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HARVARD COLLEGE
LIBRARY
FRED NORMS ROBINSON
op CAMBRIDGE
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THEOPHILUS JONES, F.SA.,
raSTORIAN:
mS LrFE, LETTERS & LITERARY REMAINS.
EDITED BY EDWIN DAVIES.
'CAS NI CHARO Y WLAI> A I UAGO.
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To THB
RIGHT HON. LORD TREDEGAR.
Mv LcotD,
I was privileged to inscribe to you my Reprint of
Theophilus Jones's Histoty of Biecknockshiie, in the
production of which you manifested a Idndly interest.
I have thought that the following pages of
Biography and Letters of the Historian might be
acceptable to his countrymen, and I am happy in the
knowlei^ that the enterprise has your lordship's
approbation.
To you, therefore, the most generous Patron of
Welsh Hducation, Literature, and Art, the distinguished
and beloved Welsh Hero and Philanthropist, I Ulcewise
Dedicate this Volume, and coimt myself doubly
bonouied in beii^ permitted to do so.
I am, my Lord,
Your obedient servant,
THE EDITOR.
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Right Hon. 1,ord TREDiia.VK.
{f-ram I'kolobi/ Alfred t'rtke.Qaem St.. CnrdijH
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ILLUSTRATIONS.
Portrait of Thbophilds Jones.
Thb House Weeks he Died.
His BOOK-FtATE.
FaC-SDOLE op TOMBSrONB IN Llangj
Chuschyabd.
PoKnuiT OF Lord Trbdboar.
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PREFACE.
TTHESE Letters, written by Theophilus Jones, now
published for the first time, form part of a most
interesting collection of MS. Letters from eminent
Welshmen now in the possession of the Cardiff Free
Library Committee, to whose courtesy, as well as that
of their accomplished Librarian, I am indebted for
permission to copy and print.
The personality of the writer of the Letters is
admirably described in Miss Morgan's Biography,
and it is tmnecessary to add anything further in that
direction. But I may perhaps be allowed to say here,
that the letters are a complete refutation of an
assertion which 'has gained currency to the effect that
the History which Jones published was largely the
work of another person. It is quite true that
Theophilus Jones obtained information from every
source which he thought to be reliable. He was also
diligent in seeking advice from those he thought capable
of giving it, and in verifying facts about which he had
any doubt. But the work was his from b^inning
to end. Thege Letters are a striking testimony of the
patience with which he, under many trying circum-
stances, carried his great task to a successful
conclusion.
For the most part the Letters were written by
Theophilus Jones to his life-long friend, the Rev.
Edward Davtes, of Olveston, Gloucestershire, but
there are a few others to the Rev. Walter Davies
(" Gwalter Mechain"), and for these I am indebted
to Mr. J. Glyn Davies, the Welsh Librarian at
Aberystwith College.
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Of the Rev. Edwaid Davies, in whose career the
Histotian took such an affectionate interest, it should
be stated that he was a Radnorshire man, bom on the
7th July, 1756, some three years before Jones's birth,
at a farm called Hendre Einon, in the parish of Llan-
vareth, three miles from Builth. His father was
fanner of a small estate of which his uncle was the
proprietor.
Edward Davies was a student for a little over a
year at Christ CoU^;e, Brecon, and in 1775 opened a
school at Hay, and was ordained curate of Bacton, in
Herefordshire, four years later. He served this and
several other curacies, after the manner of his time,
besides keeping bis school ; and it is stated that be
conducted five services every Sunday, and travdled
30 miles to do so, for £30 a year. Mr. Davies was
master from 1783 to 1799 of the Grammar School at
Qiippii^ Sodbury, in Gloucestershire, and in the
former year be married his first wife, Margaret Smith,
of Whittington.
Mr. Davies devoted his leisure to Celtic antiquarian
studies, to poetry, and divinity. He made the
acquaintance of Owen Pt^e, Edward Williams, and
other leading Welsh antiquarians. Some of the poems
of the ' ' Myvyrian Archaiology ' ' were taken from
his transcripts. In 1799 he went as curate of Olveston,
also in Gloucestershire, and it was to this address
that Jones, the Historian, directed nearly all his
Letters.
Jones, who was Davies's contemporary at school,
exerted himself to obtain for him some preferment,
and many of Jones's Letters betray anxiety on account
of his friend's impoverished condition. Theo. Jones
only too well knew the exacting character of the literary
work in wbidi Edward Davies was engaged, and no
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doubt desired to get his mind relieved of the cares due
to his evident finandal embarrassment. After pro-
longed efforts, Theo. Jones appears to have succeeded,
for in 1802 Mr. Davies secured the perpetual curacy
of Iflanbedr, and in 1805 the rectory of Bishopston,
in Gower, near Swansea. He continued to live at
Olvestoo until 1813, when he removed to Bisht^ton.
Bishop Burgess, who eqnressed himself as charmed
that Edward Davies ' ' was not a mere black letter
' ' man, but an orthodox divine and admirable theo-
" Ic^cal writer," in 1810 gave him the prebend of
Uangnollo, in the then almost dilapidated Christ
Ccdl^e at Brecon.
In 1816 Mr. Davies tot^ to himself a second wife,
Susanna Jeffreys, and was made Chancellor of Brecon
and Rector of Uanfair Orllwyn, in Card^anshire,
but as Theophilus Jones died in 1812, he was not per-
mitted to rejoice over his friend's increased prosperity.
The Letters show a constant anxiety 00 the part
of Jones with regard to Edward Davies's eyesight,
which, in consequence of an accident received when a
boy, was always defective. In his latter days, he
became totally blind. When he relinquished his
clerical duties in 1823 in consequence of ill-health,
he was soon after elected an associate of the Royal
Society of literature, and thus obtained £100 a year.
He died on January 7th, 1831, and was buried at
Bishopetone. The Rev. Edward Davies's chief works
1. Aphthaite, the genius of Britain ; a Poem written
in the taste of the i6th century ; 1784.
2. Vacunalia ; consisting of Essays in verse ; 1788.
3. Eliza Powell ; 01 the Trials of Sensibility ; a
novd; 1795.
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4. Cdtic Keseaiches, ot the Origin, Tiaditions, and
Language of the Aotiest Britons, with Intio-
ductory Sketches on Primitive Society; 1804.
This is his best known book.
5. A Series of Discourses on Chuich Union, in which
it is maintained that the duty of Communion
with the Apostolical Chuich tenuuns uncancelled
by the tolerance of the British Laws ; rSii.
6. Inuuanud, a Letter on Isaiah vii., 14, in answei
to the Strictures of a Modem Jew; 1816.
7. The Mythology and Rites of the British Druids,
ascertained by national documents and com-
paied with the tiaditions and customs of
Heathenism ; 1809.
8. The Claims of Ossian, ^»mitied and appreciated
together with some curious paiticulais lelative
to the State of Foetiy in the Celtic dialects of
Scotland and Iieland; 1825. An attadc on
Macpheiscm for disparaging the Welsh Bards.
9. Various Papers and Translations, such as those
of Davydd ap Gwilym, whidi are printed in
the Cambrian R^istei.
Through the efforts of Miss O. E. F. Morgan, of
Brecon, money was raised in 1899 for the purpose Of
pladng a tablet in Llai^ammarch Church to the
memory of Tbeo[^us Jones and for renovating the
memorial to him in Christ Collie chapd. Thit
omission may be entirely due to an oversight ; but it
is to be hoped that at Christ CoU^e there will shortly
be erected suitable memorials to the Rev. Edward
Davies and the Rev. Thomas Price (" Camhuanwc ")
two remarkable Welshmen and both students of the
school.
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To this collection of I^etteta are added some
anonymous papers by Theophilus Jones, as well as
some account of his books, &c. And, as they aie of
local interest, and were for the most part written
whilst visiting Theophilus Jones, seveial extracts from
Richard Fenton's MS. Diaiy are also induded.
Mjss Morgan has very kindly revised and enlarged
her Biography of the Author of ' ' Brecknocksbiie, ' '
and the new portrait of him has been et^raved from a
portrait in her possession, drawn from life by the
Rev. Thomas Price, Cwmdu.
The Author's book-plate was fortonatdy dis-
covered before gcnng to press. It is taken from a
j^otograph of the plate in the 2ad vol. of Jones,
History, which was presented by his widow in 1827
to the Welsh Library at St. David's College, Lampeter ;
and I have to thank Mr. William Davies, the Bursary
Clerk, for attending to this matter.
Mr. Ifano Jones, of Cardiff Library, has been good
enough to lode over the Wdsh in the letters.
The pedigree of the " Morgans of Tred^ar," &c.,
forms a part of the MS. collection by Jones, and for
that reason it is now iaduded.
. THE EDITOR.
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Wfteopftilns ^omg, d?.S.a.
' ' If anythii^ I have suggested shall be pro-
ductive of benefit to one deserving person, oi my
lucubrations shall afford amusement and satis-
faction to the public, my ends are obtained. The
utmost extent of my ambition is, that I may live a
few years in the recollection and approbation of
my countrymen after Providence shall have con-
signed me to the long silence of the grave,"
TSEOPHII,US JONB3.
H EARLY a century has passed since the words
quoted above were written by the Historian of
firecknoclfshire, and the fact that a reprint of his
History — without note or comment, but an exact
copy of the first edition— should have been eagerly
subscribed for at this distance of time, is proof, if any
such were needed, of the vitaUty of the boolc, and of
the place which Hieophilus Jones holds in the hearts
<rf his countrjnnen.
The sayit^ ' ' Happy is the country that has no
history ! ' ' may also apply to individuals, and in that
sense it is true of the subject of this sketch. His un-
eventful existence passed in a quiet country town
furnishes no stirring incidents from which to weave
an elaborate biography, the story of his life being
that of his History. Some three generations have
passed away since he walked through the land he
loved so well, yet into our own time there have lived
these who knew him, who have watched him fishing
of a summer's evening, who have spoken of bis
kindliness, and who have nothing to tell that does not
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confirm the impression left on our minds after reading
bis great book, that he was a God-fearing, amiable
and upr^ht man. His life was one of simplicity and
hard work carried out during a period of physical suffer-
ii^ heroically borne. He turned from the possibilities
of wealth (his partner and successor amassed a large
fortune, and puidiased a considerable estate in the
neighbourhood), to comparative poverty, in order that
he might rescue from oblivion the memorials of past
days, many of whidi would otherwise never have
come down to us. The debt which the posterity of a
county owes to its conscientious, careful antiquary can
hardly be over-estimated, and Brecknockshire has been
peculiarly fortunate in this ie^>ect. It is surely a
matter of no small pride and satisfaction to us to realize
that the best County History in Wales was written
by Theophilus Jones, that the best History of Wales
in Welsh, " Hanes Cymru," was the work of the Rev.
Thomas Price, vicar of Cwmdu, and that the only
History of Wales written in English (until Prof. Owen
Edwards recently gave us ' ' Wales ' ' in the ' ' Story
of the Nations" series) was by Miss Jane Williams,
" Y^afell," all of whom bdonged to Brecknockshire
by birth, breeding or descent.
Theophilus Jones was the only son of the Hev,
Hi^ Jones, Vicar of Llangammarch and Llywd,
and Prebendary of Boughrood IJanbedr Painscastle,
whose father, another Hugh Jones, married Mary,
daughter of Rees Uoyd, of Nantmd, a member of
the family of Lloyd of Rhosferig and Aberannell.
Our Historian was thus of the line of Elystan Glodrydd,
Prince of Ferregs, whose descendants peopled the
hundred of Builth, and through his paternal grand-
mother he was connected with the JefEreyses of
Brecon and the Watkinses of Penoyre.
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The Rev. Hi^h Jones married Elinor, dder
daughter of the Rev. Theophilus Evans, vicar of
Uangammaich from 1738 to 1763, in which year he
redgned the livit^ in favour of his son-in-law, Mr.
Hugh Jones ; Mr. Svans was also vicar of St. David's
Brecon, to which he was inducted 8th June, 1739,
It is always interesting to note the hereditary
influences, which have helped to form the tastes and
characters of remarkable men, and no account of
Theophilus Jones's life would be complete, that did not
touch on the career of his maternal grandfather, who
seems to have been a man of considerable ability, and
is spoken of by his grandson with affectionate respect.
Theophilus Evans was the fifth son of Charles
Evans, of Pen-y-wenallt, Cardigan^re, of the tribe
<rf Gwynfardd Dyfed, whose father had suffered even
to imprisonment for his loyalty to Oiarles I. He was
bom in 1694, ordained deacon in 1718, and priest
in 1719, by the Bishop of St. David's. The friend-
^p- exisUi^ between his countrymen the Lloyds
of Millfield and the Gwynnes of Glanbran, induced
him to settle in this county. Here it may be wdl
to give a short account of his literaiy work.
His first pubhcation was in Welsh, it appeared in 1716,
and was called " Drych y Prif Oesoedd," or a
" Mirror of Ancient Times," beii^ a brief history of
the andent Britons. " This book," wrote bis
grandson, ' ' seems to have been more read and admired
" by the inhabitants of South Wales than any other
' ' ever published in the language, unless it be Llyfr
' ' y Ficcar Uandyfri, and it is still as great a favourite
" as ever in this part of the Principality." There
have been fourteen Welsh editions of this remarkable
work, the latest being that published by Spurrell
of Carmarthen in 1884. In 1739 appeared his " Pwyll y
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Pader," beii^ an expositioa of the Lord's Prajrer in
several sermons, which he dedicated to Sackville Gnynne,
Ksq., of Glanbrao, to whom he pays a compUment for
his zeal in the encouragement and promotion of the
worship of God by the erection of the church of Tyr
Abot, which was Mr. Evans's fiist curacy ; he was
also domestic chaplain to Mr, Gwynne of Garth. The
dedicatory portion of the work concludes with a prayer
to the Deity, ' ' that as his patron had until that day
' ' lived in a mansion situated in a rich soil and in the
' ' fat of the land, nourished and fertilized by the dew
" of heaven, after a lei^h of days spent piously and
' ' happily in this world, he mif^t be awakened by
" an angel of life in the realms of bliss." In 1752
be published in English ' ' A History of Modem En-
thusiasm," of which another edition was brought out
in 1757 ; both are now very rare. This book contained
a severe attack upon all dissenters from the Estab-
lished Church. The circumstances under which this
work, which roused so mudi feeling, was published,
have not been fully rect^nized. In 1743 the Rev.
John Wesley paid his first visit to Brecknockshire,
wbid) had already been stirred by the preaching of
Howel Harris and Rowlands of Llangeitho. We read
in his Diary (which Mr. Birrell has recently told us
throws more light upon the moral and social conditions
of Ei^land in the eighteenth century than any other
book,) under date
" May, 1743, Wednesday 3rd. — came to Builth.
" Mr. Phillips, the Rector of Maesmynis (at whose
" invitation I came), soon to take knowledge of me.
" 1 preached on a tomb at the east end of the diuich
" at four, and again at seven. Mr, Gwynne and
" Mr. Prothero, Justices of the Peace, stood on
" either hand of me."
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Hi, Gvynne was of Garth, and previously to this bad
stood with the Riot Act in his pocket near IJaawrtyd
Church to hear Howel Harris preach, deteimined to
arrest him, not doubting he was a madman, but was so
deeply impressed by his preadiing, that at the close he
grasped Howel Harris's band, besought bis pardon, and
took him home to Carth. Dr. Stevens gives a very
int^esting account of Mr, Gwynne ; — " In Wales the
' ' Wesleys were entertained at the opulent m a nsion
' ' of Marmaduke Gwynne, Esq., a magistrate, of Garth.
" His princely establishment usually comprised, beside
"nine children and twenty servants, a chaplain, and
' ' from ten to fifteen guests. . . , The Wesleys
' - preached to them dally while seeking repose amid
" their hospitality." The chaplain was the Rev.
Theophilus Evans, as has been said, and he must have
bad many arguments with Mr. We^ey durit^ their
frequent and lengthy interviews, though when Charles
Wesley, the sweet singer of the movement, wedded
Miss Sarah Gwynne, we do not find that the chaplain
assisted at the ceremony. To quote again from John
Wesley's Diary : —
" 1739. April, Friday 7th, we reached Garth.
" Saturday 8th, I married my brother and Sarah
" Gwynne. It was a solemn day, such as became
" the dignity of a Christian marriage."
Unconvinced l^ all that he saw and beard, Mr.
Evans fdt it his duty to protest, and Mr. Wesley and
Mr. Whitfidd wrote a reply to his book. In later
years bis grandson apologised for the bitterness of
his tone in the followii^ words : — " He wrote as a
" member of the Established Church to prevent by
" timdy warning the repetition of those calamities
" produced by fanaticism in the generation preceding
" him, of the recuireoce of which he seems to have been
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" apprebexi^ve from the spread of an ettthusiasm equally
" miscMevoits, thoi^ assuming a different gaib, MifiUly
" fomented and encouraged, as he apprehended, by the
" Church of Rome." It is cuiious to read, that he
seriously thought the Methodists were emissaries of the
Catholic Chuich, though it was not an unconuDoa belief
at the time, John Wesley himself having been taken for
a Jesuit in di^uise, when preaching in South Wales ;
the memory of the Risii^ of 1745, and the sympathy
of the CathoUcs with the cause of the White
Rose, made the popular mind ready to assign
any new departure in religion or politics to the influence
of the Jesuits, llien the traditions of family suffer-
ing^ and losses during the Gvil Wat doubtless account
for a genuine though exa^erated alarm at the doings
of John We^ey and his followers. To his mind the
terms ' ' fanatic ' ' and ' ' enthusiast ' ' were evidently
synonymous, but to us, who are looMrm back at the
course of events he anticipated, it seems impossible to
imagine what the religious and social life of the
eighteenth — nay, even of the nineteenth — centuries
would have been without the "enthusiasm" of the
great Fellow of Lincoln.
At the same time whilst it is customary to pour
contempt on the clergy of the Chuich in Wales durir^
the last century, it is refreshing to think of Mr. Evans
as one, who may not unreasonably be taken as typical
of the better kind of Welsh parish priest, of whom
sudi a character remains as that given to him by
Theophilus Jones ; ' ' My revered, learned and respec-
table grandfather "... who, notwithstanding the
bitterness of his tone towards those who differed from
him in their forms of faith, ' ' had perhaps as much of
" the milk of human kindness as any man who ever Uved.
" Of the value of money he knew little, books were
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' liis only tieastires, and employed the greatest part
' of that time in which he was not engaged in the
' duties of his holy function, and in this character he
' was lemarkably eminent ; many of the sectaries
' whom he condemned heard his exhortations with
' pleasure, if not with improvement, and his sermons
' are even now recollected with rapture ; he had a
' method of bringing home his arguments to the
' feelings of his auditors, without descending to low
' or familiar phrases, which was peculiarly
' persuasive. ' '
Mr. Evans was a fellow-labourer with the Rev.
Griffith Jones, vicar of Llanddowror, the founder of
the first day and Sunday schools in Wales. His cir*
culatii^; schools were started in 1730, in which year
Mr. Bvans wrote a " I<etter on Education," published
by Mr. Robert Raikes, of Gloucester, who may have
been induced by the example of these Welsh clergymen
to establish Sunday sdiools in England. It is pleasant
to trace their begirming to our own county. When
the good Vicar of Uanddowtor, ' ' The Morning Star
of the Welsh Reformation," died in 1761, these schools
had been instrumental in teaching over 150,000 of the
Welsh people to read God's Holy Word in their own
tongue.
In the previous century the Rev. R. Powel, vicar
of Boughrood, whose pious memory so many Brecon
bo3^ have had reason to bless, had left money by his
will " to teach and instruct poor children, natives of
" Brecon, in the Er^jUsh toi^ue, the better to enable
' ' them to serve God, and manage their trades or occu-
" pations," on which Theophilus Jones malces the
following remarkable commentary, which at least shows
that he did not share his grandfather's opinions in
relation to Sunday schools : — " It is not clear to me
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" from these words, whether this good divine intended
' ' these children should be taught to read and write or
' ' not. I am sure I should respect his memory much
" more, if I thoi^t he did not, notwithstanding the
" fashionable mania for parochial and Sunday schools,
*' which, nineteen times out of twenty, only teach boys
" to misapprehend their Bible, to prate and become
" trouWesome in their neighbourhood." One hundred
years have passed away since that sentence was written
in happy tmconsdousness of the advent of a com-
|dete system of Welsh education, which will give our
b(^ and giris the same advantages that Scotland
has so long enjojred, and which will make Brecon an
edncatiooal centre of the greatest importance, if our
cotmtiymen realize the possibilities now within their
gtasp.
In the year 1732 Mi. Evans discovered the mineral
springs of Llanwrtyd, called ' ' Ffynon Drewllyd ' '
(stinking well), so valuable as a cure for scrofulous com-
plaints. In a letter to the Editor of the " St. James's
Chronide," in 1738, he gives an interesting account
of the manner in whidi his attention first became
attracted to these waters. In his quaint style he says : —
" The writer hereof, being then almost worn out by a
' ' disease of many years continuance, was casually
' ' informed of this then reputed venomous spring.
" His curiosity led him that way, which, by the smell,
' ' he could easily find without a guide. He sat on
" the brink of it a long time dubious what to do. As
' ' he was thus mudng and revolving in his mind what
' ' he had best do, a frog popped out of the bottom,
' ' looked cheerfully, and, as it were, invited him to
' ' taste of the water. He then immediately concluded
■ ■ that the water could not have any poisonous quaUty,
"because of that creature's living so comfortably
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" there, and took a moderate draught, about lialf-a-
" pint or more, without any concern or dread of danger.
" By the use of this for about two months, and by
"taking baths in the water every day, he became
' ' perfectly whole, though his case had been deemed
" incurable."
Mr. Evans Uved at Llwyn Einon, in I^angam-
mardi (now a farmhouse), and on his death left the
little estate to Theophilus Jones, who honoured the
memory of bis grandfather by a peculiar attachment
to the place. The Rev. Theophilus Evans died
September nth, 1767, aged 73, and was buried in the
Churchyard of Llangammarch, " near the stile
entering from the east."
Theophilus Jones was bom in Brecon on 18th
October, 1759, and on 8th November following he was
baptized in the chapel of St. Mary ia that town. His
father was at that time curate of St. David's, Brecon,
and Uved in a charming old house in Lion street (one
of the many town residences of the county families, who
used to come to Brecon for the Assizes and other gather-
ings), where Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David's, had
died earlier in the century. The future Historian
passed some of bis early years at Uwyn Einon, and,
young thoi^h he was, there can be Uttle doubt that his
antiquarian tastes were awakened and fostered by his
grandfather, from whom he inherited valuable
materials for the History. The Rev. Thomas Price,
who was bom in the hundred of Builth less than a
generation later, has left a graphic picture of the
manners and customs of the inhabitants of that district :
" Brought up, as I have been, in the remote parts
" of the Principality, often do 1 dwell with pleasure
' ' upon the recollections of my infancy : when in the
' ' vdntei's night I sat in the circle around the fire
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' ' under the spacious cliiiimey-piece, and listened to
' ' the soi^s and traditions of the peasanti;, or to the
' ' poetry of David ab Gwilym read by the firel^t ;
' ' and if but a harper should chance to visit us happy
' ' was the day, yea, I might say, earthly speaking,
' ' Uessed was the time. . . . About the year
' ' 1750 the youi^- people in Wales were very fond of
' ' dancing. They met together frequently ia parties,
" and danced country dances, some of which had four
' ' and twenty variations, all of which were to be danced
' ' through ; and I think there were variations in the
' ' figure of the dance to correspond to those of the
' ' tune The introduction of Methodism
' ' made a great chat^e in the habits of the people.
" Dancing was altogether discouraged as profane."
Theophilus Jones was educated at Christ's
College, Brecknock, which was then a large and
flourishing school, attended by the sons of the
surrounding country gentry, amongst whom he found
many friends, and here b^an the life-long r^ard which
existed between him and the Rev. Edward Davies, of
Olveston, co. Gloucester, the learned author of
"Celtic Researches," "Mythology of the British
Druids," and other works. To him he dedicated the
second volume of his History. Durii^ the time he was
at Christ's Collie, the Head Master was the Rev.
David Griffith (grandfather of the late Rev. Charles
Griffith, M.A., of Glyn Celyn, Brecon), an accomplished
scholar, of whom he spoke in after years as " the
respected and respectable preceptor of my 3«>uth." His
parents having decided that he should become a lawyer,
Theophilus Jones was articled to Mr. Penoyre Watldns,
a solicitor in large practice then hving in Brecon, and
having passed through this period with great credit,
upon the expiration of his articles he entered the pro-
Dy Google
fessioQ on his own account, and continued in it for
many years, practising with equal reputation and
success as a solicitor and attorney in his county town.
He married Mary, daughter of Rice Price, Esq., of
Porth-y-Rhyd, in the county of Carmarthen (who
was a member of the family of Price of Cilgwyn, a branch
of the Prices of Glynllech, in Vstradgunlais), by Mary,
daughter of Daniel Williams, Esq., of Llwynworm-
wood, A vacancy occurring in the Deputy Registrarship
of the Archdeaconry of Brecon, he was appointed to
that office, which he held until his death. To this
circumstance we are probably indebted for the History,
which will be for ever associated with the name of
TheophJlus Jones, Amongst the documents committed
to his care- were the records of the various parishes for
centuries past, in the perusal of which be must have
obtained a great amount of the information he after-
wards introduced into his History, There is every
reason to believe, that he had no natural inclination
for the profession, to which he had been brought up, his
chief dehght being in Uterary studies and antiquarian
research, but it was not until the year 1800 or 1801,
that he seriously entertained the idea of writii^ the
History of his native county. His father, the Rev.
Hugh Jones, died 2nd April, 1799 (and was buried in
St. David's Churchyard with his wife Elinor, who died
24th July, 1786), and this circumstance may have had
much to do with the determination he now formed.
He fomid it was quite impossible to write the History
and at the same time to carry on his other duties.
On their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Theophilus Jones lived
in a large and comfortable house in Mount Street,
Brecon, now converted into an inn known as " The
George," the rooms of which are oak-panelled and
lofty, where they remained mitJl his father's death,
when they moved to the house in l4on Street, in
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which the History was written, In a letter, dated
Oct. 4tli, 1801, to the Rev. Eclward Davies, he says :
' ' I've such a. room ! such a study !
"it is at the back patt of the house, oo noise 01
' ' interruption, except now and then a call into the office
" . . .1 laugh, I laugh at the imps of gloominess."
Having a small patrimony of his own, he deter-
mined, with his wife's consent, to give up his practice,
and Uve upon his private means, so tiiat he might
have time to prosecute his labours in compiling the
History, which he succeeded in doing, thon^ he lost
upwards of ^400 in the undertaking. He disposed of
his practice to his partner, Mr. Samud Church, of Ffrwd-
grecb, reserving to himself the Deputy R^istrarship,
which enabled him to have access to the various deeds,
wills, &c., which were so important la his researdies,
though it was not until 1809 that he was able
to write : ' ' Done with the law 1 ' ' Having
now the leisure in which to pursue the great
object of his life, he spared neither time nor opense in
its execution. He personally visited every parish in
the county ; he copied the mural and monumental in- -
scriptions in every church (many of which have since
&itirely disappeared durii^ the ' ' restorations ' ' of
recent years) ; he collected the folk-lore and l^ends
from the aged inhabitants ; he gathered all the
information that could be acquired, and industriously
gleaned from every repository that was open
to his inspection, the contents of such documents
as might enlarge, illustrate, or enrich his work.
His perfect acquaintance with the langu^^
of his country enabled him to emidoy them to
the best advantage. He availed himself lately of
Hugh Thomas's MS, "Essay towards a History of
Brecknockshire," which is preserved at the Bodleian
library, Oxford, and a portion of which is in the posses-
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13
sion of Mr. George Hay, Brecon. This Essay was
written about 1698, and as far as it goes fonns an.
invaluable omtribution to local history, brii^t^ the
Brecon of the seventeenth century very vividly before us.
Hugh l^omas was a member of an old Brecknockshire
Catholic family settled at I/lanfiynach from the earliest
times. He was a deputy herald and lived in Blooms-
bury, London, though from his intimate knowledge of
the place and people, he must have fr^uently visited
Brecon, where he stayed with bis Idnswomen,
Maiy and Margaret Thomas, of saintly memory*.
Uis speUing is peailiar, but his style of writing is
easy and pleasant, at times glidii^ into gossip and
long-forgotten scandals connected with the town. He
was greatly impressed by the wickedness of the Normans
in appropriating to themselves the fair lands which
belonged to the native Welshmen, and ne\'er wearies
of pointing out how the judgment of God had fallen
upon thdr descendants for that and other sins, and
how the Welsh had reasserted themselves even in his
time as owners of the soil, the old Norman families
havii^ mc^ed their names in those of the Welsh, or
"extinguished themsdves in heiresses," or sold their
lands, so that the principal landowners in 1698 bore
Welsh surnames. The following (the introduction of
which may be forgiven, as Jones has not quoted it),
is a fair specimen of his style, though it is rather
involved : —
' ' Hi^h Havard was 4 times BayUf and twice
" Alderman of Brecon, lliis man b^an to write
" a book of ped^reesf about January, 1580, and not
" ended until about 1600. He tells us that in the
" year 1590, there was no rain from Easter till All
• 8aa " Forgottaa Sainta," br O. E. F. «... Breoon PuoahU
Haguins, ISOS.
t Haileuui BLS. ISIS.
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" Saints, and that on loth December followii^
" began a hard fiost and snow, which continued
" till 25 March, 1591, on which day there happened
" with the thaw sudi a tempest of Raine as occasioned
" such Fluds, that the like was not known since the
" time of Noah, which carried' away all stone bridges
" and great mills, and the same year all manner
. " of Beasts died for want of fodder. That year
" our Lady was upon Good Friday. The Havards
" have for sometime been the most landed and
" florishing family of the County and older in this
" Parish (St. John's, Brecon,) than any other family
" whatsoever, tho' now for their offences against
" God and their neighbours brought down to
" nothing. Having once to the Honour of God
" builded a suptious Chapell adjoined to the Priory
" QiuTcb, which yet retains their name, and is
" called Capell Havardiad, where I conjecture they
" ordained a priest to pray for their souls for ever,
" and were most of them buried, but now the
" good reformers have reformed this Chapell almost
" to the ground, as they have not only this worthy
" Family, but almost all the noble FamiHes of the
" kingdom out of their estates, (and almost all their
" gravestones thrown out or broke to pieces) for
" their great n^Ugence in promoting these abuses.' '
There is yet another unrecorded paragraph by Hugh
•fliomas, which no lover of Brecon would wish to be
omitted, and which many still believe to be as true
as when it was written : —
" Brecon is well stored with wood and water and
" fish especially trout, ye best and ye most in ye king-
" dom are taken in Uske river, no better in all
" Wales, having abundance of fine springs and
" purling streams besides the rivers Uske, Hooddu
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&c. &c. which makes the country most pleasant
and healthy, insomuch that it wants nothing that
can make a man happy, and from ye top of our
Hills seeii^ ye most pleasantest Landsldps in
nature, having at one view the prospect of hills,
valleys, wood and water. The state of the
people are as in most parts of ye kingdom, their
complexions very comely, and much better than
those of ye sea coasts, neither are thdr humours
less commendable. Deo Gratia ! "
But Hi^h Thomas's most valuable contribution to
Brecknockshire history is his volume of MS, pedigrees
in the Harleian Collection at the British Museum
which he bequeathed to Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford.
Of the value and interest of this book it is hardly possible
to speak too h^;hly. Modem genealogists tell us, that
no other pedigrees rdating to our county families
of the seventeenth century are equally satisfactory
or correct, and the more it is studied, the stronger
grows the impression, that Theophilus Jones
knew little about it, even supposit^ he ever saw it.
Had he known it well he could never have omitted many
items of interest there recorded. For instance Hugh
Thomas's pedigree of the Walbeoffes of Llanhamlach
is given with a fulness of detail wholly absent from the
genealf^cal table of that family given by Jones, who
has also omitted entries of the greatest importance
relating to the families of Games of Aberbran and
Vaughan of Newton, LlansantSread, whilst the very
interestit^ pedigree of the ancient family of Powel of
Maespoeth, which Hugh Thomas gives at lei^h, does
not appear at all in Theophilus Jones's History. It
is quite possible that he may have hastily glanced at
the volume during a visit to London, or he may have
been told of it by a friend ; that he knew of its existence
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i6
is proved by his reference to tbe pedigree in it of the
Powers of Castle Madoc, which varied from his account
of the same family. Genealogy and heraldiy were
the favourite subjects of his enquiry. His pedigrees,
generally spealdi^, are correct. Hiat here and there
some names may have been omitted, that some,enx)TS
from misinformation may have crept in is ^"ery possible,
but such lapses ate unavoidable, certainly in the first
edition of such a book. In a work of such multi-
farious enquiry, where the materials are collected
from many different sources, where the famiUes them-
selves, to whom they more immediately relate, are
so often ignorant, and still more frequently indifferent,
it is scarcely possible for the historian to be
minutely accurate. No man, however, could have
taken greater pains than Mr. Jones did, and we may be
quite sure that whatever errors may occur in the
earlier part of his genealogies (and they are few), they
are correct for at least one hundred years before the
time he wrote, which period would include all his
original work. So painstaking a man would have
carefully recorded from the lips of the oldest members
of the various families the names of their immediate
ancestors, and any circumstances of interest connected
with them.
