(Qontell Unitrersttjj ffiihrarg 
 
 Strata, Mem fork 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE 
 
 FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE BEQUESTOF 
 
 WILLARD FISKE 
 
 LIBRARIAN OF THE UNIVERSITY 1868-1883 
 
 1905 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DA 740.C6O97 
 
 Old stone crosses of the vale of Clwyd a 
 
 3 1924 028 087 108 «,.„„i 
 

 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028087108 
 
DEEWEN CHURCH AND CROSS 
 
 Frontispiece - 
 
<♦ 
 
 Old Stone Crosses 
 
 OF THE 
 
 VALE OF CLWYD AND NEIGHBOURING PARISHES, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 ANCIENT MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 
 AND LEGENDARY LORE 
 
 CONNECTED WITH THE PARISHES. 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. ELIAS OWEN, M.A. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH ENGRAVINGS ON COPPER AND WOOD. 
 
 PUBLISHERS: 
 BERNARD QUARITCH, 15, Piccadilly, London, W. 
 
 AND 
 
 WOODALL, MINSHALL, & CO., Oswestry & Wrexham, 
 
 * 
 
PREFACE 
 
 Daring the spare moments of the last seven years the writer has 
 been engaged in producing the following worft on the Old Stone 
 Crosses of the Vale of Clwyd and neighbouring parishes, together 
 with some account of the ancient manners and customs, and Legen- 
 dary Lore connected with the District. 
 
 Most of the crosses are now for the first time described and 
 delineated, and additional matter has been collected about such 
 crosses as had previously been described. 
 
 The folk-lore has been collected from various sources, but chiefly 
 from the aged inhabitants, many of whom are now no more, and in 
 most cases, if not in every case, the writer has given his authority, or 
 mentioned the name of his informant. 
 
 This part of the work is capable of much enlargement. Wales 
 teems with folk-lore of great variety and interest, and in the grave 
 of the aged, as they one after the other leave us, is buried for ever 
 some tale of by-gone days, which we could wish had been retained. 
 The writer hopes that he has rescued a few of these tales from 
 oblivion. 
 
 There are expressions in Welsh that can only be understood by a 
 knowledge of customs no longer practised. The word ymgroesi, to 
 cross oneself, is still used, but the practice has ceased. Death in 
 some parts of Wales is implied by words which mean "he is under 
 his cross," from a custom once common of placing a wooden cross 
 on the breast of the departed. Much curious information can be 
 obtained by following the hint supplied by a word, and here and there 
 in the following pages the reader will observe that many obsolete 
 customs still live in the language of the people. This, however, is a 
 source of information that has not been exhausted. 
 
 In the course of the work, the writer has acknowledged the kind 
 assistance received from several gentlemen, but he wishes specially 
 to thank Mr. Beedham, of Kimbolton, for invaluable extracts taken 
 from rare books in the British Museum and elsewhere, and also the 
 Rev. Canon Thomas, Mr. Howel W. Lloyd, and the Rev. John 
 Williams, Glanmor, for willing and valuable aid which he has re- 
 ceived from them. 
 
 Efenechtyd Rectory, January, 1886. 
 
' ■'■■■■„ ;'■:■;::.' .!■■"■ r-j:-..: .... '.;''■,■: ■■ ■ 
 
 
 
 
 "ST. ASAPH* /««JU' 
 
 BRYN-EGLWYS. 
 
 HEN I visited this Church in 1878, the steps and 
 basement of the Churchyard Cross were in existence, 
 but all other parts had disappeared ; visiting it later . 
 I found that even these had been removed by the 
 parish clerk without the knowledge of the Vicar. 
 The present incumbent, the Rev. R. Owen, who was 
 k ^_— - appointed to the living in 1870, and has restored 
 his Church does not remember having seen any portion of the Cross 
 standing From a sketch, taken in 1878, it appears that the stone 
 which received the shaft was then entire, but it was not a massive 
 one; apparently it was about nine inches thick and it rested upon 
 a lar-e flat stone, about three feet square, which lay upon a slightly 
 raised mound. The Cross stood nearly on a level with the west wall 
 
4 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 of the Church, three paces to the south of it. The accompanying 
 ground plan shows its position. Although so little can be said of 
 this Cross, it is thought fit that, at least, some record of it should 
 be preserved, particularly as the last vestige has been lately removed, 
 and nothing now remains to mark the spot where the Cross once 
 stood. 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 ffi 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 w. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Porch. 
 
 ffi 
 
 
 
 U 
 
 
 
 
 ... 3 paces. ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 □ 
 
 
 Site 
 
 of C 
 
 ross. 
 
CERRIG-Y-DRUDION, 
 
 HERE is no Cross in Cerrig-y-drudion churchyard, 
 but built into the wall, above the east window, is a 
 crucifix in a good state of preservation. It is cut 
 out of a single stone, and apparently, for dimensions 
 were not taken, it measures two feet by one foot. The 
 figure of our Lord is in bold relief, but it lacks artistic 
 merit, and the work seems to be a comparatively 
 modern production ; probably it dates from the fifteenth century. It 
 looks even worse than it otherwise would, because it is painted, the 
 figure, white, and the ground, black. The feet, which are crossed, 
 stand on a foot rest, and one nail penetrates both feet; the niche is 
 sevenfoiled. (See Fig. page 6.) 
 
 The Rector, the Rev. John Jones, informs me that the crucifix 
 occupies the same position now as it did before the Church was 
 restored by the late Rector, the Rev. Jenkin Jones, and he says : — " It 
 was taken down in order to build the wall again, but replaced in the 
 same position as before." 
 
 This is the only church, to my knowledge, in the Diocese of St. Asaph, 
 which has a crucifix in the church walls, but in the neighbouring Dio- 
 cese of Bangor there are at least two churches similarly ornamented. 
 The Rev. Edward Hughes, rector of Llanbedr, near Conway, gives 
 the following description of the crucifixes just referred to. Speaking 
 of that on his own church, Mr. Hughes writes :—" The crucifix, a 
 rough sandstone in bold relief, is about 18 inches, or two feet, long, 
 and about a foot, or less, wide. It is imbedded in the gable end, 
 west side, too high up for measurement, under the bell, outside ; " 
 and of the other crucifix he adds — " So is the one at Caerhun ; 
 they are alike in shape and size. I have never been able to find any 
 reference to them in either parish. There is no inscription on the 
 crucifix, so far as I have been able to see." 
 
 What Mr. Hughes says about the absence of tradition or other 
 evidence respecting the crucifixes at Llanbedr and Caerhun is true 
 with regard to that at Cerrig-y-drudion. 
 
Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 -irr/r;r-—- 
 
 There are several stones in Cerrig-y-drudion Church walls, on the 
 east side, with letters or words on them, but no intelligible inscription 
 
 could be made out of these letters. 
 The word mulier appears on one 
 of the stones. The Church has 
 undergone restoration several 
 times, and it is not improbable 
 that the stones in the walls have 
 been disarranged by the process, 
 and, if this conjecture is correct, 
 masons have separated stones 
 which once adjoined each other, 
 and possibly buried others in the 
 walls, so that if these detached 
 letters ever formed an inscription, 
 or inscriptions, it would now be 
 most difficult, if not altogether im- 
 possible, to place the letters in con- 
 secutive order. That there was 
 a tendency to place memorials 
 in the walls appears from the fact that former rectors have had their 
 names engraven on stones in the north wall. On one stone is the 
 following — GABRIEL : HVGHES : 1639. This is now in the vestry, 
 but it occupies, I am told, the same position as it did before the 
 restoration, the vestry being an addition to the Church, on that side. 
 Another stone perpetuates the memory of — ROBERTVS WYNNE 
 HVGVS PAROCHIAE RECTOR 1657. Underneath this inscrip- 
 tion is a stone inscribed with a few letters. 
 
 There is a tradition in the parish that the stones of which the Church 
 is built were procured from a quarry in those parts, and so even was 
 their surface that they were placed undressed in the walls. When I 
 asked my informant whether the quarry still produced equally even- 
 surfaced stones, I was answered in the negative. The appearance of 
 the stones in the Church walls is quite consistent with the tradition. 
 In the rectory ground is a portion of a seat, or of the old church 
 screen, with these words on it : — deVs nobIs In trIbVLatIonIbVs 
 aVXILIVM, in sixteenth century characters, and lying about, near 
 the rectory, is a freestone window sill, belonging to the old church, 
 with scorings on it. 
 
CILCEN. 
 
 WEy 
 
 BR$ 
 
 HIS Cross is on the south side of the Church, and stands 
 about sixteen paces from, and nearly opposite to, 
 the Priest's door, which has been blocked up. The 
 basement, a single flat stone, 2ft. 4m. square, has been 
 much worn, apparently by sharpening implements 
 upon it. Thus there is on one side an artificial groove, 
 a quarter of an inch broad, three quarters of an inch 
 deep, and ten inches long. Such an incision could only be made by 
 arrows, pikes, or some similarly pointed objects. On another side of 
 the pedestal are indentations made by whetting knives, or some oper- 
 ation of the kind. The shaft is a tapering octagonal, 7ft. 7in. in 
 height, squared by broaches at the base and top. It measures, at 
 the base, 11 inches square ; at the top, 8 inches. The shaft is cracked 
 in several places, and altogether it is greatly 
 weather-worn and dilapidated. Portions of 
 the side facing the Church have entirely dis- 
 appeared. The remains of iron plugs and 
 braces show that former generations were 
 desirous that the Cross should be kept in- 
 tact, but in our days no care is taken of it ; 
 the iron bands have corroded, and with the 
 exception of a few shreds they are no more, 
 and consequently the upper part of the shaft, 
 which these braces secured, is in imminent 
 danger of falling. The Cross has departed 
 considerably from the perpendicular, and 
 looks as if it could not possibly weather the 
 first storm which visits Cilcen. The head 
 
 of the Cross is not in existence ; at least, it is not to be found in the. 
 churchyard. The Cross belongs to the fourteenth century, 
 
 
8 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Many tombs surround this ancient stone, and it appears that in 
 former days people were anxious to be buried under the shadow of 
 the Churchyard Cross. Not only do the crowded graves in close 
 proximity prove this, but there is documentary evidence to show 
 that our forefathers were wishful to place their bodies under the 
 protection of the Cross. The following extracts from original wills, 
 communicated by the Rev. T. P. Wadley, Rector of Naunton 
 Beauchamp, to my friend Mr. Beedharn, to whom I am indebted 
 for them, show how common the desire was : — 
 
 1406. Sept. 24. Nicholas Conipaignonn ; to be buried in the cemetery 
 of St. Warburgh, near the burial place of his late wife, "f crucem." 
 
 Wills in the Bristol Orphan Book. 
 
 1508. Aug. 12. Thomas Byrkyn, fishmonger, of the city of Worcester, 
 makes his will directing that he should be buried " in Seynt Mary Churche 
 yarde bifore the crosse bytweene my two wiffe." 
 
 Will proved 8 July 1511 : registered at Somerset House, Fetiplace, folio 2. 
 
 The Cross in this case is that which formerly stood in the Cathedral 
 churchyard at Worcester. 
 
 Again Mr Wadley writes :— " In the will of Thomas Edmons of 
 Ipsley, co. Warwick, made 17 Nov. 1540, proved 24 Sept. 1544, and 
 registered at Worcester," it is stated : — 
 
 My bodye to be buryed in the Churche yard of o r blessed lady of 
 Ippesley nere the crosse there standinge. 
 
 From original wills in the Bristol Orphan Book, it appears that 
 William Lane, of the city of Worcester., mercer, who made his will in 
 Latin, 16 May, 1506, desired to be buried in the Cathedral church- 
 yard, "coram magna cruce ib'm." 
 
 With one other quotation, culled from the Transactions of the Bristol 
 and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society (vol. vi., p. 30), I will bring 
 this subject to a close. It is there said that : — 
 
 Robert Saundres of Bristol by Will dated 15th June 1391 desires to be 
 buried in the cemetry of the church of Holy Cross Temple of Bristol 
 opposite the southern cross there. 
 
 From the last two extracts it would appear that more than one 
 Cross existed in some churchyards. 
 
 There is in Cilcen churchyard a sun-dial shaft, of freestone, 
 octagonal, but brought to a square at the base and top by chiseled 
 broaches. The socket had evidently been applied to some other use 
 before it became the stand of the dial, for it has along one side a 
 
Cilcen. 
 
 a 
 
 Sun Dial. 
 
 Priest's Door. 
 
 □ 
 Cross. 
 
 moulding, whilst the other sides are rough and unornamented. The 
 indicator has disappeared, and the shaft, through exposure to the 
 weather, has been much worn, until, at present, it is almost 
 round. The workmanship 
 is apparently the same as 
 that of the Cross. If cur- 
 sorily noticed this dial 
 shaft would be taken for 
 that of a cross, but a care- 
 ful inspection will show 
 that it was nothing more 
 than a sun-dial. 
 
 On the north side of 
 the Church, the windows 
 have shutter hinges, and 
 irons turning on pivots to 
 secure the shutters to the 
 walls. The Church is a 
 short distance from the 
 road, and is separated 
 from it by a rather high 
 stone wall, so that shut- 
 ters were not wanted to 
 protect the windows from 
 stone-throwers ; but they 
 point to the custom of 
 ball-playing, in former 
 days, on the north wall 
 of the Church. This play 
 
 would necessitate the protection of the windows by shutters, and this 
 is the reason, as will be shown hereafter, why our country churches 
 have shutters to the windows on their north side or west end. 
 
 The churchyard, like many others in Wales, is nearly circular in form. 
 
 There are two doors to this Church blocked up, viz., the Priest's 
 Door, and that on the north side. In the belfry are a few beams with 
 heads, or other engravings, on the corbels, similar to those in the roof 
 of the Church, which roof, tradition says, was brought from Basingwerk 
 Abbey. These unused beams have helped to support the tradition ; 
 for it would appear that a greater quantity of roof beams were taken 
 
 ffi 
 
 U 
 
 « 
 
 D 
 
 X 
 
 u 
 
 N-S-- 
 
 Porch. 
 
 I 
 
 Site of Cross in Churchyard. 
 Scale 1/24 of an inch to the foot. 
 
,lo Old Stqne Crosses. ' ~ 
 
 from the Abbey than was required for the Church, and the surplus 
 wood was packed away in the tower. 
 
 There is a tradition in the parish that the north aisle of the Church 
 was burnt down in a Plygain, or early Christmas morning service, 
 many years ago. This tradition is mentioned by B. Willis, who 
 says : — " The North Isle of Kilcen Church (was) burnt down early in 
 the morning upon Christmas Day in 1532, when the parishioners 
 were assembled to pray and sing carols upon the occasion, in imita- 
 tion of the High Mass, a custom peculiar to Wales, and which is 
 called Plygain." (Willis's Survey of St. Asaph, vol. i., p. 230). The 
 tradition is that the Church remained in ruins eighty years, but here 
 tradition seems to be at fault. Willis places the catastrophe in the 
 year 1532, and he founds his statement on the following stanza, which 
 he observed on a brass plate in the Church, but which has since dis- 
 appeared : — 
 
 Mil pum cant, rhifant y rhai"n 
 
 N6d addas, a deuddeg ar hugain, 
 
 Oedd y Gair am FAB Mair fain 
 
 Pan ddaeth y Golcaith i Gilcen. 
 
 Willis's St. Asaph, vol. i., p. 230. 
 
 These lines state that the conflagration took place in the year 1532. 
 But the Church was not restored until the year 1746, as shown by a 
 brass plate at present (1880) on the north wall. The inscription is as 
 follows : — 
 
 The North Isle of this Church was rebuilt in the year 1746 at the sole 
 Expence of the Rev nd Richard Davies M.A. Rector of this parish Kilken. 
 
 The Church consequently seems to have been in ruins, not for 
 eighty, but for 214 years. 
 
 It would appear from the decorated window at the east end of the 
 north aisle that that wall was left standing after the fire. 
 
 The Plygain or early Christmas morning service is still very popular 
 in the parish. The word is perhips of doubtful origin. In a deriva- 
 tive form it occurs in the Welsh Bible, thus : — 
 
 " A'r boreu yn blygeiniol iawn." — S. Mark, ch. i., v. 35. 
 Welsh hymn-writers also have used the word for very early in the 
 morning. It is synonymous with cockcrowing. In Davies's Welsh 
 and Latin Dictionary, published 1632, the reader is referred from 
 Plygain to Pylgain, and there its Latin equivalent is galli cantus or 
 cockcrowing. The word is pronounced differently in different parts 
 
Cilcen. 1 1 
 
 of Wales ; in North Wales it is usually Plygan, but in some parts, 
 such as Denbighshire, it becomes Plygen. It approaches the full 
 Plygain in Carnarvonshire ; but even there the i is not invariably 
 distinctly sounded. In Cardiganshire it is pronounced, Pulgan, or 
 Pylgan, and this will account for the transposition of the letters / and y 
 by Dr. Davies, and at the same time throw light upon the derivation. 
 Dr. Owen Pughe, as is his custom, gives the word as pure Welsh, 
 the component parts being, according to him : Ply, that is " flexible 
 or tender," and cain, "bright," and thus Plygain is "the return of 
 light." This derivation is opposed to the popular etymology of the 
 word, which makes Plygan or Pylgan mean " the crowing of the cock." 
 This is also the meaning of the word given by Pennant. 
 
 Mr. Trevor Parkins, in a very interesting contribution to The 
 Cheshire Sheaf (vol. ii., p. 208) on the Plygan, writes : — 
 
 The etymology of the word is perhaps doubtful. Plygain is explained 
 by Dr. Owen Pughe as a purely Welsh word, signifying " the return of 
 light ; " but the popular derivation of it from Pulli cantus, " the crowing 
 of the cock," appears to be adopted by the best authorities. It would be 
 satisfactory to ascertain whether this mediaeval Latin term, Pulli cantus, 
 was used generally, or only by the inhabitants of Wales, as a substitute 
 for the well-known classical expression which denoted cock-crowing in the 
 days of Horace : — 
 
 " Agricolam laudat juris legumque peritus, 
 Sub galli cantum consult or ubi ostia pulsat." 
 
 Horace, Sat. I., lines 9-10. 
 
 So much on the derivation of the word. Let me now proceed to 
 describe the service. 
 
 On Christmas morn, tradition says, the church bell was rung in 
 Cilcen from five to six o'clock, at which latter hour the service began. 
 In other parishes the hour was four. The service usually consisted 
 of a selection of appropriate portions of the Prayer Book, with or 
 without a brief admonitory address by the clergyman, and then the 
 carol-singing began. Any one who desired to sing was at liberty to 
 do so. Sometimes a party sang in chorus, and sometimes a single 
 voice was heard, and this service of song was continued until the 
 dawn of day, when the Benediction was pronounced, and the congre- 
 gation separated. 
 
 Those who took part in the carol-singing supplied themselves with 
 their own home-made candles, but the church authorities partially lit up 
 the church for the occasion. As there were formerly no evening services 
 in the churches, and the gosper or vespers began at three o'clock in the 
 
 B 
 
12 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 afternoon, when no lights were required, it was necessary that the 
 churchwardens should provide candles and candlesticks for the 
 Plygan on Christmas morn. This they did by procuring lumps of soft 
 clay into which candles were stuck ; and these extemporized candle- 
 holders were arranged along the walls, or placed on ledges in the 
 church. The Rector of Llanfihangel, Montgomeryshire, the Rev. E. 
 Evans, drew my attention to several of these candlesticks which he 
 had found in his church, and which he preserved as curiosities ; and 
 so did the Rev. D. Evans, Vicar of Abergele, to some which he had dis- 
 covered at the restoration of Abergele Church, stowed away in various 
 places. These churches are far apart, and the discovery of these 
 candlesticks shows how commonly clay, in days gone by, took the 
 place of stick, as a candle holder. With such imperfect means of 
 lighting churches, we are surprised, not that Cilcen Church was 
 burnt down, but that conflagrations were not more common. 
 
 Old people tell us that great disorder prevailed in the Plygan, and 
 this, they say, was caused by drunken men who frequented the service 
 after a night's revelry. It was, it appears, a common practice for 
 men to sit up all night drinking, and then to proceed in a state of in- 
 toxication to the church. The riotous conduct of inebriates brought 
 about the discontinuance of the Plygan in many places. 
 
 Two stories, which I will here relate, show what disorder sometimes 
 prevailed in these meetings. The Rev. E. Jones, Vicar of Cilcen, 
 informed me that he was told by old Richard Roberts, Tanllan, 
 Treuddyn, now dead, of an event which took place at a Plygan in 
 Hope Church. R. Roberts was then a young man, and with every- 
 body else he went to the Plygan. In church he happened to stand 
 behind a young man with a bushy head of red hair. A companion 
 suggested that it would be rare fun to set the head of red hair on fire. 
 Roberts thought so too, and acting upon the impulse of the moment, 
 placed his candle under the young man's hair, and in an instant it 
 was all in a blaze. Recounting this event in old age to Mr. Jones, 
 Roberts, in tones of self-reproach, said — " I do not know what 
 possessed me to do such a thing." 
 
 The next story was told me by the Rev. D. James, Rector of 
 Garthbeibio, Montgomeryshire. At a Plygan in Garthbeibio Church, 
 a man in drink threw from the west end gallery a rotten turnip at the 
 head of the Rev. G. Howell, who was the officiating minister. Mr. 
 Howell marked the man, and when the service was over walked 
 
Ciicen. 13 
 
 down the aisle of the church, the people standing the while, as was 
 then the custom ; but instead of leaving the building he locked the 
 door, and proceeded to the singing loft, where he broke his walking 
 stick across the back of the culprit. 
 
 This Christmas morning service was not confined to Wales. It 
 was also common along the borders. In Philip Henry's Diary, lately- 
 published, and edited by the Rev. M. H. Lee, is the following 
 entry : — 
 
 1661. Dec. 25. Service at Worthenb. afore-day, an old custome, the 
 ground of it I knowe not ; the Christians in time of persecution had their 
 hymnos antelucanos. Tertull. Sermon at 10 a clock. Text, Zech. 13. 1. 
 
 Philip Henry's Diary, p. 102. 
 
 It would seem from this entry that the afore-day service was one of 
 song, as it was in Wales proper, and the sermon was at ten o'clock. 
 Mr, Trevor Parkins, in his article already referred to, writes : — 
 
 I find several notices of it (the Plygan) in the Churchwardens' accounts 
 at Gresford, a parish that lies upon the borders, and where Welsh customs 
 might be expected to pass away. Thus, to quote an instance, Edward 
 Partyn, who was Churchwarden in 1739, states in his account that he had 
 
 " Paid for candles for ye Plagan 0:2: o" — and (adds Mr. Parkins) 
 
 there is reason to believe that the practice lingered on in this semi-English 
 district down to the commencement of the present century. 
 
 Pennant's description of the Plygan, as it was held in his days, that 
 is, a hundred years ago, is so appropriate, that I will conclude my 
 account of the service with his words : — 
 
 Upon Christmas-day, about three o'clock in the morning, most of the 
 parishioners assembled in Church, and after prayers and a sermon, con- 
 tinued there singing psalms and hymns with great devotion till broad day ; 
 and if, through age and infirmity, any are disabled from attending, they 
 never fail having prayers at home, and carols on our Saviour's nativity. 
 The former part of the custom is still preserved ; but too often perverted 
 into intemperance. This act of devotion is called Plygan, or the Crowing 
 of the Cock. It has been a general belief among the superstitious, that 
 instantly, " at his warning, 
 
 Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, 
 
 Th' extravagant and erring spirit hies 
 
 To his confine." 
 But during the holy season, the cock was supposed to exert his power 
 throughout the night ; from which, undoubtedly, originated the Welsh 
 word Plygan, as applied to this custom. 
 
 Tour in Wales, vol. ii., p.. 353, ed. 1784. 
 
14 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 GOSPER CANWYLLAU OR CANDLE VESPERS. 
 
 As Christmas day began with an early service, so it ended with 
 a late service, which was popularly called in Welsh — Gosper can- 
 wyllau, or Candle Vespers. It was so named from the fact that 
 it was the only service in the year in which candles were used at 
 Vespers or evening prayer. The usual hour for vespers in Wales, as 
 I have said, was three o'clock in the afternoon, but on Christmas day 
 it was changed from three to six, and hence the necessity for candles ; 
 hence also the name applied to this service, viz., Gosper canwyllau, 
 gosper being a corruption of the word vespe/, and canwyllau being the 
 Welsh word for candles. There are, even now, a few churches in 
 Wales which have no night services. In these churches the evening 
 service begins in winter at three o'clock, and in summer at six o'clock. 
 In the Gosper canwyllau, as in the Plygan, many contrivances were 
 resorted to for illuminating the church. The service in the Gosper 
 canwyllau was the ordinary evening prayer, with or without a sermon, 
 but carols were always sung on Christmas evening. The feature of 
 the service was the innumerable candles used on the occasion. Every 
 one provided himself or herself with a candle, and lights were stuck 
 on the ends of the seats, on the window sills, and in other available 
 places, by the churchwardens, so that this service was rightly called 
 Candle Vespers. The Rev. Canon Wynne Edwards remembers the 
 service being held in Meifod Church, and other living clergymen in 
 other parts of Wales have conducted it before evening services at six 
 o'clock had become general. 
 
 MAES-Y-GROES CROSS. 
 
 One of the townships in Cilcen parish is called Maes-y-groes, the 
 field of the cross, and in this township is an old house, evidently at 
 one time a superior kind of abode, and it, also, is called Maes-y-groes. 
 This house is about a mile from the Loggerheads Inn, and stands on 
 the right-hand side of the road or lane connecting Cilcen with the 
 Mold and Ruthin road. Maes-y-groes farm yard abuts upon the 
 lane, and it has two entrances, one from the lane, and the other 
 from the direction of the house ; on the right-hand gatepost of 
 this latter entrance is a cross deeply cut into the stone post. (See 
 figure.) 
 
Cilcen. 
 
 i5 
 
 The stone on which the cross is, is 4ft. 8in. high, ift. broad at the 
 base, and 8in. thick. It is limestone, as are all the gate posts in 
 the neighbourhood. 
 
 The cross, which is a small Latin cross, is 
 near the top of the stone, the arms measure 
 2 inches each, whilst the lower limb is 5 
 inches long. A little more than a foot 
 below the cross is the date 1795, cut length- 
 wise into the stone. These figures, ap- 
 parently, are more modern |han the cross. 
 Immediately below the date* is a figure re- 
 sembling a shovel with a short handle, and 
 in this figure near its extremity is incised a 
 semi-circle, or rather a semi-ellipse, with a 
 portion of its diameter proceeding from left 
 to right, and about the centre of this semi- 
 ellipse is a single dot. 
 
 I am informed by Mr. Davies, the school- 
 master at Llanferres,the parish which adjoins 
 Cilcen, that there is an old road, one of the 
 oldest in the district, leading from the 
 ancient mansion of Maes-y-groes to the river 
 Alun, and that some people say that many 
 years ago an army crossed the river Alun, 
 just below the house, on their way to fight 
 the Saxons at Mold or Chester, and that the 
 name Maes-y-groes was ever afterwards given 
 to the spot, because it was — " Y mats lie y darfufiddynt groesi," i.e., 
 because it was "the field where they crossed over," and that in after 
 years the inhabitants erected this pillar, with a cross on it, to com- 
 memorate this event. 
 
 Such is the tradition, if tradition it may be called, for it appears 
 more like an attempt to account for a name than anything else. There 
 is another farm called Maes-y-groes close to Cilcen village, and in 
 various parts of Wales there are farms bearing this name with no rivers 
 nor extant crosses in their vicinity. It may be, of course, that there is 
 a germ of truth in the tradition, and that the pillar was erected to 
 denote the spot where a battle was fought, or a hero died. 
 
 'l'j£/ yS/zevT 
 
CORWEN. 
 
 ENNANT, in his Tour infflales, speaking of Corwen, 
 mentions this Cross : — " A most singular cross in 
 the churchyard merits attention : the shaft is let into 
 a flat stone, and that again is supported by four or 
 five rude stones, as if the whole had been formed 
 in imitation of, and in veneration of, the sacred 
 Cromlech of very early time." The flat stone noticed 
 by Pennant is still in existence, but the "four or five rude stones," 
 upon which the basement stood, have disappeared. The stone now 
 rests on the ground. The Cross is on the west side of the church, 
 and, in the absence of records and traditions, it would be difficult to 
 ascertain whether its present was its original position. Churchyard 
 crosses are generally found on the south side of the church, but the 
 probability is that this Cross occupies the same spot as in Pennant's 
 time, though the disappearance of the supporting stones could be 
 better accounted for if we supposed that it had been removed. ■ 
 
 The stone basement in which the shaft is placed is elliptical in 
 form, with transverse and conjugate diameters measuring respectively 
 sixty-four and sixty inches ; it is twelve inches or so thick, is of a 
 slaty nature, and might have been procured in the neighbourhood. 
 The crevices of the circular hole in which the shaft is fixed are filled 
 up with' stones, and in this way the shaft is made to fit closely into 
 the pedestal. There are seven peculiar artificial depressions along 
 the surface of the pedestal, strongly resembling the cup-markings 
 which are found occasionally on the capstones of cromlechau, etc. 
 They are irregularly arranged : on the north side there are three, 
 almost in a line ; and on other parts of the stone there are four of 
 these marks. They differ somewhat from each other in size and 
 shape, but they are for the most part circular, though one is more of 
 an oblong than a circle. They vary also in depth, one being two and 
 
CAPITAL TOP. 
 
 TOP OF SHAFT. 
 
 BAKE OF SHAFT. 
 
 CORWEN. 
 
 WOODALL.MINSHALL X C?. UTHOS., OSWESTRY. 
 
Corwen. 17 
 
 a half inches deep, while the others are shallow. The largest is three 
 inches in diameter ; the others are not so broad. It is only lately 
 that the attention of antiquaries has been called to these strange 
 markings, and those on Corwen Cross have hitherto been entirely 
 overlooked. The accompanying drawing shows the position of the 
 cups. 
 
 The Rev. E. L. Barnwell, in a paper on " Marked Stones in 
 Wales," published in the Archosologia Cambrensis (3rd series, No. L., 
 pp. 150-156), alludes to the prevalence of these cup-shaped hollows, 
 and states that they " are found to exist from the extreme south of 
 England to the north of Scotland." Mr. Barnwell says that at the 
 time he wrote (1867) there were only two known instances in Wales 
 of stones thus marked, viz., Clynnog Cromlech, and a small stone in 
 a field in Llanbedr parish, near Harlech. A view of the top slab of 
 Clynnog Cromlech is given by Mr. Barnwell, and it "is covered with 
 small artificial hollows, apparently placed without any attempt at 
 order." I quote from Mr. Barnwell's paper, and this gentleman, who 
 is so well able to offer an opinion, says there is little doubt that they 
 were cut at a very early period. It is singular that these markings 
 should be found along the basement of Corwen Cross, and also on the 
 capstone of a Carnarvonshire cromlech. It is difficult to state posi- 
 tively that the depressions on the Corwen stone are ancient, but, 
 when cleared out, they certainly appeared to be so, and in character 
 with the rude side dressings of the stone itself. In. connection with 
 these markings it is well to bear in mind what Pennant says about 
 the cromlech-like form of the Cross in his days. 
 
 It is not only in the British isles that these . cup-markings are 
 found ; they have been discovered in various parts of the world. In 
 an article by Mr. C. W. Dymond on " Cup-markings on Burley 
 Moor," in Yorkshire, published in the Journal of the British Archczo- 
 logical Association (Dec. 31, 1880, vol. xxxvi., pt. iv., pp. 413-417), the 
 widespread use in ancient times of cup-markings and such devices is 
 clearly shown. Mr. Dymond writes: — "Ornaments similar to the cup- 
 markings and rings are seen on vases from Dali, Cyprus . . . cup- 
 and-ring-like ornaments are almost the only ones used in the decora- 
 tion of glass and stone whorl-shaped beads found in Cyprus." . . 
 " Among the relics found at Hissarlik by Dr. Schlieman was a pot- 
 lid, ornamented as it were with cup-like indentations." {Troy, 
 pp. 310-311.) "Among the objects found by Dr. Keller in lake- 
 
1 8 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 dwellings were three, stones, with cups cut in their surfaces, some of 
 them connected by grooves." These quotations carry us back far 
 into pre-historic times to search for the origin and use of these 
 peculiar marks. In the British islands we have them, not on manu- 
 factured articles, but, probably in their more primitive form, on stones, 
 in wild unfrequented districts ; and, it may be, in remote ages, these 
 cup-marks were associated with religious observances. Before leaving 
 this subject, it maybe stated that the late Professor Sir J. Y. Simpson 
 published an excellent treatise on Cup and Ring Markings, which, if 
 not the first, was one of the first books of the kind ever published. 
 
 Since the foregoing notes were written, I have had the pleasure of 
 perusing a most interesting paper entitled, " Notes on some un- 
 described Stones with Cup-markings in Scotland," by J. Romilly Allen, 
 with a table showing the geographical distribution of cup-marked 
 stones, from which I learn that there are : — 
 
 In Scotland ... ... ... 204 stones with cup-marks on them. 
 
 In England and Wales... ... 102 ,, „ „ 
 
 (Wales itself has only 2 given) 
 
 In Ireland ... ... ... 42 „ „ „ 
 
 In France ... ... ... 21 „ „ „ 
 
 In Switzerland ... ... ... 32 ,, „ „ 
 
 In Scandinavia (including Den- 
 mark) 42 „ „ „ 
 
 All these stones are ancient remains of by-gone days, but in the same 
 volume of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 
 in which Mr. Romilly Allen's paper appears (1881-82, pp. 302-401), is 
 another on the same subject, giving a list of cup-marked stones in 
 churchyards, and one of these stones has on it an inscription dated 
 1722 a.d. The stones in graveyards in Scotland with these marks on 
 them are generally dressed stones, and are oblong in shape ; so that 
 we have in the northern part of the kingdom a continuation of these 
 peculiar marks from remote to modern times. If an inference can he 
 drawn from the continuance of these markings on modern grave- 
 stones from the times when the cromlech served the same purpose, 
 then these peculiar depressions have perhaps a hidden meaning con- 
 necting them with the ancient dead. 
 
 The shaft of Corwen Cross is quadrangular, with angles formed 
 into rectangular mouldings. Its dimensions are : — Height, 7ft. 1 Jin. ; 
 base ift. square ; top, underneath capital, ioin. by 8in. ; capital, 
 io£in. high by nin. broad. From these measurements it will be seen 
 
Corwen. 
 
 19 
 
 u 
 
 u 
 
 -»- 
 
 6 paces 
 
 that the stone is slightly narrower at the top than the base. It will 
 also be observed from the sketch, that, although the shaft tapers 
 throughout its entire length, it loses its gradient, and also its 
 symmetry, owing to a fault in 
 the stone, at about a third of its 
 length from the base. The capi- 
 tal, which is part of the shaft, 
 both being one stone, slightly 
 projects from the shaft, and 
 measures, at the top, 11 in. by 
 8 in. ; into it is cut a socket, 
 measuring 6in. by 4^in. on the 
 surface, and 6 in. deep. This 
 socket received the head-stone, 
 which has disappeared. The 
 capital resembles a shield, being 
 circular at the bottom and rect- 
 angular at the top ; it has on 
 the east side interlaced rope- 
 like ornamentation, which has, 
 through age, become much de- 
 faced. When the author of 
 
 Lapidarium Wallice visited the Cross in 1835, he could not find 
 the octagonal capstone depicted in Gough's Camde% as surmounting 
 the shaft. 
 
 On the east side of the shaft, 12J inches below the capital, is a 
 cross in relief, \o\ inches long, and 3 inches broad from arm to arm. 
 It has an incised line running crossways through the limbs. This 
 cross resembles a short sword or dagger, and locally it is connected, 
 in some way or other, with Owain Glyndwr. When the Church was 
 being restored, an ancient sword was found, and the person who told 
 me* of the discovery spoke of the sword confidently enough as having 
 belonged to Glyndwr. 
 
 At present, the Cross declines slightly, but there is no immediate 
 danger of its falling. It is a hard grit stone, foreign to that part of 
 the country, and may have been procured from the neighbourhood 
 of Ruabon. The paring away of the angles, and the running up of a 
 groove each side, conceals the bareness of the stone, and, simple 
 though this contrivance is, it has a very pleasing effect. 
 
 c 
 
 PLAN 
 Showing position of Churchyard Cross. 
 
 Cross. 
 
20 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The Cross has certain Norman characteristics, and in some details 
 resembles the old cross by Valle Crucis Abbey. It probably belongs 
 to the Norman period. 
 
 CROSS ON STONE BUILT INTO CHURCH WALL. 
 
 This stone, which now forms the lintel to the Priest's Door, is not 
 in its original position, and it has been cracked by the weight of the 
 superincumbent wall. The lower part of the stone disappears in the 
 wall, so that its entire length cannot be ascertained. 
 The cross, which is incised, is near the top of the 
 stone. It measures in length 22 inches ; the upper 
 limb is 5 inches long and 1^ inches broad ; the cross 
 limbs measure, from extremity to extremity, 10J 
 inches, and their breadth is about the same as that 
 of the upper limb. The three upper limbs are some- 
 what dilated, whilst the lower one is pointed, and it 
 deviates from the straight line for about the last 5 
 inches of its length. 
 
 Local tradition speaks of this cross as being the 
 impression of Owain Glyndwr's dagger. It says that 
 Glyndwr hurled the dagger from the summit of the 
 conical hill, or rock, which stands on the south side 
 of the Church and overlooks the town, with such 
 force, that it made a deep indentation in the stone 
 it came in contact with. The distance of the rock 
 from the Church, instead of indicating the impro- 
 bability of the tale, has only added lustre to the 
 achievement. 
 
 The following extract from the Rev. D. R. 
 Thomas's History of the Diocese of St. Asaph 
 accounts for this cross in a more rational way : — 
 
 The legend of its (the Church's) original foundation, which states that all 
 attempts to build the Church in any other spot than where stood the 
 " Carreg y Big yn y fach rewlyd," i.e., " The pointed stone in the icy nook," 
 were frustrated by the influence of certain adverse powers, appears also to 
 supply the clue to the name, viz., Corfaen, " the enclosure or choir of the 
 stone," rather than Corwen, " the white choir or church." This stone is 
 now built into the north porch, but probably marked at first one of the 
 mission stations in the district ; another of which is indicated by the stone 
 
Cor wen. 21 
 
 marked with a cross, which now forms the lintel of the priest's door on the 
 south side of the chancel, and is commonly shown as the impress of Owain 
 Glyndwr's dagger ; and which, from its association with his name, may very 
 likely have been transferred hither from " Bryn y Groes" in Carrog Issa, on 
 his estate. 
 
 The tradition respecting the cross being the impression of a dagger 
 is probably derived from some historic event, which, in the lapse of 
 time, has passed from memory, and is now presented in a mythical 
 form. 
 
 The Birmingham antiquary, Hutton, in his Remarks upon North 
 Wales (pub. 1803), mentions what he saw at Corwen, and alludes to 
 the cross on the stone above the Priest's Door : — 
 
 Owain (Glyndwr) usually attended divine service at Corwen Church, 
 where I was shown a doorway now made up through which he entered to 
 his pew in the chancel. Upon one of the stones is cut, half an inch deep, 
 the figure of a dagger, and my guide told me, with a face more serious than 
 my own, that upon the Berwyn mountain, behind the Church, was a place 
 called Glyndwr's seat, from which he threw his dagger, and made the im- 
 pression upon the stone. If this had happened in our day, the whole bench 
 of bishops would have united in pronouncing him Jacobin. Exclusive of 
 the improbability of the tale, my friend forgot that it refutes itself, for the 
 mark of the dagger is upon the very door-way through which Owain passed, 
 which probably was not built up in his day. I climbed the mountain to 
 what is called Owain's seat, among the rocks, and concluded he must have 
 been more agreeably employed than in throwing his dagger, for the 
 prospect is most charming. — Remarks on North Wales, pp. 50, 51. 
 
 PORTION OF ORNAMENTAL STONE. 
 
 A broken piece of stone, with ribbon ornamentation on it, was 
 picked up by Mrs. Ab Ithel Williams, of the College, Corwen, in the 
 churchyard. At first sight, this remnant might 
 be supposed to have been a portion of the 
 missing head-stone of the Churchyard Cross, for 
 the workmanship, and the character of the 
 stone, are identical; but from its size and design 
 it would rather seem to have belonged either to a 
 sepulchral slab, or to some other cross, rather than 
 to the one at present in the churchyard. The 
 accompanying sketch, which is not drawn according to scale, shows 
 the kind of engraving with which the stone is ornamented. 
 
2$ Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 PRAYING OVER THE DEAD. 
 
 In Corwen churchyard there are gravestones of a very peculiar form, 
 evidently pointing to the old custom of praying for or over the dead. 
 
 They are only a few inches 
 above the ground, placed at 
 the head and foot of the grave, 
 with holes for the knees of those 
 who pray. The accompanying 
 
 _ __ sketches shew the shape of 
 
 | \_J \_J I these stones. It will be ob- 
 
 I I served from the drawings that 
 
 there are knee-rests at both 
 ends ot the grave. This is not always the rule; occasionally only one 
 stone has such conveniences, as is the case in Llangar, and when this 
 is so, it is the headstone. Between the two stones there is usually a 
 flat slab with the initials of the dead engraven upon it, and the date 
 of the death. But there are some entirely devoid of letters and figures, 
 and where these appear they are rudely executed. One of the stones 
 in Corwen churchyard bears the date 1771 ; another, 1810 ; from 
 which it would seem at first that the custom of praying at the tomb 
 continued in Corwen to the year 1810 : but the rustic stone-cutter in 
 the beginning of this century may have merely copied the form of 
 older stones, without knowing the meaning of their peculiar shape. In 
 a neighbouring parish, Llansantffraid, there are numbers of grave- 
 stones like these in Corwen churchyard, and Mr. Roberts, the school- 
 master, informed me of a tradition, that in former years, before the 
 Church Service began, the relatives of the dead were in the habit of 
 kneeling at the grave for prayer, and that the grave-stones were formed 
 as described so as to allow them to do so without inconvenience or 
 risk in rainy weather. I have noticed similar stones in several church- 
 yards in the neighbourhood of Corwen : Llangar old churchyard 
 contains several ; so does Gwyddelwern. These memorials are 
 touchingly simple in their construction. They could be formed by 
 a relation, or a friend, without the aid of a stone-cutter. Apparently 
 one grave contains a family. Thus, in Llansantffraid churchyard 
 a flat stone has on it — 
 
 T. I. 1780 
 E. H. 1780 
 H. D. 1786 
 
Corwen. 23 
 
 And underneath these comes a modern inscription to the memory of 
 persons lately interred. Another gives the initials and age of the 
 departed : — 
 
 S. K. 60. 
 1764 
 
 Other dates in Llansantffraid were 1769 and 1783 ; and the following 
 are the dimensions of one of the stones there : — Height, 8in. ; knee- 
 rests, 6in. apart, 6in. broad, and 3m. deep. 
 
 The parish clerk of Llansantffraid corroborated the schoolmaster's 
 remark as to the use of these stones, and he also said that he had 
 used many similar knee-stones in building the chancel of the church, 
 and taken numbers up to make room for stones of more modern 
 design. 
 
 The following quotation from Pennant throws considerable light on 
 this matter. Speaking of the religious customs of the Welsh, Pennant 
 says : — 
 
 In some places it was customary for the friends of the dead to kneel, and 
 say the Lord's Prayer over the grave for several Sundays after the inter- 
 ment, and then to dress the grave with flowers. — Vol. ii., p. 353. 
 
 This custom most likely lingered long in secluded districts, which held 
 but little intercourse with the outer world, and the probability is that 
 even so late as the beginning of the present century people prayed 
 for or over their dead in and about Corwen. 
 
CWM 
 
 LTHOUGH Cwm Church is an ancient structure, 
 
 there is no vestige of a cross in the churchyard ; but, 
 
 built into the wall of 
 
 the vicarage orchard, in 
 
 a place where it could 
 
 not easily be seen, is a 
 
 portion of a mutilated 
 stone crucifix. The Vicar, the Rev. 
 J. Morris, could give no information 
 about this Cross ; all he could say was 
 that he had discovered it in the wall, 
 and left it there. The pro- 
 bability is that it was placed 
 in the wall for preservation 
 by a former vicar, who found 
 it lying about the Church 
 premises. It stands on the / 
 left-hand side of the entrance , 
 to the orchard, and faces the-i 
 public road ; but evergreens \ ^fc*--^. 
 overgrowthe wall, and almost 
 hide the figure from view. 
 Upon referring to the illus- 
 tration, it will be seen that 
 the Cross was wantonly dis- 
 figured. The head and arms 
 have been knocked off, but 
 the remaining portion of the 
 body is in good preservation, 
 and it is a well-executed piece of workmanship. The stem of the 
 
Cwm. 25 
 
 crucifix, which is all that now exists, consists of an oblong slab, 
 measuring 15 inches by 8 inches, and its thickness is 3 inches or 
 thereabouts. On this stone is carved in relief a figure of our Lord. 
 It is so well preserved that it is difficult to believe it has always been 
 exposed to the weather. Underneath the left arm is an iron plug 
 secured by lead, apparently placed there as a prop ; the section of 
 the other arm is not exposed to view, and therefore it could not be 
 ascertained whether there was a similar plug on that side. 
 
DENBIGH. 
 
 OLD HIGH CROSS. 
 
 ENBIGH Old High Cross formerly stood in the square 
 at the top of the town, in the place now occupied by 
 a lamp-post, which is called locally the High Cross, 
 but was removed some forty or fifty years ago, when 
 the Town Hall was built, to the Bowling Green, 
 adjoining the old castle walls. There it rests safely 
 on a mound in a corner of the grounds. The writer 
 was informed by the keeper of the Bowling Green, who 
 remembers the Cross in the square, that it was removed 
 bodily, and that even the stones in the steps occupy 
 •now pretty nearly the same relative position as before. 
 The Cross, therefore, is just as it used to be. 
 
 Two steps lead to the pedestal or socket of the Cross. 
 They measure respectively, in breadth, 6 feet and 4 feet; 
 in height, 7 inches and 6 inches. The stones composing 
 the steps are loosely put together, nor do they look old 
 or worn. The socket is a large block of free-stone, 
 measuring 28^ inches square, and ig inches high ; its 
 upper surface and angles are much worn. The shaft, a 
 tapering octagonal, squared at the base, and fixed with 
 lead into the socket, consists of two stones. The lower, 
 or more ancient part, is 59 inches long ; the upper, or 
 modern addition, measures 27 inches; and it is sur- 
 mounted by a ball 7 inches or so in diameter. The 
 total height from the ground to the top of the ball is 
 12 feet 5 inches. 
 
 There is a date, 1760, cut into the modern part of the shaft, and 
 most probably this points to the time when this portion was erected. 
 (Fig. I.) It is not unlikely that it took the place of a cross head, 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
DENBIGH. HIGH CROSS. 
 
 WOODALL.MINSHALL &C°. LITHOS., OSWESTRY 
 
Denbigh. 27 
 
 which was then removed from the High Cross, properly so called, to 
 make room for a lamp. The Cross itself belongs to the fifteenth 
 century, but it might have superseded a previous market cross. 
 
 Latterly, and up to the time of its removal to the Bowling Green, 
 this interesting monument was utilized as a lamp post, and the 
 marks of the iron bands which secured the lamp to the pillar are 
 distinctly seen, as will be observed upon referring to the accom- 
 panying sketch. 
 
 Denbigh High Cross in years gone by was the centre of markets 
 and fairs. Buyers and sellers congregated around it, and stalls of 
 the same kind always occupied the same spots. Next to the Cross 
 stood the farmers with their wheat, further removed were the 
 stocking and yarn vendors, and hat-sellers, &c. Three sides of the 
 Cross itself were taken possession of by butchers. The third was 
 unoccupied, as it was required for the purpose of trimming the lamp 
 and replenishing it with oil. The butchers had a kind of shutter- 
 awning fastened to the shaft of the Cross, to protect the meat from 
 the weather ; and when the market was over the shutters were let 
 down and secured by padlocks to the Cross. Several holes plugged 
 with lead, an iron staple, and other remaining marks, indicate the 
 use that was made of the Cross. The shaft is free-stone, and it is 
 grooved on all sides ; the abrasions, which are deep, and must have 
 endangered the safety of the Cross, were made by sharpening 
 knives on the stone. 
 
 After the erection of the new hall the market was transferred from 
 the street to the building close by. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF MARKET CROSSES. 
 
 The fact that the Denbigh Cross was the centre of fairs, points to 
 its origin. In years long gone by, markets were held in churchyards, 
 and even in the churches. This perhaps shocks our sense of pro- 
 priety ; but in the country, six hundred years ago, the church and 
 churchyard were, in most parishes, the only public place of resort. 
 The people of Wales, as we learn from Giraldus Cambrensis, were not 
 devoid of reverence, but, on the contrary, they showed greater respect 
 than other nations to churches, crosses, ecclesiastical persons, etc. ; 
 yet they saw nothing wrong in transacting ordinary business on con- 
 secrated ground ; indeed, it may have been that they chose the 
 consecrated ground, intending thus to place even their ordinary 
 
 p 
 
28 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 transactions, as between man and man, under the protection of the 
 Church and the restriction of religious obligations. 
 
 Attempts, however, were made in very early times by the Church 
 authorities to put down churchyard fairs and games. Markets and fairs 
 were ultimately removed from churchyards to towns and other places. 
 Upon the removal of fairs, market crosses were erected in the place 
 where markets were held, and the fairs were opened by the priest, and 
 in this way these proceedings received the sanctions of religion just as 
 they did in consecrated ground. Many a market cross in Wales 
 owes its origin to this cause ; and these crosses were erected to 
 encourage honesty. Milner, in his History of Winchester, says : — 
 " The general intent of market crosses was to incite public homage 
 to the religion of Christ crucified, and to inspire men with a sense of 
 morality and piety amidst the ordinary transactions of life" (see 
 Rimmer's Ancient Stone Crosses of England, pp. 8, 9) ; and I take the 
 following extract from Brady's Clavis Calendaria (3rd ed., London, 
 1815, vol. i., p. 359) : — " Every town had its cross, at which engage- 
 ments, whether of a religious or worldly interest, were entered into." 
 
 Rimmer further states that " Market crosses originated in towns 
 where there were monastic establishments, and the Order sent a 
 monk, or friar, on market days to preach to the assembled market 
 people" [Ancient Stone Crosses, etc., p. 8). And again, he says: — 
 " These relics also gave the religious house a central point to collect 
 the tolls paid by farmers and dealers in country produce for the 
 privilege of selling within the limits of the town ; and until very lately 
 this same tax was held by certain families in England, who exacted 
 a toll from each head of cattle that was brought into the market-town 
 for sale ; indeed, it probably exists in some remote country places at 
 the present time" (p. 9). 
 
 It may here be said, in corroboration of Mr. Rimmer's remark, that 
 there was a house of Carmelites, or White Friars, at the bottom of 
 the hill on which Denbigh is built, and tolls for cattle entering fairs 
 are still collected in many towns in Wales, but these tolls are not 
 now, if they once were, the property of the Church. That a connec- 
 tion probably did exist between the High Cross and the clergy of 
 Denbigh we learn from the municipal documents. From these papers, 
 which are still extant, the following is taken : — 
 
 A toll of oatmeal sold within the borough was given the officiating 
 clergyman for reading prayers before the opening of the market. — 
 Williams's Ancient and Modern Denbigh, pp. 138, 283. 
 
Denbigh. 29 
 
 We may, therefore, infer that the clergy of Denbigh, from olden 
 times, opened the fairs, and this would naturally be done by them 
 from the Cross, the centre of the market. 
 
 If the Market Cross at Denbigh was erected by the Carmelites, it 
 dates from the latter part of the thirteenth century ; but it probably 
 belongs to a later period, most likely to the latter part of the fifteenth 
 or beginning of the sixteenth century. 
 
 SUNDAY FAIRS. 
 
 Fairs were formerly held on Sundays and holy days, and even as 
 late as 1571 the only restraint placed upon them was to stop pro- 
 ceedings during divine service. Archbishop Grindal thus alludes to 
 this matter : — 
 
 That in fairs and common markets upon the Sundays, there be no 
 shewing of any wares, before all the morning service and the sermon 
 (if there be any) be done. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 269. 
 
 However, in the fourteenth century, some doubts of the propriety 
 of holding fairs on Sunday appear to have taken possession of the 
 minds of the inhabitants of Wrexham. In that year the steeple of 
 their church was burnt down on a Sunday, and the calamity led to 
 the changing of the fair from Sunday to Thursday. Browne Willis 
 mentions this fact. He writes : — 
 
 In some old accounts I have seen of this town in the Welsh Chronicles, 
 
 the steeple is said to have been cast down on November 25th, 1330, and 
 
 the market changed next year, anno 1331, from Sunday to Thursday, as 
 
 it now continues. 
 
 Fairs on Sunday ceased throughout Wales in the beginning of the 
 
 present century. 
 
 CYFLOG Y GROES, OR THE WAGE OF THE CROSS. 
 
 In days gone* by, and the custom has not altogether ceased, it was 
 usual for men who wished to be hired for harvest work, to congregate 
 about the High Cross at Denbigh very early in the morning of week 
 days, and on Sunday in the afternoon, and there the farmers went 
 to engage them. The wages given at the Cross was the standard or 
 market price of labour. It was called Cyflog y Groes, or, the wages 
 agreed upon at the Cross. The wages in the neighbourhood were 
 regulated by that given at the Cross. Most towns had their cross 
 
3© Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 wage ; but when treating of Rhuddlan Cross, which was a famous 
 labour cross, I shall more particularly enter into this subject. I will 
 only add of Denbigh Cross that engagements made there were bind- 
 ing for one day only, and consequently during harvest time there was 
 a daily labour market in this town. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, who visited Denbigh, September 4th (Sunday), 1774, 
 notices in his journal the men standing to be hired : — 
 
 We dined with Mr. Myddelton, the clergyman, at Denbigh, where I saw 
 the harvestmen very decently dressed, after the afternoon service, standing 
 to be hired. — On other days, they stand at about four in the morning — 
 they are hired from day to day. — A Journey into North Wales (Duppa's 
 edition), pp. 123-4. 
 
 These engagements made at the Cross were considered strictly 
 binding on all parties concerned. 
 
 PROCLAMATIONS MADE AT THE MARKET CROSS. 
 
 When I paid a visit to Denbigh I found the High Cross, so called, 
 surrounded by a number of loiterers, come together to discuss or 
 hear news. In former days this was the very spot where people 
 congregated to hear or relate the current news of the times. The 
 poor people whom I saw were only perpetuating a custom once 
 fashionable and necessary. It was at the Cross that announcements 
 of importance were made ; and also proclamations of all kinds, of a 
 private or public nature. Advantage was taken of the concourse of 
 people assembled on market days to publish there matters of im- 
 portance, and we find parliamentary instructions given, that certain 
 notices, such as contemplated marriages, should be given on market 
 days at the town or market cross. From very ancient times, up 
 almost to our own days, legal, and civil, and private proclamations 
 were made at the cross. I will give a few instances of these : — 
 
 Walter Frompton of Bristol by his Will dated 8th December, 1388, 
 gives certain property to his wife Isabel for her life, on conditions that 
 she carefully preserves all the said possessions ; but if she should marry 
 again, or live unchastely, they are to be sold, after three proclamations at 
 the High Cross, " cum tuba, et plus offerenti ;" the money thereby raised 
 to be divided into four equal parts and appropriated to certain specified 
 pious and charitable uses. 
 
 A summary of the will of Frompton is given in vol. vi., p. 19, of 
 the Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archmological Society. 
 
Denbigh. 3 1 
 
 In the times of the Commonwealth banns of marriage were pub- 
 lished at market crosses, and people were there united in marriage 
 by justices of the peace. In the parish register of Kislingbury, 
 Northamptonshire, is this entry : — 
 
 William Nicholles and Cassandra Cooke wear published in a contract 
 of marriage at three markitt daies at the cross of Northampton the 8th and 
 the 15th and the 22nd dayes of March 1655 and were married the 23rd 
 daye. — Elliott's Parish Registers of Northampton (printed privately), p. 19. 
 
 In the Cheshire Sheaf, which is a reprint of antiquarian notes 
 published in the Chester Courant, there are given instances of civil 
 marriages celebrated in the city of Chester. Mr. Hughes, the able 
 editor of the Sheaf, found the following in the parish registers of 
 Chester (St. Oswald's) : — 
 
 Richard Hughes of Newton, in ye countie of Chest'r, smith, and Jane 
 Worrall of Shurlach, in ye same countie, Widdow, vpon the 20th day of 
 Sept 1654 tendared unto the Wor'll William Ince, Ald'rm' & Justice of 
 peace within the Cittie of Chest'r, a sertiflcate subscribed by Tho : 
 Humphreys, Notarie Publiq', & Parish Regist'r of Peters in Chest'r 
 afforesaid, intimating that an Intenc'on of there Mariage was published in 
 the Market place within the said parish of Peters three market days in three 
 severall weekes ; whereupon hee p'mitted them to solem'ize there said 
 Mariage, according to ye forme proscribed in an Act of Parliam't ; which 
 was p'formed in ye p'sence of Hugh Rutter, William Milington, John 
 Hughs, Arabella Dewsbury, witnesses p'sent at ye s'd Mariage. — Vol. ii., 
 pp. 229-30. 
 
 The market cross is not mentioned here ; " market place" stands 
 in its stead ; but in an entry made in the Register for Holy Trinity 
 parish it appears . . . . " published, at the Market Cross in Chester." 
 This latter marriage was celebrated June 22nd, 1654. 
 
 Without further burdening my description with quotations, I 
 bring these remarks on proclamations at crosses to an end. I might 
 have added many extracts to those already given, but sufficient have 
 been used to show what important announcements were made at 
 market crosses. 
 
 One other kind of business which was sometimes transacted at 
 such crosses, I must mention : the dispensing of justice. In Stow's 
 Survey of London, edited by Strype (London, 1720, folio), is this 
 entry : — 
 
 In the high street, near unto the strand, sometime stood a cross of 
 stone, against the Bishop of Coventry, or Chester his house, whereof I 
 
32 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 read, that in the year 1294, and divers other times, the Justices Itinerant 
 sate without London, at the stone cross overagainst the Bishop of 
 Coventry's House, and sometimes they sate in the Bishop's House, which 
 was by the strand. — Book iv., p. 105. 
 
 Newspapers, market halls, and other products of later days, have 
 brought to an end the primitive customs associated with market 
 and other crosses. 
 
 THE ABBEY CROSS, DENBIGH. 
 
 All that remains of this Cross is the head-stone, which was for- 
 tunately discovered by the late Dr. Cumming in the grounds of the 
 Abbey. The doctor had it removed to his 
 house, called Dolhyfryd, about a mile from Den- 
 bigh, and there erected by the side of a well. 
 On the sale of Dolhyfryd to Mr. Blackwell, 
 father of the present owner, the Cross passed 
 with the property, and was removed from the well 
 to the premises attached to the house, where it 
 now remains ; and I have to thank Mr. Black- 
 well for his courtesy in allowing me to sketch 
 this interesting remnant of the Abbey Cross. 
 
 The stone measures 25 inches in length, 
 11 inches in width, and 8 inches in thickness. 
 
 Four decorated niches 
 
 ornament its sides. The 
 
 subjects, sculptured in 
 
 relief, are more or less defaced by the action 
 |'» t ] a of the elements, or other causes. 
 f-\ W'K ^r In one of the broader niches is a carving 
 
 iiP'if^tii'' of the Crucifixi ° n ( Fi s- i o> and ° n eacn side 
 
 WMmmlaSm of the cross are the emblems of the passion. 
 To the right are the pincers, nails, hammer, 
 anvil, and two scourges ; to the left are the 
 ladder and spear, with sponge at the end, and 
 a single nail. This niche is trefoil-headed ; the 
 shafts at the angles have disappeared, and the 
 ornamentation at the top is much worn. 
 The opposite face is occupied by a figure ot 
 the Virgin and Child (Fig. II.). The hair of the Virgin falls over 
 the shoulders, and her head is encircled with a crown. 
 
 % 
 
 'mm 
 
 mwuJm. 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 Fig. II. 
 
Denbigh. 
 
 33 
 
 In one of the side niches is the figure of an ecclesiastic (Fig. III.) 
 in the act of devotion, robed in alb, chasuble, and maniple. Traces 
 of a series of Y crosses are observable on the chasuble. The lower 
 portion of the figure has been mutilated. 
 
 In the remaining niche is a male figure clothed in a flowing robe 
 (Fig. IV.), the left hand holding a book, the right, three, or perhaps 
 four, balls. The sleeves of the garment do not come lower than the 
 elbow. This figure probably represents St. John. 
 
 The Abbey to which this Cross belonged was 
 formerly a house of Carmelite Friars, and it was 
 founded by John Salisbury, of Llewenny, in 1289. It 
 continued to be the mausoleum of the family until 
 the Reformation, Many mutilated effigies and frag- 
 ments of tombs have from time to time been found 
 in the ruins, and some of these are still preserved, 
 and carefully kept, by Mrs. Owen of the Abbey, the 
 name given to the residence adjoining the ruins. But 
 the Abbey itself is in a pitiable state of neglect, and 
 serves the purpose of outbuildings to the Abbey farm. 
 Indeed, Denbigh is famous for containing more ruined Fig. hi. 
 ecclesiastical buildings than any other town in North Wales. Here 
 is the Abbey, at the bottom of the town, in a deplorable state of 
 neglect ; St. Hilary's Chapel, on the summit of the 
 hill, is untenantable ; the fine ruins, near by, of a 
 church which was intended to supersede the cathedral 
 at St. Asaph, are mere skeleton walls ; St. Anne's 
 Chapel, mentioned by Leland, is no more, and its 
 site is supposed to be occupied by a public-house, 
 the Chirk Castle Arms; the ancient parish church 
 called Whitchurch is rather a mortuary chapel than 
 anything else ; and the Queen's Chapel, in the castle, 
 completes the list of neglected religious houses in the 
 parish of Denbigh. 
 
 The Abbey Cross belongs probably to the early 
 part of the fourteenth century, but it may have 
 Fl e- IV ' been erected, when the Abbey was built, at the 
 
 close of the thirteenth century. 
 
D E R W E N. 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HIS is the most elaborate and perfect Cross in the 
 Vale of Clwyd. It stands on the south side of the 
 church, opposite the porch, and is a prominent 
 feature in the churchyard. Very old and weather- 
 worn it appears, leaning towards the ground. 
 
 There are two steps leading up to the pedestal 
 or socket of the Cross. The lower portion of the 
 only some of its stones remaining in position, and 
 the most part, overgrown with grass ; this portion 
 
 basement has 
 
 these are, for 
 
 measures 7ft. 4m. by 8ft. 3m. ; in height, the step is 8in., in breadth, 
 
 ift. ' The second part measures 6ft. iin. by 5ft. 6in. ; in height the 
 
 step is ioin.,in breadth, ift. 4m. The stones forming these steps are 
 
 large. From the measurements it will be seen that the Cross stands, 
 
 at present, upon an oblong basement. 
 
 The pedestal is a ponderous stone, 2ft. gin. square at the base, 
 and 2ft. 4in. high ; the upper bed is brought to an octagon by 
 broaches of convex outline, and the upper edge is slightly canted. 
 
 The shaft, which is mortised into the pedestal, is 13m. square at 
 the base, but, by sculptured heads, which serve as broaches, it 
 becomes octagonal. On each side of the smaller alternate faces of 
 the shaft are, sculptured in relief, equidistant from each other, three 
 figures, representing, some of them, angels, and others, men's 
 heads, said, locally, to represent the twelve apostles ; and at the 
 top, underneath a fillet moulding, are oak leaves. Between two 
 mouldings at the upper extremity of the shaft, one on each of the 
 six smaller sides, alternately arranged, are a head, and a rose of 
 fourfoils, whilst, on the two larger opposite sides, is similar 
 ornamentation, two on each face ; and also, underneath the head- 
 stone, one on each face, are heads and roses. Height, to first 
 moulding, 6ft. iin., and from same moulding to niche, gin. 
 

 '- 'i' v"- ' v I; , V.-,is V jlJi?J v ">"~r'Vi,>°£ 
 
 ■WEST SID'S. 
 
 DERWE1ST. 
 
 WOODALLMINSHALL & C?. UTHOS,OSWESTRY. 
 
Derwen. 
 
 35 
 
 _Q 
 
 X 
 U 
 
 ffi 
 
 u 
 
 w. 
 
