This is the eighteenth item from Robert Dymond’s book: “Things New and Old Concerning the Parish of Widecombe-in-the-Moor and its Neighbourhood” (1876)
A POEM ON WIDECOMBE-IN-THE-MOOR. BY JONAS COAKER, THE DARTMOOR POET.
And now romantic Widecombe
Shall be the subject of my rhyme,
It seems there is abundant room
To speak upon it at this time.
For I myself can recollect
The place for more than sixty years,
And when I take a retrospect,
Some wondrous changes there appears.
It seems the old inhabitants
Who lived there in the days of yore,
In quietude and self content,
Upon their farms, and sought no more.
But many gentlemen have found
Their way to it of latter years,
To build and to improve the ground-
A different aspect now it wears.
Up to Hedge Barton I’ll begin,
And see what work has there been done,
How many thousands there have been
Expended on that place alone.
Squire Tucker purchased Natsworthy,
And hath improved it very much ;
And then there’s Squire Kennaway,
Of Bag Park, he’s another such.
Then next we come to Wooder House,
Which is new built by Lady Drake,
A place her ladyship did choose
Such great improvements for to make.
Squire Dymond purchased Blackslade,
Now six or seven years ago,
And great improvements he hath made,—
I’ve seen it and admired it too.
Then next to Scobetor we go,
Esquire Hern hath purchased that ;
Built houses there and fences too,
It cost him I cannot say what.
Squire Firth he purchased Cator Court,
And hath remodelled all the place,
With building of such splendid sort,
Which all the neighbourhood doth grace
There’s Blackaton and Grendon too,
Were purchased by F. West, Esquire ;
Both the estates I’ve travelled through,
And its improvements I admire.
The old Inn hath been built anew,
And Master Smerdon living there ;
And then there’s Master Harvey, too,
Built a large shop and living near.
Again, S. Hannaford, Esquire,
Hath purchased the Southcombe Estate,
And though it was destroyed by fire,
It hath been built again of late.
And Uphill House is built anew ;
It stands on elevated ground ;
It doth command a spacious view
Of all the scenery around.
Then next to Hannaford we go,
Sir Robert Torrens living there ;
He hath improved and builded too,
A different aspect it doth wear.
Spitchwick must not be overlook’d,
That place was once esteem’d so great ;
But Doctor Blackall now hath took’d
And holds it for his country seat.
I nearly recollect the time
When late Lord Ashburton lived there,
Then it was gay and in its prime,
But much decay’d of later years.
There’s three dissenting chapels now,
Were builded long since I could mind,
All of ‘such doings serve to show
What stirrings up the people find.
Another church on Leusden Down,
So neat and handsome doth appear ;
A wealthy lady of renown
Hath been the means to get it there.
It hath been built of later years,
She still is living on the ground;
This liberality of hers
Is felt by many people round.
To the old churchyard next We come,
The resting place of all the dead, A
Their bodies lying in the tomb,
From whom we know the spirits fled.
I’ve many friends a-lying there,
Amongst the rest a tender wife ;
The one whom I esteemed so dear
Was snatched from me in early life.
I hope my body will lie there,
When I have run my course below,
With many that I held so dear,
Great numbers whom I once did know.
The tower is a splendid one,
And is by very few excelled ;
It’s builded of fine granite stone,
A finer one I ne’er beheld.
The church is under a repair,
Its granite walls appear so strong ;
That fine old fabric hath stood there
I, for my part, can’t say how long.
A dreadful thunder storm, we read,
Once fell upon that sacred place,
And on a Sabbath day it’s said,
Which did the people much amaze.
In sixteen hundred thirty-eight,
On the Lord’s day at afternoon,
No one expecting such a sight,—
For so the record’s handed down.
The lightning and the thunder broke
While singing of a psalm they were ;
We hear that awful sudden stroke
Spread death and devastation there.
While singing of a psalm they were,
This dire calamity befell ;
Some were struck dead, and others there
Were scorched and struck insensible.
I find the Reverend George Lyde
Was vicar when that storm took place ;
He pressed the people to abide,
And trust in God’s protecting grace.
It seems that he possessed strong nerve,
And stood the shock so firm and brave,
He did not from his duty swerve,
But trusted in his God to save.