THE JOURNEY
TO
SNOWDON.
RUDLAND
LONDON Printed by Henry Hughes, MDCCLXXXI.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THIS Journey is the continuation of my Tour in WALES. Another part will appear with all convenient speed, and comprehend the remainder of
Caernarvonshire,
the Isle of
Anglesea,
the county of
Montgomery,
and conclude with some account of SHREWSBURY, the antient seat of the
British
Princes; which will complete the second volume, and probably all that I shall say of our Principality; for indolence, the forerunner of age, begins to check every new attempt.
THIS book contains a journey from my own house to the summit of
Snowdon,
and takes in almost the whole of our
Alpine
tract.
As far as the Title announces, it is complete. A more general Title-Page will be given with the second part, and the journey continued regularly from p. 183.
I THANK my friends for variety of information, and must present my particular acknowlegements to Sir JOHN SEBRIGHT, Baronet, for his liberal communication of several of the late Mr. EDWARD LLWYD'S Manuscripts, which have flung great light on several parts of our history. I have added an Appendix of the errors or omissions of my former volume: as they are freely acknowleged, let them be candidly received.
THOMAS PENNANT.
DOWNING,
MARCH 1, 1781.
Directions to the Book-Binder, AND LIST OF THE PLATES.
FRONTISPIECE,
Rudland
Castle, Church, and Church, and Bridge.
A Vignet of
Conway
Castle, Page. 1
I.
Denbigh
Castle, Page. 36
II. View from the Mount at
Bala
of the Lake,
Aran Pen-Llyn,
and
Cader Idris,
— 68
II.* The
Torques,
— 123
III. Sir
John Wynne,
Bart. from the original at
Wynne-Stay,
[After taking off a set of first impressions for this work, I gratified the Editor of Mr. BARRINGTON's Miscellanies with the use of the Plate, for the purpose of giving in that Collection the Head of the Author of the History of the
Gwedir
Family.] 140
IV. Sir
Richard Wynne,
Bart, from a Painting by
Jansen,
in Possession of Sir WATKIN WILLIAMS WYNNE, Bart. 144
V.
Llanrwst
Bridge, — 145
VI.
Dolwyddelan
Castle
This Plate being wrongly numbered, reference must be made to the number of the page.
, — 135
VII.
Snowdon,
from
Capel Kerig,
— 150
VIII. A View in
Nant-Beris,
— 156
IX.
Dinas Emrys,
— 174
X.
Bedd-Kelert,
from a Drawing by Mr.
Evans,
of
Llwyn y Groes,
— 176
XI. A Plan of
Hawarden
Castle, to be placed at p. 99 of the former Volume.
A Vignet of
Pont Aber Glas Llyn.
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 advantage of it, and placed on its summit a
Pharos,
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 mistaking, 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 building 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
Plini
Hist. Nat.
lib. xxxvi. c. 12.
.
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 edifice. 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,
NEWMARKET.
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
Trelawnyd,
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,
distinguishing 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,
Cor.
called
Copa'r'leni,
on whose summit is a most enormous carnedd, or tumulus, formed of limestones. 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 etymology 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
Tour in Wales, i. 413.
, or a
station
of the
holy fires,
the
Coel Ceithie
of the
Druids,
similar to the
Karn Gollewa,
the carn of lights, and
Karn Leskyz,
or carn of burnings, of the
Cornish,
supposed by the learned BORLASE
Antiq. Cornwall, 131.
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 extirpated. 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 engagement.
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,
GWAEN-YSKOR.
remarkable for its ancient register.
DESCEND to the church and village of
Llanasa,
the former dedicated to
St. Asaph,
whose festival is kept on the first of
May.
LLANASA.
Laurence Child,
Bishop of
St. Asaph,
in 1385, procured the impropriation of this church to supply his cathedral with lights
Willi's St. Asaph, 56, App. No. xxi.
, 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.
GRONANT.
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 exaggerated; but from authentic records, it appears, that this flat was formerly very extensive, and that it had been reduced to its present 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
Willis's St. Asaph, 65. App. No. xxxi. xxxii.
. If this record did not remain an inconteslable proof of the ravages of the ocean on this part of the country, there exist other natural ones, that would have given reasonable 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
Abergeleu,
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 distance from it, now remain.
PRESTATYN-CASTLE.
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 Meliden. 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 ancestor,
Banaster.
An inquisition was made, before a jury of twenty-four men
Sebright's MSS.
: 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 termination 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.
DISERTH CHURCH.
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 diverting of the waters to a mill, has robbed the place of this elegant 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
Llwyd's Itin.
CASTLE.
It probably was
Welsh,
and the last of the chain of
British posts
on the
Clwydian
hills.
Henry
III. in 1241, fortified it
Powel, 307.
; but its date was but short, for in 1261
Llewelyn ap Gryffydd
rased both this castle, and that of
Diganwy
Same, 326.
. It was at a siege of this place that
Eineon,
the son of
Ririd Vlaidd,
was slain
Hengwrt, MS.
. 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 workmanship.
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 building, called
Siamber Wen.
This is said to have been the seat of a Sir
Robert Pounderling
Llwyd's Itin. MS.
, once constable of the adjacent castle,
SIR ROBERT POUNDERLING.
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 combat, declaring that he did not intend that the
Welshman
should beat out his other eye
Leland's Itin.
vi. 23.
.
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
Tour in Wales.
On the east side, and on a place called
Marion,
are long deep trenches, out of which minerals have been dug, probably 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 beautiful 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.
CWM CHURCH.
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
Mr.
W. Mytton's Coll. Pedigrees.
: his son Sir
Henry,
by marriage with
Angharat,
heiress to Sir
Hugh Crevecoeur,
of
Prestatyn
Salusbury Pedigree,
p. 68. b.
, 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
Powel,
20.
, 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
Sax.
ch. 65.
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 beautifully 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.
CASTLE.
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
Cambden,
ii.
. 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
Rhuddlan
Powel,
100.
. 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
Order. Vital.
670.
, and made it his place of residence; from whence he greatly annoyed our countrymen. The square towers are evidently of
Norman
architecture, and naturally adopted by the new owner.
Robert
received here a visit from our prince
Gryffydd ap Kynan,
who came to sollicit 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
Life of
Gr. ap Kynan.
SEBRIGHT MSS.
.
Henry
II. in 1157, added new strength to the castle, and left a considerable garrison in it before he quitted the country. Notwithstanding this,
Owen Gwynedd,
in 1167, took and dismantled it; but it was afterwards re-fortified by the
English;
for it appears 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
Girald Cambr. Itin.
872.
. 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
Powel,
270.
.
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
Leicester,
142. This Earl of
Chester
held his earldom from 1182 to 1232.
.
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 common 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 purpose of enlarging the castle
Ayl
ff's Rot. Wall
.
75.
; and again, in 1282, made an exchange with the same church, of six acres and a half, for the same uses
Sebright MS.
: and on which he built the castle, whose ruins we now survey. 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
Ret. Walha.
98.
. I cannot but remark here, the strong necessity of curbing the new-conquered country with powerful garrisons; for notwithstanding all the ravages of long and barbarous wars, it remained so exceedingly populous, that
Edward
politically drafted out of it not less than fifteen thousand men, in aid of his
Scottish
expedition
Carte,
II. 264.
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
Da
ym
's Anna's,
II. 257.
.
DURING the civil wars of the last century,
TAKEN BY GEN. MYTTON.
, 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
Whitelock,
231.
.
IN respect to the civil history of
Rhuddlan,
I find, that in the reign of
Edward the Confessor,
it made part of the great territories of earl
Edwin.
It was then, by reason of the inroads of
Harold,
a waste; and continued so when it was possessed by
Hugh Lupus.
It then became the capital of the district: and
Hugh
enjoyed a moiety of the church, the mint, and mines of the iron ore found in the manor
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.
; 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
Bretril;
and were exempted from all fines exceeding twelve-pence, except in case of manslaughter, theft, and
heinfare, i. e.
the depriving a person of his servant
Doomsday-Book.
.
EDWARD I.
A BOROUGH.
made this town a free borough, appointed the constable 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, lestagio, 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
Westminster.
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,
JTS PARLEMENT.
by
Edward
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
Thomas 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 violence, 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
See the
Statuta Walliae
passim.
.
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
Powel,
376.
: all which our discontented nobility eagerly accepted, little thinking the person intended, to be the infant
Edward,
just born at
Caernarvon.
THE bridge consists of two arches.
BRIDGE.
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 discharges itself into the sea; and from whence much corn and timber is exported.
THE house called the
Gwindy,
or Wine House,
GWINDY.
must not be forgotten. 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.
CHURCH.
It has nothing remarkable 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
Eglwysvach,
which had been taken from it, and bestowed on the abby of
Conway
Willis's St. Asaph,
159.
Rot. Walliae,
92.
.
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 before 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 17
l.
10
s.
Rymer,
ii. 292.
besides a grant of a fishery on the
Clwyd
with one net, free from any obstruction
Rot. Walliae.
90.
. 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
Sebright MSS.
: but whether they had reference to any house of female 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
Rymer,
ii. 245,
Willis's St. Asaph,
45.149.155.
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,
ST. ASAPH.
and fording the
Clwyd,
soon came in sight of
St. Asaph.
The handsome extensive 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.
SII.
Here he built a church; and having won over the
British
prince
Maglocunus,
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
Matthew Paris,
642.
, and the bishop, who sided with the English, obliged to live on alms. In 1282,
CATHEDRAL.
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
Sebright MSS.
. In 1402, the church underwent new misfortunes: being burnt by
Owen Glyndwr,
together with the palace, and canons houses; who, strange to say! soon after brought over to his party,
John Trevor,
the injured bishop of the see, who was deprived on account of his revolt. After this, the church remained in ruins for eighty years, when it was re-built by that worthy prelate,
Richard Redman.
The same building still remains, handsome, plain, and neat. The present dean and chapter are now rebuilding (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.
TOMBS.
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 departed 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, singular 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
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.
.
THIS church stands at the lower part of the town, and serves for the use of the inhabitants of the town and country, the cathedral 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
Montgomeryshire,
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
Viz. Holywell,
Flintshire;
Kevedoc, alias St. George,
Denbighshire;
Kinnersley, Oswestry, Knocking, Whittington, Selattin,
Sal
p.
, 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 beneath lofty banks, finely wooded: at its extremity is
Pont yr allt Gôch,
a noble bridge of one lofty arch, eighty-five feet in diameter. 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 angular wall, formerly roofed; and the ruins of a cross-shaped chapel, 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,
PENCRAIG.
is from
Pencraig,
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: inclosures 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 enliven 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,
DAFYDD DDU.
in priestly vestments, well executed, the image of
Dafydd Ddu,
or the black of Hiraddug. 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 celebrated 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 stories, 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
Puller
's Br. Worthies.
Flintshire,
p. 40.
: then had the good fortune to become apprentice to the famous Sir
Thomas Gresham;
and afterwards his partner. His residence 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
Salusbury Pe
gree,
17
. 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
navigable 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, fertile, diversified with groves, and watered by the crystal
Wheeler.
The part about
Maes mynan
is singularly fine, consisting of detached hills, cloathed with timber; a charming extent of meadows; 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
Willis
's Not. Parliam. ii. part and. 25.
. 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
Hy
. Gwedir.
28.
.
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 uncertainty 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 ancestor, 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,
SIR JOHN SALUSBURY.
is represented on board, a half length, with short dusky hair, beardless, in a yellow figured jacket, 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,
I. SIR 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,
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,
II. 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 educated at
Jesus College, Oxford:
and having, as
Wood
Athen, Oxon.
ii. 25.
says, a natural 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,
CATHERINE Y BERAIN.
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 neighborhood. 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
Edward 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
Powel,
350.
; 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 Middelton
(governor of
Denbigh
castle under
Edward
VI.
Mary,
and
Elizabeth
) who, with
Jane
his wife, was interred beneath. Behind 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
Athen. Oxon.
i. 284.
. 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 publickly in
London;
and that the
Londoners
flocked from all parts to see them
Sebright MSS.
. 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
Myddelton Pedigree, MS.
.
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 (afterwards 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 afforded him ample space for his vast attempts: few readers need be told, that he planned and brought to perfection, the great design 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
Fodina Regales.
32.
. He received the empty honor of seeing himself attended by the king, his court, and all the corporation 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 proprietors 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 occasion to speak of some other of his labors in the course of this book. He died in 1631
Myddelton Pedegree MS.
. 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 representative 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 memory of that great antiquary,
HUMPHREY LLWYD.
Humphrey Llwyd.
He is represented 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 returned to his native place, an accomplished gentleman. He studied at the university the healing art; but is celebrated as a person of great eloquence, an excellent rhetorician, and sound philosopher. 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 brother-in-law, lord
Lumley,
(whose sister he married) he formed a large collection of useful and curious books; which were afterwards purchased by
James
I. and now make the most valuable part of the
British Museum
Grainger,
i. 270. For the history of his works, see
Athen. Oxon.
i.
. In his last letter to the great geographer
Ortelius
Prefixed to his
Commentarioli Britannicae descriptionis fragmentum.
410
edit.
, 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,
Mr 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
R
tu
ae Walliae.
66.
. He made it his residence till the conquest of our country; soon after which, he was taken near the place, and carried, 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 destroying 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
Sebright
MSS.
; for I find, in the reign of
Henry
VI. the names of five parks in this lordship, viz.
Moylewike, Caresnodooke, Kylford, Bagha ̄ ,
and
Posey,
of which the king constituted
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
Thomas, 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
The same.
. By the fatal end of that favorite, it fell again to the crown; and was given by
Edward
III. to another, equally unfortunate,
Roger Mortimer
earl of
March;
whose death enabled the king to invest with this lordship
William Mountacute
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 remained unsatisfied; he constrained the freeholders to raise the old rents of 250
l.
a year, to 8 or 900
l.
Secret Memoirs of
Robert
earl of
Leicester,
89.
and at his will inclosed the waste lands, to the injury of the tenants; who, offended at his rapacity, arose, and levelled his encroachments. This was construed 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
Strife's Annals,
ii. 498.
; and, I apprehend, tricked them for their credulity. The various disorders which rose from these practices, were so great, that
Elizabeth
interposed, and by charter confirmed the quiet possession of the tenants, and allayed the discontents
Baron
Price
's Speech.
. 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 considerable space, and were defended by strong walls and towers: the last are chiefly square. There are two gates to the outmost precinct: that called the
Burgesses Tower,
GATES.
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 belonging 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
Leland
ITIN. v. 61.
. Not far from it are the remains of an unfinished 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:
1mo 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.
Copied from Dr.
Foulk
's Papers, among Mr,
Mytton
's MSS.
THIS church was begun under the auspices of
Leicester:
CHURCH.
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
Memoirs.
. 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
Dr.
Foulk
's Papers.
.
THE Castle crowns the summit of the hill,
CASTLE.
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, extending 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.
DENBIGH CASTLE
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.
Dugdale Baron,
ii. 241
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
Carte. ii. 775.
; meditating rather revenge than conquest.
IN the beginning of
November
1645, the parlement army obtained, near this town, a most important victory over the royalists. The latter,
BATTLE.
under the command of Sir
William Vaughan,
had formed a considerable body of forces,
Welsh
and
Irish,
with a design of marching to the relief of
Chester,
then besieged: Sir
William 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
Whitelock,
179.
.
In 164,
SIEGE.
we find the castle garrisoned by the loyalists: its governor 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
Whitelock,
216.
; 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
The same, 226. For the Articles of Capitulation, see
Appendix.
. It is very remarkable, that notwithstanding the orders of fallen majesty, in
June,
for the general 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,
PRIORY.
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
Collin's Baronets,
Edit. 1720, i. 82.
.
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 converted 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;
TRADE.
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,
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 acquitted 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 inhabiting, 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 burgesses; 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
Englishmen,
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 coroners, and twenty-five of the better sort and best reputed of the burgesses, 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 serjeants 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, before 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 cattle, 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 determine 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 following letter, which I print, as a
sans pareille.
A Lre 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 Lre I wrote unto you, for the nomynasion, of yor burgess, whereat as I cannot but greatlie mervayle (in respect I am yor L. and you my Tenaunts, as also the manie good tournes and comodities wch I have bene allwayes willinge to procure youe, for the benefitte of yor 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 favor at my hande, in any yor 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 yor hands, who are bounden to owe (as yor L.) thus much dutie as to know myne advice and pleasure; that will haplie be aleadged, that yor choice was made before the receipt of my Lres (in relie I would litle have thoughte that youe would have bene so forgetfull, or rather carelesse of me, as before yor 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 yor selfes thus rashlie proceded herein, without myne assent, soe have I thought good to signifie unto youe, that I mean not to take it in any wise at yor hands, and therefore wysh you more advisedlie to consider hereof, and to deale with me as maye continue my favr towards you, otherwise loke for no favr 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
Willis Notitiae Parliam.
iii. 98.
.
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 government: the great council was expressly forbidden to meddle in matters of state, or in causes ecclesiastical
Drake's Parliam. Hist.
iv. 396.
: 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 enjoyed the favor of the crown, in common with others its peaceful subjects.
David Myddelton,
who is styled receiver of
Denbigh
in the nineteenth 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 neighborhood, 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 station on the top of the hill. The church is covered with shingles; a species of roof almost obsolete.
St. Sadwrn,
or
St. Saturnus,
cotemporary 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
Bodrhyddan.
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 honor of representing the borough of
Caernarvon;
and once occasioned 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
Mereddydd ap Meirchion,
or
Merach y Meirch,
lord of
Isdulas.
Part is now standing, particularly the chapel, which serves for a farmhouse; but some very extensive foundations shew its former importance.
FROM hence, after a ride of a few miles, I reached
Dyffryn Alled,
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. Wenefrede,
with whom he maintained strict friendship. Their remains 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 township 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,
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. Saturnus,
to seek a final retreat with
St. Elerius,
at
Gwytherin.
Hither 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 monastery.
HER REMAINS TRANSLATED.
Seven holy men were deputed: the inhabitants of
Gwytherin
refused to part with such a treasure: visions determined 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 farther resistance, the reliques were delivered up, and carried with triumph to their place of destination
This, and much more, may be seen in the Life of
St. Winefrede,
pp. 38, &c.
The prior at this time was
Robert.
Mr.
William Mytton
Antiquities of
Shropshire,
folio MS.
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 gravestone, 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
commanding a most lovely view of a fertile little valley, bounded by hills covered with hanging woods; and by
Llanvair Dôlhaearn,
a village and church at a small distance above the conflux of the
Elwy
and
Alled.
In this parish above the
Elwy,
was one of the residences of
Hedd Molwynog,
descended from RODERIC THE GREAT king of all
Wales.
YR HEN LLYS.
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
Llwyd's Itin.
i. 14. MS.
.
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 express my fears, that in very early times we were as fierce and savage 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.
RUDE TIMES.
Meiric ap Bleyddyn,
resentful of the injuries which he and his tenants received 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
Llwyd's Itin.
i. 16.
. As to his person, he secured it within the sanctuary at Hulston
My Welsh Tour,
i. 237.
; 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
Llwyd's Itin.
i. 15.
; 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, expressing a favorite subject of the time, the root of
Jesse.
The patriarch is represented sprawling at the bottom, with a genealogical 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 another with an eye in glory within it: the window being done in 1533, after the accession of that house. Here, in a vast monument 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
A common
Welsh
name.
Chair,
is an extremely beautiful view of the vale between
Denbigh
and
Ruthin,
FINE VIEW.
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, dedicated to
St. Ddysnog,
one of our long pedegreed faints; formerly 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;
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
Sardibus
eae provenere primum. Ideo apud
Graecos, Sardianos balanos
appellant.
Plin. Hist. Nat.
lib. xv. c. 23.
.
REACH
Ruthin,
RUTHIN.
and enter under
Porth y Dwr,
its only remaining gate. The town is pleasantly seated, on the easy slope and summit of a rising ground.
CASTLE.
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
Llwyd's Itin.
MS. iii. 61.
. Possibly our countrymen had here a strong-hold before the time of
Edward
I. who built the castle whose ruins we survey
Rotulae Walliae,
66.
, and bestowed it, in 1281, with the cantred of
Dyffryn Clwyd,
on
Reginald 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 dependencies 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 remained 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
Rymer,
iii. 157. iv. 137
.
THE inhabitants, united with those of
Denbigh
and
Holt,
send a representative to parlement.
THE town of
Ruthin
was burnt by
Owen Glendwr,
BURNT BY 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;
CASTLE TAKEN BY MYTTON.
when it surrendered, with two months provisions, to general
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 conquest
Drake
's Parlement. Hist. xiv. 355.
. The fortress was afterwards demolished by an order of the house.
THE church is large,
CHURCH.
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 monument of any note, is that of Doctor
Gabriel Goodman,
dean of
Westminster
in the time of queen
Elizabeth,
whose figure is represented by a bust. This illustrious divine was a native of
Ruthin,
and was greatly distinguished by his various merit. As a churchman, 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
Cambden Middlesex,
i, 385.
, 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
Leland Itin.
iii, 135.
, 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 collegiate, 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
Dugdale's Monast.
iii. pars ii. 57.
. 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
Dugdale's Monast.
iii. pars ii. 57.
.
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 mansion 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
The same.
.
IN 1583, here were left in charge four incumbents, with pensions from six pounds to one pound six shillings and eight-pence each
Willis Abbies,
ii. 311.
. The lands were granted by
Edward
VI. to
William Winlove
and
Richard Fyld
Tanner,
708.
.
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
Itin,
v. 45.
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,
JAIL.
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
Llanruth,
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
Several of their portraits are preserved at
Bathavarn,
the seat of the reverend Mr.
Carter.
; 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 professions 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,
admirably 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,
BRITISH POST.
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 conjectured, 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
Mr.
Thomas
's MSS.
.
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 certain, that the inhabitants themselves could not remain here for any long space, as most of these fastnesses are destitute of water
Tour in Wales,
i. 414.
.
DESCEND, and finding the usual ford of the
Dee
to
Corwen
impassable, 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.
Powel,
320.
.
PASS near the house of Rûg. This place is memorable for the treacherous surprizal of
Gryffyd ap Conan,
king of
Wales,
soon after 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
Shrewsbury,
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, coming to
Chester
under pretence of buying necessaries, took an opportunity, while the keepers were a feasting, to carry away his prince, loaden with irons, on his back, to a place of security
Life of Gr. ap Conan. Sebright
MSS.
.
IN after-times, this place became the property of
Owen Brogyntyn,
natural son of
Madog ap Mereddydd,
a prince of
Powys.
Such was the merit of
Brogyntyn,
that he shared his father's inheritance equal with his legitimate brethren. His dagger, curiously 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
Bachymbyd
Salusbury Pedegree,
14.
, 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
Powel,
214.
, 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 fertilizing 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
Lord LITTLETON, iv. 99.
, who from hence put a stop to the invasion of
Henry
II. in the year 1165. The place of encampment 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 chalice 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
He died in 1089.
: 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 consequence, 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,
FFORD HELEN.
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.
Cloud Berries,
or
Knot Berries. Llwyd
In
Camden's Br.
ii, 835.
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
Flora Scotica, i.
267. tab. xiii.
. 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,
WATTER-FALL.
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,
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 reserved 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, especially 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
Salvator 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,
ST. DERFEL.
stand the church and village of
Llan-Dderfel:
the first was dedicated to
St. Derfel Gadarn,
and was remarkable 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 unhappy 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
Halle's Chr. ccxxxiii.
.
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 divers others of the nobility, who honored this
auto de fe
with their presence
Stow's Annals,
573.
; but unfortunately, the frier not having the insensibility 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 religious matters; for which the prelate himself suffered in a succeeding 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 appear immediately after to be very remote. And I here stop a moment, to recommend to the traveller, who does not chuse precisely 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 defend 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
J. D. Rhys
's Grammar, 103.
.
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
Mr.
Evan Evans
's Notes.
.
PASS by the village and church of
Llanvawr,
and cross the torrent
Troweryn,
beneath
Rhiwlas,
the antient seat of the
Prices.
In the house are the portraits of some of the family:
RHIWDAS.
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.
knitting along the roads; and mixed with them
Herculean
figures appear, assisting their
omphales
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 antient 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,
TOMMEN Y BALA.
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.
VIEW FROM TOMMEN Y BALA.
Bala
takes its name from its vicinity to the place where a river discharges itself from a lake.
Balloch
in the
Erse
language signifies 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
Sebright MSS.
; 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
Dugdale Baron
ii 149.
. I may add incidentally, that
Edward
I. gave one
Hugo de Turbervill
liberty of hunting through
Meirionithshire
all kinds of wild beasts
Rotulae Walliae,
98, In P 97 is an order for him to have six stags out of the forest of
Meirionith.
, while probably the subdued natives were only his Chasseurs.
Bala Lake, Pimble Mere,
LAKS.
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 boundaries 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,
FISH.
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
Watkin 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
Sebright MSS.
.
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 Geneva. 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
Powel,
258.
.
THERE is no river in
England
which has been so much celebrated by our poets, for its sanctity,
THR DLF, SACRED
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
Germans
the
Rhine,
because it was the judge whether their offspring was legitimate; for the spurious sunk, the lawful floated
Cluverius Germ. Antiq.
lib. i. 185.
: 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
Girald. Camb, Itin.
c. xi.
; and it often seemed miraculously 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 fountains, 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
Ausonius
Clarae Urbes, lin. 29.
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
Stanza 39, cant. xi, lib. iv.
:
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 presaging 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
Song x.
.
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 following 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
Lycidas.
.
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
Edgar and Canute.
, 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,
KERRIG Y DRUIDION
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
II. 813.
, 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 monuments 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, perhaps 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,
BARON PRICE.
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 commons, 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 capable 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, dedicated to
St. Beuno;
and see, on the opposite side,
Llangower,
dedicated 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,
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
Arthur.
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,
CASTELL CORNDOCHON.
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;
LLANUWCHLLYN.
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
Meirion,
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,
ARAN HI
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 delivered 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 romance 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
Fairy Queen,
book I. canto ix.
.
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 cultivation. 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.
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 tremendous 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;
TURF SLEDGES
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
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.
; then go before, and draw it down, still preceding, and guiding its motions, 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,
ST. TYDECHO.
one of our most capital saints. His legend
Gywydd y
DYDDECHO SANT yn amser MEALGWIN GWYNEDD;
i.
the poem of
St. Tydecho,
who lived in the time of
Malgwyn Gwynedd.