 The head, or capstone, measures ift. gin. in width, and ift. iin. 
 in depth, and its height is 2ft. ioin. It is divided into four niches, 
 containing sculptured figures with canopy and pinnacles. 
 
 The Cross is weather-worn, or otherwise disfigured, and it is 
 difficult to decipher the sculpturing on its surface, and consequently 
 this is variously read. The Rev. D. R. Thomas, in the History 
 of the Diocese, expresses himself as follows respecting Derwen 
 Cross, and his thoughtful opinion is ever worthy of consideration : — 
 " The churchyard cross, now much weather-worn, has on its four 
 faces canopied niches with subjects carved in relief, to represent 
 respectively, the Crucifixion of our Lord, and Justice, Mercy, and 
 Truth. The work belongs apparently to the twelfth or thirteenth 
 century." 
 
 After many visits to the Cross, 
 and its careful observation in 
 many lights, I have failed to make 
 out all the figures, but my journeys 
 have not been entirely in vain . They 
 have been rewarded by the revela- 
 tion of details that had escaped 
 detection at previous visits, and 
 they have increased my admira- 
 tion for the painstaking labour 
 and skill of the unknown artist 
 who five centuries ago worked upon 
 the Cross, forming it out of a single 
 stone. 
 
 In the west niche is a crucifix, 
 with the figures of St. John and 
 the Virgin, one on each side, all 
 greatly defaced, not by time, but 
 by the spoiler. 
 
 In the south compartment is an 
 angel, holding a scale in the left hand, while with his uplifted right 
 hand he grasps a sword, which is seen above the head, and from the 
 mouth proceeds a trumpet. A portion of the angel's wing is visible 
 at the top of the left corner of the compartment, and the feet stand 
 on a somewhat rounded surface. The scene represents the sum- 
 moning of the dead to judgment, and it is therefore an appropriate 
 symbol for a churchyard. 
 
 5a I 
 
 □ 
 
 Cross. 
 
 Site of Churchyard Cross. 
 Seals i-24th inch to the foot. A Holy Water Stoup. 
 
36 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The east face is sadly defaced and worn by time, and the figures 
 are indistinct. In the centre of the niche is a chair on which is 
 seated a person clothed in flowing garments ; on each side are two 
 figures, an adult and a child ; so that the compartment contains 
 figures of five persons. It has been supposed that the group 
 represents the Wisdom of Solomon, but it is more probable that it 
 was intended for the Virgin and Child, and possibly the second child 
 stands for the infant Forerunner of Christ. 
 
 The north face, the one opposite the Church porch, has like the 
 east face suffered greatly, and all that is traceable in this niche is 
 an erect image robed in loose raiment ; and probably this also was 
 intended to represent the Virgin. 
 
 The total height of the Cross, including the steps and socket, is 
 13 feet 1 inch, and when complete and perfect it was higher, for the 
 top part of the head stone has disappeared. 
 
 The Cross belongs to the fourteenth century. 
 
 It has departed from the perpendicular, and inclines from 1 to 2 
 degrees eastward. Formerly, when the parish school was held in 
 the room formed out of the lich gate, the churchyard was the 
 children's play ground, and their great feat was to climb up the 
 Cross, and seat themselves on the top. I have been informed that 
 this was occasionally accomplished. If so, the repeated attempts 
 would damage the engravings on the shaft, for the climbers would 
 use them as props for their feet ; but it must have been difficult for a 
 child to ascend to the top, as the head stone projects considerably 
 from the shaft. The achievement was consequently accompanied 
 with bodily danger sufficient to retard all but the rash and reckless 
 from attempting its accomplishment. 
 
 ANNOUNCEMENTS MADE BY PARISH CLERKS FROM STEPS OF CROSS. 
 
 The custom of publishing parochial matters by the parish clerk 
 from the steps of the Cross in Derwen parish reached our own days. 
 The present clerk, Mr. John Morris, an intelligent and respectable 
 man, who has filled the office for upwards of forty years, has himself 
 published notices of local interest from the Cross ; but he has not 
 lately done so. Printed circulars have superseded this kind of 
 advertisement. The notices were announced by the parish clerk 
 after the morning service, and the people were in the habit of waiting 
 outside the Church until his appearance to ascertain whether he had 
 
Derwen. 37 
 
 any news to give them ; if he had, he proclaimed it, standing 
 on the upper step of the Cross. Such was the custom in this parish, 
 and also in some other parishes in the Vale ; but crosses latterly 
 did not exist in every churchyard, and where there was no cross, 
 the parish clerk stood in the porch. Mr. Morris said that the Sunday 
 announcements made by him were often issued at the command of 
 the justices of the peace. 
 
 Various were the announcements made by the parish clerk on 
 Sunday morning. Sometimes he had to inform the people when the 
 tithes were to be paid, or when an auction was to take place, or of 
 the sports to be played. Agricultural matters formed a part of these 
 announcements. Where sheep were kept on the hills, they at certain 
 seasons of the year came into the proclamations of the parish clerk. 
 In fact, all matters of a secular kind incidental to farm life, and the 
 exigencies of the country, were published, without compunction, on 
 Sunday, by the clerk. The Rev. M. Hughes, Rector of Derwen, 
 informed me that in South Wales the same thing formerly took 
 place, and that the parish clerk of Llanedy was in the habit of pub- 
 lishing auctions, and enumerating the things to be sold, jumbling 
 them up in a ludicrous manner. Mr. Jones, schoolmaster at 
 Llanfihangel-Glyn-Myfyr, told me that his mother had informed 
 him that she remembered races, etc., announced by the parish clerk 
 of Llandyrnog, a parish in the Vale of Clwyd, on Sunday, after 
 morning service. I was also informed by natives of Llanfihangel- 
 Glyn-Myfyr that athletic contests were formerly notified on Sunday 
 by the clerk in the churchyard. 
 
 As the parish clerk was formerly the public crier outside the 
 church, so was it also his duty to announce inside matters 
 connected with the services. I have heard a parish clerk in Carnar- 
 vonshire give notice of a watch-night (gwylnos), a religious service 
 held the night before the burial, in the house where a corpse lies, 
 and also of the time when the funeral procession would start. In the 
 English-speaking parts of Wales the parish clerk was in the habit of 
 giving notices in church, and queer mistakes were sometimes made 
 by these officials. 
 
 SUNDAY GAMES. 
 
 Sunday games date from most ancient times, and they continued 
 in Wales up to and into the present century. Many an old man has 
 told me that he has seen hand-ball played on Sunday morning 
 
38 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 against the church walls, and that when the church bell ceased, 
 players and spectators in a body entered the church. The testi- 
 mony of the living is amply corroborated by many writers. Robert 
 Hughes, Tyissa, Efenechtyd, 83 years old, told me that he remem- 
 bered ball-playing at Clocaenog Church on Sunday mornings. He 
 said that the game was continued to the last minute before the 
 service began, and that then everybody walked into the church. 
 Sunday playing, Hughes says, ceased when he was a lad. John 
 Roberts, Penfedw, Llanfwrog, told me that it was a usual thing, 
 according to the testimony of an old man, long dead, who was fond 
 of speaking of his younger days, for the parson of a certain parish in 
 the Vale of Clwyd to act as marker in important games, and that 
 when the time for beginning the service approached, he would say, 
 " Come, lads, it is high time to go to church," and immediately the 
 game stopped, and they all followed the clergyman. The vicar 
 mentioned died in 1809. Innumerable instances of Sunday sports 
 in the Vale could be adduced, but enough for the present has been 
 said. It was not in the Vale only that such games were carried on 
 in the days of men still living. David Watkin, servant man at the 
 Rectory, Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire, told me that he had seen 
 bandy played in Llanfechain churchyard at the back of the church, 
 the north side, on Sunday, when he was a lad. He told me he was 
 68 years old, and this was two years ago. 
 
 Hand-ball was usually played on the gable end of the church, 
 where there was no window ; but if the west end was not suitable, 
 then the north wall was used. This wall in old churches had no 
 windows in it, excepting a small one in the chancel, and it was 
 therefore available for games of " fives"; but should there be windows 
 in the walls, likely to interfere with the game, they were protected 
 with shutters. The north side of the churchyard was devoted to 
 games, and formerly no one was buried in that part. In Llanfechain 
 churchyard there is a cock-pit still traceable, amphitheatre-like in 
 form, on the north side of the church. 
 
 The games played on Sunday were various : hammer-throwing 
 and heavy-stone-throwing were both common ; nine-pins, prison-bars, 
 ball (both hand and foot), dancing, etc., were all common games. 
 Prison-bars, or prisoners' bars, or base, as it is called in Shakespeare, 
 nine-pins and ball playing, were the favourite pastimes in more 
 recent days. 
 
Dermen. 39 
 
 Contests between parish and parish were popular, and hard words 
 and harder blows too frequently accompanied these friendly en- 
 counters. Tradition says that the gosper (vesper) service was put off 
 occasionally to enable the young men to continue their games un- 
 interruptedly. This afternoon service was not so much thought of 
 as the morning service, and was but indifferently attended. Usually 
 there was a sermon on Sunday morning in church, but not in the 
 afternoon. 
 
 The writer was informed by a friend, Mr. Elias Williams, Bronydd, 
 Llanllechid, Carnarvonshire, of an event which took place in his 
 father's days, and in which, I think, he said his father took a part. 
 A football match had been arranged for a certain Sunday, on a hill 
 midway between Llanbedr and Llanllechid, between the young men 
 of those parishes. On the day appointed it rained, and though the 
 Llanllechid men were on the ground, their opponents failed to appear. 
 The weather was propitious on the following Sunday ; but, as no 
 arrangement had been made for that day, a few only of the Llan- 
 llechid people presented themselves, whilst those of Llanbedr came 
 in force. The game began, but the few opposed to the many could 
 not even hold their own, and in their distress they despatched one 
 of their number to the parish church, which was a good way off, to 
 bring up assistance. The messenger rushed along over walls and 
 fields, and, heated and exhausted, ran into the church, shouting out 
 that the boys of Llanbedr had come, and that they were kicking the 
 ball before them to Llanbedr parish. At these words every man in 
 the church rose and left the building, and made for the hill with 
 might and main. They came up to the victorious Llanbedr boys, 
 who were kicking the ball over the mountain towards their own 
 village. The ball was rapidly turned the other way, and the day 
 ended with a "glorious licking for the Llanbedrites." Such a day 
 became a red-letter day, and my dear old friend related with anima- 
 tion the famous encounter here recorded. 
 
 Sunday games seem to have been accompanied with much drink- 
 ing, if not with much drunkenness. In very many instances the next 
 house to the village church was the village inn, and it often abutted 
 upon the churchyard walls. A clerical friend, who some years ago 
 restored his church, informed me that when he first went to the 
 living he noticed a small recess in the wall of the church, on the 
 north side, and upon making inquiries, he was told that it was 
 
40 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 the twll chwart, or quart hole, and that when a game of fives was 
 being played a quart jug filled with ale was always there for the use 
 of the players ; and he further said that the stakes were generally a 
 quart of ale. His church had shutters to the windows on the side 
 where ball was played. It need hardly be said that the twll chwart 
 and shutters disappeared when the church was restored. This 
 church was in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. 
 
 These Sunday games outlived injunctions and laws, but they have 
 in this century entirely disappeared from Wales. In some parishes 
 they lingered longer than in others, and Derwen was one of these. 
 In this parish there is a quillet of ground called Yr erw fowlio, 
 the bowling quillet, where of a Sunday the natives exhibited their 
 skill at chwareu ceilys, or nine-pins. It is no longer used on Sunday, 
 or any other day, for this purpose. 
 
 Hand-ball, or fives, was usually played here, as in other parishes, 
 against the church walls, and Sunday was the ordinary time for 
 playing this and other games. Fives was a dry game, and the 
 players often resorted to the Blue Bell to quench their thirst. There 
 was a door opening into the churchyard from the inn, and thus no 
 time was lost in going through the churchyard gate, or over the stile, 
 to the public-house. The gable end of the village inn at Derwen is 
 built upon the very boundary of the churchyard, forming, in fact, 
 the boundary wall, and whether the owners of the Blue Bell had 
 ever a right of way into the churchyard direct from the house or 
 not, they had a door which formerly gave ingress and egress. 
 This privilege appears to have been obnoxious in later times, for a 
 wall has been erected right in front of the door, thus stopping the 
 passage. 
 
 In the neighbouring parish of Llanfwrog, a public-house, the 
 Labour in Vain, also abuts upon the churchyard, and here, too, is a 
 door in the gable end opening into it. This door is not blocked 
 up, but it is quite disused in these days. The churches at Llan- 
 ferres and Llanynys likewise have public -houses adjoining the 
 churchyards. In the village of Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch, near Corwen, 
 the public-house adjoins the churchyard, and has a back door, 
 even at present in use, that opens into it. At Dolgelley a door 
 opening into the churchyard from the adjoining inn was closed 
 fifteen years ago. There may be other instances of the juxta- 
 position of church and tavern in the Vale of Clwyd and other 
 
Derwen. 41 
 
 places, that have been unnoticed by me, but those which I have 
 now enumerated are more than sufficient to prove that in days gone 
 by the public-house was in great request. There was a time when 
 singers thought they ought to have a glass of beer between the 
 singing of one part of the service and another, and then these 
 entries into public-houses would be great conveniences ; and the 
 door opening directly from the singing-loft to the churchyard would 
 enable the sitters in the west-end gallery to escape unnoticed, when- 
 ever they liked, from the church. 
 
 At every restoration of a church, some distinguishing, if dis- 
 figuring, feature disappears, and west-end galleries, very shortly, will 
 be things of the past. Stone steps, leading direct to the church 
 gallery from the churchyard, have, I believe, entirely gone ; the last 
 to be removed in or near the Vale of Clwyd was that at Bettws- 
 Gwerfil-Goch Church. 
 
 Many extracts might be made from books showing the prevalence 
 of Sunday games in Wales and England up to a late period, but two 
 shall suffice. 
 
 In the Life of the Rev, Thomas Charles, by the Rev. W. Hughes, 
 Vicar of Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, Mr. Charles, speaking of the last 
 quarter of the eighteenth century, and scenes which he had himself 
 observed, says : — 
 
 On Sunday mornings the poor were more constant in their attendance 
 at church than the gentry ; but the Sunday evenings (afternoons up to 
 dark) were spent by all in idle amusements. Every Sabbath there was 
 what was called Y chwareu-gamp, a sort of sport in which all the young 
 men of the neighbourhood had a trial of strength, and the people assembled 
 
 from the surrounding country to see their feats In this town 
 
 (Bala) they used to employ the Sundays in dancing and singing to the 
 harp, and in playing tennis against the town hall. In every corner of the 
 town some sport or other went on, till the light of the Sabbath-day had 
 faded away. 
 
 But it was not in Wales only that the things now mentioned took 
 place ; they were also common in England. 
 
 In the Records of the Life of the Rev. W. H. Havergal, by his 
 daughter, it is stated that Miss Havergal visited Coaley, Gloucester- 
 shire, to tread in her father's footprints, where he had been officiating 
 from 1819 to 1822. She says : — 
 
 Another man told me that when my father first came to Coaley, as soon 
 as ever the church was over, the game of fives was played against the 
 
42 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 tower wall, but for shame they could not play after hearing such sermons. 
 — Home Words, xii., p. 256. 
 
 When we recall the measures which were taken to put down 
 Sunday games, we find how unwilling the people were to forego these 
 recreations. An account of these measures is given in the Appendix. 
 
 LLOFFT-Y-GROG, OR ROOD-LOFT. 
 
 Derwen is the only church in the Vale of Clwyd which has a 
 rood-loft, or, as it is called in Welsh, Llofft-y-grog, i.e., the Loft of the 
 Cross. This rood-loft occupies its original position between the nave 
 and chancel of the Church. Until the late restoration, the loft was 
 entered from the body of the Church by stairs that abutted upon the 
 north wall, but at present it is reached by stairs built into the north 
 wall. It extends the whole breadth of the Church, and measures 
 25ft. long by 9ft. 4in. broad. The wooden cross that formerly stood 
 in the uppermost beam, facing the nave, has disappeared, but the 
 mortise into which it entered still exists, and measures 7m. by i^in. 
 
 The parish clerk informs me that he remembers the loft occupied 
 by parishioners, and he states that there were in it two movable 
 benches for their use. My informant says that on the great festivals 
 the rood-loft, the west-end gallery, which has been taken down, and 
 the body of the Church, were crowded with people, and on such occa- 
 sions the north side door, now closed, and the south door, were thrown 
 open to enable the congregation to leave the Church. He also states 
 that the people who were in the habit of frequenting the rood-loft, 
 when the parishioners generally attended the Church, continued doing 
 so from choice, and not necessity, to the end of their lives. 
 
 The rood-lofts, as I have said, have disappeared from the churches 
 in and about the Vale of Clwyd, but there is evidence in several 
 buildings of their former existence. Llanrhaiadr Church was lately 
 restored, and a small window, high up in the south wall, was brought 
 to light, which evidently was intended and required for the rood-loft. 
 The small narrow windows on the south and north sides of Cerrig-y- 
 drudion Church show that at one time there was a rood-loft. In 
 Llanelidan Church are beams that seem to have been portions of a 
 rood-loft, and in the Village Churches in Denbighshire a sketch of a 
 part of it will be found. Other churches bear indications of rood- 
 lofts that were taken down years ago, so far back that even tradition 
 is silent about them. In Efenechtyd Church is a battlemented and 
 
Derwen. 43 
 
 paneled beam of wood, now used as a partition between the 
 chancel and nave, which was a part of the rood-loft. The 
 screen at Clocaenog Church retains traces of the rood-loft that 
 once surmounted it, and from the date, 1672, on a piece of 
 wood nailed to the screen, we may infer that the loft was then 
 improved away. 
 
 The destruction of rood-lofts began as early as the days of 
 Henry VIII. In a letter from Cranmer to Henry VIII., dated 
 January 24, 15+I, he refers to the king's commands " to take down 
 the lofts," &c. (See The Miscellaneous Writings, &c, of Thomas 
 Cranmer, page 415, Parker Society.) 
 
 An entry in the parish register of South Littleton, Worcestershire, 
 under date 1552, refers to the rood-loft there. It is : " Received . . . 
 for ou r Rode loffte." 
 
 Passing over a few years we find another allusion to rood- 
 lofts. In Archbishop Parker's articles to be inquired of within 
 the diocese of Canterbury in his visitation in 1569 is the following 
 question : — 
 
 Whether the roode lofte be pulled downe, according to the order pre- 
 scribed ; and if the partition betweene the chauncell and the churche be 
 kepte. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 259. 
 
 In 1571 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners gave orders for the 
 removal of rood-lofts : — 
 
 It is thus decreed and ordained that the roodlofts, as yet being at this 
 day aforesaid (the tenth day of October) untransposed, shall be so altered 
 that the upper parts of the same with soller, be quite taken down unto 
 the upper parts of the vaults and the beams running in length over the 
 said vaults, by putting some convenient crest upon the said beam, &c— 
 Remains of Grindal, pp. 154-5, Parker Society. 
 
 Articles to the same effect as the foregoing were issued by 
 Edmund, Archbishop of York (Grindal). And in the same Arch- 
 bishop's injunctions for the laity, issued also in 1571, are the 
 following words : — 
 
 All altars to be pulled down to the ground, and the altar stones defaced 
 and bestowed to some common use : and rood lofts altered. The materials 
 to be sold for the use of the church. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 269. 
 
 Upon his translation to Canterbury, the Archbishop issued like 
 
 F 
 
44 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Articles of Enquiry within his province of Canterbury. This he did 
 in the 18th year of Queen Elizabeth, a.d. 1576 : — 
 
 Art. 4. whether in ye church all altars be taken .... And whether 
 y e roodlofts be taken and altered so that the upper parts thereof with the 
 soller or loft be quite taken down unto the cross beam, &c. 
 
 By taking away the " soller " or loft, in which people congregated, 
 a simple screen was left standing, and this will account for the 
 number of screens without a loft that are still to be met with in the 
 Vale of Clwyd and other parts of Wales. 
 
 In a very interesting History of the Parish of Llanerfyl by the 
 Rev. G. Edwards, M.A., Rector of Llangadfan, which appears in 
 the Montgomeryshire Collections (vol. xvi., p. 266), is an account of a 
 Vestry held July 15th, 1675, Lord Herbert presiding, in which it was 
 resolved to remove the rood-loft. The demolition of this loft involved, 
 possibly, no greater principle than that its removal was necessary for 
 the contemplated improvements in the church. Be this as it may, 
 the Vestry resolved : — 
 
 1. The rood-loft was ordered to be taken down, all except the door 
 under it, which was to be left to make a distinction between the body of 
 the church and the chancel. 
 
 2. With the additional timber, the seats, by way of a gallery, to be 
 erected below the font for the parishioners in Heu of the said rood. 
 
 These resolutions were carried out, as is shewn by the records of a 
 subsequent vestry. The manner in which the rood-loft was removed 
 reminds us of Archbishop Parker's injunctions in 1569, that a " par- 
 tition betweene the chauncell and the churche be kepte," and the 
 substitution of a gallery in lieu of the rood "soller" shows that in 
 other places as well as in Derwen rood-lofts were occupied by the 
 people, and without them the accommodation was evidently insuffi- 
 cient for the congregation. 
 
 It is fortunate that Derwen has retained its screen and loft. A 
 few years ago it was the fashion to remove, as encumbrances, or for 
 some other reason, all these interesting and valuable records of art 
 in years gone by, but at present they are, deservedly, highly appre- 
 ciated and preserved. The late Bishop of Bangor, Bishop Bethel, 
 subscribed handsomely towards the restoration of Derwen Church in 
 1857, upon the condition that the screen and rood-loft should be left 
 undisturbed. This was complied with, and so the handsome and 
 invaluable fourteenth century screen remains intact, and, if not 
 
Derwen. 45 
 
 tampered with, it will last for centuries. 1'here is a beautiful screen 
 in good preservation in Llanwnog Church, Montgomeryshire, and 
 another in Llanrwst Parish Church. 
 
 EASTER-TIDE FESTIVITIES. 
 
 The observance of Good Friday and Easter in the last century 
 was very different from what it is now in Wales. The parish clerk 
 of Derwen tells me, and I have heard the same thing in other 
 parishes, that at Easter-tide all the adults in the parish were in the 
 habit of partaking of the Holy Communion. There were three 
 celebrations at that season, one on Good Friday, one on Saturday, 
 and one on Easterday. In some parishes I have also heard of a 
 celebration on Easter Monday. The parishioners did not all partake 
 at the same time ; servants, farmers, and gentry, partook on different 
 days. This division of classes appears to have been common, for the 
 same thing was the rule in Llanasa, and other churches also. I 
 know not the exact date when what I have now related ceased, but 
 the living state that in the time of their fathers all the parishioners 
 communicated on one of the three days named ; and the immediate 
 predecessor of the present parish clerk at Derwen used to say that 
 so many communicated in his early days that he " thought they 
 would never end." 
 
 The afternoon of Easter Saturday was formerly a half holiday. 
 Servants claimed it as a matter of right, and spent it in various 
 games, but they attended church in the morning of the day. 
 
 But Easter Monday was the great gala day, alike with masters 
 and servants. It was spent in jollity, games, and exhibitions of 
 strength and wrestling. Derwen had its Erw ysgwt, or wrestling 
 quillet, as well as its Erw fowlio, or bowling quillet. There was one 
 singular custom in this parish which happily has passed away. It 
 was called Gwneyd Bragod, and was described to me by Mr. Morris, 
 the parish clerk, who remembers it. 
 
 Gwneyd Bragod, or making bragget, took its name from a kind of 
 liquor in use among the Welsh, consisting of a mixture of mead and 
 spiced beer. This was a beverage specially prepared for Easter 
 Monday. It was an old custom, so Mr. Morris informs me, for the 
 young women of the parish, on Easter Monday, to invite to the 
 public-house all the young men they met on their way to the village, 
 to have a drink of Bragod. With such a custom in the parish, it is 
 
46 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 not to be wondered at that John Langford, who was Rector from 
 the year 1672 to 1718, wrote the following elegiacs in the parish 
 register : — 
 
 Baptizatorum tibi nomina singula signo 
 
 Atq' ita defunctos ordine quosq' loco 
 Sed junctos memoro sociali fcedere paucos 
 
 Transiliit metas luxuriosa cohors. 
 
 There was in other places, at Easter time, something similar to 
 this liquor-drinking and gallantry. Strutt says that it was customary 
 in the Scilly Isles for " the young people to exercise a sort of gallantry 
 called goose-dancing, when the maidens are dressed up for young 
 men, and the young men for maidens ; thus disguised they visit their 
 neighbours in companies, where they dance. . . . When the 
 music and dancing is done, they are treated with liquor, and then 
 they go to the next house of entertainment" (Sports and Pastimes, 
 P- 349). 
 
DYSERTH 
 
 N the south side of the Parish Church, in the church- 
 yard, stands a Cross which, tradition says, originally 
 marked the spot, on the hill-side ; where Einion, son 
 of Ririd Flaidd, fell, pierced with an arrow, while 
 engaged in the siege of the castle tha"t stood on the 
 summit of the rock above the Church. The piece of 
 ground on which the National School stands was 
 formerly called Bryn Einion, but it is now named Bryn-yr-Ysgol, or 
 the Mount of the School. On this Bryn the Cross is said to have 
 stood, but the exact spot is unmarked and unknown. The inhabi- 
 tants state that years ago the Cross was, for safety's sake, removed 
 from the hill-side to its present position. 
 
 If this were verily Croes Einion, Einion's Cross, it would be valu- 
 able and interesting as showing the kind of crosses erected to the 
 memory of the brave, six or more centuries ago. But its identity is 
 not proved. Pennant says : — 
 
 It was at a siege of this place that Eineon, the son of Ririd Vlaidd, was 
 slain. A cross was erected on the spot, called Croes Eineon, the shaft of 
 which, ornamented with strange sculpture, now is supposed to form the 
 stile into the churchyard of Diserth; in which is another cross, of very 
 curious workmanship. — Tour in Wales, vol. ii., pp. 7, 8. 
 
 Thus briefly, and guardedly, does Pennant express himself respect- 
 ing the crosses he observed in Dyserth. At present there is only one 
 Cross in the churchyard. When Professor Westwood was at Dyserth, 
 he saw two crosses, which are figured in the Lapidarium Wallice. The 
 Professor was at Dyserth thirty-five years ago, and since that time 
 one of the crosses has entirely disappeared. The other is still in 
 existence, and most probably it is the one which is last mentioned by 
 Pennant, as being in the churchyard, " of very curious workmanship." 
 Pennant visited Dyserth in the last century. The existing Cross 
 could not have formed the stile into the churchyard, for its surfaces 
 do not exhibit marks of having been so used. 
 
* 
 
 * 
 
 48 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The cross which Pennant found as a stile, and which was then 
 supposed to have been the shaft of Croes Einion, has latterly dis- 
 appeared. Somehow or other the present Cross has usurped the 
 honour due to Einion's Cross, but Professor Westwood detected the 
 fraud. He writes : — 
 
 This Crbss is stated to have been brought from an adjoining hill, and to 
 have been erected on the spot where Einon, son of Ririd Vlaidd, was slain 
 by an arrow 'at the time the castle was destroyed by Llewellyn ap 
 Gruffydd, about 1260. The Cross is, however, of a much earlier date, 
 having been ascribed to the eighth century, which is certainly too early. 
 . . . It is also stated that there was an inscription on the Cross, which, 
 according to Griffith Hiraethog, was read : — 
 
 " Oc si petatur lapis yste kausa notatur 
 Einon oxi Ririd Flaidd filius hoc memoratur." 
 
 No trace, however, exists of such an inscription, nor does there seem to 
 be sufficient space for it on any part of the stone. — Lapidarium Wallice, 
 p. 209. 
 
 That there was no writing of any kind on this Cross is further 
 proved by information which the Rev. D. Jones, Vicar of the parish, 
 gave the writer. Mr. Jones stated that a few years ago the Cross 
 was removed bodily, and that he certainly did not detect traces of 
 any inscription on that part of the shaft which was buried in the 
 ground. He estimated the length of the shaft in the ground at about 
 three feet. There are no letters, nor space for any letters, on the 
 exposed part of the Cross. Mr. Jones said that the Cross was 
 replaced on its original site when it was re-erected in the churchyard. 
 Taking all these things into consideration, it cannot be maintained 
 that the present Cross commemorates Einion's death. 
 
 The writer is indebted to the kindness of Mr. Howel W. Lloyd for 
 the following interesting transcript from Robert Vaughan's Pedigrees 
 respecting Einion, son of Ririd Flaidd : — 
 
 His (Ririd Flaidd's) eldest son was Madoc, Enion the second, and 
 Howel the third . . . The said Enion was killed in a fight at Diserth 
 in Flintshire, in memorie of whome a Crosse was erected there, and called 
 Croes Enion, yt is, Enion's Crosse, and thereon was engraven this distic. 
 
 Mr. Lloyd remarks: — "Here an hiatus occurs in R. V.'s MS., 
 but the distich is supplied by W. W. E. Wynne, Esq., of Peniarth, 
 from another Hengwrt MS., Griffith Hiraethog's MS. Book of Pedi- 
 grees, entitled Llyfr Casgl law G. H. (fol. no), which is written in 
 
Dyserth. 49 
 
 a very illegible hand, so that R. V. may have failed to read it to his 
 satisfaction." The distich is given as follows : — 
 
 Ok sy petatur lapis yste kaussa notatur 
 Enion oxi rririt flaid filius hoc memoratur. 
 
 The Cross which at present exists in Dyserth churchyard is 
 63 inches high. It is a monolith, of a slaty, destructible nature. 
 About one half of the head, which was circular, has been broken 
 off; the shaft tapers throughout its length. On the west side of 
 the circular head is cut a Maltese cross, the extremities of which 
 project slightly beyond the circle ; this cross proceeds from a 
 central boss 5 inches in diameter, and the limbs of the cross 
 measure, therefrom to the circumference, jh inches. The head, 
 when perfect, measured 18 inches in diameter; but, if measured 
 from the extremity of the limbs of the Maltese cross, the entire 
 breadth of the head would be 20 inches. Between the arms of the 
 cross are rather deeply cut trilobed incisions, 2| inches long ; and 
 between the trilobes and the circumference are a series of oval or 
 elliptical impressions, four on each limb of the cross, and four on 
 each space between the limbs ; and thus there would be, when the 
 cross was complete, thirty-two of these elongated incisions around 
 the circular head. At present there are only fourteen more or less 
 visible. A circular incision, at present but indistinctly seen, separated 
 these impressions from the trilobes. On the only arm of the Maltese 
 Cross that is entire, between the elliptical markings and the central 
 boss, is a cross formed by two lines intersecting each other, having 
 on either side a couple of lines parallel therewith, which meet each 
 other and form angles. The other arm that partly exists has indistinct 
 interlaced ribbon ornamentation. 
 
 The stem of the Cross on this side, i.e., the west side, has inter- 
 laced ribbon ornamentation, which is represented as terminating 
 just beneath a lobe-like ornamentation close to the lower arm of the 
 Maltese cross ; but the work in this part is very much weather-worn 
 and indistinct. Near the base of the shaft is a quadrangular pattern, 
 similar to that on the arm of the Cross, divided by diagonal lines 
 into a series of triangles, which form a cross within the quadrangle. 
 The length of the stem is 46 inches ; breadth, underneath the head, 
 8| inches; at the surface of the ground, 11 inches; the width, 4 to 
 5 inches. 
 
 The side of the Cross facing eastward is also embellished. The 
 
50 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 circular head has two trilobed incisions, and traces of a third ; 
 so that on this side, as on the other, there were originally four 
 trilobed incisions. In the centre is a boldly projecting boss, orna- 
 mented with spiral lines. The boss is 5 inches in diameter, and 
 3 in projection. The space between the trilobes and the cir- 
 cumference is filled with interlaced work, while that between the 
 trilobes is taken up by spiral lines, and underneath the boss is a knot 
 representing two ropes entwined. From this part, to within 11 inches 
 of the ground, the shaft is plain, the stone having peeled off; but 
 at the bottom there is a portion of an interlaced line ornamentation 
 similar to that on the other side. 
 
 The edges of the stem are ornamented with interlaced ribbon 
 work, broken into two by a moulding 8 inches below tne head of the 
 Cross ; in the spaces between the ribbon work are small raised bosses. 
 
 Although the Cross is elaborately embellished, the workmanship is 
 rough, and the notches of the stonecutter's tool are visible. The 
 stone itself is overgrown with lichen, is greatly weather-worn, and 
 has a tendency to split. Unfortunately, even within the last forty 
 years, a large portion of one side has dropped off. The part that has 
 disappeared is delineated in Professor Westwood's excellent work 
 already several times alluded to. The drawings which illustrate my 
 own remarks were taken in 1880. 
 
 SOCKET OF CROSS. 
 
 The socket or pedestal of a Cross was brought to light at the 
 restoration of the Church. It was found imbedded in one of the 
 walls. The Church underwent alterations in 1579, 1603, and 1636, 
 and probably in one of these the socket was built into the wall for 
 preservation, or it might have been so placed by a utilitarian builder, 
 to save trouble and expense. The stone is at present in the church 
 porch ; a few years ago it was lying about the churchyard. It 
 deserves a safe resting place. 
 
 It is a block of irregular shape. (Figs. I., II., and III.) The 
 total height is 19 inches ; the base is much broader than the top. 
 Five of its sides are ornamented, but one is plain. Evidently at one 
 time this pedestal was only partially exposed. The extremity was 
 intended to be buried in the ground, the lower 5 inches being rough 
 and unornamented ; while the upper 14 inches are beautified with 
 interlaced and other designs ; and there is one long unornamented 
 
Scale, lloch. to the Poof.. 
 
 PEDESTAL OT CROSS. 
 
 TOP OE PEDESTAL 
 
 Kg. 3. 
 
 SECTION OE PE0EST4L. 
 
 rig. 2. 
 
 DYSERTH. 
 
 WOODALL.MINSHALL &C°. LITHOS., OSWESTRY. 
 
Dyserth. 
 
 5i 
 
 side, which apparently was also originally hidden from view, or it 
 would have been decorated like the other sides. 
 
 The socket measures 12 inches long, 6| inches broad, and 7 inches 
 deep. These dimensions will admit of its having been the pedestal 
 of the Cross now in the churchyard ; and, furthermore, the engravings 
 upon it are identical in character with those on the Cross. One side 
 has on it a circle, inclosing a cross, two arms of which extend 
 beyond the circle, while the transverse arms terminate with the 
 circumference ; the next side to this has interlaced work, similar to 
 that on the Cross ; then comes another circle divided into four 
 compartments, having within each compartment a figure resembling 
 the letter S. The two next divisions have interlaced work ; but 
 both these sides have been greatly damaged, and the design on one 
 of them has almost disappeared. The interstices between the 
 designs are filled with mortar, and this makes it difficult to trace 
 correctly the interlaced work. There are several grooves or incisions 
 on the top of the pedestal, as shown in the accompanying plan 
 (Fig. III.). 
 
 Built into the wall, where possibly the stile was which Pennant 
 
 mentions, is a long block of limestone, 
 measuring 5ft. ioin. by 
 i6in. broad, but one 
 side only of this block 
 is exposed. 
 
 There was found 
 lately, in the church- 
 yard, a stone which is 
 still preserved, with a 
 cross upon it. An en- 
 graving of it is here 
 given (Fig. IV.). It 
 seems to have been one of the panels in an altar tomb. It was 
 accidentally dug up, and is in a very good state of preservation. 
 
 Another visit to the churchyard was lately made, and I observed 
 a stone (Fig. V.) lying, among other stones, against the east wall of 
 the church ; this, too, was probably a panel in an altar tomb. 
 
 <:--=- 
 
 ■ 201H 
 
 Fig. V, 
 
 Fig. IV. 
 
EFENECHTYD. 
 
 SUPPOSED CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HEN Efenechtyd Church was being re-built, in the year 
 
 1873, an ornamented stone was found embedded in 
 
 the wall, and this stone, Mr. Baker, the architect, 
 
 supposes, was a portion of the Churchyard Cross. I 
 
 am indebted to this gentleman for tracings of his 
 
 drawings of this stone, which are here reproduced on 
 
 a reduced scale (Figs. I. and II.) 
 
 This fragment appears to have been twice 
 
 subjected to the stone-cutter's chisel, for both 
 
 the top of the stone and two of its sides are £ 
 
 ornamented. The top of 
 the stone has a singular 
 spiral figure cut into it, 
 which is shown in the 
 accompanying illustration 
 (Fig. I.). This part of the 
 
 stone measures 5 inches by 7 inches. It will 
 be observed, upon referring to the sketch, that 
 the figure is incomplete, as indicated by the 
 dotted lines, and if it was ever perfect, the 
 stone must have been originally of greater 
 dimensions than it is at present. The figure 
 on the top apparently has been partly cut 
 away to make room for the ornamented work 
 on the sides, and if this was the case, then 
 this stone has occupied at various periods two 
 distinct positions, and has been used for two 
 Fig- 11. different purposes. It is difficult to say posi- 
 
 tively what these two uses were. All that can be said is that it 
 is very probable that the coiled design on the top is more ancient 
 than the interlaced work on the side of the stone. It may be 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
Efenechtyd. 
 
 53 
 
 interesting to note that at the restoration of Bangor Cathedral 
 there were discovered several Norman fragments, including a curious 
 sepulchral cross, which had been used to form the base of the 
 central buttress of the south transept. In this case, as in that of 
 Efenechtyd, the stone had been re-dressed to make it suitable for its 
 new position. 
 
 The Efenechtyd fragment measures I foot 4J inches in height. 
 A cable moulding running down the stone separates two designs of 
 the ribbon or interlaced pattern (Fig. II.). Both this stone relic, 
 and the oak font in the church, cut out of a single trunk, are 
 Norman. A portion of a stone with sculpturing on it is preserved 
 in the Rectory grounds, and it is not improbable that it is the 
 one found in the church wall, though, having been subjected to 
 rough treatment, it differs somewhat from that delineated by 
 Mr. Baker. A sketch of the stone in the Rectory grounds is here 
 given (Fig. III.). 
 
 At present there is no vestige of the Church- 
 yard Cross ; and another cross seems also to 
 have disappeared from the neighbourhood. Just 
 over the hill to the east of the church is a farm 
 called Cil-y-groes-lwyd, the nook of the grey cross, 
 but no traces of a cross remain, though the name 
 of the place appears to indicate that formerly a j 
 cross stood there. 
 
 Of crosses proper we have, therefore, but a 
 small fragment in Efenechtyd, and even that is 
 somewhat doubtful ; but in other respects the 
 parish is interesting, and its folk-lore valuable. 
 It is chiefly because of its customs that it occu- 
 pies a place in these pages. 
 
 The customs that linger in this sequestered 
 nook were, perhaps, once common to all North Wales, and they lived 
 longer in this- quiet retreat than in most parishes, but they are now for- 
 saking their last home. Owing to various causes the population of the 
 parish has become migratory, and the farms often change hands. 
 This is inimical to the preservation of customs, and also to parochial 
 patriotism, but the same evil is only too prevalent in Wales generally, 
 and hence the necessity for collecting and recording customs that 
 are rapidly disappearing before the sound of the railway whistle. 
 
 Fig. in. 
 
54 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 I will begin by noticing such customs as may be called Church 
 Customs. 
 
 THE CONGREGATION STOOD AS THE CLERGYMAN WAS LEAVING 
 
 THE CHURCH. 
 
 This custom was once common throughout Wales. Latterly it 
 has disappeared from most parishes, and it ceased to exist at 
 Efenechtyd in the days of those now living. An old parishioner, 
 Robert Davies, Tyntwll, as a young man, was in the habit of 
 attending church, but became a Nonconformist before he had 
 reached middle age. Davies came to church on the Christmas 
 evening of 1882, and in a conversation I had with him, after this 
 casual visit, he volunteered the following information. " People," 
 said he, " do not behave now in church as they did when I was a 
 young man. I stood up, as I was in the habit of doing, on 
 Christmas night, after the service was over, for the clergyman to 
 leave the church first, but I found the congregation leaving before 
 you had time to come down, and so I followed. The congregation 
 always stayed in church in former days until the clergyman had 
 reached the porch." Davies is apparently over seventy. Thus this 
 custom has disappeared from Efenechtyd within the last fifty years 
 or so. In other parts of Wales it was prevalent at the beginning of 
 the century. About twenty-five years ago I was acquainted with an 
 old man, Robert Hughes, from seventy to eighty years old, an 
 inhabitant of Ro-wen, near Conway, who as a lad frequented Llan- 
 gelynin Old Church, near Penmaenmawr, and there the congregation 
 stood up when the clergyman walked down the aisle. Robert, 
 however, one Sunday bolted out of the church just before the parson; 
 but, said he, when recounting the fact to me, " I had not gone above 
 a few steps before I received such a slap on the side of my head 
 from the parson as sent me reeling;" and, added old Hughes, 
 " never did I again attempt to leave the church before the clergyman 
 had gone down the alley." 
 
 THE PASSING BELL. 
 
 The death of a person is announced by tolling the church bell. 
 The passing bell, as this is called, is rung the evening of the day on 
 which the death occurs, and not as the soul is departing. The 
 
E/enechtyd. 55 
 
 custom still continues in this parish, but is not universally observed. 
 By varying the number of pulls, the parishioners know whose passing 
 bell is being rung, for it is the custom to observe the following rule 
 when announcing a death. Four pulls, thrice repeated, with a pause 
 between each set of pulls, implies that a girl-child is dead, i.e., the 
 bell is tolled twelve times for a girl's death ; five pulls, thrice 
 repeated, with a pause after each fifth, indicates the death of a boy- 
 child ; and six, seven, eight, and nine pulls, thrice repeated, imply 
 respectively that a single woman, an unmarried man, a married woman 
 or a married man, has departed this life. In Llanfair parish the pulls 
 are not thrice repeated, and this is \he only difference between the 
 two parishes, as far as concerns the passing bell. The custom has 
 descended to us from remote times. It is thus alluded to in the year 
 1564:— 
 
 That when any Christian bodye is in passing, that the bell be tolled, 
 and that the curate be specially called for to comforte the sicke person, 
 and after the time of his passinge to ring no more but one shorte peale, 
 and one before the buriall, and another shorte peale after the buriall. — 
 Concilia, vol. iv., p. 249. 
 
 With the exception of the " shorte peale after the buriall," which 
 is not now generally observed, the practice above mentioned has in 
 substance reached our days. Even the ringing of the bell after the 
 funeral is still common in some parishes. In Llanasa and Caerwys 
 parishes, as soon as the grave is filled in, the church bell is rung, 
 and in these parishes the passing bell is tolled the evening before 
 the funeral. 
 
 GWYLNOS, OR WATCHNIGHT. 
 
 The gwylnos, which is literally a night of watching for the dead, is 
 held the night preceding the funeral. The custom has all but dis- 
 appeared from the Vale of Clwyd, but it is observed in the mountain 
 districts bordering upon the Vale. I have been told that in the parish 
 of Tremeirchion, near St. Asaph, a prayer meeting is held in the 
 house where the corpse lies, the evening before the funeral. Mr. John 
 Roberts, Plas Einion, Llanfair D.C., remembers a gwylnos being 
 held for William Jones, Plasuchaf, in Llanfair parish, consisting of 
 hymn-singing and prayers. This is the usual way of keeping a 
 gwylnos in Carnarvonshire, where the custom still flourishes, but 
 
56 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 sometimes, when a clergyman conducts the service, a sermon or 
 exhortation forms part of the proceedings. 
 
 The following quotation shows how the gwylnos was observed 
 towards the close of the last century in Carnarvonshire, and the 
 description may be true of all such gatherings in other parts of 
 North Wales. The writer says : — 
 
 When the parish-bell announces the death of a person, it is immediately 
 enquired upon what day the funeral is to be ; and on the night preceding 
 that day, all the neighbours assemble at the house where the corpse is, 
 which they call Ty corph, i.e., " The corpse's house." The coffin, with the 
 remains of the deceased, is then placed on stools in an open part of the 
 house, covered with black cloth, or, if the deceased was unmarried, with a 
 clean white sheet, with three candles burning on it. Every person on 
 entering the house falls devoutly on his knees before the corpse, and 
 repeats to himself the Lord's Prayer, or any other prayer that he chooses. 
 Afterwards, if he is a smoker, a pipe and tobacco are offered to him. This 
 meeting is called Gwylnos, and in some places Pydreua. The first word 
 means Vigil ; the other is, no doubt, a corrupt word from Paderau, or 
 Padereuau, that is Paters, or Pater-nosters. When the assembly is full, 
 the parish-clerk reads the common service appointed for the Burial of the 
 Dead ; at the conclusion of which, psalms, hymns, and other godly songs 
 are sung ; and since Methodism is become so universal, some one stands 
 up and delivers an oration on the melancholy subject, and then the 
 company drop away by degrees. — Williams's Observations on the Snowdon 
 Mountains, pp. 13, 14. 
 
 OFFERINGS ON THE COFFIN. 
 
 Offerings at the house of the deceased, for the benefit of the sur- 
 viving members of the family, are common in many parts of 
 Wales, and in the Vale they still exist. After the coffin is brought 
 out of the house, it is placed on two chairs, and if there is to be an 
 offering on the coffin, or, as it is called in Welsh, Offrymu ar yr arch, 
 those present at the funeral walk up and deposit a coin. Formerly 
 it was customary after a funeral for the men and women to go to the 
 village public-house : the men, to drink beer, and the women, tea. To 
 defray this expense there was a Shotgladdu, or a funeral shot, of six- 
 pence or a shilling, which became the property of the innkeeper. 
 But this custom has now ceased in most, though not in all places, 
 and instead of the shot in the public-house, money is given in the 
 house from which the funeral starts by all who partake of the refresh- 
 ments there provided, to the nearest relative of the deceased. 
 
Efenechtyd, 57 
 
 STARTING THE FUNERAL. 
 
 The funeral in our days is not started without a short service, con- 
 sisting of reading the Bible, singing, prayer, and occasionally an 
 address or addresses. The form is varied, and differs according to the 
 social position of the deceased. Nonconformists and Churchmen alike 
 adhere to the practice. This is called Codi'r corph, or raising the 
 corpse. In cases where the clergyman is present, he usually is 
 requested to start the funeral ; in his absence, the parish clerk does 
 so, by repeating the Lord's Prayer. This occurs where the deceased 
 belonged to the Church, but if he was a Nonconformist, then the 
 service is performed by a minister, if one is present, or by some 
 other chapel official. 
 
 This custom dates from ancient times. It is alluded to in the 
 Injunctions of Edward VI., 1547, wherein priests are informed that 
 they are not bound " to fetch any coarse before it be brought to the 
 churchyard" {Concilia, vol. iv., p. 7). Again in 1549 allusion is made 
 to the same matter, for in that year the clergy are instructed " to 
 receive no corps, but at the churchyard" {Concilia, vol. iv., p. 32) ; 
 and in 1571 the people are instructed thus : — 
 
 Nor to say the " De profundus " for the dead. Nor rest at any cross in 
 carrying any corps to burying. Nor to leave any little crosses of wood 
 there. — Concilia, vol. iv., pp. 269-70. 
 
 Notwithstanding these and like injunctions the custom in a 
 certain form has survived, and reached our days. It is true that now 
 the funeral procession does not rest awhile at cross roads, nor do the 
 people repeat the Pader in such places, as they once did, but instead, 
 hymns are often sung, as the procession passes hamlets on its way 
 to the church. 
 
 NEXT OF KIN CARRY THE BIER. 
 
 The custom of the next of kin, being males, starting the funeral, 
 has reached our days. They also carry the bier from the lich-gate 
 into the church, and again from the church to the grave, and they 
 also lower the coffin into the grave. 
 
 OFFERINGS AT FUNERALS. 
 
 In many parishes in Wales there are no burial fees, but instead 
 there are offerings, and these constitute the clergyman's fees. Where 
 offerings are made, the proceedings are carried out as follows. After 
 
58 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 the clergyman has read that portion of the burial service which is to 
 be said in church, the nearest relatives of the deceased walk up to 
 the chancel, and deposit in the appointed place a coin, generally a 
 silver piece. When they have returned to their seats, the congrega- 
 tion, first the men and then the women, offer, and they generally give 
 a penny. The amount thus offered depends greatly upon the respec- 
 tability of the deceased, and often it reaches a large sum. The 
 writer has heard that upon the occasion of a well-known and highly- 
 connected gentleman's funeral, the offering came to upwards of 
 twenty pounds. Usually it amounts to a few shillings, but of course 
 it fluctuates considerably. In this parish it varies from three or four 
 shillings to upwards of a pound. 
 
 In some parishes it was, and possibly still is, a custom for the 
 parish clerk to count the offerings before the funeral leaves the 
 church, and then publish the amount : an incentive to many to offer 
 largely. 
 
 In Tremeirchion the parish clerk claims the most valuable 
 coin given in the church, and he has also, in addition, an offering 
 for himself at the grave. This is a local usage. 
 
 After the people have offered, the clergyman proceeds down the 
 aisle, and he is followed by the mourners to the grave, where the re- 
 maining portion of the service is read. At the close, the clerk says 
 the Pader, and then goes about with a ladle to receive the offerings 
 given to him by the relatives of the deceased and others. Then the 
 grave is decorated by a woman, who, it may be, has laid out the 
 dead, and so the funeral ceremonies come to an end. 
 
 SUL COFFA, OR COMMEMORATION SUNDAY. 
 
 The Sunday succeeding a funeral, or in some parishes, the second 
 Sunday after the burial, is called Sul Coffa, or Commemoration 
 Sunday. It is customary for relatives and friends of the deceased 
 to come to church on the morning of this day. But the relatives 
 proceed to the grave before entering the church, and there they 
 remain awhile. In some parishes in the Vale the men, while at the 
 grave, stand with uncovered heads. But formerly, in the early part 
 of this century, the near relatives of the dead knelt around the new 
 made grave on Sul Coffa, and repeated the Pader. Thomas Davies, 
 parish clerk of Llanychan, near Ruthin, who is now alive, and is not 
 apparently seventy years old, told the writer that he remembered 
 
Efenechtyd. 59 
 
 planks being placed each side the grave for the convenience of the 
 mourners ; and Amelia Pierce, who is mentioned in connection 
 with Gwyddelwern Church, states that she remembers mourners 
 kneeling at the head and feet of the departed, and that the stones 
 with knee rests (which are described under the head of Corwen) 
 were for their convenience. 
 
 In Montgomeryshire, and in other parts of Wales, Commemoration 
 Sunday is observed ; but there and elsewhere it is called Ail gladdedi- 
 gaeth, or second funeral. People, in many Welsh parishes, still come 
 to church on Sul Coffa in large numbers. And often they walk many 
 miles to be present on the day when the dead are commemorated. 
 
 It appears that formerly there was an annual commemoration of 
 the dead, but at present only one day is observed. 
 
 For the sake of comparison it will not be amiss to give here what 
 Pennant says of Welsh funeral customs, but it should always be 
 borne in mind that customs differ in different localities, and what 
 Pennant noticed might have been local, and not common to the whole 
 of Wales. He states that : — 
 
 Previous to a funeral, it was customary, when the corpse was brought 
 out of the house and laid upon the bier, for the next of kin, be it widow, 
 mother, sister, or daughter (for it must be a female), to give, over the 
 coffin, a quantity of white loaves, in a great dish, and sometimes a cheese, 
 with a piece of money stuck in it, to certain poor persons. After that 
 they present, in the same manner, a cup of drink, and require the person 
 to drink a little of it immediately. When that is done, all present kneel 
 down ; and the minister, if present, says the Lord's Prayer : after which 
 they proceed with the corpse ; and at every cross-way, between the house 
 and the church, they lay down the bier, kneel, and again repeat the 
 Lord's Prayer ; and do the same when they first enter the churchyard. 
 It is also customary, in many places, to sing psalms on the way ; by 
 which the stillness of rural life is often broken into, in a manner finely 
 productive of religious reflections. To this hour, the bier is carried by the 
 next of kin ; a custom considered as the highest respect that filial piety 
 can pay to the deceased. — Tour in Wales, vol. ii., p. 352. 
 
 BURYING IN SHEETS. 
 
 The late parish clerk of Aber, Carnarvonshire, John Parry, in- 
 formed the writer that he remembered the last person in that parish 
 who was buried in a sheet. He stated that formerly all the poor 
 were so buried. They were carried to the grave, he said, in a 
 wooden coffin, which was the property of the parish, but they were 
 
 H 
 
60 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 deposited in the grave wrapped up in a common sheet. It is strange 
 that this ancient custom continued so long. In former days stone 
 coffins were in general use for the upper classes, but it will be seen 
 from the illuminations of ancient missals that dead bodies wrapped 
 in a sheet or cloth were put into the ground. I find from the Penny 
 Cyclopczdia, vol. viii., under the word "coffin," that Matthew Paris 
 says that the monks of St. Alban's were thus buried till the time of 
 Abbot Waren, who died 1195. This Abbot ordered that henceforth 
 the dead brothers were to be buried in stone coffins, as being more 
 decent ; for this command Matthew Paris accuses him of innovating 
 on ecclesiastical customs to please the multitude. The poor con- 
 tinued, not only in the Norman but also in later times, to be buried 
 according to the old custom, and it appears that even in modern 
 times in Wales, unseemly though it be in our eyes, the practice was 
 continued. The following quotation from the Diary of Philip Henry 
 (p. 305) shows that in the latter part of the seventeenth century 
 people were occasionally at least buried without a coffin : — 
 
 leiftenant Williams of Llangollen in Denb. having layn in prison some 
 time upon the writ de excom. cap. was sick and had favor by y e B p to 
 return home awhile & dy'd & after 10 dayes lying in y e Churchyard was, 
 by Commissary Edwards order, taken up & bury'd by his Friends in his 
 garden. Having no coffin, it was the more offensive to y e sexton, who fel 
 sick upon it. 
 
 CYMHORTH : AID OR CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 Akin to offerings were Cymhorthau, or aids. They consisted of 
 presents sent upon certain occasions, such as weddings, burials, chris- 
 tenings, etc., by neighbours to friends. A marriage in this sparsely 
 populated parish is a rare event, but this year (1884) a well-to-do 
 parishioner took to himself a wife, and old customs were revived, and 
 presents flowed into his house. But these Cymhorthau are not what 
 they have been. At one time the Cymhorth was quite an institution, 
 and families kept a register of all things received, with the names of 
 the donors, so that on a fitting occasion a like gift could be returned. 
 The Rev. J. Pugh Evans, Rector of Llangar, informed the writer 
 that he had seen a book of this sort kept in Cardiganshire by persons 
 in affluent circumstances. In our days this class is rather above 
 receiving Cymhorth. It has reached its last stage, and with other 
 customs, fostered no longer by rich and poor alike, is doomed to 
 
Efenechtyd. 61 
 
 decay and disappearance. In harvest and seed time a helping hand 
 was once forthcoming, and the laggard was not left uncared for. 
 Cymhorth from his neighbours rescued him from his difficulties. This 
 brotherly help is becoming rare, though genuine sympathy expressed 
 in kind actions is still to be found in Wild Wales. The abuse of the 
 custom led to its abandonment. In Dr. Owen Pughe's Dictionary, 
 under the word Cymhorth, the following information is given : — 
 
 Cwrw Cymhorth, ale of contribution. It is customary for poor people, 
 
 in Wales, to brew ale, or to provide any other entertainment, and invite 
 
 the neighbourhood to partake, when a collection is made on the occasion ; 
 
 and they have priodas gymhorth, or marriage of contribution, to which 
 
 every guest brings a present of some sort of provision, or money, to enable 
 
 the new couple to begin the world. 
 
 The clergyman formerly received Oymhorth in harvest time, and 
 
 the farmers hauled anything he might require without charge. The 
 
 village blacksmith's coal was also hauled by the farmers free of 
 
 charge, and this act of kindness was called Cymhorth Glo, or Coal Aid. 
 
 The following invitation to a wedding, which is given in an 
 
 interesting and valuable paper on " Some Ancient Welsh Customs," 
 
 by the Rev. E. L. Barnwell, in the Archceologia Cambrensis for 1872 
 
 (p. 330), exhibits another phase of the Cymhorthau. Mr. Barnwell 
 
 found it in Peter Roberts's Cambrian Popular Antiquities (1815) : — 
 
 Carmarthen, March 20, 1802. 
 
 As I intend to enter the matrimonial state on Easter Monday, the igth 
 day of April next, I am encouraged by my friends to make a Bidding on 
 the occasion the same day at my dwelling-house, known by the sign of the 
 " Green Dragon," in Lammas Street, where the favour of your good 
 company is humbly solicited, and whatever donation you will be pleased 
 to confer on me then will be gratefully received and cheerfully repaid 
 whenever demanded on a similar occasion, by 
 
 Your humble Servant, David Thomas. 
 
 P.S. — The young man's mother, brother, and sister (Hannah, Richard, 
 and Phoebe Thomas) desire that all gifts of the above nature due to them 
 shall be returned to the young man on the same day, and will be thankful 
 for any additional favour bestowed upon him. 
 
 Mr. Barnwell adds that " the names of the visitors are registered 
 in a book, so that the compliment may be returned on the proper 
 occasion." 
 
 OF SOME MARRIAGE CUSTOMS. 
 
 Many young couples formerly attended the wedding in church. There 
 were often as many as twenty or thirty groomsmen and bridesmaids. 
 
62 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 There was a curious custom called running for the wedding cake, 
 which has disappeared in the life-time of the aged. It was carried 
 out in the following manner. As soon as the young couple were 
 pronounced to be man and wife, the young men present in church 
 rushed out, and started for the bride's house, and the first who 
 arrived and announced the marriage received the wedding cake. 
 Richard Parry, a farmer in Carnarvonshire, told me that he had run 
 when a young man four miles against thirty young men, and beat them 
 all, and obtained the cake. Parry, who is now growing old, occu- 
 pies a farm called Plasuchaf, in Llanllechid parish, Carnarvonshire. 
 
 Offerings appear to have been made to the clergyman in church 
 after a wedding. Mr. Barnwell, in the article already referred to, 
 writes : — 
 
 On some occasions, at least in North Wales, where the married couple 
 occupy a more elevated position, as that of wealthy farmers, or superior 
 tradesmen, offerings in money are made to the officiating clergyman by all 
 present. An instance of this occurred in Denbighshire within the last half 
 century. 
 
 Cadwneithior, or keeping the wedding feast, which usually lasted 
 all night, is a custom which disappeared in the lives of our grand- 
 parents. The night used to be spent in songs, merriment, and 
 dances. Dr. Owen Pughe speaks of it as being in existence in his 
 days, and he states that the Neithiawr was kept on a sixth day after 
 the wedding, generally the following Sunday, when the guests brought 
 presents to the newly married couple. In South Wales these presents 
 were made on the wedding day, as already stated. 
 
 Should a younger child in a family be married before the elder 
 brothers or sisters, the unmarried seniors, at the marriage feast, were 
 obliged to dance shoeless, in the presence of the company. This 
 custom has come down to the days of the living, and a married 
 woman, between fifty and sixty years old, told me that her brother 
 had, upon her marriage, undergone this penalty for permitting her, 
 a junior, to get married before him. The custom was also observed, 
 in the case of daughters, on the other side of the Border, in Shrop- 
 shire, and Miss Burne, in Shropshire Folk Lore (pp. 290-1), men- 
 tions an instance at Hodnet even as late as 1881. 
 
 There is an expression, occasionally heard in North Wales, which 
 would imply that people think a marriage might be contracted 
 by jumping over a besom. A parishioner of mine, Gwen Williams, 
 
Efenechtyd. 63 
 
 told me that she thought no more of marriage in the Registrar's 
 office than of a marriage by jumping over a besom. Questioned 
 about the expression, she said she had heard that in olden times 
 people could be married by jumping over a broom-stick. From 
 further inquiries, I find that such marriages are spoken of in many 
 parts of North Wales, and, when properly attested, they are sup- 
 posed to have been considered valid. 
 
 GWYLMABSANT, OR WAKE OF THE PATRON SAINT. 
 
 The Gwylmabsant Efenechtyd, or festival of the patron saint, was 
 the most important annual event in the parish. The Church is dedi- 
 cated to St. Michael, whose feast occurs at the most opportune time of 
 the year for a rural population to enjoy themselves. The harvest is 
 over, and winter has not arrived, and they are now at liberty to rest. 
 This they were not loth to do. The multiplied means of amusement 
 of these days of railway travelling did not exist fifty years ago, and 
 consequently the agriculturists intensified their pleasures by concen- 
 trating them into certain seasons, and then they enjoyed themselves 
 without restraint in the midst of their friends in their own parishes. 
 
 St. Michael was a favourite saint in many parts of Wales, and 
 many churches are dedicated to him. There is in this parish a 
 meadow designated Gweirglawdd Mihangel, or Michael's meadow. 
 
 The wakes began on the Sunday before the Dedication Day, and 
 on that Sunday it was customary for all the parishioners, arrayed in 
 their best clothes, generally new, to attend the Church services, so 
 that we are not surprised to hear old people say that on this day the 
 Church was crowded to excess. 
 
 It was a long feast, for it lasted until Friday evening. Dancing, 
 singing with the harp, trials of strength and agility, and other manly 
 sports, filled the hours of the afternoon, and, it is said, extended 
 into the small hours of the night. Drinking to excess and fighting 
 were not uncommon during the festivities. As long as the feast 
 lasted, the hamlet was crowded with strangers from the surrounding 
 parishes. 
 
 A plant, the Michaelmas Daisy, which blossoms in the fall of the 
 year, is locally called Blodau Gwylmabsant 'Nechtyd, or the blossoms 
 of the patron saint of 'Nechtyd (Efenechtyd). It was customary for 
 every one to wear a bunch of these flowers during the feast, and 
 strangers begged them of the cottagers, who willingly gave a sprig, 
 
64 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 for they had taken care to cultivate the plant lor this special purpose. 
 Mr. Lewis Jones, Brynffynnon, a farmer in the parish, from whom 
 I have obtained this information about the flowers, told me that his 
 mother was in the habit of calling his attention to the approach of 
 the wakes by saying, " Look, Lewis, the wakes are approaching, 
 for see the saint's flowers begin to blossom." Lewis was then a 
 small child, and he remembers his mother taking him to the wakes 
 once and only once. Since Lewis Jones is between 40 and 50 years 
 old, it would seem that the wakes were kept in this parish up to 
 about 40 years ago, but they had deteriorated before this, and as far 
 as I can judge, from many enquiries, they were not in their glory 
 even 50 years back. But there are many old people living who 
 remember them well, and have been present at the wakes. 
 
 Mention has been made of wearing new clothes at the feast. In 
 connection with this custom Evan Davies, wheelwright, of Bryn- 
 llan, Efenechtyd, an old but hale man, told me the following story : — 
 Samuel Hughes, Tydraw, tailor, who was always unusually busy 
 about Michaelmas, remembered, on the Saturday previously to the 
 wakes, that he had forgotten to make a pair of breeches for John 
 Williams, of Pen-y-giaig. He thought that if he worked through 
 Saturday night he could finish the garment, keep his word, and retain 
 a good customer. This he did, but early on Sunday morning he was 
 disturbed by his neighbour, who, hearing a noise in his house, thought 
 that instead of striking file, flint, and tinder, she would procure a 
 light from Samuel. So Nancy Jones opened the door, and was 
 horrified to find Samuel hard at work with his needle on the Lord's 
 Day. However, as she had come for fire, this she asked Samuel to 
 give her, and he, without stirring from the table on which he was 
 seated, told her to take as much as she liked. Just as Nancy was 
 shutting the door, she said, looking towards the tailor — " Sam, Sam, 
 the Lord will pay you for this work." " No, he won't," was Sam's 
 rejoinder, " I am not working for Him." This story reminds one of 
 some of the tales in Dean Ramsay's Reminiscences, which combine 
 levity and wit. 
 
 Samuel lies in Efenechtyd Churchyard under the shadow of the 
 east wall of the Church, and on his gravestone are these words : — 
 
 Here lieth the body of 
 
 Samuel Hughes, Tydraw, 
 
 Tailor, was buried June 2ist, 
 
 1832, aged 69. 
 
