Connected with Carn Brea Castle (the relic of which, now standing, bears but the shadow of the name), there has been, from a remote period of Cornish history, handed down from father to son, a legend [...] to the following effect:-
“I, John of Gaunt,
Do give the graunt
Of all my land and fee;
From me and mine-
To thee and thine-
Thou Basset of Bumberlie.”
This “John of Gaunt” was believed to be about the last of the giants (whether mystical or real) who once peopled Cornwall, and he resided in the Castle on the “Brea.” He could stride –
“From Carn Brea Castle to Tuckingmill Stile,”
a distance of several miles.