TAC1 • J. NM£X ■Hk^! 1' 5 062 If 886 ► < A 3 7 7 8 4 6 UC SOUTHERN REGIOfv AL LIBRARY FACILITY < 1 u ^8 hH (* o < < o 03 o -t-i c/i i— i >— 1 Q CU H c/5 CD J £ s u W W _ W £ PP w (fj ■ E Q H CO CU CU H— W CO HH ^3 CO '-H> 'H PP cu A G « C G o c £ O *S fS P - Cm O . o.l CO O e u °£ O c co biD to (73 CO *3 03 CU ° & & u B *> p p X — -t-> . £h PQ Hi H cu >- J5 - a. c c CO Qh cu CU "a3 "^ T3 co cu ^C O cu to £ 2 cu u to C3 s CO • - 3 PP c as cu P. o Hi , Pt w W) i HAY. 93 abound here, and this is an imposing-looking edifice, adorned with turrets, towers, and terraces, surrounded by ornamental grounds, and so placed as to form a chief object in the landscape for several miles. The town of Hay is pleasantly situated on the rising bank of the Wye, and, from the vestiges of a Roman camp near the church, appears to have been of ancient origin. The manor of Hay was given by Bernard Newmarch to Sir Philip Walwyn, who probably built the castle, of which little remains but a gateway, a dwelling-house having been erected out of the ruin's materials. CHAPTER VI. CLIFFORD CASTLE WYE SCENERY TO HEREFORD HERE- FORD CATHEDRAL, ETC. ACONBURY HILL. O what a goodly scene ! — here the bleak mount, The bare bleak mountain speckled thin with sheep ; — Grey clouds, that shadowing spot the sunny fields ; And river, now with bushy rocks o'er-browed, Now winding bright and full, with nake"d banks ; And seats, and lawns, the abbey and the wood, And cots, and hamlets, and faint city-spire ; . God methought Had built him here a temple ! No wish profaned my overwhelmed heart. Blest hour ! It was a luxury — to be ! — Coleridge. The little town of Hay is written down in the Norman records as Le Hay, and is now almost uni- formly called The Hay. Its early history is involved in some obscurity ; but Leland says, that " Roman coignes have bene ofte founde theare, wherby it is likelye to have bene somwhat of price in the dayes of the auncient Brytons." Its castle was destroyed by Henry EL, with many others, during the time of the rebellion raised by his undutiful children, to chastise, as old Lambarde writes, " the insolencie of his sone, and such as egged him forwarde, bycause he founde that the opinion reposed on the strengthe of theise HAY CASTLE FAIR ROSAMOND. 95 castles had incouraged their maisters." It was after- wards restored, and came into the possession of Humphrey Bohun, earl of Hereford, and on several occasions changed masters, till it was finally destroyed by Owen Glyndwr. The celebrated Fair Rosamond, daughter of Walter de Clifford, a baron of Herefordshire, was born in this castle. Her story is well known. Hollinshead, speak- ing of Henry 117 s incontinence, says, " But most of all he delited in the companie of a pleasant damosell whom he 'cleped the rose of the world ; the common people named her Rosamond, for her passing beautie, propernesse of person, and pleasant wit, with other amyable qualities, being verily a rare and peerlesse peece in those days. He made for her an house at Woodstock, in Oxfordshire, like to a laberinth, that is to mean, wrought like a knot in a garden, called a maze, with such turnings and windings in and out, that no creature might find her, nor come to her, save he were instructed of the king, or such as were secret with him in that matter. But the common report of the people is, that the queene finally found hir out by a silke thread, which the king had drawne foorth of hir chamber with his foote, and dealte with hir in such sharpe and cruelle wise, that she lyved not long after. She was buried in the Nunrie of Godstow, beside Oxford, Avith these verses upon hir tumbe : — " ' Hie jacet in tumba Rosa mundi, non Rosa munda, Non redolet sed olet, quae redolere solet.' "* * Queen Eleanor might have been a little more compassionate to this frail " rose of the world," seeing that her own character was not imma- 96 CLIFFORD CASTLE. The renowned George Clifford, third earl of Cum- berland, and a great favourite with Queen Elizabeth, appears to have been one of the most " illustrious " members of the Clifford family. An anecdote related of his daughter, the Lady Anne, who was successively married to Richard earl of Dorset, and to Philip earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, deserves mention here. The countess seems to have bated nothing of the family spirit on the score of feminine gentleness. Sir Joseph Williamson, when secretary of state to Charles II., wrote to the countess, Avishing to name a candidate to her for the borough of Appleby : he received the fol- lowing reply : — " I have been bullied by an usurper — I have been neglected by a court — but I will not be dictated to by a subject. — Your man shan't stand. "Anne Dorset, Pembroke and Montgomery." Of this pithy and laconic letter-writer Dr. Donne re- marked, that " in her younger years she knew well how to discourse of all things, from predestination to slea- silk ;" and if the decision and terseness of her conver- sation equalled that of her writing, I, for one, could wish "Anne Dorset" alive again, that I might hear her talk — for a brief space. Clifford Castle, from our description of which we have been beguiled by the thoughts of ladies fair, is seated on a high knoll, overlooking the Wye, and culate ; at least if we may believe her confession in the old ballad, beginning with — "Queen Elianor was a sicke woman, And afraid that she should dye ; Then she sente for two fryars of France, To speke with her speedilye." WYE SCENERY TO HEREFORD. 97 appears to have held a good and commanding position in times of danger. The ruins are draped with ivy, and surrounded by graceful trees ; the neighbouring country is also richly wooded. I have advanced so gradually from the sterner fea- tures of the Wye banks amid rocks and cloud-capped mountains, that the change of character in the scenery, though impressed on my own mind, has not, perhaps, been made sufficiently evident to the kind listeners of my home travels ; they must bear in mind, if they please, that our queenly river has three distinct phases, if I may use the term. In her outset, sportive and frolicsome, gay as a maiden 'mid her native hills, she comes dancing and singing along, leaping merrily over the rocks that interrupt her course, and even when older grown, not forgetting her wild youthful antics. From Plinlimmon to Aberedw the scenery through which we follow her course is wild, rocky, picturesque, and sublime : — below Aberedw, the Wye grows somewhat more staid in her demeanour; and the surrounding scenes become more rich and luxuriant than startling or grand — they are more English. She goes on in a calm, maidenly mood, " girt with beauty ;" and, until we pass Ross, no material change appears in the cul- tivated, rich, happy-looking valleys, whose bright fields laugh in the summer sunshine, nor fear its drought, while their noble river rolls her full tide along. Her third character commences at Goodrich, and from thence to her union with the Severn all is richly, har- moniously grand — one series of glorious pictures out- spread on either side the majestic stream. At Rhydspence, about a mile from Clifford, the Wye H 08 MOCCAS COURT. quits the borders of Radnorshire, and turning eastward, enriches the county of Hereford, one of the garden- plots of our dear England. Small lovely villages are scattered along at intervals, with fine old gabled houses, wreathed with vines and roses from porch to roof-tree, mingled with jasmine clinging round " The massive mullioned windows, and the stacks Of quaint, fantastic chimneys, that o'ertop The pointed roof with ever-varying store Of twisted, carved, and lozenge-shaped device." Hollyhocks, those high and graceful flowers, adorn the box-edged borders of the little crammed parterre before the windows, and, leaning over the crazy moss-grown palings in front, look abroad with a generous, frank, good-humoured glance for the passer-by, and a smile of kindly recognition to wonted guests. Such gables and gardens the wanderer by the Wye- side from Hay to Hereford, will ofttimes pass, in his progress through Witney, Winforton, Willersley, Let- ton, Bradwardine, &c, interspersed with meadow scenes. Between Letton and Staunton-on- "Wye is Brobury Scar, a cliff rising from the river's northern bank, and agree- ably breaking the even, rich luxuriance of the scenery around. Moccas Court,* with its fair grounds and park-lands, lies on the southern bank ; it was anciently called Moches, and was a part of the possessions of St. Guthlach, the holy father, we opine, the inventor of * Moccas Park contains some of the finest oaks in the county of Hereford, and also a profusion of rich hawthorns. On the summit of the hill above the park, is the Druidical remain called Arthur's Stone. It is a cromlech, consisting of one long and wide stone resting on short columns. KENCHESTER. 99 the whip so celebrated for the virtue of its flagellations. The old house stood below the site of the present, which is a modern structure, and was in part built from the ruins of Bradwardine Castle, now demolished, but in days of yore the family seat of Thomas Brad- wardine, archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Edward III., and for his deep learning named Doctor Profundus. From Moccas Park, crossing the brow of the intervening hill, we are tempted to descend into the far-famed Golden Vale, whose luxuriant vegetation, and gay, yellow vernal flowers well deserve such a fairy- tale name. Journeying on, we come in sight of Kenchester, the supposed Ariconium of antiquity, said to have been destroyed by an earthquake. The Roman encampment of Magna Castra is immediately adjacent, and various remains telling of former occupants, consisting of Pioman bricks, coins, &c, have been found on the spot. In 1669, a large paved vault, with some tables of plaster, were discovered in a wood not far distant, and the fol- lowing year a bath was found, with the brick flues entire. A short distance south-east of Kenchester, is a spot called the Camp Field, and on the south bank of the river lies Eaton Camp : both these places have apparently been outposts to the chief station at Magna Castra. Just before entering Hereford, at an angle of the road, is a stone cross, called the White Cross ; its pre- sent height is not more than fifteen feet, the slender stages of the shaft having departed with bygone time. The remaining portion consists of an hexagonal flight of seven steps, and the first and only existing stage h 2 100 HEREFORD. of the shaft, which is also hexagonal, adorned with columns, and niches containing shields bearing a lion rampant. Tradition relates that this cross was erected about the year 1345, by Dr. Lewis Charlton, bishop of Hereford, in memory of the time when, in consequence of an infectious plague raging in the city, the markets were held on this spot. The city of Hereford disappointed my expectations, as all cities and towns do, when I enter their pent-up streets from the pure, free, blessed country, " and therefore, little shall I grace the cause," though I do speak its praise. My kind and courteous readers ! — You are listening to a Wanderer's story, and must e'en be content with descriptions of such things as suited my fancy to observe, bearing in mind, that I attempt not an inventory of all that may be seen, but only record what I myself did see. The morning after my arrival being wet and stormy, I visited the cathedral, and accompanied as I was, by an intelligent companion, whose love for the antiquities which surrounded us made him a right eloquent elucidator of their mystery and beauty, my wet morning proved a most pleasant one. The exterior of the cathedral, though made up by places of somewhat incongruous materials, is grand and impressive, sombre, aged, and darkly venerable; and as we gaze on its dusky features, they seem to tell a tale of days that are fled, and we are insensibly led into inquiry and recollection of its origin and existence. According to some ancient authorities, this city (for- merly called by the Britons Trefawith, Henwith, and Hen-fordd, from which names the Saxons may have formed its present name) possessed a magnificent HEREFORD CATHEDRAL. 101 church as early as the reign of Off a, and was a flou- rishing place, and the seat of a bishop. Its prosperity continued under the West Saxon kings, and in or about the time of Athelstan, the town was encompassed by walls. Leland mentions six noble ports or gates in the place; but destruction, under the specious name of improvement, has demolished all these. Tsvo, Wide- marsh gate and another, existed till 1798. Harold founded the castle, of which nothing remains — the site forms a pleasant promenade, adorned with trees, on the bank of the Wye. Return we to the cathedral, whose time-furrowed face sent Fancy to question the antiquity of its birth. We find that a grand church has existed here from a very early period; but we also find that repeated destructions of churches successively built on this spot have occurred, and that the existing edifice owes its origin to Robert de Loxing, or Lozinga, who, being made bishop of Hereford by William the Conqueror, commenced a church here in 1079, the former struc- ture having been burned down in 1055. Lozinga died in 1095, but his design was completed by Bishop Ilaynelm, chancellor to the queen of Henry I., who held this see till his death, in 1115. The central tower was built about a century after, by Bishop Engidius de Bruce, and further alterations and additions have been constantly in progress, some good, some bad ; among which latter must be classed those perpetrated in these u march-of-intellect" times by the enlightened persons concerned in such matters. In the first place, they have made the hoary old walls glare within "like a whited sepulchre," wherever the greatest curse ever 102 HEREFORD CATHEDRAL. bestowed by human invention on the artist and anti- quary can be exhibited — all is whitewashed — the mas- sive circular arches of the spacious nave are now, and even the beautiful oak carving in the choir was, coated with the abomination till recently. The altar part of the choir is strangely disfigured by being wainscoted in the Grecian style, and so making a Corinthian column stand side by side with a florid Gothic screen or pinnacle. The chapel of Our Lady, now used as the library, is a beautiful gem of architectural effect and symmetry. The group of lancet-windows, with their receding clusters of slender columns and rich carving, is, in good sooth, most pleasant to look upon ; but the heavy book-shelves and desks in this place, with the precious tomes chained to their allotted nooks, and making an uncomfortable kind of jail-clatter and clang on being disturbed, give a jarring sensation to both eyes and ears. Bishop Audley's chapel, a sort of second-story offshoot to the library, and looking down into it, is an exquisite little bijou in decorative archi- tecture, finely carved and painted, or rather illuminated, just like a rich old missal, and separated from the Lady chapel by a screen, carved and painted to correspond, and adorned with effigies of saints. Bishop Stanbury's chapel is, to my mind, even more beautiful, because less gaudy ; but its fairy fretwork and pendent roof, all so very exquisite, are darkened by some ill-mannered contrivance of our clays, and lost, except to the prying and admiring eyes of resolute hunters after the beau- tiful. The monument of old Cantilupe is in a dilapi- dated condition, like "many moej" but some of these finger-posts to dead men's memories are wondrously HEREFORD CATHEDRAL. 103 quaint and graceful, and fairly wrought; especially the canopied tomb of Bishop Acquablanca, a most beautiful specimen of the ornate, delicate elegance of the pointed style. Here, too, is the mutilated tomb of Sir Richard Pembruge, who died in 1375. He was ancestor of the Lords Chandos, and Knight of the Garter, in the time of Edward III. The right leg of this knight's stone effigy having been demolished or carried off, an artificer was employed to replace it, whose knowledge of knightly costume not being equal to his accuracy in copying what he saw of it, he has invested the new limb with a fac-simile garter, to match the honourable badge which graces the sinister leg. This effigy is interesting from wearing the old tour- nament helmet, so much prized by antiquarians and collectors of armour. Numberless other monumental reliques crowd on my memory while mentioning the few I have done, but I must resist the temptation of introducing them to my readers : not even the devo - tional ladies so demurely kneeling on their marble cushions — not the mitred abbots, and bishops without number, may be added to my chronicle. But the famous old map of the world, I cannot pass in silence. How our modern masters of the theodolite must hug themselves while contemplating this rich bit of serious burlesque ! The map is done on very thick parchment, and is, perhaps, four or five feet square, the geogra- phical portion being circular, and the corners occupied by emblematical devices and figures ; in one part is a grotesque representation of his Holiness the Pope, commissioning surveyors to make this marvellous chart, which represents the Archipelago in the immediate 104 ruLPiT-cPvOss. vicinity of London, with Paris, Rome, Constantinople, &c, all contiguous. Tins curiosity is attributed to the time of King John, and is tolerably well preserved, most of the names and figures being distinctly visible, and some of the illuminated parts quite brilliant. It is curious to notice how little progress the science of geography made in the early ages. Our neighbours of the Low Countries tried their hands upon a map of Scotland, more than three centuries after the date of this Hereford map, which they somewhat pompously announced as " expurgated from all faults," in which Scotland is put down as an island, and York one of its chief cities. Great neglect appears in almost every part of Here- ford Cathedral, and where repairs or restorations are attempted, the very spirit of discord seems to prevail with the directors ; they crown Saxon pillars with Gothic arches, stop up light and elegant arcades by cumbrous, dark, dead walls ; shuffle monuments out of their places; hide the grandest architectural beauty, and the most curious work of ancient art, by bran-new painted pews, and pert-looking epitaph-slabs; destroy whole chapels to save the cost of repairing them (Bishop Egerton to wit), and bestow their malediction of whitewash on all things it can spoil. One dainty morsel of monastic architecture was brought under my observation by the same kind and intelligent companion, to whom I owe much of my enjoyment in the cathedral antiquities. I allude to the ruin of the Pulpit-cross, now standing in a cabbage-and- potato garden, which occupies part of the site of the ancient monastery of Black Fryars. The cross is hex- ACONBURY IULL. 105 agonal in form, surrounded by steps, ascending to a covered stand or pulpit, in the centre of which is an ornamented pedestal of like form, from which springs the shaft of the cross, spreading in ramifications on the inner part of the roof, and rising from the point above, where it is broken off; buttresses support each angle of this beautiful remnant ; and ivy, with other creeping plants, adorn while they aid in destroying it. The few remaining portions of the monastery, now used as stabling, &c, form a suitable background to the cross, which is a perfect bit of beauty. The following morning proved little more favourable for out-door exploits; I nevertheless resolved to per- form my self-assigned task of a visit to Dinedor Hill : the very name has enchantment in it, — it sounds like something beautiful. Another "kind and intelligent companion ,J charitably bestowed his society on the Wanderer, and forth we started, having in the mean time determined on ascending Aconbury Hill instead of Dinedor — the former commanding all the view seen from the latter, and much more ; and also possessing the merit — great in the eyes of a small antiquary — of having a well-defined Roman camp on its summit. We passed out of town over the bridge, where the Wye looks placid and smooth, — the beautiful romping hoiden of Plinlimmon tamed down into a quiet douce damoiselle. The meadow scenery around was very lovely, and full of fine groups of Cuypish-looking cows, standing just as a painter would have them, and as if conscious how well they looked in the bright green fields. The orchards were all beautiful enough to be the gardens of the Hesperides, with trees bending under their trea- IOiJ CAMP HILL. sures of golden, russet, and ruddy fruit, hanging in luscious clustering wreaths, or heaped in juicy hillocks ready for cider-making. After passing the little village of Callow, and gaining the ascent beyond, the view opens grandly, and you push on eagerly anticipating the treat to come. A narrow footpath leads from the high road, through the wood to the Camp Hill ; and a lovely path it is ! full of hazel bushes, and ferns, and flowers. On reaching the summit of the hill, the in- trenchment is seen extending in an irregular oblong oval, with the elevated proetorium, and chief divisions of the camp, clearly marked, though now covered with low underwood. Soon after our arrival on the spot whence the view was to be enjoyed, a " fine growing shower " came on, and, increasing rapidly in vehemence, it "downward poured a deluge of disaster." I went, as a proper traveller should, " to see whatever could be seen," and so resolved " to bide the pelting of the pitiless storm," in full expectation that it would shortly pass over j so on the hill we remained, without shelter of any kind, or any semblance of a tree, save a few bushes, and some famous blackberry brambles, which, though they offered their best of meat and drink, had a marvellous "lack of dry lodgings for travellers." Despite the storm, which continued unabated, I, for my own part, positively enjoyed myself; for the rain, heavy as it was over our heads, did not appear to be equally violent all around, and wore the semblance of a living silvery veil, occasionally lighted up by a burst of watery sunshine, which, resting on the white cottages sprinkled about, and on the city of Hereford, lying below us at a few miles' distance, made them gleam CAMP HILL. 107 brightly out by turns; and at every shift of the changing clouds, a new picture burst into life and beauty. Here- ford lay to the north (look at the view from Dinedor, with the rainbow, and imagine such a scene realized) ; beyond, to the west, the Wye Valley, towards Hay, and the hills of Radnorshire; still west, but more southerly, than these, appeared those ever-grand land- scape guests, the Skyrrid, Sugarloaf, and Black Moun- tains : eastward the Malvern Hills, and the ridges about Stoke Edith. The dark clouds overhead cast a black shadow on the near hills, while bright sunshine lit up river, spire, town, and tower, in the green vales beyond; and the distant mountains, frowning in grandeur, wore their storm-robes of dusky purple, veiled in ever-changing silvery mist, now light and airy — anon thick and dense, — now smoke, now sub- stance, — a dreamy curtain between us and the glory of the distant scenes. They who could stand on such a spot as this, and gaze around unmoved, must have a marvellously small allowance of heart and soul in their composition. CHAPTER VII. IIAREWOOD ROSS GOODRICH COURT GOODRICH CASTLE. Who hung with woods yon mountain's sultry brow ? From the dry rock who bade the waters flow ? Not to the skies in useless columns tost, Nor in proud falls magnificently lost ; But clear aud artless, pouring through the plain, Health to the sick, and solace to the swain. Whose causeway parts the vale with shady rows ? Whose seats the weary traveller repose 1 Who taught that heav'n-directed spire to rise ? The Max op Ross, each lisping babe replies. — Pope. The Wye scenery, between Hereford and Ross, though rich and luxuriant, presents so little of novelty or historic interest, that I preferred taking the more direct land road, which passed through a country of garden-like beauty and cultivation, sprinkled with lovely cheerful villages and park land, and bounded in the distance by the glorious ranges of blue mountains I have before alluded to. Beyond Aconbury Hill, the road gradually descends, and passes through the village of Much. Birch, where a very droll old-fashioned garden amused me exceedingly, with its infinite variety of devices in cut and clipped yew-trees. Lovely prospects opened in all directions, and the hedge-rows were gaily aud beautifully adorned with the HAItEWOOD. 100 deep ruddy berries of the hawthorn, and the shining acorns gleaming among the rich yellow leaves of the fine old oaks, which were particularly grand about Hare- wood, the seat of the Hoskins family, a spot interesting as having formed part of the ancient Forest of Hare- wood, in which Ethelwold, King Edgar's minister, had a castle. Here, it is said, Mason fixed the scene for his fine drama of Elfrida, and his description is charac- teristic of many similar scenes in this luxuriant neigh- bourhood. *' How nobly does this venerable wood, Gilt with the glories of the orient sun, Embosom yon fair mansion ! the soft air Salutes me with most cool and temperate breath, And, as I tread the flower-besprinkled lawn, Sends up a gale of fragrance. I should guess, If e'er Content deigned visit mortal clime, This was her place of dearest residence." Pengethly next appears, exhibiting the same features of charming home scenery, and abundance of beautiful cattle, the greater part of this district consisting of rich pasture land. We next passed the village of Peterstow, and then entered Wilton, where the Wye is spanned by a handsome bridge, from which a broad terrace-like road leads into Ross, only a mile distant. This new road has been recently cut beneath the red cliffs, on the summit of which, the church and its surrounding elm- trees form a conspicuous object in the landscape for some miles round. Our first thoughts, on entering the town of Ross, naturally recur to the memory of John Kyrle, the philanthropist of the place. The house in which the 110 ROSS THE MAN OF ROSS. good man lived was lately used as an inn, but is now a private dwelling. Here the poet Coleridge wrote the following lines : — "Richer than miser o'er his countless hoards, Nobler than kirgs, or king-polluted lords, Here dwelt the Man of Ross ! traveller, hear ! Departed merit claims a reverent tear. Friend to the friendless, to the sick man health, With generous joy he viewed his modest wealth ; He heard the widow's heav'n-breathed prayer of praise ; He marked the sheltered orphan's tearful gaze. Or, where the sorrow-shrivelled captive lay, Poured the bright blaze of Freedom's noontide ray. But if, like me, through life's distressful scene, Lonely and sad thy pilgrimage hath been, And if, thy breast with heart-sick anguish fraught, Thou journey est onward, tempest-tossed in thought, Here cheat thy cares ! in generous visions melt, And dream of goodness thou hast never felt."* The church which the good man of Ross frequented, and where he lies interred, is a handsome and vene- rable-looking structure, with a lofty spire. The church- yard is extensive, and adorned by some particularly fine elm-trees, planted by his own hands. I never remember having been so much pleased with a church and burial-ground as with this ; the gray Gothic archi- tecture, the ancient tombs, and the heaved turf, where so many nameless dead are laid at rest, — the grand trees, rustling in the wind above, and the glorious pro- * John Kyrle was born at Dymock, in Herefordshire, in 1C37, and died in 1724. He is described as nearly six feet high, " strong and lusty made, jolly and ruddy in the face, with a large nose." His dress was a dark-brown suit, a wig, short cut and bushy behind, parted in the forehead, with a cravat, the long ends of which hung down after the fashion of Charles the Second's time. ROSS. Ill spect spread out all around, — it was the very poetry of earth — its beauty and its sadness. There is a fanciful, and, as it seems, true story re- lated of these elm-trees. It is said that after the death of their benevolent planter, an official and officious person committed the cruel sacrilege of cutting down some of the good man's favourite trees ;* immediately upon which, there sprung up within the church, and within the very pew he occupied, three young elm shoots, which, with almost superstitious reverence, are now preserved and cherished. They overshadow the two tall windows in that corner of the church, and form a verdant canopy over the wonted seat of the good man. It is one of the most strange and beautiful whims of Nature I ever knew. The marble bust and monument in the chancel, tinged with the passing sunlight through gorgeous stained glass, had nothing of interest for me compared with this simple, but touching memento. The " Man of Ross's Walk" is at some distance from the churchyard, and is approached by a neat gravel path across the fields. It occupies a rocky eminence parallel with the course of the Wye, and is shaded by luxuriant beech, aspen, and other trees. At the extremity of the walk is placed a summer-house which was once a favourite resort of the inhabitants, but it now appears in a deserted and somewhat desolate con- dition. Adjoining the churchyard is " The Prospect," which commands, as from a promontory, the course of the winding Wye and the exquisite scenery around. * There are yet standing fourteen of these magnificent elms, many of which measure nearly twelve feet round the trunk, and in height rival the pinnacles of the church tower. 112 ROSS. The grounds have been tastefully laid out and planted by the proprietor of the new Royal Hotel, a beautiful building in the Tudor style of architecture, which rises gracefully from the declivity on the right. A dispute arose about the possession of this delectable spot, which the proprietor claimed as private property, but he has yielded to the spirited opposition of the townspeople, and it constitutes still the favourite promenade. Ross is a pleasant little town ; its varied site and chalky streets give it a clean, picturesque, and cheery appearance. The house occupied by the "good man" is on one side of the old weather-beaten town-hall, and is now converted into a druggist's shop, over which is affixed, as the country people called it, the " statute" of Mr. Kyrle. From Ross I made an excursion to May Hill, another spot considered by antiquaries as the probable site of the ancient Ariconium of Antoninus, which Camden fixes at Kenchester, but which Horseley removes to the neighbourhood of Ross. It has evidently been an im- portant Roman station, and commands a view of an immense extent of country, though the extraordinary flatness and breadth of its summit hides the middle landscape, and only allows the spectator to enjoy the distance, and the immediate foreground of gorse, heather, and the crowning crest of fir-trees, which are visible for many miles round. The Severn, and the great plain of Gloucester, form the most interesting portion of the panorama, at the extremity of which, faintly distinguished from the Cotteswold Hills, rise the spires and towers of that city ; and the Malvern Hills on the north-east, wear a more broken and picturesque WILTON CASTLE. 113 form than from any other spot whence I have viewed them. A pleasant evening walk from "mine inn/' below the red cliffs at Ross, and over the Wye bridge, brought me to the small hamlet of Wilton, and I wandered about, seeking a road to the ruins of its old castle, parts of which are seen from the river and bridge. Taking advantage of a stranger's privilege, I accosted a gentle- man, whose benevolent countenance augured well for my intended queries, and " asked my way" to the castle, whither he kindly accompanied me. He led me into a private garden, where stands the ruin, consisting of scarcely more than the low square wall that surrounds it, and a turret, that has been converted into a thatched summer-house. On the site of the jealous fortress has sprung up a cottage ornee, smiling significantly, with all the modern appliances " thereto belonging." The area of the castle serves as garden ground, and flaunting dahlias flourish luxuriantly among the strangely-abused memories of former days. I could be Quixotic in defence of the rights of poor old Wilton Castle — not that I am a lover of anything of feudal tyranny, dark- ness, and oppression of soul and body — that iron vas- salage of by-gone days, — God forbid ! but I hate to see anything abused in its adversity ; and ruins are beau- tiful bits of poetry and morality, — they father many a delicate fancy, and tell, eloquently silent, many a stern truth. They do not occupy much of our land-room, and surely ought to be allowed that little ungrudgingly, without being either pulled down or filled up like the one in question. Wilton Castle was the seat of the Greys from the time of Edward I. It was afterwards i 114 GOODRICH COURT. alienated to the Chandos family, and finally it became the property of Guy's Hospital. The name of this family, in connection with their own worth, will long be remembered in the person of one of their descen- dants, as the patron of the illustrious poet Spenser, for whom he procured a grant from Queen Elizabeth of three thousand acres of land in the county of Cork, while be was Lord Deputy of Ireland, and Spenser enjoyed the office of his secretary. The poet has per- petuated his gratitude in the sonnet to Lord Grey- prefixed to his Fairy Queen, "Most noble lord, the pillar of my life, And patron of my Muse's pupilage ; Through whose large bounty poured on me rife, In the first season of my feeble age, I now do live, bound yours by vassalage." Keturning to Ross by twilight, I ended my day's wanderings ; and on the following morning rose with the intention of spending some hours at Goodrich, but the rain poured down in torrents, and philosophy was at zero. At length, by mid-day, a gleam appeared, and I gladly proceeded to Goodrich Court. I may well apply to this mansion the term used regarding Abbots- ford; this is, indeed, "a romance in stone and lime." But the characters of the romances are different. In Abbotsford is united the castle and the monastery, with something of the fanciful, fairy spirit of Border legends. At Goodrich Court we dream of Froissart and his chro- nicles of arms and chivalry. Sir S. R. Meyrick formed the design from a variety of sources, which furnished detached portions and different architectural details of the period between the first and third Edwards, the GOODRICH COURT. 115 prevailing style of which he has successfully copied, arranging and disposing the whole so as to combine characteristic features from actual buildings, in an edifice of unique design, and almost perfect harmony, and admirably calculated for the reception and display of the magnificent collection of ancient armour in the possession of its accomplished resident. The extreme beauty of the spot on which the Court is erected, being " the summit of a bold promontory, with a rich hang- ing wood beneath, reaching to the water's edge, and backed by copped and other hills, offers a most attrac- tive subject for the pencil." The splendid plate, which will, far better than any written description, convey an idea of the reality to my readers, also includes a view of the adjoining eminence, on which stand the hoary and shattered, but beautiful ruins of the old castle of Goodrich. Goodrich Court, in its architectural character, far surpasses any of those modern fortress-mansions, which the taste of the present day has erected in imitation of by-gone times ; and where, indeed, any incongruity can be observed, it has respect only to its appendages, and may be referred to the difference of national con- dition in the past and present age, — a state of perma- nent peace from one of cruel and desolating war : such a scene is not without its use and pleasure too, to those who are given to reflection. The perfect picture of a feudal fortress standing up in its prowess and strength, such as it appeared amidst the grim terrors of a barba- rous age, with all the graceful assurances of peace and plenty scattered profusely around, is a beautiful and thought-creating object. Driving along the smoothly- i 2 116 GOODRICH COURT. gravelled "Wardour's Terrace, the visitor arrives at tlie principal gateAvay, which is approached over a draw- bridge, furnished with a portcullis, and flanked by two round towers. The surrounding battlements, turrets, loopholes, and machicolations, look bristlingly on the defensive; while the small dry moat, laid with velvet turf, and the fair flower-beds, judiciously separated by what may be regarded as a modified rampart, perfum- ing the quiet air around, seem to give a most pleasant intimation of the " palmy days" into which we of the nineteenth century have fallen. On the left of the entrance is Sussex Tower, the lofty bartizans and spires of which are visible from many distant points, also the keep and eastern towers. The building consists of two courts, the inner and outer, separated from each other by the Grand Armoury. The north-west front, which is moated, contains the offices, above which are the warder's chamber, used as a butler's pantry, the kitchen, and housekeeper's room ; and in a line on the north- east, the drawing-room, which is in Sussex Tower, the breakfast-room, dining-room, library, entrance-hall, and the ante-room to the Asiatic armoury, — the Asiatic armoury itself being in the Eastern Tower. Parallel to this are the Hastilude Chamber, Grand Armoury, and Chapel, and parallel to the north-west front are the South Sea Room and Banqueting Hall. A proper description of the extensive and unrivalled collection of armour and antiquities can only be found in the able works of the learned proprietor, but I shall briefly enumerate a few of the objects which chiefly attracted my attention. On the door is the splendid bronze knocker and key- GOODRICH COURT. 117 hole escutcheon, beautifully designed by Giovanni di Bologna, the former representing the destruction of the Philistines by Samson. The Entrance Hall is ornamented with stags' horns of various kinds, ancient weapons and hunting-arms tastefully grouped ; and the fireplace, of Painswick stone, is from a beautiful design by Mr. Blore. The apartment is divided by an archway, and at the first landing of the staircase, which leads to the principal bed-chambers, is the oriel window, superbly fitted up with painted glass, representing the figure of Meuric or Meyrick ab Llewelyn of Bodorgan, in the island of Anglesey, esquire of the body to King Henry VII., with the family arms, crest, and motto. The beautiful antique lamp of bronze, which lights the staircase, is of Greek art, was dug out of the ruins of Herculaneum, and is probably two thousand years old. From this hall a sallyport with drawbridge leads to the Ladies' Terrace, from which another bridge crosses the moat to some steps that form an agreeable descent to the flower garden, and thence through a hanging wood to the river. To the left of the entrance hall is Henry VI.'s Gallery, leading to the library, which is fitted up after the fashion adopted in the reign of Henry VIII. The beautiful carved oak ceiling and frieze in this room were formerly in the Government- house at Breda, in Holland. On the table, which is of the time of Henry VIII., are caskets, inkstands, can- dlesticks, &c, of the same period, and over the mantle- piece the astrolabe of that monarch, with his armorial bearings and motto engraved thereon. In one of the drawers are two exquisite gems by Holbein, of the king, and Ann of Cleves. The Dining Room in its external architecture is of Edward II.'s time. The 118 GOODRICH COURT. ceiling is formed of cross beams held by open spandrils and supported on foliated corbels of Painswick stone. The chimney-piece greatly resembles those in Goodrich Castle. This room contains a valuable collection of paintings, most of which are landscapes and sea-pieces, by excellent Dutch and English artists, and which have been in Sir Samuel's family for many years. The Breakfast Room carries the visitor many centuries forward, and places him amidst the gorgeous furni- ture and flowing patterns of the days of Queen Anne, of which the panels on the walls, the window curtains and hangings of the recess, the gilt pier-table, the stand in the centre of the room, the looking-glasses, Seve and Dresden porcelain, and the splendid clock, are originals of that age. The Drawing Room returns to the time of the Plantagenets. It is octagonal, and groined in the ceiling, with gilt bosses. The oak table in the centre is from the only remaining example of the kind, which is preserved in the Chapter-house at Salisbury, and the fireplace from that beautiful spe- cimen of the close of Edward II/s reign, Prior Craw- den's, at Ely. On the table are a pair of candlesticks of copper enamelled, seven hundred years old, and an inkstand formed of various pieces of similar work of the same age, with four very curious dishes, and some interesting ivory caskets. On the recesses in the walls are the following paintings, by Mr. John Coke Smith : — the legend of St. George and the Dragon ; the romance of Sir Tristrem; the tale of the Comptesse de Vergi ; and that of the Tournament of the White Garment. On the right of the entrance hall is the ante-room to the Asiatic Armoury, the cornice and dado of which GOODRICH COURT. 119 are taken from the Alhambra. The spectator now stands amongst forms bearing the proportions and attitudes of real life, the first of which is the mounted figure of a Luti Pindarrie on his Arabian steed, from a drawing by Captain Grindley, who brought the chain armour and horse-trapping (all the head gear being of solid silver) to this country. Two glass cases contain a variety of arms and armour from different parts of Asia. In this apartment too is an elaborate and beau- tiful Persian chess-board of ebony, ivory, and metal inlaid. A triple-headed arch in the Eastern style opens to the Asiatic Armoury, in which is seen an oriental rajah wearing a coat of plate, before whom kneels a horse soldier from Delhi, in his long coat of chain armour. On each side are figures on horseback, and others standing, which exhibit varieties of Indian and Persian armour. A glazed recess is appropriated in a similar manner to those in the ante-room, and various weapons decorate the walls. A valuable series of Hindoo deities and several rare Chinese curiosities are arranged in two glass cases, one on each side the window. The next in order is the South Sea Room, which is filled with the rude weapons, feathered cloaks, &c, of the Pacific Ocean. The visitor quits this apartment for another portion of Henry VI/s Gallery, the whole length of which is 106 feet. In the window is an admirable specimen of German painted glass, representing St. George in fluted armour, with the date 1517. On the right hand is a niche, in which stands a figure accoutred in, probably, the most magnificent suit in existence. This armour was made for the duke of Ferrara, to whom Tasso addressed his " Jerusalem Delivered," and is beautifully embossed with bas-reliefs and inlaid 1:20 GOODRICH COURT. ■with gold. Ta 1814 it was destined to adorn Bona- parte's imperial retreat of Malmaison, having been actually packed in satin and put into a case for the purpose of being forwarded to him. Before, however, it was despatched, the emperor had ceased to reign, and the armour remained at Modena, until it was purchased for Sir Samuel Meyrick. Ample folding doors opposite this suit open to the Banqueting Hall, which is fifty feet in length. Over the entrance is the Minstrel's Gallery. On the raised floor at the upper end stands a billiard-table, on the south-east side of which is an oriel window, command- ing a view of Goodrich Castle, the river Wye, and the picturesque valley of the Lea Bailey. Near this window folding doors open to a covered way that leads to the harness-room and stables. The high pitched roof, with its pointed arches of oak, resting on corbels of stone, the oak floor, panelling, &c, and the chimney-piece most elaborately carved in Painswick stone, cannot fail to attract the attention of the visitor. The equestrian alto-relievo of Aylmer de Valence, who owned the castle and the land on which Goodrich Court is built, in the time of Edward II., introduced in a trefoil in the pediment, is improved from that on his monument in "Westminster Abbey. The escutcheons of painted glass in the windows represent his armorial bearings, and those of the preceding owners of Goodrich Castle and its demesnes. The walls are embellished with portraits by foreign and English artists, and the niches by casts of Edward II. and his mother. The doors on the right of the billiard-table lead to the Hastilude Chamber, in which is the tournament armour, so arranged as to give the complete rc;u'escu- GOODRICH COURT. 121 tation of a joust, with the lists, royal box, and heralds. It at the same time exhibits all the varieties of " hast- mg-harness," or tournament armour, from the time of Henry VI. to that of Queen Elizabeth inclusive. The next object of attraction is the Grand Armoury, eighty-six feet in length, with its oaken roof, floor, and gallery on three of its sides. In this gallery are ten glass cases to contain the more curious and rare speci- mens of armour, the contents of two of which, — viz., the ancient British arms and the consecutive series of guns, from the first invention to the firelock, are absolutely unique, while the Greek and Roman armour cannot fail to be highly interesting.* Above these glass cases are the emblazoned banners of Edward II., his son, Roger de Chandos, Gilbert de Turbeville, Roger li Strange, Johan de Lacy, Morice de Barkly, Roger de Mortymer, Roger de Baskerville, Rychart de Talbote, Edmond de Boun and Henri de Penbrugge, according to an ancient roll of arms of the period ; and which have been selected from these knights, holding lands in the county of Hereford. In the intervening spaces eighty-four halberds, from their earliest to their latest form, appear in groups. The oaken columns which support the gallery are surrounded by weapons of all other known kinds, and between them, and also in niches, are placed ten suits on horseback, and several on foot, from the time of Edward III. to that of James * Every variety of the armour in this house, drawn by Sir S. Mej-riuk, according to scale, accompanied by explanations, 'with views of the Entrance Hall, Asiatic Armoury, Hastilude Chamber, and Grand Armoury, has been engraved by Mr. Skelton, in his " Illustra- tions of Arms and Armour," from the collections at Goodrich Court. 