Welsh Journals

Oct. 5, 1892. BYE-GONES. 413 placed upon his diplomatic ability and judgment, sent him to India to allay the religious schism at Goa. The rest of his ecclesiastical life was spent in Italy, and visitors to St. Peter's were familiar with the graceful and dignified bearing of the courtly ecclesiastic. In 1872 Monsignor Howard was consecrated Archbishop of Neo-Caesarea in partibus infiddium, and early in 1877, to the great satisfaction of English Catholics, he was advanced to the dignity of a Car¬ dinal. On March 12th a large number of dis¬ tinguished ecclesiastics and ladies and gentlemen assembled at his residence, the Villa Negroni, to congratulate him, and he replied in Italian, which he spoke with wonderful correctness and fluency. Two days later a number of English residents in and visitors to Rome waited on the Cardinal and presented him with a very beautiful set of vestments and a silver chalice, ewer, and basin for use in his private chapel. His Eminence, in reply, said that he felt that by his elevation an honour had been conferred upon England, and also thanked those Protestants who were united to him in nationality, and by the ties of amity and mutual respect, for their con¬ gratulations. On March 27 an English deputation waited upon the Pope to thank him for the eleva¬ tion of Cardinal Howard, and in reply his Holiness said that he trusted he had done an act which was pleasing to English Catholics and to many English Protestants. The titular Church assigned to Cardinal Howard was that of St. John and St. Paul on the Cselian Hill, of which his Eminence took posses¬ sion with great ceremony on April 23, 1877, when it was densely crowded with English visitors to, and residents in Rome, both Catholics and Protestants. In August, 1879, the Cardinal came to England to confer with the bishops, and in October, 1880, he paid a private visit to England. On December 13, 1881, the Pope named Cardinal Howard to be Archpriestof the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Peter's, one of the most coveted appoint¬ ments in the gift of his Holiness, and on the follow¬ ing Christmas Day the Cardinal was solemnly installed in his new office. In July, 1883, the Cardinal visited England to ascertain the tendency of the views that prevailed here with regard to the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Vatican, and in the following March he was raised to the rank of Cardinal Bishop, being named to the suburbican see of Frascati. He was a distinguished linguist, and in addition to his com¬ mand of the languages of Western Europe, spoke Arabic, Armenian, and Russian fluently.—The funeral took place in the grounds of the Fitzalan Chapel, Arundel, yesterday. OCTOBER 5, 1892. NOTES. SUPERSTITION RESPECTING THE MOUNTAIN ASH (PYRUS AUCUPARIA).—I was loading brushwood with a workman the other day. Upon coming to some boughs of the Monu- tain Ash, locally known as the Whitty Tree, he remarked that "it was very unlucky to use them for firewood ; he had heard his father say so ; and that the old people in his day always used to carry a piece of that stick about with them, and then nobody could never witch them." His father was a native of Llanwnog parish, and died recently at a very great age. T.H. J. SOME SHROPSHIRE TRIALS (Sep. 21, 1892).-No. 6.—CRESSAGE GLEBE LANDS AND TITHES.— 20 Eiiz., 1577. In this suit the commission was issued on the 27th Nov., 1577, and the depositions taken at Buyldwas on the 23rd of December fol¬ lowing. The Queen (Elizabeth) was plaintiff; no defendants. The enquiry related to the " Glebe Lands and Tythes of the Chapel of Crestesach, alias Cressage, late parcel of the possessions of the dissolved priory of Hatfield PevereJl, and sepa¬ rate from the town of Counde." No. 7.— USURY.— 21-22 Eliz., 1579. The Queen was prosecutor in this matter, the commission was issued on the 8th July, and the depositions taken on the 16th Oct., in the same year. The defendants were John W oiler and John Shrawley, and the offence was Usury, a bond being given by the defendant John Shrawley. Pearmain. CHRISTMAS AT HEREFORD.—In'the county of Hereford some of the old ceremonies are yet (1840) practised. On the eve of Old Christmas- Day there are thirteen fires lighted in the corn¬ fields of many of the farms, twelve of them in a circle, and one round a pole, much larger and higher than the rest, and in the centre. These fires are dignified with the names of the Virgin Mary and twelve Apostles, the lady being in the middle ; and while they are burning the labourers retire into some shed or outhouse, where they be¬ hold the brightness of the apostolic flame. In this shed they lead a cow, on whose horns a large plum-cake has been stuck, and having assembled round the animal, the oldest labourer takes a pail of cider, and addresses the following lines to the cow with great solemnity :— Here's to thy pretty face, and thy white horn, God send thy master a good crop of corn, Both wheat, rye, and barley, and all sorts of grain, And next year, if we live, we'll drink to thee again. After which the verse is chanted in chorus by all present. They then dash the cider in the cow's face, when, by a violent toss of her head, she throws the plum-cake on the ground ; and if it falls forward, it is an omen that the next harvest will be good ; if backward, that it will be unfavour¬ able. This is the commencement of the rural feast, which is generally prolonged till the following morning.—The Mirror. B. ELLESMERE CHURCH.—The following pre¬ sentments, &c, relating to Ellesmere Church, are