Part 18

“Agreed on Easter Monday, March the 31st day, 1755, by us whose names are hereunto subscribed, being the Parishioners then present at the Vestry then held. That only five persons shall, and are by the authority of the said Vestry allowed to ring the Bells of this Parish for the future, and that they shall ring only on such public days as the Parishioners shall from time to time agree to and approve of, and that the said five persons that shall undertake to Ring shall be obliged likewise to chime the Bells on every Sunday in the forenoon and the afternoon, at the proper season for Divine Service, and that they shall be obliged to give their due and regular attendance, both in the fore and afternoon of every Sunday upon the Service of the church, and that they be at Liberty to ring for George Treby, Esq., and the other Gentlemen belonging to the Corporation, as often as the said Gentlemen shall signify it to be their pleasure to have the Bells rung, and that the said Ringers are never to ring after _Eight_ of the clock in the Evening, or before Seven in the morning.”

“The Ringers are never to ring after Eight.” Thus are old customs and traditions handed down from age to age.

“The Curfew tolls the knell of parting day.”

Speaking of cards reminds me that in the same street with the Guildhall are some curious old slated fronts, in which the slates have been cut in the shape of clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Under these fronts we have also the covered way.

We now come to a building a little to the south-east of the church, around which so many treasured associations cluster, that we hardly know whether we have yet said adieu to the sacred edifices of Plympton. The old Grammar School is the most venerable and interesting school of art in all England. Here the greatest English painter—a man for “all time”—learnt the first principles of drawing. The house in which he was born overlooks his schoolroom and his playground. Here, too, Northcote, his clever and eccentric pupil, acquired his, perhaps not very classic, education. This, also, was the first school of the late distinguished President of the Royal Academy, Sir Charles Eastlake, and the _Alma Mater_ of poor Benjamin Haydon. A mournful interest, indeed, attaches to the building as connected with the last-mentioned name. The year before he died Haydon visited the old Grammar School, and wrote his name in pencil on the wall, where you may still see it:—

B. R. Haydon, Historical Painter, London, Educated here 1801. Rev. W. Haines (Master). Head Boy then.

This was only a few months before a dark and impenetrable cloud shrouded the clear intellect of this gifted man, and his life—so useful, but so ill-requited—closed in saddest gloom.

The key-stone of the doorway under the cloister gives the date of the building as 1664. Strange to say, it is a Gothic structure of the most picturesque design and arrangement. At the time it was built, architecture had been given over almost entirely to the Renaissance and Italian schools. It is singular, therefore, to find here at Plympton an unconventional style adopted at such a time, but it has been suggested that the same eccentric architect who designed the fine Gothic church of Charles in Plymouth in the middle of the seventeenth century built also the Grammar School in the neighbouring town, and the points of resemblance are certainly very great. We have the same evidence of the desire to do something good and true in both—the same good outline and arrangement of parts, and the same superadded faults in little details, as though the designer himself knew what he was about, but could not bring his workmen up to the mark. No wonder little Reynolds saw something to admire in the outline and shadows of the cloisters, for nothing can be better than the proportions of the pillars and arches, and the banding of the masonry over in alternate courses about six inches high, of granite and dark limestone. In fact, the lower portion of the building is the most pleasing piece of masonry in this neighbourhood; and though the large square-headed windows over are not so good, yet the angle of the roof is excellent, and the large Perpendicular windows at the ends not without merit. The schoolroom is about sixty-three feet long by twenty-six feet in width, the master’s desk at one end, and on each side of the window (over) a rudely-painted shield, with the armorial bearings of Hele and Maynard. Overhanging the entrance on one side is a small gallery, approached from a chamber probably once used as a class or flogging room, but now too dilapidated for either practical purpose, and much in keeping with the rest of the building, which is rather out at elbows. In fact—what with the Castle, Priory, and Grammar School—the description which the American gave of Rome will apply to Plympton—“_Quite_ a nice place, but the public buildings very much out of repair.” The Master’s house adjoins the school-room, and here the great painter was born. The front appears to be comparatively modern, but the bedroom in which he is said to have first seen the light is in the back and older part of the house, with a window overlooking the school and playground, as before mentioned. Some rough sketches, drawn by Reynolds in his youth, were to be seen on the walls of this room when Haydon and Wilkie visited the house in 1809, but have since been obliterated by some barbarous whitewasher. The engraving represents the cloisters of the Grammar School, the subject of almost the first drawing Reynolds ever made.

Sir Joshua Reynolds was born on the 16th July, 1723, and was baptized on the 30th of the same month, when, by mistake, his name was entered in the register as Joseph.