122 GOODRICH COURT. II., being the most comprehensive and instructive col- lection of the kind in the world. In this assemblage of curiosities a group of five figures represents King Charles I. in an original buff jacket and gorget, with his armour on the floor of a tent, and his crown and helmet on the table, attended by his standard-bearer, an officer of cuirassiers, giving direction to one of two pikemen, who, as well as their commander, appear in black corslets, and afford ex- amples of the large collars and gofered falling ruffs. The face and hand of King Charles, which rests on a rapier, were painted by H. P. Briggs, R.A., and are exquisitely executed, especially the hand, which is a perfect marvel. At the other end of the Armoury, under the archway, are two beautifully engraved half- suits from Florence, of the time of Queen Elizabeth, a handsome engraved manefare from Italy, and a most curious and interesting German saddle of the early part of the reign of Henry VI., on which is a minnesinger's love sonnet. The gallery of the Armoury opens to the Doucean* Museum ; a most splendid and valuable collection of works of art, antiquities, and scientific objects, be- queathed to Sir Samuel Meyrick by that eminent anti- quary the late Francis Douce, Esq. A passage from this armoury leads to the Ante- * An ample catalogue has been printed of the contents, in the " Gentleman's Magazine," under the heads of paintings, tapestry, drawings, engravings, carvings in wood, carvings in ivory, enamels, cinque -cento bronzes, coins and medals, casts, miscellaneous antiquities, Egyptian antiquities, Greek antiquities, Roman antiquities, Mexican antiquities, Persian antiquities and curiosities, Indian antiquities and curiosities, and Chinese antiquities and curiosities. GOODRICH COURT. 123 Chapel, in which are two Welsh monumental inscrip- tions of the sixth century. Three steps ascend to the chapel, which is entered through either of two arches contained within a large one, with beautiful mouldings and enriched with figures. This is fitted up in the Roman Catholic manner, with altar-piece, confessional, font, and eagle desk. In the upper part of the altar- piece are four female saints, carved in oak, in the very best style of art, which are of the time of Edward IV., and other figures of the same period surmount the terminating finials of the whole. In the lower part are carvings in alabaster of the times of Edward II., Ed- ward III., and Henry VI. The altar itself is covered with a crimson velvet cloth, on which is worked a large Maltese gold cross; and upon it are six large candlesticks and various ancient ornaments. Under their respective helmets are two banners and a guidon, properly emblazoned. I must confess that to me a silent and motionless effigy, clothed in the suit of armour actually worn by some hero of ancient days, is a strange and solemn thing, at least a creator of solemn and not unprofitable thoughts, gazing, as I do, on the garb of one whose life was past, and perhaps lost, in mortal struggles with his brother man ; whose firm-set limbs and iron sinews seemed to defy time and death; who once followed with living eagerness the waving banner that led to national honour, or, not unfrequently, to the deadly strife of private and personal quarrel : — "But they who fought are in a bloody shroud, And those which waved are shredkss dust ere now," 124) GOODRICH COURT. It is not ouly the historical, but the moral and poetical associations which accompany these memories of the olden time, that give to such a rich and elabo- rate exhibition as this at Goodrich Court, a value and importance beyond the mere gratification of literary and antiquarian taste ; they make it the text-book from which both the mind and the heart draw lessons of instruction and deep interest. They serve to stimulate and feed what Serjeant Talford denominates "that highest of all human faculties, the great mediatory and interfusing power of imagination," which combines and blends the past and the present in one rich and har- monious picture. This is truly "the chamber of imagery !" The collection which Sir Samuel Meyrick has already made here, though exceedingly rare, precious, and more comprehensive than any other, must not be considered complete, and, indeed, I have reason to know, is not so deemed by the worthy knight, but rather as one in progress, which the erudite and indefatigable collector intends, by additions, to make valuable as a critical standard on the subject.* I have been tempted to stay longer at this extraor- dinary place, and to give a more particular description of the marvellous things it contains, than usually com- ports with the method of my wanderings ; but certainly not more than the importance of the objects seemed to require, from their intimate connection with the annals of human life and action. The rudiments of history truly are to be found in the principles and passions of mankind ; but the changes which these have wrought * This collection, I have understood, has been valued at the sum of £30,000. GOODRICH COURT. 125 in the condition of nations, and in the order of the human mind, are symbolized to us most distinctly by those external signs which belong to their various stages of advance or resiliency. Of these signs, pro- bably none are so expressive as the fashions of peace, or the accoutrements of war. Even attributive words, in allusion to natural qualities and accidental associa- tions, so common amongst the Welsh and English, and, indeed, most other nations, and the soubriquets of monarchs and other remarkable persons, belong to this species of popular signs, and are indicative of the manners of their own times, and of distant eras in history. The English reader will be immediately sen- sible of this association when, in his researches, he meets with the terms Court-mantel and Coeur de Lion, — and the ages of Henry II., with the Angevin fashions and piebald dresses, the very dandyism of our ancestors, which characterized the one, and the military ardoui and daring valour of the crusading age, which belongs to the other, will rise visibly before him. Of all the changes to which European society has been subjected, that of the institution of Chivalry has proved the most productive of important results, whether considered in its immediate tendency or its remote effects. I refer not to that stage of its history in which the investiture with the toga, or with arms, existed from the time of Tacitus to the termination of the Saxon period, which merely marked the attainment of a state of manhood by the candidate ; but most espe- cially to that era when knighthood became a specific dignity, claiming peculiar objects, and subjecting its members to a course of rigorous discipline ; combining 126 GOODRICH COURT. them together into fellowships, and binding them by rules from Avhich they could not depart without loss of fame or life. The institution of Chivalry sprang up in the year 1025, when public licentiousness was at its height, originating with the clergy, and comprehending the nobility of Europe, from the age of twelve years. Its first rules were confirmed at the Council of Bourges, and amplified at that of Clermont. The oath, by which its members were bound together, was the following : — " To defend the Christian religion ; faithfully to practise the morals of it ; to defend widows, orphans, and the weaker sex ; not to make war on account of goods and effects, but to let such disputes be decided judicially; and to keep the truces of God." * Such an institution, from the animating spirit it infused into its members, necessarily made way for degrees of merit, arising from the performance of heroic deeds, and these to correspondent distinctions. The inventive genius of man contrived to render these dis- tinctions permanent and hereditary by representative figures, emblematical devices, and mottoes, conveying by these signs images, as it were, of real events, and words significant of certain actions or characteristic sentiments. From hence arose the science of heraldry, with all its materiel of " armories," banners, and gor- geous dresses, displaying ensigns which related to rank, tenure, contracts, deeds of arms, civil feuds, or national wars. Heraldry became also a painted language, fur- nished with an artistical phraseology of "tinctures," * These were the Church's feasts and their eves, and the space of time between Wednesday evening and Monday morning. This rule was enforced under the penalty of death, or of abandoning Christendom. GOODRICH COURT. 127 gules, azure, sinople, and sable, and their representative lines, points, chequers, stripes, crosses, and figures, and these again indented, ingrained, invecked, waved, nebuled, or embattled; with the family relationships designated by label, crescent, star, martlet, ring, and fleur-de-lis, extending from the eldest to the youngest son, in their order of seniority, till it finally developed itself in an established and well-understood series of hieroglyphics — the alphabet of the heroic age of Christendom, — which may be read and interpreted even now by the learned antiquary, as he passes through the halls in which, it will appear, I have lingered so long and satisfactorily, suggestive of the most pregnant events, and deeply inscribed with moral and economic reflections. Of the use of this science, it may be proper to make one observation. The very constitution of man leads him to aim at eminence, and the various qualities which he possesses fit him for it. Heraldry, therefore, in its organic character, is but the invention of a series of symbols, formed on purpose to designate these inevit- able distinctions, and to allure forward to their attain- ment. The art of war has given place to the arts of peace; and this science, with the peculiar pliancy of which it is susceptible, has become subservient to the best purposes of society, and an active stimulus to merit in all the forms that can adorn or benefit the human race. The poet Hayley has some excellent lines to express this longing after an earthly immortality : — " The fond desire to pass the nameless crowd, Swept from the earth in dark Oblivion's cloud ; 128 GOODRICH COURT. Of transient life to leave some little trace, And win remembrance from the rising race ; — To catch the praise that rose from human breath, To bind the guerdon past the power of death ; — And man ere long the wondrous secret found, To paint the voice, and fix the fleeting sound." The upper apartments, which are furnished and de- corated in correspondence with the titles they bear, consist of Sir Gelley*s Chamber, Charles I.'s Room, Charles II.'s Gallery, William III/ s Room, the Prince's Chamber and Dressing-room, the Greek Room, are not usually shown to the public, nor, indeed, are some of the apartments which I have described, but of which I was allowed the inspection by the learned and hospitable owner of Goodrich Court. We must hasten now from the new Court and its old treasures, and enter the tenantless halls of the Castle, which, seated in its faded but impressive gran- deur on an adjoining height, forms a chief object in the delightful landscape commanded by the windows and grounds of the Court. On a near approach, the exterior of Goodrich is less striking than that of many other castles, except the gateway, which is eminently beautiful, flanked by its ivy-grown towers, and showing beneath its arches the lofty window of the opposite tower, and through that the distant Court and its girdling woods. The construction of this fortified entrance is very remarkable. It appears to have been one of the additions made to the fortress down to the time of Henry VI. — the keep, of which I shall speak hereafter, having been erected antecedently to the Conquest. The entrance, commencing between two semicircular towers of unequal dimensions, near the GOODRICH COURT. 129 east angle, is continued under a dark vaulted passage, to an extent of fifty feet. Immediately before this entrance, and within the space inclosed by the fosse, was a very deep pit, hewn out of the solid rock, formerly crossed by a drawbridge, which is now gone, but which appears to have exactly fitted, and to have closed, when drawn up, the whole front of the gateway between the towers. About eleven feet within the passage was a massy gate ; this gate and the drawbridge were defended on each side by loopholes, and overhead by rows of machicolations, for pouring down melted lead, scalding water, &c, on the heads of the assailants. Six feet and a half beyond this was a portcullis, and about seven further, a herse (a kind of portcullis) ; the space between these was again protected by loopholes. About two feet more inward, was another strong gate ; and beyond this, on the right, a small door leading to a long narrow gallery, formed in the thickness of the wall, which was the means of access to the eastern tower, and commanded the steep brow of the hill towards the north-east. This narrow, dark, winding passage I explored under the guidance of the old deputy-governor of the castle, and was not a little amused by his great anxiety to make me thoroughly conversant with his lore, touching the wonders and merits of Goodrich. K CHAPTER VIII. ROSS TO MONMOUTH BY WATER COLDWELL ROCKS. SYMOND'S YAT DOWARD MONMOUTH RAGLAND. "Down the swift river, the full-flowing river, Our light-freighted bark glideth on ; While in the waves ever, the tree shadows quiver — Oh ! who can be gloomy ? — not one. What day is too long, with the merry boat song, Bright sunshine and blessed blue sky — While meadow flowers young, o'er the sedgy banks flung, Nod and laugh as we gaily glide by." Early the following morning, I entered a boat at Ross, on my way to Monmouth. My " light bark " was not much unlike a gondola, when its tarpauling cover was spread over the framework ; but, being favoured by a radiantly bright morning, I preferred sitting under the skeleton, and enjoying the charming scenes around me. A table in the centre of the part allotted to passengers, and cushioned seats around, made this small floating parlour a most commodious conveyance. After dropping past Wilton Castle, and beneath the bridge, we soon came in sight of Goodrich Court and Castle, well worthy their far-known fame. Richly wooded hills, well sprinkled with white cottages, whose thin blue smoke curled softly upward, often rose COLDWELL ROCKS SYMOND's YAT. 131 in front. Kerne Bridge being passed, and its surround- ing bosky hills and sunshiny meadows, Bishop's Wood House appeared. The grounds of Courtfield skirt the river for some distance, adding the great charm of their magnificent ornamental timber to the landscape. Pass- ing the village of Lidbrook, where a steam tram-road from Dean Forest brings coal for embarkation on the Wye, I gained a good view of Courtfield House.* Henry V. is said to have been nursed in a more ancient house on the same site, belonging to the countess of Salisbury (ob. 1395), whose supposed monument in the neighbouring little church of Welsh Bicknor I landed to examine. Sir S. R. Meyrick has somewhat shaken the faith of the learned as respects this monument, pronouncing the costume to be of the time of Edward I. A winged angel on either side the head have been, ab- surdly enough, supposed to represent the young Henry and his fellow-suckling Approaching the foot of Coldwell Rocks, a most sublime and majestic scene presents itself. These grand, and in some places precipitous, limestone cliffs are overhung with richly varied tufts of oak and under- wood, traversed by deep dells and gulleys. The smooth luxuriant hill called Rosemary Topping, beautifully contrasts with and enhances the magnificent sternness of these wild crags. For a considerable distance they present one continued panorama of grandeur and sub- * The estate connected with this place formerly belonged to the- family of the Vaughans, the descendants of Cradoc Vreich Vras — Cradoe of the strong arm — with whom is associated that beautiful poetical tale of "the boy and the mantle," to be found in "Percy's Reliques." K 2 132 DOWARD. limity. Arrived at the landing-place for the ascent of Symond's Yat, I disembarked, and wended my weary way to the summit, through a wood abounding in curious plants, and gay with a rich profusion of wild autumn berries. On attaining the small platform of rock crowning the narrow ridge, round which the river makes the extraordinary circuit of four miles, a view of great grandeur displayed itself, and reclining on the turf, telescope in hand, I quietly enjoyed it. The chief eminences in Radnor and Brecknockshire, the Malvern Hills, Black Mountains, and the immediately near range of limestone crags, with the river winding brightly beneath, ana distant spires and towers peeping above their encircling woods, all lit up in fair sunshine, made a grand and interesting picture.* A double entrenchment runs across this "Tower of rock, that seems to cry, Go round about me, neighbour Wye." A few coracles were on the river, with their still, patient occupants, the salmon fishers, as I passed round the peninsular-shaped flat beyond Symond's Yat, and by the diminutive church of Whitechurch. Large * Upon the Little Doward, a hill of peculiarly fine outline, viewed in front, from the Monmouth road, are the interesting remains of a British camp. Three circular terraces wind up to the summit. It is a valuable relic of British fortification, where Caractacus probably posted himself, for how otherwise are the adjacent Koman camps on the Great Doward and Symond's Yat to be accounted for ? Ostorius probably attempted to force him by the Great Doward, but apparently did not succeed, and, being compelled to cross the river, encamped at Symond's Yat. The inference is drawn from the circumstance of the Gauls having taken up a position protected by a river, where even Caesar declined action. — Rev. T. D. Fosbroke. MONMOUTH. 133 masses of rock are here insulated by the river, which vainly chafes and foams among them. The great Doward Hill soon rose in all its grandeur on the right, galleried throughout by quarries, and rendered wildly beautiful by the misty smoke from its numerous kilns and cottages, which are sprinkled all over its fantastic heights, wherever a tiny cabin can find room to perch itself. The New Weir here received our boat in its swelling eddy, and the foaming, roaring water added not a little to the interest of the scene. Lofty rocks now rise on both sides, robed in infinite varieties of wood and shrub of every imaginable tint, showing the pale grey of the limestones, contrasted richly by the bright red, green, yellow, and brown of the autumn foliage. Many portions of the craggy cliffs have the appearance of ruined castles and towers. Three re- markable ones are named the three sisters, — Ann, Mary, and Elizabeth, — right venerable personages. King Arthur, that hero of " oldenne tyrne," has a hall and chair named to his honour in this neighbourhood ; the latter is a semicircular hollow near the Little Doward, on which are the remains of a British camp. Here, in a spot called Martin's Pool, the river is said to be seventy feet deep. Handsome and tasteful resi- dences now frequently appear on the wooded banks, among which the Leys, Vaga Cottage, and Newton Hall, are the chief. The approach to Monmouth is very pleasing, and the town occupies a position of great beauty, lying in a valley surrounded by hills, and nearly encircled by two rivers, the "Wye and Monnow. The few remains of the castle stand upon an eminence to the south of the 134 MONMOUTH PRIORY. Monnow. A British fortress is said to have existed here previously to the Roman Conquest, and to have been occupied by the Saxons. The castle is supposed to have been rebuilt by John, baron of Monmouth, who, in 1257, resigned it to Prince Edward, afterwards Edward I. In 1265, Simon, earl of Leicester, besieged Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, and levelled the castle with the ground. It was, however, rebuilt, and devolved to John of Gaunt, whose son, Henry of Bolingbroke, was afterwards Henry IV., during whose reign this fortress became the birth-place of Henry V., consequently surnamed Harry of Monmouth. The priory was founded by "YYithenoc de Monmouth, in the reign of Henry L, for Benedictine monks, and suppressed at the dissolution. Traces of it are visible to the north of St. Mary's Church. Old Lambarde says it was " a small monastery, valued in the Records at fifty-six poundes by yeare." The Priory-house, which is now used as a national school, contains an apartment, celebrated as the library of Galfredius Arthurius, bishop of St. Asaph, much better known by the name of Geoffrey of Monmouth, "The chronicler of Briton's kingeg, From Brute to Arthur's rayne." He is supposed to have been educated in this monas- tery, and was appointed archdeacon of Monmouth in 1151; but was shortly afterwards advanced to the bishopric of St. Asaph, in the time of Henry II. He translated the history of Britain from the ancient British language into the Latin, and also the amusing prophecies of Merlin from British verse into Latin MONMOUTH. 135 prose. Our great Welsh hero, Owen Glyndwr, was much indebted to these prophetic writings, as they ren- dered him essential service, by favouring his high pre- tensions to sovereignty. The veracity of Geoffrey, as an historian, has been doubted by many ; Camden remarks, that his relation of Brutus and his successors ought to be totally disregarded ; but Fuller speaks honourably of his literary labours, and compares him to Herodotus. " There is no reason/' says the learned historian of St. Asaph, " why he should be so bitterly inveighed against, concerning the famous history under his name, he being no more than the Fidus interpres, or translator of it, and making himself in no ways accountable for the credit of the story delivered in his book, the blame of which, as his apologists allege, ought to be laid upon his authors, and not upon him ; since upon a late examination, he is found not to have invented, or added anything of his own." Of his character, however, it is said, " that he was all his life- time a great courtier, entirely at the king's beck, busy- ing himself in the royal party against Thomas a Becket, and was employed to absolve Richard de Lucy and others from the excommunication of that proud pre- late." Monmouth is one of those clean, pleasant, country towns, having within itself the vivacity of intelligent and social life, and possessing in its neighbourhood the attributes of surpassing natural beauty. Its thorough- fares are comparatively spacious, and a great improve- ment has been effected lately by the formation of a handsome crescent-street, overlooking the river Mon- now, with a rich and varied landscape, backed by the 136 MONMOUTH. bold outlines of the Sugar Loaf range of mountains. At the east end a noble building has just been com- pleted in the Grecian order, as a market-place; con- taining underneath an extensive range of abattoirs, with every convenience attached to it. To families of respectability this town offers many inducements ; it is the centre of the Wye scenery, and affords innumerable picturesque walks and rides. The prices of provisions and necessaries are moderate ; river-fish, fruits, and vegetables are abundant ; and the climate is rendered mild and healthy, by the screen of the surrounding hills from prejudicial winds. Angling is a common diversion ; and, during the season, packs of fox-hounds and harriers yield amusement to the sportsman. The present trade of Monmouth is principally in timber and bark, for which the ample forests in its neighbourhood render it peculiarly suitable. The celebrated " Mon- mouth caps," mentioned by Shakspeare, and described by Fuller as " the most warm and profitable coverings of men's heads in this island," are no longer the staple commodity at this place ; the manufacture, " on the occasion of a great plague happening in this town," having been removed to Bewdley; but the chapel of St. Thomas, an interesting specimen of Saxon architec- ture, formerly belonging to the members of the " craft," still exists. This edifice is of very ancient date, and had stood for a long time in a dilapidated condition, but it has recently been repaired and fitted up under the direction of Mr. Wyatt of Troy House, in excellent keeping with the original building, and possesses two fine original specimens of the Saxon arch and doorway. The bridge over the Monnow, which was built by MONMOUTH. 137 Edward I., in 1272, will attract the inspection of the visiter, not only for its own sake, but because there stands upon it the remains of one of the ancient gates of the town, which is quite an object of antiquarian curiosity. Surmounting the Saxon gateway is a room which has been sometimes used as a guard-room or a magazine, and immediately above the arch are three loopholes, which were made by the authorities of the place, through which to defend the town, in 1839, from the expected visit of the Chartists of Newport. The traveller who enters an ancient town like this of Monmouth, commences his researches amongst these mouldering remains, which carry him back in imagina- tion to the dark and bloody ages of the nation's history, over which, it may be, the enterprise of some daring spirit has shed a transient and delusive halo. Those institutions of benevolence which distinguish the com- paratively modern days of England, are passed by as common-place things, and scarcely excite an inquiry. There is one, however, in this place, over which an air of romance is thrown which will go far to rescue it from this general neglect. On the south-east side of the town stands a row of neat almshouses, which bears a tablet in the centre, instructing the stranger's eye that it was founded by William Jones, " citizen and haber- dasher of London, in 1615." The founder was the child of poor parents residing in Newland, a neigh- bouring parish, and lived at an inn in Monmouth, in one of the most menial situations. Such was his poverty that he was obliged to leave the town, from his inability to pay some trifling debt he had contracted. He repaired to London, and engaged as a porter to a 138 MONMOUTH. Hamburgh merchant; which place he fulfilled so much to the satisfaction of his master, that he had him instructed in the necessary qualifications for a counting- house, and successively promoted him to the situation of supercargo in one of his vessels, and general manager of his business, till he finally resigned the whole of his mercantile affairs in his favour. As a merchant on his own account he soon rose to great opulence, and became a member of the Worshipful Company of Haber- dashers. A strange conceit seems to have taken him at this time, and he determined upon an expedition to his native place in the character of a pauper. Having put on his beggarly gabardine, he presented himself before the authorities to claim assistance in his new character, but was rudely repulsed and referred to Mon- mouth as his place of settlement. To Monmouth he repaired, and with better success ; for his wants were kindly relieved, and he left the place in the same dis- guise in which he had entered it. This kindness he never forgot, and at his death devised a splendid benefaction, for the building of twenty almshouses and the endow- ment of a school, which, from the judicious investment of the trustees, and the increase in the value of pro- perty, will, in process of time, furnish an establishment of the most valuable kind in the kingdom. The good man was forgiving in his disposition, and though he did not forget the treatment he received in his native place, he bequeathed a handsome sum for the same purposes in Newland, though not equal in amount, nor so successfully managed. The Kymin, about a mile and a half from Monmouth, is a lofty eminence, rising nearly 700 feet from the bed MONMOUTH. 139 of the Wye, surmounted by a monument in commemo- ration of the gallant admirals of the British navy ; and the " Summer House/' a circular embattled tower about thirty feet high, erected by subscription for the social parties of Monmouth, before its harmony was disturbed by political factions. The summit is spread over a beautiful table-land, on which is an avenue of pine and other trees, and the foreground forms a succession of vignettes of broken rocks and inter- mingled foliage. The hill-point slopes gently down towards the east and south in corn-fields and pastures, and is backed by the dark umbrage of Stanton Meend. On the west, the view is extensive and delightful almost beyond description, comprehending, in the utmost range of vision, the beacons of Brecon, and the distant moun- tains of Glamorganshire, and gradually subsiding to the wood- crowned hills that spring from the Wye, the lovely vale in which beats the heart of Monmouth — that heart of many chords, — and the sportive river, which holds on its gladsome way, now gently drawn out like a shining thread amidst the green meadows, and now rushing with a turbulence so unlike its usual placid humour between its stony walls, and over those im- mense fragments of broken rocks that in vain attempt to impede its course. The Buckstone — a mile south-east of the Kymin — is a famous rocking-stone of the Druids, which may be seen distinctly rising from amongst the woods that sur- round it. Such stones formed an important feature in the ancient Celtic superstitions, and were used in divination, the vibration determining the oracle. Their sound, when violently pushed, very prqbably served to 140 KAGIAND. arouse the country on an enemy's approach ; and the passage or path invariably found encircling them, intimates the perambulation to have been a sacred performance. The situation of the stone near Mon- mouth, was evidently chosen because it could be conspicuous for miles round. Quitting Monmouth, on an excursion to Ragland Castle, my way lay over a considerable hill about a mile from the town, commanding a most lovely and luxuriant landscape. From this eminence, the rich valley in which Monmouth is situated, and the beauties of the surrounding country, are seen to great advantage. The castle lies a short distance from the village of Ragland, on an elevated site, and forms the most picturesque and beautiful ruin I am anywhere ac- quainted with. It may rather be termed a castellated mansion than a castle, and is, in many parts, in good preservation, much of the elaborate carved stone-work remaining as shai'p and distinct as when first erected. The general view, obtained on entering the gates, is truly magnificent. Immediately in front is the grand entrance, guarded by three massive towers, their summits gracefully adorned with ivy, which hangs in thick drapery over the dim Gothic arch, through which a glimpse is gained of the decayed splendour of the inner court. The citadel, or Yellow Tower, as it was called, with its bastions, stands on the left; its surrounding moat is adorned by trees and shrubs, springing from crevices in the mouldering walls, and dipping their branches in the reflecting water below. A geometrical staircase leads to the top, where an extensive and diversified view may be enjoyed. RAGLAND CASTLE. 141 Ragland does not claim so many antiquarian honours as some other castles, not having been erected prior to the reign of Henry V. ; many additions were made to it in that of Elizabeth, and also so late as Charles I. The fashions of the arches, doors, windows, &c, are progressively of the intermediate ages. Its construction may be ascribed principally to Sir William ap Thomas, and his son, the earl of Pembroke; additions were made by the earls of Worcester, and the citadel and outworks were probably added by the marquis of Worcester, who last resided in this sumptuous mansion. During the civil commotions, Charles I. made several visits to Ragland Castle, and was entertained with great magnificence. At one time the king, being appre- hensive lest the stores of the castle should be consumed by his suite, empowered the marquis of Worcester to exact from the country such provisions as were necessary for his remuneration. " I humbly thank your Majesty," he answered, " but my castle would not long stand if it leaned upon the country ; I had rather be brought to a morsel of bread, than that any morsels of bread should be exacted from others." A speech worthy of remembrance and appreciation. The extreme beauty of parts of this grand edifice no pen, and but few pencils, can justly present to those who know not the reality.* The Fountain Court (so * It may not be amiss here to mention the obligations which the proprietors of this work are under to that highly-esteemed artist, and faithful delineator of scenery, Mr. David Cox, whose pencil has enriched and enhanced the value, not only of this volume, but also of that recently published on the Northern part of the Principality. The Beaufort Arms, at Eagland, is an excellent house. 142 KAGLAND CASTLE. called from a fountain of a white horse, long since departed) is singularly beautiful ; and the unobtrusive and truly good taste which has in some places added the loveliness and fragrance of sweet flowers, roses, jasmine, &c., among the "clambering ivy," is extremely pleasing. The space of ground within the castle walls is upwards of four acres. A smoothly-turfed raised terrace surrounds the moat ; and stately pageantries of olden days seem to revive from their long sleep, and airily glide before us while pacing along its quiet expanse. The Grand Hall has been cruelly disfigured by a recent daubing of the walls to imitate wainscot, done in preparation for a great banquet, given a short time since by the country gentlemen to Lord Granville Somerset, one of their members. To this hall was formerly attached a music gallery, and as the earl of Worcester was governor of all South Wales, the bards had used to assemble here on occasions of state. The present silence and solitude of the place is a strange contrast to that ecstasy of life and melody that in former times rang through it so merrily. The parks appertaining to this magnificent domain once extended to the distance of four miles. The camp of the besieging army, under Sir Thomas Fairfax, occupied a ridge of land about half a mile to the eastward of the castle, at the back of which were ex- tensive fish-ponds, covering a space of twenty acres. On the surrender of the castle, the magnificent library of the noble proprietor, said to be the finest in Europe, was completely destroyed. The apothegms of the marquis of Worcester are remarkable both for their wit and stern truth. The discourses which he held with RAGLAND CASTLE. 143 the unfortunate Charles, while he sojourned here, were singular for their boldness, and remind us of those which took place at Denbigh Castle with the same prince, when Sir John Salusbury, commonly called Blue Stocking, was governor of that fortress. Returning to Monmouth, Troy House claims a passing notice for the sake of the antiquities it is said to contain, — viz., the cradle of Henry V., apparently a machine of much more recent construction than its assigned era ; a suit of armour allotted by tradition to the same royal hero in his exploits at Agincourt, and a fine carved chimney-piece from Ragland Castle, whence, doubtless, the other two antiques have been obtained, having belonged to some of the Worcester family. An interesting little church at Micheltroy, and a curious cross in the pretty churchyard, where laurels and other evergreens form a garden among the tombs, attracted my attention in passing ; but nothing worthy of any lengthened description stayed my return to Monmouth, which, with its bright river and lovely scenery, looked in the distance like Fairy-land. Five miles from Monmouth, at the village of Treleck, are some interesting Druidical and British antiquities, consisting of monumental stones, sacred springs, an enormous tumulus, and other remains. On the height of Craig y dorth, close by, Owen Glyndwr obtained a victory CHAPTER IX. REDBR00K — LLANDOGO BROCKWEIR TINTERN — WIND- CLIFF PIERCEF1ELD — CHEPSTOW — BRISTOL CHANNEL. O sylvan Wye, thou wanderer through the woods, How often has my spirit turned to thee ! Thy beauteous forms, Through a long absence have not been to me As is a landscape to a blind man's eye : But oft, in lonely rooms, and 'mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart ; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration. Wordsworth's Wye Revisited. A calm bright afternoon of autumn found me quietly- journeying from royal Monmouth towards the end of my pleasant Wye wanderings; few greater pleasures could befall me than the enjoyment of Nature's glories so lavishly bestowed around. For a considerable dis- tance the scenery maintained the same rich character. On the Monmouthshire side of the river, a mile below the town, is the Church of Penalt, situated on the steep side of a wooded eminence, at the back of which is an extensive common. On this common is a large oak-tree, and at its foot a stone seat. When a corpse is brought by, on its way to the place of interment, it PENALT — REDBROOK. 1-15 is deposited on this stone, and the company sing a psalm over the body. Psalmody over the corpse signified the conquest of the deceased friend over hell, sin, and death. Here is an evident continuation of the oak and stones of Druidism and Celtic customs, altered into a Christian form. It is "the song of bards, which rose over the dead," mentioned in Ossian's death of Cuth- ullin ; an accompaniment of the Irish howl, and altered by the popes into the trental. The road winds for some distance along the side of lofty wooded hills, amid whose deep recesses the wood- man's axe was ringing, followed often by the rustling and heavy fall of some doomed tree ; while groups of women and children, busily engaged in barking the fallen timber, sent forth many a peal of merry-cadenced laughter. Instead of detailing these beauties of autumn in prose, I cannot do better than borrow a description, which in its materials will be found the metrical version of every one's thoughts in this woodland district. " Come now to the forest, for Autumn is there, She is painting its millions of leaves, With colours so varied, so rich, and so rare, That the eye scarce her cunning believes : She tinges and changes each leaf o'er and o'er, Nor flings it to earth till 'twill vary no more. "The glorious cedars she ever in vain Tries to dress in chameleon hue, For they brave all her arts, and the verdure retain Of their Spring-time the whole Winter through : And the sturdy Scot's fir lifts its dark-crested head Unchanged o'er the path where the brown leaves are spread." Upper and Lower lledbrook, beyond Penalt, on the Gloucestershire side, present, in their busy manufac- 146 st. briavel's castle. turing activity, a lively, and, in passing, not an un- pleasing contrast to the stillness of the wide hills and woods ; large iron and tin works being carried on there. The small stream which gives the villages their name, serves to turn several mills ; and the little cot- tages mingled with other more pretending structures in the village valley, with the woods around, and the Hill of Highbury to the south (apparently the site of an ancient intrenchment), form an interesting landscape. Passing on by Whitebrook, a busy station for paper- mills. Pen y Van Hill appears on the right bank, a large heathery eminence, with a promontory-like summit crowned by a Maypole, around which the merry dances and festivities of the olden time are kept up by the peasantry in due season, with great spirit. Bordering the road, about a mile from where it crosses the river, is a tasteful Anglo-Swiss cottage residence, called " The Florence," the shooting-seat of the late Captain Rooke. Crossing the Wye over a handsome iron bridge, cast at Merthyr Tydvil, Big's Weir House, the forsaken family mansion of Mr. Rooke's forefathers, with its gardens and terraces, forms an important and pleasing object in the view ; behind which rises the lofty Hud- knolls, on whose summit the remains of St. Briavel's Castle still exist. The fortress of St. Briavel stands on the verge of the forest of Dean ; it was built by the earl of Hereford, in the reign of Henry I., and appears to have been of considerable magnitude and strength; it was formerly the residence of the Lords Warden of the marches of England and Wales ; and in it there is still held an occasional court — a remnant of feudal LLANDOGO — BUOCKWEIR. 147 Saxon jurisprudence. From the summit are rich and varied prospects, including several villages and woods, the bright meandering river, and many distant eminences. We now enter the little village of Llandogo, on the right of which is a new mansion belonging to J. Gough, Esq., of Perry Barr, in Staffordshire, erected in the Tudor style, from a design by Mr. Wyatt, of London. It is built of the rich red stone of the hill quarry, and occupies a terraced site surrounded by a buttressed wall, on the woody side of the Cleddon hill, and is itself a beautiful object to the eye of the traveller, while it commands, from its bay-windows, the beauties of the surrounding scenery. Near it is a ravine closely embraced by overhanging trees, down which flows the cascade of Cleddon Shoots. Presently the Wye becomes a tide river, and the former purity of the stream is quite sullied and lost. Brookweir or Brockweir, a prettily situated and populous little hamlet, lies on the left bank, and from the sights and sounds about, I should conclude shipbuilding to be the reigning craft of the place. Here large trows from Bristol, borne up by the tide, transfer their heavy ladings to lighter vessels. Brockweir is about nine miles from Monmouth, and midway between the town and Chepstow by water. Following a short bend of the river round some ver- dant meadows, we pass the small straggling village of Tintern Parva, at the head of which is the little tower- less church, with its two venerable yews, and the ruined building of what was once probably the private dwelling of the abbot of Tintern; and passing round another horse-shoe curve, reach Abbey Tintern, amid whose squalid huts and dingy houses the stately ruin of l 2 148 TINTERN ABBEY. its once and even still magnificent Abbey Church rears its proud head. " How many hearts have here grown cold, That sleep these mouldering stones among ! How many beads have here been told ! How many matins here been sung. " But here no more soft music floats, No holy anthems chanted now ; All hushed except the ring-dove's notes, Low murm'ring from yon beachen bough." Seated in a picturesque and mountain-girt valley, close to the Wye, the position of Tintern Abbey is every way calculated to render it a grand landscape beauty. With eyes bent on the ground, the visitor carefully enters the low western door, and then raising his glance and gazing around, he is either less easily excited to ad- miration, or has more command over himself than I, if he can refrain from some demonstration of delight. The ruin is two hundred and thirty feet in length, and sixty- three in breadth. The transept is one hundred and fifty feet long. The architecture is scarcely even defaced by time, but few columns having fallen ; and the loss of these is partly hidden, and quite compensated for, by the rich, heavy folds of nature's most graceful drapery, luxuriant ivy, which adorns the lofty aisles and transepts of this majestic edifice, and scarcely suffers us to regret that it is a ruin. Small ferns and flowers of many hues spring from every ledge and opening, and the massy broken walls sustain a tiny forest of ash, and privet, and wild intertwining roses, — while the fragrant and beautiful wall-flower wanders over arch and window, decking TINTEEN ABBEY. 119 them with its fair garb of green and gold, and crowning the decaying pile as with a halo. The area of the ruin has been rather too neatly- cleared, and is smoothly turfed over, with the prostrate columus and fragments ranged carefully along. But the very smoothness of the ground, however incon- sistent, perhaps only renders the grand proportions of the " long-drawn aisle" more striking and beautiful. Roofed only by the vault of heaven — paved only with the grass of earth, Tintern is probably now more impressive and truly beautiful, than when " with storied windows richly dight;" for Nature has claimed her share in its adornment, and what painter of glass, or weaver of tapestry, may be matched with her? The singularly light and elegant eastern window, with its one tall mullion ramifying at the top, and leaving the large open spaces beneath to admit the distant land- scape of the waving woods of Shorn Cliff, is one chief feature in Tintern. The western window is peculiarly rich in ornament, and those of the two transepts of like character, though less elevated. By the kindness of the duke of Beaufort, a strong iron railing is passed round the upper walls, so that the visitor may with safety traverse the greater part of the transept, at a considerable height from the floor. I availed myself of his grace's provision, and mounted the winding stair- case, tablets in hand, and became sensible how much better my eye could measure the magnitude of the building from this midway elevation. 