Welsh Journals

62 BYE-GONES. June, 1874. entry is as follows: " A.D. 975, Dunwallon, king of Strath- clyde, went to Rome and took the tonsure." From this date to the Norman conquest, the Saxon power ceased to be formidable, and the Celtic population of the ancient kingdom, of Strathclyde was left undisturbed in the north¬ west of England and south-west of Scotland, where their descendants remain, more or less assimilated to the Saxon, to this day. E. Owen. Caersws, May 8, 1874. DAVYDD NANMAWR (Apr. 22, 1874). —The following are the Welsh lines by Davydd Nanmawr, as printed in an old edition of Sh6n Rhydderch's Welsh Grammar. The other specimen herewith is out of the same. Both are specimens of skill in Welsh metricity, and are considered curious and masterly. The metricity is kept right at the same time words have been combined susceptible of having their initial consonants changed into the same kind. The lines belong to what is classed as the "Tawddgyrch Cadwynog" (Catenated Recurrent) metri¬ city; which is composed of spondees, and requires that the consonants in the one pair of spondees shall meet and bind with the other pair. I append English translation. The meaning in some of the phrases is ambiguous and convert¬ ible to different senses. Gwas gwyn goes gawdd, Gais gain gwys gwan, Gwawr gyd Gaer gann, gwar ged garr ga^'r, Glas glyn gloes glawdd, glais glin glwys glann, Gawr gryd gwaer grann, gar gred grair : Gyr gwen gwir gau, Gardd gled gwrdd glau, Gwyll gwydd gwell gwau, Goll gerdd gwall gair, Gwawr grym ei gyrr grau, Garw gair gwir gau, Geilw gnwd gwyl gnau, Gloyw gnawd glew gwnair. Davydd Nanmawr. (Translation.) A troublesome servant a crooked leg, A mild request a weak summons; A good man with a pale brow— A good servant a word message ; A green vale a battle mound, A curved ditch a picturesque riverbank ; A timorous saint a downcast look, eager to believe in relics : A smile may drive away a falsehood; A sheltered garden a strong fence; The shade of trees better weaving [musing]; Loss in metre a fault in a word ; A morning gay a brilliant array ; An unwelcome word a falsehood ; A crop will invite a holiday for nutting; A whole skin a strong man will retain. T. W. Hancock. " Gwagog giw gaegog gau goegwig ;—gwiwgog, Gigog giw gagog gway w gywgig." (The field cuckoo, and that of thp open copse, are alogether ' not worth powder and shot'; the true [or grown] cuckoo (gwiwgog) is full of muscle and uncookable, and the flesh of the young is unpalatable.) Gwagog, useless, 'not worth powder and shot,' &c.; gaegog (caegog), field cuckoo ; gau goegwig, open copse ; gigog, full of muscle, tough, &c.; giw gagog, wholly uncookable, &c; gywgig, ths flesh of the young- T. T.V. H. June 3,1874. NOTES. SHREWSBURY COFFEE-HOUSES IN QUEEN ANNE'S TIME.—Shrewsbury stands upon an eminence, incircled by the Severn, like a horse-shoe: the streets are large, and the houses well-built; my Lord Newport, son to the Earl of Bradford, hath a handsome palaee, with hang¬ ing gardens down to the river ; as also Mr Kinnaston and some other gentlemen. There is a good Town-House, and the most Coffee-houses round it that I ever saw in any town; but when you come into them, they are but Ale¬ houses, only they think that the name of Coffee-house gives a better air. (Journey through England.) D, QUERIES. LLOYDS OF LLWYNYMAEN (Mar. 25, 1874).— Can any of your correspondents give the history and pedi¬ gree of the Lloyds of Moelfre ? According to a sketch which I have some time since read, I believe they have descended in a direct line from Evan the Terrible to Cyhu- lyn, son of Madoc, Lord of Llwynymaen and Oswestry. I think also they are the same with the Lloyds of Garth, Montgomery, one of whom was created a Baronet by Chas. II., 1661. They are also identical with the Lloyds of Trevor, Llangollen, which estates passed from the family of Sir John Trevor, Knight, to the Lloyds of Pentre Hobin, Flintshire. The familj has doubtless descended from the Rcyal Tribes of Wales, and it appears to be a subject worthy of research. • Is it known whether any of the direct line are in existence ? Are they the same family as the Lloyds of Llwynymaen ? Gobeithiol. GWERN Y FIGN.—In Carlisle's Topography, under " Carreg Hwfa," a well known place Dear Llanymynech, it is said:—About a mile from this Castle (Carreghofa) lies Gwern y Fign, where a Battle was fought about the year 1202. Would some contributor to Bye-gones indicate whereabouts this Gwern y Figu lies : and also what Battle, and who were the combatants that Carlisle refers to ? Ogof. REPLIES. DOLOBRAN (Apr. 22, 1874).—While waiting for an answer, from some competent person, t& Llallawg's query respecting Dolobran, in Montgomeryshire, I may mention that there is another Dolobran in the county of Merioneth. It is on the banks of the river Cerist, in the parish of Mallwyd, and about two miles from Dinas Mawddwy, near the road leading to Dolgelley. It is, and has been for years, the seat of a flourishing flannel manu¬ factory. There is no river known as Bran near it, or anywhere in the district. CoCHWlLLIAD. PARR'S LIFE PILLS (May 13, 1874).—Chambers in hie Book of Days (vol 2 p. 583) says, " There was doubt¬ less something peculiar in Parr's constitution which enabled him to resist so long the effects of age and natural decay. As a corroboration of the theory of the hereditary trans¬ mission of qualities, it is a curious circumstance that Robert Parr, a grandson of this wonderful old man, who was born at Kinver in 1633. died in 1757. at the age of 124" This ex¬ tract shews that there are some who still " swallow the old age theory" much aa ' D.'(Ap. 29), doubts it. The ex¬ tract also contradicts his assertion that Parr never bad any children to live beyond infancy. Chambers goes on to say, I " Perhaps one of the most ingenious devices in the art of ' quackery is that by which a well-known medicine, bear-