FAL RIVER— FEOCK rises in the Tregoss Moors of Central Cornwall, King Arthur's reputed hunting-ground; and from thence it flows through Grampound, Tregony and the Ruan Creek, to its junction with the Truro and Tresillian Rivers. Thence it flows on to form the grand Falmouth Harbour, fed further by the large creeks of Restronguet, Penryn and St. Mawes, with their tributary streams. The name Fal is used very carelessly. Persons often speak of going up the Fal to Truro, which is an im- possibility; the Truro river is not the Fal. Still, it seems convenient to have one name for this great waterway, and that of the Fal has not unnaturally taken precedence. Only about 4 miles of the Fal proper are navig- able. On the N.W. of the Fal Estuary is the Parish Church of Feock, which embodies the name of Fiacc, a contemporary of St. Patrick, who is supposed to have left a hymn singing the deeds of that saint in extravagant and fabulous fashion. But as the name was common in Ireland, it may have been some other Fiacc who came to Corn- wall, or this may be an absentee dedication. This is one of Cornwall's campanile churches, having the belfry apart from the main building. It is further interesting for a late use of the Cornish tongue. Hals, speaking of a time as recent as 1640, says that "Mr. William Jack- man, the then vicar, was forced for divers years to administer the sacrament in the Cornish tong^ae, because the aged people did not well 103
