of Sedgmoor; a wild improbability upon which even Macaulay would never have ventured. I think I could fight my critic successfully in the matter of dates; but possibly the foregoing is enough. Cardiff. JAS. HARRIS. [This correspondence, except in so far as it may exclusively concern its “Iolo Morganwg" half, must now cease. Ed. R. D.] THE WELSH DESCENT OF THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY (vi.-284, 381, 571).— The following racy morsel from the Harleian MSS., 218, 3742, sec. 32, may help to decide the question :-" Notes on the family of Cecyll, Lord Burghley: Thomas Cecyll, Earl of Exeter, to Hugh Allington, Esq., dated London, 13th November, 1605, acquainting him that some one had called his brother the grandson of a sieve maker. Which expression likewise he thought a reflection upon himself. He desires Mr. Allington to search among his 'evidences' at Burghley House for certain writs,' wherein his grandfather is styled Esqr., a style then given to none but gentlemen of note. And for others wherein it is showed that he was High Sheriffe either of Lincolnshire or of Northamptonshire. That his father, the Lord Treasurer's writing his name Cecyll, whereas his grandfather wrote it Syssell, has made some to doubt whether they be rightly descended of the house of Wales, because they write their names Sitselt [Though his lordship left his pedigree very well set out]," &c. 4 Upon the back of this letter are mentioned authorities, wherefrom it appears that" David Cecill was stiled Armiger A.D. 1523; that this David, Armiger, was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, 23rd and 24th Henry VIII.; and that Humphrey Lloyd and Dr. Powell call him grandfather to Sir Wm. Cecill, Kt., Lord Burleigh. And that Richard Cecill, the son of this David, was High Sheriff of Rutlandshire A.D. 1539." There are also three other notes on the Cecill family on pp. 439, 440, Catalogue 86, and a letter from Lord "Burleigh to his son Robert, afterward Earl of Salisbury, wherein are admirable precepts for the future conduct of his life, which also may be useful to other gentlemen." Swansea. MORVETH MATHEW DE RADYR. Permit me to corroborate Mr. Green-Price's note on Lord Salisbury's Welsh descent by referring your readers to the pedigree of the Price family in Jones's History of Brecknockshire (vol. ii., p. 200), where the Prices are traced back to Cradoc Fraich-fras, one of the Knights of the Round Table. It is here shown that Chase Price's only child and heiress, Sarah, married Bamber Gascoyne, whose daughter, Frances Mary, married James, second Marquess of Salisbury, K.G., father of the present Marquess. A portrait of Sarah Price (Mrs. Gascoyne) is to be seen at Hatfield House among the other family pictures. Mr. Green-Price makes a mistake in speaking of himself as a "lineal" descendant of Chase Price; "Collateral" descendant he should say; the only "lineal" descendants being Lord Salisbury, and any other people sprung from Mrs. Gascoyne, Chase Price's only child. Caerwent. LLEWYRN. THE MATHEW FAMILY (vi.-378, 479, 570).-My words herein, I regret, are not quite clearly stated. For the sentence "2nd. The Radyr line, dividing into three branches"-substitute 2nd. The Radyr line which descended from General Sir Wm. Mathew, whose altar monument is at Llandaff Cathedral, and who was the eldest son of Thomas Mathew, (founder of the line of Radyr), divided into two branches, viz. :-(a) The Irish or Thomastown, of whom were the Earls Llandaff; (b) The Whitchurch, Fairwater, or Cogan branch, whose descendants are the present representatives of the Radyr line, and (c) The Sweldon, also dividing into three branches, but not into Aberaman and Meros. The Sweldon line is derived from Morgan, base son of Thomas, of Radyr. Swansea. MORVETH MATHEW. WELSH RARE BITS. In his recently published Literary Recollections, Mr. James Payn, the novelist, tells rather a good story, of which the hero is a Welshman. It is adduced in illustration of the point that "notwithstanding the stupidity of all so-called practical jokes, a material drollery-something incongruous that actually happens makes a more vivid and lasting impression upon the human mind than anything spoken." Mr. Payn was staying with a private tutor in Devonshire, where on one occasion they had some private theatricals, "for which a great hall in the centre of the house, approached by a long passage from the front door, afforded great facilities. One of the plays was a dress piece, exhibiting the Court of Queen Elizabeth. It was my frivolous disposition, perhaps," the author good-humouredly remarks, "that caused me to be selected as the Court jester. A dear friend of mine (since dead, alas! like most of them) played Sir Walter Raleigh, and I well remember he took advantage of my being in a simple network garment to prick my unprotected limbs with the point of a rapier. It was a snowy winter's night, and the hall was crowded with a very large audience, whose servants, including those of the house, were standing on the great staircase and in the galleries; and Sir Walter and I were in the long passage aforesaid waiting to come on,' when there came a ring at the front door. There was no one to answer it, as we knew, except ourselves. But who, at that time of night, two hours after the performance had begun, could it possibly be? By Jove,' whispered I, already trembling with the sense of the absurdity of what must needs come to pass, 'it's the new pupil! My tutor, I knew, was expecting one (from Wales) about that date, but in the hurry and bustle of the theatricals we had clean forgotten all about him. The bell rang again with increased violence. We opened the door, and there stood a little man, with a Bradshaw and a railway rug, just descended from a snow-covered fly. His gaze wandered from the knight in his doublet and hose to the fool in scarlet, and back again in speechless astonishment. He had evidently a mind to turn and flee, but Sir Walter, with gentle violence, constrained him to enter. We led him along the passage, opened the door of the great hall, and pushed him on to the stage. The applause was deafening. The appearance of a modern railway traveller, with rug and guide, among the Court of Elizabeth, was thought to be part of an exquisite burlesque. The Queen wept tears of laughter, the courtiers roared, not from complaisance, but necessity, the whole house rose' at the unexpected visitor, who faced it with his mouth open. It was more than a minute before my tutor could understand what had happened. He came forward full of the politest apologies, marred by fits of uncontrollable mirth. My dear Mr. D., I cannot express my sorrow (which was very true). What must you have thought of your reception, and my house? The Welshman was plucky enough, and not unnaturally in a frightful rage. I thought it was a lunatic asylum, sir,' he answered bitterly. Then we gave him three cheers, and one cheer more. The hero of that evening fell at Balaklava a few years afterwards; my tutor and threefourths of that joyous company have long been dead; but when I think of that inimitable scene, the humour of it sweeps wavelike over all, and for one fleeting minute drowns regret." 