FIVE LANES— FOWEY than Dartmouth or any other in the W. of England. Falmouth is a mushroom by its side. To write the history ot" Fowey would be to chronicle much that is most brilliant in England's early naval records. At the Con- quest the manor went to Robert de Mortain, but some tradition of an Irish St. Finbar or Fimbar, said to have been buried here, points tojan earlier history. To this saint the church was dedicated, but in 1336, on its rebuilding, the dedication was changed to St. Nicholas. Perhaps the Fowey folk wanted a patron-saint of whom more was known. The town sent vessels to the Crusades, and to Edward III.'s expedition against Calais it contributed forty- seven ships, more than any other port in the kingdom; these vessels being manned by 770 men, a number only exceeded by Yarmouth. The gallantry of the Foyens in meeting the enemies of their country was accompanied iwith a certain stiffneckedness towards the seamen of rival ports ; chancing to pass near Rye and Winchelsea they " would vaile no bonnet," being required. Highly incensed by this lack of courtesy, the men of those twin ports sallied forth, forcibly to teach the Fowey men better manners ; " howbeit," says Carew, " with a more hardy onset than happy issue, for the Foy men gave them so rough entertainment at their welcome, that they were glad to forsake patch without bidding farewell ". Of course the Fowey men held their heads higher than ever after this, and actually presumed 105
