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which occur at Llancarvan Church and Fonmon Castle, is rather curious. The roof is built of alternate courses, (1) of single stones placed like a lintel horizontally across the space to be spanned, and (2) of a pair of stones placed horizontally, but making an angle of 45 degrees with the sides of the passage, and meeting each other at a right angle.

There are two interesting sepulchral monuments in St. Hilary Church. The first is an altar-tomb, upon which is the recumbent effigy of Thomas Basset. He is in plate-armour, with the Basset arms, three hunting-horns, upon the body. His feet rest upon a lion. Round the end and one side runs an incised inscription in black letter: + Hic jacet Thomas | Basset qui obiit xiiiimo die me'sis dec'bris a° d'ni m° iiii xxiii cu' a'ie pro(pici)etur deus amen. This monument was formerly within the chancel-rails, but is now placed under the most easterly arch of the arcading of the south aisle.

The second tomb is under an arched recess in the north wall of the nave, opposite the south door, and close to the font. The recumbent effigy is that of a layman, holding a glove in his right hand, and with his left resting on his breast.

The old socket-stone of the churchyard cross at St. Hilary is still in existence, resting on four steps, and a new cross has been erected on the old base. The socket-stone is octagonal at the top and square at the bottom, with stop-chamfers where one dies into the other.

The Rev. Lewis Morgan has kindly furnished the following information about the communion-plate and the inscriptions on the bells.

The chalice is of the usual Elizabethan pattern, with the date 1577 on the cover. The paten is dated 1818.

The inscriptions on the bells are, on the treble, "We were all cast at Gloster by A. Rudhal, 1734"; on the tenor, "Tho. Bassett and Lewis Thomas, churchwardens, 1734"; on the alto, "Prosperity to this parish A. (the representation of a bell) R., 1734"; on the bass, "Peace and good neighbourhood A. (a bell) R., 1734."

The earliest register is on paper, date 1690.

Old Beaupré House.-A walk of about a mile down the steep hill forming the east side of the valley of the Cowbridge river brought the pedestrians to Old Beaupré, the carriages being left to follow, in consequence of the badness of the road. On the right hand, after leaving St. Hilary, is a well-wooded hillside, called Coed y tor, which is honeycombed with old lead-workings in the limestone rock. The ruins of Old Beaupré House adjoin a modern farmhouse. The situation may have been originally chosen for defensive purposes, for, like St. Quentin's Castle, it is placed on an eminence round the foot of which runs the Cowbridge river, making a semicircular bend at this point. The principal objects of interest here are a remarkably fine entrance-gateway and a porch, both of carved stone in the style of the Renaissance, ornamented

with coats of arms and inscriptions. The design of the entrancegateway, through which access is obtained to the courtyard within, is not unlike that of the chimney-pieces and over-mantels of the same period. The doorway has a Tudor arch, showing that in spite of the introduction of classical architecture the Gothic traditions were not yet quite extinct; but all the other details show Italian influence. Above the centre of the doorway is a shield with the Basset arms and the family motto, misspelt, "Gwell angay na chwilydd", instead of "Gwell angau na chywilydd", meaning "Rather death than shame". This motto has been adopted by the 41st Regiment. Just below the horizontal cornice at the top is carved in the middle the date 1586, on the right the initials R. B., and on the left the initials R. B., C. B. The balusters beneath the top cornice are suggestive of Elizabethan woodwork, and appear rather inappropriate when executed in stone, as the treatment of any work of art should always be adapted to the requirements of the material used. Passing through the outer gateway the porch of the house is seen immediately opposite. The ground-plan of the porch is a square projecting from the front wall of the house. It is a far more imposing piece of work than the outer gateway, and reaches to the full height of the house. The architectural features consist of horizontal cornices supported by pairs of classical columns. Mr. W. H. Banks's photograph, here reproduced, gives a good idea of the general effect of the whole. The Basset arms occur again over the porch, but with the motto spelt differently, thus: "Gwell anghay na chwilydd." Above there are three tablets, with the following inscriptions in Roman capitals:

SAY COWDST THOU E

VER FYND OR EVER HEA

RE OR SEE WORLLDLY WRET
CHE OR COWARD PROVE

A FAITHFULL FRYNDE

TO BEE R[Y]CHARDE

BASSETT HAVING TO WYF
KATHERINE DAUGHTER TO

SIR THOMAS JOHN KNIGHT
BWYLT THIS PORCHE WITH
THE TONNES IN AN'O 1600

HIS YERES 65 HIS WIFE 55

Whilst the archaeologists pure and simple were discussing the· possible meaning of the word "Tonnes", and wondering what a

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modern reviewer would say if he caught an author spelling the same word in two or three different ways in the same paragraph, as was evidently a not uncommon practice in the year of grace 1600, the Rev. Lewis Morgan beguiled the time of the rest by relating a local tradition concerning the builder. It appears that two stonemasons who were in partnership fell desperately in love with the same fair maid. So deadly a feud was the result that the partner ceased to be on speaking terms, and this, coming to the ears of the damsel, she refused to have anything to do with either. One then left his home and went abroad, where, during twenty years' absence, he acquired a complete knowledge of Italian architecture. On his return he was engaged by the then head of the house of Basset to build the porch at Old Beaupré. Such traditions, whether true or not, have an interest for the student of the origin and growth of myths. A peasant picks up a flint arrowhead, and the secret of its manufacture being lost, he attributes it to the fairies. So with any more than usually fine piece of architecture, when its history has been forgotten, the common people begin by wondering how it ever came into existence, and from this it is but a short step to inventing such stories as those associated with the 'prentices' pillar at Roslyn Chapel in Scotland or the towers of Cologne Cathedral.

Two years ago the porch at Old Beaupré was in a very precarious condition, and would most certainly have fallen but for the well-timed efforts of the present representative of the Basset family for its preservation. It was repaired at considerable expense, but the work has been so thoroughly well done that there is every chance of this beautiful specimen of Renaissance architecture lasting for many centuries to come. The Cambrian Archæological Association should be especially grateful to Mr. Basset for the care he has taken to avert the decay of the ancient remains on his

estate.

Amongst the farm-buildings at the back is one which has a cusped lancet window in the end of the gable of the Decorated period. Old Beaupré is said to have belonged originally to Sitsyllt, ancestor of the Cecils, and to have descended through Adam Turberville of Crickhowel to the Bassets. The estate was mortgaged to pay a debt to the Stradlings; sold to Edmunds; by him bequeathed to Llewellyn Treherne of St. Hilary; sold to Daniel Jones; and by him left by will to Capt. Basset, father of the present owner. Sir Philip Basset of St. Hilary, who first settled at Beaupré, was chancellor to Robert Fitzroy, Lord of Gloucester, and afterwards Lord Chief Justice of England. He is said to have drawn up the Magna Charta.1

Just as the party were leaving the ruins, a gentleman was observed carrying away one of the seventeenth century iron doorhinges, which he naïvely remarked would be more appreciated in the Cardiff Museum than lying about at Old Beaupré. He was,

1 Glamorganshire Notes at Llanover, iv, 12, 152.

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