1 had no sooner ascended this tower than the sentinel crow gave audible notice of my intrusion, and the whole ruins became vocal with the petulant clamour of the ebony tribe 150 TINTERN ABBEY. against this invasion of their ancient domain. Even from the height on which I stood, the strangers below appeared little better than pigmies, and the sonorous voice of the old cicerone sounded strangely as he told to each new comer his wearisome tale. When I had finished my aerial survey, I descended again to the floor, and passed in review confessionals and sacristy, refectory, kitchens, and dormitories^ all silent, tenant- less, and in ruins. The area of the refectory bears an orchard of apple and pear trees, which, in the blossom- ing season, must look like the very bitterness of mockery upon these deserted halls. The wilderness of nettles, creepers, wild weeds, and old fantastic trees, that crowd the garden, seem as if they had mobbed the good fathers out of their paradise, and set up a democracy of all ill-looking, irreverend, and venomous things. The northern and southern doorways are of a different architectural order to the purer Gothic style of the rest of the abbey, and bear evidences of the transition state from the Saxon to the Norman styles. Several mutilated monuments lie among the archi- tectural fragments on the turf; one represents a knight in chain-mail, with crossed legs, as a crusader, or a vowee to take the cross : it is ascribed to Gilbert Strongbow (a hero often spoken of in these pages), as the Abbey Chronicle mentioned his interment here. Sir S. R. Meyrick considers the effigy to be that of Roger de Bigod. "In the year 610, Ceolwulph, king of Wessex, attacked the Britons in Glamorganshire. Theodoric, or Tewdric, the Welsh Roitelet of that country, had resigned the throne to his son Maurice, and f lcd an TINTERN ABBEY. 151 eremitical life among the rocks of Dindyrn.' H!s former subjects used to say, that he had always been victorious, and that as soon as he shewed his face his enemies took to flight. They accordingly dragged him from the desert against his will, and the royal hermit, once more a general, routed the Saxons at this place. In the action he received a mortal wound on the head, and desired his body to be buried, and a church to be built upon the spot where he should happen to die. This place was Mathern, near Chepstow ; and Bishop Godwin says that he there saw his remains in a stone coffin." Tintern Abbey was founded for Cistercian Monks, in 1131, by Walter de Clare, "for the health of my soul/' as his charter ran, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This Walter was a descendant of a family to whom William the Conqueror gave sundry estates in this neighbourhood, together with the privilege of possessing all he could wrest from the Welsh. He was succeeded by his brother Gilbert, surnamed Strongbow, first earl of Pembroke, who confirmed to the monks all the lands, possessions, liberties, and immunities granted by his predecessors. Afterwards, the male line failing, the heiress was married to Hugh Bigod, earl of Norfolk. At the time of the dissolution there were only thirteen inmates. The abbey and estates were given by Henry VIII. to the earl of Worcester, and subsequently became the property of the dukes of Beaufort. The remnants of the wall which inclosed the abbey grounds may yet be seen on one side climbing the hill, amidst the green umbrage of the forest, and on the other stands the water-gate, with its ruined defences, 152 TINTERN ABBEY. through which the monks issued to cast a dragon-fly on the stream, and furnish the refectory with the delicious " salmons " of the bountiful Wye. The road gradually ascends beyond Tintern, to a considerable height above the river, embracing grand and varied prospects, combining the rugged cliffs of the opposite bank, partially adorned by wood; the broad quiet river, speckled with its coracles and salmon-fishers, looking in the distance like walnut-shells set floating by fairies; and the grand precipitous rocks, through which the road is made, rising abruptly from the shadowed path, or fantastically grouped with rich wood and waving flowers, stretching towards the blue heaven above. But I would pray the reader to pause when he arrives at the point immediately opposite the northern aspect of the old ruin, and contemplate for a moment the beautiful doorway, which there presents itself, with its pediment surmounted by green branches and white elder-flowers, — to glance through the line of arches that spring along the transept, — and to watch the bright sunshine gleaming through the glorious marigold, and glittering amongst the bold projections and rich tracery of its exquisite window. I must confess that I was disappointed at the first sight of Tintern Abbey. The straggling row of com- mon-place buildings that marshalled the road to it, and the low miserable cottages that surrounded it, served greatly to subdue the enthusiasm in which I had indulged on the way ; but when I stood upon the green floor of the venerable ruins, and gazed upon this almost perfect example of architectural beauty, I felt that I had come within the macric circle of enchant- TINTERN ABBEY — WINDCLIFF. 153 ment, from which I had neither the power nor the wish to escape. Nor is it only the magnificence and grace of the ruined buildings which attract the eye on all sides and fill the mind ; but the memory is unlocked, the reading of ancient days is set forth in all its ample leaves, and imagination supplies the august and glow- ing pictures that belong to the age of its glory, when the high altar blazed with light at the sacrifice of the mass, or when the full rich voices of the monks chanted the Breviary service, from the early matins and lauds to the evening vespers and complins, — when the bright summer sun flashed through its painted windows, and fell upon the tessellated pavement in a " glorious path of rays," for the solemn procession of the holy fathers, or gleamed with mild lustre amongst the pointed arches, when the solitary brother, in penitence and prayer, told his Ave Maria before the image of the Blessed Virgin. I felt the devotional sentiment steal gently over me, and I stayed not to inquire whether sense or faith, whether spiritual perceptions or mere imagination, had most to do in calling it forth : it was sufficient for me that it was present to my consciousness, transfusing the past, the present, and the future, into one mingled stream of rich, grateful feeling. " Shades of past fame, farewell ! the glooms ye cast ! The melancholy pleasures ye have bred ! There are, who fain would fly into the past. And where I, but a weeping pilgrim, tread, As cowled monks hide for aye the aching head ! " About three miles from Tintern, a fanciful little habitation, called the " Moss Cottage," appears to the right of the road, built by the duke of Beaufort, for the 154 WINDCL1FF. accommodation of parties visiting Windcliff, to the summit of which grand eminence, several paths lead through the rocks and underwood. The most approved plan is to ascend by a somewhat circuitous, but easy route, nearer St. Arvan's. On gaming the open space, one of the most extensive and beautiful views that can be imagined bursts upon the eye, or rather, I should say, a vast group of views of distinct and opposite character here seem to blend and unite in one. At a depth of about eight hundred feet, the steep descent below presents in some places single projecting rocks; in others, a green bushy precipice. In the valley, the eye follows for several miles the course of the Wye, which issues from a wooded glen on the left hand, curves round a green garden-like peninsula, rising into a hill studded with beautiful clumps of trees, then forces its foaming way to the right, along a huge wall of rock, nearly as high as the point where you stand, and at length, beyond Chepstow Castle, which looks like a ruined city, empties itself into the Bristol Channel, where ocean closes the dim and misty distance. On the other side of the river, immediately in front, the peaked tops of a long ridge of hills extend nearly the whole district which the eye commands. It is thickly clothed with wood, out of which a continuous wall of rock, festooned with ivy, picturesquely rears its head. Over this ridge (Llancaut Cliffs, or Bannagor Crags) you again discern water, — the Severn five miles broad, thronged with white sails, on either side of which are seen blue ridges of hills, full of fertility and cultivation. The grouping of the landscape is perfect. I know of no picture more beautiful. Inexhaustible in PIERCEFIELD. 155 details, of boundless extent, and yet marked by such grand and prominent features, that confusion and monotony, the usual defects of a very wide prospect, are completely avoided. The descent from Windcliff to the Moss Cottage is easily made by means of steps cut in the rock, amid shrubs and wood of great variety and beauty, and presents the landscape in an unceasing diversity of forms. Piercefield Park, the marvel of the last and the attrac- tion of the present generation, extends nearly from Windcliff to Chepstow, and is certainly a beautiful example of landscape-gardening ; but to a mind which has become familiarized with the grand and simple scenes of nature, a ramble through the three-mile walk of Piercefield Terrace is far less gratifying than the same distance would prove through the wild greenwood, or over the breezy hills. Maugre all this, we owe much to the taste which has adorned this place, and to the liberality which has thrown it open to the public for their gratification. The attractions of Piercefield arise from the peculiar features of nature, forming almost every element in pictorial composition, which are assembled on this spot, or which belong to its neighbourhood. The park itself is comparatively small, not extending over more than three hundred acres, in the centre of which is the mansion; but the varieties on its surface, and the manner in which it gently undulates on one side, and on the other descends precipitately into a deep vale, — the thick majestic woods, which encompass some portions of it, and the graceful masses that adorn others, — the single trees that fling their arms on all 156 PIERCEFIELD. sides in supreme beauty, — the gentle slopes, the rising hills, the stern bald crags, the rolling river giving the sweet voice of its waters to the umbrage around, — the mingling of colours under the first tints of autumn, — the sublime, the terrific, and the beautiful, singularly, and as it were accidentally, combined, give to Pierce- field a charm, which makes it the Hafod or the Elan of Monmouthshire. The hand of taste has been here too, not in its crudities and patchwork, but in its enchanting disclosures of the natural beauties and sublime originals of the place, in its graceful combinations, and in its captivating allurements of shades and openings, and winning promises of fresh delights to the onward visitor. The kindly feeling of the proprietor is obvious in the provision he has made of walks and ascents for the most comprehensive views, of resting-places for the foot of the traveller, of grottos scooped from the rocks, and of flower-embroidered alcoves, where the wood's minstrelsy may be most enjoyed, and in the labour he has employed to afford engagement to the memory and the fancy, while the senses have been thus regaled, — and all this surrounded, as it is, by the wild and untameable in nature, by gibbous and craggy rocks, precipices, magnificent mountains, the boundless forest, and tracks of heath and moorland. The proprietor to whom Piercefield owes its improve- ment, and the public their enjoyment, was Mr.Valentine Morris. His history is short and melancholy. In the course of the American war he was appointed governor of the island of St. Vincent, where he expended a large sum from his own private fortune in its fortifications. Upon its fall, the minister of the day disavowed LLANCAUT CRAGS — CHEPSTOW. 157 Lis claim for compensation. His creditors became clamorous, and lie was cast into the King's Bench prison, where he languished for twelve years. He was released from his confinement, broken in health and spirits, suffering most of all from the domestic calamity which his fallen fortunes had produced, in the insanity of his wife, and shortly after he died at the house of a relative in London. He was a generous and benevolent man, as the poor of his neighbourhood could well testify. On his departure for the West Indies, they came in troops to bid him a tearful farewell, and the muffled bells of the neighbouring church rang a funeral knell as he left the home of his love, and the scenes which he had embellished both by his taste and his life. From Llancaut Crags, on the opposite bank, a view is gained little inferior to the one at Windcliff; indeed, the difficulty would be to find a spot in this picture-like neighbourhood whence some grand or picturesque pro- spect could not be enjoyed ; and numerous delightfully situated residences prove how well the surrounding beauties are appreciated. On approaching Chepstow, the main point of attrac- tion is its ancient castle, a grand ruin crowning the whole length of a projecting rock, near which a hand- some iron bridge spans the now busy river. According to Lambarde, the Saxons named this place Chepstow, " which is," as the chronicler writes, " no more to say but a market, bycause it lay comodiouslye to briuge thinges unto, and vented theim abrode wheare nede was, at it yet dothe." Under the name of Estbrighoel or Striguil, the castle is mentioned in Domesday Book ; and is said to have been built by William Fitzosborn, 158 CHEPSTOW CASTLE. earl of Hereford, killed in 1070, who erected it out of the ruins of the ancient Caerwent, or Vent a Silurum. The remains show that the old castle was nearly all taken down, and rebuilt in the thirteenth century. The duke of Beaufort holds it by descent from the Herberts. Castles were built according to the form of the ground; that at Caerlaverock being a triangle ; and Chepstow is a parallelogram, standing on a high rock, and con- sists of successive courts flanked on the land side by an immense ditch and town walls, and on the other side by the Wye. The entrance is by a gateway with round towers : between these are machicolations. The ancient gates remain, and consist of planks covered with iron plates laid upon a strong lattice, and fastened by iron bolts. "Within one door is the original wicket, about three feet high, and only eighteen inches wide ; requiring no small care to enter its narrow aperture, and climb over its high step without personal detriment. Passing under the portcullis-arch, the first court is entered, in which the domestic offices were situated ; and a tower at the south-east extremity is pointed out as the one in which Henry Marten, one of the judges of Charles I., passed, for the most part of twenty years, a dreary imprisonment, and where he ended his life.* This tower was the keep or citadel. The exterior wall * Henry Marten was the son of Sir Henry Marten, a celebrated judge in the time of James I. He is described as a man of great intelligence and exquisite wit, but of licentious manners. He is said to have died as he lived, " with the fierce spirit of a republican." He wrote his own epitaph in the form of an acrostic, which is placed over his grave, in the north transept of the church, containing sentiments better suited to a sceptic than a Puritan preacher, as he at one time was. CHEPSTOW CASTLE. 159 is much more ancient than the one facing the court, and the interior appears to have contained commodious apartments, with spacious fireplaces, &c. From this tower a line of communication, or terraced walk, runs inside the outer wall along the whole building, ascend- ing by steps from tower to tower. In the old Norman keep this gallery used in like manner to run under arches round the whole inside. This being a thirteenth- century castle, where the defence consisted of numerous towers (it is said to have contained sixteen), the line of communication was altered accordingly. The most lofty and interesting portion of Chepstow Castle is now called the chapel; but in castles the chapel was not usually the most striking object ; and as this beautiful remain has apartments above, there is every reason to think that the lower part was not a chapel, but the grand hall, especially as an oriel window, in the style of the thirteenth century, and remarkably rich in its architectural decorations, still exists to con- firm the supposition. A terrace and wall, on the very edge of the cliff, rendered this part impervious to mis- sile weapons. Within the hall a range of niches are seen, usual in Norman keeps, and called, by presump- tion, seats for the guard or attendants.* I next explored a damp and gloomy subterranean vault, with a groined roof and an aperture for the ad- mission of the few rays of light that struggle through * A priestly legend was given to the people, which invested this chapel with the character of extraordinary sanctity. It was related to have been erected by Longinus, a Jew, and father of the soldier who pierced the side of Christ. For some offence he was condemned to seek the shores of Britain, and erect a religious edifice on the river Wye. 1G0 CHEPSTOW CASTLE. the overhanging and entangled ivy and brushwood of the rock in which this dismal apartment is formed ; on peering through the opening, the Wye is seen at a great depth below, rolling heavily along ; and the head grows dizzy with gazing from the murky dungeon down the terrific precipice. If this were the prison, surely a brief sojourn in it ought to expiate even a weighty error. I looked at the ponderous rings in the rocky wall, and thought of the " Prisoner of Chillon," and then eagerly bounded up the foot-worn stair into light and liberty — heartily thankful that the years were for ever gone by, when feudal tyranny could incarcerate its wretched victims in such cruel durance. This fortress seems to have been built by Roger de Bigod, about the same time as Tintern Abbey church. It underwent some partial alterations in the end of the fifteenth century, probably by William Herbert, earl of Pembroke, who was deeply engaged in the wars of York and Lancaster. The town was very strongly fortified, and the remains of its defences are still con- siderable. Leland, that veracious antiquary, thus de- scribes it in his time : — " The towne of Chepstowe hath bene very stoutly waulled, as yet doth appere. The waulles began at the ende of the great bridge over Wye, and so came to the castle, the which yet standeth fayr and strong." Several monastic and ecclesiastical remains may be found in the neighbourhood. The town occupies a pleasing situation, being built on a hill gradually ascending from the river, amid scenery of the grandest description, but contains few buildings w r orthy of notice except the castle. A cell of the foreign abbey of Cor- CHEPSTOW. 1^1 neille existed here as early as the reign of Stephen. On the north side of the chapel of this priory are Roman bricks. The present parish church includes most of its remains, and forms a curious specimen of Norman architecture, particularly the western entrance. The old gate is an interesting piece of antiquity, but much injured by time. The bridge over the Wye is substantial and elegant, consisting of five iron arches resting on stone piers. It is five hundred and thirty-two feet long ; the centre arch is one hundred and ten feet, and the other two, on each side of it, seventy and fifty-four feet each in span. It has been remarked, that the tide rises higher here than in any other place in the kingdom — from fifty to sixty feet. The reason assigned is, that the rocks of Beachley and Aust, which project into the Severn im- mediately above the Wye, cause such an extraordinary swell that the stream is impelled up this river. At Chepstow I went on board a steam-vessel for Bristol, with the intention of taking the packet from thence to Tenby the following morning. Proceeding steadily down the Wye, it was observable that the fair and clear mountain-stream had changed to a broad and stately river. Picturesque cliffs flank her course on the left, displaying a curiously-varied stratification, and crowned with overhanging wood. On the right, the gradually-rising ground soon exhibited the remains of the ancient town wall, or, as it is now called, the Port Wall, fortified by numerous round towers, on an appa- rently artificial elevation. Gliding smoothly on, in the golden light of an autumn afternoon (for my wander- ings had now extended from spring to the first month M 1G2 CHEPSTOW. of that rich season of the year), I soon found the river widening rapidly, and recognising Aust cliffs, and the little ruined shrine of St. Tecla, on its island rock, I knew that the Wye here mingled her waves with those of her sister stream, the Severn. I might finish my Wye explorations very fitly in the words of Mr. Gray : — " The very principal light and capital feature of my journey was the river Wye, which I descended in a boat for nearly forty miles, from Ross to Chepstow. Its banks are a succession of nameless beauties." CHAPTER X. TENBY CARMARTHEN BAY LLANSTEPIIAN CASTLE LAMPHEY PALACE MANORBEER CASTLE OCEAN, ETC. Old Ocean ! how I love thy roar ; it seem3 To my attentive ear as though it sung Of ancient days, and had grown hoarse with age. The jargon of old Babel wand'rers has been Beside thy waters. Thou hast caught the sound, And speak'st all languages. In thy soft calm voice, The whisp'ring music from Idalian groves Comes richly fraught with perfumed melody. That earnest sigh, drawn from thy depths and caves, Is vocal witli the tale of wrecks, — as sad As the last breath of gasping, drowning men, Or stranded mariner, from some desert isle, Sending his soul homeward. Thy stormy voice Gathers the shout of hosts and multitudes That erst have thronged thy shores. Thy rolling waves Are a deep trackless path to distant lands ; And east and west, and north and south, are joined By thee in fellowship, as one great family. The Old Bard, The county of Pembroke pushes boldly forward in the form of a broad rugged promontory, on its western and northern sides, into the wide world of waters, touching easterly the counties of Cardigan and Car- marthen. The reader who has followed me from the pictured valleys and wood-crowned hills of the beautiful Wye, Avhich the hand of man has so profusely deco- M 2 164 TENBY. rated, will find himself suddenly transported to a region of barrier rocks, standing like the Pillars of Hercules, with their bases lashed for ages by the storm-driven waves of the ocean. At the south extremity of a small bay, offering an excellent roadstead for vessels, and situated some ten miles from the county town, stands the well-known watering-place of Tenby, " the boast of Pembrokeshire." Almost unrivalled for the beauty of its situation and the extent of its marine prospects, the town "peninsu- lateth," as Leland says, upon a bold but irregular pile of cliffs, rising above the sea — Caldy Island breaking the violence of the waves from the Atlantic Ocean. The far-extending view from the Castle Hill, looking easterly, embracing the whole of Carmarthen Bay, is carried forward to the Goskar Rock, and below it to what are termed the Norton Sands. Passing over nu- merous bays and promontories, the Monkstone Point next is seen ; and then, again receding, the coast forms the bay of Sandisfoot. The summit of Amroth Castle, the waters of Llaugharne Bay, the mouth of the Towey, the pinnacles of Kidwelly Castle, and part of the town, are within range of the eye ; and afar off the broad promontory of Gowerland, and the towering rock called the TVormshead, in the Bristol Channel, stretch away to the extreme point of vision. Scarcely less magnificent the prospect opens towards the south, exhibiting St. Catharine's Rock, on which are the ruins of an antiquated building; Caldy Island, and that of St. Catharine, with the Bristol Channel; and occasionally, on fine days, parts of the Somersetshire coast. Giltar Point terminates the prospect to the west. **sfe TENBY. 165 Although the architectural remains of the district are numerous, and convey to the traveller some idea of their ancient extent, but little is left entire of the old castle of Tenby; a single tower and some dilapidated "walls being the only evidences of its former splendour. These ruins present a singular contrast to the neat pretty walks and seats formed on the surrounding rock for the accommodation of visitors, from which the ex- pansive sea is beheld to great advantage, studded with fishing-boats and ships. Here strangers and residents hasten to watch the arrival and departure of steam- boats and other vessels. The church stands on an elevated part, nearly in the centre of the town, and is an ancient structure, with modern additions and im- provements. The interior is rich in sepulchral sculp- ture, and other monumental records; amongst which is one in the north aisle to John Moore, of Moorhayes, Devon, who died for love : — " He that from home for love was hither brought, Is now brought home ; thus God for him has wrought." A pilgrimage would doubtless be made to this tomb by all consumptive maidens, but for this droll circumstance, that he was the father of a large family — six sons and ten daughters, — which he had by his first wife, and he died here while in search of a second. The church has a tower and spire, esteemed the highest in Wales, which proves a useful landmark to the far-off mariner. From the hotel windows, when the weather is unpropitious, and the white-winged heralds of the storm hover in sight, or utter their warning cry, the visitor can still 166 st. catiiaiune's island. console himself with contemplating the wide expanse of waters, now full of " sound and fury/' raising their angry crests, and exhibiting the varying phases of the mighty ocean. Nearly south-west of the town rise those wild masses of rock forming the island of St. Catharine, and more distant those of St. Margaret and Caldy. In all wea- thers the effect to the eye, with the Norton Sands, bounded by their majestic cliffs, is as varied as it is picturesque; the sands on the south and west offer spacious and romantic walks close to the rocks, nearly as far as the grand promontory of Giltar. Of the style of living at Tenby, during the summer, I can speak in just terms of eulogy; but, as regards winter, the people of the neighbourhood, it is said, chiefly subsist upon codfish during the whole season. Even the fields are occasionally enriched with the same article, to render them more productive.* The women, iu men's hats and jackets, assist in agricultural labour ; and the country people understand the art of making good fires in their kitchens, which burn for a week together, with fuel that makes scarcely any smoke. Ever since my little trip from Holyhead, along the northern coast of Anglesea, to view its grand marine caverns — the work of a thousand storms — and the no less singular appearance of the South Stack Light- house^ on its little rock below the mountain of Caer Gybi, where I spent some pleasant hours, I had not * This place was a principal town of the Flemish settlers, and once boasted of most productive fishing-banks, which are now either lost or shifted. t See "Koscoe's North Wales," p. 155. CARMARTHEN BAY. 1G7 ceased to watch an occasion for the enjoyment of an- other cruise, and this the fine expanse of Carmarthen Bay supplied to my heart's desire. Without loss of time I engaged a small yacht, and with a companion or two of my own mood, taking advantage of a gentle breeze, early one fine clear morning, we trimmed our sails and steered away for Llanstephan Castle, holding our course as near as convenient to the land, which enabled me to observe the different features of the coast, and then fetching a point or two to the south, we spread our canvas to the wind, and bore up right ahead for the old ruius. The weather was delightful, not a cloud dimmed "the blue serene," a delicious change to one long the denizen of smoky cities ; and I could not but exclaim — "This hour is lovely, as the morning beam Dances o'er eastern rock, and hill, and stream ; This hour is lovely, as the sun's pure light Bursts irom the sea upon the ravish'd sight." No wonder we are a nation of voyagers, fond of change and travel, and subduing all the elements with the necromancy of science to promote our objects. We are, indeed, the real conjurers who have dived deepest into the old black art of converting our baser metal into gold, and rendering earth and ocean alike tributary to the potent spell of industry and enterprise. There is, too, something like enchantment in sailing " o'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea," no one will deny ; and that it is very like conjuring, — to say nothing of the glory of naval sovereignty, the thrilling pleasure of bounding from shore to shore and from 1G8 CARMARTHEN BAY. clime to clime, — in laying the products of all lands upon our own home-quays. " Oh, who can tell, save he whose heart hath tried, And danced in triumph o'er the waters wide, The exulting sense — the pulse's maddening play, That thrills the wanderer of that trackless way ! " Yet let no one contemn the homely joys of a little inland trip, with its variety of picturesque and sublime objects, and the rude health and feeling of joyous hilarity which, in spite of oneself, it will produce. After making more than four hours' sail, we stood off opposite Ginst Point, between which and the coast near Llanishmael, those two noble rivers, the Taff and the Towey, roll their wedded streams into the broad blue bay. Directing our course next up the Towey, we had the Taff on the left, and were presently borne by the sheer strength of the tide within sight of the once- celebrated Castle of Llanstephan, finely situated on the brow of an elevated promontory. From its still bold dimensions, it must have been of commanding height, and breadth, and strength, and is supposed to have been erected in the year 1138. The chroniclers relate that it was besieged in 1145 by a large force of Nor- mans, English, and Flemings, and defended bravely by Meredith ap Gruffyd. The besiegers were more nume- rous than the garrison, but the ready skill of Meredith baffled all their plans. An escalade was attempted, the ladders were placed, and the foemen filled every step to the summit, when the gallant commander, by the aid of some machines he had invented for the purpose, over- threw them all, and so distressed the enemy that they CASTLE OF LLAXSTEPHAN. ] G9 were compelled to make a hasty retreat, and finally to raise the siege. Standing upon its grass-grown and melancholy ruins, I beheld prospects spreading below me in all their primitive beauty and splendour ; fresh and gay as in the early days of that crumbling and shapeless mass, within whose stately halls sat knights and ladies, and from whose flowery lattices they gazed forth upon the same ever-varying, inconstant sea, — the blue arch of heaven, — and all that earth held of beau- tiful, in river, mountain, headland, and bay, — the very same that I now descried, stretching away far as the Worm's Head; and on the other side, the arrowy bounding Towey, and portions of the district, with the same peculiar features, towards Carmarthen. The vil- lage of Llanstephan is pleasantly situated at the foot, and on the sides, of the beautiful hill, a little below the castle. Intending, upon my route towards Pembroke, to visit the fine old Castle of Manorbeer, and the interesting ruins of the episcopal Palace of Lamphey, I took the nearest track to the sea. I could thus indulge my native predilections, imbibed in boyhood upon the shores of the Mersey and the Dee, for coast scenery, and the variety of prospects afforded by the ocean. Proceeding about four miles to the village of Lidstip, which gives the name of Lidstip Haven to an adjoining bay, protected from the western blasts by a range of high land, I obtained a splendid panoramic view, em- bracing Giltar Point, Caldy Island, and the Bristol Channel, enlivened by vessels of all kinds passing up and down. It fully repaid me for the route I had taken, and presented an opportunity of examining the 170 MANORBEER CASTLE. different strata of the rocks in the immense stone- quarries, which here give employment to the greater part of the neighbouring population. From hence a pleasant walk, still affording picturesque views, brought me in about two miles to the dreary, and, I am sorry to add, dirty village of Manorbeer. From the number of fragments, the " disjecta mem- bra" of nobler edifices, strewn far around, the Manor- beer of other times would appear to have been much more extensive than at the present period. The ancient castle is seen beetling high over the sea, its massy walls remaining yet almost entire. It is situated, as described by Leland, "between two little hillettes," and is an extensive but irregular edifice, adapted for warlike times, and provided with apertures for the dis- charge of missile weapons, instead of windows, the light being admitted only from the inner court. In the old feudal style, the chief entrance was by a noble gateway, protected by a semicircular court with a large barbican, and strongly flanked with bastions. Its ponderous towers, and the extent of its site, still to be traced amidst a scene so wild and desolate, present a strange contrast to its by-gone days of power and splendour, and throw a savage, sombre air over the vicinity. Its size and position are truly grand ; from whatever spot it is viewed, the observer cannot fail to be struck with its stately magnitude and air of dignity.* * Dr. Samuel Johnson says, in reference to these Cambrian fortresses, " one of the castles in Wales would contain all he had seen in Scotland." The ruins of Manorbeer give the most perfect idea of an old baronial establishment. It does not appear that it was ever the object of any hostile attack, and it ceased to be inhabited before the feudal age had passed away, or any changes had been made in its original architecture. MANOItBEER CASTLE. 171 Here in the twelfth century was born the great historian of the Principality, Giraldus Silvester, com- monly known by his patronymic of Cambrensis, — the secretary, adviser, and travelling companion of Arch- bishop Baldwyn, — one of the most active and intelli- gent ecclesiastics of his times j " a man," as old Lam- barde says, " wel learned, and as the tyme served, eloquent/' He visited Jerusalem, took a survey of Ireland, and wrote descriptions of the different coun- tries over which he travelled. He was descended, on the maternal side, from Rhys ap Tewdwr, one of the princes of Wales. At an early age, evincing a taste for reading, he was removed to the residence of his uncle, the Bishop of St. David's, who superintended his edu- cation. He then went to the continent, where he re- mained three years, and on his return to England, in 1172, took orders, and was soon after presented Avith the archdeaconry of St. David's. At the decease of his uncle, the chapter elected Giraldus as his successor in that see ; but Henry II. refused to ratify their choice, not thinking it prudent to raise a man of such talents and influence to the bench, who was allied with the princes of the country. After this repulse, Giraldus again visited France, and on his return was appointed one of the chaplains to the king, who committed to his care the education of his son John. During his resi- dence in Ireland, he was offered two bishoprics, which, however, he refused; and in 1187 accompanied Arch- bishop Baldwyn to preach the crusade through Wales. Two years afterwards he attended King Henry to France, and, after his decease, was employed by Richard I. He refused the bishoprics of Bangor and 172 MAXORBEER CASTLE. Landaff, having an eye on that of St. David's; but taking offence at repeated disappointments, he resigned his preferments, retired from public notice, and spent the remainder of his life in literary pursuits. Giraldus thus describes his native place : — " The Castle of Maenorpyrr is distant about three miles from Penbroch. It is excellently well defended by turrets and bulwarks. On the right hand a rivulet of never- failing water flows through a valley, rendered sandy by the violence of the winds. * * * This country is well supplied with corn, sea-fish, and imported wines, and is tempered by a salubrious air. Demetia, there- fore, with its seven cantreds, is the most beautiful, as well as the most powerful district of Wales ; Penbroch, the finest province of Demetia; and the place I have just described, the most delightful part of Penbroch. It is evident, therefore, that Maenorpyrr is the paradise of all Wales." The author may be pardoned for having thus extolled his native soil, his genial territory, with a profusion of praise and admiration. Fronting the south side, across a small dingle watered by the rivulet Giraldus refers to, which supplied the fishponds of the castle, is seen the church, upon an elevated slope, with its single tower. Under a plain canop}' in the chancel is a tomb supporting the effigy of a crusader, clad in a mixture of ring and plate armour, such as was worn soon after the Conquest, having his shield charged with the arms of Barri, whose family formerly possessed the castle and its domain. From the castle there are varied and extensive pro- spects, comprising the elegant mansion of Stackpole, the grand promontory beyond, called St. Govan's Head, MANORBEER BAY — LAMPIIEY PALACE. 173 and the Bristol Channel. The mighty ocean rolls its resistless surges along Manorbeer Bay towards the main, and, breaking impetuously against the rocks below, mingles its sublime and eternal music with the wild seamew's cries, appealing to the eye and the imagina- tion with more than ordinary power. From this singularly wild and picturesque portion of the coast, I took my way through the villages of James- town and Hodgeston to the interesting ruins of Lam- phey, hardly more than three miles from Pembroke. The remains of this once magnificent palace are situated in meadows, and some parts, not yet dilapidated, have been appropriated to ornament the approach to a more recently erected mansion, close to the ancient edifice. It is mentioned, that to Bishop Gower may be ascribed its grandeur and extent, as that part with the arched parapet (found also in his other buildings — the Palace of St. David's and Castle of Swansea), particularly characterizes his style. It owes something also to his successors, Adam Hoton, and Vaughan, the founder of that elegant chapel in the cathedral of St. David which goes by his name. In this palace dwelt Bishop Rawlins, who attended Sir Rhys ap Thomas in his tournament at Carew Castle. The licentious Barlow was the last bishop that resided here, of whom it is said by one of his own relations, " that he was the first Protestant bishop who, contrary to the canons of the apostles, violated his faith, assumed a wife, and being given to sensuality, drunkenness, and lasciviousness, broke his vows by contracting matrimony with a lady abbess." Old Fuller has preserved a curious epitaph on Agatha Wcllsburn, the lady abbess who became the wife of the 171 LAMPHEY PALACE. bishop, found in one of the churches of Hampshire, which he thus translates : — "Barlow's wife, Agatha, cloth here remain, Bishop, then exile ; bishop then again ; So long she lived, so well her children sped, She saw five bishops her five daughters wed." Once an episcopal palace belonging to the see of St. David, and subsequently a seat where the unfor- tunate earl of Essex spent his youth, and which he is said to have left " the most finished gentleman of his time/' these magnificent ruins appear in bolder relief from their association with the stirring times of their early history. Had Lamphey Palace been erected on an elevated site, the building would have appeared more majestic. The eastern window still exhibits the most elegant tracery ; and luxuriant ivy now adds to the picturesque appearance of the crumbling fabric. A gloomy and melancholy silence pervades the whole scene ; and ere long little Avill remain to show the out- line of this extensive and costly pile. CHAPTER XI. PEMBROKE — STACKPOLE COURT ST. GOVAN's CAREW CASTLE, ETC. And this was once the stately home Of pleasant festival ; Where gallant lords and ladies shone, And knights in glittering mail ; The " Feast of Shells " here brought the throng. To revel and wassail. The pomp and splendour have no sway In this deserted scene, Yet still the vanished leaves a ray, To tell of what has been ; And now the spirit of decay Broods o'er the silent scene. The Highland Castle. Upon a bold rocky eminence that projects into the estuary of Milford Haven stand the frowning ruins of Pembroke Castle, — the most extensive and magnificent, perhaps, as well as varied, of which the Principality can boast. Its grand imposing outline, with its nume- rous sides, bastions, and projections, incorporated, as they are, with precipitous and picturesque masses of rock, acquires bolder relief from the lofty site, and its skilful combination of old Norman architecture with the Gothic. The tower which overlooks the water, the entrance from the town, and the round tower, are all that remain in tolerable preservatiou. It was divided 176 PEMBROKE CASTLE. into an inner and outer ward, in the former of which was the keep with the state apartments, formerly occu- pied, it is thought, by the countess of Richmond ; in the latter are the different offices for the use of the garrison. From this ward the town was entered by a gateway defended by a semicircular barbican, and a dry ditch cut out of the solid rock. Connected with this part of the fortress is the " chambre where King Henry VII. was born," which old Leland describes as having " a chymmeney " containing the arms and badges of that monarch. In the basement story of this suite was the door that opened into the staircase leading to "the marvellus vault caullid the Hogan;" but it is now approached by a path carried along the verge of the castle rock. In Elizabeth's time this place is described as containing a copious spring of fine fresh water, but it is now choked up. This for- tress, the chroniclers relate, was built by Arnulph de Montgomery in the time of Henry II., and on the dis- grace of the Norman, passed into the hands of Gerald de Windsor, the king's lieutenant in those parts, on his marriage with Nest, sister of the reigning Welsh prince. The history of this lady forms an episode in the national annals. The report of her beauty and endowments inflamed the curiosity of the son of Cadwgan, prince of Powys, a youth of reckless courage and profligate manners. Under the pretext of a friendly visit, he was admitted into the castle, and became deeply enamoured of her. He returned home, but only to assemble a party of his " rake-hell companions," and on that same night secretly obtained entrance into the castle, and forcibly carried off this Helen of Wales. The PEMBROKE CASTLE. 177 seducer paid dearly for his violation of the marriage sanctities, and was slain a few years afterwards by an arrow from the enraged husband. The ruins are seen, perhaps, to greatest advantage when approaching the place by water from Pennar Mouth. Pembroke Castle was distinguished, at the period of the civil wars, by the gallant defence it made in favour of Charles, under the command of General Laugharne and Colonel Poyer. Cromwell was at last sent with a large force to reduce it ; and though suffering at that time from the gout, he carried on the siege with such vigour, cutting off the supply of water to the garrison, that he at last succeeded in taking possession of the place. Laugharne, Poyer, and Powell, with two other officers, surrendered to the mercy of the Parliament. The army and munitions of war were delivered up to Cromwell, and the town was preserved from plunder. In April, 1649, a council of war passed sentence of death against Powell and Laugharne, as they had before done against Poyer; and Cromwell sent an order for them to draw lots to determine which of them should die. On two of these lots was written, " Life given by God;" the third was a blank. The prisoners, not willing to be the instruments of their own destiny, a child drew the lots, and the blank one falling on Poyer, he was shot in Covent Garden, "dying very penitently." The town of Pembroke is advantageously situated on a branch of Milford Haven, which carries small vessels at high water up to the quay. Next to Carmarthen it is the most spacious and richest town in the western district of South Wales ; but has not increased latterly N 178 PEMBROKE. in wealth or population, in consequence of numerous removals to the new government settlement at Pater. It possesses a free school, some excellent inns, and a court-house. It has given the title of earl to several families, and, lastly, to that of the Herberts, in whom it still remains. To the north, Pembroke is encompassed by a thick wall, flanked by numerous bastions, but on the south its remains are scarcely visible. It formerly possessed three handsome gates, "by est, west, and north/'' as old Leland quaintly describes it, " of the wich the est gate is fairest and strongest, having a faire but compasio. tour not rofed, in the entering whereof is a portcolys ex solido ferro." The north gate still presents a tole- rably entire appearance. Pembroke possesses two churches, dedicated to St. Michael and St. Mary; but they are not remarkable, either in their architecture or sepulchral decorations. The latter contains a mural tablet to Francis Parry, who married the daughter of Walter Cuney, at whose house Cromwell remained while he was suffering with the gout, and directing the siege of the castle. He died mayor of Pembroke, and the eulogy, consisting of fifteen lines, is expressed in such an affected strain, as to be quite ludicrous. It begins as follows : — " Dan Phoebus mourning, Neptune's flowing tide Deluged our streets when our Maecenas dy'd." For the attractions of its castle alone, Pembroke is deserving of all commendation ; and from the many pleasant excursions it affords, by land and water, is becoming a favourite place of resort with summer ramblers from various parts. What in fine weather DOCKYARD AT PATER PATER. 