CORNWALL
probably nearly as ancient as the celebration.
But this Furry Day has been too often described to need fuller detailing here. The chief
natural attraction at Helston is the Loe Pool, sometimes imagined to be the scene of King Arthur's finding and losing of his sword
Excalibur. The spot has certainly a better claim than Dozmary ; but in reality Tennyson's picture is drawn from a land of pure romance
and imagination, a land of dream and inward vision, suited to his entirely mystic treatment
of Arthur. Yet it is pleasant to fancy that from this mere the strange barge bore the wounded king "to the island-valley of Avilion "; that it was of this mere Bedivere said —
"I heard the water lapping on the crag,
And the long ripple washing in the reeds ".
The sheet of water is about 7 miles in circumference ; it is caused by the spreading of the river Cober, whose course to the sea was obstructed by the pebbly bar. Formerly, in days when this bar could only be cut
through by permission of the lord of the manor, many floods occurred ; now there is a culvert. The mines of the neighbourhood were once a defacement ; these have now decayed, and Helston's quiet prosperity depends on its rich grazing land. The pool is the delight of anglers, and it is said that Nansloe, on the E. bank, is held on the tenure of
providing boat and nets for the Duke of Cornwall, should he ever come here to fish,
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