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hundrethe pilgrames, to a mans estimacion, that offered to the saide Image the fifte daie of this presente monethe of Aprill. The innocente people hathe ben sore alured and entisid to worshipe the saide Image, in so muche that there is a commyn sayinge as yet amongist them, that who so ever will offer anie thinge to the saide Image of Darvellgadarn, he hathe power to fatche hym or them that so offers oute of Hell when they be dampned. Therfore, for the reformacion and amendmente of the premisses, I wolde gladlie knowe by this berer your honorable pleasure and will: as knowithe God, who ever preserve youre Lordeshipe longe in welthe and honor. Writen in Northe Wales the vj. daye of this presente Aprill.

Your bedman and dayelie orator by dutie,

II.

ELIS PRICE.

Elis Price to Lord Cromwell, upon taking down the Image of
Darvel Gadarn.

Ryghte honorable and my syngular good Lorde and Mayster, pleasy the yt your good Lordshype that I haue repaired to the place where as the Image of Darvell gadarn stode, and haue takin the same downe accordynge to the Kynges moste honorable commaundmente and youres, whiche shalbe caried to your Lordeshype wythe all dylygens and expedycōn. The person and the parysheners of the churche wherein the saide Ymage of Deruell stode, profered me fortie powndes that the said Ymage shulde not be convaide to London; and because that I was nothynge inclynable to theyre profers and peticons, the saide person hymself, wythe others, are comyn to youre Lordeshype not onlie to make sute and labor in the premisses, but allso to make fayned surmyse and complaynts on me. Therefore I purpose, God wyllynge, to come and gyve attendance upon youre Lordshype wythin this fortnyghte, that I maye answere to such thyngs that they shall laye to my charge. And thus Jh'u preserve your Lordshype in welthe and honor. Wrytyn in Northe Wales, the xxviijtie daye of Aprill.

Youre dayelye orator by duty,

To the righte honorable and his syngular good Lord and Mayster, Lorde Crum well, and Chancelor of the Ecclesiastical power and jurisdiccon of Englande, this be delyuered.

ELIS PRICE.

These letters appear in Ellis' Original Letters, illustrative of English history (2nd ed., vol. ii, p. 82, and

3rd Ser., vol. iii, p. 194). An extract from Hall's Chronicles completes the further history of the image. There was a friar called Forest, who for denying the king's supremacy was condemned to be burnt "in Smithfelde in London," on the 30th of May, 1538, and the account is given in the words of the old chronicler :

At his coming to the place of execution there was prepared a great scaffold, on which sat the nobles of the realme and the King's Majesty's most honorable Council, only to have granted pardon to that wretched creature, if any spark of repentance would have happened in him. Ther was also prepared a pulpit where a right reverend father in God, and a renowned and famous clerk, the bishop of Worcester, called Hugh Latimer, declared to him his errors, and openly and manifestly, by the Scripture of God, confuted them, and with many and godly exhortations moved him to repentance; but such was his frowardness, that he neither would hear nor speak.

And a little before the execution a huge and great Image was brought to the gallows; which Image was brought out of Wales, and of the Welshmen much sought and worshipped. This Image was called Darvell Gatheren, and the Welshmen had a prophecy that this Image should set a whole Forest a fire; which prophecy now took effect, for he set this friar Forest on fire, and consumed him to nothing. This friar, when he saw the fire come, and that present death was at hand, caught hold upon the ladder, which he would not let go; but so unpaciently took his death, that no man that ever put his trust in God never so unquietly nor so ungodly ended his life. If men might judge him by his outward man, he appeared to have little knowledge of God and his sincere truth, and less trust in him at his ending.

Upon the gallows that he died on was set up, in great letters, these verses following:

David Darvell Gatheren,

As saith the Welshmen,

Fetched outlaws out of Hell.

Now is he come with spere and shilde
In harness to burn in Smithfeilde,

For in Wales he may not dwell.

