George II in Holywell in 1727, about forty years after the visit of James II; and it shows us that the High Sheriff of the county at that time was a very pronounced Jacobite. The memorandum runs as follows:

"It is in relation to William Wynn, Esq., touching his behaviour upon the proclamation of His Majesty King George II. That upon the demise of his late Majesty an Order of Council and Proclamation were issued, and delivered to the said William Wynn, who was the then Sheriff of the county of Flint, or his deputies, for proclaiming his present Majesty; that Thomas Mostyn and Peter Pennant, Esquires, two of His Majesty's Justices of the Peace, immediately, on the 20th day of June now last past, resorted to Holywell, the most populous trading town in the said county (!), where they heard the High Sheriff and his deputy then were, in order to attend the solemnity of proclaiming his said Majesty. And when the said Thomas Mostyn and Peter Pennant came to the said town, they immediately inquired for the said High Sheriff, and finding that the said High Sheriff was then at a bowling-green not half a mile distant from the said town of Holywell, Thomas Mostyn forthwith repaired thither, and having signified to the said High Sheriff the cause of his and the other Justice coming to Holywell, requested him to come to town in order to proclaim him his said Majesty. But the said Sheriff did not think it fit to comply with the request of the said Mr. Mostyn, but put him off with frivolous excuses, though Mr. Mostyn stayed for three or four hours at the said bowling-green, and made frequent applications to the said Sheriff for this purpose, and offered him the use of his horses for the conveniency of carrying him to town, which he refused after the same slighty manner.

"The said Mr. Mostyn returned to the said Mr. Pennant. They both stayed in Holywell till 7 o'clock at night, still expecting the Sheriff would come to proclaim his said Majesty; but the said Justices perceiving the night coming on, and seeing no preparation made for proclaiming the King by the said Sheriff or his officers, they thought it convenient to return home, with a resolution of returning next day to proclaim him themselves, in case the said High Sheriff did not cause it to be done that night.

"And some time afterwards the under-sheriff, attended by one William Jones, and by one David Lloyd, an attorney, all on foot, and no other company, in the dusk of the evening, repaired to the Cross in the town of Holywell aforesaid, and there the said undersheriff read His Majesty's proclamation, without the least demonstration of joy usual on such occasions; and no money given to the populace, save only sixpence to the said William Jones. The High Sheriff was in town, but did not attend the proclamation. That the said under-sheriff, only attended by the said William Jones, thought fit to proclaim His Majesty in four other towns in the said county. Nor was there used the least solemnity or demonstration of joy in any of the said towns upon this occasion; the same being done in

the most obscure and private manner, without any the least notice given to the gentlemen of the county, whose affections to the Government are such as they readily would have embraced such an opportunity of showing their zeal if the said Sheriff had given them the least notice to attend on this occasion.

"What happened to William Wynn, the High Sheriff, I have not been able to find out; but on referring to my friend, Mr. Henry Taylor, he thinks that he might have lived at Bryngwyn; but I have been unable to find out very much about him.

"Before I sit down I should like to say a few words upon two or three objects of interest that you will visit; and as they are on my own estate, you will, perhaps, understand my taking a peculiar interest in them.

"The first is Maen y Chwyfan, a beautiful cross which stands in a field near the old turnpike-gate from Mostyn to Tremeirchion and St. Asaph, and now a main road under the jurisdiction of the County Council. It is also called 'The Stone of Lamentation.' The idea is that penances were said before it. Pennant tells us there was one near Stafford which was called a' Weeping Cross'. It is very pretty in form, 12 ft. high, 2 ft. 4 ins. broad at the bottom, and 10 ins. 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; then comes a naked figure and a spear in his hand. On the other side is represented some animal. The rest of the cross is covered with a beautiful fretwork. Can any one say what age it is? I think there is no doubt it is early Christian. Some say it marks the place of a great battle. Perhaps it may, as there are many tumuli about containing human bones; but I am rather inclined to think that these are of an earlier date than the cross.

"Near Maen y Chwyfan is Gelli (now two cottages); no doubt an ancient chapel in connection with Basingwerk Abbey. Gelli Wood was granted at Westminster, in Edward I's time, to the Abbey and Convent.

"Leaving Gelli we ascend the hill of Garreg, the highest point in the parish of Whitford, where a splendid view used to be seen on a fine day. The Isle of Man and Cumberland hills could be seen; but now the trees have grown up, and hidden it. Here the Romans built a lighthouse, which was used to guide vessels up the river Dee. It is a round building, with an inside diameter of 12 ft. ; the thickness of the walls not less than 4 ft. 4 ins., which has, no doubt, made it last so many centuries. One door was opposite to the other. Over each was a square funnel, like a chimney, which opened on the outside, about half way up the building. Inside was a staircase to the two floors. The lights were always kept separate, so as to prevent one running into the other, and being mistaken for a star. I know of a similar tower on Bryman Hill, near Llandudno,

and cannot help thinking that it was used as a lighthouse to show the channel of the Conway river, and not as an outpost to Deganwy Castle, as has often been suggested.

"Now you are in the locality I think you should drop down the hill to Llynhelyg, and visit the grave of Captain Morgan. History does not tell us how this Captain Morgan met his death; but it is generally supposed he was killed in a skirmish during the civil wars, and that he was buried where he fell. About one hundred and fifty years ago the grave was opened. A skeleton was found 1; on its head was a red cap of velvet, and round the neck a silk handkerchief. His sword and helmet were close by, and beneath him two bullets, which fell from his skeleton, which prove him to have been shot. The farm near has been called "Plas Captain", on account of Captain Morgan, who might have lived there. In an old pedigree there is a Captain Morgan mentioned as having been killed in Cheshire; if so, and he was the same Captain Morgan, why was he buried at Llynhelyg? Perhaps some one will be able to give me information on this subject.

"It may be interesting to know the age of Llynhelyg. It was made by Sir Roger Mostyn, the third Baronet, in the early part of the eighteenth century. There being a great scarcity of water, a dam was made at the lower end; the springs rising, soon made a lake of the marshy ground. At that time that portion of the country was called the Mostyn Mountain or the Tegen Mountain.

"Pennant talks of Druidical circles in Glol, but I have never seen any. There are a lot of loose stones lying about, but they have no appearance of any circular form.

"Near here is Treabbot, which from its name was a seat of one of the abbots from Basingwerk, and it is one of the eight townships of Whitford.

"We now go across country to the Holywell Racecourse, where we find, not far from it, and close to Plymouth Copse, a circular, entrenched camp called 'Bwrdd y Rhyfel' or ' Bwrdd y Brenin.' It is about 153 ft. in diameter, surrounded by a low bank; and on the outside a ditch, in one part shallow, and the other more deep. I shall be curious to hear your opinion, if you should think the place worth visiting; and whether you think it an old fortification, or a circle for some religious purpose. If a fortification, it could never have been a very strong one.

"Now I hope I have not wearied you, and shall conclude the few remarks that I have made this evening by a hope that I may see the members of the Cambrian Archæological Association on Friday at Mostyn, when I shall show them the House and objects of interest in it. I thank you for the kind way in which you have listened to my Address this evening."

At the conclusion of the Address, the Ven. Archdeacon Thomas rose to propose a vote of thanks to Lord Mostyn, and said :

"Those members of the Association who met last year in Brittany remember how fortunate they were in having so able a President as M. le Dr. de Closmadeuc; how genial he was, and how kindly he conducted the members through the ancient city of Vannes, and what trouble he took in showing them the unrivalled megalithic remains of the Morbihan. M. de Closmadeuc is unable to be present at this Meeting, but he has expressed his earnest wishes for its success, and he has desired me to tell his successor in the presidential chair that he hopes he will find the office as pleasant an one as he did in Brittany. Lord Mostyn began his Address by deprecating his selection as President, as being a junior member of the Association. I am sure, however, that our choice has been fully justified by the excellent account, to which we have listened with so much pleasure, of the antiquities of his own neighbourhood. He has touched upon matters which will come under our notice during two of the excursions; and when he tells us that he has been obliged to leave so many other things untouched, we can well understand how much there will be to look at in the course of the week. I consider it to be a fact of no small importance that our President is the possessor of such remarkable treasures in his own house, and that he exhibits such uncommon ardour in inquiring into the antiquities that surround him on all sides, In Lord Mostyn's library are collected books, manuscripts, and antiquities, perhaps hardly to be excelled anywhere else outside of the metropolis; and it is exceedingly gratifying to find their possessor showing so much interest in everything relating to them. The promise he has thus given of what may be expected from him will, I hope, some day be fulfilled. A great opportunity was missed when the last edition of Pennant's Tours in Wales was published, for it has not been brought down to the present date in the same spirit in which it was begun. To execute this work in a more becoming manner is a task that Lord Mostyn is eminently fitted to perform. In our President we have one who has both the opportunity and the capability for bringing it to a successful issue. I hope, therefore, that he will utilise the literary treasures in his possession for this purpose, and that at no distant time we may have the satisfaction of reading a history of this neighbourhood edited by him."

Mr. Henry Taylor, F.S.A., was then called upon to read his paper on the "First Charters granted to the Four Senior Boroughs of Wales", which will be published in an early Number of the Archæologia Cambrensis.

In the discussion which ensued, the Ven. Archdeacon Thomas suggested that there were earlier charters in South Wales than those mentioned. It had been a question which one of the four boroughs was the senior; whether the charter of the Borough of Caerwys was not granted forty years before 1288. Perhaps Mr. Taylor would kindly tell the members on what account he selected the charter of Edward I as forming the senior boroughs. He asked the question, for he knew that any subject Mr. Taylor went into

he did thoroughly. Any one who had read his Historic Notices of Flint must feel that anything he undertakes he would surely do thoroughly well. It was, however, with something like a shock that he heard that Edward I returned from Nevin to Carnarvon on the day Edward of Carnarvon was born. He was always under the impression that he was at Rhuddlan, and that one of his knights rode in great haste to announce to him there the birth of his son, for which he was rewarded with knighthood, and which added to the heinousness of the offence when afterwards he rose against the King.

Mr. Taylor, in reply to the President, said the charter of the Borough of Caerwys, which Lord Mostyn had previously shown. him, was subsequent to the four mentioned in the paper.

Mr. Edward Owen and the Rev. C. H. Drinkwater joined in the discussion, to which Mr. Taylor replied.

EXCURSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 19TH.

The carriages started from the King's Head Hotel at 9.30 A.M., taking the road towards Mold, in a south-easterly direction, along a hill-side. Had the day been finer, a good view would have been obtained across the estuary of the river Dee. As it was, only the nearer objects could be distinguished. The leading industry of the district appeared to be lead-mining, and vast heaps of limestone débris were to be seen in all directions.

Halkin Church.-The first stop was at Halkin, nearly four miles from Holywell. Here the Rector, the Rev. Walter Evans, Local Secretary for the Meeting, pointed out the peculiarities of the church. The present structure was erected, at the expense of the Duke of Westminster, by Messrs. Douglas and Fordham, the well known architects of Chester. It is built of yellow sandstone, with a good deal of polished marble in the interior. The churchyard is entered under a well-designed timber lych gate, and the modern carved woodwork inside the church deserves careful study. The whole of the present church is new, with the exception of a piece of sculpture (perhaps of the fourteenth century) built into a buttress on the south side of the nave, outside, at the east end. It was found by the Rev. Walter Evans in the belfry of the old church (built in 1769), used as a stone for the ringers to put their feet on. The sculpture possibly formed part of the churchyard-cross. The subject represented is the Crucifixion, with figures of St. Mary and St. John, each having the head inclined on one side, so as to look up at the Saviour. The folds of the drapery are as sharp as when first carved, assuming that the sculpture has not been tampered with by attempted restoration. Beneath is an angel with a cross on the forehead, supporting the crucifix, which is placed under a small cusped canopy. The sculpture measures 2 ft. 1 in. high by 1 ft. 3 ins.