Page:Cornwall (Salmon).djvu/219

 ST. MELLION— MERTHER Bishops," was baptised in the church, which is chiefly noticeable for its old spire. 5^. Merryn {zh m. W. of Padstow) is pre- sumably the Welsh St. Merin. This parish supplied the Catacleuse stone of which its own and other churches have been built. The name of Constantine Bay preserves memory of the old parish and church of Constantine, one of the few genuinely Cornish saints. Constantine, son of Cador, and himself King or Duke of Cornwall, was converted in his old age by Petrock, towards the close of the sixth century, and established his cell here at St. Merryn, not far from Petrock's-stow. It is doubtless on the site of this cell that the old church stands, overwhelmed and ruined by sand-storms long since, buried for a time, and now again visible among the towans. The sand that destroyed the church destroyed also the village, and the parish was merged in that of St. Merryn ; where the feast-day of St. Constantine was long observed by an annual hurling match. It is said that a cottage in this parish was held for many generations on the tenure of rendering yearly a Cornish pie, made of limpets, raisins and sweet herbs. In this parish is Trevose Head, with its well-placed lighthouse and fine view. Merther (3 m. E. of Truro) is generally interpreted to mean " martyr," like the Welsh Merthyr ; but in Cornwall, as in Ireland, the word sometimes simply means burial-ground. The church, partly Dec, has a tower with 183