many markings; and we discussed the question whether the stone was not simply one gathered off the field, and the marks left upon it by the plough. Some such marks there undoubtedly were, but there was one of a different character. The plough-scores went right across the stone in different directions: but besides these there was a small, well-defined, smoothlygrooved indentation, with its arms, 6 ins. by 4 ins., stopping short of the rough edges of the stone, and forming a perfectly-shaped cross. A passing glimpse of the tower of Llanbedr Church as we crossed the Lesser Grwyney, the drive through the pretty valley of Llangeney, a distant view of the Maenhir at Cwrt y Gollen, and a closer inspection of the Gwernvale Cromlech, brought to a close a very enjoyable and profitable excursion. Stone with Two Incised Crosses at Partrishow. 65 Cambrian Archaeological Association. REPORT OF THE FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING, HELD AT PORTMADOC, ON MONDAY, AUGUST 17TH, 1903, AND FOUR FOLLOWING DAYS. President. THE RIGHT HON. LORD GLANUSK. President-Elect. MR. R. H. WOOD, F.S.A., F.R.G.S., Pantglas, Trawsfynydd. Local Committee. Chairman. -MR. J. E. GREAVES, Lord Lieutenant of Carnarvonshire, Bron Eifion, Criccieth. Vice-Chairmen. Col. O. Lloyd J. Evans, Broom Hall, Pwllheli. Mr. R. M. Greaves, Wern, Tremadoc. The Right Hon. Lord Harlech, Glyn, Talsarnau. Col. Mainwaring, Bwlch y Beudy, Cerrigydrudion. Sir Hugh J. Ellis Nanney, Bart., Gwynfryn, Criccieth. Mr. J. Bryn Roberts, M.P., Brynadda, Bangor. The Right Hon. The Earl of Winchelsea, Harlech. Mr. A. O. Williams, M.P., Deudraeth Castle, Penrhyndeudraeth. Peniarth, Towyn. Mr. J. A. A. Williams, Aberglaslyn, Beddgelert. Committee. Mr. G. J. Barnard, Bryn Glaslyn, Portmadoc. Mr. Randal Casson, Bronygarth. Mr. H. T. Davies, Abererch, Pwllheli. Mr. J. Davies, Bryneirian, Portmadoc. Rev. J. E. Davies, Vicarage, Llwyngwril. Mr. J. Evans, 5, High Street, Portmadoc. Mr. J. R. Evans, County School, Portmadoc. Mr. W. George, Garthcelyn, Criccieth. Mr. A. P. Graves, H. M. I. of Schools, Erinfa, Harlech. 6TH SER., VOL. IV. Committee.-Continued. Mrs. R. M. Greaves, Wern, Tremadoc. Mr. Harold Hughes, Arvonia Buildings, Bangor. Rev. Canon J. Ll. Jones, Criccieth. Mr. Robert Isaac Jones (Alltud Eifion), Tremadoc. Mr. R. Jones Morris, Ty cerrig, Talsarnau. Rev. W. J. Nicholson, Roche Terrace, Portmadoc. Mr. A. B. Priestley, Cae Ddafydd, Llanfrothen. Mr. Griffith Prichard, Bodhyfryd, Minffordd. Mr. E. Roberts, H. M. I. of Schools, Maesincla, Carnarvon. Ven. Archdeacon Williams, The Rectory, Llanystumdwy. Mr. W. W. Watkin, Parciau, Criccieth. Rev. J. E. Williams, The Vicarage, Portmadoc. Hon. Local Treasurer. Mr. William Jones, North and South Wales Bank, Portmadoc (deed.). Mr. David G. Owen, North and South Wales Bank, Portmadoc. Hon. Local Secretaries. Mr. Charles E. Breese, 4, Marine Terrace, Portmadoc. General Secretaries of the Association. Rev. Canon R. Trevor Owen, F.S.A., Bodelwyddan Vicarage, Rev. C. Chidlow, M. A., Lawhaden Vicarage, Narberth. EVENING MEETINGS. TUESDAY, AUGUST 18TH, 1903. PUBLIC MEETING. THE meeting was held in the Board Schoolroom in Snowdon Street, at 8.15 P.M. The Ven. Archdeacon Thomas took the chair, and said :— Pro It was with considerable regret that he occupied the position; it was a source of great disappointment to them all that their President, Lord Glanusk, could not be with them on that occasion. Those who were present at the Brecon meeting remembered with pleasure the thorough interest his lordship threw into his work as President. He was with them the whole time, and there was no part in which he did not take a personal interest. He had had the pleasure of seeing in Lord Glanusk's house some of the MSS. he had collected for an enlarged history of his own county of Breconshire. ceeding, the Archdeacon said he had great pleasure in calling upon the President-elect to take the chair. No one needed to be reminded of the interest Mr. Wood had taken in the work of the Society. Those who had to do with the working of the Society knew how ready he was to respond to the call for special aid. A member of many learned societies, he had also served the office of hon. secretary to the Cheetham Society. He was also the owner of two of the most remarkable