The rudeness of the letters and the incorrect orthography of nearly every one of the words of this inscription will perhaps be considered as a sufficient warrant for my reading the last line 'ejus' rather than as the proper name of some other person for the repose of whose soul the cross was erected by Grutne. The letters are rude minuscules, mixed with uncials (such as the Benedictine authors of the 'Nouveau Traité de Diplomatique' would have called semiuncial), the d open and rounded with the second part a little inclined to the left at top, the s both f and s shaped, the r with the second part much elongated, the g of the minuscule form with the top cross-stroke long. The letters are irregular in size and position in the lines, and of a ruder character than those on the stone of Brancuf. The omission of then in the first word In (nomine) appears to have been intended simply to prevent duplication of the letters. The same peculiarity occurs on the great cross at Merthyr Mawr. The word 'anima' seems to have been rather troublesome, as we find it not only misspelt here, but on Samson's cross at Llantwit it is written anmia' (although correctly given by Rhys and Hubner). I have been led to suppose the terminal word ahest to represent ejus, as such is a common termination of the formula 'pro anima ejus '—as on Samson's cross 'pro anmia ejus,' on Houelt's cross at Llantwit pro anima Res pa(tr)es eus,' the last word being clearly ejus although misspelt on the stone (Mr. Rhys prints it as correctly written-Notes, p. 9), and on the smaller cross at Merthyr Mawr 'pro anima ejus.' Mr. Rhys however suggests, ‘As to Ahest, which it has been tried to distort into ejus, it is probably the name which occurs as Achess in the Liber Landavensis, where we have Trefbledgwr Mabaches (p. 32) and Audi Filium Achess (p. 265).'

With reference to the age of this inscription, both from its general style and the form of the cross I should be inclined to refer it to the eighth or ninth century; and with reference to the person commemorated, the late Rev. J. Williams (Ab Ithel) quotes the following triad from the Myvyrian Archæology, vol. ii. p. 15: The three brave chieftains of the isle of Britain, GRUDNEU and Henbrien and Ædenawg. They would never leave the field of battle except on their biers, and they were the three sons of Gleisiar of the North and Haernwedd Vradawg (treacherous) their mother. These brothers are said to have flourished in the sixth century. My own opinion is that there is nothing in the character of the letters and style of orthography [of the inscription] irreconcilable with that hypothesis, though I doubt whether the form and design of the cross do not point to a later date.' (Arch. Camb. 1851, p. 307.)

PLATE XIV. FIG. 3.

BRYN KEFFNEITHAN (NOW AT NEATH). CROSSED STONE.

The carved and inscribed stone represented in this figure was brought before the public notice of archeologists by myself in the Archæologia Cambrensis, 1865, p. 65, at which time it was used as a pump-stone in the yard of the house of the manager of the colliery on the tramway at Bryn Keffneithan, about three miles to the east of Neath. It had formerly stood at Resolven, and had been removed from a small holy-well in the vicinity. It has again been removed, and is now in the garden of Miss Parsons at Neath. Surely it ought to be deposited

either in a church, or some public museum or other public building. It is 34 inches high and 20 inches broad, rounded at the top, having a large cross with equal-sized limbs irregularly carved on the upper portion, with the panels between the arms of the cross sunk, leaving only the edges of the limbs in relief. In the centre is a raised dot surrounded by a small circle in relief, with similar circles and dots at the ends of the upper and lower limbs and outer angles of the lower panels. The bottom of the stone, or at least so much of it as still remains, bears the inscription

prop
aravi
tgaic

i. e. preparavit gaic. The letters are of the minuscule form and of the Anglo-Saxon or HibernoSaxon type of the eighth or ninth century, the r and g being especially characteristic. The word 'properavit ' naturally suggests the addition of the words ' hanc crucem,' and Mr. Rhys has ingeniously suggested that the proper name is not Gaic but Gai, and the apparently terminal letter c the initial of the word 'crucem;' whilst the apparent fragment of a letter at the commencement of the fourth line is considered by him to indicate a r (making with the preceding c crucem) or a h, whence he would read the inscription as Proparauit Gai, c. h., that is, Preparavit Gai crucem hanc. At all events,' he says, 'I do not believe in a name Gaic, whereas we have in the Annales Cambria, Gaii Campi, which in a later MS. is given as Gai.'