66 Dr. Smiles, the author of Self Help, in his new work called Invention and Industry, has a chapter on "Astronomers in Humble Life," consisting chiefly of a series of autobiographies, in which he gives an account of a visit to a poor Welsh astronomer, named John Jones, a slate counter, of Albert Street, Upper Bangor. Miss Grace Ellis, of Bangor, through whom Mr. Jones became known to Dr. Smiles, describes him as follows: He works on the Quay, but has a very decided taste for astronomy, his leisure time being spent in its study, with a great part of his earnings. I went there with some friends to see an immense telescope, which he has made almost entirely without aid, preparing the glasses as far as possible himself, and sending them away merely to have their concavity changed. He showed us all his treasures with the greatest delight, explaining in English, but substituting Welsh when at a loss. He has scarcely ever been at school, but has learnt English entirely from books. Among other things he showed us were a Greek Testament and a Hebrew Bible, both of which he can read. His largest telescope, which is several yards long, he has named Jumbo,' and through it he told us he saw the snowcap in the pole of Mars. He has another smaller telescope, made by himself, and had a spectroscope in process of making. He is now quite old, but his delight in his studies is still unbounded and unabated. It seems so sad that he has had no right opportunity for developing his talent." He is a native of Bryngwyn, Anglesey, and was born in 1818. "I found him," writes Dr. Smiles, "active, vigorous, and intelligent; his stature short, his face well formed, his eyes keen and bright. I was first shown into his little parlour downstairs, furnished with his books and some of his instruments; I was then taken to his tiny room upstairs, where he had his big reflecting telescope, by means of which he had seen, through the chamber window, the snowcap of Mars. He is so fond of philology that I found he had no fewer than twenty-six dictionaries, all bought out of his own earnings." But Mr. Jones" is not only an astronomer and a philologist, he is also a bard, and his poetry was much admired in the district." Dr. Smiles gives an interesting abstract of evidence given in 1880 before the Departmental Committee on Higher Education in Wales, by Mr. Cadwaladr Davies, illustrating the remarkable results of the work done by night schools in the North Wales quarrying district, and the ardour of the quarrymen for education. In a work just published at Edinburgh, under the editorship of Lieut.-Col. Alexander Fergusson, entitled The Letters and Journal of Mrs. Calderwood of Polton, some quaint and amusing remarks are quoted with respect to the places and the people visited by the authoress, who in 1756 travelled through England on her way to the Low Countries. Disgusted with the Southron in general, the good lady made an exception in favour of the people of Wales, for we find her at Hatfield assuring a Welsh girl that "the Scots and Welsh are near relations, and much better born than the English." Mrs. Calderwood's Letters, it may interest the bibliophile to know, were printed for private circulation by the Maitland Club nearly fifty years ago. An amusing difficulty has arisen at the Holyhead Board of Guardians, in consequence of the Welsh members being unable to comprehend English and the English to understand Welsh. The Welsh wish to have the proceedings conducted in their native tongue, and the English-speaking members protested. After protracted discussion, it has been decided to allow each member to speak as he pleases, and his observations will have to be translated for the benefit of those who do not understand. Sir Charles Warren, who commands the military expedition to Bechuanaland, is a grandson of the Very Rev. John Warren, who was for nearly forty years Dean of Bangor. His father, Sir Charles Warren, K.C.B., was a distinguished soldier, conspicuous for his bravery in China, Africa, and the Crimea. He died in Ireland in 1866, and was buried at his own request in the cemetery attached to Bangor Cathedral, beneath the shade of a lime tree which when a boy he had planted. Mr. Howel Thomas, who has been appointed Secretary to the Boundaries Commission, under the new Redistribution Bill, is a native of Carnarvon, where his father is well known in connection with the poor-law administration. He has been many years at the Local Government Board, where he was highly esteemed by his chief, the late Sir Hugh Owen; and on Mr. Hugh Owen's appointment to the Permanent Secretaryship of the Local Government Board, in succession to Sir John Lambert, he at once selected Mr. Thomas as his private secretary. Mr. Thomas is brother to Mr. Alfred Thomas, of the North and South Wales Bank, Wrexham. AN INVITATION TO SNOWDON. Come away with me, Tom, What are sheets and servants? Pray for wives and children If the fleet comes homeward, Leave to Robert Browning -Life of Kingsley. In a recent number of the People newspaper it is stated that at the Smithfield Cattle Show, a Welsh ox exhibited by Mr. Jones, of Llandudno, figured in the catalogue with a name containing sixty letters, nearly all consonants. I have only room for a sample" Pwllgwngyllgogerchwyrnydrob." Those who want the remainder must supply themselves. Readers of the Red Dragon will identify in the foregoing a very old friend. Some of our English neighbours must be very hard up for jokes to be obliged to "resuirect" these dead and buried things so often. |