In the parish of Breage are
the ruins of Pengersick Castle which in 1890 had only
fragments and a portion of the tower standing. Some
of the upper rooms were fallen in and in a state of
decay. The lower oak panels are curiously carved but
time and the elements have almost effaced the
designs. One panel remains legible, called Perseverance
and contain the following lines:
What thing is harder than the
rock?
What softer is than water clear?
Yet wyll the same, with often droppe,
The hard rock perce as doth a spere.
Even so, nothing so hard to attayne,
But may be hadde, with labour and payne.
These ruins stand
on the ruins of a much older castle and in it lived,
during the dark ages, a very wicked man. This man
while fighting in a foreign land forgot his wife at
home and courted a king's daughter who is supposed to
have given him a magic sword which ensured victory in
every battle to its owner. This man deceived and left
this woman but she followed him to his home by the
Mount with her son in her arms.
She met the man in
his home and upbraided him; he, in a fit of rage,
threw them both into the sea. The lady drowned but
she was turned into a white hare which continually
haunted this old lord, but the boy was picked up by a
passing ship.
The lord's wife
afterwards died and he married again, this time to a
very wicked woman reputed to be a witch. She was
cruel to her step-son who lived with his father in
the castle.
One night a violent
storm arose in Mount's Bay and the young man went
down to the water to see if any ships were in
distress. He found an exhausted sailor on the beach
who had been washed in by the waves. He had his
servants carry the sailor home and put in his own
bed. When the sailor revived and was cleaned up, they
were astounded at the resemblance to each other and
they became good friends.
Together the two
young men went to Marazion (about four miles west of
St. Breage) to see if they could find the ship the
stranger had fallen from into the sea. The ship was
found safe in the harbor. The captain, who the sailor
had always thought of as his father, told them for
the first time how when he was an infant he was
resued from drowning in the same bay as he had nearly
drowned the night before. Thus, they discovered they
were brothers, the sailor being the son who had been
cast into the bay for dead.
A few days later,
the two went hunting and came upon a white hare who
guided them to discover the miraculous sword that had
disappeared with the drowning of the mother. These
two brothers sailed away from Cornwall to the land of
the of the strange princess mother where the Cornish
man studied astrology and other occult sciences under
a celebrated master there.
After some time,
the old lord of Pengersick met his death while riding
his horse one morning when a white hare suddenly
appeared in front of the horse, startling him, so
that the horse ran madly with its rider into the sea
where both were drowned.
The young heir, now
married to a learned princess himself, returned when
news of the death of his father reached him, leaving
his brother behind. The young heir and his wife
liverd at the castle of Pengersick happily for
several generations because the young man had
discovered an elixir of life which, had they so
wished, would have kept the couple alive to the
present day.
In addition to
being well versed in occult lore, young Pengersick's
wife was a fine musician who, with her harp, could
charm and subdue evil spirits and compel the fish and
mermaids in Mount's Bay to come out of the sea.
Baring-Gould says
of Pengersick castle that it is a very fine remnant
of a castle erected in the time of Henry VIII by a
man named Millaton, probably of Millaton in
Bridestowe, Devon. He had committed murder, and to
escape justice he fled his native country and hid
himself in the dip of land facing the sea at
Pengersick, where he constructed at tower amply
provided with means of defence.
Pengersick Castle
is listed in the Castellarium Anglicanum as an extant
castle as follows: Square 'pele-tower', attached to a
modern house, but built for attachment to an original
one. Basement looped for guns. Very early 16th
century.
Baring-Gould says
of Pengersick castle that it is a very fine remnant
of a castle erected in the time of Henry VIII by a
man named Millaton, probably from Devon. He had
committed murder, and to escape justice he fled his
native country and hid himself in the dip of land
facing the sea at Pengersick, where he constructed at
tower amply protected with means of defence. The
basement is furnished with loops for firing upon
anyone approaching, and above the door is a shoot for
melted lead. The entire building is beautifully
constructed.
Here Millaton
remained until his death, never going out for more
than a brief walk. The land had been purchased, not
in his name, but his son Job's. Job was made govenor
of Saint Michael's Mount and his son, William, was
made sheriff of Cornwall in 1565 and married Honor
Godolphin, daughter of Sir Willi Godolphin.
According to local
legend, it was William Millaton who lived a cat and
dog live with his wife Honor. They hated each other
with a deadly hate. At length, each resolved that
their unhappy union must end.
William Millaton
said to his wife, "Honor, we have lived in
wretchedness too long. Let us resolve in a
reconciliation, forget the past, and begin a new
life."
"Most
certainly do I agree," said she.
"And,"
continued William, "as a pledge of our reunion,
let us have a feast tonight."
So a banquet was
spread in Pengersick Castle for the both alone that
night.
And after they had
finished their meal, William said, "Let us drink
to our reunion."
"I will drink
if you will drink," said she.
Then he drained his
glass, and after this she drained hers.
With a wicked laugh
she said, "William,you have but three minutes to
live. Your cup was poisoned."
"And
you," he retorted, "have but five, for
yours was poisoned also."
"It is
well," said Honor; "I am content. I shall
have two minutes in which to triumph over your dead
carcass, and spurn it with my foot."
The two bodies were
found slumped to the floor by the servents the next
morning ending the story of this unhappy pair.
