also failed in producing the desired effect in all instances, and the names of rivers continued to encroach on the privileges of the sainted order, and usurp the honours awarded to them.

To put a final stop to such an unseemly rivalship, Edgar, in 960, ordered that the worship of wells and rivulets should cease entirely; and yet we find that this act of the Witan, formed on the principle of delenda est Carthago, soon became a dead letter, insomuch that Archbishop Anselm was obliged to sanction a canon, as late as the year 1102, confirmatory of the custom of well worship, provided it was done by the authority, and under the seal, of the bishop of the diocese. It is to this canon of Anselm that many of the fanes erected over springs probably owe their origin, and became the resort of multitudes of pilgrims from distant places, with gifts and offerings for propitiation, and the cure of disorders. It is at least certain that the splendid fane, enclosing the Wenffrwd at Holywell, was not in existence in 1186, when Archbishop Baldwin and Giraldus were hospitably entertained by David, the Welsh prince, at Rhuddlan Castle, in their progress in preaching the Crusade, and that neither the name or the legend of St. Winifred was then known in that neighbourhood. Several rivers, streamlets and fountains within the Principality are known under the names Beuno, Dunawd, Gwenddwr, Dwywe, &c., and it is needless to enumerate the churches which have been dedicated to them. Suffice it to say, that under these and similar names, we recognise eminent missionaries in the early stages of the Church, distinguished founders of collegiate establishments, and zealous promoters of the Gospel.

In illustration of what I have already stated, and with especial reference to the Carrog, I can refer to the following example:Cyngar, one of the descendants of Cunedda Wledig from the district of Dinodig, where an island at the entrance to Port Madog still bears his name, founded a church, or at least had a church dedicated to him on the banks of the Cefni, in Anglesey, and the parish of Llangyngar was well known.

About 150 years ago, a kind of collision took place, and the Cefni by dint of the vox populi obtained the ascendancy, and Llangefni is become one of the most thriving localities. On the other hand, within the distance of two miles, another church bore the name of Hirdrefwyg, from the river on whose banks it stood. Here also a contest appears to have taken place between the river and the patron saint, which was decided by virtue of the same suprema lex in favour of the latter, and Finnan, a Bishop of Llandisfarne, reassumed his original position about three centuries ago, and retains possession to this day. A similar misunderstanding must have taken place respecting the church dedicated to Deiniol, in the county of Cardigan, which was left undecided, and in consequence it is called Llanddeiniol, or Carrog at this day. In this locality Mr. Stephens places the grave of Galgacus, and in so doing it may be well to consider how far he lies under the imputation of a palpable anachronism. It is an ARCH. CAMB., NEW SERIES, VOL. IV.

U

undeniable fact that the chieftains who form the subjects of Taliesin's Heroics flourished during the Hydriotaphick period, and that wherever their remains are found, there must appear the funereal urn peculiar to the age. The parochial system was then in its infancy. The atrium, or porch to edifices for public worship, with its precincts, had not yet been appropriated for interments, except on particular occasions, and within the limits of cities and municipal towns. The discovery of the tomb of Bronwen, on the banks of the river Alaw, in Anglesey, a few years ago, fully corroborates the view I have taken. The urn was protected by a cistvaen, and hence called Bedd petryal. The question at issue, therefore, is not limited to a single word, or the interpretation of a line, as Mr. S. will have it; but whether an ancient barrow on the margin or bank of the river Carrog in Arfon, of the character of the heroic age, is the identical spot described by Taliesin, a contemporary, where the remains of Galgacus, a warrior of great celebrity, were deposited agreeably to the customs of the times; or whether a church called Carrog in the county of Cardigan, dedicated to Deiniol, of a date centuries later than the period alluded to, could have been the resting place of one of the heroes of the Gododin. And here I leave the subject to the decision of the readers of the Archeologia Cambrensis.

Craig y Dinas, Feb. 18, 1853.

CILMYN.

