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 :—

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. Proceeding, 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 Brony foel, 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 archæological, 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

Marseilles, and this indicates the course followed by their builders; but no remains are found within them, at least in this district, nor is this to be wondered at. For from the time of their denudation they have been exposed to the rifling hand of successive generations, and to many common uses. One that we have seen to-day at Ystumcegid was long employed by the tenant as a cowshed. Their original purpose is, however, now almost universally acknowledged to have been sepulchral. At Bryn Celli Ddu, in Anglesey, charcoal and bits of human bones were discovered. The cists, or cistfaens, were undoubtedly made for the same purpose; in some of them urns and charcoal have been found, bespeaking a period of cremation of the dead, whilst in the chambered tumulus at Cefn, near St. Asaph, complete skeletons had been deposited in a sitting posture against the sides, and the whole covered in with fine sand! The cyttiau, or hut circles, were the houses in which they dwelt when living, and the multitude of these along the coast of Merioneth testify to the large population which once inhabited those parts, and to the permanence of their occupation. The appellation by which they have been traditionally known as "Cyttiau y Gwyddelod," bespeaks the "Goidels " as once their occupants, if not also their builders, and of these we shall see a large number above Harlech. In this district of stone monuments we have the remarkable steps up "Bwlch y Tyddiad," above Cwm Bychan, which are generally described as Roman, and there can be little doubt that the Romans did use and probably improved them, for they were famous and skilful road-makers; but were they the original constructors? Is it not at least within the limits of reasonable inference that they were made first by the stone builders of the district?—and it is worthy of notice that similar steps, with similar side supports, are to be seen at "Caher Gel" (itself a significant name), on the west coast of Galway, where no Roman foot had trodden, but where the fort of Dun Aenghus, on the Isle of Aran, bespeaks a race of builders, whom Mr. C. H. Hartshorne aud Professor Babington have long ago claimed as akin to the builders of Tre'r Ceiri. And this grand fortress: what a story it could unfold if it could but speak, and with what eagerness we should listen, and, perhaps, have to hang our heads down in confusion at our ignorance! Like the other fortresses of similar construction on Penmaenmawr, Caer Drewin, the Breiddin, Abdon Burf and Carn Goch, it occupies the summit of a lofty hill, and is defended by a great wall of dry uncemented stones, with cleverly arranged curtain works to protect the entrance. But its great extent and the shortness of water make it difficult to understand how it could have been permanently occupied by any large body of military, or civil, dwellers; rather, it would seem to have been a place of refuge in case of extreme emergency, where the neighbours could find protection for themselves, their wives and children and their cattle, until the immediate danger was overpast. But who were they? And when did they live? One of our most skilled and distinguished

members, Mr. Baring Gould, with his friend, Mr. Burnard, another of our members, has within the last few weeks, under the auspices of the Association, been making some exploration with a view to settling these points. His report I must not anticipate, but I may state that the finds obtained so far indicate an iron-using people, and a Late Celtic age. But it does not follow that these were the builders, but rather that it has been occupied by later comers, as has been the case with every ancient building. We will, however, turn to another witness, and we will interrogate legends and myth; not as fancies of the imagination, but as traditional shrines of longforgotten facts. The "Fairy of Drwsycoed" is but another version of the legend of Llyn y Fan, and tells of the change effected by the introduction of iron, and the supercession of the earlier régime: a process which must have been familiar in Eifionydd and its neighbour commotes. The extremities to which the dispossessed inhabitants were reduced is dimly outlined in the story of the Fairies of Nant Colwyn, with their human and thievish propensities! And, lastly, in the stories that play around Dinas Emrys, we seem to have, in the Legend of the Son of Dallwaran Dallben, an echo of the tradition of the invading tribe, which introduced in its course the blessings of peaceful agriculture into the Principality, and settled in Snowdonia the cub of a wolf and an eaglet, which we may treat as personified in later times by "Y Blaidd Rhudd o'r Gest" (The Red Wolf of Gest), and adopted in the motto of the stout descendant of Gesail Gyfarch, "Eryr Eryrod Eryri." In this brief outline I have touched on some of the points which I should like to see discussed and elucidated during the week; of others, we have an assurance in the Papers to be read and in the addresses promised in locis.

The President having been heartily thanked for his interesting address, on the motion of Colonel Morgan, seconded by the Rev. Canon Morris,

Professor Anwyl rose to give his Paper on "The Early Settlers of Carnarvonshire."

In the discussion which followed, Mr. Burnard said he might state, for the sake of comparison, that he had been examining a large number of similar monuments in Devonshire, particularly on Dartmoor; and he might add, for the information of Professor Anwyl, that there the large circles of stones, which were there called "sacred stone circles," clearly appertained to the Bronze Age. They found on examination that there was a definite floor of hard clay in these circles, and that these floors were strewn with pieces of charcoal wood. There seemed to have been interments around these circles, but none inside. Concluding, Mr. Burnard asked whether Professor Anwyl could inform them of the result of the explorations which had been made of the numerous stone circles

which had been instanced in Carnarvonshire, Merionethshire and other counties.

Professor Anwyl said he had many notes with regard to the hut circles in Carnarvonshire, which he had been unable for want of time to include in that Paper; but so far as his recollection served him, traces of iron were found in them by the late Rev. Elias Owen.

Dr. Hans Gadow next gave a short but interesting address on "Dolmen Builders; "" after which

The President, referring to two of the places the members were about to visit during the week, said Cwm Bychan was until within a comparatively few years ago in the possession of the family of Lloyd from the year 1100. Pennant gave an interesting account of his visit to the Lloyds. In his peregrinations he was accompanied by a friend who was somewhat connected with the family. This friend took Pennant to see the Lloyds, and he advised the members to read the account Pennant gave of his visit. Referring to the "Roman" steps, the President remarked that they were composed of slabs, in some parts about 4 ft. wide, with other slabs to keep them in situ. Believing them to be of national value, he had endeavoured to persuade the Government to take charge of the Pass, for he thought it was one of those things which should come into the national possession. The President concluded with a brief reference to Tre'r Ceiri, and afterwards the meeting ended.

GENERAL ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION.

The meeting was held in the Board School-room in Snowdon Street, at 8.30 p.m. The chair was taken by the Ven. Archdeacon Thomas, and after the minutes of the previous meeting had been read and approved, the General Secretary for North Wales read

THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION.

The Journal. The following Papers have been published in the Archaologia Cambrensis, between July, 1902, and July, 1903 :-

66

Prehistoric Period.

Exploration of a Prehistoric Camp in Glamorganshire.' By H. W.
Williams.

Exploration of Clegyr Voya." By S. Baring Gould.

"The Early Settlers of Brecon." By E. Anwyl.

"Note on a Perforated Stone Axe-hammer found in Pembrokeshire." By J. R. Allen.

"Ancient British Camps, etc., in Lleyn, co. Carnarvon." By E. Owen.

Romano-British Period.

"Roman Forts in South Wales." By F. Haverfield.