Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 6.djvu/382

 238 SEPULCHRAL DEPOSIT IN HOLYHEAD ISLAND. Wiltshire, and especially in the neighbourhood of Stonehenge, I had often reason to lament, that, by their contents, we could form no conjecture, either at what period, or to what personage, the sepulchral tumulus was raised. But, from the following record, this mysterious deposit seems to have been ascertained : " A farmer, living on the banks of the Alaw, a river in the Isle of Anglesea, having occasion for stones, to make some addition to his farm- buildings, and having observed a stone or two peeping through the turf of a circular elevation on a flat not far from the river, was induced to examine it, where, after paring off the turf, he came to a considerable heap of stones, or caniedd, covered with earth, which he removed with some degree of caution, and got to a cist formed of coarse flags canted and covered over. On removing the lid, he found it contained an urn placed with its mouth downwards, full of ashes and half-calcined fragments of bone. The report of this discovery soon went abroad, and came to the ears of the parson of the parish, and another neighbouring clergyman, both fond of, and con- versant in, Welsh antiquities, who were immediately reminded of a passage in one of the early Welsh romances, called the ' Mabinogion ' or ' Juvenile Tales,' the same that is quoted in Mr. Davis's ' Latin and Welsh Dictionary,' as well as in Richards', under the word Petrual, (square) — ' Bedd petrual a wnaed i Fronwen ferch Lyr ar Ian Alaw, ac yno y claddwyd hi.' ' A square grave was made for Bronwen, the daughter of Llyr, on the banks of the Alaw, and there she was buried.'^ " Happening to be in x glesea soon after this discovery, I could not resist the temptation of paying a visit to so memorable a spot. I found it, in all local respects, exactly as described to me by the clergyman above mentioned, and as characterised by the passage cited from the romance. The tu- mulus raised over the venerable deposit was of considerable cir- cuit, elegantly rounded, but low, about a dozen paces from the river Alaw. [This spot is still called Ynys Bronwen, or the Islet of Bronwen, which is a remarkable confirmation of the genuineness of this discovery. — Ed. Camb.-B.] The urn was presented entire, with the exception of a small bit out of its lip, was ill-baked, very rude and simple, having no other ornament than little pricked dots, in height inches, and nearly of the following Urn of Rronwen the F.air. Ilate, circa a.d. (One-Bixth original size.) fruni about a foot to fourteen ? Sir Richard lias given an extract of this curious account. Ancient Wilts, vol. ii., p. 1 12.