he "Three
Towns" are of the deepest interest; and surely no other English shires
have so grand a dividing-line as this mouth of the three rivers. We
must not forget that Devon itself was once a part of Cornwall or "West
Wales."

We may well start our journey round the coast at Mount Edgcumbe, where
we find ourselves on Cornish soil, however eagerly Plymouthians may
claim the Mount as one of their special beauty-spots. There is good
excuse for the tradition that the Spanish Admiral, Medina Sidonia,
when he caught sight of Mount Edgcumbe on his way up the Channel in
charge of the Armada, was so impressed by its loveliness that he
selected the estate as his own future reward of victory. It is pretty
certain, however, that on this occasion the Admiral would not have
sighted Mount Edgcumbe at all until after-events had begun to render
him a little less cocksure of the result. But he may have seen the
manor during some earlier and more peaceful visit. The Edgcumbes are a
Devonshire family, coming from the neighbourhood of Tavistock; the
estate came to the possession of Sir Piers Edgcumbe by his marriage
with Joan Durnford, of East Stonehouse, and the present house was
begun by his son, Sir Richard, in 1553. It is possible that Sidonia
had been a guest of Sir Richard's in the following year, when there
was a notable gathering of Admirals here. There are some defences
still standing that were erected in anticipation of the Armada, and
these were brought into use by the Civil War, when Royalist Edgcumbe
frowned defiance at Parliamentary Plymouth across the Sound. But it
was Plymouth that had the last word, and Edgcumbe had to surrender in
1645. The peaceful memories of the spot are more in accord with its
beauty than those of discord and bloodshed; that beauty, and the
number of its distinguished visitors, had made it famous throughout
Europe. The place has been noted for its hospitality and for its many
guests, from the days of Cosmo de' Medici to those of our late King.
During his stay at Torquay, after the close of the Franco-German War,
the Emperor Napoleon III. came hither with his son; and it was only
two days later that the Crown Prince of Prussia, afterwards the
beloved Emperor Frederick, was here with his wife and sons, one of
whom, the Kaiser, now looms so large in the imagination of Europe. But
art has its associations with this spot, even more interesting than
those of royalty. The elder Vandevelde is supposed to ha