The men of St. Breage and those
of the next village, St. Germoe, had an evil reputation as wreckers or
smugglers, for one old saying ran:
God keep us from rocks and shelving sands,
And save us from Breage and Germoe men's hands.
Opposite Breage, on the sea-coast, was a place named Porthleven, where a
Wesleyan chapel, with a very handsome front, had been built. No doubt
there are others in the country built in a similar way, for to it and
them the following lines might well apply:
They built the church, upon my word,
As fine as any abbey;
And then they thought to cheat the Lord,
And built the back part shabby.
After a walk of about two miles we arrived at the village of St. Germoe.
The saint of that name was said to have been an Irish bard of royal
race, and the font in the church, from its plain and rough form, was
considered to be one of the most ancient in the county. In the
churchyard was a curious structure which was mentioned by Leland as a
"chair," and was locally known as St. Germoe's Chair, but why it should
be in the churchyard was a mystery, unless it had been intended to mark
the spot where the saint had been buried.
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