It is unnecessary here to give anything like a sketch of the great painter’s career, but one or two incidents connected with the place of his birth (to which throughout his life he was strongly attached) may be mentioned. He regarded with the greatest satisfaction and pleasure his visit to Devonshire with Dr. Johnson in 1762. It was on this occasion that Northcote first saw his great master. It seems that Sir Joshua went to Plymouth Dock, in company with the Doctor, on a certain day when there was a great commotion in reference to some local matter, probably the water question. “I remember,” says Northcote, “when he was pointed out to me at a public meeting, where a great crowd was assembled, I got as near to him as I could from the pressure of the people, to touch the skirt of his coat, which I did with great satisfaction to my mind.”

In 1772, Sir Joshua was elected to the Aldermanic gown of Plympton, Lord Mount Edgcumbe acquainting him by letter of the circumstance. The letter in which he acknowledges the honour, with most hearty thanks, is in the Cottonian Museum at Plymouth. In the following year he was chosen Mayor of the borough, and he declared that this circumstance gave him more gratification than any other honour which he had received during his life; and this sentiment he expressed when it was rather out of place, as the following circumstance related by Northcote will shew. Reynolds had built for his recreation on Richmond Hill a villa, of which Sir William Chambers was architect, and in the summer season it was the frequent custom of Sir Joshua to dine at this place with select parties of his friends. “It happened some little time before he was to be elected Mayor of Plympton that, one day, after dining at the house, himself and his party took an evening walk in Richmond Gardens, when, very unexpectedly, at a turning of one of the avenues, they suddenly met the King, accompanied by a part of the Royal Family; and when, as his Majesty saw him, it was impossible for him to withdraw without being noticed. The King called to him, and immediately entered into conversation, and told him that he had been informed of the office that he was soon to be invested with—that of being made the Mayor of his native town of Plympton. Sir Joshua was astonished that so minute and inconsiderable a circumstance, which was of importance only to himself, should have come so quickly to the knowledge of the King; but he assured his Majesty of its truth, saying it was an honour which gave him more pleasure than any other he had ever received in his life; and then, luckily recollecting himself, added, ‘except that which your Majesty was graciously pleased to bestow upon me,’ alluding to his knighthood.”

On the occasion of his being elected Mayor, he presented to his much-loved native town his own portrait, painted, as it seems, expressly to commemorate the occasion. It was placed in the Corporation dining-room, but sold by the Common Council for £150 when the town was disfranchised! That _this_ was “the hour and power of darkness” there cannot be a doubt.

Sir Joshua Reynolds died on the 23rd February, 1792, and was interred in the crypt of St. Paul’s Cathedral with every honour that could be shewn to worth and genius. His tomb, adorned by one of Flaxman’s best works, is almost close to that of Sir Christopher Wren—England’s greatest painter, we may almost say without any qualification, and England’s greatest architect—each, during some portion of life connected with this honoured little town of Plympton, though by different ties and at different periods of its history; both resting from their labours in the great temple which Wren built, and which Reynolds sought to adorn with his matchless pencil.

The great honour which belongs to Plympton deserves to be held in lasting remembrance, not merely by every inhabitant of that town, but by all who have any appreciation of art or desire for its advancement.

JAMES HINE.

NOTE.—The authorities for the historical facts in this paper are Dr. Oliver, Rev. S. Rowe, and Mr. Cotton.

FRENCH PRISONERS ON DARTMOOR.

BY J. D. PRICKMAN.

In the early part of the nineteenth century Mr. Thomas, afterwards Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt, who held the office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries under the then Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV., originated the idea of building a prison on Dartmoor for the numerous prisoners of war then in Great Britain, who were at that time mostly confined in hulks and military and naval prisons. The Government of that day took up the idea, and, adopting the plans of Mr. Daniel Alexander, proceeded to carry them out, the first stone of the prison being laid by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt on the 20th March, 1806.

The site of the prison—about seven miles east of Tavistock and about fifteen (straight across the moor) south of Okehampton—was granted by the Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall and Lord of the Forest of Dartmoor.

The building as then built is described in the Notes to Risdon’s _Devonshire,_ published in 1811, as follows:—

The outer wall encloses a circle of about 30 acres—within this is another wall which encloses the area in which the Prison stands—this area is a smaller circle with a segment cut off. The prisons are 5 large rectangular buildings each capable of containing more than 1,500 men; they have each two floors, where is arranged a double tier of Hammocks slung on cast-iron pillars, and a third floor in the roof, which is used as a promenade in wet weather. There are besides two other spacious buildings, one of which is a large hospital, and the other is appropriated to the Petty Officers. The entrance is on the western side, the gateway, built of solid blocks of granite, bearing the inscription, “Parcere subjectis.”

