Transcribed from the 1897? edition , email
A RECORD OF ST.
CYBI’S CHURCH,
HOLYHEAD
And the Sermon preached after
its Restoration, 1879, by
ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY, D.D.,
Dean of Westminster.
SIX ILLUSTRATIONS.
p. 1A Recordof St. Cybi’s Church
The old Church of St. Cybi, atHolyhead, which contains so many memorials of the devotion andpiety of former generations, has been in this Jubilee year of thereign of Queen Victoria enriched by many precious gifts. Anew South Aisle, capable of containing 50 or 60 worshippers, hasbeen added to the Church as a memorial to Mr. and Mrs. W. O.Stanley of Penrhos; and the beautiful window at the east end hasbeen placed there in memory of Mr. Watson, Chairman and ManagingDirector of the City of Dublin Co., by his sons.
The connection of Mr. Stanley’s forefathers, the Owensof Penrhos, with the Church of St. Cybi, has been a very closeone, and we are indebted to the archaeological lore and love ofthe locality which distinguished his family and himself, for thepreservation of many beautiful traditions and interesting remainsof long past ages.
p. 2HolyheadIsland is rich in old-world treasures which appeal not only tothe archaeologist and the historian, but to the artistic mind andeye of men like Matthew Arnold and the author of “TheStones of Venice.”
“Just on the other side of the Mersey,” Ruskinwrites, “you have your Snowdon and your Menai Straits andthat mighty granite rock beyond the moors of Anglesea, splendidin its heathery crest, and footplanted in the deep sea, oncethought of as sacred—a divine promontory, looking westward;the Holy Head or Head Land, still not without awe when its redlight glares first through storm.”
On that same mountain of Holyhead are the circular hive-shapeddwellings, of unknown antiquity, called locally “CyttiauGwyddelod,” or “Irishmen’s Huts.” These are excavated to a depth of some feet below the surface, 15feet to 20 feet in diameter inside, the sides of the interiorbeing lined with stones to prevent the earth from falling, andthe dome-shaped roof only being apparent above the surface of theground. In addition to the above are the curiously shapedquerns, mullers, and other stone implements indicating the pastlife of the dwellers in these rude huts.
The great Cromlech at Trefignedd and the fine Monoliths atPlas Meilw also bear silent record to the existence of men, who,but for this lasting p.3evidence might well be deemed mythical. At thatgreat Cromlech, overlooking many miles of country, horriblescenes were enacted, according to tradition, scenes too ghastlyfor description; and now, cattle graze and children play in thesunshine among those giant stones.
Holyhead mountain has repeatedly been a witness to fiercestruggles for mastery between the