Welsh Journals

(d. 1644) of Llandovery, which was purchased in 1894 by the late Mr. Alan Stepney-Gulston from a member of the Rees of Tonn family. The carving is of the early 15th century. A fairly complete list of the numerous articles and historic treasures contained within the house may be found in Arch. Camb., 1893, pp. 154-63, and illustrations of the bedstead and cabinet. The visitors were welcomed by Mrs. Gulston and Miss Stepney- Gulston, O.B.E., who later entertained them to tea. A company of the Girl Guides, of which Miss Stepney-Gulston is County Commis- sioner, was on duty and acted as efficient guides to the various rooms. At Miss Stepney-Gulston's request, Mr. Eyre Evans briefly described the treasures of the house. He said that they looked upon that house as the archaeological home of Carmarthenshire. The foundation of the County Antiquarian Society was largely due to the inspiration of that ardent archaeologist, the late Mr. Alan Stepney- Gulston. The many treasures they saw there were cared for with a loving pride by the family. After tea, General Sandbach proposed a very cordial vote of thanks to Mrs. Gulston and Miss Stepney-Gulston for their great kindness, and referred to the warm welcome the Association had previously received, and which the family had always extended to all interested in archaeology. Mr. Lleufer Thomas, in seconding the vote of thanks, said that he did so with mixed feelings, as he was one of the very few survivors of those who had been similarly entertained there on the previous visit of the Association in 1892. Of the whole party that day, his own wife and Canon Fisher were the only other members who were there 33 years previously. Their then host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. Stepney-Gulston, had not been spared to receive them on this revisit, but their hospitality had been fully maintained that day, by their niece, Miss Stepney-Gulston, and her mother, Mrs. Gulston. Mr. Stepney-Gulston's keenness as an antiquary was revealed, during the 1892 meeting, by the most interesting account he gave of Derwydd and its treasures, and also by the exhaustive paper which he read at Pant-y-llyn quarry-only a mile or so further south- on the bones, probably neolithic, found in the limestone caves there in 1813. After that meeting he had been closely associated with Mr. Stepney-Gulston for a number of years, and had received from him very valuable help when writing on various members of the Vaughan family of Golden Grove for the Dictionary of National Biography. He had then urged Mr. Stepney-Gulston to undertake the compilation of an inventory of all Carmarthenshire historical portraits still pre- served mainly in the older county residences in West Wales. For such a task no one was better equipped than he and he had made