Welsh Journals

THE BURIAL PLACE OF OWEN GLENDOWER. By Dr. H. C. Moore. quotation from a Thomas, C.E., of IN page 43 of the January number of Wales for 1895 it is remarked that " Owen Glendower's grave is not,as stated in an article in the first volume (page 292), in Monmouth¬ shire or in Wales." Then follows a writing of Mr. J. E. Wrexham, concerning his visit to the traditional burial place at Monington on the river Wye, distant about nine miles W. N. W. of Hereford. To justify my writing in reply upon this subject, I may say at once that my acquaintance with Herefordshire extends over twenty-two years as a resident, and that, having had my long-cherished belief shattered as to the locality of the burial of Owen Glendower at Monington on Wye, I have for several years been endeavouring to discover his burial place. With this object in view I have read various books, histories, and newspaper accounts, where his name has appeared, but must add that toy ignorance of the Welsh language has precluded me from reading any papers in that tongue. In September, 1893, I inter¬ viewed upon this subject Mr. Isaac Foulkes, editor of the Cymro, at the offices of that paper, in Brunswick Street, Liverpool. He appeared more interested in the subject when I pointed out that our contemporary historian of Herefordshire had completely Upset the probability of Monington on Wye being the place of his sepulture. I have made frequent sojourns in the neigh¬ bourhood of Glyndyfrdwy, and made enquiries from natives of Owen Glen¬ dower's favourite country, amongst whom I must not omit to mention Mr. David Jones, tailor, of Llansantfiraid Glyn¬ dyfrdwy, in whose bard's chair I have had the pleasure of listening to his recapitula¬ tion of local history. In the transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, Hereford, — of which society I have for several years held, and still hold, the office of honorary secretary,—upon the occasion of the club's visiting Monington on Wye, I wrote very unwillingly my confession of unbelief in the tradition of the neighbourhood. After these explanations, having got rid of the personal element, I proceed to give the causes of my want of faith by partly transcribing from the paper I wrote on the occasion referred to. The most detailed histoiy we have of Owen Glendower is " Memoirs of Owen Glendower, by the Rev. Thomas Thomas," printed at Haverfordwest, 1822. On page 168 he informs us that our hero died on September 20, 1415, on the eve of Saint Matthew, in the 61st year of his age, at the house of one of his daughters, but whether that of his daughter Scudamore or Monington, is uncertain; that the tra¬ dition of the county of Hereford is that he died at Monington, and was buried in that churchyard. "No sepulchral effigy peculiar to that period, no monument or any memorial, mark the place of his sepulture." In a note on page 169 Mr. Thomas gives an extract from Hail. MSS., 6832, notifying that when the Monington Church was re-built in 1680, a large gravestone, with¬ out any inscription, was found about a foot below the surface of the ground, whilst removing the trunk of a sycamore tree in the churchyard. Upon the removal of the gravestone, " there was discovered at the bottom of a well-stoned grave the body, as 'tis supposed, of Owen Glendwr, which was whole and entire, and of goodly stature. But there were no tokens or remains in the coffin. When any part of it was touched, it fell to ashes. After it had been exposed two days, Mr. Tomkins ordered the stone to be placed over it again, and the earth to be cast in upon it." Monington on Wye is distant nine miles W. N. W. of Hereford. On reference to page 51, we find that 111