Page:Cornwall (Salmon).djvu/272

 CORNWALL Hopton and Grenville with less than 3000. For some hours the tired and famished Cornish- men strove vainly to storm the height ; at last, rendered desperate by the knowledge that their ammunition was failing, they made an irresist- ible charge with sword and pike, in such grim earnest that they gained the summit. Disorder and then panic seized the Parliamentary forces; the earl is said to have been among the first to fly. Chudleigh attempted a rally, but was himself taken prisoner. It is indeed a cruel sarcasm to name the fight Stamford Hill, for few leaders ever acquitted themselves so feebly as he did on this occasion. That does not lessen the glory of the Cornish victory. Of the Roundheads 300 were killed, 1700 taken prisoners, and the remainder scattered in head- long flight. Mr. A. T. Quiller-Couch, loyal Cornishman as he is, has drawn a picture of the scene in his Splendid Spur. There is no monument on the spot now, but one of the old guns is eloquent in marking the site, and a rude inscription still speaks of the great vic- tory won " by the valour of Sir Beville Gren- ville and ye Cornish army ". The original inscription may be seen on the walls of the Tree Inn. The date of the battle was i6th May, 1643. SwuHpool, about a mile S. of Falmouth, is one of Cornwall's few sheets of fresh water, and is valued accordingly. It is scarcely half a mile long. A bar of sand over which the road passes separates the pool from the sea. It is so 234