Welsh Journals

*■ JDBHYSfid DOTE!(Y npfJEnjE. * No. 83. Vol. VII. NOVEMBER, 1899. Price One Penny, RURIDEOANAL CHAPTER. A meeting of the Chapter was held at Llandinam Vicarage on Wednesday the 25th ult., when all the Clergy of the Deanery were present. The following resolutions were passed :—" That application should be made for new books from Dr. Bray's associates for the Clerical Lending Library; That the Rev. T. H. Hughes, Vicar of Llangurig, be appointed R.D. Secretary of the Cnnrch Defence and Church Instruc¬ tion Committee vice Rev E. Edwardes, resigned, and of the Diocesan Church Defence Institution vice Rev. O. Kyffin Williams ; That the Secretary should write to ascertain who are the Clerical and Lay Representa¬ tives of the Deanery on the Diocesan Conference Committee." The following Balance Sheet was pro duced, audited and passed. Balance Sheet of the Arwystli Deanery Choral Festival held at Llandinam, June, 1899. TtECEITTS. Balance in hand Collections at Llandinam Balance due to Secretary... EXPENDITURE. Music Printing and other expenses s. d. 8k 44 £4 s. d. 10 18 £4 8 W. DAVJD ROBERTS, Chapt»r Clerk. * THE FABRIC OF THE CHURCH AND ITS SURROUNDINGS." A paper read by Mr. J. Davies, L. <k P. Bank, Llanidloes, before the Sunday School Association at Llandinam, October 25th, 1899. In reading a book called " Stones of the Temple " and another " The Parish Church," I came across many tilings connected with the Fabric of the Church of which 1 was ignorant, and probably some present here may be just as unlearned as I was, having never given it auy attention. I have, there¬ fore, jotted a few things which I hope may not be uninteresting, may prove instructive and probably stimulate further enquiry. The names of many parts of the Church Fabric are not known to all, their Rueaning known only to few, and the lessons they teach little thought of by most people. It is said there are sermons in stones often more eloquent than words and surely if any stones have sermons in them those in God's House should be most eloquent. To begin with the Lych-Gate. Lychgates are mostly to be found in mountainous and scattered parishes, in Wales, Cumberland and Cornwall. There are a few old people in most parishes who yet remember the Lychgate at the entrance to the parish graveyard and they now are seen in Llangurig and Llandinam parishes, and probably in many other parishes of Montgomery¬ shire. They were, together with the Lych Stone3 still found in Cornwall, used as resting-places, and place* of shelter for the corpse and mourners while waiting for the Clergyman. In the rubric before the Burial Service these words occur: " The Priest and Clerks meeting the corpse at the entrance of the Churchyard. In the 1st Prayer Book of Edward VI. the words are:—The Priest meeting the corpse at the Church style, i e. the Lychgate. The word Lych means a corpse, from the Anglo-Saxon word " lie " a dead body. Lychgate therefore means corpsegate or ths gate through which the corpse is 'borne for burial. The City of Lichfield is said to have been built on the field where th« Christian Martyrs were buried in the year A.D. 290. They were mostly built of wood which probably accounts for their disappearance. The Lych Stones, generally large boulders of granite, and sometimes cut in the shape of a coffin still exist in Cornwall, although the gate and shelter have disap¬ peared. They are now in many places being restored and built of stone with appropriate inscriptions, reminding us that we must through the grave and gate of death pass to our joyful resurrection. Note—Colofn Trefeglwy is omitted this month to make room for a portion of the paper—the remainder will will appear in subsequent issues. LLANIDLOES. "In the Spring " says Tennyson, "a young man's fancy lightly turns his thoughts to love,"and if the poet had gone on to consider the subjects which claimed his attention at the remaining seasons of the year he would no doubt have pointed out that in the early winter a young man's imagination was most naturally and profitably engrossed by the fascinations of the