ST. BRIDE’S, OR TOWYN CHAPEL; AND THE ANCIENT TUMULUS.
Here friends and foes
Lie close, unmindful of their former feuds.
The name of barrows is given to the artificial hills which were in ancient times very generally constructed to commemorate the mighty dead. Such hills are usually formed of earth, but sometimes of heaped stones. In the latter form, they are almost exclusively confined to Scotland, and are there called cairns. Barrows are found in almost every country, from America to the steppes of Tartary, and probably exhibit the earliest, and assuredly the grandest species of honorary burial; a humble relic of which we still retain in the mounds of earth over the graves of our churchyards. Assuming that the barrow indicates, in the matter of sepulture, the first step of man from the merely savage state, it does not seem to have been forsaken for monuments of greater art and delicacy until such further advances in civilization had been made as might be indicated to a careful inquirer by the alteration in the form or structure of the tumulus itself, and still more by the contents which might be disinterred; for it was in all, except perhaps the very earliest instances, customary to bury with the dead their weapons, their ornaments, and other articles of value. In the barrows of the earliest period we might expect to find no more than the bones of the uncoffined and unurned barbarian with his arrow heads of flint; while those of a later period would furnish stone and earthen coffins, urns of metal and earthenware, spears, swords, shields, bracelets, beads, mirrors, combs, and even coins and cloths,—articles which are actually found in some tumuli, and most of them in those of this country.
The cairns, or carnedd, heaps of stones, are frequently mentioned in Scripture, and in every instance, when not accompanied with a pillar, we find them raised with the same object, namely, to cover the remains of those who died in crime, and whose memories it was intended to dishonour. Such were the heaps of stones raised over the remains of Achan, Absalom, and the King of Ai. Joshua vii. 25, 26—viii. 25. 2 Sam. xviii. 17 In Syria and Palestine it is still usual for one who passes such a heap to throw a stone on it, in order to express his detestation of the infamy commemorated, as well as to contribute to the maintenance or increase the size of the monument. In Scotland, too, in some parts, it was formerly, and perhaps still is common for a person to say to the offender, “Never mind, I shall throw a stone over your cairn yet.”
There are numerous cairns in Wales, many of which still bear distinctive names, such as Carn Vadryn and Carn Hendwll. Allusion to these is made in the works of the earliest bards; for instance, Taliesin observes:—
Carawg will purchase
Wales abounding with canerddau.
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.” 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 or 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 person whom it covers. Moreover, the size would vary, not only according to the honour or disgrace with which the deceased was in his lifetime 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 (stone chest), or some other interior arrangement, would prove a clue to the solution of this question.
Many of the cairns in this country have been opened, and generally found to contain undoubted evidence of human interment; and where this was not the case, their absence may be very reasonably accounted for by the supposition that the body was burned (as in the case of Achan), and the stones heaped over the ashes.
Upwards of one hundred years ago, Sir Nicholas Bailey opened a carnedd at Plas Newydd, Anglesey. Supposing the mound a mere heap of rubbish, he began to level it; but when the workmen had opened the entrance into the large ruin, he ordered them to discontinue their operations, as it seemed to contain nothing but bones.
The mound or tumulus on which the remains of Capel y Towyn (see page [6]) stand, is evidently the cemetery of a vast number of persons. Some years ago, a coffin was discovered containing a skull, and the other principal bones of the human frame, quite perfect. Four or five other coffins were also found, all of which contained bones, in a good state of preservation. The coffins were constructed of rough stones, having sides, ends, lids, but no bottoms. The dates of these burials are not correctly determined, but they are of considerable antiquity.
A very interesting paper relative to this place, written by the Hon. W. O. Stanley, M.P. for the city of Chester, was read at the Archæological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, in August, 1846, from which we make the following extract:—
“This ancient chapel is on the old London road, about two and a half miles from Holyhead, situated close to the sea. Here is a great mound, about 30 feet in height, being 750 in circumference at the base. On the summit of this mound are seen the foundation walls of a small chapel, which has given the name Towyn y Capel (the Bay of the Chapel) to the beautiful inlet upon the shore. This mound is composed of sea sand, and contains a great number of graves, arranged in four or five tiers, one above another, at intervals of about three or four feet. The bodies were laid invariably with the feet converging towards the centre of the mound, the head being towards the outer side. It appears that no similar instance of interment in graves formed indiscriminately, as it regards the point of the compass towards which the feet of the corpse were laid, has yet been noticed.”