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and at the point of Death was absolved 13th of August by me Richd Edwards vicar of Llanfair.

"She dyed the same day."

From other entries it would appear that this woman's husband was not absolved for several years after his wife's death, for I take it that the August mentioned by Vicar Edwards was that succeeding July 1694. My supposition is partly corroborated by the fact that the next like entry bears date September 6th, 1696, and then follows this entry:

"John David aforesd was absolved by me He being penitent and submitting to the censures of ye Church.

"Ried Edwards".

It is not improbable that John David was contumacious because loath to submit to the penance imposed. This might be inferred from the words "He ...... submitting to the censures of y Church."

I may state that Archbishop Laud issued, in 1635, a form of penance and absolution, in which the penitent is directed to appear at the church in a white sheet, with a white wand in his hand; and it seems, from the accounts of the aged, that, to a considerable extent, penance was performed in Wales in the manner prescribed by the Archbishop; and John David probably objected to the white sheet and the other component parts of penance, and hence his tardy repentance.

I will now give a few cullings of another kind from these Registers. Sittings in churches often caused much contention in parishes, and it is not to be surprised at that reference to this matter is found in Parish Registers. In many parishes I have stumbled upon such entries. One of these gives leave to a person to occupy a seat in church in the absence of the owner. This would be a privilege where the church was too small to provide seats for all the parishioners; and this, undoubtedly, was occasionally the case. A few extracts

on this matter will not be without interest.

"Anno Domi 1707.

"Edward Hughes of Bagillt gentleman doth on this 16th day of July 1707 grant unto Robert Penant schoolm' in Llanhassaph leave to sit in his pew wth certain of his scholars in his absence during his will and pleasure only and no longer in ye presence of

"Ow Rowlands Vic Jane Parry."

The above entry is in Llanasa Register. In one Register I found permission given to the setting up of a seat close to the altar-rails, with the provision, however, that the occupant should vacate the seat when the Holy Communion was being administered. The want of space will account for the crowding of seats into the chancel of country and even town churches in the last century. It is evident that the limited space in churches was appropriated by seats to such a degree that there was but little regularity observed in their arrangement. The following entry in Llanycil Register shows how every spot in a church was occupied by

seats:

"Meñ: that I Edward Humffreys Rr of Llanyckil did ask and obtain leave of ye Revd Mr Maurice Vaughan for my sister to sit in a little seat on the south side of the church next the alley and between the reading desk and chancell wch seat of indisputable right belongs to the tenement of Cerrigllwydion. Witness my hand. E. Humffreys."

This was in 1708. But sufficient has been said about church seats.

Another subject often referred to and written about in Parish Registers is burials within churches. Entries point out the spot occupied by the departed. Thus, an entry in Derwen informs us that the Rev. John Jones, M.A., who for forty years was rector of that parish (from 1632 to 1672), and who, I might add, kept the Registers complete during this period, was buried under the step to the reading-desk. The inscription on the stone was copied into the Register, and it is thus preserved whilst the stone itself has disappeared:

"An inscription upon an old stone under the step to ye Reading Desk in Derwen Church,

"Hic jacet corpus Johannes Jones oriundi de Ruthin, Artium Magister Oxon, et quadragint. annos Rectoris de Derwen, qui obiit 13 die Feb. anno Domini 1671 Ætatis suæ 91.'"

A similar entry is found in the Newtown books: "Died at the Rectory, Newtown, October 7th, 1811, the Revd. Edward Lewis, and was buried on the 11th day of October, in the Rector's chancel, in the pew on the north side of the Communion Table, aged 50. He was Rector of Newtown 15 years."

A curious memorandum of an agreement made between certain parties, with reference to a burial-place, is to be seen in Derwen Register. It is as follows:

"Memorand. yt it is agreed ye 17th day of Aprill...... between Robert Evans of Tycerrig in ye parish of Derwen ...... & David Lloyd of Derwen ...... about a buriing place in ye church of Derwen that Robert Evans aforesd is to bury Judith Roberts his mother in ye third place from ye wall under her sitting place. Provided that the said grave be digg'd so deep that the aforesd David Lloyd or ye heir of his house may bury one that first happens to dy of his family upon ye fores. corps in ye same grave, & also yt ye heir of Tycerrig may bury next after that in ye said grave, if it be fitt to bee diggd up, and so the same family to bury in ye said grave for ever. Witness our hands ye day & year above written.

