A tour in Wales. MDCCLXX: [pt.2]

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IN this, the sequel of my former tour, I directed my course westward from Downing, passed by Whiteford, our parish-church, and ascended the hill of Garreg, or the Rock, a high and most conspicuous part of the country. The Romans took ad∣vantage of it, and placed on its summit a Pharos, to conduct the navigators to and from Deva, along the difficult channel of the Seteia Portus. The building is still remaining. I hope my friends will not deem me an antiquarian Quixote, and imagine me mis∣taking, in this my second sally, a building, hitherto supposed to have been a wind-mill, for a Roman light-house. It is tolerably entire; its form is circular; the height considerable; the inner diameter twelve feet and a half; the thickness of the walls four feet four inches. The doors, or entrances, are opposite to each other: over each is a square funnel, like a chimney, which opens on the outside, about half way up the building. On each side is

a window. About four feet from the ground are three circular holes, lined with mortar, as is frequent in Roman buildings; and penetrate the whole wall, for purposes now unknown.

WITHINSIDE are the vestiges of a stair-case, which led to the floors, of which there appear to have been two. Along such part of the upper, which was conspicuous from the channel, are eight small square openings, cased with free-stone (the rest of the build∣ing being of rude lime-stone, bedded in hard mortar) and each of these were separated by wooden pannels, placed in deep grooves, the last still in a perfect state. In each of these partitions were placed the lights, which the Romans thought necessary to keep distinct, or to prevent from running into one, lest they should be mistaken by seamen for a star. Periculum in corrivatione ignium, ne sidus existimetur.

To the building is very evidently a broad and raised road, pointing from the east; and near its upper end are the marks of a trench, which surrounded and gave protection to this useful edi∣fice. Descend, and near the foot of the hill leave on the left Maen Achwynfan, the cross described in my former tour. Glol, an inclosed mountain a little farther on, has among the bushes various circular foundations of stone unmortared building. About a mile from hence, visit the small town of Newmarket, almost the entire creation of its then owner, John Wynne, esq of Gop, who died in the present century. The antient name of the parish is Tre∣lawnyd, for which I can find no satisfactory reason. In the church-yard is a handsome old cross. Here is fixed one of the charity-schcols, founded and opened in 1726, by doctor Daniel Williams, a dissenting minister, with an endowment of eight pounds a year; a charity which he extended to every county in North Wales, dis∣tinguishing that at Wrexham, the place of his birth, by an annual

salary of fifteen pounds. He also established a fund, I believe, to each, from which the children are apprenticed, at five pounds apiece.

FROM the town I ascended the hill, called Copa'r'leni, on whose summit is a most enormous carnedd, or tumulus, formed of lime∣stones. It was probably the site of specula, or exploratory tower, and memorial of some chieftain. If Roman, perhaps Paulinus gave name to it, Cop-Paulini. There is great uncertainty in these derivations: I may possibly as well abide by my former etymo∣logy of Cop yr Goleuni, or the Mount of Lights; for it might have been a place of signals by fire of the approach of an enemy by sea , or a station of the holy fires, the Coel Ceithie of the Druids, simi∣lar to the Karn Gollewa, the carn of lights, and Karn Leskyz, or carn of burnings, of the Cornish, supposed by the learned BORLASE † to have been used for similar purposes. The tract from hence to Caerwys was certainly a field of battle: no place in North Wales exhibits an equal quantity of tumuli; but all sepulchral, as is proved by the urns discovered in them: they are of a far inferior size to the first, and covered with turf. It will not be too hazardous a conjecture to suppose, that in this place was the slaughter of the Ordovices by Agricola, when our gallant nation was nearly extir∣pated. Part of the brow of the hill is called Bryn y Saethiau, or the Hill of Arrows, from being the station of the archers in the en∣gagement.

RETURN along the ridge of the hill, marked its whole length with verdant tumuli, the tombs of ancient heroes. See beneath

me the little church of Gwaen-yskor, remarkable for its ancient register.

DESCEND to the church and village of Llanasa, the former dedi∣cated to St. Asaph, whose festival is kept on the first of May. Laurence Child, Bishop of St. Asaph, in 1385, procured the impro∣priation of this church to supply his cathedral with lights , and repair the ruins occasioned by the wars. In my approach from these high lands towards the shore, observe the ruins of a small chapel at the little hamlet of Gwespyr, near Trelacre, one of the seats of Sir Pyers Mostyn, Baronet, a branch of the house of Mostyn. His adjacent quarry is noted for the excellence of the free-stone; and his vast and profitable warren beneath, noted for the delicacy of the rabbets, by reason of their feeding on the maritime plants.

PASS over Gronant-Moor. There is a tradition, that its extent was so great, that the people on this side could hold conversation over the channel with those of Cheshire. This may be exagge∣rated; but from authentic records, it appears, that this flat was formerly very extensive, and that it had been reduced to its pre∣sent scanty limits by the fury of the sea, which still possesses its antient place. Previous to that catastrophe, it was possessed by the see of St. Asaph, by virtue of a grant made by Edward the Black Prince, son of Edward III. to Llewelyn ap Madoc, elected Bishop of St. Asaph in 1357. The inundation happened before the reign of Henry V. Previous to that time, the Bishop paid annually into the exchequer at Chester, as an acknowlegement, the sum of twenty marks: but Henry V. in 1414, and Henry VI. in 1445 and 1451, in consideration of the misfortune, released

the see from that rent. If this record did not remain an incon∣teslable proof of the ravages of the ocean on this part of the coun∣try, there exist other natural ones, that would have given rea∣sonable grounds for suspicion. The Hyle sands, which run for twelve or fourteen miles parallel to the narrow hundred of Wiral, in Cheshire, and divided from Wales by a narrow channel, were once, in all probability, part of the firm land of England. A few miles to the west of Gronant-Moor, under the parish of Aber∣geleu, in Denbighshire, are to be seen at low water, very remote from the shore, bedded in the sand, immense numbers of oak-trees, a forest before this event. Lastly, in the church-yard wall of Abergelli is a dateless epitaph, in Welsh, signifying the person who was interred there lived three miles to the north of that spot, a tract now entirely possessed by the sea.

ON approaching Prestatyn, about two miles from Trelacre, the flat becomes extremely fertile in corn, especially wheat, which is of distinguished excellence; and continues equally noted through all the flat tract, as far as Ruddlan, where it is interrupted for a space by the marsh, and is again continued along the coast far beyond Abergeleu. A little below Prestatyn-mill, in a meadow, is the site of its Castle: nothing more than an elevated space, with foundations consisting of stone and mortar, and a foss at some dis∣tance from it, now remain. This little fortress was probably built by the Welsh, but wrested from them by the English, who were possessed of it in 1167, the only time I find any mention of it, when it was destroyed by Owen Gwynedd, Cadwalader his brother,

and Rees Prince of South Wales; and all Tegengle reduced to the power of its lawful sovereign.

THE hamlet and village of Prestatyn lie in the parish of Meli∣den. This place was granted by Richard I. to Robert Banaster, who enjoyed it for three years and a half, and built the town; which was destroyed by Owen Gwynedd. Robert de Crevecoeur, in the seventh year of Edward I. laid claim to it in right of his an∣cestor, Banaster. An inquisition was made, before a jury of twenty-four men : their determination was in favor of Robert; since I find, by another record, that he died possessed of lands in Maelwr Saesneg and Prestatyn, which he held by the service of one knight's fee.

THE road from hence to Diserth is extremely pleasant, at the foot of high hills, rich in lead ore, with a fine and fertile flat to the right. The white rock makes a conspicuous figure on the left, and its sides appeared deeply trenched by the miners in search of ore. Near this place is the beginning of the vale of Clwyd, and the ter∣mination of the range of mountains, which bound it on the east. At a small distance from hence lies the church of Diserth, in a picturesque and romantic bottom, beneath some rude rocks: the church overshaded with great yews, and the singular figure of some of the tombs, form a most striking appearance. A water-fall in the deep and rounded hollow of a rock, finely darkened with ivy, once gave additional beauty to this spot; but of late the di∣verting of the waters to a mill, has robbed the place of this ele∣gant variation. The stream, which is little inferior to that of Holywell, flows principally from a single well, called Fynnon Asa,

or St. Asaph's Well, in a dingle in the parish of Cwm, about a mile distant. The fountain is inclosed with stone, in a polygonal form, and had formerly its votaries, like that of St. Winefrede.

ABOVE Diserth church, on a high rock, stand the remains of its Castle. We cannot trace the foundation of this fortress, which went by the names of Din-colyn, Castell y Ffailon, and Castell Gerri It probably was Welsh, and the last of the chain of British posts on the Clwydian hills. Henry III. in 1241, fortified it †; but its date was but short, for in 1261 Llewelyn ap Gryffydd rased both this castle, and that of Diganwy‡. It was at a siege of this place that Eineon, the son of Ririd Vlaidd, was slain §. A cross was erected on the spot, called Croes Eineon, the shaft of which, ornamented with strange sculpture, now is supposed to form the stile into the church-yard of Diserth; in which is another cross, of very curious work∣manship.

THE castle occupied the summit of the rock, whose sides are escarpée, or cut steep, to render the access more difficult. On one part, beneath the top, is a square out-work, with fosses cut in part through the solid lime-stone. The fragments of the castle shew, that its ruin was not effected by time: they lie in vast masses, overthrown by mining, which was a common method of besieging, very long before the use of powder.

IN a field a little to the south of the castle, is a ruinous build∣ing, called Siamber Wen. This is said to have been the seat of a Sir Robert Pounderling‖, once constable of the adjacent castle, a knight valiant and prudent, who had one of his eyes knocked out

by a gentleman of Wales, in the rough sport of tournament; but being requested to challenge him again to feates of armes, on meeting our countryman at the English court, declined the com∣bat, declaring that he did not intend that the Welshman should beat out his other eye .

Moel Hiraddug, a British post, on a very steep and rocky hill, with an immense agger of loose stones on the accessible part, stands to the south of the castle, and forms the next to it in the chain of fortresses † On the east side, and on a place called Marion, are long deep trenches, out of which minerals have been dug, proba∣bly in the times of the Saxons: the ore appears, by the fragments, and color of the rubbish, to have been iron: and on the summit of the hill (which is in the parish of Cwm) is a great bed of beau∣tiful red spar, which seems to take its tinge from the ore.

Cwn church, as the word signifies, is embosomed with hills, and fronts the vale of Clwyd. On a very antient stone in the church-yard is this inscription, Hic jacet TANGWISTE, uxor LLEWELIN ap INIR; but whether of Inir of Yale is uncertain.

FROM Diserth I rode to Bod-Rhyddan, long the residence of the Conways, a family derived from Sir Hugh Conway, son of old John Coniers, of Richmond, Yorkshire, brother to Jevan Lord Coniers‡: his son Sir Henry, by marriage with Angharat, heiress to Sir Hugh Crevecoeur, of Prestatyn§, probably acquired the settlement in this country. Prestatyn continued possessed by the Conways till the death of Sir John Conway, Baronet, in 1721, the last of the male line, when the estate was divided.

ABOUT a mile and a half farther stands the small borough of Rhuddlan, seated high on the red, clayey banks of the Clwyd, and above Morsa-Rhuddlan, a marsh celebrated for the battle in 795, between the Saxons and Welsh: our monarch Caradoc fell in the conflict , and, I fear, victory declared against us. We do indeed say, that Offa, the famous king of Mercia, was slain here; but the Saxon chronicle places his death † the year before that battle. The fine plaintive Welsh tune, so well known by the name of Morfa-Rhuddlan, is supposed to have been composed on this occasion: for victories are not the only subjects for the harp. How beauti∣fully does David lament the blood of the slain on the mountains of Gilboa: HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN, AND THE WEAPONS OF WAR PERISHED!

THE castle had been a handsome building, in a square, with two extremes placed at opposite corners, with a double round tower at each; and a single one at the two other corners. The court forms an irregular octagon. The ditch is large, faced on both sides with stone. The steep slope to the river was defended by high walls, and square towers: one is entire, and there are vestiges of two others: the first is called Twr-y-Silod; another, in the castle, was named Twr-y-Brenhin, or the King's Tower.

To the south of the castle, at about a furlong distance, is a large artificial mount, the site of another fortress, of very early date; the whole surrounded by a very deep foss (including also the abby) which crosses from the margin of the bank, near the ascent of the present road to St. Asaph, to another parallel road; near which it is continued, then turns and falls nearly into the southern part of the

walled ditch of the castle: the whole forms a square area, of very great extent. These different works were formed at three several times. The mount, now called Tut-Hill, and its superstructure, (whatever it was) is thoroughly British, and is said to have been built by Llewelyn ap Sitsylt, who reigned from the year 1015 to 1020 . It was a residence of our princes from that time: but Gryffyd ap Llewelyn, in 1063, having given offence to Edward the Confessor, by receiving Algar, one of his rebellious subjects, was attacked by Harold, who in revenge burned the palace at Rhudd∣lan†. It was soon restored, and as soon lost. Robert, afterwards surnamed of Rhuddlan, a valiant Norman, nephew to Hugh Lupus, earl of Chester, conquered it from the Welsh, and, by the command of William the Conqueror, fortified it with new works ‡, and made it his place of residence; from whence he greatly annoyed our countrymen. The square towers are evidently of Norman archi∣tecture, and naturally adopted by the new owner. Robert received here a visit from our prince Gryffydd ap Kynan, who came to solli∣cit aid against his enemies, from the Norman warrior; which he obtained: but on some quarrel attacked him in his castle, took and burnt the bailey, or yard, and killed such a number of his men, that very few escaped into the towers §.

Henry II. in 1157, added new strength to the castle, and left a considerable garrison in it before he quitted the country. Not∣withstanding this, Owen Gwynedd, in 1167, took and dismantled

it; but it was afterwards re-fortified by the English; for it ap∣pears that this fortress had, with two others, been bestowed by Henry, with Emma his natural sister, on David ap Owen, son and successor to Owen Gwynedd. Here, in 1187, he entertained, very nobly, Baldwin archbishop of Canterbury, in his progress through Wales. Possibly he resigned it again to the English; for I find that in 1214 it was besieged and taken by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, his successor in the principality †.

I MUST not omit relating, notwithstanding I am unable to give the year of the event, that Randle Blundeville, earl of Chester, was in this castle surprized by a body of Welsh, and lay in the utmost distress, until he was relieved by his lieutenant, Roger Lacy, alias Hell; who collecting suddenly a rabble of fiddlers and idle people, put the besiegers to flight. In reward, he received from the earl, Magisterium omnium Leccatorum et meretricum TOTIUS CESTRESHIRE ‡.

I FIND it in possession of Edward I. in 1277; who was so well convinced of its importance in the conquest of Wales, that he made it the rendezvous of all the forces destined for that purpose. It was the place d'armes, and the great magazine of provision for the support of his army, in its advance into the country. The reigning prince, Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, knew the danger of leaving so consequential a place in the hands of his enemy: but it resisted all the most vigorous efforts made on it in 1281, by Llewelyn and his brother David, just reconciled to him by the sense of their com∣mon

danger. Soon after, it proved the place of confinement to the letter, not long before his ignominious end at Shrewsbury.

IN order to secure it from any future attempts, Edward turned all his thoughts towards founding a fortress impregnable by any future attempts of the Welsh. He accordingly began with an act of justice, that of making recompence to Master Richard Bernard, parson of Rhuddlan, for certain lands taken from him for the pur∣pose of enlarging the castle ; and again, in 1282, made an ex∣change with the same church, of six acres and a half, for the same uses †: and on which he built the castle, whose ruins we now sur∣vey. The finishing of it took a considerable time; for I find an order in 1291, for overlooking the works at the castles of Rhuddlan, Flint, and Chester‡. I cannot but remark here, the strong neces∣sity of curbing the new-conquered country with powerful garri∣sons; for notwithstanding all the ravages of long and barbarous wars, it remained so exceedingly populous, that Edward politi∣cally drafted out of it not less than fifteen thousand men, in aid of his Scottish expedition § The consequence proved almost fatal to him: for while he lay encamped near Linlithgow, a national quarrel ensued between the English and Welsh troops; and after great bloodshed, the latter separated themselves from his army ‖.

DURING the civil wars of the last century, , it was garrisoned on the part of the king; was taken by general Mytton in July 1646; and in the same year ordered by the parlement in the phrase of

the times) to be slighted, i. e. dismantled, with many other Welsh castles .

IN respect to the civil history of Rhuddlan, I find, that in the reign of Edward the Confessor, it made part of the great territo∣ries of earl Edwin. It was then, by reason of the inroads of Ha∣rold, a waste; and continued so when it was possessed by Hugh Lupus. It then became the capital of the district: and Hugh en∣joyed a moiety of the church, the mint, and mines of the iron ore found in the manor †; and a moiety of the water of Clwyd, i. e. of the mill and fishery on such part which belonged to earl Edwin; a moiety of the forests on the manor, and of the toll, and of the village called Bren: and there were at this time in Rhuddlan eight burgesses. All this Hugh Lupus granted to Robert of Rhuddlan, with an addition of certain hamlets dependent on the place; and a new borough was erected, with eighteen burgesses, who enjoyed the same privileges with those of Hereford and Bre∣tril; and were exempted from all fines exceeding twelve-pence, except in case of manslaughter, theft, and heinfare, i. e. the de∣priving a person of his servant ‡.

EDWARD I. made this town a free borough, appointed the con∣stable of the castle for the time being to be mayor, and the bailiffs to be chosen annually by the burgesses on Michaelmas-day, who were to be presented to the constable to be sworn. The town

was to have power of imprisoning, except in such cases which affected the life, or loss of limb: when criminals of this nature were to be committed to the castle, burgesses only were permitted to bail. No Jews were to inhabit the town. The burgesses had a forest and free warren; a gild cum hausa et loth et shoth, sok sak et theam et insangenthest et lib. per totam terram de Theoloniis, lesta∣gio, Muragio, Danegeld, Gaywite, &c.

THIS charter was given by the King at Flint, September 8th, in the twelfth year of his reign; Testibus, Rob. Bath & Wells, &c. and confirmed by Richard II. at Leicester, and again at West∣minster.

No constable has been appointed since the days of Oliver Cromwel.

THE burgesses contribute towards electing a member for the borough of Flint. Those who are qualified inhabit the place, and that part of the parish called Rhuddlan Franchise, which extends above a mile from the town.

THE parlement said to have been held here in 1283, by Ed∣ward I. was probably no more than a council assembled by the conqueror, to divide his new conquests into counties, and to give salutary laws to the Welsh; to abolish any antient customs which the wise prince thought detrimental, and to introduce such of the English as would prove of use. This was not done hastily; for in the year preceding, a commission had been appointed, with Tho∣mas Beke, bishop of St. David, president; who were to consider and report upon oath the different laws of both countries. From their resolutions were framed the famous STATUTE OF RHUDDLAN; in which, among many excellent institutions, were introduced

sheriffs and coroners, their powers defined, and the principal crimes of the times pointed out: most of which were acts of vio∣lence, rapine, and theft; such as might be expected to exist among people: an evil which resulted more from the turbulence of the times, than the want of wholesome laws .

A PIECE of antient building, called the Parlement House, is still to be seen in Rhuddlan; probably the place where the king sat in council. From hence he actually practised the well-known deceit of giving them a prince born among them, who never spoke a word of English, and whose life and conversation no man was able to stain †: all which our discontented nobility eagerly accepted, little thinking the person intended, to be the infant Ed∣ward, just born at Caernarvon.

THE bridge consists of two arches. It appears to have been rebuilt or repaired in 1595: that date, with the arms of St. Asaph, and the initials of William Hughes, the bishop of that time, being cut in the battlements. The tides flow very little higher than this place; and bring up to the bridge slats or vessels of about seventy tons. The port of these parts is about three miles further, at the vorryd, or great ford, where the river dis∣charges itself into the sea; and from whence much corn and tim∣ber is exported.

THE house called the Gwindy, or Wine House, must not be for∣gotten. There are few towns in Wales which have not one of that name: but the use has long been lost. In old times,

most gentlemen's houses had one in their neighborhood, where they met their friends and retainers, to ymgampio, or to exert feats of activity. Here the gentleman kept a wine cellar, which he retailed for his own profit. Here they passed the day in archery, wrestling, throwing the sledge, and other manly exercises. At first, the drinking was moderate: but at length the purpose was abused; and these places were made the sanctuary for all sorts of crimes, committed by the dependents or friends of the owner of the Gwindy, who were recommended to his care: and there Llawruddion, i.e. persons who came red-handed from a murder, were protected till composition could be made for their crimes.

THE church is dedicated to St. Mary. It has nothing re∣markable about it, except an antient grave-stone, with a flowery cross and sword; the last the mark of the gentility of the person interred. The patronage of this church was granted in 1284 to the see of St. Asaph, in recompence for the loss of that of Eglwys∣vach, which had been taken from it, and bestowed on the abby of Conway.

THE priory of black-friers, stood about half a mile south of the castle. There is a fragment which bears the marks of antiquity: the rest is disguised in the form of a farm-house and barn. We do not know the time of its foundation: but it was certainly be∣fore the conquest by Edward I. as Anian, or Eineon de Schonan, a friar of this house, was made bishop of St. Asaph in 1268. It suffered much in the wars between Edward and Llewelyn, but soon recovered its losses, towards which they were allowed 17l. 10s.†

besides a grant of a fishery on the Clwyd with one net, free from any obstruction . On the dissolution, the house was granted to Harry ap Harry, and now belongs to John Davies, esq of Llanerch.

NEAR this place were certain lands, called Nunneland and St. Marieland†: but whether they had reference to any house of fe∣male religious, I cannot say.

THE hospital, which existed in 1281, stood between the town and Bodyryddan.

As soon as Edward I. had finished the fortifications of Rhuddlan, and filled his new town with inhabitants, he and bishop Anian II. made different petitions to the pope, to remove the see of St. Asaph to this place ‡ They urged the solitude and insecurity of the former; its hazard from banditti; and the danger to which the body of the most glorious confessor St. Asaph was continually exposed: and the king in particular adds, the great safety of this place, by reason of the vast works he had completed. But these petitions never took effect: frustrated either by the death of the pope, or the exhortion of the archbishop of Canterbury, to rebuild the cathedral on its antient site.

A LITTLE beyond the priory I descended the bank, and fording the Clwyd, soon came in sight of St. Asaph. The handsome exten∣sive bridge, the little town, and the cathedral mixed with trees, form a most agreeable view. The place is seated on the slope of a pleasant eminence: the cathedral on its summit. The Clwyd

runs on the eastern side: the Elwy, a most turbulent stream; on the western: and from the last is taken the British name of Llan-Elwy. The township in which it stands, is also called Bryn-Paulin; and one part of it, Bron y Wylfa, or the brow of the watch: from which circumstances, as well as the great fitness of the situation, between two rivers, I cannot but think that it was a place of encampment of Paulinus, in his way; to or from Mona.

ITS ecclesiastical history may be spoken of with more certainty. When Kentigern, bishop of Glasgow, was driven from his see in 543, he retired into Wales, and established here a monastery for nine hundred and sixty-five monks, instituted on the same plan with that of Bangor; part for labor, part for prayer. Here he built a church; and having won over the British prince Maglo∣cunus, once his violent opponent, established here a see, and was himself the first bishop. Being recalled to Scotland, he nominated for successor, Asaph, or Hassaph, a Briton of great piety and good family (being grandson of Pabo pou Prydain). He died in 596, was buried in his cathedral, and gave name to the place.

THE church was first built of wood; but soon after, of stone. In 1247, during the wars of Henry III. the diocese was destroyed by fire and sword , and the bishop, who sided with the English, obliged to live on alms. In 1282, the cathedral was burnt down; but ample amends was made to the see, by the grant of Edward I. of lands in Newmarket, Nannerch, Dincolyn, Cwed y Mynedd, and a rich mineral tract in Diserth: four hundred and nine acres were given, each of which appears at that time to be valued at only

six-pence . In 1402, the church underwent new misfortunes: being burnt by Owen Glyndwr, together with the palace, and ca∣nons houses; who, strange to say! soon after brought over to his party, John Trevor, the injured bishop of the see, who was de∣prived on account of his revolt. After this, the church remained in ruins for eighty years, when it was re-built by that worthy pre∣late, Richard Redman. The same building still remains, hand∣some, plain, and neat. The present dean and chapter are now re∣building (out of a fund vested in them for that purpose) the choir, after the inevitable dilapidations of time in the space of near four hundred years. The good imitation of the gothic, and the happy copy in the east window, of the noble remains in Tintern abby, will add no small beauty to the church, and credit to the idea.

THE tombs are very few. Here is one in an episcopal habit, supposed to commemorate that munificent bishop, David ap Owen, who died in 1512; and in the church-yard, near the west door, is a plain altar monument of bishop Isaac Barrow, who de∣parted in 1680: and whose pious address I can read without any offence, howsoever papistical zealots may think it.

Exuviae ISAACI ASAPHENSIS Episcopi In manum Domini depositae In spem letae resurrectionis Per sola CHRISTI merita, Obiit dictus Reverendus Pater festi D. JOHANNIS BAPTISTAE. An. Dom. 1680. Aetatis 67. Et translationis suae undecimo.

O vos transeuntes in Domum Domini In Domum orationis Orate pro conservo vestro, Ut inveniat misericordiam in die Domini.

IN the church-yard of the parish-church, is another tomb, sin∣gular enough, with foliage, a shield with a lion rampant, inscribed around, Hic jacet Ranulsus de Smalwode; and beneath the shield passes a sword, held by a hand. It is said to have been brought from Rhuddian; but we are left unacquainted with the person whose memory it perpetuates .

THIS church stands at the lower part of the town, and serves for the use of the inhabitants of the town and country, the cathe∣dral not being used for that purpose.

THE members of the chapter are the dean, archdeacon, (who is the bishop) six prebendaries, and seven canons. Besides these, belong to the church, four vicars choral, four singing-men, four choristers, and an organist.

THE present palace is not very magnificent. The walls are the same with those built by bishop David ap Owen, restorer of the house, in 1503, after it had lain in ruins a hundred years.

THE diocese comprehends all Flintshire, excepting Hawarden; all Denbighshire, but the deanery of Dyffrin Clwyd; all Montgome∣ryshire, excepting seven parishes; and the hundreds of Mowddwie,

Penllyn, and Ideirnion, in Meirionyddshire: and trespasses a little even on Shropshire. The number of livings are a hundred and thirty; of which all, except seven , are in the patronage of the bishop: as is the valuable deanery.

THE road from St. Asaph along the common called the Row, is extremely beautiful: is watered by the Elwy, which runs be∣neath lofty banks, finely wooded: at its extremity is Pont yr allt Gôch, a noble bridge of one lofty arch, eighty-five feet in dia∣meter. The Elwy here takes another direction, running west, and then north, along most romantic dingles, varied with meadows, woods, and cavernous rocks: neither is it destitute of antiquities. Y fynnon vair, or our lady's well, a fine spring, inclosed in an angu∣lar wall, formerly roofed; and the ruins of a cross-shaped cha∣pel, finely over-grown with ivy, exhibit a venerable view, in a deep wooded bottom, not remote from the bridge: and this, in days of pilgrimage, the frequent haunt of devotees.

THE most capital view of these picturesque glens, is from Pen∣craig, on the grounds of Mrs. Jones, of Galt-vaenan; from whence is a sight of three at once, together with an unspeakable variety of other objects, extremely worthy a visit from every traveller.

AT Llannerch, the chief seat of my kinsman, John Davies, esq formerly called Lleweni Vechan, about half a mile to the east of the bridge, I stopped a while to admire the charming view of the vale of Clwyd, with the magnificent boundary between it and Flintshire. The intervening plain is of matchless fertility: inclo∣sures creep high up the hills; the remaining part is divided into

various summirs, in the season, glowing to the setting sun with the purple flowers of the heath. Churches and neat mansions en∣liven the scene. From Tremeirchion-Green, placed high above Llannerch, is a very fine view of the whole vale, of the western ••oundary, and the lofty tract of Snowdon. The middle, from end to end, is enriched with towns and castles; among which rises supreme, the rock of Denbigh, topped with its great fortress.

IN Tremeirchion church is the mutilated tomb of Sir Robert Pounderling, before mentioned. By his crossed legs, it seems he had attained the merit of pilgrimage to the holy sepulchre.

UNDER a handsome gothic arch lies, in priestly vestments, well executed, the image of Dafydd Ddu, or the black of Hirad∣dug. Underneath is inscribed, Hic jacet DAVID AP RODERIC AP MADOC. He was vicar of this place, and dignitary of St. Asaph: prophet and poet; and had a great concern in regulating our prosody. The Daroganen, or prophecies of Robin Ddu, so cele∣brated in North Wales, I believe properly belong to Dafydd, who flourished in 1340, above a hundred years before the time of Robin.

IN this church stood a cross, celebrated for its miracles, which are celebrated in an owdwl, or poem, about the year 1500, by Gryffydd ap Isan ap Llen vychan. The cross is now demolished; but the carved capital is still to be seen, in a building adjoining to the church-yard.

IN the bottom, not far from Tremerchion, lies, half buried in woods, the singular house of Bachegraig. It consists of a mansion, and three sides, inclosing a square court. The first consists of a vast hall, and parlour: the rest of it rises into six wonderful sto∣ries,

including the cupola; and forms from the second floor the figure of a pyramid: the rooms small, and inconvenient. The bricks are admirable, and appear to have been made in Holland; and the model of the house was probably brought from Flanders, where this species of building was not unfrequent. The country people say, that it was built by the devil, in one night, and that the architect still preserves an apartment in it: but Sir Richard Clough, an eminent merchant in the reign of queen Elizabeth, seems to have a better title to the honor. The initials of his name are in iron on the front, with the date 1567; and on the gate-way that of 1569.

SIR Richard was a man of distinguished character, who raised himself, by his merit, from a poor boy at Denbigh, to one of the greatest merchants of his time. He was first a chorister at Chester: then had the good fortune to become apprentice to the famous Sir Thomas Gresham; and afterwards his partner. His re∣sidence was chiefly at Antwerp, where his body was interred: his heart in Whichurch, a neighbouring church. He is said to have made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and to have been made knight of the holy sepulchre: this is confirmed; for he assumed the five crosses, the badge of that order, for his arms †. His wealth was so great, that Ese a aeth yn Glough, or He is become a CLOUGH, grew into a proverb, on the attainment of riches by any person. He left two daughters: one he bestowed, with this house, and certain tythes in Llein, on Roger Salusbury, a younger son of Llewenni: the other on a Wynne, of Melay, with whom he gave

the abby of Maenan. Sir Richard meditated great things for the advantage of his country: he designed to make the Clwyd navi∣gable from Rhuddlan; to have introduced commerce; and to have made the sides of his court the magazines, from which he was to dispense his imports to the neighboring parts.

IN front of the house, cross the Clwyd on Pont y Cambull, and, turning to the left, cross it again at Pont Gryffydd, in order to search in the parish of Bodfari, for the antient Varis. Soon enter the deep pass, formed by nature in the Clwydian hills, from the vales into the county of Flint. But neither my own examination, or that of some intelligent friends, availed any thing. The sole remaining antiquity is British; a post on a hill to the left, called Moel y Gaer, or the hill of the camp. The beauty of the ride makes amends for the disappointment. The vale is narrow, fer∣tile, diversified with groves, and watered by the crystal Wheeler. The part about Maes mynan is singularly fine, consisting of de∣tached hills, cloathed with timber; a charming extent of mea∣dows; and the lofty mountain Moel y pare, skirted with trees, contrasting; itself to the softer part of the scenery. This place is at present the property of Sir Roger Mostyn, purchased by one of his family from the Messies, a name which represented the county of Flint as early as the first of queen Mary. This place has been called Llys Maes Mynan, or the palace of Maes Mynan, where Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, last prince of Wales, resided in a house, whose foundations, till within these few years, were to be seen in an adjacent meadow†.

BUT there is no part of this vale that furnished me with the lest vestige of the Roman station, Varis, mentioned by Antonine, in his eleventh Iter. and placed at nineteen or twenty-one miles distant from Conovium, or Caer-hên; for there appears an uncer∣tainty in the reading.

QUIT the turnpike road on the left; ford the Wheler; and, after crossing the Clwyd, reach Lleweni. On this spot is said to have resided, about the year 720, Marchweithian, one of the fifteen tribes or nobility of North Wales. At present it is the seat of the honorable Thomas Fitzmaurice, lately purchased by him from Sir Robert Salusbury Cotton, baronet, of Cumbermere-Abby, in Cheshire. That gentleman possessed this place by the marriage of his an∣cestor, Sir Robert Cotton, with Hester, sister to Sir John Salusbury, the last baronet of his name, in the time of Charles II. The Salusburies were an English family, settled here before the time of Henry III. Several of the portraits were transferred with the estate, to the present owner, and preserved in the magnificent old hall. Sir John Salusbury the Strong, is represented on board, a half length, with short dusky hair, beardless, in a yellow figured jac∣ket, a vast ruff, and one hand on his sword: dated 1591: aet. 24. He succeeded to the estate on the execution of his elder brother Thomas, who suffered in 1586, for his concern in Babington's plot. A picture, supposed to be his, is to be seen here; representing him in a grey and black vest, dark hair, short whiskers, bushy beard, and with an ear-ring: his bonnet in his hand; his breast naked.

SIR Henry, the first baronet, is placed sitting in his shirt; his bosom naked: over one arm is cast a red mantle: his breeches red, with points at his knees; his stockings purple; his slippers

rich in lace; his beard bushy; his whiskers small: he is seated in a balcony, as if at his toilet. I have seen here a fine picture of his eldest son, Sir Thomas, as much distinguished by his pen as his sword. He appears as if on the point of quitting his family, to join the army; for he was a distinguished loyalist in the time of Charles I. He is taking leave of his lady and three children; is dressed in a buff surtout, brown boots, with a rich scymetar by his side; attended by two grehounds, a groom, dressed in a long canvas gown, holding a horse, with the arms of the house on the man's shoulders, by way of badge. This gentleman was edu∣cated at Jesus College, Oxford: and having, as Wood says, a na∣tural geny to poetry and romance, exercised himself much in those juvenile studies; and produced from his pen, the History of Joseph, in English verse, in thirteen chapters. He retired to Lleweni; and died in 1643.

I MUST not omit the portrait of a lady, exceedingly celebrated in this part of Wales; the famous Catherine Tudor, better known by the name of Catherine of Berain, from her seat in this neigh∣borhood. She was daughter and heiress of Tudor ap Robert Fychan, of Berain: she took for her first husband John Salusbury, heir of Lleweni; and on his death gave her hand to Sir Richard Clough. The tradition goes, that at the funeral of her beloved spouse, she was led to church by Sir Richard, and from church by Morris Wynne, of Gwedir, who whispered to her his wish of being her second: she refused him with great civility, informing him, that she had accepted the proposals of Sir Richard, in her way to

church; but assured him (and was as good as her word) that in case she performed the same sad duty (which she was then about) to the knight, he might depend on being her third. From this match I have the honor of some of Catherine's blood in my veins. As soon as she had composed this gentleman, to shew that she had no superstition about the number THREE, she concluded with Ed∣ward Thelwal, of Plas y Ward, esq departed this life August 27; and was interred at Llanivydd on the 1st of September, 1591.

HER portrait is an excellent three-quarters, on wood. The plate represents the dress. By the date, 1568, it seems to have been painted by Lucas de Heere; the only artist which I know of in that period, equal to the performance. I was told, that in the locket she wore to the gold chain, was the hair of her second and favorite husband.

Lleweni, notwithstanding it lies on a flat, has most pleasing views of the mountains on each side of the vale: the town and castle of Denbigh form most capital objects, at the distance of two miles: and the nearer environs of the place, promise to animate die country by the commercial spirit of their active master.

David, brother of our last Llewelyn, makes great complaints of the havock made by Reginald de Grey, justice of Chester, in cutting down his wood of Lleweni; which David probably held as lord of Denbigh.

ABOUT a mile and a half west of this house, visit the church of Whitchurch, or St. Marcellus, the parish church of Denbigh. In the porch, a small brass shews, kneeling at an altar, Richard Mid∣delton (governor of Denbigh castle under Edward VI. Mary, and

Elizabeth) who, with Jane his wife, was interred beneath. Be∣hind him are nine sons: behind her seven daughters. He died in 1575: she in 1565. His virtues are rehearsed in the following quaint lines:

In vayn we bragg and boast of blood, in vayne of sinne we vaunte, Syth flesh and blood must lodge at last where nature did us graunte. So where he lyeth that lyved of late with love and favour muche, To fynde his friend, to feel his foes, his country skante had suche. When lyff did well reporte his death, whose death hys lyff doth trye, And poyntes with fynger what he was that here in claye doth lye. His virtues shall enroll his actes, his tombe shall tell his name, His sonnes and daughters left behind, shall blaze on Erth his fame. Look under feete and you shall fynde, upon the stone yow stande, The race he ranne, the lyff he lead, each with an upright hand.

SEVERAL of the sons were men of distinguished characters. The third, William, was a sea captain, and an eminent poet. His early education was at Oxford: but his military turn led him abroad, where he signalized himself as soldier and sailor. He translated the psalms into Welsh metre, and finished them on Jan. 4th, 1595, apud Scutum insulam occidentalium Indorum; which, as well as his Barddoniaeth, or art of Welsh poetry, were published in London: the first in 1603, the other in 1593. It is sayed, that he, with captain Thomas Price, of Plâsyollin, and one captain Koet, were the first who smoked, or (as they called it) drank tobacco pub∣lickly in London; and that the Londoners flocked from all parts to see them†. Pipes were not then invented, so they used the

twisted leaves, or segars. The invention is usually ascribed to Sir Walter Raleigh. It may be so; but he was too good a courtier to smoke in public, especially in the reign of James, who even condescended to write a book against the practice, under the title of The Counter-blast to Tobacco.

Thomas, the fourth son, became lord mayor of London, and was the founder of the family of Chirkcastle. It is recorded, that having married a young wife in his old age, the famous song of Room for cuckolds, here comes my lord mayor! was invented on the occasion.

Charles, the fifth son, succeeded his father in the government of Denbigh castle.

I NOW speak of the sixth son, Hugh; a person whose useful life would give lustre to the greatest family. This gentleman (after∣wards Sir Hugh) displayed very early his great talents; and began, as we are told by himself, by searching for coal within a mile of his native place. His attempt did not meet with success: his genius was destined to act on a greater stage. The Capital af∣forded him ample space for his vast attempts: few readers need be told, that he planned and brought to perfection, the great de∣sign of supplying the city with water. This plan was meditated in the reign of Elizabeth; but no one was found bold enough to attempt it. In 1608, the dauntless WELSHMAN stept forth, and SMOTE THE ROCK: and on Michaelmas 1613, the waters flowed into the thirsting metropolis. He brought it, in defiance of hills and vallies, reckoning every winding, near thirty-nine miles; conveyed it by aqueducts in some places; in others pierced the

high grounds, and gave it a subterraneous course. He was a true prototype of the later genius of similar works; but he sacrificed private fortune to the public good. Two thousand pounds a month, which he gained from the Cardiganshire mines, were swallowed up in this river. He received the empty honor of seeing himself attended by the king, his court, and all the corpo∣ration of London, among whom was his brother (designed mayor for the ensuing year). The waters gushed out in their presence, and the great architect received their applause, and knighthood; and, in 1622, the title of baronet. His own fair fortune being expended on an undertaking, which now brings in to the pro∣prietors an amazing revenue, he was reduced to become a hireling surveyor, and was eminently useful in every place where draining or mining was requisite. I shall have occa∣sion to speak of some other of his labors in the course of this book. He died in 1631†. Sir — Myddelton, the last baronet of this branch of the family, died a few years ago. The present representative is a widow in distressful circumstances: Sir Hugh left a certain number of shares to the Goldsmith's company, to be divided among the poor members; but, as the husband of this poor woman happened not to be of the company, the repre∣sentative of the greatest benefactor London ever had, is, I trust through ignorance of her case, permitted to linger away her days in cruel penury.

A MURAL monument needlessly attempts to preserve the me∣mory of that great antiquary, Humphrey Llwyd. He is repre∣sented in a Spanish dress, kneeling at an altar, beneath a range of

small arches; above, a multitude of quarterings proclame his long descent. He derived himself from the Rosendales of the north, who settled at Foxhall, in this neighborhood, in 1297, by marriage with the heiress of the place. He himself was of a branch, which fixed at Denbigh. He was educated at Oxford, a commoner of Brazen-nose college, and master of arts. He re∣turned to his native place, an accomplished gentleman. He stu∣died at the university the healing art; but is celebrated as a per∣son of great eloquence, an excellent rhetorician, and sound philo∣sopher. After the panegyric passed on him by Cambden, it would be presumptious to add any thing relative to his great skill in the antiquities of our country. He practised, for his amusement, physic and music. The motto on his portrait, in possession of his representative John Lloyd, of Aston, esq expresses his liberal turn of mind: Hwy pery klod Nagolyd; FAME IS BETTER THAN WEALTH. In medicine, and the study of antiquities, he has left several proofs of his knowlege, which seems to have been quite unconfined. He made the map of England, for his friend Ortelius. For his bro∣ther-in-law, lord Lumley, (whose sister he married) he formed a large collection of useful and curious books; which were after∣wards purchased by James I. and now make the most valuable part of the British Museum. In his last letter to the great geo∣grapher Ortelius†, he foresees his own death, which happened soon after its date, in August 1568, aged 41. The very simple inscription on the monument promises his character; but instead, appears only three lines of a psalm tune.

THE CORPS AND EARTHLY shape doth rest, Here tombd in your sight, Of Humfrey Lloyd, M^r of Arte, a famous worthy Wight. By fortune's hapye Lore he Espowsyd and take hys wyfe to be Barbara, second Syster to the noble Lord Lumle: Splendian, Hare, Jane, and John, Humfrey, Also a Lumley, His Children were, of whych be dead Jane and eke Humfrey. His famous Monuments and dedes that lusteth for to see, Here in the Epytaph annext set forth at large they Be.

THE tomb of Sir John Salusbury is altar-shaped: his image, and that of his lady, are placed in it, recumbent; he in armour; she with a great ruff. Nothing is recorded of this good couple, except that Sir John died in 1578; and that ten years after she erected this monument to his memory, and I suppose to her own, a blank being left for the year and day of her departure.

A LITTLE further stands Denbigh, placed, like Sterling, on the slope of a great rock, crowned with a castle. Its antient British name was Castell Kled vryn yn Rhôs, or the Craggy Hill in Rhos, the former name of the tract in which it is seated. The word Dinbech, the present Welsh appellation, signifies a small hill, which it is, comparative to the neighboring mountains. The first time I find any mention of it, is in the beginning of the reign of Edward I. from whom David, in defiance of his brother Llewelyn, chose to hold this lordship, together with the cantred of Dyffryn Clwyd. He made it his residence till the conquest of our country; soon after which, he was taken near the place, and car∣ried, loaden with irons, to the English monarch at Rhuddlan.

THE king politically secured his new acquisitions, by bestowing several of the great lordships on his followers. He gave that of

Denbigh to Henry Lacy, earl of Lincoln, who built the castle, and inclosed within a wall the small town he found there. Among other priveleges, he gave his vassals liberty of killing and destroy∣ing all manner of wild beasts on the lordship, except in certain parts reserved out of the grant; I suppose for the purpose of the particular amusement of the lord; for I find, in the reign of Henry VI. the names of five parks in this lordship, viz. Moylewike, Caresnodooke, Kylford, Bagh^ā, and Posey, of which the king consti∣tuted Owen Tudor, ranger. On the death of Lacy, the lordship passed to Thomas earl of Lancaster, by virtue of his marriage with Alicia, daughter of the last possessor. After the attainder of Tho∣mas, Edward II. bestowed it on Hugh D'Espencer; who proved an oppressive superior, and abridged the inhabitants of the priveleges granted to them by Lacy†. By the fatal end of that favorite, it fell again to the crown; and was given by Edward III. to ano∣ther, equally unfortunate, Roger Mortimer earl of March; whose death enabled the king to invest with this lordship William Moun∣tacute earl of Salusbury. He died in 1333: and on the reversal of the attainder of the earl of March, it was restored to his family, in the perfon of his grandson Roger: and by the marriage of Anne, sister to another Roger, last earl of March, with Richard Plantagenet earl of Cambridge, it came into the house of York, and so into the crown. Queen Elizabeth, in 1563, bestowed it, as a most valuable gift, on her unmerited minion, Robert Dudley earl of Leicester; who soon made the country feel the weight of his oppression. Notwithstanding the tenants made him a present of

two thousand pounds at his first entrance into the lordship, he re∣mained unsatisfied; he constrained the freeholders to raise the old rents of 250 l. a year, to 8 or 900 l. and at his will inclosed the waste lands, to the injury of the tenants; who, offended at his ra∣pacity, arose, and levelled his encroachments. This was con∣strued into riot and rebellion: two hopeful young men, of the house of Lleweni, were taken to Shrewsbury, tried and executed there, for the pretended offence. He had the insolence even to mortgage the manor to some merchants of London†; and, I ap∣prehend, tricked them for their credulity. The various disor∣ders which rose from these practices, were so great, that Eliza∣beth interposed, and by charter confirmed the quiet possession of the tenants, and allayed the discontents‡. These were again excited in die reign of king William, by the vast grant made to the earl of Portland. The same ferments arose, and the same means were used to allay them: at present, this, and the other great manors of Bromefield and Yale, remain in the crown, and are peacefully superintended by a steward appointed by the king.

THE castle and inclosed part of the town, took up a very consi∣derable space, and were defended by strong walls and towers: the last are chiefly square. There are two gates to the outmost pre∣cinct: that called the Burgesses Tower, is large, square, and built singularly, with small ashler stones. The other was called the Exchequer Gate, in which the lord's court was kept. Some few houses, with most beautiful views, are at present inhabited in this

part. Leland says, that there had been divers rows of streets; but in his time there were scarcely eighty housholders within these walls. Here stands the chapel, called St. Hillary's, formerly be∣longing to the garrison, now the place of worship for the town. In old times, on every Sunday here were masses for the souls of Lacy and Percy. Not far from it are the remains of an unfi∣nished church, a hundred and seventy-five feet long, and seventy-one broad, and designed to have been supported by two rows of pillars. This noble building was begun in 1579, as appears by the date on a foundation-stone. It was to this purpose; for at present it is much defaced:

1^mo Martii 1579 Et Regni Re: Elizabethae 22. W.

ON the other side appeared,

Veritas, vita, via. Duo sunt templa Dei. Unu mudus I. ein: est Pontifex primogenties ejus verbu Dei: Alterum rationalis anima: cujus sacerdos est verus homo.

G. A.†

THIS church was begun under the auspices of Leicester: but it is said that he left off his buildings in Wales, by reason of the public hatred he had incurred on account of his tyranny‡. A sum was afterwards collected, in order to complete the work;

but it is said, that when the earl of Essex passed through Denbigh, on his Irish expedition, he borrowed the money destined for the purpose, which was never repayed; and by that means, the church was left unfinished.

THE Castle crowns the summit of the hill, one side of which is quite precipitous. The entrance is very magnificent, beneath a gothic arch, over which is the statue of Henry Lacy, sitting in stately flowing robes. On each side of the gate-way stood a large octagonal tower. The breaches in it are vast and awful: they serve to discover the antient manner of building: a double wall appears to have been built, with a great vacancy between, into which was poured all forts of rubbish, stone, and hot mortar, which time consolidated to a stony hardness. This part, as Leland says, was never completed, the work having been deserted by the earl, on the loss of his eldest son, who was accidentally drowned in the well, whose opening is still to be seen in the castle-yard. Charles I. lay here on the 23d of September, 1645, after his retreat from Chester, in a tower still called Siamber y Brenbin, or the King's Tower.

THE prospect through the broken arches is extremely fine, ex∣tending in parts over the whole vale, and all its eastern hills, from Moel Venlli to Diserth rock; a rich view, but deficient in water: the river Clwyd being too small to be seen; and in great rains so furious, as to overflow a great space of the meadowy tract.

LELAND relates a particular of this fortress, which I do not dis∣cover in any other historian: he says, that Edward IV. was be∣sieged in it; and that he was permitted to retire, on condition

[figure]

DENBIGH CASTLE

that he should quit the kingdom for ever. The only time in which that prince was constrained to abdicate his dominions, was in 1470, when he took shipping at Lynn; not by reason of any capitulation with his enemies, but through the desperate situation of his affairs at that period.

fasper Tudor, earl of Pembroke, had, in the year 1459, possessed this place, and several others in the principality, in behalf of his weak half-brother, Henry VI. but they were wrested from him by the Yorkists in the following year. In 1468 he returned, was joined by two thousand Welsh, and burnt the town†; meditating rather revenge than conquest.

IN the beginning of November 1645, the parlement army ob∣tained, near this town, a most important victory over the royalists. The latter, under the command of Sir William Vaughan, had formed a considerable body of forces, Welsh and Irish, with a de∣sign of marching to the relief of Chester, then besieged: Sir Wil∣liam Brereton had notice of the design, and immediately detached that able officer Mytton, and under him colonel Jones and colonel Louthian, with one thousand four hundred horse, and a thousand foot, to frustrate the plan. Mytton did his duty, attacked the royalists with vigor, and after several hot engagements, totally routed them, took five hundred horse and four hundred foot, killed one hundred, and so entirely dispersed them, as not to leave a hundred together in one place‡.

In 164, we find the castle garrisoned by the loyalists: its go∣vernor

was colonel William Salusbury, of Bachymbyd, commonly called Salusbury Hosandu Gleisiau, or Blue Stockings. The siege was begun under the conduct of major-general Mytton, about the 16th of July; but such was the gallant defence of the besieged, that it was not surrendered till the 3d of November, and then only on the most honorable conditions†. It is very remarkable, that notwithstanding the orders of fallen majesty, in June, for the ge∣neral surrender of every garrison in England and Wales, on fair and honorable terms, yet the first which yielded in North Wales, held out above two months longer than the last English castle.

THE priory of Carmelites, or White Friars, stood at the bottom of the town. It was founded by John Salusbury, of Lleweni, who died, as appeared from a mutilated brass, found in the conventual church, on the 7th of March, 1289‡. Speed ascribes the building to one John de Sunimore, in 1399; but the inscription fixes the honor on Salusbury. On the dissolution, this house was granted to Richard Andreas and William L'Isle. The church, now con∣verted into a barn, is the only remaining building: it was the burying-place of the family of the founder, till the reformation; and some of their tombs were to be seen here within memory of man.

THE present town covers great part of the slope of the hill; and some streets extend along the plain. Its manufactures in shoes and gloves are very considerable; and great quantities are

annually sent to London, to the great warehouses of the Capital, and for the purposes of exportation.

THE constitution of this borough, and its origin, will be fully explained by the following transcript, communicated to me by one of its burgesses. It begins with citing the last charter, which is that granted by king Charles II. which recites letters patent granted by queen Elizabeth, and dated at Westminster the 20th of June, in the thirty-ninth year of her reign; in which the said queen recites, "That seeing Edward I. by his letters patent, dated at Northampton the 29th of August, in the eighteenth year of his reign, hath granted to Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, that all his men then inhabiting his town of Denbigh, or that should for ever inhabit it, through all his territories, formerly belonging to the king of Wales, and also through the counties of Chester, Salop, Stafford, Gloucester, Worcester, and Hereford, should be free and ac∣quitted for ever from all toll, stallage, payage, panage, murage, pontage, and passage; and seeing also king Edward III. by his letters patent, dated at York the 27th of October, in the sixth year of his reign, hath, for himself, and his heirs and successors, then inha∣biting, and afterward to inhabit, the said town, should, through the kingdom and dominions, be free and acquitted from all such toll, stallage, payage, murage, pontage, and passage; and seeing also that Richard II. by his letters patent, dated at Westminster the 22d of February, in the second year of his reign, granted to the abovesaid men, that the aforesaid town of Denbigh, and half a mile compass about the town, should be a free borough, and that the men inhabiting, and afterwards to inhabit, should be free bur∣gesses; and seeing also that Richard III. by his letters, dated at

Westminster the 10th of December, in the second year of his reign, confirmed the aforesaid grants, and by his said letters patent did grant unto the said burgesses, their heirs and assigns, being English∣men, common of pasture for all manner of cattle, at all times in the year, in the common pasture of the town and forest of Lleweney; and that the burgesses aforesaid, and their heirs and assigns, should be free and acquitted, in all his dominions and territories in England and Ireland, soc, sac, toll, and them, lastage, stallage, payage, pannage, pontage, murage, and other customs whatsoever. And the aforesaid queen Elizabeth, by her said letters patent, did ordain, constitute, grant, and confirm, that the town and borough of Denbigh may extend, on every side, one mile and a half, according to the common acceptations of that place, from the high cross standing in the market-place of the said town; and that the said town and borough of itself, and the burgesses of the said borough, now and hereafter in being, be, and shall be for ever hereafter, one body corporate and politick, in things, fact, and name, by the name of "THE ALDERMEN, BAILIFFS, and BURGESSES of the borough of Denbigh;" and it is also ordained, that there be a common seal for transacting of any causes or businesses; and also ordained, that there be two aldermen, two bailiffs, and two coro∣ners, and twenty-five of the better sort and best reputed of the bur∣gesses, to be capital burgesses and counsellors of the said borough.

"THE aldermen and bailiffs are elected and nominated upon Michaelmas-day, yearly. There are two other officers, called ser∣jeants at mace (or mace-bearers) for the execution of processes and mandates issuing out of the court of the said borough; they are appointed by the bailiffs of the said borough for the time being.

"THERE is also a recorder of the said borough, who is appointed by the aldermen, bailiffs, and capital burgesses.

"CONSTABLES, leavelookers, and other inferior officers, are likewise appointed by the aldermen, bailiffs, and capital burgesses.

"THERE is a council chamber, or guild, within the said borough, for the purpose of holding and sitting courts of convocation, be∣fore the aldermen, bailiffs, and capital burgesses.

"THERE is a court of record, to be held every other Friday through the year, before the bailiffs of the said borough, or one of them; and in that court, by complaint made in it, they may hold all and all manner of pleas, actions, suits, demands of all sorts of transgressions vi et armis, or otherwise; and also all and all manner of debts, accompts, bargains, frauds, detaining of deeds, writings, muniments, and taking and detaining of beasts and cat∣tle, or goods; and all contracts whatsoever, arising within the said borough; and that such pleas, suits, and actions, be heard and terminated before the bailiffs, or one of them.

"THE aldermen are justices, and hold quarter sessions, in the same manner as county sessions are held by statute, to hear and deter∣mine causes; but not to proceed in case of death, or loss of life or limb.

"No country justice to intermeddle with any matters or things whatsoever, appertaining to the office of justice of the peace, which shall arise or happen within the borough.

"RESIANT burgesses are to serve upon jury at the sessions. "THE aldermen and bailiffs are commissioners of array. "THE resiant burgesses are voters for a member for the borough."

I CANNOT but record the virtue of those of the year 1572, who

had the courage to withstand the insinuations, the promises, and the threats, of as unprincipled a lord as this kingdom was ever afflicted with; who had power to inflict, and will to execute, any vengeance that opposition to his arbitrary inclinations might excite. In that year it was his pleasure that one Henry Dynne should represent this borough in parlement; the burgesses were refractory, and chose another person; which gave rise to the fol∣lowing letter, which I print, as a sans pareille.

A L^re sent from the earle of Leicester to the bayliffe, aldermen, and burgesses, greatlie blaminge them for making choise of the burges of the parliament without his lordship's consente, and commanding them to allter their electione, and to chose Henrie Dynne.

I HAVE bene latlie advertised how small consideration youe have had of the L^re I wrote unto you, for the nomynasion, of yo^r burgess, whereat as I cannot but greatlie mervayle (in re∣spect I am yo^r L. and you my Tenaunts, as also the manie good tournes and comodities w^ch I have bene allwayes willinge to pro∣cure youe, for the benefitte of yo^r whole state) so do I take the same in so —, and vill yte so unthankfullie, as yf youe do not uppon receite hereof presentlie revoke the same, and appointe suche one as I shall nominate, namelie, Henrie Dynne, be ye well assured never to loke for any ffrienshipe or favo^r at my hande, in any yo^r affayres herafter; not for any great accompt I make of the thinge, but for that I would not it shou'd be thought that I have so small regard borne me at yo^r hands, who are bounden to owe (as yo^r L.) thus much dutie as to know myne advice and

pleasure; that will haplie be aleadged, that yo^r choice was made before the receipt of my L^res (in relie I would litle have thoughte that youe would have bene so forgetfull, or rather carelesse of me, as before yo^r elecion not to make me privie therto, or at the least to have some desire of myne advise therein (havinge tyme ynoughe so to do) but as you have of yo^r selfes thus rashlie pro∣ceded herein, without myne assent, soe have I thought good to signifie unto youe, that I mean not to take it in any wise at yo^r hands, and therefore wysh you more advisedlie to consider hereof, and to deale with me as maye continue my fav^r towards you, otherwise loke for no fav^r at my hands: and so fare ye well. From the Court, this last day of Aprill, 1572.

R. LEYCESTER.

THIS doughty letter had no effect: the burgesses adhered to their own choice, and Richard Candishe, gent. stands as member for Denbigh in that year. Leicester did but copy his mistress in his contempt of privelege of parlements: Elizabeth thought them the mere instruments of giving sanction to her will: for if they once presumed to oppose it, she without ceremony informed them of her displeasure. Peter Wentworth, for the simple proposition,

that a member of parlement might, without controlment of his person, or danger of the laws, by bill or speech, utter any of the griefs of this commonwealth whatsoever, touching the service of GOD, the safety of the prince, and this noble realm,

was sent to the tower; and to the petition of the house for his release, an answer was returned, that it was very unfit for her majesty to give

any account of her actions. Her prerogative was the rule of go∣vernment: the great council was expressly forbidden to meddle in matters of state, or in causes ecclesiastical: and this was the GOLDEN REIGN of ELIZABETH!

FROM Denbigh I went to the hospitable house of Gwaenynog, about two miles distant, fronted by the most majestic oaks in our principality. The fine wooded dingles belonging to the demesne are extremely well worth visiting: they are most judiciously cut into walks by the owner, John Myddelton, esq and afford as beautiful scenery in their kind, as any we have to boast. Moel Vamma superbly terminates one view; and the ruins of Denbigh Castle burst awfully at the termination of the concluding path.

IN rummaging over the family papers of this house, I met with an anecdote of it, too singular to be suppressed. It will prove at left, that private morals, and respect to the laws, were in that distant period but in a very low state; for no notice seems to have been taken of so atrocious an offence. The criminal en∣joyed the favor of the crown, in common with others its peaceful subjects.

David Myddelton, who is styled receiver of Denbigh in the nine∣teenth of Edward IV. and Valectus Coronae Dⁿⁱ Regis, in the second of Richard III. made his addresses to Elyn, daughter of Sir John Done, of Utkinton, in Cheshire, and gained the lady's affections; but the parents preferred their relation, Richard Done, of Croton. The marriage was accordingly celebrated; which David having notice of, watched the groom leading his bride out of church,

killed him on the spot, and then carried away his mistress, and married her the same day; so that she was a maid, widow, and wife twice, in one day. From Roger, the eldest son of the match, descended the Myddeltons of this place.

I MENTION Thomas Myddelton, another of his progeny, only to prove, that the custom of the Irish howl, or Scotch Coranich, was in use among us; for we are told he was buried cum magno dolore et clamore cognatorum et propinquorum omnium.

HAVING made Gwaenynog my head quarters for this neighbor∣hood, I one day visited from thence Henllan, the parish church of these parts; remarkable for the schism between church and steeple: the first having retreated into the bottom, the last maintains its sta∣tion on the top of the hill. The church is covered with shingles; a species of roof almost obsolete. St. Sadwrn, or St. Saturnus, cotem∣porary to St. Wenefrede, has it under his protection. Here was interred Sir Peter Mutton, knight, descended from Richard Mutton, of Rhuddlan, and Elen, daughter to John (Aer Hên) Conway, of Bod∣rhyddan. Sir Peter, as his epitaph informs us, was chief justice of North Wales, a matter in chancery, prothonatory, and clerk of the crown. He died November the 4th, 1637. He had the ho∣nor of representing the borough of Caernarvon; and once occa∣sioned much diversion to the house, by asserting, in one of his speeches, "that he remembered fourteen years before he was he was born, &c. &c." But he was a good judge, made a fair fortune, and by marriage acquired the estate of Llanerch, which passed with his daughter to Robert Davies, of Gwysaney, esq ancestor of the present owner.

NOT far from Henllan church, in the parish of Llan-nefydd, on

the bank of the brook Meirchion, are the remains of a seat of Me∣reddydd ap Meirchion, or Merach y Meirch, lord of Isdulas. Part is now standing, particularly the chapel, which serves for a farm∣house; but some very extensive foundations shew its former im∣portance.

FROM hence, after a ride of a few miles, I reached Dyffryn Al∣led, or the vale of the river Alled, a very narrow tract, bounded by high hills, and of late ornamented by the magnificent seat built by Mrs. Meyric. At the head of the valley stand the village and church of Llansannan, dedicated to St. Sannan, confessor and hermit; descended (for our very saints boast of their pedegree) from antient parentage, near the territory of the father of St. We∣nefrede, with whom he maintained strict friendship. Their re∣mains were both enterred at Gwytherin; to which place, though unworthy, I resolved on an immediate pilgrimage.

IN my way, I descended a very steep wooded dell, in the town∣ship of Penared, to visit the gloomy cataract of Llyn yr ogo, where the Alled tumbles into a horrible black cavern, overshaded by oaks. Somewhat higher up is another, exposed to full day, falling from a vast height, and dividing the naked glen. Llyn-Alled, the small lake from which the river flows, lies at a small distance, amidst black and heathy mountains, through which runs much of the road to Gwytherin.

THAT little village and church stand on a bank, at the head of a small vale, near the rise of the Elwy. The church is celebrated for the honor of having first received the remains of St. Winefrede, after her second death. On the decease of St. Beuno, she was warned by a voice to call on St. Deifer at Bodvari; by St. Deifer

she was directed to go to St. Saturnus, at Henllan; and by St. Sa∣turnus, to seek a final retreat with St. Elerius, at Gwytherin. Hi∣ther she repaired, found a convent of nuns, received the veil from the saint, and, on the death of the abbess Theonia, succeeded to the high charge. St. Wenefrede died on the 3d of November, and rested here in quiet, near the body of her predecessor, for the space of five hundred years. By reason of a miracle, wrought, as was supposed, by her intercession, on a monk of Shrewsbury, the abbot determined on the translation of her remains to their mo∣nastery. Seven holy men were deputed: the inhabitants of Gwytherin refused to part with such a treasure: visions deter∣mined the former to persist in their request: and at length, on the declaration of the will of heaven, by another vision, to the parson of Gwytherin, who declared to his flock the impiety of far∣ther resistance, the reliques were delivered up, and carried with triumph to their place of destination The prior at this time was Robert. Mr. William Mytton† calls him Pennant. If he was of the neighborhood of Holywell, I do not wonder he was so anxious about the remains of his countrywoman, which he knew could not fail enriching his house, by virtue of the miracle-craft so frequent in that age.

IN the church is shewn the box in which her reliques were kept, before their removal to Shrewsbury. Here is also an antient grave∣stone, with a flowery cross and chalice (the last denoting the

priestly profession of the deceased) with Hic jacet Llowarch Mab Cadell, inscribed on the cross.

THE Saint's Chapel, Capell Gwenfrewi, is now totally destroyed: it stood on the south side of the church; but nothing remains: except some slight ditches and foundations.

ON the north side of the church-yard stand four rude upright stones. On one is rudely cut an inscription, for which I refer to the supplemental plates.

IN my return, I followed the course of the Elwy, by Havodynos, the seat of Howel Lloyd, esq by the church and village of Llangerniew; by Garthewin, the seat of Robert Wynn, esq command∣ing a most lovely view of a fertile little valley, bounded by hills covered with hanging woods; and by Llanvair Dôlhaearn, a vil¦lage and church at a small distance above the conflux of the Elwy and Alled. In this parish above the Elwy, was one of the resi∣dences of Hedd Molwynog, descended from RODERIC THE GREAT king of all Wales. A large moat, called Yr Hén Llys, marks th•• place: as the field, styled Maes y Bendithion, does the spot wher the poor received his alms. Molwynog was chief of one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales; was cotemporary with David a•• Owen Gwynedd; and assisted that prince to carry fire and swor•• through England, even to the walls of Coventry. A descendant •••• his third son, Gwrgi, peopled North Wales with Llwyds; so Bleyddyn, the son of Bleyddyn Vychan, assuming the addition •••• Llwyd, or the Grey, founded the house of Havodynos. Among hi•• good deeds must be told, that to him is owing the stone bridge 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Llansanan.

I HOPE my countrymen will not grow indignant, when I ex∣press my fears, that in very early times we were as fierce and sa∣vage as the rest of Europe: and they will bear this the better, when they reflect, that they keep pace with it in civilization, and in the progress of every fine art. We cannot deny but that we were, to the excess,

Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel.

Two gentlemen of this house exemplify the assertion. Meiric ap Bleyddyn, resentful of the injuries which he and his tenants re∣ceived from the English judges and officers) slew one of the first, and hanged several of the latter on the oaks of his woods; by which he forfeited to the crown the lands, still known in these parts by the name of Têr Meiric Llwyd, or the estate of Meiric Llwyd. As to his person, he secured it within the sanctuary at Hulston†; and marrying, founded in that neighborhood the house of Llwyn y Maen.

Bleyddyn Vychan, another of this race, fell out with his tenants, and in a fit of fury chased them from his estate, and turned it into a forest‡; a pretty picture of the manners of the times! The place lies in the parish of Llansanan, and bears the name of Forest to this day.

RETURNED to Gwaenynog, and passing beneath Denbigh Castle, visit Llanrhaider, a village in the middle of the vale, remarkable for an east window of good and very entire painted glass, ex∣pressing

a favorite subject of the time, the root of Jesse. The pa∣triarch is represented sprawling at the bottom, with a genealogi∣cal tree issuing out of him, containing all the kings of Israel and Juda, up to our SAVIOUR. The branches around the kings are in very beautiful foliage: at the top is a rose of Lancaster, and ano∣ther with an eye in glory within it: the window being done in 1533, after the accession of that house. Here, in a vast monu∣ment of Maurice Jones, of Llanrhaider, esq may be seen

Eternal buckle take in Parian stone.

His figure is lying down, leaning on his arm, in his gown, with his wig in excellent curl, and surrounded by weeping genii, and much funebrial absurdity.

IN the church-yard is a common altar-tomb of a gentleman, who chose to build his fame on the long series of ancestors which distinguished his from vulgar clay. It tells us, that

HEARE LYETH THE BODY OF JOHN, AP ROBERT, OF PORTH, AP DAVID, AP GRIFFITH, AP DAVID VAUCHAN. AP BLETHYN, AP GRIFFITH, AP MEREDITH, AP JERWORTH, AP LLEWELYN, AP JERORH, AP HEILIN, AP COWRYD, AP CADVAN, AP ALAWGWA, AP CADELL, THE KING OF POWYS, WHO DEPARTED HIS LIFE THE XX DAY OF MARCH, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD GOD 1642, AND OF HIS AGE XCV.

ON an eminence to the north-west of the church, called Cader Gwladus, or Gwladus's Chair, is an extremely beautiful view of the vale between Denbigh and Ruthin, and the whole breadth chequered with wood, meadows, and corn fields; and almost the whole range of the eastern limits soaring far above it. Denbigh Castle from hence shews itself to great advantage, with its walls and towers extending along its precipitous base.

AT the foot of this rising is Fynnon Ddysnog, a fine spring, de∣dicated to St. Ddysnog, one of our long pedegreed faints; for∣merly much resorted to by votaries. The fountain is inclosed in an angular wall, decorated with small human figures; and before is the well for the use of the pious bathers.

NEAR this are some comfortable alms-houses for eight widows, founded by Mrs. Jones, of Llanrhaider (a Bagot) in 1729: and each has her garden, and two shillings a week.

HERE the diocese of Bangor encroaches on that of St. Asaph, and takes out of it the beautiful parish of Llanrhaider, and all the upper end of the vale.

ON the road to Ruthin, on an estate of Sir William Bagot, are to be seen some very fine chesnut trees; one of which is near twenty-four feet in circumference. The reader need not be told, that this species of trees is not a native of Great Britain, nor even of Europe. We are indebted for it to the Romans, who probably first planted it in Kent, where it has been fo fully naturalized, as to form, in certain tracts, great woods; in other parts of the kingdom, it every where appears cultivated; as sparingly as it

might have been originally in Italy, after it had been brought from Lydia, its native place.

REACH Ruthin, and enter under Porth y Dwr, its only remain∣ing gate. The town is pleasantly seated, on the easy slope and summit of a rising ground. The castle stood on the south side, and in part sunk beneath the earth: its poor remains impend over the fall of land fronting the west, where a fragment or two of a tower are still to be seen, mixed with the native rock, which in parts served as a facing to the fortress, whose lower part was formed out of it; a very deep foss, hewen out of the live stone, with a portal at each end, divides it breadthways. Honest Church-yard, with great truth and simplicity, thus describes the work:

This castle stands on rocke much like red bricke, The dykes are cut with toole throughe stonie cragge; The towers are hye, the walles are large and thicke, The worke itself would shake a subject's bagge.

A DRAWING I discovered in the British Museum, shews that it soared high above the ground, and that its numerous towers well merited the poet's praise.

THE views from the summit of the ruins, are very well worthy of the traveller's attention. If he is fond of a more aerial one, I would by all means have him ascend the heights of Bwlch pen y Barras, from whence is a full prospect of our boasted vale, and the remote hills of our Alpine tract.

THE Welsh name of the fortress is Castell Côch yn Gwernvor. Possibly our countrymen had here a strong-hold before the time of Edward I. who built the castle whose ruins we survey†, and bestowed it, in 1281, with the cantred of Dyffryn Clwyd, on Regi∣nald de Grey; for which he did homage, at Chester, to Edward of Caernarvon, then prince of Wales. The king added at the same time the townships of Maesmynnan, Pembedw, and Blowite, as de∣pendencies on the castle; and I ought to add the land of Wenchal de Lacy. Out of this antient cantred was formed the present lordship of Ruthin, which comprehends several parishes. It re∣mained in the family of the Greys till the time of Richard earl of Kent, who having dissipated his fortune by gaming, sold it to Henry VII. Queen Elizabeth bestowed it on Ambrose Dudley earl of Warwick: and it is now in possession of Richard Myddelton, esq of Chirk Castle. I must observe, this lordship was directed by Edward the Second, to contribute two hundred foot soldiers for his Scottish expedition, in 1309; but in 1325, only one man at arms and thirty footmen were required‡.

THE inhabitants, united with those of Denbigh and Holt, send a representative to parlement.

THE town of Ruthin was burnt by Owen Glendwr, on September the 20th, 1400. He took the opportunity of surprizing it during the fair, enriched his followers with the plunder, and then retired to his fastnesses among the hills.

IN the last century, the castle was garrisoned by the loyalists,

and sustained, in 1646, a siege, from February to the middle of April; when it surrendered, with two months provisions, to gene∣ral Mytton, who received the thanks of the house for his services; the commons ordered Mr. Fogge, his chaplain, fifty pounds for bringing the news, and confirmed the general's appointment or lieutenant-colonel Mason to the government of the new con∣quest†. The fortress was afterwards demolished by an order of the house.

THE church is large, yet only a chapel to Llanruth. The roof prettily divided into small squares, ornamented with sculpture, and marked with the names of the workmen. The only monu∣ment of any note, is that of Doctor Gabriel Goodman, dean of Westminster in the time of queen Elizabeth, whose figure is repre∣sented by a bust. This illustrious divine was a native of Ruthin, and was greatly distinguished by his various merit. As a church∣man, he acquired great fame by his translation of the epistle to the Corinthians, being assistant in the version of the bible into English: as a philanthropist, his foundation of a hospital for twelve poor people, and a warden (who is the clergyman of the place) perpetuates his benevolent turn: and his affection to learned men is evident, not only by his establishing here a free school for this parish, and that of Llan-Elidan, with a stipend to the master of sixty pounds a year; but by his being the patron of the great Cambden, whom he enabled to take those travels, which produced the finest collection of provincial antiquities ever extant.

THE church was originally conventual, and belonged to a house of Bonhommes, a species of Augustins, introduced into England in 1283: but the time of their continuance here could be but very short; for, in 1310, John, son of Reginald de Grey, made it colle∣giate, and established seven regular priests, with an endowment of two hundred and five acres of land, in Rosmeryon and Rue, besides other lands, and woods, a mill, pasture for twenty-three cows and a bull; and pannage, or the free keeping of sixty hogs in the woods of the lordship†. For these, and several other good things, the said priests were for ever to celebrate daily a solemn mass, for the souls of Edward I. queen Eleanor, Reginald de Grey and Matilda his wife, the founder and his wife, all their friends and relations, and of all the benefactors to this church†.

John de Grey was possibly buried here; and his might be the tomb, which Churchyard calls that of an earl of Kent; which stood in the chancel, and in his days was placed on the right side of the choir.

THE apartments of the priests were connected to the church by a cloister; part of which is built up, and serves as the man∣sion of the warden. When John de Grey undertook this work, he obtained the consent of Sir Hugh, then rector of Llanruth; to whom he allows this to have been subordinate, by custom as well as right‡.

IN 1583, here were left in charge four incumbents, with pen∣sions from six pounds to one pound six shillings and eight-pence

each. The lands were granted by Edward VI. to Wil∣liam Winlove and Richard Fyld†.

Ruthin, and several other parishes, which formerly composed the cantref of Dyffryn Clwyd, form a deanery in the diocese of Bangor, bearing the antient name.

Leland mentions a house of white friers‡ in this town, but gives no particulars. It possibly stood in the street, to this day called Prior's-Street.

THE new jail does much honor to the architect, Mr. Joseph Turner; the contrivance comprehending all the requisites of these seats of misery, security, cleaness, and health. The debtors are separated from the criminals by a very lofty wall, dividing their respective yards, which are airy and spacious, and are supplied with baths. The condemned cells are on a level with the ground; are dry, light, and strong; an excellent contrast to the sad dungeons of antient prisons.

FROM Ruthin. I visited the neat little mother church of Llan∣ruth, dedicated to St. Meugan, a great astrologer, and physician to king Vortigern. In it is the monument of John Thelwall, esq of Bathavarn, and his wife, kneeling at an altar: behind him are ten sons§; behind her, four daughters. Of the sons, Sir Bevis is armed; the rest are in gowns; and three carry in their hands a skull, to denote their early departure. The other seven lived

to advanced life, and flourished cotemporaries in the several pro∣fessions they had embraced.

John, the eldest, died aged 97, and left a posterity, amounting to between two hundred and forty and two hundred and sixty.

SIR Eubule became master of Jesus College, Oxford. I will not tire the reader with the whole family history; but must not omit Ambrose, the ninth son, who began life with being servant to Sir Francis Bacon; and so great a favorite was he, that in order to reward him, Sir Francis moved his royal master to knight all the masters in chancery; for which Ambrose was to have a gratuity of one hundred pounds a man. The affair was done, and the money paid, except by his brother, Sir Eubule, then one of the masters, to whom he remitted the fees.

THERE is in the church a monumental bust of Ambrose, admi∣rably cut: his hair short; beard, peaked; and ruff, flat.

THIS family came from Thelwall, in Cheshire, and took their name from the place. The founder was a follower of Reginald de Grey, and made a settlement in these parts. Notwithstanding the numerous offspring of the family, and the other branches, only two remain of the name, my kinsman, Edward Thelwall, esq of Llanbeder, a most beautiful situation, high on the side of the hills, two miles east of Ruthin; and Simon Thelwall, esq of Blaen-yâl.

FROM Llanruth the vale grows very narrow, and almost closes with the parish of Llanvair. If I place the extremity at Pont Newydd, there cannot be a more beautiful finishing; where the bridge, near the junction of the Clwyd and the Hespin; and a lofty hill, with its cloathed with hanging woods, terminate the view.

