: Landaff, and kept up their Houses, of wch only one remains of ye whole number, ye Treasurer's having been suffered to fall not many years since, it may be presumed yt ye Town wd not have gone to such ruin and probably ye Church revenues wd have been better improved, and some part of them more strickly Imployed (annually) towards Sustentation of ye Fabrick; yt it wd not have wanted any Considerable Expence as it now does for reparation : wch brings me to my second Head: viz. that ye Incombe is not sufficient to maintain and support ye Fabrick as it ought to be kept: and in treating of this I shall have some view to the Benefit yt is Intimated might accrue to Cardiff &c. by Transplanting the See. I will indeed Sr readily grant yt ye Revenues of ye See of Landaff are very mean: but this as some are so forward to tell you may be Augmented by Diminishing ye number of members: for wt occasion is there (as they say) of above twice as many Prebendarys in this church as there is in Norwich, Bristoll, Gloucester, Chester, Rochester, Peterborough and Carlisle Cathedrals. It is not many years since a design was formed to have sunk six of ye Prebendarys and appropriate their Incomb towards augmenting ye Bpprick. This is wt I cant say I should approve of, as being against all innovations, and for keeping stricke to ye antient Constitution in all points: however, if I may be allowed to give my opinion I should not disapprove of this other scheme, viz. yt such a number of Prebendall Stalls might be kept vacant for so many years as wd answer ye end of repairing ye Fabrick, or Rather such persons collated to them who would bestow their Dividends towards yt good work, wch, after twas well accomplished, might be applyed towards rebuilding some Houses for ye Prebendarys who if they were limitted to a fixed Residence wd not be unsupplied in any respect either here or from Cardiff, wch being but a mile distant wd partake of ye advantage of the settlemt of ye Church Members at Landaff almost as much as if they were fixed in Cardiff: wch, certainly can never be as advantageous (commodious) on Divers accts. to ye Church Members as Landaff, who 'tis not to be expected can ever have an entire Interest in ye place, or modell their new Cathedral to ye same advantage as ye old one, wch, as it has been so many ages appropriated to Divine Service, and in regard of yt it remains at this day ye antientest Bpprick in the nation, makes it as it was a peice of sacriledge to meditate a Removal and alteration. Besides was it to be complyed wth and effected wd care be taken in seating Cardiff Church in Cathedral Fashion? wd stalls be fixed in it and other proper ornamts? If ground could be Purchased wd. Houses be builded thereon for ye Church members, &c.? Several other Questions of this sort might be ask't, but yt I fear I have already been too tedious, wch I begg, Sir, you will Impute to ye Indignation raised in me at ye very Reflection of Destroying so venerable a church, whose Antiquity &c. methinks should chalenge protection and strike an awe and Reverence into such who duly contemplate ye length of time it has stood Devoted to God's Honour, and ye place where he has chosen to sett his name. I say Sr if it was rightly pondred It should rather raise a spirit of œmulation and Zeal to restore it to its antient Beauty and order. And ye costly reparations laid out by ye Inhabitants of Cardiff in so lately adorning their Church, Casting a Peal of 6 Bells and Furnishing it with an Organ, should rather Excite ye members of this Church to follow their Example, then create any other Desire in them except yt of raising Contributions to Imitate them in ye like practice at Landaff. For encouragemt whereof they need only look Back to Bp. Urban ye Raiser of ye psent Fabrick, who, when he began found upon it, Levelled allmost wth ye Ground, together wth all ye Prebendal Houses, and striped as it was entirely of its Revenues and of 24 Canons, all dispersed save 2. This good Bpp. notwithstanding He lived at ye time for making ye famous Canon (wch was never put in Execution wthout provision for building (an infinitely more) a most magnificent Cathedral, wch has (than the old one was it) exceeded and eclipsed (it in all respects, so it rendered) y old one made ye exchange of ye place not in ye least regretted. I say this good Bp. never made any Plea but with (never made any plea or exception to the place, or objection to Cardiff and the dedication of the place to sacred uses, as it was determined by him,) but wth a becoming Zeal and Industery, Sett himself abt doing good to ye House of God, and ye offices thereof: and fixed them where ye old temple stood, and ye place God had chose to set his name. Was it not for Launching out too far, I might urge ye costly reparation soe lately expended (Bestowed) on ye Cathedral of St. Asaph, and to wt an elegant degree of splendour yt Church is raised within these few years: and to wt perfection ye Quire there, and at Bangor, is brought. Notwithstanding till within less than these five years, as I am informed, St. Asaph had nothing but Subscriptions to depend on for maintenance of yo Quire officers, wch they all along most decently kept up