Beginnings
Mousehole - pronounced Mowz-ul or Porthenys in the Cornish language - dates back to at least the 13th century when records mention the port of Porthenys as the principal fishing port on Mounts Bay. However, there may have been a settlement on the site since at least the dark ages. The name Porthenys means “the port of the Isle” which would appear to be a reference to St Clements Isle laying a few hundred yards offshore and which in the 7th century was home to a hermit who gave his name to the isle.
The Spanish raid
The 23rd of July 1595 was a dark day for Mousehole as four Spanish galleons entered Mounts Bay in the morning and bombarded the village. Around 200 men landed in a raiding party and proceeded to sack the village, burning all but one house to the ground; the house of Jenkyn Keigwin who died defending it. This house, known as the Keigwin Arms, still stands today and is easily identified by a large gallery supported by two granite pillars above the front door. The raiding party went on to burn the Church in the neighbouring village of Pool and raise Newlyn to the ground before attacking Penzance.
Tom Bawcock’s eve
Anyone familiar with Mousehole will know the Story of Tom Bawcock. For those who don’t, the tale takes you back to the 1500s. Over one Christmas, a terrible storm kept the fishing fleet of Mousehole in the harbour for so long that the village faced the very real prospect of starvation. A local fisherman called Tom Bawcock decided to brave the storm and set out on his boat with his cat Mowzer.
It is here that the story becomes a little supernatural for it is said that Mowzer began to sing, and that this calmed the storm allowing Tom to catch seven different types of fish in large enough quantities to feed the whole village. However, on the return journey the storm blew up again and Tom and Mowzer were unable to find their way home, so the villagers of Mousehole lined the cliffs holding lanterns to guide them back. This event known as Tom Bawcock’s Eve is remembered every 23rd of December with great revelry in the streets. The infamous seven-fish Stargazy Pie is consumed and it is why strings of lanterns run along the streets of Mousehole. For those who don’t know, in Stargazy Pie whole fishes are baked with their heads poking through the pastry crust!
Kronnekyn Hager Du
Mousehole was also home to one the reputed last native speaker of the Cornish Language, Dolly Pentreath. Dolly was a fishwife who spent much of her time in the Keigwin Arms, and although not a Monoglot speaker of Cornish, she gained notoriety by uttering a few words if her palm was crossed with silver and the price was right. If it wasn’t, she would provide some more colourful words for free!
One of her often used insults was ‘Kronnekyn Hager Du’ or ‘Ugly black toad’. Dolly died in 1777 and is buried in the churchyard of St Pol de Leon in the village of Pool just up the valley from Mousehole where in 1860 a monument was raised by Prince Louis Bonapart and the Reverend of Pool, John Garret.