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Reviews and Notices of Books.

CARDIFF RECORDS: BEING MATERIALS FOR A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY BOROUGH FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES. Edited by JOHN HOBSON MATTHEWS, Archivist to the Corporation of Cardiff. Vol. iv. Cardiff: Published by order of the Corporation, and sold by Henry Sotheran and Co., 140, Strand, W.C.; and 37, Piccadilly, W., London. 1903.

WHEN Mr. Matthews concluded vol. iii of the Record Series with "Ecclesiastical Memorial Inscriptions" of Cardiff, most of his readers imagined that his work was accomplished, but here we have vol. iv, as rotund and rubicund as any of its predecessors.

Cardiff has, indeed, been swept pretty clean, but there are still some records of the County Borough to be found elsewhere, and out of them vol. iv has been mostly constructed.

Our Archivist overhauled Llanover to good purpose. Sixty-five years ago, the late Lady Llanover was leading spirit of a society who called themselves Cymreig y ddion y Fenni, or the Abergavenny Cambricists. They did some excellent work, and then went the way of small associations. Lady Llanover appears to have been their residuary legatee, and so became possessed of their MSS. Most of them are in the handwriting of Edward Williams (Iolo Morganwg), though some are original, dating from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, collected by the old antiquary. This collection was stowed away, in what our Archivist describes as a coffin, and pretty well lost sight of until Lady Llanover's death, when her daughter, the Hon. Mrs. Herbert, called in Mr. Matthews to examine them. They were in a very bad state-so bad, indeed, that in a short time damp and mildew would have reduced them to powder. Mrs. Herbert took proper measures to secure their safety, and the collection is now becoming known to the Welsh literary world. From these Llanover papers Mr. Matthews culls two versions of "The Winning of Glamorgan by the Norman Knights," by Sir Edward Mansel, of Margam, 1591. Chapter II consists of "Further Gleanings from the Record Office;" and among these gatherings will be found the best grain in the harvest.

Llewelyn Bren, a Glamorgan chieftain, considering himself aggrieved, raised a rebellion about 1314; but, finding his men outnumbered, yielded himself to the Earl of Hereford and Lord Mortimer of Wigmore, on condition that he was pardoned. Llewelyn was sent to Edward II, and the King forgave him; but when he returned to Wales, notwithstanding the royal pardon, Sir Hugh Despencer "took the said Llewelyn, and led him to Cardiff, where he caused the said Llewelyn to be drawn, headed, and

quartered, to the discredit of the King and of the said Earl of Hereford and Lord Mortimer; yea, and contrary to the laws and dignity of the imperial crown" (Hollinshed, p. 562, vol. ii, Ed. 1807).

The pardon granted by Edward seems to have been conditional, for though the rebel's life was spared by the King, his goods seem to have been forfeited to the Crown; for, after Llewelyn's murder, we find the King dealing with the goods "which were of Llewelyn Bren and the other felons."

The inventories of these chattels, Mr. Matthews has copied from the Miscellanea of the Exchequer, II (D), ii; the document is in Old French, and translates as follows:

"Be it remembered of the goods of Llewelyn Bren, found in the Treasury of Llandaff, which William de Montagu hath delivered unto Master Payne Turberville by this Indenture. That is to say, 1 cuirass, 1 riding coat, 1 pair of cushions, 1 collar of slashed linen, 5 brazen pots, 2 brazen pails, 1 basin, 1 old breast-plate of iron, 3 Welsh chairs, 1 coffer for charters, 2 muniments, 1 Roman de la Rose,' 3 Welsh books, 4 other books, 10 gold rings, 1 golden clasp, 1 silver clasp. Item, delivered by the hand of David ap Grono: 7 haubergeons, 1 iron covering, 1 target, 1 pair of metal gauntlets, 1 pair of cushions, 2 lavers, 2 brazen candlesticks, 8 Evesham headpicces, 1 piece of buckram, 1 coat-of-arms of buckram, 1 bright red riding coat, 1 cuirass not perfect, 2 table-cloths, 1 old seal, 1 rayed serge, 8 silver spoons."

