PROCEEDINGS AT THE FORTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION,

HELD AT LAUNCESTON, 27TH TO 30TH JULY, 1909.

FOR the first time in its history, the Association has held its Annual Meeting beyond the limits of the county of Devon. A very cordial invitation to visit Launceston was received from the Mayor and Corporation of that ancient town, and as the Council of this Association was empowered under a Resolution passed at the General Meeting of 1904 to arrange for visits to towns situated beyond the borders of Devonshire, should it see fit, the invitation was gladly accepted. The members were accorded a very hearty reception during their visit, and a most successful Meeting resulted.

Members began to arrive on Monday, 26 July, and before noon of the following day a large number had assembled, so that all the meetings and excursions were well attended. The Committees of the Constitutional and Liberal Clubs respectively, invited Members of the Association to become Honorary Members of these two Clubs, while the same courtesy was extended to the ladies of the Association by the Committee of the Tamar Club. The Museum at the South Gate, with its interesting collections, and the ruins of the Priory were both thrown open for the inspection of members. Dr. Shepherd very kindly invited several of the members to see his interesting Queen Anne mansion, Castle Hill House,1 with its moulded ceilings, its handsome chimneypieces, and beautiful woodcarving, attributed to Grinling Gibbons, and his collection of paintings, mezzotints, engravings, old china, Chippendale and other old furniture, etc. This courtesy was greatly appreciated by those interested in such objects of Art. Dr. Thompson also invited members interested in hospital work to inspect the new infirmary, with its up-todate appliances.

1 See Baring-Gould's Old Country Life, p. 352.

The first Council Meeting was held in the Town Hall at 2 p.m., on Tuesday, 27 July, at which, besides the transaction of ordinary business, the Report of the Council was agreed to and a list of papers to be read during the Meeting approved of.

At 3.30 p.m. the members met in the Town Hall to attend the reception of the Association by the Mayor (J. Kittow, Esq.) and Corporation. In spite of the wet weather (for it had been raining unceasingly all the forenoon) there has seldom been a larger gathering of members than that which was assembled in the great hall, when His Worship, wearing his robes and insignia of office, and attended by the sergeants-at-mace and accompanied by members of the Town Council and of the Reception Committee, took his place on the dais. In welcoming the Association the Mayor said the first pleasing duty that devolved upon him that afternoon was, on behalf of the Corporation, and of the local committee, to offer to the President and members of the Devonshire Association a very cordial greeting and hearty welcome to that borough. They recognized, and they owed, he thought, a debt of gratitude to the members of the Association for the great work they had carried on in the sister county for so many years, that, he believed, being the forty-eighth year of the Association. They recognized that during that time deep researches had been made by the Association into the history of the county; that valuable contributions from time to time, by their lectures and learned papers, had been made to the literature of the county; and they thought, also, they had done a great work in preserving the folk-lore and songs of their native Devonshire. He was quite sure by the work they were doing so continuously and well they had made Devonshire well known not only to Devonshire people, but to a vast area of country outside. Now, he believed for the first time in their history, they had crossed over the Tamar, and had come into that borough for their Annual Meeting. He was quite sure that as Launcestonians they felt very proud indeed to receive them. They felt the Association was paying them a very great compliment, not only a compliment to the town, but also a compliment to their respected townsman, Mr. Hine, who had for many years been a member of their Association. He thought possibly they owed to Mr. Hine a great

deal for the pleasant gatherings of that day. They were grateful to know that they had the Lord Bishop of the Diocese for their President, and they felt very thankful that they had the help of their learned Town Clerk, Mr. Peter, as local hon. secretary. He (the Mayor) was sure they would find in Mr. Peter a guide, philosopher, and friend, for what he did not know about the history of Launceston he did not think it would be worth their while making much research into. They had done their best to procure suitable apartments for the members, and were very proud to place their municipal buildings at their disposal for their meetings. Had the weather been betterand they hoped it might clear yet-they could have taken them to view places which they considered of great interest. First he might mention their Castle, of which considerable remains were still in existence. Apparently it was built in the Early Norman period, though other historians ascribed it to a still earlier date. It was said to be imagination to go beyond that, but he supposed imagination was not an unknown thing to historians, and he had heard that even associations such as theirs had on occasions to resort to imagination when facts did not quite fit in. Though not in the same proportions as in the days when Earls of Cornwall made it their residence, still what did remain of the Castle they, as a town, were doing all they could to preserve and not to lessen. The Mayor referred to the conferring of the honour by the Duke of Cornwall of the Constableship of the Castle upon the Mayor of Launceston for the time being, and went on to allude to the South Gate, which was still kept in a good state of preservation, whilst above the gateway, instead of the old prison, they had formed a museum, which, he thought, might be of interest to them. Then, again, they could show them their unique church of St. Mary Magdalene, with an exterior of granite, carved on every stone, with a meaning running through all. They hoped to take them to St. Stephen's, back to St. Thomas' Church, and then to show them the ruins of the old Priory, which were unearthed during the extension of the North Cornwall Railway. There were still considerable remains of the Priory, sufficient to show them that it must have been a building of very considerable size, and executed in that lovely way they used to build in those days. It was a great pity that in those old days they could not have done what they wanted to do by stopping