The total cost of the work was nearly £130,000, and it was completed somewhere about the year 1809, and the collection of houses gradually formed what is now known as Princetown.

The first set of prisoners was sent there on the 29th May, 1809, and the buildings continued to be used as a war prison from then until the 22nd April, 1814, during which time no less than 12,679 prisoners underwent confinement there. During the years 1809, 1810 and 1811, deaths at the prison were very numerous from one cause and another, so much so, that a Return was asked for in the House of Commons, by which it appears that from May, 1809, to June, 1811, no less than 622 prisoners died.

The following is a copy of such Returns:—

1809. No. in Prison. Deaths. May 2,479 — June 2,471 9 July 3,059 9 August 4,052 3 September 6,031 15 October 5,993 21 November 5,940 29 December 5,875 63 —- 149 ===

1810. No. in Prison. Deaths. January 5,741 131 February 5,624 87 March 5,399 63 April 5,352 28 May 5,282 25 June 5,261 17 July 5,247 12 August 5,229 16 September 5,209 11 October 5,399 9 November 5,372 12 December 5,247 8 —- 419 ===

1811. No. in Prison. Deaths. January 5,728 14 February 5,019 7 March 5,605 11 April 5,594 10 May 6,084 5 June 6,577 7 —- 54 ===

In the year 1812 no less than 6,280 prisoners of war were confined in the buildings. The total number of deaths during the whole time the buildings were used as a war prison was 1,117; of these 1,095 were French, and 22 American, prisoners.

Of the life of the prisoners inside the prison little is known. We know that Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt procured the privilege of holding a market and a fair at Princetown, and that daily markets were held within the precincts of the prison for the sale by the country people of vegetables, etc., to the prisoners. There are rumours that the prisoners gambled away their clothing and rations; but their life as prisoners on Dartmoor must have been infinitely preferable to that endured by those who were previous thereto confined in hulks and transports; but the details of the life are wanting, and even the pamphlet written by Capt. Vernon Harris, for many years Governor of Dartmoor Prison after it was re-opened, gives no great information on the subject. Many writers of fiction have founded romances on the prison and the prisoners, but for the most part on imagination. Probably the best of the kind, and most accurate in detail, is _The Queen of the Moor_, by the Rev. Frederick Adye, who was for many years resident in the district, and therefore well acquainted with the surrounding country and the rumours of the neighbourhood. Monsieur Jules Poulain, a Frenchman who is said to have lived at Princetown to be near a friend who was confined there, has written in the French language an interesting book entitled _Dartmoor, or the Two Sisters_. He, in describing Dartmoor, says:—“Think of the ocean waves changed into granite during a tempestuous storm, and you will then form an idea of what Dartmoor is like,” which indeed gives rather a vivid picture of the rolling hills and valleys.

Many of the prisoners of war were allowed out on parole. From Capt. Vernon Harris’ interesting pamphlet we learn the form of parole was as follows:—

Whereas the Commissioners for conducting His Majesty’s Transport service and for the care and custody of French officers and sailors detained in England have been pleased to grant A. B. leave to reside in .... upon condition that he gives his parole of honour not to withdraw one mile from the boundaries prescribed there without leave for that purpose from the said Commissioners, that he will behave himself decently and with due regard to the laws of the Kingdom, and also that he will not directly or indirectly hold any correspondence with France during his continuance in England, but by such letter or letters as shall be shewn to the Agent of the said Commissioners under whose care he is or may be in order to their being read and approved by the superiors. He does hereby declare that he having given his parole of honour will keep it inviolably.

(Signature)

The following towns in Devon and Cornwall were set aside for prisoners on parole:—Ashburton, Okehampton, Moretonhampstead, Tavistock, Bodmin, Launceston, Callington, Roscoe and Regilliack, but probably prisoners were from time to time billetted in other towns such as Tiverton (mentioned later) and elsewhere.