179 can surpass a visit to Stackpole Court, the seat of Earl Cawdor — to the bluff promontory of St. Govan's Head — to Bosherton Meer, and, along the iron-bound coast, to those singular rocks called the Stacks — to Carew Castle — to the Government Dockyard at Pater — or a cruise through Pennar Mouth to Milford, or up the stream to Laurenny or Haverfordwest ? And all these places are well worthy the attention of visitors. Amongst the interesting places in this district, none is so well calculated to attract the wanderer's attention, and excite his patriotic feelings, as the Government Dockyard for building or repairing ships, on the margin of the Haven, two miles from Pembroke. I could not help observing the admirable arrangements of this establishment ; and must not withhold my approbation of the orderly and. efficient manner in which these extensive public works are conducted. This place is, as it were, one of the nurseries by which we maintain our national glory and importance. Here all is activity and bustle. On one side lay numerous blocks of oak of huge dimensions, intended to form our largest ships; on another, anchors of immense size, which probably might be destined to become the hopes of thousands of mariners in the hour of peril ; on one hand, a stately ship ready to leave the stocks ; on the other, the imperfect skeleton of one in progress. The whole establishment occupies a space of sixty-five acres, inclosed by a lofty wall, and contains the residence of the commissioner, besides houses for several officers, and also a church. The village, called Pater, that has been springing up close to this noble work, has of late so far increased as n 2 180 PATER. to bid fair, at no great distance of time, to become a more important place than its parent town. It possesses many advantages as a place of trade, par- ticularly that of deep Avater at most periods of the tide. The mail from London now runs to Hobb's Point, instead of Milford ; and the Post Office Packet for Waterford is brought up the Haven as far as the new village, in order to take in the bags. Here, too, is a splendid hotel, and a fine pier, both of recent construc- tion, built by Government. In my many wanderings through various lands, I have always found it advantageous to my purpose and amusement, to fix my head- quarters in some central place, or some district metropolis, and to diverge from thence in excursions, whether long or short, as might best suit my convenience. I have thus contrived to keep up the idea — and who does not love to cherish the idea ? — of home. My home being now the crowded city, or the secluded hamlet — now the busy strand, or, not unfrequently, the solitary vessel in the wide ocean. According to this my practice, then, I called the hotel, in the long street of "ancient Penbroch/' my home during my brief sojourn in this district. It was on one of those fine, rich autumn days, which, in the rural and well-w r ooded districts of Great Britain, make this the most delightful season of the year for a day's ramble, that I set off on an excursion to St. Govan's Head, and along the rocky coast which gives so bold and picturesque a character to the vicinity. Upon ascending the eminence outside of the town, I Avas delighted with the prospect opening around me, comprising Pembroke stretched at my feet, part of the STACKPOLE COURT. 181 unruffled waters of Milford Haven, with its banks of pasture, and corn-land, and rich red soapy fallows, and a bold sweeping expanse bounded only by the horizon. I passed forward by St. Daniel's Church, a singular and picturesque old edifice, with its steeple partly covered with ivy; and proceeding farther to the still higher ground of Windmill Hill, I beheld a view on all sides yet more beautiful and extensive, with the town of Milford fairly made out, and a portion of Pater, relieved by the range of dusky hills on the other side of the Haven. Having lingered for some time over this enchanting prospect, I pursued my way from this point through the wretched-looking village of Kingsfold, where the dirty hovels of the labourers form a painful contrast to the clean and neatly-thatched cottages of neighbouring England, and passed through a tolerably well-cultivated district to St. Petrox. The church, enveloped in a verdant shade of spreading trees, and the noble park of Stackpole Court, form the most interesting objects of attention. It is the air of quietness and repose resting upon it, which gives to a village churchyard its soothing and attractive character. The house of prayer for the living, rising amidst the memorials of the dead scattered all around, naturally originates a train of serious thought and reflection, casting over the mind a purifying influence. To a wanderer like myself, this last peaceful resting-place is always an object of peculiar and affecting interest, and I cast a lingering look upon the grey tower of this little sanctuary, as I bent my steps toward Stackpole Court. I was gratified by the permission of the noble owner to pass through the 182 STACKPOLE COURT. Spacious park belonging to this domain, by which I saved a distance of between two and three miles, and had the pleasure derived from contemplating the " old hereditary trees," with all those sylvan delights and solitudes, made vocal by the warbling of a thousand birds, the secret Avhispering of the leaves, slightly stirred by the soft breeze, and the deep shadows and recurring gleams of the wood's recesses, celebrated with so much enthusiasm by the poet Cowley. It would be ungracious to pass by Stackpole Court without some description. The modern mansion, which is a superb building, stands upon the site of the old baronial residence belonging to this domain. Sir Elidur de Stackpole is written in the records as the original possessor, and is believed to have joined the crusade to the Holy Land at the time when Baldwyn and Giraldus made their tour through the country. The estate passed through various hands till it came into the family of Lort, and afterwards into that of Lord Cawdor, on his marriage with the heiress of the former house. In the civil wars, the old castellated residence was garrisoned for the king, and such was the massiveness of its walls, that it is said " the par- liamentary ordnance did but little execution." The present edifice of wrought limestone rises beautifully at the foot of a sloping hill, in the sight of a spacious lake, the favourite resort of almost every species of wild fowl, and looks over a wide-extended park, along which herds of deer scamper in all the gladness of their nature. Skirting hills and rich plantations belt the domain on various sides, and beyond is the bright and boundless ocean. " One should think," said Boswell, STACKPOLE COURT. 183 after looking over the grounds of Kedleston, in com- pany with Dr. Johnson, "that the proprietor of all this must be happy/' " Nay, sir," the sage replied, " all this excludes but one evil — poverty." The carriage-road which passes through the park- gates commences at St. Petrox, and within a hundred yards from thence the broad expanse of the ocean almost suddenly breaks upon the view, here and there studded with white sails. From the same eminence a prospect is commanded over a considerable portion of the park. Every object around seemed invested with the calm, solemn peace of the dark majestic woods ; not a cloud shadowed "the deep serene." The sun shone clear in mid-heaven ; the music of myriads of insects arose above the whispers of the gentle wind amongst the leaves ; the rooks hovered in wild con- centric circles above my head, and the cattle in groups were seeking the coolness of the shade and stream. Nothing could surpass the variegated beauty of the foliage, and the rich contrast of colours between these ancient foresters, sacred from the woodman's touch, Avith their steins and branches partially exposed by the winds of autumn ; the silver-barked birch, that " lady of the woods," gracefully dipping her bending branches in the clear waters, the shining ash, the smooth beech, the rough elm, the knotted moss-grown oak, blending together their rich dying hues of the year's decline, threw an ineffable charm over the whole landscape. On my right, and a little farther onwards, was an almost perfect solitude of trees, still in full leaf, whose branches meeting above quite shut out the sun's rays, except through casual openings. To the left again was a deep 184 ST. GOVAX. dell, entirely covered with the hazel, the aspen, and the mountain ash, while the wild rose, the stretching blackberry, and that green parasite the ivy, filled up the vacant spaces under the overhanging boughs ; so thick, indeed, were their intermingled leaves and branches, that a glimpse could scarcely be caught of the romantic stream which threads its way along the centre of this dell, till it reaches the sea, though its murmuring and rippling were continually breaking upon the ear. Here and there I perceived, scattered through the park, several extensive sheets of water, the margins covered with underwood and rushes. The wanderer's track is not always, like the traveller's road, straight, measured, and macadamized; but, in lieu of this, it is — what pleases him a thousand times more — unconstrained and free, stretching onwards wherever his purpose, or the ever-varying mood of his mind may lead. When I had bid adieu to the mag- nificence and beauty of Stackpole Court, I struck off across the fields, and pursued my solitary way to Bosh- erton. The fragrance of the furze, which here grows luxuriantly, and was still richly in flower, quite per- fumed the air ; and fresh pictures of natural beauty and variety continually opened upon the eye as I passed on over the heathy moor. At length I reached the bluff promontory of St. Govan,* projecting his rocky head high above the sea ; the scenery all around being precipitous, rocky, and wild. A flight of rude limestone steps, which are said to have the mystic property of * The great display of scenery is at Sir Gawaine's Chapel and Head. This valiant knight has been transformed by popular error into a saint. — Malkin. ST. GOVAN. 185 confounding all attempts to count them, leads to the ancient chapel. A little lower is a spring of clear bubbling water, encircled with brick-work, which is said to be miraculous in the cure of chronic and cutaneous diseases. Descending thence are some fragments of limestone, which, when struck with a stone, produce a sound like that of a bell. This, too, is a miracle, in this place of wonders, and is thus accounted for. A party of pirates happening to land on this spot, plun- dered the anchorite's chapel of its bell, and that the holy man might not be deprived of this help to his devotion, the sonorous property was communicated to the broken rocks it touched in the progress of its abduction. The fissure in the rocks, in which the little chapel is built, appears to have been produced by a violent convulsion of nature. This exposition, how- ever, is too natural, and there is, as may be supposed, appended to it a tradition that has more of marvel in it. It is said, that it opened at first from the solid rock to shelter a saint pursued by his pagan persecutors, and after inclosing him till the chase was over, opened again to let him out, and was never afterwards closed. In confirmation, a place may be seen bearing a faint im- pression of the form of the saint. The prospect from this place is one of the most extensive and sublime I have ever beheld. Seated on the dry mossy turf above the terrific chasm, I indulged in contemplating the surrounding wildness, and the changing lights which danced upon the ocean. Out of the beaten road of tourists, at the farthest end, indeed, of the county, the tract of St. Govan, extreme in its loneliness, and almost unvisited by man, produced feelings and sensations in ]86 ST. GOVAN. unison with the extraordinary characteristics of the scene. The building is said to have been a hermitage, but it has more the appearance of a rude chapel than anything else. It would be quite a tempting retreat to a modern anchorite, had not the eternal law of change, in its whimsical caprices, made the friendless dweller in crowded cities not unfrequently the most solitary being on earth. From the inner cove of the bay, on the sides of which the chapel stands, the vision, at first bounded by rocks of a thousand irregular forms, is then carried, in distant perspective, over the wide expanse of the boundless sea; but, in directing the eye along this iron-bound coast, vast caverns are discovered in the rocks, formed by the incessant action of the waves. In some instances, indeed, perforations have been made in the jutting rocks, through which, when the spirit of the western storm is raised, the ocean pours its rolling waters, and the wild winds howl and shriek in appalling frenzy. The day Avas gloriously fine; the clear blue waters shone bright and smooth as a magnificent mirror far below me ; the sun's rays painted the multiform aspect of the rocks in a thousand variegated hues, rich as the rainbow's tints. The seamews wheeled in airy circles ; now dipping in their rapid flight their grey wings in the spray, noAV breasting the wave, as though the water was their only element. At every step, as I pur- sued my way along the bleak and craggy heights, myriads of these creatures were disturbed from their dizzy resting-places on the ledges of the rocks, and with wild and plaintive cries swept along my solitary path. In a short time I came to that fearful fissure in the cliffs, HUNTSMAN'S LEAP — BOSHERTON MEER. 187 called the Huntsman's Leap, of which tradition relates, that two huntsmen, coming upon it in full career, plunged over at a single bound. A little beyond this is a singular place, called Bosh- erton Meer, formed by the perpetual force of the waves. It presents on the surface of the ground only a small aperture, which, like a winding funnel, gradually widens below until it spreads into an extensive vault open to the sea. In stormy weather, when the sea beats with violence against the rocks, the noise emitted from this aperture is awful, and occasionally large columns of spray are forced through it to an immense height. Small bays and creeks indented this undulating line of coast ; and chasms and craggy rocks, inhabited by cor- morants, razorbills, and gulls, continually intersected my progress, until I reached the land opposite the two lofty insular rocks called the Stacks. The harsh and discordant notes of that singular bird the eligug, a species of auk, soon announced that I had intruded upon their favourite haunts, and disturbed " their an- cient solitary reign." From time immemorial, this peculiar tribe has been the tenant of these lonely rocks. Its members are wayfarers from a distant land. They hold no communion with other tribes of the feathered race, and seldom settle upon any other part of the coast. Sailing over these stormy towers they look upon that narrow neck of land, where once stood the camp of the Scandinavian pirate, from whose little bay, apparently scooped out of the rock, he was accustomed to push off his adventurous bark on perilous enterprises.* Rising * The entrance to this camp was by a winding ascent up the sloping rocks. The ramparts stretched to the other side of the isthmus, 188 CAREW CASTLE. in clouds above my head, they almost darkened the air, uttering screams of such peculiar discord, that I was glad to pursue my way, taking the path through AVarren, Stem Bridge, aud passing by the estate of Orielton, the seat of Sir John Owen. I was much delighted by the contrast which this fine fertile country presents to the bleak savage character of the coast scenes I had just left, and by the varied images of beauty and repose which were now spread around me. Having recovered from the fatigue of my former ramble, I took the advantage of a calm serene day to make my intended excursion to Carew Castle. Magnifi- cent in its ruins, the vast dimensions of this lordly mo- nument of heroic days cover part of a slight elevation of land on the most easterly arm of the haven of Milford. The noble apartments which surrounded a quadrangle, with an immense bastion at each corner, the grand gateway leading into a spacious court, and some mag- nificent windows, are still to be seen as the remains of this splendid structure. The castle is situated at a short distance from the village of Carew ; and the appearance of its vast roofless walls, still presenting a broad bulwark to the shocks of time, is at once solemn and sublime. Two immense trees, having their trunks within the fortress, send forth huge feelers, which seem to climb with redoubled strength amid the spreading devastations of ages — crowning the topmost points — disguising the yawning gaps, made in the struggle of years, and throwing where the precipitous cliffs furnished a sufficient defence. In this place is a fearful aperture, — the Cauldron, — which is connected with the sea at the bottom by two natural arches in the rocks. CAREW CASTLE. 189 freshness and beauty around decay. The north view of this edifice, which the pencil and the graver have so graphically represented, conveys, perhaps, the best idea of its original grandeur and extent ; the walls on the south having been destroyed by that great leveller of strongholds, Oliver Cromwell. A few of the apartments are yet in a great measure entire; among these is the great banqueting-hall, of regal capaciousness, in earlier days the seat of feudal pomp and magnificent hospitality. Three ancient coats of arms still decorate the entrance. The splendid state- room, too, of still greater dimensions, in which there are are yet remains of elegant marble cornices, and fireplaces with Corinthian columns, rich in device and exquisite in workmanship, is now tenanted by birds of prey. Silence reigns in these halls ; not that of repose, but of utter desolation and irremediable ruin — a silence deep and unbroken, save from the footfall of the solitary traveller. Carew Castle — formerly the residence of a Welsh prince and a long line of regal and lordly lineage, also part of the portion of the beautiful Nest on her mar- riage with Gerald de Windsor — in its high and palmy days, transcended most of its feudal contemporaries ; its courts and halls have been thronged with gallant knights and their retainers, and made vocal with the minstrelsy of that heroic age ; its tapestried rooms have entertained the fairest dames of Cambria, in those days of love and chivalry, and have echoed to the chanson amoureux of the wayward troubadour ; and many a palmer has held his audience in breathless wonder, as he told the marvellous tales of his weary wanderings in 190 CAREW CASTLE* foreign lands. High and festal days lias Carew Castle seen, when royal visitors, in long succession, were en- tertained within its walls. Various, indeed, has been the fate of this stronghold of feudal power. Carew Castle has borne the stern brunt of ruthless war — it has suffered many a protracted siege — it has heard the lament of many a solitary prisoner in its donjon, and witnessed many a secret or open deed of blood. But gallant knights, and fair dames, and merry minstrels, and mysterious pilgrims, have all vanished, like the visions in Banquo's glass, and lone and grass-grown courts and crumbling walls, and scattered fragments, with the scroll of the veritable chronicler, alone remain to tell that such things were. This structure appears to be of different ages. Ac- cording to Leland, it was remodelled and enlarged by Sir Rhys ap Thomas. On the south side it opened upon a handsome and extensive deer-park. In part of this ground the same knight held a special tournament, with other warlike games and pastimes, in honour of St. George, for the entertainment of Henry VII., when on his route to Bosworth field, to which came men of "prime ranke " from all parts. "This festivall and time of jollitie continued the space of five dayes," as the historian relates, and "tentes and pavillions were pitched in the parke, neere to the castle," for the spec- tators of these " rare solemnities, wheare they quartered all the time, everie man according to his qualities." Near the entrance to the lawn, in front of the castle, just on the road-side leading to Carew church and village, stands one of the early crosses, in the centre of which is an elaborate inscription that cannot now be deciphered. CHAPTER XII. MILFORD HAVEN MILFORD HAVERFORDWEST FISHGUARD CARDIGAN. . Wave after wave, If such they might be called, dashed as in sport, Not anger, with the pebbles on the beach, Making wild music, and far westward caught The sunbeam ; where, alone and as entranced, Counting the hours, the fisher in his skiff Lay with his circular and dotted line On the bright waters. — Rogehs. The next morning after returning from Carew to Pembroke, I hired a boat from the latter place, intend- ing, in company with a friend, to cruise about the Haven during the clay, and to take up my quarters at Milford in the evening. Upon clearing a little way off Pembroke, the waters of what may be called the southern arm of Milford Haven became enlarged, stretching in parts a mile across, and having the appearance of an extensive lake encircled by rising ground — the outlet of this great body of water, at the straits called Pennar Mouth, not being more than two hundred yards broad. Here the tide of course runs with great rapidity eitehr up or down ; and boats cannot readily work against the power of the stream. Leaving behind us the Pennar heights, and entering 192 MILFOED HAVEN. a wider expanse of water, I beheld the far-famed Milford Haven, with its boundaries endlessly varied, and alive with vessels of various size and character in every attitude, interspersed with fishing-boats and skiffs moving about in all directions. Although there is a dreary bleakness about the hills surrounding the Haven, yet a scene more lovely and striking can hardly be imagined. In some parts the banks are pleasingly diversified, particularly towards Laurenny, where the scenery is richly wooded, and along the foot of the river extending to Slebech on the east and Bolston on the west. This noble sheet of water is about twelve miles long, varying from two to three in breadth, and is sufficiently capacious to hold at anchor all the navy of Great Britain. The town of Milford is agreeably situated on a point of high land with a gentle slope towards the water, from which it has a very imposing effect. Some twenty or thirty years ago it bid fair to become one of our principal marts of commerce — it grew important and full of business, and of wealth too ; but the turn of the tide could not be more rapid than its decline from its former prosperity. There now appears to be a stagnation of every thing like trade, which is chiefly attributable to the removal of the Government Dockyard, together with many hundred men, higher up the Haven. With it, the old commerce seems also to have taken its departure for ever ; for inquiringly as I looked about me, I could not catch the sight of a single trader belonging to the place. To complete its desertion, the postmaster- general has ordered the steam- packet for "VVaterford MILFORD. 193 to be brought up the stream as far as Pater; so that the mail coach now drives to HobVs Point instead of Milford, saving thereby a distance of about five miles. "A Visitor" has a strange sound to the Milford people; he is looked upon as a foreigner, whose now- and-then appearance serves to keep alive public curi- osity; this is particularly the case with the innkeeper, who holds the hotel, I understood, without paying any rent, solely to keep it from falling into decay. Poor man ! Nothing can exceed the disconsolate air of his establishment ; and -his only gratifying reflection is in a retrospect of former times, and the mournful conso- lation that "it was not always so." That which old Lambarde wrote of Milford some centuries ago, might now pass current for a description of its present state. " A great haven in Wales," says he, " whereof I finde no other notable tliinge, but that King Henry VII. aided by his friendes for the recoverie of hys righte, landed here, what time he came to fighte with Richard the Thyrde, usurper of the crowne, in which attempt he had prosperous success." The only stirring event that marked my visit to Milford, was the destruction by fire of a large foreign ship, which had put in a short time previouslj r for some repairs ; and it Avas certainly a glorious sight, however much to be deplored. She burst into flames at mid- night, and was consumed to the water's edge. I was aroused in the dead of night, when all around was wrapt in darkness ; the sudden, terrific contrast was, indeed, grand and appalling. To behold the sea illumined with the blaze — the rolling waves resembling masses of moving fire, red as a lake of blood — the o 194 HAVERFORDWEST. crashing of the masts as they fell one by one — with the eagerness of the whole place to lend assistance, or their gathering in groups to gaze upon the magnificent spectacle, was awfully picturesque, and as interesting as it was terrible. From Milford I forthwith bent my course towards Haverfordwest, Fishguard, and Cardigan. On reaching the summit of the hill near Stainton,* the retrospect is exceedingly agreeable, comprising the broad part of the noble harbour of Milford, and the opposite promontories of Angle and St. Ann's Head. About two miles to the right of the road is Ros M arket, a small village lying on the edge of a cheerful vale, where once stood the mansion of Sir Richard Walter, whose daughter was the mistress of Charles II. and the mother of the unfortunate duke of Monmouth. In this place was born Dr. Zachary Williams, the father of the blind lady for so many years the com- panion of the celebrated Dr. Johnson. Pressing on- ward by the village of Johnston, formerly the seat of Lord Kensington, over Pope Hill, and passing Harold- stone, St. IsmaeFs, where once was the cell of a saint of that name, I crossed Mawdlen's Bridge, and soon found myself within the town of Haverfordwest. This place is one of the largest and most prosperous towns in Pembrokeshire. It is favourably situated for * Adam de Staintou was the first Eoman or Flemish lord of this place, and, it is believed, founded the church. The steeple, in the civil wars, was garrisoned by twenty musketeers, and preserved as a place of observation. Sir William James, who was the son of a miller in the neighbourhood, and who afterwards rose to the rank of com- modore in the navy, and governor of Greenwich Hospital, received his education at the school of this place. PICTON CASTLE. 195 trade on the river Cleddy, which communicates with the sea at Milford Haven ; but in itself it is uninter- esting, both from its narrow zigzag streets and the dull inanimate appearance of its inhabitants. It has, however, a respectable air at a distance, and, perhaps, the best view of it is from the road leading to Fish- guard. It was once the capital of the Flemish colony, settled in the district of Roos, which became from that circumstance the cradle of the woollen manu- factory of England. "Theise Flemynges," as old Lambarde writes, " weare not welcome to the Welsh- men; but for all that they pyked out a lyvinge amongst them, and weare, as it should seme, the first that exercised the misterie of drapinge within that quarter." The remains of the old castle, which was anciently a formidable fortress, built in the reign of Stephen, have been converted into the county gaol. On the outside of the town may be seen what yet remains of the Priory of Black Canons, once a building of considerable extent. From this point, if the traveller be desirous of a pleasant walk of about four miles, and should have the industry to take it, he may find himself seated in the park belonging to Picton Castle; and, on casting his eye over the beautiful intermixture of umbrageous verdure, green and level lawns, and fertile fields, which compose the surrounding scenery, he will not regret the labour. The castle has many associations which render it an object of great interest. It is connected with the lawless times of William II., when the arbitrary will of the sovereign constituted the authority, and military power and violence the means, of forcible o 2 19G SLEBECII. and unjust possession. Its mixed architecture bears the traces of its transition from the almost impregnable strength of a ruthless age, to the elegant and con- venient domestic arrangements of more secure and peaceful days. It is built in the centre of the domain, and commands a view of the confluence of two fine streams, which roll their clear bright waters into the Haven. There is one circumstance which is peculiar to this edifice, especially when it is contrasted with the changes and desolation of most of the great buildings of this eventful country, which I shall give in the words of Mr. Fenton, who speaks of it as "a castle never forfeited, never deserted, never vacant, that never knew a melancholy blank in its want of a master; which had always the good fortune to be inhabited by lords of its own, men eminent in their day as warriors, as statesmen, and as Christians ; from whose walls hospitality was never exiled, and whose governors might be said to have been hereditary. A castle in the midst of possessions and forests coeval with itself, and proudly looking over a spacious domain to an inland sea, bounding its property and its prospects beyond them, for such is Picton Castle." I left the park by the richly-wooded path leading to Slebech, where once stood a commandery, belonging to the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The church of this place, which is, perhaps, coexistent with the institution, contains some monuments and sculptured effigies which will detain the curious anti- quary. The present mansion of Slebech is an elegant edifice, built on the site of the old commandery, and looks upon the beautiful river as did the fortress of the ROBESTON WATHEN. 197 knights. I left Slebech with regret ; for its historical associations, woodland beauties, and autumn loveliness, had taken possession of my mind and heart; and having regained the high road, I arrived in the after- noon at the village of Robeston Wathen, in the neat inn of which place, as the rain had begun to fall in torrents, I determined on taking up my quarters during the night. For a road- side hostelrie I found in it more appliances of comfort than I had expected, and mine host was active in his civilities. But it had other and more intellectual claims upon my notice ; for in travel- ling, whether far or near, I quite agree with one of the most delightful writers of our age,* that " we multiply events, and that innocently. We set out, as it were, on our adventures ; and many are those that occur to us, morning, noon, and night. The day we come to a place which we have long heard and read of, is an era in our lives ; and from that moment the very name calls up a picture." And so it was with me. I met in " the inn's best room" an agreeable and intellectual companion — one whose profession was connected with all that is refined and liberal. lie was a painter. He had followed the same wild coast-path as myself. He had seen the winged watchers on the Stacks, and stood on the bold jutting promontory of St. Govan, looking out upon that broad ocean, whose ever-rolling waves fitly suggest the idea of eternity. He had, like me, struck off from the stormy scenes of savage nature, with her stern rocks and foaming billows, to luxuriate in her peaceful smiles, as she hushed and cradled the winds in the rich glens and valleys of this picturesque * Samuel Rogers. 193 LLEWHADEN. county. We compared our pictures, not our graphic or caligraphic ones, but those original paintings traced on the clear fluid of the vision, and then transferred in all their richness to the memory, as their receding lines vanished before the advancing forms of another and yet another, still more sublime and lovely than the first. It was but an instantaneous mental act to sum- mon from their secret storehouse picture after picture, and to expatiate again and again upon their surpassing beauties and sublimities ; revelling in this interchange of thought and fancy, with emotions as fresh and rich as those with which they were first seen. This was an evening in my changeful life that I shall long remember. Early the following morning I parted from my pleasant friend, never, perhaps, to see him again, and bent my way across the country to Fishguard. On gaining an eminence at a short distance, I rested to watch the sun breaking in all his splendour over the woody ridge of old Llewhaden; his first rays resting on the hoary ruins of its castle.* Bright and glowing were his beams as they played, almost in mockery, upon this ancient heritage of the mitred lords of St. David's. The ivy had wreathed itself in uncontrolled luxuriance round the solitary tower that remains of this once massy pile, flaunting with the air of undis- puted possession, and covering by its thick and spreading leaves the destructive progress of ages ; "All green and wildly fresh without, but grey and worn beneath." * This castle constitutes the caput baronice, by virtue of which the bishop of St. David's sits in Parliament. It was built by Bishop Becke, TAL Y BONT FISHGUARD. 199 Below it lay the fine valley of Tal y Bont, with its mansion, through which the river Cleddau, rapid, deep, and clear, pursues its onward course to meet the majes- tic tide of Milford. Nothing could exceed the lovely composition of this scene, the venerable remains of the castellated palace, — the wood-crowned steep, clothed in the rich and varied hues of autumn, — the narrow green vale with its little church, — the bridge stretching its architectural proportions across the playful waters, all harmonized and mellowed by situation and distance, and animated with the exhilarating influences of the fresh morning breeze. Passing next through Clarbeston and Spittal, I came to the high road towards Fishguard, near Leweston mountain; but the remainder of the route was tame and uninteresting. It was quite a contrast to the valley scene of Tal y Bont. Scarcely a wood, a hill, or a river presented itself to relieve the dull monotony ; and in one part I went miles together almost without passing a single habitation. The town of Fishguard is chiefly built upon a steep rock on the northern part of Pembrokeshire, which is washed by the waters of St. George's Channel. It possesses an extensive' bay and harbour, sweeping for three miles in form of a crescent, having the bold promontory of Dinas on the north-east, and the huge wedged- shaped headland of Penanglas on the north- west. From its depth of water, a pier might readily be formed which would afford shelter for vessels enlarged .and ornamented by Bishops Hoton and Vaughan, and dis- mantled by Bishop Barlow, and its materials sold by that avaricious prelate. 200 FISHGUARD — GOODWICK BEACH. passing up and down the Channel, in the frequent storms peculiar to this coast. Although the town wears a pleasing and rather interesting aspect from the beach, yet it possesses few well-built houses ; which, perhaps, explains the reason why Fishguard is not resorted to for sea-bathing. From the number of people I met of very advanced age, I should judge the air to be very salubrious ; and in this respect I believe it resembles most places situated on an eminence above the sea. Notwith- standing the want of fashionable recommendation, there is a constant succession of objects calculated to interest the visitor, especially in the vessels passing along the Channel, and the number of fishing-boats and other small cra r t entering and leaving the bay. Taking advantage of a fine afternoon, I set out vipon a walk of some four miles, through the village of Llanwnda to Goodwick Beach, where, at a place called Aber-y-felin, a descent was made by the French under General Tate, on the 20th February, 1797. The singular clearness and serenity of the day had tempted the good people of Fishguard to the beach, when three large vessels were discovered standing in from the Channel, and nearing the rocky coast of Llanwnda, which by the inhabitants at first were taken for Liver- pool merchantmen becalmed, and coming to an anchor to wait the return of the tide or a brisker gale ; but a most serious alarm was excited, when boats were seen putting off full of men, in such rapid succession as to leave no doubt of their being an enemy, which, late in the evening, was confirmed by their actually having begun to disembark, a service that was not completed PATH TO NEWPORT. 201 till midnight. The inhabitants more immediately within reach, for the most part deserted their houses, and took refuge in the rocks and thick furze. The town of Fishguard, and its vicinity, though a little farther off, caught the general panic; and the inhabi- tants effected the removal of their wives, children, and most valuable articles for greater security into the interior. The French, after the labour of landing their am- munition, abandoned themselves to plunder the neigh- bouring dwellings and indulged in every kind of brutal excess, till they became so intoxicated as to be utterly insubordinate, and incapable of control by their officers. In the mean time the tocsin was sounded ; the troops in the immediate neighbourhood were assembled, and by the morning light crowds of Welsh women in their red cloaks, with their usual curiosity, crowned the surrounding heights. Tate, seeing the state of his own troops, and taking the red cloaks for a gallant army ready to pounce upon him, sent forward a flag of truce, and agreed to an unconditional surrender. Wanderer as I am along the highways and by-ways of many lands, and though my track is often as way- ward as my mood may be, albeit there is still some method in my wanderings, which the gentle reader will not fail to discover, if he be but careful to follow assiduously upon my steps. In this way it was that I took the path coastwise in the direction of Newport, placing before me, as the ultimate object of my present excursion, Cardigan, and the interesting scenes upon the lower part of that fine river, the Teivy, — gathering 202 i'ATH TO NEWPORT. up, by the way, the rich associations of by-gone days, which almost cluster upon these green spots of early romance. Has the traveller ever found himself alone on some unfrequented path, amidst the everlasting hills and bold gigantic forms of primeval nature, shaped and fashioned, it may be, in some sense, by the slow wear of almost unnumbered ages, — surrounded at the same instant, by the memorials of time, decaying and ruined in its lapses, though exhibiting in their massy remains a purpose of perpetuity, as if to emulate her enduring power? — and has he, also, in connection with such scenes, unfettered his imagination, and directed it to accompany the march of events that have been traced by the pen of some faithful chronicler, with which he has enriched his memory? Then has the traveller known something of the strange, fitful, melancholy, and richly sensitive emotions of the Wanderer as he trod the path he is now describing. On my right rose the huge mountain range of the Perselly, with the Vrenny Vawr, stretching to the east, as its extreme outpost, looking inland, and far over the neighbouring counties of Carmarthen and Cardigan; while Cam Englyn, like a giant, on its western point, frowns from his rocky summit upon the open sea, having within his range the bold promontory of Dinas Head, and the fine bays of Newport and Fishguard, with the rich valleys of Nevern and the Gwayn. Between these distant mountains, in a reced- ing line, and towering to a still greater height, stands another stupendous ridge, like a broad battalion, con- necting its van and rear guard, over which human BAY OP FISHGUARD. 203 industry has constructed a road, that opens a direct communication from Cardigan to the port of Milford. As I stood on the high land of the coast, the scene was full before me, invested with all the interest belonging to its real facts and marvels. Centuries have passed away since the first lord of Cemaes, a Norman adventurer, anchored in the clear calm bay of Fishguard, then a little fishing village, known by the name of Abergwayn, and afterwards won by his good sword the first independent territory from the ancient princes of Wales. The little height of Cronllwyn, on the western side of the great Perselly range, marks the insulated spot where the daring invader in defiance unfurled his standard. His onward course was the mountain pass, disputed with fearful obstinacy by the men of Morvill ; but victory was with the Norman; he crossed the highest ridge with his long line of martial followers, and on a heathy plain, — " the upland of the aimless bow," — at the foot of the pass of Bwlchgwynt, the terrified inhabitants, dismayed by the number and force of his military array, laid down their arms, unstrung their bows, and submitted to him as a con- queror. Not far distant stood the Castle of Newport, now desolate in its ruins, which was built by the Norman, and became the chief baronial residence of the first Lord Marcher. Its deep moat, its grand gateway, its fallen towers, and its ample remains, attest the former strength of the place, and the architecture of the age in which it reared its proud head. Behind it rises boldly the mountain of Cam Englyn, while before it spreads the beautiful bay, flanked by the headlands of 204 CARDIGAN CASTLE. Dinas and Ceibwr. Newport, with its little port at the mouth of the Nevern, is now a straggling town, meanly built. It was " auncyently termed Abernever," as old Leland says, " and to the custodie whereof William the Conquerowr deputed one Marten of Tyron." It now presents a painful contrast to its former power and importance. This place is little deserving of remark, except for the extraordinary cromlech of Pentre Evan, and the great number of Druidical remains that enrich its neighbourhood. I pursued my way to Cardigan, the capital of the county, which stands on the northern bank of the Teivy, at the edge of a province called, in early times, the Red Valley. One of the finest rivers in the Princi- pality, rising in the summit of the mountainous region to the north-east, the Teivy, flows with almost unequalled grandeur into the capacious bay. Over the river is an ancient stone bridge of seven arches, and at one end a building in which, it is reported, Giraldus preached the crusade. Cardigan Castle, built in the reign of Henry II., was of considerable size and strength. Few fortresses have undergone greater vicissitudes than this. Raised in a lawless age, it has passed into the possession of successive masters, as fraud or violence gave to each the superiority. Its walls have been by turns manned and assailed by Normans, English, and Welsh ; and the bow, the javelin, the battle-axe, and the cannon, have each done the work of destruction, both in its attack and defence. The war-cry of many nations has been raised from its lofty towers ; and the peaceful stream of the Teivy, that washed its massy walls in the day of its strength, and was often stained with the blood of hostile comba- »10iM3iH! l i; ! CARDIGAN. 205 tants, now rolls its silent tide, in an undisturbed current, by its ruins. Nor has this celebrated fortress been the scene of contest and violence alone. It has had its high and solemn days of festivity and regal magnificence, and the splendid entertainment of Cadwgan ranks amongst the most distinguished of that early age of feudal hospitality, of minstrelsy and song. Its power and existence, however, terminated in the civil wars, at which time it was held in the name of the king, but yielded at last, like many others, to the bravery and perseverance of the Parliamentary forces under General Langhorne.* Fixing Cardigan as my head-quarters for a few days, I had some pleasant opportunities of making aquatic excursions upon the beautiful river Teivy, sailing up or down as the scenery invited, or my fancy might lead me; and occasionally leaving my little bark on the stream, and rambling, in all the ecstasy of invigorated spirits, along its sinuous and ever-varied banks. This is an unfrequented district by the ordinary tourist, because apparently a little diverging from the usual * This castle derives a more modern celebrity from having been the residence of Mrs. Catherine Phillips, a poet of Jeremy Taylor's days, and the lady for whom, under the fanciful name of Orinda, that excellent man long maintained a friendship. She is supposed by Bishop Heber to have been the author of a whimsical treatise on "Artificial Handsomeness," erroneously attributed to the divine; which is nothing more or less than a " formal defence of painting the face," and anointing the brows with "ceruse and antimony." To this lady Taylor addressed his " Discourse on Friendship," — and for which, in return, she styles him, in one of her poems, the " noble Palasmon." This lady was the regular blue-stocking of the day, and was celebrated by all the wits of her age. Cowley wrote an elegy on her death, which, like most of the set poems of that time, is full of odd conceits and far-fetched allusions. 