Of Dartmoor and its Borderland. 79 When dusky night's advance made daylight flee. Or gathering mists the beaten track would hide, The lonely traveller, beholding thee, Has found a guide. Long in the desert may'st thou stand, old cross, And towards thee ne'er be stretched an unkind hand ; But with thy coat of lichen grey and moss, Long may'st thou stand ! Though it is not possible to identify any existing path in this part of the moor with the Abbots' Way, the name of Jobbers' Cross occurring in connection with the old track near the Prison at Princetown, as before mentioned, certainly leads to the supposition that it must have passed that way. The course one would more readily imagine that it took would be to the westward of North Hisworthy Tor,* instead of to the eastward of it, the side on which Princetown lies, for in such a case a more direct line to Tavistock from South Hisworthy Tor would have been followed. But the former existence of the old track at Princetown is a strong piece of evidence that this was not the case. Though we do not know precisely where this branch of the Abbots' Way crossed the Walkham, it seems probable that it was not far below the present Merivale Bridge. Thither we shall now proceed, and on the further side of the river shall pass near Vixen Tor, and leaving the road on our right shall cross Beckamoor Combe to Feather Tor, which is situated a little to the northward of Pu Tor. Here conspicuously placed is a cross, and on nearing it we shall find it to be a remarkably fine example. It is known in the vicinity as the Windy post or Windy stone, but is some- times called Beckamoor Cross. It stands on an elevated plain between Feather Tor and Barn Hill, being close to the former, which is a tor of small size. The shaft and arms are octagonal ; the former are three feet four inches in girth, and the latter a little less. It is seven feet in height, and across the arms measures two feet three inches; the distance of the under surface of the arms from the bottom of the shaft is five feet. The faces of this cross look nearly due north and south, and it inclines out of the perpendicular ; a straight line •Commonly called North Hessary Tor, South Hisworthy Tor is now generally known in the vicinity as Look-out Tor.