The mountain has brought forth-a very little mouse. Cilmyn's letter, from beginning to end, is one tissue of mistakes, not to say misrepresentations. His references are all wrong; his knowledge of Welsh literature is drawn from the English translations of P. B. W.; his facts have no existence out of his own imagination; and his arguments are generally of the kind reprobated by logicians as the fallacy of irrelevant conclusion. He begins by divesting himself of borrowed plumes, and finishes with an effort truly original, by confounding Galgacus (A.D. 80) with Gwallog ab Lleenog, (A.D. 580), and imputing the anachronism to me! The absurdity of such a piece of antiquarian burlesque could only be exceeded by a serious answer.

As to the chief point in controversy, I am more thoroughly convinced than ever that "the grave of Gwallog the Tall is in Carrog," Cardiganshire; and there are, or were, some singular monumental pillars in the neighbourhood of Carrog House, in the parish of Carrog, or Llanddeiniol.

Cilmyn's imputation of anachronism is sufficiently answered by pointing out the confusion of ideas in his own mind; but as he furnishes me with a pretext for detailing the method of burial in use at the close of the sixth century, I will avail myself of his blunder, not so much to find fault with him, as to add another illustration to my own case. Theodric, the son of Ida, king of Northumbria, reigned from 572 to 579; and Urien Rheged fought strongly against him. (Nennius.) He was killed some time after, and according to

my researches, in 584; and as a mark of respect to so great a man,
we will attend the funeral. Let Llywarch Hen be spokesman:-

I.

The delicate white corpse will be interr'd this day,
Under earth and stones.

Woe to my hand, that the father of Owain is slain.

II.

The delicate white corpse will be covered over this day,
Amongst earth and OAK.

Woe my hand, that my cousin is slain.

III.

The delicate white corpse will be covered this night,
Under stones will he be left.

Woe my hand, what a step has fate decreed me.

IV.

The delicate white corpse will be interr'd this night,
Amidst earth and green sods.

Woe my hand, that the son of Cynvarch should be slain.

V.

The delicate white corpse will be interr'd this day,
Under the green sward with a tumulus (arwydd-sigw?)
Woe my hand, that my lord is slain.

VI.

The fair white corpse will be interr'd this day,

Under earth and sand.

Woe my hand, the step that is decreed to me.

VII.

The fair white corpse will be interred this day,
Under earth and blue stones.

Woe my hand, the step that befell me.

VIII.

The fair white corpse will be covered this day,

Under earth and nettles.

Woe my hand, that such a step should have happened to me.

Heroic Elegies of Llywarch Hen, p. 31.

So it seems that Urien had, not an urn, but oaken coffin, and a tumulus to boot. Cynddylan (slain A.D. 577) also had a wooden coffin, as we learn from the same authority:

My heart, how it throbs with misery,

That the black boards should be joined to inclose

The fair flesh of Cynddylan, the foremost in a hundred hosts.
Heroic Elegies, p. 75.

1

Gwallog lived after both,—and most probably had a coffin of good old British oak. T. STEPHENS.

Merthyr Tydfil, Feb. 28, 1853.

From the tenor of Mr. Stephens' remarks on my letter, with a perusal of which I have been favoured, I conclude that my attempt to correct his misconceptions is not likely to have any other effect than that of confirming him in his extraordinary aberrations, and disturbing the self-complacency with which he appears to regard the phantastical productions of his own weak untutored imagination. I shall however not allow such a sweeping condemnation of my letter to remain unnoticed, which he has been pleased to designate as a "tissue of mistakes" and "misrepresentations," and as "fallacies of irrelevant conclusion" reprobated by logicians. I shall therefore resume the subject at full length in your next quarterly number, and endeavour to show how utterly incompetent are the writers of the school of Iolo Morganwg to pass judgment upon any of the subjects under discussion. If self-sufficiency and arrogant assumptions are to form the standard of perfection in the cultivation of Welsh literature, and if those who presume to call in question their interpretation of the mysterious language of the early bards are to be branded as interlopers, and denounced under the ban of

Procul! O procul! este Profani!!

it is high time to dissipate the delusions of these writers, and to neutralise the impressions which they endeavour to create in favour of their bardic phantasies, to the detriment of sound knowledge and authentic history.

