of the rhyming hexameter verse commenced in a corresponding position with this on the obv. Below this the name: S' BARNAB'. In a smaller niche on either side, a saint, that on the left, Grimbald, first abbot, standing and holding a book; in the field outside the niche, the inscription, S' GRIMB'; on the right, St. Valentine, holding a head, or uncertain symbol, in the field outside the niche the inscription,

S'VALENT'.

: HYDA PATRONORVM: IVGI PRECE TVTA SIT: HORVM:

This seal has been engraved incorrectly in Dugdale, Mon. Angl. (vol. ii, Pl. XIV, cf. vol ii, p. 435 for descriptive notes).

3. Seal of Abbot John Suthill.--From a charter dating between 1181 and 1222, to which the first seal of the Abbey, as described above, is also appended. About 2 ins. by 1 in., pointed oval; the Abbot standing on a platform, in the right hand a book, in the left hand a pastoral staff. The legend reads:

[+] SIGILLVM IOHANNIS ABBATIS DE HID[A].

Mr. Macmichael exhibited a tray of fictilia of the time of Charles I, and perhaps earlier, from the neighbourhood of Charing Cross; also a collection of drawings of signs of various shops and taverns of London. Mr. Lloyd read a paper on the "Italian Ideas of the Thirteenth Century, with Reference to the Guelph Family of England." It is hoped that the paper may be printed hereafter in the Journal.

Obituary.

MR. THOMAS MORGAN, F.S.A.

It is with deep regret that we have to record the distinct loss the Association has sustained by the death of one of its Vice-Presidents, Mr. Thomas Morgan, F.S.A., on the 13th of January last. Although quiet and unobtrusive to a degree, he was always one of our most active supporters, while for scholarly learning his papers invariably commanded and obtained respectful attention from those most competent to judge of their merits.

Born on the 18th day of April 1819, Mr. Morgan was sent at an early age to Eton, where he remained until Election July, 1834, when Dr. Keate retired from the Head Mastership. Of his life there he wrote "The remaining half of my time at Eton was pleasant enough cricket, boating, and bathing after two' and after four', and walks abroad, with leaps over hedges and ditches. These were frequently

indulged in, diversified sometimes by a paperchase, or a jaunt with a ratcatcher and his terrier and ferrets, which was considered good sport. I remember my first attempt at leaping. I was fagged' to the margin of Chalvey Ditch, and told that I must leap over on pain of having my head broken. Hence a very involuntary first attempt which landed me in the middle of Chalvey's black mud. I did better the second time, and became afterwards a fair leaper. As to my studies, on entering, though prepared as well as most boys in Greek, Latin, geography, and French, yet being ignorant of the way of making Latin verses, I had to take a place in a low form where nonsense verses' were taught, which caused me rather a waste of time, though this was in some way compensated for by my afterwards taking two double removes, which brought me up in time, and, being a private pupil of my school tutor, the Rev. W. G. Cookesley, he gave me much attention, for which I shall always be grateful. At last I found myself in the remove between the fourth and fifth forms, and here the Rev. Coleridge (who married a daughter of Dr. Keate) placed me among a separate class in the room where he coached the remove. This class he called his 'literati', and it was an honour to get amongst these. On my departure Dr. Keate gave me a leavingbook, Lucretius de rerum natura, handsomely bound, whilst Mr. Cookesley gave me Horatius, and, on taking leave, said: 'You are going into business, and will not have much time for reading, but, whatever you do, keep up your Homer and your Horace.'

This parting injunction of his master's he never forgot, and through his busy life he retained his fondness for the classics. Having said good-bye to Eton, he went with his parents to Oporto, where he resided some little time, learning the language of the country and the accomplishments of the day, fencing, etc. Returning to London, he plunged at once into the life of a busy City merchant, and, until he retired a few years ago, he worked with great zest at his business.

He first associated himself with the British Archæological during its early days, in the year 1845, and from thenceforth up to the time of his decease he was an ardent supporter of the Association, and a frequent contributor of learned papers to its Journal. As a rule he wrote of Roman archæology, his favourite subject, and one with which he was thoroughly at home and conversant, while his annual Review of the Congress was invariably looked forward to by those members who were unable to attend the pleasant gatherings, as containing a concise, yet clear summary of the proceedings. In the year 1875 he was elected Honorary Treasurer, and he carried out the duties of that onerous position with that consideration and genial tact which made him so pleasant a companion, so charming a friend. He held this honorary office for a considerable period, and only gave it up with

regret at the Annual Meeting in 1890. Meanwhile, he had been elected a Vice-President, and many members of the Council will recall with pleasure the Council meetings held at Hillside House, Streatham Hill, in summer weather, and the cordial reception extended to them by their host. In former days he was a comrade with many men famous in their generation in the archæological world, amongst whom may be mentioned Thomas Wright, F.S.A.; J. R. Planché, F.S.A., the Somerset Herald; J O. Halliwell-Phillipps, F.R.S., and Thomas Pettigrew. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1875, but he rarely if ever read papers at Burlington House, reserving his efforts for the Association to which be always clung.