by making allowance to an organist, and singing men, and choristers. I shall only add (I need only remark) yt all the advantages both these places enjoy, may justly be attributed to the Residence of their Bpps. and Deans amongst them; who, notwithstanding they had ye same difficultys to Encounter (and struggle wt) as at Landaff, by having undergone ye like misfortunes. However, (yet) they found means to rebuild their (Bps. & Dean's) Houses within these 200 years, which yt it may be accomplisht at Landaff is, Sir, most sincerely and affectionately wisht, by your most humble servant, March ye 17, 1717. J. D. Some more information upon this subject, which is of interest on account of the peculiar circumstances of the Dioceses of Wales at the present period, will probably be communicated. Swansea, May 9th, 1846. ARCHÆOL. CAMB. VOL. I.] GEO. GRANT FRANCIS. GG BARDIC TRANSLATIONS. IN the Myv. Arch., vol. i., p. 17, will be found, in Welsh, a History of Taliesin, containing as we, at least, in the present day understand it, many poetical, if not mythological, allusions. This history would occupy too much space if translated entire,-a few extracts from it, however, may be admissable, as introductory to, and explanatory of the poem subjoined : Gwyddno Garanhir, a prince, part of whose domains was an extensive tract of level land, on the sea coast of Meirionydd and Cardigan, had a profligate son, named Elphin. Gwyddno erected, on this part of his property, a weir for fishing, in which was usually taken, every May-day, or rather the night preceding, a draught of fish equivalent to £100. Elphin, to replenish his exhausted exchequer, and to set him up again in the world, obtained of his Father, by the advice of his Council, the draught of this weir for one Mayday Eve. The eventful hour arrived, and anxiously, no doubt, did Elphin search the weir for its customary valuable contents. Naught was to be seen, save a leathern bag (bol croen) on one of the poles of the weir. On this, one of the weir-keepers remarked, "Elphin, thou hast never been thoroughly unfortunate till this night; for thou hast destroyed even the virtues of this weir, which has hitherto ever produced the worth of one hundred pounds, every May-day Eve." "What, now?" said Elphin. "Perhaps there is equivalent to one hundred pounds there." The leathern bag was opened; and he who opened it, beheld the forehead of a youth, and said to Elphin, "Here's a Fair Forehead !" "Fair Forehead" (Taliesin) be his name," said Elphin. In after days, Taliesin sang this ode to Elphin, consoling him for the apparently unlucky draught he had taken, &c. See also, Notes, p. 83, of the same vol. A subsequent incident, in the life of this second Moses, seems to justify the reading of Sion Davydd Rhys, namely, Cyfrdan, in the third stanza; for Taliesin, by his muse, rescued Elphin from the prison into which he had been cast by Maelgwyn. S. D. R's copy of this Ode, was printed two hundred and odd years before the Myc. Arch. appeared; and it will ever be matter for regret that the Welsh MSS. were not earlier printed, as by that means, no doubt, many of the dark passages, which occur in vol. i. of the Myv. Arch., would not now disfigure its pages. But, alas! what shall we say for those valuable pieces which, in this our day even, exist only in scattered MSS. THE CONSOLATION OF ELPHIN, SON OF BY TALIESIN. (See the Original in the Myv. Arch., vol. i., p. 83.) Oh Elphin fair! lament no more, Despair no earthly good can bring, Oh! Elphin-prince of talents rare, AN AMATORY SONNET. BY HYWELL AP OWAIN GWYNEDD. (See the Original in the Myv. Arch., vol. i., p. 277.) Give me the fair, the gentle maid, Of slender form, in mantle green; Subdued by virtue's graceful mien. Give me the maid, whose heart with mine Shall blend each thought,-each hope combine. Then, maiden, -fair as ocean's spray, Gifted with Cymric wit's bright ray, If the reading of S. D. R., be the correct, this line should be— "In Discord's awful hour I'll be." Say am I thine? Art thou then mine?- Thy silence makes this bosom glow. I chose thee, maiden, for thy gifts divine, one. THE above representations of the two coins, stated in No. II. to have been found last winter, at Bangor, will convey a correct idea of them. They are drawn of the same size as the originals, and in exact fac simile, with the exception of a cross omitted inadvertently in the centre of the obverse of The metal is either silver, so much altered by burial in the earth as to have lost its bright and sonorous properties, or else is of a base composition. The coins are thin, and, except at their edges, are in excellent preservation. They seem to be of the reign of King Edgar, A.D. 959-A.D. 975, and were found near the Cathedral, in the garden of the Rev. J. Hamer, senior Vicar of Bangor. The site of the old Tithe Barn was on the spot in question; and other similar coins were found there some years ago. The legend on the obverse of both, is, EADGAR REX., but in one the coiner has been sparing of his letters, and has omitted an R; on the reverse of each, are the coiners' names NARTIN & ALFRED. Some of our correspondents may, perhaps, be able to suggest how these coins came into Wales. |