Visited 20th April: Bedd Morris is situated right next to the road between Newport and Pontfaen. It's antiquity is in doubt because there are no records of it before the 19th Century. There are two inscriptions on the stone indicating that it was used as a Parish boundary marker (between the parishes of Llanychlwyddog and Newport), and opinion is divided as to whether the stone predates this use or not.
There's a small car park right next to the stone, and a cattle grid. The stone is over 2 metres tall, so you really can't miss it. It strikes me that this would be a good place to park and walk to Carningli from, as the gradient isn't too steep approaching from the west.
There are several legends relating to this stone. the best-known is that the stone is effectively a memorial to a young man names Morris who was in love with the maid of Pontfaen, whom he could not marry because of her father's opposition. there was another suitor, and according to the tale the two suitors fought a duel on the highest point of the road between Pontfaen and Newport. Morris was killed in the duel, after which of course the poor girl also died -- of a broken heart.
The other legend is that the robber called Morris (who lived in a cave on the mountain and was always accompanied by a small white dog) was caught and executed here.
According to tradition, the small boys of newport parish are always beaten here (very gently) during the annual "beating of the bounds" ceremony. This is supposed to ensure that they do not forget where the parish boundary is located.
According to an extract I found in the RCAHMW records, the stone is named after a local robber:
It is known as 'Bedd Morris', which Morris, or Morus, was a notorious robber, who lived among the rocks on the summit of the hill commanding this pass; and which is the old, and once the only, road to Newport.
This record was written in 1875, and the bad punctuation is all original. Incidentally, the spelling 'Morus' is the Welsh way of spelling 'Morris' and both words are pronounced in exactly the same way. Apparently back in the nineteenth century the records were taken by members of the clergy, who dabbled in antiquarianism as a gentleman's pastime, and their efforts were only sometimes checked by the professionals. I'm afraid I don't know the author of the above.
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