Page:The Cornwall coast.djvu/42

36 THE CORNWALL COAST church, St. Anne's, whose dedication recalls that of the chapel which formerly stood on the old fourteen-arch bridge, long since displaced. At West Looe the church of St. Nicholas was once used as a town hall and room for general enter- tainment, and very curious indeed were some of the amusements that used to come here. Mr. Baring-Gould tells us that when he first saw Looe it struck him as one of the oddest old-world places in England. There was a booth-theatre fitted up, and luring the folk to its dingy green canvas enclosure. " The repertoire comprised blood-curdling tragedies. I went in and saw ' The Midnight Assassin ; or. The Dumb Witness.' Next evening was to be given ' The Vampire's Feast ; or, The Rifled Tomb.' This tragedy was followed by AUingham's play, ' Fortune's Frolick,' adapted to the narrow capacities of the company. It was performed in broad Cornish, and interpersed with some rather good and I fancy original songs. But surely nowhere else but at Looe could such a reminiscence of the old strolling company-show of fifty or sixty years ago be seen." It is said that there are still queer things to be seen at the annual fair of May 6th, the West Looe " cattle and pleasure fair." But the contact with outside influences has had its natural effect ; Looe is not quite what it once was ; better approaches have been made, so that the visitor no longer drops sheer upon the roofs of the houses as he did once ; the claims of local improvement and sani- tation have done something to remove quaint and characteristic features. Yet there are still picturesque whitewashed houses with ragged gables and outside staircases ; there are still curious old porches and delightful hanging-gardens