Go over part of Coed Marchan, a large naked common, noted for a quarry of coarse red and white marble. Descend into the narrow vale of Nant-clwyd; and for some time ride over dreary commons. On one is a small encampment, with a single foss, called Caer Senial. Near this place, enter MEIREONEDDSHIRE. And, within sight of the former, visit Caer Drewyn, another post, in full view of the beautiful vales of Glyn-dwrdwye and Edernion, watered by the Dee. It lies on the steep slope of a hill; is of a circular form, and about half a mile in circumference; and the defence consists of a single wall, mostly in ruins; yet in some parts the facings are still apparent: in the thickness of the walls are evident remains of apartments. It had two entrances. Near the north-eastern is an oblong square, added to the main works; and as the ground there is rather flat, it is strengthened with a great ditch, and a wall: within are the foundations of rude stone buildings; one of which is circular, and several yards in diameter: the ditch is carried much farther than the wall; and seems part of an unfinished addition to the whole. It is conjec∣tured, that Owen Gwynedd occupied this post, while Henry II. lay encamped on the Berwyn hills, on the other side of the vale. Owen Glyndwr is said also to have made use of this fastness, in his occasional retreats.

NOT far from hence, near Gwyddelwern, is a place called Saith Marchog, from the circumstance of Owen having there surprized Reginald de Grey, and seven knights (Saith Marchog) in his train.

THIS post or fastness of Caer Drewyn, is but one of the chain which begins at Diserth, and is continued along the Clwydian hills into the mountains of Yale; for on the last are others; one on a Moel y Gaer, and another on Moel Forfydd; and Bryn Eglwys church seems to have been placed in the area of a third. These were the temporary retreats of the inhabitants in time of war, or sudden invasions: here they placed their women, their children, and cattle, under strong garrison; or perhaps a whole clan or nation might withdraw into them, till the retreat of the enemy, who could never subsist long in a country, where all the provisions were in this manner secured. It is also equally cer∣tain, that the inhabitants themselves could not remain here for any long space, as most of these fastnesses are destitute of water.

DESCEND, and finding the usual ford of the Dee to Corwen im∣passable, get again into the Ruthin road, on a common marked with Tumuli, the frequent signs of slaughter. These appear to me to have been the graves of the slain in some skirmish which the Welsh had with the English, about the year 1255; when Llewelyn ap Gryffyd, collecting all his power, recovered the inland part of North Wales, and all Merioneddshire, from the usurpation of Henry III.†.

PASS near the house of Rûg. This place is memorable for the treacherous surprizal of Gryffyd ap Conan, king of Wales, soon af∣ter his victory at Carno, in the year 1077; having been enveigled hither by the treason of one Muriawn Goch. The mount (in all likelihood originally Roman) on which the castelet stood, is still

to be seen in the garden. Notwithstanding his eminent success, he fell into a long captivity, being here betrayed into the hands of Hugh Lupus earl of Chester, and Hugh Belesme earl of Shrews∣bury, and was conveyed to the castle of Chester, where he endured a twelve years imprisonment. At length he was released by the bravery of a young man of these parts, Kynwric Hîr; who, com∣ing to Chester under pretence of buying necessaries, took an op∣portunity, while the keepers were a feasting, to carry away his prince, loaden with irons, on his back, to a place of security.

IN after-times, this place became the property of Owen Bro∣gyntyn, natural son of Madog ap Mereddydd, a prince of Powys. Such was the merit of Brogyntyn, that he shared his father's in∣heritance equal with his legitimate brethren. His dagger, cu∣riously wrought, is, I am told, still preserved in the house. By the marriage of Margaret Wenn, daughter and heiress of Jevan ap Howel, a descendant of Brogyntyn, with Pyers Salusbury, of Bachym∣byd†, were derived the Salusburies of Rûg; a name existing in the male line till the present century.

I MAY mention here, as a sequel to the life of Owen Glyndwr, that on his attainder, Henry IV. sold the lordship of Glyndwrdwy to Robert Salusbury‡, of Rûg.

CROSS the Dee, on a very handsome bridge of six arches, from which the river shews itself to vast advantage, above and below, in form of two extensive channels, bordered by trees, and ferti∣lizing a verdant tract of meadow.

REACH Corwen, whose church and small town, seated beneath a

vast rock at the foot of the Berwyn hills, form a picturesque point of view, from various parts of the preceding ride.

Corwen is celebrated for being the great rendezvous of the Welsh forces under Owen Gwynedd, who from hence put a stop to the invasion of Henry II. in the year 1165. The place of en∣campment is marked, as I am told, by a rampart of earth, above the church southward; and by the marks of the sites of abundance of tents from thence to the village of Cynwyd.

THE church is built in form of a cross. Within is the tomb of one of its vicars, Jorwerth Sulien. His figure, holding a cha∣lice in his hand, is represented as low as his breast, over which the inscription, "Hie jacet Jorwerth Sulien, Vicarius de Corvaen, ora pro eo," is continued. The whole is a very elegant piece of engraving, upon the coffin-lid, I fear not old enough to make it the tomb of St. Julien, archbishop of St. David; the godliest man and greatest clerke in all Wales†: yet that saint has his well here, and is patron of the church.

ON the south side of the church wall is cut a very rude cross, which is shewn to strangers as the sword of Owen Glyndwr. A most singular cross in the church-yard merits attention: the shast is let into a flat stone, and that again is supported by four or five rude stones, as if the whole had been formed in imitation of, and in veneration of the sacred Cromlehs of very early time.

A MONUMENT of our superstition remains in the Carreg y Big yn y fach Newlyd, a pointed rude stone, which stands near the porch. We are told that all attempts to build the church in any other place, were frustrated by the influence of certain adverse

powers, till the founders, warned in vision, were directed to the spot where this pillar stood.

IN the church-yard is a building, founded by William Eyton, of Plâs Warren, in Shropshire; who, in 1709, left by will a sum for the support of six widows of clergy of the county of Merioneth only, and for the erecting six houses for them to live in. In con∣sequence, this building was finished, and lands, to the present amount of sixty pounds a year, bought, which is equally divided among the widows resident here.

LEAVE Corwen, and return as far as the bridge on the way I came. The vast Berwyn mountains are the eastern boundary of this beautiful vale. Their highest tops are Cader Fronwen, or The White Breast, and Cader Ferwyn. On the first is a great heap of stones, brought from some distant part, with great toil, up the steep ascent; and in their middle is an erect pillar. Of him, whose ambition climbed this height for a monument, we are left in ignorance. Under their summit is said to run an artificial road, called Ffordd Helen, or Helen's Way; a lady, of whose labors I shall soon have occasion to speak further.

ON these hills, particularly about Cader Fronwen, is found the Rubus Chamaemorus, Cloud Berries, or Knot Berries. Llwyd says, that the Welsh call it Mwyar Berwyn, Mora Montis Berwyn. They are frequently used for the making of tarts; and the Swedes and Norwegians reckon the berries to be excellent antiscorbutics, and preserve great quantities in autumn, to make tarts. The Laplanders bruise and eat them as a delicious food, in the milk of rein-deer; and to preserve them through the winter, bury

them in snow, and at the return of spring, find them as fresh as when first gathered. I have seen them in the Highlands of Scotland, brought to table as a desert.

REACH Cynwyd, a small village, formerly noted for the courts kept here by the great men of the neighborhood, to settle the boundaries of their several clames on the wastes and commons, and to take cognizances of the encroachment; but they have been long discontinued, and the records destroyed.

VISIT from this place Rhaider Cynwyd, or the fall of Cynwyd, which finely finishes the end of the dingle, that extends about half a mile from the village. The water of the river Trystion bursts from the sides of the hill, through deep and narrow chasms, from rock to rock, which are overgrown with wood. The rude and antient stocks, that hang in many parts over the precipices, add much to this picturesque scene; which is still improved by the little mill, and its inhabitants, in this sequestered bottom.

PURSUE the journey to Bala. Go by the little church of Llangar. Observe somewhat farther on the left, in a field called Caer Bont, a small circular entrenchment, consisting of a foss and rampart, with two entrances, meant probably as a guard to this pass. My fellow-traveller, the reverend Mr. Lloyd, informed me, that in another tour he had ascended a hill, above this place, called Y Foel, on whose summit was a circular coronet, of rude pebbly stones, none above three feet in height; with an entrance to the east, or rising sun. The diameter of the circle is ten yards. Within was a circular cell, about six feet in diameter, sunk a very little below the surface; and about a hundred yards distance,

facing this, are the reliques of a great Carnedd, surrounded by large stones. The whole of this formed a place of worship among the antient Britons, and probably was surrounded with a grove. But what I have to say on the subject of Druidism, is re∣served till I reach Anglesea, its principal seat.

PROCEED to Llandrillo, a village with a church dedicated to St. Trillo. It is seated on the torrent Keidio, at the mouth of a great glen, which extends upwards of two miles, embosomed in the Berwyn mountains, and leads to the noted pass through them, called Milter Gerrig, into the county of Montgomery.

AT about a mile distance from Llandrillo, I again crossed the Dee, at Pont Gilan, a bridge of two arches, over a deep and black water. Beyond this spot, the valley acquires new beauties, espe∣cially on the right. The valley here contracts greatly: the road runs at the foot of a brow, of a stupendous height, covered with venerable oaks, which have kept their stubborn station, amidst the rudest of rocks, which every now and then shew their grey and broken fronts, amidst the deep verdure of the foliage of trees, which so strangely find nutriment amongst them. The growth of the oak, in forcing its root downward, frequently rends thse vast strata, whose fragments often appear scattered at the base, of most amazing sizes. The whole scenery requires the pencil of a Sal∣vator Rosa: and here our young artists would find a fit place to study the manner of that great painter of wild nature.

A LITTLE beyond the extremity of this romantic part, in an opening on the right, stand the church and village of Llan-Dder∣fel: the first was dedicated to St. Derfel Gadarn, and was re∣markable for a vast wooden image of the saint, the subject of

much superstition in ancient times. The Welsh had a prophecy, that it should set a whole forest on fire. Whether to complete it, or whether to take away from the people the cause of idolatry, I cannot say; but it was brought to London in the year 1538, and was used as part of the fuel which consumed poor frier Forest to ashes, in Smithfield, for denying the king's supremacy. This un∣happy man was hanged in chains round his middle to a gallows, over which was placed this inscription, allusive to our image:

David Darvel Gutheren, As sayth the Welshman, Fetched outlawes out of Hell.

Now is he come with spere and sheld, In harnes to burne in Smithfeld, For in Wales he may not dwel.

And Foreest the freer. That obstinate lyer, That wylfully shal be dead.

In his contumacye, The gospel doeth deny, The kyng to be supreme heade.

THE prophecy was fulfilled, the image burnt, and the Forest consumed, to the great content of the lord mayor, the dukes of Suffolk and Norfolk, the lord admiral, and lord privy seal, and di∣vers others of the nobility, who honored this auto de fe with their presence†; but unfortunately, the frier not having the insensi∣bility

of our wooden saint, on the touch of the flames shewed the natural horrors at approach of an agonizing death, and payed very little respect to the arguments of the pious Latimer, who was placed opposite to the sufferer, in a pulpit, to preach him into a sense of the crime of differing in opinion with his sovereign in re∣ligious matters; for which the prelate himself suffered in a suc∣ceeding reign. Forest thought fit to deny that Henry was head of the church; and Latimer would force that honor upon Mary, who chose to cede it to the Pope.

OPPOSITE to this church is Llandderfel bridge, of four arches. At some distance from it, the vale almost closes; and at Kalettur finishes nobly with a lofty wooded eminence, above which soars the vast mafs of the Arennig mountains, notwithstanding they ap∣pear immediately after to be very remote. And I here stop a mo∣ment, to recommend to the traveller, who does not chuse pre∣cisely to pursue my steps, to follow the course of the Dee from Bangor, through the delicious tract it waters from thence to Llangollen, to follow it through Glyndwrdwy to Corwen, and thence, through the matchless vale of Edeirneon, to this spot, where, for a small space, it passes through a flat, an unpleasant contrast to the preceding ride.

ON the left lies Rhiwaedog, or The Bloody Brow, noted for a battle between Llowarch Hên and the Saxons, in which he lost Cynddelw, the last of his numerous sons. A spot not far from hence, called Pabell Llowarch Hên, or the tent of that monarch, is supposed to have been the place where he rested the night after the battle, and where he finished that pathetic elegy, in which he laments the loss of all his sons. In it he directs the last to de∣fend

the brow of that hill, indifferent to the fate of the only survivor.

CYNDDELW, cadw dithew y Rhiu Arr a ddêl yma heddiw Cubeb am un mab nyd gwiu.

CYNDDELW, defend thou the brow of yonder hill. Let the event of the day be what it-will: when there is but one son left, it is vain to be over-fond of him.

THE house and estate of Rhiwaedog is now owned by Mr. Dolben, descended by his mother from the Llwyds, the very antient possessors. Eineon ap Ithel, of this place, a valiant ancestor of his, articled with John duke of Lancaster, in 1394, to attend him for a year in his expedition to Guyen, with one mam at arms and one archer; for which the duke rewarded him with twenty marks, issuing out of his manor of Halton†.

PASS by the village and church of Llanvawr, and cross the tor∣rent Troweryn, beneath Rhiwlas, the antient seat of the Prices. In the house are the portraits of some of the family: among others, that of William Price, esq member for the county in the long parlement, but soon displaced for his adherence to the king.

REACH Bala, a small town in the parish of Llanyekil, noted for its vast trade in woollen stockings, and its great markets every Saturday morning, when from two to five hundred pounds worth are sold each day, according to the demand. Round the place, women and children are in full employ, knitting along the roads; and mixed with them Herculean figures appear, assisting their om∣phales

in this effeminate employ. During winter the females, through love of society, often assemble at one another's houses to knit; sit round a fire, and listen to some old tale, or to some an∣tient song, or the sound of a harp; and this is called Cymmorth Gwau, or, the knitting assembly.

MUCH of the wool is bought at the great fairs at Llanrwst, in Denbighshire.

CLOSE to the south-east end of the town, is a great artificial mount, called Tommen y Bala, in the summer time usually covered in a picturesque manner with knitters, of both sexes, and all ages. From the summit is a fine view of Llyn-tegid, and the adjacent mountains. On the right appear the two Arennigs, Vawr and Vach; beyond the farther end, soar the lofty Arans, with their two heads, Aran Mowddwy and Penllyn; and beyond all, the great Cader Idris closes the view.

THIS mount appears to have been Roman, and placed here, with a castelet on its summit, to secure the pass towards the sea, and keep our mountaneers in subjection. The Welsh, in after time, took advantage of this, as well as other works of the same nature.

THE town is of a very regular form: the principal street very spacious, and the lesser fall into it at right angles. I will not deny, but that its origin might have been Roman.

THE mounts form a chain. I have observed one within sight of this, on the mountain road to Ruthin, which is called Tommen y Castell; Caer Crwyni is a small entrenchment, not remote from it, overlooking the vale of Edeirnion; the mount in the garden of Rûg is another; a third, much more considerable, lies within

[figure]

VIEW FROM TOMMEN Y BALA.

sight of this, on the road to Gwyddelwern; and farther on, in the parish of Bettws, is a fourth, which goes under the usual name of Tommen y Castell.

Bala takes its name from its vicinity to the place where a river discharges itself from a lake. Balloch in the Erse language signi∣fies the same. I know little of its antient history, any more than it seems to have been dependent on the castle of Harlech; and that, in the reign of Edward II. it was committed to the care of Finian de Stanedon, constable of that castle; and in the time of Edward III. his great general, Walter de Manni, was rewarded with the fee-farm of Bala and Harlech, and was made sheriff of this county for life†. I may add incidentally, that Edward I. gave one Hugo de Turbervill liberty of hunting through Meirio∣nithshire all kinds of wild beasts‡, while probably the subdued natives were only his Chasseurs.

Bala Lake, Pimble Mere, or Llyn-tegid, lies at a small distance from the town; and is a fine expanse of water, near four miles long, and twelve hundred yards broad in the widest place: the deepest part is opposite Bryn Golen, where it is forty-six yards deep, with three yards of mud; the shores gravelly: the bounda∣ries are easy slopes, well cultivated, and varied with woods. In stormy weather, its billows run very high, and incroach greatly on the north-east end, where, within memory of man, numbers of acres have been lost. It rises sometimes nine feet, and rains and

winds jointly contribute to make it overflow the fair vale of Edeirnion.

ITS fish are, pike, perch, trout, a few roach, and abundance of eels; and shoals of that Alpine fish, the Gwyniaid, which spawn in December, and are taken in great numbers in spring, or summer. Pike have been caught here of twenty-five pounds weight, a trout of twenty-two, a perch of ten, and a gwyniaid of five. Sir Wat∣kin Williams Wynn clames the whole fishery of this noble lake. It had been the property of the abby of Basingwerk; for Owen de Brogynton made a grant to GOD, St. Mary, and the monks of that house, of

a certain water in Penthlinn, called Thlintegit, or Pembelmore, and all the pasture of the said land of Penthlinn.

This was witnessed by Reiner (who was bishop of St. Asaph from 1186 to 1224) and by Ithail, Owen's chaplain.

THE waters are discharged under Pont Mwnwgl y Llyn, a bridge of three arches. They seem inconsiderable in respect to the size of the streams which feed the lake; for the Dee does not make in dry seasons the figure I expected. Salmon come in plenty to this place, but neither do they trespass into the lake, and the gwyniaids very rarely into the river. Report says, that the Dee passes through the lake from end to end, without deigning to mix its waters; as the Rhone was fabled to serve the lake of Ge∣neva. But, in fact, the Dee does not assume its name, till it quits its parent.

NEAR the west side, close to the bridge, and just opposite to Tommen y Bala, stood another castelet; not so high, but of a more extensive form than that mount. It is now broke through by a

public road, but is very apparent on both sides. The mount, or keep, was on the lower, immediately above the river; and the vestiges of a wall are still evident. This was subservient to the same purposes as the others; for there must have been, from the nature of the ground, a travellable road on both sides of the lake. This I apprehend to have been the castle of Bala, which Llewelyn ap Jorwerth founded in 1202.

THERE is no river in England which has been so much cele∣brated by our poets, for its sanctity, as the Dee. Most countries had one, which they held in peculiar veneration. The Thessalians paid divine honors to their Paeneus, on account of its beauty: the Scythians worshipped their Ister, on account of its size: the Ger∣mans the Rhine, because it was the judge whether their offspring was legitimate; for the spurious sunk, the lawful floated†: and let me add to the list, the Ganges, out of whose waters no Indian of a certain sect would willingly yield his last. breath. Our river foretold events by the change of its channel‡; and it often seemed miracu∣lously to increase, without the usual intervention of rains; therefore, in all probability, derived its name, not from Ddu, or black, because its waters are not so, except in parts, by reason of the depth; nor from Dwy, two, because it does not appear to flow from any two particular fountains; but from Duw, divine, by reason of its wondrous attributes. Our original stock, the Gauls, deified foun∣tains, lakes, and rivers. They even had one, which in theirs (our

primitive tongue) bore the same name, and was called (Latinised) into Divona.

Salve fons ignote ortu, sacer, alme, perennis Vitree, glauce, profunde, sonore, opace. Salve urbis GENIUS, medico potabilis haustu, DIVONA celtarum lingua, sons addite divis

Giraldus, who travelled through our country in 1188, gives the first account of the prophetic quality of the Dee; and the notion was continued to many ages after his. Spencer introduces it among the rivers attendant on the marriage of the Thames and the Medway†:

And following Dee, which Britons long ygone Did call DIVINE, that doth by Chester tend.

BUT Draiton is still more particular, and adds many of its pre∣saging qualities, delivered down to him from the more antient times.

Again Dee's holiness began By his contracted front and sterner waves to show, That he had things to speak that profit them to know: A brook that was suppos'd much business to have seen, Which had an antient bound 'twixt Wales and England been, And noted was by both to be an ominous flood, That changing of his fords, the future ill or good Of either country told; of either's war or peace; The sickness or the health, the dearth or the increase‡

.

WELL, therefore, might the sacred rivers be called URBIS GENII; and that ours was as deserving as the best of them of that title, is evinced from the above. Finally, Milton, in the follow∣ing line, beautifully alludes to the interpreters of the presages among the Britons, the antient Druids, who dwelt upon its banks:

Nor yet where DEVA spreads her wizard fstream

.

IT was long before we got clear of these superstitions. They were very prevalent in the time of Gildas, in the sixth century, when our ancestors strongly retained the idolatry of the Druids among their Christian rites: and, notwithstanding the fulmination of many a monarch†, it kept its ground; and hydromancy still remains practised among us; of which I shall have occasion to speak of more than one kind.

I FOUND that I could here, with greater ease than from any other place, digress to Kerrig y Druidion; a parish a few miles to the north, in the county of Denbigh, noted for certain Druidical remains, which gave name to the place. After a dreary ride, I found myself disappointed; these sacred reliques having been profanely carried away, and converted into a wall. It is therefore from the annotator on Cambden‡, and the drawings preserved by him among the Sebright MSS. that I must form my description.

THE largest was a fine specimen of the British Kist vaen, or stone chest. It consisted of one stone at top, placed inclining to the north, and was, when measured by Mr. Llwyd, ten feet long, supported by a stone on each side about seven feet long, and near

two and a half broad. Under one end was a stone, three feet long; at the other, one of the length of two feet. The hollow beneath was only seven feet long, three and a half broad, and only two and a half high; which sufficiently shews, that these mo∣numents had not been the cells of Druids; their uses, therefore, must: have been sepulchral, according to the conjecture of Doctor Borlase. The antient natives of our isle did not always burn their dead. Skeletons have been discovered in similar Kist vaens, at full length: in such as this, they might lie commodiously, with all the parade of arms, often buried with them. Around this, was a circle of stones, inclosing an area of about forty paces in diameter; and the precinct might be formed with the intent of keeping people at a respectable distance from the remains, per∣haps of some mighty chieftain. This monument went by the name of Karchar Kynric Rwth; not that it ever was used for that purpose originally; but there is a tradition, that in aftertimes, a little tyrant of that name, in the neighborhood, was wont to cram those who offended him, into the hollow of these stones; which might serve for the purposes of torment as well as the little ease in the tower of London, or the iron cages of the Bastille.

THE other Kist vaen was nearly similar to the first; but no mention is made of the circle of stones: probably they were taken away before Mr. Llwyd visited the place.

AT Giler, in this parish, was born that upright and able judge; Robert Price, esq baron of the exchequer, and finally justice of the common pleas. His famous speech in the house of com∣mons, against the grant of the great Welsh lordships to the earl of Portland, will ever testify his love to his country. His speedy

promotion by king William, do equal credit to his majesty, and Mr. Price; since the former, howsoever grievous to him might be the opposition to his will, yet no consideration could induce him to permit his subjects to lose the benefit of a magistrate ca∣pable and honest, as he knew our countryman to be.

RETURN to Bala, and continue my journey on the south side of the lake, a most beautiful ride. Pass by Llanyckil church, dedi∣cated to St. Beuno; and see, on the opposite side, Llangower, de∣dicated to St. Gwawr, mother of the Cambrian bard Llowarch Hên. Beneath flows Avon Gwawr, the only feed of the lake on that side.

Go by Glan y Llyn, an old house, near the water edge; which, as well as the following, had been the property of the Vaughans.

LEAVE on the right another antient seat, Caer Gai, placed on an eminence. Cambden says, it was a castle, built by one Caius, a Roman; the Britons ascribe it to Gai, foster-brother to king Ar∣thur. It probably was Roman, for multitudes of coins have been found in different parts of the neighborhood; and it is certain, that it had been a fortress to defend this pass, for which it is well adapted, both by situation, and form of the hill.

I PROCEEDED about two miles farther, to visit another, seated a mile from the Dolgelleu road, on the summit of a high rock, which bears the name of Castell Corndochon, the origin of which we are equally ignorant of. Two sides of the rock are precipitous. In the front of the castle is cut a deep foss: the castle consisted of an oblong tower, rounded at the extremity; and its measure within is forty-three feet by twenty-two. Behind that, and joined to it by a wall, are the ruins of a square tower; this lies in the main

body of the fortress, whose form, as Cambden observes, inclines to oval. This had been very considerable; was built with mortar, made of gravel and sea shells; and was faced with free-stone, squared, and well cut.

I RETURNED towards Caer Gai; and, not far from thence, to the village and church of Llan-uwchllyn. In the last is the figure of an armed man, with a conic helmet, and mail muffler round his chin and neck: on his breast is a wolf's head, and on his belly another; and in the intervening space, three roses. The first are the arms of Ririd Vlaidd; the others of Kynedda Wledig, or, The Warlike, a Cumbrian prince, whose sons (after their father had been defeated by the Saxons, in the sixth century) retired, and possessed themselves of these parts of Wales: and from Mei∣rion, a grandson of his, is said to be given the name of Meirionith to this shire. Ririd was lord of Pen-Llyn, which signifies the head of the lake, and forms one of the hundreds of Meirionithshire. It had also its castle, which probably was that of Corndochon. Around the margin of the tomb is a mutilated inscription, which, as far as I could discover, run thus: Hic jacet Johannes ap * * * * ap Madoc ap J—eth, cujus animae pr—etur. Deus amen. anno. D^•i MCCC. V. 88.

CLOSE by this village runs Avon-y-Llan, Avon Llew, or Amlêw. The last rises from two springs, and falls into the former. Those who chuse to derive the Dee from its double origin, may fix on these: but I met with a third, at the farthest corner of the lake, arising from the neighborhood of the lofty Aran, to which Spencer gives the honor of forming that celebrated river, I suppose after running through the lake, unmixed with the waters. The poet

makes the foot of that mighty mountain the place of education of our renowned prince, Arthur; who, on his birth, being deli∣vered to a fairy knight, is by him instantly conveyed to an antient hero,

To be upbrought in gentle thews and martial might.

IT is evident that Spencer, who was deeply read in all the ro∣mance of his romantic days, had heard the tradition of Caer Gai, and its old inhabitant, Gai's father, to whom he chuses to give the more classical name of Timon; for so prince Arthur is made to name his foster-father.

Unto old Timon he me brought bylive, Old Timon, who in youthful years had been▪ In warlike feats the expertest man alive, And is the wisest now on earth, I ween: His dwelling is low in valley green, Under the foot of Rauran mossie hore, From whence the river Dee, as silver clean, His tumbling billows rolls, with gentle rore: There all his days he train'd me up in virtuous lore

.

THIS honored stream is now known by the name of Avon Twrch; is a fierce mountain torrent, precipitating itself from the Aran; and crosses a road from whence I first begin my journey among the Alps of our country, and ascend from hence, then sink into very deep bottoms, bounded on each side by fields of such steepness, as to put the inhabitants to great difficulties in the cul∣tivation. Woods, especially of birch, vary the scene. On the right,

tower the vast hills of Aran; or rather, two heads, arising from one base.

ARRIVE at the foot of Bwlch y Groes, or the pass of The Cross, one of the most terrible in North Wales. The height is gained by going up an exceeding steep and narrow zig-zag path: the pass itself is a dreary heathy flat, on which I suppose the cross stood, to excite the thanksgiving of travellers, for having so well accomplished their arduous journey. The descent on the other side, is much greater, and very tedious, into the long and narrow vale of Mowddwy. It is seven or eight miles long; and so contracted, as scarcely to admit a meadow at the bottom. Its boundaries are vast hills, generally very verdant, and fine sheep walks; but one on the left exhibits a horrible front, being so steep, as to balance between precipice and slope: it is red and naked, and too steep to admit of vegetation; and a slide from its summit would be as fatal as a fall from a perpendicular rock. In one place on the right, the mountains open, and furnish a gap to give sight to another picturesque and strange view, the rugged and wild summit of Aran Mowddwy, which soars above with tre∣mendous majesty.

THERE is a beauty in this vale, which is not frequent in others of these mountanous countries. The inclosures are all divided by excellent quickset hedges, and run far up the sides of the hills, in places so steep, that the common traveller would scarcely find footing. Numbers of little groves are interspersed; and the hills above them shew a fine turf to the top, where the bog and heath commence, which give shelter to multitudes of red grous, and a few black. But their consequences to these parts are infinitely

greater, in being the beds of fuel to all the inhabitants. The turberies are placed very remote from their dwellings; and the turf, or peat, is gotten with great difficulty. The roads from the brows of the mountains, in general, are too steep even for a horse; the men therefore carry up on their backs, a light sledge, fill it with a very considerable load, and drag it, by means of a rope placed over their breast, to the brink of the slope; then go before, and draw it down, still preceding, and guiding its mo∣tions, which at times have been so violent, as to overturn and draw along with it the master, to the hazard of his life, and not without considerable bodily hurt.

AFTER riding some time along the bottom of the vale, pass by the village and church of Llan y Mowddwy; the last is dedicated to St. Tydecho, one of our most capital saints. His legend† is written in verse, by Dafydd Llwyd ap Llewelyn ap Gryffydd, lord of Mathafarn; a person who had a great hand in bringing in Henry VII, by feeding his countrymen with prophecies, that one of them was to deliver Wales from the English yoke, by which means thousands of them were induced to rise, under Sir Rhys ap Thomas, and join Henry, then earl of Richmond, at Milford.

THIS illustrious bard informs us, that Tydecho had been an ab∣bot in Armorica, and came over here in the time of king Arthur;

but after the death of that hero, when the Saxons over-ran most of the kingdom, the saint retired, and led here a most austere life, lying on the bare stones, and wearing a shirt of hair: yet he employed his time usefully, was a tiller of the ground, and kept hospitality. Malgwyn Gwynedd, then a youth, took offence at the saint, and seized his oxen; but wild stags were seen the next day, performing their office, and a grey wolf harrowing after them. Malgwyn, enraged at this, brought his milk-white dogs to chace the deer, while he sat on the blue stone, to enjoy the di∣version; but when he attempted to rise, he found his breech im∣moveably fixed to the rock, so that he was obliged to beg pardon of the saint, who, on proper reparation, was so kind as to free him from his aukward pain.

So far legend. That St. Tydecho might have lived, and that Malgwyn Gwynedd did live a prince of our country, I make no doubt; and that the former did receive from the prince the pri∣vileges it once enjoyed, of sanctuary for man and beast, is equally probable: every offender, however criminal, met with protection here. Legend says, that it was to endure for a hundred ages; but, blind to futurity! the reformation was not foreseen. This place was also exempted from all fighting, burning, and killing; nor was it permitted to affront any of the inhabitants, without making the most ample reparation.

THE lands of Tydecho were also freed from mortuaries, clames, oppression, and that great duty, which most places were subject to, the Gobr Merched, the penalty of incontinence; which the saint, in tenderness to the possible frailty of his flock, wisely took care to get it exempted from.

ABOUT four or five miles farther, I reached Dinas y Mowydwy, seated on the plain of an eminence, at the junction of three vales, beneath the rock Craig y Dinas; whose peat paths I now survey with horror, reflecting on a frolick of my younger days, in climbing to its summit, to enjoy the pleasure of darting down again in one of the peat sledges. The foot of this eminence is watered by the Kerris and the Dyfi. The last, which retains its name till lost in the sea at Aberdyfi, rises at the bottom of the rude rock Craig Llyn Dyfi, under Aran Mowddwy. It abounds with salmon, which are hunted in the night, by an animated, but illicit chace, by spear∣men, who are directed to the fish by lighted whisps of straw.

THIS Mowddwy, notwithstanding it is dignified with the name of Dinas, or city, consists but of one street, strait and broad, with houses ill according with its title; but it still preserves the in∣signia of power, the stocks, and whipping-post, the vag-vawr, or great fetter, the mace, and standard measure. It is likewise the capital of an extensive lordship, under the rule of my worthy cousin, John Mytton, esquire. He derives it from William, or Wil∣c••cke, as he is commonly called, fourth son of Gryffyd ap Gwen∣wynwyn, lord of Powis. His grand-daughter and sole heir mar∣ried Sir Hugh de Burgh, son of the famous Hugh, justiciary of England. His son, Sir John, left four daughters, married into the houses of Newport, Leighton, Lingen, and Mytton; Alianor, the fourth daughter, having given her hand, and this seignory, to Thomas Mytton, ancestor of the present lord.

THE powers of this capital over a district, which comprehends this large parish, and seven out of the eight townships of that of Mallwyd, are considerable. The corporation consists of a mayor,

aldermen, recorder, and several burgesses. The mayor tries crimi∣nals; but, as the late worthy magistrate, a very honest smith, told me, that, for some years past, they have not adventured to whip; the stocks, or confinement in the vag-vawr, is the utmost severity they have exerted: but then they retain the exclusive power of licensing ale-houses in their district, and are likewise justices of the peace as far as the limits of their little reign.

THE recorder (in absence of the lord) tries all matters of pro∣perty, not exceeding forty shillings; and the attornies, whose fees do not exceed half a crown, are chosen from the lettered part of the community, or those who can read.

I WAS accommodated with entertainment at the manor-house, from whence I took a delightful walk of about two miles, along the vale, on the banks of the Dyvi. The valley expands, and the hills sink in height, towards the west. After passing the Dyfi, cross a bridge over the deep and still water of the Klywêdog, black as ink, passing sluggishly through a darksome chasm, into open day.

REACH Mallwyd, remarkable for the situation of the altar, in the middle of the church; which Doctor Davies, author of the dictionary, then incumbent, in defiance of the orders of archbi∣shop Laud, removed again from its imaginary superstitious site at the east end.

ONE of the beautiful yew trees in the church-yard, is extremely well worth notice. It is a sort of forest of vast trees, issuing from one stem, forming a most extensive shade, and magnificent ap∣pearance. Another reason for planting these trees in church-yards, besides those usually assigned, was a custom in old times,

upon Palme Sunday, to make this the substitute of the tree, from which that Sunday took its name; to bless on that day the boughs; also to burn some of them to ashes; and with those the priest, on the following Ash-Wednesday, signed the people on the forehead, saying.

Memento, homo! quod pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris.

And of the branches, so blessed, it was customary to stick some in the fields, in rogation week, or at the times of processions.

RETURN to Dinas y Mowddwy. On the road was informed of the place, not far from hence, where Lewis Owen, vice-chamber∣lain of North Wales, and baron of the exchequer of North Wales, was cruelly murdered in the year 1555, by a set of banditti, with which this country was over-run. After the wars of the houses of York and Lancaster, multitudes of felons and outlaws inhabited this country; and established in these parts, for a great length of time, from those unhappy days, a race of profligates, who conti∣nued to rob, burn, and murder, in large bands, in defiance of the civil power; and would steal and drive whole herds of cattle, in mid-day, from one county to another, with the utmost impunity. To put a stop to their ravages, a commission was granted to John Wynn ap Meredydd, of Gwedyr, and this gentleman, in order to settle the peace of the country, and to punish all offenders against its government. In pursuance of their orders, they raised a body of stout men, and on a Christmas-Eve seized above four score out∣laws and felons, on whom they held a jail delivery, and punished them according to their deserts. Among them were the two sons of a woman, who very earnestly applied to Owen for the pardon

of one: he refused; when the mother, in a rage, told him (baring her neck) These yellow breasts have given suck to these, who shall wash their hands in your blood. Revenge was determined by the surviving villains. They watched their opportunity, when he was passing through these parts from Montgomeryshire assizes, to way-lay him, in the thick woods of Mowddwy, at a place now called, from the deed, Llydiart y Barwn; where they had cut down seve∣ral long trees, to cross the road, and impede the passage. They then discharged on him a shower of arrows; one of which stick∣ing in his face, he took out, and broke. After this, they attacked him with bills and javelins, and left him slain, with above thirty wounds. His son-in-law, John Llwyd, of Ceisgwyn, defended him to the last; but his cowardly attendants fled on the first onset. His death gave peace to the country; for most rigorous justice ensued; and the whole nest of banditti was extirpated, many by the hand of justice; and the rest fled, never to return.

THE traditions of the country respecting these banditti, are still extremely strong. I was told that they were so feared, that travellers did not dare to go the common road to Shrewsbury, but passed over the summits of the mountains, to avoid their haunts. The inhabitants placed scythes in the chimneys of their houses, to prevent the felons coming down to surprize them in the night; some of which are to be seen to this day. This race was distin∣guished by the titles Gwyllied y Dugoed, and Gwilliaid Cochion Mowddwy, i. e. The Banditti of the Black Wood, and The red-headed Banditti of Mowddwy.

LEAVE Dinas, and take the road towards Dolgelleu. Pass by some deserted lead mines; which, as yet, have never been worked

with success. I may here mention an earth, which this place is noted for, a bluish ochre, which the shepherds wet, and pound in a mortar, then form into balls, and use in marking their sheep. An old proverb of the three things which Mowddwy wishes to send out of the country, shews their long knowlege of it.

O Fowddy ddu ni ddaw, dim allan A ellir i rwystraw, Oad tri pheth helaeth hylaw Dyn atgas, NOD GLAS, a gwlaw.

ABOUT three miles from Dinas, leave on the left the vast sheep farm of Pennant-higi: a deep bottom, environed on three sides by vast mountains, forming a noble theatre. This whole country abounds in sheep and cattle; and the wool is manufactured in all parts into flannel and stockings.

ASCEND a steep hill, into the pass Bwlch Oer-ddyrws; and the country beyond suddenly assumes a new face. Before us is a vast extent of dreary slope, bounded by vast rocky mountains; among which, Cader Idris soars pre-eminent.

THIS pass is noted for being one of the three places, in which were assembled, six years after the wars of Glyndwr, all the great men of certain districts, in order to enforce the observation of justice by their own weight, without any other legal sanction. This, perhaps, was occasioned by the merciless laws enacted against the Welsh by Henry IV. At each of these places, they en∣tered into a compact to cause justice to be done for all wrongs

inflicted, before and after the wars, but not during that turbulent period. Every one was to have his goods, or land, which had been forced from him, restored without law-suit; and any goods detained after this, were to be deemed as stolen: or if his lord sold them, he was fined ten pounds, and the goods, or their va∣lue, to the owner. If the refractory person was hanged, or died a natural death, the demand lay good against the wife, heirs, or executors: but if they or she denied the demand, the plaintiff must procure his compurgators, viz. six persons with him, to swear to the right of his clame; but (like the English, in cases of jury) the defendant had a right to challenge one of the six; and another was to be provided in his stead.

AFTER this, follow various regulations for restoring the go∣vernment of the country in general; and several laws relative to waifs and estrays, vagrants, bail, recovery of debts, manslaughter, thefts, duty of officers, &c. The code concludes with valuation of several goods and chattels, for which satisfaction was to be made. For example, a horse and mare, on the oath of the owner and two neighbors, were valued at ten shillings; a foal at twenty pence; an ox at a mark; a cow at ten shillings; the hire of an ox, and the milk of a cow, were also valued; an ewe was esteemed at sixteen pence, her wool at four pence, her milk at two pence, and her lamb at eight pence.

As a proof of the high value of arms, and that we had few manufactures of that kind, a two-handed sword was valued at ten shillings, a one-handed at six shillings and eight pence, and a steel buckler at two shillings and eight pence: but, what is very

singular; a bow, which themselves could make, was valued at sixteen pence, and an arrow at six pence.

To all these laws, no penalty was annexed for the breach; ex∣cept the forfeiture of the benefit of the compact, which, in those unsettled times, was probably sufficient, as it left the party unsup∣ported and friendless.

DESCEND from hence, along very bad stoney roads, to Dol∣gelleu; every entrance to which is barred by a turnpike, in imi∣tation of other places; and every approach mended for a short space, by help of the scanty tolls. The town is small; the streets disposed in a most irregular manner; but the situation is in a beautiful vale, fertile, well wooded, and embellished with num∣bers of pretty seats, and watered by the river Onion; over which, on account of its floods, is a bridge of several arches. The town takes its name from its being placed in a dale abundant in hazels. It has nothing in it remarkable but the church, which, notwith∣standing it is pew-less, is a good building. Within is the monu∣ment of Meiric Vychan ap Ynyr Vychan, of the neighboring house of Nanney, fifth in descent from prince Cadwgan, son of Bleyddyn ap Cynvyn, who resided there, and in whose posterity it continues to this time; He is armed in a close mail helmet and neck-guard, sword in hand, and with a short mantle over the rest of his armour.

Cader Idris rises immediately above the town, and is generally the object of the traveller's attention. I skirted the mountain for about two miles, left on the right the small lake of Llyn Gwernan, and began the ascent along a narrow steep horse-way, perhaps the highest road in Britain, being a common passage even for loaden

horses, into Llan-vibangel-y-Pennent, a vale on the other side. On gaining the brow of the hill, I found it to be a very extensive pasture of coarse grass, mixed with a little bog. The hill slopes from hence upwards: the steeper part to the highest peak, or the Pen yr Cader, grows more and more rocky: the approach to the summit extremely so, and covered with huge fragments of disco∣lored rocks, very rugged, and cemented by a semivitrified mat∣ter, which gives them a very vulcanic look, added to their dis∣joined, adventitious appearance. I met with, on my ascent, quantities of pumice, of the same cellular kind with the toadstone of Derbyshire, but of a green color. The day proved so wet and misty, that I lost the enjoyment of the great view from the summit. I could only see that the spot I was on was a rude ag∣gregate of strangely disordered masses. I could at intervals per∣ceive a stupendous precipice on one side, where the hill recedes inwards, forming a sort of theatre, with a lake at the bottom; yet very high, in comparison of the base of the mountain. On the other side, at a nearer distance, I saw Craig Cay, a great rock, with a lake beneath, lodged in a deep hollow; possibly the crater of an antient Vulcano. This is so excellently expressed by the ad∣mirable pencil of my kinsman, Mr. Wilson, that I shall not at∣tempt the description.

IN descending from the Cader; I kept on the edge of the greater precipice, till I came near the Cyfrwy, another peak. The whole space, for a considerable way, was covered with loose stones, in the form of a stream, sloping from the precipitous side. Multi∣tudes of them were columnar, but not jointed, square, or penta∣gonal; none erect, but lying very disorderly, in all directions.

Some appeared hanging down the face of the precipice; the ends of others were peeping out at a vast depth beneath me, which shewed the great thickness of the stream. I wish the day had been more favorable; but I hope another traveller will surround the whole, and make a more satisfactory relation of this moun∣tain, than I have been able to do.

IN respect to the heights of this mountain, and those of Aran Benllyn, and the Arrenig Vawr, I am enabled to give a very exact account, by the assistance of the ingenious Mr. Meredith Hughes, of Bala; who assures me, that the Pen y Gader is nine hundred and fifty yards higher than the green near Dolgelleu; Aran Benllyn, seven hundred and forty above Llyn-tegid; and the Ar∣renig, only twenty yards short of the Aran; that the fall from the lake to Dolgelleu-Green, is one hundred and eighty yards; so that the real difference of height between the Cader and the Aran, is only thirty yards.

AFTER recovering the fatigue of this journey, I began another, in order to encircle the vast base of the mountain. I took the same road as I did before; and continued my ride beneath Tyrrau Mawr, one of the points of Cader Idris, the highest rock I ever rode under. Beyond, on the right, are the two pools called Llynian Cregenan; and not far distant, are some remains of circles of upright stones, with many carns; a vast stone, raised erect on the top of a neighboring rock; and several maeni hirion, or rude upright columns.

AT some distance beyond these, near the river Kregennan, I saw the remains of Llys Bradwen, the court or palace of Ednowain, chief of one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, either in the

reign of Gryffydd ap Cynan, or soon after. The reliques are about thirty yards square: the entrance about seven feet wide, with a large upright stone on each side, by way of door-case: the walls with large stones, uncemented by any mortar: in short, the structure of this palace shews the very low state of architecture in those times: it may be paralleled only by the artless fabrick of a cattle house.

Ednyfed ap Aaren, a descendant of this great man, had the ho∣nor of entertaining Owen Glyndwr, in one of his sad reverses of fortune; and is said to have concealed him from the pursuit of his enemies, in the parish of Llan Gelynln, in a cave, to this day called Ogof Owain.

I MUST not lead the reader into a belief, that every habitation, of these early times, were equal in magnificence to that of Ednowain ap Bradwen. Those of inferior gentry were formed of wattles, like Indian wigwams, or Highland hovels; without gar∣dens or orchard, and formed for removal from place to place, for the sake of new pasture, or a greater plenty of game. The fur∣niture was correspondent; there were neither tables, nor cloths, nor napkins; but this is less wonderful, since we find, that even so late as the time of Edward II. straw was used in the royal apartment†. Notwithstanding this, the utmost hospitality was preserved: every house was open, even to the poorest person. When a stranger entered, his arms were taken from him, and layed by; and, after the scriptural custom, water was brought to

wash his feet. The fare was simple; the meal did not consist of an elegant variety, but of numbers of things put together in a large dish: the bread was thin oat-cakes, such as are common in our mountanous parts at this time. The family waited on the guests, and never touched any thing till they had done, when it took up with what was left. Music, and the free conversation of the young women, formed the amusements of the time; for jealousy was unknown among us. Bands of young men, who knew no profession but that of arms, often entered the houses, and were welcome guests; for they were considered as the volun∣tary defenders of the liberties of their country. They mixed with the female part of the family, joined their voices to the melody of the harp, and consumed the day with the most animated festi∣vity. At length, sunk into repose, not under rich testers, or on downy beds, but along the sides of the room, on a thin covering of dried reeds, placed round the great fire, which was placed in the centre, they lay down promiscuously, covered only by a coarse home-made cloth, called Brychan, or plaid, the same with the more antient Bracha; and kept one another warm, by lying close together; or should one side lose its genial heat, they turn about, and give the chilly side to the fire.

SOME vein of the antient minstrelsie is still to be met with in these mountanous countries. Numbers of persons, of both sexes, assemble, and sit around the harp, singing alternately pennylls, or stanzas of antient or modern poetry. The young people usually begin the night with dancing, and when they are tired, sit down,

and assume this species of relaxation. Oftentimes, like the mo∣dern Improvisitore of Italy, they will sing extempore verses. A person conversant in this art, will produce a pennyll apposite to the last which was sung: the subjects produce a great deal of mirth; for they are sometimes jocular, at others satyrical, and many amorous. They will continue singing without intermission, and never repeat the same stanza; for that would occasion the loss of the honor of being held first of the song. Like nightin∣gales, they support the contest throughout the night: Certant in∣ter se, palamque animosa contentio—victa morte finit saepe vitam, spiritu prius deficiente quam cantu, may almost be added. The au∣dience usually call for the tune: sometimes only a few can sing to it; and in many cases the whole company: but when a party of capital singers assemble, they rarely call for a tune; for it is indifferent to them, what tune the harper plays. Pa∣rishes often contend against parishes; and every hill is vocal with the chorus.

CONTINUE the ride, as before, between high mountains, in a narrow glen. Quit the narrow pass, and go along a good road, formed on the sides of the hills, with a fine slope from it to the sea, at this time strangely mottled with black and green, varied by the light through the broken clouds. The road now passes between verdant and smooth hills, the great sheep walks of the country; they are round at their tops, and covered with flocks, which yield the materials for the neighboring manufactures. From a place called Allt-Lwyd, have a very full view of the flat called Towyn Meirionydd, a mixture of meadow land and black turbery, watered by the Dysynni, which falls into the sea a few

miles lower. On one side is the village and church of Tywyn, or Towyn. The rectory is an impropriation in the bishop of Lich∣field: the vicarage formerly belonged to the nunnery of Barking, in Essex, now in the patronage of the bishop of Bangor. I neg∣lected visiting this place; but believe my trouble would not have been thrown away; for I find, among Mr. Llwyd's papers, the drawing of the sepulchral effigies of a churchman, another of a warrior, and two rude pillars, one seven feet high, with the figure of the cross, and an inscription on each side, in old characters. Another column, marked likewise with a cross, but inscribed with letters of a different form, is drawn in the same collection, from one in the church-yard of Llanvihangel y Traetheu, in this county.

FROM the place where I made this digression, I descended a sleep path through fields; and, crossing the river, dined on a great stone beneath the vast rock Craig y Deryn, or The Rock of Birds, so called from the numbers of corvorants, rock pigeons, and hawks, which breed on it. At the foot is a prodigious stream of stones, which extend some hundreds of yards from the bottom of the rock, and is formed by the continual lapse of fragments from it. Here the Towyn is contracted into a fertile vale, which extends about two miles further. Near its end is a long and high rock, narrow on the top. Here stood the castle of Teberri, which extended lengthways over the whole surface of the summit, and was a fortress of great strength and extent. The most complete apartment was thirty-six feet broad, and was cut out of the rock on two sides; for much of it is hollowed. In some parts, the

precipices, skirted by a wall, formed the defence. The remain∣ing walls are well built: the stones squared: the mortar, shells, and gravel, but at present very rotten. The whole of this place is so overgrown with bushes, as to render the survey very diffi∣cult. It lies in the parish of Llan vi hangel y Pennant, and is said to have been once defended by a Coch o'r Pennant, or The Red, of that place.

THIS probably was the castle Bere belonging to our last Llewelyn, which was taken, not long before the final conquest of Wales, by William de Valence, earl of Pembroke. This seems to have been likewise the same which was committed by Edward I. to the custody of Robert Fitzwalter, who had, at the same time, the liberty of hunting all kinds of wild beasts in this county†. It is fit to mention this, as there was another strong fortress in Cardiganshire, of a similar name.

RETURN about half a mile, and ride several miles along the pretty vale of Tal y Llyn; very narrow, but consisting of fine mea∣dows, bounded by lofty verdant mountains, very steeply sloped. Went by Llyn y Myngil, a beautiful lake, about a mile long, which so far fills the valley, as to leave only a narrow road on one side. Its termination is very picturesque; for it contracts gradually into the form of a river, and rushes through a good stone arch into a narrow pass, having on one side the church, on the other a few cottages, mixed with trees. The church, and that of Llanvehan∣gel y Pennant, are chapels to Towyn‡.

ADJACENT to this valley, at a place called Llwyn Dôol Ithel, in the year 1684, was found, in digging turf about three yards deep, a coffin, made of deal, about seven feet long, carved and gilt at both ends. Two skeletons, supposed of different sexes, were found in it, placed with the head of the one parallel to the feet of the other; the bones were moist; and tough, and of an uncom∣mon size, the thigh bones being twenty-seven inches long. Within a yard of the coffin, were found two other skeletons, of the same dimensions with the former, layed on the bare clay; and within two roods of them, a grave, with a skeleton of the usual size. Along the graves and coffin were layed hazel rods, with the bark on, and so tough, as to be flexible†. The high preservation of these rods, and the toughness of the bones, were owing to the bituminous quality of the turbery in which they were deposited. The rods were placed for some superstitious purpose, perhaps to avert the power of witchcraft, since a double hazel-nut, in some parts of the Highlands of Scotland, is to this day supposed to have that virtue.

A FEW miles beyond Tal y Llyn church, the hills almost meet at their bottoms, and change their aspect. No verdure now is to be seen, but a general appearance of rude and savage nature. The sides are broken into a thousand crags; some spiring and sharp pointed; but the greater part project forward, and impend in such a manner, as to render the apprehension of their fall tre∣mendous. A few bushes grow among them; but the dusky color

of them, as well as the rocks, only served to add horror to the scene.

ONE of the precipices is called Pen y Delyn, from some resem∣blance it has to a harp. Another is styled Llam y Lladron, or The Thieves Leap, from a tradition that thieves were brought there, and thrown down. I have no doubt but that such a punishment might have been inflicted from this Welsh Tarpeian, by order of an arbitrary lord; but we formerly very rarely used capital punish∣ments, for any crime; not but the gallows was in use for theft, but fines were accepted in almost all instances, even in cases of murder; which gave rise to private revenge, and brought on a train of endless feuds and bloodshed.

ON the left, is the rugged height of Cader Idris, pass near a small lake, called Llyn y tri Graienyn, or of the three grains; which are three vast rocks, the ruins of the neighboring mountain, which some time or other had fallen into the water. These, say the peasants, were the three grains which had fallen into the shoe of the great Idris, which he threw out here, as soon as he felt them hurting his foot.

PASS over Bwlch Coch, and, after descending a very bad road, again reach Dolgelleu; from whence I visited Nanney, the antient seat of the antient family of the Nanneys, now of the Vaughans. The way to it is a continual ascent of two miles; so perhaps it is the highest situation of any gentleman's house in Britain. The estate is covered with fine timber, which clothe all the sides of the dingles for many miles. On the road side is a venerable oak, in its last stage

of decay, and pierced by age into the form of a gothic arch; yet its present girth is twenty-seven feet and a half. The name is very classical, Derwen Ceubren yr Ellyll, the hollow oak, the haunt of daemons. How often has not warm fancy seen the fairy tribe revel round its trunk! or may not the visionary eye have seen the Hamadryad burst from the bark of its coeval tree?

ABOVE Nanney is a high rock, with the top incircled with a dike of loose stones. This had been a British post, the station, perhaps, of some tyrant, it being called Moel Orthrwm, or the hill of oppression.

THE park of Nanney is remarkable for its very small, but very excellent venison. I have before mentioned the ruins of the house of Howel Sele, within this park, and related his unfortunate history.

RETURN through Dolgelleu; and about a mile beyond, on a rising spot, have a beautiful view of three vales, finely bounded by hills, and embellished with gentlemen's houses; finely watered by the junction of the Onion and the Maw, or Mowdach. I was diverted from taking the direct road to Barmouth, by the great deference I always found reason to pay to the judgement of a gentleman, who, a few years ago, honored our country with his remarks†, and has made a particular euloge on the cascades of Glyn-Maw. Let me add, that the consideration of ending this little excursion at the hospitable house of Mr. Garnons, of Rhiw Goch was another spur to my design.

CROSS the bridge of Llan Elltyd. Below is a fine tract of mea∣dow, wretchedly deformed by the necessity of digging into them for turf, the fuel of the country. The tide flows within a small distance of this place; and on the banks I saw a small sloop, ready to be launched. On the left is the church of Llan-Elltyd: on the right, in a rich flat, stand the remains of the abbey of Cymmer. Part of the church is still to be seen, and shews its an∣tient grandeur. At the east end are three lofty, but very narrow windows, pointed at top; and over them three lesser, mantled in a great and gloomy thicket of ivy. The great hall, and part of the abbot's lodgings, now form a farm-house.

THIS had been an abbey of Cistercians, founded (not by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, as has been supposed, who only confirmed the dona∣tions, as prince of Wales) but by the two princes Meredydd and Gryffydd, the sons of Conan and Howel, the son of Gryffydd, about the year 1198. In the charter of Llewelyn, in 1209, is mention of their benefactions, of his own, and of the boundaries of the abbey lands; which shew it had been founded by other persons. This charter is most ample, over rivers, lakes, and sea; birds, and wild beasts and tame; over all mountains, woods, things moveable and immoveable; and over all things under and over the lands so granted; and gives liberty of digging for metals and hidden treasures: all which was done in presence of Esau, then lord abbot, and others, religious of the house †. At the dissolution, its re∣venues

were valued at fifty-one pounds thirteen shillings and six pence, by Dugdale, at fifty-eight pounds fifteen shillings and four pence, by Speed. The only charge on it in 1553, was six pounds thirteen shillings and four pence, paid to Lewis ap Thomas, sup∣posed to have been the last abbot‡.

Uchtred ap Edwyn built a castle here, which was taken and overthrown, about 1116, by Eneon ap Cadwgan, and Gryffyd ap Meredydd ap Bleyddyn§; and its place is not at present even known.

CONTINUE my journey on a bank high above the Maw. The valley grows soon very contracted; the sides of the hills finely covered with wood, almost to the top; and the river assumes the form of a torrent, rolling over a rocky channel.

ABOUT five or six miles from Dolgelleu, at Dôol y Melynllyn, I turned out of the road, meeting the furious course of the Gamlan, that falls, with short interruptions, from rock to rock, for a very considerable space, amidst the woods and bushes, till it reaches a lofty precipice, from whence it precipitates into a black pool, shaded by trees (which gives to the cataract the name of Rhaia∣der-ddu, or The Black.) A noble birch, placed above, finely finishes this picturesque scene.

CROSS Pont ar Gamlan, below which the river falls into the Maw. Not far from thence, the junction of the Maw and Eden forms another fine scene. A lofty hill, cloathed with woods, ends here, and forms the forks of the rivers, correspondent to the steeps

through which these torrents roll, and exhibits a view like those of the shady wilds of America.

BEGIN a considerable ascent, and find on the top some groves of handsome oaks: before me, a naked country. Descend, through some steep fields, to another set of wooded dingles, that wind along the bottoms, and join with the former. In various parts, Cader Idris appears in full majesty over these sloping forests, and gives a magnificent finishing to the prospect. Soon after my ar∣rival among the woods, another cascade astonishes me with its grandeur. From the situation I was in, it formed a vast fall, bounded on one side by broken ledges of rocks, on the other by a lofty precipice, with trees here and there growing out of its mural front. On the summit of each part, oaks and birch form distinct little groves, and give it a sort of character distinct from our other cataracts. After the water reaches the bottom of the deep concavity, it rushes in a narrow rocky chasm, of a very great depth, over which is an admirable wooden Alpine bridge; and the whole, for a considerable way, awefully canopied by trees. This is called Pistill y Kain, or the spout of the river Kain. At no great distance from it, is another (for nature is here profuse in her beauties of this kind). The Maw, for some space, runs along a deep glen, finished by a bare mountain, seen through vistos, formed by the woods on each side. The water tumbles down a series of ledges, of different heights, into a very black and sullen pool, from which it re-assumes its violence, and is lost among the far extending woods.

IN the nakedness of winter, there is a spot, far above, from whence these two cataracts may be seen at once, exhibiting through

the trees a piece of scenery, as uncommon as it is grand. After emerging from these romantic depths, I reach a long extent of woodless tract, the vast parish of Trawsfynnydd, walled in on all sides by lofty rugged mountains, of various forms.

IN a farm-house, not far from this road to Rhiw Goch, I visited Bedh Porus, or the grave of Porus. On a flat stone over it, is the following inscription, copied somewhat differently by Mr. Llwyd, in the Britannia:

PORVS HIO IN TVMVLO IACIT, HOMO PIANVS FVIT.

SOME have supposed the P to have been an R, and the word to have been CHRISTIANUS FUIT; but, whatsoever the let∣ter in dispute might have been, there certainly never was room between HOMO and the next word, for the letters CHRIS.

NOT far from it, in another field, is a great upright stone, called Llech Idris. There is some silly legend about it, concern∣ing the giant Idris; but it is no more than one of the monu∣mental columns, so frequent in Wales, and many other parts.

AFTER a short ride, see on a common, for the first time, the noted Sarn, or Llwybr Helen, the causeway or path of Helen; a road supposed to have been made through part of North Wales, by Helena, daughter of Eudda, or Octavius, and wife to the em∣peror Maximus†.

THIS road is now entirely covered with turf; but, by the rising of it, is in most parts very visible: beneath are the stones which

form it, and extend in all its course, to the breadth of eight yards. There are tumuli near it, in various places, it being very usual for the Romans to inter near their highways. Close to the part in question is one, in which were found five urns: the whole ma∣terials of it are composed of burnt earth and stones, with several fragments of bricks, which had been placed round the urns, to keep them from being crushed.

AFTER reposing a night at Rhiw Goch, adjacent to this part of the journey, I continued it a few miles to Castell Prysor, a very singular little fort, placed in a pass between the hills, on a natural round rock, appearing, at first sight, like the artificial mounts we had before observed. Around its summit had been the wall, whose remains are visible in several places; and in one is the ap∣pearance of a round tower: the facings are very regular, but the work destitute of mortar. Notwithstanding this, the castelet is probably Roman; for multitudes of coins and urns are found about it. The name explains the cause of the want of lime in the walls, Castell Prysor signifying a castle made in baste, so that there was not time to prepare the usual cement. Around its base are the foundations of several buildings, which were placed there to enjoy the protection of the place.

FROM hence I took the track towards Festiniog, and saw, by the road side, Llyn Rathllyn, a small lake, noted for a strange variety of perch, with a hunched back, and the lower part of the back-bone, near the tail, oddly distorted: in other respects, they re∣semble the common kind, which are equally numerous in this water. The same are found at Fablun, in Sweden.

NOT far from hence, within the inclosed country, I found a very fine Roman camp, most judiciously placed, in a situation over an extensive view of the country, partly level, partly inclin∣ing from it, and commanding a number of passes to die lesser posts of this mountanous tract. It is surrounded with a ditch and bank, on the last of which are the vestiges of a wall: near one end is a great mount of earth, broken and hollow in the middle, from the removal of the stones which composed the fort: round its base is a deep ditch. This camp is called Tomnen y Mur, or the mount within the wall. Coins and urns are as frequent about this place as the former. Sarn Helen runs into it at one end, and is continued to Rhyd yr Halen, in Festiniog parish, and by the side of Fannod Vawr, and over a farm called Cae Du, to Ffrydd y Dduallt, to the upper part of a farm called Croesor, at the upper end of Cwm Croesor, and through Cae Ddafydd, in Nanmor, and perhaps to Dinas Emrys. The branches are numerous: I cannot entertain a doubt but that one pointed, by Castell Dol Wyddelan, to Caer Hûn, or Conovium; and that by Pont Aber Glas Llyn, and y Gymwynas, or the work done in kindness, may be supposed to have been another, pointing to Segontium. I have before men∣tioned a Ffordd Helen, among the Berwyn hills; and let me add those recorded by the annotator on Cambden, in Llanbadarn Odyn, in Caerdiganshire; and from Brecknock to Neath, in Glamorganshire; which pass under the name of the same princess.

CLOSE by the road side, on the common, at a small distance from the camp, is an oval inclosure, about thirty-six yards long,

and twenty-seven wide in the middle, surrounded by a high mound of earth, but without a foss. There were two entrances, one op∣posite to the other; and near one end, a part seemed to have been divided off by a wall, whose foundations still remain.

I RETURNED out of the parish of Trawsfynnydd, along the beautiful road of the preceding day, till I reached Llan Elltyd, when I kept on the side of the hill, above the valley which leads to Barmouth. The ride is very picturesque; the vale wa∣tered by the Maw (known here only by the name of Avon, or The River) which widens as we advanced: the sides bounded by hills, chequered with woods. I found the little town of Barmouth, seated near the bottom of some high mountains, and the houses placed on the steep sides, one above another, in such a manner as to give the upper an opportunity of seeing down the chimneys of their next subjacent neighbors. The town is seated very near to the sea, at the mouth of the Maw, or Mawddoch; and takes its name of Barmouth, i. e. Aber Maw, or Mawddoch, from that circumstance. At high water, the tide forms here a bay, about a mile over, but the entrance hazardous, on account of the many sand-banks. This is the port of Meirio∣niddshire, but not so much frequented as it ought to be, by reason the inhabitants do not attempt commerce on a large scale, but vend their manufactures through the means of factors, who run away with much of the advantages which the natives might en∣joy; yet ships now and then come to fetch the webs, or flan∣nels; and I am informed, that a few years ago, forty thousand pounds worth have been exported in a year, and ten thousand

pounds worth of stockings. Many of the webs are sold into Spain, and from thence sent to South America.

IN a former visit to this place, my curiosity was excited to examine into the truth of a surprizing relation of a woman in the parish of Cylynin, who had fasted a most supernatural length of time. I took boat, had a most pleasant passage up the harbour, charmed with the beauty of the shores, intermixed with woods, verdant pastures, and corn fields. I landed, and, after a short walk, found, in a farm called Tydden Bach, the object of my excursion, Mary Thomas, who was boarded here, and kept with great humanity and neatness. She was of the age of forty-seven, of a good countenance, very pale, thin, but not so much emaciated as might be expected, from the strangeness of the circumstances I am going to relate; her eyes weak, her voice low, deprived of the use of her lower extremi∣ties, and quite bed-ridden; her pulse rather strong, her intel∣lects clear and sensible.

ON examining her, she informed me, that at the age of seven, she had some eruptions like the measles, which grew confluent and universal; and she became so fore, that she could not bear the left touch: she received some ease by the appli∣cation of a sheep's skin, just taken from the animal. After this, she was seized, at spring and fall, with swellings and in∣flammations, during which time she was confined to her bed; but in the intervals could walk about; and once went to Holywell, in hopes of cure.

WHEN she was about twenty-seven years of age, she was at∣tacked with the same complaint, but in a more violent man∣ner; and during two years and a half, remained insensible, and took no manner of nourishment, notwithstanding her friends forced open her mouth with a spoon, to get something down; but the moment the spoon was taken away, her teeth met, and closed with vast snapping and violence: during that time, she flung up vast quantities of blood.

SHE well remembers the return of her senses, and her know∣lege of every body about her. She thought she had slept but a night, and asked her mother whether she had given her any thing the day before, for she found herself very hungry. Meat was brought to her; but so far from being able to take any thing solid, she could scarcely swallow a spoonful of thin whey. From this, she continued seven years and a half without any food or liquid, excepting sufficient of the latter to moisten her lips. At the end of this period, she again fancied herself hungry, and desired an egg; of which she got down the quan∣tity of a nut kernel. About this time, she requested to receive the sacrament; which she did, by having a crum of bread steeped in the wine. After this, she takes for her daily sub∣sistence a bit of bread, weighing about two penny-weights seven grains, and drinks a wine glass of water: sometimes a spoonful of wine, but frequently abstains whole days from food and liquids. She sleeps very indifferently: the ordinary func∣tions of nature are very small, and very seldom performed. Her attendant told me, that her disposition of mind was mild; her temper even; that she was very religious, and very servent

in prayer: the natural effect of the state of her body, long un∣embarrassed with the grossness of food, and a constant aliena∣tion of thought from all worldly affairs.

THIS instance of the influence of disease (for such only can it be called) strange as it is, is not without parallel.

THE first is the case of a lady, a patient of the late doctor Gower, of Chelmsford, who was confined to her bed for ten years, during which time she had an extreme and constant aversion to all kinds of solid nourishment. She drank a pint of tea daily; and once in three or four days chewed, without swallowing, a few raisins of the sun and blanched almonds, about four or half a dozen of each: she seldom eat oftener than once a month, and then only a bit of dry bread, of the size of a nutmeg; but frequently abstained from food for many weeks together. This lady recovered, by means of constant medical regimen; so that she could walk two miles, without taking ei∣ther rest or refreshment.

I REFER the reader to the Tour in Scotland of 1769, for the extraordinary case of Katherine Macleod, of the county of Ross; and finally, shall mention that of Martha Taylor, of —, near Bakewell, Derbyshire, who abstained from food from De∣cember 22, 1669, for thirteen months, and took nothing the whole time, excepting a few drops of syrup, water and sugar or the juice of roasted raisins. She was also very religious; was much emaciated; her palms moist; her other evacuations very small†.

I SHALL now mention another singular personage, but less innocent, a native of the same parish with Mary Thomas. This was the noted astrologer, and ill-favored knave, Arise Evans, a character and species of impostor frequent in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. His figure is preserved in the Antiqua∣rian Repertory, and answers the description given of him by his great pupil, William Lilly, of having a broad forehead, beetle∣brows, thick shoulders, flat nose, full lips, a down look, black curling stiff hair, and splay foot. He was a deep student in the black art; and Lilly assures us, that he had most piercing judgement naturally upon a figure of theft, and many other questions, he ever met withal; was well versed in the nature of spirits; and had many times used the circular way of invocating. He then tells how his friend Evans, by means of the angel Salmon, brought to him a deed, which one of his customers had been wronged of, at the same time blowing down part of the house of the person in whose custody it was: and again, how, to satisfy the curiosity of lord Bothwel and Sir Kenelm Digby, who wanted to see a spirit, he liked to have lost his life, being carried over the Thames, and flung down near Battersea, by the spirits, whom he had vexed at the time of invocation, for want of making a due fumigation. These ridiculous impostures were the fashionable credulity of the times; and the greatest men were the dupes of these pretenders to occult science. To shew that Wales was fertile in geniuses of every kind, we must lay clame to the celebrated doctor John Dee, or Dû, who.

was born at Nant-y-Groes, Radnorshire†, and was sought after by the greatest princes in Europe. Ben. Johnson, in his excel∣lent comedy of The Alchemyst, for a time, gave almost as fatal a blow to the black art, as Quevedo did in Spain to chivalry; but, since avarice and curiosity are passions most difficult of conquest, it rose again with fresh vigor, and maintained its ground till the restoration‡.

ON my return to Barmouth, I proceeded for some time along the coast, among shifting sands. Pass near Kail Wart, by a stone, now serving as a foot bridge, on which was this inscrip∣tion: Hic jacet CALIXTUS Monedo Regi. There is no tradition of the place it was removed from.

ASCEND from the coast to Cors-y-gedol, the antient seat of the Vaughans, where I was entertained by William Vaughan, esquire, for some days, in the style of an antient baron. The woods near his house are extensive, but affected by the west winds in a very surprizing manner: the tops are shorn quite even, and the boughs so interwoven, as to form seemingly a close and al∣most impenetrable surface.

THERE are few places which abound more in British anti∣quities, than the environs of Cors-y-Gedol. I first visited Craig y Dinas, the summit of a hill, surrounded with a vast heap of stones, the ruins of a wall, which, in many parts, retain a re∣gular and even facing: this, and some others similar, are the first deviations from the rude ramparts of stone, and prior to the improvement of masonry by the use of mortar. Into this

is an oblique entrance, with stone facings on both sides; and near it are two ramparts of stones. The whole is on the steep extremity of the hill, near to which is a pass into the country.

ABOUT a mile farther, is Llyn Bodlyn, a small lake, beneath a lofty precipice, well stocked with char, which will take a bair, and afford good diversion to the angler. Llyn Cwm Howel is another lake in this neighborhood, noted for a race of trouts (which I have seen) with most deformed heads, thick, flatted, and toad shaped; and which, probably, might give rise to the fabled accounts of the monstrous species recorded by Giraldus.

AFTER passing by Llyn-Irddin, a small piece of water, on a plain, arrive amidst a wondrous group of Druidical antiquities. On the flat appear two circles. The first is about fifty-six feet in diameter, formed of piles of loose stones, with upright co∣lumns, placed at five yards distance from each other, in pairs, so as nearly to divide the circle into four parts. About thirty yards from this, is a lesser, with several upright stones among the smaller, but placed with less regularity. Design, not chance, certainly directed the founders of these circles in the disposition of the columnar stones; but I fear, when I come to speak more fully of them, the cause must remain unaccounted for, by reason of the remoteness of the time, and the mystery of the antient priesthood.

HALF a mile fouth of these, on the side of a hill, are two car∣nedds, of a most stupendous size, containing an uncommon as∣semblage of druidical customs, or religion, in form of Cromleh, Maen Hir, and Kist Vaen. Both are of an oblong form, and

composed of loose stones: the largest is fifty-five feet, long, and twelve high, in the middle. At the east end is a great Crom∣leh altar, composed of two sloping stones, one placed over the edge of the other, upon five flat upright stones, seven feet high in one part, and four feet ten in the lowest. About eight yards from this, is the upper stone of a Cromleh, lying flat on the carnedd, without the appearance of any other support.

ELEVEN yards farther, is another great heap of stones, and in it a large Cromleh, supported with upright stones. It is now converted into a retreat for a shepherd, who has placed stone seats within, and formed a chimney through the loose stones above. In the same carnedd, a little farther on, is another magnificent Cromleh, whose incumbent stone is twelve feet by nine; four vast columns, or maen hirion, three now fallen, and a third erect. The columns are from the height of ten feet four, to that of twelve feet eight; and each between four and five feet broad.

NORTH-WEST of these antiquities, on the top of a hill, is a strong post, called Castell Dinas Cortin, entrenched around, with an advanced work on one side. This, and Castell Craig y Dinas, were doubtlessly formed as defences to the sacred ground, the subject of the above description. I may add like∣wife another object of protection, of the same nature, which I met with on my return to Corsegedol, two great Carnedds, placed on small eminences, near to each other; and within one, the five square flags of a Kist vaen, the top being de∣stroyed. The place is most remarkable for the name, Bryn Cornyn JAU. The neighbors of this antiquity are fond of ren∣dering

it, The Hill of the Horns of JOVE. It more probably was a place of sacrifice before or after the chace, and derived its title from the horned deity Cernunnos, who was venerated by the Gauls, and applied to as a protector from the dangers attendant on the diversion† Both the Gauls and Britons had one com∣mon religion; so that Cernunnos might as reasonably be supposed to have a place here as in France.

THIS neighborhood also abounds with Cromlechs of very great size. I measured one, in a tenement called Bryn-y-Voel, which was sixteen feet four inches long, seven feet four broad, and twenty inches thick. It lay about two feet above the ground, supported by small stones, and was surrounded with a circle of loose stones. Most of the Cromlechs of these parts lie very near to the ground, and in that respect differ from those of other places. They lie likewife horizontally, which shews that their object was different, whatsoever it was.

THIS country is in the hundred of Ardudwy. The entrance into it from Trawsfynnydd is called Drws Ardudwy, or the door of Ardudwy, formed by nature through the sterile mountains, which separate the places. I was tempted to visit this noted pass, and found the horror of it far exceeding the most gloomy idea that could be conceived of it. The sides seemed to have been rent by some mighty convulsion into a thousand precipices, forming at their tops rows of shelves, which the peasants, com∣paring to the ranges in a dove cot, style Carreg y Klommenod, or the rock of the pigeons. The bottom of this passage is covered

with a deluge of stones, which have streamed from the sides; and along it is a narrow horse-path, on the slippery rock, formed by the removal of a few of the fragments, which, in other places, are disposed into form of most steep and hazardous flights of steps: and yet, as if the natural and artificial difficulties of these ways were not sufficient to terrify invaders, there are, in one place, the vestiges of a wall, which went across the pass, in which might have been the door which gave name to it.

ON my return, I visited an ordinary house, called Maes y Gar∣nedd, the birth place of the regicide colonel Jones; whose inso∣lence to the neighboring gentry is still spoken of, even to this day, with much warmth. Actuated by enthusiasm, he went every length that the congenial Cromwell dictated; and was a brave and successful officer in a cause, which, after a certain pe∣riod, was the result of ambition, and the foundation of tyranny.

FROM some of the adjacent heights of this ride, I had a full view beneath me (it being low water) of the long range of sand and gravel, which runs from this coast twenty-two miles into the sea. It is deservedly called Sarn Badrig, or, more properly, Bad-rhwyg, or Ship breaking Causeway, from the number of ships lost upon it. This shoal is dry at the ebb of spring-tides, and marked in storms by horrible breakers. Tradition says, that all this part of the sea had been a habitable hundred, called Cantréer Gwaelod, or The Lowland Hundred; and that it was overwhelmed by the sea, about the year 500, in the time of Gwyddno Go∣ronhir.

A SIMILAR accident happened, in some distant period, on the coast of Essex. The canons of St. Paul must be possessed of a

prebend, before they can become residentiaries; and the one usually given is, The Praebenda consumpta per mare, which lay on the coast of that county.

FROM Corsegedol, I pursued my journey towards Harlech; but, on the road, was tempted, by my constant fellow-traveller, the reverend Mr. John Lloyd, to make a small deviation to the right, to visit a near relation of his, who lived a few miles to our right, in his antient territories of Cwm Bychan. We approached it through Glyn Artro, a little valley, watered by a river of the same name, and prettily wooded. The view upwards was extremely pictu∣resque, of a conic rock, skirted by a sweet grove; and beyond soared the naked mountains, which bounded the object of our ride.

AFTER passing through the wood, and ascending Dinas Porch∣ellyn, had before us a wild horizon of rocks and rocky moun∣tains. Even these tracts, unfriendly as they seem to vegetation, had once been covered with venerable oaks; and there still re∣mained a few, between eight and nine feet in circumference. We went under their shade, above a rapid torrent, with a de∣lightful view before us of a true Alpine wooden bridge, and a small mill; and, a little farther, an antient arch, flung from rock to rock, giving passage over a still and black water, shaded by trees. Ford the river again near Llyn Sarph, or The Serpent's Hole. Wind up a rocky stair-case road, and arrive full in sight of Cwm Bychan, embosomed with rocks of magnificent height. After a short ride, high above a lake of the same name, descend, and reach the house of the venerable Evan Llwyd, who, with his ancestors, boast. of being lords of these rocks, at left since the

year 1100. This, and the fortified pass of Drws Ardudwy, were most probably occupied by the sons of Cadwgan, in their contests with the sons of Uchtryd ap Edwyn, whom they at last expelled the country.