That he, to some extent, shared the prejudices
of his grandfather, and was not altogether unbiassed
as an historian, is shewn by his ignoring the
martyrdom of John Penry and the life-work of
Dr. Coke, both of them men who from their characters
and actions were deserving of more than a passing
allusion. It was probable that he r^arded John
Penry as a traitor who died an ignominious death,
whose fate it was better to pass over in silence, and it
may have been for the same reason, that he made no
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, mention of another Brecknockshire martyr, the
Venerable Father Philip Powel, alias Morgan, O.S.B.,
who suffered at Tyburn, 30th June, 1646, for adherence
to his Faith, being technically guilty of High Treason
under an Act passed in the reign of Queen Flizabeth.
Howel Harris also, one of the founders of Welsh
Calvioistic Methodism, hved too near to Theophilus
Jones's own time to receive the appreciation irtiich
posterity accords him, from one who evidently
looked with suspicion and alarm on all forms and
methods of religion outside the Established Church.
But a man's deeds are often much better than his
(pinions and words, and the most prominent traits
in Mr, Jones's character were kindliness and
benevolence. ' ' lolo Morganis^ ' ' has written very
bitterly on the innumerable mistakes, wbidi
he says were made by Theophilus Jones, in whose
defence the Rev. Thomas Price, " Camhuanawc,"
wrote : ' ' Mr. Jones, whilst ptepsxias his work
' ' for the press, was so grievously afflicted with
' ' gout, that his left hand had to support the
' ' wrist of his flannel-bound right as he guided
" the pen, with the rips only of his fillers at hberty,
' ' while severe twii^^ of pain every now and then
" arrested his progress, and under such circumstances
" it is wonderful that the mistakes were not still more
"numerous." Had he hved to bring out another
edition of his History, we cannot doubt that these
mistakes would have been corrected. He, himself,
complains of his " constitutional indolence and
' ' aversion to writing. . . . Indolence is the
"passion of T.J.," and yet he accomplished his
labours in so short a time. We are so accus-
tomed to speak of him as " Old Jones," in terms of
affectionate r^ret, that it does not occur to us, until
we are reminded of the fact, that he died in the prime
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i8
of life, and that it is cause for woada and congiatn*
lation that he should have achieved so much in the few
yeaiB out of a short life which he devoted to his great
work.
But the severest ciiticisni, which has been passed
on onr Historian, is that by modem writers on his
treatment of Henry Vatican {Siluriat). It is not
necessary here to repeat the epithets which have been
hurled at him, though at the same time it is impossi-
ble not to make a protest against the injustice of the
attack made upon him. Even in the present day,
when Vangban's Po«ns have passed throogh many
editions, his audience is ' ' few but fit ; " when Jones
wrote, the quaint little volumes were very rare, and
it is doubtful whether anyone then living appreciated
the Silurist excepting Wordsworth, w4io had a
marked copy of ' ' Silez Sdntillans " in his cottage
at Grasmere. It is quite certain that Theophilus
Jones had never seen nor read the majority of these
Poems, and he even supposes " Olor Iscanus" (which
he knew), to have been written by Thomas Vau^ian,
and whilst he quotes two of the most striking poems
in that book, he ignores those which contain local
references, that he could not have passed over had he
carefully read them. As in the case of Hugh "Hiomas's
Pedigrees, he probably only saw the book during a
visit to Oxford or I/Midon, and had not time to fuUy
possess himself of its contents. The most curious
thing is, that whilst he quotes at length from Anthony
k Wood's account of "Hiomas Vaughan, he seems to
know nothing of the same writer's notice of the
Silurist, which settles the authorship of " Olor
Iscanus." The biography of Henry Vaughan given
by k Wood is the more interesting, as it was writtoi
by John Aubrey, a Brecknockshire man, and cousin
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19
to the Vaugbans, who supplied i Wood with much
of the informatioQ in his " Athenae Oxonienses."
He says :
" Henry Vaughan followed the pleasant paths
" of poetry and philology, became noted for his
" ingenuity, and published several specimens thereof,
" of which his " Olor Iscanus " was most valued.
" Afterwards applying his mind to the study of
" physic, became at lei^^ eminent in his own coiuitry
" for the practice thereof, and was esteemed by
" scholars an ingenious person, but proud and
These last words may partly account for what
was undoubtedly the local opinion of the brothers,
who are described by Jones as " eccentric," a term
not unlikdy to be applied to poets and Rosicrudans by
their Welsh neighbours two hundred years ago. He
faithfully wrote down all that he knew and heard of
thon, and when we remember that Denys Jones, Henry
Vat^an's grand- daughter, was hving in Brecon at
the same time as Theophilus Jones's parents, it is pro-
bable that he reflected the true impression of con-
temporary popular opinion respecting the Vaughans.
Mr. Jones's assertion, that he had not been able to
trace any of their descendants, and that the line had
become extinct, has not yet been refuted, though of
recent years the closest search has been made on the
subject. To blame him for not appreciating the
Siluiist's Poems, which he had not read, is hardly
criticism. Theophilus Jone^ had the limitations of
his environment, limitations which probably conduced
to the success of his History, though they would hardly
have made him in advance of his age in admiring poetry,
which belonged more to the school of Wordsworth
and of George Herbert than to that of the eighteenth
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centuiy. The most that can be said is, that he was
a better histoikn than be was a literary critic, for
he recorded his deliberate opinion that " Gower,
" Chauco' and even Spenser (whom I think the most
" respectable of the three) are not to be compared
' ' with Pope, Dryden or Gray, ' ' and again ' ' no
' ' comparison whatever in the poetry of Chaucer and
" Pope."
It is matter for regret that he never saw the
Aubrey MSS. which contain so many references to
Brecknockshire people, and which were published
for the first time in 1898, under the title (rf " Brief
Uves," l^ JtAn Aubr^.
Whatever imperfections may exist in it, Jones's
History is still the standard History of Bret^ockshire ;
though admitting this by no means ignores the fact,
that a great part of the history of our county still
remains to be written.* The late Mr. Edwin Poole's
History is invaluable in recording the local events
of the last century, and fills up the gap from 1809
to the present day, but there are sources unknown
to Theophilus Jones, that have simply been untouched.
The history of a county is the history of its land,
the land which remains (even the names of places
rarely ch an ging), whilst the families who at various
times own it pass away, theii history being mainly
recorded in relation to their estates. The history
of the land is to be found in the records of
litigation arising in connection with it ; for instance,
at the Record Office the Brecon Plea Rolls afford a
mass of information, which has never been published,
and only slightly examined. "Riere is a complete series
* Hr. Joha Lloyd, Barriater-at'Lavr, of IS, Chepitow Place.
Loadon, i3 publishing raudh original iafocmatioa fmm iooooeBaible
doouToanta iu " Histono&l MsmonHida at B»oonahire," the WMoad
VClnnia ol vrititik is now read^.
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from 1603, and seven, odd, earlier Rolls, they are all
in I*atin. Another very valuable source exists in the
Exchequer Depositions, and the Fines, which contain
many useful facts regarding Brecknockshire estates.
Then again the Brecknockshire Wills in the Registry
Office at Hereford would give such an insight into
the social habits and customs of our forefathers, as can be
obtained in no other way, but they are not even indexed.
There is also an unwritten history lying around
us, which he who runs may read, in the British camps
00 the hills, in the Roman roads and remains, in the
silent stones, and in the place-names of our farms,
houses and even fields. No record exists in any Ubrary
of the fierce battle, which took place near Scethrog
between the Roman l^ons passing from the Gaer
to Cwmdu and the Welsh, who may have descended
from thdr hill entrenchment on the Allt, but we have
the memorial stone to the Roman general on the road-
side, and we have the name, which still clings to the
dingle close at hand, Cwm geleddion, i.e., " The
Valley of Corpses," which remind us of
' ' Old, unhappy far-off thir^
And battles lot^ ago."
Generations have listened with mingled awe and in-
creduhty to the legend of the sunken city beneath
Llangorse Lake, the chime of whose church bells (a
medieeval addition this) could be heard on summer
evenings by those who sailed on its waters ; the anti-
qnity of this legend has been proved in out own day,
l^ the discovery of a ctannoge on the island at Ujni-
savaddan with all the usual signs of its occupadoa in
piehistoric time by lake dwdleis. L^ends are not
in themselves evidence of historic facts, but it is
always worth while to consider them, as they may, as
in this case, contain a germ of truth.
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In i^aid to pUce-names, it is well to remember
that in Wales, at least, all the names have descrip-
tive meanings, which ate either historical, ecclesiastical
or geographical. In this inteiestiiig study Theophilus
Jones will be found a great help, as he took immense
pains to arrive at the correct tran^tion of his
native language.
The first volume of "The History of Brecknock-
shire " (in 4to), comprising " The Chorograpby,
" General History, Religion, Laws, Customs, Manners,
" Langui^e and System of Agriculture used in that
"County," was issued from the press of Messrs William
and Geoige North, at Bredmodc, on 13th September,
1805. It was dedicated to his friend the Venble.
Archdeacon Payne, who had supplied hiin with most
of the infonnadim ccmceming the parishes in the hun-
dred of Crickhowd. The second volume, divided into
two parts, containing ' ' The Antiquities, Sepulchral
" Monuments and Inscriptions, Natural Curiosities,
" Variations of the Soil, Stratification, TiSiaeialogy, and
" a copious list of rare and other Plants ; also the Genea-
'" logics and Anns of the Principal Families, properly
" coloured or emblazoned, together with the Names
" of the Patrons and Incumbents of all the Parishes
" and livings in that County,' ' in 1809. This last the
author has inscribed (as has been mentioned) with much
affection to his old friend and schoolfdlow, Mr.
Davies— " The associate of his youth, the kind corres-
" pondent and assistant of his hterary pursuits, the
" sincere friend in mature age ; and oh ! may he add
" in trembling hope {si modo digni erimus), the par-
" taker of a bUs^ul eternity! "
Mr, Jones, in the patriotic ardour of his heart,
caused not only the printing of his book, but
even the manufacture of the paper to be carried
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23
out in liis own county, the latter being executed
at the Llangenny Paper Mills. The plates of
anns in the second volume were drawn by the
Rev. Thomas Price, and many copies of these plates
were coloured by his indefatigable hand. Most of
the engraved representations of arch^eolf^cal remains,
which illustrate that volume, were taken from original
drawings made by him. He likewise prepared the
ground plan of the Priory, &c. The engravii^ of
castles, towns, &c., were by J. Basire, after drawii^
by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, who himself superintended
and corrected the proof plates, The writer of this
Biography has in her possession the original sepia
drawing by Sir R. C. Hoare of Brecknock Castle and
Bridge, taking in Buckingham House, which is not
induded in the engraving of this picture in Jones.
It is dated 31st May, 1793, and is the only drawing of
the old home of the Aubrej^, as it appeared before
its architectural features were destroyed by ' ' res-
toration " at the beginnii^ of the last century. The
gateway on the bridge is also clearly to be seen on the
east dde of the river Usk. One illustration (that of
Forth Mawr, Crickhowd, the ancient seat of the Breck-
nodcshire Herberts), bears the familiar name of
Landseer as the engraver. Ilie History is weak in
portraits, which is the more to be r^retted, as so many
engravings of Brecknockshire worthies were available.
It is true that of some there are no portraits extant,
and under this head must come the Silurist and
his brother, Thomas Vaughan, but the book is the
poorer for not poeses^ng Holbein's fine drawing of
Sir Thomas Parry, of Tretwr, and the interesting en*
gravii^ of Dr. William Aubrey, called by Queen Eliza-
beth "her little doctor." We also miss the statdy
figures of Edward Stafford, last Duke of Buckingham
of that creation, and his father, Duke Henry, not to
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speak of the Veil. Philip Powd, [Morgan] O.S.B., John
Aubrey, the antiquary, the graceful cavaliei and
tiaveller James Howel, and oUiers. Mt. Jones in
his Preface speaks of a portrait of Sir David Gam,
whidi he hoped to reproduce in his History, but on
examination this picture turned out to be that of his
descendant, Sir John Gaines, the bnilder of Newton,
1582, " a great tniv^er, who visited Rome and
" Jerusalem, and sereial other remote parts of the
"world," accordit^ to Hugh Thomas, and whose
picture (in a ruff and high bat) is in the hall at Penpont
amongst other paintings of members of the Games
and William!* families.
The accompanying portrait of Theophilus Jones is
ei^aved from a photograph (in the possession of
the writer) of a sketch of Mr. Jones taken by the Rev.
T. Price, underneath which the latter has written :
" An excellent likeness, taken a short time before bis
death by me, T. Price." Tlie kindly, benevolent coun-
tenance justifies the character given him by his
friends, whilst the firm mouth and chin show that he
was a man of strong <^inion5 and convictions, possess-
ing moreover a considerable amount of humour.
The original MS. of the History was in the late
Mr, Joseph's library, and is now in the possession of
his grandson, Mr. Buckley, of Bryn-y-Caerau, Car-
marthenshire. ' ' In style of langu^e and expression
Theophilus Jones is" (to quote the remarks of a
learned and esteemed friend of his, who had ample
opportunities of knowing his private worth, and was
well qualified to appreciate the importance of his
literary labours), " for the most part plain, manly
" and unaffected. It caimot, however, be denied,
' ' that in some instances he has indulged too freely in
' ' that species trf facetiousness, which the severer
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35
critics may he inclined to treat as unworthy of the
sober dignity of history. But the real fact is this :
Theophilus Jones on all occasions wrote with the
same freedom and honest independence as he thought
and spoke. ' I might as well,' said he to a friend
to whom he had shewn his MS., ' endeavour
' to write a history in rhyme, as in what is called
' dignified piose, but which I call sombious or Sleep-
' provoking paiagraphy. My disposition and
' torn of thinking and speaking must discover
' themselves. I should almost think myself a hypo-
' crite to conceal them ; if I am not notorious for
' buffoonery or imbecile attempts at wit, I shall
' not much care whether my readers laugh at roe
' or with me." As a county historian, we may
venture to assert generally that he is faithful."
Bishop Burgess, in his diat^e to the Giapter of St.
David's at his primary visitation of the Cathedral
Church on 30th July, 181T, spoke of the "History
of Brecknockshire " as "a very interestii^, elaborate
and useful work." Lowndes remarked, "that it
" was a work of condderable labour and research, con-
" tainit^ a great mass of information." I4ewellyn
Pridiard in his "Heroines of Welsh History," says:
' ' Candour calls for the admission that, notwith-
' ' standing the errors in taste and the mis-statements
' ' abounding in that work, the ' History of Breck-
' ' nockshire ' contains much valuable information,
' ' brought together from innumerable and fax-
' ' spreadit^ sources, too difficult of access for the
" researches of the modem antiquary and historian."
Dr. Nicholas, in his " Annals of Wales," published
in 1872, observes : ' ' 'Hieophilus Jones produced one
" of the most complete and methodical county his-
' ' tones in the English language, the ' History ol
" Brecknockshire,' a work which much requires
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" TcpublicetioD, with cotes and additions, bringing
" it down to the present time." The late Mr. G. T.
Clarke, in his " Land of Morgan," published by the
Cambrian Archaeological Association, wrote: "There
" is but one history of any Welsh county at all worthy
"of the name — Jones's Brecknock."
Allusion has been made to the assistance Theo-
philus Jones received in his work from the Rev. Thomas
Price ; he was the son of the Historian's old friend
and neighbour, the Rev. Rice Price, vicar of Llan-
wrthwl (who during many years had rendered him
valuable help in collecting topographical information),
and having in the year 1803 become a student at
Christ's College, he received a great deal of kindness
and hospitality from Mr. and Mrs, Jones, which he
ever remembered with afiectionate gratitude. In the
Letters to the Rev. Edward Davies frequent reference
is made to " Tom Price," and the infinite pains Mr.
Jones took to procure a Hebrew Psalter for him is
very characteristic of his kindly nature. ' ' This
"boy," he wrote, " is a most valuable ornament
' ' to the Principality, and there is nothing that I can
" do that shall be omitted to serve him." In the
" Lit«ary Remains of the Rev. Thomas Price," a
del^htful memoir of this great and gifted Welshman by
Miss Jaoe Williams ("Ysgafell") we have a pleasant
glimpse of the sodal life of the time. After the battle of
Trafalgar several French naval officers, prisoners of
war on parole, resided then and in subsequent years
in Brecon. They were men of intelligence, good
breedii^ and accomplishment, and Mr. Price frequently
met them at the hospitable board of Mr. Theophilus
Jones. It is not recorded whether music formed part
of the entertainment at these gatherii^, but in his
early years Mr. Jones learnt the Welsh harp, the first
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27
tune lie played on that instmment being the old Welsh
ajt, " Pys a Menin " (Butter and Pease), In i8lt
Mr. Price was ordained by Dr. Burgess, Bishop of St.
David's, later he was appointed vicar of Cwmdu, and
became known throughout Wales by his bardic name
" Camhuanawc." He was an exemplary clergy-
man, beloved by all who knew him, an accurate his-
torian, and an enthusiast on all matters relating to
the preservation of the ancient language and customs
of the Wdsh people. He died 7th November, 1S48,
at Cwmdu Vicarage.
Fifty years ^o Jones's History could be purchased
for about £2 IDS. ; now it has become so rare that
when copies turn up for sale they realize from £7 to
£10 los., according to the condition they are in.
About the year i860 a dealer in Brecon bought the
smplus copies of Vol. II. and the coppei-plates from
I. Booth, the London publisher, the former at five
shillings each. Mr. Joseph secured some of the plates.
Therefore, to all who love Bredmockshire, it is a matter
of deep satisfaction, that through the public spirit of
Mr. Edwin Davies, the Editor and Publisher of the
reprint, this valuable work is within reach of all who
care to read it. Theophilus Jones intended writit^
a similar History of the adjoining county of Radnor,
but the state of his health was such that he was un-
able to attempt any additional work. He was a
martyr to hereditary gout, which crippled him to so
great an extent, that latterly he could walk witli
difficulty. But notwithstanding his severe and con-
stant sufferings, his bright cheerfulness neyer forsook
him, and to the end he continued to write upon those
subjects to which his life had been devoted, though
with the exception of the following papers contributed
to the magazines of the day, his History was the only
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literaiy work be published. He wiote an article foi
tbe second volume of the " Cambrian Roister,"
s^ed " Cjmiro," entitled " Cursory Remarks on
Welsh Tours or Travds." Hie same volume contains
from his pen ' ' Remarks on tbe History of Mon-
mouthshire by David Williams." On lotb January,
1797, Mr. Jones addressed a letter to E. Williams,
Strand, London, tbe publisher of the ' ' Cambrian
Register," which was printed in the third volume of
that* periodical, which also contains a. ' ' BiographicaJ
Sketch of Howel Harris, Esq., of Tiefecca," by him.
A' letter to Lancelot Morgan, Esq., Brecon, preserved
in MS., gives a most interesting account of a " Cist-
vaen ' ' (stone coffin), discovered on Ty-yn-y-llwyn
Farm, in the parish of Llanfrynadi, after the publi-
cation of his History. Mr. Jones conjectures that
the intennent took place during the early Christian era.
On October 28th, 1811, he addressed a communica-
tion to the Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, Mr.
Nidiolas Carlisle, giving an account of some Roman
remains near Uandrindod, iriiich was read on 14th
November, and printed in tbe seventeenth volume
(rf the " Archseologia." He was elected Fellow of
the Society of Antiqnaries 2oth December, 1810, Sir
H. Englefidd, vice-president, in the chair. His last
Uteraiy attempt was the translation of bis favourite
romance in the Welsh language, entitled ' ' Gwdedi-
gaethau y Bardd Cwsg," or " Visions of the Sleep-
ing Bard ' ' (in tbe manner of the ' ' Visions of Fran-
cisco de Quevedo,") by the Rev. Ellis Wynne (♦),
which is in style one of tbe most beautiful works
Wdsh literature possesses. Mr. Jones translated it
with great spirit, as well as close accuracy. Though
* Rector of Lluitsir, Merionetfaiihire. Ho wa« bom IflTO,
dind lT34. Hs was an exoellent post, and Btandx Dnrivafled aa a,
WeiMh pToM wiitsi. Id 1701 he pnbiiBhtd « tnmilation of Jeramy
Tajlor'i " Holy linos."
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this translation has never been published, George
Borrow, author of "Wild Wales," "The Bible in
Spain," &c., gave to the world another translation
of this extraordinary production, which was published
by Murmy, i860. Amongst his friends and corres-
pondents he numbered Mr. William Williams, of Ivy
Tower, Pembrokeshire, the author of " Primitive
History" (a presentation copy of this work from
Mr. Williams to Theophilus Jones was in the late Mr.
Joseph's library) and "The Head of the Rock,"
a poem in which he refers with enthusiasm to the in-
habitants of Brecknockshire: —
" Brecon, fertile of the best of men.
Hail, Brecon, hail t with every comfort blest.
That mothers know of pious sons possessed."
' The Traveller, tired and lone, partakes of Good.
Mountains are levd'd to prepare his Road ' ' (*)
" Not in thy soil do these, fam'd Brecoo, rise
Sole treasures ; other riches greet our eyes ! ' '
" Distinguished land, each spot each virtue fills,
Thy valleys patriots, saints adorn thy hills I " (f)
Mr. Williams was maternally descended from Robert
Ferrar, the martyred bishop of St. David's.
Theophilus Jones was a prominent member of
the Loyal Brecknock Lodge of Freemasons, and his
name is enrolled as its first Worshipful Masters in 1798.
The following description of the character of
Theophilus Jones was written by his friend, to whom
■ martj'Nd aa Slwoh
iLCD, Google
reference has before been made: — "In private life
' ' he was truly, ' the generous friend and best-hearted
" of men.' Few, indeed, were more generally esteemed,
" or more dnceidy regietted by those who knew him
" best. In his profession he was that highly estimable
" character, an upright, independent lawyer, zealous, as
"in duty bound, to protect and vindicate the legi-
' ' timate rights and interests of his clients, but never
' ' sacrificing the convictions of his own unblemished
' ' conscience at the sordid altar of advantage. In .
' ' society he was kind, affable, and good-humoured ;
' ' hospitable, but unostentatious in his habits and
' ' mode of living ; and considerately benevolent to
" the necesdties of his poorer ne^hbours. In his
' ' religious creed he was upon the strictest principle a
" member of the Church of England. He embraced
" her tenets, not from the mere prejudice of education,
"but from conviction; for in this, as in all other
"matters, he strictly acted as he thought, but still
' ' in Qiristian charity towards those who consden-
" tiously differed from him."
tlie accompanyi:^ Letters to the Rev. Edward
Davies, his " dearest friend," as he called him, reveal
a whole-hearted, affectionate capacity for friendship
of the most disinterested kind, wiucb was a delightful
trait in his diaracter. The correspondence of a
lifetime shews what infinite pains and trouble he was
constantly taking to help his friend in the management
of his affairs, and how eagerly he used his infiuence
amongst his ecclesiastical acquaintances to obtain the
recognition of Htfr. Davies, which he felt his talents
and character deserved. This was acknowledged by
the Rev. Edward Davies, who in the preface to his
" Celtic Researches " wrote " Mr. Hieophilus Jones of
' ' Brecon, my generous friend and the best hearted of
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5,1
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3t
" men, had, for a couise of years, made it extremely
" difficult for me to say for vinch of his affectionate
' ' boons to me I thanked him the most and loved
" him the best." His last letter to him closes with
the following words of faith and hope : ' ' My
' ■ good friend, let me remind you without flattery,
' ' and, I trust, without presumption, that in consequence
' ' of the hardships of your lot here you may entertain
' ' a well-founded hope of a far more eternal and exceeding
" wdght of glory hereafter. — Thus sincerely prayeth
"your friend, Theo. Jones."
His last illness is supposed to have arisen from
the effect of gout upon a. constitution much weakened
by repeated attacks of the malady. His lingered for
some time, and after severe sufferii^ died 15th January,
1812, at his house in Ijon Street, Brecon (now the resi-
dence of Captain D. Hu^es Morgan, J.P. for the
County and Borough of Brecon, and H.S. in 1900), where
his father, the Rev. Hugh Jones, had lived and
died. He was buried at Llangammarch, in the same
grave as his maternal grandfather, whose memory
through life he held in the hi^est veneration. ' ' When
" I am dead," he said, *' let me be buried in the
" grave of my grandfather, and let my inscription
" be : ' Here lies Theophilus Jones, the grandson of
!■ Theophilus Evans.' " His widow erected in Christ's
Collie Chapel, Brecon, (where he had been educated
when a boy, of which he had been for many years
chapter clerk, and in the improvement of which he
had ever taken the deepest interest), a white and
grey marble tablet to his memory, with the following
inscription (•) : —
* There ia wrae mistake as to hU age, but the iiuoription ia
eiveD aa copied irom ths tablet. On his tambatoae in Llaaganunarah
Charchsrard, a print of whioh appeara at the ead ot the biograpl^,
(l>e Hiitoijan'B age ia stated to be (8,
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To the Memory
of
Thbophcus Jonbs, Esq.,
Late Oiapter Qerk of this Collegiate Chuich.
and
Deputy R^istrar of the Archdeaconry of Brecknock.
He died January the 15th, 1812,
Aged 51.
His remains, with those of his maternal grand-
father, Theoptiilus Evans, Clk., He interred
in the Cemetery of Llangammarcb.
This Marble but records his name — the History of
this, his loved, bis native County will long survive
and be his Monument.
The above Tbeof^ilus Jones was the sou of the
Rev. Hi^ Jones, who was Prebendary of
Boughrood, Llanbedr Fainscastle, of this
Collegiate durch.
The tombstone in Llangammarcb Churchyard
has been recently restored, and there is also a memorial
tablet in that Church.
His library, containing a large and valuable col-
lection of books, was sold by public auction in the
town of Brecon by Mr. Wise, of Bath, and very good
prices were realized, many of the volumes beir^ anno-
tated by himself, llie copyright of his History, with
the copper-plates and some MS. collections in his own
writing, were purchased -by Mi. George North, of
Brecknock, for the sum of £255. Mr. Llewelyn, of
Fenlle'rgaer, bought a large number of his books,
and these were until recently in the library at Hen-
drefoilan, the seat of the late Mr. Dillwyn, M.P. for
Swansea. Theophilus Jones possessed a MS. copy of
Aneurin's " Gododin." Its date appears to be about
the year 1200. It is a small 4to of thirty-eight pages,
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\A^
O'Tieii
■H pMo fy l¥. J. M,a,T, Ijiuif
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33
written upon vellum, and the lines are filled to the
maigin, irrespective of the metre. Ca|atal titers,
ornamented and coloured alternately red and green,
are used only at the b^innii^ of the par^raphs.
The names of Gwilym Tew and of Rhys Nannor, who
fiourished 1440-1470, are inserted on one of the pages
as severally owners of the MS., and the style of their
penmanship appears to be more modem by at least
two centuries than that of the book itself. Mr. Jones
attached to this MS. the following note : — " This copy
' ' Mr. Davies, of Olveston, supposes to be that men-
' ' ttoned by Llwyd, and said to have been lost out
' ' of the Hengwrt Library. It was given roe by Mr.
' ' Thomas Bacon, who bought it from a person at
"Aberdar." It afterwards became the most valued
possession of the Rev. Thomas Price, " Camhuanawc,"
. on whose death it . was purchased by Sir Thomas
PhiUipps, Bart., of Middle HiU, Worcestershire, at
whose sale it was bought by the Cardiff Free Ubrary,
where it now is.
The heraldic beaiiogs borne by Mr. Jones, and
engraved on his book-plate, are those of Elystan
Glodiydd, Prince of Ferrt^, and are as follows ; —
Crest : A demi-llon, ramp. sa. Arms : Quarterly ist
and 4th Sa. a hon, ramp, r^ard. or., 2nd and 3rd A^.
a diev, sa. betw. 3 boars' heads couped of the second,
crined or. impaling his wife's — Az. a lion ramp,
regard, a^. Motto : " Casni charo y wlad a'imago."
After the death of her husband, Mrs. Theophilus
Jones removed to Llandovery, where she resided until
her decease. During the commercial panic of 1827,
she seems to have shared the general anxiety, and
for a short time to have anticipated ruin. A letter
from her, dated 17th April, 1827, to her old friend,
the Rev. Thomas Price, bears witness to the faithful.
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34
grateful and generous spirit iu which ' ' Carnhuanawc ' '
had volunteered his services, and offeied his purse
and home to her. The cause for anxiety cleared away,
but she did not long survive ; she died on July 22nd,
1828, ^:ed 70 years, and was buried in the chancel
of Myddfai duich, Carmaithenshiie, near her own
relatives, where there is a tablet to her memory. By
her will amongst other bequests she left £500 and all
her plate to her niece, the late Mrs. Powell, of Uaes-
camog ; the plate bears the crest and arms of
Theophiliis Jones.
Tlieophilus Jones had an only sister, Miss Sarah
Jones, who, dying in May, 1832, was buried in St.
David's QiurchyaTd, Brecon. There is a chest tomb
over her grave on the r^ht hand of the main entrance
to the Qiurch, but the inscription has wholly disap-
peared owing to the perishable nature of the stone.
There is also a marble, mural tablet inside the Church
erected to her memory by her grandson, Mr. Hugh
I^wrence, to whom she left her property.
Dr. Johnson laid down a rule, "That nobody
" can write the life of a man, but those who have ate
" and dnmk and lived in social intercourse with him."
This is perfectly true, but as at this distance of time
so ideal a blc^aphy is impossible, the n^t best
thing has been done, and use has been laigely made of
the writings of those who knew 'Hieophilus Jones
intimately, and who wrote down their impressions
immediatdy after his death.
To the writer of this altogether inadequate sketch
it has for years been a labour of love to collect fevery
incident and detail connected with Theophilus Jones,
arising no less from admiration of the diaracter and
work of the Historian, than from a deep sense <rf
gratitude for the interest and dehght his History has
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35
brought into so maay lives, and as a remembrance
of the friendship wbidh existed between him and her
kinsmen one hundred years ^o.
The information so collected has been chiefly
obtained from the rare library of the late Mr. Joseph,
F.S.A., of Brecon, whose unique collection of MSS,
and books relating to Brecknockshire was simply
invaluable for such a purpose, access to the same being
at all times generously given.
The writer is also much indebted to the late Rev.
Prebendary Herbert Williams, whose kindly empathy
and ready help were unfailing ; to the Rev. E. L. Bevaa,
Vicar of Brecon ; to the late Rev. Rees Price, Vicar
of St. David's, and to the Rev. David Williams, Vicar
of Myddfai, for courteously allowing unlimited
T^eroice to be made to the Parish Registers and
records in their charge.
" CAS NI CHAKO Y WI,AD A'I HACO."
GWENLLIAN E. F. MORGAN.
Buckingham Place,
Bream.
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the, Hot'' TW
Theojjhittts Jnran*
1.4* Ticai ofdhi.
rarifh And ALSO
of St David's iii.
BKECON
KedieaSel^ll^
1767. Aged. J7;
HERE lie
■tKft HsTnams of
Thaopfidluj %hTies
■thi4 Cbundu
be diaa Jany 15*"
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fLtttttfi*
To THB REV. Mr. DAVmS, HAY.
Brecon, April 30, 1780.
Da&K Passon,
I have read the Pastoral you sent me and the
other poem. Pray who is the author of the former ?
It is but an indiSeient performance. Indeed every
poem of that nature is at best but a composition of
water gmel, sweetened with honey ; but when the
Poet substitutes sugar instead of tite honey it is not
palatable. Such I am afraid has the author of the
pastor^ above mentioned infused in his mess. Mr.
Phillips has contrived, I own, to make the gruel
agreeable, but his sweet n'or is the genuine — manufacture
(excnse Uie expression) of the Bees of Hybla. But I
must candidly confess that I prefer Mr. Fope/s griid,
which is seasoned with the true Altic salt, to Mr,
Phillips'. His pastorals, like the rest of his com-
positions, contain a strong nervous diction, and every
line conveys sentiments which wiU appear just, wh^i
applied to the various scenes and incidents in real life ;
and if sometimes he strays into the mazes of
extravagant fancy and exceeds the bounds of
probabdity, you will always find him return, as soon as
his subject will permit, into the more natural plains of
truth and propriety. Those warm passions, those
gentle breezes, cooling arbours, and romantic
descriptions of beauty and place, are not calculated to
please the English reader. Our dispositions and
climate render us so very inadequate of recognizing
the pleasures, and enjoying those very fine feelings
ascribed to the lovers in pastorals, that nothing but the
most delicate dress can ever prompt us to read them,
and then it puts in mind of a handsome, tbo' extravagant
young fellow who is perhaps going to the gallows, and
we are obl^ed to ^claim " On ! what a pity it is such
a fine young man had not applied himself to a better
employment."
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38
Britannia is worthy of the pen of Mt. Davies ;
it is exceedingly well wrote. I must therefore b^
leave to keep it a little while, and I shall send you a
small pamphlet of my comments upon it. The
Preface has a quaintness in the stile which I do not
admire. I would therefore wish you would either
omit it or substitute anothei in its stead. It has so
mudi of the old stile of " Gentle Reader," &c., that I
cannot say I admire it at all, but however shall leave
you either to rescind or amend it at your own
discretion.
Miss Winter's mother is dead. The ladies are
much pleased at your compliment, and if I mistake
not would wish they were included in it. I shall
expect to see you Whitsuntide to spend a week with
me. I have a great deal more to say, but must
conclude, as I have a call at present very incidental
to human nature. I am going to dinner.
Yours sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
I b^ you'll write to me once a week at least.
To THE Rev. EDWARD DAVIES, HAY.
