Welsh Journals

286 BYE-GONES. Sept., 1879. SEPTEMBER 3, 1879. NOTES. ROMAN REMAINS IN WALES.—Now that the new railway frean Bettws-y-Coed to Festiniog is opened to the public, we may expect a rush of aggressionists from Eng¬ land, many of whom will be desirous of finding out some new thing upon which to dwell. A writer, now no more, tells us in one of his books upon North Wales that " coins, urns, and inscribed stones, of Roman origin, have been found in the neighbourhood " of Tan-y-Bwlch, and that " the Roman road from Uriconium to Segontium passed through the vicinity, and another from Tommen-y-Mur, where England's monarchs oft encamped, to Caer Gai." Assuming this to be true, here we have a new point of ob¬ servation opened up to thousands, who never so much as heard of the roads mentioned above, and I should be glad if some of your learned correspondents would just describe in Bye-gones, how the English, who make Tan-y-Bwlch their centre, can find, and then follow from end to end, the Roman roads in question. All the natural beauties of the country they can see for themselves, but " a lamp to their feet" may be very necessary, if they are to mark the pre¬ cise points of antiquarian interest where England's monarchs encamped of old, or where the inscribed stones once stood upon the roads, or the Tommens, whence coins and urns were found by the searchers, who are no more on earth. Gladwyn. DUTY ON SALT.—In some notices of Mr. Cressett Pelham which appeared last year in Bye-gones, mention was made of his parliamentary exertions to get the duty on Salt repealed, and on July 31, 1878, Jabco stated that " the Duty on Salt from 1798 to 1805 was 10/- per bushel; it was then increased to 15/-; reduced to 2/- m 1823, and abolished early in 1825." In the Salopian Journal for May 1, 1805, the following advertisement appears:— SALT. Shrewsbury—At Easter Sessions, 1805. BY Virtue of an Act of Parliament, passed in the 38th Year of the Reign of his Maiesty King George the 3d. Cap. 89, the Justices assembled at this Sessions have set the Price of Salt to be sold within the Town and Liberties of Shrewsbury, at the prices following, (viz.) To a Person not being a Retail Trader, purchasing, 71b. weight, 2s. 3d.; 141b., 4s. 6d.; 281b., 9s. 0d.; 56lb., 18s.; 1121b., £116s. Od. To a Person purchasing a smaller quantity, any Sum not exceeding fourpence farthing per pound. And the Court doth hereby give Notice, that every Person refus¬ ing to sell at such Price, or selling at a higher Price, is liable to the Penalty of Twenty Pounds, half to the King and half to the Informer. By the Court, LOXDALE, Town Clerk. Mr. Loxdale, as Clerk of the Peace, issued a similar notice for the county. I am not sure whether the Duty was 10s. or 15s. a bushel when these prices were fixed. --------- SCBOBBES BtRIG. QUERIES. REV. JOSEPH VENABLES. — Monumental stones in the Oswestry Old Church previous to restoration recorded, 1. the death of the Rev. Joseph Venables, L.L.D., born 1726 died 1810. " As a minister of the gospel he il¬ lustrated his precepts by his example, &c." 2. "Joseph Venables, A.M., died 29 May 1765, aged 69." The same stone was also in memory of " Mary Ashburn his third daughter" who died in 1817 at the age of 81: and of her daughter who died in 1831 aged 61. In the records of the Old Chapel, Oswestry, there are documents relating to the Rev. Joseph Venables, who was minister there in 1725. Can anyone tell me who the latter was ? Whether con¬ nected with the foregoing, and how ? Jabco. REMARKABLE STONES AT RUTHIN.—In a book of newspaper cuttings that has recently come into my possession, there is the following under the date of Nov. 1835. One of the largest blocks of stone (generally called Coed- Marchan marble) ever attempted to be moved in the Vale of Clwyd, was conveyed into the town of Ruthin on Monday, the 16th ult. for Mr. Ellis, chemist, for the purpose of supporting a high-pressure steam-engine of four-horse power, with column and entablature, for the manufacture of his universally celebrated soda-water. The Coedmarchan rocks, from their capabilities of receiving the finest polish, have con¬ tributed a rich variety to the marble show-rooms of Chester, Liverpool, &c, and have superbly enriched some of the finest dining and drawing room suites in the Principality. Some idea of the magnitude ef this enormous stone may be formed by the following admeasurement, viz., 10ft. 6in. long, 3ft. 6in. broad, andSft. 6m. deep; the estimated weight about 8 tons. Itwas brought into the town on a timber-carriage of no mean strength, drawn by six fine cart-horses belonging to Shem Williams and John Wynne, the patriarchal name of Shem being in excellent keeping with such a druidical emblem. Just on arriving at its destination the chains snapped, and it was level with the ground; with considerable difficulty it was placed upon rollers, and re¬ moved close to St. George's Well, the fame of which spring has travelled the whole of England and Wales. In appearance this un¬ wieldy marble morsel resembles what the Ancient Britons would term a Cromlech, or Druidical Altar, the exact counterpart of which may be seen near Lligwy, in the parish of Penrhos, Anglesey, and is called " Coiten Arthur " or King Arthur's Quoit; The fact of Ellis's Ruthin Soda Water having become "universally celebrated" so far back as forty years ago is news to me as it will be I fancy to many of your readers. Are we to understand by the paragraph that it is made from the waters of St. George's Well? And for what reason had the "fame" of that spring "travelled the whole of England and Wales"? The paragraph further says :— If we remember right, there is also a remarkable stone at the North-west end of Mr. Ellis's house, which tradition and history have handed down as the block on which the famous Huail was beheaded by order of King Arthur, the story of which may interest our readers. It runs thus : Huail was the second son of Caw o Frydain (or Caw of North Britain). King Arthur became jealous of his having an intrigue with one of his mis¬ tresses, and secretly watched him going to her house, the conse¬ quence of which was, they fought; after a long conflict Huail wounded Arthur in the thigh. A reconciliation, however, took place, upon the condition that Huail, under the penalty of losing his head, should never upbraid the King with this ad¬ vantage over him. Arthur retired to his palace, which was then at Caerwys, in Flintshire, to be cured of his wound, but it always occasioned a limp in his walk. When he had recovered from the severity of his wound he fell in love with a lady at Ruthin, and in order to carry on his intrigue more privately he dressed himself in female attire. As he was dancing with her Huail recognized him on account of his lameness, and said, " This dancing might do very well but for the thigh." The King overheard him and withdrew—sent for Huail, and after upbraid¬ ing him with this breach of promise, ordered him to be be¬ headed upon a stone which lay in the street of the town, which was, from this event, denominated " Maen Huail." The writer says this stone [18351 is still to be seen at the corner of Mr. Ellis's house, and is an object of attraction to the stranger and Cambrian tourist." Is the house standing in 1879 and the stone still an object of interest? D.S.J. REPLIES. GRIFFITH ROBERTS'S WELSH GRAMMAR. (Aug. 6, 1879).—Mr. W. W. E. Wynne of Peniarth, in his note on this book, in Bye-gones, July 23, said, "Itwas printed at Milan." Mr. Silvan Evans, in his letter to the Athenceum, of May 17, says it was supposed to be printed on the Continent in 1567. In his exceedingly interesting address to the members of the Cambrian Archaeological