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 abbot 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 diversion; but when he attempted to rise, he found his breech immoveably 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 privileges 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,
DINAS MOWDDWY.
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 spearmen, 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 insignia 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.
OWNERS.
He derives it from
William,
or
Wilc
cke,
as he is commonly called, fourth son of
Gryffyd ap Gwenwynwyn,
lord of
Powis.
His grand-daughter and sole heir married 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,
PRIVILEGES.
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 criminals; 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 property, 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,
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 archbishop
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 appearance. 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.
CRUEL MURDER.
On the road was informed of the place, not far from hence, where
Lewis Owen,
vice-chamberlain 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 continued 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 outlaws 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 several long trees, to cross the road, and impede the passage. They then discharged on him a shower of arrows; one of which sticking 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 distinguished 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,
OCHRE.
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
Detested people, blue-marking earth, and rain.
.
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;
BWLCH OER-DDRWS.
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,
CONVENTION THERE.
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 entered 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 value, 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 government 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; except the forfeiture of the benefit of the compact, which, in those unsettled times, was probably sufficient, as it left the party unsupported and friendless.
DESCEND from hence,
DOLGELLEU.
along very bad stoney roads, to
Dolgelleu;
every entrance to which is barred by a turnpike, in imitation 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 numbers 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, notwithstanding it is pew-less, is a good building. Within is the monument 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,
CADER IDRIS.
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 discolored rocks, very rugged, and cemented by a semivitrified matter, which gives them a very vulcanic look, added to their disjoined, 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 aggregate of strangely disordered masses. I could at intervals perceive 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 admirable pencil of my kinsman, Mr.
Wilson,
that I shall not attempt 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. Multitudes of them were columnar,
COLUMNS.
but not jointed, square, or pentagonal; 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 mountain, than I have been able to do.
IN respect to the heights of this mountain,
HEIGHT.
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
Arrenig,
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,
LLYS BRADWEN.
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 honor 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 gardens or orchard, and formed for removal from place to place, for the sake of new pasture, or a greater plenty of game. The furniture was correspondent; there were neither tables, nor cloths, nor napkins
Girald. Cambr. Dejer. Walliae,
888.
; 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
Anderson's Dict. Com,
ii. 112.
.
ANTIENT HOSPITALITY.
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 voluntary 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 festivity. 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
Giraldus,
888.
.
SOME vein of the antient minstrelsie is still to be met with in these mountanous countries.
ANTIENT MINSTRELSIE.
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 modern
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 nightingales, they support the contest throughout the night:
Certant inter se, palamque animosa contentio—victa morte finit saepe vitam, spiritu prius deficiente quam cantu,
may almost be added. The audience 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. Parishes 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,
TOWYN.
or
Towyn.
The rectory is an impropriation in the bishop of
Lichfield:
the vicarage formerly belonged to the nunnery of
Barking,
in
Essex,
now in the patronage of the bishop of
Bangor.
I neglected visiting this place; but believe my trouble would not have been thrown away; for I find, among Mr.
Llwyd
's papers
Sebright
MSS.
, 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,
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,
TEBERRI CASTLE.
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 remaining 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 difficult. 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
Leland's Collect.
i. 178.
. 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
Rotulae Walliae,
99.
. It is fit to mention this, as there was another strong fortress in
Cardiganshire,
of a similar name.
RETURN about half a mile,
TAL Y LLYN.
and ride several miles along the pretty vale of
Tal y Llyn;
very narrow, but consisting of fine meadows, 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
Llanvehangel y Pennant,
are chapels to
Towyn
Ecton,
499.
.
ADJACENT to this valley,
SINGULAR COFFIN.
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 uncommon 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
Llwyd's Itin.
MS. Another instance is related in
Cambden,
ii. 793.
. 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 tremendous. 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,
LLAM Y LLADRON.
from some resemblance 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 punishments, for any crime; not but the gallows was in use for theft
Leges Walliae,
221.
, 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,
LLYN Y TRI GRAIENYN.
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,
NANNEY.
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
Tour in
Wales,
i. 324.
.
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
A Gentleman's Tour through
Monmouthshire
and
Wales,
in 1774, printed for
T. Evans,
1775.
, 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 meadow, 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.
CYMMER ABBEY.
Part of the church is still to be seen, and shews its antient 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 donations, 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
Sebright
MSS.
; 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
Dugdale Monast.
i. 826; who, as well as
Tanner,
confounds this with
Cwmbir
abbey, in
South Wales.
. At the dissolution, its revenues 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,
supposed to have been the last abbot
Willis,
ii. 313.
.
Uchtred ap Edwyn
built a castle here,
CASTLE.
which was taken and overthrown, about 1116, by
Eneon ap Cadwgan,
and
Gryffyd ap Meredydd ap Bleyddyn
Powel,
183.
; 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
Rhaiader-ddu,
RHAIADER 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 arrival 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).
PISTILL Y MAW.
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,
BEDH PORUS.
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
II. 791.
:
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 letter 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, concerning the giant
Idris;
but it is no more than one of the monumental columns, so frequent in
Wales,
and many other parts.
AFTER a short ride,
SARN HELEN.
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 emperor
Maximus
Rowland,
165.
.
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 materials 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,
CASTELL PRYSOR.
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 appearance 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,
CROOKED PERCH.
with a hunched back, and the lower part of the back-bone, near the tail, oddly distorted
Br. Zool,
iii. tab. xlviii.
: in other respects, they resemble the common kind, which are equally numerous in this water. The same are found at
Fablun,
in
Sweden.
NOT far from hence,
ROMAN CAMP.
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 inclining 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 mentioned 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
Cambden,
ii, 790.
.
CLOSE by the road side,
OVAL INCLOSURE.
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 opposite 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 watered 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,
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
Meirioniddshire,
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 enjoy; yet ships now and then come to fetch the webs, or flannels; 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
July
18th, 1770.
to this place,
FASTING WOMAN.
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 extremities, and quite bed-ridden; her pulse rather strong, her intellects 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 application of a sheep's skin, just taken from the animal. After this, she was seized, at spring and fall, with swellings and inflammations, 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 attacked with the same complaint, but in a more violent manner; 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 knowlege 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 quantity 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 subsistence 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 functions 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 unembarrassed with the grossness of food, and a constant alienation of thought from all worldly affairs
She was living in 1780, and in the same state.
.
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 either 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
December
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
Harleian
Miscel. iv. 41. 55. See
London
Magazine, 1762, p. 340, in which is another instance of long abstinence.
.
I SHALL now mention another singular personage,
EVANS THE CONJURER.
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
Antiquarian Repertory,
and answers the description given of him by his great pupil,
William Lilly,
of having a broad forehead, beetlebrows, 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
In the life of
Benevuto Cellini,
is a most ridiculous tale of this nature.
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
J. D. Rhys Cambr. Brit.
Ling. Institut. p. 60.
, and was sought after by the greatest princes in
Europe. Ben. Johnson,
in his excellent 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
See
Lilly
's Life
passim.
.
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 inscription:
Hic jacet
CALIXTUS
Monedo Regi.
There is no tradition of the place it was removed from.
ASCEND from the coast to
Cors-y-gedol,
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 almost impenetrable surface.
THERE are few places which abound more in
British
antiquities, than the environs of
Cors-y-Gedol.
CRAIG Y DINAS.
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 regular 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,
LLYN BODLYN.
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.
CIRCLES OF STONES.
The first is about fifty-six feet in diameter, formed of piles of loose stones, with upright columns, 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 carnedds, of a most stupendous size, containing an uncommon assemblage of druidical customs,
CARNEDDEU HENGWM.
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
Cromleh
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,
CASTELL DINAS CORTIN.
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 likewife 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 destroyed. The place is most remarkable for the name,
Bryn Cornyn
JAU. The neighbors of this antiquity are fond of rendering 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,
CERNUNNOS.
who was venerated by the
Gauls,
and applied to as a protector from the dangers attendant on the diversion
Religion de
Gaulois,
ii.
85.
Both the
Gauls
and
Britons
had one common 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.
CROMLECHS.
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,
DEWS 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, comparing 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 Garnedd,
the birth place of the regicide colonel
Jones;
whose insolence 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 period, 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,
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 Goronhir.
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 picturesque, 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 Porchellyn,
had before us a wild horizon of rocks and rocky mountains. Even these tracts, unfriendly as they seem to vegetation, had once been covered with venerable oaks; and there still remained a few, between eight and nine feet in circumference. We went under their shade, above a rapid torrent, with a delightful 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,
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
Numbers of respectable families in this country, are of the same descent.
.
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 potent 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 scrotum, 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 lessening 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 gentleman 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 mountains 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 property; 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
Da Costa
's Fossils, i. 83.
; 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
Carnedd. Saeth
signifies an arrow; so probably the antient sportsmen 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,
ANTIENT HUNTING.
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
Lewis's Hist, Wales,
Introd. 56.
.
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
Record of
Caernarvon, Harl.
MSS.
.
THE three first were
Helfa Gyffredyn,
or the common hunt. The stag, because he was the noblest animal of chace; and because 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 comprehended 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 account of the nine objects of chace, or else he will be looked on as a pretender, and forfeit his horn. The same penalty attends 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 value 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
See
Leges Wallicae,
xxxix. 256 to 260.
.
FROM
Cwm Bychan,
HARLECH.
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 grandchildren 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
Ayloff's Welsh Calendar,
92.
; but it was afterwards reduced; for it appears, that the annual fee was only twenty-six pounds thirteen 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 soldiers, whose annual pay amounted to a hundred and forty pounds
Dodderidge,
58.
. 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,
BESIEGED IN 1468
in 1468, by
Dafydd ap Jevan ap Einion,
a strong friend of the house of
Lancaster,
and distinguished as much by his valour, as his goodly personage, and great stature
Gwedir Family,
77.
. He was besieged here by
William Herbert,
earl of
Pembroke,
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
Cambden,
ii, The road is to this day called
Lle Herbert.
; 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
British
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
Life of lord
Herbert.
7, 8.
.
Margaret of Anjou,
the faithful and spirited queen of the meek
Henry
VI. found in this castle, in 1460, an asylum, after the unfortunate battle of
Northampton.
She first fled to
Coventry,
and from thence retired to this fortress
Carte, ii. 757.
: 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,
AND IN 1647.
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 governor, 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.
Whitelock,
24
.
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
In possession of Sir
Roger Mostyn.
,
TORQUES.
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 common 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
A little altered from the translation in
Cambden,
ii. 788.
.
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
Propertius,
lib. iv. eleg.
.
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
Livij,
lib. xxxvi. c. 40.
.
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
Plin,
lib. xxxiii. c. 2.
. 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 foundations of
Cytti'er Gwyddelod,
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
Mona Antiqua.
, had it not been for their intersections. The learned
Borlase
gives instances of such, in the circles of
Botallek
Antiq. Cornwal,
188. tab. xiv.
, which he supposes to have been formed for religious ceremonies; and that one rite might have been performed in one particular circle, and another again in a compartment allotted for it by the superstition of
Druidism.
Clusters of circles were not peculiar to our island: baron
Dahlberg
Suecia Antiqua,
&c. tab. 322.
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 tumulus and circles to have been of earlier date, and formed in honor
pagan potentate; for the northern
christendoms old
Wormii Mon. Dan.
4.
, 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 combat, 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,
GLYN.
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,
LLAN-TEGWIN.
which well merits the name of
Fair and Lovely,
a lake about a mile round, whose waters are of a crystalline 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 unconcern.
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-eminent. 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,
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,
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 precipitous 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
The present earl of
Radnor.
, 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 succession of owners by the fatal attachment to the bottle, has occasioned 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 fascinate the senses of the WHOLE principality; but that, after a fair scrutiny, there may be found some corner free from the
Bacchanalian
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,
FALLS 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, remarkably 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 Cwm̄ orthin;
CWM̄ ORTHIN.
a retreat much more sequestered, 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 believe, 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 containing 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 Trwstyllon;
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
Trawsfynnydd
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,
BEDDAU GWYR ARDUDWY.
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 upright 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 adjacent 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,
LLYN CONWY.
the source of the noted river of that name. It is a very large piece of water, most dismally situated among rock and bog, and the sides very irregularly indented. 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 attempt 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,
YSPYTTY.
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 murderers, 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.
TOMBS.
The first is the valiant
Rhys Vawr ap Meredydd,
of the house of
Plâs Yolyn;
to whom, at the battle of
Bosworth, Henry
VII. entrusted the standard of
England,
after the bearer, Sir
William Brandon,
was slain by
Richard:
a proper respect to the
Welsh,
who so highly favored 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,
VOELAS.
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
See the Poem addressed to him by
Llywarch Brydydd y Moch,
in
Evans
's Coll.
Awdl.
vii.
. Mr.
Llwyd
confesses the inscription to be very obscure. It is part in
Latin,
part in
Welsh.
The last line says,
Levelinus optimus princeps 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
Cambden,
ii. 816.
.
TURN back, and again reach the river
Conway.
Enter CAERNARVONSHIRE, And, after a short ride,
RHAIADER Y GRAIG LLWYD.
arrive at its celebrated falls, not very far from its junction with the
Machno.
The prospect is very extraordinary, 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, begins 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 beneath that, full in view, is a succession of four lesser. The descent 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 water, called
Llyn yr Afange,
or
The Beavers Pool,
BEAVERS.
from being, in old times, the haunt of those animals. Our ancestors also called them, with great propriety,
Llost-Lydan,
or the broad tailed animal. Their skin was in such esteem, as to be valued at a hundred 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
Leges Wallicae,
260. 261.
. 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 meanders through the whole, and before it reaches
Llanrwst,
is of a considerable size.
VISIT the church of
Bettws Wyrion Iddon,
BETTWS WYRION.
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,
brother to the last prince of
Wales.
He is in armour, recumbent, with this inscription:
Hic jacet Grufud ap Davyd Goch, agnus
DEI
misere mei.
DOLWYDDELAN CASTLE.
A LITTLE farther, pass by
Pont y Pair,
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
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
desolated these parts.
.
I SOON left the bridge, and, after a steep ascent, arrive at
Dolwyddelan
castle,
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 formerly three floors. The materials of this fortress are the shattery 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 (untill our fatal divisions) quite impregnable. Had there been occasion for artificial retreats, the wealth of our country could readily have supplied the means of erecting them. We had the balance of trade in our favor. This prevented our princes from ever making use of their third prerogative, that of coining
Tertiam est, jus leges condendi, et MONETAM PERCUTIENDI.
Wottou's Leges Wallicae,
71.
. 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
Leges Wallicae,
165.
.
Jorwerth Drwndwn
made this place his residence; and here is said to have been born his son,
Llewelyn the Great
Gweair Fam.
7.
, 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
Rotulae Walliae,
97.
.
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
Gwedir Family,
137; a publication we are indebted for, to my respected friend, the honorable DAINES BARRINGTON.
. 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 habitation in
Evionedd,
a hundred in the county, to this castle; giving 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
The same.
.
HE founded the strong house of
Penamnaen,
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 legitimate, and three natural children.
THE church had been an impropriation of the abby of
Beddkelert;
is very small; and has in it a monument, commemorating such of the family who were buried here
pedegree of the
Wynnes,
See Appendix.
.
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,
CARREG Y GWALCH.
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
Lancaster,
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 remember 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 nutriment 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.
GWEDIR.
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-father 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
See his Works.
, about the year 610; or perhaps from the cruel battle in 952, between the sons of
Hoel,
and the princes
Jevaf
and
Iago
Powel,
60.
; and a third may be added, between
Gryffydd ap Cynan,
and
Trahaern ap Cradog,
equally bloody
Vide
his Life.
The supposition that it was derived from its being the first house in
Wales
which had
glass windows,
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
See the poems of
Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr,
who flourished about the year 1250.
.
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
Hist. Gwedir Fam.
xii.
.
SIR IOHN WYNNE BARONET.
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,
LLANRWST BRIDGE.
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.
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
Londoner,
a son of a cloth-worker
Mr. WALPOLE'S Anecd. Painting, ii. 142.
, 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
His print, tab. at p. 142. Anecd. and his Life
passim.
, 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
Hawkins
's Hist. Music, iv. 55.
. 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 relation
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 popularly asserted.
.
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 employed 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 imbecil as they were rancorous and ill-founded
Ben. Jonson
's Works, vi. 294.
.
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 taking 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,
TOWN OF LLANRWST, AND CHURCH.
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
XV. Tribes, of which
Nefydd
was one.
. 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.
SIR RICHARD WYNNE
LLANRWST BRIDGE.
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, remains 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 posterity 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,
MAYNAN ABBY.
translated hither in 1289, from
Conwy,
by permission of pope
Nicholas
Rymer,
ii. 427.
, 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 immunities from taxes, tolls, and duties
Dugdale Mon.
i. 921.
Steven's Transt.
106.
; and besides, gave them the patronage of their antient church at
Conwy
Rotulae Walliae, 90.
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
Willis
calls him
Richard ap Rhys.
, 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,
TREFRIW.
and, about two miles beyond, high over the
Conwy,
visit the village of
Trefriw,
where numbers 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 princess, who before was obliged to foot it to
Llanrhychwyn,
a long walk among the mountains
Sebright
MS.
.
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 turberies, the providential fuel of the country. Some lead-mines have been discovered in these parts, but none of any consequence. The
Gale,
GALE, OR BOG MYRTLE.
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
diodgriafel,
by infusing the berries in water. In former times, a superstitious 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 Geirionnydd,
a small lake, noted for having had near it the habitation of the celebrated
Taliesin,
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 translation, with which a fair countrywoman of mine hath lately favored the world
Printed in M.DCC.LXXX. 410. and sold by
Dodsley
and
Elmsley.
.
ELPHIN deg taw ath wylo
Na chabled, &c.
See Mr.
Evan Evans
's Collection, 150.
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
In the original, SALMONS.
?
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.
THE SUMMIT OF SNOWDON FROM CAPEL CERIG
OUR pains were fully repaid, on attaining the summit.
GLYDER BACH.
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 property 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 singular mountain
Trevaen,
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 insulated 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.
Observe 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,
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 nature, 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 surrounded with mountains of a stupendous height, mostly precipitous; 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 appearance, resembling a human face, reclined backward. Forehead, nose, lips, and chin, are very apparent; and you may add, without any great strain of fancy, the beard of an antient inhabitant, an arch-druid.
BEGIN another hard ascent to
Cwm Idwal,
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 fifteen 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,
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 situation; for to it were added the waters of
Llyn y Cwn,
impetuously rushing through its bottom.
REACH the
Glyder Vawr,
KLOGWYN DU.
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 quality, 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
Lightfoot's Fl. Sectica,
ii. 83.
.
THE prospect from this mountain is very noble.
GLYDER VAWR.
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 venerable 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 wondrous 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,
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 monocular, 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 arrive in that vale by
Caunant yr Esgar,
or
The Dingle of the Enemy.
VIEW in NANTBERIS
ON the loftiest part,
CASTELL DOLBADERN.
over one of the lakes, stand the remains of
Castell Dolbadern,
consisting of a round tower, and a few fragments of walls. It was constructed with the thin laminated stones of the country, cemented with very strong mortar, without 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, dedicated 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 extremity. 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 reduced 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
Caernarvon,
where it assumes the name of
Seiont.
NEAR this end of the lake lived a celebrated personage,
MARGARET UCH EVAN.
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 excellent 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 congenial 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 celebrated her exploits in pure
British
verse.
ABOUT half a mile farther, I visited the remains of
Llŷs Dinorwig,
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, according 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,
BRITISH POSTS.
between the mountains and the
Menai.
Its want of strength is supplied with several posts, fortified in the
British
manner.
Dinas Dinorwig,
about half a mile south of the church of
Llandeniolen
In the church-yard is an yew tree, twenty-seven feet in girth.
, is the chief. The area is very large, surrounded with an agger of small stones, backed by another of very large ones: then succeeds 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,
surrounded 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 recommend 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,
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 quality,
GRASSES.
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 continuance of summer, and the necessary power of that enlivening body, to perfect their seeds, become viviparous; that is, the rudiment 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,
SUMMER DWELLINGS.
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 mountaneers 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 Arddwy
at their foot. On our right were those over the small lakes
Llyn Glâs, Llyn y-Nadroedd,
and
Llyn Coch.
THE HIGH LAKES.
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 another series of broken crags: after these, is a second smooth tract, which reaches almost to the summit,
TOP OF SNOWDON.
which, by way of pre-eminence, 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 bottom The nearest was
Fsynnon Lás,
FYNNON LAS.
or
The Green Well,
lying immediately 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 support 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
August 25th Old Stile.
, 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 dispersed 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 powerful, as to attract the mists from the various lakes, which in a slight degree obscured the prospect. The shadow of the mountain 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
August 15th, New Stile.
, 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. Sometimes 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;
ATTRACTION OF CLOUDS.
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 before appeared very remote, and at great heights. At times, I have observed them lower to half their height, and notwithstanding 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
Snowdonia,
RIVERS.
is very considerable; so much, that I doubt not but collectively 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.
HEIGHT.
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:
Wren's Parentalia,
i. 253. I suppose;
Caswell
was employed by Mr.
Adams,
author of the
Index Villeris.
; 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,
STRATA.
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.
BOTANY.
I shall therefore say nothing more of the plants, than that those species which LINNAEUS 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
Gwedir
MSS.
.
A ROYAl FOREST.
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 immediately acquainted him, that most of the freeholders estates might be brought within the boundaries. Commissioners were appointed to enquire of the encroachments and concealments of lands within the forest. Juries were empannelled; but their returns 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
Itin
V. 43.
.
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,
notwithstanding 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 Snowdon.
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 before 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 proclamation 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
From the communication of
Paul Panton,
esq
.
Snowdon
was held as sacred by the antient
Britons,
SACRED.
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;
Gildas.
but that does not appear from the triambics quoted by our able antiquary, Mr.
Rowlands
Rowlands,
253.
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.
Mr.
Rhys Jones
's Coll. of
Welsh
Poems, p. 13.
.
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
Snowdon,
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
Powel,
369.
. 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,
FAIR HELD THERE.
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,
NAME.
with some remarks on the name, and the weather. The first is a literal translation
By the
Saxons
first into SNAWDUNE.
Sax. Chr.
203.
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,
WEATHER.
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,
concerning 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 specimens 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 belonging to the
Glyders,
on the other by the parts of
Snowdon.
REFRESH ourselves on a spot called
The Gorphwysfa,
GORPHWYSFA.
or
The Resting-Place.
At a small distance from which is
Bwlchy Gwyddyl,
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,
CWM DYLI.
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,
CWM DYLI UCHA.
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,
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 visitants, 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.
FFYNNON LAS.
Its situation is the most dreadful, 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 singular, 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,
WHEAT-EAR
a small and seemingly tender 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,
CRIB COCH.
above
Llyn Llydaw,
having the tremendous red precipices of
Crib Coch
high above us, rising into a mere ridge, serrated, 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,
NANT GWYNAR
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 Jevan, 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 Dinas.
Beyond that, is a tract of meads, chequered with woods, and watered by the river created by the various lakes; but retains the name of
Avon Glás-Lyn,
from the lofty
Ffynnon-Lâs,
from which it originates.
AT the bottom rises a vast rock,
DINAS EMRIS.
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.
DINAS EMRYS.
WHEN
Vortigern
found himself unable to contest with the treacherous
Saxons,
ITS LEGEND.
whom he had, in the year 449, invited into
Britain,
he determined, by the advice of his magicians, on building an impregnable fortress in
Snowdon.
He collected the materials, which all disappeared in one night. The prince, astonished 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
Nennius,
c. xl. xlii. xliii.
, 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
Draiton's Pel
lb.
SONG X.
.
THIS is the poetical translation of the legend.
Merlin,
MERLIN.
or
Merd
il
Emris,
or
Ambrosius,
was in fact the son of a noble Roman, of the same name. His mother, a
Vestal,
to save her life and honor
Powel
's Notes on
Giraldus Itin. Cambriae,
lib. I. c. x.
, invented the fable of his father, which was swallowed by the credulity of the times.
Merlin
was an able mathematician and astronomer, and deeply read in all the learning of his age. The vulgar, as usual, ascribed all he did to art magic; 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 another circumstance which favors the history of this celebrated supposed prophet.
BEDDKELERT
THIS church had been conventual,
PRIORY.
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,
Rymer,
ii. 316.
, 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,
belonging 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
