Welsh Journals

329 BYE-GONES. Nov., 1875. faction table it is stated that timber had been cut on this estate, which had been sold for £100; and it appeared in evidence that there was a further sum of £80 arising from accumulated interest and sale of ether timber. These two snms, together with £100 left by William Wynne in 1789, also for the benefit of the poor of this parish, are lent to the trustees of the third district of the Montgomeryshire turn¬ pike roads, at five per cent, interest, on two mortgages, the first for £200, bearing date 22nd September, 1820, and the second for £80, the 30th Jauuary, 1823. The interest of the money arising from the sale of timber is annually paid to a schoolmaster in the parish as an augmentation to his salary. The minister and churchwardens distribute the rent in the following manner :—To two men a coat each, and two women a cloak. The coats and cloaks cost about 17s each. This donation is not continued annually to the same per¬ sons. They also give £5 per annum, in sums of a Is, every month, to about eight or ten aged persons, and the re¬ mainder is laid out in the purchase of flannel, which is given away in the winter time to them indiscriminately. pugh's charity school. It is recorded on a benefaction table in the church that William Pugh, by will, bearing date 22nd May, 1714, gave a rent charge of £9 upon his lands, whereof £6 was to be distributed upon the Friday next before Whit Sunday, that is, Is 6d to every poor" person that should be entered on the poor's book; and the remaining sum of £3 he directed to be paid to the support of a school for the instruction of 12 poor children. Notes.—The estate out of which this rent-charge is paya¬ ble is called Nant-y-meichiad, situate in the parish of Meif od; it is the property, and is in the occupation of John Evans, who regularly pays to the churchwardens £9 per annum. The sum of £6 is distributed among paupers, accor¬ ding to the directions of the donor. The remaining sum, £3, is annually paid to a schoolmaster, who also receives £9 per annum from Derwas's charity, as above stated, and 5s from Thomas's charity, as next mentioned. For this remunera¬ tion he instructs 60 poor children, of both sexes, in reading writing and arithmetic, sufficient to enable them to take situations in shops. A echojlhouse was built about the year 1821 by voluntary subscriptions, capable of containing 130 children. THOMAS'S CHARITY. In one of the books it is stated that John Thomas, by will (of what date is not mentioned), gave £5, the interest of which was to be given to the schoolmaster of the charity school for educating the children thereof. cade's chabitt. Benefaction Table.—Magdalen Cade, by deed, bearing date 10th October, 1669, gave a rent charge of £5 4s., to be distributed every Sunday in white bread among the poor. Note.—This rent charge is payable out of a small farm in this parish of Meifod, called Ty'n'rwtra. Lloyd's charity. Benefaction Table.—Edward Lloyd gave (date unknown), the sum of £1 6s. annually, to purchase six white penny loaves of bread every Lord's day, to be given among poor persons who should inhabit in six small houses in Pentre Parrog. Note.—The property liable to the payment of this rent charge consists of two small fields and a tenement, in this parish. The present owner is the kev. K. T. Saunders. There is no distinguishing name to this property. wynn's charity. Benefaction Table.—William Wynn, by will, dated 7th April, 1789, gave the sum of £100 upon trust, that £1 should be annually divided among eight poor housekeepers ; the sum of £2 at the direction of the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers, amongst the poor of the parish on St. Thomas's Day ; and the residue of the interest to be given in bread to three poor children, natives and inhabitants of the parish, who went to the school there, each of these children a penny loaf a day ; the children to be chosen by a majority of the vestry, Note.—It has been arranged by the vicar and church- wardens, that the money hitherto laid out in the purchase of bread shall in future be paid to the schoolmaster, on condition of his teaching four additional children. This charity is secured by a turnpike bond. Eight half-crowns are annually given away to eight poor widows; and £2 is given away in small sums of money to the most needy and deserving poor. mytton's charity. By Benefaction Table.—Bridget Mytton, widow, by will, bearing date 12th October, 1722, gave a rent charge of £5, to be distributed yearly on Christmas-eve, among the poor of the parish; £1 of which to be distributed among poor housekeepers, tenants, and dependents to and upon the Pont-y-Scowryd estate and family. Note.—This rent charge is payable out of the Pont-y« scowryd Farm, which belongs to the Garth Estate, and is now in the occupation of Thomas Morgan, who regularly pays £5 fo the churchwardens, and it is distributed by them in the following manner :—Eight half crowns among the poor living on that portion of the Garth Estate in the parish of Meifod, and the remainder in sixpences and shillings indiscriminately to the poor. thomas Jones's charity. The Parliamentary Returns of 1786 state that Thomas Jones (date unknown) gave a rent charge of 15s. to the poor of the township of Keel, and the following note is added :—Since Thomas Jones's death this estate has been purchased and conveyed to Edward Devereux, of Llwyd- iarth Park, in the county of Montgomery, and his heirs, in trust, to such uses as should be approved of by a majority of several members of a club or charitable society of farmers, tradesmen, and others, held at Efel Llwydiarth, in the said county, and their successors. Thomas Bebb, of Meifod, pays 15s., every Old New Year's Day in respect of this charity from Glanrafon, con¬ sisting of a small tenement and grounds in the parish of Meifod. H. November 24, 1875. NOTES. THE SIN EATER.—The following letter has appeared in the Academy. - "Llanymawddwy Rectory, Merioneth : November 8th, 1875. In the Academy of Nov¬ ember 6th, (p. 478) I find an extract from i an article in Blackwooi on the " Legends and Folklore of North Wales," referring to a singular custom said to be still surviving in North and South Wales. It is alleged that at a funeral " a hireling, who lives by such services, has handed over to him a loaf of bread, a maple bowl full of beer or milk, and a sixpence, in consideration of which he takes upon him all the sins of the defunct, and frees him or her from walking after death ;" and this functionary it is added, is currently called a " Sin-eater." The earlier portion of my life was spent in South Wales, and I have lived upwards of a quarter of a century in North Wales, but I have never heard of the strange custom here alluded to, either as now existing or as having existed at some former period. I have not been indifferent as to the customs ana legends of the land of my birth, and my profession often