Page:Cornwall (Salmon).djvu/204

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

CORNWALL in Carew as Luduan ; and W. C. Borlase be- lieves the name is simply a corruption of Lan- Dwynwen. The church is not particularly striking, but there is a good fourteenth century tower, and earlier font; restoration in 1887 was not conducted in the best taste. Ludgvan is interesting for its memories of Dr. Borlase and Sir Humphry Davy. Borlase was rector here for fifty-two years. He corresponded with Pope, sending him Cornish crystals for his grotto. Much of Borlase's archaeology has since been discredited; but, nevertheless, students of Cornish history owe him a great debt. Hum- phry Davy, whose family have monuments in the church, was born at Varfell, where he spent his boyhood. There is a holy well here, which is said to have risen miraculously in response to the prayers of St. Ludgvan, who further prayed that those christened with its waters might never be hanged. The well maintained its reputation until at last a Ludgvan woman was actually hanged ; and the whole district was in con- sternation. At last it was discovered that the woman had been baptised in another parish, and Ludgvan folk breathed freely once more. In this parish it is said that the last English wolf was destroyed. Luxulyan (i m. E. of Bridges Station) has given its name to a beautiful valle}-, a paradise of ferns, woodland glades, and granite boulders. Among these glades will be found profusely the Osmunda rcgalis and the graceful lady fern ; while in springtime the ground is azure with 170