Traditions, Legends, Superstitions, and Sketches of Devonshire on the borders of the Tamar and the Tavy, illustrative of its manners, customs, history, antiquities, scenery, and natural history, in a series of letters to Robert Southey, Esq

Front matter

TRADITIONS, LEGENDS, SUPERSTITIONS, AND SKETCHES OF DEVONSHIRE ON THE BORDERS OF THE TAMAR AND THE TAVY, ILLUSTRATIA'E OF ITS MANNERS, CUSTOMS, HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, SCENERY, AND NATURAL HISTORY, IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO ROBERT SOUTHEY, ESQ. BY MRS. BRAY. AUTHOR (AS MRS. STOTHARD) OF C TRAVELS IN NORMANDY,' ETC " I own tbc power Of local sympathy, that o'er the fair Throws more divine allurement, and o'er all The great, more grandeur." IN THREE VOLUMES.— A'OL. I. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXXXVIU.

Preface

. In the folloAving Avork, difficult as it may be to please all tastes, the Avriter has endeavoured to furnish something that may suit each class of read ers. For the historian and the antiquary, she has laboured Avith no small diligence ; so that they may not have to complain that her Avork is Avanting in substantial matter. For the tourist, she has given descriptive sketches from observations made on the spot. For those Avho are fond of biography, she has selected subjects which she hopes may be found of interest ; Avhilst the sketches of living characters are draAvn from her OAvn acquaintance Avith them. For the lovers of poetry and romance, she has given abundance of tales, stories, superstitions, old customs and traditions peculiar to this delightful county. All these matters she has endeaA-oui'ed to introduce in a manner to give variety, and to relieve the more serious portions of the book : so that if, noAV and then, the mere general reader a2

PREFACE.

. should meet Avith a subject for which he has no relish, he has but to pass on a feAV pages, and he will then find that the volumes are not exclusively confined to subjects Avhich, Avith the curious, or the historian, AA'ill probably be deemed of most import. Mr. Southey suggested the plan AA'ith a vieAV to originality ; — namely, to make a local work possess, Avhat it had hitherto been deemed little capable of possessing— a general interest. Holding the opinions of the Laureate in that high respect to Avhich they are entitled, the Avriter, therefore, has attempted to act on his plan, in the present instance. She has only to add, that AA'here ever she may have fallen short of her object, it has not been for Avant of either labour or endeaA'our; and AAith this conviction, she hopes to meet Avith candour and indulgence on the part of both critic and reader.

A. E. B. Vicarage, Tavistock, Devon, Dec. 4th. 1835. SUBJECTS OF VOLUME THE FIRST*. Page Letter I. . . . . . . .1 Letter II. ...... 16 Letter III. . ..... 34 Letter IV. ...... 58 Letter V. . . . . . . .69 Letter VI. . . . . . . 90 Letter VII. . . . . . . .109 Letter Vlls. ...... 139 Letter IX. . . . . . . .158 Letter X. ...... 167 Letter XI. . . . . . .193 Letter XII. ...... 212 Letter XIII. . . . . . . .225 Letter XIV. ...... 245 Letter XV. . . . . . . .256 Letter XVI. ...... 274 Letter XVII. . . . . . .294 Letter XVIII. ...... 303 Letter XIX. . . . . . .324 Letter XX. ...... 345 Letter XXI. . . . . . .359 * See end of Vol. III. for a complete Index to the Volumes. a3 VOL. I. LETTERS TO THE LAUREATE, 4-e. #-_.

Letter I. To Robert Southey, Esq

Contents — Allusion to the original plan of the work being suggested by the Laureate — Sources to he" employed in its progress — Climate, situation, and natural advantages of the Town — Anecdote of Charles II. — Dartmoor heights, rivers, and streams : their character — AA'eather: humorous lines on the same — Mildness of the climate; vegetation; laurels, &c. — Myrtles: account of some extraordinary ones at AA'arleigh — House Swallows, or Martens — Story of a deep snow : a gentleman imprisoned by it — Origin of the name of Moreton Hampstead — Frozen Swans — A Christening Anecdote of the "last generation — Snow in the lap of May — Pulmonary consumption unknown on Dartmoor — Snow-drops ; strawberry-plants ; butterflies at unusual seasons — Blackbirds and Thrushes — Winter weather — Monumental stones of Romanized British Chiefs — Reasons given by the AA'riter for going at once to Dartmoor — Vestiges ofthe Aboriginal Inhabitants of that region.

