Cylchgronau Cymru

/V/ô- January 7th, 1888. CYMRU FU. 57 JANUARY 7, 1888. NOTES. THE BLACK LIST OF 1701.—Tlie following are the Welsh gentlemen named in this líst:— Thomas Harley. Sir Jeffery Jefferys Sir Humphrey Mackworth. Robert Harley. Merthyr. T. G. THE FAMILY OF CILYBEBYLL.—Perhaps it may interest some of the readers of Cymru Fu to know that tlie Mistress of the Robes to the un- happy Catherine of Braganza, after lier marriage with Charles II. was a member of the family which then lived at Cilybebyll, near Pontardawe. The Queen presented this lady with her portrait, which was painted by Sir Peter Leiy, and which is still, I believe, at Cilybebyll. Beili Glas. Resolven. CUSTOMS OF THE ANCIENT WELSH.—Fiom an old book entitled The History of Great Britain on a NeicPlan I take the following:— " We knosv little as to the divorces of the Anglo- Saxons, although they sometimes appear; but the Welsli laws allcwed the husband to put. away his wife for behavicur tending towardadultery ; while on her part s'ne might on very slight accounts separate her concerns from his; it was a sufficient cause if slie discovered that he had an ill-scented breath. With respect to conjugal authority, our neighbours of Wales allotted decisively that, if the wife called her husband opprobrious names, pulled him by the beard, squandered away his goods, or, lastly. if he found her in bed with another man, the injured spouse might give her three blows with a stick on any part of her except her head. But if he should beat her more severely or for a less cause, he was liable to pay a considerable fine." Weston-super-Mare. J. T. R. CHARLES CHURCHILL IN WALES.—When the satirical poet Charlea Churchill was three-and- twenty, he was, though only what is termed a '' Literate," ordained, after proper examination, by Dr. Sherlock, Bishop of London. Some time after- wards he was given a curacy of twenty-seven poundsper annum in Wales, whither he came to reside. A writer in the Unẁersal Mayazine for April, 1785, gives the following account of his life in ths Principalityí— " He 8oon gained the esteem and affection of his parishioners, became a popular preacher. and was as inuch followed as Whitefield or Romáine. He was, besides, a jolly companion and keen sports- man ; but though the greatplenty of the country, and the consequent cheapness of all necessaries, made his seven-and-twenty pounds at least equiv- alent to £120 near London, and thougli he some- tirnes received presents from his parishioners, yet he soon spent what money he had brought with him from England, and, as an expedient to obtain a fresh supply, he opened a cider cellar, and bccame at once parson and publican. Thîs cider cellar was his own dwelling-house, and he per- formed the office of waiter and tapster himself. • Parson,ibring me a mug of the right sort,' says one ; ' This is excellent stuff,' says another. Busi- nesscamein apace, and Lindsey-Woolsey picked up money. But he was by nature very liberal, and by a defect common in the most amiable characters, unthrifty and extravagant; partly, therefore, by his virtue, and partly by his folly, he not only dissipated the accumulateü prorits ôf his church and his cellar, but he contracted debts which he had not the least hope of being able to pay. And when he proposed to divide liis all among his creditors, the proposil was rejected, and he had no expedient to keep out of prison but to run away. He accordin»ily quitted the place with prcper secrecy and expedition, and returned once more to London without any view of subsistence but the liberality of friends." Neicport. G. A. Edwards. QUERIES. A CURIOUS ACT OF PARLIAMENT was passed in 1534- against certain wicked Welshmen, whose •'malefact and scelerous deeds " were declared tobe "so rooted and tìxed in the same people"that some- thing unusually lively had to be provided. Can .' Sildrian," or any other correspondent, oblige by amplifying ? Penanink. OLD GOAT PROVERB.—Of a person who is obstinate it issaid in Wales that it is as impossible to get him to do a thing as to "gyru bwch i odyn " (to drive a he-go.it into a kiln). Can "Morien" or anyone else explain ? Rob Roy. Hereford. SIMLI OR SYMLU.—Will any reader of Cymru Fu kindly give tlie meaning of this word, and an account of tlie practices at such meetings which were carried on in Cardiganshire in connection with "cynos" at the mill? What is "cynos"? The following rhyme was sung while boys and girls were playing at a game called "'deryn pica du":— Herc i herc mi dorais fj' ngtilun, Mi gollais fy nghywiou bach bob un, A welsoch cliwi un cyw bach pen felyn Yn pigo'r eisin dan y felin? Clydach, Swansea. Cadwgan. REPLIES. WALES AND THE PAPIST PLOT (Sept. I7f 1887).—The Hist. MSS.; Commission has recently is8ued a calendar to the House of Lords Reeords for the oeriod 1678-88—ten very interesting years