PLATE XLVII. FIG. 2.

THE LLANWINIO STONE.

In 1867 Col. G. Grant Francis communicated to the Society of Antiquaries of London 1 a figure and description of a stone about 4 feet high and 15 inches wide, found in 1846 in digging the foundations of a new church at Llanwinio Carn, and subsequently removed to Middleton Hall near Llandeilo by Mr. Ab. Adam, and which bears on its face an incised cross within an oval and an inscription which was read

From communications and rubbings received from the Revs. D. H. Davies and Aaron Roberts, and Col. G. G. Francis, it appears that the stone is in excellent preservation; and from a careful examination of them the accompanying figure has been reduced by the camera. I have consequently no hesitation in reading the inscription as

BIVAD

FILI BODIBE VE

the v and ▲ in the first line being conjoined, and the first character in the second line, which at first sight looks like a, being composed of the letters FI conjoined; the seventh letter in the second line is doubtful, but it seems more like a D than a G.

The Ogham inscription on the left side is read AFFI BOGIB... and that on the right commences BE, unless a stroke of the second letter has been omitted, when it would read BL. Prof. Rhys (Arch. Camb., 1876, p. 246) reads the Oghams

AVVIBOCIBA

ATTEH

or, if the latter be read upwards, BEVVU, but admits that he cannot believe in these readings. In the same work, 1877, p. 140, he guesses,' from an inspection of the rubbings exhibited at the Abergavenny Meeting, the inscription to be

BLAD

FILI BODIBEVE

and adds that as a part of the stone is lost the Ogham is incomplete, but what remains is tolerably clear and makes

AWWIBODDIB
BEWW

1 Proceedings, Ser. II. 3, 1867, p. 446.

his reason for now reading d d instead of c being thus stated: 'I fancy we have here the same name which in the other version appears as only BODIBEVE. Further, if we begin by reading the Ogham on the right edge,-which is contrary however to the analogy of other Ogmic inscriptions of the kind,-we have Bew w(i) a wwi Boddibeww(i), where awwi is the same word which occurs as awi in Irish Ogham and in Old Irish as áue, a grandson; whence the epitaph would mean (the body of) Bew, grandson of Boddibew,' which however does not agree with the Latin Fili.

PLATE XLVII. FIG. 3.

THE LLANDAWKE STONE.

Some years ago this stone stood in the churchyard of Llandawke, whence it was removed to form a step to the south door of the church; during the Meeting of the Archæological Association in August 1875 and visit to Llandawke, it was raised, and has, it is to be hoped, been properly secured from further injury.

The inscription is written in debased Roman capitals, and with the exception of the S reversed and the tenth letter of the lower line, which appears partially defaced but is evidently a B, is to be read

BARRIVEND

FILIVS VENDVBARI 1

the words HIC IACIT in letters of smaller size on the edge of the stone being apparently an addition.

A description with a rude wood-cut of this inscription by A. J. K. appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine for January, 1838 (vol. ix. p. 44), in which the writer suggests that the stroke before the initial B denotes an abbreviation, and further that the word Barryvend is perhaps some British variation of the name Baruch, a British saint of the seventh century, who was buried in the island of Barry, which from that circumstance is stated to have received his name! Barrivend, he adds, if it may be read as a contraction, may express Baruch vendiguid (or the blessed). I apprehend that this stone cannot be more recent than the sixth century.

The Rev. E. L. Barnwell having communicated to me a rubbing and drawing which he had received from a lady, I was enabled to give a figure and description of the exposed surface of the stone in the Arch. Camb., 1867, p. 343, with the exception of the Hic jacit and lateral Oghams, which were not represented in the rubbing or drawing.

Prof. Rhys called attention in the Arch. Camb., 1874, p. 19, to the fact of the existence of Oghams on the stone which had not previously been observed. These he reads, on the

1 Mr. Barnwell suggests that these two names show the origin of the custom of the son taking the father's name as a prefix which still occurs in some parts of Wales, which makes the son of John Williams to be called William Jones.

tolerably legible side, taqoledemu; on the other or right side he could only determine the letters maqi. There are more traces, but the stone has been chipped, trimmed, and worn off, so that I fear it is hopeless to make anything of the Celtic inscription.

PLATE XLVII. FIG. 4.

THE LLANGELER STONE.

An ancient chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, thence called Capel Mair,' formerly existed at Llangeler (or the church of St. Celert or Geler), but was long ago entirely demolished.

Near it was a spring dedicated to the saint, and also a monumental stone, as we are informed by Lewis (Top. Dict., ii. Llangeler), 'bearing an inscription in rude characters, and said to be in the Welsh language.' This stone, as the late Rev. H. Longueville Jones informed me in 1855, was broken to pieces 1 by the farmer who occupied the land some years previously, because people trespassed on his land to see it!

The Rev. Aaron Roberts, however, has informed me that the inscription had been copied by one of his predecessors in the Vicarage of New Church, and the copy was found among the papers of the late Captain Davies of Traws Mawr; and another copy has been placed in my hands, made by Mr. George Spurrell of Carmarthen. It is represented in the accompanying figure. The inscription reads

DECA BARBALOM (N—?)

FILIVS BROCAGNI.