ceremonies they did not like instead of by pulling down buildings to the extent they did. Probably, if similar associations to theirs had been in existence in those days, they would have had preserved to them still more of these interesting ruins than they had to-day. By the kindness of their neighbours-Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Williams, the Hon. Mrs. Tremayne, and the Rev. S. Baring-Gould-they would have an opportunity of visiting their historic mansions and grounds, which he was sure would be of very great interest to them. They had also the Tintagel trip to look forward to, so that he hoped their visit would be fraught with a very great deal of pleasure, and that they would pick up a great deal of information to add to their great storehouse of knowledge. Speaking for the town generally, they had not only done all they could to preserve the ancient landmarks of the town, but they had not forgotten that they could not live wholly by antiquity, and they had endeavoured to keep their town up to date as far as they could by spending a large sum of money on a water supply; these buildings, too, had been erected; they were proud of their scholastic establishments and, generally speaking, he thought they would find their town. to compare favourably with other towns even of a larger size. There were two gentlemen-one of the borough, and another of London-he should like to refer to, because, although they were both of advanced years, still he was quite sure there was no one who would take a deeper interest or watch more closely the result of the Association's visit than the two gentlemen he had mentioned. He referred to Mr. Richard Robbins, who was now in London, and whose son, Mr. A. F. Robbins, had compiled a most comprehensive and valuable history of their borough, and secondly he referred to Mr. Richard Peter, the father of their present Town Clerk. This year Mr. Richard Peter would attain his one-hundredth birthday, and they were looking forward to congratulating him on attaining that great age, and were going to venture to wish him many happy returns of the day. They were very much indebted to both of these gentlemen. Most present, he had no doubt, had had copies of the history of the borough, brought down to the date when these gentlemen ceased writing, and in each case they were helped very considerably by their talented and learned sons. He would again offer to them a very hearty wel

come to the borough, and hoped they would have a most enjoyable time.

Dr. Brushfield, replying to the welcome, said the Association was formed in 1862, and amongst the founders who were present at the first meeting, the sole one left was the Rev. William Harpley, who was for some time Secretary of the Association, and ultimately its President. The Association was instituted for the advancement of science, literature, and art, and he thought it had done its work very well. If any one would take the trouble to look over the Transactions of the Society, they would be quite satisfied on that point. These had been and were being used by those engaged upon the history of their township or upon the history of the county generally. The invitation from Launceston to meet in the borough that year was couched in such hearty and courteous terms that the Association was only too glad to accept it. It was not a monastic institution. They had their Adamsthe General Secretary-and they had their Eves, who gave the Association from time to time many valuable papers of a character which made mere men look to their laurels, and stimulated them to write better papers than they otherwise would do. They were accustomed in the sister county to think that no other county could equal Devon for the beauty of its ladies. He was glad somebody said, "Hear, hear." He did not say it. He had been in Cornwall many times, and now coming into their county for a special object, and using his eyes pretty well, he could say that the Cornish ladies were almostwell, perhaps, quite on a par with the Devonshire ones. There were many things that knit the two counties together. On the eastern side Dorset and Somerset approximated closely to the Devon border, but somehow they did not take the same interest in those counties as they did in the county of Cornwall. In conclusion, he said he was sure the members of the Association would return from Launceston full of appreciation for the kindness and hospitality of the Cornish people.

This ceremony being concluded, the two silver maces belonging to the Corporation were exhibited. For the history and description of these beautiful articles of workmanship members are referred to the History of Launceston and Dunheved, by Messrs. R. and O. Peter (1885), pp. 290–291.