The great tumulus at Carne was opened in 1855, and within was found a kist-vaen of unhewn stones, covered with limestone boulders; but in the kist were only ashes, pieces of charcoal, and burnt dust. Objects of gold are rarely found in barrows; but in the neighbourhood of the Cheesewring was a persistent story that at some former time a golden cup was actually dug out of a barrow near by. In course of time the tradition was found to be true, and the cup is now in the king's collection.
A little inland from these shores that reverberate with tales of long ago is Tregony, once celebrated for its boys' school, to which the Truro lads went daily in that great Cornish institution, a bus. It is a most ancient place, supposed to have been a Roman station; and when Edward I. gave Parliamentary representation to the country, Tregony was allowed to send two members, and did so in 1294. Many years since, a large stone coffin was dug up near the town, but the measurements given should be received with caution.
Probus, about four miles north-west of Tregony, has a church of exceptional beauty. The tower is of St. Stephen's stone and the highest in Cornwall, being 123 ft. to the top of the pinnacles; it is of elaborate and beautiful workmanship, while there is good sixteenth-century carving in the church and an ancient stone altar _mensa_. Not far from Probus is Wolveden, generally called Golden. Here Francis Tregian sheltered his chaplain, Cuthbert Mayne, in 1577, the cell in which he was concealed being still in good case, as well as a fine Tudor doorway and chimney piece; but the old chapel, though still standing, is part of the stables. The punishment for sheltering a wandering Catholic priest was heavy. Mayne was discovered and hanged at Launceston, and Tregian was thrown into prison, where he languished for eight and twenty years. And all this miserable waste of life because Henry VIII. chose to think differently to his ancestors on "matters appertaining to religion."
These Roseland parishes, with their undulating heaths and sweet short turf, are famous for their mutton. The meat generally in Cornwall, after the uncertainty over chilled beef and New Zealand lamb in other parts of the country, is an agreeable change. Nor is it dear. For visitors the prices of food have gradually risen, but not very long ago butter was a shilling a pound, mackerel a penny each, milk twopence a quart, and little fat pilchards six--seven--eight a penny!