206 CARDIGAN. track,, but to me a more inviting one from that circum- stance. The Teivy, which is the barrier river between the counties of Pembroke and Cardigan, presents, at every turn in its devious course, the peculiar beauties of both ; and is, as Giraldus says, " stoared withe sal- mon and otter above al the ryvers in Wales." At one time it winds its silent way between the hills, filling the intervening space with its clear deep waters, — except, indeed, where sometimes a narrow path is saved, seemingly to entice the foot of the delighted passenger, — its high and sloping banks covered with trees of the richest verdure, now gracefully dipping their pendent branches in the stream, or bristling on the summit in the stately forms of the fir and pine, — and then again, as if rejoicing at its escape from such seclusion, sending its laughing tide through many a richly-wooded and romantic dale, in full career to the main. Unmooring my boat at Cardigan, I pulled into the current of the stream, and soon reached that part where the river becomes contracted, gliding amongst rocky eminences, which rise on either side, occasionally broken into broad and picturesque masses, and as often relieved and insulated by intervening quarries and open- ings. The passage of the river discloses a continued variety of objects : not a few of the reaches, which its perpetual windings afford, are eminently beautiful. In many parts the course of the stream fades from the eye, and the little vessel glides gently forward as on the bosom of a lake, while its beauty offers a combination of rock and foliage, of quarry, level green, and many- coloured mosses, in constant and gratifying succession, throwing a singular air of loveliness and repose over the whole scene. CHAPTER XIII. KILGARRAN — CARMARTHEN VALE OF THE TOWEY LLANDILO KIDWELLY. " If thou art worn and hard beset With sorrows that thou wouldst forget — If thou wouldst read a lesson that will keep Thy heart from fainting, and thy soul from sleep, Go to the woods and hills! — no tears Dim the sweet look that Nature wears." At a distance of five miles from Cardigan, imme- diately following a graceful bend of the river, the noble Castle of Kilgarran bursts suddenly on the view. It was evening when I first saw this stupendous pile of interesting ruins. The moon shone with unequalled beauty and clearness. My bark lay silently upon the tranquil stream, under the shadow of two projecting capes, on one of which, rising perpendicularly from the bed of the river, the castle once stood in commanding majesty ; but now in solitude, sadness, and desolation. As I gazed upon it, my mind ran over the stirring events associated with its history, and recalled its localities, with which from description I had become familiar. There were the frowning bastions and curtain walls, built on a line with the foundation-rock, seeming to grow from their base, as if to defy with it the ravages 208 KILGARRAN. of time and the enemy. On the east, deep ravines, fretted by the mountain torrents in their headlong course to the Teivy, had insulated it from the surround- ing high land. On the west, lay the winding path which connected the peaceful village of Kilgarran with the castle, and its five ample entrances. Within, ward after ward, of various extents, involving the keep and all the state apartments, displayed the massy strength and magnificent dimensions of this once-famous for- tress. Its history marks the insecurity and vicissitudes of a state of society in which right is made to yield to the force of arbitrary power. English, Welsh, Norman, and Flemish masters, had successively shared in its pos- session ; and warriors, of all these tribes, poured from its open gates, on expeditions of war and conquest ; or had presented their serried and devoted lines in its pro- tracted and obstinate defence. All was now hushed. These busy and tumultuous generations slept with their fathers, and left this scene to be contemplated by a solitary traveller, like myself, under the influence of feelings and reflections such as these sad memorials were peculiarly fitted to inspire. I would say of Kil- garran Castle, to the reader, as the northern Magician has sung of the celebrated abbey in his native land, in these lines : — " If thou wouldst view fair Melrose aright, Go visit it by the pale moonlight."* Adjoining the little village of Kilgarran was the resi- * It is said that the great painter Wilson has introduced the fine eminence on which Kilgarran stands, into his picture of Niobe, and the peculiar beauties of this spot into several of his masterlv productions. KTLGARRAN CASTLE — KENARTH. 2C9 (fence of the learned Dr. Thomas Phaycr, the translator of Virgil's iEneid, a a man," as the antiquary George Owen says, " honoured for his learninge, commended for his governmente, and beloved for his pleasante natural conceiptes." The scene of "Warton's poem of King Arthur's Grave is laid in the Castle of Kilgarran, where it is supposed to have been sung by one of the Welsh bards to Henry IT., on the occasion of a high festival, before that monarch sailed on his expedition to Ireland, to suppress the rebellion of the king of Connaught. " Stately the feast, and high the cheer ; Girt with many an armed peer, And canopied with golden pall, Amid Cilgarran's castle hall, Sublime in formidable state, And warlike splendour, Henry sate." Two or three miles from Kilgarran is the pleasant village of Kenarth, near which there is a romantic fall of the Teivy, forming a salmon-leap, over a ledge of rocks of considerable height. From the bridge over the noisy stream, is an interesting though secluded panoramic view, comprising the river, a picturesque water-mill, and the church and village of Kenarth. The bold, dark foreground beautifully reflects itself in the shining waters. The gently-swelling hills, gradually receding from the sight, mingle their blue summits with the sky. The richly-variegated rocks, the quiet green paths winding along the river, the clamorous water-fowl wheeling about in restless eddies, the retreats of peace- ful seclusion, ail combine to give to this scene, when beheld in the fading light, features of wildness and p 210 NEWCASTLE EMLTN. beauty which cannot fail to produce a delightful im- pression on the mind. Evening was beginning to spread her misty veil over the scene, as the Wanderer entered the little town of Newcastle Emiyn, intending to proceed onwards the following morning, and make Carmarthen his temporary home for a few days. Newcastle Emlyn is so connected with the borough of Adpar, in Cardiganshire, that they are usually considered as one town. They stand on either side of the Teivy, — Newcastle on the south, Adpar on the north bank ; and bending with the river, form an irregular street about one mile in length. New- castle had a Roman origin, as old Camden supposes, and was anciently called Dinas Emlyn, or the city ©f Emlyn ; but took its more recent name from the new castle, built by Sir Rhys ap Thomas, upon the site of the old fortress.* It was evening, as I said, when, follow- ing the course of the Teivy, I entered this sequestered little place, occupying, as it does, only one of its delight- ful banks, and looking with friendly regard upon its opposite neighbour, the borough. The sun had sunk * A singular piece of treachery and retribution occurred in connec- tion with this place. During a truce between King Henry of England and Llewelyn, prince of Wales, commissioners were appointed to meet at Emlyn, to negotiate a peace. Patrick de Canton, the king's lieutenant, while on his journey thither, "learning that his own followers were more numerous than those of the Welsh deputies, laid a plan for their destruction, and attacked them with great violence while they were wholly unsuspicious of hostilities, and unprepared for defence. Several of their men were slain, and the chieftains them- selves escaped with great difficulty. David, the prince's brother, who was at the conference, immediately raised the country, and overtaking Patrick on his return, slew both him and the greater part of his attendants." NEWCASTLE EMLY.V. 211 below the horizon with a splendour that belongs to the monarch of clay. His career through the blue vault had been like that of " a bridegroom coming out of his chamber/' and the retinue of clouds, " in thousand liveries dight," that had attended him to his setting, clustered in masses of all forms, at the parting line, bathed in the gorgeous hues of his farewell greeting. Softly they seemed to dissolve into rivers of light, studded with amber islands, or parted by bright head- lands of amethyst and jasper. As the hour advanced, the blue of the sky became changed to deepening grey, and fleecy fragments rolled off from the shifting clouds, and were wafted gently and silently, like phantom ves- sels, to the extreme verge of those molten streams. Creeks, and bays, and shining sands were painted there; rocks appeared pile upon pile, fantastic crags, golden fields and valleys, with rainbow-coloured boundaries, as though the fading pictures of earth had become trans- ferred to the glowing heavens, till the robe of night almost imperceptibly descended over all things once so fair and full of delight. I love the dim twilight of an autumn day ; it is the calm season of the tranquil spirit. The lingering landscape fades gradually from the sight, and as day's last vestige silently departs, the mind, withdrawn from the attraction of external objects, intuitively looks inward, and takes up the thread of thought and reflection, or exercises the memory, or draws upon the powers of the imagination. " Oh ! Twilight ! Spirit that dost render birth To dim enchantments ; melting heaven with earth ;— Leaving on craggy hills and running streams A softness like the atmosphere of dreams ; Thy hour to all is welcome!" p 2 212 THE TOWEY. With the early dawn I surveyed the ruined fortress, of which but few, and those the most picturesque frag- ments, now remain, standing upon an eminence just at the point to which the Teivy advances its broad stream, and then gracefully curving in one of the most remark- able horseshoe bends ever seen, sends forward its refluent waters to wander through the green meadows, on its way to the sea at Cardigan Bay. Leaving the castle and the playful Teivy, I bent my steps across the country, over a wild and mountainous district, through Cynwyl Elfed, pausing only to visit a remarkable cromlech in its neighbourhood. This tract presents but little that can claim attention, or interest the feeling of the traveller, until within a few miles of Carmarthen; when a scene of remarkable splendour bursts unexpectedly upon the delighted sight, compre- hending a portion of the vale of the Towey, the Gla- morganshire hills, part of the eastern arm of Milford Haven, the town and castle of Kidwelly, and a distant expanse bounded only by the far horizon. Does the traveller desire to see the characteristic beauties of this pleasant land combined together, or scattered over comparatively but a small space, and thus presented almost at once within his reach ? Let him take up his pilgrim's staff, and bend his steps, like the Wanderer, towards this picturesque county, where every diversity of mountain, river, coast, and valley scenery awaits him. Although the height of the moun- tains is not so great as in North Wales, yet in the district round Llyn y Van, Carreg-llwyd Carnyd, and Trichrug, are found scenes which cannot be exceeded for romantic grandeur and sublimity. The county is CARMARTHEN. 213 watered by many interesting rivers, the chief of which is the Towey. It rises in Cardiganshire, and derives its first waters from an extensive morass on the hills near Tregaron, entering Carmarthenshire at the north- eastern extremity. It continues its course southerly to Llandovery, where it receives the united current of the rivers Bran and Gwdderig. It then runs past Langadoc and Llandilo Vawr, receiving many small tributary streams from the numerous mountains in this district. From Llandilo the Towey pursues its way westerly to Carmarthen, passing by and adding to the beauty of the scenery around Dynevor, Grongar Hill, Golden Grove, Middleton Hall, and other places celebrated for their sylvan beauties and historic interest. Besides the Towey there are other interesting rivers — the Tave, rising near the Percelly range ; the Gwendraeth Vawr ; the Lloughor, having its source in the Black Mountains, with many others of smaller size — " rivers unknown to song." Carmarthen is pleasantly situated at the western ex- tremity of the vale of the Towey, and is in some parts of considerable elevation, giving it a commanding prospect of that river, with the fine stone bridge of many arches, that spans it, and the delightful valley stretching beyond. If there be a charm which makes one spot of earth more than another dear to the eye of the traveller, that charm is to be found in the power it possesses to call up the recollections of his personal history, or to associate his imagination and feelings with the events connected with it, in the passages of ages long since gone by. In these events are made audible the otherwise silent footfalls of Time. The 214 CARMARTHEN. chronicler hears the sound, and detects the Ancient in his stealthy flight, and before his scythe can perform its destructive office, he notes them on his scroll, and this becomes history to following generations. And so it has been with this interesting place. The Egyptian geographer Ptolemy has recorded it as the Maridunum of its Roman conquerors ; and Carmarthen was once the capital of a district, towards which were converged the two great sections of that famous road, which tra- versed coast and mountain, called the Strata Julia. The pleasant sights and peaceful tracts that now detain the traveller's lingering steps, beheld the march of those mingled legions of haughty Rome, as they tra- versed, in warlike array, this region to camp or city, and from one line of conquest to another. But the period of Roman domination passed away, and Giraldus relates, that it was a place of great strength in the times of its native rulers, and fortified with towers and high brick walls, the remains of which are now very inconsiderable, though there are still many traces of the ruins near the river. The county gaol is built on the foundation of the old castle, of which tradition has handed to posterity but a scanty account. It is known, however, to have been the seat of the princes of the country, before the royal residence was transferred to Dinevaur ; and in this place the ancient Britons held their parliament. Both the castle and the town have undergone the usual changes that belong to ages of violence and disputed possession, and in their vicissi- tudes have been besieged, destroyed, and again rebuilt. Lambarde tells a story, in connection with this neigh- bourhood, which strongly exhibits the attachment of CARMARTHEN. 215 the natives to their country, and the difficulty their in- vaders found in obtaining possession of it. " Henry 11./' he says, " havinge taken Rese Griffin Prisonner, a litle from Carmardin, sent a Knighte of Normanny, accom- panied with the Deane of Cantermaur, to view the Castle of Dinevor and the country about it, meaninge, upon understandinge of the same, to have invaded that hole quarter. The Deane (beinge a Welcheman, called Guaiclhamus) more lovingely to his Countrymen, then loyally to his Prince, conducted the Gentlemen throughe the most roughe, hyllye, and inaccessible places that he knewe, and when they wanted whereof to eate, he would lye downe, and fede on the Grass hungerley, sayinge, that ' his Countrymen had, for the most part, none other Foode ; ' and thus, by Penurye and Travaile so wearyed the Knighte, that at his Retorne he told the Kinge that ' the Countrye was more fitt for Beastes than Men, and not worthie the Charge of a Conquest/ The Kinge belevinge him, toke Rese Griffin's Homage, and sent him home without further Attempt against his Countrye." The church of St. Peter contains some singular and interesting monuments. The grotesque female figure kneeling on the south side of the chancel, by the aid of its quaint inscription, tells the beholder the story of extensive benevolence, and satisfies at the same time his curiosity, by describing the subject as "A choice Elixar of Mortalitie, * * * * Who by her loanes in spit of Aduerse fates, She did preserue Mens persons and Estates ; Would you then know who wen this good Woman, Twas virtuous Anne the Lady VArGHAN." 216 CARMARTHEN. Opposite to this excellent woman lie the recumbent figures of Sir Rhys ap Thomas and his lady. The gallant knight, clothed in a suit of plate armour, with the insignia of his order, and the emblazonry of family honours; and his lady in the modest costume of the age in which she lived, with an emblematic dove at her feet. The traveller who looks upon these effigies in crum- bling stone, now mutilated almost to obliteration, and calls to mind the stormy period in which the beings they are intended to represent once flourished, will not fail to rest his eye, with some interest, upon the subse- quent pages, in which the Wanderer proposes to lay before him the curious and surprising incidents of the personal history of this warrior and his family, and their connection with the important events at that time occurring in South Wales. At the western suburb of the town is a monument commemorating the gallant deeds of Sir Thomas Picton,* * "Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas Picton, G.G.B., memorable in the Peninsular campaign as the leader of what was pre-eminently called the fighting division, was known by the appellation of the riyht hand of Wellington. He received his death-wound in the daring enterprise of leading a charge of infantry against a solid square of French cavalry ; an enterprise scarcely before attempted, except by Picton himself, who had more than once successfully executed it in the Peninsula. The duke of Wellington, in his despatch, passes a just eulogium on his worth. As soon as our army was sent to Flanders, government, it is stated, offered him the command of a division, but apprehending the duke of Wellington, as commander-in-chief, would leave the British force to some officer in whom he could not repose the same confidence, he declined the offer, adding, however, if the duke should personally require his services, he would instantly repa ; r to the army. This requisition was made, and the general left the town on June the 11th, and on the 18th, terminated his honourable caic-r in CARMARTHEN. 217 who was killed at the battle of Waterloo. It was erected from a meagre and unsatisfactory design pre- sented by Mr. Nash. On a square pedestal rises a Doric column, at the top of which is a statue of the general. On two sides of the pedestal were in- scriptions, and on the others basso-relievos of the en- gagements at Waterloo and Badajoz, but so carelessly were they executed, that the weather has already almost defaced them. In 1829, the Rev. Edward Picton pre- sented to the county a portrait of his brother, painted by the president of the Royal Academy, which is now suspended in the Grand Jury Room of the County Hall. From Carmarthen to Llaudilo (a distance of about fifteen miles) there are two roads, which run nearly parallel with the Towey, and on either side that river, along each of which are many objects of great attrac- tion and interest for the antiquary and lover of nature. I determined first to examine the north or upper road, and see the hoary ruins of Dryslyn Castle — Grongar Hill, over which the poet Dyer has thrown such a halo of pleasant and quiet feeling, — the ancient royal for- tress and park of Dynevor, making Llandilo my resting- place for a few days, and returning by the lower road through Golden Grove to Carmarthen. the field of glory ! He had made his will before his departure — he did not expect to return ; but observed to a friend, that when he heard of his death, he would hear of a bloody day. The following pleasing trait in his character may be relied on : — Some time after relinquishing the government of Trinidad, the inhabitants voted him £5,000 as a testi- mony of their esteem. When a dreadful fire laid the capital in ashes at a subsequent period, a subscription was opened for the relief of the sufferers, and the general eagerly seized the opportunity of appro- priating the ,£5,000 to that object." 218 SIR RICHARD STEELE. On leaving Carmarthen, on the opposite side of the Towey, stands Llangunnor Hill, below which is seen a farm-house, called Ty Gwyn (the white house) , and is that in which Sir Richard Steele * lived for many years, and wrote several essays and dramatic pieces. It is situated in the centre of the small estate he inherited from the Sherlock family. After his profusion and improvidence in the metropolis, and the consequent embaiTassments he experienced, he lived here in com- parative seclusion, intending, by economy and the ex- ertion of his literary powers, to acquire a sufficient income to liquidate the debts contracted by his former extravagance, and maintain with credit his rank in society. This amiable and eminent man, towards the * Many humorous anecdotes are related of Sir Richard, which throw some light upon his habits and character. Sending one morning for Savage, the poet, without any previous conversation, he requested him to step into his carriage, and was followed by Sir Richard, when the coachman drove to a small tavern near Hyde Park Corner. Sir Hichard then informed him that he intended to publish a pamphlet, and wished him to write while he dictated. After dining they again pro- ceeded with the pamphlet, which was finished in the evening, when Savage expected Sir Richard would call for the reckoning, and return home. How was he surprised, when informed that the pamphlet must be sold before the dinner could be paid for ! and Savage was, therefore, obliged to go and offer the production for sale, and procured two guineas for it. Sir Richard then returned home, having retired for the day to avoid his creditors. On another occasion, Sir Richard having invited a party to dinner, his visitors were surprised at the number of liveries which surrounded the table ; after dinner, one of them inquiring how such an extensive train of domestics could be consistent with his fortune, Sir Richard frankly confessed they were fellows of whom he would very willingly be rid — that they were bailiffs ; and since he could not send them away, he had thought it convenient to embellish them with liveries. ABERGWILLI. 219 end of his life, was carried by two servants, in an open chair, about the neighbourhood. Two miles on the road is the village of Abergwilli. It was at this place that the good Prince Llewelyn fought an obstinate battle with Rhun, an adventurer from Scotland, calling himself the son of Prince Mere- dith. The adventurer ranged his troops in order of battle, and exhorted them to courage and constancy, but withdrew privately during the contest to a place of safety where he might watch the event. The brave prince, on the contrary, was seen wherever the battle raged the most fiercely, and by his valour achieved a victory, in which his enemy was slain, notwithstanding his efforts to escape. Near to the village, and just at that point where a most romantic bend of the Towey washes the margin of the lawn, stands the episcopal palace belonging to the Bishop of Saint David's, commanding a view of this majestic river in its refluent meanderings up the vale, before it resumes its onward course towards the sea. The Towey, when it leaves its early mountain -track, and receives the united streams of the Bran and Gwdderig, seems to revel with its accumulated waters through the rich valley that bears its name ; at one time rolling in an impetuous headlong torrent, and then circling with a gentle current almost from side to side, as if to lave some favoured spot, or to expend its joy in sportive gambols, separating as it flows the whole extent into distinct portions of great beauty. About a mile beyond Abergwilli is one of these little dells, through which a clear and nameless stream pursues its 2.20 merlin's hill. way from the hills to bury itself in the channel of the river. On the western side of this little dell an emi- nence rises, called Merlin's Hill, which tradition has assigned as the birthplace of this extraordinary man ; near the brow is an opening in the rocks, Avhich the country people still credulously show as the place in which the seer practised his incantations. "For he by wordes could call out of the sky- Both suune and moone, and make them him obey ; The land to sea, and sea to maineland dry, And darksom night he eke could turn to day ; Huge hostes of men he could alone dismay, And hostes of men of meanest things could frame, Whenso him list his enemies to pay : That to this day, for terror of bis fame, The feendes do quake when any him to them does name." Ascending the hill yet higher, an extensive view presents itself of the vale as far as the hill above Llanarthney. The birth and life of Merlin, " surnamed Ambrosius," as may be supposed, is full of mystery. His mother was a royal virgin, the daughter of King Demetius, and, according to her confession, the prophet was " conceived by the compression of some fantastical spiritual creature." This, however, is considered only a fiction raised by her woman's wit, " to conceal the person of her sweetheart," whose life would have been endangered by a revelation of the truth. He was brought forth from his obscurity by the profligate King Yortigern, when he was purposing to build a castle to protect him from his enraged subjects ; but in which design he had been continually thwarted by prodigies of various kinds. The king, by the aid of his seer, at last accomplished his purpose. The castle was built, MEULIN. 221 and here the monarch is said to have dwelt in seclusion, " diverted by the many pleasant fancies " which Merlin devised to drive away his melancholy. But when the king's fate drew nigh, Merlin found means to escape from the devoted fortress, became a good Christian, and foreshowed truly many things to come. Among other events in which the ancient seer is concerned, he is said to have brought " the great stones which stand till this day on the plain of Salisbury, during one stormy night from Ireland, and caused them to be placed there in remembrance of the British lords who were slain on that spot." Merlin was destined, not- withstanding his supernatural powers, to be the subject of human sympathies, and to endure some of the dis- appointments that arise out of them. He fell in love with the " Lady of the Lake ;" but " she was ever passing weary of him, and fain would have been delivered of him." The prophet followed his mistress into Brittany, where, as the tradition goes, he was enchanted into a white-thorn bush, in the forest of Breceliande, by the arts which, in a moment of weak- ness, he had disclosed to her. His grave is said to be close by the fairy fountain of Baranton. In the words of the Gaulish chronicle, " "Lh dort le vieux Druide, au murmure des eaux et du vent qui gemit dans les bruyeres d'alentour." Passing on two miles further I reached Pont ar Cothy, which extensive stream, rising in the north- eastern limits of the county, forms a junction with the Towey about a mile below the bridge. The antiquarian will find subjects for his research in this neighbourhood, amongst the remains of an old castle, on an elevated 222 DRYSLYN CASTLE. part of the western bank of the Cothy, within two miles of the road to Llandilo, and of another fortress, three miles beyond this, on the eastern side of the stream. It was early morning, and the sun had just emerged from his cloudy pavilion, when I started from Carmar- then to explore the abundant beauties of the district of the Towey. It was now noon, and that great luminary was on his southern track, but attended by such a retinue of turbid and ever-shifting clouds, as made me apprehend a fearful thunderstorm. I therefore hastened onwards by Llanegwad, passing close to the river where it bends in serpentine evolutions amidst the luxuriant pasture-land at Wern-ddu. Opposite to this place, looking over the Towey, rises Nelson's Tower, erected by Sir William Paxton, to commemorate the victory and death of that hero, and which forms one of the most conspicuous points in the vale. I now struck off from the main road, and turning to the right reached Felindre, and crossing the Dulas, a little tributary stream, came to Dryslyn Castle. The ruins of this ancient stronghold are situated on a bold green emi- nence, which rises like an island in the midst of a wide opening in the valley, and overhangs the western shore of the Towey. From the summit of these ruins is one of the finest prospects in the vale, extending to the eastward eight or ten miles, and they themselves form an interesting object when viewed from the surrounding scenery. Dryslyn Castle once occupied a large space of ground, but its remains are now very inconsiderable, comprising only some fragments of the walls, and a part of one of DltYSLYN CASTLE. 223 the towers. It was erected by a prince of the house of Dynevor, and was amongst the last of the possessions which that family was permitted to retain. In former times it must have been surrounded by a wild and savage tract of country ; for Leland, in speculating upon its etymology, writes, " Dryslan, as I learned, is as much as to say, a place ful of difficulte and encum- brance to passe through." This hoary castle has heard in the "olden tymes" the song of minstrelsy within its ancient halls, and beleaguering hosts have set them- selves down before its gates in deadly array. Near the spot where I stood, during the rebellion of Rhys ap Meredith, in the time of Edward I., its massy wall had given way from the operations of a secret mine, and buried in its fall the besieging generals, Stafford and Monchency, with many of their officers. The storm that I had feared, or anticipated, had now passed unbroken away. The clouds which had dogged the sun in its course had been dissipated, or drawn off like a retiring host to a distant part of the heavens, and, as I left the ruined castle, the sun again shone forth with increased splendour. The foot-track to the eastward led me over the rising ground by Pentre Bach, a few hundred yards beyond which rises the side of Grongar Hill. This celebrated place is much indebted both to history and poetry for the fame which it has so long enjoyed, and for the charm that still rests upon it. On its summit there have been traced, in later years, vestiges of a Roman encampment, with the usual rectangular intrenched area, which old Leland saw in his time, and which he describes with his usual minuteness and simplicity. 224 GRONGAR HILL. " Ther is" he says, " within halfc a myle of Drislan Castel on Tewe, a mightye campe of men of Warre, with 4 or 5 cliches, and an area in the middle." But Grongar Hill, like the Man of Ross, is indebted princi- pally to the force of friendship and the fervour of poetry for the interest it has so long enjoyed. Who has not connected with the earliest associations of his mind the beauties with which the pen of Dyer* has invested it, and cherished amongst his most ardent anticipations, the impassioned desire to make a pilgrimage to this delightful spot ? " Grongar Hill invites my song, Draw the landscape bright and strong : Grongar, in whose mossy cells, Sweetly musing, Quiet dwells; Grongar, in whose silent shade, For the modest Muses made. So oft I have, the evening still, At the fountain of a rill, Sat upon a flow'ry bed, With my hand beneath my head, While strayed my eyes o'er Towey's flood, Over mead and over wood." I descended the hill, and bade adieu both to the historian and the poet, as the sun's last rays were resting on the opposite eminence above Golden Grove. For awhile he seemed to hang his shining orb on its highest pinnacles, as if to bid a glorious farewell to the * Dyer was born at the mansion called Aberglasney, on the estate, in 1700, and was educated for the profession of the law : but after the death of his father he became a pupil of Richardson, an eminent artist of that day, and went to Rome for improvement in his art. Afterwards he relinquished painting, studied for the Church, and procured the livings of Coningsley and Kirkby, in Leicestershire. LLAXDILO VAWR. 225 hemisphere lie was about to leave, and then withdrew, leaving the refractions of his brightness to fringe the mountain- peaks of Llangathan, and to spread a line of light along the surrounding ridge. The misty shades of evening were gathering around me when I gained the high road about three miles from Llandilo Vawr. It was not long ere I reached this little town, and took up my quarters at the Cawdor Arms. In its excellent accommodations, and at its bountiful table, I refreshed myself, after a day of more than usual fatigue and pleasure, intending to make my visit to the grounds of Dynevor on the following morning, and to spend another day in exploring those dreary mountains, among which Carreg Cennen Castle rears its towering head; afterwards to return to Carmarthen along the vale, by the southern road, taking Golden Grove, and other objects of interest, in my way. Llandilo Vawr is a picturesque little place, occupy- ing the sloping sides of a hill, the ridge of which is the centre of the town, and the main road through it. It is built close to the edge of Dynevor Park, and just above the Towey, which here makes one of its capri- cious evolutions amongst the luxuriant meadows around. The river is crossed on the southern road by a substan- tial bridge, erected by the well-known Welsh architect David Edwards. The country round Llandilo abounds with so many objects to interest the tourist, that it ought to be made his rendezvous for a few days:* and * To those who can spare only one day, I would recommend the following excursion from Llandilo : — through Dynevor Park to the old castle ; Llangathan Mountain, above Grongar Hill ; Diyslyn Castle ; then cross the river at the ferry to Nelson's Tower, and return through Golden Grove. Q 226 DYNEV0R PARK. since the Cawdor Arms has been established, there is no lack of excellent accommodation, even for the most fastidious. To the angler this place affords abundant sport, from the salmon and trout fishing to be found in the Towey, and in several small streams around. It is the best point, also, from which to make excursions to the romantic scenery in the mountainous districts about Carreg Cennen, and along the rich and quiet retreats that form the most attractive beauties of the vale. Llandilo Vawr is not without its historical interest, for Caradoc mentions that the decisive battle between the armies of Edward I. and Prince Llewelyn, which subjected Wales to the sovereignty of England, was fought near this town, in 1282. On this occasion the king's forces were commanded by the earl of Gloucester and Sir Edmund Mortimer, who achieved the victory at a great sacrifice of life. The following morning was unusually fine, and the air delightfully fresh and invigorating. The overhang- ing mist lay stretched like a sleepy covering on the valley, while the distant hills were already lighted up with the bright rays of the god of day. Nature seemed astir in those elevated regions; in the valley she seemed to slumber with the sluggard's wish. "Who would not choose to have his foot on those mountains, "to be," as Jeremy Taylor says, "a courtier of the sun, to dwell in his eye, and look in his face, and wait upon him in his chambers of the east?" I entered Dynevor Park by the little gate beside the main entrance, accompanied by an intelligent guide ac- quainted with the neighbouring localities. On pro- ceeding only a few yards to an elevated part of the DYNEVOR. PARK. 227 grounds, a scene of surprising beauty seemed to burst upon the sight. The green and sloping lawns, studded with stately trees, dressed in coloured foliage, appeared to swell and extend before the eye. Afar the tower of the castle reared its hoary head above the dark mass of tall oaks by which it was surrounded, and with which it beautifully harmonized. Just opposite, glowing in light, stood Golden Grove. As the morning advanced, the fertile valley, radiant with sunshine, revealing the clear, playful waters of the silver Towey, stretched right onward, while the mountain-ridges, far, far away, closed the wonderful scene. Directed by the guide, I bent my steps a few hundred yards to the left, towards an eminence called Venland Vawr, on which two groups of tall firs stand conspicuous, protecting the visitor from the heat of the sun, and affording by their shade the opportunity of quietly surveying the surrounding land- scape. With the exception of the view from the Deer Park, the prospects from this place are amongst the finest which the valley affords. Standing on this spot, which nearly bisects the vale, the view to the north-east, looking up the stream, ex- tends over the district of Llaugadock almost to Llan- dovery, comprehending in its more easterly range the high black mountain of Trichrug. Towards the south rise the hills around Carreg Cennen Castle, and the towering summits of Mynydd Du. Below is the ever- fresh and rolling river, from the banks of which spreads the domain of Golden Grove, stretched as in a map before the sight. Pursuing my way towards the castle, I passed a deep dingle covered with immense trees and underwood, ren- 2.28 CASTLE OF DYNEVOR. dered almost transparent by the powerful rays of the sun which played upon it. A little beyond, near the junction of tw r o winding roads, from almost opposite directions, an interesting and delightful landscape pre- sents itself; and, again and again, as I followed out the path, new and fresh combinations of natural beauty became evolved from the rich and varied elements so prodigally flung around this favoured place. Diverging o the left, I passed through a kind of avenue of full- grown ash, which leads to the mouldering ruins of this once- splendid residence, now embosomed in aged trees, that seem to claim an ancestry coeval with the fortress itself. The remains of the royal Castle of Dynevor are considerable; one large tower, and some of the walls, continue almost entire. From the most authentic accounts, the castle was circular in its form, and fortified with a double moat and rampart, and appears to have been erected in 877, by Roderique the Great, and was in the possession of Rhys ap Theodore, who probably extended its site in the reign of "William the Conqueror. Giraldus mentions this fortress in his Itinerary, as " the principal palaice of South Wales, standinge on the toppe of a hyll in Cantermawr." Soon after his time it was greatly damaged; but, being rebuilt and forti- fied, it became the seat of the princes of the country. It was besieged by the forces of Henry I., in 1226; a sanguinary contest took place, and he was repulsed, with the loss of two thousand men, by Prince Llewelyn. It was alternately held by opposing belligerent parties, but was finally demolished in the civil wars, and its ruins granted by Henry VII. to Sir Rhys ap Thomas, CASTLE OF DYNEVOR. 229 a descendant of the Welsh princes, and ancestor of the present possessor of the estate, to whom he was so much indebted for his recovery of the crown of Eng- land. Here, in the reign of its ancient princes, the bards used to assemble to keep their triennial festival of the Eisteddfod. I ascended what was once the round tower, built over a tremendous precipice on the south-east, and which formed one of the angles of the castle wall. From its topmost height I beheld a prospect the most varied, luxuriant, and enchanting, that the eye ever ranged over. The rich woods of oak and chestnut, clothing the precipitous descent of the castellated hill, down to the water's edge, and the valley stretching off from its base, arrayed in green and gold of the loveliest hues, intersected and enlivened by the sportive mean- derings of the river. Within reach of the vision were comprehended all of hill or valley scenery ; the bleak mountain-summits, rarely trodden except by the soli- tary foot of the curious traveller ; and the verdant tranquil pastures, teeming with life and plenty; with here and there those distinguished spots which history and poetry have combined to invest with an earthly immortality. Dynevor will afford a day's enjoyment — " a summer's day," — as Yorick says, " From morn to dewy eve." And so it did to the Wanderer, who lingered amongst its beauties, till the young moon lighted his steps home- wards to mine host's of the Cawdor Arms. To the south-east of Llandilo Vawr, in the most bleak and inhospitable district of South Wales, sur- 230 CARREG CENNEN CASTLE. rounded by a chain of almost inaccessible mountains, stands Carreg Cennen Castle. Behind this barrier of everlasting hills, are deep wide valleys, in the lowest channel of which the Cennen rolls its stream, after rain, with the headlong fury of a mountain torrent. From the edge of this stream rises an insulated and almost perpendicular peak, on the summit of which, covering the whole extent, frown the black ruins of this stronghold of feudal power, accessible only on one side. The castle is said to owe its erection to one of the lords of Is Cennen, a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. Its strong and simple masonry assigns it to an earlier origin, and its present remains exhibit its ample arrangements and impregnable strength. Caradoc, the Welsh chronicler, relates that it was once delivered up to the English, by the mother of Rhys Vechan, out of dislike to her son, but was afterwards retaken by him. There is a winding cave bored through the solid rock, which descends by the northern edge to the depth of one hundred and fifty feet, at the bottom of which was a well, intended formerly to furnish water to the garrison. From this elevated precipice the eye com- mands a prospect of prodigious extent, comprehending a large reach of the finest part of the vale of the Tovvey, the vale of Llangyndeirn, with the ocean in the distance, and the vale of Llandybie, with a consider- able portion of the vale of Llaughor beyond it. It was with the first rays of the morning sun that I commenced my walk to Carreg Cennen Castle; and before the inhabitants of the little town I had left, had resumed the busy occupations of the day, I had plunged deep into the wild cwms that separate the mountain- GOLDEN GROVE. 231 range connected with the Trichrug from the remark- able fortress to which I was pursuing my way. After surveying all the wonders which I have already de- scribed to the reader, I set my face again towards that " river of romance," whose picturesque shores had so long attracted my vagrant steps. My next resting- place was in the refreshing shades of Golden Grove, one of the seats of Lord Cawdor. In the time of the Civil Wars between Charles I. and his Parliament, Cromwell, in his way to besiege Pembroke Castle, came suddenly across the country with a troop of horse, to seize the person of the royalist earl, who fortunately had received notice of his approach, and escaped in time to a sequestered farm-house amongst the hills, and thus avoided being taken. The Protector, disap- pointed in his purpose, dined with the countess, and afterwards pursued his march to Pembroke. The former house, belonging to the family of the Vaughans, was seated near the banks of the Towey ; but the new one, built by the present proprietor, is erected in the centre of the estate, commanding the sweep of the green lawn in front, the meadows which fringe it on the north to the river's brink, and the grey tower of old Dynevor, — on the west, the graceful line of Grongar Hill. This place will ever be associated in the mind of the English reader with the remembrance of that excellent man, Jeremy Taylor. Here he sought shelter during the period of Cromwell's ascendancy,* * At the commencement of this struggle, Taylor joined the king at Oxford, and dedicated his time and pen to his service. Previously to the termination of Charles's misfortunes, Taylor received from him, in token of his regard, his watch, and a few pearls and rubies, which 232 GOLDEN GROVE. and in this place he composed many of his valuable works of practical devotion, one of ■which bears the title of Golden Grove. This book has some poetical pieces which strikingly illustrate the sparkling richness of the author's mind. His " Meditation on Heaven" contains this luxuriant passage : — "That bright eternity, Where the great King's transparent throne Is of an entire jaspar stone ; There the eye O' the chrysolite And a sky Of diamonds, rubies, and chrysoprase, And above all, Thy holy face, Make an eternal clarity. When Thou Thy jewels dost bind up, that day Remember us, we pray, That where the beryl lies And the crystal 'bove the skies, There Thou mayst appoint us a place Within the brightness of Thy face ; And our soul In the scroll Of life and blissfulness enrol, That we may praise Thee to eternity." Dr. Rust, his biographer, thus describes him, when he was called upon to supply, for a time, the place of lecturer at St. Paul's Cathedral. " Here he preached/' says Rust, " to the admiration and astonishment of his auditory, and by his florid and youthful beauty, and had ornamented the ebony case in which he kept his bible. Ke suffered much, and was several times imprisoned during the Protec- torate of Cromwell ; but at the Restoration, the smile of royal favour played upon him, and he became successively bishop of Down and Connor, chancellor of the University of Dublin, and member of the Irish privy council. KIDWELLY. 