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48 THE CAMBRIAN REMEMBRANCER. APRIL, 1878. gan, and a character in everlasting disgrace, should be thus dignified [as of a Royal line], while he was the founder only of ignominy and loss of dominion to himself, of slaughter and slavery to his country, is difficult to adjust; and that Brochwel Ysgithrog, a prince of Powys in its highest splendour, having Shrewsbury for his eapital, and a chief of great power and martial character, should have his name omitted even in the Fifteen Tribes, is alike inscru¬ table." I fear that the fault on both sides was due more to dishonesty than aught else, but be the version what it may, here is an instance of neglect, or something worse, on the part of Welsh heralds. It is far better to admit this frankly than to try and cloak the sin, for sin it id, as all well-informed genealogists will admit. I have often thought that the Herald's College should be required to resume the " visitations," but they find it more profitable to t ke large fees ^registrations than to adopt the ancient practice of summoning all who bear arms to prove their right to them. Lewis Dwnn's remarkable work, good as it is, is far from perfect, but the notes inserted in it by Mr Wynne, of Peniarth, are most valuable. There are thousands of Welsh pedigrees enrolled in the Herald's College, which, if annotated, would supply antiquarians with stores of information ; and if our young men could be induced to make genealogy and heraldry parts of their Studies, in some ten or fifteen years hence our history would be revolutionized, and much of it whioh is now in doubt would be cleared up and help to magnify the glorious past in the records of North Wales. I have made these remarks chiefly in the hope that some of your correspondents may be induced to write out for public use the stirring incidents which are mentionable in relation to great families in Cambria. Gwynfela, Flint Castle —It is not at all honourable to the county of Flint that this ancient fortress should be allowed to fall into utter ruin. If the gentry are un¬ willing to put the whole of it in repair, they might at least keep up the " donjon," as a reminder of the tim^s and seasons when armed men flocked there to assail or to defend it, for king or country. There is abundance of stone upon the spot, and two or three hundred pounds expended upon good strong mortar and in labour would suffice to give it a fair and even honourable appearance. Jt has a constable, doubtless, and if that worthy personage but followed the ex¬ ample of Mr Wynne, of Peniarth, he might do much to bring about a better feeling in relation to his charge. There are learned men and women who pay a visit to the old Roman town, and I have heard many of them declare their sense of shame that the grand castle should be allowed to sink into wretchedness aud degradation. So there are in Flint mire many a rich family who have derived their wealth from the minerals lying far below the foundations of this castle, they too should help to repair its walls, and to keep up some remembrance of its glory. A cor¬ poration too have the Flintites, and a mayor with more than a grain of public spirit. 1 commend this o castle tothem. Members of Parliament also, who should call the attention of the Chief Commissioner of Works to its dilapitatedcondition, and a lord-lieu¬ tenant to boot, who surely cannot know that things are as bad as they are, or he would give his willing help to save it from destruction. Conway Castle.—I am sorry to say that this most beautiful of all our castles is being more and more neglected. I don't suppose that Sir Richard Bulkeley, itsconstable, can do much for it, but I do hope that its old friend, LadyjErskine,will bid some good Samaritan take pity upon it. The crowds of visitors who flock to Colwyn and Llandudno, make a point of pay¬ ing this castle some attention, they pay too for rambling over its ruins, and if some portion of these exactions were put aside to form a fund for its repair, clearance, and decoration, it would soon become a favourite resort for picnics and love-making. I have heard it stated that the small sum of 390/ would convert it into a paradise; and now that Conway has reformed itself, and they have got a span new mayor, the corporation might undertake to manage its affairs, and to see that their castle is eon verted into the lion of the district. There are ghost stories oonnected with this old place, which,if rehearsed by a cunning keeper, might crowd its walls with willing and devoted listeners. To tell the English how a Norman, named De Clere, cut off the head of Rodpert ap Cyffin, on the Castle View just above the Benarth Woods, and how the ghost of the innocent Welshman can be seen for a shilling on the night in October of each year when the moon is at its full, would do wonders for the grand old ruin by way of repairs. My old friend, the worshipful new mayor of Conway, should see to this in his year of office; but whether he does so or not, some of the great people thereabouts should do so, for it will be a lasting disgrace to Conway, and indeed to Carnarvonshire, if this noble monument to the prowess of our countrymen be allowed to perish, illy interest in all that affects the internal advantage of North Wales must be my apology for calling attention to the condition of these eastles. A Cambrian Rambler. MAY 4th, 1878. The Ancient Britons and the Welsh—I have often noticed how speakers and writers allude to the Cymry, sometimes as "Ancient Britons," at other times as " Welshmen," but a curious incident car e under my observation the other day which led me to reflect how far it is proper to do thb. Merfyn Frych (who flourished, we are told, in the year 818) seems to have acquired the sovereignty of North Wales through bis marriage with Esylli, daughter of Cynan. He was himself a descendant of the princes of Powys, and probably a Powysian by birth ; but this did not give him any right to the royal position he afterwards filled, that being due alone to his wife, but by some strange accident or device pass¬ ing through her to him. At that time Egbert was king of the West Saxons, and is reported to have attacked North Wales, seizing