Welsh Journals

Apl., 1874. BYE-GONES. 37 April 1, 1874. NOTES. JOHN WILKINSON, IRONMASTER.—Readers who are fortunate enough to possess the volume of Bye- gones will find in it several references to this worthy. From page 189 of Grinning Made Easy, a collection of " Comic " songs printed at Oswestry by J. Salter (no date), I take the following :— JOHN WILKfMSON, Ye workmen of Bersham and Brymbo draw near, Sit down take your pipe, and my *ong you shall hear; I sing not of war or the state of the nntion, Such subjects as these produce nouyht but vexation. Derry Down, down, down Derry Down. But before I proceed any more with my lingo, You shall all drink my toast in a bumper of stingo; Fill up, and without any further parade, John Wilkinson, boys, that supporter of trade. May all his endeavours be crown'd with success, And his works ever growing posterity bless; May his comforts increase with the length of his days, And his fame shine as bright as his furnace's blaze. That the wood of old England would fail did appear, And hough iron was scarce, because charcoal was dear; By puddling and stamping he cured that evil, So the Swedes and the Russians may go to the devil. Our thundering cannon too frequently burst, A mischief so great he prevented the first; And now it is well known they nevt r miscarry, But drive all our foes with a blast to Oid Harry. Then let each jolly fellow take hold of his glass, And drink to the health of his friend and his lass; May ■ e always have plenty of stingo and pence, And Wilkinson's fame blaze a thousand years hence. There are several points in this song worthy of elucida¬ tion :—1st. What improvement in iron making did Wilkin¬ son invent, so as to allow us to send the Swedes and Rus¬ sians to, &c. ? 2nd. What improvements did he make in cannon founding ? 3rd. Where was this done ; Bersham or Brymbo; both or neither ? I have no doubt the word " Pence," last line but one, last verse, is a reference to Wilkinson's Tokens. For ' hough' in the fourth verse we must probably read ' though.' Chatterton. LONG NAMES—I have been surprised at Welsh¬ men writing Llanfairmathafarneithaf, Llandysiliogogo, Rhosllanerchrugog, &c. Why not separate the words as is done in all other cultivated languages ? For instance, Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf ; Llan-Dysilio Gogo, and Rhos Llanerch Rugog. Englishmen have long discon¬ tinued to write Ruytonoftheeleventowns, Ruytonblaydon- ontyne, and Ruytonondunsmore. In the names of men and places I am glad to see the letter " v" for " f " getting more and more in vogue. B. G. THE NAME MACHYNLLETH. - Mary have been the conjectures regarding the derivation and meaning of this thorough Welsh name, and the question is still as undecided as ever. I will not recapitulate the guesses already advanced, but will add another to their number. It is not my own, but was suggested by the late Rev Walter Davies (Gwallter Mechain). That eminent Welsh scholar and antiquary was of opinion that the name is a corruption of Machwenllech (Mach-gwen-llech), the gwenllech (white stone) being ho other than the maengwyn, a portion of which is still preserved in the street which derives its name from it (Heol Maengwyn), and which is the principal street of the town. Mach, the first part of the word signifies a nook, recess, or corner, and is not uncommon as a place- x I name, either with or without some qualifying word, as a y Fach, in Llangian in Lleyn ; y Fach Wen in Llanen- ddwyn, Merioneth; y Fach Ddeiliog, near Bala, &c ; and the compound cilfach is in common use all over the Princi¬ pality. Tydecho (in Arch. Cambrensis). A CURIOUS BIT OF WELSH HIS TORY.- A Tourist in Wales a hundred and fifty years ago, says :— " There is a vulgar error in this country, that Owen Tudor was married to a Queen of England, and that the House of York took that surname from him : whereas the Queen of England that was married to him, was a daughter of the King of France, and Dowager of England, and had no re¬ lation to the Crown; he had indeed two daughters by her, that were married into English noble families ; to one of which Henry the Seventh was Mated ; but Owen Tudor, was neither of the blood of the Princes of Wales himself, nor gave descent to that of the English. He was a private gentleman, of about £3000 a year, that came to seek his fortune at the English Court, and the Queen fell in love with him."—Journey Through England, London, Pember- ton, 1722. D. OLD FOLKS (Feb, 4, 1874).-The following is from a Tombstone in Cockshutt churchyard :—" Here lieth the body of Thomas Hassall, who departed this life the 22nd day of November, 1783, aged 102. Also here lieth interr'd the body of Mary, wife of the above Thomas Hassall; she departed this life the 3rd day of December, 1793, aged 99." G. QUERIES. SHROVE TUESDAY—The following appeared in one of the issues of the Echo in Feb. last:—" At Ludlow, in Shropshire, on Shrove Tuesday the Corporation yearly pro¬ vided a long rope, of the two ends of which two parties of men took possession, and a struggle ensued as to which party could obtain the rope. The victors then sold the rope, and the proceeds were expended in refreshments." I presume the custom is obsolete. In what did it take its origin ? Salopian. KNIGHT MEIRIG VYCHAN.-In a Merioneth¬ shire guide book, published in 1863, by the late Mr D. Jones, of Barmouth, it is stated that in the nave of Dol- gelley church " is a curious stone monument of the famous Knight Meirig Vychan, of whom many interesting tradi¬ tions are still related by the common people. He was fifth in descent from Prince Cadwgan, ancester of the Vaughans of Nannau." Any one who would take the trouble to ex¬ tract from " the common people " the substance of these " interesting traditions," and put them in form for Bye- gones, would be a benefactor of his race ! Will some one try? Tell. EDUCATION IN WALES.-In the First Annual Report of the ' Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor, in the Hundred of Oswestry, and Parishes of Chirk and Llansilin,' issued in 1813, it is stated, " It is with the greatest satisfaction that the members of this society view the liberal grants of £200 from the National Society,and £100 from the Corporation of Oswestry, towards building a schoolroom for the education of persons who are to become teachers of schools in Wales, and that the school is to be open to residents in the town and neighbourhood of Oswes¬ try." Was the school ever erected, and where? In a note to this passage in the report it is said, " There are very few, if any, schools in Wales upon the new system; if we except those established at Wrexham in 1809, at Penley, 1811, at Overton and Bangor in Carnarvonshire in 1812." What was the ' new system' alluded to ? D.S.J. 10