Welsh Journals

82 BYE-GONES. Apl. 3, 1889. than Mr Lewis Morris, of more gallant soldiers than General Roberts, and of more world-renowned travellers than Stanley. (Cheers.) He begged to propose a vote of thanks to Professor Lloyd. (Cheers.) Mr J. Parry-Jones, in seconding the vote of thanks which had been eloquently proposed by Dr. Beresford, said it had given him very great pleasure to listen to those of the lectures at which he had been able to be present. He wished to include in the vote of thanks their Chairman for the very interesting address he had given them at the close, and also the University College of Aberystwyth for kindly sending missionaries to the barbarous English people living on the borders of Wales. (Cheers and laughter.) It was interesting to know how much they owed to the Welsh nation ; and they had just now been told by the Chairman that they had been indebted to them for pocket-handkerchiefs. (Laughter.) He had verv great pleasure in second¬ ing the vote of thanks. (Cheers.) The motion having been carried unanimously, Professor Lloyd, in acknowledging the vote of thanks, said it had been a great pleasure to him to speak to them upon a subject in which he himself was so much interested, especially to people who had shown their own interest in the subject by at¬ tending the lectures in very unfavourable climatic circumstances. He hoped the lectures had been the means of stimulating that interest, or at any rate that they would lead them to think more kindly of the Welsh nation than they had perhaps been in¬ clined to do in the past—to regard Welsh history as something different from what Milton called " the battle of the kites and crows," and to acknow¬ ledge that Welshmen had indeed played a part in the history of this Isle of Britain. (Cheers.) APRIL 3, 1889. NOTES. SUPERSTITIOUS CURES (March 6, 1889).— Whooping Cough is sometimes called Kink Cough, and in Shropshire, Chin Cough. Many people in Wales have their children taken to a lime kiln, and passed two or three times through the smoke ; others recommend taking the child to a tanyard, and holding it for some time over the pit when the hides are being turned over. I have also known of many children taken to Gas Works for this com¬ plaint, all for the object, presumably, of producing nausea. It is said that whooping cough is not contagious unless another child is present during a fit of coughing. A.C.-H. A PORTION OF AN OLD BIBLE. LLAN- YNYS.—There is in the parish church of Llan- ynys, near Denbigh, apart of an old English black letter Bible. What is left of this book is in a capital state of preservation as regards paper and letter, but by far the greater part has disappeared, and, apparently, leaf after leaf was torn out to light candle or fire, just as required. The Rev. John Davies, the rector, thinks of binding the re¬ maining leaves, and he will be doing well to do so. I do not know the exact date of this Bible, but some one who has access to ancient Bibles can, from the following particulars, tell us its age. The chapters are not divided into verses but into paragraphs, entitled or distinguished by the letters A, B, &c. Thus, II. Chronicles xiv. is divided into four paragraphs, the last, D, begins with verse 12 in the modern version, and it is worded as follows :— So the Lord smote the blackemores before Asa and Juda, and the black mores fled. And Asa and the people that was wyth hym folowed after them unto Gerer. And ye biackmores hoste was ouerthrowen yt. there was none of them lefte, but were destroyed before the Lorde and before his host. And they caryed awaye a myghte great praye. The quotation now given will compare favour¬ ably with our modern rendering of the same clause. It will puzzle many to find out what people is meant by the Biackmores. I will not tell them, but the curious can ascertain for themselves by referring to their Bibles, and they will there see what word the old divines translated by the word biackmores. Solomon's song finishes thus :— The ende of the Ballet of Bal- lettes of So¬ lomon, cal¬ led in la- tyn canticu canticoru. These particulars will be sufficient to enable anyone who has access to old Bibles to tell the date of this remnant. E.O. QUERIES. A CURIOUS BET.—I found the following in an American newspaper. Is the picture still at Sundorne ? One of the Corbets of Sundorne Castle, near Shrewsbury, made a bet that his leg was the hand¬ somest in the county or kingdom, and staked on his part his magnificent estates. He won. There is a picture in Sundorne Castle representing the measur¬ ing of sundry legs. W.O. HOLL DDYLEDSWYDD DYN.—This little book has always possessed a peculiar interest to Welshmen, because it is supposed to have been the very first Welsh book printed in Wales. That supposition, however, is founded upon the assertion that it had been printed at Wrexham in the year 1718, by Edward Wickstead; but the fact itself has been questioned by several gentle¬ men whose acquaintance with Welsh literature has entitled their opinions to respect. Mr Salisbury, writing to Mr William Wynne in 1862, in relation to this supposed Wrexham edition, said, inter alia:—" I must not presume to say your informant is in error, but I certainly have never seen the Wrexham edition of 1718 of Holl Ddyledswydd Dyn. The first edition of the work—now before me—was printed in London in the year 1672 ; and so was the second edition, in the year 1711 ; and