[This version of the legend of the origin of the lake of Savaddan (Llyn Syfaddon), commonly known as Llangorse Lake in Brecknockshire, has been received from Mr. Isaac C. Hughes, of Treharris, Glamorganshire, who states that it is given as told to him by an old resident.

It is an interesting variant of the version given in Rhys's Celtic Folklore, i. 73, which is taken from the Brython for 1863, pp. 114, 115, and purports to be derived from a MS. of Hugh Thomas in the British Museum. The following are the principal points of difference:

(1) The names of the Princess and the murderer, her lover, are here given as Gwenonwy and Gruffydd, son of Prince Meigyr.

(2) The murdered man is described as the Prior of Bryn-yrAllt, on a height overlooking the lake.

(3) The curse is given by the Sub-Prior of the monastery when called in to perform the marriage, and not by certain mysterious voices heard by the murderer when he went out to "lay the ghost."

(4) It is to have effect in the fourth, and not the ninth generation.

(5) Its fulfilment immediately follows on the martyrdom of the Sub-Prior who had originally pronounced it.

(6) The name of the child of the fourth generation who escaped, his cradle being found floating on the lake, is Gastayn, who afterwards became a saintly hermit. This connects the legend with the Church of Llangasty, on the shores of the lake.

Sir J. Rhys also alludes to the quite different story given by Walter Mapes, which, it may be noted, refers to a prince named Gwestin of Gwestiniog (Wastinus Wastiniauc). He also holds that there are signs of Goidelic influence in this neighbourhood. Perhaps some support may be lent to this opinion by the name Aeddan, that of the Prior of Bryn-yr-Allt, who witnessed the catastrophe.-ED.]

THE FEAST OF ST. WILFRID.

Procession and Races Sixty Years Ago.

(PLATE XIII.)

IN the Illustrated London News of Aug. 24, 1844, appeared the following account of the Feast of St. Wilfrid at Ripon and the races held there on the feast-day. The account was accompanied by two illustrations, the first of the procession of St. Wilfrid and the second of the races. That of the procession is here reproduced with the kind consent of the Proprietors of the Illustrated London News.

"The Feast of St. Wilfrid, at Ripon, in Yorkshire, always falls on the Sunday following Lammas-day.

"Ripon owes its rise to the Saint (Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, in the seventh century) in whose honour the feast is held, and whose return from exile to his favourite monastery of Ripon, so long as twelve centuries ago, is still commemorated in the fashion we have more palpably shown in the engraving. A jolly Dr. Syntax looking effigy, with cocked hat, black coat, and top boots, having nothing clerical about him, except the bands dangling from his chin, is manufactured by some labourers in the town, and carried from house to house, tied on a cart horse; and accompanied by a fife and a fiddle, and a host of children, who greet the oblations to the Saint with shrill huzzas. The good old folks haste into the street to shake hands with the founder of their town; and the proprietors of the effigy (sometimes a 'wick Wilfray' as the children style him) retire at dusk to divide the proceeds, and wind up with a 'jollification.'

"Then the feast commences in earnest. The Cathedral bells ring out merrily on the Sunday morning following, the Mayor and Corporation proceed in gowned solemnity to service at the minster; the city is crowded with strangers, and those natives, from a distance, who come to visit friends and relatives; there is a gathering in the sylvan glades of Studley Park; and the ivy grown, venerable walls of the 'mighty carcase' of the abbey of Fountains echoes with the music of glad voices, and smiles blandly in the glorious sunshine on the merry pilgrims gathered around.

"The races date as far back as 1713, for, on the 2nd of February in that year, an order was issued by the Mayor and Corporation of Ripon to level the High Common 'fitting for a horse course.' The support they received from the Corporation was considerable; aided by the munificent donations of John Aislabie, Esq., of Studley Royal, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1718-1720. In those days the horses in one of the most important races were ridden by women; and on such occasions Mrs. Aislabie contributed the plate, or the money for the prize. In 1826 these ancient races were put a stop to by the enclosure of the High Common; but in 1836, Mr. Haygarth, a publican, got up some races on a small scale, in his own fields, which roused the old sporting spirit of the town, and induced several respectable individuals to form themselves into a committee, when the present ground-a pleasant spot on the north banks of the Ure, and a good mile from the city-was selected, and here they have been carried on ever since."

The Ripon Observer, which reproduces this article in its issue of July 30, 1908, adds the following remarks:

"In 1844, though Daguerre had achieved important results some four or five years earlier, there was no photography as we now know it, and the snap-shotter hadn't begun his ubiquitous work. The pictures, therefore, may be regarded as sketches, but of a very realistic and highly accurate order. The racecourse in those days was on the north side of the river Ure at the foot of the Red Hills. For many year the races were run on the High Common, but in 1826 this was enclosed and the races were dormant until 1836, when they were revived and the Red Hills racecourse laid out. They continued here till 1865 when they were removed to Red Bank. With regard to Wilfrid himself as he appears in the picture, the inference is that he was at that time an effigy. Old inhabitants remember the legend of their early days, that the Patron Saint was brought in by the York waggon-one of the horses of which was used as a mount. The figure was a make up in form of a 'guy' and he was heartily shaken by the hand by the citizens on arrival. Farrar in his history of Ripon (1801) says, 'The feast of St. Wilfrid is annually celebrated and continues nearly a week. On