ROCHE— SALTASH away to Padstow. St. Roche's Well, sometimes called St. Gundred's, is said to be still resorted to on Holy Thursday for purposes of innocent divination ; but these old customs are at their last gasp, even in remote Cornwall. Rough Tor. (See Brown Willy.) St. Kuan Major (8 m. S. of Helston) has a church whose tower is of mingled granite and serpentine. Notice should be taken of the two uncommon openings, close to the screen-piers, at the junction of the arcades of nave and chancel. St. Ruan Minor (2 m. E.) has a holy well and baptistery. Both parishes pre- serve the name of Ruan or Rumon. This saint, when in Brittany, was accused of being a werewolf If he be so, said the king, my wolf-hounds will fall on and kill him ; but the dogs came and licked his feet, and the saint was acquitted. Ruan Lanihorne (about 7 m. N. of St. Mawes) bears the same dedication. Though it is not certain, perhaps this Ruan is the same Ruan or Ruadhan that was converted by St. Patrick, and became one of "the twelve apostles of Ireland ". There is an ancient figure of the saint in the church here. Whitaker, the his- torian, held the rectory for thirty years. There are some remains of a castle near the church. SALTASH. — The name is a little obscure ; more anciently it was written Esc, Asche and Asheburgh, but this ash bears no reference to any tree — -it is rather a corruption of the Celtic uisc, meaning water. There was certainly a 227
