Phrase: Born South of the Horsepool

[venelow]

Dear Cousins:

 "Born South of the Horsepool"

This is a phrase I first heard 45 years ago, made by an inhabitant of West Cornwall who was born before WWI.

I have Googled the phrase to no effect.

I take it to mean people born in a very specific area, possibly West Penwith or the Penwith Peninsular.

Does anyone else recall this phrase?  Where was the Horsepool exactly?

Venelow
Canada

[KGarrad]

There is an Horsepool in the East of the County?

Just south of St Mellion International Resort.

Looking at GenUKI, for St Mellion, and then Nearby Places, shows Horsepool 1 mile WSW?

[Rena]

I'm glad it's been sorted. 

When I first saw your request I associated "Horsepool" with a surname and maybe the owner had a farm.

I was brought up in Hull on the east Yorkshire coast and thought you might like to see what the locals used to use as a "horsepool" or "oss wash".

[venelow]

Hi Rena and KGarrard

I should clarify my post. Maybe I should not have capitalized horsepool. A place in east Cornwall does not seem to be right for what the person who used the phrase was talking about.

He was in the far west of Cornwall. His family had lived in the west of Cornwall area for generations. I have traced eight generations back from him so far and all confined to the West Penwith area.

The phrase was "the horsepool" so I take it to mean an actual place where horses were taken to drink or bathe. 

I am trying to find out if this was a common phrase that other people remember their older relatives using.
It seemed to imply that only the best Cornish folks were those born south of the horsepool. Maybe it was peculiar to him alone.

Thanks for the pic of the Horse Wash Rena. Seems to have provided a lot of entertainment for the locals.

Venelow

[Little Nell]

There is a Horsepool Road at Connor Downs.

There is also a Horse pool bastion at Pendennis Castle in Falmouth. It looks south-west over a small area of Falmouth Bay.  And a Horse pool cove near Portlemouth on Devon. 
 
Horse pool seems to mean a natural haven.  I think that the phrase is more widespread rather than a specific place.

Nell

[Rena]

Cornwall: The Churston Estates 1918 Auction

Look at Lot 16 =  Horsepool

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~althea/Churston%20Estates%201918%20Lot%20Details.htm

[venelow]

Hi Nell and Rena

Thanks for your responses. Horsepool road at Connor Downs seems a promising lead as it is in the area of Penwith. Presumably there was a pool there at one time. 

The Breage Horsepool is also a contender but does not seem to be on modern maps as there is no map reference for it on Genuki Breage pages.

I feel I'm getting closer. Time to look for some old maps.

Thank you to all responders.

Venelow
Canada

[Brentor boy]

Is it possible that this not a geographical reference, although it may have started out as such, but now has an entirely different meaning. I have in mind the expression "to be born the wrong side of the blanket" meaning illegitimate. Might this be a "polite" way of saying something similar?

[venelow]

Hi Brentor Boy

Your suggestion that the phrase is a euphemism for something unmentionable in polite society does not tally with the way I heard the phrased used. I understood that it was a commendable thing to be born "South of the Horsepool".

My goal in asking the question was a) to find the horsepool referred to in the phrase and b) to determine if anyone else recalls the use of the phrase.

Since my last posting I have looked at some maps and found out that there was a pool at the eastern end of the village of Connor Downs but it was filled in many years ago. This would have been on the main route from Camborne to Hayle (A30) so it was probably used by horse traffic for centuries. I also found an article in the West Briton about plans to tidy up the site, which is more or less waste ground, and turn it into an attractive gateway feature for the village by commemorating the horsepool with a garden.

I am now sure that this was the horsepool referred to by the person who used the phrase. As noted previously the person who used the phrase was from West Penwith and I can confirm the family were also from places south of Connor Downs over eight generations so that seems to answer my first question.

Whether this saying was in common use at one time by anyone, other than the person I heard use it, has yet to be determined. So far a search on this phrase throws up two results, both connected with this thread, so it may have been a phrase peculiar to one person.

Merry Christmas to All and Best Wishes for Successful Searches in 2015

Venelow
Canada