Page images
PDF
EPUB

by a V or U. Whence, then, did our ancestors derive their M of the form indicated above?

There are three modes of answering this query.

1st. It might be alleged that it is the result of the fancy of the scribe, as is quite evident was also the case with many of the large capital letters introduced into the title pages of their finest written MSS.; but we can hardly conceive that so generally extended a use of this form of the letter M in Ireland, Wales and the North of England, could have been the result of fancy.

2d. We may infer that it is no other than the cursive, small, or minuscule m transformed into a capital. The capital M written cursively and with rapidity, without taking the pen from the paper, will be formed by commencing with the top of the first perpendicular stroke, and by connecting the bottom of this first perpendicular stroke with the top of the first stroke of the middle V part of the letter; and this connection being curved, as well as the connection between the top of the second stroke of the V, and the top of the second perpendicular stroke, we shall obtain m, which is our common minuscule

m.

Now this minuscule converted into a capital, and inscribed in the simplest manner on stone or other hard substance, will be composed of three perpendicular strokes united by a horizontal or oblique bar, as it occurs, in fact, in these monuments. But the Benedictines, who have collected the greatest mass of information on this subject, inform us that "L'm minuscule paroit des le commencement du IV siècle," and that "avant le déclin du VIe siècle on ne la trouve point sur les monoies." - N. Tr. de Dipl. ii. 230.

In their great plate (xx) of latin letters used in inscriptions from the foundation of Rome to the sixteenth century, the Benedictines have given several of these M's formed of three perpendicular strokes, variously united together by a transverse bar, and which (p. 324) they describe as "des M à figure très-héteroclite," without attempting to trace their origin.

As, however, many of our oldest inscriptions and MSS. unquestionably comprise various minuscule or cursive formed letters, we may not perhaps be far wrong in regarding this as the true origin of these "heteroclite" Ms.

3d. There is still, however, another source whence they may have been derived, and which, as it involves the question of the origin of letters in these islands, is not without interest. We have seen that the M of the Greeks and Romans was essentially formed of two perpendicular strokes united by a V or U, but in the Phenician, Oscan, Etruscan, and Pelasgic alphabets, (see N. Tr. de Dipl. i. pl. 7 and Astle, pl. 1,) we find that the typical form of the M consists of three perpendicular strokes variously united together. In fact, with the exception that the letters of these nations are written from right to left, (as is also the case with the earliest Greek inscriptions,) we find most of the forms of M, which are given in our plate from Irish and British monuments, amongst the Etruscan, Oscan, and Pelasgic alphabets given by Astle and the Benedictines (the letters being

reversed, the oblique connecting stroke of course descending from right to left). In the Phenician alphabet, the first or right hand perpendicular stroke is formed into a tail, and all three perpendicular strokes are united at the bottom by a horizontal stroke, and therefore this form of m is not so analogous to ours as the Etruscan and Pelasgic; for I cannot agree with the Benedictines, (N. Tr. de Dipl. ii. 228,) in thinking that our minuscule m is nothing else than the Phenician or Samaritan m (1) turned upside down! This coincidence with the Etruscan and Pelasgic letters is too remarkable to be unnoticed, especially in reference to the question whether our early ancestors gained their knowledge of letters from the Romans or elsewhere. I will not enter into other palæographic and biblico-critical points, bearing upon the subject, which I have detailed in my Palæographia Sacra; but I think that some additional light may be gained when it is taken into consideration that the very peculiar character of the ornamentation, which is also found in our oldest monuments (whether carved stones or MSS.) is totally unlike anything to be found in the works of Roman artists.

ANTIQUITATES PAROCHIALES.

Llanbedr cum Novo Burgo.

No. II.

Parochia hæc antiquitus Manerii Rhosiriani, quod hoc constiterat loco, Dominicum Prodium fuit: non Villa olim sed Manerium appellabatur, ubi Regulus vel Princeps populi sedem mansionemque fixit: eaque propter olim Principum Wallicorum regimine divisa est hæc Parecia in duas comportiones, unam vero propinquioribus, more gentis, Palatii muneribus invenio destinatam; alteramque a liberis tenentibus, suo Domino tamen prædiali fœdere obstrictis, propemodum occupatam.

Harum prima, iterum duplici ritu reperitur disposita, duosque inde domesticorum servientium aluit ordines; primo scil. Primipilares illos domesticos, qui se Mae'r Drennios nuncupare sunt soliti, duodecim Gavellas possidentes; (Gavellas quasdem terrarum portiones tenentibus, clientelari ARCHÆOL. CAMB. VOL. I.]

Llanbedr cum Newborough.

This parish was anciently a demesne of the manor of Rhossir, which was situate here. Formerly, it was not called a township, but a manor, where the regulus or prince of the tribe fixed his residence and abode; wherefore formerly, under the government of the Welsh princes, this parish was divided into two portions, one of which I find to have been assigned for the more immediate duties of the court, according to the custom of the nation; the other, in a manner, held by free tenants, though bound to their lord by a prædial covenant.

