Welsh Journals

as I would they should do unto me', he accordingly appeared at the Cardigan County Assizes and made a public offer to the local landlords that 'although the royal grant of mines had been peculiar to himself, he would concede to any landlord who would venture at his own expense a right to open and enjoy the profits from any mine on his own land, and to make use of the mint at Aberystwyth. If, however, this offer were declined Bushell would proceed with his own work and they must not 'envy or repine' if he proved successful.1 None availed themselves of this offer, possibly because the local gentry were not prepared to risk their small estates. It is said that it is in the very nature of a Cardiganshire man to be wary-and Bushell had much to learn. If he had thought that such an offer would secure the good will of the more powerful squires in the district as a guarrantee against possible future disputes, should he wish, for example, to develop his mines under adjoining lands, he was to be sorely disillusioned. Not unnaturally, perhaps, Sir Richard Pryse and his neighbours resented the coming of an Englishman into their midst to extract a fortune from under the very land which had been theirs for generations. They were certainly not attracted by the increasing dumps of waste spoil which littered their estates and for suffering which they had no recompense. Sir Richard Pryse, as has already been noted, married one of the daughters of Sir Hugh Myddelton, and one may therefore not have to look far for the reason which prompted Lady Myddelton to commence an action against Bushell in July 1641. Whatever the cause, Bushell at first ignored this challenge to his title of the mines, but on 30 July he was ordered to prepare an answer to the bill of com- plaint. On 14 August the House of Lords was informed how Bushell by regaining 'His Majesty's old drowned and forsaken Works of Talabont had made new discoveries of Royal Mines there', and consequently 'certain persons of quality' had proposed investing large sums of money in this work, which, if properly de- veloped 'may prove of great Consequence both for Honour and Profit to His Majesty .2 Some ill-disposed persons, however, had disturbed Bushell by pulling up the pumps and casting rubbish into the mines. Every possible means of destroying the mine had been resorted to, and the extra work resulting from this wilful damage claimed Bushell 'hath been a Labour of Four years, Night and Day, to recover the same'. Furthermore, he complained that his adversaries had pre- vented him getting a supply of turf and peat which he required for smelting, there being a lack of timber in the district due to the wasteful methods of smelting adopted by his predecessors. The Lords thereupon ordered the Speaker on their behalf to 'direct his Letters unto the Judges of the Assize and Justices of the Peace in the county of Cardigan', requiring them to assist Bushell by securing his lawful rights in and about His Majesty's Royal Mines, and also for getting turf and peat upon the Crown wastes. The following spring Bushell again petitioned the House of Lords. On 6 April he pleaded that by royal command he ventured his fortune in the recovery 1 Gough, J. W., The Superlative Prodigall. A life of Thomas Bushell (Bristol, 1932), p. 51. 2 Journals of the House of Lords, Vol. IV, p. 364.