"25th January, 1804.-Mr. Remembrancer having reported to this Society the death of Dr. Campbell, their much respected President, it is ordered that a meeting of the Society be called for Wednesday, the 11th day of April next, for the purpose of appointing a proper person to succeed our late President."

"11th April, 1804.-The Society having received information that James Russell, the occupier of the Castle Mills, had lately cut down several of the trees on the side of the bank adjoining the Castle Mill pond, and cut the tops off several other trees growing upon land leased by Benjamin Fallowes, Esq., late Clerk of the Peace for the county of Hereford, to Francis Campbell, Esq.. and other members of this Society. It is resolved that Mr. W. Allen be employed to bring an action against the said James Russell, in the Court of King's Bench, and that the expenses thereof be borne out of the funds of this Society. Signed-William Allen, E. Lechmere, John Winston, James Wainwright, W. Allen, T. J. Bird, W. Ravenhill, jun, J. Griffiths, J. Duncomb, T. Gam"Resolved that Dr. Allen, who was proposed by Mr. Lechmere and seconded by Mr. Winston as a successor to our late worthy president, bc elected president of this Society, and he is unanimously elected. Signed, Edwin Lechmere, John Winston, Jas. Wainwright, W. Allen, jun., T. J. Bird, J. Griffiths, John Duncomb, Thos. Gammon.'

mon.'

د,

A meeting which was to have been called for Wednesday, 30th May, 1804, for the election of a vice-president in the room of Dr. Allen, elected president, could not be held, in consequence of "the greater part of the members of this Society being on military duty at Worcester and Glou

cester.'

"4th November, 1831.-Ata meeting of Tempers, specially summoned, held at The Hotel (after an interval of nine years), when it appeared, in consequence of the non-renewal of the lease of the Castle Green, as suggested at the meeting held in the year 1822, that there does not exist any ostensible cause for continuing the meetings, the members present have therefore unanimously resolved that this Society be discontinued. They cannot, however, record this, their resolution, without adverting to certain facts, and recalling to their recollection the many agreeable days that they have uniformly experienced in carrying into effect the customs and rules of this Society-a Society which has existed in the city of Hereford during a period of fourscore years, and which has had the honour and satisfaction of enrolling amongst its members the names of the most remarkable and respectable inhabitants of the city and its neighbourhood. It is, moreover, thought expedient to record the names of the existing members of the Society, in addition to those who have thus assembled to subscribe the proceedings of the meeting. Signed, Thos. Bird, 1795, Saml. Carless, 1795, John Duncomb, 1802, C. Holloway, 1808 Wm. Cooke, 1811. Other members not present James Wainwright. 1785, John Griffiths, 1795, John Sherburne, 1809, Wm. Symonds, jun., 1816, Edwin G. Wright, 1817, Fras. L. Bodenham, 1819.

It is to be hoped the publication of these notes may be the means of bringing to light the previous minute-book of "The Society of Tempers," whose rules, "to bear and forbear, avoid personal and malicious reflections, to put no forced, unkind, or false interpretations on what is said or done," might with very good reason be more generally observed in the present day.

RULES.

Rules to be observed by ye Society of Tempers

Every member to bear and forbear. To avoid personal and malicious reflections, and to put no forced, unkind, or false interpretation on what is said or done to him. None of ye members shall on any pretence enter into controversy, or dispute about Party, on pain of expulsion, after admonition to ye contrary by the President or Vice-President.

No person who is not a member or a candidate can be admitted on a general meeting.

Every member to pay due respect to the President and Vice-President for the time being, as well as to all others officers of ye Society, and always, as far as is consistent with his necessary avocations, to attend the President's summons, and duly regard his verbal orders or censures, and industriously avoid altercations, and always to act as a true Temper and Gentleman.

In case of ye absence of ye President and Vice-President the senior member then present shall take ye chair, and be invested with ye same authority, sit covered and be called Mr. Vice.

That every new member be admitted according to the following form, after he has subscribed these rules, viz., The examiner shall conduct him to ye chair and desire that he might be admitted, then the President, Vice-President, or, in their absence, the senior member then present shall deliver to ye candidate a bumper of wine or punch which they are both to hold whilst the candidate repeats after ye secretary ye declaration following, all ye members standing uncovered.