remains of antiquity that it would be their good fortune to visit, viz., Cwm Bychan and Tre'r Ceiri. THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS. Mr. Wood thereupon assumed the chair. Like Archdeacon Thomas, he was sorry, he remarked at the outset of his Presidential Address, that they had not the pleasure of the company of Lord Glanusk. Proceeding, he said :-The full and detailed Programme issued by your local committee renders it unnecessary for me to recapitulate the many points of interest to be visited in the course of our excursions this week; and indeed, it would not be desirable to occupy your valuable time with the repetition of what every zealous archæologist must have already read up for his own equipment and the more profitable use of his visit. But there are some questions which the Programme suggests, and to which I hope this meeting will help to contribute a satisfactory answer. Each centre at which we have foregathered in the long series of our annual meetings has had some more or less distinctive features to offer for our inspection; but here at Portmadoc we seem to be confronted by some of the most interesting questions of legend and history. We are set down as it were in an old-world scene, in which objects of primitive antiquity survive side by side with remains of almost every subsequent age. The Roman occupation tells its own story in the road from Segontium (Carnarvon) to Mons Heriri (Tomen y Mûr), along a portion of which we shall travel from Aberglaslyn to Beddgelert, the inscribed stones at Gesail Gyfarch, at Llystyn Gwyn and at Llanaelhaiarn, and the spiral stone at Llanbedr, will have their vates sacer, we trust, on the spot in Principal Rhys; the Priory of Beddgelert, the Abbey of Aberconway, and, probably, the Hospice of St. John at Dolygynwal, will each claim our notice: in the site of the first, in the distant possessions of the second at Hafodlwyfog, and in a place-name of the third at Llidiart-Yspytty, in Tremadoc. The ancient and ruinous mansions of Bronyfoel, Gesail Gyfarch, Clenenney and Ystumllyn have had their feuds recorded by Sir John Wynn of Gwydir, and their later story_told by the veteran Alltud Eifion, and others. But what shall I say about those far earlier remains which we are to visit, and to meet with some instances of on every excursion: cromlechs and cistfaens at Ystumcegid, Rhoslan and Llanbedr, maenhir at Plasdu, steps at Cwm Bychan, remains on Tre'r Ceiri, Carn Bentyrch and Dinas Emrys, and Cytiau Gwyddelod along the slopes of Ardudwy and in the Vale of Gwynant? Here we appear to be, literally, in the midst of a "Stone Age.' But, who were the builders ? Were they all the work of the same people-the same in race but different in time? And to what age and race did they respectively belong? Questions like these are ever with us, and to-day they challenge us to answer the further question, what advance has archæology made in this direction since the Association met here and discussed similar matters in 1868? What justification have we to show, in this respect, for our continued existence as a learned and especially an Archæological Association? Now, few things would be more pleasant than to be able to say definitely and positively who the builders were, whence they came, and at what time precisely they lived. But archaeological, like geological, time moves slowly; and in the absence of positive evidence we must be content with such inference as may fairly be drawn from the comparative study of similar remains, the witness of local nomenclature and the suggestions of legend and mythology; still, under the consciousness that other elements may have to be reckoned with which are not at present within our cognizance, and always remembering that it is not wise for an archeologist to prophecy before he knows. Few districts are better suited for the study of this subject than those of Ardudwy and Eifionydd, where cromlechs, cists and cyttiau abound in close proximity to each other; and they are marked by one common feature, viz., that no tools have been employed in their construction, and that they must, therefore, belong to a very early period, and to a primitive people. They are found, indeed, in Brittany as dolmens, and on the line of communication from Brittany to |