It is said that, in druidic times, the cairn was a species of monument awarded only to persons of distinction. The following passage on the subject occurs in the Life of Gruffydd ab Cynan :-" Now the mountain, on which the battle was fought, is called by the people of the country the carn mountain, that is to say, the mountain of the carnedd; for in that place there is an immense carnedd of stones, under which was buried a champion in primitive ages of antiquity."-(Myv. Arch., v. ii., 594.)

The cairn was of gradual growth, inasmuch as it was the custom for every passer by to fling an additional stone upon the common heap, out of reverence to the memory of the person who was interred underneath.

We are told however that, when the practice of burying in churchyards became general, the cairn was condemned as fit only for great criminals. Hence the expression, "carn ar dy wyneb," (may a cairn be upon thy face,) when one wishes ill to another man. In this case travellers cast their stones out of detestation. Owing therefore to such a change of popular feeling in regard to the cairn, it would now be impossible, from its mere outward appearance, to conjecture the character of the persons whom it covers. Moreover, the size would vary not only according to the honour or disgrace with which the deceased was in his life time regarded, but also according to the situation of the grave itself, whether it was near a public road or not. It may be, however, that the position of the body, or form of the cistvaen, or some other interior arrangement, would prove a clue to the solution of this question. It is, therefore, very desirable that, in opening any of these carneddau, we should mark every little circumstance, however trivial it may seem by a comparison of these details, we may in the end be able to ascertain some great principle at the bottom of all.

Llanymowddwy.

JOHN WILLIAMS ab Ithel.

SOME REMARKS ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF LLANDAFF.

THE following notice of one of the most interesting churches in Britain arose out of the visit paid to the cathedral by the CAMBRIAN ARCHEOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, at their late Cardiff Meeting. The omission of some of the peculiarities of the fabric by other speakers led to some extemporary remarks, and these again to a fuller investigation of the building, which resulted, through the assistance and co-operation of Mr. Prichard,' the architect of the restoration, in the discovery of several features throwing much light upon the history of the cathedral. I have endeavoured to point out both the general architectural peculiarities of the building, many of which are singular, and some almost, if not quite, unique; and also to trace out, as far as circumstances allowed, the several changes which the church has undergone since its first foundation. At the same time this paper does not at all pretend to the dignity of a regular architectural history of the cathedral. Such a work would require a more minute examination of the building than I had the time-though I certainly did not lack the inclination to bestow upon it; and would, besides, involve researches into documents and records for which I have had no opportunity. Since I was at Llandaff, I have had no access to any of the works in which information would most probably be found; and I was informed by the Dean that the archives of the cathedralwhich, however, I should have had no time to examine, had it been otherwise-contain very little that bears upon the history of the fabric. Still, imperfect as so hasty a sketch must necessarily be, it may be accepted as an essay towards an architectural history of a church of which, as far as I am aware, no full or accurate ac

1 To the gratuitous kindness of this gentleman the author and the Association are indebted for the original drawings of the illustrations to the present paper.

count has ever been published; and, on this ground, though part of my work consists in the ungracious task of examining points on which I have the misfortune to differ from other observers, I would entreat indulgence to probably very many errors of my own.

But, in considering the undoubted merits of this church, which are very great, and the singularities, which are still greater, I must venture to remark that its excellent Dean has assigned it too high a rank, when, in his paper in the last number of the Archeologia, he unhesitatingly gives it the first place among the existing churches of Wales at once for size and beauty. Now, in the former point, Llandaff is far exceeded by St. David's; it is a simple matter of fact; and, though the latter must be always more or less a question of taste, yet I can hardly imagine any one familiar with the two buildings hesitating to give the palm to the same church-even though it has no single feature comparable to the west front of Llandaff-on account of its far juster proportions and really cathedral outline, and the gorgeous store of detail contained in its interior.

OUTLINE AND GROUND PLAN.-The outline and plan of Llandaff Cathedral is its most remarkable point. Its most marked peculiarity is the absence, in a church of so great a size, not only of a central tower, the usual crown of our great churches, but of transepts in any form. In this respect it is unique among the cathedrals of South Britain, and has but few parallels among churches of equal size, even when not designed as episcopal sees, as the present Cathedral of Manchester, Dorchester Abbey, Boston, and St. Michael's, Coventry. And even among these, the distinction of the several parts of the church is generally more strongly marked than at Llandaff, where there is no constructive difference whatever between nave and choir, the only perceptible external change in the main body of the fabric being between the choir and the presbytery, and that consisting only in the different arrangements of the clerestory. The plan and arrangement of the church is altogether singular; there can be no doubt but that the