Welsh Journals

I'll do all that lie in my power that evening if required To get you a sweetheart apiece, if I don't get drunk But the brides is wishful you should come or send. It will be noted that the bride and bridegroom were referred to collectively as brides." Tin Meat was not corned beef, but meat baked in tins, usually in a brick oven. The ceremonial at the wedding house was complicated. The procession back from church was headed by a fiddler, followed by the married couple and their friends walking two and two. At some suitable point, probably the churchyard gate, the children would have held up the procession by stretching a rope across the path, and it could not proceed until pennies had been scattered for a scramble. The bride's mother received the guests at the door of the wedding house, and all sat down to dinner at long tables, the two brides sitting together at the head of one, and next to them the man with the wedding book." The Bidder then went round with two plates for the money contributions from the guests. The bidder received the gift in one plate, called out the name of the donor and the amount given to the man with the book, and transferred the money to the other plate. If the sum was especially large the Bidder would call Heave which the man with the book repeated. This meant that the brides would repay the amount when the donor himself came fo be married. All the money collected was then handed to the bride on the one dish, and the proceedings continued with a dance and general merry-making. It was the custom in Gower, as in other parts of Wales, for friends to fire a salute from their guns over the bride's house on the night before the wedding. This seems to be a survival of a practice originally intended to drive away evil spirits, and it is still occasionally carried out. J. E. R. MINCHIN HOLE-RECENT EXCAVATIONS. The present excavation of Gower's largest cavern commenced in 1946, following the survey of the cave by Miss M. C. Morgan (Mrs. Honeybourne) in 1939-40. In 1946 and 1947 many tons of loose debris and large boulders were removed and a shaft sunk to ascertain the approximate depth of the undisturbed deposits. This arduous task was undertaken by the South Wales Caving Club. Finds during this period, although on a small scale, were encouraging. During the present year (1948) attention could be given to deposits which were largely untouched by previous excavators. The upper- most of these were found particularly rich in material of the Early Iron Age and Roman period. Work is still in progress at this level and a detailed examination of the discoveries has been postponed until the completion. In view of these factors a brief and tentative report is all that can be presented at the moment. However, the importance of the site will be obvious to readers of this note.