"Subscribed by both the parties aforesd in presence of

......

"J. Langford
& six others."

I have observed in some Registers of deaths and marriages that the amounts offered on these occasions to the clergyman are given. The amounts varied considerably. Sometimes they came to a few pence; or, if paupers, even no offerings were made. In Derwen, offerings at funerals varied from 10d. to £1 6s. In 1683 the yearly offerings at funerals were £6:1:6; in 1703, £4:3:4. At the funeral of John Williams, Dec. 1708, the offerings were £1 6s.

In Llanrhaiadr yn Mochnant the Registers show the amount of offerings at both funerals and weddings.

5TH SER., VOL. V.

2

These were very considerable, but they varied according to the position in life of the persons buried or married. The average offerings at marriages in that parish were 6s.; the offerings at funerals averaged about 10s. I will give a few extracts from Llanrhaiadr Registers. Thus :

"1721. Johannes Thomas duxit Gwenam Mar.

Maurice

26 00 07
07 02

"1721. Morganus Thomas clandestine. Jan. duxit Janam Griffiths

"1715. Johannes Thomas de Trewern

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29 00 05 00

1 10 3."

These entries throw light on the ancient custom of offerings in churches.

Besides the entries that I have already mentioned, there are many others of an interesting kind to be found in Parish Registers; but enough has been said to show how well worthy of careful perusal these books are. The fugitive entries I now leave.

CHURCHWARDENS' BOOK.

Another book of a most interesting nature, and one that if studied will throw much light upon days gone by, is the churchwardens' book, in which is minutely entered an account of moneys collected and expended. From entries in this book it would appear that the country was infested with vermin even so late as the last century, and for their destruction the parish paid certain sums fixed by the parishioners in vestry. The proscribed animals were foxes, moles, polecats, wild cats, ravens, hedgehogs, badgers, fitchets, and fulbarts. The price usually paid for their destruction, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in the parishes about the Vale of Clwyd, was as follows:-Bitch-fox, 2s. 6d.; dog-fox, 2s.; cubs, each, 1s.; polecat, each, 18.; wild cat, 2s. 6d.; raven, 2d.; hedgehog, 4d.; badger, 18.; fitchets, 2d.; fulbarts, 2d. The mole-catcher was paid £2 5s. a year in the present century. The badger is

marked low, but I find that it once ranked in value with the fox. Thus at Cilcen I find these entries :

"1663, for killing a fox jd.

"1669, Edward Parry for killing two badgers 00 ijd."

With the exception of moles and hedgehogs, all the animals enumerated preyed on poultry and lambs, and hence the wish for their destruction. Hedgehogs were believed to suck cows, and therefore on the principle of give a dog a bad name and hang him, they were doomed to death. The mole in our days is trapped and killed. It was a custom to nail, underneath the lichgate, the carcases of the animals killed, so that the people might see that they were not imposed upon.

The price given for these animals varied in parishes, presumedly according to their supply. Thus I find in Eglwysbach that they paid in 1720, “for killing two polecats 0:50", whilst in Cilcen parish, in 1714, the sum for "killing a pole cat was 00:01:00"; and this was also the sum paid in the year 1828, in Cilcen, for 'killing a Pole Katt 00:01:0". The like discrepancy appears in many parishes in connection with the price given for killing obnoxious animals, such as foxes, etc.

66

Much information respecting the value of labour, eatables, and clothing, in days gone by, can be obtained by consulting the churchwardens' accounts. Thus I find in 1713, in Eglwysbach, the following entry :

"for one day worke

In Llandegla, in 1755, is the following entry :

"Paid for two pairs of shoes to Thomas Langfords children

0 1 0."

00 2 8."

This was very cheap; but in 1820 I find that shoes had advanced in value. Thus in Llanarmon Mynydd Mawr they were in that year 6s. 9d. a pair, as proved by the following entry :

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Clothing, too, seems to have been formerly cheap as

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