Welsh Journals

Dec. 1, 1897. BYE-GONES. 241 her indebtedness to Mr Alfred Nutt. What stu dent of Celtic and Arthurian lore is there that is not " over head and ears " in debt to the author of " Mabinogion Studies," " Studies on the Legend of the Holy Grail " and the Essays on "The Happy Other World," and "The Celtic Doctrine of Re-birth in the Voyage of Bran, Son of Febal " ? DECEMBER 1, 1897. NOTES. DUDLESTON SCHOOL, 1814.—A short time ago I came across a document with this heading, a perusal of which somewhat amused me, and I think it is a good specimen of the way in which they managed matters in the " good old days," as contrasted with that of this so-called " en¬ lightened " age. The document in question was a detailed account and balance-sheet of the new schools which had been erected at Dudleston the previous year. It also gave the " rules " of the School, one of which (5), referring to vacancies which might arise in the mastership, says, " A deformed person shall not be appointed." No. 6 says that the children shall attend the Church service twice on Sunday ! The balance-sheet comes next, followed by a veritable black list, to wit " A list of persons having property in the neighbourhood of the School who have not sub¬ scribed"! Foremost in this list comes the Earl of Bridgewater, and his feelings on seeing himself thus pilloried in print may be better imaained than described. Reading on, however, I found the reverend treasurer (the then Rector of Whittington by the way) bad sbill another shot in his locker, for he says, " The Jollowing persons have been repeatedly applied to by letter, but have not yet sent any answers " ; the first name on this list being J. Mainwaring,Esq., Brumbro, Cheshire. After reading this it is hoped that all'' necessitous " managers of today will take heart of grace, and borrow a leaf out of this old book when endeavouring to bring laggard subscribers up to the mark. J.B. Whittington. HALES-OWEN(C.f. Bye-Gones, Dec. 9,1896). —I take the following about this isolated frag¬ ment of Shropshire from William Harris's History of Hales-Oiven, published in 1834 (pp. 3—7) " Hales-Owen is a very extensive parish, situated part in the Hundred of Brimstree, Shropshire, and part in the Hundred of Halfshire, Worcester¬ shire. This parish is completely cut off from the main land of Shropshire by a distance of 10J miles from the nearest point, viz., part of Bobington. It was formerly called Halas, Halan, or Hales ; the name of Owen has been added to that of Hales since the Conquest; the earliest mention of it was in a writ of 56 Henry III., entered in a court roll of the Manor. Probably the first Abbot of Hales was named Owen, and gave it this name to distinguish it from Hayles in Gloucestershire, abbeys having been founded Vol.V. New Series [being Vol. 14thfrom the beginning.] at that time in both places. It has six distinct manors ; three being situated in Shropshire, and three in Worcestershire. Those situated in Shropshire are the Borough, Romsley, and Old- bury ; the Worcestershire portion contains Cradley, Lutley, and Warley-Wigorn. . . . The first Norman possessor was Rogerus comes de Monte Gomerico, or Roger, Earl of Mont¬ gomery, who descended from Gunnara, duchess of Normandy, great grandmother to the Conqueror. William heaped great honours upon, and made extensive grants to, his relative, favourite, and great Captain, Roger de Mont¬ gomery : he nob only created him Earl of Shrewsbury, Arundel, and Chichester, but also granted to him nearly the whole of the County of Salop, besides one hundred and fifty-eight manors in various parts of the kingdom. . . . In the first age after the Norman conquest, the great Barons annexed to thosecounties where their principal estates laysuch of their manors aswere situated in an adjoining county, and for this reason that part of the manor of Hales, which was given by the Conqueror to Roger Mont¬ gomery, was annexed to Shropshire, while Cradley, Lutley, and Warley-Wigorn occur as distinct manors at that time. The Manor of Hales as then recorded in Domesday compre¬ hended only that part of the parish now reckoned in the County of Salop ; for Cradley, Warley-Wigorn, and Lutley occur as distinct manors in the said survey, and had different owners. Had the Conqueror given Cradley, Warley-Wigorn, and Lutley, to Earl Roger as well as Hales (cum appendicis) there is no doubt but the Earl would have annexed the whole to the county of Salop." B.CD. QUERIES. WELSH SUPERSTITION.-In a list of curious superstitions with regard to children, lately given by The Morning, mention is made of Welsh mothers' putting a pair of tongs or a knife in the cradle to ensure the safety of their children. Is this ever done now ? L.C.O. CILHERDYN.—I heard this word recently used in Glamorganshire in the sense of a runa¬ way, one wanted by the police, and it struck me as being a very good one. Would it nob be of great service to give currency to these old ex¬ pressive words ? A list of bhem would be doubt¬ less valuable to the Rev D. Silvan Evans in the compilation of his great dictionary. Who will help. D.M.R. REPLIES. WAS SIR WILLIAM WALLACE AN OSWESTRIAN (Nov. 3, 1897).—The writer in the Gornhill Magazine seems to have fallen into a philological trap. "Waleys" = "A Welsh¬ man," and could not have been a surname at the time mentioned. It frequently occurs as a des- 31