Chapter I: Preface

At the request of my publishers I have written _A Book of Dartmoor_. I had already dealt with this upland district in two chapters in my _Book of the West_, vol. i., "Devon." But in their opinion this wild and wondrous region deserved more particular treatment than I had been able to accord to it in the limited space at my disposal in the above-mentioned book.

I have now entered with some fulness, but by no means exhaustively, into the subject; and for those who desire a closer acquaintance with, and a more precise guide to the several points of interest on "the moor," I would indicate three works that have preceded this.

1. Mr. J. Brooking Rowe in 1896 republished the _Perambulation of Dartmoor_, first issued by his great-uncle, Mr. Samuel Rowe, in 1848.

The original work was written by a man whose mind was steeped in the crude archæological theories of his period. The new editor could not dispense with this matter, which pervaded the work, without a complete recasting of the book, and this he was reluctant to attempt. He limited himself to cautioning the reader to put no trust in these exploded theories. The result is that the reader is tripping over uncertain ground, never knowing what is to be accepted and what rejected.

2. Mr. J. H. W. Page's _Exploration of Dartmoor_, 1889, is admirable as a guide. The author, however, was unhappily ignorant of prehistoric archæology, and allowed himself to be led astray by the false antiquarianism that had marked the early writers. Consequently, his book is capital as a guide to what is to be seen, but eminently unreliable in its explanation of the character and age of the antiquities.

3. A capital book is Mr. W. Crossing's _Amid Devonia's Alps_, 1888, which is wholly free from pseudo-antiquarianism. It is brief, it is small and cheap, and an admirable handbook for pedestrians.

In no way do I desire to supersede these works. I have taken pains rather to supplement them than to step into the places occupied by their writers.

The plan I have adopted in this gossiping volume is to give a general idea of the moor and of its antiquities--the latter as interpreted by up-to-date archæologists--and then to suggest rambles made from certain stations on the fringe, or in the heart of the region.

Here and there it has been inevitable that I should twice mention the same object of interest, once in the introductory portion, and again when I have to refer to it as coming within the radius of a proposed ramble.

As a boy I had an uncle, T. G. Bond, who lived near Moreton Hampstead, and who was passionately devoted to Dartmoor. He inspired me with the same love. In 1848 he presented me, as a birthday present, with Rowe's _Perambulation of Dartmoor_. It arrested my attention, engaged my imagination, and was to me almost as a Bible. When I obtained a holiday from my books, I mounted my pony and made for the moor. I rode over it, round it, put up at little inns, talked with the moormen, listened to their tales and songs in the evenings, and during the day sketched and planned the relics that I then fondly supposed were Druidical.

The child is father to the man. Years have rolled away. I have wandered over Europe, have rambled to Iceland, climbed the Alps, been for some years lodged among the marshes of Essex--yet nothing that I have seen has quenched in me the longing after the fresh air, and love of the wild scenery of Dartmoor. There is far finer mountain scenery elsewhere, but there can be no more bracing air, and the lone upland region possesses a something of its own--a charm hard to describe, but very real--which engages for once and for ever the affections of those who have made its acquaintance. "After all said," observed my uncle to me one day, when my father had dilated on the glories of the Pyrenees, "Dartmoor is to itself, and to me--a passion." And to his memory I dedicate this volume.

My grateful thanks are due to Messrs. R. Burnard, P. F. S. Amery, J. Shortridge, and C. E. Robinson for permission to employ photographs taken by them.

S. BARING-GOULD

LEW TRENCHARD, DEVON

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. BOGS 1

II. TORS 14

III. THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS 29

IV. THE ANTIQUITIES 52

V. THE FREAKS 74

VI. DEAD MEN'S DUST 82

VII. THE CAMPS 97

VIII. TIN-STREAMING 108

IX. LYDFORD 124

X. BELSTONE 144

XI. CHAGFORD 157

XII. MANATON 171

XIII. HOLNE 193

XIV. IVYBRIDGE 209

XV. YELVERTON 220

XVI. POST BRIDGE 241

XVII. PRINCETOWN 259

ILLUSTRATIONS

FULL-PAGE

YES TOR _Frontispiece_
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

A TOR, SHOWING GRANITE WEATHERING _To face page_ 14
From a photograph by J. Shortridge, Esq.

