n his neighbours; but it is supposed that he was
converted in his old age, through the preaching of St. Petrock, whom
we shall meet more intimately at Padstow. It is said that Constantine
was hunting, and the stag that he was pursuing took refuge in
Petrock's cell; the animal's recognition of the saint's holiness and
appeal to his protection so touched his heart as to lead to a change
of life. Another story refers his conversion to grief at the death of
his wife. Mr. Baring-Gould tells us that: "So completely did he sever
himself from the world, that it was supposed by some that he had been
murdered by Conan, his successor. He retired to a cell on the sands in
the parish of St. Merryn, near Padstow, where there was a well, and
where he could be near Petrock, through whom he had been brought to
the knowledge of himself." It is probable that he journeyed later to
the creek of the Helford River, in South Cornwall, and founded the
Constantine that we find there. It is doubtless on the site of his
original cell that the old church of St. Constantine stands,
overwhelmed and ruined by sand-storms long since, buried utterly for a
time like that of St. Piran, and now again visible, a few broken and
rugged walls among the towans. The sand that destroyed the church
destroyed also the village, and the parish was merged in that of St.
Merryn, whither the beautiful font was conveyed. This font and other
portions of St. Merryn Church are of the well-known Cataclew stone,
from the Cataclew quarries by Trevose Head. This stone was formerly
put to very effective use in church-building, and it is pleasant to
know that it has again come into popularity.

[Illustration: RUINS OF CONSTANTINE CHURCH.

_Photo by Alex. Old._]

But the fact that has given greatest distinction to this spot, and
that which does more than anything else to draw visitors, is the
discovery, about ten years since, of a prehistoric burial-ground at
Harlyn Bay. The _Athenaeum_ of that date announced to its readers that
"a discovery of the highest importance to the study of the prehistoric
races inhabiting England before the first Roman invasion has recently
been made in a remote corner of Cornwall. On a sloping sandy hillside
overlooking the picturesque white sand-bay of Harlyn excavations were
being made by Mr. Reddie Mallett for sinking a well preparatory to
building a house overlooking the sea. The spot selected for boring
turned out to be exactly in the centre, no