THE MURAL FIGURE AT THE WEST END OF PARTRICIO CHURCH. By the Rev. JOHN DAVIES, of Pandy. WHILE a mason was engaged lately in doing some repairs at the west end of the church, he discovered some red paint under a thickness of whitewash. He informed the vicar, the Rev. T. Jones, Llanbeder, of what he had seen, who ordered the wash to be scraped down. This having been done, the delineation on the wall of a human skeleton, full size, was brought to light, which had never before been seen by the oldest living inhabitant of the parish. While at Partricio the other day (April 25th, 1881,) at a funeral, the service being over, the vicar called my attention to the newly-discovered figure, and asked my opinion as to what it represented, and to what period it belonged. The skeleton is drawn on the wall at the west end of the church by an artistic hand. It holds in the right hand a dagger, with a spade hanging from the left arm, the left hand grasping something similar to a bowl. The object in the left hand cannot well be made out, as it has been a little mutilated in the clearing away of the wash that covered it. A lady who was present suggested that the figure was the representation of the murderer of St. Ishaw, who, according to tradition, was the patron saint of the church, and who is said to have been slain on the banks of St. Mary's Brook, in close proximity to the church. There is, perhaps, something to be said in favour of this suggestion, though history is itself against it, as it is extremely doubtful whether St. Ishaw was the real patron of the church. After consulting the history of mural paintings in ecclesiastical buildings, I have no doubt that the skeleton newly brought to light on the wall at the west end of Partricio church, was intended to be the representation of Death. The representation of Death among nations in their early stages, depends upon the ideas which they formed of the state of man after this life. In this aspect the study of the representation is very interesting. It is somewhat remarkable, that the Greeks, whose conceptions of an after-life were so gloomy, represented Death as a pleasing, gentle being-a beautiful youth-while Christians, whose religion teaches them to consider death as a release from bondage, a change from misery to happiness, give him the most repulsive, and even the most disgusting shapes. The Greeks, as a nation, worshipped the beautiful, and were in the habit of beautifying every object, down even to the commonest. This, perhaps, accounts for the beautiful representation they gave to Death, notwithstanding their gloomy conceptions of an after-life. The Christians, it may be, represented Death as a skeleton armed with weapons, because the call to repentance is a prominent feature in the Christian religion, and the notion of Death with terrors may have been supposed to give weight to the summons. During the most flourishing period of the arts, Death was represented as a friendly genius with an inverted torch, and holding a wreath in his hand, or as a sleeping child, winged, with an inverted torch resting on his wreath. According to an idea originating in the East, Death was ascribed to Jupiter, if it was occasioned by lightning; to the water nymphs, if the individual was drowned; to Aurora, if death happened in the morning; to Selene, if at night; &c. These representations were more adapted to relieve the minds of surviving friends than the pictures of horror drawn by subsequent poets and artists. The later Roman poets represented Death under horrible forms-gnashing his teeth, and marking his victims with nails, &c. The disgusting representations of Death, common among Christians, originated in the 14th century. From that period to the 17th century Death is often represented as a skeleton, sometimes with a scythe in his right hand, and sometimes with a dagger. This was the style in which Death was represented when Partricio Church was built. This mural figure confirms the opinion that I formed before as to the state of the present Church of Partricio. Similar representations are to be seen in other churches of the same period. In recent times, again, Death is represented as a beautiful youth. It is thus represented in the monument by Canova, which George IV. erected in honour of the Stuarts in St. Peter's at Rome. Sir Geo. H. Cornewall, in thanking Mr. Davies for his paper, thought that the figure of the skeleton was often represented on church walls. At Moccas church there was one, done in black outlines, beneath the whitewash, but the architect, Mr. Scott, Sir Gilbert Scott's son, did not think it worth preserving. There were also skeletons at St. Margaret's, and some other churches in the district. He thought also that there were many remains of rood lofts left in the churches of this district, such as are shown by the transverse oak beams and the stone steps in the wall now leading up to nothing. It was also stated that the drawing of a skeleton, and some other fresco paintings had recently been discovered beneath the whitewash in the parish church of Clodock. The time had now arrived to continue the walk. The gravestones in the little churchyard did not show the interest they might have done, for the sandstone of the district is evidently very perishable, and only a single stone was observed to bear the date of the last century. "Forward" was heard, and the visitors filed down the church path to the Tabernacle footbridge over this tempting river, and the ascent of Twyn-y-Gaer, or the hill of the fortress or encampment, was commenced. In the meadow at the foot of the Ffwddog, on Herefordshire soil, the globe flower Trollius europæus, grows freely, but it was only as yet beginning to throw up its flower stems. The paths were lined with the elegant little flower, Oxalis acetosella, Wood sorrel, or Cuckoo bread. Its beautiful white drooping flowers, with the petals so delicately pencilled with faint lilac streaks, and its trefoil leaves so often red underneath themselves, and reflected on the red stems, are very graceful and interesting. The juice of this plant is gratefully acid. It contains the oxalic acid, so often used in a concentrated form under the name of "Essential Salts of Lemon," to