St Michaels Mount
Chess One
which features the Priest hole - the site has many Elizabethan connections.
Phil Innes
---------
St Michael's Mount is situated on a small island off the coast at Marazion,
Cornwall. It has being the home of the St Aubyn family for over 300 years
and is one of Cornwall's most famous attractions. It's history goes back
well beyond its current owners too shortly after the Conquest the
Benedictine mother foundation of Mont Saint Michel in Normandy acquired St
Michael's Mount by gift from Robert, Count of Mortain, who himself had been
granted it only a few years before. In the first half of the following
century the Abbot of Mont Saint Michel ordered a church to be constructed on
the peak of the 300-foot rock in western England that so startlingly
resembled his western French one. The original building fell down after an
earth tremor some 150 years later and a replacement was put up the next
century. The year before Agincourt the French proprietors were dispossessed
and in HENRY VI's reign St Michael's Mount was made over to the Bridgettine
nuns at Isleworth.
By the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 1530s the number of
religious at St Michael's had dwindled to a handful, much as is the case at
Mont Saint Michel today. But the rock had for long been of more temporal
than spiritual significance. Before the advent of accurate artillery pieces
its sea-girt local position, to say nothing of its wider strategic
importance as a site for the defence or invasion of England's
southwesternmost arm, made it a highly desirable military prize. The capture
of it in the late 15th century by the 13th Earl of Oxford is only one of a
number of episodes in which it was hotly contended for.
After being bought from ELIZABETH I by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury,
and passing through the hands of a royalist commander in the Civil War, one
Francis Basset, it was acquired in 1657 by John St Aubyn, father of the 1st
Baronet of the 1671 creation. The new owners used it as no more than a
temporary summer retreat for the next two hundred years, though they
'improved' such features as the old Lady Chapel by judicious gothicising
during the first half of the 18th century - an extremely early exercise in
the style, given that Horace Walpole himself only embarked on Strawberry
Hill some seven years later. Just as the last quarter of the 19th century
began the 1st Baron Saint Levan (as he was to become 12 years later) called
in a cousin of his, Piers St Aubyn, architect of the Temple Church off Fleet
Street in London, and commissioned a thorough refurbishment, one which would
give the family a proper dwelling there. Piers St Aubyn left the original
ecclesiastical building at the very summit of the rock more or less alone
but adroitly grafted onto its southeast flank a commodious mansion in light
grey granite, carefully ensuring that the addition at no point interfered
with the skyline view from afar of the old church. Internally the decoration
is widely admired, notably (as well as the Lady Chapel already mentioned)
the Chevy Chase Room, which was formerly the refectory when the monks lived
there.
Chess One
"Chess One" <inn...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:AP%ff.5548$Lw6.3621@trndny02...
And here is a more esoteric survey of the tidal island - I am looking for an
URL
which features the Priest hole - still very hard to find it - even
references to the Chapel don't mention it.
This particular section has certain connections to early and late medieval
writing.
>the site has many Elizabethan connections.
> Phil Innes
---------
ST MICHAEL'S MOUNT--THE WHITE ROCK IN THE WOOD.
"An old legend of St Michael speaketh of a tounelet in this part (between
Pensandes and Mousehole), now defaced, and lying under the water." .Leland's
Itinerary.
ALREADY it has been told how St Michael's Mount was built by the giants. So
much for its Titanic origin. The tradition that the Mount was formerly
called in old Cornish, Careg-luz en kuz, [a] and that it rose from the midst
of an extensive forest, is very prevalent. "A forest is supposed to have
extended along the coast to St Michael's Mount, which was described as a
'hoare rock in a wood,' and stood five or six miles from the sea. The bay
was said to have been a plain of five or six miles in extent, formed into
parishes, each having its church, and laid out in meadows, corn-fields, and
woods." [b] A similar tradition attaches itself to Mont St Michel, in
Normandy.