Efenechtyd, 65 
 
 This date marks not only Samuel's death, but also within a few 
 years that of the Gwylmabsant. In other parts of Wales the celebra- 
 tion of the wakes has likewise disappeared within the last thirty or 
 forty years. The rising generation in this parish do not even know 
 the time when the wakes were observed, and when the old people 
 are gone, the remembrance of the once celebrated festival will have 
 disappeared. It was the dissipation, the brutal fights and bickerings, 
 that brought about the end of these feasts. They included much 
 that was innocent and pleasurable. The dancing, penillion singing, 
 games and sports, and trials of strength, in themselves are unobjec- 
 tionable, and they are conducive to manly and chivalrous conduct. 
 When we look at the state of the country, and the admiration which 
 physical strength accompanied with bravery ever commands, we can 
 understand how the wakes, notwithstanding their failings, lasted so 
 long. 
 
 Again, it is not to be wondered at that such a merry-making as this 
 was popular, nor that it was looked forward to by young and old 
 alike, for, in fact, it had become a part of the social system of 
 the country. Parochial events were remembered by their having 
 occurred so many weeks, or months, before or after the Gwylmabsant. 
 The first goose was killed in this week. The potato harvest began 
 on the Wednesday in the wakes. Hospitality was profuse, and 
 distant friends were welcomed to every house in the parish. Natives 
 who had settled down in other parts came home for the wakes. In 
 this way friendships were cemented, and old acquaintances renewed. 
 Boys and girls who had gone to service once more visited home, 
 and recounted to willing ears their joys and troubles. They, in 
 return, received the history of the parish. Happy were these re- 
 unions that brought annually together a whole parish, and suffered 
 no one to forget, through lapse of years, the features of an early 
 friend. 
 
 Such re-unions as these gave an individuality to parochial life and 
 fostered parish patriotism, but, on the other hand, they often generated 
 antagonisms between parish and parish, which lasted longer than the 
 wakes. Opposing champions ended, not unfrequently, their struggles 
 for pre-eminence in sports, by an appeal to brute force and dogged 
 courage. In this way parish became opposed to parish, and wherever 
 the young men belonging to different parishes met they fought 
 savagely, from no personal animosity, but from a mistaken notion 
 
66 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 that it was a duty incumbent upon them to settle in this way old 
 parochial misunderstandings ; or battles were fought because some 
 feud of remote, unknown origin existed between one parish and 
 another. 
 
 The riotings attending the wakes in other parts than Wales have 
 been the subject of injunctions ; and in consequence of abuses 
 endeavours were made to put them down. As early as the time of 
 Edward VI., in 1548, appears an injunction given by his Majesty 
 against the observing of wakes in the Deanery of Duncastre, which 
 presumedly extended to other parts. It is : — 
 
 Forasmuch as drunkenness, idleness, brawls, dissentions, and many 
 other inconveniences do chance between neighbor and neighbor, by the 
 assembly of people together at wakes, and on the plough mundays ; it is 
 therefore ordered and enjoyned, that hereafter the people shall use, make, 
 or observe no more such wakes, plough mundays, or drawing of the same 
 with any such assembly or rout of people, or otherwise, as hath been 
 accustomed, upon pain of forfeiting to the king's highness forty shillings 
 for every default, to be paid by the owner of the plough and householder, 
 whereunto the said plough is drawn, or wakes are kept. — Concilia, vol. iv., 
 p. 29. 
 
 Injunctions of this kind, as already shown, if they ever reached 
 Wales, were powerless instruments of reform, for the people clung 
 most tenaciously, in spite of prohibitions emanating even from the 
 highest authorities, to the customs of their country. 
 
 EFENECHTYD GAMES. 
 
 These consisted of many rustic sports that required strength, 
 suppleness, and coolness, on the part of the performers. Of British 
 games there were twenty-four. They are enumerated in Dr. Davies's 
 Dictionary, and also by Pennant. The three manly qualifications 
 were, " Bywiowgrwydd, Nerth, a Synnwyr," i.e., activity or liveliness, 
 strength, and skill. The twenty-four games were supposed to cul- 
 tivate these threefold manly qualities. Such games as required no 
 instrument whatever in their performance, and depended mainly 
 on bodily strength, or on the man naked as he was born, were the 
 most popular. There were many days in the 3'ear on which these 
 games were practised, such as on the afternoon of Festivals, Easter- 
 tide, Wakes, and Sunday afternoons, and old people say that although 
 their forefathers had so many holidays, they lived quite as well as 
 people do in these days, 
 
Efenechtyd. 67 
 
 There is a relic of these ancient games called Y Maen Camp, or 
 feat stone, in the churchyard of Efenechtyd. It is a ponderous 
 boulder stone, weighing 101 lbs. The camp, or feat, was to lift this 
 stone and throw it over the head backwards, and he was the hero 
 who could throw this huge stone the furthest. Many of these stones 
 are still in existence in various parts of Wales. Trials of strength 
 and dexterity with this stone at Efenechtyd took place on the north 
 side of the churchyard, where there are to this day but few graves. 
 
 No account of former days can be a faithful record unless some 
 allusion is made to the personal conflicts which too often took place 
 even on Sunday in the church or churchyard, as well as on other 
 days, and in other places, between men who hated not each other, 
 but who strove for the palm of pre-eminence in muscular strength. 
 The hero of the parish was the man who excelled all others in 
 personal prowess, and when bravery was accompanied with noble- 
 ness of conduct, the expert pugilist was the admired of men and 
 maidens ; but he had to pay dearly for his renown. He was hence- 
 forth the parish champion, and on all fitting occasions upon him 
 was placed the responsibility of vindicating the honour of the parish. 
 
 The excess to which this fighting propensity ran was prohibited 
 by early law-makers. In the Cyfreithiau Hywel Dda, the Laws of 
 Howel the Good, a.d. 928, fighting is forbidden in the churchyard or 
 sanctuary under penalty of heavy fines : — 
 
 For fighting within the churchyard , fourteen pounds are to be paid ; if out 
 of the churchyard in the sanctuary, seven pounds are to be paid. — Haddon 
 and Stubbs, Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, vol. i., p. 243. 
 
 Passing over much evidence of fighting and disturbances, in the 
 interval between a.d. 928 and Edward VI., we come to an Act passed 
 in this king's reign, which is partly quoted in the Ecclesiastical Courts 
 Commission (pp. 204-5). The Commissioners state that " there was 
 a time when disturbances in the church and churchyard, from various 
 trifling causes, were of frequent occurrence, and sometimes carried 
 to great extremities, for the suppression of which the Legislature 
 was induced to pass an Act in the reign of Edward VI. (5 & 6 
 Edw. VI., c. 4), which still remains unrepealed." In the Preamble 
 to this Act it is said that — 
 
 Of late many outrageous and barbarous behaviours and acts have been 
 used and committed by divers ungodly and irreligious persons by quar- 
 relling, brawling, fraying, and fighting openly in churches and churchyards. 
 
 I 
 
68 Old Stone Crosses, 
 
 To prevent the continuance of this reprehensible conduct, the 
 statute enacted that those who quarrel, chide, or brawl in church or 
 churchyard shall be liable to suspension, if a layman, ab ingressu 
 ecclesice ; if a clerk, from the ministration of his office for so long a 
 time as the Ordinary shall think fit. 
 
 By the third section of this statute, persons maliciously striking 
 any other with any weapon, or drawing any weapon with intention 
 of striking, upon conviction were to lose one ear, and if the offender 
 had no ear he was to be branded on the cheek with a hot iron, having 
 the letter F on it. 
 
 The spirit of this law was in full accord with the spirit of the times, 
 and if it succeeded in driving quarrels and fights from consecrated 
 places, it was not successful in its latent meaning that battles should 
 cease, for these continued to flourish up to recent times. 
 
 A few stories which I have heard of these fights may be worth 
 telling. Lewis Jones, Brynffynnon, informed me that a young man 
 was killed in an open fight, and one who had witnessed the shocking 
 occurrence went to inform the father of the deceased of his son's 
 death: When told that his son had been killed, the father inquired 
 whether he had shown the white feather. " Oh, no," said the man ; 
 " he died fighting." " Well," said the father, " what matters it, 
 since he has died like a man ! " 
 
 Thomas Jones, Perthi, in the upper part of this parish, told me 
 that Dolly Jones, Pengeulan, Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch, was informed by 
 her children, on coming home from school, that one of their brothers 
 had fought, and had been beaten by a lad in the school. When this 
 boy appeared, the mother said, " Go, and lick that boy that licked 
 thee, or thou shalt never have a bit to eat nor a drop to drink in this 
 house!" The boy went, and came back with the tidings that he 
 had done his mother's bidding. 
 
 In conversation in Mr. Lloyd's house, Post Office, Llanfihangel- 
 Glyn-Myfyr, one of the company told me that a woman in those 
 parts was in the habit of acting as her husband's second in his 
 battles. When remonstrated with because of her unwomanly 
 conduct, she replied, " I would rather carry his bones home in my 
 apron than that he should be beaten ! " 
 
 A friend of mine told me of a fight that took place at Llanbedr, 
 Carnarvonshire, between two champions, the one seconded by a 
 strong lusty man, the other by his sister, The woman saw that her 
 
Efenechtyd. 6g 
 
 brother was often thrown to the ground, and supposing or perceiving 
 that his antagonist's second played him foul, she went up to him, 
 struck him in the face, and laid him level with the ground ; and then 
 she challenged any spectator who thought her conduct blameworthy 
 to step forward and take the place of her prostrate foe. 
 
 With one more tale I will end this chapter. A young brave of 
 well-known mettle was challenged by another to a fight. He refused, 
 but a little while afterwards, walking with his companion, he reminded 
 him of this challenge, and told him that they would there and then 
 have it out, at the same time giving his reasons for in the first 
 instance refusing the combat. His companion was anxious to avoid 
 the conflict, but he was told that this was impossible ; so they 
 proceeded to a field, and stripped for the onslaught. A long, fierce 
 fight followed, but at last the man who had challenged the other lay 
 on the ground unable to move. When requested to get up to 
 resume the battle, he said he could not. " Then," said the other, 
 "you give in." "Yes, I give in." "Then let's go home," and, 
 suiting the action to the words, the conqueror put on his clothes, 
 and started away. The man on the ground shouted out, " You 
 won't leave me here all night ;" upon which his antagonist returned, 
 assisted the man to dress, and, as he was unable to walk, carried 
 him on his back a long distance to his home. 
 
FLINT. 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 N a sketch of the old parish church of Flint, taken in 
 1800 by Mr. D. Parkes for the Gentleman'' s Magazine, 
 where it appeared January, 1801, and now repro- 
 duced in Mr. Taylor's History of Flint, is to be 
 seen on the south side of the church the towering 
 shaft of the Churchyard Cross, but the capstone does- 
 not appear in this drawing. The pedestal seems to 
 have been a massive square block, chamfered, and the shaft was 
 a tapering octagonal, brought at the base apparently to a square. 
 
 When the present Church was being 
 built by the Rev. T. B. LI. Browne, now 
 Rector of Bodfari, but then perpetual 
 curate of Flint, a portion of the head- 
 stone of a Cross was discovered in taking 
 down the old church wall. This relic, Mr. 
 Browne informed me, passed into the pos- 
 session of Mr. Roskell, a Catholic gentle- 
 man, and lately I was fortunate enough 
 to find that it was still extant, and care- 
 fully preserved by Mrs. Roskell, widow of 
 the gentleman above named. In company 
 with the Rev. W. LI. Nicholas, Rector of 
 Flint, I went in search of the stone, and 
 to our great delight we found it in a grotto 
 at Stockyn, the beautifully situated resi- 
 dence of Mrs. Roskell; and, through the 
 courtesy of this lady, I am able to produce 
 a sketch of the Cross. 
 
 The stone measures 2 feet broad, and 3 feet 2 inches long. It is 
 much worn and mutilated. Within a richly-decorated cinquefoil 
 
Flint. J l 
 
 niche is a carving of the Crucifixion. On each side of the cross are 
 figures, St. John and the Virgin. The head of our Lord, and also 
 the heads of the Virgin and the Apostle, have been knocked off. 
 St. John carries a book in his left hand ; the right hand is raised to 
 support the head, which apparently was turned towards our Saviour. 
 The Virgin is considerably mutilated ; the hands are seen meeting 
 across the breast. Over the figures is a rich ogee crocketed canopy, 
 the crockets, as usual, being sculptured with foliage. The finial 
 consists of three parts. One only of the shafts from which the arch 
 rises is intact ; the other has disappeared, and only one of the 
 pinnacles remains. The Cross belongs probably to the latter end 
 of the thirteenth or the early part of the fourteenth century. 
 
 The shaft, which probably was in existence up to the time of the 
 building of the new Church in 1847-8, has disappeared, and very 
 likely it has been broken up ; but if it could be found, it would be in 
 good taste to restore the Cross to its original position. 
 
 CROES ATI. 
 
 This Cross stood somewhere in the village of Pentre, about a mile 
 from the town of Flint. The exact spot is unknown, but the late 
 Rector of the parish, the Rev. E. Jenkins, told the writer that it 
 stood somewhere near, if not on, the site of the new church, 
 St. David's, which he erected. Be this as it may, the Cross, in 
 part, existed in Pennant's time, for he states (Tour in Wales, Car- 
 narvon edition, vol. i., p. 68) : — "About a mile from the town, on 
 the lower road to Chester, stood a cross, whose pedestal I remember, 
 which was called Atis-cross, and the land around is still called Crors- 
 ati. This probably was a place of note ; for, at the Conquest, it 
 gave a name to a very considerable Hundred, at that time con- 
 sidered as part of Cheshire." 
 
 The Hundred mentioned by Pennant still bears the name it had 
 at the time the Domesday Book was compiled, viz., the Hundred of 
 Atiscross. The fact that the Cross gave the name to the Hundred 
 at a very remote period shows its early existence, and also the high 
 repute in which it was held. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the pedestal seen by Pennant has dis- 
 appeared ; its preservation would have been a link between ages 
 Jong past and our days. 
 
GWYDDELWERN 
 
 HERE is no cross in Gwyddelwern churchyard, but 
 a sun-dial occupies the spot where probably at one 
 time stood the churchyard cross. The dial stands 
 opposite the Priest's Door, midway between it and 
 the churchyard wall ; thus it is in the same relative 
 position as is the old cross in Cilcen churchyard. 
 There is nothing ancient belonging to the dial. It 
 stands on three steps, and on one of the stones are the following 
 initials and figures — RP GT WR WAR 1760— thus marking the 
 date of its erection, and the probable disappearance of what 
 remained, up to that date, of the churchyard cross. 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 N-«- 
 
 W 
 
 s&* 
 
 XJ3 
 
 THE CHURCHYARD. ITS SHAPE. 
 
 The churchyard is, for a considerable part of its extent, oval or 
 somewhat circular in form. On the east and south sides the wall 
 is well built, and this part seems to be the 
 oldest portion of the boundary. The north 
 and west sides have been tampered with, 
 and these deviate from the circular, and in 
 parts- are almost straight, but even here 
 traces of a different course are discernible. 
 There have been encroachments on the 
 east side, and several buildings have been 
 erected in the churchyard in that part, and 
 the wall has there been altered so as to 
 enable the tenant of an adjoining building 
 to have access to the garden behind his 
 house. But still, through all these accom- 
 modating alterations, the wall maintains its 
 circular character. '* ■**' 
 
 The churchyard of Gwyddelwern is not singular in its peculiar 
 shape. There are several churches in North Wales that are 
 
 DIAL 
 D 
 
Owyddelwern, 73 
 
 surrounded by walls almost, if not altogether, circular. In Mont- 
 gomeryshire,- Llanfihangel, Llangadfan, Kerry, Berriew, and Llan- 
 fechain churchyards are more or less round. In the latter place 
 the parish road follows the circular bend of the churchyard for about 
 two-thirds of its entire circumference. Llandrinio churchyard was 
 once circular, if its size and shape are indicated by the old yew trees 
 that stand on the west and south sides of the church, but at present 
 the churchyard • expends beyond the trees. In Denbighshire there 
 are many circular churchyards. In or about the Vale of Clwyd 
 the following churches have this characteristic feature : — Derwen, 
 Llanelidan, Efenechtyd, Llandyrnog, and Tremeirchion. Cilcen, 
 Llanarmon, Cerrig-y-drudion, and Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch, also have 
 churchyards which are more or less ovoidal in form. The peculiarity 
 is worthy of notice, for so many burial grounds could hardly be 
 accidentally of this shape. They must have been thus formed 
 designedly, and it is difficult not to associate these round church- 
 yards with the remains of prehistoric times of similar form. Thus 
 we have dating from most ancient times circular camps, homesteads 
 and huts ; circular carneddi, or heaps of stones covering the dead, 
 circumscribed by a circle of erect stones; and the cist faen, or 
 stone coffin, with its surrounding stone circle. Then we have, along 
 the hills of Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, France, and other 
 countries, large circles of stones, some for funeral, some for unknown, 
 and some for religious purposes. If an inference may be drawn 
 from similarity of form, then these circular churchyards and the 
 stone circles of the prehistoric age are in some way connected with 
 one another. The circle as an emblem existed in very distant 
 times, and the veneration in which it was held is shown by its 
 reproduction in domestic, national, and religious buildings. Even 
 if these ovoidal churchyards are not the identical spots on which 
 the ancient inhabitants celebrated their pagan rites, they are, in 
 form, a connecting link between the paganism of our forefathers 
 and the Christian religion which supplanted it. They may have 
 been spots of ground dedicated to religious purposes in pagan 
 times, and appropriated by the early Christians, in consequence 
 of their previous use, to the celebration of the Christian religion, 
 and hence the peculiar shape of these churchyards. Mr. Brash 
 in his Ogam Inscribed Stones (p. 109), speaking of Irish churches, 
 says, "It is well known that many of our early churches were 
 
74 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 erected on sites professedly pagan." This may have been the 
 case in Wales, notwithstanding the many orders of the early 
 councils to destroy pagan temples. These injunctions, indeed, 
 imply the preservation of those temples, and their conversion into 
 Christian churches, to the great disquietude and reprobation of the 
 members of the council: hence the order for their destruction; but 
 we know not to what extent those orders were obeyed. As injunctions 
 in modern times were disregarded, so likewise, it is probable, were 
 these ancient decrees. 
 
 A careful collection of facts connected with churches in circular 
 churchyards wherever found, and an equally careful collation of 
 such facts, will throw more light upon this subject than we now 
 possess. 
 
 I shall, when treating of Llangernyw Crosses, revert to the subject 
 now under consideration. 
 
 BURIAL OF SUICIDES. 
 
 Up to the year 1823 suicides were buried in cross-roads, at mid- 
 night, without religious service, and the body was subjected to in- 
 dignities. After this date they were buried by night on the north 
 side of the churchyard. Robert Hughes, Tyissa, Efenechtyd, aged 82, 
 remembers a burial in the cross-road by Eglwys Wen (Whitchurch), 
 Denbigh, but he does not recollect what the man had done to be 
 buried there. A few years ago I made the acquaintance of an old 
 man, a native of Gwyddelwern, who told me that he remembered a 
 person who had hung himself being buried underneath the church- 
 yard wall, at night, at Gwyddelwern. Amelia Pierce, the keeper of 
 the churchyard keys, who is still alive, and 68 years old, told me 
 that she remembered the burial of the servant girl of Wern-ddu, who 
 took away her own life, and she was buried by night, without service, 
 close by the north wall of the churchyard at Gwyddelwern. These 
 sad occurrences made an indelible impression on the spectators. 
 Mention is made of these cross-road burials in Samuel Carter Hall's 
 Retrospect of a Long Life (vol. i., p. 45). Mr. Hall writes: — 
 
 Fifty years ago the bodies of suicides were subjected to shocking 
 indignities. They were by law ordered to be buried at midnight, at cross- 
 roads, and a hedgestake driven through the body. No religious rites were 
 permitted, and a hole was dug where two roads crossed each other, often 
 in a lonely, solitary spot, and at midnight, with or without torches, 
 lanterns, or candles, the body was placed, usually coffinless, in the hole, a 
 
Gwyddelwern . 75 
 
 stake driven right through the chest or bowels into the ground beneath, 
 and the grave filled in. In 1823 the practice was by Act of Parliament 
 abolished, and it was enacted that the bodies of suicides might in future 
 be buried in any ordinary churchyard, between the hours of 9 and 12 at 
 night, without any religious ceremony, the interment to be private, and 
 to take place 24 hours from the finding of the inquisition by the coroner. 
 
 It is probable that the burial mentioned above as taking place under- 
 neath the churchyard wall, which was taken down for that purpose, 
 was before the repeal of the statute, or custom, legalizing cross- 
 road burials, and was a compromise by the people of Gwyddelwern 
 between their humanity and regard for the law ; and the burial 
 mentioned by Amelia Pierce evidently took place in agreement with 
 the Act 4, Geo. IV., c. 52, that directed which after 8th July, 1823, 
 suicides were to be buried in churchyards 24 hours from the finding 
 of the inquisition, between the hours of g and 12 at night, without 
 any marks of ignominy, such as having a stake driven through their 
 bodies ; but no mention is made in the Act as to whether they were to 
 be buried with or without the rites of Christian burial. 
 
 The Rev. David Roberts, Rector of Llanelidan, Ruthin, informed 
 me that when the cross roads that meet by the churchyard were 
 lowered, human bones were discovered, and he accounted for the 
 presence of these bones by supposing that they belonged to some 
 one, such as a suicide, who was considered unworthy of Christian 
 burial in consecrated ground. Mr. Roberts stated that the bones 
 were near the churchyard wall. 
 
 CHURCH WALL PAINTINGS. 
 
 Previously to the judicious restoration of Gwyddelwern Church in 
 1882 by the Hon. C. H. Wynn, of Rug, the old church, while pre- 
 senting a deserted and neglected appearance, contained, nevertheless, 
 many objects of considerable antiquarian and ecclesiastical interest. 
 The walls were decorated with Scripture texts, memorial tablets, 
 and other monuments. It was one of the last churches restored in 
 the diocese of St. Asaph, and as such was worthy of notice. It 
 contained much that belonged to pre- Reformation times, but these 
 had been mutilated or were unused. The old screen had been cut 
 down ; the Priest's Door, with its massive wooden bolt, which had a 
 socket penetrating far into the wall, was closed, and guarded by 
 spiders. The north-side door was built up, and the space occupied 
 
 J 
 
76 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 by a cupboard. The font was whitewashed, and was dirty. Children, 
 when baptized, were baptized with water in a basin placed within 
 the font. There were in the church seats belonging to three, if not 
 to four, distinct periods. The chancel and nave were covered with 
 large slabs of stone, commemorative of the dead. The stained glass 
 had been smashed, but pieces were preserved in the various windows. 
 Many a churchwarden had " improved" the fabric, and complacently 
 informed future generations that he had done so. Thus, there was 
 a painted notice telling the spectator that the saddleback roof of the 
 chancel had been hidden from view by plastering : — " This wood was 
 plaster'd by Ellis Davies. Humphrey Pierce, Thomas Hughes, 
 Churchwardens, 1730." And on the lower beam in the west-end 
 gallery was inscribed the name of " Gabriel Hughes, 1634," followed 
 by a verse from the Bible indicating that Hughes had either erected 
 the gallery or improved it. 
 
 But my special purpose was to mention the Scripture texts painted 
 upon the walls. The texts in this Church were not old. There were 
 no black letter inscriptions on the walls : all dated from the last or 
 the previous century. It appears from the following extract from the 
 Concilia that the painting of verses from the Bible on church walls 
 began in England during the reign of Edward VI., and was the out- 
 come of the Reformation. In that age the whitewash brush was 
 used extensively, and pictures drawn on the church walls in previous 
 years were washed over, and in their place painted texts appeared. 
 According to an injunction of Edward VI., pictures and paintings in 
 churches were to be destroyed, and from the mandate of Bishop 
 Bonner, 1554, a.d., it appears that texts had taken the place of these 
 paintings. I will quote so much of the Bishop's mandate as refers 
 to this matter :— 
 
 Because some children of iniquity, given up to carnal desires and 
 novelties, have by many ways enterprized to banish the ancient manner 
 and order of the church, and to bring in and establish sects and heresies ; 
 taking from thence the picture of Christ, and many things besides, 
 instituted and observed in ancient times laudably in the same, placing in 
 the room thereof such things as in such place it behoveth them not to 
 do ; and also have procured as a stay to their heresies (as they thought) 
 certain Scriptures wrongly applyed, to be painted upon the church walls. 
 . . . . Wheresoever any such Scriptures or paintings have been 
 attempted, that they abolish and extinguish such manner of Scriptures, so 
 that by no means they be either read or seen, — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 108, 
 
Gwyddelwern. yy 
 
 This extract accounts for the disappearance of ancient paintings 
 from church walls, and the substitution of texts in their place. There 
 is abundant proof that in Wales, pictures, possibly of Christ, were 
 washed over, and instead, texts, or some other substitutes, were 
 placed on the church walls. There is hardly an old church which 
 has undergone restoration, that has not, on the removal of the wash, 
 shown traces of successive ornamentation, the lowest being ancient 
 frescoes, and over these texts or other inscriptions. Neither can 
 there be much doubt as to the age of these latter designs or texts. 
 They date from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. I will give 
 a few instances of these discoveries. 
 
 The Rev. David Jones, Rector of Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire, 
 lately restored his church, and in an interesting account which he 
 kindly gave me of the successive decorations discovered on the walls, 
 he says : — " The oldest decorations on the walls of our church were 
 red lines branching and curved ; later, were texts. There were also 
 on the upper surfaces some bright red and blue lines, forming 
 apparently the framing of some memorial inscription with a cherub's 
 head at the top, much like what is often seen on tombstones. We 
 could make out amongst the latter inscriptions some words of the 
 Creed on the north wall." 
 
 At the restoration of Clocaenog Church, near Ruthin, fresco 
 paintings were brought to view, one on each side of the large east 
 window. The Rev. W. Jones, Rector of the parish, described these 
 paintings as follows. One was the figure of a man, about two yards 
 long, with shaven face, and what appeared to be a breastplate on his 
 breast. There were letters, in character like Hebrew, connected 
 with this figure, but so obliterated as to be unreadable. The other 
 figure was also that of a man, full size, canonically robed, and 
 holding a pastoral staff with its head turned inwards. The eyes 
 were particularly bright, and the figure had a beard. There were 
 indistinct letters about this figure ; and also along the north wall were 
 traces of paintings. 
 
 Meliden Church, which is being restored, upon the removal of 
 plaster and whitewash, was ascertained to have had formerly a 
 succession of wall paintings or inscriptions, the one taking the place 
 of the other. On the east wall was found in black letter a portion of 
 the Creed in Welsh, and over it traces of coloured lines, but the 
 design could not be made out. On the south wall adjoining the east 
 
7§ Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 side is an English inscription, and over it is a Welsh inscription. 
 Both were in painted frames or borders, and they were alike covered 
 over with whitewash. There are other traces of wall paintings in 
 this church. 
 
 The same state of things existed in churches in South Wales. 
 When the church at Bettws, Carmarthenshire, was being restored in 
 1873, the Rev. M. Hughes, the Vicar, discovered underneath the 
 whitewash fresco paintings, the Creed and Commandments. 
 
 The fine fourteenth-century fresco, brought to light in the restora- 
 tion of Ruabon Church in 1870, shows the kind of paintings destroyed 
 by ignorant fanaticism, for there is certainly nothing objectionable 
 in this fresco, which has been judiciously preserved, and which had 
 for ages been hidden underneath successive layers of whitewash. 
 
 Many other instances might be given of wall paintings covered 
 over. Sometimes the whitewash was laid on the walls wantonly ; 
 possibly, in some instances, it was used carelessly from a disregard 
 for all such things ; and doubtless, at other times, the figures and 
 letters having in time become worn, to remedy all defects, the brush 
 was resorted to. 
 
 I have said that the inscriptions in Gwyddelwern Church were not 
 old. From an inscription within a painted frame on the south wall 
 in the chancel it seems that they were executed in the last century. 
 The inscription was as follows : — " Mr. Edward Wynne, Vicar, 
 Thomas Humphreys, William Edwards, Thomas Hughes, Church 
 Wardens, 1745. Thomas Davies, Painter." 
 
 BURYING IN CHURCH. 
 
 When any old church is restored, proof is forthcoming, in the 
 abundance of human bones, that burials innumerable have taken 
 place there. This practice, now no more, dates from olden days. 
 Thus in the reign of Edgar, when S. Dunstan was Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, such burials were common, and they are mentioned in 
 the canons issued in 960 a.d., and their too common occurrence 
 condemned. The canon states : — 
 
 XXIX. Docemus etiam, ut in ecclesia nemo sepeliatur, nisi sciatur 
 quod in vita Deo bene placuerit, ut inde judicetur, quod sit sepultura 
 dignus. — Concilia, vol. i., p. 227. 
 
 Here burial within the precincts of the church is made consequent 
 upon the good living of the defunct, but it is for the purpose of 
 
(jwyddelwern. 79 
 
 showing that these burials in church date from ancient days that 
 this quotation is given. 
 
 The prevalence and antiquity of this practice are also evident from 
 the following extracts taken by Wilkins from the Liber Legum 
 Ecclesiasticarum. Its date is 994 a.d. : — 
 
 Antiquus erat mos in his regionibus, mortuos homines frequenter in 
 ecclesiis sepelire, et loco, quae ad Dei ministerium sanctificata, et con- 
 secrata erant ad offerendum, ipsi facere coemeteria. Jam nolumus abhinc, 
 ut aliquis in ecclesia sepeliatur, nisi fit vir sacerdotalis ordinis, aut etiam 
 tarn Justus laicus, ut sciatur quod vivus propter meritum vitae suae talem 
 locum corpus suum ibi reponendi promeruerit. Nolumus tamen ut corpora, 
 quae prius in ecclesia sepulta erant, ejiciantur, sed tumuli, ubi appareant, 
 ut utrum horum (eligatur) vel profundius ilia in terra sepeliantur, vel 
 transitus super ea'fiat et aequaliter ac convenienter cum ecclesiae pavi- 
 mento condantur, ut nullus tumulus ibi videatur. Si autem in aliquo 
 loco tot tumulti sint, ut hoc difficile sit factu, tunc sinant loca ilia 
 coemeteria esse, et auferatur altare inde, et in purum locum ponatur, et 
 ibi ecclesiae sint, ubi Deo reverenter et pure offerri possit. — Concilia, 
 vol. i., pp. 267-8. 
 
 The words " antiquus erat mos " prove that even in the year 
 994 a.d. the custom referred to was an ancient one, and the quota- 
 tion further shows that it had become necessary to place some 
 restraint on such burials ; that their frequency caused inequalities 
 in the surface of the church, and turned God's house into a cemetery. 
 The custom was not confined to one part of the country, but prevailed 
 in Wales as much as in England. 
 
 In the year 1556 a.d., Thomas Goldwell, Bishop of St. Asaph, 
 thought it necessary to issue an injunction, in which, among other 
 matters, interment within the precints of the church is mentioned. 
 From the Bishop's words it appears that burials within the church 
 were not only of common occurrence, but that the people without let 
 or hindrance claimed the privilege of burying there, and his lordship 
 endeavours to restrict this practice. The injunction states : — 
 
 That no man, of what degre or condycyon soever he be, be buryed 
 wythin the precynt of the chyrch, without the consent of the church- 
 wardens, except he have a chappell of hys owne, or fryndes byldyng, and 
 that no man be buryed in the chancel without the consent of the parson 
 or vycar. 
 
 Item, That he that ys buryed in the chyrch, havyng no chappell of hys 
 owne, shall pay to the chyrchwardens toward the reparacyons of the 
 chyrch VI.s. VIILd. and he that ys buryed in the chancell, shall .paye to 
 
80 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 hym, that hath the care of the reparacyons of the chancell, X.s. and the 
 pryst that buryeth-any man contrary to this injunction, shall pay the 
 sayd money to the chyrch, or chancell hymself. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 145. 
 
 This brings the history of interments in churches to the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, and we have only to go into unrestored 
 churches to find that the custom knew but little, if any abatement, 
 in the eighteenth century. 
 
 There is in Llanychan churchyard, which is about two miles from 
 Ruthin, a flat stone with this inscription : — 
 
 Here, vnder the first stone in this holy grovnd, lyeth the body of 
 Elizabeth vch Robert, who dyed 21 of Jan. 1672. 
 
 The Rev. D. R. Thomas thinks this refers to the introduction of 
 tombstones into churchyards, but it might also point to a departure 
 from the custom of burying in churches. But if it did so, the 
 example was not generally followed in and about the Vale of Clwyd, 
 for there is hardly an old church in the whole district that is not 
 flagged with stones commemorative of the dead who departed this 
 life during the last century. The inscriptions usually are short and 
 simple, and generally consist of a few words, which give us scant in- 
 formation. On one flag in Gwyddelwern Church in the chancel 
 were these words : — 
 
 Yma y claddwyd Evan Hughes or Hendre Chwefror 17 ei oed 84. Ag 
 Alice Roberts ei wraig Mai 31 yn y flwyddyn 1796. 
 
 This stone informs us that — " Here were buried Evan Hughes, of 
 Hendre, February 17, aged 84, and Alice Roberts, his wife, May 31, 
 in the year 1796." It is worthy of notice that Hughes's wife retained 
 after marriage, in accordance with a Welsh custom, her maiden 
 name. 
 
 The large majority of stones in Gwyddelwern Church have on 
 them a few initials and dates, and members of the same family 
 doubtless slept in the same grave. One instance of this will suffice. 
 It is or was on a stone in the chancel : — 
 
 C W 
 S W 
 1724 
 I W 
 1753 
 Many a brass plate on the seats in churches tells us that " under- 
 neath this seat " was buried so and so ; therefore it was a custom for 
 
Gwyddelwern. 
 
 81 
 
 persons to be buried under the spot which, when living, they occupied 
 in church. 
 
 Not only was the body of the church used as a cemetery," but even 
 underneath the church walls have people been buried. Quantities 
 of human bones were discovered below the foundation stones at 
 Llanbedr Church, near Conway, and on the restoration of Meliden 
 Church, near Rhyl, the whole floor was found filled with bones, and 
 the south wall had also been undermined to make room for graves, 
 and it was a matter of surprise that the wall had not [given way in 
 the process of excavation. 
 
 The practice of burying in church has ceased in our days, except 
 that sometimes a family vault, which has not been filled, continues to 
 be used. 
 
 CHURCH SEATS. 
 
 Curious is the information supplied by the old seats in churches. 
 Those in Gwyddelwern belonged to many periods. There were in 
 the chancel ancient benches made of huge blocks of oak. (Fig. I.). 
 
 In the nave were pews with 
 panels of Jacobean carving. 
 (Fig. IV.). Then came on the 
 north side old open seats and 
 benches, and on the west side, 
 extending partly underneath the 
 gallery, a sheep-pen like set of 
 seats, bearing date 1707. There 
 was no uniformity between 
 "^^C" these productions of various 
 
 Fi s- i- periods. A portion of the floor 
 
 in the old church was also bare, having no kind of seats. 
 
 The markings and inscriptions on some of the benches show that 
 seats were appropriated at an early period, and that contests for 
 their possession took place. There is a curious instance of this 
 in the inscriptions on one of the benches in the chancel, formerly 
 adjoining the north wall. At both extremities of the bench are 
 initials. One is D W, but partially hiding these letters is a brass 
 plate (a, Fig. II.), with these words on it, " David Davies, Tymawr, 
 ' w, t .,.:.. sitting. At the 
 
 Llan 
 
 1816." Thus Davies claims D W's 
 
82 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 other end of the bench cut into the seat are the letters G L ; these 
 are left undisturbed, but nailed into the centre of the bench is another 
 brass plate (2, Fig. II.) claiming the whole bench : — "This bench 
 belonging to Hugh Hughes, Plasau Le Derm Moisdel' Anne, 181 — ." 
 Thus H. Hughes ousts all comers, and claims the whole seat or 
 bench for himself. 
 
 Fig. 11. 
 
 On other benches in this part of the church are initials, or names 
 of persons, or farms, cut into the wood with or without lines of 
 demarcation between each sitting. (Fig. TIL). R.Wynne, Meyarth, 
 claims a whole seat, but to 
 M: I: Esq 1 ' on another bench 
 only ig inches are allotted. 
 On another bench, "I + R + 
 Clegir," gets 38m., while 
 "I + R + Brindu" has 40m. 
 to his share. The Dynant 
 people get 39m., &c. 
 
 The seats in the chancel 
 are old, probably the oldest in 
 the church. (Fig. I.) Nonails 
 are used in their make. The 
 seats are dove-tailed into a 
 thick plank on the side next 
 the wall, and at the other end 
 they are mortised into an 
 upright bench end. The 
 structure is of massive oak. 
 The bench is 4 inches thick. 
 There are no backs to the seats. There 
 benches in the chancel ; also a stall-like 
 wardens' seat. 
 
 The pews in front of and about the pulpit, which stands against 
 the north wall, close to the site of the screen, are high-backed box 
 
 were two sets of these 
 chair, and the church- 
 
Gwyddelwern. 
 
 83 
 
 seats. The oldest are those about the pulpit. The panels contain 
 
 excellent Jacobean carvings 
 representing birds and drag- 
 ons. On the breast of one of 
 the dragons is engraved a 
 cross (Fig. IV.). From the 
 inscriptions on the box seats, 
 opposite the pulpit, we gather 
 that they were placed in the 
 Flg ' IV- Church in the early part of the 
 
 eighteenth century. Thus, one panel has engraved upon it the initials 
 
 " T : H 1743"; another, " H ^ M MDCCV." On the reading desk 
 
 is carved, " Cronogr : Dirigatvr • oratio ' nostra ■ qvasi • incesvm • in ■ 
 visv ■ patris ■ gratie sedes impens : R° : Davies strvcta in vsvm paroche 
 Gwyddelwern." The workmanship of the wood engraver is exquisite; 
 the poise of some of the birds, admirable ; and the grouping, artistic. 
 These engravings belong to the seventeenth century, and they are a 
 credit to it, even if the high seats themselves may not be so described. 
 The height to which pews were built was the cause of offences which 
 are mentioned in the following order, given by Bishop Wren, of 
 Norwich, in 1636 : — 
 
 That the chancels and alleys in the church be not incroached upon by 
 building seats ; and if any be so built, the same to be removed and taken 
 away, and that no pews be made over high so that they, which be in 
 them, cannot be seen how they behave themselves, or the prospect of the 
 church or chancel be hindered ; and therefore that all pews, which within 
 do much exceed a yard in height, be taken down near to that scantling, 
 unless the bishop by his own inspection, or by the view of some special 
 commissioners, shall otherwise allow. — Concilia, vol. iv. p. 527. 
 
 Appropriated seats in this, as well as in other churches, had locks 
 to keep out intruders, and often churches were almost filled with 
 such pews ; and where this was the case, to avoid bickerings, the 
 public were informed which were free by cutting into them the 
 words, Maingc y plwy, parish seat. But, as already stated, benches 
 even were claimed by parishioners, who, to show their claim, cut 
 into them their initials. This practice was common throughout 
 Wales, so that, even where there were no Jacobean pews, benches 
 or seats, by constant occupation by the same party, ultimately 
 
84 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 became private property. The churchwardens, therefore, as ne- 
 cessity arose, were obliged to provide parish seats. An instance 
 of this occurs in Gwyddelwern Church. The open seats in the 
 chancel had become the property of individuals, and consequently 
 accommodation had to be provided for such parishioners as had 
 no sittings. Ten benches, roughly constructed, with a rest for the 
 back, answered this purpose, and they stood next to the high- 
 backed seats, on the north wall. There is only one single initial 
 on these benches, and the person whom they represent was a person 
 of note, for he is styled Esquire. The letters are " R P EsqV 
 
 Whenever this set of benches was made, wood from the old screen 
 was used in their construction. The blocks of wood upon which the 
 benches rested belonged to the screen. The upper part of the old 
 rood-screen was removed, no one knows when, but that portions of 
 it were used up in these seats suggests the reason of its removal. 
 1'he lower part of the screen, in 1880, was in its original position, 
 and several of its carved panels remained undisturbed. 
 
HALKYN, FLINTSHIRE. 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 LL that remains of Halkyn Churchyard Cross is a 
 portion of the head-stone, which very properly has 
 been built into one of the buttresses of the mag- 
 nificent structure lately erected 
 in the place of the old parish 
 church, by the munificence of 
 the Duke of Westminster. I am 
 informed by the Rev. Walter Evans, Rector of 
 the parish, that he observed the part of the 
 Cross, which has been preserved, a sketch of 
 which is here given, lying about in the belfry 
 of the old church, and that it was used by the 
 bell-ringer as a rest for his foot. Though the 
 old church has been razed to the ground, the 
 outlines of the building can be traced ; but I 
 failed to discover the site of the Churchyard 
 Cross. It appears from Domesday that there 
 was then a church at Halkyn, or, as it is there called, Alchene ; so 
 there must have been in olden times in the churchyard a cross ; 
 probably it disappeared when the Church was re-built in 1776, 
 but by accident a part of it escaped destruction, and has come 
 down to our day, and is cared for in the manner stated above. 
 
 The part of the Cross which has been preserved is mutilated, but 
 the Crucifixion scene engraved upon it is sufficiently legible. The 
 stone measures about 25 inches long by about 15 inches broad. 
 The niche was originally cinque-foiled, but a part of the top has dis- 
 appeared. In the figure of our Lord the head has been knocked off, 
 and the legs and arms are all but worn away. There are two figures, 
 one on each side of the Cross, with their faces turned upwards, as if 
 contemplating the Saviour. These represent, most probably, the 
 
86 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Virgin and St. John. The Apostle supports his head with his right 
 hand, and he holds a book in his left. The Virgin's hands clasp on 
 her breast something which is not clearly traceable. The calvary is 
 supported underneath by an angel with extended wings, and on its 
 head is a small cross. A part of the left-hand corner has been 
 broken off, and pieces of the left border have also been chipped 
 away. The workmanship of the side figures, and angel underneath, 
 is good, and possibly, when perfect, this remark might with justice 
 be applied to the whole, but the hands of our Lord now appear to 
 have been rudely executed. The Cross belongs probably to the 
 fourteenth century. 
 
HENLLAN. 
 
 vwM|f50j 
 
 III 
 
 VILLAGE CROSS. 
 
 HERE is at present no Cross in Henllan village, but 
 I am indebted to the courtesy of the late Mr. 
 Townshend Mainwaring of Gallt-faenan for a copy of 
 a small drawing of the Church and detached tower, 
 in 'which the Village Cross forms a conspicuous 
 feature. Mr. Mainwaring informed me that the 
 sketch was a copy of an engraving in the Bodleian 
 
 Library, Oxford, but he 
 
 could not tell the date of its 
 
 execution. Upon reference 
 
 to the drawing, which is 
 
 here exactly reproduced, it 
 
 will be seen that the Village 
 
 Cross stood close to the 
 
 churchyard gate, in a recess, 
 
 between the tower and the 
 
 entrance to the churchyard. 
 
 The shaft, evidently a long 
 
 one, appears without the head-stone, so that it had 
 already been tampered with. The socket, or pedestal 
 of the Cross, is shown in the sketch, and apparently it 
 was a huge flat stone. This is about all that can be 
 said of this Cross. But the date of its removal is a 
 question of some importance. The Church has under- 
 gone two " restorations" in this century, one in 1807-8, 
 and the other in 1878-g, and between these two dates 
 the Village Churches of Denbighshire was published by 
 Messrs. Lloyd- Williams and Underwood, in which 
 there is an accurate drawing of Henllan Church as it 
 was after the alterations of 1807-8. In this drawing 
 the Cross does not appear, nor the two dormer-windows 
 
 and church porch, which are delineated in the vignette given above. 
 
88 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The alterations, therefore, of 1807-8 were extensive. It is stated 
 in the Village Churches that the church walls were raised to an 
 unnecessary height in 1807-8, and the remains of the older structure 
 either used up in them, or scattered through the village. It is 
 very likely that the Church was then raised to make room for 
 the west-end gallery, which in 1878-9 was entirely removed. A 
 supporting column of this gallery was, in Mr. Mainwaring's opinion, 
 the shaft of the Village Cross. This most likely was the case ; for, 
 as a pillar for the gallery this octagonal stone was incongruous, but 
 as a shaft of a cross it was, as to material, form, and size, an exact 
 representation of many other crosses. It is not unlikely that, at the 
 extensive alterations which the Church underwent in 1807-8, the 
 Cross was removed from the entrance to the churchyard, and the 
 shaft utilized as a pillar for the gallery. At the restoration in 
 1878-g, the pillar or shaft of the Cross was removed again, and 
 placed opposite the church porch, where also it serves a purpose 
 alien from that for which it was intended, for in winter it is used as 
 a post for a lamp. Such have been the vicissitudes of Henllan 
 Village Cross. 
 
 The shaft is an octagonal and tapering monolith, brought to a 
 square at the base by concave chamfers. The height, as it now 
 stands, is 7ft. gin., and breadth, ift. 4m. The work belongs probably 
 to the fifteenth century. 
 
LLANARMON YN IAL. 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HIS Churchyard Cross has suffered the same fate as 
 many others, and has 
 been cut down and 
 converted into a stand 
 for a sun-dial. The 
 dial itself is now un- 
 used and useless, the 
 indicator is broken, and the brass 
 plate markings are indistinct. After 
 much trouble I succeeded in de- 
 ciphering the nearly illegible inscrip- 
 tion on the plate, " Mai yr Awr yn 
 dyfod," " As the hour coming ; " not 
 an inappropriate motto for a sun-dial. 
 The Cross stands at present 18 
 paces from the west end of the church. 
 It is not in a line with the south side of the church, but it stands six 
 
 paces more to 
 A the south. In 
 
 its position it 
 
 w 1 E ~ resembles the 
 
 cross that was 
 at Bryn Eglwys, 
 and also the one 
 now at Corwen. 
 The shaft is 
 a somewhat ta- 
 pering octagon- 
 . 2o.PAc t , a r_. al, 3 feet 5 inches 
 
 high, squared 
 
 by broaches at 
 
 the base, and mortised into the pedestal with lead- It measures 
 
 <« 
 
 ' M/m//.</ww////"W'.r//- 
 
 Cross- 
 
 Site of Cross. 
 
go Old Stone Crosses, 
 
 one foot square at the base. The stone is a hard sandstone, but 
 it is greatly weather-worn. 
 
 The pedestal is a monolith about a yard square, and ift. 2in. thick ; 
 the surface, particularly along the edges, is greatly worn, possibly by 
 persons inspecting the dial. This is also free-stone. The Cross, 
 probably, is late fourteenth or early fifteenth century work. 
 
 The Church is dedicated to St. Germanus, or Garmon, who is said 
 to have gained the "Victoria Alleluiatica," over the Picts and 
 Saxons, at a place called, to this day, Maes Garmon, near Mold. 
 Placed erect in the south wall of the Church is the effigy of an 
 ecclesiastic, robed in canonicals, evidently intended for a recumbent 
 sepulchral monument. Locally, this figure is said to be that of the 
 saint who gave to the church a name, but that it belongs to a later 
 period can hardly be doubted, and some writers think it represents 
 John Lloyd, Abbot of Valle Crucis, who flourished in the fifteenth 
 century. However this may be, undoubtedly the Church is ancient, 
 and it is believed to commemorate the spot where the Easter 
 Festival was solemnized by St. Germanus in a church formed of 
 interwoven branches of trees and flowers of the forest. (Bede, 
 bk. i., ch. 20.) In those days a more secluded spot for a rendezvous 
 could hardly have been selected. Situated in the recesses of the 
 mountains, and surrounded by huge forests, it was almost inaccessible. 
 
 Pennant, quoting Leland's Itinerary, v. 35, says : — 
 
 In Leland's days there was a great resort of pilgrims and large offerings 
 at this place ; and, probably, to this imaginary resemblance of him — 
 St. Germanus. — Pennant's Tour, vol. i., p. 380. 
 
 The church is much too large for the requirements of the parish, 
 but, as pilgrimages were made there, its size is accounted for. 
 
 The Gwylmabsant, or Saint's Festival, was celebrated on August 
 1st, and up to the beginning of this century it was observed with 
 much jollity. On the Saturday previously to the Wakes there was a 
 fair called Ffair y bol, or Belly Fair, because at it was sold nothing 
 but eatables. Great preparation was made for the Saint's Festival ; 
 the farmers killed sheep, &c, and kept open house for their friends. 
 The Wakes lasted a whole week, and during this time there was a. 
 suspension of work, and every one endeavoured to drive dull care away 
 from the parish for at least one week in the year. The Vicar of 
 the parish, the Rev. E. Evans, told me that it was customary for the 
 well-to-do farmers to make presents to the poorer parishioners, so 
 
Llanarmon Yn Ial. 
 
 9i 
 
 that even they had the means of entertaining their friends who 
 visited them. But all this was the last flicker of the light of other 
 days, and now the Gwylmabsant is no more. 
 
 The churchyard, which is large, is nearly circular, and is almost 
 surrounded by roads. The road seems at one time to have gone 
 right round the churchyard. There are three entrances to the ground 
 now, but once there were more. The Church is in the centre of the 
 village, and many of the houses round the churchyard have their 
 frontage facing the building. 
 
LLANASA. 
 
 FRAGMENTS OF CROSSES. 
 
 HERE is no Cross in Llanasa Churchyard, but a plain 
 stone, with socket, lies against the churchyard wall, 
 and this may have been the basement of the Cross 
 that once stood in the churchyard. 
 
 The Vicar, the Rev. J. P. Morgan, called my atten- 
 tion to a fragment of a Cross that was discovered at 
 the restoration of the Church. It consists of a single 
 piece of stone, 7 inches long, 4 inches 
 broad, and 2-f inches thick. On each 
 side, in relief, is a portion of an arm, as 
 here delineated, so that, when entire, 
 there would be a figure of our Lord on 
 each side ; and the whole structure, if drawn in proportion to the 
 fragment now extant, would be about 2 feet 6 inches wide. This 
 
 fragment recalls to mind the mutilated 
 !r t '",a-*»"-^>*' tt '~ ' crucifix at Cwm, the head and arms of 
 
 iiJltfSr k M^SBliiiWf which have been knocked off, and both 
 
 Crosses evidently were identical in pur- 
 pose. In Mr. Pooley's Old Crosses of 
 Gloucestershire (p. 67) is described and delineated a crucifix similar 
 to this, having the figure of our Lord on both sides, which, Mr. Pooley 
 thinks, belongs either to the eleventh or twelfth century. 
 
 CONSECRATION CROSS. 
 
 A most interesting Consecration Cross is preserved in the 
 Church. The late Vicar of the parish, the Rev. T. J. Hughes, 
 
Lianas a. 
 
 93 
 
 now Rector of Llanbedr, near Ruthin, informs me that this Cross 
 was, previously to the late restoration of the Church, built into 
 the south wall. At the restoration it was removed, and at 
 present it lies underneath the old communion table in the east 
 end of the south aisle. It would have been well had this Cross 
 been replaced in its original position, for there it would have 
 been safer than where it is at present. It is a relic so seldom 
 met with in churches in Wales, that it deserves to be well taken 
 care of. 
 
 The stone measures i foot 3 inches by 1 foot 1 inch, and it is 
 2 inches thick. The Cross, 
 which is in relief, appears as 
 if formed by two branches of 
 a tree placed transversely, 
 with the boughs lopped off. 
 The three upper limbs of the 
 Cross have each upon them 
 four lopped-off branches, and 
 the lower has three. The Cross 
 is surrounded by a quatrefoil, 
 and around this is a circle, 
 which is touched on its concave 
 surface by the quatrefoil. The 
 quatrefoil and the circle each 
 consists of three concentric 
 mouldings. The Cross belongs 
 probably to the fourteenth 
 century. . 
 
 Consecration Crosses are extremely rare. I am not aware of 
 the existence of more than four in the Diocese of St. Asaph, and 
 one of these four may have been the head of a sepulchral slab, 
 and not a Consecration Cross : I allude to that at Overton. In 
 Llanwnda (Pembrokeshire) Church walls there are several incised 
 crosses on stones outside the church, and these, most likely, are 
 Consecration Crosses, for such crosses stood both within and without 
 the sacred building. 
 
 Since this kind of cross is so extremely rare, not only in Wales 
 but throughout the kingdom, I will enumerate those that have come 
 under my notice in this diocese. 
 
94 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 CHIRK CONSECRATION CROSS. 
 
 This Cross at present is built into the south wall, above one of the 
 
 windows, but there it is out of 
 place. The Cross is in relief; 
 the stone measures apparently 
 ift. 3in. square. The Cross is 
 within a circle, which is con- 
 nected with the angles of the 
 stone by four spikes. (See 
 accompanying engraving.) Pro- 
 bably it is of the twelfth century. 
 
 LLANGWYFAN CONSECRATION 
 CROSS. 
 
 On the east jamb of the south 
 door of this Church 
 is a small Cross, 
 with arms of about 
 equal length, mea- 
 suring each an inch 
 or a litttle more. The stone, into which the Cross is 
 cut, is red sandstone, and the porch is a part of the 
 ancient Church, which, by restoration, has all but dis- 
 appeared. Underneath the Cross, on other stones, are 
 grooves, as shown in the illustration. Llangwyfan is 
 about six miles from Ruthin. 
 
 OVERTON. CROSS ON STONE. 
 
 Built into the western 
 pillar of this Church is a 
 portion of a Cross within 
 a circle, as shown in the sketch ; but, 
 as part of the stone has been broken 
 off, it is difficult to say whether this 
 is a portion of a Consecration Cross, 
 or only a fragment of an incised slab. 
 The stone measures 20^ inches by 17 
 inches. The Cross is Norman in character. 
 
Llanasa. 95 
 
 These are the only probable Consecration Crosses that I have 
 observed in the diocese of St. Asaph. But it would appear that there 
 are, several in Malpas Church, and that parish adjoins the eastern 
 portion of the diocese. 
 
 The Hon. W. T. Kenyon, Rector of Malpas, to whose courtesy 
 I am indebted for the following remarks on these Crosses, states that 
 they were brought to light in the year 1881, by scraping off the 
 plaster and whitewash. 
 
 One of these Crosses is at the south porch, on the right-hand side 
 entering the Church, just at the spring of the arch ; the four limbs are 
 of equal length, or almost so, each limb narrowing towards the centre 
 of the Cross. The dimensions of this Cross are given as 3m. by 
 2|in. or 3in. The position and size of the Cross correspond with 
 that at Llangwyfan. 
 
 The other Crosses at Malpas are on the capitals of the pillars, and 
 they are four in number. They consist of two incisions crossing 
 each other at right angles. 
 
 These Crosses seem to be coeval in age with those portions of the 
 Church where they appear. 
 
 Mr. Beedham has supplied me with the following interesting 
 notice of Consecration Crosses at the Franciscan Priory, Adare. 
 The information appears in a beautiful quarto volume printed -by 
 Parker, Oxford, " for private circulation," entitled " Memorials of 
 Adare Manor, by Caroline, Countess of Dunraven, with Historical 
 Notices of Adare by her Son, the Earl of Dunraven." On p. 81 
 appear engravings of two Consecration Crosses that are in the 
 Priory. They are within circles, and are simply " scratched in the 
 plaster, and are about ioin. in diameter, and about 5ft. from the 
 ground." 
 
 The Malpas and Llangwyfan Crosses are not surrounded by a 
 circle, though it appears from the order of consecrating churches 
 that such Crosses were usually circumscribed with a circle. 
 
 In the Liber Pontificalis of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, a 
 MS. of the fifteenth century, edited by Ralph Barnes, Esq. (Exeter, 
 1847), are given the following directions to be carried out at the 
 dedication of churches : — 
 
 DEDICATIO ECCLESIARUM. 
 
 Incipiat ordo ad dedicandum ecclesiasin quarum dedicacione subscripta 
 requiruntur Primo provideatur quod ecclesia poterit libere circuiri, et 
 
g6 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 quod xii cruces depingantur in circulis in parientibus infra ecclesiam, et 
 xii deforis : et xiiii cereoli et totidem claves ferrei figendi in superiore 
 parte circulorum in quibus dicti cereoli figantur. — Liber Pontificalis, p. 12. 
 
 From the opening remarks in the order of consecrating churches 
 it appears that twelve crosses were to be depicted in circles on the 
 walls within the church, and also twelve without. These the Bishop 
 consecrated in the manner following, as appears in the Consecratio 
 Altaris : — 
 
 Postea eat Episcopus infra ecclesiam, et faciat crucem cum pollice 
 intincto crismate in xii circulis infra ecclesiam ita dicens — " Sanctificetur 
 hoc templum per istam sanctam unctionem et nostram benedictionem in 
 honore. N. in nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Amen." 
 
 The Bishop, having made with holy oil twelve crosses within 
 circles inside the church, and having pronounced the words of con- 
 secration, proceeds outside, where the ceremony is thus continued: — 
 
 Tunc demum exeat Episcopus et cum crismate faciat xii cruces in 
 circulis in parientibus ecclesise ab extra dicendo in quolibet circulo sicut 
 dixit infra, soola canenti antiphonam. 
 
 Here we are informed that the Bishop makes with the holy oil 
 twelve crosses in circles on the walls outside the church, using there 
 the same words as he had used inside the church, the scholars 
 singing antiphonally. 
 
 Lacy was Bishop of Exeter from 1420 to 1455 a.d. 
 
 Although the Pontifical speaks of Consecration Crosses as being 
 depicted on the walls, it is clear that they were sometimes incised. 
 In Arundel Church, Sussex, are to be seen, on the internal walls, 
 several painted crosses, but these are very rare now. Few such 
 crosses escaped the whitewashing process of late days, and when 
 once hidden from view, their destruction followed. At the restoration 
 of churches in our days, plaster, with whatever was on it, disappeared. 
 This would not be the case with incised crosses, and hence a few of 
 these have reached our time. 
 
 But few external Consecration Crosses are in existence in these 
 days. At Salisbury Cathedral the external Consecration Crosses 
 are inlaid in brass. I know of no such Cross in the Diocese of 
 St. Asaph. 
 
 It is not difficult to account for the very small number of Conse- 
 cration Crosses that are in existence now. The perishable nature 
 of such crosses, for they were generally painted on the church walls, 
 
Llanasa. 97 
 
 will satisfactorily explain the disappearance of a large number, and 
 where they were incised, as it appears they sometimes were, over 
 the spot marked with the sacred symbol by the Bishop, they were 
 subjected in after years to destruction and mutilation by the 
 Puritans. I shall quote from the Journal of William Dowsing, in 
 treating in the Appendix of the destruction of the Cross on and 
 about churches, and I will here take a couple of extracts from the 
 same book bearing upon Consecration Crosses. He says, while 
 enumerating the crosses he had done away with, that he had 
 destroyed at Damsden — " Three crosses in the chancel on the 
 wall." These doubtless were Consecration Crosses ; and again he 
 records the destruction of many such crosses at Wetheringsett. 
 His words are :— 
 
 Wetheringsett : Nineteen crosses, sixteen about the arches of the 
 church, and three on the porch. 
 
 This entry reminds us of the crosses on the pillars in Malpas 
 Church, and also of the cross at Llangwyfan, in the porch of the 
 Church. 
 
 CUSTOMS. 
 
 Many Church customs in Llanasa parish lingered long, and only 
 ceased in the memory of the living, or in the days of their parents 
 or grand-parents. Lecta Roberts, once grave-digger, but now too 
 aged to follow this occupation, told me of many of these now 
 obsolete customs. 
 
 Eastertide was a season of much rejoicing. The custom of 
 " heaving" on Monday and Tuesday in Easter week long survived. 
 On Easter Monday the young men, accompanied by a fiddler, went 
 from house to house to " heave " the young women, and it was 
 considered somewhat of a disgrace not to be visited. On Tuesday 
 the young women went in companies to return the compliment, 
 and these days were given up mostly to merriment. This custom 
 was formerly general in all these parts, and over the border, in 
 Shropshire, and some other English counties. Between thirty and 
 forty years ago it was not an uncommon thing to see chairs carried 
 about the streets of Shrewsbury, for the purpose of "heaving" or 
 "lifting." 
 
 Celebrations of the Holy Communion took place in this parish 
 on Good Friday, Easter Eve, Easter-Day, and Easter Monday. 
 
98 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The first three continued to the end of the incumbency of the late 
 Vicar, the Rev. T. J. Hughes, who showed me a record of the 
 number communicating on those days. Possibly this custom still 
 exists. The distribution over so many days was necessary in 
 consequence of the number of communicants, but perhaps it had 
 another object in view, viz., the distinction of classes of society, for 
 Lecta informed me that the "great folk" communicated on Easter- 
 Day, and the rest on any day that suited them best. 
 
 It was once usual, I am told, to deliver in Llanasa Church a 
 sermon on Easter Eve. The only Church that I am aware of, 
 which continues the custom in the Vale is Llanychan, where the 
 practice is still popular. 
 
 I learn from the Rev. T. J. Hughes that it was a custom when 
 he was Vicar of Llanasa, for the communicants to come up from 
 the nave of the church to the chancel at the words, " Draw near 
 with Faith " in the Prayer of Humble Access in the Communion 
 Service, and those who could find room knelt then around the Com- 
 munion Table, He also informed me that at private celebrations 
 the parish clerk was present, and he always carried the clergyman's 
 surplice. Mr. Hughes said there were, when he was Vicar of the 
 parish, only three celebrations on successive days at Easter — on 
 Good Friday, Easter Eve, and Easter-Day. 
 
 In Llanasa parish it was formerly a custom on All Saints' Day 
 to distribute seed cakes amongst the poor, who on receiving them 
 prayed God to bless the next crop of wheat. This was a day 
 much thought of formerly throughout the whole of Wales. In 
 Clocaenog parish, at the present day, children go from house to 
 house on All Saints' Day, for, as they call it, Bwyd Cenad y Meirw, 
 which may be translated " The food of the Messenger of the Dead." 
 Their errand is well known, but when at the door they intimate the 
 object of their visit by saying the foregoing words. They receive 
 either food or money, usually the latter, from the good wife of the 
 house, and then they proceed to the next residence. This custom, I 
 hear, still prevails in many parishes in Denbighshire and Merioneth- 
 shire. 
 
 Baptisms and marriages and funerals were times where the persons 
 immediately concerned received presents from their neighbours. At 
 baptisms as many as thirty couples of young people were present 
 standing around the font. It was the custom for each young man 
 
Llanasa. 99 
 
 to give a shilling to the mother of the child, a shilling to the mid- 
 wife, and a shilling shot to obtain beer. Lecta Roberts told me 
 that her own mother received, when her daughter Ann was baptized, 
 in 1799, the sum of £5 at the christening. 
 
 Marriages here, as in all other parts, were attended by many 
 groomsmen and bridesmaids, and on such occasions there were 
 presents for the young couple, and "shots" from those assembled 
 to buy drink for all at the wedding. 
 
 The Rev. T. J. Hughes told me that it was customary on Palm 
 Sunday to decorate the pulpit with willow branches. 
 
 The learned Dr. Rock, in his book The Church of our Fathers, 
 mentions the custom of wreathing the Cross on Palm Sunday. His 
 words are : — 
 
 Here (i.e., at the second station) was it that sometimes in parish 
 churches especially the churchyard cross was the spot at which they 
 stopped. Falling down on the ground they yielded their worship to Him 
 who chose to die on the rough hard wood for the love He bore mankind. 
 All about they strewed flowers and green boughs ; and after the Passion 
 had been recited at Mass, blessed Palms were brought and this cross was 
 wreathed and decked with them to symbolize Christ's victory over death 
 and sin. References to such a ritual practice are not wanting among our 
 records ; and our forefathers liked to think of it ; thus, Henry Bunn, by 
 his will, a.d. 1501, orders a cross to be set up in Hardley Churchyard 
 "pro palmis in die ramis palmarum offerendis (Blomefield's Norfolk, 
 x. 141)" — Church of our Fathers, vol. hi., pt. 2, p. 228. 
 
 William de Bleys, who was Bishop of Worcester from 12 18 to 
 1236, issued constitutions in 22g a.d., and when treating of church- 
 yards his Lordship says : — 
 
 Crux decens et honesta, vel in coemeterio erecta, et quam net processio 
 ipso die Palmarum, nisi in alio loco consuevit fieri. — Concilia, vol. i., pp. 623-4. 
 
 This is an authority for the erection of Churchyard Crosses in the 
 thirteenth century, and it also indicates that use of these Crosses 
 which is mentioned by D . Rock. 
 
 M 
 
LLANELIDAN. 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 •€*-n. 
 
 HIS Cross stood on the pathway on the north side of 
 the Church ; its position was about mid-way be- 
 tween the Church porch and the lich gate (See plan). 
 A few foundation stones mark the spot once occupied 
 by the Cross ; but these are on a level with the 
 pathway which passes over them, and therefore not 
 very noticeable. Fifteen paces taken from the 
 Church porch brings one to the site of the Cross. 
 
