7. Geffry de Henelaw. 1203. Bishop of St. David's.

20. John. 1310. 4 Edw. II. (Here there is a chasm.)

21. Simon Brocworthe.

22. Edward St. John.

23. William Charitons.

24. William de Penebary.

25. Thomas Elinham.

dates unknown.

26. Henry Dean, temp. Edw. IV., Bishop of Bangor, and 1502 Archbishop of Canterbury.

28. Richard Hempsted, whom A. Wood calls Hart. 1534. He signed the king's supremacy in September, 1534, with William Nottingham and twenty-one others, and the surrender May 10th, 1539, with the like number of monks, and obtained a pension of £100 per annum.

Llanthony Priory in Wales, after the death of Clement, the fifth Prior, never recovered its dignity, but fell into contempt and ruin. In the reign of Edward IV. a royal licence was issued "to unite the Priory of Llanthony the first, in Wales, and the Priory of Llanthony near Gloucester." It recites how the Priory of St. John the Baptist has been wasted, destroyed, and ruined in their houses and possessions, to that degree by often and sudden assaults and expulsions of the Priors and religious men residing in that place, and by divers secular persons who were farmers by their estates, insomuch that divine service, and all regular observance of their order did cease. "And whereas, John Adams, Prior of

the said Llanthony, as we are duly informed, has wasted and destroyed the profits, revenues, and emoluments of the said Priory, and daily more and more does waste and destroy the same, and does keep and sustain in the said Priory not above four canons besides himself, who lead no very good lives; and all divine worship, hospitality, and other works of piety and charity, which ought and were heretofore performed and observed, according to the intention of the first foundation, are now wholly neglected and omitted . . . . . . and we, observing the prudent government of those religious men, the regular canons, the Prior and convent of the Priory and monastery of the Blessed Mary of Llanthony near Gloucester have given and granted to our beloved in Christ Henry Deen, Prior, &c., and to the convent of the said place, &c., the right of patronage and advowson of the Priory, or conventual church or monastery, of St. John the Baptist, of Llanthony the first, aforesaid; and also the said Priory, with all the members, cells, churches, chapels, lordships, manors, lands and tenements, whether in England, Wales, or Ireland, being parcels of the said Priory, &c., to have and to hold the same, &c., in pure and perpetual alms for ever, in consideration of three hundred marks, into our hands, already paid.

And we farther grant by these presents that the said Prior and convent, and their successors, of Llanthony near Gloucester, may procure the church conventual of St. John the Baptist, of Llanthony the first, in Wales, &c., to be united, annexed, consolidated, and appropriated to them, &c., to their own proper use for divine service, and to pray for us and Elizabeth our dearest consort, and for our souls after death, &c. And also that the said Prior of Llanthony near Gloucester, and the convent, &c., shall for ever appoint and sustain, at their own cost and charges, in the said Priory of Llanthony the first, in Wales, one Prior donative and removable at the will and pleasure of the Prior of Llanthony near Gloucester, for the time being, and four canons, to perform masses and other divine offices for ever, in the said Priory of Llanthony the first, in Wales, and to administer the sacrament to the parishioners in that place, if not disturbed or hindered from it, by any rebellion or open breach of the peace," &c. &c.

It is highly probable that when this union took place, a certain portion of the property belonging to Llanthony in

Wales was reserved for the sustentation of the Prior and brethren there, for the two houses are separately valued at the Dissolution; that at Gloucester, according to Dugdale, at £648 19s. 11d., according to Speed, at £748 Os. 114d.; this in Monmouthshire, according to Dugdale, at £71 3s. 2d., according to Speed, £112 1s. 5d.

John Ambrus was then Prior of Llanthony the first, and with John Neleand, and three others, subscribed to the supremacy in 1534.

III. POSSESSIONS OF LLANTHONY. The inheritance of Hugh de Lacy, augmented by the forfeited lands of his eldest brother Robert, descended, in default of his issue, to his two sisters, Emmeline, (Ermaline,) who died childless, and Emme, who married some one unknown. She had a son, named Gilbert, who took the name of his mother, DE LACY. A second Hugh de Lacy was the son of Gilbert. He adhered stedfastly to Henry the Second, rendered important services in the conquest of Ireland, obtained a grant of the whole territory of Meath, with all things belonging to it, and was married in Ireland, A.D. 1185. He gave lands and churches in Ireland to the Priory of Llanthony in Wales. "The church of Calph, with the tithes of Commgerie and Dunverielavy; the church of the town of Marmeri, with the tithes of the fishery; the church of Anye, the church of Valle Clonelewy, the church of the town of Oggary in Meath, the church of Strathmolin, and the advowson of the vicarage of Lilleu; the church of Kilmessan, the church of Kilculy, the church of Delvene, the church of Kilimethe, the church of the town which did belong to Reginald de Turberville, the church of Kilcarwarn, the church of Dunboyne, the church of Rathbegan, the church of Kilbray, and the church of Dumrath, and the land of Balibin, and the land which Gilbert the Cornishman held in the honour of Rashowth."

