Welsh Journals

Apr., 1872. BYE-GONES. 45 Oswestry Advertizer, April 3,1872. NOTES. A LEARNED PIG-.—I read in the Salop. Jour, of July 1, 1795, that " a few days ago was found at Snail- beach, in this county, a large pig of lead, weighing 180 lbs. On the upper su;face was struck in raised capitals— IMP. HADRIANI. AVG. S.S. Hadrian succeeded Trajan, and died in the year 139 ; on his coin he styled himselt Restitutor Britannise. Several pigs discovered in different parts of the kingdom have had the name of the country they came from stamped on them, as BRIG for Brigantes, &c, but the writer of this paragraph is of opinion that the letters S. S. on the above, are the initials of Severus and Sylvanus, Consuls, in whose time the pig was cast."—N.W.S. THE MYDDELTON FAMILY.—On March 21 died, aged 66, at 35, Grosvenor Place, London, Col. Robert Myddelton Biddulph, of Chirk Castle, Denbigh¬ shire, Lord Lieutenant, and formerly one of the Members for that county. The Myddelton family are amongst the most ancient and best known of the Welsh country families. They date their origin so far back as the time of the Roman invasion by Julius Caesar, B.C. 55. In the early middle ages they boast of a famous warrior known as Rirdd Flaidd, or Wolf, from whom the present descendants de¬ rive in their armorial bearings the cognisance of the wolf ; and in their intermarriage the blond of the Myddeltons intermingled with that of the Princes of Powysiand, the Earls of Chester, and the relatives of William the Con queror. Amongst the collateral branches of Rirdd Flaidd were a Sir Richard de Myddelton, Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Henry III.; an archdeacon of Canterbury, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, 1272; a Richard de Myddelton, Franciscan friar and eminent divine, known at Oxford and Paris about 1300 ; a Gilbert de Myddelton, a member of Parliament daring,the reigns of the second and third Edwards. One of the sons of The Wolf took root at Chirbury, in Shropshire, and amongst his descendants was Richard Myddelton, Governor of Denbigh Castle. Amongst the most illustrious of the governor's sons were Sir Hugh, his sixth son; William, his third: and Sir Thomas, his fourth. The name of the former is handed down to posterity by his great work in connection with the supply of water to Loudon, for which, in 1622, King James created him a baronet. He obtained a Charter of Incorporation for Denbigh, for which he was made an alderman, and in that capacity he signed the first by-laws of the borough in ] 597. He was subsequently made Recorder of Denbigh, and, in 1603, its representative in Parliament, representing the borough in the years 1603, 1614, 1620, 1623, 1625, and 1628. He presented two silver cups and a mace to the Corporation of Denbigh, and an¬ other cup to the head of his family, which is still pre¬ served at Gwaenynog. He died near Shifnal, in 1631, and t i 1S™e byhis wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiiess of JohnOlmstead, of Ingagestone, Essex. The eldest sur¬ viving son, Sir William Myddelton, succeeded to the baronetcy, and the title became extinct in 1675. The third son,_ William, was one of Queen Elizabeth's famous sea captains. He was also a man of literary tastes, being the author of a volume entitled " Barddonaeth, or the Art of Welsh Poetry." Whilst on his cruises, he occupied himself with branslating the Book of Psalms into Welsh ; b| fimshed it in the West Indies, and it was published in 1603, shortly after his death. A second edition, edited by the Rev. Walter Da vies, was published in 1827. He also added an appendix to John David Rhys's Grammar, under his bardic name Gwilym Canoldred, which is the literal Welsh for William Myddelton. It is said that he in company with Captain Thomas Price, of Plas Iolyn (Plas Yollen), and Captain Koet, was the first who smoked tobacco publicly in London. Sir Thomas, the fourth son, was an eminent citizen and grocer of London, and a wealthy Antwerp merchant. He served the office of sheriff in 1603, when he was knighted ; and in 1613 he was elected Lord Mayor. In 1612, he settled Chirk castle, which he had purchased from Lord St. John, of Bletso, on his eldest son on his marriage, so that he was the founder of the Chirk Castle family. From an old history it appears that this sou was commonly known as the old soldier. In the struggle between Charles I. and Oliver Cromwell, he espouse<i the cause of the latter, and waa ejected from Chirk Castle by the Royalists. The Round¬ heads appointed him Major-General, and he laid siege to Holt and Flint Cas'les, and took both ; was repulsed at Dualey Castle ; raised the siege of Oswestry; and de¬ feated Prince Rupert's army at Welshpool. He after¬ wards captured Powis and Montgomery Castles, and was equally victorious in Pembrokeshire, Flintshire, Car¬ marthenshire, and Denbighshire. At the close of 1644 he had to besiege his own castle of Chirk. In these times Charles I. stayed twice at Chirk Castle, going to and returning fiom Chester, and the bed in which he slept is still preserved. In 1659 the castle was besieged by Lambert, Sir Thomas having gone over to the Royalist side, and in 1666, the " old soldier " died at the age of 80, and was interred in the family vault. He pave the Welsh nation a new edition of the Holy Scriptures at his own expense. Sir Hughe's fifth son Charles, succeeded his father as governor of Denbigh Castle ; Robert, the seventh son, was, like two of his brothers, a citizen of London, and afterwards a mem¬ ber of Parliament ; and Foulk, the eighth son, served as high sheriff of Denbighshire. The son of Sir Thomas Myddelton was made a baronet by Charles II., and the baronetcy descended in a straight line to Sir William Myddelton, and on his death, unmarried, in 1717-18, at the age of 24, it became extinct. The estate then descended to Robert Myddelton, of Liysvasi, in the collateral line, from whom was desc-nded the late Colonel Myddelton Biddulph. His uncle, Richard Myddelton, dying without male issue, left his three sisters co-heiresses. These were Charlotte, the eldest, who married Robert Biddulph, of Ledbury, Herefordshire, and C'ofton Hall, Worcestershire. On the division of the estate, she had for her share Chirk ' 'astle and that part of the estate which lies in Chirk and Llangollen parishes. She also became Lady of the Manor and Lordship of Chirk. It was in her time the manor of Chirk was enclosed by private Act of Parliament. She died on the 19th August, 1843, leaving two sons—the e'dest, the late Colonel Biddulph, and the second Sir Thomas, who is so well known as the private secretary to her Majesty. Her second sister was Maria, who married the Hon. Frederick West, brother of Lord Delaware, and received for her share of the estate the property in Llan¬ gollen, Ruabon, Wrexham, Llansaintffraid, Llanarmon, and Holt. To the third sister, Harriet, were allotted Ruthin Castle, with its demesnes, and the Denbigh property. She dying unmarried, left her property by will to the late Mr West, father of the present owner of Ruthin Castle. The Chirk Castle property before this division was of almost unexampled magnitude. It ran from the Dee at Holt through Wrexham, on to Chirk, and thence in one direction to Llansilin ; in another direction to Ruthin and Denbigh. The Llansilin portion wa< sold at the time of the partition to defray the costs of the Chancery suit and the Act of Parliament, which were very heavy.