Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

19 articles on this Page

LOVE'S ELOQUENCE.

TO ELLEN'S EYE.

THE PILGRIM IN SIGHT OF JERUSALEM.

Caerieon Antiquarian Association.…

[No title]

News
Cite
Share

The most numerous of these tombs, which adorned every approach to the city tor miles from the suburbs, may be judged from tne tact, that besides supplying every collection in Kurope with numeious specimens, and the best executed and most in- teresungbung preserved in the various museums there, yet every large garden possesses several employed either for flower vases or 3sins tor fountains, to which latter purpose they may be seen app iea in the court of almost every house, of any importance, in at city. Camaludunum, Rutopcae, and London, in the eastern provinces. It would seem, from the regularity with which these pits were arranged, that, according to the custom of the a dents, they were palallel to a road which, perhaps, led fro m Caerieon to- wards Bulmoor. The latest tombs were the stone coffins, roughly hewn in freestone, of which so many have come to light in all directions about Caerieon, even as distant as the tunnel over the canal near Crindau, at Pont Sadwrn, and still later on the line oftheMonmouthraitway; the last was rendered more interest- ing fiom the very handsome gl3ss uogueniary discovered with the skeleton^ the first instance of the kind occurring at Caerieon. These coffins appear to have been simply placed in the earth without further defence but a very fine eaample was discovered at York within a strongly arched vault of stone. To the same period may belong the two sepulchres, found on the same railway line, being cists of sufficient size to contain a body extended, formed of very large slabs of stone, but the contents of which had loog since been reduced to dust, owing to the slight covering of eaith above them, so that the interior was but slightly protected from the action of the weather. These may have been the resting places of some who could not afford the expense of coffins hewn out of solid blocks. At Bath, a similar tomb was discovered—the sides formed of very large tiles, bearing the legionary stamp LEG VI., and the covering, also, formed of liles, but placed so as to form" sloping roof, similar to one found near York aD arrangement similar to which we frequently find in the Urge Etruscan sarcophagi of terra cotta, likewise intended to contain the corpse entire. Before quitting this subject, it may be remarked that several of the CaerleoD funeral slabs were evi- dently intended to be fixed upright in the earth, as the head- stones of the present days, This is, I believe, a laie instance. The usual form of the monumecta) stone was a rectangular block, representing an altar, frequently bearing on ooe of the faces a full-length figure or bust of the person resting below. Some ex cellent examples of this kind of monument are preserved in the Bath Institution, commemorating legionary soldiers of that station, AqtiEe Solis." A very fine one was also discovered at Ciiencester; the small tablets so often occuriing were pro bably fixed in the wall of a small square building erected over the grove; such at least wrs the case at Rome, of which 8n instance still exists in the tomb of the Servilu on the Via Appia. Amongst the most in'ere'ting of the Caerieon headstones is that lately discovered al pwll Bach, to the memory ofTadia Vallau- nins, and her son, Tadius Exsuperatus. The ornaments on the top of the stone, the wheels and crescent, frequently occur on British and Gallic coins, and the name Vallaunius has a very British sound, and bears some analogy 10 the well-known name Cas«ivelaunus of Cesar's time: being, perhaps, the British wile of the Roman colonist, Tadius Exsuperatus, whose tomb is re- feried to in the inscription "secustumutum patris;" as it is well known that the Roman colonists, veierani, discharged with a grant of land in some conquered province, were en- couraged to form intermarriages with the natives, as a means of reconciling them to their new masters. It is also singular that the Romans, who paid such respect to the monuments of the dead, should have brought this stooe from a distance, and employed it among other flat uoinscribed slabs, in paviog a species of terrace round the room containing the small mosaic pavement, soon to be now in the museum. This pavement, which was bedded on a thick layer of mortar aud rubbish, was removed, and the ground excavated to the depth of three feet, through soil evidently never before disturbed, and shewing no vesiige of any interment; neither could any trace be found of the father's monument, shewing clearly thst the inscription had beeD removed from its original site, and em- ployed where discovered merely as a paving sione. The Ger- man expedition, on which the son died, or through which he had served, the word "defunctus" being capable of both meanings, must have been one of great importance at that day to be mentioned in such a mauner as fining a dale. No very important German expedition is mentioned in hislory after that of Carucella but tha abundance of contractions in this inscription, and their fnrm, bear much resemblance to the large one of the time of Gallienus who, by the way. makes great pnrade of the title" Germaoicus" and "Restitutor Galliarum" on his coins, taking to himself the credit of the victories of his legate Postumus, who, we know, was after- wards recognised as Emperor io this island, as well as in Gaul,—from which circumstance we may perhaps assign this expedition to that period. After the departure of the Romans the Britons appear to have returned to their primitive form of monument, the erection of a pillar of rough stone upon the grave, the maen hir," or long stone, so common to this day in Bretagne, and bearing inscriptions in the rude Rjman character, half capitals, half cursive, which came into use at that period, wherever the Latin language was still spoken. Many examples of these still exist io Wales, and on Dart moor. They continued in use some centnries io Wales,—a fioe example, to the memory of Piioce Iorweiih, still remains at Lantwit Major, Glamorgan, (Vide Dissert, on WeKh Poems Sharon Turner's Anglo Saxons.) None of these have heen found in this neighbourhood, a singular circumstance, consider ng that Caerieon was the capital of the Butish in- dependent chiefs, for some time after the depaiture of the Romaos,-This excellent paper was illustrated by seyer,,] rough drawiDgs of the various kinds of lambs alluded to. After the meeting had closed, the company adjourned to the grounds of Mr. Jchn Jenkins, hy whose permission, labourers had been employed for snme days prEVioush in laying open the foundations of a Roman vitla. A large portion was exposed to view, and exhibited the plan of several rooms, the bases of columns, flues for heating the buildinl!, &c. Coins have been found in great abundance, but generally of a small size. A la- bourer, employed there, found forty-five in one day. After spending an hour in the investiga ion of these interesting remains, the members and their friends assembled in the Roman amphitheatre, commonly called King Arthur's round table, where an excellent and substantial luncheon had been provided. The da;) was a most brilliant one for such a fete, and no place more appropriate could have been selected for a society of antiquaries. The company was so numerous that we will only mention the names of a few:—Sir Digby and Lady Mackworth and Miss Mackworth, The Rev. Sir Chas. Salusbury, Bart., Liiutenant- Colonel Bailow and several of the Officers of the 14th Regiment and Mrs. Barlow, Rev. J. M. Trcherne, Coedriglan, Glamor- ganshire; Rev. W. Leigh Morgan, Cardiff; Rev. Bing- ham, Dorchester; Rev. Henry Wybrow and Mrs. Wybrovv, Rev. W. D. Isaac, Mr. and Miss Nichoil, &c., &c.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GENERAL NEWS. .

REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE.

MARK LANE, MONDAY AFTERNOON,…

SM1THFIELD CATTLE MARKET,…

LONDON PROVISION MARKET, MONDAY,…

WH1TECHAPEL, WEDNESDAY, JULY…

SEED MARKET.

BARK.

HAY MARKETS, SATURDAY, JULY…

I BRISTOL HAY MARKET.

LATEST CURRENT PRICES OF METALS,…

[No title]

AGENTS FOR THE MONMOUTHSHIRE…