Welsh Journals

Aug., 1880. BYE-GONES. 91 ation. He did not see his way to vote on the question when it was discussed by the House of Lords, as he had jio wish to embarrass the new president of the council by seeming to throw cold water upon his scheme, but the speech of the Bishop of Exeter did tell with effect upon bis mind, for he liked thoroughness and accuracy better than surface scraping. (Hear, hear.) In America he had seen the result of taking up a new "subject, then dropping it to take up another, and how the boy or girl left school without a thorough and complete knowledge of any one subject but with a smattering of many, and he feared lest a similar system should arise in England, and that the thoroughness and accuracy of the boys and girls should be squandered over many subjects, instead of being concentrated on a few. (Hear, hear.) AUGUST 4, 1880. NOTES. SIR WILLIAM MAURICE OF CLENENNEY. (Oct. 15, 1879). Extract of a letter from William ap William to Sir Wm. Maurice of Clenenney, dated at London upon Nov. 7, {1615). From the original at Brogyntyn :— " I haue no other newes to writt to yo'r worr' but what mr Brynkir and myself haue written to yo'r worr' befor, but that my L. chamberlayne is comited to the towr, and S'r Thomas hawart to the fleet, for some speeches he vttered. S'r Georg moor is leavitenant of the towr, and my L. of pembrook as men thinketh shalbe L. chamber¬ layne, and my*L. of Essex m'r of his ma'ts horsses. this is the rumor I knowe not howe it will fall &c..... .........and wher yo'r worr' do writt to me to knowe the price of Spices they ar Risen both pepper and suger. pepper is at ijs viijd a pound & sugeer at xvijcZ or xviijd*. . . . . . . the sherifs names are these, John Lloyd of Rhiwedog for m'ioneth, mr willin gruffith, of Caern, & hugh lewis ap hoell ap Ierwerth, p' Anglesea." A.R.P. *or xviiijcZ OSWESTRY INSTITUTIONS. — Oswestry has always been a progressive town and in the van of im¬ provements. We are told in Cathrall's History that Oswestry originated Societies for the Prosecution of Felons ; and in Bye-goncs we have seen how the Noncon¬ formists of the borough originated Sunday Schools as early as Raikes' time, and Day Schools before the con¬ troversies of Bell and Lancaster. I have accidentally seen in a copy of the Oswestry Herald for Aug. 13, 1820, that so well known and approved was the " Oswestry Society for Bettering the Condition of the Poor," that the Earl of Hard wick, chairman of a kindred institution in London, stated publicly that there " could not be a better model " to form a country society by, when the town of Carnarvon applied to him for advice. His lordship, as chairman of the Metropolitan institution, also caused the seventh report of the Oswestry Society (supposed to have been written by the Rev. G. N. K. Lloyd) to be sent to chairmen of Quarter Sessions, with a view of getting such institutions generally established. Oswald. QUERIES. JOHN EVANS OF LLWYNYGROES.—It was stated in Bye-goncs, Sep. 17, 1877, and again quoted at a later date, that " Dr. Evans's father was a great botanist, and wrote a good deal about trees and shrubs." The person referred to would be John Evans of Llwyny- groes, publisher of the map of North Wales, and an anti¬ quarian. What authority is there for the statement that he was a "great botanist"? From some family letters before me, I find Dr. Evans was a great botanist, and his poem upon '' Bees " has a large number of notes relating I to botany, showing that he was well acquainted with the subject. Is it not possible that the statement alluded to I should refer to the son, and not to the father ? If John ! Evans wrote upon botany, where are his writings to be j found? Llertwef. THE WELSH COAST.—In a newspaper of forty years ago, in extolling the men and manners, scenery and attractions, of Aberystwyth, the writer pictures the , Londoner leaving the metropolis behind him, and "like i our great moralist " Resolved at length from vice and London far To breathe in distant fields a purer air; And fix on Cambria's solitary shore, Give to St. David one true Briton more. ; By "our great moralist" I presume Dr. Johnson ; meant. Where, in his works, do the lines appear, and to I what part of Wales do they refer ? Taffy. REMARKABLE TREES.—There are three with- | in a dozen miles of Oswestry that are little known and | have found no place in Bye-gones. 1,—Situated on the road \ side near Penybont Fawr, and which consists of the | trunk of an oak with a birch growing out of it, and both living. Perhaps some reader of this will supply fuller information. 2.— An octree at Tyn-y-Llwyn. near Meifod. ; All I know about this is that five and forty years ago there was a lithograph published of it, in which it was ! thus described :—" Girth 24 feet; extreme girth round ; the roots 50 feet. Height 83 feet; to set off of highest branches 62 feet. Girth when the bark was on was about 29 feet. The tree has had neither bark nor leaves for at least 25 years. Pigeons frequent the branches. Oct. 10, 1836." The tree was described as "the property of Sir Robert Williames Vaughan, bart." Can any of your readers say if it is still standing. 3.—An "Oak tree at Cil Cychwyn in the lower valley of Glyn near Llangollen, North Wales. Girth 41 feet 3 inches at one yard from the ground. 44 feet 8 inches at the ground." Thisdiscrip- tion I take from a lithograph published more than half a century ago. A gentleman who saw the tree a short time ago informs me that he was told in the neighbourhood that it was " said to be 60 feet in circumference," but I am not aware that it has recently been measured. It is situated five minutes walk from Pout-fadog, at a place locally called, I believe, " Cil cochwyn." Jahco. REPLIES. SOCIETY OF ANCIENT BRITONS. (July 7, 1880.) Very soon did our Antient Britons have an opportunity of shewing their loyalty; "for the Popish Pretender to his Majesty's Dominions offering to invade this Kingdom," they penned an address, which was signed by " above 200 Persons of the best Quality in the Principality of Wales.'' This was presented by Lord Lysburne and the other stewards, and Mr. Thomas Jones, on Sept. 20, to the King himself, who graciously held out his hand to be kissed, and who made a Knight of Mr. Jones on the spot. In one of Mr. Dickens's novels there is a Mr. Dick who never can keep King Charles's head out of a petition. It would seem that these Antient Britons, or at least Mr. Thomas Jones, could not put pen to paper without dragging in the " extraordinary coincidence." And here it i3 again in the address. After referring to the '' Hand of Heaven " which gave "Blessing" to his Majesty's labour for "the