Welsh Journals

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April, 1882. JBYE-GONES. 41 APRIL 5, 1882. NOTES. THE BROGYNTYN MANUSCRIPTS. (Mar. 8, 1882). The following letter is from Edmund Mericke of Ucheldre, Esq., High Sheriff of Merionethshire 1632, to William Wynne of Glyn, Esq., who, as stated Mar. 8, was High Sheriff of that county in 1618 and 1636. His wife was the daughter of Lewis Anwill of Park, Esq., High Sheriff in 1640; so probably the "Cosyn Anwill" mentioned was the member of the family who was High Sheriff in 1650. Cousyne William Wynne Ther is behind in yo'r allottm't of the first 6 monethes oontribuc'n for S'r Thomas ffairffaxe & of last 6 monethes as is onderneath sett downe & you must take a course that the be pay'd vpon Tusday next at Bala else the Troopers will be forced to come & leavy them. Fayle not to send yo'r Constables then thither & yt were well that you & my Cosyn Anwill were their, that some course be taken concerninge the Troopers that they doe not quarter vpon us this Winter I am yo'r cosyne & servant Edmond Meyricke Vcheldre 17° 9bris 1648 I s Sent back of this money 7 14 4 li d Trawsfynydd 5 8 0 ) s Maentwrog 1 16 0 / 1418 * of the last 6 monethes in Isartro in Llanenddwy & Ganllwyd 5 11 0 & in some other place 16 4 The Irish money totally behind li being 14 8 0 ffor the wor'll William Wynne Esq'r these p'sent At Glyn. SPRING-TIDE SUPERSTITION.—To lovers of ancient proverbs and common sayings the following ancient couplet, formerly in general use in the lower part of Mont¬ gomeryshire, may be of some interest:— March will search, April will try, May will see who will live or die. C.J.D. AN ARDENT WELSHMAN.—The following is preserved in the British Museum Library; Add. MSS. 14,958, p. 202 (copied into the MS. Feb. 9, 1802) :— HYNOD BETH. Mr. LI—d of H-f-d-n-s being among the antiquarians who out of curiosity opened the tomb of King Edward I. at Westminster Abbey on ^ May 2, 1774, as soon as the body appeared he spat in his face calling him the vilest tyrant that ever was a curse to mankind for his cruelty in slaughtering the innocent Welsh Bards, and added that " if he could have done it with decency he would have p-ss-d on him." This act of revenge upon the dead monarch was told to his present Majesty, King George III., who seemed well pleased with the farce. Had Mr. LI—d lived a century later he would perhaps have learnt to doubt the story of the massacre ; at least his faith in it would not have led him to be so demonstra¬ tive ! Nbmo. OSWESTRY AND LONDON. — Parcels mid Postage in 1815. In the present age when the postal au¬ thorities promise prompt and speedy conveyance of a goodly sized parcel from London to Oswestry for a few pence, it is hard to realize the trials and difficulties our fathers suffered in carrying on their trades and professions. In May, 1815, the Justices at the Oswestry Quarter Sessions, in accordance with Acts of Parliament passed 5 William and Mary, and 21 Geo. II, " assessed and rated the price for land carriage of goods " as follows :—All goods and parcels, save money and jewellery, per coach, was to be l^d. per mile for every cwt., except for parcels of 121bs. and under, for which the carriage from London to Oswes¬ try was to be Is. lOJd.; (and so in proportion for any greater or less distance). By waggon the charge was to be |d. a mile; and for London parcels of 121bs. Is. 8d. To these rates one third was to be added on goods coming to Oswestry from Cardiganshire; why we are not informed. The prices in¬ cluded delivery. In 1819 these prices were advanced. I have heard my father say that during his early years as a bookseller in Oswestry he had paid as much as 18s. for his monthly parcel of magazines from London, by mail; and occasionally it would be left behind somewhere on the road because there was no room for it on the coach! The postage of a letter to London from Oswestry was 10d., and no enclosure was allowed. The ways in which postage was evaded were numerous: amongst booksellers and stationers a common one was to write several orders to differ¬ ent publishers, or paper dealers, on one sheet. This sheet would be addressed to the " London Agent" of the country Tradesmen, who would cut it up and give the respective " orders " to the collector of the " house " it was for; re¬ presentatives of the leading houses calling every morning for orders at each other's places of business. Jabco. GEORGE IV. IN SOUTH WALES.—Several newspapers in noticing the visit lately paid by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh to Pembrokeshire (March 17 to 19) took occasion to observe that excepting an informal visit paid by the Duke last year, no royal personage had been seen in the county since George IV. landed there on his return from Ireland in Sept., 1821. With this bare men¬ tion of his maj esty's debarkation the paragraphists and leader writers have been content; but it may as well be noted in Bye-gones that the honour of receiving his Majesty in Pembrokeshire on this occasion was due solely to adven¬ titious circumstances. The King had been to Ireland, and on his return the royal squadron was caught in a violent storm, and had to shelter in Milford Haven. Another attempt was made to clear the Channel, which was again frustrated, and safety had to be sought in the Haven. His Majesty had by this time had enough of the sea, so he landed at five o'clock in the morning and posted away for London as hard as he could. The event was in the following year commemorated by a monument erected near the spot where the landing took place, and the following inscription is probably still to be read there : " This Tablet records the memorable and interesting event of Milford Haven having, through the blessing of Provi¬ dence, twice afforded refuge to King George IV. and to his attendant Squadron from violent and successive tem¬ pests which beset them in St. George's Channel on his Majesty's return from Ireland in September, 1821. The first storm was encountered on the night of the 8th of Sep¬ tember, the second on the 11th of September; on both these occasions the Royal Squadron happily made Milford Haven. Its first entrance into the Haven was on the 9th September, 1821, and the second on the 12th of the same month. The King's Squadron anchored in the Hubberston