990 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



Full tliirty gay couple to dance on tlie 



grec-n, 

 Joy held his firm station till morning was 



come ; 

 When e;ich suain had the pleasure to 



lead his nymph home." 



*' In South Wales, prerious to 

 the -weddings of the peasantry, a 

 herald, with a crook or ivand adorn- 

 ed with ribands, sometimes makes 

 the circuit of the neighbourhood, 

 and proclaims his bidding, or invi- 

 tation, in a prescribed form ; but 

 the knight-errant cavalcade on horse- 

 back,— the carrying off the bride, — 

 the rescue, — the wordy war in rhyme 

 between the parties, which once 

 formed a singular spcflacle of mock 

 contest at the celebration of nnp- 

 tials, is now almost, if not alto- 

 gether, laid aside, throughout every 

 part of tJie principality.* 



" The funerals are attended by 

 greater crowds of people than even 

 their wedding?. In the funeral that 

 I attended at IJanberis, which has 

 been described in the preceding vo- 

 lume, there were at least a hun- 

 dred attendants. A custom prevails 

 in this country of each individual 

 of the congregation making some 

 oifering in money on these occa- 

 sions, which, if done in the church, 

 is paid as a mark of respcft to the 

 clergyman. This custom, which is 

 at present confined to North Wales, 

 has doubtless been retained from the 

 Romish religion, where the money 

 was intended as a recompcnce to the 

 priests, for their trouble in singing 

 mass for the soul of the deceased. 

 In some cases, wh«re the clergyman 

 is not respe6ted by his parishioners, 

 (he offerings are made on the coffin 

 at tlic door of the house where the 



deceaswl resided, and are distribut- 

 ed amoiigst the poor relatives. — 

 When, however, the offerings arc 

 made in the church, and the other 

 mode very rarely occurs, the whole 

 of the morning or evening prayers 

 for the day, and the usual part of 

 burial service in the church, are 

 first read ; the next of kin to the 

 deceased then comes forward to the 

 altar table, and^ if it is a poor per- 

 son, puts down sixpence or a shil- 

 ling, but if he is sufficiently opulent, 

 half a crown or a crown, and some < 

 times even so much as a guinea. 

 This example is followed by the 

 other relatives, and afterwards by the 

 rest of tile congregation whose m ca- 

 tion in life will altord it, whoadv.'.icc 

 in turns and offer. When the oii'ering 

 of silver is ended, a short pause en- 

 sues, after which, those who cannot 

 Sparc any larger sum, come forward 

 and put dawn each a penny (alialf- 

 penny not being admitted). Collec- 

 tions, on these occasions, have been 

 known to amount to ten or fifteen 

 pound?, but where the relatives are 

 indigent, they do not often exceed 

 three or four shillings. In cases 

 where families are left in distress, 

 this monc)' is usually given by the 

 clergyman to them. When the col- 

 lc6tion is entirely fniishcd, the body 

 is taken to the grave, the remainder 

 of the burial service is read, and 

 the awful ceremony is tliere closed. 

 The offerings at Llanbublic, the 

 parish church of Caernarvon, some- 

 times amount to fifty or sixty pounds 

 a year. 



" It is usual, in several parts of 

 North Wales, for the nearest fe- 

 male relation to the deceased, be 

 she widow, mother, sister, or daugh- 



Cam, Reg. vol. ii 



tcr. 



1 