DBAS PAKSON,
Tho' I have not corresponded with you as
frequently as usual, you will not, I trust, impute it to
want of esteem, but to that constitutional indolence
and aversion to writing, joined to the hurry of
business, which is really the occasion. Hiis letter is
the 13th I have wrote to-day ; you may, therefore,
suppose I must be pretty well tired of this kind of work.
Your friend the lawyer has wrote to your debtor by
this day's post, and will, if you are not paid in one week,
take proper steps to get you your money. I feign
would write more, but have two lot^ bills of costs to
write out inunetUately. You'U therefore excuse the
brevity of
Yours, &c.,
THEO. JONES.
1781.
Charge Ashley 3s. 6d. for the letter, if he pays you.
If you stay in Brecon I shall expect you will be with me
at my house.
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39
To THE Rkv. EDWARD DAVIES, HAY.
Brecon, Oct., 1782.
DBAS Parson,
As I have a few leisure hours to spare, I shall
dedicate tbem to a purpose which ought 'ere now to
have taken up their attention. . . . Indolence is
the poison of T. J. ; to give you an instance of your
friend's laziness, I am now much pressed for money,
yet I have not resolution enough to sit a few hours to
write out my bills, which I know would be paid me,
most part of them, on demand, and wbiti would
treble the sums I owe. Account for this, ye Ic^dans !
Account for this, ye learned in metaphysics !
Account for this, O aU ye moral philosophers ! But
it is unaccountable. Therefore don't put your addle
heads together to do what you have often done before —
to attempt to account for impossibilities ; better you
should puzzle your bald pates about the diving bell
at Plymouth, the weight of water upon the Royal
George, the loi^tudes, or the cost of flying, than
endeavour to make inconsistency consistent.
Rise Conrad, thou that slmnberest and steepest,
and sttoorest among the peaceful dead, once more
shalt thou wield the faulchion, and once more fight thy
battles o'er again ; no longer shall the ball' pated
mower brandish his scythe o'er thy grave, restored by
the revivifying hand of a Davies (confound it, your
name is not poetical ; I wish you had some fine sounding
apellation ; but, however, merit will obhterate that
misfortune). High ! High ! where am I going to now f
I was just going to say but what signifies what I
was gomg to say, 'thou ^^ Let it rest, let those two
black strokes explain my meanir^ if I had ady, which
will admit of a doubt. Conrad is without fiatteiy
a very perfect resemblance of the author. It is a heap
of spar, an imperiect gem ; had the author tlie
advantage of a liberal education (you know what I
mean by liberal) he would, I predict, have been an
honour to the country ; as he is, and as his book is,
they are far from bdng deficient of Uterary merit ;
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however theie are several speedies in the book allttded
to that want correction, several that the most rigid
critic cannot correct, and some few that had better
not have appeared at all in it — to instance some of
the first.
Scene I, Act ist. Hold my Arvizagus, how I
would halt one moment to enjoy the open air, and now
we do not understand that Mdgo is just come out of a
dimgeon or a prison. If that had been the case no
wonder then if he had wished to take a walk in the
Priory Groves to enjoy the fresh air. As to me, I cannot
help thinktng when I read this of my dog Toss,
whom I've often seen running against the wind and
snuffing the fragrant gale, as the song has it. Then
comes in next pE^e a truly beautiful sentiment,
and well expressed, "The patriot's honour is better
treasured in the people's breast, than spent in bani^uets,
feasts, and guady titles." " He cri'd " : there is no
need for that abbreviation ; cried is often used as
one syllable. ' ' Envy will rise ' ' ; this is very ill
^Epre^ed. The word rise is very inadequate to
convey the idea you mean to convey ; however, my
paper will stint me in my further pr(^;ress, which you
may expect to find thro' the whtde work and in the
which 5fou will find me deal with the same candour as
I have in the above critique. I needn't tell you my
motive for dealing with you in my observations with
so Uttle sorrow — ^you guess it I'm sure. The postscript
to your last is very brief and very pith^— could not
conceive the meaning of it. Went from Prestedgn to
Glo'er. Can't tell where I was on last Thursday
fortnight. Was at home when I read your letter,
but Imew not the reason of our servant's giving it me
so secretly. Here followeth the history of the
transaction. When I came into the house (at 9 o'clock,
being a good hour for a rake) the girl pulled your letter
out of her bosom and gave it me smy, and then vaniafied
like ike baseless fabric of a vision. What all this
mistery meant she will not inform me. Poor E. W. wQl
be wrote to this post by '
Yours, &E.,
THEO. JONES.
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To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES. CHIPPING SODBURY,
GLOS.
T^ . '798-
Dbak Snt,
I am extremely obliged to you foi jroui tetter
and tianslation, which amved hae when I was in
London, in whidi place I was confined for near 6 weeks
— I say confined, for after 9 days or a fortnight
Ixuidon becomes disagreeable to me. I dined with all
our Cambrian Register men ; one day at Williams's,
and was much pleased with some of them. Some of
them are dumb fish and some of them are (I am afraid)
doll fish. David Williams (who, however, is not one <^
us) is certainly a man of strong sense and a very able
writer, notwithstanding he has been washed by the
igtusfaiuus of the modem enligkUned Philosophy as it is
mled. It is strange to me that men of learning who, the
further they proceed in knowledge, must find how much
more they have to know, and who must be satisfied
that theie aie su many things which it is impossible
human learning can ever comprehend, should upcm
that moat serious of all subjects. Religion and Futurity,
stumble because it is not within the reach of oui finite
capacities. Yet these folks will readily admit that they
cannot compi^iend the prinuxy causes of the most
common operations of nature. Yet so it is, and because
David Wmiams's strong, manly understanding cannot
comprehend the Trinity in Unity, the necessity of
Atonement, &c., he is become a Deist, if not an Atheist,
for the transition from the one to the other is less than
is generally imagined or admitted. I shall send you your
Annes (for th^ are mihtaiy days) by coach. It
appears to me to be ao incoherent, rhapsodical com-
position, not without beauty certainly, but you'll pardcm
me for differii^ with you as to the merit of the early
publications in our or indeed in any other language
I am acquainted with. There is certainly something
more nervous, more comprehensive, and expressive, in
the compound words in the early Welsh poems than
those oi a later period.
Tlie sterling Bullion of one antient line*
Drawn in modem wire wo'd thro' whole pages shine.
* Inaj nf wind.
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And there is less aSectatioQ in these ideas ; they were
Nature's childrm, and their dress was simple and plain,
but I should no more prefer your Disgogan awen
dyeobryssyn to ' ' Hoff lawn oedd goiphennu Tuy
haf wrth lynn Tyfi ' ' than I should we rough music
at the Otaheite or the American Indians to the notes of
Handel or Pnrcell. My opinion is the same as to the
English ; Gower and Chaucer and even Spencer, whom I
think the most respectable of the three, are no more to
be compared to Pope, Dryden, or my friend Gray, than I
am to Ned Davies. It may be said that our late
authors and poets have borrowed several of their
most beautiful thoughts from the antients. I am
not disposed to deny that, and perhaps it may be
more difficult to avoid plagiarism than is generally
supposed. What Puff or Bayes (I don't know which)
says, tho' jocularly, ' ' Why, I think I have seen that
thought or that line somewhere before " ; " well,
snppose you did, it only proves that two great men
thought alike, and the thought occurred first to your
author," — is more true than the writers of the present
age will allow ; it would be a curious disquisition to
ascertain how long ago the world has been compleatly
peopled with ideas or whe'r it has yet happened. I
am inclined to believe the former, not having so high
an opinion of the perfectibility of the human species
as Mt. Godwin. Pray is that idea a creation of the
present day or not ? I think not, tho' there has been
a pretty long, long parenthesis, from its first ist
generation to its regeneration. Tms is something like
d^ession, if an eiHstle, not professing to treat upon
any particular subject, or boasting of anything Uke
connection, may be said to d^ess. I was just before
talking to you upon the beauties of antient and
modem poetry. Will you permit me to say I prefer
Gray's "mumph of Owen to the ordinal. My friend
Owen grinds his teeth with a most DruitUc and
bardic grin when he pronounces
A'r QAd sftd neudde
A'l aryagtyd giModde.
Bravo, Bravissimo. Divine ! says I. Oh, beautiful,
quoth he. Nothing like it among the modems.
Certainly not, say I, for when I see a good-natured
fellow riding his hobby horse, admiring him as he goes
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43
along ; ' ' Isn't this a pretty pony — do look at him, do
stroke him, ' ' there is no harm in indulging — nay, it is
ill-natured not to do it — hut " Ar T41 y moelfre mil o
fanieri," tho' expressed in soft language, is not equal
to Talymoelyfre's (which the K^Ii^ Galymalbies
have made Talymalfiy's rocky show.
Echoing to the battle roar
Where'er his glowing eyeballs turn,
A thousand banners round him bum.
These two last lines are exquisite. Now I'm gettii^
on horseback, and take care I don't kick yon. I know
there is something like this said of Horton, but Mr.
Pope's " fiatnes in the van, and blazes in the war," is
not equal to Otay — at least in my opinion — the original
I have forgotten : nay the letters have almost beoome
pot-hooks and links to me. It is strar^e how that the
1st ode d Aneurin, or at the least the b^inning
of it, is still familiar to me, and I was goii^ to say
sometimes haunts me. Now to Ames again. I have
sent you with your MS. some notes I madK, not intended
for inspection, but merely for my own amusement.
However, as you wish to have them, and, as I sometimes
think, tho' by no means a democrat, that two heads
are better than one, I have sent them to you without
altering a. letter. You are welcome to bum them, to
lai^h at them, reject them, or make any other profitable
or convenient use whatever of them. If you should take
the trouble of perusing them you will probably say tb&
fellow knows little of his subject ; he does not understand
the lai^uage, and when he does ride his hobby hoise how
he looks for all the vassal world like a Taylor riding to
Erentford. T allHtig of Democrats just now, pray are
you democratically inclined ? Owen is, but is either
afraid or ashamed to own it. As he writes (poor
fellow) for bread, it may be pradent to say nothing
upon the subject in his book ; but I see no necessity
for concealing it amoi^ friends. It is no more any
impeachment upon a man's head or his heart that
he should be a Rroublican than a Monarchist, and tho'
I am of opinion that the latter is the least evU of the
two, I don t hold it necessary to knock down or quarrel
with any man who differs from me. Without being
vain, I wish to God all the world would ap'ee to differ
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in this manner, and I should have no moie objection
to change our Government every 6 or 7 yeais, or
refonn what we must admit to be rotten, thii I hav»
in changing my shirt every day, but sudi is the
tenacity of power on the one side and the untameable
frenzy of the multitude on the other that, from the
Chancdlor of the Exchequer to the little paltry
Corporation of Brecon, not one iota of their power or
their superfluous riches will they part with till they
cannot avoid it, and then the strong, the furious, the
ondiscriminating arms of the mob levels all distinctions,
and the most eminent abilities 01 exalted \'irtues are
disr^arded and laid in the dust. But where the
d- 1 am I driving to now ? What will be the next
snbject ? I've done. I've only one wish more, whidi
is your health and happiness. If I can throw in a word
for you with the Bi^op of Gloucester*, without being
impertinent, I'U do it, but I have no dependence upon
my influence. I would not, therefore, but^ you up
with false hopes. Pray write when you are at
Idsnre to, dear Davies,
Your old and sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
[The following are the notes referred to in this
letter. A reference to Arymes Prydain Vaiar, translated
into English by the Rev. Edward Davies, shows that
several of the alterations su^ested by Theophilus
Jones were adopted by Mr. Davies. The Welsh Poem
and the Engli^ translation are to be found in the
Cambrian Register. — ^Editor.)
UkVo.
IS. Pell dymapoer ^ipakn to be " Far and wide ibBll be soDg,"
or " noown'd in long in diatsnt olimeB, alull be tbe time wEeo
tbeir amy or domimon «hall oonunenoe " ; if it had been
dyagoguied I abould have said roy frieod Dnviea was righti.
Tlirae U no vAcn in the two following lines, not do' I sea any
neoevlty for introdnaing one, or soppoeiug it to be onderBtood.
ian or abakeep
o the bowela of the laud."
That we had not revolted from the Qovernment uid Oni
partiality or ill'i'UdgEd toudnon for ths Saxoni — T hope oyebmyn
!• not pliiral of eaehwron, the adjeotive ia by — or at ImM
natnrtiuad, the termination ia oertainly hardly a denixaa.
• lUohard Baadon, Bilhop ol (^oooaatar, 1T8»— 1808.
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45
C^chmyn meniiB to set down upon ■ jonmej, il tlientOio tllll
u • BQbstanlive from tbat verb. Why not, ' ' tbe travdlen
or Htran^ra at Vortigem," from tbeir lumng oome thna lac
in their journey of plunder I
Ef gyrhsjtt, ke. 1 should read tbii ' ' Hdy th«r nMfa Qannanr
into bamBhment, ' ' that ii banishnient from the ooimtiy, and
perhaps this prophet might think, aa is now roioaatieally t«id
ot the Scotch, that to be «sat baok again into their ana ooneto«j
was the worst spedes of banishment.
It, that stopped or stay'd or oast
o w£ich they were driven, msaning that
there waa no getting rid ot them; they a . _,
like leeohea, and never quitted it till they had swallowed all it!
fruits. Mr. Owen, if he nas not miide nonaenae ot tbe pavaga,
has made it oertiunly moat delighttuJly obaotiTe ; it is not,
howoTer, improbable that these seers trequently aSaotad
ohaonrity, in whioh they have in general been axtMniely
■occeestui.
Anfonedd, a mlsfoitnne T shonld tranilals, for the Tonedd ia now
in common parlanos ot a noble or antient origin, and o{ ooniM
anfonedd the rerene ; vonedd is sometimes naed tor goodnaaa,
happiness, or felioity.
to 40 are Bna lines. They contain a besatiful invooation or appeal
to the paBsona of tbe Poet oi Prophet's injured eo uutryni eti.
Think of the fandfnl mead's msidioiu bowl,
Whioh many a thonghtleaa goeet bereft of soul.
The mortal wonnd, the widow's bitter tear.
The daily sorrows tjiey are doom'd to bear.
Think of those wrongs whieh Britons moat mdara,
When scoundrel Saioca shall their reign aeottre.
I should rather think that the oonntry of tbe Brftona dioald be
^ven up to or destroyed by the powerful or anarchical Saxona
— I teel the ditdaulty of thus tranalatine it. T need not remind
my friend that to rim ogainM is a phraae to wUoh poliab'd
anthor's are not accnstomed. nor need J inform bini what tarddn
means in Bnglish. " Um a'
this is not tbe style ot the ti
meeting it here ; this wo'd d
tbe 18th century.
" And tbe grove tremblea at the witfrior's shont " — byperbolioaiU
but boldly and beautitull? expressed.
Utterly kill is a phaae not mooh in nae now ; perhan utterly
exterminate or destroy or the Scripture phiaae of they will
utterly destroy ' ' would do better.
Tie anrgeon shall not
Cad a wna&nt— they
They shall have a BO_„ _„ . _ „
the flslds, and mount. Conan ihall be their leader in every
BS. Tbe anrgeon shall not receive advantBEe frcnn what they'll do.
Cad a wna&nt— they ahall make a daughter.
87-88. I^sy shall have a song and be a light in darkneaa in the grove.
IM. Is not iTohawr (tho' tbe termination is now obsolete and hardly
Intal!igible), Fly, or may they Sy, and not may they be mad*
to fly. (See note to line iT, surely this is peculiar to this poem,
and tbe author saema to be fond ol it). Ho bonydd, shall fly
daily ; see above.
114. Bu hniydd, ia, I believe, their toTetBthers or anoeston aa well
as thmr ohief, and certainly will apply well hare in that aenae.
IIT. Fen heb emmenydd, the brainless sknll is more literal, and I
tiunk lew equivocal than empty s^ull.
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ISfl. The Wolih mcDeeiled
unanimous ; thay were one in Eoodneaa, one in language, one
in sound (this seema to be a repetition) and one in faith.
ISd to 140. A number of pertinent and probable qowtionB are naked
the BajCDUB, to whioh I believe they would be puieled to give
■atistaotor]' anatren oriminating themselves.
113. Hyd pan dalont (till they pay) het« means till tbey have bean
compelled to pay.
ISO. The destroyer in battle, the destroyer ot armieB.
ITI. The prophetic song ot the Druids; a multitude ahoU oome
forth 1 from Mynaw to Lydau shall be in their hands ; from
Ddyfod to Ddaned shall they poaaes? ; from Wawr to Weiyd
■baJl be their barbonrs ; and their dominion ahalt be extended
even over the weot. This is muoh in the style of the Bible
prophecies.
ISS. The Oermiins are retreatini) (aychwyo vont) or npon their journey
to the place ot banishment, or as ve should now aay, they're
OD board a transport bound for Botany Bay.
1S3. Let not the Bookworm and the Han ot Boobs, or the interested
Poet be sought. The concluding lines are very fine — *' he
shall not flyT^ Ac. Be Grm as a rock and conscious of the
Stability and justice of Him in whom he oonfldes. he shall not
mn tremble but stand " nnmov'd amidst the wreck ot
matter and the crush of worlds."
To THE Rbv. Mr. DAVIES, CHIPPING
SODBURY, GLOS.
February il, 1799.
Mt Deabest Pkibhd,
Doo't suppose I have forgot 70U because you
have not heard from me for some time. . . I am
going to IfOndon in a fortnight and shall aee the
Bishop, thoiigh I am afraid my influence with him is
not very great ; yet still I'll try what I can do. Pray
write to me ^e particulars of your situation, your
health, &c., and everythii^ else which your discreticnt
may think requisite 01 1:^tting a B^o^'s ears to
bear. I have no great hopes, but if we fail we shall
not be worse off than we are at present. Direct to
me next week at No. 37, Golden Square. I have
translated Gronwy Owen's Poem upon the Day of
Judgment into Rbyne. I shall send it you to explain,
amend, alter, add, erase, fJit ninish, cut down poem, or
transpose at your own will and pleasure, provided
always, nevertiieless, that you do it daslunj^y and
without any feat of offeadii^ the pride or the teaming
of the Rhjrmetagger — ^I mean
Your sincere friend,
THBO. JONES.
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To THB Rbv. Mr. DAVIES, CHIPPING
SODBURY, GLOS.
Why, how now, Adam I No ereator hBttrt in thee ( lAvt a litUo,
comfort a little, ahe«r thjiself a little. Thy oonoeit is nearer death
than thy powers. For taj sake be oomfortable ; hold death awhile at
the arm's end . — Cheerly, good Adam I
My Good Fribnd,
Comfortless as yoni situation is at present,
still lecoUect how many thousands (I will not say more
deserving, but excellent men) are even more miserable
than the curate of Chipping Sodbury. I think
How many pine in want and dungeon gloom.
Shut from the common air and common use
Of their own limbs. How many drink the cup
Of baleful grief, or eat the bitter bread
Of misery — sow pierced by wintry winds ;
How many shrink into the sordid hut
Of cheerless poverty.
Very fine (you'll say) my fat and pamper'd friend,
sitting in your own parlour and enjoying all the
conveniences and many of the luxuries of life.
Admitted, but the advice is salutary, whether it come
from the palace or the cot. Look below you. It
will help to reconcile you while you strug^e thro'
your difficulties and wrestle with youx misfortune,
especially when you consider that th^ are ordained
by the all wise dispensation of Providence —
probably — ^very probably, to prove your fortitude
and to intitle you to a far more ezceedii^ and
eternal weight of glory hereafter, in proportion as
you support them with magnanimity now, and let
me add that while you continue to keep in view that
sweet reward it is not necessary you should lose sight
of hope here. I send you, hereunder, the substance dt
the Bishop of Gloucester's to me, wMch I enclosed to
the Bishcn> of St. David's, who appears to me from his
tenn ' ' abandoned " to be an unfeeling — shall I say
Scot ? No, that would be illiberal, but as I have at
present no proper phrase to express myself in, I wish
— a speedy translation — and depend upon it 1 will
never lose s^t of you if I can do anything for you.
I really believe the Bishop of Glos. wishes to assist you,
and we may have a Bisht^ of St- David's who will not
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call an attonpt to sedc a livelihood abaadoning ihe
diocese. You'd have heard from me sooner, but tho'
I wrote to the Bishop of St. David's a month ago,
I did not receive his letter till to-day, but as he kept
your letter and that of the Bishop of Glos'ter's, I
augured well from this. Yet often how vain is the
hope of man, says poor old Walters in his Preface,
wmch I wish you to read as one of the most beautiful
roedmens (or as Churchey calls it, spedmoia} in the
^iglish oi any other langu^e. After losit^ two
sons who were an honor to bun, as well as his country,
while two others ate idiots and drunkards survive,
he concludes his affecting lamentation with a bleeding
heart and overflowing eyes, with the following quotation :
Accept fraternal band
This last sad tribute from a father's hand.
My poor father has at last (I trust) ascended the realms
of Peace, after a long and afflictii^ illness of near
three months, in which be could be barely said to have
existed. I wish you could have succeeded him in
Uywd, but I find it is promised, and not to my friend,
bat let me give you the Episcopal Letters addressed
to, Deal Davies,
Your very sincere friend,
Brecon, April 14, 1799. THEO. JONES.
Let me hear from you.
PBOH THE BISHOP 07 QLOVOXSTEIt.
Toor raeommendBtion of Hr. Davias raqolred no apiAogj. I
tai«i» tlw worth of hi* ohatacter, •nd hMitily wish it wm in my pcnrac
.._ .. .. ... — .._..,_ . . ', to b»
1 mora comlcwtaUo, but yotx >iiiiiiliii1 J
<w very poor s patron I um, and most adi
re only diapoBed of one living, vacant by (
In the tan y«an I have been Biihop of QIonoeMer. Hi* lUpeod fot
m» iiliill little Bodbury is, I think, too small, and if be thinka proper
to wpiy tor an sugmeatatloD he ahall have my siqiport in obtainmg
it ; but the applioation sbotdd be Brst made as a matter of dvility
to lb. Coxa, tba inotunbent, whose addreaa be must srad me il lis
wishes me to write him. With iMpeot to Yale, I ezpwt Mr. Htv to
not nadily oonsetit to a ohuge of onrate.
I am to beg yaar pardon for not giving yoa a more immediate
answer (the oaaas. hii ohildnQ'a illnesiO- Ur. Daviea'a case upean
to be deserving of notioe, but I know not how to aasijtt him. I nave
many olaimants whom I wish to saldafy, and those who live within
my diooeee have oertsinly a better ri^t to pr ef erment in my gift
tMD gantletoen who have tbooght prop« to abandon it.
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To THB Rev. EDWARD DAVIES.
" Then BhMt not die for luk of a dinnOT if Hum be "—any
IMnf — " in thia diatriet. " — Cheeily good Adaro.
Why don't I hear from you ? I am afraid those
eyes of yours will play you a trick ; if they do, ———
their eyes.
I have written to my friend George Harding e
this evening, who is as inconsistent and eccentric as
he is benevolent. Hardinge is our Judge, and in
Parliament.
Forgive my hawking you about in this manner.
God and perhaps the world wiU reward me. I ask
not for the praise of the latter, but upon your accoimt.
I hope you have had my letter with copies of the
Bishops of Gloucester's and St. David's.
I«et me hear from you, tho' you cannot depend
upon the success of
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Brecon, April 27, 1799.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES, CHIPPING
SODBURY, GXOS.
May 6, 1799,
MV DSAK Davibs,
Herewith I send you my tame translation or
parody or paraphrase, call it what you will, of Gronwy
Owain's sublime poem. I insist upon you correcting,
altering, adding, pruning, revising, and amending
without mercy, or I'll have none upon you. There are
sophistries out of number \riiich should be weeded ;
wroi^ translations numeroiis, which you must rectify,
and inaccuracies which you must attend to. I wUl
not have it back unless I observe frequent marks of
your fingers upon it — tho' it is but a dirty thing now,
having travelled with me to London. I wish, however,
to see it returned more blotted, erased, and interlined,
from Chipping Sodbury, together with the parcel with
which you threaten me and which I hope to receive
soon. The 3nd vol. of the Cambrian Register is out.
Your Armes is in it, two critiques of mine upon
Welsh Tourists and Williams' Monmouihshire — ^most
damnably printed (as the Vicar and Moses hath it).
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such confounded Uundeis in punctuation, and even
granunar, such alterations as to make me sometinus
talk nonsense, and sometimes the very reverse of
what I meant. A long preface of my teview of
Williams directly against my opinion, and a tail piece
to contradict what has preteded it — in fact I am
perfectly ashamed of my appearance, and only tell
you in confidence I am the autnor of them. Pray send
for this book, if you have it not. I understand they
want to give it you, if not, be sure you tell them to
put it to my account, for 'tis shamefully dear, los. 6d.
Upon second thoughts, I'll write to Williams about it,
so you need say notldng. I don't know what Owen
is about at present, noi indeed do I Imow what
Williams means.
You see my little friend the Judge* ia not idle.
He is a Quixote in benevolence, and will knock his head
against a windmill to serve you, and make some of the
pillars of our Church shake unless he is attended to,
tho' God knows I much fear that many of them have
no more feeling than those supports in architecture.
Do you mean by the Archseologia the 2nd
vcA. of Uwyd ? If so, I can't get at it. I am at
present about a very heavy work — minii^; —
extracting silver out of lead, explorii^ those dark
caverns and black letter repositones, the Statutes at
large, for illustrations of ttie manners and customs
of other as well as the present times, and compaiii^
them with some of our Historians and correcting the
anachronisms and inacciuacies of the latter. It will
take me a considerable time to lick the work into shape ;
at present I have not determined upon that part of the
subject, but it shall certainly, however questionable
it be at present, not beat the least semblance of a
lawyer. Seven years hence you shall see it. See it,
quoth you. Yes, see it.
Pray don't foiget the pan^ and the revised Poem
as soon as you can. Mrs. Jones is as warmly
interested for you as, dear Davies,
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
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5>
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES, OI^VESTON,
THORNBURY, GU)S.
Brecon, May 6, 1800.
My Dear Davibs,
I should have written to you earlier, but that
I foolishly hoped to have addressed you as Vicar or
Rector, but all we can get from the great men are
" Goodly Words," and now something like promises.
I'll never cease to plague them until something is
done ; they shall not at least sleep undisturbed. In
the meantune I shall be glad to know what your present
income is. Tbs Bishop of Gloucester, I think, said
something about your naving two good curacies, and
being at present weU provided for — how is that ?
Not that I think it material, for I have endeavoured
to explain myself as well as I could that it is not the
necessity of the moment, but the contingency of your
being unable to perform your professional duty that
I wish to provide for. I however hope, whether I
succeed or not, that that may never happen, both on
your own account and on my own. Your kind
attention to my last letter proves to me how much
I am interested in the preservation of your visual
powers. I subscribe almost in toto to your definitions
and your reasonings, and if I was not writing to a
friend whose application and reading I have loi^
known, I might perhaps have thoi^ht it necessary to
compliment you upon your leamii^, but as I see your
capital is strong, and you agree to accept, I shall
certainly draw upon you. I ^all this summer see
as much of the county as my professional avocations
will give me leave to, for dio the clergy in general
have very kindly answered such questions as I have
sent to them, I chuse to trust my own eyes. There
is one great stumUing block to information which
they and others can seldom get over — that which is
in dieir ne^hbourhood and which they see every day
they consider to be known to all the world ; there
aie also several little anecdotes and also occurrences,
&c., generally known near them which might be of
real use which they suppose to be too insignificant
to be communicated, whereas the aggr^ate of
historical knowledge is formed from the combination
of facts and drcumstauces whidt separately frequently
appear trifling.
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I^'s look at your book. I have a definition of
Chweore whidi preceded yours Gii Dwfrfri — ^pretty and
ingenious. Yours, however, will do for me. In
Cainlas you are correct, but Dulas I cannot so readily
give up ; it shall be considered. Orwyne bdng
a rocky river full of deep holes has been derived
from Gerwynau, and we have a part of the liver
Taaf of this description which is called Y Gorwynau
Duon, but perhaps you will tell me the river ran and
had a name before . . . were in fashion.
Admitted. Crawnon I have seen antiently written
Gerwynion. Dihonwy is a briskly Sowing river
and not sli^gish, but running from the Turbaries
I think it takes its name from the color Du Mawn
wy. You have given me Uardwl, whether from
me or from the maps, I don't know ; the little
brook by Bredcnock is Mardrel. I used to derive
Mellte from Mellt wy — water swift as Ughtniag, How
is it that in almost all old 9ISS. TareU is called
Tartarell. What ate Pirgad and Rhiangoll ; they are
the only rivers I can recollect at present. You shall
have a cargo of land and water after my visitation.
So much for the great the heavy work
How often would he dine
On some bulky school divine,
And for dessert eat verses.
{Shenstone upon a CoUege Mouse).
I, too, eat verses occasionally, and amuse myself
with translating Welsh Peninllion. I have a bag full
which I have a good mind to throw into sheets in a
few days. They are converted into English verse
with great ease. The thoughts are sometimes
strikingly humorous, and those as well as the metre
which may be in some degree initiated, would be new
to an English reader. Take the following out of 50 : —
On'd ydyw hyn rhyfeddod
Fod dannedd wraJg yn darfod
On'd tra f o yn ei geneu diwitb
Ni dderfydd byth mo'i thafod.
Translation :
And is't not strange to say
*niat females' teeth decay.
By while the've life and breath to scold
We ne'er perceive the tongue grow old.
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55
QywaJs siarad dyvraia dwndio
Oywais rhan o'r byd yn beio
Erioed ni cblywais neb yn ddatcan
FawT o'i byiiod fdau ei hunan
Translation :
I've heard men talking, beard tbem bo&ter
Each stQl blaming one the other ;
But though our faults to all are kcovn
I never heard one Uame his own.
Os coUais i fy nghaiiad Un
Mae Br4n i fran yn rhywle
Wrth ei bodd y bo hi byw
Ag Ewyllys Duw i minneu
Trattstaiion :
And if t've lost my dearest love.
There's Dove for Dove designed ;
May she Uve pleas'd and happy still.
To God's high will I'm perfectly r
I believe the Cywydd, the Awdl, the Bnglyn, and the
Peniaili to be what we would call in EnglSh the Poem,
Ode, Stanza, and Ep^am. I mean to give a spedmen
of each. Gronwy Owain shall go for the ist, the 2nd
I shall take from some of the antients, and Englynion
and Fenillion we have thick as hops. By the bye, let
you and me have a httle conversation about these
same antients, I know Owain and you (who it is
nothing like compliments to say are more profoundly
and intimately acquainted with the language than
myself) pity us poor children who are pleased with
the rattle and gingle of the modem rhymer. When
sense is sacrificed to sound I give it up, but I
appreheid both may be produced and the harmony
of letters and syllables may recommend and assist
the sentiments, and are certainly a help to the
memory. This gingle, however, has been objected
to by some men of learning, even to Pope, and they
have preferred Chaucer to him. Now I have a hobby
hoTsial turn for antiquities, and I hope have all due
respect for the learning of our ancestors, of which I am
wjlung to allow them a greater stock than is generally
attributed to them, but I really can see no comparison
whatever in the poetry or lai^iuage of Chaucer and
Pope or Taliessin and Edward Richard, the latter of
izecoy Google
whom I know Owain despises. Let as have a little
of our favourite Penbeiidd : —
DySUDDIANT ^JHDf.
"Eipbm 6eg taw ath wylo
Na chabled neb yr eiddo
Ni wna les drwg obeitiiio
Ni wyl dyn ddim ai portho
Ni fydd go^ gweddi Cyullo
Ni diyn Duw ai addawo
Ni chad Ynghored Wyddno
Erioed cystu a heno.
TransiatioH :
Blphin's Luulaby.
Pretty Elphin, donna cry
' Don't despair boy ! becase why
It really donna signify
' Man should not believe his tyta
Nor good Cynllo's pray'r despise
Ne'er was caught in Gwyddno W«r
Sud) a draught as this I swear.
From this as well as the remainder of the poem
we learn that Elphin had a pnvate fishery (I am sorry
to find these cursed monoplies are of so old a date) ; t^t
instead of salmons he one m^ht caught a b^lad singer;
who by way of comfort tells him that if he (the little,
Hf) gets into a scrape he'll do him more service than
300 Salmon, ' ' Oh, ' says £lphin — or I dare say he
thought as Jade WiUdns did fishing upon Glazbury
Bridge with his rod and line and Qy about 6 yards
above the leaier — ' ' I wish the Lord I could catch a
I have talon very little liberties with the
originals here, and there are more which are equally
childish and fiimsy. I am ready to allow the old Barek
great merit ; though their language was rough and
dissonant, and by no means as -pcJished and copious
as that of the 14th, 15th, or even i6th century, their
compounds were very comprehensive. MuUum in
■ The Rot. John Wilkini, B. 1742 [TounEei farotber of Mr.
Walter Wilkiiu, H.P.. who puiobMed thn V»MiTlTiTh Bintnlii) Be
wa* known by UtB faendoDym, " 0»toh<a.Bal»on," a bTOuhta
phmeol hi*.
„Goo(^k-
55
farvo, and wliat was said of Fiendi wire may be wdl
applied to them —
" The sterling bullion of oar British line," &c.
I am about Aneurin Gwawdiydd's ' ' Bt^ynion
y Misoedd." I am sure you have seen. it. I've
translated the greater part of it into somethii^ like
veise. There is much merit and much oddity in this
composition. I am much pestered by my d — -d
profession and the folks of tne fair, or I should have
given you as much more nonsense as my paper would
permit. Write to me at your leisure, but let it not be
lazy, lounging Idsure. Is there no servus nervorum
Dei (I don't mean the Pope, but a journeyman
parson) ? who would serve for you for z Sundays
this summer, while you sport a few days with, dear
Davies,
Your sincere biend,
THEO. JONES.
