Came across a picturesque and interesting derelict church today - Eglwys Ty Mawr Llan, overlooking the Cefni marsh between Pentre Berw and Ceint. The access to the site and the site itself used to be completely overgrown, until they were recently cleared thanks to the efforts of Mr Ted Thomas and others. It is a lovely secluded spot, the original circular llan or enclosure surrounded by old trees, and the access to it is via a charming wooded lane, which eventually takes you down to the marsh. There are some good photos to be seen on the Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/31817797@N05/sets/72157615303513570/

The earliest gravestone I came across was dated 1766, belonging to Hugh Owen A.B. curate of the parish, who died in 1766, aged 33 years. But obviously the church itself considerably predates the eighteenth century. Most of the lapidary inscriptions are in Welsh, e.g. the following, inscribed on the gravestone of Hugh Thomas, died 1803 at the age of 90:

Dyma ddrych edrych pob oedran

A ddaw

Ai ddiwedd i'r graean

Nid yr henaint ei hunan

Ond ieunctid glendid glan.

(i.e. death is a mirror for all ages, showing that we all end in dust, not just the aged like Hugh Thomas, but also those in the pride of youth).

Some of the English inscriptions suggest a fairly shaky command of English, such as the following, on the gravestone of John Prichard, gent., late of Cayra (i.e. Caerau - shaky command of Welsh as well!) in the parish of Llanidan, died 1830 at the age of 48.

Dear wife now now [sic] my time is past

Whome to thee my love was fast;

Pray no Sorrow for me take:

But love my Memory for my sake.

Maybe this bit of verse was sparked by an earlier inscription, on the grave of John Hughes of Bridin, who died in 1815 at the age of 54:

Dear Wife now my time was [sic] past

Whom to thee my love was fast.

Pray no sorrow for me take,

But love my Children for my sake.

There's an unusual inscription in memory of Hugh Rowlands of Elusendy (i.e. almshouses) Penmynydd who died in 1842 aged 27.

He was a young man totally blind yet

he wrought the basket-making trade!

And could read by feeling!

So evidently braille, invented in 1821, didn't take long to get to Anglesey.

But even more unusual, to the point of being intriguing, is the gravestone above the remains of "Elizabeth Jones, daughter of Griffith Jones by Jane, his Wife, at Bryn Golau in the parish of Llanidan, who died on 16th April 1817 in the 11 Weeks [sic] of her Age."

Tu ne deroberas point.

Which is the eighth commandment, "Thou shalt not steal", in French. But why has that ended up on the gravestone of an ll week old baby - and not in Welsh (which would have been "Na ladrata") but in French? All a bit baffling. The coded or covert protest of a bereaved parent at untimely loss, perhaps?