The following, as it is the true descent of Mr. Evan Llwyd, and my fellow-traveller, who, being brother's children, are eighteenth in descent from Blyddyn ap Cynvyn, so it is a genuine copy of the form of a British pedegree:

Evan ap Edward, ap Richard, ap Edward, ap Humphrey, ap Edward, ap Dafydd, ap Robert, ap Howel, ap Dafydd, ap Meirig Llwyd o Nannau, ap Meirig Vychan, ap Ynyr Vychan, ap Ynyr, ap Meuric, ap Madog, ap Cadwgan, ap Bleddyn, ap Cynvyn, prince of North Wales and Powys.

I WAS introduced to the worthy representative of this long line, who gave me the most hospitable reception, and in the style of an antient Briton. He welcomed us with ale and po∣tent beer, to wash down the Coch yr Wden, or hung goat, and the cheese, compounded of the milk of cow and sheep. He likewise shewed us the antient family cup, made of a bull's scro∣tum, in which large libations had been made in days of yore. The family lay in their whole store of winter provisions, being inaccessible a great part of the season, by reason of snow. Here they have lived for many generations, without bettering or lessen∣ing their income; without noisy fame, but without any of its embittering attendants.

OF this house was the valiant Dai Llwyd, to whom is said to have been addressed the noted Welsh tune, Ffarwel DAI Llwyd, on occasion of his going with Jasper Tudor and Owen Lawgoch, to fight Risiart Frawdwr, or Richard the Traitor, by which name the Welsh stigmatized Richard the Third.

THE mansion is a true specimen of an antient seat of a gen∣tleman of Wales. The furniture rude: the most remarkable were the Cistie Styffylog, or the great oatmeal chests, which held the essential part of the provision.

THE territories dependent on the mansion, extend about four miles each way, and consist of a small tract of meadow, a pretty lake swarming with trout, a little wood, and very much rock; but the whole forms a most august scenery. The naked moun∣tains envelope his vale and lake, like an immense theatre. The meadows are divided by a small stream, and are bounded on one side by the lake; on the other, by his woods, which skirt the foot of the rocks, and through which the river runs, and beyond them tumbles from the heights, in a series of cataracts. He keeps his whole territory in his own hands; but distributes his hinds among the Havadwys, or summer dairy-houses, for the conveniency of attending his herds and flocks: he has fixed his heir on another part of his estates. His ambition once led him to attempt draining his lake, in order to extend his landed pro∣perty; but, alas! he gained only a few acres of rushes and reeds; so wisely bounded his desires, and saved a beautiful piece of water. He found on one side a stratum of fine white earth, about half a yard thick, which I knew was what mineralogists dignify with the name of Lac Lunae, and Agaricus Mineralis.

The Germans use it as an absorbent in dysenteries and malignant fevers; and it would prove a good manure.

STOOLS and roots of firs, of vast size, are frequently found near the lake. Mr. Llwyd found one, with the marks of fire on it, which he used to repair the Tyddyn y Traian, or jointure-house of his family; an ancient customary appendage to most of the Welsh houses of any note.

AMONG the mountains which guard the Cwm, is one named Carreg y Saeth, on whose verge is a great Maen Hîr, and Car∣nedd. Saeth signifies an arrow; so probably the antient sports∣men here took their stand, to watch the passing of the deer, which formerly abounded in these parts. Nor have they long been extinct; a person of the last generation informed my host, that he had seen eighteen at once, grazing in the meadow.

THE Welsh had several animals, which were the objects of the chace; such as, y Carw, or the stag; Kaid Wenyn, a swarm of bees; and y Gleisiad, or the salmon. Yr Arth, the bear; y Dringhedydd, climbing animals, I suppose wild cats, martins, and squirrels; and Ceiliog Coed, or cock of the wood. And the last division was, y Llwynog, the fox; Ysgyfarnog, the hare; and yr Ywrch, the roe. Some of the above come very improperly under our idea of hunting, yet were comprehended in the code of laws relative to the diversion, formed, as is supposed, by Gryffyd ap Cynan†.

I SUSPECT also, that the otter was an object of diversion; there

being a Cylch Dyfrgwm, or an annual payment, by the Welsh, for the prince's water dogs.

THE three first were Helfa Gyffredyn, or the common hunt. The stag, because he was the noblest animal of chace; and be∣cause every body, who came by at his death, before he was skinned, might clame a share in him. The next animals were, Helfa Gyfarthfa, or the animals which could be brought to bay, such as the bear, &c. which were hunted with hounds till they ascended a tree. The bird mentioned here, is the cock of the wood, whose nature it is to sit perched on a bough, where they will gaze till they are shot, as they were, in old times, by the bow, or cross-bow.

THE third division was Helfa Ddolef, or the shouting chace, because attended by the clamor of the sportsmen; and compre∣hended the fox, the hare, and the roe. The method of hunting was either with hounds, or grehounds, which they let slip at the animals, holding the dogs in leashes. No one was to slip his grehound when the hounds were in chace, unless he had a hound in the pack, on penalty of having the grehound ham-strung: neither was it allowed to kill any animal of chace on its form, or at rest, on pain of forfeiting his bow and arrow to the lord of the manor. When several grehounds, the property of different persons, were slipt at any animal, the person whose dog was nearest the beast, when last in sight, clamed the skin. A bitch was excepted, unless it was proved she was pregnant by a dog which had before won a skin.

EVERY person who carries a horn, must give a scientifical ac∣count of the nine objects of chace, or else he will be looked on as a pretender, and forfeit his horn. The same penalty at∣tends the Cynllafan, or leash; he is never again to wear it round his middle, on pain of forfeiture; but then he is suffered to wear it round his arm.

THE antient Welsh held the flesh of the stag, hare, wild boar, and the bear, to be the greatest delicacies among the beasts of chace.

THE prince had his Pencynwydd, or chief huntsman. He was the tenth officer of the court. He had for his own supper one dish of meat; and after it, three horns of mead, one from the king, another from the queen, the third from the steward of the houshold. He was never to swear, but by his horn and his leash. He had the third of the fines and heriots of all the other huntsmen; and likewise the same share of the amobr, on the marriage of any of their daughters. At a certain time of the year, he was to hunt for the king only: at other seasons, he was permitted to hunt for himself. His horn was that of an ox, of a pound value. He had in winter an ox's hide, to make leashes; in summer, a cow's, to cut into spatterdashes.

THE king had liberty of hunting wheresoever he pleased; but if a beast was hunted and killed on any gentleman's estate, and not followed and clamed by the huntsman that night, the owner of the land might convert it to his own use, but was to take good care of the dogs, and preserve the skin.

THE penalty of killing a tame stag of the king's, was a pound; and a certain fine, if it was a wild one, if it was killed between

a certain day in November and the feast of St. John, the va∣lue was sixty pence; but the fine for killing it, a hundred and eighty pence. A stag was also reckoned equivalent to an ox; a hind to a well grown cow; a roe to a goat; a wild sow to a tame sow; a badger had no value, because in some years it was measled; wolves and foxes, and other noxious animals, had no value, because every body was allowed to kill them; and there was none set upon a hare, for a very singular reason, because it was believed every other month to change its sex.

FROM Cwm Bychan, took the road to Harlech, a small and very poor town, remarkable only for its castle, which is seated on a lofty rock, facing the Irish sea, above an extensive marsh, once occupied by the water. This fortress was antiently called Twr Bronwen, from Bronwen or The White-necked, sister to Bran ap Llŷr, king of Britain. In after-times, it got the name of Caer Collwyn, from Collwyn ap Tango, one of the fifteen tribes o North Wales, and lord of Efionydd, Ardudwy, and part of Llŷn. His grand∣children flourished in the reign of Gryffydd ap Cynan. He resided some time in a square tower in the antient fortress, whose remains are very apparent; as are part of the old walls, which the more modern, in certain places are seen to rest on.

THE present castle was the work of Edward I. is a noble square building, with a round tower at each corner, and one on each side the entrance, with elegant turrets issuing out of the great rounders, like those of his other castles of Caernarvon and Conway. It was completed before the year 1283: at lest, I then

find, that a hundred pounds was the annual salary of Hugh de Wlonkeslow, the constable; but it was afterwards reduced; for it appears, that the annual fee was only twenty-six pounds thir∣teen shillings and four pence, and in some accounts fifty pounds, which was supposed to be for both constable and captain of the town. The whole garrison, at the same time, was twenty sol∣diers, whose annual pay amounted to a hundred and forty pounds†. The present constable is Evan Lloyd Vaughan, esq with a salary of fifty pounds a year, payable out of the revenues of North Wales. It was impregnable on the side next to the sea: on the other, it was protected by a prodigious foss, cut with vast expence and trouble in the hard rock.

THIS place was possessed, in 1468, by Dafydd ap Jevan ap Ei∣nion, a strong friend of the house of Lancaster, and distinguished as much by his valour, as his goodly personage, and great sta∣ture‡. He was besieged here by William Herbert, earl of Pem∣broke, after a march through the heart of our Alps, attended with incredible difficulties; for in some parts, the soldiers were obliged to climb; in others, to precipitate themselves down the rocks§; and at length invested a place, till that time deemed impregnable. Pembroke committed the care of the siege to his brother, Sir Richard, a hero equal in size and prowess to the Bri∣tish commandant. Sir Richard sent a summons of surrender; but Dafydd stoutly answered, that he had kept a castle in France

so long, that he made all the old women in Wales talk of him; and that he would keep this so long, that all the old women in France should talk of him. Famine probably subdued him: he yielded on honorable terms, and Richard engaged to save his life, by interceding with his cruel master, Edward IV. The king at first refused his request; when Herbert told him plainly, that his highness might take his life, instead of that of the Welch captain; or that he would assuredly replace Dafydd in the castle, and the king might send whom he pleased to take him out again. This prevaled; but Sir Richard received no other reward for his service.

Margaret of Anjou, the faithful and spirited queen of the meek Henry VI. found in this castle, in 1460, an asylum, after the un∣fortunate battle of Northampton. She first fled to Coventry, and from thence retired to this fortress†: after a short stay here, she went to Scotland, and, collecting her friends in the north of England, poured all her vengeance on her great enemy, duke of York, at the battle of Wakefield.

THE place more than once changed masters, during the last civil wars. It was well defended by major Hugh Pennant, till he was deserted by his, men. It was finally taken, in March 1647, by general Mytton, when Mr. William Owen was go∣vernor, and the whole garrison consisted but of twenty-eight men. It had the honor of surrendering on articles, and of being the last in North Wales which held out for the king.‡

[figure]

Torques

Edward I. formed the town into a borough, and conferred on it grants of certain lands, and other emoluments.

NEAR this place was found the celebrated piece of antiquity, on which the learned have thought sit to bestow the name of Torques. It is well described in Cambden, as a wreathed rod of gold, about four feet long, with three spiral furrows, with sharp intervening ridges running its whole length to the ends, which are plain truncated, and turn back like pot-hooks. Whether this was purely Roman, or whether it might not have been com∣mon to both nations, I will not dispute. The use was that of a baldric, to suspend gracefully the quiver of men of rank, which hung behind by means of the hook, and the golden wreath crossed the breast, and passed over the shoulder. Virgil, in his beautiful description of the exercises of the Trojan youth, expresses the manner in these frequently misconstrued lines:

Cornea bina ferunt praefixo hastilia ferro: Pars laeves numero pharetras, it pectore summo, Flexilis obtorti per collum circulus auri.

Each brandishing aloft a cornel spear. Some on their backs their burnish'd quivers bore, Hanging from wreaths of gold, which shone before†.

THE Torch, or Torques, worn by the Gauls and Britons, was a very different affair, a collar of gold, or other metal, worn round the neck. Our heroine Boadicia had a great one of that precious

metal; and Virdomarus wore round his neck another, fastened behind with hooks, which fell off when the conqueror cut off his head.

Illi virgatis jaculanti ex agmine braccis Torquis ab incisa decidit unca gula.

Manlius acquired the addition of Torquatus, from a Torques which he won from a Gaul, whom he slew in single combat, in sight of the army; and Publius Cornelius, after his slaughter of the Boii, took, among other spoils, not fewer than four thousand and seventy golden Torques†.

THEY were also in use among the Romans, who bestowed them as military rewards; and, as Pliny pretends, the golden on the auxiliaries, the silver on the citizens‡. They probably were made in several ways: I have seen a very beautiful one (I think at present in possession of the reverend Mr. Prescot, of Cambridge) composed of several links of silver wire, most elegantly twisted together: it was long enough to go twice round the neck, and had clasps, which fastened it on.

THE custom of wearing the Torques was continued from the more remote periods of Britain, to later times. Llewelyn, a a lord of Yale, was called Llewelyn aur Dorchog, Llewelyn with the golden torques, on that account; and the common proverb, Mi a dynna'r dorch a chwi, I will pluck the torques with you,

signifies, to this day, a hard struggle of a person before he would yield a victory.

FROM Harlech I ascended a very steep hill, and on my way observe several maen hirion, and circles formed of large common pebble-stones, and of different diameters; sometimes appears circle within circle; in other places, they intersect each other. I should have doubted whether they had not been the founda∣tions of Cytti'er Gwyddelod, or the cottages of the wood rangers, a sort of temporary hovels, erected for the purposes of hunting, by our remotest ancestors, had it not been for their inter∣sections. The learned Borlase gives instances of such, in the circles of Botallek†, which he supposes to have been formed for reli∣gious ceremonies; and that one rite might have been performed in one particular circle, and another again in a compartment al∣lotted for it by the superstition of Druidism. Clusters of circles were not peculiar to our island: baron Dahlberg‡ has given a plate of similar assemblages, near the town of Wexio, in Smaland, in Sweden, which are on a flat, at the foot of a vast sepulchral tumulus, with a high column, and great globe of stone on the summit. Some columnar stones, or maen hirion, appear in the ranges of stones composing the circles.

THE tumulus is called that of king Ingo: but since the three monarchs of that name were said to have been steady christians, and to have lived in the eleventh century, I do guess both tu∣mulus

and circles to have been of earlier date, and formed in honor 〈◊◊〉〈◊◊〉 pagan potentate; for the northern christendoms old, or 〈◊〉〈◊〉 of christianity, abolished all such customs.

I MUST observe, that this place is called Bon-leff Hir, or the loud shout or cry to battle. Possibly it had been a field of com∣bat, and a chieftain had fell here, for one of the maen hirion is of a distinguished size.

FROM hence the road is intolerably bad and stoney, till I reached Glyn, a house of my kinsman, Robert Godolphin Owen, esq seated in a romantic bottom, well wooded. This had been the residence of the antient family of the Wynnes, from whom it passed to the Owens, by the marriage of Sir Robert with the heiress of the place, in the last century.

PASS by the village of Llan Tegwyn, and near a small lake, filled with that beautiful aquatic, the Water Lilly. Somewhat farther is Llyn-Tegwyn, which well merits the name of Fair and Lovely, a lake about a mile round, whose waters are of a crystal∣line clearness; its margin full; its boundaries neat and clean. The narrow path we rode on, impends over it, and is cut out of a hill, whose sides are composed of shivering slate, starting out at an immense height above, threatening destruction: they were much enlivened by flocks of milk-white goats, which skiped along the points, and looked down on us with much un∣concern.

FROM one of the heights, a vast Alpine prospect appears in view. The stupendous mountains of Caernarvenshire, and those

of Merioneddshire, not much inferior, form a tremendous scenery, and rise divided into a multitude of craggy heads. The last are particularly barren, and appear quite naked, excepting where varied by a mossy verdure, or whitened by the lichen tartaricus. The highest summit of Snowdon, called y Wyddfa, soars pre-emi∣nent. From thence, the mountains gradually lower, to Lleyn, which stretches in view far to the west, and terminates on the point of Aberdaron. Descend into a deep glen, cloathed on each side with trees, with the Velyn-Rhyd, or Yellow Ford, at bottom; notwithstanding its name, a most inky stream; the fine cataract a little above, being most fitly styled Rhaiader-Du, or The Black.

AFTER a short ride, reach the village and chapel of Maen Twrog, dependent on the church of Festiniog, Near one end is a great upright stone, from which it takes the name. This stone is taken into the Welsh calendar, canonized by the name of St. Twrog. The place lies in the Tempe of this country, the vale of Tan y Bwlch, a narrow, but beautiful tract, about three or four miles long, divided by the small river Dwy'ryd, or The Two Fords, being formed by the Cynsael and another stream, which unite towards the upper ends. The vale is composed of rich meadows; the sides edged with groves; and barren preci∣pitous mountains close this gem, as it were, in a rugged case. Here is a very neat small inn, for the reception of travellers, who ought to think themselves much indebted to a nobleman, for the great improvement it received from his munificence.

ABOVE it is a house, embosomed with woods, most charmingly situated on the side of the hill. This seat, from the quick suc∣cession of owners by the fatal attachment to the bottle, has oc∣casioned many a moral reflection from the English traveller.

A heavy glutinous ale has charms enough to debauch the senses of the whole principality;

and, let me add, after a certain stage, the fiery dram is called in, to effect the destruction the former had begun; yet I trust that its charms do not fasci∣nate the senses of the WHOLE principality; but that, after a fair scrutiny, there may be found some corner free from the Baccha∣nalian rout.

THE river hereabouts widens into a good salmon fishery; and, after some space, falls into an arm of the sea, called Traeth Bach, or the little sands.

RIDE up the vale, and dismounting, meet the course of the Cynfael, which tumbles along the bottom of a deep time-worn chasm, sided with sharp and rugged rocks for a very considerable space, darkened by trees that overspread the whole, issuing both from the sides and margin. Near Festiniog is one cascade, re∣markably fine, consisting of three great falls, the lowest dropping into a deep pool, black, and over-shadowed by far impending rocks. Below, is a magnificent columnar rock, rising out of the torrent, and called Pulpit Hugh Llwyd Cynfael. Hugh lived in the time of James I. was supposed to have been a magician, and from thence to have delivered his nocturnal incantations; a place, fit indeed for the purpose as the pit of Acheron.

ABOUT a mile from the Cynfael, is another comfortable inn, which has often received me, after my toilsome expeditions.

Opposite to it lies Cwm Cwm̄orthin; a retreat much more seques∣tered, and much more difficult of access, than even Cwm-bychan. In my visit to it, I descended through woods, along a steep road, into a very deep, but narrow valley, which I crossed, and began a very hazardous and fatiguing ascent up the rocky front of a losty mountain: the path narrow and dangerous, and, I be∣lieve, very rarely attempted by horses. After the labor of a mile, reached this strange habitation of two farmers, in a hollow surrounded on three parts by the rudest of environs, and con∣taining a pretty lake, and two tenements, which yield only grass; so that, in case the inhabitants have any other wants, they must descend from their Cwm to get them supplied. The mountains which inclose it, are the Moel-wyn yr Hydd, and the Moel-wyn Gwyn, and others equally rude. High in the first is the lake Du-bach, which affords perch; and another, called Llyn Trwstyl∣lon; and opposite to the last, a third, called Llyn Conglog; all of which, after hard rains, form noble cataracts down the fronts of the hills. We preferred another way out of this singular place, and wound up a narrow path at the farthest end, on part of Molwyn y Hydd, in order to descend through Cwm Croesor; being then desirous of getting by the nearest road to Pont Aber Glâs Llyn. But in our descent we met with such narrowness of path, such short turnings, and horrible precipices, that our poor beasts, with much reason, trembled in every limb; and, in fact, had a wonderful escape in getting safe to the bottom. The traveller who chuses to follow our steps, will find a narrow grassy bottom in Cwm Croesor, with a few tenements: he will pass through a

pretty wood, and soon after find himself on the high road from Tan y Bwlch to Caernarvon.

IN this journey, I went from Festiniog on a less hazardous way. Not two miles from thence, on the road from Trawsfyn∣nydd to Yspytty, I fell again into Fford Helen, which is here quite bare, and exhibits the rude stones with which it was made.

NEAR it, at Rhyd yr Halen, on the right, are the remains of Beddau Gwyr Ardudwy, or the graves of the men of Ardudwy. These graves were about six feet long, marked at each end by two upright stones; but most of the stones are now removed. There are yet to be seen several circles of stones, the largest about fifty-two feet in diameter; a vast carnedd, with two up∣right stones placed on one part, as if to mark the entrance to the cell, which it probably incloses; and near it a lesser heap, and a small circle; all of which had been surrounded with a larger circle, now incomplete by the application of the materials to the making of walls. The tradition relating to these monuments, is classical; nearly parallel with the rape of the Sabines. The men of Ardudwy, to populate their country, made an inroad into the vale of Clwyd, and layed violent hands on the fair ladies of the land: they carried them in safety to this place, where they were overtaken by the warriors of the vale: a fierce battle ensued, and the men of Ardudwy all slain; but the ravishers had some how or other so gained the hearts of their fair prey, that, on their defeat, the ladies, rather than return home, rushed into an adja∣cent water, called, from the event, Llyn y Morwynion, or The Maiden's Lake, and there perished. That this had been the

scene of a bloody conflict, there is a probability: the graves and carnedds prove it; and the circles evince, that it was in the time when the ceremonies of druidism existed.

FROM hence I descended the long and tedious steep of Bwlch Carreg y Frân, into the narrow vale of Penmachno; and, after ascending another hill, turn to the right into the black and moory mountains, to visit Llyn Conwy, the source of the noted river of that name. It is a very large piece of water, most dismally si∣tuated among rock and bog, and the sides very irregularly in∣dented. It is placed the highest of any large piece of water I have met with in these parts. In it are three islands, one of which is the haunt of the black-back Gulls, during the breeding season. They are so exceedingly fierce in the defence of their young, that I knew of a man who was nearly drowned, in an at∣tempt to swim to their nests, being so violently beaten by the old birds, that he thought he escaped well, with the dreadful bruises he received on all the upper part of his body. The water issues out of the end of the lake, in form of a little rill; but in the course of a few miles, before it reaches Llanrwst, becomes a most: considerable river, by the addition of the various mountain streams.

DESCEND for two or three miles, and reach the village of Yspytty Jevan, or the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem; so styled from its having formed, in the then inhospitable country, an asylum and guard for travellers, under the protection of the knights who held the manor, and made its precincts a sanctuary. After the abolition of the order, this privelege became the bane of the neighborhood; for the place, thus exempted from

all jurisdiction, was converted into a den of thieves and mur∣derers, who ravaged the country far and wide with impunity, till the reign of Henry VII. when they were extirpated by the bravery and prudence of Meredydd ap Evan.

AFTER a very long interval, another charity succeeded, in the alms-houses for six poor men, founded in 1600, by captain Richard Vaughan, a poor knight of Windsor, and descended from the neighboring house of Pant Glâs.

IN the church are three alabaster figures. The first is the va∣liant Rhys Vawr ap Meredydd, of the house of Plâs Yolyn; to whom, at the battle of Bosworth, Henry VII. entrusted the stan∣dard of England, after the bearer, Sir William Brandon, was slain by Richard: a proper respect to the Welsh, who so highly fa∣vored the Lancastrian cause. The next is an ecclesiastic, his son, Robert ap Rhys, cross-bearer and chaplain to cardinal Wolsey: and the third Lowry, the wife of the great Rhys. I may add, that he left several sons, from whom were descended many familes, particularly those of Rhiwlas, Pant Glâs, Giler, and Voelas.

FROM Yspytty I made an excursion to Voelâs, about two miles distant, remarkable for a great column, with an inscription in memory of Llewelyn, prince of Wales, who was slain in the year 1021. Here is likewise a vast artificial mount, the site of a Welsh castelet, destroyed by Llewelyn the Great. Mr. Llwyd confesses the inscription to be very obscure. It is part in

Latin, part in Welsh. The last line says, Levelinus optimus prin∣ceps hic humatus; which, if meant of any of the actual princes of Wales, must intend Llewelyn ap Sitsyllt; he being the only one of the three of the name of Llewelyn, of whose place of interment we are ignorant.

TURN back, and again reach the river Conway. Enter CAERNARVONSHIRE, And, after a short ride, arrive at its celebrated falls, not very far from its junction with the Machno. The prospect is very ex∣traordinary, from the neighborhood of a fulling mill, where the channel of the rivers form a triangle of deep and doleful chasms, worn by the water through the live rock. Not far below, be∣gins the cataract, the most tremendous I ever saw, and whose roaring gives sufficient notice of its vicinity. The rocks which bound it are of a vast height, and approach very near to each other, and want the pleasing accompaniment of trees, attendant on most of our cascades. One fall is of very great height; and be∣neath that, full in view, is a succession of four lesser. The de∣scent is steep and dangerous, and not to be attempted but by those who have strength of body, and steadiness of head. When down, I found myself environed with naked precipices, faced with angular columnar rocks, pointing in a sloping direction towards the river, adding to the strangeness of the scenery.

DESCEND a steep hill, and arrive in Nant Conwy, or the vale of Conwy, after passing over Pont-or-Lleder; beneath which, the

river Lleder hastens to join thar which gives name to the valley, Observe, in the course of the Conwy, a deep, wide, and still wa∣ter, called Llyn yr Afange, or The Beavers Pool, from being, in old times, the haunt of those animals. Our ancestors also called them, with great propriety, Llost-Lydan, or the broad tailed ani∣mal. Their skin was in such esteem, as to be valued at a hun∣dred and twenty pence; while that of the martin took no more than twenty-four pence; an ermine, twelve; an otter, wolf, or fox, only twelve. They seem to have been the chief finery and luxury of the days of Hoel Dda.

THE vale gradually expands from this end, and extends about twenty miles, terminating at the town of Conway. It soon widens to about a mile in breadth, and improves in beauty, especially in the neighborhood of Llanrwst, where it is divided into the most beautiful meadows. The sides of the hills finely cultivated: on the western, the vast mountains of Snowdon rise in a majestic range. The eastern consists of low and broken hills, chequered with rich pasturage, corn fields, and groves. The river mean∣ders through the whole, and before it reaches Llanrwst, is of a considerable size.

VISIT the church of Bettws Wyrion Iddon, or the bead-house of the gran-children of Iddon. Within is the figure of Gruffydd ap Dafydd Goch, son to Dafydd Goch, natural son of Dafydd, bro∣ther to the last prince of Wales. He is in armour, recumbent, with this inscription: Hic jacet Grufud ap Davyd Goch, agnus DEI misere mei.

[figure]

DOLWYDDELAN CASTLE.

A LITTLE farther, pass by Pont y Pair, a most singular bridge, flung over the Llugwy, consisting of five arches, placed on the rude rocks, which form most durable piers. These rocks are precipitous, and in high floods exhibit to the passenger most awful cataracts below the bridge. The scenery beyond, of rocky mountains, fringed wich woods, is very striking.

THIS bridge was built on the following occasion: One Howel, a mason from Penllyn, having occasion, about the year 1468, to attend the Merionethshire assizes, then held at Conway, had his passage over the Lleder obstructed by floods. This determined him to remove to the spot, where he built a bridge, at his own expence, and received no other gratuity than what resulted from the spontaneous generosity of passengers. He afterwards moved to the Llugwy, and began that of Pont y Pair, but died before he completed his work.

I SOON left the bridge, and, after a steep ascent, arrive at Dolwyddelan castle, seated in a rocky valley, sprinkled over with stunted trees, and watered by the Lleder. The boundaries are rude and barren mountains; and, among others, the great bending mountain Scabod, often conspicuous from most distant places.

The castle is placed on a high rock, precipitous on one side, and insulated: it consists of two square towers; one forty feet by twenty-five; the other thirty-one by twenty. Each had for∣merly

three floors. The materials of this fortress are the shat∣tery stone of the country; yet well squared, the masonry good, and the mortar hard. The castle-yard lay between the towers.

THIS had been founded by some of our princes; but we are ignorant of its origin. There were very few castles in North Wales, before its conquest by the English. They were needless; for Nature created in our rocks and mountains, fortifications (un∣till our fatal divisions) quite impregnable. Had there been oc∣casion for artificial retreats, the wealth of our country could rea∣dily have supplied the means of erecting them. We had the ba∣lance of trade in our favor. This prevented our princes from ever making use of their third prerogative, that of coining. Our herds and flocks were the frequent resource of the English, and brought large sums into Wales. Witness the large sums of money we too frequently were obliged to pay, as purchasers of disgraceful peace. Besides, cash was far from being requisite, since, by our laws, every subject was bound to assist in building the royal castles, excepting the husbandmen belonging to the king†.

Jorwerth Drwndwn made this place his residence; and here is said to have been born his son, Llewelyn the Great‡, who began his reign in the time of Richard I. If Dolinchalan castle is, as I

suppose, the same with this, Gryffydd ap Tudor, in the reign of Edward I. had a fee of fifteen pounds as constable.

Meredydd ap Jevan, an ancestor of the Wynnes, of Gwedir, in the reign of Henry VII. purchased the lease of this castle, and the inclosures belonging to it, from the executors of Sir Ralph Berkenet; it having been excepted among the places granted by Richard III. and resumed by his successor†. Before that time, Hoel as Evan ap Rhys Gethin, a noted outlaw, resided here. As soon as it came into possession of Meredydd, he removed his habi∣tation in Evionedd, a hundred in the county, to this castle; giv∣ing this excellent reason:

I had rather fight with outlaws and thieves, than with my own blood and kindred: if I live in my own house in Evionedd, I must either kill mine own kinsmen, or be killed by them!

The feuds among the gentry in Evionedd, occasioned perpetual murders; and Nant-Conwy was filled with banditti.

THIS gentleman soon reformed the country: he established colonies of the most tall and able men he could procure; till at last they amounted to seven score tall bowmen, every one arrayed in a

jacket or armolet coate, a good steele cap, a short sword and dagger, together with his bow and arrowes; many of them alsoe had horses and chasing slaves, which were ready to answer the crie on all occasions‡

.

HE founded the strong house of Penamnaen, a mile distant from the castle. He removed the church, which before lay in a thicket, to a more open place, by way of security; for he never dared to quit his house, without leaving in it a strong guard; and another of twenty tall archers to attend him, whenever he went to church; besides a watchman, on a rock called Carreg y Big, to give notice of the approach of the banditti. He ended his useful life in 1525, and left behind him twenty-three legiti∣mate, and three natural children.

THE church had been an impropriation of the abby of Bedd∣kelert; is very small; and has in it a monument, commemorating such of the family who were buried here.

IN my return to Pont y Pair, digressed a little up the river Llugwy, to see a noted cascade, called Rhaiader y Wenol, or The Water-fall of the Swallow. The river runs along a strait stony channel, for a considerable way, amidst narrow meadows, bounded by majestic Alpine scenery; then falls into an amazing hollow. The bottom is difficult of access; but when arrived at, exhibits a wonderful scene of mountain and precipice, shaded with trees, which fringe the top, and start even from the fissures of the sides.

CROSS Pont y Pair, and go beneath a very lofty rock, cloathed with wood, called Carreg y Gwalch, or The Rock of the Faleon. Here was the retreat of a famous partizan of the house of Lan∣caster, called, Dafydd ap Shenkin, who lurked in a cave, still named, from him, Ogo Davyd ap Shenkin. The noblest oaks in

all Wales grew on this rock, within memory of man. I remem∣ber the stools of several, which proved that they were equal to any which grow in the deepest soil; yet these rocks are totally destitute of all earth for a considerable way, so that the nutri∣ment which the oaks received, must have been derived from the deep penetration of the roots, through the fissures of the stones, into some nutritive matter.

THE antient house of Gwedir stands near the foot of this rock. It is built round a greater and lesser court. Over the gate-way is the date, 1558, with I. W. John Wynne ap Meredydd, gran-fa∣ther to the famous Sir John, author of the memoirs of the family. This shews 1553, the supposed time of the death of the former, to be a mistake. The place takes its name from Gwaed-dir, the bloody land, from the battles fought here by Llywarch Hên, about the year 610; or perhaps from the cruel battle in 952, between the sons of Hoel, and the princes Jevaf and Iago†; and a third may be added, between Gryffydd ap Cynan, and Trahaern ap Cradog, equally bloody‡ The supposition that it was de∣rived from its being the first house in Wales which had glass win∣dows, is not well founded, those conveniences having been known long before. Sir John Wynne himself even mentions a date of 1512, on a window at Dolwyddelan, which is long before the building of Gwedir. But the following lines of a poet, who flourished some centuries before, is still a stronger proof of the antiquity of glass in our country:

Trwy ffenestri Gwydir yd ym gwelent. They see me through the glass windows.

ON a rock, high above the Lower Gwedir, stood another, called The Upper, seemingly built for the enjoyment of the beautiful view it commands of the rich meadows watered by the Conwy, and their elegant boundaries. It was a sort of Diaeta, or summer-house, erected by Sir John Wynne, in 1604, who had a classical taste. The walls were covered with inscriptions; and the situation well deserved the panegyric bestowed on it in the following Welsh lines, placed over the entrance:

Bryn Gwedir gwelir goleu adeilad Uwch dolydd a chaurau Bryn gwiech adail yn ail ne; Bron wen Henllys bren hinlle.

A conspicuous edifice on Gwider hill, towering over the adjacent land; a well-chosen situation, a second paradise, a fair bank, a palace of royalty†

.

THIS has been of late demolished; but the family chapel, which stands near the site of the old house, is still preserved, and service performed in it four times in the year. Among various papers belonging to Gwedir, communicated to me by my friend, Paul Panton, esq is a curious one, drawn up by old Sir John Wynne, prescribing the rules to his chaplain; an odd mixture of

[figure] portrait of Sir John Wynne

SIR IOHN WYNNE BARONET.

insolence and piety. The inventory of his wardrobe, drawn up in his own hand, is also worth preservation, as it shews not only the complete dress of a man of rank in those days, but the great oeconomy of the times, among people of fashion, when their wardrobe was bestowed by will, and passed from genera∣tion to generation†.

SIR John was sent to London in 1574, to study the law; was a man of abilities, and particularly attentive to the antiquities of his country and family. His consequence made him to be taken notice of by the court; for he was made a baronet in June 1611.

THIS place continued in the family till the year 1678, when it passed into that of the late duke of Ancaster, by marriage of Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Wynne, with Robert marquess of Lindsey; and is now possessed by Peter Burrell, esq in right of his wife Priscilla, baroness Willoughby, eldest sister to Robert, late duke of Ancaster.

FROM hence to Llanrwst is a pretty walk, mostly by the side of the river. The town lies in Denbighshire, on the opposite bank. The approach is over the bridge, the boasted plan of Inigo Jones. It consists of three arches; the middle fifty-nine feet wide: two are extremely beautiful, and mark the hand of the architect: the third differs greatly, having been re-built in 1703, by a very inferior genius. I wish I could do more honor to my country, than suppose him to have been a descendant of this neighborhood: but he seems to have been by birth a Lon∣doner,

a son of a cloth-worker, who, in all probability, was a native of this part of Wales; but our country is right to clame the son, which is done by universal tradition of the country. The turn of his countenance, and the violence of his passions†, at lest legitimate no distant descent. He was patronized by the earl of Arundel, and William earl of Pembroke; and by one or other sent into Italy. His real christian name was Ynyr, which he there changed into Inigo, or Ignatius. Thus, John Cooper, master of the Viol de Gambia to Charles I. after he had been in Italy, assumed the name of Giovanni Coperario‡. It is in vain to give the life of a man, which has been so amply written by one of the ablest pens in the fine arts. Let it suffice to say, that the first Sir Richard Wynne procured from Jones the plan of this bridge, of which he was founder, in 1636; determined to do his country all possible honor, by the beauty of the design, invented by an architect to which Wales had at lest a near relationsec;.

THERE is one circumstance attending this great genius, which deserves mention, as it bears some relation to the country from whence he may have derived his origin. When he was em∣ployed to furnish rare devices, and paint the scenery for the masques of the festive year 1619, he painted the Creigie'r eira, or a scene in Snowdonia, for the masque FOR THE HONOUR OF

WALES. He did it with such success, as to excite the envy of the poet, Ben Jonson; for the scenes were more admired than the entertainment, which might very well be: but Jonson was so offended; as to give vent to his spleen in a copy of verses, as im∣becil as they were rancorous and ill-founded.

THE river here makes a handsome appearance, extending in a direct line far above the bridge, and often enlivened with the coracles, the vitilia navigia of the antient Britons, busied in tak∣ing salmon; and in the months of February and March, numbers of smelt. The tide does not flow nearer than Llyn y Graig, a mile and half below the bridge, where, in spring tides, boats of twelve tons may come.

THE town of Llanrwst is small, and ill built; and has nothing remarkable, except the church, which is dedicated to St. Rystyd, or Restitutus, archbishop of London in 361, present at the council of Arles in 353. The ground on which it is built, is said to have been given by Rhun, the son of Nefydd Hardd, to expiate the foul murder of prince Idwal, a son of Owen Gwynedd, slain by order of his foster-father, Nefydd, to whom he had been intrusted†. Some curious carving, said to have been brought from the neighboring abby, graces the inside. The Gwedir chapel, founded in 1633, by the above-mentioned Sir Richard Wynne, from a design of Inigo, would be another ornament, if not so shamefully neglected. On the wall is a ruinous marble monument, elegantly ornamented with trophies: it was meant

to comemorate the ancestors of the family; but soon promises to tumble into a heap of undistinguishable rubbish.

TRAMPLED under feet, are several brass plates, admirably en∣graven with the heads of several of the family, who rest beneath. Among them is that of Sir John Wynne, compiler of the me∣moirs, who died in 1626. The country people have a tradition, that he was a great oppressor; and accordingly have sent his perturbed spirit to reside in the neighboring cataract of Rhaiader y Wenol. The head of his wife, Sydney, daughter of Sir William Gerard, chancellor of Ireland, is elegantly engraven on a plate near him: that of their daughter, Mary, wife of Sir Roger Mostyn, on another. These were the work of Sylvanus Crew. But a half-length of dame Sarah Wynne†, daughter of Sir Tho∣mas Middleton, of Chirkcastle, and wife to Sir Richard Wynne, by William Vaughan, is far the most beautiful piece of engraving I ever saw: yet neither the names of this, or the foregoing artist, are on the records of the fine arts. Her husband was a gentle∣man of distinguished merit, groom of the bedchamber to Charles I. when prince of Wales, and one of his attendants in the wild ex∣pedition into Spain, in 1623. He left behind him an excellent account of the journey, which was published by Mr. Hearne. He died the 19th of July 1649, and was interred distant from his country, in the church of Wimbledon. A fine head of him, by Jansen, is preserved at Wynn-Stay; and the charming print from it, by that inimitable artist, Mr. Bartolozzi, lays me under very great obligations to Sir Watkin Williams Wynne, to whose

[figure] portrait of Sir Richard Wynne

SIR RICHARD WYNNE

[figure]

LLANRWST BRIDGE.

spontaneous munificence I am indebted for so considerable an or∣nament to the book.

A VERY plain stone records the death of his eldest brother, Sir John Wynne, knight, who died at Lucca, on his travels, in 1614, and was buried there, in the parish of St. John. I have seen numbers of his letters, which shew him to have been a very observant man; some of which may, in the Appendix, be an amusement to the reader.

ONE other tomb, of far greater antiquity than the others, re∣mains to be mentioned; that of Howel Coytmor, whose figure, armed, is represented in stone. He was gran-son of the knight at Bettws; owned Gwedir, which was sold by one of his poste∣rity to the family of the Wynnes,

IN this church is preserved the stone coffin of Llewelyn the Great, with the sides curiously cut into quatre-foils. That prince was enterred in Conwy abby; but at the dissolution, the coffin was removed to this place.

I MADE from Llanrwst two excursions; one to visit Maynan Abby, translated hither in 1289, from Conwy, by permission of pope Nicholas, as he says, at the request of Edward I. and the monks. The king bestowed on them the township of Maynan, in lieu of Conwy, and confirmed to them all the revenues and priveleges they before enjoyed, together with various immuni∣ties from taxes, tolls, and duties†; and besides, gave them the patronage of their antient church at Conwy‡ The revenues of

this house, at the dissolution, were, according to Dugdale, one hundred and sixty-two pounds fifteen shillings; to Speed, one hundred and seventy-nine pounds ten shillings and ten pence. The last abbot was Richard Kyffyn, who had a pension of twenty pounds a year. The abby was granted, in the fifth of queen Elizabeth, to Elizeus Wynne; and it is still possessed by his descendant, lady Wynne, widow of the late Sir John Wynne, of Glynllivon. A large old house, built from the materials of the abby, still remains.

I RETURNED through Llanrwst, and, about two miles beyond, high over the Conwy, visit the village of Trefriw, where num∣bers of small vessels are built, and sent down the river at spring tides. It is said that Llewelyn the Great had near this place a palace; and, as a proof, several hewen stones have been found, in ploughing a field called Gardd y Neuodd. The church of Trefriw was originally built by Llewelyn, for the ease of his prin∣cess, who before was obliged to foot it to Llanrhychwyn, a long walk among the mountains†.

FROM hence I went back as far as Gwedir, and ascend a very steep hill, leaving the park belonging to the house on the left. Go over an open space, called Bwlch yr Haiarn, full of turbe∣ries, the providential fuel of the country. Some lead-mines have been discovered in these parts, but none of any consequence. The Gale, or bog myrtle, abounds here, and perfumes the air with its spicy smell. It is a northern plant, but does not extend

far. It is found in Lapland, Norway, and Sweden, and several parts of the Alpine situations of Great Britain. It is called Bwrli, or the emetic plant; and Gnwyrddling, or green plant. Our countrymen use it as a yellow dye. They lay branches of it upon and under their beds, to keep off fleas and moths; and also give it in powder or infusion, and apply it to the abdomen as a vermifuge. It is besides sometimes used as a succedancum for hops.

THE Sorbus Aucuparia, or mountain ash, is frequent in these parts. The poorer sort of people make a drink, called diod∣griafel, by infusing the berries in water. In former times, a su∣perstitious use was made of the wood: a piece, made in form of a cross, was carried in the pocket, as an infallible preservative against all sorts of fascinations.

AFTER gaining the summit, visit, to the right, Llyn Geirion∣nydd, a small lake, noted for having had near it the habitation of the celebrated Taliesin, who flourished about the year 560, in the time of Gwyddno Goronhir, a petty prince of Cantre'r Gwaelod. The history of our famous bard begins like that of Moses; for he was found exposed on the water, wrapped in a leathern bag, in a wear which had been granted to Elphin, son of Gwyddno, for his support. The young prince, reduced by his extravagance, burst into tears, at finding, as he imagined, so unprofitable a booty. He took pity on the infant, and caused proper care to be taken of him. After this, Elphin prospered; and Taliesin, when he grew up, addressed to him the following moral ode, styled Dyhuddiant ELPHIN, or ELPHIN'S Consolation; supposed to have been addressed to the prince by the infant bard, on the night he

was found. I take the liberty of using the beautiful transla∣tion, with which a fair countrywoman of mine hath lately favored the world.

ELPHIN deg taw ath wylo Na chabled, &c.†

I.

ELPHIN! fair as roseate morn, Cease, O lovely youth! to mourn; Mortals never should presume To dispute their Maker's doom. Feeble race! too blind to scan What th' Almighty deigns for man; Humble hope be still thy guide, Steady faith thy only pride, Then despair will fade away, Like demons at th' approach of day, CUNLLO'S prayers acceptance gain, Goodness never sues in vain; He, who form'd the sky, is just, In him alone, O ELPHIN! trust. See glist'ning spoils in shoals appear, Pate smiles this hour on Gwyddno's wear.

II.

ELPHIN fair! the clouds dispell That on thy lovely visage dwell; Wipe, ah! wipe the pearly tear, Nor let thy manly bosom fear;

What good can melancholy give▪ 'Tis bondage in her train to live. Pungent sorrows doubts proclaim, Ill suit those doubts a Christian's name; Thy great Creator's wonders trace, His love divine to mortal race, Then doubt, and fear, and pain will fly, And hope beam radiant in thine eye. Behold me, least of human kind, Yet Heav'n illumes my soaring mind. Lo! from the yawning deep I came, Friend to thy lineage and thy fame. To point thee out the paths of truth, To guard from hidden rocks thy youth; From seas, from mountains, far and wide, GOD will the good and virtuous guide.

III.

ELPHIN fair! with virtue blest, Let not that virtue idly rest; If rous'd, 'twill yield thee sure relief, And banish far unmanly grief: Think on that Pow'r, whose arm can save, Who e'en can snatch thee from the grave; He bade my harp for thee be strung, Prophetic lays he taught my tongue. Though like a slender reed I grow, Toss'd by the billows to and fro', Yet still, by Him inspir'd, my song The weak can raise, confound the strong: Am not I better, ELPHIN, say, Than thousands of thy scaly prey?

IV.

ELPHIN! fair as roseate morn, Cease, O lovely youth! to mourn. Weak on my leathern couch I lie, Yet heav'nly lore I can descry; Gifts divine my tongue inspire, My bosom glows celestial fire; Mark! how it mounts! my lips disclose The certain fate of ELPHIN'S foes, Fix thy hopes on Him alone, Who is th' eternal Three in One; There thy ardent vows be given, Prayer acceptance meets from Heaven; Then thou shalt adverse fate defy, And ELPHIN glorious live and die.

FROM this lake I desended a great steep, into Glyn Llugwy, a bottom watered by-the Llugwy, fertile in grass, and varied by small groves of young oaks; very unlike the great woods which cloathed this place, Dyffryn Mymbyr, Llanberis, and other parts of Snowdon, in the time of Leland. Go through a narrow pass, high above a raging torrent, falling in broken cascades from rock to rock. At a small distance from hence, enter Dyffryn Mymbyr, a valley in which woods, and even trees, disappear. The small church of Capel Kerig, and a few scattered houses, give a little life to this dreary tract. Snowdon and all his sons, Crib Coch, Crib y Distill, Lliweddy yr Aran, and many others, here burst at once full in view, and make this far the finest approach

[figure]

THE SUMMIT OF SNOWDON FROM CAPEL CERIG

to our boasted Alps. The boundaries of this vale are, on one side, the base of the crooked mountain, Moel Siabod; on the other, that of the Gludar Bach, and several other hills of lesser note. The bottom is meadowy; at this time enlivened with the busy work of hay harvest, and filled with drags, horses, and even men and women, loaden with hay. The middle is varied with two small lakes, along whose sides we rode; and at some distance beyond them, near Pont y Gwryd, quitted our horses, to visit the summit of the Glyder, noted for the report the editor of Cambden had made, of the singular disposition of the rocks. We directed our servants to go on to Llanberis, with our steeds. The ascent was extremely long, steep, and laborious, wet and slippery; and almost the whole way covered with loose fragments of rocks, be∣neath which was a continual roar of waters, seeking their way to the bottom.

OUR pains were fully repaid, on attaining the summit. The area was covered with groupes of columnar stones, of vast size, from ten to thirty feet long, lying in all directions: most of them were of a columnar form, often piled on one another: in other places, half erect, sloping down, and supported by others, which lie without any order at their bases. The tops are frequently crowned in the strangest manner with other stones, lying on them horizontally. One was about twenty-five feet long, and six broad: I climbed up, and, on stamping it with my foot, felt a strong tremulous motion from end to end. Another, eleven feet long, and six in circumference in the thinnest part, was poised so nicely on the point of a rock, that, to appearance, the touch of

a child would overset it. A third enormous mass had the pro∣perty of a rocking stone.

MANY of the stones had, bedded in them, shells; and in their neighborhood I found several pieces of lava. I would therefore rather consider this mountain to have been a sort of wreck of nature, formed and flung up by some mighty internal convulsion, which has given these vast groupes of stones fortuitously such a strange disposition; for had they been the settled strata, bared of their earth by a long series of rains, they would have retained the regular appearance, as we observe in all other beds of similar matter.

ONE side of this mountain is formed into a gap, berissce, I may call it, with sharp rocks, pointing upwards, one above the other, to a great height. In the midst of a vale far below, rises the sin∣gular mountain Trevaen, assuming on this side a pyramidal form, naked, and very rugged. A precipice, from whose summit I surveyed the strange scene, forbad my approach to examine the nature of its composition; and whether it might not have been suspected of being formed at the same time with the phoenomena on the top of its neighbor Glyder: for I have heard that insu∣lated mountains of this form often appear at the base of greater, which have been supposed to owe their origin to volcanic force.

FROM Glyder Bach I passed over a plain, above half a mile broad, called Y Waun Oer, The Chilly Mountainous Flat. Ob∣serve from the edge, in a tremendous hollow, Llyn y Boch Llwyd, or The Lake of the Grey Goat; and in the bottom of the valley,

near the foot of the Trevaen, Llyn Ogwen, noted for its fine trout.

FROM Waen Oer we made a most hazardous descent to Cwm Bochllwyd, and from thence to Llyn Ogwen. The way from that place into the valley, or rather chasm, of Nant Frankon, is called The Ben-glog, the most dreadful horse path in Wales, worked in the rudest manner into steps, for a great length. On one side, in a deep hollow, formed under fallen rocks, was once the hiding place of Rys Goch o'r Eryri, or Rhys the Red, of Snowdon; a mountain bard, patronised by Robert Meredydd, a partizan of Glyndwr, an outlawed chieftain, of whose fortunes he partook.I do assure the traveller, who delights in wild na∣ture, that a visit to it up Nant Frankon, from Bangor, will not be repented. The waters of five lakes dart down the precipice of the middle of the Benglog, and form the torrent of the Ogwen, which falls into the sea a few miles lower. This bottom is sur∣rounded with mountains of a stupendous height, mostly preci∣pitous; the tops of many edged with pointed rocks, I have, from the depth beneath, seen the shepherds skipping from peak to peak; but the point of contact was so small, that from this distance they seemed to my uplifted eyes like beings of another order, floating in the air.

THE Trevaen, from this bottom, makes also a very singular ap∣pearance, resembling a human face, reclined backward. Fore∣head, nose, lips, and chin, are very apparent; and you may add, without any great strain of fancy, the beard of an antient inha∣bitant, an arch-druid.

BEGIN another hard ascent to Cwm Idwal, infamous for the murder of a young prince of that name, son of Owen Gwynedd, by Dunawt, son of Nefydd Hardd, one of the fif∣teen tribes of North Wales, to whom Owen had entrusted the youth, to be fostered, according to the custom of the country. It was a fit place to inspire murderous thoughts, environed with horrible precipices, shading a lake, lodged in its bottom. The shepherds fable, that it is the haunt of Daemons; and that no bird dare fly over its damned water, fatal as that of Avernus.

Quam super haud ullae poterant impunè volantes Tendere iter pennis.

NEAR this place is a quarry, noted for excellent hones, of which quantities are sent annually to London.

A NEW and greater toil is to be undergone in the ascent from Cwm Idwal, to the heights I had left. The way lies beneath that vast precipice, Castell y Geifr, or The Castle of the Goats. In some distant age, the ruins of a rocky mountain formed a road by a mighty lapse. A stream of stones, each of monstrous size, points towards the Cwm; and are to be clambered over by those only, who possess a degree of bodily activity, as well as strength of head to bear the sight of the dreadful hollows frequent beneath them.

OBSERVE, on the right, a stupendous roche fendue, or split rock, called Twll-Du, and The Devil's Kitchen. It is a horrible gap, in the center of a great black precipice, extending in length

about a hundred and fifty yards; in depth, about a hundred; and only six wide; perpendicularly open to the surface of the mountain. On surmounting all my difficulties, and taking a little breath, I ventured to look down this dreadful aperture, and found its horrors far from being lessened, in my exalted si∣tuation; for to it were added the waters of Llyn y Cwn, impe∣tuously rushing through its bottom.

REACH the Glyder Vawr, and pass by the edge of Klogwyn Du Ymben y Glyder, as dreadful a precipice as any in Snowdonia, hanging over the dire waters of Llyn Idwal. Its neighborhood is of great note among botanists for rare plants, among which may be reckoned the Saxifraga Nivalis, Bulbocodium, and the Lichen Islandicus, The last is of singular use to the Icelanders. A decoction of the fresh leaves in water serves them in the spring as a powerful cathartic; and yet, when dried, changes its qua∣lity, and if grinded to powder, is a common food, either made into bread, or boiled with milk, or water. Haller and Scopoli also mention its use, at their time, in Vienna, in coughs and consumptions, made into broth, or gruel.

THE prospect from this mountain is very noble. Snowdon is seen to great advantage; the deep vale of Llanberris and its lakes, Nant Frankon, and variety of other singular views. The plain which forms the top is strangely covered with loose stones like the beach of the sea; in many places crossing one another, in all directions, and entirely naked. Numbers of groupes of stones are placed almost erect, sharp pointed, and in sheafs: all

are weather-beaten, time-eaten, and honey-combed, and of a ve∣nerable grey color. The elements seemed to have warred against this mountain: rains have washed, lightnings torn, the very earth deserted it, and the winds made it the constant object of their fury. The shepherds make it the residence of storms, and style a part of it Carnedd y Gwynt, or The Eminence of Tempests.

THIS mountain is connected to the lesser Glyder by the Weyn Oer: the traveller therefore has his choice of ways to these won∣drous mountains; but the most: preferable for ease, is the road I descend into the vale of Llanberis. In my way, pass close by a rugged brow of a hill, which I think is Rhiw y Glyder, recorded by LLWYD and RAY, for its variety of plants. From thence descend by Oleu Fawr.

SOON after, visit the small lake, called Llyn y Cwn, noted for the tale of Giraldus; who informs us, that in his days, the three kinds of fish it yielded, trouts, perch, and eels, were mon∣ocular, every one wanting the left eye. At present, there is not a fish in it to disprove the relation. To make amends, the botanist will find in it the Lobelia Dortmanna, Sabularia Aquatica, and Isoetis Lacustris; and not far from it, the Juncus Triglumis, common to this, and some of the Highland mountains. The Hieracium Alpinum, Ruhus Saxatilis, Solidago Cambrica, and other rare plants, are to be met with. In the course of this part of the descent, leave o•• the right Llider Vawr and Llider Vach, two great mountains, part of the boundaries of Nant-Beris; and ar∣rive in that vale by Caunant yr Esgar, or The Dingle of the Enemy.

THIS is a very picturesque vale, bounded by the base of

[figure]

VIEW in NANTBERIS

Snowdon, Cefn Cwm Gafr, the two Glyders, and two Lliders, each of them first-rate mountains. It is strait, and of nearly an equal breadth, filled by some meadows, and two magnificent lakes, which communicate to each other by means of a river. The venerable oaks, spoken of by Leland, are no more. Ava∣rice, or dissipation, and its constant follower, poverty, have de∣spoiled much of our principality of its leafy beauties. Among the numberless errors of this performance, I fear the word is cloathed with trees, must be supplied by the traveller with WAS. But this shadeless tract is still worthy his attention. A road, once a succession of rude and stony stairs, made with much la∣bor, ran on one side, high above the lake, and was often cut out of the rock, to form the way. This is, I am now informed, changed into a road, which too much facilitates the approach, and lessens its propriety, and its agreement with the wild en∣virons.

ON the loftiest part, over one of the lakes, stand the remains of Castell Dolbadern, consisting of a round tower, and a few frag∣ments of walls. It was constructed with the thin laminated stones of the country, cemented with very strong mortar, with∣out shells. The inner diameter of the tower is only twenty-six feet. This seems to have been built to defend the pass into the interior parts of Snowdonia; and it was likewise used as a state prison. The founder is unknown to me; but it was evidently a Welsh prince.

IN this valley are two groupes of wretched houses. The farthest is near the end of the upper lake, with its church, dedi∣cated to St. Peris, who was, as we are told, a cardinal. Here

is to be seen the well of the saint, inclosed with a wall. The sybil of the place attends, and divines your fortune by the appearance or non-appearance of a little fish, which lurks in some of its holes.

FROM hence I took a ride above the lakes, to their lower ex∣tremity. The upper is the lesser, but much the most beautiful piece of water. It is said to be in places a hundred and forty yards deep; to have abounded with char, before they were re∣duced by the streams flowing from the copper mines, which had been worked on the sides of the hills. The lower lake is about a mile and a half long, narrows gradually into the form of a river, called the Rythell, and flows in a diffused channel to Caer∣narvon, where it assumes the name of Seiont.

NEAR this end of the lake lived a celebrated personage, whom I was disappointed in not finding at home. This was Margaret uch Evan, of Penllyn, the last specimen of the strength and spirit of the antient British fair. This extraordinary female was the greatest hunter, shooter, and fisher of her time. She kept a dozen at lest of dogs, terriers, grehounds, and spaniels, all excel∣lent in their kinds. She killed more foxes in one year, than all the confederate hunts do in ten: rowed stoutly, and was queen of the lake: fiddled excellently, and knew all our old music: did not neglect the mechanic arts, for she was a very good joiner: and notwithstanding she was seventy years of age, was the best wrestler in the country, and few young men dared to try a fall with her. Some years ago, she had a maid of con∣genial qualities; but death, that mighty hunter, at last earthed this faithful companion of her's. I must not forget, that all the

neighboring bards payed their addresses to Margaret, and cele∣brated her exploits in pure British verse.

ABOUT half a mile farther, I visited the remains of Llŷs Di∣norwig, a house said to have been one of the palaces of prince Llewelyn ap Gryffydd: the walls high and strong; the hall twenty-four yards long; and before the house is a deep ditch, over which had probably been a draw-bridge. Not very far from hence is a spot, called Rhiw'r Cyrn, or The Brow of the Horns; where, ac∣cording to old usage, an officer stood and blew his horn, to give notice to the houshold of the approach of their master, or to summon the vassals to assemble on all emergent occasions.

THIS country is part of the woodless flat, between the moun∣tains and the Menai. Its want of strength is supplied with se∣veral posts, fortified in the British manner. Dinas Dinorwig, about half a mile south of the church of Llandeniolen, is the chief. The area is very large, surrounded with an agger of small stones, backed by another of very large ones: then suc∣ceeds a deep ditch, a rampart of earth, a second vast ditch, and a third rampart: within the area is a circle of stones, the post probably of the commander in chief.

IN our way from hence, we passed by another, called Pen y Gaer; and soon after, by a smaller, called Bryn y Castrelau, sur∣rounded with a single wall; and on a rising on the other side of the Rythell, is another, named Caer Cwm y Glo, or Caer Carreg-y-Fran, from which had been (as we were informed) a paved way to Llŷs Dinorwig. I may here add, that after the death of

Llewelyn, Edward I. bestowed that palace on Sir Gryffydd Llwyd, the same gentleman who first brought him the news of the birth of his son Edward of Caernarvon.

RETURN by the same road, and, after refreshing myself with a night's rest at Mr. Close's, agent to the mines in Llanberris, early in the morning begin our ascent to the highest peak, of Snowdon, under the guidance of Hugh Shone, whom I beg leave to recom∣mend as a most able conductor. Keep upon the side of the lake for a considerable way; then turn to the left, and see, not far from the road, Caunant Mawr, a noble cataract, precipitating over two vast rocks into two most horrible chasms. Near this place were found several beads; some of glass, and one of jet.

ASCEND, above Cwm Brwynog, a very deep bottom, fertile in Gwair y Rhosydd, which is composed chiefly of different kinds of rushes, particularly Juncus Squarrosus, the moss-rush, Scirpus Caspitosus, the heath club rush, Schaenus Nigricans, the black bog rush, and Carexes, intermixed with few kinds of grass. The hay which the lower meadows produce, is very different in qua∣lity, being remarkably fine and soft; and consists in great part of the fine bent grass, Agrostis Capillaris. As we are on the subject of grasses, it may be pleasing to observe, how some of them wonderfully change their appearance, as they ascend the higher hills: the turfy hair grass, Aira Caespitosa, sheep's fescue grass, Pestuca Ovina, Alpine meadow grass, Poa Alpina, and some others, which, in the low countries, where they enjoy the due influence of the sun, and length of summer, to ripen their seeds, are propagated in the common manner that grasses are;

as they reach a more exalted situation, where they want conti∣nuance of summer, and the necessary power of that enlivening body, to perfect their seeds, become viviparous; that is, the ru∣diment of the Germen vegetates, and shoots into blade in the cup, from whence falling, it readily takes root, and grows; a kind and providential dispensation, for the advantage of those colder climates, which are less favorable to vegetation!

THIS mountanous tract scarcely yields any corn. Its produce is cattle and sheep, which, during summer, keep very high in the mountains, followed by their owners, with their families, who reside in that season in Havodtys, or summer dairy-houses, as the farmers in the Swiss Alps do in their Sennes. These houses consist of a long low room, with a hole at one end, to let out the smoke from the fire, which is made beneath. Their furniture is very simple: stones are the substitutes of stools; and the beds are of hay, ranged along the sides. They manufacture their own cloaths; and dye their cloths with Cenn du y Cerrig, or Lichen Omphaloides; and another Cenn, the Lichen Parietinus; native dyes, collected from the rocks. During summer, the men pass their time either in harvest work, or in tending their herds: the women in milking, or making butter and cheese. For their own use, they milk both ewes and goats, and make cheese of the milk, for their own consumption. The diet of these mounta∣neers is very plain, consisting of butter, cheese, and oat-bread, or Bara Cyrch: their drink whey: not but they have a reserve of a few bottles of very strong beer, by way of cordial, in illness. They are people of good understanding, wary and circumspect; usually tall, thin, and of strong constitutions, from their way of

living. Towards winter, they descend to their Hên Dref, or old dwelling, where they lead, during winter, a vacant life.

IN the course of our ascent, saw on the left, above the Cwm, Moel y Cynhorion, or The Hill of Council. Pass through Bwlch y Maes-cwm, and skirt the side of Snowdon, till we reach Bwlch y Cwm Brwynog, where the ascent becomes very difficult, by reason of its vast steepness. People here usually quit their horses. We began a toilsome march, clambering among the rocks. On the left were the precipices over Cwm Brwynog, with Llyn du yr Ard∣dwy at their foot. On our right were those over the small lakes Llyn Glâs, Llyn y-Nadroedd, and Llyn Coch. The last is the highest on this side of the mountain; and on whose margins, we were told, that, in fairy days, those diminutive gentry kept their revels. This space between precipice and precipice, forms a short, and no very agreeable isthmus, till we reached a verdant expanse, which gave us some respite, before we labored up ano∣ther series of broken crags: after these, is a second smooth tract, which reaches almost to the summit, which, by way of pre-emi∣nence, is styled Y WYDDFA, or The Conspicuous. It rises almost to a point, or, at best, there is but room for a circular wall of loose stones, within which travellers usually take their repast.

THE mountain from hence seems propped by four vast buttresses; between which are four deep Cwms, or hollows: each, excepting one, had one or more lakes, lodged in its distant bot∣tom The nearest was Fsynnon Lás, or The Green Well, lying im∣mediately below us. One of the company had the curiosity to descend a very bad way to a jutting rock, that impended over the monstrous precipice; and he seemed like Mercury ready to

take his flight from the summit of Atlas. The waters of Ffynnon Lâs, from this height, appeared black and unfathomable, and the edges quite green. From thence is a succession of bottoms, surrounded by the most lofty and rugged hills, the greatest part of whose sides are quite mural, and form the most magnificent amphitheatre in nature. The Wyddfa is on one side; Crib y Distill, with its serrated tops, on another; Crib Coch, a ridge of fiery redness, appears beneath the preceding; and opposite to it is the boundary called the Lliwedd. Another very singular sup∣port to this mountain is Y Clawdd Coch, rising into a sharp ridge, so narrow, as not to afford breadth even for a path.

THE view from this exalted situation is unbounded. In a former tour, I saw from it the county of Chester, the high hills of Yorkshire, part of the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland: a plain view of the Isle of Man; and that of Anglesea lay extended like a map beneath us, with every rill visible. I took much pains to see this prospect to advantage; sat up at a farm on the west till about twelve, and walked up the whole way. The night was remarkably fine and starry: towards morn, the stars faded away, and left a short interval of darkness, which was soon dis∣persed by the dawn of day. The body of the sun appeared most distinct, with the rotundity of the moon, before it rose high enough to render its beams too brilliant for our sight. The sea which bounded the western part was gilt by its beams, first in slender streaks, at length glowed with redness. The prospect was disclosed to us like the gradual drawing up of a curtain in a

theatre. We saw more and more, till the heat became so power∣ful, as to attract the mists from the various lakes, which in a slight degree obscured the prospect. The shadow of the moun∣tain was flung many miles, and shewed its bicapitated form; the Wyddfa making one, Crib y Distill the other head. I counted this time between twenty and thirty lakes, either in this county, or Meirionyddshire. The day proved so excessively hot, that my journey cost me the skin of the lower part of my face, before I reached the resting-place, after the fatigue of the morning.

ON this day, the sky was obscured very soon after I got up. A vast mist enveloped the whole circuit of the mountain. The prospect down was horrible. It gave an idea of numbers of abysses, concealed by a thick smoke, furiously circulating around us. Very often a gust of wind formed an opening in the clouds, which gave a fine and distinct visto of lake and valley. Some∣times they opened only in one place; at others, in many at once, exhibiting a most strange and perplexing sight of water, fields, rocks, or chasms, in fifty different places. They then closed at once, and left us involved in darkness: in a small space, they would separate again, and fly in wild eddies round the middle of the mountains, and expose, in parts, both tops and bases clear to our view. We descended from this various scene with great reluctance; but before we reached our horses, a thunder storm overtook us. Its rolling among the mountains was inexpressibly awful: the rain uncommonly heavy. We re-mounted our horses, and gained the bottom with great hazard. The little

rills, which on our ascent trickled along the gullies on the sides of the mountain, were now swelled into torrents; and we and our steeds passed with the utmost risque of being swept away by these sudden waters. At length we arrived safe, yet sufficiently wet and weary, to our former quarters.

IT is very rare that the traveller gets a proper day to ascend the hill; for it often appears clear, but by the evident attraction of the clouds by this lofty mountain, it becomes suddenly and unexpectedly enveloped in mist, when the clouds have just be∣fore appeared very remote, and at great heights. At times, I have observed them lower to half their height, and notwithstand∣ing they had been dispersed to the right and to the left, yet they have met from both sides, and united to involve the summit in one great obsscurity.

THE quantity of water which flows from the lakes of Snow∣donia, is very considerable; so much, that I doubt not but col∣lectively they would exceed the waters of the Thames, before it meets the flux of the ocean.

THE reports of the height of this noted hill have been very differently given. A Mr. Caswell, who was employed by Mr. Adams, in 1682, in a survey of Wales, measured it by instruments made by the directions of Mr. Flamstead:; and asserts its height to have been twelve hundred and forty yards: but for the honor of our mountain I am sorry to say, that I must give greater credit to the experiments made of late years, which have sunk it to

one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine yards and one foot, reckoning from the quay at Caernarvon to the highest peak.

THE stone that composes this, and indeed the greatest part of Snowdonia, is excessively hard. Large coarse crystals are often found in the fissures, and very frequently cubic pyritae, the usual attendants on Alpine tracts. These are also frequented by the rock ouzel, a mountain bird; and some of the lakes are stocked with char and gwyniads, Alpine fish. The antient inhabitant, the goat, decreases daily in value, since the decline of orthodoxal wigs, to which its snowy hair universally contributed. Still large flocks are kept for the dairy, and milked with great regularity.

BOTANY is not within my province. I shall therefore say no∣thing more of the plants, than that those species which LIN∣NAEUS so very expressively styles. Aethereae, are entirely confined to the higher parts of the mountains; and notwithstanding the seeds must be blown downwards, they never vegetate in the lower parts, which are deserted by certain plants, which are natives of a higher tract of the same hill.

THE animals of these regions are chiefly foxes. Stags were found here in the days of Leland, in such numbers, as to destroy the little corn which the farmers attempted to sow: but they were extirpated before the year 1626. Snowdon being a royal forest, warrants were issued for the killing of the deer. I have seen one from the duke of Suffolk, dated April the 30th, 1552; and another, in the first year of queen Elizabeth, signed by Robert To••nesend; and a third, in 1561, by Henry Sydney. The second

was addressed to the master of the game, ranger and keeper of the queen's highness forrest of SNOWDON, in the county of Caernarvon. The last extended the forest into the counties of Meirionydd and Anglesea, with the view of gratifying the rapacity of the favorite, Dudley, earl of Leicester, who had by letters patent been appointed chief ranger of the forest. In consequence, he tyrannized over the counties with great insolence. A set of informers imme∣diately acquainted him, that most of the freeholders estates might be brought within the boundaries. Commissioners were ap∣pointed to enquire of the encroachments and concealments of lands within the forest. Juries were empannelled; but their re∣turns were rejected by the commissioners, as unfavorable to the earl's designs. The jurors performed an honest part, and found a verdict for the country. Leland, who, no longer before than the reign of Henry VIII. had gone over this tract, as he did most of England, under the royal commission; and yet reports, that all Cregery, i. e. Snowdon, is in Caernarvonshire, and no part in Merionethshire; though, says he, that shire be montanius.

A NEW commission was then directed to Sir Richard Bulkeley, of Baron Hill, Anglesea, Sir William Herbert, and others; but this, by the firmness of Sir Richard, was likewise soon superseded. But, in 1578, another was appointed, dependent on the favorite. A packed jury was directed to appear at Beaumaris, who went on the same day to view the marsh of Malltraeth, ten miles distant; and found that marsh to be in the forest of Snowdon, notwith∣standing it was in another county, and divided from the forest

by an arm of the sea; because the commissioners had told them, that they had met with an indictment in the exchequer of Gaernarvon (which they had the year before broke open and ransacked) by which they had discovered that a stag had been rouzed in the forest of Snowdon, in Caernarvonshire, was pursued to the banks of the Menai; that it swam over that branch of the sea, and was killed at Malltraeth INFRA forestam nostram de Snow∣don. The jury appeared in the earl's livery, blue, with ragged staves on the sleeves; and were ever after branded with the title of the black jury, who sold their country.

SIR Richard Bulkeley, not the lest daunted with this decision, continued steady in his opposition to the tyrant; and laid be∣fore the Queen the odiousness of the proceedings, and the grievances her loyal subjects, the Welsh, labored under, by the commission, insomuch, in 1579, her highness was pleased, by pro∣clamation at Westminster, to recall it. Leicester, disappointed in his views, pursued Sir Richard with the utmost inveteracy: he even accused him of a concern in Babington's conspiracy.

BEFORE GOD,

says the Queen,

we will be sworn upon the evangelists, he never intended us any harm;

and so ran to the bible, and kissed it, saying,

We shall not commit him: we have brought him up from a boy.

Snowdon was held as sacred by the antient Britons, as Parnassus was by the Greeks, and Ida by the Cretans. It is still said, that whosoever slept upon Snowdon, would wake inspired, as much as if he had taken a nap on the hill of Apollo. The Britons, in very

early times, worshipped mountains and rivers; but that does not appear from the triambics quoted by our able antiquary, Mr. Rowlands† for the words Eiry Mynydd are applicable, not to this mountain in particular, but to all which are covered with snow. There are multitudes of these triambics, each ending with a moral reflection, the work of Llywarch Hêen; of which the following may serve as an example:

Eiry mynydd gwangeus jâr; Gochwiban gwynt ar dalar; YN YR ING, GORAN YW'R CAR.‡.

While the hill is clad with snow, Fowls for food scream out below, Fierce the winds on plough-lands blow. WHEN DEEP GRIEF AFFECTS YOUR MIND, BALMY CURE FROM KIN YOU'LL FIND.

THE Welsh had always the strongest attachment to the tract of Snowdon. It was, say they the appertenance of the principality of Wales, which the prince and his predecessors held since the time of Brute. Edward I. was told by the inhabitants of Snow∣don, in the treaty he held with our countrymen, in the year 1281, that even should their prince be inclined to gratify the king, in yielding him possession, they would not do homage to strangers, of whose tongue, manners, and laws, they were ignorant§. Our

princes had, in addition to their title, that of LORD OF SNOWDON. They had five hardy barons within the tract, who held of them. Such was the importance of this strong region, that when Llewelyn was at the last extremity, he rejected the proposal of Edward, of a thousand a year, and some honorable county in England, well knowing that his principality must terminate with the cession.

No sooner had Edward effected his conquest, than he held a triumphal fair upon this our chief of mountains; and adjourned to finish the joy of his victory, by solemn tournaments on the plains of Nevyn.

I SHALL take my leave of Snowdonia, with some remarks on the name, and the weather. The first is a literal translation of the antient appellation, Creigie'r Eira, The Snowy Mountains, from the frequency of snow upon them. Niphates, in Armenia, and Imaus, in Tartary, derive their name from the same circumstance. Some have supposed it to be taken from Creigiau'r Eryri, or The Eagle Rocks; but that bird appears very seldom among them. The other circumstance is constant: not that it is to be imagined that they are covered with snow in some part or other the whole year, as has been idly fabled; there being frequently whole weeks, even in winter, in which they are totally free.

THE earliest appearance of snow, is commonly between the middle of October, and the beginning of November: the falls which happen then, are usually washed away with the rains, and the hills remain clear till Christmas. Between that time and the end of January, the greatest falls happen; which are succeeded

by others, about the latter end of April, or beginning of May, which remain in certain places till the middle of June, in which month it has been seen of the depth of some feet. It has even happened, that the greatest fall has been in April, or beginning of May; and that never fails happening, when the preceding winter has had the smallest falls. But the fable of Giraldus, con∣cerning the continuance of snow the whole year, is totally to be exploded.

NEAR the end of Nant-beris, pass beneath Glyder Vawr, and observe the strata of a columnar form, high above our heads. At times, vast fragments of this tremendous rock tumble down, the ruins are scattered about the base, and exhibit awful speci∣mens of the frequent lapses. One is styled the Cromlech, for having accidentally fallen on other stones, it remains lifted from the earth, with a hollow beneath, resembling one of those Druidical antiquities. The length of the incumbent stone is sixty feet: the breadth forty-six: the thickness sixteen. The hollow is said once to have been occupied by an old woman; but now serves for a sheep pen.

THE ascent from hence is either over loose stones, or solid stair-case; and is exceedingly steep. It is a singular road, lying in a stupendous chasm, bounded for above a mile by nearly equidistant precipices, of prodigious height; on one side belong∣ing to the Glyders, on the other by the parts of Snowdon.

REFRESH ourselves on a spot called The Gorphwysfa, or The Resting-Place. At a small distance from which is Bwlchy Gwyd∣dyl, or The Pass of the Irishmen; from whence is a singular view of Dyffryn Mymbyr, the chasm we had left; and far below us,

the picturesque vale of Nant Gwynnan, the scene of many a bloody skirmish in the time of Edward IV. between William earl of Pembroke, and the Welsh Lancastrians, under Jevan ap Robert.

DESCEND a very steep road, into that part called Cwm Dyli; where we quitted our horses, and began a most toilsome journey to visit the hidden vales lodged in the bosom of the mountains. We began with clambering up the rugged face of a rock, broken into a multitude of short precipices, and divided in the middle by a cataract, the discharge of the waters from the Alpine lakes. After about a quarter of a mile's labor, we reached Cwm y Cwm Dyli, a flat tract of hay ground, watered by a river, and filled with hay-makers; the farmer and his family being resident here in his Havodtu, for the summer season. After dining with them on curds and whey, we kept along the river's side, and found opposed to us another front, rugged as the former, and attended with a cataract. This was surmounted with equal difficulty. We found, on arriving at the top, a bottom a mile in length, filled with Llyn Llydaw, a fine lake, winding beneath the rocks, and vastly indented by rocky projections, here and there jutting into it. In it was one little island, the haunt of black-backed Gulls, which breed here, and, alarmed by such unexpected visi∣tants, broke the silence of this sequestered place by their deep screams. We continued our walk, ascending along a narrow path above the lake, as far as the extremity; then descending, reached the opposite side, in order to encounter a third descent, as arduous as the preceding. This brought us into the horrible crater, immediately beneath the great precipice of the Wyddfa, in which is lodged Ffynnen Lâs. Its situation is the most dread∣ful,

surrounded by more than three parts of a circle, with the most horrible precipices of the Wyddfa, Crib y Distill, and Crib Coch, with the vast mural steeps of Lliwedd, continued over the other lake and Cwm Dyli. In the Lliwedd was a strange break, called Bwlch y Saethau, or The Pass of the Arrows; probably a station for hunters, to watch the wanderings of the deer.