"I, A. B. do promise and engage that I will not be offended at anything which the President, Vice-President, or anyone of this Society shall say to me. I will obey the President's summons, conform to and observe the Rules and Orders of this Society, their secrets keep, and in every other respect as a true Temper."

ORNITHOLOGY.

The ornithological observations of the day were singularly rich—and to ornithology the Club is turning this year with all its energy. On crossing the mountain, three nests with eggs were found of the titlark, or meadow pipit, Anthus pratensis. They were placed on the ground in the low tufts of heather, in which this bird delights to build. The Cwm-yoy rocks were well scanned for the rare birds that build there; some pigeons were quickly flying in and out, but the distance was too great to discern clearly whether they were the true rock dove (Columba livia) which is known to build there. Not a hawk was seen, nor was a raven visible. They both breed here, and a native said the ravens had done so this year, and he has seen the young birds many times. Not a croak, the unmistakeable croak! could be heard, though, ill-omened as poets make it, it would have gladdened the hearts of some of the naturalists present to have heard it. A numerous colony of jackdaws were very busy with merry interjectional conversation. The ring ousel, Turdus torquatus, was also looked for in vain, but later in the day a nest with four eggs in it was exhibited by Mr. James W. Lloyd, which had been taken in the valley higher up. The construction of the nest itself and the size and colour of the eggs all closely resembled those of its congener, the common blackbird. This nest was taken from a rock above the bed of a stream, and it was pleasantly ornamented by some plants of the pretty sorrell, Oxalis acetosella, in full blossom by its side.

Another extremely interesting ornithological sight was the pigeon house, Trewyn. This is said to have been built by the Knights Templar, and to be similar to the one at Garway. In olden days it carried the manorial right of dovecot, the right which became so obnoxious in France as le droit de colombier. It is octagonal externally, but made round within, and has no less than 831 holes for the pigeons' nests-every one of which can be readily examined by means of a revolving ladder attached to an upright beam in the centre. The ladder is so well balanced that the whole circuit of the house can be made by anyone upon it, without the necessity of coming down.

BOTANY.

The botanical discoveries of the day were not numerous. On one spot in the ascent to the camp, Dr. Wood met with several plants of the little "Bird's Foot," Ornithopus perpusillus, a local plant, and one not common in Herefordshire. The Crow-berry, Empetrum nigrum, was there, but like the Bilberry and Heather was not in flower. The wet places near the springs on the mountain were beautifully coloured by masses of the pretty mosses Philonotis fontana, and Hypnum filicinum, contrasting well with the deep green of the growing liverworts. Near Cwmyoy, were many bushes of the Bird Cherry, Prunus padus, in blossom--a tree which should be grown in shrubberies much more frequently than it is.

"The light Bird Cherry hangs its flag,

In snowy splendour from the crag,

Purple spotted orchis blossoms were abundant, and the green-winged Orchis morio,

was very plentiful in three varieties of colour. The frog orchis, Habenaria viridis, was brought by a member later in the day. On the walls at Cwm-yoy, the Shining Crane's Bill, Geranium lucidum, and the Swallow-wort or Celandine, Chelidonium majus, with its acrid yellow juice, were observed in patches. The pretty fern, the Scaly Spleenwort, Ceterach officinarum, grew on the churchyard walls, and everywhere during the day's walk the elegant Maiden-hair Spleenwort, Asplenium trichomanes, was abundant, and nowhere more so than in the interstices of the long flight of stone steps leading to the front door of Trewyn Mansion, forming a natural fringe. The usual spring hedgerow plants were in great abundance in every lane or dingle. The steep banks were covered with fine primroses, late as it seemed for them.

The dinner took place at the Pandy Inn, and immediately after dinner the first of a series of papers on The Birds of Herefordshire, was read. The members of the Club are collecting together the observations of many years, in order to publish as complete a list as possible. We shall hope to publish these papers as they are read to the Club, and it need only be said that if the succeeding ones are equal to that read on this occasion, it will be very far removed from being the dry catalogue of names of which such lists very commonly consist.

Some very fine specimens of Cephalaspis and Pteraspis were kindly presented to the Club by the Rev. C. L. Eagles, who had obtained them from the Cornstone at Longtown.

