t, of Hedendon, Oxfordshire, married Adeliza de Dunstanville and
so took root at Tehidy. The family intermarried with the best local
families--Grenvilles, Trelawneys, Godolphins, Rashleighs, Prideaux.
Francis Basset, who was associated with Grenville in the glorious
victory of Stamford Hill, Stratton, was knighted by Charles I. after
the fight of Braddoc Down. Some of his letters to his wife at this
time are preserved, and they compare with Bevil Grenville's for
touching simplicity and whole-hearted affection. His joy at the
victories, which seemed to have established the Royal cause on a firm
basis--at least in the West--is expressed in several of these.
"Peace," he exclaims, "and I hope perpetual. Sadd houses I have seen
many, but a joyfuller pleasanter day never than this. Sende the money,
as much and as soone as you can. Sende to all our ffriends at home,
especially, this good news. I write this on my saddle. Every friend
will pardon the illness of it, and you chiefly, my perfect joy." To
this he adds in a postscript: "The Kinge and army march presently for
Plymouth. Jesus give the King it and all. The King, in the hearing of
thousands, as soon as he saw me in ye morning, cryed to mee, 'Deare
Mr. Sheriffe, I leave Cornwall to you safe and sound.'" The letter is
addressed "To my Lady Bassett, at her Tehidy, joyfull. After the
success near Lostwithiel." It was not long, however, before this
joyfulness was turned to mourning. Grenville and many another gallant
Cornishman fell in battle; stronghold after stronghold gave way before
the irresistible Fairfax; and Basset himself, after a brave defence
of St. Michael's Mount, had to yield and withdraw to a kind of exile
at Scilly. This dauntless loyalist was closely connected with the town
of St. Ives, which he represented in Parliament, and to which he gave
the silver goblet mentioned in the previous chapter. Tehidy House,
which was enlarged and nearly rebuilt in 1865, is beautifully situated
and contains an excellent collection of pictures, including specimens
by Reynolds, Vandyck, Lely, and Gainsborough. A later notability was
Francis, Baron de Dunstanville and Basset, of Tehidy, born at Walcot
in 1757, whose virtues were so greatly appreciated by the Duchy that
his monument was erected on the summit of Carn Brea, where it stands
as a striking landmark, rising 90 feet from its pedestal; this was
placed in 1836. The top can be reached by an inner stairway, and
commands a ma