By and by, when the Saxon rule was extended into Cornwall, this remarkable
hill is seized upon, in common with many other such hills, as the residence
of some anchorite. This holy recluse is visited by St Michael, who had an
especial fondness for hill churches, and the hermit is directed to build a
church on the summit, and dedicate it to St Michael.
"In evile howre thou hentst in hond,
Thus holy hills to blame;
For sacred unto saints they stand,
And of them have their name.
St Michael's Mount, who does not know,
That wards the western coast."
-- SPENSER
Milton, in his delicately beautiful poem of "Lycidas," makes especial
illusion to thiis monkish legend:--
"Where'er thy bones are hurl'd,
Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides,
Where thou, perhaps, under the whelming tide,
Visit'st the bottom of the monstrous world,
Or, whether thou, to our moist vows denied,
Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old, [c]
Where the great vision of the guarded mount,
Look towards Namancos, and Bayona's hold;
Look homeward, angel, now, and melt with ruth,
And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth."
-- MILTON's Lycidas.
Warner, in his "Tour through Cornwall," with much assumption of learning,
attempts to explain these lines. He tells us that the Land's End was called
Bellerium, "so named from Bellerus, a Cornish giant. No such giant ever
existed in Cornish fable, as far as can be ascertained. It is far more
probable that Milton used the poet's license, and, from the name of the
Land's End, Bellerium, created 'the fable of Bellerus old.'" What follows in
Warner is worth extracting:--
"We learn from ' Caston's Golden Legende,' under the history of the Angel
Michael, that, 'Th' apparacyon of this angell is many-fold. The fyrst is
when he appeared in Mount of Gargan, &c.,' (edit. 1493, fol. cclxxxii. a).
William of Worcester, who wrote his travels over England about 1490, says,
in describing St Michael's Mount, there was an 'Apparicio Sancti Michaelis
in monte Tumba antea vocato Le Hore Rok in the Wodd' (Itinerar., edit.
Cantab., 1778, p. 102). The Hoar Rock in Ike Wood is this Mount or Rock of
St Michael, anciently covered with thick wood, as we learn from Drayton and
Carew. There is still a tradition, that a vision of St Michael seated on
this crag, or St Michael's Chair, appeared to. some hermits; and that this
circumstance occasioned the foundation of the monastery dedicated to St
Michael. And hence this place was long renowned for its sanctity, and the
object of frequent pilgrimages. Carew quotes some old rhymes much to our
purpose, p. 154, ut supra
'Who knows not Mighel's Mount and Chaire,
The pilgrim's holy vaunt?'
Nor should it be forgot that this monastery was a cell to another on a St
Michael's Mount in Normandy, where was also a vision of St Michael. But to
apply what has been said to Milton. This great vision is the famous
apparition of St Michael, whom he, with much sublimity of imagination,
supposes to be still throned on this lofty crag of St Michael's Mount in
Cornwall, looking towards the Spanish coast. The guarded mount on which this
great vision appeared is simply the fortified mount, implying the fortress
above mentioned. And let us observe, that Mount is the peculiar appropriated
appellation of this promontory. So in Daniel's Panegyricke on the King, st.
19, 'From Dover to the Mount.' "--P. 180.
"In the very corner is Michael's Mount, which gives name to the bay (the
Mount's Bay) anciently called DINSOL, as in the book of Llandaff, called by
the inhabitants Careg.Cowse, or the Gray Rock--in Saxon, Mychelyroz, or
Michael's Place." [d]
From Hals, Tonkin, and Gilbert, we learn yet further that "St Michael's
Mount is so called, because our fathers, the Britons, believed that the
appearance of the archangel St Michael in the year of our Lord 495 was in
this place; though in other countries they believe differently."
"Edward the Confessor, finding the place already celebrated for its
holiness, founded an abbey of Benedictine monks, A.D. 1044, and also a
chapel, which still stand, part of which is now converted into a
dwelling-house. Upon the tower of the chapel is the celebrated Kader
Migell, -- i.e., Michael's Chair,--a seat artificially cut in the stone,
very dangerous in the access, therefore holy for the adventure.
