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To the EDITOR of the CAMBRO-BRITON.

SIR,-Amongst the numerous Reports of Charitable Institutions, that do so much honour to the country, I was lately led to examine a private statement of the good, actually done by the Welsh Dispensary. This institution first received encouragement from a few benevolent individuals in 1818. The first report was read in March 1820, and in that short time 560 poor persons have received medical advice and assistance; since which, in only twelve months, 3468 patients have been relieved, and at an expense, in medicines, not exceeding £50. Can there be a stronger instance of the astonishing degree of good, that may be produced from only trifling means? I must, however, add, that this could not have been accomplished without the incessant exertions of a medical gentleman*, who has hitherto devoted a greater portion of his time to this benevolent purpose, than the most sanguine friends of the institution could hope for. The effects are now ascertained beyond a doubt, and a meeting will shortly be called, of which a full report will be made. And I trust every Welshman, who reads this, will feel inclined to attend and satisfy himself as to its merits.

Kensington, 9th March, 1821.

W.

ANCIENT URNS.-The following account of the discovery of some sepulchral urns in Carnarvonshire is extracted from the provincial papers. Perhaps among the readers of the CAMBROBRITON some one may be able to supply a more detailed description of these ancient relics; and in the mean time the following deserves to be recorded:

"During the latter part of the month of March last ten sepulchral urns were found among rubbish, about a foot below the surface, by the tenant of Llysdu farm, the property of Joseph Huddard, Esq. situate a short distance from the Roman military communication, between the Tumulus, at Llecheiddior, and that of Dolbenmaen, Carnarvonshire. The urns occupied a circular space of about five yards in diameter, which had the appearance of having been surrounded by a stone wall. The urns were found in a strait line, and filled with bones and ashes, a small piece of copper in the first. Each urn was protected by four upright stones, in a rectangular form, with a flat stone on the top, and a few handfuls of pure gravel underneath. They were of

* The gentleman, here alluded to, is Mr. Morgan, of Great Newport Street, whose active and beneficial exertions in the cause merit the highest eulogium. Indeed it may, without much hazard, be affirmed, that the charity has hi'herto been supported by his zeal alone.-ED.

rude workmanship, and do not seem to have ever been exposed to the action of heat, as they all crumbled into ashes as soon as the ploughmen attempted to remove them, and not a single fragment, above the size of a square inch, could be found, a few days after the discovery. Perhaps the hopes of finding some treasure rendered the men more indifferent to their preservation. From the circumstance of there being several Druidical remains in the immediate neighbourhood, it is probable, that it was a place of sepulchre, consecrated by the Druids, at a period prior to the Rôman invasion. A great part of the sepulchre still remains untouched. It is rather to be lamented, that some degree of respect is not encouraged for these primæval monuments of the religion and sacred rites of the Aborigines of the country. They are proofs, that, however misrepresented the Druids have been by the early historians, Idolatry formed no part of their religion; while the doctrine of a future state seems to have had a powerful influence in the formation of their civil and religious institutions."

OBITUARY.

ON Sunday the 25th of March, 1821, at Rose-Hill, near Wrexham, died Evan Jones, Esq., of Gellewig, in Carnarvonshire, most sincerely esteemed and regretted by all who knew him. Mr. Jones was born in June, 1771, and entered the army as Ensign in 1791. In 1793 he embarked from Cork with his regiment, viz. the 23d, or Welsh Fusileers, for the West Indies, under Sir Charles Grey, and landed at Martinique. He was at the reduction of Pigeon Isle, Fort Royal, St. Pierre, Fort Bourbon, and other French possessions in that island. He was present, also, at the taking of Guadaloupe and other French islands in the Caribbean Sea, with many of their possessions in St. Dəmingo. He was nearly carried off in that climate by the yellow fever; but a negro woman, his nurse, wrapped him, when given over, in a sheet or blanket strongly impregnated with vinegar, which arrested the rage of that dreadful malady. He and his gallant regiment distinguished themselves at the Helder, in 1799, and in subsequent battles in Holland, under that veteran and gallant general, Sir Ralph Abercrombie. He served also under the same general in Egypt. At the memorable battle, on the heights of Nicopolis, near Alexandria, on the 21st of March, 1801, when the brave Abercrombrie fell, the 58th, 42d, and 23d regiments charged with the bayonets the Invincibles of France, as they had been hitherto called, took their standard,