 Before proceeding with a description of the Churchyard Cross, 
 it may be remarked 
 that, in consequence of 
 the configuration of 
 the ground on which 
 the Church stands, the 
 porch and chief en- 
 trance are on the north 
 side, and not, as is 
 usually the case, on the 
 south. Corwen Church 
 is another instance of 
 this kind. The Cross 
 at Llanelidan was erec- 
 ted therefore on that 
 side which was tra- 
 versed by the parish- 
 ioners on their way to 
 the Church. 
 
 The Cross was, I am informed by the present Rector, the Rev- 
 David Roberts, removed by the orders of his predecessor, the Rev. 
 
Llanelidan. 
 
 101 
 
 Robert Roberts. The stonemason, Griffith Griffiths, who was 
 employed on the occasion, is still living (1883), an old man of 
 over eighty years, but still strong and capable of work. He lately 
 contracted for building the wall around the additional burial ground, 
 and when so engaged he informed the Rector that he had removed 
 the Cross, and he stated that the removal took place from fifty to 
 sixty years ago. 
 
 Portions of the Cross have been built up into the schoolroom ; 
 and at the approach to the Church, on the south side, are several 
 large blocks of sandstone, apparently the steps to the Cross, but used 
 at present as steps to the entrance into the churchyard. On the top 
 of the steps is a large stone, which formed the basement of the 
 Cross. It measures 3ft. 2in. square, and is about 9 inches thick ; 
 the sides are chamfered, and to avoid the central socket, which 
 would be inconvenient, as the stone is now used, it has been in- 
 verted, so that the chamfered sides are 
 undermost. (See Fig. X.) Some portions 
 of the old Cross are thus utilized, but 
 others have disappeared. It is much to 
 
 < 3ft. 2in > be regretted that a Churchyard Cross, 
 
 Fig. x. having reached the nineteenth century, 
 
 should, even if already mutilated, have been removed or des- 
 troyed. 
 
 The parish clerk, Simon Goodman Jones, informed me that from 
 this Cross parochial and other matters were published in days gone 
 by, just as they were in the neighbouring parish of Derwen. 
 
 BALL-PLAYING ON CHURCH WALLS. 
 
 Ball-playing was in this, as in other parishes, a favourite game. 
 Reference has already been made to it, but particulars not previously 
 recorded are here given. Mention was made of the use of shutters 
 to the church windows when speaking of Cilcen Church. From 
 information supplied by the parish clerk of Llanelidan there is no 
 doubt that they were, as previously stated, supplied to secure the 
 glass from breakage when the game was being played. 
 
 Games of fives were played at Llanelidan on the west gable end 
 of the south aisle. There is a window above a built-up door, with 
 the shutter staples still remaining, but the shutters themselves have 
 
102 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 disappeared, and the clerk said that these shutters were provided 
 simply for the protection of the windows while games were going on. 
 He also pointed out to me a contrivance by which the shutters of a 
 window in an adjoining side wall were drawn to from the loft in the 
 west end of the Church. The space between these two walls is now 
 occupied by grave stones, and when the attention of the clerk was 
 drawn to these obstructions to a game of fives, he stated that the 
 altar tombs and head stones were erected after the game had ceased. 
 He also pointed out to me several slabs broken at the surface of 
 the ground, and he said these stones were driven into the ground by 
 Mr Davies, a curate of the parish, to make it impossible for the 
 young men to play ball against the Church walls. But, said my 
 informant, the parishioners would not submit to such treatment, and 
 one, Robert Jones, Tyntwll, with a sledge hammer, broke the objec- 
 tionable pillars to pieces, and the games were resumed. All this 
 took place a little more than sixty years ago. The Rev. John 
 Davies, the clergyman referred to, ceased to be curate of Llanelidan 
 in the year 1819. 
 
 It would seem that these games were not always played for 
 amusement only, but oftentimes for money. The Llanelidan parish 
 clerk told me that his grandfather, Gabriel Lloyd, a freeholder in 
 the parish, was passionately fond of the game, and three times over 
 he gambled and lost his property in betting on unsuccessful com- 
 petitors. When asked how he could have spent his freehold three 
 times over, Lloyd said that his infatuated forefather took the deeds of 
 the property and deposited them with a female cousin, as security 
 for money advanced by her on the freehold ; that after a while she 
 forgave him the debt and restored the deeds ; and this she did on 
 three occasions. But her kindness was of no avail, and for the 
 fourth time the deeds came into her possession, and now, wearied 
 by these thrice repeated proofs of her relative's improvidence and 
 gambling propensities, she no longer would relieve him of his 
 monetary difficulties, and, though aged and blind, she found a hus- 
 band, and Gabriel Lloyd lost his property for ever. Poverty even 
 destroyed not his love for the game, and he staked his last shilling 
 on his grandson, Gabriel Goodman's skill at fives, and lost it. Such 
 are* the family traditions of Gabriel Lloyd. 
 
 Corroborative evidence of play for money was given by old 
 John Lewis, Graigfechan, who is mentioned in connection with 
 
Llanelidan. - 103 
 
 Llanfair Cross. This old man narrated with much vivacity a feat 
 he had performed in a game played against Llanfair Church walls 
 years ago, when he won a bet of a pound. Upon being asked 
 whether he could play equally well with both hands, he said, 
 capering about in front of the dumb wall, as if replaying the cele- 
 brated match — " Oh yes, I played with my left hand as well as with 
 the right, or I could never have won that game." The old man is 
 now minus an arm. 
 
 MARKING OF GAMES OF FIVES ON CHURCH WALLS. 
 
 A south doorway into Llanelidan Church contains many scorings 
 of games played on the wall already mentioned. This entrance 
 is through the side wall adjoining, and at right angles to, the 
 west wall. The wall is very thick, and the marker stationed in 
 the recess of the door could see the game without interfering 
 with the players. Both sides of the doorway are plastered over 
 with mortar, and many coats of whitewash have been laid on 
 the wall. Upon the peeling off of the whitewash the scorings 
 came in view. The wall was covered over with them. These 
 marks are the only remaining instances of records of games that 
 have reached our days. Nearly all the churches in the Vale 
 have undergone restoration, and much that was old and interest- 
 ing has consequently disappeared ; and to the fact that Llanelidan 
 Church has not been restored, we are indebted for the preservation 
 of these marks. 
 
 The records of matches are variously written. Sometimes a single 
 line, four inches or so long, is scratched 
 into the mortar, and this line is inter- \ \ 
 
 sected by other lines measuring about 1 I 
 
 two inches in length. (See Figs. I. and II.) ^ 
 It appears that Fig. II. records a dead 
 heat, while Fig. I. shews that a well con- Fig. 1. a— &= 4 inches, 
 
 tested game has been played, the victors winning by two points out 
 
 of ten. 
 
 \ 1 ; l I I j I / / i I / I . 1 Another way of scoring was by 
 
 c M j j I I I j ' | \ I I I j d drawing two parallel lines, and in- 
 
 serting within them a straight line 
 Fig. 11. c— a=^6 inches. for each point gained by one of the 
 
104 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 competing sides, whilst the record of the other side was marked 
 by straight lines 
 drawn outside the 
 parallel lines, as 
 shewn in Fig. III. e 
 It would appear 
 that the game re- 
 gistered in Fig. III. 
 was very one-sided, 
 the winners gain- 
 ing fourteen out of 
 eighteen points. 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 m 
 
 Fig. Ill, e—f=g inches. 
 
 Fig IV. seems to have been the same kind of 
 scoring, somewhat modified, 
 I I I I I as in Fig. III. Fig. V. re- 
 l I I I I presents another kind, but 
 what it means I know not. 
 There are several single 
 k letters in the mortar close to 
 Fig. iv. g-h=gi inches. the scorings, such as G and 
 
 J, and there are also many other records of games along the walls, 
 and these exhibit a certain amount of di- 
 versity from the delineations now given. 
 The parish clerk informed me that the 
 letters stood for the marker's name, and 
 the G, he said, belonged to his enthusiastic 
 grandfather, Gabriel. These records show 
 that a game of fives was conducted accord- 
 ing to well-known rules, which have now been 
 lost in Wales. On the walls of Pompeii 
 have been discovered a complete programme 
 of a match of fives or hand ball, in which 
 challengers, accepters, and markers are 
 named. All this reminds one forcibly of 
 the games played at Llanelidan, where the 
 scorings and the markers figure so conspicuously, while it shews 
 the antiquity of the exercise of the pila. The pilicrepi of Pompeii 
 were an influential body, and on electioneering placards they are 
 even asked to support a certain candidate— " Pilicrepi Facite " are 
 the words there written. We can well understand the enthusiasm 
 
 Fig. V. i—j=3 inches. 
 
Llanelidan. 105 
 
 invoked by a great match in Wales, and we can well believe, as old 
 people tell us, that the important work of keeping the score was often 
 undertaken by the clergyman. 
 
 ROOD-SCREEN AND LOFT. 
 
 There is a tradition that the screen belonging to this Church was 
 removed to Ruthin Church. If so, it has disappeared from that 
 Church also, where at present there is no screen. The remains of 
 certain portions of a rood-loft are still in existence in Llanelidan 
 Church. One part forms a seat in the vestry, and this is ornamented 
 with rude engraving of animals ; there are other portions of the 
 rood-loft used as beams in the west-end gallery in the Church. 
 Particularly noticeable is one with mortises. Judging from the 
 remains of the rood-loft still preserved and appropriated in the 
 Church, the tradition as to the removal of the screen and its appur- 
 tenances cannot be literally correct. A part may have been removed 
 when the Church was undergoing repairs, but certainly not the 
 whole. 
 
 EAST WINDOW GLASS. 
 
 The painted glass in the east window is fragmentary, and the 
 window is filled in with old greenish glass. A pane has the date 
 1700 upon it. 
 
LLANFAIR DYFFRYN CLWYD. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 H 
 
 U 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HIS is one of those Churchyard Crosses that have 
 been converted into a sun-dial. From the figures 
 1800 cut into the shaft, we may suppose that that was 
 the date when the change was effected. The sun- 
 dial plate has an inscription, which states that 
 " E. Tavo, Chester, Fee*." The Cross stands on 
 the south side of the Church, six paces from the 
 
 porch, and it is in a straight line with the east wall of the porch. 
 
 There are two steps leading up to the pedestal ; the lowest is, in 
 
 most parts, imbedded in the 
 
 soil, but a sufficient portion 
 
 is exposed to show that it is 
 
 about I2in. broad, and 7ft. 
 
 2in. long. The next step 
 
 consists apparently of three 
 
 large stones, lying partly 
 
 underneath the pedestal. 
 
 This step is on two of its 
 
 sides I2in. broad, and on 
 
 the two opposite sides, ift. 
 
 3in. broad ; in length, its 
 
 opposite sides measure re- 
 spectively 5ft. 4m. and 4ft. 
 
 nin.; a displacement of 
 
 the stones forming the steps 
 
 will account for this inequality. The interstices between the 
 
 stones are filled with luxuriantly growing ferns, including the 
 
 hart's tongue. The pedestal is a large block of free-stone, mea- 
 suring, at the base, 2 ft. ioin. square ; height, 2ft. iin. Grooves 
 
 .j ,.y-r~- . ,, y.r--H--i — ^. 
 
 CROSS 
 Plan showing position of Churchyard Cross. 
 
Llanfair Dyffyyn Clwyd. 
 
 107 
 
 have been made along its upper surface by sharpening thereon 
 knives or other implements. The shaft is an octagonal, 2ft. 5in. 
 in height, brought to a 
 square by broaches, and 
 mortised into the pe- 
 destal with lead. When 
 perfect the Cross must 
 have been a massive 
 and imposing structure. 
 The remains are simple 
 in character. It is pro- 
 bably fifteenth -century 
 work. 
 
 Old people in the 
 parish remember many 
 customs that have 
 ceased in their days. 
 One of these was — 
 
 RINGING A HAND-BELL AT FUNERALS. 
 
 The parish clerk formerly preceded funerals, walking a short 
 distance in advance of the procession, tolling, as he went along, a 
 small hand-bell. The modern reason given for this custom was 
 the narrowness of the roads, which would not permit of vehicles 
 passing each other. The bell, therefore, gave notice of the approach 
 of the funeral, and should there be impediments on the road, they 
 were removed before the funeral came up. This custom is extinct. 
 
 It appears that the custom of ringing hand-bells at funerals was 
 known in other parts of Wales, and continued to the days of the 
 living. In that interesting book on bells, by the Rev. H. T. 
 Ellacombe, called Tintinnabula, p. 315, speaking of a Carnarvonshire 
 bell, the writer says : — 
 
 I was told that the bell had been formerly round, but was squeezed into 
 its present form by the famous Llwyd Fawr, a gigantic ancestor of 
 Lloyd Edwards, Esq., of Nanhoran. Before a funeral the clerk used to 
 go round the churchyard ringing the bell. There are persons still living 
 who remember that in Carnarvon a bell used to be rung through all the 
 streets to give notice of an approaching funeral. 
 
 Many proofs could be adduced of the prevalence of this custom in 
 ancient times. In a.d. 1549 parsons, vicars, and curates were 
 
 N 
 
108 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 bidden to receive corpses at the Churchyard without bell or cross 
 {Concilia, vol. iv., p. 32.) A more distinct reference to the use of 
 hand-bells at funerals is made by Archbishop Grindal in 157 1. In 
 his injunctions to the clergy the Archbishop says : — 
 
 At burials, no ringing any hand bells ; no month's minds, or yearly 
 commemoration of the dead ; nor any other superstitious ceremonies to 
 be observed or used, which tended either to the maintenance of prayer for 
 the dead or of the popish purgatory. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 269. 
 
 Thus wrote Archbishop Grindal, but we have seen that in Wales 
 hand-bells were rung at funerals long after the issuing of this in- 
 junction. 
 
 The custom of ringing a hand-bell at funerals also prevailed in 
 Ireland, as testified by the following quotation : — 
 
 On February nth, 1839, Dr Aquila Smith exhibited to the members 
 of the Royal Irish Academy an ancient Irish bell of a square form, found 
 near Fintona, in the county of Tyrone. I have been informed by my 
 friend, the Rev. Henry Tottenham, the present rector of Fintona, that 
 the bell is still in existence, and is in the custody of a family by the name 
 Mc'Enhill ; that when any member of the family dies, it is rung in front 
 of the funeral procession. — Tintinnabula, p. 338. 
 
 Bells were also used when the parish boundaries were perambulated 
 in Rogation Days, but their use was for- 
 bidden by Archbishop Grindal on such oc- 
 casions. Neither banners nor hand-bells 
 were to be carried in these perambulations, 
 says his grace in his injunctions of 1571. 
 
 The Llanfair bell is not old, but, as sug- 
 gested by the Rev. Basil M. Jones, the Vicar 
 of the parish, it may have been cast out of an 
 older one. Perhaps it is still more probable 
 that a new bell took the place of an older one. 
 Its dimensions are — g|in. high ; diameter 
 at base, 6fin. ; the handle is triangular, and 
 is one with the rest of the metal. The bell is 
 in an excellent state of preservation. Around the outside in raised 
 characters is the following inscription : — 
 
 There were and are four churchwardens belonging to this parish, 
 and the initials of these officers in 1723 are here given. Between 
 
Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd 169 
 
 the date and the letters, and also between each set of letters, are 
 small figures of a heart. The bell is of the usual shape. The 
 accompanying engraving renders any minute description unnecessary. 
 Cardinal Pole, in 1557, in Articles set forth in his ordinary 
 visitation within his diocese of Canterbury touching the clergy, 
 inquires : — 
 
 Whether the sacrament be carried devoutly to them that fall sick, with 
 light, and with a little sacring bell. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 170. 
 
 The Cardinal describes the sacring bell as little. Llanfair bell is 
 not a small one, but it might have been used for the purpose specified 
 by the Cardinal. From inventories of church goods made in 1548, 
 bells are named along with vestments, plate, &c. There would 
 therefore be more than one kind of holy bell used in connection with 
 the services of the church in those times. Several real sacring bells 
 have reached our days. At Llanrhyddlad Church, Anglesey, there 
 is one. It is of small dimensions, being only 4m. high, and 2gin. by 
 2in. at the bottom, and is of cast bronze. Such a bell would be used 
 at the celebration of theMass, and not probably a bell of the dimensions 
 of that at Llanfair. Formerly, when parishes were perambulated in 
 Rogation Days, commonly called Cross Week, certain ceremonies 
 were performed, and hand-bells were used, and such bells as this at 
 Llanfair, or that at Gwytherin, a parish about six miles from Llan- 
 rwst, would be the kind of bell used on such occasions. Dr. Thirlwall, 
 the late Bishop of St. David's, found at Kerry, Montgomeryshire, an 
 official whose duty it was to perambulate the Church during service 
 with a bell to awaken sleepers. The Llanfair bell was used by the 
 parish clerk when he had any announcement to make, to the people on 
 Sunday, which he did from the steps of the Cross after ringing the bell. 
 In this way it would be used as the bell of a crier. When the members 
 of the Cambrian Archaeological Association visited Gwytherin in 
 August, 1882, the small hand-bell kept in the church was exhibited. 
 Some thought it a not very ancient Sacring Bell ; others, nothing of 
 the sort ; whilst a native said it had formerly been used by the 
 village crier. Very likely it had been used in the same manner 
 as that at Llanfair. The inhabitants of Llanfair remember their bell 
 being used for the purpose of calling the people together when the 
 tithes were sold by auction. 
 
 I will only add that the Llanfair bell, in some way or other, came 
 into the possession of Mr. Samuel Owen, the village inn-keeper, and 
 
HO Old Stone Crosses, 
 
 he, at the request of the Rev. Basil M. Jones, willingly gave it up to 
 the charge of the Vicar, and at present it is kept in the Vicarage. 
 
 It is not improbable that even in these days bells, which formerly 
 belonged to churches, may be found. The writer, when on an 
 official visit to Caerwys school, observed a hand-bell under a bench, 
 with a date and letters on it, and all the information he could get from 
 Mr. Jones, the schoolmaster, was that he had found the bell in the 
 school, and that he had removed a much-worn leather thong from 
 the hole in the handle. The bell is now used for calling the children 
 to school. 
 
 The inscription is cast, and is in rude raised characters as follows : — 
 
 In shape the bell resembles the Llanfair hand-bell, but it has a 
 plain moulding just below the inscription. The handle is formed of a 
 perforated projection, into which a leather thong was inserted for the 
 hand. The height of the bell is 6f inches, and its diameter 6 inches. 
 
 Upon referring to the parish account books, in company with the 
 Rev. E. Jones, the Rector, under the year 1702 it was ascertained 
 that Roger Ffoulkes and William Thomas were then churchwardens, 
 and evidently the initials R F, W T, on the bell, stand for the names 
 of these gentlemen ; and further, in the account rendered[for that year, 
 appear these entries : — 
 
 for chainge the littel bell . . .7.0 
 for chainge the flagon . . .2.6 
 
 Both the flagon and the bell mentioned in these entries are still in 
 existence. The flagon is of pewter, and has on it the inscription 
 " R.F. WT. Wardens 1702." 
 
 The bell and the flagon coming together in the account may seem 
 to suggest that this was a Sacring Bell. The flagon undoubtedly 
 would be used in the administration of the holy communion, and so, 
 possibly, at that time, would the bell be used as a sacring bell. 
 
 On the other hand the church flagon was used formerly for holding 
 spiced beer, which was drunk at funerals ; and the custom of ringing 
 a hand-bell in the procession, and of drinking beer after the funeral 
 was over, would by an association of ideas cause the churchwardens 
 to enter these articles, the one immediately after the other, in their 
 annual church accounts. The most formidable objection, however, 
 
Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd. ill 
 
 to this bell having been a sacring bell i&its size, while, as a procession 
 bell, either at funerals or perambulations, its size and depth of sound 
 would be necessary qualities. 
 
 There was, and possibly still is, at Gwyddelwern, a sacring bell of 
 a peculiar shape, which the Rev. John Williams (Glanmor) tells me 
 he has often handled. 
 
 PENANCE. 
 
 Reconciliation consequent upon penance publicly performed in 
 church during divine service came down to the end of the last 
 century. Mr. John Roberts, Plas Einion, a respectable farmer, bred 
 and born in Llanfair parish, whose long life began July 2, 1801, told 
 me that it was a custom for offenders, men and women, guilty of 
 certain offences, upon conviction, to stand in Church in a white sheet. 
 When asked whether he had himself seen this, he told me that he 
 had not, but that John Jones, the late parish clerk, told him that he 
 had seen a man undergoing his penance in this- form. Mr. Roberts 
 also informed me that it was common for the justices of the peace, 
 for petty offences, to command the guilty to distribute a quantity of 
 white bread to the poor after morning prayer on Sunday, and this 
 Mr. Roberts had himself witnessed. The last time he did so was 
 about the year 1816, and his father's servant man received one 
 of the loaves then distributed. When my friend, Mr. Beedham, and 
 I, visited Llanfair churchyard in the year 1880, we met there John 
 Lewis of Graigfechan, 86 years old, and he told us he had seen a 
 man distribute loaves of white bread from one of the tombs on the 
 south side of the church, and that he had had one of the loaves 
 himself. 
 
 I have been informed of the infliction of both these punishments 
 in other parts of North Wales. Lecta Roberts, already mentioned, 
 at one time grave digger in Llanasa, told me that the last to do 
 penance in that Church was Belly Humphreys, who died in 1817, 
 and whose grave Lecta pointed out. The female grave-digger had 
 but a confused recollection of the event, but she remembered having 
 seen Belly walk up the aisle of the Church covered with a white 
 sheet, and the clergyman standing in the chancel facing the penitent, 
 presumedly to absolve her, and to take away the sheet, and give 
 her permission to be admitted to the holy communion. 
 
 D'Israeli, in his Curiosities of Literature (Routledge's edition, p, 373), 
 speaking of the domestic history of the great lawyer, Sir Edward 
 
H2 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Coke, says that Lady Villiers* Cope's daughter, was condemned to 
 stand in a white sheet. High and low, in those days, the early part 
 of the seventeenth century, underwent the same punishment. 
 
 There are many allusions to penance in the Concilia, which has 
 so often been quoted in these pages. Archbishop Grindal, in 1571, 
 enjoins penance ; and Archbishop Laud issued in 1635 a form of 
 penance and absolution of a renegade or apostate, which throws 
 much light upon this subject. 
 
 In this form the offender is directed as follows : — 
 
 He is to stand all the time of divine service and sermon in the forenoon, 
 in the porch of the church (care being taken that boys and idle people 
 flock not about him) if it have any, if none, yet without the church door, 
 if extremity of weather hinder not, in a penitent fashion in a white sheet 
 and with a white wand in his hand, his head uncovered, his countenance 
 dejected, not taking particular notice of any one person that passeth him, 
 and when the people come in, and go out of the Church, let him upon his 
 knees humbly crave their prayers, and acknowledge his offence in this 
 form — " Good Christians remember in your prayers a poor wretched 
 apostate or renegado." — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 522. 
 
 The next Sunday, in his penitential habit, after the Te Deum, he 
 is brought by one of the churchwardens into the church as far as 
 the west side of the font, where he kneels till the second lesson is 
 ended, and then he makes submission and asks mercy of God in a 
 form given, after which in a humble and devout manner he kisses the 
 bottom stone of the font, and strikes his breast, and then departs 
 into the church porch. The third Sunday at the beginning of the 
 service he is brought into the body of the church, near the minister's 
 pew, habited as before, where he is to stand, and after the Creed he 
 is addressed by the minister, and then makes his confession in the 
 presence of the congregation, whom the minister next addresses, 
 after which the penitent kneels down eastward, bowing to the pave- 
 ment, and offers up a set prayer by himself, if he is able to read it, 
 or else he repeats the same after the minister, Then the priest, 
 laying his hand on his head, absolves him, and after saying certain 
 prayers takes away his white sheet and wand, and, addressing him 
 as "dear brother," openly promises " that upon any communion day 
 following he shall be admitted to the Holy Sacrament." 
 
 In this way was the penitent to act, and some such proceedings 
 were carried out in other cases, but the exact form is forgotten even 
 by old people, who remember nothing but the white sheet. 
 
Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd. 113 
 
 For v the convenience of penitents there were formerly in church- 
 yards two large undressed stones, one on each side the church porch, 
 called " Cerrig dioddefaint," or stones on which persons undergoing 
 penance could seat themselves. The Rev. John Williams (Glanmor), 
 Vicar of Llanallgo, Anglesey, to whom I am indebted for this inform- 
 ation, tells me that he remembers two of these so-called stones lying 
 one on each side the porch of Abergele Church, and when a child, 
 very old people informed him that they had heard of persons under- 
 going penance seated on these stones, and wrapped in white sheets. 
 This, they said, was done on a Sunday during divine service. Most 
 of these stones have, I fear, disappeared during the restoration of the 
 churches, but it may be, many of them have only to be looked for to 
 be found. We can well understand that slight respect would be 
 shewn to these relics, when their use, and even their distinctive 
 name, were forgotten. 
 
 Mr. Williams also informs me that excommunicated persons, who 
 were forbidden even to enter the churchyard, were in the habit of 
 leaning on the churchyard walls that they might at least hear the 
 " Sanctus Bell." 
 
 ELOR FEIRCH, OR HORSE BIER. 
 
 In times gone by, and up to the early part of the present century, 
 the dead, if they had to be carried a long distance, were conveyed 
 to the churchyard on a bier called Elor feirch, or horse bier, which 
 was carried by horses. The bier in question had long arms behind 
 and before, and within these arms, or shafts, horses were placed, 
 one in each shaft, and secured by gear made specially for the bier. 
 The coffin also was fastened to the bier, and of necessity stood between 
 the horses. It is said that it was difficult to train the hinder horse 
 to take his place, his head being right above the coffin. I have been 
 told that a couple of celebrated horses for carrying the Elor fcirch 
 were kept by a farmer at Cynwyd, near Corwen, and that he hired 
 them out. Biers of this kind were necessary because of the distances 
 which had to be travelled, and also because of the badness of the 
 roads, which were often mere bridle paths. One of these biers is 
 preserved in Llangower Church, near Bala, and there are, in Llan- 
 elidan Church, in the Vale of Clwyd, the remains of one, which has 
 been converted into an ordinary bier by cutting off a part of the 
 shafts ; but at present it is unused and hangs up in the vestry. Mr. 
 Roberts, Plas Einion, Llanfair, remembers two funerals in which the 
 
ii4 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 horse bier was used. The last he saw was about the year i8o8 4 when 
 Robert Llwyd, Cerygoerion, was buried. 
 
 KEEPING CHRISTMAS ACCORDING TO THE OLD STYLE. 
 
 After the adoption of the new or Gregorian style in 1752, when 
 September 3rd was reckoned as September 14th, thus causing eleven 
 days to be thrown out of that year, Christmas continued to be ob- 
 served in Llanfair by the people for many years according to the old 
 style. Christmas Day was kept in Church according to the new 
 style, but Mr. Roberts, whom I have several times mentioned, in- 
 formed me that his own father was in the habit of reading to his 
 servants and others on old Christmas Day, in his own house, the 
 services appointed by the Church for that day, and this he continued 
 to do to the end of his life. 
 
 SPELL-BREAKING WITH EARTH FROM THE CHURCHYARD. 
 
 One of the favourite pastimes in the parish of Llanfair was cock- 
 fighting, and many expedients were resorted to by bird-owners for 
 securing success for their own birds. Amongst these devices was 
 that of procuring spells against opponents' birds, but fortunately 
 these spells could be broken. One way in which this could be done 
 was mentioned to me by Mr. Roberts. He said that when a certain 
 main had been arranged, a servant of his father suspected unfair play. 
 Having reason to believe that his master's birds had been bewitched, 
 he went to the churchyard, and carried away a quantity of earth, with 
 which he sprinkled the cock pit, and thus the evil was averted, the 
 spell became nugatory, and all the birds fought and won according 
 to their merits. 
 
 Can it be that one reason why cocks were fought in churchyards 
 was the belief that there spells lost their power, and is this the reason 
 why men in former times fought in consecrated ground ? 
 
 CURSING AN INCOMING TENANT. 
 
 Spells, or cursing, seem to have had a beneficial restraining influ- 
 ence in days gone by. They who feared little, feared being cursed ; 
 and the dread of the curse deserved made it undeserved. A singular 
 instance of faith in spells was told the writer by Mr. Roberts, of Plas 
 Einion. He said it was generally believed in the parish, that if a 
 
Llanfair Dyffryn .Clwyd. 115 
 
 tenant were supplanted, and lost his holding through the misre- 
 presentations of an unscrupulous farmer desirous of obtaining the 
 farm, then the outgoing tenant had his revenge by cursing the inter- 
 loper. This was done as follows. The supplanted farmer, before he 
 left the premises, wrote out, or got some one to write out for him, 
 the 109th Psalm, and this he hid away in a crevice in the wall of the 
 house, and carefully covered the spot where he had stowed it with 
 mortar, so that the incoming tenant could not discover it, for if 
 discovered the spell would be broken. As long as the paper re- 
 mained in the wall, so long were dire calamities sure to follow the 
 steps of the man who had ousted the innocent, and ultimately 
 unavoidable ruin, it was believed, would overtake the interloper. 
 
 TITHE AUCTION. 
 
 An important day in the annals of the parish of Llanfair D.C. was 
 Gwyl If an, St. John's Festival, when the tithes of the various townships 
 were disposed of by public auction. In this and other parishes a special 
 brew was provided, called Cwrw Degwm, tithe beer, for the sale. It 
 is said that this ale was neither sparingly supplied, nor was it weak 
 and undrinkable, for under its influence many a bid was made hastily, 
 which was repented of at leisure. 
 
 The tithes, it seems, usually were bought by the farmers themselves, 
 and the purchase by outsiders was resented; for occasionally the natives 
 were outbidden. The value of the tithes depended on the selling price 
 of grain, and when wheat was high the tithe, it is said, has been known 
 to be even higher than the rent. Thus two persons told me that in 
 the time of the French wars, in the early part of this century, the rent 
 of a farm called Ffynnogion was ^120, while one year the tithe 
 reached that figure ; and another, it went as high as £ 140. In those 
 days a hob of wheat, i681bs., was sold for £3 ; now the same quantity 
 is sold for twelve shillings. In these parts the tithe was willingly paid 
 to the clergy, and as a rule, good feeling existed between the people 
 and their pastor, at any rate on this point. This seems to have been 
 the case in other parts of Wales. The following extract from the 
 Tithe Accounts of Marchwiel parish, near Wrexham, for which I am 
 indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. J. Sturkey, Rector of the parish, 
 is interesting. A former Rector writes : — 
 
 The existence of Tythes, as arranged in this parish, was advantageous 
 to all, since, when the Lord of the Harvest gave rich crops, the Tenant 
 
 o 
 
n6 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 was enabled to pay accordingly, and when the crops were light, or when 
 the tenants anticipated any difficulty in paying at Christmas the amount 
 of them, he had the option of refusing his Tythes, and such good under- 
 standing existed between the Tythe owner and Tenant that I have 
 frequently known the Tenant offer to hale his Tythes to the Rectory 
 gratuitously. Therefore it was to the regret of all parties that in the 
 parish of Marchwiel Tithes ceased on the Feast of Circumcision, 1842. 
 
 J. H. Montagu Luxmoore, 
 F. of Epiphany, 1842. Rector. 
 
 There is no doubt the Welsh in olden times looked upon tithes, not 
 so much as the clergyman's property, as dues belonging to God, and 
 when in days of oppression they were deprived of the ministrations 
 of the clergy, and there was no one to receive the tithes, rather than 
 appropriate them to their own use they offered them a burnt offering 
 to Jehovah. This is alluded to in a letter by Thomas Price, Llan- 
 fyllin, written to the Cambrian Register, April 12th, 1701. Mr. Price 
 says : — 
 
 From the severe laws made by Henry IV. against the Welsh after 
 Owen Glyndyfrdwy's rising, whereby they were not only interdicted the 
 civil, but also the ecclesiastical rights of their country ; no priest being 
 admitted to the rectorship of any parish ; whereon the people having 
 finished their harvest, and laid their tythes aside, and knowing none that 
 could lay claim to them, set fire to them, as not thinking fit to make use 
 of what had been so solemnly dedicated to the service of God Almighty. — 
 Cambrian Register, vol. i., p. 327. 
 
 Such an act as this speaks louder than words ; and it shows how 
 real and unselfish was the religion of our forefathers. 
 
 SEPARATING THE SEXES DURING DIVINE SERVICE. 
 
 A custom prevails in Jesus Chapel, in the parish of Llanfair D.C., 
 which also at one time was common in Wales, and in some churches 
 is being revived, of separating the men from the women in church 
 during divine service. Jesus Chapel was built in 1623, an d pre- 
 sumedly, from that time, the custom has reached our days. A 
 transept of Llangelynin Old Church, near Conway, is called Capel 
 Meibion, the men's chapel. 
 
 THE ORDER OF LEAVING THE CHURCH. 
 
 In former days the clergyman was the first to leave the church, 
 and when he had reached the porch, the gentlefolk left their seats, 
 
Llanfair Dyffyyn Clwyd. 117 
 
 and in the porch they exchanged courtesies with the parson. After 
 a sufficient time had elapsed for these greetings to take place, other 
 portions of the congregation departed ; these again were succeeded by 
 others, each portion taking precedence of others below them in the 
 social scale, until all had left. They, one and all, were greeted 
 heartily by the clergyman, who shook hands with each as he or 
 she left the porch. This custom was common to all the churches in 
 the Vale of Clwyd and other parts of Wales. It continued in Llan- 
 fair D.C. parish to the year 1848, when, on the death of the Rev. 
 James Jones, it ceased. His successor, instead of continuing the 
 custom, sat in the pulpit while the congregation left the church. 
 The order of precedence in leaving the church was often a 
 vexatious point, particularly where there were more squires than 
 one in a parish of supposed equal rank. As the patty, who first left 
 the sacred edifice was considered the leading family in the parish, 
 gentlefolks who laid claims to pre-eminence contended for this 
 honour. There is a tradition in Llanfor parish, near Bala, forwhir.h 
 I am indebted to Mr. R. Pryce Jones, Pentrecelyn, a native of Bala, 
 that two families of considerable influence and authority in Llanfor 
 parish, the Rhiwaedog and Rhiwlas families, long contended for this 
 coveted distinction, and after much unpleasantness and many bitter 
 words the matter was referred to arbitrators, who decided in favour 
 of the Rhiwaedog claimants. The Rhiwlas family was not satisfied 
 with the result of the arbitration, and, unwilling to be second to any- 
 one, the squire of Rhiwlas built a chapel on the north side of the 
 chancel, known, locally, as Yr Eglwys Groes, or the Cross Church, also 
 called Rhiwlas Chapel. Thus, by having their own private chapel, 
 with its door opening into the churchyard, the family escaped the 
 humiliation of having to follow that of Rhiwaedog from the Church 
 services. The Rhiwlas chapel was built in 1599. 
 
LLANGERNYW. 
 
 N< 
 
 N Llangernyw churchyard stand two rough, undressed 
 
 stones with Crosses on them. From the accompanying 
 
 ground plan it will 
 
 be seen that these 
 
 stones are in close 
 
 proximity to each 
 
 other, and also to 
 the church walls. 
 
 The stone marked (a) in the 
 plan measures 15m. by 2iin. at 
 the base ; height, 52m. ; and on 
 the top, which is irregular in sur- 
 face, it measures i6in. by I2in. 
 It is uin. from the church wall 
 in one direction, and 63m. in the 
 other. 
 
 The other stone, marked (b), 
 varies in its dimensions. The 
 sides at the base measure re- 
 spectively 16, 15, 14, and 15 in- 
 ches ; the height is 51 inches. 
 This stone stands 22 inches to 
 the south of one of the church wall 
 buttresses. 
 
 These stones are gft. 4m. apart. 
 Between them lies a flat modern 
 grave stone. The position of 
 these upright stones with respect 
 to each other suggests that they 
 may have been originally the supporters of a cromlech. Taken in 
 conjunction with another set of stones, 20 yards or so away, with 
 an altar toinb between them, they point to a series of prehistoric 
 remains, which once stood in Llangernyw churchyard. 
 
 ^sn <&. 
 
 Plan, shewing position of Pillar Stone 
 
 Scale 123456 feet. 
 
 (a) Pillar Stone with Cross on it. 
 
 (b) Pillar Stone with Cross on it. 
 (d) Flat Gravestone — modern. 
 
Llangemyw. 
 
 119 
 
 The form of the Cross on the stone marked (a) is rather peculiar. 
 Two lines intersecting each other at right angles form the Cross; 
 at the extremity of each of these lines, and at right angles to it, are 
 other shorter lines, but the central vertical line projects slightly 
 beyond the upper line which cuts it. Between this line and the one 
 immediately below it are two small artificial circular depressions, 
 like cup markings, and the extremities of the various lines that form 
 the Cross terminate with circular punctures. The central inter- 
 secting lines measure respectively ioin. and 7in. ; the longer one being 
 the stem of the Cross, and the shorter, the arms. The lines at the ex- 
 tremity of these are unequal in length ; those at the extremity of the 
 stem measure 5m. each ; 3m. on one side, and 2in. on the other side 
 the stem ; the lines at the end of the arms measure 3m. each. The 
 
 IliRiSilll 
 
 liiiii 
 
 Mr, 
 
 Mm. 
 
 H 
 
 .w'l'J 1 
 
 **PP|M11)W< 
 
 Pillar stone, or maen hir, in churchyard. Fig. a. Pillar stone, ormaen hir, in churchyard. Fig. b, 
 
 surface of this stone is smooth, excepting a portion of the left-hand 
 side, where a part has peeled off. There are a few incisions or 
 arrow markings just below the Cross near the side of the; stone. 
 The Cross is at the top of the stone. 
 
 The Cross on the stone marked (b) in the ground plan is also at the 
 
120 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 head of the stone, and it is formed by two sets of parallel grooves,about 
 three inches apart, running from four cup-like depressions, and termin- 
 ating, at the head and arms, with the edge of the stone. This Cross 
 measures 21 in. by 13 in. ; but the lower stern is somewhat indistinct. 
 
 These are the only monoliths in churchyards in the Diocese of 
 St. Asaph with incised crosses upon them. They are, therefore, 
 highly interesting remains. It would seem that originally they were 
 unmarked meini hirion, similar to many others still in existence in 
 many parts of Wales, and probably in ancient times they were 
 erected to indicate the last resting place of the illustrious dead. 
 After an interval of centuries, perhaps, another famous person was 
 buried near the stone and a rude cross cut upon it to show that a 
 Christian also there found rest from his labours. The crosses on 
 these stones would therefore date from early Christian days, probably 
 from the time when the Romans held sway in Britain. It is very 
 likely that the Church was erected near them designedly, and that 
 they were carefully preserved when the Church was originally built, 
 and afterwards when it was restored. It may be that the Church at 
 Llangernyw is built on a spot dedicated to religious rites in pre- 
 Christian days, and that the veneration for the place was perpetuated 
 by building upon it a Christian Church. 
 
 That Christians appropriated sites and objects venerated by pagans 
 is indisputable. In many countries this was the case. In a very 
 interesting book, entitled Antigiledades de Galicia, bjr D. Ramon 
 Barros Scielo, Corunna, 1875, are cuts which shew that crosses are 
 found in Spain intermixed with stone remains of pre-historic times. 
 Thus, on a monolith, known as the Serpent Stone (Piedra da 
 Serpenta), from the figure of a mythological serpent rudely traced 
 upon it, a plain cross has been erected. In the same book also, 
 facing page 73, is a representation of a dolmen of the mountains of 
 Obre in Noya, Corunna ; and on a stone near the base is a small 
 cross, before which is the figure of a woman kneeling. From the 
 posture of the woman it is evident that she is performing her devotions 
 before the cross on the stone, and if in far distant times some kind 
 of religious service was performed at this dolmen, which is very 
 likely, we have a continuation of the veneration for the stone diverted 
 to a different object. 
 
 In Ireland pillar stones are found with the cross engraved upon 
 them, and the late Mr. Brash, in his book called Ogam Inscribed 
 
Llangernyw, 121 
 
 Monuments of the Gaedhil in the British Islands, gives many engravings 
 of rude pillar stones on which the cross is incised. Fourteen plates 
 contain delineations of such stones in Ireland ; two are given in 
 Wales, and other plates shew similar stones found in Scotland. 
 Mr. Brash had not heard of these stones in Llangernyw Church, 
 or he would have mentioned them. One of the stones figured in 
 plate xxviii., the pillar stone at Drumkeare, co. Kerry, has on it a 
 cross much like that on one of the Llangernyw stones, and it still 
 further resembles the Welsh relic in having the cross near the top, 
 but the Irish stone has Ogham marks along one of its edges, which 
 the Llangernyw stone has not. 
 
 Speaking of the Irish pillar stones, Mr. Brash remarks that : — 
 
 The religious character of the pillar-stone in Ireland is preserved in the 
 term ailithri, which signifies a pilgrimage, or a ceremony performed in 
 
 penance That the pagan Irish reverenced pillar-stones, we 
 
 have evidence in the well-known incident in the life of St. Patrick, who is 
 represented as overthrowing the symbols of Crom-Cruach and his twelve 
 subordinate deities, which, in the form of pillar-stones, stood in the plain 
 of Magh Sleacht, in the present county of Cavan. In other instances he 
 appears to have allowed these monuments to remain, directing that they 
 should be inscribed with the sacred name, as we have it recorded in the 
 Tripartite Life (II., c. 52), that in his journey into Connaught he arrived 
 at a plain near the present Lough Hacket, in the county of Galway, where 
 he found three pagan pillar-stones, " quae gentilitas ibi in memoriam 
 aliquorum jacinorum vel gentilitum rituum posuit ;" on these stones he 
 caused to be inscribed the names of the Redeemer, Jesus, Salvator, Soter. 
 That his example was extensively followed, we have ample evidence in 
 the huge rough monoliths so often met with, upon which rude crosses are 
 inscribed ; monuments of that type never erected by Christian hands, but 
 evidently sanctified at a remote period by imposition of the sacred symbol. 
 — Ogam Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil, p. 95. 
 
 This quotation throws considerable light upon the origin of the 
 crosses found on pillar-stones, or tneini hirion, in all parts of Chris- 
 tendom. That such stones with an inscribed cross became memorials 
 of Christian graves is an opinion held by Mr. Brash. He says : — 
 
 That stones inscribed with ogam characters should have been found on 
 sites hallowed by Christianity is only reasonable to expect, and it is well 
 known that many of our early churches were erected on sites professedly 
 pagan ; and that these inscribed memorials found on the spot should have 
 been used as head stones to the graves of Christians sanctified by the 
 addition of the cross is consistent with probability and the practice of 
 primitive Christianity. — Ogam Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil, p. 109. 
 
122 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The paucity of meini hirion in churchyards is mentioned by Mr. 
 Brash in these words (p. 109) : — 
 
 The number of these monuments found in Christian burial-grounds or 
 Churches is few, and of these the number bearing the sacred emblem is 
 fewer still ; and from the manner and position in which it is placed on 
 the majority of them, it is quite evident that the ogam pillar was changed 
 from its original purpose, and turned into a Christian monument by the 
 imposition of the cross. 
 
 I will venture to make only one more quotation from Mr. Brash's 
 valuable work, though much more might be quoted directly connected 
 with the matter under consideration. Mr. Brash, speaking of ogham 
 inscribed stones in Wales, writes (p. 112) : — 
 
 The handy-work of the Christianizers has also been found on them in 
 the form of crosses of an antique type, inscribed as usual on the bases of 
 the monuments, when they were appropriated to Christian uses. The 
 Church of Trallong, in Brecknockshire, contains a fine example of the 
 ogam inscribed pillar. It bears a bilingual inscription, and has a plain 
 cross in a circle inscribed on its original base. 
 
 Many years before Mr. Brash's work was published, Mr. Taliesin 
 Williams, Iolo Morganwg's son, issued a small book of poetry, 
 called The Doom of Colyn Dolphyn, with notes. I will take the liberty 
 of quoting one of these notes : its appositeness shall be my justifi- 
 cation. This gentleman writes (p. 107) : — 
 
 The Christian Churches in this kingdom were founded either on the 
 sites of Druidic Temples (Llannau — and the ancient term Llan is prefixed 
 to such) or contiguous to them. Llanilid and Llangewydd, in Glamor- 
 ganshire, among many others, are corroborative instances. At Llanilid 
 the old Druidic oratory (Gwyddfa) still remains, nearly perfect ; reverently 
 
 spared by Papist and Protestant Not a vestige of the old 
 
 Church at Llangewydd remains, except that the boundaries of the church- 
 yard, appearing higher than the rest of the field (still called Cae'r Hen 
 Eglwys), may be traced, and that bones are occasionally turned up ; but 
 two large stones, apparently the remains of a cromlech, prior to Chris- 
 tianity, yet stand there. 
 
 The existence of two large stones, " apparently the remains of a 
 cromlech " in a deserted church burial ground is particularly 
 interesting to us, since similar remains at present stand in Llan- 
 gernyw churchyard. 
 
 In the foregoing quotations no mention is made of the form of 
 these twice appropriated pieces of ground ; but if they are found to 
 be circular or ovoidal, then most probably, the round churchyards, 
 
Llangernyw. 
 
 12$ 
 
 which are quite common in Wales, were sacred spots in the days of 
 out Celtic forefathers, and the churches that stand on them are the 
 most ancient in the Principality. 
 
 About twenty yards from these two upright stones in Llangernyw 
 
 Churchyard are two others, 
 deeply imbedded in the 
 ground, with an altar tomb, 
 bearing date 1665 a.d., be- 
 tween them (Fig. c). They 
 are not pillar-stones, but 
 boulders, and resemble the 
 stones which form the 
 boundaries of the circular 
 enclosures of the Cist feini 
 still found on the hills of 
 Carnarvonshire, and other 
 places, and marking the 
 graves of the ancient dead. 
 Taking these boulder stones 
 
 ap-it,^ z x -.- 
 
 
 Stones in churchyard. Fig. c. 
 
 in connection with the pillar-stones in the churchyard, they seem to 
 point to the former existence of a series of ancient stone remains 
 there, a few only of the stones having reached our days, the two 
 upright ones being preserved because they have on them the sacred 
 symbol, and the others because they protect the tomb of a once well- 
 known and highly respected family. 
 
 It remains to be remarked that the Church was founded in the 
 fifth century by Digain, son of Cystenyn Gorneu : hence probably the 
 name of the parish, Llangernyw. 
 
 FAIRS HELD IN CHURCHES AND CHURCHYARDS. 
 
 Mention has been made of fairs being held in consecrated ground, 
 and Llangernyw was probably one of the last places in Wales where 
 the practice was kept up. Fairs were prohibited in churches and 
 churchyards towards the end of the thirteenth century. In a synod 
 at Exeter in 1287, the custom is condemned and forbidden. The. 
 13th article of the synod has reference solely to this custom. It is 
 entitled, " Ne in ecclesiis vel coemeteriis earum mercata vel placita 
 secularia teneantur, vel sedificia secularia construantur," or, in other 
 words, it states that — Neither fairs nor secular amusements are to be 
 
J 24 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 held in churches or churchyards, nor are secular buildings to be 
 erected thereon. The words forbid, in the most clear and forcible 
 language, the continuance of fairs and games in those places : — 
 
 . . . Districte prohibendo statuimus, ne in quibuscunque ecclesiis 
 nostrae dioecesis, atriis earum, vel ccemeteriis mercata seu placita secularia 
 de caetero teneantur ; nee ullas negotiationes quisquam exercere praesumat, 
 nee aedificia secularia inibi construere, nisi pro communi utilitate (et) 
 hostilitatis tempore necessitas id exposcat. Et si quae hactenus constructa 
 fuerint, ipsa praecipimus demoliri. — Concilia, vol. ii., p. 140. 
 
 This, freely rendered into English, is : — 
 
 We strictly forbid fairs or secular amusements to be held hereafter in 
 any churches whatsoever in our diocese, their porches, or churchyards ; 
 also we forbid anyonu to presume to carry on any business matters, or 
 erect secular buildings therein, unless, for the common good in time of war, 
 expediency may demand it. And if any such buildings have heretofore 
 been erected, we command them to be destroyed. 
 
 It is almost certain that the effect of this prohibition was local ; for 
 we find the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1305, issuing a similar 
 mandate respecting the church and churchyard of Newenham, in 
 which fairs, bargains, and games were being carried on. His Grace 
 alludes to the evil, and its consequences, and commands the same to 
 be put an end to. (See Concilia, vol. ii., p. 282.) 
 
 That fairs continued long after 1305 in churches and churchyards 
 may be inferred from the injunctions of King Edward VI., published 
 in 1549:— 
 
 12. Item. That the churchwardens suffer no buying or selling, gaming 
 
 or unfitting demeanour in church or churchyards, especially during the 
 
 common prayer, the sermon, and reading of the homily. — Concilia, vol. iv., 
 
 P-33- 
 
 It was not in England only that the evil so repeatedly condemned 
 
 and prohibited existed, but Wales was also guilty of the same offence. 
 
 The Rev. D. R. Thomas, in his History of the Diocese of St. Asaph, 
 
 speaking of the parish of Llangernyw, says : — 
 
 The Rural Dean's Report for 1749 has a curious notice suggestive of the 
 primitive ways of the place, and of the old connection between the fairs 
 and the church. The Dean reports of Llangernyw — " Here is a custom, 
 which I think, very odd and unbecoming, and which ought to be altered. 
 There are five fairs yearly kept in this village, and at every one of them the 
 churchyard porch is made use of by butchers to hang and sell their meat 
 in. Earthen and wooden ware, wool, and several other things are exposed 
 
Llangernyw. 12$ 
 
 for sale in the churchyard, and I saw some pedlars have their stalls there. 
 In the church porch are kept, by the clerk, collars, bridles, pack saddles, 
 ropes, and other gears. These, indeed, were formerly kept, as I am told, 
 in the church ; and they may, perhaps, be so again, unless they are in time 
 ordered farther from it." (P. 389.) 
 
 All this, Mr. Thomas says, was in the following year remedied, 
 though not without some difficulty and opposition. 
 
 Llangernyw was not singular in the custom condemned by the 
 Dean. Other church porches and churchyards were similarly used. 
 But from the action of the Dean, the use of church porches and 
 churchyards for the purposes mentioned was in 1749 almost unknown, 
 though at one time common, as will now be shown. 
 
 WARES SOLD IN CHURCH PORCHES. 
 
 Formerly, as I have said, pedlers exposed their wares for sale in 
 church porches, and proof is not wanting that provision was made in 
 the construction of the porches to enable vendors to exhibit their 
 merchandise to the full view of the people. Thus, at Llangar old 
 Church, near Corwen, is an old porch, which has on the east side 
 two sets of stone seats, the one above the other, 22 inches apart. 
 The lower seat is about a foot or so from the ground, and ig inches 
 broad ; the upper is about a yard from the ground, and 10 inches 
 broad. There is in the parish a tradition that these ledges, or seats, 
 were made for the purpose of enabling sellers to display their wares. 
 The sale would take place at such times as the parishioners congre- 
 gated in church, and this was usually on Sundays and holy days. 
 The custom approached our grandfathers' days. A beam above the 
 4oor of Llangar Church bears date 1702, and whatever alterations 
 the porch then underwent, the seats were left intact, and the tradition 
 above mentioned is still green. 
 
 The prevalence of the use of church porches as stalls appears also 
 from the following injunction issued in 1571 : — 
 
 No pedlar or other to set his wares to sell in church porch or church 
 yard, nor anywhere else on holidays or Sundays, while any part of divine 
 service was in doing, or while any sermon was in preaching. — Concilia, 
 vol. iv., p. 269. 
 
 Such only were the limits to Sunday dealings in porches and 
 churchyards in the sixteenth century. 
 
126 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 WHY FAIRS WERE HELD IN CONSECRATED GROUND. 
 
 I have already said something as to the reason for holding fairs 
 and markets in churchyards ; but it can partly be accounted for by 
 the fact that there people usually congregated, and the Rev. D. R. 
 Thomas thinks the privilege of sanctuary possessed by churchyards 
 was a reason why fairs were held there. The persons of those who 
 frequented fairs held on consecrated ground were inviolable, and this 
 was a very important consideration in troublous times. 
 
 The great regard which the Welsh had for consecrated ground is 
 shown by the Archdeacon of St. Davids. 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, speaking of the Welsh in his days, 1 146-1223, 
 says : — 
 
 We observe that they show a greater respect than other nations to 
 churches and ecclesiastical persons, to the relics of saints, bells, holy 
 books, and the cross, which they devoutly revere ; and hence their 
 churches enjoy more than common tranquillity. For peace is not only 
 preserved towards all animals feeding in churchyards, but at a great 
 distance beyond them, where certain boundaries and ditches have been 
 appointed by the bishops, in order to maintain the security of sanctuary. 
 But the principal churches to which antiquity has annexed the greater 
 reverence extend their protection to the herds as far as they can go, to 
 feed in the morning and return at night. — Giraldus Cambrensis, Bohn's 
 Edition, p. 507. 
 
 The veneration shown towards consecrated places and things by 
 the ancient inhabitants of Wales goes far towards proving that 
 during fairs held within the sanctuary hostilities would by mutual 
 agreement cease, and it is very likely that advantage was taken 
 of this feeling to do business within the precincts of consecrated 
 grounds, and that in this way the Church was connected with fairs 
 and markets. 
 
LLANNEFYDD. 
 
 VILLAGE CROSS. 
 
 ,|CIiTfcsr2P&-' 
 
 i 
 
 HIS Cross formerly stood in the centre of the village 
 of Llannefydd, at the junction of the Llansannan 
 with the Denbigh road. As it was thought to be an 
 obstruction, and also somewhat of a nuisance, owing 
 to persons' congregating about it, it was removed by 
 the parishioners and the Vicar, the Rev. E. Jones, 
 to the Vicarage grounds in 1871, and there it now 
 stands. 
 
 In the last century the Cross was converted into a sun-dial. 
 There is an almost obliterated inscription cut into the stone, around 
 the brass dial plate, which, as far as it could be deciphered, was as 
 follows :— " The gift of S r . . | . . . BAR IT . 1756." The 
 gift here mentioned was the dial, and not its stand, which is very 
 much older than 1756. The giver only appropriated the remains of 
 the Village Cross, even if he did not cut it down, to place the dial 
 upon it. 
 
 There is a tradition in the village that the sun-dial was a present 
 from Sir Robert Cotton of Llewenny Hall to the parishioners. If 
 so, the initials of Sir Robert Cotton, or rather Sir Robert Salusbury 
 Cotton, were probably on the stone originally, though at present they 
 are obliterated. The tradition is corroborated in part by Pennant, 
 who says, speaking of " Lleweni Hall " — 
 
 At present it is the seat of the honourable Thomas Fitzmaurice, brother 
 to the Marquis of Landsdown, purchased about ten years ago by him from 
 Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, baronet, of Combermere-Abby, in Cheshire. 
 That gentleman possessed the place by the marriage of his ancestor, Sir 
 Robert Cotton, with Hester, sister to Sir John Salusbury, the last baronet 
 of his name, in the time of Charles II. — Pennants Tour in Wales {Carnar- 
 von Edition) vol. ii., pp. 139 — 140. 
 
 9 
 
128 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 '"' 
 
 
 
 <P) 
 
 
 
 \ (to 
 
 
 /' 
 
 This quotation shows that in 1756 Sir Robert S. Cotton was in 
 
 possession of Llewenny Hall, and there is nothing improbable in his 
 
 being a benefactor to the Llannefydd people. 
 
 The Cross at present consists of a pedestal and a part of the shaft. 
 
 The pedestal measures 3ft. gin. square by ift. 5m. 
 
 in height ; it is octagonal, and has its upper edge 
 
 slightly canted, and it is brought to a square in its 
 
 lower bed by convex broaches. The shaft is a 
 tapering octagonal also brought 
 to a square at the base by con- 
 vex broaches ; 3ft. in height, 
 and ift. 3m. square at the base. 
 Th e shaft is mortised with lead /.fiMfl^S™ 
 
 . (a) & (b) show position 
 into the SOCket. 1 he Whole IS of Masons' Marks. 
 
 weatherworn, and three of the sides of the 
 pedestal have deep grooves made by sharpening 
 knives. On the upper surface of the pedestal 
 are two marks, known generally by the name of 
 masons' marks. The Cross belongs to the four- 
 teenth century. 
 
 masons' marks on llannefydd cross. 
 
 There are two of these marks traceable on the upper surface of 
 the pedestal. The accompanying figure, drawn 
 full size, shows what kind of marks these are. 
 Both of those cut into the pedestal are exactly 
 alike in shape and size, and only one therefore 
 is here represented. The marks consist of a 
 vertical line with a shorter line drawn at right 
 angles at the upper extremity, and on each side 
 of the vertical line are two others meeting it at 
 the same spot, and forming therewith on either 
 side equal angles. The extremities of these 
 lines are furcate. 
 
 There is hardly a church in the whole of North 
 Wales of a date anterior to the sixteenth century which has not 
 masons' marks on the pillars, and sometimes even on stones built 
 into the fabric. There is such a mark on the shaft of Newmarket 
 Cross. For the sake of comparison a few of these marks are herein 
 
Llannefydd. 
 
 129 
 
 depicted, and it will be seen that they are all of the same generic 
 type. They are not confined to churches erected during the middle 
 ages in England and Wales, but the churches on the continent 
 exhibit the same feature. In a pamphlet by Chavalier da Silva, 
 published in 1873 at Lisbon, a large number of these masons' marks, 
 found in the principal Religious Edifices in Portugal, are delineated. 
 Some of these are identical in form with those found in Bangor 
 Cathedral, and others are similar to those found on Llannefydd Cross. 
 
 Although these marks abound on ecclesiastical buildings erected 
 between the years 1100 and 1500, it does not appear that they have 
 been heretofore noticed on crosses erected in the same period. This 
 might arise from the fact that they have not been sought for on 
 crosses. There are, however, undoubted cases of masons' marks on 
 crosses in this district, and a more careful search might reveal a still 
 larger number. 
 
 The meaning of these marks is obscure. At one time they were 
 looked upon as symbolical, but that belief is now supposed to be with- 
 out foundation. The Chavalier da Silva comes to the conclusion that 
 the stone-cutters were accustomed to mark their pieces with a re- 
 cognized sign as representing their signature, that members of the 
 same family or relations adopted the same special sign, adding 
 thereto a line to indicate their own particular selves. Thus ac- 
 cording to the Chavalier's theory, the stone-cutter who worked on 
 the Cross of Llannefydd would always make use of the same mark, 
 and if a like mark can be found in any church, or on any other 
 building, then it will show that the same workman, or one of his 
 family, was engaged on that building, and dressed the stones bearing 
 his or the family mark. 
 
 ><X 
 
 V 
 
 (?) A 
 
 In Bangor Cathedral. 
 
 (a) and (b) are of frequent occurrence 
 
 in Portugal. 
 
 In Wrexham Church. 
 
13° 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 (c) Interior of St. John, Thamar, Portugal, 1165. (d) and (e) In Monastery at Tinta, Portugal, 1214. 
 
 ( f ) Interior of St. Francis, Santarem, 1242 ; also, identical in interior of Church of Grace in same place, 
 
 1380, Portugal. Compare this with Llannefydd Cross marks. 
 
 The delineations here given of masons' marks on churches in Wales 
 and Portugal are only a few of a large number in the possession of the 
 writer. It will be noticed that there is a strong family likeness be- 
 tween the three groups. One of the foregoing figures slightly modified 
 is common to Bangor Cathedral, Wrexham Church, and St. John's, 
 Thamar, Portugal. There are on the pillars in Llanrhaiadr Dyffryn 
 Clwyd Church, Wrexham Church, Llanasa Church, and Bangor 
 Cathedral, masons' marks identical in form and size with marks 
 found in the interior of the Church of St. John, Thamar, Portugal, 
 built 1 165. The mark now referred to is not herein delineated ; it is 
 simply one line crossing another. The number and diffusion of these 
 
 marks militate somewhat against the 
 | Chavalier's theory, for it could hardly 
 
 be a fact that the same family of stone- 
 cutters worked on churches in Wales, 
 and Portugal, and other places, so far 
 apart ; but that there was some connec- 
 tion between the various stone-cutters 
 -r-who used the same mark is probable. 
 
 SITE OF 
 
 s 
 
 CROSS 
 
 PRESENT SITF 
 
 B 
 
 OF CROSS 
 VICARACE CROUNDS 
 
 ROAD TO DENBIGH 
 
 ROAD TO 
 
 ■Ma/, 
 
 PUBLIC HOUSE 
 
 '■*/* 
 
 Llannefydd, shewing site of Cross. Scale, i-24th of an inch to a foot. 
 
LLANRHUDD. 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HIS Cross stands about fifteen yards from the south 
 
 wall of the Church and eleven yards from the porch. 
 
 The socket stands :itu 
 
 on a mound 6ft. 
 
 6in. across, and 
 
 about 2ft. high. 
 
 Within this mound 
 are to be found probably the 
 steps to the Cross. That part 
 of the socket which is exposed 
 to view is octagonal, but it is 
 probably brought to a square 
 at the base ; the sides are cham- 
 fered. The shaft is a tapering 
 octagonal monolith, gft. high, 
 brought to a square at its base 
 by broaches which retain traces 
 of sculptured ornamentation. 
 On the top is a tenon for mor- 
 tising into the head of the cross, 
 which has disappeared. Lichen 
 covers both the shaft and the 
 pedestal. 
 
 On the east side of the shaft are 
 the initials E I, and underneath 
 these.letters appears the date 1677 
 or 1672 ; the last figure is illegible. 
 On this side at the base are six short scorings or arrow marks. 
 
132 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 On the north side of the shaft, which is the side facing the Church, 
 are several sets of initials, one only being old in character, an I m. 
 
 There are four heads in relief on the four smaller sides of the 
 octagonal shaft, about three feet from the apex, and underneath these 
 heads are four small flowers, similar in character to the four-leaved 
 decorated flower. The Cross is a relic of the fourteenth century. 
 
 There are two doors to the Church, west and south, with porch. 
 The congregation enters the Church at present through the west 
 door, the south door being usually closed. On the occasion of a 
 funeral, the people enter the Church, with the bier, through the west 
 door, but leave through the south door, and when doing so the most 
 striking object that meets their view is the Cross. 
 
 The south door, as I have said, is unused excepting at funerals. 
 This custom of entering the Church by one door, and leaving it 
 through another, on the occasion of a funeral, has come down from 
 remote times. 
 
 B C H u. 
 
 CROSS 
 
 Plan, shewing site of Churchyard Cross. 
 
 Scale 1-241I1 of an inch to the foot. 
 
LLANYNYS. 
 
 SEPULCHRAL HEAD STONE CROSS. 
 
 T Llanynys the Cross is built into the churchyard 
 wall, where it has been placed for preservation, but 
 when, and by whom, it was so placed, is unknown. 
 
 The stone is hexagonal in form ; the shaft extends 
 for a considerable distance into the wall. In company 
 with the Rev. J. Davies, the Vicar of the parish, I 
 took down a part of the wall to ascertain the depth 
 stem 'penetrated it, 
 
 to which the 
 
 but when we had gone some seven 
 teen inches downward we desisted, 
 
 fear- 
 
 [Section of Sepulchral Head Stone, 
 iin. to ift. 
 
 ing,if 
 
 we proceeded, we might overthrow 
 or injure this curious relic. Our in- 
 vestigation was not useless, for it re- 
 vealed the fact that the shaft was 
 not intended to be exposed to view, 
 for it is undressed and evidently 
 originally was imbedded either in the 
 ground or in masonry. 
 
 The total breadth of the hexagon, 
 including the border rim, which mea- 
 sures 2fin. across, is 25m., the length 
 is about 30m... and thickness, 6in. 
 
 On either side the stone are figures 
 in low relief, and floriated ornamen- 
 tation. The border likewise had 
 sculpturings upon it which age has 
 obliterated. 
 
 Sepulchral Head Stone Cross, iin. to ift. The^figure On the Side of the Stone 
 
 facing the Church is a representation of our Lord on the Cross. 
 
134 
 
 Old Stone Crosses, 
 
 It has been mutilated ; the face has been knocked off, but there 
 are traces of the hair descending in curls to the shoulders. One 
 of the arms and a portion of one of the legs have also suffered, 
 and there are other marks of ruthless destruction or designed 
 defacement. 
 