Sebright
MS.
. 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 producing 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
Leges Walliae,
254.
.
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 munificently repaired all the damages; and bishop
Anian,
about the year 1286, for the encouragement of other benefactors, remitted to all such who were truly repentant of their sins, forty days of any penance inflicted on them
Rymer,
ii, 317.
.
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
Dugdale Monast.
iii. 21.
. On the dissolulution, 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.
Rowland's MSS.
. 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.
Edward 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.
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,
LLYN Y DYWARCHEN.
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
Itin. Cambr.
lib. ii. c. ix. p. 871.
, 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 irregular 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,
DRWS Y COED.
or
The Door of the Wood,
a pass towards
Clynnog.
It is bounded by vast mountains: on one side by
Tal Mignedd;
on the other, by a great clift of
Mynydd Mawr.
Some years ago, here were considerable 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 majestic 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,
LLYNIEU NANLLE.
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
Sebright
MSS.
Rymer,
ii. 276 to 289.
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 Kelert,
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.
PONT ABERGLAS LLYN.
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 imagined. The mountains rise to very uncommon height, and oppose to us nothing but a broken series of precipices, one above the other, as high as the eye can reach. Here is very little appearance 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, without possiblity of return, it must remain to perish, after it has finished 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 belonged 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 instance) 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,
RHYS GOCH.
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.
CONTINUATION OF THE JOURNEY.
FROM
Bedd Kelert
I returned to
Pont Aber Glas lyn;
and soon reached
Traeth Mawr,
a large extent of sands, between the counties of
Caernarvon
and
Meirionydd,
of most dangerous 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 desire 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 adventure 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.
VIEW FROM THE SANDS.
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-eminent 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.
PENMORVA.
The small town of
Penmorva
lies at the head of these meadows. The church is dedicated cated to
St. Beuno,
and annexed to it is the chapel of
Dolbenmaen.
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 derived from
Collwyn ap Tangno,
and consisted of the houses of
Whilog, Bron y Foel, Berkin, Gwynfryn, Tal Hén Bont
(now
Plas Hén
), and
Pennardd.
Gwedir
family, in
Mr. Barrington's Miscell,
octavo, 143.
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
Tour in Wales,
ii. 137.
, 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
Hist. Gwedir family.
!'
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.
ANTIQUETIES.
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 composition 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
Ystymkiged
are three
Cromlehs
joining to each other, possibly memorial of three chieftains slain on the spot. And near
Clenenney,
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,
DWARFS.
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,
A MEPHITIC VAPOUR.
this neighborhood was remarkable for an amazing and noxious phaenomenon. A
mephites,
or pestilential vapour, resembling a weak blue slame, arose, during a fortnight or three weeks, out of a sandy marshy tract, called
Morva Bychan
Cambden,
ii. 788.
Ph. Trans.
No 208.
Lowthorp's Abridg.
ii. 183.
, 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
Theatre of Infects,
Engl. ed.
986.
.
I continued my journey along the shore,
WRECK OF BIRDS.
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 happened in 1776. He saw the beach, for miles together, covered with dead birds, especially those kinds which annually visit the rocks in summer; such as Puffins, Razor-bills, Guillemots, and Kittiwakes; of the last. there were many many thousands. 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
January
6th to
February
the 2d, had been in that winter uncommonly severe: a storm had probably overtaken both the migrants 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,
CRICKAETH.
a poor borough town, contributory to
Caernarvon.
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 Conquest,
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
Sebright
MSS.
.
OUR boasted countryman,
SIR HOWEL Y FWYALL.
Sir
Howel y Fwyall,
was constable 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
Froissart,
tom. i. ch. clxiiii. p. 195.
Engl. Froissart,
i.
. 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 yeomen 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
See
XV Tribes of North Wales;
and
Hist, Gwedir Family
in
Mr, Barrington's Miscelles;
and
Hist. Gwedir,
octavo 143.
.
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 entrance 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 quorumcunque 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
Pwllheli
was to pay to
Nigel
fourteen pounds a year, and
Nevyn
thirtytwo. This borough and
Nevyn
he freely bestowed on him, with all its appurtenances, together with four librates of land, towards 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,
CARN MADRYN.
a lofty rocky insulated hill, noted for having been a strong hold of the sons of
Owen Gwynedd, Roderick
and
Malgwn,
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, occupied 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
Tour in Wales,
ii 212.
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,
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 beyond this is another bay, called
Hell's Mouth,
dreaded by mariners, being the
Scylla
to the
Charybdis
of
Sarn Badrig,
whose extremity lies nearly opposite.
IN a small time I reached
Aber-
aron,
ABER-DARON.
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
Powel,
176.
, and also much frequented by pilgrims.
Leland says,
it was called
Llan Engas Brenin, Fanum Niniani Reguli
Itin.
v. 51.
Ninian
died in 432.
.
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,
BARADSEYE 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 appears 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 building, 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
Tanner,
703.
. 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
Worthies of Wales,
29.
,
But to approach the truth;
S
. DUBRITIUS
let it be said, that
Dubritius,
archbishop of
Caer-leon,
almost worn out with age, resigning his see to St.
David,
retired here, and, according to the best account, died in 612; was interred on the spot; but in after times his body was removed 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 escaped, but numbers of other pious
Britons,
fled hither to avoid the rage of the
Saxons.
THE time in which the religious house was founded,
CONVENT.
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 resorted to in very early times; for our accounts say, that it flourished as a convent in the days of
Cadwan
king of
Britain,
Rowlands,
137.
, 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 perpetuam 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
Pencynydd,
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 dissolution. Its revenues were, as
Dugdale
says, 46
l.
1
s.
4
d.
according to
Speed,
58
l.
6
s.
2
d.
In the year 1553, only 1
l.
6
s.
8
d.
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 particularly 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 abundance of lobsters: the spiny lobster,
Br. Zool.
iv. No 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 tremendous. After landing at
Aber-daron,
I rid to its summit, and found the ruins of a small church,
CAPEL VAIR.
called
Capel Vair,
the Chapel of our Lady; and I was informed, that at the foot of the promontory, 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.
VIEW OF BARDSEY ISLAND.
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.
MAEN Y MELLT.
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,
LLŶN, PRODUCE OF.
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, being watered by a thousand little rills. It is destitute of trees, except about the houses of the gentry.
THE herrings, about the year 1771,
HERRINGS.
were taken here in vast abundance, from
Porth Ysgadan,
or the
Port of Herrings,
to
Bardseye
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
November. 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. No 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
Penprys
stable, in
Llannor
parish
Sebright MSS.
; and at
Capel Yverach,
in
Aberdaron
parish, is another, which I think better expressed by an engraving
The same.
. They are cut on very rude stones, and were certainly 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;
PORTH YN LLŶN.
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; probably 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,
NEFYN.
a contributory 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 heretofore 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
Ad rotundam tabulam juxta
Snowdon
praeonizatam in choreis et hastiludiis ad invicem colludentibus.
Annal. Waverleins▪
in
Gale,
ii. 239.
.
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.
TOURNAMENT.
The concourse was prodigious; for not only the chief nobility 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
Athenaeus,
lib. iv.
. This gallant assembly 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
Dugdale's Warwickshire,
i. 247.
.
VORTIGERN's VALLEY,
THE first, I apprehend to have been performed in those circular
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
Tour in Scotland,
1769, 3d ed.
; 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,
VORTIGERN'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
Hist. Br.
c. xlviii.
places the scene near the
Teivi,
in
Caermarthenshire;
but I believe that the historian not only mistakes the spot, but even the manner 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 tremendous 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 flatted: 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:
tradition 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
Kenne's Paroch. Antiq. Hist. Allchester,
698.
. 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.
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;
THE EIFL HILLS.
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,
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, reverts, 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 contiguous 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 diameter; 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 parallel 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,
GARY GUWCH.
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.
CLYNNOG
AFTER viewing the
Arffedoged-y-Gowres,
I descended to the village and church of
Llan-Aelhaiearn,
LLAN-AELHALEARN.
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 frequented 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,
CLYNNOG.
seated in a small grove near the shore, on a plain near the foot of the hills.
CHURCH.
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
William 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
Whitelock's Memorials,
311, and 454, 599.
.
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
Itin. v.
13.
. 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.
TOMB OF ST. BEUNO.
Votaries 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
p. 32.
.
ST. BEUNO, ACCOUNT OF.
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
Cadwallan
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 present.
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 prebendaries; and it continued so to the dissolution
Tanner,
705.
. 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
bestowed
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
Dugdale Monast.
ii. 919.
.
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.
OFFERINGS TO.
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,
A CROMLEH.
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
Druidpriest.
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 approach 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 Dinas;
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,
DINAS DINLLE.
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 amazing 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 present, very difficult; much more so in the earlier times of navigation.
THAT intelligent traveller and able botanist Mr.
Thomas Johnson
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.
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 Reverend
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 discolored 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 possession of the late Sir
John Wynn,
by the marriage of his father,
Tho. Wynn,
Esq
Afterwards created a Baronet. He died in
April
1749.
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;
CAERNARVON.
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
Iter. Cambr.
865.
; and
Llewelyn the Great
dates from it a charter in the year 1221
This charter is to the Canons of
Penmon. Sebright MSS.
. 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 situation 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
Menai;
and the remainder has the appearance of having the insulation 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
Sebright MSS.
.
Henry Ellerton,
or
de Elreton,
was appointed master mason of the castle
Sebright
and
Gloddaeth MSS.
, and perhaps was the architect; and under him must have been numbers 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 carriage 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 pentagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal: two are more lofty than the rest. The Eagle tower is remarkably fine, and has the addition of three slender angular turrets issuing from the top.
Edward
II. was born in a little dark room in this tower, not
CAERNARYON CASTLE.
twelve feet long, nor eight in breadth: so little did, in those days, a royal consort consult either pomp or conveniency.
QUEEN'S GATE.
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 outside 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
Powel,
382.
, 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
Dodridge's Wales,
6.
.
THE walls of this fortress are about seven feet nine inches thick; and have within their thickness a most convenient gallery, 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 hundred 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
Sebright MSS.
.
IN 1289, I find that the king had appointed
Adam de Wetenhall
to the same important office
Ayloff's Rotulae Wailiae,
98.
.
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 12
l.
3
s.
4
d.
for his annual fee; but this office was sometimes annexed to the former, and then the see was 60
l.
for both.
THE constable and the captain had twenty-four soldiers allowed them for the defence of the place, at the wages of 4
d.
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 3
l.
10
s
Dedridge,
56.
.
I can discover no more than two instances of this place having suffered by the calamities of war. In the great insurrection of the
Welsh,
under
Madog,
in 1294, they surprised the town during the time of a fair, and put many
English
to the sword
Powel,
380.
; and, according to Mr.
Carte
Carte,
ii. 237.
, 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 royalists 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 Colonel
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 parlement
Whitelock,
87, 208.311.
.
THE quay is a most beautiful walk along the side of the
Menai,
QUAY.
and commands a most agreeable view.
CAERNARVON is destitute of manufactures,
TRADE.
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,
ROGER DE PULESDON.
a distinguished favorite of
Edward
I, He had been appointed sheriff and keeper of the county of
Anglesey
Ayloff's Rotulae Walliae,
89.
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
Matt, Westm.
423.
.
THE church is no more than a chapel to
Llan Beblic;
CHAPEL.
and probably originally only a chapel to the garrison.
EDWARD I. bestowed on
Caernarvon
its first royal charter,
CHARTER.
and made it a free borough. Among other privileges, none of the burgesses could be convicted of any crime committed between the rivers
Conwy
and
Dyfy,
unless by a jury of their own townsmen
Sebrigbt MSS.
It is governed by a mayor, who, by patent, is created governor of the castle.
CORPORATION.
It has one alderman, two bailiffs, a town-clerk, and two serjeants at mace. The representative 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
Willis's Notitia Parliam.
iii. Part i. 76.
FIRST MEMBERS.
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
The same. Part ii. pp. 9, 10.
; as if both town and county determined to make reparation to the family for the cruelty practised on its ancestor.
The mother church of
Caenarvon
is about half a mile southeast 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
Rowlands' Mena denqua,
165.
.
Richard
II. bestowed this church, and the chayel of
Caernarvon,
on the nuns of St.
Mary
's in
Chester,
in consideration of their poverty
Sebright MSS.
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
Caermartsoershire
The same.
: 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
This son. (for the name is defaced) seems from the pedigree of the family to have been Sir
Rhys Gryffydd.
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,
ROMAN FORT.
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 annoying an enemy with arrows; but from the smallness of the diameter, 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 foundation of a found one was discovered. It was paved, and in it were found the horn of a deer and skeletons of some lesser animals. 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,
SEGONTIUM.
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
ii. 798.
; 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
Nennius.
, and that
Hugh Lupus,
who certainly invaded
Anglesey
in 1098, had here a temporary post. How far the relation of
Matthew
of
Westminster,
that
Censtantius,
father of
Constantine,
was interred here, may be depended on, I will not say; nor whether, as the historian farther asserts, that
Edward
caused the body to be taken up, and honorably re-buried in the church, I suppose of St.
Publicius
Mat. Westm;
411.
. Mr.
Rowlands
says, that
Helen,
the mother of
Publicius,
had a chapel here, which he tells us was in being in his days
Mona Antiq.
163.
Helen
was born at
Segontium.
. 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,
ROAD FROM CAERNARVON TO SNOWDON.
from this town, may have a very agreeable ride. After crossing the
Fai,
or
Gwyrfai
This river issues out of
Llyn Cwellyn,
and separates the two Hundreds of
Uwch-Gwrfai
and
Is-Gwrfai.
, 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, exhibiting a tremendous precipice. Soon after this, the vale expands;
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,
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,
NEWBOROUGH.
about three miles from the shore, a place greatly fallen away from its antient splendor. Here had been one of the residences of his princes. In Mr.
Rowlands'
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
P. 43. Printed for
Dodsley,
1775. 4 to.
also mentions 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 illegible; but the style of the memorial induces me to give it to a
Dane:
such are extremely frequent in
Scandinavia.
STODINGUS
fecit erigi lapidem
in memoriam ARNONIS
filii sui qui profectus est in
HARDALAM
Peringskioldi Monum. Suev-gothic,
289.
—THORSTATUM & GURA
fecerunt erigi saxum in memoriam
LAFSONIS
patris sui
The same, 301.
—and the imperfect one, like this of
Ulric,
SAXO
lapidem hunc posuit
Wormii Mon. Danica,
501.
, 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
Powel,
34. 62.
: 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 between 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.
Record of Caernarvon, in Biblioth. Litteraria,
23.
. There were besides eight gavels, which were the property of freeholders; the posterity of whom enjoyed 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. Edward
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
Mr. Rowlands' MSS.
. 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 Shaldeford,
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
Sebright MSS.
In after times it had the honor of sending 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 morhesg
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
See the sad effects of these moveable sands in Mr.
Cordiner's Letters,
86, 87. and my
Tour Scotl.
1769, 4th ed. 144. 168.
, 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,
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
Rowlands' MSS.
; 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, ordeals, and what Mr.
Rowlands
calls
, or divination from fishes
The same.
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,
chancellor to our hero, interfered, and by a decree of his put a slop to the invasion of the rights of the place
The same,
and
Hist. Anglesey, 44.
.
ON the peninsula are the ruins of the church,
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 fishing-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;
LLAN-GADWALADR.
and rode by the church of
Llan-Gadwaladr,
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 sapientissimus opimutissimus omnium Regums
Cambden,
ii.
Rawlands,
157.
. The stone on which this is inscribed, is said to-be in form of a coffin; and probably in the former church had a more suitable place.
ABOUT a mile or two farther reach the site of the princely residence.
ABERFRAW.
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
Leges Wallicae,
147.
. 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
Leges Wallicae,
6.
. 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
Powel,
62.
. 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 commuted for their value in money. Thus one place payed XIIIs VIId instead of butter, milk, and services in work; and another district rendered for CIV sheep, IX hens, and XXXVIIs IId in lieu of the labor of a hundred and sixty-one days.
BUT to return to the
Menai.
From
Newhorough
I visited
Llanidan,
LLANIDAN.
a seat of Lord
Boston
's, finely situated on that arm of the sea, commanding upwards a beautiful, prospect of
Caernarvon,
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 extinction 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
De vita Cudbercti,
,c. 4.
, I cannot say. The church of
Durham
possessed his cross, three of his teeth, his head, and two Griffin's eggs
Smith's Beda, App.
No XV.
. 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 astonishment of all beholders, it was found the next morning in its usual place
Giraldus Itin. Cambr.
lib. ii. c. vii. and
Powel
's note.
Giraldus
says, the stone took its name from its shape.
.
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,
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
Mona Antiq.
92.
tab. iv.
multa de Deorum immortalium vi et potestate disputare, et juventuti tradunt
Cesar. Bel. Gal.
lib. vi.
.
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
Plin. Hist. Nat.
lib. xv. c. 44.
.
NEAR this is
Caer-Lēb
Mona Antiq.
88. tab. iii.
,
CAER-LĒB.
or the moated entrenchment; of a square form, with a double rampart, and broad ditch intervening, 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
Mona Antiq.
tab. iii. fig. 2.
I saw several saint traces of circles of stones,
TREV-WRY.
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
Mr. Mason's Caractacus.
Bod-drudan,
or the habitation of the
Draids, Tre'r-Beirdd,
or that of the
Bard,
and
Bodowyr,
BODOWYR:
or that of the priests
Rowlands,
240.
, 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-bottom boats, perhaps, at the spot still called
Pant yr Yscraphie
The same, 99.
, 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 Roman historian.
STAT pro littore diversa acies, densa armis virisque, intercursantibus faeminis in modum furiarum, veste ferali, crinibus dejectis, faces preferebant;
Druidaeque
circum, preces diras sublatis ad coelum manibus fundentes. Novitate aspectus percutere militem, ut quasi haerentibus membris, immobile 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 captivo adolere aras, et hominum fibris consulere deos fas habebant
TACITI
Annales,
lib. xiv. c. 30.
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 imprecations. The soldier stood astonished with the novelty of the sight. His limbs grew torpid, and his body remaining motionless, resigned to every wound. At length, animated 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 garrisons 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 entrails.
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.
BRYN GWYDRYN.
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 account than the following of that prodigy of learning the reverend 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, considering 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 remains 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.
MOEL Y DON.
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
Life of Gryffydd ap Cynen. Sebright MSS.
. The army of
Edward
I. in 128,
ENGLISH DEFEAT.
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 entrenchments 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
suddenly 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, seventeen young gentlemen, and two hundred soldiers;
William Latimer
alone escaped by the goodness of his horse, which swam with him to the bridge
Powel,
372.
.
LET us suppose a panic at this time to have seized the
English
forces: yet, as that must have been unforeseen by the
Welsh,
ANTIENT WEAPONS OF THE WELSH.
let us pay due praise to the intrepidity of my countrymen, at a period in which (in comparison of the well-appointed soldiery 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
William Brito,
as quoted in
Camden's Remains,
10.
AT a small distance from
Moel y Don
I entered into the fine woods of Sir
Nicholas Bayley,
WOODS.
skirting the
Menai
for a confiderable 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,
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 Gwenllian, a descendant of Cadrod Hardd
Plas Gwyn MSS.
. 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.
CROMLECHS.
The upper 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 sepulchral 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
See what the learned author offers in support of his opinion,
Antiq, Cornwal,
p. 210. and the following.
.
CROMLEH AT PLA
SNEWYDD.
NOT far from the Cromlech is a large
Carnedd:
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 indeed 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
Borlase Antiq. Cornwal.
, perhaps in cells similar to this.
A LITTLE below
Plas Newydd,
on the
Caernarvonshire
side,
VAENOL.
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.
LEFT TO KING WILLIAM.
The young lawyer also lest to himself 540
l.
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 representatives enjoyed till the death of the reverend Mr.
Wrey.
On which the late Mr.
Smith,
of
Tedworth
in
Hampshire,
took possession of it by virtue of a grant from King
William
to his ancestor, a commissioner of the salt office: and at present the whole, to the amount of upwards of 4000
l.
a year, is enjoyed by his great nephew
Ashton Smith,
Esq
VIEW on the MENAL.
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 remote from the shores.
PORTH-AETHWY,
PORTH-AETHWY.
the most general ferry into
Anglesey,
is immediately 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 thousand heads, and multitudes of sheep and hogs. It is also computed that the remaining stock of cattle is thirty thousand
Hist. Anglesy,
6.
. My same authority says, that in 1770 upwards of ninety thousand bushels of corn were exported. He reckons only barley, rye, and oats; but I have seen most incomparable wheat growing 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
Giraldas Itin, Cambr.
.
A BARBAROUS accident in the feudal system prevaled in this island,
A BARBAROUS CUSTOM.
and possibly in many other parts. Here was exemplified 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 township of
Porth-aethwy,
many years after the reign of our princes
Rowlands' Mona Antiq.
122.
. 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 Arthelw 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 procreandis ac omnibus bonis catellis, &c. habend. &c. praedictos nativos nostros, &c. praefato
Willimo Giyffydd ap Gwilim
heredibus et assignatis suis in perpetuum. Datum apud
Rhandir Gadog,
20 die Junii, an. Henr. 6 ti, 27 mo
Rowlands' MSS.
.
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.
NOBLE VIEWS.
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,
BEAUMARIS.
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.
CASTLE.
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
Sebright MSS.
: and, as a proof of the existence of such a conveniency, there were within this century iron rings affixed 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
Sebright MSS.
and
Plâ Gwyn MSS.
. 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 towards
Penmaen Mawr
plâs Gwyn MSS.
.
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 township of
Earianell,
and Tre'r Ddôl, free from rent or service. The castle itself being built on their ground
Rowlands' MSS.
.
EACH of
Edward
's, three castles differs in form. This has lest clame to beauty, not having the height or elegance of
Caernarvon
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. Within is a square of one hundred and ninety feet, or, as Mr.
Grose
expresses it,
HALL.
a square with the corners canted off. The great hall has five windows in front, is seventy feet long, and twentythree and a half broad. The approach seems to have been through a sub-hall, by a flight of steps.
CHAPEL in BEAUMARIS CASTLE.
WITHIN, the walls on one side is a beautiful chapel,
CHAPEL.
in form of a theatre, the sides ornamented with Gothic arches, and the roof supported by ribs springing from elegant pilasters; between 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 advanced work, called the
Gunners Walk.
THE first: governor, was Sir
William Pickmore,
a
Gascon
knight, appointed by
Edward
I.
CONSTABLE OF THE CASTLE.
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
Dodridge,
58.
.
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,
reputed 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,
TAKEN IN 1646.
when it surrendered on honorable terms to General
Mytton,
who made Captain
Evans
his deputy-governor. In 1653, the annual expence of the garrison was seventeen hundred and three pounds.
EDWARD I. when he built the town,
TOWN.
surrounded it with walls, made it a corporation, and endowed it with great privileges, 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 Wyddan
in
Flintshire,
and bestowed their antient patrimony on the corporation
Plâs Gwyn MSS.
. It sends one member to parlement. Its first representative was
Maurice Gryffydd,
who sat in the 7th year of
Edward
VI
Willis's Notitia Parliam.
iii. 23
.
THERE is very good anchorage for ships in the bay which lies before the town;
THE BAY.
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
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 appears that the people of
Beaumaris
payed annually, for the privilege of a ferry, thirty shillings into the exchequer; but by this order it seems that the king was to find the boat
Sebright MSS.
. After 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
Wylofaen,
or the Place of Weeping, from the shrieks and lamentations of the inhabitants when it was overwhelmed by the sea, in the days of
Helig ap Clunog.
THE church is dependant on
Llandegvan,
CHURCH.
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 alabaster, placed recumbent on an altar tomb. It had been removed 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 purpose, 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,
LLANVAES.
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
Leland's Collect.
i. 65. and
Henry V's patent in
Sebright MSS.
. 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 destroyed, 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, remitted 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
Sebright MSS.
.
AT the dissolution,
Henry
VIII. sold the convent, and its possessions, to one of his courtiers. They became in later days the property of a family of the name of
White
(now extinct) 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,
BATTLE.
a bloody battle was fought near
Llanvaes:
neither occasion or parties are mentioned; but by the text
Powel,
24.
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,
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
Terfaei Hist. Norveg.
iii. 423.
The victor, seeing him spring up in the agonies of death, insultingly cried out, in his own language,
Leit loupe—Let him dance
Girald. Iter. Cambr.
867.
.
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
Plâs Gwyn MSS.
.
ABOUT a mile farther I visited the Priory of
Penmon,
PENMON PRIORY
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 Wilford,
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 residence of the religious, for the priory goes under both names: usually they were called
Canonici de insula Glannauch
Dugdale Monast.
ii. 338.
. Probably 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
Girald, Itin. Cambr.
lib. ii. c. 6. p. 868.
Their successors were black monks, dedicated to St.
Mary,
endowed, if not founded, by
Llewelyn ap Jorwerth,
before the year 1221
Tavner,
699.
The Prior was one of the three spiritual lords of
Anglesey.
At the dissolution the revenues were valued at 47
l.
15
s.
3
d.
in the whole, or 40
l.
17
s.
9
d.
clear; granted in the 6th of Queen
Elizabeth
to
John More.
THE channel,
PRIESTHOLM.
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,
PUFFINS.
Br. Zool.
i. No 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 dispossess 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, perform 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 despair: 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 remigration, which is most exactly about the eleventh, of
August.
They then go off, to a single bird, and leave behind the unfledged young of the later hatches a prey to the Peregrine Falcon, which watches the mouth, of the holes for their appearance, compelled as they must soon be by hunger to come out.
PUFFIN AUK.
IT appears certain that the Puffins do not breed till their third year.
THEIR BILLS. CHANGE IN.
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 considerably 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. Perhaps the same remark may hold good in respect to the RAZOR-BILL,
Br. Zool.
i. No 230, Mr.
Davies
having found multitudes with bills far inferior in strength to those which haunt the island; of an uniform black color, and without the characteristic white furrow, and black grooves.
The channel between
Priestholm
and
Anglesey
has produced some very uncommon fish.
FISH.
The
Beaumaris
SHARK,
Br. Zool
iii. No 50; the MORRIS, No 67; and the trifurcated HAKE, No 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. No 76, is also frequently dredged up in the neighborhood of this isle
THE
Smirnium Olusatrum,
PLANTS.
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 Foetidissima,
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.
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 distinguished personage of the name
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.
. He built it in 1618: before 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
Llandudno,
are rude but strinking features, and strong contrasts to the softer parts of the scenery.
I PROCEEDED on my journey,
CROMLECH.
and at
Trevawr
passed by a great and rude
Cromlech,
with the ruins of others adjacent. Reach
Plâs Gwyn,
PLAS 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 represented in lawn sleeves, with dark hair, and a good countenance. 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 countenance.
FROM
Plâs Gwyn
I made an excursion to
Traeth Coch,
or
Redwharf,
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,
BWRDD ARTHURY
or
Arthur
's round table: the true name was probably
Din,
or
Dinas 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 buildings: 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 intermixture 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,
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 inscription to have been a votive offering. I shall give it as copied by my worthy and ingenious friend, the honorable DAINES BARRINGTON
Archaelogia,
v. 146.
Hic jacet Santtus
Yestinus
cui
Gwenllian,
Filia
Madoc
et
Gryffyt ap Gwilym,
optulit in oblacō em istam imaginem p. salute animarum S.
By the cord it is evident, 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,
PENMYNNYD.
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,
OWEN TUDOR.
called
Owen Teuther,
a mā brought furth and come of the noble lignage and auncient lyne of
Cadwalader,
the laste kynge of the
Britonnes
Halle's Chr.
41.
.
The match, important in its consequences, restored 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. grandson 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
Sandford's Geneal.
291.
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 under 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
