My great-grandfather was from Cornwall, England and a miner in the Upper Pennisula. I have a recipe from my grandmother that is supposed to be pretty authentic - at least as it was adapted up there! It used ground beef instead of the original rabbit.
The crust is essentially a pie cruse recipe but uses lard instead of butter. I remember her telling me that lard was important to keep the crust from getting soggy - also the gravy shouldn't be too "watery". She taught me to make it with just a little bit of the rendering from browning the ground beef, the consistency was almost like a white sauce - but obviously brown. She added whatever root vegetables she had on hand but carrots, potatoes and rutabagas are a must!
Thanks for the recipe ideas. I never use lard, but could give it a try. I generally use ground cube steak in mine. I would love to go back to Cornwall and walk by the shore of the Atlantic.... but I digress.