Welsh Journals

July 4, 1894. BYE-GONES. 369 The valuable Crown living of St Mary's,Bryans- ton Square, London, formerly held by the Dean of Hereford, has been offered to and accepted by the Rev H. R. Wakefield, vicar of Sandgate.—June 27. JULY 4, 1894. NOTES. THE QUEEN AND HER FIRST SPEECH. — Dr Jenkyn of Oswestry in his Diary (see Bye- Gones May 23, 1894) tells the following story. The date of the year is absent, but is doubtless 1837, and Dr Jenkyn must have been at Stafford at the time, though he does not say so:— July 18. Met Mr Mort (editor of the Staffordshire Advertiser), who took me to his office to see the Queen's Speech just arrived. He said that he re¬ ceived the following anecdote on good authority this morning. When the speech was_ first submitted to the Queen she objected to its having no reference to the Providence of God. After having been sent back and then returned to the Queen in its amended form, it was again sent back to the Ministers with this remark from the Queen, that the recognition of Divine Providence was not sufficiently distinct, and that she herself introduced the phrase " the protec¬ tion of Almighty God." M. THE BELL STONE, SHREWSBURY — Charles Darwin's anecdote about the Bell Stone was recorded in Bye-Gones July 18, 1888, and some correspondence on the subject appeared a fortnight after. A new theory has been suggested to me, which I think is more satisfactory than any that has hitherto been advanced. Dismissing "Bell" as a modern corruption of the older form "Bent," and remembering that Bent in Salopian dialect means a steep slope, or bank, we may easily believe that the stone, lying on the level, at the foot of the acclivity which rises to the Quarry, between St. John's Hill and Claremont Hill, was called the "Bent Stone" from its situation under the Bent. The site of the stone supplies not only a probable clue to the origin of its name, but also of its use. Such spaces were the scenes of the folk motes, which all freemen had a right to attend, and which were held in the open air, near some boulder stone, oak tree, or other landmark, in the primitive times before Parliaments. So remote indeed was that period that one does not wonder that no tradition lingers to connect the stone with it, but the very fact of the careful preservation of this relic, long after it had ceased to have any significance, seems to invest it with such dignity and importance as it would have derived from marking the place of the popular assemblage. Except for some dim and vague sense of veneration for the old " Bell Stone " —so familiar and yet so strange to generation after generation of " Proud Salopians "—it would surely have been removed, and perhaps destroyed, centuries ago. Shrewsbury. R.E.D. Vol. III. New Series [being Vol. 12th from the beginning.] TRADE UNIONISM IN OSWESTRY SIXTY YEARS AGO.—The following placard was issued in Oswestry in 1829. W.O. TO THE PUBLIC, A.nd to Journeymen Shoemakers in particular. A Pompous Advertisement from Mr. Hanmer, Shoe Warehouse, Oswestry, dated April 28th, 1829, (and another Puff in the Shrewsbury Chronicle, of May 1st) announce that he is in want of twenty good Workmen, who shall have constant Employ¬ ment and good Wages. They must know their Business well, and do it well; and not be connected with any Combined Society. Knowledge and Practice are two thiDgs, certainly and it is to be hoped Oswestry can still produce Men capable of giving satisfaction to the Public, without dragging Men from distant parts, under the idea that twenty Men are wanted by one Master in a Town like Oswestry ! Twenty Men, constantly employed, on a moderate calculation, are sufficient to furnish the whole Population of the Town and Parish. A Society for the relief of Sick Members, &c, has been for some time established in the Town, under legal authority, called The Friendly Institution of Gordwainers of Osioestry. It is this Society's duty, for the sake of it's dependent Members and their Families,to come forward,and lawfully resit(sic)every bold attempt to deprive them of bread. They know their Business well, and will do it well, provided they are paid the fair and usual Price which all the other Masters allow for the kind of Work in dis pute. It is a kind of oblique attack upon the Craft here, when Twenty Men are advertised for, who must not be connected with any Combined Society. We repel the insinuation, with the same indignation that his ' complaints' have been met by the Author¬ ities in the Town. Talk of Combination! the ' Boot's on the other Leg,' if we must speak out. Why would he not employ men at his outset here, but such as did belong to a Society ? And what did he want some of the Men to do with the other Masters? But stop here : ' Five Shillings to drink' would have been a poor reward to ' combine ' against Masters who have always behaved to their Men in the most fair and tradesmanlike manner. If durable Work is wanted, such as we have been long accustomed to, let Men be paid accord¬ ingly ; for there is enough of SLOP WORK poured into the Town,to the loss of the Purchaser,the injury of the Fair Trader, and the Workmen in general. Published on Behalf of the Friendly Institution, JOHN LEEKE, President. Oswestry, May, 1829. Richard MinshvM, Printer, Salop Road, Osivestry. QUERIES. A QUEER EPITAPH—I was told the other day of an epitaph in Moreton Say Churchyard (Salop) in which the deceased was stated to have exchanged his earthly life for an immortal crown ; 47