The following notice was sent and posted as notice to the inhabitants of the town selected for residence of the prisoners allowed out on parole:—

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN,

That all such prisoners are permitted to walk or ride on the Great Turnpike Road within the distance of one mile from the extreme parts of the Town (not beyond the bounds of the Parish) and that if they shall exceed such limits or go into any field or cross road they may be taken up and sent to prison and a reward of 10s. will be paid by the Agent for apprehending them. And further that such prisoners are to be in their lodgings by 5 o’clock in the winter and 8 o’clock in the summer months and if they stay out later they are liable to be taken up and sent to the Agent for such misconduct. And to prevent the prisoners from behaving in an improper manner to the inhabitants of the town or creating any riots or disturbances either with them or among themselves notice is also given that the Commissioners will cause upon information being given to their agent any prisoner who shall so misbehave to be committed to prison. And such of the inhabitants who shall insult or abuse any of the prisoners of war on parole or shall be found in any respect aiding or assisting in the escape of such prisoners will be prosecuted according to law.

In reference to Tavistock, the Prison Commissioners reported that there were 150 prisoners there allowed out on parole, and that their conduct was exemplary. The Report further stated—

Some of them have made overtures of marriage to women in the neighbourhood which the magistrates have very properly taken pains to discourage.

When allowed out on parole the prisoner was assigned to some place of residence, after which he received a fixed sum for his maintenance, and was permitted to engage in any kind of business or occupation, and to use any additional funds he might possess. Many of the prisoners occupied their time in teaching languages, and in carving various things such as chessmen, etc.

There are instances of attempts by the prisoners on parole to escape. At the Devon Summer Assize, 1812, Richard Tapper, described as of Moretonhampstead, Carrier, Thomas Vinnacombe and William Vinnacombe (his brother) of Cheriton Bishop, described in the indictments as Smugglers (a curious and, one would have thought, a somewhat prejudiced description of their occupation), were indicted and convicted of misdemeanour for aiding and assisting, with divers other persons unknown, Casimer Baudouin, an officer in the French Navy; Allain Michel and Louis Hamel, Captains of Merchant Vessels; Pierre Joseph Dennis, a Second Captain of a Privateer; and Andrew Fleuriot, a Midshipman of the French Navy, to escape from Moretonhampstead. The French prisoners paid £25 down, and subsequently £150 for the assistance rendered. They were taken on horseback to Topsham, and placed in a large boat described as eighteen feet long, but in going down the estuary of the Exe, however, not far from Exmouth, the boat grounded on the Bar, and they were apprehended. The story is somewhat graphically, though at considerable length, told in the records of the proceedings.

The French prisoners formed no less than twenty-six Lodges and Chapters of Freemasons in England and elsewhere. The only one in the neighbourhood of Dartmoor was at Ashburton, and the only evidence of it is an undated certificate granted to one Paul Carcenac, described as Assistant Commissary, the Lodge being described as “Des Amis Reunis” (the Re-united Friends). A copy of the certificate and many further interesting details concerning this and other Lodges, notably those at Abergavenny, “Enfants de Mars et de Neptune”; at Plymouth “Amis Reunis”; at Tiverton, “Enfants de Mars” (see Bro. Sharland’s _Freemasonry in Tiverton_, published in 1899), are given in a most interesting book by Bro. John T. Thorp entitled _French Prisoners’ Lodges_, published in 1900, and printed at Leicester by Bro. George Gibbons, King Street.

There appear to be but few records of the prisoners at the various towns, and only the vaguest reminiscences. In Okehampton it is said that there were about 150 prisoners on parole. In the Churchyard is a tombstone—a rough slate slab—on which appears the following:—

Cette Pierre Fut Elevee Par Lamitie a La Memoire Darmand Bernard ne au Harve En Normande Marie a Calais a Mad^{cle} Margot 11^e Officer De Commerce Decedee Prisoner de Guerre a Okehampton le 26 October 1815 aged 33 ans A Labri des vertus Qui Distinguaient La vie Tu reposes en paix ombre tendre et cherie

Another close by bears the following inscription:—

C^r Cit Adelaide Barrin Du Puyleaune[11] De La Commune De Montravers Dept Des Deux Sevres Nee le 31 Avril 1771 Decedee a Okehampton le 18 Fevre 1811 Fille le Legitme Dal F^{are} Barrion Notaire et Procav^{re} De Machecoura ne de N^{re} Ici repose la mere & l’enfant

Footnote 11:

Entered in the Death Register of the parish as Ann Duchane.

Many prisoners on parole died and were buried at Moretonhampstead, but the grave-stones are not easily decipherable. The following entries of burial appear in the Register:—

Jan. 24 1811 Jean Francois Rohan French Officer on Parole. June 11 1811 Arnaud Aubry Lieutenant on Parole. Buried in Wooling (Shroud) according to act of Parliament.

Of the numerous French prisoners who died at Princetown no account appears in the parish register, and to quote again from Capt. Vernon Harris’ book: