Burial." Otherwise, the nave floor was well flagged or paved. The north transept had been recently repaired, and was "in good order within and without." The "Library, Chapter-house, and Store-room" had recently been rebuilt. The ancient plinth, however, existed when Sir Gilbert Scott undertook the "restoration.'

"In 1824, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. J. H. Cotton, afterwards Dean Cotton," Mr. Barber informs us, "great changes were made in the arrangements for the parochial and choir services. Choir stalls were erected in the eastern bays of the nave. The crossing, transepts, and structural choir furnished with high-backed pews. An organ screen divided the Church into two separate portions, the organ forming the western termination of the part devoted to the choir service, the eastern termination (with an altartable below) of the Welsh Parish Church."

When Sir Gilbert Scott first reported on the condition of the church in 1866, he stated that few cathedrals "had suffered more from devastation and

from injurious alterations." Later roofs had replaced those of Bishop Bulkeley and Bishop Rowland. All the old oak fittings and the stained glass, mentioned by Browne Willis, had disappeared.

The "restoration" work, commenced by Sir Gilbert and continued by Mr. J. Oldrid Scott, included rebuilding large portions of the walls of the transepts ; removing the Perpendicular tracery of the north and south gable windows, and replacing old fragments of thirteenth century tracery, and providing new stonework to complete the designs on the old lines, in their stead; filling several of the nave windows with new tracery; casing the ceiling of the nave; building the central tower; providing new roofs and ceilings to the chancel and transepts; rebuilding the chapter-house

1 Browne Willis, p. 10.

3 Ibid., p. 18.

2

Ibid., p. 9.

+ Ibid., p. 310.

building; constructing buttresses at the east end of the chancel; rebuilding the arches in the east and west walls of the transepts; re-flooring the Church; constructing choir stalls and reredos; re-seating the church; providing a new pulpit; re-glazing the windows, and generally repairing the old work. The central tower was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott to be carried to a considerable height above its present level, and to be terminated by a lofty spire. Lack of funds, in the first instance, delayed the accomplishment of the scheme. Serious settlements in the building render the advisability of adding greatly to the weight, doubtful. This is apart from the question as to whether a lofty central tower and spire would not detract from a certain homeliness the building pos

sesses.

Amongst the other works, a new organ was provided; but this, within the last few years, has given place to one of increased size and volume, obtained through the energy of Mr. Westlake Morgan, the cathedral organist.

Notwithstanding the vast extent of modern "restoration" work, there still remains, as I have attempted to show, sufficient ancient material in the church to enable us to trace its various and chequered course through the many centuries of its existence.

33

IS "PORTH KERDIN" IN MOYLGROVE?

BY A. W. WADE-EVANS.

[The following appeared last December and January, in the now well-known "Amsang" column in the Pembroke County Guardian (H. W. Williams, Solva). With Mr. Williams' permission, it is here reproduced and revised. For the photographs we are indebted to the Rev. J. T. Evans, Rector of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire].

THERE are certain reasons for believing that the place called "Porth Kerdin," in the story of Kulhwch (Oxford Mabinogion. p. 110), is in the parish of Moylgrove, in North Pembrokeshire. The following is the relevant passage from Lady Guest's translation (Nutt's Ed., 1902, p. 140):

After this Arthur sent an embassy to Odgar, the son of Aedd, King of Ireland, to ask for the cauldron of Diwrnach Wyddel, his purveyor. And Odgar commanded him to give it. But Diwrnach said: 'Heaven is my witness if it should avail him anything even to look at it, he should not do so.' And the embassy of Arthur returned with this denial. And Arthur set forward with a small retinue, and entered Prydwen his ship, and went over to Ireland. And they slew Diwrnach Wyddel and his company. Arthur with his men went forward to the ship, carrying away the cauldron full of Irish money. And he disembarked at the house of Llwyddeu, the son of Kelcoed, at Porth Kerdin in Dyfed. And there is the measure of the cauldron."

The part in italics is as follows in the original Welsh (Oxford Mabinogion, p. 136) :—

"ar peir yn llawn o swllt iwerdon gantunt. Adiskynnu yn ty llwydeu mab kel coet ym porth kerdin yn dyuet. Ac yno y mae messur y peir."

Now where is this "Porth Kerdin yn Dyuet"? Lady Guest suggests Pwllcrochan in Pencaer, and this is supported not only by the name itself, which means "the pool of the pot or cauldron," but also by

6TH SER., VOL. IV.

3

the following facts. First, there is a place not far off called Trefculhwch, that is, the tref or township of Kulhwch, who is the hero of our story. Then the northern promontory of the bay of Pwllerochan is called Trwyn Llwyd, which immediately makes one think of" Llwydeu mab Kel Coet," whose house is

said to have been at the place, and especially so when we remember that this personage is called in the Mabinogi of Manawyddan, Llwyd ab Kilcoed. Also, there is another bay, a little to the north of Pwllerochan, called Pwll Arian, which reminds us of the cauldron being filled with Irish money; and, in addition, all kinds of quaint stories are known to exist or to have existed on Pencaer, concerning these and other

places in that vicinity, Of this, then, there is absolutely no doubt that the tale of Kulhwch and Olwen, in the Llyfr Coch o Hergest, is intimately connected with Pencaer, and it is highly probable that the old folk associated Pwllcrochan, Pwllarian, etc., with the cauldron of Diwrnach Wyddel, a well-known personage in their mythology. This, however, would not pre

vent its having been associated with Pwllerochan in South Pembrokeshire, for there is a place of that name in the south as well as in the north of the county; and possibly with other Pwllcrochans which have disappeared from map and memory. But when the scribe of the Llyfr Coch wrote "Ac yno y mae messur y peir" (" and there is the measure of the cauldron"), he must have had his mind's eye on some particular spot