In the meantime, in return for the freedom of his remarks on my letter, I shall feel obliged if Mr. Stephens will favour me with his references for the extraordinary statements which occur in page 55 of your last Number, viz., that the lordship of Pennard embraces "the ground on the west side of the river Seiont, opposite the town of Caernarvon," and that a conflict "took place at the efflux of the Mewydus rivulet, which flows past the town into the Menai, which gave rise to the names of Cadnant and Elidyr Bank."

Now as the school of Iolo Morganwg is founded entirely on the basis of conjecture, I shall here afford a helping hand in erecting one of their aerial castles, as I have every reason to conclude that Mr. S. has no better authority for his assertion than some monkish legend of the age and stamp of Math ap Mathonwy, which he hugs with voracious tenacity as a correct standard of topographical excellence. Now Elidyr Bank is evidently a corruption of Lledr Bank, and consequently according to the rules Fresapo and Fresison in Aldrich's Logic, here we must expect to find the mansion of a celebrated cordwainer, called Mynawyd. Now if the reader looks into page 86 of the recent edition of the Gododin, he will find that Mynawyd was the

friend and pot-walloping companion of Pryderi, the patron of sowgelders; and as the one called his mansion Chewryrion, so the other would naturally adopt the title Lledr Bank for his head quarters at Cadnant, now called Pool Street. Now if we examine this locality with half the zeal and energy displayed in the diggings into Taliesin's Poems for materials for book-making, we shall meet with abundance of facts to confirm our conjectures. We accordingly find that the cordwainers, even at this day, assemble in great numbers at Turf Square, in the immediate vicinity, for the exhibition and sale of their manufactured articles. Allowing a little latitude for lapse of time, and other small matters, the truth and reality of my assumption needs no further evidence than what is exhibited here every market day, viz., that Elidyr or Lledr Bank, the mansion of Mynawyd, must have been hereabouts. But Pryderi had a guild of Cweirwyr at his place near Llandegai: well, so had Mynawyd a guild of his fraternity established near Cadnant, where they used to celebrate the festival of Crispin in the olden times under the heraldic emblem of the craft, the awl, and the place is called the Guild-Awl to this day. Don't you see the thing is as plain as a pike-staff. Add to all this the old inn called "Court y Boot" in sight ofthe gilded Awl, and the "Jolly Pipes" in Shoe Lane, where the co-fraternities still meet, determined to keep up the connexion between Pryderi and Mynawyd, and, by their joint efforts, to elect a member of their own body from myn y don, to represent the Principality at the next session of Parliament.

That the above is not an overdrawn specimen of the mode of reasoning which these writers pursue in maintaining their phantasies, I will now prove from the work of one of the principal founders of the modern bardic school, by which it will appear that the Bôn y glêr section of the promoters of Welsh literature have succeeded for a time at least in introducing fable and fiction in such profusion as to confound all distinctions, and by mixing up the Helioarkite effusions with the current of real history, to sap the foundations of both.

In page 91 of a work entitled Popular Cambrian Antiquities, reference is made to a Mythological Allegory in the Triad respecting the Sow of Dollwaran Dolben, on which the author sagely remarks (risum teneatis), "as in the Welsh language Hwch signifies a sow, and Cwch a boat, I strongly suspect that the former name was adopted to disguise the mystery, as approximating sufficiently in sound to intimate the sense to the initiated. The sow then with eight feet represented the boat, that is the ark of Noah, with its eight supporters, or eight priests, as representatives of the eight persons saved in the ark: and these were what Glasteing found reposing under the apple tree, a representative also, I presume, of the tree of life. When the boat was called a sow, for the same reason would its priests be called pigs, whether for concealment by the friends, or in derision by its enemies, of the superstition.'

The legend of Pryderi is cast into the shade by this precious