ns above the ground. Within the house are some good
portraits of the Eliots, including a large number by Sir Joshua
Reynolds.

From St. Germans our journey lies through pleasant vales and wooded
hills to Liskeard, a quiet little market town situated partly on the
slope of a steep hill, and partly in a valley traversed by the Looe and
Liskeard Canal. The district abounds in mysterious piles of rock such as
the Trethevy Stone, and the Hurlers; while the student of folklore will
not fail to be attracted by the sacred wells of St. Keyne and St. Cleer.
The latter was used formerly as a Bowssening Pool, and held in great
repute for its efficacy in restoring the insane to "mens sana in corpore
sano". Not far away is the interesting church of St. Neots', with a
quantity of very fine mediaeval glass.

The site of the old castle of Liskeard is preserved to some extent in a
tree-planted public walk, while in the ancient Grammar School, "Peter
Pindar" (Dr. Wolcot) and the learned Dean Prideaux received their
education. St. Martin's Church has a set of curious gargoyles, while
portions of a nunnery, dedicated to St. Clare, are said to have been
built into the walls of one of the houses. In 1644, during the Civil
War, Charles I was here, and again in the following year.

From Liskeard, Looe may be reached either by rail, road, or canal. The
road passes St. Keyne, where the waters of the well are said to possess
a remarkable property, according to Thomas Fuller, who says, "whether
husband or wife came first to drink thereof, they get the mastery
thereby". The well has been immortalized in Southey's well-known ballad,
_The Well of St. Keyne_.

"A well there is in the west countrie,
And a clearer one never was seen,
There is not a wife in the west countrie
But has heard of the well of St. Keyne."

The ballad goes on to relate that a traveller, sitting beside the well,
met a countryman, with whom he had a long chat about its tradition:

"'You drank of the water, I warrant, betimes,'
He to the countryman said;
But the countryman smiled as the stranger spoke,
And sheepishly shook his head.

"'I hastened as soon as the wedding was o'er,
And left my good wife in the porch;
But faith! she had been quicker than I,
For she took a bottle to church!'"

St. Keyne or St. Keyna, the tutelary saint of this well, is said to have
been a pious virgin, the daughte