233 sweet and pleasant air, and sublime and raised dis- courses, he made his hearers take him for some young angel newly descended from the visions of glory." In the following eulogium, the same biographer sums up his character, after the close of his career in death : — "Nature/' says he, "had befriended him much in his constitution ; for he was a person of a most sweet and obliging humour, of great candour and ingenuity ; and there was so much of salt and fineness of wit, and prettiness of address in his familiar discourses, as made his conversation have all the pleasantness of a comedy, and all the usefulness of a sermon ; his soul was made lip of harmony, and he never spake but he charmed his hearers, not only with the clearness of his reason, but all his words, and his very tones and cadences, were strangely musical." It was drawing towards the close of the day when I reached Kidwelly, a little town once rivalling the port of Carmarthen, but now much lessened and reduced, standing on both sides of the lesser Gwen- draeth, which is here crossed by a handsome stone bridge. The ix Ef)gs ap tEijomas. CHAPTER XV. PEMBRE HILL LLANELLY SWANSEA NEATH MARGAM BRIDGEND COWBRIDGE — LLANDAFF CAERPHILLY. Where'er we gaze around, above, below, What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found ! Rock, river, forest, mountain, all abound, And bluest skies that harmonize the whole : Beneath, the distant torrent's rushing sound Tells where the volumed cataract doth roll, Between these hanging rocks that shock, yet please the soul. Childe Hakold. The heavy mists were still lingering over the stream of the Gwendraeth when I took up my light scrip, and departed from Kidwelly over the dreary swamp that interposes between that little town and the elevated district of Pembre Hill, the highest mountain-range in the south of Carmarthenshire. Having crossed Spud- der Bridge, and ascended the hill immediately beyond it, I stood for a while upon its summit, to contemplate a scene the most expansive and enchanting that could fall within the range of the human vision. The thick vapours had rolled away from mountain, dale, and river, and the bright rays of a morning sun had lighted PEMBRE HILL. 257 up every object of interest far and near. On one side stretched Carmarthen Bay, glittering in radiant sun- shine, with the distant points of Caldy Island and Giltar Head, and farther out the wide expanse of the Bristol Channel ; on the south, looking over the penin- sula of Gowerland and the Bay of Swansea, the bluff coast of Devon and Somerset formed the extreme line of the horizon. North-easterly lay the length and breadth of Carmarthenshire, with its quiet vales and shining rivers, having in the back-ground the broken chain of mountains which skirts the borders of the county from Brecknockshire to the sea. I know not how it is, and it does not enter into the philosophy of a wanderer upon the earth's surface, like myself, to explain it, but I always feel the current of pleasant thought repulsed when I turn from the delightful sur- vey of that which is grand and beautiful in nature, to the contemplation of scenes in which the strength and ingenuity of man is taxed and wasted for the acqui- sition of sordid gain, and that too, it may be, amid the poisonous exhalations of the mine, or the no less in- jurious vapours of the heated furnace ; and so it was in this case. I slowly and lingeringly withdrew from the enchantments of Pembre Hill, and threaded my way through the dirty streets of Llanelly, amidst the smoke of coalpits and smelting-houses that almost darkened the air. I stopped not to examine the miserable ruins of its castle, or the embattled tower and tapering spire that at once arise from its single church, or the traces that are still left to identify it as the ancient Roman station of Leucarium ; but pursued my way across the ferry of the Loughor, that here empties itself into the s 258 SWANSEA. Burry Creek, till I reached, in somewhat of a fretful and melancholy mood, the busy port of Swansea, that stands in the dip of its beautiful bay. Swansea, or, as it was anciently called, Abertawe, from the junction of the Tawe with the sea, " or, in Saxon, Swinesey, of the sea-porkes," stands on the western side of that river, which is here navigable for ships of large burden. The bay has been said to rival that of Naples, from its beautiful undulating line and capacious basin ; and the town is seen to great advan- tage from it. The castle asserts its existence by one solitary quadrangular tower, with its range of light cir- cular arches sui rounding the top, peering from the mass of houses that have choked it up nearly on all sides. It has also the remains of its eastern wing, part of which is in desolation, and part advantageously con- verted into excellent shops and respectable domestic habitations. This castle was built by the Norman leader Henry Beaumont, earl of Warwick, the con- queror of Gowerland. Swansea, or its immediate dis- trict, is supposed to have given birth to Gower, one of the fathers of British poetry, and the contemporary of Chaucer, in the rudest ages of its literary history ; but it was actually the birthplace of Nash, better known as Beau Nash, so long the arbiter elegantiarum of Bath. It was also the place of banishment of the unfortunate and wayward poet Savage. The sweep of Swansea Bay comprehends many objects of great interest. In an angle formed by the indention of its bending shore, about five miles from the town, stand the remains of Oystermouth Castle. This fortress occupies a gentle eminence close to the SWANSEA. 259 shore, and belonged from a remote period to the lords of Gower. Its walls are still nearly entire, and bear traces of the bastions and turrets which defended them. To add to its strength and importance, tradition relates that a subterraneous communication was made between this castle and that of Swansea. Its bold and majestic ruins are now a mark for the fisherman as he guides his little skiff homewards over the waters. The pleasant village of the same name spreads its scattered habitations on the declivity of the hilly range near which the castle stands, under the shadow of a limestone rock, and reaches to the dry and somewhat elevated part of the beach within the Mumble's Point. This latter object is a bold rocky projection, running some distance into the sea, and bears the Pharos of that part of our island coast which is washed by the waters of the Bristol Channel. Its dazzling light can be seen at a great distance by the mariner, and has been his guide and beacon on many a dark and stormy night. There is something more than ordinarily in- teresting in this object of man's creation, and as the Wanderer's eye took in its towering height, he contem- plated it as a grateful illustration of the intelligence and benevolence of his race. There it stood, with its firm foot on the rock, unshaken amidst the wildest blast, and throwing its light upon the trackless waves, when the heavens themselves were covered with black- ness, — seeming like the Genius of Mercy, sending her voice booming upon the waters, to warn the wayfarer from the perils of the coast. At a short distance from this place are the weather- beaten ruins of Pennarth Castle, standing on a rocky s 2 260 NEATH. cliff, at the extremity of a barren sandy heath, and still further on, to the northward, those of Penrice. In the same direction, and far beyond these ruins, rises the high mountain of Cefn Bryn, — the ridge of the moun- tain, — with its immense cromlech, called Arthur's Stone, composed of a very hard lapis molaris ; under- neath, it is said, there was formerly a spring of clear water, called Our Lady's Well, which used to ebb and flow with the tide of the sea. A little below are the remains of the castellated mansion of Oxwich, built on the shore of the small bay of that name, about the middle of the sixteenth century. The view is termi- nated by the promontory of Wormshead and Llanma- doc Hill, on which in centuries past the Roman sentinel held his watch, and of whose encampment time has not yet destroyed all the traces. But the Wanderer's way held not to these places. Leaving Swansea and Gowerland, which forms this in- teresting peninsula, on the west, formerly peopled by a colony of Flemings, whose successors are still distin- guished by their dialect and provincial dress, called the Gower Whittle, his path stretched towards the east, in a direction nearly parallel with the coast, describing something like a half-circle from Neath to Caerphilly, and including within these points many subjects of great natural beauty, the ruins of many ancient for- tresses, and the convenient towns of Bridgend, Cow- bridge, Cardiff, and Llandaff. The little borough of Neath, formerly the Nidum of Antoninus, offers but few attractions to claim the atten- tion of the traveller. The river bearing the same name is here crossed by a stone bridge, which marks the NEATH. 261 boundary of Gowerland. This stream, in its passage from the romantic region amidst the Brecknock hills, in which it takes its rise, flows through one of the most picturesque valleys in South Wales, and, after being swollen by the Dulas, and other tributary waters, empties itself into the Bay of Swansea. Old Giraldus " sayeth that the Neath is ful of daunger, by reason that it aboundeth with quick e sandes more than any other ryver in Wales, in so much as scarcely the coun- trimen may guyde a man safely over it." The dangers of the chronicler's time are however past, and the bridge affords a sure footing to the traveller, and the swift and swelling waters appear to have swept away the quicksands. The ruins of the abbey, called by Leland, — " the fairest in Wales," at a little distance from the place ; and of the castle, which was a Norman fortress, are inconsiderable, and too much disfigured by the dense atmosphere to invite attention. The former, however, possesses some historical interest, from having been the sanctuary of Edward II. when pursued by his cruel consort Isabella and her confederates, "wheare," as Sir Thomas More says, " he lurked for a tyme, beinge put in comforte by the Welshmen that he should abyde theare unespyed, which notwithstanding weare in thende hyred for Judas's rewarde, to betraye him, theyr sove- raigne maister." This refuge only delayed for a while the fatal catastrophe that awaited the fallen monarch within the gloomy dungeons of Berkeley Castle. Emerging from the cloudy canopy that seems to cover Neath, I pursued my route by Eagle's Bush, an agreeable situation upon some high ground, near the road to Britton Ferry, a place of rare beauty, close by 262 NEATH. the estuary of the Neath. The river here rolls in rapid current along its ample channel, by the western boun- dary of the ornamented grounds, as if in haste to mingle itself with the waters of the bay. The summits of the rocky shore which front the sea, are clothed with forests of fine oak and other trees, and the line of ver- dant beauty descends gradually and gracefully to the river's brink, shutting in the fairy region from the rough blasts that sweep across the Bristol Channel. The varied nature of the grounds, now elevated into swelling hills, now gently subsiding into rich and fer- tile valleys, interspersed with gay flowering knolls of myrtle and magnolia, which the mildness of the climate permits to grow in the open air, with the perpetual change which masses of thick umbrageous trees, secluded dingles, and open meadows afford, render this a scene of perfect enchantment. The village churchyard close at hand, that peaceful resting-place, combines its picturesque effect and its soothing melan- choly reflections to unite sentiment with scenery, and to render the landscape complete, by mingling the heart's finest, dearest emotions with Nature's choicest beauties. I constrained myself to leave this attractive place; for the lengthening shadows reminded me that I had yet to pass some distance before the pilgi'image of the day was ended. I lingered, however, on the road, about the delightful retreat of Bagland, where the poet Mason composed his celebrated elegy on the death of Lady Coventry. Would the reader know what detained the foot of the Wanderer in this fascinating spot, gazing fixedly, as if buried in some abstract speculation, BAGLAND — MARGAM. 263 though the twilight shades of the evening were warn- ing him, by their deepening hues, of the coming dark- ness? His mind had caught the thread of long-lost recollections. It had conjured up the gentle form of that Gleaner* among many lands, whose rich voice and tender tones he had heard in by-gone days, giving a melancholy and thrilling emphasis to those thought- creating lines — "Yes, Coventry is dead ! Attend the strain, Daughters of Albion ! ye that, light as air, So oft have tript in her fantastic train, With hearts as gay, and faces half as fair." Leaving Bagland with all its associations, I hastened my steps as rapidly as possible through the dirty village of Aberavon, in no mood to examine the fragments that yet remain of its fallen castle, and while the last rays of the great luminary still lingered on the edge of the magnificent hills that formed the back-ground of Margam Park, I entered that quiet village, and took up my abode at the little inn that hangs out its invita- tion to the weary traveller. Nothing can exceed the rural beauty of the modest hamlet of Margam, with its peaceful sanctuary occupying, as it does, the green valley at the base of the majestic mountain-steep of Mynydd Mawr, clothed with verdant oaks to its very summit, and breasting with unrivalled grandeur the wild waves that sweep along the Bristol Channel. To the left of the village, and at a very short distance from it, spread the grounds and gardens of Margam Park, sharing alike the seclusion of the * Mr. Pratt, author of " Gleanings through Westphalia, Holland, and Wales," and many excellent poems. 264 MARGAM PARK. valley, and the shelter of the same lofty range of waving woods. This place boasts one of the finest greenhouses in the kingdom, which contains the splen- did collection of orange and lemon trees brought from Italy, by Sir Henry Wootton, as a present to King Charles I. The vessel in which it was freighted was wrecked on this estate nearly two centuries ago, and the plants were preserved, to be restored to the royal owner ; but the troubles of that period prevented this from being done, and they were afterwards confirmed to the present possessor by Queen Anne. At either end of the building are two superb saloons, in which are placed several rare specimens of antiquity, some splendid vases, and precious subjects of sculpture. I turned from this magnificent orangery, glowing with a harvest of yellow fruit, and filled with an atmosphere of per- fume, to ruminate amongst the remains of the celebrated abbey which the park incloses. Nearly seven centuries have rolled away since it was first erected by Robert, earl of Gloucester, for the Cistercian brotherhood. It is said that Edward II. took refuge in this hospitable place before he returned to Neath. Traces of its ancient foundation have been discovered, which display the extent and magnificence of the building. The elegant Chapter House, "that justly admired Gothic gem," with its fine proportions, and central clustered columns sustaining its vaulted roof, has been the last to fall beneath the ravages of time. All is now in complete ruin, and the gigantic remains that lie pros- trate here and there, are overtopped by the long grass, while the gay valerian and snapdragon unite their red and violet tints, with many-coloured wild flowers, as if MARGAM PARK. 265 in triumph over the cloistered walls and mural frag- ments of the ancient abbey. Margam lay in the track of the preachers of the crusade, and was visited by Baldwin in his itinerary through Wales. Giraldus speaks of the monks as being, at that time, more cele- brated for their charitable deeds than any other of that order in Wales, and as a reward for such benevolence, in a season of famine their corn and provisions were, by divine assistance, increased like the "widow's cruise of oil." In this abbey King John and his army were entertained on their passage to Ireland, and out of gratitude for this hospitality, the abbey was exempted from the contribution which he imposed upon all other religious houses in the kingdom. I now followed the umber line of the sylvan path that leads through the overhanging woods to the moun- tain-top, to survey the manifold beauties that spread on all sides in the valley beneath ; while the vestiges of the little oratory on the hill, the convent of Eglwys Nunydd, that once shared the companionship of the abbey, but now transformed into a respectable farm- house with the mouldering antiquities, monastic and Roman, scattered plentifully around this district, en- gaged with peculiar interest all my antiquarian lore. The present parish church, which formed part of the ancient monastic building attached to the abbey, is spoken of by that learned antiquary Sir It. C. Hoare, as " a most beautiful and unadulterated specimen of Norman architecture in its interior, as well as in its western front. The external facade," he says, " is more decorated in its architecture than Ewenny, and bears the mark of much earlier antiquity than any 266 BRIDGEND — EWENNY PRIORY. part of the adjoining abbey which is now extant. It is rich also in monumental antiquities. On the south side of the choir is a chapel crowded with sculptured memorials of the Mansel family, whose effigies are in general well executed, and the features in a good state of preservation." I left Margam reposing under the shadow of its own wood-crowned hill, and directed my steps towards Bridgend, which I intended to make my resting-place for the night. My road lay through the little village of Pyle, and by the excellent inn of that place. On my left rose the mountain-ridges of Mynydd Blyden, and on my right, Kenfig, with its singular geologic lake of pure fresh water, its sandy desert heath, and its castle ruins, and beyond, the ever-rolling waters of the deep blue sea. Branching off from the main road, I entered the little straggling town of Bridgend, which spreads itself on either side of the Ogmore. The names which its separate townships bear of Old and New Castle, are almost the only records of the existence of the two fortresses that once belonged to this place. These had their reference to a former age, and both the mural structures and their memorials have perished. But Bridgend and its vicinity possess an interest in being the birthplace of two eminently literary and excellent men, Dr. Price and Mr. Morgan, well known for their several works on mathematics, natural philosophy, and ethics. The sun had long passed his meridian, when I left Bridgend to visit Ewenny priory and church. The remains of the former stand in a meadow bordering the narrow stream of the same name, which empties itself EWENNY PRIORY. 267 into the Ogmore a little further on. Ewenny Priory has still its strong embattled walls and towers, or, at least, such portions of them as give some idea of their former massiveness, and plainly indicate that they were not meant only to afford seclusion to their devout inmates, but security, also, in days of lawless violence and strife. Seen, as they were, amidst the surrounding and intermingling trees, with a fine western sun gleam- ing through them, they formed together beautiful subjects of light and shade; the grey walls finely contrasting with the pale green and coloured leaves, which flickered in the gentle breeze, turning aside the level beams of pleasant sunshine, or breaking their straight lines into a thousand fragments of light. The hall is nearly entire, and, with the remaining ruins, affords the best example of the ancient monastic style that is to be met with in the Principality. The church, which has remained almost unaltered since the days of Giraldus, and which is still used as a place of religious worship, is cruciform in its shape, and its heavy circular arches, resting on thick, bulky, clustered columns, with simple and uniform capitals, proclaim its early Norman architecture and high antiquity. It has many monu- ments and rudely-sculptured effigies, with still ruder and imperfect devices and inscriptions ; but all tending to show its existence in the times of the first Norman adventurers. I lingered till evening twilight amidst these shades of by-gone days j and nightfall had nearly surprised me among their crumbling ruins. As I turned away from these ancient piles, the church, which was still the house of prayer, and the ruins which once formed the sanctuary of the holy brotherhood of 268 EWENNY PllIORY. St. Benedict, — and emerged again into the open road, it seemed as if the spell, which had long held me in communion with the spirits of departed ages, was broken : and I hurried on to mingle again with my living fellows, and to find, in the quiet hostelrie of the little town at hand, the rest which a day of travel and research had prepared me to enjoy. The revenues of Ewenny Priory were granted at the dissolution in Henry the Eighth's time to Sir Edward Carne, an eminent civilian. Burton relates that this gentleman was despatched to Rome on the subject of the king's divorce, and fulfilled his mission with great courage and ability. He was a great favourite after- wards with Queen Mary, and became her ambassador to the Pope ; and in the reign of her successor, Eliza- beth, he was commanded to seek an audience at the Vatican to announce her succession to the crown. The intelligence was received contumeliously by his Holiness, by whom Sir Edward was forbidden to exer- cise his office as ambassador, and under pain of excom- munication not to go out of Rome, but to take upon himself the government of the English Hospital in that city, where he died in 1651. With the early dawn on the following morning I was upon the road for Cowbridge, through a district rich in interest to the naturalist and antiquary. Receding to the north-east in its hilly retreat, and dimly seen amongst the intermingling trees, stands the village of Coity, with its extensive and interesting castle remains, and historical associations. On my right and left, at varied distances, were the ruins of many ancient for- DUNRAVEN CASTLE. 2G9 tresses, Norman and British, relieved by some elegant mansions of modern erection, smiling in their freshness and youth. Among the latter rose Dunraven Castle, on the rocky promontory of the seashore, one hundred feet in height, commanding a magnificent view of the ocean, rolling in its majesty, or broken into angry surf by the rocks which line the shore. The present castel- lated mansion occupies the site of the ancient structure. In the old Welsh histories this place is called Dindry- fan Castle, and was probably the most ancient edifice of the kind in Wales. It is said to have been the residence of Caradoc, the celebrated Caractacus of British history, and of his father, Bran ab Llyr. After the capture of Caractacus it ceased to be the residence of the reguliof this district. At the Norman Conquest it fell to the share of William de Londres, who afterwards gave it to his butler, for his gallant defence of the fortress from the attacks of the Welsh. The lord of the pantry became thus the lord of "the Castle and Manor of Dunraven," under the style and title of Sir Arnold Butler. There is a dismal story connected with the former edifice, which, after having lived through the most hostile periods of British history, fell by succession into the hands of the last of the Vaughans. When the storm raged on that coast, this unprincipled wretch used to put up false lights, and adopted other devices to deceive and mislead the mariner, that he might reap the harvest of a wreck upon his inhospitable manor. His crime was distinctly marked by Heaven in its punishment. His three sons were all drowned. Two of them perished on a lone rock in the 270 ST. donatt's castle. sea before his eyes. This fatal catastrophe rendered the place hateful to him, and he hastily sold his pos- session and left it for ever. Farther on are the remains of St. Donatt's Castle, surrounded by ancient woods, which prevent them from being seen except from the high grounds in the imme- diate neighbourhood. St. Donatt's had its towers and bastions, and curtained walls of sufficient strength and proportion, as its massive fragments attest, to maintain its importance and value in a land wrested from the hands of its ancient possessors, and filled with the vio- lence of arbitrary and lawless power, and rife in insur- rection and perpetual civil contest. But the lords of St. Donatt's combined the luxury with the fiercer passions, of that rude age. The castle had its terraced gardens, connected with each other by broad flights of stone steps, reaching from the fortress walls to the waters of the Bristol Channel ; and its broad avenues, in which the rich shade of the clustering oaks singularly, but not ungracefully, combined with the fanciful, half- military, garden architecture that prevailed in those times. It was this peculiar style which preserved such a dignified and feudal air throughout the grounds de- voted to ornament and pleasure in the domains of our ancestral nobility. This edifice was erected in the time of William Rufus, and formerly belonged to Sir William le Stradling ; and was the seat of the family for nearly 700 years. In the park are the remains of a quadran- gular tower, which tradition states to have been used for the purpose of discovering vessels in distress upon this rocky coast, in stormy weather. Still farther on the road is the site of St. Guintm's Castle, a name COWBKIDGE. 271 once formidable amongst the Norman adventurers that overran this part of the Principality ; what remains of the building is now converted into the humble but useful purpose of a barn. Cowbridge is a little town, containing a handsome church, and a town hall, where the quarter sessions are held, and an excellent grammar-school, endowed by Sir Llewelyn Jenkins, secretary of state to James II. It is seated in a low bottom, in the midst of a fertile tract of country. It formerly bore the name of Pont Vaen, so called from the stone bridge which crosses the river intersecting the little town, as it hurries on to fall into the sea at a short distance from the place. Robert de Quintin, one of the companions in arms of the Norman adventurer Fitzhammon, surrounded this town with a stone wall. A bold Gothic gate on the south, in toler- able condition, still remains to attest the truth of this fact. I entered Cowbridge as the good housewife began to ply her daily task, and, after refreshing myself with an excellent Welsh breakfast, prepared to pursue my way to Cardiff and Llandaff. On the left of the little town, and overlooking the rich fertile vale of Cowbridge, stands Penline Castle, boldly seated on the lofty summit of a mountainous ridge that comprehends in its crescent the two extremities of Tre-fychan and Coed y Stanby, and commanding a prospect of uncommon diversity and extent. Beneath lie, stretched as on a map, the luxu- riant lowlands in all their picturesque variety of shade and colour, of green meadows and fields of ruddy brown, bounded by the distant hills of TrebelJin and Coed y Brain ; and far off, at the extremity of vision, the magnificent mountains that rise in the very heart 272 CARDIFF. of the wildest region of Glamorganshire ; on the south, the shining waters of the Bristol Channel, to the iron- bound coast of Ilfracombe and Somersetshire. Cardiff is a name derived from the situation of this town on the Taff, which runs along the west side, and falls into the sea three miles below it. Burton calls it, "the fairest town of all South Wales!" Cardiff was in ancient times alternately under the British, Roman, and Norman sway, and was then, as now, a place of considerable importance. It possessed a fortified castle, which was surrounded with embattled walls, having five gates of entrance, of which there are still some remains. It owes its erection to Fitzhaminon, after he and his adventurous knights had conquered the county of Glamorgan in the twelfth century. It was the scene of that tragical story which is related of Robert, the eldest son of the Norman conqueror of England, who was cheated alike by his two younger brothers, Rufus and Henry, of his crown and kingdom, and by the latter deprived of his sight, and barbarously immured in one of the dismal dungeons of this place. Matthew Paris has a curious tradition respecting this illustrious prisoner, which he tells in these words : — " During his Imprisonment, it happened that Henry, his Brother, and then Kinge, had brought him upon a Feast Daye in the Morninge, a Scarlet Garment to pull on, with a Cape for the Heade, as the Manor then was, which, as he assayed, he found it to straighte in the Cape, inso- muche that he brake a Stitche or twoe in the Seame, and castinge it aside, he bad his Gentleman give it his Brother Robert ; for his Head (quoth he) is less then myne. The Garment was brought him, and, when he CARDIFF. 273 sawe it a litle torne, he demaunded how it happened that it was not sowed ; the Gentleman told the Trouthe, which as he understode, he fell into a great melancholy, sayinge : And dothe my Brother make me his Bedeman, in that he sendethe me his cast Clothes ? Then have I lyved to longe. And he so tormented himselfe with Sorrowe, that he would never after recey ve Sustenaunce, but pyned in this Pryson." Lambarde relates " that in the variance betwene Henry III. and his nobilitye, this castle was besieged, and Warine Basset, a nobleman, receyved his deathe there." In the time of the civil wars between Charles and his Parliament, it was assaulted by Cromwell, and bravely defended by the royalist garrison. It fell at last by treachery into the hands of the republican forces. A deserter from the fortress, acquainted with a secret subterraneous pass that led immediately underneath the river into the open country, — and which, as was usual with the for- tresses of that age, had been formed for the purpose of introducing supplies into the garrison, — silently guided a strong party of the besieging army, in the dead of the night, into the castle, who surprised and over- powered its gallant defenders. Cromwell, with his accustomed decision, after he had taken possession of the place, hanged the traitor, as an example to his own troops. The western wing still preserves its ancient baronial splendour, and contains a suite of magnificent apartments; but the rest of the building has been somewhat injudiciously repaired and modernized. The courtyards, with their surrounding walls, have disap- peared, and in their open area have left the venerable keep, surmounting the elevated part of a smooth and T 274 CARDIFF. verdant lawn, still standing like the hoary -witness of its eventful history — of its ancient strength and its strange vicissitudes. The mount from which the keep rises is of considerable height and breadth. I ascended to the summit by the winding path with which it is encircled, to enjoy the beautiful prospect of the sur- rounding country it affords, but principally to obtain a view of the picturesque ruins of Castle Coch, or the Red Castle, as it is termed in English, that rest on the top of a precipitous cliff, towards which converge the mountains that rise on each side of the Taff, leaving only a narrow pass that was effectually commanded by it. Castle Coch might be said almost to shut in the two valleys to the north and south, through which the river runs, and was, from its situation and strength, nearly impregnable. Its short history would carry back the reader to the twelfth century, in which its bristling ramparts were the last refuge of the liberties of Glamorganshire. Ivor, the son of Ceidivor, better known as Ivor Bach, or "the Little," from the small- ness of his stature, erected this castle, and assembled the bold and discontented spirits of his country, when their privileges and possessions had been invaded by the Norman knights, in the reign of William Rufus, and afterwards in that of his brother Henry. It was in this latter reign that the hero of the Red Castle on the Cliff made a daring and unexpected attack upon that of Cardiff, and took its commander, Robert, duke of Gloucester, the king's son, prisoner, together with his wife, and carried them with him to his eyrie in the mountains. The liberties and immunities of the country were ceded as the price of the freedom of the LLANDAFF. 2/0 noble captives, nor were they released till these had been confirmed by the king's own hand. The antiqua- rian interest of Cardiff is confined to a few objects, amongst Avhich are the fine church of St. John, of rich Norman architecture, and the trifling monastic remains of the Black and Grey Friars, founded by the descen- dants of the Conqueror. Cardiff has now become a place of constant visit to travellers in search of natural beauty, from its interesting local situation, and it is rising in commercial importance, owing to its connec- tion with the mining, iron, and tin trades in the neigh- bourhood. I had intended to have taken Llandaff into my day's wanderings, but I had lingered too long in the castle grounds amongst its many interesting objects, and on the ramparts, which are now tastefully planted with shrubs, and laid out in walks, contemplating the beau- tiful scenery of the surrounding country which they afford, that I was too wearied to proceed further; and I rested for the night in one of the excellent inns which this town possesses. A morning's walk to the ancient city of Llandaff, distant from Cardiff rather more than two miles, was only a timely preparation to a hearty breakfast, which the little hostelrie of the city amply provided for me. The gentle reader will, perhaps, be surprised at this singular association of terms, which convey at the same time the idea of metropolitan consequence with village humility; but the bishop's see has dwindled into an inconsiderable dependency upon its more youthful and vigorous neighbour, from whose markets its weekly supplies are derived. t 2 276 LLANDAFF. Llandaff derives its name from the situation of the church on the banks of its river. Giraldus writes it ' ' fanum super Taph," or " the church upon the Taf." However this place may have declined in social impor- tance, it has that within it which fails not to arrest the foot of the traveller and the antiquary. Its cathedral, which is the great object of attraction, boasts of a date beyond that of the renowned king Arthur. Llandaff was almost the birthplace of British Christianity, and, so far back as the second century, it beheld a Christian church rise upon the banks of its own clear placid river. In the latter part of the fifth century it became a bishop's see. The funds for this purpose, Godwin says, were aided by " great summes of money," con- tributed in payment of a release from the fourth part of any penances inflicted upon the subscribers. The present edifice was erected in the thirteenth century, by Bishop Urban, in a hollow surrounded by rising grounds, which gives it a solemn and monastic air. Its western front combines one of the finest spe- cimens of the Norman, Saxon, and Gothic styles. It has a lofty square tower, profusely enriched with the best sculpture of the age in which it was built. The entrance to the north and south are pure Saxon. On account of the dilapidations of the ancient chancel, some alterations took place, not exactly in keeping with the fine architectural character of the original building. The cathedral contains some interesting monuments of bishops and warriors, — of the benevolent Christiana Andley, — and a solitary virgin that died of disappointed love ; it also records a long array of dignitaries, two at least of whom may be said to be illustrious — William LLANDAFF. 277 Morgan, the first translator of the Old Testament into the Welsh language, and Richard Watson, distinguished for his erudition as a scholar, and for his eloquent advo- cacy of liberal political principles in the senate. Near the cathedral are ;ome remains of the castellated palace of the bishop, which the wild Glyndwr destroyed during his ineffectual struggles for the liberties of his country. The evidences of departed men and ages which monumental records and architectural remains afford, have a natural tendency powerfully to affect the mind. There is what may, perhaps, be called a sensuality of feeling, in the combinations which the intellectual powers perform under the influence of these external objects. This mental revelling is sometimes created and coloured by the profusion of significant memorials, — sometimes by their immediate associations with a long train of stirring events, — and sometimes it is detained and exercised upon one simple fact, connected with the dimmest and most distant event of their history. In the present case, there was the old cathedral, with its wonderful records running through a period of nearly thirteen centuries, — its mailed warriors and mitred bishops thronging its silent walls, the effigies of beings once living upon this busy earth, — and there was an event anterior to all these, forming the most beautiful of pictures, in its primitive church, — and this was to me the most engaging of all, — rising on the banks of the tranquil waters, where the first Apostle lifted up his hands towards heaven, and declared to the half-savage people the deep and eternal truths of Christianity. What a rich store does the observant traveller, and the diligent reader, prepare for the exer- 278 LLANDAFF. cise and enjoyment of future days? It is one of the great peculiarities of our constitution that every object we look upon, or treasure up, furnishes materials for the intellect, which those two great alchemists, Memory and Imagination, reproduce upon all fitting occasions. There is scarcely any picture called forth by these faculties, belonging to earthly things, but what is com- posed of these old materials, blended and worked out into an infinite variety of forms. They rise, advance, and group themselves to the " music of memory," like the primogenial atoms in the fanciful theory of the philosopher of Samos. The words pronounced by the holy man on the banks of the Taff, were words of life. They were ordained to be the instruments by which men's minds were at once to be conquered, and the victory recorded. They were like the seeds carried by the pilgrim bird, and dropped upon the coral rock of the Indian Ocean, — germinating, fructifying, and repro- ducing their kind till the barren land became a grove of palm-trees, full of foliage and fruit, giving solace to the eye, and food to the taste; delighting the future voyager by their green beauty amidst the wide waste of waters. " Tis a strange mystery, the power of words ! Life is in them, and death ! A word can send The crimson colour hurrying to the cheek, — Hurrying with many meanings ; or can turn The current cold and deadly to the heart. Anger and fear are in them ; grief and joy Are in their sound ; yet slight, impalpable : — A word is but a breath of passing air." I was absorbed in these reflections when I found CAERPHILLY CASTLE. 279 myself, on the following morning, a wanderer on the almost pathless summit of Carreg Craig, amidst the wild and picturesque scenery of a mountainous region, with the gigantic ruins of Caerphilly Castle appearing in the distance before me. The sun's broad rays were gleaming upon this ancient pile as I entered the castle inclosure on the eastward by the barbican, from which stretched, in a line with the boundary-wall to the right, a range of buildings which had been used as the barracks of the garrison. I passed through the grand gateway, with its two towers, into the ample courtyard, on the south side of which once stood in its glory the great hall of the castle. This magnificent apartment was of extraor- dinary dimensions, and was ornamented in the most elaborate architectural taste of the times. It had its four grand windows with pointed arches, ornamented with double rows of sculptured leaves and fruit. The side walls were decorated with clusters of round triplet pilasters, supported at the bottom with carved busts of excmisite and fanciful workmanship, from which sprang originally the vaulted arches of the roof. At the east end were two doors of the same pointed character, and between them a large arched window with delicate tracery and highly-finished carvings. Another apart- ment to the west corresponded with the great hall, but of smaller dimensions, and a third in continuation, which formed the anteroom at the head of the great staircase. The central buildings sustained at their south-east angle a round tower, which was used as the mint, and close by it another of nearly eighty feet in height, which, from some cause, has subsided into a 280 CAERPHILLY CASTLE. leaning position, and has been retained for centuries in this condition by the strength of the cement which holds its masonry together. From the top, down almost to the middle, runs a large fissure, by which the tower is divided into two separate parts, so that each side hangs over its base, in such a manner that it is difficult to say which is most likely to fall first. Mr. Wood, of Bath, more than sixty years ago, measured its lineal projection by lying on his back, and found its outer part standing eleven feet out of perpendicular, resting only on one part of its side. A long gallery connects the chambers with this part of the building. A lofty wall stretched its strong buttressed line all round, like a rampart of prodigious thickness, and of such extent as to inclose a large and open space of ground, through which ran a copious stream that sup- plied the garrison with water. This great outer wall was fortified with massy towers, at convenient distances, which communicated with each other by embattled galleries, and the whole strengthened by extensive out- works of bastions, moats, and other defences. This fortress, in its perfect state, included two miles within its outer moat, crossed by thirteen drawbridges. Even now, though ages have rolled away since the period when Caerphilly Castle was the scene of social habita- tion or of fierce contention, yet are its remains more entire in their connections, and more prodigious in their extent, than any that belong to the history of former times in Great Britain, resembling rather the ruins of a city than of a single edifice. A peaceful monastery, belonging to the piety of the ninth century, and named after its founder, St. Cenvdd, CAERPHILLY CASTLE. 281 first occupied the site of Caerphilly Castle. An irrup- tion of the Mercian Saxons occasioned its destruction, and the first castle that was erected on its foundation was razed to the ground by Rhys Vychan, prince of South Wales, in the thirteenth century. In a few years afterwards it was rebuilt and fortified by the Norman, John de Breos. In the lapse of time it fell into the possession of the younger Spenser, the worth- less favourite of Edward II., who greatly enlarged and strengthened it. During this reign it was the refuge of this weak monarch, when pursued by his queen, Isabella, and his rebellious barons, and stood a siege of the most desperate and obstinate nature. The means by which it was taken, and the adventures of the un- fortunate monarch, as related by tradition, throw an air of interest and marvel over this part of its history. The besieging army had for some time been employing all the engines of destruction they possessed, but they found them too weak to make any impression against the massy walls, whilst the soldiers were mortally wounded by the shower of molten iron thrown down upon them. At last a battering ram of huge dimen- sions, suspended upon a frame supported by twenty large oaks, and moved forward by a thousand men, with muffled feet, in the dead of a dark night, effected a practical breach in the walls. Tremendous large fires, throwing the castle into view as distinct and clear as in daylight, which it took a hundred teams to supply, were kept up to assist the besiegers in working this enormous engine. After the breach was made, the king escaped in the habit of a peasant, and to disguise himself more effectually, as well as to cut off the traces 282 CAERPHILLY CASTLE. of his retreat, lie mingled for a while amongst the besiegers, assisting for some time, with great apparent zeal, in piling fuel upon the surrounding fires. He soon secretly withdrew from this employment, and in the midst of the dark and stormy night, pursued his Avay, and wandered on for twenty miles westward, through one of the mountainous outlets, for a whole day and night, without knowing the direction which he was taking, till he came to the parish of Langunnoyd. Hungry and worn down, on the second morning he hired himself as a cowherd or shepherd, at a farm that to this day is known by the tradition connected with it. After remaining there for some time, the farmer, finding him an awkward and ignorant fellow, and that he could make nothing of his services, dismissed him. From Langunnoyd the unfortunate monarch found his way to the sanctuary of Neath Abbey. The castle continued to remain in the possession of the family of the Spensers, but it had been so much injured by the many fierce attacks it had endured, that it was aban- doned as a residence about the middle of the fourteenth century. Owen Glyndwr took possession of it during the time of his contest for the sovereignty of Wales, and it is described even then, in its dilapidated state, as "Gigantic Caerphilly, a fortress great in ruins." CHAPTER XVI. PONT Y PRYDD — YSTRAD-Y-FODWG PONT NEATH VAUGHAN YSTRADFELLTE. Me'thinks some musing Wanderer I see, Weaving his wayward fancies. Eound him, rock And cliff, whose grey trees mutter to the wind, And streams down rushing with a torrent ire : The sky seems craggy, with her cloud-piles hung, Deep-massed, as though embodied thunder lay And darkened in a dream ot havoc there. It. Montgomery. There are few regions on earth that present more of the sublime and beautiful features of Nature, -within the same compass, than are to be found among the mountains, hills, and vallej's of the north of Glamor- ganshire. The Taff, which rises in Brecknockshire, is an incon- siderable river till it enters the boundary of this pic- turesque county, and receives in succession several large streams. Its capacious channel lies deep within the mountainous ridges that intersect the county, and which shape its sinuous course in the most fantastic manner, creating as it flows rich and fertile valleys that seem to laugh with joy beside its fertilizing waters. At times, when some interposing rock obstructs its 284 PONT Y PRYDD. progress, or confines it within a narrower compass, it frets and foams like a wrathful torrent ; and then, again, when it escapes into a broader sweep, it rolls with a deep and placid tide till it washes the sides of that proud cathedral which rears its towers near the end of its course, and, at length, it buries itself in the undistinguished waters of the ocean at the bay of Cardiff. It was now approaching that time of the year when the rich and mellow autumn was beginning to give indications of its proximity to a season of sterner and ruder character. I left Caerphilly sleeping beneath its mountain guards to the north and south, and passed through the gorge of the valley by the eastern outlet, ascending the side of the river towards Pont y Prydd, or, as it is more modernly denominated, New Bridge. The wind, as it swept through the opening in fitful gusts, plainly portended that I should experience a day of change. I wrapped my travelling-cloak closer round me, prepared for whatever storms I might have to encounter, and reached the object of my search just as the careering clouds opened out to a beam of light brighter than the day had hitherto afforded. Pont y Prydd is sometimes, and very truly, rendered in English, the " Bridge of Beauty." It is a perfect segment of a circle, and stretches its magnificent chord of one hun- dred and forty feet across the bed of the Taff, rising like a rainbow from the steep bank on the eastern side of the river, and gracefully resting on the western — the beau ideal of architectural elegance.* * This extraordinary structure was erected by William Edwards, a common stonemason of the neighbourhood. This worthy man, by the PONT Y PRYDD. 