Vicarage, Tavistock, Devon, Feb. 11, 1832. My dear Sir, Ever since you so kindly suggested that, according to a plan you yourself pointed out, I should attempt giving an account of this place and neigh bourhood, I haA'e felt exceedingljdesirous to begin the task, that, previous to your honouring Tavistock AA'ith the promised visit, you may knoAv AA'hat objects, possessing any interest in themselves, or in relation to past times, may be found here worthy your atten- VOL. I. B [LET INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. tion ; and though to do justice to such a Avork as you have suggested to me Avould require your OAvn pOAvers fully to execute it, and conscious as I am Iioav inadequate I must be to the undertaking, yet I will attempt, as far as I am able, to meet your wishes — well knowing, by my own experience, that you are one of those avIio receive, AA'ith kindness and indulgence, any information that may be gleaned even from the humblest source.

Nor shall I forget that it is your Avish I should give not only all the history and biography of this place, and gather up AA'hatever of " tradition and manners can be saved from oblivion/' but also (again to quote vour oaa'u AA'ords) state "CA'ery thing about a parish that can be made interesting" — " not omitting some of those ' short and simple annals' of domestic life Avhich ought not to be forgotten." Whilst I attempt, therefore, to give to subjects of historical import the serious attention they demand, I shall likeAA'ise en deavour to vary and lighten those more grave parts of my letters, by stating, sometimes, eA'en trifling things, in the hope they may not be altogether void of interest or amusement ; for a traveller, though he sets out on a serious pursuit, may be pardoned if he noAV and then stoops to pick up a AAild floAver to amuse his mind for a moment, as he journeys on his AA-ay.

In the accounts which I purpose transmitting to KesAA'ick, I shall not only give you such information as I haA-e myself been able to collect, but I shall also, Avhen I come to speak of TaA'istock Abbey; derive some assistance by occasional references to a series of papers written by my brother,* respecting * Alfred John Kempe, F.S.A. '■] 3 CLIMATE OF TAVISTOCK. that monastic foundation, Avhich appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine about tAvo years ago. I have, I beUeve, before mentioned to you, that at a very early period of life, Mr. Bray entertained some thoughts of AATiting a history of his native toAvn, including descriptiA'e excursions in its vicinity — the latter more particularly embracing the AA'estern limits of Dartmoor. Though, from liA'ing retired, and not meeting Avith that encouragement AA'hich is so useful and so cheering to young authors, he never threw into a regular form his purposed Avork ; yet he made for it a considerable body of notes, principally derived from liis personal observations on the scenes and antiquities that excited his interest and attention.

Some of these papers have noAV become exceedingly valuable, because, unfortunately, many of the me morials of past times, Avhich they most minutely de scribe, have of late years been seriously injured, or entirely destroyed. In my letters, therefore, I pro pose, from time to time, to transmit to you very copious extracts from these papers, as it Avould be both needless and presumptuous in me to attempt giAang my oaati account of those vestiges of antiquity and picturesque scenes, Avhich have already been so carefully investigated and faithfully delineated by my husband. Before I enter, therefore, upon any historical notices of Tavistock, I shall say something respecting the climate, situation, and natural advantages of our neighbourhood : since I am much disposed to think that the monks, Avho kneAv so Avell hoAv to choose their ground, Avhenever an abbey was in question, Avere induced to fix on this spot on account of its many and most desirable localities for the erection of that b [LET.

ANECDOTE OF CHARLES II. noble pile, Avhose existence gave celebrity to the place, and Avas as a refuge of honour and security to the learning, science, and piety of those times — Avhich noAV, AA-ith more flippancy than truth, it is so much the fashion to rank under the name of the " dark ages," though our oaati boasted light Avas caught from that flame AA'hich they had saved from extinction. I have invariably found, AA'ith persons who rather choose to see the faults and deficiencies than to trace the advantages either of the natural or the moral world, that whenever I speak in praise of DeA'on shire, or of TaA'istock in particular, they oppose to such commendation — the climate ; and ask me hoAv I can be partial to a place so constantly exposed to rain ? The objection has rcceiA-ed even the sanction of royalty, since it is traditionally aA'erred that AA'hilst Charles II.