Least after my Pennill about the female tongue
you may suppose I am damning the fair sex in general,
or my wife in particular, know that this is our
commercial fair day — and a fine day it is, thank God.
To THB Rev. EDWARD DAVIES, Neak
THORNBURY, GWS.
'BsSfXibi, /«fy iS, 1800.
My Dear Davies,
You will no doubt consider me a strange,
inconsistent fellow, one moment professing friendship,
then apparently deserting or seeming to fo^t it for
a 12 month, but the truth most assuredly is that I
have not lost sight of you since you left school. I
pray God that may not be the case in one sense with
you, in that sense in which I use to you I am sure it
never will ; and first then let me a^ bow are ycmx
twilights ? I hope since you have left oS ' {daying
Ploggum, and of course working as Mr. Floggum,
they improve, and that you now see thro' a millstone
or a g-inch board at least.
I should certainly have noticed your last sooner
if Mr. Hardinge had not pocketed it, and tho' I told
izecoy Google
bim I didfnot know how to direct to you without it,
his eccentricity has probably applied, or rather
misapplied, it to most base and ignoble purposes long
ere this. I learned, however, accidentally from the
Bishcni of Gloucester in a letter which I lately received
from him that a letter directed to you near 'ftiombury
would probably find you. I shall therefore venture
to send this so addre^ed.
I have been among Bishops and among lords by
the half dozens — one has a son to prefer and a
chaplain to promote, but as to the Bishop of Rochester,
saj^ Mr. Hardinge, ' ' Napthali is a hand let loose,
he giveth — Goodly Words." In short, I don't know,
or rather I do Imow, what to think of them, but I
shall persevere. I can do you no mischief, tho' if I
were sure Providence would enable you to go tiiro'
your professional duty I'd see the tythe of uem (at
least) hanged first.
I now ride a pony of another colour from that
which I kept when I wrote to you last, that if you
recollect was an old big blade n^ called Antient
Statutes ; this is an ambling, shuffling little fellow,
who frisks up our hills and down our vales, over tomb-
stones and cromlechs, thro' ford and whirlpool, over
bog and quagmire. He is not called (as you may
sup|)ose) Flipportigibbot, but is her^fter to be
instituted The History of Brecknockshire : M^ether
he may not (as is frequently the case among great
folks who call their children George Augustus Stanislaus
Bonued) have the additional appellation of statistical,
topographical, geometrical, or geographical, I am not
yet determined. I have ridden very hard of late,
and am now, to use a phrase of these days of
encampment, resting upon my arms, but I shall mount
again shortly — ^hold my horse's head for a moment.
In Builth the tenants of the manor pay upon their
admission fines to the lord called Maccwyn and
Mabiyddiaeth ; the former is only paid in a small
part of the district. What is the import of the 1st
word in particular, the second I can guess at. Owea,
who speaks very highly indeed of you, says it is now
become extremely fashionable to give definitions in the
pail up and easian style, and that I must attend to
D,j,l,.,-. nGOO^^IC
87
that carefully. I now, however, to prove that you
must get up' behind, set you & task for your lasuie.
What ik» the followiog riveiB in Brecknockshire
mean ? I fc^ow the import of many, but I wish to
compare yours with my own.
Mehascyn |
My eye, ceii,
IS unm
itell^ble to me.
Cyniig.
CaerfaneU.
Senny.
Annell.
Crai.
Tardl.
Cynlais or
Clydach and
Cynlis,
Ysclydach.
Dihouwy.
Mollte.
Gwessin.
Ciheoi.
Gwidderig.
Palle^.
Grwyne.
Pa march.
Craaf.
Nedd.
Olchon.
Chwefri.
Escyr.
Crawuon.
And any others you
Honddu.
Mardrol.
can recollect whose
Taaf.
Hoywy.
names you know
Bemw.
Brynich.
to be difficult ot
translation.
Mrs. Jones presents her
respects and best wishes.
Yours
very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. EDWARD DAVIES.
BsscoN, Oct. 4, 1801.
My DSAS Davibs,
Dr. Turton and I had talked over your
business at Swansea, and he had supplied me with your
prospectus before your parcel arrived. Pray whom
have you employed at Hay to receive subscriptions ?
I'll get some person there to refer to if you have not
already spoken to anyone. I bad hung up a Ht of
pasteboard in the coffee house at Brecon and at North's
about a fortni^t ^o, and I have a subscription for
50 ct^ies. The Judge promises me to do great thii^
for you in London. I think you had better write
to him to say I have communicated his kind intention
to you and to thank him for his VinHnwai ; you may
at the same time state the big beatings yon have
izecoy Google
58
received from the bitdi Fortune for these last lo or
15 yeais. Pray let this be done. He was very
aiudons to set about a subscription for you about 2
years a%p, which, however, I put an end to by
insisting that in case of your becoming blind I could
afford to buy a dc^ and a string for your employment
in the day and a bed at night. For this he called me
a proud, impudent fdlow, but though I am as much
hurt as any man at your situation and circumstances,
I cannot promote any subscription to improve them
which may injure your feelings or abrade the
estaUishment. By the mode now proposed, I trust
neither are affected, nor do I see any impropriety in
your accepting the first reward of your labours (in part),
however, wimout being too nicely attentive to tlw
size and bulk of the book. I mention this because
Turton told me you were a httle squeemish upon this
part of the subject.
Our correspondence is somethit^ Eke what the
Spectator (I think tt is) describes that of Hilpa and
Sialum (two antediluvian lovers) to be ; the last
letter which I wrote was about a year and a half ago
expressii^ a desire of seeing yoii here, since whidi you
have not given me one word. I suppose has
been entertaining you all this time with the virtues
of Jamaica pepper, or the mode of cultivating sugar
canes ; he has, however, I trust sold you some ex-
perience, tho' I am extremely Sony it cost you so
much ; but really books are bad instructois U they
either do not teadi us to read mankind or to conduct
oursdves with caurion in our concerns with strai^rs
at least.
Now we are upon the subject of reading, I assume
(a great effort certainly) that you have read the
fable of the Good Samaritan. You shall have a
parody. I was menrioning to a rick clergyman that I
had a friend whise purse did not, as I apprehended,
run over, and that this friend, who was in me Qiurch,
was now publishing a book by subscription. " Ho,"
quoth the Levite, ' ' these are act times for sub-
scriptions," and so he passed by. I was entertaining
a lawyer with a dismal tale of a poor parson who was
not quite so well rewarded as I thou^t he ought to
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59
be. "Ay," says he, "is he the man you describe
him ? — ^thea he shall have my living on the first
vacancy." But tbo' I am satisfied he'll rel^ously
stick to his word, the curate of Olveston may outstrip
the present incumbent — ^who is between 50 and 6t^—
in the race to heaven. I shall certainly employ you
before you go (if Providence permit it) in my
BiecoDshite business, for we lawyer men have always
an interest in view when we take any trouble. You
will, however, give me credit for other concomitant
motives, at least, and believe me to be, dear Davies,
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Mrs. Jones presents her compliments. She tells
me tliere is a spare bed or two m the house. Oral
language would, I think, have better than vocal in
yonr proposal.
Direct to George Hardinge, Esq., M.P., Weymouth
Street, I^cmdon.
I've sacb a room ! such a study.
You rogue ! so snug I that if you
Could see it, I'm sure you'd like it.
It is at the back part of the house, no noise or
interruption, except now and then a call into the office
from uiose cursed fellows John Doe and Richard
Roe.
To THB Rev. EDWARD DAVIES, OLVESTON,
GLOS.
Bbbcoh, Dec. 16, i8oi.
DBAS Davibs,
Our friend Mr. Hardit^;e called out to a young
barrister (who was remarkably nervous) while be was
cutting up a goose, ' ' Have a care, Mr. Gwylym, the
eyes of all Europe are upon you.' ' I have sent you a
list of your subscribers on the other side to show you
that the Bench of Bishops are extremely kind and
always ready to reward merit. You have also a letter
to Ml. Hardinge from Briareus Briant, the literary
giant, part of which I can't read, and some of it I
don't understand. No language is older than
itizecy Google
anotbet, but the Chaldaic is tbe oldest of them aU 1
Homer and Heriod knew nothii^ of Hoses, yet his
(Biyaint's) Book is published to prove that the heathen
Uytiiology is borrowed from Scdpture. As to the
Celtic, it^ blown to the d ; Mr. Hardinge is his
convert. I am not, but I own to you that I know of
no literary Remains of the Celtic. Be it yours to show
them^ bat as lads in high life below st^is say Mind
y'r hits.
Ml. Hardinge bad desired me to set his name
down foi what number of copies I want to write my
own. 1 wrote lo, but you see he says 2 — ^this may be
light, because we must not appear to be more liberal
than our greaters, but you U consider me as 10.
There are two or three of Dr. Turton's men in this
list, but I should ezjdain to you that I had tbem only
a few days after the proposal came out at Swansea.
The Bishop of Gloucester has a list for you which I've
not got by me, but which he writes Mr. Hardinge
word he hopes will not be contemptible. Don't publi^
till after tne drcuit. Mr. Hardii^ desires wis, as
he intends to poll the lawyers (he says) as he has the
parsons. I have much to say to you as to his mode
of pushing on this business, but it is late, and I'll write
to you again when I can get a frank.
YouiB very stiLcerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Ksv. Mr. DAVIBS.
BKBCcof, May 32, 1802.
Mt Dsak Davibs,
I have received a letter from the pFebendaxy
of Uandilo-graban to say that if be does not serve
the curacy himsdf {which I know he will not) he will
attend to my request ; so that the moment the pres^it
curate retires to Abraham's bosom, you may go to
Botany Bay, which you'll not diaUke, as you have
relations among the natives. You shall hear from
me when the cancer has done its work.
Mr. Hardinge has sent me your letter. I agree
with you in Mo ; and, as the man saiA. about the
Peace, may he who likes you not, be shotto. 'The
izecoy Google
Judge sccuses you of bang low ^rited. I tell him
he may as well condemn you for being afflicted with
a fever or an ^ue. If I understand one part oi your
letter, Mr, H. wanted you to say something in your
work about the Persian and Indian langti^es. I
have told him that cannot now be done, and he, as well
as I, wish you immediately to go to Press. Take as
much exercise as you can, but don't read or write,
inquire instantly as to the value of the Crown
livings in Gloucestershire. I insist upon it ; your
letter must only contain their names, value, and the
probability of their becoming vacant ; if you say one
WOTd more you will hurt yourself, but mudi more
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Go to Press instantly.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Brbcox, June 26, 1802.
My Db.\r DAVIB3,
The curacy of Painscastle is vacant, but alas !
Uandilo-giaban is in the nomination of the lessee (and
not the Prebendary) and he has promised it. I doubt-
whether this is worth your acceptance ; however,
if yon can find time come down, and I'll go with you
and endeavour to find out the value of it. I ra^er
think it is a poor thing, and will not suit you, but our
friend Payne will not give it to any other person till
he has your answer.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THB Rbv. Mr. DAVIES,
Brbcon {Sunday Morning), i8o3.
Dear Davibs,
A short letter, for I am but barely recovered
from the gout and my wrist aches. Mr. Hardinge
wi^es you to employ Faulder as your bookseller in
London ; have you spoken already to any of those
thieves ? Write to him to inform him how and about
it. The Bishc^ of Gloucester writes me a very kind
izecoy Google
letter in whidi lie states he has procured you over
TO suhscribers, the Dudiess of Gloucester, Prince
V^lliam, and the Princess Sophia at the head of them
— ^t he shall persevere till your work is published,
and he adds (which gave me great pleasure) "from
Mr. Davies's letters to Mr. Hardinge I am not afraid
he'll throw any discredit upon those who have
recommended him. ' '
What is the reason that in Welsh we call a wec^
8 nights and a fortnight 15 nights ?
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIKS,
Casdiff, Wednesday Morning.
My DBAS Fbibnd,
The account you gave me and the statement
in your letter to Mr. Hardinge, as far as it respected
your health, alarmed me much, and finding your
pains and headaches were increased by writii^, I took
the liberty of writii^ to him that it might hurt you to
apply often, even to your favourite subjects at present,
and I at the same time told him that I intended to
reqtiest you would not write to me for some time till you
bad found your health improved, which (in the languMe
of the circuit) I hereby give you notice to a^am
from ; and I should not even puzzle your poor
blinkers to pore over these tiny hieroglytucs if I was
not anxious to communicate the pleasure I feel from
a perusal of Dr. MoncriSe's letter, who assures otu
friend Mr. Hardinge that excepting your defect of sight
(which he does not think likely to become worse, nnlr"
your application to books is too intense) he apprdiends
no danger whatever from your other complaints, which
he thinlfii are nervous, and which may be easily
removed ; this being the case, I don't think it
improbable you may yet be forced to tell a truth
where all your predecessors have bounced, and in spite
of your holo Episcopari may furnish a bed occasionally
for your friend at Abergwili, as soon as his present
lordship shall march upstairs. Send me Whitaker's
Mandiester, and the Itinerary as soon as you can. I
do not perfectly comprehend the wythnos, or the
izecDy Google
«3
PymtheDos, but if you give me your opinion 111 throw
it in, though if it exceeds three lines, for much as I
value them, I will not have long letters from you at
present. Before my great evil appears publicly, you
shall hear more of my sentiments as to the Dimotoe
and Silures, whidi I rather think alarmed you as much
as your symbols did Mr, Hardinge, It is not necessary
that either of us should yet think upon the subject.
Yours very sincerelv,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rjsv. Mr. DAVIES.
IjLANBBVSi, NSAR ChICKHOWBIX,
Wednesday Evening (1S02).
Dbar Davies,
I am now at my friend Payne's, v/bo is
Prebendary of Painscastle, and has the nonunaticm
to the perpetual curacy of that parish. He tells me
Powell, who officiated there, cannot hve many weeks.
It is, I believe, about the annual value of £50, and if
I/landilo-graban could be had, which is now served
by the same person, it would be about £100. Before
he nominates any person he wishes to know if this
would suit you. Tdl me whether, if I can also get at
the Prebendary of I,landilo-graban, you would like
to take them. Consider well before you answer,
because (without being sanguine) I hope you are now
in a fair way of doing better ; but I would not lose this
o^)ortunity of mentioning this to you before I write
to the Prebendary of LUmdilo, and let me have your
answer as soon as possible.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
Direct, of course, to Brecon.
To THE REV, Mr. davies.
1802.
My DBAS Davies,
Our whimsical friend Hardinge is of all whimsical
men the most whimsical. One letter brii^s me
complaints of your book, that it docs not jump out of
izecoy Google
the Press, and begs that I'll goad you. The next c»mes
to c(»DplaiD that you don't take the US. out of the
printer's hands to send to him. In answer to a
temonstTonce whidi I soit him against increasing
the expense by printii^ additional lists of subscribers
and pcnnting out to him that he was only serving the
paper makers and printets, as I doubted whether you
would get IS. a copy by them, whereupon the said
George Haidioge chargeth the said lllieophilus with
ingratitude and strictly injoinetfa and commandeth
hmi to send the MS. copy now in the said T.J.'s
possession to the said Edward Davjes, in order that
the said may be sent to the devQ,* I have obeyed
with rductance, and this day's cxiach conveys the
parcel to Messrs. ^^tcomb, Griffiths and Fhilpott,
Attomies, Glo'ster, where it will wait till you send
for it or direct it to be conveyed by a safe conveyance.
When I say it is with reluctance, it is because, if the
book turns out well, I fear he wiU take more merit
for smooth polishing than he deserves. I am in love
with Dafydd ap Gwylym's poem to the wind ; when your
eyes are better, give me a literal English tran^ation.
I believe I und^tand it perfectly, but I would not
distort or lose a thought for the world, and I want to
give it an English poetic dress. I think it superior
to " Cywydd y Daran," and " Dwynwen deigr
danian D^:wch," which Owen has taken the pains
to convert into "Dwynwen fail," as the glittering
drops of mom is to me nonsense in English or Wdsh.
He has also, I think, wrongly translated
I>y laeblaid yn dy IwysMwyf,
Doslurus ofalus wyf.
Grant me thy extended protection in thy pleasant parish,
for I am in pain and anxiety. I think it should be I
am thy humble or prostrate suppliant, full of pain and
care in thy abode of cheaifiuness or in thy diearful
parish.
Now for the goad. Get on with the book — sans
delai et sans peur. ' ' But can that be done P ' ' says
the curate of Olveston. " Sans monish," as my devil
careth not for the sentence of Judge Hardinge, or the
8 Dr. Brewer'* Diet.
iLCD, Google
Youts very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
I never had either letter or message or the least
intiinatioii that the US. was to be sent to you till to-day.
Hiey were delivered to me loosely by Oiurcbey, who,
I suppose with his uncle's and aunt's and sous and
daughters, have read and formed their opinions of the
work.
To THE Rbv. Mr. DAVTES.
IfLANBBDB, Mtfg. 9, l802.
Mt DBAS Daviss,
I have written the Bishop of St. David's to
request he will inform me when you may wait upon
him, but as great men move slowly, and answer letters
slowly, I would not advise you to wait till you bear
from him or from me ; you may depend upon his beir^|
at Abe^iwili whenever you chose to come down, and
the sooner the better. Your nomination was signed
this evening in the presence of Sir Wm. Ousdey and
myself. I shall leave it in Mrs. Jones's hands, and if
you go in the coach you need not fear knocking at
my door, though the coadi comes at an hour when
our family will be snoozing. I shall tell Mrs. Jones
that your arrival will be expected, and conjointly it
will be ready for you at a moment's notice. You will
not find me at home, for our circuit begins this day
se'nnight, but your friend Mr. Payne exacts you will
spend a few hours with him before you return.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mit. DAVIES.
Bkecon, Aug. 21, 1802.
Messrs. Korth.
Pay the Rev. Mr. Davies Five Pounds for
Youi humble servant,
THEO. JONES.
izecoy Google
66
Yoa know North's are boobsdlers at Brecon.
Hardinge tdls me be promised not to show the extracts
from your book to anyone. I have engaged to
indemnify him. You hiive delighted one and kept
one alive during a penniless session, but I cannot
attempt to follow you romid the world. You'd break
my neck. Hereafter I may creep along your road.
We do vastly well about the Dnuds ; we think mudi
alike without interfering or crossing or jostling each
other. I want much to know " Hu &adam," but
doubt as to his being Noah. Your discovery (for it
is your own) of the Tnoedd in Greek and Latin pleased
as well as surprised me.
To THB Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
Bristoi,, Monday. March 7, 1803.
DBAS Davibs,
Here I am in my way to the Speaker of the
House of Commons who has ordered (as I will the
contrary at my peril) that I appear at the Bar of that
House on Tuesday at 3 o'clock, but least you may
suppose I have committed anything like a Breach of
Privilege, know that it is the Carmarthenshire
election n^ch takes me up and 1,000 men and women
and children b^des. What's IXKxime of your book ?
— it's time it should come out now. Can I do
anythiiu; in London for you upon that or any other
subject? Pray command your
Very dnc«re fnend,
THEO. JONES.
I shall be at No. 11, Golden Square.
To THE Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
Brecon, March 11, 1804.
My Drar Davibs,
I write this speedily to you, because I am in
hopes to relieve you in part of your doubts and
anxiety, iriien I teU you that I have now before me a
letter of Mr. Booth's, dated in October, 1802, which
was in consequence of my remonstrance to Mr.
Hardinge about the expenses of printing your letters
izecDy Google
67
and subscribers, in wbich Booth says : "I am
surprised at tir. Jones's fears, and disapprobation
of the expences incurred, &c. That I might be able
to satisfy myself as to the justness of the application,
I have taken some trouble to ascertain the probable
profit which may accrue to Mr. Davies, the result of
which is that he gains £390 " (the number of
subscribers were then 1950). He then goes on to
state further particulars, and calculates 53. 6d. each
volume— this may perhaps not be perfectly accurate,
but if Booth is an honest and a man of judgment, this
^ould make your mind perfectly easy upon this part
of the subject.
As to Hardline, the iimenuity of active malice
could not have been mote tonnentiug than his
services, and yet he has placed you in so awkward a
dilenma that you must not complain. I was hurt,
I own, at the omisson of Turton, to whom I have
written to-day, and am very certain his liberality will
overiook the appareut n^ect, when he knows you
are not to blame. I also note that the name of your
friend, and mine, Henry Tliomas Payne, R. of
I4anbedr, does not appear among your subscribers,
tbo' he was one of the earliest on my list. John
Josiah Holford, Estj., of Culgwyn, Chas. Holford,
^q., Richard Hill, jun., Esq., Plymouth Lodge, —
Yeats, Esq., Monk's JCU, and, I have no doubt,
several others are forgotten, but I feel more the
apparent inattention to Payne than the rest. Pray
wnte to him to state that ttie fault does not lie with
you, and to saddle the right horse. I ^lall send him
a book, and at the same time explain to him to whom
the n^tlect attaches.
I fear you have been imposed upon by Owen as
to the Coelbren y Bdrdd. I am very much mis-
taken if that alphabet is not the manufacture of
Ked Williams*, and himself and the behaviour of Mad
Ned at last Cardiff Assizes, when he heard that you
had inserted those letters in your book, convinces
me he fear'd detection ; he only pretended to me to
trace the discovery to John Bradford, ezceptii^ in
some dark allusions — as a stave in singing — ^wnting
• •' lojo UoTgauw^ '■ (TbB Rav, Edwftrd WUliams).
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a good stick, &c., bat this, compflied with the time
whidi has elapsed ance they were used, is not above
a minute in 24 hours. Owen is undoubtedly baraed,
and Williams has eccentric talents, but both are
system mongers, and, I believe, system makers.
I see yom biwk has upon the cover 12s, in boards.
I presume this is to non-subscribers, for I have been
in the habit of receiving half a guinea, whicb was the
original subscription ; if I am wrong you must write
me immediately. If I don't hear from you I sl^
conclude I am correct.
Yours very sincerely,
t THEO, JONES.
To THE Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
Bristol, March 22, 1803.
DBAS Me. Davies,
Upon receipt of your letter, I called upon Mr.
Booth and found that that part of your work which
was printed was not even Uien arrived in town. I
therefore determined to call upon the Bristol man in
my way down, and to " bullers him a bit." I have
just been there, and a lad in the ^op, if he is to be
believed, assures me that he saw the printed sheets,
&c., put into the wagon for I/indon on Saturday last ;
if tins is correct all's well ; if it is not, and you don't
hear in the course of a week or 9 days from Mr. Booth
that he has received it, pray write to me, and you may
depend upon it I'll compel this fellow to do you
justice, and whatever you do, resist despondency
and low spirits. I am just oS for Cardiff, where our
circuit commences this evening.
I am, my dear friend,
YouiB very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THB Rev. EDWARD DAVIES.
Brecon, June 11, 1804.
My Dear Davibs,
Out visitation, or rather the Bishop's visitation,
of this Archdeaconry will be ht^d at Brecon on the
24th of next month, when I hope to see you, and when
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you will hear me. I fiihaU reserve a bed for you, if you
say you mean to occupy it. Give me a line to agnify
youi iuteotion.
The GeMtleman's MagtuitK has aotu^ you, but
with few comments. I bdieve the reviewers 1^ bett^
ado^t the same plan, for if they pretend to give their
sentiments upon many parts of your work, I firmly
believe they'll break their necks.
I have now money for you, and will give you a
list of subscribers when we meet,
I have given, in your name, one of your books
to the Library at Ystradmeurig. Williams, the
schoolmaster, was install' d here yesterday to the
prebend of Trallong in our nearly dilapidated Collie
Church.
Will not our Sovere^ Lord the King recommend
you to the Dean and Canons of Windsor to succeed
the late Vicar of Talgarth, in this county ?
Yours sincerdy,
THEO. JONES.
To THB Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
1804.
DBAS Davibs,
Give me credit for £^ till our next account,
which will be soon opened, as I learn that QO of your
books are on the road to Brecon, and Booth tells me
to remit to you.
The Rev. Mr. Wells, Rector of Ilston and Penmaes,
is dead, and the livii^ are in the gift of the Chancellor.
Turton gave me a hint that you had some expectation
of them thro' Hardinge's assistance ; had you not
better write to [him] ? We are dvil, but do not
corre^x>nd since I objected to the expence of
puUi^ting more lists and mote letters from you, and I
don't know whether he does not consider us MA as a
couple of ungrateful scoundrels ; but never mind that,
iog him.
Say you have received the enclosed from
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
I shall keep two of your books.
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To TBB Rbv. Ub. DAVI£S.
1804.
Uy DBAS Davibs,
I encloGe you £50 on accotmt of the subscriptitna
I have received for yoiir book ; you shall have a list
when I have completdy stock'd the maiket, or (as the
ironmasters say) gobb'd the furnace here. Never
mind the profits of the book ; you'll be safe, and unless
the devil rides rough shod over the legislative as well
as the episc(^)al part of the creation, you must be
preferr'd.
I received a letter from Dr. Tuiton yesterday ;
he tells me he has advertised that the books are ready
for delivery, but that the subscribeis are rather shy
of bringing in the money ; that will not do. I never
press'd anyone to subscribe, and wish the Judge had
not, but I'll make every one pay who breathes the
same atmosphere with me, provided I can prove they
put down their names, or consented they should be put
down. It is not sufficient to say the book is ready ;
call for it. I carry it in one hand, and hold out the
other for the half guinea whenever I meet them.
That d n'd good natured friend of ouis, Hardinge,
could not help persecuting you with his VitiHTuwi here
during the last sessions, tho' I told him I had supplied
most of the subscribers here, and had books for ouieis,
he must send down for them by coach, when, after
making Churcbey (who is his clerk) d^ce about to
20 01 30 persons, to whom I had already delivered
them, he found they were not wanted, and they were
sent here by sixes and sevens, and I was desired to
sign a recent for them without seeing or redconing
them, which I did. He says he'll pay the en>ense
of the carriage, but he is 50 extremely fond 01 the
devil (I mean the printer's devil) that he must have
ginled receipts for the guinea and half guinea,
yn Duw y mae vUw yn et ben.
I am happy to tell you that Mr. Niched, the
barrister, who is one of the ablest and most acute
reasoners, as well as profound thinkers, I ever met
with, is a convert to your sentiments in general. The
first time he read your book he was witty upon it ; the
second time ' ' ttu^ was more in it than he at first
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conceived," and after a third teadiiiK lie said to me
with a very grave face, ' ' Sncli anouer book, Jones,
would make me an inveterate and confirmed Unguist
and Antiquarian." If you were acquainted with the
gentleman you would know how to appreciate his
approbation ; unfortunately, he «-Tiinlrg too fast for
me, and will not permit me to chew the cud ; he goes
thro' the circuitous chain of reasoning, and infers,
deduces, and concludes before I can comprehend his
position, tho' he is always accurate in stating, and
generally correct in decidii^ upon it.
I hope to see you next summer, and that you will
contrive to spend one day with Payne, where you will
meet with
Your sincere friend,
"niEO. JONES.
To THE Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
Brbcon, May 5, 1805.
My Dbak Davies,
At last I forgive Hardinge for all his faults
and I trust that Providence will have mercy upon his
manifi^d imperfections, in consideration of his having
done some good acts. He write to me that Bishop
Watson offers liitn the living of Bishopston, near
Swansea, worth £130 per annum, and desires that you
will hesitate before you refuse it. I doubt much
whether it is worth half that sum, and I am sure thoullt
not increase it much ? But it is still a certaint>', and I
beUere you'll not hesitate to determine. The Bishop
insists upon residence, tho' I doubt whether there is
a parsonage house on the living. It is, however, in
a cowpe^aiiv^ cheap country, 5 miles from Swansea,
tipon the sea^iore, and you will be within an hour's
tide of our vety eccentric friend Turton, to ^lom I
write this day to m^ inquiries as to the value, &c.
I enclose you a five-guinea biU, whidi is nearly the
amount of what Z have received ance my last We'll
state and settle the account when yon proceed to take
1 of your Bishoprick.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
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COPY OK LETTER FROM W. TURTON TO
THEO. JONES.
SwANSBA, May g, 1805.
Mv DBAS &S,
Youi letter about Davies has rejoiced me
exceedingly. He will, oi course, not hesitate in
accepting the Bishop's offer, far as it is below his woidi
and his merits. I yesterday went to Bisbopston to
malce all the inquiries I coiild about the vicarage. I
was just in time, for the churchwardens were about te
sequestrate the living, but I infonned them it was
unnecessary, as I had no doubt but that their future
Pastor would shortly be among them. There is a
parsonage house, but totally dilapidated and
unrepairable. From the last incumb^it no dUf^-
dations can be ejected* .... There are 30
acres of excellent ^ebe land, now let for 30 guineas,
the remaining tithes are let for fifty pounds, but as
th^ were leased to a sly old cock, who had advanced
money for the necessities of the late parson, it is
probable they are much undervalued. It is the
opinion of the curate, who Hves and has an estate in
the parish, that the real value, without injury to any
party, is from one hundred and thirty to one hundred
and fifty pounds. A lead mine has lately been opened
and is now working to advantage in tWs parish, but
whether these pigs are titheable you know better than
I. The situation is dry and healthy, and the distance
from Swansea about five miles. When you write to
Davies say to him that if he comes into this ndgh-
bourhood my house is to be his home till be has
ananKed everything to hjg mind, or else bis house
will never be my home.
Bassett wants a curate here and at the UumUes
— perhaps something may be hit off between them to
put an additional twenty or thirty pounds into
Davies's pocket.
Sincerely yours,
W. TURTON.
■ Tbie Inovmbant di«d in B Btateof gcaktpovatl;.
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To THB Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
Brscon, May iz, 1805.
Dbak Davibs,
On the other dde you have a letter from our
friead the Doctor in answer to mine, by which you will
find that you have no tumbliiu; house upon youi
living, for it is already tumbled down. All that you
can do in this case is to request from the Bishop a
little time, and to appropriate a part of your income,
say £30 per annum, towards it, and in that case I
should hope 3 ot 4 years at the farthest, would
finish it, for I do not apprehend that a palace is
necessary, tho' your parish be a Bishoprick.
I sent you a letter on this day se'nnight (if that
be not a solidsm) in which was inclosed a five-guinea
hai. Pray have you received it ?
Yours very sincetdy,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
June, 1805.
My Dbak Davibs,
As I was writing to the Bishop of St. David's
npon business, I mentioned to him that the Bishop of
Tjfli^HqfF had given you Bishopston, and that you
intended to wait upon our Diocesan at Abergwili
shortly, and I likewise represented to him the state of
your house. He writes me word that he is very glad
to hear of your preferment, that you may wait upon
him as soon as you please, and that you shall have
every uidulgence in ms power as to repairs. I think
your best man would be (if you can be permitted to
do so) to hold your present curacy for a 12 month,
and after having taken possession, and let your tithes,
to a{>propriate the first year's income to bf^ the
repairs.
I beUeve that the mail coach from the New
PassE^ will be 3'oux most expeditious way of
travemng, and when you have been with the Bishop
and retomed to be inducted, if you write to me
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74
I'll send to your brother, and I dare say he will lend
you a hoise to come from Swansea to this place on
your way back.
Yours very sincerdy,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rbv. EDWARD DAVIES.
Bkbcon, Jtdy 14, 1805.
Mv Deas Sik,
I received your maps, and ain perfectly aware
of the value of them ; indeed they were not new to
me, tho' I was never before possessed of them, but
I <IUd not think I ought to put you to the expence of
postage merely to adcnowledge the receipt of them.
I continue in my resolution of preventing the
men of Bish(n>ston from imposing upon you further
that J5S. in the poiwd, and perhaps we'll make them
stop something short of that. I shall take care of your
letter, and as I always go to Swansea after the circuit
I'll play the lawyer the registrar, the proctor, and
Essibly the gentleman at the same time. What you
ve hitherto done has been rig^t. Rely upon it,
that with all the friendship I bear for you I do not
forget that your pecuniary interest is not what ought
to be chiefly in view, but that with a proper regard
to prudence, you ought to possess the friendship and
got^wiU of your parishioners, unless they chuse to set
sudi a price upon it as to make you a beggar-
Under this impression, I will not send that Scotch
fellow Qark, the Surveyor, over to them, whose
chiefest excellence is in the application of the
thumbscrew, and who knows precisely what c|uantity
of pain a man can bear without actually puttmg him
to death ; but I have in my mind's eye a sensible
farmer, who is conversant on this subject, and who,
I beheve, will tell us what you reasonably and fairly
ought to have, and what they can fairly aSord to pay.
So till you hear from me again, make your mind easy,
and in the meantime your ajSairs shall not be neglected
by
Your smcere frien d,
THEO. JONES.
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75
To TBZ Rev. EDWARD DAVIES.
Bbighthcuistone, At^. 2, 1805.
Mt Deas Friend,
I write to you at the lequest of my uncle, Mr.
Rice Jones, of No. 11, Golden Square, Ivondon, to
know whether it be consistent with your present
^rstem or plan to receive pupils. He has a httle boy
between 7 or 8 years of age, whom, from my recom-
mendation, he is very anxious to place under your care
and tuition. He vnshes him to learn the Bi^lish,
Latin, and Greek grammatically, and that you would
find hitn in board, washing, and lodging, for which
he b>^ to have your terms, but tho' I should feel
anxious, as well as my relation, to place him with you,
I beg that if from the state of your eyes, or some other
circumstances you have given up the education of
youth, you will not heatate in saying so, or be led
from friendship to me to sacrifice either your health
or convenience.