Besides, there were 4 bulls, 322 cows, 42 oxen, 4 female plough cattle, 153 steers, 2 heifers, 70 yearlings, 35 mares, 6 foals, 244 sheep, 77 lambs, 188 goats, 114 swine.

These lists give us a very good idea of what sort of life a Welsh nobleman led in the first quarter of the fourteenth century. He read French, Welsh, and some other language. He wore a bright red riding-coat, with a slashed linen collar, gold rings galore, and gold and silver buckles. His dinner-table was covered with a cloth, and he had a supply of silver spoons.

What would they fetch to-day in a London auction-room?

In the "Star Chamber Proceedings," Bundle 32, No. 23, we find an interesting story.

"One August day, when Henry VIII was King, George ap Morgan, Rosser Kemeys, and Thomas Lewis, gentlemen all, clad in coats of defence, skulls of steel, and sleeves of mail, with bows and arrows, glaives, bills, and other weapons defensible, in riotous manner resorted to the town of Caerdiffe, in South Wales.

"Now John Wattys, of Landaffe, came to the same town, and had knowledge of the lying of the said George in the said town, which of shorte tyme before had or taken upp a spanyell of the same Watts, who then and there demaunded of the same George the delyveraunce of the saide spanyell, who denyed him the same, and forth with he with others made assault and affray upon said Watts, insomuch that they put said Watts to flyght, and the

said George, Rosser and Lewes pursued, and 'ffoyned' him with their daggers, and slew the same Watts, and thereupon fled, and denied not the same.

"Then the bailiffs of the same town, 'beyng Ingnorant & nat lerned in the lawes,' swore a jury to view the body of the same Wattes, whereon were sundry of the allies and kinsmen of George, Rosser, and Thomas, who for affeccyonacy hasse not founde the trouthe therof,' with the result that these misdoers have not been punished, but they were let out on bail £100 to appear on a day prefixed."

"On the day George and the other riotous persons came to the town gates of Cardiff there were more than one hundred, of whom fifty were bowmen, all in manner of war arrayed. And George would not make answer without these armed men were allowed to acompany him, and the officers having good respect unto the weal of the King and town would not permit the same; so George went home again and made default, whereby he forfeited to the King £100. So Katherine, daughter of David, and wife of the late John Watts, the poor oratrix, is without her remedy, and prays that the Earl of Worcester, High Officer there commanding, may be instructed to issue a writ' De melius inquirendo' to the Bailiffs of Caerdiff, that they may impanel a new jury of the best Aldermen and Burgesses of the town, for them to inquire of the said murder."

Of five hundred and forty-nine papers in this volume no less than three hundred and seventy-five are taken up with extracts from the Corporation books. If there were any old Minute Books they have been lost, and those quoted do not reach back two hundred years. Probably these eighteenth and nineteenth century proceedings may interest a few Cardiffians, but to the general reader they are dreary in the extreme: mostly petty disbursements, resembling the churchwardens' accounts of country villages. One of the best bits of reading in this volume will be found in our Archivist's Preface: "Cardiff, indeed, is as cosmopolitan as any meeting-place of the nations. Specimens of the aboriginal Welsh-speaking Cardiffian may still be met with here and there, and there has, of course, been a large influx into the town from this and the adjacent counties; but commonest is the immigrant from Gloucestershire and Somersetshire, it is said-especially the latter. The English spoken at Cardiff by the average passer-by no longer betrays any suspicion of Welsh accent, but smacks strongly of the West Saxon spoken on the opposite Severn shore, which bids fair to form the basis for a new dialect for this town and district. In one walk from the Hayes bridge to the pier head, it is easy to hear a dozen languages, to say nothing of dialects. All the principal European nationalities are represented among the well-established merchants and tradesmen of the town and port. A Cardiff-born Polish noble carries on the business of a watchmaker; an Austrian of aristocratic lineage keeps a small public-house; and a Welshman, who descends from two of the most ancient families in Glamorgan, works as a mastermason. Never was such a confusion of races and conditions. At 6TH SER., VOL. IV.