Avas in TaA'istock (in his father's life time, during the civil Avars) he Avas so annoyed by wet weather, that if any body remarked it Avas a fine day. he Avas Avont to declare ever after, " that, hoAv ever fine it might be elseAvhere, he felt quite sure it must be raining at TaA'istock." That we have a more than due proportion of Avet I aatII not deny; but it is, I believe, a fault com mon to mountainous countries ; and if avc have some discomforts arising from this circumstance, I am con- A'inced that Ave oavc to it many of our advantages also. I have never seen your majestic mountains and lakes ; but, judging from a beautiful collection of draAAings,* in my oaati possession, of Cumberland and Westmoreland, I am induced to believe that a very great resemblance may be traced betAveen the * By the late lamented C. A. Stothard, F.S.A. »•] 5 TAVISTOCK. valleys of those fine counties and our OAvn ; and I rather think that you also have no Avant of shoAvers.

Our Dartmoor heights are frequently distinguished by bold and abrupt declivities of a mountainous cha racter; our verdure is perpetual — and Ave OAve to those Avatery clouds, Avhich so much annoyed the lively young prince, not only our rich pastures, but the beauty of our numerous rivers and matchless mountain streams. Of these I shall have occasion to speak hereafter, since, go Avhere avc will, they meet us in our Avalks and rides at every turn— and always Kke pleasant friends, Avhose animation and cheerfulness give an additional delight to every surrounding object. So much, indeed, do I feel prejudiced in their favour, that, after having become for so long a time familiar Avith the tumult and the beauty of our mountain rivers, I thought even the Thames itself sluggish and dull, and very far inferior to the Tavy or the Tamar.

Tavistock oaacs much of its humidity to the neigh bourhood of Dartmoor ; for there the clouds, AA'hich, OAving to the prevalence of the westerly Avinds in this quarter, pass omvard from the Atlantic ocean, are attracted by the summits of its granite tors, and, spreading themselves in every direction, discharge their contents not only on the moor itself', but for many miles around its base. Some ingenious person (Avhose name I do not knoAv, or it should find a record) has described our Aveather Avith much humour in the following lines : — " The west wind always brings wet Aveather, The east wind wet and cold together, The south Avind surely brings us rain, The north wind bloAvs it back again. [let. 6 TAA'ISTOCK. If the sun in red should set, Tbe next day surely will be wet ; If the sun should set in gray, The next will be a rainy day."

Thus you see, my dear sir, poets aatII sometimes be libellers, and help to keep alive a popular prejudice ; for let the Aveathergrumblers say AA'hat they will, I can aver that our climate (Avhose evil reputation is taken for granted, Avithout sufficient inquiry into its truth), bad as it may be, has, nevertheless, its re deeming qualities ; and, amongst others, assuredly it teaches us to knoAv the value of a good tiling Avhen avc have it, a virtue getting someAvhat scarce in these times ; for a real fine, dry, sun-shiny day in Tavi stock can never pass unnoticed, all living things rejoice in it ; and the rivers run and leap and sparkle AA'ith such brilliancy, and offer so much to delight the eye and cheer the spirits, that the clouds and the damp and the rain that helped to render them so full and floAving, are all forgotten in the gladness of the genial hour; and the animals, and the birds, Avith the insect tribe (whioh is here so numerous and varied) play, or sing, or flutter about aat_1i a vivacity that Avould almost make one believe they hailed a fine day as truly as Avould King Charles, could he have met Avith such a recreation on the banks of old Tavy.

The mildness of our climate is so Avell knoAvn, that it needs no eulogy of mine ; our laurels and bays are the most beautiful evergreens in the Avorld, and, like those of one Avho shall be nameless, never fade. Our myrtles, too, flourish in the open air ; and Ave used to boast of some very fine ones that grew in our garden. In a hard frost, hoAvever, they should be carefully matted ; for the severe Aveather of January, 1831, "] 7 MILDNESS OF CLIMATE. killed ours, in consequence of their haA'ing been neglected in this particular. I cannot give a stronger proof of the mildness of our climate, than by mentioning the following circumstance, which I received from my esteemed friend, Mrs. Radcliffe, of Warleigh. That lady says, in one of her letters to me, " Four myrtle trees grew in the open air, in the recesses of Warleigh House, from twenty-seven to thirty feet in height, the branches spreading nearly from the roots.