THE margins of Ffynnon Lâs here appeared to be shallow and gravelly. The waters had a greenish cast; but what is very sin∣gular, the rocks reflected into them seemed varied with stripes of the richest colors, like the most beautiful lutestrings; and changed almost to infinity.

HERE we observed the Wheat-ear, a small and seemingly ten∣der bird; and yet is almost the only small one, or indeed the only one, except the Rock Ouzel, or Mwyalchen y Graig, that frequents these heights▪ the reason is evidently the want of food.

WE descended from this dreary scene, on the other side of the hill, above Llyn Llydaw, having the tremendous red preci∣pices of Crib Coch high above us, rising into a mere ridge, ser∣rated, or rather herissee, its whole length. The face of many of the rocks were marked with large veins of coarse white crystal; and others, especially Crib Coch, were varied with the deep green of the dwarf Alpine juniper. On attaining the top of the hills, above the lower end of the lake, we descend to the Gorphwysfa, where we found our horses, and returned once more into Nant-Gwinan.

THIS is the most beautiful vale in Snowdonia, varied with woods, lakes, river, and meadows; besides the most august

boundaries: being guarded on each side by vast mountains, such as Crib Du, or part of Mynydd Nanmer, the Aran, Lliwedd, Dduallt, and Wenallt, extending about five miles to the church of Beddkelert. On the left, we passed by Havod Lwyvog, the seat of the late Meyric Meredydd, esq surrounded with large woods. A little farther is the pretty lake Llyn Gwynan, about three quarters of a mile long, and near it are the ruins of a chapel of the same name. The chapel had been an ease to the church of Beddkelert, and was supported by a stipend of five pounds a year from the estate of Gwedir. It is said to have been founded by John Williams, grandson of John Coetmor, ap Meredydd, ap Je∣van, ap Robert, of Keselgyfarch and Gwedir, and goldsmith in London; the same who is reported to have furnished Michael Drayton with Leland's papers.

NEAR the end of the lake, the valley grows so contracted, as to form only a narrow streight; but almost instantly opens again into a fine expanse, chiefly filled with the beautiful Llyn Di∣nas. Beyond that, is a tract of meads, chequered with woods, and watered by the river created by the various lakes; but re∣tains the name of Avon Glás-Lyn, from the lofty Ffynnon-Lâs, from which it originates.

AT the bottom rises a vast rock, insulated, and cloathed with wood; the famous Dinas Emris, from early times celebrated in British story; for here

Prophetic Merlin sate, when to the British king The changes long to come, auspiciously he told.

[figure]

DINAS EMRYS.

WHEN Vortigern found himself unable to contest with the treacherous Saxons, whom he had, in the year 449, invited into Britain, he determined, by the advice of his magicians, on build∣ing an impregnable fortress in Snowdon. He collected the ma∣terials, which all disappeared in one night. The prince, asto∣nished at this, convened again his wise men. They assured him, his building would never stand, unless it was sprinkled with the blood of a child born without the help of a father. The realm was ransacked: at length, one of his emissaries overheard some boys at play reproach another, and call him an unbegotten knave. The child and his mother were brought before the king. She confessed he was the offspring of an Incubus; a species of being, now unhappily out of all credit. The boy, whose name was Merlin, was ordered to be sacrificed; but on confounding all the magicians with his questions, and explaining the cause of the miscarriage, got his liberty, and

to that mighty king, which rashly undertook A strong wall'd tower to rear, those earthly spirits that shook The great foundation still, in dragon's horrid shape, That dreaming wizard told, making the mountain gape With his most powerful charms, to view those caverns deep; And from the the top of Brith, so high and wondrous steep, Where Dinas Emris stood, shew'd where the serpents fought, The WHITE that tore the RED; from whence the prophet wrought The Britons sad decay, then shortly to ensue†.

THIS is the poetical translation of the legend. Merlin, or

Merd••il•• Emris, or Ambrosius, was in fact the son of a noble Ro∣man, of the same name. His mother, a Vestal, to save her life and honor, invented the fable of his father, which was swal∣lowed by the credulity of the times. Merlin was an able ma∣thematician and astronomer, and deeply read in all the learning of his age. The vulgar, as usual, ascribed all he did to art ma∣gic; and his discovery that Vortigern had begun to found his castle on a morass, was immediately said to have been attended with most portentous circumstances. Numbers of prophecies were attributed to him; the repetition of which is said to have been forbidden by the council of Trent.

THREE sides of this famous rock are precipitous. On the top is a large area; on the accessible part of which are two great ramparts of stone, and within is the ruin of a stone building, ten yards long: the walls are dry, but strong. Since it is certain that Vortigern, after his misfortunes, retired to the Snowdon hills, and died not very remote from them, it is possible he might have selected this for his strong-hold, as it is admirably adapted for that purpose, and nearly fills the streight of the valley, and Merlin Ambrosius might have given to it the name of Emris. A place close by, styled Cell y Dewiniaid, or The Cell of the DIVINERS, allusive to the magicians of Vortigern's court, is ano∣ther circumstance which favors the history of this celebrated supposed prophet.

FROM hence is a pleasant, but short ride, near the river, to the village of Bedd Kelert, seated in a beautiful tract of meadows, at

[figure]

BEDDKELERT

the junction of three vales, near the conflux of the Glâs Lyn and the Colwyn, which flows through Nant Colwyn, a vale that leads to Caernarvon. Its situation was the fittest in the world to in∣spire religious meditation, amidst lofty mountains, woods, and murmuring streams. The church is small, yet the loftiest in Snowdonia. The east window consists of three narrow slips. The roof is neat; and there yet remains some very pretty fret∣work. A side chapel is supported by two neat pillars, and gothic arches. I could discover no tombs, nor any thing worth transcribing, but the following epitaph:

Infra jacet corpus Evani Lloyd, de Hafod Lwyfog, Armigeri, qui Inhumatus fuit paterno et avito Tumulo, sexto die Idus Maiae. A. D. 1678. Annos Natus 72.

THIS church had been conventual, belonging to a priory of Augustines, dedicated to St. Mary. There is reason to suppose they might have been of that class which was called Gilbertines, and consisted of both men and women, who lived under the same roof, but strictly separated from each other by a wall. The cause of my suspicion is, that I discovered a piece of ground near the church, called Dôol y Llein, or The Meadow of the Nun.

BEDD KELERT had been the most antient foundation in all the country, excepting Bardsey. Tanner ascribes it to our last prince; but it must have been long before his days, there being a recital

of a charter for certain lands bestowed on it by Llewelyn the Great,, who began his reign in 1194. It was favored in the same manner by others of the succeeding princes. David ap Llewelyn bestowed on it some lands in Pennant Gwernogan, be∣longing to Tudor ap Madoc, to which the prince had no right. This occasioned a suit between the sons of Tudor, and Philip, prior of the house, before William de Grandison and R. de Stanedon, at Caernarvon, when a verdict was given against the convent†. The prior had for his support the grange of Llecheidior and part of a mill, the grange of Fentidilt and village of Gwehelyn, the grange of Tre'rbeirdd, one plough land, and a certain share of the bees. The esteem which these insects were held in by the antient Britons, on account of their pro∣ducing the nectareous Medd, was so great, that they considered them as created in PARADISE; that when they quitted it on the fall of man, they were blessed by God himself; and therefore, no mass ought to be celebrated, but by the light of their wax‡.

THE prior had besides, an allowance of fifty cows and twent-two sheep. The expences of the house must have been large. It lay on the great road from England and West Wales into North Wales, and from Ireland and North Wales into England. In order to enable this place to keep its usual hospitality, after it had suffered, in 1283, by a casual fire, Edward I. most mu∣nificently repaired all the damages; and bishop Anian, about the year 1286, for the encouragement of other benefactors, re∣mitted

to all such who were truly repentant of their sins, forty days of any penance inflicted on them.

IN 1535, it was bestowed, by Henry VIII. on the abby of Chertsey, in Surry; and in 1537, it was given with the last, as an appertenance to that of Bisham, in Berkshire†. On the dissolu∣lution, the king gave to the family of the Bodvels, all the lands in Caernarvonshire which belonged to this priory; and all those in Anglesey, to that of the Prydderchs, excepting the township of Tre'rbeirdd.‡. The revenues of Bedd Kelert were valued by Dugdale at seventy pounds three shillings and eight pence; by Speed, at sixty-nine pounds three shillings and eight pence. Ed∣ward Conway is mentioned as last prior. There are not the lest reliques of the house.

IN order to complete the mountain ramble, as far as was in my power, I made an excursion from this village up a narrow vale. Ascend a steep road, amidst a thin hanging wood; and see from the road multitudes of black cattle, desending from all parts, on their way to a neighboring fair. The vale expands; is watered by the Colwyn, which flows from a small lake we passed by, called Llyn Cader. Left on the right another ascent to the Wyddfa, where its base extends to a considerable breadth, and is far less steep than that on the side of Nant-Beris. We soon reached the pretty lake of Cawellyn, noted for its Char. The mountains hereabouts approach near to each other. On the right, Mynydd Mawr forms a striking feature: its top is smooth, but its front is formed into a most immense precipice, retiring

inwards in a semicircular shape. Moel Eilio, is another mountain of a stupendous bulk, most regularly rounded, and of a beautiful verdure. At Bettus Garmon, a village with a church dedicated to St. Germanus, the scene changes into a range of beautiful meadows, watered by a rapid stream.

I HERE turn my back on the humble flats, and resume my former road, till I had passed Cawellyn. Not far beyond that lake, I turned to the right, to visit Llyn y Dywarchen, or The Lake of the Sod, long since celebrated by the hyperbolical pen of Giraldus, for its insula erratica, its wandering island, as he calls it. That little lake is seated in the middle of a turbery; and at this time actually exhibited the phaenomenon recorded by our romantic historian. It had on it a floating island, of an irregu∣lar shape, and about nine yards long. It appeared to be only a piece of the turbery, undermined by the water, torn off, and kept together by the close entangling of the roots, which form that species of ground. It frequently is set in motion by the wind; often joins its native banks; and, as Giraldus says, cattle are frequently surprized on it, and by another gale carried a short voyage from the shore.

CONTINUE our journey to Drws y Coed, or The Door of the Wood, a pass towards Clynnog. It is bounded by vast moun∣tains: on one side by Tal Mignedd; on the other, by a great clift of Mynydd Mawr. Some years ago, here were con∣siderable adventures for copper, of the yellow kind; and in the rocks were sometimes found some very thin laminae of the native

metal. I was tempted here to exceed a little the limits of my Alpine tour; for now the mountains descend fast from their ma∣jestic heights, growing less and less as they approach the Irish sea. My motive was to obtain a sight of two fine lakes, called Llynnieu Nanlle, which form two handsome expanses, with a very small distance between each. From hence is a noble view of the Wyddfa, which terminates the view through the visto of Drws y Coed. It is from this spot Mr. WILSON has favored us with a view, as magnificent as it is faithful. Few are sensible of this; for few visit the spot.

NEAR these lakes Edward I. in the summer of 1284, resided for some days; and from hence issued out more than one of his edicts. I find some dated July the 17th and the 20th. Others are dated in the same year, from Bangor, Caernarvon, Mold, and Hope. One from Caernarvon is dated as late as the 22d of October; which shews what attention he paid to the establishment of government in his new dominions, by the long visit he deigned to honor them with. The place he resided at here, was called Bala Deu Llyn, or the place where a river discharges itself from two lakes: but at present all memory is lost of the situation of the town, whose traces might perhaps be still discovered, after proper search.

I RETURNED by the same road; and again reach Bedd Ke∣lert, where I made a coarse lodging. The evening was so fine, that we were irresistibly tempted not to defer till morning our visit to Pont Aberglas Llyn, a short walk from hence. The first part is along the narrow vale; but in a very little time

the mountains approach so close, as to leave only room for the furious river to roll over its stony bed; above which is a narrow road, formed with incredible labor, impending over the water. The way seems to have been first cut out of the rock, and then covered with great stones, as usual in several of our narrow passes. The scenery is the most magnificent that can be ima∣gined. The mountains rise to very uncommon height, and op∣pose to us nothing but a broken series of precipices, one above the other, as high as the eye can reach. Here is very little ap∣pearance of vegetation; yet in spots there is here and there enough to tempt the poor goat to its destruction; for it will sometimes leap down to an alluring tuft of verdure, where, with∣out possiblity of return, it must remain to perish, after it has fi∣nished the dear-bought repast.

THE bridge terminates the pass; and consists of a single arch, flung over a deep chasm, from rock to rock. Above is a considerable cataract, where the traveller at times may have much amusement, in observing the salmon, in great numbers, make their efforts to surpass the heights. Near the place is a salmon fishery. Here had been a royal wear in the reign of Henry IV. which was then rented by Robert ap Meredydd. It probably be∣longed in old times to our natural princes; for it seems to have been a most valuable privelege. We have seen before, that young Elphin was endowed with one by his royal father; and the effect of his disappointment in missing his usual revenues, by finding (which, I dare say, was in those days a very rare in∣stance) an empty wear. Salmon was the most useful and esteemed fish among the Welsh: it was reckoned among the game; and, if I remember right, is the only species which was preserved by law.

ON my return to Bedd Kelert, a stone by the road side was pointed out to me, by the name of the chair of Rhys Goch O'ryri, the famous mountain bard, cotemporary with Owen Glyndwr. He was of the house of Havod Garregog at the entrance into Traeth Mawr, from whence he used to walk, and sitting on this stone, compose his poems. Among others, is a satire on a fox, for killing his favorite peacock. He died about the year 1420, and was interred in the holy ground at Bedd Kelert, after escaping the vengeance of the English, for inspiring our countrymen with the love of liberty, and animating them, by his compositions, into a long and gallant resistance to the galling yoke.

[figure]

CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY.

FROM Bedd Kelert I returned to Pont Aber Glas lyn; and soon reached Traeth Mawr, a large extent of sands, be∣tween the counties of Caernarvon and Meirionydd, of most dan∣gerous passage to strangers, by reason of the tides which flow here with great rapidity. This forms the bottom of the vast bay of Cardigan. In the year 1625, Sir John Wynne, of Gwedir, conceived the great design of gaining this tract, and a lesser, called Traeth Bychan, from the sea, by means of embanking. He implored the assistance of his illustrious contryman Sir Hugh Middleton. Sir John's letter, and Sir Hugh's reply, will be the best account I can give of the affair; which never was carried into execution, as I imagine, for want of money. Sir John's is as follows:

Right worthie Sir, my good cousin, and one of the great honors of the nation,

I UNDERSTAND of a greate work that you have performed in the Isle of Wight, in gaininge too thousand acres from the sea. I may saie to you what the Jewes said to Christ—We have heard of thy greate workes done abroade, doe somewhat in thine own countrey.

THERE are too washes in Merionethshire, whereon some parte of my being lieth, called Traeth Mawr and Traeth Bychan, of a great extent of land, and entring into the sea by one issue, which is not a mile broad at full sea, and verie shallow. The fresh currents that run into the sea are both vehement and greate, and carie with them much sand; besides the southerly winde usually bloweth fulle to the havens mouth, carrieth with it so much sand, that it hath overwhelmed a great quantitie of the ground adjacent. There, and also in the borderinge countreys, abundance of wood, brush, and other materialls fit to make mounds, to be had at a verie cheape rate, and easilie brought to the place; which I hear they doe in Lincolnshire, to expell the sea. My skill is little, and my experience none at all in such matters, yet I ever had a de∣sire to further my country in such actions as might be for their profit, and leave a remembrance of my endeavors; but hindred with other matters, I have only wished well, and done nothinge. Now being it pleased God to bring you into this country, I am to desire you to take a ride, the place not being above a daies journey from you; and if you do see the thing fit to be undertaken, I am content to ad∣venture

a brace of hundred pounds to joyne with you in the worke.

I HAVE leade ore on my grounds great store, and other minerals near my house; if it please you to come hither, beinge not above too daies journey from you, you shall be most kindly wellcome—it may be you shall finde here that will tend to your commoditie and mine. If I did knowe the day certaine when you would come to view Traeth Mawr, my son Owen Wynn shall attend you there, and conduct you thence to my house. Concluding me verie kindly to you, doe rest,

Your loving cousin and friend, J. WYNN.

Gwydir, 1st September 1625.

To the honored Sir Hugh Myddleton, Knt. Bart.

Honorable Sir,

I HAVE received your kind letter. Few are the things done by me, for which I give God the glory. It may please you to understand my first undertaking of publick works was amongst my owne, within less than a myle of the place where I hadd my first beinge, 24 or 25 years since, in seekinge of coales for the town of Denbigh.

TOUCHINGE the drowned lands near your lyvinge, there are manye things considerable therein. Iff to be gayned, which will hardlie be performed without great stones, which was plentifull at the Weight, as well as wood; and great sums of money to be spent, not hundreds but thousands— and first of all his Majesty's interest must be got. As for

myself, I am grown into years, and full of busines here at the mynes, the river at London, and other places—my weeklie charge being above £200; which maketh me verie unwillinge to undertake anie other worke; and the least of theis, whether the drowned lands or mynes, requireth a whole man, with a large purse.—Noble Sir, my desire is great to see you, which should draw me a farr longer waie; yet such are my occasions at this tyme here, for the settlinge of this great worke, that I can hardlie be spared one howre in a daie. My wieff being also here, I cannot leave her in a strange place. Yet my love to publique works, and desire to see you (if God permit) maie another tyme drawe me into those parts. Soe with my heartie comendations I comitt you and all your good desires to God,

Your assured lovinge couzin to command, HUGH MYDDELTON.

Lodge, Sept. 2d, 1625.

THE view from the middle of the sands towards Snowdonia, is most extravagantly wild. Mountain rises above mountain, exposing the most savage and barren aspect imaginable, naked, precipitous, and craggy. The Cyfnicht soars into a picturesque rocky cone; and Y Wyddfa rises in the back-ground pre-emi∣nent among its companions.

ON quitting the sands, arrive in a tract of meadows, sprinkled with insulated rocks rising in various places, and embosomed with woods, rocks, and precipices. On the road observed some poor iron ore, and groups of coarse crystals, the reliques of an unprofitable mine-adventure. The small town of Pen∣morva lies at the head of these meadows. The church is dedi∣cated

cated to St. Beuno, and annexed to it is the chapel of Dolben∣maen. Here was interred that valiant knight Sir John Owen. Besides his monument, is another small one to Sir William Morris of Clenenney, who died August 11th 1622.

IN former times this neighborhood abounded with gentry. It lies in the hundred of Evionydd, in remote days possessed by two clans; one descended from Owen Gwynedd, prince of Wales, and consisted of four houses, Cessail Gyfarch, Ystym-cegid, Clenenney, Brynker, Glasfryn, or Cwmstrallyn; the other was de∣rived from Collwyn ap Tangno, and consisted of the houses of Whilog, Bron y Foel, Berkin, Gwynfryn, Tal Hén Bont (now Plas Hén), and Pennardd. My curiosity once led me to make a tour of a few miles from hence to visit these antient mansions. In the days I allude to, the feuds among the gentry filled the land with blood. The history of our country, during that period, is the history of revenge, perfidy, and slaughter. This consideration induced Meredydd ap Jevan, ancestor of the Wynnes of Gwedir†, to quit this his paternal country. "I had rather," says he,

fight with outlaws and thieves, than with my own blood and kindred. If I live in my own house in Evionydd, I must either kill my own kinsmen, or be killed by them.

THERE was not a house in the hundred but had its dreadful tale. They would quarrel, if it was but for 'the mastery of the country, and the first good morrow‡!' John Owen ap John ap Mereddyd and Howel ap Madoc Vychan, fell out for no other reason. Howel and his people fought valiantly. When he fell, his

mother placed her hand on his head, to prevent the fatal blow, and had half her hand and three of her fingers cut off by some of her nearest kindred. An attempt was made to kill Howel ap Rhys in his own house, by the sons of John ap Mereddyd, for no other reason but that their servants had quarrelled about a fishery.

THEY first set fire to the mansion with great bundles of straw. The besieged, terrified With the flames, sheltered themselves under forms and benches; while Rhys, the old hero, stood sword in hand, reproaching his men with cowardice, and telling them be bad often seen a greater smoke in that hall on a Christmas even. These flagitious deeds seldom met with any other punishment than what resulted from private revenge; and too often composi∣tion was made for the most horrible murders. There was a Gwerth, or price of blood, from the slaughter of a king to the cutting off of one of his subject's little fingers.

SEVERAL antiquities are scattered over this part of the county. Near Dolbenmaen is a large mount, on which might have been, as Mr. Rowland conjectures, a watch-tower. Near Ystym∣kiged are three Cromlehs joining to each other, possibly me∣morial of three chieftains slain on the spot. And near Clenen∣ney, on Bwlch Craigwen, is a fine druidical circle, consisting at present of thirty-eight stones: at a mile's distance, and within sight of this, above Penmorva, is another. Before I returned, I visited Brynkir, in my memory inhabited by a family of the same name. It lies beneath the great mountain Hedog, which, divides this country from the vale of Bedd Kelert. From hence the country gradually lowers to the extremity of the county.

DURING my stay at Penmorva, I was desired to observe Dick Bach, a diminutive person, who casually called there. He was servant to a neighboring gentleman, about the age of thirty, and only three feet eleven inches high. He was pointed out to me only for the sake of describing his sister, Mary Bach o Cwmmain, or, little Mary of Cwmmain; a well-proportioned fairy, of the height of three feet four. Her virtues are superior to her size: she brews, bakes, pickles; in short, does every thing that the best housekeeper can do. Their parents live in these parts, have many children of the common stature of man; but nature chose to sport in the formation of this little pair.

IN the winter of 1694, this neighborhood was remarkable for an amazing and noxious phaenomenon. A mephites, or pesti∣lential vapour, resembling a weak blue slame, arose, during a fortnight or three weeks, out of a sandy marshy tract, called Morva Bychan, and crossed over a channel of eight miles to Harlech. It set fire on that side to sixteen ricks of hay and two barns, one filled with hay, the other with corn. It infected the grass in such a manner, that numbers of cattle, horses, sheep, and goats, died. One character of a mephites was wanting; for men went into the midst of it with impunity. It was easily dispelled; any great noise, such as the sounding of horns, the discharging of guns, or the like, at once repelled it. It moved only by night; and appeared at times, but less frequently, the following summer; after which this phaenomenon ceased. It may possibly arise, as the editor of Cambden conjectures, from a local

casualty, such as the fall of a flight of Locusts in that spot, as really did in the sea near Aberdaron; which growing corrupt, might, by the blowing of the wind for a certain period from one point, direct the pest to a certain spot, while others less remote might, for the same reason, escape the dreadful effects. Mouffet gives an account of a plague in Lombardy, about the year 591, which arose from the fall of a cloud of Locusts, which corrupted the air to such a degree, that eighty thousand men and cattle perished.

I continued my journey along the shore, which is for the most part flat, except where some small headland juts into it. On this coast the Reverend Mr. Hugh Davies, of Beaumaris, was witness to a very uncommon wreck of sea-fowl, which had happ∣ened in 1776. He saw the beach, for miles together, co∣vered with dead birds, especially those kinds which annually visit the rocks in summer; such as Puffins, Razor-bills, Guil∣lemots, and Kittiwakes; of the last. there were many many thou∣sands. Numbers also of Tarrocks. And of birds which retire to distant countries to breed, were Gannets, Wild-geese, Bernacles, Brent-geese, Scoters, and Tufted-ducks. The frost, from Ja∣nuary 6th to February the 2d, had been in that winter uncom∣monly severe: a storm had probably overtaken both the mi∣grants and re-migrants, and occasioned this havock; and the birds, which are perpetually resident with us, underwent the same fate, unable to resist the freezing gale.

Passed by Stymllyn, the seat of — Wynne, Esq and soon reach Crickaeth, a poor borough town, contributory to Caernarvon.

[figure]

CRICKAETH

Its castle is seated on a pretty round hill, jutting far into the sea, and the isthmus crossed, by way of defence, by two deep ditches; on each side of the entrance is a great round tower. The court is of an irregular form, and has the remains of a square tower; beyond is another court, and in it, on the verge of the rock, are two others, also square. It is probable that all the towers were originally square, for the insides of the two round towers are of that form. They have so much the appearance of the architecture of Dolwyddelan castle, that I entertain no doubt but that this castle was founded by a Welsh prince, and that its supposed founder Edward I. did no more than case the towers, which at present are the two rounders. After the Con∣quest, Edward appointed William de Leybourn to be constable, with a salary of a hundred pounds a year; for which he was to maintain a garrison of thirty stout men (ten of whom were to be cross-bow men) one chaplain, one surgeon, one carpenter, and one mason.

OUR boasted countryman, Sir Howel y Fwyall, was con∣stable of this castle; a hero descended from Collwyn ap Tangno. He attended the Black Prince to the battle of Poitiers, and, as we say, was the person who took the French king prisoner; but history bestows that honor on Denis de Morebeque, a knight of Artois†. Perhaps we must wave that particular glory; but he undoubtedly behaved on the occasion with distinguished valour: for the Black Prince not only bestowed on him the constableship of this castle, which he afterwards made his residence, but

knighted him, and, in perpetual memorial of his good services, ordered that from thenceforth a mess of meat should be served up before the pole-ax with which he performed such great feats; for what reason he bore it in his coat of arms, and was slyled Sir Howel y Fwyall, or of the Ax: after the mess had appeared before the knight, it was carried down and bestowed on the poor. Eight yeomen attendants were constituted to guard the mess, and had eight pence a day constant wages, at the king's charge; and these, under the name of yeomen of the crown, were continued on the establishment till the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Some do not scruple to say, that the yeo∣men of the crown were grafted upon this stock. After the death of Sir Howel, the mess was carried as before, and bestowed on the poor, for the sake of his soul; and probably as low as the period above mentioned.

EIGHT miles farther is Pwllheli. In my way cross over a pretty stream, on a bridge of three arches, at Llan Ystyndwy, a church and village in a pretty wooded bottom. A little farther inland is Plâs Hén, a seat of Evan Lloyd Vaughan, Esq by marriage of an heiress of the name of Vaughan, a descendant of Colwyn ap Tangno: she afterwards married William Lloyd, a younger son of Bod-idris. Cross the little river Arch, at Aber-arch, or the port of the coffin, near a church dedicated to St. Cwrda. After another mile's ride reach Pwllheli, the best town in this country, and the magazine of goods which supplies all this tract. It lies close on the shore, and has a tolerable harbour for vessels of about sixty tons. The en∣trance

is by a high rock called The Gimlet, a mile from land, to which it is joined by a range of sand-hills. This place was made a free borough by the Black Prince, by charter, dated in the 12th year of his principality, at Caernarvon, in compliment, to Nigel de Loryng or Lohareyn, one of the gentlemen of his bedchamber, on whom he had bestowed Pwllheli and Nevyn, in consideration of his great service in Gascony, and particularly at the battle of Poitiers. He entitles him to Servitiis quorum∣cunque tenentium tam liberorum quam nativorum; by which it may be presumed that he did not include the Welsh in the privileges. What those were I do not learn; but they were the same which the burgesses of Rosfair in Anglesey enjoyed: and for them Pwll∣heli was to pay to Nigel fourteen pounds a year, and Nevyn thirty∣two. This borough and Nevyn he freely bestowed on him, with all its appurtenances, together with four librates of land, to∣wards the repair of his manors; and for all these he was only to pay an acknowlegement of a rose, in lieu of all services. If he died without issue, the whole was to revert to the crown. Edward III. afterwards confirmed these grants at Sandwich.

FROM hence I took a ride about five miles inland to Carn Madryn, a lofty rocky insulated hill, noted for having been a strong hold of the sons of Owen Gwynedd, Roderick and Mal∣gwn, to whom this part of the country belonged. The bottom, sides, and top, are filled with cells, oblong, oval, or circular, once thatched, or covered from the inclemency of the weather: many of them are pretty entire. The chieftains resided on the top; the country, with the cattle, in times of invasion, occu∣pied the sides and bottom. The whole summit was surrounded with a wall, still visible in many places. From the summit is

an extensive view of the country, with the bay of Caerncr•••• on one side, and that of Cardigan on the other. Sarn Badrig is seen extending from Meireonyddshire its dangerous length, nearly parallel to the shore of Lhein. South Wales may be seen plainly, and in clear weather Ireland; and in front the whole tract of Snowdonia exhibits a most magnificent and stupendous barrier.

AT the foot of this hill is Madryn, formerly the seat of the Bodvels, descended from Collwyn ap Tangno; but on the death of the last male heir the estate was purchased by — Parry, Esq of Wern Vawr. From Pwllheli I continued my journey near the shore to Llan Badrog, along the sides of that noble bay the Tudwal's road, sheltered by two islands of that name, so named from St. Tudwal; sacred to whom was a small chapel on the greater. Its present inhabitants are sheep, rabbits, and, in the season, puffins.

IN the promontory Penrhyn Du, one of the points of this bay, have been considerable adventures for lead ore; and of late years attempts to drain the mines, by means of a fire engine: but the expences proved superior to the profits. A little be∣yond this is another bay, called Hell's Mouth, dreaded by mari∣ners, being the Scylla to the Charybdis of Sarn Badrig, whose extremity lies nearly opposite.

IN a small time I reached Aber-••aron, a poor village, at the very end of Caernarvonshire, seated on a sandy bay, beneath some high and sandy cliffs. The mouth of the bay is guarded by two little islands, called Ynys Gwylan, a security to the small craft of the inhabitants, who are all fishermen. It takes its

name from the small rivulet the Daron, which empties itself here.

IN the church are two ailes, supported by four very handsome pillars. This being the place where devotees usually took boat for Bardseye island, was greatly resorted to. It was dedicated to St. Hywyn, a saint of that island: was a sanctuary, and also much frequented by pilgrims. Leland says, it was called Llan Engas Brenin, Fanum Niniani Reguli†. Ninian is a saint, son of a Cumbrian prince, and whom legend might have sent here to found the church.

FROM this port I once took boat for Bardseye island, which lies about three leagues to the west. The mariners seemed tinctured with the piety of the place; for they had not rowed far, but they made a full stop, pulled off their hats, and offered up a short prayer. After doubling a headland, the island ap∣pears full in view: we passed under the lofty mountain which forms one side. After doubling the farther end, we put into a little sandy creek, bounded by low rocks, as is the whole level part. On landing, I found all this tract a very fertile plain, and well cultivated, and productive of every thing which the main land affords. The abbot's house is a large stone build∣ing, inhabited by several of the natives: not far from it is a singular chapel, or oratory, being a long arched edifice, with an insulated stone altar near the east end. In this place one of the inhabitants reads prayers: all other offices are performed at Aber-daron.

THE island is about two miles in circumference, contains a few inhabitants, and is rented from Lord Newborough. It was granted by Edward VI. to his uncle Sir Thomas Seymour, and after his death to John Earl of Warwick. The late Sir John Wynn purchased it from the late reverend Dr. Wilson of Newark.

THE island, whose spiritual concerns are at present under the care of a single rustic, once afforded, during life, an asylum to 20,000 saints; and after death, graves to as many of their bodies: well therefore might it be called Insula Sanctorum, The Isie of Saints. But, with Dr. Fuller, I must observe, that

it would be more facile to find graves in Bardseye for so many saints, than saints for so many graves†,

But to approach the truth; let it be said, that Dubritius, archbishop of Caer-leon, almost worn out with age, resigning his see to St. David, re∣tired here, and, according to the best account, died in 612; was interred on the spot; but in after times his body was re∣moved to Llandaff. The slaughter of the monks of Bangor, about the year 607, is supposed to have contributed to the population of this island; for not only the brethren who es∣caped, but numbers of other pious Britons, fled hither to avoid the rage of the Saxons.

THE time in which the religious house was founded, is very uncertain; it probably was before the retreat of Dubritius; for something of that kind must have occasioned him to give the preference to this place. It seems likely to have been a seat of the Culdees, or Colidei, the first religious recluses of Great

Britain; who sought islands and desert places in which they might in security worship the true GOD. It was certainly re∣sorted to in very early times; for our accounts say, that it flourished as a convent in the days of Cadwan king of Britain,, coeval with Dubritius. It was an abbey dedicated to St. Mary. I find among the Sebright MSS. mention of a petition from the abbot to Edward II. in which he sets forth the injuries he had received from the sheriff of Caernarvon, who had extorted from him 68s. and 6d. contrary to his deed of feoffment: on which the king directed Roger de Mortimer, justiciary of Wales, to make enquiry into the matter; who reported, that the abbot held his lands in the county of Caernarvon, in puram et perpe∣tuam elemosynam, without any service or secular acknowlegement; and further, that David, lord of Lhein, and brother to the last Prince of Wales, had exacted the same sum; as did his Pen∣cynydd, or master of his dogs, possibly under pretence of maintaining them. The king therefore, by his special favor, and by advice of his council, does for ever remit the said sum, and all arrears; and directs that no one in future, either on his account, or that of his heirs, ever should molest the convent.

THE house underwent the common fate of others at the dis∣solution. Its revenues were, as Dugdale says, 46l. 1s. 4d. according to Speed, 58l. 6s. 2d. In the year 1553, only 1l. 6s. 8d. remained in charge to the surviving religious of this place.

THE British name of the island is Ynys Enlli, or the Island in the Current, from the fierce current which rages particu∣larly

between it and the main land. The Saxons named it Bardseye, probably from the bards who retire here, preferring solitude to the company of invading foreigners.

THERE are great plenty of fish round the island, and abun∣dance of lobsters: the spiny lobster, Br. Zool. iv. N^o 22. is more frequent here than in most other places.

WE re-embarked from the rocks on the opposite side of the island to that on which we landed. Rowed through the rapid current called the Race of Bardsey, between the island and the great promontory Braech y Pwll, the Canganum Promontorium of Ptolemy: part of it is called, from certain yellow stones, Maem Melyn; the rest is a vast precipice, black and tremen∣dous. After landing at Aber-daron, I rid to its summit, and found the ruins of a small church, called Capel Vair, the Chapel of our Lady; and I was informed, that at the foot of the pro∣montory, below high-water mark, was a fountain of fresh water, to which devotees were wont to descend by a circuitous and most hazardous path, to get, at low-water, a mouthful of the spring; which if they carried up safe to the summit, their wish, whatsoever it was, was to be surely fulfilled. This was under the protection of our Lady, and called Ffynnon Vain. The chapel was placed here to give the seamen opportunity of invoking the tutelar saint for protection through this dangerous sound, and I dare say, in old times, the walls were covered with votive tables. Not far from hence I pasfed by the ruins of Capel Anhelog, or, the Chapel without Endowment.

AFTER going through a fertile bottom, ascended a lofty moun∣tain impending over the sea, called Uwch Mynydd; on which were several circular hollows, edged with stone, the tempo∣rary

[figure]

VIEW OF BARDSEY ISLAND.

habitations of perhaps some invader. Descend, and pass by a large and antient house, called Bethelem.

NOT far from thence, about a quarter of a mile from the shore, rises a high rock, called Maen y Mellt, or, The Stone of Lightning. Ride by Cefn-amwlch, the seat of John Griffith, Esq and soon after to Brynodol, that of Hugh Griffith, Esq where I met with a most hospitable reception for two nights. From hence I visited the neighboring shore, which is here low and rocky, opening into frequent little creeks, useful to the fishermen; who find in them, during the herring-fishery, a safe retreat from storms. Among these are, Porth Towyn, Porth Colman, Porth Gwylan, and Porth Ysgadan. Near the last, about thirty years ago, a rock, which towered a great height out of the sea, was suddenly missed, after a horrible night of thunder and lightning, supposed to have been struck down by the resistless bolt. I observed that the fields about Porth Gwylan were covered with y ddafad, or samphire, which sheep and cattle eagerly feed on, and grow very fat. I was pleased here with the fine blossom of thrift glowing over numbers of the pastures.

LLŶN or Lleyn is a very extensive hundred: in general flat, but interspersed with most characteristic hills or rocks, rising insulated in several parts: none makes so conspicuous a figure as Carn Madryn and Carn Boduon. The houses of the common people are very mean; made with clay, thatched, and destitute of chimnies. Notwithstanding the laudable example of the gentry, the country is in an unimproved state, neglected for the sake of the herring-fishery. The chief produce is oats, and black cattle. I was informed that above three thousand are

annually sold out of these parts. Much oats, barley, butter, and cheese, are exported. The land is excellent for grazing, be∣ing watered by a thousand little rills. It is destitute of trees, except about the houses of the gentry.

THE herrings, about the year 1771, were taken here in vast abundance, from Porth Ysgadan, or the Port of Herrings, to Bard∣seye island. The capture amounted usually to the value of about four thousand pounds. They were sometimes salted on shore; at other times bought from the fishers by the Irish wherries at sea, and carried to be cured in Dublin. These desultory fish, about the period mentioned, appear in July and went away in October; in earlier times they came in September and went away in No∣vember. Dories are often taken here. The fishermen were wont to fling them away, on account of their ugly appearance: nor was this luxury known to the gentry, till one of their servants, who was acquainted with the fish, informed them of its being an inhabitant of thefe seas. The Atherine, Br. Zool. iii. No 157, is taken near Pwllbeli; and a small lobster is often found burrowing in the sand; but differs from the common kind only in its place of residence, and in size. The traps for lobsters are made with packthread, like thief-nets, and baited with pieces of the lesser spotted shark, Br. Zool. iii. N^o 47. The fishers remark, that the sexes of these voracious fish confort, at certain times, apart; for at certain periods they take only males, at others only females.

THE churches in this country are of very antient foundation. Some cause or other prevented me from seeing several old inscriptions; a few of which I have since picked up. In the church of Llangynodol is said to be this; Hic jacet GWEN HOEDL,

a holy lady, who lived in very early times. DERVORI hic jacet, is another inscription, on a stone now placed over a door of Pen∣prys stable, in Llannor parish; and at Capel Yverach, in Aber∣daron parish, is another, which I think better expressed by an engraving†. They are cut on very rude stones, and were cer∣tainly the work of the early times of Christianity.

BRYNODOL, by advantage of situation on the side of a hill, commands a vast view of a flat woodless tract, the sea, and a noble mass of mountains. The Eist hills, Boduon, and the vast Carn Madryn, rise in the fore ground; and beyond these soars all Snowdonia, from those alps which surround the Wyddfa, to the most remote in the county of Meireonydd.

ON quitting Brynodol I descended into an extensive flat; reached Porth yn Llŷn, a fine safe and sandy bay, guarded on the west by a narrow headland, jutting far into the sea. On part of it are the remains of very strong entrenchments; pro∣bably an out-post of the Romans: who, as I shall have occasion to mention, had another between this place and Caernarvon.

SEPARATED from this bay by a small headland, is that of Nefyn; and near it a small town of the same name, a contribu∣tory borough to Caernarvon. This place had been bestowed on Nigel de Lohareyn by the Black Prince, in the 12th year of his principality, and made a free borough: was allowed a guild mercatory, with every privilege attendant on other free boroughs, and all the liberties and customs granted here∣tofore to that of Newborough in Anglesey. He also gave it a grant of two fairs annually, and a market on a Sunday; to

which the inhabitants of that part of the Commot y Llŷn, then called Dynthlayn, were obliged to resort.

HERE Edward I, in 1284, held his triumph on the conquest of Wales; and perhaps, to conciliate the affections of his new subjects, in imitation of our hero Arthur, held a round table, and celebrated it with dance and tournament.

Where throngs of knights, and barons bold, In weeds of peace high triumphs hold, With store of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence, and judge the prize Of wit or arms, while both contend To win her grace, whom all commend.

The concourse was prodigious; for not only the chief nobi∣lity of England, but numbers from foreign parts, graced the festival with their presence.

THE custom is very antient; for it may be derived even higher than the days of Arthur. We may allow that he held his round table on account of one of his victories; and that he had four-and-twenty knights who sat at the festive board; which might have been designedly made of a circular form, in order to destroy all dispute about pre-eminence of seat. But the Gauls also sate at their round tables, and every knight had at his back a squire with his armour, in waiting†. This gallant assem∣bly was held for many ages after. Besides this held at Nefyn,

another was presented by Earl Mortimer at Kenilworth, where the knights performed their martial exercises, and the ladies danced in silken mantles.

THE first, I apprehend to have been performed in those cir∣cular areae, which we still meet with in some parts of England, surrounded with a high mound, a ditch in the inside, and two entrances one opposite to the other, for the knights to enter at and make their onset. One of these I have seen by Penrith, which bears the name of Arthur's round table†; others, which are far larger, I found on Thornborough heath, in Yorkshire; of which I may in future time give some account.

ASCEND from Nefyn for a considerable way up the side of the high hill; and after a short ride on level ground quit our horses, in order to visit Nant y Gwrtheyrn, or Vortigen's valley, the immense hollow, to which Vortigern is said to have fled from the rage of his subjects, and where it was said that he and his castle were consumed with lightning. Nennius‡ places the scene near the Teivi, in Caermarthenshire; but I believe that the historian not only mistakes the spot, but even the man∣ner of his death. His life had been profligate; the monks therefore were determined that he should not die the common death of all men, and accordingly made him perish with signal marks of the vengeance of Heaven. Fancy cannot frame a place more fit for a retreat from the knowlege of mankind, or more apt to inspire one with full hopes of security from any pursuit. Embosomed in a lofty mountain, on two sides bounded by

stony steeps, on which no vegetables appear but the blasted heath and stunted gorse; the third side exhibits a most tremen∣dous front of black precipice, with the loftiest peak of the mountain Eifl soaring above; and the only opening to this secluded spot is towards the sea, a northern aspect! where that chilling wind exerts all its fury, and half freezes, during winter, the few inhabitants. The glen is tenanted by three families, who raise oats, and keep a few cattle, sheep, and goats; but seem to have great difficulty in getting their little produce to market.

JUST above the sea is a high and verdant mount, natural; but the top and sides worked on by art. The first flat∣ted: the sides marked with eight prominent ribs from top to bottom. On this might have been the residence of the unfortunate prince; of which, time has destroyed every other vestige. Till the beginning of the last century, a tumulus, of stone within, and externally covered with turf, was to be seen here; it was known by the name of Bedd Gwrtheyrn: tradi∣tion having regularly delivered down the report of this having been the place of his interment. The inhabitants of the parish, perhaps instigated by their then minister, Mr. Hugh Roberts, a person of curiosity, dug into the carn, and found in it a stone coffin, containing the bones of a tall man. This gives a degree of credibility to the tradition, especially as no other bones were found with it; no other tumuli on the spot: a proof at lest of respect to the rank of the person; and that the place was deserted after the death of the royal fugitive, about the year 465.

[figure]

AFTER emerging out of this chearless bottom, I found fresh and amazing matter of speculation. I got into a bwlch, or hollow, between two summits of the Eifl mountains; a range that makes a most distinguished figure, with the sugar-loaf points, from various and distant parts of the country: they range obliquely, and separate Lleyn from the hundred of Arfon, and jut into the sea near Vortigern's valley.

ACROSS this hollow, from one summit of the Eifl to the other, extends an immense rampart of stones, or perhaps the ruins of a wall, which effectually blocked up the pass. On the Eifl is the most perfect and magnificent, as well as the most artful, of any British post I ever beheld. It is called Tre'r Caeri, or, the Town of the Fortresses. This, which was the accessible side, is defended by three walls; the lowest is very imperfect, the next tolerably entire, and has in it the grand entrance. This wall in one part points upwards towards the third wall, which runs round the edges of the top of the hill: the second wall unites with the first, which runs into a point, re∣verts, and joins the highest, in a place where the hill becomes inaccessible. The facings on the two upper walls are very entire, especially that of the uppermost. They are lofty, and exhibit from below a grand and extensive front. The space on the top is an irregular area; part is steep, part flat: in most parts covered with heath, giving shelter to a few red grouse. The whole is almost filled with cells. To be seen with advantage, the station should be taken from the summit, about which the cells are very distinct, and disposed with much art. About the middle is a square place fenced with stones; a sort of praetorium, surrounded with two rows of cells: numbers

are also scattered about the plain, and others again are conti∣guous to the wall all along the inside.

THE cells are mostly perfect: of various forms; round, oval, oblong, square. Some of the round were fifteen feet in dia∣meter; of the oblong, thirty feet in length, with long entrances regularly faced with stone. All of them, when inhabited, were well protected from the weather by roofs of thatch or sod.

THE upper wall was in many places fifteen feet high on the outside, and often sixteen feet broad. It consisted of two pa∣rallel and contiguous parts, one higher than the other, serving as a parapet to the lower, which seemed to have had its walk, like that on the walls of Chester. There was in one place a cell in the thickness of the wall, or perhaps a sally-port, in part stopped by the falling-in of the stones.

I was determined to trace every species of fortress of this nature which lay in the neighborhood. On descending from Tre'r Caeri to the south, I very soon ascended Moel Garn Guwh, a hill of conic form, on the summit of which is a prodigious heap of stones, seemingly a shapeless ruin; if it was not for the appearance of certain facings of a central cell still remaining, to prove that it had been a large tower, and an out-post to the preceeding place. These ruins are called by the country people A••••••••••••g••d y G••••••••s, or, The apron-full of stones flung down by ••he G••••••••••••s.

I MUST remark, that from the Eift saw sveral other lesser eminences fortified in a manner nearly similar. I may men∣tion Carn Madryn, before described; the hill of Boduan, above 〈◊〉〈◊〉, covered with similar cells; Meel ben Twrch, between 〈…〉〈…〉; and Castell Gwgan, remarkable for a

[figure]

CLYNNOG

small circular intrenchment; and to these I may add another fortified hill, called Pen y Gaer, on the other side of the pass which leads from Arfon to Llŷn: all which makes it probable that this country was the retreat of multitudes of Britons, to escape the first fury of the Saxon invaders.

AFTER viewing the Arffedoged-y-Gowres, I descended to the village and church of Llan-Aelhaiearn, the last dedicated to St. Aelhaiearn, or, the saint with an iron eyebrow, from a legend too absurd to relate. Near it is a fine well, once much fre∣quented for its reputed sanctity. Continue descending: on the right are the high conic hills of Gern goch and Gern ddu, the extremity of the long chain which extends obliquely from Snowdon, beginning at Talmignèdd. Reach

CLYNNOG, seated in a small grove near the shore, on a plain near the foot of the hills. The church is the most magnificent structure of its kind in North Wales, built in form of a cross; the length from east to west is about a hundred and thirty-eight feet, from north to south seventy. Near the altar are three neat stalls, divided by pillars supporting gothic arches, the seats of the officiating priests. The monuments are few: one to Wil∣liam Glynn de Lleiar, with his figure, and those of his wife and seven children: another to his son-in-law George Twisleton, Esq of Aula Barrow in Yorkshire, and in right of his wife, of Lleiar. I imagine him to be the same with Colonel Twisleton, an active officer under Cromwell, and the same who had the honor of beating and making prisoner the gallant Sir John Owen.

ADJOINING to the church is the chapel of St. Beuno. The passage to it is a narrow vault covered with great flat stones, and of far greater antiquity than either church or chapel; which seem nearly coeval. Leland speaks of the first as new worke, and the architecture verifies his account. He speaks also of the old church, where St. Beuno lieth, being near the new. The passage is the only part left. The chapel was probably built after that traveller had visited the place, in the room of the old church, which might have fallen to ruin. In the midst is the tomb of the saint, plain, and altar-shaped. Vota∣ries were wont to have great faith in him, and did not doubt but that by means of a night's lodging on his tomb, a cure would be found for all diseases. It was customary to cover it with rushes, and leave on it till morning sick children, after making them first undergo ablution in the neighboring holy well; and I myself once saw on it a feather bed, on which a poor paralytic from Meirionyddshire had lain the whole night, after undergoing the same ceremony.

I HAVE given some account of St. Beuno in the preceding volume†. After he had assumed the monastic habit, he here founded a convent in 616. Cadvan, king of North Wales, was his great patron, and promised him much land: his son Cad∣wallan performed the promise, and received from the Saint a golden sceptre worth sixty cows. The land was clamed in behalf of a little infant, and his title proved good: the king refuses either to give other land in lieu, or to resign the pre∣sent. Beuno cursed him, and went away; but was appeased by Gwrddeint, first cousin to the king, who overtook him, and

gave the town of Celynnog for ever to GOD and St. Beuno, for his own soul's sake, and that of the wicked Cadwallan. Long after his time, the Carmelites, or white monks, had here an establishment. They were suppressed, but I cannot learn the period. At the time of the Lincoln taxation, or the year 1291, the church was collegiate, consisting of five portionists or pre∣bendaries; and it continued so to the dissolution†. The rectory is a sinecure annexed to the headship of JESUS College, Oxford; the poor vicarage is the gift of the bishop.

ITS revenues at the dissolution are not recorded; but they must at one time have been very great: many of the kings and first: people of the country appear on the list of benefactors. Cadwaladr gave Grayanoc; Tegwared gave Porthamel; Cadel be∣stowed Kylcourt; prince Mervyn, Carnguin; Cadwgan ap Cynvelyn, Bodveilion in Llŷn; Idwal endowed it with Penrhos and Clynog Vechan in Anglesey: and besides these are numbers of others, for which I refer the reader to my authority‡.

AT present there are, I believe, no sort of revenues to keep this venerable pile from falling to ruin. The offerings of calves and lambs, which happen to be born with the Nôd Beuno, or mark of St. Beuno, a certain natural mark in the ear, have not entirely ceased. They are brought to the church on Trinity Sunday, the anniversary of the Saint, and delivered to the churchwardens; who sell and account for them, and put it into a great chest, called Cyff St. Beino, made of one piece of oak, secured with three locks. From this the Welsh have a proverb for attempting any very difficult thing, You may as well try

"to break up St. Beuno's chest." The little money resulting from the sacred beasts, or casual offerings, is either applied to the relief of the poor, or in aid of repairs.

THOSE who are curious in druidical antiquities, may see a very uncommon Cromleh on the tenement of Bachwen, about half a mile from this place. The inclination of the upper stone is to the west; on its surface are numbers of small shallow holes, with two or three larger than the rest, possibly for some purpose of augury. At thirty paces distance is an upright stone, placed, as is supposed, to mark the limits of approach to the people, while the rites were performing by the Druid∣priest.

THE distance from Clynnog to Caernarvon is ten miles; a continued plain: the mountains recede gradually from the sea, so as to leave a considerable extent of level ground as we ap∣proach the capital of the county. The road is excellent, and the greatest part has the merit of being made at the expence of the parishes. The shore is low, gravelly, or sandy, and forms one side of the bay of Caernarvon.

CROSS the Llyfni, a rapid stream flowing out of Llyn Nanlle. I heard here of a strong camp, called Carreg y Di∣nas; of which I find this note in the MS. travels of the late ingenious Dr. Mason of Cambridge. He mentions it as being placed upon the Isthmus of the Llyfni, opposite to the house of Lleiar. The three sides to the river are very steep; the fourth is defended by two fosses and two banks, made chiefly of stone, especially the inner one, which is six yards high. In the middle is a mount, possibly the ruins of a tower. The entrance is at the east end, between the ends of the banks.

ABOUT three miles, turn to the left, to visit Dinas Dinlle, a vast mount of gravel and sand, on the verge of a great marsh, upon the shore. On the top is a large area, surrounded by an amaz∣ing agger, seemingly formed by the earth scooped out of the summit. Within are remains of foundations of buildings, of an oblong form, constructed with earth and round stones; and in one part is a tumulus of the same materials. On the outside of the agger, on one part, is a very deep ditch, with another high rampart; and the ground towards the base seems every where to have been smoothed by art. There is a regular entrance at one end; on the other, the ground slopes to the sea, and is quite open, a defence being there needless. The waves have made great depredations, and worn one side into a cliff. I must attribute this fortress to the Romans; and am the more confirmed in my notion, as I am informed that coins have been found here, among which was one of Alectus. The Romans might possibly be induced to form this post, to secure a landing-place for any necessaries the country might want; for the entrance into the port Segontium ▪s often, even at pre∣sent, very difficult; much more so in the earlier times of navi∣gation.

THAT intelligent traveller and able botanist Mr. Thomas Johnson speaks thus of Dinas Dinlle,

Stationem hie in ipso littore Romani milites habuerunt, cujus adhuc satis clara vestigia manent.

Possibly there may be another of the

same kind; for I find in the old maps, both of Saxton and Speed, the name Caer Ierienrode, a little lower down, at the mouth of the Llyfni; and by the addition of the word Caer, it must have been a fortified place.

WHEN I made my visit to Dinas Dinlle, I was under the guidance of a worthy friend, and learned antiquary, the Re∣verend Richard Farrington (now deceased). He conducted me to his residence at Dines Dincethwy, about four miles distant. In the way he shewed to me Dinas y Prif, or, The Post of the Chieftain; a small camp, about forty-four yards square. Each corner is elevated above the ramparts; and withinside are foundations of some stone buildings. By the name, it might: be the summer station of the Roman commander in chief, resident in winter at Segontium.

FROM Dinas I visited Glynllivon, a house built by the late Sir John Wynn, seated near the little river Llifon, issuing from the Kilgwyn mountain. Cilmin Troed-ddu, or, Cilmin with a black foot, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, and nephew to Merfyn Fryeh, prince of Wales, slain in 841, had his residence on this spot. From him are descended the family of the Glynns, who took their name from the place. They bear, in allusion to the name of their ancestor, a man's leg, coupè a la cuisse, sable. A ridiculous legend tells you, that Cilmin's leg became so dis∣colored by escaping from a daemon, whose books he had assisted a magician to steal. In leaping over a brook, which was to be the limit of the pursuit, Cilmin's left leg plunged into the water, and assumed its sable dye. Our stories are absurd; but not more so than an Eastern tale. Glynllivon came into pos∣session of the late Sir John Wynn, by the marriage of his father,

Tho. Wynn, Esq of Boduan, with Frances second daughter to John Glynn, Esq of Glynllivon.

CONTINUE my journey on a turnpike road. Cross, at Pont Newydd, the Gwyrfai, which flows from Llyn Cwellyn; and soon after cross the Seiont, and reach CAERNARVON.

THIS town is justly the boast of North Wales, for the beauty of situation, goodness of the buildings, regularity of the plan, and, above all, the grandeur of the castle, the most magnificent badge of our subjecton. The place sprung from the ruin of the antient Segontium; but it does not owe its name to Edward I. as is generally supposed. Giraldus Cambrensis mentions it in his journey of the year 1188†; and Llewelyn the Great dates from it a charter in the year 1221‡. I greatly suspect the Caernarvon of those times to have been no other than the antient Segontium, whose name the Welsh had changed to the apt one of Caer ar Fôn, or, The strong hold opposite to Anglesey. But the present town was in all probability a creation of our conqueror. A judicious warrior, such as Edward, could not fail profiting of so fit a situ∣ation for a curb on the new-conquered country. It had natural requisites for strength; being bounded on one side by the arm of the sea called the Menai; by the estuary of the Seiont on another, exactly where it receives the tide from the former; on a third side, and part of the fourth, by a creek of the Me∣nai; and the remainder has the appearance of having the in∣sulation completed by art. Edward undertook this great work immediately after his conquest of the country in 1282, and completed the fortifications and castle before 1284; for his queen, on April 25th in that year, brought forth within its

walls Edward, first prince of Wales of the English line. It was built within the space of one year, by the labor of the peasants, and at the cost of the chieftains of the country, on whom the conqueror imposed the hateful task. Henry Ellerton, or de Elreton, was appointed master mason of the castle†, and per∣haps was the architect; and under him must have been num∣bers of other skilful workmen: for I dare say that the Welsh peasants were no mare than cutters of wood and hewers of stone. It is probable that many of the materials were brought from Segontium, or the old Caernarvon; and tradition says, that much ot the lime-stone, with which it is built, was brought from Twr-kelyn in Anglesey;; and of the grit-stone, from Vaenol in this county. The Menai greatly facilitated the car∣riage from both places.

THE external state of the walls and castle are at present exactly as they were in the time of Edward. The walls are defended by numbers of round towers, and have two principal gates: the east, facing the mountains: the west, upon the Menai. The entrance into the castle is very august, beneath a great tower, on the front of which appears the statue of the founder, with a dagger in his hand, as if menacing his new-acquired unwilling subjects. The gate had four portcullises, and every requisite of strength. The court is oblong. The towers are very beautiful; none of them round, but pentago∣nal, hexagonal, or octagonal: two are more lofty than the rest. The Eagle tower is remarkably fine, and has the ad∣dition of three slender angular turrets issuing from the top. Edward II. was born in a little dark room in this tower, not

[figure]

CAERNARYON CASTLE.

twelve feet long, nor eight in breadth: so little did, in those days, a royal consort consult either pomp or conveniency. The gate through which the affectionate Eleanor entered, to give the Welsh a prince of their own, who could not speak a word of English, is at the farthest end, at a vast height above the out∣side ground; so could only be approached by a draw-bridge. In his sixteenth year, the prince received the homage of his duped subjects at Chester, invested, as marks of his dignity, with a chaplet of gold round his head, a golden ring on his finger, and a silver sceptre in his hand†.

THE walls of this fortress are about seven feet nine inches thick; and have within their thickness a most convenient gal∣lery, with narrow slips, for the discharge of arrows. The walls of the Eagle Tower are near two feet thicker. The view from its summit is very fine, of the Menai, Anglesey, and the nearer parts of the British alps.

THE first whom I find appointed by Edward to be governor of the castle, was John de Havering, with a salary of two hun∣dred marks; for which he was obliged to maintain constantly, besides his own family, fourscore men, of which fifteen were to be cross-bowmen, one chaplain, one surgeon, and one smith; the rest were to do the duty of keepers of the gates, centinels, and other necessary offices‡.

IN 1289, I find that the king had appointed Adam de Weten∣hall to the same important office‖.

THE establishment for town and castle was as follows:

THE constable of the castle had sometimes sixty pounds, at others only forty.

THE captain of the town had 12l. 3s. 4d. for his annual fee; but this office was sometimes annexed to the former, and then the see was 60l. for both.

THE constable and the captain had twenty-four soldiers al∣lowed them for the defence of the place, at the wages of 4d. per day each. Surely this slight garrison was only during peaceful times!

The porter of the gates of the town had for his annual see 3l. 10s.

I can discover no more than two instances of this place hav∣ing suffered by the calamities of war. In the great insurrec∣tion of the Welsh, under Madog, in 1294, they surprised the town during the time of a fair, and put many English to the sword†; and, according to Mr. Carte‡, took the castle, that of Snowdon (Conway), and made himself master of all Anglesey.

In the last century, Captain Swanly, a parlementarian officer, took the town in 1644, made four hundred prisoners, and got a great quantity of arms, ammunition, and pillage. The royal∣ists afterwards repossessed themselves of the place. Lord Byron was appointed governor; was besieged by General Mytton in 1646, and yielded the place on the most honorable terms. In 1648, the General himself and Colonel Moson were besieged in it by Sir John Owen; who hearing that Colonel Carter and Co∣lonel Twisselton were on the march to relieve the place, drew a party from the siege, in order to attack them on the way. The parties met near Llandegay: Sir John was defeated, and made

prisoner; and after that all North Wales submitted to the par∣lement.

THE quay is a most beautiful walk along the side of the Me∣nai, and commands a most agreeable view.

CAERNARVON is destitute of manufactures, but has a brisk trade with London, Bristol, Leverpool, and Ireland, for the several necessaries of life. It is the residence of numbers of genteel families; and contains several very good houses; a very antient one, called Plâs Pulesdon, is remarkable for the fate of its first owner, Sir Roger de Pulesdon, a distinguished favorite of Edward I, He had been appointed sheriff and keeper of the county of Anglesey† in 1284. What office he held here, I am unacquainted with; but in 1294, being directed to levy the subsidy for the French war, a tax the Welsh had never been accustomed to, they took up arms, and hanged de Pulesdon and several of his people. This was a signal for a general insurrection: Madoc, a relation of the late Prince Llewelyn, headed the people of this country. Edward marched against them in person, and with great difficulty reduced the country to submit again to his yoke‡.

THE church is no more than a chapel to Llan Beblic; and probably originally only a chapel to the garrison.

EDWARD I. bestowed on Caernarvon its first royal charter, and made it a free borough. Among other privileges, none of the burgesses could be convicted of any crime committed be∣tween the rivers Conwy and Dyfy, unless by a jury of their own townsmen‖ It is governed by a mayor, who, by patent,

is created governor of the castle. It has one alderman, two bailiffs, a town-clerk, and two serjeants at mace. The repre∣sentative of the place is elected by its burgesses, and those of Conwy, Pwllbeli, Nefyn, and Crickaeth. The right of voting is in every one, resident or non-resident, admitted to their freedom The first member was John Puleston: and the second time it sent representatives, which was in the 1st of Edward VI. it chose Robert Puleston, and the county elected John†; as if both town and county determined to make re∣paration to the family for the cruelty practised on its an∣cestor.

The mother church of Caenarvon is about half a mile south∣east of the town; is called Llan Beblic, being dedicated to Sr. Peblic or Peblicius, (according to our historians) son of Maxon Wledic (Maximus the tyrant) and his wife Helen, daughter of Euddaf. It is said that he retired from the world and took a religious habit‡. Richard II. bestowed this church, and the chayel of Caernarvon, on the nuns of St. Mary's in Chester, in consideration of their poverty‖ I find in the recital of another charter of the same prince, that his grandfather Edward III. had bestowed on those religious the advowson of Llangathen in Caer∣martsoershire§: both which, on the dissolution, were annexed to the see of Chester, and remain to this day under the patronage of the Bishop of Chester. In the church is the tomb of a son¶ of Sir William Gryffydd of Per••••byn, who died in 1587; and

Margaret, daughter to John Wynne ap Mereddyd. Their figures are in white marble, lying on a mat, admirably carved. He is in armour. She has on a short quilled ruff, and quilled ruffles at her wrists; in a long gown, and a sash round her waist.

NEAR the steep bank of the river Seiont, at a small distance from the castle, is an ancient Roman fort. On two sides the walls are pretty entire; one is seventy-four yards long; the other, which points to the river, is sixty-four. The height ten feet eight inches. The thickness six feet. Much of the facing is taken away, which discovers the peculiarity of the Roman masonry. It consists of regular courses, the others have the stones disposed in zigzag fashion. Along the walls are three parallel lines of round holes, not three inches in diameter, nicely plastered within, which pass through the whole thickness. There are other similar holes, which are discovered in the end of the wall; and seem to run through it lengthways. I can discover the use of neither one or other. Those that run through the walls are supposed to be for the purpose of annoy∣ing an enemy with arrows; but from the smallness of the dia∣meter, a compass of aim in directing the shot is wanting. Near the corner of one of the walls is a heap of stones, the ruins of a tower; for on digging, some years ago, the founda∣tion of a found one was discovered. It was paved, and in it were found the horn of a deer and skeletons of some lesser ani∣mals. This place seems intended to secure a landing-place from the Seiont, at time of high water; and I was informed, that in Tre'r Beblic, on the opposite shore, had been other ruins, the work of the same people.

AT a small distance above this, and about a quarter of a mile from the Menai, is the antient Segontium, to the use of which the fort had been subservient. It forms an oblong of a very considerable extent, seemingly about six acres, placed on the summit of rising ground, and sloping down on every side. It is now divided by the public road; but in several parts are vestiges of walls; and in one place appears the remnant of a building made with tiles, and plastered with very hard and smooth mortar: this seems to have been part of a hypocaust. The mortar in all other parts is very hard, and mixed with much gravel and sand. At present a public road passes through the midst of this antient station, beyond which the Romans had only a small out-post or two in this county. A gold coin, of about seventeen shillings weight, was found here, inscribed T. DIVI AVG, FIL AVGVTVS.

CAMBDEN suspects that this might have been the Setantiorum Portus of Ptolemy, being willing to read it Segontiorum; but the situation of the former is certainly at the mouth of the Ribble. He may be right in supposing it to have been in after times named Caer Custenin, or the Castle of Constantine†, and that Hugh Lupus, who certainly invaded Anglesey in 1098, had here a temporary post. How far the relation of Matthew of West∣minster, that Censtantius, father of Constantine, was interred here, may be depended on, I will not say; nor whether, as the histo∣rian farther asserts, that Edward caused the body to be taken up, and honorably re-buried in the church, I suppose of St. Publicius‡. Mr. Rowlands says, that Helen, the mother of Pub∣licius,

had a chapel here, which he tells us was in being in his days. A well, near the fort, bears the name of that princess; and some very slight remains of ruins are to be seen adjacent. Tradition says, the chapel stood on that spot.

THE traveller who wishes to visit Snowdon, from this town, may have a very agreeable ride. After crossing the Fai, or Gwyrfai†, at Pont y Bettws, about four miles and a half from Caernarvon, he will find about the village of Bettws Garmon, or Is-Gwrfai, a beautiful cascade fronting him, as he passes up a valley; which consists of verdant meadows, watered by the same river, and bounded by hills rising fast into alpine majesty. He will go under Moel Elian, a noble mountain of a stupendous bulk, cloathed with a smooth green turf, and most regularly rounded. He will pass on the right near Castell Cedwm, said by Mr. Rowlands to be one of the guards to the entrance into Snowdon: it is a great rock; which I did not ascend, so cannot certify whether it had any works like those of other British posts. The lake Cwellyn here almost fills the valley; a water famous for its Char, which are taken in nets in the first winter months, and after that season retire to the inaccessible depths. In former times, this water was called, from the steepness of its banks, Llyn y Torlennydd. Above, on the right side of the lake, soars the magnificent Mynnydd Vawr, smooth on the top, but the sides receding inwards in a semicircular form, exhi∣biting a tremendous precipice. Soon after this, the vale ex∣pands;

y Wyddfa appears full in view. The traveller will pass by LLYN Y CADER, and join in my former tour at Bedd Kelert.

FROM Caernarvon I crossed in the ferry to Tal y Voel, in the island of ANGLESEY.

THE Menai is here two miles broad. In my passage had a view of Abermenai, the very narrow passage into the port of Caernarvon, and rendered more dangerous by the sands both within and without. Abermenai has its ferry, and is one of the five over this strait. They were originally the property of the crown of England; till Henry VIII. granted all of them to Richard Gifford, one of the sewers of his chamber; who again set them to William Bulkely, in the 33d year of his royal master: but since that period, every one has been transferred to other hands.

I SOON reached Newborough, about three miles from the shore, a place greatly fallen away from its antient splendor. Here had been one of the resi¦dences of his princes. In Mr. Row∣lands' time, the foundation of the Llŷs, or palace, was to be seen a little to the south of the church; which is supposed to have been the domestic chapel. In its neighborhood, at Vrondeg, is a stone which I overlooked. I find it mentioned in the manuscripts of Mr. ROWLANDS; who has given the following inscription: CUR ..... FILIUS CUURICINI EREXIT HUNC LAPIDEM. The author of the History of Anglesey also men∣tions it, but varies in the name of the founder, and his father.

His reading is thus: FILIUS ULRICI EREXIT HUNC LAPIDEM. I am credibly informed that the inscription is at present ille∣gible; but the style of the memorial induces me to give it to a Dane: such are extremely frequent in Scandinavia. STO∣DINGUS fecit erigi lapidem in memoriam ARNONIS filii sui qui profectus est in HARDALAM—THORSTATUM & GURA fecerunt erigi saxum in memoriam LAFSONIS patris sui† —and the imper∣fect one, like this of Ulric, SAXO lapidem hunc posuit‡, are proofs of the custom in the Baltic kingdoms.

THE Danes frequently invaded Anglesey, and between the years 969 and 972 Godfryd, the son of Harold, subdued the whole island‖: a pious son in one of the times might, according to the custom of his country, have erected this monument to his father; but from the imperfect state of the inscription, we are at a loss to know whether it was sepulchral or votive.

NEWBOROUGH, or more properly Rhos-vair, the British name, was a manor of our princes. It was divided into two parts; the one consisted of officers of the houshold under the prince; which were of two kinds, and had twelve gavels in land be∣tween them: part maintained the Maer-drefyrs, or persons who overlooked his demesn; the other was for the Garddwyr, certain persons resembling our cottagers, who possessed small parcels of land called Gardds.§. There were besides eight gavels, which were the property of freeholders; the posterity of whom en∣joyed the same to the very time of my author, Mr. Rowlands. This was also the feat of justice for the whole commot of Menai,

and continued so long after it became subject to the English. A respect to a royal seat was still maintained by the new royal possessors. It became a manor of the princes of Wales. Ed∣ward I. erected the town into a corporation, and gave it a gild mercatory, and other privileges, which were confirmed by parlement in the first year of Edward III. From this time it was called Newborough. In the latter part of that reign were found ninety-three houses, thirteen gardens, one orchard, twelve cro••ts, and sixty small pieces of ground inclosed for the use of the houses. The crown had its steward for this district, with a salary of ten pounds a year. The palace and royal chapel existed in the time of Edward III; for it appears by an inquisition taken here in 1329, before William de Shalde∣ford, representative of Richard Earl of Arundel, justiciary of North Wales, that the tenants of the commot of Menai had been required to put those buildings into repair: but, on their representing that, if that duty was put in force, they would be of little or no advantage to the king, the justiciary was directed to enquire into the truth; and whether it would not be better for him to take an annual sum in lieu of the repairs, not only of the palace and chapel, but of all the other buildings on the royal manor† In after times it had the honor of send∣ing representatives to the British parlement. Richard ap Rhydderch ap Myfyrian sate in the third of Henry VIII. and John ap Robert Llwyd in the first of Edward VI; who in the next year transferred this honor to Beaumaris. The glory of Newborough is now passed away.

IT now subsists by a manufacture of mats, and Rhosir mor∣hesg ropes, made of sea reed-grass; a plant of which Queen Elizabeth, in tenderness to such of her subjects who lived on sandy shores, wisely prohibited the extirpation, in order to prevent the misfortunes which have since happened, of having half the parish buried in the unstable sands by the rage of tempests.

SUCH is the case of Llanddwyn, a parish which extends below into the sea, and terminates in a narrow peninsula: almost the whole is at present covered with sand-hills. We are told that in the time of Edward III. there were on it no more than eight small houses, or, as they were then called, weles†; yet in the reign of Henry VIII. it was one of the richest prebends in the cathedral of Bangor. Its wealth arose not from the real fertility of the place, but from the superstition of the common people; from pilgrimages to crosses, reliques, holy wells, or∣deals, and what Mr. Rowlands calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or divination from fishes‡ In the time of Owen Glyndwr, one Yerwerth Vychan, rector of Llanddoged, made pretensions to the offerings, and sacrilegiously seized on them; but Griffydd le Yonge, chan∣cellor to our hero, interfered, and by a decree of his put a slop to the invasion of the rights of the place‖.

ON the peninsula are the ruins of the church, dedicated to St. Deuwen, daughter of Brychan, one of the holy Colidei, or primitive Christians of Britain. Near it are the small remains

of the prebendal. house. The first appears to have been no inelegant building. The laft is noted for the residence of Richard Kyssyu, then rector of Llanddwyn, and afterwards dean of Bangor. He was a strenuous friend to the house of Lancaster, and here concerted with Sir Rhys ap Thomas, and other Welsh chieftains, a plan for the bringing in the Duke of Richmond, then in Britany; to whom they transmitted, by means of fish∣ing-vessels, all necessary intelligence.

FROM Newborough, I, several years ago, made an excursion to Ahersraw, about seven miles to the north, in search of another palace of our antient princes. They took one of their titles from this place, Princeps de Ahersraw, which preceded that of Dominus de Snowdon. I crossed, at low-water, the arm of the sea called Malltraeth; and rode by the church of Llan-Gadwa∣ladr, said to have been founded by Cadwalladr, last king of the Britons, and made one of the sanctuaries of the island. Over the door is said to be an inscription in memory of Cadvan, grandfather to the founder, to this effect.: CATAMANUS Rex sa∣pientissimus opimutissimus omnium Regums. The stone on which this is inscribed, is said to-be in form of a coffin; and pro∣bably in the former church had a more suitable place.

ABOUT a mile or two farther reach the site of the princely residence. It is now reduced to a few poor houses, seated on the river Ffraw, near a small bay. Not a vestige is to be seen of its former boast. It was a chief seat of our princes, and one of the three courts of justice for the principality†. Here was always kept one of the three copies of the antient

code of laws; another at Dinevawr in Caermarthenshire; and the third was kept by the Blegored, or doctors of laws, for their constant use. This place was of great antiquity, being one of the three fixed on by Roderic the Great, about the year 870, for the residence of his successors. In 962 it was ravaged by the Irish†. An extent was made of Aberfraw in the 13th Edward III; from which may be learned some of the antient revenues of the Welsh princes. It appears that part arose from rents of lands, from the profit of mills and fisheries, and often in things in kind; but the last were frequently com∣muted for their value in money. Thus one place payed XIII^s VII^d instead of butter, milk, and services in work; and another dis∣trict rendered for CIV sheep, IX hens, and XXXVII^s II^d in lieu of the labor of a hundred and sixty-one days.

BUT to return to the Menai. From Newhorough I visited Llanidan, a seat of Lord Boston's, finely situated on that arm of the sea, commanding upwards a beautiful, prospect of Caernar∣von, and the Snowdon hills. The church, which is adjacent, was once belonging to the convent of Beddcelert. In 1535 it followed, the sate of that house. Queen Elizabeth granted it to Edmond Downam and Peter Ashton; who sold it in 1605 to Richard Prytherch of Myfyrian, whose daughter married a Llwyd of Llugwy, on the other side of the island. On the ex∣tinction of that family all their estates were bought by Lord Uxbridge, who left them to his nephew Sir William Irby, the late Lord Boston.

IN the church is a reliquary, made neither of gold nor silver,

nor yet ornamented with precious stones; but of very ordinary gritstone, with a roof-like cover. Whether it contained any reliques of the patron saint, a St. Aiden, of whom the venerable Bede makes such honorable mention, I cannot say. The church of Durham possessed his cross, three of his teeth, his head, and two Griffin's eggs†. The living is a rectory, but saddled with the churches of Llanedwen, Llan-ddaniel, and Llanvair y Cwmmwd.

I MUST not pass unnoticed the celebrated stone Maen Mordbwyd, or the stone of the thigh, now well secured in the wall of this church. In old times it was so constant to one place, that, let it be carried ever so far, it would be sure of returning at night. Hugh Lupus Earl of Chester, determined to subdue its loco-motive faculties, fastened it with iron chains to a far greater stone, and flung it into the sea; but, to the astonish∣ment of all beholders, it was found the next morning in its usual place‡.

I NOW enter on classical ground, and the pious seats of the antient Druids; the sacred groves, the altars, and monumental stones. A slight mention of what I saw must content my reader; who is referred to the works of the celebrated and learned Mr. Henry Rowlands, the former rector of this place, and to those of my friend the late reverend Dr. Borlase, who hath added fresh illustrations of these obscure remains.

AT Tre'r Dryw, or the habitation of the Arch-Druid, I met with the mutilated remains described by Mr. Rowlands. His

Bryn Gwyn, or Brein Gwyn, or royal tribunal, is a circular hollow of a hundred and eighty feet in diameter, surrounded by an immense agger of earth and stones, evidently brought from some other place, there not being any mark of their being taken from the spot. It has only a single entrance. This is supposed to have been the grand consistory of the druidical administration.

Not far from it was one of the Gorseddau, now in a manner dispersed, but once consisted of a great copped heap of stones, on which sate aloft a Druid instructing the surrounding people multa de Deorum immortalium vi et potestate disputare, et juven∣tuti tradunt†.

