tion and from the solidity and finish of the houses the proofs we have of the existence of others yet unexcavated - and the range and extent of the fortifications, we may reasonably infer that Segontium was once a town of considerable magnitude. Here the inquiry naturally suggests itself, "What has become of the stones which formed it? Have they entered into the composition of the neighbouring castle and its walls? or are they for the most part buried under the tumuli of Segontium?" One problem is at all events solved. We now know to a certainty of what materials the house tops were composed. These Roman slates will not, perhaps, bear an exact comparison with our modern queens and duchesses (technically so called,) but they are almost equal to our ladies, and nearly as well split and dressed. It has been conjectured, but on no better authority, I believe, than that of Gildas the monk, that Segontium was sacked and burned by the Picts; but whether it was so or not let learned antiquaries determine. It is certainly corroborant of Gildas, that wherever we dig we find traces of fire and violence. Wood ashes form a stratum of the soil; broken slates and pottery there are in great quantities; and, the coins excepted, scarcely an article discovered is in a whole and perfect condition. Again, we find no article of bulk, but only those smaller objects which may be supposed to have escaped the eye of barbarian rapacity. I have only to remark in conclusion, that our work necessarily proceeds upon the festina lentè principle. Excavations must be made with great caution, and not a barrowful of soil is wheeled out unsifted. The ground is resorted to on Sundays by idle boys and full grown destructives, against whom, as a protection, we are obliged to pay a watcher. No wonder, then, that our original small fund, which has done so much, should be expended. That we are now able to carry on these researches is due to the generosity of James Dearden, Esq., lord of the manor of Rochdale, who has munificently sent us £21; but such assistance would be of no avail, be it remembered, except for the kindness of Mr. Thomas, the vicar, and others, who allow us to dig in their land. LIST No. II. OF THE COINS DISCOVERED AT SEGONTIUM. 17 OBVERSE. IMP. C. MAXIMIANVS. P. F. AVG. REVERSE. A figure, probably Mars, inscription illegible. 18 OBVERSE. FLAVVAL.CONSTANTINVS. G Flavius Galerius Valerius Constantinus Augustus. REVERSE. PRINCIPI IVVENTVTIS Constantine in a military habit holding two standards. In the exergue PTR. 19 OBVERSE. CONSTANTINVS. P. F. AVG. REVERSE. SOLI. INVICTO. COMITI. In the field T.F. In the exergue PTR. 20 OBVERSE. CONSTANTINVS.AVC. REVERSE. BEATA. TRANQVILLITAS. with VOTIS. XX. inscribed on an altar. 21 OBVERSE. D.N. VALEN. S.F. AVC REVERSE. SECVRITAS. REIPVBLICAE. Victory marching off with a garland, and palm branch. 22 The same, but in better preservation. In the exergue SNAQP. I remain, &c. R. R. PARRY MEALY. To the Editors of the Archæologia Cambrensis. CAERNARVON, MARCH 10th, 1846. GENTLEMEN, The present excavations on the western slope of Segontium promise to become even more interesting and valuable than the former. The subject seems to have created quite an excitement here, and every body is trying to rub off his vandalism. Of one thing (which I had for some time suspected) the appearances now presented have convinced me, the purely Roman remains have been tampered with to a very serious extent. Not only are there vestiges of prior excavations, but also of extensive additions and alterations by later, certainly by ruder hands. In any attempt to elucidate or unravel the puzzling traces, methinks that regard should be paid to this circumstance. Are you satisfied of the nature of the first portion excavated? Of its being a portion of a hypocaust I entertain very strong doubts. The Romans, with all their partiality for baths, were not perfectly amphibious. I trust that advantage will be taken of the present excitement for the re-establishment of our local antiquarian society, and for the remodelling of the museum; both objects of great moment to us, and in a sadly deranged state. In common with your correspondent "Arvoniensis," I have been certainly puzzled to account for the termination of the walls on the south eastern side, near the castle. My present impression is, that the delineation in Ogilby's map of the part in question is inaccurate; however, the attractions of Segontium are now so superior, that I have found it impossible to afford sufficient time for a satisfactory examination. I remain, &c., D. W. [For the solution of our correspondent's doubts, we cannot do better than refer him to Mr. Mealy's highly interesting account given above. One of our number was at Caernarvon last winter, and we understand from him that the appearances of the flues, which were then only partially excavated, were decisive as to their nature. - EDD. ARCH. CAMBR.] HAMMERSMITH, Jan. 22, 1846. GENTLEMEN, Herewith I submit to your notice a sketch (made from a drawing taken last autumn) of a stone standing upon the grass sward at the side of the road between Kenfegge and Margam in Glamorganshire, which, as you are well aware, has already exercised the ingenuity of the Welsh antiquaries, the inscription, by some, having been merely considered as the name of a Roman or Romanised Briton, "PUNPEIUS CARANTORIUS"; whilst others (Bishop Gibson, in Camden, &c.) have found in these letters a genuine Welsh inscription, honorable to the spirit of the ancient inhabitants of the Principality. Without entering into this question, I will merely observe that whoever will take the trouble of comparing this inscription, with reference to the form of its letters, with the Roman inscription upon the stone lately dug up at the adjacent Port Talbot, and now lying in the hall of the Harbour Master's house there, will not, I think, long hesitate in adopting the former of these theories. But the more especial object of my sending you this sketch, is to direct your attention to certain marks, between two and three inches long, occurring on the lateral angles of the face of the stone, and which, with much deference, I submit are no other than Ogham letters, and which are now for the first time, I believe, proved to exist out of Ireland. That they should be found in Wales will not, however, be deemed very surprising