chapter 39 THE SEARCH.
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Chapter 40 THE UNEXPECTED MEETING AND MYSTERIOUS COMMUNICATION.
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