tario pecuarioque prædio Principis Northwalliæ, manerioque ejus apud Rhosir, cui proxime adstat, reservato quodam jure, appropriata extiterat. Talium enim prædiorum hoc ritu maneriis Regiis usu captorum nomine terræ pastus Extentæ Delvianæ Codex passim meminit; eorumque usu-fructuarii tunc temporis Gwyr Tir y Porth vulgo nominati, quos fusius eo nomine Extenta prædicat, i. e. colonos Principis. Qui suam manerio ejus annonam pro redditu quotannis deferentes, hujusmodi terras maneriis appropriatas ex antiquo more, eo pacto sibi suisque heredibus tenuerunt; ideoque in hunc usque diem pars non minima illius agri, Maes y Porth, i. e. annonarius ager dicta est. Utcunque res erat, in comperto est Coenobium Conuense hanc villam, quum ex concessu Principis Leolini ea sibi donari contigerat, pro annonaria, seu Grangia sua, uti tunc dicta, eam substituisse, et quia usus inde fructus ad quartum vas Conventui rependeretur, idcirco Quart Grange nomen accepit, ex quo Villæ caput Quirt adhuc vulgo vocitatur. Cœnobio circa annum 1541, lata lege, dissoluto, villa hæc cum aliis hujusmodi permultis in Regis manus se contulit; tenentesque ejus qui elocationibus olim vel feodi firma (Leases or Ffeefarm) Conventui obstringebantur, illico numeratio pecuniis, ex regia concessione e manu in manum earum terrarum emptores evasere. Sic autem Wilhelmus Griffith de Caernarvon, Wilhelmus Bulkeley de Porthamel, aliique, prædia sua in hac Villa, sibi et hæredibus suis jure hæreditario acquisiverunt; dum Rhesus ap Llywelyn de Llanddaniel, prosapia Lovachana, stemmate Jorwerthino, prog rearing cattle, was formerly, if I am not mistaken, the corn and cattle farm of the Prince of North Wales, and appropriated to his manor at Rhossir, to which it is closely situated, by a certain reserved right. For the Book of the Delvian Extent makes frequent mention of such farms as having been taken to the royal manors in this way by prescription of use, under the name of pasture land. Their usufructuaries at that time commonly called Gwyr Tir y Porth, whom the Extent very often designates by that name, i. e., the Prince's husbandmen, since they furnished his manor with provisions as their annual rent, thus held lands of this description, which were appropriated to manors after an ancient custom, for themselves and for their heirs. And, therefore, to this very day, a considerable portion of this district is called Maes y Porth; that is, the field of provision. But, whatever the cause was, it is plain that the abbey of Conway, when this township was bestowed upon it by the grant of Prince Llewelyn, turned it into a provision farm, or grange, as it was then called; and because grain to the amount of four bushels was paid from thence to the convent, it was therefore denominated Quart Grange, from which the chief place of the township is still generally called Quirt. The monastery being dissolved according to law about the year 1541, this township, with several others of the like description, fell into the King's hands; and its tenants, who were formerly tied to the conventual establishment in consideration of leases or feefarm rents, by royal permission became forthwith, on payment of a sum of money, purchasers of those lands. Thus it was that William Griffith of Caernarvon, William Bulkeley of Porthamel, and others, acquired their farms in this township, for themselves and their heirs, by hereditary right; whilst Rhys ap Llewelyn of Llan natus (a quo jam Thom. Williams sexta pendet propagine) jus et dominium universæ Villæ, una cum capitali prædio de Quirt, omnesque immunitates, facultates implacitandi catalla erratica, bona naufraga, Francosplegios cæteraque hujusmodi maneriorum prout Abbas de Conway olim tenuit, sibi hæredibusque suis in perpetuum stipulatum iri adparaverit; concedente primo Rege Hen. octavo Wilhelmo Chaplin et Johanni Selwood; qui vendiderunt cuidam Jacobo Rogers; a quo idem Rhesus ap Lly. welyn pro 45 libris sterlingorum, ut in Domus illius chartulis videndum est, totum emit. Sic autem alterum in ea Villa prædium vocatum Twr et Rhyddgaer prædictus Wilhelmus Bulkeley a quodam Richardo Andrews et Georgio Lisle, quibus Rex donaverat pro 50 libris sterlingorum, emerat. En! terrarum eo tempore pretia! quarum quæque non duplo fere majori annuo censu æstimatur. An aliqui antiquo jure liberi in hac Villa extitere tenentes, vel an totum Villenagium erat, manerio Rossiriano primo, deinde Conuensibus Regularibus jure ascriptitio subordinatum, sane non habeo quod asseram. Ita etiam, an capella hæc (sacrario ejus adhuc existente, reliquo in habitaculum converso) an, inquam, capella hæc, ante Leolini Principis donationem fundata fuerat, vel, an ab Abbatibus Conovii, sequentibus post donationem