when the long intercourse between the early Welsh and Irish is taken into consideration. It will be seen that these marks occur in groups of threes, on the left hand angle of the stone; the two lower groups radiating, whilst in all the others the marks are parallel and horizontal. On the right angle of the stone they occur in groups of twos and fives. Now you will find that the grave stone of St. Monachan, at Temple Geal, in Ireland, is marked along one of its angles with a series of Ogham strokes arranged in fives figured by Mr. Petrie in his fine work on the Round Towers of Ireland (p. 135); and the Ogham stone found at Fortwilliam, in the county of Kerry, described by Dr. Todd, (Proceed. Roy. Irish Acad. 1843, p. 411,) has the strokes arranged in groups of twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes. as It is not too much to suppose that this Kenfegge stone may have received its Ogham inscription long after its Roman one, namely in the sixth or seventh century. We have in fact an instance of the use of the Ogham by a Christian Irish scribe in the seventh century, in the case of the Duke of Buckingham's little Irish copy of the Latin gospel of St. John, at the end of which the writer has added his name in Ögham characters, as described by Dr. O'Conor in the Bibl. Stowensis. I have only to add, that I met with another stone, used as a gate post at the east side of the turnpike road about four miles south of Fishguard on the way to Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, with similar marks at the angles; but I unfortunately omitted to sketch it, thinking at the time that the marks were only notches made in the stone in order to hold a rope fastened round it for more easy removal. I remain, &c. J. O. WESTWOOD. ABBEY OF CWM HIR, IN RADNORSHIRE. To the Editors of the Archæologia Cambrensis. GENTLEMEN,-In the curious transcript from the MS. account of the Civil War in North Wales, in the Wynnstay library, which appeared in your first number, is the following strange entry: "1644. The Parlt tooke and burned the Abby of Nant-cwm-hir, in Radnorshire." The abbey of Cwm Hir, with its splendid church, was plundered and burnt by Glyndwr, in the reign of Henry IV.; and it is clear that it was not re-erected nor inhabited subsequent to the Reformation. Cromwell's soldiers are often made to answer for the antiquarian sins of others. The late tasteful proprietor had the church and the oven of the monastery excavated, but the latter has lately been levelled by the present owner. Military ruins in Wales and the Marches have been sadly mangled and neglected. Not long since a great portion of the elevated Keep of Wigmore castle, once the proud seat of the princely Mortimer family, was blown down in a storm, but no regret was expressed in the vicinity at the occurrence. A small subscription would suffice to secure the remaining portion, and also to excavate the great hall, wherein the fourth Edward and his queen so often "met in state." The neighbouring castle of Ludlow, although in tolerable condition, still requires judicious repairs. These two border fortresses are very interesting, and the associations connected with that at Ludlow, render every inch of its site hallowed ground. I am, &c., Knighton, January 30th, 1846. W. [We shall be particularly obliged to our correspondent for any further information about Wigmore castle which he may be able to send us; and we may take this opportunity of observing that a complete account of the castellated remains of each county in Wales (on a larger scale than the valuable papers of Mr. J. D. Harding and the late Mr. H. Maxwell, in part iv. of the Transactions of the Cymmrodorion Society) would be a valuable work, the appearance of which we still hope to witness.- EDD. ARCH. CAMBR.] HOLY WELLS. To the Editors of the Archaeologia Cambrensis. GENTLEMEN,-In compliance with "Ab Ithel's" request, in your last number, I hasten to furnish you with some notices of two or three wells which seem to have escaped him. The first is that of St. George's, in the parish of Cegidog, near Abergeleu. Of it Pennant gives us the following account:- "St George had in this parish his holy well, at which the British Mars had his offering of horses; for the rich were wont to offer one, to secure his blessing on all the rest. He was the tutelar saint of those animals; all that were distempered were brought, sprinkled with the water, and this blessing bestowed: Rhad Duw a sant SIOR arnat. The blessing of God and St. George be on thee.'” Tour, vol. ii. p. 336. The next is the well of St. Peris, near Snowdon, of which the same learned tourist observes:- "Here is to be seen the well of the saint, enclosed with a wall. The sybil of the place attends, and divines your fortune by the appearance or non-appearance of a little fish, which lurks in some of its holes.' - Vol. ii. p. 158. Gruffydd ab D. Tudur, A.D. 1290 – 1340, has some verses, which are printed in the Myvyrian Archaiology, (vol i. p. 477,) on the well of St. Cedig, the locality of which I am ignorant of. Perhaps some of your other correspondents will be kind enough to point it out. I cannot find, however, that there is any express mention made of a well in the poem; its substance seems to me to be briefly this. A person of the name of Rhun travelled to a distant land were Cedig dwelt, and there offered a precious sacrifice to St. Mary; upon which he received from Cedig a certain benefit which the saint was enabled to confer through the mighty word of the virgin's Son. In the Cambrian Biography I find that Cynvran, son of Brychan, had a well at Llysvaen, near Abergeleu, at which it was once customary to offer in behalf of diseased cattle, using this ejaculation-Rhad Duw a Chynvran lwyd ar y da, "The grace of God and the blessed Cynvran on the cattle." Your well wisher, ELIAN. [We have received a communication from another correspondent relating to the well of St. George, specified above by "Elian," and also a well near Holyhead. The latter is noticed by Daniell, in his Picturesque Tour round Great Britain, and the particulars detailed by our anonymous friend are there given. Numerous holy wells are to be met with in Anglesey and Caernarvonshire; and if our correspondent, "A Lover of Wales," will favour us with information about them, we shall be much obliged. - EDD. ARCH. CAMBR.] |