Rymer,
x. 828.
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
England,
without the special licence of the king
Drake's Parliam. Hist.
ii. 211.
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
Rymer,
x. 685.
, and after some time was again committed to
Newgate
The same.
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 succession, 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
Cambden,
i. 204.
Dugdale Baron,
i. 187.
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
Rymer,
xi. 439.
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
Among whom were
Dafydd Llovyd
and
Morgan ap Reuther. Holinshed,
660.
, beheaded with them soon after at
Hereford,
and interred in the church of the
Grey Friers
in that city
Leland Itin.
iv. 86. viii. 36.
.
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 paternal descent; and they, from our
Welsh
chronicles, proved
incontestably,
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
See the return of the commission, &c. in
Wynn's Hist. Wales,
331. &c.
.
I shall drop a little short of this long descent.
Owen Tudor
was assuredly of high blood. He was seventh in descent from
Ednyfed 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 advancement, and have owed it entirely to his personal merit. His grandfather
Tudor ap Gronw
was a man of great valour, a favorite 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
Meredydd
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 introduced himself to the
English
court does not appear; most probable by military services, the usual road to honors in those days.
THE remains of the residence of the
Tudors
are,
HOUSE OF PENHYNNYDD.
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 extinction 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 mailgaurd 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,
TRE-GARNEDD.
a farm-house, in the parish of
Llangesni,
once the site of the great
Ednyfed Vychan,
mentioned in a preceding page. His arms were originally 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.
EDNYFED VYCHAN.
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,
SIR GRYFFYDD LIWYD.
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
Wynn's Hist. Wales,
311.
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
Powel,
383.
, 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 Cevenni;
which he insulated, by bringing round it the waters of the river
Cefni
Rowlands' MSS.
: both are still remaining. The foss is nearly perfect, and near four yards deep and eitht wide. His daughter
Morvydd,
one of his coheiresses
Sebright MSS.
, 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,
GREAT 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
See
Borlase's Cornwal,
p. 207. tab. xvii. fig. i. iii. and his
Scilly Islands,
29, 30. tab. ii. at p. 19.
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
Tregarnedd,
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 diagonal eight feet nine inches. In the middle was an artless pillar of stone, four feet eight inches in circumference. This supports 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 probable 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
La Religion de Gaulois,
ii. 312. plate 42.
: but nothing of the king was discovered in this sepulchre. The diameter of the incumbent carnedd is from ninety to a hundred feet. This seems to be that which Mr.
Rowland
takes notice of in his
Mona Antiqua
P. 94. tab. vii.
.
I MUST not omit mention of the great patriarch of
Tregaian,
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 interval, 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 employments, and at his leisure in fishing and fowling; and preserved his memory and senses to the last.
I RETURNED to
Plâs Gwyn,
CASTELL-MAWR.
and from thence crossed
Redwharf,
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.
LLUGWY.
On the left are the woods of
Llugwy,
extensive for this island. This estate fomerly belonged to the
Llwyds;
at present to Lord
Boston
See p. 5
. Not far from the road, in the lands of
Llugwy,
is a most stupendous
Cromlech,
GREAT CROMLECH.
of a rhomboid form. The greatest diagonal is seventeen 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 contiguous to each other.
CROSS
Llugwy
sands, and soon after ride over
Dulas
bay,
DULAS BAY.
likewise 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,
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 assistance 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 Longimanus,
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
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.
.
FROM hence I visited
Trysclwyn
mountain; on part of which,
PARYS MOUNTAIN.
called
Parys mountain
(probably from a
Robert Parys,
who was chamberlain of
North Wales
There was another of the same name in the reign of
Edward
III.
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 mineral 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 adjacent 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
Melica Caerulea, Lightfoot, Fl. Scot.
i. 96.
Aira Caerulea, Hudson, Fl. Angl.
i. 33.
, which flourishes 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
See
Tour in Wales,
i. 52.
Pieces of charcoal were also found, which prove that wood was made use of for that purpose. As the
Britons
improted 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
Tour in Wales,
p. 72. tab. ix.
. 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 companies, 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 ORE.
The thickness 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 sixteen 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 3
l.
to 6
l.
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
company 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 sulphur with which it abounds, as well as other advantitious matter, it must undergo the operation of burning. For that purpose 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 preserve 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;
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 extent. 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,
PRECIPITATED COPPER.
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 25
l.
to 45
l.
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
Brown's travels,
68.
Keysler's travels,
iv. 70.
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 perfectly 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 workmen 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 annually 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 yellowish 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 frequently 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 interferes with the successful smelting of this earth in the great: insomuch that it has not yet been of that profit to the adventurers, 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 village 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 anchorage 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,
MARBLE QUARRY.
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 calcareous, 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
Monach-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 improved 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
Plinii, Nat, Hist.
lib. xix. c. 1.
.
FROM hence I vesited
Carreg-Lwyd,
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,
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 tonnage, about the year 1759, was 1100
l.
a year; of which
Ireland
contributed 400
l. British
vessels pay 1
d.
per ton, aliens 2
d.
Fish sport about the rocky sides in most amazing multitudes, 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
Record of
Caernarvon,
in the
Bibliotheca Litteraria,
20.
About 1498, bishop
Dean
exerted himself, and in person resumed 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
Willis's Bangor,
245.
A successor of his,
Nicholas Robinson,
was not so tenacious; but, according to Mr.
Willis
The same. The bishop calls it
Seynt Danyyel's Isle.
, alienated the isle to one of his sons. Between forty and fifty years ago,
William 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,
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 insulates 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,
LAND SHELLS.
Br. Zool.
iv. No 119. and the ZONED SNAIL, No 133.
NOT far from hence, between
Bodior
and
Rhyd-Pont,
in
Rhoscolyn
Parish, is a fossil not frequently found. A green amianthus,
AMIANTHUS.
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
Cressy's Ch. Hist.
149.
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,
TOWN.
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.
CHURCH.
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 representations. St.
Gybi
is said to have founded a small monastery here, about the year 380
Tanner,
699.
Maelgwyn Gwynedd,
who began his reign about the year 580, is said to have founded a college here
Hist. Anglesey,
29.
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 Gwynedd
The same, 699.
The head of the college was called
Penclas,
or
Pencolas,
and was one of the spiritual lords of
Anglesey:
the archdeacon 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
The same, 30.
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
Willis's Abbies,
i. 303.
, at 1
l.
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
Willis's Bangor,
201.
The whole value, in the 26th of
Henry
VIII. was esteemed at 24
l.
The
English
monarch had the gift of the provostship.
Edward
III. bestowed what was called the provostship 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
Newcourt's Repertorium,
i. 453.
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
Tanner,
699. and
Hist. Anglesey,
31.
; and since that time the parish is served by a curate nominated by the college.
NEAR the church stood,
ECLWYS Y BEDD.
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
Powel, Pres.
15.
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
Hist. Anglesey,
34, 35.
.
THE precinct of the church-yard clames a far higher antiquity than the church.
ROMAN FORT.
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 pebble. 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 settlement 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 purposes of commerce
Tacitus, Vitae Agricola.
.
I TOOK a walk from the town to the top of
The Head,
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 interrupted with a huge dry wall, in many places regularly faced, and ten feet high in some of the most entire parts, and furnished with an entrance. On the
Pen y Gaer Gybi,
or the summit 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 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,
BIRDS.
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 persons. Within memory, the person let down, by his weight overpowered the other, and pulled him down; so that both perished miserably.
I RETURNED over
Rhyd-Pont
bridge, and along the great road (which is excellent) towards
Bangor.
A little on the left is
Presaddfed,
PRESADDFED.
the seat of Mrs.
Roberts,
formerly of the
Owens.
On the site stood the mansion of
Hwfa ap Kynddelw,
before mentioned. 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 middle of the island,
BODYCHAN.
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 marriage of the heiress of this place.
BEFORE I leave the island,
POPULATION OF ANGLESEY.
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
Phil. Trans.
lxiii. Part i. p. 180.
.
BY an account given on the 13th of
August
1563, there were 2010 housholds, or families, in
Anglesey
Willis's Bangor,
51.
: 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,
BANGOR.
and soon descend another to BANOOR, a small town seated between two low hills, in a valley opening to the bay of
Beaumaris.
This is the episcopal seat. The prelate is very indifferently lodged, in a palace near the cathedral; which, from an inscription, 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
Flintshire,
first esttablished here a college for the instruction of youth, and support of the clergy of those parts
The same, 53.
Cressy
calls it a monastery, and says it was filled with monks
Church Hist.
233.
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
Swist.
, 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, comprehends all
Anglesey; Caernarvonshire,
except
Llysvaen, Eglwys Rhôs,
and
Llangystenin,
which belong to St.
Asaph,
and
Llanbeblic
to
Chester.
In
Denbighshire
it has fourteen parishes; in
Montgomeryshire
seven.
The cathedral was destroyed by the insurgent
Saxons
in the year 1071.
CATHEDRAL.
It was afterwards rebuilt; for we find that in 1212
Annal. Menev. in Goodwin,
ii. 650.
King
John
invaded the country, forced the bishop,
Robert
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 unrestored 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
Willis,
21.
The windows 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
Penrhyn
Willis,
17, 18.
.
THERE is nothing remarkable within,
TONES.
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, regretted 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. Several 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
Vita
Gryffydd ap Kynan
in the
Sebright MSS.
, 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
Willis,
46. 183.
Wynne's Hist. Wales,
59.
.
THE house of friers preachers stood a little way out of the town.
FRIERY.
It was founded as early as the year 1276: Bishop
Tanner
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
Willis.
. Over the chimney-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
Salisbury Pedigree,
126.
.
HUGH Lupus, in his barbarous inroad into
Anglesey,
CASTLE.
founded a castle at
Bangor,
in order to carry on his ravages with greater security
Sebright MSS.
in vita
Gryffydd ap Knan.
. 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,
ABER CEGID.
a small creek, fordable at low-water; from whence are annually imported many millions of slates. A little farther, on the summit of a hill commanding a most charming view, stands
Penrhyn,
PENRHYN.
an antient house, once beautifully embosomed with venerable 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
Yarddur 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
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 GRYFFYDD.
lord of the place, distinguished himself as a naval officer; He sailed from
Beaumaris
on the 20th of
April
1588, and arrived at
Plymouth
on the 4th of
May,
where he was most honorably received 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 obliged 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
Williams
in 1622; and the archbishop bequeathed it to
Gryffydd Williams,
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
Ecclusham
near
Wrexham,
afterwards to
Edward
lord
Russel,
third son of the first duke of
Bedford; Anne,
married to
Thomas Warburton
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 apartments. 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 antiquity, was the drinking-horn of its hero
Piers Gryffydd;
DRINKING-HORN.
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
Catherine 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
Leges Walliea,
311.
. 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
Gwirawd i'r Ebysdyl,
or the
Waissail
cup of the
apostle
The same, 17. 47.
, 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
Journey to London,
179.
. And the
Saxon Ulphus,
when he conveyed certain lands to the church of
York,
quaffed off the horn, DEO
et St. Petro
Archaelogia,
iii. S.
. 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
He was prince of
Powis,
and flourished about the year 1160. See the reverend Mr.
Evan Evans's Collections,
p. 7.
, 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.
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 preserved 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 Williams
in his episcopal dress,
ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS.
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
Pedigree of the family, MS.
. The archbishop was fifth son. In his childish years, with other play-fellows, he was diverting 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
Memoirs.
. 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
Egerton;
and preaching before the king, so pleased the royal ear, that in 1610
James
made him dean of
Salisbury;
and on farther discovery of his great abilities, in 1620, dean of
Westminster;
and in 1621, lord keeper, in the room of the illustrious Lord
Bacon;
and in less than a month, nominated him to the see of
Lincoln.
Now placed above restraint, his character began to unfold. His spirit grew beyond the controul of ministers; 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 accession of
Charles
I. by the influence of the favorite
Buckingham,
he was suddenly dismissed: for he always had resisted the unreasonable 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 duplicity 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 disgraceful 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
Drake's Parliam. Hist.
viii. 146.
, 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
The same, ix, 334.
, 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 repelled 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
Clarendon,
ii. 350.
. 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
Drake's Parliam. Hist.
x. 483.
. 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
Philips's Life of archbishop Williams,
305. His chaplain
Hackett,
afterwards bishop of
Lichfield,
composed his epitaph. His memory is more pleasingly preserved in an elegant little poem on the fight of his monument, preserved in vol. vi. of
Dodsley
's
Miscellanies.
.
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,
executed, by
Llewelyn
the Great, on suspicion of too great familiarity 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 Dafydd
lies the little vale of
Cwm Penllafar,
fertile in grass. We proceeded on the sloping sides of the
Trwsgwl,
and near
Carnedd 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
Tour in Wales,
vol. ii.
, and
Carnedd y Filiast,
or
rock of the Bitch Gre-hound,
appear immediately 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,
NANT FRANKON.
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
Taur is Wales,
vol. ii.
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
appeared 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,
LLYN LLYPHAINT.
or the lake of the Frogs, distinguished only by a ridiculous 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
Powel's Notes on Girald. Cambr. Iter. Cambriae, lib. ii. c. 9.
.
CARNEDD DAFYDD,
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 ladders;
and forms the most horrid precipice that thought can conceive. The height of
Carnedd Dafydd
equals that of
Llewelyn.
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 tremendous 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,
COYTWOR.
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 Gibson,
PICTURE OF GIBSON THE PAINTER.
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 drawing-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
Mr. Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting,
iii. 64.
. 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,
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 magnificent rock, called
Maes y Gaer.
One part is hid with trees; on the other they only sprinkle its grey surface. At the extremity of this glen a mountain presents a concave front, in the center of which a vast cataract precipitates down a double fall.
CASCADE.
The lowest is of a very great height, and forms partly a broad white sheet, partly a snowy dew, not unlike the
Staubhauch,
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 diameter, 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
Dugdale Baron,
i. 419.
. 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
Knyghton
in
Hist. Angl Script.
ii. 1439.
Cambden
in
Brecknockshire,
ii. 710.
, 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 following 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.
—Tell me, wife of
Llewelyn,
what would you give for a sight of your
William?
—
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, enjoying 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 village 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;
PENMAEN MAWR.
extremely 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 horrors. The
British
parlement eased the fears of the travellers by a generous aid; which, by means of the judicious employment 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
Sychnant,
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 admiration of travellers, and a high credit to the ingenious contriver. 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 precarious tenures; which, loosened by the frequent torrents, sometimes (though rarely) descend in stoney streams.
Two or three accidents,
ACCIDENTS THERE.
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
Creyddyn,
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
Cambden,
ii. 804, & seq. Before Sir
John Wynn,
a Sir
Thomas ap William,
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.
. 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,
ITS HEIGHT.
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,
AN ANTIENT FORTRESS.
walls presented themselves very distinctly one above the other. In most places the facings appeared 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 shapeless 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,
described 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 towards the sea, and on the other parts fortified in the manner described
See a plan of the top and one side of this strong hold in the
Archaelogia,
iii. plate xxix. p. 352.
.
THE white beam, or
Aria Theophrasti,
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
Dwygyvylcheu,
a long series of antiquities, some of which are mentioned 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.
CIRCLES AND CARNEDDAU.
The principal circle consists at present of ten upright stones, at unequal distances 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 between the greater. The diameter of this circle is eighty feet. Near this are four other circles, far inferior in size. In the center of one is a flat stone, the remains of a Cromlech; probably 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
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 distinguished patron, to enable a person of his merit to enrich the literary world with more of his labors.
. Near the last is a great rude stone standing upright, called
Maen y Campiau,
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 vestige 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,
THE ANTIENT 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 contest between charioteers; for no people were more skilled in the use of chariots in war than the
Britons:
it is therefore improbable 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
Monfaucon's Antiq.
iv. 16. tab. ix.
; 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 competitions, of which I have before spoken
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.
; 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 congenial, as to be unnecessarily separated.
AFTER these were four
Go-gampiau,
or
Sub-games.
I.
Chwarau Gwydd-bwyll,
a game like that of Draughts, played with
men,
and probably the game of
Fox and Goose, Gwydd
signifying 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 summit 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.
CONWAY.
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.
CONWAY CASTLE.
CONWAY CASTLE.
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 winding 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
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.
.
THE great hall suited the magnificence of the founder.
HALL.
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 convivial mirth above.
THERE were two entrances into this fortress,
ENTRANCES TO THE CASTLE.
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,
TOWN.
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.
HALL in CONWAY CASTLE.
THE ferry is at present the property of the owner of
Marle.
FERRY.
An order was issued by
Edward
II. for either the repairing the boat, or building a new one: for the use of which the inhabitants were to pay eight marks
Sebright MSS.
. 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,
ABBEY.
founded in 1185 by
Llewelyn ap Jorwerth,
prince of
North Wales,
in honor of the Blessed Virgin and All Saints
Dugdale's Monasticon,
i. 918.
. 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
The same, 918. 919.
, and with privileges of great value: among the lands are mentioned
Caput Wedva Vawr,
and
Caput Grybcoch,
and
Morva Dinllin.
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 particularly provided for. Numbers of other privileges are mentioned, the charter of which is dated from
Aberconwy,
and witnessed by
Yorwerth Gam, Gwin ap Ednewein Ydon,
the prince's chaplain, and by
Madog ap Cador
Dugdale's Monasticon,
920.
.
This shews that
Conwy
was a place of some note before the
English
conquest. It probably had some sort of fortress before the existence of the present, its antient name being
Caer Gyffin, Gyffin
being that of the stream that flows into the creek beneath the castle
MS in the possession of his grace the Duke of
Beaufort.
.
Cambden,
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 religious of the principality, but immediately removed them to his new foundation at
Maynan
See p. 145 of this work.
,
REMOVED TO 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 presentation of their conventual church at
Conway,
now made parochial, provided they found two able and worthy
Englishmen
as chaplains, 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 presented by the diocesan
Dugdale Monast.
i. 921.
.
AMONG the illustrious persons buried in the church,
TOMBS.
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
Powel's Hist. Wales,
252.
.
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 beneath; some relative to the
Stanlies.
This house is called the College.
COLLEGE.
As it is said that
Edward
I. took this abbey into his hands, he possibly might establish here a place for the instruction of youth.
THE
Plas Mawr
is a vast house built by
Robert Wynn,
PLAS MAWR.
Esq
of the house of
Gwedir.
Over the gateway is inscribed
,
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,
EVENTS.
are preserved in history. When
Henry
III. made his calamitous 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 several 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
Powel,
311.
.
RICHARD II. before his return from
Ireland,
directed that the rendezvous of his forces, destined to oppose the usurping
Bolingbroke,
should be here. Forty thousand loyalists, out of
Cheshire
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 animated against the usurper, and determined to follow their king through all his fortunes.
Richard,
seized with a panic, stole from
Conwy
in the night
Helinshed,
499.
, was betrayed by the earl of
Northumberland,
and soon after perished in the hands of his enemy
In the
Tour in Wales,
i. 45, is the sequel of his story.
.
THE town was almost depopulated by the plague, in 1607, and numbers of people were buried in the streets. It was observed to break out here within three weeks of the time it appeared 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 underwent 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
Philip's
Life of Archbishop
Williams, 287.
. He began with fortifying his house at
Penrhyn;
and was at considerable expence in strengthening this fortress. In the perilous state of those times, multitudes of the country gentlemen requested the archbishop to receive into the castle their writings, 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
Philips,
289.
. 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 prelate in his command, and caused Sir
John Owen
to take possession of the castle. This he did with most blameable violence, and with a constant evasion of giving the archbishop any security of the valuables he had in charge
The same, 295, 296.
.
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 critical time (when the king's affairs were desperate) invited by General
Mytton
to put himself on the favor of parlement, accepted his offer, and assisted him in the reduction of the place
General Mytton's
Letter, in
Drake's Parl. Hist.
xv. 3.
.
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
Rushworth,
iv. part i. 297.
. 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
Whitelook,
219.
. The castle surrendered on the 10th of
November;
and
Mytton,
who is represented as a generous character, more haughty than covetous
Philips,
300.
, 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
The Earl's Letter in the Appendix.
.
Thomas Bulkely,
Esq
Colonel
Wynn,
and several of the principal 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, exhibiting 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 festive 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 present 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,
BATTLE OF KYMRYD.
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
Cambden,
ii. 802, 3.
Powel,
38.
.
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 judiciously placed in a very contracted part of the vale, to observe the approach of an enemy from this side.
CAER HĒ N,
CARE HĒ N.
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
Cambden.
. 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,
PEN CAER HELEN.
to try to discover more of
Helen
's noted road; but my search was fruitless. Yet my pains were rewarded by the sight of a
British
post of great strength, and in some parts singularly guarded. It had the usual fosses, and vast ramparts 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 prospect 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 opposite to the town of
Conwy.
It had been originally the property 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 Prendergast
of the kingdom, in right of his lady,
Anne,
sister to Sir
Robert.
HIGH above
Marle,
BODSCALLAN.
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 prospect. 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
Record of
Caernarvon, Bibl. Litt.
19.
. This possibly might have been one of the three
Gwelis,
or estates of children from a common stock, originally belonging to
Gloddaeth
The same, 22.
. 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 sycophant; 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,
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 forest-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.
ITS WALKS.
The upper walks, having fortunately a steep and stubborn rock for their basis, checked the modish propensity to rectitude; so there was a necessity to deviate from it; but in no greater degree than the flexure of a zigzag would admit. Notwithstanding some blemishes, corrigible 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,
FINE VIEWS.
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 beyond, 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 discharge 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,
RARE PLANTS.
these walks afford great amusement to the botanists, by their variety of rare plants, all within a very small compass. Among them, that able botanist, 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 thymeleaved
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 Verna,
or vernal cinquesoil,
Fl. Scot.
270.
Fl. Angl.
i. 224;
Thalictrum 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
Tour in Wales,
i. p. 19. tab. ii.
;
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.
Cambriciem,
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
Edward
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, afterwards
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,
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
Salisbury Pedigree,
37.
, 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
Maelgwyn
with a glance, as he incautiously looked out of the window; according to the prophecy,
Pan ddelo y'r pry rhyfedd i forfa Rhianedd, os gwel
MAELGWN GWYNEDD FEFYD
farw.
Whenever a strange creature arrives on the marsh of
Rhianedd,
if
Maelgwn Gwynedd
looks at it, he will die.
THE small remains of
Diganwy,
DIGANWY.
or, as it is called by the
English, Gannoc,
are on two small hills, near the shore of the
Conwy,
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
His notes on
Giraldus Cambr. Itin.
lib. ii. c. 10.
, 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 without any defensive armour except his shield. The
Welsh
attacked 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
Ordericus Vitalis,
lib. viii. p. 670.
.
Llewelyn
the Great destroyed this castle; but it was rebuilt, in 1210, by
Randle Blondevil,
earl of Chester
Powel,
262.
. 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
The same.
.
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
The same, 311.
. At length
Diganwy
was, in 1260, totally dismantled by our last prince
Llewelyn ap Gryffydd.
NOT far from hence,
ANTIENT TOWER.
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 order 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 promontory
Llandudno.
Ride along part of the last, on a narrow road above the sea, having on the right steep hills and precipices. Reach
Gogarth,
GOGARTH.
a long but narrow tract of great fertility. 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,
LLANDUDNO, OR ORM'S HEAD.
a beautiful sheepwalk, consisting of a fine turf, except 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.
SEA-FOWLS.
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.
FALCONS.
The kind was in the days of falconry so excellent, that the great minister
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.
ANTIENT FALCONRY.
Our prince had his chief falconer, who held the fourth rank among the officers 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
L
ges Wallicae,
23 to 26.
. Let me conclude with saying, that there was a peculiar tax for the support of this office, called
Cylch Hebog Yddjon
Record of
Caernarvon,
in
Bibliotheea Litteraria,
25.
, 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 precipices 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 various 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 surrounded 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 vulgar, 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
Bernier's vojage of Cachemire,
112.
.
FROM hence I passed by the church,
LLANDUDNO CHURCH.
on the bleakest of situations, above the sea, and remote from all dwellings. It is dedicated to St.
Tudno
of
Maes Gwyddno,
the country now overflown by the sea, between
Meirionyddshire
and
Llein.
In descending 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 pleasant. 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 constantly 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,
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,
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 varied with woods and cultivation.
Penmaen Rhos,
PENMAEN RHOS.
a great limestone rock juts into the sea at the end of the bay. In my memory 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
Llanddulas,
a small village and church. In one of the deep bottoms of this neighborhood was betrayed the unfortunate prince
Richard
II. who had been deceived by the earl of
Northumberland
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
Richard,
delivered him captive to the usurper in
Flint
castle
See the whole story, agreeably expressed by suitable prints from old illuminated MSS. in Mr.
Strutt's Regal Antiquities.
.
A LITTLE farther on the right hand, high above the road, is
Cefn Ogo,
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 divided within by what has the appearance of a great column.
FROM near this place begins the rich arable flat, which extends over
Rudland Marsh,
and beyond
Prestatyn
in
Flintshire.
The small town of
Abergeleu
lies near the sea,
ABERGELEU
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 overwhelmed 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,
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,
COPPA YR WYLFA.
or the mount of the watchtower, is a very strong
British
post. The front is a great precipice; 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 Pī l,
PEN Y PĪ L.
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 repair 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;
CAMP OF OWEN GWYNFDD.
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
ii. 385. 3d ed. octavo.
supposes, that our gallant prince made a most effectual stand, and stopped all further progress 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,
SUPERSTITIONS.
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 instrument 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 misfortune, any persons who may have offended them. The belief in this is still strong; for three years have not elapsed since I was threatened by a fellow (who imagined I had injured 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 religious customs used among us in former times;
RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS.
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 perceived 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 abhorrence 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 present 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 customary, 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
Valer. Max.
lib. vii. c. 1.
; and, let me add, that each one of them had enjoyed the greatest offices of the commonwealth
Plinii, Hist. Nat.
lib. vii. c. 44.
.
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,
PLYGAN.
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 perverted into intemperance. This act of devotion is called
Plygan,
