Having completely lost his way, and as his tired horse could go no
farther, he stopped at one of the ancient crosses and dismounted. His
blood, however, began to freeze within him, and to try to save his own
life he killed his horse, and, cutting a great hole in its body, crept
inside. When daylight came in the morning, knowing he was dying, and
that some of the monks would probably find his body when they came to
the cross, he dipped his fingers in his horse's blood and scribbled on
the stone:
They fyrste that fyndes and brings mee to my grave,
The Priorie of Plymstocke they shall have.
His body was found by the "monks of Tavystoke," and buried in their
abbey at Tavistock; and from that time to the dissolution of the
monasteries the Abbey of Tavistock had possession of the manor of
Plymstock, Childe having no children to follow him.
We were sorry that we had been unable to explore Dartmoor itself instead
of only its fringes, so we decided to make an effort to see Dartmoor
Prison, which we were given to understand was only a few miles away. We
changed our course a little and passed on to Walkhampton, where we were
advised to follow the by-road above the Walkham river, from which the
village took its name, this being the easiest and most pleasant way.
Pages:
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122
1123
1124
1125
1126
1127
1128
1129