Original - The MAN & Other Families

Of Dartmoor and its Borderland. 3foaming torrents over rocky beds, the precipitous sides beingclothed with furze and heather, with many a huge graniteboulder half hidden in the wild and tangled growth, thenumerous tors lifting high their rugged crests and standinglike giant sentinels around.King John disafforested the whole of the County of Devon,with the exception of Dartmoor and Exmoor, and though theformer when it was afterwards bestowed upon Richard, Earlceased to be a forestof Cornwall, by his brother, Henry III.,in law, since none but a king can hold such unless by specialwarrant, it has nevertheless continued to be regarded as aforest down to our own day, and is generallyso called.It is part of the Duchy of Cornwall, and isconsequentlyalways held by the male heir apparent to the throne, as duke,but in the event of their being none such, it reverts to theCrown for the time being. Perambulations have been madefrom time to time for the purpose of denning the limits of theforest, which lies in the centre of the moorland region, itsboundaries being, in some parts, several miles from thecultivated country. The intervening tract, which presentssimilar characteristics to the forest, was formerly known asthe Commons of Devonshire. It is made up of parts of anumber of parishes surrounding the forest, many of whichof pasturage andpossess Venville rights, as certain privilegesturbary are termed. The forest itself lies entirelywithin theparish of Lydford.The return of a perambulation made in the year 1240when Richard, Earl of Cornwall, was the lord of Dartmoor,sets forth the bounds of the forest, and of this there areseveral copies extant. A survey of the forest was alsomade in 1609, and the bounds as named in this, approachvery closely to those generally recognised at the presenttime. These are defined by natural objects, such as a hill,a tor, or a river. The forest is divided into quarters, ofwhich the north is the largest.Ancient customs still survive on Dartmoor, thoughgradually giving place to modern usages. Yet it is stilla home for many of our old superstitions and legendary tales,a place where much that found favour with our ancestors,and which, perhaps with questionable taste, is now voted outof fashion, still finds a refuge, and where freedom from all