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Cardiff may be found the issue of marriages between persons of widely distant nationalities, as Italian-Welsh, Greek-Irish, MalteseEnglish, Scottish-Welsh-one might ring the changes indefinitely. Bearing in mind an axiom of physiology, one expects the future inhabitants of Cardiff to be a gifted people."

There is a sad falling-off in the illustration of the present volume when compared with the earlier numbers. Our Archivist is so diffident that it seems scarcely fair to press this point home; he hopes that his artistic shortcomings are compensated for by a minuteness of detail which, though it may not satisfy artists, will at least be appreciated by antiquaries. Perhaps he will find antiquaries are not quite so easily satisfied as he anticipates.

Archaeological Notes and Queries.

DISCOVERY OF GRAVES IN THE PARISH OF LLANBEDR-GOCH, ANGLESEY.-In September last I was informed by Mr. T. P. Thomas, builder, of Llanfair, P.G., that he had come across some graves in the parish of Llanbedr-goch, and that he intended searching for further remains. On September 29th, the Rev. E. Evans, the Rector of Llansadwrn, wrote informing me that the Pentraeth antiquaries had obtained permission to further explore the site; and mentioned that he believed the graves to be those of the warriors who fell in the battle between Hywel and Dafydd, the sons of Owain Gwynedd, "fought in the hollow above Pentraeth." The afternoon of October 1st was fixed for examining the position. Those present on the occasion were the Rev. E. Evans, Mr. T. P. Thomas, the Rev. William Prichard of Pentraeth, Mr. M. Parry of Victoria Street, Chester, and myself. We were afterwards joined by the Rev. E. P. Howell, the Rector of Pentraeth-cum-Llanbedr-goch.

The graves are situated in a field between Pentraeth and Llanbedrgoch, on a farm called Rhos-y-gâd (the moer of battle). The field is known as Bryn-y-cyrff (the hill of the corpses). The adjoining field, to the east, is known as Caerau Bodgadroedd (the fields of the forces). Mr. Thomas was working a quarry for gravel near the north-east boundary of the field Bryn-y-cyrff, when he came across the graves.

The quarry is about half a mile to the south-east of Llanbedr-goch Church, and is on the top of rising ground. Between it and the church is a marsh. The ground rises considerably on the north. side of the marsh to the church. On this rising ground I understand that, in former years, graves have been found. Mr. Howell further informs me that when the churchyard was extended a few years ago, in digging the first grave in the new portion, human

remains were unearthed. Other graves are said to have been discovered in a field to the south-west of Bryn-y-cyrff.

The accompanying sketch plan shows the approximate relative positions of the graves lately discovered. The graves are marked A, B, C and D, and all lie east and west.

Grave A, with the exception of the foot or east-end, had been destroyed before we visited the spot. The remains show a cist, with sides formed of rough stones set on edge, and rough stone slab covers. The body lay on the gravel. In this grave a skull and a few bones had been found. Grave в had been entirely destroyed.

Mr. Thomas informed me that it was a cist, similar in formation to A, and that several bones had been found in it. A lower jaw-bone, retaining one tooth, was picked up close to the position it occupied, and probably had fallen down from the grave into the quarry. The west end of grave c had been destroyed, but we excavated the remaining length of about 4 ft. 6 ins. It was formed of upright stone sides and end, and stone cover, the bottom being the natural gravel similar in construction to that of A. The bottom of the

grave was about 2 ft. 4 ins. below the surface. The tops of the cover stones averaged about 11 ins. below the surface. They were about 5 ins. to 7 ins. in thickness. A few portions of human leg bones were found in this grave.

We next proceeded to test the surface by means of a crowbar,