Should it suit you to receive my little cousin and
namesake, TheophJlus Jones, I know you'll not be
morose or unkind to hun, but I hereby caution you
against his insinuating address and prattle by whidi
he governs completely in our good city of I/mdcoi,
where, however, he is " servile to the skyie influences,"
and therefore he must try the atmosphere of
Gloucestershire or some other country air. Write to
me by return of post direct to No. 11 as above.
Vours sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
Jtdy {or Ai^usf) 1805.
My Dbak DaviES,
As our Member* is here and we have nofhii^
to do (this by way of compliment) I may as well employ
a few moments in an invitation to my friend to dance
down to Abergwile next week, and to request he will
indulge our little Bamer with a few hours' conversation
either going or returning. I do this by his particular
* Bit Cliulai I
Hon., H.F. lot tbe Bonnigb, at the ti
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desire, havii^ just seen him, and received a copy oi
one oi youi ciiapters. He thinlcs you are too fond
of VaQancey, too neaily converted by him, not fond
enough of &e Bishop of Diomoie, and that you dtm't
quote authorities often enough, but perhaps Bishop
Horsley oi Dr. Vincent would be ofFended if you told
them that lertoger vita sceiorisque fntrus was a
quotation from Horace. I have received a very civil
tetter from our Bishop ; part of it (it is true) I don't
understand, but no matter for that, he says you ndUl
find him at home whenever 3rou come down. We shall
be in Brecon on Saturday, and remain there a week ;
so that if you caimot come next week, you will find us
the following week (until Friday) at Cfurdiff. Yoo'U
have a coadb, whidi will take you from Caermarthen
to Caerdiff . I desire you'll not be pendatic ; least
you may want cash, I'll send you a draft for a trifle
which you may have in your way thro' Brecon, and
wboi you see me you may have more if you want it,
to be repaid me out of the first fruits of jrour
Bishf^mck.
(TAt's is ma sigiud).
To THB Rev. EDWARD DAVTES.
(In answer to June ii, 1805).
Oct. 4, 1805.
My Dear Davibs,
I have been at the palace, and overlook'd the
Cathedral ; the former consists of a beautiful duster
of ruins, and the latter is a most venerable edifice,
thro' which the aii is here and there (from salutary
motives, no doubt] permitted to ventilate the interior.
I have desired an architect at Swansea, in whom I
think I can confide, to look over the estimate sent you,
and he accompanied me to Bishopston to look at the
dilapidations ; his report has not reached my ears.
I shall go to Bishopston when the time for payment
for the present year expires, and see what I can do
with those Flemings.
llie book* is out, and I'll send it you in the course
of a week together with Mr. Peach's, tho' it has a
confounded circuitous route to reach you. ^e Bidiop
* Ths Fizrt VoL of *■ Biaoknoolafain."
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77
of St. David's speaks very handsomely of it, and the
approbation of Dr. Bu^ess is no trifling acquisition.
He says ' ' H^ily as he esteemed my talents as an
aotic|uaiy and h^torian, the pleasure he received in
readmg the book far exceed«i his expectation." I
shall fire oS, or in the language of our shc^, set off his
praise against the bayonets of the critics and the
stings of the mosquitoes — a race to whom you will
be introduced when you read the book.
I have just bnught Ossian's Poems, and have
been reading Dr. Blair's critical dissertation upon
their merits. There is a great deal of good sense and
a great deal of learned nonsense in what he says.
What a resemUance there is between the sisters
GaeUc and Cymraeg,
A chos air Cromleach, druim-ard,
Cbos air Crom-meal dubh
Thoga Fion le lamh mhoir.
An d'uisge o IfUbhair na fruth.
A'i gfls at Cromlech, Twyn ardd,
A'r ail gos ar Crommel ddu
A dwg Ffion a'i law mawr
Yr wysc o Llifwy'r fErwd.
You told me something about Tyssilio — ^more
about him if you please.
By the bye, I don't think I have written to yon
since I left London ; if so, I'm a good for nothing
fdlow, as you might fancy I was sulky. No such
thing, be assured ; the proposal about the little boy
was made to you in expectations that it was perfectly
convenient to you if you had taken him, and any
difficulties occurred in consequence of your kindness
for me. I should have thanked you, but by no means
have been satisfied with your determination, ^e
boy has 50 places to apply to, where he may be well
brought up and kindly treated, and it was only in
consequence of my partiality for you that my uncle
wished to give you the preference, in hopes it would
be advantageous to you.
Pray what is the rule in trade as to the allowance
to booksellers where they only disperse books to the
subscribers and receive the money for the author.
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My trade price is ;f2 5s ; price to subscribers,
iz I2S. 6d. ; to non-subsaibeis, £2 15s. Are Booth
and the rest of them entitled to 7s 6d. out of those
subscribed for, or only foi such as they sell to non-
subscribers ? It seems to me to be too much to say
they ought to have 7s. 6d. where they run no risk and
have no merit ; but upon the other hand, people ia
trade should not take any share of trouble 01 lose
their time without some recompense. This is material,
therefore drop a line to
Your very sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Mrs. Jones joins in warmest wishes for youi health
and wdfare.
To T^E Rev. EDWARD DAVIES.
Sunday Evening, Oct. 10, 1805.
My Dear Fwend,
By North's waggon of this night, I send you three
copies of my first volume, one for the curate of
Olveston and one for his friend Mr, Peach, and another
for Captain Davies, of the CaermarthenshJre Militia.
I have advised the latter gent, of the route his book is
likely to take, that he may have it upon applying to
you, should no opportunity occur of forwarding it
from Olveston, and that he may pay his subscriptioa,
£2 I2S. 6d., to you, or by draft to me, and you will act
accordingly. Mr. Peach mil, of course, pay you,
and you may remit to me.
Since I wrote to you last, I have received a letter
from the architect I spoke to at Swansea, who tells
me the carpenter's estimate sent to you is extravagant,
and that he will attend to the repairs of the palace ;
but nothing effecrive can be done till I go to Swansea
in January next, and then you will hear further from
your thoughtless.
But very sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Hie books are directed to be left at the " Ship "
at Olveston; deduct the carriage. God Uess you.
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I
To THE Rkv. Mr DAVIES.
Brecon, Nov. 17, 1805.
My Dear Davies,
You need not have informed me that you were
in better health when you wrote your last letter than
when you wrote the fonner ; the handwriting, tho'
the writing of the same hand, would have told me as
much. I hope the next will again improve.
Have yon received 3 of my books addressed for
you at the "Ship" at Olvestone. If not, let me
know, but I should not probably have asked this
question at present, if Mr. Hardinge, in answer to an
inquiry of mine as to Astle's " Progress of Writing,"
had not informed me that you referred to it in your
book ; it is material to me in my progress among the
tombs that I should see this pubhcation, and if you
have it, or can procure it from any friend of yours,
I'll give my bond to return it safe and unsoiled at any
time that the return may be required, even if only one
day is allowed for a hasty view of it.
I am stuck fast in our Priory Church, and when I
shall extricate myself from thence to proceed in my
tour I know not, but most assuredly the name of the
man that had the seven league boots is not like that of
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev, Me. DAVIES.
Brecon, March, 20, i8o6.
Uv Dear Friend,
After near three months' confinement by my
inveterate enemy*, and under the custody of my
winter gaoler, I tried to escape into Carmarthenshire
and Glamorganshire, but was re-taken in the latter
county, and brought back, tho' not without some
difficulty, to my fonner prison, where I am again tied
to the <^iair or the bed, how long to remain I Imow not.
Probably (or at least I hope so) when warmer weather
permits otiier reptiles to appear, I may be permitted
to crawl about, certainly not to fiy, for a few months.
* Qoat,
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8o
I was told yoar Celtic Researches now sell for a
guinea at Bristol ; pray tell me if that be liie case,
as I may upon recdvii^ such infoqnation make a penny
in an honest way.
Poor Owen's head is turned about the ^fi11l^nllil1n^ ,
and "a shp-shod sybil," of the name of Johamia
Southcote, drags him into storms and tempests which
he tdls me are to commence in this Island during the
summer of 1807, when he gives me formal and serious
notice that the restoration of all things is to take place,
and the devil is to be the scap^oat for all the beUeveis.
In the meantime he is translating the Mabinogion,
whidi I hope he'll finish, tho' I have advised him to
get a smootii polish for his lv"gl"^ style, for he really
does not trarislate intdligibly in his " Dictionary."
Sir Wm. Ouseley is so struck with the nonsensical
tran^tions that he insists the Wdsh authorities can
have neither sense or meaning.
My wrist aches. I must, therefore, ccmdude
with a carpenter's wish: "Health, peace of mind,
a dean diirt, and a guinea to you," prayeth
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
To THB Rev. Us. DAVtBS.
Bbbcon, June 6. 1806.
Dbab Sue,
Who was the bookseller to whom youi Vicar
applied for my book, tho' I suppose the London book-
sdler was too indolent to caU at Ur. Booth's, Portland
Place, for it, who has plenty of them to dispose of.
Dnncomb, the man of Heiefordshire, writes me word
that Dr. Aitkin in his Annual Review has favouraUy
reported my case, tho' he has put blisters upon ba
back. Pray have you seen tms review ? I don't
e:q>ect to sell the whole of the first volume before the
second is printed ; tho' more than half are gone ofF,
for owii^ to the tricks of Polwhele and others, many
persons are cautious how they purchase incomplete
works. Did you see Turton's attacks upon Mr.
Justice Hardmge. the latter frequently does
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8i
impniii^it things with impunity, but is generally
attacked when he does not deserve it. I don't think
what he said on the trial called for this from the
Doctor, tho' I highly disapprove of his publishing
his speedi and the tnal in the Cambrian. Turton is,
in my mind, equally imprudent to provoke a
discussion of his conduct in the business. He was sent
for on behalf of the prisoner to Cardiff at an ordinary
praemium without ever having seen the body of the
girl supposed to be murdered, merely to watch the
surgeon's evidence, which looks tike an engagement
to testify in proportion to the reward receiv^ ; but
TurtOB is and always will be eccentric.
I should be glad to hear when you are at leisure
how your eyes serve you and what you are about —
whether you have given a pubhc blast to Tyssilio or
not ; is another question from
Yours very sincerdy,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Jidy, 1806.
My Deas Fkiend,
I am sorry you should put yourself to the trouble
of inquiring about Astle, for I do not think it would
answer my purpose, which was to obtain a specimen
or specimens of the handwritic^ principally seen from
1400 to t6oo. As you say Massey's is Mr. Hardinge's.
I presiune I am to deliver it to him. What is the
tedinical descriptions of letters cut into the stone
and what of letters raised above the surface of the
stone ? I believe the latter are said to be in relief.
I certainly received the bill and the letter enclosing
it, and thought I had acknowlet^ed it, but my
thoughts are running idly into every dark hole and
comer but where they should be.
I ^jprove much of your coimterblast to Tyssilio
and wish you would publish it ; but stooping to
notice the critic you shall have it with my remarlcs
by Captain Davies in his return. Pray say where
at Bristol it shall be left for you. For God's sake, my
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good friend, don't talk of the anoganoe of critidsiog
upon my work — ^you have ten times the capability
of those who will undertake it, and if anything occurs
let me know tt. It is singular that at the very moment
I received your last letter I was employed in
the manner you recommend, which was in notii^
down any error I observed in a book kept for the
puipose.
Whether the sea swans or the flamingos of Gower
are Uie prettiest birds, I know not. I have no
partiality for either, but those whidi have the smallest
swallow and can build the most convenient nest are
those whidi I seek for. Wallis told me that tiie
estimate I sent him whidi was received from yon was
too high in some particular. I have not heard from
him since, but I have written to Turton to b^ he will
press foi his answer, and he who will do Uie work
dieapest and best ought to be employed. Hie bam
must be undertaken and built as soon as the season
will permit ; or we shall never be able to manage
those fellows. I'll take care, mo provicido, costs and
charges, it shall be done. I have likewise requested
Turton to ask the man when he receives for last year,
and not to make agreements in future without my
knowledge.
Poor Churchey* has followed Lord Nelson with
his elegy in his hand. May he improve in his
singing, and our late Admiral be permitted to hear him.
Don't read or write too much, but in order to save a
yT;iHir|g or two in an honest way, tell me shortly where
your MS. is to be dropp'd at Bristol. Tell Mr. Peach
I am proud of his appiobation, for tho' I am not
personally known to him, I am no stranger to his
merit or abilities.
Mrs. Jones unites in best wishes with, dear
Davie»,
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
* WUiam Chmcbsjr, a msmbBr of aa old BroooD (uiuly.
nnblUhBd B voliuno at Pomu in 1TB9, (uid some linM " addreMed
to Lord Nelson on his Brrivsl at Brooknixik amidit tho joyful
aoolamatioos of the paopls, on July S6bh, IS09," for whioh he
neaind the bero'a tiwaks.
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To TBS, Rbv. Mb. DAVIES.
Bbbcon, Sept. i8, 1806.
How go jrou on with Tyssilio and Ossian.
My second vol. is finished, but, like the fellows in the
farce of the Critic, whenever I get a good thing,
X never know wluni I (or rather my readers) have
enough of it. I am now at Vol. 2, part 2, and if the
gout will let me alone it wUl be in the Press next
spring. My friend Payne has lent me Astle's
Pr^ess of Writing," and a very young but a very
zealous antiquary* is now copying the Saxon hands
into a book, which has the Norman characters in the
different re^ns, which wiU complete my graphic
collections, for I cannot follow you into the wilderness
and the woods. By the bye, talking of woods and
woody writing, that fellow Nedd Williams is a
strange fellow, and all that can be said for him he is
mad ; he now finds fault with Owen. He, however,
su^ested to me one part of my work which I should
be sorry to have omitted. I mean the poets of
BrecoDshire. I did not know we had any
Cisca 1180. Macclaf ap Llywarcb.
A.D. 1460. Bedo Brwynllys.
Siendn Defynog.
Dafydd Epynt.
Rhys Celli neu o'r GeUi.
Tho. o Frwynllys.
A.D. 1500. Rhys Brychan.
leuan ap Rhys of Merthyr Cynog.
Gwynfardd Brecheiniog.
Fray can you give any information as to the
dates (where here omitted) of any of them ? Any
anecdotes of them or any other of their Breconshire
fellows, and what were their compositions P If you
can, without blinding yourself find, or rather recollect
any, pray send them to
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
* TbeplaT. Thomai Prioa, " CwnhnaQawo."
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To THE Rbv. Mr. DAVXES,
BsBCOM, Dec. 31, 1806.
Hy Deas Fsibkd,
I have been confined heie these two months
with an oozing at my heel without any pain, which
the apothecary says is a mere flea-bite, and which
indeed I bdieve to be a friendly effort of nature.
During this time my hand has been free, my head
unaffected, and my spirits uncommonly good, so that
I have nearly finished the 2nd part of my and Vol,
As I shall want again to deal with the engravers, I
have now some thoughts of taking a jolt up to I/mdon,
for I am told I may, and ouf^t to do it, as the best
remedy that can be applied.
Your very sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Bhbcon, Feb. 18, 1807.
Uy DBAS FSIBND,
I just say a word to you to make your mind easy
and to remove your apprehensions as to the strong
house. When it is necessary you should pay the £50
I insist upon your writing to me, and I'll advance it
you. At this moment the eicpenses of my journey to
town, &c., have drained my pockets, but don't suffer
yours^ to be sued ; when it comes to ne plus ultra
tdl me, and I'll stop duimy's bawlii^.
As to my heel, it is all my eye as the doctors tell
me, for whidi information I gave a guinea and was
• sent about my business.
I am going to Haverfordwest, and have at present
no time to say more than that I am
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Uy Dbak Sm,
To THE Rev Mr. DAVIKS.
>N, Jwte, 1807.
I have received your bocdc, and yon may be
sure I have redde it (as Bislu^ Hoisley wrote it) before
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8j
I put pen to this paper. All I have to say at present
is that with some parts I am veiy well pleased; with
the Gododin and your remarks I am enraptured,
but the Mythology I am neither prepared to admit
or deny. At present, therefore, I quit the stage and
leave you to boil your hell broth with Ceiidwen.
Double, double, toil and trouble.
Fire bum and cauldron bubble.
I am sorry to find that your friend Mr. Peach's
name is so sinful a parent, and as I believe he formerly
had a better, if my advice were good without a fee
I would recommend him again to adopt his paternal
appellation. Morant, in his History of Essex,
says the name of Peche, Peach, or Peachy, is derived
from Williams Peccaium (Temp. i8i) of Netherhall
ju Essex, ' ' a very wicked fellow surely, the name
gignifying sin in the abstract," says the author.
In a survey of the Manor of Brecon, about the
time of Elizabeth, is the word Maurode, evidently
signifying the roll of tenantry. The number of the
K^urode tM pairia, 515, ; in vilia, 617.
Boneddi^, sairs Owen, is gentle ; is it not bon
hyddig of high descent, tho' I don't see such an
adjective in Owen, but I am inclined to think I have
seen such a word in that sense.
Milast, you say correctly, is a greyhound
bitch, but what is Uuast, which occurs as the
name of several places in this county. I thought it
a comiption of Liu aith, the encampment ca the
army or Uu arthan.
I am very much pleased at your exposing and
detecting the frauds and the tricks of Ned Williams,
adopted, partly by choice and partly by combination,
by Owen, but you have in one part of your book
accredited their mummeries by quoting Owen for the
drawn sword placed at the Go^edd. D^end upon
it, ell these monkey tricks exhibited at Fnmioee Hill
by Owen and others have no more foundation or
pretence for antiquity than Williams's Qiair of
Glamorgan. But, however, I shall explain mysdf
further upon this and other parts of your book, which
must be published, tho' it will, as you say, want further
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arrangement, and the ist part must, I bdieve, be U<±ed
into the shape of a preface, having too much of
private anecdote and too little of myliudogy and
history.
When I fiave gone over your book once more,
to which I shall make some notes in pencil, wbidi you
may adopt or notice, or not, as you please, it shall be
returned you with the little MS. booTc of which your
translation has made me compTdiend the full value.
I mean the intrinsic value of the poem, which I redly
did not before mideistand.
I am, dear Davies,
Vours v«y sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Brecon, 15th July, 1807.
Mv Dear Friend,
As my Mr. Hall was sittii^ at my elbow in
ow HaQ, I axed him for a frank to save a peony for a
poor curate when I was about to inform him that I
sent Aneurin Gwawdtydd, and the Druidism of the
Bards, yesterday se'onight, per mail coach, from
Bream to Gloucester, carriage paid, to be forwarded
from thence to you at Olveston, near Bristol, and to
be left at the " Ship ** at Olveston. Have you
received them ? If you have drop me a line to say so,
and solve me the difficulties as to the Mauiode, &c.
I have just sent the sixth of the Simons of
Llanafan fawr out of the county. A father and son I
prosecuted and convicted for murder, two nephews
of that father I convicted of sheep stealing, the son
of that father, whose evidence hung him, as well as the
witness's own brother, fled from the kii^om, and the
brother of the first named has been convicted within
this half hour of sheep stealing. Such a gang, perhaps,
never existed. Two of this man's sons escaped last
Sessions ; I have no doubt I shall have them again,
and if I can drive them away I shall have thinned
their ranks tolerably.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
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8?
To THE Rbv. Ma. DAVIES.
My Deah Friend. Brecon, July 28, 1807.
I return you youi MSS. with many thanks,
accompanied by Aneuiin. Oh, that Giey had been
alive to see this put into English prose ; it would have
fonned an admirable stnictme for a poem by him,
but as he is dead I'll try it some day or other, tho' I
must lose sight of him and keep 100 miles behind him.
Pray answer me as to Maurode, and the other
little trifling questions which I put to you, but which
I have now forgot, when you have leisure.
I am very much satisfied with the lout etuemile
of your book, though some of the features are rather
too strong. The position that the early inhabitants
of Britain had a tradition of the Deli^e and the
Patriarch and his family, that they preserved memorials
of this event, and that they iSterwards deified not
only Noah and his family but the very memorials
themselves, is not only probable but nearly certain,
but in establishing or rather conforming and
illustrating this positiou, the system appears too often
and the words Ark and Arkite Mythology
occur too frequently ; tiiey should be varied if you
can. I wish you much to correct the insolence of
Nedd Williams, and I intreat that he may not be
spared, but as I said in my last that part of the MS.
No, I, which appears like a defence, is out of order
as an 'Esfa.7, and therefore should form a preface,
with which you would justify yourself (if justification
were necessary] for appearing again before the public
and expatiating upon a subject upon whidi you have
shortly treated before.
I have added a few notes in paicil which you may
attend to or not, just as you please. Some of them I
know are wrong, as I saw upon second reading I did not
take yx>UT meaning on my first perusal ; many of them
are merely the correction of hasty clerical errors.
Yoor notes will want revising, as the same thing is
repeated twice or thrice, but this is not what you
were writing to me about. The mine you were
laying for Tyssilio and Ossian, I suppose you have a
dozen of these brats, to alt of whom I b^ you would
introduce Your very sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
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There is a letter written by " Wal. Qitirdiey,"
dated "Brecon. Janoaiy 31. l8o6." on behalf o(
Theo. Jones, " who is in the gout." It deals
principally with the tithe account, but proceeds :
' You'll acquaint your friend that Hi. Jones's
2nd Vd. is in the press, but goes on slowly for want
of printers. Mr. Jones wishes much to know whether you
could not procure him a couple of journeymen in that
trade at Bristol, who will come down here, and for what
price ? The expenses will be paid them, and they will
be employed for six months certain — perhaps more."
Attadted to this letter is the dedication : " To the
Rev. Edward Davies," &c. (See " Brecknockshire.")
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Brecon, Noo. i, 1808.
My DBAS Friend,
I see (I hope you do see) that you are again got
into print noUns vokns, and perhaps you'll excuse my
adding all your titles and preferments. Rector of
Bishopston, in the county of Glamorgan, and curate
of the perpetual curacy of Boughrood, Uanbedi, Pains-
castle, m the county of Radnor. You shall have the
book or rather two ' ' d — big square books ' ' shortly,
accompanied with sets for all the subscribers in your
neighbourhood, whose names I'll send you. I'll
trouble you to dispose them, and after deducting the
carriage, to place to my credit the sums received for
them ; which reminds me that Christmas is
approaching, soon after which I hope to scramble for
a little of the Gower cash for you. I have ordered
the repairs of the house to be snipped, pared, and cut
into as small a pattern as may be. The hobby
horse led me home from Glamorganshire this Sessions
without permitting me to take an excursion to
Swansea, so that I cannot tell how we stand ; before
another year expires depend upon an account, and I
trust a completion of everything like repairs, after
which I hi^ie to be able to arrange with my friend
James, so ^t you may have an annual certain sum.
How are your daylights ? if there be enough left, and
it do not injure you, write to inform
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
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To THB Rsv. Ms. DAVXES.
Brecon, 24M January, 1809.
My IteAS Sm,
Your last letter was received, and the names
of the ComtnissioneTs to value your curacy in
Radnorshire forwarded to the Bishop at Durham,
but to avoid more applications to you, I have sent
them to the Lord Oiarles Morgan at Caermarthen,
who is a greater man than his master. I'U look for
your license when I get my office into anything like
order ; at present it is chaos, for I have done with the
Law, as I hope the Law has done with me, and am now
only an ecclesiastical officer, tho' I may occa^ooaUy
serve a few friends in an amphibious capacity.
By the last night's wagon, directed to you to be
left at the " Ship at Olvestou, I have sent you four
ot my second volumes — one for yourself, another for
Sir Samuel Fludyer (Lieut.-Col. of our Militia at Bristol),
another for Mr. Peach of Toddngton, and another
for the Rev. Mr, Davies, Clifton. Will you be good
enough to procure them to be delivered, and re(juest
they will pay you £J^ for each, which, when received,
you'll place to my credit, and diarge the carriage for
the pai^ to me..
I have seen all that is printed of your book, and
this day return to Booth your MS. as to a}ins. Your
first and principal observation is so dear as almost to
defy contradiction ; it is absurd to suppose that a
man who would give us a human head as well as we see
it on some (iiLdeeo most) of these coins should represent
a horse's with the bill of a bird, his back like a bow
or a boat, and his feet like detached drumsticks ;
therefore there is mysticism in the figures ; ay, and
Diuidic mysteries, too, in which your Arianibod
comes in well and opportunely to support you against
the assertion of the keeper of the coins in the British
Museum, who told Booth that the Druids knew
nothing about coins. He probably knows as mudi
about the Druids as the keeper of the lions in the Tower,
and I have assured Booth he may place equal confidence
in both. Thus far you are seen travelling gaily
and treading on terra firma, but having got on board
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the No Van it, I feai the critics will tdl you, you
have touched at Fail-up-and-ease-us, and aie bound
to Utopia. Well, fare you well ' ' NuUa vestigia
retrorsum," as we landmai say, and I am not without
hopes that your voyage of discovery may produce
treasures for the learned, present pay to the pilot,
and I hope fame and some wealth to the Captain. But
to sea you must go post— — , as I have told Booth ;
your vKsel makes a goodly shew, and must not be
suffered to rot in the dock at Olveston.
Talking of Owen's translation (rf Gorchan
Cjmvelyn, your phrase is ' ' but besides that his
version is not sufficiently close for a disquisition of this
kind, I observe," &c. The commencement of this
sentence is not elegant, if indeed it be not equivocal
and liable to be misunderstood. I have therefore
altered it thus : ' ' But not to dwell upon the freedom
of his version, which is not sufficiently close for a
disquisition of this kind, I observe," &c. ; and there
are also two or three ' ' buts ' ' immediately following,
and standing so near each other in the ranks that I
have displac^ them and taken a substitute for one or
more. These triffing amendments I have tdd Booth
to adopt meo pmciSo.
I relish your present title much better than your
former relics. Booth sent it me with the MS.,
and if we could have preserved so valuable a life to his
country as Sir John Moore, I should have more easily
have swallowed the news of this morning, and almost
rejoiced at the safety of our retreating countrymen.
This will lead to a transient and delusive peace, which
however may perhaf^ endure as long as you and I
live, but ii the foul fiend* survives us, he will
ultimately subjugate this country. He must give bis
commercial subjects breath, and therefore I am
inclined to think he will offer us terms if Spain is subdued,
which I suppose we must accept, tho' we may depend
upon it that
Hush'd in grim repose he'll aspect his eVning's
prey,
and if can only teach the Monkey-Tigers to swim,
most assuredly we shall feel their claws.
* TlM OrMt N>pol«oa.
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Bat, ah, why sho'd we know oar fate
Since sorrow never comes too late
And happiness too swiftly flies.
Therefore, as yoa and I cannot keep away Apollyon,
thot^ we are neither of us men likely to run away,
let us hope that Providence has not designed our
speedy destruction, and that it may be consistent
with His dispensation to spare the rod and to remove
the Scourge of Europe before he has completed
his triumph over our hitherto highly favoured Isle.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
There is a letter dated Jan. zS, l8o^, relating to
the Bishopston tithes — and at the end it is clear, from
a remark made by Jones, that his I^al work had passed
into the hands of Church— " f or I cannot refer to letters
now, as between Giurch's office and my own, papers
are now at sixes and sevens."
To THB Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Brbcon, March 3, 1809.
My Dea» Fribkd,
You know how fond our Bishop is of the Hebrew
language. I am just this moment informed by my
ingenious young friend and artist Tom Price, who is
now at the College School, and chops the language
like a dragon, that he (the .Bishop) gives a premium
at Easter to any boy who will copy a Hebrew Psalm.
Now let me request, as a particular favour, that you
would send me per coach instanUr that book, if in your
possession ; if not, and it be not very dear, buy me the
book of Psalms of the most improved or approved
edition in Hebrew and charge it to my account. This
boy is a most valuable ornament to the Fiindpality,
and there is nothing that I can do that shall be
omitted to serve him.
I hope you have bad my big square books ere this.
Sir Samuel Pludyet returns to Bristol this month, and
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b« tdls me he only wants interest and influence, oi on
my recommendation, he would make you a Bi^iop.
Yours very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
If the hock is your own, my life on't, it shall be
rctufDed.
To THB Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Hbrefokd, Monday Morning,
March 21, 1809.
Mt DBak TaiBSD,
I do not wi^ to obtnide my book upon Dr.
Davies or any other person, but I could have wished
that if he did not diuse to be considered as a subscriber
he would have infonned me before the book went to
press. I will thank you if you'll drop hiin a note to
tdl him that if he'll |mt with the first vol., and it is in
a ^eable condition, that I should be glad to purchase
it, and in that case you will pay him for it, allowing
hun to fix any sum he pleases for reading it, because
I shall now, I apprehend, be in want of ist vols., of
which not above 40 remain, while I have near 100 of
the 2nd. Sir Samuel Fludyer either is, or will be, in
Bristol this mottth. I have requested him to make
you a Bishop, whidi he says he'll do, if his influ^ice is
powoful enou^ which if it be, ne nolo episcopari to me.
I have received the Hebrew Psalter for which you
have Tom Price's thanks and mine, and likewise the
HS. of Oeian, the style of which pleases me very
much, but I recommend a preface, in which you
should explicitly and unequivocally declare that your
objecdoQ to Uacpherson's book is that he wishes it
to be considered as a history, and that you axe not blind
to those poetic merits of the work as a collection,
though you consider the epic poem as an imposition,
and therefore to be reprobated. I have already said
as much, but the object of youi a^ument and attack
cannot be too prominent.
I ain here quasi r^istrai only, and have, thank
God, 00 interest in the forenac war of woods that is
waged with sudi violence, and this attendance I was
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93
eajoined sot to omit under pain of woe. l%e threat
was unnecessaiy, as the exercise will be of service to
Youi very sincere fri«id,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. BAVTES.
Brecon, AfrU 9, 1809.
Mv Dear Fkiend,
I thank you for Miss Brook's book. The taxes
of all description, income, property, land, church and
poor of Bishopston are paid on the spot, and a pretty
spot they make in the annual amount of the Uving.
I cannot yet find the commission to inquire into
the value of Painscastle. Your brother was here
yesterday, and tells me he has searched the post ofilces
at Hay and Builth without success. Perhaps it may
have been sent to Mr. Drake at Clyro, or Mr. Hughes
of Glasbury, two of the clerical commissioners ; I go
that way tomorrow, or next day, and will make another
effort, when (if it fail) I will write to the Bishop. Our
Judge* Harlequin made several inquiries about your
forthcoming 000k— whether it has come forth,
whether I saw the MS., what I thought of it, whether
you are fortified against the artillery of EdinbuKfa,
&c., &c. He plays all sorts of monkey tricks — rides
into the houses of country gentlemen and orders
breakfast, dinner, and supper, whether they are at
home or not, criticises upon them if he finds any
awkwardness in their person, address, or in the
conduct of their families, writes upon subjects upon
which he ought not lo interfere, such as the length
or sentiments of sermons, the mode of education
adopted by a schoolmaster, abuses one day, and invites
most politely the same person to dinner the next, and
then wonders he does not attend, and lastly, after all
this, lumps us as a proud sniS-necked generation.
He is highly offended with me for exposing a
misrepresentation of his to Lettsom and Neild in my
book ; is at this moment bottling up his vei^eance
for a Philipic in his charge to the Grand Jury neiU
Autumn Sessions, and seeking for evidence to siiq^xnt
* Hardinge.
iLCD, Google
it at the same time — that I see and hear : " De^i Sii,
Dear Jones, I hope you'll not deprive us of the
pteasuie and honour of youi company to dinner,"
&C., &C. Such diaaimulation, or if he pleases to call
it, in Lord Qiesteifield's phrase, whom he copies in
manneiB and prindides, simulation, is the detestation
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
To THE SSV. Ms. DAVIHS.
Brecon, April 20, 1809.
My Dbak Friend,
I sent you hy last night's coadi directed to the
"Ship" at Olveston your MS. upon Ossian,
your Whitaker's li^mchester, which nad almost
gained a settlement in this parish, and four additional
addenda or corrigible corrigenda, which you will divide
amoDg the purchasers of my book in your neighbourhood.
Assuming, as I do, that your references are correct,
your reasoning is irresistible, and you will pardon me
if I say your ck'ef d auvre. I intreat as a petsonal favotir,
and on pain of responsibility and indemnity against
any loss, that you would publish it. I have made some
verbal alterations in pencil, to which I beg you will
pay no attention unless you think they deserve it.
I have not had the commission to inquire about
Painscastle, tho' I bear of thdr being executed all
round me. I write to your brother to-n^ht to b^
he'U inquire about it ; to-morrow I'm ofi for Caerdifi,
quasi compounder, not for emolument but for the
preservation of my health ; this is the best physic,
but it is confoundedly dear ; they'll not shake you
there and back again under 10 pounds or guineas.
Has Miss Brookes a translarion of the Irish Poems ;
if she has, and it is in your possession I should be glad
to see it, but the original is as tremendous to my eyes
as our mountain Greek to a Sazon. Booth says you
come out upon Coins before the end of this
month, and that you have the Wands of Prospero,
Ifoipheus, &c., which will set all the critics in a sound
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95
snooze foi a thousand years, ^uere de hoc, saith
the steptic ; courage mon ami, shew than that
you ate now a tough bit, and if they bite and attempt
to swallow you, I pray G , after chokii^ them,
you may come out whole ; and that you will survive
it, notwithstandhig the operation may be painful
to you for a time, is the finn conviction of
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES,
I need not say, received the Gododin.
To THB Rev. Ms. DAVIES.
Brecon, March lo, 1809.