 On the other side is the effigy of a bishop, rudely executed, clothed 
 with mitre, chasuble, alb, stole, and 
 maniple, with crozier in left hand, head 
 turning outward. The right hand is 
 raised in the act of blessing, and it 
 seems to be covered with a glove. The 
 feet, which are rather exposed, rest on 
 an elongated rounded block, at the left 
 hand extremity of which the bishop's 
 staff terminates. A peculiar feature in 
 the figure is the extreme length of the 
 face. The work probably belongs to the 
 thirteenth century. 
 
 The stone seems to have been a 
 memorial or sepulchral stone, marking 
 the burial place of a high dignitary of 
 the Church, whose mortal remains were 
 placed in the churchyard and not in 
 the church. That ecclesiastics were 
 occasionally buried, in the middle ages, 
 in church cemeteries, is evident from 
 ancient documents. Thus, John de 
 time Rector 
 devises : — 
 
 Sepulchral Head Stone Cross. 
 
 Wodhous, the elder, 
 
 iin. to ift. 
 
 some- 
 
 of Sutton-upon-Derwent, in his Will, dated 1345, 
 
 In primis commendo animam meam deo . . . . et corpus meum 
 ad sepeliendum in coemeterio sancti Michaelis de Sutton predicta juxta 
 crucem sancti ccemeterii.— Testamenta Eboracensia, p. 14. 
 
 The Rector of Sutton not only wished his body to be buried in the 
 churchyard of St. Michael's, Sutton, but further, he states that he 
 desires to be buried near the Churchyard Cross. A common desire, 
 which has already been alluded to in the description of Cilcen Church- 
 yard Cross. 
 
 The graves of such persons would not remain undistinguished, but 
 would be marked by some permanent memorial. 
 
Llanynys. 135 
 
 We have still further proof that in most ancient times even 
 bishops were occasionally buried outside the Church. I will give 
 one quotation in proof of this taken from the Monumenta Historica 
 Brit90,nica : — 
 
 Anno DCC. XL .... corpus vero ejus ad orientalem plagam extra 
 parientem ecclesias Haugustaldensis (Hexham,) quam xxiv annis pontificali 
 rexit dignitate, sepultum est. Duseque cruces lapidese, mirabili ccelatura 
 decoratae, positae sunt, una ad caput, alia ad pedes ejus. In quarum una, 
 quae scilicet ad caput est, literis insculptum est, quod in eodem loco 
 sepultus sit. — Simeonis Dunelmensis Historia de Gestis Regum Anglorum, 
 as printed in the Monumenta Historica Britannica, p. 659. 
 
 The dignitary here referred to was Bishop Acca. He died in 740, 
 and his body was buried as above stated outside the walls of Hexham 
 Church, and at his head and feet were placed two crosses, mirabili 
 ccelatura, marvellously wrought, on one of which was an inscription. 
 
 The quotation given about Bishop Acca takes us back more than 
 eleven hundred years. The two stone crosses, elaborately engraven 
 and decorated, placed the one at the head and the other at the foot 
 of the deceased, strongly remind us of the monument in Llanynys 
 churchyard wall, which undoubtedly at one time marked the spot 
 where a bishop was buried. The place of burial, outside the church 
 walls, in the east part of the churchyard, is also worthy of notice, as 
 intimating that, so early as the year 740 a.d., that part of the church- 
 yard was, as it is now, a spot coveted as a resting-place for the dead. 
 
 It may be asked how came a bishop to be buried in Llanynys 
 churchyard. From the name of a farm in the parish, Plas yr Esgob, 
 the Bishop's Palace, it would seem that in days gone by a bishop, if 
 not bishops, were connected with the parish. The granary of this 
 once episcopal residence formerly contained these inscriptions — 
 " Gloria Deo," " Gloria in excelsis Domino," " Laus Deo." The 
 Rev. D. R. Thomas supposes that there is an intimate connection 
 between the Bishop's Palace and the effigy of the bishop in Llanynys 
 churchyard wall, and he also suggests that the granary of Plas yr 
 Esgob farm " had most likely been at one time the domestic chapel 
 of the bishop." Further corroborative evidence of the former im- 
 portance of Llanynys Church exists in a recumbent effigy of a 
 bishop, or other high dignitary, preserved in the Church, and other 
 monumental slabs found in the Church and churchyard wall shew 
 that the edifice was once more than the simple Parish Church which 
 it now is. 
 
 R 
 
136 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Dog Tongs. 
 
 GEFAIL GWN, OR DOG TONGS. 
 
 A curious instrument, indicative of a practice no longer followed, 
 is still preserved in Llanynys Church, a Dog Tongs. Formerly, 
 farmers attending church were 
 accompanied by their faithful dogs. 
 Where large numbers of these ani- 
 mals met, although itwas in church, 
 their behaviour was not always 
 strictly decorous, and often their 
 snarling and growling culminated 
 in an open fight. Such conduct 
 in such a place was not to be tol- 
 erated, and so man's ingenuity in- 
 vented an instrument for ejecting 
 noisy, or quarrelsome and pugna- 
 cious dogs. This instrument ne- 
 cessarily combined two qualities ; 
 strength of parts, to overcome the 
 
 dog's muscular power, and safety to the official whose duty it was to 
 interfere with the squabble. Both qualities were found in the old 
 Gefail gwn, or Dog Tongs. The parish clerk, or other official, was 
 able to use the tongs without risk to his own person, and the dog, 
 when firmly grasped around the neck, or leg, could not wriggle out 
 of the embraces of the wooden arms that clasped him, and therefore, 
 out of the church he was obliged to go. A reference to the accom- 
 panying illustration will make a description of the instrument 
 unnecessary ; but briefly, the tongs consist of a set of arms, moving 
 freely on iron pivots, that shoot out as the handles are brought 
 together. The Llanynys tongs consist of three sets of arms ; one of 
 these forms the handle, another the centre piece, and the last the 
 forceps of the instrument. The handle is longer than the other 
 portions ; the forceps have inserted on either side three nails with 
 blunted points, to make the grip secure, but at the same time not 
 to hurt the dog overmuch. The dimensions of the arms are as 
 follows — the two foremost are alike, i8in. long, while the handle is 
 2oin. ; stretched out at their greatest length the tongs measure 52m. 
 It can easily be imagined that the expulsion of a dog was neither 
 noiselessly nor easily executed, and the numerous teeth-marks in 
 
'Llanynys. 137 
 
 this instrument bear witness to many a struggle that took place 
 when an offending dog was being ignominiously dragged out of 
 church. Dog tongs were formerly a necessary appendage in every 
 church. Several of these have reached our days, and others have been 
 lately lost, or carelessly destroyed. In the Arckczologia Cambrensis 
 (4th Series, No. xxxi., p. 212), is a description and illustration of a 
 Dog Tongs by "D. R. T.," preserved in Clodock Church, Hereford- 
 shire. Reference is made in the same paper to those which are still 
 intact in Gyffylliog" Church, near Ruthin. These are much the same as 
 those at Llanynys, and have in the forceps the blunted nails. But 
 the dog tongs were once found in every church in the Vale of Clwyd. 
 Mr. John Morris, parish clerk of Derwen, told me that he remembered 
 the tongs belonging to that Church, and he stated that they were 
 always kept hung up under the roof of the west-end gallery, but he 
 had no recollection of having seen them used ; still, every one knew 
 what their object was. At the restoration of the Church in 1857 the 
 west-end gallery was removed, and at that time the dog tongs dis- 
 appeared, and they have not since been discovered. Morris also 
 remembers the dog tongs of the neighbouring Church of Llanelidan, 
 but he does not know whether they are still preserved. From Dean 
 Ramsay's Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character we learn that the 
 Scotchman, as well as the Welshman, was inseparable from his dog, 
 and that in Scotland it was the practice, in the pastoral parts, for 
 each shepherd to take his faithful collie with him to church. The 
 Dean states that " in a district of Sutherland, where the population 
 is very scanty, the congregations are made up one-half of dogs, each 
 human member having his canine companion." Many a tale does 
 the witty Dean tell in connection with this practice, and if we in 
 Wales had had a witty Dean in the last century, we too should 
 likewise have had many an amusing anecdote preserved of by-gone 
 practices and times, that are now lost for ever. 
 
MAEN CHWYFAN, OR MAEN Y 
 CHWYFAN. 
 
 BOUT a mile and a half from the village of Whitford, 
 Flintshire, in the corner of a meadow close to the 
 turnpike gate that bars the way to Llanasa, stands 
 the most singular Cross in North Wales. I may 
 state that the nearest railway station to the stone is 
 Mostyn, and that the distance to the Cross through 
 Mostyn Park is about three miles. 
 The place where the Cross stands was formerly wooded, and the 
 country wild ; at present it is for the most part cultivated, but the 
 bare mountain is only a short distance away. The aspect of the 
 country around has greatly changed since the time when the Cross 
 was erected. Two hundred years ago the spot which it occupies 
 was mountain land. 
 
 From the number of place-names in the district indicative of con- 
 flicts, and the number of tumuli formerly or now in existence, and 
 the treasures of former days that have been there discovered, it has 
 been inferred that the neighbourhood was in time of old the scene 
 of many sanguinary battles. 
 
 The first description we have of Maen y Chwyfan is that which ap- 
 pears in Gibson's Camden. This edition was published in 1695, and 
 Gibson, the editor, states that he was indebted to Mr. Edward Llwyd, 
 Keeper of the Museum in Oxford, for the additions made to Camden's 
 remarks on Wales. Llwyd is a recognized authority on antiquarian 
 matters connected with the Principality. He was a learned Welsh 
 scholar. What appears from his pen in Camden is therefore worthy 
 of special notice. Llwyd was employed, as is stated in Williams's 
 Eminent Welshmen (p. 289), in collecting materials relative to Wales 
 for Gibson in 1693. His information is all the more trustworthy, as 
 it was derived on the spot by one conversant with the language of 
 the people. It is now nearly two hundred years since the Welsh 
 
Maen y Chwyfan. 139 
 
 antiquary visited the Maen, but the information he gives belongs to 
 a more remote period. 
 
 Llwyd calls the Cross Maen y Chwyvan, and under this heading he 
 writes as follows : — 
 
 It remains now that we make some mention of that remarkable Monu- 
 ment, or carv'd Pillar on Mostyn Mountain. ... It stands on the 
 evenest part of the mountain, and is in height eleven foot and three inches 
 above the Pedestal : two foot and four inches broad ; and eleven inches 
 thick. The Pedestal is five foot long, four and a half in breadth, and about 
 fourteen inches thick : and the Monument being let thorow it, reaches 
 about five inches below the bottom ; so that the whole length of it is about 
 thirteen foot 
 
 When this Monument was erected, or by what Nation, I must leave to 
 farther enquiry ; however, I thought it not amiss to publish these draughts 
 of it, as supposing there may be more of the same kind in some parts of 
 Britain or Ireland or else in other Countries ; which being compar'd with 
 this, it might perhaps appear what Nations used them and upon what 
 occasions. Dr. Plot in his History of Staffordshire gives us the draughts 
 of a Monument or two which agree very well with it in the chequer'd 
 carving, and might therefore possibly belong to the same Nation. Those 
 he concludes to have been erected by the Danes, for that there is another 
 very like them at Beau-Castle in Cumberland, inscrib'd with Runick 
 Characters, which is presum'd to have been a Funeral Monument. But 
 the characters on the East side of ours, seem nothing like the Runic, or 
 any other letters I have seen, but resemble rather the numeral figures 
 1221, tho' I confess I am so little satisfied with the meaning of them, that 
 I know not whether they were ever intended to be significative. Within 
 a furlong or less of this Monument, there is an artificial Mount or Barrow 
 (whereof there are also about twenty more in this neighbourhood, call'd 
 y Gorsedhen) where there have been formerly a great many carcases and 
 skulls discover'd, some of which were cut ; and one or two particularly 
 had round holes in them, as if pierced with an arrow : upon which account 
 this pillar has been suspected for a Monument of some signal victory ; 
 and the rather for that upon digging five or six foot under it, no bones 
 were discover'd, nor anything else that might give occasion to suspect it 
 sepulchral. 
 
 This Monumental Pillar is called Maen y Chwyvan, a name no less ob- 
 scure than the History of it ; for tho' the former word signifies a stone, yet 
 no man understands the meaning of Chwyvan. Were it Gwyvan, I should 
 conclude it corrupted from Gwydhvaen, i.e., the high pillar : but seeing it 
 is written Maen y Chufan in an old Deed bearing date 1388 (which scarce 
 differs in pronunciation from Chwyvan?) I dare not acquiesce in that 
 Etymology, tho' at present I can think of none more probable. — Gibsons 
 Camden, p. 692. 
 
140 Old Stone Crosses, 
 
 Such is Llwyd's description of this remarkable stone. There are 
 several important points which he touches upon, such as the discovery 
 of bones and skulls, which had been fractured or pierced in battle 
 probably, within a short distance of the monument ; from the quantity 
 of carneddi or funeral mounds near the Cross, he surmises that the 
 stone is commemorative. Since his days, not very far from the site 
 of the stone, at a place called Bryn Sion, a small farm between 
 Caerwys and Newmarket, a gold torque has been found by a farmer 
 when ploughing ; it was bought by the late Marquis of Westminster 
 for /400, and is kept at Eaton Hall. These discoveries point to the 
 importance of the district in years gone by. 
 
 Llwyd's description in Camden's Britannica is accompanied by 
 drawings that are curious, but inaccurate, and what he thought 
 resembled the numerals 1221 are simply ornaments, as will be seen 
 upon consulting the drawings of the Maen herein given. It will be 
 observed by consulting the drawing in Camden, and that which 
 accompanies this paper, that the stone has not suffered greatly during 
 the last 200 years. 
 
 When I was sketching the Cross a native came up and told me that 
 there was an inscription on the stone, and that " Dick Aberdaron," 
 the Welsh linguist, who died December 18th, 1843, had translated 
 it. I asked him where the inscription was, and he pointed to the 
 ornamentation, and said "it was there somewhere, but it required a 
 scholar to decipher it, which he was not." Perhaps Llwyd's numerals 
 have lingered in a traditional form in the neighbourhood up to the 
 present time. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that Llwyd calls the stone Maen y Chwyvan, 
 and states that in an old deed, dated 1388 a.d., it is written Maen y 
 Chufan, which, he says, scarcely differs in pronunciation from the name 
 Maen y Chwyvan. This is important, as will be shewn by and by. 
 
 In the most ingenuous manner Llwyd confesses his inability to give 
 the meaning of the word chwyvan ; and further, the age of the stone, and 
 by whom, or why erected, he acknowledges as beyond his knowledge. 
 His dimensions are substantially correct. It is a wonder that when 
 digging five or six feet underneath the stone he did not upset it. 
 Perhaps the Cross then departed from the vertical, and assumed its 
 present somewhat slanting position. 
 
 The next notice which I find of the stone is in Lewis Morris's 
 Celtic Remains, printed in the Archceologia Cambrensis for 1875 
 
Maen y Ohwyfan. 141 
 
 (p. no). I do not know the exact date of the writing of the Celtic 
 Remains, but Morris lived from 1702 to 1765 ; therefore he probably 
 wrote the Celtic Remains about the middle of the last century. Under 
 the head Cwyfan, the following notice of the saint is given : — 
 
 Cwyfan (sant) : hence Llangwyfan in M6n, and another in Denbighshire, 
 Cwyfan yw sant y Ddiserth yn Nhegeingl, a'r Sul nesaf ar ol yr ail dydd o 
 Fehefin y cadwant ei Gwyl Mabsant (E. Llwyd, Itinerary.) There is a 
 stone in the parish of Whitford called Maen y Chwyfan, with curious knots 
 of lines cut upon it, probably belonging to this Cwyfan. ... In our 
 genealogical tables we find Cwyfen ap Brwyneu Hen. 
 
 The Welsh in this extract informs us that Cwyfan is the patron 
 saint of Dyserth in Tegengl, and that his festival is held on the next 
 Sunday after the second day of June, and this is on the authority of 
 E. Llwyd, the author of the account of Maen y Chwyfan which I 
 have transcribed. 
 
 It is singular, if there is any connection between Saint Cwyfan 
 and the Cross, as suggested by Lewis Morris, that Llwyd did not 
 perceive it. He states that he is unable to give the meaning of the 
 word chwyvan. This he would not have said had the solution been so 
 near at hand. His silence on this head can, it is true, be accounted for 
 by supposing that his knowledge of the existence of Saint Cwyfan 
 was obtained after he had . written the paragraph about Maen 
 Chwyfan or Chwyfan's Stone. Again, it might be that he, wittingly, 
 with a full knowledge of the matter, repudiated the connection be- 
 tween the Cross and the saint. There is, however, still another 
 solution, which I confess is hardly a probable one, viz., that the 
 similarity of names failed to suggest to him that association which it 
 presented to Morris. 
 
 The name Chwyfan certainly is highly suggestive of a connection 
 between the stone and St. Cwyfan. Dyserth, which is dedicated to 
 Saint Cwyfan, is only a few miles off, and in the churchyard of Dyserth 
 is an ancient Cross, smaller and altogether more insignificant than 
 Maen y Chwyfan, but with ornamentation similar in many respects to 
 that on this Cross. (Compare Dyserth Cross with Maen y Chwyfan : 
 see page 47.) There is also a church (Llangwyfan) in Denbighshire, 
 dedicated to this saint, and it is not far distant from Maen y Chwyfan. 
 
 It remains to be stated that Saint Cwyfan flourished in the seventh 
 century. 
 
 I now come to what Pennant says of this Cross, He was a native 
 
142 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 of the parish in which the stone stands, and was born 1726. His 
 account appears in The History of White/ ord Parish, published in 1796, 
 so that what he writes comes one hundred years after Gibson's 
 Camden. He says : — 
 
 The curious cross called Maen Achwynfan, or the stone of lamentation, 
 stands in a small field opposite to the gate which opens from the turnpike 
 road into Garreg. It takes its name, in all probability, from the penances 
 which were often finished before such sacred pillars ; attended with weeping, 
 and the usual marks of contrition : for an example, near Stafford stood 
 one called the weeping cross, a name analogous to ours. This is of an 
 elegant form and sculpture ; is twelve feet high, two feet four inches broad 
 at the bottom, and ten inches thick. The base is let into another stone. 
 The top is round and includes, in raised work, the form of a Greek cross. 
 Beneath, about the middle, is another, in the form of St. Andrew's: and 
 under that, a naked figure, with a spear in his hand. Close to that, on 
 the side of the column, is represented some animal. The rest is covered 
 with very beautiful fret-work, like what may be seen on other pillars of 
 ancient date in several parts of Great Britain. I do not presume (after 
 the annotator on Camden has given up the point) to attempt a guess at 
 the age ; only must observe, that it must have been previous to the reign 
 of gross superstition among the Welsh, otherwise the sculptor would have 
 employed his chizzel in striking out legendary stories, instead of the ele- 
 gant knots and interlaced work that cover the stone. 
 
 Those, who suppose it to have been erected in memory of the dead 
 slain in battle on the spot, draw their argument from the number of ad- 
 jacent tumuli, containing human bones and sculls often marked with 
 mortal wounds ; but these earthly sepulchres are of more ancient times 
 than the elegant sculpture of this pillar will admit. This likewise (from 
 the crosses) is evidently a Christian Monument. The former were only in 
 use in pagan days. 
 
 There is likewise near to it, an ancient chapel, now a farmhouse, called 
 Gelli, or the Hazel grove, the name of an adjacent tract. This might have 
 relation to the cross ; as well as a place for performance of divine service 
 to the Abbot of Basingwerk, who had a house at no great distance. This 
 tract (mis-spelt by the English, Geteley), with the wood (at that time on 
 it) was granted by Edward 1., to the abbot and convent, on the tenth of 
 November, at Westminster, before the death of our last prince. He also 
 gave him power to grub up the wood ; which by the nakedness of the 
 place appears to have been done most effectually. — History of Whiteford, 
 PP. II3-I4- 
 
 This is what Pennant says about the Cross. We are indebted to 
 him for the additional information he has supplied, but certainly he 
 has no authority for calling the Cross Maen Achwynfan, the Stone of 
 
Maen y Chwyfan. 143 
 
 Lamentation. The old name he has altered to suit a fancied ety- 
 mology. 
 
 Llwyd tells us that in 1388 a.d. the stone was called Maeny Chufan ; 
 he himself calls it Maen y Chwyvan, but acknowledges that the older 
 form scarcely differs from Chwyvan. The local pronunciation is 
 certainly opposed altogether to the fanciful name adopted or, which is 
 more likely, originated by Pennant. The Welsh in the district call 
 the stone Maen Chwyfan. The y between Maen and Chwyfan, as 
 given by Llwyd, facilitates pronunciation, but it may be obtrusive, 
 and I certainly could not distinctly catch the sound of the y, and 
 purposely, when speaking to several of the inhabitants, I got them 
 to give me repeatedly the name of the stone, to obtain from them the 
 proper designation. In no instance was it called by the name given 
 to it by Pennant, but without exception, the natives always called the 
 stone by the name which it bore in Llwyd's times ; therefore I have 
 discarded Pennant's name in opposition to a goodly number of his 
 followers, and have reverted to the older form, believing it to be the 
 correct one — Maen y Chwyfan, or as locally pronounced, Maen 
 Chwyfan. 
 
 It has been discussed, without arriving at a conclusion, whether or 
 not this Cross was connected with a church, or other religious edifice. 
 Professor Westwood says it is " far removed from any village or any 
 remains, either of a religious or civil nature" (Archceologia Cambrensis 
 for 1865, p. 365). The remark is correct, if it refers to the present, 
 but inexact if it refers to the past, for only a hundred yards or so from 
 the stone is a farm house called the Gelli, which, according to Pennant's 
 testimony, corroborated by local tradition, was once an ancient chapel ; 
 and this chapel is only a few miles from Basingwerk Abbey. I heard 
 also, on the spot, that there was near it a churchyard, Hen Fynwent, 
 possibly so called from the discovery of bones, and probably correspon- 
 ding in site with the Gorsedheu mentioned by Llwyd. If proximity to 
 a religious building proves its connection therewith, then I think in the 
 chapel said to have been at Gelli we have the necessary condition. 
 But on the other hand, would so small a chapel have so elaborate an 
 adjunct as this Cross ? Or, if connected, would such a chapel have 
 been allowed to become a ruin ? There are many ancient chapels 
 in Wales in complete ruins with no cross of any kind near them. 
 
 There is a cross in the park behind Penmon Church, Anglesey, 
 with ornamention much like that on Maen y Chwyfan, and this cross 
 
 s 
 
144 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 stands alone, but it is by some considered as having been connected 
 with Penmon Priory, which is a short distance off, and which is said 
 to have been founded in the sixth century. 
 
 The age of Maen y Chwyfan has been a subject of consideration. 
 Llwyd avoided offering an opinion on this question, and so did 
 Pennant. Professor Westwood is diftident in making suggestions 
 on the subject, but as this gentleman has made the old stone monu- 
 ments of Wales his special study, everything he says about them is 
 valuable. I therefore quote the author of Lapidarium Wallice through- 
 out this work as an authority worthy of every consideration. The 
 Professor writes : — 
 
 The Maen Achwynfan, must, however, certainly be considered to be of a 
 much more recent date than the events indicated by the names of these 
 localities ; although I can scarcely think it more recent than the tenth or 
 eleventh century. — Archgologia Cambrensis for 1865, p. 366. 
 
 This gives to the Maen a respectable antiquity. 
 
 The prefix Maen, stone, instead of Croes, cross, points to the British 
 origin of the monument, and the crosses engraved on it indicate that 
 it was a Christian structure. We have in Wales many names of 
 stones compounded with the word Maen, as Maen hir, Maen llw, &c, 
 and we have ancient crosses of Latin origin combined with the word 
 cross, as Croes Tecla, which stood somewhere by Llandegla, and Croes 
 Ati, near Flint, both of which have disappeared, though extant in 
 name. I know not when Croes Tecla, or Tecla 's Cross, was erected, 
 but Croes Ati or Ati's Cross was extant when Domesday was written, 
 and Pennant remembered having seen the pedestal, and so here we 
 have at least one cross in Wales, as early as the days of the first 
 Norman king, called by a distinctive name of which crux is a root. 
 The crosses as memorial stones succeeded the Meini hirion, and the 
 Meini gwyr, and every other kind of Maen ; therefore it will not be 
 presumptuous to say that the Maen y Chwyfan is certainly older than 
 Croes Ati. That, however, was of such importance that it gave the 
 name to the Norman Hundred of Atiscross eight hundred years ago 
 (Taylor's History of Flint, p. 1). Croes Ati might have been in 
 existence long before William I.'s time ; but a more respectable age 
 belongs to those pillar stones that retain the Celtic appellation Maen, 
 than to those stone crosses which are distinguished by the use of the 
 adopted word Croes. 
 
 The great antiquity of Maen y Chwyfan is further seen from the 
 
Maen y Chwyfan. 145 
 
 kind of ornamentation that decorates all its surfaces. These consist 
 of interlaced work of various designs, and also of animals. The ribbon 
 or interlaced pattern is considered to be very ancient, and it has been 
 supposed to have been suggested by plaited twigs. My friend, 
 Mr. Beedham, supplies me with an extract from a work, printed for 
 presentation only, at Manchester, in 1858, by an archaeologist, Mr. 
 Gilbert J. Trench, entitled " The Origin and Meaning of the Early 
 Interlaced Ornamentations found on the Ancient Sculptured Stones 
 of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man." Mr. Trench's idea is 
 that the first crosses erected by Christian missionaries in our islands 
 were constructed of plaited osiers, and that the earliest existing stone 
 crosses are reproductions of still earlier crosses of twigs. He had 
 met, he says, with only one record of any actual cross of twigs or 
 basket work, which is the following, taken from Patricias His Purga- 
 tory, quoted in the Ulster Journal of Archeology (vol. v., p. 71). In 
 1630, Lord Dillon, accompanied by a Government surveyor, visited 
 a small island in Lough Derg, and they gave a detailed description 
 of the island, which was published by the then Bishop of the Diocese. 
 In this report it is stated that : — 
 
 At the east end of the Church there is a heap of stones, on which there 
 is a cross made of interwoven twigs ; this is known by the name of 
 St. Patrick's Altar, on which there do lie three pieces of a bell, which they 
 say St. Patrick used to carry in his hand. 
 
 Mr. Trench's theory is ingenious, and the information about St. 
 Patrick's Altar, with osier cross, curious and interesting. Mention 
 has been made of St. Patrick's overthrowing pillar stones in the plains 
 of Magh Sleacht, Co. Cavan (see p. 121), and also of his having had 
 other pillar stones inscribed with the sacred symbol. He might, there- 
 fore, from aversion to the use of stone, have had crosses made of inter- 
 woven twigs. But the pattern mentioned by Mr. Trench is found ir 
 Russia. I am indebted to Mr. Beedham for tracings of crosses which 
 appeared in Part VIII. of the Russian Archaeological Bulletin, and they 
 are strangely like in design to the cross at Penmon, and to Maen y 
 Chwyfan. 
 
 The Russian crosses are further like these ancient crosses in 
 Wales, in having rude delineations of animals on them. They have 
 indeed so many of the characteristics of the Welsh crosses mentioned 
 above, that both seem to have had a common origin. The Greek 
 cross, and the most ancient Welsh crosses, are almost identical in 
 
146 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 form and execution ; and this could hardly be accidental ; it must be 
 accounted for in some other way. 
 
 Reverting to the age of Maen y Chwyfan, I see nothing against 
 supposing that it is eminently a Celtic memorial, dating from a 
 remote period, probably previously to the eighth century. If there 
 is any connection between it and Saint Cwyfan, as the name suggests, 
 then this stone is commemorative of the Saint, who, it is said, lived 
 in the seventh century. The ornamentation on the stone resembles 
 in several particulars Bishop Acca's Cross, which has been alluded 
 to in connection with Llanynys Cross, and which was erected about 
 the year 740. Both crosses certainly are most ancient, and there is, 
 at least, a probability, if not a certainty, that Maen Chwyfan or Maen 
 Chyfan is commemorative of a person, and I am inclined to think 
 with Lewis Morris that probably that person was Saint Cwyfan. 
 
 I will now proceed to describe this interesting relic. 
 
 Maen y Chwyfan is a monolith with circular head and tapering 
 shaft. The total height is lift. 3m. ; breadth, at the base, 2ft. 5m.; 
 underneath the head, ift. 8in. ; the stone is uin. thick. The pedes- 
 tal is irregular in shape, but approaching in form to an oblong with 
 rounded corners. It measures 4ft. uin. by 4ft. 4m. 
 
 Along the east surface of the pedestal are many incisions, for the 
 most part in a cavity, as shown in diagram, of lengths varying from 
 a couple of inches to ift. 2in. ; the depth of these grooves varies from 
 three-quarters of an inch to a mere scratch. There can be but little 
 doubt that these incisions were made by sharpening arrows on the 
 stone, but more is said about these marks in the account of Ysceifiog 
 Churchyard Cross. 
 
 The stem measures 8ft. uin., and the diameter of the head is 
 2ft. 4in. 
 
 The east side is divided into four compartments, which measure 
 respectively, beginning at the base, 18, 27, 21^, and 41 inches. The 
 upper compartment has a rather rudely-executed interlaced osier- 
 work ornamentation. Nearly the whole design is still clearly visible, 
 but a part of the south edge has been chipped off. The next com- 
 partment consists of a well-worked St. Andrew's Cross, with lines 
 geometrically drawn, filling in the interstices. In the centre of the 
 next compartment is a rudely executed figure of a nude man. The 
 legs are apart, and the arms raised. The right hand holds appar- 
 ently a spear, which, although not clearly traceable, is in a certain 
 
.y<- 
 
 STOKffi SlUJi. 
 
 MA EN X CHWYFAF. 
 
 Pedestal sito wing arrow majuobgs. 
 
 SViilu. S nf an [iii'li U, rj„. p„ nl 
 
 SOUTH SIDE.. 
 
 WOODALL.MINSHALL 5 Cf. LITHOS., OSWESTRY. 
 
"WEST SIDE. 
 
 EAST SIDE. 
 
 MAEST Y CHWYFAN". 
 
 WOODALL.MINSHALL J C° LITHOS., OSWESTR> 
 
Maen y Chwyfan. 147 
 
 light seen to have a rounded head. The left hand also appears to 
 grasp a club, which seems to proceed behind the man's back, and in 
 the engraving is shewn as emerging underneath the right arm, and 
 terminating on the ground near the butt end of the spear. From 
 the left side hangs what might have been intended for a sword. 
 Around the naked figure are well-executed circular whorls, and be- 
 tween these and the figure is work that resembles the coils of a 
 snake. The lowest compartment is bare, but it has, along its angles, 
 arrow- markings. The whole extent of the south edge has been in- 
 jured ; cattle have, as high as they could reach, rounded its corners 
 by making, a rubbing-stone of the Cross. 
 
 The west face is divided into three compartments, the lower one 
 being plain ; the upper compartment has in it two concentric circles 
 interlaced with segments of four circles touching each other at the 
 centre of the concentric circles, and meeting and forming angles out- 
 side the circles. Underneath this work are a couple of scrawls. The 
 next compartment was filled with interlaced work. A characteristic 
 of the designs on this side is, that the osiers are represented as 
 double. The whole face of this side is weather-beaten and covered 
 with greyish lichen, and in parts, the ornamentation is very indistinct. 
 
 The sides of the stone are ornamented. The south side is much 
 defaced. Near the bottom is a long-bodied quadruped, with long- 
 coiled tail, and the tongue is long, and twisted. Above this animal 
 are lines resembling the coils of a snake, but they are much worn, 
 and indistinct. Then there is a rude figure, apparently that of a 
 woman, with her arms on her breast, surrounded by coils. Above 
 this figure comes double osier interlaced work, which is succeeded 
 by a series of six rings, hanging the one from the other. 
 
 The north edge is ornamented to within twenty inches of the 
 bottom. Although the designs are somewhat indistinct, the patterns 
 are fairly traceable. At the top is a pretty design, described by 
 Professor Westwood as " a double series of T's set in opposition to 
 each other." There are six of these T's in opposition. Below this 
 pattern are two rings linked to each other, and immediately below 
 these rings is a design, like that at the top of the west face of the 
 stone, but consisting of a single instead of a double osier. Then 
 there is a twisted design, and beneath it, a quadruped, with a long 
 body, but with a longer coiled-up tail, and head looking backwards. 
 Underneath the belly of this animal is a small figure, perhaps re- 
 
148 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 presenting a child, reminding one, by its position, of the nursing 
 mother of the founders^ of Rome. A very slight tracing of a 
 St. Andrew's Cross next decorates the side of the stone, and then 
 there is a space entirely bare. 
 
 The edge of the Maen decreases gradually in width, so that from 
 eleven inches at the base it becomes only seven inches wide under- 
 neath the circular head. 
 
 In the centre of the circular head of the Maen, on the east side, is a 
 slightly projecting boss, with incisions forming a cross ; from the 
 base line of the boss radiate the arms of a Maltese Cross ; the three 
 lower limbs are ornamented with the triquetra pattern, and the upper 
 has on it a scrawl. The four inches between the extremity of the 
 arms of the Maltese Cross and the edge of the head are occupied by 
 two concentric circles ; the one next the arms resembles a rope, the 
 outer one is plain. 
 
 The west head is much worn, and the design is indistinct. It has 
 a central boss, from which radiate the arms of a Maltese Cross, and 
 between the cross and the rim of the head there seem to have been 
 three concentric circles. 
 
 The rim of the head of this relic is ornamented with interlaced 
 osier work. 
 
 I paid many visits to the Maen ; more than once a promising day 
 turned out wet ; but patiently I stayed in its vicinity, and under 
 various atmospheric conditions studied the stone, and the result is 
 the accompanying drawings. I had, too, the great advantage of 
 having with me the elaborate account and accurate drawings of the 
 stone by Professor Westwood, which I compared with the designs 
 on the stone, and which I found to be of the greatest assistance to 
 me in deciphering the patterns. In a few details I have presumed 
 to differ from this gentleman, but perhaps someone 37 years hence 
 (the time that has intervened since, in 1848, Professor Westwood took 
 his drawings of the stone) will make a like remark respecting the 
 labours of the writer. 
 
 I think I cannot do better, in bringing to a conclusion this account 
 of the most remarkable stone monument in North Wales, than 
 reiterate the concluding remarks of Professor Westwood in his de- 
 scription of the stone, " that a low wall should be erected round this 
 monument, so as to protect it from possible damage caused by cattle 
 or the plough." 
 
NEWMARKET 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HIS is one of the few nearly perfect Churchyard Crosses 
 that are still to be found in Wales. With the ex- 
 ception that it is weatherbeaten, and has lost its 
 original erect position, and inclines' somewhat towards 
 the north, it is now pretty much what it was when 
 first placed in the churchyard. 
 
 The Cross stands 42 ft. from the south wall of the 
 Church. The steps on which the basement rests are overgrown with 
 grass, except at one corner, where a portion of one of the stones is 
 exposed, and on this stone are several incisions, made by sharpening 
 implements. These steps, at present, have their opposite sides of 
 different lengths ; thus, one side measures 5ft. ioin., whilst the side 
 opposite, measures 5ft. 4m. ; the two other sides are longer than 
 these now mentioned, the one nearest the Church being 6ft. 7m. 
 The discrepancy is probably the result of time, not design. 
 
 The upper bed of the pedestal is an octagon, reduced by broaches 
 to a square. It measures at the base 2ft. iin. square ; height ift. 8in. 
 The shaft is a tapering monolith, eight-sided, brought at the base 
 to an oblong, by broaches of short outline. The opposite sides of the 
 shaft at the base measure 8-|in., and 14-gin., whilst the opposite sides 
 of the shaft, where it is octagonal in form, measure 7m., 4^in., 5m., 
 and 4in. The height of the shaft is 6ft. 5m. It is a roughly-dressed 
 stone. Near the base of the shaft, on the east side, is a mark like a St. 
 Andrew's Cross, strongly resembling one of the masons' marks which 
 have been mentioned in connection with Llannefydd Village Cross. 
 The capital, or head stone, is a massive block of freestone. The 
 upper part is divided into four niches, two of which contain figures 
 in relief. The stone measures 3ft. 6in. in length, and ift. 6in. in 
 width, 
 
SKCTL05J OF SHAFT. 
 t ale: 1 incTi tn tlie foot 
 
 EAST sum. 
 NEWMARKET CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 WOODAU.MINSHALL S C°. LITHOS., OSWESTRY. 
 
RHUDDLAN 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS 
 
 LL that remains of this Cross are the stone steps and a 
 part of the shaft, which lies at the foot of the steps, and 
 which, after having been converted into a sun-dial, 
 and doing service as such for many years, was lately 
 removed. In 
 
 the 
 the 
 
 place 
 old sun 
 
 of 
 
 dial shaft has been erected a 
 beautiful cross " To the glory 
 of God and in loving memory 
 of William Shipley Conwy 
 and Charlotte Rowley, 1873," 
 so that a modern cross of ele- 
 gant workmanship stands where 
 the old Churchyard Cross once 
 was. The steps present a well 
 worn appearance. They differ 
 from the steps of other crosses 
 
 ^ 
 
 EAST END OF CHURCH 
 
 SITE OF CROSS 
 
 Site of Churchyard Cross. 
 
 in the Vale of Clwyd, in being circular instead of rectangular. 
 
 The crosses in churchyards are usually, though not invariably, on 
 the south side of the church, but Rhuddlan Cross is not even 
 opposite the south wall, but stands, as shown in the sketch, about 
 two paces further east than the east wall, and twelve paces from it. 
 
 The three steps that lead up to the Cross are unequal in breadth. 
 The lowest or first step lies at present almost level with the ground, 
 and is from 12 to 14 inches broad. The next step is 12 inches high, 
 and 15 inches broad ; and the last step is 14 inches high and 21 inches 
 
152 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 from the shaft, which is circular, and 48 inches in diameter. The 
 
 total diameter of these 
 steps is 12ft. 2in., and 
 their height, a little 
 more than 2ft. 6in. The 
 massiveness of the steps 
 implies a superincum- 
 bent cross of more than 
 
 Section of steps of Churchyard Cross, Jin. to the foot. ordinary Size. 
 
 Steps of Churchyard Cross. 
 
 RHUDDLAN CROSSES. 
 
 From tradition, and remains that have reached our days, it would 
 seem that at one time there were several Crosses in the parish of 
 Rhuddlan. In former days, the place was very different to what 
 it is now. The ruined castle, priory, and hospitium, indicate a 
 greatness that has departed. At present, Rhuddlan is merely a 
 straggling village, but it contains a few dilapidated buildings with 
 freestone window mullions, and other marks of grandeur, which prove 
 that at one time the place was opulent. There was a multiplicity of 
 religious edifices in the parish ; such as the abbey, the hospital, the 
 church, and, perhaps, a house of female religious, for Pennant, speaking 
 of Rhuddlan, says : — " Near this place were certain lands, called 
 Nunnelaifd, and St. Marieland ; but whether they had any reference 
 to any house of female religious, I cannot say." Pennant refers, 
 
Rhuddlan. 153 
 
 when making this remark, to the Sebright MSS. Where there were 
 so many sacred buildings a number of crosses would be erected. 
 At present there are the remains of two crosses in the parish, but 
 the living remember the steps of another that stood by the lane that 
 leads to the Church. The Rev. D. R. Thomas alludes to a figure 
 of our Lord that was in existence in the sixteenth century. He 
 says : — 
 
 About the year 1500 there further appears to have been a noted image 
 of our Lord, either here (Rhuddlan Church) or at the abbey, " Yr Iesu 
 gwyn o Ruddlan," in honour of which Gruffydd ab Ieuan ab Llywelyn 
 Fychan, the bard and linguist of Llannerch, composed one of his awdlau. 
 History of the Diocese of St. Asaph, p. 303. 
 
 The image referred to in this quotation was very likely a cross 
 with an engraving of our Lord, possibly in white stone or marble. 
 
 When King Edward I. was at Rhuddlan, he received from Einion 
 ab Ivor, David ab Gronwy, and others, the Regalia of Wales, and 
 amongst them the Crocs Naid (the Cross of Refuge), which was 
 supposed to be a part of the cross on which our Lord suffered. The 
 king granted to Einion and the others for finding the fragment of 
 the true cross, belonging to Llewelyn and David, and sending it to 
 the king, certain privileges, which are stated in the following extract. 
 The document is dated a.d. 1283, June 25, Rhuddlan : — 
 
 Rex omnibus ad quos &c. salutem. Cum jam sedatis (benedictus 
 altissimus) quibusdam turbationibus in Wallia habitis, nos summi Regis 
 dementia taliter visitaverit at excelso quod nobis nuper, apud Aber 
 Conewey existentibus Avianus filius Ynor Lewelinus David, Meylerus et 
 Goronow filii sui, Goronow fil David Avyanus, David, Dayhoc et Tegnaret 
 filii sui Walenses partem illam pretiossimi ligni crucis quae a Walensibus 
 Crosseneyht vocatur, et quam Lewelinus filius Grifnni, nuper princeps 
 Walliae et antecessores sui principes Walliae, haberunt, per manum dilecti 
 et fidelis nostri Reginaldi de Grey, Justiciarii de Cestr, reddiderunt ; nos 
 ob Ipsius reverentiam Qui pro redemptione generis humani in eodem 
 ligno mortem subiit temporalem, et ob ejusdem sanctae Crucis honorem, 
 praefatis Aviano, Lewelino, David, Meylero, Goronow, Aviano, D&vid, 
 Dayhoc, et Tegnaret, gratiam facere volentes specialem, concedimus eis 
 pro nobis et hasredibus nostris hanc libertatem ; viz., quod ipsi seu hseredes 
 sui imperpetuum, in aliquo exercitu seu expeditione nostra extra Quatuor 
 Cantreda nos sequi minime tenaentur, nisi hoc de eorum proces-serit 
 voluntate ; et tunc sumptibus nostris et non suis. In cujus &c. — Haddon 
 and Stubbs, Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, vol. i., 549. 
 
 Edward, as appears from the Archceologia Cambrensis (vol i., p. 43), 
 conveyed with great solemnity the regalia and cross to Westminster 
 
154 Old- Stone Crosses. 
 
 Abbey, and there placed them on the high altar, but it is not known 
 what became of them. 
 
 RHUDDLAN VILLAGE CROSS. 
 
 This Cross no longer exists, nor are there any traces of it left, but 
 old people can point out the place where it stood. In the early part 
 of the present century vestiges of it remained. Mr. Wynne, of 
 Llansilin Vicarage, who is now (1883) in his eighty-second year, 
 recollects having seen, as a child, the steps of the Village Cross. It 
 stood on the left hand side of the road or street called Church Street, 
 which leads to the Church from the main road that proceeds through the 
 village. Its site was very near the junction of these two roads. It 
 appears that it stood in the corner of what in these days is the garden 
 of one of the cottages abutting upon Church Street, but which was 
 formerly unenclosed ground ; the place is now called, having taken 
 the name from the Cross, Ty'nygroes. Opposite the Cross, on the 
 other side of the street, stood the village stocks. These also have 
 disappeared during the present century. 
 
 It was around this Cross that labourers congregated in large 
 numbers, in harvest time, from all the surrounding country, to be 
 hired by the farmers. This custom has not entirely ceased in our 
 days, but at present they assemble around the lock-up, or round 
 house, about 4 o'clock on Monday morning, during harvest, to be 
 hired by the farmers in those parts. 
 
 As the hiring at Rhuddlan Cross was on so extensive a scale, and 
 regulated the price of labour over a large stretch of country, and as 
 it is so often spoken of, I will describe the custom of hiring at the 
 Cross. The subject has already been cursorily mentioned in con- 
 nection with the Denbigh Cross, and it was there stated that the 
 wage agreed upon at the Cross was called Cyflog y Groes, or the wage 
 of the cross, and under this name it shall be described ; but I will 
 first show how sacred and binding agreements entered into at crosses 
 were considered in Wales. 
 
 AGREEMENTS MADE AT CROSSES. 
 
 The only kind of contract made in modern days at crosses was a 
 labour contract, but formerly other kinds of contracts were there 
 entered into, and just as in rather modern days the breaking of the 
 cross-labour agreement was greatly reprobated, and extremely seldom, 
 
Rhuddlan. 155 
 
 if ever, occurred, so in ancient times agreements made at crosses were 
 considered doubly binding, and could not be denied excepting in 
 the most solemn manner. It is within the range of possibility that 
 a bad man would aver untruly that a bargain had been contracted 
 at a cross when such was not the case ; then, it became necessary for 
 the accused party to prove, if he could, a non-contract, which in the 
 absence of witnesses, it would be impossible for him to do ; resort, 
 therefore, was to be had to an oath on a relic. This proceeding was 
 carried out as follows : — 
 
 Val hyn ydyleir gyrv kroes ay gwadv kymryt krayr [yn y law] a thygv 
 yr krayr hyny deirgwaith arnaw torry y groes a gwadet y llall yr krayr a 
 gwedy hyny roec y llw ar y drydyd o'r gwyr nessaf ev gwerth wythnos or 
 Sul nessaf yn yr eglwys ybo y vara efferen ay dwfyr swyn. — Haddon and 
 Stubbs, Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, vol. ii., p. 254. 
 
 This has been translated in the same book as follows :— 
 
 In this manner is a cross to be sued, and to be denied : a relic is to be 
 taken by the party in his hand, and to swear on that relic thrice, to the 
 breaking of the cross ; and let the other deny upon the relic ; and after 
 that, let him give his oath, with the oath of two men nearest to himself 
 in worth, a week from the next Sunday, in the church wherein shall be his 
 Sacramental bread and his holy water. — Councils and Ecclesiastical Docu- 
 ments, vol. ii., p. 255. 
 The Welsh extract is from a fifteenth century MS. The translation 
 is by Aneurin Owen. The suing of a cross refers to the contract said 
 to have been made at the cross, and the breaking of the cross, to the 
 breaking of the contract made at the cross. The expression torry y 
 groes, or breaking the cross, is an expression which might be heard in 
 the mouths of aged people when speaking of the non-fulfilment of 
 bargains made at the cross during harvest time. The party who 
 does not adhere to the bargain is said to break the cross, i.e., break 
 the bargain made at the cross. The expression has outlived the 
 cross itself, which once stood on the spot where contracts were 
 entered into. 
 
 The Churchyard Cross at Welshpool was often mentioned in 
 mortgages as the place where moneys advanced on mortgage security 
 were to be re-paid. In a valuable paper on the History of Welshpool 
 by M. C. J. in the Montgomeryshire Collections, reference is made to 
 this custom as follows : — 
 
 There formerly stood in the churchyard (at Welshpool) an ancient stone 
 Cross, all traces of which have disappeared. Formerly, it was the custom, 
 
156 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 in mortgage deeds, to make the money payable " at or upon the stone 
 Cross, within the Church yeard of the parish Church at Pool, between the 
 hours of seaven and eleayen of the clock in the afternoon." A mortgage 
 deed, dated in 1600, has the appointment for re-payment in these terms, 
 and the cross must have been extant at that period. Possibly, during the 
 time of the civil war the cross was destroyed. — Montgomeryshire Collections, 
 vol. xv., p. 274. 
 
 It is not unlikely that what is here mentioned as a custom in Mont- 
 gomeryshire was also observed in other parts of Wales, for customs 
 have generally in Wales a wider range than a single county. 
 
 CYFLOG Y GROES. — THE WAGE OF THE CROSS. 
 
 During harvest time it was a custom in Wales for labourers to 
 assemble about their village crosses early in the morning, with sickles 
 and scythes, to be engaged by those farmers who required their 
 services. 
 
 Rhuddlan, as I have said, was a famed labour-market, and owing 
 to certain privileges attending contracts made there, it was greatly 
 frequented by men from all parts of Flintshire and Denbighshire. 
 The time of hiring was on Sundays. Advantage was taken of the 
 large concourse of people met together to hold then a fair, and thus on 
 every Sunday, as long as the harvest lasted, there was buying and 
 selling, drinking and rioting, at Rhuddlan. This had continued 
 from time immemorial, and lasted down to the beginning of the 
 present century. 
 
 What made Rhuddlan a favourite place of resort for farmers and 
 labourers was the fact that those who were hired there were hired 
 for a week, from Monday morning to Saturday night. Rhuddlan 
 Cross was the only one in all the district where such an engagement 
 was made. In other places labourers were hired by the day, and 
 not by the week. Such was the case at Ruthin, Denbigh, Mochdre, 
 and other crosses. The advantage of the Rhuddlan custom was so 
 great to all parties concerned, that it is not to be wondered at that 
 the place was crowded every Sunday during harvest, and the wage 
 there agreed upon became the standard wage for the country round. 
 Farmers would often agree, if not able to go to the Cross, to give 
 their men the wage of Rhuddlan Cross, and then the men, instead of 
 going there to be re-engaged, resumed their work for the next week. 
 
 The wage of the Cross was published each Sunday in Rhuddlan, 
 
Rhuddlan. 157 
 
 so there could be no room for dispute by persons not present at the 
 hiring. In Ruthin, which had only a day engagement, a man daily 
 published the wage agreed upon, and so every one knew what the 
 day's wage was to be. 
 
 According to the Rhuddlan custom men might be worked from 
 earliest morn to latest night, whilst other crosses only gave twelve 
 hours' labour. A day's toil began in districts not within the Rhuddlan 
 limits at six o'clock, and ended at six, but a liberal interpretation of 
 the engagement was in these cases made both by men and masters. 
 
 A bargain once struck was binding on both parties, and no allow- 
 ance was made for unpropitious weather ; thus the Rhuddlan custom 
 was that the engagement held good to the following Saturday, but 
 if the weather was unfit for harvest work, the farmer could put the 
 men to any other work he thought proper. The continuance of bad 
 weather was a dead loss to the farmer. 
 
 The labourer was paid weekly, if engaged according to the Rhuddlan 
 custom, but daily, if engaged elsewhere. 
 
 Such were the chief rules that regulated the labour-market in 
 days gone by. 
 
 John Williams, a shoemaker of Penybont, Rhuddlan, told me that 
 no one was allowed to take less money than the sum agreed upon at 
 the Cross ; that if he did so, there would be " a great row." But the 
 farmer was not obliged to hire anyone ; he made his own selection, 
 and picked those men whom he thought worth the cross wage. 
 Men who failed to get employment on Sunday at Rhuddlan had a 
 chance at other places on the Monday, where daily " crosses " were 
 held, and from Rhuddlan the unsuccessful labour-seeker went to 
 Abergele, Denbigh, or to some other labour-market. 
 
 Evan Jones, of Perthi, Efenechtyd Parish, an old man, told me 
 that when young he hired himself out as a labourer at Rhuddlan, but 
 not on a Sunday. He got there, he said, early on Monday morning, 
 and he must have started shortly after, if not before, 12 o'clock on 
 Sunday night to have arrived so early. The harvest was not quite 
 ready for the sickle when he arrived ; so Evan Jones worked 
 for that week with Edward Hughes, butcher, Pont-y-gwtter, at the 
 rate of six shillings a week, and his food, which was only one 
 shilling a day. The next week he worked at Plas Llwyd, and got 
 there sixteen shillings a week, and stayed on another week at seven- 
 teen shillings. The week after he worked for Davydd Story, according 
 
158 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 to the wage of Denbigh Cross, and received five shillings a day for 
 Monday and Tuesday, and four shillings a day for the rest of the week. 
 The week afterwards, Thomas Jones worked at Bryngoleu, about 
 four miles from Denbigh, and this week he earned nine shillings, 
 according to the wage at Denbigh Cross. This occurred forty-six 
 years ago. Thus did the wage vary in days gone by. 
 
 A farmer in the parish of Efenechtyd informed me that a certain 
 farmer whom he named had a spite against a neighbouring farmer, 
 and having heard that the object of his aversion kept on his men from 
 day to day, giving them the highest wage of Ruthin Cross without 
 going there to ascertain what it was, determined to do him an injury 
 through advancing the cross wage. He went therefore to Ruthin 
 Square one morning, and engaged a couple of men for five shillings 
 a day, when the wage was in reality much lower than this figure, and 
 thus he obliged the farmer to pay his labourers a much higher sum 
 than he otherwise would have done. 
 
 It was not an unusual thing for a man and wife to hire themselves 
 out during harvest time, and I have been told that the woman 
 followed her husband through the heat of the day with unabated 
 vigotfr. Many a woman prided herself on her strength, and gloried 
 in being able to follow the men in the harvest field. There is a hale 
 old woman, in the parish of Efenechtyd, the wife of David Humphreys, 
 of Tyisa', now between eighty and ninety years old, who, when she 
 was seventy, worked in the harvest at Pool Park, and thought that 
 even then she could keep up with the other binders, but her strength 
 was not equal to her intentions, and the workers near her kindly 
 bound now and again a sheaf for her, and in this way she accom- 
 plished her day's labour. 
 
 I have been informed by Robert Davies, Ty'ntwll, that in the 
 height of the harvest season it was a common thing, some; forty or 
 fifty years ago, for a man and his wife to earn each five shillings a 
 da)' and their food. It would seem that this was considered the 
 highest wage given. There is in Welsh an old distich, which 
 states that the cross wage is : — 
 
 Coron a bwyd, 
 Cyflog y Groes. 
 
 A crown and food, 
 The wage of the cross. 
 
 Robert Davies, above mentioned, told the writer that when he was 
 
Rhuddlan. 159 
 
 a young man (he is now, apparently, above seventy years old) he was 
 a farm servant in Llanbedr parish, and his master sent him to Ruthin 
 to hire men at the cross, as it was called, and he received orders to 
 agree quickly with the men, and give them good wages. Davies got to 
 the hiring place, and found that a well-to-do farmer was endeavouring 
 to cheapen the price of labour, and that the market was at a stand-still, 
 because no one liked to offend this prominent but niggardly person. 
 Davies, having received commands not to cheapen labour, went up 
 to this farmer, and intimated that if he was not quick, he (Davies) 
 would have to lead the cross. The farmer, however, continued 
 bartering with the men, and Davies, without further parley, to the 
 great annoyance of the other man, engaged labourers, giving them 
 good wages, and his example was followed by others present. Thus 
 Davies told me he set the wage that morning. This transaction 
 throws light upon the manner in which men were hired at the Cross. 
 Thomas Rowlands, of Tyddyn Siambers, told me that his father, 
 who, if he were alive, would be now about ninety years old, often 
 engaged men on Sunday, during harvest time, just before going to 
 church for morning service at Northop. He said that once .his 
 father offered wages that were refused, but before he had reached his 
 house after the service, the men came up to him, and agreed to work 
 at the price he had named. 
 
 STOPPING THE SUNDAY FAIR. 
 
 The Sundays at Rhuddlan, during a part of August and September, 
 yearly, were regular gala days. Buying and selling, harping, fiddling, 
 and dancing, and hiring, were the order of the day. Amid such a 
 concourse of people, it is not to be wondered at that irregularities 
 occurred, and many sober-minded people were scandalized at such 
 bacchanalian proceedings, but no efficient steps were taken to 
 suppress the fair. All this, however, was accomplished by one extra- 
 ordinary sermon preached by John Elias. The account given by 
 the Rev. E. Morgan, M.A., Vicar of Syston, Leicestershire, in his 
 memoir of Elias, of the sermon and its effect, are so graphically 
 recorded, that I cannot do better than give extracts from this 
 memoir. 
 
 Having mentioned that fairs were held on Sundays in harvest time 
 from time immemorial, and that scythes, and hooks, and other 
 
 u 
 
160 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 implements, were then disposed of, he proceeds to state that when 
 Elias arrived at Rhuddlan there was the sound of harps and fiddles; 
 the players were in liquor : there was the noise of the fair and of 
 bargain-making, and in the place was a great concourse of people, 
 some of whom had come in to hear Elias preach. Mr. Morgan 
 shall now speak : — 
 
 Elias stood on the steps of the New Inn, belonging then to Mrs. Hughes. 
 He manifested amazing boldness and intrepidity ; his spirit being moved 
 within him : he appeared also very thoughtful, grave and compassionate. 
 He gave out a stanza of the 24th Psalm to be sung. " I never," says an 
 eye-witness, " heard more serious and impressive singing." He adds, 
 " the sobriety and awe of Elias's voice and manner were very impressive. 
 Such effect was produced on the people, that not a hook nor a scythe was 
 to be seen ! Nothing but opposition and persecution were expected ; but 
 scarcely anything of the kind was experienced ; for they all put their 
 different implements of husbandry out of sight very soon. Elias read a 
 chapter in the most solemn and impressive manner ; then engaged in a 
 very earnest prayer. He was most importunate with the Lord in prayer 
 
 and supplication His heart was in a very melting frame, 
 
 from which his words flowed, and the tears ran profusely down his grave 
 and serious countenance. The people by this time were seized with awe 
 and great sobriety. He repeatedly thanked the Lord that he did not suffer 
 the earth to open and swallow them up alive into hell. He most earnestly 
 entreated the Almighty several times to incline the hearts of the respectable 
 and influential men in the neighbourhood, to regard the Sabbath, and to 
 prevent the evil practices that desecrated it so awfully ; he prayed and 
 entreated the Lord, with the greatest feeling of compassion, for the farmers, 
 labourers, servants, publicans, and all the men of evil practices. Amazing 
 effects followed his words in prayer." 
 
 Elias took for his text, Exodus xxxiv., 21, " Six days thou shalt work, 
 but on the seventh thou shalt rest : in earing time and in harvest thou 
 shalt rest." His spirit was soon stirred up within him, and the words of 
 the Lord came with amazing force out of his lips, carrying light and con- 
 viction home to the consciences and hearts of the wicked. He made some 
 very pertinent and homely observations in a powerful manner, suitable to 
 his audience. " Should we," it was asked, " rest on the Sabbath Day if 
 it were a fine day, the harvest being very wet and bad, and the corn much 
 injured ?" " Yes," he answered in a most powerful tone of voice, " yea, 
 you should obey the word of God at all times. It is said — ' in earing and 
 in harvest thou shalt rest.' The Lord had rather send a legion of angels 
 to manage thy harvest, than that thou shouldest disregard his holy dav ." 
 He exclaimed repeatedly to the people with all his might the following 
 words, with his arm lifted up, and tears flowing down his face — " Oh, 
 robbers ! Oh, robbers ! Oh, thieves ! Alas ! stealing the day of the Lord ! 
 
Rhuddlan. 161 
 
 What ! robbing my Lord of his day ! Oh, robbers, the most abominable ! 
 " It might be asked again," he said, " What if one should suffer and be 
 unable to pay his way, having not made all exertions even on the Sabbath, 
 when it is a wet harvest ?" He observed in answer to this, " Thousands 
 that keep the Sabbath at all times have been enabled to live far better 
 than thou, and certainly die infinitely better than thou art likely to do." 
 Then he made strong allusions to London and other cities that were set 
 oh fire, which he represented as a punishment from the Lord for the dis- 
 respect to his Holy Day. He particularly observed the threatening in the 
 Word of God for abusing the Sabbath, and enlarged on what is said in 
 Jeremiah xvii., 27, as a threat to set Jerusalem on fire for disregarding the 
 Lord's Day. He also dwelt on the promises made in the Bible to those 
 that keep the day Holy. — Elias's Memoirs, pp. iog — in. 
 
 The people seemed panic-struck by this sermon, and a complete 
 stop was put to the practice of holding fairs on Sunday at Rhuddlan. 
 This took place in the summer of 1802. Elias in his autobiography 
 thus alludes to the event. 
 
 The Lord supported and strengthened me to preach at Rhuddland, 
 during a fair on a Sunday in the harvest season. There was much opposi- 
 tion and contention at the commencement, but the Lord over-ruled it and 
 blessed the word. The victory was gained, and the evil practice was given 
 up. — Elias's Memoirs, p. 112. 
 
 When speaking to my old friend, Mr. Wynne, a native of Rhuddlan, 
 now of Llansilin Vicarage, about the wonderful change accomplished 
 by John Elias's sermon, he informed me that open hiring and the 
 fair ceased there and then, but that hiring on Sundays in public 
 houses continued, and that the then curate of the parish did much 
 towards eradicating the practice altogether. Mr. Wynne also told 
 me that a magistrate who lived in those parts, perceiving what a 
 change had been brought about by Elias's sermon, said, — " That 
 man by one sermon has done more than I have been able to do all 
 my lifetime," alluding, possibly, to his own futile endeavours to put 
 down the excesses of the Rhuddlan Sunday fairs. 
 
 CROES-Y-BERLLAN . 
 
 There is a field a little to the east of Rhuddlan Vicarage called by 
 the name Croes-y-Berllan, or the Cross of the Orchard. At present, 
 there is not a vestige of this Cross ; all that remains to show its 
 former existence is the name which has come down to our days. 
 
1 62 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 CRUGYN CROSS. 
 
 Mention has been made of three crosses in the Parish of Rhuddlan, 
 viz., the Churchyard Cross, the Village Cross, and the Orchard Cross, 
 but there is another cross in the immediate neighbourhood, still 
 extant, though mutilated. The object of this latter cross is open to 
 doubt. Whether it was a memorial, a station, or a boundary cross, 
 is uncertain. 
 
 Crugyn Cross, called locally Criccin, or the Cross on the Mound, 
 Crugyn being the Welsh for Mound, stands on the right hand side 
 of the road that leads to St. Asaph, on the Rhuddlan side of the 
 river Clwyd, about a mile distant from the village, and close to a 
 farm called Criccin. The Cross stands on an eminence, discernible 
 from all points, for a considerable distance. In the present denuded 
 state of the country, the stump of the shaft can easily be seen from 
 the train between St. Asaph and Denbigh, but when the country 
 was wooded, it could scarcely be visible from afar, unless, indeed 
 the shaft was very long. 
 
 The field in which the Cross stands is called Maes-y-groes, or the 
 Field of the Cross. The view of the Vale and Clwydian Hills, from the 
 hillock occupied by the Cross, is one of considerable beauty. In the 
 more distant west rise the rugged summits of the Carnarvonshire 
 heights, and northwards, the expanse of sea completes the back 
 ground of a charming picture. Near at hand are the ivy-covered 
 ruins of Rhuddlan Castle, and a little further away to the north- 
 east is a conical hill crowned by the scanty remains of the castle 
 of Dyserth. 
 
 The Cross is about three quarters of a mile from the old abbey, 
 now converted into farm buildings, and about half a mile from the 
 ancient hospitium, at present a gentleman's abode, called, locally, 
 Spittal, a corruption of its former name. 
 
 It is difficult to say positively that the Cross stands on an artificial 
 mound. Viewed from one direction the mound seems to be a natural 
 formation, while from another stand-point it presents an artificial 
 appearance. The mound is perhaps simply a sandbank, formed ages 
 ago when the sea flowed into the Vale of Clwyd. There is an un- 
 doubted artificial mound near Rhuddlan Castle, and it certainly does 
 not resemble that on which the Cross stands. 
 
 In Lewis's Topographical Dictionary, under the head Rhuddlan, 
 this Cross is mentioned, and it is there described as St. Eurgain's 
 
Rhuddlan. 163 
 
 Cross. What Lewis says has been copied into later books, without 
 comment. But there is reason to doubt, in this case, his accuracy. 
 He states that "in the hamlet of Criccin there is a large tumulus, 
 heaped over the remains of St. Eurgain, or Cain, daughter of 
 Maelgwyn, and niece of St. Asaph, founder of the see of that 
 name. On the tumulus is a shaft of a cross, the head of which 
 is now in a post on the farm adjoining." Criccin, I may remark, 
 is a farm, and not a hamlet, but this misnomer is of no great 
 consequence. 
 
 Upon referring to Professor Westwood's Lapidarium Wallicz, I find 
 all the information given by Lewis, but there the head of the Cross 
 is said to be in a pool on the farm adjoining. 
 
 A writer in the pages of the Archceologia Cambrensis for 1859 (p. 76) 
 calls the Cross Croes Ergain. 
 
 I know not upon what authority Lewis calls the Cross St. Eurgain's 
 Cross. It is not known by that name in the neighbourhood, and I 
 shall not be wrong when I say that names of places are long-lived in 
 Wales. The cross near Whitford retains its ancient name ; then 
 why not this ? Mr. Wynne, of Llansilin Vicarage, who occupied 
 Criccin farm years ago, told me he had not heard the Cross so 
 called ; again, St. Eurgain was a Christian, and she is said to have 
 lived in the sixth century, and it seems somewhat of an anachronism 
 to bury her, as the ancient Celts buried their illustrious dead, under 
 a heap of earth and stones. Presuming that Lewis is the originator 
 of the name, the confusion might have been one of place-names. 
 Eurgain, Northop, is not near Rhuddlan, but Lewis might have 
 heard of such a place, for instance, as Bryn Eurgain, and hence the 
 misnomer. 
 