285 I left the contemplation of this wonder of the Princi- pality, as it has been called, to visit the singular and picturesque waterfall about half a mile from Pont y Prydd ; following a delightful little path shadowed by trees, formed underneath the jutting brow of Craig-yr- esg, which leads to it. The fall is not more than from eight to ten feet ; but the craggy strata, over which it breaks, divide the stream into several volumes, which dash with considerable violence over the opposing bar- rier. The white foam and spray raised by the fall, harmonized beautifully with the mingled verdure that lined the dark banks of the river. From Pont y Prydd I turned my steps towards Pont Neath Vaughan, fol- lowing the mountainous track to the westward, in preference to the main road through Aberdare, pursu- ing for a while the course of the Rhondda, which on one side forms a narrow vale, consisting merely of the road and a few fields, and on the other is bounded by perpendicular cliffs to the water's edge, surmounted at the top with the most majestic timber of the county. At a short distance is the first waterfall on the Rhondda, which though not so magnificent as some in the northern part of the Principality, possesses a pecu- force of his genius, and his indomitable perseverance, advanced from the commonest station to one of great respectability, and has left some of the finest examples of pontile architecture in the Principality to attest his talents. With his professional avocations he united the business of a farmer, and the sacred duties of an ordained dissenting minister. A similar instance of great natural talents, unassisted by the advantages of scientific education, is related by Mr. Coxe, of Ulric Grubenman, the obscure carpenter of the canton of Appenzel, who was the architect of the hanging bridge that crosses the Rhine at Schaffhausen. 286 PONT Y PRYDD. bar charm in the undisturbed solitude that reigns around, broken only by the hoarse and ceaseless roar of the cataract, that, mingling with no living sound, im- parts a reality to the loneliness which is most sensibly felt. Further on is a second waterfall, and not more than a quarter of a mile from this is a third ; but they are both distinguished by natural characteristics in a great degree corresponding with the first, except in the increased grandeur of the latter, arising from its depth and greater volume of water. The course of the river is one of great beauty and variety : its stream is some- times disturbed by rocks and inequalities at the bottom of the channel, and its waters are fretful, foamy, and turbulent ; at others it is clear, placid, transparent, and deep. The rocky shore is for the most part either precipitously steep, or shelved, or broken and worn into fantastic shapes and figures ; and occasionally, the banks on either side are lined with luxuriant oaks, that throw their branches midway on the stream. Not far from the last fall is the junction of the Rhondda-vawr and the Rhondda-fychan, where a bridge spans the opposing banks. Here I bent my steps up a steep and barren hill, and then continued my way at the foot of a high and rocky ridge, fashioned into a variety of forms by time and tempest. I had now entered fairly into this wild and mountainous region, where nature seemed to reign in stern and unbroken silence amidst her own eternal rocks. Not a human being beside myself appeared to be treading these solitudes, nor was there a habitation to be seen. On my left rose into gigantic stature the stupendous summits of Mynydd Cymmer and Mynydd Dinas, and receding from them RHONDDA-VAWR — YSTRAD-Y-FODWG. 287 more easterly, the lofty ridge of Mynydd Glyn ; on my right towered Cefn Rhondda and Cefn Gwingel, two elevated ranges of a still more magnificent character, embracing within their inclosure the stream of the lesser Rhondda, as it pursues its babbling course, amidst the green forests that line its banks, to its con- fluence with the Rhondda-vawr. Before me was Ystrad- y-fodwg, — the village of the green valley, — encircled with rocks, and environed with all the " wild pomp of mountain majesty." The road now descended the hill, and brought me again into connection with the Rhondda-vawr, which I crossed by the bridge that has been erected on this spot. I had for some time lost sight of this stream, while I was exploring my path amongst a labyrinth ot rocks, but the river had found a humbler channel, through which it had made its way till we met again (not without pleasure on my part) at the bottom of the hill I had just descended. Here it escapes from the frowning cliffs and rocky towers that have for so con- siderable a part of its course traced their images in its clear transparent waters, while it fertilizes the vale of Ystrad-y-fodwg, giving richness and verdure up to the very feet of those majestic mountains that embrace it. In these unfrequented regions, and especially after a fatiguing walk, with but a scantily supplied scrip, the sight of a wayside inn, even such as Ystrad-y-fodwg affords, is a subject of gratulation and delight, and I was not slow to enjoy its entertainments. Several small rippling streams now descend from the mountains and form their junction with the river; the vale becomes less fertile, and more closely embraced by 288 CRAIG- Y-LLYNN. the surrounding rocks, whose sides are, however, richly adorned with wood. Further on is a waterfall of great natural beauty, when seen in connection with the surrounding objects, though in itself but a miniature representation of the magnificence of many larger ones. From this point the Rhondda-vawr turns ab- ruptly to the west, and forms two other falls near to Nantrhyd-y-cyllyll. On the east, in a rocky region not far from Bwlch-y- lladron, a mountain-pass called by that name, rises the Rhondda-fychan, which, by the tributary contributions of six small rivulets, flowing from the surrounding heights, soon becomes a rapid river, sending its tide in a south-westerly direction towards its point of junction with the Rhondda-vawr. This latter has its birthplace about one mile distant from the source of the Fychan, near Craig-y-Llynn, the loftiest peak in Glamorganshire, at the foot of which it winds its devious course. No- thing can exceed the peculiar effect produced by the appearance of Craig-y-Llynn, which rises almost per- pendicularly in towering sublimity at the end of the narrowing dell, through which the river finds its chan- nel, and seems as if to deny all egress to the traveller's foot. The summit of the cliff is broad, fringed here and there with scanty verdure, towards which the cattle from the opposite side, with instinctive sagacity, had wandered, adding much to the picturesque character of the scene. The path that leads out of the valley is by a difficult and winding ascent over a mountain to the right of Craig-y-Llynn. The craggy and broken rocks, the falling torrents, and the precipitous nature of some PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. 289 part of the road, rendered this one of the most fa- tiguing passages I had experienced during my 'Wander- ings. To the left of the dell, Craig-y-Llynn recedes from its straight line and sweeps round an extensive space, and again projects as before, forming almost the figure of a horse-shoe. Upon the west horn of the cliff is Llynn Fach, a fine fresh-water lake of great depth and considerable extent, well stored with the fish usually found in these alpine situations. On the east horn, which rose near to the track over which I was clambering, is Llynn Fawr, another lake of larger size and similar quality. These basins of clear shining waters, stored with life, and almost inaccessible in their solitudes, were now before me ; and on every side the prospect, from the commanding height I occupied, was sublime, romantic, and beautiful. In descending the mountain over a rough and dreary road, I reached the little hamlet of Rhydgroes, and thence pursued my way till I arrived fatigued, yet delighted, at Pont Neath Vaughan, where the welcome sign of the Angel beckons the weary traveller to stay. " Mine hostess" contrived to make the accommodations tolerably comfortable ; it therefore became my head-quarters during the greatest part of my stay in this neighbourhood, from which I diverged to the varied and extraordinary scenery of the surrounding country. The first visit I paid on the following morning was to the Vale of Neath, which stretches itself from the little village of my temporary sojourn, and extends southward about ten miles, varying in width from less than one to two or three miles. Though the Vale of Neath docs not present so rich a scene of cultivation u 290 PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. as many other Welsh valleys,, yet it possesses many subjects of great picturesque beauty. Seen as it was by me, after my late wandering amidst the untameable wildness of the Glamorganshire mountains, and en- riched in effect by the many-coloured autumnal hues and the soft touches of the year's decline, it was in a peculiar degree both interesting and delightful. The vale exhibits several long reaches of quiet rural beauty, inclosed by two ranges of hills which run the whole extent, with occasional high rocks, feathered for the most part with forest foliage, and rearing above all their high and weather-beaten heads. Near the centre of the vale is the Melincourt Fall, a beautiful cascade, surrounded by romantic scenery ; and at no great dis- tance from it, the pleasing and richly-cultivated estate of Rheola. "With the Vale of Neath I closed my pilgrimage of the day, proposing on the succeeding morning to commence my diurnal range with an inspection of the waterfalls near the village. The Purthen river has its course on the west of Pont Neath Yaughan, at a short distance from which it forms its junction with the Neath-fychan. A line of high ground, at a little distance on either side, runs parallel with the river as far as Nant y Gwal. The right bank is richly clothed with timber of the finest growth, while the left presents its bold peaks in distinct contrast. Stretching at a distance to the north-west is the enor- mous ridge of Careg-llwyd, throwing its gigantic arms both east and west, and inclosing a large circular tract of elevated ground, near which the great Roman road of Sarn Helen traversed, crossing this tremendous ridge near the twin summits of Maes Gawnen. PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. 291 The great fall on the Purthen, — which is called in the language of the country, Ysgwd Einon Gam, — Lame Einon's Waterfall — from the peculiarity of the situation, is not perceived or heard till the wanderer's foot has approached near to the high and rugged crag that beetles over the dark waters beneath. The effect is greatly heightened by the seclusion of the woody glen in which it unexpectedly opens upon the view, and the quiet path towards it through the green meadows of the valley. A perpendicular cliff rears its bold, frown- ing brow right in front of the cascade, like the move- less watcher of its ceaseless fall. On the right, and with an aspect less rugged and high, rises another cliff, as if in companionship with its gigantic neighbour : between the latter and the opposite rocks the river pours its rolling tide in one sheet of bright foaming water, to the distance of eighty feet. At the bottom of the taller cliff there is a profuse vegetation and some luxuriant trees ; while the sides of the lesser are com- pletely clothed with verdure, and richly-coloured and delicately-tinted foliage. On the top, in majestic triumph and ineffable dignity, a single oak throws its broad arms over the falling waters, which from its size and moss-coloured trunk, must have been the associate of the stern cliff for many generations past. The rocks on the opposite side are almost naked, with only here and there a few stinted shrubs which seem to struggle for existence in their occasional fis- sures j but even these contribute to the richness of this beautifully-composed picture, by the variously-shaded horizontal lines of strata of which they are formed — by the rich and many-coloured mosses that cover them — u 2 292 PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. and by the fantastic, and in some instances, singularly- defined shapes that have been fashioned by the action of the air and water. In order to enjoy the subject to the fullest possible degree, I descended between the two cliffs, a somewhat perilous enterprise, which I accom- plished by the aid of sundry rocky projections, broken tree-roots and trunks, and by swinging myself by the pendent branches from place to place, until I arrived safely at the bottom. The scene up the river is of un- speakable grandeur, and such as amply to repay the fatigue and hazard of the descent. The stern, primeval granite rocks, on the right, present their rude immove- able features amidst the graceful, bending, richly- coloured foliage of the willow, the mountain ash, and the delicate birch, to the very water's brink ; while the interstices are filled up with luxuriant creepers of all hues of green, and red, and blue, and yellow, which distinguish their leaves and flowers. On the left is the smooth, unbroken, rocky face of the mountain, which seems nearly to have forbidden the intrusion of all vegetable substances, except of the cryptogamia family, of which it supports numerous party-coloured tribes. The lesser fall of the Purthen, which is to be found about half a mile nearer Pont Neath Vaughan, is but a mimic representation of the same romantic features which compose the greater, and is exceedingly beautiful of its kind. Craig-y-Dinas rises at a short distance from Pont Neath Vaughan to the north-eastward, and is a bold precipitous limestone rock of great elevation, backed by the still higher land of Cilhepste-cerig. From the summit of this lofty crag I enjoyed a splendid prospect, looking down the lovely vale of Neath ; comprehending PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. 293 in the nearer view to the right and left the wooded mountain-hollows of Cwm Melte and Cwm Carngust, sleeping in their solitary rock-environed retreats. Im- mediately below me flowed the small streamlet of the Sychrhid, or dry ford, as it is sometimes termed, which for a short space divides the counties of Brecknock and Glamorgan, and hurries by the foot of Craig-y-Dinas to join the Melte. Eventide was now slowly approaching, and the dis- tant prospects had already become dim and obscure, when I retraced my steps towards Pont Neath Vaughan. I lingered not to catch the little vignettes of natural beauty which every outlet offered to my sight ; for the shadowy clouds, which had been chasing each other with rapid motion through the day, were gathering into broader masses. One cloud of a more ominous cha- racter than the rest, had for some time hung its dark shroud in the north-east, on the top of the lofty Cefn Cadlan. The wind sighed long and heavily through the mountain-chasm, or swept in fitful gusts along the high ridges and openings. Before I reached my home at the little inn, however, it had dropped into a treach- erous calm. I was almost repining at the unnecessary haste with which I had quitted my prospect- ground on the hill, and abruptly interrupted that calm train of thought which takes possession of the mind as the fading landscape becomes less and less visible, and " the shapes of earth are passing still away," when I was startled by the flickering, restless motion of the leaves, which indicated that secret agitation of the air that almost always precedes a storm. The dark cloud of the Cefn Cadlan, which had been for some time stationary, appeared to be disruptured from its pinnacle, and rolling 294 PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. its surcharged body rapidly towards the village. I had scarcely entered, and bespoke the attentions of " mine host" to supply the wants which my long walk had created, when the elemental strife began. The thunder, which had. sounded at a distance, approached fearfully near — it no longer maintained that majestic roll which fills the mind with awe and. reverence, but burst with a crackling explosion, that, by its proximity, inspired ter- ror and alarm. The forked lightning quivered in the welkin with awful velocity, and in almost unremitting succession, and seemed to light up all nature with an unearthly and spectral glow, by its "sulph'rous and thought-executing fires." The wind, which at the com- mencement of the storm had been uncertain and gusty, now increased to a wild hurricane; and the rain, in- stead of falling in large single drops as at first, soon descended in torrents. "Since I was a man, Such sheets of fire, such bursts of horrid thunder, Such groans of roaring wind and rain, I never Eemember to have heard." It was some time before the storm abated, and then only gradually; at length the wind, which before had swept along with such reckless fury, sighed itself, like a fretful and worn-out child, to rest. The " live thunder leaping from peak to peak" had ceased to roar, and was only heard reverberating amongst the hills, awaken- ing their distant echoes. The lightning no longer darting, with a scorpion tongue, through the wide air, gently played, as if in sport, over the loftiest pinnacles of Bryndu, or along the enormous ridge of Y Fan Dringarth, and the torrent-rain subsided into a gentle PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. 295 refreshing shower. The tempest had continued so long, that it was near midnight ere I retired to rest. I threw open the casement of my window to enjoy, for a moment, the calm clear scene that had succeeded to the tumultuous storm. The sky displayed its wide azure field, upon which the clouds lay in white fleecy folds, " like a flock at rest," or if they gently moved, and obscured for a while the moon's quiet saintly face, it was only to part again before her renewed splendours, "As though a silv'ry veil were rent From the jewelled brow of a queen." The stars, those " eyes of heaven," shone with a bright- ness and intensity, only to be seen in these altitudes. Their restless fires seemed to glow with heavenly in- telligence and harmony, such as when they rejoiced together in the prime of the world ; or as they are painted by Lorenzo to his " little shrew," the " pretty Jessica," — " There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st, But in his motion like an angel sings, Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubins." A deep tranquillity, — a gentle, settled, and holy still- ness, — rested on all nature, and the pale, gleaming night looked like " a mellowed day." I closed my win- dow deeply touched with the marvellous beauty and unsearchable mystery of the scene. I now took my leave of Pont Neath Vaughan, a little village which has some claim to consideration from its antiquity, but more from its delightful situation, being seated at the head of the interesting Vale of Neath, and surrounded, for many miles, by high, bleak, and 296 PONT NEATH VAUGHAN. romantic elevations. I deem it right, however, before my departure, to correct many mis-statements which have been made respecting the rivers and mountain- torrents in this district. Having taken many a weary step, and scaled many a lofty ridge, to trace the sources of the streams which form the great Neath river, I can assure the gentle reader that he may receive my record with implicit faith. Looking north from the Angel Inn, the most westerly of these streams is the Purthen, which rises near Capel-Coelbren, and, after dividing the counties of Glamorgan and Brecon for four miles, falls into the Neath-fychan, about a mile above Pont Neath Vaughan ; the latter stream rises due north, at a dis- tance of eight or ten miles among the hills. The Melte has also a northerly bearing ; it is formed by the con- fluence of two rivulets a mile above Ystradfelte, called Llia and Dringarth, and is afterwards augmented, within three miles of Pont Neath Vaughan, by the rapid torrent of the Hepste, rising nearly ten miles beyond, in one of the cwms near the summit of the Brecknockshire Beacon. In a meadow close to the Angel Inn, the two rivers, Melte and Neath-fychan, unite their waters, and then begins the Neath river. There are, also, half a dozen minor streams in this vicinity, one of the most remarkable of which is the Sychrhid, near Craig-y-Dinas. An early breakfast prepared me to sustain the fatigue, and to accomplish the object, of another day's inspec- tion of the enchanting scenery so profusely spread around this neighbourhood. " The breezy call of in- cense-breathing morn" seemed to invite me forth to partake of the delights which Nature had prepared TIIE HEPSTE. 297 amidst her mountains and woodlands. The early birds were on the wing, making the air vocal with their melody ; and the shallow stream of the Neath-fychan rippled garrulously over its rocky bed. On departing from Pont Neath Vaughan, I took the same route as on the day before, and ascended, with renewed spirits and elastic step, the southern path that leads over Craig-y-Dinas. I stayed not to enjoy again the scenes of the past evening, but hastened forward to accumulate the treasures which almost every step afforded. It would have been impossible to have passed over the high ground of Cilhepstefach, immediately beyond the broad rock I had just traversed, without pausing to cast " one longing, lingering look" over the enchanting Vale of Neath. Pursuing my path over this elevated tract, I now first caught sight of that fine river, the Hepste, one of the objects of my search, peacefully gliding through a richly-wooded dingle to the point where it joins its sister stream, the Melte. I traced a zigzag path on the high ground above the stream of the Hepste, and then threading my way down the cwm amidst a forest of trees and underwood, with the noise of the cascades constantly breaking upon the ear, reached the higher fall of the river. It con- sists of one broad sheet, and descends a distance of forty feet into a large and deep basin below. So rapid is the torrent, that the path to the other side of the stream is under the falling sheet of water, which roars with a deafening noise as its fretted stream reaches the bottom of the fall, — then billowing in its deep channel, or making eddying circles as if to regain its wonted composure, it sends forward at last its majestic stream 298 FALLS OF TIIE MELTE. with the same joyous haste and swelling importance as before. On my path amidst the trees and rocks to the junc- tion of the two rivers, I passed the three lower falls, which the heavy storm of the preceding evening had increased to their full force of magnificent display. Having remained a considerable time amongst these remarkable scenes, I once more turned away to the high ground, almost relieved that the deafening sound of the roaring cataracts had subsided, from the distance, into the solemn and ceaseless murmur that seems to pervade these regions. Passing the farmhouse of Cilhepste-coed, I directed my steps again towards the Melte. There are three waterfalls on this river ; the most distinguished is called Clungwyn, and is the highest upon the stream ; its peculiar characteristic is in the great volume of water it throws over an abrupt projection, at the height of seventy feet. There is no approaching it from below, all access being closed by the rocky precipitous banks of the river, and it loses the richer beauties which belong to the falls of the Hepste, while it maintains a successful rivalry in the more awful and sublime features of the mountain cataract. Advancing up the rich cwm of the Melte, I passed the farm of Hendre-bolon : pursuing my way again towards the stream, I reached another hollow, called Cwm Porth, in which is to be found that stupendous natural cavern, through the dark bottom of which the Melte runs for nearly four hundred yards, without in the slightest degree disturbing the incumbent surface of the land. The river rolls its dark tide beneath, and CWM PORTH. 299 the harvest-field waves above, as it has done for gene- rations past. The cavern of Cwm Porth is within two miles of Ystradfellte. The approach on the upper or northern part of .the river is exceedingly picturesque ; but the visitor is not aware of the stupendous natural aqueduct he has the opportunity of exploring until he reaches the river, when he feels the full force of its peculiar wildness and grandeur. On either side of the opening, numbers of forest and other trees, of great diversity of form and variety of foliage, grow spontaneously ; even in the fissures of the bold rocks, high above the head of the spectator, large trees are seen expanding towards the sky. At the entrance, the cavern is about forty feet wide and twenty high. There is sufficient light, on a fine day, for examining about fifty yards of this natural tunnel, when it gradually fades away into im- penetrable gloom, and nothing but the blaze of a flam- beau will enable the visitor to complete the inspection of this extraordinary place. CHAPTER XVII. TRECASTLE BRECON CRICKHOWEL LLANTONY. And oft the craggy cliff he loved to climb, When all in mist the world below was lost, What dreadful pleasure ! there to stand sublime, Like shipwreck'd mariner on desert coast, And view the enormous waste of vapour tossed In billows, lengthening to the horizon round, Now scooped in gulfs, with mountains now embossed ! And hear the voice of mirth and song rebound, Flocks, herds, and waterfalls, along the hoar profound ! Beattie. The inhabitant of one of the quiet rural districts of "merry England," whose eye has been accustomed to rest only upon the green slopes and flower-enamelled meadows of his native land, teeming with happy life and rich in verdant beauty, can form no adequate idea of the scene which is presented in a region of sterile rocks, interchanged only here and there by solitary cwms or hollows, where a scanty vegetation struggles for existence, and over which the foot of the enterprising traveller rarely treads. The county of Brecknock, like that of its neighbour Glamorgan, presents, in many parts, the same wild features of untamed nature that it did when the ancient lords of Cambria left it to the undisputed possession of THE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 301 its aboriginal tenants, the foxes,* while they chose their more genial dwelling-places in the fertile vales lying east of the Severn. The lofty ridge of the Epynt Mountains stretches itself in a north-easterly direction, from the confines of Carmarthenshire, nearly up to the little town of Builth, dividing the county of Brecknock into two unequal parts. The southern portion of the county sustains a chain of enormous rocky elevations, commencing also in the neighbouring county of Carmarthen, and con- tinuing, in successive ridges, till it terminates in the east near the Usk, a little below the town of Crickhowel. Between these chains, to the westward, and appearing as if to make up the circle of rocks, rises abruptly the Black Mountain, near to the small hamlet of Talgarth. The old road, as it is called, from Ystradfellte to Brecknock, traverses the mountain district, and as it comprehended many of the wild features of the county, I chose it for my track as far as my wanderings might render it available. About two miles from the village, I came to another fall of the Melte, which, although extremely picturescme, from the angular direction in which the river is projected, is unaccompanied either by the luxuriant vegetation, or the romantic character, which give so much beauty and interest to the others. Beyond this fall the scene became indescribably dreary. Immediately before and around me arose hill after hill, in weary succession, whose dull monotonous brown turf afforded but a bare existence to the meagre flocks that sought their pasture. On the verge of my path towered * The primitive name of Brecknockshire was Garth Madrin, the Foxhold. 302 UPPER VALE OF THE USK. the bald rocky summits of Y Fan-Ilia and Y Fan-nedd, like guardian giants of the district over which I was travelling. That portion of the great Strata Montana, known by the name of Sarn Helen, traverses for a con- siderable length of way the same elevated direction; but the track of the haughty Roman diverges off west- erly, near to a great stone, called Maenllia, that is con- spicuously placed on this spot, and gradually descends on the south side of the pleasant vale of Senni, towards the point where it joins the Julia Strata, on its road to the great station of Gaer. My path bent in an easterly direction, and brought me to the head of the precipi- tous dingle of Cwm-du, through which it passes, skirted on the right by the lofty mountain-ridge of Y Fan- frynach, nearly up to the town of Brecknock. Fa- tigued by the difficult road I had been for some time traversing, and wearied with the stern aspect of those eternal rocks, I determined to sojourn here awhile, and seek the genial relief of a day's placid retreat to the rich valley of the Usk. I rose early ; for to me a morning in waning autumn yields the greatest enjoyment, which the seasons, in their ceaseless revolution, afford. There is a peculiar freshness in the early air, which animates the spirits, and raises up pleasant images in the mind — " It fans the feverish brow, And cheerily re-illumes the lambent flame of life." There is a rich composure in the manifold colours of the forest leaves, and a mellow harmony, that naturally belong to the time of the year, all of which throw their influence over the feelings. Besides this, in an autumn UPPER VALE OF THE USK. 303 clay are those frequent changes, which possess an inef- fable charm for the wayward mind, The copious dews of the prime are sometimes dispersed by the rising sun, darting his intermittent ray through the opening lids of the morning clouds, like the bright eye of some heavenly being, and pouring a flood of light from his molten fountain, with an intensity and a fierceness which midsummer fails to bring. Then there is the uncertain wind, which sweeps in sudden and capricious gusts, scattering the bright leaves, and whirling them in eddies all around ; there is the drizzling shower, pattering monotonously, but not unmusically, amongst the forest trees ; and then, not unfrequently, there is the wild tempest to close up the evening. The river Usk rises in the mountain-range called the Carmarthenshire Fan, which divides the counties at their westerly point, near Trecastle, From this place it rolls its tide in an easterly course towards Breck- nock and Crickhowel, where it enters the county of Monmouth, and, passing by the towns of Abergavenny, Usk, Caerleon, and Newport, empties itself through its estuary into the Severn. The lower vale is the most luxuriant and romantic; but the passage of the river from Trecastle to the town in which I was sojourning, or along the Upper Vale, as it is called, has its own peculiar beauties. The road from Trecastle runs on the right of the river, sometimes rising in the form of a terrace above it, and again tracing its undulating line by the side of its silvery stream, sharing in all the beauties of its devious course. The Cray and the Isker pour their waters into its channel before it reaches Brecknock. The pleasant villages of Llanspyddid and 304 BRECKNOCK. Aberisker may be seen from its banks ; and the Roman encampment on a rising ground, near the confluence of the Isker and the Usk, will detain and delight the anti- quarian in his researches. This beautiful river derives much of its captivating character from the magnificent timber that decorates its shelving banks, and from the oc- casional glades and openings they afford, through which the clear bright stream is seen meandering and flowing in its course. The eye of the Wanderer, which had gazed with inexpressible delight upon these enchanting scenes, was in an especial manner refreshed when he came, unexpectedly, within sight of the romantic bridge of Pont Pwl Gwyn, stretching its single chord across the channel of the river. Fir-trees of extraordinary growth, such as are rarely seen but in this district, reared high their green peaks in the foreground, and groves of majestic oaks mingled their varied autumnal hues in one rich and harmonious combination, from the summits of the verging banks to the water's edge. The looming line of distant hills, irradiated with the last rays of the setting sun, formed the back-ground of this exquisite picture, while the gentle Usk glided in soft unruffled beauty through the tranquil scene. Brecknock, or to recall its ancient and more classical name of Aberhonddu, derived from the circumstance of its standing at the point where the Honddu unites its waters with the Usk, is one of the pleasantest towns in the Principality. Old Churchyard describes it, in his day, as " Well-built without, yea trim and fayre within, With sweet prospect, that shall your favour win." It possesses architectural remains which connect it with BRECKNOCK. 305 the most important events of past ages, and is sur- rounded by natural objects of the most sublime and beautiful character. It was anciently encircled by a wall, which, in Speed's time, was perfect, surmounted by ten towers, at nearly equal distances, and had five gates of entrance. The castle, which was one of the earliest structures of this description in Wales, once occupied the brow of an abrupt hill, on a point of land washed on the south and east by the waters of the Honddu. It was built by the Norman, Bernard de Newmarch, after his signal defeat of the Welsh in this district, with a magnificence and strength calculated to overawe his conquered subjects. It arose in the latter part of the eleventh century, and has passed through several powerful families, who successively improved and enlarged it, till it was besieged, and nearly de- stroyed, in the Civil Wars between Charles and his Parliament. Its proud bearing on the banks of the subject waters of the Honddu and Usk, with the chivalric passages and baronial splendour which mark its eventful history, are all, however, reduced to a few miserable ruins ; but the rivers still glide on as hereto- fore — with the same eagerness and impetuosity as they did when the Norman trod upon their banks. Old Giraldus tells a singular story in relation to the founder of the castle, which I shall give in the chronicler's words : — " This Bernarde" (says he) " had a faire wife, called Nesta, whiche was greatly in love with a gentle- man whiche haunted her chamber, whiche thinge, as Bernarde's son, Mabel, espied, he lay in awayte for him, and beate him; the mother (to make argument of a woman's malice) mad haste to Kinge Henry I., and in x 306 BRECKNOCK. his presence avowed upon her consciens that he was born from unlawfull conversation, whereupon the kinge gave her daughter, Sybil, which remayned (by her own confession legitimate), and the honor of Brecnoc, to Miles Fitzwalter, his constable, whiche was after Earle of Hereford." Of this confession, Burton says : — " That if true, it declared her dishonesty ; if false, her perjury; but whether true or false, her matchless impudence." There is a circumstance of too much historical impor- tance in relation to this lady to be passed over in silence. When Macbeth, the tyrant of Scotland, murdered Banquo, his son Fleance fled for protection to the court of Gryffydd ap Llewelyn, the grandfather of Nest, of whom he became enamoured. An illicit connection followed, and a son, afterwards named Walter, was the consequence. The indignant Gryffydd commanded Fleance to be put to death for this breach of hospitality and honour, but his son was treated with kindness, and educated in the martial exercises of the age. Upon some reproach being cast upon his birth by one of his companions, Walter killed his antagonist and fled into Scotland. Here he distinguished himself in the public service, and became lord steward of the realm, and the lineal ancestor of the royal house of Stuart. The side of the castle was a parallelogram, with a massy inward wall and strong angular watch-towers. The entrance was on the western and eastern sides, with a deep moat surrounding the whole, over which were thrown bridges of communication. The principal part now remaining is that which once formed the keep, on an artificial mound to the north-east, designated Ely BRECON. 307 Tower, from its having been the place of imprisonment to Moreton, bishop of Ely. To this gloomy tower did the crafty Buckingham repair, when disappointed of the ambitious hopes which the crooked-back tyrant had led him to indulge, to hold a secret conference with the imprisoned bishop ; and here did these wily politicians concert the plan which, in its progress, led the warrior to the scaffold, and the churchman to the highest honours of the hierarchy. It may be useful for the reader to know, that these ruins of the castle now ornament the lawn of the inn, which has taken its name from this circumstance, and I would furthermore recommend him, from my own experience, to these excellent quarters during his stay at Brecon. It is curious to contemplate that union of devout feeling with natural ferocity and social injustice, which distinguished this age of military adventure and con- quest. There is, indeed, no truth-telling diary placed upon record, — no secret confession that has escaped from under the seal, — which discloses those secret operations of the mind that led to this singular con- nection, except it were as the historian has written, " to make atonement for vice and irregularity;" but the fact is demonstrated by the numerous religious houses which the Norman conquerors of this country every- where erected. The lord of Brecknock, in accordance with the character of the times, when he had sub- jugated the inhabitants of this district, reared at once the fortress, which has just been described, to con- solidate his conquest, and a Benedictine priory, which he dedicated to the apostle St. John, and whose holy brotherhood ministered spiritual instruction and con- x 2 308 BRECON. solation in the chapel built within the fortress. The priory, with its church bearing the same apostolical designation, occupied a situation near to the castle, on the western bank of the Honddu. The former has almost entirely disappeared, save an embattled wall, and a portion of the old building now used for stables and out-offices, while a comparatively modern mansion bears its title and occupies its site."* The inner area of the priory grounds is laid with a green carpet of nature's own weaving, and the ancient walls of the church and priory are matted over with a level covering of the most verdant ivy. The walk by the sloping side of the brawling Honddu bears a forest of sycamores and walnuts of great luxuriance and age, and was once used as the ambulatory of the good old monks. The aged domestic of the place shook his head when I asked him the date of their planting, and resorting to the usual mode of computation with all grey-beards, replied, " Why, Sir, I am seventy years old come next Candlemas, and I remember they were fine trees when I was a boy." The church has been preserved with great care, and displays the peculiar features of its origin and history through so many generations; the repairs and embellishments, which have been so fre- quently supplied, have been made with much taste, and correspond as nearly as possible with the original struc- ture. It is ornamented with some ancient and modern * " In this house, Charles I., after the battle of Naseby, dined with Sir Hubert Price, and slept on the 5th August, 1645. From hence he despatched a letter to Prince Charles, then in Cornwall, in which he seems clearly to foresee his fate, and advises his son to quit the kingdom, and flee to France." — Jones's Brecknockshire. BRECON. 309 monuments of exquisite design and execution, and contains what are called the Vicar's and the Marquis o£" Camden's Chapels. The whole pavement of the tran- sept is covered with " long flat stones/' the mortuary- memorials of those who have lived and died, and the extent- of which is divided by what are termed the Battle Chapel, — the Chapel of the Men of Battle, — and the Capel Cochaiad, or chapel of the red-haired men, as the Normans were called. St. John's, or the Priory Church, is built in the form of a cross, from the centre of which rises an embattled tower. The churchyard is an object of great interest. Instead of sweet-scented flowers, the green turf of the graves is adorned with sprigs of the laurel and box, which the hand of affection has placed there, according to the custom of this county .* Venerable yew-trees, of prodigious growth and age, claim almost a coexistent antiquity with the consecrated building, with some splendid specimens of the sycamore, and throw an air of deep solemnity over the scene. "All that have died, the Earth's whole race repose Where Death collects his treasures, heap on heap ; O'er each one's busy day the night shades close ; Its actors, sufferers, schools, kings, armies — sleep." The tongue of land, near which the priory stands, has furnished to the inhabitants of Brecon one of the most beautiful public promenades in the empire. The walks are traced in undulating lines through the luxuriant groves that cover its surface, carrying their umbrageous shade down to the brink of the river, while the Ilonddu * The unfortunate Dr. Dodd, who was attached to this prebendary has celebrated this interesting usage by a beautiful little poem. 310 BRECON. continues to sweep round this miniature headland, roll- ing its ceaseless stream as restless and turbulent as in ages that are gone for ever. There is also the church of Saint Mary, which stands in the centre of the town. It, however, contains but few monuments of interest, and is principally admired for its ancient steeple, and the eight musical bells it contains, cast by Mr. Rudhall, of Gloucester. Besides the Benedictine priory, there was another building of the same character, near the east end of the town, of the order of St. Dominic, which is said to have been erected by the same renowned Norman. This might have been the case but for one chronological fact, that the saint did not live till after the warrior was dead. This institution was transformed into a seat of learning by Henry VIII., at the general confiscation of religious houses, which took place in his reign, with the title of the "College of Christ Church, Brecknock," and in the church anciently belonging to this monastery, dedi- cated to St. Nicholas, were buried the three bishops, Mainwaring, Lucy, and Bull. This relic is in a most , dilapidated state, pervious to the rain, which at the time I visited it was dripping through the roof, and falling upon the black and mouldy floor in melancholy and measured iteration. The old sanctuary has, how- ever, some monuments besides those of the good bishops, including two recumbent figures in alabaster, and a full-length statue of Colonel Walker, once the recorder of the town. Nothing could appear more painfully desolate than this deserted edifice, in which, the old clerk informed me, there had not been divine service performed for BRECON. 311 more than three years, except an annual charity sermon, to which appertained a bequest sufficient to pay the lec- turer for his discourse, and a dole of bread for the poor. The empty stalls stand in a rank round the damp and dingy walls, marked with the names of the parishes which they represent, and the offices of dean, precentor, and treasurer. The aged official, at my elbow, said some very hard things about the appropriation of the funds of this establishment; but the most melancholy circumstance he had to tell, was that his own occupa- tion was gone, and that the chapter was in debt to him thirty or forty pounds in the way of salary, which seemed to his foreboding mind to be in imminent jeopardy. The learned author of the History of Brecknockshire has bestowed upon the ecclesiastical authorities of his time a just rebuke for their neglect of the sacred edifices in this county ; and surely some portion of this censure may be properly applied to the appointed conservators of this venerable building. It must be confessed, indeed, that the traveller, especially the antiquarian traveller, is disposed to look with mournful interest upon the ruins of ancient buildings, either on account of their architectural grandeur and beauty, or their association with great names, and the important and picturesque passages of history. There is, as a very pleasant writer has said, " an exquisite pro- vision of Nature, in this tendency of the human mind to prefer by-gone times to the present, because it leads us to respect the past, like the memory of the dead, and retain of it only what is beautiful and good."* But * "Letters from the Shores of the Baltic," one of the most lively and sensible among the many books of travels that are published. 312 BRECON. the traveller should not forget, while he expends his regrets upon a fallen fabric, like this of Christ Church, to inquire whether the real purpose of its erection has not been supplied by more suitable buildings, and by a process of religious instruction better adapted to the wants of the community with which it is connected. I felt too much interest in the fate of the old edifice, not to seek for information from the best authorities on this point, and I have a lively satisfaction in giving the result of my inquiry in the words of my intelligent correspondent. - * The old weather-beaten parochial church of St. David * "The real cause why the church has not yet been repaired is, that at present, it is not wanted for the accommodation of any part of the population of Brecon, which is sufficiently provided for elsewhere, so that if restored at this moment, it would answer no purpose but that of gratifying the eye and the feelings of those who take an interest in the fabric. This is so clear, that the under-secretary of the Eccle- siastical Commissioners (into whose hands the funds of the college are passing for the augmentation of small livings) having, some months back, examined the building, and made himself acquainted with the state of the case, expressed his opinion that it would be better to let it go to decay, and that, at all events, the Ecclesiastical Com- missioners would not feel themselves justified in applying any of the funds derived from the college to its restoration. Nevertheless, a hope is entertained that, if the college school (which has been in a declining state since the establishment of St. David's College, at Lampeter) can be revived and enlarged, as has been contemplated, it may, at the same time, be found practicable and expedient to repair the church for the use of the school. Of the persons connected with this establishment, it is but just to add, that they are some of the most hard-working clergymen in the Church of England ; persons who are engaged more laboriously, as well as more usefully, than they would be ii they were every day performing a service in the college church to empty walls." BRECON. 