that there was a stone step along the wall "inside the house." These appear to have been remains of the Altar and benches. The land around this oratory is now the garden of the tenement: no bodies were reported to have been found, but graves, formed with stones set up on their edges, according to the British manner of burial, had frequently been discovered. Immediately around the walls had been found slates two inches thick, which doubtless had served as the covering of the roof, similar to the stones with which the Irish churches are roofed.
It is probable that ere long no trace of St. Dellyn's chapel may remain, for being no longer serviceable to the tenant, he informed me that the proprietor had given him permission to "put the old stones over the cliff."
Near this spot formerly stood another "Chapel," called St. Loye, probably of the saint of that name mentioned by Chaucer, Canterbury Tales[1]. The site on which it stood is very stony, and large trees now grow upon it, so that it appears to have been long since destroyed; a little arched wall may still be seen close to the site. Nothing is known of St. Dellyn or St. Loye, or their connexion with this neighbourhood. St. Buriana, now called Buryan, who gave her name to the parish in which these remains are situated, came over in the seventh century from Ireland, and "built a chirch near by where she sumtyme lyved." She was buried in her church, which was still standing in the year 939, when Athelstan came to these parts. He had conquered his way thus far, even to the Land's End, and vowed to rebuild this little church, if he were permitted to return in safety from the conquest of the Scilly Islands, which are visible from the church-yard. Having returned in safety he built and endowed a church here, and it is a royal peculiar to this day. No traces, however, remain of the Saxon times. The present building is in the Perpendicular style of architecture, and is one of the best proportioned churches in the county.
The foregoing remarks may serve to call attention to the neglected ancient oratories and vestiges of the early Christians
- ↑ Hire gretest othe was but by Seint Eloy, l. 120. On which Tyrwhitt remarks, "St. Eloy] In Latin, Sanctus Eligius. I have no authority but that of Ed. Urr for printing this saint's name at length. In all the MSS. which I have seen it is abbreviated St. Loy, both in this place and in ver. 7146. The Metre will be safe if othe be pronounced as a dissyllable." For the life of this saint see Zedler, Grosses Universale Lexicon, S. Eligius.
