Dolly Pentreath's House
treeve

Dolly Pentreath's House

Dolly Pentreath's House in Mousehole
Drawn Millicent Jago in 1882
Dolly Pentreath's House
Though there were several of Dolly's neighbours who had an acquaintance with the old Cornish, she became more generally known as a living repository of the almost defunct language from her occupation as a fish-seller, or back-jouster, her particular vocation calling her to nearly all parts of the surrounding country, where the good, but perhaps parsimonious housewives, declining her terms, and refusing the fish, often drew from the ancient dame, in choicest Celtic, the outpourings of her wrath ; for Dolly was a woman of spirit, and had a sharp tongue. It has even been said that Dolly used to swear in Cornish. The house in which the ancient dame lived, at the time she followed the occupation of a fish-seller, is still to be seen at Mousehole, and at present is occupied by two fishermen as a net loft, andc. The house is on the opposite side of the street, but a little lower down, than were stands the Keigwin Arms, and viwed from near the porch of the old Inn. It is believed the fire-place remains to this day.
Where she plied bellows,
Boiled her salted fish,
There she washed her trencher.
There she cleaned her dish.
[1882]
 
mousehole25apr0810.jpg

Dolly's home is seen today as the short one left abutting on the larger house but without the roof shown in Treeve's picture which is as it was. You can just make out the plaque which marks it out today and which I show below:
walk2mousehole29june059.jpg
 
That's a good one. Saves me the trek. What is the name of the street? Keigwin Arms is supposed to be behind you (oh no it isn't); c1840 an old lady of Sennen told William Bottrell that Dolly lived in Duck Street.
 

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