The Weekly News and Visitors' Chronicle for Colwyn Bay Colwyn Llandrillo Conway Deganwy and Neighbourhood

THE R.C.A. Fancy Dress Ball. The new gallery which has been added to the Royal Cambrian Academy, at Plas Mawr, Conway, was formally opened on Tuesday night, February nth, the ceremony devolving upon the Hon. Mrs H. Lloyd Mostyn. The need of such a gallery has long been felt, and has been notice- able at every annual exhibition of this now flourishing Society. The old mansion, Plas Mawr, the town house of the Mostyn family, by whose present head it has been leased on easy terms to the Academy, and in which the exhibi- tions of the works of the members and associates are annually held, is in every way in perfect character and keeping with the purposes to which it has for some years been devoted. There is, however, so much of interest in the old ornamenta- tion of its walls, which during the time of the annual exhibition, owing to the great number of pictures, has had to be covered over, much to the regret of the members of the Academy and the loss of the public, and, owing to the windows being small, many pictures have been forced to be hung in dark corners and confined rooms, that it was determined to erect a new gallery to accommodate a large number of pictures. The gallery has been erected on ground at the back of Plas Mawr, and is connected with it by a short passage opening out of one of the rooms on the first floor. It is 45ft. long by 27ft. wide, and is provided with ladies' and gentlemen's retiring- rooms. The inauguration of the gallery, was marked by a Fancy Dress Ball, there being a large and fashionable attendance, the patrons, many of whom were present, including the Marquis of Anglesey; the Earl of Denbigh, the Earl of Uxbridge, Lord Carrington, Lord and Lady Mostyn, Colonel the Hon. W. E. Sackville West, the High Sheriff of Carnarvonshire (Mr J. A. A. Williams), Alderman the Hon. H. Lloyd- Mostyn and the Hon Mrs Lloyd-Mostyn, the Lady Augusta Mostyn (President of the Gwynedd Ladies' A, t Club), the Mayor of Conway and Mrs Humphrey Lewis, the Mayor of Carnarvon (Mr Richard Thomas), Major-General Thackwell (C. B.), Colonel and Mrs Cornwallis West (of Ruthin Castle), Colonel C. S. Mainwaring, Mr and Mrs Henry Kneeshaw, Mr Albert Wood, Colonel and Mrs Henry Platt, Colonel Davies-Cooke (V.D., A.D.C.), Mr Joseph Broome, Mr John Walker, Major and Mrs Ephraim Wood (Pabo Hall), Surgeon-Major R. Arthur-Prichard, and Mr W. D. Houghton. The arrangements for the Ball had been made by a Committee consisting of the following Academicians :—Mr H. Clarence Whaite, R.W.S., President R.C.A.; Mr W. J. Slater, Hon. Sec. R.C.A.; Mr G. Swinford Wood, Hon. Treasurer R.C.A.; and Messrs A. W. Ayling, B. Fowler, Leonard Hughes, A. F. Perrin, and J. C. Salmon. The decorations of the building had been very taste- fully executed by Mr Henry Whaite (of Man- chester), under the Superintendence of the Com- mittee, and interspersed here and there amid the plants and hangings so as to give a note of artistic distinctiveness that was felt rather than perceived, was some pottery lent by Mr Harold Rathbone, Manager of the Delia Rabbia Pottery (Limited), Birkenhead. This artistic pottery (a revival of the Italian Faience work) lent valuable accents of colour to the general