history of Dynevor is of great value. The reeve accounts of 1360 contain useful information upon the ways and means of Welsh agriculture during the latter part of the fourteenth century, the cost of roofing and other repairs of buildings. We learn how the Charter of 1392, placing the inhabitants on the same legal footing as the English burgesses of Carmarthen, put them beyond the not inconsiderable peril of Welsh oaths.

Particulars, fully annotated, are given of Pembrokeshire Parsons, which must have involved considerable research.

It is pointed out, amongst other curious incidents, that all the Canons of St. David's had similar rights and authority in their prebendal lordships to those enjoyed by the lord of a manor-the right of wreck, and power to hold free courts and jurisdiction as regards person and property.

Two instances are given of the tripartite arrangement of tithes in Ambleston, p. 239, and Fishguard, p. 295:-"Johannes Veims vicarius habens tertiam partem fructus et emolimentorum dicte ecclesie" "David Mendus vicarius annuatim percipit tertiam partem omnium frugum oblacionum et aliorum emolimentorum," the rest being taken by the Abbey of Dogmaels.

The volume is neatly and correctly printed. Amongst the corri genda should be noted drunkeness, pp. 232 and 265. Is "literas" to be understood with "inter alias," p. 153? The abridged titles, Cards., Carms., are somewhat unpleasing.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. THE volume recently issued contains an interesting report by Mr. F. R. Coles on "Stone Circles in Perthshire," in which mention is made of several cup-marked boulders, two with 13 cup-marks each, another with no less than 52, but without grooves or rings.

In another article, "Archæological Gleanings from Aberfeldy," Mr. C. G. Nash records eight cup-marked stones, chiefly in Stone circles. One of these bears on its newly-exposed surface four cupmarks arranged in a cross, 1 in. deep and well made; another, 4 ft. long, showed 41 cup-marks. A third, on Creag Formal, bears three cup-marks not enclosed, and also two groups enclosed by grooves. The larger groove is 19 in. in diameter, and shallow. It encloses five cups, the largest is 2 in. in diameter and 1 in. deep, and has around it a ring 6 in. in diameter and connected with the enclosing groove by a straight channel. The smaller enclosing groove, somewhat irregular in shape, is 15 in. in diameter. It contains two cups, the larger of which is 1 in. in diameter and in. deep, and has around it a ring 6 in. in diameter and connected with the enclosing groove by a straight channel.

An illustration is given of a Fresco, said to be unique in Great Britain, of "Les trois Vifs et les trois Morts" (the three living and the three dead Kings), in Wickhampton Church, Norfolk. The

6TH SER. VOL. XII.

22

subject consists of two parts, bordered and separated by growing tree-trunks. To the right are three Kings at different stages of life, young, middle-aged, and old. To the left are three standing skeletons-what the former shall come to be. In the foreground a young huntsman is seen holding in leash a straining greyhound, and a hare is speeding along in wild terror. It is considered to be the work of the fourteenth century, having been probably executed for the famous Robert de Lincoln, first Rector of Wickhampton.

Several pages are devoted to papers on Churchyard Memorials, Tranent and St. Andrews, some of which are marked by the originality of the symbolical forms employed. A large number of craft insignia and tools are represented. In Tranent the Butchers' Guild figures largely. In St. Andrews a gruesome relic of resurrectionist days is exhibited, a collar of iron used to encircle the neck of a coffined corpse, so as to make the removal of the body difficult, if not impossible. The ends were passed through the strong bottom of the coffin, where the locking nuts were made doubly secure by the spreading of the divided tangs.

Among other valuable articles is one on Rock-hewn Caves in the Valley of the Esk and in various parts of Scotland, some of which recall the legend of Wayland Smith. Popular tradition has been largely concerned with these caves.

THE chief feature of this volume, published by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, is the "Report of the Excavations at Corstopitum," which have had the advantage of supervision by Professor Haverfield. The special interest of these investigations is that the Committee in charge of the excavations are able to show that Corstopitum, about which little was known at the outset, dated from an early period in the Roman conquest of the Tyne Valley, shared in the vicissitudes of succeeding centuries, and that its occupation continued until the very eve of the departure of the Roman troops from Britain. Amongst the most recent finds is a well-preserved altar with inscription

IOVI AETERNO DOLICHENO ET CAELESTI BRIGANTIAE.

Dolichenus, Professor Haverfield remarks, is a well-known God, and Brigantia is familiar to us on several altars in the land inhabited by the Brigantes. The epithet Cælestis provokes conjecture. Cælestis was the Latin name of the old Carthaginian deity Tanit. In Corstopitum, where the Tyrian Heracles and Astarte had a worshipper, it is conceivable that Tanit had also some dim remembrance.

An article on "Durham Seals," excellently illustrated, notices an early seal of the great Earl of Chester, Randulph Blondeville, 11811232. This bears a wolf passant. His later arms, depicted by Matthew Paris and also blazoned in the roll of Henry III, are— azure, three sheaves gold.

Archaeological Notes and Queries.

THE CAERGWRLE CUP.-This beautiful work of early art, which excited such interest when exhibited at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries, in 1823, soon after its discovery, will shortly, through the generosity of Sir Foster Cunliffe of Acton Park, be transferred to the National Museum at Cardiff. It was found in a field at the foot of the steep hill on which the ruined castle of Caergwrle stands. The workman who found it, while carrying on some draining opera

tions in this marshy field, seeing the gold and supposing it to be some ornament of a coffin, struck it with his spade and broke it.1 The Rev. George Cunliffe, Vicar of Wrexham, who was then living near, on hearing of the discovery purchased it, and it remained until his death, in 1884, in his possession, passing then into the hands of the late Sir Robert Cunliffe of Acton Park, the father of the present baronet.