Ut Dear Friend,
This will come to you ' ' trwy Fuallt i Henffordd,' '
Anglice, from Brecon thro' iondon to Olveston,
but there is part of it which I wish Booth to see ; unless
he has already christened and registered your Pagan
Babe ; if so be, then I must put up with the reUcs or
relicts or reliques of Druidism. We have heard of
Celtic Remains, we have seen Celtic Researches,
and now proceeding on, alphabetically, to D, we have
Druidical reliques. Now will not some of the wags
say those Celtic fellows sell nothing but old doaths
01 the offals of the regular shops, mere remnants,
scraps, patches. I wish, if it be not too late, and you
agree with me, and if it pleases our Dancing Master
in Portland Street, who, being more than a godfather
has a ri^t to be consulted, that the brat should be
named The Mythology of the British Druids, or
if that be promisii^ too much, as from the recollection
I have of the book I think it is, suppose you say an
Essay on The Mythology of the British Druids,
of if that be too much. Essays upon the Principal
or several or many of the tenets and Mythology of
&c. Consider this well in council, but I leave you
both to determine, tho' I feel almost as much interest
as either of you in the success of the work.
I shall cause my books to be unshipped at the
"Ship" at Olveston, and perhaps may send you a
copy more than is subscribed for, wtuch you may
place with some respectable booksdler at Bristol,
izecoy Google
if sod) a character can be found there, for entre nous
I have my doubts, and would prefer dealing vith the
Shylodcs of, what d'ye call it ? place in London, than
with the fair tradesmen of Bristol : the devil sent me
from there is one of the most rascally imps that ever
issued from Pandemonium ; he drinks on one or two
days in the week, and not only sins himself, but like
his brother or his uncle Bedzebub seduces the other
black boys ; and now that the wot^ is near a
conduaon, not having employment in view, he
absolutdy keeps away on purpose to prevent its
completion.
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
To THB Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Brbcon, 2zsf April, 1S09.
Uy Dbab Fbibnd,
I shall write by to-night's post to James to
fnmish you with the survey of Bidiopston, made by
one Evans by my direction soon after your induction,
but I am, previous to your examination of it (as I have
always be^), firmly of opinion that it would be the
most eligible step you can take to let the tythes at a
sum certain. If I could have brot^t Harry Lewis
to this, I should have dealt with him, but he was for
poundage only, £70 per anniun, but it seems even your
drunken predecessor, by his being upon the spot, could
make more of them than Mr. Davies at Olveston or
Mr. Jones at Brecon, for the distance at whidi I reside
1 found it was impossible to manage such rogues as
these men of Gower. Take an instance of one of their
tricks. I had information that a Thos. Hopkin had
carried his com in in the night to cheat the parson.
The de^yman of Cilfiwch, tibe tenant of your glebe,
and the parish derk employed to look after your tjrthes,
all agreed there was some foul play, but Uien how to
catch him was the point. Nothing easier. A
Captain Hammond of this parish told me that he and
his servant saw the com carried home by HopkiQ.
I still hesitated about going to law, because my poor
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91
parson was a nervous man and hated disputes.
Very right and compassionate," quoth he, "but I
hope you don't mean to call upon me for tythes ; if
you do, I'll be d if I pay them." Thus situated,
I dted the man to the Bishop's Court ; he came to
Brecon, denied the accusation with many asservations.
I told him I had proof of the ofEence, but if he would
pay 2 guineas for the citation and service, and
momise not to do the same again, I would forgive him.
This he refused, and chose to spend £io at least in his
defence. When the business was ripe for producing
the witnesses I called upon the Cap^in, who by this
time had made it up with his neighbour,, who was a
poor man with a large family, not worth following.
Beside be could not be certain as to the quantity of
com, the time, or even the person who carried it in.
Thus situated, I was glad to bring your Proctor and
the cause out of Court without paying cxiets.
James, I am fully persuaded, is an honest man,
tbo' I am sorry to learn he is indolent in answerii^
letters, which in my mind is an unpardonable ofEence
in business. His charge for his own trouble in the
account he sent me was very moderate [£5 5s.), but
Z am almost satisfied he must be imposed upon in the
deductions. It is, however, useless to attempt
bringing the business to a speedy conclusion by a
corre^>ondence. You must fix a day for letting the
tythes, and that during the next month, before the
tythe Iambs and wool ate due, and you mtist go down
yourself to see that they are let at a fair price, and
to prevent and defeat a combination to lower their
value, if such should be formed, or perhaps to guard
gainst friendships or partiaUty in those who may
have the man^ement of the sale. I am satisfied,
notwithstanding your fears and reluctance to quit
your home, the journey would be of service to you.
As to mysdf, tho' I am a few mUes nearer (for I must
go thro' Caermarthen) as I cannot travel at n^ht,
and consequently must take a chaise part of the way,
the exposure therefore would be considerably greater
than your coach hire from the Passage ; beside I do
not know whether James would not now consider me
as a land of spy or supervisor whose company might-
be dispensed with.
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9«
I will do all I can to prevail upon the Bishop to
giant you a non-iesidence Ucense, and to excuse your
attendance, whether at Caenn&rthen oi Brecon, but
he is one of the most tmacconntable beings that ever
wore lawn sleeves.
I have been latdy teazed by Meyrick, who has
written a sort of history of Cardiganshire, to request
some translations from the Welsh from you. I have
no notion of complying with this : he Imows nothing
of the language, which he has mutilated in a most
barbaiotis manner, and wants to borrow the assistance
of others to make up a book upon subjects which he
does not understand, and consequently cannot elucidate.
I beg you will take no notice of him if he writes to you ;
I have told him your state of health is such that I have
taboo'd your application to literature for some time,
vrtiich I hereby do.
Perhaps James may have greater influence with
the Bishop of St. David's than I have, for they
possess a wonderful similarity of maimers. My Lord
never answers letters ; if, however, I write to him on
your case he may vouchsafe me a verbal answer on
his way down.
Youis very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Brecon, 2znd Afril, 1809.
Hv Dear Psibnd,
(I^ter opens with a reference to the fact that
the Commission for the valuation of the profits of
Painscastle has arrived).
Our friend Payne and his wife will be our guests
during the whole of next week.
One word more. My old friend, the Rev. John
Hughes, of Glasbury, died 15th of this month, aged
60, leaving three daughters. He had an ample
property, which he neitiiei squandered or hoarded,
tfao he placed now and then some money in the funds ;
be was by no means deficient in talents, and liberal
izecDy Google
99
almost to a fault to the poor ; for no one was ever turned
from Ms door, consequently he was sometimes imposed
upon ; reserved in manner, but of inflexible integrity,
I believe never told an untruth in his lifetime ; steady
in his attachments and friendships, for several years
an active magistrate and an excellent father. Try
your hand at an epitaph for a plain oval marble tablet,
which I wish to be erected in that church in which for
many years, notwithstanding his ample income, he
officiated as curate, without receiving any emolument
or any benefice in the church until a few years before
his death, when he had the prebend of Uansaintfread
and the vicar^;e of Pembroke.
Yours most sincerdy,
THEO. -'
To THB Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
BSBCON, Jvne 5, 1809.
Mv Dbak Fsibnd,
On the 15th of this month the subscribers to
the Qerical Fund for the relief of the distress' d
widows and orphans of the clergy of this Arch-
deaconry meet at the Lion. I mil venture to put
your name down as curate of Painscastle for los. 6d.
aonually to thi^ excellent institution, which actually
preserves three or four distressed women from
starvli^ and materially relieves others.
I wish you would think of paying a visit to your
parishioners at Bishopston as soon as you can find a
cloak and trimmings for two or three Sundays. My
arms are not long enough to reach to Gower, and the
Flemings are confounded rogues ; the last year's
receipt was most terribly frittered away. My friend
James, the Attorney of Swansea, will show it you ;
he is an honest young man and will assist you in
increasing the rent of the glebe, which must be done,
and I hope in renting out the tythes at a certain
fl iim i fll stun.
^ ^When you go down you will also see what stated
the bouse is in, and tell them what you would wish
to be done.
oy Google
J
Ur. HardJngg Bdmires yonr Dedication to the
Bishop of Uandaff. and so should I if you had
omitted the word ' ' competence " ; he has not given
yon a competence or anythii^ like it, tho' the public,
and amot^ them the Bishop, will think he has, and
quote your admission as proof.
I see a catalo^e of books to be sold at Gutch's,
a booksellei at Bnstol, advertised. I should wish to
have one (price id.) especially if Whitaker's library
is among them ; but how can you convey it to
Youis very sincerely,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rhv. Mb. DAVIES.
Brkcom, June i8, 1809.
Ht Dbak Snt,
A young friend of mine who is captain in our
local USIitia was summoned to appear at Bristol on
Friday to sit on a Court Martial upon some rioters
at Hereford. When they came to Durdham Down
they were informed by General Ward, not General
Watdi, that thdr attendance at Bristol was not
necessary, that they might return to Brecon, and
proceed to Hereford to assist at the trial ; there is
nothing like method in business !
My young captain, however, went on to Bristid
and during the hour or two he remained there he
bought me the catalogue, which he delivered me last
night ; it is not (as you observe) what I want, tho' I
should be glad to get hold of one book it contains, if
you can lay hands upon it. No. 1306 Brook's " Dis-
covery of Errors in Camden, &c., with the Answers,"
price los. 6d. If you buy it, send it down with my
2nd sleeping and sleepy volume (intended for Dr.
Davies who is properly awake to his own interest),
the original C^sian, and the Appendix only, con-
tainii^ Whitaker's books ; all of which that are
valuable, will (I dare say) be snapped up before I can
get at tiiem.
I have no doubt of your meeting the approbation
of the learned readers of your last work, and you must
habituate yourself to the kicks of the jackasses
who are turned out by the mob for the same purpose
izecoyGooale i
as over-driven oxeo in the streets of London ; their
tunes upon the harp, which it se«m3 you considered
inbannonious, were, unintentionally on thdr parts,
so many hymns to merit, and the lushest eulogy they
could pay you. In your conclusion as to your
having reached the acmd of your preferment, I trust
equally wrong ; but I must intreat that to arrive
at something nearer the acm^ of the value of what
you have, you will exert yourself, chase the blue devils
out of the chimney comer, and if they return to the
clu:ige, see whether the mail coach to Swansea will
not distance them ; my life on't, you ate mote
certain of success than Captain Barclay. Cor-
respon<knce will not do ; if that could have effected
your purpose, the business would have been completed
by me ere this ; but I have more than once been
baffled in my attempts to serve you thioi^ the
medium of correspondence. However, that you may
place matters in a proper train, and settle such
preliminaries as may be prudent or necessary,
previous to your visitalion, you may communicate
your sentiments to Mr, John James, Attorney,
Swansea ; tell him of your intention, then ' ' prime
and load," "make ready," "present," "wait well
or the word," Say I requested you to write.
Yon see' " Nos quoque tila sparsimus," tho' now
lame, spavin'd, and wind-gall'd, but yet with some
blood, and good spirits on gettix^ rid of a confounded
com which plagu«l me more than the gout, and as to
the blues, a % for them. I laugh at mem un^ I am
reminded that they torment my friends, when I feel
something like the daw and long nails of one of the
imps. I long to see your Ossianomastris: in good
birth, after which you may lie upon your oats for some
time. Pray can you b^, borrow, hire, or steal from
your friends {I'll indemnify you in any case) fol de
la Motte's " Principal Historical and Allusive Arms
home by the families of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain," &c. (read England). A similar undertaking
for Monmouthshire, South Wales, with a briS
genealogical history and anecdotes is now the bobl^
noise of Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Received Payne's book and delivCTed, I believe.
izecoy Google
To TBK Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
i8xo.
Ut Dbak FfaxxD,
I cannot believe that Gutch's Catalogue contains
the whole of Whitaker's books ; if it does, tho' they ■
may be moie expensive, and more numerous, I
would not give mine in exchange for them. Fray get
b(dd of the foUowii^ if you can, and send them me.
i 9. d.
2840 Pillitior (I presume Polontiei is
meant) Dictionare de la langue
Brit o 18 o
2853 F^e's Archaeolt^ia, &c o 10 6
2854 Shaw's Gaelic Dictionary . . . . 140
3908 Smith's Gaelic Antiquities . . . . 18 o
£3 10 6
Of the first of the four I know nothing ; perhaps you
do. If it contains nothing more than what may be
seen in Uwyd's Archaeologia I would not have it ;
if there is any new 01 additional matter, I should be
glad to 1
Mi. John Place, of the Abbey Copper Works,
near Neadi, tells me he thinks there is fire day (and I
think there is lead also which may be converted into
England gold) under the glebe [at Bishopston] fot which
he offers most liberally 6d. per ton. This will never do,
but I have promised him that you will consider his
proposal ; you will do well, therefore, to settle this
Dusmess aJso yourself when you come{down, and in
the meantime desire James to make inquiries with
some intelligent person conversant in business of this
nature what would be a fair compensation or ground
rent to the landlord to a speculator finding and
raising this article, and how much he ought to be
compdlable to raise per week or month, or to pay a
certain sum in Ueu.
I beg you would not fail come down and give your
parishioners a sermon on honesty into the bai^rain;
let me know a day or two before you set oS, and u you
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103
come back this way you shall have tny account, if
not it shall be sent you.
Mr. S. M^mck, who has just published a history
of Caerdiganshire, thus writes to me : " Will you have
the goodness to ask youi Celtic friend Mr. Davies
what Cambrian, Greek, Roman, or other proof there
are of the time when Britain was Sist pe^ed. The
Welsh Chronicles, I believe, place it about 1300 years
before Christ. Mr. Davies about 1000, Mr. Roberts
700. All that can be advanced about settling the
period I should like to have, and also if he knows
anything about the first peopling of Ireland. I mean
previous to the Belgiaid, who were the Lloegrians,
termed by the Irish Fiizbolg, and the Damnonians
going there. Was it before peopled from Britain or
were the first inhabitants the Nemetas only, who came
from Gaul i How long after their arrival does he think
the Llo^tians quitted Britain for Ireland ? " If
you have leisure to answer these queries direct to Mr.
S. R. Meirrick (or Meyridc, Esq.) No. 3, Sloan
Terrace, Chelsea.
Mind you go to Gower, or you will be exonn-
municated hy
Your friend,
THE DEPUTY REGISTRAR.
To The Rbv. Mr. DAVIES.
Brecon, Awgtuf 14, 1810.
My DBAS Fribnd,
The Bishop very readily excused your absence
at the Visitation, and said he would dispense with
the medical certificate, but he says as to the license
you must write him, and explain your grounds for
requesting it ; whidi letters must remain among the
the papers of the Diocese as his justification for grantii^
it. I stated to him that there is no house on
Painscastle ; that the bam at Bishopston cost between
^100 and £200 in repairing, or rather re-building, and
that the house the money is laid out upon annually
is not yet habitable, I mention this in order that
you may know the reasons I have given for your non-
residence, and which I firmly believe to be true.
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'«♦
Don't be surprised if I send yon a History of the
World before the Flood. Mr. WilUaffls, of Ivy Towei,
a very learned man, but Penukiwish and book
maddish, is exttemdy ddighted with youi last book,
which I presented to him, and threatened to send you
his own if he can convey it. The address to Paul,
" too much learning," &c., will unquesticmal:^ apply
to him, but he means well, and is a zealous Quistian,
notwithstanding his truly Cambrian irritability, of
which you may have seen a very impolitic and rather
incoherent specimen in the last Swansea paper, if it
reaches you.
I am glad to inform you by conunand of Booth
that your book, which has hitherto been too shdfiak
b^ns to move. I do all I can to recommend, because
I hi^y admire it and wish to serve you, bnt the knack
or habit of lending and borrowing is become so
prevalent, that I fear authors must eat even less than
they have been hitherto compelled to starve upon.
It is veiy extraordinary that my vohunes have
been reviewed by ail the gentry of that description,
except by the British Critic, a publication which
professes to support the Established Church and those
writers who are zealous for its honour and the
maintenance of its discipline and doctrines. There
is somethii^ wrong, and I suspect venal in this shop.
I am totaUy unmiown to them. I have received
assistance at the British Museum from one or two of
them, and yet my book hqs lain nearly 6 years upon
their shelf, whiU Merrick's Caerdiganshire, whidi
has hardly appeared 6 months teck, has been
reviewed, and what is extraordinary, commended;
tho' it is already mere waste paper in the principality,
bdr^ a chain of notorious and egregious bhmdess.
from the preface to the index.
Pray let me hear from you, and I hope hear a better
account of your health, if you should catch any
Jafiers on their way to the Passage.
You shall see the Bts^iop's charge as soon as it
comes out ; it is in my mind the most orthodox, the
ablest and the soundest that ever was ddivered, or
at least that has been ever heard or read by
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
izecoy Google
To TBB Rav. Mr. DAVIES.
Bbbccw, Sef4. i8. 1810.
My De&k Davies,
Your half-saved, quarter-saved, half-quatter
saved, diunken, idle curate, lost a paper ddiveied
bim by the Bishop at the Visitation under the direction
of a late Act for Augmentation of Small Ijvin^
Seeing youi brother at Kington, I desired hitn to inquire
about it, and received an answer from him that it
could not be found, whereupon I wrote as the Bishop
had instructed me to Richard Bume, Esq., Deans
Yard, Westminster, stating the above fact, and
requesting he would send me another, which I would
take care should be properly executed ; to that letter,
tho' post paid, I recdved no answer ; I therefore
recommend you to try your hand, inJEorming this
Burning man that you have heard of the above
circumstances from me, that you are the licensed
curate of Uanbedi Painscastle, and requesting he
would send one to you, or you may lose a ratnie
advantage by Hwlws's n^lect.
I sent you Mr. Williams's, of Ivy Tower's book
a fortnight ago, directed to you at the ' ' Ship ' ' at
Olveston. I hope you have received it. tho' I doubt
whether it will entertain you, for the author is
certainly <A the Fen-whiw faJsily.
I don't mean again to deal in County Histories
I mean that I don't intend risking the expence o
printing, &c., tho' I have no reason to complain of
the experiment I have made ; but my worthy and
excellent friend, Mr. Richard Price, the Member for
New Radnor, is very anxious about that county, and
I have promised to make collections for him, assisted
1^ Cheeae,* Lewis of Haipton, and one or two more.
As Oiptain of this press gang, I seize you, and insist
upon your becoming one « our boat's crew and
hatidling your oar immediately. Heave ofi— and away
we go!
What do you consider to be the meaning of
Radnor, and when and by whom was it first adopted f
• Thia Ghana wH grandfathac to Edmund H. Obttme, Eaq^
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What is the meaning of Uaelenydd Mdentdd,
tdias ^vil Uwch Mynidd, or Ecton ?
What of Ehrel oi Elfel Is mynidd ?
And of the following parishes :— -Uanbister,
Nantmd, Llanddewi Ystradenni, Clftow, Llowes,
Dissoth, lianfaredd, Llanelwedd, Llanyri, Glandestiy
OI Gladestiy, and Cr^iina ?
Who was Saint Wonno to whom Llaoono is
dedicated, as wdl as two other chnich^-— one in
}jfrfnrr\ m i thuhir p and One in Glamoisanshiie ?
Answer me these questions in seamanship as soon
as you can, and if you know of any able minded lad
or greybeard, living os dead, willing to lend a hand,
give notice to the Captain, and you shall have plenty
of flip foi your trouble.
I was veiy happy to see youi last lettei, from whidi
it appeals that the bines have been blown out of
Olveston ; be assured that burying them occasionally
in the red sea is a ptopet remedy, and may be justified
in your case, provided it be not too often resorted to.
As for ytmi friend, ' ' whom villainous company
hath been the spoil of," who h&'th tried the experiment
and who in consequence hath ' ' cramps ' '
Side-stitchy that do pin his breath up, urchins
That for the vast of night while they do work
All exercise on him, and oft he's pinch'd
As thick as honey combs, each pinch more stinging
Than bees that made them.
And yet, notwithstanding this, I laugh, I laugh, at the
imps of gloominess, and have just now discovert,
as they tdl me, a cure for the gout, or at least I am
determined to try it, for I cannot contemplate the
loss of the use of my right hand, which must follow
repeated attadcs for a few winters to come. While,
however, I can thus aj^ly it I know not how to do it
more agreeably than by assurii^ you
That I am.
Your very sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
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To THE Rbv. Mb. DAVIES.
Bbbcon, Nov. iS, iSio.
Uv Dbab Davibs,
I wish- to have a seal au^aved, because I some-
times write "to great men. Toe amis I know ; but
the motto must be my own : —
" Me studia ddectant domi "
' ' Cis ui chaio y wlid a nu^ ' '
" C&a ni chii y wl&d a mAg."
Utrumhomm ?
Give me yoxa opinion.
I shall, be at No. il. Golden Square [London]
for the next month, where I b% you will command
the services of
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
Given under our hand and wafer, not
bavii^ at present a seal, a.t Brecon, in
the County of Brecon, i8th Nov. 1810,
tho' meant for Gloucester, ^ursday,
20th. T. J.
You know all my propensities, and therefore I
leave it to you. I should like (if you prefer the Webh)
to puzzle the English with the appropriate rhyme
and jargon : but I cannot make up my mind which of
the two mottoes to prefer.
Point out any other mottoe, not such as your
friendship may suggest, but whidi you in sincerity
would recommend tne to adopt — ^for I have already
chopp'd and changed 50 times without satisfying
mysdf at last.
To THB Rav. EDWARD DAVIES.
BsBCoif, April 6, iSll.
Mt Dbab Sm,
Vive I'eau Mediunorle ! It has done its duty, and
if it had failed I should have lain in bed in I/mdon
until the present fine weather brought me out with
other rq>tiles.
izecoy Google
Our Bishop is a noadescTq>t of the" class just
meotioned; nothing is aimed particularly against you,
but inattention to letters is one of his common vagaries ;
however, you need not apply to him upon the business
of the augmentation, as you'll observe the certificate
of his Rc^trar will do, and, indeed, is that which is
generally sent. I advise you to write the Sec't for
£8, viz., for the two years due Lady Day last, and if
they object to it we can send another. Boc^ will,
I dare say, do this for you. I received from him this
week your vol. of sermons. No other copy has as yet
reached this place, tho' I advise a few to be sent here.
I think you had better write a most humble address,
petition, and rem nstrance to your Diocesan to remind
him of the liability to attack to which you are now
exposed ; tho' you possess no mansion upon the one
or habitable dwelling on the other benefice, and tho'
you have not the sine qua non to provide a sufficiency
of soil even for the semper vtvum tectorum, if he does
not attend to you, let me know and I'll prevail upon
Charles Mo^an to be flai^>er.
Your information as to the pl^ue and trouble of
purchasing for the county is correct ; however, you'll
do what yon can, and so will
Your very sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
To THE Rev. Mr. DAVIES.
Bbecon, Jvly 7, iSii.
Ut De&s Fbibnd,
A Shot for the Blues.
And if I do not scare them, then am I no gunner.
Yon are, I see, at this moment comfortably in their
power, and yet I believe they never bad so little reason
to triumph, for you neva were in your lite so much in
the sunshine of episcopacy as yon are at this moment,
and I really have sanguine expectations that the next
summons to Saint David's wul be accompanied with
the ofier of another living in the diocese. To account
for all this, which will appear a marvel to you while
you are reading it, know then that upon the 25th of
last month your Diocesan was at Brecon, and showed
izecoy Google
M9
me yourloi^ letter, as well as the Bishop of Gloucester's,
upon which followed numerous iuterrc^tories and
explanations, and a conv^'sation twice as long as both
their letters. He did not seem to understand what
you meant by expecting cold comfort or encouragement
on your living, nor indeed did he seem to me to know
fi4iether you were to be sent to Painscastle or
Bishopston ; but when I told him what a set of Goths
and knaves your parishioners were, how miserable
the house was, and how exposed to the weather the
situation (tho' this last a^ument, of course, did not
weigh much with the founder of Llanddewi Brefi CoU^e)
he evidently relented and promised me to write to you.
He was, however, so talun up with the controversy
with Sir John Nichol upon the case of Widces for not
burying a Dissenter that (knowir^ the man) I don't
wonder he lost s^ht of the letter. In the course of
the day he asked me for your book of sermons, witii
which I furnished him, and now ^ain he lost sight of
\^ckes and appeared quite in raptures with your
composition. " Why," says he, " if our society had
offered ^loo to support our institution it could not be
more effectually or ably done than by this work of
Mr. Davies's, I thought him, Mr, Jones, a mere
antiquary or black letter man hke yourself, but I find
him an orthodox Divine and an admirable writer on
theological subjects." You need not trouble
yourself about sending a book to him, he has probably
had it ere this, for he said he should send for it
immediately, which I daresay he did, unless Wickes's
case again drove away the sermons. I shall, however,
have in the case of next week a parcel from Booth,
in which I dedred him to send a copy for Payne and
half a dozen for sale here, if I can dispose of them.
When they arrive it will afford me an opportunity of
asking the Bishop whether he has had the book oi
whether I shall send it him ; and at the same time
reminding hitn that the long letter of the curate of
Olveston remains unnoticed ; which I'll take care shsjl
be done in such a manner as shall not give offence. In
the meantime set your heart at rest as to the estimation
in which you now stand with him.
I am sorry on both your accounts to hear of your
wife's general state of h^th. Sed levius fit paiietitia
izecoy Google
qmcquid compere est nefas, for medidne I fear has very
seldom any salutary effects in correcting the evil vrhea
long and deeply rooted ; persuasives, however, to resigna-
tion are unnecessary wim you, who have had so many
and such impressive lessons that If you have not already
learnt to submit, at least without whining or kicking,
it would be useless in me to either pr^di or pray,
to lash or to pat you. Still, my good friend, let me
remind you without flattering, and I trust without
presumption, that in consequence of the hardship of
your lot here you may entertain a well founded hope
of a far more eternal and exceeding weight of f^ory
Thus sincerdy prayeth.
Your friend,
THEO. JONES.
To THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER OF "THE
CAMBRIAN REGISTER.'*
Bkbcon, Jan. lo, 1797.
Deak Snt,
I embrace the first moment the wheel will
permit me to thank you for a few hoars' agreeable
amusement, received in the perusal of your Register.
The book has much merit, and will, I think, claim and
deserve the pnbUc attention ; and as you desire my
free thoughts upon it, you shall have them freely and
candidly. It has its faults, and I will point out to you
what appears to me to be such ; not for the purpose
of displaying my learning, or indulgii^ an ill-nati^ed,
but too prevalent propensity to di^>arage the labours
of others but merely to point out inaccuracies which
may be corrected, and some trifling errors or instances
of neglect, which, by a very little attention, may be
avoided, either in a future edition or volume. You
know I wish well to the work, and I am sure you will
require no further apolc^y.
You have published a very sensible letter of Mr.
Lewis Morris's, about Geoffrey of Monmouth and Us
giants ; and yet I am afraid, that under the title of
History, you are publishing Geoffrey and not
Tyssiho's history ; or, at all events, you have
I
iLCD, Google
translated Caor, a giant, ^lich is by no means the
sole or exclusive meaning of the word. You remember
in my MS. review, for my own amusement, of Mr,
^^lliams's History of Monmouthshire, I observed that
Choir Gaur (Stone Henge) does not probably mean chorea
gigantum, but chorea r^^m, prindpum, sacerdotum,
l^islatomm, or probably of all those characters united.
Caur had much the same meaning, or might, at least, be
as equivocally applied, as a great man in BngUsb, a term
whick apphes equally to size and abiUties. How the
deuce came Penteulu to be translated patron of the
family ; a term neither intell^ble, nor warranted
by the original ? The office meant in the original
was well known in all, or at least most, monarchial
courts, and has existed ever since, thoi:^ the duties
of it may differ in different counties ; and I thinlc you
iantidpate what I can hardly call information, when I
say mat the master of the household is meant. Gost^ur
m^t as wdl have been translated by Crier as silentiary,
as the former is much more easily understood.
As I have pointed out to you all the faults idiidi
now occur to me (and bdieve me I am not as trite to
pick out more), let me notice the beauties. The
observation upon the language, upon the origin of the
Cymri, has much leamii^, much sound sense, great
ingenuity, bordering now and then upon our favourite
topic, etymology ; [Pail up and ease us !) and will, if
continued and conducted in the same maimer, not
di^race any publicarion, in however h^h estimation
among the learned, few of whom but condescend to
pick up instruction as well as amusement from it. Sir
Rhys ap Thomas's Life is a piedous morceau. As a
piece of modem bic^raphy, indeed, it would be
considered astedious ; but as a specimen of the style
of the age in which it was written, containing many
particulars which cannot be generally known, it is a
valuable curiosity. Pray do not omit to continue the
Mabinogiott ; you must endeavour to please all
palates, and these have the double chance of amusing
the antiquary and the novelist, or, at least, the
romance-reader ; there are indeed some Welshisms
that I could wi^ were dropped, as " Of all the hounds
in the world he had ever seen." Of all that he had
izecoy Google
ever seen in conversing with her, she was most un-
embarrassed. Perhaps it is presumption in me to say
I could better this style, but I cannot help sa3ring I
should have been glad to have seen it before it was
published, to have suggested my opinion upon it,
whatever attention had been paid to it. I am pleased
to see a translation of Hywef's Laws, thou^ there is
one in Latin, but the book is so scarce that they are
little known. Fray continue them, except those as
to fornication or adultery, wbicb I am certain neither
Mr. Owen's nor your modesty will permit you to read,
much less to clothe in an T^glwi* dress. Your two
first statists are men of sense, and valuable corres-
pondents. THie parson of Llanrhug has sent you, I
really believe, a literal copy of his answer to the
Bishop's queries at the last visitation: — " &i my
parish " is so extremely like that style, that,
accustomed to it, as I have been, I could hardly help
turning the leaf to see whether I had marked upon it
the payment of his visitation fees. More of Lewis
Uoms's iMters,* and more of everything that belongs
to him, pow I'amour du bon Dieu. This part of your
work is worth its weight in gold. I did not think
Evan Frydydd HIr the poet he was. I knew him well,
but I suppose the Cwrw had expelled the Awen before
I became acquainted with him.
Your vignette is elegantly executed, and will not
attract the eyes of a sfreet-loun^ as he passes by the
shop. CVch ! to be sure — no it will not ; and yon
had no idea of its attracting attention.
God bless you ! and be as merry and happy as a
warm room, a piece of roast beef, mince pies, or good
port, an amiable wife, a prattling Uttle one, and a good
conscience, will give yon leave. Make my com-
pliments to that same rib of yours, and to Owen, ^riien
you see him, and beheve me to be, dear Williams,
Yours, &c.,
THEOPHILUS JONES.
* Lswii Morria's Lattora are delightful. I hope there is no end
to tliem. Qnmwy Owen doee not write u well u Iroin his kdvar-
■kry I ihonld have expected. The Bittort/ of PembnduiMn has
miujh cmioui and genuine informatim, but upon the whole hanga
iLCD, Google
"3
To Thb Kbv. WAI,TER DAVIES ("GWAU^TER
MECHAIN ■') MEIVOD, MONT.
BiEBCDN, Dec, 23, 1799.
Dbak Snt,
You see how important and familiar I am,
but it is a professional fault, and tho' perhaps you would
not recognise either my hand or my features if I
introduced myself to you, I have taken it into my bead
from reading Lavater and the Cambrian Register that
I should instantly know the Rev. Mr. Walter Davies,
I believe he is good humour'd as well as learned, and
as a proof that I so think of him, I have taken the liberty
of infnTtnJTig him that I am at present for ming a Great
Evil and furnishing the world with a proof of my Polly
in Folio. Perhaps one of the shelves at Meivod or
Yspythy Ifan may hereafter groan under its weight.
Now to the purport of this letter, and I proceed without
further ceremony to ask (which I am sure with you
will have the authority and we^t of a command)
H^iether you can give me any assistance or hint how
I may obtain any information as to the History of
this County. It is necessary I should tell you I have
Tanner's Notitia Monastica, and that I have, or at
least am in a train of procuring all the materials there
stated. I have also officiaUy some particulais which
cannot be dsewbere procured. Do you know where
I can get any others ? What are become of the
Celtic Remains P I think our friend Williams, the
bookseller, of the Strand, told me you were about them.
That rogue has used me very ill in our last volume ;
he has made me talk nonsensically and ungram-
matically et ornne quod exit in allay, and his excuse after
two years' delay was — ^he had no time ! 1 ! You of course
know Owen. These dogs the booksellers will Idll hun.
I know it, and hereby testify it will be murder — it is
done with malice prepense — poor fellow ! It is really
bard so able a man should be obl^ed to fag and starve,
for he does little better, but virlus laudatur et alget —
as it was in the days of Horace, is now and ever shall
be. Do favour me with a few lines (if you can be of
any service to me, or even if you cannot) in answer
to this incoherent epistle. I am much afraid those
Afiperanss, which at this moment might certainly be
izecoy Google
"4
written Penwin (for the plural would spoil the pun)
will prevent our meeting, but if you should sunnount
and cross them no person win be happier to see you
than
Si,
Yours ancerely,
THEO. JONES.
Youll be good enough to direct to Mr. Jones,
Registrar, Bredmock.
Dugdale's M. I have.
I wish Owen had condescended to write his
dictionary in the character now used, for tho' he had
authority for his letters we have so long accustomed
ourselves to a different mode of reading tl^t I am now
and then tempted to exclaim as the Frenchman did
upon puTchasmg Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. Begar,
I find if I buy Monsr. Owen's Welsh Dictionary I must
buy another Dictionaire to explain de lettre of Monsr.
Owen. 1 mentioned this to him before he began ;
I likewise pointed out to him the impropriety of
attempting his quotations in English rhyme. Tlie
latter hint he attended, but his v's and his s's, &c., &c.,
he would not part with. They have hurt the sale of
his book here very much.