VIXEN TOR " 18
From a photograph by J. Shortridge, Esq.

ROCKS BY HEY TOR " 24
From a photograph by J. Amery, Esq.

THE PEDIGREE OF A TOMB " 56
From a drawing by S. Baring-Gould.

STONE ROWS, DRIZZLECOMBE " 60
From a drawing by S. Baring-Gould.

THE PEDIGREE OF A HEADSTONE " 64
From a drawing by S. Baring-Gould.

BOWERMAN'S NOSE " 74
From a drawing by A. B. Collier, Esq.

WHIT TOR CAMP " 97
Planned by Rev. J. K. Anderson, drawn by S. Baring-Gould.

BRENT TOR " 102
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

BLOWING-HOUSE UNDER BLACK TOR " 108
From a drawing by A. B. Collier, Esq.

ON THE LYD " 124
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

HARE TOR " 141
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

NORTH WYKE GATE HOUSE " 152
From a drawing by Mrs. C. L. Weekes.

GRIMSPOUND " 165
From a photograph by C. E. Robinson, Esq.

NEAR MANATON " 171
From a drawing by A. B. Collier, Esq.

HOUND TOR " 175
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

HEY TOR ROCKS " 176
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

LOWER TAR " 190
From a photograph by J. Amery, Esq.

THE CLEFT ROCK " 196
From a photograph by J. Amery, Esq.

YAR TOR " 199
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

THE DEWERSTONE " 220
From a drawing by E. A. Tozer, Esq.

SHEEPS TOR " 225
From a drawing by A. B. Collier, Esq.

PORTION OF SCREEN, SHEEPS TOR " 228
Drawn by F. Bligh Bond, Esq.

ON THE MEAVY " 231
Drawn by A. B. Collier, Esq.

LAKE-HEAD KISTVAEN " 244
From a photograph by R. Burnard, Esq.

STAPLE TOR " 269
From a photograph by J. Shortridge, Esq.

BLOWING-HOUSE ON THE MEAVY " 270
Drawn by A. B. Collier, Esq.

IN THE TEXT

PAGE

FLINT ARROW-HEADS 37

FLINT SCRAPERS 45

A COOKING-POT 46

FLINT SCRAPERS 49

FRAGMENT OF COOKING-POT 50

CROSS, WHITCHURCH DOWN 65

PLAN OF HUT, SHAPLEY COMMON 67

HUT CIRCLE, GRIMSPOUND 69

LOGAN ROCK. THE RUGGLESTONE, WIDDECOMBE 77

ROOS TOR LOGANS 79

COVERED CHAMBER, WHIT TOR 100

CONSTRUCTION OF STONE AND TIMBER WALL 101

TIN-WORKINGS, NILLACOMBE 109

MORTAR-STONE, OKEFORD 111

SLAG-POUNDING HOLLOWS, GOBBETTS 113

SMELTING IN 1556 114

PLAN OF BLOWING-HOUSE, DEEP SWINCOMBE 115

TIN-MOULD, DEEP SWINCOMBE 117

SMELTING TIN IN JAPAN 119

A PRIMITIVE HINGE 133

INSCRIPTION ON SOURTON CROSS 142

INSCRIBED STONE, STICKLEPATH 150

PLAN OF STONE ROWS NEAR CAISTOR ROCK 161

" " GRIMSPOUND 166

" " HUT AT GRIMSPOUND 169

FRAGMENT OF POTTERY 177

ORNAMENTED POTTERY 179

TOM PEARCE'S GHOSTLY MARE 191

CRAZING-MILL STONE, UPPER GOBBETTS 204

METHOD OF USING THE MILL-STONES 205

CHANCEL CAPITAL, MEAVY 237

BLOWING-HOUSE BELOW BLACK TOR 271

DARTMOOR