diately behind them rode a young man in black and crimson, usually
called Golden-Spear from the circumstance of his carrying the gilt
spear of Harlech Castle, with which, by the custom, he is to ride into
Machynleth church at a certain part of the service on St. David's day,
and into Dolgelly church on the day of Pentecost, and there to strike
three times against 'Traitors' grave'[2] with a certain form of
adjuration in three languages. After him came the rangers of Penmorfa,
all mounted, and riding four abreast. They were in number about
eighty-four; and wore, as usual, a uniform of watchet (_i.e._ azure)
and white--with horse-cloths and housings of the same colors:--and the
ancient custom had been that all the horses should be white: this rule
had been relaxed in later times from the poverty of the Penmorfa people
in consequence of repeated irruptions of the sea, but was now restored,
with brilliant effect on the coloring of the procession, by the
liberality of Sir Morgan Walladmor. Next after these rode the sheriff
of Merionethshire and his billmen, all in ancient costume: and then
came the most interesting part of the cavalcade. On St. David's day it
had always been the custom that the Bishop of Bangor should send some
representative to do suit and service for a manor which he held of the
house of Walladmor: and the usage was--that, if there were an heir male
to that ancient house, the Bishop sent four young men who carried
falcons perched on their wrists; but, if the presumptive claimant of
the Walladmor honors and estates were a female, in that case he sent
four young girls who carried doves. Both the doves and the falcons had
an allusion to the arms of the Walladmors: and for some reason, in the
present year, Sir Morgan had chosen himself to add the four falcons and
their bearers to the Bishop's doves. These were arranged in the
following manner. Four beautiful girls drest altogether in white,
without bonnets, and having no head-dress but white caps, were ranged
in line with the four falcon-bearers, who were young boys dressed in
complete suits of bishop's purple and purple mantles: all the eight
rode on white horses: and immediately behind them came a kind of
triumphal car, low but very spacious, and carrying Sir Morgan's five
domestic harpers and the silver harps which they had won in the
contests first introduced under Queen Elizabeth's reform in 1567:
behind the car again rode five horsemen on gigantic horses