Welsh Journals

502 BYE-GONES. Nov. 5, 1890. figure, in priestly vestments, carved on a brass plate, is fastened to one of the walls.' He then quotes the inscription, not as in the original with its contrac¬ tions, but as reproduced in full upon a later brass plate now placed above it. And he adds that ' this brass wasoriginally fixed on a great slab of oak, still in its place on the floor, which also is covered with oak: so scarce was stone, so plentiful wood ! The great chest is made of a single trunk of oak.' " The figure is 2ft 6in in height by eight inches ia its broadest part, and is interesting for its details. The vestments consist of a ' chesible' with an orna¬ mental border or parure ; beneath it the ' alb,' with the parure or ornamentation in front of the skirt; the fringed ends of the ' stole' are seen on either side ; the ' maniple' hangs over the left wrist, and the ' amice,' with its parure, is shown as a collar round the neck. The hair is cut short and shows the coronal; the face is clean shaven. The hands are joined upon the breast and clasp a chalice, on which is a wafer stamped with a cross crosslet. The shoes have rounded toes, and are sewn up the front. " The inscription, in eld English characters, with frequent contractions, is in very fair preservation, and has much to tell us :— ORATE PRO A'lA DNI JOH'IS AP MEREDYTH DE POWYSIA QVOND'M VICARII ISTT ECCL'IE DE BETTVS IN CUP TEMPORE EDIFICATV EST CAMPANILE IDIDEM* EMPTE SVNT TRES CAMPANE ET FACTA SUNT IN DICTA ECCL'IA MVLTE ALIA BONA OPERE IFO VICARIO F POSSE AUXILIANTE CUT ATE PROPICIET* DEVS AMEN. DAT" IPO VIVENTE ANNO DNI MILLIMO CCCCUXXXP. *I=identidem. Pray for the Soul of Sir John ap Meredyth of Powys, for¬ merly Vicar of this Church of Bettws : in whose time the Tower was built, and at different periods three bells were bought, and many other good works done in the said Church: The Vicar himself helping to his utmost. God be merciful to his soul. Amen. Dated in his lifetime in the year of Our Lord one thousand five hundred and thirty-one. " We have here a distinct record of an important restoration of the church immediately before the breaking out of the great Reformation movement. Whether there was any tower earlier than this we cannot say: probably not, as the term used is ' Edificatum,' not re-edificatum. Whatever sup¬ plied its place we may be pretty sure was made of that fine and abundant Montgomeryshire oak which so amazed Pennant by its contrast with that of his own sea-dwarfed timber near the mouth of the Dee. The three bells do not appear to have occupied their place more than a hundred years. As of the present three, two are dated 1630, and the third was recast in 1830 : a coincidence of dates worth noting. "The expression, 'quondam Vicarii,' formerly vicar, would naturally imply that he was no longer such; and the prayer for mercy on his soul, 'cujus anime propicietur Deus,' would ordinarily indicate that he was dead; but the statement that it was set up during his lifetime (ipso vivente) leads me to con¬ clude that he erected it at, and to commemorate, the restoration, but so as to serve as his epitaph and memorial for after time. "And now the question arises, Who was he? Neither * John' nor 'Meredith' were very distinctive names even at that period, and Powys is a term of wide expansion, even if we do not stretch beyond the limits of our own Collections. But we may find some little help in the Norwich Taxation of A.D. 1253, which enumerates among the Deaneries of this diocese ' Decanatus de Poivys.' The name had dropped out of use before the Taxation of A.D. 1291; but its parishes occur there under the smaller divi¬ sions of Cede wain and Pole, and Caereinion and Mechain. It is within this area, therefore, that I think we ought to look for the identification of the church restorer. I have looked through the reprint of Lewis Dwnn's Pedigrees of Montgomeryshire Families, but without success. The nearest ap¬ proach seems to be under the heading ' Mynavon, Dwyry w,' where the names occur more than once in connection, as if it were a family name. But before we can satisfactorily identify our subject we must have further evidence to guide us, and I hope it may not be long in forthcoming now that attention has been drawn to it. As members of the Powys-land Club we ought to make an effort, and a successful one, to complete the story of our very interesting memorial brass." Captain Myttox proposed that the Bishop of St. Asaph should be appointed a vice-president, Mr E. Rowley Morris a member of the Council, and Mr Frederick Ward an assistant curator. Mr R. E. Jones seconded the motion, and said he was happy to see the name of Mr E. Rowley Morris, whom he had known for many years, and who had done more than anyone else in that county to re¬ cover the buried history of Montgomeryshire. The motion was carried unanimously. The Rev D. Phillips Lewis proposed, and Col. Harrison seconded, a vote of thanks to the Chair¬ man for presiding, and the Chairman having briefly responded, the meeting closed. NOVEMBER 5, 1890. NOTES. SUPERSTITIONS. MOUNTAIN ASH.-It was believed by the superstitious that if the mountain ash tree was burned the farmers would have no luck with the animals, and so they threw the trees away into the dingles that they might be out of anyone's reach. Teglina. WELSHMEN AND BORDERERS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH'S TIME.—The greatest of them, I suppose, was the unfortunate Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, a Herefordian by birth, and a soldier of universal renown. He was the cherished favourite of his royal mistress, but, like herself, somewhat choleric by nature, and he often offended her, was forgiven, offended again, and at last was imprisoned. The Queen loved him in hex- heart, and gave him a token to be used in his extremity, if he became repentant and desired to be pardoned by her. The touching story of how a courtly lady deceived him, misused the token entrusted to her, and left him to his fate, has been told so often that it need not be repeated; but