scheme of decora- tion. The M. C.'s were Messrs G. Swinford Wood, J. C. Salmon, Leonard Hughes, and J. Clinton Jones, Messrs Ben Fowler and A. F. Perrin being Entrance Stewards, and the Stew- ardship of the Supper-room being assigned to Messrs A. W. Ayling and W. J. Slater. On arrival in Conway, the guests were directed by police under the charge of Supt Harris (Ban- gor) and Sergeant Breese, all of whose arrange- ments were well planned and admirably carried- cut, to proceed (in order to avoid confusion) via a route including Lancaster-square, Bangor-road, and Chapel-street, to the Crown-lane entrance of Plas Mawr. Here they were affably received, subject to preliminary scrutinising looks by the Academy's courteous Curator (Mr J. R. Furness) who wore the scarlet hat and attire of the great Tudor Prince of the Church, Cardinal Wolsey. He was attended by Mr R. Nicholson, magnifi- cently impressive in the picturesque costume of a Beefeater, whilst Mrs Furness, with the stately dignity characteristic of Queen Elizabeth (whom she impersonated to the life), welcomed the guests as they arrived by twos and threes. Each received a programme at the hands of Miss Alice Page, quaintly attired as "Alice in Wonderland," and the brilliant assemblage congregated in the Drawing-Room, where Mr David Francis (the blind harpist from Blaenau Festiniog) charmed the ear by discoursing the sweetly tuneful melo- dies of Cambria. Meanwhile, the P.R.C.A. and Committee were receiving in the Haunted Room Alderman the Hon H. Lloyd-Mostyn and party, the Worshipful the Mayor of Conway and Mrs Humphrey Lewis, Surgeon-Major R. Arthur- Prichard, Colonel and Mrs Platt, Major and Mrs Ephraim Wood, Mrs Whaite, Mrs Swinford Wood, Mr and Mrs Henry Kneeshaw, and other distinguished guests. At length, the melodies ceased on a trumpeter heralding the approach of the procession from the Haunted Room,—a sight splendid in the extreme. Heading this distin- guished company, was the Hon Mrs H. Lloyd- Mostyn, radiant in a charming Tudor costume of an old-world silk brocade, representing as she did Mistress Dorothy Griffith, the first chatelaine of the fine old Elizabethan palace, Plas Mawr. Escorting her was the President of the Royal Cambrian Academy (Mr H. Clarence Whaite, R. W. S.), who looked simply glorious in his sumptuous scarlet presidential robes fashioned after the style of a Venetian Senator of the olden time, these robes bearing (as was most meet and proper) the Red Dragon of Wales embroidered in a deeper and richer tint of scarlet. Close follow- ing, with majestic mien came as Britannia the Mayoress of Conway (Mrs Humphrey Lewis), clad—(as befitted the Ruler of the Waves, in silken garb whose hues were those of the mighty Empire's Union-standard she was escor- ted by Alderman the Hon Henry Lloyd-Mostyn, whose tall figure was set off to advantage in the scarlet uniform of a Major of the Carnarvonshire Militia. Mrs Whaite followed, dressed-in black velvet and gold brocade-as Mary Stuart, and right nobly did she hold her queenly head crowned with a velvet head-dress amidst which gleamed the soft light of Conway River pearls; at her side was the worthy Mayor of Conway (Councillor I Humphrey Lewis, J.P.), resplendent in his scarlet and sable mayoral robes, and wearing his golden chain-of-office. Rapidly the succeeding proces- sion filed past, bewildering the eyes of the enchanted beholders by the kaledroscopic changes of colour. In this gorgeous pageant that it would indeed have been lamentable to have lost the opportunity of witnessing, were the following gentlemen wearing the commissioned uniform of Her Majesty:—Surgeon-Major R. Art hur-Pricliat-ci, Captain A. A. Sarson, Surgeon-Captain W. Duncan Fraser, and Lieutenant F. A. Dew, 2nd V.B. Royal Welsh Fusiliers; Mr Henry Kneeshaw, Deputy-Lieutenant for Carnarvonshire; and Major Ephraim Wood (retired), 2nd V.B. Shropshire Regiment. Arrived at the portals leading to the the new gallery, the Hon. Mrs Lloyd Mostyn opened the door, bringing into service a golden key appro- priately inscribed, and which the President had handed to her in the Haunted Room. The Band (an excellent company of musicians, under the experienced conductorship of Mr Lawrence Summerfield, of Llandudno and Wolverhampton) at once struck up the March of the Men of Harlech," to whose inspiriting strains the pro- cession wended its stately way round the Ball Room, which was tastefully adorned with Tenniers' tapestry lent by the President, tapestry lent by the Right Hon. the Lady Augusta Mostyn, palms and other foliage-plants lent from the Bod- londeb conservatories, and a fine group of statuary, which has lately come into the posses- sion af the Academy. Arrived at the dais at the southern end of the Ball-room, the Hon. Mrs Mostyn formally declared the Room open, and the Band thereupon played God Bless the Prince of Wales," dancing com- mencing immediately afterwards. The pro- gramme was as follows :-Waltz, "Toreador;" polka, Honey, my honey waltz, The Cloister lancers, Shop Girl waltz, Beauty's Eyes" pas de quatre, Her Golden Hair"; waltz, "Sunshine Above"; quadrille, "Iolanthe"; waltz, "Whisper, and I shall hear"; polka, Tin Gee Gee waltz, "Sonvenschein"; lancers, Songs of London interval waltz, Eldorado polka, Mother Bunch waltz, "Trilby"; lancers, "Artist's Model"; waltz, Louisiana Lou gallop, "Jonn Peel"; waltz, "Lullaby"; quadrille, "Loving Cup"; waltz, Love's Old Sweet Song" polka, Shop Girl"; waltz, "Sweet Faces"; lancers, "Utopia"; extra, Sir Roger de Coverley." In addition to those already mentioned, there were present those whose names and assumed characters we here append Mrs. Ayling, Marie Antoinnette Mr. A. W. Ayling, A Cavalier (Black velvet,— lace ruffles Mrs. C. Buxton, Anne of Bretagne Miss Broughton, A Serving Wench Mr. Ernest Browning, A Gentleman of the Tudor Period (Dress) Mr. F. B. Browne, Sir Walter Raleigh Mrs. G. Cockram, Penelope Miss Cole, Baingavia Mrs. F. J. Cohen, Carmen Miss Coultate, Lady of the 16th Century Miss A. E. Coultate, My Grandmother Mr. G. Cockram, A Cavalier Mr. H. Cole, A Cavalier Mr. Chisholm Cole, A Cavalier Mr. Horace Collins, Charles I. Mr. Charles E. Carter, Gondolier Miss Alicia Dew (Bangor), Confetti Mrs. Dew (ditto), Night Miss Dutton (Conway), Moonlight Miss Daisy Dutton (Trefriw), Money Mrs Douglas-Jones, Henrietta Maria Mrs. T. S. Dobson, A Puritan Miss E. Dalton (Llandudno). A Gainsborough Lady Mrs. Danks, Nocturne Mr. William Arthur Dew (Bangor), Hunting Evening- Dress Mr. T. Dutton (Trefriw). Tom Bowling Mr. W. Douglas-Jones, Georgian Court Dress Miss Dalton (Llandudno), Fortune Teller Mrs. Dutton (Trefriw), Watteau Costume Mr. J. Roger Dawson, The Ovate Aidan Caergrawnt" Mr. R. Moore Docking (Colwyn Bay), Full Dress Military Uniform Mrs. Benjamin Fowler, Marie Stuart Miss Le Neve Foster, Carmen Mrs. George Float, Queen of Oudh Mrs. Farrington, Lady Sangazuie Miss Annie Farrington, Buttercup Miss Liiy Farrington, Winter Miss Feilding, Chinese Lady of Last Century Mr. Benjamin Fowler, Sir Phillip Sidney J. E. Fincham, Windsor Uniform Mr. T. B. Farrington, Sir Marmaduke Pointdexter Mr. Feilding, 5th V.B. Royal Highlanders (Black Watch) Miss Ad&le Ghent, An Eastern Princess Mrs. James Gaylor, Lady Jane Grey Mrs. J. R. G. Grundy, Mary Queen of Scots Mr. Cuthbert C. Grundy (V.P.R.C.A.), Captain of H.M.S Pinafore Mr. James Gaylor, English Gentleman of the Georgian Period Mr. G. H. Griffiths, Court Jester Mr. J. R. G. Grundy, Officer 18th Century Mr. R. Grant, Neapolitan Fisherman Mrs. Hague, Tinsel Miss Kitty Harrison, Katherine of Arragon Mrs. Hughes (Talybont), An Eastern Princess Miss Alice Horton (Shifnal, Salop), Luna Miss May Horton (ditto), Rouge et Noire Mrs. Hamer, England's Colours Mrs. G. H. Healey, Elfrida (Anglo-Saxon) Miss Hughes (Brynhyfryd, Conway), Lady of the Tudor Period Miss E. Hughes (ditto), An Italian Dancing Girl Miss Hague, Spanish Dancing Girl Madame de Hayler, A Watteau Lady Miss Violetta Hughes (Holywell), Queen Mab Mr. Anderson Hague, A Moor Miss Harrison, Amy Robsart Mr. Ben Hoyles, A Gentleman of the Tudor Period Mr. T. E. Horton, John Peel Mr. G. H. Healey, Golfer Mr. J. Bradley Hughes, A Jester Mr. Leonard Hughes (Holywell), Gentleman of the Tudor Period Mr. B. Richard Isaac, Robert Dudley (Earl of Leicester) Miss Jumeaux, Apricot Cream Mrs. G. P. Jenkins (Colwyn Bay), Constantinople Mr. J. Clinton Jones, Elizabethan Costume M-s. J. Clinton Jones, Early English Costume Mr. R. Vincent Johnson, A Courtier (Tudor Period) Mr. G. P. Jenkins, Charles 1. Mr. J. Jordan Jones, Cavalier Mrs. Joseph Knight, Mistress John Gilpin Miss Dorothy Knight, Breton Fete Dress Miss Violet Kennedy (Colwyn Bay), Watteau Shepherdess Miss Emma L. Kennedy, Pompadour Miss Mabel Kennedy, Milkmaid Miss Clara Knight (Mrs. F. Beswick), A Lady of the Middle Ages Mrs. Kneeshaw, Mrs. Penn (Wife of the Founder of Pennsylvania Mr. Paul Knight, Student (Edward IV. Period) Mrs. Paul Knight, Riding Costume (Hogarth Period) Miss Longshaw, Early igth-Century < Miss Lees (Cartref Mellis), La Directoire Miss Edith Lees, My Sweetheart Miss Bertha Lees, The Duchess of Devonshire | Mrs. Lees, Lady Teazle Mrs. Charles M. Lees, Portia Miss S. Lloyd-Price (Holywell), Mary Mary Quite Contrary Miss Lloyd-Price, Polish Princess Mrs. Lloyd-Price, Queen Catherine Miss Ethel Lloyd, A Lady of Early Victorian Period Miss Edith Leigh, A Dresden Shepherdess Mr. F. W. Longshaw, Squire Longshaw (A.D. 1843 ) Mr. Lees (Cartref Melus), The Vicar of Wakefield lVIr. Charles M. Lees, A Huntsman Councillor Dr Morgan, Robyn Hood Miss Newton (Penmaenmawr), Mary Carmichael Mr William Nelson, Hunting Costume Miss S. C. Owen, Court Lady of Louis Quinze period (heliotrope silk,—patches and powdered hair) Mrs Pollitt, Heart of Midlothian Mrs James Porter, Ophelia Miss Gladys Platt (Gorddinog), Norwegian Bride Miss Piatt (ditto), Esmeralda Mrs Piatt (ditto), Madame