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Old Cornwall Christmas Traditions Cornish Carols - A Tradition For The World
15. St Day
Just how old the Sen Day carol is no one knows. John Penwith writing in his Leaves From A Cornish Notebook says; "One
of the best of the Cornish works is the St Day Carol, rescued some years ago by
the late Canon Doble and Mr W. D. Watson the head Corporation gardener at
Penzance. Mr Watson heard old Thomas Beard sing it at St Day, and then himself
sang it to Canon Doble. He also translated it at St Day into Cornish – so well
that scholars have mistaken his words for an original Cornish text, probably of
the fourteenth century. I heard him sing it in the old language a few days ago,
and I thought that it sounded even lovelier than in English: Although until 1829 St Day was in Gwennap parish and therefore had no parish church. Anciently it had been on the pilgrim route from Canterbury to St Michael’s Mount and a chapelry and hospice had existed before 1269 to cater for the travellers. In 1281 a survey found that, “ annexed to the Chapel of the Holy Trinity were four acres of Glebe” It
is believed
that as well as the chapel
building there was a bell tower and a refectory
and hostel to accommodate the many pilgrims In
about 1565 Elizabeth I sold off the
main chapel.
Much of the stone went towards
building an additional north aisle on Gwennap Church but the bell tower was left
standing. It remained a landmark for many years. Norden writing in 1584 said “There
was sometime a chappell, now decayde, called Trynitye, to which men and women
came in times paste from afar in pilgrimage. The resorte was so greate, as it
made the people of the countrye to bring all kinde of provision to that
place:” Further
history was recalled by Hals writting in 1750. “
Not far from this place is that unparalleled and inexhaustible tin-work called
Poldys which for above 40 years apace hath employed yearly from 800 to a 1000
men and boys labouring for and searching after tin in that place, where they
have produced and raised up for that time yearly at least £20,000 worth of that
commodity to the great enrichings of the Lords of the Soil, the bound owners,
and the adventurers in those Lands”
The chapel tower stood until 1798 when it was finally demolished. A new parish church was built in 1829 and in the April of 1835, a district was assigned and the parish became separate from Gwennap.
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