Though the precise extent of his complicity have escaped my inquiries, and I have failed to obtain clear evidence on the subject, I find it generally asserted, throughout the district in which he resided, that the great landed proprietor, Mr. Lewis, of the Van, Caerphilly,—“Ysguier Lewis gwych o’r Van,”—from whom the Marquis of Bute, and the Baroness Windsor, inherit their great estates in Glamorganshire, was discovered to have participated in one of the numerous plots for the restoration of the Stuarts, and to have had a fine imposed upon him of £10,000. Such a sum in those days would have been accounted a large one; and to procure it, a large extent of land, in the vicinity of Merthyr-Tydfil, (then a humble village containing less than a dozen houses,) and elsewhere, had to be sold; and it is said that, among the properties that were then disposed of, were the Court, Mardy, and other estates, that have subsequently proved of very great value. The uncompromising Jacobite feeling of one of the old Welsh proprietors is displayed in an anecdote that has been related of Sir Charles Kemys, of Cefn Mabley. It is said of him that, during his travels on the continent, he paid a visit to Hanover, and was treated with marked regard by the Elector; and, it is supposed, that he owed that distinction to the lessons which he gave to the Court and Sovereign in the British accomplishments of drinking and smoking tobacco. Shortly after his elevation to the throne of England, George expressed a strong desire to see his former friend, Sir Charles Kemys, and, as he persisted in the wish, he was informed by the courtiers that Sir Charles was not well affected to the present dynasty. “Poo! Poo!” said the King, “tell him he must come up, I long to smoke a pipe with him.” This command having been conveyed to Sir Charles, he is said to have declined the invitation in those terms,—“I should be happy to smoke a pipe with him as Elector of Hanover, but I can’t think of it as King of England.” {9} The traditions that still linger among the Welsh hills show that Jacobite principles were not confined to the landowners, but also prevailed among the farmers and peasants. Of those traditionary stories, one is told of an old Welsh farmer, residing at a farm called Pen Craig Fargoed, in the parish of Gelligare, Glamorganshire, and who appears to have been a devoted adherent of the Stuarts. A witty fellow in the neighbourhood, rather remarkable for his acuteness, and, withal, somewhat addicted to rhyming, to meet some pressing necessity, had borrowed a guinea from his neighbour, “yr hên bapist,” and, on meeting him subsequently, without having the power to repay him the loan, with the view of propitiating him, addressed him in the following terms, and, it is said, greatly pleased him, and obtained all the indulgence that he sought:— “Tri ffeth ’rwy yn ei archi, Cael echwyn am y guni, A chael Pretendwr ar y faink A chael bath Ffraink y dali.”