Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/353

NOTES AND QUERIES. 407 Christian church found in Britain is that at Silchester." In the churchyard of Lyminge, near Folkestone, Kent, the foundations of a Roman basilical church have been excavated and are now exposed to view. The walls also of St. Martin's Church, Canterbury, are un- doubtedly Roman. Perhaps other of your readers can give further examples. AKTHUR W. THOMAS, M.D. BLEEDING IMAGE IN CHRIST CHURCH, DUBLIN (9th S. iv. 127, 311).—Your correspondent is evidently of opinion that, notwithstanding the investigations of the late Rev. T. E. Bridgett, this story is worthy of credit. Whether it be true or false I am not in a position to determine from personal investi- gation. If, however, no earlier authority for it can be found than that of Robert Ware, it is at least doubtful. History is a grave sub- ject—one which calls for the same careful investigation and equivalent tests as those now used in other branches of science. Where are the Cecil memorials " from which the story was professedly derived"? How is it also'to be accounted for that, as according to Ware's statement the Archbishop of Dublin wrote an account of the cheat to Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, " who was at this time very joyful at the recep- tion hereof," the original letter is not among the Parker correspondence at Cambridge? This letter, it is averred, was shown to the queen, ana was one of the reasons which induced her to consent to the removal of images from churches; it was therefore a valu- able document for State purposes. It may perhaps be plausibly argued that the arch- bishop gave the original to her Majesty, but, if so, it is strange that he did not preserve for future use a transcript of a paper of such great importance in those days of fierce controversy. There is a further objection which, if valid, puts the tale out of court. Ware says that the organizer of the cheat put a sponge "in a bowl of blood to soak up the same" the night before this intended fraud or pretended miracle was to take place, and that early in the morning he laid the sponge on the head of a marble statue, in such a position as to be concealed by the crown of thorns which the image wore : " The sponge, being swollen and heavy with the blood that it soaked, began to yield forth the same, which ran through- the crevices of the crown of thorns, and truckled [sic] down the face of the image." Now could this really have occurred? Would not the blood in the sponge have coagulated ? Perhaps some one who knows more than the present writer does of physiological science will answer this question. Trivial as this point may seem to many, it is important to students of history to gain all the information they can which tells for or against Robert Ware's credibility. EDWARD PEACOCK. Dunstan House, Kirton-in-Lindsey. SWANSEA : ITS DERIVATION (9th S. i. 43, 98, 148, 194, 370, 433, 496; iii. 470: iv. 37, 110, 230).—ME. JONAS in his last letter states that he is unable to reconcile the Senghenyd of Caradoc with Abertawe; naturally, for whenever Caradoc mentions Senghenyd, he refers to a monastery or commot in the eastern end of the county. The Sein Henyd, which is Abertawe, referred to by the author who carried on the ' Brut y Tywysogion' after the death of Caradoc, is a castle somewhere in Gower, a day's march from Oystermouth and Llandilo Talybont. This is fully explained in an article in the Arch. Camb., 18&1, written by Mr. Stevens to correct a mistake made by Mr. G. T. Clark in his paper on Caerphilly ; and as he (who was one of the greatest modern Welsh historians) adopted the correction in his later work ' The Land of Morgan,' I think I am justified in saying that all agree that the said castle must have been in Gower, but I disagree with Mr. Stevens in locating it at Llangennith. At Llangennith there are no remains visible above ground, and there is no evidence, either historical, traditional, or documentary, to show that a castle ever existed j moreover, it is not in the list of castles in Gower re- corded in 1396. The Llangenen of the Bruts is identical with the Abertawe of the Annales Cambrise' and of the poem attributed to David Benbras. MR. JONAS is satisfied that the supposititious castle of Llangennith is omitted from the list because it belonged to the De la Mares ; but as every other castle in Gower is enumerated irrespective of ownership, I fail to see why this should have been purposely omitted because it belonged to the De la Mares. MR. JONAS also finds a difficulty in the statement that Llewelyn gave the castle to Reginald de Breos. It would be a difficult point, but MR. JONAS has been misled by a careless translator of Welsh history. It should read Reginald de Breos gave the castle to Llewelyn, which not only renders that account intelligible, but also explains many points in our local history. Mr. Glascodine was the first to point out this error, and his opinion has been confirmed by several Welsh scholars.