His greatest work was, of course, Romano-British Mosaic Pavements, which he brought out in 1886, a volume which was at once well received, and which is and will remain a standard work on the subjects of which it treats. Upon its publication The Times spoke of it as 66 a valuable work, and one prepared with great care and research. It not only furnishes a full history of the discovery of the pavements, but a record and interpretation of their designs. The work before us is no superficial record of Romano-British research, but a thoroughly able and comprehensive treatise, in the preparation of which the author has had the advice and assistance of many of our most distinguished archeologists and antiquaries." The Athenæum and other literary papers gave the author high praise for his erudite production.

Thus one by one our old friends disappear, while we who remain mourn their loss and keep their memory ever green by living o'er again the happy days we spent in their company.

Antiquarian Entelligence.

Excavations at Talley Abbey, Carmarthenshire.-On the main road. from Llandilo to Lampeter, about seven miles from the former place, stands the village of Talley, situated in a narrow valley on the watershed of two small streams, one flowing into the Cothi, northwards, and the other southwards into the Towy. In the churchyard are the ruins of what is left above ground of the church of the important Abbey of Talley, a Premonstratensian Monastery, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist, said to have been founded by Rhys ap Gruffydd, titular Prince of South Wales, who died 1196. It flourished till the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, at which time it had eight canons, and its revenue was estimated at £153 1s. 4d. Mr. S. W. Williams, F.S.A., is reporting to the Welshman, and the Arch. Cambrensis, as follows :—

Until the year 1772 the abbey church, or some part of it, was used as the parish church of Talley, but, being found too large for the purpose, and having become much dilapidated, the parishioners took down the greater portion of the building, and, with the materials, erected the present church, which stands on the north side of the site of the monastery.

This destruction of the ancient edifice resulted in the entire structure falling into decay, and, as in nearly every similar case, it became a quarry from whence the neighbouring buildings were erected; whereever there was a piece of freestone in buttress, angle, pier, or arch, there the crowbar was at work, wrenching it away, and gradually, piece by piece, the entire fabric, with the exception of a portion of the central tower and two of its arches, have disappeared.

Not long ago Mr. Williams visited Talley by the kind invitation of the Vicar, the Rev. J. H. Lloyd, and the two Churchwardens, Sir James Drummond of Edwinsford, and D. Long Price, Esq., of Talley House. To these gentlemen great credit is due for having taken the initiative in the exploration of the ruins. On the morning of the 24th operations were commenced, a staff of workmen having been supplied by Sir James Drummond and Mr. Long Price, with Mr. L. Bowen, the Edwinsford Farm steward, as foreman.

Operations were confined to the site and ruins of the abbey church, which, with a portion of the cloister garth, are, as at Strata Florida, situated within the area of the churchyard, but the southern boundary wall cuts off the south-eastern angle of the presbytery, and a greater

portion of the south transept. The whole of the conventual buildings are, therefore, outside the churchyard. The sites of these, being occupied by a modern farmhouse and homestead, have entirely disappeared.

The line of the north transept was first of all traced, and it was found that from 5 to 8 ft. in height of the walls still remained covered up with the fallen débris of the building. The total length of the transept. inside (north of the tower) is 36 ft. 9 ins., its width, 29 ft. East of this were found the external walls of the transeptal chapels, which are probably two in number in each transept. The springing of the arch of the southern of these two chapels still remains, and a fragment of the plain barrel vaulting with which they were covered.

In tracing the north wall of the north transept, the north door was found, with plain, chamfered, external jambs, nearly 4 ft. wide in the clear, and, a little further on, the staircase, leading up, in the thickness of the wall, to a passage over the chapels to the tower, of which seven steps are still in situ. In the internal angle of the northern chapel is a pavement of plain red buff and blue glazed tiles, but it was thought advisable not to uncover any portion of the floors of the chapels until systematic excavations were commenced, when they will be carefully uncovered, to prevent damage to the tile pavements which apparently exist here.

At the north-eastern angle of the tower the excavations were also carried down to floor level, with the result that the jambs of the tower piers were found to be moulded at the angles, and that there was a plain chamfered base of early transitional work, probably of the middle of the twelfth century. The builders had only carried up the external angles of the piers of the tower in moulded freestone as far as the spring of the pointed arches. All above that is plain rubble masonry, which has been plastered. This points to the fact that the earliest builders were unable to carry on the work so expensively as they had commenced, and from the absence, so far, of any carved stonework in the débris, the Abbey of Talley seems to have been a structure of great plainness and simplicity. The windows appear to have been filled with stained glass, as several small fragments were found, one of exquisite ruby tint.

The line of the presbytery was defined internally. It is 44 ft. 9 ins. long by 29 ft. wide. The latter dimension is also the size of the inside of the tower, which is perfectly square, and, it may be noted, is 2 ft. larger than the tower of St. David's Cathedral, 1 ft. more than at Strata Florida Abbey, and is only exceeded by the central tower of St. Asaph Cathedral, which is 29 ft. 6 ins. Talley, therefore, possessed a central tower equal in dimensions to any of the greater Welsh churches,