The following gentlemen attended the meeting. The members of the Malvern Club present were-The President, Mr. Henry Wilson; Messrs. T. Bates, F. Burrow, W. H. Cook, Joseph Greaves, E. R. C. Hayes, R. Price Hill, T. Marsh Phillips, and G. A. Sheppard. The Woolhope members and visitors were -The President, the Rev. Charles Burrough; General and Mrs. Gillespie, and Miss Gassiot; Vice-President Mr. C. G. Martin; the Rev. Dr. Dixon; Drs. Bull and J. H. Wood; Revs. T. Bevan, William Bowell, J. Davies, C. L. Eagles, W. Elliot, E. J. Holloway, A. G. Jones, J. W. Lee, H. B. D. Marshall, S. Pelly, D. Price, T. A. Stoodley, F. S. Stooke Vaughan, and F. H. Tatham; Captain de Winton; Messrs. H. C. Beddoe, Robert Clarke, T. Davies Burlton, Charles Fortey, A. A. Hancocks, J. W. Lloyd, T. C. Paris, E J. Pilley, Henry Vevers, and Theo. Lane.

Five new members were elected at the meeting, and three fresh ones proposed. Thus has passed away a very enjoyable meeting, and if the first field meeting present an augury of the future, the year will indeed prove very successful.

The paper read by Dr. Bull has elicited the following correspondence :

SIR,-There are so many errors in the paper read by Dr. Bull before the above-named Club last week, that it seems a pity that they should go uncorrected.

Leaving the Pandy station midway between Pandy Inn and Trewyn Avenue we come to the Pandy, the old house from which the district is now called. Alt-ar-ynys (the homestead of the well-known John Rogers,) means "the hill side over the island." One of my friends, a good philologist, tells me that undoubtedly Trewyn-Tre-gwyn-means White House. On the other bank, Tre-fedw-Birch House, from the fact that the locality abounds in birch trees.

Cwmyoy is undoubtedly a corruption of Cwmyw-Yew-tree valley, which trees are plentifully scattered all over the valley. Many Welsh words in this district have been shamefully altered through the spite or ignorance of the English. Martyn Scudamore, Seneschal of John Arnold, Lord of the Manors of Cwmyoy, Llanthony, and Old Castle, whose Court Leet Rolls for a portion of the seventeenth century are in my possession, actually spells Capel-y-Fyn as Chapley-ffeene.

By-the-bye, the well, pump, and house at Croes Llwyd were constructed by Mrs. Rosher, late of Trewyn, now of Glanhonddu, and named by her Traws-Llwyd-Grey Cross-Croes Llwyd. With respect to Trewyn, before the Delahays, the Manor of Trewyn, or Winstone,* was held by the Winstones, under the Lords of Abergavenny, Lords of the Welsh Marches. The rent mentioned in Dr. Bull's paper is merely the manorial fees. Trewyn became the property of the Rosher family, of Kent, by the marriage of Mr. Rosher, great-grandfather of the present Mr. J. Lilburn Rosher, with Mrs. Shaw, née Eversham, heiress of Trewyn and widow of Mr. Shaw, son of Capt. Shaw, of Pen-bidwal. About nine years ago a portion of a bone, discovered in an excavation at Trewyn, was taken to Dr. Smythe, of Abergavenny, who was of opinion that it was a portion of the hip bone of a child of twelve. The old chapel, dedicated to St. Martyn, and which stood about mid-way between the house and the lime-tree avenue, was destroyed during the end of last century. The old stables were pulled down about seven years ago. The Helena Delahay mentioned was a widow who lived in the first part of the seventeenth century. Originally the front door was entered by a flight of steps leading from the road by the side of the house wall to the door. About the end of the last century they were removed and placed in their present position.

Bwlch-Trewyn, Abergavenny, May 28th, 1884.

Reply to the above letter.

EDWIN A. ELY, B.A.

SIR, AS Dr. Bull said in the excellent paper read by him on the Black Mountain, on the 15th ult. "Welsh names are always descriptive, often historical, and sometimes highly poetical and suggestive." Everyone who knows anything about Welsh place-names will most readily endorse the Doctor's remarks. The ancient Britons, when even in an uncivilised state, oftentimes gave both to localities and persons graphic and highly-poetical names, evidently originating in impressions made upon the eye and mind.

My friend and neighbour, the Rev. E. A. Ely, pointed out in last week's Hereford Times a few errors in Dr. Bull's paper. I am sorry I cannot accept more than one of Mr. Ely's corrections, as far as Welsh etymology is concerned.