 From what has already been said about a missing part of the 
 Cross, it will be seen that this ancient remain has, like most others 
 of a like nature, been mutilated. Lewis says that the head was in 
 a post ; Professor Westwood, in a pool ; the Rev. D. R. Thomas, 
 that a portion of the Cross was at one time in a pig-sty wall at the 
 adjoining farm house. 
 
 A careful inspection of gate posts and pig-sties did not lead to the 
 discovery of the lost parts of the Cross. Mr. Wynne, of Llansilin, 
 told me that the pool was cleared out in his days, and nothing 
 was found in it. It is, however, very probable that the lacking parts 
 of the Cross are utilized in one way or another on Criccin farm. 
 
164 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 In the spring of 188 1, I took a sketch of the Cross as it then was. 
 On another visit to the place, February gth, 1882, I observed that 
 a missing portion of the pedestal had been placed alongside the 
 other remains of the Cross. Mr. Welsby, the tenant of Criccin, was 
 walking along Maes-y-groes when the Rev. T. Rowlands, Vicar of 
 Rhuddlan, and I were inspecting the Cross, and he informed us 
 that the part which had lately been placed on the mound was found 
 by him when certain drains were being re-opened. The drain in 
 which a part of the Cross was discovered went underneath a gateway, 
 and Mr. Welsby, when the drain was being cleared out, observed 
 that a stone which covered the drain was dressed, and when it was 
 taken up, he found that it resembled the part of the pedestal of 
 the Cross, and therefore he had it removed to the mound, where 
 it now lies, and undoubtedly it is a part of the stone basement 
 of the Cross. This gentleman also stated that he believed another 
 missing portion of the Cross was used for a similar purpose in a 
 drain which passes underneath another gateway on the farm. 
 He stated that he certainly detected a beveled stone as a cover- 
 ing to a drain, and he intends ascertaining whether his surmises 
 are correct, and if so, he will replace the fragments on the 
 mound. 
 
 The Cross, as it now is, consists of a part of the shaft and basement. 
 Both have been greatly mutilated. 
 
 The shaft is 
 
 secured to 
 
 the basement 
 
 by lead ; its 
 
 height is 28 
 
 inches ; its 
 
 form octago- 
 nal, brought , 
 
 to an oblong 
 1 by broaches. 
 
 The top has 
 crugyn Cross. been broken 
 
 Section. Scale, * in. to the foot. rr ■, 
 
 on, and one 
 of the sides chipped away, and large flakes have from another side 
 either been knocked away, or fallen off in course of time through the 
 action of the elements. 
 
Rhuddlan. 
 
 165 
 
 The pedestal is about 3ft. 4m. square. The socket into which 
 the shaft enters measures 12m. by gin. (See plan). The surface for 
 7in. round the shaft is a square with splays projecting from the 
 angles. The basement between the splays 
 is deeply beveled, and so also are the 
 extremities of the splays. The height 
 of the basement is ift. 
 
 Along the surface of the pedestal are 
 numbers of scorings, as shewn on the plan. 
 They vary in length from iin. to 6in. 
 
 The part marked (a) remains in its 
 original position ; the part marked (b) 
 was the missing part found and replaced 
 by Mr. Welsby. 
 
 The Cross, apparently, is late Norman. socket, s^ale"* in° to the foot. 
 
 AGRICULTURAL LABOUR WAS ON ST. MARK'S DAY SUSPENDED BECAUSE 
 
 SUPPOSED TO BE IN VAIN. 
 
 Allusion has been made in the course of this work to the many 
 holidays observed by the people in former days, and it has been said 
 workmen claimed these days, in part, at least, for their rustic 
 enjoyment and merriment. St. Mark's Day, April 25th, was within 
 the memory of the older inhabitants observed as a general holiday 
 in Rhuddlan Parish, as well as in other parts of the Vale of Clwyd 
 and elsewhere in North Wales. It was an ancient popular belief 
 that some ecclesiastical authority had laid all agricultural labour on 
 that day under an interdict, and hence the cessation from labour on 
 that day. It was thought that to plough or harrow the ground would 
 simply be to turn the land barren for that year ; and it was further 
 believed that everything planted or sown on St. Mark's Day would 
 wither and die, or be turned into rank weeds and thistles. With 
 these notions prevailing, it is not strange that people refrained from 
 work, and after attendance at church gave the day up to sports and 
 merry-making. 
 
 There was, however, about eighty years ago ; a well-to-do widow 
 lady, as I am informed by the Rev. John Williams (Glanmor), 
 whose faith in the common belief, that seeds sown on this dav would 
 
1 66 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 not be productive of good, was not strong, and this lady rented 
 a farm, near the now fashionable town of Rhyl, which in those days 
 was waste land, and she determined to get her people, whatever 
 others did, to work on St. Mark's Day. The outdoor affairs of the 
 farm, it may be stated, were attended to by her son, who had no 
 objection to a multiplicity of holidays, and it is not unlikely that it was 
 because her son was more addicted to sports than to labour, that his 
 mother determined that a certain quillet should be sown on St. Mark's 
 Day ; but the son, on the other hand, was as determined that it 
 should not be sown ! He was ordered to sow oats in the plot of 
 ground on the saint's day, but he persisted that it would be just 
 as much labour in vain, for nothing, said he, would grow, if sown on 
 that da)\ He argued with his mother to no purpose, the good old 
 lady ridiculed what she called the superstition of the people, and he 
 was commanded to sow oats forthwith in that plot, even on the saint's 
 day. This he proceeded to do, and with the servants went forth to 
 do his mother's bidding ; but instead of sowing the seed in the field, 
 he had a deep hole dug in the corner of the quillet, and there the 
 oats were thrown, and, of course, they never sprang up. It need 
 hardly be said that, through the loss of a year's crop, the old lady 
 ever afterwards carefully observed Dy' Gwyl Fare, St. Mark's Day, 
 and her son continued enjoying his holiday, and the people's faith in 
 the ancient belief lasted for some time longer. 
 
RUG CHAPEL, CORWEN, 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 BOUT twenty yards from the west end of Rug; Chapel 
 stands a Churchyard Cross. The Rev. D. R. Thomas, 
 in his History of St. Asaph, speaking of the repairs 
 executed in 1855 on the chapel, says that the screen 
 was inserted, " and the Churchyard Cross brought 
 down from its position on the gable, and placed in 
 its present position." This remark must apply to 
 the head of the Churchyard Cross, which, when the Church was 
 restored in 1855, was removed from the apex of the gable, and placed 
 upon the shaft of the ancient Cross that already stood in the church- 
 yard. Upon referring to the sketch it will be seen that the small 
 cross that caps the shaft does not belong to it, but evidently it was 
 at one time a gable end cross, and it is of this portion of the Cross 
 that Mr. Thomas speaks in the quotation above given. 
 
 The chapel itself is said to have been erected in 1637, but parts 
 of the woodwork in the sacred edifice are much more ancient than 
 the seventeenth century. The materials which are older than this 
 date must therefore have been brought there from some dismantled 
 church. 
 
 The founder of Rug Chapel was Colonel William Salesbury, gover- 
 nor of Denbigh Castle, and he could easily have quarried materials 
 for the erection of his chapel at Rug from Denbigh Abbey. There 
 was, however, in those days no lack of ruined church buildings which 
 he might have despoiled. There is a tradition that the materials 
 for the chapel were brought from an old church in the parish of 
 Derwen ; if there is any truth in the tradition, the difficulty created 
 by the presence of old materials in a modern building is solved, 
 but in the absence of documentary evidence it is impossible to say 
 where the old work in Rug Chapel came from. 
 
 V 
 
i68 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The Cross in the churchyard is much more ancient than 1637; 
 probably it belongs to the early part of the fourteenth century. It 
 would be well if Mrs. Blackwell would give up the capstone of the 
 Abbey Cross, 
 Denbigh, which 
 is in her posses- 
 sion ; and, as it 
 belongs to the 
 same period as 
 this shaft, it 
 would well take 
 the place of the 
 small cross now 
 upon it. Possi- 
 bly the Hon. C. 
 H. Wynn, who 
 takes great in- 
 terest in Church 
 matters, would 
 be glad to pro- 
 cure this cap- 
 stone for the Rug 
 Cross,anditmay 
 even be that ori- 
 ginally the one 
 was made for 
 the other. I am 
 sure the lady just 
 named would 
 gladly relinquish 
 for so good a pur- 
 pose the relic in 
 her possession, 
 
 and I should be glad on some future visit to Rug Chapel to see the 
 Churchyard Cross perfected by the addition of its coeval capstone. 
 
 The Cross is approached by three steps consisting of large stones. 
 The lowest step, which is level with the ground, is ift. 5m. broad; the 
 next step is 7m. high and ift. 4m. broad ; the highest step is 7m. 
 high and ift. 2in. broad, The lowest step, owing to the displace- 
 
Rug Chapel, Corwen. i6g 
 
 ment of some of its stones, is of unequal length and breadth ; it is, 
 however, within a few inches of ten feet square ; the next is 8ft. 
 square ; the highest forms a platform 5ft. square. The pedestal 
 rests in a socket in the centre of the highest step. 
 
 The pedestal is a massive block of freestone, 2ft. 8in. square at 
 the base, and ift. 7m. high. The upper bed is octagonal and cham- 
 fered, and is brought to a square by convex broaches. 
 
 The shaft is a tapering octagon, 5ft. 5m. in height, squared at the 
 base by convex broaches, and mortised with lead into the pedestal. 
 The structure is in a fair state of preservation. 
 
RUTHIN 
 
 
 BB$ 
 
 HERE are traditions of the existence in times gone 
 by of a market cross that stood in Ruthin Square, 
 Hut not a vestige remains to mark its site. The Rev. 
 John Pughe Evans, formerly Rector of the parish of 
 Efenechtyd, told the writer that he found a tradition 
 in Efenechtyd parish that a beam in the church was 
 once a part of the Cross 
 
 at Ruthin. That there was a Cross at 
 Ruthin there can be no doubt, for in 
 the language of the people the term 
 Croes Rhuthyn, Ruthin Cross, still 
 exists. But this seems to be all that 
 can be said with certainty about it. 
 
 CROSS IN GABLE END OF TOWN MILL. 
 
 Close to the bridge that spans the 
 river Clwyd is an ancient mill, called 
 the Town Mill, which in consequence 
 of certain architectural features has 
 long been an object of interest and 
 speculation. It has been affirmed by 
 some writers that at one time it was 
 a church or chapel, whilst others say 
 that it has always been a mill. The 
 Rev. R. Newcome supports the first 
 view, whilst the latter is maintained 
 by the Rev. E. L. Barnwell. 
 
 Mr. Newcome, afterwards Arch- 
 deacon Newcome, thus speaks of the 
 Mill :— 
 
 Cross in gable end of Town Mill. 
 
 The topography of the town must not be quitted without noticing the 
 
Ruthin. 171 
 
 Mill, which is very ancient, and in one respect curious. In the middle of 
 its eastern gable appears a red stone cross, standing on the point of the 
 old gable, which leads us to conjecture that this was formerly a religious 
 edifice, perhaps the garrison chapel before that within the castle court was 
 erected ; unless indeed, this emblem was introduced to give a sanctity, 
 and secure the necessary appendage of a Mill from a besieging enemy. 
 Leland speaks of White Friars having, in remote times, been established 
 here, and their chapel might have been converted into a mill when John 
 Grey built the collegiate and parochial church. Nor must we omit to 
 notice the mansion of an ancient family, now extinct, of Moyle or Mule, in 
 the precincts of the Mill, and adjoining Porth-y-Dwr. The patriarch of 
 this family may have been one of De Grey's Anglo-Norman settlers, and 
 derived his name, not from the British word, moel, bald, but, de Mola, as 
 being once the miller of the garrison and Town. — Newcome's Castle and 
 Town of Ruthin, pp. 25, 26. 
 
 Thus wrote the Venerable Archdeacon Newcome, but much that 
 he says he acknowledges to be conjecture. From a reference to the 
 sketch of the Cross it will be seen that it does not stand "at the 
 point of the old gable," like gable end crosses on churches, but that 
 it is built into the wall, and the position it now occupies was that 
 which it filled in Mr. Newcome's time ; for by inquiries on the spot 
 I find that no changes have been made in the east wall in the 
 memory of the living. 
 
 But it is from the presence of the Cross that the Venerable Arch- 
 deacon infers, either that the building was formerly a church, or 
 that the sacred emblem was placed there to secure the mill from the 
 ravages of a besieging enemy. I will first of all remark that the 
 presence of a cross built into a wall does not necessarily imply that 
 that building was once a church, unless, indeed, it can be proved that 
 it was customary to build crosses into the gable ends of all religious 
 edifices. There are, it is true, a few churches in North Wales with 
 crucifixes built into their gable ends, but there are no churches, that 
 I am aware of, with crosses in their gable ends identical with the one 
 under consideration, nor, indeed, do I know of a single church in North 
 Wales with a simple cross in the gable end. As to the second con- 
 jecture, that the red cross might have been intended to secure safety 
 for the mill from an enemy, I can only say that men who could 
 burn down churches, and desecrate cathedrals, and rob religious 
 houses, would not be deterred from destroying or robbing a mill 
 merely because it had on its gable end a cross. 
 
 But, again, what must be said to the supposition that this mill was 
 
172 Old Stone Crosses, 
 
 " the garrison chapel before that within the castle court was erected." 
 This conjecture, also, I think, falls to the ground, for the Norman 
 castles in Wales had within their walls a chapel, which formed 
 always a part of the original plan, and there is not a single castle, 
 if fairly preserved, that does not show the existence of a chapel. 
 
 The Rev. E. L. Barnwell, in an article on this ancient mill which 
 appeared in the Arckceologia Cambrensis, says : — 
 
 The sole origin of this invention (that the mill was a church) seems to 
 have been the cross, but it is difficult to imagine how any one, who has 
 ever seen the building, could have converted it into a church or chapel. — 
 Arckceologia Cambrensis for 1856, p. 284. 
 
 Mr. Barnwell comes to the conclusion that the mill " has always 
 been an appurtenance of the castle." 
 
 The members of the Cambrian Archaeological Association visited 
 Ruthin in 1854, and in the Report given of their peregrinations it is 
 stated that — 
 
 The members began their perambulations of the town with the Mill, 
 which stands near the bridge over the Clwyd. This is an oblong building, 
 standing north and south, and containing on its north front two doorways 
 with pointed arches, plain chamfered, together with one or two square 
 windows, now blocked. At the east end the original gable has been built 
 upon, and the cross which originally surmounted it has been worked into 
 the wall. Beneath this is a window of a single light, cinquefoiled. The 
 building is of the first half of the fourteenth century, and has evidently 
 always served its present purpose. The designation of a chapel, which is 
 commonly applied to it, is the result of conjecture and not of a tradition. 
 
 It does not seem to me, as I have already stated, that the Cross 
 ever surmounted the gable end of the east wall ; evidently the wall 
 there has not been tampered with. That the building now is what 
 it always was, can, after a careful inspection of the premises, be 
 hardly doubted. The placing of a cross in the fabric was an act 
 emanating from a feeling of piety, and is indicative of devotion on 
 the part of the owner, and nothing more. 
 
 The Cross is of red sand-stone, which is plentiful in the district, 
 and of this stone the first castle was built, and hence the name, 
 Castell Coch, or Red Castle. The arms and head of the Cross are 
 apparently about a foot long, and they become rather narrower as 
 they approach the stem. The total length is about 4ft. Under- 
 neath the Cross is a blocked-up cinquefoil lancet window. 
 
 The Cross and building belong to the fourteenth century. 
 
Ruthin. 173 
 
 The building has been raised a few feet in height in modern times, 
 but the old work was left intact. 
 
 On a beam in an adjoining building is the date 1586. 
 
 I will now mention a few customs which are not confined to the 
 parish of Ruthin, for I have heard of the same in other places. 
 
 baptizing persons, and washing the church with water 
 from st. peter's welL. 
 
 It is generally believed that previously to the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity certain wells were by our Celtic forefathers highly esteemed 
 and greatly venerated, and it is thought that in consequence of this 
 feeling many churches were erected in close proximity to these wells. 
 There is a tradition, common to many places where there is a holy 
 well, that formerly it was customary to obtain from it water for 
 the rite of baptism. This was the case at Ruthin. St. Peter's well, 
 which was about a quarter of a mile from the town, was once in high 
 repute, and many old inhabitants have told me that the water for 
 baptisms was always procured from this well, and eve'n that the 
 water for washing the church was always obtained from St. Peter's 
 well. All this, however, has come to an end, the well has been 
 drained, and a stranger would find a difficulty in discovering this 
 once famous spot. 
 
 BAPTIZING SICKLY CHILDREN TO MAKE THEM THRIVE. 
 
 It was once strongly believed that there was some peculiar efficacy 
 in the waters of baptism to give to weak children strength of body, 
 and to make them thrive. This belief has not altogether ceased to 
 exist. A few years ago I baptized a child in Nerquis Church, near 
 Mold, and both the mother and the child appeared to be very weak 
 and sickly, so much so as to call my attention to their condition. 
 I happened to make a remark to the mother about the state of the 
 child's health, and expressed a hope that it would soon improve. 
 The mother in response said " I think it will now get on, sir, after it 
 has been baptized, and I think that I, too, shall now be better." 
 Further inquiries revealed the prevalence of this faith, and in many 
 parts of Wales I have heard it said that sickly children gain strength 
 after baptism. It would also seem that the mother, after her child's 
 
174 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 baptism, or, it may be, after having been herself churched, if weak, 
 expected to regain her strength. 
 
 CONSULTING THE FUTURE ON HEN NOS GALANGAUAF, OR, OLD 
 
 ALL-HALLOW-EVE. 
 
 It was formerly customary in most parts of Wales for persons 
 anxious to ascertain whether they or their friends were to live another 
 year to go to, not into, the church at midnight, on Old All-Hallow-Eve, 
 and there it was thought they would hear announced from the altar 
 by the Angel-ystor, or recording angel, the names of all the parishioners 
 who were to die during the next year. In some places it was a voice 
 within the church that read out the list of the dead, and those who 
 had sufficient courage listened at the door or sat in the porch for the 
 dreaded announcement. In Llangernyw parish the names were 
 uttered by the A ngel-ystor from the altar. I am indebted to the Rev. 
 John Williams (Glanmor) for the following story. There was in that 
 village a notable tailor called Shon Rhobert, who passed for a great 
 wit, and this man affected disbelief of many things, and certainly of 
 the announcements made in the church on Nos glan gaua', and, 
 wantonly, he said he would go there to listen to the names uttered. 
 He went and stood outside the large east window, and there he 
 heard his own name — Shon ap Rhobert — uttered. " Hold ! hold ! " 
 said the tailor, " I am not quite ready." But, ready or not ready, it 
 made no difference, for that year he died. 
 
 Mr. Breeze, lately master of the Union Workhouse at Caersws, told 
 me that he had heard of a singular instance of a death announced by a 
 voice from Aberhafesp Church on Nos glan gaua'. There, as in other 
 places, the idea prevailed that a voice from within the church uttered 
 the names of the persons who were to die during the coming year. 
 It was customary for the inquisitive to seat themselves in the church 
 porch, and there to await the voice of death. A couple of men, one 
 of whom, I believe, Mr. Breeze said was a relative, went to the porch 
 of Aberhafesp Church, and sat there anxiously awaiting the dreaded 
 voice. They sat there a long time without hearing any sound in the 
 church ; but, as the midnight hour approached, one of them heard 
 distinctly the name of his companion uttered by some one or some- 
 thing within the church. He was greatly terrified when he heard his 
 friend's name announced, and was surprised that his companion made 
 
Ruthin. 175 
 
 no remark, but he found, upon addressing him, that he had fallen asleep, 
 and that, therefore, fortunately he had not heard the voice. Awaking 
 his friend, he said — " Let us go away, it is no use waiting here any 
 longer," and so both went home, and the secret was divulged to no 
 one. According to the story, however, the announcement became 
 true. The death of the man occurred in this way. A person who 
 had died of an infectious fever in the neighbouring parish of Pen- 
 strowed was to be buried in Aberhafesp churchyard, and, instead of 
 going around through Caersws and over the bridge which there crosses 
 the river, it was proposed that the funeral procession should cross 
 the Severn opposite Aberhafesp Church, and thus save a journey of 
 six or more miles. The person who had been named as the first who 
 was to die in Aberhafesp parish volunteered to carry the coffin over 
 the river, and it was placed before him on his horse. To save the 
 coffin from falling he grasped it with his arms, and caught the fever, 
 and died, and thus he was the first parishioner to die, as had 
 been stated by the voice on All-Hallow-Eve night. 
 
 It was in this way that the hardy endeavoured to raise the veil of 
 the future, but it may be suggested that that veil was raised by a 
 companion cognizant of the fact that his friend was about to visit 
 the church, and that for fun's sake he preceded him there, and at 
 the midnight hour pronounced that friend's name, and that then fear 
 working on an overwrought imagination produced the prognosticated 
 event. 
 
 I have heard that formerly the young in a certain parish in Anglesey 
 were in the habit of ascertaining whether they were to live or die 
 during the year by going into the church each with a lighted candle in 
 hand, and it was believed that he or she whose candle went out first 
 was to die within the year. This was a fearful test, and it required 
 great nerve to undergo such a trial ; but numbers give security, and 
 consequently it was generally resorted to. Well, indeed, was it, when 
 no candle went out, for then the young folk returned home rejoicing, 
 for they were all to live another year; but should a candle accidentally 
 be put out, they returned home sorrowful and filled with grief, for one 
 of their friends was to die in the year. It is said that once on a time 
 a young woman, missing her step at the entrance into the church — 
 there was a step from the porch into the church — fell, and her candle 
 went out, and she died. This sad event, I heard, put a stop to the 
 custom. 
 
176 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Within doors on All-Hallow-Eve games were carried on, dipping 
 for apples in water being one of them. But so general was the belief 
 that ghosts visited the earth on this night, that only the bold would 
 venture out of doors after dark. When the apple-dipping was at an 
 end, tale-telling, and nestling in fear about the fire, was the order of 
 the evening. It was believed that the evil spirits' favourite spot, 
 when they visited the earth on this night, was the stile ; there they 
 sat until cock-crowing, to the great terror of all those who, from dire 
 necessity, were obliged to go abroad. These travellers, on this night, 
 left the usual pathway as they neared the stile, and went through the 
 hedge, rather than come in contact with the evil spirit. This fear 
 was fostered by such lines as these : — 
 
 Nos glan gaua' 
 Bwgan ar bob camdda. 
 
 Thirty or forty years ago these words were in everybody's mouth. 
 They intimate that : — 
 
 On All-Hallow-Eve 
 A bwgan you'll find 
 On every stile. 
 
 Such a rhyme had the desired effect, and for one night in the year 
 distracted mothers found their spirited children spiritless, and all 
 at home. 
 
 It is curious to notice that it is said the evil spirit took the 
 form of a sow, and spent the night spinning and carding, and that 
 she was so industrious that it seemed she was anxious to accomplish 
 her task before' the cock crew. I have heard the following rhyme 
 repeated in the Vale of Clwyd : — 
 
 Hwch ddu gwtta, 
 Ar ben pob camdda, 
 Yn nyddu ac yn gardio, 
 Pob glan gaua'. 
 
 These words may be rendered : — 
 
 A short-tailed black sow, 
 On every stile, 
 Spinning and carding, 
 Each All-Hallow-Eve. 
 
 A practice akin to that mentioned as taking place on All-Hallow- 
 Eve was resorted to in some of the churches in these parts. It was 
 
Ruthin. 177 
 
 called Yn rhamanta, or romancing. The Rev. John Williams, to 
 whom I am indebted for information on this matter, tells me that 
 formerly young persons endeavoured by divination, or incantation, to 
 ascertain the names of their partners in life. This information was 
 sought for at midnight, and the lover who would be joined in wedlock 
 proceeded to the church porch, and there it was believed that super- 
 natural apparitions and voices were conjured up within the church 
 and churchyard, and that from these the love-sick swain obtained 
 the desired information. Mr. Williams states — " I have heard it 
 related, with solemn seriousness, that long deceased clergymen had 
 been seen, robed in their surplices, perambulating Gwyddelwern 
 churchyard occasionally, at midnight hours, by persons seeking di- 
 vination." 
 
 By these remarks of Mr. Williams, I am reminded of a singular 
 superstition that formerly prevailed in Wales, which was, that clergy- 
 men could break spells and do other wonderful things. I will give a 
 few instances of this belief. 
 
 SPELL-BREAKING BY CLERGYMEN. 
 
 Instances may be adduced from many parts of Wales to show 
 the prevalence of the popular belief that clergymen could break 
 spells. 
 
 My friend, -the Rev. R. Jones, Rector of Rhydycroesau, told me 
 that when he was curate of Llanyblodwel, some eighteen years ago, 
 a parishioner sent a messenger to his house to ask the " parson " to 
 come and see her, for she was unwell. Mr. Jones went, but when 
 he entered the house he could not think why the woman had sent 
 for him, for there she stood before him, a picture of perfect health; so 
 he said, " I suppose I have missed the house, I understood a sick 
 person wished to see me." The woman gave the following answer : — 
 " You are quite right, sir, I sent for you, I am not well, I am troubled." 
 In the conversation that followed, Mr. Jones ascertained that the 
 woman had sent for him to counteract the evil machinations of a 
 neighbour, who, she said, had witched her. " I am witched," she 
 said, " and a parson can break the spell." Mr. Jones argued in vain 
 with the woman, for she continued to affirm that she was witched and 
 that a parson could break the spell. Finding the woman obdurate, 
 Mr. Jones read a chapter from the Bible, and offered up a prayer, 
 
178 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 and wishing her good-day, departed. On a future visit he received 
 a most cordial greeting from this woman, and she informed him that 
 she was quite recovered, that the spell was broken, and that she had 
 not been troubled since his former visit. 
 
 A story, somewhat similar to this, was told me by an inhabitant of 
 Manafon, Montgomeryshire, and the tale is still current in that parish. 
 It is there said that a man deserted his wife and children, and that the 
 woman went to the then Rector of the parish, the Rev. Walter Davies, 
 to ask his advice as to what she should do. The Rector, to comfort 
 the woman, said, " Ah, you need not take any steps to recover your 
 husband, for he will come home again." This turned out to be 
 the case, but, said my informant, the truant returned with clothes, 
 hands, and face torn ; and he affirmed that he felt constrained to 
 rush home along the most direct way, and that he came through 
 hedges and brambles, and that by them he was torn in the way 
 they saw. There are other tales afloat about Mr. Davies. He was 
 once consulted as to the person who had stolen certain property. 
 His answer was, " Last night someone stole my potatoes, and I don't 
 know who it was, and how should I know who stole your property ?" 
 
 With one more tale I .will bring my remarks on this subject to a 
 close. I was speaking to a couple of clerical friends of superstitions 
 in which the clergy are made to figure, when one of them said that 
 not many years back the clergy were supposed to possess almost 
 magical power, and he illustrated his remark with the following 
 story. A clergyman, not well acquainted with the road over the hill 
 to Dolgelley, inquired of a man, who was engaged in thatching a 
 rick, the way to the town. He was answered rudely, and without a 
 single remark the clergyman proceeded on his way, and reached the 
 town safely. When engaged in going from place to place marketing 
 he perceived a man following him, carrying a ladder, and he noticed 
 that it was the man who had answered him rudely ; he accosted the 
 man, and asked him why he followed him from place to place, and 
 the man said he felt he was obliged to do so. The clergyman said, 
 " Go home, man, and do not answer people rudely again when they 
 ask you a simple question." The man gladly departed. It was said 
 that the ladder he carried was the one he stood on when the clergy- 
 man asked him the way to Dolgelley, and that he was under a spell, 
 and that was the reason why he followed the clergyman from place 
 to place. 
 
Ruthin. 179 
 
 FIT-CURING BY WEARING A RING MADE WITH MONEY OFFERED IN 
 
 CHURCH. 
 
 Within the last half century there were those who believed that a 
 ring made out of a silver coin taken out of the offertory on Com- 
 munion Sunday was a cure for fits. Lately a respectable farmer's 
 wife in the parish of Efenechtyd called upon my wife, and stated 
 that she had heard that a person afflicted with fits had been cured 
 by wearing a silver ring made out of sixpence which had been offered 
 on the altar on Communion Sunday in a neighbouring parish, and 
 she was wishful, she said, to have such a ring, as she was a great 
 sufferer from fits. The ring, she stated, was to be given her without 
 any request on her part. But there were, in short, several impossible 
 conditions imposed, which, if they could be carried out in the secret 
 manner she said was necessary ere she could derive any benefit 
 from the ring, would be as extraordinary as the cure itself. I spoke 
 to the Rev. J. D. Edwards, Vicar of Rhosymedre, who is in his 
 eightieth year, but still with mental powers unimpaired, about this ring- 
 cure, and he told me that so late as from twenty to thirty years ago 
 his parishioners were in the habit of asking Mrs. Edwards to procure 
 for them a shilling out of the offertory, which was then once a month, 
 and with this shilling, which must have been presented on the com- 
 munion table, they made a ring, and this ring was thought to be a 
 perfect cure for fits. Mr. Edwards stated that one condition of 
 the efficacy of the ring was, that the shilling was to be given un- 
 solicited, by the clergyman, to the person who suffered from fits, and 
 the recipient was not to thank the clergyman for the money. These 
 conditions were carried out in this way : — The sufferer went to Mrs. 
 Edwards sometime in the week before sacrament Sunday, and asked 
 her to request Mr. Edwards to give him or her a shilling out of the 
 offering, and on the following Monday the afflicted person would 
 come to the Vicarage, and, without a request, he or she received a 
 shilling from the Vicar, and departed without a word of thanks. 
 Miss Edwards stated that she had seen many people wearing these 
 rings. 
 
 CHURCH BELL RINGING WITHOUT A SERVICE. 
 
 In many parishes a bell is tolled at eight and nine o'clock in the 
 morning on Sundays when there is no service in church. This was 
 until lately the case in Ruthin Church, The eight o'clock bell ceased 
 
180 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 in the days of Archdeacon Newcome: at least, so I am informed by Mr. 
 Thomas Price Humphreys, the parish clerk; but the nine o'clock 
 chime is still customary. It would seem that the bell at these 
 hours announced, in years gone by, a service which has been discon- 
 tinued, but the bell is still rung, and people, not knowing the reason 
 for the Sunday tolling when not followed by prayers, say it has 
 always been rung on Sundays to let them know the hour of the day. 
 On Shrove Tuesday a bell was rung at eleven o'clock, and this in 
 most places was called " pancake bell." In several places, Ruthin 
 being one of them, this bell is still tolled. A few years ago the 
 writer was at Worthenbury on Shrove Tuesday, and bearing the 
 church bell toll, he enquired whether there were morning prayers in 
 church, but a child said, " No, it is pancake bell," and a further 
 question elicited the information that the bell was rung to tell the 
 mothers that it was time to begin to make the pancakes. Here, 
 again, we have an instance of the tolling of a bell to call the people 
 to church for an object which is implied in the name Shrove Tuesday. 
 
 MAY DANCERS. 
 
 A relic of the ancient May-games still exists in Ruthin and other 
 places in the Vale of Clwyd. On the ist of May, about g o'clock in 
 the morning, a company of men, about a dozen in number, more or 
 less disguised, with ribbons of various colours tied to their arms 
 and other parts of their bodies, dance through the town to a mono- 
 tonous tune played by one of the troupe on a tin whistle. One of 
 the party is dressed as a woman, and carries a besom in his hand, 
 and it is this person that taps at the doors, or, if open, runs into the 
 houses to solicit money for the Mayers. The whole party proceed 
 from street to street, tripping along merrily, and throwing their 
 arms about, and, with the ribbons streaming in all directions, they 
 present a grotesque appearance. When they have visited every 
 place in Ruthin where contributions are likely to be given, they pro- 
 ceed to other places and towns in the Vale. The proceedings are 
 not confined to one day. The writer has seen the fantastically 
 dressed May-dancers in Rhyl later than the first day of May. 
 
TREMEIRCHION, 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 N the ArchcBologia Cambrcnsis for 1863 (p. 336) is the 
 following notice of what was at one time the head- 
 stone of the Churchyard Cross of Tremeirchion : — 
 " The head of the cross in the churchyard of this 
 place — a work of the fifteenth century, with four 
 canopies covering figures — used to lumber the ground, 
 according to the opinions of the parties interested in 
 its property and preservation. The parochial authorities, instead of 
 re-erecting it with a new shaft, have not long since sold this old cross- 
 head. The fortunate purchaser is a Roman Catholic gentleman, 
 who has removed it to a place of safety." 
 
 The Cross at present is at St. Beuno's College, to which place it 
 Was removed when purchased. A.s I was anxious to ascertain from 
 the sellers of the relic the full particulars of the transaction, I spoke 
 to the venerable Vicar of the parish, the Rev. W. Hicks Owen, who 
 was appointed to the living in 1829, about the matter. I asked this 
 gentleman whether it was true, as I had been informed, that the 
 cross-head had been disposed of for £5. His answer was — " I did 
 not sell it, I did not sell it, it was the churchwardens, and with the 
 money they bought lamps for the Church." With these words the 
 Vicar turned from me, and walked rapidly away. There can be no 
 doubt that the parish authorities thought more of a few pounds than 
 they did of this ancient relic. 
 
 Pennant, speaking of this Cross, says : — 
 
 In this church stood a cross, celebrated for its miracles, which are cele- 
 brated in an owdwl or poem, about the year 1500, by Gryffy'dd ap Ifan 
 ap Lien. Vychan. The Cross is now demolished, but the carved capital is 
 still to be seen in a building adjoining the churchyard. — Pennant, vol. II., 
 p. 24, edition 1784. 
 
 I find allusions to the Cross in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of 
 Wales ; — 
 
1 82 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The Church anciently contained a Cross (long since demolished) once 
 in great fame for the miracles reputed to have been performed at it, which 
 are described in a poem published about the year 1500, by Grufydd ab 
 Ivan ab Llewelyn Vychan. — Tremeirchion, in Lewis's Topographical Dic- 
 tionary of Wales. 
 
 If Lewis visited the place, he must have ascertained that the head 
 of the Cross had not been demolished, for it was in the church- 
 yard when Professor Westwood was there. 1 find it stated in the 
 Lapidarium Wallice that it " is still preserved in the churchyard." 
 
 Llwyd, in his Topographical Notices (p. 213) says : — " In a building 
 adjoining the churchyard may be seen the carved capital of an old 
 cross, noted in the days of Popery for its miracles, and celebrated in 
 a Welsh poem by a bard of the name of Gruffydd ap Ieuan ap 
 Llewelyn Vychan, who flourished about 1500." 
 
 The quotations given from Pennant, the Topographical Dictionary ,and 
 the Notices, seem to have had a common source. They all allude to the 
 Welsh poem of Gruffydd, who lived in the reigns of Henry VII. and 
 Henry VIII. This poem, through the kindness of Mr. Howel W. 
 Lloyd, who transcribed it for me, is printed here. The earliest 
 allusion to the Cross of Tremeirchion, that I am aware of, is given 
 in this ode by the bard Gruffydd. The poem abounds in allitera- 
 tion, but, as it is printed at the end of this account, the reader 
 can judge for himself of the merits of the piece. 
 
 It would seem from what has been stated above that the cross-head 
 was looked upon as useless lumber by the Church authorities at 
 Tremeirchion. At one time it was in a building, and then it was in 
 the churchyard, lying, as I was told on the spot, underneath the yew 
 tree. At the College it is better looked after and more highly valued 
 than it was by the persons who formerly had charge of it. It stands 
 close to the College buildings, on the south side, at the top of the 
 steps leading to the garden behind the College. It is placed in an 
 erect position, but rests on the ground. 
 
 A careful inspection of Tremeirchion Churchyard revealed no 
 shaft or pedestal, nor even could a mound be discerned on which 
 the Cross at one time must have stood. 
 
 The cross-head measures 3ft. 3m. in height, 2ft. iin. in width, and 
 ioin. in depth. It is ornamented with four richly decorated niches 
 with canopies terminating in finials, and the niches contain figures 
 sculptured in relief. The two larger niches are cinquefoiled, the 
 
Tremeirchion. 
 
 183 
 
 arches, which spring from shafts, were crocketted, and have orna- 
 mented finials. On either side is a pinnacle. The smaller niches 
 have trefoiled arches with side pinnacles and ornamented finials. 
 
 One of the larger niches contains a complete Rood, with the Virgin 
 and St. John on either side. The Virgin's 
 hands meet on her breast. St. John holds a 
 book in his left hand, and therefrom a scroll 
 proceeds upwards above the head. In the 
 figure of our Lord a crown of thorns encircles 
 the brow, and the hair hangs on the shoulders. 
 
 The opposite niche is filled with a seated 
 figure of the Virgin and Child. The right 
 hand of the Virgin is raised in the act of bene- 
 diction. 
 
 The two remaining niches are filled with 
 figures of ecclesiastics, canonically robed, each 
 holding a crozier in the left hand, with head 
 turned inwards, and right hand raised in the 
 act of blessing. 
 
 The stone is perforated with four holes, two 
 of which are in the larger niches, and two 
 penetrate the stone above the canopy. On the top of the stone is a 
 
 mm 
 
 w§ 
 
 small oblong incision, and on either side are two smaller holes, as 
 if intended for the insertion of some addition to the Cross. 
 
 x 
 
184 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 As might be expected, the cross-head is greatly worn ; time and 
 careless keeping have made ravages along its surface ; but it does not 
 seem to have been wantonly mutilated. 
 
 Although the writer in the Archceologia Cambrensis supposes that 
 the Cross belongs to the fifteenth century, it certainly is more ancient, 
 and cannot be later than the fourteenth, though it may be much 
 earlier. 
 
 Reference has been made to the miracles performed at the Cross, 
 and to the great repute in which it was held. The Cross may there- 
 fore have been, and probably was, a " Rood of Grace." The high 
 veneration in which the Cross was held distinguishes it from ordinary 
 Churchyard Crosses, and it is therefore additionally well worthy of 
 careful preservation. 
 
 The following Ode, with notes by the Rev. John Williams (Glanmor), 
 is the poem mentioned by Pennant and succeeding writers. Mr. 
 Williams's corrections are in italics. 
 
 Y GROG O RHIW DYMEIRCHION. 
 
 (On the Crucifix formerly in the Churchyard at Tremeirchion, and 
 now at St. Beuno's College.) 
 
 Owdl-Weddi ar Dduw'r Grog, lie i (j) dangosir yn eglur ac yspysol fuchedd 
 Crist Iesu a'i ddioddefaint yn ol yr Euangel. 
 
 Gruffydd ap Ieuan ap Llywelyn Fychan, gwrbonheddig, a'i cant, a'r Ysbryd 
 Glan yn i («) fynwes. Yn amser Henri 7fed a Henri 8fed yr oedd efe yn y byd. 
 
 Y Grog waredog o Rhiw — rDymeirchion 
 Wedi'r mawr-chwys 1 gwaedfriw 
 Credir gwaith Creawdwr gwiw ; 
 Gair Duw hawdd i gred heddiw. 
 
 Heddiw dros Ebriw drws 2 Ebron — a Groeg, 
 
 Y Grog o Dymeirchion ! 
 Henwau'r saint heno yw'r s6n* 
 Henw Iesu henwasson'. 
 
 Iesu i'n prynu, Mab Rhad — anfoned 
 O fynwes yn (ein) Duw-Dad ; 
 Ag (ac) o annerch y gennad 3 
 
 Y gwr gynt o'r Gair a ga'd. 
 
 * Invocation of Saints at this Cross in those times. 
 
Tremeirckion. 185 
 
 Ef a gad, tyfiad diofer — o Fair 
 Oedd Forwyn bob amser.* 
 Arwydd pwy oedd o wraidd per 
 Ar y pwysi a'r piser ? 4 
 
 Irder o'r piser a'r pwysi — ga'r ddau 
 Ag irddail y lili : 
 Arwydd hardd, fal yr oedd hi — 
 Ar faich hygar feichiogi. 
 
 Yn feichiawg, rowiawg ir (yr) aeth — i breseb 
 Yr Assen, a'i Mabmaeth : 
 
 Y Forwyn gynt o fwrn gaeth 
 A'n dug a'i enedigaeth. 
 
 (Yma i (y) dechreua'r Owdl, a'i mesur yw Gwawdodyn-hir ; Gosteg i gelwir 
 hi hyd hyn). Here commences the Ode proper : — 
 
 Crist a aned, er croesi dynion, 
 
 Carwr o adail cor yr eidion 
 
 Coel anwyl-saint cwlen 5 a welson' 
 
 Codiad seren Ceidwad oes eron 6 
 
 Coelio, rhoi iddo'i rhoddion — Tri Blaenor, 
 
 Cwlen, a rhagor — cael anrhegion. 
 
 Ami fu ebwg am lu o feibion — 
 
 A 14s, o g&s hael Iesu gysson, 
 
 A'i gof ydoedd am i (ei) gyfoedion 
 
 A ddug i (ei) raddau, y gweryddon ; 7 
 
 Ar ddrud barch, symud braich Simeon, — ir (yr) aeth 
 
 A'r dig wrolaeth— Herod greulon. 
 
 Ag ar ddieithr, rhag yr Iuddewon 
 Yna'r ai Joses (ni rusasson') 
 A Mair i darrio y 'mro dirion, 
 I fagu oeswr a fegasson' 
 
 Y daethant — moliant i'm Ion ! — uchelfraint 
 Fr tir Aiff' attaint* a'r Tair Ffynon. 9 
 
 Cael Duw yno, coel y dewinion, 
 
 Crist yn agwedd Cristynogion, 
 
 Cwrs Mair anwyl, cares morwynion, 
 
 Cadw Duw'n i (ei) faeth, Ceidwad nef, weithion 
 
 Cynyddodd, gwiwfodd gofion — tragywydd 
 
 Cain fu i gynnydd, er cenfigennion. 
 
 * The doctrine of Perpetual Virginity. 
 
1 86 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Bu wr fwyfwy, fal y brif afon, 
 Bu'n torri clefyd, bu'n troi cleifion, 
 Bu iach y mach 10 byw o'i achosion 
 Bu wyrthfawr iddynt, borth efryddion, 
 Bu'n gloywi delli deillion — i weled, 
 Bu fwy i wared, byw o feirwon. 
 
 Och i Sesar (Cassar) frochus, 11 a'i weision, 
 Am yr eiddigedd mawr ddygasson' 
 Wrthod oherwydd i (ei) w'rthiau tirion 
 A rhad, — taledig i rai tlodion, 
 Am hynny felly cyfeillion — diglod 12 
 Am i ddal issod meddyliasson'. 
 
 Arian i Suddas a'r ansoddion 
 Er i Dduw Iesu a roddasson' 
 Ag o anghariad i gynghorion, 
 
 amgylch Iesu ymgylchasson' 
 
 Ar ddewr ddrud symud wnaeth Simon — Petrus 
 Malchus chwyrn, fradus, a chern friwdon. 
 
 Ymroi o Iesu, heb ymryson, 
 
 1 deulu issel a'i daliasson' 
 
 Ef, oherwydd Efa a'i hwyrion. 13 
 Ar gur dygn, er i garedigion, 
 At ustus beius y buon' — i'w gyrchu 
 I gas a'i gwybu, ag esgobion. 14 
 
 Eres draw ennyd i'r estronion 
 
 I fwrw'n y gofid, heb farn gyfion, 
 
 A ffalsed ustus a'i ffeils dystion, 
 
 I farnu Iesu a furniasson' 
 
 I ddillad, Vab Rhad, pe rhon', — a'i (a'u) meddu 
 
 Dduw ag Iesu a ddugasson'. 
 
 1 droi a'i noethi draw a wnaethon' 
 Etto'r Iesu a watworasson', 
 
 Ar gernodiau rhagor newidion, 
 
 Arno pryssur yno poerasson', 
 
 I grippio gwyro geirwon — ewinedd 
 
 A rhai a'i (d'u) byssedd a'i rhwbbiasson'. 
 
 I waed yn yssig a dynnasson' 
 
 Saith gweliau'r essyth gloywon 
 
 Yn draeth y gwelw-gnawd drud wrth golon 
 A scyrsiau 16 issod i scwrsiasson' ; 
 Yspyddad guriad goron — blethedig 
 
 1 boeni'r yssig ben a roeson'. 
 
Tremeirchion. 187 
 
 Ar groes eilwaith, ragorus hoelion 
 
 amerth alaf* a mwrthwylion 
 A'i ddwylaw irwaed o ddolurion 
 
 A'i draed oil leisiad (loesiad) rydyllasson' 
 
 Y vinegr a'r bustl anfwynion — bethau 
 
 1 ber wefusau a brofasson.' 
 
 Dall Iuddew ffals a dyllodd a ffon, 
 Drwy asen deg a dorres yn don, 
 Dros Efa i friw pan dorres i (ei) fron 
 Drylliodd, dirgrynodd daear gron — Wener 
 Duodd ar hanner-dydd yr hinon. 
 
 Ni meidr addysg neb na'i 'madroddion 
 Nis gwyr y Beibl, yn oes gwyr Babilon, 
 Nes ymddal coel nas meddwl calon 
 Na'i frad Iesu, na'i friwiau dwysion, 
 Na degwm y swm, na s6n — am eilfydd 
 A roed o gerydd ar waed gwirion. 
 
 I (ei) waed briwglaer wedi 'beryglon 
 Allwy 16 a'n rhoddes oil yn rhyddion 
 O uffern dywyll ffyrnau duon, 
 Arglwydd oesol a wir gladdasson.' 
 
 Y trydydd, gloywddydd rhyglyddon — gobaith 
 
 Y bu fyw eilwaith, heb ofalon. 
 
 A rega'i ar air ergf yr awr'on 
 
 Er i (ei) wir gariad a'i ragorion, 
 
 Ag er i wyddiad o geryddon, 
 
 Er i ddwys gabl, er i ddisgyblion, 
 
 Er lliwiau cleisiau clowson' — yn prynu, 
 
 Er i wych allu a'i archollion ? 
 
 Er Mair a thorfau y Merthyrfon, 
 
 Er lleng eilwaith, yr holl angylion, 
 
 Er byw oes teulu'r Abostolion, 
 
 Er llwyr weddi yr holl weryddon, 
 
 Er i lun i hun a henwon' — y Grog, 
 
 Er Duw, a marchog Rhiw Dymeirchion. 
 
 * Amerth alaf, exhaustless dexterity. 
 
 f Root of ergyd, a shot ; sudden burst of temper here. 
 
1 88 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 Here the Ode may have originally ended. The two remaining 
 verses are — 
 
 Adolwc heno lie del cwynion, 
 
 Yn (ein) cadw fanwyl 17 a'n cydofynnion, 
 
 A'n llestr a gudd yn llestri gweddwon, 
 
 I unlle astrus, yn Haw estron, 
 
 A'n tynu'n deulu un don — ar ddeau, 
 
 A'n bwrw ar rannau'n bererinion. 
 
 Pererin, meithrin im' oes — byth ydwy' 
 Beth wedi'r gwr a'n rhoes ; 
 Bid goglud, rhag bod gwagloes, 
 Pawb ar y Grog, pybyr Groes. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 I have endeavoured to render the sense clear where ignorant copyists had evidently 
 been mistaken in deciphering the MS. The poem is at least sufficiently curious to 
 justify its preservation, apart from its devout tone and orthodoxy. To translate it 
 literally, into English or any other tongue, would be impossible. As it is, it must be 
 pronounced a masterpiece of old Bardism ; the assonance and concatenation mar- 
 vellous ; every line, except of the first verse, commencing with a vowel, or the same 
 consonant beginning every line of the verse, whereas every line of the Ode- proper 
 ends in the same rhyme (on), except the concluding verse. But some explanation is 
 needful : — 
 
 1 Reference to the " agony and bloody sweat," 
 
 2 Perhaps "dras" (not drws) i.e., the race of Hebron. 
 
 3 The Archangel Gabriel. 
 
 4 Alluding to Aurora and her pitcher, the Virgin's womb, and Christ as the rose 
 and lily. 
 
 5 Cowl or hood : allusion to pilgrims. 
 
 6 This line is not strictly correct in assonance according to modern criticism. Oes 
 stands for einioes. 
 
 7 The Infants or Innocents of Bethlehem. 
 
 8 The Muses. Egypt of the Muses. 
 
 9 Ezek, Situah, and Rehoboth, Wells of Isaac. 
 
 10 Machniydd, surety, Christ our Surety. 
 
 11 Pilate, as personating Caesar. 
 
 12 Herod and Pontius Pilate. 
 
 13 Wyrion, formerly used for descendants of any remote degree. 
 
 14 The Chief Priests, bishops of the Jewish Church. 
 
 15 Scourges. Yspyddad, hawthorn. 
 
 16 Allwy, to pour ; " gwaed allwy," blood shed or poured out. 
 
 17 "Manwyl " for manwl, strict, minute. 
 
Tremeirchion. i8g 
 
 CUSTOMS IN TREMEIRCHION PARISH AND OTHER PARTS 
 
 OF WALES. 
 
 The custom of ringing a little bell before the corpse at funerals 
 from the house of the deceased to the churchyard was once common 
 in the Parish of Tremeirchion. It has been shown (see pp. 107-111) 
 that this custom prevailed in other parts of Wales. The Tre- 
 meirchion bell is mentioned in the Parish Terrier of 1774, and it 
 is at present kept in the schoolroom. In the Parish of Gwaenysgor, 
 which is only a few miles distant from Tremeirchion, is also still 
 preserved the hand-bell formerly rung at funerals, but at present 
 it is used for calling the children to school. Such relics as these 
 ought not to be subjected to the risks of destruction which they are 
 liable to when rung and knocked about by children. It would be 
 well to keep them in the church chests as curiosities. The custom 
 of ringing a bell at funerals was most probably common to all parts 
 of Wales. In an inventory made by the outgoing churchwardens of 
 Gyffylliog, a parish about four miles from Kuthin, in 1696, I find 
 mentioned among other movable church articles : — 
 
 A litle bell. 
 
 This, most likely, would be a bell used in funeral processions, but 
 it might have been a Sacring Bell. 
 
 YD Y GLOCH, OR BELL CORN. 
 
 The parish clerk was formerly remunerated for the performance 
 of his parochial duties partly by a dole of wheat, barley, or oats, 
 which went by the name of Ysgub y gloch, bell sheaf, or Yd y gloch, 
 bell corn. These words would imply that the corn was given for 
 ringing the bell — the church bell, and, possibly, the funeral hand- 
 bell. In Tremeirchion old Terrier it is stated that " the clerk's 
 wage is what we commonly call the bell sheaf, which he gathers 
 in harvest, &c." The corn was collected by the parish clerk from 
 all the farmers; but after the passing of the Commutation Act, 
 the custom ceased. In many parishes the clerk's dole, at the 
 passing of the Act, was, by the parishioners in vestry assembled, 
 acknowledged as a claim, and arrangements were made by which he 
 was to receive an annual sum, equivalent in value to the corn 
 received as Yd y gloch. Mr. Morris, Derwen, told the writer that he 
 was in the habit of accompanying his father when collecting the corn. 
 
i go Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 The vehicle used for this purpose was a sledge, carts being then un- 
 used, or even, in consequence of the badness of the roads, unusable. 
 Sometimes a single farmer would give the clerk a sledge load of corn, 
 and every farmer, Mr. Morris said, gave willingly and liberally. At 
 present, the tithes of a certain farm form, in Derwen Parish, the 
 perquisite of the parish clerk. 
 
 I find in many old Terriers that the bell sheaf is mentioned as a 
 perquisite of the parish clerk. Thus, in the Terrier of Cwm parish 
 there is this entry : — 
 
 Item — There is also due to the parish clerk a stated rate of corn, viz., 
 wheat or barley yearly from every occupier of lands in the said parish, 
 proportionably to what every inhabitant occupies, &c. 
 
 STREWING THE CHURCHES WITH RUSHES. 
 
 It was formerly customary to cover the floors of churches with 
 rushes. The object was two-fold ; one being warmth, and the other 
 to fill up the inequalities made by interments. It would appear from 
 entries in churchwardens' accounts that at certain seasons of. the 
 year, Easter being one of them, the churches were cleared out, and 
 fresh rushes replaced the old ones. The custom continued far into 
 the present century. I will give a few extracts from parish accounts 
 bearing upon this matter. In Gyffylliog churchwardens' accounts 
 under the year 1681 is the following entry : — 
 
 It. to the sexton for washing and gathering rishes ... 5*6 
 
 This was a very large sum of money in those days, but the 
 sexton received the money for twelve months' work. In other parishes 
 the gatherer of rushes was not so lavishly paid. I have extracted 
 the following entries from the book kept by the churchwardens of 
 Gwaenysgor : — 
 
 1801 Rushes for two years ... ... ... 7 • 
 
 1803 Russis for two years ... ... ... 7 " 
 
 1804 Rushis ... ... ... ... ... 2 " o 
 
 1808 Rushes to Church ... ... ... ... 3*0 
 
 1809 Rishes to Church for two years ... ... 6 • 
 
 1812 Rishes to Church ... ... ... ... 3 • o 
 
 1830 Rushes for Easter ... ... ... ... 3 • 
 
 1834-5 Rushish three times to Church ... ... 9 • o 
 
 1837 Rushish ... ... ... ... ... 3*0 
 
 1839 Rishes to Church ,,. ,.. ,., ... 3 * o 
 
Tremeirchion. 191 
 
 From these entries it would seem that it cost three shillings to 
 renew the rushes in church, and, from the entry in 1830, it appears 
 that this was done at Easter. There is no mention made of rushes 
 after 1839, and possibly the custom then ceased. I may add that I 
 have selected only a few, out of many entries, in which rushes are 
 mentioned, and they are chosen to show how variously the word 
 rushes was formerly spelt by churchwardens. 
 
 SHROVE TUESDAY CUSTOMS. 
 
 A cruel sport, called Dyrnu'r Iar, thrashing the hen, was practised 
 in most places on Shrove Tuesday. The game was variously played 
 in different places. Mr. R. Roberts, Clocaenog, a native of Merion- 
 ethshire, told me that in the neighbourhood of Bala, in his younger 
 days, a hen was placed in a large crock, and the person who broke the 
 vessel with a stone, thrown from a certain distance, received the hen. 
 In other parts, such as Denbighshire, the Rev. John Williams informs 
 me that the bird was confined in a hole in the ground, covered over 
 with sods, with its head presumedly exposed, for otherwise it would 
 have been suffocated, and the feat was to hit with a flail the head of 
 the poor hen, and she became his property who succeeded in de- 
 priving the poor thing of life. In Carnarvonshire, the sport was carried 
 on under a different name, and in a somewhat different manner: the 
 hen there was buried in the ground, as in Denbighshire, with its head 
 exposed, but those who struck at the hen were blind-folded, and thus 
 it had a better chance of escaping with its life, for often, the blind- 
 folded person made a trial far wide of the mark, to the great amuse- 
 ment of the many spectators. This game ceased in the early part 
 of the present century. 
 
 Most people turned out to beg, or Hel Ynyd, on Shrove Tuesday. 
 They received from the farmers fine flour, milk, lard, &c. Eggs 
 were clapped for — boys went about with two stones as clappers, and 
 when opposite a farm house they clapped away with all their might 
 and received for their pains a gift of eggs. The fuel for baking the 
 pancakes consisted of dry branches, thorns, and briers, and these 
 were specially gathered for the occasion. Turning the first pancake 
 was an important undertaking. Should the pancake-maker fail in 
 dexterity, and instead of tossing the cake over into the pan throw 
 it into the fire, she was greeted with derisive laughter, and in 
 some places it was a custom to rush upon her and carry her out of 
 
 V 
 
i g2 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 the house, and with shouts throw her upon a dung hill. In Carnar- 
 vonshire and elsewhere in Wales children still go about begging pan- 
 cakes on Shrove Tuesday afternoon, and clapping for eggs is kept 
 up by the young in Anglesey and many other places. 
 
 The custom of dressing graves with flowers for Palm Sunday con- 
 tinues in some parts of Wales. The Sunday is called in Welsh Sul y 
 Blodau, or Flower Sunday ; formerly flowering willows, after having 
 been carried into the church, were fixed upon the graves the day 
 before Palm Sunday. 
 
 EASTER CAROLS AND OTHER CUSTOMS. 
 
 Easter Carols were formerly sung in church, and from house to 
 house, just as Christmas carols are now sung. Proof of this may be 
 found in many parish accounts. Thus, under the year 1808, in 
 Gwaenysgor Churchwardens' Accounts, I find the following entries: — 
 
 Cristmas Ale for the Singers ... ... ... 5 • o 
 
 To for Ester Carol ... ... ... ... 1 ' o 
 
 But Easter Carols have not come down to our days. Easter dues, 
 or, as they are called in some old Terriers, Easter duties, so many 
 pence from each family, and Wyau Pasc, or Easter eggs, were 
 formerly collected for the parochial clergy. The custom of pre- 
 senting baskets of Wyau Pasc to the Vicar of Abergele and other 
 parsons was common, the Rev. John Williams (Glanmor) informs 
 me, in his grandfather's days. 
 
 A singular custom once prevailed on Easter Sunday in Wales. 
 Our ancestors, rising very early, ascended some eminence to see the 
 sun rise, and they gave three somersaults just as the bringer of light 
 emerged above the horizon. The Rev. John Williams remembers 
 the inhabitants of Llangollen going up to Castell Dinas Bran 
 annually for this purpose. 
 
 MAY EVE AND MAY DAY CUSTOMS. 
 
 May Eve was, within the memory of the living, a busy night, for 
 during the small hours after midnight young men were actively em- 
 ployed in letting the fair sex know the extent of their affection for 
 them. If a young lady had jilted or discountenanced a suitor, then 
 he had his revenge by fixing Penglogau, or skull bones, or dead sheep, 
 to the house door of the lady who had rejected his advances ; on the 
 
Tremeirchion. 193 
 
 other hand the accepted happy swain dressed his sweetheart's door 
 with flowers. Very anxiously did the fair await the dawn of morning, 
 and happy were they if on opening the door they were greeted by a 
 lover's nosegay, but very dejected and irate were they if dangling 
 bones or a man of straw met their eye. This custom was common 
 in most parts of North Wales. 
 
 Young men engaged in the uncongenial work of hanging skull 
 bones at young ladies' doors were occasionally punished for their 
 ungallant action by qualms of conscience, and their over-wrought 
 imaginations conjured up phantoms which greatly disturbed their 
 minds, and terribly frightened them. It is by such a supposition as 
 the preceding that the following tale, told me by the Rev. John 
 Williams, is to be accounted for. Mr. Williams states that he knew 
 a respectable yeoman who told him that he and a companion were 
 once going down the road from Derwen to Melin-y-Llwyn, having 
 been out on May Eve fixing Penglogau at Derwen, when the yeoman 
 observed a man descending the hill before them, carrying on his 
 shoulder a large tree in full foliage, which he threw over the bridge 
 with a great splash into the river Clwyd. His companion did not see 
 the apparition, which immediately vanished; but he heard the splash. 
 But this was not to be wondered at, for it is said that only those born 
 under certain planets can see spirits, whilst noises which they make 
 are audible to ordinary mortals. 
 
 Reference has been made to the festivities of May Day, but as the 
 subject is in itself interesting, I will add to what I have already said, 
 a few further particulars about the day. Aged people, born in the 
 last century, often spoke with pleasure of the manner in which May 
 Day was observed in their youth. In Abergele, it was a custom on 
 May Eve for young men to go to Plas-uchaf wood, and bring thence 
 a birch tree, which they planted on the Cross, a place so called in 
 Abergele, where, probably, a cross once stood ; this tree they decora- 
 ted, and on May Day all the town danced around the birch May 
 tree. It would seem that the ancient Welsh associated birch with 
 love, and lovers formerly wore a birch hat, or Het fedw. 
 
 The Abergele May Dancers carried with them a. Cangen Haf, or 
 summer branch, dressed with valuable articles, and they were always 
 accompanied by a Cadi, a man dressed in women's clothes, repre- 
 senting a busybody, who interfered with household affairs, and one 
 of their number was a clown, grotesquely dressed in a fringed petti- 
 
ie>4 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 coat or kilt, who played all manner of antics. The May Dancers' 
 music was not always to be despised. Not many years ago the 
 youth of Flintshire and Denbighshire danced from new to old May* 
 Day. 
 
 On Nos Wyl If an yn yr Haf, St. John! the Baptist's Eve, our 
 ancestors dressed their houses, and washed or bathed their feet with 
 Llysiau I/an, St. John's wort. 
 
WHITFORD. 
 
 HIS Cross was discovered, a few years ago, when a 
 
 grave was being dug, buried 
 
 six feet in the ground, in the 
 
 north part of Whitford chu rch - 
 
 yard. The spot where it was 
 
 found was about twenty yards 
 
 from the church wall. The 
 part of the stone with the Cross on it was 
 uppermost, and lying on it was a silver coin, 
 which, I was informed, belonged to the reign 
 of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 The dimensions of the stone are as follows : 
 length, 6ft. 3m. ; breadth, at the top, ift. 5m., 
 at the foot, ift. iin. ; depth, 15m. at the top, 
 i6in. in the middle, and gin. at the foot. It 
 is a massive stone. From the sketch it will 
 be seen that it tapers throughout its entire 
 length. 
 
 The cross is cut into the stone ; the in- 
 cision, filled up with accumulated dust, is 
 not very distinct. The entire length of the 
 cross is 3ft. ; breadth, from arm to arm, 
 ift. 4in. ; the stem is 2fin. broad. There is 
 a length of 2ft. 3m. from the extremity of the 
 cross to the bottom of the stone ; possibly 
 at one time the stone was longer, for it seems 
 to have had a part of the extremity knocked 
 off. There are nin. between the top of the 
 cross and the top of the stone. Perhaps the 
 placing of the cross in the upper part of the 
 
 Stone shows that formerly the Stone Occupied Cross found buried in Churchyard. 
 
 an erect, and not a recumbent position. 
 
196 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 There is no churchyard cross at present in Whitford, and the 
 buried Cross was certainly not one of this description ; it was most 
 likely a sepulchral or memorial Cross, and marked the spot occupied 
 by the dead. The stone is roughly dressed, and resembles the rude 
 monoliths at Llangernyw with crosses thereon. It is difficult to 
 account for its being buried ; it could hardly have been hidden away 
 for preservation, and if it covered a grave on the north side of the 
 church another difficulty arises, namely, the aversion of people to 
 be there buried. Very little can positively be said of this stone, 
 but the probability is that it belongs to that class of monoliths which 
 are commemorative of the dead. 
 
 Cross found buried in Churchyard. 
 ANTIPATHY TO BURIALS ON NORTH SIDE OF CHURCHES. 
 
 Pennant wrote the History of Whiteford Parish, and in it he says, 
 speaking of the churchyard : — 
 
 I step into the churchyard, and sigh over the number of departed which 
 fill the inevitable retreat. In no distant time, the north side, like those 
 of all other Welsh churches, was, through some superstition, to be occupied 
 only by persons executed, or by suicides. It is now nearly as much 
 crowded as the other parts. — History of Whiteford Parish, p. 102. 
 
 Here we see the aversion to burials on the north side of the church 
 affirmed by an accurate and observant recorder of Welsh customs. 
 Pennant states that the feeling was wearing away in his parish, but 
 this was no doubt chiefly because the ground on the other sides of 
 the church was crowded, and possibly claimed by being 'covered over 
 with grave stones. In other parts of Wales, where the churchyards 
 are not filled with grave stones, the east, south, and west sides only 
 
Whitford. 197 
 
 are devoted to burials. Still the feeling is not what it used to be, for 
 people occasionally, in our days, are buried on the north side of the 
 church. In most parts of Wales the innovation has taken place 
 within the last century.. 
 
 A farmer of Gwyddelwern told me that, on his father's death, his 
 mother bade him go to the churchyard to select a site for the grave, 
 but, said she, " Mind you don't go to the north side of the church." 
 The farmer did not share his mother's feeling, but selected an 
 eligible spot on the north side, and there his father was buried, and 
 he was the first person buried in that part of the churchyard. The 
 farmer, if alive now, would be about 75 years old. 
 
 The Rev. R. H. M. Hughes, Vicar of Llansantffraid-yn-Mechain, 
 who was appointed to the living in 1846, informed me that his pre- 
 decessor, the Rev. John Jones, was the first person whose body was 
 placed to rest in the. north part of the churchyard, but that the 
 example set was at once followed, and that side is now (1880) being 
 rapidly filled. Mr. Hughes has buried nearly all those whose graves 
 are on that side of the church. 
 