take iron-mould stains out of linen. So save your money in future, O happy inhabitants of the lovely valley of Grwyney! Get a handful of leaves of the wood-sorrel growing at your doors, crush them with a rolling-pin, and the acid pulp will remove your iron-moulds. The pretty plant, too, has another use that deserves to be known. If boiling water is poured upon a handful of bruised wood-sorrel leaves, and allowed to get cold, it will form a grateful and pleasant drink to allay the thirst of fever. Another plant, not very common in Herefordshire, was very abundant by the path sides of the Ffwddog, the Tuberous moscatel, Adoxa moschatellina; and many of the plants were attacked with the microscopic fungus, Puccinia adoxæ, so curious under the microscope. It was interesting to notice how sensible the plants seemed to the poison of the fungus, how distorted and how swollen they grew in the vigorous efforts to overcome the parasite. In one spot of this valley two very rare ferns grow, Lastrea thelypteris and Osmunda regalis. It is the only Herefordshire locality for Thelypteris, and there is only one other, near Kington, for the Osmunda. The Geranium sylvaticum also grows here, and in one small meadow near the head of the valley, Gymnadenia albida grows pretty freely. The scenery of the ascent became more and more lovely as every turn was made in the path. It had become misty, with falling drops of rain; and that had advantages, although sunshine would have been preferred. The district, too, has points in its history of high local interest. It was formerly part of the great Forest of Moel, or Moyle, the liberties of which were granted by Jasper, Duke of Bedford, as Lord of Abergavenny, to the inhabitants of Llandeilo and Llanwenarth. In the times of feudal barbarism this vale witnessed the massacre o Richard, Earl of Clare, when passing from his castle of Usk to his territories in Breconshire. Giraldus Cambrensis gives this account of it. Brien Fitz Count,* lord of Abergavenny, escorted the Earl of Clare to the skirts of the forest, and wished to continue, but the Earl imprudently dismissed his guard in spite of the remonstrances of his friendly conductor. He continued his route with his usual attendants, preceded by two minstrels, who piped and sang alternately as if to throw all prudence at defiance. In a narrow pass, Jowerth, of Caerleon, and a numerous body of Welshmen, suddenly rushed from the thickets and slew the Earl of Clare and all his suite. Nearly at the top of the hill, within some 300 yards of the camp, was a fine spring of water; and two other springs, it is said, are within enclosures close at hand. In the watery waste beneath the spring the little Ivy-leaved crowfoot, Ranunculus hederaceus, was growing freely. It is rare on lower ground, and the travellers, getting weary and short of breath, were glad of its presence to comment upon it and breathe awhile. The Gaer Camp forms the summit of the Ffwddog on its southern end. It stands out alone, surrounded by lower ground, and commanding two reaches of * He was also called Brian of Wallingford and Brien de Insula.-ED. the Grwyney Valley towards the source, and towards Crickhowell, and also the Honddu Valley towards Llanthony, thus opening out the Black Mountains to their very centre-in short, it may be said of its situation with Thomson Where the broken landscape, by degrees Ascending, roughens into rigid hills; O'er which, the Cambrian Mountains, like fair clouds -Spring. Here a whole string of well-known names could be given, but sooth to say a strong wind and heavy rain set in, and the mountainous outline could only be seen in a deep mist. The Gaer Camp, however, was closely inspected. It is a very fine example of a strongly fortified British camp. It is of a long oval shape divided into three compartments, and altogether inclosing an area of four acres and a half. The main entrance is approached by a sunken road from the west, it is on the southern side, in the direction of the springs of water on the hill. It is strongly protected by a double embankment and a twisting entrance. It is remarkable that here, as at the Gaer ditches, above Chapel Lawn, four miles behind Coxwall Knoll, where Caractacus was taken, the entrenchments are equally steep and bold, and at the entrance they are made more wide, and hollowed out so as to receive defenders who would protect the entrance at close quarters; "bow-and-arrow pits" they might be called, instead of rifle pits. The general character of both these encampments is closely similar in their size, their shape, and their defensive arrangements. The lower camp here is the largest of the three, and one of its inner ditches has been hollowed out for water. The only springs are on the shoulder of the mountain, some 200 or 300 yards distant. This Gaer Camp forms one of a line of British encampments in direct signal communication with Trewyn Camp to the east, and with the Camp above Crickhowell to the west; and the history of them all offers a fine scope for imaginative minds, for in themselves they are prehistoric. Another point of modern import to be noticed is that the division between the counties of Herefordshire and Monmouthshire runs through the centre of the camp longitudinally. The Rev. H. B. D. Marshall, who had brought his barometer, made the height of the shoulder of the Brynarw hill to be 684 feet above sea level; at Partricio Church, the height was 886 feet; and the height of the cairn in the upper portion of the Gaer Camp was 1,199 feet above sea level. The wind got stronger and stronger, and the rain became ice-like, so there was nothing for it but to descend at once by the Rhiw-y-meirch, "the steep way for the horses," which was undoubtedly the original approach to the camp from the east. The Pont Rhys Powell was crossed; some fine specimens of Lycoperdon cælatum, the rough Puffball, were gathered in the meadow beyond. The Croes Llwyd was passed, and the hospitable attractions of Trewyn were resisted, in favour of the comfortable inn at Pandy, where clothes could be dried, and the outer weather forgotten. It rained more and more, and it became cold, and more cold, until Hood's lines on a cold ungenial spring came to mind : : |