on the 6th day of April now last past, before Thomas Lloyd, Esq., of the said county, by virtue of a writ directed to the said Thomas Lloyd, Esq., it has upon oath of trusty and creditable persons been made to appear, that it will not be to the detriment, loss, or prejudice of us, or of others, if we should grant John Egerton of Rhine Hill, in the county of Stafford, Baronet, and his heirs, the privilege to have and to hold in the town of Holywell, in the county of Flint, one Market, on Friday in every week, for buying and selling of all and all manner of goods and commodities usually bought and sold in markets; And also, three Fairs a year, for ever, viz., one of the Fairs on the 23rd of April, the second upon the Tuesday next after Trinity, and the third upon the 2nd day of September every year; provided none of these days above-mentioned shall fall upon a Sunday; for otherwise they shall be kept on the Monday next ensuing, for the buying and selling of all and all manner of goods and commodities whatsoever, as it more fully appears by the abovementioned examination recorded in our Court of Chancery.

"Be it known unto you now, that We, of our special favour, and with our own certain knowledge and our free will and accord, have given and granted, and by these presents give and grant power to the said John Egerton and his heirs, free and lawful privilege, liberty, and power to have and to hold and keep at Holywell aforesaid, one Market weekly, on Friday, for ever, for the buying and selling of all and all manner of goods and commodities usually sold and bought in markets. And also, three Fairs yearly, &c., &c., for the buying and selling of all and every and all manner of goods usually bought and sold at fairs, with Pie Powder Court and all liberties, customs, privileges, tolls, stallages, and all other conveniences belonging to such fairs.

"In witness whereof, we have granted these Letters Patent. Given in our presence, at Westminster, the 20th day of January, in the second year of our reign, 1702."

The fairs were entirely dropped until within the last fifteen years, when they were revived; but to no purpose, as they cannot be carried on in consequence of the long-established fair at Caerwys, about five miles from Holywell.

The market was, until within the last few years, considered to be the best in North Wales; but since the passing of the reform bill, which brought in a change in the Council

of the Corporation of Denbigh, who immediately set about reforming the table of tolls for their market, and the same heavy rate of tolls continuing in the Holywell market, the consequence is, that the Denbigh market has increased in the same proportion as the Holywell market has decreased, which is now one of the smallest in Wales. In 1844, a petition was presented to the late Marquis of Westminster on this subject, praying for the abolition of tolls on agricultural produce brought into the town; but no alteration has yet been effected.

The following documents were also produced at the trial between Sir Thomas Egerton and Sir Pyers Mostyn, respecting the right to the Manor of Greenfield:

"A grant of Basingwerk Abbey from Henry VIII., to Hugh Starkie, dated 14th of May, 1538, twenty-ninth year of his reign," for twenty-one years.

"And on the 28th of April, 1541, thirty-second Henry VIII., Letters Patent under the Great Seal, being a grant from the Crown to Henry ap Harry and Peter Mutton, of the reversion of the said house and site, in consideration of £28 11s. 8d. purchase money."

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'There was also, an Indenture between the said Henry ap Harry and Peter Mutton of the one part, and Peter ap Richard ap Howell of the other part, being an agreement with regard to the above premises in the Letters Patent, 7th of September, 1541, thirty-second Henry VIII."

"Also, another Indenture of Conveyance from Henry ap Harry and Peter Mutton to Peter ap Richard ap Howell, of the reversion of certain premises called Higher Grange, 6th of October, 1541, thirty-second Henry VIII."

"Also, a Deed Poll, being a conveyance from Henry ap Harry and Peter Mutton to Peter ap Richard ap Howell, of certain premises in the Bailiwick of Greenfield and Holywell, 27th of July, 1548, thirty-ninth Henry VIII."

"Also, another Deed Poll, being a conveyance from Henry ap Harry and Peter Mutton to the said Peter ap Richard ap Howell, alias Mostyn, of certain premises in the parish of Holywell, 9th of March, 1551."

The site and revenues of the Abbey of Basingwerk were conveyed by the marriage of a daughter of the above Henry ap Harry to one of the Mostyns of Trelacre, in whose family the property has since continued.