 Formerly unbaptized infants were buried on the north side, and 
 there is current a tradition that excommunicated persons were also 
 buried there. I have heard old people say that the north side of 
 churchyards was not consecrated. This must be a popular fallacy. 
 In the order of consecration of cemeteries, found in the Liber Ponti- 
 ficalis of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, we are informed that four 
 wooden crosses were placed in the four angles of the churchyard : — 
 " ponantur quatuor cruces lignee in quatuor angulis cemelerii." 
 This would not have been done if only a part of the churchyard was 
 consecrated. After the ceremony, the Bishop made a short speech 
 to the people on the liberty and security of the cemetery now con- 
 secrated : — " et tunc faciat episcopus brevem collacionem populo de 
 libertate et securitate cemeterii." . . . The privilege of sanctuary 
 extended to the whole of the churchyard, by right of consecration, 
 and not to a part only. 
 
 In Gyffylliog Churchyard, which is in the recess of the mountains, 
 about four miles from Ruthin, is to be seen, on the north side, near 
 the wall of the churchyard, a single altar tomb, and it is reported by 
 the inhabitants that it contains the body of an excommunicated 
 clergyman, the rector of an adjoining parish. I have not verified the 
 statement, but there seems to be some foundation for the report. 
 
198 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 From the inscription nothing of the kind can be inferred. The words 
 on the tomb stone are : — 
 
 Here Lyeth y e Body of y e 
 
 Reverend William Lloyd, Clark, 
 
 Rector of Llanvwrog, who dy'd 
 
 May y e 30 th and Inter'd June 
 
 y e i 8t 1743, Aged 46. 
 
 On referring to the History of the Diocese of St. Asaph, I find that in 
 1740 there were three Rectors of Llanfwrog, Edward Ffoukes, who 
 died the same year, William Lloyd, and Evan Jones. There can be 
 no doubt that the second Rector is the one buried at Gyffylliog; and 
 that for some reason he was succeeded by Evan Jones in the year 
 of his induction to the living, though he is styled Rector in 1743. 
 
 The Rev. T. Rees Williams, who became incumbent of Gyffylliog 
 in 1874, told me that all who are interred, with the exception named 
 above, on the north side of the church, were buried by him. 
 
 The lack of graves on the north side is still very observable in 
 many country churchyards in Wales. It was usually given over to 
 the people's sports. Cockpits are occasionally found there, as is the 
 case at Llanfechain, Montgomeryshire, and it certainly was not con- 
 sidered as equally holy with the other parts of God's acre. The 
 people of Cornwall, who are one in race with the Welsh, show the 
 same dislike to the use of the north side. The feeling must therefore 
 be an old one, and probably common to the Celtic race, if to no 
 other people. 
 
 The following letter on this subject, from the pen of the late R. S. 
 Hawker, Morwenstow, Cornwall, appears in Notes and Queries. Mr. 
 Hawker remarks : — 
 
 The doctrine of regions was co-eval with the death of our Lord. The 
 east was the realm of the oracles, the special throne of God. The west 
 was the domain of the people ; the Galilee of all nations was there. The 
 south, the land of the mid-day, was sacred to things heavenly and divine. 
 The north was the devoted region of Satan and his hosts, the lair of 
 Demons and their haunt. In some of our ancient churches, over against 
 the font, and in the northern walls, there was a devil's door. It was thrown 
 open at every baptism for the escape of the fiend, and at all other seasons 
 carefully closed. Hence came the old dislike to sepulture on the north. — 
 Notes and Queries, 1. ser., vol. ii., p. 254. 
 
 There is a blocked up north door opposite the font or west door 
 in most old churches in Wales, In these parts we have Meliden, 
 
Whitford. 199 
 
 Rhuddlan, Clocaenog, Llannefydd, Gwaenysgor, Llanfair-Dyffryn- 
 Clwyd, Bettws-Gwerfil-Goch, Gwyddelwern, &c, with closed north- 
 doors. 
 
 The singular statement of Mr. Hawker, respecting the opening of 
 the north door at baptisms for the escape of the evil one, is strangely 
 corroborated, so far as the opening of the door goes, by what was 
 formerly done in Kerry Church, Montgomeryshire. Mr. Milnes, the 
 master of the Boys' Endowed School, Kerry, informed me that the 
 north door in Kerry Church was called the Devil's Door, and he said 
 that formerly it was the custom to open this door just as the clergy- 
 man entered the church, and it was believed that Satan escaped 
 through the north door as the clergyman entered through the south. 
 
 The absence of windows in the north wall of ancient Welsh 
 churches also points to a deep-rooted dislike to that quarter of the 
 compass. Many churches, in various parts of Wales, even after 
 their restoration, retain this feature, and many more have had their 
 north walls penetrated for the insertion of a window within recent 
 years. The only part of the north wall in many old churches in 
 which there is a small window is the chancel ; it appears to be the 
 rule to insert there a window. The present incumbent of Clocaenog 
 told me that there was a tradition in his parish that a late rector, 
 instead of inserting a window in the north wall to obtain light, had 
 the stained glass of the fine east window broken. There was formerly 
 only a small north window in the chancel of that church, so the build- 
 ing must have been dark, particularly in winter. This defect has lately 
 been remedied by the insertion of windows in the north wall, at the 
 sacrifice of a peculiar feature of old Welsh churches. 
 
 WHITFORD PILLAR STONE FOUND IN CHURCH WALL. 
 
 A monumental pillar, which forms, with its central bosses, a Cross, 
 was discovered imbedded in the east wall of the Church, when it was 
 restored in 1845. Many portions of a previous ecclesiastical edifice 
 were also discovered at the same time, and care was taken by the 
 Rev. Dr. Briscoe, then Vicar of the parish, that these should be 
 preserved, and at present, they are stowed away in the belfry. 
 Among other things found was a curiously ornamented piscina, and 
 portions of sepulchral slabs. 
 
 The stone, or Cross as I shall call it, which is here delineated, is 
 5ft. long. The circular head measures ii\. zm. in diameter. The 
 
200 
 
 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 central bosses are 4^ inches in diameter. The stem, which has been 
 tampered with, varies in breadth from 10 to 12 inches ; its width is 
 4I inches. A part of the head has been broken off, and so has 
 a part of one of the bosses. The stem is roughly dressed. The only 
 part at all ornamented is the circular head, which has, at the base of 
 the boss, and along the rim, a raised circular band. 
 
 Cross found in Churchyard. 
 
 I can say nothing further of this Cross than that it appears to have 
 been a sepulchral monument, marking the grave of a deceased person 
 of note, nor can I say why it was built up in the Church wall, unless 
 it was simply because it was a serviceable stone, close at hand, for 
 the mason's use. Had there been anything on or in the stone itself 
 supposed likely to foster superstition, it can be understood why it 
 was removed from sight ; but, as far as can be seen, there is nothing 
 
■I 
 
 Whitford. 201 
 
 objectionable in the design, and therefore were it not for its value to 
 the mason, it might have been left in its original position. 
 
 Some persons have supposed that relics of this kind were built 
 into church walls for preservation. This might occasionally have 
 been the case, but, judging from the fragmentary state of most stones 
 brought to light by taking down church walls, it certainly was not 
 invariably so. Many instances of perfectly whole slabs and other 
 ornamented stones, found in church walls, could be given. For 
 instance, a fine memorial stone to a lady was discovered in Bangor 
 Cathedral ; a well preserved memorial stone, with cross on it, came to 
 light when Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant Church was being restored ; * 
 an elaborately ornamented font was found buried in the north door- | 
 way of Meliden Church ; some perfect sepulchral ornamented slabs 
 were discovered in Nerquis Church. On the other hand, a mutilated 
 figure of a head was found at Llandyrnog ; in Efenechtyd, a part of a 
 stone with interlaced work had been built into the Church wall ; at 
 Llanrhaiadr-Dyffryn-Clwyd, imperfect slabs with ornamentation 
 were discovered. It would, therefore, with the conflicting evidence 
 adduced by the stones themselves, be contrary to facts to affirm that 
 the stones found in the walls were deposited there from feelings of 
 veneration. 
 
 A singular instance of iconoclastic proclivities is shown in the 
 following quotation : — 
 
 In taking down the old tower (of Mold) in 1768, a curious image was 
 discovered near the foundation, in all probability a relic of the Catholic 
 superstition of the former inhabitants ; but the Vicar, Mr. Lewis, from an 
 excess of piety, or from some other unexplained motive, gave orders for 
 its immediate demolition ; and the marble saint was accordingly doomed 
 to a second martyrdom. — Cambro-Briton, vol. i., p. 142. 
 
 It is well that this spirit is no more ; otherwise, the remains of past 
 times would soon cease to exist. 
 
 THE LICH-GATE, OR CORPSE-GATE. 
 
 The Whitford Lich-gate is peculiar in having a room built above 
 it, used at present for parochial purposes. There is only one other 
 lich-gate similar to this in the Diocese of St. Asaph, namely, that at 
 Derwen, where the room above the entrance was formerly utilized as 
 a schoolroom, and afterwards, when the school increased in numbers, 
 the lich-gate was blocked up and formed into a class-room^ the upper 
 
202 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 storey, as well as the lower, being used as a school, and the lich- 
 seats formed benches for the little ones. 
 
 There are no complete lich-gates at present in the Diocese of 
 St. Asaph, but there are a large number, more or less perfect. A 
 lich-gate, when perfect, comprised a lich-path, lich-seats, a lich-cross, 
 and a lich-stone, on which to rest the coffin (Handbook of English 
 Ecclesiology, p. 192). Lich-paths are still to be met with, used, it 
 may be, but oftentimes unused, as is the case at Llanasa and other 
 places. Lich-seats, stone seats, one on each side the lich-gate, are 
 quite common in Wales. Lich-stones have disappeared, and so have 
 lich-crosses ; but underneath the roof of Caerwys lich-gate are still to 
 be seen the beam and socket where once stood the wooden lich-cross, 
 and on the ground are traceable the foundation stones of the two 
 lich-seats, and of the lich-stones in the centre of the porch. This 
 rest for the coffin was a low wall, not a stone, as its name would imply, 
 about the length of a coffin. 
 
 Care seems to have been taken to preserve lich-gates in the last 
 and previous century, but some of their distinctive features were even 
 then destroyed. Probably the stone ball which surmounts the lich- 
 gate at Clocaenog, bearing the following inscription — S.T. R.P. i6gi 
 — took the place of a small cross. The beam that stretched from 
 wall to wall, into which a wooden cross was inserted, has in nearly 
 every instance been sawn away. It is still a custom in some parishes 
 to place the coffin and the bier, at funerals, underneath the lich-gate, 
 until taken thence to the church. 
 
 VN RHAMANTA, OR OBTAINING BY INCANTATION A KNOWLEDGE OF 
 
 FUTURE EVENTS. 
 
 Yn Rhamanta, which has been mentioned on page 177, was, as is 
 there stated, a kind of divination resorted to by young persons, 
 by which they obtained a sight of their husbands or wives, or in 
 certain cases heard their names mentioned. This endeavour to dive 
 into the future was once very common in Flintshire and Denbigh- 
 shire, and other parts of Wales, and many persons of both sexes, of 
 sixty years old and above, have told me the manner of working out 
 the incantation. These were various. I will relate a few. Mr. John 
 Roberts, Plas Einion, Llanfair D.C., whom I have often mentioned 
 in the course of this work, told me that, when a young man he formed 
 one of a party, consisting of his sister, the servant man, and himself, 
 
Whitford. 203 
 
 who endeavoured to divine the future. The process was the follow- 
 ing : — A pullet's first egg was procured, it was emptied and then 
 filled with flour, which was mixed up with the egg by the three parties 
 alternately ; then the egg shell was filled with salt, and this again 
 was mixed up as before with the flour and egg ; the dough thus 
 formed was made into three cakes, one for each party. The cakes 
 were then divided into two parts, one of which was eaten, and the 
 other was placed in the stocking worn by the several parties, and 
 then placed under the bed bolster. They went upstairs and into 
 the bed walking backwards, and during the whole of the proceedings 
 absolute silence was to be observed, or the spell would not act. It 
 was believed, if everything were carried out properly, that in their 
 dream they would see their partners offering them a drink of water. 
 In the case of Mr. Roberts the spirits were not auspicious, for he 
 dreamt, not of his future wife, but of a load of coals, which, in his 
 sleep, gave him much trouble. 
 
 Jane Jones, Pwllglas, Efenechtyd, told me that her mistress, 
 Elizabeth Hughes, a widow, tenant of Pentre Farm, Efenechtyd, a 
 mother of adult children, obtained a sight of her second husband by 
 divination. The steps she took were the following : — She went with 
 her maid servant to the pistyll, or natural water spout, to wash a 
 garment, taking with her a kind of mallet, with which she struck the 
 garment, and, repeating a doggerel stanza, invoked the presence 
 of him who was to be her husband. A man came there and took 
 the mallet out of her hand and began striking the garment. Mrs. 
 Hughes, greatly frightened, left the pistyll, and went home. The 
 person whose spirit came at her summons was an acquaintance, and 
 it need hardly be added that he ultimately became Mrs. Hughes's 
 second husband, notwithstanding the opposition of her children. 
 
 Kitty Jones, Plas Nant, Gyffylliog, who is still alive, saw her 
 husband by rhamanta, and so did her fellow-servant. I am indebted 
 to Mr. Jones, Woodland Farm, to whom Kitty related it, for 
 the story I am about to give. When young women, Kitty and 
 her fellow-servant, in accordance with the practice of the country 
 determined to obtain a sight of the men whom they were to marry! 
 Their mistress was let into the secret that that night one of the two 
 was going to raise the veil of the future, and the other, the following 
 night. As the clock began striking twelve, Kitty's fellow-servant 
 began striking the floor with a strap, repeating the doggerel lines 
 
204 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 already referred to, and almost immediately she saw her master come 
 down the stairs. The girl innocently the next day asked her mistress 
 why she had sent her master down stairs to frighten her. The answer 
 of her mistress was : " Take care of my children." This girl ultimately 
 married her master. The next night it was Kitty's turn, and she saw 
 a dark man, whom she had never seen before ; but, in the course of 
 a week or so, a stranger came into the farmyard, and Kitty at once 
 perceived that it was the person whom she had seen when divining. 
 Upon inquiry, she ascertained that he was a married man, but in 
 time his wife died, and Kitty became Mrs. Jones. 
 
 By plucking the leaves of sage in blossom, at twelve o'clock at 
 night, and calling upon their future husbands to appear, young 
 women, it is said, were able to conjure to their presence their inten- 
 ded husbands, who plucked with them the leaves of the sage. The 
 first leaf was plucked as the clock struck one, and as the striking 
 proceeded, leaf after leaf was gathered, and when the striking ceased, 
 the ceremony ended ; but, if the young woman had obtained her 
 desire, then the incantation came to an end before the midnight 
 hour had struck. 
 
 But many were the forms of rhamanta. Mrs. Rowlands, late of 
 Tyddyn Chambers, a farm in Efenechtyd Parish, but a native of 
 Flintshire, told the writer that her aunt, Ann Jones, successfully re- 
 sorted to enchantment, or, as Mrs. Rowlands called it, lamanta. 
 When the aunt saw in person the man who had appeared to her in her 
 dream, she fainted away, but, happily, she returned to consciousness 
 in good time, and ere long married the man. 
 
 But it was not always that young men appeared to venturesome 
 damsels. I have been told in all seriousness that ere now a coffin 
 has appeared to the fair, and this implied death, not marriage. 
 
 Many other ways there were of proceeding to obtain the desired 
 information, but enough, if not too much, has been said on this 
 matter. I will only add that I have heard the process called 
 palmanta, lamanta, and rhamanta. 
 
YSCEIFIOG 
 
 M^K^)) 
 
 1 
 
 CHURCHYARD CROSS. 
 
 HIS greatly dilapidated Cross stands twenty-three 
 paces from the Church, on the south side. The 
 churchyard in the neighbourhood of the Cross is 
 crowded with grave stones. There is a modern sun- 
 dial, with limestone shaft, standing in the churchyard 
 a short distance from the 
 west end of the Church, so 
 that, although the old Cross has been cut 
 down to a convenient height for a sun-dial 
 stand, since there is a sun-dial close at hand, 
 the Cross cannot have been mutilated to 
 convert it into a sun-dial, unless, which is 
 not improbable, when cut down, it was 
 found to be unfit for that purpose. 
 
 The shaft, 
 a tapering 
 octagonal, is 
 brought to a 
 square at the 
 base by 
 chamfers ; its 
 
 height is 3ft. Churchyard Cross. 
 
 2in. The sides facing the Church, 
 though weather-worn, are entire, but 
 the upper part of the other sides has 
 been broken off. The shaft has de- 
 parted from the perpendicular. 
 
 The basement is a massive piece 
 of freestone. It measures in height, 
 from the surface of the ground, ift. 
 The socket, into which the shaft is 
 
 Pedestal of Churchyard Cross ; Scale, 
 |- of an inch to the foot. 
 
 gin.; its breadth is 2ft. ioin. 
 
206 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 mortised, is ift. square. The upper surface of the socket is covered 
 with incisions, several of which are deep and broad. There are upon 
 it also a few cup-like markings, similar to those on the pedestal of 
 Corwen Cross, and a series of zigzag incisions (see drawing.) The 
 long incisions measure about 2ft. long, and about iin. in depth. It 
 will be seen from the sketch that the grooves differ in length and 
 breadth and they also vary in depth. The Cross belongs, probably, 
 to the fifteenth century. 
 
 YSCEIFIOG CUSTOMS. 
 
 It was once a custom here for the affluent, at the funeral of a 
 member of the family, to distribute little rolls of bread to the poor, 
 who flocked in great numbers to the house of the deceased. The 
 dole took place just before the corpse was brought out of the house. 
 Pence and half pence were latterly substituted for the small loaves 
 of bread. 
 
 In this parish, as in other Welsh parishes, it was the custom for a 
 funeral procession, at every crossway, to stop awhile, and rehearse 
 the Lord's Prayer, and when the funeral came to the churchyard en- 
 trance, before any of the verses appointed to be said by the officiating 
 minister were read, the Lord's Prayer was repeated by the people. 
 
 The Lord's Prayer was the prayer of the people. Often was it 
 repeated by them ; when any undertaking of danger was about to be 
 engaged in, it was preceded by this prayer. Fishermen starting 
 on a voyage said their Pader. The author of Beaumaris Bay 
 says : — " Happening, once, to be walking upon Penmaen Rhos, I saw 
 four boats leaving the shore to lay down their nets — in an instant 
 every oar was still for a few minutes. On inquiry, I was told that 
 the Lord's Prayer was repeated in that interval." On every occa- 
 sion of importance our forefathers resorted for strength and comfort 
 to this all-comprehensive prayer. In it they found their wants 
 expressed, and by it they found their wants supplied. Rough, 
 though they were, as we account roughness, still they placed im- 
 plicit faith in God's providence, and firmly did they believe in the 
 efficacy of prayer. 
 
 INCISIONS ON CROSSES AND OTHER STONES : WHY MADE. 
 
 Several times in the course of this work reference has been made 
 to the grooves found in the basement of crosses, and on other stones 
 in churchyards, and it has been stated that these were made by the 
 
Ysceifiog. 207 
 
 process of sharpening arrows and other weapons. Grooved stones 
 are found along the mountains of Wales in secluded, unfrequented 
 parts, and tradition says that the incisions in these stones were made 
 years ago, when archery was common, by people pointing on them their 
 arrows. A stone of this kind, above the village of Llanllechid, Car- 
 narvonshire, on the wild mountain, is called to this day Car eg Saethau, 
 or Arrow Stone, and along its surface are groups of incisions exactly 
 like those on the pedestal of Ysceifiog Cross, Maen y Chwyfan, New- 
 market, and other crosses. Three of these arrow stones are still to be 
 seen on the Aberhill, Carnarvonshire, with deep grooves along their 
 surfaces, and the inhabitants state that they were arrow- whetstones. 
 The stones along the sides of an old unused well on the wilds of 
 Denbighshire, between three and four miles from Talycafn, have this 
 kind of incision along their surfaces. Near the well passes the 
 Roman Road to Conovium. The well, which is in a ffridd, was 
 called Ffynon y Rhyfeloedd, the Well of the Battles ; so an old man, 
 between eighty and ninety years old, told the Rev. T. S. Jones, 
 Rector of Trofarth. But many more instances of extant stones of 
 this kind could be named. After the mountain summits had 
 been deserted, and the lowlands drained and cultivated, and in- 
 habited, we find the people continued using their arrows, and 
 wherever a suitable stone was found, it was used by them as 
 a whetstone. Thus jambs of doors, mullions of windows, shafts 
 and pedestals of crosses, pillars in churches, fonts, &c, are marked 
 with grooves. There is hardly an old church without such marks 
 in some part of the edifice. Mochdre (Montgomeryshire), Llan- 
 dinam, and Llanerfyl fonts are thus marked. St. Hilary's Church, 
 Denbigh, Llangwyfan, Llanfor, Guilsfield, Llanfechain, &c, have the 
 door jambs incised. Llansantffraid, by Corwen, has its mutilated 
 cross-shaft scored ; but it is unnecessary to enumerate other in- 
 stances. Sufficient have been named to show how common such 
 marked stones are. Occasionally I have noticed these marks on old 
 freestone altar tombs. 
 
 Three kinds of grooves are, I think, observable ; first, the long and 
 deep incisions : these would be made by giving a point to pikes ; 
 then there are the short, fine grooves, such as would be made by 
 arrows ; and lastly, we have marks made by giving an edge to a flat 
 weapon, as a sword. All these kinds of markings are found on the 
 base of the Cross at Ysceifiog, and in other places also. 
 
208 Old Stone Crosses. 
 
 In the days of the Plantagenets, the people were bound by royal 
 mandates to practise archery on Sundays and holidays, after divine 
 service. In fact, all other sports, as quoits, cockfighting, football, 
 fives, &c, were forbidden as long as archery was being practised. 
 The place where the people exercised their skill was often the church- 
 yard. It was necessary that the arrows should be well pointed, and 
 there was always near, either in the church walls or in the crosses, free- 
 stone that could be thus used, and the people did not scruple to 
 sharpen the weapons wherever they found a good stone that suited 
 their purpose. This will account for the marks found on stones in 
 churches. 
 
 The people procured the bows from the yew tree growing in the 
 churchyard, and just as the stones bear testimony to the use of 
 arrows, now superseded by more formidable weapons, so likewise do 
 the aged yew trees that for centuries have stood in our churchyards 
 in England and Wales show that years ago their branches were 
 lopped off, and out of the boughs were made those bows that carried 
 terror into the ranks of England's foes, and helped to advance her to a 
 foremost place among the nations of the world. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 i. — Who Mutilated or Destroyed the Stone Crosses? 
 
 There are few crosses in North Wales intact, but we have a good 
 many more or less mutilated. Judging from the names of places in 
 which the word croes, cross, appears, there must have been formerly 
 a large number of road-side and other crosses in Wales ; and it is a 
 question of some interest to ascertain who destroyed, or mutilated, 
 or disfigured them. 
 
 A most important period in the history of crosses is that which is 
 coincident with the Reformation. Much bearing on this subject 
 appears in the Judgment of the Privy Council delivered 21st March, 
 1857, in the case of Westerton v. Liddell. From this document we 
 gather that popular disturbances, consequent upon the change in 
 religion, " outran the acts of the Government " : — 
 
 Crosses would share the fate of images ; so that between the fanaticism 
 of the populace, and the cupidity of the courtiers, the ornaments of the 
 Churches, in every sense of that word, would be subject to spoliation and 
 destruction. We find, indeed, by the Injunction of the Council of the 
 5th April, 1548, . . . that even at this early period such proceedings 
 were going on, for that letter expressly forbids the sale or alienation of the 
 chalices, silver crosses, bells, or other ornaments. . . . Under these 
 circumstances it cannot be matter of surprise if comparatively few crosses 
 remained either standing in the Churches or preserved in the repositories 
 of its ornaments (p. 123). 
 
 These words refer to valuable and movable crosses, but not to the 
 churchyard crosses. These were left undisturbed for another century, 
 as will shortly be shown. .Still it was at this period that a shock was 
 given to the veneration for crosses, for it was but a step from the 
 interior to the exterior of the church, and since the crosses within 
 were gone, the cross without was allowed to stand on sufferance only. 
 
 During the reign of Queen Mary the status quo ante with regard to 
 crosses prevailed, but in the reign of Elizabeth great difference of 
 opinion existed upon this subject. The Queen was favourable to 
 
Appendix, 
 
 the use of both crosses and crucifixes, and retained them in her own 
 chapel, and although they were removed for a time, they were after- 
 wards restored. 
 
 The people of Wales, a remote part of the kingdom, with a sparse 
 population, and churches separated from each other by mountains, 
 forests, or morasses, adhered for a longer time than the English 
 to old forms and customs. Bishop Davies, immediately after his 
 appointment to the See of St. Asaph, set about the work of reforma- 
 tion. In a " Concilium Diocesanum Assaphense celebratum in Eccl. 
 Cath. Assaphensi a Thoma (Davies) Epis. As. die Mercurii 12 
 Novembris A.D. 1561," the following orders were agreed upon : — 
 
 That every of them [i.e., parson and vycar] shall forthwith avoyd, 
 remove and put awey, or cawse to be put awey, all and every moniment, 
 syne, and token of all and every fayned relygues and other superstycyons 
 had withyn ther severall churches and abolyshe ther auters yn the same, 
 or cawse the churchwardens to do the same within eight days next after 
 thes injunctyons gevyn ; and if any refuse so to do, that I may be certy- 
 fyed thereof withyn other eight days, then next and immedyatly folowyng. 
 — Wilkins's Concilia, vol. iv., p. 228. 
 
 There is no mention made in this injunction of crosses, but it 
 might be construed so as to include movable crosses found within 
 the church. The words of the Bishop would imply that the form of 
 worship used in churches in the Diocese of St. Asaph belonged 
 to ante- Reformation rather than to Reformation times, and his com- 
 mand that this state of things should cease forthwith is both clear 
 and peremptory. 
 
 In an injunction of the Bishop of St. David's, issued in 1585, 
 crosses are mentioned. Under the head " Buriall " he says : — 
 
 First that there be no crosses of wood made and erected in sundrie 
 places, where thei vse to rest with the corpes : and especially that no 
 wodden crosses be set upon the crosse in the churchyarde, or upon, or 
 about his grave. — Appendix to Second Report of Royal Commission on Ritual, 
 p. 427. 
 
 Compare this with the crosses that were erected at every resting 
 place of the body of Queen Eleanor from Harby or Hardeby, in 
 Nottinghamshire, to Westminster, a distance by the old roads of 
 one hundred and fifty-nine miles ; in all fifteen elaborate, costly 
 structures. The Queen died November 28th, 1291. 
 
 The latter part of the Bishop's injunction refers to a custom of 
 placing wooden crosses on the churchyard cross for the dead, and 
 
 ii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 from the Bishop's special aversion to the practice, it may be inferred 
 that the act was considered superstitious, rather than commemorative. 
 Hence also, probably, his Lordship's objection to the placing of a 
 cross upon or about the grave of the departed. The Bishop re- 
 cognized the existence, without disapprobation of " the crosse in the 
 churchy arde." 
 
 In "a Breviat of all the Presentments against the clergie of the 
 Dioces of Bangor, in the Visitation of the Reverend Ffather in God 
 Lewis Lord Bp. of Bangor, held in Julie 1623 " reference is made to 
 a custom in Trawsfynydd parish, Merionethshire, as follows : — 
 
 Trausvynyth. — They seldom used to go in per ambul' in Ro'n week ; 
 and it is usual there to lay down dead coarses at cross ways, and to say a 
 prayer or two. Sir Robert Lloyd Parson there. — Archoeologia Cambrensis, 
 ix., 3rd series, p. 285. 
 
 The first part of this entry would imply an offence by omission ; 
 and the latter, by commission, but the whole passage shows the 
 strong hold that the cross had upon the people ; other customs were 
 passing away, but the love for the sacred symbol was as strong as ever. 
 
 The quotations which I have given show the attitude assumed 
 towards crosses on the part of the Welsh Bishops, but it is from Acts 
 issued legally by the authorities in England that we are to arrive 
 at a fair knowledge of the case in its national bearing. Injunctions 
 issued by the King would be of general application, and would affect 
 Wales as well as England. I will, therefore, now refer to the various 
 Acts passed by the Tudor Sovereigns on the subject. 
 
 In 1547, the first year of the reign of Edward VI., the following 
 injunctions were issued : — 
 
 That such images as they know in any of their cures to be or to have 
 been abused with pilgrimage or offering of anything made thereunto, or 
 shall be hereafter censed unto, they (and none other private persons) shall 
 for the avoiding of that most detestable offence of idolatry, forthwith take 
 down, or cause to be taken down and destroy the same. 
 
 And again 
 
 Also, That they shall take away, utterly extinct and destroy all shrines, 
 covering of shrines, all tables, candlesticks, trindles or rolls of wax, pictures, 
 paintings, and all other monuments of feigned miracles, pilgrimages, 
 idolatry and superstition : so that there remain no memory of the same 
 in walls, glass-windows, or elsewhere within their Churches or houses. — 
 Wilkins's Concilia, vol. iv., p. 4, 5. 
 
 iii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 It would appear from Archbishop Cranmer's " Mandatum ad 
 amovendas et delendas imagines " that in some places the commands 
 as above given, were literally carried out, whilst in others, there was 
 much strife and contention respecting them, some men retaining all 
 such images, and others replacing the images " which by the saide 
 injunctions were taken downe," ..." contending whether this 
 or that image hath been offered unto, kyssed, censed, or otherwise 
 abused." The Archbishop to set at rest all disputes gives orders : — 
 " That all the images remayning in any churche or chapell within 
 your diocese be removed and taken away." — {Concilia, vol. iv., p. 22.) 
 
 Articles of inquiry as to the carrying out of these injunctions 
 followed. From these quotations it is clearly seen that images, &c, 
 were to be destroyed, but it does not seem that these injunctions of 
 necessity included churchyard and other crosses. I am inclined to 
 think that they did not include crosses, for, incidentally, crosses are 
 mentioned in " certain articles to be followed and observed according 
 to the king's majesty's injunctions and proceedings " in 1549, wherein 
 it is stated that henceforth, no man is to be imprisoned or punished 
 amongst other things, for " not creeping to the cross " (Concilia, 
 vol. iv., p. 33) ; and further, no man is to maintain, among other 
 things " creeping to the cross." There must have been a cross ere 
 anyone could creep to it ; the offence was the creeping, and not the 
 cross itself. 
 
 The following interesting extracts from parish accounts, for which 
 I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Wadley, indicate the existence 
 of crosses in the year 1552 and later. 
 
 1552. Itm recevyd of Roger mawnder for the staffe and hed of ow r 
 crosse in the churchyarde .... (edge of leaf cut off). 
 
 The extract is from the parish accounts of South Littleton, 
 Worcestershire. It would be expected that in Queen Mary's time 
 crosses would be mended, and thus we read in the parish register at 
 Badsey, Worcestershire, 
 
 It payyd for y e crosse y' y e churche yarde vij B . . . 1557. 
 
 In Mary's reign the cross was restored to the place of honour which 
 it had occupied in her father's reign. 
 
 When we come to the reign of Queen Elizabeth we find the in- 
 junctions of 1547 re-issued, with the following addition: — "Preserving 
 nevertheless, or repairing, both the walls and glass windows ; and 
 
 iv. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 they shall exhort all their parishioners to do the like within their 
 several houses." {Concilia, vol. iv., p. 185.) This was in 1559. 
 
 In the same year the queen received " An address made by some 
 bishops and divines against the use of images." The churchyard 
 cross is not mentioned in this address. 
 
 The following year, that is, in 1560, " the queen's proclamation 
 against defacersof monuments in churches " came forth. It informs 
 us that certain ancient monuments erected in churches and other 
 public places in memory of the dead had been spoiled, broken and 
 ruinated " to the slander of such as either gave, or had charge, in 
 times past, only to deface monuments of idolatry and false' fained 
 images in the churches and abbeys." Henceforth no monument or 
 inscription to the memory of any person deceased is to be defaced, 
 nor is any one " to break down and deface any image in glass 
 windows in any churches, without consent of the ordinary," upon 
 pain of imprisonment and fine, " besides the restitution or re-edifica- 
 tion of the things broken." {Concilia, vol. iv., p. 221.) 
 
 That great disorder prevailed in the troublous days of the sixteenth 
 century is evident from a perusal of the Acts passed in that period. 
 There were not wanting those who wittingly misconstrued injunc- 
 tions, and exceeded their authority in carrying on their work of 
 destruction. Thus, from the Injunctions of Queen Elizabeth in 
 1560 we have seen how monuments had been broken and spoiled, 
 and in the same injunction these words occur : — 
 
 And whereas the covetousness of certain persons is such, that as patrons 
 of churches, or owners of the parsonages impropriated, or by some other 
 colour or pretence, they do persuade with the parson and parishioners to 
 take or throw down the bells of the churches and chapels, and the lead of 
 the same, converting the same to their private gain and to the spoils of 
 the said places, and make such like alterations, as thereby they seek a 
 slanderous desolation of the places of prayer. — Concilia, vol. iv., pp. 221-2. 
 
 The injunction goes on to forbid such spoliation, and further — 
 
 Her majesty chargeth all bishops and ordinaries, to enquire of all such 
 contempts done from the beginning of her majesty's reign, and to enjoin 
 the persons offending to repair the same within a convenient time. 
 
 Covetousness and fanaticism have ever had a powerful influence 
 on human actions, and both were at work in the period under, con- 
 sideration. Although there is much uncertainty as to whether the 
 Queen's injunctions were intended to include the destruction of 
 
 v. 
 
crosses in general, still the terms of the injunctions of 1559, and their 
 bearing or spirit, might have caused those already that way inclined 
 to overthrow and deface even churchyard and other crosses. That 
 the words in themselves do not give this authority is sufficiently 
 clear, for crosses are not even named in the injunction. It is explicit 
 enough as to images, &c, within the churches, whether on the walls, 
 or windows, or elsewhere, but it does not refer to crosses outside the 
 church. That the injunction was construed as referring to the 
 images within the church appears from the letters of Bishop Jewel 
 and Bishop Sandys to Peter Martyn. The first is dated February 4, 
 1560, and in it are these words : — 
 
 This controversy about the crucifix is now at its height. You would 
 scarcely believe to what a degree of insanity some persons, who once had 
 some show of common sense, have been carried upon so foolish a subject. 
 . . . A disputation upon this subject will take place to-morrow. The 
 moderators will be persons selected by the council. The disputants on 
 the one side are the archbishop of Canterbury and Cox ; and on the other, 
 Grindal the bishop of London and myself. The decision rests with the 
 judges. I smile, however, when I think with what grave and solid reasons 
 they will defend their little cross. Whatever be the result, I will write to 
 you more at length when the disputation is over ; for the controversy is as 
 yet undecided ; yet, as far as I can conjecture, I shall not write to you as 
 bishop. For matters are come to that pass, that either the crosses of 
 silver and tin, which we have every where broken in pieces, must be 
 restored, or our bishopricks relinquished. — Zurich Letters, pp. 67-8, 
 Parker Society. 
 
 The subject of this letter is the crucifix, the crosses of silver and tin, 
 and not the stone crosses outside the church, but those within. 
 Bishop Sandys' letter is dated April 1, 1560, and contains an account 
 of the controversy mentioned as about to take place in Bishop Jewel's 
 letter. In it the Bishop writes : — 
 
 We had not long since a controversy respecting images. The queen's 
 majesty considered it not contrary to the word of God, nay, rather for the 
 advantage of the church, that the image of Christ crucified, together with 
 (those of the virgin) Mary and (Saint) John, should be placed, as hereto- 
 fore, in some conspicuous part of the church, where they might more 
 readily be seen by all the people. Some of us (bishops) thought far other- 
 wise, and more especially as all images of every kind were at our last 
 visitation not only taken down, but also burnt, and that too by public 
 authority (omnes omnis generis imagines in proxima nostra visitatione, 
 idque publica auctoritate, non solum sublatae, verum etiam combusts 
 erant). — Zurich Letters, pp. 74, and 42 Appendix, 
 vi. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 All this refers to images in the church, in " some conspicuous part 
 of the church," and the " public authority" was the Queen's injunc- 
 tion of 1559, which clearly gave the bishops power to remove such 
 things from the church, and destroy them ; but it could not refer to 
 stone crosses, for these, though they might have been taken down, 
 could not be burnt. The Bishop had made a bonfire of the wooden 
 images found within the church, but probably the simple churchyard 
 and other crosses were left alone. 
 
 From the series of letters quoted above, it appears that the Queen 
 retained the crucifix in her chapel. At one time it was removed, but 
 afterwards replaced. That the Queen did not desire the destruction 
 of crosses would further appear from the fact that the London crosses 
 and innumerable others in various parts of the country survived Her 
 Majesty's reign. She might even be said to have taken crosses under 
 her protection ; and a proof of the Queen's solicitude for their pre- 
 servation is supplied in a letter written by the Lord Mayor of 
 London, which appears in the Remembrancia of the City of London, 
 privately printed for the Corporation in 1878. (See pp. 65, 66, of 
 Index to the Remembrancia.) The Queen had signified her pleasure 
 to the Court of Aldermen for the reparation of the cross in Cheap- 
 side, upon information which seemed to have been given of some 
 notorious defacement in a superstitious manner without order of the 
 authorities. Such defacement as had happened was, in fact, very 
 small, and had been done by light persons who pilfered lead. 
 The Lord Mayor thereupon wrote to the Lords of the Council, 
 asking Her Majesty's further directions, and he was particularly 
 anxious touching the repairing and garnishing of the images of the 
 cross. This letter is without date, but it must have been written 
 between 1579 and 1595. 
 
 If the foregoing quotations do not amount to actual proof, they go 
 very far towards proving that stone crosses, inside and outside 
 churches, were permitted by authority to stand in the sixteenth 
 century. Persons authorized to carry out the early injunctions of 
 King Edward and Queen Elizabeth may have exceeded their com- 
 mission, and in. their zeal battered down or defaced crosses in 
 churches and churchyards, as Weever mentions in his Funeral 
 Monuments (pp. 50, 51), but in doing so they acted illegally. 
 
 Passing over divers orders, issued by Parliament, interfering with 
 church ceremonial, in the reign of Charles I., we come to an Act, or 
 ordinance, for such it is rather than an Act, since it does not profess 
 
 vii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 to have the authority of the king, passed 28th August, 1643, entitled — 
 " Monuments of Superstition or Idolatry to be demolished." This 
 ordinance provides : — 
 
 That before 1st November, 1643, all crosses in, or upon all and every 
 the said churches, or chappels, or other places of publique Prayer, Church- 
 yards, or other places to any of the said churches .... belonging, or in 
 any other open place, shall before the said first day of November be taken 
 away and defaced, and none of the like hereafter permitted in any such 
 church .... or other places aforesaid. 
 
 Here, then, we have the order for taking away and defacing all 
 crosses in or upon churches, or in any other open places, and this would 
 include churchyard, roadside, and market crosses, and, in fact, every 
 description of cross for whatever purpose erected. Such is the order, 
 and now let us see how it was carried out. 
 
 Local committees were formed in the various counties for the 
 purpose of executing the orders of Parliament. The most famous 
 of these were those acting under the Earl of Manchester, to whom 
 Parliament intrusted, for purgation, seven counties in the east of 
 England, one of these being Suffolk. The Earl appointed William 
 Dowsing, Parliamentary Visitor, for demolishing the superstitious 
 ornaments of churches in the county of Suffolk, in the year 1643 and 
 1644. The Journal of William Dowsing was printed by Parker, 
 Oxford, 1840, and from this edition the following quotations are 
 given, showing how thoroughly Dowsing carried out the orders of his 
 superior. The extracts are not consecutively given. 
 
 Orford. we ... . gave order for . . . taking of two crosses off the 
 steeple of the church and one of the chancel in all four . . . Washbrook : — 
 I gave order to take down a stoneing cross. Copdock : — I . . . did 
 deface a cross on the font, and gave order to take down a stoneing cross 
 on the chancell. Ipswich, Stoke Mary's, Two crosses in wood . . St. 
 Mary's at the Tower : I gave order to take down five iron crosses, and 
 one of wood on the steeple .... Capell, we . . . gave order ... to 
 take down a stoneing cross on the outside of the church . . Comearth 
 Magna : I gave order to take down a cross on the steeple . . . John 
 Pain, Churchwarden, for not paying, and doing his duty injoined by the 
 ordinance, I charged Henry Turner, the constable, to carry him before 
 the Earl of Manchester . . Ottley. A deputy broke down .... a cross 
 on the chancel . . . Beddingfield. I . . . gave order to take down 
 three stoneing crosses on porch, church and chancel . . Cochil .... 
 and a cross in the chancel all which ... we could not reach, neither would 
 they help us to raise the ladders. Frostenden. . . two crosses on the 
 viii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 steeple, and one on the chancel. And Mr. Ellis, an high constable of the 
 town, told me he saw an Irishman, within two months, bow to the cross 
 on the steeple, and put off his hat to it. (The following entry is characteris- 
 tic) . . We rent a-piece there the hood and surplice. Ofton : — There 
 was .... some crosses on the outside of the church and chancel, 
 and we gave orders to deface them. We gave orders to have them all 
 defaced .... and two stone crosses on the top of the steeple. 
 
 Dowsing and his deputies visited 149 churches, and if his orders 
 were in every instance carried out, he must have denuded Suffolk of 
 its crosses. 
 
 Dowsing proceeded in his work of destruction armed with authority, 
 but in certain places an excited populace took the law into their own 
 hands, and overthrew crosses. Evelyn in his Diary (May 2, 1643), 
 states that the cross in Cheapside was thrown down by a mad rabble. 
 His words are : — " I went to London, where I saw the furious and 
 zealous people demolish that stately Crosse in Cheapside." Local 
 feeling was not, in all places, in full agreement with the proceedings 
 of the iconoclasts, for, occasionally, we find the people in arms against 
 the despoilers. An instance of this occurs in the life of Richard 
 Baxter. Very ingenuously he records the following episode in his 
 eventful life, evidently quite oblivious of the fact that in religious 
 matters one man may lightly esteem what another greatly values. 
 He says that when he was at Kidderminster — 
 
 About that time the Parliament sent down an order for the demolishing 
 of all statues and Images of any of the three Persons in the blessed 
 Trinity, or of the Virgin Mary, which should be found in Churches, or on 
 the crosses in Churchyards. My Judgment was for the obeying the order, 
 thinking it came from just Authority, but I meddled not in it, but left the 
 Churchwarden to do what he thought good. The Churchwarden (an 
 honest, sober, quiet Man) seeing a crucifix upon the cross in the Church- 
 yarde, sat up a Ladder to have reacht it, but it proved too short ; whilst 
 he was gone to seek another, a crew of the Drunken riotous Party of the 
 Town (poor journeymen and servants) took the alarm, and run together 
 with weapons to defend the crucifix, and the Church Images (of which 
 there were divers left since the time of Popery). A Report was among 
 them, that I was the Actor, and it was me they sought, but I was walking 
 almost a mile out of Town, or else, I suppose, I had there ended my days. 
 — Reliquice Baxteriance, p. 40. 
 
 It will be seen from the ordinance of August, 1643, and the manner 
 in which the orders of Parliament were carried out by Dowsing, that 
 
 ix. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 the wholesale destruction of crosses was accomplished in this, rather 
 than in any previous period in English history. 
 
 I will now briefly refer to the doings of the Parliamentary forces 
 in the Vale of Clwyd. 
 
 From the Diary of Piers Roberts, called Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd, lately 
 edited by the Rev. D. R. Thomas, we learn how the Parliamentary 
 army harassed St. Asaph. The journalist writes : — 
 
 1645. St. Asaph Rebellyon. — Libera nos, D'ne a malo, Amen, and 
 denied the churches there, etc. Mem. The 24, 25 & 26 daies of Aprill 
 1645, the Rebells vizt S'r W'm. Brerton and S'r Tho : Myddleton p'ts etc. 
 w'th their army have blyndered St. Asaph's p'ish, except Wickwer, and 
 made great spoyles, etc. — Y Cwtta Cyfarwydd, p. 216. 
 
 St. Asaph being in the hands of the victorious army, it is not sur- 
 prising to find that they showed scant respect for the cathedral and 
 the palace. These edifices were soon converted to a use never con- 
 templated by their builders. The Rev. D. R. Thomas, in his History 
 of the Diocese (p. 100), says: — 
 
 At St. Asaph one Mills, a postmaster, who lived in the Bishop's palace, 
 and sold wine and liquors there, stalled his horses and oxen in the 
 cathedral, fed his calves in the throne, and removed the font to his yard, 
 where it was used as a horse-trough. The parish churches fared but little 
 better in the general confusion ; some of them being occupied as fortresses, 
 and few escaping some damage or disfigurement. 
 
 Browne Willis says much the same thing, but he adds that Bishop 
 Owen saw the Church lands sold, and died Oct. 16, 1650. 
 
 The last sentence of the extract from Mr. Thomas's book is amply 
 verified by the present condition of the few unrestored churches in 
 the Vale and neighbouring parishes. Many of these churches have 
 large and beautiful perpendicular east windows, but they have been 
 denuded of the stained glass which once filled them, a few pieces 
 only being preserved, glazed into the window without any plan, so 
 that they were probably picked up from the ground after the window 
 had been smashed. There are, however, two churches in the Vale 
 with fine fifteenth century Jesse windows that have escaped destruc- 
 tion, Llanrhaiadr and Dyserth. The Llanrhaiadr window owes its 
 preservation to having been hidden away in the church oak chest, 
 and buried in the neighbouring plantation. Browne Willis tells us 
 that it " was put up again in 1661, at the parish's expense of £60." 
 How. Dyserth window escaped the general doom I know not, unless 
 
 x. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 it, too, was taken down and concealed. From the hiding away of 
 Llanrhaiadr window we may, perhaps, infer that others had been 
 destroyed, and that the custodians of Llanrhaiadr Church were thus 
 led to conceal the glass. 
 
 Gable end crosses, in the Vale of Clwyd, have been knocked down 
 or mutilated. Cwm is an instance of this, and so also are Caerwys 
 and Llanasa. There is not a single rood-loft cross, that I am aware 
 of, left in all the Vale. Stoups, too, have disappeared from churches. 
 
 The Parliamentary forces occupied the Vale for some time. We 
 have seen that they took St. Asaph, April 24th, 1645 ; Ruthin Castle 
 was delivered up to General Mytton on Monday, April 12th, 1646 ; 
 Denbigh Castle, in which the clergy of the Vale had taken refuge, 
 held out until the 26th of October in that year. A clause in the 
 Articles of Capitulation is inserted in favour of the clergy, and the 
 necessity for terms shows how very uncertain they and their friends 
 considered their fate to be. Clause 6 in the Articles of Agreement 
 upon the Capitulation of Denbigh Castle is as follows : — 
 
 6. That the clergymen now in the garrison, who shall not, upon com- 
 position, or otherwise, be restored to the Church livinges, shall have liberty 
 and passes to goe to London, to obtayne some fitting allowance for the 
 livelyhood of themselves and families. — Pennant, vol. ii., p. 461. 
 
 The Puritans, I firmly believe, in all they did, thought they were 
 doing God service, and they considered it part of their mission to 
 eradicate superstition out of the land, with which view they destroyed 
 crosses, paintings, stained windows, and all other things which they 
 thought conducive to superstition. They never imagined that actions 
 emanating from zeal could be accused likewise of partaking of the 
 nature of superstition, but that such a retort was made appears from 
 the following extract, taken from a book entitled "Of Idolatry; a 
 Discourse ... by Tho. Tenison, B.D., Chaplain in Ordinary 
 to His Majesty and late Fellow of Corpus Christi Colledg in Cam- 
 bridge" (London, 1678, 4to) : — 
 
 And it was high superstition in those who in our late unhappy Revolu- 
 tions, defaced such Pictures and brake down such Crosses as Authority 
 had suffered to remain entire, whilst it forbad the worship of them ; and 
 was in that particular so well obeyed that none of them (it may be) ever 
 knew one man of the communion of the Church of England to have been 
 prostrate before a cross, and in that posture to have spoken to it (p. 279). 
 
 It must be lamented that crosses, which were memorials of by- 
 gone days, have been so extensively destroyed. They embodied the 
 
 xi. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 religious fervour of our forefathers, and gave expression to the then 
 popular faith, and on this ground alone they deserved better treat- 
 ment than fell to their lot. Old hymns, which formerly resounded in 
 our places of worship, are no longer popular. Tunes and words that 
 represent the aspirations of one age do not necessarily suit other 
 times. But who would in consequence seek them out, and burn 
 them in the market place ? Should we not rather preserve them as 
 interesting monuments in the mental history of our nation ; and why 
 should crosses, it may be asked, receive less respect at our hands ? 
 This is one aspect of the question, but there are others, which are so 
 well expressed in a paper by Mr. John Norton, published in the 
 Report of the Bristol and West of England Architectural Society for 
 1849, that I will quote this gentleman's words : — 
 
 I must be content to remark, that all of these old crosses, independent 
 of their high and important value as religious memorials, exhibit to the 
 modern eye valuable memorials of the architecture and sculpture of their 
 several eras, and are more especially interesting to the antiquary and 
 architect as relics of past ages, and memorials indicating the customs, 
 manners, and conditions of the arts among our ancestors (pp. 30, 31). 
 
 I will only add, by way of endorsing Mr. Norton's pertinent 
 remarks, that as historical and architectural landmarks, crosses 
 merited preservation, and from reverence for the memory of our 
 forefathers, who acted in accordance with their convictions, they ought 
 to have been left intact and undisturbed. 
 
 11. — Writings and Injunctions against Games in Churchyards, &c. 
 
 The first attempts to deprive the people of their Sunday games do 
 not seem to have been very effectual. This can easily be understood, 
 butthe fact that authorities issued injunctions against the desecration 
 of the Sabbath and profanation of churches and churchyards proves 
 that the wild proceedings of the people had not the sanction of their 
 rulers. 
 
 As early as the tenth century, the desecration of the church became 
 the subject of the Archbishop of Canterbury's disapprobation. His 
 grace, writing in the year 994 a.d., says : — 
 
 Non est sequum, ut ob aliquam aliam rem ad ecclesiam adeamus, nisi 
 ad orandum, et ex Dei amore ; prohibemus etenim tarn tumultus, quam 
 xii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 lusus et vaniloquia, imo quascunque inutilia in sacris locis fieri. — Concilia, 
 vol. i. p. 264. 
 
 Thus early the people were told that it was not right to go to 
 church for any other purpose than for prayer, and from love of 
 God ; consequently, the Archbishop prohibits such confusions as 
 games and vain babblings, yea, all kinds of frivolous things he for- 
 bids to be carried on in sacred buildings. 
 
 In Wales, thirty-six years after the Archbishop of Canterbury had 
 made known his will about proper behaviour in church, appeared a 
 prohibitory missive from the Bishop of Teilaw, of a nature akin to 
 that of the Archbishop's mandate. Both exhibit a state of things 
 then existing highly reprehensible, and objectionable to the Church 
 authorities in England and Wales. 
 
 The Welsh bishop's words appear under the year a.d. 1030, in 
 Brut y Tywysogion, the Chronicle of the Princes, a Gwentian 
 Chronicle : — 
 
 Oed Crist 1030, y gwelwyd goleuni rhyfeddawl yn yr wybren hyd nos 
 onid oedd golau fal dydd. Y flwyddyn honno y peris Ioseb escob Teilaw 
 na wnelid na gwaith na gorchwyl ar y Suliau a'r gwyliau, ag a wnaeth i'r 
 offeiriaid ddysgu darllain yr Ysgrythyr Ian heb dal heb ged, ac na wnelynt 
 ac ymrysonau. — Arch. Camb., 3rd series, vol. x., p. 46 in Appendix. 
 
 This is translated by Aneurin Owen as follows : 
 
 A.D. 1030. — A wonderful light was seen in the sky during the night, 
 which rendered it as light as day. That year, Joseph, Bishop of Teilaw, 
 ordered that no work or occupation should take place on the Sundays 
 and holidays, and obliged the priests to learn to read the Holy Scripture 
 without payment or gift, and to abandon controversies. — Arch. Camb., 
 3rd series, vol. x., p. 47 Ap. 
 
 Haddon and Stubbs in Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents (vol. i. 
 p. 291) quote this, but give a different rendering to the words " ag a 
 wnaeth i'r offeiriaid ddysgu darllain yr Ysgrythyr Ian heb dal heb 
 ged," which they rightly construe — " and obliged the priests to teach 
 to read the Holy Scripture without payment or gift." It may be 
 added that gorchwyl has a larger signification than occupation, and 
 includes anything that is being done, or that is going on. 
 
 It is impossible to say whether the wonderful light had anything 
 to do with the prohibitory measures of the Bishop, but there cer- 
 tainly seems to be a connection between the cessation of work on 
 Sundays and holy days, and the obligation laid upon the priests to 
 
 xiii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 teach reading free of charge to those who desired such knowledge ; 
 and may it not have been intended that the school should take the 
 place of play or work on Sundays and holy days ? If so, then Sunday 
 Schools are much older than we suppose them to be. Be this as it 
 may, certainly, at so early a period as a.d. 1030, if the information is 
 trustworthy, objection was taken to an unseemly observance, or non- 
 observance of certain holy days. This shows that worship and work 
 of a certain kind on holy days, previous to 1030, were not thought 
 incompatible by our Welsh forefathers, and what then existed had, it 
 is not unreasonable to suppose, been transmitted from more ancient 
 times, so that working on Sundays and Sunday sports date from 
 time immemorial. But on the other hand, the Bishop's injunction 
 shows that a change was taking place in the national mind, and that a 
 cessation of work and other undertakings on Sundays and holy days 
 might, in his opinion, possibly be accomplished. That he was 
 premature in his attempt will become evident from the quotations 
 which will be given in the course of what I have to say upon this 
 subject. 
 
 The Welsh in Cornwall, as well as their brethren in Wales, were 
 given to enjoying themselves in consecrated grounds, and there, as 
 in other parts, the bishops endeavoured to restrict the license of the 
 people. 
 
 The following extract, from an account of what was being done in 
 West Wales to bring about a better state of things, is interesting, 
 for it shows how the question was developed in various parts of the 
 country. 
 
 In a Synod held at Exeter in the year 1287, a.d., games held in 
 churchyards were prohibited. Chapter xiii. refers, amongst other 
 things, to amusements in consecrated grounds, which are condemned 
 in the following words : — 
 
 . . . Sacerdotibus parochialibus districte praecipimus, ut in ecclesiis 
 suis denuncient publice, ne quisquam luctas, choreas, vel alios ludos in- 
 honestos in coemeteriis exercere praesumat. — Concilia, vol. ii., p. 140. 
 
 But these games are forbidden " pra^cipue in vigiliis et festis 
 sanctorum," especially during vigils and saints' days. " The foregoing 
 quotation may be translated as follows : — 
 
 We strictly command parish priests to give notice publicly in their 
 churches that no one presume to indulge in wrestlings, dances, nor other 
 unseemly games in churchyards, 
 xiv. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 How far out of Exeter diocese the injunction was observed I 
 cannot say, but most likely it was limited to that part of the country, 
 for I find that the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1305, a.d., forbids 
 the holding of markets, transacting of business matters, and games, 
 in the churchyard of Newenham. His Grace, having referred to the 
 fairs held there, proceeds : — 
 
 Molestum itaque gerimus, quod in ecclesia et ccemeterio de " Newen- 
 ham " hujuscemodi prohibita exerceri dicuntur, nee preasumptores 
 talium a te per censuram ecclesiasticam aliquatenus compescuntur. — 
 Concilia, vol. ii., 283. 
 
 Which, rendered into English, is : — 
 
 Accordingly we take it as an offence that in the church and cemetery 
 of Newenham prohibited offences of this kind (fairs, games, &c), are said 
 to be carried on, nor are the presumptuous doers of such things in any way 
 checked by you through your ecclesiastical censure. 
 
 These words depict the state of society in those primitive times ; 
 and it would even seem, from other words of the Archbishop, that 
 excessive riotings, resulting in mutilation, and even homicide, took 
 place in churchyards at these revelries. 
 
 Coming down to the fifteenth century, we find Sunday games still 
 practised in churchyards. Thus in Myric's Instructions for Parish 
 Priests, printed by the Early English Text Society in 1868, from a 
 MS. in the British Museum, written about 1450 a.d., these lines 
 occur, warning the people that games are not to be played in church- 
 yards : — 
 
 Castynge of axtre and eke of ston 
 Sofere hem there to vse non ; 
 Bal and bares and suche play, 
 Out of chyrcheyarde put a- way, 
 
 —Page 11, line 334. 
 And in another MS. (Donee, 103 f, 126 b), in the Bodleian, is this 
 note, in a hand a few years later than the text : — 
 
 Danseyng, cotteyng, bollyng, tenessyng, hand ball, fott ball, stol ball, 
 and all manner of other games out cherchyard. 
 
 The games above mentioned are those which continued popular in 
 Wales to the beginning of the present century ; but it would appear 
 from Strutt's Sports and Pastimes that Sunday was occasionally, 
 if not invariably, respected in the reign of Henry VII. ; at least, it 
 was so in a grand May-game at Greenwich, which lasted from May 
 
 xv. 
 
Appendix. ' • i. 
 
 14th to a fortnight in June. The programme of spofts for each day, 
 Sunday's excepted, is given, and the inference drawn from this excep- 
 tion is, that on the Sundays no sports took place. (See Strutt's 
 Sports and Pastimes, pp. 355, 356.) But we must not, from this 
 example, draw too general a conclusion, for, notwithstanding official 
 opposition to games in consecrated grounds, they continued to be 
 carried on to the days of our fathers. 
 
 INJUNCTIONS RESPECTING SUNDAY OBSERVANCE. 
 
 Injunctions issued in the sixteenth century seem to show that the 
 authorities did not object to Sunday sports, provided they were not 
 held during the hours of divine service. The following quotations 
 from the Concilia point, however, to a fluctuating feeling respecting 
 the observance of Sundays and holy days. In the Articles to be in- 
 quired of in the diocese of Canterbury, 1547, are these words: — 
 
 Item. Whether they have taught and declared to their parishioners, 
 that they may with a safe and quiet conscience in the time of harvest, 
 labour upon the holy and festival days, and if superstitiously they abstain 
 from working upon those days, that then they do grievously offend and 
 displease God. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 24. 
 
 And again, in the Articles set forth by Cardinal Pole (1557), we 
 find the following : — 
 
 XXVIII. Item. Whether any do violate or break the Sundays and 
 holy days, doing their daily labours and exercises upon the same ? . . 
 XXIX. Item. Whether the taverns or alehouses, upon the Sundays and holy 
 days, in the time of mass, matins, and evensong, do keep open their doors, 
 and do receive people into their houses to drink and eat, and thereby 
 neglect their duties in coming to Church. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 170. 
 
 Again in the Visitation Articles in the first year of Queen 
 Elizabeth (1559) is this question :— 
 
 Whether any inholders or alehouse keepers do use commonly to sell 
 meat and drink in the time of common prayer, preaching, reading of the 
 homilies, or scripture. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. igo. 
 
 These quotations, with the exception of the first, indicate, perhaps, 
 a tendency to change the observance of Sunday to something better 
 than it then was, but it was a fitful change at best, for Queen Elizabeth 
 granted a licence for several recreations on Sundays in 1569. Thus 
 the Queen gave licence to one John Seconton Powlter, a poor man 
 with four small children, and fallen into decay, to have and use plays 
 
 xvi. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 and games on' " nyne severall Sondaies for his better relief, comforte 
 and sustentacion within the countie of Middlesex;" but he was not 
 to remain in one place above three several Sundays. Her Majesty 
 mentions the games, that is to saye : — 
 
 The shotinge with the standerd, the shotinge with the brode arrowe, 
 the shotinge at the twelve skore prick, the shotinge at the Turke, the 
 leppinge for men, the runninge for men, the wrastlinge, the throwinge of 
 the sledge, and the pytchinge of the barre, with all such other games as 
 have at any time heretofore or now be lycensed, used or played. Yeoven 
 the 26th daie of April in the eleventh yere of the quenes majiestie's raigne. 
 — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 255. 
 
 And again, when the Queen visited Kenilworth, the seat of the 
 Earl of Leicester, July gth, 1575, and was entertained by her great 
 subject to the 20th of the same month, upon referring to Strutt, I 
 find it recorded : — 
 
 On Sunday evening, she was entertained with a grand display of fire- 
 works, as well in the air as upon the water. 
 
 This was the first Sunday that her Majesty spent at Kenilworth 
 Castle, but Strutt, speaking of the following Sunday, says : — " On 
 the Sunday there was no public spectacle." So we have the evening 
 of one Sunday given to diverting the Queen and others ; whilst, on 
 the following Sunday, there is no public show. It may, therefore, 
 be said that the Queen conformed to her subjects' wishes, even in the 
 matter of sports ; one day, she sanctioned by her presence Sunday 
 amusements, but on the next she refrained from doing so. Both 
 parties, probably, were thus satisfied with the conduct of their politic 
 Queen. 
 
 But that there was a growing dislike to Sunday games in the 
 sixteenth century, it would not be difficult to prove. Writers of 
 those days mention with disapprobation the desecration of the 
 Sabbath. Among these is Philip Stubbs, who lived at the close of 
 that century. After describing the dress of the " Lord of Misrule," 
 and his followers, he proceeds : — 
 
 Thus all things set in order, then have they their hobby horses, their 
 "dragons, and their antiques, together with their baudie pipers, and thun- 
 dring drummers, to strike up the devil's dance with all. Then march this 
 heathen company towards the Church, their pypers pyping, their drummers 
 thundring, their stumpes dauncing, their belles jyngling, their handker- 
 chiefes fluttering aboute their heads like madde men, their hobbie horses 
 arid other monsters skirmishing amongst the throng : and in this sort they 
 
 xyii. 
 
Append^. 
 
 go to the Church, though the minister be at prayer or preaching, dauncing 
 and singing like devils incarnate, with such a confused noise that no man 
 can heare his owne voyce. Then the foolish people, they looke, they stare, 
 they laugh, they fleere, and mount upon the forms and pewes to see these 
 goodly pageants solemnized. Then after this, about the Church they go 
 againe and againe, and so fourthe into the churche yard, where they have 
 commonly their sommer-halls, their bowers, arboUrs, and banquetting- 
 houses set up, wherein they feast, banquet, and daunce all that dav, and 
 paradventure, all that night too ; and thus these terrestrial furies spend 
 the Sabbath day. — Strutt's Sports and Pastimes, pp. 341-2. 
 
 This vivid description reveals the state of things in Queen 
 Elizabeth's days, and apparently the Lord of Misrule governed with 
 a high hand : Sunday services and churchyards being subjected to 
 his misrule, and the people enjoyed the sight. Stubbs, and other 
 like : minded men, reprobated these unseemly proceedings, and their 
 objections would have some force, though it might not be very per- 
 ceptible in those days. 
 
 SUNDAY GAMES ENCOURAGED. 
 
 In King James's conduct, with reference to Sunday sports, we do 
 not observe the wisdom of his predecessor. There was a strong and 
 important party in this king's reign who considered all Sunday 
 games as contrary to the command of Scripture, but their feelings 
 were utterly disregarded by the king and his advisers, and coercive 
 measures, of a stringent kind, were resorted to for the purpose of 
 checking the growth of Sabbatarian ideas. In the Student's English 
 Church History (p. 393) , it is stated that : — 
 
 Mr. Trask, a Puritan minister, for a book written in defense of strict 
 Sabbatarian notions, was actually set in the pillory at Westminster, and 
 from thence whipped to the Fleet, there to remain prisoner during his 
 Majesty's pleasure. 
 
 The king believed that persecution would compel the people to 
 forego their principles, and conform to his own lax views of Sunday 
 observance, but he was quite incapable of gauging the public senti- 
 ment, and instead of embodying the general feeling of the people in 
 an act that would be in accord with their conscientious scruples, he 
 must needs insult a large and increasing number of his subjects by 
 publishing, in 1617, a Book of Sports, enjoining dancing, archery, 
 leaping, and such-like games, on the afternoon of Sundays, and this 
 book, by the king's command, was to be read in churches, But his 
 
 xviii, 
 
Appendix.. 
 
 mandate was only partially obeyed ; many of the clergy refused to 
 read the king's letter to their congregations, the example being set 
 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who would not allow the Book of 
 Sports to be read in his Church at Croydon. It need hardly be said 
 that the Puritans were horror-struck at the king's command. Such, 
 however, continued to be the state of things to the end of James's 
 reign. 
 
