it will be seen that this is an island of some size, being about half a mile long and of granite formation, and it forms a very good illustration of the numerous islets with which the sea is here so thickly studded. The sea rushes past these islands with a current so tremendous that navigation is only safe to those who are thoroughly acquainted with the locality. On arriving at this island of Gavr' Inis, one disembarks, and climbs by a rough path for about

a quarter of an hour to the tumulus which is shown on the summit of the island, until the entrance is reached. Here we have a very good example of the "Gal-gal", as this class of dolmen is termed. At the entrance our attention is at once arrested by the profusion of tracery which covers the walls. From the entrance to the wall, facing us in the illustration, the distance is between 50 and 60 ft. The square chamber to which the gallery leads is composed of two huge slabs, as shown in the

illustration, the sides of the room and gallery being composed of upright stones, about a dozen on each side. The mystic lines and hieroglyphics appear to be deco-' rative, having a considerable repetition, broken, however, at intervals by very definite carvings of serpents and hatchet-heads. The ceiling is formed of blocks of stone some 15 ft. in length. On one side of the inner chamber a very curious object is to be observed. Three round

openings have been made, so as to form two stone handles. As to this formation, opinions are as divided as they are fanciful. Some say that it had to do with a marriage ceremony, others that the receptacle was hollowed out for holy water; whilst it has also been stoutly affirmed that the holes were used for binding victims when a human sacrifice was required: which, however, to me does not in any way seem to be supported by the surroundings.

From Gavr' Inis we again embark, and the wind filling our sails, there shortly recedes from our eyes this wonderful island, where for thousands of years the sea has kept her lonely vigil by the grave of the mighty dead; and running before the wind, with a fair tide, Auray is reached in about two hours' time.

NOTES ON GWYDIR CASTLE, LLANRWST.

BY H. R. HUGHES, ESQ., OF KINMEL.

N preparing the pamphlet which, by Lord Carrington's kind forethought, was supplied to the Members of the Association on the occasion of their visit to Gwydir, and which was reproduced at pp. 87-91 of the present volume, the author appears to have relied too implicitly on local tradition, and perhaps on the statements of venerable retainers, without taking the precaution to test their correctness. And, therefore, in the interest of future readers of this important Journal, it would seem desirable to draw attention to several rather curious inaccuracies:1. "The Wynns of Gwydir."-Anyone reading this paragraph would, I think, come to the conclusion that the Wynn family descended from Gruffydd ap Cynan through the same line of ancestry as Llewelyn ap Gruffydd; and so from his brother, Owen Goch, to Sir Richard Wynn, and that he was the last heir male of his race. The actual words are as follows: "The original ancestor was Gruffydd ap Conan, Prince of Wales died 1137.. and they descended in the male line to Prince Llewelyn ap Gruff, last Prince of Wales. slain December 10, 1282 . . . who was succeeded by his third brother, Owen Goch . descended in the male line till Wynn died without male issue". (He died Oct. 24th, 1664.) As a matter of fact, Owen Goch ap Gruffydd died without issue in his brother's lifetime, and the direct lineal ancestor of the Wynn family was Rodri, Lord of Anglesey, the second son of Owen Gwynedd, by his

1898

.

and the family still when Sir Richard

12

second wife; his kinsman, Llewelyn ap Gruffyd, being descended from the eldest son of his first wife. And so far from the male line being extinguished by the death of Sir Richard, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by a cousin, who became Sir John Wynn, and died without issue January 7th, 1719. But the male line of this historic house still continued, and was represented as late as 1846 by Mr. Rice Wynn, a surgeon in Shrewsbury, who died without issue shortly afterwards.

2. "Sir Richard Wynn's Room."-In this room is shown a Welsh Bride's Chest, bearing inscription I. A. 1662, K.P.", which is thus interpreted: "I, Annie Katherine Panton, the chest of Katherine Panton (daughter of Mr. Panton of Plasgwyn, an Anglesey squire), who founded Newmarket Races. She married the fourth Duke of Ancaster". The suggestion that the bride recorded her ownership of the chest by an incomplete affirmation is rather amusing! In ordinary cases the letters I. A. would represent the gentleman's initials, and K. P. those of the lady. But in 1662 the Plasgwyn referred to belonged to an old family named Jones, who ended in an heiress, Miss Jane Jones, who married, about 1754, Paul Panton, of Bagillt, co. Flint, barrister-at-law; and, so far as I know, no connection has ever been found between his family and that of Mr. Thomas Panton, of Newmarket, "Keeper Keeper of the King's running horses", whose daughter Mary, to whom he bequeathed £60,000, married the third Duke of Ancaster, on Nov. 27th, 1750, more than a hundred years after the date on the oak chest.

3. Royal Visits."—In olden times, as is well known, it was a common practice of loyal people to display the armorial bearings of the reigning sovereign in one of the principal chambers. Hence the room was usually distinguished by the name of the sovereign, and eventually it became an accepted belief in the family that the said sovereign had actually occupied it, and even slept in the bed! This must have been the origin of the tradition at Gwydir, for I believe it to be an historical fact that Queen Elizabeth never visited Wales. No such visit is recorded in Nicholls's Progresses of the Queen, nor in a