The Oghams are stated by Prof. Rhys (Arch. Camb., 1875, p. 371) to read DECCAIBANVALBDIS, but the Rev. Aaron Roberts (Arch. Camb., 1876, p. 237) could not make anything out of the Oghams.

PLATE XLVIII. FIG. 1.

THE CROSSED STONE AT LLAN PYMPSAINT.

I am indebted to the Rev. Aaron Roberts for a rubbing of this stone, which is 26 inches long (above ground) and 1 foot broad, bearing on its face a small cross with equal limbs inscribed within a circle, which has a small semicircular lobe on its upper part, whilst the lower limb of the cross appears to be slightly forked, and having below it a slender stem about the length of the diameter of the cross itself.

1

From a note by the Rev. E. L. Barnwell (Arch. Camb., 1872, p. 67) it would appear that the stone was not broken to pieces, but that the inscription was entirely effaced, and that it still stands near Capel Mair without the slightest trace of letters or Oghams on it. 'Some of the residents say that it had some characters on it, and that a wax (?) impression was sent to a gentleman in London whose name could not be ascertained.'

PLATE XLVIII. FIG. 2.

THE CROSSED STONE AT LLANFIHANGEL AR ARTH.

This stone is placed against the church wall, and it is to the kindness of Miss Dora Jones, sister of the Bishop of St. David's, that I am indebted for a drawing and rubbing of it. It is a plain Latin cross marked with small crosses at the intersection of the limbs, and with a small very faint cross line scarcely visible for the titulus at the top. It rests upon a small transverse stroke, which is also marked with crossed lines, and below this the cross is extended by a line to the base of the stone. It has no vestige of an inscription upon it. Possibly the markings may indicate two separate crosses.

PLATE XLVIII. FIG. 3.

THE CROSSED STONE AT LLANGLYDWEN.

This stone stands in the churchyard and has been irregularly shaped into the form of the cross, being 3 feet 7 inches high (above ground), with the face ornamented with a cross with broad equal-sized limbs carved within a broad circle, the diameter of the latter being 15 inches. It has a very venerable appearance, and is unquestionably of very early date.

PLATE XLVIII. FIG. 4.

CROSSED STONE AT CAPEL BACH, NEAR ABERGWILI.

A sketch and rubbing of this stone were sent to me in 1876 by the Rev. Aaron Roberts. It stands at Capel Bach ffos y Gest near Abergwili, and is 4 feet high and 3 feet broad. There was formerly a church at this place, and the crossed stone now forms a stile from the churchyard to the adjoining field and facing the main entrance. It will be seen from my figure that the cross is quite a plain Latin one, the limbs being united by an incised line forming a depressed circle, the larger diameter of which is 16 inches.

PLATE XLVIII. FIG. 5.

THE LAUGHARNE CROSS.

This small ornamented wheel-topped stone has lately been discovered in digging a grave in the picturesque churchyard of Laugharne. It is about 30 inches high, the upper part forming a circle about 10 inches in diameter, within the circumference of which is a cable moulding which extends down each side of the stone, which is at the bottom about equal to the diameter of the top, the sides gradually converging to the lower part of the head. Within the cable moulding of the head is a cross of the Maltese form, the centre forming a slightly raised circle, the arms of the cross slightly dilated outwardly, the spaces between the arms

being filled in with the triquetra pattern. The basal part of the cross is slightly elongated and widened, so as to form a loop for the insertion of the upper part of a broad interlaced ribbon pattern, which extends down the shaft, the interlacement appearing incomplete both at the top and bottom.

It is difficult to fix a date for this stone, but I apprehend it would range from the tenth to the twelfth century. (J. O. W., Arch. Camb., 1876, p. 195.)

PLATE XLVIII. FIG. 6.

THE LLANGUNNOR CROSSED STONE.

This stone (for a rubbing of which I am indebted to the Rev. Aaron Roberts) is built into the porch of the church, and is not more than 19 inches high. It consists of a plain incised Latin cross with dilated ends to the limbs, inclosed by incised lines following the outlines of the cross, and terminated below in a short slender stem which is forked at its lower extremity.

PLATE XLIX. FIG. 3.

THE SEPULCHRAL STONE OF EGLWYS VAIR A CHURIG.

I am indebted to Miss Protheroe of Dól-Wilym for my knowledge of this very curious stone, which is admitted into this work on account of its very unusual character, as well as from the inscription, which from what remains of it could not have been in black letter, to the period of the use of which (thirteenth to the sixteenth century) the details of the stone might appear to belong. The raised portion of the stone, containing the bust and arms apparently of a female figure, are very much rubbed; the right hand is applied to the breast, and the left hand is held upward, and appears to hold an apple, ball, or possibly a flower-pot, resting on a square compartment, of which there is one on each side of the head, that to the left being ornamented with an elegantly designed figure of a plant, above which is a large foliated arabesque design, unfortunately greatly broken and incomplete. Below the bust the slab is greatly defaced, but appears to have borne an inscription, of which only the following letters can be indistinctly traced

THE CURCAGNUS STONE FORMERLY AT LLANDEILO VAWR.

The only notice of this stone is preserved in the correspondence of Edward Lhwyd, in one of whose letters, published in the Archæologia Cambrensis, 1858, p. 345, dated from Llandeilo Vawr, on December 20, 1697, he gives a figure (here copied), and describes it as stone by the churchyard in this town