Nov. 8. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



371 



they were removed into a corner by the soa-side in 

 Wales, called Pembrokeshire, to the end that they 

 might be a defence there against the unquiet Welsh. 

 It would appear by some writers that this multitude 

 of Flemings consisted not onlie of such as came over 

 about that time, by reason their countrie was overflowed 

 with the sea [as ye have heard], but also others that 

 arrived there long before, even in the diies of William 

 the Conqueror, through the friendship of the queen, 

 their countriewoman, sithens their numbers so increased 

 that the realme of England was sore pestered with 

 them ; whereupon King Henrie devised to place them 

 in Pembrokeshire, as well to avoide them out of the 

 other of England, as also by their helpe to tame the 

 bold and presumptuous Welshmen : which thing in 

 those parts they brought verie well to pass ; for after 

 they were settled there, they valiantlie resisted their 

 enemies, and made verie sharp wars upon them, some- 

 times with loss and sometimes with gaine." — Holinshed. 



" Wallenses Rex Henricus, semper in rebellionera 

 crehris expeditionibns in deditionem premebat ; con- 

 silioque salubri nixus, ut eoruni tumorein extennaret, 

 Flandrenses omnes Anglia? accolas eo traduxit. Pliires 

 enim, qui tempore patris pro matris paterna cognatione 

 confluxerant, occultabat Anglia, adeo ut ipsi regno pro 

 multitudine onerosi viderentur. Quapropter omnes 

 cum substantiisetnecessitudinibusapud Ilosprovinciam 

 Walliarum, velut in sentinam congessit, ut et regnum 

 defajcaret, et hostium brutam temeritalem retunderet." 



— If^illiam of Mulmsburi/. 



" The yeare llOS the rage of the sea did overflow 

 and drowne a great part of the lawe countrie of Flan- 

 ders, in such sort that the inhabitants were driven to 

 seeke themselves other dwellings ; who canie to King 

 Henrie and desired him to give some voide place to 

 remaine in ; who being very liberal of that which was 

 not his owne, gave them the lande of Ros, in Dyvet or 

 West Wales, where Pembroke, Tenby, and Haverford- 

 west are now built ; and there they remaine till this 

 dale, as may be well perceived by their speeche and 

 conditions, farre difl'ering from the rest of the countrie." 



— Powell's trelsh Chronicle. 



A similar colony is located in that part of Gla- 

 morgan calk'il Gower; and the Flemish popula- 

 tion, both of lios and of Gower, still retain many 

 f)eculiar customs and words ; while they scrupu- 

 oiisly keep aloof from the Welsh, each people 

 looking down upon the other, and considering 

 intermarriage as a degradation. I have been told 

 by a IViend that Flemish colonies were also located 

 in 2vr<)rf(jlk and Cambridgeshire. This much is 

 certain : in tiie last-named county fields are occa- 

 Bionally divided between dillerent proprietors, in 

 the manner known as " landshares," a custom 

 wliicii prevails to a great extent in Gower, and 

 also, I believe, in litis. Am I riglit in considering 

 this a Flemish peculiarity ? Seleucus. 



In an ancient map of tliis town, Pembroke 

 (Soutii Wales), of wiiich tiie language is Nornum- 

 Frencli, two districts of ours are mentioned thus : 

 Le grenc, which is now called "tlie green;" and 



Afonton, now called " mountain." As regards the 

 first, not a portion of green is discoverable ; it is a 

 disagreeable street, close to a large mill and sheet 

 of water, with none of the conditions of a country 

 green. I have often wondered at the name, feel- 

 ing persuaded that there never could have existed 

 such a spot here as would be so called, and was 

 puzzled till I last week saw this old map. Tracing 

 the matter, although no French substantive seems 

 to exist spelled grene, the v. n. grener and its 

 relatives afford a solution — as grenier is a granary, 

 and grenetis the mill round a coin : so that I take 

 it fur granted, as our green in fact is in the imme- 

 diate neighbourhood of the corn-mill, that from 

 said pounding or grinding {grener) it solely is 

 derived. 



The solution of " mountain" is not so easy. It 

 is a portion of the town outside the old fortifica- 

 tions, at the foot of a high hill ; so never could 

 have been dignified by the term "mountain" from 

 its height, — in fact, it rises but little from the 

 estuary, one arm of which here terminates. The 

 tide here ceases ; up to this spot " la maree monte^ 

 Am I right in conjecturing that mordant (pro- 

 nounced just like monton), meaning "rising" as 

 well as mounting, may be the origin of the 

 designation ? 



All the early memorials of Pembroke are either 

 Norman or Flemish, those foreigners having set- 

 tled here. We have no token of Welsh ; perhaps 

 there are not six people in the town who can 

 speak the language. The names of some of the 

 inhabitants are French and Flemish, and it is to 

 be noted that their personal appearance corre- 

 sponds with the type of their ancestral country. 

 Our parish clerk, nam?d Freyne, is a little French- 

 man to all intents and purposes ; and our street- 

 keeper, liushaut, has all the square stolidity and 

 heavy features of the Low Countries. 



Although imconnected with the foregoing, will 

 you allow space for another record ? Only within 

 a i'ew years the last of a family, invariably called 

 '■ Cromwell," died. It was not their true name, 

 but they have held it to perpetuate the treason of 

 their ancestor, who followed the great Protector 

 after he had temporarily abandoned the siege of 

 Pembroke Castle ; and, procuring an interview 

 on " Pidgway," an eminence between here and 

 Tenby, this unworthy townsman told the general 

 to return, as the garrison were reduced " to a 

 bean a day." The advice was followed. Pem- 

 broke was taken ; but the stern captor ordered the 

 traitor to be hanged ! Thenceforward the lamily 

 ever went by the name of Cromwell. B. B. 



Broad Arrow (Vol. iv., p. 315.). — P. C. S. S. 

 has always understood that the "broad arrow" 

 on government stores represented the Fheon, the 