PLATE XV.

MARGAM. THE GREAT WHEEL-CROSS.

This is one of the most beautiful specimens of ancient native art remaining in this country. It is preserved within the ruins of the chapter-house at Margam, and stands upon a large quadrangular block of stone 42 inches wide, about 2 feet high and 2 feet thick, having its front divided into compartments filled with ornamental interlaced ribbon patterns and the curious Chinese-like diagonal pattern, surrounded by a narrow raised cable; the top of the block has a long excavation in the middle for the reception of the base of the cross, the hole having a border of interlaced ribbon along its front and two sides. The base of the cross is 23 inches wide and 18 inches high, and the wheel itself is 39 inches in diameter and about 5 inches thick. It is remarkable that the outline of the stone should have been left irregular, inclining somewhat on one side, whilst the centre compartment is also unsymmetrical, with the high boss not in the centre, so that the ornamentation is necessarily irregular. The cross is formed of a central square and four equal-sized square compartments at the ends of the limbs, which latter are united to the central square by smaller square spaces, and the circular wheel is completed by curved fillets between the outer square compartments, the lowest of which extends downwards through the base of the cross. All these compartments are filled in with elaborate interlaced raised ribbon-work of varied patterns, the spaces on each side of the stem or base of the cross having

a figure of a man rudely sculptured, the one to the right wearing what looks like a cowl on his shoulders, and which in the other figure seems to cover the head. Above the head of each figure is the triquetra ornament. The open spaces between the arms of the cross have been left unornamented and flat (not being pierced through), and appear to have been inscribed with small letters. Those on the upper left-hand space have been clearly inscribed obliquely, as though the sculptor had carved them standing on the top of the base and had to stoop towards the space to be inscribed. The letters are minuscules, and are to be read

con belin fuit . . .

The letters on the other compartments are so small and slightly carved as not to be decipherable, in fact they escaped my sight on several visits, and it is only from my rubbings that their presence has been detected. Careful casts held in various lights would, I doubt not, confirm my conjecture as to their existence, and would facilitate the reading of them.

The letters in the upper left space have been indicated, but incorrectly, in Gough's Camden, ii. pl. 18, fig. 2. Mr. Rhys having missed the inscription on his inspection of the stone, has suggested to Dr. Hubner that it does not exist and that I have confounded the great wheelcross of Margam with the great cross of Merthyr Mawr.

The figures of this fine stone given by Strange in the Archæologia (vol. vi. pl. 3, fig. 7) and by Donovan in his Tour in Wales, ii. p. 24 and pl. opposite, are very unsatisfactory.

PLATE XVI.

MARGAM CHAPTER-HOUSE. THE CROSS OF ENNIAUN.

This elegant sculptured stone, of which no representation has heretofore been published, is now preserved in the chapter-house of Margam. It is 6 feet high and about 2 feet wide across the middle of the stone. The circular head of the stone has been partially cut on each side to make the outline continuous with the lower part, but the ornamental design of the head has been but little injured. The head is sculptured with a cross, with the limbs of equal length terminating in dilated square spaces elegantly carved with an endless interlaced ribbon running through a double oval ribbon in each square compartment, the centre of the cross having also a small interlaced double oval pattern: the arms of the cross are united by curved bars ornamented with a curious Chinese-like pattern formed of oblique incised lines, leaving four plain semi-oval spaces between the bases of the limbs of the

cross.

The base or stem of the cross is gradually dilated to the bottom, and is divided into two compartments, of which the upper is filled with a very simple but effective interlacement of triple ribbons, and the lower compartment bears on the right side an ornament in two oblong divisions formed by diagonal lines, forming patterns not uncommon in the Hiberno-Saxon and Anglo-Saxon MSS. and on a few of the Welsh stones.

On the left side the space is partially occupied by the inscription

crux xpi

+ enniaun

P anima

guorgoret
fecit.