seculis, suis hominibus extructa, et pro sacello privato citra alterius ecclesiæ dependentiam habita, minus habeo quod dixerim. Interim si conjectari liceat, verisimile mihi videtur hanc totam Villam per se Parochiam fuisse, forte Ecclesiæ sanctæ Genivennæ (ut nunc est) subnexam; idque inde evenisse conjicio, scilicet ut cum Abbates Conuenses, quos clericos fuisse constat, ex concessione Principis Ponti ddaniel, of the line of Llywarch, sprung from the stock of Jorwerth (to whom Thomas Williams now belongs in the sixth descent), procured that the right and dominion of the whole township, together with the capital farm of Quirt, and all immunities, power of impleading stray cattle, shipwrecked goods, frank-pledges, and other matters of a similar nature relating to manors, as the abbot of Conway held them before, should be made over to himself and his heirs for ever. King Henry VIII granted them, in the first instance, to William Chaplin and John Selwood, who sold them to a certain James Rogers, from whom the same Rhys ap Llewelyn bought the whole for forty-five pounds sterling, as may be seen in the records of that house. Thus, also, had the fore-mentioned William Bulkeley bought another farm in that township, called Twr and Rhyddgaer, from certain individuals named Richard Andrews and George Lisle, to whom the King had presented it for fifty pounds sterling. Observe the price of land at that time! Each piece is scarcely estimated at double its yearly valuation. Whether there were any free tenants by ancient right in this township, or whether the whole was a villenage, subordinate at first to the manor of Rhoshir, afterwards to the Regulars of Conway by the right of ascription, I know not for certain what to affirm. So, likewise, whether this chapel, (the sacristy of which is still extant, though the rest is turned into a dwellinghouse,) whether this chapel, I say, was founded previous to the gift of Prince Llewelyn, or whether it was erected by the abbots of Conway for their men, in times subsequent to the gift, and accounted for a private chapel independent of the other church, is more than I can say. Meanwhile, if I may conjecture, it seems to me probable that the whole of this township was a parish by itself, annexed, perhaps, to the church of St. Ceinwen (as it is now); and I conjecture that ficisque Romani confirmatione, hoc capitale prædium de Quirt in propriis manibus tanquam in dominico tenuerunt. Hic Abbates, ex illa regula, viz. Clericus Clerico ne solvat decimas, protinus Parochum suis emunxerunt, decimis, nec quicquam ei pro modo solvebant; quo pacto laici subinde emptores, quique fuerint, quibus illa non favebat regula, usu et consuetudine freti, ac statuto Regio muniti, non solum in hac Villa, sed in aliis quam plurimus locis, eamdem per fas nefasque sibi præripuerunt exemptionem, et hujusmodi pretextu Parochis suis omnimodam decimarum solutionem reclamare sacrilega manu ac dura fronte persistunt. Verumtamen in hoc prædiolo stipulatione inita pro decimis, pecuniarum summam Rectori de Llangeinwen quotannis audio solvendam; sed ex omnibus aliis villæ hujus terris, tum decimæ, tum alii ecclesiastici proventus (uti assolet) Parocho indiscriminatum eliciuntur. In parte superiori hujus Villæ ad austrum spectante Romani olim, vel saltem Britanni adversus Romanos castra metati sunt; munimentum que ibi adhuc visum, quadrata area formatum, apud quod domicilium nomine Rhyddgaer extructum; an a colore glebæ qui rufulus est, vel a municipulo ibidem olim locato, quæ idiotismo nostro idem sonant, non adjudico. Attamen haud creditu difficile est, hoc in loco, ad ostium Mæne Dominos Romanos mari invigilantes, quædam munimenta, sicut in altera, maris e regione, ripa suum Segontium, erexisse, siquidem et alterius in hac ora castri, si non reliquiæ, saltem nomen, viz. Caer leche, i. e. Castrum lapideum, quod huic portui incubuit, in hunc perduravit diem. Atqui illam turrim prope Rhyddgaer, ex qua prædiolum nomen cepisse videtur, molam quondam fuisse pneumaticam, Caernarvonæ condendæ gratia, ad frumentum conterendum extructam, ab accolis traditur; quæ, non multis abhinc annis, Alicia Conway, Rolandi Bulkeley de it was altered when the abbots of 1 Rhudd, red. Rhydd, free. Caer, a fortress. In Porthamel viduæ, in dotariam domum lignata et tecto co-operata fuit. gaer. Hic Proprietarii nunc (A.D. 1710) degunt vel jus exigunt; Dnus Thos. Williams, cui dominium jurisdictioque totius Villæ ex regia concessione competit. Dnus Franciscus Bulkeley de Porthamel tenet Twr et RhyddDnus Johannes Lloyd tenet Maes y porth. Dnus Johannes Morris, Celleinioc. Hæredes testamenti Dni Wilhelmi Williams de Vaynol Baronetti, Caermawr et Chwarele. Thomas Meredyth, aliique