to the church ; but possibly there are some illustrationi in this county of where 

 the church has been brought to the yew, for we know with what satisfaction 

 the early Christians as soon as they had the opportunity planted their churches 

 in ground consecrated to Pagan worship, and they not only selected the 

 sacred groves of the heathen for the purpose, but also their temples, proofs of 

 which exist at the Acropolis, the Theseus, at Athens, and the great temple of 

 Baal at Balbec, &c. 



I believe the yew is much more frequently met with in South Wales than it 

 is in North "Wales, and some have attributed that circumstance to the fact of the 

 bow having been the weapon of warfare peculiar to the inhabitants of South 

 Wales, while that of the men of North AValcs was the spear. But though the 

 yew was serviceable for military purposes previous to the introt^uction of gun- 

 powder, it is not very probable that the bowyer had recourse to the churchyard 

 yew for his materials. Its branches were doubtless reserved for holier uses ; for 

 instance, we know they were employed in the decoration of churches as they are 

 now, and it was the custom at funeral processions for the mourners to hold them 

 over the bier and afterwards to throw them on the coflBn when in the grave ; and 

 again, the expense of consecrated yew for conversion into bows would have been 

 a great obstacle to its use for such purposes. Its cost at the time I refer to is 

 showed by the ancient laws of Wales, in which a consecrated yew is valued at a 

 pound, while an nnconsecrated one only figures in the tarifif at 30 pence, and was 

 held at less value than the mistletoe branch, which is set down at threescore 

 pence. For further interesting points relating to the yew I must refer you to Mr- 

 Woodhouse's paper on the subject, and the discussion that followed, both of 

 which you will find in our transactions for 1866. 



After we had left the churchyard we crossed the Bdw and proceeded over the 

 wooded hill to the Cave of Llewellyn, the hiding place of the last Prince of 

 Wales, who is said to have taken refuge there when pressed by Mortimer and his 

 followers. Though some have questioned this statement, there is no doubt that the 

 cave is situated in historic ground, for the neighbourhood was the favourite bunting 

 place of that Prince, and some of the last scenes of his life were enacted within a 

 short distance of the spot. It is stated that after he left the cave he entrusted 

 his safety to a smith, who had his forge on the left bank of the Wye, by whom 

 his horse's shoes were reversed in order to mislead his pursuers, and by whom he 

 was afterwards betrayed. But the Prince was destined to meet with greater 

 traitors among his retainers at Builth, who refused him assistance, and later in 

 the day he was overtaken by his enemies, and fell by a spear wound near a spot 

 which is called Cwm-Llewellyn, the Cave of Llewellyn, to this d.ay. 



Soon after we had left this romantic spot we continued our walk over the 

 Llanb'darn hills, and so reached the Aberedw rocks. 



These rocks are of the Upper Ludlow formation, and form the left boundary of 

 the Edw, and after they leave their garrulous companion run for .ibout two miles 

 towards Erwood. I must refer you to the sixth number of our tiansactions for a 

 list of their fodsils by Messrs. GriflSths and Powell. 



