Welsh Journals

98 BYE-GONiLS. Aug., 1884. misfortunes which he derives from a tyrant brother, the outrageous and implacable enemy of Britain.—The inhabi¬ tants of Llanfyilin, Montgomeryshire, have atonce testi¬ fied their piety and benevolence by commencing a sub¬ scription in aid of the Bible Society. AUGUST 6, 1884. CURRENT NOTES. Land and Water, in an article on " Physical Develop¬ ment," says in confirmation of the theory that in men of the same occupation belonging to different races, the in¬ fluence of race was predominant over occupation that "the Scotch leadminers of Wenlock-head are more than two inches taller, and nearly nine pounds heavier than the Welsh leadminers of Cardiganshire.'" The Welshman says that Carmarthenshire men are very nearly an inch taller than Cardiganshire men, and rather more than an inch taller than those of Pembrokeshire. The will of Miss Letitia D'Arcy Irvine, late of Carter's Hotel, Albemarle-street, has just been proved; person¬ alty exceeding £74,000. The testatrix devises her Shrop¬ shire estates to MrH. B.W.Williams Wynnfor life; then to William, Lord Bagot, for life, with remainder to the person who shall be or become entitled to the barony of Bagot, conditionally on none of the tenants at the time of her death being turned out of their holdings so long as they continue to pay their rents, and none of such tenants' rents are to be raised.— Illustrated London News. Professor Rhys has been furnished by a correspondent with an account of an annual pilgrimage to the Van moun¬ tains, in the Cwmtawe Valley. "It has been, "he says, "the yearly custom (for generations as far as I can find) for young as well as many people further advanced in years to make a general sojourn in carts, gambos, and all kinds of vehicles, to Llyn y Van, in order to see the Water Nymph (who appeared on one day only, viz., the first Sunday in August). This nymph was said to have the lower part of her body resembling that of a dolphin, while the upper part was that of a beautiful lady : this anomalous form appeared on the first Sunday in August (if the lake should be without a ripple) and combed her tresses on the reflecting surface of the lake." The custom is still kept up, but the number of " pilgrims " has fallen off. AUGUST 13, 1884. CURRENT NOTES. The reparation of Carnarvon Castle during the last few years has made great progress, and all parts of the build¬ ing are now accessible. The demand for salt is now so great that the subsidences usually to be observed in the great Cheshire saltfields are more apparent than ever, particularly at Northwich. These culminated recently in the settling down of a vast body of earth, upon which a boy in charge of a horse was Btanding. Both boy and horse were engulfed, and would have been killedbutfor the assistance speedily rendered by onlookers. In order to form some sort of an estimate of the quantity of brine extracted at Northwich and Winsford, it may be stated that the returns made up for last month show that the exports of salt were 127,998 tons, against 103,878 tons for July last year. Of this large quantity the East Indies took no less than 46,431 tons, and the United States 17,552 tons. The exports for July were, with one exception, the heaviest for any corresponding month (or the past seven years. CYMRU F U . Owen Gruffydd, the bard of Llanystumdwy, dreamt one night that he saw a person digging a grave for him in the churchyard of Dolbeumaen. He afterwards, whilst sleeping, composed these lines, alluding to the occur¬ rence :— Dyma'r fan Ue'r af fy nun, Ffarwel bob dyn a'm caro ; Pan roddir fi'n fy Hetty llesg, Rho'ir pridd a morhesg arno. Owen died in 1730 in his 87th year.—(From, Ysten Stoned, p. 29.) Some antiquaries were of opinion that a procession of armed persons was first appoiuted in Wales, to follow the judges from one county to the other, about the year 1555, when the red Banditti of Mawddwy murdered Baron Owen on his way to or from Montgomery. The following quotation from au old MS. in the Peniarth library proves that the custom was about two hundred years earlier — " One John ab Gruffydd, a gentleman of much influence, who resided in Merionethuhire in the reign of Edward the Third, was allowed a large sum of money from the trea¬ sury for guiding and protecting the judges on their circuits through North Wales with a certain number of archers. This was caused on account of the Welsh being ignorant of the English law, and the judges being too severe and arrogant in most cases, which made the people, who were hostile and jealous of their rights, to rebel and slay the judges, as in the cases of Geoffrey Clement and W. Sutton, in North and South Wales." Four cousins happened to meet in a wine house one evening in North Wales, when they began to speak about their different feats to each other. Th« first was Dafydd ab Jenkin, of Nant Conwy,who paid—" This is the dagger with which I killed the Red Justice on the bench in Den¬ bigh." The second was Dafydd ab Ieuan ab Einion, who defended Harlech Castle, who said—"This is the sword and the ash with which I slew the Sheriff at Llandrillo." The third being Reinallt ab Gruffydd of the Tower by Mold, who exclaimed—"With this weapon I dispatched the Mayor of Chester, when he came with his men to burn my house." They asked the fourth, who was a peaceable person named Gruffydd Fychan, if he had done any deed of valour. Fychan said—"' This is the lance with which, if I had drawn it, as you have done, I would have per¬ formed braver deeds than any of you." Mostyn Hall, the chief seat of Lord Mostyn. is con¬ sidered very ancient especially one part of it. The fol¬ lowing date is on the chief entrance, viz., "Anno Mundi, 5552, W.M., 1570." The old part contains a lofty floor, or Dais, in the upper end, with a long table for the use of the host and his merry company, and another table on the side for the tenants and others who enjoy the Baron's hospitalitv. The same custom prevails to the present day, when the family are at home. The roof is very high, being crossed with very long beams. The roof tree was always mentioned in connection with the health of the host, which toast was proposed in words similar to these— " Iechyd da i'r gwr biau y nenbren," or " Iechyd da i nen- bren y ty." There is one large room in the hall, where the following incident occurred :—When Henry, Earl of Richmond, and his party were privately contemplating the overthrow of the House of York, and going from one place to another, forming an alliance with the Welsh, owing to their connection with Owen Tudor, the Earl's grandfather, Richmond was on the point of dining when some of Richard the Third's soldiers came there with the intention of capturing him, so Richmond had to jump through a back window, and he made his escape into