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 originated 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,
KINMAEL.
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 derive 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
Thomas,
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
Dugdale's Baron,
ii. 81.
. They were of a most unpopular family, therefore probably 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
Ap Evan ap Rhys ap Gryffydd Lloyd ap Rohyn ap Rhys ap Robert.
. In the last century, one of his descendants had two daughters. Colonel
Carter,
an officer in the service of the parlement, 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,
VAENOL.
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,
BODLE-WITHAN.
see
Bodle-withan,
the seat of
John Williams,
Esq
a purchase of his father, second son to Sir
William,
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,
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 portrait 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 descended 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
Bodvari.
On the side of this hill, at
Llys Coed y Mynydd,
towards the left, lived
Ednowain Bendew,
or
Ednowain
the Strongheaded, lord of
Tegengl
in 1079, and one of the fifteen tribes of
North Wales.
THESE
Llwythau,
TRIBES OF NORTH WALES.
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 several princes. The latest were about the time of
Dafydd ap Owen Gwynedd,
who began his reign in 1169. We are left ignorant 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
Gwyfan, Tyrnog, Cynhafal,
and
Rhychan,
all in the county of DENBIGH, and diocese of
Bangor.
Beneath the church of
Llanbeder,
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
Llandrillo,
on the road to
Bala;
and near that village turn to the left into a narrow glen, much wooded, watered by a rude torrent, and bounded by high hills. At its extremity, near a farm called
Blaen y Cwm,
MILLTIR GERRIC.
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
Commentariolum,
92.
.
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,
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.
LEAD MINE.
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 thousand tons annually: was sold at 7
l.
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 parish. About 904,000 were sold from
November
1, 1775, to
November
1, 1776; which sell at the rate of from 6
s.
to 20
s.
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,
ST. MONACELLA.
or, as the
Welsh
style her,
Melangell.
Her legend relates, that she was the daughter of an
Irish
monarch, 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, pursued 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,
CHURCH OF PENNANT MELANGELL.
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 removed: but I think the last is still to be seen in the churchyard. The legend is perpetuated by some rude wooden carvings of the saint, with numbers of hares scuttling to her for protection. 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. Monacella be with thee,
it was sure to escape
See her life.
.
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, Jorwerth Drwyndwn,
TOMB OF JORWERTH DRWYNDWN.
or
Edward
with the
broken nose,
who was put aside of the succession on account of the blemish
Powel's Hist▪ Wales,
227.
. Hither he had fled for refuge from the cruelty of his brother
Dafydd ap Owen Gwynedd,
this place having been one of our most celebrated 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; between 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 devotees. On the side of this valley is the house of
Llechweddgarth,
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
Aberystwyth.
BODFACH.
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
Kyffiniad,
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,
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
Cardiganshire,
and of the great naked mountain of
Plynlimmon,
covered 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.
LLANRHAIADR YN MOCHNANT.
The church is seated in the last, dedicated to St.
Dogvan,
son of
Brychan.
Dr.
William 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,
PISTILL RHAIADR.
Dr.
Worthington;
to whose hospitable house I was indebted for a seasonable reception, the wet evening which fortunately preceded my visit to the celebrated cataract
Pistill Rhaiadr.
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 second 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 benevolent vicar, but, as I am informed, he has besides erected a cottage, 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,
LLANFYLLIN.
a small town, which had a charter bestowed on it by
Llewelyn ap Gryffydd ap Gwynwynwyn,
in the reign of
Edward
II. and confirmed by
Edward de Charlton,
lord of
Powys.
This gave the burgesses exemption from tolls,
Theam
throughout 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 corporation, during the time of their office
Cambden,
ii. 783.
.
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 protect 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,
VALE OF MEIVOD.
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 conspicuous 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
Notitia
on
St. Asaph
diocese,
MS.
. The vicarage 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;
Corlan,
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
Iter Britanniarum.
, where it is placed between
Bovium Bangor
and
Rutunium Rowton.
We find it again in the Chorography of the
Ravenna
's, and in
Ptolemy
Horsely,
374. 492.
. 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
Preface.
.
THE
Roman
antiquity rests upon the authority of one of our older writers
Girald. Cambr. Itin.
Dr.
Bowel
's note, c. iv. lib. ii.
; who mentions that in his time there were considerable remains of
venerable antiquity;
that several foundations, 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
Cambden,
ii. 781, 782.
.
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
Powel,
205.
.
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
Powel,
210. 242.
.
THE church-yard of the present is not less than nine acres,
CHURCH-YARD.
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 poetical topographer
Draiton
therefore very justly styles the river
FORKT
Vurnway,
bringing
Tur
and
Tano
:
growing rank,
She plies her towards the
pool
Canto vi.
.
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 probable 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
Hist. Wales,
267.
.
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 respect, 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
Burton's Com.
132.
Let me add also, that this might have been the winter 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
Dolarddyn,
where
Henry
VII. is said to have lodged a night.
A FEW miles farther I rid through the village of
Castell Caereneon,
seated on the
Vyrnyw.
A castle was built here in 1155, by
Madoc ap Meredydd,
prince of
Powys
Powel,
205.
. I had not leisure to enquire whether there were any remains.
THE country for seven miles more continued hilly,
CRYGYNNOG.
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 descended 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,
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
Monast.
ii. 223.
, 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 reverend Mr.
Evan Evans
Dissertatio de Bardis,
92.
; 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
Dugdale Baron,
i. 142.
.
WHAT is the origin of the name of
Dolforwyn,
or the Meadow 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.
SABRINA, HER STORY.
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 elegant 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,
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,
NEWTOWN.
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.
SIR JOHN PRYSE.
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 embrocation 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 uncommon 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 extraordinary 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, having lately lost a wife, whom I most tenderly loved, my children 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 restored to us, and the late Dame
Eleanor Pryce
Widow of—
Jones,
Esq
of
Buckland,
Brecknockshire.
be raised from the dead.—If your personal attendance appears to you to be necessary, 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.
ROMAN ROAD.
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
Vyrnyw,
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
Dr. Worthington
's Letter, on his parish, addressed to me,
Nov.
29th 1774.
.
To return to
Gwyn-vynydd.
CAER SWS.
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.
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,
RHOS DDIARBED.
at some distance from the river, is
Rhos Ddiarbed,
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,
opening 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.
BATTLE OF CARNO.
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, victory declared itself; in favor of the first;
Trahaern
and his kinsmen, 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,
CHURCH.
who are said to have had a house near it. As one part of their business was the protection of their fellow-creatures 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
Willis's Bangor,
291.
, might render these parts distinguished for an excellent kind, even so late as the reign of that great princess.
REACH
Llanddinam,
LLANDDINAM.
a church, prettily seated on a little headland 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 augmenting the vicarages thereof
Girald. Itin. Cambriae,
lib. ii. c. 12.
. Opposite to
Llanddinam,
on the summit of a high mountain, is a
British
post, called
Y Caer Vychan,
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 bottoms are in many places skirted with beautiful hanging woods; those of
Berth-Lwyd
are far the most considerable.
BERTH-LWYD.
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 probably 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,
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 appendages,
SLATE.
for winter habitations and provisions. A coarse slate is found in the neighboring hills; but there still remains, in many 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.
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, besides 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
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.
.
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,
BETTWS CHURCH.
seated in a bottom, dedicated to St.
Beuno,
and formerly belonging 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,
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 extent 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,
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
Hereford.
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,
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
Nantcribba,
the seat of Lord Viscount
Hereford,
rises a great conoid rock. A few years ago, on taking away the top, were discovered the remains of a little fort;
A SMALL 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 doorcases 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 relative 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 distance 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,
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
hundred 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,
PRIORY.
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
Montgomery,
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 affect 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
Halston MSS.
.
THIS house maintained a prior and five or six monks. Its revenues 66
l.
8
s.
7
d.
according to
Dugdale;
and 87
l.
7
s.
4
d.
according to
Speed
Tanner.
. 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
Willis,
ii. 190.
Two miles farther is the town of MONTGOMERY, A small neat town,
MONTGOMERY.
partly built on the slope, partly on the summit 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,
assembled 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
Powel,
280.
.
Henry
granted it to his great justiciary
Hubert de Burgh,
with two hundred marks annually, and a greater salary in case of war
Dugdale Baron.
i. 695.
. During the time it was possessed by
Hubert,
it was besieged by the
Welsh;
but speedily relieved by the
English.
Many bloody skirmishes happened 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
Powel,
287.
.
ON an inquisition taken on the reversal of the attainder of the famous
Roger Mortimer,
earl of
March,
in 1354
Dugdale Baron.
i. 147.
, 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
Dugdale Baron.
i. 147.
, and probably remained 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
His Life, p. 5.
; 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,
SIEGE IN 1644.
by Sir
Thomas Middleton,
in 1644; who, on the appearance of the king's army, was obliged to make a sudden retreat to
Oswestry,
and leave it ill provided both with garrison and provisions. 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 command 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.
BATTLE SEPTEMBER 18TH.
The castle was relieved, and a most bloody battle ensued. The king's army descended from their post, and, making 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 twenty miles. Above five hundred were slain, and fourteen hundred taken prisoners. The loss on the side of the parlement only forty slain, and about sixty wounded
Drake's Parl. Hist.
xiii. 285.
Whitelock,
104.
. The castle met with the fate of all others, being dismantled by order of the commons.
THE remains impend over the town.
CASTLE DESCRIBED.
They stand on a projecting 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,
BRITISH POST.
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 guarded by the steepness.
THIS, and the preceding pieces of military antiquity, shew the importance of this place in early times: the first was probably in being when
Baldwyn
made himself master of this country, notwithstanding the original name has totally perished.
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,
TOWN.
strengthened by towers. It had also four gates;
Chirbury, Arthur's, Keri,
and
Kedewen
gate
Leland Itin.
vii. 16.
. 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 enumerated Squirrel skins
Sebright MSS.
.
HENRY III. granted by charter, that the borough of
Montgomery
should have the privilege of a free borough, with other liberties
Cambden,
ii. 780.
. 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 governed by two bailiffs, and twelve burgesses, or common-council-men. The member is elected by the burgesses, and returned by the bailiffs. The electors are about eighty
Willis, Notitia Parl.
iii. 78. and part ii. 9.
.
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 pretend to say; but very early the free burgesses had the privileges of the
Gogingstoole, Cuckingstool,
or
Cokestool,
GOGINGSTOOLE.
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 therein to be placed, with naked feet and disheveled hair, as an example to all beholders
Blunt's Tenures,
150.
. Probably this was not found to answer 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;
CHURCH.
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 Herbert,
Esq
father to the famous Lord
Herbert.
He is represented in armour; and by him lies his lady,
Magdalene,
daughter of Sir
Richard Newport
of
High Arcol.
In front are their numerous progeny. He died in 1597. The monument was erected by his lady, who survived him several years; and, after discharging, with exemplary care, her duty to their children, married, at the end of twelve years, Sir
John Danvers,
brother to
Henry
earl of
Danby;
and died in 1627.
THE house called
Blackhall,
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,
MYNYDD DIGOLL.
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 liberties of
Wales;
for here, was the last contest against the power of our conqueror.
BATTLE.
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 victories, 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
Powel,
380, 381.
.
I MUST add, that on this mountain
Henry
VII. mustered the friends who promised to join him from
North Wales
and
Shropshire,
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,
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;
PORTRAIT OF 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 kingdoms to the holy see, after their long lapse to herefy. The politic 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 recommended him to
travel early in the morning, and to rest at noon, least he should endanger his health:
and so ended this ridiculous business
A full account is given by
Mission,
iii. p. 176 to 207.
.
THE great staircase is adorned with paintings, by
Lanscroon,
complimentary to Queen
Anne.
THERE are two large rooms, above stairs, hung with old tapestry. 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 represented in his great wig and robes. He followed the fortune of
James
II. and died at
St. Germain's
in 1696. His wife,
Elizabeth,
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 represented as TRUTH; Lady
Throgmorton
appears as another Virtue; Lady
Mary
as
Minerva;
and justice is seen driving away Envy, Malice, and other Vices. Few ladies have made so conspicuous 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
Freiddin
hills, are very fine; but, from the situation, experience the horrible vicissitudes of cold and heat.
GARDENS.
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 waterworks: the whole in imitation of the wretched taste of St.
Germains 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
Powel,
170.
The building was continued, perhaps by
Gwenwynwyn;
SIEGES IN 1191.
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 received. At this time it was called the castle of
Gwenwynwyn at the Pool
Powel,
248.
.
HIS son
Gryffydd
probably took part with the
English;
SUCCESSION.
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
The same, 288.
.
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
The same, 215.
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
Shropshire,
in 1268, and styled
Valectus Domini Regis
The same, 217.
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
Dugdale Baron.
ii.
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 possession of Sir
William Herbert,
second son of the earl of
Pembroke;
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 prisoner, and the place pillaged
Whiteleck,
106.
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,
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
Powel,
382.
: his title was also frenchified into
de la Pole
Ayleff's Calendar,
102.
.
BELONGING to the church is a very fine chalice of pure gold, containing a wine quart.
GOLDEN CHALICE
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 relation in the true light.
THOs 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,
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
Sax. Chr.
94, 95.
.
THE country from
Poole
towards
Llanymynach
is most beautifully broken into gentle risings, prettily wooded.
GILESFIELD
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 domus de Marcella, vall. crucis,
or
Pola,
ABBEY OF STRATA MARCELLA.
seated between this place and
Poole.
There is no doubt but it was founded by
Owen Cyveiliog,
and, as
Tanner
says, in 1170
Tamer,
716.
His son
Gwenwynwyn,
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
A copy of the charter is in my possession. As it escaped Sir
W. Dugdale,
I print it in the Appendix.
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
Strathmarchel
Dugdale Monast.
i. 896.
; a proof that the house was then existent. In the beginning 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
Dugdale,
were 64
l.
14
s.
2
d.
to
Speed,
73
l.
7
s.
3
d.
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,
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 beautiful map of
North Wales.
Continue at his house till morning, and, in his company,
LLANYMYNACH.
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 vallies, 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,
HILL.
a vast rock, with the surface covered 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.
GREAT LIMEWORKS.
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.
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.
WORKED BY THE ROMANS.
In a great artificial cave, formed into several meanders 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,
ANTIENT DIKES AND FOSSES.
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 people 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 boundaries. 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 beneath the rock is
Blodwell Hall,
BLODWELL HALL.
a deserted seat, once the property of the
Tanats;
conveyed to the
Matthews
by the marriage of
Jane,
daughter and heiress of
Maurice Tanat.
The property 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,
CARREG HWVA CASTLE
than that it had been taken and pillaged, in 1162, by
Owen Cyveilioc
and
Owen ap Madoc ap Meredydd
Powel,
219.
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
The same,
241.
.
FROM
Llanymynach
I rode to the
New Bridge,
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.
FISH OF THE VYRNYW AND TANAT.
The number of fish which inhabit it, animate the waters, and add greatly to its beauty.
Ausonius
does not neglect 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
Llandreinio
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 suddenly present a most tremendous and precipitous front. On
Crew
green, far to the left, starts up
Belin Mount,
a round insulated 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 being 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.
A fragment preserved in the reverend Mr.
Evan Evans
's ingenious
Dissertatio de Bardes,
p. 83. The hero was of the house of
Trefeilir
in
Anglesey.
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,
archbishop of
York;
who sold it to —
Willaston
Halston MSS.
The
Warin
here mentioned, was of a different race from the family of the
Fitz-warins.
.
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
See p.
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
Lincolnshire,
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 continued long in that family. At length fell into the line of
Gwenwynwyn,
lord of
Powys,
and his descendant, called
Fulk Mowddwy,
died in possession of it, but without children, in the second of
Henry
V. Sir
Hugh de Burgh
succeeded, by virtue of his marriage with
Elizabeth,
sister to
Fulk.
By the marriage of
Angbarad,
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,
LOTON HALL.
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;
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,
ABBEY.
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
Benedictines
of
Grammont
in
France.
Being an alien priory,
Henry Chichley,
archbishop of
Canterbury,
begged it of
Henry
VI. towards the endowment of his new college of
All Souls
Goodwin Praesul. Angl.
181.
; to which it has ever since belonged, together with the presentation to the vicarage. This religious house was also called
Album Monasterium
Leland Itin.
v. 89.
.
A LITTLE to the east of
Alberbury
is
Routon,
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
Dugdale Baron.
i. 665.
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 descended to the
Severn,
and, crossing the river, at this time fordable, I visited the castle and village of
Great Shrawardine,
SHRAWARDINE.
seated on the opposite bank.
Rainaldus
held it at the conquest. It fell afterwards to the
Fitzalans,
and continued many centuries in their family; excepting for a short time, on the attainder 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 fortunes 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 family 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
Herald's Visitation of Shropshire,
1584, &c. in HALSTON library, p. 44.
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 behaviour in a skirmish near
Corbie,
in
Normandy,
where he rescued the royal standard of
Guienne
The same.
, 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.
CASTLE.
It had never been considerable; was placed on a low mount, and destitute 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
.
ONSLOW.
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;
MONTFORD.
which gave title, in 1741, to
Henry Bromley,
Esq
.
BRIDGE.
A little farther 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 testator'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
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 totally gave himself up to the study of antiquity, chiefly that of his own county; 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.
, 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, tempted 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.
MITTON.
The hamlet of
Mitton,
i. e.
Middle Town,
lies in the midst of the narrow neck of land between the two rivers. The
Severn
here makes a great bend, and forms, on the opposite side, a peninsula, with so very narrow an
isthmus,
as to occasion it to be called
the Isle
of
Up Rossal;
THE ISLE.
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 accession of
Edward
VI. he was sent for (with others of her houshold) 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 accession of
Mary,
he received the strongest proofs of her gratitude 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
Ruffhead
's Statutes at Large, ii. 653 676.
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,
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 narrow 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.
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.
CASTLE.
Only one part with two rounders remain, and the walls of the north and eastern sides. The keep was on a large artificial mount; which shews this fortress to have been of
Saxon
or
British
origin, notwithstanding 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 beautiful 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 Montgomery,
FOUNDED BY ROGER DE MONTGOMERY.
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 monster of cruelty
See Dugdale Baron
i. 31.
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 usually men of the first note; and very often it was committed to the care of the sheriff of the county. After it had been dismantled 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,
WALLS.
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 consider of some means of defence against an enemy. At first he made them a grant of various small tolls; but at length, finding 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,
ROWSHILL WALL.
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.
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
Powel,
22.
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,
IN SAXON TIMES.
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 7
l.
16
s.
8
d.
in excise. Whenever the king lay in the town, twelve of the chief inhabitants kept watch about his person; 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 frequent 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,
CHARTERS.
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 employed; but in the time of Queen
Elizabeth
the trade was so great, that not fewer than six hundred
Anderson's Dict.
i. 405.
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 peasants.
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 irregular,
STREETS.
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.
FREE-SCHOOL.
It was founded by
Edward
VI. in 1552; who endowed it with tithes, at that time amounting to 20
l.
8
s.
and empowered the bailiffs, burgesses, and their successors, to appoint one schoolmaster, and one under-schoolmaster; and, with the consent of the bishop of
Lichfield,
to frame statutes for its government. Queen
Elizabeth
added considerably to the endowments, so that at present the revenues are very large. The building was originally of wood; but in 1595, a beautiful and extensive edifice of stone arose in its place, which contains the school, houses for the masters, and a library filled with a valuable 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
Picea
—Feralis Arbor, et funebri indicio ad fores posita, ac rogis virens.
Hist. Nat.
lib. xvi. c. 10.
, expressive of the melancholy 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
Flaminius Vacca,
in
Montfaucon's travels, Engl.
ed. 322.
Wright's travels,
i. 273.
The inscription 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 fourteenth double legion; or a legion in which two had been formed into one. As this legion never was in
Britain,
the learned Dr.
Ward
See his account of these three stones in the
Ph. Tr.
xlix. part i. 196.
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.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
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
Philips,
145.
Vaughan Place
is another antient house, the property of
John Mytton
of
Halston,
Esq
derived from the marriage of his ancestor
Reginald Mytton,
about the year 1376, with
Elinor,
sole heiress
Haymon,
son of Sir
Thomas Vaughan
Mytton Pedigree.
of this town.
The infirmary was,
INFIRMARY.
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.
WELSH BRIDGE.
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, generally 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
Sandford's General.
p. 386. tab. 374.
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
The same, pp. 415. 417.
This was not the original site of the statue; it having been fixed here after it had been removed from another place in 1695
Philips,
148.
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,
MILLINGTON'S HOSPITAL.
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 3
l.
10
s.
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 elected from his grammar-school; and when in orders, one of them is to be elected chaplain of the school, in the room of the clergyman who happens not to be so qualified, and who must, in that case, resign. The founder was a true churchman; for all dissenters, and all persons not truly orthodox, are to be excluded.
THE new bridge is on the side of the town,
NEW BRIDGE.
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 antient and incommodious narrow bridge, with the usual obstruction, a gateway. It consisted, in the time of
Leland,
of four arches, besides the draw-bridge
Leland, Itin.
iv. 99.
It formerly was called the East bridge, and the Stone bridge.
NOT far from hence,
ABBEY.
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 eloquence, 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 reliques of St.
Wenefrede,
and enshrined them, much to the emolument 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
Hearze's Collections.
The Earl's Will;
. 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
Mr. W. Mytton.
Butler
was allowed a pension of eighty pounds a year, and lesser sums to the monks
Willis,
i, 171.
The revenues at the dissolution are reckoned by
Dugdale
at only 132
l.
4
s.
10
d. Speed,
with more probability, says they were 515
l.
4
s.
3
d.
The site was granted by
Henry
VIII. to
Edward Watson,
and
Henry Herdson
Tanner,
445.
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 alterations. 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 attitude of drawing his sword.
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,
FRANCISCANS.
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
Leland, Itin.
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,
bordering 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,
ORPHAN-HOUSE.
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,
AUGUSTINES.
close to the river, stood the house of
Augustine
friers.
Leland
Itin.
iv. 100.
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 nocturnal 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 themselves, and their religious paramours.
Hi,
says the zealous annotator,
Incubi daemones ita religiosas virgines illis diebus opprimebant, ut nulla eos crucis signatio, nec aqua benedicta, nec ipsum corporis
CHRISTI
sacramentum, abigere valeret
Girald, Camb. Itin.
lib. ii. c. 8.
.
The house of the
Black
friers, or
Dominicans,
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.
CHURCHES.
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 collegiate, 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 gentleman 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 memorial of him to be repaired.
Richard Onslow
died of a pestilential fever in 1571.
ST. MARY'S, and St.
Alcmund
's, are remarkable for their handsome spire steeples. The first is said to have been founded by King
Edgar
Philips,
90.
; the last, by the heroine
Elfleda
Tanner,
445.
: each of them had been collegiate. But the church which is said to be the most antient, is that of St.
Giles,
ST. GILES.
seated at the skirt of the suburbs, 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
Philips,
84.
; 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 reckoned the parlements held in this town. The first was summoned formally by writ. By the first, the lords to appear on
September
13th 1283; the second writ directed the commonalty 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, rendered him an object of detestation. Eleven earls, and an hundred barons, were commissioned to try him
Drake's Parl. Hist.
i. 89
, 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 assembled 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
Rapin,
i. 469.
.
THE military transactions relative to this place were numerous; but so brief, and so rapid, that I shun mention of all, except three.
BATTLE OF SHREWSBURY.
The first was the important battle on St.
Magdalene
'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
Lichfield
and
Stafford;
but the active
Henry,
stimulated by the advice of the earl of
Dunbar,
a
Scotch
nobleman, then in his army, advanced with a speed which saved his crown, and proved the destruction of his enemies. He flung himself into
Shrewsbury,
as some assert
Sto
,
329,
, at the instant that the insurgents were going to scale the walls. He immediately quitted the town, and encamped before the gates. The high spirit of
Percy
would not suffer him to wait till the arrival of
Glyndwr,
who was no farther distant 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,
DEFIANCE.
thy fautoures and compliers, as common traytours, and destroyers 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
Halle,
fol. xxii.
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
Carte,
ii. 659.
, 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 succours. 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, appareled 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 Cokayne,
Sir
John Calverley,
Sir
John Massy,
baron of Podington, with manie other knights and gentlemen
Stow,
329.
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 valiauntness, 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
Halle,
fol. xxii.
.
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 quartered, and hung in different parts of the kingdom
Stew, 329.
.
HENRY, after slaughtering five thousand people in his bad cause, most piously returned thanks to the Giver of all victories;
BATTLEFIELD CHURCH.
and erected, or permitted to be erected, on the spot probably stained with most blood, the collegiate church of
Battlefield,
in the parish of
Albrighton,
about three miles from
Shrewsbury.
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 Magdalene;
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
Dugdale Monast.
iii. pars ii. 185.
Its clear revenues at the dissolution were 54
l.
1
s.
10
d
Tanner,
456.
.
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
Two editions of his poems were published after his death. See his Life in the
British Biography,
ii. 1472
, 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 passage of the earl of
Richmond,
EARL OF RICHMOND'S PASSAGE THROUGH, IN 1485.
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 gentilman, on demand being made of entrance; answered, sayinge, that he knew no kynge but only Kynge
Richard,
whose lyffetenants 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 advice, 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
Philips,
41.
IT is affirmed that
Henry
brought with the army which landed in
Wales,
BRINGS THE SWEATING SICKNESS.
that dreadful pestilence, the sweating sickness, or
Sudor 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, sickness, ravings, drowsiness, faintness, palpitations; but it never was attended with eruptive spots, buboes, or carbuncles, attendant 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 originated 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 subjects so admirably pre-disposed
See the ingenious and pleasing Biographical Memoirs of Medicine in
Great Britain,
by Mr.
John Aikin
of
Warrington,
p. 119 to 127.
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
The same.
.
IN the civil wars of the last century
Shrewsbury
was garrisoned by the king,
TOWN TAKEN IN 1644 BY GENERAL MYTTON.
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. General
Mytton,
who lay with a small garrison at
Wem,
and was representative 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 musqueteers, 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 received 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,
CONDOVER.
a remarkably handsome and commodious house for its time, built by Sir
Thomas Owens,
who died in 1598, one of the judges in the King's-bench
Herald's Visitation of Shropshire.
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,
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
Longnor,
LONGNOR.
the house of my respected old friend
Joseph Plymley,
Esq
Near it is
Longnor Hall,
the seat of
Robert Corbet,
Esq
bequeathed 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 unknown 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 vexation. The body is a fine composition, of the re-animation of putridity.
A LARGE picture of St.
Peter
denying our Lord, is a fine performance, 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,
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.
CASTLE.
Not far from the house is the castle; a square building, with a square tower at each corner. Its founder, or perhaps restorer, was
Robert Burnel
Leland's Itin,
viii. 107.
Fuller's Br, Worthies Shropshire,
4.
, 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
Drake's Parl. Hist.
i. 100, 101.
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,
CURIOUS TRIAL ABOUT A COAT OF ARMS.
on account of the arms which
Nicholas
bore, in right of certain 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 belonging to the
Burnels
only, he having at that time under his command 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
William 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 considering 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 accordingly. 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 directed 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 accordingly 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 collected 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
This account is from a curious MS. I had the pleasure of receiving from Sir
Edward Smythe.
.
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 ramparts. 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 certainly was not that which was attacked by
Ostorius,
and so admirably described by
Tacitus.
It agrees only in this part of the description, which is common to most
British
posts,
Hinc montibus 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
Cambden, i. 646, 647, In Rocque's map of Shrcpshire it is called Caer Car
de
.
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 traditionally considered as a strong hold of his; and, within no great number of years, a society of gentlemen, struck with admiration of his virtue, met annually on the hill to celebrate his name in prose or verse. In one year a gentleman
The reverend Mr. SNEYD DAVIES.
, 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
Taciti Annal lib. xii.
in the following lines; which, I flatter 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.
APPENDIX
No 1. INSCRIPTION ON CERTAIN MARBLES IN MOSTYN LIBRARY, BROUGHT FROM NARBONNE. vol. i, p. 11.
NO II. EXTRACTS OUT OF A MANUSCRIPT TREATISE OF THE LORDSHIPS MARCHERS IN WALES, TAKEN AUGUST 1740. vol. i. p. 245.
[The Treatise was borrowed of
Thomas Lloyd
of Overton,
Esq
]
THE treatise shews,
1. How, why, and when, the lordships marchers were first erected.
2. How, why, and when, they were suppressed. And,
3. How they may be known, and tried, at this day, from other lordships, that were not lordships marchers.
For the true knowledge and perfect understanding of the state of lordships marchers in
Wales,
the following questions are fit to be moved:
1. When lordships marchers began in
Wales?
2. How long the creating lordships marchers in
Wales
continued?
3. When the same was given over, and why?
4. Why they were at first ordained, and to what end they served?
5. How they became lordships marchers, and to have regal authority?
6. How long they continued their force and authority from their first erection?
7. When they were spoiled of their liberty, and the same was resumed into the king's hands?
8. Why they were deprived of their regal power?
9. How they are to be known at this day?
10. Why they were at first, and are now, called lordships marchers; and how they first took the name?
11. What difference is at this day between them and other lordships?
WALES was the refuge to the antient
Britons,
when they were driven by the
Saxons
out of
England;
and there they preserved the antient blood royal of their kings, their laws, and antient language, from the fury of the
Saxons.
There continued an implacable hatred and wars between the two nations. And though the heptarchy was reduced to a monarchy by
Egbert
king of the
West-Saxons
(who first called that part England) yet he and his successors received no obedience or subjection from the kings or princes of
Wales;
but they held
Wales
as absolute monarchs, and acknowledged no superior under God.
Here
Cadwallader
(the last king of
Britain
of the
British
line) and his desendants, did govern the people, as their lawful kings and princes, all the time of the
Saxon
government.
When
William
the Conqueror subdued
England,
he dispossessed the
Saxon
issue of the crown; he rooted out most of their nobility, and brought in his own people, the
Normans:
and when he was in quiet possession of the kingdom, the
Welsh
took no notice of his conquest over the
Saxons;
but accounted of it only as a war between two strange nations.
Long before the Conquest, all
Wales
fell to
Roderick
the Great; who divided it between his three sons: to
Cadell
he gave
South Wales,
containing 25 cantreds; to
Anarawd, North Wales,
of 15 cantreds; and to
Mervyn, Powys,
of 14 cantreds.
The issue of these three sons possessed
Wales,
according to the said division, in the Conqueror's time; viz.
Rice,
son of
Theodore,
ruled
South Wales; Griffith ap Conan, North Wales;
and
Blethyn ap Confyn, Powys.
These three princes would never acknowledge that the Conqueror had any superiority over
Wales:
and for this reason there arose cruel wars between them, and they made daily incursions on each other.
The kings of
England
often invaded the borders of
Wales,
and forced the inhabitants to fly to the mountains; and the
Welsh,
at other times, made divers inroads over
Severn,
and carried great spoils out of
England.
This so provoked them, that they resolved to make a conquest of
Wales;
but the roughness of the country, the hills, woods, and bogs, was such a protection, that a great army could hardly be brought to annoy them; but were often forced to return home with lofss. As
William Rufus,
and
Henry
II. who entered
Wales
three times with royal armies; King
John
made war upon
Llewelin ap forwerth,
prince of
North Wales,
and
Henry
III. upon
Llewellin ap Griffith,
which brought great loss to themselves, as well as damage to the
Welsh.
The kings of
England,
seeing it difficult to make a conquest of
Wales
by a great army, gave to the lords, and other great men of
England,
such countries in
Wales
as they could win from the
Welshmen.
These are the words of divers of their grants.
By these means many were drawn to bring great armies of
Englishmen
and
Normans
into
Wales;
who conquered many great lordships; which they held to them and their heirs for ever, of the kings of
England,
as lands purchased by conquest.
The kings of
England
having built divers strong towns of garrison on the frontiers of
Wales,
after the Conquest; such as
Bristow, Gloucester, Worcester, Salop,
and
Chester;
as places ready to chastise the
Welshmen
upon all attempts, the great men began to invade the countries next to those towns; as namely,
Peter Corbet
for
Cause; Mortimer
for
Wigmore; Fitz-alan
for
Clun
and
Oswestry; Walter Lacy
for
Ewyas-Lacy; Dru de Baladan
for
Abergaveny; Monthault
for
Hawarden; Gilbert
lord of
Monmouth
for
Monmouth; Fulk Fitz-warren
for
Whittington; Roger le Strange
for
Elesmere:
and shortly after came
Robert Fitz-hamon,
with his twelve knights, into
Glamorgan; Bernard Newmarch
into
Brecknock; Strongbow
to
Dyfed
or
Pembrokeshire; Martin
to
Kemes; Morris de Londres
to
Cydwelŷ
and
Cornwallon; Lacy
earl of
Lincoln
to
Rhôs
and
Rhyvoniog,
now the lordship of
Denbigh; Brewis
to
Gower, Buelt, Radnor, Melenith,
and
Elvel;
and to
Roger Mortimer
the country now called
Chirk,
then called
Mochnant,
and to
Cynlleth
and
Nantheudwŷ
and others to other lordships.
That the lords might the better govern the people when subdued, they were suffered to take upon them such prerogative and authority, as were fit for the quiet government of the country.
The antient historiographer,
Lampridius,
saith, that the kings of
England
did then use the same policy with lands on the borders of
Scotland.
No record to be found in the Tower of
London,
or elsewhere, of any grant to be a lordship marcher in
Wales.
The king's writs, out of the courts at
Westminster,
did not run into
Wales,
except
Pembrokeshire;
which was counted part of
England,
and called
Little England
beyond
Wales.
Nor were there any sheriffs to execute such writs: but the lords did execute laws themselves over the people which they subdued; which the kings permitted for a time.
No charters of these liberties could conveniently be granted, for three reasons.
1. The kings of
England
did not know beforehand what lands a lord should conquer, or whether he should conquer any; and therefore could not grant any liberties within a certain precinct or territory.
2. The lords, after their conquest of any country, were not over-hasty to purchase any charter; because they were not sure but that those lands might be restored, by composition between the kings of
England
and the princes, of
Wales,
as they sometimes were: or they might be recovered by force, and the lords expelled. But,
3. The learned say, that the lords marchers had no charters of such liberties, because the liberties were of so high a nature, so royal, and so united to the crown, that, by the law, it was not in the king's power to grant them from the crown.
The government by lords marchers continued in
Wales
till the time of
Henry
VIII; who, perceiving the
Welsh
to live in quietness and subjection, thought they might be governed by civil laws, as the
English
were. And therefore, anno 27, c. 24, he resumed most of those jurisdictions into his own hands, and appointed justices of peace, sheriffs, and other officers; and divided the country into shires. He governed them by the laws of
England;
and left little or no authority to the lords marchers.
The lords, at their, conquest of the country, built castles for themselves, and towns for their followers, in the most fertile part: and by this means the towns and castles in
Wales
were built, as may be seen in the antient charters of those towns.
Pembroke, Tenby,
and
Haverfordwest,
by
Strongbow; William de Valence,
and the
Hastings,
being his posterity:
Newport,
by
Martin
lord of
Kemes: Cydwely,
by
Londres;
and augmented afterwards by the duke of
Lancaster,
to whom it came by marriage.
Swansey, Oystermouth, Loghor, Radnor, Buelt, Raiadr,
and others, by the
Brewises;
from whom they came to the
Mortimers
and
Beauchamps,
by a female issue of
Brewis: Brecknock,
by
Bernard Newmarch.
Blaen-Llyfney,
by
Herbert: Caerdiff
and
Cowbridge,
by
Fitzhamon,
and the earls of
Gloucester: Neath,
by
Greenfield: Abergaveny,
by
Dru de Baladan, Miles
earl of
Hereford,
and others, his posterity:
Ruthin,
by Lord Grey:
Denbigh,
by
Lacy
earl of
Lincoln.
Some of these were towns before the Conquest; but, being destroyed in the winning of them, they were rebuilt by the lords.
The lords held their lordships of the kings of
England
in chief, as of the crown immediate, by serving the king in his wars with certain numbers of men; and they were bound to keep their castles with sufficient men and munition, for the keeping of the king's enemies in subjection.
They executed the
English
laws, for the most part, within their lordships; and brought them to be of
English
tenure; and to pass the same according to the laws of
England,
by fine, recovery, feoffment, and livery of seisin. But such parts as they left to the antient inhabitants to possess, were by some lords suffered to be held after the old
Welsh
custom, the laws of
Howel Dda;
which was, to pass the same by surrender in court (which they called
Côf Lŷs,
and
Ystŷn Wialen,
whereof the word
Ystynnol
was derived): and where that custom was permitted, there is no deed to be found of any lands before the 27th
Henry
VIII. when
Wales
was made shire-ground; but, for such lands as were turned to
English
tenures, you may find deeds of two, three, or four hundred years past, written in
Latin,
or
French,
as was used in
England
in those days.
The laws of
England
were brought in by the lords marchers, because the laws of the land were unknown to the
English:
but they suffered the antient tenants to retain some part of the old
Welsh
laws; such as the use of gavelkind, for parting lands between the brothers, and the passing of lands by surrender in court. And for this, in many lordships, there is a
Welsh
court for the
Welshmen,
called
Welchrie;
and another for the
English,
called
Englishrie.
In some lordships the lands were divided by gavelkind, but passed by feoffments; from whence comes
English
tenure, and
Welsh
dole: in
Welsh, Cyfraith Saesnig, a Rhan-Cymraig.
And the lords had the wardship of all the brethren, as if they had been sisters.
The lords marchers increased in number, till
Llewellin ap Griffith,
the last prince of
Wales,
was slain, anno 11
Ed.
I; who then took the principality of
Wales
into his hands, and gave it to
Edward
II. his son, and made him prince of
Wales.
Since which time no more lordships marchers could be erected; for the
Welsh
in general submitted themselves to the kings of
England.
Since the principality came to the kings of
England,
no lord marcher could claim any liberty or prerogative, more than they had before, without a grant.
Edward
I. immediately held a parliament at
Ruthlan
castle; and there ordained laws and officers, to govern
Wales
after the
English
manner.
The lordship of
Powŷs
had not its original from conquest:, as the lordships marchers had; but in this manner:
Griffith,
son of
Meredith ap Blethyn,
lord of
Powŷs,
seeing the king of
England,
and
English
lords, preparing themselves to conquer
Wales,
did, in discretion and policy, submit himself to
Henry
I. and yielded to hold his lordship of the king of
England
in chief, as the lords marchers did, and to do the king the like service; and thereupon was suffered to hold the same to him and his heirs; and was created lord
Powŷs
by the said
Henry
I. and made baron of the parliament of
England.
His descendant,
Hawŷs Gadarn,
fell to be the king of
England
's ward, by reason of the alteration of the tenure in capite; who gave her in marriage to a valiant gentleman of his, named
John Charlton.
And so the lordship of
Powŷs
came to the possession of the
English
lords. (
Mowthwy,
and others, did the same). These (with the lords marchers) held their lordships of the kings in chief, and not of the princes of
Wales.
The lord of
Powŷs
thus submitting himself to the king of
England,
the comots in that lordship continue whole and entire to this day; and there is a court baron in every one of them, But the lords marchers, to reward those that assisted them in their conquests, gave them divers manors; and so divided the comots into several parts, and erected a court-baron in each. The comots were six;
Carcinion, Mechan uwch-Coed, Mechan is-Coed, Mochnant, Llannerch-hûdol,
and
Ystrad-marchell.
The like may be found in the counties of
Anglesey, Caernarvon, Merioneth, Flint, Carmarthen,
and
Cardigan;
where the antient comots remain entire, without alteration; and retain their antient names and bounds, and keep the same courts. The reason is, because they were not conquered by the lords marchers, but continued in the hands of the princes of
Wales,
till
Llewellin,
the last prince, was slain by
Edward
I.
It appears by antient record, that the lordship of
Bromefield
and
Yale,
antiently called
Dinas Brân,
being the chief castle of the lordship, came to the possession of
English
lords, as follows:
Emma,
daughter to Lord
Audley,
and widow to
Griffith ap Madog,
lord of
Bromefield
and
Yale, Chirk, Nantheudwŷ, Maelor,
and other lands, parcel of antient
Powŷs
having four sons, between whom their father's inheritance was divided; strife grew between her and her husband's kindred about the custody of her sons: they fearing, that if the sons should be brought up by the mother in
England,
they would become
English;
and rather incline to the king of
England,
than to the princes of
Wales.
But the mother getting into her possession the two eldest,
Madog
and
Llewellin;
the first having to his part
Bromefield
and
Yale,
and the other,
Chirk
and
Nantheubwŷ;
and not being able to keep them to herself, nor to remain in quiet upon her jointure, she delivered her sons to
Edward
I. shewing that by right they were his wards, because their ancestors had formerly made their submission to the kings of
England.
The king took them to his ward; and committed
Madog,
the eldest, to the care of
John
earl
Warren;
and
Llewellin
to
Roger Mortimer,
third son to
Ralph
Lord
Mortimer,
of
Wigmore.
The two guardians having the sons and their lands in their custody, Earl
Warren
built the castle of
Holt
in
Bromefield,
and
Roger Mortimer
the castle of
Chirk,
and placed garrisons of
English
in each, to defend the country from the
Welsh.
And the wards dying shortly after, without issue, the said guardians still kept the lands, and obtained grants of the king to hold the same, 10th of
Edward
I; only the castle of
Hope,
and lands thereto belonging, were reserved to the king in Earl
Warren
's grant. The antient rent of
Bromefield
and
Yale,
was 730
l.
a year.
Emma
being molested in her jointure, because she had delivered her sons to the king, and so procured the coming of those lords to build the castles of
Bromefield
and
Chirk,
she desired the king to take
Maelor,
her jointure, and to give her lands in
England
for it; which the king did, and so got into, possession of
Maelor Saesnaeg,
and held the same ever after; not suffering any of the heirs to have it, pretending that they were rebels against him.
No lord marcher without a castle, and a sufficient garrison to suppress such of the
Welsh
as should annoy the king's subjects; and therefore all castles had towns close to them, inhabited by the
English.
And, by 4
Henry
IV. c. 32, it is enacted, that castles and walled towns in
Wales
should be possessed by valiant
Englishmen,
strangers to the seigniories.
The charters of those towns give great liberty to the
English;
but no
Welshman
might be a burgess, or purchase any land therein; see 2
Henry
IV. c. 12. and 20. It was also enacted, that no
Welshman
should have any castle or fortress, saving such as was in the time of
Edward
I. except bishops and temporal lords.
The more to encourage the
English
to conquer
Wales
the kings of
England
created them peers of the realm, by the name of lords baron of the places they conquered. Their number once was twenty-one; but now are reduced to one,
viz. Abergaveny,
who is the first lord baron of
England.
The rest lost their name and place, by coming either to the crown, or to lords who had other places and titles in parliament. The castles in
Wales
were about 143.
The
Welsh
submitted to
Henry
VII. because he was paternally descended from their princes: and his son,
Henry
VIII. made several statutes for the future government of them, anno 27.
Lords marchers seized on the goods of their tenants, who died intestate.
All the lordships marchers have lost their antient jurisdictions and authorities, which were the common signs whereby they were known; so that it is now a doubt which were such lordships. But they may still be known by several tokens.
1. There can be no lordship marcher but such as was subdued before the death of Prince
Llewellin.
2. Such lordship must be held of the king in chief, and not of the principality of
Wales.
3. It must have been in antient time the inheritance of some
English
lord.
4. If any suit arose about the title, it was to be pleaded at common law, in
Westminster-Hall;
and there were fines levied of those lordships, and none other in
Wales.
5. The escheator of the marches of
Wales
did in antient time inquire of the tenure, and find
office post mortem
of the lord; and that by writ out of the chancery of
England.
And as those lordships were not in any shire in
England,
and the king had no escheators to enquire of the tenure of them, the same was laid on the escheator of the next
English
shire. And such escheators had the charge, care, and survey of all lordships marches that were holden of the king. And such escheator was to go into any lordship marcher in
Wales,
and swear an inquest, and find an office after the death of the lord, and inquire of the tenure and value of the lordship.—N. B. All offices of other manors, that were holden of the king, as of his principality, were found, by virtue of writs out of the king's exchequer, of
Caernarvon,
or
Chester,
for
North Wales;
and
Carmarthen,
or
Cardigan,
for
South Wales;
and out of
Pembroke,
for lands in that earldom.
6. These lords, by stat. 24
Henry
VIII. c. 9, have the penalty for killing of wainlings, and for non-appearance at their courts; and, by stat. 26
Henry
VIII. c. 4, and 27, c. 26, they have the forfeiture of common mainprize, recognizances, mizes; power to keep court-barons and court-leets; and to have waifs, strays, infangthefe, outfangthefe, treasure-trove, deodands, goods and chattels of felons, persons condemned, and outlawed: and also wreck de mere, wharfage, and custom of strangers.
From the river
Tifi,
in
South Wales,
to the river
Conwy,
in
North Wales,
there was no lordship marcher; but all that country remained wholly to the princes of
Wales,
until the principality came to the crown by Prince
Llewellin
's death.
As the river
Severn
was the antient limit between
Wales
and
England,
a doubt hath arisen, why all the land that is over that river,
viz.
all
Herefordshire,
and so much as is part of
Gloucestershire, Worcestershire,
and
Shropshire,
had not been lordships marchers, as the rest of
Wales
was, that was won since the Conquest.
The reason is this: All
Herefordshire,
and those parts of the other counties, were won from the
Welsh
in, or shortly after, the time of
Offa
king of
Mercia.
The
Welsh
were expelled thence, the country was new planted with
Englishmen;
and this was long before the dividing of
England
into shires. The same was annexed to the kingdom of
Mercia;
and so, as part of that kingdom, it came to the hands of king
Alfred,
who first divided
England
into shires. He finding those countries subdued, and the
Welsh
expelled, divided them with the rest on the other side
Severn.
He added part to
Gloucestershire,
part to
Worcestershire,
and part to
Shropshire;
and made
Herefordshire
a shire of itself.
Here lies the difference between conquering of
Wales
by the
Saxons
and the
Normans.
So much of
Wales
as the
Saxon
kings won, they did it at their own charge, and for their own use; and did not suffer their subjects to deal therein. But the
Norman
conqueror, contenting himself with the realm of
England,
did not bend his forces against
Wales
more than he was forced to do, by their invading of his people and country; and he, and his successors, thought it better policy to give to the nobility such parts of
Wales
as they could conquer.
Herefordshire
was not won since the Conquest, appears from the lordship of
Urchinfield;
which is antient demesne-lands; such as is not to be found in
England,
but what was in the possession of its kings before the Conquest. See
Silas Taylor,
of
Urchinfield,
in his History of Gavelkind, p. 106: and
Humphrey Lhwyd,
in his Fragment of the Description of
Wales;
his
Latin
book, p. 52, first edition;
English
translation, p. 63: whose words, as
Bryan Twyne
translates, are,
Gwŷr Reunwe
makes one of the six states, that met at the mouth of the river
Dyvi,
to chuse
Maelgwyn Gwynedd
king, about the year 560. P. 74, of his Breviary of
Britain.
Not far from thence, viz.
Lamstre,
or
Llanlieni,
is the antient city
Henfford,
standing upon
Wye,
or more truly
Gŵy;
in old time called
Ferleg,
now
Hereford.
Towards
Severn
are
Malvern
hills; and in the corner between
Severn
and
Wye,
not far from the town of
Ross,
is that renowned wood, which, from the
Danes,
is called the forest of
Dean.
These regions, with all
Herefordshire
beyond
Wye,
before they were possessed by the
English,
were termed, in
British, Euryenwe;
and the inhabitants,
Eurnwŷr:
of which there remains somewhat in the word
Urchinfield.
The
Welsh
called it
Ergnig,
and afterwards
Ergenel;
and no marvel, since the lest portion thereof retains now the name of
Powys.
It appears by some records in the Tower,
I. That King
Edward
I. anno 11, (when he slew Prince
Llewellin,
and thereby got possession of the principality of
Wales
) being at
Aberconwy,
and fearing that there would be a scarcity of victuals, wrote to the officers of all the good towns and countries in
South Wales,
(that were subdued by the lords marchers) that they should cause victuals to be brought out of those parts to
Montgomery,
in
Quindena Paschae;
next following, to furnish the king's army. In this manner:
Ballivis mercatoribus et probis hominibus de — Swansey.
This is the chief town of the lordship of
Gower.
Majori, ballivis, probis hominibus et mercatoribus de Bristol.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Cardiff.
The chief town of
Glamorgan.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Strongoule.
The chief town of
Netherwent
in
Monmouthshire.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Haverford.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Pembroke.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Thalgarn.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Sto Claro.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Kemys.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Kilgaran.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Caerleon.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Caermardŷn.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Cardigan.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Brecknock.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Kydwely.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Uske.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Lanstephan.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Austedŷn.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Monmouth.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Bergavenŷ.
Ballivis, &c. de
—
Blenllevny.
Ranulph,
monk of
Chester,
saith (l. 7. c. 38. fol. 379.) that Prince
Llewellin
was slain about the feast of St.
Lucy.
2. That King
Edward
II. in his wars against
Robert de Bruce,
king of
Scotland,
wrote to these lords marchers, to send to his aid a certain number of men, there mentioned, out of their several lordships. His letters patents are dated
June
18, anno 3
Edward
II.
The same king, in the same year, writes to those lords, to abate a certain number of their men; because he did not want them.
King
Edward
III. fearing the invasion of the
Scots,
writes to the lords marchers, to have the sea-coast watched, the men of the country armed, their castles strengthened and furnished, and themselves to act as lieutenants in their several lordships.
Dat. apud Berewicum super Twedam, Jun. 24, anno regni
10.
And he appoints
William de la Zouch de Mort. Mari,
and
Gilbert Talbot
(his justices of
South Wales
) to be captains and leaders of the said lords and their people against the
Scots,
if they should invade those parts.
N. B.
The king did not write to any part of the six shires which were the principality of
Wales;
but only to such parts as were subdued by the lords marchers; who held their lordships immediately of the king. The king had men out of the principality-lands, to serve him in those wars; but the commissions are not to be found among the King's records in the Tower. For the prince of
Wales
(who then held the principality) wrote for men out of the principality, to serve his father in his wars.
The records of this remain among the prince's records; and are not to be found among the records in the Tower.
No III. CAPITULATION OF DENBIGH CASTLE. vol. ii. p. 38.
Articles of agreemt concluded and agreed vppon the fourteenth day of
Octob.
1646, by and betweene Luitenant Coll.
Mason,
Lt Coll.
Twisleton, Symon Thellwall,
Esq
Roger Hanmer,
Esq
Thomas Edwards,
Esq
Capt
Robert Farrar,
and
Nathaniell Barnett,
Clerke, commissionrs appoynted by Generall
Mitton,
on yt one ptie; L. Coll.
Griffith,
L. Coll.
Wynne,
Major
Manley,
Major
Reynalds, John Eaton,
Esq
John Thellwall,
Esq
Kenricke Eaton,
Esq
comrs appoynted by Coll.
William Salusbury,
gour nor of the towne and castle of
Denbigh,
on thother party; for, touchinge, and concerninge ye surrender of the s• towne and castle, as ffolloweth:
1. THAT the towne and castle of
Denbighe,
wth all ye ordinance, armes, amunitō , and pvisions of war, wth all magazines and stoores therevnto belonginge; as allsoe all goodes, money, plate, and househouldstuffe, of wt kind soeur , belonging to any pson or persons whatsoeuer, except such as bee allowed in the ensuinge articles, shall be deliuered to Generall
Mitton,
or whome he shall appoynt, wth out any willfull spoyle or embezelmt , vpon the 27 day of this instant
Octob.
for ye service of ye plimt .
2. That Coll.
William Salusbury,
gouernr of ye towne and castle of
Denbigh,
wth his servants, and all that to him belongs, and all officers and souldiers of horse and foote, as well reformed officers and volunteere souldiers as others, and all other officers wth there servants, and all yt apptaynes to them, shall march out of the towne and castle of
Denbigh,
wth there horses, and armes proportionable to there pr sent or past comands, flyinge colours, drums beatinge, matches light at both ends, bullet in the mouth; eut y souldier to have 12 chardges of powder, match and bullet pportionable, wth bag and baggage pporly to them belonginge; and all psons of quality, clergymen, and gentlemen, wth there servants, horses, and armes, in like manner wth bag and bagage, and all goods to them pporly belonginge, to any place wth in x miles, such as the gour nor shall make choyce of; where, in regard ye kinge hath noe army in the field, or garrison vnbeseidged, to march to, the comon souldiers shall lay downe there armes (there swords excepted): wth armes, soe layed downe, shall be deliuered vp to such as Generall
Mytton
shall appoynt to receaue them.
3. That all officers and souldiers, as well reformed as others, and all other the psons aforesaid, who shall desire to goe to there homes or ffrinds, shall have ye generalls passe and ptextion for the peaceable repaire to, and aboade at ye seuerall places they shall soe desire to goe into; and such of them as shall desire it, shall haue free qter allowed them in all there march from
Denbigh
to those seur all places, they marching 6 miles a day, and stayinge but one night in a place; the officers, as well reformed as others, wth equipage of horses, and compleate armes, answerable to there pr sent or past commands; ye psons of quality, clergymen, and gentlemen, wth there servaunts, horses, and armes; and comon troopers wth there horses and swords; and all to passe wth bag and bagage, as aforesd ; and yt it shall be noe pr judice to any of there ffrinds for receavinge or intertainmt of any of them; and yt all officers and souldiers, who shall desire to take intertaynmt for any forreigne kingdome or estate, shall have free qter allowed them for 40 dayes, from there march out of
Denbighe,
they marchinge 6 miles a day, and stayinge but one night in a place, as aforesd ; and shall haue passes for officers and there servants, wth there horses and armes, to goe and treate wth any forreigne embassedor or agent, for entertainmt ; and all of them to haue passes to march, the officers wth there compleate armes, and horses pportionable to there pr sent or past, comands; and the comon souldiers wth there swords only, and all wth bag and bagage, to any convenient port of this kingdome, to be transported; and the gour nr of such port or garrison, or gouernr next adjoyninge, shall take care for there safty duringe there aboade there and vntill shippinge can be pvided, and weather seasonable, they payinge for there qters after the sd forty dayes expired; and shall assist them for pcuringe vessels for there transportance, at the vsual rates accustomed for fright; and noe oathes or engagemts whatsoeuer, duringe there sd stay, or at there transportation, be imposed vppon them, savinge an engagmt by pmise not to doe any pr judiciall to the parliamt .
4. That the gour nor and officers, and all others wth in the sd garrison, shall be allowed, and assisted in pcuringe a sufficient number of carts, teames, and other necessaries, for the caringe away of the goods allowed them by these articles, at any tyme wth in 4 dayes, besides
Sonday,
before the surrender of the garrison, and for the space of 2 monthes after, to there seuerall houses; provided it be to any place wth in the generalls quarters.
5. That noe gentleman, clergyman, officers, or souldiers, nor any other pson or psons whatsoeur , comprized wth in this capitulation, shall be reproached, or haue any disgracefull speeches or affronts offered to them, or be stopped, plundered, or injured in there march, rendevouz, qters, journeyes, or places of aboade; if any such thing shall befall, satisfan̄ to be given at the judgmt of 2 or more of ye comrs , they beinge equall in number of each party; nor shall the psons aforesd , nor any of them, be entised or compelled to take vp armes agst the kinge, nor be imprisoned, restrained, sued, impleaded, or molested for any matter or cause wt soeur , before the surrending of this garison, be it publique or priuate interest, duringe the space of 6 monthes, after the rendringe hereof, they doinge nothinge pr judiciall to the parliamt . And if any officer, souldier, or psons wt soeuer, be sicke or wounded, soe that they cannot at psent enjoy the benefitt of these articles, yt such shall haue libertie to stay at
Denbighe
vntill they be recouered, and fitt accomodatō and subsistance shall be pvided for them duringe there stay there; and then to enjoy the benefitt of these articles.
6. That the clergymen now in the garrison, who shall not, vppon composition, or otherwise, be restored to the church livinges, shall haue liberty and passes to goe to
London,
to obtayne some fittinge allowance for the liuelyhood of themselues and families.
7. That these articles shall extend to the vse and benefitt of strangers, of any forreigne kingdome or state, residinge wth in this garrison, together wth there wiues, children, servants, horses, armes, and bag and bagage, as is allowed in the precedinge articles.
8. That the aldermen, bayliffes, burgesses, and all other psons yt are pply members of the corporation of
Denbigh,
shall continue and enjoy there ancient gouernmt , charters, customes, ffranchises, liberties, lands, goods, debts, and all things els, wth belonge vnto them as a corporation, subordinate to the im̄ ediate authority and power of parliamt ; and shall not be molested, or questioned, by colour of any thinge done or ordered by them in the capacitie of a corporation, before the rendringe of this garrison, relatinge to the differences betweene his matie and the parliamt . And yt noe officer or member of the sd corporatō , or other inhabitant of the towne of
Denbighe,
or liberties thereof, shall be troubled or questioned for takinge vp armes, duringe the tyme it was a garrison, for the defence thereof.
9. That all the sd persons, who haue there dwellinge houses and families wth in the garrison, shall continue in there houses and dwellings, and enjoy there household stuffe, all there owne priuate stoore pply to them belonginge, and all other there goods and pvisions wr soeur (except armes and amunitō as before is excepted) or remoue wth there sd goods and pvision out of the garrison, at there choyce and election; provided yt this extend not to any who haue houses and families wth in ye inward ward, but that they remoue there habitations wth in 14 dayes after the surrending of the sd castle: and haue libertie to carry all there goods and pvisions, to them proply belonginge, alonge wth them, they dooing nothinge hereafter pr judiciall to ye parliamt .
10. That the townsmen, and the rest of the inhabitants of the towne, shall be chardged wth noe free qter further then the rest of the countrey, and then but in a proportionable way; and yt the distribution of qters shall be wth the advise of the baliffes.
11. That all those psons comprized wth in these articles, who are resolued to goe beyond seas, shall haue libertie to haue and dispose of there goods and moueables allowed by these articles, wth in the space of 6 monthes after the surrendringe of the garison, and to depart the kingdome, if they shall thinke fitt; and that duringe the sd space they shall be free from all oathes, ingagements , and molestation (except an engagemt by promise, not to beare armes agst the parliamt , nor willfully doe any thinge pr judiciall to there affaires.)
12. That noe pson or psons included wth in these articles, shall be molested or questioned for any one thinge sd or donn in or concerninge this war, or relatinge to the vnhappy differences betweene his matie and ye parliamt .
13. That Major Generall
Mytton
allow the gour nor , for his pr sent subsistance, soe much of his owne
pp
corne, graine, and pvision, as he shall conceaue expedient, now wth in the castle, by reason all his estate at pr sent is seized vppon, and imployed to the vse of the state.
14. That if any of these articles shall in any poynt be brooken or violated by any pson or psons whatsoeur wth in the garrison, or comprized wth in the capitulan̄ , the fault and punishmt shall be vppon him or them only who made the violation, and not imputed to, nor chardged vppon, any other not assentinge therevnto, or not an actor in it.
15. That all persons comprized wth in these articles shall, vppon request, haue a certificate vnder the hand of Generall
Mytton,
that such psons were in the garrison at the tyme of the surrender thereof, and are to haue ye benefitt of these articles.
16. That the gour nor and others in
Denbigh
castle, after surrender thereof, shall haue the liberty to compound for there delinquencyes, at such rates as if they had come before the first of
December
last; and yt this libertie shall extend to all but such as beinge vnder the first and 2d exception, are excempted from pardon:
This is voted by parliamt .
COPPIES OF HIS MAJESTY'S LETTERS β.
CHARLES
R.
WHEREAS we have resolved to comply with the desires of our parliament, in every thing which may be for the good of our subjects, and leave no means un-assayed for removing all difference betwixt us: Therefore we have thought fit, the more to evidence the loyalty of our intentions of settling a happy and firm peace, to authorize you, upon honourable conditions, to quit and surrender the castle of
Denbigh,
entrusted to you by us, and disband all the forces under your command: for your so doing, this shall be your warrant.
Given at
Newcastle,
the 14th of
September,
1646.
To our trusty and well-beloved Colonel
William Salusbury,
governor of the castle of
Denbigh.
A Coppy of the private Letter which his Majesty sent to the Governor.
Newcastle,
13th of
September
1646.
COLONEL
Salusbury,
I heartily thank you for your loyal constancy. I assure you, that whensoever it shall please God to enable me to shew my thankfullness to my friends, I will particularly remember you. As for your answer, I referr it to the messenger, to whom I have clearly declared my mind.—Commend me to all my friends. So I rest,
Your most assured friend,
CHARLES
R.
No IV. ORIGIN OF SHERIFF'S MEN IN NORTH WALES. vol. ii. p. 82.
[Corsegeddol MS.]
JEVAN,
alias
John ap Gruffudd ap Madog,
lived in great credit and esteem in the days of
Edward
III; who gave him an annual stipend for guarding and conducting of the justice of
North Wales,
with a company of archers, whilst he should sojourn and stay in the county of
Merionedd.
This was occasioned by the people of
North Wales,
(being unacquainted, in those days, with the
English
government) did often transgress; and the justices, for the reducing them to obedience, were driven to use severity; which incensed people sometimes to use violence against their justices: as in
South Wales, Geoffrey Clement,
justice of that country, was killed at
Buelt;
and
W. Sutton,
in
North Wales.
Afterwards the sheriffs of the counties were enjoined to meet the justice at his entrance into the county, and to guard and conduct him to the utmost bound of the county; where the sheriff of the next county did receive him.
No V. SIR JOHN WYNNE OF GWEDIR'S INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS CHAPLAIN, JOHN PRICE, HOW TO GOVERN HIMSELF IN HIS SERVICE. Vol. ii. p. 140.
FIRST. You shall have the chamber, I shewed you in my gate, private to yourself, with lock and key, and all necessaries.
In the morning I expect you should rise, and say prayers in my hall, to my houshhold below, before they go to work, and when they come in at nygt—that you call before you all the workmen, specially the yowth, and take accompt of them of their belief, and of what Sir
Meredith
taught them. I beg you to continue for the more part in the lower house: you are to have onlye what is done there, that you may informe me of any misorder there. There is a baylyf of husbandry, and a porter, who will be comanded by you.
The morninge after you be up, and have said prayers, as afore, I wod you to bestow in study, or any commendable exercise of your body.
Before dinner you are to com up and attend grace, or prayers, if there be any publicke; and to set up, if there be not greater strangers, above the chyldren—who you are to teach in your own chamber.
When the table, from half downwards, is taken up, then are you to rise, and to walk in the alleys near at hand, until grace time; and to come in then for that purpose.
After dinner, if I be busy, you may go to bowles, shuffel bord, or any other honest decent recreation, until I go abroad. If you see me voyd of business, and go to ride abroad, you shall comand a geldinge to be made ready by the grooms of the stable, and to go with me. If I go to bowles, or shuffel bord, I shall lyke of your company, if the place be not made up with strangers.
I wold have you go every
Sunday
in the year to some church hereabouts, to preache, giving warnynge to the parish to bring the yowths at after noon to the church to be catekysed; in which poynt is my greatest care that you be paynfull and dylygent.
Avoyd the alehowse, to sytt and keepe drunkards company ther, being the greatest discredit your function can have.
No VI. INVENTORY OF SIR JOHN WYNNE'S WARDROBE. vol. ii. p. 141.
A noate of all my clothes: taken the eleventh day of
June,
1616.
IMPRIMIS.
i tawnie klothe cloake, lined thoroughe with blacke velvett; one other black cloake of clothe, lined thouroughe with blacke velvett; another blacke cloake of velvett, lined with blacke taffeta.
Item.
ii ridinge coates of the same colour, laced with silke and golde lace; i hood and basses of the same; one other olde paire of basses.
Item.
ii blacke velvett jerkins; two clothe jerkins laced with goulde lace, of the same colour.
Item.
One white satten doublett, and blacke satten breeches; one silke grogram coloured suite; and one suite of blacke satten cutt, that came the same time from
London.
Item.
One other blacke satten suite cutt; and one blacke satten doublett, with a wroughte velvett breeches.
Item.
One leather doublett, laced with blacke silke lace; one suite of
Pteropus,
laced with silke and golde lace; another suite of
Pteropus,
laced with greene silke lace.
Item.
One olde blacke silke grogram suite cutt; two blacke frise jerkins.
Item.
One blacke velvett coate for a footman.
Item.
One redd quilte waskoote.
Item.
ij pare of olde boothose, toppes lined with velvett in the topps.
Item.
ij pare of blacke silke stockins; and two pare of blacke silke garters, laced.
Item.
One pare of perle colour silke stockins; one pare of white
Siterop
stockins; three pare of wosted stockins.
Item.
ij girdles, and one hanger, wroughte with golde; one also blacke velvett girdle; one blacke cipres scarfe.
Item.
Nine black felte hattes, wherof fowre bee mens hattés; and five cipres hatbands.
Item.
One guilte rapier and dagger, and one ridinge sworde with a scarfe, with velvet scabbards.
Item.
ij pare of
Spanishe
leather shooes.
Item.
One russett frise jerkin.
Item.
Two pare of leather
Yamosioes,
and one of clothe.
Item.
ij pare of white boots; one pare of russett boots.
Item.
iij pare of newe blacke boots, and five pare of old blacke boots.
Item.
ij pare of damaske spurres, iii pare of guilte spurres.
No VII. INSCRIPTION ON A MONUMENT OF THE GWEDIR FAMILY, IN LLANRWST CHURCH. vol. ii. p. 143.
This Chappel was erected Anno Domini 1633,
BY Sr
Richard Wynne
of
Gwydir,
in the county of
Caernarvon,
Knight and Barronet, treasurer to the high and mighty Princess
Henrieta Maria,
queen of
England,
daughter to King
Henery
the fourth, king of
France,
and wife to our soveraign King
Charles.
Where lieth buried his father, Sr
John Wynne
of
Gwidir,
in the county of
Caernarvon,
Knight and Baronet, son and heyre to
Maurice Wynne,
son and heyre to
John Wynne,
son and heyre to
Meredith;
which three lieth buried in the church of
Dolwyddelan,
with tombs over them. This,
Meredith
was son and heyre to
Evan,
son and heyre to
Robert,
son and heyre to
Griffith,
son and heyre to
Carradock,
son and heyre to
Thomas,
son and heyre to
Roderick,
lord of
Angleasy,
son to
Owen Gwynedd,
prince of
Wales,
and younger brother to
David
prince of
Wales;
who married
Eme Plantageinet,
sister to King
Henery
the second. There succeeded this
David
three princes: his nephew
Leolinus Magnus,
who married
Jone,
daughter to King
John; David
his son, nephew to King
Henery
the third; and
Leoline;
the last prince of
Wales
of that house and line, who lived in King
Edward
the first's time. Sr
John Wynne
married
Sydney,
who lieth buried here, the daughter of Sr
William Gerrard,
Knight, lord chancellour of
Ireland;
by whom he had issue, Sr
John Wynne,
who died att
Lucca,
in
Italy;
Sr
Richard Wynne,
now liveing;
Thomas Wynne,
who lieth here;
Owen Wynne,
now liveing;
Robert Wynne,
who lieth here;
Roger Wynne,
who lieth here;
William Wynne,
now liveing;
Maurice Wynne,
now liveing;
Ellis Wynne,
who lieth buried att
Whittford,
in the county of
Flint; Henery Wynne,
now liveing;
Roger Wynne,
who lieth here: and two daughters;
Mary,
now liveing, married to Sr
Roger Mostyn,
in the county of
Flint,
Knight; and
Elizabeth,
now liveing, married to Sr
John Bod
il,
in the county of
Caernarvon,
Knight.
No VIII. SIR JOHN WYNNE'S LETTERS. Vol. ii. p. 145.
Letter from the
Bourbonoisse
to his Father, dated 1st
April,
1614, giving an Account of the Discontents in
France
in the beginning of the Reign of
Louis
XIII.
MY humble duty premised—Our embassador being returned to
England,
and my acquaintance in
Paris
retyred with him; I am uncertayn where to dyrect my lr̄ es, that I may be assured they may come to hand.
This state of
France
is in division with ytselfe; for certain of the princes are discontentedly retyred to their governments; where they fortify themselves in the strongest cytties. Those of them who want place of importance in their own countrey, joyn with the rest to make good the hould they fynd fitt to make resistance: and so many are joyned togeather in
Champaigne,
being the government of the duke of
Nevers,
who also is one of the number. But the cheife of all is the prince of
Conde,
with whom also is the duke of
Vendosme,
bastard son to the late king of
France;
who not longe since was comitted to pryson; but finding that opportunite to shift him self into the habit of a scullion, he escaped, and put himselfe into the companie of, the malecontents, being in number about six or 7 dukes, besides others, assembled togeather, upon there garde, in the cytty of
Misiers
and
Cedan,
upon the borders of the Low Countreys, being frontyre towns of
Champaign.
Whence the prince of
Conde
writt to the king and queen, shewing the cause of his retyrednes, so far as touched himselfe, being, as he sayed, out of the care he had of the king and kingdome, to reform the one, and give contentment to the other; which could not be don without the assembly of the states, which he earnestly desired, principally to abridge the extream taxations of the subjects; to purge the kingdome of the unnecessarie offices, who served to no other use than to impoverish the people; and withall to forbear to proceed in the marriadge between
France
and
Spayn,
untyll the assembly of the estates wear dissolved, least any thinge should be concluded to the pjudice of those of the reformed religion. The lre was well written, and carried with yt a shewe of great good to the comon wealth; but the people are so fearfull of the name of civil warre, that very fewe stirr of the parte of the princes. It is very true that the prince of
Conde
was drawn into the number by some other of the dukes, and not out of any just cause that he hath of discontent, more then for the love of some of them who he wod protect.
Thèr ys watch and ward in all towns, and good order for provision of arms, whereof ther ys no want in these partes.
The queen maketh great preparation to go to meete the king of
Spayn,
to conclude the marriage, notwithstandinge the distaste the princes have of that proceedinge.
The report hear ys, that the princes will submit themselves to the kings mercie, and will offer themselves to attende the kinge to his marriage; but how that will prove, ys uncertain: for they fortifie themselves daylie; and, while they speake of peace, they prepare for warre. But that wch will turn to there mischife ys the want of money, wch all knowe; otherwise they are well seated to do the kinge a shrewd turne. These sturrs in
France
causeth the kingdome to be more difficult for travaile, and maketh many strangers remove to other countreys; myself amonge the rest am resolved of my remove, with as much speed as I may, to
Savoy,
and so to
Piē mont,
and to see some part of
Lombardie,
before the extreamitie of the heate. I have continued here in
Burbonnoise
to exercise myself to ride, whereto I have applyed myselfe amonge the best-natured people of the world. God contynewe you your health, and make my return as happy as you desire!
I rest your obedient son, JOHN WYNNE.
1st
Aprilis
1614,
His next Lr̄ e is dated 26
April,
1614, from
Marseilles;
and directed to his Father.
My humble duty remembred—
SYTHENCE The writinge Of my last, I removed from the place where I was to
Lyons,
being 30 leagues Of
Burbonnoise.
Before I set foorth, I ridd to the Bath, wch ys 5 leagues distant from
Moulins,
as well to see the castle as other remarkable things, wch are well worthy a strangers Observion. The governor Of The country sent expressly to cause all things to be shewed me. Being arrived, I bestowed that nyht to see the new work, wch the last king caused to be built near the springe; but that wch was wonderfull, was 3 inclosed places within the bath, the waters whereof ys so extream hot, that there ys not any that care adventure to goe bath himselfe within, though the weather be never so could: for experience whereof, the last great frost, a younge mayd goinge to take up water, her feet slipt, because of the yce, and falling into the water, was taken up dead, being boyled by reason Of the extroardinarie heat of the springe. The next morninge I sawe the castle Of
Bourbon,
wch ys extroardinarie well seated for strength, and adorned within with a very fayr chappell, beinge on of the rarest pieces Of worke Of
France;
within wch there ys a piece of the very true crosse of our Saviour (if wee may give credit to them that have the keepinge thereof) wch was brought from
Jerusalem
By St.
Clovis,
king Of
France,
with on of the thorns of the crown Of our Saviour, wch marvilouslie doth flowr upon the Passion day, between nine and ten of the clock; and after 10 doth vanish away. I wod upon that day have gone to see yt, but I found all men at there devotion; so that non wod travaile that day. I doubt nothinge of the omnipotencie of the Almightie, who hath made all things of nothinge; but I make question of many superstitious observations of these Papists, who have often belyed God, attributinge to reliks more then to God. This thorn is inclosed in christall within the same that the crosse ys, beinge all set in gould, with works of imagerie, contayninge the passion of our Saviour; wch the houldinge in your hand, the bud appeareth at that tyme of the day, upon Good Fryday, remayneth on flowr, and so vanisheth.
From thence to
Lyons,
where I contynued a week; and so by water I voyaged to
Avignon,
wch ys belonging to the Pope: where entring into the town, I was demanded by the gard at the gate, whence I was, and of what religion? Where havinge related all things, according to there demand, I was lett passe towarde my lodginge, beinge somewhat melancholick, because I supposed that I shod not have that libertie to see all places in that towne, as I desired; but havinge encountred with a
French
lord of that country, of whom I inquired whether I might freely see all places in town; who used me with that extroardinarie kindness, that being invited to supper that night, he speake of me to the cardinal, being vice-legat; and the next morninge brought me to the cardinal, who was returned from masse;, having a hundred gentlemen well appointed, who in ranke went before him, by three and by three, until the pallaisie; my selfe coming by with that lord, I was saluted by the legat, and honorably entertayned with many good words, tellinge me that yt was not lawfull for those of our religion to remayne above, three dayes; but for me, I might stay as longe as I wod — with many other circumstances of love and curtesie; enjoyninge that Id to shewe me all places in town, and principally to conduct me to see a companie at a gentlemans house, who wear ready to maske and dance, in honour of a babtisme, whereunto the cardinals brother was intreated as godfather. In ende, beinge after dinner at the church, to see the manner of yt, though I had before seen the like, behould a great number of violens and musitiens came marching before the godfather, who brought the child upon his arme (accordinge to the
French
manner) to the church; and then the ladies and gentlewomen accompanyinge the godmother entred, and so they went to the ceremonie; my selfe went amonge the rest, and stood by to hear and see what they did: which some gentlemen perceivinge, who had taken notice of me in the morninge, demanded of me how I liked of the ceremonie? I sayd well. And whether there wear great difference between the
English
manner and that of
France
for the babtisme? I answered, for that I had seen that they differed from us. I was further pressed by those gent, whether yt pleased me to see the manner of yt or not? I sayd yea; but that I cod not enter for the presse. Then the gent made me place, and brought me close to the place; where, in interpretinge unto me the manner of all circumstances, he was louder than the curit who babtized the child. When all was done, the godfather kissed the godmother openlie in the church. The companie, being many that came about me, seeing I was a stranger, to hear what the other gent and I discoursed of. I was asked by the parent of the child, in what sort we differed in
England
from the manner of
France
in babtisme? I answered, that our children wear not so well fed, before they received babtisme, as this child was. The gent fell all to a laughter; for indeed the child was so ould that he was almost ready to goe, and had such a broad face, that all the companie were made merry with the mouths the child made at the preist, duringe the time he was using his office. The gent tould me that yt was the manner in these countreys also to christen them when they wear 4 or 5 dayes ould; but for this, the godfather beinge in
Italy,
they wear constrained to stay till his return. After the babtisme I was offered all the curtesie that I could desire. And so I went to
Aix,
being the parliment of
Provence,
and from thence to
Marselles,
where I now am. From hence to
Nezi,
beinge the duke of
Savoys
countrey; and from thence to
Genua;
and thence to
Lucca;
and so to
Florence,
wch ys 500 miles hence: where I shall not have so much money as will conduct me further, but only what will maintayn me untill I receive money from
England,
which I humbly entreat you to use means to send me my
Michaelmas
rent. Have patience with me, if I continewe a little longer then you wod ; I do yt for my experience, wch I wod gayne, if I may, as well as others; but without tyme, a man can do but what he can. I hope you would not that I should be less sufficient then other gent, who seeke out ther experience by the same means that I doe. I hope that yt shall not repent you anythinge of the course I have taken, no more then yt doth me. God send you your health, and my mother hers; and make both of you partakers of my prayers!
Yr ever obedt son, till death, JOHN WYNN.
No IX. WARRANT FOR A STAGG OUT OF SNOWDON FORREST, 4 JULY, 1st YEAR OF QUEEN ELIZ. 1558. vol. ii. p. 166.
I Require you to deliver, or cause to be delivered, unto the bringer hereof, for the furniture and provision of the queens majestys houshold of her great council in the marches of
Wales,
one stagge of this season, to be taken out of her highness forrest of
Snowdon.
And this bill signed with my hand, with the queens highness warrant dormant to the lord president, and Sir
Robr Townessend,
Knight, justice of
Chester,
and either of us, made for the same, the copie whereof remayneth with you, shall be your sufficient warrant and discharge in that bequest.
Given at her highness town of
Salop,
the 4th day of
July,
in the first yere of her majestys reigne,
ROBT. TOWNESSEND.
To the master of the game, ranger and keeper of the queens highness forrest of
Snowdon,
in the county of
Carnarvon,
there deputy or deputies there.
ANOTHER.
AFTER my hearty commendations—These are to require you to delyver to my friend
Maurice Wynne,
Gent. or to the bringer hereof in his name, one of my fee staggs or bucks of this season, due to me out of the queens majestys forrest of
Snowdon:
and this my lr̄ e shall be your warrant of the same. So fare you well.
From
Cardigan,
the 14th
August,
1561.
Yr loving freind, H. SYDNEY.
To my very loving freinde
John Vaughan,
forrester of the queens forrest of
Snowdon,
in the counties of
Anglesey, Merioneth,
and
Carnarvon;
and in his absence to his deputy there.
No X. ACCOUNT OF SIR RICHARD BULKELEY; IN WHICH IS A STRONG DESCRIPTION OF THE TYRANNY OF THE FAVORITE EARL OF LEICESTER.
SIR
Richd Bulkeley
served in parlt for the county of
Anglesey,
the 2d and 3d sessions of Q.
Mary,
the 3d of
Eliz.
and 1st of
James.
He was of goodly person, fair of complexion, and tall of stature. He was temperate in his dyet, not drinking of healths. In his habit, he never changed his fashion; but always wore round breeches, and thick bumbast doublets, though very gallant and rich. In the last year of Queen
Eliz.
being then somewhat stricken in years, he attended the counsil of marches at
Ludlow,
in winter-time. When the lord president
Zouch
went in his coach to church, or elsewhere, Sir
Richard
used to ride on a great stone horse; and some time he wod go from his lodging to church, in frost and snow, on foot, with a short cloak, silk stockings, a great rapier and dagger, tarry all prayers and sermon in very cold weather; insomuch yr Ld
Zouch
was wont to say, he was cold to see him.
He was a great reader of history, and discourses of all estates and countries; of very good memory; and understanding in matters belonging to housekeeping, husbandry, maritime affayres, building of ships, and maintaining them at sea. He drew his own letters, and answered all letters with his own hand: and being complayned of at the counsil of the marches for breach of an order of that court, he drew his own answer— that he cod not be evicted out of his possession but by course of common law—pleaded
Magna Charta
—and demanded judgement: which answer being put into court, the chief justice, Sir
Richard Shuttleworth,
called for a sight thereof; and after perusal, said to the counsellors at the bar,
Look, my masters, what a bone Sr
Richd Bulkeley
hath cast into the court, for you to tire upon:
and the matter being argued, it was, referred to the com̄ on law.
He was a great housekeeper, and entertainer of strangers, especially such as passed to or from
Ireland.
He nobly entertained the earl of
Essex
in his way there, to be lord lieutent . He made provision of all necessaries for his table beforehand. He sent yearly two ships to
Greenland
for cod, ling, and other fish; which he did use to barter in
Spain
for
Malaga
and sherrie wines; and always kept a good stocke of old sack in his cellar, which he called
Amabile,
besides other wines. He kept two parks well stored with Red and Fallow Deer; wch did afford such plenty of venison, as furnished his table 3 or 4 times every week in the season, besides pleasuring of friends. He kept several farms, besides his demesne, in his hands, wch furnished his house with fat beef, mutton, lamb, &c. &c. He was an excellent horseman, and an expert tilter; keeping two great stables of horses, one in
Cheshire,
and another in
Beaumaris,
and a great studd of mares. His estate in
Anglesey
was £. 2500, in
Carnarvonshire
£. 800, and in
Cheshire
£. 1000, a year: having always a great stock of ready money lying in his chest. He kept many servants and attendants, tall and proper men: two lacqueys in livery always ran by his horse: he never went from home without 20 or 24 to attend him. He was a great favorite of Queen
Eliz.
He had powerful freinds at court, and had the gentry and commonalty of the county of
Anglesey
at his service, except the
Woods
of
Rhosmore,
who were always his ennemies.
He had great contests with
Dudley
earl of
Leicester;
who obtayned the queens letters patents under the great seal, to be chief ranger of the forrest of
Snowdon:
in which office he behaved very injuriously to the counties of
Merioneth, Carnarvon,
and
Anglesey;
attempting to bring within the bounds and limits of that forrest most of the freeholders lands in those 3 counties; and for that purpose the earl procured several commissions from the queen to inquire of encroachments and concealments of lands. The return of the jury, in
Anglesey,
not being agreeable to the earls commissioners, they went in a rage to
Carnarvon,
forcibly entered the exchequer there, ransacked the records, and carried away what they pleased; but the earl, after making many attempts, to the great grievance of the country, was obliged to desist, being defeated in all schemes upon
Snowdon,
by the power and interest and spirit of Sir
Richd Bulkeley.
But,
manet alta mente repostum,
the earl bore a poysonous hatred to Sir
Richd ;
yet he continued still in favor with the queen and counsel, though often molested by the earl, his agents and creatures.
Sr
Richard
being one of the deputy lewtenants of
Anglesey,
(upon intelligence of the
Spanish Armadas
threatening
England
) was to cesse the country in arms; and cessing Mr.
Woods
of
Rhosmore,
he was highly offended, and thought himself too heavily loaden: therefore went up to court to the earl of
Leicester,
carrying a false tale with him, that Sir
Richard Bulkeley
(a little before the attainder and execution of
Thos Salusbury,
one of the accomplices of
Anthy Babington,
the traytor, 1585) had been in the mountains of
Snowdon
conferring with him, and that at a farm of Sir
Richards,
called
Cwmligie,
they had layne together two or 3 nights. The earl, glad of this information, presently acquaints the queen and council therewith. Sir
Richard
being called before the council, and examined, absolutely denied the whole matter. And when the earl, at yt time president of the queens counsil, did severely inforce it agt him, he told the earl to his face, "Your father, and the very same men as now informe against me, were like to undoe my father; for, upon the death of K.
Edw.
6, by letters from your father, he was commanded to proclayme Queen
Jane,
and to muster the country; which he did accordingly: and had not my mother been one of Queen
Maries
maids of honor, he had come to great trouble and danger." Hearing these words, the counsil hushed, and rose; and Sir
Richard
departed. The earl hastened to the queen, and told her the counsil had been examining Sir
Richard Bulkeley
about matters of treason; that they found him a dangerous person, and saw cause to comit him to the Tower; and that he dwellt in a suspicious corner of the world. "What! Sir
Richard Bulkeley!"
said the queen; "he never intended us any harm. We have brought him up from a boy, and have had special tryal of his fidelity: you shall not comit him." "We," said the earl, "have the care of your majestys person, see more and hear more of the man than you doe: he is of an aspiring mind, and lives in a remote place." "Before God (replyed the queen) we will be sworn upon the holy Evangelists, he never intended us any harm;" and so ran to the Bible and kissed it, saying, "You shall not comitt him: we have brought him up from a boy." Then the lords of the counsill wrote a letter to Dr
Hugh Bellot,
lord bishop of
Bangor,
to examine the truth of the accusation layd to Sir
Richards
charge: which the bishop found false and forged; and so certifyed to the counsil. Whereupon he was cleared, to the queens majestys great content, to the abundant joy of his country, and to his own great credit and reputation: and afterwards diverse of the lords of the councell wrote letters to the justices of assize of
North Wales,
to publish Sir
Richards
wrongs, and to notify to the queens subjects his clear innocence.
But that Sir
Richard
might not rest in peace, one
Green,
belonging to the earl of
Leicester,
in the name of one
Bromfeild,
a pensioner, came to him, to challenge him to meet
Bromfeild
in the feild. "Have you no other errand (quoth Sir
Richard?
)" "No," says
Green.
Then Sr
Richard
drew his dagger, and broke
Greens
pate, telling him to carry that as his answer; he scorning to meet such a knave as
Bromfeild.
This treatment of
Green
highly encreased the anger of the Earl.
Bromfeild, Green,
and others of his retayners, plotted mischief to the person of Sir
Richard;
but he stood upon his guard, keeping always 24 stout men, with swords, bucklers, and daggers, to defend him from their attempts. They hired boats and wherries upon the
Thames,
with a design to drown Sir
Richard,
as he shod go from
Westminster
to
London;
but he, being privately informed thereof, borrowed the lord mayor of
Londons
barge, furnished it with men, musquetts, billets, drums, and trumpets, and rowed along the
Thames,
shot the bridge, and went down to
Greenwich,
where the queen kept her court at that time; and at the landing place, over against the pallace, he caused his companie to discharge their musquets, to beat their drums, and sound their trumpets. The earl of
Leycester
hearing thereof, repaired to the queen, and informed her that Sir
Richard Bulkeley,
more like a rebel than a subject, had come with barges, men, musquetts, drums, and trumpets; and had shot several pieces over against her majestys palace, to the great terror of her court; a matter not be suffered. The queen sent for Sir
Richard,
and, after hearing his apology for himself, made the earl freinds with him. Within a while after, the earl sent for Sr
Richard
to his chamber; who coming thither, the earl began to expostulate with him on several wrongs and abuses he pretended to have received at his hands; and that he had lost £. 10,000 by his opposition. But the discourse ended in milder terms, and Sir
Richard
was bidden to dinner; but did eat or drink nothing, save of what he saw the earl tast, remembring Sir
Nics Throgmorton,
who was said to have received a fig at his table.
But the earl of
Lycester
dying in
Octr
1588, Sir
Richard Bulkeley,
and his country, enjoyed peace and quietness from his tyrannical oppressions, his devices and wicked practises: and Sir
Richard
survived to the 28
June
1621, when he dyed, aged 88. He had attended the coronation of ye queens
Mary
and
Elizabeth,
and of
James
the 1st. His cloak, at this last coronation, cost him £ .500.
No XI. A LETTER OF ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS, WHILE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. vol. ii. p. 295.
Right Wor.
THE concurrence of wisdom and affection, in your last action of intending the remove of your son, made me silent in perswading or disswading one way or other; though, I confess, I like better of his continuance, considering his late desire to his book, and profitable endeavours thence amounting; wch , if it were not so surely, love shou'd not so blind me, as to abuse your wor. with any the like relation. For though I confess I affect him more than I think I shall ever do kinsman after him; yet, as
Pliny
speaks of his friend,
Amo cum judicio, eo
que
magis quo magis amo.
His scholarship being gone, upon his return from
London
I was bold to put him unto fellows commons, until, either in this or some other coll. I shall enquire out some fellowship for him; of the wch preferment he shall not be capable until he be full bachelor of arts; and that will be
Easter
at soonest. This removing of him to our commons, will be some ten pounds a year more chargeable unto you; but I do hold his choice of company (wch now can be none but fellows and gentlemen) and his occasion of hearing their discourses, will, in your own judgment, countervail the charges: only this, for his entrance you are to bestow a silver piece of plate upon the college, of what price you please, above 5 marks; and to engrave your arms thereupon: and that is all the charge of admission.
He shall not want an honourable place in commencing, since you are content to undergo the charges.
I thank you, Sir, for your charges always with me. Your former so many courtesies, devoided of all requital of my side, might very well free your wor. from any future cost that way. I have indeed with my proctorship light upon a most loving and respectful lord, my lord chancellor; who hath rather an indulgent fatherly care of my estate, than a lordly respect, as I have, by many immediate favors, lately tasted.
It was likewise my good fortune, for I do not, I protest, attribute it to any merit, to give his majesty, and the prince, some extraordinary contentment at
Newmarket
upon
Tuesday
last; what time, by appointment, I preach'd before them. I had a great deal of court holy water, if I can make myself any good thereby.
I pray you, Sir, by
Lent
next, when your son is capable of a place, let there be some order taken, that the money you are willing to disburse for his place, be at
London
in some readiness for me to call for; for
magistri nostri oculatas habent manus, credunt quod vident.
I have brought to execution a bond of a 100
l.
to pay 50
l.
due to me from my coz.
Henry Williams.
For God's sake, if you can tell me of any means to catch them, or get my money, let me have your direction. It is all I have towards the loss of time, expence of money, and toiling of my body, wch I had in my good uncle's executorship. Thus ceasing to trouble you further at this time, as not knowing how long this letter may be in coming, I recommend my service to your wor. and it to God's protection. Resting ever,
Your wor. to command to the uttermost of his power, JOHN WILLIAMS.
St. John
's Coll. in
Cam.
this 22d
Nov.
1611.
No XII. THE BISHOP OF LINCOLN'S (WILLIAMS) LETTER TO SIR JOHN WYNNE OF GWIDIR, BART. AFTER HIS LORDSHIP LOST THE GREAT SEAL. vol. ii. p. 295.
SIR,
WITH the remembrance of my love and best affections unto you—Being very sensible of that great good will you have ever borne me, I thought it not unnecessarie to take this course with you, which I have done with noe one other freynd in the worlde, as to desire you to be noe more troubled with this late accident befallen unto me, than you shall understand I am myselfe. There is nothinge happened which I did not foresee, and (sithence the death of my dear maister) assuredlye expect; nor laye it in my power to prevent, otherwise than by the sacrifisinge of my poor estate, and that which I esteeme farre above the same, my reputation. I knowe you love me to well, to wishe that I shold have been lavishe of either of these, to continue longer (yeat noe longer then one man pleas'd) in this glorious miserye and splendid slaverye, wherein I have lived (if a man maye call such a toilinge a livinge) for these five years almost. By loosinge the seale, I have lost nothinge, nor my servants, by any fault of myne; there beinge nothinge either layde, or soe much as whispered to my charge. If we have not the opportunitye we hadd before to serve the kinge, we have much more conveniencye to serve God; which I doe embrace as the onelye end of Gods love and providence towards me, in this sudden alteraltion.
For your sonne
Owen Wynne
(who, togeither with my debte, is all the object of my wordlye thoughts and cares) I will performe towards him all that he can have expected from me, if I live; and if I dye, I have performed it allreadye.
You neede not feare any misse of me, beinge soe just and reserved in all your desires and requests; havinge alsoe your eldest sonne near the kinge, and of good reputation in the court, who can give you a good accompt of any thinge you shall recommend unto him.
Hopinge therefore that I shall ever hold the same place I did in your love; which was first fixed on my person, not my late place, and which I will deserve by all the freindlye and lovinge offices which shall lie in my power; I end with my prayer unto God for the continuance of your health; and doe rest your very assured loveinge freynd, and cozen,
JO. LINCOLN.
Bugdon,
1
Decr
1625.
Directed to my very much honored worthy freynd and cozen, Sir
John Wynne,
Knt and Bart .
No XIII. EXPORTS OF POTATOES FROM THE PORT OF CONWY, TO SHEW THE CULTIVATION OF THAT USEFUL ROOT IN SO SMALL A DISTRICT. vol. ii.
An account of potatoes exported and carried coastwise from the river
Conwy,
from the year 1758 to the year 1781, both years inclusive; as appears by the custom-house books of the port of
Conwy.
Year.
Bushels.
1758,
1,006.
59,
260
60,
nil.
61,
nil.
62,
180.
63,
nil.
64,
nil.
65,
nil.
66,
2,129.
67,
252.
68,
132.
69,
180.
1770,
1,141.
71,
4,358.
72,
9,685.
73,
9,334.
74,
4,992.
75,
13,653.
76,
10,460.
77,
11,356.
78,
5,928.
79,
13,318.
80,
13,200.
81,
5,140.
Total
106,704.
N. B.
Before the year 1758, all
Nant-Conwy
was obliged to import this necessary article.
No XIV. LETTER FROM EDWARD EARL OF CONWY, ABOUT UNROOFING, &c. THE CASTLE OF CONWY. vol. ii. p. 319.
Honoble friends,
I Haue had the honor to receive yor letter of the 20th
Sept.
in which you are pleas'd to enquire of me, whether my servant
Milward
doth act by my order, for the taking down of the lead, timber, and iron, of
Conway
castle: in answer to which question, I doe by this acknowledg it to be my act and deed; and that the said
Milward
is employed by me to dispose of the timber and iron, according to such directions as I gaue him; and to transporte the lead into
Ireland,
where I hope it will be more serviceable to his matie , then it was in this country. And having this opportunity of addressing myselfe to you, I humbly beseech you to take off the restraint which you haue put vpon his proceedings, and to affoord him yor favour in it; for I am already prejudiced by the losse of shipping, and an opportune season for transportation of the lead: yet I shall esteeme this as a particular obligation vpon mee, and be ready to expresse it by all the service in my power to every one of you, that you are pleased to grant this att my request; which otherwise may put me to some trouble and delay. And I doubt not of meeting occasions to testifie my being,
Honoble Sirs,
Yor affectionate and obedient servt CONWAY and KILULTA.
Ragley,
in
Warwickshire,
6th
October,
1665.
Supr scriptio. For the honoble
Thomas Bulkley,
Esq
Colonell
Wynn, Hugh Wynn,
Esq
Thomas Vaughan,
Esq
his maties Deputy Livetennants in
North Wales.
No XV. HOSPITALITY AT BODSCALLAN DURING THE TIME OF THE LATE ROBERT WYNN,
ESQ
vol. ii. p. 323.
A Bill of Fare of the Freeholders
Christmas
Dinner at
Bodscallan.
60 or 70 used to dine at the two tables.
NO other liquor but
black strap
7 years old, being 24 bushels to a hogshead, permitted to be drunk on
St. John
's day.
N. B.
also some wheat roasted and thrown into this beer, to ripen it.
2 legs of boiled mutton and dressed turneps.
A rump of boiled beef and dressed cabbage; Remd by sirloin of roast beef.
Boiled pork and potatoes.
 
