[Illustration: GWENNAP PIT, REDRUTH.]
Penryn was the next place we visited, and a very pretty place too! It
was situated on the slope of a picturesque hill surrounded by orchards
and gardens, and luxuriant woodlands adorned its short but beautiful
river. The sea view was of almost unequalled beauty, and included the
magnificent harbour of Falmouth, of which an old writer said that "a
hundred vessels may anchor in it, and not one see the mast of
another"--of course when ships were smaller.
The old church at Penryn was that of St. Gluvias, near which were a few
remains of Glassiney College, formerly the chief centre from which the
vernacular literature of Cornwall was issued and whence our knowledge of
the old legends and mysteries of Cornwall was derived. The town was said
to have had a court-leet about the time of the Conquest, but the borough
was first incorporated in the seventeenth century by James I. The
Corporation possessed a silver cup and cover, presented to them by the
notorious Lady Jane Killigrew, and inscribed--"To the town of Penmarin
when they received me that was in great misery. J.K. 1633." Lady Jane's
trouble arose through her ladyship and her men boarding some Dutch
vessels that lay off Falmouth, stealing their treasure, and causing the
death of some of their crews.
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