Cornwall: Miscellaneous memorabilia

Mevagissey mermaid

Hanging on a wall in Mevagissey, above the most fascinating shop I saw in Cornwall, was this beautiful creature. I assume she’s a mermaid and, from the rear attachments, she would appear to have been a ship’s figurehead. Such figureheads adorned the prows of most ships from the 1500s right through to the mid 1800s and, though initially carved in wood, they were later made in lighter materials to reduce their weight, which could have a negative impact on how well a ship sailed.

Mermaids, of course, go back much earlier than the 1500s. In Ancient Greek mythology they were the sirens who seduced sailors, luring them to a watery grave, though there is a parallel alternative myth, reported by Pliny the Elder, that nude or semi-nude women could calm stormy seas. This more positive belief seems eventually to have prevailed as the mid nineteenth century saw bare-breasted mermaids appear once more as ships’ figureheads, and I assume that may well be when this Mevagissey mermaid dates from.

Mevagissey: male figurehead

Mevagissey was also home to another figurehead, firmly fixed to the first storey of an old building overlooking the harbour from Middle Wharf. This figurehead looks to be carved from wood and is male, from his more formal attire, perhaps a ship’s captain.

There is a small maritime museum in Mevagissey though, unfortunately, it was closed the day of our visit. I tried emailing their curator to ask for information on both these figureheads but got no response so, unless a chance reader can provide more information, the history of this chap must remain a mystery until I next visit Mevagissey.

Police station lamp in St Ives

And now for something completely different, as the various types of lights, lamps and lanterns that can be seen in streets, hanging off buildings, highlighting the entrances to public houses are other features that often capture my attention.

I noticed this old lamp hanging out the front of the Police Station in downtown St Ives. It shows the coat of arms of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, who are responsible for policing in the southern English counties of Cornwall and Devon. Though I haven’t been able to determine how old the lamp is, I can tell you that the motto on the coat of arms is In Auxilium Omnium, which translates as ‘To the assistance of everybody’. Rather surprisingly, each district police force in Britain seems to have its own local motto – I’d have thought there’d be one for the whole nation.

Light in Tintagel

And my final piece of fascinating-to-me-but-probably-weird-to-most-people group of miscellaneous memorabilia from my Christmas holiday in Cornwall is this object discovered in Tintagel, the town forever associated in most people’s minds with the legendary King Arthur.

As we all know, Arthur had a band of knights who were his right-hand men in all kinds of tricky situations so I assume the maker of this light stand had in mind the knights in armour during the design process – I think he might have confused his time periods though, as I’m not sure Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table would have worn this type of armour. Still, it’s a fun piece and it certainly brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘night light’!

Cornwall: The signs of Tintagel

After spending time in Newquay and Padstow, we were racing against time on Boxing Day to reach Tintagel before the light failed: I was hoping for a stunning sunset-over-the-ruins photo but you’ll have to settle for this rather uninspiring sunset over the local parish church instead. You see the days are short in Britain in winter and, because of that, tourist attractions often close earlier, so Tintagel Castle was closed by the time we arrived.

Since we were there, we did have a meander around Tintagel village, partly because we wanted to buy a present for the folks who had very kindly lent us their cottage for the week. Unfortunately, the shops had already shut as well. However, there were some mighty fine signs scattered around, so here’s a rather different look at Tintagel.

This place will forever be associated with King Arthur so, of course, there is a pub called King Arthur’s Arms. We didn’t venture in but it seems from their website that the publican has a sense of humour:

Jerome George Dangar is your host and is a native of Tintagel, he was born and brought up in Tintagel.

Jerome's father, Terry Jerome Dangar, was born and brought up in King Arthur’s Arms.

It is interesting to note that the historical notes of Tintagel record that John Dangar (who died in 1578 ) had two grandsons who both had sons called Jerome and from that time to this there has been Jerome Dangar in every generation except one!

Since names such as Zias, Rychabb and Jease were also chosen by previous Dangars, Jerome had a lucky escape.

Not surprisingly given the number of tourists that flock to this place, this small town boasts more than one pub. Just up the road we found the Tintagel Arms Hotel. The building dates from 1750 and was originally a private home. It has a very attractive pub sign, showcasing the ruins we didn’t get to see.

Another of the many hotels was The Wootons. It has a very minimalist website which tells nothing of the hotel’s history, nor does it explain the sign, which appears to show a crow looking over the ruins. Perhaps Wooton was the name of a previous owner. It’s an ancient surname, dating from Anglo-Saxons times, if not earlier. It’s a combination of the old English words wudu meaning wood and tun meaning settlement or enclosure, so the very first Wooton lived in a town by a wood, which I imagine would apply to 90% of the population in Anglo-Saxon times.

What a shame the Tintagel Toy Museum and Collectors Shop wasn't open – I imagine I might have spent rather a lot of time there and perhaps a little money as well. It is, apparently, a family-run business which, as well as being a model and general collectors’ shop, also houses Cornwall only toy museum, including ‘The Geoff Cann Collection’ of toys dating from the 1920s to the 1980s. I was certainly very impressed with the wonderful collection of old signs afixed to the building’s exterior.

We conclude our tour of Tintagel’s signs with these two rather bizarre offerings. I confess to knowing nothing at all about Spriggans until that day in Tintagel. I knew Cornwall was a magical place but I had no idea it was populated with faeries of all different kinds:

The more ill-tempered cousin of the piskie or browney, Spriggans were especially spiteful to those who offended them. Reputed to be the security force of the faerie society, they stood ready to measure out justice to those who would harm their otherworldly brethren. Some of the punishments believed to have been doled out by the Spriggans were storms sent to blight crops, and the leaving of changelings in place of stolen mortal children. They were most often found in old castle ruins and barrows, guarding buried treasure. Spriggans are described in literature as grotesque, with wizened features and crooked skinny bodies. Though small, they were purported to have the defensive ability to expand themselves to gigantic proportions.