being a Carmelite friar at Oxford he
rose to be bishop, first of Bangor, finally of Hereford. He died in
the Carmelite convent at Ludlow, 1474, and was buried at Hereford.
Marsland-mouth, the northward boundary of Morwenstow parish, is also
the boundary between Cornwall and Devon. Its utter loneliness and
wildness are in complete contrast to the great southward boundary at
the mouth of the Three Rivers. Here at Marsland Devon and Cornwall
merge imperceptibly; the characteristics of the one are carried over
into the other; in scenery, people, dialect, no change can be noted.
This close community was emphasised, in Hawker's day, by the fact that
for the last twenty-five years of his life he held charge of Welcombe
parish as well as Morwenstow, Welcombe (most suitably named) being the
first parish in Devon. In his old age, when Dr. Temple was appointed
to the diocese of Exeter, the Vicar had some fear that he would be
deprived of this additional cure, as Temple was expected to be no
friend to Dr. Phillpotts' nominees; but, somewhat to his surprise,
Hawker found that he got on fairly well with the new Bishop, though he
detested his theological standpoints. Obviously, the name of Welcombe
might be "Well-combe," there being a holy well of St. Nectan here; but
that derivation does not seem to be correct. In the Exeter Domesday
Book the parish is given as _Walcomba_, and probably the name
signified Welsh-combe, marking the juncture when Saxonised West Devon
passed into "West Wales." The church is three miles' distance from
Morwenstow, and Hawker used to ride over every Sunday afternoon for
service. On one occasion he forgot to bring his watch, and he needed
some guide in timing his service so that he might return to officiate
at Morwenstow in the evening. He asked the folk standing about the
church porch if they could oblige him in this particular. "But time is
of no great import at Welcombe, and no watch was to be had. At last,
just as the service was beginning, an old woman hobbled up the aisle
and handed to the Vicar a large and ancient timepiece. 'Her's only got
one hand, your honour,' she said, 'but yu must just gi' a guess.'"
Perhaps the name Welsh-combe (Welsh being taken in the old sense of
"foreign") denoted some survival of earlier occupation here, some
lingering neolithic remnant; the Welcombe folk are still distinguished
by their dark hair and skins, and as being somewhat of a race apart.
In Hawker's day they were ve