Non Sufficit Orbis -
The World is Not Enough
A
For
many years I have been researching my own BOND family, who were
generally from the North West of England in Westmorland, then in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, and finally moving to
Dr.Allen Kerr Bond (1930) wrote a book about the
beginnings of a Bond family in
The
book was not a story based upon real genealogy, but rather a saga about a
particular family of Bond’s or Bonde
that were portrayed as being a founding family.
Dr.Bond had gone to great lengths in his
research, and full credit must be given to him and his family for producing
such an interesting work, and one that I would not wish to misrepresent in any
way.
Allow me therefore
to romance awhile. In the summer of
2000, I decided on a holiday in the South West of 
England, and after a few days relaxing on
the English Riviera, a search for Erth Barton was
beckoning. A drive across the river Tamar bridge into Cornwall was certainly
favourite, and just like the old fox when the hunts on, I was going to earth,
but in this case it was an attempt to find the abode of the Bond’s
of ERTH as portrayed in the Dr.Bond book. I headed
for SALTASH on the A38 main road, and then to the
I
have always found that the inside of any Church speaks volumes about their
parishioners, but alas no more. Even the Churchyard has now submitted to change
at St Stephen, many grave stones have been lifted, and placed standing up 
next to each other forming large squares,
and I suppose this helps the maintenance programme of grass-cutting. I took
some photographs of the Church exterior, but they were not too exciting due to
it raining at the time. I decided to move on towards Erth,
and that was no easy
task. The minor roads in
primroses, foxgloves and honeysuckle. I had
the feeling Erth was not too far away,
so I headed up another winding lane, which resembled a steep sided dry ditch,
to a place known as Antony Gate. Shortly afterwards I
once again lost my bearings but regardless of any great concern I just seemed
to press on at a steady dangerous 5 mph., for some reason or other, something
was urging me to go on forward. A road junction appeared, and not seeing any
directions I hit the brakes. The car stopped dead, which was fortunate, because
a white taxicab was suddenly in my face, it mysteriously came from nowhere. We
carefully drew abreast of each other at the widest point of the junction, and
then as the Taxi inched its way alongside, I said to the cabbie
"Excuse
me, any idea where a place called Erth is?"
A gentleman sitting next to him leaned forward and said, "I am Erth, I come from Erth, why do
you wish to go to Erth?" Now that is what I call FATE. It was just
like the modern equivalent of the ‘Knight of Erth’
leaping over the hedge on his trusty stallion, using his powers of
intervention, challenging me! I
explained to the gentleman in the taxi (who I shall call Mr.B)
that I was interested in Genealogy and doing some family research. He
immediately stated that ‘Erth’ once belonged to a BOND
family, that he was acquainted with their family history and though he was not
a Bond himself, he did have quite an interest in that name. I next informed Mr B., that I was
actually a Bond, thinking this may please him, but not so, he frowned,
and I knew a problem existed. He asked "Are you from abroad? " I told
him that I was English. Mr.B relaxed with a sigh, and
then explained that he was not very happy with certain visitors, because somebody
researching the name Bond from abroad had 'borrowed' data and documents
from him, and never returned. There cannot be many foreign Bond
researchers who have actually gone to Erth by my
reckoning. To be honest, I live in
Enough said, on with the account…
The taxi meter was still running for Mr.B, and he had a business matter to attend in Saltash, I could not delay his journey any longer, I would
have liked to spend a few hours with him up at the Farm 'homestead' but
unfortunately I wanted to travel on shortly to Polperro,
a place where the 'piskey' people 
lived! Nevertheless, Mr.B
insisted I went up to the homestead to view ERTH.
He gave accurate directions, we bade farewell,
and went our separate ways. The worrying lanes became more leafy, the meadow
countryside more open, and before long I was driving over cattle grids, and Erth's wheat field tracks. I drove into the homestead
quadrangle, and there to the left was the old Chapel, what a delight to see.
I
can only describe what I saw as an ordinary visitor, not as a qualified
architect or historian.
The
buildings to the rear were quite modern, inasmuch that they were dated 1846.
The old Manor House was directly in front view, and other farm buildings and stables to the right. I reached for
my camera and headed for the Chapel. Now this was no ordinary Chapel, this was
unique in every way, though empty it was full of
mystery. It had a first storey accessed by a large outside stone
stairway. The windows at the gable end had dripstone above, and though at
first I thought they were of the Gothic period,
I
reasoned the whole building to be West Saxon, and the plain glazed windows
added to suit.
