Cylchgronau Cymru

188 BYE-GONES. Feb., 1875. February 17, 1875. NOTES. RODNEY'S PILLAR (May 15, 1872, Sept. 23, 1874).—The erection of this pillar having been the matter of discussion, not only in Bye-gones, but also in Shreds and Patches—the following account of it may be of interest to your readers. It is from the Gent. Mag., 1803, p. 1109, and is written by D. Parkes of Shrewsbury, whose testimony in matters of this sort is sure to be correct and of value. The subject had been referred to in a previous number of the Gent. Mag., some correspondent having written to say that Lord Rodney had no monument to perpetuate his very valuable services. Mr Parkes replies that the correspondent is undoubtedly misinformed of what the Cambrian Britons have done for him. The gentlemen of Montgomeryshire in 1781 erected a pillar on the Breidden bill, one of the highest in the county, and on the 10th of August, 1782, a commemoration jubilee was held, and very numerously attended. The pillar is about fifty-four feet high. On the west aide facing Wales is in the ancient language of the country, viz., in large characters :— COLOFN RODNEY. Underneath on the pedestal,— Y colofnau nchaf a syrthiant A'r tyrrau cadarnaf a ammharant, Ond clod Syr Sior Brydges Rodney A gynnydda beunydd A'i enw da ef ni ddileuir. On the north side— Erected in honour of Sir George Brydges Rodney, Admiral of the White, by a subscription of the gentlemen of this county, 1781. On the east and south sides are the following— Summse pereunt columnae, Georgii Brydges Rodney, baronetti, viget nomen, et vigebit. As the inscription in Welsh may not be generally under¬ stood, I have subjoined the following translation by a friend :— Rodney's Pillar. The highest pillars will fall, The strongest towers will decay; But the fame of Sir George Brydges Rodney shall increase continually and his good name shall never be obliterated. D. Parkes. The letter is accompanied by a page engraving of a view of the pillar. I have not been to the pillar, so that I can¬ not say if it is correct. There are many views of Lord Hill's column, but I have never seen one of Rodney's pillar before, and having made a copy of it, if it should be agree¬ able to you, I shall be happy to forward sufficient copies of the sketch to enable you to enclose one to each sub¬ scriber of the Reprint of Bye-gones in your next quarterly part, printed of course on the same sized paper, to enable such as care for it to bind it up with Bye-gones. It will be seen from the above account that the monument was intended for a national one, although erected by the gentlemen of Montgomeryshire. It has, therefore, no con¬ nexion with Proud Salopians at all, and can in no way be looked upon as theirs. A. [The view published in the Oent'emtn's Magazine represents the pillar as it was when first erected. Ttie ball at the top, which was originally gilt-and supposed by the natives to be gold t—was shattered early in this century by Ughtning; for account of which see Gossiping Guide to Wales. Our corres¬ pondent's offer is a very generous one, which of course we accept with many thanks.—Ed. J QUERIES. IEUAN CARN DOCHAN.-Who was Ieuan Cam Dochan ? He is mentioned on page 446 of the works of Ieuan Glan Geirionydd as spending his Christmas at the Vicarage, Darowen. I. INTRODUCTION OF GAS.—When was gas in¬ troduced into the respective towns of Wales and the Border Counties? I have always understood that Oswestry took the lead, by lighting up its theatre in 1819. Tell. WELSH BABIES.-In an unauthorised life of Stanley, the discoverer of Dr Livingstone, published by the late Mr Hotten, I find the following passage : " Now, it is a custom in Wales when a child is born to give the infant, as its first food, a teaspoonful of melted butter mixed with sugar; and when the midwife was about to administer this to the child, Moses Parry walked up to the kitchen fire where she was sitting, and noticing what she was about, cried out in Welsh, ' Aros ! ares! (stop, stop), let me pat the first bit in his mouth.' Suiting the action to the word, he pulled a half sovereign out of his pocket, and placed it for a moment in the mouth of the child, remarking, ' I hope you will never be in want of a bite like this, my lad.'" The writer proceeds to say, " This ceremony is supposed in Wales to bring luck." What I want to know is, if the piece of money is supposed to bring luck, how is it that the putting melted butter in the mouth should ever have become ' a custom ?' The scene of the foregoing is laid in Denbigh, and ' Stanley' (the son of a couple named Rowlands) ia the infant. Can any of your readers say anything about the custom ? G. G. REPLIES, WORDS AND PHRASES (Jan. 20, 1875).- Higgledy Piggledy Malpas Shot. Happening to pass through Malpas when a boy, on the box of a lumbering Chester coach, the following accouut, as nearly as I re¬ member, of the origin of this saying was given me by the coachman, himself somewhat of an original of the Mr Weller, senior, type, whom I had amused myself by " drawing out" to while away the tedium of the journey. Before his invasion of England, William III. travelled in England incognito, with the view to certify himself of the state of the national feeling towards himself and his enter- prize, and coming to Malpas, betook himself to the inn for his dinner, a repast which he happened to share with the Rector and Curate of the parish. The meal over, the Curate proposed to the Rector to divide the payment of the " shot," that of the stranger included, between them. To this the Rector, who enjoyed in the neighbourhood the reputation of being a miser, strenuously objected, exclaim¬ ing, "Certainly not, higgledy piggledy, all pay alike." "By all means," chimed in the future Sovereign, "higgledy piggledy, all pay alike;" and so it was arranged. But, when William was seated on the throne, and the Rector of Malpas, among others, made a journey to London to wor¬ ship the rising sun, the King no sooner saw him than he reminded him of the incident, and compelled him to sur¬ render a moiety of the parish to his Curate, also with the title of Rector, on the principle embodied in his own apothegm, " Higgledy piggledy, all pay alike." And from that day forwards there have been ever two Rectors of Malpas. H. W. L.