" 'Who knows not Mighel's Mount and Chaire,
The pilgrim's holy vaunt;
Both land and island twice a day, -
Both fort and port of haunt?'"
It is supposed by many persons to have been placed there for the pilgrims to
complete their devotions at the Mount, by sitting in this chair, and showing
themselves to the country around as pilgrims. St Kenna, doubtless the same
as St Keyna, once visited this Mount,--although the time of her visitation
is not precisely known,--and she imparted the very same virtue to the chair
as she bestowed on St Keyna's Well. It is whichever, man or wife, sits in
this chair first shall rule through life, and as it requires great
resolution and steadiness of head to obtain the seat, one may be inclined to
anticipate the supposed effect with greater certainty from its achievement,
than from drinking water from St Keyna's Well.
It is not pleasant to destroy the romance of ages, but honesty compels me to
pronounce this so-called chair to be nothing more than the remains of a
stone lantern, built at the south-western angle of the tower. The good
monks, without doubt, placing a light therein, it could be seen by the
fishermen far off at sea; and probably they received some tribute of either
fish or money for the support of this useful guide to the shore.
It is evident, from the following passage in Carew's Survey, that the
"chair" formerly was not within the building at all, but on some rocks
without the walls -
"A little without the castle there is a bad seat in a craggy place called St
Michael's Chaire, somewhat dangerous for accesse, and therefore holy for the
adventure."
Chess One
century when Henry V declared war on France and claimed the mount as alien
property. It was granted to the Brigittine Abbey of Syon at Twickenham. The
Abbess of Syon kept good records of the revenues and property at the Mount,
some of which survive. The Mount was involved in the Wars of the Roses in
the fifteenth century and was the refuge of Perkin Warbeck, the impostor who
claimed the Crown for the house of York. When the monasteries were dissolved
by Henry VIII, his commissioners came and took all the valuable items from
the church. In 1549 the Mount was the scene of the Prayer Book Rebellion,
when the Governor of the Mount, Humphrey Arundell, was away, local
protestors against the instigation of the English Prayer Book (as opposed to
Latin) took possession of the Mount.
In 1587 the beacon signal on the Mount was lit to warn of the approach of
the Spanish Armada. Although not successful on this occasion, in 1595 four
Spanish galleons landed two hundred men at nearby Mousehole and burned it
virtually to the ground. Newlyn and Penzance were also set on fire, but the
Spaniards were repulsed by a local fighting force under Sir Francis
Goldolphin. The Mount then held a garrison for many years, obtaining guns
and ammunition by petitions to the Crown.
During the Civil War, the Mount was fortified by the then owner, Francis
Basset, later knighted for his service to the Crown. King Charles II was
lodged at the Mount before embarking for the Scilly Isles for safety.
Parliamentary troops landed and the Mount was surrendered in 1646. The
following year Colonel John St. Aubyn became Captain of the Mount and the
castle remained in the hands of the family for three hundred years.
Robert Stonehouse
Avery organ, 1786.
The Chapel, St Michael's Mount
The organ was built by John Avery of Bristol in 1786 for Lt.
Col. John Lemon of Truro, who had it installed in his London
house at Bryanston Square. It was purchased by Sir John St.
Aubyn in 1790 for £800, and presumably shipped to the Priory
Church on the Mount in 1791, and put in a single case
(reputedly Sheraton) in the gallery. As this obscured the
beautiful rose window, the organ was rebuilt and divided in
1906, with a fine matching South case by Thomas Casson.
Recent loving restoration 1982/3 by Lance Foy has
re-conditioned the instrument to something approaching its
original sound.
...
St. Michael's Mount is property of The National Trust, but
is also the home of Lord and Lady St. Levan ...