On referring to Pennant's Wales, vol. i., p. 102, (Ed. 1810), I find that Richard II., in his Letters Patent to Richard Wake, clerk, for searching for mines of gold and silver in the county of Devon, for ten years, the adventurer had power to dig (paying damage to the owner of the ground,) as well within liberties as without; and to pay one-tenth of the profit to the Holy Church, and a ninth into the Exchequer. This is not the first instance of the application of the tithe of ore to religious uses. Edward I., directs the same proportion to be paid to the parochial Churches in Wales, out of the neighbouring mines. The Abbey of Basingwerk had also a revenue arising from the same source.2

Saltney, near Chester, was formerly granted to the Monks of Basingwerk by Robert, lord of Mold, for pasturage. He also gave them the same privilege in Hawarden, and the liberty of cutting rushes for thatching their buildings.

The royalty arising from the minerals in this division of the county of Flint, is enjoyed by the present Marquis of Westminster, by virtue of a grant made in 1634, to his ancestor Sir Richard Grosvenor, Knt., by Charles I., of all the mines of lead or rakes of lead, within the hundreds of Coleshill and Rhuddlan.3

Two questions may be asked in reference to the above quotations.

How is it that minerals do not pay tithe to the Church now? When did the Grosvenor Family lose the right to the royalty from the ore raised in the hundred of Rhuddlan, as it is now enjoyed by the Bishop of St. Asaph?

Holywell, August 7, 1846.

J. W.

With regard to Peverell of Nottingham, who was said to have poisoned Ranulph, Earl of Chester, we have been favoured with the following MSS. notes, the substance of which, however, is derived from Dugdale's Baronage:

"Peverell of Nottingham. About ult. Steph. He having poisoned Ranulph, E. of Chester, and fearing the severity of K. Henry 2 for the foul crime, (in 1 Hen. II.,) fled to a monastery of his own patronage, (probably Lenton,) where he caused himself to be shorn a monk. But being advertised

Rotuli Walliæ, (Sir Joseph Ayloffe's), p. 75. 2 Tanner's Notit. Monast, 711. 3 Harleian MSS. n. 2002. 9.

of K. Henrie's coming that way from York, he quitted his habit and privately fled away, leaving all his castles and possessions to the King's pleasure, some of wch continued many years after in the crown, and at length were given by K. Henry 2d to John, Earl of Moreton, afterwards king."-Dugd. B. 437. "He departed this life, having married Oddona, by whom he had issue Henry Peverel, who dyed (as it seems) wthout issue."-Vid. Dugd. Baron. 437. "Peverell of Shrewsbury. Heman Peverell, (eldest son of Ranulph Peverell of Nottingham,) was one of the Barons (or chief tenants) to Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury."— Vid. Monast. Anglic. I. 377.

Our attention has been called to a passage quoted from the Chronicon Normanniæ, p. 993, in Vol. iii of Parker's Glossary, (1846) p. 61. It is as follows:

"1157. King Henry II., restored and fortified the castles of Basingwerk and Rhuddlan in Flintshire, et inter hæc duo castra unam domum militibus Templi construxit'."

This passage, if correct, corroborates our view of the case, (vid. p. 105,) in all humble deference to that of Pennant and others, as to there never having been a House of Templars at Basingwerk itself. We call the attention of the Flintshire antiquaries to this point: can they shew where the Templars' House stood "inter hæc duo castra?"-EDD. ARCH. CAMBR.

OGHAM INSCRIPTIONS AT KENFEGGE IN

GLAMORGANSHIRE.

SEVERAL of our correspondents have endeavoured to throw light on the curious Ogham characters, communicated to us by J. O. Westwood, Esq., (see No. II, p. 182, and No. III, p. 290) and we subjoin some extracts from their correspondence. J. Windele, Esq., in a letter to the gentleman just named, says:

"Relying upon the accuracy of your copy of the Kenfegge stone, I can say that this inscription presents a curious and interesting variety as compared with our Irish Oghams. In one of Vallancey's works-I believe his Prospectus of a Dictionary-he mentions a bird's claw Ogham' to which your arrow heads have a resemblance, but the absence of vowels is to me an extraordinary feature."

6

Upon this Mr. Westwood remarks:

"On looking over Astle's plate 31, I find copied from a Clarendon MS., No. 15, in the British Museum, several Ogham alphabets, in one of which stands for h;

and

for a; and in another alphabet

stands for ola.-We must wait, however, for Mr. Windele's promised work on the Oghams, before we can arrive at a positive conclusion on the subject."

As a further illustration of the subject, and for the convenience of comparison, we give the accompanying view of St. Monaghan's Stone in Ireland, taken from Mr. Petrie's great work, the Ogham characters will be observed on the edge: