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.......,..i■ii——— LOCAL GOSSIP.…

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■ ——— LOCAL GOSSIP. Iianmihangel Place, which was referred to in this column on June 24th, contains many rooms of great interest. The beauty of the Justice Room is greatly enhanced by the win- dow recesses to the north and south at its eastern end. The ceilings of these are much lower, but are beautifully decorated in similar pattern to those of the main apartment. On the wall in one of these recesses hangs—and has hung for nigh two centuries—an oil paint- ing of Susan Thomas, the last of the branch of the family who built Llanmihangel. It is not a picture that can lay claim to high artis- tic merits, but it has a considerable senti- mental value, and an old tradition attaches to it to the effect that should it by any means be removed from Llanmihangel the title deeds of the house will be lost! It represents Susan Thwnas as a good looking young woman with her hair elaborately dressed, curled in deli- cate fashion over her forehead, and extended presumably on a kind of light framework at either side of her head. <:> She is in low- necked dress disclosing a pair of very sloping shoulders, while a red robe. trimmed with ertmne is worn over a blue dress. At the eastern end of the room the cornice of the panelling is fretted and over the large folding doors, which lead to what is known as the dining-room, a carved coat of arms forms a handsome object, and relieves the bareness of the tympanium, which here. as at the other end of the room, is formed by the sloping sides of the ceilmg. In the dining-room. which is rather a dull apartment opening out of the eastern end of the Justice room. the I panels are larger and evidently of later date than those in the Justice room, which are quite late sixteenth or early seventeenth cen- tury. In this room formerly hung", piece of line tapestry, one of those depicting scenes from the book of Esther which were some years ago removed by Lord Dunraven to Dun- raren Castle. To the left of the dining-room on entering the place is shown in the panell- ing behind which a. stone stairway leads to the vaults below, and up which the prisoners were brought in medieval days when the Lord of the Manor held his court in the Great Hall which in this case still retains the name of "Justice Room." The rambling old house is full of nooks and corners. Everywhere there are atone stair- eases, and one of these forms a narrow, tor- tuous ascent to a look-out tower on the roof. Near this is a. bedroom known as the State Room. concerning which there is a tradition that- Queen Anne slept there. It was in this room that the other two tapestries, now at Dunraven, were formerly hung. To-day the interesting feature of the room is its be ceil- ing, which is plastered in a pattern of which the fluer de Its is a prominent feature. The low pitched rooms below the main floor are of considerable extent. Here in days long past the retainers were housed, and the pri- soners were herded pending their appearance before the Lord of the Manor in the hall above. The present tenant has turned these cool stone-paved apartments to other pur- poses, and on the low benches vast pans of cream-laden milk betoken the first stage of the butter-making industry. A notable adjunct of this fine old Manor I House is the Yew Tree Grove, which drowns the slope above. It is such a collection of yew trees as our eyes have not lighted upon anywhere else in South Wales—grand old I trees representing a growth of years in com- parison with which the generations of the human race are but ephemeral. From the back of the house a broad path leads up a flight of stone steps to a long avenue extend- ing due north, while at right angles another avemue of solemn yew trees stretches east and west. The angles formed between these avenues are dense wood—dark even on the brilliant day of early summer sunshine on which fortune turned our steps thirtherward. It is a saying that there is a tree for every- day of the year—save Good Friday—and that on the latter day the tree that was planted refused to grow! In the little church by the I pool just below the house, the main interests of which were kindly pointed out to us by the Rev. E. Jenkins, the vicar, there are monu- ments to some of the former inhabitants of Llanmihangel. These bye-goile worthies have now slept in that church for two cen- turies but when they were in their cradles that yew tree grove was already a landmark m the Vale! In former times the mourners in Welsh funerals carried branches of yew, which were Ii regarded as emblems of the resurrection. That is supposed to be the reason why grand I old yews are to be found in so many ancient I churchyards. The wood of the yew was in great request for bows in the days of archery, and the Forest of Dean was celebrated for these stately trees. At one time in the West of Wales the yew became so scarce that the bowvers were ordered to make four bows of witch-hazel, ash, or elm. to one of yew while no person under 17, unless possessed of goods worth 40 marks per annum, or the son of parents having an estate cf £10 a year. was allowed to shoot with a yew bow. Bowyers were expected to have in their houses not less I than 50 bows of elim witch-hazel, or ash.

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BRIDGEND BOARD OF GUARDIANS.

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A JUMP FROM A TRAIN.

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!THE GREAT FIGHT.

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ADMIRALTY SLI;YEYS.

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THE QUESTION OF HEALTH.

BRIDGEND POLICE COURT. .

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,-PENYBONT DISTRICT COUNCIL…

MR. D. A. THOMAS'S '' ORANGES'."…

!NEW TERRITORIAL FORCE.! .-,---,--

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--BRIDGEND RIFLE CHAMPION.…

MINIATURE: RIFLE SHOOTING.…

OUR LONDON LETTER. --".L'.ij";"-.iir.…

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BARKIS T E R' S ROM A N C…

----..¡'I DEATH OK AN M.P.I

MR. F. E. SMITH & THE CONFERENCE.

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