Sir, – In Thinking Anew (September 30th), Gordon Linney refers to the introduction of the Harvest Festival to the Anglican tradition by Robert Stephen Hawker, rector of Morwenenstow in Cornwall.
On his arrival in 1835, Hawker was the first clergyman in the village in 100 years. He restored the church building, rebuilt the rectory and added a school and bridge to the village. He insisted that the bodies of shipwrecked seamen be given a proper church burial and was not afraid to make his way down treacherous cliffs to recover the bodies. Indeed, it is said that he plied his parishioners with gin in order to encourage them to assist in the task. A favourite bolt-hole was a small wooden cabin on the cliff with uninterrupted views of the sea where he could chill out and write poetry.
He is credited with penning the words to the Cornish patriotic song “The Song of the Western Men”, commonly known as “Trelawny”.
His love of animals was reflected in the nine cats he brought to church services with him, “excommunicating” one for mousing on a Sunday.
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Hawker’s Hut survives and is the smallest property in the ownership of the British National Trust. – Yours, etc,
ED COGHLAN
Malahide,
Co Dublin.