To The Rev. WALTER DAVIES.
Mt I^ar Sir,
Brecon, June 27, 1802.
Great facts, like great wits, have, I presume,
a {Jentiful stock of absence (to use an Irish phrase).
In yout descent from our Snowdon the farmer tells me
you borrowed a great coat, which you have either
mislaid or wrapped up in your own by mistake. If the
former be the case, pray tell me where I am to enquire
for it, as I hear tis not at the Lion. If you have it,
I'll thank you to send it by the coach directed to my
bouse.
Remember (if I have not the pleasure of seeing
you again) liat you were good enough to promise me
the outlines of your labours in Breconshire, and the
izecoy Google
"5
otdigation shall be always acknowledged in private
if yon don't wish I should do it poblidy by
Dear Sr,
Youis ancerely,
THEO. JONES.
How can I get at your last Prize Poem ? I'll
thank you foi the printer's name.
To Thb Rev. WALTER DAVTES.
BSECENOCE, Nov. 23, 1806.
Dear Sir,
When I had last the pleasure of seeing you ia
Brecknockshire, you gave me hopes of a communi-
cation upon the subject of the mineralogy of the
county. I have written to you twice by private bands,
but not hearing from you I fear they have met with
the fate of many letters thus attempted to be
conveyed, and under this impression I take the
liberty of making one effort more to obtain your
assistance before I finish my 2nd vol. of the History
of this County, which I hope shortly to send among the
devils.
An answer to the following queries will much
oblige, but even an answer saying I wUl not, or I cannot,
or I have no leisure, or anything of that nature will
be preferred to no answer ; for I shall then know
what to expect. Mrs. Jones tells me that you have
been in Biecon^iire without calling upon
Your sincere friend,
THEO. JONES.
What is the posirion of the strata in the Vale
of Udc in Brecon^dre ?
What in the Vale of Wye ?
How do they dip and rise, and are there any
remarkable instances of thar being thrown out of
their courses ?
izecoy Google
ii6
How many different strata do they consist of
and thdi deptii ?
What are the component particles of each ?
Whet are the stones pick'd up on the surface at
different places, and be pleased to name the places
where stones of pecnliat or uncommon substances
are found ?
Did you observe the crumbling argillaceous stone
in the Vale of Irvon and Hundred of BuHth P What
is that called ?
Any other observations in your mineralc^cal
Tour ?
What are the strata of the Beacons ?
If you have any rough draft of your report to the
board that is l^ble and will lend it, send it per post.
I don't care for the exp^ice. I only want to pick out
a few articles of information, and it shall or shall not
be known they came from you — as you please.
To The Rbv. WALTER DAVIES.
DBAS Snt,
How are yon, and what are yon now about 7
I purpose giving an heraldic and genealogic map
of Wales m the style and by the way of enlai^ement
of Yorke of Ecddig. Can you, oi rather will you assist
me with the Arms of the families in N.W. or any of
them, their origin, or that of their mottoes 7
Do you publish in N.W. 7 I see nothing from
thence ; but, alas ! there is a great gulph ^tween
thee and me.
Owei Jones' 3rd vol. of the Archa. is a paltry
compilation. I expected Owen would have given
us the remainder of the Mabinc^on and other extracts
from the Llyfr Coch and Llyfr Du at Oxford : much
of them ^ould be published.
Pray have you seen my friend Davies's Mythology
of the Druids (London, 8vo., Booth, 1803} P If you
izecoy Google
117
have not, I beseech you to read it. Bishop Watson
in a note to out ju<^ says : " It will be an eternal
monument of his kammg, his ingenuity and his labours,"
I can hardly hold my pen, while I assure you that I am
Yours very smcerely,
THEO. JONES.
Gout 1 villainous gout, •
Hath been the spoil o' me.
What do you understand by the E^le of Pengwem
and E3i, the Churches of Bassa and the Kud of
Edeimion in Llywrch hen's El^y to Cynddylan ?
Pray give me your opinion per post letter at your
leisure.
I don't approve of my countryman Williams of
Ystradteilaw's translation of Cen i Ddewi. See how
beautifully, almost hterally, the four first lines may
be rendered into English verse : —
*Ahn^ty Pow'r in midnight's shade,
May ba^y sleep my frame pervade,
And e'en the morning dawn appear
The Poet's fire my spirit cheer.
To The Rbv. WALTER DAVIES.
Brecon, Od. i6, 1811.
Dbak Sis,
May the hour in which you lost youi MSS. in
my study be the most unfortunate of your Ufe.
If I publish my translation of Budd Cwrc, I should
wish to say sometlur^ about Ellis Wynne ; if, therefore,
you know or can procure any anecdot^ relative to
him, pray communicate them when you said the
ped^ees and the copy of your poem, which perhaps
may be conveyed by the Receiver, who will not be here
until next month. At present you are, I presume,
in your Perihelion, as I beUeve Crickhowel was your
Aphelion. When your return into our more southern
izecoy Google
ii8
skies win be I have not yet been able to calculate,
but instead of dreading it, as we have been taught to
do those other luminous but inexplicable appearances,
depend upon it your a|^roadi will always be greeted
wim pleasure by
Your sncere friend,
THEO. JONES.
The following undated letter, belonging to the Rev.
M. Powell Williams, Rector of Uansantffread, shows
that Mr. Jones's conscientious anxiety for the welfare
of bis friends and clients was not limited to that of his
<Ad schoolfellow, the Rev. Edward Davies : —
TO MR. WA1,TER PRICE, GhYNUMCK, IN
YSTRADGUNLAIS.
Dbak Snt,
As I find Mr. Bishop in tny absence drew Mr.
Jones, of Blamgwrthyd's Will (which I am happy to
hear is in favour of you and yours), I could not when
I heard of it (which was not till this evening) but be
uneasy at my not seeii^ it, and as no person has youi
interest more at heart than myself, I was much mote so
when I found that the real estate was devised with
remainders over, which I am afraid Mr. Bishop, or
indeed any other Cleric is hardly capable of doing with
prt^riety ; if therefore you can either send me a copy
of it, or if you think I can with propriety wait upon
you at Blamgwrthyd, or if you can bring the Will to
Brecon, it will nudce my mind easy, as 1 should be
exceedingly hurt, if hereafter any depute should arise
from the igporance or inadvertence of any person
connected with me, where you are concerned. However,
if you are satisfied that the present Will needs no
revisal, oi if (for this may be the case) you may think
that it may be hazardous oi impr(q)er to make any
bustle or stir in the business ay bringing up the
business afresh, let me hear from you and I shall
acquiese.
I am. Dear Sir,
Your otdiged humble servant,
THEa JONES.
Wednesday, past ii at ni^t.
izecDy Google
iig
To NICHOLAS CARLISLE, Esq., SECRETARY TO
THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.
Bkbcok, Oa. 2S, iSii.
Deas Sis,
I send you a sketch and a letter v^ch I lately
received from a young but intelligent and zealous
antiquary ; you will be pleased to communicate them
to the Society, if you think them worthy of their
attention.
The great camp and station at Cwm, in the parish
of Llan£hangel-Helygen, is the same that is xaea-
tioned by Mr. Strange, in a paper read to the Society
in May and June, 1774, and I believe published in the
Archaologia. He is inclined to fix the Magms of
Antoninus (he says) at Cwm ; but I must take leave to
differ from him here : later antiquaries have, I think,
correctly placed Magna or Magnis at Kenchester, in
Herefordshire. Certain I am that this station (for such
it appears to have been) lies very much 01 it of the
road from Gobannium, or Abergavenny, to Uriconium,
or Wroxeter. It is forty-four miles from the first-
mentioned place ; and a traveller from the first
station to the latter by Cwm, would describe neatly
the same angle as one starting from Guildford, in
Surrey, through Reading to London.
Cwm was, I apprehend, the next station on the
south-west to Caer-sws in Montgomeryshire, and
situated on the Via Helena, or more correctly, in my
opinion. Via Leona, the Chester road ; that dty being
called Caer - LUott • Gawr. At Cwm, this road
bifiucated ; one brandi proceeding through the
Hundred of Builth, near Llandovery, and along the
north side of the Towy to Muridumum, or Carmarthen ;
the otiier branch led to the station at Gaer, near
Brecon ; soon after which it again formed two lines,
one proceedit^ to Nidtun, or Neath, and the other
directing its course more westwardly to Trecastle,
Talysam, and aloi^ the south side of Towy, until it
united again with the road just above mentioned at
Muridumum.
I fear we seek in vain for either the Roman or
most andent Briti^ name of the station &t Cwm :
oy Google
J
for Castell CoU-Uwyn, the castle of the brake, only
describes its dilapidated state, when even its rains
were ovet-run with underwood. It is retturkaUe,
that thou^ this castle (as the Welsh call it) is situated
in the Hundred of Melenydd, its name should be
similar, and indeed the same, though differently
pronounced, as a hundred lower down the Wye, called
C(dl<wyn, correctly Coll-llwyn, for the same reason as
the site of the fortress is now so denominated ; because
that district was also anciently overgrown with
underwood.
If I should hereafter discover anything further
as to the name of this place, which may amount to
somewhat more than conjecture, if I may hope to meet
with their approbation, it shall be communicated to
the Society, l^
Dear Sir,
Thai and your obedient humUe servant,
THK). JONES.
[the sketch referred to is by Tbomas Price, derk,
ciu^te of Uanyre, " Camhuanawc" — Editer.^
izecoy Google
iLcGooglei
iLCD, Google
HOWEL HARRIS.
Howel Harris was bom at Trevecka, in tlie parish
of Talgaitli, in the county of Brecknock, on the 23rd
of January, 1714 ; his parents were of Caermarthenshiie
extraction, m low cdicumstances ; they, however,
contrived to give him a classical education, and he was
kept at sdaool until he was 18 years of age, at which
time his father dying, he was obliged to employ
himself in instructing a few boys in the neighbourhood
in reading and writing, in which situation he supported
himself for some ti'ne, intoiding at a proper ai;e to
take holy orders.
In November, 1735, he went to Oxford, and entered
at St. Mary's Hall, mider the tuition of a Mr. Hart,
but here he did not remain long, as we find him in the
followii^ year keepins a school at Trevecka, which
he afterwards removed to the parish church ; he now
seems to have given up every idea of the Established
Cburdi, and to have adopted the tqunion of a sect
since called Methodists, and which were then in their
About this time a man went about the country
instructing young persons to ai% psalms ; on these
occasions ne first ai^)^red as a preacher, in which he
met with no opposition, but being sent for by a
gentleman in Radnorshire, who had heard of his rising
fame, to preach before a large co^^egation, either
his doctrines or his conduct gave ofEence to some of
the clergy or magistrates of the county, and he was
turned out of his school. This, however, did not dis-
courage him, and he continued from thenceforward
to preadi pubhdy, sometinies twice or thrke a day,
being supported by several who became converts to
his opinion.
In 1730, while Mr. Harris was in ^«rdse of what
he no doubt conceived to be. his duty, and bedding
izecDy Google
forth to a coog r ^ation in Uerionethshiie, he was
cbaiged iiy some magistrates with a breach of the
Conventicle Act (a law made in the leign of Charles
n. for the sappression of seditious assemblies). Mr.
Harris oboerveo upon this occasion with great
propriety, that he was not within the purview of this
Statute, that he was a Conformist, and that neither be
nor his hearers entertained any seditious intentions ;
upon which, and upon consulting some lawyers, the
prosecution was dropped ; but notwithstanding this
he met with considerable opposition in some pkces;
et MachyiUletb, in Montgomeryshire, a pistol was
fired at him ; at Pontypool, in Monmouthshire, his
congr^ation was dispersed by a magistrate, who read
the Riot Act to them, and Mr. Harris was bound over
to appear at the Assizes, where, however, upon further
consideration, it was not thought expedient to pursue
the business. He also met with very roi^ treatment
in several other places, and once or twice narrowly
escaped with his ufe from the fuiy of a bigotted and
tmgovemable populace.
In the month of March, 1739, he first became
personally acquainted with Mr. Whitfield, though he
bad previously received a letter from him, approving
of his conduct, and encouraging him to proceed in his
itinerant exhortations. Mr. WiitSeld in his Journal
describes the pleasure he received in the interview
with his brother Howel Harris, at Caerdiff; he says
that " he generally discoursed in a field, from a wall,
or table, but at other times in a house, or anything
else; and that he had estabhshed near thirty
societies in Wales." The friendship formed between
these two extraordinary characters, from the
unanimity of their sentiments upon religious subjects,
and particularly as to free grace and election, in which
they differed in some points from the followers of Mr.
Wesley, continued during thdr lives.
In 1744 he married Anne, daughter of John
Williams, of Slcreen, in the county of Radnor, Esq.,
by whom he left issue only one ^tighter, Elizabeth,
who married Charles Frichard, of Brecon, Esq., try
whom she has several children.
izecoy Google
After preadung in different parts of Wales and
England for upwards of seventeen years, a wish
pic^bly to enjoy a home occasionally, and domestic
felicity, induced him to lay the foundation of the present
buildit^ of Trevecka. which was begun in April, 1752.
At this time the funds were very inadequate to the
undertaking, but the subscriptions of many who wished
well to the undertaking, and of some who being fond
of Mr. Harris's manner and style of preaching, desired
to reside in what was afterwards t^ed the Family
of Trevecka, enabled him to complete the work. Here
he establi^ied a small manufactory in wool, and in
1754 there were settled under the same roof with him
100 persons, the profits of whose labours were apphed
towards a general fund for their support. The com-
munity, or family, still continues, but since his death
the numbers have considerably decreased.
Soon after the breaking out of the war with France,
in the reign of Geo^e II. the Breconshire ^ricultural
Society offered to form themselves into a troop of horse
to serve in any part of Great Britain, without pay ;
on this occasion Mr. Harris engaged to furnish ten men
and horses, with their accoutrements, to attend them
at his own e^>ence ; for some reasons, which do not
now appear. Government did not think it e:q>edient
to accept their services, but on his recommendation
five young men, who were settled at Trevecka, entered
into the 58th Regiment of Foot, and foi^t for their
King and country at the Series of Louisbouig, Quebec,
and the Havaniuih.
In the year 1759 ^^ loyalty of Mr. Harris
becoming generally known and approved of, he was
solicited to accept of an Ensign's commission in the
Breconshire Mihtia ; this, after some consideration,
he agreed to do, and havii^ taken with Tiitn from
Trevecka twenty-four men, twelve of them at his own
cxpence, as to clothing and aims, he joined the regiment
in 1760, and some tune afterwards he was advanced
to the rank of Captain in that Corps. The first year
of their services they were ordered to Varrnoutb,
whither Mr. Harris accompanied them, sometimes
i<niiiiig his men on their march, in wtifflng hymns and
ptelmB; and at other times, and in meet towns thitnigh
izecoy Google
which they passed, preaching to them in his
T^imentals, a sight at that time perfectly novel, and
not very commcm at this day.
In 1762 he retained from Plymouth, upon the
omdtiaon of the war, to Trevecka, after having served
three years ia the Militia. In 1767, Selina, the late
Countess I>owager of Huntingdon, came to reside at
treveckti, where she estabU^ed what was called a
con^e, for the education of young men of thi'! *
peisuafflon who were intended for preaching, to which
several resorted during her life time, but it is ilow
nearly, if not totally, deserted.
In the year 1770 he lost his irife, and in the year
1773, upon the 2ist of July, an attack of the stone
and gravel, to vrtuch he had been then lately subject,
put a period to his existence. He was buried at
Talgarth, and over his grave in the church there is a
IcKig nutaph, on the merits of wfaidi readers will
probably dmer.
His character, like most of those who have made
warm friends and bitter enemies, has been variously
represented, with one set he was an angel, with another
a knave. Charity, though it may not inspire us with
the raptures of Ids admirers, will induce us to hesitate
before we admit either his hypocrisy or roguery ; to
his only daughter he was hardly just, and by his will
it appears that he was extremely anxious that the
whole of his property should go in the first place in the
disdiaige of his debts, and the remainder to those
whom be conceived himself obliged for assistance,
in money or otherwise. He was a strong robust man,
though not tall, his voice was loud, and by some
thoi^t sonorous. He was, when preaching, always
completely cloathed in sulphur, fire, and brimstone,
lAidi he dealt out liberally and with no inconsiderable
effect. Theterrors of.hell, which he painted with almost
a poet's fire, contributed, no doubt, frequeotly to frighten
men from their vices ; but it is submitted (without
the least idea of blaming those who may differ with
the writer in opinion), thoi^ it would be mucb more
conducive to the cause of Christianity, and conse-
quently to the advance of virtue and true religioa.
„Goo<^lc
"5
tx> address the Feason, rathei than the passions of
mankind. The old geatlemao with his horns and hoofs
sometimes terrifies, but like the scare-crow in the garden,
the intended effect is lost by his frequent introduction
and atheism sometimes follows ; whereas if a man can
be convinced that it is his interest in this, as well as in
a future world, to lead a virtuous life, he will feel
benefits more immediately, and yet they will certainly
be more endurable.
T.J.
[This Biography appeared in the second vol. of The
Cambrian Register, and was written by Tbeophilus
Jones. — Editor],
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REBtARKS ON WELSH TOURS.
the Artiole mens witli a reference to the alleged
pnctise of Courtship in Bed by the Welsh, and Theo.
Jones most emphatically dedaiea that there was no
sudi cnstom in general. He then proceeds : —
I am happy in confirming the account of strewing
flowers upon the grave, a practice frequently observed
in some of the country churchyards, and has truly
the becoming appearance of veneration for the dead
at the same tune that it produces a sentiment of pleasing
melancholy in the living. Yet, in this, our feasant
traveller cannot help bellishing and adomii^ tii»
tale when he informs us that the woman with whom he
iras in conversation, told him ' ' that if a nettle or a weed
was to be seen to-monow (meaning on a Simday) in
the churchyard — the living party to whom it (the grave
I presume, on which it grew) vould be kooUd after divine
service by the whole congregation I " Sad jade, to impose
thus upon a stranger. " Hooting ! " — hoot awa, mon,
it's oae ac a thing !
Hie Welsh weddings are prittey much as described
by this author : noisy, riotous, and dedicated by the
guests drinking and singing. He might have added
that they are frequently preceded, on the evening
before marriage, by presents of provisions, and
articles of household furniture, to the bride and
Inidgegroom ; on the wedding day as many as can
be collected together, accompany them to the churdi
and from thence home, where a collection is made in
money from each of the guests, according to thdr
incUnation or abDity, which sometimes supplies a
considerable aid in establishing the newly-married
oouple, and in enabling them to " b^;in the world,"
as they call it, with more comfort ; but it is at the same
time considered as a debt to be paid hereafter, if
called upon, at any future wedding of the contributors.
izecDy Google
137
or thdr friends, or thdr childTen, in sinular dicum-
stances. Some time previous to these weddii^, ^lere
t^y mean to leceive contributions, a herald with a
crook or wand, adorned with ribbons, makes the
drcuit of the neighbom-hood, and makes his
"bidding " oi invitation, in a prescribed fonn.
The knight errant cavalcade on horseback — the
carrying off of the bride — the rescue — the wordy war
in rhySim between the parties, &c,, which formerly
formed a singular spectacle of mock contest at the
cdebration of the nuptials, I believe to be now almost,
if not altogether, laid aside everywhere throughout
the prindpiuity.
It cannot be denied that the Welsh have much
superstitution amongst them, though it is wearii^ off
very fast. But the instance adduced here, that of thdr
predicting a storm by the roari^ of the sea, is a curious
land of proof of their superstition. Their predictions,
if they may be so called, are commonly justified by the
event ; and may, I apprdiend, be accounted for from
causes as natural as the forebodings of shepherds ;
for they have rules and data as well known to
themselves, and, perhaps as hable to error, as any of
those established by the more enlightened philosophers
of the present day. That, among the lower dass of
people, there is a general belief in the existence of
apparitions is unquestionable : but as to the lighted
candle, springing up upon the errand of love, I bdieve
that no person in Wales has ever heard of it. The
traveller has probably confounded it with a very
commonly received opinion, that wtlhin the diocese
of St. David's, a short ^>ace before death, a light is seen
proceeding from the house, and sometimes, as has
been ass^ted, from the very bed where the sick person
lies ; and pursues its way to the church, where he or
^le is to be interred, predsdy in the same trac^ in
which the funeral is afterwart^ to follow. This light
is called canwyll corpk, or the corpse-candle.
The extrav^ant ravir^ of Ifethodism, which
the author very truly and properly represents as
ezceedi;^ everything which can be seen or heard in
any dviUzed country, are certainly a reproach to the
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good sense fud undentanding of tbc itdiabitants.
Between 30 and 40 years ago a brandi of tlie sect of
Mr. Whitfield's penuasion bqcan to ezhitut certain
entiiusiastic extravagancies from wUch they are some-
times denominated Jumpers. Persuading themselves
that they are involuntarily actuated by a divine
impulse, they become intoxicated with this imagined
inspiiatioo, end utter their rapture and their triumph
widi such wildness and incoheience — with such
gesticulation and vociferation — as set all reason and
decorum at defiance. This presumption, seizing
chiefly the young and sanguine, and, as it seems, like
hysteric aflections, partly ^reading through the crowd
by sympathy ; its operation and effects extremely
varying accc^ding to the different d^rees of consti-
tution^ temperament, mock all description. Among
their preachers, who are also very various in their
character (illiterate and conceited, or well meaning and
sensible, or, too frequently, I fear, crafty and
hypocritical), some are more distinguished by their
success in etcitii^ those stravaganzas. . . Tins
Gleaner next .... tells us that in Wales the
belief in Fairies is general. That there are silly weak
people in all countries every man who has travelled
must be convinced ; and that there may be many of
the lowest kind of people in Wales, as well as in
England, who believe in ghosts, goblins, and fairies,
I kaow full well : but that there is a greater propo r tion
of the credulous in the former tluin in the latter
[Glamorganshire and Pontjrpool] though I have sem
a great deal of the manners of all ranks in both, I have
found no reason to affirm
I wish we could admit, as a fact, that there is a
harper in every village, and a bard to every mountain
in Wales. The truth is some of the villages of North
Wales have their harpers ; in South Wales there are
few. As to the bards, alas 1 they may be said to be
no more. The Awen — the Welsh vis poetica, seems nearly
extinguished ; and though some few scintillations may
still sparkle in two or three of the bards at North
Wales, I am much afraid that like the faint and
transieDt Uaze of a nearly wasted candle, they only
forbode its q>pioacbing extinction. . . .
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Salmon, pei lb. . .
Turbot, per lb. .
Cod, per lb. . . .
^:gs, 3 a penny
Couple of fat ducks
ChidEen, per couple
Goose
129
Prices in Brecon, 1796.
s. d.
..06 Bacon, per lb.
..10 Beef, per lb. ,
Mutton, per lb. .
Pork, per lb. .
Veal, per lb. . ,
Coals, per bushel
Wheat, per bushel
7 o
Rents in retired places for a tolerable house and a
few acres of land are given as £25 per annum. la
populous coimties, a gent's house with a dozen acres
of land, £40 or £50 was the rent.
[Thia criticism by Theophilus Jones was written for
and published in The Cambrian Register, vol. 2 ; it was
signed " Cymro." — Editor.
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SALE OF THEO. JONES S BOOKS.
There were 430 lots at the sale and 1,220 volumes.
The title p^te of the Catalogue read as follows : —
" Catalogue (A the Valuable Library, Priats, Micio-
' ' scopes, Globes, I4brai7 Table, Book Cases, and other
" effKts of the late Theophilus Jones, Esq. (deceased)
" to be sold by auction 1^ Mi. Wise, of Bath, on the
' ' premises at Brecon. Wednesday, S^t. 2nd, and two
" loUowing days [1812]. Sale to commence each
' ' morning at eleven. Price one shilling. Gecnge
"North, Printer, Brecon." Size of catal<q;:ue, laige
post 8vo., 23 pages.
The whole of the Catalogue is not here given, but
included in the sale were : —
I Kenton's "Pembrokeshire."
I Meyrick's "Cardiganshire."
6 Jones's " Brecknockshire."
I Williams's ' ' Monmouthshire. ' '
Maps oi Breconshire and seven prints.
14 small Ditto Ditto
I Duncombe's "Herefordshire."
' ' A very curious Black letter Bible before the division
into verses, and undoubtedly one of the earhest
copies printed." (I,ot 335).
A Black Letter Edition of Fox's " Martyrology."
Sir Richard Hoare's "Wiltshire," the ist and 2ud
Parts, folio (2 vols.)
Fenton's " Pembrokeshire," fine paper elegant.
Plot's ' ' History of Staffordshire ' ' (very scarce).
Plot's "History of Oxfordshire."
Wordey's " Isle of Wight."
Millar's "History of Doncaster."
Whitaker's ' ' Manchester ' ' (very rare).
Reyn<dd's on God's Revenge against murder and
adultery (the scarce edition, 1640, plates, foUo).
Deering's "Nottinghamshire," 1751 (scarce).
Enfielas "History of Liverpool."
Price's "Leominster, Ludlow," &c., 1795.
North's "Dial of Princes," 1557, very rare, lAadk
l«tt«i, and an extra fine co|^.
izecy Google
»3i
Smith's ' ' History of Cork, Kerry, and Waterfoid ' '
(very rare).
Queen Elizabeth's Fiayer Book, curious wood cuts,
black letter, 1608 (rare).
Wit's " Common Wealth " (very scarce).
The Life of Sir Francis Drage (scarce).
Life of Sir Philip Sydney (very rare).
Hogarth's Worl^.
The Valuable Copper Plates belonging to Jones's
History of Brecknockshire, about 24 copies of
the work complete, and a quantity of the
Second Vol. in quires,
Edmonson's Baionagium Geneal(^aim or Pedigrees
of English Peers, the plates coloured, according
to the Blazonry of the Arms, and enriched
with additional MS., folio, calf gilt, 6 vols.
ago Cambrian Biography, Owen's, and History
of the Gwedis Family 2 vols.
291 Itinerarii Cambrise, the original edition of
Giraldus, 1585, and Ware's Antiqiiitatis
Hibemia, 1654, (both scarce) 2 vols.
292 Dafydd ap Gwilym and Edwards's Welsh
Songs 2 vols.
293 Fitzroy's Antiquities of the Gauls and
Milton's History of Britain (both scarce) 3 vols.
294 Heylin's Hdp to History, British Anti-
quities, Tracts, &c., 4 vols.
295 Warner's Albion's England, 1602 (scarce) i vol
296 Stowe's Survey of London, 1618 (scarce)
297 Camden's Remains and Ridley's Civil and
E^xlesiastical Law 2 vols.
298 Carolau Duwiol, Worthies of Wales, &c. 2 vols.
299 Welch Common Prayer Book, Grammai', &c 5 vols.
300 Powdl's History of Wales (scarce) t vol.
301 Mercurius Rusticus, 16S5 (scarce) and
Howell's Familiar Lettei^ 2 vols.
302 Whitaker's History of the Antient Britons
and Two Welsh Tours 3 vols.
303 Linden's Treatise on the Waters of Llan-
drindod and History of Wales a vols.
304 Welsh Bible, Richards's Welsh Dictionary,
&C. 4 vols.
izecDy Google
30s BAZtei's GloaBamm Antidnitfitom and
Jeffrey of Uotunouth s History of
Britain 2 vtAa.
306 Pritchard's Wdsb Poems, ^^car of IJan-
dovery, and WiUiams's ditto 2 vob.
307 Evans's History of Britannic and Welsh
History of the World 2 vols.
308 Tliree Vols, of Selections of Welsh Poetry
309 Miscellaneous Welsh Books 12 vols.
310 Emirsions down the Wye and Tour
through Wales 2 vols.
311 Tracts, &c., Miscdlaneous 6 vOls.
3x2 Price's Coroith Grammar, ^to I vol.
313 Welsh Bible by Balkett i vol.
314 One ditto i vol.
315 Davis's Mythology of the Druids i voL
316 Davis's Cdtic Researches i vol.
317 Rowland's Mona Antiqua, 4to i vol.
318 Walker's Memoirs of Irish Bards and Ijfe
of Lord Herbert of Cherbury 2 vols.
319 Vallancey's Irish Grama, Kelly's Monks,
and Bishop of St. David's Charge 3 vols,
320 Warrington's History of Wales, 8vo. 2 vols.
321 Cambrian Register 2 vols.
322 Quantity of Welsh Tracts, Pamphlets, &c.
323 History of the Gwedir Family, the ordinal
MS. I vol,
324 Glamorganshire Pedigrees in MS. i vol.
325 Quantity of MS relating to the History
and Pedigrees of Brecknockshire,
326 Well Springe of Welch Nobilitee. By G.
Owen, Harrie and others, curious MS.
of Welsh Pedigrees.
327 Miscellaneous Welsh MSS.
3«8 Powell's Historic of Wales, the old Blade
Letter Edition of 1584 {very rare) i vol.
329 T. Ridiard's Welsh Dictionary and
Gnunmar z vol.
330 Davis's Welsh Dicrionary, folio i vol.
331 J. David Rhees's Welch Grammar, folio i vol.
332 Jones's Collection of Welch Poetry i vol.
333 Walters's English and Welsh Dictionary,
Russia, quarto, 1794 i vol.
334 Ditto in numbers, the edition of 1788 i vci.
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LOT
335 Matth. Paris Histxma, 1571, foUo i vol.
336 Matth. Westr. Flores, Historianira, 1750 8 vols.
337 Ptyme's Histrio Matrix Welsh Hd., 1633, 4to 1 vol.
338 Hardyng's Quonicle, black letter, imprint i vol.
339 Price's Leominster and Hereford, Thorley
on Bees, &c 3 vols.
340 Hederid Lexicon, 1727 I voL
341 Ainsworth's Latin and English Dictionaty,
Morell, 1796 I vol.
342 Boyer's French Dictionary, 1727 i vol.
343 Maw's Gardener's Dictionary, 4to. i vol.
344 Johnson's Eng. Dictionary, 4to, 1785 2 vob,
345 Weever's Funeral Monuments, 4to, 1767 i vol.
346 Harris's Bn^sh Insects, color'd plates, 4to i vol.
347 Geiarde's Herbal, folio, 1633 I vol.
3^ DiUwyn's British Confervie, col. plates i vol.
349 Minshaer's Dictionary of Nine Languages,
1627 I vol.
350 Spelman's Glossary, fine copy, 1637 i vol.
351 Samm's Antiquities of Britain, 1637 i vd.
352 Strype's Memorials, 1721, good copy i vol.
353 Gwyllim's Heraldry i voJ.
354 Dugdale's History of Warwickshire, title
wanted i voL
355 Registnun Honoris de Richmond, 1722
(scarce) i vol.
356 Wilkin's L^es Ai^o Sa»>nicse, 1721, a
large paper copy i vol.
357 Wotton's Iavs of Howel Dha, large paper,
1720 (scarce)
izecoy Google
From The Cambrian, Sept 13, 1805 : —
7'Ats Day vas published.
Price 1,1 125. 6d. to Subscribers ; to Non^Subscnbers,
£2 15s-
A HISTORY OF BRECKNOCKSHIRE.
vol,. I. m SOVAL OnAKTO.
Containing the Cbronogiaphy, General History,
Rdigion, I^ws, Customs, Mannets, Language, and
System of Agriculture used in that County.
By THEOPHILUS JONES,
Deftuiy Registrar of the Archdeacoray of Brecon.
Illustrated by a new and accurate Map of the County
a Map of the Ancient Provinces of Demetia and
Siluria, and with views of most of the Towns and
Castles of Brecknodcsbire.
Brecknock, sold for the Author, by W. M. and
Geo. North ; and by John Booth, Duke Street, Portland
Place, I/mdon ; and may be had of most others of
the principal Booksellers in England and Wales.
The Second Volume is in considerable forwardness,
and will complete the work.
oy Google
From The Cambrian, Dec. 24, 1808.
Bkbcon, Dec. 19, 1808.
On Monday, Jan. 2, will be published
And may be bad of the Printer of this Paper,
Thb Second and Concluding Volume of
A HISTORY OF BRECKNOCKSHIRE,
By THEOPHILUS JONES,
Deputy Registrar, &c..
In Two Farts, Royal Quarto, illustrated with nmoeious
Two title pages aie given with this volume, in order
that the parts may be bound in one or separately.
Containing the antiquities, sepuldiral moniunents
and inscnptions, natural oiriosities, variations of the
soil, stratification, mineralogy, a copious list of rare
and other plants, and also ^e genealogies and arms
of the principal families properly coloured or blazoned ;
together with the names of the patrons and incumbents
of all parishes and hvings in this county.
Price to original subscribers, who are requested
to be as early as possible in their application for this
book, £4. — Price to Non-Subscribers, £4 14s. 6d.
Brecknock : Printed and sold by George North,
Bookseller, &c. ; and sold also by J. Booth, Duke
Street, Pt^and Place, London ; and by the Author
at his house, in Brecon.
Where cUso mav be had some remaining copies of
Vol. I., price £2 15s.
izecDy Google
EXTRACTS FROM RICHARD FENTON'S
DIARY.
The diBtinguiahed Author of A Tom Through
Pembrokeskire, first published in 1811, and recendy
re-ptinted under my supervision, left in HS. some
account, in the fonn of a diary, of a tour through parts
of Wales which he made in company with his fiieud
and patron. Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Those MS. notes
are now in the CardiS Library, and I have copied
therrfrom Fenton's references to his visit to Brecon-
shire and some portions of Radnorshire. They are
here given because of the frequent mention made of
Theophilus Jones and his friend Archdeacon Payne
and others. It should be stated that Fenton had an
idea of writing a History of Wales, and his tour
appears to have been taken with that object in view.