HERE were also the reliques of a circle of stones, with the Cromlech in the midst; but all extremely imperfect. Two of the stones are very large; one, which serves at present as part of the end of a house, is twelve feet seven inches high, and eight feet broad; and another eleven feet high and twenty-three feet in girth. Some lesser stones yet remain. This circle, when complete, was one of the temples of the Druids, in which their religious rites were performed. It is the conjecture of Mr. Rowlands, that the whole of these remains were surrounded with a circle of OAKS, and formed a deep and sacred grove, Tam per se roborum elegunt lucos, neque ulla sacra sine ea fronde conficiunt‡.

NEAR this is Caer-Lēb‖, or the moated entrenchment; of a square form, with a double rampart, and broad ditch interven∣ing, and a lesser on the outside. Within are foundations of

circular and of square buildings. This Mr. Rowlands supposes to have been the residence of the arch-druid, and to have given the name, Tre'r Dryw, to the township in which it stands.

AT Trev-Wry I saw several saint traces of circles of stones, and other vestiges of buildings, all so dilapidated, or hid in weeds, as to become almost formless. To divert our thoughts from their present dreary view, let us change the period to that in which they

Were tenanted by Bards, who nightly thence, Rob'd in their flowing vests of innocent white, Issu'd, with harps that glitter to the morn, Hymning immortal strains†

Bod-drudan, or the habitation of the Draids, Tre'r-Beirdd, or that of the Bard, and Bodowyr, or that of the priests‡, are all of them hamlets, nearly surrounding the feat of the chief Druid, composing the essential part of his suite. At the last I saw a thick Cromlech, resting on three stones.

THE shore near Porthamel, not far from hence, is famed for being the place where Suetonius landed, and put an end in this island to the Druid reign. His infantry passed over in flat-bot∣tom boats, perhaps, at the spot still called Pant yr Yscraphie‖, or the valley of Skiffs. His horse crossed partly by fording, partly by swimming. The description of the conflict is so animated, that I beg leave to give it in the words of the Ro∣man historian.

STAT pro littore diversa acies, densa armis virisque, inter∣cursantibus faeminis in modum furiarum, veste ferali, crini∣bus dejectis, faces preferebant; Druidaeque circum, preces diras sublatis ad coelum manibus fundentes. Novitate aspec∣tus percutere militem, ut quasi haerentibus membris, im∣mobile corpus vulneribus praeberent. Dein cohortionibus ducis, et se ipse stimulantes, ne muliebre et fanaticum agmen pavescerent, inserunt signa, sternuntque obvios et igni suo involvunt. Praesidium posthac impositum vicis, excisque luci, saevis superstitionibus sacri. Nam cruore cap∣tivo adolere aras, et hominum fibris consulere deos fas ha∣bebant ON the shore stood a motley army in close array, and well armed; with women running wildly about in black attire with disheveled hair, and like the furies brandishing their torches; surrounded by the Druids, lifting up their hands to heaven, and pouring forth the most dreadful im∣precations. The soldier stood astonished with the novelty of the sight. His limbs grew torpid, and his body remain∣ing motionless, resigned to every wound. At length, ani∣mated by their leader, and rouzing one another not to be intimidated with a womanly and fanatic band, they displayed their ensigns, overthrew all who opposed them, and flung them into their own fires. After the battle, they placed gar∣risons in the towns, and cut down the groves consecrated to the most horrible superstitions: for the Britons held it right to sacrifice on their altars with the blood of their captives,

and to consult the gods by the inspection of human en∣trails.

WHAT a scene was this! and how worthy of the pencil of an inspired painter!

THERE are no traces of any Roman works left in this country. Their stay was so short, that they had not time to form any thing permanent. At Bryn Gwydryn, behind Llanidan, are two or three dikes and fosses of a semicircular form, each end of which terminates at a precipice, leaving an intervening area of no great space. Both from its figure and name, Caer Idris, I suspect it to be British.

I AM sorry that it is not in my power to give a better ac∣count than the following of that prodigy of learning the re∣verend HENRY ROWLANDS, vicar of this parish. His account of the druidical antiquities of this part of the island, and his comments on them, is a most extraordinary performance, con∣sidering that he never enjoyed any other literary advantages than what he found in his native isle. It is sayed that he never even travelled farther than Conway; but I believe it is certain that Shrewshury was the farthest limits of his travels. He died in 1723, aged 68, and was interred under a slab of black Anglesey marble, in the parish of Llanedwen. He was descended from Henry Rowlands, who died Bishop of Bangor in 1616, and who in 1600 purchased from Robert Gryffydd of Penrhyn the estate of Plas Gwyn, in the fore-mentioned parish, which re∣mains to this day in his posterity. The inscription on his tomb was of his own composing, and is as follows.

M. S. Depositum HENRICI ROWLANDS de Plâs Gwyn, Clerici, Hujus Ecclesiae Vicarii; Qui hinc cum hisce Exuviis Per Spiritum JESU, Animam interea refocillantem, in ultimo die Se fore resuscitatum Pia fide sperabat: Ac inde, TRIUMPHANTE MISERICORDIA, In eternum cum Christo gaudium Fore susceptum, Quod maxime anhelabat; id eft Esse semper cum Domino. Obiit 21 die Novembris Anno Salutis 1723 Aetatis suae 68. Spiritus ubi vult spirat. Laus tota Tri-Uni. Omnia pro nihilo nisi quoe tribuebat egenis, Ista valent cum artes pereant & scripta fatiscant.

ABOUT three miles from this place is Moel y Don ferry. It is said; that Aeloedd, king of Dublin, and father to Racwel, mother of Gryffydd ap Cynan, built a castle here, called in old times Castell Aeloedd Frenin, but by the country people Bon y Dom. The army of Edward I. in 128, made here an attempt fatal to many a gallant man. He landed his forces in this

island, and, after reducing to obedience the few inhabitants who had not taken the oath of fealty to him, built a bridge of boats near this place, some say at the very spot where Agricola passed. The Welsh, aware of his design, flung up entrench∣ments to secure the entrance into the mountains. Luke de Tany, a gallant commander, who had lately come from Gascony with a number of Gascon and Spanish troops, rashly passed over the unfinished bridge at low-water, in contempt perhaps of the enemy: none appeared; but on the flowing of the tide, which cut off access to the nearest part of the bridge, the Welsh sud∣denly rushed on them with hideous shouts, flew numbers, and forced the remainder into the sea. On this occasion perished Tany himself, Roger Clifford the younger, thirteen knights, se∣venteen young gentlemen, and two hundred soldiers; Wil∣liam Latimer alone escaped by the goodness of his horse, which swam with him to the bridge.

LET us suppose a panic at this time to have seized the English forces: yet, as that must have been unforeseen by the Welsh, let us pay due praise to the intrepidity of my countrymen, at a period in which (in comparison of the well-appointed sol∣diery of other countries) they fought nearly unarmed. A poet of the latter end of the thirteenth century thus describes the character and accoutrements of the army of antient Britons, led by our valiant prince Richard Coeur de Lion into France.

Gens Wallensis habet hoc naturale per omnes Indigenas, primis proprium quod servat ab annis. Pro domibus sylvas, bellum pro pace frequentat. Irasci facilis, agilis per devia curfu,

Nec foleis plantas, caligis nec crura gravantur. Frigus docta pati, nulli cessura labori. Veste brevi, corpus nulli oneratur ab armis▪ Nec munit thorace latus, nec Casside frontem. Sola gerens, hosti caedem quibus inferat, arma, Clavam cum jaculo, venabula, gesa, bipennam, Arcum cum pharetris, nodosaque tela, vel hastam Assiduis gaudens praedis, fusoque cruore

AT a small distance from Moel y Don I entered into the fine woods of Sir Nicholas Bayley, skirting the Menai for a confi∣derable way. The wooded part of the island is on this side. It commences at Llanidan, and recalls the antient name of Anglesey, Ynys Dywyll, or the Dark Island, on account of the deep shade of its groves: but at present it is (except in this part) entirely divested of trees; and the climate so averse to their growth, that in most parts it is with great difficulty the gentry can raise a plantation round their houses.

PLAS NEWYDD, the seat of Sir Nicholas Bayley, lies close upon the water, protected on three sides by venerable oaks and ashes. The view up and down this magnificent river-like strait is extremely fine. The shores are rocky; those on the opposite side covered with woods; and beyond soar a long range of Snowdonian alps. Here stood a house built by Gwen∣llian, a descendant of Cadrod Hardd†. The mansion has been improved, and altered to a castellated form, by the present owner.

IN the woods are some very remarkable druidical antiquities, Behind the house are to be seen two vast Cromlechs. The up∣per

stone of one is twelve feet seven inches long, twelve broad, and four thick, supported by five tall stones. The other is but barely separated from the first: is almost a square, of five feet and a half, and supported by four stones. The number of supporters to Cromlechs are merely accidental, and depend on the size or form of the incumbent stone. These are the most magnificent we have, and the highest from the ground; for a middle-sized horse may easily pass under the largest.

DR. BORLASE has shewn the improbability of these stones ever being designed or used as altars. The figure proves the impossibility of making fires, or performing sacrifices on their sloping summits; and almost all which I have seen have an inclination. It is reasonable to suppose them to have been se∣pulchral monuments, and that the body might be lodged in the space beneath; and near the monument divine honors might be payed, or sacrifices performed to the manes of the dead.

THIS species of monument is to be found in most parts of Europe; in Scandinavia†, in Holland‡, and in France: in the last, the Pierre Levée, near Poitiers, is a stupendous specimen‖. They extend even farther south; for Mr. Armstrong gives a draw∣ing of one of this nature in Minorca§ They vary in form: in many the space between the supporters is closed up with stones of greater or lesser sizes¶ and thus formed security to the

[figure]

CROMLEH AT PLA••SNEWYDD.

remains of the deceased therein deposited. Probably all those which we see in our island might originally have been thus closed up; but in time destroyed, either through the sacrilegious hope of finding wealth deposited with the corpses, or, as is the case often at present, for the sake of applying the stones to oecono∣mical uses. Others again are quite bedded in the Carnedd, or heap of stones; of which instances may be produced in Llan Faelog, in this island, in that of Arran, and in the county of Meireonedd†.

NOT far from the Cromlech is a large Carnedd: part has been removed, and within was discovered a cell about seven feet long and three wide, covered at top with two flat stones, and lined on the sides with others. To get in I crept over a flag, placed across the entrance. On the top of the stone were two semicircular holes, of size sufficient to take in the human neck; it is conjectured, that above might have been another; so that both together might perform the office of a stocks. It is in∣deed conjecture, yet not an improbable one, that in this place had been kept the wretches destined for sacrifice; as it is well known that they performed those execrable rites, and often upon captives who had suffered long imprisonment‡, perhaps in cells similar to this.

A LITTLE below Plas Newydd, on the Caernarvonshire side, appear the extensive woods of Vaenol, with the old house of the same name. This place had long been the residence of the Williams, a branch of the family of Edneved Vychan, and which were honored with a baronetage June 15th 1622. Sir William

Williams, the last of the line, was a man of profligate life; had been married, but had no issue. He got acquainted with Sir Bourchier Wrey of Trebitch, and a young man brought up to the law. In a drunken sit he was prevaled on to make a will, and dispose of his whole estate to Sir Bourchier for the terms of his life, and that of his brother the reverend Chichester Wrey, and the remainder to King William in see. The young lawyer also lest to himself 540l. annuity in see, the odd forty pounds towards the trouble and expence of collecting the rest. He also purchased Sir Bourchier's life estates, which his representa∣tives enjoyed till the death of the reverend Mr. Wrey. On which the late Mr. Smith, of Tedworth in Hampshire, took pos∣session of it by virtue of a grant from King William to his an∣cestor, a commissioner of the salt office: and at present the whole, to the amount of upwards of 4000l. a year, is enjoyed by his great nephew Ashton Smith, Esq

FROM Plas Newydd I continued my journey within sight of the water. At Craig y Ddinas I was irresistably delayed by feasting my eyes with the fine view of the noble curvature of the Menai. The annexed view is given with the utmost fidelity. Not far from hence I rode towards the shore, to admire the furious current of the Swelly, or Pwll Keris, a part where, by opposition of rocks, and the narrowness of the channel, are great over-falls and violent whirlpools, during the time when the flood or ebb makes strong. At low-water the channel, for a considerable space, appears pointed with rocks black and horrible. The fury of the tide amongst them, at the times I mention, is inconceivable, unless by the naviga∣tor. I (when very young) ventured myself in a small boat

[figure]

VIEW on the MENAL.

during the greatest rage, and never shall forget the rapid evo∣lutions between rock and rock, amidst the boiling waves, and mill-race current. At high-water all is still. This is a great obstacle to the navigation of large vessels, which must con∣sult the critical season, and a good pilot. The rest of this strait is secure: its whole length is about fourteen miles; ten from Bay glâs, near Beaumaris, to Caernarvon, and four from thence to its entrance at Abermenai.

A LITTLE lower down, on a small rocky peninsula, stands the church of Llandyssilio, jutting far into the water; a most dreary cure. It is remarkable that most of the seventy-four parishes, which this island is divided into, have their churches not re∣mote from the shores.

PORTH-AETHWY, the most general ferry into Anglesey, is im∣mediately below the church. The passage of cattle at this place is very great: I cannot enumerate them; but it is computed that the island sends forth annually from twelve to fifteen thou∣sand heads, and multitudes of sheep and hogs. It is also com∣puted that the remaining stock of cattle is thirty thousand. My same authority says, that in 1770 upwards of ninety thou∣sand bushels of corn were exported. He reckons only barley, rye, and oats; but I have seen most incomparable wheat grow∣ing on the island. The improvement in husbandry has greatly increased since the suppression of smuggling from the Isle of Man; before that time every farmer was mounted on some high promontory, expecting the vessel with illicit trade: but since that period, he sets in earnest to industry and cultivation.

Not but that the island was in most remote time famous for its fertility. Môn, Mam Gymry, Anglesey, the nursing-mother of Wales, was a title it assumed even in the twelfth century.

A BARBAROUS accident in the feudal system prevaled in this island, and possibly in many other parts. Here was exempli∣fied the power of a lord to sell his vassals and their offspring, as he would the cattle of his estate. It was done in the town∣ship of Porth-aethwy, many years after the reign of our princes†. The deed of sale in this instance is not extant; but I find among Mr. Rowlands' three specimens, of which the following is the full form of the cruel usage.

EDNYFED Vychan ap Ednyfed, alias dictus Ednyfed ap Ar∣thelw uz Davydd ap Gryffydd et Howel ap Davydd ap Ryryd, alias dictus Howel ap Arthelw uz Davydd ap Gryffydd, Liberi tenentes Dⁿⁱ Regis villae de Rhandir Gadog, &c. dedimus et confirmavimus Willimo ap Gryffydd ap Gwilim armigero et libero tenenti de Porthamel, &c. septem nativos nostros; viz. Howel ap Davydd Dew, Matto ap Davydd Dew, Tevan ap Evan Ddu, Llewelyn ap Davydd Dew, Davydd ap Matto ap Davydd Dew, Howel ap Matto ap Davydd Dew, et Llewelyn ap Evan Coke, cum eorum sequelis tum procreatis tuam pro∣creandis ac omnibus bonis catellis, &c. habend. &c. prae∣dictos nativos nostros, &c. praefato Willimo Giyffydd ap Gwi∣lim heredibus et assignatis suis in perpetuum. Datum apud Rhandir Gadog, 20 die Junii, an. Henr. 6 ti, 27 mo‡

.

THE country from hence, and quite to Holyhead (twenty-five miles) right and left, is dreary, woodless, hedgeless, rising

into small hills, watered with numberless rills, and fertile in grass and corn.

I CONTINUED my ride near the Menai, which now widens considerably. The opposite limits are inexpressibly beautiful, lofty, and finely cloathed with hanging woods. Bangor opens on the Caernarvonshire side; and in front is a magnificent bay, bounded by the great promontory Pen Maen Mawr, and the vast Llandidno, apparently insulated; and the estuary of the river Conwwy flows at its bottom between those noble headlands. This prospect is seen to best advantage from that beautiful spot the Green, near the castle of Beaumaris: from whence may be seen, in addition, Priestholm island, and the semilunar bay from thence to the town; the fortress itself; Baron Hill, and its elegant improvements; nor must Red Hill, the house of Mr. Sparrow, seated at the head of a wooded dingle, directing the eye to great part of this delicious view, be left out of the description.

THE town of Beaumaris is, as the name implies, pleasantly seated on a low land at the water's edge; is neat, and well built, and one street is very handsome. Edward I. created the place; for, after founding the castles of Caernarvon and Conway, he discovered that it was necessary to put another curb on my headstrong countrymen. He built this fortress in 1295, and fixed on a marshy spot, near the chapel of St. Meugan, such as gave him opportunity of forming a great foss round the castle, and of filling it with water from the sea. He also cut a canal, in order to permit vessels to discharge their lading beneath the walls: and, as a proof of the existence of such

a conveniency, there were within this century iron rings af∣fixed to them, for the purpose of mooring the ships or boats. The marsh was in early times of far greater extent than at present, and covered with fine bullrushes. There is even a strong tradition that one Helig ap Clunog had great possessions, which extended even to Dwygyfyechau, and fair house where now the sea flows; all which were suddenly overwhelmed: and it is pretended that there may still. be seen, at very low ebbs, ruins of houses, and a causeway from Priestholm pointing to∣wards Penmaen Mawr†.

THE lands, on which Edward built the castle, were private property: and it appears he made them full satisfaction; and, among other recompences, bestowed on Eneon ap Meredydd, Gryffydd ap Evan, and Eneon ap Tegerin, lands in the town∣ship of Earianell, and Tre'r Ddôl, free from rent or service. The castle itself being built on their ground‡.

EACH of Edward's, three castles differs in form. This has lest clame to beauty, not having the height or elegance of Caer∣narvon or Conwwy. The exterior walls are guarded by ten strong round towers. These are the case to the castle, which stands within at a considerable equidistant space; is far superior in height to the former, and has also its round towers. With∣in is a square of one hundred and ninety feet, or, as Mr. Grose expresses it, a square with the corners canted off. The great hall has five windows in front, is seventy feet long, and twenty∣three and a half broad. The approach seems to have been through a sub-hall, by a flight of steps.

[figure]

CHAPEL in BEAUMARIS CASTLE.

WITHIN, the walls on one side is a beautiful chapel, in form of a theatre, the sides ornamented with Gothic arches, and the roof supported by ribs springing from elegant pilasters; be∣tween each of which is a narrow window, and behind some are small closets, gained out of the thickness of the wall, probably allotted to the officers, or persons of rank. A narrow gallery runs within the whole space of the castle walls.

THE entrance faces the sea; and near it is a long narrow ad∣vanced work, called the Gunners Walk.

THE first: governor, was Sir William Pickmore, a Gascon knight, appointed by Edward I. There was a constable of the castle, and a captain of the town. The first had an annual fee of forty pounds, the last, of twelve pounds three shillings. and four pence; and the porter of the gate of Beaumaris had nine pounds two shillings and six pence. Twenty-four soldiers were allowed for the guard of the castle and town, at four pence a day to each.

THE constable of the castle was always captain of the town, except in one instance: in the 36th of Henry VI. Sir John Boteler. held the first office, and Thomas Norreys the other.

THE castle was extremely burthensome to the country: quarrels were frequent between the garrison and the country people. In the time of Henry VI. a bloody fray happened, in which David ap Evan ap Howel of Llwydiarth, and many others were slain.

FROM the time of Sir Rowland Villeville, alias Brittayne, re∣puted base son of Henry VII. and constable of the castle, the

garrison was withdrawn till the year 1642, when Thomas Cheadle, deputy to the Earl of Dorset, then constable, put into it men and ammunition. In 1643, Thomas Bulkeley, Esq soon after created Lord Bulkeley, succeeded: his son, Colonel Richard Bulkeley, and several gentlemen of the country, held it for the king till June 1646, when it surrendered on honorable terms to General Mytton, who made Captain Evans his deputy-go∣vernor. In 1653, the annual expence of the garrison was se∣venteen hundred and three pounds.

EDWARD I. when he built the town, surrounded it with walls, made it a corporation, and endowed it with great pri∣vileges, and lands to a considerable value. He removed the antient freeholders, by exchange of property, into other countries. Henllŷs, near the town, was the seat of Gwerydd ap Rhys Goch, one of fifteen tribes, and of his posterity till this period, when Edward removed them to Boddle Wyd∣dan in Flintshire, and bestowed their antient patrimony on the corporation. It sends one member to parlement. Its first representative was Maurice Gryffydd, who sat in the 7th year of Edward VI†.

THERE is very good anchorage for ships in the bay which lies before the town; and has seven fathom water even at the lowest ebb. Vessels often find security here in hard gales. The town has no trade of any kind, yet has its customhouse for the casual reception of goods.

THE ferry lies near the town, and is passable at low-water. It was granted by charter to the corporation in the 4th of

Queen Elizabeth. I find an order from Edward II. to Robert Power, chamberlain of North Wales, to inspect into the state of the boat, which was then out of repair; and, in case it was feasible, to cause it to be made fit for use, at the expence of the baileywick: but if the boat proved past repair, a new one was to be built, and the expence allowed by the king. It ap∣pears that the people of Beaumaris payed annually, for the pri∣vilege of a ferry, thirty shillings into the exchequer; but by this order it seems that the king was to find the boat. Af∣ter passing the channel, the distance over the sands to Aber in Caernarvonshire, the point the passenger generally makes for, is four miles. The sands are called Traeth Telaven, and Wy∣lofaen, or the Place of Weeping, from the shrieks and lamenta∣tions of the inhabitants when it was overwhelmed by the sea, in the days of Helig ap Clunog.

THE church is dependant on Llandegvan, which is in the gift of Lord Bulkeley. The former is called the chapel of the Blessed Virgin; yet in antient writings one aile is called St. Mary's chapel, and another that of St. Nicholas. In the first is a beautiful monument of a knight and his lady in white ala∣baster, placed recumbent on an altar tomb. It had been re∣moved to this place on the dissolution, from the religious house at Llanvaes, and the memory and names of the persons represented lost. On the south side of the altar is a stone with the following inscription: how it came here, or for what pur∣pose, I cannot discover.

HENRICUS SYDNEY, ordinis Garterii, miles, presidiens ex consiliis marchiis Walliae, Dominus deputatus in Hibernia. ANTONUS SENTLEGER, ordinis Garterii, miles, quondam deputatus in Hibernia. FRANCISCUS AGARD, armiger, ex consiliis in Hibernia. EDWARDUS WATERHOWS me posuit. GWILLIELMUS THWAYTES, armiger, obiit 20 die Januarii 1565. Nosce Teipsum.—Fide et Taciturnitate.

AT a small distance from the town, on the shore, stand the remains of Llanvaes, or the Friers. It was founded by Prince Llewelyn ap Jerwerth, and, according to the general tradition of the country, over the grave of his wife Joan, daughter of King John, who died in 1237, and was interred on the spot. Here also were interred a son of a Danish king, Lord Clifford, and many barons and knights who fell in the Welsh wars. It was dedicated to St. Francis, and consecrated by Howel bishop of Bangor, a prelate who died in 1240. The religious were Franciscans, or minor friers. Their church and house were de∣stroyed, and their lands wasted, in the insurrection made soon after the death of Llewelyn, our last prince, by his relation Madoc. Edward II. in consideration of their misfortunes, re∣mitted to them the payment of the taxes due to him, which before the war were levied at the rate of twelve pounds ten shillings. These friers were strong favorers of Glyndwr Henry, in his first march against Owen, plundered the convent, put several of the friers to the sword, and carried away the rest; but afterwards set them at liberty, made restitution to

the place, but peopled it with English recluses. It possibly was again reduced to ruin; for Henry V. by patent, establishes here eight friers, but directs that two only should be Welsh.

AT the dissolution, Henry VIII. sold the convent, and its pos∣sessions, to one of his courtiers. They became in later days the property of a family of the name of White (now ex∣tinct) who built here a good mansion. It of late became, by purchase, the property of Lord Bulkeley. The church is turned into a barn, and the coffin of the Princess Joan now serves for a watering-trough. I am informed, that on the farm of Cremlyn Monach, once the property of the friery, is cut on a great stone the effigies of its patron St. Francis; and that his head is also cut on the stone of a wall, in a street of Beaumaris, to which all passengers were to pay their respects, under pain of a forfeit.

ABOUT the year 818, a bloody battle was fought near Llan∣vaes: neither occasion or parties are mentioned; but by the text† I guess it to have been between Egbert king of the West Saxons, and the Welsh; for the former, in the reign of Merfyn Frych, carried his arms into all parts of North Wales.

A LITTLE farther is Castell Aber Llienawg, a small square fort, with the remains of a little round tower at each corner. In the middle one stood a square tower. A foss surrounds the whole. A hollow way is carried quite to the shore, and at its extremity is a large mound of earth, designed to cover the landing. This castle was founded by Hugh Lupus Earl of Chester, and Hugh the Red Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1098, when

they made an invasion, and committed more savage barbarities on the poor natives, especially on one Kenred, a priest, than ever stained the annals of any country. Providence sent Magnus king of Norway to revenge the cruelties. His coming was to all appearance casual. He offered to land, but was opposed by the earls. Magnus stood in the prow of his ship, and, calling to him a most expert bowman, they at once directed their arrows at the Earl of Shrewsbury, who stood all armed on the shore. An arrow pierced his brain through one of his eyes, the only defenceless part The victor, seeing him spring up in the agonies of death, insultingly cried out, in his own lan∣guage, Leit loupe—Let him dance†.

THIS fort was garrisoned fo lately as the time of Charles I; when it was kept for the parlement by Sir Thomas Cheadle; but was taken by Colonel Robinson in 1645 or 6‡.

ABOUT a mile farther I visited the Priory of Penmon, placed, like the former, on the shore. The remains are the ruinous refectory, and the church; part of the last is in present use. Within is a small monument, informing us that Sir Thomas Wil∣ford, of Ildington in Kent (one of whose daughters married Sir Richard Bulkeley) died January 25th, 1645. About a mile from the shore is the little island of Priestholm, St. Seiriol, or Glannauch, which perhaps might have been the principal resi∣dence of the religious, for the priory goes under both names: usually they were called Canonici de insula Glannauch‖. Pro∣bably part might reside on the main land, to look after their

property, and others be engaged in acts of devotion in their retirement. The only remains of their residence is a square tower; but abundance of human bones scattered up and down, are strong proofs of its reputed sanctity, and the superstitious wish of people to have this made the place of their interment. The first recluses of this island, according to Giraldus, were hermits; of whom (as usual) he tells a superstitious tale, that whenever they disagreed, they were plagued with swarms of mice; which quitted them as soon as they had layed aside their animosity Their successors were black monks, dedicated to St. Mary, endowed, if not founded, by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, before the year 1221† The Prior was one of the three spi∣ritual lords of Anglesey. At the dissolution the revenues were valued at 47l. 15s. 3d. in the whole, or 40l. 17s. 9d. clear; granted in the 6th of Queen Elizabeth to John More.

THE channel, or, as it is called, the Sound, between the main land and Priestholm is very deep, and is the common passage for ships to and from the road of Beaumaris. On the other side is the East passage, which, at low-water, is between the island and the point of Traeth Telaven, little more than a quarter of a mile broad, and navigable for only very small vessels. The island is about a mile long, extremely lofty, and bounded by precipices, except on the side opposite to Penmon, and even there the ascent is very steep. The land slopes greatly from the summit to the edge of the precipices. During part of summer the whole swarms with birds of passage. The slope on the side is animated with the PUFFIN AUKS, Br. Zool. i. N^o 232.

which incessantly squall round you, alight, and disappear into their burrows; or come out, stand erect, gaze at you in a most grotesque manner, then take flight, and either perform their evolutions about you, or seek the sea in search of food.

THEY appear first about the fifth, or tenth of April; but quit the place, almost to a bird, twice or thrice before they settle. Their first employ is the forming of burrows; which falls to the share of the males, who are so intent on the business as to suffer themselves at that time to be taken by the hand. Some few save themselves the trouble of forming holes, and will dis∣possess the rabbits; who, during the Puffin season, retire to the other side of the island.

THEY lay one white egg. Males, as well as females, per∣form the office of sitting, relieving each other when they go to feed. The young are hatched in the beginning of July. The parents have the strongest affection for them; and if layed hold of by the wings, will give themselves most cruel bites on any part of the body they can reach, as if actuated by des∣pair: and when released, instead of flying away, will often hurry again into the burrow to their young. The noise they make when caught is horrible, and not unlike the efforts of a dumb person to speak. This affection ceases at the time of re∣migration, which is most exactly about the eleventh, of August. They then go off, to a single bird, and leave behind the un∣fledged young of the later hatches a prey to the Peregrine Fal∣con, which watches the mouth, of the holes for their ap∣pearance, compelled as they must soon be by hunger to come out.

THE food of these birds is sprats, or sea-weeds, which makes

[figure]

PUFFIN AUK.

them excessively rank; yet the young are pickled, and pre∣served by spices, and by some people much admired.

IT appears certain that the Puffins do not breed till their third year. The proof arises from the observations made by the reverend Mr. Davies on the different forms of the bills, among the thousands of this species which he saw wrecked, as I have mentioned in page 192. He remarked them in their several periods of life. Those which he supposes to have been of the first year, were small, weak, destitute of any furrow, and of a dusky color; those of the second year, were considera∣bly larger and stronger, lighter colored, and with a faint vestige of the furrow at the base; those of more advanced years, were of the vivid colors, and great strength. Among the myriads which annually resort to Priestholm, not an individual has ever been observed which had not its bill of an uniform growth. Per∣haps the same remark may hold good in respect to the RAZOR-BILL, Br. Zool. i. N^o 230, Mr. Davies having found multi∣tudes with bills far inferior in strength to those which haunt the island; of an uniform black color, and without the cha∣racteristic white furrow, and black grooves.

The channel between Priestholm and Anglesey has produced some very uncommon fish. The Beaumaris SHARK, Br. Zool iii. N^o 50; the MORRIS, N^o 67; and the trifurcated HAKE, N^o 84, are new species taken in this sea. I was indebted to the late Mr. William Morris of Holyhead, for that on which I bestowed his name. The reverend Mr. Hugh Davies favored me with two others. The new Mussel, called the umbilicated, Br. Zool. iv. N^o 76, is also frequently dredged up in the neigh∣borhood of this isle

THE Smirnium Olusatrum, or Alexanders, almost covers the south-west end of the island, and is greedily eaten (boiled) by sailors who are just arrived from long voyages. The Iris Foeti∣dissima, or stinking Gladwin, is common about the square tower, and is frequently made into a poultice with oatmeal, and used by the country people with success in the quincy.

I RETURNED to Beaumaris, and from thence visited Baron-Hill. The seat of Lord Bulkeley, placed at the head of an extensive lawn sloping down to the town, backed and winged by woods, which are great embellishments to the country. The founder of Baron-Hill was Sir Richard Bulkeley, a most dis∣tinguished personage of the name. He built it in 1618: be∣fore that time the residence of the family was at Court Mawr in the subjacent town, and afterwards in another house, called Old Place. The present seat has of late been wholly altered, with excellent taste, by its noble owner, by the advice of that elegant architect Mr. Samuel Wyat.

THE view is justly the boast of the island. The sea forms a most magnificent bay, with the Menai opening into it with the grandeur of an American river. The limit of the water in front is a semicircular range of rocks and mountains, the chief of Snowdonia, with tops spiring to the clouds, and their bottoms richly cultivated, sloping gently to the water edge. The great promontory Penmaen Mawr, and the enormous mass of Llan∣dudno, are rude but strinking features, and strong contrasts to the softer parts of the scenery.

I PROCEEDED on my journey, and at Trevawr passed by a great and rude Cromlech, with the ruins of others adjacent. Reach Plâs Gwyn, the seat of my friend Paul Panton, Esq in right of his first wise Jane, daughter of William Jones, Esq The house was built by Mr. Jones, and may be reckoned among the best of the island. Here are preserved two portraits, heads of two prelates, natives of Wales. Humphrey Humphreys, who died bishop of Hereford in 1712, aged 63. He was painted by Mrs. Mary Beale, when he was bishop of Bangor; and is re∣presented in lawn sleeves, with dark hair, and a good counte∣nance. The other prelate is Robert Morgan, who died bishop of the same diocese in 1673, and is recorded to have been a considerable benefactor to his cathedral. He is dressed like the former; has short grey hair, a close black cap, and hard coun∣tenance.

FROM Plâs Gwyn I made an excursion to Traeth Coch, or Redwharf, a large bay covered with a firm sand; which, on the west side, has so large a mixture of shells, as to be used as a manure in all parts of the island within reasonable distance. On the east side, about three miles from Plâs Gwyn, near the shore, are two rounded mounts on each side of a deep gully leading towards Llanddona church. These seemed to have been the work of the Danes, cast up to protect their vessels in their plundering excursions; a calamity to which, it appears from the writing of our poets, this island was much subject.

ABOVE Llanddona is a high hill, called Bwrdd Arthur, or Arthur's round table: the true name was probably Din, or Di∣nas Sulwy; for a church immediately beneath bears that of Llanvihangle Din-Sulwy. On the top of it is a great British

post, surrounded by a double row of rude stones with their sharp points uppermost; and in some parts the ramparts are formed of small stones. In the area are vestiges of oval build∣ings: the largest is formed with two rows of flat stones set an end. These had been the temporary habitations of the possessors. It had been a place of vast strength; for, besides the artificial defence, the hill slopes steeply on all sides, and the brink, next to the ramparts, are mostly precipitous. It is worth while to ascend this hill for the sake of the vast prospect; an inter∣mixture of sea, rock, and alps, most savagely great.

ABOVE it, the reverend Mr. Hugh Davies pointed out to me the Hypericum Montanum; and beneath, on the west side, the Cystus Hirsutus.

I DESCENDED to the church of Llan-jestyn, remarkable for the tomb of its tutelar saint, St. Estyn, or Jestyn, son of Geriant, a worthy knight of Arthur's round table, slain by the Saxons at the siege of London! The figure of the saint represents a man with a hood on his head, a great round beard, and whiskers on upper and under lip. He has on a long cloak fastened by a broche: in one hand is a staff with the head of some beast on the top; in the other is a scroll with an inscription: round his long cassock is a sash and long cord. This appears by the in∣scription to have been a votive offering. I shall give it as copied by my worthy and ingenious friend, the honorable DAINES BARRINGTON

Hic jacet Santtus Yestinus cui Gwen∣llian, Filia Madoc et Gryffyt ap Gwilym, optulit in oblacōem istam imaginem p. salute animarum S.

By the cord it is evi∣dent,

that the pious Gwenllian thought St. Jestyn to have been a Franciscan; a piece of anachronism not at all uncommon in early times.

ANOTHER excursion was to Penmynnydd, about two miles south of Plâs Gwyn, once the residence of the ancestors of Owen Tudor, second husband to Catherine of France, queen dowager of Henry V; "who beyng," as honest Halle informs us,

young and lustye, folowyng more her owne appetyte than frendely consaill, and regardyng more her private affection then her open honour, toke to husband privily (in 1428) a goodly gentylman, and a beautiful person, garniged with manye godly gyftes both of nature and of grace, called Owen Teuther, a mā brought furth and come of the noble lignage and auncient lyne of Cadwalader, the laste kynge of the Britonnes.

The match, important in its consequences, re∣stored the British races of princes to tliis kingdom,

No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail: All-hail, ye genuine kings; Britannia's issue, hail!

These reigned long, under the title of the house of Tudor; the mixed race having ceased on the accession of Henry VII. grand∣son to our illustrious countryman.

OWEN himself was unfortunate. He lost his royal consort in 1437, after she had brought him three sons and one daughter, Edmund, Jaspar, and Owen; the last embraced a monastic life† in the abbey of Westminster, and died soon after: the daughter died in her infancy. It appears, that after the death of their

mother, Edmund and Jaspar most respectfully were placed un∣der the care of Catherine de la Pole, daughter of Michael de la Pole Earl of Suffolk, and abbess of Berking. A petition from her, dated 1440, appears on record for the payment of certain money due to her on their account During the life of the queen, the marriage had been winked at, notwithstanding a law had been made after that event, enacting that no person, under severe penalties, should marry a queen dowager of Eng∣land, without the special licence of the king† On the death of Catherine all respects ceased to her spouse: he was seized, and committed first to Newgate, from which he escaped by the assistance of his confessor and servant. On being retaken, he was delivered to the custody of the Earl of Suffolk, constable of the castle of Wallingford‡, and after some time was again com∣mitted to Newgate‖ He made his escape a second time. The length of his second imprisonment does not appear. After a considerable period, high honors were conferred on his two eldest sons, half brothers to the king. In the year 1452, they were both created earls; Edmund was made Earl of Richmond, and Jaspar, Earl of Pembroke. Henry, about this time, was disturbed by the open clame of the Duke of York to the suc∣cession, and found it prudent to strengthen his interest by all possible means. The Welsh, flattered by the honors bestowed on their young countrymen, ever after faithfully adhered to the house of Lancaster.

OWEN had besides a natural son, called Dafydd, knighted by his nephew Henry VII. who also bestowed on him in marriage

Mary, the daughter and heiress of John Bohun of Midherst, in Sussex, and with her a great inheritance Owen was taken no notice of till the year 1460, when, as the patent expresses it, in regard of his good services, he had a grant of the parks, and the agistment of the parks in the lordship of Denbigh, and the wodewardship of the same lordship† The year following, he fought valiantly under the banners of his son Jaspar, at the battle of Mortimer's Cross; would not quit the field, but was taken with several other Welsh gentlemen‡, beheaded with them soon after at Hereford, and interred in the church of the Grey Friers in that city‖.

NOTWITHSTANDING the birth of Owen was calumniated, he certainly was of very high descent. Henry VII. early in his reign, issued a commission to Sir John Leiaf, priest, Gutten Owen, and a number of others, to make enquiry into his pater∣nal descent; and they, from our Welsh chronicles, proved in∣contestably, that

he was lineally descended by issue male, saving one woman, from Brutus son of Aeneas the Trojan, and that he was son to Brute in fivescore degrees§.

I shall drop a little short of this long descent. Owen Tudor was as∣suredly of high blood. He was seventh in descent from Edny∣fed Vychan, counsellor, and leader of the armies of Llewelyn the Great, and a successful warrior against the English. His

Of a noble race was Shenkin, of the line of Owen Tudor.

origin was from Marchudd, one of the fifteen tribes. Ednyfed's wife was Gwenllian, daughter of Rhys, prince of South Wales: so that he might boast of two royal descents, and deliver down a posterity not unworthy of the British empire.

OWEN must have been the instrument of his own advance∣ment, and have owed it entirely to his personal merit. His grandfather Tudor ap Gronw was a man of great valour, a fa∣vorite of Edward III. and received from him the honor of knighthood. He died and was buried September 19th 1367, and was interred at the friery at Bangor. His fourth son Me∣redydd was in no higher station than Scutifer to the bishop of Bangor. Having committed a murder, he fled his country, and lived in exile; during which time his wife was delivered of Owen, the subject of these pages. By what means he intro∣duced himself to the English court does not appear; most pro∣bable by military services, the usual road to honors in those days.

THE remains of the residence of the Tudors are, the door of the gateway: part of the house, and the great chimney-piece of the hall, are to be seen in the present farm-house. Some coats of arms, and dates of the building, or time of repairs, are to be seen, with the initial letters of the names of the owners. The Tudors, for a considerable space before the ex∣tinction of their race, assumed the name of Owen. Richard was the last male of the family, and was sheriff of the county in 1657. Margaret, heiress of the house, married Coningshy Williams, Esq of Glan y gors, in this island, who possessed it during his life. It was afterwards sold to Lord Bulkeley, in whose descendant in still continues.

IN the church of Penmynydd is a most magnificent monument of white alabaster, removed at the dissolution from the abbey of Llanvaes to this place; probably erected in memory of one of the house of Tudor, who had been interred there. On it is the figure of a man in complete armour, a conic helm, and mail∣gaurd down to his breast. His lady is in a thick angular hood. Their feet rest on lions. Their heads are supported by angels.

ABOUT a mile farther, I visited Tre-garnedd, a farm-house, in the parish of Llangesni, once the site of the great Ednyfed Vy∣chan, mentioned in a preceding page. His arms were origi∣nally a Saracen's head erazed, proper, wreathed or; but after defeating the English army, who were invading our frontiers, and killing three of their chiefest captains, whose heads he brought to his master Llewelyn the Great, the prince directed, as a reward, that in future he should bear gules, between three Englishmen's heads couped, a cheveron ermin. Directly descended from him were Henry VII. and VIII. Edward VI. Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, and every crowned head in England ever since, besides heroes not less illustrious in their degree. Among them was Sir Grayffydd Llwyd, son of Rhys ap Grayffyd ap Ednyfed Vychan. This gentleman received from Edward I. the honor of knighthood, on bringing him the news of the birth of his son Edward of Caernarvon. He did homage, for his lands in Wales, to the young prince at Chester; but, indignant at the sufferings of his countrymen under the English yoke, meditated a revolt. Between the years 1316 and 1318, his attempted to form an alliance with Edmund Bruce, the short-lived king of

Ireland. Letters passed between them, but without effect At length, from the greatness of his sprit, determined alone to endeavour to free his country from the slavery to which he himself had probably contributed, he took arms in 1322†, and for a while over-run the country with resistless impetuosity. At length was subdued, taken, and doubtlessly underwent the common fate of our gallant insurgents. I find that he had fortified his house at Tre-garnedd with a very strong foss and rampart, and made another strong hold about three quarters of a mile distant, in the morass of Maltraeth, called Ynys Ce∣venni; which he insulated, by bringing round it the waters of the river Cefni‡: both are still remaining. The foss is nearly perfect, and near four yards deep and eitht wide. His daughter Morvydd, one of his coheiresses‖, conveyed by marriage this estate, being her protion, to Madog Gloddaeth; which followed the succession of that house till 1750, when it was alienated by the late Sir Thomas Mostyn to Mr. Owen Williams.

THE name of this place is taken from an immense Carnedd, or heap of stones, surrounded with great upright stones, in an adjacent field. It seems to have beneath it passages formed on the sides and tops with flat stones, or flags. These were the repositories of the dead§ Not that bones or urns are also discovered in them; for the founders, like those of the pyramids of Egypt, appear often to be disappointed in their hopes of having their reliques lodged in these labored Mausoleums.

A FEW years ago, beneath a carnedd similar to that at Tre∣garnedd, was discovered, on a farm called Bryn-celli-ddu, near the feat of Sir Nicholas Bayley, a passage three feet wide, four feet two or three inches high, and about nineteen feet and a half long, which led into a room, about three feet in diameter, and seven in height. The form was an irregular hexagon, and the sides composed of six rude slabs, one of which measured in its dia∣gonal eight feet nine inches. In the middle was an artless pillar of stone, four feet eight inches in circumference. This sup∣ports the roof, which consists of one great stone, near ten feet in diameter. Along the sides of the room was, if I may be allowed the expression, a stone bench, on which were found human bones, which fell to dust almost at a touch: it is pro∣bable that the bodies were originally placed on the bench. There are proofs that it was customary with the Gauls to place their dead in that form in cells; but they added to the head of each body a stone weapon, which served as a pillow: but nothing of the king was discovered in this sepulchre. The diameter of the incumbent carnedd is from ninety to a hun∣dred feet. This seems to be that which Mr. Rowland takes notice of in his Mona Antiqua†.

I MUST not omit mention of the great patriarch of Tregaian, a chapelry of this parish, who lived in the year 1580, and died at the age of 105; his name was William ap Howel ap Jerwerth. He had by his first wife twenty-two children, by his second, ten, by his third, four, and by his two concubines seven; in all forty-three. His eldest son was eithty-four in 1581, and his eldest

daughter seventy-two; and his youngest son then only two years and a half old: so that between his first child and last there was an interval of eighty-two years. Nor did there less than three hundred people descend from this stock in that in∣terval, eighty of whom lived in this parish. He was small of statute, of a chearful convivial temper; but spare in his diet, living mostly on milk. He passed his time in rural employ∣ments, and at his leisure in fishing and fowling; and preserved his memory and senses to the last.

I RETURNED to Plâs Gwyn, and from thence crossed Red∣wharf, to the western horn of the bay called Castell-mawr, a small cape, flat at top, and joined to the land by a low isthmus. It is composed of lime-stone, which is carried to distant parts in small vessels, which lie in a small channel near the rock, and by their numbers frequently enliven the view. Roman coins have been found in this neighborhood; but there are no vestiges of there having been any station. Beyond Castell-Mawr, on the shore, I saw vast blocks of black marble filled with shells, corolloids, and fungitae.

Proceed near the shore. On the left are the woods of Llugwy, extensive for this island. This estate fomerly be∣longed to the Llwyds; at present to Lord Boston. Not far from the road, in the lands of Llugwy, is a most stupendous Cromlech, of a rhomboid form. The greatest diagonal is seven∣teen feet six inches, the lesser fifteen; the thickness three feet nine; its height from the ground only two feet: it was supported by several stones. The Welsh, who ascribe every

thing stupendous to out famous British king, call it Arthur's Quoit. In the woods are some druidical circles, nearly conti∣guous to each other.

CROSS Llugwy sands, and soon after ride over Dulas bay, like∣wise dry at low-water. It runs about a mile and a half deep into the country, and is frequented by small vessels, which take off the oats and butter of these parts. Off the mouth is Ynys Gadarn, a small island. Go by Llys Dulas, the seat of Mrs. Lewis; and soon after within sight of the church of Llan-Elian, seated on the rocks not far from the sea. It is handsomely built, and makes a considerable figure among the churches of this part of Wales. It is dedicated to St. Elian, surnamed Gannaid, or the Bright. He was formerly a most popular saint, and had a great concourse of devotees, who implored his assist∣ance to relieve them from variety of disorders. To gain his favor they made considerable offerings, which were deposited in the church in Cyff Aelian, or St. Aelian's chest. These amounted to so large a sum, that the parishioners purchased with it three tenements, for the use of the church, which belong to the living to this day.

NEAR this place, Caswallon Law-hîr, or Caswallon Longima∣nus, kept his Llys, or court. He had made a grant of lands and several privileges to this church, among which was that of a Nawddfa, or sanctuary. This was one of the seven church-patron saints in Anglesey, which were entitled in Capite to several tenures; one of the conditions of which seems to have been the preservation of these places of refuge.

FROM hence I visited Trysclwyn mountain; on part of which, called Parys mountain (probably from a Robert Parys, who was chamberlain of North Wales in the reign of Henry IV.) is the most considerable body of copper ore perhaps ever known. The external aspect of the hill is extremely rude, and rises into enormous rocks of coarse white quartz. The ore is lodged in a bason, or hollow, and has on one side a small lake, on whose waters, distasteful as those of Avernus, no bird is known to alight. The whole aspect of this tract has, by the mi∣neral operations, assumed a most savage appearance. Suffocating fumes of the burning heaps of copper arise in all parts, and extend their baneful influence for miles around. In the adja∣cent parts vegetation is nearly destroyed; even the mosses and lichens of the rocks have perished: and nothing seems capable of resisting the fumes but the purple Melic grass†, which flou∣rishes in abundance.

I HAVE little doubt but that the ore had been worked in a very distant period. Vestiges of the antient operations appear in several parts, carried on by trenching, and by heating the rocks intensely, then suddenly pouring on water, so as to cause them to crack, or scale; thus aukwardly supplying the use of gunpowder‡ Pieces of charcoal were also found, which prove that wood was made use of for that purpose. As the Britons im∣proted all works in brass, it is certain that the Romans were the undertakers of these mines; and it is very probable that they sent the ore to Caerbén to be smelted, the place where the famous

cake of copper was discovered. They might likewise have had a smelting-hearth in this island; for a round cake of copper was discovered at Llanvaethlle, a few miles from this place. Its weight was fifty pounds, and it had on it a mark resembling an L.

IN the year 1762, one Alexander Frazier came into Anglesey in search of mines. He visited Parys mountain; called on Sir Nicholas Bayley, and gave him so flattering an account of the prospect, as induced him to make a trial, and sink shafts. Ore was discovered; but before any quantity could be gotten, the mines were overpowered with water. In about two years after, Messrs. Roe and Co. of Macclesfield applied to Sir Nicholas for a lease of Penrhyn ddu mine in Caernarvonshire; with which they were, much against their wills, compelled to take a lease of part of this mountain, and to carry on a level, and make a fair trial. The trial was accordingly made: ore was discovered; but the expences overbalanced the profits. They continued working to great loss: and at length determined to give the affair up. They gave their agent orders for that purpose; but he, as a final attempt, divided his men into ten several com∣panies, of three or four in a partnership, and let them sink shafts in various places, about eight hundred yeards eastward of a place called the Golden Venture, on a presumption that a spring, which issued from near the place, must come from a body of mineral. His conjecture was right; for in less than two days they met with, at the depth of seven feet from the surface, the solid mineral, which proved to be that vast body which has since been worked to such advantage. The day that this discovery was made was March 2d 1768; which has

ever since been observed as a festival by the miners. Soon after this discovery, another adventure was begun by the reverend Mr. Edward Hughes, owner of part of the mountain, in right of his wife Mary Lewis of Llys Dulas; so that the whole of the treasure is the property of Sir Nicholas Bayley and himself.

THE body of copper ore is of unknown extent. The thick∣ness has been ascertained, in some places, by the driving of a level under it, several years ago, and it was found to be in some places twenty-four yards. The ore is mostly of the kind called by Cronsted, Pyrites cupri flavo viridescens; and contains vast quantities of sulphur. It varies in degrees of goodness; some of it is rich, but the greater part poor in quality.

THERE are other species of copper ore found here. Of late a vein of the Pyrites cupri griseus of Cronsted, about seven yards wide, has been discovered near the west end of the mountain: some is of an iron grey, some quite black; the first contains six∣teen lb. of copper per clb. the last, forty. An ore has been lately found, in form of loose earth, of dark purplish color; and the best of it has produced better thatn eight in twenty. Some years ago, above thirty pounds of native copper was found in driving a level through a turbery; some was in form of moss, some in very thin leaves.

IT is quarried out of the bed in vast masses; is broken into small pieces; and the most pure part is sold raw, at the rate of about 3l. to 6l. per ton, or sent to the smelting-houses of the respective companies to be melted into metal. Mr. Hughes has great furnaces of his own at Ravenhead, near Leverpool, and at Swansey, in South Wales. An idea of the wealth of these mines may be formed, by considering that the Macclesfield com∣pany

have had at once fourteen thousand tons of ore upon bank, and Mr. Hughes's, thirty thousand.

THE more impure ore is also broken to the size of about hen's eggs; but in order to clear it from the quantity of sul∣phur with which it abounds, as well as other advantitious mat∣ter, it must undergo the operation of burning. For that pur∣pose it is placed between two parallel walls of vast length: some kilns are twenty, others forty, and fifty yards in length; some ten, others twenty feet wide, and above four feet in height. The space between is not only filled, but the ore is piled many feet higher, in a convex form, from end to end: the whole is then covered with flat stones, closely luted with clay; and above is placed a general integument of clay, and small rubbish of the work, in order to prevent any of the fumes from evaporating. Of late some kilns have been constructed with brick arches over the ore, which is found to be the best method of burning. Within these few years, attempts are made to pre∣serve the sulphur from flying away; and that is done by flues, made of brick, whose tops are in form of a Gothic arch, many scores of feet in length: one end of these opens into the beds of copper which are to be burnt. Those beds are set on fire by a very small quantity of coal, for all the rest is effected by its own phlogiston. The volatile part is confined, and diredted to the flues; in its course the sulphurous particles strike against their roofs, and fall to the bottom in form of the finest brimstone; which is collected, and carried to adjacent houses, where it is melted into what is called in the shops stone brimstone.

THE beds of copper, thus piled for burning, are of vast ex∣tent. Some contain four hundred tons of ore, others two

thousand. The first require four months to be completely burnt; the last, near ten. Thus burnt, it is carried to proper places to be dressed, or washed, and made merchantable. By this process the ore is reduced to a fourth part in quantity, but considerably improved in quality: and by this means the water is strongly or richly impregnated with copper, which is dissolved by the acid quality of the sulphur; and is collected or precipitated again by iron in the above-described pits. The iron is all dissolved.

BUT a far richer produce of copper is discovered from the water lodged in the bottom of the bed of ore,which is highly saturated with the precious metal. This is drawn up, either by means of whimsies or windmills, to the surface, and then distributed into numbers of rectangular pits thirty-six feet long, some pits more some less, twelve to fifteen feet broad, and twenty inches deep. To speak in the language of the adept, Venus must make an assignation with Mars, or this solution will have no effect. In plain English, a quantity of iron must be immersed in the water. The kind of iron is of no moment; old pots, hoops, anchors, or any refuse will suffice; but of late, for the convenience of management, the adventurers procure new plates, four feet long, one and a half broad, and three quarters of an inch thick. These they immerse into the pits; the particles of copper instantly are precipitated by the iron, and the iron is gradually dissolved into a yellow ocher; great part of it floats off by the water, and sinks to the bottom. The plates, or the old iron (as it happens) are frequently taken out, and the copper scraped off; and this is repeated till the whole of the iron is consumed. The copper thus procured differs

little from native copper, and is prized accordingly, and sold for prices of 25l. to 45l. a ton.

THIS discovery is far from new; it has been practised long in the Wicklow mines in Ireland, and above a century in those of Hern-grundt in Hungary, where it is called Ziment Copper The waters of the Hungarian mines are much more strongly impregnated with copper than those of Parys mountain. The first effects its operation in twelve or about twenty days; the last requires two months. Horse-shoes, iron made in shape of hearts, and other forms, are put into the foreign waters, and when per∣fectly transmuted, are given as presents to curious strangers.

THE ore is not got in the common manner of mining, but is cut out of the bed in the same manner as stone is out of a quarry. A hollow is now formed in the solid ore open to the day, and extends about and hundred yards in length, about forty yards in breadth, and twenty-four yards in depth. The ends are at present undermined, but supported by vast pillars and mignificent arches, all metallic; and these caverns meander far under ground. These will soon disappear, and thousands of tons of ore be gotten from both the columns and roofs. The sides of this vast hollow are mostly perpendicular, and access to the bottom is only to be had by small steps cut in the ore; and the curious visitor must trust to them and a rope, till he reaches some ladders, which will conduct him the rest of the descent. On the edges of the chasms are wooden platforms, which project far; on them are windlasses, by which the work∣men are lowered to transact their business on the face of the precipice. There suspended, they work in mid air, pick a

small space for a footing, cut out the ore in vast masses, and tumble it to the bottom with great noise. In such situations they form caverns, and there appear safely lodged, till the rope is lowered to convey them up again. Much of the ore is blasted with gunpowder, eight tons of which, I am informed, is an∣nually used for the purpose.

NATURE hath been profuse in bestowing her mineral favors on this spot; for above the copper ore, and not more than three quarters of a yard beneath the common soil, is a bed of yellow∣ish greasy clay, from one to four yards thick, containing lead ore, and yielding from six hundred to a thousand pounds weight of lead from one ton; and one ton of the metal yields not less than fifty-seven ounces of silver. Mixed with the earth, are fre∣quently certain parts of the color of cinnabar: whether these are symptomatic of the sulphurous arsenical silver ores, or of quicksilver, I will not pretend to decide. Something inter∣feres with the successful smelting of this earth in the great: insomuch that it has not yet been of that profit to the adven∣turers, which might reasonably be expected from the crucible assays of it; and they have at this time about eight thousand tons on bank undisposed of. This place has been worked for lead ore in very distant times. In the bottom of the pool was found an antient smelting hearth of grit-stone, and several bits of smelted lead, of about four inches in length, two breadth, and half an inch thick.

THESE works have added greatly to the population of the island; for about fifteen hundred persons are employed, who, with their families, are supposed to make near eight thousand persons, getting their bread from these mines. The little vil∣lage

of Amlwch, the port of the place, is encreasing fast, and the market grows considerable. At the season of the greatest work, Mr. Hughes's men alone receive, for many weeks, two hundred pounds in one week, and a hundred and fifty in another, merely for subsistence. The port is no more than a great chasm between two rocks, running far into land, and dry at low-water; into which sloops run, and lie secure to receive their lading.

FROM Parys mountain I visited the north-west parts of the island, and passed over a sandy plain country, fertile in grain. See to the right, the Middle Mouse; and farther on is the third small isle of that name, called the West Mouse. Between these, on the coast of Anglesey, is Kemlyn bay, where there is safe an∣chorage for small vessels. Not far from hence I saw the noted quarry of marble, common to this place, some parts of Italy, and to Corsica, and known in the shops by the name of Verde di Corsica. Its colors are green, black, white, and dull purple, irregularly disposed. In different blocks one or other of the colors are frequently wanting; but among the green parts are often found narrow veins of a most elegant and silky white asbestos. It is a compound species of marble; part is calca∣reous, and may be acted on by aqua fortis. The green parts partake of the nature of jasper. It is apt to be intersected by small cracks, or by asbestine veins, therefore incapable of taking a high polish. This quarry lies on the lands of Mo∣nach-ty, in the parish of Llan-Fair-Ynghornwy; and it is found again in the isle of Skerries, off this parish.

NEITHER the quarry not the asbestos are at present in use. The antients set a high value on the last, a price equal to that of pearls. They wove napkins of it, and at great feasts

diverted themselves (in order to clean them) to fling them into the fire, from which they returned unhurt, and with im∣proved lustre. They likewise made of it shrouds for the bodies of great men, before they were placed on the funeral pile, and by that means preserved their ashes pure from those of the wood. The antients believed that it was found only in India, in places where showers never fell, and the residence of dire serpents.

FROM hence I vesited Carreg-Lwyd, then the residence of that worthy and convivial gentleman Jobn Griffith, Esq From thence I made an attempt to sail to the Skerries, called in Welsh Ynys y Moel Rhoniaid, or the isle of Seals, distant about a league from this place, and about half a league from the nearest part of Anglesey: a turbulent sea made us return with speed. The island is very rocky, but affords food for a few Sheep, Rabbits, and Puffins. The light-house, placed on it about the year 1730, is of great use to ships sailing between Ireland and the ports of Chester and Leverpool. The produce from the ton∣nage, about the year 1759, was 1100l. a year; of which Ire∣land contributed 400l. British vessels pay 1d. per ton, aliens 2d. Fish sport about the rocky sides in most amazing multi∣tudes, and appear even crowding their backs above water; these are chiefly the Cole-fish and Whiting Pollacks: Cod-fish lurk beneath in abundance, and the beautiful Wrasses, &c. are frequently caught.

THIS isle formerly belonged to the cathedral of Bangor, which clamed an exclusive right of fishing on it. The right of the prelates of that see had been, by some neglect, invaded; and the Griffiths of Penrhyn had usurped the privilege, by having

in the isle what was called a Wele, a bed or small possession About 1498, bishop Dean exerted himself, and in person re∣sumed the fishery, and on the 8th of October took twenty-eight "fishis called Grapas;" when Sir William Griffith sent

his son and heire apparante, with dyvers men in harnes, wiche ryetowsely in the seid countie of Anglesey, within the seid bishope's diocese, took the seid fishis from the servants of the seid bishope.

But the honest prelate caused him to make restitution, and established his right as lord of the fisheries of the island† A successor of his, Nicholas Robinson, was not so tenacious; but, according to Mr. Willis‡, alienated the isle to one of his sons. Between forty and fifty years ago, Wil∣liam Robinson, Esq of Monach-ty in this county, and of Gwerfillt in Denbighshire, the last male descendant, perished in a storm in his return from this dreary spot, with about a dozen people who had unfortunately attended him. Monach-ty, or the house of the Monks, had been part of the possessions of the abbey of Conway, and alienated by the same prelate to his son.

FROM Carreg-Lwyd I rode to Holyhead, about eleven or twelve miles distant. Passed by Llanfachreth and Llanynghenedl to Rhyd-Pont bridge, where a very small river-like channel in∣sulates the great promontory. Go over Towyn y Capel, a low sandy common, bounded on one side by rocks, which in high winds the sea breaks over in a most aweful and stupendous manner, and are justly dreaded by mariners. In the middle of the common is an artificial mount, on which are the ruins of Capel St. Ffraid. I have no kind of doubt but that, prior

to the chapel, it had been the site of a small fort; for I never saw atrificial elevations given to any but works of a military kind. This common abounds with the shells called the FASCIATED WREATH, Br. Zool. iv. N^o 119. and the ZONED SNAIL, N^o 133.

NOT far from hence, between Bodior and Rhyd-Pont, in Rhoscolyn Parish, is a fossil not frequently found. A green ami∣anthus, or brittle asbestos, is met with in great plenty, in a green marble, similar to that at Monach-ty; but by reason of the inflexible quality of its fibres, not applicable to the same uses.

WITHIN two miles of Towyn y Capel is the town of Holyhead, seated on a noted and safe harbour, guarded at its mouth from the winds by Ynys GYBI—the island of St. Gybi—surnamed Corineus, son of Solomon Duke of Cornwal; who, after studying some years in Gaul, returned to Britain, and fixed his see at the place called now Caer Gybi, and Holyhead In honor of his instructor, St. Hilarius, bishop of Poitiers, he bestowed his name on one of the headlands; the same which goes also under that of St. Aelian's.

THE town is small, but greatly resorted to by passengers to and from the kingdom of Ireland; and is the station of the pacquets, five of which are in constant employ; are stout vessels, and well manned.

THE church is dedicated to St. Gybi. Is an antient structure, embattled, with the inside of the porch, and the outside of part of the transept, rudely carved. On the outside of the last is a dragon, a man leading a bear with a rope, and other gross re∣presentations. St. Gybi is said to have founded a small mo∣nastery here, about the year 380† Maelgwyn Gwynedd, who

began his reign about the year 580, is said to have founded a college here This prince was styled Draco Insularis; perhaps the dragon, engraven on the church may allude to him. Others assert, that the founder of this college was Hwfa ap Cynddelw, lord of Llys Llivon, in this island, and one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, and contemporary with Owen Gwy∣nedd† The head of the college was called Penclas, or Pen∣colas, and was one of the spiritual lords of Anglesey: the arch∣deacon of the isle was one; the abbot of Penmon the other. His Latin title was Rector, as appears by the antient seal, inscribed Sigillum rectoris et capituli Ecclesia de CAER GYBI‡ I am not acquainted with the number of prebendaries; but they were twelve at lest, that number being found on the pension list in 1553‖, at 1l. each. Before the dissolution, I find that the rector, or provost, for so he is also styled, had thirty-nine marks; one chaplain had eleven, and the other two the same between them§ The whole value, in the 26th of Henry VIII. was esteemed at 24l. The English monarch had the gift of the provostship. Edward III. bestowed what was called the pro∣vostship of his free chapel of Caer-Cube, on his chaplain Thomas de London; for which the king, in 1351, dispensed with him for his services to himself¶ James I. granted this college to Francis Morris and Francis Philips. It became afterwards the property of Rice Gwynne, Esq who bestowed on Jesus college, Oxford, the great tithes, for the maintenance of two fellows and as many scholars**; and since that time the parish is served by a curate nominated by the college.

NEAR the church stood, in old times, a chapel called Eglwys y Bedd, or the church of the Grave; and Capet Llan y Gwyddel, or the chapel of the Irishman. Sirigi, a king of the Irish Picts, invaded this country, and was here slain by Caswallon Law Hir, or Caswallon the long-handed, who reigned about the year 440 Sirigi was canonized by his countrymen, and had in this chapel a shrine, in high repute for many miracles. This place had distinct revenues from the collegiate church. At length it fell to ruin, and was disused for ages. In removing the rubbish, not many years ago, a stone coffin was found with bones of a stupendous size; but we must not suppose these to have been the reliques of Sirigi; which had been carried away by some Irish rovers, and deposited in the cathedral of Christ Church in Dublin†.

THE precinct of the church-yard clames a far higher anti∣quity than the church. It is a square of two hundred and twenty feet by a hundred and thirty. Three sides are strong walls, seventeen feet high, and six feet thick; the fourth side is open to the precipitous rocks of the harbour, and never had been walled, being intended for ships to retire to, and receive the benefit of protection from this inclosure. At each corner of the wall is an oval tower. The masonry of the whole is evidently Roman: the mortar very hard, and mixed with much coarse peb∣ble. Along the walls are two rows of round holes, about four inches in diameter, which penetrate them. They are in all respects like those at Segontium, p. 220, and nicely plaistered within.

THE use of this harbour to the Romans, in the passage from various places to the ports of Lancashire and that of Chester, is very evident. They could not find a better place to run into, in case of hard weather, than this, as it projected farthest into the Vergivian sea; so that they could make it with less danger of being embayed than in any other place. If (as is very probable) they had commerce with Ireland, no place was better adapted. The Romans, it is true, never made a settle∣ment in that country, but they certainly traded with it, even in the time of Agricola,

when its ports and harbours were better known, from the concourse of merchants for the pur∣poses of commerce.

I TOOK a walk from the town to the top of The Head, in search of other antiquities. In my way, saw the ruins of Capel y Gorlles, one of several which are scattered about this holy promontory. On the side which I ascended, my course was in∣terrupted with a huge dry wall, in many places regularly faced, and ten feet high in some of the most entire parts, and fur∣nished with an entrance. On the Pen y Gaer Gybi, or the sum∣mit of the mountain, are foundations of a circular building, strongly cemented with the same sort of mortar as the sort in the town. It seems to have been, a Pharos, a necessary director in these seas.

FROM the top of this mountain I had a distinct view of the isle of Holyhead: it being at that time high-water, and the channel filled on each side of Rhyd-Pont bridge. The isle is of unequal breadth, and greatly indented.

THE part of the Head fronting the sea, is either an immense precipice, or hollowed into most magnificent caves. Birds of various kinds breed in the rocks; among them are, Peregrine Falcons, Shags, Herons, Razor-bills, and Guillemots. Their eggs are sought after for food; and are gotten by means of a man, who is lowered down by a rope held by one or more per∣sons. Within memory, the person let down, by his weight overpowered the other, and pulled him down; so that both pe∣rished miserably.

I RETURNED over Rhyd-Pont bridge, and along the great road (which is excellent) towards Bangor. A little on the left is Presaddfed, the seat of Mrs. Roberts, formerly of the Owens. On the site stood the mansion of Hwfa ap Kynddelw, before men∣tioned. He held his estate in see by the attendance at the prince's coronation, and bearing up the right side of the canopy over the prince's head at that solemnity. The bishop, who was first chaplain, also held some land by the office of crowning him.

NEAR the comfortable inn called the Gwindy, in the mid∣dle of the island, on the great road, is Bodychan, an antient building, once the seat of Rhys ap Llewelyn ap Hwlkyn, first sheriff of this county, and a potent man in the time of Henry VIII. The family afterwards took the name of the place, and flourished for many generations. The founder, Rhys ap Kemlyn ap Hwlkin, went to Bosworth field to assist Henry VII. with a company of foot. In return, was sworn sheriff of Anglesey for life. He made his house (now converted into a barn) the county jail, the dungeon whereof is still to be seen. In the last century it passed to the Sparrows of Red Hill, by the mar∣riage of the heiress of this place.

BEFORE I leave the island, I beg leave to communicate a brief account of its population, in the manner I received it from Paul Penton, Esq whose remarks on the same subject have before appeared in a far more respectable place.

BY an account given on the 13th of August 1563, there were 2010 housholds, or families, in Anglesey†: allowing five to a family, the whole number of inhabitants in that period was 10,050. In 1776, the number of houses in Anglesey was about 3,956: allowing five persons to a family, the whole number of inhabitants was at that time 19,780; which wants only 340 of doubling the number of inhabitants in the intervening space.

CONTINUE my journey from Porth-aithwy Ferry up a steep road, and soon descend another to BANOOR, a small town seated between two low hills, in a valley opening to the bay of Beauma∣ris. This is the episcopal seat. The prelate is very indifferently lodged, in a palace near the cathedral; which, from an inscrip∣tion, appears to have been rebuilt by Bishop Skeffington, who died in 1533, at the abbey of Beaulieu, of which he had been abbot. He directed that his body should be interred there; his heart at Bangor, before the image of the patron saint, St. Daniel.

ST. DANIEL, son of Dynawd, abbot of Bangor ys Coed in Flint∣shire, first esttablished here a college for the instruction of youth, and support of the clergy of those parts‡ Cressy calls it a monastery, and says it was filled with monks‖ probably fugitives from the other Bangor, from which it might derive its

name. About the year 550, Maelgwyn Gwynedd, one of those gentry who, growing virtuous in their old-age, make a sacrifice to God of the Devil's leavings, converted the college into a bishoprick, and appointed Daniel to be first bishop. We know not the extent of his diocese. That of the present, com∣prehends all Anglesey; Caernarvonshire, except Llysvaen, Eglwys Rhôs, and Llangystenin, which belong to St. Asaph, and Llan∣beblic to Chester. In Denbighshire it has fourteen parishes; in Montgomeryshire seven.

The cathedral was destroyed by the insurgent Saxons in the year 1071. It was afterwards rebuilt; for we find that in 1212† King John invaded the country, forced the bishop, Ro∣bert of Shrewshury, from before the altar, and obliged him to pay two hundred hawks for his ransom. In the year 1402 it was reduced again to ruin by the rage of Glyndwr, and lay un∣restored uring ninety years; when the choir was restored by Bishop Dean, or Deny: the body and tower were built by that liberal prelate Thomas Skeffington, in 1532. The tower was to have been raised to double its present height; but the death of the bishop prevented the execution of the design‡ The win∣dows were made, or glazed, according to the custom of the times, by the piety of different persons, among whom may be reckoned Dean Kyffin, and some of the Gryffydds of Pen∣rhyn‖.

THERE is nothing remarkable within, except a few tombs. That wise and valiant prince Owen Gwynedd lies beneath an

arch, with a flowery cross cut on a flat stone. He died, re∣gretted by his countrymen, and feared by his foes, in 1169. On the floor is a mutilated figure in brass, designed for Richard Kyffyn, the active dean of this church in the reigns of Richard III. and Henry VII. He died the 13th of August 1502. The place of his interment still bears the name of Bedd y Deon du, or the grave of the Black Dean, I suppose from his complexion. Se∣veral of the bishops are buried here; but, excepted the headless busts of the prelates Rowlands and Vaughan, mutilated in the fanatical times, no remarkable memorials of any of them at present exist. Of the shrine on the left side of the great altar, beneath which, in 1137, was interred the brave and wise prince Gryffydd ap Cynan, not a vestige is to be seen.

IN antient times here was a parochial church dedicated to St. Mary, which stood behind the palace. It is said to have been founded by King Edgar, in the beginning of the reign of Howel ap Jevaf; who at the same time confirmed the privileges of the see, and endowed it liberally†.

THE house of friers preachers stood a little way out of the town. It was founded as early as the year 1276: Bishop Tan∣ner gives the honor of it to Tudor ap Gronw, lord of Penmynnydd and Trecastell in Anglesey, who enlarged or rebuilt it in 1299, and was interred here in 1311. Edward VI. made a grant of the place to Thomas Brown and William Breton. Soon after, it was converted into a free school by Jeffry Glynn, LL. D. an advocate in Doctors Commons, and brother to Bishop Glynn.

By his will, proved July 21st 1557, he left the conduct of it to his brother, and to Maurice Gryffydd bishop of Rochester. They dying before the settlement could be completed, left their power to Sir William Petre, and others; who agreed on the statutes for the master and usher, with the concurrence of the bishop, dean, and chapter, and of Alexander Nowel, dean of St. Paul's, who is said to have composed them. Over the chim∣ney-piece is a fragment of an antient monument to one Gryffydd with a long sword carved on it. On the stair-case is another stone, with the words ap Tudor, probably part of the tomb of the founder Tudor ap Gronw ap Tudor†.

HUGH Lupus, in his barbarous inroad into Anglesey, founded a castle at Bangor, in order to carry on his ravages with greater security‡. The site was wholly unknown, till it was pointed out to me by the reverend Mr. E. R. Owen, a gentleman to whom this part of the work is under frequent obligations. It lies nearly a quarter of a mile eastward of the town, on the ridge of hills which bound the south-east side of the vale, and nearly the same distance from the port. The castle stood on a rocky, and, in many parts, a precipitous hill. Three sides of the walls are easily to be traced: on the south-east side they extended a hundred and twenty yards; on the south-west, sixty-six, ending at a precipice; the north-east may be traced forty yards, and ends in the same manner. On the fourth side, the natural strength of the place rendered a farther defence useless. Mounds of earth tending to a semicircular form, with rocks and precipices, connect the north-east and south-west walls.

We know not the time of its demolition: probably as soon as the earl had effected his design, it was suffered to fall to ruin.

ON leaving Bangor I took the road towards Conway. At a small distance from the former, crossed Aber Cegid, a small creek, fordable at low-water; from whence are annually im∣ported many millions of slates. A little farther, on the sum∣mit of a hill commanding a most charming view, stands Pen∣rhyn, an antient house, once beautifully embosomed with vene∣rable oaks. The house is said to have been built on the site of a palace of Roderic Mwlwynog, prince of Wales, who began his reign in 720. It continued long in our princes. In 987 it was levelled to the ground by Meredydd ap Owen; who, in that year, invaded North Wales, and slew Cadwallon ap Jewaf, the reigning prince. In the time of Llewelyn the Great, it was bestowed, with the whole hundred of Llechwedd Ucha, on Yard∣dur ap Trabaiarn, a man of rank at that period. Eva, or as she is called by some Enerys, one of his descendants, who had, by the customary division of the lands by gavel-kind, Penrhyn to her share, bestowed it, with her person, on Gryffydd ap Heilin ap Sir Tudor ap Ednyved Vychan, originally lord of Bryn Ffanigl. The family flourished for many generations. William Vychan, son of Gwilim ap Gryffydd, and Jonet, daughter of Sir William Stanley of Hooton, and relict of Judge Parys, chamberlain of North Wales and Chester, succeeded, in the 18th of Henry VI. to the estates of his father and the Judge, and also succeeded the last in his important office of chamberlain of North Wales; an honor continued to several of his posterity, and at this time possessed by lord viscount Bulkeley.

IT is remarkable, that in his time the severity of the laws

against the Welsh were so rigidly enforced, that he was made denizen of England, on condition that he should not marry a Welsh woman; and accordingly he married a daughter of a Sir William, or Sir Richard Dalton.

IN the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Piers Gryffydd, lord of the place, distinguished himself as a naval officer; He sailed from Beaumaris on the 20th of April 1588, and arrived at Ply∣mouth on the 4th of May, where he was most honorably re∣ceived by that gallant commander Sir Francis Drake. He shared with the other men of rank and gallantry in the honor of defeating the Spanish armada. After that distinguished victory, he joined with Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh in their different expeditions against the Spaniards in the West-Indies; but in the reign of James I. continuing his depredations against the Spaniards after peace was proclamed, he was called to account, and so harrassed by persecutions, that he was ob∣liged to mortgage his estate to defray the expences; part to some citizens of London, and part to Jevan Llwyd, Esq of Yale: the last of whom, in conjunction with Sir Richard Trevor, bought the whole in 1616, and sold it to the lord keeper Wil∣liams in 1622; and the archbishop bequeathed it to Gryffydd Wil∣liams, son of his eldest brother, created baronet June 17th 1661. His son Sir Robert, the last owner who inhabited Penrhyn, left three daughters; Frances, first married to Robert Lloyd of Ec∣clusham near Wrexham, afterwards to Edward lord Russel, third

son of the first duke of Bedford; Anne, married to Thomas War∣burton of Winnington Cheshire; and Gwen, to Sir Walter Yonge of Devonshire. Lord Russel having no issue, generously resigned his part of the estate to the surviving sisters. Sir George Yonge, grandson of the former, sold his moiety to the late John Pennant, Esq whose son Richard Pennant, Esq possesses the whole by virtue of his marriage with Anne Susannah, daughter and sole heiress of the late General Warburton of Winnington.

