]
The houses in Liskeard were built of stone, and the finest perhaps was
that known as Stuart House, so named because King Charles I stayed there
for about a week in 1644. This was of course in the time of the Civil
War, when Cornwall, as it practically belonged to the King or his son,
did not consider itself as an ordinary county, but as a duchy, and was
consequently always loyal to the reigning sovereign. It was also a
difficult county for an invading army to approach, and the army of the
Parliament under the Earl of Essex met with a disastrous defeat there.
But we must not forget the Holy Wells, as the villages and towns took
their names from the saints who presided at the wells. That of St.
Keyne, quite near Liskeard, is described by Southey:
A Well there is in the West Country,
And a clearer one never was seen;
There is not a wife in the West Country
But has heard of the Well of St. Keyne.
An oak and an elm-tree stand beside,
And behind doth an ash-tree grow,
And a willow from the bank above
Droops to the water below.
St. Keyne introduced the rather remarkable belief that the first of a
newly married couple to drink of the water of her well, whether husband
or wife, should in future rule the home.
Pages:
1131
1132
1133
1134
1135
1136
1137
1138
1139
1140
1141
1142
1143
1144
1145
1146
1147
1148
1149
1150
1151
1152
1153
1154
1155