THE EDITOR.
May 10, 1804.— A fine day. We set off from
Bnilth for the station on the Itbon, and went by Court
Uecbryd, a farm situated within a large square en-
trenchment, but on examination, and in the opinion
of Sir Richard Hoare, vcay conversant with such
matters, with the comers not sufficiently rounded to
pronounce it Soman ; yet it puzzles me to determine
what it could have been. Probably the Britons
finding that the Romans had occupied the spot, and that
it was a convenient place for guarding the Ford bdow
it over the Wye, did away with the greater part of the
Rcmian traces. However, it is dear that it had been
a place of some consequence, either as the occasional
residence of one of the Princes of South Wales or
usurping chieftains of the Normans. Powell's
ChxcMiides mentions a battle fought there between
Rhys ap Tewdwr and Madoc Cadwgan and Ro'syd,
sons of Blethyn ap Cynfin, when Madoc and Ro'syd
were slain ; and there is a field on the farm to this day
called Maes Madoc. 'ihe fanner at the house told me
that a very large human skull had been dug up there,
izecoy Google
»»7
■w) some silver smafl coins, but of what age lie could
not say. The fann is now the Court House of a Ui^e
ItHd^p belongiiig to the daughters of the late Thomas
Jones, Esq., ta Pencerrig, UXdy married the same day,
the eldest to one Thomas, of Glamorganshire, the
youngest to one Capt. Dale. It is finely wooded mth
venerable and round oak. After ridit^; about z| miles
on the Rhayader road, we turned ofi over a laige
common, hoping we might discover some traces of
the Roman Road which we had pursued over the hills
above Glanbrain, and which, from its bearing, must
have crossed the Wy somewhere by the west of Builth,
and probably at Llechryd, but by the track of the old
Roman Road we fell in with on the western side of
Uandiindod Common, it must, after crossing the Wy,
struck ofi rather to the eastward of the place we turned
np to out of the Rhayader road. On that common
we followed it for about a mile, pointing exactly to the
station in question, and within Imlf a nule of it. l^iere
can be no doubt of the other road from the Gaer, in
Brecknockshire, portions of which are discernable near
and on the present road from Builth to Iflandrindod,
in several ^aces uniting with it before it crossed the
Ithon to the station, Uioi^ we could not discover
this union. We crossed the river by a wooden bridge
and came to Cwm, the seat, or rather the wretched
farm house of a Mr. WilUams, a man of large fortune,
and a Radnorshire magistrate (a pretty specimen).
We rode up to the house, and this rough unbottoned
'squire appeared, and having asked his permission,
we rode on to see the station, which lay a few hundred
yards b^ond his house. Saw several pieces of brick
and the foundations of several stone buildings, the
whole circuit without the camp having been built on.
Sir R. Hoare, in a ploughed field adjoining, picked up two
pots of very fine pottery, with enough of the antient
gazing on it to distinguish it.
The Camp, Mr. Williams told us, was called Caer
Collen, i.e., the Hazel (^mp, as he supposes from the
number of hazels growing over the sides of it, but why,
more properly, may it not be a corruption of Caer
Cae Cln, the Camp of the field of Legion ? On our
return, rode up to see the wells of Iilandriadod, a
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■3«
miserable place, and by so doing overshot that part
of the present road on the common where traces of
the Botnan appear, having kept too much to the east.
Saw a circular camp near Howey, a dingle we crossed,
falling into the road in time to distinguish the traces
we were in quest of. To the west of which and close
to it a very fine tumulus. Riding on towards Pencertig,
fotmd several bits of the road too strong for anything
but Roman
We dined at Builth, and after dinner walked to the
church, an ordinary plain building with a tower at the
west and dignified by a town doc^ ; standing in a very
large cemetery where, though the town is populous
and the parish considerable, few graves are seen, and
those that are, all on the south side. In the chancel,
on the south side, is the effigy of a warrior of great size,
as represented, particularly bis head ; it is in armour,
legs mutilated, of a purplish stone of the country.
The inscription hdonging to it is one brass plate afSzed
to a piece of old oak, and shown by the clerk. From
thence continued our walk over the bridge on the
Iivon, and through pleasant fields and woods to Builth
Wdls, with an octagon building. There are three
pumps not above four feet asunder, the water of eadi
diSering from the other. One, a strong sulphurous
and s^ne mixed, another of a weaker sort, and the
third only sulphurous, A little way ofi to the north-
ward another spring and place to bathe in, the water
of which was of the sulphurous and saline mixed, but
infinitely more brilliant and lively than the other
waters. The wells are very inconvenient for invalids,
who generally lodge at Builth, at l^ist a mile and a
quarts ofi, there being no accommodation nearer,
dcept some very ordinary ones, at a farm house near.
Returned to tea and clewed a pleasant day.
May 20. — Stom»ed at Builth. Wrote after break-
fast for an bout, then walked to see Builth Castle,
or rather the place where the Castle stood, wbidi con-
sists of a very large tomniena in the centre, surrounded
with a very deep ditch circular, and that by an outer
one, a very small portion of wall here and there ap-
pearing. It occupied a considerable space, and of its
size very strong. Two or three beautiful and very
izecoy Google
139
picturesque ash trees are growing in the sides of the
enttendmients. After dinner strolled as far as the
Irvon, and turned to the left at the bridge, where I
met Price, of Builtb, with his wife and another lady
admiring the river in that place rushing rapidly over
a bed of slaty rock, the sides of which contain very
curious pieces of lean ironstone, almost globular,
bedded in the slate. A little above the place was
formerly an old bridge which must certainly be the sa{ne
mentioned in Powdl's Chronicles as Pont Orewyn, for
Pont ar Irvon, at which pass there was an obstinate
encounter between Mortimer and Llewheliin, who was
encamped on that gingular Peninsular formed by the
Irvon called Caeibiris, there being a very antient
castelet at the extreme point. Walked on the old
turnpike, which forms one of the finest terraces that
can be conceived, boldly placed above the river, taldi^
the most romantic bends below, with its banks finely
wooded, with all the near and distant scenery producing
the most striking efiect, but particularly the range
of the Ellenitfa mountains dehdously ti^^ed by the
setting sun.
May 21. — Left Builth after a shower, which gave
freshness to the air and made the roads pleasant.
About a mile beyond Uanelwydd 0iurch, descending
into a little vaUey, one of the most beautiful landscapes
imaginable presented itself. Sir Richard Hoare ob-
serving that he never saw more charming circumstances
united. Turning to the left we forsook the Wy and
our load became rather uninteresting. At a place
called Penybont at the upper end of a small dingle,
observed one of the usual round tummens or castelets
entrenched, and near it in a field a tumulus and
another without on a common. It seems there are some
very strong mineral waters at a place called Bldn Edw.
Our road to GUscwm then took a turn to the left,
leaving Ci^[grina to the right, marked by a yew tree
or two. It seemed nothing but a plain roof, no cross
aisle, steeple, or ^>erture without for a bell. After
l^assing a bridge, we opened the little narrow but b^u-
tiful valley of Glft-scwm, terminated by the church and
village. The church, Uke the last, but larger, had a
poi(£, and on the south side the remains of windows
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I4B
that is fonncf days showed handsome stone work, but
was stopped up and repaired in various ways. Vide
Giraldos to account for taking this veiy out of the way
loute. Ascending a veiy steep hill we rode some miles
in tain over the summit of the mountain betvreea
GlAscwm and the Wy, on several parts of which my eye
caught the larger kmd of "love and idea," a ^ower I
never saw wild before. The hills passed, we caught a
fine view of the rich vale of the Wy, and our pl^ <rf
destination. The Hay, and the lovdy country around,
backed by Talgarth mountains. Within a mile and half
of Hay bridge near a farm house, one of the frequent
castelets, and at last got to the Hay through most
horrid roads, but a beautiful country, thank God
without any accidents, and with only my feet a httle
damped.
After dinner, walked about the town of Hay^
Sir R. Colt Hoaie stopped and made a drawing of the
only bit of the old Castle non existing, which is
a very fine gateway, with the place for the portcullis,
and me old oak door from its appearance, thidcness,
size, and rust of its hinges, and all over studded with
bolts which might be coeval with the building ; part of the
outer wall, finely clad with ivy to the east and a square
tower to the west, which, though old, appears less so
than the gateway it joins. A large mansion, about
the age erf Queen Elizabeth, or rather later, belongii^:
to the Wdlingtons, who own the site of the Castle,
adjoins the old part. The windows are more modem
than the other part. Walked to the east of the town
for a quarter of a mile without the walls, which there
show pretty entire, and once enclosed a very large space.
The gateways were taken down in the memories of
several now living. The Church, prettily situated,
has been loftier in roof and steeple. Nothing worth
notice in the Church and nothing without, but a stcme
with an eflBgy on it so very muai mutilated and worn
that even the sex of the figure it represented casnot
be correctly ascertained. The common pet^e call
her Maud Walby, and say she was a witoi.
May 22.— Set off from the Hay to Brecon, called
at the Rev. Mr. Hughes's, of Glasbury, at whose house
we expected to meet Mr. Theo. Jcmes, of Brecon, tmt
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be wBS gone bom there the day befc^e. Mr. Holies
and a Mr. Ainsworth accompamed us to see a ^laU
cromlech neai a small farm called Brynygrpes, and
in a field called Clos y Uechau. We walked to it across
a field, and fomid a pretty large stone resting on one
side an old thorn, and on the other an old ash stump,
which they say by the strength of vegetative power,
have raised the incumbent stone off from the end stones
that once supported it, which certainly at present it
does not appear to touch, and this is said to be con-
firmed by people living who remember the progress
in the elevation of the stone.
Passed by Gwemyfed Park to the left, formerly
the seat of Sir David Williams, one of the 12 Judges
in Queen Elizabeth's time, and to whose memory there
is a monument in the Priory Church, Brecon. It must
have been a charming place in its time, finely wooded,
fine in equahties everywhere, and bounded bya fine range
of mountains to the east. At a modemish mansion
on an eminence in the Park called the I<odge lives a
Hi. AUen, a banister. The old bouse lies low, at some
distance fr<nn that. There is something like a Camp
in the Park, seen from the road, and of a form that
tempted us to think it Roman, but on examination
it was doubtful if it had been a Camp or not.
Rode on and came to Porthamal, now a farm house,
but formerly the baronial residence of the Vaughan
family. The gateway, with a tower over it, is supported
by a groined arch, simply elegant, which Leland speaks
of, still exists. Thence to Brynllys Castle. VSialt
Sir Richard Hoare took a sketch of the only tower now
up, I walked to the farm house standing in the
nudst of the old building. Nothing now discemable
of the old Castle but the above tower of considerable
size with walls of immense thickness, the lower apart-
ment beingardied, and in all likelihood a dungeon or
prison. The faimei told me he had opened a
tumulus near Talgarth, and found an um and a flint
roear bead, an exact drawit^; of which I saw with Mr.
"Hieo. Jones. The flint was dark in the middle, with
sharp edges yellowish. Another tumulus existed on
the same spot. In Buck's view of this Castle there is
a considerable portion lejttesented, scarce a trace (d
which now remains.
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143
Ibence, through a pleasant country with a fine
view in front of the Van, and its retinue of mountains,
to Brecon. After dinner, walked out to see the
Collegiate Church, the nave and other parts of which
aie entirely in niins, the grass having grown over the
tombe in the nave and almost over all the pediments
of the fine old pillars that supported the roof. The
durir and dtancd, where the stalls are in a very little
better state, though the floor is covered with very antient
tomb stones, and its side and walls dignified by many
elegant monuments and tablets, such as those to the
memory of Bishops Bull, Mainwaring, and Lucy. T^ie
n^ect of a place of worship so uncommon is shameful,
to say nothing as a mausoleum of the respectable dead
it contains, is such a reflection on the See of St.
David's that language is too weak to represent it
properly.
Walked then to the Priory, a most veneraUe,
large building, whose pavement is pregnant with
sepulchral history, and whose sides exhibit several
curious and antient monuments. I never saw a church-
yard so full of graves. The walls of the diurch, and
erven the tower, are full of yew trees growing out of the
small interstices of the stones.
The Priory walks above the Honddu, though now
much n^lected, but used as a fashionable promenade,
are charming, overhangii^ and winding above a narrow
dingle, steep and m^^ficently wooded.
The old gateway of the Priory to the north, as well
as that to the west, and many other parts of the old
building stUl eadst ; a wall with embattlements en-
compass the whole.
In the evening on our return we had the company
(rf Mr. Theo. Jones, and a very sensible divine, Mr.
Payne, who sat with us for an hour.
May 23. — Set off accompanied by Mr. Payne to
see the Station at the Gaer, charmingly situated near
the Usk, nor can a finer situation be imagined,
whether we consider the aspect, the river, the woods,
and the sublime baclqrround of mountain seen through
a skreen of trees. Observe the Roman Road from
Gobannium just entering the Station and a Roman
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143
monument repiesentii^ a man and his wife with a tablet
tindemeath, on which •' CoNjtranc Eju ^T " may be
read distinctly ; standing on the edge of the old Road,
which falls in at right angles with that towards the
Ithon, and that which led to Neath and Llanfaii
Arybryn, united till they cross the Usk beyond the
Church of Abet Eskyr. At the farm house of Aber
'Eskyr saw a brick about 9 inches square and 2 thick,
stamped with
" LEG II AVa."
Went to LUindevaelog Church, after, as we tbooght,
having traced the Ithon branch of the Roman Road
almost tq>posite to Mr. Thos. WatHns' seat called
Pennoyar, on the brow of the hill to our left. Saw the
long stone on the south side of the church, 7ft. Qjin.
long and 15 indies wide, with a very rude %ure
sculptured in the middle compartment, on the upper
a cross with rude ornaments round it, and on the lower
compartments rude oniaments, said, but without the
least foundation, to be the tomb of BiochmaU Yskithog.
There is a place near called Sottmu, which probably
may refer to a Roman Road, but I did not see it.
Returned through pleasant lanes enriched with the
luxuriancy of bird clierries which grew here, and in
some parts of Radnorshire wild, and dined at Mr.
Theo. Jones's. The party, Mr. and Mrs, Jones, Miss
Jones, Mr. and Mrs. PajTie, Sir Richard Hoare, and
mys^. We had an elegant dinner — Welsh antiquities
the principal topic.
May 24. — Rainy day ; bringing up the leeway
in my journal. Dined at Mr. Theophilus Jones's, and
saw for the first time the Rev. Mr. Watkins, whom I
found a pleasant, well informed man and in no way
conceited or assuming as he had been represented to
me. Passed a |deasant evening. Conversation various.
Mr. Wattdns enquired politely after my sister, and Mr.
C — " , and gave me a very cordial invitation to his
bouse.
FsiDAY. — Set off from Brecknock for the Rev-
Mr. Payne's, Llanbedr, near Crickhowdl, through the
beautiful Vale of Uske, which, whether we consider
its form, its cheerfulness, its boundaries, is without
CtHuparison the prettiest vale in the kii^om ; a very
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144
pecnliar feature of it is the endlcat openingB into siiiafler
vallies oa eadi side. Pass the Peterstone, aoA hei«
the monument of the Lady whom Mr. Theo, J<hms
cannot make out is, but tins is Past Day and service
performing we could not see it. On the other side of tlie
river, Pei^elly Castle, once the seat of a branch ot
the Herberts ; now shows nothit^ of the Castle but the
knoll on which it stood, or very little more. Before
we came to CiicUiowell some miles we leave on the right
a lai^ comical hill, wooded charmingly and studded
with bouses almost to the top, wwdi brealcs the
regularity of the vill and forms a beautiful amphi-
theatre up to Criddiowell. Saw the coarse of the new
canal to Brecknock for a great way on the north side
of the Uske and then on tiie south side. Cridchowdl,
the most cheerful looking town I ever saw, left to the
T^^t, a narrow ascendii^ road bringing us in about
two miles and a half to Mr. Payne's house. On our way
to it have views of several beautiful openings into
little wejl wooded and watered vallies oounoed by
fine mountains. To the 1^ oi the toad above Crkk-
bowdl observe a truncated conical hill, the summit
of which is a camp called Cr&g Howel. Arrived at
Mr. Payne's, we found a little paradise — the house
neat, situated in the churchyard, the north side of
whidi is dose shaven and made a lawn of, with a walk
all round skirted with shrubbery. In the churchyard
are some of the largest old yew trees I ever saw. The
church is situated on the summit of the hill over-
hanging the Gronwy fychan, a beautiful mountain
stream full of trout, ^lat flows and foams at the bottom
of a narrow ding^ the sides of which are cbaimingly
wooded, particularly with oak, beedi, and wych ^n,
through which Mr. Payne has made walks with great
taste, extending for a considerable way between two
bridges of a sii^e ardi most remarkably dad with ivy.
The garden b^ind the house, a mixture of kitchen,
fruit and flower garden, ediibits a scene at once com-
fortable, picturesque, and cheerful.
Mr. Theo. Jones accompanied us to Ur. Payne's,
and indulged in the evening's conversation, antidpating
the business of the cromlech meant to be ezamined
the following day.
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»45
Satobdat.— This great, thig most important iacy,
mse most favourably for our plan ; we breakfasted
early, and were on horseback soon after, and a pleasant
ijde brou^t uS:to the scene of action, abont a mile the
Brecon side of CricMiowdl. We found the incumbent
stone, after being split in two, removed from off the
supporters, and tbe small area within was soon cleared
tiU we got below the bottom of the supporters, and
found nothing but small bits of charcoal and several
small bones. There was a piece of dry wall, r^ularly
built, between two of the upright stones, which
ameared coeval with tiie croml^h, what I never saw
b^ore in any. In short, from what appeared, there
was nothing turned up that would favour the sup-
position of these being sepulchral. The company
present were our own party. Admiral Gell, Sir WiUiam
Ouseley, and a Mr. Everest. This grand ceremony
over, we looked at the old gateway at Crickhowell,
the remains of the Castle, and the Church, in which
there were some old monuments, particularly of the
Pauncefoot, very much mutilated, who appeared to
have been a Crusader. The efBgy is of stone, and
tbe shield bears three lions, as in the Arms of the
Herberts, but without the distinction of party perpale.
The Pauncefoots were owners formerly of the Castle.
After dinner we rambled through the charming walks
at I4anbedr above mentioned, nom which it was with
difficulty I could tear myself, and of whidi I talked
with unabated rapture the whole evening.
Sunday. — Breakfasted early, beii^ engaged to
attoid Ur. Payne to the church of Partrico, a chapd
annexed to ijanbedr, where I saw the most el^iant
and perfect rood loft perhaps now extant in the
Kingtuim, of seemingly Iridi oak, which fortunatdy
has escaped either whitewashing or painting. In a
mansimi not a great way from the diurch lived a Herbert,
and to that fanuly may in all probability be ascribe
this curious relick. Bdow the church saw the sainted
well of Ishaw, being a very scanty oozing of water,
to which, however, was formerly attributed great virtue,
as within the building that encloses it there are littl«
nidies to hold the veasds visitors drank out of and the
offerings th^ left behind. Tbe road to Partricio is
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■46
through steq>, stony, nairow lanes ardied with wood.
Obsetred the Sugar Loaf on my return from this
church like a small ridge, in no way tike its appearance
frcm Uanbedr. Saw to the Irft, returning, Coed
Gionw {aide Giraldus). Dined at Admiral Gall's, a
very pretty ^tuation about a mile from Crickhowell,
the house an odd looking building by Nadi. The
Admiral is a very singular character — the rough
swearing tar with a most excellent heart. Our dinner
f;ood, with good Maderia, the company Sir R. Hoare,
Sir W. Ouseley. Mr. Payne, Mr. Theo. Jones, a Mr.
Rnssel {an angUng tourist), and myself. At partii^,
the Admiral gave me a general invitation, and begged
I would make an inn of his house, " for d n me,"
says he, "I like that an inn would be made of my
house." Sir William Ouseley distinguished himself as a
sdiolar and a gentleman in the course of the cxm-
versadon. Returned and passed a pleasant evening in
talking of antiquities, &c., and was much pleased with
Mr. Payne's account of the Book Qub at Crickhowell.
Monday. — Imprisoned all day, as it rained so hard,
but in a charming cell, viz., Mr. Payne's study ; made
several extracts. Saw some things with Mr. Payne
taken out of MS. by George Owen Harry of Kernes.
Will ask Mr. Theo. Jones to borrow it for me of Mr.
Bold, of Brecon.
TuBSDAY.— Set off after breakfast to see The
Gaer, in Cwmdu, a Roman station first discovered
by the Rev. Mr. Payne. Beyond the cromledi we
opened on Saturday, to the ri^t of the road, pass one
of the tommens or castelets, of which there is no
history, but that it was used for the view of Frank
Pledge in the lordship of Crickhowell. It is now
overgrown with trees, and has an yew on it. Went
by Tretower Castle, which now consists (A a round
tower of considerable size, within an outer wall battle-
ments with a larger embattled wall, on each side to
small bastions, inrliiHing a very considerable area.
In the great tower there appeared to have been
el^ant chambers, if we may judge by the remains
of the chimney pieces, for that age. Near it are the
remains of the old and dignified mansion of the
Vangfaans, entered' froni th^ road b^ a haadsonK
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»47
gateway with a chamber in a square tower over it.
Rode on to see a camp which Mr. Payne toot to be
the castrum dstvaen of The Gaer, just above a wood
called Coed y G4er, but Sir R. Hoare seemed to think
from long observation that the Romans never chose
any very elevated situations for their camps ; besides
we found it to be not of the figure they always
used, viz., an oblong or a r^ular square, as the
angles rounded, but of a something between a triangle
and an oval. We descended from this camp, which
occupied a projecting point of land commanding
two vallies, and rode on to The Gaer, which
occupied a small rising in the vale at the foot of the
Myarth. We found the square camp had been
enclosed by a wall, in the rubbish of which was seen
brick of various shapes and sizes. At one end of the
square is nearly a semi-drcular elevation supposed
to be the Prsetorium. In the fields adjoining, several
hewn stones, bricks, and pieces of pottery, &c., have
been seen at diSerent times, which proves beyond a
doubt that this had been a considerable station, as
it was called Tref y Caerau. In one of the fields near,
a stone lies with an inscription that might have been
on the side of the Roman Road leading towards
Gobannium. Havii^ thoroughly examined the place,
returned to IJanbedr to dinner. After dinner
ascended Crug Howel, a prodigious height, on the
summit of which a camp surrounded with vast
entrenchments of loose stones with a very deep foss,
entered by an opening to the East or N.E. From
this eminence had a most extensive view of the Vale
of Uske to the South, but to the N'orth shut up by the
higher hill, on the summit of which there is a small
vem of lime stone. Descended very gradually,
enjoyed a cup of tea, and went to bed perfectly
fatted.
Tdesday. — ^Left Llanbedr, Mr. Payne accom-
panying us, for Hereford, purposing to visit Dflr Abbey
and Kilpedc in our way.
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INDEX.
Bbv. Edwud, memair o^
, i Jonea'a Lett«n to.
Aabray, John, IB
Aubrey HSS., SO
Aubtoy, WilHam, :
1, liviiis otteed to R*v.
' Daviea, 71 ; lettm on,
72-74 J vwit to, 7(1; '"" ' '
'd aoUaoting ^th•^
•oripton "C<riii&" M
Gapt of CannaitlHDdllN
difBmiltdea Diuidio Hfitoriai, S
Bnoon, Fraooh Naval offioen Evam, CbmihK,
Bieoonahiie Poeta, t
" Braoknookshins " advsrtue-
menta of, 134, 13B i pnblioa-
tion of V<^ I., 7a i priea of, 78 ;
■econd vol., S3 ; orioiiial HS.
of, 24 i Dommenta on by Bithop
Bnrgen, Lownda^ IJ«trdyii
Fiitohan], Dr. Niohol*^ Q. T
GUAi^ ii t plaMn and aoiplnB
oojHes, 27 ; aaooiid aditdon of.
CaamuvthsD, • joumey to, B7
i M Cbiin Oollwe, t
" Coltia BMawoliai,'^ ml
tioiu to, DT
CbM«, of Kington, 105
Ohiwab, Saniu^ of FlnvdgTMh,
12
CbtuclMF, Judgjt Haidingo'a
olorii, 70 i d«M£ ol B2
OttTMo St Tr-yn-y<Uwyn, 2S
dotloal widowi and oipbani'
(nnd. M
Coallnan y Bnidd, ST
Oonit Hutial npon Biotas 100
m, of WaoaUL 3
EvHiL B«v. Thsopbiln^ litaMi
iTor^ 3 ; burial plaoa, B
Exchequer df^Oaitioni, 21
Fbhtom's Dust, 1S«-14T. (
the Ithon, 189;
13« I tbe dai "
oerrig^ 137 ; v
137 i Sir R. Colt Hoan' fluda
137 I Caer Collai, 137 ; Btultb
WeOa and Caatle, 138; BnUth
to CUaaowDi, 13B ; Hh Caatle
and Town, 140 ; (HUbary,
Talgarth, Qwer^ed, to Bieaon
IWl 141 ; Cromlech at BiyiiT-
groe^ 141 i Owvnyfed Pa^
141 ; Porthamal, 141 ; Bnwlljra
Caetle, 141 ; tuntolna near Til-
garth, 141; Colluiat* Onmta
at Breoon, 142 ; nion Qnuob
and Otmvm, 148; the Oaar,
142,143; UaodevaalMChuEoh
143; Braoknoek to Qanbedr,
143 ; Cng HoweU Ctim, 144 ;
Ciiokhowell Clnit«h aM Caatla,
14S i Ciomlaoh near Oiiek-
luntall, I4S ; Oia Paonoifnota
and Berberta, 140; Partiioa
rood loft, 140 ; Oaer, in Cwindii
14S; Tivtowar Chorab, 14a i
Trrf r Caenn, 147.
Oame^ of Abarhran, IS
Oame^ Sir John, boildo of
Newton, 14
"Qododin," SS
Qiifflth Jocaa, tonndw of Bonday
aod Day Bchoola in Wak^ T
izecoy Google
QrifBth, Bot. David, bead a
Chiut Callngc^ 10
Ohonta, gobblina, and fairiei^ 188
" OwalUir Ueohain," Istlsn to,
113-118
Gwynne, Mannaduke, ol Oaith *
Owymu, Sarah, maniea Charlw
WMla;,
Havard, Hof^ bailifl of Brecon,
IS
HavnfardwHt, a vimt to, U
HilL Kicbaifi, 67
Hoan, Sir B. Colt, Bart., 23 ;
Bkalchea Breoknock CuUfl and
^ bridge^ 23
HoUord, John Joaiah, of Culgwyii,
87
Htdiard, Charley ST
Howd, Jamea, oavalier and tra-
veller, 24
Ragbag Rev. John, of Olwbiuy,
Hugh Thomas's MSS,
ipadi.
Bnooa, It, IS
Hfwel'a Laws, 112
HiRMH, HowcL, of Treveoca. —
Theo. Jonca' Hemoir of, 121-
llitt; Hanii mairiea a daughter
of the Skrean family, 122 ; hia
"Family," 123; farms atfoop
of horse, 133 ; aooepts Enstgn »
commission, 123 ; promot«d to
Captain, and aervee at Yar-
mouth, 123 1 returns to Tre-
veoca, 124 ; 3elina, Countess of
Huntington, 124 ; bis dt«th
and banal, 124
Ida HorgHDwg, 67
1 ( dancent and family, 2, 3 j
bis grandfather, 6 ; birth place,
fl ; marriage and profeasion,
11 ; Brecon residencae, II, 12 ;
intauded Hiatoi^ of Rodnor-
■hiie, ST ; his aoonymona
papers, 28 : literary tranala-
tion% 2S ( Freemasonry, 29 ;
deecription of hia character by
a friend, 29, 30 ; leat illness and
death, 31, 32 ; memoriala of,
32 i librsjy, 32, 33 ; book plate
S3 ; his wife, 33, 34 i her will,
34 1 his only sister, 34 : arms
and Wslsh motto, 3G.
Qronwy Owao'a Poem upon the
" Day of Judgment," 46-49;
*-'- father's death, 43 ; begins
; SI ; Brecixa-
livers, 62-S7 ; Welsh
lOn, 92-64 ; tianslatea
euriu Owawdrydd's ' ' En-
glynion y Bfisoedd, " SB ; in>
teieat in "Celtic Remains,"
60; "Hj friend Payne," 63;
at the Bar ol the Hoiue of
Commona, fl8 ; vivta Bristol,
68 1 his nephew, TS ; attmda
Olaniorgaoabire Assize^ 88 ;
relinguiahee the law, S9 ;
Calalogoe of his books, 130-133
J«UH of Blamgwthyd's Will, 118
Joseph Joseph, t^.S. A., his library,
33, 36
Judge " HaHeqain," 93
Lewia of Harpton, 10£
Lewis Horris and Oaoflrey of
Hoomoutb, 110 i his Lettan.
Lloyd's '
Llangenney Pi4>er mills, 23
" 1 Legraid, 21
* Historical Memoranda
, Owsn^a tranalation
Mjner^ Springs diacovered at
Llanwrtyd, 8
Mineralogy, lln
Moore, death of Sir John, 90 .
Mythology of British Druids, OS
Nichol, lii., a baniBter, TO
North's, bookseller^ 66 ; North's
wagaonX 78
North Wales families' arms, 118
Oasian's Poems, 77
Oweeley, Sir WiUiam, 6G
bis translation of Ckirohso
Cynv^yn, 90 ; Diotiimaryr
114
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FbhIi family, SB
Porthmawr, 23
PowaL Van. Father Philip, O.8.B.,
17
Powel'B of CaMla Madoo, IS
Powol, vicar of Boughrood, T
Fowel of Haeqwrth, 16
Powell, of Uaaaoamog, U
Prioee of OlfnllBob, 11
Prioea of Porthjrhyd, 11
FriiM, Biohard, H.P^ for Radnor
IDS
PHoe, Walter, letter to, US
Radnonbin^ Notes lor a History
of, ins, loe
BeotH and prioea in Brecon, 1790,
12S
Boman BMnaina, 28 ; Campa, 119
BoethrofL gnatbatUe at,
•' Ship" at Olveston, 79
21
WalbeofTen of IJanhamlaoh, U
Weoley, John, in BreoonBhire, 8 ;
thought to be a Jeaoit, S
Wilkina, Writer,
. of Manllwoh,
Welsh Cuotoms, 130, 1S7 i Tome,
12S ; saperstitioiiB, 127 j place-
Dames, 32
Wells, Bev. H^ flU
Williame, Darnel, of Llwynwonn-
Williaina, of Ivy Tower, 39
WiUiama, Bev. Edward, 8S
Williams'ii " Chaii of Q~
oy Google
iLCD, Google
SUBSCRIBERS.
The Right Hon. Lord TtedKiar, Lord-Iieut. of Ubn-
mouthshire, l^red^^ar Park, Newport.
The Sight Hon. Lord Llangattock, P.S.A., The Hendie,
Monmouth.
The S^t Hon. Lord Glanuslc. Loid>Iieut. of Bcodc-
noacshiie, Glanusk Fai^, CiickhoweU.
The Bishop of St. David's, AbeigwiU Palace, Carai.
Sir TOlliam T. Lewis, Bart., The Mardy, Aberdare.
Sir John WiUiams, Bart., Plas Llanstephen, Caim.
Sir T. Matchant WiUiams, Straendiary Miagifltrate of
Merthyr Tydfil, Taflf House, CardiB.
The Hon. Mis. Herbert, of Llanover, Llanover Pai^
Abergavenny.
The Hon. Mrs. Bulkeley-Owen, Tedmore Hall, Oswestry.
Anwyl, Piof. B., UA.. 6z. Marine Terrace, AboirstwitlL
Bevan, The Ven. Archdeacon, MJi., The Ely Tower,
Bund, J, Willis, Esq., F.SJi., etc., 15, Old Square,
Lincoln's Inn, I^ndon.
BloOT, James, Es(^., J.P., Brynmawr.
Bache, Rev. Kentish, Walford Vicarage, Ross
C.
Cravshay, William T., Esq., J.P., D.L., Caversham
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Davies, Mr. E. Blissett, io8, Haughton Green Road,
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Davies, Mr. Howel, Pannau, Llanfrynach, Brecon.
Dawson and Son, Ltd., Booksellers, Cardiff.
Davies, Frederic C, Esq., Brooklyn, Llaniahen, Cardiff.
Davies, Morgan, Esq., A.M.I.C.E., Gwydr Gardens,
Swansea.
Davies, Edward, Esq., J.P., Machen House, Newport.
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Evans, Rev. T. Howel, Preston Capes Rectory, Byfidd,
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Evans, H. A., Esq., B^broke, Oxford.
Evans, Rev. J. J., R.D., Cantref Rectory, Brecon.
Evans, Rev. George Eyre (Author of ' ' Cardiganshire
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Evans, J. H. Silvan, Esq., M.A., Ty-Gwyn-ar-Daf,
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Evans, W. Eilir, Esq., 66, Plantagenet Street, Cardifi.
Prands, Dr. G. P., J.P., Bulwark, Brecon.
Freemasons, Tlie Brei^ock Lodge of
Fentoo, Feirar, Esq., M.R.A.S., 8, King's Road, Mitcham
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Gwynne, Capt. David C S.. Cilgwyn, Llangadock,
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„Goo<^lc
'55
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Gwymic, J. E. A., F.S.A., FolkiQgton, Polegate, Sussex.
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Ubrary, The Cardiff Free (}(dm Ballinger, Esq.,
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Library, Tftie Aberystwith University College (J. Glyn
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