Page:The histories of Launceston and Dunheved, in the county of Cornwall.djvu/342

 308 CHURCH OF ST. MARY MAGDALENE. neck. The several devices on the two side gables of the eastern end are continuations of devices around the whole north and south sides of the building. These devices comprise representations of spice-shrubs, pomegranates, Prince of Wales plumes, and the Tudor rose and thistle, with occasional ornamented shields bearing the Trecarell, the Kellaway, and the Dunheved arms. Above the plinth encircling the building is a line of panelled tracery. In every alternate mullion of this tracery is a shield, and on these shields are letters, which, commencing at the chancel-door, and ending beyond the north doorway, form the words, " Ave Maria, gracie plena ! Dominus tecum ! Sponsus amat sponsam. Maria optimam partem elegit. O quam terribilis ac metuendus est locus iste ! Vere aliud non est hie nisi domus Dei, et porta celi." [" Hail Mary, full of grace ! The Lord be with thee ! The bridegroom loves the bride. Mary chose the best part. O, how terrible and fearful is this place ! Truly this is no other than the house of God and the gate of heaven." Or, as Mrs. Gibbons has neatly concentrated the spirit of the original — "Hail Mary! Ave! Full of grace, Christ to his church is given ! And, onward, Dreadful is this place, This is the gate of Heaven." The nave of the church is divided from each aisle by seven elegant moulded monolith granite columns, 12 feet high. The fourth and fifth columns at the chancel end are wider apart than the others. These indicate the intended position of the rood screen. As the national forms of religious worship were, at the time, in transition, no screen was ever fixed there. The roofs are cradle-shaped, and such of their timbers as are visible are well carved, the designs being foliage, grotesque human heads, birds, quadrupeds, &c.