A description of the part of Devonshire bordering on the Tamar and the Tavy; its natural history, manners, customs, superstitions, scenery, antiquities, biography of eminent persons, etcin a series of letters to Robert Southey . On my quitting the Abbey-house for the Vi-carage, I brought it hither and placed it where nowit stands, near the drawing-room window. Some ofmy friends, perhaps thinking it out of place, com-pared it to a sentinel. In some degree to obviatetliis, and to hide a defect not much in character witha soldier, namely, what might be called a hunchback (for the Avheels, I suppo
A description of the part of Devonshire bordering on the Tamar and the Tavy; its natural history, manners, customs, superstitions, scenery, antiquities, biography of eminent persons, etcin a series of letters to Robert Southey . On my quitting the Abbey-house for the Vi-carage, I brought it hither and placed it where nowit stands, near the drawing-room window. Some ofmy friends, perhaps thinking it out of place, com-pared it to a sentinel. In some degree to obviatetliis, and to hide a defect not much in character witha soldier, namely, what might be called a hunchback (for the Avheels, I suppose, had worn it into thisshape), I planted at its foot some Irish ivy. Thishas so wonderfully increased, particidai-ly at the top,that, on cutting part of it away in front, to renderthe inscription legible, it has assumed, curiouslyenough, the form of a sentry box. I felt loth, Iconfess, to cut away more of the ivy than was abso-lutely necessary for this purpose, from the circum-stance that, for many years, a couple of blackbirdshave built their nest there, or frequented it; whichis the more remarkable from their general shyness,and, seemingly at least, their aversion to the hauntsof men. XXI.] INSCRIPTION ON STONE. 375. The inscription, as the first already noticed, con-tains the names of father and son ; viz., Nepranus,the son of Condevus. Some, perhaps, may be in-chned to read Con&evus, as the fonrth letter is morelike our small b than D. The rudeness of thesculpture, hoAvever, may account for this. And indeedMr. Samuel Lysons, in his History of Devonshire/has not hesitated, on a wood-cut, to represent itcompletely fonned as the latter. I am not muchsurprised at this inaccuracy, from the hasty sketch hemade, in my presence, when I first directed his at-tention to the stone in question several years ago ; 376 INSCRIBED STONES. [LET. and only mention it now that the reading proposedmay be supported by the opinion of so great anantiquary. With respect to Conde, in Latin Con-dat
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdec, bookpublisherlondonmurray, bookyear1836