This Hugh de Lacy had two sons, Hugh de Lacy the third of that name, who died without issue, and Walter de Lacy, who confirmed the grants above mentioned, and added, moreover, the church of our Lady at Drogheda, in Ireland. Besides, he gave "all the valley with all its appurtenances, in which the church of St. John Baptist, of the first Llanthony, is situated; to wit, on one side of Kenentesset, and and Askareswey, and by Ruggewey to Antefin; and on the side of Hatterell from the land of Seisil, the son of Gilbert,

by Ruggewey to the bounds of Talgarth." This he This he gave in the amplest manner possible, to the Prior and canons, with the power of holding courts, and with jurisdiction upon all offences, of whatever kind, whether against person or property; and he adds: "I grant that they shall have a gallows to belong to their court of justice, and to do justice in what part of their lands they shall think fit." He assigned also to the Priory full common of pasture in Wrynen, and for their swine in the wood of Mascoed, within the lordship of Ewyas. He married Margaret, the daughter of William Breos, of Brecknock, and Maud de St. Valery his wife, and died a.D. 1241, according to Matthew Paris: "Vir inter omnes nobiles Hiberniæ eminentissimus."

We have said before, that in default of issue from the five sons of Milo, earl of Hereford, founder of the Llanthony Priory at Gloucester, his estates were divided among his three daughters, the third of whom, Lucy, married the Lord Herbert; their issue was Peter; of Peter, Reginald; of Reginald, John. John, Fitz-Reginald, Lord Herbert, by his deed, granted to "the Prior and canons of the first Llanthony, a right of free pasture for their horses throughout all his lands in Wales, except in his park already enclosed; and also to go and take fish in the Mere."

The Mere here mentioned is called Llyn Savaddon, Brecinaumere Llangors, and Tal y llyn Pool. It is the largest sheet of water in South Wales, and only inferior to Bala in extent throughout the whole of Wales. A pathway still exists over the mountains between Llanthony and the Mere, by which the monks were accustomed to bring their fish. The tradidition, common to many lakes, that it has swallowed up an ancient city, of which the remains may sometimes be seen, is still believed. Sir R. C. Hoare quotes the following lines from the monk of Chester:

Ad Brechnoc est vivarium,
Satis abundans piscium,
Sæpe coloris varii

Comma gerens Pomorii,
Structuras ædificii,
Sæpe videbis inibi.

Sub lacu cum sit gelidus,
Mirus auditur sonitus,
Si terræ princeps venerit,
Aves cantare jusserit.

Statim depromunt modulos,

Nil concinunt ad cæteros.

These lines refer to the marvels for which the lake is celebrated; first for the sub-aqueous city; secondly for the acclamations with which the waterfowl, very numerous on its bosom, salute the genuine prince of South Wales; and thirdly for the reverberating sound made by the crashing of the ice in the winter. Giraldus has treated us with an anecdote upon the second marvel, (in cap. ii. Itin.) dressed up in his usual agreeable style, greedy of the wonderful, and most simple in the narrrative. Leland says: "Llin Sevathan is a iiii. myles by south south est from Brokenok. It is in bredth a mile, and a ii. two miles of lenght, and wher, as it is depest a xiii. fadom..... At great windes the water doth surge ther mervelusly. . . . . After that it is frosen, and with thaue beginnith to breeke, it makith such a noise that a man wolde thinke hit a thunder. It berith as the principale fische a great numbre of bremes, and they appere in May in mightti sculles, so that sumtime they breke large nettes; and ons frayed appereth not in the brimme of the water that yere againe. It bereth also good pikes, and perches in greate numbre. Trowtes also and chevyns by cumming in of Llevenny. Menne fische there uniligneis, and they be narrow."- Leland's Itin. p. 70, vol. v. fol. 69.

very

As we have Leland before us, we may here quote the short notice he gives of Llanthony: "Nanthonddye (Llanthonddye-Llan Nanthondy) a Priori of blake chanons (suppressid) stondith in the vale of Ewias (ther caullid Honddye Slade) xiiii. miles from Brekenok. But it is a nother Honddye then that cummith to Brekenok. This Priori was fair, and stoode betwixt ii. great hilles." Vol. v. p. 69. King Edward II. gave a charter reciting and confirming the grants and concessions of Walter de Lacy, and John FitzReginald, and permitting the privileges which had fallen through desuetude to be resumed upon payment of a fine.

The following is the list of charters preserved in Dugdale's Monasticon, from which the extracts above have been taken:

1. The charter of Milo, constable of Gloucester, recounting the lands and tithes he had given on the day of the dedication of the church at Gloucester, and subsequent grants made upon several occasions.

2. The charter of King John, reciting the grants of

ARCHÆOL. CAMB. VOL. I.]

BB