sion of the church, and the gallery, which was in the same division, was rebuilt and enlarged. The churchyard is nearly circular, as was mentioned above, and contains 1 acre 16 perches. The greater part of the burial-ground shows evident marks of having been used several times over; there are no gravestones existing of an earlier date than the middle of the seventeenth century. Many of the older tombstones are of soft inferior stone, and the inscriptions are almost illegible. The use of bad stone would account in a great measure for the disappearance of ancient memorials. The old national schoolroom was built on the south side of the burial-ground, and stands partly in the churchyard and partly on ground which was given by the owner of the adjoining property. The churchyard is surrounded by a stone wall, with an entrance-gate and stile on the south side, and footpath and stile at the west end. The old church was not placed due east and west, but inclined about thirteen degrees to the north of east. The new church of 1868 was built at just the same angle, and almost on the same foundations. In the registers and vestry books we find mention of several accounts for repairs and alterations of the old church; in many instances, however, the particulars are not specified, and we are at a loss to know what the expenditure was for. Some repairs were no doubt paid for by special rates or collections, and the accounts would not appear in the vestry books; but among the items we find the following : 1685. Re-sparring and slating part of ye church 1688. Mending ye Bell wheale and porch gate 1700. Paid towards the new window Plasterer for church 1707. Paid for a dial post 1712. Flagging church. Money in alterations or repairs, £10 more. 1713. Weather boards of steeple repaired. 1714. Porch again repaired. New stile, south of churchyard. 1723. Boards for the Portch 1731. A rate of sixpence in the pound was assessed, and it was "Resolved that the steeple be new built of stone and mortar, that 3 years' time be taken for perfecting the same, and in the meantime that the old steeple be supported at the reasonablest charge may be." 1735. Carriage of 4000 slates. 1754. Horse block set up by church gate. 1758. Ceiling the church. 1760. Churchwardens permitted to erect a new Dial. For dyall Carriage of stone Diall plate. For stones and setting them 1772. King's arms and Commandments Table of Benefactions 1776. Paid towards building the gallery 1793-4. Timber work to repair the church 4000 slates and carriage 2 loads lime, carriage, &c. . 9 tons stone, £1 2s. 6d., 2 stones Hair, 4s. 1799. 1000 slates, 258.; carriage, 10s. 6d. Lime and hair . 1801. Casement and staves Window casement, gallery . 1802. Benjamin Beddows's Bill 1803. Dovaston and Beddows 1805. 1000 slates, 29s., carriage, 58. 1809-10. 9 ton stone for church wall Carriage of ditto and lime. Slating, etc. 1812. Benj". Beddows, Bill for timber work. Carriage of timber . £ s. d. 020 . 400 13 10 0 3027 3400 . 12 12 In March, 1820, a few days before Easter, the church was broken open and the alms-box plundered. Handbills were printed, and advertisements inserted in the papers with regard to this sacrilege, but apparently without any result. Burglary was at that time a capital offence, and a man was executed in August, 1820, for a shop robbery, committed in Oswestry. A charge is made in the vestry accounts of £2 1s 10d. for "Money made good to the Box," and an additional expense of £2 3s. 4d. for bars to the windows, and repairs. From the above accounts we may notice the mention of a church bell in 1688; this bell must have been sold or recast, as the present bell bears the date of 1729. The steeple in existence previous to 1731 was most likely of wood, as it was resolved in that year that it should be "new built of stone and mortar." The horse-block put up in 1754 was still in existence in 1834. It is suggestive of bad roads, and difficulty in walking or driving to church. In 1760 the churchwardens were "permitted to erect a new dial," which was accordingly done at a cost of £12 17s. This dial is still in existence, but the shaft was broken during the building of the new church in 1868, and it has not been re-erected. The "King's Arms," "Commandments," and "Table of Benefactions," which are charged for in the accounts of 1772, disappeared with the old church. A Faculty for the erection of a gallery was granted on the 26th February, 1777, and the sum of £22, "towards building the Gallery," appears in the accounts of the previous year. This was probably the first gallery erected in the church, and the one that was enlarged in 1834. The view of the old church before 1833 is taken from a sketch by T. N. Henshaw, in the possession of the Rev. J. H. Poole, vicar of Toft, and son of a former rector of Llandysilio. The sittings in the church were of many different shapes and sizes, and appear to have been very irregularly appropriated or apportioned. No free sittings appear on the plan, but the whole of the seats in the gallery were probably free. An agreement was made on the 16th August, 1755, between the bishop of St. Asaph, rector of the parish, and Edward LLoyd, Esq., of Domgay, in which it was stated that the said Edward LLoyd had " for a long time occupied a seat on the north side of the chancel, in consideration of his repairing the said north side of the same; and whereas by means of the said seat and another adjoining it, the property of the said Edward LLoyd, there is not at present sufficient room for the parishioners to resort to the communion table, in order to receive the holy sacrament, it is agreed between the said Lord Bishop and Edward LLoyd that for the greater convenience of the communicants, as well as to render the said chancel of the church more decent and uniform, so much of both the said seats as is necessary for the purpose aforesaid be taken down and the space of ground occupied thereby be laid open.' "And the said Edward LLoyd doth for himself and his heirs and successors occupiers of Domgay aforesaid relinquish and renounce all right and claim to such part of the said seats, and in consideration and lieu thereof" the bishop allowed Mr. LLoyd to erect two new pews in the chancel, one on the north and the other on the south side of the altar: Mr. LLoyd undertaking to keep the" whole of the chancel, with the walls, windows, and roof thereof" in sufficient repair. This agreement remained in force till the church was re-seated in 1834. Reservation was made in the agreement of 1755 of the "rights of the said Edward LLoyd and his heirs in the ancient burying-place in the said chancel belonging to the said capital house, that the same shall be used and enjoyed by him and his family as heretofore hath been by the former owner of Domgay aforesaid." Nothing is now to be seen of this vault or buryingplace; it is said to be partly under the present chancel, and partly under the wall and walk at the east side of the church. There is a slight subsidence of the church wall near the east window, which may perhaps be attributed to the existence of an old vault at that part of the building. In the old church accounts we from time to time find a charge for "Candles for the Plygain." The word is also occasionally spelt Plugin," but the older and better form was probably " Pylgain." Davies in his Welsh Dictionary gives "Plygain vel Pylgain, i.e., Gallicantus, crepusculum." The derivation is from "Pullicantus" (cock crow); and modern Welsh dictionaries give the meaning of the word as early morn, dawn. The Plygain was a service held in the church in the very early hours of Christmas morning; but unfortunately it came latterly to be utterly abused. The parishioners, more particularly those who lived at a distance, assembled on Christmas Eve at the village inns, and passed the hours before the service in a manner which was by no means a suitable preparation for a Christian festival. Indeed, it is said, that the meeting occasionally degenerated into a drunken orgie, and that persons marched to church with tankards and pipes in their hands. This was doubtless the |