jure hæreditario terras possidentes, qui Domino Feudi sectam ad Curiam absoevunt vel absolvere tenentur. Terra hæc admodum frugifera est, merga ac calcario saxo uberrime aucta; nec arboribus incommoda, si secundet industria, ut ex unico illo Johanno Lloyd, omnium præfecto quos in hac insula novi, laudatissimo arbustorum cultore; aliisque vituperio, qui rem tam jucundam pariter ac facilem despiciunt, memorato clarius constat. close upon the harbour, has continued to this day. There is a tradition, however, among the inhabitants that the tower near Rhyddgaer, from which the farm seems to have taken its name, was formerly a wind mill, erected to grind corn for Caernarvon when it was in course of building; and which not many years ago was timbered and roofed to be a dowry house for Alice Conway, widow of Roland Bulkeley, of Porthamel. These are the proprietors who now live here (A.D. 1710), or exercise authority; Sir Thomas Williams, to whom the lordship and jurisdiction of the whole township belongs by royal grant; Sir Francis Bulkeley, of Porthmael, holds Twr and Rhyddgaer; Sir John Lloyd holds Maes y Porth; Sir John Morris, Celleiniog; the heirs by will of Sir William Williams, of Vaynol, Baronet, Cae Mawr and Chwarele; Thomas Meredydd and others, who possessing lands by hereditary right, pay, or are bound to pay, their suit and service at the Lord of the Fee's court. This district is very fruitful, abounding with marl and limestone; nor would it be unsuitable for trees if aided by industry, as it is in the single case of John Lloyd; who is certainly, of all whom I know in this island, the most deserving of praise as a planter; and to mention whom, clearly conveys blame to others, who despise an occupation as easy as it is agreeable. NOTES. In confirmation of what Mr. Rowlands says of the manor of Rhossir, it may be observed that this manor, together with other crown possessions in the Commot of Menai, and in Caernarvonshire, to the amount of £170 per annum, were granted by Edward II. in 1318, for the maintenance of his son and daughter-in-law, John and Alianor. An "Inquisitio post mortem" was held in 1338, "de reparatione Cameræ et Capellæ apud Rhosseyre." In a petition presented by the Burgesses of Newborough at Kensington in 1630, they applied for a renewal of their charter, "et quod nomen de Rhosheir mutetur in Novum Burgum, et quod habere possint cartam de Rothelan in puncto ad punctum." J. J. The manor spelled by Mr. Rowlands Rossir and Rhossir, should be written Rhoshir.-EDD. ANTIQUITY OF WELSH HERALDRY. It is well known how Welsh families carry up their pedigrees to Adam and Eve. Is it then unreasonable to suppose that they may have, in like manner, borrowed all their heraldic theory from the same aboriginal pair? According to Morgan, an enthusiastic armorist of the seventeenth century, the first man bore a plain red shield, heraldically termed "gules," with the arms of his wife, a white shield or "argent" upon it, as an "escocheon of pretence," she being an heiress! The same author deduces the idea of the heater shield for men, and the lozenge for women, from the spade of Adam and the spindle of Eve!1 But jesting apart-for we do not really intend to go the extravagant lengths of our countrymen-it is obvious that a state of feudalism, such as that which prevailed in ancient Britain, was calculated to suggest certain badges by which the different chiefs and their dependants might be distinguished in battle or council. For this purpose nothing was more likely to be adopted than colours, as being both gorgeous and conspicuous, which would be laid on banners, shields, or coats, according to the profession or fancy of the bearers. We may well suppose that the Cymry would take the symbols of the bardic college as the ground work of their heraldic tints. That is to say, the first colours chosen, and those by the most powerful princes of the land, would be white, blue, and green. To these would be added red, as the emblem of war or boldness; purple in token of jurisdiction; and black, indicative of sorrow for the loss of friends. As occasions required, these would be again varied by the admission of single stripes of a different hue, the foundation of our ordinaries, and afterwards of figures of animals and other devices; all being, not merely marks of distinction, but emblems of some virtue personal or ancestral, or memorials of some event or transaction in which the original bearer was principally concerned. The whole, shield, tincture, and charges, being at first rough and ill-defined, would continue to gain shape and consistency as civilization ad 1 See the interesting work, entitled The Curiosities of Heraldry, by Mark Antony Lower, Esq. |