The former of these names occurs in the Welsh histories under the name Einion and the latter as Gwrwaret. The former name is recorded in the Pedigrees of the Saints as Einion, king in Lleyn and Seiriol in the upper part of Anglesea, son of Owain Danwyn the son of Einion Yrth, the son of Cunedda Wledig; but the locality militates against the supposition that he was the maker of the cross at Margam.

And with reference to the second name upon this cross, Guorgoret, it is to be noticed that a village whose name was Conguoret, in Pencenli, was granted to the Abbot of St. Cadoc, and the Abbot with his clergy brought the cross of St. Cadoc and his earth, and going round the aforesaid land of Conguoret claimed it, and before proper witness scattered the earth of the aforesaid saint thereon in token of perpetual possession.' Amongst the witnesses to this grant were Samson Abbot of the Altar of Saint Illtyd, and Guaguorit.

Drawn from sketches made on repeated visits to Margam, several rubbings, and a photograph prepared by Lord Dunraven kindly placed at my disposal by the care of Miss Stokes.

This great sculptured stone is 6 feet high, 3 feet broad, and 1 foot thick, and is ornamented on the upper part of both sides with a large plain wheel-cross with eight spokes and a raised boss in the centre, the spaces around which are filled in with irregular incised lines more like the tattooing of a New Zealander's face than the symmetrical designs commonly seen on these stones. Each of the edges of the stone has two impressions, the space below the second of which is filled on one edge with irregular incised lines.

The stone, with that figured in Pl. XVIII, had been long used as a foot-bridge on the highway near the farm called Court y Davydd before its removal to Margam chapter-house, and the face of the stone is almost worn smooth: there are however sufficient indications of the inscription to show that it occupied three lines, the first of which ends with the letters il quici, sufficiently distinct, whilst the reverse of the stone has the lower part of its face marked with the outlines of a plain Greek cross. It was described by Donovan in his Tour in Wales, vol. ii. p. 5, and figured in the opposite plate.

1 Not six spokes as misstated in Arch. Camb. 1861, p. 343, thence regarded as similar to Etruscan

monuments.

2 Donovan, Tour in S. Wales, ii. p. 5, describes and figures these two stones in situ employed as a bridge.

This sculptured stone here represented is very similar to that of Ilquici, being 5 feet high, 2 feet wide in the middle of the inscription, and 34 inches wide at the top, its thickness varying from 11 to 5 inches. The upper part is carved on both faces with a plain wheel-cross with eight spokes, the four spaces between the four limbs of the cross being wider and deeper than the limbs themselves. The wheel is surrounded by a second plain circular line, which on the back of the cross ends above in two small circles.

The lower division of the face is formed by lines into a nearly square panel, in which is inscribed

oilci Fecit o

hanc cruce
m. in nomin

e. di summi

A few of the letters are considerably defaced, but sufficient remains to determine the reading given above. The letters are minuscules of a more ancient form than those of the crosses of Grutne and Brancuf. The lower half of the reverse of the stone has a plain square panel, and one of the edges is carved with a serpentine line divided by an indentation of the side.

The stone was described by Donovan in his Tour in Wales, vol. ii. p. 5, and figured in the opposite plate, but the inscription has not hitherto been deciphered.

PLATE XIX. FIG. 1.

MARGAM CHAPTER-HOUSE. THE SMALL BROKEN WHEEL-CROSS.

This fragment of an elegant wheel-cross was removed to Margam Abbey about twenty years ago.

It is about 4 feet high, the upper part decorated with an incised and elegantly ornamented cross of the Latin form, having the base of the stem dilated and ornamented with double interlaced ribbons forming a triquetra, each ribbon having an incised central line, as is the case with all the single interlaced ribbons of which the cross is formed. The centre of the cross itself has an ornament like a prostrate 8 (∞), and the arms of the cross are united by a broad interlaced band forming (when entire) a circle, the spaces between the arms of the cross being pierced. The upper limb of the cross and the two upper connecting bands are however broken off and lost. There is no inscription on this stone.

PLATE XIX. FIG. 2.

MARGAM CHAPTER-HOUSE. THE NARROW WHEEL-CROSS.

This stone was also removed to Margam Abbey about twenty years ago. It is about