and drove them off the field; the 23d and 40th reg. forming the advance of the British Army in dislodging the enemy from the sand hills, on which they were stationed. Col. Jones [for he rose to the rank of Lieut. Col.] and the gallant Twenty-third were employed in other expeditions of inferior note till 1807, when they were attached to that under Lord Cathcart against Copenhagen. In 1808 he married Anna Maria Kenyon, daughter of Roger Kenyon, Esq., of Cefn, near Wrexham, brother of the eminent Lord Chief Justice Kenyon, and uncle to the excellent nobleman who now bears that name and title. He then quitted the army, and retired to his maternal property in Carnarvonshire, where he amused himself with agricultural pursuits, enjoying otium cum dignitate. In his domestic relations Col. Jones was not only unimpeachable, but most exemplary, fulfilling the several duties of son, husband, friend, and master, with that affection and rectitude, inseparable from a character of his magnanimity. He was a sincere Christian, and, therefore, anxious to discharge every duty towards God and man. Though temperate, he was very cheerful and fond of Society. "Col. Jones, with the brave 23d," was a standing toast in every convivial meeting in this part of the Principality; and it was at some such meeting that an officer of very high rank said, "I drink Col. Jones with infinite satisfaction, for a braver soldier never trod the field of battle." And a most respectable magistrate, who lived nearest to him in the country, a colonel also in the service, observed of him to me after his decease :-"When living I loved my neighbour as myself. No man deserved the esteem and respect of his friends more than Evan Jones, of Gellewig. He was an upright, honourable, honest man. And he, like his late com-. mander, poor Sir Ralph Abercrombie, is embalmed in the memory of his countrymen." Emphatic words, and full of meaning. Although I was not in the habit of meeting him above five or six times in the year, yet I knew him well, and had the most sincere respect and esteem for his character as a friend and as a man. He has left no family, except an amiable widow and a mother, with many a feeling friend, to deplore his departure from among us.

His saltem accumulem donis, et fungar inani
Munere.

Such artless meed who would not fain indite,
To greet his spirit in the realms of light?
·Carnarvonshire, April 6, 1821.

P. W..

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XCVII.

THE TRIADS.-No. XX.

TRIADS OF THE ISLE OF BRITAIN*.

THE three Powerful Swine-herds of the Isle of Britain: the first was Pryderi, the son of Pwyll Pen Anwn, who kept the swine of Pendaran Dyved, his foster-father; and it was in the valley of Cuch in Emlyn, that he kept them; the second was Coll ab Collvrewi, who kept the sow of Dallwaran Dabllen, that came burrowing as far as the headland of Penwedig in Cornwall, and, there going into the sea, she came to land at Aber Tarogi in Gwent Iscoed, and Coll ab Collvrewi having his hand in the bristles whithersoever she went, on the sea, or on the land; and at Wheat-field in Gwent she dropped three grains of wheat, and three bees; and ever since there have been the best wheat and honey in Gwent; and from Gwent she travelled into Dyved, and there, at Llonis Llonwen, she laid a grain of barley and a pig; and from that time the best barley and swine have been in Dyved; afterwards she proceeded as far as Arvon, and in Lleyn she laid a grain of rye; and ever since the best rye has been in Lleyn and Eivionydd; and on the skirt of the ascent of Cyverthwch, she laid a wolf cub and an eagle chick; and Coll gave the eagle to Brynach, the Gwyddelian, of Dinas Faräon; and the wolf he gave to Menwaed, the lord of Arllechwedd,-and there is much talk about the wolf of Brynach and the eagle of Menwaed; and, from thence going to the Maen Du in Arvon, she there laid a kitten, which Coll ab Collvrewi threw into the Menai; and that was the Palug Cat, that became afterwards a molestation to the Isle of Mon. The third was Trystan ab Tallwch, who kept the swine of March, the son of Meirchion, whilst the swine-herd went Arch. of Wales, vol. ii. pp. 71-75.

VOL. IL

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on a message to Esyllt, to desire an interview with her; and Arthur, Marchell, Cai, and Bedwyr, were the four, on the look out for an opportunity, but they were not able to get so much as one pig, by gift nor by purchase, by deceit, nor by force, nor by stealth. They were thus called the powerful swine-herds, because it was not possible to gain or prevail over them for one of the swine that they kept, but they restored them with their full increase to those who owned them.

[The original text of this Triad, as to Pryderi, is-Pryderi, the son of Pwyll Pendaran Dyved, who kept his father's swine, while he was in the unknown world, which appears to be incorrect. It has therefore been made to agree with Triads xxx of the first series, and LVI of the second series. The second series has an addition to the account of Coll, that he tended the swine of Dallwyr Dallben in the valley of Dallwyr, in Cernyw, and one of the swine was with young, which had the name of Henwyn, and there was a prophesy that it would be worse for the Isle of Britain from that gestation; and therefore, Arthur assembled the host of the Isle of Britain, and proceeded to endeavour to destroy it. The other Triads say, that the sow laid a grain of barley and of wheat at Llovion, or Llonwen, in Dyved. Triad LVI for Brynach has Bread, a prince of the North; and respecting the cat thrown into the Menai, it has this addition.—And the sons of Palug in Mon reared it, for evil to them; for it was the Palug cat, which was one of the three chief molestations bred in Mon; the second was Daronwy; and the third was Edwin, king of England.-This Triad is made up of traditions, so worded as to be now inexplicable. Triad LVI in page 98 of this volume, throws some light on Coll, the son of Collvrewi, from which it may be inferred, that the sow was a ship, that brought grain and some animals to Britain, not known here before. The particulars, here related concerning Pryderi, are also recorded in the Mabinogion in the tale of Math ab Mathonwy, of which a short account may be seen in page 32 of this volume.]

XCVIII. Three men with their progeny, who were consigned to everlasting disgrace and disfranchisement, and who could not be otherwise than in the condition of slaves: the first was Avarwy ab Ludd, who invited the Romans first into this Island, in the train of Iwl Caisar their emperor, and gave them land in the Isle of Taned; the second was Gwrtheyrn Gwrthenau, who invited the Saxons first into this island, as auxiliaries to him in his usurpation, and gave them land in the Isle of Taned-and may

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