In shape it resembles a cup or bowl, and in the account given of it to the Society of Antiquaries, by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick, it is described as "richly inlaid on the exterior with thin gold in various devices, the gold leaf beautifully tooled and extremely pure, the border being formed of concentric circles, and the rest of parallel lines, where it was made to double over the edge. The ornament of the under part consists of a central band very sharply indented both

1 Arch. Camb., 1875.

ways, and at a little distance on each side another composed of three lines of zig-zag, which is again bounded by another indented border." At a later period the vessel was described by the Rev. E. L. Barnwell, in Arch. Camb., 1875, when its dimensions were said to belength, 9 in., an average breadth of 4 in., the depth 2 in. Canon George Cunliffe was of opinion that it was, when perfect, 2 in. more each way. The body of the cup is said to be of oak, ornamented with exquisite bands of gold, as described by Sir Samuel Meyrick. What was its exact purpose, and whether it was intended for use for libations of a religious or a social character, is, of course, a matter of conjecture, and its proper attribution is rendered difficult by the fact that only one or two vessels of the kind appear to have been preserved. The cup was exhibited in the temporary museum at the Wrexham meeting, in 1874. Since that period it has not been open to inspection. With Mr. Barnwell's article, in 1875, an admirable illustration in gold and colours was given from an original drawing by Miss Cunliffe, of Pant yr Ochyn, Gresford. For some reason or other the artist has given only part of the details, apparently on the presumption that the portions omitted might be easily inferred. In other respects the details are given with accuracy.

CHESTER A ROMAN GRAVEYARD.-Roman remains are being unearthed at Chester on the site of the extension of the infirmary, at a depth of about 5 ft. in close clay soil. Numerous Roman graves have been discovered, and in all eighteen skeletons. The site is believed to be that of a graveyard used by the 20th Legion of the Romans during their occupation of the city. The most recent discovery is a grave in which are the skeletons of a mother and babe. In each instance the skeletons had been buried with the head pointing north. The teeth are perfect.

Professor Robert Newstead reports on this discovery as follows: "I cannot," he says, "enter into the peculiarities of the skeletons and bones, of which there will be some considerable information to give at a later period. The evidence, so far as it goes, proves conclusively that the Infirmary field was not used as a burying ground during the outbreak of the Plague; in other words, that all the burials which have so far been unearthed belong to the Roman period. I believe the reason why the field has been in later years referred to as the Plague Field, is that in years gone by many drains were laid in this field, and as evidenced by the recent discoveries, some of these modern drains had intersected the burials. Thus it was that in finding human remains it was no doubt concluded that they were the victims of the great Plague. This is, however, not the case. The number of graves in all was seventeen. These are of four distinct types. One is a tomb formed of local sandstone, evidently representing a burial of some importance, as the walls of the tomb or grave were partly covered in

plaster, and the upper portion or dome of the structure must originally have stood out in marked contrast to the surrounding surface of the land, forming a distinct tumulus. Three graves had been formed by placing Roman roofing tiles upon the floor, and also at the sides, several of which bore the stamp of the 20th Legion, and it is curious and interesting to note that all of these legionary stamps were placed so that they faced inwards. Another type of burial differs from either of the preceding, in that a distinct cyst was formed by placing roughly-hewn sandstone, so that a V-shaped trough was formed for the reception of the body. Over this, the coverings consisted of broken Roman roofing tiles. This was a child burial. In all the remaining burials a simple trench had been dug in the solid clay, none of them exceeding a depth of two feet from the top of the original land surface. Reference has already been made to the fact that all these graves are of Roman origin, and that is borne out by the fact that in two instances bronze coins were discovered, one of Antoninus Pius, and the other probably of Commodus. It is a well-known fact that coins were placed usually in the mouth of the deceased, and are generally referred to as 'Charon's passage fare,' to expedite the passage of the souls across the lake in Hades, as it was believed that the man or person, who had not received the usual rites of burial, and in whose mouth no fee for the ferryman of the Stygian lake had been placed, would wander hopelessly on its banks, while a decent interment and a small coin would obviate any disagreeable enquiries that Charon might eise be inclined to make. In addition to this a very interesting terra-cotta lamp was found, which was also one of the usual offerings to the dead, and this was probably filled with oil and placed in the grave lighted. It was furthermore an emblem of immortality. The discovery of a number of large nails in the majority of the burials has led to the theory that the bodies had been crucified. As a matter of fact, such nails have been found in Roman burials elsewhere in Britain and in other parts of the world, and they are probably symbolical of time or money. Not the least interesting discoveries were the remains of Roman sandals, or, to be more correct, the iron studs with which the soles of the Roman sandals had been filled. In removing the clay which formed the floor of one of the graves, there was found an unfinished, or partly finished, stone implement belonging to the Neolithic period. This is extremely interesting, and affords further evidence that Chester was in all probability prior to the Roman occupation inhabited by early man."

In the process of further excavation, another Roman grave has been unearthed, containing three urns, in one of which was a metal mirror. Professor Newstead promises later a full description, with illustrations, of the discoveries.