Bay,
To make thee famous till great William's Day....
To _Orange_ only and _Batavia's_ Seed
Remain'd this glory, as of old decreed,
To make thy Name immortal, and thy Shore
More famous and renown'd than heretofore....
O happy, happy Bay! All future times
Shall speak of thee renown'd in foreign Climes!...
Muses have matter now, enough to make
Poets of Peasants for Torbaia's sake....
King _David's_ Deeds were sung, and Triumphs too,
And why should not Great _Orange_ have his due?
Supream in Earth, Dread Sovereign thou art;
Long may'st thou reign, we pray with all our heart.'

AVANT: _Torbaia digna Camoensis_.

It is impossible for those who have had no better fortune than to see
Torbay only in prints or photographs to gather more than a very
imperfect idea of what its best can be. The cliffs near Paignton are
red, nearer Torquay they are a warm russet, alternating with a rosy grey
where limestone comes to the surface; and some of the rocks beneath,
shining with salt water, are pink, interlined with white veins. In fair
weather the warm tints of these cliffs, chequered by a green
lattice-work of plants and bushes, and the rich, full colours of the
sea, make a picture that is more easily remembered than described.

The great promontories of Hope's Nose and Berry Head stand between three
and four miles apart at the northern and southern points of this
rounded, shallow bay. Torquay itself is a new town, and only developed
into being one in the early part of the last century. At the time that
there was real fear of Napoleon making a descent on this coast,
fortifications were built on Berry Head, and houses were wanted for the
officers in charge. One authority suggests that Torquay was brought into
general notice by serving as a lodging for the families of officers in
the Channel Fleet under Lord St Vincent, who used Torbay as an
anchorage. But in any case its existence is really due to Napoleon.
Certainly the growth was rapid, for Lysons, writing about 1820, speaks
of Torquay as having been till lately a hamlet,--and even its name is
modern.

The one important building was the Abbey, founded in 1196 by William,
Lord Briwere, and endowed by him with the whole of the Manor of
Wolborough and part of the Manor of Torre. The probable origin of this
great gift is interesting. The Abbey was founded soon after the return
from Austria of the hostages who had been kept ther