Elizabeth (sister of Louis XVI.) Miss M. E. Pierce, Neapolitan Ice Miss Josephine Pierce, Winter Miss Lloyd Pierce, Poudre Miss Parry (Glasfryn, Conway), Eastern Princess Mr A. F. Perrin, Breton Mr J. A. Pollitt, Huntsman I Mr James Porter, A Gentleman of the Elizabethan Period I Colonel Platt, Kennel Club Mr I. LI. Parry, Eastern Miss Richards (Welshpool), Bohemian Girl Miss Norah Richards (ditto), Greek Girl Miss Richards (Plasymedd, Anglesea), Cleopatra Miss Roberts (Lancaster-square, Conway), The Old Garden Mr Owen Rowland, Georgia Mr H. B. Rowley, A Gentleman in Charles IX's Reign Mr George Roberts (Ruabon-house, Llandudno), Charles Surface Mr Harold Rathbone, Highland Dress (Stuart Tartan) Mrs W. J. Slater, Doctor Music Mrs J. C. Salmon, Night Mrs Stott (Ravenscraig), A Lady of the Tudor Period Miss Stott (ditto), A Fair Alsatian Miss Maud Salmon, Snow Maiden Miss Sutton, A Gleaner Mrs A. Alford Sarson, Night Miss L. Salmon, Summer | Mr W. J. Slater (Hon. Sec. R.C.A.), A Monk Mr J. C. Salmon, King Charles I. Mr James Stott, Petruchio Mr Cornelius Sever, Austrian Hussar Mrs W. B. Turner, When "Farmer George" was Kine Miss Tritton, Mrs Malaprop Mrs Tritton, Mrs Glasse Miss Helen Tritton, R.M.Y.C. Costume Mrs Travis, Winter Madame de Tchitchagoff, Domino Miss Tongue, Incroyable Mr W. B. Turner "Sitting Bull" Mr John Henry Travis, Man-o -war's man Mons. de Tchitchagoff, Neapolitan Fisherman Mr Thornley, Uridescribed Earl of Uxbridge, Pierrot (out of opera "Pagliaci") Mrs Swinford Wood, Countess of Pembroke Mrs Epraim Wood (Papo Hall), Magpie (black and white satin trimmed with silver, the name "Magpie" on sleeve and fan,—head-dress to match,—diamond ornaments) Miss Etta Wood (ditto), Butterfly (white soft silk, -gold butterflies and gold tinsel wings) Mrs Walket- (Osborne-house, Llandudno), .Eliza- bethan Lady Miss Walker (ditto), Anne Boleyn Miss E. Walker (ditto), Nautch Girl Miss Walker (Bronlledraeth, Conway), Spanish Gypsy Mrs Wallwork, An Italian Peasant Mrs Woodhouse, Nana Miss Williams (Llandudno), Red Domino Miss A. Williams (ditto), Yellow Domino Miss L. A. Williams (ditto), Blue Domino Miss R. H. Walker (Morfa House, Conway), Quakeress Mrs Williams (Tranmere, Colwyn Bay), Kate Hardcastle Miss Whaite, Venetian Mrs Williams (Llandudno Junction), A Spanish Lady Mr G. Swinford Wood (Hon Treasurer R.C.A.), A Viking Mrs F. E. Woodhead, Madame Victoire (Geo. IV.) Mr F. E. Woodhead, Sir Walter Raleigh Dr. Woodhouse, Court Evening Dress A. S. Wood, Blue Boy Up-to-date A. P. L. Wood, A Gentleman in George III.'s Reign Mr. AllanSummer, of the Grosvenor Restaurant, Llandudno, was the caterer for the supper, which, owing to the large number of guests, had to be served in relays, in the Banquetting Hall, where the decorations included an ancient cross-bow and other weapons, together with a quantity of choice hothouse plants (notable amongst these being fine specimens of Dieletra spcctabilis in bloom. The invitation-cards were most tastefully de. signed by Mr. Alfred Slocombe, R.C.A., whose etchings have formed a great attraction of the annual Exhibitions of the Academy. They were bordered with pen and ink sketches of Plas Mawr, and will be valued as mementos of the occasion. t Dancing ceased between four and five o'clock t on the Wednesday morning.