woman :

to a female; that, with her person bestowed it on one of the posterity of Ednyfed Fychan. A descendant William Fychan, chamberlain of North Wales, was made an English denizen, on the sole condition, that he should not intermarry with a Welsh : such were the maxims of severity adopted and enforced against the oppressed Cambrians, in the time of Henry the sixth. William's father, Gwilim ap Gryffyd, obtained the hereditary chamberlainship, and had previously been admitted to the same privilege by his intermarriage with Alice, daughter of Sir Richard Dalton, of Althorpe, in Northamptonshire. Sir William Gryffydd, cotemporary with Henry the eighth, and who was present with that prince at the siege of Boulogne, was the means, by his indefatigable exertions, of preserving the valuable records in two parchment books; one of which, called, The Extent of North Wales, is now in the Chamberlain's office; and the other, in that of the auditor's in London.*

Piers Gryffydd, in the reign of Elizabeth, was possessor of Penrhyn, and eminently distinguished himself, by fitting out a ship of war, at his own expence, in which he sailed from Beaumaris, April 20, 1588, and joined the celebrated admiral, Sir Francis Drake, had the honour of sharing with him, and other loyal heroes, the laurels obtained by the signal defeat of the Spanish armada. It came into the family of Pennant, partly by the purchase of the late Lord Penrhyn's father, and partly by his own marriage with Anne Susannah, daughter, and sole heiress of the late General Warburton, of Winnington. By this matrimonial compact, the two moieties which had for some time been divided, became united; and her ladyship is now, for want of heirs male, in possession of the whole.f

The

• Mona Antiqua.

A detailed and circumstantial illustration of the house of Penrhyn, may be seen in "A Genealogical Account of the Families of Penrhyn and Cochwinan, &c. by the late Rev. John Thomas, A. M. of Beaumaris." Printed at the end of Williams's Observations, &c.

The house appears to have been rebuilt in the reign of Henry the sixth, by the afore-mentioned Gwillim ap Gryf fydd; and prior to the late alterations, exhibited a fair specimen of the domestic architecture, prevalent at that period. The arms of Stanley, having the female distinction, empaled with his own, were to be seen in the stained glass of the hall windows, so late as the year 1764.* The buildings stand round a large court, entered by a handsome gateway surmounted by a tower. One side of the area is flanked by a magnificent hall, and the others by divers spacious apartments. The structure has lately received considerable improvements, from designs by Wyatt. The whole is new fronted with yellow brick, which gives it the appearance of stone; and to the credit of the architect, as well as the taste of the late noble owner, due respect has been paid to the original design, except that the chapel has been removed to a different site, "Like that of our Lady of Loretto," says a humourous bard," it changed its former situation in the court of castellated Penrhyn, for a grove at a few yards distance: and though under the guidance of mortal agency only, its flight has been by judgment; and it has rested scientifically." It was carefully taken down and re-constructed with the same materials, and upon a similar plan; but the modernized porch forms an heterogeneous vestibule. The interior is neatly fitted up, and the chancel part elegant. The pulpit, composed of cedar, including three pannels of carved wainscot oak, exhibit specimens in basso-relievo, perhaps never surpassed. The subjects, The Scourging, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of the Saviour. At the east end a large pointed window, glazed with most brilliant stained glass, was executed by that able artist, Mr. Egginton of Birmingham.

The stables are considered among the first in the kingdom, for elegance and accommodation. The building has a handsome façade, fronted with patent slate, and the pilasters, which divide the stalls, together with the mangers, are of the same material. Indeed this very valuable article appears to be conver.ed 2 G2

Pennant's Tours in Wales, Vol. III.p. 90.

on

on the Penrhyn demesne, to every possible use. The park is fenced with it; narrow upright slate slabs, cut in imitation of palisadoes, are fixed by pins to oaken railings, which find their support in posts formed of cubic slate,

The principal entrance into the park is by a grand gateway, in the manner of a Roman triumphal arch, which, though corre spondent to the magnificence, does not perfectly harmonize with the style of the mansion. The river Ogwen, that used to roll its waters over a widely-extended rubly bed, is here confined within narrow limits; and several cascades appear through vistas in the plantations from the front of the house.

Here is still preserved a hirlas, or drinking horn, of the hero Piers Gryffydd ; and is perhaps the only elegant specimen of that kind of utensil, elucidatory of ancient manners, at present subsisting. It is a large bugle of an ox, ornamented with enchased silver, and suspended by a chain of the same metal, having the initials of his own name and family engraved at the end. In the royal court of Cambria there were legally three sorts of horns, for the purpose of private or public libations. The first was y corn ydd yfo y brenin, or the one solely appropriated to the king's use. Secoud, Corn cyweithas, by which the domestics of the palace were summoned to duty. And, third, Corn y pencynydd, committed to the custody of the chief huntsman.* Each of these was to be of the reputed value of one pound. On grand occurrences, the domestics of the palace were permitted to drink out of the sovereign's horn; and the chamberlain, or high steward, on such occasions, furnished handsome potations of the generous metheglin. The contents of the horn, at these times, assumed the name of the sacred potion, similar to the wassail bowl, or the apostle's cup, in use among the Saxons. Ulphus, when he conveyed certain lands to the church of York, is said to have quaffed off the sparkling contents of such a vessel, drinking a health, "Deo et sancto Petro," to God and St. Peter. On festive days the imperious custom was to empty the horn

Leges Wallice, Lib. iv. P. $11. + Archæologia, Vol. III. p. 8.