Welsh Journals

May 4, 1898. BYE-G0NE3. 353 proceeding to the Temple. He was called to the Bar twenty-four years ago, and took "silk" in 1886. He displayed very high talents in his profession, and was in the full tide of a splendid career at the time of his death. He was a Liberal Unionist, and a member of the Reform Club. He married in 1878, the only child of Dr Leibriech, the great oculist, by whom he had four children, who all survive him. By the sudden death of Mr Cock, there disap¬ pears (says the " Westminster Gazette") one of the most familiar figures at the Bar. Possessed as he was of great ability and unflinching energy, he would have made his mark in almost any walk of life. He played a part in many prominent case3, and, whether ultimately on the losing or the win- nine side, always played it well. Those who ap¬ proached him as strangers were sometimes rather startled by his bluff manner, but he had really a kindly nature, and in the profession to which he belonged wae much esteemed. He was, moreover, a man of real culture, and a connoisseur with genuine knowledge of certain branches of art. He was a member of the Burlington Fine Arts Club, and took a leading part in organising some of its recent exhibitions. Much regret is felt in Chelsea at the untimely death of Mr. Cock, who, though not a Chelsea man, took a -"-eat interest in the free library movement there. It was through his kindness that the Chelsea Library possesses the statue of Sir Thomas More, as well as some costly volumes of S:r Thomas More's life. The latter were only given a few weeks ago. At the Municipal Election Petition Court, at Chelsea Town Hall on Thursday, the Commissioner referred in feeling terms to the death of Mr Cock, and Mr Jelf, Q.C. (recorder of Shrews¬ bury), as the senior member of the Bar present, paid an eloquent tribute to the attainments and popularity in the profession of the distinguished advocate. The first part of the funeral service took place at two p.m. on Saturday at St Mary Abbotts', Kensington, W. The body was subsequently re¬ moved to Woking, where it was cremated on Mon¬ day. MAY 4, 1893. NOTES. WHERE DID ST. OSWALD DIE (Aug. 11, 1897) ?—I have just discovered vefc another scene of the Saint's Martyrdom. In the Cambrian Tourist of 1779 it is said :—" About two miles from Oswestry, we passed through the little town of Whittington. At this place was fought the battle between Oswald, the Christian King of the Northumbrians, and Penda, the Pagan Kine of the Mercians, in which the former lost his life. An easy walk soon brought us to Oswestry." X. WAGES IN" 1824.— The following is the official reply of the Wages Committee of the Justices of Oswestry Petty Sessional Division to the query " What is the usual rate of wages in your District ?" Vol.V. New Series [being Vol. 14th from the beginning]. From 14d. to 18d. per day for about 3 Winter months and from 16d. to 20d. per day for the remainder of the year; with victuals and drink or extra wages nearly of the same value during Hay and Corn Harvests. Women about half the price of men. J.P.-J. PENLLYN AND ARTHUR.—In Book 1, Canto IX. of the Faerie Queene "his love3 and lignage Arthur tells." After speaking of his birth, he says of a "Fary Knight," Unto old Tirnon he me brought bylive; and goes on Old Timon, who in youthly yeares hath beene In warlike feates tti' expertest man alive, And is the wisest now on earth, I weene: His dwelling is, low in a valley greene, Under the foot of Raman mossy hore, From whence the river Dee, as silver cleene, liis tombling billows rolls with gentle rore ; Theie all my days he traind me up invertuouslore. Rauran is Aran, and Caer Gai, opposite it, has been said to have been the dwelling of Gai, foster-brother of Arthur. According to this tradition, then, Arthur was educated at the head of Bala Lake. E.E. THE RAVEN, SHREWSBURY, AND THE RECRUITING OFFICER.-Colonel Prideaux of Shrewsbury contributes to Notes and Queries (9th S., p. 241) an interesting Note on Farquhar's "Recruiting Officer," in which there is the fol¬ lowing account of the Raven :— In olden days one of the most picturesque inns in Shrewsbury was that which bore for its sign the black raven of the Corbets. The original house, which was a black-and-white building of the class typified by " The Feathers" at Ludlow, was pulled down, I have been told, between forty and fifty years ago, and the present structure, which reminds us in some of its feature of the palaces that line the Grand Canal at Venice, was reared upon its site, and worthily maintains its tradi¬ tional renown. Tfc was at "The Raven," as we learn from his " Diary," that Sir William Dugdale alighted on 21 Feb., 1663, when conducting the Visitation of Shropshire, and he enjoyed its hospi¬ tality until the 26th. At the beginningof the next century a name which is still more distinguished in the literary annals of England became connected with the old hostelry. It was probably some time in the winter of 1704-5 that Captain George Farquhar, then employed upon Her Majesty's recruiting ser¬ vice, took up his quarters at "The Raven," and, his fancy being tickled with the humours of the place, began to place on paper his impressions of the "entertainment which he found in Shrop¬ shire." Colonel Prideaux then quotes Farquhar's dedi¬ cation " To All Friends Round the Wrekin," and gives the original cast of the play, which may be found in Ewald's edition. Colonel Prideaux also quotes from Owen and Blakeway's Historif of Shrewsbury (i., 501) the following identification of the characters;— 45