Welsh Journals

OLD BRECKNOCK CHIPS;' A Column of Antiquarian Chit-Ghat relating to the County of Brecknock. NOTES, QUEEIES, AND REPLIES, on Subjects inter¬ esting to Breconshire, must be addressed to EDITOR, Brecon County Times, Brecon. Real names and addresses must be given in confidence, and MSS. must be written legibly, on one side of the paper only. ___________SEPTEMBEK 24th, 1886. QUERIES. THE " CUCKING " STOOL. — What was the precise nature and object of the in¬ strument called the " cucking stool " or " ducking stool," and what was the extent of its use in the Principality ? Twm Shon Catty. FRENCH PRISONERS AT BRECK- N^K.—Concerning the number and names 01 French prisoners of war billeted in the town during the early part of the century, may be within someone's power to give us some light on a question which is not uninteresting to those who believe that the aforesaid Gauls left behind them unmistake- able traces of their influence and handiwork. -It would not be unprofitable to estimate the amount of Gallic "chic" which has thus entered into the composition of many of the Breconian families of to-day. It is a fine field for all those philosophers who believe in the marked characteristics of different races, and the extent to which hereditary traits of character prevail. Blegyrwyd. REPLIES. PUBLIC-HOUSES IN BRECON IN 1834 (Sept. 10th).—J.G., The Acacias, Hammersmith, London, sends a list of 63 public houses that existed in Brecon in 1834. We append those not mentioned on the Boundary Commission map of that year. They are : — The White Horse, Dorlangoch ; Fusilier (now ^mdeuArms), Watton ; Barley Mow (now Clar- Ch<T • * att0n ; Milit^ry Arms, opposite Mr Morris, ^w1 Mr ^1?t^ria' m%h street; Market Ttlvern> to the Ma wv llves; HarP> where the entrance street ■ B,m • °use is> or Queen's Head, in High Naff'sHeSI <£"*' Struet; Brewery Tap, Struet; Hotel The B?FUet; J8^ Sun, Pendre ; Castle Shipswt ^eWery,TaP> Church lane: Fountain, LlanW Th?rVer8>ms' Llanfae8 ; Red C°W' which T 'o ,^arPenters' Arms, and another one the tow rSP* now ^member, existed also in WaHftn \ l™ time the Fusilier existed in the Jone« /£en?amden Arms Hotel, kept by Mr Wm. and V; 4a i Vue' was an h°tel as well as a coach Posting house opposite Mr Webb, the jeweller's. J.G. -Che following are the names of the licensed mouses that existed in Llanfaes 65 years ago : N"i!fd ?°W' 24> Newgate street; Drovers' Arms, 1, Wgate street; Black Lion Fawr, 23, Church fitreet; Black Lion Fach, 27, Church street; Royal Oak, 65, Newmarch street; Ivy Bush, 2, Newmarch street; Crown, 36, Orchard street; Square and Compass (now Tradesmen's Arms), 32, Orchard street; Three Horse Shoes, 48, Orchard street; Butchers' Arms, 50, Orchard street; Old Buck, 25, Orchard street; Farmers' Arms, Board School; Turners' Arms, 68, Orchard street; Farmers' Arms, 62, Orchard street; Coach and Horses, 14, Orchard street; Flag and Castle, 12, Orchard street; Vine, 7, Orchard street; Cross Keys, 4, Orchard street; Waterloo Arms, 26, Silver street; Dolphin, 22, Silver street; Rose and Crown, 19, Bridge street; New Greyhound, 13. Bridge street; Old Greyhound, Bridge street; Ship. Horse and Jockey, 8 and 9, Bridge street; Skinners' Arms, 2, Bridge street; Old Vine Spirit Vaults, 23, Bridge street; White Lion (now Bridgend , 24, Bridge street. Orchard street, Llanfaes. R.W. There appears to have been 63 licensed houses within the confines of Brecon some 50 years ago, when the population was some 1,346 souls less than in the present year. There are now 54 such houses in the town. Certainly a great improvement on "ye good olde tymes." The Editok. THE OLD TOWN CONDUIT (September 10th, 1886).—In reply to " M's" query I may say that " The Cross " existed before it became a water conduit. Prior to the erection of the conduit at the Cross, it would seem that the water was brought into a general reservoir, situate where the house of the late Mr Winter now stands, on the south side of St. Mary's Church, for in 1587 one Watkin Lewis, " bobyth" (or the baker), devised a burgage freehold in Morganwg street (Glamorgan street) where the toimys pond is, to his son, and in digging the foundation of Mr Wynter's mansion, at the end of the last century, it was not without great difficulty, and after driving down piles to a considerable depth, that the workmen were able to secure a temporary support to one of the pine ends, which, however, afterwards sank. It is thought that the whole of the garden between Mr Wynter's house and Morganwg street, if dug up, would probably turn out to be treacherous ground. I know that in the year 1880, when some alterations were being made to the stable formerly attached to the Glamorgan- street Chapel (now turned into a schoolroom) and the flooring was excavated, the exca¬ vators came upon a deep hole, and this may have formed part of the old townys pond. The late Mr Wynter's house, I presume, would be where the present Oddfellows' Hall stands, in St. Mary's street. " M's" surmise that the old Cross was a Butter Cross gains credence from the fact that the street between Messrs. Jones & Co. and Mrs Hughes, stationer, was called Butter street; so the Butter Cross must have stood in its immediate vicinity. Speed's " Map of Brekenoke" shows the two crosses mentioned