Roasted turkey.
 
Fruit pudding, baked.
 
Mutton pye.
 
Goose with sweet groat pudding under it.
 
Saddle of roasted mutton.
 
Custard pudding.
 
19 minced pies.
 
Boiled suet pudding.
 
Legs of roasted pork.
 
Goose with sweet groat pudding.
 
Mutton pie.
Roasted turkey.
Fruit pudding, baked.
Hand of boiled pork and potatoes.
Rump of beef boiled; Remd by sirloin of roast beef.
2 legs of muton and dressed turneps.
SECOND TABLE.
 
Boiled beef.
 
Boiled leg of mutton.
 
Dressed roots.
 
Goose and sweet groat pudding.
 
Baked pudding.
 
Mutton pie.
 
Minced pies, a dozen.
 
Mutton pie.
 
Baked pudding.
 
Goose and sweet groat pudding.
 
Pease pudding.
 
Leg of mutton.
 
Leg of boiled pork and potatoes.
 
No XVI. ADDRESS OF THE INHABITANTS OF CAERNARVONSHIRE TO RICHARD CROMWELL. vol. ii.
The humble addresse of the justices of peace, the gentrie, ministers, and others, your highnesse dutifull and loyal subjects the inhabitants of the county of
Carnarvon.
Expresseth,
THAT the present dispensation of divine providence as to his late highnesse's death, and ordering your royall highness as successor in the government of these nations, cannot but affect us with different considerations, as well of judgement on the one, as of mercie on the other; and therefore, besides our requests to the All wise disposer of these providences, that they may have suitable improvements to his glorie, and the good of the nation, we make bold, by this our address, to expresse our acknowledgement of your highnesse in that governmt , under which, as seated in your father, of happie memorie, judgement did runne down like water, and righteousness as a mightie streame; pietie was promoted, and the ennemies of truth and peace were discountenanced; and these our nations were made the habitation of justice, and
mountain
of holiness. And seeing we find that the God of heaven (in whose hands are the hearts of princes) hath cloathed your highness with a spirit, by which he hath fitted you for the management of the weightie affairs of these nations, and the conduct of this great people, we looke upon ourselves as concerned to beg of the Lord, that he wod prosper your councels and high undertakings for the reformed religion abroad, and reformation at home. Beseeching also your highnesse, that, treading in your fathers steps, you wod goe on where he began, and answer the great expectations of the nation, in the suppression of haeresie, superstition, profanesse, and injustice, and in supporting the divine ordinances of magistracie and ministerie; in being a father to those that fear the Lord, and in making your person and government awfull in the hearts of all your people, by your appearance in the defence of those divine truths that tend to the exalting of Christ, and the quiet of these nations. And for your highness happy progress herein, you will have the prayer of
Y' highnesse most faithfull servts ,
Thomas Madryn,
John Jones,
Minister,
Ellis Rowlands,
Robt Jones,
Min• ,
David ap Robt ,
Evan Lloyd,
Gruffyth Jones,
Robt Owen,
Hugh Gwynne,
Richard Glynne,
Owen Hughes,
William Owen,
Henry Glynne,
Owen Robert,
Willm Richard,
David Evans,
Thomas Owen,
Willm Lloyd.
No XVII. CHARTER OF GWENWYNWYN TO THE MONKS OF STRATHMARCHEL. vol. ii. p. 380.
OMNIBUS sanctae matrie ecclesiae filiis tam presentibus quā futuris notum sit, quod ego
Wenynwyn
filius
Owen Kyfciliog
dedi Deo et gloriosae virgini matri et
Monachis
de
Stradmchell
pro salute animae meae in liberam et quietam et perpetuam eleemosynam omnes pasturas totius provinciae quae dicitur
Kyfciliog
infra istos terminos, scilicet
Avon Maen melyn,
us
que
ad
Llwyn y groes,
& inde in directum us
que
ad blaen nant hannā g, & inde a
nant hannang
us
que
ad ejus
Aber,
inde us
que
ad
Abernant
garth branddu, & per longitudinem ipsius rivuli usque ad suum blaen, & inde indirectū us
que
ad
Carneddwen,
& inde us
que
ad
Gobleiddie,
& a
Pen Gobleiddie blaen nant tylinge
us
que
ad suum
Aber,
& inde
Bache
us
que
ad
Aber Dyfyngwm
inde per
Dyfyngwm
usque ad ejus ortum, & inde usque ad
Relligogey
& inde usque ad
Rhydiol,
& per
Rhydiol
usque ad
gwrydkay
& inde
Rhydiol
iterum usque ad
Aber Kamddwr Kyfciliog
& ab
Aber Kamddwr Kyfciliog
usque ad ejus ortum, & inde in directum usque ad
blaen Einiawn,
& inde per
Einiawn
usque ad ejus
Aber,
& inde per
Dyfi,
usque ad
Aber Dulas,
& inde per
Dulas
usque ad ejus ortum, & inde in directum usque ad
Kefn y Bwlch,
& inde us
que
ad
blaen Llwydo,
& per
Llwydo
us
que
ad ejus
Aber,
& inde
Dyfi,
& inde usque ad
Aber Llywenith
& sic per
Llywenith
usque ad ejus ortum, & inde in directum rhyd
pebyll va super Clawedog,
& inde per
Clawedog
usque ad
Gwernach
& per
Gwernach
usque ad ejus ortum, & inde sicut ducit mons superior usque ad
Rhyd Derwen,
& sic per
Derwen
usque ad
y Vyrnwy,
& inde
Nant er cira,
usque ad
Lledwē r & Ablaen Lleddwern
in directum usque ad bôn
Maen Melyn.
Omnes itaque pasturas dedi ego praedictus
Wenynwyn
praenominatis monachis infra praefatos terminos. — Anno Dom. 1201.
LIST OF PLATES.
XII.
CRICKAETH
— to face Page 192
XIII.
Bardseye
isle, from
Capel Vair
— 199
XIV.
Tre'r Caeri,
a view and plan of — 206
XV. A view of
Clynnog,
backed by the
Eift
hills, taken from the road to
Caernarvon
— 208
XVI. A view of
Caernarvon
— 215
XVII. The Cromlechs at
Plas Newydd,
in
Anglesey
— 238
XVIII. The fine view of the
Menai,
and the shores of
Anglesey
and
Caernarvonshire
— 239
XIX. Chapel in
Beaumaris
castle — 244
XX. The PUFFIN AUK, and its bill, as in the first, second, and third year of its life — 251 The bills of the RAZOR-BILL AUK in its first and second year, as observed by the reverend Mr.
Davies
of
Beaumaris.
XXI.
Llandegai
church, with a view of
Penmaen Mawr,
and the promontory
Llandidno,
or
Orm's Head
— 294
XXII. A view of
Conwy
castle, from the road to Mr.
Holland's Arcadie
— 311
XXIII. Plan of
Conwy
castle, taken by Mr.
Calveley
— 312
XXIV. The hall in
Conwy
castle — 313
XXV. Plan of
Conwy
town, by Mr.
Calveley
— 317
XXVI. The oratory in the abbey-garden,
Shrewsbury
— 404
WOODEN PLATES.
Inscription on a Brick from
Caer Sws.
Inscription on some Marbles from
Narbonne.
LETTER these two parts, TOUR IN WALES, vol. ii.
Bind the Corrections and Additions to the
first
volume, (p. 185,
et seq.
of this volume) after p. 456 of the
first
volume; —or, should that be bound up, place them before the List of Plates in this volume, to prevent the disunion of these two Parts, occasioned by my inadvertency to that point.
ERRATA.
Page 94. — for
Vi hangel
read
Vehangel
112. —
for
to the right
read
to the left
138. — for
Rhainder
read
Rhaiader.
223. —
for
his
read
our
243. — for
Dwygyfyechau
read
Dwygyfylchau
260. — for
Edmund Bruce
read
Edward
311. 319. 321. for
Conway
read
Conwy
318. — for 1603-4 read 1643-4
323. —
after
kingdom
add
of
Ireland
341. — for
Conwwy
read
Conwy
415. —
for
king's
read
queen's
455, 456. The words
Pteropus, Siterop,
and
Yamosioes,
were scarcely legible in the MS. nor could any explanation be obtained about them: they are therefore printed as nearly as possible to the writing.
INDEX.
A.
ABER,
its fine cataract — 302
Aber-arch
— 193
Aber daron,
a sanctuary — 195
Aberfraw
— 227
Abergeleu
— 335
Aber Llienawg
— 248
Aber-menai
— 223
Abrighton
— 411
Acton Burnel
— 417
Address of the county of
Caernarvon
to
Richard Cromwel
— App. 482
Aelian,
St. his well — 337
Alberbury
castle and abbey — 287
Amianthus
— 275
Anglesey
— 223
Aran Mowddwy
and
Penllyn,
two great hills — 68
Arennig
mountains — 68
Aria Theophrasti
— 307
Arthur
's round table celebrated 203
Asaph,
St. — 17
Asbestos
— 272
Attraction of the clouds — 164
B.
BACHEGRAIG,
singular house 22
Bala,
town — 67
— lake — 69
Bala-deu-llyn
— 181
Bangor
— 280
— castle — 283
Bardsey
isle — 196
Barmouth
— 104
Baron
hill — 253
Barrow,
bishop, his epitaph — 20
Battlefield
— 411
Beavers
— 134, 299
Beaumaris
— 242
Beddau Gwyr Ardudwy
— 130
Bedd Kelert
abbey — 176
Bedd Porus
— 101
Beding field,
Sir
Francis,
an account of 391
Belesme, Robert de
— 393
Benglog,
dreadful road — 153
Berth Lwyd
— 365
Berwyn
mountain — 62
Bettws
in
Montgomeryshire
— 366
Bettws Wyrion Iddon
— 134
Beuno,
St. — 209
Blackhall
— 374
Blainy
family — 356
Bodfach
— 349
Bodfari
— 24
Bodle-withan
— 341
Bodscallan
— 323
Boduan
— 202, 207
Bodvil
family — 195
Bodychan
house and family — 379
Bostock, Bridget,
her story — 360
Braich y Ddinas
— 306
Brees, William de,
his intrigue with the wife of Prince
Llewelyn
302
Bruce, Edward,
his league with Sir
Gr. Llwyd
— 260
Bryn Gwin,
a royal
British
antiquity 230
Bulkeley,
Sir
Richard
— 167
Burgh, Hugh de
— 81
Burnel
family — 417
— Sir
Edward,
his coat of arms strangely disputed — 418
Buttington, Danes
there — 380
Bwlch Oer-ddrwys
— 85
Bwlch y Cwm Brwyneg
— 162
Bwrdd Arthur
— 254
C.
CADER Idris
— 87
Cadvan
— 227
Cadwaladr
— ib.
Caer Caradoc
— 421
Caer Gai
— 75
Caer Hên
— 322
Caernarvon
— 214
Caer Sciont,
or
Caernarvon
— ib.
Camp,
Roman
— 103, 367
— of
Owen Gwynedd
— 336
Canganum Promentorium
— 199
Cantrêr Gwaelsd
— 113
Capel Kerrig
— 150
—
Vair
— 199
Capitulation of
Denbigh
— App. 445
Caractacus,
his defeat — 421
—, verses on — 422
Carned Dafyd,
and
Llewelyn
— 298, 300
Carnedds
— 238, 260
Carn Madryn
— 194
Carn,
batte of — 363
Carreg Hova
castle — 383
Castell Corndochon
— 75
—
Dinas Cortin
— 111
—
Dolforwyn
— 356
—
Prysor
— 102
Catherine y Berain
— 26
Caunant Mawr,
a cataract — 160
Cernunnos, Gaulish
deity — 112
Cerrig Druidion
— 73
Chesnut trees, large — 51
Chirbury
— 368
Clough,
Sir
Richard,
the great merchant — 23
Clwyd
vale — 345
Clynnog
abbey — 208
Coffin, singular — 95
Condover
hall — 415
Conovium
— 322
Conway
castle — 311
— abbey — 314
Copper mine, vast, in
Anglesey
265
Cors-y-gedol
house — 109
Corwen
— 62
Coytmor
house — 300
—
Howel
— 145
Craig y Deryn
— 93
Crib Coch
— 172
Crickaeth
— 191
Cromlech,
a triple — 189
Cromlechs
— 211, 236, 263
Cwm Bychan,
wild scenery — 114
Cwm Croesor
— 129
Cwm Cwmorthin,
an exalted vale ib.
Cwm Dyli
— 172
Cwm
in
Flintshire
— 8
Cwm Idwal,
and lake — 154
Cymmer
abbey — 98
Cynfael,
falls of — 128
Cynwyd,
falls of — 63
Cytti'er Gwyddelod
— 125
D.
DAFYDD ap Jevan ap Einion,
his gallant reply — 121
Daniel,
St. bishop of
Bangor
— 280
Dee,
Dr. a
Welshman
— 108
Dee,
river, sacred — 70
Denbigh
— 32
— charter — 39
— siege — 37
— articles of capitulation App. 445
Derfel Gadarn,
St. a noted image 64
Dictum?
— 328
Diganwy
castle — ib.
Dinas Dinile
— 212
Dinas Dinorwig
— 159
Diserth
castle — 7
Dolbadern
castle — 157
Dolgelleu
— 87
Dolwydelan
castle — 135
Druidical
temples, and other remains 63, 110, 308
Druids
— 229
Drws Arduddwy,
a rude pass 212
Drws y Coed,
copper works there 181
Dyffryn Alled
— 46
Dyffryn Mymbyr
— 150
E.
EGGLWYS Rhos
— 328
Elphin,
prince,
Taliesin
's poem to — 148
Evans
the conjuror — 108
F.
FALCONRY
— 330
Falcons,
antient
Welsh
— ib.
Falls of the
Conwy
— 133
Fasting Woman, a strange relation of 195
Festineog — 128
Fish, curious in
Anglesey
— 252
— of the
Vyrnyw
and
Tanat
384
Fittes,
fine view near — 392
Forest of
Snowdon
— 166
Freiddin
hill — 385
Frier
Forest
's cruel execution — 64
Froissart,
a beautiful copy of — 327
Fwyall, Howel y,
a valiant knight 192
Fynnon Lâs
— 162, 172
G.
GAI, Arthur
's, foster father — 77
Gale,
or bog-myrtle, its uses — 146
Games, antient
Welsh
— 309
Ganor
castle — 328
Garreg,
a
Pharos
— 2
Gibson
the dwarf painter, and his wife 300
Gilesfield
— 380
Gloddaeth
— 325
Glyder Bach,
its curious columnar stones 151
—
Vawr
— 155
Glynlivon
— 213
Gogarth
— 330
Gorphwysfa
— 171
Grasses,
Welsh
— 160
Grey, Reginald de
— 53
Gronant
— 4
Gryffydd ap Cynan
— 234, 363
—,
Piers,
a brave sea captain 285
Gwalchmai,
a fine fragment of his poetry — 386
Gwdw Glâs
— 308
Gwedir
house — 139
Gweli,
what — 324
Gwyddno Goronhir,
a
Welsh
prince 113
Gwynedd
's,
Owen,
tomb — 281
Gwyniaid
— 70
Gwytherin
— 46
H.
HAFFREN,
see
Severn. Harlech
castle — 120
Haved Lwyvog
— 174
Havodtys,
summer dairy-houses 161
Hedd Molwynog,
one of the xv tribes 48
Helen, Pen Caer
— 322
—
Fordd
— 101
Henllan
— 45
Herbert,
Lady
Mary,
her romantic ambition — 376
Hirlas Owain,
a poem on — 288
Holland
family — 340
Holyhead
— 275
—
Phares
— 278
—,
Roman
sort there — 277
Horns, drinking, account of — 286
Hospitality, antient
Welsh
91, and App. 479
Hunting, antient — 117
I.
JESTYN,
St. — 255
Joan,
princess, her coffin — 248
Jones, Inigo
— 141
— hated by
Ben Jonson
— 143
Jones
the regicide, where born 113
Jorwerth Drwyndwn,
his tomb 348
Irish,
barbarity to in the civil wars 319
Isle,
the, near
Shrewsbury
— 191
K.
KARRIG Druidion
— 73
Kinmael
house — 340
Klogwyn Du
— 155
Kymryd,
battle of — 321
L.
LAKES, high, in
Snowdon
— 162
Lead ore, singular clayey species 271
Leicester,
earl of, his insolent letter 42
Llanasa
— 4
Llan Beblie
— 219
Llan Bedrog
— 196
Llan-beris
— 156
Llan Cadwaladr
— 227
Llanddinam
— 364
Llanddwyn
— 226
Llandegai
Archbishop
Williams'
monument there — 294
Llandeniolen
— 159
Llandreinio
bridge — 385
Llandrillo
— 64
Llandudno
promontory — 330
Llan-Elian,
in
Anglesey
— 264
Llan Elltid
— 98
Llanfyllin
— 351
Llangynnog,
rich lead mine there — 346
Llanidan,
druidical antiquities there 229
Llanidlos
— 365
Llanrhaiadr yn Mochnant
— 349
Llanrwst,
its fine bridge — 141
— church, and tombs — 143
Llanvaes
friery — 247
Llan y Lladron
— 96
Llanymynach
fosses, and
Roman
lead works 381
— great lime works — 382
Lleder
river — 135
Llewelyn
the great, his coffin — 145
Lleweni
hall — 25
Llider
mountains — 137
Llwyd, Humphrey,
celebrated antiquary 30
— Sir
Gryffydd
— 260
Llwydiarth
— 349
Elygwy, Glyn
— 150
— river — 135
Llyn,
a hundred, in
Caernarvonshire
200
Llyn Beris
— 158
Llyn Cader
— 179
Llyn Conwy
— 131
Llyn Cwellyn
— 179, 222
Llyn Geirionedd
— 147
Llyn Llidaw
— 172
Llyn Llyphaint
— 299
Llyn Nanlle
— 181
Llyn-tegid
— 69
Llyn-tegwin
— 126
Llyn y Cwm
— 156
Llyn y Dywarchen,
its floating islands 180
Llyn y Myngil,
a pretty lake — 94
Llyn y tri Graienyn,
its story — 96
Llys Bradwin
— 89
Locusts, a great fall of — 191
— drowned in the sea — ib.
Longnor
hall, pictures there — 416
Loton
hall — 387
Lupus, Hugh,
invades
Anglesey
248
M.
MADOC,
his insurrection — 374
Madoc Gloddaeth
— 327
Madryn, Carn
— 194
— house — 195
Maelgwyn Gwynedd,
his death — 328
Maen y Campiau
— 308
Maes Mynnan
— 24
Magnus,
king of
Norway,
kills
Hugh
earl of
Shrewsbury
— 247
Mallwyd
— 82
Maltraeth
— 227
Marble with
asbestos
in it — 272
Marchers, lords, account of App. 429
Margaret
of
Penllyn,
the mighty huntress 158
— of
Anjou
retires to
Harlech
122
Marle
house — 323
Mathraval,
seat of the princes of
Powis
352
Maynan
abbey — 145
Mediolunum Ordovicum
— 353
Meivod
— 352
Menai
streight — 223
— its length — 240
Mephitic vapour — 190
Mereddyd ap Jevan
reforms
Wales
137
— his reason for quitting his natal place — 188
Merlin Ambrosius
— 175
Middleton,
Sir
Hugh
— 29
—, his letter to Sir
John Wynne
186
Minstrelsie, antient
Welsh
— 91
Moel Elian
— 222
—
y Don, English
defeated at — 234
Monacella,
St. her legend — 347
Montford
bridge — 390
Montgomery
town and castle — 369
— battle near — 371
—,
Roger de
— 370, 393
Morley, Robert de,
his dispute about a coat of arms 418
Mouddwye Llan
— 79
—
Dinas
— 81
Murders, cruel — 81, 453
Mynydd Digol
— 374
Mytton,
General, his great successes 12, 38, 54, 122, 217, 245, 319, 414
—, Sir
Peter
— 45
—, Mr,
Wm.
account of — 390
N.
NANNEY,
house and park — 97
Nant Beris
— 156
Nant Colwyn
— 177
Nant Frankon
— 153, 299
Nant Gwynan
— 173
Nant y Gwrtheyrn
— 204
Nefyn
— 202
—, tournaments there — 203
Newborough,
once the residence of our
Welsh
princes — 224
Newmarket
— 2
Newtown
— 359
O.
OFFA
's dike — 368, 382
Ogwen
lake — 153
— river — 299
Onslow
family, from whence — 390
Orm's Head
— 330
Ostorius
conquers
Caractacus
— 421
P.
PARYS mountain,
its rich mines 265
—,
Robert
— ib.
Patriarch of
Tregaian
— 262
Pedigree, specimens of
Welsh
50, 104
Penmaen Mawr
— 304
—, accidents on — 305
Penmaen Rhos
— 334
Penmon
priory — 249
Penmynnyd,
seat of the
Tudors
— 256
Pezzant Melangell
— 348
—,
Llan-vehangel y
— 94
Penrhyn
house — 284
Pen y Caer Helen
— 322
Perch, crooked — 102
Pimble Mers
— 69
Pitchford
hall, bituminous spring near it — 415
Plants at
Gloddaeth
— 326
— of
Snowdon
— 147, 155, 160
Plas Newydd, Anglesey,
antiquities there 236
PLATES, second list of — 486
Plygan,
the ushering in of
Christmas
339
Plynlimmon
— 366
Pont Aberglas Llyn
— 181
Pont y Pair
— 135
Porth Aithwy
— 240
Porthamel
— 231
Porth yn Llyn
— 202
Posts,
British
24, 58, 159, 249, 335
Pounderling,
Sir Robert — 7, 22
Powis
castle — 375
Powys-land,
succession of — 378
Prestatyn
— 5
Priestholm
island — 250
Pryse, Ellis,
a creature of the earl of
Leicester
— 324
Puffins, history of — 250
Pulesdon, Roger de,
his sad fate — 218
Pwllheli
— 193
Q.
QUEEN's gate at
Caernarvon
— 216
R.
RAZOR-bill bird — 252
Red Castle,
see
Powys Rhewlas
— 67
Rhiwaedog,
battle there — 66
Rhiw Goch
— 102
Rhos Ddiarbed
— 363
Rhos Vynach
— 334
Rhyd yr Halen
— 130
Rhys Goch O'ryri,
a noted Bard — 181
Richard
II. where betrayed — 334
Robert
of
Rudlan
— 10
— slain at
Diganwy
— 329
Rocking stone — 332
Roman
roads — 101, 103
— camp — 103, 367
Routon,
the old
Rutunium
— 388
Rowland,
Reverend
Henry,
account of 233
Ruddlan
— 9
Rûug, Gryffydd ap Cynan,
betrayed there 59
Ruthin
— 52
S.
SABRINA,
her story — 357
Saith Marchog
— 58
Salisbury
family — 25
Salmon, how far they ascend rivers 365
Sarn Badrig
— 113
—
Helen
— 101, 130
Sea-fowl, vast wreck of — 191
Segontium
— 214, 221
Sepulchre, antient
— 262
Severn
river — 357
Shell sand, a rich manure — 254
Sheriff's men in
North Wales,
origin of App. 452
Shingles — 364
Shrawardine,
great and little — 388
Shrewsbury
— 392 to 402
— battle of — 407
Sherries
island — 273
Slate quarries — 365
Snowdon
— 147
— its highest top — 162
— forest — 166
Snowdon
plants — 147, 155, 160
Sorbus Ancuparia,
quicken-tree, its uses 147
South,
Dr. — 350
Stag, warrant for one from
Snowdon.
App. 465
Strathmarchel,
its charter App. 484
mdash; abbey — 380
Suetonius,
his invasion of
Anglesey
231
Superstitions, antient
Welsh
— 336
Sweating sickness in
Shrewsbury
— 412
Swelly,
dangerous pass in the
Menai
239
T.
TALIESIN,
his history, and poem to
Elphin
— 147, 148
Tal y Llyn
— 94
Tan y Bwlch,
its beauty — 127,128
Teberri
castle — 93
Thelwal
family — 56
Tommin y Bala
— 67
Torques,
a golden — 123
Towyn,
inscriptions there — 93
Traeth Mawr
— 184
Traws Vynnydd
— 101
Trefriw
— 146
Tre-garnedd
— 260
Tremerchion
— 22
Tre'r Caeri,
a great
British
post 206
Tre'r Dryw
— 230
Trevaen,
singular hill — 152
Tre Valdwyn
— 369
Tribes, xv, of
North Wales
— 344
Tudor, Owen,
his history — 256
Tudwal
isles — 196
Twll Du,
a strange chasm — 154
Twr Bronw
n,
or
Harlech
— 120
Tydecho,
St. of
Mouddwie
— 79
V.
VAD FELIN,
the yellow pestilence 328
Varnel,
in
Caernarvonshire.
— 238
—, in
Flintshire
— 341
Vale of
Clwyd
— 21, 345
Varis
— 25
Vassalage, barbarous — 241
Vaughan,
engraver, a fine work of his in
Llanrwst
church — 144
Vaynor
— 367
Velyn Rhyd
— 127
Vo
las
— 132
Vertigern
builds
Dinas Emris
— 175
—, his grave — 204
Vyrnyw
river — 352, 383
W.
WATER-FALLS, the most curious 63 99, 100, 128, 133, 160, 302, 350
Wattlesbury
castle — 386
Weapons of the ancient
Welsh
— 235
Weather about
Snowdon
— 170
Welsh,
antient customs — 336
—, not all drunkards — 97
— mountaneers, their way of life 161
—
Pool
— 379
— golden chalice, account of ib.
Wells, St.
Aelian
's, superstitions at 337
— St.
George
's, the same — 336
—
Nant Beris,
the same — 158
Williams,
Archbishop, some account of 294, 319
— Letter of his when a tutor at
Cambridge
App. 472
— Another on his resignation of the seals App. 475
— Sir
Wm.
leaves his estate to King
William
— 239
Winefrede,
St. where buried — 46
—, her bones removed to
Shrewsbury
— 47
Woollen manufacture in
Wales
151, 365, 397
Wreck of birds — 191
Wyddfa,
the highest hill in
Snowdonia
162
Wynn,
Sir
John,
the father — 140
— instructions to his chaplain, App. 453
— inventory of his wardrobe, App. 455
Sir
John,
the son — 145
— his letters from
France
App. 458
Wynn,
Sir
Richard
— 144
Y.
YNYS Dywyll,
the antient name of
Anglesey
— 236
Yschithroc, Brochmail,
— 395
Yspytty
— 131
Z.
ZIMENT
copper — 270
FINIS.
CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS TO THE FIRST VOLUME OF THE WELSH TOUR.
PAGE 6. Half a league—read—half a mile; for that is the sense of
Leuca
in the Doomsday Book. See
Dugdale's Warwickshire,
i. 46.
Page 8. I find that coals were discovered in the township of
Mostyn,
as early as the time of
Edward
I. as appears by an extent of that place, in the twenty-third year of that reign
Sebright
MSS.
.
Page 9.
Shunamitish
Widow—read—Woman.
Page 26. In the grant to the abby of
Basingwork,
of the lands in the peak of
Derbyshire,
there is a clause, reserving the venison to the king, with the consent of the abbot and convent; for the preservation of which, two foresters were appointed by the king; but the grantees were allowed to kill hares, foxes, and wolves
Ibid.
.
Page 28. TUDOR ALED, a bard cotemporary with the abbot
Thomas Pennant,
celebrates in a poem not only his hospitality,
but his prowess in battle; and compliments him on having beautified and enlarged the abby. Among other luxuries, I think he enumerates sugar; which might well be, for sugar was a great article of commerce in
Sicily,
as early as the year 1148; so a rich abbot might easily indulge himself in it in the fifteenth century
Sebright
MSS.
.
Page 36.
James
II. in his progress to
Holywell,
gave, as marks of his favor, golden rings, with his hair plaited beneath a crystal. One is still preserved in a neighboring family, which he had bestowed on the Roman Catholic Minister of
Holywell.
Page 82. That the
British
commanders used to stand on a turfy mount, or tribunal, to harangue their soldiers, is evident from the authority of
Dio Cassius,
lib. lxii. who informs us, that
Boadicea
delivered her animating speech from an eminence of this kind.
Page the same.
William Parry,
LL.D. and member for
Queensborough,
was born at
Northop.
He was executed before the door of the parlament-house, in 1584, for designing the death of Queen
Elizabeth.
He had before rendered himself obnoxious, for having had the courage to speak against the bill for the expulsion of popish priests, &c. was committed to prison for his freedom, but restored on making submission. He asserted, that his mother was a
Conway,
of
Boddrudan;
that his father had thirty children by two wives, and died aged 108. His enemies, on the contrary, say he was of mean parents: but be that as it was, his abilities were considerable; but his duplicity brought him to his fatal end. He went a voluntary spy to foreign parts, was gained over by the
Romish
party, probably meant to deceive both sides; so fell a just victim to his artifices. See
Stripe's Annals.
Page 97.
Hawarden
castle was then garrisoned for the parlament, by a hundred and fifty men of Sir
Thomas Middleton
's regiment.
Page 101. Chief Justice
Glynne,
in 1655, established the first precedent reported in the books for granting a new trial, on account of
excessive damages
given by the jury.—
Black. Com.
iii. 388.
Page 105. Lord Chancellor
Egerton
was buried at
Doddleston,
out of affection to his wife
Elizabeth,
daughter of
Thomas Ravenscrost,
esq
of
Breton.
His mother had been a servant maid in the parish; but was the daughter of one
Sparks,
of
Bickerton.
I have heard this remarkable anecdote of her, and the fortunate child: The mother had been so much neglected by Sir
Richard Egerton,
of
Ridley,
the father of the boy, that she was reduced to beg for support. A neighboring gentleman, a friend of Sir
Richard,
saw her asking alms, followed by her child. He admired its beauty, and saw in it the evident features of the knight. He immediately went to Sir
Richard,
and layed before him the disgrace of suffering his own offspring, illegitimate as it was, to wander from door to door. He was affected with the reproof, adopted the child, and by a proper education, layed the foundation of its future fortune.
Page 107.
Septimus
—read—
Septimius.
Page 183. On the first church—read—on the site of, &c.
Page 185. One lance—a mis-translation—read—one great dish, or charger.
Lancem,
from
Lanx.
Page 190. Doctor
Haggarth
—read—
Haygarth.
Page 213.
Holt Castle
was surrendered to colonel
Pope,
by agreement with general
Mytton,
who had left the place before possession was taken of it.
Page 214.
Elizabeth,
ever attentive to her
prerogatives,
clamed the
mise
on her accession, in
November
1558. She appointed a commission for the receit; but met with opposition in the town of
Caermarthen,
by the inhabitants, who alleged, that greater sums had been raised in their county, in the reigns of
Henry
VIII. and
Edward
VI. than was answered to the prince. Several were imprisoned for their resistance, but afterwards released; and on their petition a compromise was made, that whenever a subsidy was granted to the prince, no mise should be given; and the reverse when a mise was received
Stripe's Annals,
i. Introduction, p. 14. who adds, that originally corn and wine was given at the accession, to support the prince's houshold.
.
Page 218. The mistake about the Sir
Thomas Hanmer,
speaker of the house of commons, is rectified by a leaf at the close of this, with which the possessor of the
Welsh Tour
is desired to replace pp. 217. 218. of the first volume.
Page 225. An extent was made in the twenty-eighth of
Edward
I. at
Overton,
before
Richard de Mascy,
justice of
Chester,
by which it appears, that the king had a mill there worth twelve, pounds a year, and a fishery worth twenty; which shews the greatness of the value of the latter in those days. The only fish worth attending to, must have been salmon. It was an important article, not only in private families, but, in those days, for the support of armies. In
Rymer
iii. 95.
is an order for three thousand dried salmon, issued by
Edward
II. in 1308, in order to enable him to set his troops in motion, to wage war against
Scotland.
Page the same. A certain spot hear
Soddylt,
near this village, divides
England
and
Wales
—the provinces of
Canterbury
and
York
—the dioceses of
Litchfield and Coventry, Chester,
and
St. Asaph
—the counties of
Salop, Flint,
and
Denbigh
—the hundreds of
Oswestry, Maytor,
and
Bromfield
—the parishes of
Ellesmere, Overton,
and
Erbistock
—the townships of
Duddleston, Knolton,
and
Erbistock.
Page 240. JOHN, second son—read—
John Lackland.
Page 242. Sixth line of the verses, from this—read—from whom.
Page 250. Whose house—read—the use of which.
Page 255.
Richard
II. with the committee of parlement, in this town determined that the great dispute between the duke of
Hereford
and
Mowbray
duke of
Norfolk,
should be decided by single combat at
Coventry;
both dukes having appeared before the king at
Oswestry,
after the dissolution of the parlement held at
Shrewsbury.
—
Drake,
i. 519.
Page 260.
Cae Dwn,
or rather
Cae Twn.
The last, according to doctor
Davies,
signifies
fractura,
than which nothing can be more expressive of the ending of this famous work, which, as I have not long since observed, terminates in a flat cultivated country, on the farm of
Cae Twn,
near
Tryddyn
chapel, in the parish of
Mold.
The termination is remote from any hill, or place of strength: it is therefore reasonable to imagine, that this mighty attempt was here suddenly interrupted by some cause, of which we must ever remain ignorant.
Page 263. Sir
John Owen
was of this house, but not of the family, of
Owen Brogyntyn.
He was descended from
Hwfa ap Cynddelw,
one of the fifteen tribes of
North Wales.
Before Sir
John Owen
's family enjoyed the place, it had been long possessed by the
Lacons.
It passed from them to Sir
William Morris,
of
Clenenny,
in
Caernarvonshire,
by virtue of his marriage with the daughter of
William Wynne Lacon,
Esq
and was conveyed into the family of the present owner by the marriage of the granddaughter of that match with
John,
fourth son of
Robert Owen,
of
Bôdsilin,
in
Anglesea.
This gentleman (who was father of Sir
John
) had been secretary to the great
Walsingham,
and made a fortune of ten thousand pounds; a sum perhaps despised by modern secretaries, but a vast one in those days. His master did not take such good care of himself, for he did not leave sufficient to defray his funeral expences.
Page 279. LLANGOLLEN. In the old church was formerly a recumbent figure, in alabaster, of a churchman, supposed to have been
St. Collen.
Page 294.
Elihu Yale
had been governor of
Madras,
and probably a very despotic one. He hanged his groom for riding out with his horse to take the air for two or three days, without his leave, for which
Yale
was called to severe account in
England.
—
Harris's Coll. Voy.
i. 917.
Page the same. The fine brazen eagle, which serves as a reading-desk in
Wrexham
church, was the gift of
John ap Gryffydd ap David,
of
Plâs Ystivan,
in that neighborhood, in the year 1254. Its price was six pounds. —
Halston
MSS.
Page 295. The steeple at
Wrexham
must have been built several years after the church, if an account I received lately from a friend is well founded, that the church was built a little before the year 1472, and in that year it was glazed with glass from
Normandy.
Page 296. Chancellor
Jeffries
has by him the purse, the badge of his office, and is dressed in his baron's robes.
Page 297. His brother, Sir
Thomas,
was knight of
Alcantara;
and for the honor of the descendants of
Tudor Trevor,
from whom the
Jeffries
are sprung, the proofs of his descent were were admired even by the proud
Spaniards,
among whom he resided long as consul at
Alicant
and
Madrid.
He had rendered himself so acceptable to the
Spanish
ministry, as to be recommended to our court to succeed lord
Landsdown
as
British
envoy; but the revolution put a stop to the promotion.
Page 300. In the neighborhood of
Gresford
stood the
Lower Gwersilt,
a house burnt down
April
the 20th, 1738, by which the country lost the worthy and respectable family of the
Shakerlies,
who settled there soon after the restoration. They were originally of
Cheshire,
but removed to this place almost immediately on the return of the royal family. Colonel (afterwards Sir
Jeffry
)
Shakerly
was a distinguished loyalist, and had the command of a regiment of horse under
Charles
I. During his service, he contracted a great frindship with colone
Robinson,
owner of the
Upper Gwersilt;
which induced him, soon after the year 1660, to purchase this estate from captain
Sutton,
an old cavalier, descended from
Tudor Trevor,
and ruined in the royal cause. This the colonel did, not only to re-place a considerable estate he had been obliged to sell in
Kent,
in support of the cause, but to be near his friend and fellow-soldier. No mention is made of him in any of the histories of our civil commotions, notwithstanding he was engagd in most of the actions of any note. The following account of what preceded the battle of
Rowton-Heath,
near
Chester,
is extremely curious, and merits preservation; which I deliver in the manner I received it, by the favor of his grand-son,
Peter Shakerley,
Esq
"THE heath upon which Sir
Marmaduke Langdale
was drawn up, carries the name of
Rowton Heath;
a mile beyond which, in the
London
road from
Chester,
is another heath, called
Hatton Heath.
The order which Sir
Marmaduke
had received from the king, was only to beat
Poyntz
back. Sir
Marmaduke
performed, the same effectually; for having marched his men over
Holt Bridge
undiscovered by the enemy, who had taken the out-works and suburbs of the city on the east-side thereof, and
Poyntz
coming in a marching posture along the narrow lane between
Hatton Heath
and
Rowton Heath,
Sir
Marmaduke
having lined the hedges, fell upon him, and killed a great many of his men; and having so done, ordered colonel
Shakerley,
who was best acquainted with that country, to get the next way he could to the king (who lodged then at Sir
Francis Gamull
's house, in
Chester
) and acquaint him, that he had obeyed his orders in beating
Poyntz
back, and to know, his majesty's further pleasure. The colonel executed his orders with better speed than could have been expected; for he gallopped directly to the river
Dee,
under
Huntingdon House,
got a wooden tub (used for slaughtering of swine) and a batting-staff (used for batting of coarse linen) for an oar, put a servant into the tub with him, and in this desperate manner swam over the river, his horse swimming by him (for the banks were there very steep, and the river very deep) ordered his servant to stay there with the tub for his return, and was with the king in little more than a quarter of an hour after he had left Sir
Marmaduke,
and acquainted the king, that if his Majesty pleased to command further orders to Sir
Marmaduke,
he would engage to deliver them in a quarter of an hour; and told the king of the expeditious method he had taken, which saved him the going nine or ten miles about, by
Holt Bridge
(for the boats at
Eaton
were then made useless); but such delays were used by some about the king, that no orders were sent, nor any sally made out of the city by the king's party, till past three o'clock afternoon, which was full six hours after
Poyniz
had been beaten back; and so
Poyntz
having all that time for his men to recover the fright they had been put into in the morning,
Poyntz
rallied his forces, and with the help of the parlement forces who came out of the suburbs of the city to his assistance (upon whom the king's party in the city might then successfully have fallen) put all those of the king's to the rout, which was the loss of the king's horse, and of his design to join
Montross
in
Scotland,
who was then understood to be in a good condition.
"THIS is what my father, the said colonel
Shakerley
(afterwards Sir
Geffrey Shakerley
) hath often declared in my hearing; and since no mention is made of him in all this history (though he faithfully, served the king in all the wars, was personally engaged in almost all the field battles for the king, sold part of his estate to support that service, and was for many years sequestered of all the rest) I thought it my duty, as his eldest son and heir, to do that justice to his memory, to insert this here, under my hand, that it may be remembered to posterity.
"PETER SHAKERLEY."
Page 321. An antient chronicle speaks of the phoenomenon of the comet in these terms:
And in the iiii yere of Kyng
Henrie
's reigne, ther was a sterre seyn in the firmament yt shewed him self thurgh all the world for di'use tokenynges yt shuld befall sone after: the which sterre was named and called by
Clargie, Stella Comata.
—
Caxton's Croniclis,
printed at
St. Alban's.
Page 369. The valley in which the abby of
Valle Crucis
stands, was called, prior to the foundation of that religious house,
Pant y Groes,
or
The Bottom of the Cross,
I suppose from that erected in memory of
Eliseg. Madoc
's charter was addressed to the monks of four different monasteries, who, I imagine, were to have charge of the building, which took many years to finish. —
Sebright MSS.
THE bard
Guttun Owain
composed two
Owdls
in praise of
Davydd ap Jevan ap Jerwerth,
and of
Sîon,
both abbots of this house. He highly commends their hospitality; speaks of their having four courses of meat, bright silver dishes, claret, &c.
Guttun
does not forget the piety of the house, and is particularly happy in being blessed by abbot
John
with his three fingers covered with rings.
IN another place is mentioned
Sîon ap William ap Sîon,
as the person who adjudged the prize at the last
Eisteddfod at Caerwys,
in 1568. —
The same MSS.
THE freemen of
Llangollen
made a grant, in part of the river near their town, of a fishery to the monks of
Valle Crucis.
For want of a seal of their own, they affixed to their grant that of
Madoc,
the founder of the abby. The monks erected new works on the river, for the purpose of taking the fish: this caused a dispute between them and the freemen. The last referred it to the abbot and five monks of their own choice, who were to adjust the matter on oath.
Madoc
and his secretary,
John Parvus,
appointed a day for the purpose. The assembly was held; the oath solemnly administered; and the abbot and monks made the decision in their own favor. They alleged, that they had bought the right of erecting what works they pleased, and of repairing of them, from the heirs of
Llangollen.
The prince confirmed the decree, and the donation of the fishery, by an instrument, dated in 1234.
THIS house was demolished in 1235, and is said to have been the first of the
Welsh
that underwent that fate.
Page 400.
Reinault
received his pardon from
Thomas
lord
Stanley,
lord of the council for
Wales;
and it was afterwards confirmed by
Edward
IV. under the great seal. —
Tower MSS.
Page 406. The first charter given to
Hope,
was by
Edward
the black prince, dated from
Chester,
in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of his father, or 1351. He orders that the constable of the castle for the time being should be the mayor, who was, after taking the sacrament, to swear on the holy evangelists, that he would preserve the priveleges of the burgesses, granted in the said charter; and that he should chuse out of them annually, on
Michaelmas
-day, two bailiffs. He adds also most of the other advantages granted in the charters of those times: all which were afterwards confirmed by
Richard
II. —
Sebright MSS.
Page 414.
Nannerch
church. In the chancel window,
Orate p. bono statu Howell ap John ap Dda ap Ithel.
He is thought to have been the founder.
Page 433.
Caerwys.
An
Eisteddfod
held there in the fifteenth of
Henry
VIII.
July
the 2d, in which the old laws are confirmed respecting bards, in the manner I recite.
Richard ap Howel ap Jevan Vychan,
of
Mostyn,
and Sir
William Gryffydd,
and Sir
Roger Salusbury,
presided, assisted by
Gryffydd ap Evan ap Llewelyn Vychan,
and
Tyder Aled,
a famous bard.
A
Pencerdd
might challenge any other to rehearse or sing for the prize, after giving a year and a day's notice. If he succeeded, he carried it off; if not, he lost his degree; and the victor kept the prize for life, but was obliged to produce it annually on the
Eisteddfod.
FINIS.