Welsh Journals

In the fifteenth century Trellyffant formed part of the estate of the magnate Howel ap Jenkin of Nevern, from whom it passed to the Pictons and from them to the Youngs. In the taxation of 1670 William Young of Trellyffant was assessed at four hearths. Before proceeding to the history of the family and its association with Cwmgloyn, a few words may be given to an interesting little relic which perpetu- ated the memory of the creatures who had proved so fatal to an earlier owner. The first known reference occurs in Fenton's Tour (1811), when he went to Trellyffant 'to see the figure of a toad, well-sculptured in black marble, which is introduced into a chimney-piece, and was formerly covered with glass to preserve it from any injury. It is said to have been brought from Italy, the work of a foreign artist. My enquiries as to the date of its introduction here were fruitless, and all I could learn was, that it had filled its present station for some centuries'. By the time we hear of it next, some half a century on, it had been moved to Cwmgloyn, and in Arch- aeologia Cambrensis, 1864, 310, we read, Trellyffaint In the parlour of the house, over the chimney-piece, in the centre of a pretty landscape of the place, painted on wood, was formerly a dark marble toad, said to be sent from Italy by Sir Richard Mason, Knight of the Green Cloth to James II, to his relatives at Trellyffaint in Pembrokeshire, who bore a toad for their crest. It was exhibited at the Cardigan Archaeological Meeting (1859) and is now in the possession of Mrs Owen of Cwmgloyn'. Like all good toads it continued to hop, and by the time we hear of it next it had reached Haverfordwest. In his attractive book, Nooks and Corners of Pembrokeshire published in 1895, H Thornhill Timmins having recited the traditional tale, proceeds As a momento of this incident, the marble effigy of a toad was built into a chimney-piece at Trellyffan The toad was afterwards cut away and removed from its place in the farmhouse, but eventually came into the possession of its present owner, a resident at Haverfordwest, by whose courtesy we are enabled to give a sketch of this venerable relic. The toad in question is carved in a dark-green marble, about as large as the palm of a woman's hand, and is reputed to be the work of an Italian artist'. A neat sketch of the object accompanies this account. The 'resident at Haverfordwest' mentioned by Timmins was the last of the line of Cwmgloyn and Trellyffant, and it is to his family history that I now turn. After Evan Lloyd's marriage to Elinor Young in 1698, he settled at her home, Trellyffant. They had two children, William, baptized at Nevern on 19 Septem- ber 1699, but died shortly afterwards, and Frances, baptized at Nevern on 6 September 1701. As her brother had died Frances Lloyd became sole heiress to the estate. She married Morris Williams of Cwmbettws, a farm in the northern