r^ PREFACE T^HE author here attempts to deal with a large subject in a small hook. In such attempts there is a tendency to inequality ; one part of the subject may be treated with fulness, and another shirked. Special aspects of a county's history or characteristics will appeal more to the writer than others ; he has to resist this temp- tation, and not make those features unduly prominent. A satisfactory guide-book must not be exclusively architectural, or historic, or legendary, or scientific ; it must aim at being all. In Cornwall such breadth of treatment is particularly needed. Cornwall is like no other English county. Its nearest resemblance in England will be found in Devon ; parts of Ireland are equally or more similar. But there are features in Cornwall not to be found else- where. One special point is the hagiology. In most counties it is enough to say of a church that it is dedicated to St. Paul or to St. James ; in Cornwall it is not enough to say that a