One Avas a foot and a half in circumference at the base, and proportionably large to the top. The other three Avere nearly as high, and one of them Avas tAvo feet in circumference near the root. Tavo of the four AA'ere of the broad-leaved kind, one smallleaved, and the other double-blossomed, the flowers of Avhich might be gathered from the AvindoAvs. They Avere cut doAvn in 1782, from the apprehension of their causing the Avails of the house to be damp. The late Mr. Radcliffe, avIio cut them doAvn, remarks, in a memorandum, * I have been the more particular in describing these myrtles, as I doubt not theyAvere the largest in England. Four-and-tAventy fagots, of the usual size, Avere made of the brush- Avood. The stem, main branches, and principal parts of the roots Avere in AA'eight 452 lbs.' Tea-caddies, made from the Avood, and a block of it, remain in our possession at Warleigh."

I here also may add (as another proof of the mild ness of our air) the folloAATng particulars, which I have seen stated in Dr. Moore's Catalogue, lately published, ofthe birds of Devon. The Doctor says, " Of the house swalloAV, or marten, I have seen the old birds feeding their young on the 20th of Sep tember, 1828, at Warleigh ; and have been assured, [LET. 8 A DEEP SNOW. by a good obsei-A'er, that martens haA-e frequently been seen flying during mild Aveather even in the Christmas week, at Plympton. These birds build in the IioIIoavs of the rocks under Wembury Cliffs, as Avell as about the houses in this neighbourhood." Our winters are seldom severe ; andAvhen we have snoAv it does not lie long upon the ground. But Dartmoor, from its great elevation, is far more liable to snow storms and hard weather than Ave are, Avho live in a less elevated country.

Mr. Bray recollects that, when he Avas a boy, returning from school at Christmas, three men AA'ith shovels went before the carriage as it crossed the moor, in order to remove the siioav heaps that, in particular places, Avould otherwise have rendered it impassable. The severest winter that I have heard of Avithin the memory of persons uoav living, occurred about tAventy years since, when my husband's father met Avith an adventure that Avas a good deal talked of at the time, and found its AA'ay into the public prints. Had you crossed the moor to Aisit us Avhen you were last Avith your friend Mr. Lightfoot, it is not impossible you might have had a someAvhat similar one, since I perfectly well recollect then hearing that, for several days, the road from Moreton to Tavistock Avas exceedingly difficult of access on account of the drifted snoAv.

I here giA-e you Mr. Bray's adventure. That gentleman had been at Exeter to take the oaths as portreeve of the borough of TaA'istock, and AA'as returning by the nearest road through Moreton Hampstead, situated about twelve miles from Exeter and twenty from home. There Avas a hard frost on the ground, and the evening being exceedingly cold, Mr. Bray determined to pass the night at a little i.] 9 UNEXPECTED ADVENTURE. comfortless inn (the only one, I believe, which could then boast such a title in the place), and to continue his j ourney across Dartmoor on the folloAving morning. He retired to a bed that Avas anything but one of doAvn, and lay shivering all night, Avishing for the hour that Avas to convey him to his oavii home, Avhere warmth and comfort might be found at such a sea son. Morning came ; but Avhat Avas his amazement, Avhen, on getting up, the first thing he beheld Avas the Avhole face of the surrounding country covered by such a fall of snow as he had never before witnessed in Devon, his native county.

Hoav to get home was the question ; and, like many other puzzling queries, it Avas more easily started than ansAvered. With much eagerness Mr. Bray now consulted landlord and drivers, on the practicability of so de sirable an object. After much deliberation, every possible expedient being suggested and discussed, the thing was found to be impossible, for the roads Avere literally choked up Avith snoAv, not one could be found passable, either on horseback or in a carriage ; nothing less than a Avhole regiment of labourers, could they have been found, to dig out a passage for many miles, could have effected the object ; and even then, so thickly did the skies continue to pour doAvn their fleecy shoAvers, such efforts might have been unavailing. To reach Tavistock Avas out of the question ; and he next inquired if it might be practicable to get back to Exeter.

But the road in that direction Avas equally choked up ; and the drivers assured him, in their Devonshire phrase, that " not only so thick Avas the fall of snoAA', but so hard Avas the frost, that the conchables" (meaning icicles, pro bably derived from the conch shell, to AA'hich indeed b3 [let. 10 MORETON HAMPSTEAD. they bear some fanciful resemblance) " hung from the horses' noses as they stood in the stables." There was nothing to be done ; and as people must submit to mischances Avhen they cannot run aAvay from them, he was condemned to exercise Job's virtue, as many others do, because he could not help it. Finding this to be the case, he now began to think hoAv he should contrive to pass the time during his imprisonment, and the landlady Avas called up and considted as to Avhat recreations or comforts her house could afford to a distressed gentleman under such circumstances : the prospect was a dreary one, for neither books nor company Avere to be found.

Mr. Bray's situation, hoAvever, being communicated to the clergyman and squire of the place, he became indebted to both for the kind attentions Avith Avliich they endeavoured to cheer the time of his detention at Moreton Hampstead, that lasted during the space of three iveeks ; and at length, Avhen he did escape, he AA'as obliged to reach his OAvn home by travelling through a most circuitous road. Thus, in regard to him, are verified all the con stituents that are said to have given rise (but Avith what etymological accuracy I Avill not vouch) to the name of Moreton Hampstead; i. e. a town on the moor instead of home — for tradition says, that it was so denominated from the circumstance of persons returning after Exeter market being oftentimes com pelled to pass the night in a feAV AVTetched hovels, on the spot where the town noAV stands, in lieu of home ; these hovels having originally been colonized by certain vagabonds and thieves who brojke out of Exeter gaol in days of old.* * I speak here, of course, only of the country tradition ; for the Al EFFECTS OF HARD AVEATHER. 11 I have heard, likeAvise, of one or tAvo other in stances of the effects of hard Aveather in this neighbourhood, Avhich I deem Avorthy of record in the annals of our toAvn, because they are rare.

The first relates to some favourite sAvans of the above named gentleman. These fine birds Avere in pos session of a piece of Avater, Avhich had formerly been part of the steAv-ponds of the abbey. One morning, during a hard frost, the SAvans Avere seen, like the enchanted inhabitants described in one of the Arabian tales, Avho had become, all on a sudden, statues of marble. There the birds were — white, beautiful, but motionless. On approaching near them, they were found to be dead and frozen — killed during the night by a sudden and severe frost. I add the folloAving anecdote, not only as a very remarkable circumstance in this my letter on frost and snows, but also as forming the very first I can meet with in the life of my husband, Avhose claim to being ranked among the Avorthies of Tavistock I intend by and by to establish, AA'hen I come to my biographical department.

But as I like my characters, Avhenever they can do so, to speak for them selves, I shall tell this story in Mr. Bray's own Avoids. It may also afford a useful hint to those Avho are fond of observing the gradual changes in the man ners and customs of polished society; since our modern fine ladies will be someAvhat surprised at the politeness of the last generation, on occasions of emergency. Here is the extract from Mr. Bray's letter, addressed to myself when I Avas in London last year. real etymology must be from the Saxon ham ttede, — i. e., the place of the house, &c. [let. 12 SNOW IN MAY. " You must alloAV this is a very cold May, though a dry one. Mrs. Sleeman, Avith whom I dined at Whitchurch the other day, told me that it Avas a common saying among her friends, Avhen any one remarked that the Aveather Avas cold in May, ' But not so cold as it Avas at Mr. Bray's christening, when, on the first of May, so much snow fell in the even ing, that the gentlemen Avho were of the party were obliged to carry home the ladies in their arms.' I kneAv not that any thing remarkable had happened on the day of my christening ; but, by tradition, I kneAv that on my birth day so great was the re joicing, that after drinking some imperial Tokay, folloAved, perhaps, by Avines less costly, if not even by common punch, the doctor threw his wig into the fire, and burnt it, Avhether as an offering to Bacchus orLucina, I know not; but, as I understand the Avig was full-bottomed, and well saturated Avith poAvder and pomatum, the incense could not have been very fragrant on the occasion."

These instances of hard weather are not, hoAvever, common ; for so celebrated is the mildness of the climate in this part of the Avest, that Avhen the doctors can do no more with their consumptive patients, they often send them into Devon, and many have recovered, Avhose cases Avere considered hopeless. I haA'e heard it repeatedly asserted, and from a careful inquiry believe the assertion to be true, that no person born and bred on Dartmoor Avas ever yet knoAA'n to die of pulmonary consumption ; a certain proof that, however bleak and rainy that place may be, it cannot be unhealthy. This, indeed, is easily accounted for, since the land is high, the air pure, and the Avaters are carried off by mountain-torrents and streams. '■] 13 MILDNESS OF DEVON. As additional proofs of the mildness of our climate, I may add, also, a feAV facts that have come under my oavii observation.

I haA'e seen in our garden (which is very sheltered) snoAV-drops as early as the first Aveek in January. We have some straAvberry plants, (I think called the Roseberry, but am not certain,) that grow under the AvindoAvs of the parlour Avhere I am now AAT'iting to you ; and so late as the 14th of last November, did I pluck a feAV well flaA'oured straAA'berries from these plants. The slugs devoured some others that Avere remaining before they were half ripe. The Rev. Dr. Jago, of Milton Abbot, AA-ho is a most intelligent observer of nature, informs me, that on the 18th of last December, he saAV in his garden the yelloAv butterfly, an insect seldom seen in midland counties before the month of March. I confess that, though a great admirer of birds, I am not sufficiently acquainted Avith the feathered tribes to understand critically their " life and con versation," a circumstance Avhich renders White in his Selbornc, and the author of the Journal of a Naturalist, so truly delightful ; but I believe it is no Avonder, though it may be as well to mention it, that our blackbirds and thrushes sang to us at Christmas their carols, so lightly and so sAveetly, that I, avIio had the concert for nothing, was as Avell pleased AA'ith it as an amateur might be to pay the highest price to hear Signor Paganini play his violin.

And iioav Avhat shall I add more in favour of our poor abused climate and its Aveather ? Shall I tell you that I haA'e often, in the " hanging and drown ing " month of November, found lively spirits, sun shine, and beauty on the banks of the Tavy? and [LET. 14 MILDNESS OF DEVON. that in December, Avhen the good people of London are lost in fog, in " the dark days before Christmas," as they call them, and substitute gas lights for the sun's beams, I have often enjoyed a lovely Avalk to CroAvndale, the birth-place of Sir Francis Drake, and have experienced that pleasure Avhich I can describe in no language so Avell as you have done it, in your OAvn Avinter excursion to Walla Crag ; an excursion Avhose records Avill endure as long as the scenes it describes, and Avhich AA-ill be read AA'ith delight so long as there are hearts alive to nature, truth, and feeling.

" The soft calm Aveather has a charm of its OAvn ; a stillness and serenity unlike any other season, and scarcely less delightful than the most genial days of spring. The pleasure Avhich it imparts is rather different in kind than inferior in degree: it accords as finely Avith the feelings of declining life, as the bursting foliage and opening floAvers of May AA'ith the elastic spirits of youth and hope*." I am aAvare that some of my worthy friends in this part of the Avorld, who find consolation in charging all their infirmities to the score of the weather, Avould be apt to exclaim against me, and say that I have given too favourable an account of that at Tavistock; but I confess that I like, literally speaking, to be weather-wise, and to look on the cheerful side even of the most unpromising things ; and if Ave haA'e so much rain, and cannot help it, surely it is as well to consider the bounties Avhich Aoav upon us from the skies, as to find nothing in them but sore throats and colds, and to fancy that our Devonshire showers fall, like the deluge, on no other errand than that of destruction. * See Colloquies, vol. L, p. 116. ■•] 15 MILDNESS OF DEVON.

And now, my dear Sir, having commenced my letters, like a true native of England, with talking about nothing but the Aveather, I shall give you my reasons for proposing to take you, in the next, to Dartmoor, before I set you doAvn amongst the ruins of our abbey. First, then, Tavistock OAves not only many of its advantages, but its very name to its river, Avhich rises on Dartmoor. And though the glory of our toAvn, in after ages, was its stately abbey ; yet as the river Tavy has associated its appellation with the place from times beyond human record, that fact is a sufficient presumption that it possessed, in the aboriginal age, a certain degree of importance. This, indeed, avc may consider as confirmed by the inscribed monumental stones of Romanized British chiefs that have been found in this neighbourhood, tAvo of which are still preserved as obelisks in our garden.