“Have any remarkable men been clergymen of this church?”
“Several, sir; amongst its vicars was Doctor William Morgan, the great South Welshman, the author of the old Welsh version of the Bible, who flourished in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Then there was Doctor Robert South, an eminent divine, who, though not a Welshman, spoke and preached Welsh better than many of the native clergy. Then there was the last vicar, Walter D---, a great preacher and writer, who styled himself in print Gwalter Mechain.”
“Are Morgan and South buried here?” said I.
“They are not, sir,” said the clerk; “they had been transferred to other benefices before they died.”
I did not inquire whether Walter D--- was buried there, for of him I had never heard before, but demanded whether the church possessed any ancient monuments.
“This is the oldest which remains, sir,” said the clerk, and he pointed with his finger to a tablet-stone over a little dark pew on the right side of the oriel window. There was an inscription upon it, but owing to the darkness I could not make out a letter. The clerk, however, read as follows.
1694. 21 Octr.
Hic Sepultus Est
Sidneus Bynner.
“Do you understand Latin?” said I to the clerk.
“I do not, sir; I believe, however, that the stone is to the memory of one Bynner.”
“That is not a Welsh name,” said I.