altered. We were told that above the hall at Cullacomb was a fine ball-room, to which all access was lost by the falling away of the staircase. How just the supposition might be, we cannot say; certain it is however that there appears space enough in the roof to have contained many noble apartments. The curiosity of the apprentice boys. it seems once led them to explore this forbidden ground; they ascended by a hole in the ceiling of their bed chamber, and proceeded some way crawling along the frail rafters on their hands and knees, and admiring the beautiful white ornaments which they aver are still to be found in the "ball-room;" at last the cracking of the wood-work beneath them, and the fall of some rubbish, frightened the explorers, and they were glad to make a hasty retreat to their snug roosts below. The house once formed three sides of a square around a court-yard; of one of the wings not a vestige remains ; the other is now in picturesque ruins, with fine elder and ash trees growing in the once dainty parlours. While making a slight sketch of the front of the house, I was amused by seeing a number of calves frisk out of the porch, followed by the servant with their daily food, who had a difficulty in keeping their frolics within due bounds in the deserted court-yard. It is melancholy to reflect on the decay and neglect to which this fine old mansion is doomed. As usual in these antiquated residences of our forefathers the barns and out-houses form a kind of * "In 1448, Thomas Tremayne and his wife Elizabeth had a license granted them by Edmund Lacye, bishop of Exeter, that they might have divine service celebrated in their presence, within their mansion of Cullacomb." (We should hence infer that the remains of a chapel might still be discovered at Cullacomb;) they also caused two windows to be made with painted glass, at their cost, one at Sydenham Damerel, and the other at Kelly, where their arms remain impaled. bulwark to the principal edifice. From the entrance gates a double avenue of trees can be traced which extended for a considerable way for the dames and squires, who once paraded in state beneath their leafy shades.-The present approach is anything but approachable; (to make an English Bull;) it is down an almost perpendicular field, through a stream of water, and over a dry ditch, which in winter forms an almost impassable barrier. This is the "best road"! another, calculated only for foot passengers, leads us by the neat dwelling of Bellegrove, where in early childhood I have gathered the only wild cowslips to be found in the neighbourhood. We return again to Lamerton passing the clergyman's residence of Campel Haye, and observing at a short distance the house belonging to the family of Nicholas Rowe, author of the Fair Penitent and poet Laureate, in the time of Queen Anne; the poet himself was born in Bedfordshire. To vary our walk in returning we may leave the high road by Marl-mead, and cross some fields to Hurdwicke, (which estate adds the title of baron to the noble name of Bedford, as before mentioned ;) or we may visit the sequestered valley of Ottery, in which are the most valuable slate quarries in this neighbourhood. One quarry is now filled with water, and forms a deep pond, this with the adjacent brook, and overhanging trees, presents a sweet scene of quiet retirement. At some distance, near the banks of the Tamar, is Woodovis, the residence of William Morgan Esq.-where is a noble colony of rooks. SEVENTH WALK. WHEAL FRIENDSHIP. "From the depths of Mother earth Then erect with honest pride; Native ore from Truth's dark mine, Thus, without alloy, they shine. Strong of frame, in stature tall, Who can stand them.-' One and All' ?" M. S. MAY mention one more visit of interest in the neighbourhood of Tavistock, which may be accomplished in a walk, and this is to the long celebrated and productive copper mine of Wheal Friendship. If in summer, I should advise the pedestrian to choose the old Exeter road, (from which many pretty peeps are gained of the surrounding country,) he may thus avoid the glare and dust of the newer road in the valley. An antiquarian may be pleased to remark the traces of an encampment, in some fields behind Parkwood. Proceeding by the natural terrace, overlooking Hazeldon, he again passes the village of Wilminstone, and traverses the beautiful shady lane which leads through the farm of Wringworthy. During the late storm (in the Christmas of 1841) the ravages in this spot were quite fearful. The bourn which generally flows so peacefully through the valley, overleaped its banks and in one half hour presented all the appearance of a lake; the meadows were completely flooded, the tops of the hedges being alone visible. The water entered the house, to the terror of the inhabitants, who had great difficulty in saving their live stock of cattle and pigs. The picturesque old bridge over the brook lost its support on either side, and now stands in imminent danger of falling into the destructive element. Leaving Wringworthy, we emerge into the high road, and ascend a long hill which leads by the cottages of Lane-head, to our place of destination. Can any scene be more desolate than the one now presented? The frowning and arid waste of Black-down is broken by immense heaps of refuse thrown up from the depths below. A few bare unsheltered cots of the miners only serve to exhibit still more plainly the dreary aspect of the spot. We descend into the deep excavation which marks the site of the mine. All the business above ground is here industriously proceeding. The mighty steam engine with its steel works as bright as any drawing-room grate, is for ever raising and depressing its heavy arms, one bearing a ponderous weight of stones, the other drawing from below the superfluous water, which would otherwise fill up the recesses of the mine. This place was honored some short time since by a visit from many of the Literati who attended the British Association at Plymouth. They came (270 in number) in vehicles of all descriptions, making the town of Tavistock quite gay in their brilliant transit, and spent the day in exploring the wonders of the mine. Good cheer was amply provided for them by the orders of the active Secretary of the Association, and the enlightened director of the principal mines in the West of England, John Taylor, Esq. N The mine that day presented great interest to those who love to look upon the great and learned of the earth. Here might be seen a set of engineers admiring the workmanship of the above-mentioned steam engine, or peering into an immense iron cylinder, which was lying on the ground prepared to be used as one of the boilers. Now they marched towards the largest water-wheel in the kingdom, which is 150 feet in circumference, 50 feet in diameter, and 11 feet across the hoop, turns the works, and assists in drawing the ore from the mine. A shed protects the wheel from the storms of winter, or other injury within its gloomy shades I have stood with awe and delight, watching the solemn progress of the gigantic machine, and admiring the small rainbows formed by streams of sunshine gilding the falling water which in its rapid course throws a perpetual shower around. A group of mineralogists stood amidst the busy sifters and cleaners of the ore, (women and boys who perform this lighter work,) seeking to discover some specimen which might prove of value to their far-off collection. A green bag slung at the back, generally secured their valued treasures. The geologists with hammer in hand, stood with delight before the strata laid open to their view, seeking by their own labors to establish still further some favorite theory, or crude hypothesis. One of these terrestrial inquisitors bought the large unwieldy hammer of a knocker of stones by the way-side, giving double its value, and finding it in the end almost too weighty for his purpose. Some of the most adventurous spirits descended the deepest shaft of the mine (which is 200 fathoms below the surface of the earth,) in workman's attire. One fastidious beau was hesitating as to the best mode of conveying the candle which he was to take with him to the depths below. "Us carries un 'tween our teeth, or sticks un in our hair,” observed a wag amongst the Cornishmen hard by-"Then I must |