(Jennifer Bate in the notes to her series of recordings,
From Stanley to Wesley. Elsewhere she notes:)
Recording conditions were not always ideal.The sessions at
St. Michael's Mount coincided with the February gales (1990)
when winds of more than 100 m.p.h. made more noise than the
full organ!
--
Robert Stonehouse
To mail me, replace invalid with uk. Inconvenience regretted
Chess One
"Robert Stonehouse" <ew...@bcs.org.invalid> wrote in message
news:m9b1o19pmaavtvf2b...@4ax.com...
> Avery organ, 1786.
> The Chapel, St Michael's Mount
>
> The organ was built by John Avery of Bristol in 1786 for Lt.
> Col. John Lemon of Truro,
And there is a Lemon Street in Truro/Trufa
Interest in the site is perhaps because it was for some time a Cecil family
property from [I think] H VIII., and there are speculations that Cecil was
not without influence with the author [a Cecil not Catholic nor so fiercely
Protestant as he is often held to be] - and besides, here is a quiet spot
away from the center of things, massive private library which could contain
uncommon material, and a back-door escape to Scilly if things got hot - as
well as an easy trip with the 'fair-traders' [smugglers] to and fro to
France.
I note in passing that the Port of Falmouth some dozen and a half miles away
was one of the busiest ports in England - that and Plymouth - for receiving
far-going traffic. There is a legend that Arthur rode a great boar between
them.
Rowse squashes the idea that Pocahontas landed at Falmouth, despite the
romantic possibility in the staging post 'Indian Queens", which has
another[but unknown] significance - she landed at Plymouth. But Darwin
landed at Falmouth, ex-South America.
> who had it installed in his London
> house at Bryanston Square. It was purchased by Sir John St.
> Aubyn in 1790 for Ł800, and presumably shipped to the Priory
> Church on the Mount in 1791, and put in a single case
> (reputedly Sheraton) in the gallery. As this obscured the
> beautiful rose window,
I think there is a URL devoted to the glass.
Earliest trading from this region is difficult to establish - but its
products were kaolin [china clay] and tin. At least 2500 years of
intereaction - and interestingly, all in the same language, except for the
recent haitus 1777-1960's. Now there are a few thousand Cornish speakers
again.
Phil
Alan Jones
which St Michael's Mount was used for at least the exterior of Orsino's
house. The Cornish setting, with rocks and tempestuous sea echoing the
imagery in the text, was unexpected but apt, and the style of the two
"Victorian" households clarified social relationships better than in any
other production I can remember. The script was quite freely adapted (cuts,
re-orderings, several instances of two scenes intercut and so on) but the
acting was excellent and the production was funnier in the funny bits and
more disturbing in the darker bits than, again, I can remember in the "live"
theatre.
Alan Jones
Chess One
"Alan Jones" <a...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:RAogf.53721$375....@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> On Sunday night BBC 4 showed the Trevor Nunn film of "Twelfth Night", in
> which St Michael's Mount was used for at least the exterior of Orsino's
> house.
Was it really?
> The Cornish setting, with rocks and tempestuous sea echoing the
> imagery in the text, was unexpected but apt, and the style of the two
> "Victorian" households clarified social relationships better than in any
> other production I can remember.
Just along the coast - another 10 miles south-west there is the Minack -
like a Greek ampitheatre carved in the cliff - I saw Lear there once, and
the actors paused at the cliff scene when there is an inquiry 'can you hear
the sea?' I suppose the Minack has to be the most dramatic outdoor theatres
there is. Unsure how old it is - I think Daphne DuMaurier mentioned it in
Vanishing Cornwall. [Her family were strict Baconites]
> The script was quite freely adapted (cuts, re-orderings, several instances
> of two scenes intercut and so on) but the acting was excellent and the
> production was funnier in the funny bits and more disturbing in the darker
> bits than, again, I can remember in the "live" theatre.
Thank you for this notice. Phil
> Alan Jones
>
>
>
>