312 N A T U R A L M l s T O R Y
courts, privileges' ö f ' exêrcifihg tradès',' rb f ' e l e ö ^ officers withui
their own diftriét, and-iïivèfled with the propert?y»of lands/* mills;
& r s , & c. paying‘aqnüally ai c®rtaiU’-'‘©hief Or fee-farm rent; ’ Hipit
o f ffiem' pafté-»of J b r ancient demefnes o f'th e Crown,
and had bèën ‘either ih - ffie^ ów n ®r dan the iRoyakBlood feoih the
Norman conquèft ', and by paffitïg to and from the Grown often,
and tbëir: privileges conftandy referved- and confirmed at ievqry
transfer, thefe towns had acquired a; kind of nominal dignity,
but were in every other light incofffidbraMe, aMdmO 'Wayréntided
to the powfet o f fending members to Parliament, much lefs in preference
to fb many more-populous communities, k the other parts
o f England.
sECT.xvi.f The chief trade in Cornwall confiffi in exporting tin, copper,-and
Trade. fiib, and the principal imports are timber, irony hemp* and fuch
other neceffaries as- mining andrfiffiirigr reqiikev ^ h e Cornifh had
a privilege granted by Charles thé firft, for their Rfeady?- afetafch#nent
to the royalcaufe, o f trading to all parts o f the world’1 ; ^privilege
o f more credit than profit, fince trade has been fettered and fo üon-
finpfl to exchifive companies; this höwever can be<no excüfè for. that
dangerous abufe o f trade, called fmuggling. T he common ipeppte
on the fea-coaft are, I t muft be owned; too much addiéted toicarry
off our bullion to France, and bring us back nothing but. brandy,
tea, and fome other'luxuries o f life ; nothing can beïffieff&'peffiiëi1-
ous to the intereft o f this county, as WeH as the- kingdom in -generalj
or to the conftitutions o f the inhabitants: the mfedtion ié fptéad
below the rank o f birth and fortune; there is not the pooTeft family
in any parifh which has not its tea, its fnuff, and tobacco, and
{when they have money or credit) brandy, ^ndi it is greatly ;to;be
feared that this deftruaivê trade will not icettfetasdangJas 'ttfeidolies
are fo high, and confequendy th e‘ profit o f clandeftinely importing
foreign uncuftomed goods fb great and tempting.
SECT.xvn. The Cornifh tenants ufually chufe not to hold lands at a rack
Camifh te-or yearly rent, but to pay a fine, and take lands of the Lord of the
Soil, for the term of ninety-nine years determinable with the lives
o f three perfbns named in the grant or leafè. This method of
taking, they feem to have been inclined to, firft> becaufe their
general turn being to mining, farmery is not fo well underflood
here as in other parts ; fecondly, becaufë the profits of mines and
fifhing come by flarts, and after a 1 lucky year, the owner not
knowing well the management of cafh, chufës tp have fome certain
1 Once only excepted, when Pierce Gavcfton for a fcort time,
was by the favour of Edward H. Earl of Cornwall ï. Camden, Annot. page 8.
income
income aqd, leaflet (hould, a!p improper s chapel, he
depofits it wijd? his d an d^ ^ ra^d^ith?r, Ja^es a new leal£ op renews
his old one; ^thirdly, tfie 1 numbers of peqplé olj the fea^epaff, apd
in the tinning,parts i&qreitfipgj occafi^n the dividing gnd
Splitting large^pnementsy advantage of,-{he Lord,
-and the «onv^iency of hiss ; e f e & i a being willing to hay?
a; finall fharengf houfe ay^Ljaqd for^is.pwq fffe, aqd th%£ of his
neareft dependants:, in proportion to fji«- .a^ilit^i dïpr a Jgafp of three
lives, the taketl ufually pays fourteen p^rs value1 of the re^l anftpkl
profit of Md ^ftate, fo^tfiat if .the qftate is^örth uteppoufid«
tinnum^ the tenant will pot fcruple to give -qi^fhyndrecL ^ncf forty
pounds ,fip^|%efide®-the conyeédQii^ry, rent o f oqe fhillipg
pound, %)iz. -ten {hillings refetye-dannually tq the Lord; .but this
ufage adopts of fome a^atjemen^ if in, ^neighbourhood thinly inhabited)
and 4 weUsint(^ a confirmable lrtGreaft, , people"
a|e numerous, and .trade and employ, brifk that, in .feme' tipr
pariffies mofl tenements bring twenty yëars .value for §leafëbf tfiree
liv § | ,d o^ iip f f<^rtfcen. Other tenurefethsere^TOVhclfft^.Dutchy^
Bifhop’s lands, and private Gentlemens Manors, whichnre. qonformr
able Jo , the part^plaf cufloms (pf^ each manor, ks.ip oth§r parts o f
England, O f the Ecclefiaftical revenues, I find the.fqllpwipg calr
cnlatioh in Mr» Hals’s MS j but whether jufi pr dthgtwife, I am
not fufficiently informed to depide: “ Thg yearly, reyeüués qf the
parochial Chur^he^ ,-óf Cornwall, were computed |fays, Mr. Hals)
by^Edwfetrd Herle: ff^rideaux) JSfq;, jnij^e-year; f y oyy .
thoufaid fix hundred and twenty pounds ; jh e lay impropriations
annually at ejght thoukind two hundred pounds. The Lord -Bifhop
of.-this djpfiefè, is Lord ó f feveral manors apd lands
Worth annually^if they were not leafed, twelve thöirikw pounds;
the land§ which formerly belonged tp |el|^om^®feSj
are. worth annually twenty thouland pounds. In this computation,
chanteries, oratories, and hospitals are not included?’
I The Cornifh tongue is a dialed of that language which, till thes e , c t .
Saxons came in, was common to all Britain, and more, ancitatlv to JWsF*
T J j , « 1 . ‘ • ,’5| 1 • 4 -i fèi m the^ Cornifh Ireland and C au l; but the inhabitants of this illaed being d if t^ w 'Ë .
penedherore thoië conquerors, and driven into Wales and Cornwall) "ld
and thence into Bretagne in France, the fame language |as in like
cafes willjiglways happen), for^want o f more frequent intercQurfe)
became diffi^rendy pronounced,,^ioke,^ and written, and in different
degrees mixed with different languages; Hence came different dik-
leéts, one called the Welfh, the other the Cornifh, the lafl the
Armoric. The|jadicals are fb much alike jn.all, that they are
known and admitted by thé inhabitants of either eotmtry; but their
4 L Grammar