313 is not far from the mouldering remnant of the church of Christ's College. It was formerly situated in a field, and from that circumstance called St. David's in the Field. It possesses little to engage the visitor, except its age and connection with ancient days. In this parish, nearly at the foot of the Beacons, lived the learned Dr. John David Rhys, the author of the Cym- raecce Lingua Inslitutiones, who pays a high compli- ment to the inhabitants of Brecknockshire in his pre- face to that work. " I believe from my soul," he says, " that there is no part of the Principality wherein the nobility, gentry, and commonalty are more worthy, whose mansions are more stately, where the dainties and delicacies of the table are more sumptuous, and the people of all ranks more distinguished for the neatness of their apparel, their kindness, or their hospitality, than the inhabitants of the county of Brecknock." The town of Brecon contains some excellent public buildings, amongst which may be reckoned the Market Hall, built by Mr. Griffiths, of this place, from a design by Mr. Wyatt, of London, at a cost of about 5,000/. ; and a County Hall, erected of pure Bath stone, under the direction of the same talented architect, by Mr. Hancorn, of Brecon. This latter is a Grecian building, and forms a beautiful object to greet the traveller's sight as he enters the town by way of Crickhowel. It stands upon an area, along the side of which extends a public promenade, called the Captain's Walk, pleasantly shaded by poplars and sycamores, with the Usk flowing merrily at its base. The total cost of this building is 314 CRICKHOWEL. about 7,000/., and does great credit to the artist and the county. The neighbourhood of Brecon possesses that inde- finable charm which history and romance throw around the wild scenes of Nature. On the north and west lie the scattered fragments of British and Roman camps and intrenchments, and the battle-field inj which Welsh independence expired ; on the south and east rise, in gigantic splendour, the forms of those magni- ficent mountains which have frowned alike on the passing generations of their British, Roman, and Nor- man possessors. Mount Denny, whose divaricated peaks are known by the modern name of the Breck- nockshire Beacons, stretches itself in a southerly direc- tion from Brecknock, through a lengthened succession of undulating ridges, thrown into a variety of fantastic shapes, over which the clouds sweep in their racking career, or hang in graceful floating drapery of the most exquisite tissue. The more elevated and northern peaks are called Cader Arthur, or the Chair of Arthur. There is both a romantic and historical association with these enormous piles of rocks, as the renowned hero whose name they bear may be contemplated through the fables of poetry or the facts of history. In the phraseology of the bards, a public assembly of their body was always termed the " Chair of Song." These minstrel gatherings were invariably made in the open air, on some elevated place, or, in their figurative language, " under the eye of the sun;" and as the Knight of the Round Table, during his reign, held a grand national meeting of the bards, the historian has assigned this majestic hill as the spot to which they CRICKHOWEL. 315 repaired from all parts of the Principality, and where the institutes of their order were framed.* While the morning dew yet rested upon the green meadows, I set forward upon my route to Crickhowel. The road — and a cheerful one it is — runs along an elevated ridge that bisects the valley, and passes through the little places of Llanhamlach, Seethrog, and Llan- saintfread, and ascends the mountain-pass of Bwlch. On the right of the traveller flows the lively Usk, with the musical waters of the Cynrig, the Tarrell, and the * It may be to the advantage of the tourist to inform him in this place, that one of the best views of the Beacons is obtained from the lawn at the western end of the Castle Inn. Although apparently only about two miles distant, I found the ascent occupied several hours of persevering exertion. Taking the Merthyr road as far as Llyn y celyn, I branched off to the left, passing through the opening between the hills, called Cwmdlwch, to the summit of the highest eminence. The scene was indescribably grand : westerly, lay Llyn cwmdlwch, a small lake below the Beacons, at a height probably of 2,500 feet above the sea ; beyond it the farm of Ty-mawr, the highest on the mountains ; below which is the road from Merthyr to Brecon, and in the extreme distance, Moel fendy and the Carmarthenshire hills. To the north were traced, as in a map, the divisions of land below, dotted here and there with whitewashed houses ; beyond, the town of Brecon and the river Usk ; and bounding the distant horizon, the hills near Builth. On the east, the lake of Llynsfaddu and the Cradle Moun- tains. Southerly, a stupendous range of mountains, one rising beyond the other as far as Merthyr Tydvil, and more westerly to Pont Neath Vaughan. The vapours that sometimes invest the Beacons are so dense, that the traveller is in danger of falling over its precipitous side. The officers of a regiment, lying at Brecon, once made the ascent ; but the night coming on, the thick mist covered the summit like a shroud, and they were obliged to remain in that uncomfortable situation till the following morning afforded them the means of a safe descent. Dr. Johnson says : " He that mounts precipices, wonders how he came there, and doubts how he shall return. His walk is an adventure, and his departure an escape." 316 ROAD TO CRICKHOWEL. Mahascin, meandering through the vale to swell its broad channel ; and the villages of Cantreff, Llanfry- nach, and Llanfigan lying near its banks, shut in by fc the enormous range of the Brecknockshire Beacons. All this is classic ground. Here it was that the Roman general had his campus oestivus, or summer residence, with those appliances of luxury which that refined people ever associated with their dwelling-places. Here, too, was the battle-field and Druidical sepulchres of noble Britons, who struggled and fell in defence of their patrimonial and national rights. Here, also, the birthplace of learned men, renowned in science, and deeply versed in the lore of philosophy and divinity. Not far from the Bwlch pass the river makes a horse- shoe bend, near the point of which is the hamlet of Llandetty, and within its curve may be distinctly seen the mansion and grounds of Buckland. On the ex- treme left stretch the bleak summits of the Black Mountains, and underneath them lies Brecknock Mere, called severally Llynsavaddan Lake, or Llangorse Pool, with the little hamlets of Llangasty tal y llyn, Llan- gorse, and Cathedine. Not far from the first of these places, in the parish of Llanhamlach, is a farm called Mannest, and near it a hillock, upon which is the cromlech known under the name of Saint Illtid's Her- mitage.* The elevated region of Bwlch places all these * Of this holy man, the father of learning in South Wales, and whose fame lives in Brecknockshire, it is becoming just to give a slight sketch. St. Illtid came from Armorica to Britain with St. Germanus, to preach down the Pelagian heresy, and founded a seminaiy at Llautwit, in Glamorganshire, which flourished for several centuries, and produced many learned and pious fathers of the British Church. " When this object was accomplished, and he saw his school rising in ROAD TO CRICKHOWEL. 317 in beautiful perspective before the traveller's eye ; and such is the extent of the prospect, that he may gaze upon it for hours with ever fresh delight. The pass has been cut through the heart of the Bwlch mountain, on which a comfortable inn has been built in opposition to the ancient hostelrie, and now the Old and the New Star shine in rivalry to each other for the solace of the weary traveller. From this place the road rapidly descends to Crickhowel, with the solitary vestige of Tretower Castle close to the stream of the Jthiangoll on the left, which ought to detain for awhile the pilgrim's foot, were it only to recall the scenes of its past history, and to regale his eye with the wild flowers which now flourish in unmolested seclusion, where nobles and knights had used to meet together in council, or from which they hurried forth to war.* Farther on, Glanusk, the man- sion of Mr. Bailey, who is said to be the wealthiest iron-master in Great Britain, rises beautifully on the right bank of the river, with its bridge in architectural keeping with the style of the building; and on the other side, in a more elevated situation, Penngarth, the fame, and his disciples qualified to protect and support the institution, he did not confine his talents or his labours to a college or a county, but commiserating the state of intellectual darkness with which the Principality was then overspread, he conceived it his duty to com- municate the light and truths ot the Gospel, and the precepts ot wisdom, to the inhabitants of Breconshire, where undoubtedly he resided." Many tales are told ot St. Illtid, one of which is, that he had an animal half a horse and half a stag, that used to bring his provisions from market. * The defence of this castle, at the time of Glyndwr's insurrection, was intrusted to Sir James Berkley. A branch oi the great Roman road, called the Strata Julia, passed through the village of Tretower, to the station of Gaer, in Cwmdu. 318 VALLEY OF THE USK. residence of his son ; and Gwemvale, the seat of Mr. Gwynne.* The traveller now enters the little town of Crickhowel by the old embattled gateway, which once formed part of the castellated mansion of the first Herberts. There are few of the fair prospects of earth that can equal the valley of the Usk. It does not consist, like many others, of a strip of fertile land, formally guarded by elevated ridges, and jealously confined within limits, over which the eye can sweep at one view; but it throws itself out into a series of verdant circles, as- cending the hill-sides, and dipping down to the brink of the flowing river. The gigantic barriers in the ex- treme distance consist of the Brecknockshire Beacons on one side, and the dark range of the Black Moun- tains on the other. From the champaign lying within these, spring mountain after mountain of inferior ele- vation, with tiny vales running from their bases, and filling the intervening space with fallowed fields and green meadows, or else, it may be, embracing narrow friths, through which run the whimpering rivulets that feed the noble stream, shadowed by foliage, and dressed in all the coloured pigments of the season. The rest- less eye of the traveller ranges along the outline of the landscape which lies within his vision, and descending to the green bottom, he fancies that the Usk has dis- closed all the beauties that lie upon its banks ; but as his step advances, he throws his gaze upon another and another still fairer prospect, endlessly diversified by the sinuous outlines of the mountains, which again and * The celebrated Dr. Croxall, translator of "JEsop's Fables," and author of various other works, formerly resided in this mansion. VALLEY OF THE USK. 319 again rise to direct his sight along their swelling breasts, and deep recesses. This is truly the " Valley of Sweet Waters/' where early Spring, with her cuckoo voice, calls up young life from the cradle of the year ; where Summer revels, and " the great sun," "Robed in flames and amber light," makes his regal procession along a sky of pure cobalt, shedding his brightest beams on mountain-peak and hoary hill, and descending, like an angel visitor, to cheer up every sheltered nook ; where Autumn pours from her horn the rich treasures she has gathered from the rolling seasons, and paints the woods with the glowing hues of the skies. The gentle rains descend on this favoured valley, from the " high chambers" of the cloudy firmament, and the bride of Zephyrus covers the teeming land with a spangled garment of many colours. The gladsome Usk, like a traveller bent on a long pilgrimage, hurries forward, making incessant music, and adding its hoarse bass notes to the clear trebles of the woods. A liquid harmony floats through the air, and the late and early tints mingle in grateful composure over the beautiful complexion of Nature. River, and field, and forest, are full of rejoicing life. Sunbeams, and " frolic winds," and shadows of the passing clouds, chase each other over the flowery land- scape. Heaven smiles on Earth, and Earth gives back her incense and her melody. Nor is this all. It is not Nature dwelling alone amidst her secret haunts, or walking pensively through her sweet solitudes ; but it is man, immortal man, dwelling with Nature — congre- gated into villages occupying the most beautiful spots 320 VALLEY OF TIIE USK. of the valley, with homesteads fraught with domestic affections, and sanctuaries figuring out to the thought- ful mind another and a better country, — or households nestling round the private hearth in lovely vale or bosky dingle, — or whitewashed cottages on mountain- side, or even mountain-top. It is beautiful Nature, like a young mother, with her sleeping infant on her lap, or with her gathered, families of earth, laughing and playing at her feet. Such is the valley of the Usk, of which a native poet of the seventeenth century has thus sung : — " May thy gentle swaines like flowers Sweetly spend their youthml hours, And thy beauteous nymphs like doves Be kind and iaithful to their lores. Garlands, and songs, and roundelays, Mild dewie nights and sunshine dayes, The turtle's voice, joy without fear, Dwell on thy bosom all the year — The factour winds from far shall bringe The gathered odours of the springe, And loaden with the rich arrear, Spend them in spicie whispers here." Crickhowel, which Leland calls "a preati tounlet, standing in the valley upon Wyske," is built on the shelving side of a gentle hill. It is of considerable antiquity, and is supposed to have been founded by Howel Dda, in the tenth century. There are but few fragments of its ancient castle remaining, save one dis- mantled tower, now overgrown with ivy, and the ruins of a gateway, both of them performing servile offices very much at variance with their former dignity. The keep, or citadel, once occupied a lofty artificial mound, CRICKHOWEL. 321 whose slopes are now covered with trees of considerable growth, and so elevated, that the eye commands from it a range of the most interesting objects in this pic- turesque district. Traces of broken walls may be seen ; and the grass-green field that lies at the gazer's foot constituted, most probably, the inner and outer Valiums of the old fortress. This castle was fortified by Sir John Pauncefote, under a commission from Henry IV., to resist the forces of Owen Glyndwr, by whom, according to the obscure records that remain, it was eventually taken and demolished. Sir Rhys ap Thomas, when he was marching to Shrewsbury, to meet Henry the Seventh, passed through Crickhowel, and planted the standard of that monarch on the top of a street, which has been called from that circumstance, Standard Street. The church, which is cruciform in its style, and dedicated to St. Edmund the king and martyr,* by which name the parish was anciently called, is dis- tinguished by having the only spire in the county of Brecknock. It contains two old monuments to the Pauncefote family ; a more modern one in alabaster of Sir John Herbert, knight, and Joan, his wife ; an exquisitely sculptured tablet to the Rev. H. Vaughan, late vicar of the parish, of whom the good people of Crickhowel speak in terms of great affection ; and a * This royal saint, as histories inform us, was massacred by the Danish general Hinguar, about the year 871. The story of his death, as related by a monkish writer, quoted by Camden, marks the barbarity of the times in which he lived : " He was bound to a tree and had his body all over mangled with arrows ; to increase his pain, they did with showers of arrows make wound on wound, till the darts gave place to one another." — Jones's History of Brecknock. Y 322 LLANGATTOCK. monument in white marble to Mrs. Gwynne, of Gwern- vale, presenting a beautiful figure of a female leaning upon an anchor, surmounted by a dove bearing an olive branch. An old effigy in steel cap and chain armour, and another of the warrior's lady-love, lie, in a muti- lated condition, within the recesses of two arches, behind the seats of Glan-y-Rafon and Dan-y-Castle, as if in these modern days they were to be cast like worthless things away, though they are considered to represent the ancient founders, or re-founders, of the church. The churchyard is an interesting spot, and has some fine specimens of the willow and poplar tribes. The old gateway before mentioned gives its name of Porth mawr to a modern mansion, the residence of Mr. Ormerod, and is worth looking through for the beautiful perspective it affords of the surrounding scenery, including Glanusk and Penmiarth, the Bwlch hills, the spreading vale, and the winding river. The village of Llangattock lies at an easy distance on the opposite side of the Usk, and was too tempting an object to be left unvisited by the "Wanderer. The church is an ancient structure, dedicated to St. Cadog, who lived about the middle of the fifth century; but it has been frequently repaired, and is in some degree modernized. The old porch is the most venerable part of it, and contains the original font for holy water, belonging to our fathers of the " ancient faith." The walls sustain many monuments, but none particularly interesting for their design or execution. The vestry is modern, and fitted up in excellent taste, the whole of which was the munificent gift of Mr. Bailey, of Glan- LLANGATTOCK. 323 usk. The churchyard possesses an old mutilated cross, and manifold painted monuments of the dead, in which are the memorials of extraordinary longevity, that prove the salubrity of this place, — five inscriptions making up the long term of five hundred years. Two " gnarled yews of deep undated root" fling their ve- nerable branches over this place of sepulture, and on the outside of the wall is the most magnificent walnut, for age and size, and breadth of limb, that is, perhaps, to be found in the kingdom. In the limestone rock above the village, is a large cavern, called Eglwys Faen, or the Rock Church ; and in this parish is the Carno Mountain, where a severe battle was fought between Roderick Molwynog, prince of North Wales, and Ethelbald, king of Mercia, in the eighth century ; two carnau still remain to mark the spot. Every one who travels to this corner of the county of Brecknock, at least every one that has an eye and a soul for the marvellous beauties with which the God of Nature has adorned this earth, stays his wandering foot upon the bridge that is thrown across the Usk between Crickhowcl and Llangattock, to contemplate the scenery which discloses itself on either side. This pontile structure is built of hard granite, and consists of thirteen arches, some of which are covered in part with ivy. From the bend of the river the upper reach extends to a short distance, and, but for the lively current, would have the appearance of an inland lake, fringed by a wood of bowing branches that dip them- selves in the stream. Beyond is a revelation of the open face of nature, with all its extraordinary and beautiful features, comprehending the magnificent out- 324 LLANGATTOCK. line of the Black Mountains marked on the far-off horizon to the right ; the Bwlch range traversing the distant plain ; the green hill that shuts in Crickhowel vale; the vale itself in all its colours and boundaries, with the merry river singing its ceaseless song to the pleasant homesteads that rise upon its enamelled banks. Below the bridge, the river descends the rapids with a thundering torrent, as if in fellowship with the majesty of the surrounding scenery. On the right are the limestone rocks of Llangattock, worn and cut into a thousand fantastic forms, and reflecting back the light in coloured hues, richly harmonizing with the mingled foliage which the eye embraces. In front is the Blorens range, lying against the sky like a huge serpent ; and on the left the cone of the Sugar-loaf Mountain, and the elevated tump called the Table Hill. It is hardly possible for an intelligent mind to become conscious of the ineffable delight produced by the beauties and sublimities of nature, and the deep and mysterious thought, of which they are the source, without admit- ting the goodness of that Great Being, who has super- added this enjoyment to the mere exercise of the faculties by which they are perceived. It is through His benevolence, that every scene becomes to man the minister of improvement and gratification, — " the sun, the earth, the ocean, the mountain's towering height, the green and golden vale stretching far out below ' its mantle gay.' " And every odorous plant, and brighter thing, Born of the sunny skies, and weeping rain, That, from the bosom of the Spring, Starts into life and beauty once again.' LLANTONY ABBEY. 325 Let the traveller, then, whose heart and eye are thus instructed and delighted, thank God, and go forward. In a deep recess of the Black Mountains, at the extremity of the county of Monmouth, and occupying the gloomy vale of Ewias, stand the shattered ruins of Llantony Abbey .* As if in unison with the barren rocks that environ it, scarcely a single tendril of green ivy has crept up the surface of its solemn walls, to hide the severe simplicity of its monastic architecture ; and but here and there a stripling shrub surmounting its parapets, throws its brief shadow over the crumbling fragments of the sacred pile. The ponderous roof, and the southern and eastern walls, lie prostrate on the ground ; but the pointed arches, reposing on massy piers, with a series of small circular arches, and fragments of elaborate mouldings, remain to show the corresponding magnificence of those parts of the structure which they sustained and adorned, and to prove the mixed Saxon and Norman style of this fine edifice. A portion of the great tower yet exists, and the western front still stands in solitary grandeur. The valley, which formerly afforded employment for the holy brotherhood, now yields its scanty herbage to the browsing flocks of the neighbouring farmer ; and some ancient trees, at * G-iraldus has described Ewias after this manner : " A valley in Wales, not farre from Brecknock, where stoade a religious house, called Llanthodoni. It is so encompassed with hilles round about, that Roger, the byshop of Salisbury, was wont to saye merely of it, that ' al the king's treasure would not suffise to make a cloyster to this house.' At this place had Gyraldus Cambrensis a house and lyvinge to it." Llantony Abbey is distant from Crickhowel about seven miles ; and the varied and majestic scenes which present them- selves on every hand, will furnish interesting subjects for a day's pilgrimage. 326 LLANTONY ABBEY. different points, mark in their green and yellow leaf, the passage of the seasons, and remain as the grey chroniclers of this dreary solitude. The brawling Honddi, swelled by the mountain torrents, rolls a fret- ful tide over its bed of broken rocks, and washes the southern side of the valley. Behind the ruins rise the Hatterell Hills, or, as they are sometimes called, the Mountains of Ewias, and beyond them the rocky peaks of the Black Mountains, over which the foot of man has scarcely ever trod, seeming as if to shut in this little spot from the observation of all the world. Llantony Abbey was of the Cistercian order, and its history is to be gathered from the traditions of the early times. The legends tell that Saint David, the uncle of the renowned King Arthur, when he first beheld this solitary valley, was charmed with its entire seclusion from the world, and built a chapel on the spot. "Here was it, stranger, that the patron saint Of Cambria passed his age of penitence, A solitary man ; and here he made His hermitage, the roots his food, his drink Of Honddi's mountain stream." One day, carried far out of his track in pursuit of the wild deer, which haunted these savage hills, a knight retainer of the earl of Hereford came unexpectedly upon the saint's retreat. The knight was struck Avith awe at the deep solemnity of the place. He saw the little hermitage, and near it the recess where the holy man performed his early devotions, in which was placed a small crucifix, and those emblems of mortality which the grave supplies. The mysterious air that pervaded LLANTONY ABBEY. 327 the scene into which he was thus suddenly introduced, and the complete silence that reigned around, broken only by the sullen murmur of the Honddi's stream, filled the mind of the knight with devout enthusiasm. He instantly forsook his chivalrous career — withdrew from all connection with the world, and, in the words of the record, " laid aside his belt, and girded himself with a rope ; instead of fine linen he covered himself with hair-cloth; and instead of his soldier's robe, he loaded himself with weighty irons. The suit of armour, which before defended him from the darts of his ene- mies, he still wore as a garment . to harden himself against the soft temptations of his old enemy Satan ; that as the outward man was afflicted with austerity, the inner man might be secured for the service of God. That his zeal might not cool, he thus crucified himself, and continued his hard armour on his body until it was worn out with rust and age." The fame of the anchorite's sanctity drew one devout associate to his cell, Ernest, confessor to Maud, wife of Henry I., and inspired many wealthy and powerful nobles with great reverence for his character. Amongst the latter was Hugh de Lacey, who founded the priory of the order of St. Austin, on the site of the little hermitage. Llan- tony Abbey has experienced strange vicissitudes, and has been the subject of many whimsical circumstances, in the course of its eventful history, till it was finally suppressed, with that of the same name in Gloucester- shire, at the Reformation. Thus ends the legend of "Llantony, famed in monkish tale, And once the pride of Ewias' vale." 328 LLANTONY ABBEY. A continuous history of that division of the Princi- pality to which this work belongs, did not enter into the Wanderer's plan, but only such occasional sketches as were connected with the scenes and objects which came before his eye. He found, however, in the book of that old geographer Peter Heylyn, a summary which he deemed would not be unacceptable to his readers, and this he gives in the chronicler's own words : — " The princes of South Wales are : — 877 1 Cadell. 2 Hoell. 907 3 Hoell Dha. 948 4 Owen. 5 Eneas. 6 Theodore the Great. 1077 7 Ehese I. 1093 8 Griffin I. 9 Ehese II. 10 Griffin II. In whom ended the line of the princes of South Wales, after they had with great struggling maintained their liberty, the space of 300 yeares, or thereabout. The English Nobility had at severall times plucked many Townes, Lordships, and almost whole Shires, from this principate ; which were all againe recovered by this last Griffin ; who not long enjoying his victories, left the fruits of them to his two sonnes, Cynerick and Mere- dith ; both whom our Henry Second tooke, and put out their eyes. Yet did the Welchmen, as well as in such a time of calamity they could, wrestle and tugge for their liberty, till the felicitie of Edward the First put an end to all the warres and troubles in these parts." The last chapter of a book is something like the last day of a long and friendly visit. The sojourner spends it in adjusting all claims at the house of his host — in CONCLUSION. 329 -winding up the long family stories — and in leave-taking amongst all the acquaintances he has happened to make. The "Wanderer over Cambria's land of marvels and minstrelsy has sought to fulfil the pretensions with which he took up his palmer's staff, "And wore his sandal-shoon and scollop-shell." He now closes his book of legends ; — and to all those surpassing beauties of mountain, liill, and valley; of open sea, and broad river, and whispering stream, associated, as they have been, with the most stirring passages of history, poetry, and romance ; chequered, too, by the gay sunshine and the dark storm, — the roving joy and weary pain of a long pilgrimage — he bids a last and lingering Farewell. "There is a pleasure in the pathless woods-, There is a rapture in the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar ; I love not man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal." INDEX. Abbeys of Cwm Hir, 72 — Margam, 264— Llantony, 325— Strata Flo- rida, 23-27— Tintern, 148-153. Aberedw Hill, 90 — Village, 91 — Castle, 91— Sunset, 91. Abergwili, village of, 219— Bishop's palace, 219— Merlin's Hill, 220. Aberystwith, its delightful situa- tion, 3 — Views from, 3— Castle hill, 4— Streets of, 10— Marine terrace, 10 — Perilous situation of a sloop, 11 — Skilful captain, 12 — Ghost stories, 12 — Church of, 12 —Wild flowers, 13— Beach of, 13 — Amusements, 14 — Bathing, 15 — Fishing, 15. Aberystwith Castle, 5— History of, 5— Taken l>y Glyndwr, 7— Glyndwr's palace, 8. Bagland, 262 — Mason, the poet, 262. Banagor Crags, 154. Bosherton Meer, 187. Boughrood Castle, 92. Brecknock Mere, 40. Brecknock Castle, ancient name of, 304— History of, 305— Priory church, 309— St. Mary's church, 310. Brecknockshire, remarks on, 300. Brecon, buildings of, 313— neigh- bourhood of, 314. Bridgend, 266. Buckland, 316. Brockweir, 147. Builth, 85— Park wells, 89. Builth Castle, history of, 86— The final retreat of Llewelyn, 87 — "Bradwyr Buallt," 87— Flight of Llewelyn, 88— Death of, 88. Caerphilly Castle, description of, 279 — Monastery, 280 — History of, 280. Caradoc of Llancarvan, 29. Cardiff, history of, 272 — Town of, 275. Cardigan, 204 — Excursions from, 205. Cardigan Bay, 3 — Formerly a tract of land covered with cities, 4 — Beautiful view of, 62. Cardigan Castle, 204 — History of, 204. Cardiganshire, scenery of, 37-59. Carew, village of, 188. Carew Castle, appearance of, 188 — Residence of Welsh princes, 189— Festivities at, 189— Age of, 190— Early cross, 190. Carmarthen, situation of, 213 — 332 INDEX. History of, 214— Church of St. Peter, 215 — Monuments, 216 — Sir Thomas Picton, 217. Cakreg Cennen Castle, history of, 230. Castle Coch, 274. Castles of Aberystwith, 5 — Aber- edw, 91— Builth, 86— Caerphilly, 279— Carew, 188— Cardigan, 204 — Carreg Cennen, 230 — Chep- stow, 157 — Coch, 274 — Dunra- ven, 269— Dynevor, 228— Good- rich, 128 — Haverfordwest, 195 — Hay, 95— Kidwelly, 233— Kil- garran, 207 — Llangoed, 92 — Llewhaden, 198— Maeslough, 92 — Manorbeer, 170 — Oystermouth, 258 — Pembroke, 175— Pennarth, 259— Picton, 195— Presteign, 78 —Radnor, 76— St. Quintin, 270 — Tenby, 165 — Wilton, 113 — Ystradmeurig, 36. Chepstow Castle, 157 — By whom built, 158 — Entrance to, 158 — Hall, 159 — Subterranean vaults, 159 — Monastic remains, 160 — Bridge on the Wye, 161 — The Wye, 162. Cleddon Shoots, 147. Clifford Castle, 94 — Birthplace of Fair Rosamond, 95 — History of Rosamond, 95 — Anecdote of Lady Anne Clifford, 96— Site of castle, 97. Coitt, village of, 268. Coldwell Rocks, 131. Copper and Lead Mines of Car- diganshire, 56 — History of, 56 — Mines of Daren, 59. Cottages, Welsh, 43 — Chimneys, ■11. Cowbridge, 271— Gothic gate, 271. CraigyDinas, 292— Eventide, 295. Craig-y-lltn, 288. Crickhowel, 315 — Antiquity of, 320— Church of, 321. Crosswood, seat of Lord Lisburne, 24 — Rustic mills, 25 — Mountain streams, 25 — Pwll Caradoc, 26. Cwm Elan, 75-83. Cwm Porth Cavern, 299. Ctnrig River, 315. Cynwyl Elfed, 212. Davydd apGwilym, 29-32 — Poetry of, 33. Devil's Bridge, road to, 15 — Glen of the Rheidiol, 16 — Chasm of the Mynach, 16 — The bridge, 16— Fearful Scene, 17 — Four falls, 18— Plant Mat, 18— Byron's lines on the Falls of Ferni, 19 — Hafod Arms Inn, 19. Doward Hill, 133. Dress of the Welsh Lasses, 34 —Hats, 35. Druidical Structure, 42. Dryslyn Castle, 217-222. Dunraven Castle, 269 — History of, 269. Dynevor Park, 226 — Beautiful view, 227— Castle, 228— Round tower, 229. Epynt Mountains, 301. Ewenny Priory, 266 — Towers of, 267 — Church of, 267 — Revenues of, 268. Fishguard, 199— Salubrity of, 200. French Embarking at Llanwnda, 230 — Driven away by Welsh women in red cloaks, 201. INDEX. 333 Gaeth Hill, 92. Geoffrey of Monmouth, 28 — Brut y Brenhineodd, 29. Giraldus Cahbrensis, birthplace of, 17]— History of, 171. Glasbury, 92. Goats, 38. gogerddan, 59. Golden Grove, 231. Goodrich Court, 114 — Site of, 115 — Its architecture, 115 — Orna- ments, 116 — Pictures, 118 — Asiatic armoury, 118 — Painted window, 119 — Grand armoury, 121— Charles I., 122— Doucean Museum, 122— Chapel, 123 — Remarks, 124— Chivalry, 125 — Heraldry, 126. Goodrich Castle, appearance of, 128— Gateway, 129. Goodwick Beach, 200. Grongar Hill, 217-223 — Roman Camp, 224— Dyer, 224. Gruffydd ap Rhys, 5. Gwendraeth, stream of, 256. Hafod, road to, 20 — Picturesque arch, 20 — Beautiful view, 21 — Mansion, 21 — Cumberland's de- scription of, 22 — Grounds of, 22 — Colonel Johnes, 22 — Cwm Ystwith, 23. Harewood, 109. Haverfordwest, situation of, 194 —Castle of, 195. Hay, 93— History of, 94. Hepste River, 297. Hereford, 100— Cathedral, 100— Historyof, 101 — Monuments, 102 — Pulpit-cross, 104 — Dinedorhill, 105— Beautiful view, 106. Herefordshire Villages, 97. Ithon River, 85. Kenarth, church and village of, 209. Kenchester, 99 — Eaton camp, 99. Kidwelly, 233— History of, 233. Kidwelly Castle, 233. Kilgarran Castle, 207 — History of, 208. Kymin, The, 138— The Buckstone, 139. Lakes OF— Five lakes, 39 — Llyn Fach, 289— Llyn Fawr, 289— Llyn Savaddan, 40 — Llyn Teivy, 39— Llyn Vathey, 40— Llyn yr Afange, 37. Lamphey Palace, ruins of, 173 — Curious epitaph on Agatha Wellsburn, 174 — Loneliness of, 174. Lewis Morris, the Welsh anti- quary, 9. Lidstip, fine view from, 169. Llanbadarn, 9— St. Padarn, 8— Church of, 8 — Monuments in, 9 — Lewis Morris, 9. Llandaff, 275— Cathedral of, 276 — History of, 277. Llandegley, 81. Llandilo Fawr, 225 — Country round, 225— History of, 226. Llandogo, village of, 147. Llanelly, 257. Llangattock, 322. Llangoed Castle, 92. Llangurig, 68— Public house, 68. Llanstephan Castle, account of, 168— Village, 169. 334 INDEX. Llantony Abbey, 325 — Mines of, 325— History of, 326. Llanwrthwl, 84. Llech Cynon, 41. Llewhaden Castle, 198. Llyn Fach, 289. Llyn Fawr, 289. Llyn Vathey Cringlas, 40 — Site of the ancient city of Tregaron, 40. Maeslough Castle, 92. Manorbeee, village of, 170. Manorbeer Castle, ruins of, 170 — Stately magnitude of, 170 — Birthplace of Giraldus Cambren- sis, 171 — Description of, 172 — Extensive prospects, 172 — Bay 173. Margam, 263. Margam Park, 263 — Abbey of, 264. Melte Eiver, 297. Merlin, life of, 220. Milford Haven — Pennar Mouth, 191 — Striking scene, 192 — Town of, 192— Ship on fire, 193. Moccas Court, 98. Monmouth, approach to, 133 — Priory, 134 — Geoffrey of Mon- mouth, 134 — Appearance of Monmouth, 135— Trade of, 136 — Bridge, 137 — Ancient institu- tion, 137. Monmouth Castle, 134. Mountain Patriots, 65. Mountains of Aberedw, 90 — Fawr, 93— Carn Englyn, 203— Craig y Dinas, 292 — Dolevan Hill, 85— Epynt, 301— Gwasta- den, 83 — Plinlimmon, 66 — EhiwgTaig, 85 — Vrenny Fawr, 203. Mumble's Lighthouse, 258. Myddleton, Sir Hugh, 57. Nancy Felix, 55. Nant Eos Park, 24— Its beautiful situation, 24. Neath, 260— River of, 261— Vale of, 289. Newcastle Emlyn, 210 — Beautiful sunset, 211. Newport, 203 — Druidical remains at, 204. Newport Castle, 203. Owen Glyndwr, 7, 8, 66, 76. Oystermouth Castle, 258 — Village of, 259. Pembre Hill, 256. Pembroke, situation of, 177 — Gates of, 178— Churches of, 178— Plea- sant walks from, 179 — Dockyard, 179 — Pater village, 179 — St. Govan's Head, 180 — Stackpole Court, 181. Pembroke Castle, ruins of, 175 — Vast extent of, 1 75 — Description of, 176 — History of "Nest," 176 — Cromwell's attack on, 177. Penalt, church of, 144 — Ancient custom, 145 — Autumn, 145. Penline Castle, 271. Pennarth Castle, 259 — Arthur's Stone, 260— Our Lady's Well, 260. Picton Castle, park of, 195 — Architecture of, 196 — Remark by Mr. Fenton, 196. Piercefield Park, extent of, 155 INDEX. 335 — Majestic woods, 155 — Mr. Valentine Morris, 156— Llancaut Crags, 157 — Splendid view, 157. Plinlimmon, historic annals of, 66 — The source of five rivers, 67. Plinlimmon Hotel, 65. Pont ar Cothy, stream of, 221. Pont Herwid, 63. Pont Neatii Vaughan, 293. Pont Pwll Gwyn, 304. Pont Rhydfendigaid, 27 — Small inn, 34. Pont y Pkidd, 284 — Bridge of, 284— Waterfall, 285. Presteign, 78— Wapley Hill, 78. Presteign Castle, 78. Princes of South Wales, 328. Radnor, 76 — Old Radnor, 77 — Leland, 77 — Stanner Rocks, 77 — Knill Court, 77— Vale of, 79— Water-break-its-neck, 80 — Wild glen, 80. Radnor Castle, 76. Ragland Castle, beauty of, 140 — Visits of Charles I., 141— Foun- tain Court, 142— Parks, 142. Redbrook, 145 — Pen y van Hill, 146. Rhaiadyr, 70 — Bridge of, 72 — Delightful valley, 72. Rheidiol River, 4, 9, 63 — Pictu- resque mill, 65 — Chasm, 64. Rhiangoll River, 317. Rhondda River, 285. Rhys, Dr. John David, 313. Rivers of Castell, 64 — Clewedog, 72 — Cothey, 221— Elan, 75— Hepste, 297— Irvon, 85— Ithon, 85— Melte, 297— Neath, 260— Purthen, 291— Rhondda, 285— Rheidol, 4, 9, 63— Taff, 168, 276, 283— Teivy, 2'7, 37, 204— Towey, 168— Usk, 303— Wye, 61, 67, 82, 97, 147, 162— Ystwith, 4. Robeston Wathen, 197— Agree- able companion, 197 — Pictures, 198. Rosemary Topping, 131. Ross, 109— Kyrle, 109— Coleridge, 110— Church of, 110— Elm trees, 111— Story of, 111— "The pro- spect," 111— May Hill, 112— Wilton, 113. Sir Rhys ap Thomas, 235, 256. Slebeck, 197. South Wales, compared with the North, 1 — More rife in historical associations, 2. St. Donatt's Castle, 270. St. Govan, promontory of, 184 — Loneliness of, 185. St. Quintin's Castle, 270. Stackpole Court, noble park of, 181 — Description of, 182 — Lovely prospect, 183. Steele, Sir Richard, 218. Sugar-loaf Mountain, 324. Superstitions, 48 — Corpse candles, 48 — Cwm Annwm, 49 — Doomed families, 51 — Anecdote, 52 — Sin- eater, 52 — Anecdote, 53 — Fairies, 54. Swansea, situation of, 258 — Bay of, 258. Symond's Yat, 132. Table Hill, 324. Taff River, 283. Tal y Bont Vale, 199. Taliesin's Bed, 60. 336 INDEX. Tarrell River, 315. Taylor, Dr. Jeremy, 231. Teivy, river of, 27, 37, 204 — Beavers, 37 — Burton's account of, 38— Lake of, 39. Tenby, its situation, 164 — Caldy Island, VSi — Far-extending view, 164 — Church, 165 — Monuments, 165— Mode of living at, 166— Yachting, 167 — The Taff and Towey, 168. Tenby Castle, dilapidated walls of, 165. Tintern Abbey, position of, 148 — Extent of ruin, 148 — Distant landscape, 149 — Books, 150 — Monuments, 150 — History of, 151 — Prospects from, 152 — First sight of, 152 — Musings on, 153 — Moss cottage, 153. Tintern Parva, 147. Towey, vale of, 222. Tregaron, ancient city of, 40. Trelech, druidical antiquities, 143. Tretower Castle, 317. Troy Hocse, 143. Usk Valley, 318. Usk Biver, 303. Waterfalls of Melte, 301— Pur- then, 291— Pont y Pridd, 285— Rhondda, 285 — Teivy, 209 — Water-break-its-neck, 80. Weddings, 46. Welsh Cottagers, 45 — Dress of, 45— Food of, 45. Welsh Triad, 2. Wilton Castle, 113. Windcliff, 154. Wye, The, 61 — Beautiful scenery of, 68— Moonlight, 70— Chasm, 71 — Rich scenery of, 82 — Pro- gress of, 97. YSGWD ElNION GARN WATERFALL, 290. Ystrad Fflur, abbey of, 27 — History of, 27— Its wealth, 28— Its monks the first historians of Wales, 28— Tomb of Davydd ap Gwilim, 29 — Ruins of, 30 — Beau- tiful gateway, 30 — Lines on, 31 — Former greatness of, 31 — Pre- sent church, 32. Ystrad Meirig, its excellent school, 35 — Edward Richards, 35 — His pastorals, 36 — Situation of Ystrad. 36— Castle of, 36— History of, 36. Ystrad-y-Fodwg, 287. PRINTED BV COX (BROS.) AND WYMAN, GREAT QUEEN STREET. // *- BRITAIN'S GREATEST MALE ENSEMBLE s Jj& rift y * '*£%. *» ij mt* T- ■ i B^T iBr l*l& Wv h£* (M ^F ^- , ■EaT KJ ••-•-[ The World Renowned Welsh Imperial Singers Direction R. FESTYN DAVIES, Celebrated Conductor THE REDPATH BUREAU 125 W. 45th St. Kimball Bldg. Wabash Bldg. New York City Chicago Pittsburgh PARTIAL REPERTOIRE The Welsh Imperial Singers Present A Selection of Solos, Duets, Glees, Part-Songs and Choruses from their repertoire. The program always opens with "The March of the Men of Harlech," after which each item will be announced from the stage. CHORUSES 1 a "A Farewell" James Coleman b "I'm a Longing Fo' You" Jane Hathway 2 "Dafydd y Gareg Wen" Arr. Sydney Northcote 3 "A Song of the Armada" Chudleigh-Candish 4 "In Absence" Dudley Buck 5 "Killarney" Balfe 6 "Just a-Wearyin' for You" C. Jacobs Bond 7 "Hymn to Apollo" Gounod 8 "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" ...Arr. Perkins 9 "Boys of the Old Brigade" Parks 10 "Come Back to Erin" Arr. Perkins 11 "Leibestraum" Liszt 12 "Largo" Handel 13 "The Song of the Jolly Roger" Chudleigh-Candish 14 "An Evening's Pastorale" Wilfred Shaw 15 "John Peel" Arr. Fletcher 16 "The Assyrian Came Down" Cyril Jenkins 17 "The Lord Is My Shepherd" Schubert 18 "Fallen Heroes" Cyril Jenkins 19 "Myfanwy" Dr. Parry 20 "Ar hyd y Nos" (All Through the Night) Arr. Rogers 21 "In the Sweet By and By" Protheroe 22 "Y Delyn Aur" Pugh Evans 23 "Crossing the Plain" Maldwyn Price 24 "The Lost Chord" Sullivan 25 "Through the Glen" Lee 26 "Fair Flora Decks" '. J. Danby 27 "Hush Little Lamb" Margery Watkins 28 "Bugilio 'r Gwenith Gwyn" Welsh Air 29 "Ar Doriad Dydd" Welsh Air 30 "Mwyn yw myned tua Mon" Welsh Air 31 "Sleep Gentle Lady" Bishop 32 "Ye Banks and Braes" Scotch Air 33 "Sword of Ferrara" Bullard 34 "Kentucky Babe" Geibet 35 "Poor Old Joe" Foster 36 "By Babylon's Wave" Gounod 37 "Pilgrim's Chorus" (Tannhauser) Wagner 38 "Y Gwcw Fach" (Cuckoo Dear) E. T. Davies 39 "Cradle Song" Brahms HUNDRED GREAT SONGS 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 "Plantation" R. Steiner "The Lost Love" V. Thomas "Codwyn Hwyl" Parry "The Fisherman" Maldwyn Price "The Long: Day Closes" Sullivan A Welsh Symphony- Ar Doriad Dydd Bugilio 'r Gwenith Gwyn Rachie "Goin' Home" (Largo from the new world symphony) Anton Dvorak "The Bell-man" Cecil Forsyth "As the Bell-man approaches, the clock strikes three." The clock strikes four. The Bell-man's voice is heard in the distance. (Stratford April 23, 1616*). (*Shakespeare's death-day). "Awn i Ben y Wyddfa Fawr" H. Davies "Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming" Foster "Adgofion Dedwydd" Alan Llyfnwy A Welsh Symphonv Morfa Rhudd'lan Cadair Idris "Farewell to the Highlands" Rennie Pawson "0 Peaceful Night" Edward German DUETS 54 "Watchman, What of the Night".... Sargeant I 55 "Plant y Cedyrn" ..Dr. Parry I 56 "When I Survey" Judel 57 "Vale" (Farewell) Russell I "Voyagers" Sanderson f 58 "The Bold Gendarmes" Offenbach! 59 "Go Baffled Coward" (Samson) Handel 1 Suns: by JABEZ TREVOR and HOWELL WrLLIAMS JACK NEWBURY and ULAM HUGHES JACK NEWBURY and WATKIN EDWARDS JABEZ TREVOR and HENRYD JONES JACK NEWBURY and ELWYN EDWARDS SOLOS 60 "Soft and Pure" (Martha) Flotow 1 61 "Deeper and Deeper Still" (Jeptha)... Handel 62. "Some Day Just We Two" Elsie Copping 63 "Annie Darlin' " Margery Watkins^ 64 "Wanton Gales" T. Wilfred Kearton] 65 "Asra" Ernest Newton 66 "Dawn of Love" Margaret Ringold 67 "Mountain Lovers" Squire 68 "Just For Today" Blanche Ebert Seaver 69 "The Silver Ring" Chaminade 70 "My Prayer" W. H. Squire 71 "If I Should Call" Tennent ; 72 "Dreams of Long Ago" Carol-Caruso 73 "In Native Worth" (Creation) Haydn Sung by HARRY WILLIAMS Tenor JABEZ TREVOR Tenor ELWYN EDWARDS WATKIN EDWARDS Tenor 74 "Believe It True" Fredric A. Coote 75 "For You Alone" Gheel EMRYS JONES Tenor AN AMERICAN CONCERT SENSATION 76 "Immortalis" Edwin Walker"! 77 "Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind" Sargeant I 78 "Harlequin" Sanderson | 79 "Niagra" Dr. Parry J 80 "Credo" (Othello) Verdil 81 "Prologue" (from Pagliacci) R. Leoncavallo I 82 "Why Do the Nation" Handel f 83 "Sink Sink Red Sun" Teresa Del Riego I 84 "0 Isis and Osiris" (Magic Flute) Mozart 85 "In Hallowed Dwellings (Magic Flute) 86 "The Lute Player". Allitsen 87 "In Questa Tomba" Beethoven 88 "Arm, Arm, Ye Brave" (Judas Macca- beus) Handel 89 "Floral Dance" Katie Moss 90 "Here Me Ye Winds and Waves Handel 91 "Neptune" Gordon 92 "Inchape Bell" R. S. Hughes 93 "Y Milwr Clwyfedig" R. S. Hughes"! 94 "When Song is Sweet" Sans-Souci [■ 95 "Invictus" Brudo HulmJ I Sung by HOWELL WILLIAMS Baritone HENRYD JONES Baritone JACK NEWBURY Bass MORLAIS WRENCH Bass ULAM HUGHES Bass R. J. WILLIAMS Bass PIANOFORTE SOLOS 96 "Military March in D" Schubert " 97 "Autumne" Chaminade 98 "Chopin's Waltz in C Sharp Minor"....Chopin I NORMAN EVANS 99 "Leibestraum" Liszt | Pianist 100 "Witches Dance" MacDowell J Accompanist Norman Evans The Welsh Imperial Singers Are World Renowned They have been acclaimed Britain's greatest male ensemble. For five years they have been the singing sensation of Europe and Canada. They were the feature musical attraction, Rotary International Convention, Chicago, 1930, representing the British Isles. Their first American tour was a triumphant success. R. Festyn Davies, the celebrated conductor and organizer of this group, ' has conducted some of the biggest musical festivals of this country, the biggest of all being the Great Festival held at Stanford University Stadium, where he conducted a chorus of 10,000 voices accompanied by six full bands before an audience of 50.000. w • o 3 4-5 hD <0 CO CJ ^ o T3 «H •r-l fl ^ X < 3 CO o T3 fl H 3 to s lO T3 D3 • Q University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY Return this material to the library from which it was borrowed. " «^ ^m>> ■ vii^^L «? iSj-% s 3^—^ -\ dtHi