THE present buildings stand round a court, and consist of a gateway, chapel, a tower, vast hall, and a few other apart∣ments. By several ruins may be traced its former extent. The house was rebuilt, in the reign of Henry VI. by Guilim ap Gryffydd. The Stanley arms (those of his wife) empaled with his own, were to be seen in the hall windows, till the year 1764: by the initials R. G. and date 1575, it appears that Sir Rhys Gryffydd repaired it in that year. It gives me great satisfaction to find, that the place will soon be restored to its former lustre, under the auspices of the present worthy owners, and on the plan of that able architect Mr. S. Wynt.

THE only furniture left to this house, which savored of anti∣quity, was the drinking-horn of its hero Piers Gryffydd; out of which I have made libations, in the hospitable reign of the agent Mr. Richard Hughes. It was a large bugle, or horn of an ox, enriched with sculptured silver, and with a chain of the same metal. At one end are the initials of his own name, P. G. and those of his father and mother, R. G. K. or Rhys and Ca∣therine Gryffydd. Such horns were in use with Danes, Saxons, Scots, and Welsh. We had in old times three species in our royal court, which, by usage, were to be made of those of the

ox. The first was Y Corn ydd Yfo y BRENIN, or that allotted for the sole use of the king; the second was Corn Cyweithas, or the horn with which the domestics of the palace was to be called; and the third was y Corny y Pencynydd, or the horn of the chief huntsman. Each of them was to be worth a pound. To drink out of the royal cup, at great entertainments, was a privilege of the officers of the palace. Thus the governor was to receive a cup of metheglin by the hand of the high steward. The same officer was also dispenser of horns of drink to several others; among them, to the royal porter; who at certain seasons had, besides his horn from the king and queen, another from the master of the horse, which was styled Gwi∣rawd i'r Ebysdyl, or the Waissail cup of the apostle†, whom they probably invoked at the time of drinking. This custom was in frequent use in old times. The Danes invoked the highest powers to assist the mighty draught: Help GOT unde MARIA‡. And the Saxon Ulphus, when he conveyed certain lands to the church of York, quaffed off the horn, DEO et St. Petro‖. On less serious occasions, on festive days, the horn was emptied at one tip, and then blown to shew that there was no deceit. The jovial horn was a subject of poetry. Thus Owen Cyveiliog, the princely Bard§, celebrates the Hirlas, or drirnking-horn used at feasts in his palace. He writes in a more exalted strain, as the poem was composed immediately after a great victory over the English in Maelor. I lay a translation before my reader, by the same elegant pen to which I have been so frequently obliged.

HIRLAS OWAIN;

Or, The DRINKING-HORN of OWEN.

1.

UPROSE the ruddy dawn of day; The armies met in dread array On Maelor Dre••red's field: Loud the British clarions sound, The Saxons, gasping on the ground, The bloody contest yield.

2.

By Owen's arm the valiant bled; From Owen's arm the coward fled Aghast with wild affright: Let then their haughty lords beware How Owen's just revenge they dare, And tremble at his sight.

3.

Fill the HIRLAS HORN, my boy, Nor let the tuneful lips be dry That warble Owen's praise; Whose walls with warlike spoils are hung, And open wide his gates are flung In Cambria's peaceful days.

4.

This hour we dedicate to joy; Then fill the HIRLAS HORN, my boy, That shineth like the sea; Whose azure handles, tip'd with gold, Invites the grasp of Britons bold, The sons of Liberty.

5.

Fill it higher still, and higher, Mead will noblest deeds inspire. Now the battle's lost and won, Give the horn to Gronwy's son; Put it into Gwgan's hand, Bulwark of his native land, Guardian of Sabrina's flood, Who oft has dy'd his spear in blood. When they hear their chieftain's voice; Then his gallant friends rejoice; But when to fight he goes, no more The festal shout resounds on Severn's winding shore.

6.

Fill the gold-tip'd horn with speed, (We must drink, it is decreed.) Badge of honour, badge of mirth, That calls the soul of music forth! As thou wilt thy life prolong, Fill it with Metheglin strong. Gruffudd thirsts, to Gruffudd fill; Whose bloody lance is us'd to kill; Matchless in the field of strife, His glory ends not with his life:

Dragon-son of Cynvyn's race, Owen's shield, Arwystli's grace. To purchase same the warriors flew, Dire, and more dire, the conflict grew; When flush'd with Mead, they bravely fought, Like Belyn's warlike sons, that Edwin's downfall wrought.

7.

Fill the horn with foaming liquor, Fill it up, my boy, be quicker; Hence away, despair and sorrow! Time enough to sigh to-morrow. Let the brimming goblet smile, And Ednyfed's cares beguile; Gallant youth, unus'd to fear, Master of the broken spear, And the arrow-pierced shield, Brought with honour from the field. Like an hurricane is He, Bursting on the troubled sea. See their spears distain'd with gore! Hear the din of battle roar! Bucklers, swords, together clashing. Sparkles from their helmets flashing! Hear ye not their loud alarms? Hark.! they shout-to arms! to arms! Thus were Garthen's plains defended, Maelor fight began and ended. There two princes fought, and there Was Morach Vorvran's feast exchang'd for rout and fear.

8.

Fill the horn: 'tis my delight, When my friends return from fight,

Champions of their country's glory, To record each gallant story.— To Ynyr's comely offspring fill, Foremost in the battle still; Two blooming youths, in counsel sage, As heroes of maturer age; In peace, and war, alike renown'd, Be their brows with garlands crown'd; Deck'd with glory let them shine, The ornament and pride of Ynyr's antient line!

9.

To Selyf fill, of Eagle-heart, Skill'd to hurl the fatal dart: With the Wolf's impetuous force He urgeth on his headlong course. To Tudor next, great Madoc's son, They the race of honor run Together in the tented field, And both alike disdain to yield: Like a Lion in the fray, Tudor darts upon his prey. Rivals in the feats of war; Where danger call'd, they rush'd from far; Till shatter'd by some hostile stroke, With horrid clang their shields were broke; Loud as the foaming billows roar, Or fierce contending winds on Talgath's stormy shore.

10.

Fill the horn with rosy wine, Brave Moreiddig claims it now, Chieftain of an antient line, Dauntless heart, and open brow.

To the warrior it belongs, Prince of battles, theme of songs! Pride of Powys, Mochnant's boast! Guardian of his native coast!— But ah! his short-liv'd triumph's o'er, Brave Moreiddig is no more! To his pensive ghost we'll give Due remembrance, while we live; And in fairy fiction dress'd, Flowing hair, and sable vest, The tragic Muse shall grace our songs, While brave Moreiddig's name the mournful strain prolongs.

11.

Pour out the horn, (tho' he desire it not) And heave a sigh on Morgan's early grave; Doom'd in his clay-cold tenement to rot, While we revere the memory of the brave.

12.

Fill again the HIRLAS HORN. On that ever-glorious morn, The Britons and their foes between, What prodigies of might were seen! On Gwestyn's plain the fight began; But Gronwy sure was more than man! Him to resist, on Gwestyn's plain, A hundred Saxons strove in vain. To set the noble Meyric free, And change his bonds to liberty, The warriors vow'd. The God of day Scarce darted his meridian ray, When he beheld the conquerors steep'd in gore, And Gwestyn's bloody fight, ere highest, noon was o'er.

13.

Now a due libation pour To the spirits of the dead, Who, that memorable hour, Made the hostile plain their bed. There the glitt'ring steel was seen, There the twanging bow was heard; There the mighty press'd the green, Recorded by the faithful Bard. Madoc there, and Meilir brave, Sent many a Saxon to his grave. Their drink was Mead; their hearts were true; And to the head their shafts they drew; But Owen's guards, in terrible array, Resistless march along, and make the world give way.

14.

Pour the sweet transparent Mead, (The spear is red in time of need) And give to each departed spirit The honor and reward of merit. What cares surround the regal state, What anxious thoughts molest the great, None but a prince himself can know, And Heav'n, that ruleth kings, and lays the mighty low.

15.

For Daniel fill the horn so green, Of haughty brow, and angry mien; While the less'ning tapers shine Fill it up with gen'rous wine. He nor quarter takes, nor gives, But by spoils and rapine lives.

[figure]

LLANDEGAI.

Comely is the youth, and brave; But obdurate as the grave. Hadst thou seen, in Maelor fight, How we put the foe to flight! Hadst thou seen the chiefs in arms, When the foe rush'd on in swarms! Round about their prince they stood, And stain'd their swords with hostile blood. Glorious bulwarks! To their praise Their prince devotes his latest lays.— Now, my boy, thy task is o'er; Thou shalt fill the horn no more. Long may the King of kings protect, And crown with bliss, my friends elect; Where Liberty and Truth reside, And Virtue, Truth's immortal bride! There may we all together meet, And former times renew in heav'nly converse sweet!

R. W.

FROM Penrhyn I visited the church of Llandegai, about a mile distant from the house. It is finely situated on a lofty, bank above the Ogwen, and commands a beautiful view. It is a small but neat structure, in form of a cross; with the tower in the center, supported within by four arches. Here is pre∣served an alabaster monument of an armed man, and his lady, recumbent. They probably belonged to the neighboring house; but on the dissolution were removed from the friery of Llanvaes, where the persons represented had been interred. A mural monument, with the figure of archbisshop John Wil∣liams in his episcopal dress, kneeling at an altar, is placed above the remains of that great prelate. He was born at Conwy.

His father Edmund was sixth son of the neighboring family of Cwchwillan, a branch of that of Penrhyn. His mother Mary, daughter of Owen ap John Owen. The archbishop was fifth son. In his childish years, with other play-fellows, he was di∣verting himself with leaping from part of the walls of Conwy down to the shore. The fall was on so critical a part, as ever to secure him from all reproaches of unchastity. I mention this merely to rescue him from the reflections flung on him by that satyrical historian Sir Anthony Weldon†. At school, which was that of Ruthin, he was a compound of alternate truantry and industry. His great abilities were soon taken notice of. He entered on public life as chaplain to lord chancellor Eger∣ton; and preaching before the king, so pleased the royal ear, that in 1610 James made him dean of Salisbury; and on far∣ther discovery of his great abilities, in 1620, dean of West∣minster; and in 1621, lord keeper, in the room of the illustri∣ous Lord Bacon; and in less than a month, nominated him to the see of Lincoln. Now placed above restraint, his character be∣gan to unfold. His spirit grew beyond the controul of mini∣sters; for, with undaunted courage, he persisted in all that was right: and, being subject to the failings of his country, (great passion, pride, and vanity) sometimes in what was wrong. He discharged his office, foreign as it was to his profession, with distinguished credit near five years. Soon after the ac∣cession of Charles I. by the influence of the favorite Buckingham, he was suddenly dismissed: for he always had resisted the un∣reasonable demands of that minion.

IN two parts of his conduct I must consider him as a wife but not as a good man:—His advice to his distressed master, in the case of the earl of Strafford, had too great a share of du∣plicity to be vindicated; perhaps of resentment, for he hated the devoted minister. The spirit of Machiavel arose strong in him, when he spoke of a public and private conscience; and still more strongly when he advised Charles, in case the king could not gain Cromwel by promises of fair treatment, to catch him by some stratagem, and cut him short. He may appear in these instances a great minister, but a bad divine. The infirmity, the inequalities, which may be met in men even of first-rate abilities, may be exemplified in his attempt to defend himself from a frivolous accusation; for he fell into the dis∣graceful crime of subornation of perjury, was censured in the star-chamber, and suffered imprisonment from 1637 to 1640. On his release, irritated against the court, he for a time joined the popular leaders. Let me attribute this (and candor may admit the cause) to the natural violence of his temper; for on all trying occasions he shewed his zeal for the liberty of the subject, and his sincerity to his order. Soon after this, he was, according to an old promise, promoted to the see of York. He was a firm friend to the petition of right, foreseeing that he served both king and people in the support of it. As a friend to the church, he was so successful an advocate, and shewed such eloquence and strength of reasoning, in the debate in May 1641, on taking away the votes of bishops in the house of lords†, as to cause the affair to be dropped for that sessions.

In the latter end of the year, when popular fury ran high, he was attacked in Westminster abbey; and with great courage re∣pelled the violence of the mob. This gave rise to the first satyrical political print I know. The prelate is represented in his episcopal dress, a musket on his shoulder, rest in his hand, helmet on his head, and mitre on the ground. The rage of the common people increased, even so far as to seize him in his way to the house of lords, and to tear his robes from his back. Incensed at this, he returned to Westminster abbey (the deanery of which he had been allowed to hold three years in commendam) and, in a fit of passion, induced eleven bishops to join him in a phrenetic protest against all acts that should be done in the house of lords during their forced absence. This brought an impeachment of high-treason against them, imprisonment of eighteen months, and in the end a release upon bail, in which the archbishop in particular was bound not to go into his diocese during the disturbances in the county of York†. He instantly disobeyed the injunction, followed the king into the city of York, was enthroned there on June 27th 1642; but immediately driven away by the Hothams. He then retired to his native country, where he finished his days on his birth-day, March 25th 1650, aged 68. He died at Gloddaeth, the seat of Sir Roger Mostyn, an eminent loyalist; whose lady warned him of the approach of death, the stroke of which he received with exemplary piety, courage, and resignation‡.

FROM Llandegai I descended, and crossed the wooden bridge over the furious torrent Ogwen, which, a little lower, discharges itself into the sea at Aber-ogwell; and near which is the ruin of the old chapel, Capel Ogwen, and certain entrenchments, defences of this part of the country. I soon quitted the great road to visit Carnedd Llewelyn and Carnedd Dafydd. In my way, near a field called Car Gwilim Ddu, is an artificial cave, in which (tradition says) was interred William de Breos, exe∣cuted, by Llewelyn the Great, on suspicion of too great fami∣liarity with his royal consort. From hence I begin a steep ascent, and leave on the left the vast mountain Moelwynnion, and the strange ferrated rocks Bere Mawr and Bere Bach. The Gern appeared on our right, and Trwsgwl in front. On the right, farther on, projected into the bottom the lofty peaked Moel yr Elain, or the naked hill of the Fawn, seeming like a buttress to Carnedd Llewelyn; and between it and Carnedd Da∣fydd lies the little vale of Cwm Penllafar, fertile in grass. We proceeded on the sloping sides of the Trwsgwl, and near Car∣nedd y, Filiast and Carnedd y Lladron; and passing over Clogwyn y Heliwr, or the rock of the Hunters, and ascending the steep and stoney side of Carnedd Llewelyn, reach the broad and flat summit, and quickly decide its height to be far inferior to that of its rival Y Wyddfa. The view is amazingly great. At some distance are Y Wyddfa, and its neighboring alps. The Glyders, Trevaen, and Carnedd y Filiast, or rock of the Bitch Gre-hound, appear immedi∣ately beneath. The front of the last is an even slope of rock, smooth and uniform; and so slippery, that if the fox, in extreme danger, takes over it in wet weather, it falls down and perishes.

NANT FRANKON is a tremendous glen, or rather chasm, bounded by these and other lofty rocks. In the bottom is a narrow tract of meadowing, watered by the Ogwen, which at the end tumbles out of Llyn Ogwen down the rude front of the Benglog. In one part it is called Sarn yr Afange, or the Beavers Dam, another proof of the former existence of those animals in our country. Over part of this vale impends Yr Oleu Wen, with its front torn into amazing gullies, through which torrents of stones were some time before carried into the Nant, by the single collision of a cloud which burst against it, discharging an ocean of water. The ruins of the hill looked like a stream of lava; which providentially divided above a house, and by that means gave safety to the inhabitants. Among the ruins were stones filled with innumerable small brassy cubic pyritae. I must not omit, that the passage through this dreary bottom was once defended by a fort, about a mile from the Benglog, called Ty'n y Twr, close to a bridge called Pont y Twr; but at present there is not a vestige to be seen.

THE Menai, Anglesey, and the river Conway, afforded a distinct and fine prospect. The high hills east of Nant Conway ap∣peared a mere undulated tract; a proof of our lofty situation. Our near view was very disagreeable, of dreary bottoms or moory hills, and of no waters of any consequence, except Llyn Llyphaint, or the lake of the Frogs, distinguished only by a ri∣diculous tale. About the year 1542, says Dr. Powel, two vast stones, one of which a thousand yoke of oxen could not have moved, in a certain night marched out of the bottom of the lake, up part of the foot of Carnedd Llewelyn, the space of at

lest a bow-shot; from whence they have not stirred to this day. Henry VIII. doubting the truth, sent a person to enquire into it; but was fully satisfied of the fact by the mouth of his messenger.

CARNEDD DAFYDD, the companion summit, is connected to Carnedd Llewelyn by a semilunar isthmus, which, on the side over Cwm Penllafar, is called Ysgollion Duon, or the black lad∣ders; and forms the most horrid precipice that thought can conceive. The height of Carnedd Dafydd equals that of Lle∣welyn. We descended through Cwm Penllafar, which signifies the Vale of Melody; perhaps that of the hounds, when in full cry over the rock of the Hunters. A few peasants, who have sufficient strength of head, sometimes attempt to pass the tre∣mendous isthmus, as the shortest way to Dyffryn Mymbr and Llanrwst. A safer way, through variety of bog and stoney tracts, may be found up the Benglog, and along Nant y Benglog and Bwlch Oleuni, over which is a narrow path into Dyffryn Mumbr.

IN my return from this sublime ride, I called at Coytmor, or more properly Coed Mawr, seated in the midst of lofty trees, every now and then opening so as to admit sight of the exalted mountains and rocks soaring above with misty tops. This had long been the residence of a family of the same name; and of later years, by the marriage of the heiress, the property of the Pughs of Penrhyn in Creuddyn. In the house is a remarkable picture, by Sir Peter Lely, of the diminutive painter Richard Gib∣son, and his fairy wife, hand in hand: neither of them exceeded three feet ten inches in height. He was distinguished for his skill in water-colors; and was excellent in his copies of the portraits of Sir Peter Lely. He had the honor of being draw∣ing-master

to the princess of Orange, and her sister Queen Anne. He died in 1690, aged 75. His little widow survived him till 1709, when she quitted life at the great age of 89. They had the honor of being married in the presence of Charles I. and his queen, and the still greater honor of having their epithalamium composed by Mr. Waller. It is so beautiful that I doubt not but the reader will excuse me for giving it at full length.

Of the MARRIAGE of the DWARFS.

DESIGN, or chance, make others wive; But Nature did this match contrive. Eve might as well hare Adam fled, As she deny'd her little bed To him; for whom Heav'n seem'd to frame And measure out this only dame.

Thrice happy is that humble pair. Beneath the level of all care! Over whose heads those arrows fly Of sad distrust and jealousy: Secured in as high extreme, As if the world held none but them.

To him the fairest nymphs do show Like moving mountains top'd with snow; And every man a POLYPHEME Does to his GALATEA seem: None may presume her faith to prove; He proffers death who proffers love.—

Ah CHLORIS! that kind Nature thus From all the world had sever'd us; Creating for ourselves us two, As love has me for only you!

CONTINUE my ride towards the shore, towards Aber, a small village with a church, in the gift of Lord Bulkeley; seated at the mouth of a deep glen, which runs straight a mile and a half between the mountains, and bounded on one side by a magni∣ficent rock, called Maes y Gaer. One part is hid with trees; on the other they only sprinkle its grey surface. At the ex∣tremity of this glen a mountain presents a concave front, in the center of which a vast cataract precipitates down a double fall. The lowest is of a very great height, and forms partly a broad white sheet, partly a snowy dew, not unlike the Staub∣hauch, or dusty cascade, in Switzerland.

AT the entrance of the glen, close to the village, is a very large artificial mount, flat at top, and near sixty feet in diame∣ter, widening towards the base. It was once the site of a castle belonging to Llewelyn the Great. Some foundations are yet to be seen round the summit, and in digging, traces of buildings have been discovered. In this place was detected the intrigue of William de Breos (son of Reginald, a potent baron in the reign of Henry III.) with the wife of Llewelyn. It seems that William, by chance of war, had before fallen into the hands of our prince, at which time probably the familiarity with the princess commenced; but was not discovered till after he was released on a large ransom. The vindictive Llewelyn, in the following year (1229) inveigled Breos into his power, by an invitation to celebrate the feast of Easter; when, after an elegant banquet, the prince reproached him with his crime,

and caused him to be dragged from his presence, and hung on an adjacent hill. The tradition of the country is, that a Bard of the palace accidentally meeting with the princess (who was ignorant of the fate of her lover) accosted her in the fol∣lowing manner; and on receiving her answer, shewed him to her, hanging on a tree.

Diccyn doccyn, gwraig Lhewelyn, Beth y roit'i am weled Gwilim?

The princess answers,

Cymry, Lloiger, a Lhewelyn Y rown'i gyd, am weled Gwilim.

BARD.

—Tell me, wife of Llewelyn, what would you give for a sight of your William?

PRINCESS.

—Wales, England, and Llewelyn to boot, I would give them all to see my William.

I CONTINUED my journey from Aber along the rich recess, en∣joying a fine view of the entrance into the Menai, with its wooded shores of Anglesey and Priestholm isle, and the great expanse of water between them and Llandudno, or Ormshead: the vast cape rising, like the rock of Gibraltar, high out of the waves. Before me soared the great promontory of PENMAEN MAWR, protruding itself into the sea, and exhibiting a fine contrast to the fertility which it interrupts, by a rude view of grey weather-beaten stone and precipice. I passed by Bryn y Neuodd, a house late the property of Humphrey Roberts, Esq now of his daughter and sole heiress, relict of Robert Wynne, Esq of

Plâsnewydd, near Denbigh. A little farther is the small vil∣lage and church of Llanvair Vechan; from whence is a very short ride to the once tremendous road over this celebrated rock.

IN past times it was justly the terror of the traveller; ex∣tremely narrow, bad, and stoney; and what added to his fears, for a considerable way the danger encreased with his progress, by reason of the precipice gaining additional height. Generally it was without the protection of a wall to secure him in case of a false step; which might in the loftiest place precipitate him some scores of yards, either on sharp rocks or into the sea according to the state of the tide. A vein of a crumbling stratum, in one part so contracted the road as to excite new hor∣rors. The British parlement eased the fears of the travellers by a generous aid; which, by means of the judicious employ∣ment of JOHN SYLVESTER, about the year 1772, effected what was before thought beyond the reach of art to remedy. The road is now widened to a proper breadth, and near the verge of the precipice secured by a strong wall. The descent towards Penmaen Bach, or the Little Penmaen, which before was hardly practicable, is now destroyed; and the road is brought on a level for two or three miles, at a vast height above a return of rich slopes, and the deep bottom of Dwygyfylchig, till we arrive at the rude back of that lesser promontory; when we labor up the steep ascent of Sychnant, with a horrible and almost precipitous mountain on one side, and hills, with tops broken into most singular crags, on the other. From the top of Sych∣nant, the road is continued about two miles on a perpetual descent to the town of Conway.

THE breach occasioned by the crumbling stratum, is now effectually repaired by a series of arches; a work the just ad∣miration of travellers, and a high credit to the ingenious con∣triver. One danger yet remains, which must for ever baffle the art of man: the side of this great rock, above the road, breaks into millions of vast masses, depending often on preca∣rious tenures; which, loosened by the frequent torrents, some∣times (though rarely) descend in stoney streams.

Two or three accidents, which have happened on this road, will remain as miracles. An exciseman fell from the highest part, and escaped unhurt. The reverend Mr. Jones, who, in 1762, was rector of Llanelian, in the isle of Anglesey, fell with his horse, and a midwife behind him, down the steepest part. The sage femme perished, as did the nag. The divine, with great philosophy, unsaddled the steed, and marched off with the trappings, exulting at his preservation.

I HAVE often heard of another accident, attended with such romantic circumstances that I would not venture to mention it, had I not the strongest traditional authority, to this day in the mouth of every one in the parish of Llanvair Vechan, in which this promontory stands. Above a century ago, Siôn Humphries of this parish had made his addresses to Anne Thomas of Creyd∣dyn, on the other side of Conway river. They had made an appointment to meet at a fair in the town of Conway. He in his way fell over Penmaen Mawr: she was overset in the ferry-boat, and was the only person saved out of more than fourscore. They were married, and lived very long together in the parish of Llanvair. She was buried April 11th 1744, aged 116. He survived her five years, and was buried December 10th 1749;

was buried close by her in the parish church-yard, where their graves are familiarly shewn to this day.

I HAVE more than once visited the summit of this noted rock, to view the fortifications described by the editor of Cambden, from some notes of that sensible old baronet Sir John Wynn of Gwedir, and have found his account very just. The ascent is laborious. Soon after leaving the inn, I met with the ruins of St. Seiriol's chapel, or, as it is here called, his Gweli, or bed; and after passing a considerable way amidst small trees and brush-wood, attain the bare and stoney part, or the Braich y Ddinas, (i. e. the arm of the city) which rises in form of another hill out of this promontory. A Mr. Caswel, at the request of Mr. Flamsteed the great astronomer, measured the height, and found it to be from the sands 1545 feet.

AFTER climbing for some space among the loose stones, the front of three, if not four, walls presented themselves very dis∣tinctly one above the other. In most places the facings ap∣peared very perfect; but all of dry work. I measured the height of one wall, which was at the time nine feet; the thickness seven feet and a half. Between these walls, in all parts, were innumerable small buildings, mostly circular, and regularly faced within and without; but not disposed in any certain order. These had been much higher, as is evident from the fall of stones, which lie scattered at their bottoms; and

probably had once the form of towers, as Sir John asserts. Their diameter in general is from twelve to eighteen feet; but some were far less, not exceeding five feet. The walls were in certain places intersected with others equally strong. On the north-west and south-east sides are the plain marks of two roads, of a zig-zag form, with the remains of walls on both sides, which lead to the summit. On the small area of the top had been a group of towers, or cells, like the former; one in the center, and five others surrounding it. Three are still distinct; of the two others are only faint vestiges. Near this had been, I believe, a similar group; but at present reduced to a shape∣less heap of stones. Near one of these groups is a well cut in the live rock, and always filled with water, supplied by the rains, and kept full by the frequent impending vapours.

THIS strong hold of the Britons is exactly of the same kind with those on Carn Madryn, Carn Boduan, and Tre'r Caeri, de∣scribed pp. 194. 206. 207. This was most judiciously founded, to cover the passage into Anglesey, and the remoter part of their country; and must, from its vast strength, have been invincible, except by famine; being inaccessible by natural steepness to∣wards the sea, and on the other parts fortified in the manner described.

THE white beam, or Aria Theophrasti, is frequent on the sides of this rock, and in many similar places in Wales. No use is made of it in our country. The Swiss procure from the berries a good spirit. The wood is very hard, and excellent for

flutes: and the wood, from its great solidity, was esteemed to make the best charcoal.

I DESCENDED from the summit into a hollow between the Penmaen and an adjacent mountain. Got upon my horse, and directed my course on a good sheep-walk towards Conway. In my way observed, above Gwdhw Glâs, in the parish of Dwygy∣vylcheu, a long series of antiquities, some of which are men∣tioned in the account of Penmaen Mawr preserved in Cambden. For a very considerable length of way I saw circles of stones of various diameters, and great Carneddau. The principal circle consists at present of ten upright stones, at unequal dis∣tances from each other; the largest of which is eight feet three inches high: on the ground is another, eleven feet two. The circle is completed by a low bank of loose stones placed be∣tween the greater. The diameter of this circle is eighty feet. Near this are four other circles, far inferior in size. In the cen∣ter of one is a flat stone, the remains of a Cromlech; pro∣bably the rest might have had those memorials before they were removed for the purpose of walling, or the like. About a quarter of a mile from these is a large Carnedd, composed of small stones, and near it another of large stones; and not far from these, a circle composed of small ones. Near the last is a great rude stone standing upright, called Maen y Campiau,

or Stone of the Games; and almost contiguous is a Carnedd, and a small circle of twelve stones. This tract had certainly been much inhabited; for all around are the foundations of small buildings, made of rounded stones, suitable to the rudeness and simplicity of distant ages. Small upright stones, and numbers of small Carnedds, are scattered in various places; and the ves∣tige of a formed road is to be seen pointing from hence towards the Conway.

WHATSOEVER purpose the lesser circles might be designed for, there is great reason to suppose that the greater, especially that near to the Maen y Campiau, were the British circus for the exhibition of antient games; probably the Eisteddfods, or sessions for deciding the merits of rivals in our British Olympics, might have been originally held here, or in similar places. Of British games, we had twenty-four, Pedair CAMP ar hugain, whose names, as preserved by Dr. Davies in his Dictionary, I shall give, with their explanation, as far as in my power. Of these, ten were called GWROLGAMPAU, or manly games; of these, six depended on bodily strength alone, and were styled Tadogion, i. e. Father games, because no instrument whatsoever was necessary to perform them: for they depended on the man, naked as he was born. The Greeks had their Pentathlum. We had one more. I. Strength to raise weights; II. Running; III. Leaping; IV. Swimming; V. Wrestling; VI. Riding. I imagine that the word Marchogaeth extends farther than the common acceptation, and that the game intended was a con∣test between charioteers; for no people were more skilled in the use of chariots in war than the Britons: it is therefore impro∣bable that they would not, in time of peace, exert their art in

mimic combat, or in competitions of speed in the festive field. And these six were undoubtedly original games of this island, and from the earliest of times: of others, some doubt may be made.

THE remaining four manly games were, O Rym-arfau, or what depended on skill in arms. I. Archery; II. Playing with the sword and buckler; III. Playing with the Cleddyf Deuddwrn, or the two-handed sword, the antient weapon of the Britons, as exemplified in a statue of a soldier, found in digging among the ruins of London, after the great fire in 1666; IV. Chwarau Ffon Ddwybig, or playing with the two-end staff; which seems to correspond with the more modern quarter-staff.

AFTER these were the ten Mabolgampau, or JUVENILE games. Among them, three species of the chare: I. Coursing with the gre-hound; II. Fishing; III. Fowling. The remaining seven were of the domestic kind: I. Bairddoniath, or poetical competi∣tions, of which I have before spoken†; II. Playing upon the harp; III. Reading Welsh; IV. Singing a Cywydd with music; V. Singing a Cywydd between four with accents; VI. Drawing of coats of arms; VII. Heraldry. These two seem so conge∣nial, as to be unnecessarily separated.

AFTER these were four Go-gampiau, or Sub-games. I. Chwa∣rau Gwydd-bwyll, a game like that of Draughts, played with men, and probably the game of Fox and Goose, Gwydd signify∣ing a goose, and Gwerin y Wyddbwyll the men of that game.

II. CHWARAU Tawl Bwrdd, is probably Back gammon: words of British origin; bach little, and gammon a battle, the strife of gamesters: and Tawl bwrdd is literally the cast on the table.

III. CHWARAU Ffristeal, or the games of the dice-box; of which we know no more than that dice had a concern in it. And IVthly, Cyweiriaw Felyn, or the tuning of the harp.

AFTER leaving the antiquities of Goddw Glâs, I joined the turnpike road above Sychnant. On the left, was pointed to me a lofty hill, impending over Conway March. On its sum∣mit is Castell Caer Lleion, a British post, surrounded with ditches, and strong ramparts of stones; an additional defence to the country, besides that of Penmaen Mawr. The view of part of Conway, and a large bend of the river, with its rich and wooded banks, are seen from the descent to them to great advantage.

I ENTERED CONWAY at the upper gate. A more ragged town is scarcely to be seen, within; or a more beautiful one, without. The situation is on a steep slope to the verge of the river, here a mile broad at high-water. The form is nearly triangular, surrounded with lofty walls, guarded by twenty-four round towers. The lower face of the triangle borders on the river. A castle of matchless magnificence rises on a lofty rock, at one corner; and from near each end of the town-walls, fronting the Conwy, a curtain terminated with a round tower ran some way into the river, the more effectually to prevent the approach of an enemy from the water. Only one of these curtains exists; the other, with both the towers, have long since perished.

IN front is an extensive quay, from which is a delightful view up and down the river. The opposite side is hilly, varied with

[figure]

CONWAY CASTLE.

[figure]

CONWAY CASTLE.

woods and gentlemen's seats, and the bifurcated hill of Diga∣nwy, a fortress. The ground called Arcadia, laid out by my worthy friend and old school-fellow Owen Holland, Esq and Plâs-tyrion, the house of the reverend Mr. Owen Jones, well merit a visit from the traveller.

THE castle was built by Edward I. in the year 1284; who, I believe, employed the architect who built Caernarvon. All his skill seems to have been exerted here. A more beautiful fortress never arose. Its form is oblong, placed on all parts on the verge of the precipitous rock. One side is bounded by the river; another by a creek full of water at every tide, and most beautifully shaded by hanging woods. The other two sides face the town. Within are two courts; and on the outside project eight vast towers, each with a slender one of amazing elegance issuing from its top, within which had been a wind∣ing stair-case. In one of the great towers is a fine window, in form of an arched recess, or bow, ornamented with pillars. This, in antient times, was an elegant part of architecture, called the oriel, usual in the houses of people of rank; and appears, from a poem of the very age in which this was built, to have been the toilet of the ladies, and probably might have been that of Queen Elinor.

In her ORYALL there she was, Closyd well with royal glas; Fulfullyd it was with ymagery, Every windowe by and by, On each side had ther a gynne Sperde with manie a dyvers pynne.

THE great hall suited the magnificence of the founder. It is of a curved form, conformable to the bend of the outward walls, including one end with a large window, which seems to have been the private chapel. It extended a hundred and thirty feet in length, was thirty-two broad, and of a fine height. The roof once supported by eight noble arches, six of which still remain. A great fire-place at one end, and another on the side, warmed it: and six windows to the country, and three to the court, gave light to this spacious apartment. Beneath were vast vaults, the magazines of all that contributed to the con∣vivial mirth above.

THERE were two entrances into this fortress, both contrived for security. The one from the Conwy, up a steep rock, once a winding narrow stairs, ending in a small advanced work before one of the gates of the castle, and protected by small round towers. At the other extremity is a similar work, from which had been a draw-bridge, occasionally dropped into the town, over a great foss. This entrance is expressed in the vignette, p. 1. of this volume.

THE town contains but few inhabitants, a considerable space being vacant of buildings. It has four entrances: the upper gate; the lower, or that next to the water; a portal between that and the castle; and another to the creek, called Porth y Felin, or the gate to the mill.

EDWARD I. made Conwy a free borough, and ordered that the mayor, who was the constable of the castle for the time being, should preserve its privileges. William Sikun was appointed first to that honor. At present it is governed by one alderman, a recorder, coroner, water-bailiff, and two serjeants at mace,

[figure]

HALL in CONWAY CASTLE.

chosen annually. The privileges extended from Caernarvon to the river Clwyd; for none could be convicted of any crime, within that district, but by a jury collected within that tract. Such was the case with all the other English garrisons in North Wales.

THE ferry is at present the property of the owner of Marle. An order was issued by Edward II. for either the repairing the boat, or building a new one: for the use of which the inhabi∣tants were to pay eight marks. At low-water the river is not fifty yards broad, nor above eight feet deep. The spring-tides rise twelve feet; but the aproach to this port is unsafe, by reason of the sand-banks.

THERE are some remains of the Cistercian abbey, founded in 1185 by Llewelyn ap Jorwerth, prince of North Wales, in honor of the Blessed Virgin and All Saints†. A long vaulted room of good masonry, worked with clay, but plaistered with lime; and a Saxon door, are still to be seen. He endowed it with lands, to a vast extent, in Caernarvonshire and in Anglesey‡, and with privileges of great value: among the lands are men∣tioned Caput Wedva Vawr, and Caput Grybcoch, and Morva Din∣llin. It was exempted not only from the maintenance of all men, horses, dogs, and hawks, and even of those of the prince. No one was to interfere in the elections, or affairs of the house. They were to enjoy all benefits of wrecks on the shores of their

property, in the same manner as the prince did on his; but no advantage was to be taken of similar misfortunes to the religious men, but all their goods, so wrecked, were to be restored. They and their servants were to be exempt, in all parts, from tolls, pontage, and the like; and their free passage over the Menai, Conwy, Barmouth (Abermaw) and Dyni (perhaps Dyfi) is parti∣cularly provided for. Numbers of other privileges are men∣tioned, the charter of which is dated from Aberconwy, and wit∣nessed by Yorwerth Gam, Gwin ap Ednewein Ydon, the prince's chaplain, and by Madog ap Cador. This shews that Conwy was a place of some note before the English conquest. It pro∣bably had some sort of fortress before the existence of the pre∣sent, its antient name being Caer Gyffin, Gyffin being that of the stream that flows into the creek beneath the castle‡. Camb∣den, in vol. ii. p. 803, tells us that Hugh Lupus had fortified the place, I suppose on his march into Anglesey in 1098.

EDWARD I. did not chuse to trust within his new walls re∣ligious of the principality, but immediately removed them to his new foundation at Maynan‡, a few miles higher up the river. He acted with tenderness towards the monks, and left them all their lands and privileges, and preserved to them the presenta∣tion of their conventual church at Conway, now made parochial, provided they found two able and worthy Englishmen as chap∣lains, and a third, a Welshman, for the benefit of those who did not understand English. One of the English was to be perpetual

vicar, to be named by the convent on every vacancy, and pre∣sented by the diocesan.

AMONG the illustrious persons buried in the church, was Cynan ap Owen Gwynedd, who was interred in the year 1200, in a monk's cowl; because, says Powel,

it was then made to beleeve by the moonks and friers, that that strange weed was a sure defense betwixt their soules and hell, howsoever they died†.

Its great founder was also buried here; but on the dissolution his coffin was removed to Llanrwst, and is still to be seen.

A VERY rude figure, cut on stone, preserves the memory of Mary, mother to Archbishop Williams, who died of child-birth of twins, October 10th 1585; and a singular epitaph on a Mr. Hookes, proves the remarkable secundity of the family. Here lyeth the body of NICHOLAS HOOKES of CONWAY, Gent. who was the 41st child of his father WILLIAM HOOKES, Esq by ALICE his wife, and the father of twenty-seven children; who died the 20th day of MARCH 1637.

IN the street not far from the abbey, is a very old house, with a singular window, with several coats of arms sculptured be∣neath; some relative to the Stanlies. This house is called the College. As it is said that Edward I. took this abbey into his hands, he possibly might establish here a place for the in∣struction of youth.

THE Plas Mawr is a vast house built by Robert Wynn, Esq of the house of Gwedir. Over the gateway is inscribed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Sustine abstine; and on the house, the pious

letters I. H. S. X. P. S. and the date 1585. Within is a great quantity of rude stucco, with various arms of the founder's allies or patrons. Scattered over the walls and ceilings are swans, owls, cranes, ostriches, and bears and ragged staves; the last, the badges of Robert Dudley earl of Leicester; a piece of flattery paid to him by the founder of the house.

FEW of the remarkable events which have befel this place, are preserved in history. When Henry III. made his calami∣tous encampment under Diganwy, opposite to this town, he dispatched three hundred renegado Welshmen of the borders, with some other troops, to rescue a ship of provision which had been stranded on this side. They succeeded; but, instigated by avarice, sacrilegiously plundered the abbey, and burnt seve∣ral houses belonging to it. The loyal Welsh grew desperate, attacked the banditti loaden with spoils, slew numbers, and hung or beheaded every prisoner whom they took.

RICHARD II. before his return from Ireland, directed that the rendezvous of his forces, destined to oppose the usurping Bo∣lingbroke, should be here. Forty thousand loyalists, out of Che∣shire and Wales, had assembled under the banners of the earl of Salisbury. Wearied by the delays of their ill-fated prince, numbers disbanded themselves: yet sufficient remained ani∣mated against the usurper, and determined to follow their king through all his fortunes. Richard, seized with a panic, stole from Conwy in the night‡, was betrayed by the earl of North∣umberland, and soon after perished in the hands of his enemy‡.

[figure]

THE town was almost depopulated by the plague, in 1607, and numbers of people were buried in the streets. It was ob∣served to break out here within three weeks of the time it ap∣peared in London, probably brought here by some sugitives.

IN mention of the transactions in this place during the civil wars, the last active scene of the life of Archbishop Williams must be related, especially as it was a part for which he under∣went the greatest, but perhaps unjust, calumny. As soon as he retired into Wales in 1642, he was resorted to by all the loyalists, being the person on whose prudence and spirit they could fully rely. He had received in charge from his majesty all North Wales, and in particular the castle of Conway. He began with fortifying his house at Penrhyn; and was at consi∣derable expence in strengthening this fortress. In the peril∣ous state of those times, multitudes of the country gentlemen requested the archbishop to receive into the castle their writ∣ings, plate, and most valuable moveables. He undertook the charge, and gave to every owner a receipt, by which he made himself liable to the loss; and put his nephew, William Hookes, in possession of the place, in January 1603-4†. His Grace, from that time, was the protector of the country, not only from the violence of the enemy, but from the oppression of his own party. In May 1645, Prince Rupert unfortunately superseded the pre∣late in his command, and caused Sir John Owen to take posses∣sion of the castle. This he did with most blameable violence, and with a constant evasion of giving the archbishop any se∣curity of the valuables he had in charge‡.

AFFAIRS were in this state till June 1646; when Williams, foreseeing ruin to himself, irritated by injuries from those who had embarked in the same cause with himself, and in the criti∣cal time (when the king's affairs were desperate) invited by General Mytton to put himself on the favor of parlement, ac∣cepted his offer, and assisted him in the reduction of the place.

MYTTON, by the advice of the archbishop, took the town by storm on August 15th: the latter assisted personally, and was wounded in the neck†. With the severity usual at that time towards the Irish, Mytton seized on all that were found, and caused them to be tied back to back, and flung into the river‡. The castle surrendered on the 10th of November; and Mytton, who is repre∣sented as a generous character, more haughty than covetous‖, restored to every individual the property intrusted to Williams. For these services the parlement granted him a general pardon, and a release from all his sequestrations.

THE beauty and grandeur of this fortress seemed to have induced the governing powers to forbear offering any violence to its walls: that impiety was reserved for loyal hands. A grant had been made of it by the king to Edward Conway, earl of Conway. In 1665, the earl employed his servant, Milward, to take down the iron, timber, and lead, and to transport it to Ireland, under pretence of its being for his majesty's service§. Thomas Bulkely, Esq Colonel Wynn, and several of the princi∣pal gentlemen of the country, opposed the design; but their

remonstrance was over-ruled, and this noble pile reduced to nearly its present condition. At present it is held from the crown by Owen Holland, Esq

SEVERAL years ago, the folly of some of the inhabitants, by getting stones from the rock beneath one of the great towers, brought down a vast segment. The ruins are the most awful I ever beheld; lying in stupendous fragments on the shore, some so unbroken as to preserve both the grand external rotundity and inward concavity: a hardened cement of stone and mortar eleven feet thick. The prospect of the upper part of the tower remains entire, suspended at a vast height above our heads, ex∣hibiting in the breach such a strength of walling as might have given to the architect the most reasonable hope that his work would have endured to the end of time. When I image to myself the gay appearance of this fortress, filled by the fes∣tive court of Edward, his beloved Elinor, and all the train of gallant nobility, who passed a Christmas here, exulting at the conquest of my hardy countrymen; and when I survey its pre∣sent ruins, my mind naturally falls into melancholy reflections, suitable to the scene around me. Let me only change the rock on Towy's flood for that of Conwy, and a favorite poet will express the ideas that must arise in the mind, of its past and present state.

Deep at its feet, in Conwy's flood, His sides are cloath'd with waving wood; And antient towers crown his brow, That cast an awful look below. Whose ragged walls the Ivy creeps, And with her arms from falling keeps: So both a safety from the wind On mutual dependence find.

'Tis now the Raven's blank abode: 'Tis now th' apartment of the Toad: And there the Fox securely feeds, And there the poisonous Adder breeds, Conceal'd in ruins, moss, and weeds. While ever and anon there falls Huge heaps of hoary moulder'd walls. Yet time has seen, that lifts the low, And level lays the lofty brow, Has seen this broken pile compleat, Big with the vanity of state; But transient is the smile of Fate! A little rule, a little sway, A sun-beam in a winter's day, Is all the proud and mighty have, Betwixt the cradle and the grave.

DYER'S Grongar Hill.

FROM Conway I took the road towards Caer Hên, the Conovium of the Romans. In my way passed near Kymryd, a place noted for a bloody battle in 880, between Anarawd prince of Wales, and the Saxons under Edred duke of Mercia. The Britons were victorious, and drove the invaders back into their own country. Anarawd styled the battle Dîal Rodri, or the Revenge of Roderic; for his father Roderic the Great had the year before been slain by the Saxons.

PASSED by the ferry of Tal y Cafn. At a small distance from it is a large artificial mount, called Bryn y Castell; probably the site of a watch-tower belonging to Conovium, and judici∣ously placed in a very contracted part of the vale, to observe the approach of an enemy from this side.

CAER HĒN, the old Conovium, lay in a low spot near the river. There are still to be seen remains of Roman bricks, and a sunk building divided into two parts, probably the remains of the hypocaust from which the hollow brick, or funnel, preserved at Gloddaeth, was taken. On one of the common bricks was inscribed LEG. X.—the Legio Antonianus—which served in these parts under Ostorius. Here also was found the cake of copper mentioned in the 63d page of my first volume. Near the church are some remains of walls, which are all that are left of this once noted place. The Itinerary places it twenty-four miles from Segontium, and nineteen from Varis.

I PROCEEDED a little farther, and turned up a very steep road, by the church of Llanbedr, to the summit of a very lofty hill, called Pen Caer Helen, to try to discover more of Helen's noted road; but my search was fruitless. Yet my pains were reward∣ed by the sight of a British post of great strength, and in some parts singularly guarded. It had the usual fosses, and vast ram∣parts of stones, with some remains of the facing of walls, and the foundations of three or four round buildings: but what struck me much, were two considerable spaces of ground thickly set with sharp-pointed stones, set upright in the earth, as if they had been to serve the use of chevaux du frize, to impede the approach of an enemy. From this hill is one way a wild and barren pro∣spect of Carnedd Llewelyn, and a long tract of rude hills and stoney bottoms; and on another, the whole extent of the fertile Nant Conwy. Descended: returned the same road, and passed the river in the good ferry at Tal y Cafn.

FROM hence I continued my journey through the wooded parish of Llansaintfraid, beautifully sloping to the water's edge. The rout I took was towards Llandudno, the grand boundary of the entrance of the Conwy. From the road, in many parts, are most august views of the vast: expanse of the river, and the majestic towers of Conwy. Similar views, and old fortified towns, I have seen frequent on the Rhine, but in magnificence far inferior to these, our British glory. After a ride of about three miles, descend to a flat. Pass by Marle, a house of fine appearance, but now little more than a case, having suffered by fire about forty years ago. It is picturesquely seated under a lofty rock, almost covered with wood; and op∣posite to the town of Conwy. It had been originally the pro∣perty of the Hollands. It fell afterwards to Sir Hugh Williams, second son of Sir Gryffydd Williams of Penrhyn; and on the death of his grandson, Sir Robert, devolved to Sir Thomas Pren∣dergast of the kingdom, in right of his lady, Anne, sister to Sir Robert.

HIGH above Marle, is Bodscallan, the property of Sir Roger Mostyn, in right of his wife Margaret, daughter of the reverend Hugh Wynne. I find Richard Mostyn, second son of Thomas ap Richard ap Howel, in possession of it; and that he had one daughter, Margaret, married to Gryffydd Wynne, second son of John Wynne ap Mereddydd of Gwedir, and who had his settlement at Berth Du near Llanrwst. It is a fine situation, environed with woods. From a neglected terrace is a most beautiful view, over the tops of trees, of Conwy, part of the river, and the vast mountains the back ground of the pro∣spect.

It is a place of great antiquity, being mentioned in the record of Caernarvon; but was inhabited in far earlier times, as appears by the ruins of a small castlet, now hid in woods, on the top of a small hill near the present house. Bodscallan signifies the dwelling-place of Scallan; in all probability a word corrupted from Caswallon, the owner in some distant period. It was one of those townships called Tre' Welyog, not entirely free. The tenants were originally possessors of hereditary estates, which were divided and subdivided among their posterity to the fourth descent, after which they became possessed by branches independent of each other; every one of whom paid for their own land. This possibly might have been one of the three Gwelis, or estates of children from a common stock, originally belonging to Gloddaeth‡. In the present house is a good portrait of old Sir John Wynne of Gwedir. A small head, on board, of Robert Wynn, founder of the Plas Mawr in Conwy. He is painted in black, with a book in his hand, and with short grey hair and beard. But the most remarkable is that of Dr. Ellis Pryse, of Plas Yollin in Denbighshire, dated 1605; a creature of the earl of Leicester's, and devoted to all his bad designs. Pryse's dress is a white jacket, with a broad turnover; his hair yellow, and his beard thin, and of the same color; his visage very long, lank, and hypocritical. He was the greatest of our knaves in the period in which he lived; the most dreaded oppressor in his neighborhood; and a true syco∣phant; for a common address of his letters to his patron was, O LORD, in thee do I put my trust!

FROM hence is a small walk to GLODDAETH, a seat of Sir Roger Mostyn's, placed on the slope of a very extensive hill, or lime-stone rock, cloathed with successful plantations by Sir Roger, grandfather of the present possessor. Part of the plain below the house was planted, by the same gentleman, with fo∣rest-trees; and laid out, according to the taste of his time, in straight walks, intersecting each other, or radiating from a center, distinguished by a statue. The upper walks, having fortu∣nately a steep and stubborn rock for their basis, checked the modish propensity to rectitude; so there was a necessity to de∣viate from it; but in no greater degree than the flexure of a zigzag would admit. Notwithstanding some blemishes, cor∣rigible at an easy rate, these walks may be considered among those of the first rate of this island, for such beauties of view which nature can bestow; and, from those spots favored by the sight of Conwy, I may add the majestic ones of antient art. Every flight of path presents new and grand objects: at first, of the great windings of the river towards Llanrwst, the lofty towers of Conwy, and the venerable walls of the town; and be∣yond, a long extent of alps, with Moel Siabod, the Drûm, and Carnead Llewelyn and Dafydd, appearing with distinguished height. From a little higher ascent is opened to us the dis∣charge of the Conwy into the sea, sublimely bounded by the lesser Penmaen, and the immense Orm's Head, or Llandudno; between which appear, a fine bay, the vast promotory of Penmaen Mawr, the isle of Priestholm, and the long extent of Anglesey. After gaining the summit, beneath is seen a considerable flat, with the estuary of the river Conwy falling into the Irish sea on one side, and the beautiful half-moon bay of Llandudno on

the other: one of whose horns is the great head of the same name; the other, the lofty rock Rhiwleden, or the little Orm's Head. A little farther progress brings us in sight of a great bay, sweeping semicircularly the shores; and beyond are the distant hills of Flintshire, and the entrances into the estuaries of the Mersey and Dce, frequently animated with shipping.

BESIDES the adventitious trees and shrubs, these walks afford great amusement to the botanists, by their variety of rare plants, all within a very small compass. Among them, that able bo∣tanist, my fellow voyager through the Hebrides, the reverend Mr. Lightfoot, enumerated the Veronica Spicala, or spiked speedwell, Fl. Angl. i. 3; Geranium Sanguineum, or bloody cranesbill, Fl. Angl. i. 305. Fl. Scot. i. 372; Cystus Marifolius, Sp. Pl. i. 741; Cystus; Hirsutus, Fl. Angl. 432, or hoary thyme∣leaved Cystus; Silene Nutans, or Nottingham catchfly, Fl. Angl. i. 188; Rubia Tinctorium, or wild madder, Sp. Pl. i. 158; Scilla Verna, or vernal hyacinth, Fl. Angl. 142; Potentilla Ver∣na, or vernal cinquesoil, Fl. Scot. 270. Fl. Angl. i. 224; Tha∣lictrum Minus, or lesser meadow rue, Fl. Scot. i. 285. Fl. Angl. i. 238; Arenaria Verna, or vernal mountain chickweed, Fl. Angl. i. 191. Fl. Scot. i. 231; Scrophularia Vernalis, or yellow figwort, Fl. Scot. i. 330. Fl. Angl. i. 275. And near the gate, in the lane leading to Conwy, the Polypodium vulgare var. Cam∣briciem, or Welsh or jagged polypody, Fl. Angl. ii. 455. Fl. Scot. ii. 668.

GREAT part of the present house was built by Thomas Mostyn, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. On the dais of the great hall

are painted the arms of that princess, those of the house, and of the profligate earl of Leicester; the last, a proof of the general flattery paid to his power.

HERE is, in a poor room, an excellent collection of books and manuscripts: among the last is a most beautiful copy of the first and second books of Froissart, a manuscript on vellum, with most elegant illuminations. The frontispiece represents the author on his knees, in a blue mantle, presenting his book to Ed∣ward III. A king of France, distinguished by the fleurs de lis on his robes, holds a queen by the hand, who, from the arms of England, the lions on her robe, seems to be Queen Philippa, to whom Froissart was clerk of the closet. She holds by the hand a little boy, whose robe is also marked with the lions. This must have been Richard of Bourdeaux, her grandson, after∣wards Richard II. A lady, and several other figures, appear in the piece. This book was given by Lord Buckburst to Sir William Cecil, and by him to his cotemporary of the house of Mostyn.

GLODDAETH came into possession of the family of Sir Roger Mostyn by the marriage of his ancestor Howel ap Evan Vychan, in 1460, with Margaret, daughter and heir of Gryffydd ap Rhys ap Gryffydd ap Madoc Gloddaeth ap Madoc ap Jerwerth Goch of Cryddyn, the hundred in which the house lies. The tenure of this place was perfectly free, and the tenant owed only suit and service to the county and hundred courts; and when they went to attend the prince in war, they went at his expence.

EGGLWYS RHOS, the parish church, is in a flat, at a small distance from Gloddaeth, near a precipitous rock, cloathed with wood, called Bryn Maelgwyn. Painted in the east window is

the figure of a man kneeling, dressed in a herald's mantle, with the arms of Englefield. From the maimed inscription I collect that he must have been Howel ap Tudor of Mostyn, and that he had bestowed this window on the church.

BUT this church is celebrated for the death of the prince of Maelgwyn Gwynedd, who had taken shelter here to avoid the Vâd felen, or yellow pestilence, which at that time raged through Europe. The Britons, like the Romans, personified disease. In this instance, it was to assume either the form of a Basilisc, or the powers of one, under the form of a fair woman, who slew Mael∣gwyn with a glance, as he incautiously looked out of the window; according to the prophecy, Pan ddelo y'r pry rhyfedd i forfa Rhi∣anedd, os gwel MAELGWN GWYNEDD FEFYD farw.

Whenever a strange creature arrives on the marsh of Rhianedd, if Mael∣gwn Gwynedd looks at it, he will die.

THE small remains of Diganwy, or, as it is called by the English, Gannoc, are on two small hills, near the shore of the Con∣wy, at small distance from Egglwys Rhos. The walls crossed the space between the hills, and ran up their sides; on the summit of one is a vestige of a round tower, and here and there a few foundations of walls on the accessible parts. Dr. Powel, from the authority of the Welsh historians†, says, there had been a city here, which, in 810, was destroyed by lightning; and Cambden adds, that he believed it to have been the antient Dictum, from its having been the station of a party of Nervii Dictenses, under the later emperors. I cannot discover the founder of the fortress, on whose ruins I contemplate. Possibly it might have been Robert of Rudland. We are told this country was parcel of the possessions of the earls of Chester; and that

Robert was in it when he came to his fate. On July the 3d, 1088, our brave prince Gryffydd ap Cynan, with three ships, entered the Conwy; and landing under the castle at high-water, left the ships on shore at the recess of the tide. He ravaged the neighboring country, and drove towards his vessels a great booty of men and cattle. Robert, indignant at this, descended from his fortress, attended by a single soldier, Osbern de Orgar, and with∣out any defensive armour except his shield. The Welsh at∣tacked him with missile weapons, and, filling his shield so full of darts that it fell under their weight, the enemy rushed on him, cut off his head, and, fastening it to the mast, failed off in savage triumph. Llewelyn the Great destroyed this castle; but it was rebuilt, in 1210, by Randle Blondevil, earl of Chester†. King John lay for some time encamped under its walls, in the year 1211, and was reduced to great streights by the policy of Llewelyn: he came between him and England, and cut off his resources‡. Henry III. fared even worse on the same spot, in 1245, at which time John de Grey of Wilton was constable. One of his courtiers most pathetically describes their miseries‖. At length Diganwy was, in 1260, totally dismantled by our last prince Llewelyn ap Gryffydd.

NOT far from hence, on the top of a low hill near Bryniau, is an antient tower. Its form is circular; its height about twenty feet, the diameter twelve. Its walls compose only two thirds of a circle, the rest is open to the top; and the finishing of the walls complete, without any appearance of there ever having been a door; and this opening is to the land. Within are the marks of two floors. Round the inside are three rows of

square holes, none of which pass through the building. Its walls are of great thickness, and the mortar appears very antient. I can make no conjecture about the use; but describe it in or∣der to exercise the talents of others.

CONTINUED my ride along the shore by the flat isthmus which connects the high land of Gloddaeth with the great pro∣montory Llandudno. Ride along part of the last, on a narrow road above the sea, having on the right steep hills and preci∣pices. Reach Gogarth, a long but narrow tract of great fer∣tility. It had been an appendage to the abbey of Conway, of which there remains part of a very strong building.

I ASCENDED on a very long and steep path to the top of Llandudno, a beautiful sheepwalk, consisting of a fine turf, ex∣cept where the rock appears, extending near four miles in length, and one in breadth. It lies in the manor of Gogarth, belonging to the see of Bangor. The western extremity is a vast precipice, the haunt of various sea-fowls in the season of breeding. The Gulls possess the lowest part; above them the Razor-bills and Guillemots have their quarters; over them croak the Corvorants; and Herons occupy the highest regions; and scattered in different parts are a few Puffins, and black Guillemots. The Peregrine Falcon builds in these rocks. The kind was in the days of falconry so excellent, that the great mini∣ster Burleigh sent a letter of thanks to an ancestor of Sir Roger Mostyn, for a present of a cast of Hawks from this place.

FALCONRY was in high esteem among the Welsh. Our prince had his chief falconer, who held the fourth rank among the offi∣cers of his court. He held his lands free; had a double portion of provender for his horse: the prince supplied him with woollen

cloaths, the princess with linen. He brought his cup with him into the hall; but was not allowed to drink more than would quench his thirst, least he should get fuddled, and neglect his Hawks. He was allowed the hearts and lungs of all the animals in the royal kitchen, and sometimes a barren ewe to feed his birds. Whenever his Hawks killed any of the three most noble species of game, the Heron, the Bittern, or the Crane, he received from the prince three services; that of holding his stirrup when he descended from his horse, of holding his horse while he was taking the Hawks from the game, and of holding his stirrup again when he mounted his horse: and at night the prince honored him with serving him thrice at table with his own hands. In case the falconer took any of the royal birds in the prince's absence, he was to bring it into the hall, and shew it to him: on that the prince was to arise, or if he did not, he was to bestow on him the robe which he then wore. During the time that the Hawks were in their mew, the falconer was not bound to answer any suit. If he killed his horfe in the exercise of his office, the prince was to find him another. The fine for an injury to the chief falconer was vi cows, and cxxvi pence. His slaughter was not to be atoned for less than cxxvi cows. Let me conclude with saying, that there was a peculiar tax for the support of this office, called Cylch Hebog Yddjon†, which fell on the vassals; for the prince contributed little or nothing to the expence of his amusements.

THE northern side of this promontory is broken into pre∣cipices of various heights; and the base of both these sides is

washed by a very deep water. It is well worth the labor of ascending to the highest point, to view the extensive and va∣rious prospects.

ON the same side are the remains of several rude walls without mortar, called Llety Vadog, or the house of Madoc, a supposed ancestor of Gloddaeth: and not far from it is a strait narrow path, with stones on each side, probably the remains of two walls; a watch-place for Deer, as the name Wylfa yr Ceirw signifies.

ON a great eminence, called Dinas, is a large enclosure. The edge of the hill is surrounded with a rude wall; and within are multitudes of small circular hollows, about twelve feet in diameter, environed with walls; such as are found on Tre'r Caeri, and similar places, the rough habitations of our distant ancestors. Near this place is a Maen Sigl, rocking-stone, a great one, whose point of contact with the ground is so small as to make it moveable with the left touch. The country people call it Crŷd Tudno, St. Tudno's Cradle. This is sur∣rounded with a foss, and has a formed road to it. It is the conjecture of the learned, that the Druids made these stones an instrument of imposition on their votaries; and in case of any judicial determinations, pretended that none but their holy hands could move them: and probably they were surrounded with a foss, and had their prescribed road to keep off the vul∣gar, and give greater solemnity to the miraculous decision. The ingenious Bernier relates a superstition not very foreign from this. At Sendbrary, in the kingdom of Cachemire, the Bramins, the Druids of India, shewed him a stone which the strongest man could not lift, yet eleven of those holy men,

with the tip of their finger, could effect it, on praying to their saint.

FROM hence I passed by the church, on the bleakest of situa∣tions, above the sea, and remote from all dwellings. It is de∣dicated to St. Tudno of Maes Gwyddno, the country now over∣flown by the sea, between Meirionyddshire and Llein. In de∣scending from this promontory I passed by several copper works, which at times are worked to advantage. The ride from hence along the side of Llandudno bay is extremely plea∣sant. I ascended to Gloddaeth, near the foot of Rhewledin, a vast rock, which swarms in the season with Razor-bills and Puffins; and with Rock Pigeons, abundance of which regularly breed here, in preference to the dove-houses, which they con∣stantly quit at their laying-time.

I DESCENDED from Gloddaeth to the sea side, about two miles distant. Saw, close to the shore, the singular little building called St. Trillo's Chapel. It is oblong; has a window on each side, and at the end; a small door; and a vaulted roof, paved with round stones, instead of being slated. Within was a well. The whole building is surrounded with a stone wall.

ON a hill, about half a mile distant from this chapel, is the church of Llandrillo, dedicated to the same saint. Near it is a large ruined house, called Bryn Euryn; formerly called Llŷs Maelgwyn Gwynedd, who had a palace on this spot. About the twelfth century it was inhabited by the great Ednyfed Vychan; and some time in the last was possessed by a family of the name of Conwy, of Welsh descent, derived from Gryffydd Goch, lord of Rhos and Rhyfoniod.

KEEP along the shore, and pass by Rhos Vynach, or the Marsh of the Monks, having been the property of Conwy abbey. The church still keeps share in a considerable wear, which runs from this point; the bishop, and the vicar of Llandrillo, having the fish of every tenth tide between them. At times they have a good chance of a profitable capture; for in two successive tides forty pounds worth of mackrel have been taken.

FROM Rhos Vynach the land recedes inwards, and forms a pretty bay. The country slopes to the water edge, and is va∣ried with woods and cultivation. Penmaen Rhos, a great lime∣stone rock juts into the sea at the end of the bay. In my me∣mory the traveller went along a narrow path cut on its front, like the road on Penmaen Mawr, but infinitely more terrible and dangerous: a fine coach-road has of late years been formed far behind this precipice. From thence I descended to Llan∣ddulas, a small village and church. In one of the deep bottoms of this neighborhood was betrayed the unfortunate prince Ri∣chard II. who had been deceived by the earl of Northumber∣land to go along with him from Conwy to meet Bolingbroke, to settle amicably the quarrel between them. Hereabouts he suddenly found himself surrounded by a large band of armed men, placed there by the treacherous earl, who seizing on Ri∣chard, delivered him captive to the usurper in Flint castle.

A LITTLE farther on the right hand, high above the road, is Cefn Ogo, a lofty precipice; white, unless where darkened by the ivy which spreads along the front. In the middle is the

most magnificent entrance into a cave which Britain can boast. It seems like the portal of a noble cathedral, arched, and di∣vided within by what has the appearance of a great column.

FROM near this place begins the rich arable flat, which ex∣tends over Rudland Marsh, and beyond Prestatyn in Flintshire. The small town of Abergeleu lies near the sea, about a mile from Cefn Ogo. It lies near the clayey cliffs which impend over the sea. Tradition says, that in old times that element had over∣whelmed a vast tract of inhabited country once extending northward; a dateless, nameless, epitaph on the church-yard wall is called in as evidence. Yma mae'n gorwedd yn monwent mihangel, gwr oeddai annedd dair miltor yn y gogledd.

In this church-yard lies a man who lived three miles to the north of it.

But, as better proof, I have observed, at low-water, far from the clayey banks, a long tract of hard loam, filled with the bodies of oak trees, tolerably entire; but so soft as to be cut with a knife as easily as wax.

OF this parish was Marchud ap Cynan, cotemporary with Roderic the Great, and one of the tribes of North Wales whose posterity gave princes to the British empire. His seat was Brynffanigl, where likewise his descendant, the great Ednyfed Vychan, sometimes resided.

ABERGELEU is bounded to the right by high limestone hills, at times productive of lead ore. On one of them, projecting from the rest, called Coppa yr Wylfa, or the mount of the watch∣tower, is a very strong British post. The front is a great pre∣cipice; out of whose interstices grows the Aria Theophrasti; and across the accessible part are defences of stone and earth. In a glen beneath is a ditch, called Ffôs y Bleiddiaid, or the ditch

of the Wolves; possibly from the frequency of those animals in these parts. Mr. Llwyd, in his Itinerary, speaks of a mount near Abergeleu divided in two, on which formerly stood a castle, called Pen y Pīl, possibly a residence of the antient lords.

FROM Abergeleu I ascended to the neighboring parish of Cegidoc, or, as the English call it, St. George. It was formerly annexed to St. Asaph, and the parishioners were obliged to re∣pair the street wall of the church-yard.

HIGH above this place, on the top of a hill called Pen y Parc, is a very strong post, said to have been occupied by Owen Gwynedd after his fine retreat before Henry II; whom he kept here at bay, and politically secured his dominions from further invasion: for it was on this spot, not among the Snowdon hills, as Lord Lyttelton supposes, that our gallant prince made a most effectual stand, and stopped all further pro∣gress of the invader. On the accessible sides are double and treble ditches and ramparts, the others are sufficiently guarded by precipices. The area is near three quarters of a mile round, and, near the edge of the steep part, facing Rudland, is smoothed into the form of a terrace.

ST. GEORGE had in this parish his Holy Well, at which the British Mars had his offering of horses; for the rich were wont to offer one, to secure his blessing on all the rest. He was the tutelar saint of those animals; all that were distempered were brought, sprinkled with the water, and this blessing bestowed: Rhad DUW a Sant SIOR arnat.

The blessing of GOD and St. George be on thee.

THE well of St. Aelian, a parish not far from Llandrillo in Caernarvonshire, has been in great repute for the cures of all diseases, by means of the intercession of the saint; who was first invoked by earnest prayers in the neighboring church. He was also applied to on less worthy occasions, and made the in∣strument of discovering thieves, and of recovering stolen goods. Some repair to him to imprecate their neighbors, and to request the saint to afflict with sudden death, or with some great mis∣fortune, any persons who may have offended them. The be∣lief in this is still strong; for three years have not elapsed since I was threatened by a fellow (who imagined I had in∣jured him) with the vengeance of St. Aelian, and a journey to his well to curse me with effect.

I SHALL here bring into one point of view the several religi∣ous customs used among us in former times; which have been gradually dropped, in proportion as the age grew enlightened. Several were local, several extended through the whole country: perhaps some, which were expressive of their hatred of vice, or which had a charitable end, might as well have been retained, notwithstanding the smack of folly that was often to be per∣ceived in them.

IN church, at the name of the Devil, an universal spitting seized the congregation, as if in contempt of that evil spirit; and whenever Judas was mentioned, they expressed their ab∣horrence of him by smiting their breasts.

IF there be a Fynnon Vair, the well of our Lady, or any other saint, the water for baptism was always brought from thence; and after the ceremony was over, old women were very fond of washing their eyes in the water of the font.

PREVIOUS to a funeral, it was customary, when the corpse was brought out of the house and laid upon the bier, for the next of kin, be it widow, mother, sister, or daughter (for it must be a female) to give, over the coffin, a quantity of white loaves, in a great dish, and sometimes a cheese, with a piece of money stuck in it, to certain poor persons. After that they present, in the same manner, a cup of drink, and require the person to drink a little of it immediately. When that is done, all pre∣sent kneel down; and the minister, if present, says the Lord's Prayer: after which, they proceed with the corpse; and at every cross-way, between the house and the church, they lay down the bier, kneel, and again repeat the Lord's Prayer; and do the same when they first enter the church-yard. It is also cus∣tomary, in many places, to sing psalms on the way; by which the stillness of rural life is often broken into, in a manner finely productive of religious reflections.

To this hour, the bier is carried by the next of kin; a custom considered as the highest respect that filial piety can pay to the deceased. This was a usage frequent among the Romans of high rank; and it was thought a great continuance of the good fortune which had attended Metellus Macedonicus through his whole being, that when he had, in the fulness of years, passed out of life by a gentle decay, amidst the kisses and embraces of his nearest connections, he was carried to the funeral pile on the shoulders of his four sons; and, let me add, that each one of them had enjoyed the greatest offices of the com∣monwealth†.

AMONG the Welsh it was reckoned fortunate for the deceased if it should rain while they were carrying him to church, that his bier might be wet with the dew of heaven.

IN some places it was customary for the friends of the dead to kneel, and say the Lord's Prayer over the grave, for several Sundays after the interment; and then to dress the grave with flowers.

Manibus date lilia plenis. Purpureos spargam flores; animamque nepotis His saltèm accumulem donis, et fungar inani Munere.

Bring fragrant flowers, the fairest lilies bring, With all the purple beauties of the spring. These gifts at lest, these honors I'll bestow On the dear youth, to please his shade below.

WARTON.

IT is still usual to stick, on the eve of St. John the Baptist, over the doors, sprigs of St. John's wort, or in lieu of it the common Mugwort. The intent was to purify the house from evil spirits; in the same manner as the Druids were wont to do with Vervaine, which still bears with the Welsh the significant title of Cas gan Gythral, or the Daemons aversion.

UPON Christmas-day, about three o'clock in the morning, most of the parishioners assembled in church, and after prayers and a sermon, continued there singing psalms and hymns with great devotion till broad day; and if, through age or infirmity, any were disabled from attending, they never failed having prayers at home, and carols on our SAVIOUR'S nativity. The former part of the custom is still preserved; but too often per∣verted

into intemperance. This act of devotion is called Ply∣gan, or the Crowing of the Cock. It has been a general belief among the superstitious, that instantly,

at his warning, Whether in sea or fire, in earth or air, Th' extravagant and erring spirit hies To his confine.

But during the holy season, the Cock was supposed to exert his power throughout the night; from which, undoubtedly ori∣ginated the Welsh word Plygan, as applied to this custom. Accordingly, Shakespear finely describes this old opinion:

Some say, that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our SAVIOUR'S birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit walks abroad: The nights are wholesome: then no planets strike: No fairy takes: no witch hath power to charm, So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.

SOON after leaving St. George, I passed by Kinmael house and park, in a lofty situation on the left. This place had been, during four generations, the property of the Hollands, of a noble English descent, long settled in this part of Britain, and branched into several respectable families. The pedigrees de∣rive them from a Sir Thomas Holland, who, tradition says, came, with another brother, into Wales in troublesome times. I have reason to suppose them to have been William and Tho∣mas, the two younger sons of John Holland, duke of Exeter; who died in 1446, and left to each of them an annuity of forty

pounds. They were of a most unpopular family, therefore pro∣bably retired to shun the miseries they might experience in that age of civil discord. Pierce Holland, eleventh in descent from Sir Thomas, made his settlement at Kinmael by his marriage with Catherine, daughter to Richard ap Evan ap Dafydd Vychan and Alice his wife, heiress of the place, daughter of Gryffydd Lloyd†. In the last century, one of his descendants had two daughters. Colonel Carter, an officer in the service of the par∣lement, made choice of Catherine, the youngest, and took the estate with her. A wag said, that he had chosen the best piece of Holland in the country. He left the eldest sister Mary to Colonel Price of Rhiwlas, a royalist. About fifty years ago, a descendant of his, John Carter, Esq alienated the place to the late Sir George Wynne, Bart.

IN a very wet situation, beneath Kinmael, is Vaenol; one of the best old houses in the county of Flint. It was built in 1595, by John Lloyd, a younger son of Wickwer, and register of St. Asaph in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; a place extremely profitable, before the powers of the church were abridged. At this place, Brynpolin, and Wickwer, had been chapels of ease to St. Asaph, and three out of the four vicars did duty at them in turn. A fine stone coffin, from that of Vaenol, lies in the garden of this house.

IN my way from Kinmael, see Bodle-withan, the seat of John Williams, Esq a purchase of his father, second son to Sir Wil∣liam, speaker of the house of commons. Previous to that, it

had been for many generations the property of the Humphries, descended from Rhys Goch, brother to Gweryd ap Rhys, one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales, and cotemporary with Owen Gwynedd.

Descend to Pengwern, the seat of Sir Edward Lloyd, Bart.; an excellent new house, built by him on the site of the old one, which had been built by Elen, sister to Archbishop Williams, for the son of her first husband, Evan Gryffydd, owner of the place. Her second husband was Sir Peter Mutton. The por∣trait of her brother, in a clergyman's dress, with the seals and arms of Lincoln, of which see he was possessed during the time he was lord keeper, is preserved here. Another, of Sir Peter Mutton in his scarlet robes, a ruff, and great hat; and another of Lady Mutton, a handsome woman, in a black gown, high hat, and with a feather fan, and great kerchief, aet. 45, 1631. From hence I passed through Rudland and Newmarket to the comforts of my fire-side.

FROM DOWNING TO MONTGOMERY AND SHREWSBURY.

ON Wednesday, July 4th 1776, I left home; breakfasted with the reverend Mr. Lloyd at Caerroys, and with him de∣scended into the pretty little vale, which leads from Mold to Denbigh; and immediately on crossing it ascend the steep and lofty side of Bwlch Coed y Mynydd, a great hill, the last of the Clwydian chain, before it is broken by the streight of Bod∣vari. On the side of this hill, at Llys Coed y Mynydd, towards the left, lived Ednowain Bendew, or Ednowain the Strong∣headed, lord of Tegengl in 1079, and one of the fifteen tribes of North Wales.

THESE Llwythau, or tribes, were the nobility of North Wales. They commenced extremely early; and, at different times, were lords of distinct districts, and called to that honor by se∣veral princes. The latest were about the time of Dafydd ap Owen Gwynedd, who began his reign in 1169. We are left ig∣norant of the form by which they were called to this rank.

All we know is, that each of them enjoyed some office in the court of our princes, which seems to have been hereditary, and probably to be attendant on the honor.

AFTER reaching the summit of the hill, a rich and extensive view presented itself, of the fertile vale of Clwyd beneath, and the great range of our alpine country, at length jutting into the sea at the bold promontories of Llandudno and Penmaen Mawr. The descent into the vale is gradual, along a beautiful terrace, for a considerable space far above it. Vron-yw, the seat of John Madocks, Esq commands a delightful prospect. Its master adds to the many illustrious proofs we have at this period, that the modern Welsh are as eminent in persuasive rhetoric as our Gaulish neighbors were in days of yore.

PASS by the small churches of Llan-Gwifan, Llan-Dyrnog, Llan-Gynbafal, and Llan-Rhychan, dedicated to the Saints Gwy∣fan, Tyrnog, Cynhafal, and Rhychan, all in the county of DEN∣BIGH, and diocese of Bangor. Beneath the church of Llanbe∣der, reach nearly the bottom of the vale; and continue my journey through Ruthin, and along Nantclwyd, by a good old house of the same name.

AFTER resting one night at Corwen, proceed as far as Llan∣drillo, on the road to Bala; and near that village turn to the left into a narrow glen, much wooded, watered by a rude tor∣rent, and bounded by high hills. At its extremity, near a farm called Blaen y Cwm, begin to ascend Milltir Gerrig, or the Stoney Mile; a Bwlch, or pass amidst the Berwyn hills, about a mile in length, with the mountains, black with heath, soaring on each fide to a stupendous height. It is the great pass in these parts from Meirionyddshire into

and divides the counties: the latter is called by the Welsh, Sir Tre Faldwyn, or the shire of the town of Baldwin, lieutenant of the marches in the time of the Conqueror, who built the town; the name of which was afterwards changed to that of Montgomery, derived from Roger de Montgomery, the founder of the castle: which name it gave to the county when it was formed into one by Henry VIII. The first member that appears on record was Edward Leech, Esq who sat in 1542. Humphry Llwyd justly celebrates the fertility of its vallies, the stature and beauty of its inhabitants; but stigmatises them with the character of idleness, and of being addicted to useless amusements.