The former of these again appears to have been laid out in two ways, and accordingly maintained two orders of domestic servants; that is to say, first, those domestic stewards who were wont to call themselves Maerdrevs, having for their possession twelve gavels (the British nation gave LL

jure, assignatas Britannorum gens nominabat) secundo istos infimæ sortis, homunciones qui Gardenmanni (Garddwyr) tunc audiebant, duodecim hortulos occupantes; Plebs hæc servilibus deditissima. Secunda comportio manerii operibus adscripta octo tantum suis possessoribus calculavit Gavellas, et suos inde vocavit liberos nativos, quorum posteri ad hunc usque diem suas possessiones cum pertinentiis jure occuparunt hæreditario: his vero manibus manerii opera peracta, his vinclis manus operibus peragendis alligatæ fuere. Sic quidem in illis ætatibus divisa est hæc Parcia, sed postmodum regimine veteri elusato Wallorum Principes, Reges Angliæ, hanc primo dictam manerii comportionem, palatium Principis proxime spectantem, manumissione Vassalorum facta, privilegiis datis, in Burgum sanxerunt, primo rudioribus initiis Caernarvon adnexum: deinde paulo post Bellomarisco substitutum, vel saltem ut ex Petitionibus Kensintonianis constat, substituendum curaverunt, indeque locus hic Novi Burgi nomen adoptus est. Verumtamen ab Edwardo ejus nominis secundo, oppidum hoc, diplomate sibi nominato obtento, protinus suo jure liberum independensque evasit. Habet Gildam mercatoriam cum hansa, ut habet sua chartulas ad Rydlaniani diplomatis normam dispositas; quas concessiones sanctione Parliamenti, anno primo Edwardi tertii obtinuit ratificatas, postque a multis Angliæ Regibus, scilicet Richardo secundo, Henrico sexto et octavo habuit inspectas et comprobatas, ut ex novissimo hujus Burgi diplomate inspecto, jam penes Dominum Audoenem, hujus Burgi dignissimum præfectum, cuivis introspicienti liquido constiterit. Ex antiquo manerio Rege indulgente, sic Novus oritur Burgus, cujus concessa munera continuo Primores et imprimis spectabiles comoti Mænei viri libenter perferre dignati sunt. Neque a tenuiori sua ætate hic Burgus præ aliis vilescebat ignotus, utpote Boario

the name of gavels to certain portions of land which were allotted to tenants in right of homage); secondly, those fellows of the meanest sort, called Gardenmanni (Garddwyr), who occupied twelve small gardens; these people were very much engaged in drudgeries. The second portion of the manor, which was designed for works, reckoned only eight gavels for its possessors, and from the circumstance of that possession it gave them the name of free natives, whose posterity even to this day have occupied their possessions, with appurtenances, by hereditary right. With these hands, indeed, were the works of the manor performed; with these ties were the hands bound to perform the works. Thus, in those ages, was the parish divided; but afterwards, when the ancient government had passed away, the princes of Wales and kings of England converted the first named portion of the manor, which lay nearest the prince's court, by the emancipation of the vassals and the bestowal of privileges, into a borough, annexed at first to the imperfect preliminaries of Caernarvon, but shortly after substituted for Beaumarais; at least, as appears from the Kensington petitions, they attempted to substitute it, and from that circumstance this place obtained the name of Newborough. Nevertheless, immediately from the time of Edward the second of that name, this town, on the granting of a charter specially in its favour, became in its own right free and independent. It has a mercantile guild with a hanse, as its own petty charter runs, regulated by the standard of the Rhuddlan statute; which grants were ratified to it by the sanction of Parliament in the first year of Edward the Third. They were afterwards inspected and approved by several of the kings of England; namely, by Richard the Second, and the sixth and eighth Henrys, as will clearly appear from the last charter of this borough that was inspected, to any one who

suo Emporio nulli cedens; quinimo nundinis Walliæ pene cunctis pecorum multitudine ac specie facile primus, palmamque preferens, rursus ac habitatorum frequentia nec minimus œstimandus occurrit; quippe qui sub finem Edwardi tertii regiminis numeravit non minus quam nonaginta tria edificia (Placeas Extenta vocat) in hoc oppido condita, tredecim hortos, unum pomarium, duodecim croftos (verba Extentæ sunt) plusquam sexaginta terrarum linulas (lleiniau) domesticatim dispositas. Quæ quidem omnia populi frequentiam, saltem primo enascentis œvo, ibi non contemnendam indigitant. Nec idcircum ego ullum putarem Bellomarisco gloriosa esse locum, ut arrogare solet, quod ipsiusmet Burgenses, excluso Novo Burgo, suum in Parliamentum delegant substitutum, cum æquius judicare sit, oppidi hujus Patronos, ætate superiori, etsi nunc tabula mutata tanto auspiciis magnatum, in Aula Regum, gratiores extisse, ut tali gravamine Novus hic Burgus relevaretur, totumque onus (ita res tunc audiit) in Bellummariscum, illo sedato tranquilloque tempore, hujusmodi haud ambitionis gnaro conjiceretur, adeo ut quod in principio oneri fuit, tandem aliquando honori esse cœpit.

