First published in the dying years of the Victorian era, this is a portal into a Cornwall that modernity would soon sweep away. S. Baring-Gould, that indefatigable folklorist and hagiographer, guides readers through a land of fog-shrouded moors, tin mines echoing with ancient labor, and coastlines where smuggling remained a living memory. The book moves from the obscure cults of Cornish saints, those fierce hermits and evangelists who carved Christianity into the Celtic landscape, to the holy wells and weathered crosses that marked sacred geography. Baring-Gould visits market towns, describes castle ruins perched on cliff edges, and recounts the last great days of contraband before the Revenue cutters ended the trade. This is not a dry gazetteer but a romantic's inventory, thick with legend and particular detail. For readers who dream of old England, who want to walk the lanes of Cornwall before the tourist coaches arrived, this book remains an indispensable companion.
