Welsh Journals

Sept. 25, 1895. BYE-GONES. Ml wound round a groove, and baited with live fish, and plaoed to float on the water. E.J. SELATTYN TOWER (Apr. 3,1895).—In 1847 a man named John Evans was getting stone for building purposes, on the top of Selattyn Hill, when he came across a chamber, in which, I believe, pottery was found. On or near the same spob the tower was built in that year by Mr Crewe of Pentrepant. R. CURRENT NOTES. The Rev. J. Evans (Eglwysbach) is writing a history of Welsh Wesley an Methodism, Thomas Jones, who was born at Llanfihangel- Olyn-Myfyr, on Sept. 16, 1795, is now alive and well at Llandyrnog. According to the first report of the British Gold Fields Company at Dolgelley,there has been a total produce in the year of £25,953 5s, and a profit of £12,025. An interesting ceremony took place in Wrex¬ ham parish church on Friday, when the Dowager Lady Williams Wynn unveiled the west window, recently filled by the members of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in memory of comrades who had died in battle. The window is in the 15th century style, and is divided into five long lights. The upper part of the long light is occupied by full-size figures of S. Deiniol of Bangor, S. Michael, S. David of Wales, Edward the Black Prince, and S. Giles, and beneath them are illustrations of incidents in the career of each. The tracery of the window is filled with smaller figures of twenty-four saints especially connected with Wales, and the apex of the window is occupied by a representation of the arms of the regiment. In gold mosaic at the base is the dedicatory inscription :—"To the glory of God, and in memory of those who have faithfully served their Queen and country in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, this window is erected by their comrades and friends." Then follow the names of some of the engagements in which the regiment has taken part, including; Blenheim, the Egyptian War, the Peninsular War, Waterloo, Alma, and Lucknow. The work is excellent in colour and de¬ tail, and the designers and executors are Messrs Clayton and Bell of London. THE STORY OF THE SIN-EATER IN WALES. At the meeting of the British Association, Anthropology Section, on Saturday week, _Mr E. S. Hartland, in the course of a discussion on cannibalism, said the earliest form of cannibal¬ ism was that of the eating of deceased relatives. The practice extended over the greater part of the world, and many people would be surprised to learn that traces of it were to be found, not merely in Europe, but in our own islands. Not very long ago, in Upper Bavaria, when a man died and had been laid out, a cake was made of ordinary flour. The corpse was placed before the fire, and this cake, called Vol. IV. New Series[ being Vol, 13th from the beginning. ] the corpse cake, was put upon its breast to rise. The dough, in rising, was believed to absorb all the virtues of the deceased, and the cake was after¬ wards eaten by his nearest relatives. In the Balkan Peninsula an edible image of the dead was carried in the funeral procession. When the body was buried the mourners ate this image above the grave, saying as they did so, " God rest him." In Wales the practice of employing a "sin-eater" had only ceased within the memory of men still living. It was the custom for the nearest relative, usually a woman, to hand across the bier, or place upon the breast of the corpse, bread, cheese, and beer, which were eaten by the sin-eater, who pro¬ nounced everlasting rest to the departed. It was believed that the sin-eater by this means ap¬ propriated to himself all the sins which the deceased had committed during his lifetime. The Times of Wednesday contained the follow¬ ing letter from Mr N. W. Thomas of Oswestry :— " In your issue of Monday Mr E. S. Hartland is reported to have said, in the course of a discussion on cannibalism in the Anthropological Section of the British Association, that the sin-eater has only disappeared from Wales within living memory. If, as I imagine, Mr Hartland's evidence for this survival is presented to us in his article on the subject in Folklore for June, 1892, I venture to think it is wholly insufficient. Mr Hartland's words are (p. 148), ' Mr Moggridge specified the neighbourhood of Llandebie. . . as a place where the custom had survived to within a recent period.' These words are a paraphrase from the report of the Archseologia Cambrensis, Vol. III., N.S., p. 330. The exact words used by Mr Moggridge are as follows:—'There (near Llandebie) the above practice (of the sin-eater) was said to have pre¬ vailed to a recent period.' This evidence ia originally at best second hand; it is unfortunate that Mr Hartland has emphasized its value; in the article in Folklore Mr Moggridge's evidence has the appearance of being the result of personal observa¬ tion. Thus at the outset Mr Hartland's evidence is weakened. But to any one who has considered the discussion in the Academy in the winter of 1875-76 it seems quite incredible that Mr Moggridge's evidence should be quoted at all. Canon Silvan Evans collected the evidence on the question. Among others, the vicar of the parish and the schoolmaster testified to che non-existence of the superstition. The vicar quo ted an intelligent old man, an octogenarian, whose ancestors had lived from time immemorial in the parish. He said that such a custom, in his opinion, could not have appeared for the last 209 years, or he would have heard of it from his father or grandfather, who lived to a great age. The vicar concluded that the statements which were made by Mr Moggridge could not be substantiated by any reliable evidence. The schoolmaster, Mr John Rowland, who lived in Llandebie in 1852,when Mr Moggridge spoke, was equally emphatic. He said he knew all the parishioners and the history of the parish, its customs, legends, and traditions, and during the time he was there he attended many funerals, but never heard of a sin-eater ; in fact, people never gave cakes at funerals in Llandebie. Is it possible that Mr Hartland has never seen 23