The
window openings did have the characteristic segmental pointing of early 
windows set in the extremely thick walls
had a very large splay within. The inside stonewalls were rough plastered,
there was no evidence of any decorative dressing whatsoever; they were
completely bare in every sense. I paid little attention to the timber floor or
roof as these 
had been replaced, probably a number of
times over. The ground floor had two rooms, one had a narrow Chapel window,
which had a central vertical protective bar, and it was as though the room had
been made in to a cell at some point in time, a place where maybe felons could
be confined to await the arrival of the Constable. The room now contained an old cider press for
producing 'scrumpy'. I would imagine originally this
building was wholesome without the first floor, because the stone walling
around this lower window had once formed a large archway, which could have been
the main entrance before conversion centuries later. Under the gable window,
there appears to have been an earlier doorway, judging by the stone arch, which
is covered with undergrowth. The second room was just used for storage.
The floor of the rooms lay below ground level, and I imagine they were original
earthen floors rather than stone. All
the Chapel external walling had putlock recesses, which
were for resting the ends of inserted
timber supports of scaffolding crosspieces, and not for the birds or
ventilation.
Outside
the Chapel, at the near corner, lay the stone pedestal base of a Celtic Cross,
and I wonder if this presented a clue to any 'Erth'
Cornish connections with Ireland, St.Urghi or Ergan, an Irish lady who helped to bring Christianity to
Cornwall, another mystery. The Manor House also featured an outside stone
stairway to the right of the main entrance door, and again this may have been
added later.
The Manor’s main
door really begs your attention, the outer stone framework is not unlike that
of the chapel in style, and it is rather segmental, and presents a solid
looking affair. Immediately set behind
the stone archway is an inner porch wooden door (painted white) with stained
glass panes, probably Victorian period, and then the 'piece de resistance' is a
really solid iron studded wooden door with a heavy iron-fastening bar. This
latter door certainly had 
originality.
The
window mullions are plain, not decorated like Early English and probably of a
Perpendicular style, this is further illustrated by the dripstones, which
followed the window horizontal line and terminated with a drop and return. It
is a lovely farm Manor House, which has undergone many changes and improvements
over the centuries. It has been tastefully attended to, and I would have
enjoyed staying there for bed and breakfast, which was available. There is also an active livery stable for
equine-minded visitors. I could quite easily have placed my head on a feathered
bed, and even a creaky floor or squeaky door would not have disturbed my
slumber, for I am sure any lingering Bond ghosts would be there for my
protection. I did not venture inside the Manor or wonder any further, the
master's hound lay on the lawn (see photograph), and being a believer, I accept
what Chaucer said. "It is nought good a sleeping hound to wake". Returning from Erth
was easy, and I now know the way without fuss, it is more or less a
straight run from off the main A38 road.
I moved on through TREMATON, a village where
The Scottish
leaders ordered this Battle of Berwick on the same plan that King Robert had
adopted so successfully previously.
There was perfected, however, on this victorious battle-field a 
new tactical device
of the English, which was for generations to astonish Europe, a battle front in
which the enemy, to reach the ranks of dismounted knights and men-at-arms, must
first pass under the fire of great masses of longbow archers, posted on the
flanks of the advancing enemy's heavy-armed battalions. It was quite impossible
for mounted knights, with the incomplete armour of those days to drive home any
attack. Their horses would stampede, and so tremendous was the force of the
arrow that it would pierce the weak points of the best armours and compels retreat.
Old-time writers strive in vain to describe the flight of grey-goose shafts,
shot in quick succession from ten or twenty thousand archers, advancing a step
and letting go all at once, then another step and another volley. At Berwick,
In preparation for the great battle at Berwick, John of Eltham would probably have travelled up north, certainly a
year earlier, and would probably have taken with him his most loyal aides, and
advisers, which would include those from Trematon,
and a few other leaders from the
After the
marriage of Robert Bond to the favoured daughter of Geoffrey de Earth, Bond
generations ascended, and from 1400 A.D onwards for two hundred years
they flourished in the English counties.
Eminent Bond family lines developed in
The
‘crests’, which have surmounted the Bond shield, varied from family to family,
and these included amongst others an Eagles Wing, a Dagger, a seated Lion and
most impressively the Demi-Horse Pegasus. A ‘crest’
is not a coat of arms, heraldic achievement or even a badge, it is just simply
an item placed on the Helmut, which has been adopted within a family to
distinguish them from others. In truth, the invention of crests (mainly during the
last three centuries) is a decadent development in classical heraldry, because
they represent an item that in practice could never have been fastened to the
top of a helmet. The ‘Shield’ is the
principal component of the heraldic achievement. It bears the arms - the same
device or group of devices that was once borne on a knight's surcoat (the cloth coat that covered his armour). The only design which was manifest within the Bond
family following the three deer heads of earth, was the black chevron with
three gold bezants (coins), and this remains symbolic today, essentially for
decorative purposes only, as very few have hereditary rights of entitlement.
Rev. 16.04.06