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Jan., 1879. BYE-GONES. 149 BYE-GONES FOR i879. NOTES, QUERIES, and REPLIES, on subjects interesting to Wales and the Borders, must be addressed to " Askew Roberts, Croeswylan, Oswestry." Real names and addresses must be given, in confidence, and MSS. must be written legibly, on one side of the paper only. JANUARY 1, 1879. NOTES. DEATH WARNINGS IN SHROPSHIRE.—" I think my aunt will die," said a Whittington boy to me the other day. "Why?" I asked. " Because the elock ran itself down last night," was the reply. The aunt was ill, but not so bad as to warrant the belief of the nephew apart from the warning. On my '' pooh-poohing" his fears, he said, " Oh, but the sexton and his_ wife died at Whittington after the church clock had run itself down." Bonwjt. DISTRESS IN 1816.—At the end of 1816 distress was greatly felt amongst the poor in every direction, and we are told that in the neighbourhood of Wynnstay Sir Watkin Williams Wynn took into his employ all who were out of work, and set them to agricultural labour, and the repair of roads, &c. This was a carrying out of the course he had recommended to the landowners at his Cattle Show. Six weeks later the Marquis of Stafford offered the Shrewsbury relief committee a hundred tons of coal for the poor on condition that the Canal Company would carry it free; and one or two other colliery pro¬ prietors made similar offers. N.W.S. EARLY CHARTERS OF OSWESTRY (Aug. 21, 1878).—In the MS. History of Oswestry, written by Mr. Davies who was Recorder in 1635, he gives the copy of the^ "Sharta Gutta" and states that it was "the antientest ch're " then extant. Mr. Davies thus describes the document:—" This chr'e beareth noe date & is called Sharter Gutta, id est Charta brevis, p'te of the labell is to it but the seale taken from it. Sr. Willia' Neve LClarencieux] hath a coppie of this chr'e. I have trans¬ cribed it as I read & understood it; haply I may be some where mistaken as unacquainted w'th that ould hand & character." The following is the text of the charter :— Shai-ta gutta or Charta brevis—WillVm oVm Ffitzalan. ''Scknt tarn pr'sentes qua' futuri q'd ego Willim's Alius Wulimi filij Alain recepi in manu et p'te'eone mea vflnl?enses meos de. Blanc mooter nominatim illos qui in ball io meo messuagia receperunt ad emendac'one merchuti piei, et ego eos contra omnes manutenebo quatenus de lure potero ; Quare id'm volo et firmiter pr'cipio quatenus prefati burgenses teneant messuagia sua licit et in pace et nonorifico libere et quiete in bosco in piano et in alibi xxxx locis. Concessi etia eiusdem Burgensibus q'd pr'dic bur- gagia teneant de me sc'du' leges et consuetudines et liber- tates quas, Burgenses Salop in burgo suo habent. Cartam ratam in postern' esse volui. Sigilli mei appositione et istora' testiu' subscripe'one confirmavi, Joh'n extranea ha'm fri's sui, helie de fess, Philippi til Willini Reg. de. he, Will, de verdun, Reg. eli dom. de Hesse et multis aliis." He also gives the following, of which he says " Sr. Willia' Neve, Kt., Clarenceux, hath the coppie of this Ch're att large, &c." Willia' Earle of Arundett his Ctire to the Mercers, grocers, drap's and Ironmongers of Oswestrie. " Willi' mus Comes Arundell et d'ns de Mantra vers omnibus fidelibus et ministris suis Salutem. Sciatis q'd nos de gre n'ra speciali concessim' pro nobis et heres n'ris quantu' in nobis est o'ibus ho'ibus misteriaru' de drap's, m'reers-craft, Ironmongers-craft & Spice-mongers eraft, In villa n'ra de Oswaldestre in m'rehia wallie com'orantib' &c. Quod ip'i &c. unu' corpus re et no'ie &c. Ad Sc'acriu' ville n'rae pr'dic. Respondeant &c. Dat sub magno Sigillo armoru' n'roru' in hospitio n'ro London 15° Novembris An' RRs Henr. 6ti Decima nono." Portions of Davies's MS., transcribed from the original in the British Museum, I herewith send you. The above are the only charters I have copied. Perhaps the publica¬ tion of them in Bye-gones will not be uninteresting—a trans¬ lation willbe given again. The MS. contains several of the charters, but these Salopian readers will be able to peruse in due time, when Mr. Stanley Leighton's promised paper appears in the Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeolo¬ gical Society. T. W. Hancock. 5, Furnival's Inn. QUERIES. SAINT WINIFRED.—In an odd volume of the Gents : Mag : I picked up the other day, containing the first half of 1809, I find the following passage in a letter signed " A Minor Critic" :— Without the least wish of reviving a controversy, of which your readers have perhaps had already plus quam satis ; allow rneto state an historical fact: " In May 1719, the Government having notice the Roman Catholisks were about to celebrate the Feast of St. Winifred, at Holywell in Wales, with great solemnity, sent down a party of Dragoons thither; who seized their Priest as he was officiating, with his images, plate, and other utensils; and found a parcel of writings, which discovered several estates settled to superstitious uses." (Salmon.) Will some contributor to Bye-gones, who possesses a set of the Gents: Mag : give us an outline of the controversy referred to ? Perhaps someone, too, may be able to refer to Salmon's Survey (if that is the work quoted) or else¬ where, for further particulars respecting the Government raid at Holywell ? G.G. 24