will look into it, which is now in the possession of Sir Owen, the most worthy mayor of this borough. From the old manor, by the king's permission, a new borough thus sprang up, whose privileges the nobility and gentry of the commot of Mæne thought fit to acquiesce in throughout with a willing mind. Nor did the borough, by reason of its more tender age, become of less note and reputation than others; indeed, it yielded to none in respect of its ox market, and was doubtless the first, and bore the palm of superiority, amongst almost all the fairs of Wales, for the number and breed of its cattle. Again, it strikes us that it should not be considered the least in regard to the number of its inhabitants, for about the end of Edward the Third's reign it numbered no less than ninety-three dwelling-houses (so the Extent says) which were built in the town, thirteen gardens, one orchard, twelve crofts, (they are the words of the Extent,) and more than sixty lines (lleiniau) of land, laid out for separate houses. All which particulars indicate, indeed, that the frequency of the population in that place was not to be despised, at least in the first period of its growth. I cannot, therefore, admit that there is any room for vainglorious Beaumarais to boast, as it usually does, that its burgesses elected their representative in Parliament without Newborough; whereas we have the greater right to infer, that the patrons of this town at a former period, though now the tables are turned so much under the auspices of the great, were rather well received at the royal court; and that this new borough was relieved of such a weight, and the whole burden (so the matter was regarded then) thrown upon Beaumarais in that pacified and tranquil period, which was unacquainted with any such ambition as that what was in the beginning a burden, should at length come to be considered as an honour.

Palatium Principis quod attinet, quod Extenta regia (Recordorum nostrorum liber) in hac ora olim extisse sæpius prædicat, nihil nunc temporis præter murorum vestigia ex arenis nuper retecta, quadrata area, si ex umbra quis rem metitur, posset commonstrari; qui locus in hunc diem ab accolis vulgo Llys, i. e. Aula dicitur, atque ab Ecclesia Novo-Burgiana (sancto Petro dedicata) Austrum versus non multem dissidet, sed eam fere ad limina habet; ideoque vix ambigendum puto quin hæc Ecclesia olim, his regiis ædibus, quibus proxime adstat, pro capella domestica usui erat, talemque capellam alicubi has ædes coluisse in Extenta legimus; et quo quæso verisimilius loco, suam has regias ædes habuisse capellam, quam ubi hæc Ecclesia est, quæ cum desierat esse domestica, protinus ut jam pridem nota est, parochialis evaserit.

Hoc iterum non omittendem duco, Manerium Rosirianum, ad quod totus fere Comotus de Mæne jure clientelari spectat, tanto Principum Anglorum in prætio fuisse, et sibi pro re non tam nullius momenti ab illis estimari, ut jus et dominium hujus Manerii (aliis permultis ejusmodi prorsus venditis et e corona alienatis) in suis manibus Reges Principesque nostri reservare dignati sunt, et continuo per proprios suo nomine Seneschallos (eosque e primoribus ut plurimum hujus insula viris delegatos) universo Comoto jus dixerunt: quibus vero ut Manerii Seneschallis tantum viginti solidi, sed Comoti Raglottis (duo ea munera eidem personæ pene semper conferuntur) quinque libræ sterlingcorum e Principis fisco, pro salario quotannis solvuntur.

With respect to the prince's palace, which the Royal Extent (the book of our records) repeatedly affirms to have formerly stood in this district, nothing now besides vestiges of the walls, lately uncovered by the sands, forming a square area, if one may measure a thing by its mere shadow, can be shewn; which place is, to this day, commonly called by the natives, Llys, i. e., the court. It is not far distant, too, on the south side, from the church of Newborough (which is dedicated to St. Peter); indeed, it nearly adjoins it; and, therefore, I think there can

scarce be a doubt that this Church was formerly used as a domestic chapel for these royal buildings, close to which it stood. And that such a chapel did adorn these buildings somewhere or other we read in the Extent; and in what place, pray, is it more likely that these royal buildings should have had their chapel, than where the church now stands, which, when it had ceased to be domestic, forthwith became parochial, in which light it has long since been regarded?

We should not, I think, omit to mention the circumstance, that the manor of Rhoshir, to which nearly the whole of the commot of Mæne appertains in right of homage, had been so valued by the English princes, and occasionally regarded by them of such importance, that our own kings and princes thought proper to reserve in their own hands the right and lordship of the said manor (a great many other places of that description having been altogether sold and alienated from the crown), and constantly dispensed justice to the whole commot through certain persons termed Seneschals; who for the most part received their commission from the chieftains of the island; to whom, as stewards of the manor, only twenty shillings, but as deputies of the commot (those two offices are generally conferred upon the same individual), five pounds sterling, are paid out of the prince's exchequer as their annual salary.

« PreviousContinue »