And Forest the Frier,
That obstinate lyer,

That wilfully shalbe dead,
In his contumacie

The Gospell doth deny

The Kyng to be supreme head.

The large sum (in those days) of forty pounds offered by the parson and parishioners of Llandderfel for the retention of their valuable image is proof of the profit they derived from the pilgrims' offerings; and it is somewhat singular, if there is any truth in Pennant's

character of Price, that such an unprincipled public servant as the Commissioner-General could have resisted so ample a bribe. However, he must have done so; and he was too much for the owners of the image on the appeal which they probably made to Lord Cromwell in pursuance of the intimation contained in the last letter.

The Iconoclastic Commissioner was a notorious person. Ellis Price, LL.D., was second son of Robert ab Rhys, M.A., of Plas Iolyn, in Denbighshire. He was educated and took his degrees at Cambridge, and appears to have distinguished himself there. He married Ellen, daughter of Sir Owen Poole, of Llandecwyn, near Harlech. His younger brother, Cadwaladr ab Robert, was father of John Wynn ab Cadwaladr of Rhiwlas, near Bala. Besides the position he held under Henry VIII, he subsequently must have attained a position of considerable influence in North Wales, for in three different reigns (Edward VI, Mary, and Elizabeth) he figures as sheriff and knight of the shire of four of the different counties of North Wales. For Merionethshire he was twice member, in 1558 and 1563, and seven times sheriff, the last time being in the year 1584-5. He appears to have been both sheriff and member for that county in the fifth year of Elizabeth, and he must therefore presumably have returned himself. He was also a member of the Council of the Marches of Wales. Pennant in his description of Bodysgallan, near Conway, refers to a portrait of Dr. Price in the following words :-" But the most remarkable is that of Dr. Ellis Pryse, of Plas Yolin, in Denbighshire, dated 1605; a creature of the Earl of Leicester's, and devoted to all his bad designs. Pryse's dress is a white jacket, with a broad turnover; his hair yellow, and his beard thin and of the same colour; his visage very long, lank, and hypocritical. He was the greatest of our knaves in the period in which he lived; the most dreaded oppressor in his neighbourhood; and a true sycophant; for a common address of his letter to his patron was, ' O Lord,

in thee do I put my trust!" If he was alive at the date on the above portrait (1605) he must have been a very old man, for, as we have seen, he was acting as commissioner under Lord Cromwell in the year 1538, and had then no doubt left college. The arms of this ancient family were-Quarterly 1 and 4 (the arms of Marchweithian) gules, a lion rampant argent; 2 and 3 (the arms of Howel, Lord of Rhoswnog) argent, a rose gules.

This notice may be closed with the statement that St. Dervel or Dervael was the son of Howel ab Emyr Llydaw, and one of the monks of Bangor Illtyd, who afterwards accompanied his cousin Cadvan to the Bangor of Bardsey."

E. BREESE.

THE BRACKETS IN ROWLESTON CHURCH.

ONE of the most interesting churches visited by the Association, during the Herefordshire meeting in 1867, was that of St. Peter's at Rowleston, not even excepting Kilpeck Church. It is a church of the early part of the twelfth century, and has suffered as yet little from restoring hands. A brief description of it is given in the report of the meeting, and it must be well known to Herefordshire men, even independently of the reproduction of Mr. Henman's accurate and well executed lithographs, which appeared by his favour in the diocesan calendar for 1871.

The tympanum of the south doorway is one of great interest, the central or rather the only figure being that of our Lord, seated in a position seldom represented. The principal curiosity, however, in the church is the continual reproduction of the cock throughout the building. They are seen on the imposts of each side of the south entrance. They occur again on those of 1 Pennant's Tours in Wales, ed. 1810, vol. iii, p. 140. 2 Iolo MSS., "Genealogy of the British Saints," pp. 112, 133.

BRACKET IN ROWLESTON CHURCH.

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