Welsh Journals

BYE-GONES. Nov. 1871. Plantations" retaining after the manner of those days, the living of Sheldon. WheD he had decided to go, he propounded a scheme, which he laid before the Bishops ; and in this scheme we have the first budding of his pet theory of Libraries. He argued that as none but the poorer clergy would be likely to do Missionary work, it would be well that they should be supplied by others with that which they greatly needed but could not buy—Books, and Mr Bray consented to go to Maryland if the Bishops would assist him in obtaining parochial libraries. His Library scheme soon spread "in all the provinces of the Continent and in most of the islands of America, and also in the factories of Africa"—says his biographer, and he also had the honour of founding in Maryland the Anna- politan Library, so called after the Princess of Denmark, who subscribed largely to Mr Bray's scheme, and who, in return had her name thus handed down in a catalogue of books, as it was in the denominating of the capital of the province. Up to this time Mr Bray had not left England himself, but he had sent out missionaries and books to Maryland. And before he did go he propounded yet another library scheme, which was to raise lending libra¬ ries in every deanery throughout England and Wales, out of which the clergy might borrow such books as they wanted. A hundred and fifty parochial libraries were thus formed. In 1696 Mr Bray to< >k his degree as doctor of divinity, and the next year, " the better to promote his main design of libraries" he published "Bibliotheca Parochialis; a scheme of 3uch Theological and other heads, as seem requisite to be perused, or occasionally consulted by the Rev. Clergy, together with a Catalogue of Books, which may be profitably read on each of those points, &c." (To be continued.) QUERIES. THE SHELTON OAK.—What were the dimen¬ sions of this celebrated tree, aisd is there any trace of it now? Mr Gough, in his edition of " Camden's Britannia," introduces the following notice of it:—" About a mile and a half from Shrewsbury, where the Pool road diverges from that which leads to Oswestry, there stands an ancient de¬ cayed oak. There is a tradition that Owen Glyndwr as¬ cended this tree to reconnoitre, and finding that the king was in great force, and that the Earl of Northumberland had not joined his son Hotspur, he fell back to Oswestry, and, immediately after the battle of Shrewsbury, he fled pre- cipately to Wales. "—Inquirer. THE NAME PORTMADOC.—Close to the Port there is amound, called, I believe, " Ynys Madog." Did Portmadoc get its name from this mound or from the late Mr Maddocks ?—Madog. POWIS HOUSE, LONDON.— Tn the history of the Sacheverel riots in February, 1710, mention is more than once made of Powis House, which then stood at the north-west corner of Duke-street, leading into Queen- street, which was made a trysting place of the mob. Was this the town residence of the Powis family, and is it now extant ?—Querist. REPLIES. DINAM (O.A., Oct. 11, 18, 1871).—The meaning of Welsh termination dinam is ' unexceptionable.' Os ceir gwr perffaith, ar bob cam ; Mae hwnw 'n ddyn, da Ian, dinam. or in English. Find the man without exception, That's the dinam to perfection. Old Isaac FFYNON-ELIAN (O.A., Oct, 18, 1871).—This is a well, situate near Llan Elian, in Denbighshire. It is supposed to be the habitat of certain evil genii, who take malicious pleasure in tormenting any mortal whose name, written on stone or slate, is thrown into the crystal fountain. The custodian of the well is said to be in the receipt of in¬ numerable fees for the removal of the names of those who are tormented by these evil spirits. Some years ago the landlord of the inn at Llenelidan told me that he had re¬ ceived a letter containing half-a-sovereign, with a request to remove the writer's name from the well. Owing to the bad writing of the address, and the similarity of the names, the doctor's fee had been forwarded to Mr E------, of Llanelidan. instead of Llanelian.—S. C. We should be glad to heir more about the well.—Ed. Bygones. EASTER CUSTOMS IN WALES (0. A., Oct. 11, 1871.)—The writer of the article on Llansaintffraid in the Montgomeryshire Collections, says:—"I should have written, ' It was said by the old people, &c.' Those who attended good old Mr Owen's school can well remember his lectures against the sinful practice." He also states that the custom of ' Lifting' was observed at Easter, as H. B. conjectures. Oswestry Advertizer, Nov. 1,1871. NOTES. DR THOMAS BRAY (0. A. Oct. 25, 1871).—We left off last week at that point in Mr Bray's history where he took his degree, and prepared to go out to Maryland. And we now resume the subject from that date :— In 1697 Dr Bray petitioned parliament that some share of the spoils of a Bill " to alienage lands given to supers ti- tous uses, and to vest them in Greenwich Hospital," should be appropriated to " the propagation of the true religion in the Plantations," and the petition was favour¬ ably received by the committee, but the Bill itself was never reported. In 1698 he addressed his Majesty for a grant of some arrears of taxes due to the crown, in conse¬ quence of which he was " obliged to be at the charge and trouble of going over to the king in Holland, to have the grant completed." These funds failed as the trouble of recovery was more than the value to be recovered. The doctor then concocted a scheme " of having a Protestant congregation, pro fide propaganda, by charter from the king," but this scheme he had to lay aside for a more con¬ venient season. However, failing a charter-society he did get a voluntary society efatablished "to propagate Christian knowledge as well at home as abroad," which was ap¬ proved by the Bishop of London, and which, eventually, on Dr Bray's petition, received King William's letters- patent, as The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. This work was accomplished on the 9th of June, 1701. All this time Dr Bray received no benefit from his office of Commissary of Maryland, and the weight of the missions in the colonies and on the continent (with the exception of Virginia) lay upon his shoulders. The money he received went in the purchase of libraries ; some¬ times the money was exceeded, and his friends urged him to abandon his design of going abroad, and to take a couple of fat livings, that were offered him at home. But this course he declined, and he left for Maryland, on the 16th of December, 1699, just six months before the charter was granted to the Propagation Society. He had to sell all his effects to pay for his voyage, and at first the voyage seemed unpropitious for his ship was driven back from Plymouth Sound on Christmas eve, and remained in har¬ bour some days. During the delay the doctor's time " was