There are several derivations given to Alterynys, but I believe the right one is the one given by Mr. Ely. The component parts are correctly given, but I beg to differ from him as to the meaning of the word Allt (not Alt). Allt in South Wales invariably means a wood, or forest of trees; but in North Wales it often means a hill or an elevation. We have Allt sometimes used as a prefix, and sometimes as an affix, in the formation of Welsh place-names. Allt-y-carn -wood of the deer. "Dan-yr-allt". "- below the wood. "Gwar-yr-allt" above or over the wood. "Pen-yr-allt "--the top of the wood. Allt-yr-ynys or, to give the name in its uncontracted form, Allt-ar-yr-ynys, means undoubtedly the wood overlooking the island (ynys). It is probable that a portion of Alterynys farm was, at one time, covered with trees, especially that part facing the river Monnow, while the land on the banks of the river, or near the river, was clear, forming a long island; hence the wood above this island was called ". Allt-ar-ynys."

"Tre,

Trewyn, in my opinion does not mean white house. Tygwyn we always call a white house. "Tre," when applied to a homestead, is contracted from "Cartref," which means home-first into "tref" and again into "tre when the word that follows begins with a consonant. when applied to a homestead, never means a mere house or building, but it always implies an inhabitant-the home of some person or persons. My belief is that Trewyn means Wyn or Win's home, and Mr. Ely's letter has confirmed me in this belief. He says that a family of Winstones held Trewyn under the Lord of the Welsh Marches, before the Delahays. Now, the Welsh word for Winston is Trewin, or Trewyn, as the name is spelt now. I may be allowed to remark here that "i" and "y" were used interchangedly by old Welsh writers.

* In the old deeds the manor is called the Manor of Winstone, or Trewyn.

It

The manor of Winstone, or Trewyn, in the old deeds, means exactly the same thing. would be interesting to know what was the name of Trewyn prior to the time the Winstones held it-whether they gave the name to the place or the place to them.

Persons have often taken their names from places which they or their ancestors owned or occupied. For instance, Sir John Oldcastle, the Lollard martyr, being a Welshman, had undoubtedly a Welsh name; but he adopted the cognomen of Oldcastle as his real name, from the old castellated mansion in which he was born, and by this name he was known till he became Lord Cobham.

We have numerous instances in this neighbourhood of places having derived their names from persons. Old Welsh people call Walterstone, to this day, Trewalter-Walter's home; and Rowlestone, Tre-Rowland.

Trefedw can hardly mean Birch House, as "Tre" is generally associated with the name of some person or persons. Houses associated with Birch are generally called by such names as "Ty-yn-y-Fedw"-house in the Birch; "Y Fedw"-the Birches. There are three or four bearing the last-mentioned name within a few miles of Pandy. The old Cwmry would hardly call a house the locality of which abounded with Birch. "Tre-fedw." When we bear in mind that the old Welsh form of Bedol was Bedw, we can easily see that "Tre-fed w"-Bedw's home-is quite in harmony with the laws according to which the old sons of Cambria found place-names.

The etymology of Cwmyoy, I must admit, is somewhat difficult, but I have never seen or heard Cwmyw suggested as its probable derivation. We must not be misled by the way in which it is spelt now (Cwmyoy). This way of spelling it is comparatively recent. In old manuscripts and ancient writings it is spelt sometimes "Cwm-ian" and sometimes "Cwm-ion." The Rev. Thomas Price (Carnhuanwc), the eminent Welsh historian, says in his history of the Cwmry that there has been much strife amongst philologists from time to time, as to the meaning of "Cwm-ion." "But," he says, "as it is the same Cwm as that of Ewas Lacy, I am strongly inclined to believe it has some connection with the word Ewas.' But the meaning of Ewas again has greatly puzzled philologists. Mr. Price, who was an excellent Welsh scholar, could not suggest any meaning. Cwmyw could be easily retained; there is no room here for corruption to set in. As it is found in early writings "Cwm-ian"-the valley of the yoke-combined with the fact that the range of mountain and dingle had the exact shape of the old yoke used for coupling oxen, I am inclined to adopt one of the meanings suggested by Dr. Bull.

Pandy, June 5th, 1884.

JOHN DAVIES.