THE eccentric life of the vicar of Morwenstow – the composer of Cornwall’s famous Trelawny anthem – will be the subject of a talk in Liskeard.

The Reverend Richard Stephen Hawker was educated at Liskeard Grammar School in the early 1800s and took up his role in the North Cornish parish in 1834.

Prior to his arrival, Morwenstow had not had a vicar for more than a century and smuggling and wrecking on the rocky coastline below the village abounded.

Hawker is credited with composing The Song of the Western Men, otherwise known as ‘Trelawny’, and as vicar of Morwenstow, gave Christian burials to many sailors shipwrecked on the rugged North Cornwall coast.

The talk, given by Alan Cox, will take place at the Public Hall Long Rooms in Liskeard on Friday, January 12, from 2.30pm.