Lidford (1812)
Samuel Prout
| Repository | Library | Shelf |
|---|---|---|
| Devon | West Country Studies | Portfolio 15 |
Illustration Reference
SC1447
Location
CD 23 DVD 4
Publication Details
Scope and Content
Maton, William George, M.A. Observations relative chiefly to the natural history, picturesque scenery, and antiquities, of the western counties of England, made in the in the Years 1794 and 1796. Salisbury: J. Easton, 1797. Vol. I. pp. 300 - 301.I have never seen a more dreary tract than that over which we passed from the tin mines towards Lidford. The soil is exceedingly swampy and moist, and covered with Sphagnum palustre (bog moss), through which our horses' legs penetrated knee-deep at every step. If we had not been accompanied by the captain of the mines, who seemed to be well acquainted with the country, we should have been in unceasing apprehension of sinking deeper than our heads. Though it may naturally be imagined that so wet, exposed, and uncomfortable a district must be unhealthy, we were informed that the inhabitants live to an extraordinary age. They reckon themselves middle-aged only when arrived at sixty, and "it is no very uncommon thing (said our guide) to hear the death of a man of seventy years of age spoken of as if premature!" The principal cause, I believe, of this longevity, as in other countries remarkable for it, is the absence of temptations to intemperance.[Text may be taken from a different source or edition than that listed as the source by Somers Cocks.]
Format
S.g.etch
Dimensions
125x210mm
Series
S38. PROUT, Samuel: PICTURESQUE DELINEATIONS IN THE COUNTIES OF DEVON AND CORNWALL, IMITATED FROM THE ORIGINAL STUDIES.
Places
Aspects
Exterior
Counties
Subjects
Dates
1812