The descent from this pass is very steep; but a fine road was then forming, with the great view of giving the Irish a shorter way into their country, through Oswestry, and over the Bwlch, through the county of Meirionydd. This is one of the vast designs of the present age, which will effect communications with places before almost inaccessible.

ON arriving at the bottom, I again found myself in narrow vales, loftily bounded. After about three miles riding reached Llangynog, a small village, in the parish of the same name, in the diocese of St. Asaph. This place was the source of short-lived wealth to the maternal relation of the present earl of Powys. A lead mine was discovered here in the year 1692, which was in most parts a vein of three yards and a half thick,

and was worked to the depth of a hundred yards, when the water became too powerful. It continued in a flourishing state during a period of near forty years; yielded about four thou∣sand tons annually: was sold at 7l. a ton, and smelted on the spot; and brought in a clear revenue to the family of twenty thousand pounds a year.

A SLATE quarry has been discovered of late years in the pa∣rish. About 904,000 were sold from November 1, 1775, to November 1, 1776; which sell at the rate of from 6s. to 20s. a thousand; but the want of water carriage is a great loss to the work.

AT about two miles distance from Llangynog I turned up a small valley to the right, to pay my devotions to the shrine of St. Monacella, or, as the Welsh style her, Melangell. Her legend relates, that she was the daughter of an Irish mo∣narch, who had determined to many her to a nobleman of his court. The princess had vowed celibacy. She fled from her father's dominions, and took refuge in this place, where she lived fifteen years without seeing the face of man. Brochwel Yscythrog, prince of Powys, being one day a hare-hunting, pur∣sued his game till he came to a great thicket; when he was amazed to find a virgin of surprising beauty, engaged in deep devotion, with the hare he had been pursuing under her robe, boldly facing the dogs who retired to a distance, howling, notwithstanding all the efforts of the sportsmen to make them seize their prey. Even when the huntsman blew his horn, it stuck to his lips. Brochwel heard her story; and gave to God and her a parcel of lands, to be a sanctuary to all that fled there. He desired her to found an abbey on the spot. She did so, and died

abbess, in a good old age. She was buried in the neighboring church, called Pennant, and from her distinguished by the addition of Melangell. Her hard bed is shewn in the cleft of a neighboring rock. Her tomb was in a little chapel, or oratory, adjoining to the church, and now used as a vestry-room. This room still is called Cell-y-bedd, or the Cell of the Grave; but her reliques, as well as her image, have been long since re∣moved: but I think the last is still to be seen in the church∣yard. The legend is perpetuated by some rude wooden carv∣ings of the saint, with numbers of hares scuttling to her for pro∣tection. She properly became their patroness. They were called Mwyn Melangell—St. Monacella's Lambs. Till the last century, so strong a superstition prevaled, that no person would kill a hare in the parish; and even later, when a hare was pursued by dogs, it was firmly believed, that if any one cried

God and St. Mo∣nacella be with thee,

it was sure to escape.

IN the church-yard is a stone with the figure of an armed man, which now serves as a common grave-stone, but once covered the remains of the eldest son of Owen Gwynedd, Jor∣werth Drwyndwn, or Edward with the broken nose, who was put aside of the succession on account of the blemish†. Hither he had fled for refuge from the cruelty of his brother Dafydd ap Owen Gwynedd, this place having been one of our most ce∣lebrated sanctuaries. On his shield is inscribed Hic jacet Etwart. Tradition says, he was killed not far from hence, at a place called Bwlch Croes Jorwerth.

THIS valley is exceedingly picturesque: inclosed by hills on all sides, except its entrance; watered by the Tanat, which

springs not far off. The upper end is bounded by two vast precipices, down which, at times, fall two great cataracts; be∣tween them juts out the great and rude promontory of Moel ddu Mawr, which almost divides the precipices into equal parts: and all together formed a fine and solemn retreat for de∣votees. On the side of this valley is the house of Llechwedd∣garth, the property of Thomas Thomas, Esq Continue my journey for some time along the valley, then ascend and descend a series of grassy hills of a moderate height, and observe in many parts the narrower passes crossed by entrenchments, in old times designed to interrupt the inroads of an invader. It is said, that a Roman road goes near this place towards Aber∣ystwyth. Descend to Bodfach, the seat of my friend Bel Lloyd, Esq by virtue of his marriage with Miss Price, heiress of the place. This and several other estates, even as far as the borders of Shropshire, belonged to the Kyffins, so named from being Kyffi∣niad, or borderers. They were descended from Eneon Evell, or Eneon the Twin, brother to Kynric Evell, illegitimate sons of Madoc ap Meredydd ap Blyddyn ap Cynven, prince of Powys; who gave Eneon his portion in this country, and Kynric his in Molesdale and its neighborhood. Owen Brogynton, eldest of his natural children, was settled in Edeirnion.

THE valley about Bodfach expands, is admirably cultivated, is watered by the Cain, and prettily bordered by low hills finely wooded. The town and church of Llanvyllin happily fill one angle, and vary the view.

FROM Bodfach I made an excursion to Llwydiarth, a large old house in the parish of Llanwddyn, seated in a hilly naked country. It was formerly the property of the great family of

the Vaughans, descended from Aleth Hên, king of Dived, or Pembrokeshire. The estate was conveyed to the late Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, by his first wife, daughter and heiress to the last owner. From one part of the ride had a view into Cardi∣ganshire, and of the great naked mountain of Plynlimmon, co∣vered with heath, or moory grass.

I CANNOT omit in this place mention of an excursion formerly made to Llanrhaiadr yn Mochnant, a neighboring parish, partly in this county, partly in Denbighshire. The church is seated in the last, dedicated to St. Dogvan, son of Brychan. Dr. Wil∣liam Morgan, who first translated the Bible into Welsh, was vicar of this. He was rewarded by Queen Elizabeth with the bishoprick of Llandaff, in 1595, and was removed to that of St. Asaph in 1601, where he died September 10th, 1604, and was interred in the cathedral.

THE facetious but learned preacher Dr. South, was the last rector of the parish. On his decease, the rectorial tithes were appropriated by act of parlement to the maintenance of the choir and repair of the cathedral church of St. Asaph.

I MUST speak with due respect of the memory of the late worthy vicar, Dr. Worthington; to whose hospitable house I was indebted for a seasonable reception, the wet evening which for∣tunately preceded my visit to the celebrated cataract Pistill Rha∣iadr. It terminates the precipitous end of a very narrow valley, and, as it were, divides a bold front of the Berwyn mountains. After sliding for some time along a small declivity, it darts down at once two-thirds of the precipice; and, falling on a ledge, has, in process of time, worn itself a passage through the rock, and makes a second cataract beneath a noble arch which

it has formed; on the slippery summit of which, a daring shepherd will sometimes terrify you with standing. The se∣cond fall reaches the bottom, and assumes the name of the Rhaiadr, or the cascade. The desect of this noble fall, is the want of wood. When I visited it, the approach was very bad; but that is not only effectually remedied by the late benevo∣lent vicar, but, as I am informed, he has besides erected a cot∣tage, as a retreat to the traveller from the fury of a storm.

THE abundance of sheep, which enliven these hills, brought, at the time I visited the country, great wealth into it. The flannel manufacture, and that of a coarse cloth for the army, and for the covering the poor negroes in the West Indies, is manufactured in most parts of the county. It is sent and sold in the rough to Shrewsbury; a practice very contrary to the interest of the country.

LEAVE Bodfach; and, for the sake of a beautiful view, am led by Mr. Lloyd, a little out of my way, to the top of a hill, from whence is a prospect of a rich expanded vale, with the church of Llanvechan in the midst. Part is bounded by low and fertile hills. The great rock of Llan y Mynach, the magazine of limestone for a vast tract of country, closes one side; beyond them extends the great flat of Shropshire, with the Wrekin hill rising insulated in the distant ground. I returned through Llanfyllin, a small town, which had a charter bestowed on it by Llewelyn ap Gryffydd ap Gwynwynwyn, in the reign of Ed∣ward II. and confirmed by Edward de Charlton, lord of Powys. This gave the burgesses exemption from tolls, Theam through∣out his territories, Gileam, and Hampsum. They could take, imprison, and try, any thieves or malefactors; and, should such

escape, they had liberty of pursuing them for a league round the town. Any stranger residing in it, and paying scot and lot for a year, became free. It is governed by two bailiffs, chosen annually; who, among other privileges granted it by Charles II, were made justices of the peace within the corpora∣tion, during the time of their office.

RIDE for some time on the Oswestry road. Ascend to the right; go near Bryn Gwyn, a seat of William Mostyn, Esq above which is a circular British post. Numbers of them front the low country, on the hills which jut into it, as if guards to pro∣tect the internal parts from invasion. Across the road, in one place, I met the vestiges of a very strong rampart, to defend a pass into the vale of Meivod, which soon after appeared in view. The church and village are situated in the middle of the valley, which is quite flat; extends in length more than five miles, and about half a mile broad. Three parts are bounded by low hills, prettily wooded; one end opens into the plain, and is finely terminated by the Freiddin hills, a vast mass, and con∣spicuous feature in this county, and part of Shropshire. The Vyrnyw, called by Dr. Powel, Marnovia, a beautiful river, winds along the middle of the vale. Its borders rich in wheat, rye, and grass.

THE church is dedicated to St. Tyssilio, a prince of Powys, the supporter of the British churches against Austin the Monk. In old times it belonged to the abbey of Strata Marcella, Ystrat Marchell, in this county. It is the mother church to Pool and Guildsfield; all which, in the 17th of Henry VII. the bishop

of St. Asaph had licence to appropriate to himself. The vi∣carage of Meivod is now appropriated to Christ-church, Oxford. It is a place of great ecclesiastical antiquity. There is reason to suppose, that it took its name from its having been, in the very early ages of Christianity, the residence of a hermit or recluse; for Meudwyfod implies a hermit's habitation, and Lan is frequently added to many Welsh words, to imply them to have been inclosed places; such as Gwinllan, a vineyard; Cor∣lan, a sheepfold; Ydlan, a stackyard: so that Meudwylan would signify the precinct of the hermit, and, by the assistance of a Roman termination, become Meudwylanium; and that, readily, more latinized into Mediolanum, the name we find it bears in the Itinerary†, where it is placed between Bovium Bangor and Rutunium Rowton. We find it again in the Chorography of the Ravenna's, and in Ptolemy‡. If those periods are supposed to have been too early for the institution of monastic life in this island, I must defend my opinion by that of the learned Tanner, who reasonably supposes it to have been nearly coeval with Christianity in Great Britain‖.

THE Roman antiquity rests upon the authority of one of our older writers§; who mentions that in his time there were con∣siderable remains of venerable antiquity; that several founda∣tions, floors, and causeways, have been dug up; but whether any coins, arms, or inscriptions, have been met with, does not appear. Cambden also mentions a field, called Erw'r Porth, or

the field of the gate, where he concludes might have stood one of the Portae, or gates.

To revert to the Christian antiquities: Meivod is said to have been the archdeaconry of all Powystand, and that it had two churches besides the present. Whether the chapel, whose ruins were standing in no very remote period, and was called Eglwys Gwyddfarch, from a British saint of this country, might not have been one, I cannot say; the other was named Eglwys Vair, or the church of the Virgin, which was built in 1155†.

IN the chief church were interred the princes and great men of Powys; among whom may be enumerated Madoc ap Meredydd ap Blyddyn ap Cynvyn, prince of Powys, who died in 1160, at Winchester, and was conveyed here; and the noble Gryffydd Maelor, lord of Bromefield, who died in 1188‡.

THE church-yard of the present is not less than nine acres, and yields to the minister as many pounds, as a pasture.

NOT far above Meivod is an union of two rivers, both of the name of Vyrnyw: both of them diverge considerably from each other, and take their rise remote from one another. The poeti∣cal topographer Draiton therefore very justly styles the river

FORKT Vurnway, bringing Tur and Tano••: growing rank, She plies her towards the pool‖.

Both are large streams, in many places black and deep. Soon beyond their junction the ground rises. On a steep bank, above one of the rivers, stood Mathraval, once the seat of the princes of Powis; the name at present preserved only by a farm-house.

I could easily trace the site of the antient castle: it occupied the space of about two acres. One side was guarded by the steep over the river; the other three sides by a vast rampart of stone and earth, and a very deep foss: a high exploratory mount, on which perhaps had been a castelet, fills one corner; from which is a clear view of all that passes up and down the vale.

AFTER, this place was deserted by its princes, the castle was possessed, or, as Dr. Powel says, built by Robert de Vepont, a potent baron, high in favor with King John. It is most pro∣bable that he only restored, and strengthened it with new works. In 1112, Llewelyn ap Jorwerth laid siege to it; but the king coming with a potent army, obliged Llewelyn to retire, and after that caused the castle to be demolished.

IN Gwern Ddu, a wood opposite to Mathraval, beyond the river, is a circular entrenchment; and in a field, beyond the other branch, is a round mount; both which certainly had re∣spect, in early times, to the fortress at Mathraval. I must therefore agree with the learned Burton's conjecture, that this might have been the Mediolanum of the Romans; it having been customary with British as well as Saxon princes, to have their palaces where formerly Roman stations had their situation and being† Let me add also, that this might have been the win∣ter station; and the low Meivod, subject to overflowings from the river, the summer station.

THE country beyond Mathraval grows hilly, clayey, and barren. Pass by the church of Llangyniw; to the left is Dolar∣ddyn, where Henry VII. is said to have lodged a night.

A FEW miles farther I rid through the village of Castell Caere∣neon, seated on the Vyrnyw. A castle was built here in 1155, by Madoc ap Meredydd, prince of Powys. I had not leisure to enquire whether there were any remains.

THE country for seven miles more continued hilly, and full of unpleasant commons. Reach Crygynnog, the seat of Arthur Blainey, Esq whose hospitality I experienced for two or three days. Under his conduct I saw every thing in the neighborhood which merited attention. The very worthy owner is descend∣ed from Brochwel Yschythrog. The elder branch of the family has been ennobled in Ireland, since the year 1620, by the title of Lord Blainey of Monaghan; an honor well earned by Sir Edward Blainey, Knight, by services in Ireland in the reigns of Queen Elizabeth and her successor.

ONE evening I was conducted to Castell Dolforwyn, a castle on a high ridge of a hill, very steep, and almost surrounded by wooded dingle. At the bottom runs a small brook, which falls into the Severn about a mile distant. This fortress is very ruinous, being built with the small shattery stone of the country, and resembles much, in its masonry, Castell Dinas Bran. On the two more accessible sides are deep trenches, cut through the rock. It commands a fine view of the rich vale of Severn. According to Dugdale†, it was built by Dafydd ap Llewelyn, a prince who reigned from 1240 to 1246; but I prefer the authority of John Dafydd Rhys, quoted by the re∣verend Mr. Evan Evans‡; which assures us it was founded by that worthy prince Bleyddyn ap Cynvyn, between the years 1065

and 1073. Roger de Mortimer obtained a grant of it, together with the castles of Kedewen and Keri, from Edward I. in 1278, to hold to himself and his heirs, by the service of three knights fees.

WHAT is the origin of the name of Dolforwyn, or the Mea∣dow of the Maiden, I cannot with any certainty pronounce; but from some legendary tradition of the country, I suspect that it has allusion to the story of Sabra, or Sabrina, of which our poets have made so beautiful an use. She was (says Jeffry of Monmouth) daughter of Locrine king of Britain, by Estrildis, one of the three captive virgins of matchless charms, which he took after he had defeated Humber king of the Huns, to whom they belonged. Locrine had divorced his former queen Guendolen in her favor. On the death of the British monarch, Guendolen assumed the government, pursued Estrildis, and Sabra her daughter, with unrelenting cruelty, and caused them to be drowned in the river; which, with a slight alteration, assumed the name of the innocent-victim. Milton, in his brief and ele∣gant description of our rivers, speaks of

The Severn swift, guilty of maiden's death.

But in his incomparable mask of Comus, he enters fully into her sad story, and makes her the goddess of Chastity, and calls her from the deep

To undo the charmed band Of true virgin, here distrest, Through the force, and through the wile Of unblest inchanter vile.

No reader of taste will, I am sure, be displeased with me for relating the history of the goddess in the beautiful numbers of our poet.

SABRINA is her name, a virgin pure; Whilome she was the daughter of Locrine, That had the scepter from his father Brute. She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit Of her enraged, stepdame Guendolen, Commended her fair innocence to the flood, That stay'd her flight with his cross-flowing course. The water-nymphs, that in the bottom play'd. Held up their pearled wrists, and took her in, Bearing her strait to aged Nereus' hall; Who, piteous of her woes, rear'd her lank head, And gave her to his daughters to imbathe In nectar'd lavers, strow'd with asphodil; And, through the porch and inlet of each sense, Dropt in ambrosial oils, till she reviv'd, And underwent a quick immortal change, Made Goddess of the river. Still she retains Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve Visits the herds along the twilight meadows, Helping all urchin blasts, and ill-luck signs, That the shrewd meddling else delights to make; Which she with precious vial'd liquors heals. For which the shepherds, at their festivals, Carol her goodness loud in rustic lays; And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffadils. And, as the old swain said, she can unlock The clasping charm, and thaw the numming spell▪ If she be right invok'd in warbled song; For maidenhood she loves, and will be swift To aid a virgin, such as was herself, In hard besetting need.

NOT far from Dolforwyn is Abervechan, an old house; which, after being owned by the Blaineys, the Prices, and the Lloyds, is now possessed by Sir Gervase Clifton, Baronet, by virtue of his marriage with the heiress of the place, daughter of Richard Lloyd, Esq

FROM hence, we descended into the vale of Severn, and cross the river on a wooden bridge. It is the misfortune of this part of the country to be destitute of several most necessary materials. The rich are obliged to burn wood instead of coal; and the poor, a wretched turf. Lime is extremely remote; and stone fit for masonry at a vast distance. From the head of the Severn, as low as Llandreinio, there is not a stone bridge. Should it happen, in any remote period, that timber should fail, the better sort of people must probably be reduced to distress for want of fuel; and at times one part of the country become inaccessible to the other for want of bridges. The moral of this is, PLANT, and PRESERVE YOUR WOODS!

VISIT Tre' Newydd, or Newtown, a neat small town, with a good market, on the banks of the Severn. In a pretty park, near to the town, is the seat of the Pryses. The family derives itself from Elystan Glodrydd, one of the five royal tribes of Wales, prince of all the country between Wye and Severn, and earl of Hereford in right of his mother Rhiengar, daughter of Grono ap Tudor Trevor. It became possessed of this place about the time of Henry VI. The late owner, Sir John Pryse, was a gentleman of worth, but of strange singularities. He married three wives; and kept the two first who died, in his room, one on each side of his bed; his third declined the honor of his

hand till her defunct rivals were committed to their proper place.

DURING the season of miracles worked by Bridget Bostock of Cheshire, who healed all diseases by prayer, faith, and an em∣brocation of fasting-spittle, multitudes resorted to her from all parts, and kept her salival glands in full employ. Sir John, with a high spirit of enthusiasm, wrote to this wonderful woman to make him a visit at Newtown Hall, in order to restore to him his third and favorite wife. His letter will best tell the foundation on which he built his strange hope, and very un∣common request.

EURYDICES oro properata retexite fila.

Purport of Sir JOHN PRYCE'S Letter to Mrs. BRIDGET BOSTOCK. 1748.

MADAM,

HAVING received information by repeated advices, both publick and private, that you have of late performed many wonderful cures, even where the best physicians have failed; and that the means used appear to be very inadequate to the effects produced; I cannot but look upon you as an ex∣traordinary and highly-favoured person. And why may not the same most merciful God, who enables you to restore sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and strength to the lame, also enable you to raise the dead to life? Now, hav∣ing lately lost a wife, whom I most tenderly loved, my chil∣dren an excellent step-mother, and our acquaintances a very dear and valuable friend, you will lay us all under the

highest obligations: and I earnestly entreat you, for God Almighty's sake, that you will put up your petitions to the Throne of Grace on our behalf, that the deceased may be re∣stored to us, and the late Dame Eleanor Pryce be raised from the dead.—If your personal attendance appears to you to be neces∣sary, I will send my coach and six, with proper servants, to wait on you hither, whenever you please to appoint.—Recompence of any kind, that you could propose, would be made with the utmost gratitude; but I wish the bare mention of it is not offensive to both God and you.

I am, Madam, Your most obedient, and very much afflicted humble servant, JOHN PRYCE.

THE following day our ride was directed towards Caer Sws, a place of Roman antiquity. Our way lay over some high grassy lands. On Gwyn Vynydd was easily traced the Roman road, called Sarn Swsan. It runs from Caer Sws, points towards Meivod, and is distinctly traced as far as the banks of the Vyr∣nyw, near Llyssin. I am not able to pursue it either to or from Meivod; but the late Dr. Worthington assured me, that it was met with in his parish, at Street Vawr, near Coed y Clawdd; that it crossed Rhôs y Brithdir to Pen y Street, and from thence to Llam-jwrch, to Caerfach, which is supposed to have been a small Roman camp. Dr. Worthington supposed, that this road tends to Chester.

NOTWITHSTANDING it is rather out of its place, let me speak of another road in the same parish, and mentioned to me by the same gentleman. This seems to lead from Rutunium, Rowton in Shropshire. It crosses the Tanat at Gartheryr; from whence it passes through Street y Planirau to Maen-gwynedd, and winds up Bwlch Maen Gwynedd, and retains the name of Ffordd Gam Elen, or the winding road of Helen.

To return to Gwyn-vynydd. I observed, on the side of the Roman road, a small sub-oval camp. The road conducts us to Caer Sws, a hamlet with a few houses, on the side of the Severn. The adjacent fields are divided, to this day, from each other by lanes, which intersect each other, as it were to point the very places which had formed the antient streets. On the north-west sides are hollows, which possibly were part of the fosses of the old precincts. Bricks have been found; one was presented to me, with letters that baffle my guess. The figure of them is given, for the conjecture of the more profound antiquary.

[figure]

As to coins, I have heard of only one being met with; and the

owner could not ascertain to me the emperor. This station is unnoticed by every Roman writer.

OPPOSITE to it, at some distance from the river, is Rhos Ddiar∣bed, or the common where no quarter was given. The reason is now lost. In an adjacent field is a camp of a very uncommon form. At the south is a vast exploratory mount, of a conic form, surrounded with a foss of a vast depth. On the north part of the foss is an oblong area, about seventy yards wide in the greatest diameter; guarded by a very high rampart, and on the outside by a ditch. In the lower part is a porta, open∣ing into a great rectangular camp, about two hundred yards long, and above one hundred broad. Opposite to the other porta is a second, placed at the extremity; but there are no others, as usual in Roman camps, which this certainly was, but an eccentric one, prout loci qualitas aut necessitas postulaverat. The whole is encompassed with a rampart and ditch. In a field opposite to Caer Sws are some trenches, perhaps relative to the camp. The former I suppose to have been the winter, this the summer station.

FROM hence I returned into the road. On the right opens another vale, watered by the Carno. The mountains of Carno, like the mountains of Gilboa, were celebrated for the fall of the mighty. The fiercest battle in our annals happened, in 1077, amidst these hills; when Gryffydd ap Cynan, supported by Rhys ap Tudur, prince of South Wales, disputed the sovereignty of North Wales with Trahaern ap Caradoc, the reigning prince, followed by Caradoc ap Gryffydd and Meilir, sons of Rywallon ap Gwyn, his cousin-germains. After a most bloody contest, vic∣tory declared itself; in favor of the first; Trahaern and his kins∣men,

disdaining flight, fell on the spot; and Gryffydd ap Cynan was put into possession of his rightful throne, which he filled during fifty-seven years with great dignity.

The church of Carno belonged to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem, who are said to have had a house near it. As one part of their business was the protection of their fellow-crea∣tures from violence, it is very possible that they might have had a station in these parts, which were long filled with a lawless banditti.

IN view is Park, the residence of — Herbert, Esq I have been informed that Queen Elizabeth kept here a stud of horses. Possibly the famous breed of Spanish horses, introduced into the country by Robert earl of Shrewsbury, might render these parts distinguished for an excellent kind, even so late as the reign of that great princess.

REACH Llanddinam, a church, prettily seated on a little head∣land jutting into the vale. This is a vicarage belonging to the chapter of Bangor; and the comportions were vested in the dean and chapter in 1685, for repairing the cathedral, and aug∣menting the vicarages thereof†. Opposite to Llanddinam, on the summit of a high mountain, is a British post, called Y Caer Vychan, or the Little Fortress, surrounded with a number of fosses, from one to five, according as the strength or weakness of the parts required.

MY journey was continued along a most beautiful road. The vale grows narrow, is bounded by lofty hills, whose bot∣toms are in many places skirted with beautiful hanging woods;

those of Berth-Lwyd are far the most considerable. The poor remains of the antient house of that name stand in the valley; its masters were the old family of the Llwyds, descended from Dyngad, second son of Tudor Trevor. Dafydd, seventeenth in descent from Dungad, first took the name of Llwyd, and pro∣bably gave the additon of title to the house. It continued in the family several generations after; and of late years passed, by purchase, to Sir Edward Lloyd, Baronet.

ABOUT a mile farther is Llanidlos, a small town, with a great market for yarn, which is manufactured here into fine flannels; and sent weekly, by waggon-loads, to Welsh Pool. The church is dedicated to St. Idlos. Within are six arches: the columns surrounded with neat round pillars, ending in capitals of palm-leaves. The inhabitants assert, that they were brought from the abbey of Cwm Hîr in Radnorshire. A date on the roof is 1542, which soon followed the period of monastic ruin in this kingdom.

THIS is a country of sheepwalks. The flocks, like those of Spain, are driven to them from distant parts to feed on the summer herbage. The farms in the vallies are only appen∣dages, for winter habitations and provisions. A coarse slate is found in the neighboring hills; but there still remains, in ma∣ny parts, the antient covering of the country, shingles, heart of oak split and cut into form of slates. This was introduced by the Saxons, as the word is derived from Schindel, which signifies the same thing.

A LITTLE beyond Llanidlos the vale closes. The Severn here dwindles into an inconsiderable stream. By wonderful instinct, Salmon force their way from the ocean, higher up even than

this distant spot, for the sake of depositing their spawn. The other fish are Trouts, Samlets, Graylings, and Pike. The river runs in a hollow to its source, fifteen miles distant, in

Plynlimmonis ardua moles,

the vast hill of Plynlimmon. I was dissuaded from making it a visit, being informed that it was an uninteresting object: the base most extensive, the top boggy, and the view over a dreary and an almost uninhabited country. THAT part lay in the county of Montgomery, and part in Cardiganshire; and that, be∣sides the Severn, it gave rise to the Ridal, which flows to the sea near Aberystwyth; and the Wye, which, precipitating from its fountains down some most romantic rocks, continues its course till it falls into the Severn below Chepstow.

AFTER a most pleasing ride, return to Cregynnan with my good host, the best shewer of a country I ever had the good fortune of meeting.

ON the morning I took leave of Cregynnan, and, attended by Mr. Blainy, skirt the hilly country. Our ride was chiefly through narrow lanes. Stop to see the church of Bettws, seated in a bottom, dedicated to St. Beuno, and formerly be∣longing to the nunnery of Llanlugan, in this county. The steeple makes a figure in these parts. It was built by one of its ministers; whose figure, in priestly vestments, carved on a

brass plate, is fastened to one of the walls. He thus relates his story.

orate pro anima Johannis ap Meredyth de Powisia Quondam vicarius hujus ecclesiae de Bettws I. In cujus tempore aedificatum est campanile: Ibidem sicut emptae sunt tres campanae, Et facta sunt in dicta ecclesia multa alia Bona opera. Ipso vicario pro posse auxiliante Cujus animae propitietur DEUS. Amen.

Dat ipso vivente, A. D. 1531.

This brass was originally fixed on a great slab of oak, still in its place on the floor, which also is covered with oak: so scarce was stone, so plentiful wood! The great chest is made of a single trunk of oak.

A LITTLE further, on the top of a hill on the left, is a great exploratory mount; and I was informed that on the same range is a post, called Pen y Gaer, surrounded by three trenches.

FROM a hill, called Cefn Uppol, is a most delightful view of the vale of Severn, the river; and beyond appear the long ex∣tent of Cerri hills, even on the top, Corndon hill, Longment, the Tetterstones, and the rugged mass of Freiddin.

ON the left is the house of Vaynor, once the property of the Prices; but, by the marriage of the heiress, in the last century, to George Devereux, Esq was transferred to the Viscounts Here∣ford. But on the death of Price Devereux, tenth of that honor, was, by will, alienated to persons foreign to the name and blood.

DESCEND into the vale. Cross the Severn. Ride along the road through the midst of a Roman camp, called the Gaer, seated

in the parish, or rather chapelry, of Fordin. It is of the usual rectangular form. A little beyond, near the house of Nantcrib∣ba, the seat of Lord Viscount Hereford, rises a great conoid rock. A few years ago, on taking away the top, were disco∣vered the remains of a little fort; and on paring away the rubbish, it appeared to have been square, with a round tower probably at each corner: one is tolerably entire, and is only nine feet diameter within; the walls seven feet seven inches thick. There had been some small square rooms, with door∣cases of good free-stone: the rest of the building is of rough stone, cemented with clay. This place was probably ruined by fire; for I observed some melted lead, mixed with charcoal, and several pieces of vitrified stuff. There is no history rela∣tive to it. It must be very antient, for on the top is the stool of a vast oak. The base of the rock is surrounded with a ditch, cut through it, leaving only a narrow pass to the sort. At a dis∣tance is another trench. Offa's ditch lies about two hundred yards from the rock. Enter a part of SHROPSHIRE, at Walcot; and, keeping southerly, soon reach Chirbury, a church and village, which give name to the hundred, and title to the celebrated flower of chivalry Edward Lord Herbert, in whom madness and abilities kept equal pace. This hundred did, in old times, belong to the castle of Montgomery, which was then reputed to be in it. In the 7th of Edward VI. Chirbury hun∣dred was given by the crown to Edward Herbert and his heirs; but Charles I. in the 3d year of his reign, permitted Sir Edward Herbert to alienate it to William Neye and Thomas Gardiner, Esqrs

NEAR this village stood a priory of Benedictines, founded in the reign of King John. The church was given to the priory with all the lands along the road side, as far as Merebroc. By a composition between Prior Philip and the parson of Mont∣gomery, the right of burials and christening was reserved to the church of Chirbury. The same year the Prior had a grant of the tithes of Montgomery wood, and the mill. Hubert de Burgh was a benefactor to this house. In 1280 the prior and convent removed to Snede, the place of their first constitution and abode, it being represented that Chirbury was not so proper a place for celebrating divine mysteries; but this removal was not to af∣fect the souls of those buried at Chirbury, to whom they were bound to do the same services as before the removal: neither were the religious to lose any of their rights at Chirbury.

THIS house maintained a prior and five or six monks. Its revenues 66l. 8s. 7d. according to Dugdale; and 87l. 7s. 4d. according to Speed†. The last prior was Oliver Middleton. (probably of the old family of Middleton Hall in this parish); who had a pension for life of 8 l. per annum‡ Two miles farther is the town of MONTGOMERY, A small neat town, partly built on the slope, partly on the sum∣mit of a hill, beneath the shadow of a much higher. It owes its foundation to Baldwyn, lieutenant of the marches to William the Conqueror, from whom the Welsh called it Tre Faldwyn. That he also built a castle here, or some kind of defence, is probable; for we are informed, that in the year 1092, Roger de

Montgomery, earl of Shrewsbury, entered Powisland, and won the town and castle of Baldwyn; I suppose at that time possessed by the Welsh. Roger fortified the place, and called it after his own name, Montgomery; but in 1094, the Welsh took the castle, put the garrison to the sword, and carried destruction through the neighboring parts. The king, William Rufus, as∣sembled a vast army, and repossessed himself of the low parts of the country. The earl of Shrewsbury rebuilt the castle, which the Welsh had destroyed. It was again ruined; but we are not informed of the period: only we are told that Henry III. built a new castle there in 1221. Henry granted it to his great justiciary Hubert de Burgh, with two hundred marks an∣nually, and a greater salary in case of war†. During the time it was possessed by Hubert, it was besieged by the Welsh; but speedily relieved by the English. Many bloody skirmishes hap∣pened about this time in the neighborhood; in one of which was taken by the Welsh, William de Breose, a potent baron, who was obliged to pay a considerable sum for his ransom. In 1231, Llewelyn assembled a great army, and so terrified Hubert that he evacuated the castle, which was seised and burnt by the exasperated prince‡.

ON an inquisition taken on the reversal of the attainder of the famous Roger Mortimer, earl of March, in 1354‖, he was found to have been possessed of it at his death, and also of the hundred of Chirbury; in which, at that time, the castle and manor of Montgomery were reputed to lie. It continued in the

family at the time of the death of his grandson Roger; for it formed part of the jointure of his widow, and probably re∣mained in his descendant Edmund, who died without issue.

I LEAVE a long interval before I discover any thing more of this place. Lord Herbert speaks of it as the habitation of some of his ancestors†; I suppose, holding it from the crown, as steward of the castle, and of the hundred of Chirbury.

IN the civil wars it was seised for the use of the parlement, by Sir Thomas Middleton, in 1644; who, on the appearance of the king's army, was obliged to make a sudden retreat to Os∣westry, and leave it ill provided both with garrison and pro∣visions. The royal forces, under Lord Biron, laid siege to it; but Sir Thomas, being joined by Sir William Brereton, Sir John Meldrum, and Sir William Fairfax, returned, under the com∣mand of Brereton, with about three thousand men, to the relief of the place. The king's army was five thousand strong; who, on approach of the enemy, took possession of the hill above the castle. The castle was relieved, and a most bloody battle ensued. The king's army descended from their post, and, mak∣ing a most vigorous attack on the forces of the parlement, at first gained considerable advantage; but the last, actuated by despair, made the most violent efforts: at length, obtained a most complete victory. The pursuit was continued, near twen∣ty miles. Above five hundred were slain, and fourteen hun∣dred taken prisoners. The loss on the side of the parlement only forty slain, and about sixty wounded‡. The castle met

with the fate of all others, being dismantled by order of the commons.

THE remains impend over the town. They stand on a pro∣jecting ridge, of a great height and steepness, and, towards the end, quite precipitous. The reliques of this fortress are very small. It had been divided by four fosses cut in the rock; each perhaps had its draw-bridge. Between the end of the buildings and the precipice is a level spot, the yard or parade of the place.

AT the bottom of the hill, in the vale, is a small fortification, of the same kind with those used by the Saxons, and by the Welsh also, having in it a high mount.

ON a hill, not far from the castle, is a stupendous British post. The approach is guarded by four great ditches, with two or three entrances towards the main work; where two or three fosses run across the hill, the end of which is sufficiently guard∣ed by the steepness.

THIS, and the preceding pieces of military antiquity, shew the importance of this place in early times: the first was pro∣bably in being when Baldwyn made himself master of this country, notwithstanding the original name has totally pe∣rished.

FROM the summit of the British post is a fine view of the vale of Montgomery, which is very extensive, and bounded by the hills of Shropshire.

THE town was once defended by walls, strengthened by towers. It had also four gates; Chirbury, Arthur's, Keri, and Kedewen gate. There was a grant of Edward I. to Bogo de

Knouill, constable of the castle, giving him leave to sell certain wood on Corndon forest, for repairing the walls and fosses round the town and castle; and another, for the same purpose, from Edward III. permitting a toll for seven years on several articles which were brought there to be sold: among others, are enu∣merated Squirrel skins.

HENRY III. granted by charter, that the borough of Montgomery should have the privilege of a free borough, with other liberties†. The first burgess that was summoned to parlement was in the 27th of Henry VIII. The first who appears to have sat was William Herbert, in the year 1542. The town is go∣verned by two bailiffs, and twelve burgesses, or common-coun∣cil-men. The member is elected by the burgesses, and returned by the bailiffs. The electors are about eighty‡. Llanidlos, Welsh Pool, and Llanvyllin, were contributory; but are now excluded from any share in the election.

WHETHER, in old times, this town abounded, more than is usual, with ladies of free lives and conversation, I do not pre∣tend to say; but very early the free burgesses had the privi∣leges of the Gogingstoole, Cuckingstool, or Cokestool, or, what the Saxons called the Scealfing-stole. Quia, says my authority, per objurgatrices et meretrices multa mala in villa oriuntur: and these were to have the judgment de la Goginstoole; and there∣in to be placed, with naked feet and disheveled hair, as an ex∣ample to all beholders‖. Probably this was not found to an∣swer the end intended; therefore immersion, or ducking, was

in after times added, as an improvement, and to effect a radical cure.

THE church is dedicated to St. Nicholas; is in the diocese of Hereford, in the gift of the king; and formerly a chapel to Chirbury. Within is a handsome monument of Richard Her∣bert, Esq father to the famous Lord Herbert. He is repre∣sented in armour; and by him lies his lady, Magdalene, daughter of Sir Richard Newport of High Arcol. In front are their nu∣merous progeny. He died in 1597. The monument was erected by his lady, who survived him several years; and, after dis∣charging, with exemplary care, her duty to their children, mar∣ried, at the end of twelve years, Sir John Danvers, brother to Henry earl of Danby; and died in 1627.

THE house called Blackhall, once the hospitable residence of the family, stood at the bottom: a foss marks tha spot; for it was consumed by fire. The lodge in Limore Park, at a small distance from the town, was enlarged on this occasion•• is still kept up, and shews a venerable wooden front.

ON leaving Montgomery, I took, for four or five miles, nearly the same road as I did in coming to it. Passed under Mynydd Digoll. On this mountain may be said to have expired the li∣berties of Wales; for here, was the last contest against the power of our conqueror. After the death of Llewelyn, the northern Welshmen set up Madoc, cousin to our slain prince; who assembled a great army, and, after several eminent victo∣ries, at Caernarvon, near Denbigh, Knockin, and again on the marches, was here overthrown, in 1294, by the collected power of the lord marchers, after a well-fought, and long-contested engagement.

I MUST add, that on this mountain Henry VII. mustered the friends who promised to join him from North Wales and Shrop∣shire, and did not find one who had failed of his appointment. On which account the Welsh call it Digoll, or Without Loss: the English name it the Long Mountain.

CROSS the Severn, near Llanlafryn, the seat of Price Jones, Esq Soon after gaining this side of the river, I turned a little out of the road to POWYS CASTLE, the seat of the earl of Powys, placed on the ridge of a rock, having scarcely any area; which, in common with most mansions sprung from castellated origin, are far from desireable situations. This retains a mixture of castle and mansion. You enter between two rounders: there are also remains of round towers in other parts. Near the castle is a long gallery, a hundred and seventeen feet by twenty. It was once a hundred and sixty-seven feet; but an apartment has been taken out of one end. This is of a later date than the other building, and was detached from it by a fire, about fifty years ago.

IN the parlour, within the dwelling-house, is a full-length of Roger Palmer, earl of Castlemain; who owed his peerage to his wife, a royal mistress, and afterwards dutchess of Cleveland. He is represented dictating to a secretary; and dressed in a black wig, a cravat, and red mantle. James II. sent him on an embassy to the Pope, to reconcile the church of these king∣doms to the holy see, after their long lapse to herefy. The po∣litic pope saw the folly of the design, and never received the embassador without being seized with a most seasonable fit of coughing, which always interrupted the subject of his errand. At length, wearied with delay, he was advised to take pet, and

threaten to leave Rome, His holiness, with great sang froid, told him, that since such was his resolution, he affectionately re∣commended him to travel early in the morning, and to rest at noon, least he should endanger his health: and so ended this ridi∣culous business.

THE great staircase is adorned with paintings, by Lanscroon, complimentary to Queen Anne.

THERE are two large rooms, above stairs, hung with old ta∣pestry. The ceiling of one is stuccoed with most ridiculous paintings of the zodiac.

NEXT is a long narrow gallery, filled with bad portraits. The (titular) duke of Powys, a post-abdication creation, is re∣presented in his great wig and robes. He followed the fortune of James II. and died at St. Germain's in 1696. His wife, Eli∣zabeth, daughter to the marquis of Worcester, is painted in blue and ermine.

IN one ceiling is much incense to the ladies of the family, daughters to William, second marquis of Powys. One is re∣presented as TRUTH; Lady Throgmorton appears as another Vir∣tue; Lady Mary as Minerva; and justice is seen driving away Envy, Malice, and other Vices. Few ladies have made so con∣spicuous a figure as Lady Mary. She was engaged deeply in the Missisipi scheme, and dreamt of millions; aimed at being royal consort to the late Pretender: failed in her plans, and, with another noble adventurer, retired to Spain, in search of the gold in the mines of Asturias.

The crown of Poland, venal twice an age, To just three millions stinted modest Gage: But nobler scenes Maria's dreams unfold; Hereditary realms, and worlds of gold. Congenial souls! whose life one av'rice joins, And one sate buries in th' Asturian mines.

THE views from this height, of Welsh Pool, the vale, and Freid∣din hills, are very fine; but, from the situation, experience the horrible vicissitudes of cold and heat. The gardens are to be descended to by terraces below terraces, a laborious series of flights of steps, covering rock, which one De Valle had blasted away in former days. The gardens were filled with water∣works: the whole in imitation of the wretched taste of St. Ger∣mains en Laye, which the late family had a most unfortunate opportunity of copying.

THE first notice I find of this place is about the year 1110; when the renowned Briton, Cadwgan ap Bleddyn ap Cynvyn, sought here an asylum from the persecution of his kindred; and began a castle. At that time it was called Y Trellawng. While he was intent on the business, his nephew Madoc came on him unawares and slew him The building was continued, perhaps by Gwenwynwyn; for in 1191 it was besieged by Hubert archbishop of Canterbury: who met at first with a most vigorous resistance. At length, the prelate sent for a company of miners, and proceeded so successfully, that the besiegers, seeing the walls undermined, and the enemy three to one, surrendered on the most honorable terms. The archbishop fortified it more

strongly, and placed a strong garrison in it; but soon after Gwenwynwyn attacked it in his turn, and had the good fortune to reduce it on the very terms which his own garrison had re∣ceived. At this time it was called the castle of Gwenwynwyn at the Pool.

HIS son Gryffydd probably took part with the English; for in 1233 Llewelyn ap Jorwerth overthrew this fortress; which now assumed the name of Castell Coch, or Red Castle, from the color of the stones †.

HIS grandson, Owen ap Gryffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, remained in possession of the place. He left a daughter, called Hawys Gadarn, or Hawys the hardy. Four of her uncles ‡ disputed her title to her father's land, alleging, that a female was incapable of inheriting. Hawys wisely made a friend of Edward II; who married her to John de Charlton, born near Wellington in Shrop∣shire, in 1268, and styled Valectus Domini Regis‖ It continued in their posterity several generations. The barony and title were afterwards conveyed to Sir John Grey of Northumberland, by his marriage with Jane, eldest daughter of Edward Lord Powys§ It remained in their descendants till the reign of Henry VIII; the title became then extinct by the death of Edward Grey. I cannot trace the succession of the estate, till I find it in pos∣session of Sir William Herbert, second son of the earl of Pem∣broke; who got it by purchase in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He was created Lord Powys and was ancestor to the marquisses of Powys. In 1644, in the time of Piercy Lord Powys, the

castle was taken by Sir Thomas Middleton, his lordship made pri∣soner, and the place pillaged George earl of Powys is the present owner, in right of his mother, Barbara, daughter and sole heiress of Lord Edward Herbert, brother of the last marquis of Powys. Seventeen manors are still dependent in the county on this castle.

WELSH POOL, a good town, is seated in the bottom, not far from the castle. Great quantities of flannel, brought from the upper country, are sent from hence to Shrewsbury. The Severn begins to be navigable at the Poole stake, about three quarters of a mile from the town. This place owned the same lord as the castle. Gryffydd did homage for the lordship of Powys at Chester, in 1355, to Edward prince of Wales, by the title of Lord of Poole†: his title was also frenchified into de la Pole‡.

BELONGING to the church is a very fine chalice of pure gold, containing a wine quart. The following inscription on this rich donation, fully confutes the vulgar story of its having been the penitential gift of a successful transport, and sets the rela∣tion in the true light.

THO^s DAVIES Anglorum in Africa plagā Occidentali procurator generalis Ob vitam multifariâ DEI misericordiâ ibidem conservatam Calicem hunc è purissimo auro Guiniano conflatum C.LX.VIII. minis valentem, DEI honori et ecclesiae de Welch Poll ministerio, perpetuò sacrum voluit. A quo usu S. S. si quis facinorosus eundem calicem In posterum alienaret (quod avertat DEUS) DEI vindicis Supremo tribunali poenas Iuat. Cal. Ap^• ix. M.DCLXIL.

ALMOST opposite to Poole, on the other side of the Severn, is Buttington, the Butdigingtune of the Saxons; where, in 894, the Danes, under Hesten, after traversing great part of England, took their station. The generals of king Alfred instantly blocked them up, and that so closely,. that the Pagans were obliged to eat their horses for want of subsistence. At length, actuated by despair and famine, attempting to force their way through the Saxon army, were defeated with such slaughter, that a very few escaped to their own country .

THE country from Poole towards Llanymynach is most beauti∣fully broken into gentle risings, prettily wooded. Gilesfield church and village are prettily situated under the hills. The church is dedicated to St. Giles; formerly it belonged to the Cistertian abbey of Ystrat Marchell, or Strata Marcella, Alba do∣mus de Marcella, vall. crucis, or Pola, seated between this place and Poole. There is no doubt but it was founded by Owen Cyveiliog, and, as Tanner says, in 1170 † His son Gwenwyn∣wyn, in 1201, gave to GOD, the glorious Virgin his mother, and the monks of Strathmarchel, for the repose of his soul, all the pasturage in the province of Cyveiliog‡ Tanner suspects that Madoc ap Gryffydd Maelor refounded this monastery; but by his charter it should seem, that he only gave to it a piece of land, on which to found a cell, or some appendage to it: and this, he says, was done at the request of four abbots; among whom is mentioned Philip himself, actual abbot of Strathmar∣chel|; a proof that the house was then existent. In the begin∣ning

of the reign of Edward III. the Welsh monks were removed to English abbies, and replaced by English monks; and this monastery made subject to the visitation of that of Buildas, in Shropshire. Its revenues at the dissolution, according to Dug∣dale, were 64l. 14s. 2d. to Speed, 73l. 7s. 3d. Queen Elizabeth granted it to Rowland Hayward and Thomas Dixon.

PASS by Garth, the seat of Devereux Mytton, Esq Go by the small church of Llandysilio, a chapel in Llandrinio parish; and soon after ford the Vyrnyw, and deviate a little from my intended route along the banks of the Severn, to visit the public-spirited Mr. Evans, of Llwyn y Groes, near Llanymynach; who, in a most disinterested manner, at his own hazard, is undertaking a beau∣tiful map of North Wales. Continue at his house till morning, and, in his company, visit Llanymynach. The church and village stand in a pretty situation, on a bank above the Vyrnyw; and very advantageous for trade. It lies at the opening of three val∣lies, at the intersection of two great public roads, and on a river navigable into the Severn, (which runs only three miles from the place) for some months in the year, for barges of fifty tons. Great quantities of slates are sent from hence to Bristol; and, of late years, up the Stourport canal, to Birmingham, and other places.

ASCEND Llanymynach hill, a vast rock, with the surface co∣vered with a verdant turf; beneath which is a pearl-colored marble, beautifully veined with red, and streaked with white, and capable of a good polish. This is the limestone of the place. The quantity burnt on this hill is inconceivable, and the increase is ten times greater since the improvement of the

Montgomeryshire roads; for it is carried even for manure thirty miles into that county. The season of carriage begins in March, and ends in October. The hill is of a considerable length and breadth: slopes upwards from the side next to the village, and on the upper part ends in a vast and long precipice. Its bowels are probably replete with minerals. Copper, lead ore, and calamine, have been found there of late years; but there are undeniable proofs of its having been worked by the Romans. In a great artificial cave, formed into several mean∣ders in search of the ores, have been discovered Roman coins; among them, an Antoninus and a Faustina. Near the coins were found the skeleton of a man at full length: on his left arm a bracelet, and by his side a battle-ax. Burnt bones and ashes are often found on the hill; and near the north-west part of the precipice are numbers of large pits, in form of inverted cones, supposed to have been the work of the Romans.

ON the slope of the hill, in the more accessible part, runs, from top to bottom, a stupendous rampart of loose stones, with a foss at the foot of it; and at certain, distances beyond are two other parallel fosses, in many places cut through the rock with vast labor. It has been thought that the Romans were the peo∣ple who made these works; but I rather think them to have been British, as they are so similar to those which constitute the strength of the British post. Offa's dike may be traced on this hill; but is plainly different from the others. The wall of the church-yard is placed on the former.

FROM the summit of the hill is a most delightful view: one way, of the vast flat of Shropshire, with its various rising boun∣daries. The Freiddin hills form a noble group opposite to this

eminence; which together rise most magnificently, like two great capes, at the entrance into the vale of Severn; which, from hence to Llanidlos, is between thirty and forty miles in length.

THE view to the south is into Montgomeryshire; and is a series of little vales, lodged between small wooded risings. A plain lies immediately beneath the precipice of the hill, finely watered, by the Tanat and the Vyrnyw, there uniting. Immediately be∣neath the rock is Blodwell Hall, a deserted seat, once the pro∣perty of the Tanats; conveyed to the Matthews by the marriage of Jane, daughter and heiress of Maurice Tanat. The pro∣perty was again transferred, by the marriage of Ursula, daughter and heiress of Roger Matthew, to Sir John Bridgeman, Baronet, grandfather to the present owner.

NOT far from hence stood the castle of Carreg Hwva, a place of which I know nothing more, than that it had been taken and pillaged, in 1162, by Owen Cyveilioc and Owen ap Madoc ap Meredydd It was soon restored; for in the year 1187, the last was slain here in the night, by Gwenwynwyn and Cadwallon, the sons of his former collegue †.

FROM Llanymynach I rode to the New Bridge, a bridge of seven arches, over the Vyrnyw, about three miles above the ford. The river is kept confined by a dam, for the sake of a mill, and forms a fine reach. The overflowing makes a pretty cascade; and the views upwards, of small vallies and hanging woods, are exceedingly beautiful.

THE river merits the title of Piscosus Amnis, as much as any I know. The number of fish which inhabit it, animate the

waters, and add greatly to its beauty. Ausonius does not ne∣glect that remark, in his elegant poem on the Mosel.

Intentos tamen usque oculos errore fatigant Interludentes examina lubrica pisces,

I have not examined whether the Mosel affords more than is contained in the following list.

Fish.

• Salmon,
• * Trout,
• * Samlet,
• Grayling,
• * Minnow,
• Perch,
• Rough, or Pope,
• Carp,
• Tench,
• Roach,
• * Dace,
• Gudgeon,
• Bleak,
• * Chub,
• * Loche,
• Bullhead, or Miller's
• Thumb,
• Shad,
• *Eel,
• Lamprey,
• Flounder,

When in season.

• Christmas to July.
• March to September.
• Ditto.
• March to November.
• April to September.
• May to the end of September.
• April to September.
• April to July.
• April to September.
• Ditto.
• Ditto.
• ...June, July, August.
• April to June.
• March to September.
• April to September.
• March and April.
• ...June, July, August.
• May to September.

Of these, only the species marked which * frequent the Tanat; which

falls into the Vyrnyw near the spot where this enumeration was made: such preference do fish give to certain waters.

PASS again by Llandysilio. Go over Dongay common; and, near the seat of Francis Lloyd, Esq ride through the village of Llandreinio, and by the church of the same name. Cross Llan∣dreinio bridge, of three arches, a new and handsome structure. Near it is the seat of Clopton Price, Esq an useful and active promoter of all public designs within his sphere.

AFTER crossing the Severn, my road lay at the foot of that great mass of rocky mountains, distinguished by the names of Freiddin, Moel y Gollfa, and Cevn y Castell. Their bases are prettily skirted with woods; above which the mountains sud∣denly present a most tremendous and precipitous front. On Crew green, far to the left, starts up Belin Mount, a round in∣sulated rock, remote from its congenial hills. See beneath me a vast extent of flat and wet country, the great plain of part of Shropshire. The village and parish of Melverly lie on the opposite side of the Severn, near the place where the Vyrnyw is discharged into it. The spot is called, from that circumstance, Cymmerau, or the Conflux.

WITHIN sight of the vast mountains I have just mentioned, Gwalchmai, the son of Meilir, composed a most beautiful poem. His genius was equally formed for poetry and war. After be∣ing under arms the whole night, charmed with the approach of day, and the beauty of the surrounding prospect, the melody of birds, and the murmurs of the waters, he forgets all care, and, despising the danger of the imminent foe, thus bursts out into the ode called Gorhoffed GWALCHMAI, or the Favorite of GWALCHMAI; beginning

Mochddwyreawg huan dyffestist Maws, &c.

Rise, Orb of Day! the eastern gates unfold, And shew thy crimson mantle fring'd with gold. Contending birds sing sweet on ev'ry spray; The skies are bright;—arise, thou Orb of Day! I. Gwalchmai, call; in song, in war renown'd, Who, Lion-like, confusion spread around. The live-long night, the Hero and the Bard Near Freiddin's rocks have kept a constant guard; Where cool transparent streams in murmurs glide, And springing grass adorns the mountain's side; Where snow-white Sea-mews in the current play, Spread their gay plumes, and frolic through the day. R. W.

RAINALDUS Warin Comes held Meverlei in the manner in which every thing was held in these parts, from the lord paramount, Roger earl of Shrewsbury. In the time of the Confessor it was held by one Edric. Soon after the conquest it was possessed by the Fitz-alans, till the 9th of Queen Elizabeth; when it was alienated, by Henry earl of Arundel, to Thomas Younge, archbi∣shop of York; who sold it to — Willaston†.

NEAR a small brook, quit Montgomeryshire, and enter the county of SALOP, OR SHROPSHIRE. Visit, a little to the right, Wattleburg castle, an old house, with a square tower of far more antient date. It lies on the Roman

road from Llanrbaiadr yn Mochnant Mr. William Mytton conjectures, that the site might have been a station of a party of the Vandals, sent into Britain by the emperor Probus; and that the word is corrupted from Vandelsburgh, a name given it by the Saxons; there being a rampart of that name in Lincoln∣shire, and derived, as is supposed, from the same cause. At the time of the conquest, Edric possessed it. Roger Corbet, son of Corbet a noble Norman, succeeded him. Afterwards it was given to a younger son of the Corbets of Caux castle. It conti∣nued long in that family. At length fell into the line of Gwen∣wynwyn, lord of Powys, and his descendant, called Fulk Mowd∣dwy, died in possession of it, but without children, in the second of Henry V. Sir Hugh de Burgh succeeded, by virtue of his mar∣riage with Elizabeth, sister to Fulk. By the marriage of Ang∣barad, one of de Burgh's four grand-daughters, it devolved to the Leightons; and is now the property of their descendant, Sir Charlton Leighton, Baronet.

A LITTLE farther is Loton, the seat of the family; which is of Saxon origin, and takes its name from Leighton, a parish in this county. Not far from the house are the remains of the antient mansion or castle of Alberbury; small, but very strong: a square tower, and some walls, yet exist. Leland says, it was the castle of Fulk Fitzwarine, (on whose father, Guarine de Metz, a noble Lorainer, William the Conqueror had bestowed this manor) founder of the abbey of Alberbury, which, stood at a small distance from hence, on the banks of the Severn. It was founded in the time of Henry I. and was a cell of the Bene∣dictines

of Grammont in France. Being an alien priory, Henry Chichley, archbishop of Canterbury, begged it of Henry VI. to∣wards the endowment of his new college of All Souls; to which it has ever since belonged, together with the presentation to the vicarage. This religious house was also called Album Monasterium†.

A LITTLE to the east of Alberbury is Routon, the seat of the Listers, a family long resident here. Prior to their possession, it belonged to the lords Strange of Knockin, who had here a castle; which was demolished in 1266, by Prince Llewelyn ap Gryffydd; but was rebuilt very soon after by John Lord Strange‡ Near this spot is supposed to have stood the Roman Rutunium: but not a trace of it is to be seen. The modern name preserves part of the antient.

FROM hence I turned towards the Severn; and, on a lofty bank above the river, at Little Shrawardine, saw a vast artificial mount, the former site of some castelet. From this place I de∣scended to the Severn, and, crossing the river, at this time ford∣able, I visited the castle and village of Great Shrawardine, seated on the opposite bank. Rainaldus held it at the conquest. It fell afterwards to the Fitzalans, and continued many centu∣ries in their family; excepting for a short time, on the attain∣der of Edmund earl of Arundel, in the reign of Richard II. when it was given to Roger de Mortimer, earl of March; and again, in the same reign, when it was bestowed on William earl of Wiltshire, after the cruel execution of Richard earl of Arundel.

But in the next reign his attainder was reversed, and his for∣tunes restored to his son. Henry, last earl of the family, sold it to Sir Thomas Bromley, lord chancellor of England; who, in 1582, with the queen's licence, settled it on Sir George Bromley, Knight, and his heirs. He was of an antient fa∣mily in this county. John, an ancestor of his, had the hospital of Molay Bacon, in the county of Baieux, in France, bestowed on him by Henry V. on what was called the rebellion of Alan de Beaumont, the prior possessor. John, and his lawful descendants, were to hold it of the crown by the tenure of doing homage, and presenting to the king and his successors a girdle, in the castle of Baieux, annually, on the feast of St. John the Baptist By another grant, of his kinsman Hugh de Stafford, Dominus de Bourghchier, he had forty pounds a year, during life, charged on his lands in Staffordshire and Warwickshire, for his gallant be∣haviour in a skirmish near Corbie, in Normandy, where he rescued the royal standard of Guienne†, which had been committed to the care of Hugh de Stafford. The grant is dated from Madely, on March 10th, in the fourth year of Henry V.

ONLY three or four fragments of the castle remain. It had never been considerable; was placed on a low mount, and desti∣tute of outworks. The property of the castle, and the estates belonging to it, were of late years sold to the late Lord Clive.

THE river, from the neighborhood of Shrawardine, begins to grow very beautiful. The banks are elevated, and often cloathed with hanging woods. In places, they recede from the

verge of the channel, and leave a verdant space of intervening meadow.

REPASS the river, and go through the village of Forde. Leave on the right Dintle, the property of Leighton Delamore Griffith, Esq and Onslow, the property of Rowland Wing field, Esq. The last gave name to the noble family of Onslow, who were settled here as early as the time of Henry III. On the north side of the river, on a delightful bank, are situated the church and village of Montford; which gave title, in 1741, to Henry Bromley, Esq. A little far∣ther is Montford bridge, consisting of four arches. There had been one at this place before the year 1291; for at that time the sheriff of the county summoned the executors of John de Hegerwas to appear at the assizes, to give an account of what materials had been gotten, and what money was in the testa∣tor's hands, who had died before it was finished. In 1374, or the 48th of Edward III. it was found to be out of repair; which induced the king to grant it pontage, or a toll for three years, to effect the reparation.

SHREWSBURY is four miles, in almost a direct line, from this place; but I preferred following the course of the river, tempt∣ed by the extreme beauty of the ride. I crossed Montford bridge, turned to the right, and went over the Perry, not far above its junction with the Severn. The hamlet of Mitton, i. e. Middle Town, lies in the midst of the narrow neck of land be∣tween the two rivers. The Severn here makes a great bend, and forms, on the opposite side, a peninsula, with so very nar∣row an isthmus, as to occasion it to be called the Isle of Up Rossal; being encompassed by the river for the space of five miles, except at the entrance, which forms a neck of only three hundred and eighty yards in breadth. The isle is a most compact estate of Humphrey Sandford, Esq and lies in the parish of St. Chad. This place formerly belonged to Sir Francis Englefield, Knight, a gentleman zealous for the old religion at the time of the Reformation, and a principal officer about the person of the Princess Mary, afterwards queen. At the ac∣cession of Edward VI. he was sent for (with others of her hous∣hold) by the Protector and council, to forbid them hearing of mass in the princess's house. They refused obedience, and, in consequence, were imprisoned for several months. On the ac∣cession of Mary, he received the strongest proofs of her grati∣tude for his fidelity. In the very first year of the following reign, he quitted the kingdom, with many other zealots, and was indefatigable in promoting the interests of Mary queen of

Scots. He was attainted in the year 1585, and all his estates confiscated; but some legal difficulties arising, in 1593 a new act was passed, which fully confirmed the former Sir Francis died in 1592, at Valladolid, and his body was interred there in the English college. This estate of his was granted by Queen Elizabeth to Richard Sandford, Esq an officer of the crown, and ancestor to the present owner; a family long before possessed of other estates in the neighborhood.

FITTES, the parish church of Mitton, is seated at a small distance, on an eminence, with a large exploratory mount not remote from it. From a field, not far from the church-yard, is a most beautiful view of the Severn, which lies far beneath, at the foot of the steep banks, clothed with hanging woods, or darkened with yews of enormous size. The river is seen winding round the isle; and the isle itself, a tract of rich land mixed with trees, slopes gracefully to the margin of the water. A long and nar∣row wooded island diversifies the view, by dividing the river into two channels; which re-unite, and run under Leighton shelf, a high cliff, which forms a noble finishing on that part. Above the fore-ground of this rich prospect are numberless mountains of different forms; all together forming the finest view this country can boast.

IN the course of my ride, pass by the upper and lower Berwick; one the seat of — Betton, Esq the other of Thomas Powis, Esq both commanding most delicious views of the river and town of SHREWSBURY. They are both in the parish of St. Mary, Shrewsbury. My entrance into the town was through the North Gate; which,

for greater security, in reality consists of two gates, at a small distance from one another, with a round tower on each side.

THE castle stands on an eminence on the left. Only one part with two rounders remain, and the walls of the north and east∣ern sides. The keep was on a large artificial mount; which shews this fortress to have been of Saxon or British origin, not∣withstanding the foundation is ascribed to the great earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery. The inside is cleared from buildings, excepting one house. The whole castle-yard is a garden; and the mount is at present admirable only for its beau∣tiful view.

THE town of Shrewsbury is seated within a peninsula, with the ground finely sloping, in most parts, to the river. The castle was judiciously placed on a narrow isthmus, two hundred yards wide, which connects it to the main land. Roger de Montgome∣ry, on whom almost the whole county was bestowed by the Conqueror, besides a hundred and fifty-eight manors in other parts of the kingdom, made this his principal seat. In order to extend his fortifications, he demolished forty-one houses; for this part of the town, at that period, was very populous. These houses paid taxes; yet no remittance was made to the owners, notwithstanding the greatness of their loss. The first constable was Warine the Bald, a man of small stature, but great courage. This place continued in the possession of the two sons of Roger de Montgomery: Hugh, who was slain in Anglesey, and that mon∣ster of cruelty Robert, surnamed de Belesme; who, after various struggles, was at length obliged to surrender this place, his

honors, and all his mighty possessions, into the hands of his sovereign, Henry I. As soon as it became a royal fortress, the lands and demesnes, which followed it, were parceled out into serjeanties for its defence. Thus Robert, the son of Adam de Leyton, was obliged by his tenure to continue in this castle fifteen days, cum una balista, with one cross-bow; and William de Wichard held the manor of Cold Hatton, to keep ward in this castle, at his own expence, twenty days, in time of war, cum uno equo, lorica, capello ferreo, et lancea. The constables were usu∣ally men of the first note; and very often it was committed to the care of the sheriff of the county. After it had been dis∣mantled in the civil wars, it was granted by Charles II. to Francis lord viscount Newport, afterwards earl of Bradford. In our times, it got into the hands of Pulteney earl of Bath, and is now in those of William Pulteney, Esq

THE first attempt towards the walls of this town, was made by Robert de Belesme; who, to defend it against the king's forces, then marching against him, drew a wall from each side of the castle across the isthmus to the water-side. One is still remaining, and, as I have been informed, terminated with a square tower: both these walls are preserved in Speed's plan of the place. The town was not defended by walls till the year 1219; when Henry III. strongly urged the inhabitants to con∣sider of some means of defence against an enemy. At first he made them a grant of various small tolls; but at length, find∣ing those insufficient, was obliged to assist them: but the work went on so slowly, that they were not completed in less than thirty-two years. The town was paved in the next reign, by the assistance of certain customs granted for that purpose.

IN almost every part, the original walls were at a distance from the river. Those on the south-east side of the town are kept in good repair, and form pleasant but interrupted walks, by reason of flights of steps. Those on the north-west side are entirely covered with houses. Beneath them is a narrow field, extending from the School to the Welsh Bridge; along the verge of which, close to the river, in 1645, was built another wall, called Rowshill wall: the materials of which are said to have been brought from Shrawardine castle.

THERE are many historical evidences of the antiquity of the town. It had been, for many ages, the capital of Powis-land, and the seat of the princes. Brochmail Yscithroc, who lived about the year 607, is said to have had his palace on the spot where St. Chad's church now stands The Welsh called it Pen-Gwern, or the Head of the Alder-groves; and Ymwithig, or the Delight, I suppose, of our princes. The period in which the town arose, is not certainly known; but it is supposed to have been on the ruin of the Roman Uriconium, the Vreken Ceaster of the Saxons, and the modern Wroxeter, a small village, about four miles from hence, upon the Severn; where may be still seen a large fragment of the antient wall.

IN the time of Edward the Confessor, Scrobbes Byrig, as the Saxons called it, was a considerable place. At that period there were two hundred and fifty-two houses, and the burgesses paid yearly 7l. 16s. 8d. in excise. Whenever the king lay in the town, twelve of the chief inhabitants kept watch about his per∣son; and if he came there to hunt, the better sort of burgesses,

who kept horses, rode armed as his guard, and the sheriff sent thirty-six footmen for their support, while the king was resident among them. When the king left the town, the sheriff sent twenty-four horses to Lenteurde, to conduct him to the first stage in Staffordshire.

WHEN the sheriff went against the Welsh, which he had fre∣quent occasion of doing, it was customary to summon thirty-six men at Marseteley park, to give their service for eight days. Those who neglected to go, forfeited forty shillings.

THE king had here three masters of the mint, who, like the other coiners of the county, were obliged to pay him twenty shillings at the end of fifteen days, while the money was out of the mint, and while it was current. The town paid in all twenty pounds yearly: the king had two-thirds, the sheriff one. As soon as the Norman reign commenced, it paid to its new earl forty pounds.

THE first charter extant (for that of Henry I. is lost) was one in 1189, from Richard I. It confirms all its antient customs and privileges; for which the town was to pay forty marks in silver, including ten for the purpose of providing a brace of hunters for the royal personage. It likewise grants to the burgesses the town and all its appurtenances, which had been seized by Henry I. on the forfeiture of Earl Robert. King John, in 1199, enlarged their charter, permitting the citizens to elect two substantial discreet persons of their body as bailiffs for the government of the town; and that the common-council might chuse four others, to determine all pleas of the crown in the corporation, and to be a check on the bailiffs themselves. Various other charters, with additional privileges, were granted by succeeding princes,

till Queen Elizabeth made it a body corporate; and Charles I. confirmed and enlarged her royal charter. It now consists of a mayor, twenty-four aldermen, and forty-eight assistants, who are called the common-council. They have also a recorder; two chamberlains, annually chosen by the mayor, aldermen, and assistants; a steward, a sword-bearer, and three serjeants at mace.

THIS town sent members from the beginning. The right of voting rests in burgesses living in the town, and paying to church and poor, according to a resolution of the house in 1709; but in 1714, it was resolved that foreign burgesses had a right to vote.

THERE is in this town no manufacture considerable enough to merit mention; but it draws very great profit from those of Montgomeryshire. This place is the chief mart for them. About 700,000 yards of Welsh webs, a coarse kind of woollen cloth, are brought here annually, to the Thursday market; and bought up and dressed, that is, the wool is raised on one side, by a set of people called Shearmen. At this time only forty are em∣ployed; but in the time of Queen Elizabeth the trade was so great, that not fewer than six hundred maintained themselves by this occupation. The cloth is sent chiefly to America, to clothe the Negroes; or to Flanders, where it is used by the pea∣sants.

FLANNELS, both coarse and fine, are brought every other Monday (except when fairs intervene) to Welsh Pool; and are chiefly consumed in England, to the amount of about 7 or

800,000 yards. The Shrewsbury drapers go every market to Welsh Pool, for the sake of this commerce.

THE disposition of the streets in Shrewsbury is extremely irre∣gular, as is the case with all antient towns not of Roman origin. Many of the buildings are old; but the modern buildings are in general scattered in various places.

THE free-school stands near the castle, in a broad handsome street. It was founded by Edward VI. in 1552; who endowed it with tithes, at that time amounting to 20l. 8s. and empower∣ed the bailiffs, burgesses, and their successors, to appoint one schoolmaster, and one under-schoolmaster; and, with the con∣sent of the bishop of Lichfield, to frame statutes for its govern∣ment. Queen Elizabeth added considerably to the endowments, so that at present the revenues are very large. The build∣ing was originally of wood; but in 1595, a beautiful and ex∣tensive edifice of stone arose in its place, which contains the school, houses for the masters, and a library filled with a va∣luable collection of books, and several curiosities; among them are three large sepulchral stones, discovered by ploughing at Wroxeter.

The first has on its summit a pine-cone between two lions, and beneath the pediment, a rose. The first is taken from the Picea, what Pliny calls Feralis Arbor, expressive of the me∣lancholy subject, and not infrequent on memorials of this kind. Such was the great brass cone, five yards high, which stood on the top of the mausoleum of Adrian, now the tower of St. Angelo,

and is still preserved in the garden of the Belvedere The in∣scription denotes the death of C. MANNIVS SECUNDUS, of the town of Pollentia, a Beneficiarius or veteran in the xxth legion, who had served his time, and was called again into service by the entreaties of a chief legate.

THE second stone has on the upper part a human face, two dolphins, and two serpents. Beneath are three pannels. In the first is commemorated, by her husband, Placida, aged fifty-five, and thirty years his wife. In the next is an inscription to Deuccus, a boy fifteen years old, son to the same person: Cur. agente patre. The third pannel is a blank; so it is probable (as was hinted to me by a most ingenious friend) that the man, who had erected this monument, designed to have been buried in the same place with his wife and son; but dying elsewhere, this pannel remains unfilled.

The third stone is inscribed to M. Petronius, signifer, or standard-bearer to the Legio quatuor decima gemina, or the four∣teenth double legion; or a legion in which two had been formed into one. As this legion never was in Britain, the learned Dr. Ward† guesses, that Petronius only came for his health, and died here.

A PRETTY wooden model of a hypocaust, discovered at the same place with the stones, is also preserved here.

THE public buildings of this town are not of note sufficient to be mentioned. Among the hotels of the great men of past time, Charlton-house, now the theatre, was the residence of

the Charltons, lords of Powys. This was probably founded by John de Charlton in 1326, when he fortified it by the permission of Edward II Vaughan Place is another antient house, the property of John Mytton of Halston, Esq derived from the mar∣riage of his ancestor Reginald Mytton, about the year 1376, with Elinor, sole heiress Haymon, son of Sir Thomas Vaughan† of this town.

The infirmary was, within my memory, a private house. It was opened on April 25th 1747. Since that time, to June 24th 1782, have been admitted

• 14,040 in-patients; of which 8,453 were cured, 1,459 relieved.
• 17,693 out-patients; of which 13,234 were cured, 864 relieved.

The annual subscription of the last year amounted to £. 909.

Two bridges connect this peninsula with the country. The Welsh Bridge is a very antient structure, of six arches; with a very handsome embattled gateway at one end. On each side is a round tower, and over the entrance a statue of a prince in armour, ge∣nerally supposed to be intended for Richard duke of York; for beneath his feet is a rose-sprig, a device usual on the seals of that great prince‡ This probably was a favorite town of the Plantagenets; for Elizabeth, queen to Edward IV. found an asylum here during her husband's contests for the crown; and here was delivered of her second son, Richard duke of York, and her third, George duke of Bedford‖ This was not the original site of the statue; it having been fixed here after it had been removed from another place in 1695 § At the Welsh end of the

bridge formerly stood another tower of great strength, calculated to repel the inroads of my countrymen.

ON an eminence above Frankwel, a suburb beyond the bridge, stands Millington's hospital, a handsome brick building, founded in 1734, by the will of Mr. James Millington of this town, Drapier. It maintains twelve poor housekeepers of Frankwel (single persons) and a charity-school for twenty boys and twenty girls of the same district, if to be found there; and if not, to be taken out of the nearest part of the parish of St. Chad: there to be instructed, and fitted for trades suitable to their stations; to have prayers constantly read, morning and evening, on school-days, (for which the chaplain is to have twenty pounds a year); and finally, they are to be decently cloathed twice a year. The poor housekeepers are to receive 3l. 10s. a year apiece, a load of coal, and a new coat, or gown, annually. These poor people are to be, on vacancy, elected out of ten others, properly qualified; who, till their election, are to receive likewise, annually, a new coat, or gown, apiece. Mr. Millington besides founded in Magdalen college, Cambridge, two exhibitions of forty pounds a year for two scholars, to be elect∣ed from his grammar-school; and when in orders, one of them is to be elected chaplain of the school, in the room of the cler∣gyman who happens not to be so qualified, and who must, in that case, resign. The founder was a true churchman; for all dis∣senters, and all persons not truly orthodox, are to be excluded.

THE new bridge is on the side of the town, and is a very handsome building, of seven arches. It was begun in 1769, and built by subscription, under the direction of Mr. Gwyn, architect, a native of Shrewsbury. This succeeded a very an∣tient

and incommodious narrow bridge, with the usual obstruc∣tion, a gateway. It consisted, in the time of Leland, of four arches, besides the draw-bridge It formerly was called the East bridge, and the Stone bridge.

NOT far from hence, on the side of the river, stood the great mitred abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, founded in 1083 by Roger earl of Shrewsbury, and his countess Adelissa. It was built on the site of a timber church, erected by Siward; who exchanged it, and probably the ground about it, with the earl for the village of Langafielda; which Siward, at his death, bequeathed to the new foundation. It was peopled with Benedictine monks from Seez, in Normandy, who arrived hungry and naked. Roger himself, with the permission of his lady, was shorn, and became a monk of his own abbey, and enriched it with the coat of St. Hugh, of the monastery of Cluni; which he sometimes wore himself as a most precious relique. He endowed the house largely, and encouraged every body who held under him to do the same. Among the after endowments, I smile at these good men receiving from earl Hugh the tithe of all the venison in Shropshire, except such which ranged in the woods of Wenlock. The founder died in 1094, and was interred here, as was his son Hugh, slain in Anglesey. Fulcheredus, a man of great elo∣quence, was first abbot. Robert, the fourth abbot, whom Mr. William Mytton names Pennant, procured with infinite difficulty, and, as I have in p. 47 related, enriched the abbey with the re∣liques of St. Wenefrede, and enshrined them, much to the emo∣lument of his house. William Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, by will dated August 8, 1437, ordered

foure images of gold,

everich of them of the weight of twenty pounds of gold, to be made after my similitude, with myn arms, holding an ancre between his hands,

to be presented to the shrines of four different churches; one of which was to be that of St. Wenefrede in Shrewsbury. I have, in vol. i. p. 34, of my Tour, given an account of the fraternity established here in honor of the saint, about the year 1396. Thomas Butler was last abbot. At the dissolution, Dr. Lee, and Master Henly, were sent down. They convened the abbot and monks to the chapter-house; caused some deeds to be signed with the common seal of the house, then ordered an officer to break it, and declared the convent to be dissolved† Butler was allowed a pension of eighty pounds a year, and lesser sums to the monks‡ The revenues at the dissolution are reckoned by Dugdale at only 132l. 4s. 10d. Speed, with more probability, says they were 515l. 4s. 3d. The site was granted by Henry VIII. to Edward Watson, and Henry Herdson‖ Queen Elizabeth made the church parochial. This church was called St. Crux, or the Holy Cross, in the abbey of Shrewsbury, and still retains the name.

