t. At the foot of this tower nestled a cemetery containing the tombs
of "the rude forefathers" of what had been, till lately, indeed little
more than a hamlet. On the southern aspect of this, facing the castle
and the sea, the enclosure was marked by a strong granite breastwork
armed with cannons mounted _en barbette_. These pieces were pointed, for
the most part, on the bridge, or causeway leading to the Castle, into
which they were capable of sending salvos of round-shot, as in fact they
had often done a few years before. The rest of the cemetery was strongly
walled, though without guns. To the north of the Church ran narrow
streets, sloping gently upward from the seaside. The houses of these
streets were built of the local granite, hewn and hammered flat and
without projection or decoration, and with no other relief but what was
afforded by small rectangular lattice-windows. They were usually of two
storeys, crowned by high-pitched thatched roofs, with here and there a
tiny dormer window. Some were shops or taverns, among which were
interspersed the residences of the burgesses and the town houses of the
rural gentry. Fronted by miry roadway, or at best an occasional strip of
rough boulder pavement, over which wheeled carriages could rarely pass,
these lines of houses had no form or comeliness, save what might be due
to an occasional bit of small flower-garden before the few that were
large and inhabited by persons in comparatively easy circumstances.
Farther back the ground rose more rapidly and showed some scattered
suburban houses. The "Town Hill" to the east, the "Gallows Hill" to the
west, completed the amphitheatre. Up the main hollow ran a road leading
due north to the Manor and Church of Trinity parish in the interior of
the island, and terminating on the north coast in Boulay Bay, a fine
natural harbour, which was the nearest point of embarkation for England.
The whole island, scarcely less than the town, bore an appearance of
defence, almost of inaccessibility; the manors, farm houses, and even
many of the fields, being surrounded by granite walls, and capable of
arresting the progress of an invader, unless in great force. Each of the
twelve parish churches contained the arsenal of the local militia; and
all things betokened a hardy population, ready to do battle against all
intruders.

The titular Governor, Lord Jermyn, was an absentee, following the
fortunes of the widowed Queen, Henrietta Maria, in France.