 King Charles I. followed in the footsteps of his father, and 
 because the judges had agreed to the request of certain persons in 
 Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, to forbid " church ales " being held 
 on Sundays in those counties, and because Chief-Justice Richardson 
 forbade the wakes or village feasts to be celebrated on Sunday, for 
 which he was severely reproved by Archbishop Laud at the Council; 
 as a reply to these proceedings, it was determined to republish the 
 Book of Sports with this addition by the King : — '*• 
 
 Our express will and pleasure is, that these feasts, with others, shall be 
 observed, and that our justices of the peace shall see them conducted 
 orderly, and that neighbourhood and freedom, with manlike and lawful 
 exercises, be used. And the justices of assize are to -see that no man 
 shall be molested in these lawful recreations, and the bishops are to give 
 order for the publication of this command in all the churches. 
 
 Persecution followed the neglect of this order, and many ministers 
 were suspended from or even deprived of their livings for dis- 
 obedience. Thus the friends of Sunday recreations were in the 
 ascendency in Charles's reign. 
 
 Neither James nor Charles originated these sports. They had 
 long ago come into existence, and from ancient times had been exer- 
 cised on Sundays ; some of them even were legalized by royal 
 command. It does not appear that they were in those days con- 
 sidered to be against the word of God, but in the seventeenth 
 century a party had arisen who appealed to the Bible in support of 
 their belief, that Sunday was to be strictly observed as a day of rest. 
 Kingly authority, however, sided with the opponents of a strict ob- 
 servance of the Sabbath ; nevertheless, from what has been said, it 
 will be seen that the reigning power was being withstood by the 
 punished and persecuted Sabbatarians. 
 
 The games practised on Sunday often exceeded the liberty given 
 by the King, and this was not small. Sir Nathaniel Brent, the Vicar 
 General, was commissioned by Archbishop Laud to furnish a report 
 
 xix. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 of the visitation- he had made throughout the dioceses of Norwich, 
 Peterborough, Lichfield, Worcester, &c, and among other pieces-of 
 information given, we read of cockfighting taking place before a 
 crowd in church. This went beyond the bounds granted by the 
 King, as the following extract from the Book of Sports will prove : — 
 
 And as fof our good peoples lawfull Recreation, onr'pleasure likewise is, 
 that after the end of pivine Service, our good people be not disturbed, 
 letted, or discouraged from any lawfull recreation ; such as dancing, 
 either men or women, Archerie for men, leaping, vaultings or any other 
 such harmlesse Recreation, nor from- having -of May„-,games, Whitson 
 Ales, and Morris dances, and the setting up of May-poles, and other sports 
 therewith vsed, so as the same be had in due and convenienttime, without 
 impediment or neglect of divine service. And that women shall have 
 leave to carry rushes to the church for the decoring of it, according to 
 their old custome. But withall we doe here accompt still as prohibited 
 all vnlawfull games to bee vsed vpon Sundays onely, as Beare and Bull- 
 baitings, Interludes, and at all times in the meaner sort of People by Law 
 prohibited, Bowling. — Smeeton's Tracts, vol. i., p. 8g, and Concilia, vol. iv., 
 pp. 483-4. 
 
 But His Majesty's declaration did not extend to those 
 
 As will abstain from coming to~ Church or Divine Service, being there- 
 fore unworthy of any lawfull recreation after the said service, and will not 
 first come to the church to serve God." 
 
 I may here remark that the excluding of absentees from morning 
 service from participating in the afternoon games came down to our 
 days. The Rev. Lewis Jones, Vicar of Cadoxton, near Neath, 
 speaking of his native town, Dolgelley, informs me that — " It was the 
 custom there to play ball on the Church, and the Rector used to 
 watch them, and would not allow any absentees from Church during 
 Morning Prayer to play." 
 
 The feeling against Sunday sports continued to be shown after 
 King Charles had republished the Book of Sports. There is a curious 
 petition in the Appendix to the sixth Report of the Royal Commission 
 on Historical Manuscripts (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1877, page 424), 
 on this subject, from a Welsh parish near Mold. It is : — 
 
 The humble petition of the parishioners and inhabitaunts of the seurall 
 parishes of Nerquis and Treythin. To the reuerend father in God John 
 by God's Providence Bushopp of Sainte Assaphen 
 
 . . . . Most of the youthes and yonger sorte of people in either 
 parishe doe commonly haunt the hare with greyhoundes and houndes vpon 
 xx.. 
 
Appendix. ,. : 
 
 the Sundayes in the morninge or doe vse to play at" the foot boole, and 
 boole, and tenins and bowles within the severall churchyards of both 
 parish churches. 
 
 The petition is undated, but from a letter from "John- Wynne, of 
 Nerquis, Esq., to the Rt. Worshipfull Lieut. Col. Davies," dated 
 5th December 1640, it. seems to have been sent to the Bishop of 
 St. Asaph about the year 1632. Squire Wynne and the parishioners 
 of his own and the neighbouring parish lament the state of things 
 described in their petition, but it does not appear that they succeeded 
 in obtaining their wishes. Both parishes are only a few miles from 
 the Vale of Clwyd, and adjoin each other. 
 
 I have brought down the history of Sunday sports to the end of 
 King Charles's reign. I will pass over the years of the Common- 
 wealth with but few remarks. 
 
 The penal laws of the Stuart kings were changed. The per- 
 secutors in the time of Charles became the persecuted in the time 
 of Cromwell. Men in those days knew more about retaliation than 
 toleration. Festivals and festivities were alike prohibited by Crom- 
 well, but the observance of the Sabbath was rigidly enforced, 
 Christmas Day was now an object of special dislike, and an ordinance 
 forbade the observance of the "superstitious time of the Nativity." 
 Again and again in Evelyn's Diary allusion is made to its prohibition: — 
 
 Christmas Day, no sermon anywhere, no church being permitted to be 
 open, so observed it at home. — Bray's Edition, p. 225. 
 
 Christmas Day. No public offices in churches, but penalties on obser- 
 vers, so I was constrained to observe it at home. 
 
 At the Restoration old customs revived, old games were re-played, 
 and the country returned with a bound to its previous sports and 
 pastimes. Little restraint was now placed upon them. Sunday 
 games were resumed, and once again was heard the mild remon- 
 strance of Bishops against Sabbath-breaking. 
 
 Have any quarrelled or stricken another in church or churchyard, or 
 abused and prophaned them with any unlawful games, as bowles, tennis, 
 football, hand-ball, dancing, and such like ? — 
 
 is the inquiry of George Griffiths, Bishop of St. Asaph, in his 
 Visitation Articles in the year 1662. Undoubtedly, in many instances, 
 it would be answered in the affirmative. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the games enumerated by his Lordship 
 are nearly identical with those of the fifteenth century. They are 
 
 xxi. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 still popular games, but they are no longer played on consecrated 
 ground, which the Bishop objects to, neither are they, at least in 
 Wales, played on Sunday. 
 
 There is still another order" treated and agreed upon by the right 
 reverend Father in God, William (Lloyd), Lord Bishop of St. 
 Asaph, and the whole clergy of this diocese, at a Synod begun at 
 St. Asaph the 4th day of July, anno domini 1683," which throws 
 light upon the subject under consideration : — 
 
 V. — Concerning the observation of the Lord's Day. 
 
 The ministers are to take all possible care that the Lord's Day be better 
 observed than generally it is, and frequently to mind the wardens of their 
 duty, both in hindering all profanations of the Lord's Day as much as in 
 them lies, and also in presenting all offenders in this particular ; and they 
 shall present the wardens themselves, in case they shall, nevertheless, be 
 found negligent in their duty. — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 609. 
 
 From the various extracts given it will be seen how prone the 
 people were to Sunday profanation, and how indifferent they were 
 to admonitions when these interfered with their pleasures ; but the 
 extracts also show that their proceedings met with episcopal disap- 
 probation. This, as we have seen, was not effective in accomplish- 
 ing more than a very slow change. It should be kept in mind, 
 when tracing the causes that led to the modern observance of 
 Sunday in Wales, but there were concurrent influences at work, 
 and I will now proceed to mention some of them. 
 
 CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE CESSATION OF SUNDAY GAMES IN WALES. 
 
 At the time when King James I. issued the Book of Sports in 
 1 6 17, Sunday games were general throughout Wales, and it needed 
 no proclamation to make them fashionable. There was, however, as 
 I have said, even in those days, a growing aversion to Sunday sports, 
 and Dr. Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to allow the Book 
 of Sports to be read in his church. Many clergymen followed his 
 grace's example, and the King was so influenced by the opposition of 
 the Archbishop and others, that he did not think it politic to enforce 
 the reading of the book in all the churches. It is uncertain whether the 
 whole of the Welsh clergy complied with the King's commands ; most 
 probably they acted somewhat similarly to their English brethren, 
 some reading it and some refusing to do so. However, there was in 
 
 xxii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 South Wales, in those days, a vicar of pronounced Sabbatarian 
 views. I allude to the Rev. Rhys Prichard, Vicar of Llandingad, 
 or, as he is usually called, Vicar of Llanymddyfri, which is a town in 
 the parish of Llandingad. This clergyman has become a household 
 name in Wales, chiefly because he was the author of a metrical book, 
 called, " Y Seven Foreu, neu Ganwyll y Cymry," i.e., " The Morning 
 Star, or the Welshman's Candle." This work treats of religion and 
 morality, and as the verses are smooth, and in the every-day language 
 of the people, it became highly popular, and circulated throughout the 
 whole of Wales. In it are many powerful appeals imploring the people 
 to strictly observe the Sabbath. It is said that Vicar Prichard was 
 led to compose his hymns to counteract the desecration of the 
 Sabbath. He was appointed to his living August 6, 1602, in his 
 twenty-third year, and observing that not only was the Sabbath 
 broken, but that the young men played outside the church during 
 the hours of divine service (*), he endeavoured to make the church 
 services more attractive to these young men than their games, and 
 for this purpose he composed hymns, which he taught his people to 
 sing in church. By these means he induced the parishioners, young 
 and old, to attend service, and by his impressive sermons and hymns 
 he succeeded in making them strict observers of the Sunday, and in 
 other ways he influenced them for good. Charles I. re-issued the 
 Book of Sports in 1633, with the approval of Archbishop Laud, who 
 also wrote a letter to the Bishops, enjoining them to see that it was 
 published to the people in the parishes within their respective 
 dioceses. At that time Bishop Field presided over the Diocese of 
 St. David's, and it is probable he did not enforce the reading of the 
 book ; if so, then Prichard escaped the shame of having to withdraw 
 his words respecting the observance of the Sabbath. It is not 
 likely that he would have read the Book of Sports to his people on 
 Sunday. 
 
 The Vicar's Book, or Canwyll y Cymry, was not composed and 
 published all at once, but appeared in parts, and possibly, in the 
 first instance, they were in MS. The Vicar died in 1644. His stray 
 
 1 That the hours of divine service were not universally observed in England would 
 appear from the injunctions of Edm. Grindal, Archbishop of York, published 1571 : 
 — " No innkeeper, victualler, or tipler should admit in his house or back side any to 
 eat, drink, or play at cards, tables, or bowls in time of common prayer, preaching, 
 or reading of homilies, on the Sundays and holidays." — Concilia, vol. iv., p. 269. 
 
 xxiii. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 sermons in verse were first collected in 1646, and published in two 
 parts, in London, by Stephen Hughes ; this was followed by a third 
 part in 1670, and a fourth was added in 1672. About fifteen 
 editions of this book have been published. The Welsh people are 
 fond of music and poetry. Vicar Prichard knew this, and taught 
 them through his poems what, otherwise, they would not receive. 
 The ignorant and unlettered got off by heart hundreds of these 
 stanzas, and they delighted in repeating them, to force, it may be, 
 an argument, or to embellish a sentiment. The writer has heard in 
 various parts of Wales the monoglot Welshman repeat portions of 
 the Vicar's Book in the most appropriate manner. The influence 
 which it had upon the morals and behaviour of the people was great. 
 I will give a few extracts, out of a large number, from the Canwyll, 
 on Sunday observance. The quotations are from the edition of 
 1858 :— 
 
 AM Y SABBATH. 
 
 V. ig. O'r holl ddyddiau nid oes undydd 
 Ym ni'n dreulio mor ddi-grefydd, 
 Mor anneddfol, mor ysgymmun 
 A'r dydd Sabbath tra fo'r flwyddyn. 
 
 V. 20. Dydd i feddwi, dydd i fowlian, 
 
 Dydd i ddawnsio, dydd i loetran, 
 
 Dydd i hwran a gwylhersu 
 
 Yw'r dydd Sabbath gan y Cymry. 
 
 V. 21. Dydd i eistedd a dyfalu, 
 
 Dydd i ymladd ac ymd'aeru, 
 Dydd i weithio gwaith y cythraul 
 Yw dydd Duw mewn llawer cornel. 
 
 V. 24. Cofia gadw'r Sabbath sanctaidd, 
 
 Duw fynn gadw hynn yn berffaidd ; 
 Yr hwn a dreulio'r Sul yn ofer, 
 Ni wna bris o ddim orch'myner. 
 
 — Canwyll y Cymry, p. 244. 
 
 The first verse quoted above, or verse nineteenth in the Canwyll, 
 informs us that, of all days in the year, the Sabbath is spent in the 
 most irreligious and unprofitable manner. 
 
 The next two stanzas describe the way in which the Sabbath is 
 kept in Wales — it is a day devoted to drunkenness, to bowl playing, to 
 dancing, to loitering, and to other things even of a worse kind than 
 those enumerated. 
 
 xxiv. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 The last verse is an earnest appeal to the people to observe the 
 Sabbath and keep it holy. 
 
 There are, as I have said, a large number of verses in the Vicar's 
 Book similar to those now given. I will quote one — his advice to 
 young men : — . 
 
 Treulia'r Sabboth oil yn llwyr, 
 Mewn sancteiddrwydd fore a hwyr, 
 Ac na ddyro ran na chyfran, 
 O ddydd Duw i blesip Satan. 
 
 Spend every hour of the Sabbath 
 In holiness both morn and eve, 
 And give not a part or parcel 
 Of God's day the devil to please. 
 
 It was with such words as these that the zealous Vicar partially 
 counteracted the effect of the Book of Sports, and his poems were, 
 probably, more powerful even than the words of a king. It may 
 safely be said that, particularly in South Wales, by his poems, he 
 brought about a better observance of the Sabbath. But all changes 
 are gradual, particularly those that are accomplished by moral 
 suasion, and it was long after Vicar Prichard had left the scene of 
 his labours that the seed sown bore fruit. 
 
 Another eminent man, who carried on the work begun by the 
 author of Canwyll y Cymry, was the Rev. Griffith Jones, Llanddowror. 
 He was born in 1683, and in 1730, when he was Vicar of Llanddow- 
 ror, he founded a system of Circulating Schools in Wales. He, too, 
 was an able and impressive preacher, and devoted himself to the 
 spiritual improvement of his countrymen. He was the author of 
 several works in Welsh and English. One of these was an Explana- 
 tion of the Catechism of the Church of England, Esponiad ar Gatecism 
 Eglwys Loegr. It is a well-known book in Wales. One question 
 will suffice to show the tendency of " Griffith Jones's " teaching, I 
 quote from the edition published by the Bangor Diocesan Tract 
 Society in 1879. In page 135 is the following : — 
 
 1. Pa bechodau a waherddir yn y pedwerydd gorchymyn ? 
 
 2. Dilyn diotta, a chwareuon, neu ryw ddifyrwch ofer, a chwedleua ein 
 geiriau llygredig ein hunain ar y Sabbath. — Esay lviii. 13, 14. 
 
 That is : — 
 
 1. What sins are forbidden in the fourth commandment ? 
 
 xxv. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 2. Tippling, and sports, or any vain amusement, and speaking our own 
 corrupt words on the Sabbath. — Is. lviii. 13, 14. 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose from this quotation that what is 
 therein named then existed, and sports are mentioned. The author 
 of this Catechism died April 8, 1761. Sunday games died not with 
 him. But there arose in the southern part of the Principality 
 another pre-eminent and zealous clergyman, the Rev. Daniel Row- 
 lands of Llangeitho, who carried on the crusade against Sabbath- 
 breaking. He was a contemporary of Griffith Jones, and his life 
 received its bias from a sermon preached by Jones. Rowlands was 
 born in 1713, and died October 16, 1790, so that he outlived his 
 spiritual father about 30 years. Remarkable success attended his 
 ministry, and such was his fame that numbers from the remotest 
 parts of Wales resorted to Llangeitho to hear him. At the time we 
 are now speaking of, there were other like-minded ministers, who raised 
 theirvoices against Sundaysports. Theyneednot all be mentioned, but 
 in North Wales there was one preacher of transcendent power, John 
 Elias, who successfully attacked Sabbath-breaking. I have already 
 'shown how he went to the Sunday harvest fair at Rhuddlan in the 
 year 1802, and preached there with such power, that the practice of 
 holding fairs on Sundays was there and then given up. Before the 
 death of John Elias, which took place June 8, 1841, Sunday games 
 had disappeared in Wales. For years they had been on* the wane, 
 and by 1840 they had ceased. 
 
 When people's minds had become unsettled as to their way of 
 spending Sunday, it was not difficult to convince them that the sudden 
 death of one of the Sunday players was an undoubted proof of God's 
 disapprobation of Sabbath-breaking. Many instances of such deaths 
 have been recorded. The Ven. Archdeacon Ffoulkes, who was at 
 one time Rector of Llandyssil, a rural parish in Montgomeryshire, 
 writes to me as follows : — " During my 22 years at Llandyssil, I 
 knew an old woman who remembered the football games played 
 every Sunday afternoon ; gentry, farmers, and labourers joining. 
 They came to an end in consequence of a man falling down dead in 
 the field while playing." 
 
 In a curious pamphlet, an extract from which is given by Mr. 
 Earwaker, Pensarn, Abergele, in The Cheshire Sheaf reprint, vol. iii., 
 p. 52, is a collection of God's judgments upon those guilty of the 
 non-observance of the Sabbath. The pamphlet is entitled : — " A 
 
 xxvi. 
 
Appendix. 
 
 Divine Tragedie lately acted, or, A Collection of Sundrie memorable 
 examples ot God's judgments upon Sabbath-breakers, and other 
 like Libertines in their unlawful sports, happening within the Realme 
 of England, in the compass onely of two years last past, since the 
 
 Book {i.e. the Book of Sports) was published by that 
 
 worthy Divine, Mr. Henry Burton," 1641. The following quotation, 
 which is given by Mr. Earwaker in The Cheshire Sheaf, will show the 
 nature of these judgments : — 
 
 1634. At Thornton, near West-chester, the people there, upon the first 
 publishing of the book, prepared for a solemn " Summer ale." The 
 bringing in of their Lady Flora should have been guarded with a marshall 
 troop : the lustiest wench and the stoutest young man in the town were 
 chosen to be the purveyors for cakes and for ribbons for favours. The 
 solemnity was to be on the Monday, but the preparation on the Lord's 
 Day. This lusty, tall maid, on the Saturday before, went to the mill to 
 fetch home the meal for cakes on her head, she being strong and able for 
 the purpose ; but in the way, passing by a hedge, she was suddenly struck 
 by a divine stroke, and fell into the ditch, where she was found dead. 
 She was suffered to lie abroad in that pickle all the Lord's Day till Monday 
 morning, when, the Coroner been sent for, she was thence carried to her 
 grave immediately ; where all her solemnity was buried with her, and all 
 her vain thoughts, in that verie day wherein the great solemnity should 
 have been. And see what a good effect this wrought in the whole town ! 
 First, all their mirth was turned in to mourning, no summer ale kept, and 
 besides that, they being moved by the dreadful stroke of God took their 
 May-pole down, which they had before set up ; and never after would 
 presume to set it up again, or to have any more summer-ales or May-poles. 
 God grant they continue in their sober mindes, and that all other would 
 learn to be wise by their example. 
 
 This quotation shall bring to a close my lengthy remarks on the 
 causes that led to the disappearance of Sunday games. 
 
 xxvn. 
 
INDEX 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Abbey Cross, Denbigh . . . . 32. 33 
 
 Acca, -Bishop 135 
 
 Act suppressing Fighting, &c, in Churches 
 
 and Churchyards 67 
 
 Agreements made at Crosses . . . 154, 155 
 Aids, or Contributions at Funerals . . 60, 61 
 Weddings . .Si 
 All-Hallqws.-Eve, Consulting the Future on 174 
 All Saints' Day Customs . 98, 174, 175, 176, 177 
 Announcements made at Churchyard Crosses 36 
 Appropriating Seats in Church ... 82 
 
 Ati's Cross, Flint 71 
 
 Announcements made from Steps of Cross . 36 
 Antipathy to Burial on North side of Church- 
 yard .... ig6, 197, 198, igg 
 
 Ball-playing in Churchyards . 9, 101, 102, 103 
 on Sundays against the Church 
 
 Walls 37, 38 
 
 Baptism, Customs at gg 
 
 Baptizing Children with Water from Holy Well 173 
 
 to make them Thrive . 173 
 
 Benches in Gwyddelwern Church ... 81 
 
 Bell, Sacring log, in 
 
 Bell Ringing in Funeral Processions 107, 108, i8g 
 without Service . . . I7g, 180 
 Bell Corn, Bell Sheaf, or Yd y Gloch . . i8g 
 Book of Sports . . . Ap. XX., Ap. XXII. 
 Bier-Horse, or EIor-Feirch . . . , 113 
 Bier carried by Next of Kin .... 57 
 
 Bishop Acca's Cross 135 
 
 Bryneglwys Cross 3 
 
 Burial of Suicides 74, 75 
 
 Burials near Churchyards' Cross ... 8 
 
 Burial Customs . . 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 5g, 60 
 
 Burying in Sheets . . . . 59. 60 
 
 Churches . , , .78, 7g, 80 
 
 Churchyards . . . 134, 135 
 
 Burning Tithe 116 
 
 Burial on North side of Church ig6, ig7, ig8, igg 
 ofEx-communicatedpersons ig7 
 of Unbaptized persons . 197 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Candles for Christmas Morn Service . . 13 
 
 Candle Vespers • . 14 
 
 Canwy.ll y Cymry , . App. XXIII, to XXV. 
 Canon respecting Burying in Church * . , . 78 
 Cerrig Dioddefaint, or Penance Stones . . 113 
 
 Chester Market Cross' 31 
 
 Chirk Consecration Cross . -94 
 
 Christians' appropriated Pagan Places of 
 
 Worship 73, 121, 122 
 
 Christmas Morn Service, or Plygain 10, n, 12, 13 
 
 Kept according to the Old Style . 114 
 
 Church Wall Paintings . . -75, 76, 77, 78 
 
 Seats 81, 82, 83, 84 
 
 Porches, Wares sold in 125 
 
 Churchwardens' Accounts, Extract from no, igo, ig2 
 
 Churchyard Crosses . . 3, 7, 16, 32, 34, 47, 
 
 52, 70, 85, 8g, 100, 106, 118, 131, 151, 167, 181 
 
 Churchyard, fairs held in ... 123 
 
 Burials on North side of ig6, ig7, igg 
 
 Cilcen, Maes-y-groes Cross 
 
 Cilcen Churchyard Cross 
 
 Circular Churchyards 
 
 Clergymen, Spell-breaking by 
 
 Commemoration Sunday, or Sul Coffa 
 
 Cockpit in Churchyard . 
 
 Corwen, Churchyard Cross 
 
 Rug Chapel Cross . 
 Co ecration Cross, Llanasa . 
 Llanwnda 
 Chirk 
 
 7. 8, g 
 
 72. 73. 91 
 
 177, 178 
 
 58,59 
 . 198 
 . 16 
 
 169 
 92 
 93 
 94 
 
 167, 168, 
 
 95 
 
 Llangwyfan, Denbighshire g4 
 
 Overton, supposed . 
 
 Malpas . 
 
 Adare . . 
 
 Salisbury Cathedral 
 Consecration of Churches 
 Consulting the Future on All-Hallows-Eve 
 Croes Eurgain . . . 162, 163, 164 
 
 does Naid ^3 
 
 Cross, Bryneglwys , 3 
 
 Cross, Cilcen 7 
 
 Maes-y-groes, Cilcen ... 14, 15 
 
 xxix. 
 
 94 
 95 
 95 
 9° 
 9° 
 174 
 
> Index. 
 
 PAGE. 
 l6, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 
 24, 25 
 
 26, 27 
 
 ■ 32 
 
 34. 3 6 
 
 ■ 47 
 52,53 
 • 7° 
 
 ■ 71 
 85,86 
 87, 88 
 
 89 
 89 
 92 
 93 
 94 
 93 
 
 H9. 
 151. 
 
 Cross, Corwen . 
 Cwm . 
 Denbigh High 
 Abbey, Denbigh , 
 tjerwen 
 
 Dyserth, Einion's 
 Efenechtyd . 
 Flint . 
 Ati's, Flint . 
 Halkyn J . 
 Henllan 
 
 Converted into Sun-dial 
 Llanarmon-yn-Ial 
 Llanasa 
 
 Consecration 
 Chirk Consecration 
 Llanwnda Consecration Crosses 
 Wreathing with Flowers on Palm Sunday 99 
 
 Llanelidan 100, 101 
 
 Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd . . 106, 107 
 Llartgernyw .... 118 to 123 
 Llannefydd Village . . . 127, 128 
 
 Converted into Sun-dial 8g, 106, 127, 151 
 Llanrhudd . . . 131, 132 
 
 Llanynys Sepulchral . . . 133, 135 
 Maen Chwyfan . 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 
 
 143. !44. 145. 146, i47> H8 
 Newmarket Churchyard 
 Rhuddlan Churchyard 
 Village 
 
 Croes-y-Berllan 
 Crugyn 
 Rug Chapel, Corwen : 
 Ruthin, on Mill . • 
 Tremeirchion Churchyard 
 Crosses, Destruction of . 
 Cup-Markings on Corwen Cross 
 
 other Stones 
 Cyflog-y-groes, or Wage of the Cross 
 Cymhorth, Aids or Contributions . 
 Crucifix in Cerrig-y-drudion Church Wall 
 Llanbedr, near Conway 
 Caerhun ,, 
 
 Customs, Congregation stood as the Clergy 
 man left the Church 
 The Passing Bell . 
 Watchnight, or Gwylnos . 55, 
 Offerings on the Coffin . 
 Starting the Funeral 
 Next-of-kin Carry the Bier 
 Offerings to the Clergyman and 
 
 Clerk at Funerals . . 57, 58 
 Commemoration Sunday . . 58 
 Burying in Sheets . . -59 
 
 Aids, or Cymhorth ... 60 
 
 Marriage .... 61,62,98 
 
 Running for Wedding Cake . . 62 
 Keeping the Wedding Feast . . 62 
 Burial of Suicides in Cross Roads . 74 
 
 97. Ap. I. 
 
 150 
 152 
 
 • 154 
 
 . 161 
 
 162, 163, 164 
 
 167, 168, 169 
 
 170 
 
 181 
 
 to XII. 
 
 17 
 
 17, 18 
 
 29 
 
 60 
 
 5,6 
 
 5 
 
 5 
 
 54 
 54 
 56 
 56 
 57 
 57 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Customs, Burials in Church .• . . -79 
 Heaving at Eastertide ... 97 
 Sermon on Easter Eve ... 98 
 All Saints' Day .... 98 
 Baptism and Funeral 98 
 
 Ringing a Hand-bell at Funerals . 107 
 Separating the Sexes during Divine 
 
 Service 116 
 
 Funeral 132 
 
 Baptizing with Water from Holy 
 
 Well 173 
 
 Washing Church with Water from 
 
 Holy Well 173 
 
 Baptizing Sickly Children to make 
 
 them Thrive , . . .173 
 
 Consulting the Future on All- 
 Hallow-Eve . 174, 175, 176, 177 
 
 May Dancers 180 
 
 All Saints' Day . , . , 98 
 In Tremeirchion Parish , . 189 to 194 , 
 Strewing Churches with rushes at 
 
 Easter .... igo, 191 
 
 Shrove Tuesday . . . 191, 192 
 Palm Sunday ..... 192 
 Easter Sunday .... 192 
 
 May Eve and May Day . . 192 
 
 St. John the Baptist's Eve . . ig4 
 Ysceifiog, Distribution of Bread at 
 
 Funerals 206 
 
 Repeating the Lord's Prayer at 
 
 Funerals 206 
 
 Palm Sunday .... gg 
 
 Dancing round a Birch tree on May Day , ig3 
 Destruction of Crosses ..... g7 
 Decorating Graves after Funerals ... 58 
 Denbigh Market Cross ... 26, 27 
 
 Devil's Door in Churches , , , ig8, igg 
 Derwen Churchyard Cross . . .34, 35, 36, 
 
 Rood Loft 42 
 
 Divination, or Yn Rhamanta . 177, 202, 203, 204 
 Dog Tongs, or Gefail Gwn . . . 136, 137 
 Door from Churchyards to Public H ouse • 4° 
 Dowsing, William, Parliamentary Visitor, 
 
 Ap. VIII., IX. 
 
 Dyserth Cross ... 47, 48, 4g, 50 
 
 Socket of Cross at . . . .50 
 
 Easter Festivities . 
 
 Celebrations 
 
 Carols and other customs 
 
 Dues or duties , , 
 Edward I. at Rhuddlan . 
 Efenechtyd, supposed Churchyard Cross 
 Customs 
 
 Wakes 
 
 Fairs held in Churchyards 
 
 Llangernyw Churchyard 
 
 45. 46 
 
 • 97 
 
 . 192 
 
 , 192 
 
 • 153 
 
 Jss 52, S3 
 
 • 59 
 
 63, 64, 65, 66 
 
 . 123 
 
 . 124 
 
 XXX. 
 
Index. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Fairs, Why held in Churchyards . . . 126 
 Frescoes on Church Walls ... 77, 78 
 Fighting in Churchyards, Fine for . . . 67 
 Fit Curing by Wearing Ring made out of Silver 179 
 Flint Churchyard Cross . . . 70,71 
 
 Folk Lore, Spell-breaking with Earth from 
 
 the Churchyard . . . .114 
 Cursing an In-coming Tenant . 114 
 
 ( See Customs and Tales) 
 
 Funeral Customs, The Passing Bell . . 54 
 The Watch night , . 55 
 Offerings on the Coffin . 56 
 Starting the Funeral . . 57 
 Next-of-kin Carry the Bier. 57 
 Offerings to the Clergyman 
 
 and Clerk . . 57, 58 
 Commemoration Sunday 58, 59 
 Burying in Sheets . . 59 
 Offerings or Gifts to Rela- 
 tives of Deceased . 60, 61 
 Ringing a Hand-bell in 
 
 Funeral Procession . 107, 189 
 Praying over the Dead . 22,23,59 
 
 Games, Efenechtyd . . . . 66, 67 
 
 Fives, in Churchyards. . 101, 102, 103 
 Marking of 103, 104, 105 
 
 In Churchyards, Writings and Injunc- 
 tions against , . Ap. XII. to XVI. 
 Sunday, encouraged , Ap. XVIII, to XX. 
 Gosper Canwyllau, or Candle Vespers . . 14 
 Ground Plan, showing position of Bryneglwys 
 
 Cross 4 
 
 Showing position of Cifcen 
 
 Churchyard Cross ... 9 
 Showing position of Corwen 
 
 Cross 19 
 
 Showing position of Derwen 
 
 Churchyard Cross ... 35 
 Showing position of Llanarmon- 
 
 yn-Ial Churchyard Cross . 89 
 Showing position of Llanelidan 
 
 Churchyard Cross , , . 100 
 Showing position of Llanfair 
 
 Dyffryn Clwyd Cross . 
 Showing position of Llangernyw 
 Crosses ..... 
 Showing position of Llanrhudd 
 
 Churchyard Cross . 
 Showing position of Newmarket 
 
 Churchyard Cross . 
 Showing position of Rhuddlan 
 
 Churchyard Cross . 
 Showing position of Llannefydd 
 Village Cross .... 
 Gwyddelwern Churchyard, shape of 
 Burial of Suicides 
 Church Wall Painting 
 
 106 
 
 118 
 
 132 
 
 Gwyddelwern, Divination at . 
 
 Sacring Bell 
 Gwylmabsant, Efenechtyd 
 
 Llanarmon-yn-Ial 
 
 Halkyn Cross 
 Henllan Cross 
 Hiring on Sunday 
 Holy Well, Ruthin 
 Horse Bier 
 
 Inscriptions on Hand Bells . . 108, log, no 
 Inscriptionon Stones inCerrigydrudionChurch 6 
 Sun-dial . . . 8g, 106, 127 
 Incisions on Cross . . . -7, 128, 131, 146 
 Incisions on Crosses and other Stones, why 
 
 made 206, 207, 208 
 
 Injunctions respecting Rood Lofts . . 43. 44 
 
 54 
 57 
 66 
 76 
 79 
 83 
 
 I5 1 
 
 130 
 
 72 
 74 
 75 
 
 The Passing Bell 
 
 Funerals 
 
 Wakes 
 
 Church Wall Paintings 
 
 Burial in Churches 
 
 Church Seats 
 
 Ringing a Hand Bell 
 
 at Funerals 
 Holding Fairs in 
 Churches and 
 Churchyards 
 Selling Wares in 
 
 Church Porches 
 Cross Agreements 
 against games in Churchyards, 
 
 . . . Ap. XII. to XVI 
 respecting Sunday Observance, 
 , . , Ap, XVI. to XVIII 
 
 108 
 
 124 
 
 125 
 155 
 
 Jacobean Seats in Church 
 
 83 
 
 Laws of Howel the Good ... 67 
 
 Lich-gate or Corpse-gate . , • 201, 202 
 
 Llanasa, Fragment of Cross , . ■ ■ 9 2 
 Llanarmon-yn-Ial, Churchyard Cross 
 Llanelidan, Burial of Suicides 
 
 Churchyard Cross 
 
 Rood Loft . 
 
 East Window . . , 
 Llangwyfan, Consecration Cross . 
 Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd, Churchyard Cross 106, 107 
 Llangernyw Crosses 118, 119, T20, 121, 122, 123 
 
 Boulders in Churchyard 
 Llanwnda, Pembrokeshire, Consecration 
 
 Crosses 
 
 Llannefydd, Village Cross . . . 127, 
 
 Llanrhudd, Churchyard Cross 
 
 Llanynys, Sepulchral Cross . . 133, 134 
 
 go 
 
 74 
 101 
 105 
 105 
 
 94 
 
 123 
 
 93 
 128 
 
 131 
 135 
 
 Malpas Consecration Crosses 
 Maen Chwyfan 
 
 • 95 
 138 to 148 
 
 xxxi. 
 
Index. 
 
 ,., PAGE. 
 
 Manner of Conducting the Christmas Morn 
 
 Service n 
 
 May Eve and May Day Customs , ig2, ig3, 194 
 
 May Dancers 180, ig3 
 
 Market Crosses, their origin .... 27 
 Marking Game of Fives in Church Porch . 103 
 
 Marriage Customs 6i, 62, g8 
 
 By Jumping over a Besom . . 63 
 Masons' Marks on Cross . 128, I2g, 130, 149 
 Mold, image destroyed at , , 201 
 
 Newmarket Churchyard Cross •. i4g, 150 
 Next of Kin, Bier Carried by . , . • , . 57 
 Neithiawr, or Keeping Wedding Feast . 62 
 
 Nos Galangauaf 174 
 
 Offerings at Funerals . -56, 57 
 
 Order of Leaving the Church . , .116 
 
 Ornamental Stone, Corwen .... 21 
 Origin ot Market Crosses ... 27, 28 
 Owen Glyndwr's Cross, Corwen ... 20 
 Overton, Supposed Consecration Cross . . 94 
 Ode, in Welsh, on the Tremeirchion 
 
 Cross , , . 184, 185, 186, 187, 188 
 
 Pagan Places of Worship Appropriated by 
 
 Christians. . . . 73,121, 122 
 
 Pagan Pillar Stones with Cross Incised ng to 122 
 Palm Sunday, decorating graves by . , ig2 
 Parish Terrier, quotation from , 189, igo, ig2 
 
 Parish Clerk's Dole 189 
 
 Palm Sunday, Decoration of Pulpit on . .go 
 Wreathing Cross with Flowers 
 on ..... go 
 Payments made at Crosses .... 155 
 
 Penance in, 112, 113 
 
 Form of 112 
 
 Stones of 113 
 
 Plan of Gwyddelwern Churchyard ... 72 
 
 Pillar Stone Cross. Corwen .... 20 
 
 Crosses, Llangernyw . 118 to 123 
 
 Stones in Ireland . . . . , 121 
 
 Plygain, or Christmas Morn Service . 10 to 13 
 
 Praying Over, or For the Dead . . 22, sg 
 
 Priest's Door, Blocked Up . . . . g 
 
 Prayer by Parish Clerk at Funeral ... 58 
 
 Proclamations made at Market Crosses . 30, 31 
 
 Churchyard Crosses . 36 
 
 Prichard Vicar . . Ap, XXIII., XXIV., XXV. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Ap. XVI., XVII, 
 
 Rhuddlan Churchyard Cross . 
 Crosses . 
 
 . 151, 152 
 . 152 
 
 Village Cross . 
 Sunday Fairs . 
 Croes-y-Berllan 
 
 • 154 
 
 156 to 161 
 
 . 161 
 
 Crugyn Cross . 
 Ringing a Hand Bell at Funerals 
 
 162 to 165 
 .107 to III 
 
 XXX11. 
 
 
 Rood Loft, or Llofft-y-grog 
 
 Rood Loft at Derwen 
 
 People Occupied The 
 at Llanerfyl , 
 at Llanelidan . 
 
 Rug Chapel, Churchyard Cross 
 
 Ruthin, Cross on Mill 
 
 St, Peter's Holy Well 
 
 , PAGE. 
 
 42 to 45 
 . 42 
 ■ 42 
 •., 44 
 . 105 
 
 l6f, 168 
 170 to 173 
 • 173 
 
 Sacring Bell 109, 11 1 
 
 Separating the Sexes in Divine Service . .116 
 St. Germanus, Mention of . . .go 
 
 St. Cwyfan 141 
 
 St. Patrick 121, 145 
 
 St. Mark's Day, Observance ot . . 165, 166 
 
 St. Peter's Well, Ruthin 173 
 
 Screen at Llanelidan 105 
 
 Scoring of Games on Church Walls 103, 104, 105 
 Sheet, White, Worn in Penance . . 1 11, 112 
 Shutters to Church Windows. . . g, 40, 101 
 Strewing Churches with rushes . . igo, igi 
 Shrove Tuesday Customs, Thrashing the hen . igi 
 Clapping for eggs, &c. igi 
 St, John the Baptist's Eve, custom on . , 194 
 
 Starting the Funeral 57 
 
 Stopping the Sunday Fairs . . 159, 160, 161 
 
 Sunday Fairs 2g 
 
 Sunday Hiring . . 2g, 30, 156, 157, 158, 159 
 
 Sunday Games 37 to 42 
 
 Encouraged Ap. XVIII, to XX, 
 Feeling against Ap. XX. to XXII, 
 Causes which led to the cessa- 
 tion of, Ap, XXII, to XXVII. 
 Sketch of Crucifix in Cerrigydrudion Church 
 
 Wall 6 
 
 Sketch of Churchyard Cross Cilcen . . 7 
 Maesygroes Cross, Cilcen . . 15 
 Corwen Cross .... 20 
 
 Ornamental Stone, Corwen . . 21 
 Churchyard Graves Stones . . 22 
 Denbigh Cross .... 26 
 Abbey Cross . . 32, 33 
 Derwen Churchyard Cross . . plate 
 Dyserth Cross .... plate 
 Socket of Cross at Dyserth . . plate 
 Panels of Altar Tomb, Dyserth . 51 
 Supposed Remnant of Efenechtyd 
 
 Churchyard Cross 
 Sketch of Flint Churchyard Cross . 
 
 Gwyddelwern Church Seats 
 Halkyn Cross . 
 Henlian Cross 
 Llanarmon-yn-Ial Cross 
 Llanasa Cross 
 Llanasa Consecration Cross 
 Chirk Consecration Cross 
 Llangwyfan Consecration Cross 
 Overton supposed Consecration 
 Portion of Llanelidan Cross . 
 
 52, 53 
 
 ■ 70 
 
 81, 82,83 
 
 • 85 
 
 • 87 
 89 
 93 
 93 
 94 
 94 
 94 
 
 101 
 
 92 
 
Index. 
 
 Sketch of Scoring of Fives Games 
 
 Llanfair Dyffryn Clwyd*Cross 
 Bell used in Funeral Processions 
 Llangernyw Crosses 
 
 Churchyard Stones 
 Llannefydd Village Cross 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 103, 104 
 107 
 108 
 119 
 123 
 128 
 Masons' Marks 128, I2g, 130 
 
 Llanrhudd Churchyard Cross . 
 
 Llanynys Sepulchral Cross 
 
 Dog Tongs .... 
 
 Maen Chwyfan 
 
 Rhuddlan Steps of Cross 
 
 Crugyn Cross . ... 
 
 Rug Chapel Cross . 
 
 Cross on Mill, Ruthin . 
 
 Newmarket Churchyard Cross 
 
 Of Cross in Whitford 
 
 Of Pillar Stone found in Whitford 
 
 Church 
 
 Of Ysceifiog Churchyard Cross 
 Squire, the First to Leave the Church after 
 
 Divine Service .... 
 Sun-dial in Cilcen Churchyard 
 
 Gwyddelwern Churchyard 
 
 Llanarmon-yn-Ial Churchyard 
 
 Llannefydd 
 Superstition about St. Mark's Day . . 165, 166 
 
 177. 
 Morn 
 
 Tales of Spell Breaking by Clergymen 
 Tales of the Plygain, or Christmas 
 
 Service ..... 
 Tales of the Wake of Patron Saint 
 Fighting 
 
 Old All-Hallow-Eve . 
 Tale of Rhiwaedog and Rhiwlas Family 
 
 Hiring at the Cross . . 157, 158 
 Fit Curing by Wearing Silver Ring . 
 
 • 131 
 r 33, 134 
 
 • 136 
 . plate 
 . 152 
 
 164 165 
 . 168 
 . 170 
 , 150 
 
 195, 196 
 
 205 
 
 lie 
 
 8 
 
 72 
 
 89 
 
 128 
 
 127, 
 
 68 
 !74. 
 
 178 
 
 12 
 
 64 
 
 , 69 
 
 175 
 n 7 
 
 159 
 r 79 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Tales of Incantation . . , 202, 203, 204 
 
 Tithe Auction 115 
 
 Tradition respecting Cilcen Church . . 9 
 Burning of Cilcen Church 10 
 Maes-y-Groes Cross, Cil- 
 cen 15 
 
 Tradition respecting Corwen Cross . , 20 
 
 Praying Over the Dead . 22 
 
 Rug Chapel . . .167 
 
 Tremeirchion .Churchyard Cross 181, 182, 183, 184 
 
 Tremeirchion, Ode on Cross , , 184 to 188 
 
 Vespers n 
 
 Vicar Prichard's Canwyll y Cymry, Ap, XXIII. to 
 XXVI. 
 
 Victoria AHeluiatica • go 
 
 Village Cross, Henllan 87 
 
 Wage Cross, or Cyflog y Groes 29, 156, 157, 158, 159 
 Wares Sold in Church Porches . . , 125 
 Wake of the Patron S>aint of Efenechtyd 63 to 66 
 Wake of the Patron Saint of Llanarmon-yn- 
 Ial , . go, 91 
 
 Washing Church with Water from Holy Well 173 
 
 Watchnight, or Wake, or Gwylnos . . 55, 56 
 
 Wedding Cake, Running for . . . .62 
 
 Whitford, Cross discovered in Churchyard 195, ig6 
 
 Pillar stone found in Church 
 
 wall , , , , igg, 200, 201 
 
 Window Shutters, Church . . . . 9, 40 
 
 To Church, Why Made . g 
 
 Work Suspended on St. Mark's Day . 165, 166 
 
 Wrexham Church 2g 
 
 Writings and Injunctions against games in 
 
 Churchyards Ap. XII. to XVI 
 
 Ysceifiog Churchyard Cross , . . 205, 206 
 Customs , . . . , 206 
 
 XXX111, 
 
LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. 
 
 Adnitt, H. W., Esq., Lystonville, Shrewsbury. 
 
 Bagot, Lord, Blithfield, Rugeley. 
 
 Baines, Rev. T., M.A., The Vicarage, Berriew, Mont. 
 
 Bangor, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Bangor. 
 
 Barnes, J as. R., Esq., Brookside, Chirk. 
 
 Bath, Charles. Esq., Ffynone, Swansea. 
 
 Bennett, N., Esq., Glanyrafon, Llanidloes. 
 
 Brereton, A. J., Esq. (Andreas o F6n), The late, Mold. 
 
 Berrington, A. D., Esq., Pant-y-goitre, Abergavenny. 
 
 Blackwell, Henry, Esq., 201 — 213, East 12th Street, New York, U.S.A. 
 
 Blezard, Robert, Esq., Pool Park, Ruthin. 
 
 Bown, Miss, Wretham Road, Handsworth, Birmingham. 
 
 Browne, Rev. H. L,, Monk Sherborne Rectory, Basingstoke. 
 
 Cashel, Rev. Canon, M,A., Trinity Vicarage, Oswestry. 
 
 Caulfield, Richard, Esq., LL.D., F.S.A., Librarian, Queen's College, Cork. 
 
 Chapman, Mr. H., School House, Dolfor, Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Connor, George, Esq., Hendy, Mold. 
 
 Davies, E. W., Esq., Penrhiwarddwr, Eglwysfach, R.S.O., Denbighshire. 
 
 Davies, D. Griffith, Esq., B.A., 200, High Street, Bangor. 
 
 Davies, Rev. W., B.A., The Rectory, Llangadwaladr, Oswestry. 
 
 Davies-Cooke, Philip B., Esq., Gwysaney, Mold. 
 
 Davies, Jas., Esq., F.R.M. Society, F.A.S., Plasnewydd, Llanrhaiadi, Oswestry. 
 
 Davies, Rev. J. E., Llangelynin Rectory, Llwyngwril, Merioneth. 
 
 Davies, Rev. D. Grimaldi, M.A., Curate, Corwen. 
 
 Davies, Rev. Pryce, M.A., 23, Victoria Road, Chester. 
 
 Davison, Mrs. E., Fairfield, Connah's Quay. 
 
 Edwards, Wm. Osbert, Esq., Haulfre, Ruthin, 
 Edwards, Rev, Dan., M.A., St. Mary's Rectory, Cefn, St. Asaph. 
 Edwards, Rev. Thomas Charles, M.A., University College, Aberystwyth. 
 Edwards, J. C, Esq., Trevor Hall, Ruabon. 
 
List of Subscribers. 
 
 Edwards, Edward, Esq., Bronwylfa, Ruthin, 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Griffith, M.A., F.H.S., Llangadfan Rectory, Welshpool. 
 
 Edwards, The late Canon Wynne, 73, Parkgate Road, Chester. 
 
 Ellis, Mr. Wm., School House, Tremeirchion, St. Asaph. 
 
 Ellis, G. Gregson, Esq., Plasnewydd, Ruthin. 
 
 Evans, Rev. Evan, Llanarmon Vicarage, Mold. 
 
 Evans, Rev. D. Silvan, B.D., Llanwrin Rectory, Machynlleth. 
 
 Evans, Rev. J. Owen, M.A., Towyn Vicarage, Abergele. 
 
 Evans, Rev. T. H., Llanwddyn Vicarage, Llantyllin, R.S.O. 
 
 Evans, Rev. J. M., Bistre Vicarage, Mold. 
 
 Evans, Mr. Vincent, 30, Leconfield Road, Highbury, New Park, N. 
 
 Evans, Rev. D. W., M.A., St. George's Vicarage, Abergele. 
 
 Evans, Mr. Evan, Pen-y-bank Terrace, Abergele. 
 
 Felix, Rev. J., Cilcen, Mold. 
 
 Feltoe, The Rev. Professor, M.A., St. David's College, Lampeter. 
 
 Ffoulkes, The Ven, Archdeacon, Whittington Rectory, Oswestry. 
 
 Field, Rev. A., M.A., The Vicarage, Pool Quay, Welshpool. 
 
 Feilden, Rev. 0. M., M,A., Frankton, Oswestry. 
 
 Fletcher, The Misses Lloyd, Nerquis Hall, Mold. 
 
 Gleave, Mr. Thomas, Flint. 
 
 Gilbert, Mr., 3, Vernon Chambers, Southampton Row, London, W.C. 
 
 Griffith, J. M., Esq., 243, Stanhope Street, Regent's Park, N.W. 
 
 Griffith, J. Lloyd, Esq., M.A., Frondeg, Holyhead. 
 
 Griffiths, Rev. Jenkin, M.A., Oswestry. 
 
 Hamer, Rev. Meredith, B.A., Berse Drelincourt, Wrexham. 
 
 Harris, Rev. Howell, B.A., The Vicarage, Ffynnon Groyw, Holywell. 
 
 Hereford, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Hereford. 
 
 Hesketh, Robert Bamford, Esq., Gwrych Castle, Abergele. 
 
 Hughes, John, Esq., 6, Eberle Street, Liverpool. 
 
 Hughes, Rev. Morgan, Derwen Rectory, near Corwen. 
 
 Hughes, Rev. R. H. M., M.A., Llansantffraid Vicarage, Oswestry. 
 
 Hughes, Rev. T. J., M.A., Llanbedr Rectory, Ruthin. 
 
 Humberston, Colonel Philip S., Glan-y-Wern, Denbigh. 
 
 Humphreys, Mr. W. R., Cynwyd School House, Corwen. 
 
 Jenkyns, Mr. J. J., Bodafon, Llandudno. 
 
 Johnes, Mrs., Dolau Cothy, Llandeilo, R.S.O., S. Wales. 
 
 Jones, W., Esq., Park Place, Henley-on-Thames. 
 
 Jones, H. LI., Victoria, British Columbia. 
 
 Jones, Mr. J. E., National School, Llangwm, Corwen. 
 
 Jones, Mr. Robert Pryce, Trinity College, Dublin. 
 
 Jones, Rev. R., Rhydycroesau Rectory, Oswestry. 
 
 Jones, Mr. Powel, School House, Llanelidan, Ruthin. 
 
 Jones, Mr. Henry Watson, Grosvenor Road, Chester. 
 
List of Subscribers. 
 
 Jones, Samuel, Esq., Glandinorwig, Carnarvon. 
 
 Jones, Rev. J., Rector of St. Beuno's College, St. Asaph. 
 
 Jones, Mr. John, National School, Denbigh. 
 
 Jones, Rev. D., Brynford Rectory, Holywell. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Pierce, The Vicarage, Dolwyddelan, R.S.O., Bettws-y-Coed. 
 
 Jones, Rev. John, Cerrigydrudion Rectory, Corwen. 
 
 Jones, Morris C, Esq,, F.S.A., Gungrog Hall, Welshpool. 
 
 Jones, A. Emrys, Esq., M.D., 10, St. John Street, Manchester. 
 
 Jones, Rev. E. Lloyd, Wesleyan Minister, Rhyl. 
 
 Jones, Mr. Griffith J., Board Schools, Penygelli, Wrexham. 
 
 Jones, Rev. D., B.A., The Vicarage, Llanrhaiadr-yn-Mochnant, Oswestry. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Lewis, The Vicarage, Cadoxton, near Neath. 
 
 Jones, Rev. D., M.A., The Vicarage, Glynceiriog, Llangollen. 
 
 Jones, Rev. J., B.A., Curate, Greenfield, Holywell. 
 
 Jones, Mr. J. R. (Gomerydd), Caerwys, Holywell. 
 
 Jones, Rev. E., M.A., Llannefydd Vicarage, Rhyl. 
 
 Jones, Captain Wynne, Olinda, Rhyl. 
 
 Jones, J. W., Esq., The Grange, Penn Road, Holloway. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Owen, The Vicarage, Pentrevoelas, Bettws-y-Coed. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Griffith, The Vicarage, Mostyn. 
 
 Jones, Rev. T., Curate, Llansantffraid-yn-Mechain, Oswestry. 
 
 Jones, Pryce, Esq., M.P., Dolerw, Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Jones, Rev. M. Wheldon, Trefeglwys Vicarage, Caersws, Mont. 
 
 Jones, The late Rev. Ebenezer, Cilcen Vicarage, Mold. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Enoch, M.A., curate of Mold. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Basil M,, M.A., Llanfair Vicarage,' Ruthin. 
 
 Jones, Mr. Herbert A., Borough Printing Office, Flint. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Rees, Llansantffraid Rectory, Corwen. 
 
 Jones, The late Rev. T. E., M.A., Trofarth Vicarage, Abergele. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Hugh, M.A., Curate of Chirk. 
 
 Jones, C. W,, Esq., The Ferns, Balham, London, S.W. 
 
 Jones, Rev. R. Evan, M.A., Llanllwchaiam Vicarage, Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Jones, W. Eccles, Esq.. M.A., Ty'n y llan, Llansilin, Oswestry, 
 
 Jones, Mr. R. J., Trade Hall, Corwen. 
 
 Jones, C. E., Esq., Agency Offices, Ruthin. 
 
 Kemeys-Tynte, Col. Chas., J.P., Cefn-Mably, Cardiff. 
 King, J. P., Esq., 4, Clayton Square, Liverpool, 
 
 Leighton, Sir Baldwyn, Bart., Loton Park, Shrewsbury. 
 
 Lewis, W. T., Esq., Mardy, Aberdare. 
 
 Lewis, Rev. James S., M.A., Guilsfield Vicarage, Welshpool. 
 
 Lewis, The Very Rev. Dean, M.A., The Deanery, Bangor. 
 
 Lewis, Mr. W., The School, Henllan, Rhyl. 
 
 Lewis, J. Hubert, Esq., M.A., Mostyn Quay, Holywell, 
 
 Llandaff, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Llandaff. 
 
 Lloyd, Howel W., Esq., M.A., 19, Hogarth Road, London, S.W. 
 
 Lloyd, Rev. T. H., M.A., Nerquis Vicarage, Mold. 
 
List of Subscribers. 
 
 Lloyd, E. O. V., Esq., Berth, Ruthin, 
 
 Lloyd, R. Alfred, Esq., 16, South Molton Street, London, W. 
 
 Lloyd, Rev. D., M.A., Llandrygarn Vicarage, Llangefni. 
 
 Louis, Marcus, Esq., Brynhyfryd, Ruthin. 
 
 Luxmore, E. B., Esq., Bryn St. Asaph, St. Asaph. 
 
 Marsh, Miss M. E., Tybrith, Carno, Montgomeryshire. 
 
 McGill, Rev. J. G., M.A., Bangor Rectory, Wrexham. 
 
 Mesham, Capt. Arthur, Pontryffydd, Bodfari, Rhyl. 
 
 Miller, Mr. T., Alkmond Cottage, Denbigh. 
 
 Minshall, P. H., Esq., Bronwylfa, Oswestry. 
 
 Moore, Mr. J., Pool Park, Ruthin. 
 
 Morgan, Rev. J. Parry, B.A., The Vicarage, Llanrhaiadr, Denbigh. 
 
 Morgan, John, Esq., Cadnant, Menai Bridge. 
 
 Morgan, Rev. D., B.D., Ysceifiog Rectory, Holywell. 
 
 Morgan, Rev. J. Pughe, M.A., Dolfor Vicarage, Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Morris, E., Esq., B.A., 8, Aquarium Street, Rhyl. 
 
 Morris, Mr. John, National School, Llandudno. 
 
 Morris, Evan, Esq., Highfield, Wrexham. 
 
 Morris, Rev. J., B.A., Manor Owen, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. 
 
 Morris, E. R., Esq., 58, Great Titchfield Street, London, W. 
 
 Mortimer, Lieut. -Col. H. M. Jones, Woodside, Clevedon, Somerset. 
 
 Morton, Rev. W., M.A., St. Asaph. 
 
 Monro, Dr., Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Newman, E. Oakeley, Esq., Purleyville, Grant Road, Addiscombe. 
 Nicolas, Rev. W. LI., M.A., The Rectory, Flint (2 copies.) 
 
 Oldfield, J. E., Esq., B.A., The Farm, Bettws, Abergele. 
 
 Owen, Rev. T. M. Bulkeley, Tedsmore, Westfelton, Salop. 
 
 Owen, Rev. R. Trevor, M.A., Editor of Archceologia Cambrensis, Llangedwyn, 
 
 Oswestry. 
 Owen, Rev. E. Tudor, M.A., Sywell House, Rhyl. 
 Owen, Rev. Thomas, Ketley Vicarage, Wellington, Salop. 
 Owen, Rev. W. D., B.A., Gwernaffield Vicarage, Mold. 
 Owen, Rev. T. W., M.A., St. Nicolas's Vicarage, Leicester. 
 Owen, T. Morgan, Esq., M.A., H.M.I, of Schools, Bronwylfa, Rhyl. 
 Owen, Rev. E. V., Llwydiarth Rectory, Welshpool. 
 Owen, Edward H., Esq., Ty Coch, near Carnarvon. 
 
 Paget, Lady, 2, St. Peter's Terrace, Cambridge. 
 
 Parkins, W. Trevor, Esq., Glasfryn, Gresford, Wrexham. 
 
 Parry, Mrs., Pool Park, Ruthin. 
 
 Parry, R. Sorton, Esq., 14, Prince's Gardens, Hyde Park, London. 
 
 Parry, Love-Jones, Esq., M.P., Madryn, Pwllheli. 
 
 Powell-Crug, Mrs., Carnarvon. 
 
 Powell, T, Esq., M.A., University College, Cardiff. 
 
 Powis, The Earl of, 45, Berkeley Square, W. 
 
List of Subscribers. 
 
 Price, J. Spencer, Esq., Royal Thames Yacht Club, 7, Alhemarle Street. 
 
 Price, Rev. Thomas, M.A., Prestatyn Vicarage, Rhyl. 
 
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 Prichard, Mr. R., Schoolmaster, Henrhyd, near Conway. 
 
 Prichard, Rev. Hugh, M.A., Dinam, Anglesey. 
 
 Prichard, Rev. T., Curate, Rhyl. 
 
 Pryce, Rev. Canon, M.A., Trefdraeth Rectory, Anglesey. 
 
 Pugh, Rev. John, Llansannan Vicarage, Abergele. 
 
 Puleston, J. H., Esq., M.P., 7, Dean's Yard, Westminster Abbey. 
 
 Redfern, Rev. T., M.A., Trefonen, Oswestry, 
 
 Reece, Rev. J. F., B.A., Rector of Llanfwrog, Ruthin. 
 
 Rees, Miss, Clifton House, Park Street, Denbigh. 
 
 Rees, Rev. Henry, M.A., The Vicarage, Conway. 
 
 Reichel, H. R., Esq., M.A., University College, Bangor. 
 
 Richardson, Canon, M.A., The Rectory, Corwen. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. D., 53, Willow Street, Oswestry. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. R. T., School House, Trefnant, Rhyl. 
 
 Roberts, Ezra, Esq., Vale View, Ruthin. 
 
 Roberts, Rev. D., M.A., Llanelidan Rectory, Ruthin. 
 
 Roberts, Edward, Esq., Record House, Ruthin. 
 
 Roberts, Rev. R., The Vicarage, Amlwch, Anglesey. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. W. E., National School, Glyndyfrdwy, Llangollen. 
 
 Roberts, Rev. Ellis, Llangwm Vicarage, Corwen. 
 
 Roberts, T. D., Esq., The Grove, Newport, Monmouthshire. 
 
 Roberts, Mr., School House, Eglwysbach, Conway. 
 
 Roberts, R., Esq., The late, The Registry, St. Asaph. 
 
 Roberts, Miss, 8, Orchard Street, Portman Square, London. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. David, Temple Buildings, Corwen. 
 
 Roberts, Mr. J., 1, Castle Street, Ruthin. 
 
 Roskell, Mrs., Stockyn, Holywell. 
 
 Rowlands, Edward, Esq., Bryn Offa, Wrexham. 
 
 Sandbach, Henry R., Esq., Hafodunos, Abergele. 
 
 Sergeant, Edward Homer, Esq., Dolfor Vicarage, Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Short, E. H., Esq., H.M. Sub-Inspector of Schools, Leicester. 
 
 Smart, Archdeacon, Northop Vicarage, Flintshire. 
 
 Smith, Rev. E. B., M.A., Gresford Vicarage, Wrexham. 
 
 Southern, Francis Richard, Esq., Ludlow. 
 
 St. Asaph, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, St. Asaph. 
 
 St. David's, The Lord Bishop of, The Palace, Abergwili. 
 
 St. John, The Right Hon. The Lord, Melchbourne Park, Bedford. 
 
 Sturkey, Thomas, Esq., Newtown, Montgomeryshire. 
 
 Taylor, Henry, Esq., 9, Curzon Park, Chester. 
 
 Taylor, Mr. T., 7, Nicholas Street, Chester. 
 
 Taylor, T. M., Esq., Bronhaul, Newtown, Mont. 
 
 Temple, Mr. R. Jones, School House, Llansannan, Abergele. 
 
List of Subscribers. 
 
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 Thomas, Rev. J. W., M.A., Llandudno. 
 Thomas, Rev. J. Rowland, Rhosesmor Vicarage, Holywell. 
 Thomas, Rev. J. W., M.A., Curate of Wrexham. 
 Traherne, G. M., Esq., Coedriglan Park, Cardiff. 
 Tumor, Exsuperius W., Esq., The Green, Stafford. 
 
 Vausjhan, Rev. T. W., B.A., The Vicarage, Rhuddlan, Rhyl. 
 Verney, Capt. Edmund H., R.N., Rhianfa, Bangor, N. Wales, 
 
 Walker, Col., Plas Hooton, Chester. 
 
 Wardle, Thomas, Esq., Manufacturer, Leek. 
 
 Watts, Rev. E. J., M.A., H.M.I, of Schools, Plasgwilym, Criccieth, N. Wales. 
 
 West, W. Cornwallis, Esq., M.P., Lord- Lieutenant of Denbighshire, Ruthin Castle, 
 
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 Whitaker, Miss Margaret J., Bryn Celyn, near Pwllheli, N. Wales. 
 Wickham, Rev. F. Vowler, M.A., Rossett Vicarage, Wrexham. 
 Wilkinson, Miss Milner, Ivy House, Summer Hill Terrace, Birmingham. 
 Williams, J., Esq., 28, Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, W. 
 Williams, Mr. Lewis, Board School, Dinmael, Llangwm, Corwen. 
 Williams, Mr. Robert, School House, Llawr-y-Bettws, near Corwen. 
 Williams, Rev. Thomas, St. Mark's Vicarage, Connah's Quay. 
 Williams, Mr. Edward, National School, Prestatyn, Rhyl. 
 Williams, Rev. E. O., The Vicarage, Meliden, Rhyl. 
 Williams, Rev. John, M.A., Minera Vicarage, Wrexham. 
 Williams, Rev. John (Glanmpr), Llanallgo Rectory, Anglesey. 
 Williams, Edward, Esq., M.D., Holt Street House, Wrexham. 
 Williams, Rev. Lewis, Vicar of Prion, Denbigh. 
 Williams, Thomas, Esq., 6, Harrington Square, London, N.W. 
 Williams, Rev. D., B.D., Llandyrnog Rectory, Denbigh. 
 Williams, Rev. George, M.A., Glyndyfrdwy, Llangollen. 
 Williams, R. Lloyd,' Esq., County Surveyor, Denbigh. 
 Williams, Richard, Esq., Solicitor, Newtown, Mont. 
 Williams, Rev. J., 13. A., Penloyn, Llanrwst. 
 Williams, Rev. J., B.A., curate of Ruthin. 
 
 Williams, Rev. T. LI., M.A., The Vicarage, Gwyddelwern, Corwen. 
 Williams, Rev. Canon, M.A., The Rectory, Llanfyllin. 
 Williams, Rev. J., The Rectory, Newtown, Mont. 
 Wilson, Capt. Henry, Hope, Mold. 
 Wood, R. H., Esq., F.S.A., Penrhos House, Rugby. 
 Wynn, The late Sir Watkin W., Bart., M.P., Wynnstay, Ruabon. 
 Wynn, The Hon. Mrs. C, Rug, Corwen. 
 Wynne, Mrs. Lloyd, Coed Coch, Abergele. 
 
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