IN so great a length of time the church underwent great alte∣rations. Some of the round arches are to be seen within, and some of the doors are of the same species of architecture; most of the other parts are more modern. The west window is an elegant piece of sharp-pointed Gothic, and above is a statue. The tomb of the founder is preserved in the church; on which is represented his figure in mail and a mantle, and in the at∣titude of drawing his sword.

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IN the garden is a most beautiful stone pulpit, open on all sides. I refer the reader to the print as the best description.

THE Grey Friers, or Franciscans, had a house a little to the south of the new bridge, not far from the town-walls. It was founded on the motion Hawyse, daughter of Owen ap Gryffydd, prince of Powys, and wife to John Charleton, lord of Powys Charleton died in the year 1353; Hawyse before him, and was interred in this convent. At the dissolution it was granted to Richard Andrews and Nicholas Temple. The remains are fi••••ed up into a private house.

A LITTLE farther is that beautiful walk the Quarry, border∣ing on the river, and planted with rows of trees. It is the property of the corporation, and the pasturage part let to the inhabitants, and the profits distributed to the burgesses. In 1569 this ground was set to three persons for ten years, for the annual acknowlegement of a red rose, on condition they brought water in leaden pipes, as high as it would run, for the use of the town, from Brodwel near Crow Meole; which was effected in 1579.

ON a lofty bank, opposite to these walks, is seated the Orphan-house, a fine brick building, with thirteen windows in front, and two small wings. It was begun in 1760, and designed to receive part of the foundlings from the great hospital in London. They were first to have been put out to nurse in the neighborhood, and at a proper age to have been brought into the house, and under proper masters and mistresses to be taught such arts as would make them useful members of society. On the decline of the capital hospital, this great building became useless and is at present no more than a place of confinement for prisoners of war.

BEYOND the quarry, close to the river, stood the house of Augustine friers. Leland says, it was founded by one of the Staffords; and that several persons of note, slain in the battle of Shrewsbury, were interred here, and in the church of the Black friers. The friers of this house lay under a very bad fame; it is even said, that a neighboring lane took its name from their noc∣turnal amours. Dr. Powel seems to think, that the celebrated Incubi were nothing more than mendicant friers; who might encourage the notion, in order to remove scandal from them∣selves, and their religious paramours. Hi, says the zealous an∣notator, Incubi daemones ita religiosas virgines illis diebus opprime∣bant, ut nulla eos crucis signatio, nec aqua benedicta, nec ipsum cor∣poris CHRISTI sacramentum, abigere valeret†.

The house of the Black friers, or Dominicans, stood near St. Mary's, Water Lane. It is said that Richard, a burgess of this town, by the king's licence, built them a church in 1264; but the foundation of the friery is ascribed to Maud Lady Genevil, wife of Jeffry Lord Genevil, who lived in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. They had confirmation of what they held here from Edward III. and likewise were permitted to make an aqueduct in the ground belonging to their house.

MOST of the parochial churches are of great antiquity. That of St. Chad was probably founded by the Saxons soon after the expulsion of the Welsh. At the Conquest it was found to be col∣legiate, and to have a dean and ten prebendaries. In 1393 the old church was burnt down by the carelesseness of a workman. The fellow seeing the mischief he had done, ran home, put some

money in his pocket, and attempting to escape, was drowned in fording the river, near the stone bridge. In this church is the monument of Richard Onslow and his wife, with their figures recumbent: he dressed in a bonnet and gown. This gentle∣man was of the law; was twice member for Steyning in Sussex, and was ancestor to the honorable Arthur Onslow, speaker of the house of commons, and the present Lord Onslow. The former, in 1742, paid such respect to his memory as to cause this me∣morial of him to be repaired. Richard Onslow died of a pesti∣lential fever in 1571.

ST. MARY'S, and St. Alcmund's, are remarkable for their hand∣some spire steeples. The first is said to have been founded by King Edgar; the last, by the heroine Elfleda†: each of them had been collegiate. But the church which is said to be the most antient, is that of St. Giles, seated at the skirt of the sub∣urbs, beyond the abbey. It is small, and only remarkable for the vast size of one side of the roof. It had the honor of receiving the bones of St. Wenefrede before they were deposited in the shrine in the abbey. It is called in Doomsday book, the parish of the city‡; which gives it stronger clame to antiquity than any of the others. It is now annexed to the church of the Holy Cross, or the abbey.

AMONG the more remarkable civil transactions may be rec∣koned the parlements held in this town. The first was sum∣moned formally by writ. By the first, the lords to appear on September 13th 1283; the second writ directed the commonal∣ty of every county to chuse two knights; the third, to the

cities and boroughs; the fourth, to the judges. At this august assembly was tried and condemned David, brother to Llewelyn, last prince of Wales: his perfidy to Edward, and his treasons to his country, before his reconciliation with his brother, ren∣dered him an object of detestation. Eleven earls, and an hun∣dred barons, were commissioned to try him, as a subject of England; for he had received from Edward a barony, and a considerable pension. He was the first who suffered the death of a traitor, in the form of the sentence now in use; which he underwent in its fullest extent.

ANOTHER parlement was held here in 1397; it was called the Great Parlement, on account of the number of people assem∣bled in it. Here the unfortunate Richard, by this obsequious senate, obtained a stretch of power unknown before; and, by a strange concession, obtained that the whole power of the nation should devolve on the king, twelve peers, and six commoners. The Pope's bull was thought necessary to confirm so irregular a proceeding†.

THE military transactions relative to this place were nume∣rous; but so brief, and so rapid, that I shun mention of all, except three. The first was the important battle on St. Magda∣lene's eve, July 22d 1403, which is best known by the name of that of Shrewsbury, between Henry IV. and the brave Henry Percy, surnamed Hotspur. It was the design of the northern insurgents to make themselves masters of this town, and here to strengthen their forces by a junction with the great Glyndwr and his countrymen. They made rapid marches through Lich∣field

and Stafford; but the active Henry, stimulated by the advice of the earl of Dunbar, a Scotch nobleman, then in his army, ad∣vanced with a speed which saved his crown, and proved the destruction of his enemies. He flung himself into Shrewsbury, as some assert, at the instant that the insurgents were going to scale the walls. He immediately quitted the town, and en∣camped before the gates. The high spirit of Percy would not suffer him to wait till the arrival of Glyndwr, who was no farther dis∣tant than Oswestry: so that only four thousand of the Welsh were able to join the northern forces. Percy sent that night Thomas Kaiton and Thomas Salvaigne, two of his esquires, with a most reproachful manifesto, concluding, in the romantic manner of the times, with hurling defiance in his teeth.

WE defy thee, thy fautoures and compliers, as common traytours, and de∣stroyers of the realme, and the invadours, oppressours, and confounders of the verie true and right heyres to the crowne of Englande; which thing we entende with our handes to prove this daie, Almyghty GOD helpyng us†

THE fight began early in the morning, and very near to the town; for the spirited Percy had made his advances much sooner and nearer than the king expected. The onset was made in Oldfield, or Bulfield, at a small distance beyond a little brook, north of the north-gate; and the battle raged towards Berwick‡, and as far as what is now called Battlefield. Let the old historians paint the conflict in their plain but animated language.

THE kyng perceivyng that the battayll was nerer than he

either thoughte or loked for, leaste that long tarryinge mighte be a minishyng of his strength, set his battayles in good ordre; likewyse did his enemies, whiche bothe in puissaunce and courage were nothing to hym inferior. Then sodaynly the trumpets blewe: the kynges parte cried St. George upon them; the adversaries cried Esperaunce Percie; and so furiously the armies joined. The Scottes, whiche had the forwarde on the lordes side, intending to bee revenged of their old displeasures done to them by the Englishe nation, set so fiersely on the kynges forward, that they made them drawe backe, and had almoste broken their arraie. The Welshemen also, whiche sithe the kynges departure out of Wales, had lurked and lien in wooddes, mountaignes, and marshes, heringe of this battayl towarde, came to the aide of the earles, and refreshed the wery people with new suc∣cours. When a fearful messenger had declared to the kynge that his people were beaten doune on every side, it was no nede to bid him stirre; for sodaynly he approched with his freshe battaill, and comforted, hartened, and encouraged his part so, that they toke their hartes to theim, and manly fought with their enemies. The Prince Henry that daie holpe muche his father; for thoughe he were sore wounded in the face with an arowe, yet he never ceased, either to fyghte where the battaill was moste strongest, or to courage his men where their hartes was most danted. This greate battaill continued thre longe houres with indifferent fortune on bothe partes. That at last the kyng, crying SAINCT GEORGE, VICTORY! brake the arraie, and entered into the battaill of his enemies; and fought fiersely, and adventured

so farre into the battaill, that the Earl Douglas strake him downe, and slewe Sir Walter Blonte, and three other, ap∣pareled in the kynges suite and clothyng, saying, I marvaill to see so many kynges s sodainly arise again. Others say, that the earl of Dunbar withdrew the kynge from the place that hee flood in; which was a good turne for him; for the aforesaid Henry Percy, and E. Dowglas (then whom was never man more stout) raged so that the K. standert was overthrowne, and those about it slaine; among whom was slaine Edmund E. of Stafford, Sir Walter Blunt, the K. standert-bearer, Sir Nicholas Langford, Sir John Co∣kayne, Sir John Calverley, Sir John Massy, baron of Podington, with manie other knights and gentlemen

According to Halle's account, the kynge hymself slewe with his hande, that day, xxxvii persones of his enemies.

The other of his parte encouraged by his doynges, foughte valiauntly, and slewe the Lord Percie, called Sir Henry Hotspurre, the best capetain on the parte adverse. When his death was knowen, the Scottes fled, the Welshmen rann, the traitours were overcome. Then neither wooddes letted, nor hilles stopped the fearfull hartes of them that were vanquished to flie; and in that flighte the Erle Douglas, which for hast falling from the cragge of a mountaigne (Haghmond Hill.) was taken; and, for his vali∣auntness, of the kynge frely and frankely delivered. On the kynges part were slain xvi c. persones, and above v thousand on the other; and as to the Scottes, few or none escaped alive†.

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THE body of gallant Percy was found among the slain, and delivered to Thomas Nevil, Lord Furnival, to be interred; but the next day the king ungenerously ordered it to be taken up, placed between two mill-stones in Shrewsbury, and guarded by armed men; after which he caused it to be beheaded and quar∣tered, and hung in different parts of the kingdom.

HENRY, after slaughtering five thousand people in his bad cause, most piously returned thanks to the Giver of all victo∣ries; and erected, or permitted to be erected, on the spot pro∣bably stained with most blood, the collegiate church of Battle∣field, in the parish of Albrighton, about three miles from Shrews∣bury. The royal licence permits Roger Ive, rector of the chapel of Albright-Husee, to erect, on a piece of ground he had obtained from Richard Husee, a chapel, to be dedicated to St. Mary Mag∣dalene; of which the said Ives and his heirs were to be master. There was also to be five chaplains, who were to pray for the good state of the king while he lived, and after death, for his soul, and those of Richard Husee and Isolda his wife, and those of their heirs, and finally, for the souls of all that fell in battle on that fatal spot† Its clear revenues at the dissolution were 54l. 1s. 10d ‡.

THE church had been a small but handsome building of stone, with a tower steeple. The west part is unroofed; but the chancel is neatly fitted up, and serves as a chapel to the parish of Albrighton. Over the outside of the east window is the statue of Henry IV. armed, and crowned. In the windows is some painted glass with several arms, chiefly of the Corbets, to

whom the place belongs; among them are those of Richard Corbet, who died bishop of Norwich in 1635. It appears by the arms of the see of Oxford joined with his own, that he enjoyed that see when they were painted. He was a celebrated poet, as well as an eloquent preacher; which recommended him so greatly to James I. that he made him one of his chaplains, and in 1620 bestowed on him the deanery of Christ-church.

IN August 1485 the town made some shew of resisting the pas∣sage of the earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII. in his way to meet Richard III. and give him battle. My authority says, that

The head bailey, Maister Myttoon, being stoute royste gentil∣man, on demand being made of entrance; answered, sayinge, that he knew no kynge but only Kynge Richard, whose lyffe∣tenants he and hys fellows were; and before he should entir there, he should go over hys belly, meaninge thereby, that he would be slayne to the ground, and that he protested vehementlye on the othe he had tacken; but on better ad∣vice, Maister Myttoon permitted the kynge to pass; but to save hys othe, the sayd Myttoon lay alonge the grounde, and hys belly upwardes, and soe the sayd erle stepped over hym, and saved his othe†

IT is affirmed that Henry brought with the army which landed in Wales, that dreadful pestilence, the sweating sickness, or Su∣dor Anglicanus, which for above sixty years after infested this kingdom, at different periods. In many places it swept away

a third of the people. It begun with a sweat, which never left the patient till it destroyed him, or rill he recovered. It had many of the symptoms of the plague; restlessness, anxiety, sick∣ness, ravings, drowsiness, faintness, palpitations; but it never was attended with eruptive spots, buboes, or carbuncles, attend∣ant on the other scourge of heaven. It always began with the affection of one part, the sense of a hot vapor running through the whole limb. The crisis never exceeded twenty-four hours; Dr. Caius, on that account, calls it Ephemera Britannica: but oftener death ensued in three or ten. There were places in which scarce one in a hundred escaped infection. Towards the latter end of the visitation the malignancy abated; for in 1528, out of forty thousand who were seized in London, only two thousand died. The patient was to wait the event, just as he happened to be seized, whether in bed or in his cloaths. It is a mistake to suppose, as many have done, that it was a disease peculiar to England, and that Englishmen only, let them have been where they would, were seized with it. It certainly origi∣nated neither in England, nor among Englishmen; but among the foreign levies of the duke of Richmond, raked out of hospitals and jails, and buried in filth, and crowded on board the transports, so as naturally to generate a distemper among sub∣jects so admirably pre-disposed Let me add, that it ended in this town in 1551; but not with that mildness as was observed in the later visitations in other places: for not fewer than nine hundred and ninety died in a few days†.

IN the civil wars of the last century Shrewsbury was garrisoned by the king, many of the works greatly strenthened, and a strong sort erected above Frankwell, to prevent the town being commanded from the adjacent heights. Sir Michael Earnly was left governor, and Captain Crowe lieutenant of the castle. Ge∣neral Mytton, who lay with a small garrison at Wem, and was re∣presentative for this town, determined to surprise it. He made two unsuccessful attempts; but on February 21st, 1644, with such forces as he could collect, he renewed his enterprize. He sent the foot along the Severn side, and by the help of some carpenters, who cut down the palisades between the castle and the river, formed an entrance. Forty dismounted troopers scaled the walls in a low part near the council-house, supported by the mus∣queteers, and three hundred and fifty foot surprised the main-guard in the market-place, and killed the captain. The castle fore-gate was next secured, and the draw-bridge let down for the admittance of the horse. At one in the afternoon the castle was surrendered, on condition that the Irish should be given up, and the English march to Ludlow. Crowe was soon after hanged for his treachery, or cowardice. The governor, and great numbers of people of rank in the county, were taken prisoners; and the town was plundered, notwithstanding the general had offered his soldiers a great bounty to forbear all acts of violence. Much booty was found in the town, a considerable magazine, and the baggage belonging to Prince Maurice. Mytton was made governor of the town, and re∣ceived the thanks of the house for his good services.

I DETERMINED to conclude my tour by a journey to Caer Caradoc, a post of the celebrated British hero Caractacus. I

went over the new bridge; passed by Condover, a remarkably handsome and commodious house for its time, built by Sir Tho∣mas Owens, who died in 1598, one of the judges in the King's-bench It is seated at the edge of a fine park; from which are variety of beautiful views. This place passed to my eldest maternal uncle Richard Mytton of Halston, Esq by virtue of his marriage with Miss Owen, heiress of the place. The eldest of the two daughters of the match conveyed it by marriage to the late Sir Charlton Leighton; and it is now possessed by Nicholas Smythe, Esq in right of his wise, Anna Maria, daughter to Sir Charlton.

NOT far from Condover is Pitchford, the seat of Adam Ottley, Esq an antient and venerable timber house, with a hall suitably furnished with helmets, cuirasses, and broad swords. Here is preserved a portrait of my respected predecessor in the line of natural history, FRANCIS WILLUGHBY, Esq painted in 1659, at the early age of thirteen, when he was a member of Trinity college, Cambridge. His complexion is very fair, his hair very long and flaxen; he has a book in his hand; is dressed in the academic habit, and has on a very large turnover. He was heir to the magnificent house of Wollaton near Nottingham. After passing his short but amiable life in instructive travels, and the study of nature, and at the time of meditating a voyage to explore the productions of the new world, he was snatched, in 1672, at the age of thirty-seven, by a fatal pleurisy.

NEAR the house is a most remarkable pond, which flings up in hot weather a vast quantity of strong bitumen, greatly resembling

pitch, which gives name to the place. It serves all the uses of that commodity; and an oil, most efficacious in many disorders, has been for a considerable time past extracted from it.

NEAR the eight mile-stone from Shrewsbury, I reached Long∣nor, the house of my respected old friend Joseph Plymley, Esq Near it is Longnor Hall, the seat of Robert Corbet, Esq be∣queathed to him by his relation, the late Sir Richard Corbet, Bart. It is a good brick house, built in 1670 by Sir Richard, a predecessor of the late owner. It is seated in a pretty vale, and commands a fine view of Caer Caradoc, and Lawly Hill. The portrait of the founder is in the house. He had been chairman of the committee of elections in the reign of Charles II. and died aged 43, in 1683.

HERE is an admirable portrait of Margaret, widow of James earl of Salisbury, and daughter of John earl of Rutland; the countenance dejected, but extremely beautiful. She is dressed in very picturesque weeds: a three-quarters, by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

HER daughter, Lady Margaret, first married to Lord Stawel, afterwards to Lord Ranelagh: extremely beautiful; an half-length, by the same hand. A portrait of this lady is among the beauties at Hampton Court: a picture of her husband is in this house.

LADY Mildred, youngest daughter of Margaret countess of Salisbury, and wife to Sir Uvedale Corbet, son of Sir Richard, is painted in half-length; a fine spirited figure. Here is also a very pleasing picture of her daughter Elizabeth, painted in France, by Le Garde. She died unmarried, of a cancer in her breast, in 1724, and was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster;

and had the honor of an epitaph by Mr. Pope inscribed on her tomb.

AMONG other pictures, is a most exquisite one, by an un∣known hand, of our SAVIOUR raising Lazarus. Two persons support the body; one is exerting all his strength, the other seems at the moment sensible of the returning life of the object of the miracle. Amazement appears in various forms in the spectators: in some is a fulness of conviction, mixed with wonder and thanksgiving; in others, surprize unmixed with any other passion: but in a high-priest appears a high degree of vexa∣tion. The body is a fine composition, of the re-animation of putridity.

A LARGE picture of St. Peter denying our Lord, is a fine per∣formance, by Gerard Honthurst: confusion of face, fear, and consciousness of falsehood, are strongly expressed in the visage of the frail apostle; which seems perceived by a girl, who is (with a candle in her hand) questioning him, and in whose countenance are the strongest marks of her being convinced of the falseness of his asseverations.

FROM this vale I formerly visited Acton Burnel, about three miles distant, the seat of its respectable owner Sir Edward Smythe, Baronet; whose family came possessed of it in the 1st of Charles II. Not far from the house is the castle; a square build∣ing, with a square tower at each corner. Its founder, or perhaps restorer, was Robert Burnel, bishop of Bath and Wells, treasurer, and afterwards chancellor of England; who in 1292 was sent to the marches of Scotland, where he was employed on no less an

affair than to demand of the Scots, what they had to object to the clame of his master to the right and exercise of the superiority and direct dominion over their kingdom In this office he died, and was carried to be interred in his cathedral at Wells. He was of a very antient family, dignified with barons, or knights, from the time of the Conquest; but he had acquired great wealth, which he laid out with true munificence. By certain monuments with the arms of the family, in the church of Burnel in Normandy, it is supposed that they came originally from that country. The castle was honored by a session of parlement in 1284: the lords sate in the fortress, the commons in a great barn, the gable ends of which are still to be seen. The Statutum de Mercatoribus, enacted here, is, from the place, known by the name of the statute of Acton Burnel. It is probable that it was by the influence of the prelate, that his habitation was so distinguished.

HIS successor in the castle was Sir Edward Burnel, who served in many actions in Scotland, under Edward I. and appeared with great splendor. He was always attended with a chariot decked with banners; on which, as well as on the trappings of his horses, were depicted his arms. He married Alice, daughter of Lord Despenser, by whom he had no issue. On his decease, in 1315, his sister Maud became sole heir. She married first John Lord Lovel of Tichemersh, surnamed The Rich; he died in 1335. Her second husband was John de Handlow, who died in 1346, and left by her one son, named Nicholas Lord Burnel, the subject of much contest in the court of chivalry with a Robert de Morley, on account of the arms which Nicholas bore, in right of cer∣tain lands of the barony of Burnel, bestowed on him by his mother. These arms de Morley had assumed without any just pretence; but because, as he declared,

it was his will and pleasure so to do, and that he would defend his so doing.

Probably he had no arms of his own, having been the first of his family who had appeared in a military capacity. He had served as esquire to Sir Edward Burnel, without any other domestic than one boy; and ever since the death of his master assumed the arms in dispute. It happened that they both were at the fiege of Calais, under Edward III. in 1346, arrayed in the same arms. Nicholas Lord Burnel, challenged the arms as belong∣ing to the Burnels only, he having at that time under his com∣mand a hundred men, on whose banners were his proper arms. Sir Peter Corbet, then in his retinue, offered to combat with Robert de Morley in support of the right which his master had to the arms; but the duel never took place, probably because the king denied his assent. The suit was then referred to the court of chivalry, held on the sands before Calais, before Wil∣liam Bohun, earl of Northampton, high constable of England, and Thomas Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, earl marshal. The trial lasted several days; when Robert, apprehending that the cause would go against him, took an opportunity, in presence of the king, to swear by God's flesh, that if the arms in question were adjudged from him, he never more would arm himself in the king's service. On this the king, out of personal regard for the signal services he had performed in those arms, and consi∣dering the right of Nicholas Lord Burnel, was desirous to put an end to the contest with as little offence as possible. He

therefore sent the earl of Lancaster, and other lords, to Nicholas, to request that he would permit Robert de Morley to bear the arms in dispute for the term of his life only; which Nicholas, out of respect to the king, assented to. The king then directed the high constable, and earl marshal, to give judgment accor∣dingly. This they performed in the church of St. Peter, near Calais; and their sentence was immediately proclamed by a herald, in the presence of the whole army there assembled.

ROBERT de Morley was seized with his last illness in Burgundy, in the year 1360, when the English army was on its return from the blockade of Paris. Feeling the approach of death, he di∣rected that his banner, with the arms of Burnel, should, upon his decease, be delivered to Nicholas Lord Burnel, in pursuance of the judgment before passed in the court of chivalry; and ac∣cordingly his banner-bearer, having in his hands the banner rolled up, delivered it to Lord Burnel, in presence of numbers of the nobility, convened as witnesses of the ceremony. Lord Burnel died in the year 1382, and was interred in Acton Burnel church, under an altar tomb, with a brass inlaid in it of the figure of an armed man, and a brass label, inscribed, Hic jacet Dominus Nich Burnel, miles, dominus de Holgot, qui ob. 12⁰ die Jan. A.D. 1382. Cujus animae propitietur Deus. Amen.

AMONG the witnesses in this cause were several lords and knights, and many very antient people, some of them above a hundred years of age; one of a hundred and forty, and one of a hundred and twenty, probably of Shropshire, as may be collect∣ed from their names, and the testimony they gave relative to the descents of the Burnels, and several private affairs of the family,

which were likely to be best known in the neighborhood of their residence.

FROM Longnor I visited Caer Caradoc. After a ride of about three miles, I fell accidentally on the steepest ascent, and, after a laborious clamber up a green and smooth ascent, now and then mixed with small fragments of lava, I reached the summit, impeded a little by the first ditch and rampart, in a place where, from the exceeding steepness, they seemed totally unnecessary. A little higher is the second ditch, with a vast agger of stones, now sodded over. The area is irregular, of pretty considerable extent. On the more accessible side are three fosses and ram∣parts. The entrance and approach are very conspicuous, and may even at present be easily travelled on horseback. The area slopes upwards, and ends in a peak.

NOTWITHSTANDING this place is styled Caer Caradoc, it cer∣tainly was not that which was attacked by Ostorius, and so ad∣mirably described by Tacitus. It agrees only in this part of the description, which is common to most British posts, Hinc monti∣bus arduis, & si qua clementer accedi poterunt modum valli saxa praesiruit; but it wants the following, Et prasluebat amnis vada incerto. The learned editor of Cambden† places it at Gair Ditches, about three miles south of Clun, on the left of the road to Knighton; and gives, as I am informed, a faithful description of the trenches and ramparts. I never saw the place, therefore am uncertain on what river it stood, the fords of which were

such matter of difficulty. No such river is to be seen near the post I ascended; it therefore could not have been the spot on which our hero was defeated: yet it is highly probable that it had been a post occupied by him, and that it was named from that circumstance. It has from very remote times been tradi∣tionally considered as a strong hold of his; and, within no great number of years, a society of gentlemen, struck with ad∣miration of his virtue, met annually on the hill to celebrate his name in prose or verse. In one year a gentleman, distinguished as much by his modesty as his great ingenuity, inspired with the subject, almost instantly delivered the most brilliant part of the history of Caractacus† in the following lines; which, I flat∣ter myself, will relieve my long-suffering readers after the satiety of my Welsh pen, now hung up for ever.

ALL ROME was still, and nations stood at gaze; Forth came the mighty Chief august in chains, Unbroken, unsubdued; his dauntless brow Lost not it's conscious grandeur: round he look'd With steady glare, a lion in the toils; Yet, mindful of his fate, to Caesar's throne He bow'd majestic, and thus calmly spake: "Had moderation sway'd my prosp'rous days, "Rome had beheld me Caesar's guest and friend, "Nor blush'd; descended from a scepter'd race "That rul'd Britannia's independent isle "Beyond all annals of recording fame. "If Rome commands, must vassal worlds obey? "What, not resist! Who not defend their rights

"Deserve not. Cowards only should be slaves. "Yes, I had arms, and wealth, and friends, and fame. "What, tamely give them up? Disgrace indeed! "That I so long withstood your baffled pow'rs, "Forgive me, Roman Virtue, that offence. "Had I a cheap and easy conquest prov'd, "My ruin and your glory had been less. "Oblivion soon had veil'd my dastard name, "Unworthy Caesar's pity. Death or life "Are at his dread disposal. That, or This, "I neither fear to meet, nor scom to ask."

Yes, noble Captive, said the lord of Roms, Thy life is sacred, and thy freedom seal'd. My sole ambition, soaring high, requires. Amid my banners and triumphal arcs. To bear thy valiant country's glorious name. He spake, loud thund'ring acclamations rung, And shouts that tore the Capitol, proclaim'd Imperial mercy to the gallant foe. All eyes are fixt in wonder! Some admire His front erect, broad limbs, and martial port; All praise the unwearied valour that durst cope With Roman prowess, and well-nigh prevail'd. Not bold Jugurtha, nor the Syrian king, Nor Persius rest of Alexander's crown, Attracted more regard and gazing awe. E'en Claudius, in his radiant seat sublime, The world's great master, with his legions fierce, His glitt'ring eagles, all his trophied pomp And pride begirt, look'd little on his throne.

Brave CARADOC, applauded by thy foes, What shall thy friends, thy grateful Britons say? What columns, and what altars rear of fame? Thrice told five hundred courses of the sun, Thy age is green, thy laurels freshly bloom.

Yet on thy well-fought hill, whose stony brow O'erlooks the subject plains, the gen'rous youth Gladsome repair with annual flow'rs and song, And festal music, to record thy praise. O for more sparks of thy heroic fire! If aught regarding this dull orb of earth, Boils not thy rage, and thy great spirit chases, To see the rivals of all-conquering Rome, Thy hardy Britons, foil'd by tinsel France? Imagination, frowning, pictures thee With featur'd variations, scorn and shame. Heuries and Edwards thunderbolts of war, Where is the lion-heart, the sweeping sword, That purpled Agincourt's and Cressy's fields? Assit, inspire our host! But chiefly thou, The champion, guardian-genius of this isle, Hover around our tents; thy airy lance Direct, and spread thy visionary shield! Call, rouse thy countrymen! To arms, To arms. Ye antient Bards, ye mystic Druids, hail! Prophetic transport seizes me; I see, Tho' dim the prospect, from this craggy height Unrolling clouds that ope a beauteous scene Of joy and triumph. Hark! they shout.I see Britannia's Lion Gallia's ensign seize; Britannia's Trident vindicate the main, Her colours waving in Columbian skies Victorious. Peace returns, and Albion smiles. Proceed, ye Britons; lo! the kindled fire In this unwarlike breast! My veteran Muse Shall march along; in spirit-breathing strains Sound her Pierian trumpet, to awake Her sleeping country; in her laurel'd hand A chaplet bear to grace the victor's brow.

Notes

• A PHAROS.
• Plini•• Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvi. c. 12.
• NEWMARKET.
• Cor.
• Tour in Wales, i. 413.
• †

  Antiq. Cornwall, 131.
• GWAEN-YSKOR.
• LLANASA.
• Willi's St. Asaph, 56, App. No. xxi.
• GRONANT.
• Willis's St. Asaph, 65. App. No. xxxi. xxxii.
• PRESTATYN-CASTLE.
• Sebright's MSS.
• DISERTH CHURCH.
• Llwyd's Itin.
• CASTLE.
• †

  Powel, 307.
• ‡

  Same, 326.
• §

  Hengwrt, MS.
• ‖

  Llwyd's Itin. MS.
• SIR ROBERT POUNDERLING.
• Leland's Itin. vi. 23.
• †

  Tour in Wales.
• CWM CHURCH.
• ‡

  Mr. W. Mytton's Coll. Pedigrees.
• §

  Salusbury Pedigree, p. 68. b.
• Powel, 20.
• †

  Sax. ch. 65.
• CASTLE.
• Cambden, ii.
• †

  Powel, 100.
• ‡

  Order. Vital. 670.
• §

  Life of Gr. ap Kynan. SEBRIGHT MSS.
• Girald Cambr. Itin. 872.
• †

  Powel, 270.
• ‡

  Leicester, 142. This Earl of Chester held his earldom from 1182 to 1232.
• Ayl••ff's Rot. Wall••••••. 75.
• †

  Sebright MS.
• ‡

  Ret. Walha. 98.
• §

  Carte, II. 264.
• ‖

  Da••••ym••••••'s Anna's, II. 257.
• TAKEN BY GEN. MYTTON.
• Whitelock, 231.
• †

  Probably those which we have mentioned in the parish of Cwm, to which this maner might have extended; for Dissarch, or Diserth, adjoining to Cwm, is cited in Doomsday-Book as belonging to it.
• ‡

  Doomsday-Book.
• A BOROUGH.
• JTS PARLEMENT.
• See the Statuta Walliae passim.
• †

  Powel, 376.
• BRIDGE.
• GWINDY.
• CHURCH.
• Willis's St. Asaph, 159. Rot. Walliae, 92.
• †

  Rymer, ii. 292.
• Rot. Walliae. 90.
• †

  Sebright MSS.
• ‡

  Rymer, ii. 245, Willis's St. Asaph, 45.149.155.
• ST. ASAPH.
• SII.
• Matthew Paris, 642.
• CATHEDRAL.
• Sebright MSS.
• TOMBS.
• An old drawing of this, and some other antient Welsh monuments, were most obligingly presented to me, by that excellent antiquary, the Rev. Mr. William C••le, of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, near Cambridge; a gentleman, to whom I have been frequently indebted for variety of useful information.
• Viz. Holywell, Flintshire; Kevedoc, alias St. George, Denbighshire; Kin∣nersley, Oswestry, Knocking, Whittington, Selattin, Sal••p.
• PENCRAIG.
• DAFYDD DDU.
• Puller's Br. Worthies. Flintshire, p. 40.
• †

  Salusbury Pe••••gree, 17
• Willis's Not. Parliam. ii. part and. 25.
• †

  Hy••. Gwedir. 28.
• SIR JOHN SALUSBURY.
• I. SIR THOMAS.
• SIR HENRY.
• II. SIR THOMAS.
• Athen, Oxon. ii. 25.
• CATHERINE Y BERAIN.
• Powel, 350.
• Athen. Oxon. i. 284.
• †

  Sebright MSS.
• Myddelton Pedigree, MS.
• Fodina Regales. 32.
• †

  Myddelton Pedegree MS.
• HUMPHREY LLWYD.
• Grainger, i. 270. For the history of his works, see Athen. Oxon. i.
• †

  Prefixed to his Commentarioli Britannicae descriptionis fragmentum. 410 edit.
• R••tu••ae Walliae. 66.
• Sebright MSS.
• †

  The same.
• Secret Memoirs of Robert earl of Leicester, 89.
• †

  Strife's Annals, ii. 498.
• ‡

  Baron Price's Speech.
• GATES.
• Leland ITIN. v. 61.
• †

  Copied from Dr. Foulk's Papers, among Mr, Mytton's MSS.
• CHURCH.
• ‡

  Memoirs.
• Dr. Foulk's Papers.
• CASTLE.
• Dugdale Baron, ii. 241
• †

  Carte. ii. 775.
• BATTLE.
• ‡

  Whitelock, 179.
• SIEGE.
• Whitelock, 216.
• †

  The same, 226. For the Articles of Capitulation, see Appendix.
• PRIORY.
• ‡

  Collin's Baronets, Edit. 1720, i. 82.
• TRADE.
• CHARTER.
• Willis Notitiae Parliam. iii. 98.
• Drake's Parliam. Hist. iv. 396.
• ST. WINEFREDE.
• HER REMAINS TRANSLATED.
• This, and much more, may be seen in the Life of St. Winefrede, pp. 38, &c.
• †

  Antiquities of Shropshire, folio MS.
• YR HEN LLYS.
• Llwyd's Itin. i. 14. MS.
• RUDE TIMES.
• Llwyd's Itin. i. 16.
• †

  My Welsh Tour, i. 237.
• ‡

  Llwyd's Itin. i. 15.
• A common Welsh name.
• FINE VIEW.
• CHESNUT TREES.
• Sardibus eae provenere primum. Ideo apud Graecos, Sardianos balanos ap∣pellant. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xv. c. 23.
• RUTHIN.
• CASTLE.
• Llwyd's Itin. MS. iii. 61.
• †

  Rotulae Walliae, 66.
• ‡

  Rymer, iii. 157. iv. 137
• BURNT BY GLENDWR.
• CASTLE TAKEN BY MYTTON.
• †

  Drake's Parlement. Hist. xiv. 355.
• CHURCH.
• Cambden Middlesex, i, 385.
• Leland Itin. iii, 135.
• †

  Dugdale's Monast. iii. pars ii. 57.
• †

  Dugdale's Monast. iii. pars ii. 57.
• ‡

  The same.
• Willis Abbies, ii. 311.
• †

  Tanner, 708.
• ‡

  Itin, v. 45.
• JAIL.
• §

  Several of their portraits are preserved at Bathavarn, the seat of the reverend Mr. Carter.
• BRITISH POST.
• Mr. Thomas's MSS.
• Tour in Wales, i. 414.
• †

  Powel, 320.
• Life of Gr. ap Conan. Sebright MSS.
• †

  Salusbury Pedegree, 14.
• ‡

  Powel, 214.
• Lord LITTLETON, iv. 99.
• †

  He died in 1089.
• FFORD HELEN.
• CLOUD BERRIES.
• In Camden's Br. ii, 835.
• Flora Scotica, i. 267. tab. xiii.
• WATTER-FALL.
• CAER BONT.
• ST. DERFEL.
• Halle's Chr. ccxxxiii.
• †

  Stow's Annals, 573.
• J. D. Rhys's Grammar, 103.
• †

  Mr. Evan Evans's Notes.
• RHIWDAS.
• KNITTING.
• TOMMEN Y BALA.
• Sebright MSS.
• †

  Dugdale Baron ii 149.
• ‡

  Rotulae Walliae, 98, In P 97 is an order for him to have six stags out of the forest of Meirionith.
• LAKS.
• FISH.
• Sebright MSS.
• Powel, 258.
• THR DLF, SACRED
• †

  Cluverius Germ. Antiq. lib. i. 185.
• ‡

  Girald. Camb, Itin. c. xi.
• Ausonius Clarae Urbes, lin. 29.
• †

  Stanza 39, cant. xi, lib. iv.
• ‡

  Song x.
• Lycidas.
• †

  Edgar and Canute.
• KERRIG Y DRU∣IDION
• ‡

  II. 813.
• BARON PRICE.
• GLAN Y LLYN.
• CASTELL CORN∣DOCHON.
• LLAN∣UWCHLLYN.
• ARAN HI••••
• Fairy Queen, book I. canto ix.
• VALE OF MOWDDWY.
• TURF SLEDGES
• At this time the turberies lie at a great distance from the brow of the hill; the natives are therefore obliged to bring a horse by a round-about way to them, which assists in dragging the turf to the brink of the slope, where men supply its place.
• ST. TYDECHO.
• †

  Gywydd y DYDDECHO SANT yn amser MEALGWIN GWYNEDD; i. •••• the poem of St. Tydecho, who lived in the time of Malgwyn Gwynedd.
• DINAS MOWD∣DWY.
• OWNERS.
• PRIVILEGES.
• MALLWYD.
• CRUEL MURDER.
• OCHRE.
• Detested people, blue-marking earth, and rain.
• BWLCH OER-DDRWS.
• CONVENTION THERE.
• DOLGELLEU.
• CADER IDRIS.
• COLUMNS.
• HEIGHT.
• LLYS BRADWEN.
• Girald. Cambr. Dejer. Walliae, 888.
• †

  Anderson's Dict. Com, ii. 112.
• ANTIENT HOSPI∣TALITY.
• Giraldus, 888.
• ANTIENT MIN∣STRELSIE.
• TOWYN.
• Sebright MSS.
• CRAIG Y DERYN.
• TEBERRI CASTLE.
• Leland's Collect. i. 178.
• †

  Rotulae Walliae, 99.
• TAL Y LLYN.
• ‡

  Ecton, 499.
• SINGULAR COFFIN.
• †

  Llwyd's Itin. MS. Another instance is related in Cambden, ii. 793.
• LLAM Y LLA∣DRON.
• Leges Walliae, 221.
• LLYN Y TRI GRAIENYN.
• NANNEY.
• Tour in Wales, i. 324.
• †

  A Gentleman's Tour through Monmouthshire and Wales, in 1774, printed for T. Evans, 1775.
• CYMMER ABBEY.
• Sebright MSS.
• †

  Dugdale Monast. i. 826; who, as well as Tanner, confounds this with Cwmbir abbey, in South Wales.
• ‡

  Willis, ii. 313.
• CASTLE.
• §

  Powel, 183.
• RHAIADER DDU
• PISTILL Y MAW.
• BEDH PORUS.
• II. 791.
• SARN HELEN.
• †

  Rowland, 165.
• CASTELL PRYSOR.
• CROOKED PERCH.
• Br. Zool, iii. tab. xlviii.
• ROMAN CAMP.
• Cambden, ii, 790.
• OVAL INCLOSURE.
• BARMOUTH
• July 18th, 1770.
• FASTING WOMAN.
• She was living in 1780, and in the same state.
• †

  Harleian Miscel. iv. 41. 55. See London Magazine, 1762, p. 340, in which is another instance of long abstinence.
• EVANS THE CONJURER.
• In the life of Benevuto Cellini, is a most ridiculous tale of this nature.
• †

  J. D. Rhys Cambr. Brit. Ling. Institut. p. 60.
• ‡

  See Lilly's Life passim.
• CORS-Y-GEDOL.
• CRAIG Y DINAS.
• LLYN BODLYN.
• CIRCLES OF STONES.
• CARNEDDEU HENGWM.
• CASTELL DINAS CORTIN.
• CERNUNNOS.
• †

  Religion de Gaulois, ii. •• 85.
• CROMLECHS.
• DEWS ARDUDWY.
• SARN BADRIG.
• CWM BYCHAN.
• Numbers of respectable families in this country, are of the same descent.
• Da Costa's Fossils, i. 83.
• ANTIENT HUNTING.
• †

  Lewis's Hist, Wales, Introd. 56.
• Record of Caernarvon, Harl. MSS.
• See Leges Wallicae, xxxix. 256 to 260.
• HARLECH.
• Ayloff's Welsh Calendar, 92.
• †

  Dodderidge, 58.
• BESIEGED IN 1468
• ‡

  Gwedir Family, 77.
• §

  Cambden, ii, The road is to this day called Lle Herbert.
• Life of lord Herbert. 7, 8.
• †

  Carte, ii. 757.
• AND IN 1647.
• ‡

  Whitelock, 24••.
• In possession of Sir Roger Mostyn.
• TORQUES.
• †

  A little altered from the translation in Cambden, ii. 788.
• Propertius, lib. iv. eleg.
• †

  Livij, lib. xxxvi. c. 40.
• ‡

  Plin, lib. xxxiii. c. 2.
• CYTTI'ER GWYD∣DELOD.
• Mona Antiqua.
• †

  Antiq. Cornwal, 188. tab. xiv.
• ‡

  Suecia Antiqua, &c. tab. 322.
• Wormii Mon. Dan. 4.
• GLYN.
• LLAN-TEGWIN.
• VELYN RHYD.
• TAN Y BWLCH.
• The present earl of Radnor.
• FALLS OF THE CYNFAEL.
• CWM̄ORTHIN.
• BEDDAU GWYR ARDUDWY.
• LLYN CONWY.
• YSPYTTY.
• TOMBS.
• VOELAS.
• See the Poem addressed to him by Llywarch Brydydd y Moch, in Evans's Coll. Awdl. vii.
• Cambden, ii. 816.
• RHAIADER Y GRAIG LLWYD.
• BEAVERS.
• Leges Wallicae, 260. 261.
• BETTWS WYRION.
• PONT Y PAIR.
• Llwyd's Itin. MS. i. The same authority says, that near this place is a great Cromleh, called Cromleh Hwva, so named from one Hwva ap Kyfnerth, at Rhyddon, who concealed himself under it, when the earl of Pembroke deso∣lated these parts.
• DOLWYDDELAN CASTLE,
• Tertiam est, jus leges condendi, et MONETAM PERCUTIENDI. Wottou's Leges Wallicae, 71.
• †

  Leges Wallicae, 165.
• ‡

  Gweair Fam. 7.
• Rotulae Walliae, 97.
• †

  Gwedir Family, 137; a publication we are indebted for, to my respected friend, the honorable DAINES BARRINGTON.
• ‡

  The same.
• PENAMNAEN.
• 〈…〉〈…〉 pedegree of the Wynnes, See Appendix.
• CARREG Y GWALCH.
• GWEDIR.
• See his Works.
• †

  Powel, 60.
• ‡

  Vide his Life.
• See the poems of Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, who flourished about the year 1250.
• †

  Hist. Gwedir Fam. xii.
• Appendix.
• †

  The same.
• LLANRWST BRIDGE.
• INIGO JONES.
• Mr. WALPOLE'S Anecd. Painting, ii. 142.
• †

  His print, tab. at p. 142. Anecd. and his Life passim.
• ‡

  Hawkins's Hist. Music, iv. 55.
• sec;

  Among all the family papers, there is not the lest mention of Inigo, which must, have been the case, had he been an Eleve of the Wynnes, as has been po∣pularly asserted.
• Ben. Jonson's Works, vi. 294.
• TOWN OF LLAN∣RWST, AND CHURCH.
• †

  XV. Tribes, of which Nefydd was one.
• BRASSES AND TOMBS.
• Died in 1639.
• †

  Died in 1671.
• MAYNAN ABBY.
• Rymer, ii. 427.
• †

  Dugdale Mon. i. 921. Steven's Transt. 106.
• ‡

  Rotulae Walliae, 90.
• Willis calls him Richard ap Rhys.
• TREFRIW.
• †

  Sebright MS.
• GALE, OR BOG MYRTLE.
• TALIESIN.
• Printed in M.DCC.LXXX. 410. and sold by Dodsley and Elmsley.
• †

  See Mr. Evan Evans's Collection, 150.
• In the original, SALMONS.
• GLYN LLUGWY.
• Litin v. 45
• CAPEL KERIG.
• GLYDER BACH.
• TREVAEN.
• BEN-GLOG.
• CWM IDWAL.
• TWLL DU.
• KLOGWYN DU.
• Lightfoot's Fl. Sectica, ii. 83.
• GLYDER VAWR.
• LLYN Y CWN.
• NANT-BERIS.
• CASTELL DOLBA∣DERN.
• MARGARET UCH EVAN.
• BRITISH POSTS.
• In the church-yard is an yew tree, twenty-seven feet in girth.
• CAUNANT MAWR.
• GRASSES.
• SUMMER DWELLINGS.
• THE HIGH LAKES.
• TOP OF SNOWDON.
• FYNNON LAS.
• August 25th Old Stile.
• August 15th, New Stile.
• ATTRACTION OF CLOUDS.
• RIVERS.
• HEIGHT.
• Wren's Parentalia, i. 253. I suppose; Caswell was employed by Mr. Adams, author of the Index Villeris.
• STRATA.
• BOTANY.
• Gwedir MSS.
• A ROYAl FOREST.
• Itin V. 43.
• From the communication of Paul Panton, esq
• SACRED.
• Gildas.
• †

  Rowlands, 253.
• ‡

  Mr. Rhys Jones's Coll. of Welsh Poems, p. 13.
• §

  Powel, 369.
• FAIR HELD THERE.
• NAME.
• By the Saxons first into SNAWDUNE. Sax. Chr. 203.
• WEATHER.
• GORPHWYSFA.
• CWM DYLI.
• CWM DYLI UCHA.
• LLYN LLYDAW.
• FFYNNON LAS.
• WHEAT-EAR
• CRIB COCH.
• NANT GWYNAR
• DINAS EMRIS.
• ITS LEGEND.
• Nennius, c. xl. xlii. xliii.
• †

  Draiton's Pel••••lb. SONG X.
• MERLIN.
• Powel's Notes on Giraldus Itin. Cambriae, lib. I. c. x.
• BEED KELERT.
• PRIORY.
• Rymer, ii. 316.
• †

  Sebright MS.
• ‡

  Leges Walliae, 254.
• Rymer, ii, 317.
• †

  Dugdale Monast. iii. 21.
• ‡

  Rowland's MSS.
• LLYN CADER.
• LLYN Y DYWARCHEN.
• Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. ix. p. 871.
• DRWS Y COED.
• LLYNIEU NANLLE.
• Sebright MSS. Rymer, ii. 276 to 289.
• PONT ABERGLAS LLYN.
• RHYS GOCH.
• VIEW FROM THE SANDS.
• PENMORVA.
• Gwedir family, in Mr. Barrington's Miscell, octavo, 143.
• †

  Tour in Wales, ii. 137.
• ‡

  Hist. Gwedir family.
• ANTIQUETIES.
• DWARFS.
• A MEPHITIC VA∣POUR.
• Cambden, ii. 788. Ph. Trans. N^o 208. Lowthorp's Abridg. ii. 183.
• Theatre of Infects, Engl. ed. 986.
• WRECK OF BIRDS.
• CRICKAETH.
• Sebright MSS.
• SIR HOWEL Y FWYALL.
• †

  Froissart, tom. i. ch. clxiiii. p. 195. Engl. Froissart, i.
• See XV Tribes of North Wales; and Hist, Gwedir Family in Mr, Barrington's Miscelles; and Hist. Gwedir, octavo 143.
• CARN MADRYN.
• Tour in Wales, ii 212.
• PENRHYN DU.
• ABER-DARON.
• Powel, 176.
• †

  Itin. v. 51. Ninian died in 432.
• BARADSEYE ISLAND.
• Tanner, 703.
• †

  Worthies of Wales, 29.
• S••. DUBRITIUS
• CONVENT.
• Rowlands, 137.
• CAPEL VAIR.
• MAEN Y MELLT.
• LLŶN, PRODUCE OF.
• HERRINGS.
• Sebright MSS.
• †

  The same.
• PORTH YN LLŶN.
• NEFYN.
• Ad rotundam tabulam juxta Snowdon praeonizatam in choreis et hastiludiis ad invicem colludentibus. Annal. Waverleins▪ in Gale, ii. 239.
• TOURNAMENT.
• †

  Athenaeus, lib. iv.
• Dugdale's Warwickshire, i. 247.
• VORTIGERN's VALLEY,
• †

  Tour in Scotland, 1769, 3d ed.
• VORTIGERN'S VALLEY.
• ‡

  Hist. Br. c. xlviii.
• Kenne's Paroch. Antiq. Hist. Allchester, 698.
• THE EIFL HILLS.
• TRE'R CAERI.
• GARY GUWCH.
• LLAN-AELHALEARN.
• CLYNNOG.
• CHURCH.
• Whitelock's Memorials, 311, and 454, 599.
• Itin. v. 13.
• TOMB OF ST. BEUNO.
• †

  p. 32.
• ST. BEUNO, ACCOUNT OF.
• †

  Tanner, 705.
• ‡

  Dugdale Monast. ii. 919.
• OFFERINGS TO.
• A CROMLEH.
• DINAS DINLLE.
• An ingenious apothecary, the editor of Gerard's Herbal. He travelled through North Wales in 1639, to collect plants. He published his tour in 1691, a small volume, under the title of Mercurius Botanicus. He was slain in the defence of Basing stoke House, in 1644.
• Afterwards created a Baronet. He died in April 1749.
• CAERNARVON.
• †

  Iter. Cambr. 865.
• ‡

  This charter is to the Canons of Penmon. Sebright MSS.
• Sebright MSS.
• †

  Sebright and Gloddaeth MSS.
• QUEEN'S GATE.
• Powel, 382.
• †

  Dodridge's Wales, 6.
• ‡

  Sebright MSS.
• ‖

  Ayloff's Rotulae Wailiae, 98.
• Dedridge, 56.
• †

  Powel, 380.
• ‡

  Carte, ii. 237.
• Whitelock, 87, 208.311.
• QUAY.
• TRADE.
• ROGER DE PULES∣DON.
• †

  Ayloff's Rotulae Walliae, 89.
• ‡

  Matt, Westm. 423.
• CHAPEL.
• CHARTER.
• ‖

  Sebrigbt MSS.
• CORPORATION.
• Willis's Notitia Parliam. iii. Part i. 76.
• FIRST MEMBERS.
• †

  The same. Part ii. pp. 9, 10.
• ‡

  Rowlands' Mena denqua, 165.
• ‖

  Sebright MSS.
• §

  The same.
• ¶

  This son. (for the name is defaced) seems from the pedigree of the family to have been Sir Rhys Gryffydd.
• ROMAN FORT.
• SEGONTIUM.
• ii. 798.
• †

  Nennius.
• ‡

  Mat. Westm; 411.
• Mona Antiq. 163. Helen was born at Segontium.
• ROAD FROM CAERNARVON TO SNOWDON.
• †

  This river issues out of Llyn Cwellyn, and separates the two Hundreds of Uwch-Gwrfai and Is-Gwrfai.
• ABERMENAI.
• NEWBOROUGH.
• P. 43. Printed for Dodsley, 1775. 4 to.
• Peringskioldi Monum. Suev-gothic, 289.
• †

  The same, 301.
• ‡

  Wormii Mon. Danica, 501.
• ‖

  Powel, 34. 62.
• §

  Record of Caer∣narvon, in Biblioth. Litteraria, 23.
• Mr. Rowlands' MSS.
• †

  Sebright MSS.
• See the sad effects of these moveable sands in Mr. Cordiner's Letters, 86, 87. and my Tour Scotl. 1769, 4th ed. 144. 168.
• LLANDDWYN.
• †

  Rowlands' MSS.
• ‡

  The same.
• ‖

  The same, and Hist. Anglesey, 44.
• CHURCH.
• LLAN-GADWA∣LADR.
• Cambden, ii. Rawlands, 157.
• ABERFRAW.
• †

  Leges Wallicae, 147.
• Leges Wallicae, 6.
• †

  Powel, 62.
• LLANIDAN.
• De vita Cudbercti, ,c. 4.
• †

  Smith's Beda, App. N^o XV.
• ‡

  Giraldus Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. vii. and Powel's note. Giraldus says, the stone took its name from its shape.
• TRE'R DRYW.
• Mona Antiq. 92. tab. iv.
• †

  Cesar. Bel. Gal. lib. vi.
• ‡

  Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xv. c. 44.
• ‖

  Mona Antiq. 88. tab. iii.
• CAER-LĒB.
• Mona Antiq. tab. iii. fig. 2.
• TREV-WRY.
• †

  Mr. Mason's Caractacus.
• BODOWYR:
• ‡

  Row∣lands, 240.
• ‖

  The same, 99.
• TACITI Annales, lib. xiv. c. 30.
• BRYN GWYDRYN.
• MOEL Y DON.
• Life of Gryffydd ap Cynen. Sebright MSS.
• ENGLISH DEFEAT.
• Powel, 372.
• ANTIENT WEA∣PONS OF THE WELSH.
• William Brito, as quoted in Camden's Remains, 10.
• WOODS.
• PLAS NEWYDD.
• †

  Plas Gwyn MSS.
• CROMLECHS.
• See what the learned author offers in support of his opinion, Antiq, Corn∣wal, p. 210. and the following.
• †

  Wormii Manum. Dan. 7.
• ‡

  Oudheinkundige Brieven, &c. tab. i.
• ‖

  Braunii Civitat. v. 18.
• §

  Hist. Minorca.
• ¶

  Exemplified in Monfaucon, Supplem. v. tab. lxv. highest figure.
• Voy. to the Hebrides, 2d ed. 208.
• †

  Tour in Wales, vol. ii. 110. 111.
• CARNEDD.
• ‡

  Borlase Antiq. Cornwal.
• VAENOL.
• LEFT TO KING WILLIAM.
• THE SWELLY.
• PORTH-AETHWY.
• Hist. Anglesy, 6.
• Giraldas Itin, Cambr.
• A BARBAROUS CUSTOM.
• †

  Rowlands' Mona Antiq. 122.
• ‡

  Rowlands' MSS.
• NOBLE VIEWS.
• BEAUMARIS.
• CASTLE.
• Sebright MSS.
• Sebright MSS. and Plâ Gwyn MSS.
• †

  plâs Gwyn MSS.
• ‡

  Rowlands' MSS.
• HALL.
• CHAPEL.
• CONSTABLE OF THE CASTLE.
• Dodridge, 58.
• TAKEN IN 1646.
• TOWN.
• Plâs Gwyn MSS.
• †

  Willis's Notitia Parliam. iii. 23
• THE BAY.
• FERRY.
• Sebright MSS.
• CHURCH.
• LLANVAES.
• Leland's Collect. i. 65. and Henry V's patent in Sebright MSS.
• Sebright MSS.
• BATTLE.
• †

  Powel, 24.
• CASTELL ABER LLIENAWG.
• Terfaei Hist. Norveg. iii. 423.
• †

  Girald. Iter. Cambr. 867.
• ‡

  Plâs Gwyn MSS.
• PENMON PRIORY
• ‖

  Dugdale Monast. ii. 338.
• Girald, Itin. Cambr. lib. ii. c. 6. p. 868.
• †

  Tavner, 699.
• PRIESTHOLM.
• PUFFINS.
• FOOD.
• THEIR BILLS. CHANGE IN.
• FISH.
• PLANTS.
• BARON-HILL.
• I will not here break in on my Tour with his history; but, as it may merit the reader's attention, I refer him to the Appendix.
• CROMLECH.
• PLAS GWYN.
• REDWHARF.
• BWRDD ARTHURY
• LLAN-JESTYN.
• Archaelogia, v. 146.
• PENMYNNYD.
• OWEN TUDOR.
• Halle's Chr. 41.
• †

  Sandford's Geneal. 291.
• Rymer, x. 828.
• †

  Drake's Parliam. Hist. ii. 211.
• ‡

  Rymer, x. 685.
• ‖

  The same.
• Cambden, i. 204. Dugdale Baron, i. 187.
• †

  Rymer, xi. 439.
• ‡

  Among whom were Dafydd Llovyd and Morgan ap Reuther. Holinshed, 660.
• ‖

  Leland Itin. iv. 86. viii. 36.
• §

  See the return of the commission, &c. in Wynn's Hist. Wales, 331. &c.
• HOUSE OF PEN∣HYNNYDD.
• TRE-GARNEDD.
• EDNYFED VY∣CHAN.
• SIR GRYFFYDD LIWYD.
• Wynn's Hist. Wales, 311.
• †

  Powel, 383.
• ‡

  Rowlands' MSS.
• ‖

  Sebright MSS.
• GREAT CARNEDD.
• §

  See Borlase's Cornwal, p. 207. tab. xvii. fig. i. iii. and his Scilly Islands, 29, 30. tab. ii. at p. 19.
• La Religion de Gaulois, ii. 312. plate 42.
• †

  P. 94. tab. vii.
• PATRIARCH OF TREGAIAN.
• CASTELL-MAWR.
• LLUGWY.
• See p. 5
• GREAT CROM∣LECH.
• DULAS BAY.
• LLAN-ELIAN.
• Rowlands' Mona Antiq. 133. 147. The other saints, or patron-churches, were St. Beuno, St. Kybi, St. Cadwaladr, St. Peirio, St. Machutus or Mechel, and St. Cyngar.
• PARYS MOUN∣TAIN.
• There was another of the same name in the reign of Edward III.
• †

  Melica Caerulea, Lightfoot, Fl. Scot. i. 96. Aira Caerulea, Hudson, Fl. Angl. i. 33.
• ‡

  See Tour in Wales, i. 52.
• Tour in Wales, p. 72. tab. ix.
• THE ORE.
• BRIMSTONE.
• PRECIPITATED COPPER.
• Brown's travels, 68. Keysler's travels, iv. 70.
• MARBLE QUARRY.
• Plinii, Nat, Hist. lib. xix. c. 1.
• CARREG-LWYD.
• THE SKERRIES.
• Record of Caernarvon, in the Bibliotheca Litteraria, 20.
• †

  Willis's Bangor, 245.
• ‡

  The same. The bishop calls it Seynt Danyyel's Isle.
• MONACH-TY.
• LAND SHELLS.
• AMIANTHUS.
• Cressy's Ch. Hist. 149.
• TOWN.
• CHURCH.
• †

  Tanner, 699.
• Hist. Anglesey, 29.
• †

  The same, 699.
• ‡

  The same, 30.
• ‖

  Willis's Abbies, i. 303.
• §

  Willis's Bangor, 201.
• ¶

  Newcourt's Repertorium, i. 453.
• **

  Tanner, 699. and Hist. Anglesey, 31.
• ECLWYS Y BEDD.
• Powel, Pres. 15.
• †

  Hist. Anglesey, 34, 35.
• ROMAN FORT.
• Tacitus, Vitae Agricola.
• THE HEAD.
• A PHAROS.
• BIRDS.
• PRESADDFED.
• BODYCHAN.
• POPULATION OF ANGLESEY.
• Phil. Trans. lxiii. Part i. p. 180.
• †

  Willis's Bangor, 51.
• BANGOR.
• ‡

  The same, 53.
• ‖

  Church Hist. 233.
• Swist.
• CATHEDRAL.
• †

  Annal. Menev. in Goodwin, ii. 650.
• ‡

  Willis, 21.
• ‖

  Willis, 17, 18.
• TONES.
• Vita Gryffydd ap Kynan in the Sebright MSS.
• †

  Willis, 46. 183. Wynne's Hist. Wales, 59.
• FRIERY.
• Willis.
• †

  Salisbury Pedigree, 126.
• CASTLE.
• ‡

  Sebright MSS. in vita Gryffydd ap Knan.
• ABER CEGID.
• PENRHYN.
• He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Mostyn, of Mostyn, knight, and had by her three sons, all of whom died young. It is said that he built, or repaired, his ships in Aber Cegid; where there was, till of late years, on the gable end of a house, his initials, P. G. and the date, 1598.
• PIERS GRYF∣FYDD.
• DRINKING-HORN.
• Leges Walliea, 311.
• †

  The same, 17. 47.
• ‡

  Journey to London, 179.
• ‖

  Archaelogia, iii. S.
• §

  He was prince of Powis, and flourished about the year 1160. See the reverend Mr. Evan Evans's Collections, p. 7.
• ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS.
• Pedigree of the family, MS.
• †

  Memoirs.
• Drake's Parliam. Hist. viii. 146.
• †

  The same, ix, 334.
• Clarendon, ii. 350.
• †

  Drake's Parliam. Hist. x. 483.
• ‡

  Philips's Life of archbishop Williams, 305. His chaplain Hackett, afterwards bishop of Lichfield, composed his epitaph. His memory is more pleasingly pre∣served in an elegant little poem on the fight of his monument, preserved in vol. vi. of Dodsley's Miscellanies.
• Tour in Wales, vol. ii.
• NANT FRANKON.
• Taur is Wales, vol. ii.
• LLYN LLYPHAINT.
• Powel's Notes on Girald. Cambr. Iter. Cambriae, lib. ii. c. 9.
• CARNEDD DAFYDD.
• COYTWOR.
• PICTURE OF GIBSON THE PAINTER.
• Mr. Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, iii. 64.
• ABER.
• CASCADE.
• Dugdale Baron, i. 419.
• Knyghton in Hist. Angl Script. ii. 1439. Cambden in Brecknockshire, ii. 710.
• PENMAEN MAWR.
• ACCIDENTS THERE.
• Cambden, ii. 804, & seq. Before Sir John Wynn, a Sir Thomas ap Wil∣liam, medicus, M. A. had described it; but his account never appeared in print. He was eighth son of one of the family of Cochwillan. Lived in the year 1594, and is said to have resided at Trefriw.
• ITS HEIGHT.
• AN ANTIENT FORTRESS.
• See a plan of the top and one side of this strong hold in the Archaelogia, iii. plate xxix. p. 352.
• ARIA THEO∣PHRASTI.
• CIRCLES AND CARNEDDAU.
• An assemblage of antiquities of this nature may be seen in plate ii. book iii. of Mr. THOMAS WRIGHT'S Louthirna. That book is a small specimen of his great abilities. The vast treasure he possesses of drawings of Irish antiquities, in the highest degree merit publication, and clame the assistance of some dis∣tinguished patron, to enable a person of his merit to enrich the literary world with more of his labors.
• MAEN Y CAMPIAU.
• THE ANTIENT GAMES.
• Monfaucon's Antiq. iv. 16. tab. ix.
• †

  In my account of the Eisteddfoddau Caerwy, Tour in Wales, i. 427 to 446, some light is thrown on this and certain of the following articles.
• CONWAY.
• Part of the poem of the SQUIRE OF LOW DEGREE. See Mr. WARTON'S Hist. Poetry, i. 175.—The gynnes were the fastenings of the casements, which were often secured with pynnes of yvere.
• HALL.
• ENTRANCES TO THE CASTLE.
• TOWN.
• FERRY.
• Sebright MSS.
• ABBEY.
• †

  Dugdale's Monasticon, i. 918.
• ‡

  The same, 918. 919.
• Dugdale's Monasticon, 920.
• ‡

  MS in the possession of his grace the Duke of Beaufort.
• ‡

  See p. 145 of this work.
• REMOVED TO MAYNAN.
• Dugdale Monast. i. 921.
• TOMBS.
• †

  Powel's Hist. Wales, 252.
• COLLEGE.
• PLAS MAWR.
• EVENTS.
• Powel, 311.
• ‡

  Helinshed, 499.
• ‡

  In the Tour in Wales, i. 45, is the sequel of his story.
• Philip's Life of Archbishop Williams, 287.
• †

  Philips, 289.
• ‡

  The same, 295, 296.
• General Mytton's Letter, in Drake's Parl. Hist. xv. 3.
• †

  Rushworth, iv. part i. 297.
• ‡

  Whitelook, 219.
• ‖

  Philips, 300.
• §

  The Earl's Letter in the Appendix.
• BATTLE OF KYMRYD.
• Cambden, ii. 802, 3. Powel, 38.
• CARE HĒN.
• Cambden.
• PEN CAER HELEN.
• BODSCALLAN.
• Record of Caernarvon, Bibl. Litt. 19.
• ‡

  The same, 22.
• GLODDAETH.
• ITS WALKS.
• FINE VIEWS.
• RARE PLANTS.
• Tour in Wales, i. p. 19. tab. ii.
• EGGLWYS RHOS.
• Salisbury Pedigree, 37.
• DIGANWY.
• †

  His notes on Giraldus Cambr. Itin. lib. ii. c. 10.
• Ordericus Vitalis, lib. viii. p. 670.
• †

  Powel, 262.
• ‡

  The same.
• ‖

  The same, 311.
• ANTIENT TOWER.
• GOGARTH.
• LLANDUDNO, OR ORM'S HEAD.
• SEA-FOWLS.
• FALCONS.
• ANTIENT FAL∣CONRY.
• L••ges Wallicae, 23 to 26.
• †

  Record of Caernarvon, in Bibliotheea Litteraria, 25.
• Bernier's vojage of Cachemire, 112.
• LLANDUDNO CHURCH.
• LLANDRILLO.
• RHOS VYNACH.
• PENMAEN RHOS.
• See the whole story, agreeably expressed by suitable prints from old illumi∣nated MSS. in Mr. Strutt's Regal Antiquities.
• CEFN OGO.
• ABERGELEU
• MARCHUD AP CYNAN.
• COPPA YR WYLFA.
• PEN Y PĪL.
• CAMP OF OWEN GWYNFDD.
• ii. 385. 3d ed. octavo.
• SUPERSTITIONS.
• RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS.
• Valer. Max. lib. vii. c. 1.
• †

  Plinii, Hist. Nat. lib. vii. c. 44.
• PLYGAN.
• KINMAEL.
• Dugdale's Baron, ii. 81.
• †

  Ap Evan ap Rhys ap Gryffydd Lloyd ap Rohyn ap Rhys ap Robert.
• VAENOL.
• BODLE-WITHAN.
• PENGWERN.
• TRIBES OF NORTH WALES.
• MILLTIR GERRIC.
• Commentariolum, 92.
• LLANGYNOG.
• LEAD MINE.
• ST. MONACELLA.
• CHURCH OF PENNANT MELANGELL.
• See her life.
• TOMB OF JORWERTH DRWYNDWN.
• †

  Powel's Hist▪ Wales, 227.
• BODFACH.
• LLWYDIARTH.
• LLANRHAIADR YN MOCHNANT.
• PISTILL RHAIADR.
• LLANFYLLIN.
• Cambden, ii. 783.
• VALE OF MEIVOD.
• Notitia on St. Asaph diocese, MS.
• †

  Iter Britanniarum.
• ‡

  Horsely, 374. 492.
• ‖

  Preface.
• §

  Girald. Cambr. Itin. Dr. Bowel's note, c. iv. lib. ii.
• Cambden, ii. 781, 782.
• †

  Powel, 205.
• ‡

  Powel, 210. 242.
• CHURCH-YARD.
• ‖

  Canto vi.
• Hist. Wales, 267.
• †

  Burton's Com. 132.
• Powel, 205.
• CRYGYNNOG.
• CASTELL DOL∣FORWYN.
• †

  Monast. ii. 223.
• ‡

  Dissertatio de Bardis, 92.
• Dugdale Baron, i. 142.
• SABRINA, HER STORY.
• ABERVECHAN.
• NEWTOWN.
• SIR JOHN PRYSE.
• Widow of—Jones, Esq of Buckland, Brecknockshire.
• ROMAN ROAD.
• Dr. Worthington's Letter, on his parish, addressed to me, Nov. 29th 1774.
• CAER SWS.
• RHOS DDIARBED.
• BATTLE OF CARNO.
• CHURCH.
• Willis's Bangor, 291.
• LLANDDINAM.
• †

  Girald. Itin. Cambriae, lib. ii. c. 12.
• Y CAER VYCHAN.
• BERTH-LWYD.
• LLANIDLOS.
• SLATE.
• PLYNLIMMON.
• I was told, that the road to it from Cregynnan was by Caer Sws, Park, and Treveglws; and that from the last it is necessary to get a guide to conduct the traveller over the mountains.
• BETTWS CHURCH.
• PEN Y GAER.
• VAYNOR.
• ROMAN CAMP.
• A SMALL FORT.
• CHIRBURY.
• PRIORY.
• Halston MSS.
• †

  Tanner.
• ‡

  Willis, ii. 190.
• MONTGOMERY.
• Powel, 280.
• †

  Dugdale Baron. i. 695.
• ‡

  Powel, 287.
• ‖

  Dugdale Baron. i. 147.
• Dugdale Baron. i. 147.
• †

  His Life, p. 5.
• SIEGE IN 1644.
• BATTLE SEPTEMBER 18TH.
• ‡

  Drake's Parl. Hist. xiii. 285. Whitelock, 104.
• CASTLE DE∣SCRIBED.
• BRITISH POST.
• TOWN.
• Leland Itin. vii. 16.
• Sebright MSS.
• †

  Cambden, ii. 780.
• ‡

  Willis, Notitia Parl. iii. 78. and part ii. 9.
• GOGINGSTOOLE.
• ‖

  Blunt's Tenures, 150.
• CHURCH.
• BLACKHALL.
• MYNYDD DIGOLL.
• BATTLE.
• Powel, 380, 381.
• POWYS CASTLE.
• PORTRAIT OF EARL OF CASTLE∣MAIN.
• A full account is given by Mission, iii. p. 176 to 207.
• GARDENS.
• Powel, 170.
• SIEGES IN 1191.
• Powel, 248.
• SUCCESSION.
• †

  The same, 288.
• ‡

  The same, 215.
• ‖

  The same, 217.
• §

  Dugdale Baron. ii.
• Whiteleck, 106.
• WELSH POOL.
• †

  Powel, 382.
• ‡

  Ayleff's Calendar, 102.
• GOLDEN CHALICE
• BUTTINGTON.
• Sax. Chr. 94, 95.
• GILESFIELD
• ABBEY OF STRA∣TA MARCELLA.
• †

  Tamer, 716.
• ‡

  A copy of the charter is in my possession. As it escaped Sir W. Dugdale, I print it in the Appendix.
• |

  Dugdale Monast. i. 896.
• LLANDYSILIO.
• LLANYMYNACH.
• HILL.
• GREAT LIME∣WORKS.
• MINERALS.
• WORKED BY THE ROMANS.
• ANTIENT DIKES AND FOSSES.
• BLODWELL HALL.
• CARREG HWVA CASTLE
• Powel, 219.
• †

  The same, 241.
• NEW BRIDGE.
• FISH OF THE VYRNYW AND TANAT.
• A fragment preserved in the reverend Mr. Evan Evans's ingenious Disser∣tatio de Bardes, p. 83. The hero was of the house of Trefeilir in Anglesey.
• †

  Halston MSS. The Warin here mentioned, was of a different race from the family of the Fitz-warins.
• See p.
• LOTON HALL.
• ALBERBURY.
• ABBEY.
• Goodwin Praesul. Angl. 181.
• †

  Leland Itin. v. 89.
• ROUTON.
• ‡

  Dugdale Baron. i. 665.
• SHRAWARDINE.
• Herald's Visitation of Shropshire, 1584, &c. in HALSTON library, p. 44.
• †

  The same.
• CASTLE.
• ONSLOW.
• MONTFORD.
• BRIDGE.
• Parochial antiquities of Shropshire, by Mr. William Mytton, MS. in folio.— I beg here to give some account of my worthy uncle, to whose labors I am so much indebted. He was a younger brother of the house of Halston, see vol. i. page 234, of this Tour. He was designed for the church; but, by reason of certain political scruples, declined the pursuit of the profession. He then to∣tally gave himself up to the study of antiquity, chiefly that of his own coun∣ty; consulted all the records he could get access to; and, with vast pains and accuracy, formed the volume I refer to. But his designs extended to the giving a most complete history of Shropshire: for which purpose he had made immense collections, which he left behind undigested; besides a numerous and elegant collection of drawings of monuments, &c. done by an artist he kept for that purpose. Death prevented the execution of his plans. He died on the 8th of September 1746, aged 51, at Habberly, an antient estate of his elder brother's, where he had retired for some years, to enjoy, at leisure, the pursuit of his favorite studies.
• MITTON.
• THE ISLE.
• Ruffhead's Statutes at Large, ii. 653 676.
• FITTES.
• SHREWSBURY.
• CASTLE.
• FOUNDED BY ROGER DE MONT∣GOMERY.
• See Dugdale Baron i. 31.
• WALLS.
• ROWSHILL WALL.
• TOWN.
• Powel, 22.
• IN SAXON TIMES.
• CHARTERS.
• Anderson's Dict. i. 405.
• STREETS.
• FREE-SCHOOL.
• Picea—Feralis Arbor, et funebri indicio ad fores posita, ac rogis virens. Hist. Nat. lib. xvi. c. 10.
• Flaminius Vacca, in Montfaucon's travels, Engl. ed. 322. Wright's travels, i. 273.
• †

  See his account of these three stones in the Ph. Tr. xlix. part i. 196.
• PUBLIC BUILD∣INGS.
• Philips, 145.
• †

  Mytton Pedigree.
• INFIRMARY.
• WELSH BRIDGE.
• ‡

  Sandford's General. p. 386. tab. 374.
• ‖

  The same, pp. 415. 417.
• §

  Philips, 148.
• MILLINGTON'S HOSPITAL.
• NEW BRIDGE.
• Leland, Itin. iv. 99.
• ABBEY.
• Hearze's Collections. The Earl's Will;
• †

  Mr. W. Mytton.
• ‡

  Willis, i, 171.
• ‖

  Tanner, 445.
• FRANCISCANS.
• Leland, Itin.
• ORPHAN-HOUSE.
• AUGUSTINES.
• Itin. iv. 100.
• †

  Girald, Camb. Itin. lib. ii. c. 8.
• DOMINICANS.
• CHURCHES.
• Philips, 90.
• †

  Tanner, 445.
• ST. GILES.
• ‡

  Philips, 84.
• Drake's Parl. Hist. i. 89
• †

  Rapin, i. 469.
• BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY.
• Sto••••, 329,
• DEFIANCE.
• †

  Halle, fol. xxii.
• ‡

  Carte, ii. 659.
• Stow, 329.
• †

  Halle, fol. xxii.
• Stew, 329.
• BATTLEFIELD CHURCH.
• †

  Dugdale Monast. iii. pars ii. 185.
• ‡

  Tanner, 456.
• Two editions of his poems were published after his death. See his Life in the British Biography, ii. 1472
• EARL OF RICH∣MOND'S PASSAGE THROUGH, IN 1485.
• †

  Philips, 41.
• BRINGS THE SWEATING SICK∣NESS.
• See the ingenious and pleasing Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in Great Britain, by Mr. John Aikin of Warrington, p. 119 to 127.
• †

  The same.
• TOWN TAKEN IN 1644 BY GENERAL MYTTON.
• CONDOVER.
• Herald's Visitation of Shropshire.
• PITCHFORD.
• LONGNOR.
• ACTON BURNEL.
• CASTLE.
• Leland's Itin, viii. 107. Fuller's Br, Worthies Shropshire, 4.
• Drake's Parl. Hist. i. 100, 101.
• CURIOUS TRIAL ABOUT A COAT OF ARMS.

  View Page 419
• This account is from a curious MS. I had the pleasure of receiving from Sir Edward Smythe.
• †

  Cambden, i. 646, 647, In Rocque's map of Shrcpshire it is called Caer Ca∣r••de••.
• The reverend Mr. SNEYD DAVIES.
• †

  Taciti Annal lib. xii.